It was one of the last warm days of September when Logan returned to the Mansion, and as the wind rustled through the trees, he felt a pang of regret at returning to the confines of the old building. But he also thought about brown hair streaked with white, and his mood lightened considerably.
He pulled into the garage, killing the engine of his bike. It was still early and the grounds were quiet. Shouldering his bag, he entered the house, and he found that, for the first time in months, he wasn’t on edge, and with a sigh he acknowledged that this place had become the closest to a home he’d ever known.
Upstairs, people started to wake, shuffling around, yawning, and Logan strained his ears for her, but she wasn’t there. She wasn’t there.
Xavier appeared at his side, smiling benevolently as always. “Good morning, Logan. I have been expecting you.”
“Where is she?”
The old man seemed confused for a second, then his expression softened. “Maybe we should wait for the other X-Men before we discuss this.”
Logan’s knuckles started to itch, and all of a sudden he felt trapped. He sharply drew in the air around him, looking for her scent, but the only traces he found were faint and at least three weeks old.
She’s not here.
“Where is she?”
“Why don’t you come into my office with me?”
The claws sprang out, glittering menacingly in the half-light of the hall. “Where the FUCK is she?” He trembled, and the walls seemed to be closing in on him. He had to get out of there... But he had to find her first.
Movement behind him and he whipped around. Storm, Ice Pick, and some other kid that bore striking resemblance to Fire Guy. He growled at them, feeling his control slipping away, and then Storm made the mistake to get too close, and then his hand was at her throat, the claws retracting, and he could smell the fear taint her scent. “Rogue. Where is she?”
“Logan, please calm down.” Xavier, to his right, and Logan watched in amazement how he released Storm and retracted the claws into his other hand and stepped away from her. Calm. Docile. Fuckin’ tamed.
“Let me go, old man, or I swear I’ll...” With surprise he noted that his anger was evaporating, and he merely cocked an eyebrow at Xavier instead of ripping his head straight off as he had been about to just a second ago.
The professor smiled. “This is Empath.” He gestured at the kid next to Popsicle Boy. “He has the ability to manipulate you body chemistry, and right now he is heightening your endorphins level to calm you down.” The kid smiled shyly. “Now please, come with me. We will explain everything.” With that he set his wheelchair into motion, Storm and Ice Pick trailing behind him while Empath excused himself and slipped away. Logan followed them, grumbling under his breath.
Once inside the office, Logan leaned against one of the bookshelves, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “Okay, we’re here. Now spill.”
Storm’s face darkened, and the Ice Kid wouldn’t look at him. Xavier wheeled around his desk and halted in front of the large window, looking out at the grounds. “Maybe you should sit down.”
“I’m fine with standing.”
Xavier sighed. “Rogue... left us. She returned to her parents.”
Logan was puzzled. “Why’d she do that? They kicked her out.”
Storm spoke for the first time then, her voice small. “There was an accident. Rogue and... and Scott...”
Only now did Logan realise that Cyclops wasn’t there. He should have noticed, after all the boy scout was basically constantly humping Xavier’s leg. Cold panic gripped his insides. “What happened?”
To his surprise, Bobby spoke then, his voice wavering only slightly. “We were training in the Danger Room. Rogue, Cyclops, Kitty, Storm and me. The program was set to a military facility. Cyclops... fired at a guard on a platform above Rogue but missed. The platform collapsed on them.” The young man swallowed hard, the muscles in his jaw twitching. “When we got them out, Cyclops was dead. Rogue completely absorbed him.”
Logan stared at him. It couldn’t be. This place was supposed to be safe for her, for all of them. And now Scott was dead. “What happened to her?” he croaked.
Bobby opened his mouth to answer, but his voice gave out and he looked away. Storm put her hand on his shoulder, looking at Logan solemnly. “Her body couldn’t handle it. Her mutation... There was a kind of overload and it burned itself out.”
Logan’s hands fell to his sides. “She’s...”
Xavier nodded. “She is no longer a mutant. She is...,” he smiled gravely. “Normal again.”
“My God...” Logan stepped away from the bookshelf, running a hand through his hair nervously. Marie had gotten the one thing she had always wished for, to be able to touch, to live a normal life again. But would she be able to shoulder the cost, that a friend died for it?
“She left as soon as she had recovered enough. Her eyes needed about a week to heal enough and then...”
Logan put up a hand. “Her eyes?”
Storm blinked away tears. “As I said, her body couldn’t handle it. Her eyes... they couldn’t manage Scott’s beam. She may be normal again, but... she’s blind.” Logan groaned audibly, and a single tear slid down Storm’s cheek. “I’m so sorry, Logan. Hank did his best to save her eyes but...”
Logan felt as though he’d been hit with a sledgehammer. And he actually had been hit by one a few years back, so he knew exactly what it felt like. He couldn’t breathe anymore. Again the room seemed to shrink around him, and he took flight, with hot tears stinging behind his eyelids.
Once he was back in the garage, he realised that he probably had a panic attack. Bile rose in his throat and he gagged, putting a hand to his mouth. Shit.
“She didn’t want us to tell you, you know.”
He glanced over his shoulder, taking deep, calming breaths. Storm stood in the doorway, all her usual grace gone. Her eyes were red from crying too much, from losing too many friends in too short a time. “Then why did you?”
Her eyebrows rose. “Because you’re her friend, Logan. That’s why. I guess she... She didn’t want you to think she was weak for going back to her parents.”
Logan stared at the grey concrete floor, and the silence grew. Then he said, “I have to see her.”
Storm smiled softly, then went over to one of the work benches. She picked up the small rucksack that lay there and threw it at Logan, who caught it. “A map, her address and a cell phone.” She cocked her head to the side, leaning against the doorframe. “Tell her we miss her.”
He studied the dark-skinned woman for a second, then stuffed the rucksack into the bags of the bike, nodding once. “I will.”
The Wolverine & Rogue Fanfiction Archive
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Being a woman is great. Whatever is “wrong” with us, we can blame it on hormones. Either it’s pregnancy hormones or nursing hormones or PMS or menopause... So I’m going to blame my nursing (and hopefully pregnancy) hormones for my current sucky mood, which spawned this thing. Major character death ahead.