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“Yer gonna hafta pack something warmer than this fer Canada, darlin’.”

“Then we’ll just have to go shopping,” she mused thoughtfully, stroking a thick, cable-knit sweater before folding it and placing it in the duffle.

“Yer always lookin’ fer an excuse ta go shopping,” he grumbled, but his lips twisted into that lopsided grin she loved as he stubbed out his cigar and came inside from the balcony. Ororo continued to contemplate her wardrobe. Her loft was beginning to look occupied again, now that she unpacked more of her things following their trip to the compound.

It was also growing crowded, and cluttered. Ororo sighed as she grabbed a pair of Logan’s discarded socks. “These go in the hamper,” she reminded him, balling them up and handing them up to him.

“Nag, nag, nag,” he muttered, taking them from her and chucking them into the wicker bin beside her dresser.

It was starting to look like a man lived there, she realized with defeat. His favorite sherpa-lined denim jacket hung from a peg on her wall. His work boots were lined up by the bed beside her slippers. She spied the edge of his flannel pajama bottoms where they were folded and tucked beneath her pillow; admittedly, he seldom needed them…she shivered guiltily.

His grin widened as he crouched, devilment in his eyes. “Got somethin’ on yer mind, darlin’?” He shoved the duffle across the floor, removing the barrier between them as his arm snaked around her waist.

“Logan, MMMMMPH!” Helplessly her hands wandered into his hair and over his chest while he plundered the silky recess of her mouth. She moaned in surrender and contentment as his tongue spiraled lazily around hers. Her nipples peaked beneath her shirt, he discovered to his delight as he reached down to cup her breast.

What had she been saying about socks? Ohhhhhh…never mind.

He was kissing common sense out of her head as he worked the hem of her knit shirt over her breast. Logan was just peeling down the satin cup of her bra when the phone jangled on her bedside table.

“Fuck,” Logan muttered, leaning his forehead against hers for a moment. Her gaze was drowsy and aroused.

“I’d better get that?”

“Why?” He nosed her, nudging her face aside so he could attack her neck instead and sway her back to what they were doing. She felt cool air and his warm fingers stroke her nipple, and she gasped at the tingles pooling between her legs.

“Stop!” she hissed, but her voice was husky, needy.

The phone rang again.

“Errrrgh,” she grumbled. “I’d better get that.” She managed to get away with one, two, three kisses before she unwrapped Logan’s arms from her body and rose to her feet.

“Take that fuckin’ thing off the hook, next time. Why do ya even have a phone in here?”

“Just in the case the sky is falling, someone can let us know.” She didn’t add that once upon a time, she would’ve been the first to know. He grunted as she picked up the handset. “H’lo?”

“You have a visitor,” Henry informed her without preamble. “One you will want to see.”

“I wasn’t expecting anyone, Henry.”

“Bring Logan with you,” he shrugged, and she heard a hint of mirth in his deep voice. Before she could ask why, Henry hung up.

“Well, that was abrupt.”

“What’s up with Blue?”

“We need to head downstairs; we have company.”

“Ain’t our fault they showed up unannounced.” His broad chest covered her back, and she snuggled back into his bulk. He spoke into the side of her throat, “They can wait a few minutes…”

“Logan,” she warned, but she gasped and ground back against the stiff bulge poking her as he embraced her. Loving Ororo had its perks. Two of them were straining into his touch right now. The musk of her arousal saturated him, enflaming him.

“Ya can fix yer hair before we head downstairs!”

“Goddess, you’re an evil, evil man,” she scolded before she pried herself free. She didn’t let go of him, though, and she dragged him after her down the stairs.

Henry was nonplussed at the flushed, guilty looks both his friends gave him as they entered the kitchen.

“Ya got give minutes, bub,” Logan grumbled as he reached into the fridge for a beer. Ororo rolled her eyes. Henry chuckled.

“Five minutes is all Blue and I will need,” Forge informed him as he strode inside and set a steel-hulled briefcase on the table.

Motherfucker.

Ororo’s hand immediately restrained him before he could raise his hand and extend his claws. She laced her fingers through his to prevent him giving into temptation. Forge didn’t miss the meaning of her instinctive act, nor the protective way she huddled against Logan now. Two against one. He shook his head and smiled.

“You’re looking well, Ororo.”

“I’m feeling well. Likewise, Maker.”

Forge was back in fighting form. He wore his customary glove over his newer, upgraded prosthetic, and she could have sworn he was standing taller thanks to the one on his leg. His color was ruddy and full of health, and there was nothing of the broken man who’d recovered at the mansion and left in despair once Henry made his diagnosis that Storm’s powers were, indeed, gone. He was casually dressed, not a man who had to dash back to an office or report for duty.

His chiseled lips smiled. “I have something that may make you feel even better.”

“I got somethin’ that’ll make ya feel a helluva lot worse, prick,” Logan promised under his breath as he opened his beer and took a long pull. Ororo pinched him.

“Forge has kept in touch with me and Moira over the past few weeks. The collaboration has been fruitful.” Henry watched Forge unclasp the locks on the briefcase and flick it open.

“Ya gonna tell us ya have a bun in the oven?”

“Logan, hush!” A low snort escaped Forge, and he cocked one black brow.

“No. But here, Ororo. Hold this.” He handed her a small module that fit neatly into the palm of her hand. Its filaments of circuitry glowed with green light.

“Why?” The module slowly began to pulse and warm within her grip.

“Because a new mutant is about to be born.”

“HOLY -!” CRASH! Broken glass and beer sprayed Logan’s boots as he dropped the bottle from his grip. Ororo was enveloped in green energy that immobilized her.

“Hen.Ry.What’s.Hap.Ning,” she cried stiffly. Her body jerked as she stared at him in horror and wonder.

“Darlin’, let go of that fuckin’ thing NOW! What the fuck have ya done, asshole! Ya haven’t done enough!” SNIKT! Forge grunted and felt the air choked from his lungs as Logan plowed into him and throttled his neck. He banged his head back against the refrigerator and brandished three gleaming talons beneath his chin. He was vibrating with rage. Forge stared him down, taking in his dilated pupils and flaring nostrils, and he was hit with a drop of spittle as Logan tore him a new one. “How do ya sleep at night, asshole, thinkin’ ya can just walk in here and bend us over and screw us again? Turn that fuckin’ thing OFF! Or I’ll turn YOU off!”

“Goddess,” Ororo moaned. “Logan…please! Let him go!” He whipped his head around to face her again, torn between wanting to kill the man who’d likely taken her from him again and destroying the gadget that was holding her prisoner.

“It’s okay, baby…”

“Let him go, man,” Henry growled, shouldering himself between Logan and his prey. Logan’s fingers continued to squeeze Forge’s windpipe shut.

“Might…wanna listen…to Blue,” Forge rasped as his face turned two more shades of raspberry.

“Logan!” Ororo cried again. The radiance brightened, and the room suddenly began to crackle with the same energy that wrapped around her body. She glowed within its nexus, and her hair began to drift up from her shoulders in a corona. That odd green light suffused her eyes, until the irises swirled with white light.

Sparks danced from the fingertips of her free hand, and she held it in front of her face with wonder.

“Forge…the lightning…it’s come back!” Her voice was ethereal and suffused with joy, so beautiful it pierced them to witness.

The ruthlessly cloudless sky outside began to roil and change. Blue gave way to gray, and thunder shook the ground. Logan and Henry felt their hackles raise, and the vibrations traveled through their nerve endings in terror and anticipation.

A storm.

“I feel…so…oh,” she sighed dreamily. The module crackled briefly before she dropped it from nerveless fingers.

It shattered against the kitchen tile, and she sagged, suddenly limp as a noodle.

SNAKT! Logan flung Forge away from him and spun around, catching her before she could make contact with the hard tiles.

“Ro!” he roared, cradling her against him and shaking her. “Don’t do this ta me, baby, damn it, don’t do this! RO!” Ice ran down his spine and his temples throbbed in time with his heart. Behind him, Forge and Henry collected themselves and watched the couple anxiously, splitting their attention between them and the sky outside.

SHRAKA-THOOOOOMMM… The thunder’s low boom grew in volume and intensity, and Ororo opened her eyes.

“Hi,” she murmured weakly. Her smile was all for him.

“Baby?” His eyes sparked with tears, but he didn’t give a fuck about pride. Her heartbeat was growing stronger, even though her pulse was still erratic. “Please be okay, darlin’!”

“I am. Can you feel it?” The energy’s glow dissipated from the room but never left her eyes.

They were swirling milky white with electricity. He was mesmerized by them as she ran the back of her fingertip down his cheek.

“Come fly with me,” she beckoned.

“Are ya fuckin’ NUTS?” He craned his neck toward Henry. “Hank, she’s goin’ into shock! She’s fuckin’ DELIRIOUS! Help me get her downstairs…”

“I don’t want to go downstairs,” she argued. “I want to go outside.” Slowly she struggled free and rose. All three men gaped as she reached for his hand and pulled him upright. “Come with me.”

His legs obeyed her, not him, as he stumbled after her.

The front door flew open, buffeted by an updraft that sent papers and couch cushions flying. The wind tore at Logan’s hair and made him quake with the cold…cold. Ororo’s smile was serene, and she resembled a child with a new toy.

“Come with me, Logan,” she repeated. Overhead, lightning flared and crackled, and her hair was still fluttereing and charged with that energy that left him in awe. And no lack of fear.

“This ain’t happening,” he insisted.

“Oh, but it is,” she cried, flinging herself into his waiting arms. She thrummed with the currents that she harnessed, testing their strength. He stared down into her face.

“Yer sure?”

“I’ve never been more sure.” Then he was holding onto her for balance as a jetstream whipped up and buoyed them into the air.

A ragged scream was torn from his lips. It was like putting a leash on a tornado. His stomach bade him goodbye, he knew he left it somewhere on the ground.

All he heard was the wind and thunder. All he felt was the currents and the pounding of their combined pulse and heartbeat, and the wiry strength of Ororo’s body wrapped around him.

All he saw was Ororo’s smile and her passion for him dancing in her eyes.

Henry and Forge watched them from the front porch.

“Well done, my friend.”

“Coulda stepped in sooner before he could fillet me.”

“You didn’t give him much of a warning,” Henry argued.

“He wouldn’t have let her near it,” he reasoned.

They watched Ororo careen and swoop through the sky and heard her laughter. Logan’s eventually joined it.

“You might want to be gone by the time they get back.”

“See you, Blue.” Forge headed back to the kitchen to collect the remains of his prototype. Once he returned to his rented car, he called his penthouse and left word that he was returning within twenty-four hours. He’d start production of the restoration modules immediately.

“Goodbye, Wind-Rider,” he whispered, staring out through the window before the rain began to fall. He’d given her back her smile. It was a job well done.


~0~

“Look at all of the CDs,” Kitty breathed, pawing through the stacks on Douglas’ desk as he unpacked.

The Institute had a full house for the spring semester, and a full roster of staff. Sean decided to stay on, but was planning a sabbatical to Muir Isle during the summer. The school also retained Henry when he applied to the Department of Defense for a leave of absence.

“I can burn you a copy of anything you want,” he offered.

“Don’t worry about it. Just bring a few outside. Logan’s working the grill.” She hurried out with five of his discs tucked in her hand just as quickly as she’d breezed in, but at least this time, Kitty used the door.

She was cute. Taken, but cute. Doug chuckled to himself as he stacked his folded shirts in the dresser drawer.

He was suddenly distracted by girlish laughter in the hall. He spied Jubilee, that girl Marie with the odd hair, and Ali, who had even weirder hair, coming around the corner. Lorna led the pack.

“I don’t see why I was the only one who got grounded,” Jubes complained sourly.

“You were the only one standing there when Logan found you tossing a firecracker into his beer,” Lorna shrugged.

“God. His HAIR!” Ali giggled. “It just went FWOOSH!”

“Hey,” Doug greeted, leaning his lanky body against the doorframe and tucking his hands into his pockets. Lorna spun around and caught his gaze. She blushed beet red.

He looked fresh-scrubbed and tidy. Sunlight shone inside through his bedroom window, and it backlit his blond hair and the robin’s egg blue of his eyes. He was giving her that gee-shucks grin that made her stomach flutter.

Yup. It was fluttering. Beside her, Ali rolled her eyes.

“We’re headed outside. Wanna play on our team? How’s your pitching arm?” Jubilee demanded, cracking her gum.

“I’m better at shortstop,” he admitted. “I’ll be down in a sec.”

“Come on down before the s’mores are gone,” Jubes shrugged. Marie and Ali ganged up on her and started dragging her toward the elevator. “C’mon, Lorna!”

“Go on ahead,” she replied hollowly. She was staring at Doug. He was staring back. She was drawn to him, feeling the pull of his easy smile and his effect on her hormones. She felt the pink in her cheeks deepen, and she felt hot and flushed.

She leaned against the wall and looked up at him through her lashes. “Whaddya think so far?”

“It’s all right.”

“Doug?”

“Yeah?”

“You didn’t have to come here. I mean…you’re normal.”

“My folks might argue that with you. So might Jono.”

“Jono’s twisted. He can’t talk. But…you didn’t even have to tell anyone about your power, Doug!”

“Maybe I didn’t want to keep it a secret. Besides, it’s a school for gifted students. That’ll look awesome on a college application next year.”

“You’re only fifteen!”

“I’m accelerated. I’m in a few classes with Kitty this semester.” Lorna snorted. “What?”

“You guys will have all kinds of shit to talk about, then.” Envy made her blue eyes flash green. Doug’s smile grew impish. “What?” His eyes flitted to her rosebud mouth. “Doug…”

He abandoned his perch in the doorway and hooked his finger through her belt loop, tugging her to him. Her yelp of surprise was cut short as he captured her lips. He tasted like Colgate, and she sighed into his mouth. She combed her fingers through his blond waves and gave herself up to his leisurely exploration that made her tingle all over.

She felt the crown of her head thunk lightly back against the wall. Her legs were limp as noodles.

“Wow.” He nodded and cleared his throat, licking his lips. His fingers smoothed back a lock of her green hair.

“Maybe I wanna talk about all kinds of shit with you,” he pointed out, tossing her own words at her, teasingly. “You mind?” She shook her head and stared at his mouth. He lost his balance as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him back down into her kiss, not letting him back up until they were both dizzy.

Perhaps they wouldn’t talk quite yet…but at least they spoke the same language.


~0~

Several weeks later, Aleytys Forrester was descending the ramp of the fishing boat and stalking down the dock, untucking her bunched-up ponytail from her raincoat. The odors of fish and salty mist assailed her as she headed toward her office.

“Mail came for ya, Cap’n,” Paolo bellowed to her as he struggled with some rigging.

“Thanks!” she called back. She longed to remove her boots and gear and soak in a hot tub.

She stomped inside and approached her desk, rifling through the small stack of letters.

An envelope bearing air mail stamps stared back up at her. She removed her knit glove with her teeth before opening it. Her hands shook.

I hope you’re still behaving yourself. Pink sky at night, sailor’s delight.

She sank down into her rickety chair and settled in for a long read. Outside, the sun set over the harbor, casting it in pink and gold.





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