The sports car skidded to a stop, behind the sedan they recognized from the mansions garage. The hallway lights were on inside the house they were pulled up outside of but Scott could pick up no movement from within, as he and Jean grabbed the medical kit and rushed toward the house. Without bothering to knock, Scott twisted the handle, not surprised when the door swung open. He was surprised by the sight that greeted them though.

Logan and Marie were both out cold on the floor. Little Emily, dressed in a pink unicorn nightie and bawling her eyes out, was sitting next to them.

"They won't wake up Aunty Jeannie," the little girl informed them, sobbing.

"Out of the way," Jean replied brusquely, picking Emily up and hurriedly handing her to Scott, who set her down on the stairs and instructed her to go back to bed so Aunty Jean could work. Reluctantly, the little girl made her way upstairs, checking back over her shoulder every few steps before finally disappearing from view.

"I need to pump Rogue's stomach, her skin's active, I think Logan touched her to try and counteract the drugs, we need to get them out of her so the healing can flush the residue from her system," Jean stated sharply, as she set up what she needed, tossing a pair of gloves at Scott as she did.

It wasn't long before Rogue was awake, as soon as the drugs were out of her stomach, the healing factor burned through the last of the side effects and she came screaming, literally, back to consciousness.

"LOGAN!!" she cried, bolting upright. "Oh god, what have I done," she murmured softly, collapsing onto Logan, head resting on his chest as she began to sob.

"What were you thinking Rogue!?" Jean demanded, on the verge of tears herself.

"I thought... I thought it would just be better if I wasn't here anymore, I couldn't screw up their lives anymore, I couldn't hurt them anymore... oh god Jean, his thoughts... I never realised... I thought he hated me, I thought... no matter what I do I always fuck everything up!" Marie rambled through her tears, as she hugged Logan tightly and began to whisper a litany of apologies.

Catching Jean's nod in response to his unspoken query, Scott left her and Rogue alone. Logan was going to be fine, he would wake up as usual in probably a couple of hours. In the meantime, Scott went to check on Emily, muttering a curse when he got to her room and her bed was empty. The nursery was also empty. In Logan's room however, he found Daniel, fast asleep in the bassinet beside the bed, and Emily, a tiny sobbing bundle, wrapped up in one of Logan's flannel shirts clutching his pillow.

"It's okay Em, everything's alright now sweetheart," Scott soothed, sitting down on the edge of the bed beside her.

"Where's daddy?" her muffled voice asked from the pillow.

"Your mommy was sick, your daddy touched her skin to give her his healing power, your mommy's okay now, and your daddy will wake up in a few hours," Scott explained gently.

"You promise?" Emily asked, as she glanced up at him.

"I promise," Scott replied, with just the hint of a grin.

"Can I see mommy now?" Emily asked softly.

"Not right now, your mommy is a little upset right n--" Scott began to explain.

"It's okay Scott, I'm here Emmy," Marie interrupted softly, rushing around the bed to approach from the other side. The little girl scrambled out of bed, still wrapped in her daddy's shirt, and threw herself into her mother’s arms begging to know what happened. "Well... mommy did something silly, I listened to the bad guys voices and I made myself sick, your daddy saved me, he touched my skin and he made me better," Marie explained.

"Is daddy helping you fight the bad guys now?" Emily asked, worry still showing on her face.

"Yeah, yeah he is, I don't know what he's done up there but I can't hear them at all now but you know your daddy's the best at what he does," Marie said with a smile, earning a giggle from Emily.

"Is daddy going to be okay?" Emily sobered as she asked.

"Your daddy is the hardest person on the planet to harm, he'll be fine, it might take him a bit longer than normal to wake up this time, just because he was already so tired from being up so much with Daniel, but he'll wake up, Aunty Jean is going to stay with him, and I'm going to stay with you, until he does," Marie answered.

Emily giggled happily again, before pulling Marie into the bed with her. Scott watched with a relieved smile as they made themselves comfortable in bed, Emily cuddling into her mother’s arms.

"Thanks Scott," Marie whispered, flashing him a smile as he slipped out of the room.

Back in the foyer, Jean was arranging a second blanket over Logan, and he had a cushion under his head. "He's too heavy to bother moving," she commented absently before she turned to Scott, tears in her eyes. "One of us needs to stay with Logan and someone needs to stay with Rogue, she needs constant supervision after..."

"I think Rogue's okay now, Logan's fresh in her head again, he won't let her do anything stupid," Scott assured her.

"Well if that's the way you feel then you stay with Logan, I'll go stay with Rogue," Jean decided, moving past him, and toward the stairs.

"Alright, that's probably better anyway," Scott replied, catching her before she could slip away and kissing her softly. "Go easy on her, she knows she messed up again but I think this time she's got what she needs, she's got Logan, he seems to be doing good for her up there, from what she said to Emily the voices in her head were harassing her and Logan's shut them all up now," he explained, before letting her go.

He stretched out on the couch, in view of Logan's prone form, intending to stay awake and keep an eye on him. A few hours later he was woken by a shout from the floor.

"Marie!" Logan called, sitting bolt upright from the floor.

"Take it easy," Scott muttered, trying to stretch out the crick in his neck, from sleeping in his slouched position on the couch. "She's asleep upstairs, she's okay, Jean's keeping an eye on her and Emily hasn't let her go," Scott filled him in. "How are you feeling?"

"Surprisingly well rested compared to the last three weeks," Logan replied, turning himself around to rest against the stair bannister with a chuckle. "Is she really okay? I didn't realise she was that bad, Charles seemed to think she was getting better, what happened?" he asked Scott, a pain in his eyes that had become an almost permanent fixture in the last several months.

"I don't know, we haven't really had a chance to talk to her, though I overheard her talking to Emily, something about listening to bad voices and you touched her and made all the bad voices go away so, I think she's okay for now, maybe you should come back to the mansion and sit down with her and the Professor to talk this all out," Scott suggested.

"I think that might be a good idea," Logan replied with a sigh. "Are they all upstairs?" he asked, when he looked like he was ready to try moving some more.

"They're all in your room, want the couch?" Scott asked, nodding across the room to the other couch.

"Not much point, they're not going to be in bed for much longer," Logan replied with a grin, as Daniel began to stir and yell for his morning meal. Emily's sweet voice was heard moments, telling Marie that Daniel wanted his bottle now and offering to show her where it was, a moment before the little girl ran for the stairs.

"Daddy!" Emily squealed, almost tripping on the stairs as she picked up speed before throwing herself at him.

"Oof," Logan grunted, as Emily landed on top of him. "Careful squirt, you're a big girl now remember, it hurts when you jump on people," Logan reminded her.

"Daaddeee, your bones are made of metal, I can't break you," Emily replied with a giggle.

"How the hell did my kid end up so sadistic," Logan commented with a chuckle, when Emily ran off again once she had her cuddle.

"She's your kid, that surprises you?" Scott replied with a grin, laughing out loud when Logan flipped him off with a shiny metal claw.

"Logan!" Marie called a moment later, hurrying down the stairs, Daniel resting on her chest, yawning widely now that he had the attention he had been grizzling for.

Logan made it to his feet by the time Marie made it to the bottom of the stairs. For several minutes they just held each other, for the first time in a long time, as Marie began to sob on his shoulder.

"Hey, you alright?" Logan asked gently, moving her back so he could see her face, gently wiping tears from her eyes.

"I'm not as good as last year but I’m better than last night," Marie admitted, with a smile. Any further comment she was going to make was cut off when Daniel began to whimper again, just as Emily popped out of the kitchen.

"Daddy, I can't mix the for-ma-la, come quick," she called insistently.

"She's been a big help, huh?" Marie asked softly, as they followed Emily into the kitchen.

"She sure has, haven't you squirt, you could almost take care of Danny all by yourself," Logan commented, dropping a kiss on Emily's head as she set up the bottle warmer. A bottle, the formula tin, and the jug of pre-boiled water, were all sitting on the counter ready for mixing.

Marie watched the pair working together, laughing and teasing as they did. She felt a contented purr in her mind, as the fresh dose of Logan she had received settled a warm feeling over her. Suddenly realisation hit her... Logan really was happy, being settled, having a family. She had never dared to hope before, always the worry had hung around in the back of her mind that he would one day tire of being tied down...

Logan seemed to find that idea amusing, flooding her mind’s eye with images, memories, the things he lived for, the things he couldn't live without. Her, Emily, Daniel - even when the boy kept him up until all hours of the night screaming his tiny little lungs out. Compared with the few memories he held onto from his old life, cold, hollow, empty, loneliness, until the spark began when he laid eyes on her across that smoky bar in the middle of nowhere. He didn't even remember the name of the town, just her, the look in her eyes, the way she smelled, the way she had looked standing in the snow not letting him drive off and leave her behind. That spark had grown and grown, until it was a warm, comforting glow that permeated his every thought. Even when he thought of her, after she left him, it was still with warmth, with love. The memories of him crying over the loss of her, wishing her back, being terrified that he wasn't a good enough father to take care of Emily alone, and lying in bed at night, alone, wishing he could hold her, still weren't enough to extinguish that warmth.

By the time Logan had heated the bottle she was in tears, had he asked she wouldn't have been able to tell him why. He didn't ask though, he just stepped up behind her, and held her, while they both fed Daniel together.

Scott and Jean didn't disturb them, Scott instead helped Emily find her favourite cereal, where Logan had hidden it so she didn't eat the whole box in one meal.

Once everyone was fed, they decided to all head back to the mansion together. Logan wanted to get to the bottom of what was going on in Marie's head once and for all. He hoped her emotional softening meant she might finally be ready to really open up.
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