I liked the response in the last chapter! Thanks for reviweing guys! Most of your questions will be answered in this chapter, you just need to read on. This chapter is another long one and has a lot of stuff in it. It even has Mystique's point of view.

I must warn you that this one is a quick update. I may not be as quick in my next updates.

Individual responses:

Jasmett: For your questions, read this chapter. And she did have Cain's powers but its already been 3 months so they've worn off. And yes, she's definitely mad at Logan. But since its been 3 months, its kind of rubbed off a bit. But only a bit. Otherwise, she's very mad with him.

Thanks to Beater101, Sue Doe Nyhm, Mahwash, tanya2byour21, LadyLady1994, Dream of the Night and WestAnimeBrigade. You guys made my day! :

This is it and now, you may continue to read the chapter. I'll make the corrections in the previous chapters too. Hope you didn't get irritated with the corrections.

Chapter Seven

A mere kid

"I ran after whom I presumed to be Jean," Logan said, looking at Mystique, "Who was in fact Mystique. But I thought it was her. Soon, I lost her track somewhere along the alley. It was as if she just… disappeared."

"Teleporter," Mystique said, smiling, "Erik plans well. I was supposed to give you guys a glimpse. The teleporter was all dressed like me. She started running when you were close behind her."

"But the thing is… I smelled her. I smelled Jean."

That put frowns on everybody's faces.

"That couldn't be… planned," Mystique said slowly. "Only I can do that."

Professor raised an eye–brow.

"When I take the form of somebody else," Mystique explained. "I take up their whole personality – their smell, their voice, the way they walk and carry themselves."

"That's clean," I put in.

Mystique looked at me, then back at Logan. "Maybe you were… confused?"

"No," Logan replied confidently, looking at Professor. "It was her smell."

"We'll get back at this," Professor said in his calming voice. "What happened next?"

"Remy followed Rogue and Logan," Remy continued. "She was in the bar, all drunk and unconscious. He left her like that."

Everybody looked at Logan, while I stared at my feet. I didn't even want to see his face after being reminded how much I mattered to him.

Mystique's hand suddenly covered mine and she squeezed it. I looked at her, a bit grateful. She smiled at me and turned back to glare at Logan.

"We walked to her car when Mystique came."

All of us looked at Mystique who was looking at Professor. Professor nodded at her once and she spoke up next. "I was supposed to convince them to join the Brotherhood. I had talked to Remy before as well and he refused straight–away. Erik, he made someone freeze him. I took Rogue a little way away so that Logan and Remy wouldn't be able to find us. I tried a lot. But she wouldn't budge. Instead, Rogue persuaded me to leave the Brotherhood."

They all looked at me while I continued to look at Mystique, self–consciously.

"When Erik thought that Rogue was having an effect on me, he attacked us in the car. I got out in time. Erik ordered me to. But Rogue got stuck in there. After that Erik sicked Juggernaut on her. He banged into her. And well, he was quite… gigantic."

Logan looked at me and then, continued, "The place where Jean disappeared… I found a body there. A woman who was dressed up like Jean. Like the one I was following. Only, she had just disappeared in front of me. I checked for pulse but I couldn't find it. Neither could I tell how she died. She just did."

"I was never told about it!" Mystique exclaimed.

"She was the teleporter," Professor told us. "She was brought to the Mansion and later, buried there."

"So," I whispered. "You mean… the one who was to pose as the teleporter was dead already. So who was he following?"

I didn't say Logan's name and I knew everybody noticed that.

"We don't know," Professor replied.

"What if… what if it was the real Jean?"

"That isn't possible," Mystique replied. "She's dead. Her body has been buried at the Mansion."

I shook my head. "And what's the other explanation?"

Everybody silenced for a moment while I was thinking about it. What is Jean was alive? What if Jean killed that teleporter? But how could she be alive? She was dead. Buried in front of my eyes. Or was she?

I looked up at Professor. "What if Jean was never buried? What if her body is not at the Mansion lying where it should be?"

"How is that possible, Rogue?" Mystique countered me.

"I don't know. Maybe… maybe we should check."

"Check what?" Logan suddenly stood up. "You can't dig her grave up!"

I glared at Logan while he glared back at me. Right. How was he the one acting angry here?

"He's right Rogue," Professor supplied. "We can't dig her grave up. That would be… intrusion upon the dead. I cannot allow that."

I gulped, feeling angry and annoyed. What if her body wasn't there? Nobody understood that!

"Logan, calm down. Tell us what happened next."

Logan sat back into the seat he had occupied earlier. "I came back and didn't find Rogue there." I was slightly grateful he didn't say my real name in front of anybody. But my anger didn't let me acknowledge it much. "I thought that maybe she went back home with Remy. So, I went back to her apartment. But I couldn't find her there. I checked Remy's apartment. But even Remy wasn't there. I went back to the place she worked with Remy. Both of them weren't there. I came back to the bar I left her at and looked around the place. And suddenly, I smelled him. I smelled Remy. Remy was looking around like I was and told me how Mystique had taken Rogue. Then, we searched for her together and found her with Mystique bent over her. Rogue was almost loosing her consciousness. I took advantage of Rogue's powers and touched her. She healed much enough, but suddenly, she stopped absorbing."

I looked up and saw Logan looking at Mystique expectantly.

"After Rogue lost her consciousness," Mystique said, looking at Logan, Professor and me in turn, "I found that I could touch you. You seemed all fine but you had lost your consciousness and wouldn't wake up. Logan called Professor and told him how we were able to touch you. Professor told us to take you to the nearest hospital."

"If I was all healed, how did I land up in this hospital with a coma then?" I asked, looking at both of them.

"Logan did heal everything, but he couldn't get you to wake up," Professor answered. "The doctors told us you were in coma. You see, coma is a mental condition, not an injury or a fracture that could be healed."

"Oh," I said, looking at my hands. This was so messed up.

"How Logan could touch Rogue is what I'd like to know," Professor asked, thumbing his chin.

Suddenly, it struck me. "Oh," I said, in sudden enlightenment. Everybody looked at me expectantly. "Before I fell unconscious," I explained. "Mystique was urging me to stay awake. Each time she touched me, she backed. And then, he was trying to heal me while suffering. Because of my skin. But they wouldn't stop. I got a little irritated and wished really hard for my mutation to turn off. So that they wouldn't harm themselves because of me. I was already beginning to have their memories – flashes." I turned to Professor. "And suddenly it stopped. My mutation stopped. But that isn't possible. I've wished so, so many times. I prayed, I cursed, I tried everything I could. Everything that was in power my power. But it never worked. How could it have worked then?"

"Maybe because you were trying to protect someone? Maybe because you didn't want to hurt anyone?" Professor tried.

"But I always did wish I would stop hurting everyone. Even with Ethan. But it never really worked."

Professor sighed. "Maybe, this time, the feeling was really strong. Maybe… " Suddenly, he turned to face me, a knowing look on his face. "Rogue, what were you thinking before it turned off?"

"What? I… "

"What was it?"

"I… " I looked down at my feet again and said it real fast. "I was wishing death for me. To end the pain. It was too much. And then, when Logan tried to heal me, I could feel how much pain he was going through. And so I wished it would stop. I wished for death."

Everyone fell silent.

"How could you?" Remy asked, a look of hurt on his face.

"I thought it was over anyway," I whispered. I gulped and looked at Logan who was eyeing me with disbelief evident in his eyes. He looked at me as if I had betrayed him.

What? I was the one who was betrayed!

"Rogue," Professor suddenly said, "I don't know what to say. Maybe that was it. Maybe it worked as a sort of death wish. Maybe your body accepted your decision that day."

"You mean… I can control it now?"

"I can't tell that."

"You mean it can return?"

"Rogue," Professor said, smiling with what seemed like sympathy, "It would return. Maybe you've turned if off for the moment, but I'm sure it will return back."

I gulped, looking at Professor. "It will?" I asked, again, just to make sure I had heard it correctly.

In answer, he nodded. "It's in your genes, child."

Of course it was to remain. It wasn't as if it was an injury that could heal. It was in my genes.

I had that fucking mutant gene.

"Though, maybe this incident could be the one which may grant you complete control over your power. What if you try to bring it back again and––"

"No," I said, resolutely, "I would do nothing to bring it back. If it stays away, even for a while, I'd better have it that way."

"But Rogue," Mystique said, "What if you could control it?"

I smiled weakly. "What if I cannot control it? What if it comes back to haunt me for the rest of my life? Well, as it has to come back, I'd better have the peace of not having it for a while. However short that while may be."

Professor smiled. "It's your decision to make. If you decide not to try, then, it's your wish."

I looked down at my hands, chewing on my lip.

"Is there anything else that you wanted to ask Rogue?" Professor asked looking meaningfully at me.

I gulped and shook my head. "No," I said, in spite of everything that I wanted to ask from him. In spite of the fact that he could help me like he had helped Jean. I couldn't ask him, nor blame him.

"I think," He said, "that you should have a little rest now. Good night, Rogue." Then, he turned to Logan. "Logan, can I have a word?"

I smiled in return and nodded at him as he left with Mystique and Remy. Logan nodded and got up, leaving me alone. I had nothing more to think and I looked past the window looking at the people passing by.

A couple minutes later he was back and the frown on his face was replaced by a smile. Did Professor tell him to not be his usual assy–self around me?

"Aren't you going to leave?" I asked Logan, looking at my hands all the while.

"Any doubt?" He asked.

I sighed, looking up at him. "So you're staying?"

He nodded, smiling a bit and sitting on the chair right beside me. "You know me well."

"No," I said, shaking my head. "Actually, I don't."

"What are you implyin'?" He asked, quirking an eye-brow.

"Logan, I am implying that I don't know what you do, what you decide, what you think – it's all beyond me. I don't know what to expect from you and I don't know what to make of you coming here to me – after you've done everything you wanted to do, after you've done everything that your instincts told you to do. As I said, I don't know you anymore."

"I'm sorry for what happened," he said, taking my hand, "I'm sorry. It all happened because of me."

"Don't you see Logan?" I asked, my temper suddenly flaring. I took my hand off his grip. "The world doesn't revolve around you. It's not your fault. It's my fault. I drank at that bar and I lost my consciousness. It's not your fault at all. Instead, you stopped me from drinking anymore."

Yes, it wasn't his fault that I had fallen for him. He loved Jean. He went after his love. I had no right to blame him for the betrayal I felt when he left me alone at the mansion or at that stupid bar.

But I had to get things straight today. There was only one thing that I wanted to know from him and I had to know it now. If he didn't want me, I'll leave him alone. For forever.

"But I shouldn't have left you alone," he said, looking guilty.

"Wipe that remorse off your face, Logan," I said, closing my eyes. "You cannot be at two places at one time. You had to go after Jean."

That made him silent for a long while. It was so long a while that I had to open my eyes and check his face for if he had fallen asleep or something.

There was no way this was going any further if I didn't make the first move. I had waited so long. If I didn't ask him now, I wouldn't be able to ask him ever. Today, I just had to know.

"I want to ask you something," I said, in a small voice.

He nodded, looking at me.

I took a deep breath, thinking how I would say it. I looked down at my hands as my hair shaded my face from him. At least he couldn't see how divided I felt over this. It would cost all my pride. Yet, I was ready to give away my pride for him. I was ready to give anything for Logan. If only, he felt the same for me.

I felt my heartbeat increasing.

Shut it Marie. At least you wouldn't have to face what if's all life long. You have to ask him.

Yes, I needed to know what he felt for me.

"Are you okay?" Logan asked, bending forward. I looked up as Logan tucked the white streaks of my hair behind my ear in one swift motion, barely touching my skin. If anything, my heartbeat only increased further.

I gulped. God, I was hyperventilating. The words were on the tip of my tongue, yet I couldn't say them.

And that touch…it felt good. Too good. Blissfully good, in fact. I shut my eyes, imagining Logan kissing me – his lips on mine and our wild, passionate, loving kiss.

Anything for that.

And so, I said it.

With my eyes still shut, and Logan's hand still on my cheek, I squeaked, "Do you like me?"

Logan's hand retrieved and I opened my eyes to see his hand on the bed beside me, his eyes wide, looking intently at me.

"And what do you mean by that?" He asked, getting up and walking to the table on my other side, pouring water in a glass. "Of course I like you Marie. I've known you for so long. You were the first one of my kind – the first one that I met who didn't want to hurt me of course."

I could have strangled him for saying that. As if he couldn't understand. I could feel the rejection even then. But I had to get this straight today. Now.

"Logan, you know what I mean. Its not that you are oblivious to my feelings."

When he didn't answer and barely drank water out of that glass, I continued, "Or you were. You were oblivious. Maybe you were so engrossed in looking at Jean that you never looked at me that way?"

Logan turned to me, his jaw set. "Why do you have to bring her into everything?"

God, I flared at that. That really was the last straw.

"Because I love you, Logan! In case you haven't noticed. Which, now that I come to think of it, maybe you haven't! And you loved her! You loved Jean!" I gulped, "Or maybe you do love her even now. Maybe–"

"Yes, I do," Logan said, keeping the glass down on the table, his nostrils flaring. "I do love her. I love her even now. Even after she's dead. And just because you think love dies with the person, I just can't stop loving her. If I kissed her or even slept with her, it was because I loved her. And I won't deny that fact, even when she's not here with us now."

My mouth fell open as I looked at him. I shut it when I realized it.

He was right. I had no right to make him feel the way I wanted him to feel. But then, I tried again. For one last time. Because I suddenly realized that whatever he said, he never really answered my question. "So you never really felt that way for me?"

"There are memories, Marie," he said, talking in a controlled voice with his back to me. "Memories which are not really clear and complete. But I know some things. I have been here for a very long time. Longer than a lifetime. So long, in fact, that I might have been a part of the Civil War. I'm much older than you think. I'm much older than my body lets on. You are a mere kid. What are you? Twenty? Twenty one? I don't even age the way you do. I have a past that I do not know. You deserve someone better than me. Someone who is right age for you. I'm not the right guy, Marie. It would be wrong. People I love end up dying. I see them die because I outlive them. I don't want this for you."

Of course. I never thought about it. I'll get older than him. Older than what he appeared to be at least. Shit, I never thought about it.

Still I tried again, "But I don't mind anything, Logan! I don't. I just want you!"

"I don't want to drag you in the mess my life is, Marie," Logan said, his back still turned to me. "You don't know anything. You don't know what's right for you."

Still there was hope. He didn't exactly say that he didn't love me.

Or was he finding excuses to not say that he didn't love me? So that he wouldn't hurt me? This thought however killed me. He couldn't not love me. Right?

"You dragged me in when you decided to give me a ride that day, Logan," I said. "And if you were so worried about not aging, about being older than you appeared, why didn't you feel this guilt when you were trying to win Jean over all these years? She would have aged just like me! Why do you just have to bring in your conscience when I am involved? Why don't you just say it? That you don't love me?"

I looked up at him, tears on the brim of falling. Yet, Logan stood with his back turned.

"Fine," Logan said, "I don't love you."

That's when I lost control and tears slipped down my eyes. I wiped them away quickly though. I didn't want to tell him that I was weak or anything. Because that was one thing I wasn't anymore.

"Look at me and say that."

He didn't. He didn't turn.

So I got up and went up to Logan, turning him to face me. Our eyes locked and I said it again, "Logan look at me and say that."

Logan looked at me at last, his eyes cold. Never before had Logan looked at me like this. Never before in my life.

"I don't love you, Marie," Logan said, his voice strained.

My mouth stayed open and my eyes dropped down to the floor. Sure there wouldn't be what if's now. I had the truth. Logan just didn't feel anything for me.

I was a mere kid, after all.

I collapsed on the bed, tucking my feet underneath me. He turned to me again. "Water?"

I shook my head. Everybody said Logan wasn't good with feelings and emotions. He was. He was bad with everyone but me. But the kind of relationship we had was lost ages ago. Our relationship died with Jean's death.

I never realized how bad he was with feelings and relationships. Today, I finally did.

"Marie? Are you crying?" Logan asked, looking worried.

And that was one other thing that I wasn't. I wasn't Marie.

I was Rogue.

"No," I lied. "I'm not crying. And I want to sleep."

"Sure," Logan said, drinking the whole glass in one go. "Lie down. I'll switch off the light."

I did as he said and closed my eyes as the light turned off. And after that, try as I might, I couldn't control the tears that kept falling.

.

(Mystique)

.

I came over to check on Rogue again in the morning. I was in a good mood. Rogue was one good kid. I mean, not many people have an effect on Mystique. And she was one of those rare people.

I came in and knocked, only to find Rogue's bed empty. I found Logan sprawled on this big chair, sleeping. Maybe she went for a walk or something.

"Logan?" I called out, trying to shake him out of his sleep. "Logan where's Rogue?"

"Rogue?" Logan got up pretty quickly at that. "Wh-where's Rogue?"

"That's what I'm asking you, Logan," I said, irritated. "Where is Rogue?"

"What? She's not here?" Logan asked, finally getting out of his daze and getting up to check around the room. As if I hadn't already done that.

"She probably went for a walk around the hospital," Logan said, sprinting out of the room.

I instead settled down on Rogue's bed. Last night had been exhausting. What with all the story-telling and then, the long talk with Professor?

Professor wanted me to get back to Brotherhood and keep him informed of their plans. We were still perfecting that plan because I doubted Erik trusted me now after our last encounter. And then, well, I talked to him about Rogue. Seems like Chuck read my thoughts. Hell, I was worried about her. She was almost like a little version of me.

Then, there was also the matter of how Rogue didn't seem to look a day older than when I saw her for the first time all those years ago. Were her powers beyond the realm of what she could touch? Was it affecting her whole self? Were her powers beyond what we had imagined?

Rogue was a Class Four mutant. Sure she had immense power but Chuck speculated that Rogue's powers were more than what she knew, what she let on. Well, maybe Erik was right in speculating that Rogue was special.

I was worried about her. What with her falling for a man with a heart of stone? Logan was a tough choice even for her. Though she had chipped Logan's walls and gained access to his heart, I wondered if Logan would ever love her back the way she wanted him to.

The Wolverine was a hard man, but a man worth it all. Even though Logan looked at Rogue differently than anyone else, I wondered if it was only because she was like his own kid to him. I gulped. If Rogue was to hear that, I bet she wouldn't be happy.

Anyway, I just came back to check on Rogue before I left for the Mansion again, where Chuck and I would further work on our plan. But I very much doubted if his plan would work. Erik worked with perfection. He took people into the Brotherhood, he knew he could trust. And of course, he kept an eye on everybody for a sign of mutiny. I myself had qualms about the job. But if Chuck was intent on sending me among the enemy, I knew I could trust him. Yet, my instincts told me that this was not the job for me.

As of now, I was jobless. I had a lot of money in my several bank-accounts to live lavishly for a lifetime. But sitting down and doing nothing was never me. I loved working with Erik, which was one of the main reasons why I joined back his army. It wasn't him. It was the work.

And then, there was also the matter of a particular hot Cajun, who I thought was interested in me. We had gone on a couple dinner dates now, during Rogue's sickness and I kind of liked him as well. And maybe, it had something to do with the fact that he kissed really well.

I had been one of those girls who just couldn't sit still. Maybe that was what made me Mystique. I was lithe and supple on my feet – something that I was proud of. I was proud of being Mystique. Yet… sometimes I wish I was normal. I could have gone on in life without being who I am now.

Yet, being normal wasn't what I really craved. I looked down at myself, looking at the human skin. I looked like I was supposed to be if the mutation hadn't been triggered, the face that I had when the cure still had its effect on me. But somehow, I didn't feel myself when I looked like this. Maybe there was the sense of adventure in being Mystique that wasn't in being Raven Darkhölme. Maybe that's why I preferred Mystique over Raven Darkhölme.

Logan entered the room, looking worried. I stood up quickly and reached him in three quick strides.

"She's not around here. I cannot smell her anywhere."

"Are you saying that Rogue left?" I asked, my anger flaring. It was obviously because of something Logan did. I could tell that. And my instincts were never wrong. "What did you do?"

"Me?" Logan asked, disbelief etching his face. "I did nothin'!"

"You did something alright," I accused him. "Rogue couldn't just have left! She was all fine yesterday. What did you do?"

I pushed him aside and shut the room's door behind him and curtained the window, turning back into me. The real Mystique. "Tell me what you did," I said, moving up to him, "Before I have to get it out of you."

"Why are you this worried about her anyway?"

"Never you mind," I said, reaching for his collar. Obviously I wasn't just going to tell him why I was so worried about her. Rogue was just like me in ways I could never explain. And then, there was also the obvious. I was… I was Rogue's adoptive mother before the D'Ancantoes adopted her. "Tell me before I knock you dead."

"And you think you can," Logan growled, stepping ahead.

I glared at him as he glared back, eye for an eye. "Tell me what you did that made her runaway!"

At that, Logan backed, worry replacing his anger. "Look, I know it's my fault. But she asked somethin' that I would never have been able to give her. I never knew she would leave like this!"

"What?" I asked, even though I knew it before he said it. "What did she ask for?"

"She asked me if I loved her and I told her I didn't," he said, pacing about the room, his hand on his forehead.

"And you don't?" I asked, sitting on the bed again.

"Does it matter?" He asked instead of answering. "Does it matter what I feel? She's a kid Mystique."

"But what is it that you feel?"

"I told you it doesn't matter!" He said, his pace increasing. "She deserves somebody better than me."

"And it wouldn't matter to you if she kisses somebody else?" I asked. I could see his face contorting into anger. He let out a growl, but I smiled and risked it. Anyway, I was enjoying this – some action after months of nothingness. "If she hugs somebody else?" I asked, walking up to him and trailing a finger along his jaw-line. "If she touches somebody else?" Then, I returned back to the bed, bouncing on it, "If she sleeps–"

Logan was at my collar in a second, pulling me up in the air. "Don't!" He said, just as I heard the clink of his claws. "Don't test me!"

With one good kick on his face, Logan was down on the floor, but up in a second more. "Don't think you can beat me so easily," I said, smirking at his scowl, "Just because I joined your side, doesn't mean that I've started liking you, Wolvie."

He rubbed a hand to where I had kicked him, glowering at me.

"You made her leave, Logan. What would she live here for anyway? Seeing you flaunt yourself with other women? I doubt she would have liked seeing you with Jean."

"So what?" I asked back. "She is just twenty years old–"

"Give or take a year," I reminded him, making him glare at me.

"I don't know my past. I don't know my age. I don't know what all I have done in the past. I'm not the right one for her."

"Yet you cannot see her in anyone else's arms," I reminded him again, smiling at his anger.

"It doesn't matter what I feel Mystique. I'd never come in the way of her normal life."

"Really now," I said, circling him, like a prey. "Who told you that she ever had a normal life, anyway?"

"I just know that it's at least it's better than something I can give her," he murmured.

"How do you know that?" I asked. "Have you ever felt the way she does? The way she feels? Her powers make her weak inside. She found her solace in you. She was there when you needed her. But were you there for her? Logan you do love her–"

"I don't love her!" He interrupted me.

"–And yet you deny it," I completed. "She doesn't want anything besides you and you want to give her everything but."

He slumped on Rogue's bed behind me. It creaked but remained still. "It's not right. I'm older than her father! She ages, I don't."

"She doesn't need to know that. She doesn't care. And in any case, if you haven't noticed, she doesn't look a day older than when I saw her first with Erik."

"What do you mean?" he asked looking up at me.

"What I mean is," I said, turning to him, "that I think that Rogue isn't aging too."

"What?" He asked getting up. "That just can't be possible."

"Really now?" I asked him.

He fell silent, looking down at the floor. I could actually imagine cogs turning in his brain right then, with bulb lighting up above his head.

"Well, she does look like she did a couple years ago. What does the Professor think?"

"He doesn't really know. He says it's only been a few years to tell that exactly but he doubts himself. I think he agrees with my theory."

"But why? Why isn't she aging?"

"Professor said that maybe she is absorbing peoples' powers permanently now."

"What?"

"She has been in a very long contact with you, Logan. She has got your non-aging power." But then, I suddenly realized something else. "But then again, she's in contact of Storm, Professor, and the others too. Why isn't she…?"

"She is," Logan said, looking grimly at me. "I saw her eyes this one time. They were Storm's. When Storm's angry or when she is concentrating on using her powers."

"When?" I asked, really intrigued.

"I, uh," Logan turned around, not facing me anymore. "I hit her and she got really angry, I guess and then, her eyes turned an exact replica of Storm's. All white for a second. Back then, I thought that I had imagined it and didn't really react."

"You hit her?" I asked, though I knew it. I acted really surprised though. However, I did feel angry.

Logan turned around. "Look, I really don't know how it exactly happened. One second, I was listening and then the next, I was staring down at my hands. I couldn't believe that I had hit her myself. I jus–"

That's when I landed another kick across his face. I turned around on the toes of my feet, hitting him across his face. But this time, Logan didn't scowl at me. He looked… even guiltier than he already did, a hand clutched to his face.

"I guess I deserved it," Logan said, sitting back on the bed.

Strange. I had never, and I mean, never seen Logan back down. Even if it was his fault all the way. That just wasn't Logan. Maybe, he really did feel guilty about it.

A few uncomfortable moments later, I walked to the door. "So, you want to find her. I can help you. But on a certain condition."

"What?" Logan growled, looking up from where he was staring at the floor.

"If you tell me what exactly you feel for her, Logan," I said, "I'll make finding her a lot easier for you."

"I told you," he argued. "She's just a frien'. A really close one, but that's it." Then, he got up and looked away. "If you've had your fill, I think we should look for her."

"Look, Logan," I sighed. He was just one tough man and wanted everything his way. Unfortunately for him, I was just like him in that manner. "We'll go from here, find Rogue and you'll have your argument all over and then, she'll run away again. Don't you get it? If you can't love her, then, she wants nothing else from you. Nothing else. It's either everything for her, or its nothing. There's no use finding her if you don't feel that way for her. It would come down to the same thing. If you're still stuck on it, I'd suggest you to go back to the mansion and live there as X-Men, or I don't know, roam around the world, go to Canada and enjoy your life. Forget her."

Logan glared at me.

"Sorry buddy, you can't have everything your way."

"What all do you know about her exactly?" He asked now, looking at me.

I sighed yet again. He was a slow learner. I hated being the teacher here. "I've watched her Logan. Through the years. Erik always thought she was misfit among you. She was never a savior like Chuck. She was always the… demolisher. She belonged with us. You might not have seen her, but she trusted you with everything she ever had. She saw you falling over Jean, but she never said a thing. When you mourned for Jean, she provided you with a shoulder. But you left her. She felt betrayed. Still she loved you. She resented you leaving her, but that never changed the way she felt about you. She thought she'd never be seeing you again, she was miserable, Logan and yet she'd never hear a word against you."

Logan didn't reply, didn't say anything.

God. Where's my reaping after so much of good work, all in a day? This was bad. I tried being the good girl, but this guy had a thick skull. Nothing just got through.

"Okay," I said, sensing my defeat for now, "Tell me when you get tired of this game. When you are ready accept your feelings for her, your true feelings for her. Only then, I'll help you find Rogue. And believe me, I can make finding her really easy."

Logan got up, searching around in his pockets. I shrugged and I turned into my old skin again, opening the door.

"Fuck," Logan cursed suddenly, making me look back at him. He looked at me. "She stole my car's keys!"

I smiled involuntarily, shaking my head at him. "She is wiser than you give her credit for, Logan," I said. "She's not growing older, but she is aging. You need to think beyond her face."

With that, I left the room, determined on finding a certain friend who would in turn help me find Rogue.

So, what about this chapter? Review and tell me! I love reading them and find it hard not to update quickly after reading them! (:

Keep me working on this story by reviewing.