Not in a million years did Rogue expect to be a guitarist in a shady bar somewhere in cold Canada in her early twenties, just as she didn't expect to be in a drinking session with someone who deceived and tried to kidnap/kill her years ago. That's life for her, she knew. Always the shit-end of the stick.

Rogue was slightly intoxicated, but for the record, she understood everything Raven told her. Apparently, the blue girl had a run-in with her ex and she wanted him off the grid permanently. Despite all the strong mutants the veteran ex-Brotherhood woman was acquainted with, it was Rogue whom she thought was capable enough to do the job. It made sense, actually; being Mystique must have garnered her more enemies than friends.

"Why did you want me to take Sabretooth down again?" Rogue asked quite coherently, though the side of her face was matted against the table napkins spread on the table. They've been here for more than an hour, drinking each other down, and still, Rogue found herself enraptured by Raven's perfect face. Pretty as hell, she noted again. If only I was that beautiful. Prettier than Jean. Damn she hated redheads.

Raven didn't roll her bright eyes and say how annoying she was. Instead, she sighed, leaned her chin against her knuckles, probably thinking how pathetic the younger woman was for being in such a sorry disposition. "Because you're the only one who can."

"Because?"

"He deserves to pay for killing our son, among other things," Raven said in one breath. She put a finger up. "And, you're the only one with the right mutation, the only one powerful enough to make sure he dies… and stays dead."

Yeah. Rogue got that part alright. "And what happens when I lose my mind if I use my… skin on him?" She was about to say 'powers' but she stopped herself. She couldn't use 'curse' now, could she? Why didn't she take the cure again? "It's not like I owe you anything."

"You're right. You don't." Raven had probably answered that question for at least three times tonight, but she just nodded again, accepted the younger woman's questions like they were old friends. Tipsy old friends. "But it's not about getting even, Rogue. It's about getting something you need. We're all going to benefit from this."

Shoulders sagging in drunken misery, Rogue moaned dramatically. She wanted to take another sip of whatever they were drinking, but if she took more –she might not make it back to Scott, who would probably optic blast her back to the mansion just so Logan can lecture her about right and wrong. Right, like Logan's moral compass always pointed north. Pushing thoughts of Logan to the back of her already muddled brain, she let out an unladylike groan. "Remind me why I benefit from this?"

Raven, however, could still handle her liquor, and took another gulp from her glass before answering her, "Let me rephrase this…" She was especially patient tonight, it seems, obviously working double time just to convince her. Placing her drink down on the table, she combed her dark locks with her fingers. "You want the Wolverine."

No, Rogue thought. She needed him –like aspirin and water, because she was going to have a fucking hangover when she wakes up later. Like fresh air, ice cream in summer, chocolate and ginger bread cookies. The way she needed a hug, a handshake. A kiss. And Reese's Peanut-Butter Cups. "And…?"

"Once you absorb Vic… Sabretooth, you would get his regenerative ability, and voila!" Raven said, her voice high with forced excitement. "You'll have something no other redhead can offer –a chance at immortality. With him."

Below the belt, ladies and gentlemen. "You didn't have to use Jean to convince me, Mystique," Rogue sniffed sadly. But could she blame her? She might or might not have blabbed about feeling insecure about that particular doctor an hour ago. But it felt weird saying her name. Doctor Grey made her feel jealous and resentful –it was hard to admit till now. Besides… "Logan doesn't even want… see me that way."

"That's the point, honey. He's not seeing you 'that way' because you're just a regular mutie to him!" Raven shook her head, waved her hands, as if trying to erase what she just said. "Give yourself some credit now, will you? You're not The Blob. You're sex on legs yourself."

Yeah, Wolverine told me that once. Problem is, it's the Wolverine in my head. Not the real Logan. Rogue bit her lip as her eyes stung with unshed tears for her silly unrequited love. Never the real Logan.

"Moreover, we wouldn't want Vic… Sabretooth's abilities to go to waste now, would we?"

"You could say his name around me, you know," Rogue whispered, making sure she was looking anywhere but the other mutant. "I don't mind. I love saying Logan's name." Saying 'Logan' in conversation made her feel safe, like they were close, together, secret lovers. Oh god, I'm pathetic.

Raven made a small sound that came across as half a whimper or a mocking laugh. "So back to our point," she said. "You take Victor down and you get his healing. Immortality will ease that fatal deadline in your gorgeous head and you'll get Wolverine down the line. I'm thinking that Victor's ego would help boost your confidence too. Logan has always been the self-doubter between the two, I wonder why I'm surprised you're such a party-pooper."

The long explanation could have better been summed as 'You'll finally be a candidate as Logan's mate, fina-fucking-ly.' Rogue felt ashamed of herself for revealing too much of her private information to Raven –of all people, and any hopes of rekindling with the X-Men felt further out of reach. The only way she could avenge herself was to stick her tongue out at Raven like the child she was. The shapeshifter only chuckled softly at her antics. "Will you… will you take care of me once I've absorbed Sabretooth?"

"More than you know," Raven assured her. "I have the perfect person for the job to help you sort your shit out." Her eyes focused on Rogue's gloves. "Please say yes."

"But maybe I don't want to live forever."

"Forever is synonymous with Logan in this world."

"Maybe I don't want Logan."

"You're not a very good liar."

"Yeah, he tells me that," Rogue sobbed. She pushed herself from the table and leaned back against the soft cushion behind her. The few tears she felt brim her eyes earlier slid down the sides of her cheeks, and she did not feel like wiping them away. "I can't. I don't even know why I'm here talking to you."

"You're talking to me now because you know a good offer when you see one." Raven smiled sadly. "As for me, you can tell I'm willing to do anything for you to give it a shot."

"Like putting up with me?"

"Yes, mostly," Raven said, amused. "Let's just say the recent events in my life got me thinking. He needs to be stopped, Rogue, not only because he did me wrong." She locked eyes with her now. "But also because he's eventually going to kill Wolverine."

Rogan knew about that because of Logan's memories in her head. Sabretooth was always out for his blood. "Why is he so mad at Logan anyway?"

"Does it matter, Rogue?" Raven asked. "Do you honestly want Logan to die in his hands? It's only a matter of time before he succeeds–"

"No one is allowed to harm him," she breathed. Images of Logan suffering, near death, hurt flashed before her eyes and it was at that moment that Rogue lost control. Her inner feral chose that moment to rear its furious head, making her sit up straighter, her hands on either side of the table, ready to pounce. Those bits and pieces accumulated from absorbing Wolverine twice made growling second nature to her. "Not you. Not Sabretooth. Not even your fucking precious Magneto–"

"Exactly!" Raven snapped. She wiped the sweat off her brow in relief when Rogue shrunk back on her seat. "So are you on board or what? This is the time for you to even the fields, Rogue. This time around, you'll save him –not only from Sabretooth, but from himself. I'm sure he'd rather have you chasing him than Victor for eternity."

The last line was already lost on Rogue. The mere idea of forever with Logan made her body shiver with desire. It was a powerful type of lust that blinded her. And she loved him so much, that it didn't take much for her to throw the 'Cons of Raven's Offer List' out the window. Because all she knew was Logan. Everything always was about him. And she wanted it that way. She was a masochist, but this was the sorrow that kept her hoping. She wanted to be with him. She did have those memories of his when he woke up without any traces of his past. He had been alone, wondered why he couldn't die –nothing could kill him, not even the heaviness of his heart. And there was this particular memory that she didn't know whether it was real or a sick fantasy –one where he tried using his own claws to stab himself, pulling against his organs, just to check if he was really alive. And there had been so much blood, so much pain…

"ROGUE!" Raven's voice interrupted the nightmare she had forced herself to remember. "It's your turn, you hear? Your turn."

Her turn to save him. Her turn to protect him. Her turn to love him. Her turn to be loved by him. My turn. Rogue blinked then, noticing that Raven's pale hands were clutching her gloved ones. And that was when she understood Mystique's angle.

This wasn't about revenge at all.

It was about love.

The woman wasn't just asking –she was begging. And Marie was all too familiar with this kind of pleading, because she did it every night when she said her prayers: please, please, God, let her be with Logan. Let him see her. Let him love her like a woman. My turn.

"My turn."

"This is freedom from whatever responsibility he bestowed upon himself years ago. Doing this will set you both free. You're finally allowed to love him, fair and square. You can say goodbye to those 'must be hero worship' taunts those people you call friends subject you to. Once he realizes you own him fucking nothing, that you'll fucking live forever, and you're no longer a fucking kid, that you're just this woman who wants his love and a whole lotta fucking, you'll have the man you've always wanted." Raven smirked. "Or should I say, the one you always needed?"

Rogue couldn't move where she sat, and after a minute of locking gazes with Raven, she slumped back down on the table, her cheek back in its position on the table. She tried to remember reason –she was an X-Man, wasn't she? But the smell of beer, smoke, Raven's expensive perfume, and Logan, her stupid, stupid love for Logan that always got in the way of sense… she knew she was Marie just as she was Rogue. And she could do this.

"What's the plan?"

"I honestly didn't want to believe him, that's why I needed you to meet him first." Ororo buried her face on her palms. "I know for a fact that you can smell a lie because of your feral…"

"He's not lyin', that's for sure," Logan said quietly. He grimaced. "I need a beer."

The man who claimed he was Charles Xavier was currently sleeping in the guest quarters. He had volunteered to stay there when he knew that the two people in charge of the mansion didn't outright believe him. It was almost 6am, and even if Logan felt mentally exhausted, and Ororo had those dark circles around her eyes, they wouldn't be able to sleep it off.

Logan glugged his beer like water, and with the alcohol dripping down his chin, he tilted his bottle towards his co-teacher. "Want one?"

It was Ororo's turn to scrunch her nose. "No, thank you…"

"I was going to get you a new bottle," Logan grunted and slammed the one he was holding a bit hard on the kitchen counter it startled the lady in the room, her eyes going full white for a second. "Sorry." He wiped his mouth with his sleeve.

"I'm sorry. I actually don't know how I'm supposed to greet my class for today and tell them that Charles is alive!" Ororo exclaimed in a whisper. "In another body, at that!"

The woman has officially gone mental, Logan thought, watching his friend talking to herself, going through her 'schedule', trying to come up with different ways to tell the entire mansion that their beloved Professor was back. He genuinely felt sad for her. "Munroe," he said brashly, efficiently calling her attention. "Take a chill pill, would ya?"

Ororo's eyes widened at him, scaring him a little –what if she decided to let out her tension by striking him with lightning? But she nodded again. Apparently, he had become her voice of reason tonight when she was losing her nerve.

Change the topic. He remembered doing the same for Marie when she was panicking about something. Remind her of something she really loves. "Where is Kurt anyway?" he asked.

"I sent him on a pick-up mission just yesterday," she replied tiredly.

OK, that was as far as he went. Logan tried to think of something else, but his mind started reeling again. It wasn't because Charles was back in another body, but his presence that could change a lot of things. He chugged on his beer. "If you're having second thoughts, I have an idea."

"How?"

"If we're not getting any sleep, then neither will he," Logan said, and walked out of the kitchen, Ororo trailing behind him. They made their way to where the new Charles stayed and before he can open the door, the young man beat them to it. He looked like he was having a hard time trying to sleep as well. "We need more proof."

New Charles nodded in understanding. "I was looking forward to having one of your beers, Logan. I find myself having the peculiar craving for it." He took the lead. "It must be this man's body."

This is him, Logan and Ororo thought, sharing knowing looks, because they were on their way to Cerebro. They observed as the lithe man activated the device without a sweat, and Ororo's sigh of relief echoed throughout the room. Seeing him there, hooked on the machine, did something to her brain and made her believe. This was him.

"Good," Logan said. "Now, I want you to look for Rogue."

Ororo shot him a surprised look. "Logan, I don't think-"

"Do it, Charles." Logan held up an arm to stop Ororo from going anywhere near the machine. "Find Rogue. She's been gone for weeks." He didn't want to say she'd been gone for more than a month. He couldn't.

Charles remained fastened to the machine, eyes focused.

Logan watched as the lights blinked, flickered, moved. "Find her." The order came out as a growl.

"Logan, stop it!" Ororo exclaimed.

"No, Ro. I need to find her."

After a few minutes, Cerebro suddenly shut down, and as Charles took off the head piece, Logan was already beside him, his hands fisted on the soft collar of his shirt. "Where is she, bub?"

"That had been my intent the moment you woke me up –to find Rogue," Charles said, taking deep breaths. He looked exhausted. "But I…"

"You're lying. You're not Charles," Logan accused. "You can't find her. You're an impersonator, a fraud!"

"It's not that I couldn't find her, Logan," Charles said. "It's that I can't." When Logan growled, he shook his head. "She's managed to hide herself from me. She can block me." He sighed. "Like you, Logan, if she doesn't want to be found, I doubt even you can locate her."

"You have to try again."

"Stop this at once!" Ororo yelled at Logan, using her angry teacher voice, but Charles was quick to nod in agreement.

"I understand your concern, old friend. And for your sake, I will. But for now, I need to rest. This body is not used to operating Cerebro as my older one." He unlatched Logan's grip on his shirt and stumbled backwards, but Ororo was swift to catch him. Before assisting Charles out, she openly glared at him in disappointment.

Logan remained in the room for a while, clenched and unclenched his fists, trying not to lash out and wreck the place. He should have known better than to expect things to be easy for him, for New Charles to magically find Rogue in the first try. What now?

You wait, Logan, Charles' voice resounded in his head. I will do everything in my power to help you. Goodnight.

Groaning in defeat, Logan retreated back to his room with a scowl on his face, only one thought in his frustrated brain:

Soon, Marie. Soon.