AN: Thanks again to all the reviewers and people who are adding me to their story alert/favorite story/favorite author list. It really jazzes me up when I see that.
Somehow I ended up with a plot in this thing. Who would have thought? Anyway, here it comes. I took some liberties with the canon comic history, because I don't want to involve the alien stuff. Bear with me.
Enjoy!
O o o o o o o o O
Things weren't great at Xavier's School for gifted children; Marie had no pretenses about that. Marie had kept adjusting to her life, but she still wasn't really happy. She missed being able to touch people, anyone, without having to make sure there was at least one layer between them. She missed being able to have regular sex with Logan. They found ways around it with their hands and mouths, but that still didn't compare to what they used to have.
She definitely felt it was worse now than it was when she was younger. When she first came to the mansion, she hadn't had those experiences and therefore she couldn't miss them. She tried to remember what it was like to wistfully pine at knowing what a sensation was like, vs. having to miss a sensation that used to exist.
Logan had accepted her reversion better than anyone should have, especially him. She really hadn't expected him to fight like he had to stay with her. That was a good thing, she supposed. Without her mutation, she had to rely on his words and actions, which were all well and good, but she didn't know what he was truly feeling.
He had insisted that she absorb him again. It was scary, horrifying and really kind of hot. It was a lot of trust to put into her, that she wouldn't miscalculate the length of time they had, and the knowledge that his mind would now be bared open to her. She was frightened of what she would find there: imagining fantasies of Jean, other women, or just even the open road, the feeling that she was holding him back.
It shocked her that as she took a piece of his soul into her, he really did love her. He was Wolverine, for God's sake, he wasn't supposed to feel love like that. He fucked women and moved on, not settled down an made a home with them. She felt his incredulity along with her own at his feelings. He thought it was just as bizarre as she did, but nevertheless, he felt that way.
Marie found that his last trip away to chase down a lead about his past had taken him to Japan. He had found out a few things, but had missed her enough that he was considering asking her to come along on the next trip. If she wasn't seeing it for herself in his mind, she would have never believed it.
And so, she stopped fighting him about them staying together. She selfishly didn't want to be without him, and he very clearly did not want to be without her. It was fucked up and twisted, but that was the story of their lives.
O o o o o o o o o O
Mutant activity had definitely started to pick up. Kitty had found a girl in Boston who was going by the name 'Ms. Marvel', and becoming a well-known vigilante. She was clearly a mutant, but no one was sure what her true identity was.
Charles felt it was best to try and go talk to the woman, perhaps ask her to join the X-Men. Rogue, Iceman and Wolverine were tapped to go on the mission. Wolverine was the muscle in case things went wrong, Iceman knew Boston better than anyone else and Rogue could hopefully connect with the woman, if they found her.
Dressed in civilian clothes, so as to better blend in, they headed out immediately. Despite their previous history, Rogue and Bobby still got along reasonably well. They joked uneasily that they hoped that this trip would end better than their last one. They all remembered too well how the last trip ended, with Pyro blowing up all the cops, Bobby's last contact with his family, and the crashing of the Blackbird. Not an experience they wanted to repeat.
When the trio arrived, there was some debate as to how they were going to find this mystery woman. Rogue finally came up with the idea to just hang out in the more crime-ridden areas and wait and see what they could find.
That was how they ended up in one of the seediest areas of Southie, spread out to try and find their target. Bobby heard a commotion down at a construction site, letting Rogue and Wolverine know on the comm. He and Rogue arrived at the same time, finding their target, Ms. Marvel securing two gangbangers to steel girders for safekeeping.
"Hey," Rogue called out, not wanting to make it seem like they were sneaking up on the woman. Rogue's eyes widened when Ms. Marvel took a defensive position and started rising in the air. "Wait! We wanted to talk to you. We're mutants, like you!"
The blond woman slowed her ascent and then came back to the ground. "What do you want?" Her tone was suspicious, looking between the two young people. Wolverine arrived on the scene at this point, but hung back, not wanting to startle the group and noting that Rogue and Iceman seemed to have things under control for now.
"Just to talk." Iceman held out his hands in a comforting fashion. "We're from a school, a special school for mutants."
"You look like you should still be students," she said with a sharp tone.
Rogue's anger flared a little at being called young, "Well, we're not and we're here to try and help you." Her voice was a little more harsh than needed.
Marvel gave them a superior look, "Does it look like I need your help?"
Iceman quickly took over in talking, not wanting Rogue's temper to make things more difficult. "You're doing fine with your powers, but what happens when the city turns against you? You're a vigilante."
"No, I am helping the police," she said defensively.
"Did you know they have to let the criminals you catch go, usually?" Rogue butt in, unable to help it.
"What Rogue means, is that by working outside the system, it can be used against you. Plus, there's a bigger fight coming, besides just the crips and the bloods." Iceman's expression was serious and he took a step towards her.
Now she looked confused, "What do you mean?"
"There's a war coming, and the mutants are going to have to choose a side. There are some that respect and care for humans, like those at Xavier's school. Others…well, they view humans in a different light."
"Indeed we do." The haughty voice of Magneto brought everyone to attention. He chuckled, "My favorite plaything has come along." His eyes cut to Logan in the shadows, pinning him to the ground with a thought. "It seems we're recruiting out of the same pool." He looked at Rogue and Bobby, a smirk on his face.
Ms. Marvel looked at the strange man with the metal helmet in front of her, something deep inside telling her that he was not one of the good guys. "Who the hell are you?"
"I am Magneto, I'm the leader of the Brotherhood, a group of mutants who refuse to be treated like the animals humans regard us as. We are better than they are, but they want to throw us into camps and eradicate us! We are the future, not the X-Men." His tone was smug and he smirked when he saw Rogue taking off her gloves and pushing up her sleeves slightly.
"I don't know about that," Ms. Marvel was uneasy. The passion he spoke with was real, but she could easily see how that could shift to a fanaticism that was just as dangerous from the opposite side. She took a step away from Magneto.
Frustration sparked on his face, "Even after they attacked us with cure guns? You will side with them? Disgusting." He waved a hand and flung a girder towards Iceman and Rogue. Ms. Marvel reacted without thinking, diving in front of them, grabbing Rogue's bare wrist and pulling her so she could shield the younger woman from the blow.
Rogue started to scream the moment that Ms. Marvel touched her, "Let me go, don't touch me!" But the woman who fancied herself a superhero was too intent on saving Rogue to hear. They fell back together and then something toppled onto them, pinning Marvel's hand in place, in contact with Rogue's wrist. Her face also fell forward, resting on the bare skin of Rogue's cheek. Any way Rogue tried to twist and move, she couldn't escape the skin-to-skin contact.
Rogue felt the pull of powers and memories from the woman, the screams dying in her throat as the high pitched shriek began in Marvel's body. Everything flooded into her, more than she had ever taken in before. Rogue was completely overwhelmed by it all, her eyes rolling back into her head before losing consciousness completely.
O o o o o o o o o o O
Magneto had fled after the chaos began, freeing Wolverine with his absence. He and Iceman both raced to the pile of rubble that had buried Rogue and Ms. Marvel, digging as fast as they could. The screams that had been coming from under the bricks were gone, and that was more disturbing than the sound of them to begin with.
It was an eternity to Logan as he clawed through the rock, finally reaching the women buried there. Bobby carefully pulled Ms. Marvel out while Logan sheathed his claws and picked up Marie. "Darlin'?" He brushed his forehead against hers, waiting for the pull, so he could give her his healing. Nothing.
He stayed in contact with Rogue's skin while he turned his head to see Bobby performing CPR on the other mutant. He refocused on Marie, kissing her, willing her to wake up. Nothing.
"Come on, Marie. Don't do this to me again," he whispered desperately. "Come on. COME ON!" he finally yelled in a guttural voice.
"Wolverine!" Bobby called to him, looking frantic and wild-eyed. "We have to get back to the mansion." He had either saved the other woman, or he had given her up for dead. Wolverine didn't much care at that point, more concerned with the woman in his arms. "Maybe Professor X can - "
"Let's go then," Logan growled as he cut the boy off. He carried Marie back to the Blackbird, Bobby carrying the blond woman, rushing back in the vain hopes that maybe there was something that could be done to save his Marie.
O o o o o o o o o O
Everyone was waiting anxiously in the hangar for the arrival of the Blackbird. They had gotten a disturbing message from a wild-sounding Wolverine that the mission had been compromised, there were casualties and they needed medical assistance the moment they landed.
When the craft finally landed back at the Institute, Wolverine carried the limp form of the mutant known as Rogue. "She's still warm. She's still got a heart beat. But her skin is off. What does that mean?" He looked to Charles in a panic.
"What happened?" Charles asked in his most soothing voice as Hank took Marie and began to examine her.
"She was buried under her." Bobby now spoke up, carrying his own body. "I think they were touching." His voice was filled with concern and tears had welled up in his eyes. No matter what, he still cared about Marie, and it had been a traumatizing thing to see and hear.
Professor X looked sharply up at Bobby. "Get them both down to the medlab. This could be very serious."
O o o o o o o o o O
Logan hated the medlab. It wasn't the fault of anyone, but between his nightmarish memories of Akali Lake and the fact that the only time he came here was when he or Marie was seriously hurt, it just didn't make for good memories or thoughts.
Right now, Marie and the other woman were hooked up to bizarre looking machines. They had little electrodes placed all over their scalps and the Professor was looking at the readouts coming from the machine that was recording the information with a frown.
"What is it, already?" His limit for patience was about reached. Marie was still unconscious, and still touchable. "Is she going to be ok?"
Charles took a deep breath. "The woman that you brought back," his voice was filled with pain as he spoke, "She does not have any active brain activity. It's a miracle that she's even breathing. Rogue on the other hand, her brain is working harder than perhaps I've ever seen before in my life." He motioned to the frenetic movement of the needles on the paper.
"But that's ok, right?" Logan looked down at Marie, her face looked so peaceful, hiding the tumultuous activity going on beneath the surface.
"I suspect that Rogue is trying to gain control. She's never had contact with someone for so long." He looked back over to the blonde unconscious woman, "I don't know if she will ever recover. And assuming Rogue awakens, it possible it will not be her, but the woman she absorbed."
Logan's jaw tightened and he sat down with Marie, holding her hand. "It'll be her." He spoke with confidence, though his body language betrayed his unease. He leaned down and began whispering in Marie's ear.
O o o o o o o o o o O
"Man, I feel like I just got hit by a truck." Rogue said as she awakened in a large white room.
"You and me both." Ms. Marvel was rubbing her forehead. "Where are we?"
"My head, I think," Marie said carefully.
Marvel frowned, "Why am I here then? It must be mine." She stood up gracefully.
"No, I absorb people. That's my power." Rogue tried to sound apologetic.
"That's not possible." Marvel continued walking around, examining the white nothingness. She closed her eyes and suddenly they were in the middle of Boston Common. She looked at Marie triumphantly, "See? I told you, my head. Otherwise I shouldn't be able to change the scenery."
Marie concentrated on the room she shared with Logan, the edges of her vision wavering slightly, but the image of the park stayed. She received a look that was clearly telling her 'I told you so'.
Rogue stood up, frustration on her face. "No, I know this is mine. I'm sorry. But I was stuck touching you." She crossed her arms over her chest.
"How long will it last, you draining me?"
Rogue looked nervous, "I'm not sure. I've never done it for this long."
"Could it be permanent?" she asked with a dawning sense of horror.
"I told you, I don't know!" she yelled and moved away.
"No way, Jose." Marvel grabbed her arm tightly and tried to force Marie to face her, but of course, Rogue was sharing the same powers and was able to resist. "Put me back," she hissed.
"I can't. I don't have that kind of control over it." She ripped her arm out of Marvel's grasp.
Fury bloomed on Marvel's face. "You better get that kind of control, or I'm taking this one." The threat was dead serious and Marie began to get scared. Ms. Marvel was stronger than her. How would she be able to win against her and be her again?
"Darlin', I love you, I'm here every step of the way." The disembodied voice floated over them both, filling Marie with a sense of hope. She concentrated on Logan's voice and searched for the inner Logan she still had inside of her.
Suddenly, Logan looking deadly in old jeans, bare feet and chest appeared, shocking Ms. Marvel. "How many people do you have trapped in here?" she asked in horror.
"Not as many as I used to." Rogue said, moving closer to the Wolverine, whose claws came out with a soft *snikt*. The woman with the white stripe in her hair leapt at Ms. Marvel, amazing herself when she realized she was flying.
They fought, evenly matched. Logan did not physically help with the fight, just yelled out encouragement and strategies she should use. The fight seemed to go on forever, there was no sense of time or its passage in her mind. With Logan's help though, Rogue began to take the upper hand.
As Rogue's blows continued to beat down the other woman, the setting finally changed from Boston Common to their room, then back to the whiteness that they saw when they initially woke up.
With a brutal scream, Rogue made another charge at the woman she was fighting, grabbing her arm and then spinning her and throwing her with all her might. Ms. Marvel's body seemed to break through the paper walls of the white room, her screams fading into the blackness.
Rogue fell to her knees and began crying. She hadn't wanted to do that, any of it. The only thing that kept her willing to go on was the large arm draped over her shoulders, assuring her it would be alright.
"You just gotta wake up Marie and it will seem ok," the Logan in her mind said, touching her cheek lightly. Just wake up."
O o o o o o o o o o o O
Logan had not left Marie's bedside in two days, except to go to the bathroom. Jubilee would bring him water and sandwiches that he pointedly ignored. At the end of the second day of his vigil, a sensation he feared was gone forever appeared. He could feel the pull of Marie's mutation suddenly, and let go of her hand, calling for Hank and Charles.
After a short exam, Charles said, "It's a promising sign that her mutation is working again. Hopefully she will be waking up soon." He patted Logan on the shoulder in encouragement.
Logan could only nod, leaning his head down so he could at least continue to talk to her, encouraging her to just wake up for him. If she would just wake up, things will be ok. He repeated that mantra more times than he could count, hoping that one time it would actually work and her eyes would open.
When it happened, he almost didn't believe it. Her eyes fluttered open, squinting against the light. Any doubts faded when he heard her beautiful voice with its southern accent, asking him, "Are you ok, sugar?" He didn't respond except to kiss her for as long as he could before her powers kicked in.
O o o o o o o O
Secondary AN: So, please forgive the liberties I took with Ms. Marvel. I really wanted to bring in that event in Rogue's life. Hopefully you all enjoyed this chapter, despite its long length.