Pain, can't get enough
Pain, I like it rough
Cause I'd rather feel pain than nothing at all
Pain - Three Days Grace
Rogue leaned back against the bar next to him. "What ya' want, X-Man?"
Logan took a swig from the beer he'd been nursing all evening waiting for her to show. He'd spent more than enough time in this little pissant bar on the shady side of town. It was wearing on his nerves and the last thing he needed was to get tetchy.
He surveyed her from the corner of his eye. She looked the same, covered head-to-toe, only her face bare. The leather duster on top of her leather outfit was overkill in this weather. There was a harsher, edgier look to her than the young woman he remembered. This Rogue smelled different. The same underlying tones were there with less innocence and more darkness clinging to her.
Rogue faced Logan, looking him square in the eye as he set the bottle down. "Well, old man?" Her voice had a ragged edge that was nothing like the smooth voice he'd hoped to hear again.
"Wanted to see for myself." Logan had searched for her since the day he woke up and discovered Rogue worked for Mystique's Brotherhood. He'd scoured the reports trying to find why Xavier hadn't brought Rogue into the fold. Logan had assumed fifty years ago that if Xavier had gotten the core X-Men together, everything else would fall into place.
When Logan turned back to finish off his beer, he could feel her gaze wandering up his body in a sexual manner. "I like the working man look, but…" Rogue leaned in. "Sugar, you're not my type."
Her scent told him it was a lie, but Logan wasn't here for that. "Mystique is?"
Anger flared in Rogue's eyes. "What would some do-gooder X-Man know about my life?"
"I know you're better than this." Her eyes narrowed as he continued. "Better than stolen powers you have no more control over than your own. Instead of following Mystique's little self-serving agenda, you helped save us all."
Rogue sneered, "I could break ya' in half old man."
Logan stood up, tossing money on the bar for his drink. "You could, but you won't…" He ran a finger through the white streak of hair. "Marie." He turned on his heel, walking straight for the side door that led to the alley.
Once outside in the narrow alley, he stopped to light a cigar. It had been guess work about Rogue's control issue. After following her for a week, he'd seen with his own eyes that she lacked all control over her mutation.
Yet, Logan remembered the Rogue of his timeline talking about having a slow, growing control. First she had blushed prettily talking about a kiss with Bobby. Then the incident of using Pyro's power to put out fires Pyro had started. She had left neither boy anywhere near a coma or in any long-lasting, weakened state. If that Rogue could gain some measure of control, more than likely this Rogue could, too.
He heard the bar door open, Logan didn't need to turn around to know that Rogue had followed him. He smiled to himself; she'd been an easy mark. Logan had purposely used the two weapons at his disposal against her; people were afraid of her power and no one knew her name.
"What's your game, X-Man?" Rogue wasn't even trying to hold in her anger anymore.
He looked back over his shoulder, blowing smoke. "No game." Logan egged her on. "Thought you'd want more outta life than Mystique offers." He began to walk away.
Rogue grabbed his shoulder, spinning him around. Logan felt his feet drag across the ground as she pushed or rather flew them toward a wall. "Ya know what I think." The bricks gave when they hit the wall opposite the bar. "I think you're slumming. None of them X-Men will play rough with ya."
It took a lot of self-control for Logan to remain passive. Rogue balled her fists tighter into his jacket, jerking him forward for a kiss. He let her kiss him, even when he felt her mutation begin to pull at him. She pushed him away, obviously confused by his reaction. She'd expected him to be scared, to try and fight her touch. Everyone did.
He seized the moment, gently skimming a bare hand through her hair. "You were an X-Man."
"Me an X-Man? You've gone crazy." Rogue hissed at him.
Logan lifted an eyebrow and gave her a dare-you type of smile. "All you have to do is take a look." This time he cupped her face and gently kissed her. He held on after Rogue's mutation took over, even as his strength began to drain and he sagged against the wall.
Rogue broke away first, violently pushing herself in the other direction. Stumbling into the other wall, before she fell to her hands and knees on the dirty pavement. "What did ya do to me?" she wheezed.
He shook his head to clear it. "Gave you a glimpse of who you could be." Logan had tried to push forward all the positive memories of the Rogue he'd known.
She tried standing up, but had to lean on the wall for support. Logan noticed a subtle change in her face, the hard lines around her eyes eased. "Can you help us…her?" The Southern accent was gone, replaced by something that sounded like a faint New England dialect.
"I can't, but Professor Xavier can." Logan began to walk away, a little unsteady, but nothing he wouldn't recover from. "You know where to find us, if you decide to make a change."
This was all he could do for this Rogue. He hoped it would be enough and that she would want to change.
Rogue stood, scrutinizing the front entrance to the X-Mansion.
It had been a week since she'd kissed Wolverine. Three days to come to terms with the Wolverine's memories. Two days to make the decision. Another day to inform Mystique.
She smelled the cigar smoke before she saw Wolverine step out from the shadows of the trees. "I ain't her," Rogue told him as he came to stand beside her.
"Didn't expect you to be," he said taking the cigar from his mouth.
"Won't ever be her," she added with a sigh. Standing there at the quiet campus so far from her chaotic life, Rogue wondered what possessed her to turn her life upside down.
It was that damn promise. The one Wolverine made to that silly, little girl he thought of as Marie. Rogue might have been that girl a decade ago. It was hard to remember. Maybe if Wolverine had been there for her and made that promise to her, Rogue's life wouldn't be the mess it was now.
Wolverine blew out smoke. "Then why'd you come?"
Rogue shrugged her shoulders. "I won't ever be that innocent again. Done too much to regret. Don't know if I can ever find the happiness I saw." She irritably wiped at her eye. "But if I could make up for some of the things I've done, learn to be content with who I am."
She picked up her duffle bag; still staring at the old, brick mansion set on perfectly manicured lawns. Not the kind of place you would expect the X-Men to live. She knew that Mystique had once lived here. But could Rogue make it a home, would they even let her try?
Rogue toyed with the idea of walking away from all of it. Maybe find a place far away, where no one knew her.
"Ain't going to be easy," Wolverine said. "I'm guessing there's some bad history between you and the X-Men."
Rogue nodded her agreement. "Will you stick with me?" she asked looking at him for the first time. In that moment Wolverine's face softened and she saw a glimpse of the Logan who must have cared for the Marie of his memories.
Wolverine smiled down at her. "I promise." He took the duffle from her hand, throwing an arm around her shoulders. "Come on, kid, let's go see Chuck."
She let him guide her up to the front door. "Tell me, Logan," Rogue caught his half-smile at her use of his name. "Was Marie your girl?" She opened the door as he coughed, trying not to look at her.
~*~
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Story Notes:
Thanks to SJ, Margaret and Jamie for the beta. And thanks to RogueLotus for all the plot bunnies.