It took him just over two weeks to track her down at the tiny cabin she rented on the outskirts of Anchorage. Goddamn if the woman didn't know how to disappear off the face of the fucking planet when she wanted to.

She wasn't home the afternoon he showed up, so he quietly took care of the lock and let himself in to wait for her. He clicked the door shut as Rogue's familiar scent wrapped all around him. The cabin seemed even tinier on the inside than it appeared from the outside. Looked cozy, though. Looked...hers.

Hands stuffed in his pockets, he turned around in the living room, looking for a place to sit. He'd barely settled on an old armchair when the sound of footsteps came up the walk, stamping off snow as they reached the door.

Logan stood from the armchair as the key turned in the lock. Rogue stepped in, holding the door open with her back as she struggled with a large brown grocery bag in her arms. Logan watched, almost unable to breathe, as she kneed the door shut and balanced the bag against it so she could pull off her mittens. Then with a triumphant breath, she hoisted the bag back up in her arms and turned around.

She froze the moment her eyes locked on his, and a tiny sound escaped the back of her throat, bag falling from her arms. It landed with a loud thunk, scattering groceries everywhere and sending a couple of cans rolling across the floor.

Logan held his hands up. "I just wanna-...Wait!"

She'd bolted back out the door before he could even finish. By the time he got outside and around to the back of the cabin, she was already halfway across the snowy stretch of field toward the ravine. He took off after her.

"Rogue!"

He could hear her panting as he caught up to her. He grabbed the hood of her coat, and she spun around, chopping at his arms as she tried to free herself.

“Let me go!” she yelled. He snatched her toward him and clamped his arms around her to control her thrashing movements.

"I just wanna talk to you for a minute," he said.

"I have nothing to say to you, you stupid son of a bitch!" she said. Seconds later, the inevitable happened. She twisted around in his arms and brought a knee up sharply, striking him square in the balls.

Okay. He deserved that. But hot fucking damn, did it ever hurt like hell. He growled, eyes filling with tears as the searing pain engulfed his entire body. Hand clapping over his crotch, he fell to his knees in the snow as Rogue pushed away from him and disappeared into the woods. He stayed there, helpless, until his healing factor started to work, then he stumbled to his feet and ran after her.

"Rogue, wait!" he yelled. He could see her up ahead. She must have been getting tired, because she'd slowed down, and he could see her breath puffing in short, visible clouds of air. When he caught up to her this time, he grabbed her from behind, but she kicked out one of his legs, throwing him off balance and causing them both to tumble to the ground. He got his legs wrapped around hers to keep her from kicking him in the nuts again as they wrestled in the snow.

"Get off me!" she shrieked as he shifted on top of her. Her fists swiped at his face. "Get-"

He let her get one good hit in before he grabbed her wrists and pinned them to the ground on either side of her head.

"I thought it was you!" he said as she twisted against his grip. He shifted, above her, trying to make her look at him. "I thought it was you."

She stopped struggling and lay panting beneath him, face turned to the side. Logan continued.

"Look, I know I shoulda told you about the bet, all right? And I was gonna. But then she...you came to me and...you - she - could touch, and..." He clenched his teeth, eyes stinging with furious tears. "She did something. In my head, and...I thought it was you."

She swallowed and blinked, but still wouldn't look at him. There was a long silence as he panted on top of her, still catching his breath from the chase she'd given him.

"Jesus, Rogue, would you just say somethin' to me already?"

She finally turned her head to look at him. "I hate you," she said.

The words sliced through him like a cold adamantium blade. Not so much because he hadn't expected her to say it, because he had...but because he hadn't expected her to actually mean it. He'd been prepared for screaming and crying. Not cold calmness. Matter of fact.

"Give me five minutes," he said. She'd stopped struggling by then, so he let go of her wrists. "Five minutes, Rogue, that's all I'm askin', and then I'll be outta your hair for good."

She stared up at him silently for a moment, then gave him a hard shove, rolling him off of her. She stood and brushed off her jeans and coat, eyes fixed warningly on his. Logan sat up and watched as she turned and walked back in the direction of the cabin, boots crunching angrily in the snow.

He still hadn't moved by the time she reached the edge of the ravine. She stopped and looked back at him. "Well are you coming, or not?" she yelled.

Logan leapt to his feet and followed her.

"It started out as a game. But then things changed. I don't know exactly how or when, they just did. And I swear to Christ, Rogue, I never meant for you to get hurt in any of this."

She hadn't spoken at all while he was explaining. Just stared down at the tablecloth, tracing the pattern with her gloved fingertips. Behind her, a tea kettle tick-tick-ticked on the stove, the metal expanding as the water heated. She'd put that kettle on the moment they got back to the cabin, a move she'd made obvious was less about her wanting tea and more about her putting a time limit on their conversation. Logan glanced over at the stove as he waited for her to say something. Anything.

Finally, she looked up from the tablecloth. “Okay.”

"Okay?"

"Yeah." She gave a slight shrug. "Okay. I believe you."

And that should have been it. Right? Except there was something about the way she said it. Something in her her eyes. A deep kind of sadness. Funny feeling then, like something real heavy sinking down to the very bottom of his gut. He nodded slowly.

"But...you can't forgive me."

She looked at him for a really long time, then let out a long, deep breath. "What do you want me to say, Logan?”

She didn't sound angry or upset as she said it. She just sounded...tired.

“Everything you've just told me only confirms what I already know, which is that you're a master liar and manipulator. I mean, how am I supposed to know that you're not manipulating me right now? How do I know-"

She stopped abruptly and looked away, blinking. She scraped a hand through her hair and got up from the table, turning her back to him as she got a cup from the dish cabinet. Logan suddenly felt nervous as the water in the kettle started to simmer.

The words fell from his mouth before he could stop himself. "Touch me."

Rogue spun around. "What?"

Logan got up from the table and went over to her. He took her hand up by the wrist. "There's a lotta stuff I lied about, but how I feel about you isn't one of them," he said. He pulled at the fingers of her glove, loosening them. "The person I am when I'm with you. That's not a lie."

Rogue blinked in disbelief as Logan slipped off her glove. "Logan, this is crazy. I'm not going to-"

"I don't care if you have to kill me to get it all," he said, stepping right into her space. He pulled her hand up until her open palm was millimeters away from his cheek. For a second, he thought she was going to try to snatch her hand back...but then something in her eyes darkened, and she took a step forward instead. Her wrist tensed in his hand as her palm grazed his facial hair.

"Do it," he whispered.

She looked deep into his eyes for what seemed like an eternity. He'd be lying if he said he didn't see his life – or at least the last fifteen years of it - flash before his eyes right then. There was a cold edge to her stare, a silent and yet crystal clear threat that she just might do it. But then something shifted deep in her brown eyes, softening...and she relaxed her wrist, gently shaking her head no.

"Okay," he whispered. He let go of her wrist. They stared at each other in silence as the kettle began a low whistling sound on the stove. Logan softly cleared his throat, shrugging his jacket back onto his shoulders.

"Well...that's all I came to find you for. That's what I wanted to you to know. And, uh... also to let you know that if you're thinkin' you might not wanna go back to the school...'cause of me...I'm, uh...I'm gonna be hittin' the road."

"Where are you going to go?"

"Dunno yet. Maybe someplace out west."

She nodded slowly. He wasn't sure how else he'd expected her to respond to that. Tell him she didn't want him to go? Climb into his truck and come with him? She didn't do any of those things. Just nodded. Eyes looking up at him all big and deep.

"Right. Well..." He tugged at the silver-white strip of hair at her cheekbone and pulled it across her lip so he could stroke it with his thumb. "Take care of yourself, kid."

She stood in the middle of the kitchen, watching behind him as he walked out of the kitchen and left the cabin. Outside, the sky had turned completely gray, and snow fell down from the clouds in big soft flakes. He shrugged against the cold as as he headed down the walk.

So that was it.

Maybe it wasn't ideal, but then no one ever said his life was a fairy tale. He didn't get the happy endings. His were the kind where he climbed back behind the wheel of his truck and headed back down that lonely road. Hit the cage fighting circuits for a while until he found another place to lay his head.

The kind where he'd never see Rogue again.

The End.

...

No. Fuck that.

He turned around at the end of the walk and went back up to the cabin door. He'd barely put his hand on the doorknob when it suddenly flew open and Rogue almost ran smack into his chest. She looked up at him, stunned, as the kettle steamed in the kitchen, unattended. Whistling on full boil.

She blinked, eyes filling with tears. "Don't call me Ki-"

His lips were on hers before she could finish, tongue sweeping over hers in one swift, hot movement that barely gave her skin time to react. Barely. She pushed against him just as the draw started, and they both gasped as their lips parted. She looked up at him, wide-eyed, as he stumbled dizzily into the cabin.

"Oh my God, are you OK?"

She caught him and pulled him inside, closing the door and leaning him up against it. He nodded, shaking off the effects of her skin. Her eyes sparkled up at him, lips turning up into a smile. Yeah. It was totally worth it.

She reached around him and pulled a sheer scarf from the hook on the back of the door, a meaningful look in her eyes. He lifted her into his arms, wrapping her thighs around him, and then lips and hands were everywhere squeezing and touching and caressing everywhere they both could reach. Logan stumbled into the kitchen, rubbing his hands all over her as they kissed, from the curve of her perfect ass up to the base of her neck. She moaned and arched against him, teeth tugging insistently on his lower lip through the scarf. Christ, he had to get the...

“Hang on baby,” he said, reaching around her. He took the screeching kettle off the stove and fumbled around until he got the stove burner turned off. Then his lips were back on hers, tasting her hungrily as he carried her into the bedroom.

They fell onto the bed and he rolled on top of her, pulling her legs around him and grinding his hips down hard on hers. She responded with a lustful moan, fingers sliding up into his hair, making him shudder. He sucked in a ragged breath and sat up on his knees to help her pull her sweater up over her head.

When it was off, she helped him push off his jacket and shirt. Her gloved fingers slid down his chest and stomach, then hooked her fingers into his waistband, pulling at his belt.

"Rogue,” he said. “Baby, we don't have to -"

"I don't want to wait anymore," she said, sharply cutting him off.

Lookin' up at him in a way that meant business.

Okay, then.

She'd gotten his belt and zipper undone and was pushing his jeans as far down his hips as she could with him kneeling. The silk of her gloves brushed against his thigh, and his hardon pulsed, making her job even more difficult. Logan growled and quickly got up from the bed.

"Take off your clothes and get under the sheet, darlin'," he said pulling off his jeans. He got a condom out of his wallet. When she was ready, he got back on the bed, coaxing her legs with his knees as he knelt over her.

She drew in a shaky breath and held it as he slid the tip of a claw out and cut a slit in the thin bed sheet. Then he lay over her, forearms braced on either side of her head as he pressed his body fully down onto hers. He stayed there for a bit, looking down into her eyes, just rocking against her so she could get used to the feel of him. He waited until he felt her heartbeat steady and her body soften completely under his.

"Ready?" he whispered. She nodded.

He drew his hips back, aligning himself, and then pressed down, sinking into her halfway. There, he met some resistance. Her lips fell open and her body tensed up a little under him. He leaned down and pressed a few gentle kisses to her jawbone. She sighed softly, and her body relaxed again, and he sank himself all the way down to the hilt. He stayed there for a few moments, not moving, just letting her adjust to his girth.

She looked up at him questioningly, then tried to look between their bodies.

“Is it...are you...?”

“Mm-hm.” It was all he could manage between clenched teeth at the feel of her wrapped tightly around every inch of him. His jaw ticked as he tried to keep from moving. But then she looked up at him, gloved fingers stroking over his cheek, and her legs came up to wrap around hips, and the struggle was lost.

He wrapped a hand in her hair and withdrew halfway, only to thrust right back inside of her again, as deep as he could go. She responded with a throaty moan that sent shivers tingling down to the base of his spine. And then suddenly it was like something broke inside of him, something was bursting, and he couldn't contain it. This just felt so real, so good, so right. He slipped his hands under her hips, angling her to her thrusts as he began to move in and out of her in earnest. She gasped against him and gloved hands clutching his hair as he stroked into her again then again and again.

The heat spiked between them, and it wasn't long before her hips found their own excited rhythm, twisting and rolling up to meet his strokes. He slipped an arm around her back, pulling her up tight against him as her body began to shudder. Her breath was coming fast now, body warming in a full flush. She rubbed her body intently against his, seeking more, and more until...

“Oh, Logan!” Her eyes snapped open, fingers clutching at his back.

"Oh, that's it, baby..."

A couple more strokes and she was flying apart in his arms, and he could feel her all around him, clenching, and releasing in climax. He growled against her, riding her hard through the violent orgasm she was having. Christ, he'd wanted this to be all soft and sweet and good for her, but she'd done something in the midst of her climax, he couldn't remember what - she'd scraped real hard at his back, or bitten him or tore at the sheets - whatever it was she did sparked a signal to his feral instincts that she was trying to get away from him again...and then in a flash of sudden, primal lust, he had his arms hooked under her knees and was drilling her hard down into the mattress.

She sensed his urgency, because she only looked up at him with soft, dark eyes, gloved fingers knotting in his hair as she let him fuck her the way he really needed to. With full, deep, claiming thrusts, like he was trying to turn her inside out on every stroke. The feeling of finally being all the way inside of her, with all her defenses broken away, was so exquisite it made his eyes water. He couldn't get enough, didn't want to get enough. He just wanted to live here. Enveloped in her velvety, gripping warmth. Drowning in her scent and moans as her hands scraped at his back, and her teeth pulled on his lower lip through the scarf, and...

He gritted his teeth and growled. "Oh fuck. Baby, I'm gonna come."

He slid his hands under her hips again and pressed his knees hard down into the mattress, trying to find more leverage to pound into her. He managed a few more shaky thrusts before the world around him seemed to disappear and the familiar shiver of his impending orgasm shot up his spine. His orgasm was so intense he had to choke back a sob as he cried out against her neck. He bit his teeth softly into her shoulder as she twisted her legs around his, flexing against him, helping him wring out every last drop of his release.

"Oh, Christ," he breathed against her neck, collapsing on top of her. He twisted the bed sheet in his fist. He pulled back to look into her eyes. She sighed as he pulled the scarf over her mouth and leaned in for a long, deep kiss.

“Oh, Logan,” she gasped when their lips parted. She stretched out on the bed like a lazy cat as he sat up on the edge of the bed to take care of the condom. “I could do that, like...fifty times a day.”

“Whoa,” he said, chuckling. He lay back in bed and pulled her into his arms. “Let's see about surviving the next session first, huh?”

He couldn't remember ever feeling so spent. And yet so full, all at once.

She snuggled back against him as he tugged at her white streak.

“So.”

“What?”

“You think about it, yet?”

“Think about what?”

“Comin' back home.”

She turned her head to look at him, eyebrow raised. “Home?”

“Yeah.” He hadn't even really realized he'd said that. Just sorta came out. “Home. Y'know. Maybe give those losers another shot.”

She looked unsure. He pressed a kiss to her shoulder. "Come on,” he whispered. “I'll take care of you."

She rolled her eyes up at him teasingly. "Promise?"

"Yeah,” he said. He stroked a finger over her cheek. “Promise."

She snuggled back into him, and he was just about to drift off into a nap, when he suddenly remembered something. He shifted on the bed so he could look at her. Feeling his stare, she turned. “What?”

"Mag-ne-to,” he said. “Seriously?"

She blinked up at him, speechless for a second. "He has a really big..."

Logan raised himself up on his elbow and glared down at her, waiting for her to finish. A blush slowly crept over her cheeks as she looked up at him, and he could feel a low growl starting to rumble in his chest. Her lips curled into a smile.

"...brain," she said.

She shrieked as he grabbed her and rolled her underneath him.

Oh yeah. This was going to be a LOT of fun.