This is one of the most pyschologically complex series you've ever written. No, I think it is *the* most complex of any. Your Marie isn't acting at all as she usually acts. I would say her behavior in Warrior was much more like your typical Marie - young, malleable, extremely attractive to Logan, sexually inexperienced but at the same time precocious, extremely reliant on touch to communicate, willing to follow, expressing reservations but willing to have them overcome by the more dominant Logan.

But by the end of Warrior, your Marie had a new power that was far more powerful than Logan's. You set up an interesting power dynamic in which Logan realized how much more powerful she was than him, how much more he needed her than she needed him, but she was unable or unwilling to exercise that power, even when it might cost her her life. And so Logan continued to hold the upperhand even though it was dangerous, even though his alter-ego could cause her harm. He was still in protector mode, although she was most at risk from himself.

And then she suffered some kind of break when Logan killed Camo - like she suddenly realized that she was powerless in her relationship with Logan, that she could control nothing about him or herslef when she was ith him. She realized that the fact that she consented and loved him was almost beside the fact when he could destroy Camo, become Wolverine so completely. Then in Destroyer, she actually experiences exactly what it is like when she *doesn't* consent or love.

But the interesting thing for me now is how she's handling herself here. Yes, I think she's trying to protect herself a bit too much and trying to keep Sam a bit too close, but she's intrepid, out in the real world, too. She's trained herself, she's hardened herself. She hasn't forgotten, but she uses her fears. And I *cannot* imagine any other incarnation of Marie fighting Logan in the cage like that, or being able to separate Sam and Logan, or telling her son that she was raped, or refusing to let Logan hold her when he asked. I wish she wasn't so badly scarred, but this Marie is tougher. And she's not crumbling when she can't get her way, either - she's adapting. It's like she knows how much she can endure, and she's determined to protect herself this time but she's not about to overdramatize anything either. Calculated risks, controlled assessment, weighing up her options. Even now, when she knows she can't stop Logan from following, she hasn't given up the fight. I think your other Marie's might have submitted after initial resistance. Logan always overpowered her eventually, and later it never seemed to matter.

Of course Logan's interior life is interesting, too. I have always been attracted to your Logan. He's what drew me into your early stories, when Marie was still just young and innocent and the one he wanted to touch. But I like the balance in him here between Wolverine and Logan, and how you can feel those two personalities merging a bit now - this world is about weighing survival with morality. Survival isn't his only morality, but it plays a large role, and it's interesting to me that Logan/Wolverine feels he actually deserves things for himself - he usually deserves life, humanity, comforts, even. That's part of his fight. Other times, I think, your Logan has been driven to despair and reckless marytrdom. But no despairing creature would survive this world.

And though I usually don't like fics with children, I think the clash between Sam and Wolverine/Logan will be interesting. I think that will break down the barriers between Marie & Logan more than anything else. So I'm glad it's a component to this story. And I'm interested to see where their mutations, where this world takes these characters next. :)

Sorry to hear the next chapters will be long in coming. This fic has already spawned so many ideas for me, but I love that it's never what I expect. Much better that way. Now I just have to wait. :)

Author's Response: Not long, next chappie is almost finished. Needs few more words and then quite a lot of polishing, but I\'ll be posting it today. *I* don\'t like fics with children, but I think this is a bit different. Sam isn\'t a toddler that is clinging to Marie\'s apron strings. He\'s a grown man, trying to find his own life. Now that Logan came back, it looks like he\'s going to have to postpone those plans, at least for a while. Plus, I don\'t want him to leave, not just yet. I kind of like him. Both Logan and Marie are quite different than they were in Warrior. Warrior was the part that gave them all the basics. Destroyer left them with nothing. Either of them hasn\'t actually handled things that happened at the breeding center. Now it\'s between Logan and Sam, but eventually Marie and Logan will have to face eachother. I refuse to end this before everything is okay between them. :)

The lies get deeper and deeper in this fic. I love the way we're starting to see the psychosis of Jean's mind, making Rogue crazier even than she has been. Everyone seems so impotent in this fic--unable to cope. Nobody knows what to do.

Logan doesn't know if he wants Rogue or Jean. He wants to be the good guy, and that desire prevents him from pressing his advantage as the bad guy. Rogue wants to be whatever Logan wants her to be - but the other half of it is that he doesn't actually want her to be herself. Or so she thinks. Jean is torn, and she doesn't know who *she* wants to be.

God, the angst! I love how deeply you're weaving this. Incredibly interesting. Plot bunnies everywhere. *bunnies bouncing off the walls*

Ah...I assumed so. The timeline of events is somewhat confusing, but somewhere in my confusion, I decided that this was the only way it could be. Thus the Phoenix's actions are understood. Even Logan's actions with Marie in his bed.

This makes Logan's dilemma about who to kill or love less poignant. But it doesn't detract from Marie's choice. She chose in good faith to 'give up' her body to Jean, and that's still a deeply tragic position. Now perhaps the journey is to see how to get Marie back and kill the Phoenix - persuade Marie that she can be loved for herself. Poor Marie.

Your plots move along quickly. I like the way we're getting motivations behind the actions, too. Makes the story much richer.

“I get to have both?… That means I’m lucky right?”

Children are so wise sometimes. And then not, too. *lol* I love the way you write Jamie - oblivious and selfish and a bit of a babbler. Like a lot of children I know. Takes it all in stride as the parents fall apart a bit. Yup - that's what happens.

"How she looked, the way her hair stuck up in certain places, her scent, how small her fingers were.

Logan wanted to remember it all.

He wanted to remember just in case it was all a hideously cruel dream.

At least that way, he’d have a very developed figment of his imagination to work with; something he could at least pretend was his. "

Great ending to the chapter. It's the small details that make it powerful - the "hair stuck up in right places", the smallness of her fingers.

And it's much more real and moving that Logan is still processing this. He's not thinking of the future. He's not thinking of how much past he missed. He's thinking that this moment must be the moment that he remembers every part of. And I think his fixation on pretending, on what's *his*, shows that this fic is really a journey about Logan losing himself. He doesn't really know who he is. He's lost it. He doesn't believe good things happen to him. And he's been pretending, even after his escape, that it's alright.

New possibilities. Eager to see what happens next.
(Oh, and by the way!, I love the way you deal with plot so pithily. *admiration*)

A fic about nothing, but so funny nonetheless!

I loved every time one of the women said Scott or Logan's name. I could just hear the gradations in tone and see the expression on their face, just with that. *lol*

Scott (whispers): Who’s whipped now?

Logan (lowered voice, not quite a whisper): Keep it up and I’ll circumcise you.

Heh. My favorite lines in the fic.

You are so good at these!

Very visual sex scene, and I loved the way the subtle shifts that indicated that Logan (and Marie) were in charge, even if they let Pyro play. A complex threesome. Very well-drawn.

But the ending makes it seem like there are more adventures in store? ;)