"How much longer do I have to stay out of training, Rogue? I'm completly healed and there's not even any sign of a scar....." Tara closes her eyes, then opens them to glare at her teammates. Rogue shakes her head. "It's just until Landon approves that you have a good bill of health. At the moment no training....." "I'm going to go have a talk with Landon,"Tara announces as she makes her way out of the control room and into the hall where Landon was waiting after their training session. Rogue shakes her head once more, listening to their argument. A reminder of hers and Logan's. "Will you please say yes? It would save me the trouble of hurting you, Landon." This got a laugh from him. "Tara, you haven't hurt me since we met. I doubt you'd start now...give it a few more days, okay?" "I hate you." "Me, too." Rogue knew there was more truth to that last statement then most people would think with how careless he said it. Landon did hate himself and made no secret of it. Kind of similar to Logan, she realizes without even meaning to think of him. She doesn't move from her position looking over the training room. Her mind was replaying what happened earlier.

"Hello, Marie....do you know where Logan is? He promised to help me with something....." What would Jean need Logan's help for?she wondered as she stared down at the training room, intently. Footsteps startle her and she turns, coming face to face with Scott, very close. She quickly notices the worry in his eyes and the strange glint to them. "Scott, is something wrong?"Rogue questions, placing one hand on his arm,"You don't look so well." "I'm fine, Marie....have you seen Jean?" She blinks, confused. "Jean?" "Yeah, Jean, my wife? Have you seen her?" "Not for awhile...Logan was suppoused to be helping her with something. I figured you knew about it..." She shrugs and begins cleaning under one of her nails with another in an attempt to look as if she could care less what Logan was doing. Scott's next words snap her out of the fake uncaring posture. "She's beeen gone for hours. Our room's a mess and my car's gone, Logan, too. Even the Professor can't find any reading for her. Mental or physical.." "So it's like she just vanished?" He nods. "Seems like it." Rogue bites her lip, tasting blood. She starts out the door and down the hall after a moment.

"Marie, where are you going?" "I'm going to talk to Charles. Something would have to be wrong 'cause Jean ain't this irresponsible and Logan wouldn't do anything stupid with her state of mind." "What's wrong with her state of mind?"Scott questions, catching up to her and following her toward the office of Charles Xavier. Rogue sighs. "Don't pretend, Scott. Everyone knows she isn't completly right, hasn't been since you two lost the baby." She doesn't bother to knock on the door, but simply walks in. Her face can't cover the suprise at seeing both Ororo and Bobby seated in Charles' office, watching him intently. Xavier lifts his head. "Nice of you to join us, Rogue, Cyclops,"he says, using their codenames rather then given names,"Please sit." Rogue settles into the chair beside Bobby as Scott took the one on the other side of the room where she would have rather sat. He barely looks at her before returning his full attention to the professor. Xavier's vacant look was gone, replaced by one that was sad and held years of pain and misery. "Charles, what's wrong?" The questions comes from Scott who studies their mentor, intently. "My worst fears have come to light, Scott. My fears for Jean have been right...."

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Logan listened to the sound of everything around him without bothering to open his eyes. He could smell everything around him. Blood, waste, dirt, death. The strongest was waste or blood. His head didn't hurt like a normal person's would after whatever had happened to him. He tries once more, unsuccessfully to move his arms from their position against his chest. A heavy beam of some sort held him tightly in place against whatever his prison was. "Stop fighting it, Logan. It's much easier on you that way..." The voice stops his movements and his worried thoughts about Jean. He could smell her and also blood, her blood. For the longest time he'd been worried that something had happened to her. There'd been no sound from her and only the smell of blood. "You were actually worried about someone other then sweet little Rogue? How touching...." Logan forces his eyes open without much difficulty and tries to make out the room around him. The only thing he was sure of was the darkness and shapes looming up around him. "Jean, where the hell are we?"he demands, glaring in the direction he hopes she is. Her laugh shows him he's wrong. "Not over there, Logan. It was touching. Your last thought was about poor Jean....pity it took so much, isn't it?"

Logan growled in response then regretted the action as it came back to him, magnified. "Oh, sorry. I wouldn't make too much noise in this room. What you say can really hurt this way..." Her laughter this time is as if her words were a joke of some sort. Logan didn't get the joke. "Would you stop talking in damn riddles and explain something, Jean? Anything?" There's silence for a few momments and he wonders if she'd left him alone or if he'd been talking to her mentally without knowing it. "Not mentally, dear Logan, physically. I'm right here. Explain something? Yes, I believe I will..." Silence for a little longer as he struggles to break free of the bonds holding him. Jean's reply is short and oddly familiar when she does answer. "We're not the people you left behind and forgot about..."

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If you don't recognize this phrase then you should re-read the first chapter. Someone else says this statement to Logan when he returns. Peace to my one reviewer, Anything but Ordinary3. The nice part of me kicked in and forced me to write this even though I should have been working on my Bio. 2 Project. *stares at the strange project then hides it under her bed until time for school*