Marie stood as still as possible as she let the words sink in. Eric wanted to kill her…why? What had she ever done to him except follow him? She felt the strength in her legs give way as she sat down hard on the stairs. She could no longer see the professor over Logan’s large frame. She noticed how tight his hands were balled into fists. At any moment she was sure she would see blood dripping from them.

“Chuck, are you sure?” Logan said low and dangerous.

His voice seemed light years away from her ears, as if she were in a tunnel. Marie slowly felt herself losing touch with reality, until Xavier spoke and all that was left was anger.

“I am certain Logan. I have insiders close to the brotherhood and they have reported to me Eric’s plans for Rogue. I am not yet sure how he plans on killing her, just that he is going to. Rogue, I swear to you that you have our protection while we bring Eric down.”

Marie saw red. Jumping to her feet, she pushed past Logan to get to Xavier. She saw Jean raise her hand and all movement stopped. Marie was frozen in place as she glared daggers at the old man. “Protection? Is that what you call this Xavier? From the moment I walked into this place I have had to defend myself. There is and never has been protection from you or anyone else in this place. If you don’t mind, tell your red headed puppet to let me go…now!” Marie did not even recognize the voice that came from her. It was foreign to her, yet the strength of it made her proud.

She only had a moment to pat herself on the back before she started feeling tightness in her chest. Looking up at the red head standing behind Xavier, Marie saw the glint in her eye. She realized that Jean was slowly squeezing her to death. Dropping to her knees, Marie let out a strangled sound as she felt Logan grab her.

“Jean, let her go NOW!” Xavier screamed at his prized pupil.

Marie slowly felt the pressure ease up as she leaned on Logan for support. The weight of her situation hit her like a ton of bricks. There was no safe haven for her. The mutants at Xavier’s could as easily kill her as the mutants at Eric’s. She was an outcast to the humans and mutants alike and it tore at her heart. Raising her head, she met the concerned eyes of Xavier. “You will no sooner protect me from your own children than from Eric,” Marie said getting to her feet. She jerked her arm out of Logan’s reach. Touching was the last thing she wanted as she turned to walk up the stairs.

“Marie,” Logan whispered as he gently grabbed her arm. Turning around abruptly, she jerked her arm back, “DON‘T TOUCH ME!” she yelled. She turned and proceeded back up the steps, not giving him time to speak.

Slamming the door hard, Marie went over to the window sill and sat down heavily. The grounds of the mansion were brightly lit by the moon giving it a haunting look. She would have loved to be under the oak tree on a night like this. Closing her eyes, she took a deep long breath. She would figure out what to do in the morning, as her options were few and far between.

There was a soft knock on the door as Marie contemplated her choices. She looked over at the wooden structure expecting whoever it was to just walk in. After a moment of nothing, Marie stood up and walked to the door. “Who is it?” she asked softly. There was a moment of silence before the person on the other end spoke. “Can I come in?” She recognized Logan’s gruff voice as she reached for the door knob.

They stood there staring at each other for a moment before Marie moved to let him enter. He walked slowly into the room, looking around. “Nice room,” he mumbled. She didn’t comment back, but went to sit beside the window as Logan stood in the middle of the room. The silence seemed to build as neither of them spoke. It was getting too much for Marie to take as she turned her attention fully on Logan.

“What are you doing in here Logan?” she asked tiredly.

Putting his hands on his hips, he took a long deep breath. “Marie, the professor’s right. You can’t leave.”

“You think I should stay?” she asked shocked.

“I think you should follow your instincts, but let me tell ya this,” he said walking closer and bending down in front of her. “This guy Xavier…he genuinely wants to help you…and that’s rare…for people like us.”

Marie was taken aback by the look in Logan’s eye. It was as if he were begging her to stay here. She felt the butterflies make their presence known again. Those intense hazel eyes were easy to get lost in and Marie felt herself falling deeply into them. “Why do you care?” she whispered.

“I don’t know,” he whispered back.

Minutes ticked away as they sat unmoving. The ceiling could have fallen down upon their heads and neither one of them would have blinked an eye.

“What’s your story Logan?” Marie’s voice cut through the silence like a lightning bolt through the sky. She watched him look away from her to the haunting moonlight outside. He did not answer her at first and she didn’t think he was going to.

Finally, in a low voice he said, “That’s another thing I don’t know darlin‘. All I can remember is the last fifteen years and it ain’t been pretty.” The sadness in his voice caused Marie to want to reach out and touch him. She saw the hard lines on his face and realized each one had a story of their own.

“After all I’ve been through, I think I can cope,” she said with a small smile.

There was that grunt again. “I’m not so sure about that,” he said getting to his feet. She watched him walk to the other side of the room and stare into the dresser mirror at her.

“I was kicked out of my own home by the two people that were supposed to love me the most,” she whispered. Marie didn’t know why she had just said that but felt that she needed to share something with him to get him to start talking.

Marie watched him take a deep breath before he spoke, “I woke up in the woods with no memory of who I was or where I came from.” She could hear the pain in his voice and it broke her heart.

“I hitched hiked my way into Canada with the lowest of men wanting only one thing in return for their services.” Marie shivered at the memories that came flooding back to her as she said it. She watched as a something past in Logan’s eyes but was gone before she could really study it.

“I lived like an animal for three years. I lost the human part of myself and almost never found it again…sometimes I wonder if I ever found it at all,” Logan said lost in thought.

Before Marie realized what she had done, she was standing behind Logan. Slowly she reached her gloved hand up to touch him lightly on the back.

“I followed Eric for one purpose and one purpose alone…I wanted to feel as though someone wanted me,” she said as the tears blinded her vision.

He slowly turned around to face her, reaching his hands up to her face. She wanted to pull away from him but something made her stay completely still. She felt as though both of them needed this right now. The texture of his hand confused Marie a little until she realized he was wearing gloves.

“I was made into the perfect weapon to be used by a mad man for purposes that I can‘t even remember,” his low voice said, cutting into her thoughts.

“I was made to feel nothing. Just an empty shell to be made to do whatever Eric wanted.” Tears were beginning to fall freely from her face.

She felt him wrap his large arms around her. No one had tried to hug her since her powers started and she felt herself give way to the pain. Sobbing, she clung to Logan as if she were a dieing man clinging to a life jacket. The loneliness of the past two years came crashing down upon her and she was scared to death that she wouldn’t find her way out.

“Shhh…its okay Marie. I’ve got ya.” Logan’s calming words were a beacon of light in the darkness of Marie’s soul. This man had come into her life, out of nowhere, at a time that she needed him the most. Did he even understand what he was doing for her? She thought that maybe he really didn’t know…or maybe he did, seeing as he knew what real pain was. He allowed her to sob into his shirt until every tear was shed and there was no more to fall.

Slowly, she leaned back and looked shyly up at Logan. “I’m such a girl huh?” she said laughing lightly. He gave her a small smile in response. When she tried to pull away from him, he stopped her. Looking up into his intense hazel eyes, she heard him whisper, “Marie…I’ll take care of you.”

She didn’t know what to say. All words were lost to her, in that moment, as the truth of his statement fell upon her.

“Promise?” she asked him in a low voice.

“Yeah…yeah I promise.”

At that moment her mind was made up. Marie felt that if Logan asked her to go around the world she would have done it. As it was, she would stay there…with him.

She felt herself pout a little as he untangled his arms from her. Logan’s chuckle filled the silent room as he noticed her frown.

“Don’t worry darlin, you’ll have my hands all over you tomorrow,” Logan said laughing.

Marie couldn’t help the shocked stare, and the way her mouth hung open at his words. ’Holy hell’, she thought.

“Your training starts tomorrow. I suggest you get some good sleep,” Logan said walking to the door. Realization made its ugly way into Marie’s fantasies. She had totally forgotten about the training session that started tomorrow. “Oh joy,” she said sarcastically.

Still chuckling, Logan said a goodnight and opened the door. Marie stopped him from walking out by calling his name. “Logan, I was wrong tonight.”

“About what?” he asked confused.

“When I said no one here protected me. That’s all you’ve been doing since the moment we met…so… um…thank you,” Marie said meekly.

Smirking, Logan said, “not a problem darlin’.” He stood there a few more seconds before slowly turning and walking out of Marie’s room.

That night, lying in her bed, Marie dreamed of a scared, lost man, stranded in the woods alone. That was the first time she dreamed about Logan.

The next morning Marie awoke with an eagerness for the day. She was ready in thirty minutes flat and she giggled to herself at how excited she was to spend the day with Logan. She felt more like a giddy school girl than a mature nineteen year old. The thought of Logan beating the crap out of her in their training session didn’t go unnoticed but she tried not to dwell on that too much.

Walking down to the first floor, Marie noticed a group of girls on the bottom step. She cringed at the thought of having to pass them, but kept her head high and didn’t look their way.

“Hey,” one of the girls called out.

Turning, Marie noticed it was the Asian girl talking to her. “I heard what Remy, Bobby and John did to you. I want you to know that I think that was completely wrong.”

Marie was shocked to hear this girl say that. After all, she was the enemy right? Who cared what happened to her? The Asian girl went on, “My name is Jubilation Lee but most people call me Jubes,” she said smiling.

“Rogue,” Marie said in an unsteady voice.

“Nice to meet you Rogue. If you need anything….shopping, dating, decorating advice…don’t hesitate to look me up.”

Marie thought for a moment that maybe she had woken up in an alternate universe. This couldn’t be the same place that it was yesterday. She nodded at the girl and continued walking. That was just too weird.

Coming to Xavier’s office, she could hear voices inside. She recognized them as being Logan and Xavier’s and they were in a heated discussion. “I don’t want it Charles. Things have changed so keep it.” Logan didn’t sound too thrilled and that peaked Marie’s interest. A part of her felt bad for eavesdropping on their conversation but she couldn’t help it. “Logan, you promised to do this and you have stuck by your word so take it.” She heard something hard hit Xavier’s desk. “I told you Chuck, I…don’t…want…it.” There was a moment of silence and Marie concluded that the conversation was over.

Knocking lightly on the door, she waited for Xavier to call her in. She thought that it was strange that he would even give her time to knock or that he didn’t realize she was standing at the door. ’I guess even the greatest of telepaths can get distracted’, she thought. Xavier called for her to enter and she did so.

Standing at the window, a very brooding Logan turned to look at her. She felt self conscious under his stare but didn’t turn away.

“Good morning Rogue. It’s good to see that you are still here with us,” Xavier said smiling.

“Well for right now it’s my only option so…,” she said stealing glances at Logan. He had turned back to stare out of the window. He was different from how he was last night…colder some how. She was starting to think that she had dreamed the whole thing. “Anyways, I was actually looking for Logan. I was wondering when you wanted to start training.”

“Get some breakfast and meet me in the Danger Room in an hour,” he said without looking at her.

She felt her good mood slowly crumbling. Turning back to look at Xavier, she saw a look of pity in his eyes and she turned quickly away from it. She didn’t need his pity.

Walking out into the hall, she went past the dining room straight to the Danger Room. She refused to meet the stares and sneers of the other mutants. Marie didn’t know how she expected Logan to act after their talk, but it certainly wasn’t what she just saw. It was like they were complete strangers. Confusion took over as she climbed down the long stairs of the basement. By the time she made it to the Danger Room, there was nothing but red fury. She was ready to kick her some Wolverine ass.