Wow. I enjoyed this entire series, but this chapter...has got to be my favorite. By far. I love the way you seamlessly transition between hot, feral thoughts and hot, feral action.

"I grasp her shoulders and nearly crush her between my body and the wall to get a better leverage before plunging in deeper. She will have bruises. She will have my mark on her. She will be alive. She will be mine."

Love the staccato beat of those last lines, mimicking his thrusts.

"I’m going to skewer her uterus soon, but I have to get deeper. I want to disappear, dissolve to wet heat surrounding me and never leave again. I can see from her eyes she doesn’t understand what I’m asking"

I love that Logan is so fierce in his desperation. All these hard words, an such hurt vulnerability underneath.

And then his lines at the end, fucking her. That's all that's needed.

Perfection. How do you do that with so few words? How do you make it so immediate, make force sound unforced? Love your Logan muse.

Another lovely chapter. L&M always manage to have sex, even when they're on the run. ;) The last two paras extremely well-written. Just enough info, visual, lots of emotion. And somehow warmer because they'd been intimate but exhausted earlier with the little bath. (Also glad I didn't have to imagine dirty, sweaty, gritty sex.)

Poor Logan can't let go yet. It's interesting to find that Wolverine is a separate personality, an altered state. Docile, still thinking, even absently noting, but altered. Based on what Wolverine has been so far, I really don't think he needs to be worried. But he will be. Poor Logan. *pets him* That is his angst-y burden.

Author's Response: Wolverine isn\'t the most stable being, even if we have seen him mostly docile up this far... I\'m glad you\'re liking this. Thanks for the fb. :)

She repeated her question, puffing blue clouds of mist with every breath. Logan pointed at the wall he remembered seeing open. Marie walked to it, palms flat in front of her and leaned against the concrete surface. Wall in front of her started to evaporate, crumble under her touch.
***

Wow! What an image. And what an imagination, Ara! This fic seems to be more and more about the world of Destroyers, Hunters, Humans, and Mutants. The socio-politics is taking over.

“They gave you life. You took it and made it yours. You have nothing to be ashamed of. You should be proud of yourself. You finished it. Made sure that nobody will suffer in their hands anymore.”

***Aw. He has finally accepted it, maybe. When he's in his Logan state, anyway. Now Adam is on the loose? And Destroyer, sometimes, too? *shiver* Poor Marie.

Great twist, Ara.

Author's Response: Logan has his little hang-ups, but when Marie is concerned, there\'s nothing wrong. You know the old saying about love making people blind? Logan\'s deaf, numb, mute and blind. Not necessary a good thing, but... Yeah. Adam is on the loose, and I have a feeling he\'s not much liking the fact that his girl is taken...

Great flow. Great structure of paras. That's always been true. Just reading the first line gives me a feeling for the content of the para and the tone. Especially here:
***


Then I saw how *he* was looking at her, and my blood ran hot. I clenched my fists to try and quell the urges....

But I couldn't do that, then...

She took it seriously, very seriously. The training...

It got harder and harder to spend any time alone with her...

***
Somehow, this doesn't sound like the Bobby of X2 to me. He didn't seem this mature, this territorial, this angry. But in X3, I was able to see it a bit better. And since the timeline is so close there, I think it works.

***

I watched her work on Scott, trying to draw him out of his grief. I knew, rationally, that I had no reason at all to feel jealous.

I still did.

****
The great leaden 'still did' is perfect. And I love the way you slowly creep your way into Bobby's jealousy, so that it starts off as irrational, but you learn that there's a reason for it at the core.

***

It started to drive me mad, watching her every move, trying to detect what I had done wrong to lose her affections, her love. Though she was still my girl, still told me she loved me, gave me scarf covered kisses, I stopped feeling it. ...Better she hate me now, for a little while, then later, for keeping her with me, when she loved him.

***

Wow. You made me feel sorry for Bobby! Great job.


Author's Response: I love how you dissect what you like and don\'t in my fics, because I think it really helps. As for Bobby\'s maturity .. well it being kinda post X-2, you see a couple glances at the end that show some of it. The way he looks at her when she lands the jet, the look of seriousness he goes for in the Oval office. (Like he\'s trying to keep eyes front, which sorta helped spring the idea) Well, I admit, not an Iceman Rogue fan, but I feel sorry for Bobby. Because you know he\'s never gonna be able to be the MAN for Rogue. Heh.

Really enjoyed this chapter. Rogue & Logan were fighting each other and themselves. Logan was especially well-written, I thought. Even though he was all over the place -- treating her like a kid, lecturing her, challenging her, asking if he'd hurt her, deciding for her -- it was clear the whole time what his motivations were. Even without chapter 1 to help us.

Poor Logan. It was the wrong choice for him, too.

The twists keep coming. I can't wait to see what this means for Logan, and how Marie will cope with Carol's powers and the Brotherhood.

I love Rogue's voice. It's confused. I think it's clear she's a bit depressed. She's struggling, trying to find herself. But she's gritty and determined throughout, cautiously navigating, not without a sense of humor, trying to find her way. The fics from Rogue's POV in this fic are my favorite - Chapters 2-4, I think, last chapter, and this one. A voice I can imagine for Movie Rogue.

I also love the small details in this chapter - Logan and pasta, Rogue and the piano, Remy, the other mutant inhabitants. I get a real sense for how Rogue is spending her time, how she's assimilating after so long, after her formerly-abrupt departure. At the same time, I'm sensing restlessness and boredom.

What comes next? *rubs hands together* I'm rooting for a happy ending.

Wow. And cruel, Laenwyn. I can't believe you ended it this way with its teasing non-ending. I'll only forgive you if you tell me there's the possibility that you're making this into a series. :)

I see a difference in Rogue this morning. She likened it to losing her virginity. Maybe that's it, but I see real daring in her this morning, a recklessness that is now without the charge of real fear, just the pleasurable charge of unpredictability. The knowledge has made her bold. She's discovered she can make two men desire her, and by far the most interesting one to play with is Victor.

"I knew I was indeed pushing, but I had to know. Any kind of knowledge about what he wanted but refused to admit, was power. And I wanted that kind of power over a man like Victor Creed."

Heh. She really is playing with fire. I think she wants it all--Logan and Victor on the side whenever she wants. And I actually think she wants some promise from Victor that he'll only ever give himself intimately to her. How cruel. How bold.

" ... because you can't ... because you want what you cannot have," I whispered and the challenge was there for him to take.

But you know...I think she wants what she cannot have, too. The other part of her desire is somehow knowing that she'll never get it. Because it's Victor, and they both know he doesn't do those things. So, she's left teetering on the edge, just like Victor, just like Logan...wanting it, desiring it, titillated and aroused by it, hurt by it, jealous of it, desperately seeking to control it but unable to.

It's not just Logan and Victor who are dark anymore.

On a technical note, I like the way you create intimate spaces that are shared. You've done that throughout with confrontations between Victor & Rogue that are private but could be overheard--the bathroom, the kitchen. Logan owns the bedroom, but Victor is often a voyeur in there. And of course, the phone call with Hank is the ultimate example of un-private privacy.

I also love the ambiguity of every exchange in the fic. I find that the dialogue does *not* make meaning any more clear for these three. In fact, the words often get misinterpreted. They communicate best without words.

But my favorite thing about this fic is the characterizations. I would normally have a hard time believing Logan would be alright with this, but you've convinced me he could. Victor is *surprising*. *waggles brows* And I like the subtle ways in which Rogue has developed and changed over the course of this fic. For example, I can't imagine her feeling so...maybe not helpless, but passive, 'letting it happen to her', overwhelmed and slightly annoyed while aroused, during the phone call with Hank anymore. I think she might be more aggressive and playful if both Victor & Logan ganged up on her again.

As much as I tease you about ending it here, I think it's fitting. Open-ended, the taste of more, the hint of dangers ahead. Oh, yes. The symbolism, the tantalizing future. Fear and desire and uncertainty--full-steam ahead, please.

I love this Logan. He's so mischievious, such a rascal. And he is a tough bad ass, too. There's definitely nothing pansy-ass about him. But with Rogue, he can't hide his vulnerabilities. He 'blanches'? The cute little look he threw at her when he mentioned he was interested in Scott's girl? I imagine your Logan to be quite gregarious, really charming and flirtatious, a bit rough around the edges. But with Rogue, he gets nervous, he shuts up, he can't communicate easily anymore. It's adorable. This is the Logan back from 'Through Touch'.

Your Logans in your humor fics are good, too, but they lack his vulnerability and are a bit rougher around the edges. Also more maligned. Heh.

Author's Response: Thanks *g*. I get quite conscious that in foof and humour I can sometimes travel so far from the actual characters themselves in the pursuit of the funny - that they get a bit lost along the way. I write it in a completely different way to angst - it\'s weird, so I\'m glad it still works! And yeah - my hardcore humour!Logan has to be rough and stubborn else I\'d never get him to dance and strip *g* He\'d get all bashful and run away *g*. But foof!Logan – he’s allowed some emotions *g*. Btw - I\'m working on another angst epic though - so, more \'through touch\' style Logan to come :o) ...eventually...if I ever finish it...