EPILOGUE

The professor sat in his office with Storm and was thankful that his
telepathic powers had finally returned to him in full. It had been
two days since Jean had died and the sorrow that surrounded him had
almost overwhelmed him especially when his own grief ran so deep. He
had dealt with a great many hardships in his life but the events of
the past few days had nearly pushed him to his limit.

"You cannot blame yourself, Professor. You did the best you could."

"If I had found Rogue sooner perhaps I could have saved them."

"Professor, with the potential that the entire city could have been
affected, I believe we should be thankful that so few were hurt."

"They are not just hurt, Ororo, they will all die."

Thinking of how the Senator had turned into water while she held his
hand, Storm didn't know what to say.

"The authorities have Eric in custody and they know the radiation was
his doing. When those fourteen delegates die there will be nothing
left to stop the Mutant Registration Act from being passed. After
that…" He didn't even want to think what would happen after the bill
was passed. His dream of peaceful co-existence was even more
unattainable than ever before.

Storm had never heard the professor sound so pessimistic and again
couldn't think of anything to say.

Finally she decided to ask about Magneto since she knew the professor
planned to speak to him.

"Will you see Magneto today?"

"I believe that can wait. Eric will need time to recover," he replied
with a bitter edge in his tone. In the past he had tried to
understand Magneto's motivations but this time he had gone too far.

After a few moments she decided to voice a different concern and said,
"Something has to be done about Rogue. She has not left the medlab
since our return."

"You are the only one she trusts. I tried telling her it was Mystique
who told her to leave but I don't think she was listening. You should
try talking to her again."

Storm nodded to the professor as she got up and moved towards the
door. Before she opened it, she turned around and asked, "How much
longer do you intend to keep Scott sedated?"

That was yet another problem for him to deal with and he really didn't
have a good answer.

"Do you think it would be wise for me to wake him now?"

After a brief pause Storm shook her head and said, "No, I suppose
not."

~~~~~~~~~~

Logan had been in a coma ever since they had come back from the Statue
of Liberty and Marie was afraid he would remain that way for a very
long time. She barely remembered how she had gotten back to
Westchester since all she had been concerned about was stopping
Logan's bleeding but she did vaguely remember boarding a jet.
Thinking back to how close she had come to losing him, she placed her
head over his heart and took comfort from knowing that he was still
alive. The bandages that covered most of his upper body served to
protect him from her deadly skin and Marie was thankful to have this
moment of peace after everything that had happened.

Lulled by the steady heartbeat, Marie finally managed to fall asleep
but awoke with a start when her newly enhanced senses detected someone
approaching. Tired, worried, and still coping with the affects of the
two absorptions that had taken place on the torch, she really didn't
want to deal with anyone else right now and decided to tell her
visitor that in no uncertain terms.

However, when she realized who it was, she changed her mind since she
knew she couldn't possibly snap at Storm. She owed the woman far too
much. Marie got out of her chair and turned to the door as it opened
and waited for Storm to speak.

"How are you, Rogue?"

"Ah'm awlright, just waitin' for Logan ta wake up." She tried to make
it sound that his regaining consciousness was inevitable even though
she feared that he may never open his eyes again.

"I have been quite concerned about you. You have not left his side
since we returned and I do not think you have eaten anything either."

"Ah'm not hungry." She really wasn't and wondered if perhaps that had
something to do with the lifeforces she had just absorbed.

"Rogue, I also wanted to make sure you knew that it was not the
professor who-"

"Ah know it wasn't him but Ah don't really care. As soon as Logan
wakes up we'll leave. Ah think everyone will be a lot happier that
way." Marie knew that she herself would be and could guess from the
Logan in her head that he wouldn't object to leaving this place
either.

She turned back to Logan and placed a gloved hand over his arm but
then felt bad for dismissing Storm like that. Keeping her gaze fixed
on the steady rise and fall of Logan's chest she sighed and said,
"Ah'm sorry if that came out too harsh. Ah really should be thankin'
ya instead of-"

Storm spoke up to reassure her and said, "It is alright, you have been
through a lot and you have thanked me enough."

Storm looked to the man that Rogue was hovering protectively over and
knew that despite everything he had done to stop Magneto he would
still not be welcome here. She also knew that when he left, Rogue
would leave with him. There really wasn't anything she could say or
do to change any of that and decided to leave them alone.

Storm left the medlab silently and Marie relaxed once again into the
chair beside Logan. In no time at all she was fast asleep and managed
to get a few hours of rest.

 ~~~~~~~~~~

A couple of hours before sunrise, Marie awoke when she heard a faint
rumbling from where her head was resting on Logan's chest. Sitting
straight up in her chair she looked at his face just as he opened his
eyes.

She blinked back tears and whispered, "Logan…oh thank God."

He tried speaking and after a few attempts managed to say, "…M-Marie…"

"Don't try ta talk, just rest now."

Logan just stared at her for a few moments and Marie wondered at his
curious expression. Before she could comment, he slowly reached out
his hand and briefly touched one of her white streaks with a finger.

Marie smiled and said, "Ah kinda like it."

Smiling back, Logan put a hand over the gloved one she had resting on
his bed and felt incredibly grateful to know that she had survived.
Reassured by the simple touch, he was able to drift back to sleep.

Knowing that he would be all right now, Marie was far too excited to
sleep again and waited patiently for him to wake up.

~~~~~~~~~

Again, the first person Logan saw when he opened his eyes was Marie
which put him at ease but when he finally recognized his surroundings
he wondered how he'd wound up at Xavier's school again. Before he
could ask he remembering how callously Marie had been forced to leave
this place and the first words out of his mouth were, "You ready to
get out of here, Marie?"

She was momentarily startled by his voice since it was louder than she
had expected but was glad that he was recovering so rapidly.

"Are ya sure you're ready?"

"I'm fine, darlin'"

Before she could stop him, Logan had managed to remove the large
square bandage over his abdomen to reveal perfectly healed flesh.

Marie thought for sure that there would have been scarring and
silently watched him remove the remaining bandages over his chest and
arms.

Neither one of them had noticed the approaching visitor until the
medlab doors opened and both of them turned their heads to see the
professor enter the room.

Logan sprang out of his bed and placed himself between Marie and the
professor as he extended his claws.

The professor was shocked to see the growling mutant in front of him
since he hadn't expected Logan to recover so quickly.

Clad in only black joggers, Logan advanced on the professor until
Marie placed a restraining hand over his arm and said, "Wait, Logan,
you don't understand!"

Before Logan could question her, Marie looked to the professor and
said, "Could ya give us a couple of minutes alone? Ah need ta explain
some things."

After the professor nodded and left, Marie moved to stand in front of
Logan who retracted his claws when she got too close. She understood
why he was furious with the professor and proceeded to explain the
entire situation.

Three days ago Logan would have given her a strange look for talking
about a shapeshifting mutant but after recent events, he was barely
phased by her explanation.

However, he was stunned when Marie told him what had happened on the
Statue of Liberty after he touched her.

~~~~~~~~~

After having spoken with the professor, Marie and Logan were walking
down the main hallway of the mansion towards the front door hoping
they would be able to leave without incident. The brief walk was
reminiscent of a gauntlet as they were flanked on both sides by
students who silently watched them pass with eyes full of
condemnation.

There was one girl in particular whose silent accusations were
deafening and Logan would never forget the look of pure hatred
reflected in her green eyes.

Once outside, they were met with Storm and Logan was relieved that he
would have a chance to speak with her. He had asked the professor
about her and was told she would find him if she wanted to see him.

"Rogue told me what you did for me and I wanted to thank you. I don't
know why you did it and I'm sure they're a lot of people here that
aren't thrilled with your decision."

"It was murder and I would not allow that regardless of my feelings
towards you."

Reminded once again of what he had done, he replied after a brief
pause and said, "I'm sorry. I wish there was something more I could
say or do but I truly am sorry."

They were probably the most apologetic words he had ever spoken but he
had said them without hesitation since he truly wanted to express his
remorse. She had saved his life despite the fact he had killed
someone who was like a sister to her.

"I know it was not intentional," was her only response to him before
she turned to Marie and said, "Goodbye, Rogue, take care of yourself."

"Thank ya, Storm, for everything."

Storm nodded and stepped aside allowing the pair to move towards the
SUV waiting for them.

Logan had been reluctant to accept it at first but after considering
the company he was now keeping he had thanked the professor when he
had given him the keys.

Once inside the truck, Logan started the engine and then looked over
towards Marie who was sitting beside him.

"You ready, darlin'?"
 
She smiled at him and said, "Yeah, let's go."

Looking at where her arm rested beside Logan's, Marie thought back to
the first time they had met. She remembered the connection she had
felt and how it's meaning hadn't become clear until she thought she
had lost him. Marie wanted to tell him how she felt but knew he
wasn't ready for that yet. It was enough to know that Logan cared
about her and wanted her in his life. She knew what they meant to
each other and in time he too would come to understand.

FIN