Author's Note: Okay, this will be the last of the dimensions. There's a couple of ones that I wanted to do that I didn't get to, but I think it's time to move on to the actual story now. As fun as it is tormenting Logan and giving him some character development, I'm ready to start working with everyone else again. This was originally going to be two chapters, but because I wrote all of the parts out of order and then only had to finish up the endings, I just put them together. Some of the endings might seem a bit abrupt, since I've been having a bit of writer's block and just wanted to get this chapter done. But! It's up now, so yay.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Logan was not pleased. He was fucking tired of these fucking dimensions and their fucking way of screwing with him and then sending him off into another one to be fucked with some more. Maybe if he said fuck a few more times, he'd feel better. He tried it, but it didn't work. He gave a soft growl, then looked around to see where he had ended up this time. He was in a bar, seated at a small table. Close by was what looked like a stage, although it stretched out in the middle in what looked like a catwalk. The stage was empty, and behind it was a thick red curtain blocking off the rest of the bar.

As Logan watched, Zephyr emerged from behind the curtain, dressed in a long blue skirt and a button up blue sweater. She stood demurely on the stage in front of the catwalk thing, waiting for the bar to quiet down. A spotlight fell on her as soft piano music started playing. She waited a moment, then began singing. Her voice was sweet, pure, and with an underlying innocence that made it all more appealing.

"Dearest friends, dear gentlemen

Listen to my song

Life down here's been hard for you

Life has made you strong

Let me lift the mood

With my attitude…"

She had been slowly walked towards the rest of the bar, but as she trailed off on the first verse, she tossed the audience a wink. Zephyr tore off her sweater, leaving her in a very skimpy blue halter top, and angled her lower body so the slit in her skirt was now visible, revealing her long, slim legs up to her waist. Cheers rang out across the room, and Zephyr grinned before singing again. This time, her voice was still beautiful, but much more sultry and suggestive.

"Hey fellas

The time is right

Get ready

Tonight's the night

Boys, what you're hopin' for will come true

Let me be good to you

You tough guys

You're feelin' all alone

You rough guys

The best o' you sailors and bums

All o' my chums

So dream on

And drink your beer

Get cozy

Your baby's here

You won't be misunderstood

Let me be good to you

Hey fellas

I'll take off all my blues…"

Zephyr twirled, one hand holding her skirt by the slit, then she raised her arm over her head, pulling the skirt completely off. Now clad only in the halter, a silver bikini bottom, and blue stilettos, she sashayed closer to the audience and continued her song to even louder cheers and cat calls.

"Hey fellas

There's nothin' I won't do

Just for you

So dream on

And drink your beer

Get cozy

Your baby's here

Hey boys, I'm talkin' to you

Your baby's gonna come through

Let me be good to you."

Her song done, Zephyr winked at the audience and disappeared behind the curtain, ducking the flowers and coins that were tossed her way. Logan stood up and walked towards the back, following her scent. He ducked behind the curtain and saw her walking away from him, towards a hallway of what was most likely dressing rooms.

"Zephyr!" He called, but she didn't respond. He paused, trying to remember her real name from her files, then shouted, "Haley!"

Now she hesitated, turning around to face him. Her eyes searched him over for a minute, then a surprised smile appeared on her lips. "James?" she asked quietly.

"Hey, Hal, this guy bothering you?" someone called from behind the curtain.

"No, Rosie, it's fine. I know him," Zephyr replied.

"Okay. I'm going on, so let Paige know if you need anything," Rosie said, then Logan heard the clacking of heels moving away. Whoever Rosie was, her scent seemed familiar, but Logan couldn't place it.

"I haven't seen you in forever, James," Zephyr said, stepping over to give him a hug and kiss him on both cheeks. "How have you been?"

"All right, I guess," Logan replied, shifting a bit and wondering why the hell she was calling him James. Now that she was closer, he could tell she wasn't the key, and he was getting impatient.

"Come, we can talk in my dressing room," Zephyr told him, taking his hand and pulling him along.

Logan followed reluctantly. He wanted to get moving, but at the moment, Zephyr was his best link to everyone else. He had to find out if she knew any of them. She led him to a large room that had rows of outfits, a huge vanity, and several couches gathered around a table and a mini-fridge. Zephyr sat down on one of the couches and motioned for him to sit next to her.

"You haven't been to see me in awhile," Zephyr told him as he sat down. "I was worried something had happened to you."

"Nothing's ha…Woah, what are you doing?" Logan demanded.

Zephyr had moved over to his side of the couch and was currently straddling him. She pressed her body against his and leaned in, placing her lips right by his ear.

"What've you got for me?" she asked quietly, her voice barely above a whisper.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Logan demanded.

"Usual place, then?" Her hand drifted down his chest, fingers trailing across the fabric of his shirt and hooking under it in one of the spaces between buttons.

He was about to demand, again, to know what the hell she was doing when her hand left his chest and he caught sight of a scrap of paper clutched in it.

"Thanks," she said, placing a kiss on his lips before sliding off his lap. "All right, fine, it can wait. Are you hungry?"

Zephyr smiled brightly at him, but Logan could see her eyes flicking back and forth from the paper hidden in her hand to him. If he hadn't been looking for it, he couldn't have seen it, though, and it made him want to know what the hell was so secretive.

"I could eat," Logan replied.

Relief passed over Zephyr's face for a moment. Logan blinked, wondering if that had been some kind of code question. Well, apparently he had answered it in a good way. Hopefully it had been the right answer. Unfortunately, he would never get to know whether or not it was, because he felt the world begin to darken again and before long, it faded completely out of existence.

Logan heard voices talking in German, but he wasn't fluent enough in the language to understand what they were saying. He opened his eyes, blinking and then squinting in an attempt to clear his blurry vision. His head felt fuzzy, his thought process slow, but it was rapidly clearing.

"Well, fuck, that wore off fast," someone commented in English. "Can you hear me?"

Logan recognized that voice. Kurt. "Where am I?"

"Headquarters," Kurt replied. "Or what passes for headquarters out in this fucking wilderness. We brought you here after you saved our pathetic asses. What's your name, mein freund?"

"Logan," he answered, sitting up and looking around. He was on a cot in the corner of a large tent. Several empty cots surrounded him, and were scattered about the majority of the tent. What looked like basic medical supplies filled up most of the rest.

"Well met, Herr Logan," Kurt said, and Logan turned his attention towards the German man. Kurt looked utterly normal, like he did with his image inducer on, except his hair was blonde and his eyes blue. "My name is Kurt Wagner."

"Yeah, right back at you," Logan returned absently, shaking his head to clear the rest of the cobwebs from it.

"How are you feeling?" Kurt asked. "You didn't appear to have sustained any injuries, save for the side effects of what those rebels shot you with."

"What was it?" Logan asked.

"A mild tranquilizer. They think it's deadly to us. We like to let them continue to think so," Kurt told him with a wink. "How did you come to be here?"

"I don't know," Logan said. With no context clues to play off here, he figured going the amnesia route would be the best bet. Normally, he would have just gone ahead and told Kurt what was going on, but there was something about this Kurt that he didn't like. That seemed wrong. "I don't remember anything."

"Nothing?" Kurt asked, blinking rapidly.

"Nope," Logan said, shaking his head. "I remember being in the forest, and helping you guys."

"How did you know we were the ones you should be helping?" Kurt questioned.

Logan shrugged. "Just did."

Kurt's eyes lit up in something like understanding. "I see."

Rachel burst into the tent, then, pausing at the entrance to yell at someone on the other side of the flap in rapid German. She closed the flap behind her, striding purposefully towards Logan and Kurt.

"Who are you?" she asked in heavily accented English. "What were you doing out in the forest? Who sent you?"

"Calm down, liebling," Kurt said, moving quickly to her side. "He saved us out there. He is not our enemy."

"How do you know?" Rachel asked, turning towards him.

The two had a brief, terse conversation in German, then Rachel rolled her eyes and looked back at Logan.

"Thank you," she told him, her tone softened but her expression still suspicious. "We wouldn't have made it without your help."

"Glad to help," Logan said with a shrug. "It seemed like the right thing to do."

"You don't remember anything?" she pressed. "Who your parents were, where you were born, where you live? Your job?"

"Nothing," Logan replied honestly.

"We found these on him," Kurt said, handing Rachel a small package. "Do not worry, you are among friends. Come, I will give you a tour."

"No you won't," Rachel told him, giving him back the package. "Don't think I don't know what you're doing. You have a report to give, and you're not getting out of that. I'll give him the tour."

Kurt grinned. "Ach, schatz, you know me too well. Fine, fine, enjoy yourselves while I die of boredom."

Rachel smiled back at him, leaning up to place a kiss on his cheek. "Come find us when you're through, liebe. Come on, Logan, let's go wander around the camp."

Logan stood up and followed her out of the tent. They were in a relatively clear section of what looked to be a fairly dense forest farther off. Tents, both small and large, were scattered about the clearing. There was also a medium-sized cage built out of wood. Inside it were a handful of people, some with obvious physical mutations.

Rachel caught him looking at him and grinned. "Not exactly the most…" She paused, apparently searching for the proper English term before settling on, "advanced technical equipment we've made, but it serves its purpose."

"And what would that be?" Logan asked.

She blinked at him in surprise. "Where else would be put the rebels and other mutants and Jews we find?"

Logan couldn't keep himself from growling. He had fucking been in World War Two, it was one of the few things he could remember. True, it was only vague flashes, but he remembered the horror of the things he had seen. "Am I in Germany?"

"Of course," Rachel said, smiling in encouragement at his growling. She must have taken it as a response to mentioning mutants and Jewish people. "After we won the war, Germany is everywhere."

They had kept walking while they were speaking, and now they reached the edge of the camp. Logan looked at Rachel, then back at the cage and made a quick decision. He grabbed her and started, running off into the forest, forcing her to run behind him. When they were a bit away, Logan stopped and turned on Rachel, pinning her up against a tree.

"How do you do that to them," Logan growled, his tone not making it a question. "You're a mutant yourself."

Rachel's eyes widened as a brief panic overtook them, then her expression hardened. "I don't know what you talking about.

Logan could smell the fear coming off of her and he grinned. "You're a mutie, Rach, and you know it. How have you hidden it for this long?"

Her body started trembling. "They found out, didn't they? And they sent you to deal with me?"

"No one sent me, darlin'. I could smell it on you," Logan replied.

Her posture stiffened. "You're a mutant? Don't touch me!" She pushed at him, but it didn't do much good.

Logan raised an eyebrow. "You're not one to talk, you know."

Rachel shook her head. "I'm not like them. I'm not. I'm a good soldier." She started speaking in German again, talking faster the more panicked she got.

"You're not the only one," Logan told her. "Kurt's a mutant too."

Rachel stopped abruptly and started laughing. "Kurt is one of the Fuhrer's favorites. There is no one less likely to be a mutant, unless it is the Fuhrer himself."

"I knew about you," Logan said. "Why would I lie about Kurt?"

"I don't know," Rachel replied. "Why would you confront me with what I am unless you were planning on turning me in?"

"I haven't said I wasn't planning on turning you in yet," he answered.

The trembling returned and Rachel just stared down at him with frightened eyes.

Logan sighed. "I'm not going to tell anyone. Rach, why?"

"I can't be like them. I wasn't raised like that. I am a good German. I'm not one of them. I can't be. I can't. So they have to die," Rachel said. "They're right. Mutants are not good. Mutants are bad. I'm bad. But I'm not all mutant. I'm German, too. I can prove it."

"Rachel, do you think any of the things you've done will matter to these people if they find out what you are?" Logan asked. "You'll never be good enough for them, just because of what you are. That's not right."

"No," Rachel said, shaking her head. "I'm needed. They know I am. They wouldn't…"

"Then why are you so worried about them finding out?" Logan asked.

Rachel didn't say anything.

Logan searched his brain, trying to think of something to say to her to make her understand that what she was doing was fucking wrong. But he couldn't. Mainly because the Rachel he knew wouldn't even think of doing something like this. This Rachel, she was a stranger. Before he could come up with anything, Logan's vision began to get fuzzy. He sighed, not entirely sure if he was relieved to be leaving or not. He'd like to think that his words had some effect on Rachel, but he doubted it. He didn't think he had changed anything, and now it was in the hands of whatever kind of person Logan was in that dimension.

Someone was sobbing hysterically nearby, and someone else was leaning against him. Soft curls were pressed against his chin, and when Logan glanced down he could see Cassandra's purple eyes staring up at him. She obviously couldn't stand up on her own, and he was all but holding her up.

"Cass?" Logan asked. "Cass, what's wrong?"

"I don't know, Logan." She murmured absently. "I think…I think I might be dying."

No. Of all the worlds to come to, he wasn't going to be in this one. He wasn't going to be in a world where Cassandra was dying. I want to leave. I want to go right now. Fuck it, Jean, get me the fuck out of here!

"You're not gonna die, Cass." Logan told her, then glanced up to see who was still crying. He didn't even bother to feel shock when he saw it was Gambit. Logan just ordered, "Get help. Now."

Gambit nodded through his tears and dashed off, leaving Logan to look at their surroundings. They were on a stage, and Logan could see at least a thousand or so empty seats out in the audience. Cassandra was dressed in some skimpy white and gold outfit, one that let him see enough of her skin to realize exactly how pale she was.

"Guess we won't make it to opening night, will we?" Cassandra commented, attempting to grin. "And I was just starting to like this whole undercover thing."

"Stop it." Logan told her. "Don't talk like that."

People came running in, then, and Logan looked up to see Hank, Warren, Kurt, Piotr, Bobby, Gambit, Scott, and an unfamiliar African-American young man charge onto the stage.

"What happened?" Hank asked, moving over to their side.

"I don't know." Logan said. "She just fell."

Hank nodded. "Pick her up, we'll take her to the medical wing."

Logan immediately scooped Cassandra up, hugging her close to him as he followed Hank. This wasn't fair. This wasn't fucking fair. This wasn't his world, this wasn't his Cassandra, why did he have to fucking be here when she died? No. She wasn't going to die. Whatever this was, it wasn't going to kill her. Logan couldn't let Cassandra die. Not his Cassandra, and not any other version of her out there that he would run into.

Logan laid Cassandra gently down onto the medical bed that Hank pointed him to, then sat by her side and refused to move, even when Hank ushered the others out to wait in the hall. Hank then promptly got to work, drawing blood and performing tests that Logan probably couldn't keep up with even if he knew what had happened. Logan just stared at Cassandra, watching her eyelids flutter and the soft rise and fall of her chest.

He didn't know how much time had passed when Hank finally let out a frustrated sigh.

"What?" Logan asked. "What's wrong with her?"

"I don't know." Hank replied. "It's nothing I've ever seen before. Nothing. It's like she's got something inside her, something that's eating her from the inside out."

"So get rid of it." Logan growled.

"I don't know how." Hank said. "I'll have to do more tests."

Logan glared at him. "Then do them."

"I am." Hank replied, looking at one of his machines helplessly. "But we have to wait for the results."

"Wait for what results?" Cassandra asked, opening her eyes.

The others, who were still waiting outside, noticed her waking up and filed into the room, gathering around her bed. This time, Hank didn't shoo them away.

"Results for a test I'm running." Hank told her. "One that will tell me how to fix you."

Cassandra gave a bit of a smile. "It's bad, isn't it? No one's saying anything, but you can always tell when it's bad. People look at you like they love you, like they're never going to be able to look at you again. Like you're looking at me right now."

"Don't be stupid, chere." Gambit told her, taking her hand. "You're gonna be fine. A little thing like this, it can't stop you. You stronger than anyone Gambit knows."

"You're a liar." Cassandra told him, but it had the teasing quality of something she'd said many times. She looked them all over and smiled. "My boys. You're all so brave. I walk with heroes. You remember that."

"You are a hero, Cass." Warren said.

"I'm a hero?" Cassandra blinked up at them. "A super hero."

"Yeah, you're a super hero." Bobby agreed. "And this is your power, to not let this beat you."

"Not you." Piotr said. "Not you, сестра."

"What would we do without you to keep us in line?" The man Logan didn't know asked.

"Evan's right." Scott said. "So you better not even think about letting us fend for ourselves."

Cassandra laughed, but at the end it turned into a cough. "Guess you guys would be pretty lost without me."

Kurt gave a wavering grin. "Believe it, Schwester. Besides, who would we get to play our leading lady?"

Cassandra laughed again, and this time she managed not to cough. "You know, I haven't had this many men at my bedside since that night with the varsity lacrosse team."

Logan's eyes widened in horror and she grinned.

"It was a joke." She commented weakly.

Logan leaned over and took her hand. She may not have been his Cassandra, but he was having a difficult time convincing himself of that. Hank noticed this and shooed everyone out of the room again. Then he gathered some things and left. Logan watched them in the hall out of the corner of his eye. Hank was handing out things and barking out orders, moving quickly and forcefully. They all really loved Cassandra, it seemed. He wondered absently where the other girls were, but he had been through enough dimensions by now to know that they didn't always know each other. Usually, but not always.

"You're still with me, right?" Cassandra asked.

"I'm not going anywhere, Cass." Logan replied.

"Not going to leave me." Cassandra said, smiling to herself as she closed her eyes. "He's with me." Her body arched upwards and she coughed harshly, her face contorting in pain.

Logan reached out for her, but she pulled away, shaking her head.

"It's better now." She told him. "It's better now." Her eyes were glazed over slightly as she said, "I don't know what I did wrong. It must have been something, but I don't know what it was. Can you tell me, Logan?"

"Nothing, Cass." He said. "You didn't do anything wrong."

Cassandra nodded, then coughed again. "Whatever it is, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Logan couldn't remember ever feeling like this. The only thing that came close was when he had stabbed himself in the heart in an attempt to escape back at Liberty Island. "You don't have anything to be sorry for. Don't worry, Cass, you just need to rest. Hank's on it."

This wasn't his world. Why did he care so much? Why was this tearing him up inside?

"Logan?" Cassandra asked. "Could you have loved me?"

Her purple eyes stared up at him, and for a long moment he just lost himself in them. Then, he said quietly, "Yes. I think I already do." He wasn't ready to come to terms with that yet. Not after Jean. But here, in this place that wasn't his, maybe he could admit it just a little.

Cassandra nodded, her eyes turning back to stare at the ceiling. "He loves me. He's here with me. You can't take me now." She then looked back over at him. "It's not fair, is it? How little time we got. You think I would have known…" Abruptly she sat up, sliding off the bed and landing unsteadily on her feet. "I have to get going. I have to…"

Logan bolted up as she started to fall and caught her, sinking to his knees as he cradled her in his arms.

"You caught me again." She murmured absently. "You're always there to catch me."

"And I'm always going to be here, Cass." He said.

She tilted her head so she could see him. "I'm dying, Logan."

"No." He replied firmly.

"Yes." She answered. "I'm so sorry."

"No, you have to stay with me." Logan told her.

Cassandra blinked a few times. "He says I can stay. He says. Logan? Can I stay?" She paused. "Please…why can't I stay…" Her breathing quickened, and a small trickle of blood fell from her nose to paint her lips red. "Logan. You have to move on. You have to live. I lo…." Her head fell back as her eyes closed, and he could hear her heartbeat stop.

"No." Logan said. "No. No. No. No." It was all he could think to say. All he could think to do. He clutched at her body closer, resting his chin on her head as he rocked back and forth. Logan fell back, sitting down hard as he drew her into his lap, still murmuring, "No." He felt tears falling down his face, and the last thing he thought before the world went black was that this was only the third time he could ever remember crying.

The sky was cloudy and the air smelled of rain. That was the first thing Logan noticed when he came to. He was standing on the middle of a grass covered hill. At the bottom, he could see a sprawling ranch, even hear the distant sounds of the horses in the stables and the soft murmurs of people talking. When he glanced upwards, he could see Samantha sitting cross-legged on top of a large rock. He started towards her, but before he could reach the top of the hill she spoke.

"Hello, Logan." She greeted without turning around.

Oh, good, she recognized him. At least she knew him in this dimension. He let out a sigh of disappointment, though, when he realized that she wasn't the one. After the last dimension, well…He was a lot more shaken up than he wanted to be. Watching Cassandra die…That had been worse than when Jean had died. Logan never thought he'd come across anything worse than that. He hadn't known anything could make him hurt more. The only thing that was making him go on was the fact that the Cassandra who had died wasn't his Cassandra. And when he finally got home, she would still be there for him to hold.

He just wanted to go home. He needed to see her. Logan glanced back towards the ranch, considering going down there, but then he continued on his way.

"I haven't seen you for awhile." Samantha commented. "Thought maybe you had gone away for good."

"Where is everyone?" Logan asked, looking around. He didn't know how many people she actually knew, but hopefully one of them was his key.

"Waiting for us, like usual." She replied, standing up. "Come on."

She turned to face him, and he caught sight of a scar that started at her left ear and cut across her throat, disappearing beneath the collar of her shirt. He followed her down the other side of the hill and then into the forest. After awhile, she stopped at a large clearing and gestured past her. "There they are."

Logan looked over her shoulder, and saw a graveyard. A huge one, with small unmarked graves and larger ones that had flowers and other trinkets placed beside them. He looked away. He didn't want to see the names. "What happened?"

"It's been a long time since you ask me that." Samantha said. "There's a war. It started…I don't how long ago. Seems like we've been fighting forever. For a long time, we fought our own wars, separately. Then Magneto was killed and the Brotherhood joined with us. It didn't last long, though. The mansion was hit, and Charles, Scott, Helena, Ororo, Jean, Beast, Pyro, Backlash…They were all gone. Whoever was attacking us, whoever started this war, they were winning. They took over, and now they rule. Over humans and mutants alike. We ran. We regrouped here, where my parents joined the fight. But we weren't enough.

"Anorra was the first to die. She was trying to save them, a group of kids that he took for their powers. She flew them here, so they were safe. She didn't stop to bandage the hole they tore in her. She was gone almost as soon as she landed. Piotr…He didn't take it so well. He went in there, alone. They sent him back to us in pieces.

"Then it was Bobby and Rachel. They just got married. We managed to have a little bit of happiness there. They were supposed to go up to the lake, for their honeymoon. Instead they went to go rescue…I don't even remember who it was now. We found what was left of them two days later.

"Things happened quickly after that. We were gathering people, but us…We were losing ourselves. Gambit died leading a group of new recruits on a sabotage mission, Cass killed herself when they captured her. Kaliah, we tried to get her out. But we couldn't. And we lost Jean-Paul in the process. Tabi, Evan, Jono, Lance….

"And then they got something. I still don't know what it was. Something that switched powers. Zephyr was the first person targeted. Oh, the things they did with her powers. If she had been able to control it that well…She couldn't take it. She went to get her power back, or stop the one using it. She never came back. We found her body later. But whatever she did, it worked. They don't have her power anymore.

"Warren and Kurt, they went to go find whatever it was. I didn't want him to go. I couldn't lose him, too. But he was the only one. He could teleport in. He just wasn't able to teleport out. So Rogue went in, with another team. She was supposed to destroy it. But she didn't. They took her power, and then they killed her.

"And then it was just us. For a long time, it was just us. I guess you kept me sane. Because the day they killed you was the day I lost it." Samantha finished, looking over at him.

This was so fucking not what Logan needed right now. He had just watched Cassandra die, he didn't need Samantha telling him exactly how the rest of his family had died. Or that he had died as well.

"If I'm dead, then why are you talking to me?" Logan asked.

Samantha shrugged. "You show up, from time to time. You did a lot at the beginning, asking me what went wrong, what happened, where everyone was. Not so much lately. I sort of thought I might have been getting better."

Samantha wasn't the key. Logan could feel that. Which meant that someone else had to still be alive. "I'm not dead." He said.

"You said that a lot, too." She said absently.

Logan strode over to her and grabbed her arm. "Did I do this?"

Samantha looked down at his hand, then up at him in shock. "Logan? But…how is this possible?"

"I don't know, kid. If I'm dead in this world, I shouldn't have a body to jump into." He gave a brief explanation of what the hell had been happening. "That's why I know someone else still has to be alive."

Samantha shook her head. "No. Don't do this to me, Logan, don't make me believe."

"It's true." Logan told her. "Who's not dead? Whose body didn't you see?"

"Rogue." Samantha whispered. "We never found her. We looked, but we didn't. When she didn't come back, and they started using her power, we tried to get in, but we didn't find her….And they never keep us for this long, so we just assumed…"

"I have to get in there. I have to find her." Logan said.

"Yes." Samantha nodded. "Yes. We're attacking soon. It's a last attempt. Come with us. Fight with us. If they see you're back, it'll help." She paused for a moment, then said, "Come on," and started back out of the forest and towards the ranch.

He followed her, through the crowd that had gathered in the open space between the buildings. People whispered as he walked by, but he ignored them. The meeting was quick. Samantha stood up above all the others, gave a short speech, and told them that he was back. The crowd cheered at that. Samantha announced a small change in plan, that she and Logan were going to be going to the prisoners' cells, and then it was over.

"Illy? Blink?" Samantha asked.

Logan looked out over the crowd to see a young blonde girl and a pink-skinned woman nod. Then, several pink portals opened up through-out the crowd, and glowing circles appeared under a few groups of people. He glanced downward, and saw one of the circles beneath him and Samantha.

"Good luck, everyone," Samantha called, then she and Logan sank into the ground.

They reappeared in a dark, empty room. Samantha tilted her head towards the door and started quietly out. Logan went after her, all of his senses searching for any sign of someone coming near them. They had been walking for about five minutes when Logan caught a familiar scent in the air.

"It's her," he said quietly. "She's close."

Samantha nodded, her face emotionless. But he could smell the hope on her. They kept walking, and Logan realized that they were nearing Rogue a lot faster than they should have been. She must be moving towards them. Before he could warn Samantha, Rogue, wearing leather pants and a long-sleeved see-through shirt, flew down to land in front of them. She picked up a metal desk, one-handed, and tossed it at them. Both of them ducked, rolling away to avoid it, then hopping back up on their feet.

"Oh, fuck," Logan muttered. This Rogue, in addition to her strange powers, was obviously not on their side. But at least he had been right about one thing. Rogue was the key.

"Rogue?" Samantha asked, shocked.

"Oh, come on, now, you must have noticed I was working for them. I left you so many calling cards," Rogue said, looking absently amused.

"We thought….we thought they killed you, and took your power," Samantha replied. She sounded confused, lost.

Rogue laughed. "They couldn't have my power if they killed me. Killing someone reverses the effect. How did you think Zephyr managed to stop them from using her power?"

"Rogue…you're my sister," Samantha told her.

"You say that like it means something," Rogue replied. "Family hurt each other all the time. And we're not even related by blood."

"No," Samantha agreed. "We're related by something stronger. I love you, Rogue, and you love us. This isn't you."

"You're boring me," Rogue told her. "Tacky speeches about love aren't going to change anything. Are we going to fight, or not?"

Samantha looked at Logan. "I can't fight her."

Rogue followed her glance, and for the first time noticed Logan there. "Well, fuck me. Didn't we kill you, brother?"

Logan gritted his teeth. This was Rogue, he couldn't kill her, even if this was just an alternate form. But maybe that was it. Maybe he had to kill the key, release it from the person it was trapped in. Was that what whoever trapped him wanted him to do? Kill one of the people he cared about in order to save himself? Logan would never do it. Logan's life wasn't worth trading for one of the others'. And yet…if he ever was going to do it, this would be the best world. Where the key was evil, was trying to hurt other people he cared about…

Samantha screamed, and Logan cursed himself as he realized he hadn't been paying attention. Rogue had apparently gotten bored, because she had lunged at Samantha and wrapped her gloved hand around her neck. Sparks flashed between them and Logan pounced, claws popping out as he tackled Rogue to the ground. She rolled out from under him, jumping to her feet. Blood dripped from the places where his claws had connected, but she just laughed.

"Lovely power you have, Sammie. I think I'll enjoy it," Rogue commented.

Logan turned to look at Samantha, who was standing there with this hollow, empty look in her eyes. Then her expression calmed, and she reached out and grabbed Rogue's arm, fingers snaking under one of the rips Logan had made in her shirt to clutch flesh. Rogue tried to shake her off, but Samantha was stronger than her now and kept her grip. Red fur sprouted across Rogue's skin, then disappeared as Samantha drained more of her power. The two women locked eyes.

"I'm sorry," they whispered at the same time, then Rogue's heartbeat stopped and she fell to the ground.

Samantha let her go and stumbled towards Logan, and he realized that she was now the key. It must have passed from Rogue to her when she drained Rogue.

"Logan," Samantha said, her voice a mix of Rogue's and her own. "It wasn't her. They gave her something to cloud her mind and now, now it's here." She paused, her accent thickening and becoming pure Rogue. "Oh, Lord, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean…Rogue, we understand, we…Logan, you have to kill us. Kill us, or we'll do it again."

Logan shook his head and Samantha grabbed his hands, pressing his fists against her stomach.

"Please!" She demanded.

He closed his eyes and popped his claws, wincing as he felt them sink into flesh. Then, with relief, he felt the blackness come again and he let everything go.