The beginning and the end won't make any sense to you if you haven't seen The Wolverine.

Yukio was irritating.

The sass she was so proud of herself wasn't entirely the reason why Logan found himself going with her. Or maybe it was. It reminded him of another girl.

Rogue

Logan stood at attention, feeling someone come closer to his cave. They were quiet, but that didn't stop his instincts from alerting him. He waited, perfectly still.

"Logan?"

What the—Logan sniffed her scent, checking to see if it really was her. "Marie?"

"Hey." Taking no heed of his unhygienic state, she hugged him, the smell of happiness and relief seeping into his nose.

"How'd you find me, kid?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. Rogue merely tapped her forehead.

"It's all coming back," she admitted, gesturing toward her gloved hands.

"But, the cure-"

"Wasn't much of a cure," Marie said with a shrug. "More of a suppressant I s'pose. It only worked for some people, probably with mild mutations, but the stronger the power, the quicker it wore off."

Logan's eyebrows raised in surprise, wanting to ask how long it took for it wore off for her before another thought shot through.

"Magneto!"

"Yeah. He disappeared a while back. Haven't heard from him. Then again, with the X-Men disbanded there's not much intel comin' in."

"Not to say he isn't cooking something up," Logan quipped.

"Ya. Probably."

Logan eyed her, "What did Bobby have to say about you looking for me?"

"I wouldn't know. Haven't seen him in a while." Rogue shrugged again. "I've been traveling. Trying out different stuff." Here, she finally hesitated and Logan cupped her face, hair between them. Her hair was cut much shorter, he noted distantly.

"Why are you here?" he growled.

"I came to say goodbye," she whispered, finally looking up at him. She shook her head, before straightening. "I found this mutant- Sage. She's, she's helping me out. With control, I mean." Rogue removed a glove, her brow furrowing in concentration as her hand mirrored his and cupped his face.

Logan actually smiled, proud. "I knew you could do it, kid."

Rogue smiled back, removing her hand and putting her glove back on.

"It's a work in progress," she admitted. "We're actually going to Afghanistan. Help out, you know? Apparently there's this mental block and I need... uh, trials of tribulation."

The smile was removed from his face. "And why do you have to say good bye for that?" he growled.

"We're not gonna stop there. I mean, I wanna keep helping people you know? I don't know how long we're gonna stay in Afghanistan, but I know we're not coming back here after that..."

"Or at all," he finished.

"For a long time," she corrected, unconvincingly. There was doubt in her voice.

Logan stared at her before realizing why she was really here. She needed a reason to come back.

And Logan wanted to give her one. His throat burned from the words that wanted to escape. Rogue had been his closest friend at one point and he, like every one else, had pushed her away. Jean's blood on his hands, however was far too thick to clean. He didn't want to sully Marie. It would be selfish to keep her and he no longer deserved anything. Plus, Marie needed this to grow.

His reasons sounded like excuses. Logan continued to hold his tongue.

A long minute of silence and finally her eyes closed in acceptance. Logan swallowed, his throat dry, the words nearly rasping and clawing their way out. Logan grit his teeth.

"Okay." Marie opened her eyes and smiled sadly at him. "It's okay." He knew that the emotions were in his eyes, just like they were in hers. Fuck, he didn't want to let her go. He was losing somebody important.

Rogue kissed his cheek, hugging him close. It was over far too quickly. She pulled away with a watery smile before composing herself.

"Wish me luck."

Logan shook his head. "You don't need it."

"Take care of yourself," she pleaded. "Because you won't-" Let Me was left unsaid.

Logan watched her walk away and he hated himself for letting her. Logan hadn't realized he was capable of hating himself much more. He could.

"What?" Yukio asked, feeling his stare.

"Nothing," Logan grunted.

"So where are we going?" she asked once more. They'd been on the plane for an hour and she'd already asked three times. He knew that she wouldn't let it go. Yukio was persistent like that. More liked annoying, he thought with a snort. Finally, he relented.

"Afghanistan."