A.N. - I finally saw The Wolverine...and I hated it! Being a Rogan fan, it really made my blood boil seeing so much Jean Grey (%#$!), sooo I wrote this! It started off as just a rewrite of some of the script for the first few parts...but then, since I saw Days of Future Past when it first came out and was upset that Rogue wasn't in it, I did some more work and came up with a damn good reason why she wasn't! (in Chapter 2) So, for all you Rogan fans out there, here's the ending that should have been!

It Was Always Marie

1

Mariko approaches me, saying, "You don't sleep very well. You call out in the night…"

I wait for her to say Jean's name, I know that it's coming, I know that my secret will be revealed, I know that any second now-

"Who's Marie?"

I don't know what to say. How…? How is it possible that I am saying her name when Jean is the only one that I ever see in my nightmares? Seeing her over and over again, taunting me with the fact that I hadn't been able to save her, that I was the one that killed her.

How is Rogue's name slipping off my lips in the night instead of Jean's? I want to ask her…but I don't.

"We should go back. It's rain coming."

I follow her back.

I roll over in the bed, expecting to see Mariko, but instead my hallucination lies next to me in the bed.

"This isn't going to end well," the illusion-Jean says to me. "Everyone you love dies."

Damn my hallucination. I hate the fact that she's right, as usual. It's the reason that I had never let Rogue get too close. I know of her feelings for me, and I more than return them, but she is the only one that I can't ever risk losing.

I would risk everyone else…except for her.

Everyone I have ever loved has died.

Except for her.

I will let Marie go to live her life without me, so long as she is happy. Even if it meant being happy without me. That is how I know that for the first time in my immensely long life that I am actually in love. I am willing to let her be happy, even if it's without me.

And it kills me.

Again, Mariko asks, "Who's Marie? Is she like you? What happened to her?"

I don't know what to say at first, but then I finally reply, "I met her." So long ago. "I almost killed her." The look in her eyes. "I saved her." I was almost too late both times. "I fell in love with her." First time I've ever said it out loud. "I had to leave her behind." Because I love her too much.

Mariko says nothing.

I don't expect her to say anything.

It's hard to compete with a woman who is still alive, even if she is over a thousand miles away. And I know, somehow, that I'll go back to her. In the end, no matter what women might share my bed, I will always go back to her.

Marie deserves someone better than me, and maybe she'll find it one day and forget about her feelings towards me and be happy, and, somehow, have the one thing that I can never give her. A family. But until that day, I will always be her Wolverine and she will be my Rogue.

My Marie.

Even as Mariko tucks herself into my side, running a hand reassuringly over my chest, her silky black hair slipping over my shoulder, all I can think of is fingers covered in dark brown gloves interlacing with mine and thick, auburn hair with white streaks tangled and bunched under my chin.

God, I miss her.

I'm at the airport when it happens. Magneto has his powers back…and, to top it off, the Professor's alive.

I'm still wrapping my head around that one.

But when they tell me what's going on and that Trask Industries is behind it all, I know that I have to do something about it. And then they tell me that they want Rogue to be my partner. I try not to appear too pleased with their suggestion, but I can tell from the look that Chuck gives me that he knows how I feel about it.

We arrive at the new headquarters, an out of the way place in the middle of the English countryside, and step out of the car in front of a mansion that makes the previous one look like a tinker toy.

And then I see her.

It's been a couple of years and she looks…great.

"Logan."

It's all she says, but I can hear everything in the way that she says my name. Her arms go around my neck and I am suddenly overwhelmed with the smell of Marie. God, she smells amazing. And, even better, it's the only thing I can smell. Not a single man has touched her in a long time, and I can feel my inner Wolverine growl in contentment.

"Marie…"

She pulls back and I get a better look.

She's wearing a dark red plaid button-up tucked into a pair of worn-out jeans along with short, brown leather driving gloves and boots. Her hair is loose and her eyes are bright. God, it's like she's stepped right out of one of my mental fantasies that I've so successfully kept hidden over the years.

"Good to see you," I add, consciously not adding on my usual endearment of 'kid', knowing that she would shred me a new one if I did. Besides, it's pretty obvious to me that she's no longer a kid from the way that her hips fill out her jeans and the way that the shirt clings to her curves.

"You, too, Logan."

She reaches out and runs her fingers through my hair, a gesture that takes me completely off guard with its intimacy, and she smiles.

"Your hair's longer." I nod. Her fingers run down to the nape of my neck, and I have to bite back a low sound of contentment at the pleasant sensation. "Ah like it on you, sugah."

Oh, that accent. How I've missed it.

Every time she says my name, it seems to flow off her tongue, unlike the clipped way that Chuck and Erik say my name with their British hacks, and completely different from the plain way that I've ever heard it spoken by everyone else.

I look over at the Professor and both he and Magneto leave the two of us alone.

I look back at Marie.

She smiles.

"So…I heard you were in Japan," she says, hooking her right arm through my left and I nod.

"Yeah. I was."

I don't know what else to say. Even though I cared for Mariko, now that I think back on my time with her it almost feels like a betrayal to Marie and I can't seem to find the words to talk to her about it. How do you tell the woman that means more to you than your own life that you…what? How would I phrase it?

We continue to walk around the grounds, not saying anything.

After about ten minutes, she pulls me down to a bench and she presses her hand tighter around my bicep.

"Did you…find some peace of mind?"

I look down at her in shock, pulling back my arm slightly, and she pulls away, putting her hands in her lap and lets out a small sigh as she says, "I…I know that Doctor Grey's death was hard for you. You…you cared for her." I can almost hear her biting her tongue, as though she's holding something back, and then she says, "Need to talk about it?"

I shake my head.

"No. I'm fine with it, now." She gives me a look, one eyebrow skeptically arched and I add, "Really, Marie. I'm fine. Jean was…unattainable. Never mine. And I did the only thing I could do to save her in the end."

At that, she sneaks her hand into mine and I give it a gentle squeeze. I stare at our hands for a moment, marveling at how well her fingers fit against mine.

I then ask, "So…your powers came back, huh?"

She nods.

"Yeah. And stronger than ever, too." This time I'm the one giving a look, and she quickly explains. "Now, even just an accidental brush with skin can knock someone out. Found that out the hard way. Lost a boyfriend in the process, as well as a whole lot of friends."

She sits back up and fearlessly places her head on my shoulder.

"But not you."

I let out a sigh and say, "Yeah, well, hard to lose a friend when they're not around for you to lose…"

She shrugs.

"I don't know about that. You know, you're the only one who's never been scared of my skin…and that sets you apart from everyone else." She pulls back and looks at me, her eyes serious. "Thank you for that, Logan."

I don't know what to say at first, but then finally manage to reply with, "Well, you've never been afraid of me, so…I guess we're even, then."

She lets out a small laugh, music to my ears, and puts her head back on my shoulder. After a moment, she says, "It's not something that you can be even with, but…thanks for trying." She slips her hand back into mine and adds, in a voice that no one else might hear, well below a whisper, but one that my keen ears can hear easily, "Ah've missed you, Logan…"

I smile against her hair.

"I've missed you, too, Marie…"

I can feel her smile, as well.

"You mean it?"

I nod.

"Yep."

She lifts her head once more, but keeps her fingers locked with mine and looks me directly in the eye as she says, "So, we're gonna be partners huh?" I nod. She smiles; a broad smile that I absolutely love and takes me back to when I returned the first time and she had practically run into my arms with that same look in her eyes.

"Lookin' forward to it, sugah."

I snort.

"You sure about that?"

She nudges my shoulder with hers, and says, "Oh c'mon, it won't be that bad."

I smile again.

"No. It really won't, sweetheart," I reply, and at my words an even broader smile crosses her lips and she says, "Ah like that."

My brow furrows.

"Like what?"

She nudges my shoulder again and tightens her hand in mine and says, "That word. 'Sweetheart.' It's better than anything ah've been called in the past, that's for sure."

I shrug and reply, "Well, I thought it was more appropriate than 'kid'."

She seems happy that I've said that, so we sit there for a while, just talking about stupid things. The weather, hockey, the most recent students at Xavier's new school…the fact that Magneto is on our side, along with a Mystique who has regained her powers.

And suddenly, as we stand up and head towards the mansion, our fingers still locked tight together, I realize that this is what I want. What I've always wanted. To be with her, like this. I've never thought it could happen, but if we defeat Trask, if we make the difference, then it might. We might have the chance. She's older than she was before, and I can tell that her feelings for me are still the same, only stronger and deeper than before.

If I'm lucky, she loves me as much as I love her.

And I can live with that.

Part 1/2