+ change of scene. Set after X-2 and I may make a few changed, X-3 never happened. If there are any spoilers to X-3 I'll be sure to warn ya'll. I don't think that their should be though.

Chapter 1 "Anger"

Logan stood in front of the gate at the entrance of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, not quite ready to go inside. It had been nearly three years since Jean's death and just as long as it had been since he'd been back to the mansion.

Logan had too much pride to admit that he was nervous to face the others so he stood there, smoking a cigar. In the last three years Logan had reverted back to his old lifestyle, moving from town to town, making a living fighting cage matches and even a little boxing. It was the same life of solitude he had had before the X-Men found him, and yet he found himself missing the life he had come to appreciate in the mansion.

He missed the professor and his wisdom, Storm and her spunk. Hell, he even missed Scott's constant badgering and all the little brats running around everywhere. But most of all, he realized, he missed Rogue. He missed Marie.

Just as Logan finished his cigar and mentally prepared himself to go inside, out wheeled Professor Xavier.

"Welcome back Logan." He said in his usually smooth, calm, accent laced voice. Logan through his bad over his shoulder and shifted his weight from leg to leg.

"How's it goin' Professor?" Logan mumbled, giving a try at being polite. The professor smiled.

"You know you should really start calling me Charles." Said the professor and Logan chuckled. "How long to you plan to remain this time?" Charles

asked, turning his wheelchair around and heading inside the mansion.

"For good… if I'm still welcome." Logan muttered. He'd been worried that after being gone so long they wouldn't want him just coming back in uninvited. Charles chuckled.

"We left your room empty for you. I had a feeling you would be back." Logan chuckled. Damn telepaths, he thought.

"I heard that." Charles quipped as they entered the mansion.

Logan drank in the site of the front rooms. He sniffed at the air and caught a familiar scent, and then saw Storm walking down the stairs.

"Logan?" Her eyes widened in surprise, shock radiating off of her. She nearly leapt down the rest of the stairs and ran to him, hugging him tightly. He chuckled deep in his chest, hugging her equally as tight.

"You cut your hair. Looks good." Logan said smiling. Storm ran an absent hand through it and smiled.

Logan sniffed the air and was nearly overwhelmed by all of the different scents his nose caught. He wasn't used to be so near people and it was starting to make him antsy.

"Logan, perhaps you would like to go up to your room for a bit?" Charles suggested, sensing Logan's sudden anxiety. Logan nodded and started to climb the stairs to his old room. He decided that after he got settled in and a bit more adjusted, he would go find Marie.

"Have you talked to him about Rogue?" Storm asked Charles.

"I felt it ill timing. I will tell him when he's a little more settled down. Life on the road has been hard on him Storm." Charles answered wisely, scratching his chin.

"How do you think he'll react to her…changes?" Storm asked, realizing the word change was putting it mildly. Charles felt Storms concern.

"The question is," Charles sighed. "Is how she will react when she finds out he has returned."

"How long is he staying?" Storm asked, her voice hard and laced with concern.

"For good this time, I'm sure of it." Charles said, trying to assure Storm and calm her worries. He knew what she was thinking. Logan couldn't come waltzing in and out of Rogue's life.

Logan put his few worldly possessions away in the chest of drawers and hung up some jeans in the closet before setting out to find Marie. He was positive that she was still there. Charles and Storm would have told him otherwise.

Logan went down the hallway to Marie's old room and hesitantly knocked on the door. The last time that they had spoken it hadn't gone so well, to say the least, and he wasn't sure if she even wanted to see him. Imagine the shock he got when a petite Asian girl dressed in all yellow opened the door and stared at him, wide eyed, mouth wide open.

"Holy crap! You're back!" She said in a shrill voice. Logan cocked an eyebrow.

"Who the hell are you?" He asked gruffly. "Where's Marie?"

"Marie? Oh, you mean Rogue! Um, she's down in the Danger Room working out like always." She said quickly, pausing only to catch her breath. Then she stuck her hand out. "I'm Jubilee!" Logan reluctantly shook the girls hand.

"Okay, well, how the hell do you know me?" Logan asked, trying to keep his cool with this very bubbly girl.

"There's a picture of you with the rest of the X-Men on Professor Xavier's desk. I can't believe you're here! But you may not want to go down to the Danger Room…." Jubilee wound a piece of her dark black hair around her finger. Logan smelled her nervousness.

"Why?" Logan's voice grew deep and he could sense Jubilee becoming tenser.

"Just trust me…"

"I don't know you. Why the hell would I trust you?"

"You really don't wanna go down there…"

"That settles it. I'm goin'." And with that, Logan started off to the Danger Room.

When he reached the lower levels he realized there were a few new additions to the place. As he got closer to the Danger Room he realized that they had added an observation deck. It was a balcony jutting out into the room about half an inch, boxed in by a two way mirror. And sitting on this balcony was Charles Xavier.

"I knew you would come looking for her eventually." Charles said, smiling sadly.

"Yeah, some chick in yellow told me where to find her." Logan grumbled, remembering the over-active Asian. He had a feeling that he'd be spending more time then he wanted with this girl now that he was home. Charles chuckled.

"Yes, Jubilee and Kitty are Rogue's roommates and friends. I'm sure you'll see Kitty around with Bobby Drake." Charles said. Logan raised an eyebrow.

"I thought Bobby was Marie's guy?" Logan questioned. As soon as he said this, the lights on the small observation deck dimmed, and Logan saw the figure of a female step into the Danger Room. The simulation had started and he heard Charles sigh.

"You're going to find out fairly soon that much has changed here in the mansion since the day you left."

Logan inhaled deeply, trying to catch on to Marie's scent. It was still fairly the same. A mixture of Lavender and femininity… but something had changed. He no longer could smell the innocence or joy in her. She was clouded with sadness, hopelessness, and anger. The anger was radiating off of her in waves.

Logan nearly gasped as he saw her ferociously attack the simulation figures. She'd set it at the highest danger level, which meant that the simulation was as lifelike as it could be. Logan saw Marie using two long sharp knives to slice her attackers. He saw her tangling with simulations of Sabertooth and Toad fairly easily, fighting them both at once.

"When did she become so…" Logan trailed off, not able to find the words.

"Angry." Charles finished with a sigh.

Logan shook his head, remembering the last time that they had spoken. He'd known that he had hurt her… but not like this.

Simulation Mystique was the only one left. Logan watched she and Marie circled one another carefully, sizing one another up. Logan saw Marie lunge, catching a foot to the face by Mystique. Marie jumped back and attacked again, this time somehow getting behind Mystique and getting her in a choke hold. The simulation Mystique looked up at the observation deck and smirked. Logan looked down at Charles who seemed unaffected. Marie looked up briefly, as if also feeling the presence of people, and then coldly slit Mystique's throat and the simulation was complete.

Logan started toward the door entering the Danger Room when he heard Charles's voice.

"Logan, she isn't the girl you remember. Rogue is a grown woman now, a teacher here. She's not the person you left behind." Logan nodded and walked into the Danger Room.

Marie was wiping off her knives on her pants when the doors slid open and Logan walked in. He stood in the door taking a long look at her. She was in her uniform, covered from the neck down, and yet he could see a change in her. She was still as beautiful as she'd always been, but her features were hard and unforgiving.

"Marie…" Logan began but she just walked right by him.

"My name is Rogue." She said coldly, her voice like a block of ice, then walked out of the room, leaving Logan alone with the memory of the last night he had ever been in the mansion

Flashback+

Logan had gathered all of his things quickly. It had been a week since the incident at Alkali Lake and Logan couldn't stay in the mansion anymore. He needed time to clear his thoughts and he couldn't do it there.

He snuck down to the parking garage as quietly as possible. He didn't want anyone to know he was leaving. He didn't want to deal with all the goodbye's, especially from a certain someone.

He was about to mount Scott's motorcycle when he caught her scent coming from the doorway and he froze.

"Runnin' again?" She asked, her Southern accent thick with sleep and confusion.

"I just need to get away for a while." Logan said, barely having the courage to turn around and face her.

Marie stood there in the doorway with a long white flowy nightgown that covered every inch of her. She looked like an angel. My angel, Logan thought, and then shook his head. Those were the kind of thoughts Logan needed to escape from.

"Get away from what?" Marie asked heatedly, putting her hands on her hips and tapping her foot. Leave it to her to challenge me, Logan thought.

"Everything." He said.

"Even me." Those words stung Logan. It wasn't a question, but a statement.

"Yes, even you." Logan wanted to slap himself for saying those words, but it was the truth, and he'd never lie to Marie. Not even to spare her feelings. He could see tears filling her eyes from where he stood.

"Fine then! Go ahead and run away! See if I care!" Marie was trying her best to keep from crying but the tears spilled out anyway. Logan stepped toward her but Marie just backed away. "Don't you dare take pity on me!" She yelled.

"Marie, it isn't like that!" Logan tried, but before he knew it, Marie was reaching inside her nightgown and pulled out his dog tags. She'd never given them back to him. She pulled them off of her and threw them on the ground in front of his feet.

"Just go Logan! But this time, I'm not waiting for you to come back!" And with that, Marie was gone, leaving only the scent of tears and heartbreak behind.

Logan wrestled with the idea of running after her, grabbing her, holding her and trying to explaining things to her so that she would understand, but he knew he couldn't do that. It would only do more harm to her than good. So Logan road off into the night, never knowing what damage he had truly done.

End of flashback+

Logan heard Charles clear his throat.

"What happened to her?" Logan asked, his voice a bit shaky from shock.

"We've been living with what you left behind for three years now." Charles said sadly. Logan shook his head. "Come my boy; let's take a walk out onto the grounds."

"About a month or two after you left us I helped Rogue learn how to control her powers." Charles explained to Logan as they walked through the garden toward the rear of the mansion.

"She can touch?" Logan exclaimed. "That's wonderful!" But Charles gave him a grim look.

"Since then I believe she hasn't allowed anyone to come into contact with her." He said sadly.

"What about Popsicle boy?" Logan asked. Charles chuckled.

"Rogue broke up with Bobby a few days after you left the mansion. It was for the best for they have remained good friends." Logan nodded at Charles' explanation.

"So… why won't she let anyone touch her?" Charles gave Logan a knowing glance.

"She's been waiting. She wants to make sure it's the right person. She has been without human contact for so long, she wants the first person she touches willingly to be… someone special." Logan shook his head.

"Who?" Logan asked dumbly.

"Who do you think?"

"Can't be me. I don't think she likes me much."

"I think that metal has gone to your brain Logan. Rogue has always loved you, whether or not you've known it or not. Those feelings haven't faded, only clouded with anger and grief." Charles sighed. "She believed that you left because of the loss of Jean."

"You know that isn't true." Logan choked.

"I know Logan. Now the only person you have to convince is Rogue."

Logan shook his head. He didn't know how to prove anything to the woman he had seen in the Danger Room. Charles had been right; she was no longer the Marie that he had left behind. She was someone darker, harder, and colder. She was someone he didn't know anymore. She was Rogue.

Authors Note: My first X-Men fic! Folks leave me lots of comments!