He had been playing head games with Marie for over a year now. It was something that he himself never meant to have done, but couldn't stop himself - for what ever reason.
Jean was still not married to Scott - but they were together. He held on to such strong feelings for her, and yet wanted Marie to be there as a fall back. Walking around Logan became like walking in a land mine field. It was always the same, when Jean would turn down another one of his advances, he in turn would take it out on Marie. Then it happened, Marie finally blew up at him. Told him that she'd had enough and that she wasn't going to take anymore from him. She was better then that and deserved better. From that day on, for the next few weeks Logan and Marie steered clear of each others path. That's when it must have finally smacked him in the face, as to what he was doing to her. Marie, on the other hand was having so many different emotions running through her. She was sad that she couldn't be with whom she'd called her best friend for years.
Logan was gone. He had left several times before, but this time was different. He wouldn't be coming back. Even though she was mad at him, she didn't want to believe that he wasn't coming back. If he didn't touch her before he left, she would still have held onto hope. Marie now was basically tried of what Logan was doing to her, and what she was doing to herself, in turn she was a bit happy for the distance he put between them. She wanted to try again to have a "normal life" but couldn't find it inside herself.
Logan was in the bar, replaying the events that brought Marie into his life. No matter how many beers he downed, it wasn't helping. He was so pissed off at himself as to how he had treated "his Marie". The one person that he could remember loving him unconditionally - with no real strings attached other then some acknowledgement of affection. It did hit him as to why he was being difficult with her. After a long night of drinking and sleep Logan knew that he couldn't go on hurting Marie like that. He couldn't be in touch with her ever again, he had to find and try to move on without her and Jean. He knew that she would come looking for him after she calmed down - he knew coz a part of him was in her - he'd go looking for her. Nights and days passed and Logan was devising different schemes in order to stop Marie, Charles or anyone else for that matter come after him. "Logan's death" would stop her. It was something that he wished to be maybe true. Something to try and free himself from the mutants and mainly Marie - not being able to touch her was more of a death sentence to him then anything.
Professor Xavier hated what Logan made him do. But he knew in the end that Marie would die herself if she ever saw the pictures of his death. He was hoping that by backing Logan up he would protect Marie in some way.
It was the end of the rope for her when she heard of Logan's death. It was his death that made her cold and feel alone. She felt so lost without him and even though he was still in her head she felt the emptiness of him within herself. She felt that she couldn't go on without her best friend. Regardless of how he had been treating her the last little while. He still was the one person who never judged her or was afraid to touch her once in a while. She knew what her skin could do and she went to find "her peace".
She told the front desk that she is a volunteer. She spoke to a nurse told her why she was there and what she needed. She was advised to sit in the waiting room while they looked for what she requested.
She sat in the waiting room, waiting for the nurse to come back with the name and room number of the patient. Staring out the window into the sunshine and beam that was breaking through the glass. The ray of light was blinding, squinting her eyes didn't help. So she moving her head slightly to the side when something caught her attention. It was a reflection on the inner side of her tan colored sunglasses. The pattern looked so familiar. It was the pattern of her skin, just underneath her eye. She moved her head again slightly which now reveled her lower lashes, they were long looking. Keeping her head in the same position she looked up, which now she saw her upper lashes, they too were long and plenty. She looked at them from right to left, she'd never seen them looking so beautiful before - not even with a mirror. She then looked forward, dismissing the beam in her eyes as if it wasn't there anymore. There in the middle she saw her eye - it was magnified. The eye glistened with it's own moisture. It was so clear for a reflection. The closer she focused, she could see her veins. She swore that she could almost make out the faint movement as the blood rushed through them. She zeroed in on her pupil. There the little black hole so held her secrets and life. It was like it replaying the events in her life, then she saw things that never happened - not that she remembered. It was like, it was the opening to her - soul. She was violently pulled from her state by the nurses hand on her shoulder. She hated the nurse for taking her away, but at the same time was grateful - as she could feel that she was actually slipping into unconsciousness.
They walked in silence for a while, this is where Marie's mind shifted to Logan. She thought he was invincible, that he had lived and survived so long that he always would. She must have taken Logan by complete surprise, he thought she was dead........ that he'd killed her. Apparently Deathstrike was stronger then he thought, she was the stronger of the two. She wished that Professor Xavier didn't tell her how she killed him. For she had day and night mares of a indestructible blade and his severed head rolling. Her heart began beating fast and hard in her chest, as if it was trying to escape and get away from the pain that it was feeling. Her body jerked when the nurse began to speak. Telling her the patients name, didn't tell her what was wrong with him, only that he was terminally ill and only had a few hours left in him. Told her how he'd been here for a while and had no family or no visitors, other then the staff. They stopped in front of a door where the nurse turned to tell her that either another nurse or herself would be back in a half an hour to give him a needle - pain killers. "He's okay now, but we don't want him to feel anything at all" She told Marie.. "Why pain killers, is he in that much pain"? Marie asked "Yes" the nurse answered. "Well I wont be any longer then half an hour and soon he wont be in so much pain". And Marie walked in the room, leaving the nurse outside. She knew what Marie meant - or at least she thought she did.
She walked into the room, it so smelled of sickness. There in the corner at the end of the tiny room was the patent lying in their bed, covers pulled up under their armpits. She pulled a chair up to his bed side. He was a frail old man, looked to be about 90 years old. Skin had more wrinkles then she'd seen in a very long time. The wrinkles held his whole life story and she'd know all about that soon enough. She began talking to him softly. Telling him that considering he is on pain killers that he won't feel a thing. That all his pain would soon be over and there'd be no more need for him to suffer. He opened his eyes and looked at her. This was unexpected and she was taken by surprise. His blue eyes were still bright and she felt as if they pierced her. She was amazed that his eyes still looked as if they had life left in them. Then she began to think of what she show in her own sunglasses earlier on. She snapped out of it by his voice. "An angel... "Then his eyes closed and back into his slumber he fell. Her mind kept playing those two little words over and over again. She couldn't believe that he thought she was an angel. His heart monitor machine beeped, she looked up and show that his heart rate dropped, she'd didn't know everything about how the machine worked, but she did see enough at the Mansions medical lab to know that time was coming to a close for him. She looked down at her hands, slowly she began taking off her gloves. She placed them on the arm rest and made herself more comfortable. She gently picked up his right hand and placed it in hers then rested her left hand on top of his. His life force was weak, very weak as she began to pull him. She closed her eyes and waited to see what stories he was going to tell her. But he didn't, he talked to her in the now. Told her how grateful he was that she was here, he's been waiting for her. At this, she didn't understand what he was talking about, brushed it off thinking that what ever illness he had was taking a poll on him. Told her that she was beautiful - he knew that an angel would be. Even the angel of death. He thought that she was the angel of death coming for him and that he was happy that she was taking him away from all his pain. How he never thought that death like this would be cheating death. But a blessing in disguise. He thanked her and she could hear his cry though his words, but they weren't tears of sadness but tears of happiness. Knowing that he'd soon be in a better place and that he would be at peace, with her by his side. From that point on he was silent. She felt his sickness rushing through her body and she began to cry not at the idea of death but by the words he spoke to her. She opened her eyes and looked at his face, she wasn't as shocked as she thought she should have been. He had a smile on his face and this in turn made her smile. And for the first time in her whole life she finally felt the peace that she had been wanting and looking for the longest time. Even being an X-men she couldn't find this feeling. The first time in her life she felt that her mutation was not a curse and a hindrance. She finally got a chance to use her powers and it was for good. With that thought, she closed her eyes again and a single tear ran down her cheek. She let a small smile escape her lips as she thought that she might be seeing Logan soon. She leaned her head back. She never let his sickness hurt her as she fell into complete darkness and peace. There was no more pain or hurt, never again.
The news got back to Logan, quickly. It didn't take him long to find such a blade and make true of his scheme. There was no way he was staying behind if Marie wasn't.