Gah, poor Logan! Damn him and his nobility. Just *take* the girl, for goodness sakes ;).

Nah, that wouldn't make for an interesting story. This is great by the way! The boner was hilarious--actually made me laugh out loud.

And I'm gonna say it wasn't a coincidence that the woman he picked up was a brunette, huh?

Thanks for sharing this with us!

Author's Response: thank you,thank you, thank you for your great review! :) \r\nIm glad you are enjoying this,

Ooh! I almost couldn't believe my eyes when I saw another doctorg story so quick after the last one. Lucky us!

Very intriguing. Every question alesia posed--yeah, I'm pretty much on the edge of my seat wondering those things too.

She wore a white button-down shirt and a short, girlish skirt, and she was barefoot in ragged tights. One pale toe peeked out of a hole in the foot of her tights, the oddly vulnerable sight twisting something tighter in Logan’s chest as he bit back the angry growl that threatened to leave his throat.

There is something so powerful about that image and Logan's response to it. It's sad and disturbing yet sexy. Definitely makes me wonder how old Marie is.

You may not have a road map for this one, but I'm more than willing to follow wherever it ends up going. I'm sure it'll be great regardless. Please post more soon! You've left more questions than answers with this tease of a first chapter.

Author's Response: Yeah, I couldn\'t believe myself when I started writing another story so quick. ;-) I\'m glad you found the start intriguing. And Rogue will definitely be \"of age,\" but I did intend for her to come across at first glance as less mature. I\'m not sure where the idea for this came from, but as I started writing I thought quite a bit about \"Taken\" and \"The Professional\" (both really good movies) for inspiration, and those movies skew much more to the younger girl protagonist. And to further convince you of the joys of Google Docs, I\'ve shared this one with you too, so you can sneak a peek at Chapter 2 anytime you want. ;-)

Eek! Gore. Thanks for the nightmares. But you get muchos props for realism, there. As a reader I could really *feel* Logan getting tortured. Yay him for holding out. God, I just want to cuddle him or something.

He watched helplessly as the light of hope died from her eyes, replaced by a look of utter betrayal. She began to fight like a dervish, kicking her stockinged feet against his legs, turning her head to try to bite his wrist, jerking against the cuffs until the scent of her blood tinged the air.

Whew, badass Marie is right. It would take some serious guts to put up that kind of fight when you're so clearly at someone else's mercy. She and Logan are perfectly matched in this story! I can't wait to see them bring down the baddies together.

Overall, this chapter was grisly and disturbing and actually quite difficult to read at times--which is exactly what it was supposed to be, I expect. Here's to hoping Marie drops that Wolvie-torturing bastard and saves the day =D.

Author's Response: Aw, sorry for the gore. I think I overcompensated...I think we get so used to thinking of Logan as invulnerable to all harm, we forget that he actually even feels the pain. I wanted to make it clear that he still feels pain, and that without his healing he is as vulnerable as anyone. I also wanted to make it clear that time was passing (because I knew I wanted a lag before powers kick in after the collar comes off) so it went on a bit.\r\n\r\nIt\'s funny, I just went back and made edits to make Marie a little more tough/prickly in subsequent chapters. If I\'m going to live up to the inspiration (Matilda in \"The Professional\") she\'s got to be that weird mix of street-toughened and gutsy but underneath kind of innocent and sweet. I haven\'t seen that movie in awhile, but I keep thinking of that scene where Matilda walks right past the apartment where her whole family had just been murdered and stands in front of Leon\'s door, appearing cool but frantic inside. I think that\'s what I want for this Marie -- someone who acts smart and tough when she needs to, but it does take a toll on her.

She shot him a look like he was crazy. She pushed up onto her knees, reaching over the console into the back seat, and hauled up a briefcase. His briefcase, in fact. Fifty grand in cash.

“I take it back. You’re a fuckin’ genius, kid.”

Smart thinkin', Marie! And can I just say, I am very, very glad Logan has two eyeballs again. Not that we wouldn't love him regardless, but, y'know . . .

As far as the writer's block goes, I dunno where you struggled, but it was worth it because I loved this chapter. So many interesting details, not to mention the building of some serious unresolved tension...

Plot tension, that is. Tension in the, um, plot. Yeah.

Really wondering where the leak came from and how Marco got the lowdown on Logan. I hope it's not betrayal within the ranks =(. Although if it did turn out to be, like, Ororo or something, that would be . . . interesting, to say the least.

Go Marie, asserting your adulthood in the face of Logan's stupid self-control mechanisms! She really is a genius.

Author's Response: :-D Yeah, usually Logan is the one taking care of business, I like the idea that Marie was out and doing useful things (bringing the car around, stashing the cash, covering up in Logan\'s jacket so he didn\'t accidentally touch her skin) while he was out cold. Tee hee. The struggle came with the next few chapters, so hope you liked those also. And yes, plot tension. That\'s always what I\'m working towards. I don\'t have anything else in mind, at all. ::whistles innocently::

Heh. I like tough, prickly Marie. You write her so well! It's gonna be funny if (when) Logan steps over the line and she puts him in his place.

Wow. That's a pretty slim lead, but better than nothing, I guess. I wonder what Logan will do with it.

This is turning out to be a great story, as always. You're like, incapable of writing badly, huh? I hope you've gotten over your writer's block, because I can't wait for the next chapter!

Author's Response: I\'m so glad that you\'re liking this tougher, prickly Marie. I feel like I\'m not settling well into the character, I keep wanting to make her all sweet and wobbly-kneed over Logan. :-) Speaking of next chapters....nah, I won\'t nag. Just know that I\'m waiting. Not very patiently. ;-)

I greatly enjoyed your prologue and first chapter! The idea of Marie feeling guilty for not using her power to stop the Phoenix makes for an interesting plot point. I can't wait to see how she deals with that guilt, and whether she comes to see that it's irrational/misplaced, or whether she has a legitimate reason for feeling like it's her fault.

I mean, did she deliberately think "I could drain Jean and stop her, but I don't want to" or was it something she realized after the fact and felt guilty about?

Also, I wonder if anyone else (hint, Logan!) holds any resentment towards her regarding Jean's death and the way things played out. It wouldn't seem so from Ororo's comments, but who knows. I look forward to seeing how he and Rogue interact when the really 'reunite' for the first time.

You definitely laid out the situation and left plenty of questions to be answered. I think this is a very promising start, especially for your first fanfic. Can't wait to read more!

Author's Response: Hahaha! Thanks, can\'t really tell you how much that means to me. And I promise those questions will be answered in the following chapters. I\'ll be trying to upload as much as I can. I even got two more chapters typed out just gotta go over them for any mistakes.