Marie grabbed her head as visions and memories assaulted her mind. She was drowning in a tank of green water as men cheered and celebrated around her. Her whole body felt as if it was being torn apart, not one moment of peace could she find. She opened her mouth to scream and water filled it instantly. Marie tried to cough but only tasted the bitter green water. She frantically tried to fight her way to the surface but it was no use, she was trapped in its hell. Rage engulfed her in an instant and she let herself be overcome by it. Breaking the restraints that held her down, she forced her way up. A blood curdling scream came out of her mouth as the men who had been celebrating started running for their lives. Blood, she was out for their blood and there would be no mercy.

It was a pain worse than the sickening green water fell upon her hands as she looked down at them. Long, indestructible claws were sticking out of her knuckles while her blood dripped from the wounds. Slowly raising her head back up, she growled at the retreating backs of the men. She ran towards her enemy, the men who caused her so much pain, and attacked the closest man. The claws slid straight through his chest as a gurgling sound came from his mouth. Seeing his blood only made Marie want more…and so more she got. She didn’t stop until every one of them was dead and yet the one she wanted got away. Stryker, the name was burned into her mind like the metal that now pushed against her brain.

Marie was pulled out of the vision by Logan whispering in her mind. “Marie, darlin’ you gotta stop it.”

Before she could answer him, she was pushed into another vision. She was in the middle of the woods surrounded by snow and silence. Looking down, she noticed she was naked and yet not cold. She heard a noise behind her and whipped her head around to see a bear twenty feet away. Her first thought was to run but she was starving and this bear would serve to quiet the hunger. Her animal instincts took over and she ran towards the bear. Struggling with the beast, Marie could feel every hit and scratch as the thing fought back. With every laceration came healing, with every bruise came renewal. The bear had no chance of survival against the metal claws and it fell to the snow covered ground disturbing the silence of the forest. Marie dined that night and felt the satisfaction of the kill. She was nothing but animal, not one ounce of humanity left.

“Marie…you gotta take control! FIGHT MARIE!” The Logan in her head screamed.

“I can’t Logan…It’s too strong! The memories, they’re too much!” she cried.

She found herself in a rundown bar somewhere in Canada. Sitting at the bar, she looked around to the various people coming and going. Women threw themselves at her but she ignored them. She wasn’t here for a fuck but for blood. The fighting circuit was a huge attraction in Canada and Marie needed money. She had only been back in civilization for a year but the blood lust did not stop.

Stepping into the cage, Marie felt empowered as the first of a dozen men came to face her. None of them ever had a chance and soon the crowd had a new favorite fighter.

“Rogue?” Xavier’s voice cut through the memories.

Looking around her, she noticed that everything was gone. She was standing amongst a fog of grey and black. She heard someone approach her and turned to see Xavier standing there watching her. He had a look of understanding on his face as he got closer. She felt the bloodlust rise within her and she wanted to kill him. He had no right being in this place, disturbing her from her memories.

“Rogue…I’m not going to hurt you. I’m here to help you,” he said holding his hands out in front of him.

“Get outta my head bub,” she growled.

Xavier stopped and looked at her knowingly, “Wolverine?” he asked.

A cold dead smile lit up Marie’s face as he savored the name. He hadn’t been called that in a long time and he let it wrap him in its sound.

Rogue? He knew that name, but how? Who was this rogue that Xavier spoke of? Wolverine wasn’t used to the feelings that overcame him at hearing that name, yet another name came to him as a memory floated to the surface.

“What kind of a name is Rogue?” he had asked her. She turned back to him with a defiant look on her beautiful face as she turned the tables on him. “I don’t know, what kind of a name is Wolverine?”

Yes, he remembered this Rogue. “My name is Logan,” he had told her. Watching a small smile play on her lips, she had told him her name…her real name. Marie, that’s what she had said…,beautiful Marie. “I’ll take care of you.” He had promised her that. Wolverine never promised anything to anyone, yet this girl had made him promise to take care of her. “You promise?” The look in her eyes made him decide at that moment to give his life for her if that’s what she wanted. “Yeah…I promise.”

He felt himself starting to ease his hold on Marie’s mind as he felt her presence grow stronger than his own. Even though he was giving up power, he didn’t feel defeated. He felt more like the man Logan. And then he was silent.

Marie pushed her way past Wolverine’s strong hold and broke through to regain her mind. Xavier was there to see her through this. This was so different from Cody. She had never lost control of herself with him but he was not even close to having Wolverine’s strength. Marie found it very fascinating that Logan and Wolverine were not the same. Wolverine was very real and not just Logan in a very rage filled mood. She shivered at the feeling of animalistic Wolverine, yet she did not fear him.

Xavier came and stood beside her as she merged her mind with Logan and Wolverine. They were one now, yet she wasn’t overpowered. She had their strengths and together they fought the ugly memories of Logan’s past. She wasn’t sure if Xavier could see all of the horrible memories but being a strong telepath she figured he already knew. As she relived the awful moments, she felt what Logan felt, saw what Logan saw, hated what Logan hated and loved what Logan loved.

The memories stopped for a brief moment as grey and black swirled around her again. Then her face was before her. It was the memory of the night in her room and she watched as the broken man that was Logan open his heart to her for the first time. The emotions she felt from him knocked her to her knees as she saw herself through his eyes. Marie had never felt such a longing and love for one person before. She had never felt the fire of desire burn within her as she did at that moment. How this man could feel this much for her was beyond her understanding, yet it was all here in his memory.

She watched as the memory disappeared into mist and floated away as if on the wind. Xavier was calling her name but it wasn’t in her head. It was a far off, dreamlike sound as if being awakened. Feeling herself being pulled back into consciousness, Marie opened her eyes slowly. Looking around, she noticed that she was in the med lab. Her first thought was that she had come full circle being back in this place.

“Rogue, how do you feel,” Xavier said softly.

Marie turned her head slowly towards Xavier’s voice and saw the gentle eyes of the man. “I feel whole,” she whispered.

A kind smile touched his face and then he turned his eyes over to something out of her view. Sitting up slowly, Marie carefully got to her feet.

“Maybe you shouldn’t overdue it Rogue, you’ve been through a traumatic experience,” he tried to reason.

“I’m fine.” Marie walked past Xavier and headed to the next room over. She couldn’t see into the room but she knew what it held. Some of the X-men were standing out in the hall, between the two rooms but Marie ignored them. Her destination was ahead of her and she couldn’t think of anything else. She heard someone call her name but it didn’t matter, he was in that room and she had to see him.

The first thing she saw was the blood. It was oozing out of the gauzes taped to his body. He looked like a man that had faced a chainsaw and lost. The gut wrenching cry that came from her mouth didn’t sound human. She ran to him and collapsed beside his body. What had she done? Logan wasn’t supposed to bleed, and he certainly wasn’t supposed to be near death.

“Rogue, it’s not your fault. All Logan cared about was saving you,” Xavier whispered behind her.

Her tears were falling on the sheet that covered him as she watched his chest slowly rise and fall. He had given her his healing ability, which would explain why she felt alive as never before. It was a feeling that she could have never imagined in her wildest dreams, but at what cost to Logan? Marie was alive and whole while he battled for his life.

“It’s not your fault darlin’. I’d do it again if it meant that you were okay.” Logan’s voice said in her head.

“Can you fix him?” she asked, without turning to look at Xavier.

“Only time can do that Rogue. Logan is very strong and I have no doubt he will come back to us…when his body is ready.” She could hear pity in his voice as he spoke and it made her feel miserable. “Rogue, why don’t you go change and get some rest,” he said softly.

She could do with a change of clothing, but there would be no rest until Logan woke up. Turning towards Xavier she said, “Can you ask Jubes to grab me a change of clothing in my room?”

He looked at her sadly as he agreed. Moments later he wheeled himself out to talk to Jubes.

Marie stared at the dark red spots all over Logan’s body and a wave of memories hit her again. This time she watched from the sidelines as Logan struggled in his makeshift coffin. His blood was mixing with that horrible green water. She could now see that the men in the room were from the military. The people that were suppose to protect and serve were nothing more than animals themselves. They had taken an innocent man and turned his nightmares into a reality. They had stripped a man of his humanity until there was nothing left. Champagne was passed around as the men celebrated their victory. They never heard the horrible screams coming from the tank. They never saw the heart monitors showing a man dieing and then coming back. These men saw nothing but their stupidity and a world that accepted what they were doing.

Marie awoke with a scream. Looking around, she couldn’t remember where she was. She finally recognized the med lab and Logan’s bruised body laying on the gurney. Her nightmare came rushing back to her and she remembered what had happened. It had been two days since the incident and still Logan remained in a coma. His wounds had healed a little but she wouldn’t be satisfied till he was awake. She had been having nightmares the past couple of nights. Each one of them showing her something different from Logan’s past. How one man could go through all of what he had been through she would never know.

Doubt started to fill her mind. How would Logan react to her when he woke up? Would he hate her for putting him through that much pain? Would he forgive her? Marie fought with these questions and more as she watched him. He made the decision to save her, but did he really know what it would do to him? If he hated her, she would leave. This was his home before she ever came here; she would not deprive him of that one thing. He would hate her for this. The Wolverine inside him would make sure of it.

“Never!” the Logan in her head said emphatically.

She didn’t think that she could put too much stock in a voice inside of her head; the voice that she could probably make to say whatever she wanted it to. The thought of Logan hating her was too much. All of his memories, of her, in his head told her otherwise, but she didn’t want to give herself false hope. Even if Logan didn’t hate her, there was no way he would ever get close to her again. She wouldn’t blame him if he wouldn’t risk touching her. She was after all the untouchable girl.

Five days past as Marie watched the wounds on Logan slowly disappear. She only left his side to change and shower. His vital signs were getting stronger and he was getting some of his color back. Marie read her favorite poems to him and sometimes just talked about her hopes and fears. She missed the color hazel and would beg him to open his eyes.

On the sixth day, Marie took it upon herself to change his bandages. She had had enough of watching Jean run her perfectly manicured fingers down his chest. She knew that, in a way, she was being unfair. The red head was a doctor and was just checking his wounds, but the woman part of her wanted to punch her in the face.

Raising the bandages up, Marie smiled as she saw the skin renewed. There was no sign of lacerations or blood anymore. Going to the next bandage, she noticed the same thing. His body had totally healed itself and she let out a huge sigh. She looked down at her gloved hand and wished she could feel his skin underneath her fingers. She wished that she could touch him the right way.

Marie was startled as she heard a cough and felt Logan reach up to stop her hand from moving. She slowly looked down into the unsmiling face of the man who saved her life.