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Speechless, stupefied beyond comprehension, the X-Men watched as still shuddering, the wolf transformed to attain humanoid form until finally the still shaking form of a young boy child stood before them, only for a second before he leapt to safety, behind his father.

Reaching out to him, Logan drew him nearer, patting and caressing his head to calm him down.

---

“Oh, my GOD,” Jean and Scott gasped, both at what they had just seen and at what had been avoided.

‘Fuck. It’s the kid.’ (ultimate) Logan cursed at himself. Pushing himself off the wood floor, he recognized the boy’s scent. If the boy’s reaction and the tears in his eyes wasn’t shaming enough, his sister’s similar state surely were. Everything falling into place, Logan realized that they had probably been playing or fighting as siblings do. There was no threat to anyone….no one except him.

“Move and you die.” (movie) Logan snarled at their guests as he reached behind and picked up the scared of his wits child, who drawing himself into a fetal position nuzzled in his father’s embrace, facing away from the X-Men. Logan knew that it would be sometime before his son overcame his current situation and calmed down.

It seemed like hours before anyone said anything, with both parents calming their children. Attempting an apology, even Xavier was silenced by a threatening growl from Logan.

Finally,

“What was that you just did?” Ororo’s tone was one that she seldom used…not even when she had been a teacher on her own world. “We told…no, we requested you not to use your powers and yet…”

A deep set frown on his face, his head hung, (ultimate) Logan knew that although the words were being spoken to everyone present, they were meant for him. After all, while his twin had merely grunted, ‘No powers,’ the (other) Ororo had actually voiced it as a proper request.....one that all of them agreed to.

“Ororo…Ms. Monroe,” Xavier started again, his voice deliberating calm and non-combative. “We are…”

“Its my fault.” (ultimate) Logan cut into his apology, his eyes still not quite meeting their hosts.

“No shit.” His twin growled at him. “Do that again and you’ll eat yer own…” the children’s presence caused him to stop whatever he was going to say. “Sit down and don’t move.” With that he turned around and walked away to another door, (movie) Ororo following close behind him.

---

“Attacking a child Wolverine. What were you thinking?” The minute the two parents were out of the door, Scott turned to Wolverine.

“Fuck off Summers.” Instead of answering him properly and getting even more of his tight-ass and in the current situation, justified speech, Logan flopped down onto the couch, his face set in a deep frown. ‘Should’ve checked his scent,’ he berated himself. ‘Should’ve checked it better.’ He corrected seconds later. He had caught smelled the girl but when he first entered the house, there was no human/mutant scent on the boy. It was all animal. Heck, even now, even after his turning back, still the boy’s scent was mostly animal…as were his mannerisms. If he had not seen and smelled him before, Logan would have sworn that this was normal behavior for the kid, that he was mostly animal…but now, now he couldn’t make heads or tail of it.

Then there was what the other Logan and Ororo had done to him. The Logan had seemingly taken control of him, not once but twice. And the Ororo, what she had done was downright freaky. He had seen his…their Ororo use her powers, even letting them all out a few times, but even she hadn’t come even close to doing or looking like the way this other Ororo did. First there was how she had looked outside. It was as if, her entire body, her entire being was all winds, clouds, rain….the air and water elements themselves. Before that not only had she hidden herself, but also the kids. Or was it the kids power? If that, was it the girl’s. ‘Cause it sure as hell didn’t look like it was the boy’s. Although he did not know how long had she observed the X-Men and the other Logan’s meeting, but until she showed herself, there wasn’t any smell, sight or anything else to reveal her or the children being there. And now just when….

“Where are you going?” Jean’s exclamation drew his attention back to his teammates, his head lifting to see Rogue heading towards the kitchen door.

“Ahm thirsty,” Rogue looked over her shoulder. “Any of ya’ll want water?”

“I do.” Before anyone else could answer, (ultimate) Ororo, her own thoughts in chaos, rushed towards her younger teammate. Even though being near her elder twin had allowed her to feel the peace that she had felt a couple of nights ago, seeing her interaction with her Logan, and their family wasn’t easy for her. Hearing about it was one thing, but actually seeing it….seeing them only brought up her own hopes and wishes, both of them losing in the face of harsh reality. ‘Even though they have it….they love each other, doesn’t mean I’ll have the same.’ Her brow furrowed at the thought. ‘First Henry and Logan. Sure know how to pick ‘em, don’t you Ororo. One emotionally insecure while the other emotionally unavailable…at least to you.’

Feeling the same self-pity she had felt at Henry’s betrayal, and with Logan’s ‘stuck on Jeannie’ attitude, she shook herself mentally. She was behaving like a love sick teen and not at all like herself. She was the brash, tough as nails, not giving a rat’s ass about anyone or anything, Ororo Monroe. Since when did she become such a sappy pansy?
That question once again brought her back to her failure in love. While on the road, she had kept her heart and feelings close to her chest, not allowing herself to open to anyone, get close to anyone….allow anyone to get close to her. But then, how else was an orphan like her supposed to survive and exist for as long as she had? If being a black girl with freaky white hair and blue eyes wasn’t enough of a ‘neon sign’ for attracting trouble, both in Morocco and in Texas, being a mutant just placed the cherry on the proverbial sh#% cake.

‘Should have stayed that way.’ She lamented at allowing herself to open up after coming to Xavier’s….allowing herself to feel and follow her emotions, her heart. Now, along with the danger to her physical wellbeing, even her heart got kicked around like a ball…or in the current case, skewered with claws.

---

She was still lost in her thoughts when the other Logan appeared in the doorway, his demeanor grim and his gaze hard.

“Want somethin’ to eat?” The familiar voice, its graveled yet molasses smooth tone, although non-threatening sent hot spikes through Ororo’s heart.

Gulping down the water, Rogue shook her head. She had heard from the other Ororo about the relationship and bond between her counterpart and this Logan, but the actual experience still fresh in her mind, even if only a part of it…it was nothing like what she had imagined.

“You?” (movie) Logan glanced at the younger Ororo. He found it amusing how physically similar these people were to him and Ororo…and to their teammates. This Ororo, given her age, though not quite a twin of his Ororo was an easy pass for a younger sister. Heck, even her hairstyle was similar to the one Ororo used to have about seven-eight years back. Not that he minded the long hair….he even liked them better. They felt better he used to run his fingers through them, or while she was sleeping and they fell against his skin or when they were… However, no matter how similar this Ororo might to be his, she wasn’t as beautiful as her. Heck, no one was as beautiful as her. Yet, it did give him a glimpse of how (movie) Ororo might have been when she was at this age.

“No thanks.” Seeing her elder twin appear at (movie) Logan’s side, (ultimate) Ororo hurried out of the room, not wanting to inflict even more pain on her heart. Seeing these two together only made her feel….see, what she did not never have, not now, maybe not ever. She still did not know why she had asked Logan that question, the one he did not give an answer for…at least not verbally. ‘Talk about a glutton for punishment.’ Yet, it was a good thing that she did. Even if her twin had had her Logan come around and give up her Jean fixation, it wasn’t a given that it would be the same for her. She had made her move, bared her heart to him…if he did not want it, if he wanted to make a fool of himself and pine away after a woman who loved another, then let him. ‘Idiot.’

----

On the other side,

“I certainly hope that you young ladies have an explanation for your actions…” Seated in a side by side placed chairs, their eyes not quite meeting their captor’s, both Jubilation Lee and Kitty Pryde gulped at the next words. “…before we call the authorities and hand you over to them.”

“Don’t call the police…” Jubilee was the first one to blurt out.
“Please.” Kitty seconded her friend.
“…they don’t like our kind.” Jubilee carried on.

“Our kind?” His naturally long arms crossed on the table, Reed Richards, Mr. Fantastic of the superhero family/team, the Fantastic Four, leaned forward in his chair, his piercing gaze demanding an explanation.

“Mutants. We are mutants.”

“And?” The way that word was spoken caused both girls to jerk their heads to the other female in the room, Sue Storm a.k.a. the Invisible Woman.

“What do you mean ‘And’?” Jubilee tried to inject some anger into her faltering brave front. In truth even if Kitty had been the one who had chanced upon the mail correspondence between Hank and Reed, it had been her idea that they contact Dr. Richards for help and more importantly do it just by themselves. And now it was because of that that they were in trouble.

“We already know about that.” Sue informed with a gentle smile, hoping to garner some trust in the nearly panicking girls. Even if they had broken into the Baxter Building, being apprehended by Ben and Johnny, one a being of living rock and the other of fire would be enough to unnerve and scare anyone, whether human or mutant. Moreover, given their own condition, neither she nor anyone of her teammates could count themselves as human anymore. As with mutants, their own bodies were different from normal human….at a genetic level. “The sensors detect and analyze DNA.”

“Oh.” At a loss for words, Jubilee was quick to recover. “We did not come here to steal anything or to fight….” She passed a furtive glance at Ben, getting a grunt at for her words and for her actions from a short time before. During their effort to ‘escape’ from him and Johnny, Jubilee had fired an appreciable plasma blast at the ever lovin’ Thing. Although there was no harm done, it did blind him for a few seconds….the wall paying for his condition as he rammed and tore a Thing sized hole in it. “…we came here for help.”

“Help?” Reed arched an eyebrow at the teenagers, his manner relaxing a bit.
“Yes…” Jubilee elbowed Kitty to speak. It wasn’t that she couldn’t explain, just that between her, Kitty and Rogue, Kitty was the Uber-techno-geek.
“Uh, Dr. Richards,” Kitty began only to interrupted by a beep sounding from the building intercom.
“Reed, they are here.” Johnny Storm’s lively voice came in through the communication line to which Reed replied just as quickly. ‘Please bring them up.’

‘They.’ Both girls turned to one another and then to Reed and Sue. “You called the police didn’t you.”

“Ms. Lee….”

“We told you we didn’t come to attack or steal from you,” Jubilee was having none of it. “What we did is not exactly....conventional, and I was protecting us from Rocky-Orange-Beer-Gut-Show here.”

“Hey!” Ben leapt up at the name calling. What was with this girl. Not even two hours and she already had called him three different names, each one more corny than the previous one. This one was the worst. ‘Beer Gut?’ It was a good thing that he was thick skinned, otherwise he would have taken offense.

“Jubilee.” Kitty pulled her friend down, hoping to silence her. However, before she could say anything, a near silent whoosh of the elevator doors opening and a familiar spoke to them.

“Ah Ms. Lee.” Henry McCoy’s blue form came towards them, Piotr and Johnny Storm at his side. “I should have guessed.”

“Well. At least they didn’t get Scott.” Jubilee leaned towards Kitty, getting a frown for her quip. Flicking her hand, Jubilee thanked her stars that it was only Hank. Although a chewing out and most definitely a grounding awaited them once they got back to the school, at least it was better than what had been going through her mind just a few seconds ago.

“Henry.” Reed and Sue welcomed their visitors. “Its nice to see you again…even at this hour.”

“Reed. Sue. I apologize on behalf of my students. Although I must say I did not expect them to be so…resourceful, or catch on so fast.”

“So, you were hiding something.” Jubilee grabbed at a possible way out, raised eyebrow from the adults in the room, not to mention the pinch from Kitty instantly silencing her. However as Henry’s next words conveyed, the damage had been done.

“I assure you that they will be adequately disciplined,” both girls winced at the words, scowling at their Russian teammate’s amused smile. Now that he was here it was a given that Rogue would know about their impromptu trip and that they had left her behind. Already the poor girl was in the dumps and now this….well, they would have to corner Pete before he got a chance to talk to Rogue. Talk Jubilee style. “Although I can guess their reason for coming here.”

“Oh, this is about that,” Reed understood what Henry was talking about. It was something that the mutant Doctor had contacted him about a couple of days ago.

“Well, seeing that they are already here and so are you….why not take a look at the findings.”

Note: What’s up with (movie) Ororo and Logan. Coming up next. Also coming soon, their counterparts and their dysfunctional un-/non-couple.

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