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The snow was falling gently on the rooftops of the dilapidated building where Tabula Rasa sat, her figure silhouetted against the frosted window. It had been days since she last left this place—days since she had been her, since the powers she’d once embraced had twisted her mind and identity into something unrecognizable. And now, here she was: alone, lost in the shadows of her past, in the confines of a life she could barely remember.
Tabula Rasa's greatest curse—and her greatest gift—was that she could absorb the memories and skills of those she touched, a perfect blank slate for anyone she encountered. Every new memory overwritten the last, leaving behind no trace of her true self. The woman she had been, the person she might have been, was somewhere deep within her… buried under a thousand different lives.
But despite all the power she had over others, she felt powerless within herself.
That’s when he appeared.
Logan had heard rumors about someone who could erase herself every time she touched another person’s mind. He’d tracked her down, hoping that maybe, just maybe, there was a way to stop the chaos she created in her wake.
He didn’t expect her to be sitting by a window, her eyes distant and cold, as if she was a stranger even to herself. He didn’t expect the vulnerability that flickered in her expression when she saw him. His senses told him she was in pain, but it was the kind of pain he could understand.
Logan grunted, standing in the doorway. "You Tabula Rasa?"
She didn’t turn around at first, the sound of her own thoughts too loud in her mind to focus on the present. But then she exhaled slowly, as if willing herself to acknowledge him.
"Who wants to know?" Her voice was a soft rasp, devoid of the bite it once held when she first became the weapon she was.
Logan didn’t step inside immediately. He knew better than to rush into anything. "Name’s Logan. I heard you’re good at… erasing people’s memories. Making ‘em forget who they are."
Her gaze met his, and for a moment, something passed between them—a shared understanding, or maybe a flicker of recognition. She knew he was no stranger to being lost.
"I don’t make them forget," she murmured. "They forget because I can’t hold on to myself. Every time I touch someone, I become them. Their memories, their experiences… I lose mine. I become a blank page."
Logan took a step forward, careful. “That sounds like a helluva burden."
"Is it?" she said, her lips twisting into a small, bitter smile. "I don’t even know if I want to hold on to my memories anymore. There’s too much pain. Too many lives I can’t remember."
The silence stretched between them. Logan didn’t press her; he wasn’t the type to force someone to open up. But something inside him stirred—something deeper than the years of trauma he carried. Maybe it was because he saw in her the same kind of loneliness he knew too well. Or maybe it was the way she seemed to fade in and out of herself, like a person who was constantly being erased.
"I could help you," Logan said, his voice low. "I’ve lived through some of the worst shit imaginable. I know what it’s like to feel like a ghost of yourself. If you need to find out who you really are again… I can show you how to hold on."
She shook her head, standing up slowly, but there was no anger in the motion—just a quiet resignation. "It’s not that simple. You think you can help me, Logan? You think you can make me whole again? I’ve forgotten more than I could ever remember."
Logan walked closer, his boots crunching softly on the floor. "It’s not about fixing it all in one go," he said, his voice soft but steady. "It’s about giving yourself a reason to stick around. A reason to care. Sometimes, just knowing someone else is out there, really out there, is enough to keep you from slipping away."
She studied him for a long moment, her eyes searching his face for any hint of pretense. But there was none. Logan was the real deal—grizzled, broken, and honest. He knew pain, and he knew how to survive it.
And in that moment, Tabula Rasa wondered if maybe… just maybe, she could survive it too.
Her hand, trembling slightly, reached out and touched his arm, the coolness of her skin brushing against the warmth of his. A jolt of memories flooded her mind—quick flashes of people she didn’t know, lives she couldn’t claim. But instead of erasing herself, she held on. She fought to stay grounded, and it was harder than she’d ever imagined.
But as Logan’s hand rested gently over hers, she felt a flicker of something she hadn’t in years.
“Don’t let go,” Logan whispered, his voice raw, like he was telling himself more than her.
She nodded, her chest tight, but for the first time in a long while, she wasn’t afraid of who she might lose in the process. Maybe there was a way to hold on—at least, for a little while.
With Logan by her side, perhaps, just maybe, she could start to find the pieces of herself that had been buried in a thousand forgotten lives.
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