Disclaimer: Are these absolutely necessary? Is there someone out there who's deluded enough to believe that I'm trying to take credit for creating the X-Men? Because I can tell you right now that there's no way I'm capable of creating a character as irritating as Jubilee or as lame as The Dark Phoenix. What? WHAT!

Dedicated to all who read and review, for better or worse. Special thanks go out to LadyTrunks for failing to motivate me in any way shape or form and not giving me any constructive criticism. Thank you so much. LOL. Just kidding. Well not really, but I love you anyways.

"Spoken words"

'Thoughts'

((Psyche in Rogue's head))

flashback in italics

CAGED ANGELS

The window was fogged over; her heavy breaths were hitting the glass as she pulled into the parking lot and brought the large truck to a stop. Relief that she had managed to control the large vehicle, was pushed aside quickly by an overwhelming sense of numbness. The ignition remained on as the keys sat, dangling in place. Her hands felt as though they had molded themselves to the steering wheel while the rest of her body remained frozen. Any type of movement seemed impossible. If she moved, she might break. On the outside looking in things seemed to stand still but the inside of her mind was an entirely different matter.

((You stupid bitch! You coulda killed us both. If you died, you'd be doin' the world a favor. But me, I got a wife and kids you cunt!)) The voice quieted down for a mere matter of seconds, a pause that was all too familiar. It was the moment everyone took to realize, that they didn't know where they were. That they weren't where they had been only moments before. This was always quickly followed by wild panic. ((Oh fuck. Oh Jesus. Where am I? Where the FUCK am I! What did you do to me mutie? Huh! You- you murderer!)) The fear was evident in his voice and on his face; he thought he was dead. Trapped in a hell that the young girl created of her own free will to punish him. Nothing could have been further from the truth though. It suddenly felt like someone was hitting her in the head with a blunt object when the trucker began pounding the inner walls of her mind. ((Let me out! Let me out!))

'Stop it.' she pleaded with him. 'Please, just stop.' In the physical world, her hands clenched the steering wheel tighter.

((Let me out!)) he screamed at the top of his lungs as he continued to pound relentlessly.

'I said cut it out!' The pain was becoming unbearable. Her eyes began to water as she appeared to be staring at nothing.

((Aw. What's the matter? Am I hurting you?)) he mock sympathized. ((You killed me you mutie bitch! I hope you burn in hell!))

'You aren't dead! I didn't kill ya! I didn't! I DIDN'T!' she wailed, trying to get through to the man.

((Oh no? Then what the fuck happened to my body then, huh? Tell me that you stupid whore. What did you do to me!))

'I didn't do anythang to ya! You touched me. You were gonna, hurt me...' she wanted to sound angry, but really, she was terrified. When he had touched her, she had seen everything. All the things he was going to do…..

((I wouldn't touch you with a ten foot pole!)) the man spit in disgust. Her tears were warm as they rolled down her cheeks. Anger rising at his words; her own self hatred making its way to the surface.

'And why's that? Because I'm a mutant,' and then biting her lip and trying to throw back just an ounce of the disgust he had shown for her back at him, she added 'or because you have a wife and kids?' The man glared at her.

((You wanted it.)) he said, and Marie could tell that he believed it.

'I didn't want any of this.' she said quietly, pulling herself out of her own mind. Before leaving she witnessed the man's psyche fall upon its knees and weep.

When she snapped out of it, Marie found herself in the same frozen position, eyes wide and locked onto the foggy glass. She continued to stare at nothing, until she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. It was him, the truck driver. Slouched and un-conscious in the passenger's seat. She didn't want to touch the man more than she absolutely had to. Marie had only done so in the first place so that she could get behind the wheel and make it to the next stop.

Part of her had wanted to toss him out onto the road and pray that a large truck came along to run him over. Then, maybe his carcass could be left to rot in a ditch somewhere with wild animals feasting on his flesh. But she couldn't. Another part of her felt responsible. And the worst part was, she wasn't entirely sure it was a part of her.

She never really was.

He had pulled off onto the side of the road. The sudden halt in movementwoke her up. She had tried desperately not to fall asleep. Marie was all too aware of how dangerous it could be. But it was going on three days now, and she was just so tired. Before she had fully awoken, she could feel his eyes on her. Sitting up straight, she tugged at the collar of her coat and brought it up around her. The question of why they had stopped sat on the tip of her tongue, but she didn't want the squeak in her voice to give away how frightened she was. "No need to be shy." he said as large, sweaty hands clamped over her hair. She immediately tensed, and leaned into the passenger side door to get as much distance as possible between them. He quickly reached over and grabbed her covered arm with one of his hands, squeezing tight.

"Please, just let me go. I can walk..." her words fell on deaf ears as he yanked her closer to him. His other hand reached out to her coat. "Stop it! Please!" She watched in horror as he maneuvered his hand inside her coat and over her shirt. "You don't want to do this."

"None a that." was all he said, eyes burning into her as he pushed her backwards. Her eyes went wide when he ran a finger over her left breast, and then gave it a tight squeeze. She let out a gasp, which seemed to be an indication for him to move faster. Tears began rolling down the girl's cheeks. She was incredibly uncomfortable at the position the man had forced her into; her upper body laid out over her seat and her legs bent to the side, banging against the bottom of the dashboard as she attempted to kick out. She had no leverage and he was heavy on top of her. He had finished roughly un-buttoning her coat before freeing his other hand to continue feeling her up. Then she had felt his hand going lower and lingering at the top of her pants, before tugging at the bottom of her shirt. He seemed to be deciding what he wanted to do first and that pained Marie more than anything. He thought he could do whatever he wanted to her and actually stopped to think about whether he was going to just whip it out or cop a feel for a bit longer.

"No!" she blurted out, as one hand began un-zipping her jeans and the other one moved up and over her shirt. He removed his hand from her chest to tug at her pants, bringing them down to just above her knees, Marie kicking and screaming the entire time.

"Shut-up!" he said, giving her a hard and fast backhand. She wished there had been more contact with the blow, but she had barely felt a pull. She whimpered as he hovered over her, still angry and not doing anything. Grunting, the man went back to his previous doings and pulled her shirt up over her face. She couldn't see, and her arms were caught in the sleeves. Wild panic filled her as he ran his fingers up her abdomen and she could feel her powers start to kick in. Still, the man didn't stop. She didn't know what was going on, or even why he was still conscious. A million thoughts ran through her head. Sadness, fear and even hope, as disgusting as it made her feel. He wasn't passing out, maybe that meant...he reached under her and moved his hands up her back to the hook of her bra. She could feel the veins on her face swelling and she gave one last final scream before she felt the heavy form of the driver fall on top her.

Marie walked towards the dimly lit sign reading 'Lion's Den.' it didn't look like the friendliest of places, but anywhere was better than that truck right now. She winced as a sudden onslaught of memories assaulted her. Clutching her head and falling onto the freshly fallen snow, she attempted to quiet the voices in her head. When they were nothing more than whispers, she looked up and saw that a car had parked only a few feet away. 'How long did that last?' She heard a noise coming from back inside the truck. Shooting up from the ground, the girl didn't take time to hesitate as she walked quickly towards the tavern doors, and didn't look back.

The bar was mostly dark, with few lights on, except for a large space at the back of the building. Several men turned her way, dread filled the pit of her stomach as she realized she'd likely have no other choice but to get a ride with one of them. She was pretty much out in the middle of nowhere, with no vehicle and not a whole hell of a lot of money either. She didn't doubt the willingness of the men here to give her a ride, but "friendly" and "helpful" were things that had a price. Marie couldn't stop the shiver that ran through her as she visibly shook in the doorway. Trying to shake the feeling, Marie kept her eyes down on the ground and made her way over to the bar.

Loud voices and violent noises were coming from the backend of the tavern. Marie noticed most of the people occupying the bar were crowded around that one area, with what looked like a cage in the middle. She avoided it of course seeing as how her and large crowds had the potential for danger. So she went and sat down on a barstool in front of the bar. Two other customers sat at the other end. The elderly man behind the counter walked over to her and asked "what'll you have?" Not yet being the age of twenty-one, Marie hadn't actually ever had any alcohol, except for some wine her mom let her try at a party once. "Don't tell your dad" she had said with a smile.

"Beer. Whatever's on tap." she replied without thinking, the words sounding foreign on her own tongue. The bartender eyed her for a moment, then nodded his head and went to pour her a glass. Marie quickly reached into her coat and pulled out a five dollar bill, hoping it was enough. She didn't want the guy to know that she was underage and risk him throwing her back outside. He brought the beer over and she kept her head down, placing the five out in front of her. He took it and didn't say anything, so she assumed it was enough. Bringing the glass mug closer to her, she continued to stare down and into it. She licked her lips but didn't take a drink. 'I don't want this' she thought. Suddenly the trucker appeared at the front of her mind.

((No, but I do.)) he said with a scowl. ((Now swig it back.)) and as if on command, she did just that. Her nose scrunched up as the warm, vile liquid made its way down her throat. It was absolutely disgusting and she wanted to cry as her hand brought the glass back up to her lips and was forced to take another drink. The whole thing must have looked rather bizarre and even comical to anyone watching, but for Marie it was a nightmare. Pushing herself away from the bar, she spotted the closest restroom and made her way towards it. Bursting through the doors, she fell towards the sink. Frantically turning on the cold water tap, the girl was frustrated when the water ran a dirty brown color, likely from the rust in the plumbing. At least, she hoped that was the cause of it. Not thinking it fit to drink, Marie settled for splashing some of the cool liquid on her face. ((He.He.He. What's a matter? Stuff too strong for you mutie bitch?)) She wasn't sure which it was. The beer or the sound of the man's laughter, but Marie suddenly felt very sick. Stumbling, she made it to a stall and crouched down over the toilet.

Her tongue pushed itself out from her mouth as a horrible gagging noise came from deep in her throat. She could feel the bile rising as her tongue shot back in her mouth before removing itself again. Vomiting into the dirty toilet, Marie held herself up by placing her hands against the stall walls. When she felt she had nothing left in her stomach, she pulled down on the toilet handle, and watched the discolored chunks being sucked down and out of sight. Marie couldn't help but think that the toilet was exactly where her life was headed. ((Got that right.)) the man she now knew as Jake said from within her. From behind her, she heard something hard hit the main bathroom door before it swung open. Getting up off the floor, she leaned out to see what the noise was. It was a highly intoxicated couple making out against the wall. It was also apparent that making out wasn't the only thing on the agenda when the boy threw the girl up against the wall and began grinding himself onto her. The girl began moaning in a fashion that reminded Marie of a pencil going through an electric pencil sharpener. It disgusted and fascinated her at the same time. But when she witnessed the man putting his hands down the woman's skirt, she promptly got herself out of there.

Upon exiting the washroom the girl heard yelling: "and in this corner - the undefeated Wolverine!" Marie strained her neck only to see a dark figure in the far corner of the cage surrounded by smoke. She heard the announcer continue to ask for volunteers when someone finally called out that they would fight, and walked up to the cage. All of Marie's attention however was focused on the man already in the ring. Though she could barely see him, she felt...something. With a sudden compulsion to get closer to the action, she made her way over to the cage. She had a better view and watched as the latest opponent flexed for the crowd. The antics caused quite the reaction from the crowd but Marie's reaction occurred when the dark figure, threw out his cigar and the smoke began to clear. Turning, Marie held her breath as his face slid out from the darkness. She glimpsed an intense, angry profile right before the other competitor jumped him from behind. Marie blinked rapidly, coming out of her trance-like state. She flinched as the larger man punched Wolverine in the back, and proceeded to pummel him when he was down. After a vicious kick to the stomach, the man raised his hand to punch him when Wolverine turned, punching the man's hand with his own. The larger man howled in pain, and Marie thought she heard the distinct clang of metal. Wolverine punched once, twice, and then the man was out. The locals were outraged.

Marie continued to watch the man win match after match with a sense of both awe and horror. Some of his opponents didn't look like they'd likely live to see tomorrow. "Wouldn't that be nice" she silently thought but her thoughts were heard by someone else. ((Quit your bit chin, would ya?)) Jake said, sitting cross legged in a corner. ((This guy don't even look that tough.)) 'Shut up. He'd kick your sorry ass.' Both seemed stunned by her sudden outburst. Marie especially, with her sudden defense of the beast man. ((He's fighting a bunch of drunkards that don't know which way is up or down. Anyone could do that.)) She couldn't take much more. Marie noticed the looks she got from several of the locals as she fought with a man who existed inside of her head. She just wanted him to shut up. Rogue was instantly startled from her thoughts and the argument when a body was thrown against the cage in front of her. The crowd became angry as The Wolverine took out another drunk local. They booed, hissed and threw things over the top of the cage at the man, but he seemed completely unaffected by any of it.

The young mutant girl found herself admiring the man for that. She wished she could simply dismiss all of the horrible names she had been called and the abuse she had endured, but she couldn't. Jake started yelling obscenities at the man in the cage, but Marie managed to keep control and bit her lip as to not say anything aloud. She jumped back as two men came through the crowd, helping the latest victim over to the bar.

"How ya feel Hal?" one of them asked. The defeated man's head rolled from one shoulder to the other.

"Can't feel a damned thing." he said. All three had a chuckle.

"Alright Hal. Let's get you another drink." Marie was roughly pushed forward as the crowd became more enraged but all the girl could ponder was the idea of feeling nothing, and how nice it must be. The ring announcer once again, asked for someone else to step up to the plate. It didn't look like there'd be any more takers though. ((Buncha yella bellies)) Jake said. Marie continued to watch the man in the cage. He had a smirk on his face. He knew there'd be no more takers tonight, but if there were, he also knew he'd take them out easily. He stood with his arms across his bare chest in amusement as the announcer continued to try and persuade the crowd to find a champion to defeat "The Wolverine." Marie found the rise and fall of the man's chest absolutely breathtaking and continued to stare. She looked away though when she watched the man's eyes scan through the crowd and land on her. ((Oh fuck this shit. I don't want to have to see you drooling over this guy. He ain't nothing' special.))

'No?'

((No.)) and before Marie even knew what she was doing, she found herself making her way to the other side of the ring. ((Where you goin'?))

'Like you said, this guy ain't nothing special. We should be able to handle him no problem.'

((What! Are you fuckin' nuts!))

'Yes.' was her reply. No emotion behind it what so ever. She began pushing her way roughly through the crowd. Becoming more eager and determined to get into the ring with each breath. The closer she got, the more attention she drew. One giant gasp made its way through the crowd as the girl walked to the gate and banged on it with clenched fists. "Hey!" she called out, which wasn't necessary as all eyes were already on her. The ring announcer simply stared at her. The Wolverine's forehead creased together and his eyes drew nearer.

She failed to notice the man standing by the gate until he leaned over to say something to her. "Babe, you don't wanna be goin' in there. This guy's an animal." Marie glared at the man. Why did everyone always try and prevent her from getting what she wanted?

((Hey. What happens to me if you get killed?)) Jake asked, obvious panic in his voice. Marie ignored him. Truth was she didn't know and right now, she didn't care.

The ring announcer took in the crowd's reaction. Everyone around the cage seemed glued to their spot. The hush of the crowd made people sitting at the bar curious and they came over to get a look. If this guy beat the crap out of a little girl, there'd be twenty guys in line to fight him. With mild amusement, he called out to the man at the gate. "Hey now. If the young lady wants to fight, by all means, let her in."

"I ain't fightin' her." The Wolverine said with disgust, as he walked over to where his belongings were and threw his shirt on. Marie had already made her way inside the cage and the announcer had signaled to shut the gate. Logan turned and began marching towards the exit when Marie moved in-between him and his destination. "Get out of my way kid."

"I don't think so."

((Move the fuck out of the guy's way!)) but again, Jake was ignored.

"Looks like we have another competitor!" the ring announcer yelled into the mike.

"Noyoudon't." The Wolverine ground out at the announcer, who wisely took a few steps back. Then, turning to face the girl again he said. "Don't make me ask you again."

"Or you'll what?" she said as she pulled at the sleeves of her coat and began to tug it off. The man went to step around her, but Marie wouldn't allow it. Her right arm shot out, her coat swaying out with it. The Wolverine caught the coat in his hand. Now able to see her better, he took in just how skinny she was. Was she nuts? Logan quickly realized the more likely explanation was that the girl was a junky. She spent all of her money on drugs and didn't care enough to try and feed herself. Marie used the moment of opportunity to her advantage. Grabbing the sleeve of her coat which was still in the man's hand, she pulled up on it. When his hand flew up with it, she pushed it back so that he hit himself in the face. A great roar of laughter escaped the crowd, as they watched the man stumble back a little. Marie found herself trying to suppress a smirk while her opponent refused to look up at her. She watched his back expanding and contracting under his shirt. She watched his hands too; he continued to flex them as though he were suffering some horrible case of arthritis. Stranger yet was the deep rumbling noise she thought she could hear coming from him. It reminded her of an animal.

Marie had managed to block out the locals voices for a few brief moments but she snapped back to her senses when someone from the crowd yelled out "Fight Already!"

"Come on sugah, did no one tell ya the age of chivalry is dead?" she asked with a sudden rush of adrenaline, raising her arms up in the air for dramatic affect and the crowd rewarded her with laughter and chants of "Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!" She could feel the psyche inside her getting excited. ((Told you he was nothing'.)) but the man simply raised his eyes to meet hers and she suddenly remembered that she didn't want to win this fight. She felt completely uncomfortable but she'd have to provoke him to make him fight back. So she did. Taking a run towards him with her arm held back ready to strike, she had intended to give him a shot straight to the gut. Instead, she found herself coming into contact with the cage. For such a masculine man, he moved with an uncanny grace. Licking her lips, she smiled and suddenly, the man's eyes changed from an animalistic rage, to one of despair. He could not understand what this girl had set out to prove, but he did not wish to be a part of it. He side stepped her next punch, and the other ones that followed. She began swinging at him wildly and managed to land a few shots. Her blows suddenly had more force behind them. The Wolverine noticed this, as he bobbed and weaved out of her way. 'One angry little girl' he thought to himself but angry or not, he wasn't going to put up with much more humiliation. He watched as the girl went to swing again. 'No more' he thought. The girl was obviously troubled, but that wasn't his problem. It looked like she could take care of herself in a fight, but she didn't know what she was getting herself into. He blocked the punch with his right arm, and then kicked her feet out from under her.

Marie fell backwards; her head bounced off the mat, and then hit it again. She began getting up when the man crouched down and grabbed her by her the collar of her shirt. "Kid, I've had enough of this crap. How about you just stay the hell down, alright?"

((Ya. Stay down you dumb bitch!)) Marie's head shot to the side and Logan watched the movement with some confusion.

"Fuck you!" she yelled at the trucker, kicking out her right leg and kicking her opponent in-between his legs.

"Ow." they both said simultaneously. The blow had undoubtedly hurt him, but Marie could have sworn she had just kicked a metal bar. He cupped his lower region and a groan escaped his lips. A much less scary noise than the snarl that followed. Marie had to fight the urge to apologize to the guy. ((No! Oh. That ain't fuckin right!)) Jake interrupted, doing much the same thing as his hands covered the spot between his legs. Rogue smirked at the man in her head, at the exact same time the Wolverine looked over at her. He did NOT find this amusing.

"KID, I don't know what kind of problems you got going on, but I'm about to add to the list." Like a wild animal, about to pounce on its prey, the man flew into her, knocking her to the ground and landing on top of her. Having learned his lesson, he grabbed both of her arms and held them at her sides, while his knees rested on her legs and pinned them down. He could feel her struggle and try to wriggle herself free from underneath his weight. A sense of wild panic rose from her as she thought back to the situation in Jake's truck. The Wolverine would not allow her to get back up. His eyes met hers, and he was surprised to find her staring right back up into his. Her heart was pounding, but she did not move. The man became incredibly frustrated with the situation. What should he care about some whacko kid with a death wish? She was clearly trying to antagonize him. He gave her chance after chance to walk away, which was more than he had thought to give to anyone before. She kicked him in the GROIN and he STILL felt SORRY for her. What the fuck?

"Sorry Darlin'." he said in a quiet and apologetic tone. The look of confusion never even had time to reach her face before her world went black. The large man cringed, as he got off the young woman. She'd be all right after awhile, but she'd probably be sportin' a pretty ugly bruise when she came to. A few of the men booed from out in the crowd, but he shot them a look and bared his teeth, bringing a quick halt to any sounds of protest. Quickly making his way over to the side of the cage where his stuff was, he snatched them up and headed for the cage door. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught the announcer waddling up to him. With a snarl he ground out "no more." stopping the tubby man in his tracks. Making his way out, he spotted a blonde woman who was trying desperately to get him to look her way. She stank of lust. He walked right over to her and whispered something in her ear, then pulled something out of his jacket pocket and handed it to her. She nodded, and he headed towards the bar.

The woman watched him walk off, disappointment washing over her. A man like that doesn't show up in a small town everyday. Hell, WERE there any men like him? Then she remembered the girl. With one last look at the sexy cage fighter, she sighed and made her way to the ring. Her hips swung out un-naturally at her sides as she sashayed her way through the locals. "Lou, help me get her outside, would ya?" she asked the big guy standing at the cage door. Without any sign of acknowledgment, Lou complied as he went and picked up the limp girl. Throwing her coat over her, he followed Carol outside.

"Alright, put her down." she said when they walked out the backdoor. Lou looked at her for a moment before shrugging and placing the girl down against the wall. "Later." she said, waving him off as he went back into the bar. Carol then proceeded to reach into her bra and pull out a pack of smokes. "Hey" she called out to Marie, who did not respond. "Hey, wake up" she told her, trying to light her smoke. Taking a big puff she eyed the girl, who remained unconscious. Seeing as how it didn't look like she'd be waking up anytime soon, Carol took a few tentative steps towards her. Observing her for a bit, the woman took a drag of her smoke, leaned over and blew a big cloud of smoke in Marie's face. "Wow. You're fucked." she said, then took the coat from beside the girl and began to search the pockets. "This is it?" she asked, shooting the girl a look as though she could answer her. Rolling her eyes she went to slap the girl awake when some drunken teenagers stumbled out of the building, startling her.

"Hey, what's going on out here?" one of them asked, hiccupping between words.

"Not much," she commented, placing her hand on her hip and sticking it out. The guys squinted their eyes and looked from her to Marie. The guy on the right tapped the guy in the middle, falling over onto him in the process.

"Hey, ain't that, ain't that…. that girl?" he slurred, trying to hold himself up. "The one that tried an fight the Wolverine?"

"Shit man! I think it is."

"That's some damaged goods right there." the one pointed, taking a swig from the beer bottle he was holding in his hand. He continued to stare at the girl, then made his way over to her and slid down against the wall beside her. "Want a drink sweetie?" he asked, holding the bottle out to her. "Come on." he encouraged, shaking the bottle for emphasis.

"Dude, I think she's dead." one of his friends offered, leaning over and swaying in front of the girl.

"Well if that's the case then she ain't my problem anymore." Carol said, slipping the money from Marie's coat into her back pocket along with the twenty The Wolverine had given her.

"What? Yer jus gonna leave er out ere?" the only one who remained standing, well barely, asked her.

"Ya pretty much." and then the three of them watched her walk back inside.

"Ha. What a bitch, eh?" the one commented.

"Man. That's gotta hurt." One of them commented, looking at the side of Marie's face.

"We should put some ice on it or sumthin'." the one standing commented as he looked around. "Here" he said grabbing a handful of snow, "use this." The guy sitting beside her put down the beer bottle and took the snow. He took his right hand and put it up against her cheek.

"There, that's better eh?" Then picking up the bottle with his left hand, he took another drink.

-BACK INSIDE-

Logan sat down at the bar with the intention of drinking himself stupid. He had just slammed back his fourth beer. But all the alcohol in the world wasn't gonna make him feel any better about knocking out that kid. Not that she gave him much choice. He didn't think she'd have that much fight in her, let alone be that strong.

Still, he shouldn't have hit her. "I'll have another." he told the bartender, staring down and into his empty bottle.

"Make that two." Carol said, taking the seat beside him. Logan was going to ignore her at first until he recognized her scent.

"Didn't I give you something to take care of?" he asked.

"She's fine." she commented as the bartender brought over two bottles of beer. "I need a glass." Logan just rolled his eyes. "So..." Carol turned to face him and placed her hand on his arm. The bartender returned and slammed a dirty glass down in front of her. Logan could barely contain a chuckle as she jumped a little. "As I was saying..." she said eyeing the man behind the bar angrily.

"Where is she?" he asked, sliding his arm out from under her.

"She's out in the back." she spat back "What do you care anyway? You're the one that knocked her out flat on her ass." Logan stood up and dropped some money on the counter. "Aren't you gonna pay for mine?" she asked.

"No."

-OUTSIDE-

The boy failed to notice when all of the snow had melted and that his hand was the only thing against Marie's bare skin. But when it did, he began to feel very drowsy. When she had taken all of the alcohol out of his system he could start to feel the pull. Drowsiness was quickly replaced by mind numbing pain and his mouth opened up in a silent scream.

"Hey, looks like she's waking up." One of the others commented as her eyes suddenly shot open and she began gasping for air. "What the fuck?" and he almost fell flat on his ass when he saw the looks on both of their faces.

"Cody! Hey Cody! What's the matter man?" but their friend didn't say a word as large blue and purple veins bulged from his face.

"Oh fuck it's her! Get her off!" Marie could hear them and got scared. Was she holding on to him? She didn't think so. No he was touching her cheek! Falling over to her side, she broke the contact. Oh God did her head hurt.

"What did you do to him?" one of them demanded, walking over to her.

"I…." but Marie found it difficult to think or function as the alcohol and additional psyche clouded her head. When she didn't supply him with an answer, he kicked her in the stomach.

"We felt sorry for you!" the other one added, taking the now empty beer bottle from his friend's hand and coming towards her. "He just wanted to help!" he yelled angrily as he whipped the bottle at her. It hit Marie in the head and she curled into the fetal position.

"There a problem here?" a gruff voice asked. The boys turned to see the outline of a short man with a cigar in his mouth standing in the exit.

"Got us a mutie." one said, kicking a face full of snow at Marie. "She killed out friend." he added. Logan looked down at the kid who was passed out against the wall. He could tell he wasn't dead, although his breathing was a lot slower than what was normal.

"Maybe he had too much to drink?" he offered, exhaling a large amount of smoke.

"Ain't you listenin'? She did it. Didn't you bitch!" the one asked, advancing on the defenseless girl once again.

"Back off bub."

"What are you, some kind of mutie lover!" the other one asked, taking a step towards Logan.

"Nope," he said, throwing his cigar down into the snow and crushing it with his boot "but I don't much approve of what yer doin'."

"And what exactly…" but before he could ask the question the two boys saw three shiny metal claws pop out of the man's hands before he quickly retracted them back in again.

"Take a hike."

"Shit." and the two started to back-up towards the woods "Sure thing."

"Hey, take yer friend with ya." Logan ground out, picking the young man up and passing him over to the other two before making his way over to the injured girl. When he reached her it frightened him to see her look so vulnerable, nothing like how she looked in the ring. Her head was bleeding and she was mumbling incoherently. "Jesus kid." He went to touch her when she cringed.

"Don't touch me..."

"Look kid, I ain't gonna hurt ya" he told her then moved his hand to assure her but she moved away again.

"Please don't….mah skin, don't." Logan's hand still hovered over her body, 'well shit' he thought, her mutation must have something to do with her skin. No wonder she had been wearing so many clothes. That's when he noticed her coat was missing. He got up and spotted it over by the door.

He took it and tried to wrap it around the girl, but she wouldn't let him. "I'm not gonna touch you" he said but she continued to thrash around. He growled in annoyance and almost considered just leaving her there, but knew that he couldn't. "Look kid I ain't gonna hurt you, but we've gotta get out of here. I've got your coat here and I'm gonna wrap it around ya." He felt really uncomfortable with how gentle he was being so he added an un-necessary 'shit' to the end of his sentence to feel a little manlier.

Marie looked up at him and for the first time recognized him as the man she had fought earlier. The tears appeared almost instantly.

"I just, please... make it stop. Please." She pleaded with the man.

"It's gonna be alright." he told her and finally managed to get the coat around her.

"...kill...m-me..." Logan could hardly believe his ears. Although he couldn't imagine why. Lord knows how often he wished for death to claim him once he learned about his mutation. It wasn't an easy thing to live with.

"Kid..."

"Please." she said, begging him to end it all.

"I can't do that." he told her. Marie closed her eyes tight and let the tears fall. "I'm sorry." he told her and it caught her off guard. She felt him picking her up and then watched him head towards his trailer in the parking lot.

((You think this guy's any better than I am?)) Jake asked the fragile girl. ((Probably gonna take you in the back…))

"Whatever. I don't care anymore." she replied to Jake out loud, her voice lower than a whisper. Logan's sensitive hearing barely picked up on it, but he heard it all the same. He looked down at the girl in his arms. The girl who had fought and antagonized him not more than an hour ago. The girl who recently put a boy in a coma. The girl who wasn't interested in his help. The girl who had come out of nowhere and suddenly made him care.

'What have you gotten yourself into now?' he wondered.

-Fini.