Even though Logan had woken up, Marie was more worried than she had been all those days he was unconscious. At least now she knew why Logan was so slow to recover. His healing factor was no longer in effect. Proof of that came when he had extended his claws. Instead of healing instantly, the wounds that were created in his knuckles had bled profusely.
“We should take him down to the lab and run some tests,” Jean suggested as she came back into the bedroom with the first aid kit.
Marie turned to glare at the older woman, taking the small, metal box from her outstretched hand. “Absolutely not. The last thing that Logan needs right now is ta go down there. He doesn’t need ta be poked an’ prodded an’ he certainly doesn’t need an audience. So why don’t ya’ll go back t’ bed. Ah’ll take care of him.”
“Rogue, are you sure that’s wise?” the Professor asked, wheeling slowly in their direction.
Marie could feel Logan tense at his approach and turned her full attention back to him. Smiling reassuringly, she continued to smooth her fingers through his hair. “It’s all right, Logan. No one here’s gonna hurt ya. Ah won’t let them.”
Logan relaxed a bit at that and shifted so that he was now sitting cross-legged in front of her. His eyes were filled with so much pain that it almost brought Marie to tears.
“Ah’ll take care of Logan, Professor. You can pop in mah head every so often t’ make sure,” Marie said, turning only briefly to look at the Professor.
“Let’s go. Logan needs his rest,” the Professor announced and Marie could hear his chair heading towards the door.
“But, Professor--”
“No arguments, Scott,” the Professor declared, his voice brooking no arguments. “I’m sure we’ll see them tomorrow. Until then, we’ll leave them be. Rogue, Logan, goodnight.”
“G’night, Professor,” Marie whispered as she watched them all leave. As soon as the door was shut, Marie turned her full attention on to Logan. “All right, sugah, let’s take a look at yer hands.”
Fishing around in the first aid kit, Marie scrounged up a piece of gauze which she used to wipe away most of the blood from Logan’s hands. It wasn’t doing the job, though, so she improvised. Without getting up, Marie grabbed a discarded t-shirt and a water bottle from the dresser beside them and set to work. She placed the t-shirt on Logan’s lap and rested his hands on it. There wasn’t much water left in the bottle, so Marie dribbled it carefully on Logan’s abused knuckles and lightly wiped it and the blood away with the ends of the t-shirt.
“The blood’s gone, but yer knuckles are still bleedin’ a bit,” Marie told Logan as she reached back into the first aid kit for the linen bandages. “Ah’m gonna wrap yer hands up now, Logan. Can’t have ya bleedin’ all over the place, now can we?”
“Where are we?” Logan asked in a hushed voice as Marie began to wrap his left hand in strips of linen.
“We’re in New York at Xavier’s School For Gifted Youngsters,” Marie told him.
Logan gave her a confused look. “Home’s a school?”
Marie ducked her head, a grin on her face. “Kinda dorky, Ah know, but it’s home. Ah’ve been livin’ here for the past five years. It’s safe here. As long as Ah’m here, no one can hurt me. No one will hurt ya either, Logan. The Professor’s made it so none of the bad people can get ta us here.”
“Bad people?” Logan questioned, still very confused about everything.
Ignoring his question for the moment, Marie finished cleaning and bandaging Logan’s hands then set the supplies aside. “Come on, Logan, let’s getcha back inta bed. It’ll be a whole lot more comfortable than the floor.”
It was unnerving for Marie to see Logan stumble the way he did when he stood up. For the past five years, she had kept an image of Logan in her head. The strong, courageous man that had saved her life, nearly losing his in the process. Logan had been almost immortal in her eyes and seeing him so fragile was frightening. He was still weak from whatever had been done to him and Marie had to help him across the room to the bed.
“All right, big guy, under the covers ya go,” Marie said as she pulled the rumpled sheets up around Logan’s waist
Logan kept his eyes on her, following her as she walked to the other side of the bed. If Marie didn’t know any better, she would have sworn that he thought she was going to leave. He didn’t know that there was nothing that could tear her away from him.
“How much do ya remember, sugah?” Marie asked as she laid down next to Logan. Getting herself situated, Marie raised herself up on one elbow, the fingers of her other hand combing gently through his hair.
Logan furrowed his brows, obviously concentrating deeply. He seemed to become frustrated almost instantly, growling softly at the back of his throat. Marie shushed him instantly, running her thumb across his lower lip. The growling turned into more of a whine then and he clutched at her, pulling her into his arms.
“It’s all right, sugah,” Marie whispered into his hair. “You’ve been through a lot. It’s prob’ly better that ya don’t remember right now. Ah’m sure that it’ll all come back once yer ready ta remember.”
Logan grumbled softly and nuzzled his face against her shoulder. Marie was even more shocked by this behaviour. Logan grumbling and growling was something that she remembered well, but never in the frightened, plaintive tones that his voice had now.
“Just go t’ sleep, Logan,” Marie whispered softly in his ear. “Yer exhausted and need to rest some.”
“You’ll stay here?” Logan inquired, tilting his head up so that he could meet her eyes. Marie was blown away by the fear that she saw shining in his eyes. He was well and truly terrified, believing that she was going to leave.
Marie pressed a kiss to his forehead and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “Ah’m not goin’ anywhere, Logan. You’ve been gone fer five years. Ah’m not goin’ anywhere anytime soon.”
Content for the moment that she wasn’t going to leave him, Logan began to relax for the first time since waking up barely half an hour before.
Only when she was sure that Logan had fallen asleep did Marie allow the tears that had been building to finally escape. She honestly had no clue how to deal with the fact that Logan could remember nothing. Not knowing what had been done to Logan made it even worse. Those doctors could have done anything to him. Already they knew that his mutation had been either slowed or stopped completely. His knuckles should have healed instantly after he retracted his claws.
“What did they do t’ ya, Logan?” Marie whimpered, staring down at his sleeping face.
Rogue, how is everything?
Marie jerked slightly at the Professor’s voice echoing in his head. Once her heart was beating back at its normal pace, she responded, Everythin’ is fahn, Professor. Ah fixed Logan’s hands up and he’s sleepin’.
What of his mutation? There should have been no need for such things.
It shoulda, but fer some reason Logan’s mutation isn’t workin’ like it should. His hands just kept bleedin’. Marie kept her eyes glued on Logan’s face as she relayed the information to the Professor, smoothing away the lines that appeared on his forehead as his brows furrowed.
That is quite peculiar. I’ll have Jean run some tests tomorrow.
This time it was Marie’s brows that furrowed. Ah’m not sure that’s a good idea, Professor. Ah’m not sure how Logan will react ta it. He’s a bit unnerved cause he can’t remember anythin’.
Nothing at all?
Marie shook her head sadly. Nothin’. Do ya think it’s like what happened ta him last time?
I’m not sure, Rogue. I’ll have to have a meeting with Logan when he is feeling better. Goodnight, Rogue.
‘Night, Professor.
Her mind free again, Marie let out an exhausted yawn. For the first time in five days, she was able to relax. Logan had woken up and, even though there were some severe repercussions due to what had happened to him, he was in no immediate danger of dying. He was sleeping peacefully in her arms.
Leaning over, Marie pressed a kiss to his temple before lying her head down next to his on the pillow. She stared at his sleeping face for a long while, unable to stop herself from running her fingers across the many slopes and planes of his face. For so long she had dreamed of being able to touch Logan. Marie had never dreamed of it so much as she did after learning to control her powers just over a year before.
And now she was able to.
Marie could press her fingers to Logan’s face without fear of draining him to the point of death. She could hold him and comfort him without thinking twice about the consequences. She could be there for Logan when he needed her and not have to worried that her skin was covered because he didn’t know about her powers. It would have made everything that happened that night difficult since Marie was dressed simply in a tanktop and a pair of sweats. Even now, as he slept, one of Logan’s hands was resting on a bare section of skin between the waistband of her sweats and the hem of her tanktop.
Logan moaned suddenly, pulling Marie from her thoughts. He started twisting away from her, his face a mask of fear. Marie noticed his lips moving slightly, but couldn’t make out what he was saying. Trapping his face in her hands, Marie began to whisper his name.
With a throaty growl, Logan’s eyes shot open and his claws instinctively extended.