It was so strange, to have everything go on as usual around him. It was summer, so half the schools usual population had gone home. Marie had art classes she still taught for the kids who stayed, though, and Storm had insisted Logan make himself useful with Danger Room sessions, so he got few chances to talk to her. Well, talk to her alone anyways.

He started having the nightmares again after just two nights spent without her comforting presence beside him on the bed. He'd never realized just how much he needed his Marie.

He knew that, in all reality, he did deserve this. He'd screwed up and her strange behavior had to have been an act, at least at first. Everyone knew what payback was, and apparently that went double when your girlfriend had you in her head.

Because they were mutants, so 'simple' and 'normal' were never meant to be a part of their vocabularies.

But that was just it. She had him in her head. So, what did that mean? How much of it had been an act? Would he just have to get used to this new Marie? He could do that, he was sure of it. He still loved her, no doubts about that.

Maybe he just needed to make sure she knew that.

Maybe he needed to find a way to make sure she was still in love with him, while he was at it.

An idea wormed its way into his head. He'd been thinking for a while that he felt like Marie was this stranger. So, maybe it was time to have her reintroduce herself.

Marie was lying on the grass, legs bent and propped up in front of her, brown eyes staring up at the cloudy sky.

"Hey Logan." She called out before he was even in her line of sight, because she'd picked up his scent, strange as that was.

"Hey yourself." He replied with what she'd been known to say from time to time. "How'd you know it was me?"

"'Cause Ah could smell yah, and isn't that just the weirdest sentence ever."

"Coming from you, kind of. You got my senses now?"

"Apparently."

"What'er you doing out here? It's going to rain."

"Don't know, just felt like sitting outside for a while. Got a problem with that?"

He stared down at her, quarking an eyebrow in that famous expression of his.

"Yeah, I do, only because of the 'it's about to rain' part."

"Ah kind of like the rain, actually." She replied airily.

"Marie."

"Oh, fine." She stood up and faced him, hands up fixing her ponytail. "Any particular reason why you're out here?"

"I was looking for you."

"Well, you found me. What's on yah mind, Sugah?" They began walking back towards the mansion.

He hesitated, unsure of how to go on exactly, then decided to just say it and get it over with.

"M'sorryImessedupM'ree…" He mumbled and the words came out a jumbled mess.

Now it was her turn to quark an eyebrow, and was it just him or did she look a bit smug now?

"What was that? Ah don't think Ah heard yah right."

He let out a low growl, but she didn't seem fazed by it.

"I said I'm sorry. I've been a real jerk and you deserve better."

They were just outside the mansion now. It wasn't raining just yet so she stopped to look at him.

"Yes, yah've been a jerk. Guess you could call it even with the way Ah've been acting. Actually, that was kind of the point."

"Yeah. I kinda got that. Also get the feeling it hasn't been just an act here lately."

She shrugged.

"Guess Ah got a little carried away. That happens when yah're as messed up in the head as Ah am."

"You're not messed up, Marie. This is my fault, all of it. I just want my Marie back."

"Ah don't think it'll be that simple."

"Well then, lets just start over."

"What do yah mean, start over?"

"I mean lets start from the beginning. Just friends. Work our way up again and maybe get things right this time around. You try to get back to normal, whatever that means, and give me a chance to win you the way I should've to begin with."

"That's not a bad idea actually. Alright. Just friends, then." She started heading into the mansion, but turned to look back at him just before she reached the door. She fixed him with a glare that might have sent anyone else running scared. "Oh. And if you ever try to forbid me to do anything again…" She didn't finish the sentence off, just turned and headed back into the mansion.

He wasn't sure he wanted to know just what she'd do.

"So, wait, you guys are seriously just friends? Like, you could flirt with any guy and he can't say a word?"

Rogue rolled her eyes at Jubilee's over enthusiasm.

"Well, he could, but he kind of gave up the right to." She was sitting cross legged on the second bed in Jubilee's room, her bed for the time being, half-heartedly working on lesson plans for her art classes.

"Ugh, nothing's on." Jubilee had spent the last hour flipping through channels on the small t.v. she'd bought herself. Another moment passed before she finally settled on some random reality show. Rogue glanced up at the screen, which was now bleeping out every other word said, and a soft growl of annoyance escaped her lips.

She surprised herself with the sound, and Jubilee laughed.

"That would have been a bit scary if not for the look on your face."

Rogue threw a pillow at her, and Jubilee stuck her tongue out in an entirely childish manner before she began flipping through channels again.

Rogue glanced up at the door some few seconds before some one knocked on it.

"Hey Jubes, pucker up." She tossed the other girl a tube of lip gloss that had been sitting on the table next to her. Jubilee just managed to catch it and gave her a strange look before heading for the door.

Remy Labeau stood just outside their room now, giving Jubilee his most flirtatious smile.

Jubilee turned back to Rogue.

"How did you know it'd be him?"

"Who else would visit your room, Jubes?"

"Oh. Point taken."

Remy cleared his throat.

"Ah was jus' thinkin you an' Ah could go for a little walk, chere."

Rogue reached over and grabbed the remote off of Jubilee's bed.

"Yah'll have fun now."

Jubilee squealed before disappearing out the door with her boyfriend. Rogue winced a little at the sound before flipping through the channels herself, absent mindedly settling on a hockey game before going back to her lesson plans.

"She what?" Rogue flew out of her chair, her hands clenching themselves into fists.

"She's coming here for a few days."

"Why would she wanna do that?"

"Oh, I don't know." Storm replied with a mild sarcasm. "Maybe because you're her daughter and she hasn't seen you in how long?"

"Ten years, 'cause they didn't want meh around!" And her southern accent was stronger again. She started pacing.

"She was in tears by the time she hung up. She made it sound as though your father wasn't in the picture."

"Ah don't… wait. She didn't mention Daddy?"

"She did, only to tell me she'd finally divorced him."

This gave Rogue pause, but only breifly.

"Yah shoulda said no! Ah'm not even the same girl that left, why does she wanna come see me now anyways."

"I don't know, Rogue. All I know is that she said she was coming down here whether I said yes or not. I figured I might as well give her some place to stay. It's called being diplomatic."

Rogue snorted and headed for the door, ignoring Ororo's calls for her to come back. She was seeing red. She needed to…she didn't even know. She felt like hitting something.

A quiet little voice in her head whispered that this was the Logan in her talking again, and that was easily confirmed by the strange itch she got in her knuckles, the same one she got every time she was this angry now. She stalked through the halls, nearly running into the actual Logan.

"Hey, whoa, Marie, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." She went on walking. He followed after her.

"Just hold up a minute, where're you going?"

"Danger Room." She ground out between gritted teeth, and he stopped following after a moment, though she could feel his worried eyes on her back as she went.

"She'll be here in like ten minutes. What are you doing?"

"Gettin dressed!"

"Uhm, Roguey, you do realize this is your MOM your about to see, right?"

Rogue had wanted to do a Logan-style disappearing act the night before, but Logan himself had stopped her at the door, saying he wouldn't even be a good friend if he let her run like that. So, she'd decided that just because she had to see her mother didn't mean she had to behave.

She was wearing a low cut black tank top, black skinny jeans, and a pair of lace up leather biker boots. More than enough to scare her mother speechless, she hoped.

"Storm's going to kill you if you go down looking like that!"

"Naw, that's ok, we're not sure that's possible anymore, 'member? Logan's healin, wonderful thing to have sometimes." She walked out of their room and Jubilee followed close behind her.

"Oh-oh, this is not going to be good." She mumbled.

"Yah're rahght, Jubes, it isn't."

Logan was there when she got to Storms office, and he hovered close by her as her mother began talking. She wondered whether he was there to support her, or try to keep her from losing it in front of her mother. Either way, she was kind of glad he was.

"So, uhm, do you lahke it here?"

"Ah've stayed here all this time, don't know why Ah would've if Ah didn't lahke it."

"It was just a question; you don't have to be so rude."

"You don't have to ask dumb-ass questions."

Storm glanced at her and Logan scowled, murmuring to her.

"You're already pushing it, darlin…"

"It's alrahght." Her mother said. "Ah think Ah shoulda known this was a bad idea. We left her with nowhere to go. Ah shouldn't've expected her to grow into a respectable young lady without her parents."

"She is a nice young woman." Storm replied, looking at Rogue as she spoke. "She's just gotten very good at acting like she's not."

"Who says Ah'm actin?"

"Marie, Ah…"

"Why did yah come? Because yah were suddenly worried about what happened to meh? Or because yah just felt guilty?"

"Of course Ah felt quilty, but Ah've been worried the whole tahme."

"Bull." Rogue wouldn't even let her mother finish a thought. A tear rolled down the woman's cheek. Rogue froze as guilt suddenly started to worm its way in between her anger.

"It's getting later, maybe we shouldn't do this now." Storm cut in. "I have a room for you to stay in, Mrs. D'Ancanto, just come with me."

She led Rogue's mother out of the room. Rogue herself got up and started heading for her and Jubilee's room.

"Hey." Logan followed her. "Where are you…"

Marie grabbed her leather jacket, the one Logan had bought her, and took her pack of cigarettes out of the drawer she'd hidden them in, slipping them into a pocket before Logan could see.

"I'm going…out."

"Out?"

"Yep."

"To do what?"

"I don't know, something un-ladylike. 'Cause I can."

"Oh. Not impulsive at all. Ain't that comforting."

"See yah, Logan." She slipped out the door.

Smoky bar. Whiskey, lots of whiskey, but she wasn't getting drunk. A little tipsy maybe. Guys all around her, eyeing her. She picked one and sauntered up to him, hips swaying. She took his hands, placed them on her hips as she moved them to the beat of the music playing, grinding against him.

He followed her back to the bar. She sat down and got another whiskey, then took out her cigarettes and lit one for the third time that evening. He watched her. She was facing him and pulled him closer so he was standing between her legs. She pulled him in for a kiss and he seemed surprised, but kissed back.

"Can we go to your place?" She murmured and he nodded. They left and she hopped back on the motorcycle she had taken and followed him to his apartment. She took control, then, and oh, did it feel good.

It was 2 a.m. when she walked back into the mansion. She was hoping that everyone would be sleeping; that Logan would still be sleeping.

Of course, she was never that lucky. Logan was in the t.v. room, sitting on the couch, almost as if he'd been waiting for her.

"Jesus, I was beginning to think you'd never get back."

She walked in and sat down on the other end of the couch from him.

"What are yah, my daddy now?" Her tone wasn't half as harsh as her words.

"Sorry." Was his curt reply. They sat in silence for a while.

"I'm going to try and get some sleep." She stood and he didn't even look at her as he responded.

"Where were you?" His tone was demanding now.

"Wouldn't you like to know."

"You smell like…"

"G'night, Logan."

"You shouldn't be cheapening yourself like that."

She was in the door way now, but froze.

"What?"

"Cheap sex. Do you even know his name?"

She thought about lying, but knew it was pointless with him.

"Never thought to ask. Why do you care? You do it all the time. Or, used to anyways?"

"You deserve better, though. When we agreed to start over I didn't think that meant sleeping with other people too."

She paused, thought on that for a moment, then quietly replied.

"Now we really are even." And with that she left him alone.

Oh yeah, 'Ro, Logan thought as the kids began filing into the Danger Room, this was a brialliant idea.

Rogue had apparently woken up with something close to hangover and had been in a horrible mood all day. Horrible meaning she was about as ready to bite everyone's head off as he usually was. So, 'Ro had suggested that she go down and taken some of her anger out on the sentinels in the Danger Room, because at least they couldn't get hurt.

So here they were, stuck in a room with a bunch of chattering kids who wouldn't get focused no matter how many times either he or Rogue growled at them to shut up and start paying attention. The tension between the two alone was thick enough to cut with a knife; the kids should've been running scared.

"She really needs to find somebody else for this job." He grumbled.

"Preferably somebody with a little more patience. Not you. Or me. Or you and me." She replied.

"Guess we should just go ahead and get started."

She snatched the half-smoked cigar that he'd been puffing on, and he half expected her to put it out some how, but she didn't, bringing it to her own lips instead. He glared at her for half a minute before barking out an order for the simulation to start itself.

They spent half an hour like that. Rogue and Logan easily dodging, because they knew real life was twice as tough as any simulation, and trying to keep their distance from eachother.

That is until Rogue got hit with a piece of scrap metal, courtesy of one of the kids, and decided that she was just going to get it over with for them.

"Marie, don't!" He growled, but she ignored him.

He forgot sometimes that his weren't the only powers she had to use. She sprinted forward and used Magneto's powers and the piece of scrap metal to lift herself up, towards the sentinel. Then she used Iceman's powers (he hadn't even known she'd absorbed Bobby) to freeze the top half of the sentinel, including the head, making it brittle. Then, without any further warning, she vaulted forward and somehow managed to latch onto it's head (it looked suspiciously like she had grown some kind of claws…) and with a roar much like his own, though much higher pitched of course, she some how managed to tear the things head off. The kids all backed away as it came slamming to the ground.

She came out from behind it, rolling her shoulders, wounds on her knuckles healing a little slower than his would have, and he was hit with a strange sense of déjà vu, except the roles were reversed.

The simulation ended itself.

"Go on, now." She told the kids, sounding calm and collected as ever. They stared at her wide eyed.

"She said get out!" He growled, and they started all at once before beating a hasty retreat. He turned and stalked towards her. "What was that, huh? What was that?" And he was still growling and she didn't look scared, not one bit.

"Uhm, Ah think it was a Danger Room session."

"What happens when you try something like that in real life? You could get yourself killed!"

"But this wasn't real life, and Ah didn't, so chill the hell out."

"Stop that!"

"Stop what, Logan?"

"Swearing! And smoking and acting like some kind of tough girl!"

"Thought yah said yah didn't care, thought that was the point of startin over!"

They were circling around each other now, fists clenched. It was turning into a screaming match.

"I didn't know starting over was giving you permission!"

"Permission for what? Ah'm twenty six, I don't need anyones permission for anythin!"

"Payback, is that what this still is? I'm sorry I messed things up, but God Marie!"

"Sure, because it could really be that simple! Are you just mad about last night? I'm not going to say sorry, unlike you I didn't actually cheat!"

That was it, the final straw. They were both seeing red. He came at her like she was an opponent in a cage match and she responded in kind. They danced across the floor of the Danger Room, ducking and dodging eachother easily. He healed faster than she did, so he had an advantage, but she was quicker and more lithe.

He was shocked when she started using her borrowed powers against him. First Bobby's to send him slidng across the floor and flying into her leg, then Magneto's to send him flying back into a wall.

Then his own as she flew towards him with three sharp bone-like claws protruding from her hands. He blocked her and tried to back her up, pin her against a wall.

She managed to get through and sent her claws sliding across his cheek.

He stopped cold and brought a hand up in surprised. The deep scratches were already healing, of course, but it seemed to shock her back into reality too. Her claws slid back in and he could see the wounds knitting themselves back together as her hand flew to her mouth.

"Oh Gawd…Logan, Ah…What are we doing?" She backed up slowly until her back hit a wall; she slid down it and tore her eyes from him to stare at the floor, hugging her knees to her chest.

There was a long, tense pause.

"I give up." He finally spoke. "Been waiting for a while now, hoping things could go back to normal. Know what? I don't even think I really want them to."

"Neither do Ah." She replied quietly.

He knelt down in front of her.

"I'll have eyes only from you from now on."

"And Ah you. Promise?"

"Only if you do."

She nodded and took his offered hands, standing with him.

"What about, you know, all the other stuff. Ah seem to recall you callin me a 'tough girl'."

He chuckled.

"I was upset about last night. Tough girl. It's pretty sexy, actually."

She rolled her eyes and smiled before leaning into kiss him.

"Wait, what time is it?"

"Don't know…why?"

"Ah was supposed to meet with Mama again." And the fire was right back in her eyes.

"You know, darlin… I think it's high time for a little road trip."

She stared at him for a moment, then smirked.

"Their gone Mrs. D'Ancanto." A very flustered Ororo Munroe blurted out to Marie's mother.

"Their?"

"I'm sorry, she and her… oh, I don't know what he is! Friend, fiance. For all I know their sleeping together again!"

"Excuse meh!"

"I expect this from him, not her. She's usually much more stable. But not here lately. She's been just as bad as him. I tried to warn her, but no one listens to me! And I need them, because we're short on teachers, classes start again in just two weeks!" Ororo seemed to be at the end of her rope.

Marie's mother stared at her, eyes wide as she continued to rant.

Behind her, sitting on her large desk, was a note written in Marie's neat script.

Needed some time alone.
Will be back…eventually I'm sure.
M & L

Whew, this one is super long. I tried not to make it seem rushed. Hope you liked it.

Thanks for all the reviews and favorites. :)