Marie was sitting on the floor of the Danger Room as Logan walked in. It had been an hour since she had seen him and her anger had dwindled a little. She had told herself a thousand times that maybe she had just caught him at a bad time. He and Xavier were deep in a discussion, that didn’t seem to be going good, before she walked in.

Looking from head to toe, Marie barely contained her sigh as she noticed Logan clad in his X-Men suit. If she would have met him on the battlefield as a brotherhood, she would not have had a chance. She would have been too damn distracted and by God he knew how good he looked in that damn suit, she was sure of it.

“Up on your feet,” he commanded.

She didn’t hesitate. The authoritative sound in his voice gave her no room to question. Today she would be training with the Wolverine and not Logan.

“There is a suit in the woman’s locker room for you. You have ten minutes to change and then be back here, got it?” Marie shook her head yes and walked off to change.

Ten minutes later she was walking back towards where Logan was standing. She found a matching black leather suit waiting for her. It fit perfectly and she wondered who’s it was. The look that came across Logan’s face, as he stared at her, was almost lost on Marie. She had only a second to see it. ‘Was that shock….lust? Holly fucking hell’, she thought to herself.

“Okay, the basics of any fight are to first…size up your opponent. Look for any weaknesses that you can see right off the bat. Come at me,” Logan said motioning for her to attack. Marie hesitated, not sure if she could move. “Marie!” Logan growled. Taking a deep breath, Marie went to strike.

The next moment found her looking up from the mat at a smug Logan. She felt the anger from earlier come crawling back and she wanted to wipe that smugness right off of his handsome face.

“Again,” he said as he prepared for her to attack him.

Thirty minutes later, Marie lay face down on the mat after the twentieth time of Logan beating her senseless. She did not move a muscle. His concerned voice was calling her name as he ran up to her. Smiling into the mat, she waited for the perfect time to strike. Marie found it as she felt him grab her arm to turn her over. In a matter of seconds, Marie reached behind Logan’s head and brought him down on the mat. As graceful as a cat, she jumped on top of him and brought her bare hand to within an inch of his face.

“Lesson number one sugar…never care about how much your ruff up your enemy,” Marie said panting.

The shocked look on Logan’s face turned to a smirk in an instant. Before she knew it, he had bucked her off of him and now she was the one with her back to the mat. Logan was sitting above her, mindful of his weight, as he held her arms above her. “Lesson number two darlin’…the cockiness should be left in the bedroom and not on the battlefield. You go in for the kill; you better damn well finish the job.”

Marie stood completely still as she felt how close he was to her bare face. Any sudden movement and they were both in a heap of trouble. Looking into Logan’s eyes, she noticed there was not a bit of concern at how close he was to death. As if in slow motion she watched his face come closer and closer to her own. Many emotions went swirling through her head at that moment. The strongest was fear. Had he completely lost his mind and forgotten about the deadly skin that he was mere inches from?

“Logan?” she whispered.

That seemed to bring him out of his trance as he quickly jumped off of her. Marie slowly got to her feet as she watched the confusion playing on Logan’s face. He wasn’t really looking at her, just through her.

“Th…that’s all for today,” he said as he turned to walk out of the Danger Room.

Marie stood there for what seemed like forever as she tried to figure out what had happened. “Did he try to kiss me?” she whispered out loud. In her mind, she replayed what had taken place on the mat and it definitely looked like he had tried to kiss her. Looking at the door he had went through, Marie couldn’t help the smile that played across her lips.

“It’s kind of weird seeing you wear that suit.”

Marie jumped at the voice behind her and turned to see Scott standing there. He was looking at her with a half smile on his face. She looked back at the door and wished Logan would come back through.

“I’m sorry but I was watching you and Logan from the control room,” he said with a knowing smile. Marie turned three shades of red as she averted her eyes from him. “You are very talented. They taught you well.”

“Thanks I think,” Marie said confused. Was he actually giving her a compliment? This day was just getting weirder. “I…um…I better be going,” she said turning to go to the locker room.

“Rogue, wait,” Scott called out.

Marie stopped but didn’t turn around. “I just wanted to say…that I’m sorry for the way you’ve been treated by me. Logan was right…it’s time for me to step up and be a leader.”

Slowly turning around, Marie took in this man standing a few feet away from her. He looked like he meant what he had said. She was confused at what made him have a change of heart. It was only a couple of days before that he wanted to blast her through the chest and now he was asking for her forgiveness. “Why?” she asked him lowly.

She watched Scott shrug his shoulders as he spoke, “I guess because he trusts you and he’s never really trusted any of us before. If you’ve earned Logan’s trust, you deserve all of our trust.” With that Scott turned and walked out of the Danger Room, leaving a very shocked Marie in his wake. Yes this day had gone to an all time high of weirdness. Shaking her head, Marie turned and went to the showers.

Finding her way to her favorite oak tree, Marie sat gently down under it. Her muscles were starting to cramp and she knew by the morning she would not be able to walk. Looking out over the sun washed lawn, she noticed the three boys that had attacked her. They were hard at work, picking up leaves and cutting the grass with grass clippers. Marie couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of their sunburned faces. She wondered why she thought this was funny when really they deserved to be kicked out for what they tried to do, but a part of her realized these boys had nowhere else to go. They were an outcast just like her and she wouldn’t wish any mutant, good or evil, to face a world that hated them.

Marie wasn’t sure if it was the weirdness of the day that had her in such a good mood or the fact that a certain someone had definitely tried to kiss her. All she knew is that she felt at peace for the first time in a long time. Closing her eyes, Marie soaked up the coolness of the air and the hotness of the sun. She was dressed in a thin long sleeved shirt and some sweatpants she found in the shower room. She wondered if there was ever going to be a day that she could sit under this oak tree with her bare arms and legs for the entire world to see. Slowly, Marie closed her mind to the things that could never be and found herself floating on the cloud of unconsciousness.

Through her haze of sleep, Marie felt someone shaking her lightly. She blinked her eyes rapidly to get them to focus and found Logan bending down beside her. He did not look very happy, but of course when did he? “I’ve been lookin’ for you all over the place kid. I thought you ran away or something,” he said sitting down beside her. There was that word again…kid. Marie thought for a moment that she should start hitting him every time he called her that. It would be good ways to get out her frustrations at hearing him call her that.

“Did you not think to look for me under the oak tree?” she asked groggily. She watched as his right eyebrow rose to his hairline. “Huh…and here I thought that’s exactly where I looked,” he said sarcastically. She poked him in the ribs with her elbow, laughing. She watched as a grin grew on his gorgeous face. Marie was relieved that he wasn’t acting weird around her.

“Well I was thinking since this is a Saturday night and most everyone is gone out…you and I could hang out together,” he said

“Do you think it’s a good idea for me to go off the mansion grounds, you know with the death threat and all?” she asked unsure.

“I wasn’t talkin’ about leavin’ darlin’…come on,” Logan said getting to his feet and reaching out to help Marie up. She took his hand and felt him pick her up with ease.

They walked back into the silent mansion, neither one breaking the silence around them with words. Marie followed Logan towards the rec room and she paused just outside of the door. Logan proceeded inside but stopped when he realized Marie wasn’t beside him.

“Marie?” he asked.

“I’ve been in this room before Logan. It doesn’t really have that good a memory for me.” She watched him walk back towards her, stopping just inches from her. He reached out and grabbed her gloved hand and for the second time she noticed that he also was wearing gloves. “Then we will just have to make some new memories.” She felt a strong emotion overtake her as she heard his soft words. This man never ceased to amaze her. “Come on,” he said as he gently pulled her into the room.

Upon entering, she noticed a case of beer and some food sitting on the coffee table in front of the couch. “Hum…dinner and a movie Logan? You don’t seem like the movie kind of guy.” She tried to hide the giggle that rang out as she heard him growl. Her giggle turned into an all out laugh as she watched him try to give her an angry face. “Laugh it up kid…it’s no movie we are gonna watch. There’s a good hockey game that I don’t want to miss,” Logan said walking to grab a beer.

Without thinking, Marie walked up to Logan and hit him on the arm. He looked shocked as he took a step back. “What the hell was that for?”

“Logan, I’m warning you now…every time you call me kid, I’m swinging!” she said crossing her arms over her chest.

She heard the growl first but it was too late. Marie felt herself being picked up and thrown onto the couch. She let out a little scream as she bounced off and landed on the floor. Sitting up, Marie heard Logan’s laughter bounce off the walls surrounding the rec room. “Well darlin’, if your swingin’ then I’m throwin’,” Logan said through laughs. Not to help her cause one bit, Marie stuck her tongue out at a very amused Logan.

Turning towards the coffee table, Marie examined the contents. “Molson beer, Doritos, bean dip, beef jerky…Beef jerky?” she asked as she rose up the bag.

“Hey, don’t knock it till ya try it.” Logan bent down and helped Marie to her feet. They both took a seat on the couch as Logan searched for the hockey game. “You know, you don’t have to do this. You can go out if you want,” Marie said shyly. Logan stopped flipping the channels and turned his attention towards Marie. “I’m right where I wanna be darlin’, don’t worry about it.” It still amazed her that he could be sweet when he wanted to be. Marie liked to think that he only showed her this side of him. Again, those thoughts were stopped fast. Logan was a very physical man and well…she was the total opposite.

“You okay?” Logan asked concerned.

Smiling, Marie shook her head yes. Looking away from Logan, she put those thoughts away for another time. Tonight she would have fun with the only friend she had here…the only friend she had anywhere.

Hours into the hockey game and two beef jerky bags later, Marie was still confused about how this sport worked. Logan, God bless him, was very patient in explaining how everything worked, but for the life of her she felt he was speaking a different language. He was just about to explain the scoring system when there was the sound of someone clearing their throat at the door.

Turning to look, Marie felt her good mood vanish. There, standing in all her glory was Jean. She was smiling sweetly, yet the smile was not for Marie. She looked over at Logan and saw something in his eyes that she wished she would have missed. “I thought I heard voices,” Jean said as she made her way to the couch. Marie wanted to slap that smile off the red head’s face as she took a seat beside Logan.

“Jeannie,” Logan said in a greeting. Her smile widen as she stared at him. Marie rolled her eyes and turned her attention back the game. “I hope you two don’t mind a little company. Scott went to bed early and I wasn’t really tired.” Marie watched, furious, as Jean reached over to the popcorn bowl in Logan’s lap. She made a point to dig her hands deep into the bowl and Marie saw red. ’Was this bitch really doing that? Miss I am so perfect please everyone bow down!’ Marie screamed in her head.

She heard Logan clearing his throat as he picked the bowl up and handed it to Jean. “Here ya go Jeannie, I’m done.” Marie felt a satisfactory smile caress her lips. She watched as fury, as red as Jean’s hair, shown through her eyes. At that moment the pieces to the puzzle fit together. Jean didn’t hate her because she was from the brotherhood or that she was a danger to everyone, she hated her because she was jealous. Something told Marie that before she came here Logan gave Jean his undivided attention and now that was all gone. ’I wonder what her husband thought about that?’ Marie asked herself.

“So Rogue…are you enjoying your time here?” Jean asked smugly. Marie was beginning to lose her cool. “I mean, I know it’s not the brotherhood and all but you are fitting in right?”

“Jean,” Logan said in a warning.

“What? Logan I’m just trying to get to know our newest member.” The smile that Jean plastered on her face was as fake as Marie had ever seen. “So tell me Rogue…did you leave a boyfriend behind? Oh yeah that’s right…you can’t really touch anyone…can you?”

“That’s it…Jean get the fuck out now!” Logan said angrily.

“No that’s okay…I’ll leave.” With that Marie stood up and made her way out of the room. She was so angry and she refused to give Jean the satisfaction of seeing how much she got to her. She could hear Logan getting to his feet to follow, but she didn’t dare turn back.

Coming out into the night air, Marie closed her eyes to get a hold of her emotions. She felt Logan walk up behind her and lay his hands on her shoulders. He tried to turn her around to face him but she fought against him. “Not yet,” she whispered. He stopped trying to turn her around but didn’t move his hands from her shoulders.

“Hey where are you going…I’m just warming up,” Jean said as she stepped out to meet them.

“Jean I swear to God I will shut you up myself.” Logan’s booming voice echoed throughout Marie’s body.

Turning around, she faced down the woman who had it in for her. “You want a piece of me Jean…come and get it,” she said taking off her gloves.

The smile grew bigger on Jean’s face as Marie took a step towards her. “Stupid girl! I could crush you before you ever got within a foot of me. No, I would rather hurt you another way.” Marie was confused by what Jean had said. She watched the red head turn her eyes towards Logan. “What would hurt you the most I wonder?” Jean asked rhetorically. Marie felt Logan tense beside her and looked over to see pure rage dripping from his face. “Jean!” he growled.

All anger drained from Marie as she felt that Jean was fixing to tell her something she didn’t want to hear.

“Did you honestly think that he befriended you because he wanted to? You are not that special sweetheart. Money…now that would make a person do something they could care less about doing before. Isn’t that right Logan?”

“FUCK YOU JEAN!” Logan screamed.

“Oh no honey…you already did that,” Jean said smiling. Marie was stunned. The words were trying to make sense in her brain but she couldn’t understand them. Looking over to Logan for some guidance, the only thing she saw was shame. And then it hit her. The conversation she had overheard today in Xavier’s office was about this.

“The professor paid you to befriend me?” she whispered in shock.