Disclaimer: Don't own any of the x-men character in any of the different Marvel universes (Cartoon, Comic or Movie). All owned and copyrighted by Marvel Comics.

Author's Notes: Initially meant as a oneshot, this has grown to a short series. Currently at four, there will be around 8-9 chapters, with around 1000 to 1500 words per chapter.

Spoilers (and possible spoilers):
1. Astonishing X-Men (#10 through #12)
2. X-Men (#175, #176)
3. Black Panther (#07 through #09, # 14 through #18)
4. House of M #08 (other issues)
5. Decimation - House of M - The Day After
6. Wolverine (#36 through #40)
7. New X-Men (#20 through #23)

---

** ** indicates telepathic communication
‘ ’ indicates thought
“ ” indicates spoken words

---

It was Kitty who found her….broke the news to her. The news she had been dreading to hear.

The news of HIS return…..Logan’s return.

“Logan’s back!!”

Almost five months after they last met, out there on the Serengeti, Logan had returned to the X-Men….but not to her, not now….not after what she did to him.

Not after the way she betrayed him, him friendship, his trust…..his love.

Not now.

----

They’d met near the Kenyan border. She found him, no, he found her, tracking over two thousand of miles of desert and savannah, following her scent wherever possible, asking around wherever not.

He had found her…..come for her….come to her.

“Hey ‘Ro,” his growl carried none of its usual confidence, instead filled with the pain of a man who, by a freak accident, had suddenly attained the one thing that had defined his whole existence….the one thing he had time and again strived for….the one thing that had always eluded him.

Until now.

However, the saying, beware what you wish for, once again, proved itself to be true.

----

The fall of the House of M, the illusionary mutants-in-power world woven by a deranged mind of Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch, the reality-bending daughter of Magneto, had global repercussions.

Her three little words, 'no more mutants', proved prophetic in themselves, her final burst of power, wiping out more than ninety percent of the world’s mutant population, rendering them human, bringing an end to their mutancy….just as she commanded.

Although not affected physically or genetically, the mutant known as Wolverine, too had his world through into chaos. Thrown into the illusion, a bizarre thing happened to him…..he got the one thing he had been searching for all his life, all his previously ‘remembered’ life.

He got his memories, his REAL memories.

----

Tired but not broken, he had come to her, as he had in the past. He could think no one else to turn to….no one except his ‘Ro. no one except his ‘Ro. Not even Xavier, who even if wasn’t already off the radar, had lost too much respect in the feral’s eyes…parting company after Xavier’s handling of the sentient Danger Room, the artificial life-form calling herself Danger.

She had welcomed him, not because she felt any obligation towards him, one that had fulfill for the times when he had been there for her, his gruff but silent support acting as her rock, in her time of need.

After all, not only were they teammates, not only were they friends, they were the best of friends, and maybe even something more, a fact she realized many a times in the past, but something she never admitted to, even to herself…..not until now.

----

“You sure about this?” He had asked her, his body still recovering from the recent most attack on it. It had been before the House of M. The X-Men had just finished with their mission in Niganda and were ready to return home.

“I am Logan. Now that I am back in Africa….I don’t want to leave,” was her answer, her eyes not meeting his. “I need some time alone….To reconcile all that I have become….woman, goddess, x-man, myself.”

Suppressing a scowl at the taller, Vibranium suit clad T’Challa, Black Panther’s offer to make arrangements for her stay, and a grin at her rejection of that offer, he had stepped forth, his gloved hand rising to her bare shoulder.

“I understand,” he told her, and knowing him as she did, she knew that indeed he did. He more than anyone knew the need, the urge to get away once in a while, not because you had got fed up with your life and the people in it, but to find yourself.
“Thank you, Logan,” she answered with nary a smile. Unlike the other times where they hugged at such occasions, the physical touch confirming and solidifying their bond, this time she maintained her distance, her hands fisted at her sides, her stance proud and regal. Was it because of the people, her ‘worshippers’ surrounding her, the other man standing before…between them, or just something within her, she still didn’t know.

All she knew was that even though she didn’t realize the subconscious change in her, Logan did. Stopping himself for going further than the hand-on-shoulder gesture, he withdrew, turned around and walked away.

“I’ll tell the others,” he spoke over his back, once again sparing her the looks, comments and questions she would surely get from the others, even her friend-cum-brother-cum-ex-partner, Remy, who, knowing him, would within the blink of an eye, have offered to stay with her.

Watching him walk away, she soon turned back to T’Challa and resumed their conversation, missing the look a pair of hazel-brown eyes gave her….just as she missed the pain, anger and jealousy flash in them at the kiss she shared with her ex-lover.

----

Gaining his memories, Logan or as he was named by his parents, James Howlett had left the X-Men, taking a temporary break to discover, not who he was, he knew that now, but to discover what parts of his life still existed….just as she had done just a short time before.

He had spanned the globe, his repeated and erratic slipping in and out of the grid unnerving various security organizations, both known and secret. SHIELD had placed him under constant surveillance, or at least tried to, their agents on more than one occasion losing their target.

Even the Avengers had been brought in, the memories of when, in Captain America’s own words had jumped fence still fresh in their minds. The news of his attack on the Prime Minister of Japan’s convoy adding oil to the fire.

They finally sent the Captain after him, his orders to use whatever means necessary to stop him…whatever means necessary.

---

Note: This was intended to be a oneshot. However, after it crossed 7000 words, I decided to split it up.

The updates will be coming along soon…just keep sending your reviews!!

It was nearly a week after she first got the news of his return, did she actually see him…but that too from afar as he pulled out of the mansion gates. He was no longer living in the mansion, but at the apartment, he had rented out for Laura (X23) and Jubilee.

---

It had been before his coming to her in Africa. He had set all his affairs in order, including setting up things for the two teenaged girls. One of them, Laura, was still very reluctant to return to the school, even having run away once, right up to San Francisco and the other, Jubilee, a living firecracker, had had her fuse stamped out, losing her powers just as millions of other mutants around the world.

Laura had returned finally after repeated requests on his part, while Jubilee, he had tracked down to a bankrupt and condemned galleria mall in Los Angeles, California.

Having lost her powers, she had retreated to what had been her first shelter after she first gained her powers and lost her parents. Forcing herself not to press the number one button on her speed dial, the one with Logan’s cell phone number entered in it, she had told herself, grow up, little girl.

Worried about her, he caught her story in the Ex-Mutant Diaries and tracked down the columnist, Sally Floyd. She, recognizing him, both as an X-Man and as the man who had been in the photographs Jubilee had shown her, during her reminiscence of the adventures she used to have with her Wolvie, told him where she last met the girl. From it had been easy enough to track her. Reaching her, Logan almost broke down himself, tears appearing in his eyes at the way the shocked, dumbstruck and above all relieved Jubilee leapt into his arms, her painstakingly erected emotional dams all breaking down in an instant. All at the sight of the man she had saved all those years ago in Australia and who over the years had not only returned that favor many times over, but had become a friend, teammate, mentor and father figure to her.

---

“I can smell his passion for you,” T’Challa had told her, his tone condescending, as if rebuking her for choosing of the short, stocky feral Canadian above him.

“And how many women are there in your harem these days, King T’Challa,” She had thrown back him, her retort clearly expressing her taking offence of his insinuation, while masking her own reluctance at analyzing the truth behind it.

----

He had come to her, seeking sanctuary, and sanctuary she had provided.

For three weeks, he was with her, no, it was three weeks before that night, three weeks before he touched her, before she touched him back….before they made love…..before he told her that he loved her….before she left him and had run away.

It had not been planned, not by either of them, it just….just happened, as if it was destined. It did not happen in the heat of passion, yet it was full of passion and primal heat. She had not wanted it, yet she did, not making any move to stop herself as she leaned in to meet him halfway, their first kiss setting off the charge on the fire that consumed both of them.

The memory of that night was still fresh within her, as if it had just happened yesterday and not all those months ago. She could still feel the soft touch of his lips on hers, his hot breath on her cheek, the slightly bitter taste of the cigar he had just smoked. She could feel it all, her fingertips grazing along her lower lip as the memory surged through her.

They moved as one, with him taking her completely, just as completely she had taken him. His words and actions had made her feel like a woman, not the goddess or the leader or the x-man, but a complete full-bloodied woman, one who deserved to be loved, one who was loved….by him.

….And therein lay the problem.

----

The even breaths and slowed heartbeat of the snow haired goddess lying in the circle of his arms, her face at the crook of his shoulder, her long lithe and completely bare limbs entangled with his equally bare ones, told Logan she had fallen asleep.

“Got somethin’ to tell ya ‘Ro,” he murmured into her snow silken hair, his hand along her back, his thumb caressing along the gentle curve of her spine, his eyes staring far into the night sky.

“Need ya ‘Ro,” he continued. Taking a deep breath, a contented smile formed on his lips. He had always loved her scent. Fresh rain, flowers and the barest of vanilla and honey, that was who Ororo Monroe was, an intoxicating earthy scent that drove him wild at the best of times. The fact that right then, his own leather, cigar and outdoorsy scent was mixed with hers, only served as the cherry topping to the proverbial cake…..one which he wanted to have, to make his own….for eternity.

Lost in her, he carried on with his mumblings, his heart opening up to reveal things he otherwise might not have said….at least not so soon.

“Loved Silver, loved Jeannie,” he found himself saying those names without any of the pain that their loss had brought to him. “Even loved Rose,” he sighed at he recalled the first love of his life. A love that until a few months ago he had no memory of.

“But you….yer like none of ‘em. Yer like Miko,” he smiled sadly at the mention of Mariko Yashida,, the only woman, apart from the one with him right now, who had been able to bring peace to his ravaged hear…to the beast inside him.

“I love ya ‘Ro,” there, he finally said it, his breath hitching when he felt movement and changed heartbeat from Ororo. However, seeing and feeling her squirm against him, her body perfectly molding against his own, he calmed down. “Love ya,” this time his whisper was just loud enough for himself. “Just like Miko…..maybe even better….maybe even more.”

“Can’t lose ya….not now….not ever.”

-----

Waking up, next morning, Logan stretched, sat up and found that he was alone….ALL alone.

---

Note: Spoilers for this chapter: New X-Men (#20, #22), Generation M #01, #02, Black Panther #08, Wolverine #40

Do remember to Review!!

She had run away, fleeing from him and from his love.

She had heard it all, using yoga and breathing exercises, exercises that he had taught her, she kept her breathing and heartbeat even….she heard every single word, leaving soon after he fell asleep, an easy escape facilitated by the fact that they had been out in the plains, being on a camping trip, something both of them loved.

Easing out of the warm, cozy feeling of his natural furnace like body-heat, she had taken to the skies, her winds taking her hundreds of miles away from the man who had just proclaimed his love for her.

--

“I could live like this,” he had told her a few days before it happened.
“Like this?” She questioned with interested eyes and an easy smile. The stay in Africa was doing good for both of them. For her, it had given her the chance to rediscover herself, the proximity of her homeland, the birthplace of human and in that way, mutantkind, was, in a way, rebuilding her….making her whole again.

“Yeah,” he sighed as he lolled his head back in the easy chair and then towards her, a precious and given the area, very hard to get, beer bottle grasped in his hands. “Like this,” he freed one hand to gesture at the lush countryside. “Here. No tension, no X-Men, no nothing. Just me, nature, a cold brew, a fine cigar and my best friend and most beautiful woman in the world with me, keeping me company.”

Quirking a perfectly formed eyebrow at his comment, she could not resist one of her own.

“It seems your sense of humor is as strong as ever….just as your ability for glib remarks.”

“No lies here ‘Ro,” he had returned earnestly.

“Never to you.”

----

They had crossed the line between friendship and physical intimacy, a line they had been treading on for the past so many years, pushing it further without actually crossing it…they had finally crossed it, and that both exhilarated and frightened her, causing her to run away, leaving him alone….all by himself.

If he did or did not follow her, she did not know, returning to Westchester three weeks later. It had been on Scott’s request. An emergency had risen and even though Bishop was the acting head of the X.S.E. the powers that be necessitated that it be her face to be the front of the mutant police force.

-----

“Where is he?” She had finally been able to gather the courage to face him….three hours after Kitty had broken the news to her.
“Who?” Rogue looked up from where she lay between Remy’s legs, her head against his chest as both of them watched some movie playing on the telly. Getting fed-up with the twenty-four hour news coverage, the couple had raided the mansion’s media library, getting out the most idiotic movie they could find. For them it was not so much as, what they were watching, as it was with whom they were watching…spending time with, each other.

“Logan,” she kept her eyes away from the piercing eyes of her brother. Remy had seen and sensed the change in her, not needing to use his powers to see that something was troubling his Stormy, his *padnat*. A secret that she was hiding from everyone, even from him.
“Ah think he left,” Rogue spoke between chomps of popcorn, holding it out to the African Goddess, who refused it gracefully, her heart thumping at her chest.

“L-Left?” A million thoughts ran through her mind. He had left permanently, going back to Canada or Japan. He had left on a mission. He had something or someone else to check up on and ha just come to *touch base* before taking off again.

What she missed out, and what should have been on her mind was what Rogue said next.

“Oh, ya bettah ask that boyfriend o’ yours. Ah saw them togethah.”

“Goddess, no….not him, not T’Challa.”

---

Note: Spoilers for this chapter: Wolverine #40, Black Panther (#14 through #18, story arc)

The cause of Ororo's supposed return is one that fabricated myself. Had to get her back somehow.

Please Review!!

She had forgotten about him….the current guest at the House of Xavier, King T’Challa, the ruler of the African state of Wakanda, the man also known as the Black Panther.

Having embarked on a worldwide quest for a wife, King T’Challa’s latest stop was at the Xavier Institute, his main target, the beautiful windrider, Ororo Monroe herself. Although, his roving eyes had gone over the other female residents of the mansion, including Rogue, Lorna and even Emma, they quickly settled on the woman for whom the trip had been made in the first place.

Hoping that the romance they shared years ago as teenagers, their recent meeting in Niganda, Ororo’s recent stay in her homeland and the feelings that still existed between them would work in his favor to get him the hand of the African Storm; T’Challa had proposed not engagement, but an opening of sorts….in front of all the X-Men.

He was nothing if not modest; flaunting the power being the supreme ruler of a whole country gave him.

--

The others had had mixed opinions about this new development, opinions which either due to their pro or con relationship with Ororo, they mostly kept to themselves. While Emma could not be least concerned with what went on with the woman she had been logger heads with for more than a century, the fact that if she would accept T’Challa’s proposal and marry him, Ororo would then be spending more time in Africa if not moving there permanently. That would mean she would not be as involved either with the X-Men or with the school, giving Scott and her…well ultimately giving her more power.

Bobby, Henry, Bishop, Piotr and Kurt, all males, all of whom had at one time or another had a crush on their exotic teammate, their feelings growing more brotherly, with the exception of Kurt, who was still confused as far as the women in his life were concerned, were not impressed by this new possibility. Although they wanted the best of her, they had assumed that if and when she finally decide to get married, it would be to someone known to them….and more importantly, someone nearby, and not in far off Africa.

Scott by himself didn’t mind it either way. For him, even though there were three teams, he was still the big man around. Having already refused Ororo’s request for her team to join her in Africa, he would if need be, easily assign them a new leader. Well, there was that and Emma’s hands on him, one down his pants and the other in his brain, to guide him to do her bidding, a fact that had been made clear time and again, the latest being the suspension/dismissal/expulsion of the de-powered Danielle Moonstar.

Rogue, Lorna and Kitty were happy for her and although they didn’t want to lose her, they would support her decision. What troubled, not only these three women, but the other X-Men too, was the memory of Ororo’s last marriage proposal. Forge, had proposed and withdrawn all within the span of twenty-four hours, leaving a heart broken Ororo behind him.

However, just as they knew that T’Challa was not Forge, they also knew that the Ororo they knew now was not the Ororo they knew then. She had changed, with all her changes not necessary liked by others.

Having grown as a leader, she had lost some of her innocence and her compassion, becoming almost ruthless in some matters. This was brought to light time and again, whether it be her breaking into the Presidential Ranch in Crawford, Texas, her handling of the ‘Arena’ situation in Japan, or even more recently, the way she had taken to behaving with her newer and younger teammates. Sometimes it almost seemed as if she was compensating in each aspect of her life, trying to be all things at one time. The hardness that had grown in her to combat Emma Frost’s entry and subsequent takeover of the school and now the X-Men, was working against her. Alex Summers, Havok, the current leader of one of the teams, had experienced it first hand when in Niganda, Storm elected to break away from the team and work on her own. It had been Logan who had handled the situation, calming Havok with a, she’s like that with everyone, an answer which wasn’t a complete lie….not anymore.

Last, but not the least, Remy was strictly against the proposal, not that he was going to tell that to Ororo. Not liking T’Challa, a man who had broken Ororo’s heart on more than one occasion, her moving away from the X-Men, his losing her as a friend, sister and some sort of soul mate, the balance of power shifting yet again, all these and more reasons factored into his decision. Then there was the nagging suspicion about what happened in Africa, a suspicion that soon changed to confirmed belief at Logan’s return.

---

Note: This part is from the upcoming ‘Bride of the Panther’ story arc in the Black Panther comic series. The cover of BP #14 has BP, Ororo, Susan Storm-Richards, Spiderwoman, She-Hulk, Rogue and a fifth woman (about whom I have no idea, seeing that I don’t follow this series, except for when it has an X-Men crossover). There is also a sixth one (only in shadow).

I do not like Marvel’s proclamation that, ‘the outcome of this epic quest will send reverberations throughout the whole Marvel Universe.’ For one, they are trying to garner interest and sales for the upcoming Storm miniseries, the one in which is older than the first one (Ororo: Before the Storm, #01-#04), meets and has a romance with a younger T’Challa. Secondly, well…you can get the second reason.

Spoilers: Astonishing X-Men (#02, #03, #06, #08, #10, #12), Black Panther (#07 through #09, # 14 through #18), Decimation - House of M - The Day After, X-Men (#175, #176)

Do review with your thoughts about this!!

He came to her when she was in her greenhouse garden, conjuring up miniature rain clouds to water her beloved plants. Staying hidden, he waited for her to detect him, which, given his constant smoking and the resulting stench o cigarette smoke embedded into his overcoat, happened pretty quick.

“You can stop spying now,” her voice reached him, a smile curving his lips. “I know you are there.”
Stepping out of the shadows, his ever-present playing cards grasped within one gloved hand, he sauntered towards her. “Remy was not spying. He was merely watching da Goddess at work.”

An arched brow regarded him for quite sometime before returning to its natural curve.

“Remy’s not happy,” that particular opening gambit (pardon the pun) was a deliberate one on part of the Cajun charmer.
“Why?” It got her complete attention, her clouds fizzling out. “What happened?”
“Stormy’s angry wit Remy, dat’s why,” another perfect hit, except that knowing him as she did, Gambit was sure she caught onto it, the change in her eyes telling him that she did.

Once again, the eyebrow rose as Ororo caught onto Remy’s game. “What do you have going on in that little mind of yours brother?” Her question was direct but one asked with a smile.

--

Silent as he shuffled his cards, Remy deftly drew out the queen of hearts and showed it to Ororo, waiting for her fingers to reach up and touch it, before wording his next question. “’Roro, what happened in Africa?”
“Wh-what? What do you mean?” Her hesitation and an abrupt lightening flash across the previously clear skies told him that he was right on the mark.

“You can’t hide it Stormy,” he had noticed how she neglected to correct his nickname for her. Something was definitely the matter. “Remy see it in you. Ever since you came back, you are different.”
“People change Remy, even Goddesses.” The answer didn’t quite work….wouldn’t work, not with him, a man well versed in the game play of words.

“But not the way you have.” Deciding to force her hand, he played his trump card, a gamble that could work both ways for him. “An’ definitely not because of one man.”

Her sudden stiffening in his easy embrace told him it had worked. The only thing remaining now was whether she would face up to it, which, knowing her….she wouldn’t. She would close up, a standard tactic of hers.

“I assure you T’Challa or his proposal has got nothing to do with this,” even as she spoke, she could see the smirk forming on his face, the smirk that said just one thing, you are bluffing and I know it.
“Stormy, Remy knows dat your know that the Panther’s not da man he’s talking about,” Remy whispered softly. “He also know who da other man is.”

“I don’t…” she tried to deny it again, trailing off midway. “There is no other man.”
“Whatever you say padnat,” Remy’s gloved hand reached into his coat pocket, drawing out a small piece of paper.

--

Reaching for her shaking hand, his voice a murmur, just loud enough for the two of them, he spoke, his fist opening up into her palm.

“Remy’s always ‘ere for you. Whenever you wanna talk….always. But he also know dat he’s not da man you wanna talk to….not dis time. Here,” the paper transferred into her hands.

“What is this?” She looked up at him, starting to open the folded note.
“No, not yet,” he lay a stilling hand. “After Remy goes, den you read dis.”

“Remy…” she didn’t know what to say to him. On one hand, she wanted to tell him everything. About what happened in Africa, about her insecurities, about her indecisiveness about the marriage proposal, about the heart she had broken….heart of one of her dearest and oldest friends. Everything. But she couldn’t….not because she feared how her ex-partner in crime would judge her, but because he knew that he wouldn’t. He would support her, no matter what….and that made him subjective.

She could only talk to two people….one a person who was removed from all this, or two, the other person who was at root of this.

She had to make a decision.

-----

Lost in her thoughts, she missed when the silent Cajun slipped away, leaving her alone, a note of paper grasped in her right hand.

Almost not wanting to see what the note said, she steeled herself to open it…..and read it.

Inside was just one line….an address.

Logan’s address.

---

Note: I had initially planned on things working out in the end. However, having read the previews of B.P. (14-18) and the upcoming Storm miniseries (1-6), I am not so sure.

Marvel says that in July 2006 there is going to be an event that will shake the Marvel Universe. Both B.P. and Storm series hint at this. Also, they have been playing up their supposed romance....and T'Challa is loooking for a wife (int the #14-#18 arc). So, one can only guess that they are planning to get them two together, especially when they are playing the whole two biggest African heroes' card in Storm's miniseries.

If that happens, I am sorry to say I'll stop any X-Men fics from that particular universe...involving any events after that upcoming July 2006 events. I'll be focusing on the other Universes, which seeing that the 616 universe is the largest, doesn't leave a lot to work with.

The Ultimate X-Men series had shown some promise, however, even they had kind of lost steam, with the previews of #67 saying that some romances frizzle out. #66 has Scooter n' Jean kissing on the cover, Kitty is with Spidey, Iceboy back with Rogue....leaving only 'Ro and Logan.

Enough with the ranting....let me get back to writing....as long as I find the inspiration to do it.

Hmph....Review if you wanna!!

“He’s changed,” the girl, no, the young woman sighed to her companion.

Both of them were sitting in the balcony of their tenth story apartment. Well, one of them was sitting; the other one was perched, precariously on the edge of the railing, her sharp eyes following the stocky figure on the street below.

“Everyone’s changed….” The other girl grunted, her own mind haunted by the deeds of her past. “Everything’s changed.”

“I know that,” the purple and yellow clad Jubilee Lee stood up from her easy chair and walked towards the tacit Laura, X23. “I lost my powers remember. I know from experience how much everything’s changed. You don’t have to tell me.”

“Hn,” Laura knew that Jubilee was not being sarcastic or angry, she was just venting herself. It was a habit of hers, one that Logan knew about and that Laura had learned quickly enough. At first, she would get angry at the near constant chatter….however, almost six months of living together had changed that.

Although, still not a big fan of the Chinese girl’s motor mouth, she had made peace with it. If nothing else, both girls had at least one thing in common, Wolverine. The man was like a father to both, and seeing him like this, seemingly lost in himself, worried them.

---

“Its not his memories,” Jubilee turned around and leaned her back at the concrete side railing. “Its something else.”
“How do you know?” Laura’s voice held no accusation. She knew about Jubilee’s past with Logan and realized that the chatterbox façade of Jubilee hid a complex personality underneath it. She was very perceptive at reading people, especially the ones near and dear to her. Whether it was something Logan taught her, or something she developed on her own, she did not know….however she did respect it and even value. Had it been before M-Day, she would have attributed it to some hidden mutant ability….but not now.

“Duh,” Jubilee looked at her as if she had asked the most obvious question. “You seen him write in that journal of his.”
“Yes,” Laura nodded. That was one of the few things Logan was doing anymore. He had taken temporary leave from the X-Men, and an indefinite one from teaching at the X-Men Academy. The only missions he went on were the ones Mr. Summers, Cyclops contacted him for…well; the contacting was done by his telepathic girlfriend, Ms. Frost, but that wasn’t important. He had completely cut himself off from mansion. The rest of his time he would spend in either going to places he remembered from his newly gotten memories, or just sitting around, drinking beer, smoking cigars and writing in that journal of his.

---

“He’s writing his memories in it,” Jubilee didn’t have to read to know what was in that book, not that she would do such a thing to Logan anyway. She knew because she had seen the lost, far off look that her Wolvie used to get, sitting with a pen in one hand, cigar or beer in the other, his notebook open and lying before him.
“Oh,” Laura sighed and nodded. She had long since stopped putting on her don’t come near me mask in front of Jubilee. Having taken down the master of that particular look, the newbie Laura didn’t even pose a threat to her wiggling skills.

“Yeah,” Jubilee nodded. “I think he does it because he is doesn’t want to lose them again.”
“What do you mean?” X tilted her head to look at her, her brow creased with inquisitive confusion.

“You know, how some people think that this whole thing will blow of soon,” Jubilee’s point was towards the speculation that whatever had caused millions of mutants worldwide to lose their powers was temporary and that its affect would wear off soon. Some had even reported cases of such occurrences, although there had been no solid proof…but people still had people…even Jubilee herself. She used to be the living firecracker, the unbelievably larger-than-life Jubilee, her fireworks display used to put the fourth of July to shame….and then one day, *POOF* finito. End of story.

“Yeah,” Laura’s nod brought her out of her self-wallowing.

“Yeah, well, I think Wolvie’s afraid that if that happens…”
“He’ll lose his memories again,” Laura cut in, catching onto what she was trying to say.

“Yup,” the shorthaired short-statured Jubilee nodded. “He doesn’t want to lose them….not again. So he’s writing it down, at least as much as he can incase they wear off.”

---

“There is something else too,” Laura returned to her earlier point. “I can smell it on him.”
“Yeah well,” Jubilee smirked. “Can’t help you with that. Even when I had my powers, I didn’t do the smell thing. It always used to gross me out. I used to think, imagine you keep smelling everything….ewww. You know how dirty some people are. Yuck.”

“You learn to neglect it,” Laura’s lips twitched in the barest of smiles, a feat for her. “Like to learn to filter out sounds.”

“You know,” something struck in Jubilee’s mind. “He HAS been different. He never goes to the mansion. At first I thought, it was just to get his bearings that he was staying here. But now….”
“Now?”

“Now, I am not so sure.”

---

Note: Ok, not RoLo in this chapter, but I wanted to write about the possible interaction between Jubilee and Laura X (X23).

Back to the mansion in the next one….send me yer Reviews!!

“Ororo.”
“Yes T’Challa.”

“Are you free right now?”
“Why do you ask?”

“I was just wondering, whether you’d like to go out somewhere.”
“Why?”

“I would like to talk to you…..”
“About what? Your proposal?”

“Yes.”
“I have thought about it.”

“And….”
”I haven’t reached a decision yet….I-I need more time.”

“Of course. Take as much time as you want. I have waited a lifetime for you, a few more days…I’ll keep-I’ll try to control my waiting heart.”
“Your glibness is not going to help your case.”

“Then what will? Tell me and I’ll do it. For you, anything.”
“….”

--

“So are you free right now?”
“What now?”

“I just want to spend some time with you, just the two of us.”
“We are alone here. There is not one else nearby.”

“I meant away from here. Perhaps in the city. I remember a couple of good restaurants from my previous stay in New York. Fit for a King and a Goddess….and if luck favors me, maybe my future queen.”
“I told you….”

“Don’t worry Ororo,” (smiles) “I was just, as they say here in America…yanking your chain.”
“Hmmm, not even two weeks and already you are fluent in teen talk.”

(Both laugh) “Now come on, before I embarrass myself even further.”

----

Both walk away towards the garage and are soon on the road

“Ororo.”
“Yes.”

“You seem preoccupied. Is something troubling you.”
“…no.”

“I hope my attempt at juvenile humor didn’t offend you.”
“No, its not that and it didn’t….not much.”

“Then what is it?”
“What is what?”

“You said its not that, so there must be something else on your mind.”
“Nothing that should concern you….just normal X.S.E. business.”

“Oh….”
“And don’t worry, my work with the X.S.E. won’t affect my decision regarding your proposal.”

“You just read my mind.”
“I just read your face.” (Both smile)

--

“Whether I accept your proposal or not, you do realize that I will continue my work….”
“Yes of course. But you base it from Wakanda. I can provide your team the best facilities…..”

“….” (silence)
“Or somewhere else in Africa. We don’t want conflicts of interests, do we?” (smile)

“No we don’t.” (smile returned)
“Good….here we are.”

----

Four hours later, they pull back into the side road leading to the mansion.

*WRROOOOMMMMM*

‘Logan’ (she knows)

“Isn’t that your teammate….Wolverine.”
“Yes, and he is no longer on my team.”

“Oh…..”
“Yes. Scott has him on his team now. Before he was on all three teams….”

“All three!!” (He’s surprised) “How did he do it?”
“He…He’s the best at what he does.”

“And now?”
“With the increased threat, his work with Cyclops’s team has increased.”

“Hmmm….I was wondering about it.”
“About what?”

“Nothing. Just that I haven’t seen him around much…hmm, come to think of it, just once. Guess he must be really busy, if he doesn’t even get the time to get back to the mansion.”
“He doesn’t live at the mansion. Not anymore.”

“Any reason?”
“He has been having a tough time. These past few months have been really difficult for him. That’s why he moved away. He needed time….”

“But shouldn’t he be near his friends? People who can help him….people he can turn to.”
“….” (silence)

“I am a king and even have my advisors hear me out from time to time.”
“….” (silence)

--

“I thought it be something else.”
“What else?” (Her heart misses a beat)

“When I told him about my proposal to you, I got the impression he wasn’t paying much attention….like he was someplace else.”
“He has been tracing his past.”

“No, I don’t think that was what it was. It was something else. I have worked with the troll in the past…”
“T’Challa.”

“Forgive me,” (flashes his teeth) “I have with that gentleman in the past, and somehow, something was off about him.”
“I wouldn’t know.”

“You wouldn’t?” (He’s surprised) “I thought you were friends….good friends.”
“We are….” (Thinking) ‘We were.’

--

“You know, I almost expected a showdown with him.” (He chuckles)
“W-What?”

“I expected him to try….well it doesn’t matter now. Its not even worth mentioning.”
“What did you expect T’Challa?”

“I expected him to try and stop you from accepting my proposal.”
“Why would you think that?” (Her voice has a fear in it….one that he catches but does not mention.”

“Like I told you its not even worth mentioning.”

-----

Reaching the garage, they get out and walk towards the mansion. Her walking faster, away from him.

-----

“Ororo.”
“Good night T’Challa. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Ororo…I’m sorry I mentioned it. It was wrong on my part to say that.”
“It was wrong on your part to even think that.” (She corrects him)

“What?” (He doesn’t believe it. He has smelled the other man’s passion for this Goddess, this woman….soon….if everything works out…soon to be HIS woman)
“It was wrong for you to even think that Logan would try and affect my decision or stop my from doing something that would bring my happiness.”

“You think accepting my proposal and marrying me would bring you happiness. There would none other person happier than me….Its my honor that you have accepted…”
“I haven’t accepted anything…..not yet anyway.”

“But you said….”
“I said, Logan would want me to do the thing that would make me happy. Inspite of what you think, inspite of his feelings towards me….my happiness would come first for him.”

“Ororo…”
“Good night King T’Challa.”

-----

An hour later,

A silent, black clad figure leaves the grounds of the X-Mansion.

It has to be somewhere, meet someone….SHE has to meet someone….meet HIM.

She’s made her decision….sort of.

---

Note: Wanted to get a BP-Ororo chapter done, but didn’t feel like writing too much support prose.

Next chapter…..Logan and Ororo.

It was cold outside, just as cold as the inside of his heart…..after what he saw.

He caught her scent before he saw her, in the car…with HIM, the man who had asked her hand in marriage. She was laughing at something he said….she looked happy.

Happier than she had been in a long time.

---

Lifting the already half-empty bottle of scotch, he took a swig, the fire from the bitter liquid doused almost instantly by his healing factor. Just once….just one freakin’ time he wanted to get dead drunk…or both. At least that would save him from the repeated series of losses and pains that his life was.

He used to think his almost thirty years of life was painful. Hell, it wasn’t anything compared to what he knew now.

Jubilee and Laura were out for night. Both of them and some of their friends were out gonna paint the town red. Jubilee’s words not Laura’s. Afterwards, they’d go to the mansion for the weekend.

“Lived a hundred years, still no one to love,” he spoke to the bare walls. “No one.”

---

Rose, Silver, Jean, Mariko…all women he loved and all of them he lost.

Rose never loved him like he wanted her, or maybe she did. Who knows? They could have had a life, ‘cept that his animal grew inside him and she fell in love with Smitty. Good man, woulda kept her happy. “If ya hadn’t killed her.” His self accusation was spoken aloud.

Silver Fox….Silver plus Logan, with a nice heart drawn outside it. They were so happy the day that they carved that on the front door of the cabin. They had such plans. Already had the cabin, he had a good enough job, some land. Just a coupla kids and everything would have been great. “Then ya lost her,” another swig from the bottle. He had thought that Creed had killed her and maybe she had been died. Fuck, he had died a few times himself. They brought him back, musta brought back her too. They found each other….only to have him lose her all over again, an’ this time it was for real. He buried her himself and visited her ever since….each spring.

Jean. Jean…Jeannie….Red. He had so many names for her, but to the world she has just two, Phoenix and Jean Grey-SUMMERS. With her, it was Rose all over again. She loved him that much he could tell, but not like she loved Slim Summers, the man she married, the man she chose over him, her soul mate….her husband….her traitorous husband. Slim had the best thing in the world, a woman who loved him with all her heart, a woman who fought death for him, and what did he do….he went and dumped it all for a couple of mind fucks with Emma ‘Hellfire Bitch’ Frost.

Then there was Mariko, different from the rest. He still remembered the day he first saw her…the first time she saw him. Almost like any other person he had ever met, she too had been more than slightly unnerved by his appearance, especially with his blue and yellow wolverine garb one. However, unlike most of those people, she gave him a second, a better look and found the good inside and drew it out. He still had in his possession the honor sword that reminded him of her and the promise they had made to each other….the promise that he had waited for her to regain the lost honor of her family name, and recover she did. They had within reach what was once denied to them….a life together, a life as husband and wife. Everything had been ready. Within twenty-four hours she would become Mrs. Logan, a name she had already inscribed on her soul. It had been so close, just a hair’s breath away….so close and yet…..and yet, it was that short distance that was denied to them, forever and ever. His hand, the one he had plunged into her to end her suffering, still shook at the memory of his razor sharp claws tearing through the soft, smooth skin of the first woman he loved like a man, not as an angry teenager or as a near animal.

There had been one other whom he had loved like that ever since. Only one for whom he had reeled in his animalistic nature and tried to act like a man, to wait it out, to give her time, to get to know her as a person……only one. Too bad all his patience and his waiting all seemed to be for vain. He had become so lost in doing the right thing, the thing that his mind told him to do, that he lost out on his heart’s voice…..until the time it was too late.

------

“Ororo,” her mere name was enough to drive him wild, bringing him both joy and lately pain at the way it rolled off his tongue. He almost wished that he hadn’t done what he did, that he hadn’t gone to Africa, not kissed her, made love to her….professed his love for her. He almost wished that. Atleast then he wouldn’t have to face waking up alone, sitting like an idiot waiting for her to return. He had sat at the same place, their camp side for a week in the hope that she had just left for some work or to clear her mind and think about what he had said. He hoped that he would get some answer, an affirmative answer.

He knew she wanted him, he could smell that much on her. Even before their lips touched for the first time, he had smelled the want on her. If he hadn’t done that, he would have stopped himself, stopped from doing all the things he did….everything except for continuing to silently love her.

After that week of waiting, he had left not only that place, that country, but also that whole fucking continent. He had gone back to Canada, to his cold, his wilderness, to the place where he could forget himself, leave the man behind and let loose the animal. The man had failed and there was no need for failures in the eyes of the animal inside him.

Finally, more than five months later he returned to the mansion to pick up the pieces of his century old shambled life. It wasn’t the first time he had been beaten down, and knowing him, it wouldn’t be the last. With him, it was sort of a regular occurrence, one that he had come to expect. He was above all a survivor. He had survived before and he would do it again.

-----

Then he saw HIM…..the Panther, the man who had been in her past and who wanted to be her future.

It was more than he could bear then. It was Jean all over again and then some. Atleast with Jean it had been a case of the forbidden fruit, but Ororo, she he had not only tasted, but touched, felt, memorized….imprinted on his soul. Seeing her ready to become someone else’s was the last blow on his already shaky psyche.

He ran, just like he had done so many times in the past…..he ran, and had been running ever since.

Although he entered the mansion only once since that day, he went there everyday, hiding in the forest area, just to see her, catch her scent, to know she was there. It gave him an odd sort of rest and calmed him with the knowledge that maybe; just maybe, she would come around to him…..a hope now lost as seeing her with him.

------

A rapping on the door jarred him out of his misery, his olfactory senses flaring at the fresh rain and flowers scent that reached through the closed door.

‘Couldn’t be her,’ he shook his head to clear his mind, refusing to accept his own instincts. ‘She’s with him.’

KNOCK, KNOCK

He heard it again, the second knock louder than the previous faint one.

Pushing himself off his worn out chair, he didn’t even care to lift the bottle he had just kicked away. Everything started to fall away as he started the endless journey of ten feet to the door.

By the time he reached his destination, he was almost afraid to open it. Even after he laid his hand on the lock, he let it remain there, warring with himself whether to take the next step or step back.

Finally reaching a decision, he lifted his hand and stepped away from the door…..

….away from the locked door.

Standing outside Logan’s apartment, Ororo leaned in to rest her head against the front door. Having knocked twice, and getting no answer had made her think that maybe he wasn’t there. She already knew about Laura and Jubilee’s plans, having met the girls at the mansion. They had told her that they would be staying over for the weekend, meaning he would be alone for that time duration.

Finally gathering her courage, she had slipped out under the cover of the night and ridden her winds to roof of this building, using the stairs for the rest to come to this place. Ready to give up and thinking that she should have checked for his Harley first, she reached up and knocked for one last time. Maybe he was asleep; she consoled herself, knowing that even if that was the case, his senses would have alerted him already.

“Logan,” she whispered against the door, only to recoil the next instant as a familiar sound reached her ears, the sound of metal scraping against metal and locking into position.

-SNIKT-

He was in there.

----

“Logan,” just hearing her voice was too much, his claws sliding out on their own according, the pain at the metal slicing through muscle and skin nothing compared to the pain Logan felt in his heart.

Why was she here? To rub his face in the proverbial dirt? Even through the wooden partition, he could smell the other man’s scent on her, not a sexual one, but still too close for any sort of respite or comfort.

He had stepped away from the door, hoping that she would give up and leave on her accord. ‘Insteada runnin’ away like the last time,’ a masochistic voice chuckled from inside him. He had made the choice this time….almost. Then she spoke, her honey smooth, naturally husky voice assaulting and instantly taking over his senses. The way she called his name now, the way she called his name that night, the way she called it before….and never since. It was all too much for him.

‘What d’ya want?’ He wanted to snarl at her, but couldn’t. Instead he waited, his claws sticking out from his left hand, his right one still hovering over the doorknob.

“Logan…..” the pleading call came again. “….Please.”

-SNIKT-

The click of the lock accompanied the sliding in of the claws, the twin sounds followed by the near silent swing of the door…..revealing both of them to each other.

-----

Logan forgot to breathe at the sight before him. Standing before him, her black skintight dress sticking to and accentuating her every curve was the woman, the goddess who had haunted his sleeping nights and waking days. Her silvery locks, damp from the moisture in the air clung to her face, back and shoulders, melting snowflakes still adorning and adding to her ethereal glow. His eyes traveled from the ground up as he recalled how those lithe yet muscular legs had felt wrapped around him, those arms bereft of the clothing that covered them, snaked around his neck, her slender fingers tunneling into and pulling at his unruly mane, urging him on with her, against her, into her. He recalled how those full lips mumbled garbled mixtures of endearments or nibbling against his heated body or just moaning out in passion. He remembered it all….and it sent fresh spikes of raging pain through him.

They stood in silence, each regarding the other. Just as Logan studied her, so did Ororo study him. She too gave him a full body scan, her eyes still unable to meet his. She had hurt him already, deeply, and knowing her, she knew that she was going to do it again. She could smell the bitter smell of alcohol coming off him, and for a moment there, she thought that he might be inebriated. Then she remembered how long and how hard it was for him to get that way, and the three bottles she saw over his shoulder, told her that he had not reached that point….yet. Unable to form any words, she waited for him to break the silence. What she did not fail to notice was how his left hand still fisted at his side was ready and primed to swing into action against anyone…maybe even her.

------

Driven by instinct rather than thought, he started to move towards her, stopping himself at the very last instant, his raised hand stilling inches from her. He dare not touch her now, just as she not touch him…..not now, not when even from this distance a sort of pull drew them towards each other, not when he knew she had reached a decision.

Letting his hand fall away to his side, he turned around silently making his way to inside the apartment. He did not say anything to her, the open door being invitation enough. ‘Its up to you,’ were those unspoken words. ‘If you want to come in then come in. Otherwise….”

It was left to her…..stay or run….just like last time.

------

“What d’ya want?” This time he did speak out aloud, his back still turned to her. She had stepped into the room, the door closing with a click behind her.
“Logan….I…..”
“You’ve decided,” he half growled, half scoffed, his tone slightly slurred from the still lingering but fast fading effects of the alcohol he had drunk.
“….” Silence and then, “yes.”
“Hn.”

‘Atleast, she ain’t lying….yet,’ he thought to himself, his body stiffening as it sensed her hand draw near and then fall away. “So, what are ya doin’ here?”

“Logan….” Ororo did not know what to say. She hadn’t known what to expect, or maybe she had, but this, she didn’t expect this. “Its not like….”
“…not like what I think,” Logan whirled out, his eyes blazing with barely contained anger, and something else, pain, a world of pain. “Not like what it was supposed to be. Not like how things work in yer kings and goddess world.”

Stunned by his sudden and yet not completely unexpected outburst, Ororo stood silent, her hand grasped at her chest. The same hand she had almost touched him with. She stopped, just like him, because, as he knew so did she…..with them, at this moment, a single touch wouldn’t be enough, not for either of them.

“You know I used t’ think about what made Forge leave,” sapphire blue eyes shot up in surprise. “I used to blame him. After all, who would leave a person like you? I used ta pity the stupid fucker. He lost the best thing in the world. Now, now its clear who got fucked over, aint’ it, Storm.”
‘Storm,’ he called her by her codename. Not Ororo, ‘Roro or ‘Ro, but the official, unattached, unfeeling codename they used in times of battle….battle, was that what it was for him now?
“I think he got out in time,” Logan chuckled humorlessly. “Although not before you got a chance to fuck him over too. You had not intentions of marrying him, did ya? Ya were waitin’ fer yer Prince t’ come and sweep ya off yer feet.”
Her own emotions bubbling over, Ororo barely contained herself, not because Logan was right or because he was wrong, but because she knew what he was trying to do. He was trying to make her hate him, just as he was trying to make himself hate her. He was trying to give both of them but more importantly her, an easy, but all-ending way out. He was deliberately acting the way they used to be during their initial days with the x-men….a time when they couldn’t stand each other.

This was not what she wanted. She wanted things to go the way they were before that fateful night, before they left their friendship and crossed the line into lov….into something else. She wanted to step back over that line and regain that friendship, the friendship in which she could tell him anything, just as he could tell her. The friendship in which he would be support any such decision of hers and be happy for her, with her. It was a fool’s quest, she even knew that, yet she had to try. Maybe he did not mean what he said, maybe it was a spur of the moment thing, or maybe his feelings had faded away. She had had all those thoughts, all those excuses to give her a way out.

----

“What do you want Ororo?” Logan finally sighed, all his fight suddenly leaving his body. He couldn’t stay angry with her, he couldn’t have done it in the past, and he definitely couldn’t do it now. After all it really wasn’t her fault that his luck sucked in the love department, no, especially in the love department. “What….do…you….want?”
‘You,’ that answer would have been so simple and so easy. “I-I want us to be friends,” was what finally came out.

“Friends, huh,” the way Logan repeated her answer, sent spikes of pain through both their hearts. She knew she was taking the easy way out, and he was giving her that, by cheapening the invaluable relation that tied them for years, bonded their hearts. “Sure, why not….atleast I am worth that.”
‘You are worth much more to everyone….to me.’ Ororo remained silent, watching Logan stumble away to the fallen alcohol bottle, lift it and bring it to his lips, trying to wash away his senses and memory off her.

----

He didn’t ask for any explanations, any clarifications about why she left him, why she never came back, why she didn’t come earlier, why she came now, what decision had she made, why she had made it…nothing. He took in her words, her decision at their face value, just as he had done in the past, like when he used to accept her command decisions.

‘Except this isn’t a command decision,’ a voice called out from within Ororo. She wanted him to confront her, to grab her, shake her, rattle her very being, ask her why she was doing this….maybe then it would be clear to her too. Maybe then she would be able to overcome the dichotomy that her heart, soul and mind had become.

Yet he did nothing. He had already said everything he wanted to say. He had no more words, not for this woman, this woman who was a stranger to him now. The woman he befriended, respected, loved was lost the night this stranger took control and ran away from him…from them.

----

Her head hung low, Ororo started to turn back towards the front door, only to stop mid-step and change her direction to that towards Logan.

Taking two unsure steps to span the physical distance separating them, she did something that proved to be the undoing for both of them.

She touched him.

“You have reached….”

The answering machine started. “Jubilee,” a lively female voice, one belonging to the young woman of the same name piped up. “Laura,” an equally young but much somber voice continued. “and Logan,” once again it was Jubilee, but with a deeper pitch, an imitation of her Wolvie interjected, carrying on with the rest of the message.

“….’s house of freaks and horrors. You know what to do with your name, phone number and message, so do it already.”

An amused sigh could be heard from the other end as Scott’s Summers voice sounded from the speaker.

“Message for Logan,” it was a usual practice to specify who the message for. “Logan, this is Scott. Just called to remind you that Emma, Henry and me, we will be going to DC tomorrow, regarding this registration of all superheroes act. I know you asked for to be left alone except for missions, but we…I wanted to know if you could stay over at the mansion for the next couple of days. I’ve tried on your cell, but it seems to be turned off. Left the same message there too. So, just give me a call at my office. Thank you. Oh, I almost forgot. Ororo seems to have reached a decision. Remember to come for that meeting tonight. See you then, seven sharp.”

Click!!

-----

The message ending, the two occupants and co-residents of the apartment looked at one another. Returning to their apartment, Jubilee and Laura found their third pad-mate gone. Although nothing out of the ordinary in itself, their internal alarms rang at the three empty bottles of whisky on the floor, the remains of Logan’s cell phone lying near them. The chipped wall paint and the mangled circuitry made everything clear as to what happened to the doomed device.

“What happened here?” Jubilee stared wide eyed at the tattered remains of clothing scattered all over the room.

Taking a testing sniff, a very familiar smell assaulted Laura X’s nostrils, her own eyes growing large as she recognized and placed the smell. The message, the smell, the clothes, the drinking, the phone, she quickly made the connections.

“He’s gone,” she spoke tightly, her fists balling up on their own accord, her Adamantium laced claws threatening to pop put.
“Duh,” Jubilee looked up from where she was collecting the phone, or what remained of it. “Even I can see that Lady Brainiac.”
“Hn.”

----

“Oh shi…..” Jubilee gasped as she caught sight of the destruction in Logan’s room. She thought the living room was bad, it was nothing compared to this. “Laura,” she cried out, carefully making her way through the littered floor.
“Yeah….oh.”
“Yeah, oh,” Jubilee repeated her succinct answer. “He’s gone,” she turned around, her finger pointing to the empty space on the wall, the space that until a couple of days ago was occupied by a sword, a special sword, the honor-sword of clan Yashida. Its absence could mean only thing, Logan was gone for an indefinite period of time.
“I told you,” Laura sighed, mild dejection making it through her usually impassive exterior. “He left this,” she held up a piece of paper, Logan’s writing was on it.

“What does it say?” A piece of a broken lamp shade crunched under her feet as Jubilee stepped over to the take the note.
“He’s leaving, doesn’t know till when, wants us to take his place in the meeting,” Laura gave the abridged version. “And not to take any shit from anyone.”

All her recent liveliness gone, Jubilee read through the note. True enough, Logan had written all this, plus his love for them and for them to take care….not that Laura was going to mention it, if anything the young Ms. Wolverine as Jubilee called her sometimes, was even guarded then ol’ Fuzzface himself. He also wrote about the money had arranged for them. As for taking his place in the meeting, he had indeed written that, saying that he had complete confidence in both her and Laura to represent himself….their family correctly. He ended with that he would return soon.

“Idiot,” the Chinese-American girl muttered under her breath, wiping the tears welling up in her eyes. She knew it was Logan’s way of handling things. He had no one to turn to. Well, that was not true. He had them; he just did not want to put his troubles on them. It had been his way in the past. He had left when he got his memories….just like when he lost the metal on his skeleton.

----

“What do we do?” Laura broke the tense silence.
“We do as he says,” Jubilee clenched her hand around the stupid piece of paper.

“Ok,” the publicly lesser experienced former weapon nodded her answer. “Should we call Mr. Summers and tell him.”
“Nah,” Jubilee flipped her hand. “Cyke will know it when we get there. After all, Logan wouldn’t call, would he?”
“No, I guess not.” The other girl shook her head.

“Hey Laura,” Jubilee spoke moments later, her lips curving up in an conspiring smirk, her eyes still reflecting her pain.
“Yes.”

“Remember one thing. We are going to represent Wolvie. So you do know what that means, right?”
“Uh, yeah. We….” Laura started only to stop mid-sentence. She had no idea what it meant. She had thought that it would mean that they would go and maybe sit in his chair or something. “What does it mean?”

“It means….” Jubilee held up her hand and closed it into a fist, her gaze moving from her hand to Laura's. “Get it.”
“What? No?”

“Hmph. Let me clarify it for you,” said Jubilee, her lips mimicking a familiar sound.

-SNIKT-

---

Note: This story is coming to an ending….and I still don’t know how it will end.

Please remember to review!!

“We should start,” said, Emma Frost, the current headmistress of the Xavier Institute for the Gifted and erstwhile White Queen of the Hellfire Club. “I am sure Storm must want to reveal her decision, something we all, especially King T’Challa have been waiting for with bated breath for the last few weeks.”

Her words got chuckles from a couple of people gathered around the table, while most of the others did not even want to or did not pay any attention to her jabber.

“We are still missing one team member,” Beast, Hank McCoy pointed out, drawing everyone’s attention to the single empty chair, the one usually occupied by Wolverine.
“Yes,” Scott nodded. “Logan should be here soon. I gave him an half an hour’s leeway.”
“Scott dear,” Emma daintily flipped her hand, or atleast tried to, her next words having a specific target. “I am sure Logan has some other important work to attend to, some barroom brawl just waiting for him, some two bit ten dollar….”

“Watch it!” A warning shot through her sentence, causing Emma to arch one brow at the speaker. Not what, who she had in mind, but good shot nevertheless.
“You said something….Kitten,” she deliberately used Kitty’s nickname, the one Ororo used for her.
“I said, watch it,” Kitty ‘Shadowcat’ Pryde repeated herself, her tone hard. “Although I am sure you know more about the two bit ten dollar deal than anyone in this room…..maybe with the exception of….” She trailed off, her eyes glaring at the couple sitting a few feet away from her.

“Ooh,” Emma showed mock-fear, muttering under her breath. “Look out; the cat’s got her claws out.”

Stunned at what her Kitten just said and insinuated towards T’Challa, , Ororo kept her eyes away from the accusing eyes of the young woman who had grown up right in front of her. Over the past couple of weeks, Katherine, had grown increasingly militant towards her. There had no reason for this sudden and averse change….except that she too had finally put two and two together and realized what Remy already knew.

Soon after coming to the mansion for the first time, the then incredibly shy and highly impressionable Kitty had bonded to Ororo as a mother figure and to Logan as a father…albeit initially reluctantly on Logan’s part. Even if she did not see it then, over the years she had come to enjoy the camaraderie her two stand-in parents shared. She might not have given thoughts to a possible matrimony or even anything romantic between the two, but never in her wildest dreams did she even envision such a thing happening. Something had happened between the two of them, that much she was sure of now, something to drive such a wedge between the two that Logan had stopped setting foot in the mansion and whatever the reason for that, she knew one thing for sure, she did not like it one bit….just as she did not like the man occupying the space next to Ororo. Not liking him much in the first place, she had almost gone on to hate him…and Ororo by association. It was not that she was taking Logan’s side; it was that, after having lost her ‘biological’ parents, she did not want to lose her X-ones.

“Wheah did the canucklehead fall off too?” Rogue muttered out aloud, her own brain wracking at her. A bit late to arrive on the scene, she too had caught onto the signals, mostly from the way Remy had been behaving. It was as if he was hiding something, something about Ororo. She had even confronted him on it, not getting much for her efforts except for the discovery that whatever it was, it was not directly about Remy….and that it troubled him A LOT.

“He’s not coming.” Everyone’s head whipped to the door, their eyes finding Jubilee and Laura X. “We are here in his place.”

----

“What do you mean he is not coming?” Scott stood up, his eyes narrowing behind his visor. “And you are in his place?”

“Yup,” Jubilee nodded as she turned to Ororo. “Hey Storm,” she purposely wished the windrider, putting on her best devil may care grin.
“Jubilee,” Scott interjected again. “What do you…?”
“Here,” the teenager stepped forward and handed him a piece of paper. It was the same one that Logan had left for them, except that she had hidden the words that were just for her and Laura.

Scott’s face cleared up, only to twist into a frown as he trailed through the contents of the note. “He wants you to sit in for him?” He spoke aloud, his words getting surprised looks from everyone, everyone except for the numb-silent Ororo. It was not like she expected him to come, yet....
“Yup,” Jubilee nodded. “I am the talk and she is the muscle,” she jerked a head towards Laura.
“Scott,” Emma stood up and came to his side. “Why don’t we allow them to sit in? After all, they are representing Wolverine.”

The look Scott gave Emma was a pure, are you out of your mind, one. Not only was she supporting to allow two teenagers to sit in the x-men’s official meeting, but teenagers, one among whom was currently de-powered, essentially human one, and the other, a girl whose case she had vehemently opposed.

‘What game are you playing Emma?’ He thought to himself, getting no reply from the smirking Emma.

What he did not know was that Emma had more than an inkling about the reason behind Logan’s absence and Jubilee and Laura’s subsequent appearance.

-----

“Any objections Cyke,” the right-in-the-eyes look that Jubilee gave Scott was pure Wolverine. “Anyone else?”
“Jubilee,” Scott hissed. “You do remember your position here, don’t you? I can make you two leave this room right now.”
“You can try,” Jubilee was never one to step down from a challenge. “You’ll just have to deal with her,” once again she pointed towards X23.

-SNIKT-

The silent girl straightened her arms and popped the claws from both her hands. She and Jubilee had reached an agreement. Jubilee would do the talking and she the slashing….if and when it came to that. Having worked as an political activist had honed the already ‘motor mouth’ skills the spiky haired Jubilation Lee naturally possessed.

“Like the man said,” Jubilee nicked the note back from Cyclops’ hand. “We are here to represent him. Understand….Bub.”

With that both girls walked over to Logan’s assigned chair, with Jubilee sitting down on it and Laura leaning against the wall, her arms crossed at her chest, the claws of one hand still out.

----

Ororo did not know what to make of this. Was Logan trying to make fun of her, of her decision….of her choice? That would explain him sending Jubilee and X23 in his place.

The events of a couple of nights ago were until fresh and raw in her mind…..her body still tingling from the aftereffects. She touched him, instinctively or deliberately she did not know. That one touch had led to a repeat of their night on the Serengeti plains. Except that this time, Logan did not say anything…not one word, for the entire time they were together. Even when they were finished, he just looked at her, his eyes previously filled with raging pain, emptying themselves into nothingness. Falling back onto his back, he had drawn her close, his silence in that eerily familiar position saying everything he could not. The same silence continued in the morning, as Ororo slipping out of this warm embrace gathered her clothes and herself. Even as she left his room, and then his house, she could feel his eyes boring into her.

Turning back to look at him one last time, before she left again, she felt her heart break into two as he turned away from her. He had not seen her leaving the first time and he was damned if he saw her leave now.

Why didn’t he ask her to stay? Why didn’t she stay? It would have been so easy….so easy.

Just as easy it would have been for her to stay that first time, when he did.

----

“Jubilee,” she leaned forward. “Where-where is he?”

“Don’t know, don’t care,” Jubilee shrugged the question off, her gaze piercing completely at odds with her laidback attitude. “You know Logan…..don’t you ‘Ro?”

Ororo sat up ramrod straight….the way Jubilee called her ‘Ro, she would have just have easily slapped her. Under her sugarcoated exterior, the pain, the anger, the rage was clear and straining to burst out.

‘What did Logan tell her….them?’ Thought Ororo, her liquid blue eyes losing their brightness as she alternated between Jubilee and Laura. ‘What did he write in that note?’

----

Soon,

“Congratulations Ororo, T’Challa,” Scott and Emma were the first ones to step forward with their best wishes. Scott shook the beaming T’Challa’s hand while Emma (of all people) stepped up and hugged Ororo.

“Always knew you had it in you,” she whispered into the weather witch’s ear. “The way you played him, played them, cold, heartless, ruthless, prime Hellfire Club material.” With the she stepped back, her smirk widening at the wide eyed look of Ororo. Once again it was shown, who was the Queen of this household.

Next was Henry. He settled on a simple hand shake with T’Challa and a friendly hug with Ororo.

Then came Remy and Rogue. While Remy shook T’Challa’s hand, Rogue threw her arms around her friend and teammate, her southern spunk making an appearance.
“Waiht till ya see the bachelorette party Ah will organize fer ya,” she said, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

With Rogue stepping back, Remy came in front of his Stormy, his red-black eyes twinkling with love and something that was akin to pity. Although happy for his padnat, he did not need his emphatic abilities to know that her happiness and her decision was not a complete one. Nevertheless, she had made a choice and he would support it….support her, even if he did not agree with her choice. He wasn’t sure if this man was right for her or the other man. What he did not like was the way this whole thing had gone down….and would continue in the future.

Next was Bobby. Bobby had regained his ice powers, but was having problems of his own. Unknown to him, Lorna had lost her powers and had hidden it from the rest of the team….until it was almost too late. Once the secret was out, she left the team, the mansion….and Bobby. One of the original five and thus one of the oldest team members, he knew his duty and fulfilled it, squashing his own desire to accompany her. He still wasn’t quite sure about what would be Storm’s status, now that she had accepted T’Challa’s proposal. Not that he cared anymore….about either of them. As far as he was concerned, they could go to hell. His sudden animosity, arose from him own loss. If it had not been for that mind-meddling bitch Emma, HE could have been the one who left with Lorna. The factor that he would have died from a Sapien-League crazy’s bullet, did not affect his thoughts. Right now, he would give anything to be the one who was with Lorna, his current or ex-girlfriend….he did not know what relation they had left. Not when the one person he had been competing with for Lorna’s affections was the person who was with her….Alex Summers, Havok.

Then came Kitty and Piotr. The couple were making tentative progress themselves, all with Piotr’s return from the dead, Kitty’s loss of her parents and the recent problem they faced with Piotr’s ‘Bloodline’ coming into play.
“Congratulations,” Piotr wished both T’Challa and Ororo, even giving his sister a hug.
“Thank you brother,” Ororo’s smile faltered as she raised her arms to hug Kitty only to have the younger woman step back, turn around and walk away. ‘Kitten,’ her motherly heart cried out. Even though she had become a battle hardened leader, a part of Ororo still wished for simpler times, times when her surrogate daughter, her Kitten wouldn’t have turned away from her.

All the x-men present and accounted for left only Jubilee and Laura. While Laura silently (she didn’t trust herself to speak, not yet) faced off against T’Challa, the King sensing the animosity rolling off the girl, Jubilee leapt up with her usual, if a ‘deliberate’ bit over the top, spirit and threw her arms around Ororo. However, any illusion that Storm might have had about her true knowledge and reaction was smashed with her whispered words.

“Laura can still smell him on you.”

---

Spoilers: Generation M #2, Colossus – Bloodline (miniseries), Black Panther (#14-18), X-Men #179 and others previously mentioned.

Modified the paragraph about Iceman. Just finished reading X-Men 179 and as posted this chapter today, took the chance to ‘fix’ it. Things may change in the future, but as of now, the time of the fic. this is how it stands.

“Ororo, Ororo.”

A deep male voice broke through her seemingly empty eyed gaze.

“Huhn,” she blinked, turning her head this way and that to center on the man standing just behind her, his hand on the railing as he leaned to her side. “Yes T’Challa.”
“Are you alright?” He asked, his free hand coming to rest on her shoulder. “You just walked out. Everyone was looking for you.”
“Everyone?”
“Ok, I was looking for you,” he leaned in to kiss her, his lips finding her forehead and she hung her head and turned slightly sideways.

“I just needed to get some fresh air,” she lied to him….well not completely.

Standing here for the last ten minutes, she was letting her mind wander, just as the rest of her wanted to…..as the rest of her could, had she not been feeling the weight of the world on her shoulders. That and the betrayed looks she got inside.

She had also stood here, a small part of her subconscious straining to hear a non-existent sound, a very specific sound, the sound of the rhythmic thump of a motorcycle engine. She had made her choice, one that both her mind and her heart, well the part that was left with her, seemed to agree with…..almost. Nevertheless, she had chosen, and now she should, she must stick by it. Otherwise, wouldn’t it put her in the same level, as Forge was when he first offered then withdrew his proposal to her?

‘But what about him? What about….?’ She squelched that thought, not able to even bear thinking his name now, afraid of the effect the mere name would have on her.

“Come, lets go in,” T’Challa’s words brought her to the present.

----

Entering through the balcony doors, her eyes immediately caught the piercing gaze of Laura X, the living weapon known as X23….HIS clone. Even if she was a female, the natural and incredibly lethal animal grace that was in her ‘genetic’ father or brother as they introduced themselves was all too clear in the closed off teenager. To someone seeing her for the first time, Laura would come across as aloof, almost snobbish….but not to anyone who had seen HIM all those years ago. That was yet another thing common in them, even in a room full of people, they someone managed to stand out.

On her side was the chatterbox of the X-family, Jubilee. Fiercely independent from day one, the seemingly shallow girl had not alone saved an X-Man’s life, but also managed to get under the skin and wiggle into the heart of probably the most guarded man alive. Their bond had stood the test of time, growing stronger with each passing year. Even now, even with her powers gone, she did not cower into the shadows, but stepped forwards her head held high, both for herself and for her Wolvie.

Catching sight of the girl….the woman Jubilee was talking to, Ororo’s heart skipped a beat. It was Kitty and she was staring right at her. What were they talking about? Where they talking about her? About HIM?

“Don’t worry, they haven’t told anyone….yet,” the silky smooth voice grated her nerves as Emma Frost came into view.
“Anything you want Emma?” Ororo looked down at the shorter, automatically squaring her shoulder and putting up the Goddess persona.
“Me!” A practiced surprised look was put on. “Nothing. I have all I want, whom I want. Pity that the same cannot be said for you.”

Not deeming the comment worth an answer, the regal soon to be queen, Storm started to walk away.

**All hail the queen.** Her eyes slammed shut at the parting remark telepathic sent to her.

-----

Later,

“Are you sure?” Kitty held the younger Jubilee’s hand in her own. One time rivals for HIS affection, both of them had settled their differences and made up years ago.
“Yeah,” Jubilee answered dryly.

“You know you could stay here for the night,” Kitty offered again.
“NO,” Laura’s response was instant. “Not now.”
“Ok,” nodded the older Shadowcat. “Wait, what do you mean, not now?”
“Nothing, nothing,” Jubilee stepped in, although too late from the way Kitty first looked at her, then Laura and then to the newly engaged Ororo.
“Jubilee, Laura,” she looked at both girls. She had noticed how the two girls were acting towards Ororo and by themselves. It was very different from the way they had been just a day ago when they had stayed over at the mansion. “What is the matter? Why wasn’t Logan here? Where has he gone now?”
“He….uh,” Jubilee tried to think of a proper excuse, one that would work against Kitty. Finding none, she finally relented. “We don’t know.”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU DON’T KNOW?” Ororo and everyone else’s eyes snapped up at the sudden outburst.
“Whaht happened?” Asked Rogue being the closest to the trio, Remy instantly stepping to her side.
“What happened Katya?” Piotr interrupted his discussion with Hank to come towards them.
“They don’t know where Logan has gone to,” Kitty gestured towards Jubilee and Kitty, both of whom just wanted to disappear, or maybe grab Kitty and make her phase them through the ground or something.
“Jubilee? X23?” Scott looked at the two teenagers, his tone one demanding answer.
“We don’t know,” Jubilee quickly lost her hesitation, adopting a harder, detached tone. “He didn’t say. He was gone when we got home.”
“Jubilation, why didn’t you call us?” Inquired Henry.

“Like any of you cared,” Laura spat out. Although her words were spoken aloud, they were meant for just one person in the room. “We are leaving.”
“Not until you give an explanation, young lady?” Cyclops adopted the teacher tone. Sadly for him, with X23, it hadn’t worked in the past and sure as hell didn’t work this time.
“Yes,” Laura’s arms dropped to her sides. -SNIKT- “Now.”

“Come Laura,” Jubilee gently wound a hand around the snarling X, gently urging her towards the door. “Don’t call us, we’ll call you,” that and they were gone.

“Wasn’t that wonderful?” Emma chuckled. “A hackneyed display of adolescent outburst.”

---

“I am going to my room,” Ororo stood up, once both girls were out of the room.

Not waiting or listening to any comments or objections from anyone, including her fiancé, she walked out the other door, heading to her old room, the one where she lived before she moved out to the boathouse.

By the time she walked up the stairs to arrive at her destination, all her energy seemed to have seeped out.

‘Goddess, I should be happy,’ she thought to herself. ‘I have just….’

Her thoughts and her steps halted as she stepped into her room.

Lying there, at the foot of her bed….was a potted plant.

A plant she did not remember putting there, a plant that wasn’t supposed to exist….not anymore, one that had been a one of a kind…a mutant. It hadn’t been there the last time she left this room, four hours ago.

It had a thin stem, with just one flower….a flower just like the one she had given to HIM after his fiancée’s death, after Mariko’s death.

It had been a symbol of something unique, of hope, of their friendship, of their bond with each other.

A symbol that unknown to her, HE had cherished and even managed to keep alive…..a symbol that he had returned to her now.

Suddenly everything hit her. Seeing that single flower, the depth of emotions behind it; the truth behind it….everything.

If only….If only she had not run then….not run the second time….not lied to herself….not given up on love in a destined to be doomed effort to salvage a friendship that had led to that love…..if only.

Her knees giving out from under her, the windrider fell to the ground, her emotional dams finally giving way. In her striving to not be like Forge, she had become like Jean, only worse. Jean too chose another over Wolverine, just as she had done. However, while Jean loved Scott truly and above the feral Logan, Ororo could not say the same for herself….not with complete confidence. In fact, she had the ‘Wolverine’s friend’ in her was still having a difficult time in keeping ‘his lover’ down.

Why? She could not say for sure. Why had she chosen T’Challa over Logan. Was it because she ‘beyond a doubt’, loved the Wakandan King more or was it just because he was the first to propose marriage. After all, she wasn’t the first and only one that T’Challa approached for marriage. There were others. Was he asking her to marry him out of his love for her, or was it just to fill the position some royal office. She wished she had given more thought, asked more questions about it. Now….now it was too late. Now she had accepted the marriage proposal…..she did not want to be as Forge was. She did not.

Lifting a hand towards the flower, towards the open space, towards where he had come and left from…..she cried out, her voice a choked whisper.

“I’m sorry Logan….I’m so sorry.”

-----

Almost two weeks later,

The Serengeti, the place where it all started….the place where two souls became one.

“Never let you go ‘Ro,” he growls at her ear, his body intimately joined with hers.
“Never, never Logan….never,” she returns back, her breathing and moves in harmony with his.

“Love you ‘Ro, Love you.”
“I love you too….my love…..”

--

Lost in his memories and dreams, a solitary figure sits in the darkness, his mind millions of miles away from everyone, from everywhere, from the Civil War going on around the world, a war he doesn’t want any part of, a war he will have be a part of….such his luck. It is only a matter of days now. However, until then…..he closes his eyes, trying to forget everything….to be happy. Just him, her and the memory of their night here.

“Love you ‘Ro.”

---

Note: I have a couple of ideas about this fic. both happy and sad. Until now, I tried to keep with the canon. From now onwards…..well, either wait until summer 2006 or…hmmm, point to think about!! Lets see if and when I continue with this fic. As yet, the plot is still open.

BTW, windy1, I like Rogue/Wolverine, just as you like Remy/Ororo. However, not the 616 Rogue. Her, I see only with Remy. Didn’t even like Joseph….and lets not talk about ol’ Buckethead, the original himself. So, STOP riding my ass already….its still paining from the whippin’ I got during ‘Cleansing’.

Going to apply some cream on it now!! ::Wobbles away::