Remy tried everything he could to get Marie to forget about her appointment with Professor Xavier.

From offering to whisk her off on an impromptu vacation to the Florida Keys to attempting to get her to go to the mall on a shopping spree. As with everything concerning him recently, she seemed completely disinterested.

He wasn't stupid. He knew she and Logan had been fooling around.

How far they had gotten and how deeply involved they were still remained to be seen. Since they had yet to connect the dots concerning their unknown pasts, he didn't assume too far...but then again, communication wasn't a strong trait of the feral personality.

His most recent plan to keep Marie from falling completely into Logan's arms and out of his life seemed brilliant...but he wasn't sure as to how well it worked...yet.

******The night before, just after returning to the mansion***********
When Marie was in with the professor, working on boxing up Sabertooth after their mission, Remy and the rest of the team were taking off their uniforms, showing in the locker rooms, and slowly returning to their perspective rooms.

Of course, Logan made himself scarce to go suck down a beer and smoke a cigar. Scott, being the ever dutiful leader and teacher, immediately retired after his shower to he and Jean's room, and Storm sought solace in her garden to relieve the tension fighting had caused.

Remy thanked his lucky stars when he ended up alone walking to the elevator with Jean.

He cleared his throat, "Good job today."

She removed her gloves and sighed, "Thanks, you too. Not bad for a first timer."

Remy smirked, "Guess you'll be goin' to bed soon, huh?"

Jean shrugged, "Not really. After a night like this, there's always a lot running through my mind...can't sleep."

"What about Scott?"

She raised a perfectly arched eyebrow, "He sleeps like a ton of bricks hit him after missions. I wouldn't be surprised if he's already asleep."

He slowly rocked on his heels a bit and eyed her with a sly smile, "I'm sure the Wolverine is stalkin' the halls...all growly and full of testosterone...lookin' for a primed up female."

Jean cocked her head to the side and crossed her arms as they stepped onto the elevator, "What are you trying to-"

"Remy knows a few things, belle...the game of cards and the game of love...and what I see when the Wolverine looks at you is sheer desire...and I see it in your eyes when you look at him. Bein' a telepath, I woulda thought you'd figured that out by now."

The redhead stared wide eyed at Remy as he smirked and walked away. With any luck, Marie would attempt to use some of her post-mission time hooking up with the Wolverine...and then, she would find a nice little surprise all red headed and wrapped up in his room.

As Remy walked away, he made sure to project well-placed thoughts that supported his Logan-Jean hook up theory.
********************

Remy sat in the kitchen, eating a muffin as Marie stood over the stove, scrambling some eggs. After piling the food onto her plate and sitting down next to Remy, Storm entered the kitchen and greeted everyone with a pleasant smile.

Marie was barely halfway through her breakfast when Jean walked in and immediately tensed at the sight of Marie.

In response, Marie quickly averted her gaze, dropped her fork to the plate and quickly murmured an excuse about having to "go do something" before quickly rushing out of the kitchen.

Storm sat there, looking confused as Jean nervously fidgeted and gave the two remaining occupants a nervous smile, "What's for breakfast?"

Remy took a gulp of orange juice and smirked. Guess his plan did work.

Marie entered the garage to find Scott fixing up a classic Mustang. He glanced up, "Hey."

She shoved her hands in her pockets as she eyed the garage full of cars, "Hey. How's it goin'?"

Marie half listened as Scott said something about replacing a cracked radiator, then nodded, "Great...um, I was wondering if I could borrow one of the cars."

He nodded and motioned toward a BMW sedan, "Sure. There's the go-to car for most of the staff."

Her mouth dropped open a little, "I've been bummin' rides and walkin' everywhere for nearly three months and come to find out, there's a 'go-to' car for the staff?"

"Let's just say, the trust had to be built. I wanted to make sure your boyfriend didn't lose it in a card game."

Marie let out a chuckle, "Yeah...that's understandable...but you're not afraid if I take it?"

Scott wiped his hands on a cloth and shrugged, "Welp, I've watched you two together and...it's pretty obvious you operate on completely different wavelengths."

She crossed her arms and cocked her head to the side, "What do you mean by that?"

He shrugged a little and plopped down on a stool as he took a swig from his water bottle, "Some couples have a rhythm. They look like they belong together...but you and Remy...you don't look at all like you should be together. There's no real pull there..."

Marie nodded and thought about seeing Jean in Logan's room the night before. She ran a hand through her hair and glanced back toward the BMW, "Where are the keys?"

"In the console. Try not to have it out all day."

She smiled and gave him a mock salute before turning around and going to the car.

Thirty minutes later, Marie was back in the quaint little row of shops she and Logan had visited some time ago. She wandered for a little bit, but eventually found herself at the art shop where Logan purchased her beloved painting.

She entered and looked around at the various pieces for several minutes before a woman with long gray hair and an abundance of beaded jewelry approached, "May I help you?"

Marie nodded, "A friend of mine came in here back in December and bought a painting for me...it was of a little girl? My friend is a guy...big, burly, has muttonchops and never gives more than a one word answer to questions."

The woman nodded quickly, "Logan! Yes. Quiet guy...but a very strong aura."

She laughed softly, "Right. That's him. He gave me the painting, and I love it...I was just wondering if you had anymore or might be able to give me any information about where I could find more."

"Well, my cousin owned this gorgeous little cabin in the Canadian wilderness. Wonderful spot...tucked away in the mountains and completely surrounded by nature. When she died, she was renting it out to some people, but we don't know who. We found their clothes, those paintings, and a refrigerator full of Molson's beer. The painting you now own was the last one I had available. I sold the rest."

Marie blinked rapidly, "I'm sorry...did you say Molson's?"

The woman nodded, "It's a Canadian beer."

"Oh, I know. I just...um...nothing." There was a slightly awkward pause before Marie continued, "So the people who were renting it never came back?"

The woman shook her head, "No. I even stuck around for a couple of weeks to see if they would show up...but they didn't, so I cleared out the place and rented it out again. I rented it out for 14 years, but it's vacant now and I rarely have the time to make my way up there. I can rent it out to you if you ever feel the need to get away. It's a beautiful little spot."

Marie cocked her head to the side, "I think I'll take you up on that offer."

When Marie returned to the mansion, she had the keys to the cabin in her pocket. Regardless of what Logan was doing with the red headed bitch, she knew that her relationship with Remy had run its course.

Thanks to the X Men and the professor, she was no longer afraid of being alone, because, even if she didn't have Remy, she still had somewhere she belonged.

As soon as she entered the mansion, the professor sent her a telepathic message, asking her if she wanted to start their session early since his prior engagement fell through.

Marie met him in the med bay. He smiled, "You seem a bit antsy, my dear...you don't plan on leaving us any time soon, do you?"

"Not permanently...I was hoping I could talk to you about that."

Charles raised his eyebrows, "Certainly..."

She plopped down in a chair across from him and sighed, "Remy and I...our relationship...it isn't working...and I've had some distractions recently that have...complicated things. I just need a week or so to clear my head."

"Well...I'm sure Logan could handle your class by himself. You're sure you need a full week?"

Marie shrugged, "I was with Remy for 15 years. I guess I need some time away to just get to know myself a little without him. He's been a constant fixture in the only known life I had and...I just need a little clarity."

The professor motioned toward the table so that they could get ready to start their session, "Well...I understand. I do hope you'll let me know where you plan on going so that I can get in touch with you in case of emergency."

"There's a cabin in the Canadian wilderness I'm renting out from a woman who owns an art shop a few miles from here. It's supposed to be quiet...the perfect place to find clarity."

Once she was situated on the table, he placed his hands against her temple, "Let's just see if I can help provide some of that clarity today, shall we?"

There was a long period of complete silence and stillness before a small flash was seen in her minds eye. She saw a house with a porch, and a beautiful, dark haired woman who smiled down at her. The woman stomped a high heeled foot on the porch and screeched in a high pitched, southern drawl, "Anna Marie D'Ancanto! I better not see not one grass stain on that dress 'fore church young lady!"

The next hazy memory was accessed, and she immediately saw herself running away from a mob of teenaged boys. The professor quickly moved on from that memory, knowing exactly how it would end when one of the boys yelled "mutie bitch" at her, then picked up a rock. He then accessed a memory of her training in a military site, performing exercises, learning fighting moves and handling weapons.

He immediately felt the familiarity of the surroundings that appeared in her memory and realized that the place Marie was in was the same place he had seen when helping access Logan's past memories.

There was a brief flash of a log cabin with Native American tapestries hung over the fireplace and a large, manly hand, handing her a Molson's beer.

Charles slowly moved forward in her memory bank, but, before he knew it, there was nothing left for him to access.

Marie opened her eyes, "That's it?"

He nodded, "It's definitely something...your full name is Anna Marie D'Ancanto...and it's clear that, where ever you were when your mutation surfaced, you were assaulted. Some time later, for whatever reason, you underwent military level training...but I can't see when you absorbed your adopted powers or who you absorbed them from."

She sighed, "That is more than I've ever known..."

The professor regarded her sympathetically. He had hoped he would be able to help her more than Logan. As Logan's name popped into his head, he remembered the familiar military compound that he had seen in both of their memories. Logan was a notoriously private man, and he knew betraying his trust could come with the consequence of having the feral pack up and leave, so he decided to keep his mouth shut.

"It's a promising step in the right direction, Rogue. Perhaps when you've had the opportunity to clear your head a bit more, we'll try again."

Marie nodded, "That's exactly why I need to get away."

She turned to leave, but stopped and quickly turned around, "Um...would you mind keeping my little trip between the two of us?"

He smiled wisely, "Certainly dear...and you have my permission to take the Range Rover. You're going to need it to conquer the wilderness. I'll let Scott know that I gave you permission to take it after you've safely hit the road."

"Thanks professor."

On her way back to her room to pack, she encountered Logan coming down the hall. She immediately turned on her heel to head in the opposite direction, but he jogged up toward her.

Her pace remained brisk, despite the fact that he was now practically running after her, "I think we should talk."

"Funny. I don't think we should."

He grabbed her arm, preparing to haul her into the nearest vacant room, but a warning growl and the snatch of her arm from his grip made him hesitate, "Back off, Wolverine."

Logan looked up and down the hall before leaning in and lowering his voice, "You didn't see what you thought you saw, kid."

Marie crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes, "And by 'what I saw', do you mean Jean...half naked...in your bed?" As the sentence left her mouth, she realized how much of a jealous bitch she must've sounded like. After all, this was her fault. Despite the fact that Logan shouldn't be boinking a "taken" woman, he had every right to boink who he wanted to. SHE had been the one who had held out on breaking up with Remy. It was her fault that she had found Jean in his room...

She sighed, "Look. You don't have to explain anything else, Logan."

A look of confusion flashed across his face, "I don't?"

Marie shook her head, "No, you don't. Please don't bother."

"Look, kid...you need to know that I didn't-"

Remy's sudden entrance into the hallway made Logan take a resigned step back away from Marie.

The cajun approached and cleared his throat, "Uh...belle...can I talk to ya a bit?"

She nodded without sparing Logan a second glance, "Sure."

When they were alone in their room, Remy rubbed his hands together nervously, "So...you had your appointment with the professor?"

Marie nodded as she sat on the bed, "Yep."

"Who did he see?" he suddenly blurted without thinking.

She fixed him with a confused stare, "What do you mean, 'who'?"

"What...I meant what..." he said as he looked away.

Marie stood and narrowed her eyes at him. She knew Remy too well. She knew when he was horny...when he gambled...when he was angry...and she especially knew when he lied. Right now, he was definitely lying.

"No...you meant 'who', LeBeau. Why are you so concerned with 'who' instead of 'what?'"

Again, he averted his eyes by casually running a hand through his hair and walking over to the dresser. He would have been able to fool a lesser woman with these deflecting tricks, but Marie knew him too well, "I figure if he saw someone you could identify, you'd be able to find out where they were and get some info about your past."

She decided to let him off the hook since that seemed as reasonable an explanation as any, but she would continue to wonder why, just yesterday, he seemed against the idea of her exploring her past, and now, he was questioning her about "who" the professor had seem in her past.

Review please!