Hank tapped his chin as he read up on the information of the "top-coat" as it was now called as opposed to gel-goo-crap, which for some reason, Rogue was very happy to call it in front of Jean. And for some reason this made Scott blush profusely and Jean glare at the young girl. But ever since her conference with Professor Xavier about her momentary lapse or reasoning (probing other people's minds without permission), she didn't dare do it again. Especially to Rogue. Who for some reason was quickly becoming everyone's favorite.

Scott seemed to spend more time with her now. Which was reasonable as Jean never spent any time with him anymore. And on purpose to. She liked the idea of that "hard to get" exterior. Not that she wanted him in the end anyways but still, the thought was nice. And Logan. Logan was getting antsy because yes, Rogue was like his daughter and his daughter was beginning to be noticed.

By Bobby (who was no longer in love with her but the memory), John (who was still too self-centered and in love with his lighter but Logan did catch the glances at Rogue as she walked by and the occasional lick of his lips in which case Logan would take great pleasure in whacking him upside the head… then again John was beginning to spend his time somewhere else- Xavier knew it was with Erik but oh well), and ever since that slimy fireball started bringing some of his friends over (Logan didn't know why the Professor let them in), Pietro and Peter started to look at her as well.

So why did it seem so strange to him that now she was nineteen she was also receiving some attention from Scott Summers and Warren Worthington? Maybe it was just daunting to the old man that his daughter figure was now the apple of every man's eye and he had no way of protecting her anymore.

Or was it that he was losing the little girl that he had known so long ago. Little lost Marie. The girl heading to Alaska. The girl that fell in love with him. Or was it that she found a father figure? Logan didn't know and it was starting to hurt his head all this thinking in the morning and no alcohol in his system so he stopped for the sake of his growing hangover.

"So what exactly does it do?" Rogue asked, poking at the gel. The jell-o consistency of it made it jiggle as she did so. She grimaced.

"Well…" Hank began, flipping down from his place with his legs wrapped about a pipe to the floor. "We'll build a vile that you can soak in for a couple minutes and this top-coat will fuse itself to your skin building a layer outside of your skin as clothing would, only this layer would be so thin you couldn't tell if it were on or off."

"Aside from people droppin' like flies if Ah touched 'em." Rogue added thoughtfully. The room fell quiet for a moment.

"Well are you sure they'd drop like flies, per say? I mean we are people, we'd drop more like people, wouldn't we?" Scott began, pulling the same thoughtful expression as she and tapping his chin.

Rogue smirked and with a smack to the stomach she added, "Yeah and you're first to be tested, Zappy."

This startled everyone in the room, how Scott could joke like that and she wouldn't shrink into herself. She had become more open and accepting of the consequences of her powers. At least with Scott anyways.

Professor Xavier chuckled at her comment. "It seems Scott that you will have to watch yourself when this coating begins to wear off. You might want to find yourself away on a mission." And with that he cast a glance over to Rogue whose smile widened from ear to ear.

Hank took her gloved hand and removed the article of clothing and instructed her to let her hand sink into the gel that was currently jiggling inside a pan. Hesitantly she did so and waited.

A few minutes pass and Hank nodded for her to remove her hand. She did so and he tossed her a towel. "Now wipe off the remaining residue and see if you can find a volunteer to touch."

She slowly wiped her hand clean with the towel. She set it down and remained looking at the floor. She didn't want to look up expectantly at anyone. Just as she was beginning to feel a sinking feeling inside her she felt a hand grab hers and hold on. She looked up in surprise to find Logan standing there, looking down at her with a sense of hope in his eyes.

Seconds passed and nothing happened. Her eyes stayed with his, trembling in fear of when this stuff would wear off and she would suck him dry and kill him. But it never happened.

She was flying. Soaring. Finally free. Her arms were out like branches in the breeze as the wind blew through her hair and passed around her body bringing shivers to her spine. Her eyes were closed but she could feel the warmth of the sun on her body even in the dead of winter. She laughed a little and wrapped her arms around the neck in front of her.

Logan.

There was an empty feeling in the pit of her stomach. She wanted it to be Scott but Logan was second best. She laughed to herself. Logan was second best now. She pressed her cheek to his and felt the scruffy feel of his everlasting five o'clock shadow as his hair, the gel being taken out of it by the force of the speed of Scott's bike, blew against her neck.

"Hold on kid!" He shouted over the deafening sound of the passing space and he sped up and all of a sudden Rogue felt like she was melting with the world around her.

She laughed aloud and rested her chin on his shoulder the rest of the way.

As they made their way back to the mansion Logan looked back to her and saw the joy on her face. She was so happy that now she couldn't hurt anyone. But now he had to tell her. Make her understand. She would always be a daughter. He slowed the bike until they were a few yards from the gate and slowed it to a halt, pausing before turning around.

Rogue's face had a look of surprise but it wasn't tainting the look of exhilaration that was once there. "Kid, I need to talk to you about something."

Scott blinked a few times to get used to the feeling of having contacts in. At first he felt a stinging from the blaze being kept so close to his eyes but then it was gone and as the seconds passed the red began to diffuse away from everything and there was color. Not everything was red anymore except for Jean's hair and her skirt. He wished it was Rogue. He wanted to see the tones of her skin and the colors of her eyes.

But she was out riding his bike with Logan. Logan was out riding his bike with his Rogue. Butterflies tossed in his stomach at the thought of being able to call her his. It was exciting and passionate and dizzying all at once.

"All better now, right?" Jean said in her "I'm always right" tone.

"Yeah, I'll give you that." He smirked at her. He had to keep up this charade. He couldn't tell her now with everyone in the room. It had to be private. He sighed and looked at the door in a wishful manner. If only Rogue could walk through and see him.

He squinted. There was something he could hear but it sounded so far away until finally…

"You see, it's not because of you or nothing it's just… damn Rogue, I can't be your boyfriend. I can't. I'm too damn old and rough for you." Logan was finding this so hard to say. He wished he could just skip the next few minutes and go straight to the consoling and the whole him having to apologize. But this whole process was really kicking his butt.

"Oh, Ah know."

His head shot up. "You, you do?"

Rogue giggled and hugged the poor man. "Logan, yeah Ah was 'in love with you' there for a couple months or somethin' but Ah got over it! Ah'm a big girl Logan. Ah can do that. Now you're just like my daddy or somethin'. Ah know that. Besides, how could you expect me to just sit there and watch you and Jean bein' all flirty like and me still have feelin's for you? If Ah didn't get over you cause you were like my daddy Ah got over you for that." She sighed. "Sides, Ah got a new beau Ah'm goin' after now."

Logan's brows dropped down. If he was her daddy he really needed a shotgun right now. "Who?"

Rogue blushed a deep crimson and clamped her hand over her mouth. "Did Ah say that? My gawd Ah'm havin' amnesia… Ah can't remember a thing Ah just said… too damn bad."

"You have some other joe you're going after. Who? Is he respectable? Is he a prick? Do I need to give him some sort of a speech?" At this a claw shot out of his hand which was now tied up into a fist.

Rogue gulped. "Well, you know him. And you two… talk… sometimes… And he's respectable yeah, and he's not a prick… to me… and speech? You don't need to give him no speech cause he's good to me and he's nice to me and treats me like Ah'm a real human bein'."

Logan sniffed.

And his eyes got really big.

Because he wasn't sure before.

He thought it was just because of that stupid bike.

But now he could smell it clear as day out in the winter.

And Rogue could see that.

And one thing came to mind.

Pack bags. Leave quickly. Must find Scott. Must run for life. Now.

And they were running down the hallway. Logan heading for the lab to do who knows what and Rogue following closely behind him trying to stop him, screaming out his name and saying things like "you may be like mah daddy Logan but you can't do this!"

Scott jumped off the bed as Logan rammed through the door and lunged at him, tossing about everything. Jean screamed and attempted to run for cover but got a beaker full of water dumped in her face as Logan tackled Scott to the floor and proceeded to hammer his face in while hollering curses at him.

Rogue, freaking out, was pulling on Logan's shirt and finally picked up a large tin and hit him clear upside the head with it. This of course was not to knock him out but to get his attention.

Which the loud ringing sound of the metal hitting metal inside his head did just the trick as he turned to see her, tears forming in her eyes. "As if it matters, Logan." She scolded and threw the pan down on the floor, leaving promptly and then running to her room where she locked herself in for the remainder of the day with Logan sitting outside the door silently, arms propped upon his knees.