'Cause if he ever saw it, it was through these eyes of mine
And if he ever suffered it was me who did his crying
"Tomorrow Wendy" - Concrete Blonde

~*~

"I'll be fine.  It's just a low level recon; sit in on the meeting and see if they are even a threat," said Rogue.

"I don't like it Marie," replied Logan.

"Logan, if I'm going to help, I need to do this. Besides it's not like I'm going to a Brotherhood meeting or anything.  More than likely, I'll die of boredom."  Rogue looked over at him, leaning against the doorjamb, arms crossed over his chest, scowl on his face.  She'd have to pass him on her way out, "If I didn't know better, I'd say you're worried."

"Maybe I am."  He straightened and placing an arm across the doorway, blocking her exit.

Rogue stopped, facing him. There was something in his eyes beyond the usual friendly concern.  She placed her hand on his chest, searching his face for more.  "Logan?"

He shifted his arm, using it to pull her even closer.  "My gut says to not let you go."  He leaned in for a kiss, brushing her lips lightly at first, conveying what she had seen in his eyes.

"Rogue!  Let's go!" came an impatient call from down the corridor.

She slipped from Logan's arms and jogged down the hall to where Peter waited.  Looking back, she smiled, "I'll be fine."

A low, grinding sound made her jerk awake.  Rogue cursed herself; it wasn't a good idea to fall asleep with her injuries.

Peter had dropped her off a couple of blocks away so she wouldn't have as far to walk in the snow.  Rogue was supposed to attend the meeting while Peter scouted the area, and then they would meet up at a diner down the way by nine o'clock.  He wouldn't know anything was wrong until she didn't show.  She thought how ironic it was that, as an X-Man she thought she would be taken out by the enemy, not by heavy snow that collapsed the roof of an abandoned building.  Maybe she would freeze to death before she succumbed to her injuries. 

It was better to hope that they would find her first.  Using her good arm Rogue tucked her gloves and scarf around her wounds, trying to stem the flow of blood.  When the roof collapsed, much of the nearby wall went with it.  She remembered the floor suddenly giving way.  Now she lay flat on her back with two pieces of metal, from the cement slab beneath her, protruding through her body. The metal rods were no bigger a round than one of her fingers, but they had done quite a bit of damage. 

Rogue wanted to check the time, but her shoulder was pinned in place, and her lower arm might be broken, making the simple task impossible.  She tried to relax and even out her breathing as her surroundings began to fade.

This time, when she came to, Logan was standing beside her.  "Are we in the basement?" he asked. She stared at him in disbelief.  He crouched down, looking her situation over, "This doesn't look good, Darlin'."

Rogue gave a choked laugh. He was too casual.  "Great, now I'm hallucinating."

"Yep," came his reply.  "I can leave if you want."

"No, I could really use the company right now.  Even if you're not real."

Logan nodded in agreement. "Is that rebar?" he asked, pointing to the metal bar sticking out of her hip at an angle.

"I think they both are," she said, indicating her shoulder.

He eyed the latter one, and then followed it to what it was holding up.  "Looks like this one is helping to keep quite a bit of debris from crushing you.  Gotta hurt like hell."

Rogue thought it over.  At first the pain had been excruciating, making her sick to her stomach.  However, that had subsided to a dull ache. "Not so much now," she said.  He raised an eyebrow at her.  "I know...it's not a good sign.  I can't move my legs anymore either."  She immediately wanted to shift around to prove herself wrong, but resisted the urge.  "Do you have anything useful to add?"

"The kiss was nice."

"Yes, it was."  She could feel the tears prickle her eyes.  "Why did you choose now to kiss me?"

Logan only shrugged.  "I wanted to."

"What else do you want to do?"  He shrugged again.  Rogue sighed, "You're about as helpful as the real Logan."

He smiled, and reached out as if to brush away her tears.  Rogue let her eyes slide closed.  She was so tired.  Every move took so much effort; even talking to an imaginary Logan made her exhausted.  Just a couple of minutes she told herself.

Rogue suddenly opened her eyes and looked at him again. "Will you stay with me?"

"For a little while," he said, sitting down.  "I'll keep watch while you rest."

Rogue feebly checked the makeshift bandages and found them caked with blood. She hoped they had helped. Eyeing Logan stretched out beside her, she said, "You're not supposed to be sleeping."

"Got nothing else to do."

She felt her anger rise with frustration at her helplessness.  "How about keeping watch?"

"Keep watch for what, Rogue?  There isn't going to be any last minute rescue.  We both know that."

She turned her head too quickly, sending pain shooting through her torso. Rogue's imaginary Logan was putting voice to her fears.  Fixing a glare on him, she said through gritted teeth.  "You don't know that." 

He looked around her,  "Have you noticed where you are?  They'd be here by now. It's been too long."

Breathing as deeply as possible, she cleared her mind.  Dwelling on her impending death wasn't helping. Instead Rogue decided to focus on something positive. She settled on the kiss. Logan, the real Logan, had always done the unexpected.  It was no different earlier today. She wanted to laugh or at least try to around the ache in her chest and foul taste in her mouth.  "Why now?'

"Why what?" he asked, staring at her blankly. 

"Why the kiss?  Why the lingering look?  Why the concern?  Why now?"  The anger, rose again, filling her with bitterness.  "I mean we've known each other almost ten years and only now do you let me in on your feelings." Rogue struggled to turn.  "You've known that I've had a thing for you.  You've ignored that aspect of our relationship for years."

"I was right, though, about not letting you come here."  Logan got up, stretching, annoying her further with his ease of movement.  "As for the other question, you'll have to make it out of this to find that answer."  He began to fade.

"Come back here, you selfish bastard.  Don't leave me this way!"  She tried to reach for him, or where he had been.  "Fuck you, Logan!"

At the movement, pain seized her body "Logan!"  Rogue let the great sobs and tears flow freely.  She wanted to know, in the end when they found her crumpled body, if he would cry for her like he had for Jean all those years ago. That made her laugh, because really she wanted him taken out like a rabid dog that couldn't control his rage. Then she would know she meant something to him, after all.

Rogue rolled her eyes. Leave it to her to be buried in debris with limbs turned every which way and making up melodramatic stories of how much Logan loves her.  Fuck it. She was trapped under a ton of debris and could no longer feel anything below her chest; she deserved to be as melodramatic as she wanted. In fact, she could wallow in self-pity if she felt like it. Or until the real Logan showed up, because he'd kick her sorry ass into next week if he knew she was doing that.

Only later, after the blood choked her, and her energy was drained did she call weakly for him again.  "Logan, I'm sorry.  I didn't mean it."

"Marie?"

"Logan, I thought it over, what you said.  I'm going to be okay."  He had reappeared, more life-like this time, crawling on his stomach and inching his way through a narrow gap in the debris. 

"As soon as I touch you…"

Rogue cut him off with her hoarse whisper, "No, I mean when they don't find me, I'm going to be okay.  Nothing hurts anymore."

Logan forced his way through the last few feet, sending a shower of dust and fine particles down on them both.  "I'm here, Marie"

She noted the alarm on his face when he wiped the bloody froth from the corner of her lips.  She put a hand to his face.  "It's okay, I'm ready to go."

"You aren't leaving me like this, Darlin'.  I need you to open the connection."

Scott's voice came faintly, "We've almost got it cleared. We'll have you out in a couple of minutes." 

Maybe Rogue wasn't hallucinating this time.  This might be her only chance to talk to him. She wrinkled her brow, blinking at Logan. "The kiss was nice."

"It was."  She saw the tears swelling in eyes.  "Marie, I need you to open the connection.  We need to get you healed."

"I can't, the rebar…"

His eye drifted across her body.  "Damn it, Cyke, get this shit moved."  He turned back to her, resting his forehead on hers.  "I love you."

"I know." 

~*~