A/N: First, thank you so much for your patience in waiting for this chapter. I know it has been a long time in coming but I had hit a block and I didn't want to post any old crap I could come up with.

So here it is, I hope you enjoy it…

Experimentation

Two days later Rogue was in the Danger Room on her own. She figured the Professor knew what she was doing since she often felt touches in her mind that she presumed was him checking in on her, but no one else knew she was there, or what she was trying to do.

She was sitting on a log in front of a campfire, making it hotter and cooler, exercising John's ability. It left her feeling sick and exhilarated, like an oil slick on a fresh water pond. She forced herself to keep going, keep learning control. Even if her own powers were still on, if she could use the ones she'd stolen, maybe she wouldn't have to use hers again.

She kept at it for a half hour, before ending the program and starting her new one. Bobby's power left her cold, literally. She didn't seem as insulated from his as she did from John's. When she was manipulating the fire it didn't hurt her, but when she was using Bobby's power she got cold. Being from the south she wasn't used to cold and her fingers ached after only a few minutes of controlling a snowstorm.

She tucked her hands under her arms and waited till the numbness turned into burning before trying to freeze varying sizes of water. She found it wasn't the amount of water that mattered but the way in which she tried to freeze it that made a difference. An instant, solid mass was more difficult than a slower, crystallization was. Another twenty minutes and she could take no more.

"Start program Rogue Metal One." Her surroundings morphed into her former high school science lab. Magneto's power was in his DNA, he learned how to use it over the years, she didn't have that kind of time or that amount of intimacy with his mutation. She had his power, permanently it seemed, but she had to access it in order to use it, she wouldn't be able to learn by instinct, she had to learn by practice.

She had several common metals on a table in front of her. Lead, stainless steel, aluminum, silver, gold and iron. She spent a half hour familiarizing herself with their feel, their smell and their reactions to her power. Each metal felt different as she manipulated them and she was soon able to identify each one by smell and sense alone. She wanted to start her next program but her time was up.

Rogue caught up on her homework as she ate lunch alone. She could see Bobby glancing her way every now and then but she ignored him, until he sat next to her. "Rogue?"

"What?" Her voice was flat, not friendly but not unfriendly either, like she was talking to a stranger. Bobby paused, he wasn't expecting much but he needed to know.

"Do you still have my powers?"

"What?" She dropped her pencil in surprise and he retrieved it for her. "How did you know?"

"I can smell the ice on you."

"You can smell ice?" Ice came out sounding like ahss, her accent coming out strong with her surprise.

"And snow, and sleet, it all smells different. And I can smell it on you." His voice was low so no one would overhear. His ice-blue eyes held hers; reminding her of the feelings she once had for him and instead of walking away she spoke.

"I've been practicing." To his credit Bobby didn't ask her how it was possible.

"Did you want some help?" The question hung between them like a curtain for several moments.

"Not yet." Rogue looked down at her gloved hands, folded in her lap until Bobby got up.

"Ok."

"Thank you." She spoke softly and met his eyes briefly before he left the room. She turned back to her homework and tried to finish before her now-weekly session with the Professor.

"Rogue, I want you to see someone else."

"Professor?" Rogue was confused.

"A professional, a psychiatrist."

"Do you think I'm crazy?" It was a question and not an accusation.

"No, I think you might be depressed."

"Depressed?" Rogue was familiar with the concept in a vague way. She'd seen the commercials advertising anti-depressants.

"While I have a unique way of conducting a therapy session, as well as extensive training in that area, I'm not a doctor and my concern is that you may have a chemical imbalance that could be contributing to your issues." He explained.

"When?"

"Saturday."

"Do I have to?" She asked. The Professor asked instead of looking into her mind.

"Why the hesitation?"

"It's just, with my mutation only sort of under control I'm afraid that drugs could mess all that up." She sounded very teenager-ish and he felt her fear.

"I see." He took her gloved hand in his, an unusual gesture in their sessions. "While that may indeed be a possible side-effect, the drugs could be discontinued, if even you have to start taking them in the first place." Rogue seemed to think this over.

"I know, you're right, I'll go."

"Good."

The next day she was back in the Danger Room. "Start program Rogue Metal One." The lab materialized and Rogue spent ten minutes on each of her common metals before speaking again. "Start program Rogue Metal Two." The lab stayed but instead of raw material in front of her she had various objects made from metal alloys. She found the alloys more difficult to control, they tended to want to return to their separate states and she had to work to keep them together.

Half an hour later she was sweating and swearing but improving. Her time up she ended the program then left the Danger Room and headed towards the women's locker room to shower. She stopped just before her hand touched the metal door, she realized she felt the door calling to her. It was like a slight vibration that begged to be touched.

Rogue concentrated on the vibration and pushed it away from her and the door moved slightly. She pushed harder and it almost opened. She shoved and it banged off the doorstop. "Oops." She giggled and went inside. She was half out of her clothes when the door banged open again. "Logan!" She shrieked in surprise and leapt behind a hastily opened locker door.

"I heard a bang." He was in battle-ready stance though his claws were still inside.

"It was the door!" Her voice clearly reprimanded him for not using his other senses to find out what was going on.

"Sorry." He didn't really appear sorry though he did straighten up and lean against the wall. "Doing some training?"

"Yes." Why wouldn't he leave?

"What were you working on?" He sounded truly concerned so she answered instead of ordering him out.

"My mutation." He nodded, respecting her choice not to tell him the whole truth.

"Did you want any help?" He took a step closer though that only took him to within ten feet of her and she felt something new. It was like a sweet, tangy taste in her mouth and she physically jerked when she recognized it as the adamantium in his body. "What's wrong? Are you okay?" He took two more steps closer and she managed to lift a hand to stop him.

"Yeah, yeah I am." Her eyes met his and there was awe in them. "Can I tell you about it later? After I get some clothes on for instance?"

"If you insist." Logan said. He smirked at her before leaving the locker room and it wasn't until she sighed and turned around that she understood why. Behind her, slightly off centre, was a mirror.

"Yeah sure, you can help." She mumbled as she stripped her bra and underwear off and started her shower, "You can be my new training buddy. I'm gonna see how much energy it takes to chuck you around the room for an hour."

An hour later Rogue slammed her textbook shut in frustration. She left her room intending to find the Professor but instead she found herself doing a search of Logan's usual haunts. She found him in the garage working on a motorcycle; not Scott's she noted. "Logan?"

"Heya Rogue." Logan said wiping his hands on an already dirty rag and standing to give her his attention.

"Can I talk to you about something?" She asked.

"Of course." He leaned against the nearby workbench. Was the man ever upright? The thought wasn't her own, but she had to admit the mocking truth of it, Logan seemed to be perpetually leaning.

"So I told you I was practicing." He nodded, "I wasn't using my own powers." He gave her a questioning look. "I guess I should start at the beginning."

"It would help me out some." He admitted. Rogue realized she was in for a long conversation so she perched on the motorcycle Logan had been working on.

"The Professor designed a program for me to practice controlling my powers." She started then stopped, remembering she'd told no one that she was supposed to be able to control her mutation. Suddenly this seemed like a really bad idea. "I'm sorry, I should go." She got up off the 'bike.

"Rogue wait." Logan said catching her arm. She turned and he saw hopelessness in her face and fear in her eyes. "Honey what's wrong?" He thought she was going to cry but he didn't smell the tang of impending tears.

"I don't know who I am anymore." When she'd opened her mouth to speak she hadn't known what was going to come out but she understood that all that had gone on in the last year and more particularly the last few months had caused her to get lost.

"Do you have afternoon class?" He asked her.

"No. Why?"

"Because I think it's time for a little road trip." Logan let her arm go to take her shoulders and turn her to face him. He pulled her into a gentle hug, "Ok?" She nodded. "Good, go change, we leave in fifteen minutes." She smiled slightly at him before leaving.

Back in her room Rogue changed into jeans, a long-sleeved shirt under a short-sleeved one and her scarf. She put her hair in a ponytail then threw on her leather boots, grabbed her jacket, helmet and gloves and met Logan back in the garage. He'd stashed the tools and 'bike parts, cleaned himself up a little and grabbed his motorcycle jacket. He'd also told the Professor that he was taking Rogue out for a ride.

He was sitting on the motorcycle when Rogue walked in, he held his hand out to her to help her onto the back of the 'bike. She took it and settled onto the back, removing her gloves long enough to fasten her helmet. The engine roared to life and she wrapped her arms around Logan as they took off.

Rouge was just about ready to forgive Logan for the locker room incident after five minutes. She loved the feel of being on the road, despite most of her road trips being survival-based she still felt that wanderlust deep in her chest and knew Logan felt the same. She didn't need him in her head to know that either. She had her arms around his waist, her body pressed to his and she felt his muscles relax as they got further from the mansion. His ease was contagious and she found herself relaxing as well, letting her problems slide to the back of her mind for the time being.

They rode seemingly aimlessly for an hour and a half before stopping. They were on a nearly deserted mountain roadside turnout and when Logan turned off the engine, the silence was intense. Rogue pulled off her gloves then her helmet as Logan parked the 'bike and got off to stretch. She slipped her helmet into a saddlebag and her gloves into her pockets then got off to walk out her kinks. She looked over the edge to the ribbon of water far below them.

The air was slightly crisp and she breathed deeply, content for the moment. She heard the crunch of boots on gravel approach and felt Logan's heat to her left. "It's beautiful." She said softly, leaning on him. He grunted in response but put his arm around her waist. The closeness was something neither of them was used to but was somehow easier out in the middle of nowhere.

"Did you want to tell me something?" Logan asked quietly. Rogue spoke haltingly at first but then easily and without pause for ten minutes. She told him of the mysterious presence in her mind when she was dieing, the promise of control, her struggle and failures in that area, then her discoveries regarding her stolen powers. She spoke dispassionately, like she was telling someone else's story rather than her own.

Logan took it all in in silence. "So you've got all the powers of everyone you've touched?"

"Not exactly, it seems to depend on the length of exposure. I have Bobby's, John's and his."

"What about mine?"

"I haven't tried that yet." They stood in silence for a while before Rogue pulled away to sit on the rock barrier at the edge of the turnout. "Speaking of you though."

"What about me?" Logan said, not looking at her as he lit his cigar.

"First, you're banned from the women's locker room unless you're blindfolded." He had the decency to look guilty. "And second, did you mean it when you said you'd help me with my powers?"

She was a study in contradiction right then. She looked tough, strong, in her denim and leather on her eighteen-year-old self but her voice was that of a child, afraid of being rejected, of being feared. Behind her eyes was the soul of a damaged child being guided in dangerous directions by the souls of grown men. However, he saw the spark, the part of her that fought for dominance, a part she had almost lost along the way.

He might have felt sorry for her, with just him in her head there was more than she deserved to be exposed to. Add to that the minds of an angry teenage boy, a Holocaust survivor and a couple other teenagers thrown in and it was bound to get crowded. He had faith in her though, with the right support she would overcome, be the best of them all. There was no hesitation when he answered, meeting her eyes.

"Yes, anything." She tilted her head.

"You might regret that." There was real concern in her voice. He grinned.

"I'm sure I will."

"I can guarantee you will if you ever try to see me in my underwear again." She made a conscious choice to be light-hearted in this and smiled back at him. "Thank you for taking me out here Logan."

"You're welcome Marie." He brushed a happy tear from her cheek with his thumb, the contact too brief to trigger her mutation, now was not the time for experimentation. "You ready to head home?" She nodded and took his offered hand, her own inside her sleeve for protection and warmth.

The ride home took almost three hours and two rest-stops and by the time the engine shut down for the final time Rogue felt almost content. After a shower and before she lost her courage, Rogue found Bobby. "Bobby? Can I talk to you?"

"Sure." He said, closing the book he'd been reading.

"Are you free after dinner tomorrow? For training I mean." She finished, figuring her first question sounded too much like she was asking him on a date. He thought for a moment before answering.

"I can be."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome." Their eyes met and they exchanged real fondness before breaking apart to decide on particulars. Rogue left Bobby to his book and returned to her room to finish the homework she'd neglected hours before.

Rogue paced anxiously in front of the Danger Room the next day, she stopped and broke into a nervous smile when Bobby appeared. They exchanged awkward hello's then Rogue led the way into the control room. It took only twenty minutes to design the program they needed since they used some of Bobby's original training programs as a base.

Rogue put on the parka she'd brought with her and then tried to apply what Bobby had been explaining to her. Within the hour she knew she was weeks ahead of where she'd have been had she been working alone. Any general sciences student knew that H2O was a deceptively complicated substance, now that Rogue had control over it she began to realize just how complicated.

Water came in liquid, solid and gaseous form, all three of which had to be mastered and understood in order to effectively use Bobby's power. Again she was playing catch-up, Bobby's mastery of his abilities was instinctual whereas she had to learn. She didn't have his level of ability but she had all the same tools. Tools which she now found exhilarating to use.

He also taught her how to pull the cold from the surrounding air rather than from herself so she didn't get quite as cold. After two hours their time was up and they left the room. "Thank you Bobby." She said as they walked to the elevator together. She wouldn't need his help again for several weeks, she had lots to practice and might not need his help again, but she would be open to accepting more help if she found the need.

"You're welcome." The doors slid open and they parted in the main hall of the mansion and they went their separate ways. Rogue had a free Friday night and though she wanted to join the others in the rec room for a movie, she had a backlog of homework and a full weekend schedule. She waved at the Professor as she passed his office and he gestured for her to come in.

"Yes Professor?"

"You haven't changed your mind about tomorrow have you?"

"No." There was a moment of silence as he read the surface of her thoughts and emotions. Rogue wondered if she'd ever be alone with her own thoughts. There was no resentment in the wondering, she knew she'd have to re-earn the trust of the others somehow, and this was probably the quickest way. Never mind that even without the Professor's intrusion, she still had all those other people running around in there.

"That's good to hear. So you've told Logan about what's been going on the last few weeks?"

"Not about my appointment tomorrow though, I want to know what's going on before I say anything." She still wasn't sure about the whole anti-depressant thing but she promised to give it a try and she was going to be true to her word.

"Did you want someone to drive you tomorrow?"

"I should be ok, I googled the address, it looks fairly easy to find."

"All right then." He smiled at her, "Did you have a vehicle preference?" He was rewarded with a smile from her.

"The BMW?" He chuckled.

"Just keep it legal, or at least reasonable." She grinned and left his office. That night Rogue got another visit.

"You're making progress." The red-tinged presence dropped the curtain in her mind.

"Sort of. I seem to be getting the hang of Bobby's and John's but I still don't have control of my own."

"But their power is now yours." Jean told her gently.

"So I have to get control of their power first?"

"Does that not make sense?" Rogue thought about it.

"I suppose in some ways."

"Just keep working at it, I'm sure you'll succeed."

"I will." Rogue promised.

"Good." Then she was gone.

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