I opened my eyes to the familiar sight of the labyrinth of my mind. With each new absorption, I had to throw up hasty walls to maintain my sense of self. The walls are haphazard - not neat little boxes. Erik’s wall is massive white plastic. It zigs and zags as I throw up new walls when he finds cracks in the old ones. The Wolverine is behind a wall of adamantium, the only thing that could withstand the force of his fury at being caged.
The humans I have absorbed only require simple concrete walls. I’ve never touched one for longer than a fleeting second. They’ve been accidents on the road. I wander through the maze, patching here and there, strengthening them where they seem weak. Each human’s wall also has a door. My mind is strong and I can easily look in on them, trapped in my mind. They’re only shadows so they don’t mind when I come by to pick up something from their memories, borrow their skills. But you can’t be too careful. The doors are always reinforced and locked tight when I leave.
At the center of the maze, the prize of my mind, is Marie. The innocent Marie who loved to laugh. Who danced in the sunshine. As I lived on the road, I pushed Marie to the center of the maze, keeping her hidden from the world. I am Rogue.
But Logan promised to protect Marie. I let her out that day we met, driving in his camper. When I’m with Logan, Marie and I share more equal time. We talk about what has happened. Marie is relaxed now that we’ve left and we’re on our journey to Alaska. She plays with the flowers in the garden we created in the center of the maze. They flare with violent, vivid life then quickly fade to dust. She - we - love flowers. We aren’t completely distinct. We share things, our edges are blurred. Even though I’m pretty sure I know how she feels, I confer with her about Logan’s presence. She wants him close and I’m never one to deny her. So if he offers to stay around after we get a new car, I’ll let him. For Marie.
___________________
After I finished the nightly ritual of cleaning up my mind, I drifted into a deeper slumber. I had hoped tonight would be a night of dreamless sleep. It would be too much to hope for good dreams so I hoped for no dreams. But I have never been lucky.
___________________
The first thing I’m aware of is cold metal. Handcuffs. Chained to something. It’s dark.
“Help! Please help me! Somebody help me!!” I scream. I beg.
I pull at the chains, trying to get loose. I tremble, tears streaming down my cheeks. What’s happening? Why won’t anyone help me?
“Please,” I whisper to the darkness. No one will come for me.
I hear a noise and look up to see Magneto.
“I’m sorry, my dear,” he says, voice quiet.
“Don’t do this,” I plead.
He places his hands on my face and I feel my mutation pull him, sucking him in. I’m flooded with his emotions, his intentions, his raw power. It’s too much. Where am I? Who am I?
“Marie, run!” Rogue screams, trying to hold back Magneto from taking over our mind. I run, trying to find a corner of our mind he won’t get to. I’ve got to hold on. This is my body, damn it, mine!
After a lifetime of agony, Magneto finally lets go. He controls my body now. My hands lock onto the machine, spinning the rings around me.
“This is right, my child. I will not have what happened to my people happen to mutants. You are an acceptable sacrifice,” Magneto patiently explains, as if my life is nothing in the face so many.
“NO!!” Rogue screams at him. But she gets pushed back by his hatred, his complete and unwavering belief that this is right. Rogue runs to me and we cower in the corner, just trying to hold on.
Screams are pulled from our throat, body torn between Magneto’s calm acceptance and our violent protests. But we’re losing. Rogue shields me. She calmly looks me in the eye, “No one is coming, Marie. We’re going to die.” There’s nothing I can do but agree with her. She’s always brutally honest. Death will be a welcome relief from this pain of being torn apart. We’re going to die without any control of our mind or body. We’re going to die. The least we can do is face it with dignity. We stand up, supporting each other, and face death.
Quiet.
Numbness.
Darkness.
Suddenly we feel our mutation pull again. “Aren’t we dead?.... Weren’t we dead?!” I ask, panic in my voice. “Do we have to take in even more pain? I thought death was the end!!” I’m near hysterical. Just when we thought the pain was over, our mind is flooded again. There’s violence, and fury, and a riot of smells and sounds; it’s overwhelming. But underneath... Rogue feels it first. Healing. Which can only mean one thing: Logan.
We open our eyes to Logan’s drained face, pushing him away. Oh God, he’s covered with oozing slashes, there’s blood everywhere. He’s dying! Not Logan!
BANG BANG BANG
I sat up in bed, screams still fading from my lips.
BANG BANG BANG
“I’m coming!” I hollered. “Give a girl a moment to recover from a nightmare, will you?” I mumbled to myself.
I flung off the sheets, quickly covered up my skin, and stomped to the door.
"What!" I practically growled. Suddenly I realized it was Logan. "Sorry," I said sheepishly.
"You okay, kid? I was just coming back from getting some chow when I heard you."
"You heard me?" I cringed.
"'Course I did. What happened?" he asked gruffly.
"Nightmare," I mumbled to my feet.
He used my hair as a shield and slid a finger under my chin, lifting my head up to look me in the eyes. His eyes were dark.
"Was it one of mine?" he quietly asked.
I turned away, “No, but... you were there.”
Understanding dawned in his eyes. “Liberty Island?” he asked.
“Look, I just, can we just forget about it? Where’s this food you advertised?” I asked, firmly dropping the subject.
Logan handed over some burgers. “It’s lunch time, you know.”
“Yeah yeah,” I muttered. I grabbed the bag and stepped back to let Logan inside. I plopped down on the bed and devoured the food.
Logan quirked an eyebrow, “Good?”
I made a face at him and continued eating without regard for manners.
“So we gonna head out soon?” he asked, relaxing in the chair.
“Yeah, just let me clean up,” I replied.
___________________
We were on the road, heading toward Niagara Falls. A thrill of excitement ran down my spine. I was finally doing what I had planned to do. My last attempt hadn’t turned out so well but this time, I was better prepared. I would get my own car so I wouldn’t have to hitchhike. I had access to memories and skills to get me through the journey. And maybe, just maybe, I would have company this time.
“When do you want to ditch the car?” Logan asked, startling me out of my optimistic ramble.
“Well I need some money, first. I figured I’d start at Niagara Falls -- I could turn the charm on some tourists. But any cars being sold there would probably have inflated prices so we can stop once we get over the border a bit.” I explained, sneaking a glance at him out of the corner of my eye. I felt like I needed his approval. He was the experienced one.
He grunted, which I took for some degree of approval. Or, at least, not outright objection.
_____________________
We arrived at the Falls in the late afternoon. They were.... huge. The size was overwhelming. The sheer amount of water that must thunder over the edge was staggering. There was mist constantly hanging in the air, creating permanent rainbows. It was breathtaking.
“Kid,” Logan said as he shook my shoulder.
“Hmm?” I distractedly turned to face him.
“Why don’t we get closer?” He grinned at me. I felt my face match his.
Logan bought tickets for a closer boat ride. We boarded the tour boat and it drove us closer. I leaned back to get a better view. I wanted to be able to see the very top, to see where the water comes stampeding over the edge. I was so awe-struck I didn’t realize I was accidentally leaning right into someone. I quickly turned around to apologize. Was I completely covered?! Oh no, please let it be okay. I never lost awareness like that.
Thankfully, it was just Logan. I already had him in my head.
"It's okay, kid, you can lean on me," he said as he put a hand on my shoulder, gently pulling me back against him. I settled into him. I felt his strong muscles pressed against my back. It felt so nice to be close to someone.
I got so lost in the feel of him pressed against me that I almost forgot about where I was. The spray of the falls as we got closer shook me out of my tactile fun. We ended up completely wet under the constant spray but it was worth it. The falls were so majestic, so beautiful.
At last the boat arrived back to shore and Logan finally managed to tear me away to go fill my rumbling stomach.
Logan picked a suitable bar for both eating and conning and we sat down.
The waitress approached, asking, “What’ll it be?”
“Chicken tenders,” was my order.
“Steak. Rare. Bloody rare,” was Logan’s. He emphasized the “rare” part with a wolfish grin.
After the waitress scurried away to place our orders, I turned to face Logan.
“Why did you let me forget myself and lean against you without thinking? Why did you even buy us tickets for a boat ride?”
Logan hesitated. “It’s something you’ve always wanted to do. You gotta save up money to buy a car. Besides, you can pay me back after you relieve some people of their hard-earned money,” he finally replied as he quirked a smile at me.
“But I could have hurt you! You have to be more careful,” I exclaimed. I suddenly realized what I just said, “I mean, I have to be more careful. I can’t expect others to pay attention as well.”
“Hey, don’t talk like that. I ain’t scared of you and I don’t mind being careful if it helps you feel safer,” Logan reassured me. He reached out and placed his hand on my gloved one to emphasize his point.
The waitress returned with our orders.
“Now eat,” Logan encouraged, “Then we’ll go find a pool table and some gullible tourists.” He winked.
The Wolverine & Rogue Fanfiction Archive
Barely Legal Since 2000