Title: Skin
Author: Cassandra Mulder
Rating: PG
Classification: X-Men: The Last Stand; Logan/Marie; angst
Spoilers: Yeah. I wouldn't read it if you haven't seen the movie
Disclaimer: Not mine. Don't sue. Short and sweet like that.
Written: June 12 - September 8, 2006
Word Count: 1214
Summary: Marie was back, and she wasn't sure how much had changed.
A/N: It didn't actually take me three months to write this, but it did sit around for most of the summer. I dusted it off and decided it didn't suck terribly, so I thought I'd finish it up and let it out into the world. ;)

I'll sing it one last time for you
Then we really have to go
You've been the only thing that's right
In all I've done
- Run - Snow Patrol

Marie wandered through the winding garden, knowing Logan would be out there somewhere. She had been back for a few hours, and she needed to see him; to know that they were okay. She felt that he had respected her choices, but that was before she had actually taken the cure.

She finally found him sitting on a bench in one of the deepest parts of the garden, smoking a cigar as usual.

"You're not hidin', are ya?" she said, standing in front of him.

"From you? Nah," he replied, finishing his cigar and putting it out in the small ashtray beside the bench. The Professor had never liked for him to smoke out in the garden, but he had decided that Logan was going to do it anyway and had made a necessary addition to the grounds.

When Marie leaned over to hug him, it wasn't gingerly and there was nothing awkward about it. She wrapped her arms around his neck and felt his arms around her waist. The warmth of his neck against her ear almost made her shiver, but she held it back. She pulled away and sat down next to him.

"You okay, kid?"

She rolled her eyes. Apparently he was never going to stop calling her that. "Better than ever, I guess," she said with a small smile.

"You don't sound too happy, Marie," he said, leaning forward and resting his forearms on his thighs.

"I am. I guess - I don't know. As awful as my mutation was, I guess I don't feel special anymore. I was a part of something, but what do I do now?"

"Do you still believe in the mutant cause?" Logan asked.

"Of course I do."

"Then you're still a part of something. Storm's not gonna kick you out."

Marie frowned. "And how do you know that?"

"I won't let her," he said, deadly serious.

"You do remember she can blow you to Siberia?" Marie laughed.

"She can try," Logan growled, but she could tell he was teasing. "I'm still going to take care of you, no matter what."

"I know, Logan. I'm a big girl now, but I appreciate it." She smiled.

He sat back, pulling her to his side and wrapping an arm around her. She laid her head on his shoulder and they were silent in the growing dusk.

When he reached over and took her bare hand, she gave a little start, but he held on.

"Sorry," she said. "I'm still not used to that."

"Don't apologize."

She wound her fingers through his, savoring the feel of the skin she had never been able to touch unless he was saving her life. His hand alone was firm and heavy, but the skin was surprisingly soft. She had never really thought about the Wolverine having uncalloused hands, but his mutation would not allow for imperfections.

She traced circles in his palm with her thumb, wondering how she could have gone so long without this contact. So many years, and all she had ever wanted was the freedom to touch him. Even though she had taken the cure for herself, she had never been able to shake the feeling that it was for him, too. Whether he would ever accept her as anything but a friend and fellow outcast she didn't know, but if this was all she ever got she would have to be happy with it.

"What does the Icicle think?" Logan said, trying to be casual.

Marie sighed, thinking about the rivalry between him and Bobby that they thought was so subtle. They might as well have just gotten it overwith and had a territorial battle for all the world to see. Logan promised her nothing, while acting like he owned her, and Bobby had been more patient than she could have ever expected a young man to be. In the end, she knew she had to do what was best for everyone. Even if Logan didn't love her the way she loved him, she had to let Bobby go because she knew she didn't love him like she should. If it took the cure to make her realize that, she thought it was worth whatever other consequences with which it came.

"That he should be with Kitty," she finally answered, afraid of what he might think.

"Did he cheat on you?" Logan started, almost sitting up and pushing her away. "I'll rip his legs off."

She settled him back against the bench. "No, Logan," she said with a grimace. She knew him well enough to know that his threats were far from idle when it came to her. "I broke up with him. Even if I'm okay now, I saw the way they looked at each other and I..." She took a deep breath. "I think I loved him, just not enough."

"Sorry, kid." He wrapped his arm around her a little tighter.

Her head told her to tell him to stop calling her that, because she was far from a kid, but her heart told her maybe it was more of an unconscious endearment after all this time.

Nicknames were the least of her worries as she tried to find a way to tell him that he was the only one she knew she loved enough. And then some. There were so many factors, from the much-debated age difference to losing Jean all over again, that she didn't even know where to start, much less if she should.

"How are you doing, Logan? No tough guy stuff," she warned, curling her legs underneath her and turning to get a better look at him.

"Life goes on," he said.

"Uh huh. You sure about that?" she prodded.

"I'm fine, Marie. Want me to jump through a hoop or something to prove it?"

"I believe you." She sighed, leaning her head against the arm she had resting on the back of the bench. "I missed you," she confessed.

"I missed you, too."

"I'm sorry I wasn't here to help with the fight."

"It turned out okay, Marie. You don't have anything to be sorry for."

Easy for you to say, she thought uneasily.

"We gonna stay out here all night?" he asked, looking at her practically curled up on the hard wooden seat.

"I wouldn't mind that at all," she said with a lazy smile. She was tired from her trip, and any discomfort caused by her current accomodations was outweighed by her unwillingness to move.

She had no idea what came over him, but Logan pulled her into his lap and nestled her head beneath his chin. The last thing she could do was protest, even though it felt like he was holding onto her for dear life.

Marie covered the hand he had on her hip with hers and held on tightly. "It's okay, Logan. I'm not going anywhere. Not... Not if you don't want me to." Maybe she couldn't find the words to say what she really wanted to, but she could give him that.

"I don't want you to," he said in a voice rough with emotion.

"Neither do I," she said, relaxing against him as he loosened his grip on her a bit. "I'm right here."

Finis