Long after the party and late into the night, Marie looks out from the balcony of her room. Sleep remains elusive to her even at this late in hour. The swirling thoughts in her mind keep her restless, she’s already sent an inquiry about the current state of Worthington Industries. Yet she feels there is so much she is unaware of, it is something she is hoping to change.
“Ms. Adler.” Magneto levitates down from above her from the dark skies. The sudden arrival sends her reeling, stumbling back against the railing of the balcony. Still dressed for the party he lands in front of her, close enough that she catches a whiff of the cologne in the air, the one he always uses. The memories associated with that scent sends her mind spinning. She can feel his thoughts pressing against her consciousness and his voice in her ears. “I’ve come upon a rather disturbing rumor, of you and the young Worthington heir.”
“What of it?” Marie braces her mind and asserts her own thoughts over the cacophony of noise. She shoves his chest, sending him back half a step or so. Smirking at her display of defiance, his eyes flickering over her body clad only in a thin nightgown before rising to meet hers. She spits at him, “What happens between Warren and I is none of your concern.”
Marie suddenly realizes what she is wearing, and in the cool night air certain parts of her are obvious through the almost sheer material. She can feel his eyes drinking her in, “You are my concern, Ms. Adler.”
She thinks she might have heard a bit of affection in his tone. But the only thing she is certain she can hear now is the cold rage in his voice. “I made a generous offer to Worthington, in good faith. Only for him to go behind my back and try to take what is mine.”
“What are you talking about? He didn’t try to take anything of yours.” Stepping back as much as she is able, Marie crosses her arms over her chest in an attempt to preserve her modesty. She does actually have a very good idea what he is referring to. It is just that Magneto has never been so direct about it. And she certainly did not expect him to make a move so soon. Another unexpected surprise to add to her list tonight.
“Yes, he did. He is trying to take you.” A strange light shines in his eyes, Magneto’s hand reaches out taking a long lock of her hair between his fingers he brings it up to his nose. Closing his eyes he takes a deep breath of her scent. “And for you to even consider assisting him in the endeavor.”
“I don’t belong to you.” His hand is just a hair breath away from her face, and she could not quite muster any force behind her denial. Marie shrinks away from him practically certain that he is going to touch her. Then she notices that his hand is bare, and a way for her to escape from this horrid situation come to her mind.
“But you do,” With her heart pumping, Marie stills her mind, recalling from her memory, the last time she faced an opponent as powerful as Magneto. But that feeling doesn’t come, perhaps it the alcohol she drank or the emotional state she is in, still she knows she will not be able to summon that tonight. She takes a step forward, to give herself more room to maneuver. Folding her hands behind her back she slips her gloves off. Now all she needs is an opportunity. “From the very first moment, I saw you.”
“I saw the recognition in your eyes.” His cold blue eye finds her again, and Marie can’t make herself look away. He coils her hair tight around his fingers, yanking her closer, his voice down to a soft yet harsh whisper. “You see me, what I am. You understand me.”
“But, I knew you needed time, so I waited.” His voice is oddly mesmerizing, and in a strange and twisted way, Magneto is right. That very first time she saw him on the school grounds, she already knew him, who he was, understood him in a way that only someone who shared his hopes and fears, his dreams and nightmare could.
“Only to find you plotting against me.” Anger is slipping into his voice once again, and the light in his eyes begins to fade.
Logan’s voice sounds a warning about what she is going to do, but she disregards it, knowing that it is now or never. Her hand lashes out grabbing his hand tight. There is a brief moment of nothing, just the warmth of skin to skin, something she had not felt since her time with Logan in Colombia. Then it starts. His life force, his thoughts, his very being pour into her. Just like that time on the liberty torch. She looks him straight in the eye, “Just leave me alone.”
She releases Magneto after an eternal second, he slumps to the floor. Staggering away, Marie struggles to stand, her mind in complete turmoil. All the barriers in her minds seem to be thrown open. She’s never taken in so much of someone at once before. And despite her memories never really experienced the effort of integrating another mind before. She feels the presence of Logan and Magneto raging against each other in her mind, clutching her head she disappears in a puff of sulfur.
Marie reappears at one of her favorite spots at the resort, a small secluded grove near the edge of the property. It is lined with Sugar Maple trees. She found it during a routine morning jog of hers and has been coming here regularly since when she needs to clear her head. She is familiar enough with the area that she can teleport to the location by simply visualizing it.
She greets the blast of fresh air with noticeable relief. Her mind is still in utter turmoil. Regardless of what she feels for Magneto, she always finds the strength of his will admirable. Like her, his mind is laden with doubt and uncertainties. Despite his outward projection of confidence, he constantly second-guesses himself. Just as she does he agonizes over many decisions he has made, even long after he has made them.
He is so different from the other major presence in her mind, Logan. Both of them are confident and dominating figures in life, but their thoughts could not be more different. Logan never second guess his own decisions, everything he has done he does with all his has, that is not to say he does not regret.
Logan has many regrets in his long life, but he pushes on with an incredible single-minded tenacity. With the absolute certainty that every decision he made is the best he could have at the time, Logan looks ever forward towards his next goal. It is because of this that she finds herself feeling so safe with him.
With this new surge of Magneto's consciousness and the understanding that comes with it, she finds a strange sense of camaraderie with him. They are just two uncertain people fumbling their way through life, seeking acceptance for who they are.
So deep is Marie in her thoughts, trying her hardest to sort the massive quantities of information that just spilled into her mind that, she is startled by a sound close behind. Spinning around she tries to teleport, but her tumultuous mind gives no response to her command.
Quickly she activates the torch function of her phone and curses herself for not taking the time to dress before coming out here. The light shines on a familiar face, one of the newly rescued mutants, Leech, also known as Jimmy. His presence explains why her powers suddenly failed her. The thought of that gives Marie an odd sense of comfort, it is a rare moment where she is not the most dangerous person in the vicinity.
“Woah!” Jimmy yells out while raising his hands to cover his eyes. Marie takes the opportunity to take a better look at the young man. Even though she personally rescued him from the Lab she never really looked at him; before, during, and immediately after the raid she was so focused on Logan. Then back at the school, she didn’t mean to be callous, but the unassuming mutant simply slipped from her mind.
The only thing that really stood out to her then was how scrawny the young man was. Now she can see from the cargo shorts and polo he is wearing that he is starting to recover some body mass. “Oh, Jimmy! Sorry, you startled me”
“Marie?” Jimmy peeks out from between his finger and Marie lowers the light on her phone. Dropping his arms, his eyes go wide. Jimmy blinks several times before his mind comprehends the situation, he takes a step back averting his gaze, immediately starts apologizing, “I-I… I am really sorry, I didn’t…”
“It's okay.” Marie sighs. For the second time tonight someone saw her in this state, and she can’t really even get mad, not at Jimmy at least. She is one standing out here in her nightgown. She can only curse her own impulsiveness for just teleporting from her room. As if having Magneto ogling her wasn't enough. Still, she is fairly certain that he can't make out anything in the darkness, nevertheless out of an abundance of caution she crosses her arms over her chest.
"I'm pretty worn out, I’m going back to my room." With her solitude broken Marie does what she can to set her thoughts back in order. Then backing a few steps up away from Jimmy, she once again feels the ever-present hum around her as her skin kicks back into action. “You have a good night, Jimmy”
“Marie, wait!” Jimmy’s rushes after her, his new proximity immediately counteract her attempt at teleportation. She feels his hand on her bare shoulders, and just as she’s been trained, she pulls him towards her and kicks his legs out from under him. Jimmy lands with a grunt, splayed out on the ground he looks up at her in astonishment.
She knows Jimmy doesn't mean any harm. Even so tonight there is perhaps two persons she would have welcomed a comforting touch from and sadly neither of them is here right now. She glares at him, “You know you shouldn’t touch me.”
“Marie... it’s okay! Everything is fine.” He stands up with his hand raised up, he smiles tentatively at her. “I can neutralize mutant powers, nothing bad will happen.”
From the dim light of her phone, she can see him blushing, and Marie is more thankful than ever for the darkness. She should know better than to do any kind of fighting dressed as she currently is, it’s just that she is far too tense right now. Jimmy takes a slow step forward, “We can just talk. You know, hang out like normal kids”
“Jimmy…” Just being normal kids is very tempting, so very tempting for Marie. In a few months, she knows that her chances of just being a normal girl will most likely be gone forever. Maybe she could try to live like a normal teenager for the short while she has left at school, but not tonight, not after all that’s happened. Backing up even further she summons up her powers again, she gives him a tired smile, “I’m just... really tired. Some other time okay?”
Marie rolls on to her stomach and buries her head underneath her pillows. She was restless all night, and breaking years of habit, she skipped her morning jog. It is already past eight and a glance towards her phone she can already see the text message from Kitty saying she got them breakfast. She quickly types a reply before hurrying to drag herself from her bed and into the bathroom.
Her mind is still foggy, she shuts the renewed Magneto away as quickly as she can, even resisting the urge to take a glance at his thoughts, maybe his plans for her. Nevertheless, the Magneto of her mind surges with new strength and is straining against her consciousness. The new turmoils are causing the other presences in her mind to awaken. Most of them she can suppress. But Logan, whose presence is still the strongest personality in her mind despite the recent absorption, is now becoming restless. She can practically feel him roaming the recesses of her mind. His presence is usually comforting, yet the new intensity of his personality distorts everything she sees, hears, feels.
It is just like that moment in her dreams on top the liberty torch right after she was rescued. Everything is so intense, vivid, and someone or something constantly questions her every decision while suggesting other, occasionally disturbing courses of action.
Marie exits her room and turns to lock the door behind her when the hair on her arms stands up. She is not sure how she knew but someone is behind her. Before she can make any kind of a move his voice freezes her on the spot, “Good morning, Ms. Adler.”
“Mr. Lehnsherr.” Slowly she turns around, and find Magneto standing there, thankfully a respectable distance away. Her immediate thought is that he has been waiting here, most likely to settle what she started last night. She knows she is not in any condition for a confrontation, even so, she readies herself and tries to dash past him, mumbling a flimsy excuse “Sir, I- I’m late, I need to-”
“One moment, if you please, Ms. Adler,” To her surprise Magneto does not block her way, even stepping aside to make room for her. She is not sure why she stopped, but she does and looks back at him in disbelief.
“I would like to apologize for my behavior yesterday evening.” He clasps his hand in front of him and smiles at her, yet even with just a gesture Marie still can’t help but feel a bit threatened, while his body language is peaceful, there is something in his eyes.
“You what?” The question slips from her lips before she can stop it. She eyes him warily, the Logan in her mind agreeing wholeheartedly with her suspicions.
“Apologize, Ms. Adler.” That amused smile returns to Magneto’s face, and Marie’s heart races at the sight, nothing pleasant has happened when that smile appears. “I indulged in a bit too much to drink and was not at my best.”
“Not at your best?” Marie would have sneered if she wasn’t drilled from childhood to be polite at all times. Instead, she folds her arms and glares at him. “You’ve been like that from the first time we spoke, were you drunk then too?”
“If I was, it was only with your charms.” Another smile, and it took a tremendous effort for her not to gape at him. She is not sure which Magneto is worse, the cold calculating man or this new disturbingly charming one. She is beginning to understand why Kitty and Jubes think the way they do. If she didn’t have so much of his thoughts in her mind she might have believed him.
She might have even accepted his apology if it were not for Logan’s presence supporting her. Magneto is not a nice man, the only thing he is trying to do here is to manipulate. She narrows her eyes at him, “It is not polite to lie, sir.”
“Lie? Each time we've met, I’ve only ever expressed my admiration for you.” He actually sounds genuine with his flattery and as disturbing as that is, this is something Marie is familiar with, being lusted after. He shrugs at her and smiles again, “With the unfortunate exception of last night.”
“I know I’ve overstepped the bounds of propriety,” He continues on without giving her a chance to respond, pacing just a little. Surprisingly, he still stays well outside of her personal space. “And my approach in courting you could have been less awkward.”
“To say the least.” Marie huffs under her breath, she finds the sudden shift into a familiar territory and oddly comforting. Her heart rate slows as the template of this conversation is revealed to her. In a very esoteric, and fittingly traditional way, Magneto is announcing his intentions for her hand. In two days, she gains two serious suitors, ones with proper connections and social status, ones she can’t just dismiss out of hand.
“I would like to assure you, I will not act out in such manner in your presence again.” By the time he finishes his speech, her mind is already racing. Her understanding with Warren is still informal, he still needs the approval of his father even if such approval is certain. Magneto as the head of his family can officially begin negotiations, as soon as he contacts her mother, who is unlikely to reject the offer outright. Magneto, despite Marie’s own misgivings, is still a towering figure in the political world.
“Thank you, I will take your offer into consideration.” While she can accept the offer herself, it is well within her right to pass on the request to her mother. It also helps that it would buy her some much needed time to consider all that has happened. “We can discuss the details at a more appropriate time.”
It is surprising to find herself so readily accepting of this new turn of events. As dangerous and frightening as this new relationship with Magneto is, it is at least something Marie understands. When Magneto courts her it comes with an extensive set of rules, ones she hopes to use to her full advantage. With luck and much effort, she could drag this on till more palatable arrangements are secured.
“Of course. A pleasant day to you, Ms. Adler.” He actually bows to her. As much as she is afraid of him, she couldn’t help but approve of his manners. She stands there and watches him walk away and disappear around the hallway corner before she backs away to join her friends already outside.
The Wolverine & Rogue Fanfiction Archive
Barely Legal Since 2000
Author's Chapter Notes:
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone. Early chapter this week, next chapter will be after the new years. And a big thank you to cschoolgirl for the beta.
Chapter End Notes:
Up next, what Logan has been up to.