"You're the only one." The words burned into her head and her heart, a fiery hot brand that left her ice cold. Her body was also cold but she barely noticed. She'd been walking in the woods around the mansion for nearly two hours now and the night air had chilled her. Her clothes were wet from the moisture on the branches she pushed past.
"You're the only one." She knew he was right, she'd almost done it once before. The guilt had been awful, the memories worse. She didn't know if she could do it again. Her powers were back and she could control them now, but would she use them for what she was being asked?
She could imagine the pain he was in, and if she agreed to his request then she wouldn't need to imagine, she would know, it would burn into her the way his words did. All of his memories would be hers, even the ones he wouldn't talk about to anyone else, the ones no one else knew he remembered.
She brushed a strand of hair out of her face and sighed. Was she that strong? Could she do that? If she did, it would mean leaving, going back on the run, never belonging again, her family didn't want her, and the mutant community would shun her, or worse. Suddenly a face came unbidden to her and she stopped breathing. He would take her in, she was certain of it.
If she did what Logan asked, the only place she had a shot at being tolerated would be with him. But would she be that desperate? Yes. She decided, she would be, she would walk into the arms of the man who had tried to sacrifice her to his cause gladly if he would have her.
Rogue started walking again, having thought of a place to run to didn't ease her mind or take her any closer to her decision. She was alone here, her friends moved on. Bobby was the only one who'd stayed, but they'd grown apart and barely spoke anymore. Logan was it for her, and he only stopped by now and again when he needed something. And this time what he'd asked made her cold.
"You're the only one." Those words! She wanted to scream to drive them out of her head but it would do no good so she kept silent. And kept walking. Did he know? Did he know what he was asking? Was he so far gone in grief that he didn't care what he did to her? What just asking the question did to her? He was supposed to take care of me.
Rogue wanted to hate him for asking, but she couldn't, she knew loneliness, she knew that much, knew how it felt to be alone, no matter how many people stood beside you. She knew the wanting, the desire for someone, anyone to make a difference. Logan had found her, and killed her. Now he asked her to do the same. Was she that strong?
"You're the only one who can do it Marie, you're the only one who can kill me. I've tried so many times, so many ways. But you can, you can do it, you can kill me. You're the only one. Please." The anguish in his voice brought tears to her eyes and she looked away, then walked away. He let her go.
Hours later she couldn't control her chill and was forced back inside. She crept into her room and turned on the shower, she stood under the water, waiting for something to happen. She cried, silently at first, then with huge, wracking sobs that forced her to her knees. Her emotions weren't complicated anymore, her mind was clear, it was her heart that cried.
She didn't notice as the bathroom door opened, and she felt no shame as the shower door slid open and he stood looking at her. He turned off the shower and picked her up. He took her to bed and covered her up, then he lay down next to her. They didn't speak and she no longer cried. Somewhere in the night she turned to him. She took his face in her hands and kissed him.
She turned on her skin.
She felt his tears and his thanks, then she felt everything. When it was over she felt like there wasn't enough room inside her for the two people that now lived there. And then she felt nothing.