Walking the halls of the mansion, Marie’s mind was in overload. She was thinking about what Xavier told her. Logan had gone beyond what he was paid to do. The only question left to ask was why. And why would he not tell her the truth? Would she really have believed him? Marie was starting to feel worse by the minute. She decided that she would find him and make things right. He would be given the opportunity to tell his side of the story and then she would forgive him. Marie just hoped she wasn’t too late to salvage what was left between them.

She walked briskly into the garage, hoping against hope that he would be there. Coming to the door, she called his name, but there was no answer. She looked around the wide space but there was no one but her in the room. Turning on her heels, she walked up the stairs towards his room. The knock on the door went unanswered. Marie was starting to get very annoyed. “Come on Logan,” she whispered at the door. After a few minutes of knocking and getting no reply, Marie turned and walked towards the back yard. ‘Maybe he was under the oak tree’, she thought.

The sunlight shown through the clouds as Marie made her way towards the tree. She could see someone’s silhouette but couldn’t make out who it was. Holding her hand to her eyes, Marie let out a breath she didn’t know that she was holding. Logan sat under the tree, resting his head against the wood. Coming closer, Marie realized his eyes were closed. She eased her body down beside his large frame and rested her head back like he was doing. Looking up into the sky, she watched the clouds moving by. At that moment she envied Storm for being able to control something so amazing. She contemplated the words to say to Logan, but nothing felt right. She didn’t believe for a second that he didn’t know she was there. They were sitting close together, and yet he didn’t try to move. ‘That was a good sign right?’ she said to herself.

“I can leave if you want,” Logan’s gruff voice spoke.

“That’s not what I want Logan,” Marie said, looking over at him. He continued to keep his eyes closed as she stared at him.

“Really? I thought that would be exactly what you wanted.” She didn’t really know what she wanted, but one thing was for sure…she didn’t want him to leave.

After several moments of silence Marie asked quietly, “When did you realize that you wanted to give the money back?”

He didn’t answer her at first. Logan sat as still as one human…or mutant could be. For a moment Marie thought that maybe he had fallen asleep. He had looked so tired in Xavier’s office earlier.

The minutes ticked away and Marie had decided she wasn’t going to get an answer from him. She decided to leave Logan to his dreams and hoped that maybe she could find him again later.

Rising to her feet, she took a couple of steps towards the mansion. The sound of his voice, speaking just above a whisper, stopped her from moving another step. “The moment you trusted me enough to tell me your secrets…and didn’t turn away in disgust…as I told you mine.”

Turning around slowly to face him, she was met with those beautiful hazel eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me the whole truth Logan? Why didn’t you tell me what exactly Xavier paid you to do?” Marie asked.

“Would it have made a difference Marie? You had your mind pretty well made up”

“Is that what you think? Then why am I here now?” she said.

“Why are you here? I thought you would have been through with me by now,” Logan mumbled.

“I’m here because I need to know there was more to you than just a man that was making money. I need to know that the Logan I have seen and spent time with is the real you. I need to know that the person who promised to take care of me is real.” Marie’s voice cracked with emotion as she said the last part.

She watched him stand up and take a step towards her and then stop. She saw the emotions playing in his eyes but she needed to hear the words come from his mouth. If Logan told her that he meant every word, she would believe him, no questions asked. “Marie…I swear….” he started.

“Hey you two, the professor wants to meet with everyone in his office right now.” Marie closed her eyes, annoyed, as Jubes’ voice interrupted Logan.

“Not now yellow…we are in the middle of something,” Logan growled.

“Sorry Wolvie! I come on strict orders from the professor. Besides, I think you two might want to hear what he has to say…seeing as it’s about Rogue.”

Marie turned to meet the Asian beauty with a confused look. “He wants to talk about me?” Jubes shook her head yes and turned to leave. The first thought that entered Marie’s mind was that the professor had found more information on Eric’s plan to kill her. She was suddenly gripped with fear as she wondered what could be coming next.

“Come on darlin‘,” Logan said putting his hand on the small of her back. She let him lead her back into the mansion towards Xavier’s office. Every step Marie took made her heart pound harder.

Walking into the room, Marie noticed that every X-Man was there. All eyes turned towards her and Logan as they walked over to the couch to sit down. “Well, now that everyone is here I would like to bring this meeting to order,” Xavier said. “As all of you know, I have asked Rogue to stay here with us as a permanent member of this family. Now some of you have not taken to well to this situation and I will tell you right now that that must end.” His voice held an air of authority that Marie guessed no one would disobey. “It will be hard to have spiteful feelings for one of your comrades on the battle field…that is if she accepts my offer to join the X-Men.”

Marie’s eyes went wide as what Xavier was saying sunk in. ’Did he really just ask me to be a part of the team?’ Damn, she did not see this coming and neither did some of the others in the room as they gasped. “Rogue, of course you have every right to turn me down, but I would love for you to be an X-Man. I’ve heard from several people that you are a great fighter,” Xavier said smiling.

“Charles you can’t be serious. Tell me you’re joking,” Jean said surprised.

Turning his head towards the red head, his look turned dark. “Do you think I would joke about something like this Jean? I am dead serious. I want Rogue to be a part of the team, if she wants to be.” Marie saw confusion play on Jean’s face. She was willing to take a wild guess and say that Xavier had never spoken to her like that before.

“It’s too dangerous professor. How do we know that she isn’t here as a spy for Magneto? She could kill us all before we so much as realized what was going on and now you are asking us to accept her on the team? I don’t know if I can do that,” John said angrily.

“And I will remind you that you are one mistake away from being kicked out of this place John. After the incident the other night, you will have to excuse me if I don’t hold your opinion as being too reliable,” Xavier shot back.

Marie saw John’s face turn beet red as he looked away from his mentor.

“I think she would make an excellent addition to the team. She’s a smart fighter and I would feel safe with her by my side,” Scott spoke. Marie turned her attention over to the leader and gave him a smile. It was good to know that at least one person was on her side.

“I agree with Scott. She needs a little practice but overall she would be a great X-Man.” Slowly turning her attention to Logan, Marie mouthed a thank you to him. He gave her a small wink as he turned his attention back to Xavier.

“Heck yeah! We need more estrogen on this damn team,” Jubes blurted out. Marie let out a laugh at the strange girl in yellow. She was starting to understand why Logan had called her yellow earlier. The girl was practically bathed in the bright color.

“Rogue, I will leave it up to you whether this is something that you want but if it is, you will start out on the Beta team. This group consists of the people your age who are working their way up to Alfa team. You will be able to do missions and train with Logan and when you are ready, you will be one of the X-Men,” Xavier said lightly.

Marie thought over her options as everyone waited for her answer. She wasn’t stupid enough to think that she had everyone’s trust, but maybe this could be a big step towards making her feel more welcomed. She wanted a chance to show these people that she was not here to stab them in the back and that they really could trust her. Now she had her chance.

“Thank you Xavier, I’m really flattered and I would love to accept her invitation to join the team,” Marie said smiling. There were some mumbles of disapproval mixed with cheers. Maybe things would really start looking up.

“Congratulations darlin‘,” Logan said grinning. She smiled brightly at him as he used her favorite term of endearment. Marie felt the depressive atmosphere lift its ugly head away from them for a moment. Maybe they would be okay after all. Marie found herself getting lost in those hazel eyes as Logan stared at her.

“Since that is settled, I want Rogue to see how the Beta team works. Scott, take the team to the Danger Room and run a scenario with them. Rogue, I would like you to join them and make yourself get used to working with the others.” Both Marie and Scott shook their heads, agreeing to do as Xavier asked. “Jean, Logan and I have business to attend to in the city this afternoon. We will be back shortly.”

“Not a chance Chuck, I want to watch the Beta team. I‘ve trained them so it‘s only fair that I get to see them in action,” Logan said, shaking his head.

“I’m sorry Logan but I really need you on this assignment with me.”

“So! Get someone else,” Logan said gruffly.

“Logan, I do not want to argue with you…please just trust me on this. I need you with me on this one,” Xavier said exasperated.

“Whatever,” Logan mumbled.

Marie tried not to dwell on the fact that Xavier had said Jean’s name as well. The thought of her and Logan together pissed her off…even if Xavier would be there. She had to set her feelings aside; obviously it was something of importance to Xavier. Marie just hoped that bitch kept her hands to herself.

“Okay, I guess that takes care of everything for now. Beta team, you can leave to get ready for training. Logan and Jean, we will leave as soon as possible,” Xavier said.

There was so much unsaid between Marie and Logan and she really wished they had enough time to talk. It seemed that Xavier was in a hurry, so their talk would have to wait. She watched Logan get to his feet and turn to look down at her.

“When I get back, you and I have a lot to talk about. Meet me at the Oak tree when you’re done okay?” Logan asked softly.

“Okay,” Marie whispered.

Logan walked to the door and turned to look back at her. He gave her one of his trademark grins as he slipped out the door. Marie was shaken out of her thoughts as she felt someone plop down beside her. Looking over, she saw Jubes giving her a huge smile.

“You have to tell me your secrete Rogue. I’ve been trying to tame that man since the moment his handsome ass walked through Xavier’s door,” she said winking.

Marie couldn’t cover red cheeks fast enough. She wouldn’t say that she had tamed Logan, really she didn’t know what to expect from the talk they would soon have.

She followed Jubes into the women’s locker room and noticed another girl getting ready. “Hey kitty! I want you to meet Rogue…officially. Rogue, this is Kitty…Kitty, this is Rogue,” Jubes said, pointing between the two girls.

“Hi,” Kitty said shyly.

“Nice to meet you,” Marie said with a smile.

The three girls stood around awkwardly until finally Kitty turned and walked out. “You have to look over Kitty. She is mutant challenged. I swear that girl gets embarrassed at the drop of a hat.”

Marie wasn’t quite sure that it was embarrassment that made Kitty run out of the locker room. It was probably more like fear. She would have to make a point to relieve some of the fears these people had towards her since she was a part of the team now.

As they were getting ready, Marie wondered how this whole Danger room worked. She remembered seeing Logan and the beta team during training a couple of days ago and it all looked so real. “Hey Jubes…this scenario thing…how real is it? Can you get hurt or is it just nothing?” Marie asked.

Jubes thought for a moment before answering. “Have you ever seen The Matrix?”

“Yeah…once,” Marie answered.

“Well it’s kind of like that. Being in the Danger Room, running a scenario, is like being in the Matrix. It’s not really real but your mind makes it real. So I guess to answer your question…yes you can get hurt…killed even, but no one has ever gotten seriously hurt or anything. Logan is the only one that has tested the Danger Room’s capability to the max and well, he can survive just about anything!” Jubes said shrugging her shoulders.

“So if you bleed in the scenario, you aren’t really bleeding in real life?”

“Oh no, you will actually. Remember the brain thinks it’s real and the body responds to that. Seriously Rogue, do not worry about it. Scott knows that you have never been trained on the Danger Room so he will take it pretty easy on us today.”

With that Jubes turned around and headed back towards the group waiting outside. Marie wasn’t sure she was ready for this but she had to pull it together to show these people that she could hold her own. She followed Jubes out and met the group in the middle of the huge circular room. Looking up to the control room, Marie saw Scott looking down at them. She had a set of earphones on that was linked to him. He could give them commands from where he was.

“Ok guys, listen up. Your objective today is to take the white flag that represents your team to the opposite end of the room. You have exactly thirty minutes to complete this mission. Remember to work together to get the job done. If one of you gets in trouble, it’s up to each and every one of you to help them get out. You have thirty seconds to get ready before I start the program,” Scott said through the earphones.

Taking a deep breath, Marie steadied her nerves. The lights started to dim as everyone took their positions. Out of the corner of her eye, Marie caught someone walk in to where Scott was. Looking up to see who it was, Marie stared in confusion. Logan was looking down at her with a big grin on his face.

“Jesus Logan, you scared the hell out of me,” Scott said.

How was she suppose to concentrate on what she was doing, knowing Logan was watching. Wait, wasn’t he supposed to be somewhere with the professor?

Still staring, at the two men, Marie noticed something off about Logan. There was something not quite right about him and it shocked her that she could tell from where she was. She watched him walk up behind Scott and pull something from behind his back.

Terror overtook Marie as she screamed out to an unsuspecting Scott. It was not fast enough and Marie watched as Logan hit Scott over the head with a blunt object. The fearless leader hit the ground without moving another muscle. The sound of his head hitting the floor echoed through the earphone into each one of their ears.

“What the hell?” she heard Bobby whisper.

They all were staring wide eyed at Logan as he raised his hand and gave them a wave. Marie was missing something, she just knew it. This wasn’t Logan and yet this thing seemed so familiar. It was the eyes. A feeling of dread hit her as the realization of what she was missing came crashing down upon her. Marie would be able to recognize the eyes anywhere…the eyes of Mystique.

“Hello Rogue, I have a message for you,” Mystique said in Logan’s voice.

Moments later, a voice spoke throughout the danger room and Marie started to shake.

Eric’s voice pierced the heart of Marie. Trembling, she realized that they were trapped.

“Run!” Marie whispered frantically to the others.

Everyone took off towards the entrance to the Danger Room. Before they could reach it, the ground began to shake. Marie lost her balance and fell as the floor rumbled to life. Looking around her, she watched as the circular room disappeared into a hellish scene. A city, so torn apart and blazing with fire, greeted the wide eyes of Marie. The earthquake like movement seemed to be picking up strength as she tried to get to her feet. She could hear the others struggling to regain their footing as well. Through the light of the blazing fires around them, Marie watched as the ground cracked underneath them.

“MOVE!” she screamed over the noise.

Everyone jumped in different directions to get out of the way of the opening whole. Marie ran as fast as she could to where Jubes and Kitty were struggling to stand up. Reaching them, she grabbed their arms and started to run. Not knowing exactly where to go, Marie headed towards a flipped car. Reaching the other side, the three girls huddled down for shelter.

Looking over to the entrance, Marie noticed a crater the size of a football field, in the way, making it really hard for them to reach it on foot.

“Oh my God, what are we going to do?” Kitty cried.

Marie ignored the question as she searched for the guys. She found Booby and John a few cars down from them. Remy, Warren, and Kurt were nowhere to be seen. The sound of metal hitting metal brought her attention away from the searching to see something unthinkable.

Coming from the large crater was a demon straight from the pits of hell. The thing’s red eyes stared at her as its enormous head came into view. She heard the two girls whimper beside her.

“You see Rogue; you wanted to follow Xavier and his teachings over that of Eric’s. What better way to kill you and your miserable friends than with the creatures that will haunt your dreams in the future. These things that you see are no illusion. Our government is producing them as we speak.” Mystique said.

Marie was confused. Why would the government create such things? It wasn’t making any sense to her frazzled brain. The head, of the creature was completely out and it measured that of an eighteen wheeler. The shoulders alone were enough to destroy city block after city block if it rammed into the buildings. It was so large, yet graceful as it pulled itself out of the crater. Its feet could crush a mass of people in just mere seconds.

“Say hello to the future…to the sentinels Rogue. The things that keep Xavier awake at night yet he refuses to let the one’s following him know about. The reason is he fears that his tolerance for the humans will lead to this.”

‘SHUT UP YOU BITCH!” Marie screamed into the microphone. Looking up towards the control room, she noticed that Mystique had changed from Logan’s form to her own. She was smiling and laughing at their predicament. They had to think of something fast or they would all be dead in moments.

“Jubes…do you have your cell phone?” Marie whispered.

“Y…yes, why?”

Holding out her hand, Marie said, “Give it to me.”

She reached out and took the cell phone from Jubes’ trembling hand as she searched for Xavier’s number. Finding it, she snatched the headphones off and hit the button to dial the number. As she brought it up to her ears, Marie cursed aloud. The operator came on the line to inform her that there was no signal.

Throwing the phone down, Marie picked her headset back up and put it on.

“Ok Mystique…Eric wants me dead, that’s fine, but you have to let the other’s go. They have nothing to do with this,” Marie begged. Laughter filled her ears as Marie looked back towards the sentinel.

Before Mystique could speak, there was another grinding noise to Maries left, and she turned to see her worst nightmare just getting worse. Out of the ashes of the broken city street raised another red eyed creature. Another sound in front of her made her whip her head to look. Huge, red eyes were coming up from every direction as Marie realized they were trapped.

There was only one way out of here and it didn’t have very good odds.

“Okay, everyone listen up! We are going to have to pull together and fight them with our powers. We are strong enough as one unit to do this. Throw everything you got at them and don’t stop till every last one is a heap of rubble on the ground!” Marie screamed. “On the count of three, ONE….TWO….THREEE!”

Marie pulled herself to her feet and charged into the middle of the enormous sentinels. She heard Jubes and Kitty following her as all eight people made it. Forming a large circle, Marie ordered everyone to start throwing everything they had and prayed it worked.

For a moment, it did work as the first sentinel broke under the pressure of seven mutations hitting it square in the chest. With a horrid sound, the creature fell to the ground in a heap of metal and sparks. ’One down, three to go’, Marie thought.

Before they could turn towards the next sentinel, Marie saw a beam of red light shoot out of the machines hand, striking Remy and Warren and throwing them back a good twenty yards. The other two sentinels started walking towards where the group was standing. Fire and ice ran together in a melody of destruction towards the oncoming sentinels. It did not so much as falter the creature’s steps as it moved forward. Marie desperately searched for a way out of this nightmare.

“We have to get to Remy and Warren. They could be seriously hurt,” Kitty cried. Without another word the group ran towards their fallen comrades. Remy was groaning loudly as he tried to sit up, but Warren didn’t move. Marie thought the worse before she even got to the fallen angel. Leaning down beside him, she noticed his chest rising with breath and sighed with relief.

The sound of the sentinels came closer to the group as they all looked up to see them being surrounded again. Slowly, they watched as one of the enormous creatures turned his palm towards them. The red laser was blinding to Marie. She grabbed Warren and pulled with everything she had as the beam of light fell upon them. Inches separated Marie from the deadly path of the sentinel’s strike, as she lay with her back to the cold ground. Jerking her head up at the sound of a scream, Marie watched in horror as John was struck by the laser. Upon watching his friend get hit, Bobby screamed and charged at the sentinel. He didn’t have a chance as the machine reached down, with his had, and sent Bobby flying towards his fallen friend.

They did not have a chance against these three sentinels and the realization of that made Marie tremble in fear. The screams of Jubes and Kitty caught her attention as she watched them run away from the approaching machines. Kurt grabbed the two girls and disappeared. Looking around frantically for them, Marie spotted them a safe distance away. In that instance, all eyes of the sentinels were trained on her. She realized that she had to get them away from the fallen members of the beta team and fast.

Getting to her feet, Marie started running towards a congested area of overturned cars and rubble. She could hear the machines behind her and was relieved that her plan was working. Remy, Warren, John and Bobby were forgotten in the sentinel’s minds.

Marie ran to a car and jumped behind it for cover. If only she could have just a few moments to think of a plan. The sound that came over the headset gave her no time to think at all.

“WHAT THE HELL!” Logan’s shocked voice rang out.

Looking up at the control room, Marie expected to see Mystique in Logan’s form, but what she saw made her heart leap out of her chest. There, looking down upon them was the real Logan, accompanied by the professor. Jean was slowly helping Scott to his feet. Mystique was no where to be found.

“Logan, help us,” Marie whispered frantically.

Her whispers were cut short as she felt the car, which she was hiding behind disappear into a heap of torn mental and twisted parts. Marie jumped back as the sentinel sent its foot down towards her. The impact made her lose her footing and she fell to the ground. Metallic fingers circled her body as the sentinel picked her up. She fought against the hand holding her, but there was no use, she couldn‘t break through the hold.

Looking towards the control room, she saw fear in Logan’s eyes as he watched frozen where he stood.

Everything happened in slow motion to Marie’s frazzled mind. One minute she was looking at a fearful Logan and the next she was flying through the air. The world seemed to catch up with time as her body came crashing down to earth. For a moment, everything was dark, and she wondered if she was conscious. The sentinel had discarded her as if she were nothing more than trash. Every single pore in her body seemed to scream out in pain as she came back to the present. Opening her mouth to scream, nothing came out but air.

“NOOOO,” Logan roared over the headset.

The sound of shattered glass could be heard from above her, yet the only thing Marie could focus on was the pain. Her right side burned as if it were on fire. Slowly looking down at her body, Marie finally let out a scream. There, sticking out of her side was a piece of wood in the shape of a spear. It had gone all the way through her. She watched horrified as her blood pooled around her. ‘This seems so real and my God it feels real too’, she thought.

Her breathing was ragged as if she couldn’t get enough oxygen. Marie could hear Logan’s booming growl and the sound of the sentinels being turn apart. Stealing a glance up, she watched Logan take down one of the machines and it was merciless. He tore something a part that was twenty times his size in only a matter of minutes.

“Oh my God, Rogue!” Marie turned her eyes away from Logan to see Jubes, Kitty and Kurt running towards her. She was trying to give Jubes and Kitty a reassuring smile but a wave of pain hit her hard and she screamed. Jubes fell at her side and grabbed her hand, whispering words of comfort.

“Just an illusion huh?” Marie whispered weakly.

“Kurt, go and check on Remy and Warren. Kitty you go check on Bobby and John. I’ll stay here with Rogue,” Jubes commanded.

Kurt and Kitty were staring at the wooden spear sticking out of Marie’s side. Neither one of them moved as if they were in a trance.

“GO! Now!” Jubes yelled.

Getting to their feet, each ran off to check on the others. Marie looked back at Jubes and watched the Asian girl try to smile. It was forced and that told her everything she needed to know. Her situation was not good. “It’s okay Rogue, hold on a few more seconds. Logan and the professor are taking care of those things.”

She could hear the pure rage of Logan’s screams as he fought the sentinels. The sound was much farther away from her as if she were back in that tunnel. ‘Is this what it feels like to die?’ she wondered. The pain was slowly beginning to turn into a feeling of numbness and Marie didn’t know whether to be thankful or more frightened.

Minutes later, she heard footsteps coming towards her and watched as Jubes face was replaced with Logan’s in her vision. She saw the look of pain in his face, as he looked towards her side. Her breathing was ragged and she knew that she had punctured a lung.

“Future 2012 abort!” the professor yelled.

Marie was in too much pain to watch as the room turned back to its normal circular shape. Gone were the burning building, cars, and sentinels. The only thing left were the broken bodies of the beta team.

Looking back down, Marie was shocked to see the wooden spear gone but the blood remained.

“Somebody help me!” Logan yelled frantically.

Marie felt herself losing consciousness and closed her eyes to enjoy it. “NO! Marie, no! Stay with me darlin’, come on,” Logan pleaded as he picked her up and brought her to his chest. She felt at peace for the first time in a long time.

Looking past Logan, Marie saw a light becoming brighter and brighter. She had always laughed at hearing people say that when you die you see the light, but now she was starting to think differently. It was so beautiful and she could feel the warmth of it touch her skin. Marie longed to be surrounded in its protection and tried to reach for it, yet she didn’t have the strength to raise her hand.

“Marie, look at me,” Logan whispered.

Turning her head away from the light, Marie looked deep into the hazel eyes of Logan. “It’s okay Logan. I’m not afraid anymore,” Marie whispered weakly.

His eyes went wide at her words and he held on tighter. “But I am Marie!”

She noticed his tears first before she noticed what he was starting to do. At first it didn’t really register and then his lips were mere inches away from her. “I’m gonna make it better darlin’,” he said as he gently kissed her lips.

She had only a fraction of a second to relish the soft touch of Logan before she closed her eyes and went limp in his arms. Marie felt nothing as the moment of death overtook her.

Marie noticed that she was standing, surrounded by the bright light. She looked down at herself and saw that she was still wearing the black leather X-man suit. Turning around, she saw Logan holding her in his arms. His gut wrenching scream filled her ears and tore at her heart. “NO! Don’t you dare leave me,” he screamed at her lifeless body. She watched him bring his face down to lay upon her own as he whispered in her ear, “I’ve waited my whole life for you Marie. Breathe darlin’, please just take one breath.”

And then she felt it. A pain so deep that it overshadowed the pain she felt in her side. Thoughts and memories of Logan came crashing into her mind. She tried to scream but nothing came out. Opening her eyes wide, Marie met Logan’s painful stare. The veins were popping out of his face and neck as memories of labs and pain filled her thoughts. Marie knew in an instant what was happening. He was pushing life back into her broken body. The feeling of his strength flowed throughout her as he continued to hold on.

Love, hate, shame, anger, rage and caring flowed through Marie as she battled against Logan to let her go. He held on tightly and refused to even budge. Marie could hear his voice inside her head, yet it was different from when Cody had touched her. Logan was not angry with her. She heard the voice breathe deeply as he came to rest inside her head. “It worked,” he whispered.

Logan’s eyes rolled to the back of his head and he finally released her. She watched him fall to the ground as he started to convulse.