The Darkholme Legacy Chapter 21, a x-men: the movie fanfic

Author's Notes: Thoughts are signified by 'these'. Emphasis and the voices in Rogue's head are in italics. Telepathic conversation is underlined.

Sorry for the delay. Last Saturday was spent worrying about one of my brothers (you can visit my DA account and read my journal to find out why, the link is in my profile) and Sunday I had the migraine from Hades. And work, of course, slows what I can get done on weekdays. It also didn't help that the last chapter got a lot less reviews, thereby sapping me of some of my incentive, but oh well, I still love this story and as long as at least a few of you feel the same, I'll keep going. So thank you very, very much to those who faithfully continue to review, you're more appreciated than you know.

A couple people complained about the lack of action in the last chapter. It (and this one) was more of a transitional chapter than anything, the next big "action" part of the story will be when they're at the Alkali compound. Action is not really my forte; my stories tend to be more character driven, so I'm sorry for those of you who prefer more action-oriented stories. Anyway, enjoy.

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The longer Rogue stared out of the front window at the woman who had adopted her, the deeper her stomach sank. Part of her refused to believe what she was seeing, but she had already had the suspicion that Mystique had something to do with it when Emma had passed the message on from Piotr that Magneto was out. Because who else had the brains to help him escape from prison, and a specialized, secret facility at that? Certainly not Sabretooth, and none of the Brotherhood members she had been living with had ever shown a hint of even thinking about trying to do something about Magneto's confinement.

She was dimly aware of the jet being set gently down on the ground and the other people in the Blackbird unbuckling themselves and getting up from their seats. Logan was the first to head to the back where the ramp was being lowered, the two X-Men and Nightcrawler quickly following. John and Bobby stayed close to the adults. But Rogue couldn't move. How was she going to get through what was coming, knowing she would have nothing to go back to? Her mother was back with the man who had killed her, his children and followers would surely choose to rejoin him, and the place Rogue had been living for the past year and a half could no longer be her home. She reached out almost unwillingly to the woman whose gaze had remained locked on hers.

Why? Rogue hoped her astral voice didn't sound as destroyed as she felt.

I'm so sorry, Marie, Mystique thought back. I…

No! Rogue interrupted firmly. You don't get to call me that anymore.

I should have told you what I was going to do, Mystique continued. But I just… couldn't. I've made him promise not to go after you, Ma-Rogue.

Rogue's eyes narrowed, and she refused to give in to the overwhelming urge to cry. And you believe him? After what he did to me, after what he did to us so he would get away with doing that to me?

Before Mystique could respond, Rogue was grabbed from behind and spun to be pulled against a familiar muscled chest. Biting back a sob and shutting down the connection with Mystique, Rogue ardently returned Logan's embrace.

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Logan held Marie tightly to him, inhaling her scent deeply on every indrawn breath to calm himself. A second after he had grabbed her, Marie had hugged him back, wrapping her slender arms around his waist and burying her face into the front of his tank. He had only gotten as far as the back of the jet before seeing the signs of damage there (the scorch marks hadn't been affected by Magneto's closing of the punctured structure) had twisted his stomach so hard he thought he'd be physically sick. He was having a hard time fighting off the residual feelings of fear at almost having lost her… again. The presence of two of the people who had almost succeeded in taking her from him before wasn't helping.

One hand locked in Marie's hair while the other searched what Logan could reach of her body for injury, but she seemed none the worse for the wear considering she had been sucked out of a crashing jet. He forced himself to start to relax. She was still here, still alive.

He got a whiff of sulfur when he dipped his head to bury his nose in her hair, probably from the trick of Nightcrawler's mutation that had allowed the blue man to save Marie. He nuzzled his face deeper into her hair then continued to snuggle against her as he moved from one side of her head, over the top and down the other side, replacing Nightcrawler's scent with his own. Nothing brought out his possessive side quite like a Marie-near-death experience. A needy whimper rose from the woman in his arms, and Logan let a deep, comforting growl sound from his chest in response.

Marie lifted her head to meet his gaze steadily with hers. "Logan, I have to tell you something…"

"I'm so glad you're okay," he broke in, his voice trembling. Maybe he wasn't as pulled together as he had thought he was. "If something had happened to you…"

"Logan," she said his name comfortingly. "Even if Kurt hadn't teleported to get me, I would have been okay. I…"

"Okay?" he asked incredulously, his arms tightening slightly around her. "Even if I had jumped out of the jet after you, which I was going to do until the blue guy went after you, who knows if I would have been able to get to you in time to do any good."

"I still have your healing," Marie responded gently. "But Logan, there's something else I need to…"

Marie was interrupted this time by Jean walking in and announcing, "Logan, I need you to come with Storm and I to talk to Magneto. And Rogue, if it's not too much trouble, you can help Bobby and John set up a campsite. We're going to be stuck here until I can fix the jet."

Logan wanted to growl at the redhead for interrupting he and Marie, but Marie was already stepping away from him. And she was right to do so. Once again, this wasn't the time or place for them to have a heart-to-heart. When Logan told her all he needed to and she filled him in on her life without him the past two years, he wanted them to be somewhere they wouldn't be interrupted. Where no one would overhear them or butt in on what should be private. Where reconnecting could lead to the possibility of more.

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Bobby came back into the jet shortly after Jean, a mad John following behind. Evidently he didn't feel set-up duties should be his responsibility. John slammed a cabinet in the wall open, tugging out what appeared to be a nylon duffle bag. Bobby winced at his friend's action but opened another compartment to pull another one out without comment.

"Don't bother yet, my young friend," a new voice ordered. "The jet must be moved before we set up any sort of camp. We're too close to Charles' school and in view of a road here."

Rogue's hands curled into fists, and she made to take a step toward Magneto. The only thing that stopped her was Logan beating her to the punch. He strode angrily right up to the metal manipulator, his claws shooting out with a speed Pietro would have been proud of.

"Who the hell do you think you are, bub?" Logan growled, pointing his claws into Magneto's face. "Tell me why I shouldn't gut you where you stand."

"You couldn't," Magneto retorted, lifting a hand and causing Logan to lower his before releasing him. "But I'm not here to fight any of you. The problem you are all about to face is bigger than you could possibly realize and you will need my help to stop it. And I did just save your miserable, ungrateful lives."

Logan growled threateningly, but Jean was the one who verbally responded.

"So we have your word that there is a truce between us until this is over?"

Magneto looked disdainful at the question, but inclined his head in answer.

"And how do you propose we move the jet?" Jean asked. "I haven't been able to do a diagnostic yet, but I assure you it's going to take a lot more than a few minutes to get it back in flying condition."

"Let me worry about that," Magneto answered. "First a location to move it to needs to be scouted. May I suggest we get to it before the military comes back to check on you?"

With that, Magneto swept back out of the jet, and Rogue found it much easier to breathe. Everyone filed out of the jet slowly, no one eager to work with Magneto, no matter how right he might be.

Because going closer to the school or to any roads would defeat the purpose of moving the jet, there was only so much area to cover. They split into groups, Logan following Magneto and Mystique to make sure they didn't try anything, Jean, Kurt and Storm heading out together, and John and Bobby following slowly as Rogue plunged into the woods. She quickly left them behind, knowing they were both caught up in their own thoughts, none of which likely had much to do with their current situation. Bobby and John weren't focusing on the task at hand, and Rogue couldn't blame them.

Tired of branches snagging in her hair and tugging at the track pants she was wearing over her uniform, Rogue took to the air, staying just above the treetops so she was less likely to be spotted. It helped her to have a pretty much mindless task at the moment. It allowed her to build up her inner defenses against reacting the way she wanted to in the circumstances, promising herself that she could have a good cry and destroy something just as soon as she had helped stop Stryker and gotten Decipher and the other kids back home.

Rogue wasn't sure how much time had passed when she finally found a clearing that was the right size to hold the jet and still leave room for a campsite. Landing lightly on the grass, she tapped the earbud Jean had grudgingly given her when the telekinetic telepath had passed them out before the group had dispersed.

"This is Rogue," she reported briskly. "I've found a spot."

"Very well," Storm's voice came back to her. "Jean and I are headed back to the jet to lock your coordinates into the system. Stay there until we contact you. Everyone else, meet us back at the jet."

"Are you forgetting your precious jet can't be flown?" Magneto's voice sounded. "Everyone go back to the jet, and Rogue will lead us to the place she found."

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Logan stalked Magneto and Mystique back to the jet. The shapeshifter had glanced sidelong at him a few times, but Magneto was ignoring his presence. Not that Logan cared what the buckethead thought of him. He just didn't want to give either of them a chance to go back on their word over the temporary truce and go after Marie. He'd die before he let her fall back into their clutches.

He had to admit, however, that having more people on their side who could actually fight wasn't going to hurt in whatever it was they were going to have to face. Logan almost missed Scott. At least the other man had a mutation he could control with the help of his visor. Jean's command of her own power was sketchy at best from what Logan had seen, and though Storm's power was formidable in its own right, there wasn't a whole lot it would be able to accomplish indoors, which Logan was sure would end up being their battleground. John was a hothead in all meanings of the word and if allowed to help would probably be more of a hindrance. Bobby had an impressive power, but was not in the proper place in his head to be a fighter. And though Nightcrawler had been good enough at whatever he did to get into the Oval Office in the White House… which Jean had explained to the rest of them as the reason the blue mutant was with them when they had been flying away from Boston… most of that was apparently from whatever had been done to him. He seemed much too timid to be any kind of warrior.

And Marie… while her ability was arguably the most powerful defensively; it wouldn't help her against armed, trained military men, especially once they realized not touching her was all they had to do to protect themselves. Logan knew he was going to have to train her in self-defense at the very least considering the world and times they lived in, but he couldn't teach her enough before they would have to act for it to make a difference. She was going to have to stay in the jet with the two boys, where she would be safe. He didn't like the thought of her being out of his sight for that long so close to a dangerous situation, but he knew that keeping her with him wouldn't be an option. He would be far too concerned about her to pay close enough attention to what he was doing. His fight with Sabretooth on the Statue of Liberty had taught him that much.

When they reached the jet, Jean and Storm and Nightcrawler had just arrived. It was another minute before the two teenage boys showed up, and yet another until Marie was back with them.

"I'm not all that good at judging distances," Marie reported, "but the clearing is about four miles in that direction."

Jean nodded perfunctorily to acknowledge the news and turned to Magneto, "Now how do you propose we get the Blackbird there?"

Lifting his eyebrows in an are-you-really-that-slow expression, Magneto lifted one hand, palm up, the jet lifting with it.

Jean sighed and asked, "Would it be better for the rest of us to be in the jet, or do you want us to walk?"

"Whatever you prefer," Magneto answered. Indicating Marie with his eyes, he added, "All of you but her, that is."

Logan automatically popped his claws, but Marie held a hand in a stop motion toward him.

"Are you still weak from being held captive?" she asked with something close to a mocking sneer.

Though Logan never would have expected the buckethead to admit to weakness, Magneto nodded once and said, "I assume you are willing to use my ability to assist me?"

"I'm sure with me using my power and you yours, the two of us won't have any difficulties," she shot back.

The two glared at each other for a full minute before Magneto's mouth twitched, causing Marie to scowl even more. Logan filed away the information that Marie obviously also still had Magneto's power on top of his.

"I'm staying out of the jet to keep an eye on you," Logan told Magneto to break the tense silence no one else seemed willing to get involved in.

"And how will you do that?" Mystique asked him. "Even your eyesight can't be good enough to see through trees."

Logan frowned. "How are they going to move it if they can't see it?"

Magneto suddenly lifted off the ground, hovering a few feet from the side of the jet.

"Electro-magnetic field bubble," he said as he landed again. "As long as there is a certain amount of metal nearby, it acts as a conduit for me to tap into the earth's electro-magnetic field and use it to levitate not only metallic objects but myself as well."

Logan grunted and frowned. How was he going to protect Marie if she and Magneto were above the treetops with the jet?

"Hold still, Logan," Marie suddenly said.

She flung a hand outward in his direction and he felt the tug on his bones that had always happened just before Magneto took control of his body. Even knowing it was Marie doing it, he still felt immediately agitated at the sensation. But the malice and pain that had always accompanied Magneto's manipulation of the adamantium coating his skeleton never happened, and he found himself being levitated with much more skill than had been shown by Storm and Jean at the Statue of Liberty. As soon as his feet touched the top of the jet, she released her magnetic hold on him. He watched from his perch as the others filed back into the jet.

After a few sentences and some gestures toward the jet and the direction Marie had earlier indicated as being where the clearing was, Marie and Magneto each went to opposite ends of the Blackbird. Magneto went to the nose, and Marie stayed near the rear. She had set Logan down near the rear vertical fins of the jet, and he clamped his hands onto one of them when the jet gave a slight shudder when both she and Magneto levitated, their feet level with the top of the Blackbird. Both had their arms in front of them held out slightly to the side, and after a moment the jet gave another little shudder as it too lifted off the ground.

Though he had said he was going to keep an eye on Magneto, Logan in truth ended up watching Marie the whole time she and Magneto were moving the jet. Her full concentration was on her task. Logan couldn't help feeling odd about the sight of her skimming over the treetops with no visible means of support, but it didn't appear to bother her at all. Judging by the press of the air whipping past him, not strong enough to make him fear for his safety, he would guess they were going around twenty miles an hour. The trip to the new location took a little over ten minutes, the jet set down even more gently this time than it had been when Magneto had stopped them from crashing. Logan was sure it was Marie's doing.

As soon as her feet touched the ground, Marie half-crumpled, dropping to her knees. Even from his height the equivalent of nearly two stories above her, Logan could see that she was shaking from the strain of what she had just accomplished. Judging the distance to the ground with his eyes, Logan decided to jump. He didn't want to put more stress on Marie by waiting for her to get him down, and he didn't trust Magneto to do it. He also wanted to get to Marie now. He had no intention of waiting until she had already pulled herself together.

The impact was jarring, but adamantium bones were nearly impossible to break and any bruising and strained muscles were healed within seconds. He was at Marie's side seconds later, pulling her up and into his arms.

"You okay?" he breathed, noting a slightly metallic tinge that had been added to her usual scent.

Marie nodded, resting against him with a grateful smile, "But I think I should practice a lot more before I try anything like that again."

"Frankly, I'm surprised you could do that much," Magneto announced as he walked toward them. "All I did was steady it, you moved it all on your own."

Logan growled at Magneto in warning, and Marie let her eyes fall shut as she collapsed a little more against him. The rest of the group joined them shortly. Mystique immediately moved to Magneto's side. Jean and Storm did a visual check of their new location before asking John and Bobby to get the camp set up.

"Rogue…" Jean started in a tone that was clearly a prelude to an order.

"No, Jean," Logan interrupted. "She needs to rest. Magneto made her do all the work."

"Fine," Jean answered flatly. To Rogue, she said, "Just make sure you keep out of everyone's way."

Logan bent slightly to physically lift Marie into his arms so he could carry her several feet away to where he had spotted what had once been a fallen tree and was now just a rather large log.

"I can walk, Logan," she told him with a small smile as he moved.

"Hush," he scolded her. "You're making light of my manly heroics."

Marie laughed lightly, and Logan smiled with her. There was so much tension in the air he had felt it necessary to do what he could to lighten the mood. They reached the log, too soon for Logan's taste, and he set her down on it before sitting next to her.

"I better go help Bobby and John," he said with a sigh, following her gaze to where Magneto and Mystique were standing. "I'll keep an eye on those two so they don't bother you, but I think the boys will need my help. Bobby might have gone camping with his family at some point, but I doubt John's ever had to set up a tent before in his life. And we'll need to clear a spot for a fire first."

Marie nodded. "I'll help in a few minutes. I just need to re-center myself; I've never used that particular power for that long a span of time before."

"Take your time, darlin', no need to wear yourself out," Logan insisted.

He gave her shoulder a squeeze and moved away to join the two teenagers in unloading what they would need from the jet. There were only seven tents, which meant two sets of people would have to double up. Luckily there were more than enough sleeping bags. Because no one else would want to share with them, Bobby suggested one of the tents be set further apart from the rest to be used by Mystique and Magneto. He and John volunteered to double up in another before Logan had a chance to consider asking Marie if she would mind sleeping that close to him.

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Rogue waited until Magneto had gone into the Blackbird, presumably to talk to Jean and Storm who were inside checking over necessary repairs, before getting up to join the campground-setup effort. She'd seen Mystique glance her way when she'd been left alone outside of the jet, but Rogue wasn't ready to talk to her adoptive mother yet. She wasn't sure she ever would be. Their mental conversation, short as it had been, had confirmed that Mystique had acted of her own free will in helping Magneto escape. She didn't have the excuse of her memory being messed with this time. And Rogue really wasn't interested in whatever other rationalization she'd come up with.

Nightcrawler joined in the campground clearing effort shortly after Rogue did, and it wasn't long before they had a fire pit ready, lined with the rocks they'd weeded out of the grass they planned to set up the tents on. Logan went into the woods to collect, or cut down if need be, firewood while Nightcrawler and Rogue, and Bobby and John, paired up to set up the tents.

They were done before Logan came back, and Rogue began rooting through the large survival kit Bobby had brought from inside the jet for something to make for everyone to have a meal. It was still closer to late winter than it was to spring, and the days were shorter daylight-wise than they could have been. And they would all need sustenance and rest before they made their next move, or they wouldn't be good for any type of rescue mission.

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Mystique watched from a distance as the younger people from Xavier's, her daughter and son, and the Wolverine set up the area several feet from the jet as a campground. She didn't offer her help, knowing it wouldn't be appreciated… most vehemently, and ironically, by her own daughter. When the teenager with shorter hair and Rogue were the last actually doing something, Rogue sorting through a large plastic box and the boy checking all the tent stakes, Mystique let her mind wander, wondering what would happen when the immediate situation was resolved. She didn't think Magneto would be staying at the House since he was still a fugitive from the law, but did that mean Rogue would be willing to? Would Rogue be able to understand why she'd been compelled to help Magneto escape? Would she ever be forgiven?

"Excuse me."

Mystique looked sideways at Nightcrawler without saying anything. He had not tried to sneak up on her, she knew, but she hadn't been paying attention. Despite the fact that she had been considering revealing herself to Kurt since Rogue had started expressing more of an interest in meeting him, Mystique knew she would be putting it off even longer. She would be putting all her effort into making things okay with Rogue again. She didn't have the time or energy to deal with two of her children wanting answers and atonement.

Her son took her silent look as an invitation to continue and said, "They say you can imitate anybody… even their voice."

"Even their voice," she echoed back to him perfectly in answer.

Nightcrawler's tail twitched behind his shoulder, reminding Mystique of his father.

"Then why not stay in disguise all the time?" the second of her sons asked. "You know, look like everyone else."

"Because we shouldn't have to," Mystique responded firmly, walking away as Magneto came back out from inside the X-Men's jet.

"She refused my help," Magneto informed her when she was close enough. "Not that I expected otherwise."

Mystique nodded absently, and Magneto turned his head to look at Rogue.

"Have you spoken to her yet?"

"No. She needs time." Mystique sighed. "Besides, I don't want my personal business playing out in front of the X-Men."

"And for that, I don't blame you," Magneto responded.

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After a meager but appreciated dinner, Jean and Storm had asked to talk to Magneto and Mystique away from the camp. Logan had been invited to join them, but Rogue, Bobby and John had been ordered to clean up the food and other things left over. Nightcrawler had been asked to 'keep an eye' on them. Rogue knew why she had been left out of the conversation, and she was sure it was just protectiveness in the case of Bobby and John, but the fact that Nightcrawler wasn't being included seemed odd. Or was it just because they didn't trust him for his attack on the President? With a soft sigh, Rogue headed to where Nightcrawler was sitting. He was watching the meeting in the trees with obvious intensity.

"I'm sorry I didn't say it until now, but thank you," she said genuinely as she sat beside him on the same log Logan had set her down on earlier.

Nightcrawler dipped his head slightly, responding in German, "Bitte shchon."

Rogue smiled slightly before nodding toward the other group of mutants he had been watching when she approached. "Can you hear what they're saying?"

Nightcrawler suggestively answered, "I could take a closer look."

She lightly placed a hand on his sleeve when he tensed as if to rise. "Make sure you stay at least twenty feet above them. You should be out of scent range of the Wolverine that way since he'll be close to the fire and smelling mostly that."

With a grin that was contagious despite the demonic-looking face that made it, Nightcrawler disappeared with an odd bamf noise. Rogue wrinkled her nose against the sulfuric smoke left behind and got up to move back to the main campfire to help John and Bobby clean up the dinner mess. It wasn't actually close enough to the second fire for her to be able to pick up snippets of their conversation, so despite the fact that she was still spitting mad about what Mystique had done, she telepathically eavesdropped on the conversation after receiving permission.

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"Did you see the invading force's leader?" Magneto asked when everyone had found a spot. Logan grunted an affirmative, and Magneto continued, "A human past his prime with a rather rotund figure and beady eyes behind his glasses?"

"Yeah," Logan answered verbally this time.

"His name is Colonel William Stryker and he invaded your mansion for one purpose: he wanted Cerebro," Magneto announced dramatically. "Or enough of it to build one of his own."

"But that doesn't make any sense," Jean responded. "Stryker would need the Professor to operate it."

Magneto nodded. "Which, I think, is the only reason my old friend is still alive."

"Oh, my god," Storm swore gently, wrapping her arms around herself.

"Now, what are you all so afraid of?" Logan asked, confused. How could anyone make a powerful telepath like Xavier do anything he didn't want to? It was what Xavier did, not what was done to him.

"While Cerebro is working," Magneto explained unnecessarily, considering that Xavier had just told Logan this information yesterday, "Charles' mind is connected to every living person on the planet. If he were forced to concentrate hard enough on a particular group, let's say mutants for example… he could kill us all!"

"Wait a minute," Storm pulled herself together enough to ask. "How would Stryker even know where to find Cerebro in the first place?"

Magneto took a deep breath and looked down, suddenly looking much older. "Because I told him. I helped Charles build it, remember? Mr. Stryker has powerful methods of persuasion. Even against a mutant as strong as Charles."

"So who is this Stryker anyway?" Jean asked after this newest information had had time to sink in.

"He's a military scientist. He spent his whole life trying to solve the mutant problem. If you want a more intimate perspective, why don't you ask Wolverine?" Magneto paused as everyone turned to look at Logan. "You don't remember, do you? William Stryker, the only other man I know who can manipulate adamantium. The metal on your bones; it carries his signature."

Logan frowned, "But the Professor…"

Magneto cut him off derisively. "The Professor trusted you were smart enough to discover this on your own. He gives you more credit than I do."

Storm asked, "Why do you need us?"

Magneto glanced up at Mystique where she stood by his side. "Mystique has discovered plans of a base that Stryker has been operating out of for decades. We know that's where he's building the second Cerebro. But we don't know where this base is… and I believe one of you might."

"The Professor already tried…" Logan said, bristling.

Magneto cut him off once more, "Once again, you think it's all about you."

He looked pointedly upward and the rest of the group followed his gaze to see Nightcrawler hanging upside down above them.

Nightcrawler grinned sheepishly, and with a little wave greeted, "Oh… hello."

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"I didn't mean to snoop," Kurt tried to apologize.

And he hadn't meant to, not really. He just didn't understand why he and Rogue and the two boys were being kept out of the loop. They were just as involved in the current situation as the rest, if not even more so in his case. He had the right to know what had happened to him and if there was a risk of it happening again.

"Just try to relax," the one introduced to him as Jean Grey back at the church in Boston said.

She lifted her hands to put one on either side of his face, hovering just an inch or so from his skin. Kurt looked at the people standing over them a bit nervously before he was suddenly bombarded by flashes of images. A lake, a syringe with no needle, and other flashes he didn't quite understand. He gasped at the pain the flashes induced, vaguely hearing the redhead gasp as well.

"I'm sorry," Jean said perfunctorily when she pulled her hands away, stopping the intense barrage. After a pause she announced, "Stryker's at Alkali Lake."

The one known alternately as Logan or Wolverine said in a manner meant to reject the information, "That's where the Professor sent me. There's nothing left."

"Nothing left on the surface, Logan," Jean corrected. "The base is underground."

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After learning that he had been that close to learning something about his past and had missed it entirely, Logan stalked off into the woods. By the time he was done working his frustration out enough to function properly, there were several trees and a large boulder that were now and forever decorated by multiple sets of three parallel gouge marks. It hadn't been his destructive exercise that had centered him though. It had been the thought of what might have happened to Marie and the others if he hadn't been there when the mansion had been invaded, the thought of never having shared the moments they'd had in that club Darkholme. Finding out about his past was still important to him, but it wasn't anywhere near as important as keeping Marie safe and happy.

Logan took the long way back around the camp to avoid going near Magneto or Mystique, not wanting to be tempted to attack them for their past actions against Marie when they were necessary to the current mission. At least for now. The second they weren't… well, he'd find a way around Magneto's mutation. Logan came out of the woods in front of the jet, walking under it and pausing next to the open ramp to scan the campground visually.

Logan turned his head when footsteps sounded inside the air vehicle, and Jean smiled faintly as she came down the ramp leading from the inside of the jet. "Hey."

"Hey." Logan greeted in return.

Jean seemed to notice his distraction, because she asked, "You okay?"

"Yeah." He gestured toward the jet, knowing Magneto had offered to help with the repairs but Jean had refused, not that he blamed her for not trusting the bastard. "How we doing?"

Jean sighed and wiped her hands on the rag she was carrying. "Not good. It'll take four or five hours before I can get it off the ground."

"Are you sure you're okay? You seem distracted."

Jean shrugged. "I'm just worried about Scott."

"I'm worried about you," Logan said. "That was some display of power up there."

And if she burned herself out through a combination of what'd she'd done in the sky and worrying constantly over things out of her control, like what was being done to the Professor and Scott, she wouldn't be any good to them at all when it came time for the real battle. He'd be damned if Marie's life was put in greater jeopardy because Jean couldn't leave her pity party of one.

Jean muttered in a defeatist tone, "Obviously it wasn't enough."

"Hey, come on," Logan placed a hand on her shoulder to get her attention. "You did what you could. Alright?"

Jean said softly in a warning tone, "I love him."

Logan looked at the ground to hide a groan of frustration and then back up at her. Why did she always think he was flirting with her?

"Do you?" he asked absently because he knew she was waiting for a response.

Jean smiled crookedly, though the gesture didn't reach her eyes, "Girls flirt with the dangerous guy, Logan. They don't take him home. They marry the good guy."

Unbidden, the image of Piotr and his apparent closeness to Marie rose in Logan's mind. Piotr seemed the type that would be labeled a 'good guy.' But that didn't mean Marie was better off with the Russian… Piotr would never love her the way Logan did, no one could. She did, however, deserve better than how the world saw him. But could he give her up, even for her own good?

"I could be the good guy," he murmured, not fully realizing his last thought had been aloud until Jean spoke.

Jean smiled again, humorously this time, and said, "Logan, the good guy sticks around."

The smile fell from her face and Logan could see that she was once again thinking about her missing fiancé. Something had to be done to snap Jean out of her wallowing so she could finish the work on the jet. And though it pained him to even consider it with how new and fragile his courtship of Marie was so far, there was only one thing Logan could think of. If he made as if to kiss her, especially with Scott so close in her thoughts, Jean would pull back and get angry. And angry was better than depressed.

He made the presence of his hand on her shoulder more noticeable by firming his hold a bit. He leaned in slowly, giving her more than enough time to react. To his surprise and consternation, Jean didn't pull back like he had expected her to. In fact, she was the one who completed the movement necessary for contact, kissing him almost hungrily as she leaned into him.

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The heart-wrenching pain of personal betrayal touched Mystique's mind as she watched from across the campground as Logan and Jean kissed, and her eyes went wide; she knew for a fact it wasn't her feeling that way. She spun in place, finding Rogue only several feet behind her. Her daughter's deep green eyes, taking in the same scene Mystique had been a moment before, were shining with unshed tears. Taking the few necessary steps at nearly a run, Mystique had Rogue in her arms and facing away from the embracing couple in no time flat. But she knew the damage had already been done.

Unsure whether the Wolverine could hear from this distance, Mystique tried to mentally soothe her shaking daughter's nerves as she kept an eye on the two X-Men. I know you love him, baby girl, but you shouldn't feel this way just from that little exchange. You haven't told him how you feel, have you?

The fact that Rogue was even letting her offer comfort considering her own betrayal of the younger woman showed Mystique just how deeply this was affecting her daughter. Across the clearing, Logan and Jean had pulled apart, exchanging a few quiet sentences before Jean walked away, returning to work on the jet. Without glancing in their direction, which Mystique could only be grateful for, Logan headed for one of the tents that had been set up about twenty feet from the jet.

No, I haven't, Rogue finally, haltingly, answered. But Mama, he came to Darkholme the night before he went to Xavier's, and we… had a moment.

A sad sigh shook Rogue's form but her trembling ceased and Mystique let go of her, knowing now was not the time for the Wolverine to find out about their relationship. They already had too much to deal with without her having to dodge adamantium claws and Rogue having to choose between her (as far as Rogue knew) adoptive mother and the man she loved.

At least, Rogue added as she wiped her eyes and took a step back, I thought we did. We danced, and he, well, he almost kissed me. And now, two nights later he's kissing her.

Mystique grew angry. Rogue was truly hurting, Mystique could feel the pain she was still unwittingly projecting, and there wasn't really anything Mystique could do to make her feel better. From everything that had happened two years earlier, Mystique had thought that even if the Wolverine didn't love Rogue, he at least cared enough about her not to play with her feelings. Maybe someone needed to teach him a lesson.

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Having outwardly gotten herself under control, Rogue realized she was projecting only a moment before Mystique took a couple steps away from her. Logan and Jean were no longer in sight, and Rogue could only assume Mystique was headed toward one or the other… her stomach twisted on the thought that maybe both of them were in one of the little tents.

But no, she'd heard the conversation between them. Faintly, but Rogue'd heard it. Jean had turned Logan down. She had even demeaned him, clearly implying that she didn't think of him as a 'good guy'. It was almost enough to make Rogue madder at the redhead than at Logan, but Jean didn't know about what had happened at Darkholme, and she hadn't been the one to initiate the kiss; Logan had. With the world she had become so comfortable in falling apart at the seams, anger was an easier emotion for Rogue to deal with at the moment than betrayal and a broken heart. Besides, this was her fight, not Mystique's.

Mama! It wasn't quite the equivalent of a mental yell, but it was close. What are you doing?

Mystique stopped and turned towards her, shifting quickly into Jean and back again. Showing the Wolverine there are consequences to playing with people's hearts.

Rogue's eyes narrowed momentarily and a small smirk graced her lips. She shifted into her mother's current form, nearly forgetting to add the scars on her torso. She didn't know why her mother was using this form, but it had probably been an order from Magneto. Pushing aside the thought, Rogue held herself proudly, becoming a mirror image of the woman beside her.

In Mystique's voice, she purred, "Allow me."

Mystique knew better than to ask if Rogue was sure, shifting her own altered form into Rogue's so no one would miss the younger woman. After a moment of hesitation, Rogue reached up to her own neck and removed the chain and tag that had been her constant companions for two years. She held it out to Mystique, her hand shaking slightly. Mystique took the item silently, asking with her eyes why it was necessary.

"I have trouble sometimes keeping it as part of the shifted form," Rogue said lightly. "I don't want to risk him knowing it's me."

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Logan lay in the tent he'd claimed as his own, staring blindly at the shadows that stretched across the fabric. He still didn't understand how his attempt to snap Jean out of her distraction had turned on him so fully. He had thought Jean was a better person than to give in so easily to a random moment, especially since someone as straight-arrow as Scott thought she hung the moon, but then she did seem to think he himself felt a lot more about her than he did.

Yes, he had flirted with her when they'd first met, it's what the Wolverine did with any mildly attractive female of a certain age who seemed receptive. The fact that Jean was Scott's had added to the entertainment factor of that flirting. But it had been over two years ago and had been very quickly halted when Marie had been in trouble. Jean must have a more than healthy ego to think she was the one he cared about after what only added up to a handful of minutes of meaningless flirting when it was Marie he was always worrying about, running after and risking his life for.

The snap of a twig just outside his tent had him lifting his head to watch in shock as Jean came in through the opening. He was further confused by the fact that she smelled like Marie. He'd seen nothing now or two years ago that would make him think either woman would hug the other or be otherwise close enough for their scents to rub off on each other.

"Look…" Logan started, only to be stopped with the pressure of first fingers and then lips against his own.

After her weakly worded 'Please don't make me do this' following the kiss outside, Logan had certainly not been expecting her to initiate anything more. He had, in fact, been thankful for that reprieve. When she leaned forward, causing him to lay down fully, he realized something else was up. The woman on top of him didn't smell at all like Jean. And though she smelled mostly of Marie, there was a trace of Mystique scent there as well. She was stronger than he remembered from their fight on Liberty Island, because when he tried to break the contact of their mouths, she simply held him in place. Realizing he had to let her do what she wanted unless he wanted to cause a scene, Logan relented. Besides, how else would he find out what she really wanted?

The strangest thing, he thought as his hands automatically reached for her waist, one hand sliding under the simple tank top to trace upwards until he reached a set of scars that lined up exactly with where his claws came out, was that the arousal he could smell coming from the shapeshifter was the same Marie scent he'd experienced at Darkholme. He must really be worn out to be able to confuse the two, and though his mind knew it wasn't Marie on top of him, his body was reacting as if it was.

Mystique, now in her own form, pulled slightly away from his mouth to stare into his eyes when he popped the claws just enough to lightly rest the tips against the spot where he had previously stabbed her.

"I can mark you again," he warned.

An indefinable expression flitted across Mystique's face and she shifted slightly so that their groins were more full aligned, inadvertently positioning her upper body so that if his claws came out all the way, they'd impale her in nearly the same place he'd stabbed Marie when she had innocently woken him from a nightmare. But there was no way for Mystique to know that, despite the look in her eyes that seemed oddly knowing.

"What do you want," he demanded sarcastically, "an apology?"

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"You know what I want," Rogue taunted in her mother's voice as she leaned back down to lick the shell of Logan's ear, concentrating on taking only his mutation through their brief touches… he wouldn't need his power in the next hour or so and would never notice it wasn't as strong as it should be.

She had to play the role she had committed to to the hilt, or he would know something was off. She could smell the arousal she couldn't seem to help feeling being this close to him, despite how mad and hurt she was, and knew Logan could too. She could smell… and feel… his as well. Her adoptive mother would never back down from such blatantly obvious circumstances, so neither could she.

To remind herself of why she was doing this, Rogue shifted back from her mother's scaled form to that of Jean Grey, asking, "But what do you want?"

'Marie.'

She hadn't meant to pick up the thought, so sure that he would be thinking of Jean, and his automatic and strong mental mention of her name shocked her into losing control of her mother's shapeshifting ability. Rogue became herself, staring down at Logan's surprised face. His eyes had widened and his lips moved, mouthing her name. Unable to help herself, she skimmed the top of his thoughts again.

'Looks like Marie. Smells like Marie. Feels like Marie. But not Marie. It's not!'

Logan's hands tightened convulsively on her hips, and Rogue knew she had to draw this to a close. She'd meant to punish him for hurting her, to help herself get over that pain, but she was only succeeding in making herself more confused. With immense effort she became Jean again. Logan reacted, pushing her away, and this time she let him, falling back into the front corner of his tent and shifting into her mother again.

An angry scowl darkening his features, Logan said, "I want you to get out."

With one last look at him, she did so. A few steps away from tent, having looked around to make sure no one else was outside, Rogue pushed off the ground, herself once more. She flew into the surrounding trees, finding one with a branch sturdy enough for her to safely sit on. With a sad sigh, she leaned back against the tree's trunk, staring up at the stars.

See, darlin', her inner Logan suddenly spoke up. It's you he wants, not Jean.

Rogue shook her head, 'He was just confused because of my scent.'

Exactly, Logan responded smugly.

She blushed slightly, knowing he was referring to the fact that her own arousal had helped coax Logan's into existence. She shook her head again, reminding herself of the fact that he had kissed Jean no more than ten minutes ago. Jean, not her.

He does have a point, my dear, Erik chimed in.

'Not you, too! Look, if it was really me he wanted, he wouldn't be going after Jean at all. So maybe it isn't solely her he wants if his behavior at Darkholme and in the tent is anything to go by, but it isn't me either. He proved that when he kissed her. He just wants someone.' Rogue flinched at her own vehemence, realizing that the thought of Logan wanting her just because she was there and not because it was her hurt just as badly as her previous belief that he wanted Jean more. She mentally pointed at Erik, 'And as much as I appreciate you trying to help, Erik, I'd like it if you just stayed in the back of my head while I'm around Magneto.'

Though he seemed a bit disgruntled about it, Erik did as she asked. Her inner Logan made a few more attempts to convince her that the real Logan wanted only her, but he had no excuse for Logan's actions with Jean, so he eventually gave up. Emotionally and physically exhausted, Rogue flew down from the tree and walked back into the camp, heading for the tent Bobby had pointed out as hers when they had been set up, the tent closest to the one Mystique and Magneto were sharing. Bobby's expression had been sheepish, but she knew he figured it was the least confrontational choice in sleeping arrangements. Because even if Magneto had tried to kill her two years ago, she'd been living in Mystique's home for most of the time since then. No one but Rogue would be both on guard and used to the two other mutants.

She found Logan's dog tag and its chain resting atop the sleeping bag and threw it into the corner of the tent in a fit of anger. Seconds later Rogue had retrieved the item and put it back where it belonged around her neck. She wouldn't be able to think of it as hers for much longer considering the current circumstances, but she'd never spent a single night without it since Logan had left it with her. She didn't think she could handle yet another change tonight.

She put on a set of sweats she'd earlier taken from the jet, needing to air out the clothes and her uniform that she been stuck in since the previous day. The gloves Bobby had given her at his house were kept on her hands just in case. Pushing everything from her mind, Rogue closed her eyes and lay down to sleep.

Her fragile peace didn't last long.

To be continued…