Memories.
Logan had a lot of those. Both violently vivid and some as muddled as swamp water.
The faces of friend and foe flickered in and out. Their voices calling his name and beckoning him to an unknown fate.
It was time. Hell, he welcomed it.
"I don't want you to go."
This soft voice cut through the others and his mind focused immediately.
Rogue.
"So, what kind of a name is Rogue?
Those were his words long ago.
"I dunno. What kind of name is Wolverine?"
He had shut it out. Anything to do with Rogue. Now, the gate was open.
"My name is Logan"
He told her then.
"Marie."
She responded and later asked.
"When they come out...does it hurt?"
Rogue always had a way of cutting past the bullshit and hitting close to home. Genuine to a fault. She was the first to ask that question. It caught him off guard for a moment so he had responded candidly.
"Everytime."
They simply got one another. Even past the camaraderie of being mutants with killer powers.
"C'mon I'll take care of you."
His words to her still hurt like a bitch.
"You promise?"
Complete trust. No one else had given that to him but her.
"Yeah...yeah I promise."
The first time he made that kind of promise. The only promises he kept was the killing.
He had failed her. Broke his word.
She died. The hurt was beyond heartache. It was desolation.
More than any other he had loved or given a shit about.
No one else accepted both Logan and Wolverine. Not in the way Rogue did.
Jean only wanted bits of Logan. When he had reset the timeline he understood that his obsession with Jean had been a mixture of plain lust and wanting to know more about his past. However, in the new timeline she had lived her life out with Scott. Logan never looked back. He was even happy for them.
Ororo and Logan had gotten together in war times. They were soldiers and their relationship wasn't one of getting to know you. Ororo let his Wolverine side roam free and settled for brief moments of Logan. She deserved better. When things were reset he never pursued her.
He kept mostly to himself.
Well, except for his feisty southern comrade.
She just got him. The whole package. Death and feral all wrapped up in a ball of fucked up. Their bond was unspoken but always present. How they finally ended up together was one hell of a story. Yet boiled down to two things.
Who he was with the X-Men would never have been without Rogue. He would never considered becoming any sort of hero type. Working with others and saving the world time and time again.
Second thing. Love.
He loved Rogue unconditionally. Even when he couldn't touch her because of her deadly skin, he didn't find himself wanting as one might think. Odd being how physical he naturally was.
It was enough they were alive and there for each other. Hard times came but never once did he think of calling it quits.
A miracle happened later. Rogue figured out to control her power. That was one day he'll never forget. He was finally able to express in more ways what he felt.
Though true satisfaction came from seeing her joy and tears at simple things. Such as being able to hug a friend without any fear.
Damn. Never thought he get sentimental enough for something like that to move him.
She did that. Moved him. Shook him up. Made him better. Made him whole.
On her last day alive...she had saved him. The part that protected Xavier all these hellish years.
The rest of him, well, poison slowly ate what was left of him.
From the inside out.
He had a dream when he fell asleep in the truck while on the run with Laura.
Where he stood on the porch of a mountain cabin, one arm around Rogue. Watching Laura run off in the distance to a lake where Xavier was fishing.
Later they be around a table. Talking, laughing, and living. A family.
No death this time around.
Laura was his genetic daughter. But, also reminded him of Rogue at times.
So much so he could almost imagine she was Rogue and his child. A family of runaway mutants.
What could've been.
The end was here. Life for him wasn't going to have a happy ending. He never expected it to.
However, as he looked up at Laura he couldn't help but be reminded of his dream. And that maybe...just maybe it would live on in her.
"So this is what it feels like."
…..
Author's Note: X-Men is near and dear to my heart and so is the couple Rogan. I wish they could've developed them over time. But, that is what fanfic is for!
All my works are unedited and for the love of my ships.