Last one...for now.

"So what's all this about Suga'?" Marie asked periodically checking the rooms as they went by them. Apparently aside from their other selves the mansion was empty, that did not bode well for the foursome.

"How the hell should I know? I just woke up Wolverine and then I was here." Logan was still having a hard time accepting that his baser self had no cares about laying hands on his Marie. "How long have you been here?" Logan asked Marie who had stopped halfway down the corridor.

She dropped to one knee as her hand clutched at her head. "What?" she asked. A series of colored lights had exploded painfully in front of her eyes. Logan's footsteps had stopped and were returning to her.

"You ok?" His large figure loomed over and it dawned on her why he had such a hard time seeing her as an adult. A lot of their situations kept putting him as her caretaker. She shakily got to her feet and resumed walking.

Logan held her gloved elbow firmly since she was attempting to walk off without him. She glared at him but he didn't let go. He needed to make sure she was steady before letting go. "I'm fine."

"Are you? Because I just saw you almost take a nasty spill." He knew he could let her go but something urged him not to. He changed his position and gripped her hand.

"I hate when that happens," she muttered not once glancing at their entwined hands.

"What happened? "

His question went unanswered as they came upon the Professor's old office. Cautiously she inched towards it since the office was not on the third floor where it should have been and that immediately set up Logan's weariness. She placed a hand against the wooden surface.

He went in first, effectively shielding her with his body while he turned the knob. Claws out he kicked the door open and they were greeted by silence and a soft breeze. One of the windows had been left open and the office was chilly.

Marie rubbed her arms but was halted as the heavy fabric of Logan's jacket slipped over her shoulders. She glanced out the window but it was completely dark, the grounds bathed in shadow. Logan was exploring the desk. He riffled through drawers and cabinets but came up empty.

"There's nothing." Logan announced.

Marie examined their surroundings. It was the professor's office but it wasn't. She studied the couch carefully and pointed out to Logan.

Logan saw nothing but a very elegant couch and a coffee table. Nothing out of the ordinary then he saw it. In the space of a second the couch had been replaced by a metal table. He directed his gaze to another part of the room and it too flickered and the paneled walls became the metal ones of the infirmary.

Marie gasped as a hazy figure of Logan appeared on the metal slab. Logan turned to her but she remained staring at the harmless couch.

"Logan, I know where we are. In fact I know why both of us are here. I think you died or almost did and I brought you back." She said carefully approaching the stunned man.

Logan looked down at his own body and realized he was no longer wearing his shirt. He was wearing only his pants. Electrodes were attached to every bit of his bare chest; he backed up and felt cold metal instead of the quality leather that had been there moments before.

Marie perched on the coffee table as Logan sat on the divan. "What do you remember before you found us in the library?" She asked.

He felt her gently pulled off each one of the wires but every time one came off another would appear in its place. "I got into a fight with Bobby Drake and then I woke up in my room, found Wolverine and the others."

"Logan, you were seriously injured. I think your mind might have called me to look after you," she said gently caressing his face. "Rogue and I, are just an echo of the real Marie. We must have been hidden deeply in the recesses of your mind and only came out when you were unable to keep us closed off."

"How is that possible? Marie, you were just a kid when I saved you. You still are."

"Am I? Really look at me," she commanded.

Logan pulled away; his head was beginning to pound again. "What do want from me? I can't give you what you want. I love…I love …I loved Jean…"

"Jean's not here. I am. I'm not real honey you conjured me up so maybe you need to have a real long talk with yourself before you make any more declarations." Marie replied without a hint of reproach.

Logan growled and shoved his claws into the couch. "You're too young, I could be your father." Marie sat on the Professor's desk watching as he destroyed the furniture. "I shouldn't even be thinking of you like this." He hacked at each piece until stuffing coated the air and hid her from view. "I can't give you anything. I have nothing. You're just little Marie, you're little Rogue."

'What was the matter with him? Why were there two of her? Had he cracked and that was why he was seeing two Maries, wait…not two Maries.'

"Only one Marie," Logan uttered.

Marie remained on the desk but her eyes glowed with his epiphany, "one what?"

Logan sheathed his claws stepping over the ruined sofa and clasping her about the waist. "Only one Marie," he said gruffly.

"That's right. But why only one Marie?" she asked helping him along.

Logan racked his brain trying to grasp what she was asking. The answer was there at the edge of his mind. Just like Alkali Lake, it was within reach but hidden in plain sight. He knew why, he just had to figure it out.

"Why one Marie?" She asked him again. Her hands curled around his shoulders as pain racked her anew and she trembled against him. "Logan!" she screamed and faded from his arms.

"Marie!"

Infirmary - Three Days Earlier

"Rogue, may I helpfully suggest that you get some sleep somewhere other than here."

Rogue lifted her head from Wolverine's bed, "I'm fine Storm. Don't worry." She popped the kinks from her neck and stretched her back. "Has Beast found out anything yet?"

"No, we have no idea what happened. It makes no sense that Robert has recovered while Logan remains trapped within his own mind."

Wolverine's hand twitched and Rogue rose off her seat excitedly, "did you see that? He's waking."

Ororo gently touched the younger woman's shoulder. "He has been moving like that for awhile Marie. It is progress but we have no way of knowing if and when he will wake up. I would not want you to raise your hopes and be disappointed."

Hank's arrival did nothing to break Rogue from her concentration on Wolverine's still form. "Any change yet?"

"I'm afraid not, any new information?" Ororo questioned.

"No. Young Bobby seems to be recovering. He's in pain but considering he was able to withstand a battle with Wolverine, he is counting his blessings. Logan has been in this coma for six hours and though he's healed at his usual rate, he just isn't waking up. Though he doesn't seem to be exhibiting any pain either, most puzzling."

"Is it his mutation? He will wake up, won't he?"

Hank turned to look at Rogue. Her face was tired and wan from her vigil. She had touched little of her dinner but her expression of hope kept him from telling her the truth. "I imagine so, it may take some time. I suggest you sleep."

"I can't. I have to be here in case he wakes up. I need to be here."

"Marie. Logan would not want you to drain yourself this way. I'll come and get you personally if anything changes. But for now you need to rest. You won't be much help to him if you are exhausted." Ororo replied.

"All right, I'll go to my room but I'll be back in a few hours." Rogue announced.

"Of course," Ororo agreed.

Hank and Ororo watched as Rogue touched her lips to Wolverine's hand. It was too quick for the pull of her power but both mutants saw a tiny streak of blue zoom from her lips and absorb into his hand.

It went completely unnoticed by Rogue herself.

She left the room making them both promise to let her know if anything in his condition changed. Only when the door snapped closed behind her did they run to examine Wolverine.

"What was that? Did you see it?" Hank asked checking the still wolverine for any changes. He checked his vitals and looked at the monitors but nothing showed up.

"Hank that was not Marie's mutation, it was something else."

Hank McCoy nodded at Ororo Munroe. "Whatever it was, it called from him to her. They have a deeper connection than I had first anticipated."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"It means my dear Storm, that Rogue may be what is keeping Wolverine in his current state. And only she will be able to get him out of it."

Hank's statement matched the steady and suddenly much louder beat of Wolverine's heart.