You Will

Rogue was finishing a history assignment for Ororo while Bobby waited for her, when two men dressed in uniform entered. They wore black with an inverted yellow triangle on the right breast and front and back of their squared caps.
"May I help you", Ororo asked politely, with only the slightest hint of concern, which both men ignored.
"Are you Marie", one man asked as Rogue looked up.
"Yes, may I help you"?
The other man pulled out her chair, forcing her to stand. "Place your hands behind your back, you're under arrest for attempted murder; we've been trying to track you since Mississippi".
Rogue, stunned, did as they asked, thinking of David. Logan entered the room as she was snapped compliantly into cuffs. He looked around at the scene frantically, Rogue just shook her head, a silent command to leave things as they were.
The Professor wheeled into the doorway, as one of the men produced a glass cylinder and pressed it to her forearm, there was a hiss of decompression as it filled with blood. "Analyze this", he said, handing it off to his companion as he went to explain the situation to the Professor, and the man pocketed the cylinder.
Returning, they proceeded to lead Rogue away, and as she caught passing glances, she couldn't help but feel this would be the last time she would ever set foot inside the mansion.

"Hey kid", Rogue turned as Logan came up behind her. "Logan, you're home"!
He looked down as he shuffled his feet, "told ya, I'd be back".
She moved to wrap her arms around his neck in greeting, "so, are you here to stay"?
Logan looked down at her, "nah, won't be stayin' long, just came to do one thing".
Rogue's face fell slightly, "what's that"?
"This", Logan unsheathed his claws as they pierced right through Rogue's frail body.
She gasped as much in astonishment and surprise as she did for air. He looked down at her with a smile of grim satisfaction. She winced, as he twisted, driving the blades in deeper, and causing them to slash at a new angle.
She reached up, only remembering at the last moment her hands were gloved. Gasping her last breaths, she sobbed out her betrayal, as Logan's expression changed. He bent closer and caught up her mouth. He was ruthless, he bit and tore, causing more blood, more destruction, but only giving her enough of himself to heal ever so slightly, making her death prolonged.
Pulling away he knelt with her on the ground, "there now, you got what you wanted; did it make you feel special"?! He sneered cruelly as he walked away leaving her to die a slow death at his hands, with those cruel words burned into her mind, more painful than any wound ever could.
Rogue was brought back to reality with a violent scream. She was in a suspension tube, held in place by metal cable-cords and shackles on her ankles, wrists, waist and neck, with another cord that plugged into the base of her skull feeding chemicals into her brain.
It was these chemicals, designed to break her spirit, that fed her these horrid images. It had been the same with all of them; Bobby, Jubilee, Ororo, even the Professor had had his turn, but none so vicious as Logan.
It had been three weeks, she stood up to the therapy remarkably well, but this was just one phase. The machine was truned off, and Rogue detached and led back to her cramped little cell.
They had used her blood to manufacture a chip which was implanted in the bone of her arm, that controlled her mutation with the press of a button. Everyday it was the same; every day, the mind games, every night the rapings; sometimes half a dozen, sometimes in gangs, sometimes alone, but never less than two a night.
Cowering in her cramped cell she waited. She looked at the restraints along the walls, and on the floor; some liked to use them, others preferred not to. As she tried to doze, her door opened, and in stepped two dozen leering men, Rogue closed her eyes and distanced herself from what she knew was to come.

It had been over two months, and no word from Rogue, even criminals were allowed phone calls and visitors; even mutants. Logan paced the floors as the Professor, finally giving into his demands; if not his threats, searched Cerybro.
Emerging from the room, he shook his head, he could find no trace of her. This sent Logan into a rage. When he finally calmed down enough, he remembered the triangle insignia on the uniforms, and had the Professor try and track it down in the hopes of finding something.

The following months had been rough ones for Rogue. They had stopped feeding her, allowing her to survive solely on energy gleaned from whatever source they provided her. They liked to keep her feral, it was decidedly less expensive, and the benefits turned her hard and mean, in addition to affording her heightened senses. Yet, sometimes, if she was "good", they'd give her human energy, kids off the street, people no one would ever miss.
The suspension tube and chemical therapy no longer necessary, they had moved on to the main phase of their operation, and closer to their eventual plan. She was tortured, in every way imaginable, left to dangle further and further over the precipice of life before casting her a lifeline forged from the threads of someone else's. Always someone with a wealth of knowledge, scientists, technicians, military personal; the knowledge of all, which she continued to retain. The voices all meshed together, and she had truly become Rogue.
They groomed her and trained her, even gave her mutants to "play" with; and if they were successful in finding the right one, they would put her through the Adamantium process to make their perfect weapon, even that much more perfect.

Logan had been glued to the Professor's side for so long, it was almost impossible to see one without the other; unless Logan was working off his aggressions on the holograms in the danger room. It was here that the Professor found him, talking candidly with a simulation Rogue.
The Professor was the only one who knew of this little habit of his, and he saw it as therapeutic.
"Sorry I haven't been able to come see you lately, things have been kinda hectic 'round here". He looked down, collecting his thoughts for a moment, "we're gonna find you, we're gonna bring you back…. It's just taking a little longer than expected, but we're gonna bring you home, I promise. Not that my promises are much good". He said the last sentence thinking of his promise to take care of her, which he had failed to do, seeing as she was gone, and they had no way of knowing where, or how to get her back.
The professor's voice came over the intercom from the control room, "Logan, when you have a moment, I think you might want to take a look at what I've found".
Logan smiled, "sorry darlin', gotta go, with any luck, I'll be seein' ya real so", he gave her gloved hand a swift kiss, as the hologram faded out, the lights came back up, and he went to go learn what the Professor had found.
"It's a symbol for an organizational assassination group", the Professor briefed Logan on what he had found concerning the uniform insignia. "So they wanna use Rogue as an assassin'?
"She would make a very efficient one, eliminating a target with just a touch".
"Or a handshake", Logan and the Professor were both thinking the same thing. Stryker had failed in his attempt to use mutants to assassinate the president, but with someone like Rogue, they would surely succeed; and the President was to have a public "baby-kissing-and-hand-shaking" fiasco to help increase his popularity this weekend. "Just think of the possibilities, with just a touch, Rogue could gain access to the world's most well-kept secrets".
Logan didn't want to think about it; not his Marie. He had almost died at her literal hands more than once. The only person who had the power to kill him; to kill all of them, and all in just her little finger. The untapped potential to store and use countless powers notwithstanding.
"Where!?", Logan rounded on the Professor.
"I'm not sure, her brainwaves are all muddled, barely there. I don't know what condition she'll be in when we find her, but I think it would be safe to say we can prepare for the worst".

Rogue paced her cell restlessly, the feral in her was dangerously high. They were preparing a more civilized "persona" for her in the next room, a journalist, bottom of the barrel, but still professional. She was to "feed" and meet the President for a gloveless handshake, thus enduring his traceless assassination.
Rogue stopped pacing as her enhanced hearing picked up the sounds of a scuffle. Moments later, Logan came racing into the room. He hit the control panel with his claws, and the mechanical door swung open. He had just enough time to recognize the look in Rogue's eyes before she lunged for him; she had gone completely feral.
Her chip was on, rendering her powers dormant, but that was only half the battle.
He grabbed her wrists, and propelled himself backwards, taking her down with him, where he rolled over on top of her, pinning her with his weight, and forcing her arms over her head.
Rogue snarled and growled, snapping viciously, it had been a long time since Logan had gone that feral- and he had no desire to go back- but he knew what she would be going through.
For her, he would; for her, he would do anything.
Logan snarled back, bearing down harder, till his opponent could barely breath, and bit down hard on her neck. She yelped and whined, but didn't scream; even something as human as that was lost to her now.
He had asserted his dominance, his position as the alpha male, but he had also asserted himself as her mate with that gesture. He hadn't meant to do it, the Wolverine recognized a mate and was determined to have her.
In the long run it was better, she would only obey a dominant figure so far, she would follow her mate to the ends of the earth.
They were in the woods and nearly clear of the compound when Rogue started yipping and howling in pain, before dropping unconscious into Logan's arms. The chip had been designed after the fashion of shock collars, and would send several thousand volts through her system if she was disobedient, as it did now.

When Rogue awoke she found herself in a strange room, lying in a bed covered in a familiar scent. Getting up, she noticed her arm was bandaged, and she was wearing long opera gloves. She sniffed around wearily and crept out of the room.
Hearing voices Rogue hid around the corner.
"I put her in my room, thought she'd be a bit more comfortable with a familiar scent".
"With the chip removed, she'll be very dangerous".
"She won't hurt me, trust me".
"For your sake, I sincerely hope you're right".
Logan halted, sniffing around and quickly reached around the corner, revealing a spitting, snarling Rogue. Smirking darkly, he released her.
"In that case, it will be your responsibility to civilize her. It should prove enlightening. For both of you". The Professor said with only the slightest hint of humor in his voice.
The months that followed were spent on building trust and getting Rogue back on "solid" food. Half way through the first month Rogue had spotted Scott, and sensing Logan's distaste for this man, saw him as a threat and went straight for his throat. Logan had grabbed her by the scruff of the neck just in time, and let her dangle inches off the ground until she calmed down. Scott had had to fight not to laugh, even though he had been in danger of nearly losing his life moments before. Since then Logan had been careful in what his emotions betrayed, he was careful not to look at another woman, not even Jean, and to keep his animosity toward Scott at a minimum.
Logan had gotten her back to eating, though he'd worry about table manners later. At least she wasn't going around trying to kill the students and staff when she was hungry. He figured she'd be ready for small social settings soon, and after they worked on her speech and social skills, maybe a small class or two.
As Logan got up to leave that day, he stopped as he heard one cracked and broken word break from her lips. A word of hope, the first word she had ever spoken in all this time, since all this had begun.
"Lo-gan".
He smiled sadly but proudly, he would carry that broken, cracked word with him in his heart till the day he died.

Things were progressing well, Rogue had learned to groom herself and her speech skills and patterns, though halting, were coming along nicely. The first few attempts at class saw Logan standing at the back of the room, until she was sufficiently distracted enough for him to make his escape.
The whole time saw them growing ever closer. She still from time to time offered him her meal, as alpha, it was his right to eat first. He'd have a bite or two to put her mind a ease.
The biggest challenge came one night as he held her on his chest, shielding her from her nightmares. Suddenly she stopped shaking and her hands began to move over his chest and down his body as she sniffed hungrily.
Uh-oh, he knew what that meant! Most other ferals were breeding at this time. She brought her face inches from his and lowered her head slowly. Logan gently pushed at her shoulders, and growled a warning, looking her straight in the eye.
Rogue whined, but relented. "Don't you want me? Do I not please you? Is there another who would please you better?", she said this last part with a dangerous gleam in her eye.
"No", he said, and he meant it. She pleased him very much, and her mutation really wasn't a problem for him, he could think of many a creative way around that; but that wasn't the point. He had convinced her that she needed to wear gloves all the time, though didn't explain why. She didn't need a reason, her mate had requested it, so she would do as he asked, unquestioningly.
It was now that he took her aside and told her, explained to her, that touch without a barrier was forbidden to her. She just accepted the new information and surpassed her reproductive urges. Seeing that killed him, and he wanted to take her and make it all go away, show her that there were ways around it. He wanted to give her what she wanted. What they both wanted. Desperately.

Things were back to normal, finally, almost three years after it all, Rogue had finally returned home; more or less. She still had her feral instincts and mannerisms, but they where more subdued, similar to Logan's. They had become and stayed, inseparable, and every guy in the manor knew, or soon learned that she was his, and his alone.
All that was about to change, however.
Rogue sat in casual conversation with some of the other students, when suddenly she grew very quite, before being assaulted by an identity crisis any schizophrenic or psychotic madman would be proud of.
She started yelping and whining; something she only did now when things got really bad, and then everything broke. All the voices, all the memories, all the personalities, came crashing down upon her in full force, battling for supremacy.
Some the other students ran to get the Professor and Jean, while the others went for Logan. It was hours before they got her stable enough to be moved, her mind or rather, all those within her, were resisting the psychic sedative both telepaths were attempting to administer. It was another week before either of them could leave her, and all of that time in which to quell the voices raging within her.
When they finally had a moment, the Professor drew Logan aside while Rogue slept. "I really wanted to save this as an extreme measure, but I fear that time has come. The personalities Rogue has absorbed are too numerous for her to competently handle, I would like to propose an evacuation".
"You're talking about erasing her mind!?"
The Professor nodded. "Unfortunately, with something of this magnitude, it will be impossible to separate the personalities".
"So, she'll go too".
Again the nod, "It's unavoidable; she won't remember any of us, who she is, she won't even remembering being a mutant".

When Rogue had awoke nearly a week later, the Professor had explained the option to her, and she had immediately taken this information to Logan.
"You knew?"
Logan hung his head, "yeah, the Professor told me".
"What do you want me to do? I'll do it if you want me to".
Logan took her by the shoulders, "I don't want to lose you, but this is your decision, and you're the one who has to make it".

Rogue walked down to the med lab, having decided on the procedure. Logan met her, and before anyone could protest, gave her back what had been so forcibly taken, in one deep kiss.
He had smelled the abuse and torn flash on her instantly when he had found her, the nightly assaults of so many heartless men.
No one should ever have that taken away from them; ever.
As the flesh and tissue knitted together to leave her whole in every sense he poured as much of himself into her as he dared, knowing that it would gone in a matter of moments, telling her everything he could never say in words.
He laid her down and held her hand through it all, never once letting go. Not once.
A psychic sedative was administered, and piece by piece, it all began to fall away.
Her first birthday with all the balloons and the brightly colored paper.
Her first day of school, how she clung to hide behind her mother terrified that the big yellow monster would swallow her whole.
When she first learned to ride a bike, she never did forgive her dad for letting go.
The day she learned she was a mutant.
Daring to stow away in the back of Logan's truck.
Meeting the X-Men.
Meeting Erik.
Being burned alive from the inside out as hot metal flooded through her.
Being branded in the camps.
In the end everything fell away.
In the end, there was nothing left.

The girl opened her eyes, the girl who could remember nothing, not her name, not where she was; nothing. She looked over at a man holding her gloved hand tightly in his. "Do I know you"?
The man smiled sadly, "you will".
"You will".