Really enjoying this one. You have a lovely deft touch and keep up a cracking pace ... but the characters are still nicely fleshed out. Particularly liking Rogue's gradual introduction to Logan ... and Carol's memories :D

Author's Response: Thanks for this! Always, always, always great to know that a new face is enjoying this (not that you\'re new to the site or that I can see your face - that would be weird). I\'m very happy that you like the pacing so far. Hopefully, I\'ll be able to keep everything balanced :)

Like it. Am sticking. Simple.

I really enjoyed the piano scene - it made immediate sense to me that a piano would MEAN something to her, and the mediatative nature of playing an instrument as a means of calming and centring herself - it's perfect.

Weird coincidence - my nearly six year old is a bit of a prodigy, and has just learnt to play that refrain, and I now hear Ode to Joy every morning before school - except our digital piano IS turned on:)

Take all the time you need - I'll be here for about a zillion years the way my piece is going ...

Author's Response: Oh will you still be sticking after all this time? I\'m an ogre. No really, I am. For neglecting you all for so long. Life, in a word, has been shit. Therefore my funtime writing has taken a hit. Not a fatal hit, but a pretty serious one. Once I finally manage to clean the shit up I will get back to this story. You have no idea how happy I am that you liked the piano scene. Oh You have no idea how much I love you for that comment! Ode to Joy was my first \"real\" piece on a different instrument, but I can even play that EEFGGFEDCCDEEDD, etc on my niece\'s mini piano toys....before she steals them from me...

What's not to love about some crazy Jubilee logic? The only thing missing in this chapter is the spark that runs between Logan and Marie in all their scenes together - and that can't be every chapter. There is a spark (of a very Wolverine-lite kind) with Pyro too, though, I think, and obviously interesting times on the way.

Author's Response: Sometimes Jubilee logic is the best kind of logic. Makes more sense than half of the stuff Xavier says, right? Yeah, delicious Rogany goodness was missing in this one, but now that we\'re quite a bit into the story I\'ve planned some more interaction between the two in the upcoming chapters. I want them to work through their respective...shit (for lack of a better term). It\'s more of a balancing act than I originally expected. Yes, interesting times on the way with Pyro. Stay tuned!

Oooh, I'm loving it. I'm a sucker for psychodrama, and this looks like its going to be very, very good in that department. The tone of the piece is just perfect for that - the hesitation and the repetition suggests the fractured mind struggling to make sense of the world. I must confess I actually stopped after reading Rogue's bit; I was surprised to see more. (Though Logan is always a GOOD surprise). His lurking and pacing in his helplessness was done nicely - very evocative and faithful to his character. Will stop now in case my review is longer than your story ... can't wait for the rest.

Author's Response: \"The tone of the piece is just perfect for that - the hesitation and the repetition suggests the fractured mind struggling to make sense of the world. \"\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU for this! When I first wrote it, I loved how it came across, but then when I was posting I started to doubt that it would work well for others, so it is nice to hear that I wasn\'t too far off the mark. \r\n\r\nAnd glad to hear that Logan was a happy surprise :-) I debated included that in this section or not but decided that ultimately, it was needed to have the opening make any kind of sense! \r\n\r\nThank you so much for taking the time to read and comment!

I'll understand if my "hell no!" doesn't hold much water, given my proclivities towards outright smut. But that said, I felt the sex scenes were a natural development in the story, and they weren't forced or false in any way. Nice work! (And I'm enjoying the wider story arc, too!)

Author's Response: Thank you very much...Your \"hell no\" is gratefully received and holds at least three gallons. I am glad that it didn\'t seem out of place...My muse and I were going back and forth on it and damned if ol\' Wolvie!Muse didn\'t win out.

When I read your description, I flinched initially, but sold? Yes. Signed, sealed and delivered, I think. I am astonished you have managed to make this both credible and possibly even heartwarming and romantic. More, please.

Author's Response: Yes, I flinched myself at the idea. Which is partly why it stuck in my mind, I really got stuck on *what*, if any, set of circumstances might lead Logan onto that path. I think that\'s why the set-up is so long, the smex is really incidental. But still fun. :-) Next chapter I\'ll try to make it a little more believable for Marie to be there too. And honestly, Logan is not really a whore. It\'s just a flimsy excuse to get the two of them in bed even though they are virtual strangers.

Every now and then, a para comes along that just sums everything up - their entire relationship, the entire spirit of a fic, the reason we just LOVE to write Rogan ... and, imho at least ... you nailed it with this.

A half sob from her at that. “Impossible things.” She shook her head, and at first he thought she wasn’t going to say anymore. “That I’m not poison. That I’m not cursed. That he didn’t hate me. That he cared for me. And that he wasn’t afraid of me.” She put her head down again, and he saw the tears leaking out from under her eyelids. “I just thought...if there was just one person out there who wasn’t afraid of me, maybe it might be okay.”

Him, in her head, telling her to look beyond her own fears, and take a chance. That, for me, is the essence of Rogan and despite the fact I love the sexual potential, I love the feral, I love the twist on age old stereotypes, THAT is why I read, and write. The fact that you found that in the midst of a story allegedly about ManWhoreLogan is what makes this romantic and heartwarming. Thank you!

Author's Response: Wow, what a touching review. I am so glad you liked that part. I feel sometimes that I go overboard with Logan and Rogue\'s \"issues,\" -- I do so love pathos and angst, and they both have such great potential there. I was worried there that Rogue was coming across as a little melodramatic. But you\'re right...the thing I find sexiest and most touching is when Logan acts against \"type,\" and to know that the Logan in her head is brave enough to be forthcoming about the way he feels just because he knows her thoughts and knows that she needs to hear it SO much...that was very sweet to me.

Canadian! Heh. Lucky I'm not allowed to drink coffee near the laptop anymore ... I really like the tone you are setting here; them bonding over mutual mutie protecting gives me the warm fuzzies. I can see a rocky read ahead when Marie finds out about the X-mansion, but I am sure you'll give us some more bonding moments to ooh over before the shit hits the fan. Looking forward to it!

Author's Response: Glad you\'re liking it! And yes, you\'re quite prescient about the rocky road ahead, and the bonding in the meantime. Now you know as much as I do!

Awwww. So sweet. There's something about your tone in this (chapter in particular, and story in general) that is very gentle and warm. You captured that warm, blissful feeling of a warm car and relaxed company perfectly.

One small niggle - "He was built for stealth, not subterfuge." Are they not the same thing?

Author's Response: Thanks so much for the compliment. I love warm cars and roadtrips, so hopefully that\'s what came across. To me, subterfuge is trickery, deception, strategems, that kind of thing. Logan\'s M.O. is to go in quiet, do the job, and get out -- stealth. The way this mission is playing out with the lying and manipulation to me is subterfuge, and he\'s not cut out for it.

Awwww. Sweet. I'm enjoying the alternaverse you've got going one - Bobby goes Brotherhood, Pyro stays behind etc. Be interesting to see how that plays out in future.

Author's Response: I\'m glad you\'re liking it! Yes, Pyro always struck me as the more interesting of the two, so I figured I\'d keep him around. ;-) And I like the idea of a Marie-Bobby dynamic having played itself out but in an alternate way.

It amazes me when someone hits on a completely new idea, one that is completely original to the fandom. What I can't figure out is how we have missed this, because the way you tell it, this IS what happened. You, creating canon, right there, I think. The idea of Wolverine being uncomfortable with love is old, but uncomfortable with physical touch! So incredibly right, and true to that character. And yes, marvelous writing, very tight and incisive and evocative. But that idea ... has me buzzing. Shut up brain. (And welcome to the WRFA!)

Author's Response: Thanks, JoS :D The connection was what drove me out of lurkdom. I hadn\'t seen it written before and I wanted to play with it. And keep your brain buzzing, I love your fic :D

I just came back to review and saw this was actually complete. Disappointed face. But then I told myself, the anticipation's the thing! The move from melancholy to playful to confident to "no shortage of ideas". Very nice indeed, and I promise not to demand a sequel. So this is me, not demanding. At all. *whimpers*

Author's Response: Aw, sorry, but the challenge was for a one-shot, so I think there it will stay. Besides, I already wrote a Logan-and-Marie-getting-it-on-while-she-has-Jean\'s-telepathy sex scene in The Target, it might be too much of a rehash. Up for a new challenge if you have one, though, this one was fun!

Now, that is just mean! You deserve a spanking for putting poor Logan through that :D Loved Logan's confusion about the possibility of Rogue and Xavier: "older, and a bald man." Because lack of hair is just sooooo problematic, Logan. Nice little misunderstanding you've got going on there - look forward to seeing the rest.

Author's Response: Not my fault that Logan always jumps to conclusions. ;)