Complicated

 

Category: Angst, based on X-3 Spoilers

 

Rating: PG

 

Disclaimer: They're not mine, I'm a poor and having fun... take pity...THIS IS BASED ON SPOILERS FOR X3 if you don't want to read fic based on spoilers, DON'T READ THIS!

 

Distribution: my site, WRFA, anywhere else please ask first :)

 

Summary: Companion to Status Quo. Rogue's side of things is just as complicated. BASED ON SPOILERS FOR X3 AND THE TEASER TRAILER!

 

Author's notes: I couldn't let that story go without looking at it from Rogue's POV. She's not a wimp, so why not claim her man? Maybe she has a very good reason. Once again, in case you didn't see all the warnings, this is BASED ON SPOILERS FOR X3. If you are not interested in spoilers, don't read this! This is a companion to Status Quo, the Logan POV of why he and Storm are together. I'm working on a third installment of this, based on the teaser trailer, that will take us on a short trip through my version of the movie and into the aftermath. There's no real foofy ending on the horizon, but this is being post on WRFA and WRBeta for a reason. ;)

 

Thanks to Jenn (who gave me feedback on this one, didn't get it beta'd, so all mistakes are mine) and to DD who is allowing me to post these stories that stretch the WR genre. THANKS!

 

Feedback PLEASE at: [email protected] I love anything constructive! Blatant flames, however, will be disregarded and used to roast s'mores....

 

LAST CHANCE! X3 SPOILERS AHEAD!

 

~X~

 

Marie snuggled down into Logan's embrace, the sheet between them protecting his skin from the exposed flesh of her face. Tears continued to trickle out: he smelled like Storm's perfume and sweat. If things weren't so damn complicated, maybe he'd smell like her perfume.

 

When they'd returned from Alkali Lake, Logan had been strong for them all, but he'd been busy shouldering the responsibility of making all of the mansion's inhabitants feeling safe again. It had trickled down through the student body how the X-Men had rescued those that were taken, and fanciful stories began to circulate based on the Wolverine's heroic last stand that had saved the vast majority of students. As the whispers around the mansion became legend, the youngest students surreptitiously followed the Wolverine around, basing their feelings of security on his vigilance.

 

Marie had watched with a half smile, whishing there were more hours in the day so that she could find her own solace in the man who had saved her life and her sanity more than once. Sure, he made time for her, but it wasn't nearly enough for her tastes. If she were more of a selfish person, which she sometimes wished she was, she would have been demanding of his time. But she wasn't selfish, and she understood that Scott, the Professor, and the School needed Logan now more than she needed him.

 

There was someone who needed her, anyway, and dealing with that took up most of her time.

 

Even though Bobby had lied to his family about where he'd been going to school, he never expected them to disown him. He'd gotten a letter a few days after things had just started to get back to normal at the Mansion. He held back tears as he'd shown it to her. His Mother wrote to tell him to not bother coming back home, it was obvious he could fend for himself. They had a lot to deal with now, his brother being an emotional wreck after finding out that Bobby was 'different' and having mutants hold them hostage in their own home. He should only ever think of coming back if he'd found a way of getting rid of his mutation.

 

Marie had never seen Bobby upset, and didn't really know what to do. It had been years since she'd been disowned by her traditional and religious parents, and compared to what had been yelled at her in her final days at home about being the spawn of the Devil, the letter from Bobby's parents was very tame. Even so, he couldn't handle the rejection from his them and the invasion of his safe, optimistic world at the same time.

 

So now, as Scott followed Logan around, Bobby followed Rogue. He held her hand and only flinched away from her touch sometimes, though he never moved to kiss her again. As much as Rogue felt for Bobby, his need was too overwhelming sometimes, especially when she needed someone herself…

 

The few minutes that she stole with Logan each day weren't enough for her, but they'd have to do. They'd steal time here and there, in between trying to put their worlds back together. One day, Logan had said something she'd never expected.

 

"Kid," He was nervous, and she didn't like that. She didn't want to think about what that could mean. "Storm and I are kinda…" Her eyes grew wide, and there were no more words needed. He looked away. "I wanted you to hear it from me. It's not… well, it is what it is, ok?"

 

Marie didn't like the look of nervousness on Logan, and she didn't like the feeling she got in the pit of her stomach, but she couldn't do much about it. They were already together, and Bobby was still a mess. If things had been different, she might have tried to talk him out of it. She might have thrown a fit, or cried, or even run away, but standing there in that garden, she knew she had a choice to make. If she was upset about this, she was putting a strain on him that he didn't need and risked losing Logan, something that neither of them wanted. She could also suck it up, act like the adult they told her she was now, and take what she could get. She'd been his friend for this long; maybe it wouldn't be so bad to keep it that way.

 

It was hard for her not to hate Storm, but the woman had always been so nice to her, and she couldn't hate her because she had something in her that Logan needed.

 

That was Marie, always thinking of others first.

 

At night, though, she thought of herself. Even if there wasn't a nightmare, she knew he'd welcome her into his arms, and his bed. Tears would fall as she waited for the sounds of Storm leaving. Sometimes she cried for herself, the untouchable girl who worked a charade to be in the arms of the man she loved. Sometimes, she cried for Logan, who had a lover that didn't trust him as much as she should. Most of the time, though, she cried because of the circumstances: because she had to sneak into his room after he'd made love to another woman just to be with him, because she wasn't the one who could give him what he needed right now, because he didn't know that she needed him and she wouldn't tell him, because Bobby needed her more than she was comfortable with, and because she wasn't sure that she was ever meant to be with the man she was in love with.

 

She felt like she was using him, lying in his arms as she fell asleep, but damn it didn't she deserve some comfort, too? She did, and once a week, she let herself be selfish. She took a deep breath in snuggled down again, the smell of Storm's perfume fading and the tears no longer falling. She didn't have the strength, mentally or physically, to fight for him but she dreamed of the day when his skin would smell like her. It was like some puzzle she was always trying to solve, but she couldn't see the solution.

 

If only it weren't so damn complicated.