"Rogue, wassa matter?" Jubilee asked, barely coherent.

Rogue didn't answer. Her eyes were blank, and then they shut as she dropped to her knees and clutched her head in her bare hands.

~I'll stand with you, Rogue, but I don't know if we can fight them all off,~ Carol told her.

~Ya know ya count on me, Marie. But I agree with Carol here. Strange as that is to say,~ Logan growled out.

Rogue would have smiled if the situation hadn't been so grim. ~Thanks,~ she whispered as the other voices began to pound into her.

~You can't escape me, my dear.~

~Bitch, yer mine! I'll pay you back for this.~ There was a sneer in his voice.

~Marie, why did you do this? I don't want to be here! I want to be myself again!~

They were pouring into her, trying to drown her in their fear, their hatred, their contempt. She felt strong arms around her, holding her up. She clutched Carol and Logan to her, knowing that they were all that stood between her and death at that moment.

~Trust us,~ Carol whispered softly into her ear.

~Ah do,~ Rogue answered.

Suddenly it felt as if her skin was being torn open, and then she being filled beyond capacity with a strange light. This lasted for years, and it took only a few seconds.

~Our gift to you,~ Carol told her.

Then she stood alone against the three minds attacking hers. Except that she wasn't alone. She was Marie, and she was Carol, and even Logan claimed a part of her. All of their minds had coalesced into Rogue. She felt the powers she'd experienced briefly before surging to life, and with those powers came the strength to subdue the other damn minds she was stuck with. Temporarily, anyway. And that was all she needed.

"Okay, Jubes, yah rested enough?" Rogue asked, standing up and taking her hands from her tear-streaked face. She smiled slightly. Okay, maybe it was more of a smirk, but she was still trying to adjust to having *completely* absorbed Logan.

Jubilee gave her a strange look through eyes that were squinting around the pain in her head. "Sure, Rogue. You ever gonna tell me what all that was about?" she asked as she prepared herself to be lifted up by Rogue again.

"Maybe, Jubilee, although Ah really don't think yah could understand. Let's just say that, while Ah'm back Ah'm also a lot better than Ah was before." That was all Rogue would say to Jubilee. She remained silent the entire way back to the motorcycles, not even looking winded as she settled Logan down gently and kept a hand on Jubilee's arm to make sure she wouldn't fall flat on her face.

"Okay, now what are we gonna do?"

They had two motorcycles. That was good. There were only three of them. Of course, there was the small problem of what to do with the two members of their little group who could barely stay conscious.

"Why don' we jus' sleep here?" Jubilee suggested, sitting down on the grass and stretching out. "I think there're blankets and stuff in the back of the motorcycles. There *should* be, anyway."

"Sounds like a plan," Rogue muttered to herself. She opened up the storage compartment of one of the bikes and, sure enough, there was a whole survival kit in there. It was the same with the second bike.

"Okay, how exactly am Ah gonna split two blankets between three people?" Rogue asked herself.

"Why don' ya just lay 'em over us all. We can huddle t'gether for warmth," Jubilee stated.

"Yeah, and what happens if one of yah happens to touch my face or somethin' during the night?" Rogue asked, a bit of panic in her voice.

That's when she remembered something Carol had said. ~Our gift to you.~ And she suddenly had a pretty good idea what that gift was.

Rogue reached inside herself and tugged something into place that she should have been aware of a long time ago, or so she told herself. Just to test it out, she laid a bare finger on Jubilee's hand. Nothing. No pull. Rogue increased the pressure and still nothing. She wanted to cry with joy, but her tears were long gone by now.

"Never mind, Jubes. Ah'll just get you and Logan all arranged then Ah'll scrunch between yah. That way, if either of yah need something during the night, Ah'll know right away," Rogue murmured.

Of course, she knew by now from the way that she was breathing that her friend was asleep, but it felt good to talk to someone after such a long time of being tamped down by Carol.

Rogue settled Logan and Jubilee then laid down between them, pulling the blankets over all of them. What with the blankets being thermal adding to Logan's naturally high body heat, she was asleep as soon as she pillowed her head on Logan's chest.

Sabretooth pushed himself up to a sitting position and looked around the room. Magneto was lying a few feet away, unconscious, and Mystique and Toad were gone, so were the X-brats. He tried to sniff them out, but his head was pounding, and he was too tired to even stand up.

Carol had done something to him. In all the times he'd fought her over the years, she'd never done anything like that. Sure, they'd traded punches that could knock a heavy weight champion out in one blow, but this was different. It had felt like she was pulling his life out through his hands. It had drained him and exhausted him, making him feel weak for the first time in his life. He didn't like the feeling at all.

Pulling himself to his feet, he shuffled to the entrance. She'd turned on the Brotherhood, and she'd hurt him. No one did that and got away with it.

Breathing deeply, he caught her scent on the breeze. He stood there for a few minutes, but it didn't get any further away. They must have stopped for the night. They were probably only 10 or 15 miles away. Normally, he could've reached them in a couple of hours, but even though he could feel his strength returning, he was hardly at peak performance. Still, he would reach them before daybreak. He would show Carol what happened when you took on Sabretooth.

Logan started awake to the sight of pine trees rising up around him. He was in the forest. How did he get here? A soft murmur and a head shifting on his chest drew his attention down to the woman in his arms, the scent of her peroxide blond hair tickling his nose. As she shifted, her head rubbed against his half-healed ribs and he let out a gasp of pain. She immediately woke.

"Logan?" a bare hand came up, brushing his cheek, "are you ok?"

Her skin was touching his. That was impossible unless, "Carol?"

"No, sugah. Not Carol."

Overwhelming relief that flowed through him at her words. "Marie, how can you..."

"Not Marie either. I'm Rogue now."

She sat up next to him, checking the bandages she'd used from the survival kit on the back of the bikes. "How are you feeling?"

"Like shit."

She laughed, a soft chuckle. "That's good. I thought you'd be feeling a lot worse after what you've been through." Satisfied with her inspection, she replaced the bandages she's disturbed. "The bleeding's stopped."

"Where are we, Mar... Rogue?"

"Where you stashed the bikes. We can't go any farther until at least one of you can drive."

"One of... what happened to Jubes?"

"Magneto cold cocked her with a part of the wall. She's got a pretty nasty head wound."

"What? We've gotta get her help. We've got to..."

"Logan. We will. We're just gonna rest up a bit first. You're healing. It'll be ok."

Rogue paused. "Logan. Why... why were you gone for so long?"

He could hear the nervousness in her voice, and it tore at his heart. "I was... I found out some things while I was gone, about my past."

He paused and Rogue nodded, waiting for him to continue. "And, well,... my past caught up with me. I had to..."

The winds shifted and he caught a familiar scent. Rogue sat bolt upright, obviously detecting the same presence, either using the bits of him she had left or the powers she'd absorbed from Sabretooth.

"Logan, stay here." she said, pulling the blankets off.

"Like hell I will," he countered, pushing weakly to his feet. Damn, his legs hurt, but he wasn't about to let her go against Sabretooth alone. "I'll attack. You flank him."

"Wrong, Logan. I'll attack, you flank." she said, running into the woods towards the scent, leaving him to catch up.

The wind shifted, but he knew he was close. He would find them easily, killing them all in their sleep. As he'd walked along through the woods, he'd felt his strength slowly returning, and now he was eager for a fight. He wanted to smell blood, and watch Carol's face as he tore her open.

"Lookin' for me, sugah?" he heard a feminine voice ask from above him. There she was, high in the branches of a pine tree. Growling, he challenged her, running to the tree and scratching at the trunk to try and shake her loose.

The attack from behind took him by surprise, fists of iron beating him down. It shouldn't have, though. Carol had used her flying abilities more than once against him in a fight. His reflexes were still too slow.

Swinging around with his claws, he missed gutting her by inches. She almost flew, backing away from him. That was her style, fly in, take a few pot shots, and back out before she could be touched. He had her now. If she attacked again, he'd be ready.

The six, sharp points that slammed through his back and into his chest made him realize that he had two enemies. Pulling away, he slashed at Wolverine, getting in a good strike before Carol came at him again, beating him down. Against both of them, still weakened from the earlier fight, he didn't have a chance. After a few minutes, he watched them from his prone position as they turned and left him to die, lying in his own blood.

"Shit, you're bleeding again," Rogue said, helping Logan back to the camp. "If Sabretooth found us, the others can't be far behind. We have to get out of here, but you're too hurt to drive and..."

"You're still not keeping your elbow in."

"What?" Rogue asked, startled by the change in conversation.

"When you punch, you need to keep your elbow in. When we get back, I'll teach ya."

"Uh, thanks Logan, but first we gotta get out of here." Rogue said as she sat him down, tending to the large gashes across his chest.

Once the new wounds were attended to and the older wounds were checked, she turned to Jubilee. Her friend hadn't woken during the fight, and that worried her.

"Jubes..." Rogue said, shaking the young woman gently. No response. She shook her more firmly. "Jubilee?" Nothing. She was starting to get frantic, slapping her gently on the face. "Jubilation Lee, wake up!"

Logan crawled over to them. "What's wrong?"

"She's not waking up... This is bad. We gotta get her outta here. Why'd you guys bring motorcycles. Of all the useless, impractical..."

"I can drive." Logan said softly.

"No you can't. You're still bleeding and..."

"It's ok. Take my jacket."

"What?" Rogue asked, confused as to what he was doing.

Logan moved over to Jubilee's Harley Davidson, propping it up. "Bring Jubes over here."

Rogue carefully picked up her friend, carrying her over to the bike, and placing her on the front.

"Put on the jacket and get on."

After Rogue straddled the bike, Logan grabbed the edges of the jacket and pulled it around Jubilee's body, zipping it up, and thereby holding Jubilee in place. He then pulled himself onto Cyke's motorcycle and started the engine.

"Logan, I don't think this is a good idea."

He turned, trying to give her a reassuring smile. "Trust me."