Sharp knock on the door woke him up. Sun was still up. So it was safe to assume he hadn’t slept that long. Perfectly okay to act pissed off. He opened the door with an angry grimace plastered over his face.
“What the fuck do you creep want?” Stephen, one of the transporters took few hasty steps backwards. Wolverine was well known of his bad temper.
“It’s Rogue.”
“Huh?” Anger turned to worry. She was a big girl now. Big enough to take care of herself. Had to be something bad when they sought him out.
“They came out of nowhere… I didn’t think there was any of those left…” Stephen was babbling while Logan threw some clothes on. Now he could smell the scent of Marie’s blood on Stephen.
“There are some left. But I thought they had trained them better, not to attack on muties anymore…” Logan muttered, grabbing the keys to his room.
“Take me there.”
She had been trying on new shoes, when suddenly two Hunters had attacked out of nowhere. Luckily the owner of the small store had managed to kill both of them, but nevertheless she was badly injured. Her right ankle and left wrist were broken, skin torn and muscles underneath minced to an ugly mess along with cartilage and tendons.
“Rogue?” She was barely conscious, but upon hearing Logan’s voice she opened her eyes and forced a smile on her lips.
“Hi. Found some old friends…”
“So I see. What did you do? Poked them with a stick?” Logan asked, gathering her to his arms as gently as possible. She winced a bit.
“Did nothing… They just bounced on me… You know I’m a smart girl…” She whispered, slapping his shoulder with her good hand. Sharp glint of metal captured his attention. A ring. Smooth, silver grey band on her index finger. He recognized the material immediately. It surprised him that she hadn’t made the connection herself.
“Told you before that I don’t want to see this shit on you. They were tracking this!” He snarled, tearing off the ring and keeping it up close her face so that she could see. Marie wrinkled her forehead and tried to grab it. Logan pocketed the ring.
“Nope. You’re not getting it back. First we get you fixed up, then I’m going to get rid of it.”
“It was a present…” Marie whispered, tears gleaming in her eyes.
“Doesn’t matter. It’ll draw every fucking Hunter after you. It’s same kind of ring you had earlier. Made out of old suppression collar.”
“Sam gave it to me…”
“Doesn’t fucking matter! You’re not keeping it, and that’s final!”
Something blue and hungry flashed behind Marie’s eyes. Suddenly his hands against her skin felt stiff and frozen. He couldn’t let go of her. He could see veins bulging under the skin, color fading. It was getting hard to breathe. That coldness crept along his arms, settling inside of his ribcage, grasping his heart and lungs with vice-like grip. He could see damages on Marie’s ankle and wrist healing rapidly. She was draining him, using his mutation. He tried to crawl away from her, but she held on him tightly.
“Rogue! Let go!” He snarled through gritted teeth. She didn’t answer. He tried feebly to kick her, but she dodged his haphazard attempt easily, leeching his power and life. Darkness was approaching rapidly. He could hear people around them whispering.
“Marie… Please, let me go…” He didn’t have any strength left, just that desperate plea. And it was enough. Just before he fell unconscious he could feel the connection breaking.
Rocking motion and steady purr of an engine woke him up. He was in the truck. It was night. Marie was driving. He could smell she had been crying earlier. Now something close to fear was wafting around her, thick cloud of something he couldn’t quite put his finger on.
“Kid?” He muttered, sitting up carefully and wincing against sickening sweet whine and buzz inside of his head.
“They weren’t exactly thrilled of the way I healed. Told me to get lost. You agreed, wanted to come with me. I took the truck and some supplies.”
“I agreed?” He asked puzzled. Had he really been able to voice his opinion? Marie looked at him and tapped her temple.
“I had you inside of my head. You made it very clear that I was to take you with me.”
“Had?”
“People stay in my head only as long as they are unconscious.”
“You finally figured out your mutation, and first thing you do is to turn it against me?”
“Sorry. Wasn’t thinking very clearly…”
“Well, just don’t do it again. Hurt like a bitch…”
“Where are we going?” He asked. Marie was still driving. He was rubbing his forearms. Skin on there felt tight and ticklish. Like a sunburn. He could feel palm shaped scars under his fingers. Probably a permanent feat, since they hadn’t healed up yet. Well, fair was fair. He had scarred her all those years ago; it was her right to repay the favor.
“You wanted to go back to the bunker. I guess you got little confused. I managed to talk you out of it. I have been driving and waiting for you to wake up. Do you have some place in your mind?”
“No. Don’t really have anything left. Anything except… No.”
“We could go to my place. I never sold it, and I doubt anybody has dared to move in there. No one in their right mind would want to live in a mutie hive.”
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