When Rogue came back to reality, she wondered what she was doing in a log cabin. The blazing fire in the hearth made her feel warm and homey. To her right was Logan, sitting on a wooden chair beside her bed. He looked so handsome with his wind-chaffed hair, red flannel shirt and his eyes filled with so much affection. Gentle. "Logan…" she croaked, "Where are we?" As comfortable as she felt, remnants of panic from their previous mission made her hands sweat. "Is Jimmy alright? Is it over?" When Logan turned away in guilt, she frowned. "How long was I out?"

Instead of telling her about Jimmy, or where they were, Logan faced her again, his eyes downcast. "I'm so sorry, Marie."

"What for?" she asked, because she didn't care, really. Rogue knew he didn't even have to ask. They would always forgive each other –that went without saying. She shook her head, confused. What the hell was she on?

"I shouldn't have…" Logan paused, as if unable to continue. "I shouldn't have kept it from you."

Kept what? Rogue didn't understand. She felt the fear playing xylophone on her spine. "What?" She felt so different, so perplexed –there was a feeling she couldn't shake off, a nagging suspicion that something wasn't right. "What are you talking about? You're scaring me."

Logan reached for her hands and clasped it in his own. He stared at her palms and fingers that Rogue wondered if he was memorizing her skin. Despite the soft caress, Rogue felt dread fill her being as Logan whispered, "We're inside your head, Marie."

The moment he heard her scream, Logan leapt faster from one room to another, following the path of broken walls, but before he could see anything else, Scott's firm voice screamed, "ICEMAN, STOP WOLVERINE! NOW!"

Bobby threw a huge ice popsicle towards him, adequately knocking him down. When Logan got back on his feet, clearly enraged, he already found a thick layer of ice between him and the rest of the X-Men. Kept him from Marie. Unleashing his claws with a loud growl, he started to pound against the frozen barrier. After only a few punches, he staggered backwards. "W-what the f-fuck is going on…?" He felt his entire body wobble. Red lights flashed in alarm in his head when he noticed that his healing was working double time as he took steps away from the cold, crystal wall. Fuck, he thought. Only one other person, aside from Magneto, could do this to him without the need for touch. The Leech.

Logan couldn't even understand half of what they were talking about on the other side. "Rogue!" he screamed, trying to stand up, but the heavy ache on his entire body was starting to disable him. "Where's Marie?"

"Logan," Scott's voice interrupted his worries and pain. He sounded steady, but the nervousness was evident in his tone. "We'll need to transport Jimmy back to the school."

"Marie, what about Marie? Is she hurt?" he wheezed.

"She's fine, Logan," Scott placated him. "She's just… We think being near Jimmy destabilized her control."

"Scott, let me out, I swear to god–"

"She's physically fine, Logan, but we have to go. We're going to get back here for you guys as soon as we can. But for now we have to set the two of them apart. Lee… Jimmy's mutation is driving the voices in her head in a rage."

What? Oh, Marie. "If anything happens to her–"

"LOGAN, FOCUS! WILL YOU BE ALRIGHT!?"

"YES, GOD DAMMIT, NOW HURRY UP AND LEAVE!"

Rogue tried to get up from the bed and leave, panic and disbelief wrecking her thoughts, but Logan forcefully pushed her back on the bed. She plopped back down on the soft cushion with her eyes wide in shock. "It was you…" she said. She started to hyperventilate. It was him that pushed her, pushed her out of the crazy tempest in her mind two weeks ago.Logan was the one who pushed her, told her to trust Emma's voice. He knew everything. The emotions stirred within her, making her focus crumble and her hands tremble. Her throat felt chick with tears and distress. "W-why? Why didn't you tell me? You were here, all along…"

Logan let out a deep breath and pulled her into his arms. He wiped the tears from her eyes and cleared the hair from her face. "I couldn't, darlin'. I didn't want to overcrowd your head. I know you're always having a hard time… And you needed to live on your own. Without me."

"But why was Wolverine…"

"Him I find so hard to control," he admitted with a sigh.

Marie sniffed. "What about now? Why are we here? Am I dead?"

"No, no," Logan answered, shaking his head. "But I'm not letting you out just yet."

"What?" Marie trusted him, but she felt nervous with the way he said it. "Why not?"

Logan locked his hazel eyes into hers. "Because you need to get rid of me first, Marie." He nodded, resigned. "You need to kill me."

When Logan heard the Blackbird take off, he tore through the ice and rushed to where Rogue was. The place was a wreck, fallen soldiers everywhere, broken concrete, but at the end of hall was another gate of ice. The small room was sealed tight, but he could see the faint outline of Rogue's form on the other side. Before he approached, he felt a strong grip on his shoulder.

"They had to do it," Colossus' voice said. "Or she might lose control."

Logan nodded in understanding, though it pained him to see her trapped in there like she was in an asylum. He took another step forward. "Can you leave us here?"

For a moment Logan thought Peter would say no, but the 6'6 mutant let him go. "I will wait outside. Please do not hesitate to call me if anything…"

"Go," Logan said with finality, and the moment Colossus was out of earshot, he heard her speak. She was whispering something barely audible –if it weren't for his feral senses, he would have missed it.

"Come on inside, Logan," she murmured.

Logan knew it. She wasn't out of control completely. If she did, she would have drained everyone dry. But no. She was simply waiting for him, rather, baiting him. He felt a cold shudder faze him when he heard her again.

"Come over here, Logan… We need to kill you."

That wasn't his Marie, Logan thought at once, but mindlessly began pounding on the ice. I need to save her. Rogue began to laugh deeply. The ice started to thin with his efforts, tinted pink with his blood. It was supposed to hurt, his knuckles, but he didn't feel it. His claws were on auto-destroy mode because he had to get her out. He couldn't lose her. He kept on hearing her talking to herself. It made him angrier because he knew how much she hated it, when the voices took over. It broke her heart, and it broke his, too.

Logan growled with all his might as he gave the iced obstacle one last thump, and like a brittle brick wall, it broke off with a puff down on the floor. As his knuckles started to heal, he lifted his gaze to look at her, and there she was in all her glory.

Rogue was floating in the middle of the room, her darkened eyes gleaming at him, her long mane swirling in the air like dark, pointed tentacles. She reminded him of his dream at once –all heat, danger and Rogue in one fatal mix.

"Marie, darlin'…"

"Why hello, Wolverine," her voice reverberated around the room, tickling his ears as it traveled in his head in different strained tones. It wasn't just her, he knew. They were a mix of two women, two men –one guarded while the other was wild, three teenage boys, and a little girl's soft whimper. It was enough to strike fear in Logan, which was saying much, that his last lethal encounter with the destroyer Phoenix felt like a walk in the park. It wasn't just her appearance or her voice that made his blood run cold –it was the familiarity. He was familiar with this kind of outrage, pending doom and losing her all over again. "We've been waiting for you."

Logan remained fastened on the floor, but his fists clenched and his nostrils flared. "Marie! Bring her back to me!"

"For what? For you!?" She asked ferociously, scornfully. "I had to lose my life for you. I had to die because of you. You are my family, you are my friend, my enemy! YOU! You don't even love me back! You are despicable filth!"

"Marie," he pleaded, moving in closer. Logan knew he had to believe that he was enough, at least enough to make a connection to her. Because it's who they were, right? They were friends, they were… She trusted him. She loved him. That had to be enough.

But not, She mocked him, "You think it's always about you, Logan."

Logan couldn't lift his feet off the floor. His whole frame was immobile, petrified. It made his entire body itch with soreness and impatience. It dawned on him that she was channeling Magneto's powers. The heat melting him was probably Pyro's. But he had to push forward and see this through. I have to move. I have to get to her. "Let. Her. Go." Was he bleeding? He could smell his blood.

"You deserve to die," She said, as if she had decided his fate. "She/I deserve(s) to suffer."

His heart pounded like a loud drum between his ears. This was it, Logan thought, as he watched her approach him ever so slowly. Time was suspended as she drew closer, the picturesque vision of death, and despite the voices, the crazed eyes devoid of her lovely browns, her beautiful face was still Marie. His Marie.

Logan didn't even recoil when she kissed him. Because I would die for you, Marie. Even if third time's a charm, I'd still die for you. Her wet tongue slithered across his lips, tasting. Logan closed his eyes. I think I love you more than I should, kid. Would you forgive me for that? She cupped his face with her bare, hot palms, and he wanted to breathe out at least her name, but he couldn't. Marie, I'm in love with you.

It was too late, and only one thought raced through his mind:

What a way to go.

"Why!?" Marie asked, embracing him. The tears fell on her cheeks and she didn't want to stop crying. "I don't want you to go. Oh Logan, I… I always wanted you to be here with me, but you've been just quiet all this time?" She shook her head, pulled on his shirt. "Don't leave me, Logan. It's always been you… always!"

"No, baby." Logan looked so torn, he tried pushing her away, but he pulled her back to him just to kiss her hands, her hair, her cheeks. "You have to do this. You can do this. Having me around here… it's punishment for both of us. All the other voices, they're here too, but they're out in the storm. They're taking control of you now, darlin'."

My lover, Marie thought, feeling herself so tall and yet so small in his arms. She pressed her face closer against his chest. The usual warmth that was there was bland and cold. But she still felt like they were lovers. "But you'll save me, right, Logan?"

"No, baby," Logan said, trying to push her away again. This time though, he smiled at her affectionately. "You've got to save yourself."

"I love you, Logan."

"And I love you, Marie," he said, gazing at her lips, then her eyes. "I always have. But you don't need me anymore."

I don't need you anymore, Logan. Her heart broke. "But Logan…"

Logan tried to be firm, she can tell. His grip on her shoulders hardened and she felt herself bruising. "Can't you see, Marie? I'm part of them. I'm part of the storm… your tempest. I'm the only friendliest face you see. But I'm…" He looked struggling with his entire being, like he was dying. "I'm keeping you here, baby. That's why you've got to let me go."

Marie felt the hot tears brim her eyes. "But you're the only one I have! I can't, Logan, don't ask me to!"

But Logan was persistent, strong. He pushed her to her feet, towards the door. "You don't need me anymore, Marie." He tried to look like he was mad at her, but she knew he was just trying to convince her, trying to make her see. "The real me, baby. He's… he's waiting outside. He wants you. He may need some time, but–"

"No, Logan." She didn't run back to the bed, but she didn't move from her place on the floor either. She crossed her arms across her chest. "No."

"Get out, Marie," Logan warned. His claws slid out slowly. "Or I'll have to force you out of here again myself."

"One condition," she said.

"Anything."

"Kiss me."

Logan nodded, and fell down the floor on his knees with a loud thud. It made the entire cabin quake. He looked yielding, just like he did by the lake. "Please."

Marie padded to him, tilted his face up to meet hers. "You always knew, didn't you?" She bit her lip. "You always knew."

"I always knew." Hazel eyes shimmering, Logan nodded. Wolverine nodded. "Now kill me–"

But he didn't have to say it again, because Marie gave him the kiss of death.