She glared at the dark, unforgiving waters below. This was it. This is what everything had come to. Even as she looked into the abyss that would swallow her whole being they wouldn't be silent. Them. The psyches. The ghosts of all those she had touched. The were breaking down the walls in her mind with battering rams. Usurping her mind, making decisions, threatening all those she loved and cared about. She couldn't do it. She wouldn't. The mental, emotion, and physical strain she could deal with. The headaches. The black outs and fatigue... Rogue could deal with that. But what she couldn't deal with was the prospect of potentially hurting or killing those she called family.
Everytime she lost herself to the ever-growing mass of personalities and abilities in her mind she was harder to bring back. Rogue wasn't strong enough to fight to the forefront of her mind, and this time she left the entire mansion in chaos. All of her team mates had suffered injuries varying in degrees. How many times would they go through this? When would she be unstoppable? The visions of malice and destruction in her mind were too much. Rogue couldn't bare the thought of hurting them anymore. A single tear sliding down her porcelain cheek she looked into the night sky. No stars. She was being swallowed by an endless expanse of black above and below her. It was fitting. Rogue flicked that single tear off her cheek and faced her final resting place.
The wind touseled her natural long, curly hair. She fought the shiver and stepped toward the cliff, her bare toes hanging off the edge. She sucked in one final breath when a noise startled her out of her rhythm. "Don't. You. Dare." Rogue smiled knowingly. She had felt his approached for a while now heard his thoughts before he spoke. Rogue no longer had the reins on her powers. She was a muddled mess of memories and abilities. She had to do this while she still had some control. She turned slowly to face the wild man, his whole body tense and trembling. She could tell he was torn between standing his ground and intercepting her. His grey eyes darted between her and the cliff. The solemn smile danced to her pale lips.
"Forgive me." Rogue held her arms out and tilted her head back as the wind embraced her.
Logan felt the wind escape his lungs as she fell. "MARIE!" Without a second's thought he had hurled his own body off of the cliff after her, praying they both cleared the rocks lurking beneath the dark blankets of water. He saw her slender figure fall further and further away and disappear into murky depths. 'How will I find her, I can't see anything.' Logan's harried thoughts were just enough to frustrate him as he hit the unforgiving waters as well, reaching for her form in vain.
Nothing. The churning waters were a good example of nothingness. Without Logan's primal sense of direction he wouldn't know up from down. He knew every second he wasted Rogue was drowning. Willfully. He swam, deeper and deeper into the dark depths, his hands struggling to grasp onto her. He had to find her in one shot, if he disappeared for air she would drown. The pressure in his chest was paralyzing. He couldn't force himself to be underwater any longer. His adamantium frame was so heavy and difficult to mobilize underwater. Then he saw her. Her porcelain skin was aglow in the sea of blackness. Tiny bubbles escaped parted blue lips. Frantically, Logan scrambled to her body and pulled her close as he began his ascent. Not for his own air but for hers.
They pierced the surface like a rocket, Logan sputtering and sucking in generous gasps of air. He struggled to the shore, carefully keeping the girl's head above the waves. He stumbled onto land, his heart beating in his ears. "R-Rogue." he said, his breath still not caught up. He pressed two fingers to her delicate neck but felt nothing. He scrambled to remove his glove and shoved his bare hand to her clammy flesh. "Rogue, come on... Breathe." Her silent form mocked him. He felt his hands ball into trembling fists as he held his hands to her face. "Take it! T-Take my healing factor. Live. BREATHE." Again her form remained still, a serene look cast over her features. Logan sat in awe. He had arrived too late. He couldn't stop her. He couldn't save her.
Animalistic sobs errupted from the man as he cradled her tiny figure. He leaned his forehead on her chin. There were no words for the void that had been ripped from his soul. Rogue was gone, the one above all else he had promised to protect and save. The one so much like him. "I should have known. I should have known you were struggling. I should've helped you. I should've saved you." His lament was met with a chilling breeze. Silence. Nothing. Logan felt his eyes sting as bitter tears streamed his cheeks. "Rogue..." Suddenly he felt an indescribable feeling, his mind was being probed of memories. He felt his life force rushing away in a rapid fashion. He rolled off of Rogue, his head spinning as her body took in a rabid breath. "Rogue?"
Her eyes fluttered open as she struggled to both breathe and expel the salt water from her lungs at the same time. Logan wordlessly tilted her at an incline and to her side so the liquid tumbled from inside her. Rogue felt watery, as though at a moment's notice she would disperse into spilled liquid. She was solid, though. Weak, but alive. Her plan had... Failed. And now, she had to face the Wolverine. The two sat in silence as Rogue's coughing subsided. The silence was louder than anything Rogue had ever heard. His pain was palpable, as was his disappointment and fear. Without a word Rogue stood with her back to her mentor. Words were too painful. Words would compromise what she knew was her only option.
"We're not done." His voice was cold but it trembled. Rogue placed a hand over her heart.
"Logan..."
"Don't 'Logan' me. Listen, kid... If you don't think you're in a world of trouble and that you're not gonna have to work yer ass off as a result of this, yer sorely mistaken." Logan began, his eyes ablaze. He whipped her around but couldn't stand the look in her eyes. Her green eyes were dewy and strangely defiant.
"I had no choice." her voice broke at that statement. "Ya saved me now... but-" Logan grabbed the girls arms with shaking hands and shook her lightly.
"No. NO. You're not gonna take that way out! X-Men don't give up!" he cried desperately. Rogue bit her lip.
"Logan..."
"Say it! Tell me you won't give up!" He felt a force hold his whole frame taut. He couldn't move a single muscle. He glared defiantly at Rogue as she held him up with a steady hand, tears streaming from her eyes.
"Ah refuse to hurt any of you!" she cried, her whole body shaking. Logan could feel his heart ache as he looked at Rogue. "These abilities... These psyches... They never LEAVE. They keep mountin' until one day Ah'll be too strong to defeat!" she shouted.
"Doesn't matter." he said after a moment. He felt the invisible hold leave him as he tumbled to the ground.
"Luckily Ah ain't foolish enough to stick around."
"You don't get to make that decision, darlin'. Not like this." said Logan as he climbed to his feet. He approached Rogue. Her powers seemed to be ebbing off, this episode of lost control was hopefully ending. "You can't decide fer us, I certainly won't let you. We've chosen to help you and to fight fer you. Now you gotta fight too. You don't get to give up." He tentatively embraced the girl as she held her face in her hands.
"Ah'm scared, Logan. It get's so hard to come back.." she sobbed into him. Logan squeezed her shoulder reassuringly.
"If there's anyone I could think of who's strong enough to do this, it's you. You've saved my life, you saved all of us- You saved the world Rogue. And with our help you'll save yourself."
Rogue looked up from Logan's broad chest to see single glittered tear in the corner of his eye. It gave her hope. It gave her comfort. "Let's go home, Logan." he snorted to that. "Bout damn time."