It took a couple of hours before she regained consciousness, which was a harrowing ordeal for both of them.

She woke up swinging and fighting, with her skin fully activated. Logan had cleaned the mess from between her legs and put her robe on her as she slept, so he grabbed her shoulders firmly and repeated her name, "Marie...Marie."

When she calmed, she involuntarily jerked away from his touch. She may have been unconscious during her entire ordeal, but she could feel something was off inside of her. She felt darker, sadder and completely violated.

She put her hand on her chest and breathed out, "Oh god...Logan. I had the most awful dream that I was attacked by Victor..."

Her voice trailed off as he looked down, angry tears welling in his eyes. For a brief second, he thought about not telling her. Pretend it never happened to her...but he couldn't do that. If she didn't know what happened to her, she'd never be able to recover. She'd only be haunted by a nightmare that was all too real.

She trembled and breathed out, "Logan?"

It took more courage than he thought he had to finally look back into her eyes, "It was real, Marie...he was here. He violated you."

She opened her mouth to say something, but only screams poured forth. He tried to hold her, "No! Don't! Don't touch me!"

She must have really meant it, because he found himself flying across the room and crashing into a wall. He cringed as the pain caused by his forceful meeting with the wall faded. She looked down at her hands with a fearful, startled expression etched across her face. She'd retained Victor's strength and since she was not marked or bleeding, he figured she had taken on his regenerative capabilities as well. For all accounts, her encounter with Victor should have left her battered, but she had made it through without a mark...a physical one, at least.

Marie shakily looked up at him, "I...I don't know what to do...he...he hurt me."

Logan approached cautiously, "Marie...I know, but I won't hurt you. I love you. I'll take care of you."

She allowed him to pull her into a protective embrace as she sobbed. She cried for hours and refused to let Logan leave her side for more than a minute at a time. He had to make her drink something and begged her to eat, but she refused.

When she finally fell asleep, Logan uncurled her from his arms and carefully laid a cover over her before stealthy slipping from the room.

He crept out and closed the door, walking out the front door and promptly dropping to his knees. He put his face in his hands and wept loudly and painfully as the snow lightly began to fall around him.

His tears soon turned to rage as he unsheathed his claws and pounded them into the gravelly ground until he was too tired to fight his imaginary foe anymore.

Victor was as good as dead.


She was going to need help...more help than he knew how to give. He'd heard of rape victims being in need of therapy of some sort and he wanted to make sure she had all the help she needed, but the snow storm was bearing down on them and driving would be impossible.

She refused to be moved for the first two days. She'd jump when he initially touched her, but then she'd slowly relax.

Her former nightmares were child's play compared to the fresh, gruesome memories she had absorbed from Victor and what he had done to her. Even if Logan was close by, she still woke up screaming bloody Mary.

It broke his heart.

It came to the point where Logan stopped sleeping, he just sat in the chair, watching as she tossed and turned in bed...waking up every hour on the hour screaming and tearing at the sheets. He'd do his best to comfort her and put her back to sleep for another hour, until the screaming started again.

He couldn't help her alone.

He put in an emergency call on the X Men communicator from the truck.

Luckily, Storm answered, "Logan! Hey...what's going on?"

He ran a hand through his hair and looked through the door to the bed where Marie laid, staring blankly at the wall, "Storm...uh...we got a problem."

He lowered his voice and turned away from the sad sight as Storm spoke, "What is it? Is it Rogue?"

"Yea, Ro...she's...she's been attacked."

He heard Storm take a deep breath, "Oh god. What happened? Is she alright?"

"Physically...yea...but mentally..." Logan looked down and gritted his teeth, "She was raped, Ro. It was Victor...my half brother."

"Oh no...oh no. Logan, you have to get her back here."

He rubbed the back of his head, "Yea, that's why I called you. The storm's settled in pretty deep here...I need you to bring the plane up here. You can clear a path through the storm to get us out."

"Absolutely...Just give me the coordinates and I'll be there in a few hours."

Logan turned back to the bedroom where Marie had already sat up. She looked at Logan, "Will it ever feel right again?"

"Will what feel right again?"

She looked up at him with tears in her eyes, "Inside..."

He gingerly reached for her hand. He wasn't sure if she would let him take it, but she slowly allowed him to grasp her hand in his, "I wish I knew, kid. But I'm gonna make sure you get the help you need. Storm's on her way up. We're gonna go back to the mansion and I'm going to take care of you."

"The mansion? No! Everyone will know! They'll think it was my fault. They'll think I'm a whore!"

Logan looked into her eyes and slowly, but firmly grasped her shoulders, "Marie, look at me...look at me! You are not a whore. What happened to you was not your fault...you didn't deserve it. I know it doesn't feel like it, but you are strong enough to deal with this. You will make it through this. I will help you...everyone will."

Marie had shed so many tears in the past 48 hours, Logan was amazed she had managed to stay hydrated.

He kissed her head and held her as they watched the snow fall outside. She whispered, "Am I tainted now to you? Will you still want me?"

He pulled back and looked down into her eyes, "You shouldn't even have to ask me that, kid. You're not tainted...I still love you more than anything in my entire life."

She let out a sigh of relief and relaxed slightly against him as he pulled her head back to his chest. He stared out the window with a clenched jaw as he thought of what he would do to Victor when he found him. He wasn't going to leave her anytime soon...no way. But she deserved to be avenged.

It would come soon enough. Until then, Logan would concentrate on her and helping her recover.

As the snow suddenly came to a stop and the skies cleared, Logan realized that Storm had arrived. He looked down at Marie, "Time to go back, kid."


Storm and Jubilee had done a great job in helping Logan with Marie. They found a great mutant therapist who specialized in rape and abuse counseling. She warned them that Marie would find it difficult to re-adapt to regular life after her attack.

Logan always took her to her appointments and waited in the waiting room for her. One afternoon, as Marie walked out of the back room, the counselor asked Logan back to her office as Marie scheduled her next appointment.

He followed her back to her office and stood in the doorway. She smiled, "Wouldn't you like to have a seat?"

He glanced back toward the waiting room, trying to keep an eye on Marie, "Nah, I think I'll stand."

The woman, who Marie called "Dr. Sarah", smiled warmly, "You're very protective of her, aren't you?"

He spared her a glance as he watched Marie through the doorway that led to the waiting room, "Don't need a PhD to figure that out...or do you?"

Surprisingly, Dr. Sarah dismissed the slight insult with a soft, warm laugh. She looked down, then back up at him, "Do you think of yourself as her hero? Her knight in shining armor?"

Logan gave her a sarcastic snort, "I'm no one's hero. Marie's just...special to me. It's my responsibility to protect her."

"I think she realizes that, Logan. She's starting to let go of the pain of her attack...but she feels like it's her fault that you feel you failed as her protector. You need to stop treating her like a damsel in distress so she can realize how strong she is on her own."

Logan glanced back at Marie, then took another step into the office, "I know she's strong...but I love her. I can't help but want to protect her."

Dr. Sarah smiled, "I can tell you love her and it's fine to protect her, but it's become an obsessive mission for you. She told me what happened at Alkali Lake and how you blamed yourself for what happened to her there...and her dreams. It was the reason it took you this long to finally admit you loved her." Logan nodded mutely, "She's afraid that you'll pull away from her now that she's been hurt again, Logan."

He actually took the therapist's words into account. He started to turn away and leave, but she stopped him, "Logan...one more thing. She may not be ready to be intimate again for a while...she's the only one who'll know when she's ready again, but after her ordeal, she's going to be afraid of you in that way. I know she hasn't kissed you since then, so just ease her back into intimacy, alright? Give her time and be patient."

Logan nodded, "Thanks doc."

He headed out to the waiting room, where Marie sat flipping through a magazine. She gave him a half smile, which was the closest she had come to smiling since she the cabin, "She didn't grill you did she?"

"Nah kid...not at all."

He held out his hand for her, which she slowly took before he led her from the office.


Reviews please!