Story Notes:
WIP. Title is from "How to be Dead" by Snow Patrol. A big thanks to Jess for being my Beta reader. Expect a week or two between updates; I have the first six chapters written and I hope to have the rest of the story written by the time I finish posting those chapters.
Author's Chapter Notes:
I was really disappointed with the 'Ultimatum' storyline that closed the Ultimate comics universe and with the relaunched Ultimate Comics: X (I called it quits at Issue #2). Hence this story was born... I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter One

Rogue's ass was freezing.

A damp, early fall chill emanated from the concrete steps beneath her and had quickly permeated through her blue jeans. Rogue shifted uncomfortably and considered pulling the leather jacket currently draped over her lap back on over the plum-colored, long-sleeved pointelle tunic she wore.

From the corner of her eye she watched the front room curtains twitch for the umpteenth time since she'd knocked and made her inquiry at the door. This time, though, the twitching was followed by a stream of shrill stage whispering, barely audible. The reply as the front door opened, however, was crystal clear and in a voice she knew well: "Don't worry, Mom. That won't be an issue."

The door slammed closed and Kitty Pryde stood behind her with foot tapping.

"What are you doing here, Rogue?"

Rogue stared down at the laces on her Doc Martens and said nothing.

With a grumble that sounded like a puppy's attempt at a growl, Kitty stomped down the stairs and glared up at Rogue with arms crossed. The piece of Wolverine that lived in Rogue's head purred his approval of her acquisition of the high ground.

"Why are you here, Rogue?" Kitty asked again. "If you're looking for the new flop house for super-powered youth that's at May Parker's. I can give you directions."

Again, the front room curtains twitched catching Rogue's eye. "What's up with your mom?" she asked in lieu of answering Kitty's question.

"She's afraid you're going to ask to stay. So don't ask. Where have you been for the last six months, anyway?"

"'Walking to and fro in the Earth. And up and down in it.'"

Kitty snorted. "You quoting Scripture? That's rich! Now. What. Do. You. Want?"

"The box."

"Box," Kitty's forehead wrinkled, "what box?"

Rogue's eyes narrowed. "Don't play dumb with me, Kitty. The box Logan gave you before the confrontation with Magneto."

"Fine, what about it?"

"Why'd he give it to you?"

"Oh my God!" Kitty threw her arms in the air. "You did not come here to be jealous over the last wishes of a dead man!"

"He's not dead," Rogue whispered.

Kitty gaped at her. "God, Rogue! What's the matter with you? Yes, he is!"

"No," Rogue gave her head a violent shake, "he can't be."

"Can't be?" Kitty's face hardened and her entire demeanor shifted from chilly to downright arctic; her eyes bulged and blazed with barely contained fury. "Can't be? Magneto switched the fucking magnetic poles! Millions of people died! Many of our friends died! But Logan--oh, well, he's just completely exempt from that because Rogue said so! Yes, he was a healer but he wasn't invincible! Magneto ripped the adamantium from his bones for Heaven's sake!"

"He survived having the adamantium bonded to his skeleton in the first place," Rogue replied, matching Kitty's frigid tone. "So why would its removal kill him?"

"Because Magneto fried him with both Cyclops' eye-beams and Iron Man's weapons! His healing factor was toast!"

"He's survived far worse! The Hulk once ripped him completely in half! Logan had to claw his way up the side of a mountain just to get his legs back!"

They were both shouting now and had drawn the attention of those out strolling the neighborhood. Most just slowed down for a moment to take in the scene--two girls shouting over a guy, while entertaining, was nothing new--before continuing on their way. An elderly lady walking an apricot toy poodle gave a haughty sniff and hurried past Kitty's house while two pre-teen boys took up station under a glowing streetlamp to watch the unfolding drama.

"Rogue, all that was left of him was an arm! You were there when we buried it. He's GONE! Why can't you accept that?"

"Because I love him!" Rogue all but roared.

Kitty stumbled back at the force of Rogue's confession. "Oh Rogue!" she gasped, her fury subsiding.

Rogue's chin dropped against her chest; her nose and eyes burning with tears she refused to shed in front of Little Miss Kitty Pryde. She fisted large handfuls of the leather jacket--Logan's--folded on her lap in her gloved hands like the security blanket she'd never admit it was. The well-worn black material now smelled more like her own lavender shampoo and vanilla lotion than Logan's scent of pine forests and cigars, but it was his and, therefore, precious.

Kitty climbed the stairs and eased herself down next to Rogue. She noticed the two boys watching and snickering under the streetlamp and her icy demeanor returned in the form of a glare that sent the two scampering home. Kitty raised her right arm as if to lay it comfortingly across Rogue's shoulders but, halfway through the motion, she hesitated and let her arm drop awkwardly between them. "OK. Tell me why you're so sure he's alive."

Rogue knew that Kitty no more believed in Logan's survival than she did two minutes ago, but now she felt sorry enough for Rogue to at least listen.

Rogue hated being pitied.

"Kitty, you know how my mutation works: the piece of Logan in my head is telling me he's alive!"

"But it's been over six months," Kitty pointed out. "Why are you here telling me all this now?"

Rogue heaved a sigh. "It'd been a while since I last absorbed Logan and I don't know if it was a side-effect of that damn Banshee drug--"

"--That you took voluntarily," Kitty interrupted.

Rogue glared at her.

Kitty shrugged, "I'm just sayin'."

"The voices in my head of the people I'd absorbed just sort of faded away," Rogue continued. "Then all that shit with Magneto happened and I got a whole new set of voices in my head, Juggernaut being the loudest. I was in Tennessee washing dishes in a crap diner to pay for food and a roof over my head when Juggernaut's powers finally went away. His voice faded to background noise soon after. I was getting ready for bed one night when I heard Logan whispering in my head. I thought it was my imagination but I kept hearing him. It's the barest echo of what it was before Banshee, but he's there and he's adamant that the real Wolverine survived Magneto."

Kitty shook her head sadly, "Rogue, a voice in your head is not proof."

Rogue twisted around to face Kitty. "You think I'm nuts, don't you?" she spat.

"No, I don't think you're nuts," Kitty returned, her hands raised in a conciliatory gesture. "But I do think you're hearing what you want to hear."

"Fine!" Rogue snarled and started to stand. Kitty grasped her by the elbow; protected from Rogue's life-sucking mutation by the long-sleeves Rogue wore. "Wait! Tell me what this has to do with the box Logan gave me."

Rogue stood considering a moment before she reluctantly sat back down. "After Tennessee I came back here to the mansion. I've been waiting there the past two months in case he makes his way back home..."

"The mansion? But we destroyed it."

"Bobby's little freeze-and-shatter didn't destroy all those reinforced Super-Hero basement levels; they're pretty much intact."

Kitty cringed slightly. "We probably should've thought of that."

"Anyway," Rogue rolled her eyes, "all this waiting around has the Wolverine in my head chomping at the bit and patience has never been a virtue of mine either. It's time to try something different. That's where Logan's box comes in."

Kitty folded her arms across her chest. "How do you even know about that box? It's not like you were around when Logan gave it to me."

"Aside from the fact I have Logan in my head--Bobby told me," Rogue replied with a humorless, tight-lipped smile.

"What?" Kitty exclaimed, incredulous. "When?"

"I ran into him at the gravesite a couple weeks ago. He said he was on his way to see you and, oh by the way, did you know Logan gave Kitty some mysterious box before going off to fight Magneto."

Kitty muttered a stream of curses; most to do with certain parts of Bobby Drake's anatomy that should be frozen and shattered, followed by: "It's a wonder the Government didn't murder us all in our beds with Can't-Keep-A-Secret-To-Save-His-Life Bobby Drake around!"

"Who'd you give the box to?" Rogue interrupted Kitty's rant before it took on a life of its own.

"I can't tell you that," Kitty shook her head. "And if Logan's in your head, why don't you know who the box was for?"

Rogue grit her teeth, she knew that Kitty would inevitably ask that question. "It's a mixed bag what I get when I touch someone. I can picture the box in my mind but as to what's inside or who it's for I've got nothing. Besides, he gets a bit... growly in there when I dig in that direction."

Rogue shifted on the cold, uncomfortable concrete. "Was it for Jean?" she reluctantly asked.

Kitty snorted, "Jealous much? No, it wasn't for Jean."

"Storm?"

"No!" Kitty bellowed as she pushed off the stairs and began pacing the ground in front of Rogue. "It wasn't for Storm or any other X-Man. Or the Avengers. Or the Ultimates. Or anyone else we've ever dealt with. You don't know this person."

"Fine. Tell me this: would Logan go to this person?" Rogue asked when Kitty had ceased her pacing and stood facing her with arms crossed.

"No, definitely not. Why?"

"Because knowing where not to look is just as important as knowing where to look," Rogue replied evenly.

"All right, I'll bite: look for him where?"

"There's this place," Rogue's eyes unfocused as she gazed at what only she could see, "I've seen flashes of it in my mind. Logan would spend long stretches of time there when he wanted to get away from everything. Since he didn't come back to the mansion, that's where he'll be. I'm sure of it."

"And where is this 'place'?"

"Canada," Rogue said, her gaze returning to the here-and-now. "It's in Canada."

"Where in Canada?"

Rogue shrugged. "I can see landmarks: mountain peaks, rivers, trees; but I don't have an exact address or anything."

"Then how the hell are you going to find this place?" Kitty scoffed, "walk from one end of Canada to the other?"

"If I have to," said Rogue, undaunted.

"Rogue, listen to yourself! This is just plain nuts!"

"I'm not giving up on him, Kitty! He's out there and I'm going to find him!"

Kitty climbed the steps and retook her seat next to Rogue; her body angled towards the other young woman. "I know we've never really been friends, but Rogue, you've gotta listen to me. Don't do this to yourself!" she pleaded. "You're setting yourself up for major heartbreak." Rogue shook her head, but Kitty soldiered on, "Listen, stay here tonight--I'll talk my mom into it--and tomorrow I'll take you over to May Parker's. You've met Peter and Bobby's there along with Johnny Storm. I'm sure May has room for one more and Gwen Stacy will be happy to have another woman around."

Rogue, still shaking her head, stood up and shrugged on Logan's jacket--far oversized on her small frame; the sleeves hung miles past her hands and the bottom hem hit her low on her thighs. "No, I'm doing this," she said as marched to Logan's motorcycle and slung her leg over. "I'll tell Logan you delivered his box."

She kicked the bike to life and roared away.

To Be Continued...

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