Shit he hated this; he hated feeling like he’d been immobilized. Reminded him too much of his days in the lab. What the fuck? That scent was familiar although not very.



“Are you awake yet Wolverine?” Soft, feminine the voice made him want to scream and struggle yet he couldn’t move.



Blinking he opened his eyes to stare at the blue bitch that had been following him for the past few months and swore.



“What do you want?” he growled angrily.



“To offer you a deal,” the woman replied moving steadily closer. She paused a few feet away from him and glanced behind her to the door where a tall, shaggy blonde man stood holding a squirming bundle wrapped in a blanket over his shoulder.



“I rather think you’ll like this deal Wolverine.”



“Fuck that. How many times do I haveta say that I ain’t interested!” Logan ground out angrily struggling against the chains that held him bound to the wall.



“But this time I have something that I rather think you’ll enjoy,” Mystique replied softly with a cold, calculated smile. “At least as long as it holds out.”



“What do you want?” Logan snarled his claws itching to come out.



“You to join us, fight with us.”



“I ain’t interested in your little war. I ain’t choosing sides for nobody.”



Mystique smiled and nodded at the burly fellow who dropped the bundle with a rather loud thud and a muffled oomph. “Perhaps this will change your opinion.”



Logan glared as Sabertooth grabbed the blanket and unrolled it to reveal a young girl with long dark hair and fair skin. Two white streaks colored the front and her face looked like it had run full speed into his fists. Clothes torn beyond recognition hung off her body and she swallowed as she stared at the pair before her.



Noting they didn’t move toward her in the least he eyed Mystique, “A kid?”



“Your very own play toy,” Mystique smiled. “Now we have to go out for a bit, feel free to enjoy our little gift. Then when we get back we can discuss your future.”



“Fuck you,” Logan ground out as the door closed and locked and the chains suddenly disappeared. As soon as he was free he turned his attention to finding a way out of the room, escape forefront of his mind.



“Ya gonna kill me?” Soft, filled with fear the whisper hit him squarely in the chest.



Turning he stared at the young girl huddled in a corner, her large, expressive brown eyes wide and focused on him. The sharp smell of her fear filled his head easily, the sound of her heart pounding echoed in his ears and he stared at her.



“What?”



“Ya gonna kill me?” the words were repeated softly, a whiskey smooth southern twang to them.



“No,” Logan growled glaring at her as she shifted, moving further away from him in the small confines of the cell. “So who’re you?”



“Uh, I um..” she stuttered to a halt. “I’m Rogue.”



“Rogue huh?” Logan shrugged. “Ya got a real name kid? Or you just like shitting people.”



“Marie, my real name’s Marie. But I don’t want..”



“I wouldn’t tell any of these prick’s the time of day much less your name. Ain’t none of my business really.”



“How long till they come back you think?” Rogue asked softly after a few moments of tense silence.



“How the hell would I know? I woke up in this box remember?”



“Sorry,” the girl sighed sadly and curled around herself. “I was just wondering how much longer till he..”



“Fuck he ain’t gonna lay a hand on ya,” Logan grunted. “Least not right away.”



“Yeah,” dropping her head onto her upraised knees she sat silently watching as he traced and retraced his steps around the room. Noting the way he tensed with each passage of the door, but refrained from speaking.



Hearing the hiss of the hinges both of them turned to the door to see the rank, aggressive figure that filled the doorway eying the girl. “Hey runt, you don’t like your little toy?” he snarled making for the girl.





“What’s it to you?” Logan snarled out, stepping closer to the girl only to stop when the mangy prick grabbed the girl and pulled her to her feet by her throat. “Hands off asshole.”



“Maybe you need a lesson huh? Need someone to point out what you’re supposed to be doing with this tender piece of meat!” The words were followed quickly by the sound of Rogue’s scream even as the large mutant tore her clothes off, shredding the tattered material easily.



With a crushing backhand that sent Logan sprawling across the room, Sabertooth turned his attention back to the girl who was struggling in his grasp. “Awe, little thing like you won’t even whet my appetite.”



“Victor!” Mystique’s sharp snarl had the man dropping Rogue and whirling to face her. “I told you before. If you damage her Magneto can’t use her. And we don’t want to alienate our little friend here.”



Sabertooth snarled at his comrade but dropped the girl and stalked toward the door, “She’s mine next.”



Logan growled low at the man’s words and followed his retreat out the door and down the hall before refocusing on Mystique. “I’ll gut him like a pig if I see him again!”



“Now Wolverine, please. Just enjoy your little toy for a while and we’ll see how things go,” Mystique replied closing the door firmly.



Hearing the shaky sobs from the girl huddled on the floor; Logan approached her easily, kneeling next to her. “You okay kid?”



Jumping when she all but tackled him, her grip tight around his throat, Logan held her while she sobbed. Rocking back and forth slightly he waited for her to cry it out, waiting for the horror to pass and the calm to take affect. “Oh God, they’re gonna let him..”



“Naw kid, I ain’t about to let that happen,” Logan frowned at the low growl; he rarely if ever let himself get involved in other people’s situations. In fact he couldn’t recall the last time he’d played Good Samaritan. “We’ll think of something.”



With a shaky nod, Rogue huddled against his warm frame, her breathing ragged and unsteady even as the silence stretched out endlessly. She knew but didn’t want to admit it, there was very little this man could do to save her from that monster. And she wouldn’t risk his life to save hers, not a hope in hell would she do that.







Jerking out of the light sleep, Logan growled low as he listened to the familiar sound of heavy footsteps walking toward the cell that he and the girl occupied. A glance revealed her sleeping form and he shifted, hiding her under the edge of the blankets before rising to his feet, his claws coming out with a sickeningly familiar snket.



“Hey runt, you done yet?” the low snarl did little to ease his mood.



“Nope,” Logan growled low, “Not yet.”



“Come on, we can share..” the monster laughed and Logan swallowed his moan of disgust. “Well, for tonight anyway. I doubt if there would be much left after I get done with her, but as long as she’s alive enough to stick in the machine who cares right?”



“I said I ain’t finished with her, you don’t like it kiss my ass.”



Sabertooth laughed easily, his gaze settling on the young woman who was stirring from her sleep, “Don’t take too long. Magneto wants her rested up for tomorrow night.”



Watching, waiting Logan listened to him walk away. Some instinct, some sense of self preservation told him the man would return that he enjoyed inflicting pain on others. A glance at the girl had him swallowing harshly, a low growl filled with the banked anger issuing from his throat. Fuck, he didn’t want to be part of their little troop of anti-human mutants any more than he wanted to be part of those pricks that’d run into him a few nights before dressed in black leather.



Naw, all he wanted was to get back to Canada, to the fight circuit and make some money before holing up in his cabin in the Rockies.



“He’s just going to keep coming back isn’t he?”



“Yeah,” Logan ground out. “At least until Magneto doesn’t need you alive anymore.”



Shaking her head, Rogue stared at him, “Wolverine? I don’t want him touching me. I just..I couldn’t stand it if he was the first..”



“Hey kid, I said we’d figure something out.”



“We have,” Rogue sighed tearfully; her knees bent and pulled up to her chest. “It has to be you. I’ll bet they have cameras watching us, if they don’t see you doing stuff to me, they’re gonna get suspicious. They might hurt you to.”



“They can try,” Logan ground out.



“No, no. Please, I don’t want them to have that much control. I don’t want them to choose who and how for me. Please, this is all I have..” Rogue sobbed silently as she sat there staring at the man she’d only known a few hours. She couldn’t shake the feeling that somehow this was how it was supposed to be, that they were supposed to be together. “Please Wolverine?”



“Logan.” the soft whisper had her smiling tearfully.





“Is that a yes?”



“Yes,” Logan looked at her with his customary scowl. “Your mutation..”



“It doesn’t work against you,” she whispered softly, making him aware that she’d touched him.



“What is it?”



“My skin, it’s lethal. I have a little control over it but I don’t think it works against you! You touched me skin to skin and I didn’t feel the burn, feel it kicking in.”



“Could be some new thing of these pricks, some way of negating your powers.”



“Could be,” Rogue sighed, shifting moving closer to him. “Please Logan; please let me be the one to make that choice!”



Logan stared at her, “Now?”



Rogue smiled sadly, “Yeah. No telling how long fuzzy’s patience will hold out and I don’t want to have to remember that particular brand of torture for eternity.”



With a sad little smile Logan nodded at her words. He understood he really did. It wasn’t about choices; it was about survival, about control. She wanted to have the control over the situation she didn’t have, wanted to be the one to decide who was going to have her body. It was something he was familiar with, he rarely let anyone touch him, and even his flings were discouraged from touching him - nothing like your personal space. “You ever been with anyone else?”



“No,” Rogue sighed, “Never wanted to.”



“I’m gonna warn you it hurts the first time. Leastways that’s what I been told. Ain’t any way around that.”



“There’s pain and then there is pain,” Rogue stated calmly, her fingers making short work of his buttoned shirt. “And in this case, I’ll take what I can get from you.”



With a knowing look Logan let her take the lead, let her choose how fast and how far this was going to go. Feeling the slight tremble in her hands he glanced down at them as they traced over his chest, learning every curve, every muscle bunch. The pale skin of her hands against the darker, more tanned flesh of his upper body did little to ease the growing torment in his mind but he refused to allow it to slip out of control.



This was her choice, her decision and he would honor it or die trying.









Pulling her close, Logan lay there staring at the ceiling listening to her soft sobs. Despite being gentle, being careful he knew she’d felt the sting of his taking the last sign of her innocence. Their mating had been slow, careful, building a tension that filled them until it snapped and the release had made it all worth it.



Now though, Logan knew they would have to deal with their guilty minds independently. He couldn’t help her with the bruised heart she was cradling; he could only offer his support, his warmth to her.



“I’m glad it was you,” Rogue whispered softly, “Glad that it was my choice. No matter what happens they can’t take that away from me.”



“The lesser of two evils,” Logan replied softly kissing the crown of her head. “Rest kid, it’s going to be a long night.”



With a shuddery sigh, Rogue slid into an uneasy sleep fear clouding her mind, but she refused to let it become the focal point. Instead she focused on the way he’d taken her, the way he’d shown her more compassion, more understanding than anyone ever had.





“I see the two of you got acquainted,” Mystique said setting a tray of food on the floor by the door and smiled at the couple who were lying entwined on the floor.



“Where’s that fur ball you got running around here?” Logan ground out, his arms tightening on Rogue’s form.



“Preparing the machine. Why?”



“Just curious, don’t want him to come and spoil the fun,” Logan ground out sounding entirely like Wolverine at that moment.



“Yes well, I’ve had a talk with him since then. You can be assured that you two will have the remainder of the stay with only each other for company. I do hope Wolverine that you are seriously considering our offer.”



Logan grunted and eyed the blue bitch carefully; she honestly believed that she was in the right. There was no indication of anything other than a desire to have what she wanted - mutant supremacy.





“I wish they’d just kill me and get it over with,” Rogue said after the woman had left the room.



“Hey kid, I’m kinda particular to you being alive,” Logan growled as he picked at the food. Tossing it back onto the tray he leaned back against the wall, “Sorta like having ya around for company.”



Laughing softly, Rogue nodded and curled up a little closer to him. She was glad that it had been Logan; she liked him had from the moment she’d laid eyes on him. And unlike Sabertooth he didn’t leave bruises on her body. She didn’t need a mirror to know that there were bruises where that mangy alley cat had grabbed her. What was a comfort though was the fact that Logan had at least tried to be gentle, tried to be human. Something that in the situation was out of place, but appreciated none the less.



With a soft sigh she stared at the door, less than twenty four hours to experience everything. She knew, just knew that the machine they were planning on sticking her in would kill her. Knowing it and accepting it were two different things, and she longed for the freedom of the open road again. Longed to be anywhere but where they were.





Like the heavy roll of thunder, Rogue was jerked out of her sleep by a loud explosion a moment before a hand grabbed her arm; an arm covered by one of Logan’s shirts and lifted her even as her startled gaze darted around for Logan.



“Come on!” the voice was masculine, the tone impatient even as she struggled in a futile attempt to get away from him. “The whole place is coming down and we need to get outta here.”



“No,” Rogue protested even as she was drug from the cage, her eyes scanning for Logan who was absent.



Half running, she stumbled into the plane under the guidance of the man in black leather only to see Logan laying on a stretcher, his t-shirt torn and bloody. “Logan!”



“Relax, he won’t hurt you,” the man said buckling her in and settling into his seat. A moment later they were airborne and Rogue sat staring at Logan’s bloody body noting the way he was healing slowly but surely.



Afterwards she couldn’t have said how everything happened, one minute she’d been in the plane the next she’d been in the medlab and was being examined by the red haired doctor. A glance revealed Logan’s prone form on a gurney a few feet away but she didn’t dwell on it. The minute the doctor had finished the exam, she was ushered to a room upstairs.



Now, sitting by the window she sighed. It had been two days since she’d last seen Logan, two days of wondering, waiting and it was driving her nuts. Hearing a light knock she glanced at the door as it swung open and the doctor walked in followed by an older man in a wheelchair.

“Where’s Logan?” she asked softly.



“The man we brought back with you?” The woman looked a little unpleased at the question, almost like she didn’t want to think of him.



“Yeah, Logan where is he?” Rogue asked softly, her eyes taking in the woman’s dark look and the pinched look about her mouth.



“We have some questions we’re hoping you can answer..” the man said.



“Answer mine,” Rogue shot back. “He was hurt!”



“He’s fine. Healed up nicely and is resting comfortably downstairs,” Jean said softly, lethally.



“Why?”



“Those are interesting bruises you’ve got,” Jean said eying the girl who flushed and reached up to cover the bruises on her throat. Despite the offer of fresh clothes, the girl had remained in the oversized shirt although she’d changed her jeans.



“Get to the point,” Rogue snarled.



“Look its okay, he can’t hurt you..”



“Hurt me?” Rogue looked dazed at that statement. “What do you mean by that?”



“We know he raped you Rogue, its okay. As soon as he’s back on his feet completely he’s gone..”



“No!” Rogue gaped at her. “He didn’t..”



“Rogue..”



“Fuck you,” Rogue gaped at them anger flooding her body. “You know nothing.” Darting past them she raced down the hall, searching for a door to help her get downstairs only to be jerked into a cubby hole and pulled flush against a familiar hard body.



“Kid, you okay?” the low growl had her nodding, her breath coming in gasps.



“They think..”



“Yeah, I know. I heard all about it.” Logan ground out, tensing as he watched the doctor hurry past them. “Look we gotta get out of here. If I stay here they’ll ..” he paused, leaving the statement unfinished.



“I know.” Blinking at the burning in her eyes, Marie sighed. “I think I have a way of getting both of us out of here. You game?”



“Lead the way darlin’,” Logan smiled at her. There was no way in hell he was going to let her safety rest in the hands of these pricks, any more than he’d let the brotherhood have her.





Following Marie’s quick movements they hurried down the hallway and into a room with several windows that were hanging wide open. With a shared grin, Logan went first out the windows, landing easily on the ground below and catching Marie as she followed. It didn’t take long for them to get to the garage and she kept watch while Logan looked over all the cars.



“This one,” he grunted mounting a bike and grabbing the spare helmet. “Put this on.”



Donning it, Marie climbed on after him and held on as Logan drove down the driveway. The minute they were on the open road, he opened the bike up, heading north the only thought getting away from the mansion.





From the window on the third story Charles watched them going, sensing their desperation to be away from everyone, and everything. Sensing that they’d found something he’d never encountered before, something even Scott and Jean did not possess. Glancing over his shoulder at Jean as she prowled around the room he sighed, he doubted strongly that they would ever see the couple again – they were bound for a place no one could follow.