I've been trying to get this chapter finished for what feels like forever. I asked you guys to give me 70 reviews so that I would keep focused and on task. Didn't work. This is an... interesting chapter. It is not the chapter where you find out the father but rather an attention-grabbing addition on the way to that well looked forward to chapter. Ooh! Inspiration! What do you think of you choosing the father and me writing it in? Tell me PLEASE!
Chapter 14
Rampant Jealousy On an Interesting Night
Sighing contentedly, Marie snuggled deeper into Logan's chest. They had finished the chocolate milk and chocolate chip cookies long before. Now they were simply enjoying the touch of the other. Reveling in the feel of the other startlingly close. No need to hide their enjoyment. No need to hide their feelings of love, of lust.
When they had decided that night, two weeks ago, that they would tell no one of their affair, they never believed that this would happen. They enjoyed it at first; the secret kisses in darkened hallways, the casual touches that meant so much more, but now... It was hard to keep apart. They couldn't touch the other in the way they wanted to. They couldn't shout their love to the hills. Their relationship had nowhere to go. And it was driving both of them insane. That was why Marie was faced with the situation she was in now. She couldn't help wondering what Logan was thinking. And, she'd reasoned, it wasn't abusing her powers if she forced the Wolverine in her head to tell her what he was thinking. He hadn't said much, but he'd said enough.
Marie had been thinking over what she would say to Logan very carefully. She had come prepared to have an all out fight with him. She just couldn't bring herself to be mad at him now, however. *Maybe...Maybe I'm not mad. Maybe I'm just jealous.* Logan gently kissed the crown of her head. Startled out of her reverie, Marie looked up into his eyes. *Maybe I should just ask him instead of waiting for him to tell me.*
"What chya thinkin' 'bout, darlin'?"
Gathering every ounce of courage in her Rogue said, "Uriko."
(A.N. Okay, a little explanation might be required here. First, Uriko is pronounced as 'yer'=Ur 'e' like the letter=i and co as in the abbreviation for company=ko. Next, since I'll assume everyone reading this has seen X2 she is Lady Deathstrike, which will be explained later. If you have not seen the movie, for shame, she's the one who has really long nails and tries to kill Wolverine. In the Original X-Men Cartoon, the one that I grew up watching, they explain the relationship between Lady Deathstrike and Wolverine in a flashback. Since I have yet to see Lady Deathstrike in X-Men Evolution and only rarely in the comics I will be morphing the explanation in the Original series. It will be mostly the same with some minor changes. Next, duh! Of course she knows about Uriko. Remember this is a blending of all the series. And of all the people on the face of the Earth Rogue has touched Logan/Wolverine the most!!!!!! However, by reading some of the Logan fanfic on this site, it seems that everyone believes her name to be Mariko. I am hearing impaired and had to use captions on the old cartoon show. They spelled it as Uriko. It is possible that the movie has it as Mariko, I don't know. Ahem, please excuse my ranting and continue with the story.)
Logan jumped up in surprise, slowly backing away from Rogue. When his pulse returned to normal he looked down to see a heartsick Marie. "Marie, I..."
"Don't bother Logan," Rogue said standing up and brushing invisible dust off herself. "I know that you loved her. I know that you still love her. (A.N. The movie is really messed up on this subject. Go with the flow.) I know that," she took in a strangled breath, her emotions starting to get the best of her.
"Marie, how...how much do you know?"
"Enough," she said, the anger that she had been searching for before suddenly present.
"Marie, sit down," Logan commanded her pulling her back down to the blanket with him. "I-I want to tell you a story. No, no let me speak my peace," he said placing his hand over her lips and continuing. "Once, a very long time ago, there was a beautiful young woman named Uriko. She was a human. She knew that I was a mutant. She also knew that I was involved in some scary business for the government. She was a wonderful woman, very rare and very special. And, yes, we were in love, until this happened," Logan said pushing his adamantium claws out of his skin. "She's the only thing that I can remember from... before. When I told her that I was leaving she begged me to stay. I told her that the people who wanted to 'talk' to me weren't the kinda people you say no to," Logan pulled his claws back in and continued with his story, always gazing deeply into Marie's eyes. "I promised her that I'd come back to her. When-When I escaped I went back to our house, she was gone. Years later I found her," Logan took a deep breath. "She'd been captured by another sect in some government conspiracy. She'd been brainwashed, they told her-they told her that I'd killed her parents. She'd been implanted with computer chips and there were wires everywhere. She was dressed as a samurai, her once black hair was died blood red, and from the tips of her fingers..." Logan paused and closed his eyes, praying for strength. "From the tips of her fingers were adamantium nails. They called her Lady Deathstrike. She tried to kill me after I'd discovered where she was. I couldn't fight her. I couldn't hurt her. I was to blame for what those bastards did to her. It was my fault that they'd taken her too. Chuck and I, we tried to convince her that I hadn't done anything. That the sect she was 'voluntarily' working for had, in fact, done it. She took a hostage, a little girl. I-I had t-to protect that little girl. We fought, me for the little girl her for her murdered parents. In the end I won. When I put my claws through her chest her eyes, they changed back to the colour they'd been before, an emerald green. I'll never forget the way she looked at me. It was like that was what she'd been hoping for, like she wanted to die. And in the end I think that she realized what had truly happened," Logan closed his eyes again and took long deep breathes.
Rogue had known some of this. She had expected Logan to deny the fact that he was ever in love with someone else. She had expected him to yell and rage over the mention of her name. But actually hearing him tell the story was so much different than how she had originally found out. Marie lifted her hand from her lap and lightly ran it down the side of Logan's coarse cheek. She looked up at him with tears in her eyes, knowing exactly how much it hurt him to tell her. Logan's sea blue eyes opened and he looked down at her. The love and sorrow and protectiveness that was always there seemed to be intensified at that moment.
"Logan, thank you," that seemed so inadequate, but he knew what Marie meant.
"I love you Marie. You are my one, my only. You are my heart and my soul. Never doubt that. No matter what the me in here," he tapped the side of her head, "says. Okay?"
"But, you loved her so much."
"Trust me, darlin', she don't hold a candle to ya."
Yawning, Marie said, "How do you do that?"
"Do what?" he said smirking.
She hit him softly, once more snuggling deep into his hard chest. "You make me feel loved and protected, wanted and needed. You make me feel like no one else could possibly compare to me. You make me feel so...beautiful."
"That, my love," Logan whispered, running his fingers through her brown tresses, " is because you are."
"Hmm, Logan I'm tired."
"I noticed. Let's get you up to bed. It's been a long day."
"I've got a better idea," said Marie with a sudden spark of inspiration.
center******BAMF******/center
"Shit, Marie!"
Rogue giggled and opened her eyes. She kicked off her shoes and asked, as endearingly as possible, "Please?"
Logan took a good look around realizing that she'd used her brother's power to get them to his room unseen. Exhausted, he rubbed his eyes trying to figure out what to say to her.
"Come on, Logan. Just because I want to sleep with you doesn't mean that I'm ready to sleep with you."
Logan opened his weary eyes to a very sardonic looking
Marie. "You can stay if you promise me
something."
"Yay! What?" asked Rogue, excited about getting her way.
"You have to promise to never, ever, ever use Kurt's teleporting powers unless it's absolutely necessary. Do you understand?"
"Um, no not really."
"I can't smell you. I can barely smell me. Everything smells like Kurt."
"Oh," Marie said, understanding dawning on her. "Well, that just means I get to use your shower," she giggled as she skipped into his personal bathroom.
"Woman's gonna kill me," Logan sighed as he took off his shoes and belt. *Why bother to change?* he thought.
30 minutes later
Marie bounded out of the bathroom, one of Logan's old shirts on, to find the fierce Wolverine snoring softly on the bed. Quietly, she turned off the light and crawled under the covers with him. Curling up against the warm body of her love, he subconsciously clung to her, Marie fell into a deep sleep.
In the middle of the night...
Rogue slide out of Logan's bed and out the door without making so much as a whisper. Once at the staircase she floated down to the kitchen, literally. Upon reaching the kitchen doors Rogue touched the ground silently. Walking in, Marie gathered all the necessary instruments for making the two apple pies (one red, one green) and the lemon sponge cake she planned on making that night for dinner. Marie started pealing the apples over the counter and humming softly to herself. If one listened hard enough one could almost make out the tune "I'm gettin' married in the morning" from the musical My Fair Lady. Rogue had been working tirelessly for the good part of an hour when Kitty came in for her usual midnight snack.
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Kitty woke up, yawning. Looking over at Rogue's bed she found it empty and made. Glad that she hadn't missed her, but disappointed that Rogue was out so late, Kitty made her way to the kitchen. What Kitty found in the kitchen, to put it mildly, was disturbing. Rogue was standing over the counter with an apple in her hand. Rogue's eyes were shut and she appeared to be asleep. Her right hand was making a cutting motion and there was a trail of flour from the cabinet to the counter where it sat upside down.
*Oh My God. She's like totally sleep walking. I, like, did a, like, project on this once. You're, like totally not supposed to wake the person up. I should get Jean. She could, like, use her t.k. to move Rogue back to bed.*
**Jean,** Kitty mentally whispered. **Jean, like, wake up. It's so totally important.**
**Kitty, being out of cookies is not important leave me alone,** came the drowsy reply.
**Jean, you're going to, like, wake the Professor up. 'Sides this is important. Rogue's, like, sleep walking.**
**WHAT!** cried Jean, finally looking through Kitty's eyes to see Rogue in the kitchen. Unfortunately, her cry woke almost everyone in the mansion. **Go to the kitchen,** Jean broadcast to everyone she had accidentally woken up.
In less than five minutes half the X-Men were down in the kitchen watching in amazement as Rogue "finished" her "pies." Seeing as things had been moved or had run out since that morning Rogue hadn't exactly gotten the ingredients right. There was flour all over the floor; it completely covered the counter top. One of Rogue's apples was really a peach and the juice had made the flour clump together.
"Maybe we should try to wake her up," Scott suggested, unsure as to how to deal with this.
"No. You should, like, never wake a sleepwalker. I read that it can, like, cause brain damage."
"Well, then what should we do?" questioned Jean.
"I-" Kitty was interrupted by a strangled cry coming from the corner of the room.
**PROFFESSOR! PROFFESSOR, SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH ROGUE!** cried her terrified brother.
Rogue was huddled into the corner of the kitchen crying and whimpering. Kitty and Jean, their maternal instincts taking over, went over to check on her. They were able to make out what she was mumbling once they had reached her, however, and it horrified them.
"Oh my God," Kitty whispered, disgusted.
Upon hearing such a tone from Kitty the others came closer to inspect their friend. And heard the most horrible sounds any being had heard. Rogue was having a nightmare. Not all the words were loud enough but they could make out some, and it wasn't good.
"No, please Papa. I didn' mean tah. Please, no," Rogue started rocking back and forth. "Not again. Please, Papa, please no."
"I called ze Professor. Ve need his help vith Rogue."
"Kurt, like, shut up," Kitty hissed.
At the sound of Kitty and Kurt talking Rogue immediately stopped moving. She sat quietly in the corner for at least a minute. Then she stood up and went to the oven, the X-Men moving out of her way. Rogue put on her oven mitts and pulled open the door to the oven. Taking out her "sponge cake" Rogue placed it on the window, next to her "pies." She replaced her oven mitts and started out the door, the X-Men following silently behind her.
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Rogue made her way down the corridors and towards the Danger Room. All the while wondering what she was going to say to Logan about Uriko. She hummed softly to herself Ordinary Day by Vanessa Carlton.
-Ping-
Rogue tripped and fell onto the wall. Placing her back against the decorated partition she slid to a sitting position, and started to snore softly.
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As soon as the cry went out to the Professor, Alana went to find out was wrong. She ghosted her way down to where Kurt had called. What she saw made her cry out, though none could hear her. There, curled in the corner of the kitchen, lay Marie, small spasms taking hold of her every time she spoke to her "attacker." Quickly, without another thought, Alana ghosted up the levels to Logan's room. She dove into him and set up a temporary mental connection.
**LOGAN WAKE UP ROGUE IS IN DANGER!**
"Uh, Rogue?"
**Yes, she's in the kitchen. GO!**
Directing his movements she had him get up and grab the sheet off his bed. When he started to wake up she let go of the control she had over his body.
"Um, who is this?"
**It's Alana. You must hurry she's talking in her sleep. She might give us all away.**
"Right," Logan said, out loud. He was very uncomfortable having a dead telepath talking to him. As he started jogging down the stairs he asked her, "What's she said so far, in case I gotta cover it up?"
**Nothing much. She was baking pies from this morning. But, then she started telling her 'Papa' not to hurt her. When I find out who did this to my daughter I'll string them up by their toes and torture them with hot pokers.**
Logan kept jogging he was almost to the hallway that led into the kitchen when he realized what the phantom had just said and skidded to a screeching halt. **YOUR WHAT?**
**Logan,** Alana said desperate to get to her daughter, **don't tell, don't talk, just get to her. Just help her. Oh, no she's trying to go to the Danger Room!** With that Alana Shea raced out of Logan's body and down the hall faster than Pietro could even try to imagine going. When she reached Marie she was coming down the hall, on her feet thank heavens. Hoping her plan would work, Alana slowly, carefully entered her daughter's body.
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Racing down the hall, trying to figure out if it disturbed him as much as it should that he'd had the love of his life's mother inside his body, Logan finally arrived at the end of the hall to find Marie's prone floor against the wall.
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Hearing Kurt's frantic cry for help, Professor Charles Xavier woke himself from his deep sleep. Pushing his legs over the side of his bed, he used his bedside table to steady and pull himself into his chair. When Xavier was in his chair he noticed that there was a box on his bedside table that wasn't there before he went to sleep. Curious, he picked up the intricate wooden box and opened the ebony lid. The moonlight from his open window showed a beautiful silver orb. Inscribed on the orb were the words:
"Happy 21st Charles
With Love, Eric"
A lazy wind blew through the window and seemed to wrap around the Professor, embracing him in memories and confirming the truth of his dream.
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Logan wrapped the blanket Alana had made him bring around Rogue, realizing why she'd made him do so. Rogue was only in his flannel shirt and a pair of panties. It wouldn't do if someone made the connection between his flannel and the one she was wearing.
"Rogue," he whispered, using the sheet to rub the side of her cheek as the others came out of the kitchen. *She's not moving. She's breathing, that's a good sign. Alana said she was having nightmares, maybe if I give her some of my healing power it'll fix whatever chemical reaction made her sleep-walk her nightmares in the first place.* Slowly, hoping beyond hope that this would help her as much as it would hurt him, Logan lowered the sheet and touched his two fore-fingers to her pale cheek. It took a few moments for her, recently, subdued power to kick in but it, eventually did. As Logan felt the pull of her power he heard her intake of breath. He watched as her face pulled taunt into a grimace and clouded over with emotion. He watched as, his healing power and memories still emptying into her, Marie's face cleared and a single tear was released from behind her tightly closed lids. He watched as the tear made a steady trail down her porcelain cheek; watched as it traced down the side of his rough fingers on her delicate features. She sniffed gracefully and opened her watery brown eyes to burrow deep into his concerned blue ones. He carefully removed his fingers to pick up the end of the white cotton sheet and wipe away her tear.
Marie looked on silently as he replaced the corner of the sheet so that she was covered. She closed her eyes for a moment before, once again, looking into his eyes. With all the fear and sadness Marie felt she said to Logan, "I like pies."
Slightly surprised, and a little more than afraid that he'd screwed with her brain by touching her, Logan's only response was, "Oh?"
"Not just any pies," Marie whispered, "I like the pies... the pies my mama made. She was showing me how to make them," she explained sadly. "My mama was teaching me how to make apple pies, both red and green. She was telling me how-how," Marie started to cry softly, "you have to put just the right amount of cinnamon in it. Mama was teaching me how to make the lemon sponge cake that I like so much. She's gone Logan," Marie said harshly, the tears falling down faster now. "I can't feel her anymore," Marie touched her chest softly. "My mama's gone and I didn't get to say good-bye."
*Damn,* Logan thought cursing himself for not remembering that along with his powers Rogue also got his memories, especially the most recent ones. "Com' on Stripes," Logan whispered, slyly reminding her that they were in front of the others, "let's get ya back ta bed." She nodded, allowing him to help her up they started towards the stairs.
When they were out of sight Scott came out of his shock first saying, "Alright folks, shows over everyone back to bed," seeing their unwilling or just blank faces he added, "unless you want to have an early morning training session?"
Hurriedly, everyone made their way up the back stairs to their rooms far faster than Rogue and Logan.
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Logan held tightly to Rogue as she cried into his chest whispering over and over again that her mama was gone. When they reached the top of the main staircase Professor Xavier was wheeling down the hall.
"Ah, Logan Rogue," said the Professor acknowledging them. "I was... coming... to see if... everyone was alright- I mean, if everyone was well," they both gave him an odd look.
"You alright, Chuck?" questioned Logan with a raised brow.
"Yes, Logan I am quite well," the Professor steepled his fingers so that they pointed towards the two people he was talking to. Tapping his fingers together he said, "How are you Logan?"
"I'm fine, Chuck. I'm gonna take Stripes back ta bed, excuse us," he tried to maneuver around the wheelchair but the Professor held out a hand to stop him.
"And Rogue, how are you doing? You look... sad?" asked the Professor exaggerating his speech.
Rogue looked over at him, curiously, "Yer the telepath, you tell me."
"Oh. Well, in order to do that you would need to come to my office and talk with me, child."
Gasping, Rogue asked, "Logan too?"
"Yes, Logan may come as well, child," said the "Professor" with a twinkle in his eyes that didn't belong to him.
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Hey guys! I got to fix the chapter while my parents were out. Shhh! Don't tell. My email address has changed too, so I might not have gotten your reviews or any emails you may have sent directly to me. If you sent a letter to me please re-send it as I don't believe any of the mail I've gotten in the past week or so has been transferred to my new account. I'll try to update on Only Him, too. But it might take a while!
With hope that my parents will go out a lot,
Desert-Rose6