Heavy footsteps echoed down the hall as Logan made his way down the halls, stopping to sniff the air every few steps. He smiled to himself as his nose led him toward the Danger Room, reveling in how much of himself Marie had in her.
In front of Logan children began to file out of classrooms, shuffling down the hall, gazing in wonder at the menacing looking man invading their school. A few of them even ran away from him. Unfortunately for him, Jubilation Lee was not one of those few.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Jubilee's normally cheery voice turned fierce.
"Out of my way kid," Logan replied, walking around her, heading towards the door to the danger room.
"Danger Room, Wolverine? Wouldn't go in there if I were you," Jubilee replied in an almost sing-songy voice.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Logan asked gruffly.
"Just might not like what you see is all," Jubilee smirked. Logan scoffed. "She's changed, Wolverine."
Logan frowned, pausing before turning around to find himself alone in an empty hallway. Slightly shaking his head, Logan started toward the Danger Room again.
-----
"Code Red Kitty," Jubilee all but screamed as she burst into their room.
"What are you talking about?" Kitty Pryde sighed, closing the chemistry book she had been reading.
"Code Red!" Jubilee repeated, sighing angrily when Kitty shrugged her shoulders. "Kitty! We had a code, we made an organized, color-coded list and everything!"
"Jubes, calm down," Kitty giggled.
"He's back," Jubilee whispered.
"Who's back?" Kitty asked, oblivious.
"Wolverine. Wolverine is back, Kitten. What are we going to do?" Jubilee asked solemnly.
Jubilee hung her head in the middle of the long pause, letting Kitty think of a plan.
"So that's Code Red," Kitty said, making Jubilee scream and storm out, leaving a very bewildered Kitty behind.
-----
Logan stood on the safe side of the Danger Room door for nearly twenty minutes, contemplating what he would say, and trying to brace himself for these drastic changes in Marie he should be expecting. Running a shaking hand through his wild hair, Logan began to pace.
Logan took one deep breath before making his way inside the Danger Room.
Stepping through the doorway into the Danger Room, Logan scanned the room for any sign of Marie. He made his way through what seemed to be the rubble of Xavier's school towards some grunting noises he could hear in the distance. Walking through the devastation, pausing several times to lift heavy objects out of the only path he had. If it was Marie, she obviously did her best to stay hidden. Logan's heart sped up as he realized that Marie was just around the corner of a barley standing wall. Clenching his fists, holding his head down, he willed his stubborn legs to move around the wall. Logan slowly lifted his head toward the sound of fighting, only to see a mirror image of himself, getting his ass thoroughly kicked by a petite black-clad woman with white streaks in her hair.
He watched himself be beaten, he watched himself slowly heal, he watched himself attack Marie without restraint, and he watched himself fall. Anger that had unknowingly built inside of him disappeared when he watched Marie drop to her knees next to his beaten form. Laying a soft hand over his doppelganger's heart, she slowly pressed a kiss to his forehead.
The illusion around him flickered, signaling an end of the program. Logan stood rigid watching Marie's back as his doppelganger slowly faded away. He watched her shoulders jerk, a telltale sign she was crying. Logan took a slow step forward, looking to comfort her.
Hearing the subtle movement, Marie whipped around to face her intruder. Logan frowned in confusion at the lack of shock she conveyed as she swiftly made her way over to him. She stood in front of him for a long moment, just looking into his eyes as he stood rigid, nearly a head taller than her. With a soft sigh, Marie reached out her ungloved hand to his face, sliding it gently across the surface of his cheek before pressing her lips to his in a breathtaking kiss. Marie's hand snaked around to cup the back of his head as she pressed her lips tighter against his. When the shock finally wore off, Logan slowly opened his mouth to lightly bite her lower lip. Marie flinched, causing him to unintentionally bite her lip, nearly drawing blood. Marie pulled back, her hand flying to her hurt lip. Logan removed her hand from her lip, muttering a heart-felt sorry before pulling the battered lip into his mouth, gently soothing the swollen appendage with his tongue.
"So sorry babes," Logan whispered, as he gently laid a hand at the small of her back, causing her to snap out of her stupor.
Marie jerked out of his grasp.
"You're real," she spat.
Logan stayed silent, confused, as he slowly reached out to gather her in his arms. With arms outreached toward her, he was rewarded with a strong kick to his stomach, sending him flying across the flickering debris. Slamming into a half-faded wall.
"Marie?" he whispered.
"No! NO! You do NOT get to call me that. I'm not her anymore!" she yelled.
"You'll always be Marie to me," he growled, slowly standing up, nursing his broken arm, willing it to heal.
"I'll never be her, not to you, not to anyone. It's Rogue, it's always been Rogue. You are nothing to me," she screamed before storming out of the Danger Room.