“Looooooooogan,” the voice cooed in his ear.
“Looooooooooooooogan.”
“Logan, get up!”
His eyes snapped openly immediately when he recognized the voice. He was lying flat on his back and he sat up in a flash as his eyes sought out the direction of the voice.
“Marie...,” he gasped as he spotted her sitting on the ledge of the railing, her feet dangling over the edge, dancing in the breeze.
“That’s it sugah,” she smiled sweetly at him. “Time to get up.”
Staggering to his feet he stumbled towards her as his words caught in his throat. “But...you’re dead.”
“Why would you say such a thing,” she remarked as she still smiled brightly at him. “You shouldn’t look so serious Logan; you’ll start to get wrinkles.” She giggled as though she’d said the funniest thing ever and looked away from him again.
He was speechless as he watched her long hair with the white streaks blow in the wind. The white stood out in the darkness of the night like a beacon.
Walking towards her more steadily, he came upon the ledge and gazed down with wide eyes.
“What do you think of the view?” she asked sweetly.
Turning around in shock he recognized the crown of the statue of Liberty and looked back out past the ledge were the rest of New York lay.
“Marie, get off the edge,” he instructed with more than a hint of concern.
She sighed and swung her feet back over and stood up on the solid balcony.
“Happy now?” she remarked with some sass, as she looked at him like he was being the biggest drag with a hint of amusement.
Her deep brown eyes sparkled at him in the night and he found himself drawn in by the never ending depth of her orbs.
His concentration was broken by the twitching of her plump red lips as her warm smile grew wider. Lowering his gaze, his eyes roamed over her sleek bare neck and widen a little as he fully realized she was dressed in her old X-Men uniform.
Her hands slid down to her hips and she anchored her stance towards him.
“Why so quiet, sugah?” she drawled quietly.
His head felt heavy suddenly and he turned away from her, a frown already on his face.
“You’re not real,” he whispered achingly. “Just a dream,” he muttered as his hands gripped the railing tightly.
She was quiet and he closed his eyes, willing himself to wake up.
“Always having to be so stubborn,” she murmured and suddenly he could feel her right beside him. “You just had to let reality seep in.”
Glancing up slowly, he met her gaze and he stepped back at the swift change. Her uniform was suddenly different – drastically so. It was torn and riddled with holes all around her mid drift where dry blood was caked to her pale skin.
Wearily, his eyes moved back up as they shifted to her startlingly open face. She frowned at him and reached a hand down to caress her stomach. “It looks a whole lot worse than it actually is,” she quipped, but there was an underlying sadness to her words.
“Marie,” he gasped and stepped forward with a hand already reaching for her.
“You can’t heal me here, Logan.”
Instinctively, his body reached out to hers, as his hand drifted down to her waist and pulled her closer. It was such a relief to feel her warm body against his, to be able to surround himself in her scent. He wanted to close his eyes when he felt her soft touch on his skin as her finger tips danced along his jaw, but he was afraid she would disappear.
“Logan,” she whispered with affection and something deeper that made his skin jump to life as the heat danced along him.
He watched her tentatively, as the warm smile found its way on her face again, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.
“Mar...”
But he was cut off as she suddenly leaned in and captured his lips in a fierce kiss. Heat that had been burning before between them abruptly exploded as her soft warm lips melded against his. He held her close as he revelled in the feel of her. The kiss become a little bit softer and slower but he didn’t mind as he refused to part. The sound of her moaning caused his body to sing with excitement.
His blissful moment of ecstasy was interrupted when he felt something wet soak through his shirt. Rogue pulled back a little and her face held a sudden look of regret and shame, that was covered up with a mask of hardness as she quietly leant back.
“What?”
“I’m not the only one that bleeds, Logan,” she whispered seriously.
He opened his mouth in confusion but was cut off when she raised her hand.
In it she held his still beating heart. Gasping, he looked down in shock as his t-shirt was soaked in his blood.
“I took this from you,” she spoke again. Her demeanour was rapidly changing right before him as she shrugged and tossed his heart over the side of the ledge. “Threw it away,” she remarked simply.
He was breathing deeply as he was caught by his confusion and sudden apprehension and the rising sound of his radically beating heart.
“Nothing’s safe, is it Logan?” she stressed as she swung her hips back and forth.
“I don’t understand.”
“Sure, you do,” she whispered suddenly as she appeared beside him. “I betrayed you.”
Sensually, her hand skirted across his collar bone. “Tell me how to give it back to you?” she asked, her mood changed again, as she rested her head on his shoulder.
“I.... – Stop this, Marie,” he grated.
She was suddenly on the other side of him.
“I’m not the one that can.”
Agitated, a small growl vibrated in his chest.
Grabbing his hand she rubbed it over her wounded stomach even as he tried to pull back.
“You couldn’t keep me safe, Logan.”
“You were...”
“Even you can’t keep some secrets safe.”
“What?” he asked suddenly more clear, as the phrase ticked at him.
“You don’t have that ability to get lost within the walls,” she continued on as though he hadn’t spoken, her attention turning a little distracted.
“Marie, what are you saying?”
He blinked and quickly she was standing right in front of him again. His beating heart once again in her hand.
She looked him dead in the eye all of a sudden.
“Home is where the heart is, sugah.”
And with those words she caught him off guard as she pushed his heart back towards him and her hands came in contact with his hard chest. The momentum however, surprised him and he found himself falling over the ledge impossibly, but it was too late, he was already falling, falling and falling, as Rogue became a dot in the distance.
“Marie!” he screamed.
Abruptly, Logan jerked awake with a gasp. His body jerking as his eyes blinked harshly twice, his eyes adjusting to the light of the break room. Instead of staring up at the Statue of Liberty he was faced with just the ceiling of chipped paint.
Shaking, he sat up and rubbed his hands across his face, disturbed to find his hair was soaked with sweat. Feeling a little disoriented but determined he stood up and made his way out the door and passed a sleeping Wanda and Pietro.
The fresh crisp air of night refreshed him as he stepped outside.
“No need to be a Samaritan Logan, it ain’t your shift next,” Jaime called from out of the shadows down at the other end of the building.
Ignoring him Logan spotted the pay phone across the street and made his way towards it, his eyes darting around the dark street with his nerves still shot.
Ramming the door of the pay phone open, he yanked the phone off the hook and deposited his money, as his fingers dialled.
Four rings in and he started to swear. Lacking any patience he slammed his hand against the glass and yelled, “Pick up!”
Three more rings and he was prepared to slam his claws through the booth.
“Hello?” a sleepy voice answered.
Logan sighed and leant against the phone box.
“Hey, Red,” he replied, his voice rough.
There was a pause on the other end. “Logan?”
“Yeah, it’s me Jeannie.”
There was another pause and he heard the phone shifting.
“Logan, this isn’t a good idea, Scott will...”
“I don’t give a shit right now what he thinks or even what you think right now. Nice, Red. It’s been almost three years and that’s the first thing you have to say. Well I feel sorry for you, that you’re still that insecure about your relationship with the Boy Scout,” he spat.
“Logan, that isn’t fair.” She sighed on the other end. “What am I too think when you call me at almost four in the morning after three years?”
Grumbling to himself, Logan shifted the phone in his grip. “Well I didn’t exactly call you, I forgot that after hours the main number for the mansion goes to the machine and if I wanted to talk to anyone I’d have to enter an extension. But don’t let yourself get all flustered, yours was the easiest to remember, 2...3...4,” he finished with a smirk on his face.
“Let’s start over then,” she sighed. “Are you in trouble, you okay Logan?”
He was quiet suddenly, he’s mind flashing through the past couple of days.
“Logan?”
“I’m just me,” he muttered darkly.
“Logan, that’s not...”
“How ‘bout you? The X-geeks doin’ okay?”
“Yes,” she answered. “But that’s not why you called is it?”
“Telepathic powers over the phone, eh, Jeannie, I’m impressed.”
“I don’t need my powers to take a guess, Logan. It’s in your voice. Something’s wrong.”
Closing his eyes Logan realized he wasn’t prepared for the conversation that would follow if he told her or any of the X-Men what had happened recently.
“Look,” he grated into the phone, trying to gain back some ground. “ I ain’t calling to swap gossip with yah.”
“Then why are you calling?”
Sighing, he cleared his throat and tried to be as direct as possible. His eyes were up and scanning the neighbourhood around him.
“Has anything significant happened at the mansion?”
“What do you mean; you just said you didn’t want to hear....”
“I mean X-Men business,” he interrupted. “Have you guys heard of anything suspicious lately? Anything government and mutant related?”
“No, it’s been quiet. We haven’t heard anything serious if that’s what you’re getting at.”
“What about Magneto?”
“He’s been laying low.”
Logan nodded absently even though he knew she couldn’t see it.
“Logan, with all these questions I can’t help but wonder...”
“Nothing, to wonder Jeannie.”
“You can’t seriously believe I’m just going to let this go without a second thought.”
“Yes, I was never yours to be concerned about anyways.”
His words hadn’t been bitter in fact they we’re very possessive and protective.
“I know that, Logan,” she responded carefully, sensing his tone. “But I’m your friend.”
He snorted.
“Would you like to speak with the Professor?”
“So everything really is okay at ho....the mansion?” he asked by-passing her again.
“Yes,” she answered again but he could tell from her tone she was becoming more concerned as their conversation carried on.
Sighing, he realized it been a mistake to call. He’d been perplexed by his dream or nightmare and he hadn’t taken the time to think his actions through.
“Thanks, Jeannie....Look out for yourselves,” he muttered as a way of goodbye.
“Logan,” she yelled into the phone.
“Look, Jeannie, I’m sorry for calling and...”
“Logan, there are still people here who would like to still hear from you once and a while.”
“Pyro still there?” he snapped angrily.
“No,” Jean answered carefully.
“Why?” he asked, hating himself for appearing interested.
“Things didn’t quite work out.”
“What do you mean? I thought he was the prodigal son.”
“The Professor tried, we all tried, but John....he proved to be too much like his mutation,” she replied almost cryptically. “We weren’t what he needed.”
“So he went back to the Brotherhood?”
“No, he’s still on our side of the fight I suppose but he found a group of people to align himself with that are a little more grey then we are. They call themselves Hellfire.”
“Un huh,” Logan muttered annoyed he’d let himself show his vulnerability by continuing the conversation.
“You could come home, Logan,” she spoke softly.
He didn’t answer.
“It can’t all be bad memories.”
“It ain’t that,” he mumbled and sighed, knowing he had no one else to blame for getting himself caught in this. “That place...” he started and eyed the building across from him that housed his assigned cargo. “Won’t ever have what I want ever again.”
“Have....” she stumbled. “Have you heard from her, anything? Do you know if she’s alright?”
The phone strained in his grip.
“Goodbye, Jeannie.”
“Wait!” she yelled again and he paused.
“What?”
“So never then, Logan?”
“Never,” he replied back.
“Well, I guess it’s fair to tell you that even if you don’t plan on coming back, you have a package waiting here for you,” she spoke sadly.
Standing up straight, he found himself suddenly focused.
“Did you say a package?”
“Yes,” she answered slowly, no doubt sensing his sudden interest.
“Who’s it from?”
“It doesn’t say.”
“When did it arrive?”
“Around two months ago.”
“Two months...” he mumbled to himself, recalling Wanda’s account of Rogue’s behaviour.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked raising his voice and then shaking his head. “Forget it; I know that was stupid, I told you all not to contact me.”
“Logan, what is it?”
“Did you open it?” he snapped.
“No,” she answered. “Jubilee and well some of us, hoped and figured you’d come back sometime soon.”
“Listen,” he began. “I need you to do me a favour.”
“Logan, you’re who knows where and...”
“Jean, if I’m asking you a favour, you need to know it’s important and I just need you to do something for me.”
“Alright,” she replied slowly, catching the seriousness of his tone.
“I need that package right away.”
He was waiting for another question or concern from her but she complied.
“Okay, how soon?”
“As soon as you can. As fast as the X-Jet can get you to where I am.”
“Are you in the country?”
“Come on, Red, we both know you’ve already narrowed down the city I’m in. You can pretend all you want that when you came back you were the same but we both know that ain’t true. Jeannie, no questions right now, okay. I will tell you eventually. But I just need you to come or even if you need Scotty Boy but no questions. And you drop the package off at the post office and you leave, you don’t stick around and you don’t wait for me.”
Jean was quiet again and his patience was starting to wane.
“I don’t like it but alright on one condition.”
“What?”
“If you do get into shit even you can’t handle Logan,” she directed more sternly. “You fucking call the X-Men.”
He was taken aback by her sudden directness but found he was smiling a little. “Yeah, I will, Red.”
“Good.”
“That is if I think you pansies can handle it.”
“Logan...” she began exasperated.
“I know,” he answered more seriously. “And no they ain’t all bad memories.”
“You’re not the only one we miss, you know that?” she spoke more carefully.
Leaning his head against the glass he tried to control himself knowing he couldn’t let her know yet what had happened to Rogue.
“How soon can I expect the package to be here?”
“By early morning.”
“Good, Thanks,” he muttered and hung the phone up.
Cracking his neck he slowly opened the booth doors and made his way back towards the building.
“Saw something on the late night shopping channel and had to have it right away?” Jaime asked with a smirk beside the door but his eyes held an interest.
“You could say that,” Logan mumbled and made his way past him without any more concern.
In just a couple of days he’d had his whole world flipped upside down and now he’d just made official contact with his old life as an X-Men and Jean’s hope and the knowledge that the others one day hoped both he and Rogue would make their way back, only caused him more pain. The fact that there could have been a chance to start over. His eyes swept past the door to the storage room. That chance was gone.
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