Missing6

Disclaimer: See chapter 1

Distribution: Anywhere someone would like to post it, just ask. **My thanks to Kari Jo and the others who have asked to post it.**

Author's note: My thanks to Khaki, Jessyca, Faedyn, Kyrie and Mandy K. for your continued support and friendship. Also thanks to all the reviewers. Without them I don't think I could continue. Thanks guys, you continue to inspire me. If you like this story check out All Good Things by Faedyn, Kyrie and yours truly.

Rated: R – language, hint of sex and other stuff. MAJOR TISSUE ALERT

CHAPTER 6 – LOVE BE LOST

They were able to leave the scene before the authorities came. But none of them saw the figure in the shadows taking pictures or saw that when the figure turned to leave it shimmered and changed.

They finally were able to coax Logan to get into the van. He still would not release her body. It was like he was trying to will her back to life. After his final scream into the wind, he seemed to have given up. Tears still streamed down his face but silently. He moved as if he were a puppet. When Scott and the professor told everyone that they should go, he didn't even acknowledge them. He just got up from the ground, picked her body up and carried her to the van. Talking to her softly.

"I'm so sorry sweetheart. I should have been here for you. I should have protected you like I promised. I love you so much. God, I love you. Please forgive me." He sat in the back of the van sobbing softly as he held her body. The rest of her friends were also in shock. Scott was driving, but by instinct alone. The professor was in deep concentration, trying to block out the others emotions for now, so that he could focus on what had to be done. He was damning himself for not finding her in time. He was also damning Magneto for what he had done. Jean and Storm just cried softly to themselves. Just holding each other. But they all kept their eyes on Logan, expecting him to self-destruct anytime, like he did when he had found out that she was missing. They wished that he would explode. They were actually afraid of him and for him, in the state that he was in now.

When they got to the mansion, they went in the back way. Scott didn't know why, there wasn't anyone there. But he did it anyway. When they opened the back of the van and Scott tried to take Rogue's body from Logan, he seemed lose what sanity he had left.

"Get the hell away from us, you red-eyed freak! No one and I mean no one touches her but me. Do I make myself perfectly clear!" Growled Logan as he unsheathed and sheathing his claws menacingly.

With that he pocketed the tags and lifted her body tenderly and lovingly. They went to the Medlab, where he laid her gently down on an examination table. He then turned without even a glance at the others and went to the corner of the room, in the shadows. There he crouched and waited. None of them knew what he was waiting for or why, they didn't ask. They just left him alone. For now.

Scott took Ororo's (storm) arm and took her to her room on the advice of Jean. The professor and Jean put on their professional faces. There were matters that they had to attend to.

Xavier called a friend at the local funeral home. He asked that the preparations be done at the mansion. This was Rogue's true home and this would be where the service would be held. She would also be buried in his family's crypt.

"She had become like a daughter to me." He thought. "But even I could not protect her." "Rogue please forgive me." He should have never let her join the team. He felt that she would be alive today if he would have said no when she asked to join. He wheeled himself over to his desk. He searched the desk until he found the phone number he was looking for. He called the safe house where he had sent the other children. He spoke to the caretaker and explained the situation. He advised the caretaker which children he would like to come home to attend the service. He didn't want everyone there. After he hung up the phone, his shoulders slumped and he finally gave into his emotions. He let the tears come. He cried for Rogue, for her brief life and the life that she would never live. She also cried for both Logan and Rogue, for the life that they would never share. He was aware for sometime that there was a connection between the two, but he would not get in the way of the natural order of things. He thought they would see it for themselves, but then this happened. He left the study and went to his room to meditate. He would have to get himself ready for the next few days. He also vowed to find out where Magneto and the others were. He would make them pay, that he promised. Erik was no longer his friend. He had crossed the line. He was now his enemy.

On the way to his room, Xavier decided to stop by the Medlab to check on Jean. When he went in he noticed that Logan was gone from his place in the corner. Jean was working on Rogue's body, taking what appeared to be samples. Because of Rogue's mutation, Xavier would not allow an autopsy.

"Jean, where is Logan?" Xavier asked carefully. He knew Logan must not be in the area because Jean was touching the body. (He couldn't bring himself to say her name). Jean turned around from her duties. "I don't know professor. One minute I was talking to him, trying to get him to rest. He wouldn't even acknowledge I was here. He just kept staring at her like a wounded animal. I turned around to get a sedative for him. When I turned back around, he was gone. I don't know where he went. I can't even sense his thoughts. I'm worried about him. We haven't just lost Rogue, I think we've lost Logan too." She began to sob.

"I am worried about him too Jean, very much so." Said Xavier. "In his present state of mind there is no way of predicting what he will do."

"I'm afraid he might do something stupid and irrational. It's like his soul has been taken from him. When he looked at me his eyes looked 'empty'." Jean said sadly.

At that moment Scott came in the Medlab. He looked around but didn't say anything about Logan. At that moment, in his mind, he blamed Logan. If he had been here and not screwing around somewhere, this would not have happened. He knew, in the back of his mind, that this was not true. It might still have happened either way. Scott also blamed himself, he had promised that they would find her but he had not kept that promise. He had also lost someone dear to him, someone whom he had come to love, like a sister.

"Jean, why don't you finish here and come with me. You need to rest too. You look like you are ready to drop. Please." Scott pleaded while holding out his arms. She looked into his 'eyes'. She knew they were sad and weary. Even behind his ruby quartz glasses.

"He's right Jean, you need your rest. We all do for what is to come." Xavier said.

Scott finally spoke up. "Okay, where is the Logan?"

"We don't know Scott. I do 'sense' him, he is still somewhere on the grounds. He is full of anger and despair. We had better leave him alone for now. I will keep an 'eye' on him so to speak." Xavier said.

Jean turned around. "I'm finished. I was just thinking that in the time that Rogue was alive, the most she was ever touched or held was the when Logan held her body from the building to here." She had tears in her eyes again. "Scott, please take me out of here." She folded into Scott's arms, feeling them close in around her and feeling his love for her. She knew that he was thinking that this could be them someday. She was thinking the same thing.

They closed the door of the surgical room, turned on the cooling unit and turned off the lights. Good-bye my friend Jean said in her mind as she let Scott lead her to their room. She was dreading tomorrow and what was to come.

When they passed the library, they never noticed Logan in the room, getting mind numbing drunk. Healing factor be damned. "Fuck them all." He thought as he drank his second bottle of the professor's good whiskey. He didn't want to feel anything at all. His life meant nothing to him any longer. He screwed up royally this time and now Marie is dead and he wished he were also. He threw the empty bottle against the wall.

"Screw this." He thought. "I need to get away from here. I can't be in this place right now. Everywhere I look, I see her!" Logan stumbled out of the door carrying another bottle of the professor's finest.

He went to the woods surrounding the mansion. There he tried the first of many attempts to end his life. To be with his love forever, even if it was in death. But his damnable mutation would not let him. He growled in drunken frustration. He fell to his knees crying. He would not go back to the mansion or that life again. He was the lone wolverine again. There was nothing there for him any longer. Xavier and his ideas can go straight to hell. Damn, the whole world can go to hell. Logan thought bitterly. He finally passed out, also dreading tomorrow.

He fell into an alcohol-induced slumber. He dreamt that he was lying in a field of green and in his arms he held his Marie. She was whole and beautiful. Her hair was down and the white streaks were blowing in the wind. He held her naked body against his own without any fear about her mutation. They made love, soft and leisurely. He touched and explored every part of her without any worries or inhibitions. In his dream he heard her say the words he had longed to hear, "I love you Logan, with all my heart and soul. I will never leave you." "I love you too Marie, forever." Logan said over and over again while making love to her. In the real world, Logan moaned in his sleep and a single tear fell onto the ground.

When the morning came, it found the mansion in a somber mood. Jubilee and Kitty were the only students that were in attendance. The professor did not want many of the students to attend just in case this was not an isolated incident. He did not want more deaths on his hands. The closed casket bearing Rogue's body was in the library. The mess of the night before was already cleaned up. There were red roses everywhere. It was her favorite flower. It was as beautiful and delicate, but also strong, as she was.

They all paid their respects in their own way. Scott and Storm had tried to find Logan, but they were unable to. It was if he had vanished off the face of the earth. The professor had told them they he still sensed him, but that he was in great emotional turmoil. "He does not want to be found at this time. We should respect his wishes." Storm had tried to protest but Xavier told her, "Believe me when I tell you that it is better this way."

They proceeded to the cemetery. As they went, they again failed to see the two figures in a car across the street taking pictures. When they got to the crypt, they carried Rogue to the door. They did not see a solitary figure standing by the trees. The priest said some things and then it was their turn. Each took their turn saying things about Rogue. Scott and Jean said, while holding each other, that they came to love Rogue as a sister and that she will truly be missed.

Storm came forward and placed a silk scarf on the casket. "I will miss you dearly dear friend. You will never have to worry about being afraid of being touch again. You are with the wind and sun now. Fly free."

When it came to Xavier's turn, he came forward. "When I first met Rogue, she was shy and unsure about herself. She blossomed into a strong young woman. I came to love her as you all did, but as a daughter. I will miss you greatly my dear."

Xavier faced the gathering. "We all know that one of our members is missing today. He is dealing with this his own way and I respect that. I know that he had come to love Rogue deeply. Logan, more than any of us, has lost the most. He had just found love for probably the first time in his life and now it is lost to him." "You will live in our hearts. Rest in peace, Marie." With that said they all walked away.

Logan was there, he was watching from the safety of the trees. He was unshaven (even for him), he looked and felt like hell. But he was dressed in clean clothes. The blackened dog tags were back around his neck. He had gone back to the mansion when everyone had gone. He had stood in the library looking at all the flowers. He could still smell everyone's sorrow.

He had followed them to the cemetery and watched from the trees as they carried Marie to her final resting-place. He did not go down, he could not face anyone.

He still couldn't put his finger on it but something was bothering him. When he had woke up from his dream, (god he had wished he could have remained there forever), he felt something was wrong. There was a nagging at the back of his mind, but he figured it was all that had happened and also wishful thinking. Marie was dead and that was all there was.

As the service proceeded, he looked on with no feeling whatsoever. He was beyond feeling. He never wanted to feel again. The only thing he would ever feel again would be revenge. He was going to track down those son of a bitches and make them pay. And pay dearly. Then he would find a way to join his Marie.

Everyone had gone by this time. Marie was in the cold, damp building below. He left the safety of the trees. He went down to the crypt and as he approached the door, Logan unsheathed one of his claws. Never feeling the pain or seeing the blood that dripped between his fingers. He broke the lock and chain. He went into the building, he didn't need any light to see where he was going. He knew exactly.

Logan approached where she lay. He placed his hand upon the cold surface and poured his heart out to her. "Marie, my love. I am so sorry that I left you that day. I was afraid of the new feelings I was having, especially about you, so I did what I do best, I ran. I never told you that I loved you. And how you had became the best thing in my life. You made me feel again, something I had not done in fifteen years. You made all the nightmares go away. You replaced them with love. But I was a stupid fool. You were the love of my life and now you are lost to me forever. But I promise you this, I will make them pay for what they have done to you. And this promise I will keep."

"Good-bye my love. Rest in peace." Tears were silently streaming down his face as Logan placed a single white rose upon the casket and walked away……

He never noticed the mysterious stranger making a tape of his every move ----

TBC

**So what do you think? Reviews are always welcome, good or bad. Don't worry surprises in the next couple of chapters**