~oOo~
Moonlight shone through the trees, illuminating them in an otherworldly glow. She didn't remember how she got back to the sanctuary of her woods. One moment she was in her room with Logan and the next, she was running through the trees, underbrush snapping as her feet slammed into the ground. Rogue swept another low hanging branch from her path. The scratches and scrapes on her face and arms were healing almost as quickly as they appeared on her skin. She didn't know where she was going but stopping wasn't an option. If she stopped, she would be overtaken.
We can win.
"No, I'm not strong enough."
He can help.
"I'll hurt him."
You won't.
Control was slipping. Rogue could feel Carol and the others begin to clamor through the feral barrier. She kept running, as if the constant motion of her feet would successfully be able to push down the voices making their way through the cracks in her mind. But it wasn't working. Carol was becoming stronger. She was breaking through.
You lose.
~oOo~
Logan heard Rogue cry out just a few feet away. As he reached the spot from where she'd just left, her scent overwhelmed him. It was intoxicating, like nothing he'd ever experienced before. If the situation hadn't been as dire as it was now, this would count as amazing foreplay. But as it was, he was the furthest from a state of arousal as he'd ever been. Honestly, he was fucking terrified and he knew Rogue was just as frightened.
He was still close behind her, able to see Rogue's hair catch in the dim light from time to time. After a few more minutes, her scent began to change again. She was in pain. Fuck. It was time to stop this.
"Rogue!"
Five years ago, he would have easily overtaken her. Not only was she young, but she hadn't come to terms with her abilities yet. Now, it was if he was engaged with an entirely new person. She was stronger, faster and more agile. He knew some of it was because of the Danvers' woman but just as much of her ability had to do with the feral she had become.
Rogue was his and he was going to put an end to her suffering.
He caught sight of her as she stumbled over a fallen branch. She rolled across her shoulder and moved to stand back up but he managed to catch her arm. Rogue turned to him and growled.
"Let go."
"No Rogue."
"Don't do this."
"You're in pain, darlin'."
"Go away, Logan!
"No."
Her resolve was waning now and she struck out, landing a punch on his left cheek, sending him flying backwards onto the ground.
Now it was his turn to growl. He leapt up and charged at her. Rogue rolled to her left and stopped.
"Logan, stop it!"
Her head began to throb and she could feel the powers roiling under her skin.
"Rogue, let me help you. Please."
"You can't fucking help me, Logan!" Once again, sobs racked her body and she crumpled to the ground in defeat. "I can't beat her. I can't beat them. I don't want you hurt, Logan. Please. Go." Inside her head, the wolverine roared.
Fight her!
"I can't!"
You can win.
"I'm not strong enough."
Trust yourself. Trust me.
Logan watched as her tear streaked face grew dark. She looked the same way Jean did when she'd returned from Alkali Lake. It was as if Rogue had been overtaken by another being.
"Rogue?"
"No. You can't have her."
Logan felt his body grow rigid and he was being lifted into the air, his limbs stretched out to the side. Magneto's power. His clenched jaws ached with the effort to speak.
"Rogue. Marie. Fight."
He hovered in the air for only a minute before he slammed back down. Logan remained where he was, attempting to gather his strength when he heard Rogue scream.
"Stop it!"
Her body crumpled to the ground and it looked to him as if she was having a seizure. She thrashed back and forth alternately snarling and shouting. He knew she was fighting and the fury of not being able to help her made his vision blur and his claws itch beneath his skin.
Slowly inching toward her, trying to think of a way to alleviate her pain, Logan watched as she suddenly stopped moving. The silence and stillness unsettled him more than the thrashing.
"Rogue?" He hesitated. Wondering if it was over or just beginning. "Marie?"
He crawled to her side and sat for a moment, observing the slow rise and fall of her chest. She was alive and appeared alright physically. He didn't want to think about what was happening inside her head at this very moment. His hand moved across her face, smoothing down the errant hairs that splayed across her cheeks and forehead.
"Marie, baby. It's Logan."
So still. Like Snow White waiting for her prince to come and awaken her with a magic kiss. Some fucking prince he was, sitting impotently by her side, unable to do a damn thing to save the woman he loved. He just wanted another chance to do things right. He prayed they would get it.
"You've gotta stay with me, okay, darlin'?"
He was reluctant to move her but he had to get her back to the med lab.
"I'm gonna take you back to Hank. Get you all fixed up."
He took a moment to kiss her forehead, inhaling the aroma of her perspiration tinged with vanilla and lavender. Gingerly, he swept her into his arms and began to jog carefully back to the mansion.
"I've got you, Marie. I've got you."
~oOo~
The scene reminded Logan of the Frankenstein movie where the mad doctor stands over his creation waiting for any sign that it might be alive. But in this X-Men version, the one mad doctor had been replaced by five tense mutants; Scott, Logan, Charles, Jean and Hank. They stared at Marie as if she would jump up off the med lab table any second. Logan could smell the myriad of emotions rolling off her in waves and it was making him crazy.
"Maybe you should go outside, Logan."
The Professor was trying to be calming but it had the opposite effect. "I'm not going anywhere Chuck." He paced some more. "Can't you do anything? Get in her head?"
"I've tried, Logan. She, or maybe Carol, won't let me in. I've never experienced anything like it."
"She's able to block me out as well." Jean was watching the lines and colors on a monitor when she spoke.
Logan and Scott both whirled around to look at the telepath. Their anger was palpable in the room and Scott made no attempt to soften his voice when he spoke.
"I thought Rogue didn't want you in her head."
The redhead looked up and her eyes tightened. "Do you really want to pick this time to protect her precious privacy? Or do you want her to survive?"
Once again, Charles attempted to be the voice of reason. "It doesn't matter if it's me or if it's Jean. Neither one of us are able to penetrate her psychic defenses. I'm afraid she's on her own."
Logan stepped forward and muttered under his breath. "No, she's got the wolverine."
~oOo~
Rogue had lost track of how long she'd been fighting Carol Danvers. She'd seen her attack Logan, using Magneto's power against him and that one act was enough to push Rogue to the breaking point. It had been a year of trying to suppress the voices, running from what she'd done to Carol, afraid of facing the woman's fury. But now it had to end. She couldn't go on being a victim anymore. It was destroying her from the inside out. Rogue stilled herself and heard the wolverine's voice.
She's close.
The words no sooner passed through her mind than Carol Danvers appeared at her side, throwing punches and pummeling Rogue backwards. The blonde woman paused a moment and smiled.
"You will not win, Rogue."
"Yeah, I will, Carol. See, I realized something. You are in my body. I am in control. Because of my guilt, I've allowed you to torture me for a year. I'm sorry for what happened but it was an accident. I won't let you punish me anymore. It stops now."
Rogue felt all of Carol's anger and the pain seared through her again. For a moment, she doubted if she could beat her.
Use it.
Rogue stopped and opened herself up to the wolverine. She felt the strength; the fierce protectiveness and his instincts overcome her. She howled.
~oOo~
The Professor and Jean both grabbed the sides of their heads and doubled over from the psychic assault.
Scott, Hank and Logan looked from them to the still form of Rogue on the table. Logan could hear the machines beeping rapidly at Rogue's increased heart rate. His anxiousness rose immediately.
"What the fuck is goin' on?"
Jean's voice was strained. "They are fighting. Rogue is using every ounce of her mental abilities." She virtually whispered. "I had no idea she was this powerful."
In an instant, Logan was at Rogue's bedside. He leaned down so his lips were next to her ear. His arm draped across her shoulder and his large hand cupped the other side of her face.
"I'm here, darlin'. Finish this and come back to me."
~oOo~
I'm here darlin'.
Rogue was reeling from Carol's latest assault when she heard his voice echo through her mind. Logan. She needed to get back to Logan. Another howl pierced the air, but this time, it was not from Rogue. The wolverine snapped and clawed its way toward Carol who began to frantically defend herself from the assault.
"We are one."
The words echoed through Rogue's mind and she used them to center herself, tapping into each essence residing inside of her. There did not need to be a separation between her and those she'd absorbed. She didn't need to hide from her power; the power was who she'd become. A giant sphere of pulsating energy wrapped itself around Rogue, enveloping her completely. With one thought, it exploded and Rogue could see Carol Danvers disappear; a look of resignation on her face.
At once, Rogue found herself alone, the voices silent and the pain gone. She had won.
~oOo~
Her eyes opened, squinting against the lights in the medical lab. Rogue felt Logan's hand on her cheek and his nose nestled against her neck. She turned her face and was no more than an inch from him, his lips tantalizingly close. The corner of her mouth turned up in a weak smile.
"Hey."
"Hey yourself, darlin'."
"I heard you. Inside my head."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
"Thanks for being there."
"I'm never leaving you again, Rogue. Ever."
"The name's Marie."
He smiled and saw a light in her eyes that had been missing all this time. Despite everything she'd been through, she looked amazingly beautiful. Logan had gotten his second chance.
"I love you Marie."
She blinked.
She blinked again.
"Huh, this isn't exactly where I pictured this exchange taking place."
"Well, I got the timin' of a one legged tap dancer, you know."
"This is true." She brought her hand up and placed it over his. "I love you Logan."
~oOo~
From the corner of the room, Jean Grey watched Logan and Rogue's intimate moment. Their love and concern for each other washed over them in waves. She glanced over at Scott and picked up his intense feelings of sadness and jealousy. At one time, those men had looked at her with the same amount of admiration, lust and protectiveness they now focused on Rogue. Her shame over the way she'd treated Scott and been so cruel to Rogue rose up in her chest before she heard its voice. Despite the Professor's mental blocks, Jean could feel herself slipping away more and more each day as the entity grew more powerful inside her.
You don't need any of them. You have me.
~oOo~
Rogue sat in one of the plush chairs that decorated Charles Xavier's office. Logan stood, leaning against a book lined wall, while the Professor sat behind his desk. Both men listened intently as Rogue spoke about her breakthrough.
"To put it bluntly, the wolverine brought me out."
Charles raised his eyebrows. "Interesting."
"It was the wolverine that could supress the voices. All this time, he was the calm when the storm raged; my anchor. When Carol would begin her assaults, he was the one to focus and help me through it. "
The Professor smiled. "I suspected that was why you found refuge in the woods. Please, go on."
"Then, last night, when Carol was determined to take over, it was him by my side. He was the one giving me what I needed to finally take control."
She looked at Logan and smiled. "I didn't realize it until Logan came back to the mansion that I'd allowed my pain and anger at him to distance myself from what I really needed. Until I could give in to what I felt for him, which included what the wolverine inside me wanted, I wasn't going to survive."
"What would have happened if I didn't come back, Marie?"
She shook her head. "I don't honestly know. I would hope I could have figured it out on my own. But I think you being here was the catalyst to understanding how I could control my powers."
Logan despised thinking about what she'd gone through over the past year. The possibility of Carol overtaking her and Marie being lost forever made his blood run cold. He dismissed the thought as the professor asked another question.
"And what of the mental barriers we put in place?"
Rogue shrugged. "I guess never needed them. I'd spent so long believing that I had to be sheltered from my powers because they might hurt me or get out of control. But that was the wrong way to think about them. My mutation is a part of me. Therefore, the powers I absorb are a part of me as well. Carol was so strong because I killed her. I took in everything she was, not just a piece of her abilities. I'd never done that before and it frightened me. The feelings of taking someone else's life so overwhelmed me with guilt that her voice was my punishment for what I'd done. Once I came to terms with what had happened, I was able to find the strength to integrate all my powers together and silence them for good."
Charles leaned backwards and folded his hands together, elbows resting on the arms of his wheelchair. "You are quite a remarkable woman, Rogue. Here I was, convinced that I needed to help you overcome this issue and, in the end, you were able to do it all on your own. That's quite an accomplishment." He smiled. "Forgive me if I sound condescending, but I'm proud of you."
She smiled broadly. "Thank you, Professor. You did help, though. You were there to listen and support me the whole time."
"I'm just glad you're alright."
"Yeah, you and me both, Chuck." He crossed to Rogue's side and put his hand out for her. "Now, can we go? I think my girl needs somethin' to eat and a day off."
"I couldn't agree more, Logan. Enjoy yourselves."
Rogue took Logan's hand and he helped her to her feet, kissing the palm of her hand as she stood. They walked to the large wooden doors, and he stepped aside as the door swung inward. He followed her into the hallway and snaked his arm around her waist. Their bodies fit together like they were made for each other. They walked for a few moments before he broke the silence.
"You okay, darlin'?"
She stopped and turned to face him and felt his arms encircle her waist; his large hands spread across her back. Rogue put one hand on his chest and brought the other up to his cheek, tracing the line of his jaw before cupping her hand around the back of his neck.
"I've spent so much time trying to shut myself off from my emotions when all I ever wanted was this. Just to have you standing in front of me, looking down at me like you're doing now…I'm more than okay, Logan."
Rogue took another small step towards his big frame and it was enough to bring her body flush against his, her breasts pressed firmly to his chest. She heard his intake of breath as she pulled his head down towards hers. "You haven't kissed me yet, you know."
The rumble of his chest as he spoke ignited that long dormant fire inside of her. "I wanted to take it slow, Marie."
Her teeth nipped lightly at his lips and his fingers began to dig into her back, his arms tightening against her sides.
"It's been five goddamn years, Logan. I think that's taking slow to a new level."
When he spoke her name it was somewhere between prayer and pleading. "Marie."
He wasn't going to hold back any more. No more teasing, no more verbal gymnastics. Their need for each other wasn't going to be put aside any longer. His mouth crashed into hers and she felt his tongue exploring her mouth, seeking, tasting and taking. It was everything she ever thought it could be. He was a study in contrasts. The strong hands that had wrought so much havoc on his enemies trailed their way up and down her back reverently and possessively. The mouth that howled with anger and frightened others with its ferocity was gentle yet firm as it moved along her jawline, licking and kissing until he found his way to the crook of her neck.
The shift of her hip against his center made him growl into her ear. "Darlin', you're drivin' me fuckin' insane."
She was full on panting now. "I think I'm way past the edge of insane, Logan."
Both of their faces were red and flushed, their mutual arousals evident to each other's heightened senses of smell. Logan looked into her eyes and saw there the same love and passion she saw in his.
"You'd better be sure you want this, Marie. Cause once we go there, you're mine." Her entire body shuddered as his hot breath coated her ear. "You're all mine."
Her hand wound its way down his chest to the space just above his belt buckle. She grabbed the front of his pants and pulled him to her. "You're damn right I am. Take me to bed, cowboy."
"Fuckin' hell yeah."
He grinned wildly, stepped back, and in one fluid motion, took her by the hips and flung her over his shoulder. She laughed and grabbed his firm ass as he bounded down the stairway and rounded the corner to his room.
"Make sure to turn the stereo up real loud, Logan. We wouldn't want to scare the children."
He practically shoved the door open. Kicking it shut with one foot, he deposited Rogue on his bed, the right side of his mouth rising up in a wicked smirk.
"Nah, we wouldn't want that."
~oOo~
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