He leaped for her, landing on the ice in front of her. He skidded into her, knocking them both to the ground. He would burn her up and be back inside the healing man in under a minute.
“I am Proteus, lass. I have killed more than a hundred people in the last few months alone. Did ye really think ye could stop me all on your own?” He pressed his hand to her face, watching her eyes glaze over as he poured himself into her.
________________
THREE HOURS EARLIER
Marie crouched over him, holding the knife just a hair’s breadth from his throat.
“Who are you?” she hissed. “Where is Logan?”
“What do you mean? Quit actin’ crazy...”
“Don’t fuck with me. That’s not my favorite book and I sure as hell don’t have a sister. Now tell me what you’ve done to him or I start slicing.”
His golden eyes bored into hers for a long moment, and then suddenly he relaxed, smiling.
“I’ll admit, lass, I dinna see that one comin’.” His entire demeanor had changed, his accent changing to a broad brogue. “But what would’ye be plannin’ on doin’ wi’ that knife? The mon heals, aye? So what harm d’ye ken ye can do me?”
“Where is he?” she ground out.
“He’s right here wi’ me, lass, although I’m in control, an’ will be stayin’ in control. An’ I’m sorry to say but you willna be talkin’ to him ever again.”
She stared at him, her heart thumping wildly. Logan was still alive in there, somewhere. There was hope. She reached deep inside herself, sprinting through the hallways of her mind in record time, throwing open the door to access Jean’s power. She heard the thoughts of the stranger, wondering about the flash of green in her eyes, and she pushed the knife harder into his neck to distract him. As he hissed in pain she reached past him, tuning out the babble of his thoughts, searching, as the stranger started to talk again.
“I’ll give ye this, lass, he fought hard — harder than any of the others, and there have been many others. He even managed to keep some of his memories locked away from me — all his memories of you, lass. I dinna ken how he managed it, but I have to admire it. It has made foolin’ ye hard enow for this long. All the same, lass, this body — this bluidy marvelous healin’ body — is mine now, an’ I willna be lettin’ it go for any reason.”
She was barely listening to him because she could feel Logan, feel his mind, he was suppressed by the other but he was there, and if she could just form a connection...
Marie! I’m here, darlin’. He’s in control, but I’m still here. Don’t touch him, no matter what you do. That’s how he gets inside you. He might even be able to get past your mutation. Just run. Can you hear me, darlin’?
She felt her eyes well with tears at the sound of his beloved voice again. “I hear you,” she said in a shaky voice. She saw confusion shadow the stranger’s eyes and spoke quickly to distract him. “But why bother tryin’ to fool me? Why didn’t you jus’ kill me? You had more than enough chances. “ Her voice thickened with tears at the thought of how this stranger had pretended to be the man she loved. “Why pretend to be him?”
“He was able to keep his memories of you locked away, but no’ his own. The mon doesna know Xavier, does he now? But you do. You must, to be here in his cabin. It isna easy to sneak up on a telepath, but from everything I’ve heard of the mon Xavier willna scan a trusted friend of one of his little darlings, now will he? Too many scruples. You were to take me to him. But ye can be sure that I am no’ silly enow to think that ye will do it now.”
Darlin’, just go. If he decides he doesn’t need you, he’ll jump inside you and burn you up from the inside. He’s done it over and over. Get away from him. I’m keepin’ him from seein’ anythin’ since we met. He doesn’t know your powers. Use whatever you got, just take him down and run. But don’t let him touch you.
She flinched back, just as the man tensed his muscles, struggling against the force pinning him to the floor. She struggled to maintain her concentration, to hold the connection with Logan. Her thoughts raced frantically, trying to find some solution. Her grip shifted uneasily on the knife.
“What do you want with Professor Xavier?”
“Why, I want to kill him, of course. He lives in that mansion, wi’ all those bairns, an’ I will wager ye that he hasna mentioned havin’ a bairn of his own, has he now? David Xavier was my name, but he didna claim me, did he? Let my mother lock me up in her island prison, an’ dinna say a word about me to anyone. For that I owe him a debt, and I mean to repay it. Planned to see him squealing at the end of my dirk, but these claws your mon gave me will do the job just as well.”
Logan was practically howling in frustrated rage and concern. You know what you gotta do, darlin’. Protect yourself. Protect your friends. Be smart here, baby. I’m not worth it. Don’t let me hurt you, darlin’. Please. I’d rather die a million times than let anythin’ happen to you. I’d do it myself if I could, but I can’t. You gotta be strong for both of us, darlin’.
She stalled, trying to think of some other solution. There had to be another way out. There had to. She can’t have found Logan just to lose him to this psychopath. “You’re...you’re Xavier’s son?”
The man smiled evilly.
“No, lass. Not anymore. I am Proteus now. I am reborn. An’ this miraculous body is my chrysalis.”
She searched his eyes, his face, looking for some sign of Logan. Only the stranger, Proteus, looked back at her, the amber eyes cold, his lips twisted in a cruel smirk. He was enjoying this.
“What do you want me to do?” she finally asked, knowing what they both would say.
Proteus smiled insincerely. “Easy, lass. Let me go. I willna harm you. Ye will have to do it soon enow. This body dinna need sleep, but ye will. Ye canna hold me here forever.”
Logan was growling and snarling in rage. He’s burned up everyone he’s been in, baby, but with my healin’, he can stay. You know what you have to do. Let him have me, darlin’. Just go. Whatever you need to get away. Kill me if you can — take my head off. I’m not sure if it’ll work, but it’ll give you a head start.
She shook her head. No fucking way. Save herself, and leave Logan in the grip of this bastard? There had to be another way. She could not — she would not — let him turn the man she loved into an abomination. “I won’t let you have him.”
“What do ye think ye might do then, lass? Hurt me? I promise ye, he’s here wi’ me, and he’ll feel every minute of it. Ask yourself, lass, are ye willin’ to torture your mon as well as me? An’ for what reason? This body canna be hurt for long. It will heal. I’ve never found one like this — a body that willna burn up, one that I can keep. An’ I am verra sure that I willna be leavin’ it no matter how much pain you cause us both.”
There’s no savin’ me, darlin’. I love you, baby, but now you gotta be strong for both of us. I know you can. Please darlin’. Just do it. Trust me.
She had the barest outline of a plan. Insanely risky, reckless beyond belief, but if the alternative meant leaving Logan in the grip of this psychopath then she would try it. She just hoped that he would forgive her. They were either coming out of this together, or not at all.
“I love you, Logan,” she said. “An’ I trust you. Like you gotta trust me. I’m sorry, sugar.”
She felt the tears finally start to fall as she moved back, keeping Logan pinned with Magneto’s power. She pulled the heavy ironwork lamp base forward, sobbing as she smashed it into Logan’s skull over and over until his head was a bloody pulp.
Splattered with his blood, her mind still reeling in horror at what she had done, she raced upstairs. She changed into her snowmobile suit and scrawled a quick note. Shoving it in her pocket, she slogged through the snow, making no attempt to hide her path.
Her vision was blurred with tears and she wiped her eyes and cheeks with a shaky hand, taking a deep breath, trying to center her thoughts.
Will it work? she asked Jean in her head.
Jean’s usually calm voice was choked with distress. I honestly don’t know, Rogue, she answered. But if you even stand a chance, it will take everybody. And I mean everybody.
I know, Marie answered grimly. In the outside world she moved through the snow, her body pushing forward on autopilot as her mind continued down the hallway of her mental structure, Jean’s presence close behind her.
She pulled open the door to Bobby’s space. Bobby? she asked.
His answer was instant, his usual sheepish docility gone. Of course, Rogue. I’m with you.
Jubilee was next. Just let me at ‘em, chica, she said with a smile full of trouble. Her hands glowed and snapped with latent electricity.
With her three friends at her back, Marie felt a little better about approaching the next door. It was already cracked open from her hasty pull on Magneto’s powers, but to her surprise Lensherr was still sitting calmly inside. She pushed the door wider, meeting his cold grey eyes.
He nodded in acknowledgement of her unasked question. I will not let this miscreant hurt Charles, he said with unexpected vehemence. As close to him as she was, she could not help but feel the emotions radiating from his slim, elderly form. His concern for Xavier brought her already unstable emotions almost to the point of tears again, and she had to swallow hard to suppress the lump in her throat. In this, at least, they were allies. She pushed the door wide and moved to the last space, pausing in front of the locked door.
Do you realize what you’re considering? Jean asked. With Proteus’s energy demands — even if we are able to contain him, it will not be enough. The rest of us can go back, but this — unleashing the Wolverine — would be permanent. You would need his healing to be a part of you, always.
She’s right, Bobby added. You could still run. Get to Xavier first, get help. But this — it would change you, Rogue.
She looked into Bobby’s clear blue eyes. He was still so naive. It’s already changed me, Bobby, she said gently. Knowin’ Logan, lovin’ him — I’m never gonna be the person I was before. He’s already a part of me. She took a deep breath. I just hope he feels the same way.
She felt the others back away as she focused her concentration on the last door. Are you there? Do you know what’s happenin’?
The growl that came through could have meant anything, but she could feel his emotions — anger, and confusion, and reluctance.
I know that you’re scared, she communicated to him, ignoring the angry growl that statement elicited. I know you think if I see what you’ve got in there I’m not gonna love you anymore. But you’re wrong. Logan saw that, and he trusted me. And now you gotta do the same. Or there isn’t gonna be any you to love anymore.
She felt him moving closer to the door. You could just go, he growled. Leave us to the other man. You could go back to where you came from Marie, with people like you. You could be safe.
She rested her forehead against the door. Forgive me for sayin’ so, sugar, but you are fuckin’ outta your mind if you think there’s even a chance of that. She pushed her feelings toward him — her love, her acceptance, but also her fear of losing him, and most of all her unshaking resolve. You an’ me, sugar. Forever. Sound like a deal?
She held her breath, listening to the silence, feeling his shifting emotions. Finally the door shook and then swung open slowly. He stood before her in his faded jeans, his chest bare and bloody, his tangled hair and scruffy beard unkempt. Just as he had been when she met him, and she felt her heart turn over seeing him again.
Still sassier in here, he said with a quirk of his mouth and she couldn’t help from throwing herself at him. She felt the oddest sensation as they embraced. She knew they weren’t real, knew they were both just mental forms within her brain, but still as she pressed against him she felt a comingling of their thoughts and feelings, a permeation of his soul into hers and hers into his. They broke apart and she looked into his eyes, the rich golden amber mellowed now with a hint of brown.
He seemed to know what she was thinking. You’re a part of me now, darlin’, he rumbled. And I’m a part of you.
She looked into his beloved face, still wrapping her mind around what had happened, until Jubilee’s cheerful voice piped up behind her.
Enough with the lovey-dovey stuff. Are we gonna kick some ass or what?
_________________
THREE HOURS LATER
He leaped for her, landing on the ice in front of her. He skidded into her, knocking them both to the ground.
“I am Proteus, lass. I have killed more than a hundred people in the last few months alone. Did ye really think ye could stop me all on your own?” He pressed his hand to her face, watching her eyes glaze over as he poured himself into her.
He felt the giddy tipping point, when he was more in her than in the other man. Instead of seeing through her eyes, however, he saw nothing but a wall in front of him. He turned, confused, but he was walled in on all sides. Walls made of ice, and metal, and jolts of electricity that rattled his brain when he pushed against them. Psychic walls stronger than any he had ever known could exist, apparently honed by years of practice and bolstered by a telepath of skill beyond his imagining. He began to panic, trying to reverse the flow, but it was too late. He scrabbled at the boundaries, trying to break through, trying to break free, as the claustrophobia overwhelmed him. This was worse than his room at Muir Island, worse than anything. He screamed in rage and frustration, as the girl’s voice ghosted through his head.
That was your mistake, Proteus. I’m not all on my own.
He slammed against the walls with his fists, his feet, even his head, in a frenzy of fear and anger, but it was no use. They were rock-solid and unmoving, and behind them — behind them he sensed a growling beast, even more fearsome than the one he had encountered in the healing man.
No! he screamed, but the word echoed around the empty cell. He stared at the walls with unseeing eyes, his ears still echoing with the sounds of his screams. NO!
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