Title: Strangers in the Dark – "Lose Control."

Disclaimer: see previous chapters

Author's Notes: Ah, finally reached the second last chapter. Just a note about this chapter, in the original script that was written, I had been interested in the idea of Marie absorbing the mutant ability of Mystique and had really wished that either director had explored that aspect. Alas, it was never realised so I wanted to touch upon it briefly in this chapter.

Again, I apologise for the huge delay, but I guess it's no surprise to those who've been following from the beginning, I'm not known for my prompt updates. All I can say is that I hope this chapter is somewhat enjoyable. Happy Readings.

…

Soon, mankind will know the meaning of fear. – Erik Lehnsherr.

…

When Logan next came to, it was to find himself bound in a dark, damp room.

He paused to gather his senses, sniffing to detect the presence of danger, but all he could make out was the scent of his terrified mate. He sat up awkwardly, grunting at the pain that shot through his body at the movement. He grit his teeth and bore through it as blood rushed back into his limbs.

"L-Logan?"

There was movement to the left of him, and he turned towards the sound. "Marie?"

She groaned and shuffled closer to his side, and by the sound of her struggles, he assumed that her hands were tied behind her back as well. "Baby, are you OK? Did they hurt you while I was out?"

She shook her head, wide eyes trained on his face. "C-Creed tried to b-but I wouldn't let him."

Logan paused as his eyes became accustomed to the dim light of the room, as he made out Marie's form seated at his side. His voice was incredulous, "Sabertooth? Are you sure about that?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Marie, I took his fucking head off last time I saw him. There's no way it could be him."

"It was him! I'm not making this up!"

Realising that she was getting upset, Logan quickly made reassuring noises, letting the matter drop for the moment. Marie subsided as Logan growled, "That fucker. He didn't try to touch you, did he?"

Marie looked away and he swore again. She shook her head and gave him a trembling smile. "He was trying to scare me, but I wasn't afraid. You…you were telling me not to give into him. You were helping me, Logan."

"You did good, baby. Never show any fear in front of that bastard."

She nodded in understanding. Logan fought against the constraints holding him, the metal cutting into the skin of his wrists. He grunted in pain before abandoning that effort, his mutation healing the abrasions on his wrists. He looked around the room but could see precious little. "Where we are?"

"They knocked me out when they took us from the train, but I woke up when they were putting us into the room. The metal bars leading into this place can only be manipulated by Magneto so that we're virtually stuck here."

Rage and anxiety began to course within Logan, the need to get his mate out of danger and unleash hell on them for even thinking of harming her drumming a heavy beat in his blood.

"I also heard Magneto speaking to Creed. He said that…that he was going to have to hold me down once he transfers his powers to me."

Logan growled at the image of Marie being held down by Creed. "There's no fucking way I'm letting that guy touch you."

"L-lets not think about that right now. How are we going to get out of here?"

"The Professor knows that I went to get you so they could be on the way. The first rule of survival though is to rely on yourself, so we're gonna have to figure something out rather than wait for them to show up."

They thought about it for a moment before Marie spoke up hesitantly. "I think our best chance will be when they transfer power into me. If this Magneto guy is temporarily weakened, then he wouldn't be able to hurt you like he did before on the train. Not only that, I would have his powers at my full disposal."

Logan didn't like the idea of Marie getting involved in the crossfire but he didn't have any other options available. He made her promise to run like hell once she got free and not to worry about him, that he would take care of himself, to which she vehemently refused. "No, don't you dare ask that of me. We promised to stay by each other's side and I meant it."

"Yeah, but when push comes to shove, I want you to get the hell out of here and look after yourself."

"Would you do that if you were in my shoes?"

"Don't try and change the subject, we're talking about you here. It doesn't matter what happens to me, I'm not worth dying for."

Marie was quiet after that outburst, and Logan could feel her shifting away. Moments later, he could hear her sniffling and the smell of her tears assaulted his nose. He gave a groan. "Marie…"

She remained silent.

Logan swore softly, shuffling closer to her side. "Don't cry, baby, please. I just don't want to see you get hurt."

"I feel exactly the same way. It hurts me when I see you get hurt, even worse when it's for my sake. I really love you, you know that? I couldn't imagine living life without you now and to hear you say that your life doesn't matter upsets me since it matters so much to me," she cried.

"Shh, don't cry. I'm sorry—"

His words were drowned out by the sudden clanging of metal against metal, a small pool of light filtering through the dimness and Logan watched in amazement as the metal bars bent as if they were mere sticks. The heavy overwhelming feeling that he had felt earlier in the train smothered him, and he grit his teeth as he was immobilised by the man that stepped through the bent bars, followed by the son of a bitch Creed. He gave a low warning growl, his gaze flickering over to Marie's huddled form before turning back to the two captors.

Magneto gave a small smile as he thought again about the wonderful metal that seemed to run all throughout The Wolverine's body before turning to business. His gaze settled on the cowering girl, a look of pity flitting briefly across his face before it disappeared against his resolved look. "It's time for you to show your full potential, my dear."

…

The doors slid open and three pairs of eyes looked at Charles expectantly.

"New York. The Statue of Liberty to be exact."

The three X-men looked at each other in surprise for a moment before rushing off to the jet.

Charles leaned back in his chair, a frown marring his brow. "What are you up to, Erik?"

…

Marie shivered in the cold night, huddling closer to Logan, some of his body heat blessedly seeping through her chilled skin, combating the overwhelming cold.

From what she could tell, they were currently on a ship that carried what Magneto had referred to as some sort of machine for human kind. There had been a maniacal gleam in his eyes when he had revealed some of his plans, and Marie knew that no amount of reasoning would sway him. They were still bound and hidden on deck next to the contraption, with Creed watching over them as Magneto and a green toad-looking man alighted from the ship. She kept her eyes down, holding her breath every time Creed got close, to which Logan responded with all sorts of threats and unearthly growls, much to the amusement of their captor.

A complete sense of emptiness filled Marie at that moment, and she wondered briefly if she could really get Logan out of here. She shook her head fiercely, pushing away all negative thought. If there was one thing that she wanted to do before she died, it was to see Logan safe from harm, something she would gladly die for. Resolved, she turned to her beloved, drinking in the sight of him. Sensing her gaze, he looked down at her and gave her a grim smile, murmuring, "We'll get out of here. I promise."

His words brought tears to her eyes and she returned his smile, leaning into his side and closing her eyes as his scent wrapped around her, as she enjoyed these last few moments with him. "I know," she whispered.

Magento returned to the duo all too soon, his presence jolting Marie, her muscles tensing as she awaited for her opportunity to move. Logan gave a wordless murmur, which Marie took as an urging for her to bide her time. She subsided, though her muscles trembled with the urgent desire to make a move. Magneto motioned towards Creed, who gave her a sly grin and moved towards her. Logan struggled against his cuffs, giving an unholy growl as he watched Marie being yanked by Creed.

His heart began to pound, the animal in him rising as he heard his mate cry out as Creed jerked her towards Magneto. She shook her head as Magento stripped off his glove, begging him not to do it, and the helpless look on her face was enough for the beast to be released. Roaring, he popped his claws, angling one hand upward and giving a jerk to cut through the steel manacle of one hand. He gave a grunt of pain as his claws shredded through one hand, but he ignored it as he was freed, his body already hurtling towards Magneto.

Caught off guard, Magneto turned to the Wolverine, raising his hand, effectively bringing Logan to a halt. Seeing her opportunity, Marie lashed out with her foot, catching the distracted Creed in the groin. He groaned and doubled over, and Marie moved in quickly, her hand covering his exposed face. She felt the pull, concentrating on the rate to suck him in as quickly as she could. She whimpered at the assault of memories in her head, and was shocked and astounded at the figure that featured prominently in them. She looked down at the person she had felled, eyes wide as the form of Creed shifted into that of a blue beauty.

She struggled to contain control as the new occupant in her mind fought for supremacy. She gleaned the reason for the ruse of masquerading as Creed, that Mystique had wanted to torture her sadistically, knowing that Creed had tormented her while he had been alive. It was that thought that gave Marie the strength to overpower her, pushing her behind her mental walls, effectively silencing her.

Magneto turned towards her, taking note of his henchman on the floor and the effect of her mutation on Rogue. He gave an infuriated yell, a blast of magnetic force emanating from his body, manipulating the very deck that they stood on. Quickly, Marie sifted through the memories of Mystique and quickly morphed, gritting her teeth as her body underwent the changes rapidly. She screamed as Magneto lifted part of the rail of the ship and sent it flying towards her, closing her eyes and letting instinct take over.

She had expected pain, but there was none, and when she opened her eyes, she found that she had teleported behind him. He turned quickly and she teleported again, finding herself next to Logan's prone form. Wrapping her arms around him, she teleported again, off the boat and onto the nearby shore. The mutation faded as Logan clamped his hand around her arm and yelled at her to run, the two moving further inland away from the figure on the boat.

Metal projectiles came flying past them, and Marie turned to look over her shoulder, noting that Magneto had made it to the island. Suddenly, there was a pull on her leg, and she screamed as she fell to the ground before being lifted into the air. She hung upside down, blood rushing to her head as she sighted the green, toad-looking man nearby with his tongue protruded from his mouth. Suddenly, pain exploded in her head, dimming her senses. She looked at Logan one last time, wanting to tell him to keep running, but the words failed to form and the pain proved to be too much, the darkness taking over.

Seeing his mate's lifeless form had him bellowing in rage. He sprang towards her, slicing through the green tongue that had wrapped around her ankle, grunting with satisfaction as he heard the assailant's pained cry. Not letting himself think too much about her still body, he hoisted Marie onto his shoulder, managing to slice and deflect the metal projectile that came towards him at that instant. He swore viciously as he noticed how close Magneto had gotten, his magnetic force paralysing him. He wanted to howl in frustration, willing his body to run, to move, to do something.

A red beam of light shot through the night, hitting Magneto square in the chest, releasing Logan from his magnetic hold. Looking over his shoulder, he made out the figures of the X-Men as they moved towards him. Turning back around, he watched as the assailant that had grabbed Marie was lifted up into the air. There was a sudden gust of wind, and clouds formed overhead as thunder rolled and lightening streaked through the night sky. Suddenly, a huge bolt of lightening descended from above, striking the green man at full force, the blow throwing him back a few hundred metres into the water.

Jean reached his side once the sky cleared and the storm subsided, asking to take a look at Marie. He shifted her gently into his arms, and watched as Jean felt for her pulse. "Her pulse is strong and steady. She's just knocked out it seems, but it would be best to take her back to the medical lab and keep her under observation."

Logan nodded at her assessment and turned to face the others. He cast a wary glance at the prone form of Magneto. "What's gonna happen to him?"

"The proper authorities have been called," Scott answered. "He'll be put into a heavily guarded prison no doubt."

"Speaking of the authorities, I think they've arrived. Time for us to get out of here." Ororo urged and they moved towards the nearby blackbird.

As Logan ascended the ramp into the waiting blackbird and slid into an available seat in the back, he found that his pride chafed at having been saved by the others, especially the self-righteous prick scooter. But as he looked down at his mate's unconscious form, he found that it didn't matter as much as having Marie finally safe in his arms. He stroked her soft skin and placed his forehead against hers, knowing at that moment that he had his whole world in his arms.