~ Author's Note: It's now about March, just to let ya know! ~

Alternate Courses

By Jules

Chapter   2

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The day had started out like any other that fateful day in British Columbia . . . . . . . .

Marie slowly woke up in the late-morning as usual, and got out from under Logan's arm. The two had discovered early on, that they didn't suffer nightmares when they slept in the same bed, so Logan and Marie had begun doing so every night for months now.

She stumbled through the motel room, to the bathroom, into the shower and stood half-asleep under the intense spray, letting the falling water wake her up.

Marie eventually located her shampoo bottle, poured a generous amount into her hands, and began lathering her hair. While it was still soapy, she brushed through it, making sure every strand was cleaned, then finally she rinsed out all the shampoo. Next she used her favorite deep conditioner, which she had to let sit for two minutes.

While her hair was being enriched with vitamins, she found her Blissful Blackberry body wash and began washing her curves and then she shaved her long legs.

When she was finished washing, she rinsed out her hair, brushed through it to make sure all the conditioner was out, and stepped out of the shower. Marie carefully wrung out her hair out over the tub, then wrapped the long auburn-brown locks in a towel and began to dry her body off with a second one.

The well developed girl pulled on the matching dark-green bra and thong-panty set she had brought into the bathroom with her, then slipped on the white silk embroidered kimono Logan had gotten her, (in some illicit way that she that did not want to know the details of) and let her hair come down from the towel. She wiped the slightly foggy mirror with her towel, and began smoothly brushing her hair.

Marie loved her hair. It was the only thing that had stayed in her life, unlike her traitorous skin. Her long, thick, soft brown hair had always been there. Before her evolution into a mutant, bedtime had been her favorite part of the day. That was when her mother had gotten out her grandmother's brush set, and she would brush Marie's hair, 100 strokes every night without fail. Then Marie's first kiss happened, and Momma never brushed her hair after that. Marie paused mid-stroke at the thought, she took a deep breath, and pushed the painful memories out of her mind, dwelling on the past only brought pain, so Marie didn't allow herself to do so. She sighed, then began brushing again, never losing count.

Marie still brushed her hair 100 strokes every morning, and before she went to bed. No matter how late (or early as it would be these days) she and Logan were coming in; no matter how exhausted she was, Marie brushed her hair.

Once she'd reached her customary amount of strokes, she set down the brush, and picked up her Blissful Blackberry body lotion. Marie squeezed out a large amount into her hands, rubbed them together, warming the lotion, then slowly applied to each arm.

She heard rustling in the other room, and knew Logan was finally waking up. Marie had left the door ajar so that the steam wouldn't fill the bathroom during her shower. She could hear him walking around, so she put her seduction plan into action.

Marie had begun to feel attracted to Logan shortly after meeting him. Who wouldn't with those finely toned muscles, wild hair, amazing hazel eyes, and he had an ass that just wouldn't quit, not to mention how he was so protective, and the fact that she was the only person in the world he gave a damn about and felt the need to look out for made her want for him even more.  She'd tried to send him signals, but their brief power-activated-touches every now and then let her know he hadn't caught on yet.

Due to the Logan in her head, she knew he was a leg and breast man.

She poured another copious dollop of scented lotion into her hand once more and slowly began to apply it to her left leg, letting the robe fall open slightly.

A slightly strangled sound in the other room, to which she showed no reaction, let her know her plan almost certainly was a success.

Logan woke up slowly once more, having woken somewhat when Marie got up an hour ago.

He stretched in the bed, then he got up, scratching his stomach, yawing as he padded over to the chair with his bag to change out of his flannel bottoms that Marie had gotten him because she refused to sleep with his groady jeans, which he was changing back into.

He stopped short in astonishment when he saw Marie putting lotion on her legs through the cracked bathroom door, which he knew she left cracked open when she showered. With the delicate fabric of the robe falling open like it was, he could really see now how long her legs were. The sight of her creamy white thigh enthralled him.

Logan lost hold of his jeans, which he'd just picked up, when he saw her open the robe, revealing what she wore under the robe, which included a bra in which Marie's large, voluptuous breasts were straining against their lacy confines. When she started applying lotion to this expanse of skin, he nearly lost it. And as soon as she finally brought her hands down to her taunt stomach, moisturizing all the way down to the top of her thong, his jaw dropped and his eyes glazed over, his mind in an uproar.

Suddenly, Marie wasn't some little girl he needed to protect; she was a woman, a beautiful young woman . . . who he wanted badly.

Thankfully for his self-control, right before he lost it, she finally retied her robe, and left the bathroom. Logan snapped out of his trance and hurried into the area that she'd just occupied, to take care of his large, rapidly rising problem. (Hint hint)

Marie smirked as the door slammed closed behind him.

** Around 2 am **

Logan had just completed another night of fighting. He and Marie were leaving the bar, arguing about the last guy he'd knocked out.

"Liar! Yah went easy on the guy Logan!" Marie insisted.

"I did not Marie." He protested, fighting a grin, "I just didn't give it my all. I knew the fight would be an easy one, so I didn't waste my energy."

"Oh pulease sugah, like Ah'm goin' tah believe . . ." She stopped short, and was silent.

Logan looked down, and smelled fear radiating off her, "What's wrong darlin'?"

Marie was staring at their truck, the creature that had attacked them was sitting on the hood, "Logan, it's him . . ." she whimpered.

Logan's head whipped up, and he finally saw what had frightened his Marie.

"Go back inside Marie." He quietly ordered.

"No Logan. Ah'm not leavin' you out here alone. Ah can protect myself. Ah won't go."

Logan knew that she wouldn't, and he sighed resignedly, "Alright, but if I go down, you are to take off your gloves and start running."

"Whatever . . . oh Gawd. He sees us." She warned him, taking off her gloves already.

The colossal man had finally caught sight of the two from down the road. He began stalking over to them.

Logan released his Adimantium covered bone claws and steeled himself for battle, cracking his neck. 

The two quickly engaged in a deadly dance in which, for once, they both had a worthy opponent.

Marie watched the two animal-like men fight, in terror, wincing every time one of their enemy's blows landed on Logan. She was so captivated by the scene she didn't notice the snowy weather abruptly growing to a greater degree in severity.

As she watched, Sabertooth finally got in a lucky shot and dug his claws into Logan's stomach. Then he backhanded the feral man, causing the Wolverine to go flying, finally crashing on top of a car, and he lay still.

"Noooooo!!!!!" Marie shrieked.

Bone claws shot-out of her own hands, and she attacked the wild man. Her mind went blank, she became like Wolverine in berserker mode. All she could think about was killing the man who'd harmed her mate.

She was able to actually exchange blows with him for a few moments, but his large size and superior strength soon overwhelmed her. He blocked her swing, but she threw up her other fist and managed to sink her claws into his shoulder.

He growled in pain and tossed her down, she landed on her butt. Marie flipped up, and was crouched down, about to pounce on him when bright red energy blast sent him flying down the street.

Marie whipped her head around for a moment, to spot who'd interrupted, she allowed her own claws go back in, and saw a man and two women dressed like idiots in, what appeared to be, black leather body suits. She quickly turned her head back in the other direction, only to find the man who'd attacked them gone once more.

Marie cursed, and then hurried over to Logan, who had still not moved a muscle.

The trio followed her.

Marie looked at Logan, distraught. She had no idea what to do. She ran her fingers through his hair as tears filled her eyes, "Logan, sugah, wake up." She whispered.

The three in black finally caught up and she turned about abruptly, hearing their approach, "Ah don' know who y'all are, but if yah take one step closer, Ah won't be held responsible the consequences of mah actions."

"Please, calm yourself." The male requested, "We're the X-men, the good guys, and we're here to help you. I'm Scott Summers, my code name is Cyclops. I'm a mutant, like you two."

In that moment, Marie knew she and Logan's simple life had just disappeared with the wild man.

The young man continued, "These two are my associate, Ororo Monroe, and my fiancée, Dr. Jean Gray. The man who attacked you, his name is Victor Creed, code name Sabertooth, he's an enemy of ours as well."

"The enemy of mah enemy is mah friend." Marie softly quoted, then sighed, "That means yah've got 60 seconds tah tell me what the hell yah want 'fore Ah take him and leave."

"I know this is very confusing, but we can explain everything better at the Institute, where we live. It's too difficult to do it out here, someone could come out and see us."

"And the sight of three strangers looking like idiots in black leather, next to their favorite cage fighter is not going to promote any sympathy from anybody here. So talk faster." Marie warned.

Jean could sense the girl was frightened and confused, but most of all concerned for her friend, so she spoke up, "We can help you there, protect you. We also have a wonderful medical facility there . . . . Please, will you trust us?"

"No . . ." Marie immediately answered, then cocked her head, "But there is a way for me tah. Let me briefly touch one o' yah. It'll drain yur powers a bit, but if what y'all's sayin' is true, Ah'll know it."

The three looked at each other, Storm looked beseechingly at Scott, who finally gave a slight nod.

"I will do it." Storm offered.

Storm held out her bare hand, and Marie touched it just enough to feel the rush start, then Marie quickly pulled away. Strom was left feeling very weak, but still conscious. Marie's eyes flashed white for a second, shocking the three before her, and then she nodded her head.

"Y'all are on the level. We'll go with yah, for now."

"Good." Scott acknowledged.

He started to go to pick up the unconscious Logan, but is stopped by a small, but oddly strong hand on his shoulder.

"Yur kiddin', rahght? Yah don' actually think yah can lift him, do yah?"

"He's not that big . . ." Scott protested, feeling emasculated that a teenage girl didn't think he could lift a small man like Logan.

"No, he might not be, but he'd all muscle, and he's got metal grafted to practically every bone on his body." Marie then proceeded to carefully pull Logan down the hood, placed her arm under his, around his back, and with her other firmly pressing against his chest, propping his frame up, "So, where'd yah park?"

The jet ride back was pretty much silent. Marie didn't speak, she just watched Logan, looked for the slightest sign of moment so she didn't have to pretend to be strong anymore.

** Westchester, New York **

** Hours later **

** Dr. Jean Grey's lab **

Marie, Jean, and Logan were alone in the lab, and after 15 minutes of silence, Jean finally asked a question.

"So, what are you're names?"

"Don' y'all already know? Ah mean, if yah came to protect us and all . . ."

"All we knew was that Sabertooth had contacted his boss the other day telling him that he'd found them, and was going after them again today. We tracked him to where we found you, and the rest you know."

"Oh . . . well, Ah'm Rogue, he's the Wolverine." Rogue carefully answered, continuing to play with Logan's hair.

They were quiet a minute, then Jean ventured again, "So, how long have you been away from home?"

Marie sighed, then boosted herself up on the other med bed, "Well, tha' depends on what yur definition o' home is."

"True, your family then."

"Wolverine is mah family, at least we're the closest thing tah family we've got now."

"I see. And your parents?"

Marie looked straight at Logan as she spoke, "The first boy Ah ever kissed went into a coma for three weeks, Ah was 15 . . . . Mah Daddy kicked me out three days after the boy woke up, and he told them all it was mah fault. So Ah started to head for Alaska.

Ah was on mah own for eight months before Ah met up with Wolvie in Laughlin City. That guy, Sabertooth yah called him, attacked Wolverine's truck after Ah'd forced him tah give me a ride . . . . Ah don't remember how Ah got out of the truck before it exploded, just Wolverine wakin' me up . . . . Ah was hurt bad, but Ah didn't tell him. Ah knew there wasn't anything he could do . . . Ah just didn't wanna tah die alone." She told Jean softly, suddenly needing to get all this out, Logan wasn't a big talker, "Ah finally collapsed just a bit away from a cave, to which Logan carried me. He tried tah help me, but there wasn' anythin' he could do. He was checking mah injuries when he finally saw mah stomach. Yah see, when we crashed, apparently the seat had been forced forward and the seatbelt had hurt me real bad."

Jean paled a bit at these words, knowing what kind of injuries could have arisen.

"Ah was unconscious, but Ah guess he touched me. Ah had warned him earlier, told him he couldn't touch mah skin . . . but Ah guess he didn't listen. So he tried to assess how bad it was by touchin' mah stomach with his bare hands . . . . Suddenly Ah was all fixed, Ah had a new psyche in mah head, and he was unconscious on the floor next tah me . . . Ah thought he was dead, but luckily, his mutation kept him alive . . . . We've been travelin' together ever since." Marie finished, rubbing her knuckles, a trait she'd picked up from Logan.

Professor Charles Xavier finally made his presence known, "And you've been traveling together for five months since then, unknowingly evading Sabertooth the whole time due to your restless natures."

Marie jumped up, having missed sensing him because she was so caught up in her tale. She stood protectively in front of Logan, "How do you know that?"

~Everyone here has their special gifts.~ He told her telepathically.

"And yur's are telepathic, stay out our heads Wheels." The Logan in her demanded, "The mind is a private place."

"Of course. I apologize. I just did a background check to ensure the safety of my school and the children entrusted in my safekeeping. I am Professor Charles Xavier, the creator of the X-Men. Welcome to my home."

"Ah know who yah are, what this place is, and as for why yah were there, right now, Ah don't care."

The professor simply raised an eyebrow, but continued to try and get some information about Sabertooth from her.

Awhile later, the Professor had given up hope of trying to get any more information out of, Rogue, as she insisted, not revealing her, or the muscular man's true names.

He was about to try and as one last question when he noticed Marie try to cover a yawn.

"Ah, you must be tried. I apologize for neglecting that you've had a hard day. I'll have Ororo show you to a room . . ."

"That's ok." Marie quickly interrupted, "Ah'm not leavin' his side."

"She can sleep on the other med-bed Professor." Jean offered.

Xavier nodded his approval, "If you insist Rogue. But we must talk as soon as your travel companion awakens."

"If that's what he wants, we will . . . but what about all our things? Ah wasn't able to grab anything before that big ass jet brought us here. Everything we own in the world is in that trailer and motel room."

Xavier indicated agreement, "I will make arrangements to have them brought here immediately." Then he rolled out of the room.

Jean turned to Marie as soon as the doors closed behind the professor, "I'll lock the door behind me so you won't be disturbed. Only Scott, Ororo, Professor Xavier and myself are able to get in here when it's locked, so you're safe."

"Thank you Dr. Grey."

Jean smiled kindly at the girl, "Get some rest Rogue."

Jean dimmed the lights, then left the room.

Once Marie was positive they were gone with her enhanced senses, she hopped off her bed, and pulled up Logan's sheet, and curled up next to him on his. The familiar sound of his steady heartbeat soon lulled her to sleep.

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Please, I want replies, I know it sounds pathetic, but I live for feedback, good or bad! I need to know what you think so I know where to go with this.

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