Note: It's my first fanfic and English is not my native language. So be tolerant.
Note2: The story takes place after the first movie. There were too many complications in the second one so I've decided to ignore it.


Going to Alkali Lake was useless. I knew I would be. But I went there all the same. Not directly, though. After spending some time at the Canadian border I realized I couldn’t ignore the tiny possibility that I might actually find something there. Found nothing, of course. Just as expected. Fucking nothing.
Now I’m going back to Westchester. Don’t really know why.
Sure, there are a few reasons. Rouge, for one thing. No, not Rouge. Marie.
Surprising, really. I admit, I care for that kid. I nearly died for her, after all. However melodramatically it sounds. I don’t know why I did it either. There seems to be a lot of things I do without apparent reason lately. But hell, it has always been this way. As long as I remember. That means fifteen fucking years.
And there’s Jean, of course. Doctor Jean Grey. You don’t see such legs every day. And the hair. What’s the thing with me and red-heads? With black hole instead of your past, you just get used to your own unexplainable reactions. Without question Jean Grey is hot. But, for some strange reason, she clings to this dickhead, Summers. Cyclops, yeah. The name’s so stupid that it fits him perfectly.
Marie and Jean. For sure not enough to go back to the house full of shrieking little freaks.
So why am I going back, actually?

* * *
“Class dismissed.”
At last. It’s not that I don’t like teaching, but children can be really irritating sometimes. Actually, to be honest, the more appealingly beautiful it is outside, the more irritating they seem. Just like today. Time to take advantage of the weather. Come to think of it, Jean was right. It does sound funny in my mouth. What…
“Ah’m sorry, Miss Munroe, Ah’ve forgotten my pencil”
Ah, Rouge. As usual with dog-tags dangling on her neck. The only remainder of Logan, her knight in shiny armor. The tags and the memory of him. It must be really hard to have the bastard in her head but she seems ok with it. At least since Professor helped her with the nightmares.
The girl has a crush on him, that’s obvious. She’ll get hurt, that’s sure.
She couldn’t have possibly chosen poorer. He has every characteristic of a scoundrel. All you can get from him is trouble, that’s almost stamped on his forehead.
On the other hand, I can’t forget what he did for her. I don’t really know what to think about it.
One thing is certain; he’s the most arrogant person I’ve had misfortune to meet. And I tried to be nice to him. I won’t be any more.
Probably, I won’t even have chance for it. It’s been almost two months since the Liberty Island. Only Rouge still believes that he will come back. He promised her. But he doesn’t look like a man who keeps his promises.

* * *
The main hall was empty. He took a look around. Nothing’s changed. Even the scents were the same. He easily discerned two particular elements of this aromatic pandemonium: jasmine and roses. Rouge and Jean. They were somewhere in the mansion. However it was another scent that was getting stronger with every moment. Sandalwood.
“Storm,” he said before turning to her.
“Wolverine. The surprise of the month.” Her voice was dry and her eyes cold. Just like they’d been the day he derided her proposition of his joining the team. She took that hard apparently.
He hadn’t expected warm welcome and he was right because it was clear he wasn’t going to get one. At least not from her.
“Did you find what you were looking for?”
“No”
“So you’re back for new instructions?” Was it a trace of sarcasm?
“Sort of” he answered curtly. He wasn’t going to make it easy for her.
A sudden rush of jasmine.
“Logan!” The next moment two thoroughly covered arms were nearly strangling him. He freed himself from the embrace and gave Rouge a crooked smile.
“Hey, kid” She looked really happy at his sight; he could sense it. Perhaps coming back wasn’t such a bad idea after all.
“Ah’ve got your tags.” She fumbled at her neck and handed him his dog-tags. He glanced at them. His name and number. His fucking number.
“Keep them if you want”
Storm was looking at him with the mixture of reprimand and curiosity, not easy thing to achieve in one stare.
“I’m sure you want to see Professor. He’s in his office.” Without waiting for an answer she marched towards Professor’s office.
“Ah’ll talk with you later. Ah’m glad you’re back.” Rouge smiled at him sheepishly and walked off.
He entered the office. Roses. Jean. And her lapdog, standing beside her straight like a poker, staring at him as if he wanted to kill him with the sheer gaze. By an irony of fate, he was the only person in the world that was capable of actually doing that. Jean smiled at him slightly. A little apprehensively but warmly. That should be interesting.
“Welcome back, Logan. Was your trip successful?” Professor was as polite as always.
“There’s nothing in Alkali except for snow.”
“I’m truly sorry to hear it, Logan.” He face frowned with concern. “If you agree, I’ll try to read your mind again later. Maybe I’ll find something better this time”
Logan nodded.
“Your room is waiting for you. We’ll be delighted if you stayed”
He nodded again. Feeling that the audience has come to the end, he shot a glance to Jean, who blushed almost imperceptibly and headed for the door. Before going out he turned to Cyclops.
“Thanks for the machine” he threw him the keys. Scott stiffened even more. It was obvious that he wanted to snap something in return, but wasn’t going to do that in front of Professor. Logan laughed inwardly. The prospects of the next couple of days were getting really good.
Storm’s piercing gaze didn’t leave the back of his head until he was out of sight.

to be continued...

Jean put away a book when she realized that she’d been staring at one page for over ten minutes. She couldn’t concentrate. The thoughts about recent days were too absorbing.

* * *
Logan came back four days ago and since then the life in the mansion turned upside down.
Ok, that was exaggeration. It changed a lot.
There’s no wonder all the students are scared of him. They practically jump every time he enters the room. Logan represents the dark side of life. The side that’s very hard to accept.
A surly, gloomy, rude, violent Canadian, glowering and growling at everybody, moving without any sound, with deadly grace of a predator, watching everything and everyone with his gray indifferent eyes that have seen so much evil that it doesn’t matter to them any more. He’s like walking danger. He’s like a beast ready to attack.
The tension is already building up, I can feel it. Living at the mansion makes him frustrated. It vexes him. It’s too unfamiliar for him. He feels confined, like an animal in a cage.
Professor hopes he’ll stay, he told me that. I know that he holds great expectations towards Logan. He’d be an excellent asset to the team. He has the fighting skill we’ve been always lacking. Besides he’s a perfect material for ‘resocialization’, for proving that every mutant can be useful for society, that Professor’s dream can become reality.
That’s the main reason why Professor is trying so hard to help Logan and agreed to scan his mind for some information about his origins. I saw a glimpse of it once so I know how excruciating it must be. Logan’s mind is a maze of incomprehensible dreadful images. It’s very easy to lose yourself in it. Even Professor can’t manage more than an hour a day. That means his progress is slow and Logan will probably have to stay here at least a week more. I’m not sure whether he’ll hold out so long.
Or whether the others will stand him, for that matter. Logan has something about him that I call ‘intensity’. His mere presence just affects everyone around him. Some people in particular.
Scott, for example. Logan irritates him and it’s not easy to get my fiancé irritated, he’s known for it. It seems that Logan has special gift for upsetting people.
It’s not without importance that Logan flirts with me. Scott fumes when he sees it. That’s why Logan still does it, I mean he is really interested in me but… I’m not boasting here, I just know. I’m a telepath after all.
I love Scott and I made it clear to Logan. So I know that he won’t do anything serious. Why would a merciless killer have such scruples? Surprising as it may sound, Logan has great sense of honor. He doesn’t approve of my choice, of course, in fact he thinks it’s plainly stupid, but he respects my decision. He hasn’t given up completely, though. He takes too much pleasure in making Scott furious. When Scott is around Logan’s words immediately gain additional spin. My fiancé knows very well that he’s the only man in my life but I can see how his jaw clenches and his thoughts fill with some unpleasant images when he hears Logan’s comments. It’s a matter of male ego, I suppose.
There would have been a fight already if it wasn’t for one thing. It’s the same thing that stops me from dismissing Logan as an arrogant bastard.
Rouge. His return’s made plenty of good for her so far. I’ve never seen her so relaxed. I’d even say that she’s happy. She has a crush on him, everybody knows it. But only few realize that it’s not the typical romantic ‘love-at-first-sight’ ‘take-me-on-your-white-horse-to-the-fairyland-and-love-me-forever’ kind of crush 16-year-old girls usually feel. She knows him too well to know how extremely stupid it would be. There’s nothing romantic in it, whatsoever. Logan’s just become very important for her. Although Professor made his presence in her mind dormant, he’ll always be an inseparable part of her life. Now it all depends on Logan, whether he’ll decide to play some active role in her life or not. If he leaves, she’ll undoubtedly take it hard. I could see that when he was away. She always believed that he’d come back but after a month of hearing nothing from him her faith was slowly turning into desperation. We started to seriously worry about her.
I believe I can be more optimistic now. It doesn’t take a telepath to notice that he really likes being with her. In fact she’s the only person, except possibly me and Professor, that he’s nice to. Nice in Loganish way, of course. He’s becoming more attached to her every day. It’s probably the first time in his life that he’s had a friend.
Actually, he rarely talks to anyone except for Rouge. Sometimes he says something to me or Professor. He usually ignores Scott. And Ororo…
I’m certain that the tension between Scott and Logan will eventually resolve itself naturally, probably soon and fiercely. They are two strong personalities, totally different in some crucial aspects, unnervingly similar in the others. The clash is inevitable. They must let out some steam so they’ll be able to coexist peacefully. I just know, I’m quite a good judge of characters.
However, I honestly admit that I have no idea how it will end between Logan and Ororo. The animosity between Scott and Logan is a public thing, it sticks out in a mile, but Ororo’s antipathy is carefully hidden, it floats just below the surface. She never shows it, it wouldn’t be her style. When she’s with him in one room she’s seemingly as polite as usual, but on a mental plane I can feel temperature suddenly dropping. Her caustic remarks are barely noticeable, nearly imperceptible for someone who doesn’t expect them to be there. Ororo’s always been a master of sharp tongue.
Logan hits back, of course. He senses all Ororo’s little punches without any problem. He’s not stupid. He has plenty of faults, but he certainly isn’t stupid. I was a little surprised, though, that he decided to join her game. He doesn’t seem to have a right temper for it, he’s too impetuous, too wild. On the other hand, a predator can lie for hours in wait for a prey. Logan’s just as uncompromising as the animal he got his name after. Ororo will have a tough opponent. I hope that she knows what she’s doing.
Logan is practically a compilation of traits Ororo detests in men. He’s mean, arrogant, selfish, rude. That’s only a beginning of the list. Our weather goddess likes completely different kind of men. Look at Forge, her ex-fiancé, every inch a gentleman. She likes the men that are fair match to her. And she’s classy, elegant, always polite, always calm and composed. She might be haughty at times but she’s a goddess after all. Who would think she grew up on the streets of Cairo? She got a chance to change her life and she took advantage of it. Now she’s got her vision of the world she’s trying to make true and Logan simply doesn’t fit it.
Yet Ororo’s not some fussy teenager. She wouldn’t react like that just because he has nasty character.
There is something else. She thinks Logan is dangerous. Not dangerous in general way but dangerous to me, Professor, Scott, the children. He’s a threat to all that is precious for her and she’ll do everything to protect it.
She even openly opposed Professor when he invited Logan to stay. Professor then told her that there’s no reason to worry. What Logan did at the Liberty Island was more than a sufficient proof that he deserves our trust. I thought the same, Scott agreed too, although somewhat reluctantly. But it didn’t convince Ororo. She doesn’t forget easily. What happened to Rogue two months ago is still vivid in her memory. It probably will always be.
She never told me the details of what she saw then. I didn’t press her. She’s my best friend, I respect her privacy.
It happened three days after Logan’s departure. I was visiting my parents with Scott. Ororo stayed in the mansion watching the children and taking care of Professor who was still recovering after the incident with Cerebro. Everything was coming back to order. Rogue hadn’t been entirely herself since the Liberty Island but it wasn’t anything serious. She just acted a little harsher at times. Having so much Logan in her head it was absolutely understandable. It was already beginning to fade.
Then she erupted. Quite literally considering the size of damage she made. Logan’s personality suddenly took over her mind. Logan had given her almost all his life force, we hadn’t even been sure if he would survive it. Given his extraordinary stamina and healing factor, as she nearly killed him, she must have absorbed a lot more than she’d be able with any other human or mutant. So much that she couldn’t control it.
It was genuine luck that nobody got hurt. All credit goes to Ororo here. She at once isolated Rogue from the other students. But then she had to face her herself. Face Logan herself. She told me later that she’d seen what is deep inside him. She saw the beast.
It would have ended in tragedy if Professor hadn’t interfered. He was still very weak but he had no choice. He forced his way into Rouge’s mind and shut Logan off. When she came around she didn’t remember anything. After that Professor spent hours with her trying to ensure that it wouldn’t happen again. Now Logan’s personality is completely passive in her mind, it isn’t a threat for her anymore. She doesn’t remember this darkest side of Logan that Ororo and Professor saw. Professor decided not to tell her. That part of Logan is hidden very deep inside. He kept it there for years. It got out because Rouge was inexperienced, unprepared. He knows how to control it himself. Everyone has their own personal demons.
Control is a tricky word when Ororo’s concerned. She knows a lot about it. Her power is one of the most destructible in the world. Hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and droughts. It’s all connected with her emotions. She’s fully aware that if she isn’t careful the weather will immediately snap off the leash. She had to learn how to repress her own emotions, how to keep cool all the time. That’s why she’s always so reserved. She just has to. But I know that even now she’s constantly afraid that it will get out of hand. She still can’t trust herself entirely, she certainly won’t trust Logan.
The tension between them is thickening. Professor is right, we need Logan, Rouge needs him. Even Scott realizes it, though he would never admit that. But Ororo won’t accept him. She thinks he might destroy everything. And she has every right to believe so. I know that talking with her about it wouldn’t have much sense, I won’t persuade her.
I can only wait.