Stryker strode to the telephone. He picked up the handset, and started to dial. After a moment he jerked the handset from his ear. With a frown, he pulled on the phone’s cable, finding the end cut. He looked at Wolverine sharply. “Wolverine. Such a blunt instrument you are.”
He pulled a cell phone from his pocket, but it suddenly flew from his grasp.
“Don’t talk trash about my Logan.”
Stryker wheeled around, mouth agape, but nothing was there. An invisible blow to the back of his knee made him stumble as the voice continued.
“All the labs. I’ve been listenin’ awhile. You oversaw all the labs.” Logan recognized Marie’s voice, but he had never heard her sound so cold. So dangerous. Another invisible punch sent Stryker’s head snapping back, blood appearing at the corner of his mouth. He swung his fists wildly, but connected with only air.
“I was in a lab.” Another swift invisible blow and Logan heard the crack of a rib as Stryker doubled over, wheezing. “A sixteen year old runaway, scared and alone. They made me hurt a lot of people. They even made me kill some.”
An apparent push, and Stryker went stumbling towards Logan. Logan strained with effort, sweat running into his eyes, but only managed to twitch a bit. The neurotoxin was wearing off, but slowly, too slowly.
“One of the people you made me kill -- his name was Michael Shaw. He had a wife, and two small children. He loved and missed them until the moment he died, in terror, pressed against my skin.”
Stryker turned in circles, striking out uselessly at empty air. Another crack, and he thumped heavily to his knees in front of Logan, gasping for breath, still looking around himself wildly.
“His mutation was invisibility.”
A shimmer in the air behind Stryker, and Marie slowly appeared. She looked like an avenging angel -- eyes blazing, face set in cold determination, merciless beauty incarnate. Stryker looked back at her and cowered.
“Impossible,” he sputtered, bloody spittle flying from his mouth. “Wolverine is alone.”
A look that was almost pity crossed Marie’s face as she looked at the old man. “Not anymore.”
She looked into Logan’s eyes, and he into hers. He had thought that he knew Marie -- her warmth, her vulnerability, her bravery -- but suddenly he realized that he had never really understood, never really seen what she could be when pushed. For the first time he glimpsed the part of her that had enabled her to survive the horror of the labs, the rejection of her family, the isolation of her poison skin. A steely core, as stark and unyielding as the metal underneath his own skin. In a moment of complete recognition, he looked into her eyes and saw a ferocity equal only to his.
“Still want this kill, sugar?” she said, her voice ruthless and steady. Logan managed a nod.
“Then show ‘em to me.”
Logan sucked in a deep breath, mustering all his strength. With a roar of effort, he popped his claws. He saw the sudden comprehension and terror in Stryker’s eyes. With an almost careless shove, Marie sent Stryker forward, impaling him on the razor-sharp blades. Logan managed a twist of his wrist, gutting Stryker and stopping his heart with a growl of satisfaction.
With a heave, Marie pulled the corpse off of Logan’s claws and threw it aside. He snicked the claws back in.
She sat down next to Logan, knees up, her side pressed against his. They sat silently for awhile, the only sounds the hiss and suck of the ventilator and the occasional beep of the monitors. Logan slowly felt his breathing become easier and more even.
“I should be givin’ you hell right now for locking me in that bathroom,” she said.
Logan grunted in agreement.
“Maybe later,” Marie said, and they sat in silence some more. He felt Marie rest her head against him, and with a great effort he managed to lift his arm, wrapping it around her and pulling her closer.
Marie wrapped her arms around Logan and pressed her cheek to his chest, listening to his breathing and steady heartbeat.
“I left a message for Scott where we’d be. You might get to meet Kitty in person if they storm this place lookin’ for us.”
Logan managed to pull his knees up. “If Scott has to carry me out of here I’ll never live it down,” he grumbled.
Marie snickered. “Boys and their pride. And you’re the worst of them.”
Another grunt of agreement from Logan, as he tried unsuccessfully to get to his feet.
“Give it another minute, sugar. We have time.”
They sat in silence for awhile more. Finally, Logan spoke, raw pain rasping in his voice. “I thought I was never gonna see you again.”
Marie nodded, giving him another squeeze. Now that the blaze of her fury at Stryker was fading she was terrified by how close Logan had come to being recaptured. She tried for a joking tone, but she heard the tremble in her own voice. “Does this mean you’re done trying to ditch me?”
She felt Logan nod, his chin brushing her hair. He smoothed her hair back with his hand, and then kissed the top of her head. Again he tried to stand, but this time he was able to make it to his feet, leaning heavily against the wall, Marie at his side steadying him.
He stood for a moment more, panting with effort. He cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders, pushing away from the wall, standing on his own with just a slight sway. “Let’s get outta here.”
She took his hand and started toward the door. Suddenly, she felt his hand jerk from her grasp. She turned around. “Logan?”
He was staring at her, absolute hatred in his eyes. The claws snapped out with a metallic zing. “Stryker,” he hissed, looking at her.
Marie stepped back. Was this some side effect of the neurotoxin? He seemed fine only moments before. “Logan, it’s me, sugar. Marie.” She tried to keep her voice calm and steady, but he didn’t seem to hear her. He cocked his head, as if listening to something else.
With a sudden roar, he was on her. Marie grasped desperately for Kitty’s power, but it was too late. The shock of Logan’s attack had made her hesitate for a vital second, and she looked down at the claws buried in her chest and belly. With the clarity of the dying, she recognized how little pain there was, even though she was hanging from Logan’s claws. Just a cold burn and the slow choking sensation of blood welling up in her lungs.
The force of Logan’s attack had pinned her up against the hospital bed. She turned her head and looked directly into the open eyes of Jason Stryker. One green eye and one blue eye looked malevolently back at her. Stryker’s voice echoed in her memory. My boy. The great illusionist. The walls of the room rippled, and instead of Logan standing before her, she saw Stryker, holding a knife buried in her chest.
She shook her head. “Nice try,” she murmured through the blood bubbling up in her throat. She reached a hand behind her, into apparently empty space, but felt the contact of cold papery skin against her palm. She closed her eyes, gathering the last of her energy to switch her mutation on.
Injury and emotion had always weakened her control on her skin, and she felt Jason Stryker’s life roar into her head in an ungovernable rush. She tried to keep a single thought in her head that was hers and hers alone. She would free Logan from his grasp before she died.
She felt the last of Jason’s energy drain into her, and the walls of the room rippled again. The image of Stryker dissipated, and it was once again Logan standing before her. She saw the cold predatory satisfaction fade from his eyes, shock dawning on him as the illusion cleared for him as well. God, she wished there was some way she could spare him this.
“No,no,no...” He looked down in disbelief at his claws buried in her body, his knuckles pressed up against her bloody shirt. His claws retracted, and he caught her as she fell, stark terror in his voice. “Marie!”
Her skin inert once again, she reached a hand out to touch his face, trying to memorize the feeling. “Shhh...s’okay,” she managed.
Through dimming vision, she saw Logan’s eyes wide with panic as he pressed his face to hers. She saw him look up at the body of Jason Stryker, realizing what had happened. “Marie!” He squeezed her tighter, and she saw a wild hope enter his eyes. She shook her head, knowing what he was going to ask.
“Turn it on, Marie. Turn your skin on. Take my healing.”
The agony in his voice was hurting her more than dying was. God, she wished she had more time and more words to explain. Emotion and injury always weakened her control, and now, with the chill of death spreading through her, the pain of losing Logan piercing her deeper than his claws, Jason Stryker whispering vengeance in her head, she knew she would not be able to stop it. “No control...kill you.”
“I don’t care.” He pressed his face into her skin, and she felt the wetness of tears. “You have to...darlin’, please. Do it. I’ll be okay. Take it!”
She shook her head again. She had loved and been loved for a few weeks. It was more than she ever thought she would have. It was enough -- it had to be enough.
She felt comfortable now, and sleepy. She could just rest a little, and not have to think anymore. His voice ripped through the haze, urgent and anguished.
“You promised me, Marie. You promised not to leave me.” Stubborn man. She remembered him holding her, pressed in his lap against the motel door, whispering the words to himself like a prayer. And she remembered her answer.
____________
“Shadowcat, report.”
“I’m inside...looks like security was already disabled. Opening the door for you now, Cyke. No sign of anyone down here.”
“I’ll take point up the stairs...Kitty, make sure the lower levels are clear. Jubilee, you take the rear.”
“Jesus christ! Jeannie -- get in here, stat! We have injured...Rogue is...christ, she’s covered in blood. Logan too.”
“I’m on my way, Scott. How bad is it?”
“I’m not sure...they both have a pulse. There’s just so much blood -- Jubilee, help me get her out of his arms, we need to lay her flat. Put pressure here, I’m going to see...wait a minute. Wipe...yeah, there. Wait a minute. It’s -- it’s okay. Whatever the blood is from, it’s gone. Jubes, check Logan. Nothing there either, I think all the blood is hers. They’re both just out. Two others dead, though. I think -- I think he healed her.”
“Okay... I’ll stop running then, honey.”
The Wolverine & Rogue Fanfiction Archive
Barely Legal Since 2000
Author's Chapter Notes:
I was going to hold out to post this on the weekend, but looking at it isn't helping it get better, so here it is! Happy Wednesday!
I should have mentioned much earlier that my story (especially the way Marie can control powers) owes a lot to the fanfic "More Than a Rogue" by September. If you haven't read it, it's here:
http://www.wolverineandrogue.com/wrfa/viewstory.php?sid=2995
It has the most kick-ass action scene ever. I know she wasn't the first to have Rogue's powers work that way, but that story just rocks so it sticks out in my mind.
If you're still with this story, please review! A few more and I'll knock that plagiarized story out of the top ten list -- my next goal. ;-) This is the next-to-last chapter so I don't have much more time to do it!
I should have mentioned much earlier that my story (especially the way Marie can control powers) owes a lot to the fanfic "More Than a Rogue" by September. If you haven't read it, it's here:
http://www.wolverineandrogue.com/wrfa/viewstory.php?sid=2995
It has the most kick-ass action scene ever. I know she wasn't the first to have Rogue's powers work that way, but that story just rocks so it sticks out in my mind.
If you're still with this story, please review! A few more and I'll knock that plagiarized story out of the top ten list -- my next goal. ;-) This is the next-to-last chapter so I don't have much more time to do it!
Chapter End Notes:
One more chapter that's part epilogue, part tying-up-loose-ends, and a little bit of foof and that's all she wrote! Please take the time to review if you're willing -- it means a lot!