If she was being completely honest with herself, she had already expected this when she had woken up this morning. Her mind had been resolute in its decision. Every movement she had made had led her to here. To now.

She glanced at the blade as it winked at her in the light and then up at the man holding it. His eyes were dead.

She didn't blame him; he had no more control over anything anymore, not how to think or move, and the people who had made him this way had been positive to make sure he sure as hell didn't have control over what he said.

Of course she was afraid of him. This was the man who brought a knife to a gun fight and then walked away on top, not that that overly impressed her, she also knew a man who brought a deck of cards to a gun fight… and he was going to be pissed when he found out what she had done.

She slowly dragged a wet gasp of air into her lungs, suddenly remembering to breath and detesting the metallic taste that came with the breath. Though it didn't really matter any more if she chose to breath or not. The sharpest corner of the blade protruded out of her back thickly coated with her blood.

The man didn't blink.

-

4 days and 9 hours before

"Anna Marie! Get out here now!"

Rogue started awake, sitting bolt upright and immediately recognizing she was in trouble. He never used her full name. Ever.

The horrible things that could be contenders rolled through her mind as she dashed to the door. It was a short list. Only the really bad stuff got her called Anna Marie.

She barely caught her image in the mirror as she rushed to the door. She was still wearing the five-sizes-too-big shirt that she had worn to sleep, her hair was a wreck, and she didn't have time to grab her gloves.

"What is it, Logan?" She panted as she opened the door, the feeling of dread made her stomach sink and she knew she wouldn't be able to hide that from Logan.

His eyebrows were furrowed and his mouth was set in a frown… not that that was unusual… he always looked like that… but this was different in a way. He looked livid.

"You have a visitor." He said.

Oh…shhhiiiiiitttt….

He wasn't mad at her…

There was only one person in the whole world that made Logan look that mad.

"Maybe I should put some clothes on…" Rogue tried to buy some time.

"Oh no." Logan grabbed her arm through the sleeve of the shirt and started to drag her. "If I have to deal with him, so do you."

She groaned.

"Look, kid." Logan cast her a glance that said that it was a little more then the spreading of the pain. "You know I wouldn't even have the two of you in the same room if it wasn't important. I don't like the way he looks at you."

Rogue knew exactly what he meant.

"Logan, I really… reaaaaallllllly… don't want to talk to him." Rogue whined, letting Logan guide her through the halls. "He's so … obnoxious!"

Logan's mood quickly shifted from livid to… whatever is angrier than livid… Rogue didn't actually have time to come up with another word to describe him; she was too busy trying to diffuse him.

"If he says anything, anything, that makes you feel the slightest bit uncomfortable. If he looks like he's about to think about saying something that might make you feel uncomfortable- I will cut him into little chunks!" Logan raged.

"Logan!" She cut him off with her voice. His nostrils flared and the fury was clearly spelled out in his eyes, but he respected her enough to quiet his voice. "Calm down." She changed her voice slightly to a more soothing tone, assisted by the drawl in her accent. "I promise, if there are any issues with him, you'll be the first I tell." Lie. Big, fat lie.

Even if he did make her feel uncomfortable, as long as he couldn't touch her, there would be no reason to have him chopped up into little chunks by Logan.

Last she checked, she still couldn't touch people, and last she checked he still loved his own skinny ass to much to test that, so everyone would be able to stay in one piece today.

"Better?" She smiled at him and he seemed to calm slightly.

"For now." He commented gruffly and then continued to drag her through the halls.

What on earth could be so important that Logan would voluntarily put her in a room with him?

She shivered slightly and quickly tried to cover it up with a yawn when Logan looked over his shoulder to make sure she was alright.

They rounded a corner and Kitty and Bobby were sitting in two chairs, seemingly in wait for Rogue and Logan.

"Hey Rogue!" Kitty bounced up out of her seat and hopped around in a tight circle around Rogue. "Did you see him yet? God! He is so good looking. And the accent! How do you keep your hands off him?" She bubbled.

"I don't know," Rogue admitted. "I guess that's all based on my assumption he prefers himself alive."

Bobby carefully watched Kitty as she giggled over another man and looked completely infuriated. Obviously he didn't care who was in the house, just so long as Kitty wasn't ogling them.

"This has been fun, but Rogue has an agenda to keep." Logan said between clenched teeth.

"Can I come-." Kitty started.

"No!" Logan and Rogue both answered in unison.

Sometimes it scared her how alike she and Logan actually were. They were both exiles. One by choice, one by curse. She couldn't really figure out who was who yet. They were both stubborn. They were both the only people that could ever get the other to do something they didn't want to. But, so many promises had been broken. So many things had been left in a state of disrepair between the two of them, she didn't know what exactly their relationship was.

Logan pulled her around one last corner into the war room and he was standing there. She could almost feel Logan's hate radiate through his grip on her arm, even through the shirt.

"Cherie," He commented as her turned around to look at her. "You are in a world of trouble."