~*~

They were silent, save for Marie's quiet sobs, as Logan ushered her up the stairs to their room. It was rather obvious that she was in shock over what happened, and rightly so. To harbor feelings of anger and aggression against Scott Summers was nothing new to Rogue after weeks of growing her very own little Wolverine inside, but to suddenly have claws appear, that was more than anyone should be expected to take.

With his arm wrapped tightly around her waist, Logan whispered tender words of love, assuring her that everything would be okay. As they walked, Marie didn't even hear his comforting assurance as she focused solely on the bloody glove of her right hand, staring at the ragged slits from which said claws had appeared. A violent shudder wracked her small frame as she realized that most of the blood there, wasn't even hers.

"Ah stabbed 'im," Rogue muttered aloud in a hushed tone.

"It's okay, darlin'," Logan soothed softly as he opened the door to their room and guided her inside. "He'll be okay, baby."

"Ah ... Ah stabbed 'im," she repeated just as quietly while Logan pushed the door closed behind them.

"Marie," he began firmly, taking her by the shoulders and giving her a quick shake. "Scott's gonna be fine! It's just a flesh wound."

Rogue's eyes widened even as they shined brighter with fresh tears. Looking up to meet Logan's loving gaze, she shook her head weakly. "Ah stabbed 'im."

By now it was quite clear that her shock ran deeper than he'd originally thought. Not knowing what else to do, Logan jerked her forward and held her tightly against his chest. "It's okay, darlin', it's all gonna be okay."

Burying her face in the front of his dress shirt, Marie sobbed uncontrollably. Curling her arms around Logan's back, she pressed more firmly against him.

"Shh, Marie," Logan whispered tenderly as he rubbed gentle patterns on her back. "C'mon now, baby, it's not that bad. Scooter's fine and everything's alright."

Just the mention of his name seemed to make it worse for her again and Logan decided enough was enough. He was going to get her mind off what had happened or he was going to die trying. Shifting their positions slightly, Logan adjusted her enough that he could walk then started a slow shuffle toward the bed.

Marie was still crying and not really even aware of the change in location since she was staring again at her blood-covered glove and the splatters on her dress. Distraught as she was, her head was hanging down until her chin nearly touched her chest as she continued to sob.

"C'mon, darlin'," Logan said tenderly, "let's get you outta these clothes."

After a brief moment in which Marie failed move, he took it upon himself to undress her. Rogue was nearly catatonic as he reached around her and eased down the zipper of her dress before pulling it down off her shoulders and finally pushing it off over her hips until it fell to the floor. At that point, he maneuvered Marie into a sitting position on the bed then knelt down in front of her, taking up residence between her knees after removing the gown from around her ankles.

With loving care, Logan removed her shoes, tossing them aside carelessly. Hoping to bring her around, he slid his hands slowly up her legs to where the garter was holding up her stockings. Releasing each of the clips he then pulled the nylons seductively down her legs before studying her face. Logan was disappointed that she hadn't seemed to notice and with a heavy sigh, he continued slowly.

The full-length gloves were the next to go, peeling them off slowly, his gloved fingers skimming across her bare flesh. Aside from a slight shiver, there was no reaction to that either. His frustration growing at not being able to draw Marie out of her debilitating mindset, Logan released a low growl as he considered his options. So far nothing had worked and there was only one other thing that he could think of and he really hoped that it would work, otherwise he was going to have get some help.

Taking an object from the drawer of the nightstand, Logan fiddled with it for a moment before placing it on the tabletop. Leaning forward, his mouth descending to within millimeters of Marie's ear he whispered, his breath hot against her skin, "Darlin', you gotta let it go." The last couple of words were barely understandable as his lips connected with her neck.

Rogue jerked back sharply at the contact or at least she tried. Logan had anticipated her reaction and was holding her firmly in place. Peppering a series of kisses on her neck and nibbling lightly on her earlobe, he allowed his tongue to snake out, drawing it down along the line of her jaw. Logan smiled against her chin as she finally responded with a low whimper, then he moved up to cover her lips with his own.

Responding hungrily, Marie quickly opened her mouth to him, forcing her tongue out to greet his. As much as he loved being able to kiss her, Logan wanted to assure that she wouldn't just slip back into her sorry state when he stopped. Bringing his lips down across her chin again, he began a quick journey down the center of her body, zigzagging his tongue as he went. When he reached the fabric concealing her breasts, Logan barely had the presence of mind to realize that it was a front closure bra before he sliced it open with a claw.

Releasing the clasp, he kissed his way up the side of first one breast, flicking his tongue around and then across the nipple before repeating the process on the other breast. Marie moaned loudly at the feeling, arching her back off the bed.

"Aww, Logan..." she cooed in a breathless drawl.

Again Logan could have camped there all day but unfortunately time was not on his side. Growling low in his throat, he resumed his southward journey, his nostrils flaring at the increasing smell of his sweet Marie. Ignoring the garter in favor of her panties, Logan quickly disposed of them then after pushing her further from the edge of the bed he hungrily buried his face between her thighs.

Marie gasped loudly, her entire body trembling as her lover went at her with his usual gusto. This time it was different though because for the first time there was no barrier between her swollen folds and Logan's hot mouth. It was no time at all before she was screaming his name with a blinding orgasm but it didn't stop Logan in the least. Hell, it didn't even slow him down! By the time the alarm sounded from the nightstand and Logan pulled away from her, Marie couldn't even remember her name, much less what had happened half an hour ago.

Leaning back on his heels, Logan watched as the love of his life continued to whither on the bed before him. It did his ego good to see her reaction to the pleasure that he'd just had.

Her breathing still ragged, Marie finally managed to sit up and look at the incredible man in front of her. "Logan... Gawd, sugah, that was... Ah can't even tell ya..."

A gloved hand moving to cup the side of her face, Logan gave her a lustful smile. "I've wanted to do that for as long as I can remember, darlin'."

Grinning coyly at his words, Marie glanced at the bedside table, taking in the timer that he had used, the same one from Jean's lab. "That's a brilliant idea, Logan," she said seductively. "The only trouble is ya used awl the time."

Meeting her gaze squarely with a wickedly arched brow, Logan grinned lecherously. "So maybe next time I'll share."

"Yeah?" she asked demurely, raising her brows teasingly. "Well how very gracious of ya, kind sir." Laughing lightly at the expression on Logan's face, Marie sobered somewhat suddenly and quite quickly. "Logan, how long... Ah mean ... how much time d'ya need fer us t' ... make love?"

Surprised by the question, Logan drew in a deep breath as he stalled for the time he needed to form a response. He'd actually been considering that question for some time and he'd only managed to come up with one answer. Swallowing past a suddenly dry throat, Logan slowly moved forward, placing a hand on each of her legs.

"Darlin', I..." pausing, Logan released a shaky breath and looked up to meet her gaze. "I don't wanna have to make love to you by some fucking time clock, baby," he admitted gruffly. "I wanna be able to take my time and not have to rush. I wanna be able to make love you to over and over without stopping and without watching a clock and without worrying about having to hurry. Do you understand that, Marie?"

Nodding slowly as tears gathered in her eyes, Marie offered him a weak smile. "Ah think that's the most beautiful thin' ya've ever said t' me, sugah."

Arching a brow high onto his forehead at that, Logan scowled. "If that's true than I've been horribly remiss."

A sudden burst of laughter filled the room as Marie clutched at her belly.

"What's so funny?" Logan demanded trying to sound harsh but the grin on his face spoiled the attempt.

Tamping her mirth down to a mere giggle, Marie brushed her bare hand carefully across his whiskered jaw. "You are, sugah," she returned softly. "Ya sounded jus' like Scott."

Logan's forehead wrinkled in disdain. "I say the most beautiful thing I've said to you so *you* insult *me* by saying I sound like *Scooter*?!" he said in an incredulous tone.

Stilling giggling slightly, Marie stared at him for a long moment before the grin on her face began to fade. "Ah'm sorry 'bout before, Logan. Ah ... Ah dunno what happened t' me."

Knowing exactly what she was talking about thanks to the mention of Scott Summers, Logan was quick to put her at ease. "It's okay, Marie," he assured her, shaking his head for good measure. "Everyone knows that you didn't mean to hurt Cyke and I'm sure it was a hell of a shock to discover those," he continued softly, nodding his chin slightly toward her hands. "It just happened, darlin'. You gotta accept that and move on."

A weak smile turned up the corners of Marie's mouth and she gave him a small nod. "D'ya know how much Ah love ya, Logan?"

With an exaggerated pause, Logan seemed to consider the question before wiggling his brows at her. "I'm not sure ... think you might have to show me..."

"Ah'd be happy t', sugah," she returned, rising from the bed to dress again so she could do just that.

Logan and Marie became quickly content with using the timer and taking full advantage of the five minutes they were afforded by Jean's efforts. Of course they wanted more time and so they counted the days until the newlyweds would return so they could go back to work but they didn't begrudge the time they *did* have. It was too precious a thing to waste and they'd waited to long already besides, after all, five minutes was better then five seconds.

It was mid afternoon about a week into Jean and Scott's honeymoon when Rogue decided that her and Logan should take a picnic dinner out into the gardens. They had their meal then stretched out side of side on the blanket and just held each other. Logan, who had been having a problem recently with his recurring nightmares had fallen asleep with the surprisingly warm late fall sun shining down on him, and Marie was content to just watch him, her head resting comfortably on his shoulder.

Over the past week, Marie had become more and more capable of controlling the Wolverine that resided in her head but there were still times when the instincts and abilities that Logan had passed to her were too strong to ignore. As she rested at Logan's side, a growing feeling began to prickle the hairs at the base of her neck and she knew that they were being watched.

Inhaling deeply, letting her nostrils flare wide as she sampled the air around her, Marie's brows furrowed at the familiar scent that greeted her nose. Lifting her head carefully from Logan's chest, she sniffed the air again with the same results. Turning her head sharply she found the source of the scent, her eyes widening in shock.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude," the man said quietly.

"Ya ain't," Rogue returned quickly, almost too quickly in her shock. "Scott, what're ya doin' back so soon? Is ever'thin' awl right?"

A gentle smile graced the lips of the man standing a short distance away. "Everything's fine, Rogue," he assured her softly. "Listen, I don't want to disturb Logan's nap," he continued quietly, raising his arm in the other man's direction and visibly flinching in response. Moving a hand to his still tender shoulder, Scott Summers shook his head and carefully avoided eye contact with the young woman he was talking to. "I'll talk to you guys later."

Having noticed the fact that the injury she'd caused was still giving him problems, Marie's expression turned somber. "Ya don' gotta go, Scott," she whispered sorrowfully, her eyes downcast.

Drawing in a long breath, Scott looked up at the pitiful tone in which the teen spoke. The guilty manner of her expression tore at his heart. He'd already forgiven her for the incident at the wedding, not that *she* knew that. Scott wanted to inform her of that much at the very least but then he didn't want to be the one responsible for waking what he was sure would be a grumpy Wolverine either. "I really don't want to wake Logan, Ro..."

"Logan ain't asleep," a gruff voice informed him as hazel eyes popped open. Turning his head to look at the man a short distance away, Logan's left brow arched questioningly. "Ain't you supposed to be on your honeymoon, bub?"

With a soft laugh, Scott nodded. "I *am* on my honeymoon," he corrected lightly, "we just decided to finish it here."

"Is Jean okay?" Marie wanted to know, fearing suddenly that something had happened to bring them home.

A secretive smile turned up the corners of the young man's mouth. "Jean's great," Scott assured the other couple.

Curious as to what would bring them back halfway through their honeymoon, Logan pulled himself into a sitting position and turned to face the other man. "So where is she?" he more or less demanded.

"She's down in the lab waiting for you," Scott informed the couple much to their shock.

Logan and Marie exchanged a quick look before the former shook his head. "What?"

Fighting to keep from laughing, Scott took his chances with a grin. "Jean," he began more slowly, "is in the lab waiting for the two of you."

Confusion plain on her beautiful young features, Marie repeated Logan's action, shaking her head as she gently shrugged her shoulders. "Why?"

Scott Summers dropped his gaze for a moment then slowly lifted his head to look at the couple on the blanket. When he began to speak his voice was low and hesitant. "From the time that Jean and I set a date, I couldn't think of anything but making her my wife and taking her away on a grandiose honeymoon. I wanted to have her all to myself so I could show her how much I loved her. I wanted her to *know* without a doubt that she was the most important thing in my life." Pausing briefly, Scott cleared his throat and looked away quickly before continuing. "I'll admit that I was hurt that she seemed more interested in helping you than marrying me."

"Scott," Marie started to interrupt but he wasn't having any of that.

Holding up a hand and shaking his head firmly, Scott cut her off. "Please let me finish, Rogue."

With a weak nod, the young woman resolved herself to listen as she wrapped her fingers around Logan's tightly in anticipation of hearing some things that she was sure she didn't want to hear.

"So right or wrong that was how I felt before the wedding and then..." Dropping off in mid-sentence, Scott shifted his gaze to Rogue. There was no need to say anything more, it was plainly obvious by the young woman's expression that she knew to what he was referring. "Well needless to say I was on a pretty major pity trip by the time we left. I was only thinking about me and I didn't even realize it until I ruined the first night of our honeymoon. Jean tried to explain it to me but I didn't want to hear it. I didn't want to hear that she wanted to help you so much because she wanted everyone to have the kind of love that she had. It took me a long time to realize that what she was saying was that she *knew* how much I loved her and she wanted to share that."

Again Scott dropped his gaze and regret was heavy in his tone when he continued. "Anyway, when I realized that, I also realized how selfish I'd been. I have to tell you that I was really shocked by that because I've always seen myself as a giving person. I always thought that I did a good job of putting others before myself."

"You do," Logan interjected suddenly, his tone not leaving much room for argument.

Shaking his head, Scott looked to the older man, meeting his gaze squarely. "Not this time, I didn't."

"Logan's right, Scott," Marie added quickly. "This wadn't jus' any situation, this was yer weddin' an' ya had ever' right t' be selfish 'bout that."

Nodding, Logan was quick to agree. "Marie's right too, you should still be selfish, you're supposed to be on your honeymoon."

"No," Scott insisted firmly, "I don't want to be selfish. I want to share this. I finally realized why helping you was so important to Jean and it's important to me now too. We want you both to have the simple freedom that we take for granted. We want you to be able to love without fear or reservation. You both deserve that, everyone does."

As Rogue listened to Scott's words, tears gathered in the corners of her eyes. To say that what she was hearing was overwhelming was an understatement. All she could do was stare, open-mouthed at the man who, not all that long ago she'd stabbed in a blinding rage. The same man who was now offering her and Logan a selfless gift, the greatest gift that anyone could offer her, the chance to love freely.

The salty scent of fresh tears wasn't at all a surprise to Logan and he was quick to offer comfort to the woman he loved with all his heart. Wrapping his arms around her from behind, he pulled her back against his chest and nuzzled his face into her hair. "Don't cry, darlin'," he whispered tenderly near her ear.

"So are you two just going to sit there all day?" Scott questioned with an air of humor mixed with urgency. "Get the hell up and get moving!"

Still sniffling from the tears, Rogue smiled at the commanding tone from the leader of the X-Men. "Yes, sir," she returned with a light giggle, hugging Logan's arms tightly before pulling free and rising to her feet.

Arching a brow in mock disdain of being told what to do, Logan rose to his feet as well. By the time he reached down for the blanket spread out on the grass, Marie had the picnic basket repacked and had turned toward Scott.

Being the emotional time that it was for her, Rogue's eyes once again filled with tears as she met the ruby gaze of her teacher. A weak smile pulled at the corners of her mouth as she started forward, stopping directly in front of him with only inches of space between them. Slowly her smile began to grow but then so did the volume of her tears. "Thank ya, Scott," she finally managed to whisper as she leaned forward and gently brushed her lips against his cheek.

A slow grin started on Scott's features as Marie pulled away from him. A grin that froze on his face a moment later at her next words.

"An' Ah'm sorry," she whispered softly, her eyes dropping to the point where she'd stabbed him a week before.

Shaking his head slowly, he responded just as softly. "It's okay, Rogue, I know you didn't mean to."

A weak nod was Marie's only reply.

Scott looked up to where Logan was standing a few feet away then looked back to the young woman before him. "Hey, don't worry about it," he insisted lightly. "I really should thank you. That little wound brought with it some great benefits. Besides, my wife finds scars incredibly sexy," he added quickly, grinning coyly. "Must be a doctor thing."

Moving forward finally with the picnic basket in one hand and the blanket draped over his arm, Logan stopped at Marie's side and faced the other man. "I could help you out with a couple more scars if you'd like," he commented in a tone that might have been serious but the expression on his face was anything but.

"I think I'll pass for now, Logan," Scott laughed loudly. "Maybe another time."

Grinning widely, Logan shrugged his broad shoulders. "Suit yourself, Scooter." The comment was barely out of his mouth when the older man's expression did turn serious. "Thank you, Scott," he continued in a gruff tone, a sign that what he was saying was sincere but difficult.

Nodding slowly, Scott dropped his gaze from the intense one of the other man and saw the large hand extended towards him. His brows shooting up above the rim of his glasses, Cyclops raised his hand slowly to meet Logan's. "Don't mention it, Logan," he returned as they shook hands.

With a curt nod, Logan released the younger man's hand then wrapped his arm around Marie's waist as they headed toward the mansion for their next round of treatments.

~*~

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