(A/N:  Nire's story is up. At least, the first chapter is.  What is the title, you ask?  "For the World is Hollow And I Have Touched the Sky".  Don't I come up with cool names?  Hehehehe.  I'm kinda takin' a break from this story to write that one, 'kay?  Well, too bad if it's not.  R/R, pleeeee-uhz.)

Chapter Nine - An Instant's Control

Nire was as good as her word.  Within the week, she came and got the Professor and Jean, and showed them her 'family'.  They still had millions of questions, but she would answer nary a one.  Unfortunately, Rogue was not there when she came – she was off on a motorcycle ride with Logan, testing out her new jacket.  She could not have asked for a better present – or a better friend.

She missed Nire - she missed their midnight chats and just having someone else in the room with her.  Although it had been disconcerting at first, she had grown used to it.  She kept on having to remind herself that the girl - the girl who was three years younger than her but seemed 30 years older - was not dead, merely gone back home.  Supposedly, 'only a thought away'.

The nightmares had gone away for a while, but now they had come back.  A mix of Magneto's nightmares of the Holocaust and Logan's of the experiments done to him - not a pretty combination.  She kept them quiet, though, managing not to cry out.  She did not want to place any more guilt on Logan's shoulders.  The lack of sleep began to show, though.  Logan could see it, and he was getting worried.

One night, she was locked deep in one of Logan's nightmares.  There were the champagne-drinking men, a party going on around him.  She couldn't wake herself up, like she usually could.  This was not good.  The Logan in her head felt guilty enough already.  Now, he was going to be…probably insufferable for a few days.  God damn it!  Why couldn't she wake up?  She could feel the pain - it was like her whole body was on fire.  She didn't think she could take this much longer…


*  *  *  *  *

Logan sat bolt upright in bed.  He had been woken by something.  There it was again - the noises of someone in the throes of a truly terrible nightmare and the salt of tears - it was coming from Marie's room.  He was in there in a heartbeat, kneeling by the side of her bed and grabbing her thrashing shoulders.  She was crying in her sleep.

"Wakeup, kid, it's just a dream.  C'mon Marie."

Her eyes flickered open.  "Logan?"  She was still crying, so he gathered her in his arms - he had thought to grab his gloves and flannel shirt - and held her to his chest, stroking her hair.

"Shh.  It was just a dream.  Just a dream.  It wasn't real."  When her tears stopped, he asked, "Do you remember it?"

She slid off his lap, slightly embarrassed.  "No," she said as she wiped off her face.

Logan could smell the lie.  The only nightmares he could think of that she would lie about were his.  "It was one of mine, wasn't it?"

She nodded mutely, knowing he wouldn't take kindly to the idea.  Of course, she was right.  He let out a string of savage curses, which she knew were aimed at him.

When his cursing tapered off, she said, "Well, Ah'm glad you're in there, nightmares and all."  At his shocked look, she explained.  "Who else would be there to make Magneto shut up when he's acting up?  Who else would keep the voices back, making them leave me alone.  It's not just the meditation - it's partly you.  If ya weren't in there, Ah'm pretty sure Ah'd've gone crazy."  There were other things she didn't say, like that was all she had of him when he left; that when she was feeling especially bad, he tried to make her feel better.

"You're not even eighteen yet, kid."

"Ah will be in a few weeks," she cut in.

"But not yet, and you can't tell me you didn't get memories of my sex life, too.  I promised to take care of you, and I always keep my promises.  And look what I did."  He felt defeated, a rare thing.  Defeated and guilty.

Marie lay a hand on his arm - his guilt was so strong that she could smell it.  "An' that's probably the best thing ya coulda done ta take care of me.  Trust me, Ah know."

They chatted for a while.  Finally, when Logan could no longer smell her fear of going back to sleep, he stood up and said, "It's late kid.  Get some sleep."  He headed for the door.

"Logan?"  Her almost pitiful voice stopped him.  "Stay with me?  Just 'till Ah'm asleep?"  She felt like a little kid right now.

"Sure, kid.  Move over."  She scooted over and slid under her thin sheet.

Logan knew that this would look bad to anyone who happened to walk in, but since when had he cared what anyone else though?  Marie settled herself between his arm and his side.  This felt…right.  Logan had no other way to describe it.  Lying there with Marie in his arms felt right, like he wanted to do it every night for the rest of his life.

The next morning, Logan woke up, disoriented.  Shit, he must have fallen asleep.  Damn, but it was so comfortable!  Marie was curled up into his side.  He tried to extricate himself from the bed.  He had said he would leave once she was asleep.  How she would feel about him still begin there, he didn't know.

Unfortunately, it didn't work.  His movements woke her up.  She smiled sleepily at him, and his heart jumped.  Lord, was she beautiful in the morning!  Beautiful, but too young, too innocent, too pure for him to have his thoughts heading where they were.

"Thanks," she said softly.  "Sorry for wakin' ya up last night."  She wasn't really sorry, though.  That had to have been the best sleep she had gotten in years.  And then she had woken up in his arms.  If she could wake up like that every morning…

"Don't worry 'bout it, kid."  Logan wished he could wake up to that smile every morning.  Even if it turned him into a weak little pansy.  He felt like he was drowning in her eyes, spiraling down into their black depths.  No!  He knew where this was going.  She was still a kid.  "See ya later today, kid."  Out her door he strode, nonchalantly, to take a cold shower.


*  *  *  *  *

Rogue made her final decision on the adoption issue.  She knew that it wouldn't matter who it was officially, because they were her family, anyways.  She couldn't really believe they had put that choice on her.  She would have preferred if it were cut and clean, no decision to be made.  The way she saw it, she could never be more than maybe a little sister to Scott and Jean.  There was still enough of Logan in her head to make her, occasionally, hostile to Scott.  And - to be quite honest - she was jealous of Jean.  The redhead was everything Rogue could never be - namely, touchable, and the object of Logan's lust-filled desires.

The Professor, on the other hand, was already her surrogate father - and Scott and Jean's, for that matter - and there were no feelings in her head about him, other than hers (she had gotten rid of Magneto's long ago).  Nothing would have to be changed on any of her forms, because he was already listed as her Guardian.

This is what she told them - the edited version, of course - and, as she expected, they all approved.  A couple days later, it was complete.  Nothing really changed, but it was just the knowledge that made her feel…really loved again.


*  *  *  *  *

Rogue's eighteenth birthday was a tiny affair.  Her four teenage friends couldn't get back, so they mailed her their gifts - a shirt from Kitty, a scarf from Jubilee, a Linkin' Park CD from Bobby, and a System of a Down CD from St. John.  She got a joint-letter from Kitty and Jubilee, apologizing for not being able to be there, and a promise to throw her another part once they got back.  Then they went into a detailed account of everything they had done so far - including Jubilee creating a minor ruckus in the mall when she tossed some plasma balls (none lethal, of course) at an annoying salesclerk.  Luckily for her, the news didn't take it very far, and she was never identified.  Rogue got a stomachache laughing over that escapade, and wished she could have been there.

She got her favorite dinner and a cake.  Well, everybody got her favorite dinner and some cake, but they were made for her.  Then came the gifts - all of the X-men and her were sitting at one table.  She always sat with them over the summer - it was much preferable than to sitting alone.  Jean gave her a pair of jeans - easy and safe because everyone wore jeans.  Scott's gift was two charm bracelets and a couple of charms.  The Professor gave her a boxed set of Charles Dickens books - he wrote some of her favorites.  From Ororo was a book on gardening - working in the garden was the one place where she could touch living things without gloves on, so she spent a lot of time there.

She had save Logan's present for last.  Before opening it, she paused to smile inwardly.  She was the only student who always got something from every one of the teachers.  She had a new family, and one she held dear.  The group of mutants was it.

Logan had gotten her a box.  That wasn't going to help her guess what it was.  Still, she unwrapped it slowly, knowing that drove him absolutely nuts.  The box showed absolutely nothing.

"Hmmm.  Maybe I should wait until later to open this, when Ah'm alone," she said innocently.  The whole table - especially Scott - hid a smile at Logan's faint growl.  Rogue tried not to laugh at how easy it was for her to get under his skin like that.

It was a heavy box.  Knowing Logan - and she was pretty sure she knew the real Logan - this would be something good.  And, of course, she was right.  Out she pulled a snow globe with a little village inside.  It was perfect in every tiny detail, right down to the people walking the miniature streets.  A brass plaque on the mahogany base said "Nome, Alaska".  She shook it up gently, watching the glittering white 'snow' settle down to the bottom again.  A not at the bottom of the box caught her eye.  It said, quite simply, "If you still want to go, I'll take you someday."  She nodded slightly to him as she read this, then gave him a quick hug, as she had everyone else.  She set all of her birthday presents to the side, and they finished their cake and ice cream, celebrating Rogue's birthday quietly.

She kept half-hoping that Nire might show up.  Of course, that didn't happen.  When Rogue found out that she had missed Nire's visit, she was sure that she would never see the girl again.  It had been a good friendship - if a strange and fleeting one - but it had ended as soon as the fifteen-year-old had left.  All in all, Rogue actually had a happy birthday - mostly because, for the first time, Logan was there.


*  *  *  *  *

Scott's leg was almost healed - he walked with a cane now.  This delighted Logan to no ends.  This meant that Scott got no peace at all.  Luckily, the world had bee very quiet.  The Brotherhood was, apparently, lying low.  What their motives were, no one knew, but at least there were no missions.  When a member of the X-men was incapacitated, it was an extremely bad thing.  The youngest, newest members could only go on pickups for a while, until they were used to working together.  With Scott out, that left only 3 people.  Even with the four of them, they were often sorely outnumbered.  So, Scott, Jean, Ororo, the Professor, and even Logan (to an extent) thanked their lucky stars that nothing was happening.

The highlight of Rogue's summer came one day as she was going through her yoga routine in Ororo's garden.  Regardless of its effects on her mutation, there was no way she would stop yoga.  It left her more flexible, more lithe, and toned.  Hell, she felt healthier, period.  She was in the lotus position, meditating as a relaxation at the end of her routine.  As usual, after she had cleared her mind, she concentrated on turning off her power, if only for a moment's time.  The Professor had once asked her to verbalize how she did this, but she could not.  The closest she could come was the analogy of trying to find the power switch and holding it in the 'off' position.

On this day, she found it, if only for half a second.  Her power felt like a constant tingling under her skin, a feeling she did not notice anymore.  What she did notice was the instant in which there was nothing - and she knew this was it.  For the first time since her mutation had manifested, Rogue could touch again - well, no.  She had the definite potential, now.  That instant was too brief to make any difference - but the instant could grow!  It would grow, if she kept on practicing.  She let out a jubilant shout.  Her first instinct, as always, was to go find Logan.  He would celebrate with her.  She curbed that instinct, though, deciding to wait until she could do…something…actually touch him.  But Logan would most definitely be the first to know.

She tried to find the switch again, but couldn't.  Still, she didn't get discouraged.  It happened once, and it would happen again.  Hopefully, for a lengthier amount of time.

She packed up her yoga mat, and headed back downstairs.  The urge to tell someone - Logan - was strong, but she ignored it.  She was going to keep this a secret until she could touch someone - once again, Logan - for real.  Logan noticed that Marie looked unusually happy, but he didn't say anything.  If she wanted to share, she would - she always did.  Anything that mad his Marie (she was not his) happy made him happy, too.  Even if he did not know what it was.