A/N: Many thanks to xmen4life, SeanHicks4, Guest, and ladynarutochan for their reviews! Comments are much appreciated. Happy reading!
You need to come home, my skeleton.
I'll give you some skin to make you whole again.
-"Skeleton" Sparks the Rescue
Patrons of the bar stared at the scene that played out before them. A young woman with unique silver streaked hair was locked in the embrace of an older, rough looking man. The bystanders would have stepped in if it weren't for the bright smile on her face. Shrugging, the customers continued inside, the couple from the parking lot already forgotten.
Marie watched enraptured as Logan's tanned, larger hand engulfed one of her smaller ones. Just a few hours ago she had resolved not to get the cure and had accepted that she would never touch anyone without a barrier in between. That she would always have to carry a pair of gloves with her. That her next kiss would have to be through a scarf. But tonight Logan was able to touch her without her mutation affecting him. When this happened a few weeks ago back in her bedroom after Logan had just healed, she thought it was just a fluke. That maybe Logan was too weak for her to absorb his strength, or that those bullets somehow blocked her mutation. But tonight proved that controlling her skin was possible.
Marie suggested they go back to the mansion and figure out what was happening with her mutation. She was afraid to be happy if this was only temporary. Logan agreed that they should return and talk with the Professor. After admitting to have flown to the bar, Marie found herself standing in front of Logan's bike.
"Finally got your own?" She commented, earning a chuckle from behind her. "It's nice."
His green-gold eyes lit up at her words, and a wry grin tugged at his lips. "Well then hop on."
"Only on one condition." Marie insisted, ignoring his eye-roll. "I get to drive."
Logan stared at her, his eyes wide. "You want to drive my bike?"
"Hell yeah!" The brunette crowed, eyeing Logan hopefully. "Come on, you'll be right behind me the whole time."
That seemed to do the trick, because the feral mutant warily agreed before motioning for her to sit in front of him. Oh this was gonna be interestin' Rogue thought wickedly, sliding into her spot. His chest was flush against her back. Accessing her inner-Wolverine would give her everything she needed to know to drive.
Then Logan was giving instructions in her ear. "The first thing you do is turn on the fuel-"
Ignoring his words, she expertly started the bike and after shifting to first gear they were speeding down the road. From the sudden silence behind her, Marie was sure he was shocked at her knowledge on how to drive. Smirking triumphantly, she drawled "Thanks for the lesson sugar." Tapping her temple with one hand.
As the explanation for her knowing how to handle a bike dawned on him, Marie felt a rumbling chuckle go through his chest. He said something she couldn't hear over the wind, so she merely laughed and pushed the bike faster, closer to their destination.
Since there were now two separate incidents where he was able to touch Marie's skin without her mutation, Logan decided it was time they spoke with the Professor. He had hope that since the Professor had helped Jean control her ability, he would be able to help Marie as well.
Ignoring Jubliee, who raised her eyebrows at the sight of the Wolverine pulling a shell-shocked Rogue through the mansion, Logan entered Professor Xavier's office without knocking. Rogue's eyes widened at the expressions of the two men who stood in the office, seemingly deep in conversation before she and Logan entered. She hesitated, wanting to come back later. But Logan only shot her a glance before practically dragging her into the room and kicking the door shut with his foot.
Scott Summers stared at Logan in disbelief, the emotion obvious on his face even without his eyes being visible.
"You! You're here!" Scott said in shock, staring at the feral mutant.
"Good observation Scooter. Nice to know those glasses don't completely block your vision." He replied sarcastically, not one to pass by an opportunity to poke fun at the other man.
Rogue knew something definitely was up when Scott didn't even bother to return barbs with Logan.
"I thought you left." Scott stated, his face suddenly tense.
"Why would I-"
"Jean's gone."
Rogue felt her face go blank, void of all emotion. Scott thought Jean had run off with Logan. Of course if Jean and Logan are both absent from the mansion the first conclusion is that they must have run off to have a torrid affair. I mean, he couldn't possibly be out with her when Jean was available, right?
The room lapsed into a beat on silence. "What? Jeannie's gone? What the hell happened?"
Just because he lost interest in getting into her pants, didn't mean Logan wanted the telepathic doctor to leave. He didn't think she was a bad person, even if she was acting a little strange lately. After chasing Red for two years Logan finally realized there was no point. At first it was fun to flirt with her to mess with Cyke, but now it was getting old. Now his thoughts were too filled with a certain brunette to be able to spare Jean any attention.
"We don't know." The Professor said calmly, worry in his blue eyes. "This was left in the medlab." He set the notebook on the desk.
As Logan quickly glanced through the notebook, Marie felt her stomach drop. Suddenly, she felt sick. She didn't belong here worrying about Jean. She spent half her time here being insanely jealous of the woman and the other half resenting her for having everything Rogue didn't. Useful powers, undeniable beauty, a family, and the attention of two amazing men.
"What are we going to do?"
"I tried using Cerebro to find her, but I failed. It turns out Jean's even more powerful than I thought." The professor paused before admitting. "I'm afraid her powers may have overwhelmed her. I believe Jean harbors a separate entity in her mind called Phoenix. In order for her to gain control of her powers I had to put walls up in her mind to prevent the Phoenix from influencing her. Unfortunately, I fear the Phoenix has broken through the mental barriers and his now running rampant in Jeans consciousness."
"What does this mean?" Scott asked quietly.
"Jean is no longer the person we know. There is a possibility that the Phoenix has slowly wormed its way through her mind and is now in full control of her."
Scott's choked sob tore at Marie's heart. Seeing as Logan was standing awkwardly to the side and the Professor was stuck on the other side of the desk, Marie felt the need to comfort him. She moved forward and placed her hand lightly on the distraught man's shoulder. Thank god she had slipped her gloves back on before she entered the mansion. Scott exhaled a shaky sigh and placed his hand over the one Marie placed on his shoulder, squeezing it in gratefulness.
"I'm going to get in touch with my contacts around the world and make them aware of Jean's disappearance. If anyone hears anything about her location they will let me know and we can take the jet out as soon as we have the coordinates." The Professor continued, watching Scott and Rogue's exchange with compassion.
"I can't just sit by and wait for a phone call." Scott said calmly. "I'm going to go out and look for her. Someone's got to have an idea where she is."
As if expecting this, the Professor nodded warily before warning Scott of the Phoenix's power and deceitfulness. After Scott left the Professor turned to the two remaining in his office.
"Did you need something?" The Professor asked kindly, his face betraying none of the stress he felt.
Marie hesitated. Now was not a good time to bring up her mutation. Right now the Professor just needed to focus on finding Jean. After Jean was recovered, then she would speak to him about helping her gain control of her skin. Until then, she was just going to wait.
"I just wanted to say that…I'll be late for training tomorrow. Personal stuff." She answered quickly, ignoring the sharp look Logan sent her.
Marie knew he would be pissed at her for not saying anything, but honestly she knew this was the right thing to do. Logan would just have to deal with her decision and realize that he wasn't going to change her mind.
"Okay. Not a problem. Actually, if you two will excuse me I have some business to attend to." He said politely, dismissing them from the office. As Professor Xavier made a long distance phone call to Paris, Marie and Logan had a conversation in the hallway.
"Hey I'll catch you later; I'm in desperate need of sleep." Marie said offhandedly, turning to leave.
"Hold on there just a minute Marie." Logan growled, grabbing her arm and turning her back to face him.
The brunette whirled around in exasperation. "What Logan? I'm tired and frustrated and I just need to curl up in bed and sleep awhile, okay?"
"What was that in there?" He hissed, his eyes fierce.
Pulling herself out of his grasp, she stared at him knowingly. "What are you talkin' about?"
"Why didn't you tell him?"
Marie sighed in exasperation. "I don't know Logan. I guess I realized that you have to choose your battles."
"What does that mean?" He growled, his anger not lessening.
"It means that finding Jean is more important."
"…You really think you're less important than Jean?" He stated, his dark eyes demanding answers.
Marie met Logan's eyes, confused by his strong reaction. "Logan, I don't have any misconceptions about myself. I know I'm a damn good fighter, but frankly Jean does so much more for this school. I mean, she's an asset to the team, a teacher, has a fiancée who frankly I don't think could survive without her, and-"
"You have no clue, do you?" He interrupted, shaking his head at the brunette next to him.
"What are you going on about? Why does it even matter to you? You don't have to keep your promise anymore Logan! I'm not the same defenseless child you picked up off the side of the road!" Marie blurted out, her temper rising to match his. The inner wolverine inside of her paced angrily, growling inarticulately.
"You think this is out of obligation? Sweetheart let me let you in on a little secret-" Logan growled lowly, stepping closer to Marie so that he towered over her. She forced herself to remain still as he invaded her space, his chest brushing hers. "The Wolverine doesn't do anything he doesn't want to."
All the chaos in her head and outside of it was giving Marie a headache. Magneto was stirring from his place inside her mind, telling her to twist Logan's pretty adamantium skeleton so he'd quiet down. Her inner Carol whispered about hidden feelings and that the Wolverine sure looked sexy when he was pissed off.
Running a hand haphazardly through her thick hair, Marie sighed tiredly. "I know. I'm sorry. Look, you can go look for Jean now. I'll be fine here, honestly. I know you need to go find her, and I don't want to stand in your way."
Logan stared at Marie motionless before letting out a bark of laughter and saying hoarsely "God damn, Marie. You're gonna kill me one day."
Smiling sadly, Marie pulled her sleeve over her hand and brushed it across his cheek before turning and disappearing up the stairs. She quietly changed and slipped into her bed, holding her emotions inside of her. Years of practice had left her great at compartmentalizing her feelings. She had known that she needed to free Logan of the obligation of protecting her. She would never have forgiven herself if they didn't find Jean and Logan lost the woman he loved. Even if Jean wasn't even his, Marie knew it didn't change the fact that Logan truly cared for the missing doctor.
Back downstairs, Logan unsheathed the sharp adamantium from his hands, relishing in the sting of pain it brought. He didn't even flinch at the familiar feeling now. Resolutely, he stalked towards the danger room, scaring students out of the hallways. He was so damn angry at himself. For not being good enough for Marie. For not deserving to feel the way he felt about her. In the middle of their fight all he wanted to do was pull her against him and let her feel how affected he was by her presence. How much he ached for her to be his. Guilt overwhelmed him at his thoughts. It wasn't her age that kept him from claiming her as his; he saw clearly that she wasn't the same helpless kid he found in the snow that day. It was her innocence. He was a weapon. He was created into an animal that cheated death and couldn't be stopped. A killing machine. Just the few years of memories he had made him certain that Marie shouldn't have anything to do with a bastard like him. The thought of not knowing what other atrocities he committed shook him to his core. Marie deserved better than him. It was as simple as that.
With that last thought, he programmed the most advanced danger room stimulation and allowed Wolverine to take control. The feeling of slashing his claws through Mystique felt unbelievably gratifying.
Scott Summers stared out over the natural lake that students often visited during the summer. It was only half a mile from the school, and was secluded during winter. Staring out at the stagnant water, Scott reminisced about the time he brought his fiancée there. At the time she was only his girlfriend, and they were much younger; but it was that day when he realized that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He idly skipped a stone across the water, thinking about where Jean could possibly be.
Then, the lake trembled. Scott backed up a step just as a jet of water shot into the air. He raised his hand to his glasses, only to drop his arm at what he saw in the center of the sphere of water. The figure of a woman.
"Jean." He breathed, wading into the lake and diving into the whirl of water. He struggled through the current, the lack of oxygen causing his lungs to burn. Then suddenly she was standing in front of him. Smiling. Her arms outstretched. Happiness overwhelming him, Scott reached forward for one of her hands. Then she was in his arms. He stared at her, brushing her dripping red hair back from her face. He pressed a soft kiss to her forehead and then her lips. They stayed locked together until she suddenly became frantic and almost violent. He pulled back and saw something was terribly wrong. Her eyes turned a frightening white color. This wasn't his fiancée. A sinister sneer crawled across her face, washing away the look of love and joy she had worn previously.
"Jean?" He choked out, feeling a gush of water rush into his lungs. He felt his red-tinted glasses get knocked off his face.
Then everything was dark.
The Professor started in pain and alarm, telepathically calling out for Wolverine and Storm. He sensed Scott was in danger at the lake. Not bothering to suit up, the two X-Men members quickly arrived at the lake. The water was deceptively calm, and at the center of it…floated a body. Knowing that if he tried to play lifeguard his adamantium skeleton would cause him to sink like a rock, Logan glanced at Ororo, hoping that the mocha skinned woman knew how to swim.
With a frightened gasp, Storm dove into the water and quickly pulled her friend back to shore. She quickly administered CPR, relieved when a stream of water left the other woman's mouth before her eyes rolled back and she fell unconscious again.
"We need to get her back to Xavier." Logan said as he picked the soaked doctor off the ground.
"What about Scott?"
"I can't smell him." Logan replied gruffly, starting towards the mansion with Ororo following right behind him.
"But-"
"He's not here 'Ro." He re-iterated, not breaking stride. "Feel free to check for yourself, but I didn't sense him."
Defeated, the white haired mutant sent Xavier a mental warning that they found Jean, but Scott wasn't there. The Professor reassured her that Scott would be fine, and asked her that Jean be put in the med lab. Then all they could do was wait until she woke up. Then they could see who was in charge; Jean or the Phoenix.
A/N: Review and I'll send you a rather long preview of chapter eight! The next chapter should be out in about a week...maybe sooner if I'm feeling inspired. :) Thanks for reading!