Marie slowly opened her eyes blinking rapidly against the bright light. She looked to Logan who was watching her expectantly. “What?” she asked.

“Feel better?”

She nodded, “Yep. So much better in fact, I can leave now.” She chose to ignore the weakness that each of her muscles declared loudly.

Logan arched an eyebrow at her and crossed his arms over his chest, “Really?”

She scoffed, “Really.” Throwing back the thin blanket covering her, she swung her legs over the side of the bed. Refusing to acknowledge that her legs felt like jelly, she slowly lowered her weight onto them. So far, so good. Wincing slightly as a tingling took over her limbs, she gritted her teeth and tried to take a step forward.

Nothing. Her legs were numb. Well, fine. ‘I’ll just fly.’ she thought. She barely got an inch off the ground before she felt her powers give out. When her weight once again rested on her legs, she found herself unable to support her weight.

She would have met the floor if Logan hadn’t caught her. He pulled her flush to his chest and when she looked up, they looked into each others eyes. His were intense and she was unable to look away. Her mouth parted slightly and his gaze dropped to her mouth. Involuntarily, she licked her lips nervously.

She felt him take a sudden breath, and gasped when he moved to place her on the bed. He leaned between her legs and lightly rubbed his hands over her thighs. When she realized he was massaging her legs, she closed her eyes and tilted her head back. Oh, he was good. She moaned when he increased the pressure on her muscles and found herself growing aroused.

‘Oh, no.’ she thought frantically. From where he stood, there was no way he wouldn’t smell her. She fisted her hands in the blanket and tried to will her arousal away. Instead, she only grew wetter as his hands moved higher. His hands brushed her upper legs, close to her core.

She gasped and opened her eyes, her gaze clashing with his. Embarrassed to realize her breath was coming in short gasps, she flushed. A moment later, his lips crushed hers in a fiercely passionate kiss. For the first time she responded knowingly. She threaded her fingers though his hair as he leaned her back over the bed.

Her legs were still numb, so instead of wrapping her legs around him, she arched into him. He cursed lightly and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. Lightly tracing her lips with his tongue, he asked silently for admittance. She quickly granted it and he took immediate advantage. He tasted her thoroughly, leaving her writhing against him.

She groaned and when she once again tried to wrap her legs around him, she hissed in pain. Her newly awakened muscles protested loudly and she gasped. He moved back slightly to look at her and she winced, “Mah legs.” Another spasm hit her and she bit the inside of her mouth to stop the whimper that threatened to come forth.

He immediately moved off of her and resumed kneading her legs. “Sorry, darlin’.” he said gruffly.

She shook her head, “Ah didn’t mind.”

He smirked at her, but his expression sobered. “You fuckin’ scared me, Marie.”

She shrugged and tensed when he hit a particularly sensitive spot. “Ah’m alive.” she pointed out.

He glared at her, “Barely.”

She smiled, “Semantics.”

Shaking his head, he straitened and looked down at her. “I’ve gotta go, baby. But I’ll be back.”

Rolling her eyes at him, she tilted her head. “Ah’m not five. Ya can just go ya know. Ah’ll be ready to go before you get back anyway.”

He scowled at her then moved so he overshadowed her. “We need to talk, Marie.”

“Whatever, Logan. Go away.”

He quickly kissed her forehead and walked away, giving her an excellent view of his behind. He had a -great- butt. She chuckled at her own behavior as the door closed behind him. Enjoying a few minutes of silence, she gasped loudly when a familiar but long forgotten sensation hit her. “No.” she whispered.

The door opened and looked up, training her face into a calm expression before seeing who entered. “Hello, Rogue.” Jean smiled as she walked into the room.

“Hi, Dr. Grey.”

Jean gave her a smile and shook her head. “Call me Jean.”

Marie nodded, “So. What happened to me?” she asked curiously.

“Well, as far as we can tell, when you gave Scott your healing, you didn’t just give him the stolen abilities. You gave him everything. Including your own natural healing abilities.”

Marie blinked and gave a wry chuckle. “Oh.”

Jean gave her a smile and shook her head. “The reason it was such a problem is because your body heals and regenerates 24/7. It was a stupid thing to do and- I’ve never been more grateful for anything in my life. Thank you, Rogue.” she said sincerely.

“Call me Marie.” she responded, not sure how to respond to her gratitude.

Jean smiled. “Marie.” After grabbing a few medical instruments, she gave Marie a quick once over. “You seem to be all better. I don’t see why you can’t leave the med-lab. Just take it easy.”

“Thanks.”

Jean nodded, “Just tell me if you need anything.”

“I will.”

The second after the door closed behind Jean, the smile fell from Marie’s face. She shut her eyes tightly and pressed her hands to her head. “Stop.” her face contorted in pain and she softly cried out. “Please, stop.” She curled into herself on the bed, hands covering her face.

It was more than an hour before she was able to leave the med-lab. She moved slowly, her muscles protesting with each movement. It took her close to twenty minutes before she was opening the door leading outside. She moved to a stone bench and looked to the night sky. She lifted her face to the gentle breeze and sighed. Oh, how she wanted to be flying right now. It always soothed her mind and lifted her spirits.

When her muscles protested to her shifting on the bench, she groaned. Usually when Logan gave her his healing, it was immediate. This was the first time she had stolen his powers and they didn’t completely work.

Logan. He was the reason she was so confused. She thought her feelings for him were dead, but after only two days, she found herself wanting him again. For so long, she survived by being numb. And as much as she tried to fight it, her world was no longer gray.

“Color.” she whispered.

“There you are.” Logan’s voice sounded behind her and she looked to him.

“You brought the color back.” she whispered softly.

He didn’t seem to hear her and moved to sit beside her. When she immediately stood and walked a short distance, he watched her. “What’s wrong?”

“Color.” she stated.

“What?” he asked, confused.

“Color, Logan. You brought the color back.”

He stood and watched her face, worried and confused. “Isn‘t that a good thing, darlin’?”

“Ah didn’t want it back, Logan! Ah liked my grays. My world was safe, there was no pain, fear, sadness. No pity. No hate or…” she trailed off, her eyes filling with tears.

“Love? What about love?”

“Ah don’t want it.” she said harshly.

“Yes. You do.” He turned her around and tilted her face up to look at her. “It’s all you ever wanted.”

“No. Want hurts too much.”

Logan framed her face with his hands, pushing her hair from her face. “I love you, Marie.”

She choked on a sob and shook her head, “No.”

“Yes. I love you and I know somewhere in there you love me.”

“Ah can’t.”

“You can.” he said fiercely.

“Yah don’t understand.”

“What don’t I understand?” his tone softening.

“It hurts.”

“What hurts?”

“The screams. Ah was able to push them down before. Ah can’t anymore. They’re getting louder. You’re fightin’ them, in my head, but they’re winning. Soon, Ah’m gonna be gone. Ah can feel it.”

“What are you talking about?” he asked, panic lacing his voice.

“Everyone Ah’ve absorbed. They’re coming to the surface and Ah can’t stop them.”

His eyes widened and a chill ran through his body. “No. You gotta fight ‘em, Marie.”

Giving him a small smile through her tears, she closed her eyes and leaned her cheek into his palm. “Ah’m exhausted, Logan. All Ah‘ve done for the last four years is fight. It’s been hell. Ah can‘t do it anymore.”

“You don’t mean that. You can’t.”

“Ah’m sorry. You were right. As much as Ah fought it, it never went away. Not once. Ah love you, Logan. Always will.”

She rose to her toes and gave him a soft kiss. It was over before he could respond and as he watched, her eyes went blank and he had to catch her before she collapsed.