She had felt so safe, wrapped up in layers. Not that it was an unusual feeling. She was vaguely aware that she had been covered by *something* for many years.

But since hearing that voice, that name, the layers didn't seem so protective anymore. Instead, they seemed almost restrictive, as if someone--Carol, that was her name, sometimes it was so hard to remember anything--was keeping her from returning.

Returning? To what? Where had she gone? She hardly even knew who she was anymore. All she knew was that the name she had hers was part of her, more a part of her than anything she had felt, through Carol, in a long time.

And, within the part of Rogue's mind that was Marie, a familiar presence began to stir as well.

He lay on his back, the mattress supporting him with just the amount of firmness he needed. And, damn it, he didn't like it. It was too comfortable, too much of a reminder of what he could have had, if he'd returned sooner. If he'd maybe visited once...four years ago..even three and a half years ago...

Logan couldn't help but wonder if it might have been different then. If his coming back to this place even a couple times would have made Marie fight harder to keep the dominant place in her mind. Would it have given her the will to survive?

That sounded too arrogant to him. More like something Mr. Fearless Leader would have thought up. Nah, even though he couldn't get that girl off his mind for five years, couldn't ignore the image of big brown eyes framed by two white streaks of hair no matter how hard he tried, she'd probably gotten over that "crush" Jean had mentioned a long time ago. Long before the accident.

Definitely.

So why did the thought that he could have changed things keep surfacing?

The next morning, Carol sat in silent contemplation over her soggy Frosted Flakes. If Jubilee and Kitty noticed her pensive mood, they gave no indication, chattering away about boys and college as usual.

'It's not fair. After all this time, after finally getting everyone to accept that Rogue is gone, he has to come back.' she fumed to herself. All the suspicious glances and sad looks that she had received in the year after the accident came back in full force. She wouldn't endure that again.

Last night, she had quizzed John on the mysterious man that knew Rogue, and he had filled her in on how he'd saved Rogue's life years ago. So this was the man Rogue had been pining over in all the months Carol had known her. He wasn't so great. In fact he was kind of scary.

His gaze had been so intense last night when she'd told him Rogue had died. The claws that sprung from his hands were startling, but even more frightening was the quiet recognition that dawned within her. She didn't know this man, had never met him, and the only explanation for the hints of feeling was that Rogue was still hiding in her head somewhere.

'No,' she yelled deep inside. 'You didn't want to live, remember? You were driving. It was your fault. You touched me. You killed me. I had every right to do what I did.'

"Logan!" Jubilee's voice interrupted her thoughts, and she looked up to see her friend waving the new guy over to their table.

He came over and sat right in front of her, setting his breakfast tray down. "Hey."

"Hey," Carol responded. Suddenly needing something to do, she picked up her spoon and ate some cereal. The sweet, soup-like substance of Frosted Flakes left in milk way too long almost made her choke. She forced it down with some effort, but looking at the remains of the food in her bowl, decided that breakfast was over.

"See you guys later," she said as she got up and left.

Jubilee watched her friend leave. She didn't blame her for giving up on the remains of her breakfast, but as she turned and saw Logan watching Carol, she felt she had to say something.

"Hey, don't worry about it. You'll see her around later."

"How bad was she injured?"

The unexpected leap in the conversation startled Jubilee. "What?"

"In the accident. I saw the scar on her face last night, but there's a long scar down the back of her right arm that I didn't catch. Also, she's walking with a slight limp."

"It was bad. She broke both her legs and her pelvis. She was in a body cast for a month and a half, and then she had to get physical therapy to walk again. I think they removed her spleen and a kidney. Is that right Kits?"

"Huh, what?" Kitty said, turning from her conversation with Bobby.

"Carol's accident. She lost her spleen and a kidney, right?"

"Actually, I think she just injured her kidney, but the spleen's gone, yeah." Kitty said, turning back to her discussion.

"Yeah, and then she's had some plastic surgery for the scar on her face."

"That's *after* plastic surgery."

"Oh, yeah. You shoulda seen her before. It was a 1/2 inch wide gaping scar."

Seeing Logan's guilt fall across his features and hearing his mumbled, "I shoulda been here," was more than Jubes could take.

"Hey, she's better now. Limps don't slow ya down when you can fly, and I'd bet she's stronger than you, now."

"Yeah, but she's not Marie."