Runaway

Darkness and rain were all that surrounded Rogue as she stumbled along some road in some place she didn't know.

She'd tried hitching a ride and that's what had put her in this strange place. The man who'd picked her up had named no destination when she'd told him to just get her away from Bayville, so she had no idea where he'd taken her in the three hours they'd ridden in his car.

It was very woodsy though, wherever it was, which made her shudder at the thoughts of what all that man might have done to her in this isolation. Luckily she'd been able to get away with a few of Logan's self-defense moves when the jerk had started hinting that she owed him something for the ride she'd gotten so far and would give him a lot more if she wanted his 'kindness' to continue.

After that she wasn't about to try thumbing for rides again, even if her legs didn't want to carry her much further and the rain was getting colder and soaking her to the skin.

Sniffling back the tears that still wanted to keep falling she huddled deeper into her cloak and forced herself to continue moving.

Light from an approaching vehicle became vaguely visible in the distance and just to be safe she moved into the concealing woods along the road.

Even when she saw that it was a motorcycle traveling the otherwise deserted road, she stayed in the safety of the trees.

The bike with its lone rider zoomed past her position then screeched to a near halt a few feet down the road. She froze, thinking she had been spotted somehow until the bike again picked up speed and roared out of sight.

Musta been something in the road, she realized and the thought disturbed her.

She had no flashlight with her and clouds from the storm covered any bit of the moon or stars from providing any light for her. All she'd been doing for the longest time now was following the bright white line that ran along the edge of the road and was just visible in the darkness. Anything could be lurking in her path and she wouldn't know it until she was upon it.

The imagery the thought evoked in her head was enough to make Rogue want to fall to the ground and curl up into a tight little ball until dawn broke through the night, but she couldn't do that.

Instead she reminded herself firmly that she was the Rogue and returned to blindly following that thin white line, which she hoped would soon lead her to civilization.

Unfortunately, her body had been through too much lately and didn't seem able to hold on until she found some safe place to rest.

After covering maybe five more miles, her legs gave out and she dropped to her knees on the graveled shoulder of the road.

"Lasted longer that I thought you would, kid," a gruffly familiar voice said behind her with a hint of admiration.

Disbelieving her ears, she turned quickly toward the voice and fell back on her butt as she tried to see through the pitch-black night to find the source of those words.

"Logan?!" she finally gasped when she could see nothing.

Gravels crunched and shifted under his steel-toe booted feet as he moved to kneel beside her so that she could make out his features in the darkness.

"How did you - " she began.

"I'll explain later. Right now we need to get outta this rain and put you into some dry clothes before you catch pneumonia."

With that he stunned her further by scooping her up in his arms and rising to his feet.

"Yer ahlways tha one pickin' me up when Ah fall," she realized aloud as she grabbed his shoulders to keep from falling.

Knowing she hadn't been talking to him, Logan held her tighter to his chest and carried her the two miles back down the road where he'd left his motorcycle concealed in the woods.

"It was you," she said to him this time when she saw the bike. "You were tha one on the motorcahcle that passed me and ya did know Ah was in tha woods. That's whah ya slammed on tha brakes."

He didn't answer her.

He just settled her gently on the back seat of the bike, strapped his helmet on her head then climbed on in front of her and started the machine with the order to hang on.

Trusting him as she always instinctively knew to, she slid her arms around his waist and did just that.

~*~*~

"Ah cahn't go back thare."

Logan turned his attention from the TV he'd been channel surfing on to look at the tearful girl standing in the opened doorway to the bathroom inside the cheap motel room they'd checked into. The words she'd spoken had been little more than a broken whisper, perhaps meant as only a thought she spoke aloud to herself, but his sensitive hearing heard it even over the television.

"I ain't here to make ya, kid," he said simply as he pressed the off button on the remote and rose to face her.

The hot shower she'd taken had put some color back into her skin, but she was still wet and shivering from the cold she'd been exposed to. She was pretty much huddled in the doorway, leaning against the frame, her arms wrapped protectively around her waist and her head tipped toward the floor so that strands of her wet hair fell over it – concealing her features.

Silently he stepped around her into the bathroom to grab a towel from the rack. He frowned at finding none of them damp, indicating she'd made no effort to dry herself after the shower.

Shaking his head to rid it of the sudden images he had of what all could have happened to her in this fragile state when she was unable to take care of herself in such a minor way, he moved to stand in front of her and began gently using the towel he held to squeeze the moisture from her hair.

"Whah are ya here, Logan?" she finally tipped her head back to look into his eyes.

His hands continued to dry her short hair while he said nothing, but there was something in his deep brown gaze that told Rogue the answer was somehow in the look he was giving her. Her mind was too worn out to decipher the meaning of such a look, so she lifted a gloved hand to place it firmly on his wrist and stop the motions of one of his hands.

"Whah are ya here, Logan?" she repeated.

A drop of water ran from her hair down her face like a tear and he moved the hand she wasn't holding to wipe the droplet away. She was surprised to note that his hands were both safely encased in leather gloves.

"You shouldn't be alone right now, kid," he finally answered.

"Stop cahllin' me kid," she ordered as she moved away from him. "Ah stopped bein' a kid a long tahme ago, if Ah evah even was one ta begin with."

"Ok," the corner of his lip curled upward a bit at her anger. "No more kid, I'll keep it Rogue and Stripes."

Reluctantly she smiled a little herself at him making her feel at bit foolish for her reaction.

"Ah'm not too big a fan of Strahpes eithah," she said as she sat on the edge of the bed.

"Well then you're just running me all out of options," he joked as he took a seat next to her. "I've gotta be able to call you more than just Rogue."

He almost playfully threw an arm around her shoulders and as her thoughts became serious, she automatically turned in that arm to rest her head against his chest.

"Ah had anothah name once," she quietly whispered against him.

"I figured as much since we all just kinda dubbed ya "Rogue" for being on the run," the man now holding her gently said.

The rumble of his chest against her ear as he spoke and the way his gloved hand was absently stroking her back, soothed and distracted the girl for a moment before she remembered what she'd been about to reveal.

"It was Marie," she looked up into his eyes to inform him. "Mah name, Ah don't really know if it's mah real one or anahthang, but Ahrene used ta call me Marie."

"Ya didn't have to tell me that," he said with a tender smile as he stroked a finger down her cheek.

"Ah know," she nervously lowered her eyes to his chest and whispered, "Ah wanted to."

"Thank you and it's a pleasure to meet you, Marie."

A shiver ran through her and she told herself it was caused by the fact it had been so long since anyone had called her by her 'given' name and had nothing to do with the way he said her name.

For long moments they just sat there, her body pressed tightly to his side and chest as his soothing hands stroked her back.

"Ya wanna talk about it?" he finally broke their comfortable silence to prompt gently.

Having actually forgotten what events had led to this situation for a brief time in his arms, the reminder from his lips caused her body to tense as she swallowed back her emotions.

"Ah cahn't," she whispered hoarsely.

"I'm not big on talkin' either, ki – Marie, but it'll help ya to get it out."

"No, it won't. Nuttin will help me," she looked up at him with tears forming in her green eyes, "Ah killed her."

"No you - "

"Ah did, Logan," she jumped up and began pacing. "She was alahve in that stone and Ah coulda saved her and instead Ah killed her."

"Rogue, the Prof. did every test known to man on that statue and a few more only he coulda thought of and there was no sign of life. Kurt told us what that woman said and all she could promise was if Mystique was alive only you could help her. That's a pretty damned impossible if, so don't beat yourself up over this," he tried to calm her.

"No. She was alahve. Kurt and Ah both knew it, could sense it. Ah could feel her reachin' out ta me, askin' for mah help and Ah snapped. You wahrn't thare. Ya didn't see yerself shove her through the rahlin' or hear tha othah's gasp in horrah or tha statue hittin' and breakin' up on the rocks or …" her voice broke. "Ya didn't hear Kurt scream."

She buried her face in her hands, muffling the rest of her emotional outburst.

"He begged me not ta let tha hate destroy me lahke it had her and Ah went and did somethin' worse than Mystique evah did. Ah killed her. Nevah in any of her plots and plans had she wanted me dead, but Ah killed her. She was Kurt's mothah and mahne, too, in her way. She's tha one that put me with Ahrene and made sure Ah had some kind of lahfe before mah skin kicked in. She tried ta help me when everahone Ah'd absorbed wanted ta control me. Tha onlah reason she helped Mesmero tahke ovah mah head was because she thought it was tha onlah chance eithah of us had at survahval. Ah know and knew ahll that and AH killed her, Logan! How can Ah not beat mahself up ovah that? Ah'm a murderah now."

In that moment, as she ran out of words and surrendered to the bone jarring sobs that had been building up inside her, Logan realized nothing he did or said would ever change that opinion she now had of herself.

Cursing the dead shapeshifter one last time for even in death wreaking such havoc in this girl's life, he leap to his feet with a growl and wrapped her in his arms to do the only thing he could.

Comfort her and just make sure she knew he hadn't left her alone.

Pressing his face against her still damp hair, he hoped that somehow she'd come to realize he'd never be far from her and always right within reach when needed.