Thank you everyone for the favorite adds, the story alerts and especially the reviews-they made my day. And motivated me a lot-HINT people :P I would have gotten this done earlier, but youtube is hella distracting. At least I now know that being water isn't too bad sometimes. I also know that I might go to jail some time in the not too distant future but I'll be having great company.

There was a lot more hockey banter in this but I decided I wouldn't scare all of you away so I shortened it a... little bit. No offense anyone, I had to pick sides for them.^^ Excuse the lame plot so far, there's more to come, promised. Just bare with me. I also tried to eliminate all those pesky little typos, if you still find one, keep it and give it a good home

I have no idea what possessed me that I agreed to this. Possibly the fact that I agreed with them when Jubilee had blurted "This club sucks!". And I found myself being talked into going to going back to the apartment where... Rogue.. Marie lives. Hell, I'm not sure what I am supposed to call her now.

It's actually... Not what I expected. It is relatively tidy, especially compared to her room at the mansion. No dirty clothes wriggling their way out from underneath her bed to attack. But it's not really girly eihter it's... Very nondescript. And I can smell that guy that hurt her. I can even smell his anger, it hasn't even been a week.

What pisses me off almost equally is the Oilers fangear flying around everywhere. She even has a jersey pinned to the walls.

"So you're still supporting them?"

"Sure Logan. What, you still into the Flames? Come on, you don't have to sympathize with the losers."

"I'd rather be caught shoplifting in a lingerie store wearing a Maple Leafs jersey."

Her eyebrow shoots up but she grins at me. I did miss ur little hockey banters-and judging by the vacant looks on her friend's faces they don't know squat. It's always been like that, even at the mansion. And everyone claimed she took in part of my personality. Bullshit. If she did she wouldn't suport that team of talentless...

"Marie, ya have some food?"

Her blonde friend decided enough is enough I guess. I took a shining to that brat the second I saw her. She has a face somewhere under all that make up I'm sure and she managed to drown her scent in about three bottles of overly sweet, flowery, synthetic perfume. The cheap stuff. Well, it does suit her.

"Fridge."

She grunts and throws herself on the couch, a shapeless thing that looks like it's been abandoned in some back alley a few years ago before she found it and dragged it up the stairs. There has been a lot of eating chips and chocolate on this one. And... she either poured a few bottles of vodka on this or she's been drinking quite a bit. And judging by the impressive collection of empties in that box in the kitchen I'd go for option b.

"Drink, anyone?"

Aren't these women drunk enough? And don't they have to go home some time? It is two in the morning and I really think they should be... I keep forgetting they're adults. Last time I saw Jubilee and Marie they were kids. Well, they still are. Especially compared to let's say a guy that's more than a century old.

"There's some beer in the fridge Logan. And some pizza with meat, meat and I think there's some more meat you can pile on in there."

She knows me, I have to give her that.

I peek into the fridge and there really is some leftover pizza. Not bad, four kinds of meat. And beer. I will not try to come up with an explanation for the pizza, because she loves all sorts of green stuff and various cheeses. But it's been a few years, she got a haircut, why not change the taste in pizza toppings while you're at it.

Her stupid blonde friend speaks up.

"So he..."

"Can hear you."

I can't help but laugh at that.

"See."

Her remark is dry but I hear the grin in it.

"Oh."

So her friend probably just figured out that I am a mutant. I wonder if she knows about Marie and the firecracker-I'm pretty sure the fourth chick is a mutant, too. I've heard their names but why bother. Blonde and brunette, stupid and scared.

"I'm SO tired!"

Leave it to Jubilation Lee to lie so blatantly obvious. She always did that back in school, trying to get me and Ro.. Marie alone together. Back when the kid had that crush on me. Boy was that a tough time. But it works, they all scramble to their feet and leave, Jubilee poking her head into the kitchen .

"Bye Wolvie!"

I wouldn't be too sad if I didn't see her any time soon.

I try to stable myself for an unpleasant conversation about my whereabouts the past five years and a few lines in the spirit of "You could have called you stupid jerk" when she enters the kitchen and sits down, only to surprise me by snatching a slice of cold pizza and propping her feet up on the free chair between us with a sigh.

"You know, I kinda thought you were dead. Or morphed into an animal after all."

I raise an eyebrow, trying not to show my confusion.

"Well, they don't have thumbs so holding a phone would be difficult. Then there is the part with the inability to speak, but you sometimes get that anyway."

The tip of her tongue pokes out between her lips and she giggles. Okay, where the hell is the girl I know and what did this woman do to her?

"I was kinda busy."

Did I just snap at her? Wow. I'm at an all time low but she did the accusing thing after all.

"So was everyone else and funny enough, they at least send a card for Christmas. So, where are you staying?"

"Small motel down the street."

"That dingy sinkhole?"

That doesn't begin to describe it, but I'm used to it. It's not a five star deal, but it'll do without wrecking my budget.

"Yeah."

"I have a couch, you know."

"No offense, but your couch smells worse."

"Yeah, we've had quite a few ladies nights this past week."

I almost spit my beer across the table. She managed to stink that thing up within a week?

That would explain why the place looks so blank though. I never figured her as the minimalistic type.

"So...you've been living here for a week?"

"Yep. I tend to pick the bad guys, you know."

Tell me a bout it. She had a teen crush on me of all people. And she's apparently been with a guy who thought it would be a good thing to lay his hands on her. Which brings me back to my initial plans of skinning that bastard alive. And don't think because I can kill and skin a buck with bare hands I won't do this with a human being. There's a first time for everything and I'd enjoy handing his head over to her. Maybe she'd come up with some interesting things to do to it before tossing it. I'm sick but I find that idea entertaining.

"Wanna tell me what happened before I go and have a talk with that guy or should I leave right now and wait for him to tell me about it before he dies?"

She actually laughs. As if the thought of me really killing that guy is trhe silliest thing she ever heard. She should know me better.

"Don't worry, he's currently in the hospital recovering from skin contact. Well that and the louisville slugger that happened to collide with his head once or twice."

Atta girl.

"So you beat him to pulp?"

"After enduring a year of verbal abuse I moved out and he tracked me down that asshole. Punched me in the face. He deserved that."

"I'm not the one to judge and you know that. And I couldn't be more proud of you."

I stifle the urge to ruffle through her hair like I used to do. A kid might put up with that but certainly not a woman. Especially not one that assaults her ex with a damn baseball bat.

"Why thank you Logan. So, are you going to crash on my couch or put up with the motel that has fleas that are sure to infect you with at least three different and very interesting diseases or do you take my vodka drenched couch. See it this way, it is sterile."

The bit about the fleas sounds interesting but the thought of not having to go out and look for a place and instead just falling face first onto that hideous green thing and falling asleep fast due ro the fumes that thing lets out... Doesn't sound too bad, actually.

"I think I'll stay here."

"Good, you know where the bathroom is, I'll go get you a blanket and stuff."

I take a few moments to mull over the situation. This is certainly not what I expected. I was sure if I found her that she would be raging mad. And dense as I am I somehow hadn't taken into account that she would have changed over the past five years. Hell, that's half a decade, people usually do change, inside and out, over that stretch of time. Just because I don't doesn't mean she can't.

I'm giving myself a headache thinking through all that stuff. She didn't punch me back at the club-or pulled out a baseball bat-and invited me to her apartment. She allowed me to stay after the rest left and now she offered me her couch to sleep on. Unless she plans on killing me in my sleep, which would be hard for her to do anyway with my healing ability and her strength not necessarily being enough to decapitate me-not that I think she's capable of doing that-but... I'm tired, I lost my train of thoughts.

Rubbing my face with both hands to fend off sleep a little longer I look out for my bag. I know I brought it upstairs with me and left it somewhere-I spot a corner of it behind the couch and head over. For the first time I notice there are a few personal items in here after all. She has pinned a pictures on the walls and I can't help it, I have a built in curiosity that needs to be satisfied.

A pang of sadness rushes through me before I can avoid it-those are pictures from the mansion, there's Jean and Scott on a few of them. She with her friends on a few others, there's even that corny X-Men group picture we were talked into. I'm still convinced Chuck manipulated my brain for that one. I'm right in the middle between Marie and Jean in that horrible fetish suit. And then there's one of Marie and me on the couch in the common room. I hate having my picture taken and I am also not a fan of putting those on the wall or tote them around but this one... It's nice. We're looking at each other, apparently deep in conversation and there's a hint of a smile on her lips. And it's not like I don't remember it being taken-that canary had sneaked up on us watching a game and thought she was being stealthy. Of course I heard her-what I didn't hear was the camera until she took this picture. The second and third of this series have to be me closing in with my claws out and looking pretty angry.

I hear Marie, I think I will stick to that one until she tells me otherwise, enter the room and decide a shower can wait until tmorrow morning. I glance at the clock, well, after I slept I few hours. She helps me make my bed and after wishing me a good night, heads for her bedroom. I hear the bed creak and her throwing from side to side for a while, meanwhile I kick of my boots and enjoy a cigar. She falls asleep before I am done with it, not without some more tossing and mumbling. Some things didn't change at all.