Title: Alternate Courses
Name: Jules
E-mail: goddessacacia@hotmail.com
Rating: PG-15
Disclaimer: Obviously, I don’t own any of the characters, no matter how much I WISH I did. They belong to the
wonderful MARVEL and FOX
Summary: AU Movie Fic. What if the X-Men hadn’t shown up on time, and Logan didn’t get knocked out by
Sabertooth? What would have happened to him and Marie? [Wolverine/Rogue]
Status: Unfinished
~ Author’s Note: I've been thinking about this a lot, and for it to be snowing in Upper Canada where Logan and
Marie were, yet warm enough for Marie to go without a coat at Xavier’s it has to be either early Spring or late Fall...
I’ve decided to make it around October. ~
Chapter 1
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
** Alberta, Canada **
Marie didn’t even have time to scream as the tree fell in front of the truck. Everything seemed to go in slow motion.
She was only aware of a few things happening, especially the seatbelt digging hard into her stomach, knocking the
wind out of her, as the truck was brought to a crashing stop: the sound of glass breaking filled the air as Logan
shot out through the windshield, and the pain in her stomach caused by the seatbelt.....
Logan’s lit cigar flew into the back and onto a pile of clothes, which began to smolder.
Marie watched in dazed fascination as Logan got up, took several shaky steps and simply shook off the pain of the
crash. Behind her seat though, the smoldering clothes silently burst into flames, Marie completely unaware of the
impending danger.
Her eyes grew wide at the sight of the abrasion on her traveling companion’s forehead quickly closing together,
breathing heavily.
“Are you alright?” Logan called out to her.
Marie was too shaken by what she’d seen to answer.
“Kid, are you alright?” he demanded.
“Ah’m stuck!” she finally hollered, her mind finally snapping to the present.
Logan started towards her, then noticed how the tree trunk looked like it hadn’t fallen by chance and caught the
scent of something dangerous in the air. Suddenly, an enormous man leaped out of the trees, roaring like some
kind of huge cat/man, engaging Logan in combat.
Marie watched in terror as the two animalistic men engaged in a deadly battle with each other.
Her attention was drawn away from the fight however, when she became aware of the intense heat coming from
behind her. Marie looked back into the trailer and noticed the flames that were quickly spreading. She began to
struggle with her seat more as the fire quickly spread. Marie watched the two men out of the corner of her eye, in
growing panic; she knew the fire was growing closer, and that she was still very stuck. Logan was her only hope.
The towering man whacked Logan with a tree, sending the smaller man crashing to the hood of the truck.
Marie caught sight of the man who had attacked them beginning to head her way. Her stomach was killing her, but
she knew she had to get out of there, so she kept tugging at the seatbelt. Logan was unconscious on the
windshield, and that big...thing, was getting closer. The damn seatbelt however, just wouldn’t come loose!
The blond hairy creature ripped off the door and tore her seatbelt from the buckle, also tearing it from the seat.
She began to shriek, loudly, but a backhand to the face shut her up. He then swung her over his shoulder, hard. A
jolt of pain ripped through her body and merciful unconsciousness enveloped her.
Logan woke abruptly on the hood feeling pain radiating throughout his body where the bones were still re-knitting
themselves, only to see the creature striding away with the girl. Something he’d never felt before and couldn’t
identify, flared up inside of him, but he didn’t have the time to analyze it. His claws burst out again and he attacked,
sinking his claws in between the giant's 3rd and 4th ribs in his back before it could even realize Logan was behind
him.
The creature roared and threw Marie off to the side. Logan quickly sunk his claws back in again when it turned
around, up to the knuckle, in the thing's stomach. The furred, mammoth-sized man looked down in odd surprise,
roaring in rage once more, but took off back into the woods.
Logan was about chase after him, when he smelled the smoke and he realized that the camper was burning He
hurried over, and unhitched the tractor trailer, pushing it far away. He managed to throw his body over the girl’s,
just seconds before the fire reached the propane tank and exploded.
** Several minutes later **
Logan slowly regained consciousness, very aware of the body partially beneath him, and rolled off of the petite girl.
Logan repeated his question from before, “Kid, are you alright?”
There was no response.
“Kid?...Marie?” He tried her real name, but still got no response
He got up and rolled the girl’s unmoving body on her back. Her eyes were closed and there was a gash on her
forehead.
“Shit.”
With a bit of gentle shaking, finally her eyes started to flutter and Logan breathed an involuntary a sigh of relief,
not even realizing that he’d done so.
“Wha’ happened?” she murmured, looking up at him, feeling dazed.
“The trailer blew up.”
“How?” Marie probed, confused, blinking and trying to get her bearings.
Logan frowned, a bit worried, “What’s the last thing you remember?”
“Tellin’ yah that you should buckle up.”
“Well, we had an accident and we got attacked.”
“Are yah alraght?” she asked quickly, her eyes looking him up and down, trying to check for signs of an injury on
his person.
Logan stared at Marie in shock; no one had ever asked him that before. Furthermore was the fact that the first
question out of her mouth when she’d discovered they’d been in an accident, was out of concern for him, “I’m fine.
Got shot through the window, but I heal fast.” Logan shook off his astonishment, and put his bad-tempered exterior
back up, “Let’s get movin’ kid, it gets dark real fast in these parts.”
She stood up with his help, brushing off the snow, “Ah told yah tah wear yur seatbelt.”
Logan didn’t reply, he just started walking. Rogue gritted her teeth against the pain she’d experienced in her
stomach from standing up, but didn’t let the nausea she was feeling get to her. She just silently began following.
** A few hours later **
The gray sky had gotten much darker, any source of light would soon be gone, but still the two trudged on.
Every now and then Rogue would silently stop, grab her stomach and take a few deep breaths. The pain had
begun to get to her, but she couldn’t trouble Logan. He already resented her for stowing away in his trailer, being
an even further nuisance wouldn’t 'endear' her to him either.
** 45 minutes later **
They were just in sight of a cave, off in the distance, when Logan heard a quick gasp behind him, then the girl
moaned and fell to her knees. Logan spun around and saw the girl had fallen to the ground, and was throwing up....
The formerly pure white snow was stained red, and the sharp metallic scent of blood filled his nostrils.
Logan sprinted back to her side.
“Ah’m sorry.” She whimpered.
Logan immediately scooped her up into his arms and dashed to the cave where he could examine her fully.
Carefully, he laid her down on the packed earth, shrugged off his coat, rolled it up, and placed it underneath her
head. He searched the cave a bit and found he was in luck; the cave must have been used as a hideout
periodically, seeing as he found some dry wood in the back. He quickly started a fire, for warmth and light to
examine the girl by.
In the glow of the flames, he could make out that her face was flushed and he focused all his enhanced senses
upon her. He could identify a fever, pain, there was guilt just radiating off her...and worst of all, the blood. He
noticed she was clutching her stomach...just where the seatbelt would have been.
“Shit.” Logan cursed himself under his breath. They’d been in a serious accident and an explosion, and he hadn’t
even asked if she was all right once she’d regained consciousness.
He crouched down by her side, she looked up at him with feverish, glazed over eyes.
“Yah know,” she gasped, “Ah always thought Ah’d die of starvation eventually, not something like this....Ah just
wish Ah’d made it to Alaska.”
“Don’t talk like that kid. You’re not going to die.” Logan shook his head, “Why didn’t you tell me you were hurt?” He
demanded.
“Because there was nothin’ yah could do.” she revealed to him, an inconceivable look of acceptance gracing her
countenance. It disturbed Logan to see a girl so young, so accepting of death. Her eyes began to close.
“Hey, I didn’t save you from that damn fur ball to have you die on me now. Don’t go to sleep.”
“Ah can’t help it...Ah’m so tired.” Her head fell to the side, and her breathing grew shallow.
“Kid? Kid! Marie, wake up!” Logan grew panicked, and at last began to assess her injuries.
He lifted up her shirt to look her stomach, which she had been clutching and winced when he saw the darkening
bruise across her abdomen from the seatbelt. He had wondered at the time why she’d sounded so breathless after
the accident, and mentally kicked himself for having brushed it off as the result of fear.
Logan didn’t know what to do and he hated feeling helpless. She most likely had internal injuries, and possibly a
concussion. They were many miles away from the nearest doctor, let alone a hospital.
He had some limited medical training from, some-where, so he reached out to see if her stomach was hard, which
would indicate blood in the belly (i.e. internal injuries such as a ruptured spleen or something).
Moments after his fingers attempted to probe her stomach, he felt a...pulling. He watched in astonishment as the
bruise on her stomach disappeared, and soon realized that she was, very painfully, sucking the actual life out of
him!
Marie’s eyes abruptly snapped open and she pushed him away as soon as she realized what was happening. He
fell down, unconscious, onto the ground where she’d previously lain, his body convulsing, as she scrambled into
the corner.
Marie clutched her head, unable to deal with all the emotions, memories, and sensations of Logan’s enhanced
senses assaulting her. She curled up into a ball and started rocking.
** Many hours later **
Logan slowly opened his eyes, feeling quite weak. He swiftly worked out what had happened,and shot up, looking
for the girl. He immediately became aware that her coat had been laid on top of him. Logan sensed her frantic
heartbeat in the corner of the cave, far from the dying fire.
She was muttering to herself as well, “Ah killed him, Ah killed him. He was jus’ tryin’ tah help me. Ah’m poison, Ah’m
poison, Ah’m poison...”
Logan could smell horror, loathing, and remorse coming off her in heavy waves.
Cautiously, he approached her, “Kid, kid I’m ok.”
“He’s never goin’ tah wake up.” she continued, as if she didn’t hear him.
Logan frowned, and was even more careful with his approach, “Kid, I’m fine. You didn’t hurt me Marie.”
“Shut up in there! Get out of mah head!” she clawed at her head with her hands, pounding at her scull.
Logan grimaced, then uneasily kneeled down next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. Marie’s head came
up sharply, and she scrambled away.
“N-no.” she whispered, “Y-yu’re dead.”
“Kid, you didn’t kill me. I’m fine. You just knocked me out for a while.”
“Really? You're not another illusion?”
“No, it’s really me. In the flesh....That’s one hell of a power you got there kid.” Logan noted, raising an eyebrow.
“No shit bub.” Her eyes grew wide and she clapped a hand over her mouth, “Oh mah gosh! Ah’m sorry! Ah hate it
when that happens.”
“When what happens?” Logan questioned, very confused.
“When someone Ah absorbed’s personality takes center stage, so tah speak.”
“Huh?” That just made him even more lost.
“It means that Ah become like you dumb ass!” Again Marie clapped a hand over her mouth.
“You mean, you have my brains, in yours?”
She nodded weakly, “Your memories, your training, your feelings, your powers. Ah get everythin’.”
“How long does it last?” Logan asked, quite worried. There were a lot of things in his head that he didn’t want her
seeing, or at least remembering. Some of it was some scary shit.
Marie shrugged, “Depends.”
“On what?” Logan demanded, sitting next to her.
Marie leaned again the wall, “Oh lot’s of things. How long we touched, whetherin’ the person was human or mutant.
How frightened Ah am. If Ah’m unconscious....If Ah’m really scared, it gets really strong, and will kill a human in a
matter of seconds. And if Ah kill them, they’re up there,” she pointed to her head, “permanently. At least with
humans it is...”
“How do you know?” he questioned gruffly.
“Experience.” she answered quietly.
Logan wasn’t the touchy-feely sort. He had no idea what to do in this sort of a situation. He figured that since she
was a girl, she’d want to talk, so he cautiously offered, “Want to...you know...talk about it...”
“Hell no!” she answered quickly, she steeled herself back up, “Just like yah don’t like tah talk about the first five
years, Ah don’t want to talk about the eight months Ah’ve been on the road.”
“Fair enough.” Logan quickly agreed, feeling relived. He decided a change in topic was needed, “So, how long you
got my powers for?”
“Ah don’t know. Ah absorbed a lot. Weeks, months, maybe even years, Ah haven’t had that much experience,
luckily.”
Logan nodded, then stood up, putting his coat on, “It’s lightenin’ up out there. Let’s get a move on.”
He handed Marie her coat, and they went back on their way.
~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~
After having walked for a few days, Logan and Marie had finally stumbled upon a town. It was a bit bigger than
Laughlin, but not by much.
Not long before the town, Marie suddenly stopped short and covered her ears protectively, “Fuck!”
“Kid, what’s wrong?” Logan questioned concerned.
“All that noise. Especially that crackling/humming noise.” she moaned
Logan realized immediately what she was being tormented by and had a solution, “Just concentrate on my voice.
The noise will fade away and become just background.” he assured her, pulling her hands away from her ears.
After a few moments, she breathed a sigh of relief, “What is that Logan?” she demanded as they started walking
again.
“Electricity.”
“Ah never knew electricity was so damn loud.”
“Only when you have our hearing. And watch you’re language.”
“Hey, yu’re the one who gave me these traits. Can’ help it if the word just happens to <I>slip</I> out.”
“Oh don’t give me that Marie. That’s crap and you know it.” he growled.
“Fine. Al’rahght Logan, Ah’ll make you a deal. Ah’ll try tah cut back on the swearing, ifn’ ypu promise to start trainin’
me how to defend myself.”
Logan growled again in frustration, then nodded his head, “Deal. You should learn how to defend yourself if you’re
goin’ to be traveling with me anyway.”
Marie ran to catch up with him, “You want me to keep goin’ with you?”
“Someone’s gotta look out for you.” he told her gruffly, then walked a bit faster.
** Several months later **
The two had soon settled into a comfortable routine. They’d gone back for their trailer, and then quickly moved on.
The duo would travel around Canada, moving from town to town, earning money as they went. First, they would
scout out their new town, looking for places where Logan would have the most profitable fights, and then find a,
hopefully clean, motel to stay at.
Marie would head to a grocer and stock their ‘new’ truck/camper with supplies, buy some new gloves to replace the
ones she ruined along the way, and then use the laundry mat to wash their dirty clothes while Logan scoped out
the bar scene, pretty much announcing that the Wolverine was in town, so he could draw in bigger crowds.
At the places where Logan fought, Marie would usually take a job as a waitress at the bar.
As a result of Logan’s training and the reflexes she’d gained from Logan’s touch, Marie was almost as elite a
fighter as the Wolverine, though Logan would rarely let her fight. It took lots of begging, and a several moments of
giving him doe eyes to get him to give in every time she had the urge to beat the tar out of a bunch of rednecks.
After a couple weeks in a town, more often less time, then they would move on and start the process all over again
in a new place. Their restless natures never let them stay in one place too long, plus after awhile, the drunks of the
towns just got tired of getting the crap beaten out of them by the same guy, and the fights slowed.
Logan was also helping Marie slowly learn how to control her powers. As a result, they were up to 20 minutes. But
she could still use it immediately if she needed to. Unfortunately, or fortunately, (depending upon how you looked
at it) a resulting side effect of their continued experimentations was that Logan/Wolverine was now a permanent-
integrated part of Rogue’s psyche. Marie didn’t mind, so Logan tried to not let it torment him much, not that it did a
lot of good. The nightmares that she’d also gained bothered him, as did the razor-sharp-bone claws that now shot
out between her knuckles at will. Despite the fact that she protested that it didn’t hurt, much, it still bothered him.
Although it had answered his question on whether his claws had come from the experiments those bastards had
put him though. [This is a fact based upon the comic-verse. I looked it up. His claws were an original part of his
mutation.]
He’d had to laugh when Marie had tried to lighten his mood after he’d found out about the side-effects by saying
that she was just thankful she hadn’t grown extra hair all over the place like him.
Everything was going very well, until Terrace, British Columbia. That’s when their trouble finally caught up with them.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Please, I want replies, I know it sounds pathetic, but I live for feedback, good or bad! I need to know what you think
so I know where to go with this.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Name: Jules
E-mail: goddessacacia@hotmail.com
Rating: PG-15
Disclaimer: Obviously, I don’t own any of the characters, no matter how much I WISH I did. They belong to the
wonderful MARVEL and FOX
Summary: AU Movie Fic. What if the X-Men hadn’t shown up on time, and Logan didn’t get knocked out by
Sabertooth? What would have happened to him and Marie? [Wolverine/Rogue]
Status: Unfinished
~ Author’s Note: I've been thinking about this a lot, and for it to be snowing in Upper Canada where Logan and
Marie were, yet warm enough for Marie to go without a coat at Xavier’s it has to be either early Spring or late Fall...
I’ve decided to make it around October. ~
Chapter 1
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
** Alberta, Canada **
Marie didn’t even have time to scream as the tree fell in front of the truck. Everything seemed to go in slow motion.
She was only aware of a few things happening, especially the seatbelt digging hard into her stomach, knocking the
wind out of her, as the truck was brought to a crashing stop: the sound of glass breaking filled the air as Logan
shot out through the windshield, and the pain in her stomach caused by the seatbelt.....
Logan’s lit cigar flew into the back and onto a pile of clothes, which began to smolder.
Marie watched in dazed fascination as Logan got up, took several shaky steps and simply shook off the pain of the
crash. Behind her seat though, the smoldering clothes silently burst into flames, Marie completely unaware of the
impending danger.
Her eyes grew wide at the sight of the abrasion on her traveling companion’s forehead quickly closing together,
breathing heavily.
“Are you alright?” Logan called out to her.
Marie was too shaken by what she’d seen to answer.
“Kid, are you alright?” he demanded.
“Ah’m stuck!” she finally hollered, her mind finally snapping to the present.
Logan started towards her, then noticed how the tree trunk looked like it hadn’t fallen by chance and caught the
scent of something dangerous in the air. Suddenly, an enormous man leaped out of the trees, roaring like some
kind of huge cat/man, engaging Logan in combat.
Marie watched in terror as the two animalistic men engaged in a deadly battle with each other.
Her attention was drawn away from the fight however, when she became aware of the intense heat coming from
behind her. Marie looked back into the trailer and noticed the flames that were quickly spreading. She began to
struggle with her seat more as the fire quickly spread. Marie watched the two men out of the corner of her eye, in
growing panic; she knew the fire was growing closer, and that she was still very stuck. Logan was her only hope.
The towering man whacked Logan with a tree, sending the smaller man crashing to the hood of the truck.
Marie caught sight of the man who had attacked them beginning to head her way. Her stomach was killing her, but
she knew she had to get out of there, so she kept tugging at the seatbelt. Logan was unconscious on the
windshield, and that big...thing, was getting closer. The damn seatbelt however, just wouldn’t come loose!
The blond hairy creature ripped off the door and tore her seatbelt from the buckle, also tearing it from the seat.
She began to shriek, loudly, but a backhand to the face shut her up. He then swung her over his shoulder, hard. A
jolt of pain ripped through her body and merciful unconsciousness enveloped her.
Logan woke abruptly on the hood feeling pain radiating throughout his body where the bones were still re-knitting
themselves, only to see the creature striding away with the girl. Something he’d never felt before and couldn’t
identify, flared up inside of him, but he didn’t have the time to analyze it. His claws burst out again and he attacked,
sinking his claws in between the giant's 3rd and 4th ribs in his back before it could even realize Logan was behind
him.
The creature roared and threw Marie off to the side. Logan quickly sunk his claws back in again when it turned
around, up to the knuckle, in the thing's stomach. The furred, mammoth-sized man looked down in odd surprise,
roaring in rage once more, but took off back into the woods.
Logan was about chase after him, when he smelled the smoke and he realized that the camper was burning He
hurried over, and unhitched the tractor trailer, pushing it far away. He managed to throw his body over the girl’s,
just seconds before the fire reached the propane tank and exploded.
** Several minutes later **
Logan slowly regained consciousness, very aware of the body partially beneath him, and rolled off of the petite girl.
Logan repeated his question from before, “Kid, are you alright?”
There was no response.
“Kid?...Marie?” He tried her real name, but still got no response
He got up and rolled the girl’s unmoving body on her back. Her eyes were closed and there was a gash on her
forehead.
“Shit.”
With a bit of gentle shaking, finally her eyes started to flutter and Logan breathed an involuntary a sigh of relief,
not even realizing that he’d done so.
“Wha’ happened?” she murmured, looking up at him, feeling dazed.
“The trailer blew up.”
“How?” Marie probed, confused, blinking and trying to get her bearings.
Logan frowned, a bit worried, “What’s the last thing you remember?”
“Tellin’ yah that you should buckle up.”
“Well, we had an accident and we got attacked.”
“Are yah alraght?” she asked quickly, her eyes looking him up and down, trying to check for signs of an injury on
his person.
Logan stared at Marie in shock; no one had ever asked him that before. Furthermore was the fact that the first
question out of her mouth when she’d discovered they’d been in an accident, was out of concern for him, “I’m fine.
Got shot through the window, but I heal fast.” Logan shook off his astonishment, and put his bad-tempered exterior
back up, “Let’s get movin’ kid, it gets dark real fast in these parts.”
She stood up with his help, brushing off the snow, “Ah told yah tah wear yur seatbelt.”
Logan didn’t reply, he just started walking. Rogue gritted her teeth against the pain she’d experienced in her
stomach from standing up, but didn’t let the nausea she was feeling get to her. She just silently began following.
** A few hours later **
The gray sky had gotten much darker, any source of light would soon be gone, but still the two trudged on.
Every now and then Rogue would silently stop, grab her stomach and take a few deep breaths. The pain had
begun to get to her, but she couldn’t trouble Logan. He already resented her for stowing away in his trailer, being
an even further nuisance wouldn’t 'endear' her to him either.
** 45 minutes later **
They were just in sight of a cave, off in the distance, when Logan heard a quick gasp behind him, then the girl
moaned and fell to her knees. Logan spun around and saw the girl had fallen to the ground, and was throwing up....
The formerly pure white snow was stained red, and the sharp metallic scent of blood filled his nostrils.
Logan sprinted back to her side.
“Ah’m sorry.” She whimpered.
Logan immediately scooped her up into his arms and dashed to the cave where he could examine her fully.
Carefully, he laid her down on the packed earth, shrugged off his coat, rolled it up, and placed it underneath her
head. He searched the cave a bit and found he was in luck; the cave must have been used as a hideout
periodically, seeing as he found some dry wood in the back. He quickly started a fire, for warmth and light to
examine the girl by.
In the glow of the flames, he could make out that her face was flushed and he focused all his enhanced senses
upon her. He could identify a fever, pain, there was guilt just radiating off her...and worst of all, the blood. He
noticed she was clutching her stomach...just where the seatbelt would have been.
“Shit.” Logan cursed himself under his breath. They’d been in a serious accident and an explosion, and he hadn’t
even asked if she was all right once she’d regained consciousness.
He crouched down by her side, she looked up at him with feverish, glazed over eyes.
“Yah know,” she gasped, “Ah always thought Ah’d die of starvation eventually, not something like this....Ah just
wish Ah’d made it to Alaska.”
“Don’t talk like that kid. You’re not going to die.” Logan shook his head, “Why didn’t you tell me you were hurt?” He
demanded.
“Because there was nothin’ yah could do.” she revealed to him, an inconceivable look of acceptance gracing her
countenance. It disturbed Logan to see a girl so young, so accepting of death. Her eyes began to close.
“Hey, I didn’t save you from that damn fur ball to have you die on me now. Don’t go to sleep.”
“Ah can’t help it...Ah’m so tired.” Her head fell to the side, and her breathing grew shallow.
“Kid? Kid! Marie, wake up!” Logan grew panicked, and at last began to assess her injuries.
He lifted up her shirt to look her stomach, which she had been clutching and winced when he saw the darkening
bruise across her abdomen from the seatbelt. He had wondered at the time why she’d sounded so breathless after
the accident, and mentally kicked himself for having brushed it off as the result of fear.
Logan didn’t know what to do and he hated feeling helpless. She most likely had internal injuries, and possibly a
concussion. They were many miles away from the nearest doctor, let alone a hospital.
He had some limited medical training from, some-where, so he reached out to see if her stomach was hard, which
would indicate blood in the belly (i.e. internal injuries such as a ruptured spleen or something).
Moments after his fingers attempted to probe her stomach, he felt a...pulling. He watched in astonishment as the
bruise on her stomach disappeared, and soon realized that she was, very painfully, sucking the actual life out of
him!
Marie’s eyes abruptly snapped open and she pushed him away as soon as she realized what was happening. He
fell down, unconscious, onto the ground where she’d previously lain, his body convulsing, as she scrambled into
the corner.
Marie clutched her head, unable to deal with all the emotions, memories, and sensations of Logan’s enhanced
senses assaulting her. She curled up into a ball and started rocking.
** Many hours later **
Logan slowly opened his eyes, feeling quite weak. He swiftly worked out what had happened,and shot up, looking
for the girl. He immediately became aware that her coat had been laid on top of him. Logan sensed her frantic
heartbeat in the corner of the cave, far from the dying fire.
She was muttering to herself as well, “Ah killed him, Ah killed him. He was jus’ tryin’ tah help me. Ah’m poison, Ah’m
poison, Ah’m poison...”
Logan could smell horror, loathing, and remorse coming off her in heavy waves.
Cautiously, he approached her, “Kid, kid I’m ok.”
“He’s never goin’ tah wake up.” she continued, as if she didn’t hear him.
Logan frowned, and was even more careful with his approach, “Kid, I’m fine. You didn’t hurt me Marie.”
“Shut up in there! Get out of mah head!” she clawed at her head with her hands, pounding at her scull.
Logan grimaced, then uneasily kneeled down next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. Marie’s head came
up sharply, and she scrambled away.
“N-no.” she whispered, “Y-yu’re dead.”
“Kid, you didn’t kill me. I’m fine. You just knocked me out for a while.”
“Really? You're not another illusion?”
“No, it’s really me. In the flesh....That’s one hell of a power you got there kid.” Logan noted, raising an eyebrow.
“No shit bub.” Her eyes grew wide and she clapped a hand over her mouth, “Oh mah gosh! Ah’m sorry! Ah hate it
when that happens.”
“When what happens?” Logan questioned, very confused.
“When someone Ah absorbed’s personality takes center stage, so tah speak.”
“Huh?” That just made him even more lost.
“It means that Ah become like you dumb ass!” Again Marie clapped a hand over her mouth.
“You mean, you have my brains, in yours?”
She nodded weakly, “Your memories, your training, your feelings, your powers. Ah get everythin’.”
“How long does it last?” Logan asked, quite worried. There were a lot of things in his head that he didn’t want her
seeing, or at least remembering. Some of it was some scary shit.
Marie shrugged, “Depends.”
“On what?” Logan demanded, sitting next to her.
Marie leaned again the wall, “Oh lot’s of things. How long we touched, whetherin’ the person was human or mutant.
How frightened Ah am. If Ah’m unconscious....If Ah’m really scared, it gets really strong, and will kill a human in a
matter of seconds. And if Ah kill them, they’re up there,” she pointed to her head, “permanently. At least with
humans it is...”
“How do you know?” he questioned gruffly.
“Experience.” she answered quietly.
Logan wasn’t the touchy-feely sort. He had no idea what to do in this sort of a situation. He figured that since she
was a girl, she’d want to talk, so he cautiously offered, “Want to...you know...talk about it...”
“Hell no!” she answered quickly, she steeled herself back up, “Just like yah don’t like tah talk about the first five
years, Ah don’t want to talk about the eight months Ah’ve been on the road.”
“Fair enough.” Logan quickly agreed, feeling relived. He decided a change in topic was needed, “So, how long you
got my powers for?”
“Ah don’t know. Ah absorbed a lot. Weeks, months, maybe even years, Ah haven’t had that much experience,
luckily.”
Logan nodded, then stood up, putting his coat on, “It’s lightenin’ up out there. Let’s get a move on.”
He handed Marie her coat, and they went back on their way.
~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~
After having walked for a few days, Logan and Marie had finally stumbled upon a town. It was a bit bigger than
Laughlin, but not by much.
Not long before the town, Marie suddenly stopped short and covered her ears protectively, “Fuck!”
“Kid, what’s wrong?” Logan questioned concerned.
“All that noise. Especially that crackling/humming noise.” she moaned
Logan realized immediately what she was being tormented by and had a solution, “Just concentrate on my voice.
The noise will fade away and become just background.” he assured her, pulling her hands away from her ears.
After a few moments, she breathed a sigh of relief, “What is that Logan?” she demanded as they started walking
again.
“Electricity.”
“Ah never knew electricity was so damn loud.”
“Only when you have our hearing. And watch you’re language.”
“Hey, yu’re the one who gave me these traits. Can’ help it if the word just happens to <I>slip</I> out.”
“Oh don’t give me that Marie. That’s crap and you know it.” he growled.
“Fine. Al’rahght Logan, Ah’ll make you a deal. Ah’ll try tah cut back on the swearing, ifn’ ypu promise to start trainin’
me how to defend myself.”
Logan growled again in frustration, then nodded his head, “Deal. You should learn how to defend yourself if you’re
goin’ to be traveling with me anyway.”
Marie ran to catch up with him, “You want me to keep goin’ with you?”
“Someone’s gotta look out for you.” he told her gruffly, then walked a bit faster.
** Several months later **
The two had soon settled into a comfortable routine. They’d gone back for their trailer, and then quickly moved on.
The duo would travel around Canada, moving from town to town, earning money as they went. First, they would
scout out their new town, looking for places where Logan would have the most profitable fights, and then find a,
hopefully clean, motel to stay at.
Marie would head to a grocer and stock their ‘new’ truck/camper with supplies, buy some new gloves to replace the
ones she ruined along the way, and then use the laundry mat to wash their dirty clothes while Logan scoped out
the bar scene, pretty much announcing that the Wolverine was in town, so he could draw in bigger crowds.
At the places where Logan fought, Marie would usually take a job as a waitress at the bar.
As a result of Logan’s training and the reflexes she’d gained from Logan’s touch, Marie was almost as elite a
fighter as the Wolverine, though Logan would rarely let her fight. It took lots of begging, and a several moments of
giving him doe eyes to get him to give in every time she had the urge to beat the tar out of a bunch of rednecks.
After a couple weeks in a town, more often less time, then they would move on and start the process all over again
in a new place. Their restless natures never let them stay in one place too long, plus after awhile, the drunks of the
towns just got tired of getting the crap beaten out of them by the same guy, and the fights slowed.
Logan was also helping Marie slowly learn how to control her powers. As a result, they were up to 20 minutes. But
she could still use it immediately if she needed to. Unfortunately, or fortunately, (depending upon how you looked
at it) a resulting side effect of their continued experimentations was that Logan/Wolverine was now a permanent-
integrated part of Rogue’s psyche. Marie didn’t mind, so Logan tried to not let it torment him much, not that it did a
lot of good. The nightmares that she’d also gained bothered him, as did the razor-sharp-bone claws that now shot
out between her knuckles at will. Despite the fact that she protested that it didn’t hurt, much, it still bothered him.
Although it had answered his question on whether his claws had come from the experiments those bastards had
put him though. [This is a fact based upon the comic-verse. I looked it up. His claws were an original part of his
mutation.]
He’d had to laugh when Marie had tried to lighten his mood after he’d found out about the side-effects by saying
that she was just thankful she hadn’t grown extra hair all over the place like him.
Everything was going very well, until Terrace, British Columbia. That’s when their trouble finally caught up with them.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Please, I want replies, I know it sounds pathetic, but I live for feedback, good or bad! I need to know what you think
so I know where to go with this.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
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