2000 Laughlin City, Alberta, Canada

Rogue walked into the bar wearily and dropped her army issue green duffel bag onto the floor beside a barstool. "Just water, please," she asked the bartender. He eyed her suspiciously but didn't say anything. Just nodded and walked off.

It was loud and noisy behind her and she turned to see a cage set up, like the kind people fight in. A shirtless, tall, broad-shouldered man was inside, back facing her, and bracing himself with one arm against the cage wall. He had apparently just won a fight but didn't seem that excited by it. The announcer at the mike called him 'The Wolverine'.

Her sixteen year old eyes traveled over his tanned muscular frame and down his long denim encased legs. Now that was a man, she thought forlornly. She turned around to face the bar again and took a sip of water. If she were a normal person she might actually have a chance to get close to someone like that. An older man, more experienced, one who would protect her and travel with her.

But, she wasn't normal and she would never have the chance to get close to anybody. Another round was going on but she ignored it and just sat tiredly, letting her eyes drift to the tip jar full of one dollar bills just sitting in front of her. She was so hungry that she momentarily thought about taking some of it.

Could she do that? she wondered. Take somebody else's money that they depended on just for her own survival? She had found out since running away from home that she was capable of a great many things that she had never thought of. She was stronger than she had thought, also. She had been on her own for almost six months now and had survived so far. She wouldn't let this rut she was in slow her down.

The fight ended it seemed due the loud shouts and boos from the crowd. She kept her hood up over head, trying not to draw attention to herself as the man she had been admiring earlier came and sat down at the bar a few seats away and ordered a beer.

She eyed him nervously from the corner of her eye. He was different. From the way he fought she wondered if maybe he wasn't a mutant, like her. Would he help her? she wondered.

He caught her looking at him and she averted her eyes. The news was on and she looked up the TV when she heard something about mutants. She noticed that the guy called Wolverine did too. They locked gazes for an instant and he frowned at her suspiciously, lowering his eyes and concentrating on the cigar in his hand.

Rogue couldn't help but look over at him again. Her eyes were drawn to him like a magnet. He looked up again feeling her stare and this time he was annoyed. Why the hell did she keep looking at him? Rogue caught the movement behind him and looked over his shoulder. It was the guy he had just lost to and apparently he didn't like losing.

"Hey buddy, you owe me some money," he said loudly.

The Wolverine didn't even turn his head. "You lost. Suck it up and move on."

His friend tried to restrain him but the guy threw off his hand. He leaned close to Wolverine's ear and whispered, "I know what you are, freak."

Now this caught his attention. He turned his head halfway and looked at him through his peripherals. "You keep running your mouth you'll lose more than just money, bub."

The man turned as if to walk away but at the last minute Rogue saw him furiously take a knife from his pocket and flick it open.

"Watch out," she cried, her heart beating furiously as the man came at him in a jabbing motion. Wolverine leapt up quickly and punched him, at the same time a loud metal on metal noise was heard, as if a sword had just been unsheathed.

Rogue stared dumbfounded at Wolverine who now had three long silver knives protruding from his knuckles and being held at the man's throat. It was the same with his other hand. She gulped. She had been right about him. He was a mutant like her.

Logan was breathing heavy as the rage coursed through his veins. He wanted nothing more than to just run his blades through this guy's throat but over the years he had learned self control. It was impractical to just travel around leaving a trail of dead bodies at every bar he walked through. Just about that time, he felt the cold metal of the barrel of a gun positioned at the back of his head.

"Get out of my bar, mutant. We don't need your kind here," the bartender ordered.

That made him angry. That and the threat of having his head blown off caused him to quickly draw up his other hand and slash through the entire barrel spilling bullets everywhere across the floor. Logan took one last look at the girl who was staring at him white-faced and terrified and he forced himself to calm down. He needed to get out of here.

He quickly walked out of the building leaving the back way. Rogue looked at everybody and then she too grabbed her bag and dashed out the back way, darting her eyes and looking for him. She needed to leave this town badly and didn't think the man would give her a ride if she asked. She saw him enter the driver's side of a truck with a camper and a trailer attached to it and quickly ducked under the tarp covering the little trailer.

It was somewhat warm once she was inside and covered up and she was able to fall asleep quickly as the hum of the tires lulled her. It seemed as if only five minutes had passed when she felt the abrupt jerking sensation of the vehicle stopping. Inwardly, she groaned at the thought of being thrown out into the cold. By now she was sure that they were a good ways outside the town.

Maybe he wasn't stopping because of her, she hoped. His footsteps grew closer and then paused. Something jabbed her in the shoulder hard and her breathing hitched. The canvas was thrown back and the daylight assaulted her eyes. She squinted and looked up at the man called Wolverine. He was glaring at her.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he asked in irritation, jerking his thumb for her to get out.

She threw her legs over and grabbed her bag. "I need a ride," she told him embarrassedly, "I thought you might help me." She stood awkwardly in the middle of the road, hoping that he wouldn't leave her here.

"You thought wrong," he snorted.

"You're just going to leave me here?" she asked looking around at the huge snow drifts and the trees that surrounded the road on both sides.

He turned to get back into the truck. "Not my problem," he said shortly, opening the door.

"I saved your life," she called trying one last attempt to obtain some of his sympathy. Apparently he had none.

"No you didn't," he responded shortly and slammed the door, driving away.

She stood there helplessly watching him leaving and her heart plummeted as she thought about what she was going to do now. It would be a long walk in the dark tonight. Full of wild animals. She shivered and pulled her green traveling cloak tighter to her.

Just then, the truck up ahead braked suddenly and sat there as if waiting for her. He wasn't leaving her here, she thought grinning, her eyes lighting up. She grabbed her bag and jogged over to the truck.

He cocked an eyebrow at her as she climbed in and shut the door.

"Thanks," she said, gratefully, settling into the comfortable seat. He didn't say anything just grunted and twitched a shoulder.

Her stomach had been growling for the last two days and she turned to him all semblance of dignity gone. "You wouldn't happen to have something to eat would you?" she asked, her eyes appearing large on her too pale face.

He pursed his lips and reached over to the glove box for a couple slices of bread that were left from the loaf he had bought a few days ago. Sometimes while he was driving he would slap some meat between two pieces of bread and have a meal to go.

She took off her gloves and ate the bread ravenously as if she was starving and he wondered just what had happened to her. "What's your name, kid?" he asked gruffly, eyeing her.

She swallowed the bite. "Rogue."

He smirked. "What kind of name is Rogue?"

She gave him a sassy look back and raised an eyebrow of her own. "What kind of name is Wolverine?"

A small smile graced his lips and he looked over at her again, slightly amused. After a pause, he said, "It's Logan."

He told her his name so she figured it wouldn't hurt to tell him her real name. "Marie," she responded.

He looked at her a little friendlier this time and they lapsed into silence. Her eyes traveled down from his face to arm. She stared at his hand, remembering the long silver blades that had slid out faster than anything she had ever seen before. She swallowed nervously.

"Does it hurt? When they come out, I mean," she asked, hoping he wouldn't get mad at her for prying. But she was too curious not to.

He nodded slightly. "Every time," he answered quietly, glancing over at her and noticing that she was rubbing her bare hands together and shivering slightly.

He heaved a sigh inwardly. He guessed that he should be nice and put the heat on for her. The cold didn't bother him in the least. He reached over quickly to turn the knob and she flinched away from him.

He was surprised. Was she scared of him? He admitted to himself that maybe it had been frightening for her to witness the claws coming out toward another man's throat, but still, he had been pretty nice to her so far. No reason to be afraid of him.

"I'm not going to hurt you, kid."

"It's nothing personal. It's just… when people touch my skin… something happens," she said, unable to really describe her affliction because she didn't know anything about it. She tugged her gloves back on, not wanting to risk injuring another person by accidentally touching them.

"Like what?"

She shrugged and glanced out the window. "I don't know. They just get hurt," she told him evenly, daring him to say something mean about her. A man with metal knives coming out of his hands shouldn't cast stones.

He merely shrugged and turned his eyes back to the road. "Fair enough." He lit the remnants of a cigar that was sitting perched in the ashtray and let out a puff of smoke.

She opened her mouth to say something else but all of a sudden something fell into the middle of the road and Logan slammed on his breaks, catapulting his body through the windshield and shooting it about thirty feet ahead of her. Rogue's head slammed into the passenger side window and front of the truck crumpled up, locking her legs in places underneath it.

Everything was still and quiet for a moment as she lifted her head and looked shakily forward. She could see Logan's body lying sprawled in the snow a ways away and felt tears coming to her eyes. There was no way a person could survive that, she thought.

And then as if to prove her wrong, she saw him twitch and slowly lift an arm up to help himself stand. His legs were shaky still, but he was fine. He walked closer to the truck and she stared at him in amazement and shock. What kind of mutant was he? A long gash on his forehead showed just a flash of silver before closing up completely, leaving his skin totally unmarred.

"Kid, are you alright?" he asked heavily, regaining his balance. She just kept staring at him. Had she hit her head? he wondered.

"Kid," he repeated, "are you alright?"

She shook her herself and looked down, starting to panic as she realized half her body was pinned beneath the dash. "No, my legs are stuck," she cried frantically, pulling as hard as she could. That only made it hurt worse and she started feeling frantic.

"Hold on. I'll help you." Logan took a step forward and then froze, sniffing the air and finding a strange scent. He looked over at the object that had caused their accident and saw that it was a tree that had been deliberately knocked over. As if something had pushed it over. The hair on his neck rose and he slowly and quietly slid his metal claws out, nose twitching.

XXXXX

Sabretooth watched from the tree line in amusement and anger as Logan stood up and brushed himself off. He still couldn't believe that he and the girl were traveling together. They couldn't have known each other that long. It complicated things a bit for him.

This scenario was very reminiscent of the last fight they had gotten into. A girl was involved in that one too. Jimmy almost killed him over her. Tried to kill him. That was the part that had hurt. When he realized that Jimmy would throw away their blood ties all for a woman.

But, he remembered, in the end he hadn't. They had fought together one last time before never seeing each other again. A voice whispered in his brain that the only reason Jimmy hadn't killed him was because Kayla had turned out to be alive. His mouth twisted in anger and his dark eyes narrowed to slits.

How fitting it was that he would be the one to take yet another female away from his brother.

He watched as Logan stopped and sensed him nearby. Would smelling his scent again awaken any memories? What would happen if it did?

The years of waiting for this moment were finally over and Sabretooth contracted his claws, smiling down at the pair below him. Sure, he had missed his brother, but at the same time he had been itching for a fight for years now. He was still angry at him.

With a loud roar he leapt out from the trees and pounced on Logan. His long unkempt hair swirled around him in tangled masses and he had traded in his black trench coat for a similar one made of thick furs. Canada was cold. Even if Logan hadn't lost his memory, Victor would be almost impossible to recognize by sight alone.

They both fell to the ground and he could hear the girl screaming in the truck. Sabretooth growled and reached down, snatching the silver chain of dog tags from around Logan's neck. Logan leapt up and landed a punch square in his jaw, but got tossed back onto the ground. At the last minute, Logan snarled and swiped at his face with his claws, leaving three long gashes down Sabretooth's chest.

The pain didn't register to him though. He continued forward, howling and Logan threw out a leg and brought the man to the ground. Logan took the opportunity to slide both sets of claws into Sabretooth's chest and he yelled in pain. That time it did hurt.

They stood and circled each other, Victor looking for any sign that his brother remembered him and Logan wondering what the hell this thing was in front of him. He had never fought anyone before that matched this guy's strength. He was clearly a mutant with possibly more strength than Logan himself possessed and this he didn't like one bit.

The loss of blood didn't slow Victor down any. He lunged forward and threw Logan into the truck completely smashing the front glass and knocking him out cold. His nostrils flared as he smelled smoke and glanced away from Logan to look at the girl. His dark gaze met hers as she struggled to free herself from her restraints to no avail. Over her shoulder he saw orange flames leaping up from of the camper.

She was young. No more than a teenager, he guessed taking a step forward. He smiled inwardly. He never thought Logan liked them so young, but he guessed he was wrong. He neared the door to the truck and watched her face pale as she frantically jerked on one leg. Blood was starting to seep through from her efforts and he heaved a sigh. He wasn't supposed to let her die yet.

Now how was he going to subdue her without touching her? he wondered briefly, looking her over dispassionately. Magneto had said that her skin was lethal to anyone who touched it and for a minute he toyed with idea of testing that claim, just to see if he could. If her skin was so poisonous, what did Logan want her for?

It baffled his mind, but before he could rip the door open and attempt take her, a flurry of wind and snow blasted him in the face, blowing him backward and he snarled and looked up. Two people stood in the middle of the road up ahead dressed in black almost entirely. He sneered as he recognized their scents. They were Xavier's people, the ones who had been following him for days now.

The woman had long white hair and dark skin and she held her arms up summoning forth a wind that knocked him on his ass. The man who was next to her, pushed a button on the visor around his eyes and sent a red optic blast his way. It was reminiscent of that kid Stryker had wanted all those years ago. Maybe that boy and this man were the same person, he thought distantly, baring his teeth and running into the tree line.

They had delayed him too long and the fire from the truck was about to explode it. Furiously he leapt onto a ledge and disappeared. From a small rock up top, he watched as the man blasted off the seat the girl was attached to and grabbed Logan, leaving the woman to take the girl. As they dove into a snow bank a few feet away, the truck exploded and flung scraps of metal and debris in the air.

He gave a frustrated low growl and stalked away. He hated it when people got in his way. When he saw that woman again he was going to make her scream. After all, he thought smiling cruelly, her skin was perfect. Touchable, non-lethal.

Just as Sabretooth predicted, Magneto didn't take the news very well. He didn't yell or anything. Just looked at him like he was a failure. If Magneto hadn't been such a powerful mutant and didn't pay so well, Sabretooth would have sunk his claws into him a long time ago.

Right now, he watched as his boss curled a lip in disdain and sat down gracefully behind his large desk made entirely out of metal. It was bare except for one object, a thing he didn't know the name of, but it bounced metal balls back and forth against each other. What the hell would anyone want with one those?

"What happened?" Magneto asked, reclining in his chair and looking coldly at him.

"They were there," Sabretooth spat, clenching a fist at the memory.

"Ah, Charles," Magneto murmured, smiling faintly. He looked up sharply. "And what of the girl?"

"With them."

He took this in stride. This was only a hiccup in his plans, nothing more. The mutant wouldn't be able to hide from him forever. He looked over at the man who was more animal now, and noticed something glinting from around his neck. Raising a hand, the piece of metal flew toward him and took it and looked at it.

He saw one word. Wolverine. Ah, so he's returned, he thought. And judging by the less than cordial attitude Sabretooth possessed at the moment his brother's memories hadn't. Magneto found it fascinating that such a heartless, mindless killer could actually care about a brother he hadn't seen in fifteen years. Such feelings were best put aside for the greater good of mutants. He would do his job or else he would be discarded.

Magneto smiled briefly and stood up, tossing the dog tags carelessly onto the desk. "Come my friend, we have work to do."

He strode regally out of the room and Sabretooth started to follow, but he frowned and glanced back. He snatched the metal off the desk and slid it back around his neck. He would see Jimmy again… very soon.