Author's Chapter Notes:
So I can't resist my inner 'shipper. So sue me. As always, feedback is appreciated and rewarded with virtual Logans to all who participate!
Logan didn’t know what he expected if he ever saw Rogue again, but the ass-kicking angel of death she appeared to have become wasn’t exactly it. Not that he was complaining that she had killed Mystique, even if it did put an end to his malicious fun sooner than he wanted. He understood the desire to get away from that place and so willingly followed her out. The adrenaline from the fight carried him up two flights of stairs to the roof of a building he could now see was in the middle of New York City. Before Logan could register anything else except the Blackbird waiting for them, Rogue was attacked.

Logan howled and lunged for her attacker, knocking the pale-haired young man to the side with claws extended. They viciously for a few moments but soon his opponent was on the ground, three holes in his stomach.

“That bitch killed my father!” the younger man screamed, still trying to reach Rogue.

Logan laughed cruelly. “Unless you father was actually a blue bitch, she didn’t. If you want to save him, and yourself, get the fuck out of here,” he said even as he picked up Rogue and ran for the plane. Another time he would have continued fighting, but there were more important things to worry about since Rogue hadn’t made any effort to get up on her own.

“Careful, dammit, Logan! My skin is still turned on!” she screamed at him, pain lacing her voice.

Logan placed her in the nearest seat and collapsed next to her as other X-Men rushed on board and Scott started the take-off sequence. “You should probably borrow my mutation anyway,” he told her tiredly.

Rogue stubbornly shook her head but wouldn’t meet his eyes. “No. Ah think it’s just a broken ankle. Ah’ll be fine. You…you need your strength right now,” she whispered, letting her head fall back and her eyes close.

He watched with a frown as she seemed to fall asleep. He was about to reach for her and force her to take his mutation when she opened her eyes again and smiled warily. “There. Now my skin’s off so you can’t hurt yourself trying to heal me. Just rest, Logan,” she said gently, closing her eyes again.

Logan looked away to find that all of the X-Men, some familiar faces and others not, were staring at him. Most of them looked exhausted but happy, and all of them seemed relieved. To tell the truth he was, too. Now that the rush of the rescue was over, his brain was starting to kick in and all the questions he’d had for the past two years threatened to spill out, like why they hadn’t come for him before or why Rogue even cared about his survival when she’d moved on. He noticed a red-haired, red-eyed man staring hungrily at the dark-haired woman beside him and wondered if that was her new lover. The thought sent him into a rage he struggled to hide.
His fury was partially calmed when Rogue’s hand slipped back into his despite her closed eyes. “Ah’m so glad we got there before…” she tried to say, and he could tell now that she kept her eyes shut to hide the tears she didn’t want to shed in front of the others. He knew she hated to cry in public. At least that much hadn’t changed.

A brief feeling of relief flooded him. Maybe she still cared and he had a chance to win her back. He cradled her hand in his and lifted her fingertips to his lips. “Me too, darlin’. Me too.” She slowly leaned her head over until she was snuggled against his shoulder in the old comfortable way, and he tucked his chin against her soft hair, letting himself breathe in the scent of her. He could only smell her, no one else, again a relief and a balm to his battered heart.

Soon he could tell that she slept and so he let himself relax even as he glanced again at Red-Eye and smirked. No matter what those two might have, Logan was the one she turned to still. The younger man frowned and turned to stare out the windshield at the night sky.

In what seemed like no time to a man who had been locked in a single room for two years, the Blackbird arrived back at the X-Mansion. Logan waited until most of the X-Men were off the plane to nudge Rogue awake, but apparently she was in such a deep sleep that the only response she gave was a low moan. Logan’s attention was grabbed by Jean and Scott coming over to stand next to him.

“We need to get you to the medlab, Logan. I’d like to make sure that you’re okay,” Jean said softly, glancing with concern at Rogue.

Logan shook his head. “I’m fine, Jeanie, but Rogue here probably broke her ankle at the end of the fight. Just get me water and some real food, and I’ll help get her settled in the lab.” He grimaced when he said the word, but at least he knew Jean was one of the good ones, if there were any good doctors out there.

Jean frowned but nodded. “All right. See if you can wake her. I need to ask her about this latest absorption and see how she’s handling it after…well, I just need to talk to her. I’ll expect you in the medlab in a bit, okay? She probably has an hour or two before she’ll really need that ankle set if it’s broken, but you should get that water and food sooner,” she commented, obviously wanting to give the two of them some time alone to talk. Maybe Rogue hadn’t mentioned her last conversation with “him.”

“We’ll be there. She’s sleeping like the dead so it might take me a few minutes,” he said brusquely.

Jean slipped away leaving only Scott still there. Logan raised an eyebrow when he cleared his throat and said, “It’s good to have you back, Logan.” Then he practically ran to catch up with his wife.

“Scott really was upset when we learned what had happened to you,” Rogue said next to him, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

“Were you awake the whole time?” Logan asked, shaking his head.

“No, but Ah also don’t really sleep like the dead either. Ah don’t want to go to the medlab,” she told him, pouting a little in that just-woke-up way.

“You need to, darlin’, and that’s that,” he said, reaching over to run his fingers along her cheek. “You’re so beautiful. I missed you more than anything else, Marie.”

Her eyes filled with tears and she lifted her hand to press his fingers against her skin, her eyes closing again. “Ah thought Ah wasn’t ever going to see you again,” she replied, more pain and anguish than he’d expected in her voice.

“I would have come back sooner than this. You know that, right? It was all a game Mystique and Magneto decided to play to keep the X-Men from realizing that they had me. I would have come back for you.”

She nodded and opened her eyes before dropping her gaze to her lap. “Ah know. It’s just that it seemed like you were slipping away from me…Ah had no idea.” He could hear that she wanted to cry but wasn’t letting the tears fall.

“Is that why you found someone else?” He hadn’t meant for it to come out so abruptly, but he was gratified when her eyes flashed to his and he read the anger there.

“Ah lied, Logan. Ah still love you, always have and heaven help me probably always will. Ah just thought you didn’t care anymore!” she cried, her fingers bunching into a fist like she wanted to punch him for even suggesting it.

Logan smiled smugly. “Good. Because I’m not letting you go, darlin’, not for anyone. I spent two years thinking I would never see you again, and I’m not giving you up again.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You never lost me, you ass,” she told him, reaching over to grab him by the shoulders and pull herself into his lap. “You’re gonna have to get used to having me around, because from now on Ah’m not letting you out of my sight,” she whispered, running trembling fingers through his hair.

“Is that right?” he asked, pulling her closer.

“Yeah.” It was barely loud enough to be called a sound, but he heard it before her lips met his in a kiss he’d wanted ever since he saw her standing next to Magneto. She tasted like honey and his Marie, and he reveled in it even as he tried to memorize the feel of her soft lips against his. His hands slid into her hair, anchoring her to him as he slanted his mouth over hers, his tongue diving in to slide over hers tantalizingly. The smell of her arousal hit him hard, especially because he knew she needed to get to the medlab.

When they finally broke apart Rogue leaned her forehead against Logan’s and groaned. “Damn this ankle of mine,” she muttered.
“I was just thinking the same thing, darlin’. We should get that checked out,” he told her as he wrapped his arms around her and lifted her up effortlessly.

Rogue shook her head and sighed even as she looped her arms around his neck. “Only Ah could go on a mission to rescue you and then need you to carry me to the medlab,” she said sourly.

He laughed, the first laugh in a long, long time. “I think we’ll both be fine,” he said as he made his way off the plane. Just as he reached the bottom of the ramp he heard a familiar presence in his mind.

Logan, when Rogue is settled in the medlab I would like to welcome you home in person, the Professor told him. Logan just nodded, knowing the Professor would read the agreement in his mind.
Chapter End Notes:
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