Disclaimer: This fan-fiction is not written for profit and no infringement of copyright is intended. Still unbetaed, mistakes are all mine.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Silence, a beat of silence.

The ache of what had been done to Logan filling the room like a black-hole’s gravitational pull.

Breath speeding-She couldn’t get enough oxygen- adrenaline coursing like a jack-hammer through her veins. She needed to focus- Oh Jesus, sugah, what did she do to ya?- but everything was moving so strangely, like time had slowed down. Ceased to run. Keller, Ashida, Gwynne to her left. Sooraya, the exit to her right. Logan, teeth bared and growling, front and centre, glowering at her like-Like she was something he wanted to eat. Smokey was stalking towards her, laughter like nails screeching across a chalk-board, and Marie tried to manoeuvre herself out of the way, to get between the creature and her clearly-wounded Logan- But the thing just got closer, grinning. Reaching its hands out towards little Sooraya, its fingers almost caressing her soft flesh-

Without any warning the Wolverine launched himself at it, the movement so fast he seemed a blur. Forced it away from the young girl with every ounce of strength he possessed and went on the offensive again. The two opponents rolled and tumbled together, careening out of control, snarling, scratching and hollering. Logan occasionally actually making physical contact with the creature though that was sporadic at best. The scent of burnt flesh bleached the air as human flesh met smoke-and-flame, the broken bone crunching painfully as Smokey smashed him into the floor. Wolverine howled in agony and for a split second Marie closed her eyes to the sound if it, her heart twisting in her chest.

And in that second of darkness her training finally kicked in.

Pull it together Rogue, she thought, He needs you. So get with the Goddamn program and deal.

“Hellion,” she snapped at Keller, the boy now sweating with the effort of holding up the roof, “Ah need ya to fall back and get Storm. Not Kurt or Hank, just Storm.” They didn’t need any other big dogs in this situation: If Logan had gone completely feral, she wasn’t sure how he’d react to two more alpha males in the mix. She grabbed hold of Sooraya, physically pulling the girl away from the two duelling combatants and forcing her behind her back. Gestured sharply to Gwynne and Ashida, who darted to her side from across the room without being told twice and placed the younger girl between them, their mutations powered up. Just in case Smokey tried anything else. Keller was shaking his head in refusal, the roof wobbling as he did so, and Marie fought the urge to slap him. “You need me!” he snapped. “I’m not leaving you girls alone with that animal-”

“That there is no animal, boy,” she snarled tightly, “And Ah ain’t no girl. A senior X-Man just gave you an order, so haul ass-” And as if to make her point Logan broke free from Smokey’s strangle-hold, pinning the creature and slashing at it so hard that the stone floor beneath them cracked. Gaining the upper hand for a moment before Smokey’s hands disappeared inside his chest, Logan’s burning flesh steaming until he managed to pull himself away. Keller jumped to avoid the collision, the roof wobbling dangerously as his concentration wavered, and Marie grabbed his shoulder, yanking his head down to her so she could hiss in his ear. “The Wolverine don’t attack women or children,” she muttered tightly, remembering the last time he’d gone feral, the night he found the bastards who’d dosed Jubilee with the Cure- “But he reads your hissy fit as aggressive and he’s gonna pop. That happens and we are all screwed. So go test drive your balls some other day, son, and Get. Storm. NOW.” And with that she pushed Hellion roughly towards the hole Smokey had torn in the building, praying her actions didn’t distract him enough to bring the roof down. They didn’t: The boy threw one last, worried look back at Ashida and finally left, his eyes still fixed on his target. So long as he had a visual on it, he’d still be able to hold the damn thing up, or so she hoped-

Though to be perfectly honest, she had bigger things to worry about right now.

As soon as he was gone Ashida nodded that they’d take care of the girl while Rogue took point, and immediately Marie darted forward. Closing her eyes and letting Qadir’s borrowed mutation flow through her again, she stretched herself out…. Searching, feeling through the room with these new senses… Raising herself upwards, thinning herself out until she felt as gentle as a puff of breeze, hovering for an instant… And then slowly she slid her newly-intangible form between the two fighters. Sticking as close to Logan as she could so as not to give Smokey any more warning than necessary of her actions. She imagined her body spreading outwards and then collapsing, only this time she enveloped the Wolverine as if in a net. Keeping half her form intangible while the other half hardened to shield him from Smokey’s attack. Feral or not he didn’t seem to see her as a threat-Maybe their link still worked on some level?- and as she pressed closer to him he didn’t fight her. Still snarled at his opponent but pulled his claws back in once he knew she was there. The burning woman halted her onslaught, frowning in incomprehension, and Marie took the opportunity to strike out at the creature, vicious jabs that smashed her into the wall hard enough to destabilise her burning form again- So she could still touch her even if Logan couldn’t- and take her out of the game for a tick. The students took this sudden opportunity to make a break for the exit, Gwynne swooping fearlessly down to help Logan up, the three girls forming a perimeter around him while they limped out- “If she wants him, let the bitch come and get him,” Marie heard Ashida mutter-

But they didn’t get very far.

Because Smokey’s form recovered, her burning flames glowing brighter as soon as the girls touched Logan to help him up. Suddenly the room was hotter n’ Hell, the air thick with emotion and malice. Marie had never felt anything like it: It was as if the very atmosphere itself was heaving and drawing breath, and the heavier the air became the stronger Smokey seemed to get. The creature lurched back towards the girls and Logan, and though Rogue summoned every ounce of energy she had left to charge it, the thing was ready for her and side-stepped; Her own momentum carried her past it and crashed her into the floor. The impact was enough to disorientate her (she had to force her body solid just to get back on her feet), and that was all the opportunity the creature needed. Smokey’s appearance began surging and changing, flames burning black and gold as Hellfire while it drew closer to the now snarling Wolverine. The thing’s torso stretched out, shoulders widening and fingers lengthening into claws. The flames about its face fanning out like a burning, fiery mane. Suddenly instead of a burning woman Smokey looked more like a lion walking on two legs, and Rogue watched in horror as the burning woman turned into some version of… Sabre-tooth? Victor fucking Creed? That’s right darlin’, Logan’s horrified voice whispered in her head, The Ghost of Massacres Past. Any semblance of calm which the Wolverine had previously displayed disappeared the instant he saw Smokey’s new form, and he popped his bone-and-metal claws out with a familiar snikt, the girls and his previous failure to win forgotten. He was operating on pure berserker rage now. Marie forced herself to her feet just in time to see Smokey make a charge for little Meghan Gwynne and in that moment instinct took over. She forced herself in front of the teenager at the exact second Logan drew his claws back to land a killing blow on their attacker. Her swiftness knocking the younger woman backwards and out of harm’s way, and for a second she thought nothing had happened. But then-

Then-

Marie saw the blank rage drop off Logan’s face, to be replaced by one of curious incomprehension. She followed his line of vision and looked slowly downwards to find Logan’s claws digging deep into her side. The left hand ones puncturing something which she suspected was her kidneys, the right in her belly and cutting through her hip. Sooraya was trying to get to her to re-dose her with her mutation- That kid really was one brave girl, she thought disjointedly- but Rogue felt her legs go from under her, her weight smashing her into the floor like she was dragging a corpse. Her form no longer incorporeal since she’d forced her body solid just moments before. For a moment Logan’s face remained blank, his expression unknowing, and then she saw some spark of recognition move through his eyes. Whether he recognised her or not, she wasn’t sure, but even a berserker animal can appreciate someone who’d tried to save him in a fight. He retracted his claws and took her weight, laying her down on the floor. Making some soft, mourning noise she hadn’t known he was capable of making. Leaning protectively over her in case Smokey tried something else. Marie took her last ounce of concentration and focussed on touching him, her bare hand faintly tracing his throat, then his Adam’s apple, trailing down his chest to come to rest over his heart. For a moment nothing happened- He wasn’t running so hot anymore, maybe his healing factor was absent- and then she felt it. Felt the touch of his mind blossom inside hers, felt the bass-growl-and-strength-presence her brain read as Logan coalesce into focus as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“Oh Jesus, darlin’, what have I done to you?” he whispered. “Christ Marie, You’re-” And his voice trailed off. For a second she remembered another moment like this, when she was sixteen years old with his claws inside her and he was staring at her in horror, helpless with panic at what he had done. She wanted to tell him it was okay- It wasn’t your fault, sugah, ya didn’t do it on purpose- but something was distracting her. Something… painful. Extremely painful. Like, yes-Ah-actually-still-have-bones-and-punctured-sinew-painful. Damn.

Marie felt his healing factor flow through her then, her heartbeat springing into life as it went. Heard as if from far away his sharp intake of breath as she began taking his life essence, his memories flooding through her, his heart-rate sky-rocketing underneath her hand. Images of horrors, too many to count, flowed into her mind, an explanation of why he’d pulled away from her before Smokey arrived. He’d finally gotten his memory back. Their link roared open as he healed her, and she saw things, things she hadn’t known he remembered. Thing’s she’d have wanted to forget. Snow, mountains, clear fresh air. A teenaged boy who looked like Cyclopes, and diamond white girl who looked like Emma Frost. William fucking Stryker, a man she hated more than she’d thought it possible to hate anyone. And Remy, her Remy, frowning at Logan like he knew him. Standing in the middle of a white place, a broke-down palace at the end of the world. Marie could feel darkness coming for her even as the memories kept flowing, even as she dimly registered Storm asking Logan to let her go. She needed to hold on, to see all of it- Needed to know the point of it- But her head was so heavy and her body so weak- Even Smokey seemed unimportant at the moment, when oblivion was calling her like a welcoming friend-

Ah’ll fight, Ah’ll fight t’stay with ya Logan. Ah don’t wanna let ya go…

And then in one split second she saw it, saw it clear as day. Saw why Logan had always hated Remy, even if he hadn’t remembered quite why he did it. A tank, an experiment. An orphanage in Juneau, Alaska. And a secret her husband and Logan had been keeping from her, even if Wolverine at least hadn’t realised he was doing it at the time. She felt her lips move to say it, even as she passed from consciousness. She had to force it into the air, had to make sure someone knew what had happened. Make sure someone would ask questions, if it was the last thing she did. “Witchbreed,” she whispered, “Project Witchbreed…”

And then, good southern girl that she was, she passed out.

It occurred to Storm as she checked her, that Logan didn’t look all that far behind.