Within seventy-two hours of the attack on the school, Hank was able to locate the facility that the Sentinels had returned to. Thanks to the video going viral, the public's opinion of mutants shifted and many wanted to help. People were posting their own videos of the Sentinels in flight and sharing information. This allowed Hank to piece together a possible location of the missing students.
Plans were made, students sent to various safe houses in case of a counterattack. Jean, along with a small group of junior X-Men, would stay with the wounded in the med bay.
The recovery team led by Scott would enter the Sentinel facility and extract their people. They were to do as little damage as possible. All agreed public opinion would just as easily turn with a video that portrayed them as bloodthirsty.
When the other team members were dismissed, Scott held Logan back. "I need to know that you won't deviate from the plan." Summers' jaw was set in grim determination. "Rogue isn't the only one we need to find."
Logan had to admire the young man's display of leadership. Logan nodded. "Your plan's good."
"Thank you." He touched his visor. "I'd hate to have to take you down, to get our people out."
Leaving with a snort, Logan knew Scott was serious and would give it a damn good try if it came to that. But Logan had told the truth; the plan was a good one.
In the end, the facility turned out to be largely unguarded; clearly they weren't expecting to be discovered. There was only a small squad of security personnel to deal with. The team made quick work of the guards and Hank had Storm take out the electrical transformers for the compound.
When the back up generators came online a minute later, Hank gained access to the computerized management system for the base. He had the entire compound disarmed in short order, then Hank was able to direct the team to the holding rooms and bypass the sentinel storage area.
The irritation of searching the entire holding section was getting on Logan's nerves. Ultimately, Scott gave him the lead and Logan quickly tracked Rogue down. Logan could see the students huddled along the far side through the small window in the shield door. He couldn't immediately locate Rogue, but her scent trail ended here.
It felt like it took an eternity for Hank to disengage the locks on the door, but Logan knew with this door his claws wouldn't cut through any quicker. When the door did open, Logan pushed past Summers and approached the group. The kids appeared battered and bruised, and wearing inhibitor collars. Shouts of joy greeted him and the students quickly parted to reveal Rogue crumpled on the floor.
Logan froze for a second as he sorted out sounds, pushing down the feeling of dread that they might be too late. He took a deep breath and stepped closer, making his steps deliberate to counteract the distress rising inside, to his relief Rogue moved slightly. He heard Hank and Summers dealing with the students and the collars, while Logan knelt beside Rogue. She was very pale and clammy looking.
He could hear her heart, beating at an odd pace, as the others cleared the room. He was afraid to touch her for fear he might inflict damage. Logan brushed the hair from her face and Rogue moaned. He carefully turned her and Rogue's eyes fluttered open.
Logan gave her his best 'everything is okay' smile. "Hey kid, you miss me?"
"Not really." She weakly returned his smile. "I knew you'd come for me."
Logan's heart twisted in his chest. Rogue was so sure of him. Her confidence in him made his heart beat in away he couldn't define. Is this why they were together? Had this Rogue always made him feel like he could take on the world, even in the worst of situations?
Logan pulled off his glove, "Let's get you healed."
Rogue shook her head slowly. "Not here, Sugar. I need you to get us out first."
Hank joined Logan, and did a quick medical assessment of Rogue. He cleared her for the flight, though Logan knew that was more out of necessity than medical stability. Hank looked grim and wouldn't even tell Logan what he suspected. Rogue winced as Logan picked her up. He held her carefully until she was strapped down on the gurney.
Rogue was still insistent that he wait until they were somewhere safe, wanting to make sure Logan was available to help the others if he was needed. Logan knew there was something else she was holding from him, but they could discuss that later.
Logan sat on the floor next to the gurney, leaning against the bulkhead and holding her hand. After Hank tried and failed to find a vein for an IV, he simply gave Rogue an injection of morphine and told Logan it would be best not to let her lose consciousness. He then left Logan and Rogue alone while he radioed ahead to Jean.
Logan tried small talk something he'd never been very good at.
"You want me to do the talking?" Rogue asked while pointing to a bottle of water.
"It might be a better conversation," Logan admitted, helping her take a sip.
She lay back, taking his hand again after he recapped the bottle. "How did your assignment down on the border go?"
What should he say, that he woke up and didn't remember the last 50 years? Or he had no clue why he was there and what he'd done? Logan knew he'd taken too long to answer when Rogue squeezed his hand lightly.
"It happened? You fixed the future?"
"Some fix this is," he muttered, his displeasure at the situation obvious.
Rogue's brow knit together. "Is this worse?"
"I don't know," he admitted in defeat. "Things went wrong and I lost track of you."
"Were we together?"
Unable to meet her eyes, he shook his head no.
"That's okay, you've loved me enough for two lifetimes."
Logan helped Rogue take another sip of water. "How did you know?" he asked. "About the time travel?"
"When I moved into your room, Hank took me aside. He laid everything out as best he could, so that I'd be fully aware of what I might be in for." Rogue's smile was soft and understanding. "I decided that I didn't want to miss the opportunity to be with you." She got a far away look for a moment before asking, "Do you remember anything about me?"
Logan rubbed soothing circles on the back of her gloved hand. "I remember meeting you at a bar, running into the X-Men. Then I stabbed you and later saved you at the Statue of Liberty." He paused, sifting through his memories. What else had there been? "Every time I came back to the mansion you gave me a hug, even when you were dating Bobby."
Rogue made a choking sound and Logan panicked until he realized she was laughing. He leaned back again. "What's so funny?"
"Me dating Bobby. He's nice and all, but I gave up on boys when I met you." Rogue winked at him.
He listened to her recount the same story, but with a sense of humor thrown in. Rogue told him that if she hadn't saved him he'd still be chasing redheads.
Logan was struck by her unwavering love for him even though he remembered none of the other stories she told. He wanted to heal Rogue, he wanted to touch her and be reassured that she would be fine. He'd deal with her being mad later.
But here he was waiting once more, and not by his choice. Logan reasoned it was a short flight back to the mansion, there would be plenty of time for healing and then they could rebuild their lives as they helped rebuild the mansion.
Despite everything Rogue continued talking, teasing, and joking with him. If this was even a fraction of what their relationship had been, he could see himself falling for her.
Was he falling for Marie?
When they arrived back at what was left of the mansion, Marie was quickly transferred to the med bay. She insisted that Logan change out of his uniform. "I'll be fine with Jean and Hank."
Logan hurried, taking no more than five minutes to pull on jeans and a t-shirt. When he returned, Marie was on a hospital bed talking with Hank. Jean wouldn't look at Logan as she busied herself with equipment.
Marie looked at Logan guiltily, but smiled when she noticed his lack of shoes. Logan briefly wandered what she had to feel guilty about. "I was in a hurry."
Logan came to Marie's side as she thanked both Hank and Jean. Once again Logan was feeling that he'd been left in the dark about something, but pushed that thought aside and took hold of Marie's bare hand. The pull he was expecting never came.
"Marie?"
"There's nothing they can do for me. It's been too long." She shifted uncomfortably. "I had a feeling."
He wanted to be angry with her. Marie should have let him try when they first found them. She shushed him when he started to protest, and then patted the bed beside her.
"When we arrived at the facility I knew that my mutation had shut down when I tried to touch one of the guards." She gave him an amused smile. "I got a good beating for that stunt. You always told me to quit taking chances like that."
Later, Logan lay on the hospital bed curled around her. He wanted to believe that it was to comfort Marie, but he knew deep down it was comforting him too. Hank and Jean had done everything they could for Marie after her mutation failed.
The machines beeped in the background, keeping track of her fading vital signs. Marie's thin hospital gown barely covered her and Logan was concerned she would get cold. He started to pull the blanket up. "Don't, I'm hot." She laughed weakly, "You always made me hot."
"Remind me."
Marie stoked his hand, "Xavier was having his big winter gala. It was so stuffy; I went out on the balcony for a breather. You followed me, supposedly for a smoke. It was colder than I thought and you'd left your jacket inside, so you wrapped your arms around me instead." She paused, pulling his arms tighter around her. "You whispered in my ear about how beautiful I was. I let you sweet talk me into going to your room." She patted his arm. "Never did get that cigar lit."
"You're still beautiful," Logan whispered into her ear.
"Ya' got a thing for hospital gowns?" Marie teased.
He laughed softly at her sense of humor. She was gravely sick and she was still teasing him. They grew silent. Logan wished the monitors were gone. He didn't need the persistent beeping to tell him that she was failing.
"I'm sorry I wasn't here when you needed me," Logan said, kissing the top of her head. Marie made an effort to turn around. He helped her and resettled with her curled up beside him, her head on his chest.
"Don't be sorry. You've been there for me all these years." She sighed contently. "You loved me well. None of it was in vain." She patted his chest. "You're a survivor, you'll carry on."
Logan gently rubbed her back until she fell asleep. He'd always had a soft spot for Marie in the other timeline. Even now that soft spot had grown and changed. He caught the look in her eye and the certain smile she had for him when she thought he wouldn't see it.
The 'the looks' from the others earlier hadn't been pity, but sympathy. Understanding of what they meant to each other. Logan was sorry he hadn't known Marie as a lover. It was obvious she had been good for him. Logan was beginning to understand how Summers might have felt when Jean died in the old timeline.
Logan awoke to murmurings; he hadn't meant to drift off. He realized it wasn't the voices that woke him, but the absence of the beeping monitors. Marie's heartbeat was too faint for them to detect any longer. She was slipping from his grasp.
He lay there holding her body tightly. Logan knew Jean was monitoring him for signs he would start tearing the lab apart. But at the moment he only wanted to hold onto Marie, even as she slipped through his fingers. He was suddenly adrift. He was losing a part of himself he hadn't known he'd needed until now.
Logan felt the tears slide from his eyes and the catch in his breathing. He whispered…begged her. "Don't leave me now. I'm just starting to fall in love with you."
~*~
The Wolverine & Rogue Fanfiction Archive
Barely Legal Since 2000