'Is unspoken thoughts'
-Flashback-
-Once the pull began Logan found it incredibly easy to locate Marie. While he was functioning off of his own will power, she didn't give him much leeway. He followed the insistent tug at his bones through the maze of hallways, until it brought him in front of a door noticeably different than the others. There was a faint pulse of electricity running through the walls that cemented the difference between this room and the others. Whatever or more importantly whoever was inside THIS room, they didn't want out. A SNIKT sound slightly echoed off the walls as Logan released the blades housed in his forearm, and plunged them into the keypad on the wall.
She'd been at it for hours. Well, what FELT like hours anyway. 'This has to be working,' she sighed. 'Maybe it's time for a plan B.' Rogue felt Logan nearby, but after everything that had happened she couldn't be sure. Wishful thinking could play terrible games with a person's head, and she wasn't ready to set herself up for disappointment.
Seconds later, she found she had no reason to worry. Rogue jumped from the bed into a fighting stance, when the lights flickered and the door sprang open with a groan. Instead of the enemy she'd prepared herself for, stood the best sight she'd ever seen.
"You rang, kid?"
"Logan!" With a yell, Marie leapt at him from her position next to the bed.
Throwing her arms around his neck, she clung for dear life. Having stumbled ever so slightly after her launch into him, it took him the briefest of milliseconds before wrapping his arms around her waist and inhaling her familiar scent. "Logan," she breathed his name out in a contented sigh and released her hold on him.
"It took you long enough." She smirked at him before playfully punching him in the shoulder.
He snort in disbelief, eyes wide, "Well you didn't exactly make it easy, Marie!"
Grinning, Marie crossed her arms in front of her chest, "Oh sure. Blame ME," with another smirk she continued, "and all this time I thought you were supposed to be the best at what you do."
Letting out a low growl he spoke, "I AM the best, darlin'."
"Humph, the best would've been here BEFORE they had time to put me in this awful paper dress."
Logan noticed the paper thin hospital gown and took a second to appreciate her next to naked body. Even in that she looked stunning and he smirked, before cocking an eyebrow.
"Had to make sure you learned a lesson."
Rogue's eyes flashed angrily and she glared daggers in his direction, before the faintest trace of a smile crossed her lips. With the flick of her wrist she brought his hand up, and forced the mighty Wolverine to smack himself in the face.
"What the fuck, Marie!" Logan stared at the hand that betrayed him, and creased his eyebrows at the indignity.
Giggling, she put on her best Southern Belle act, "Had to make sure you learned a lesson, sugar."
"Keep it up, kid, and I may just let those goons have you."
Aghast, her mouth gaped open. "You wouldn't dare, besides who would keep you on your toes, old timer?"
"I would," he grinned wolfishly at her, "and call me old timer again, and you won't be around long enough to meet your replacement. Now find some clothes, I wanna be out of here long before they figure out you're gone."
While Rogue rummaged through the cabinets and drawers around the room for something to wear, she was aware of Logan's eyes on her back. She'd been grateful for the distraction of their banter, and had tried using it to cover her fear of the situation. It was easier to pretend like nothing was wrong, than to face impending doom. Memory wouldn't give her a measure of peace however, and she was constantly reminded that she had been the one to get them both into this mess. Her eagerness for a cure had led her here and had led Logan to follow her. With a small 'Hummph' of triumph, Rogue pulled out a pair of scrub pants and a matching shirt. It wasn't much, but it was better than the open backed hospital gown she currently wore.
Turning, scrubs in hand, she grinned at Logan before gesturing him to face the wall with her finger. Rolling his eyes, he complied with the directive. Taking a moment to admire the hard back and broad shoulders in front of her, she took notice of the tension that lined the well defined muscles. Logan's agitation was palpable and she knew that even though she'd escaped it so far, there was a long and serious talk in the very near future that would be directed her way.
Untying the knots in the gown, she slipped it off her shoulders and let it fall to the floor. Logan picked up on each brush of fabric against her skin and the sound the material made as it pooled at her feet. Rolling his shoulders and cracking his neck, he tried not to think about the expanse of pale, naked flesh behind him. The silence was uncomfortable and he could feel the fear radiating off of Marie.
"What've they done to you, kid?" throwing the question over his shoulder, he risked a sideways glance in her direction.
He heard the rustle of the scrub top as she lifted it over her head and it slid into place before she answered.
"Tried to turn me into some kind of super mutant. His name is Sinister, he's obsessed with mutations. He hasn't really hurt me though." She stepped into the scrub pants and pulled them over her hips, wriggling slightly.
"Good thing for him. I'll kill him quick and easy since he hasn't hurt ya."
She knew he was trying to put her mind at ease. She never could get anything past him, he was worse than a lie detector. Worse still was that he knew her better than anyone. Any change in her body language and he picked up on it. It's why she'd avoided him when she'd started all of this in the first place. She'd thought it had been a miracle that he hadn't picked up on anything before he did, and now she thought it had been a well disguised curse.
Walking up behind him, she placed a gloveless hand on his covered shoulder.
"You all done?"
She grinned, "All done, sugar."
"Thank god, I thought we'd be here forever."
She swat him playfully, thankful that he'd again changed the subject from the task at hand.
"What is that supposed to mean exactly?"
With a smirk, he raised his left eyebrow. "You females always take forever to get ready. I thought you had to put on make up or something. Maybe do your hair for our grand escape. Never know who might see ya."
She wrinkled her nose and stuck out her tongue at him before looking down at her bare hands. "Too bad they didn't have any space gloves lyin' around," she said softly as she ran a hand over the exposed flesh.
"Don't worry Marie," Logan reassured her, "I won't let any of them touch ya."
She took in a shaky breathe and released it. "You promise?"
"I promise. So what's the plan, darlin'?"
Confusion and shock colored her face. "Plan? This WAS the plan. You come, we go. That's the plan."
Logan let out a low chuckle, "You haven't really thought this out have you, baby?"
Rogue sighed, "Honestly, Logan, getting captured by an ugly, insane, mad scientist mutant from HELL wasn't high on my agenda. I didn't really plan on it ya know?"
"You seem to be pretty damn good at it."
Again she stuck her tongue out at him, reminding him of the young girl she'd been when he'd first met her.
"At least Magneto wasn't THAT ugly. I mean, have you SEEN this guy?" she asked, pantomiming disgust.
"No, kid, I haven't. I'd kinda like it if I didn't. Not today at least. I want you far, far away from here first."
A sound from the doorway alerted them to the presence of someone else. Logan whirled, pushing Rogue behind him to face the threat while cursing himself for his distraction.
Sinister stood in the doorway, vehemence radiating off of him.
"You're not leaving so soon are you? We were just getting acquainted, my dear." He paused when Logan stepped forward and unleashed the claws on either hand. "And I see you've brought a friend," Sinister acknowledged, "How charming."
Logan growled low in his throat - the Wolverine coming to the surface. "This doesn't have to get nasty, bub. We can just walk out of here and you can live. Choice is yours."
The bellowing laugh that the statement prompted made the hairs on the back of Marie's neck stand at attention, and drove a stake of fear down her spine. They didn't know what they were dealing with and they hadn't been able to assess the threat Sinister posed; that alone put them at a disadvantage. Stepping forward Sinister locked gazes with Rogue. His eyes promised terrible things to come, and she tore her eyes away.
Feeling frozen to the spot, she could only watch as each man sized the other up. With another growl Logan leapt at Sinister, claws extended and directed towards the evil mans face. Sinister simply raised a hand and Rogue screamed as a concussive blast of energy poured from the outstretched palm. Logan was thrown back into one of the stone walls as the smell of burning flesh pervaded the air, and she fought back the urge to wretch at the sight of his charred flesh. Anger and despair fought, and her anger won.
Clenching her teeth, she seethed; her fury rolling off of her in waves as ice crystals began to materialize throughout the room. Her breath came out in a white cloud and she could feel the cold quickly spreading throughout her body. With a malicious grin, she began to form the materializing crystals into a solid wall. She thought back to the first time she'd seen Bobby perform the trick. Stryker's men had been about to take Logan, and she had pled with him to do something. Marie planned on using the same trick to buy them both time. Logan's healing factor was already kicking in - the scorched flesh knitting itself back together and unmarred tan skin took its place.
A sound on the other side of the ice brought her attention away from the injured man on the ground directly in front of her. The shadowy figure on the other side called out to her, his very tone mocking her efforts.
"This is futile, little one. Why don't you make this easy on yourself? You're only delaying the inevitable."
"Go to hell."
"Better to reign in hell, than serve in heaven. Isn't that the way the saying goes?"
A shadow appeared in the doorway and Sinister laughed a deep maniacal chuckle. Rogue felt her hope sink even further as Sinister introduced his new companion. "Anna, meet Ruckus."
A piercing scream ripped through the room and the ice shattered like glass, throwing Rogue unceremoniously next to Logan. Both sprawled in a heap on the floor.
She looked up as more figures entered the room and she saw Logan wince, before gingerly raising his arm to his ear.
"And I thought Jubilee had a loud mouth," he groaned.
"We're in trouble, Logan," she breathed through the ache in her body.
"I see that, darlin'."
Sinister smiled evilly as he loomed over the fallen pair. "X-Men, I introduce to you, The Nasty Boys."-
