Chapter 1: Break Up

Logan tensed as he picked up a sound echoing through the mansion as he left the Danger Room. Kind of a crumbly sound, like it was broken, or just halting. Crying.

He picked up his pace through the halls, moving out to where the sound was coming from more strongly. It was a muffled noise, and he began to recognize the soft shuddery gasps coming from the common room just ahead. He picked up another sound, a soft, haunting melancholic tune coming from the same place. Logan had a pretty sure idea on the source of the noise, and lost the uneasy look and straightened up, and strode towards the door. Those damn kids left the tv on again. Geez.

But he placed a hand on the doorknob, and picked up a familiar scent. He sniffed the air again, to be certain; it was still that comforting smell, of that person who lingered in his thoughts. Finally, Logan pushed the door open, and saw Rogue curled up on the couch, clinging to a pillow, back to him. The music flowed softly from a radio in the corner, its sad lyrics hitting Logan with a feeling of something that he did not want to think about. Shaking his head, he started forward, and sat on the other end of the couch. The room was dark except for the big windows on the other side of the room letting in a sliver of moonlight. It was eerie, like grief. It reminded him of those empty memories after Jean had died. He groaned inwardly. This was not something that he needed to be thinking about. He needed to move on, and dwelling on her wasn't doing any good.

Turning back to Rogue, Logan saw her gaze resting on him. The moon reflected the glistening cheeks, and he turned to face the cold hearth. He shifted, and then turned to face her again after some time. She was looking out the window now, staring at the moon.

"Nice moon."

She seemed startled at this sudden move for conversation, but her eyes didn't waver from their original target.

" I guess..."

There was another long pause, and Logan started up again.

"You gonna tell me?"

"What's there to tell?"

"You know what. So spill. I can tell something's up."

"Why should I, Logan? What the hell do you care? Besides…"

She looked him over, staring at his bleeding wounds, and tired face.

" You look like you have enough problems."

"You're damn right I do, and I don't need to be wasting my time on people who don't give a crap. Now, what happened? Don't feed me that 'nothing' shit, I don't buy it for a second."

Another pause followed, and the bleeding ceased, and the wounds began to fade. The only hints of what had happened were the tears and slashes on his clothes. Logan watched Rogue, then after no response, shifted as if to get up. She glanced back over at him.

"Wait."

He paused, and looked back over to her, his head cocked slightly at an angle.

"It's…. Bobby. He and I…well, we weren't exactly on the same page…I guess is one way of putting it. We broke up."

Logan sat there keenly observing Rogue's movements, and tried to find out how affected she was by all this. It was deep, he could tell. But there was something else she wasn't telling him. He waited for her to go on.

"What happened, then? I know it wasn't just that whole 'we needed our space' junk. I doubt that this was mutual, too."

"Well, you're right on that point, Logan. It wasn't mutual. But the whole space thing, …it's sorta there. We… he… didn't need me anymore Logan."

Rogue turned slowly to face Logan, and he could see that silent tears crept down her face again.

"He didn't love me Logan."

Logan's face began to harden in the darkness, and he felt his hands clench. This bub is messing with the wrong girl…

"I…walked in on him and …someone else. He looked at me then, and it was weird. Like that happy look he used to get in his eyes when he saw me…that sparkle of life that made me realize how much he loves me…gone. It was as if something had shut down."

She paused, wiping her eyes, and took a deep breath. She looked back up to where Logan had sat, to face nothing.

"Logan…" she whispered. Then turning again, she looked out the window at the waning moon, and felt the waves of melancholy hit her hard, and began to cry again.

When he realized how torn up Rogue was over Bobby, he got mad. No one should have to go through that broken feeling of getting replaced, of losing that thing you thought was forever. She didn't deserve this.

As he marched down the hallway to that certain door, another thing hit him. Bobby was one of the reasons Rogue had even gotten the cure. He had been the one to suggest it, the one to instill the thought in her mind, she had told him. And still, he threw her away. This punk was running on his last nerve. And this was not the best time to be doing it either.

Finally, he came up on the door he'd been hunting. He sensed people inside, and growled in anger as he heard light laughter coming from inside. This was really pissing him off. Rogue was off depressed over this loser, and here he was, laughing around. Insensitive bastard.

He resisted breaking the door down, and knocked loudly. The laughing inside stopped, and he heard Bobby say, "Rogue, it's over. Go away. You need to just get over it. I know I have. Find someone else."

Last straw. Logan knocked once more, and heard a groaning, then the shuffle of feet. The door opened, and Bobby poked his head out.

"What the..."

Logan threw his fist full into his face, and watched him fall heavily on the ground. He scanned the room, and saw another student wrapped up in a sheet in the bed. He grunted, and threw a kick at the fallen boy's side. Bobby groaned, and lied motionless. The girl in the bed gasped, and stared at Bobby with her jaw slack.

Logan turned to face her.

" He'll live. Get your damn clothes on and scram."

Turning back again to see the body on the floor, he spat just right of his head, and left.

That bastard messed with the wrong people on the wrong night.

There would be results of the knockout, but he couldn't care less. All he could think about was Jean.

He didn't stop his thought of her this time, and every moment brought more pain. He felt his claws rip out, and he swiped hard at the wall, and swung again and again. Each sing was more powerful than the last, and he couldn't erase the thought of her no matter how much he destroyed. He felt one of this claws catch skin, and the flooding pain of the wound singing in his head. For a moment, he felt Jean disappear, but come back again moments later.

He attacked himself there in the hallway, and felt with each blow the memories of her dimmed, like the world around him was dimming. But no matter how many times he scarred himself, no matter how much blood he lost, he could never go far enough to put her out of his thoughts.

He stopped, feeling the tears on his face. He looked around him as if in a stupor, seeing the total damage to everything, and the amount of blood on the floor. He stood there panting and dripping blood, and felt himself come back from the rage and slip into numbing grief. He closed his eyes again, and saw her face resting peacefully in his mind, smiling.

Suddenly, his eyes snapped open, and he barreled down the hallway in the direction of the Danger Room again quickly before he could be found with his damage.