Sitting in the chair next to the window, Logan watched Marie sleep. His body was exhausted, his mind slightly fuzzy with the after affects of her absorption of his healing abilities but he refused to give in. Instead he sat there listening to her heart pound, her breath coming in a steady, calm rhythm, and watched over her while she slept. He listened to the soft sounds of her pain, the hitches of her breath, the silent tears that she shed into the pillows and felt the anger simmering steadily.

They’d been locked within this room for three days now. Three very long, exhausting days in which Logan had spent more time just touching her gently, easing the bruises, the burns away with soft caresses than anything. He was aware that when she woke she’d have a good dose of him in her head again but couldn’t bring himself to feel bad about it. As far as he was concerned, the more of him she had in her head the less of those two pricks she would have to deal with, especially when his recent memories would be the only revenge she got.

His thoughts turning to the men he’d killed Logan felt the anger build, the need to punish them return with full force and growled. He wished he could have punished them longer, made their suffering last, hurt them like they’d hurt her. The longing to inflict the amount of damage to their bodies that Rogue had endured was so strong he could almost taste it.

Seeing her start to move in her sleep, Logan shifted, rising to move over to her side. Sinking onto the edge of the bed he sat there, his hands in his lap, a patience within him he didn’t realize he had as he waited for her to wake. Waiting, watching he listened to the change in her breathing, the increase in heart rate as she surfaced from the sleep clouding her mind.

Moaning softly Marie opened her eyes slowly, her body didn’t hurt quite as much today and her vision wasn’t quite so fuzzy. Blinking she froze when she saw the hulking figure on the bed beside her before scrambling to get away from him. The terror filled her, even as she pushed at the confines of the sheets, the weights of her waking nightmare filling her.

“Shh, its okay baby,” Logan soothed easily pulling her closer to him and holding her. “I’ve got you now Marie.”

“Logan?” Rogue whispered softly, shakily.

“Yeah kid, its me,” Logan whispered pushing her hair out of her eyes. “You’re safe Rogue..”

“I’m not Rogue,” she whispered indifferently, her voice cold, emotionless, dead.

“No?” Logan whispered softly, knowingly. “Who are you then?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t want to be Rogue anymore.”

“Hey, hey,” pushing her away slightly, Logan forced her to look at him. “You can still be Rogue, that won’t change.”

“But..”

“Who you are isn’t going to change because of what happened. What they did wasn’t about you,” Logan whispered painfully eying the horror in her eyes, the shame. “It was about them.”

“I guess,” she whispered tonelessly. “I’m gonna go have a bath.”

“You hungry?”

“No,” she shook her head, easing out of the bed, taking the blanket with her to cover her body.

“Yes you are,” Logan smiled softly at her. “I’m gonna go get something for us to eat. You’ll be safe, I’ve got the Do Not Disturb sign out so no one is going to come in, the door will be locked. I’ll be back soon.” Pulling on his jacket, Logan headed for the door, taking his key with him and smiling at Rogue who stood in the middle of the room, an anxious look on her face as she watched him.

Leaving with only the quiet click of the door closing, Logan headed for his bike. He would head over to the restaurant and grab a couple of burgers and fries to go.

Walking down the sidewalk, Logan paused before a second hand store and sighed, she needed clothes as well. Stepping inside, he grabbed a pair of jeans he knew would fit her, a shirt, gloves, scarf, and a ball cap to cover her crudely cut hair before he headed to order their meal.

Grabbing a couple of cokes on the way back, Logan sighed. He doubted she would want to go back to Westchester, doubted she would want to go anywhere but into her own misery. Tomorrow if Rogue felt up to it, they’d head back to Westchester - maybe Jeannie knew how to help her. But then, maybe he should ask before he just decided to head back to the mansion.



Half an hour later he walked into their hotel room and closed the door. A quick glance around showed Rogue wasn’t in the bedroom portion and he moved silently over to the bathroom. Pushing the door open a crack he sighed, she sat on the toilet, her face streaked with tears, and a broken glass in her hand, a rusty smell filling the air sickeningly familiar to him.


Tensing beyond belief, Logan set the bags down quickly and stepped into the room, only to feel a chill race through him when he realized that the floor around the toilet was soaked with blood, “Oh God!” Dropping to his knees next to her, he jerked off his gloves only to have her flinch away from him.

“No!” the denial was strong, firm but he shook it off and grabbed her face. Feeling the agony of the drain he focused his mind on healing her, on stopping the blood. “No, please Logan!” her words were sobbed as she struggled in his grasp, even as the wound closed up.

Ignoring the weakness, Logan pulled her close to him, letting her weep convulsively against his shirt covered chest, “No baby. This isn’t the way to do it!” he whispered, his heart shredding within his chest as he realized that she was at the end of her rope, there was no more strength within her to rely on.

“I don’t want to remember, I don’t want to do this anymore..” she cried, her hands wrapped in his shirt.

“I know kid, I know,” Logan rocked with her, pushing aside his exhaustion, his weakness after the drain as he held her. “Just cry it out for now baby. That’s all you gotta do.” he said softly, soothingly letting her cry until the tears were gone.

Logan wasn’t sure how long they sat on the cold bathroom floor rocking back and forth, or even how long Rogue sobbed. All he was aware of was the woman in his arms struggling to clean her soul of the taint put upon it by another’s callousness.

Pulling back slightly he cupped her jaw with a hand wrapped in a face clothe and smiled softly, lovingly at her, “Come on, lets eat lunch then we’ll curl up and get some sleep. Tomorrow we’ll figure out what we’re gonna do.”

“I can’t go back,” Rogue whispered painfully, her eyes begging him to understand. “I can’t stand the thought of all those people staring at me, speculating about what happened. I just can’t,” Rogue’s voice was filled with panic and she began to shake uncontrollably.

“Shh, shh. We won’t go back then,” Logan promised softly hoping to sooth her worries enough to allow her some comfort in an otherwise comfortless situation.


After watching Rogue nibble at her icy cold burger and fries for the better part of an hour, long after his meal had been devoured Logan took it from her, gave her a drink of his coke and tucked her into the bed. Crawling over the covers to lay next to her, he pulled her back against his body and held on tightly.

“Just sleep Rogue, I’m here now,” he whispered softly into her hair noting in passing her faint nod and the way she gave a shuddery sigh before pulling the blankets up over her body. Only after he was sure she was asleep did he give in to the call of his own painful exhaustion.


Two days later, Logan sat in the chair by the window watching Rogue sitting picking at her lunch. Shaking his head he smiled at her slightly, “So where do you want to go? If we don’t go back to Westchester, we gotta go somewhere.”

“I don’t care,” she replied sticking a soggy french fry into her mouth and biting down. Logan hadn’t left her alone for more than a moment since he’d returned the other day, part of it was fear she realized. Her mind had become saturated with his thoughts, his worries, fears, emotions - too saturated for her to think that it was merely from one touch.

No she had come to the sharp realization that he’d touched her again and again it was the only way her body had healed as quickly as it had. The scars from the burns had faded until they had all but disappeared, her brand was still in place - something she feared would never fade, and the bruises and minor cuts had long since disappeared completely. Even the ache between her legs had faded away into a dark memory. What brought her the most satisfaction though was the memory of what Logan had done to the men who’d raped her. She spent hours each day focusing on those memories, recounting them, enjoying them, willing them to stay strong in her mind because she knew it was the only revenge she’d ever get.

“You gotta wanna go somewhere,” Logan pressed.

“Somewhere the X-men aren’t,” she replied seriously. “Somewhere nobody knows us.”

“Canada?” Logan asked thinking he could take her to Alberta, it would give her something to look forward to and it was familiar territory for him.

“Sure,” Rogue didn’t look particularly interested in where they went but Logan took it as a good sign that she’d agreed to Canada.

“Fine we’ll head up tomorrow.”

“Okay,” Rogue smiled sadly at him before staring once more at the fries in her lap. She didn’t really care where they went, the darkness had seemed to be settled on her chest with depressing weight.



Opting to get rid of the bike, Logan flipped through the paper and spotted an older pick up for sale. After phoning to confirm it was still for sale he headed over to take a look and bought it quickly. Driving it back to the motel he phoned the mansion from their room.

“Xavier’s School for the Gifted,” Jean’s familiar voice echoed over the phone line grating on his nerves.


“Hey Jeannie,” Logan drawled noting the way Rogue tensed up and smiled slightly at her, he wouldn’t reveal anything to anyone until she said it was okay. “Where’s One Eye?”

“Danger Room at the moment, why?”

“Tell him he can pick his bike up at Frog’s Hotel on I93,” Logan said quickly. “Day after tomorrow.”

“Why don’t you just bring it home?” Jean asked softly as she poured herself a cup of coffee. “You did borrow it you know.”

“Look just pass on the message alright, I got some things to do.”

“Any sign of Rogue?” Jean asked quickly before he could hang up.

“None of your business,” Logan snarled and slammed the phone down. He didn’t think she needed to know what was going on, at least until Rogue was confident enough to face everyone.


Rising before dawn, Logan loaded up the truck and helped Rogue into it before hopping into the driver’s seat. Turning the key over he pulled out of the parking lot and headed north. Driving along his mind slid back to the first time she’d been in his truck and he sighed, he’d give anything to have that girl back.

He missed her quiet smiles, her laughing eyes, the way she seemed to look at him and see into his soul. Instead he was stuck in the cab of the truck with a shell, it looked like Rogue was there but she was so silent, so still. She sat there staring out the window dressed in the clothes he’d bought her, her hands clenched in her lap as the miles rolled under their wheels.

The ball cap was pulled down over her face, hiding the sheered locks, the dead look in her eyes even as she sat there. She didn’t even flinch when he reached over and squeezed her hand, instead she cast a quick glance at him before returning to staring at the hood of the truck.

“I ain’t no doctor but if you want to talk about it; it might help,” Logan said softly after they’d been on the road for nearly two days.

“What makes you think you’d understand?” Rogue asked softly, neutrally.

“I didn’t say I’d understand. I just said it might help to talk ‘bout it,” Logan sighed. “Maybe it’ll keep the nightmares at bay.”

“Why?” Rogue glanced at him. “It doesn’t take away from the fact that they stole my delightful naivety from me. I wanted to be right, I wanted to be left in the dark.”

Hearing the faint thread of anger in her voice Logan hid a smile, “Let me help Rogue..”


“I told you I ain’t Rogue!” she snarled angrily slashing through the air with a hand. “Don’t call me that.”

“It’s your name.”

“My name is Marie,” she ground out. “I don’t wanna be Rogue no more, I wanna be Marie.”

“Why?” Logan asked quietly, “Why would you want to take back the name you gave up once?”

“Because this wouldn’t have happened to Marie, wouldn’t have happened to the girl from Meridian..”

Logan sighed and reached for his cigars, “It wasn’t your fault Rogue, it wasn’t.”

He raised a hand when she opened her mouth to protest, “You are not to blame for anything that’s happened to you. I shouldn’t have left, if I hadn’t left the mansion, you wouldn’t have followed..”

“You left because of me.”

Logan smiled, “I know this is hard Rogue, but you’re gonna be fine.”

“Its Marie,” came the soft response before she turned back to the window and passing scenery.

With that soft statement, silence filled the cab until she reached over and turned the radio on low to fill the void. A careful glance at her had Logan taking a long drag off his cigar as they passed another road sign before he turned off the main road and onto a side road.

“You’re safe,” Logan muttered when he noted the way she tensed as they left the pavement, but part of him was proud to. Her silence and the shaky smile she gave him was enough for now, a glance at her eyes showed the first hint of trust back in her gaze and that warmed the coldness of his soul. “We’ll be there soon,” he promised squeezing her hand before putting his hands back on the steering wheel and returning his attention to the access road.



A week later the truck was parked beneath the trees of a run down hotel in some small town in Southern Alberta, a camper attached to the back with careful abandon. To the passerby it looked like another tourist, but to those who lived in the area; it was another sign of the newest residents.

The door to one of the upper rooms opened and Marie stepped out, her hair covered by a handkerchief, a long windbreaker covering her body, and heavy boots on her feet. The way she paused and glanced around a moment before Logan joined her an added testament to her strength.


Carrying a large duffel they hurried down the stairs and over to the truck where Logan unlocked it and tossed the bag in before stepping back and letting her climb in. Closing the door he glanced at her comfortably, “How’s it going kid?”

“Been better,” she answered honestly, shadows beneath her eyes demonstrating her lack of sleep. Between Logan’s nightmares and the ones she had developed after being gang raped her sleep ratio had deteriorated beyond belief. She was lucky to get a couple hours of uninterrupted sleep each night.

Leaning heavily on Logan she sighed, her eyes drifting closed as they pulled out onto the highway and headed down the highway. Smelling his scent, feeling his chest rise and fall with each breath he took lulled her into sleep and she snuggled deeper into him, even as she felt his arm come up around her shoulder and pull her into a warm embrace.

“Sleep easy love, I’ve got you now,” Logan whispered as the truck rolled along. Indeed Logan would protect her until his death, that was a given. There was no more pretenses, no more angst filled fights, nothing but the need they both had to rebuild the lives torn apart by a couple of strangers.



“Professor?” Jean’s soft voice had Charles glancing up.

“Yes Jean?” Charles had no doubt what his prized student would ask, he knew she was worried about Logan and Rogue and leaned back waiting for her to speak.

“Any word on Rogue?”

“No, not since he called you about the bike,” Charles said leaning back in his chair. “I tried using Cerebro to locate him. He’s in Canada..”

“Alone?” Scott asked quietly.

“I couldn’t tell. There’s so much violence and confusion in his mind right now that its hard to tell. Honestly, I don’t think she made it,” Charles sighed softly, keeping the rest of his doubts to himself.

“If she didn’t that would explain why Logan hasn’t come home,” Jean said softly. “He’s been staying here because of Rogue.”

“I don’t like this,” Scott muttered with a dark look at his wife. “Any word on the men that took her?”


“Two men that resembled the ones Logan mentioned before all this started were found dead out on the highway half a day’s drive from here. And witnesses say they had a girl with them but the authorities didn’t find anyone in their room.”

“Logan?”

“I’d have to say it was,” Charles said softly. “He’s extremely protective of Rogue.”

“Still I wonder,” Jean sighed and shrugged glancing at her fiancé, “I guess it won’t much matter right now though.”

“No, no it won’t.”

Glancing out the window Charles sighed softly, his mind wandering down the road. What exactly had Logan found to keep him from returning to the mansion? Had they sent her to the lab? Had Logan gone following the trail? He doubted if they would ever know and that bothered him because the man they’d come to know wasn’t the same man that Charles had encountered hours before when he’d sought him out using Cerebro. Indeed the man Charles had found was more closely tied to the Wolverine than to Logan - a rather dangerous entity and that scared Charles on a deep, emotional level.