A/N: This chapter features Mary Jane Parker of Spiderman and Lois Lane Kent of Superman. Generally, MJ is in her Spiderman movie persona and LLK is in the Lois and Clark persona.
Two Months Later
Marie walked into a posh Westchester coffee house to find the Mary Jane and Lois were all ready there halfway through their coffees all ready.
"Well, there you are," Lois declared. "What took you?"
Marie sat down, a white scarf covering her hair, dark sunglasses over her eyes, and long opera gloves on her arms. "It was a nightmare getting her today. The traffic was terrible."
Mary Jane nodded, "How are you? We haven't seen you in like two weeks."
"I know," Lois said. "I haven't seen you since I interviewed Cliff for the Planet. What's going on with you kiddo?"
Marie sighed, "Not much. Cliff decided that he doesn't want to me work at the mansion after all, so basically I've been staying home, watching soap operas…"
"Whoa, wait a minute," Lois interjected. "What do you mean Cliff decided? That was your job Marie, your decision."
"I always thought marriage was about mutual decisions," Marie said.
"It is about mutual decisions," Mary Jane explained. "That is, when those decisions have to do with both of your lives. This is about you and your life. This is about how you spend your time. Cliff shouldn't have done that."
Marie shrugged, "We're both knew at this marriage thing. It'll take some getting used to."
The two more experience wives nodded and the talk turned to other things such as Lois' work, Mary Jane's work, and Marie's chicken pot pie recipe. Finally, Lois, the expert on asking questions at the strangest times asked, "So, how is Logan?"
Marie nearly choked on her café latte. "Why would you ask me that?"
"Because the last time we talked about him, you told us…well, you know what you told us. I was just wondering if you'd seen him since the wedding."
Marie let out a long sigh. She hadn't seen Logan since the wedding. She hadn't heard from him either. Whenever she had been at the mansion, Jean or Scott would say he was fine and that he was mysteriously out somewhere. Marie knew he was avoiding her, that he didn't want to see her. But she missed him. She needed to talk to him.
Lois and Mary Jane noticed Marie's jaw working up and down, trying to choke down tears. Their young friend sniffled, "I haven't talked to him since that day. I haven't seen him. And I really need to talk to him."
Mary Jane put a comforting arm around Marie's shoulder as Marie dabbed her cheeks with a gloved hand.
"Marie," Lois sighed. She didn't know how to approach this thing. "Is it possible…do you…would you like it if Clark or I tried to contact Logan?"
"Wouldn't that be against the rules?" Marie asked taking a deep breath.
"Not really. We wouldn't say it was to interview him or anything. We'd just try and find out where he is so that you can run into him."
"I don't know," Marie said in a small voice.
While Lois and Marie were talking, Mary Jane was watching. She watched the way Marie dabbed at her cheeks. She saw the shadows under her eyes and she felt the flinch when she tightened her arms around the younger woman.
"Marie, why do you have to talk to Logan? Are you and Cliff fighting?" Mary Jane asked.
Marie shook her head, "No. I just miss him. He's my friend and I really miss him that's all."
Mary Jane nodded but didn't buy Marie's response for a minute. She's seen this so many times and she knew it was going to happen. She also knew she couldn't intervene unless Marie was ready to let her.
"I'm going to go by there one last time tomorrow," Marie told her friends. "I have to talk to the professor and I want to make sure Jean calls us when she has her baby."
"Just because you don't work there anymore doesn't mean you can't stop by just to visit," Lois reminded her.
"Cliff said he'd prefer me to stay at home when he's at work," Marie replied.
Lois shook her head. "What is this? 1958? Did you transform into Donna Reed? This is the 21st century. You are an independent woman. You have your rights. Don't let Cliff dictate to you. If you start now your whole marriage will be like that," Lois warned.
Marie nodded in acknowledgement. "I know you are right. But…can we talk about something else?"
Mary Jane shot Lois a look when it looked like she was going to say more on the subject then obliged her friend. "So, did I tell you Peter and I are getting a house?"
The next day after Cliff went off to work, Marie took her four door Volvo and headed for the mansion. This would be the last time she would go there in the morning, and truth be told, Cliff had all but ordered her to stay away from there completely.
Marie should have known by now that when Cliff ordered he meant business. She also knew that if she did walk into the mansion looking as she did, the Professor and Jean would know right away what was happening behind the closed doors of another Westchester mansion.
Marie was almost glad that she hadn't seen Logan in two months. If he looked at her or even smelled her, he would know and she didn't want anyone to know that terrible mistake she had made. She should have went with Logan. He was dangerous and unpredictable, but he loved her and he would protect her. He would never…he would never do what Cliff had done.
It had only been done twice, but twice was enough. She didn't want to experience that fear or pain again, not ever. So she was going to do the hardest thing she'd ever had to do. She was going to have to leave her friends and her life behind her. That was the only thing left to do.
Marie walked up to the mansion door with great apprehension. She didn't want to resign her job there or her position on the team. She wanted to continue to work for the right with her friend, her family, but she knew she couldn't. When she'd signed the marriage certificate, she'd signed her death warrant.
After today, Rogue would be forever dead. And the woman in her place, not even Marei herself would be able to recognize.
When the door opened Marie expected to see Jean or Scott on the other end. Perhaps even Ororo. She was not prepared for who she did see, even though she'd wished it this way time and time again.
"Marie." He simply stated, opening the door for her, ice and coldness emanating from him.
"Hello, Logan."
A/N 2: Sorry this is so short. I've been really busy lately. Things are calming down though so the next chapter will be longer, better and up quicker. Thanks for the great reviews. This story should be done in two or three more chapters.
