X-men: Protection

Based on characters created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby

Rogue awoke, her head heavy. She looked around her and saw she was imprisoned in a glass box. Then, all the memories flooded back to her.

It was Magneto again. He had taken her to use her as leverage against Wolverine. Magneto saw the relationship between them and knew he could control Wolverine if he had her. She had been in town walking around trying to buy new accessories to hide her poisonous skin when her vision started to fade. She had turned around to see the sadistic face of Magneto laughing at her, Mystique's blue form beside him.

Rogue began to bang on the walls that trapped her.

"Help!" she called out. "Someone help me!"

No one could hear her. The glass was sound-proof.

Magneto entered the room and smiled at her. "Hello, my dear," he said in that evil voice of his. "Don't worry, you'll be out soon enough. The question is will you be dead or alive when that happens?"

"Rogue?"

Magneto turned and saw Wolverine run into the room.

"Logan!" Marie screamed through the glass. He began to run to her, but Magneto raised his hand and stopped him from progressing any further.

"Ah, ah, ah," he said, waving his finger at Wolverine. "Let's watch the show, shall we?"

Water began to flow into the glass cage. Rogue looked at the water in horror. "Logan!" she screamed again. "Help!"

"Well, this should be interesting," Magneto said. "Let's see how much you are willing to fight for your girl."

Wolverine looked at him and then at Rogue. He started towards the glass cage, but Magneto stopped him again. Every time Wolverine got up, Magneto shoved him down. There was no way Wolverine could fight him alone. It just wasn't working.

However, Magneto looked back as the cage was now filled halfway with water, reaching Rogue's stomach. She was clawing at the glass, trying to get out in any possible way.

When he turned back around, Wolverine was right there and Magneto got socked in the face. Wolverine proceeded to beat him before Charles Xavier came into the room.

"Logan. That's enough," he said calmly.

Wolverine looked up at him and back at Magneto. There was nothing more he wanted than to kill him. He looked at the cage and saw that the water was almost covering Rogue's head. She had floated to the top with the water and was trying to hold on to oxygen as long as she could, but she only had a little bit of air left. He went over to the cage, but Magneto once again managed to hold him back.

"Eric," Xavier's voice said. "You've gone too far."

The water in the cage reached its limit and slipped over Rogue's head as she took one final deep breath. The look in her eyes bore into Wolverine. She looked so scared and there was nothing he could do.

Magneto's grip released just enough for Wolverine to escape from his hold. He proceeded to fight him so he could get to Rogue. She couldn't hold on in that water much longer. Finally, Magneto was down on the ground.

Wolverine ran over to the cage and smashed into it with his bare hands. It shattered into a million pieces and water cascaded all over the floor as Rogue slid out with all of it. She took a deep breath and coughed harshly. Water came out of her mouth as she laid on the ground trying to regain her breathing.

"Hey, Rogue. You're okay." Logan took her and held her in his arms as she continued to cough out water. "You're okay," he whispered. "I'm so sorry."

Rogue finished her massive coughing spell and took some very deep breaths. "Logan," she whispered. He rubbed her wet hair and she leaned into his buff chest and began to sob slightly.

"It's alright. You're safe now," he said to her in the most tender voice she had ever heard come out of him. He slid one arm under her knees and the other around her waist and carried her out of the prison. She rested her head against his warm body, shivering from the cold.

He carried her to his truck, the place where she had first met him. He placed her in the passenger seat and wrapped a blanket over her. He climbed into the driver side and turned the heat on full blast.

"Come here, kid," he said to her.

She moved over to him and he gently pulled her so that she was by his side. He was so warm and he thawed her out.

They drove in utter silence and it was a while before they finally reached the mansion.

"Rogue," he said quietly. "I'm so sorry."

"There's nothin' you could have done to prevent it. You had no way of knowin'," she shivered.

"I almost lost you. What would I do without you?"

Rogue looked up into his eyes. There was an affection there that she had never seen before. And it was directed at her.

Before they knew it, their lips were touching and they were kissing passionately. And nothing happened to Logan. She had now controlled her power.

"I love you, Marie."

"I love you too, Logan."

"I'm never going to let that happen again. If anyone ever comes after you, they'll have me to answer to. I'll take care of you just like I promised on the train."

Rogue smiled. He had kept that promise. They kissed again and Rogue could not have been happier.