#she ran the xaviers school for a long time

[medusas-rockin-tits]

So is the world ready for my X-Men hot take?

Scott/Jean/Logan is extremely good, 100/10

You know what’s better though? In my humble opinion?

Scott/Jean/Logan/Emma

Give them their “problematic but secretly extremely well meaning in a lot of situations” bisexual wife!!! Someone in that polycule has to be able to handle delicate morally gray situations!!! Also plz Emma and Jean are peak “if you’re rivals for over 30 years you are no longer rivals you are gay!”

Fuck all the love triangle/love square bullshit, wrong!!! They all kiss!!!!

[just-dreaming-marvel]

Love That Burns ~ 8

LOVE THAT BURNS MASTERLIST

< previous chapter

Word Count: 2,416ish

Summary: You get brought to a school and meet new mutants.

Warnings: sadness, time skips

Notes: Hopefully this chapter makes sense and isn't complete trash. And don't worry! Our lovebirds will see each other again soon! But that doesn't mean there's fluff coming... Reminder: I DO NOT do taglists. Please don’t ask. Please follow and interact! I appreciate any reblogs, likes, comments, and asks! 

You didn’t expect to be brought to a mansion—a school when you got in the jet. You had stayed silent and stared out one of the windows the entirety of the flight. Charles explained where you were headed: Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. He ran the school for mutants to get educated and learn to handle their mutations. You would have loved the idea more if you weren’t dying inside. The kids were all escorted to a lab to get checked out while you stayed seated on the jet. Charles stayed with you.

“I can help you,” he said.

“Stay out of my head,” you grumbled.

“I am truly sorry for what I had to do before.” He wheeled closer. “You’re safe now.”

“I don’t care!” You finally looked at the man, not caring if he saw you crying. “Nothing matters anymore… Nothing…”

“You’ve been through a lot. You need rest and to get that bullet out of your shoulder.”

You shook your head. “I need James… I don’t care about anything else… I just need him.” You stood up. “I have to go back.”

“It’s too late. The military has already arrived.”

“I can’t— I can’t—“ You broke into sobs as you collapsed on your knees. 

You never even noticed that a young girl had entered the jet. She walked over to you and knelt in front of you. Clearly feeling brave, the girl reached out and took your hand.

“Jean,” Charles called, “what are you doing?”

“Her thoughts are loud,” the girl, Jean, admitted.

You tried to weakly tug your hand away, but the girl held strong. You looked at her, confused, before you began to feel sleepy. Before you knew it, you were passed out on the floor of the jet.

“Jean, you shouldn’t have done that,” Charles admonished.

“I had to,” Jean argued. “Her pain was everywhere. She needs rest.”

Charles sighed. “And you did well. Go get Hank so that we can get our new friend here to a bed.”

~~~

Glancing around the room, you put together that you had been moved to the lab or med area of some sort. There was a large, blue… beast? The beast was facing away from you, looking at some screen. You cleared your throat as you sat up. The beast turned around.

“Ah, you’re awake,” he said, coming towards you. “You’ve been asleep for a few days. We were worried there for a second.”

“Where am I?” You asked, still nervous about your surroundings.

“At Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters.”

“This doesn’t look like a school.”

“This is our underground facility, used for training mostly.”

You nodded. “Who are you?”

“I’m Hank McCoy.”

“Y/N L/N.”

“It’s nice to meet you.”

You sat up and swung your legs over the edge of the table. “Am I good to leave?”

“This room or the school?”

“Both.”

Hank sighed, almost like he knew you were going to say that. “You should talk to Charles before you leave. I’ll take you to him.”

You slipped off the metal table and followed Hank out into the hallway. It was silver metal, like the room you were just in, and long with various large circular doors with ‘X’s on them. Hank led you to an elevator, letting you enter first before he pressed the button to go up. 

When the elevator reopened, you were a bit taken back. It was like you were transported to a completely different place. The place was grand and spacious, featuring intricate woodwork and paintings on the walls. It was almost like a museum. There were children of various ages rushing about—students of the school. You kept looking around as Hank led you to a quaint office down the hall from the elevator. Charles Xavier was already facing the door, waiting for you.

“Thank you, Hank,” Charles said. “You may leave us.”

Hank gave the other man a nod before leaving, shutting the door behind him. Charles gave you a light smile as he motioned over to a leather chair.

“Please, have a seat.”

“I’m good,” you said, your words baring no emotion.

“Very well. How are you feeling?”

“Fine.”

Charles sighed. “I am not the enemy, Y/N. I am sorry for taking away your free will, but it was for your safety.”

“My safety doesn’t matter anymore… James is dead.”

“I am sorry for your loss.”

“When can I leave?”

“Whenever you’d like. But I do hope you’d stay a while, give this place a chance. We could use another teacher.”

Your heart suddenly sunk when it finally hit you that your students didn’t know what had happened. They were probably devastated. You finally took a seat before your knees could give out.

“I believe that we could use you here, Y/N,” Charles continued. “You’d be a great teacher. A teacher to mutants like you. You could be the good influence that you didn’t have.”

You shook your head, tearing up. “I can’t… I don’t know how… not without James.”

“It will be hard. But here, you could gain a family. Friends who are like you. A job and even, a mission.”

“I… I can’t stay.”

“It’s your choice. But please do stay for a few days, just to get some rest and figure out what you would like to do. I can show you to a room that you can use as long as you need.” He reached over and placed his hand on top of yours. “This place will always welcome you, no matter what you choose.”

~~~

You were given your own room near the other teachers. You told Charles that you would stay for a few days to get a plan together and then leave. But now it had been over a week. You couldn’t get yourself to leave, but you also weren’t interacting with anyone. You kept to yourself whether that was in your room or roaming through the gardens. You could feel the eyes of everyone at the school on you, wondering who you were and what you were doing there, but you didn’t care. The gardens were big enough that you often found new areas to hide in every day. You would find a spot and cry, wishing that you could somehow make things right again. That James could be by your side.

It had been a while since you had any nightmares, now they were every time you closed your eyes. You had set your room on fire a few times, with Charles and Hank telling you that it was alright, but it didn’t matter. You avoided sleep now. You couldn’t risk burning the place down though you couldn’t find it in yourself to leave. There was something about this place that wouldn’t let you go. Something telling you that you were meant to stay.

You were in the gardens one day when it got really bad. You were absentmindedly walking around when your right hand gripped at your left. You stumbled to a stop as you looked down at your hand. Your ring. You didn’t have your ring. A sob tore through you before you could do anything about it and you were quickly brought to your knees. Your chest was tightening, causing you to struggle for breath. 

You didn’t register the quick footsteps behind you. Or the three students that knelt in front of you.

“We have to help her,” one of them said. He had sunglasses over his eyes, trying to manage the lasers that could shoot from them. “Ororo?”

“Don’t look at me,” Ororo responded.

“I can help her,” the red-headed, Jean, offered. “I’ve done it before.”

Jean’s hand reached out and gripped your shoulder. Within a few moments, you were completely passed out on the ground.

“Grab her, Scott,” Jean told the boy.

Scott picked you up and carried you inside. Charles was already there waiting, sensing what had happened. He instructed the kids to take you to your room and then he’d keep an eye out on you. So that’s were you woke, in your new bed. Charles was reading a book next to the bed, using the lamp on the bedside table to give off some light.

“How did I get here?” You asked.

Charles set the book down on his lap and gave you a tight smile. “Scott Summers, one of the kids that you rescued. He and two others found you. I had them bring you here.”

You nodded as you sat up, leaning against the headboard. “I’m so lost.”

“I know.”

“I think… I think I’m going to stay. At least for a little while. Until I find myself again.”

“We would be honored to have you.”

“And I can teach?”

“Of course.”

~~~

Charles had you set up in a classroom the next day and a few days later, you were teaching the English Literature class. Jean, Scott, and Ororo were three of your students, each in different classes. Slowly, you began to connect more with each of them. You would help them with various homework assignments after classes and soon began watching their training sessions, giving them tips on how to control their powers.

“Scott, it starts with confidence,” you told him from the side of the Danger Room, located in the basement of the mansion. “If you don’t believe you can control it, them you won’t be able to.”

Charles watched the training session from the sidelines, interested in how quickly you ended up helping these kids. You watched as Scott shot his lasers everywhere, quickly losing control. You ducked before you got hit. Scott grunted in annoyance as he slipped his new visors on that Hank had made him.

“I’m done for the day,” Scott grumbled, stomping out of the room.

You sighed as you pushed yourself up to standing.

“You’ve seemed to grow fond of Scott, Jean, and Ororo,” Charles stated as he rolled toward you.

“They need some help,” you said. “I can provide that.”

“And you’re doing it very well.” He looked around the Danger Room. “When was the last time you let your powers unleashed?” You clenched your jaw, thinking back to the day you lost James. “You should take some time to work on your own abilities.”

“I don’t have any reason to.”

“And if I gave you a reason?” You eyed Charles curiously. “This underground facility is also known as the headquarters for the X-Men.”

“X-Men?”

“A team of mutant heroes that help were needed. As of right now, we don’t have a team. You could train some students, put a team together.”

“You trust me to do this?”

“Y/N, I have seen your past. This is your chance to put together a team who could actually make a difference.”

You gave it a brief thought, knowing that Charles had a point. “Okay. I’m in.”

~~~

You began training the students interested in joining the team and those with abilities that could help the team. That meant that you had long days, but you didn’t mind. The longer the days, the less time you slept, which also meant less nightmares. You began to use your abilities more and more, working to strengthen them using the Danger Room in ways that you hadn’t before. It was freeing, your alone time in the Danger Room.

A few years past and the students were older, officially ready to be part of a team. To them, that meant that they needed superhero nicknames.

“What about Cyclops?” Jean suggested for Scott.

“Cyclops isn’t terrible,” Ororo agreed.

“I honestly don’t care,” Scott said.

“Cyclops it is then,” Jean said with a smile. “Ororo is obviously Storm.”

“I love it!” Ororo exclaimed with a clap. “And you’re Phoenix, Jean.”

“Phoenix… I like it.” The three turned to you, who had remained silent, working on new suit designs. “And for Y/N… I think… Ember.”

“Ember?” You repeated.

“I think it works great!” Ororo said. 

You sighed. “Whatever you kids say.”

“Ember it is then!”

You couldn’t help but laugh. “You guys need a life.”

“We have one. We’re X-Men!”

“Or X-Women,” suggested Jean.

“That doesn’t roll off the tongue nicely.”

“If you three could stop talking about names and start helping me with these sketches, that would be nice.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Scott replied with a mock salute. 

With a mere thought of yours, flames appeared on the jeans Scott was wearing. He screamed, running around, while the other three of you laughed. You put out the flames before any real damage could be done, revealing that the flames had destroyed Scott’s jeans and underwear, leaving his butt hanging out. You, Jean, and Ororo only laughed harder as Scott tried to cover his butt with his hands and ran off.

~~~

You woke up feeling off and looking at the date only made it worse. It was the tenth anniversary of James’ death. Thankfully, you didn’t need to teach today. So you were slow to get up and ready before heading out to the gardens, to try and spend the day alone. Your hand stayed clasped around your dog tags as you wandered the gardens aimlessly. You could feel eyes watching you from the mansion and knew that Charles, Hank, Ororo, Jean, and Scott were worried.

It was around dinner time when Charles decided to go to you. You were standing near the pond, staring out like you weren’t even there. Charles sat next to you, staring out for a moment before clearing his throat.

“I know today is hard for you,” he said. “But there are some bright sides to it… Ten years ago, you were brought here. Scott was brought here. You’ve become a teacher and a leader to many mutants.”

“I miss him,” you rasped, voice cracking. “I miss him every day, but…”

“Today is worse. I have days like that too. Days were I miss those that I used to know.”

“Like Erik and Raven?”

“Mhm,” he nodded.

“I know you mean well, Charles, but Erik and Raven aren’t dead. You’re just on different sides of the fight. James… James is dead and part of me died with him.”

“Yes, but a new part of you was born.” When you didn’t respond, Charles sighed. “At least eat something. We can’t have you leaving us too soon.”

Charles rolled away, leaving you alone once again. 

“I love you, James,” you closed your eyes and whispered, praying that somehow he could hear you. “I will always love you.”

next chapter >

[clip-the-simp]

A Logan Holiday

Ao3 Master list

Pairing: Logan Howlett // Wolverine x mutant!fem!reader

Word count: 2,536

Cw: slight proofreading, fluff, slight angst, winter holidays, language, alcohol, talks of war (?), this really is just kinda fluffy.

Summary: The reader tried to find Logan to celebrate the winter holidays. She finds him isolating himself from the festivities but doesn’t allow him to sulk in peace.

A/N: I got the writing bug and it’s for Logan. 7 year old me should NOT have been so down bad for this man but she was. But I guess that’s what happens when you have raging parental issues. Enjoy this very out of season dribble.

The air had chilled from the winter that settled in during December. Snow dusted over the grounds of the Xavier Institute as it fell softly from the sky. Most of the children had gone home for the winter break but there were always a few that stuck around the mansion. However, even with many of the school's inhabitants gone, the halls were still lively with the holiday spirit.

Gambit along with Rouge were busy in the kitchen whipping up treats for everyone to enjoy. Their laughs could be heard from the hall as you passed which filled your heart with warmth.

Jubilee tasked herself with the responsibility to run through the mansion halls and decorat to her heart's content. She had nearly ran into you multiple times from not paying attention but it was understandable. Her and Kurt had challenged one another to see who was the better decorator. And from the look of things Jubilee was going to win this one.

Jean and Scott were busy putting up a pine tree in the massive living room. The tree towered over everyone who stood near it but that just gave ample opportunity for decorating. Scott of course took the lower branches while Jean used her abilities to fly to the top. Presents laid under the tree for everyone who stayed for the winter and it brought a smile to your face as you thought about all the love that filled the school.

Leaning against the door frame, you couldn’t help but think about how much you would enjoy spending this time with Logan but he was nowhere to be found. He had run off that morning and you couldn’t track him down. You knew he didn’t like the holidays but you wish he wouldn’t run off like he did. There was a hand suddenly on your shoulder that forced you out of your thoughts. Startled, you jumped around and found Ororo behind you. She looked just as shocked at your reaction as you were.

“Wow now it’s just me.” She reassured you with a smile. Having taken her hand off your shoulder, she returned it to her hot coffee mug that was in her other hand. You let out a sheepish chuckle as you caught yourself.

“Sorry Ororo. Been a little in my head this evening.” You leaned back against the door frame and continued watching as Jean placed the star at the top of the tree. Ororo hummed an understanding note with a nod.

“You’re worried about Logan, aren’t you?” She questioned as she took a slow sip from her drink. You gave her a weak smile at her acknowledgment. Everyone knew you were close to Logan, but no one knew just how close.

It was a one sided kinda love. The two of you had lived through the same worldly events. With every war you had found your way back to him. Although he never had noticed you. Your role was always that of a medic and since Logan never needed medical attention he had never taken notice of you. Sure there were many occasions he would bring a fellow soldier back from the battlefield, bloody and barely holding on to life, but he never stayed long. Through every war you had been there to watch him and his brother fight both on and off the field. When a war would end the two of you would part ways for the time, but war never changed and it always brought you back.

During the Vietnam war however was when you thought you lost him forever. After Logan’s brother Victor had killed a commanding officer they were sent to be executed. You knew it wouldn’t work but there was still a pain in your chest from knowing you wouldn’t see Logan again. That was until many years later when Scott had hauled Logan’s limp body into the institute which caused your heart to seize in your chest. But even with Logan being so close now you didn’t dare confuse that love you still felt for him. Not only because of your cowardice but also due to his lack of memory. There was no chance you would pursue what only you could remember of him.

So you decided to build a new. Scrubbing your memories of the old Logan for ones to make with the one standing today. He was still mostly the same gruff man you knew, but he no longer remembered what all had happened to him. With those thoughts floating though your head you shook them away to bring yourself back to the moment. Ororo looked at you with a soft smile and gentle eyes.

“How did you know?” You asked jokingly as you crossed your arms over your chest. Your smile became more stable as you straightened your posture. “You haven’t seen him have you?”

“Not since this morning. But Charles may have better knowledge of his whereabouts.” She offered before stepping through the large doorway. You watched as she settled herself down on the couch in front of the fireplace. The fire crackled and kept the room warm despite the large windows that covered most of the walls in the room.

Deciding to take Ororo’s suggestion you went to find The Professor. If you remembered correctly he and Hank had settled into the library to play chess while reminiscing on the past. Making your way there you bumped into Kurt who teleported right in front of you causing him to run into your chest.

“Oh, sorry! Gotta run! Can’t have Jubs beat me!” And with that he was gone in a flash. A chuckle left your lips as you made it to the library where you found Charles. The men sat at a table with a chest bored in front of them, but as you entered both raised their heads to look at you.

“Hello professor, I’m sorry to bother you but have you seen Logan?” Your words came out more rushed then had been intended but you were starting to get antsy. He couldn’t have just dropped off the face of the earth. All the vehicles were still in the garage so you know he was here somewhere.

“I haven’t my dear. But we both know how he gets around the holidays.” The Professor informed you with a wariness in his voice. Charles was the only one to know of your history with Logan and understood your care for the man. You let out a sigh as another attempt to find Logan failed.

“I know. But Thank you Professor, I’m sure he’s around here somewhere. See ya.” You bid farewell to the two chess players before walking to your room. It was almost driving you mad trying to find Logan. Deciding to take a break you went to your room to change and grab the gift you had for the Wolverine. You had been walking around the mansion in your sweatpants and a festive long sleeve shirt but decided it was time to take the search outside.

As you finished changing into your jeans and put on a jacket over your long sleeve you looked out the window. When looking outside you’re immediately greeted with the pond, but if you look farther you can see some of the trees that scatter the grounds, limbs bare of leaves. In one of those trees you had spotted a shadowy figure amongst its branches. There was no doubt in your mind who it was. So in a quick fashion. You laced up your shoes, grabbed the gift off your night stand, and ran out the door as you tucked it into a large inner pocket of your jacket.

The air bit at your exposed skin as you stepped out. The snow was still falling steadily to the ground as you found yourself outside. Not wanting to get your shoes to wet you formed a small disk of light particles and jumped on.

Your mutation allowed you to manipulate atoms on a subatomic level which you used to your utmost advantage. But you never used them in the ways a villain would, only ever utilizing them for shield defense or healing small injuries on others.

Maneuvering the disk under your feet you made your way over to the tree Logan resided in. It didn’t take long before you were at the base of the tree. Dissolving the light you had used leaving you standing in the snow behind Logen, you stared up at him.

Logan’s face was lit only by the full moon that hung high in the sky, casting a glow over his features. His brows were furrowed while deep in thought as he slumped over the tree limb he was perched on. You couldn’t help admiring him even if he seems upset. Taking a moment to clear your throat you began to speak.

“Mind if I join you?” You heard a grumble from the man as he registered your existence. Taking a moment to unslouch his shoulders he looked down at you .

“I just can’t seem to lose you can I?” Logan gruffed as he watched you summon another disk to lift you up into the tree. His eyes trained on your every move as you plopped down beside him on the sturdy branch.

“You have no idea.” You retorted as you let your legs swing back and forth. He raised his eyebrow at that remark which caused you to pale slightly. “Why don’t you come inside? It’s a lot warmer and you wouldn’t be alone.” You quickly changed the subject back to your mission. A slight growl left Logan’s throat as he slumped back into his previous stance.

“That’s why I’m out here, kid. I want to be alone.” His eyes became fixed on the vast yard that laid before him. The snow was building steadily over the grass as the temperature continued to drop.

“Well that’s too damn bad.” You informed him which only caused his brow to furrow deeper. His leather jacket tightened against his back as he inhaled. Logan knew you weren’t going to just leave him. No matter how mean he got or how unsavory, you stayed. He never understood why and figured he never would.

“But since you’re not going to come in,” you opened up your jacket to pull out the present. He turned his attention back to you and his eyes widened just a fraction. “here. I got you a little something.”

It wasn’t wrapped due to its odd shape but you figured he wouldn’t mind too much. As you handed it over he took a moment to examine it. On an overnight mission in Ireland Logan and yourself had found a local pub. He wasn’t too picky when it came to his whisky but you couldn’t help notice the way he enjoyed this particular brand.

So on the last day of the mission you had wandered back into that same bar and bribed the bartender to sell you an unopened bottle. You were lucky to not have been caught with the liquor on your way back into the institute.

It clicked in Logan’s head instantly as he turned the bottle over in his hands. The Amber liquid sloshed steadily around the glass as he turned it. You watched as he examined it, slowly starting to become self conscious of the gift. His silence wasn’t helping either. The cold had started to bite through your jacket causing you to pull the zipper up your neck. Your gaze fell to the ground below as you started to ramble.

“I saw how you enjoyed it while we were in Ireland so I just thought-“ you were cut off as Logan pulled you into his side. His hand rested on your waist as he brought you closer. The warmth he radiated through his own jacket soothed the chill that had begun to settle into your bones. You looked up at Logan a bit astonished and found he was already looking at you.

“Thank you.” He said simply. There was a genuine appreciation in his tone which caused your face to warm. He was so close which sent your system into overload. Your body grew hot as a spark shot up your spine from the contact.

“No problem.” You replied with a slight shake in your voice. Logan’s grip on your waist disappeared as he shuffled beside you. Too focused on the loss of contact you were startled when his jacket was draped over your shoulders. The smell of his cigars and a lingering scent of pine filled your nose. You couldn’t help tucking yourself further into the warm leather, pulling your arms through the sleeves.

“Thank you. Guess my jacket wasn’t as thick as I thought it was.” You sheepishly admitted. Logan let out a chuckle before placing his arm back around you. His other hand still gripped the bottle of Whisky.

“You should get back inside before you catch a cold.” He warned, his thumb slowly rubbing your side. You let out a chuckle before poking at his shoulder.

“I’m not leaving without you.” A smile bloomed across your face as he let out a sigh. He knew you weren’t lying when you said that. There had been many occasions you had done it before, he both loved and hated that about you. With a grumble he removed his arm from around your waist and jumped down from the tree.

“Come on then.” He said before placing the bottle of whisky in the snow and reached a hand up towards you. A look of skepticism passed over your face as your head tilted to the side.

“Are you going to catch me?” You couldn’t help but ask. There was no doubt in your mind that he wouldn’t. Logan never deliberately hurt you, except for a few times during training. But you had asked him to not hold back, so he didn’t.

“Always.” Logan reassured you with a smile across his face. The branch wasn’t too high up but it would still hurt like a bitch if you landed wrong. So with cautious movement you pushed yourself off and within seconds you were against Logan’s chest. Your arms wrapped around his neck and he held you flush to his body.

You didn’t want to let go. It felt so right being this close to him in his embrace. However you knew that moment had to come to an end. He put you down so your feet were on solid ground before turning to pick up the whisky bottle. Your grip tightened on Logan’s jacket as he began to walk toward the mansion. You summoned one last disk before gliding beside him. Hovering off the ground you were now eye level with Logan.

“I knew you’d come around.” You leaned in to elbow him, he was so easy to tease. Sure Logan had a bad temper and an even worse past, but even with his gruff exterior he was a sweet guy underneath. As much as he didn’t want to admit it. He looked over at you and placed an arm across your shoulders. Hand resting on your shoulder and giving a slight squeeze.

“Shut up.” He grumbled.

[shewrites444]

secrets [xavier thorpe x reader smut]

written by me & me only!!! enjoy ƪ(˘⌣˘)ʃ

word count - 2.4k

[summary: the reader and xavier have been hooking up since the semester started, but when he suddenly goes ghost after awhile, the reader learns that his feelings for her venture far more than what lies on the surface.]

[warnings: rough sex, car sex, choking, spitting, daddy kink, dirty talk, dominant male]

-

xavier thorpe wasn't the most sought out guy at nevermore, surprisingly, but when his ex girlfriend, bianca, sent me a text that read, i'm going to tell everyone your secret, i quickly realized that he may be more well-known than what i thought. the fact they dated last year slipped my mind, but i was also a transfer student, so its not like i knew every piece of drama this school had.

we had been hooking up since the beginning of this semester, originally starting as just a one time thing after the rave'n that eventually lead into basically anytime we saw each other. i never found myself in the time or place for a relationship, and he said he felt the same way, so having sex really meant nothing other than a good time. sure, we'd hang out after, maybe go paint in his art studio or go to his dorm, but it really wasn't that big of a deal.

except for tonight.

xavier was being really weird and had been for about the past week, barely answering my texts and when he did, it was just one or two word answers. i was genuinely concerned about him, and that maybe that text from bianca was something he knew about, so he possibly wanted to keep his distance from me. either way, i would prefer him to just tell me to my face that this was over with, so despite how nervous i was, i planned on sneaking out to his art studio tonight because if he wasn't at his dorm, that's where he'd be.

glancing at my phone, i watched as the clock finally hit midnight and i got out of bed, grabbing my black sweatshirt and slipping it on over my top. i walked quietly out of my dorm and down the stairs, opening one of the windows and made my way to his studio through the foggy and damp forest.

glancing through the windows, i noticed all the lights were out, but i opened the doors anyway, shutting them slowly behind me and turning on the light. most of his paintings were visions he had through his dreams, so pretty creepy stuff, but nothing i couldn't handle. i looked around, accidently tripping on a long sheet covering a relatively large canvas. it dropped to the floor and i quickly leaned down to pick it up if he for some reason were to come inside.

looking up, i saw a painting that was definitely not a vision. my eyes widened and my cheeks reddened as i scanned the drying canvas up and down to see a rather explicit drawing of no one other than myself. it was genuinely indescribable to say the least, but also incredible artwork at the same time. before i could even process it, i heard the door open and i gasped, turning to see a very embarrassed xavier.

he walked over rather quickly and grabbed the sheet from me, hanging it back over the painting and grabbed my hand, clearly frustrated.

"what the hell, [y/n]! you were never supposed to see that, like, ever.. why are you in here? a text would have been nice, you know.."

"i-i just wanted to talk to you, i don't know!" i stammer, looking down at the floor and avoiding eye contact as much as i could. "not like you would have answered my text anyway." i mutter and i cross my arms, shaking my head in confusion. "i'm not judging you, but like.. why would you draw that if you don't even want me in your life anymore? you've like full-blown ghosted me this entire week. did i do something?"

xavier ran his fingers through his hair, shaking his head and sighing heavily. "no, [y/n], you did nothing wrong, you never have.."

i raise my brow and glance up to him and his flushed expression, "then why are you acting like this? did someone find out what was going on between us?"

"i know about what bianca said, [y/n], but she isn't going to hurt either of us. she just wants to start drama." xavier explained, scratching the back of his head as he built up the courage to say what he was trying to say. "it's just too complicated to explain, i don't want to talk about it."

i frown in frustration and turn the other way, walking out of the art shed when xavier frantically follows behind me as i walk through the sprinkling rain and towards nevermore. there was no sense in standing around if the conversation, and our friendship, was not going to go anywhere. the entire situation would hurt less if i just went to my dorm and to sleep.

"woah, what are you doing? you're really just going to leave, and walk all the way back in the rain?" xavier shouts, walking behind me with a fast pace to keep up as i trudge through the muddy woods.

i nod, pulling my hood over my head. "yep! since you can't even give me any explanation, i don't want to waste my time."

i feel xavier grab the top of my arm and drag me a few feet down to a parked car, which was his, and open the back door, pushing me in and shutting it behind me. i sit there with widened eyes, watching him get in next to me and shut the door behind him. my brow raises and i lean against the door, one hand resting on it to open it, unless he finally told me what was going on.

"fine, [y/n]. if you want the truth, it's that i like you, and that is going to ruin everything going on between us. i've liked you for awhile now, and yeah, i push it to the back of my head the best i can when i'm with you, but the more i'm with you, the worse this all gets."

i take my hand away from the door and sympathetically look up to a vulnerable xavier, reaching over to take his hand and hold it gently. "you know you could have just told me instead of ignore me over text, and in class. this kind of thing happens all the time in a friends with benefits kind of situation. we work it out together, and you can't expect me to express my own feelings about it when you don't even ask me."

xavier pulls away from my hand and rubs his forehead with both hands, looking down in frustration with himself and the situation. "but you don't understand. yeah, i wanted to tell you this earlier, but it's all so confusing, and frankly, kind of dark.. i have a lot of romantic feelings for you, but the more i like you, the more i want to do things to you.. like.. things that are way more intense than what we do now.."

i grin, tucking my hair behind my ears and leaning closer, our faces inches apart, the heat between our breaths grazing against each other's lips. "tell me what you want to do to me."

he bites his bottom lip, shaking his head with a smirk and looking down. "i think i'd rather just do it to you, then tell you. but you need to tell me how you feel first. about everything. i want you to be sure."

"i like you too." i admit, smiling softly to him. "so fuck me, or whatever this fantasy of yours entails, and we can go from there."

he reaches over to cup my cheeks, slamming his soft lips against mine as we begin to kiss, my hands venturing down to his waist as i slide his sweatpants down, grazing against his hardening dick that strained in his underwear, then making the fabric the next thing i took off. i took his dick in one hand and began to jerk him off, earning a few months from his lips as we continued to make out. i feel xavier push his weight on me, making me sink into the seat below me as he breaks our kiss and motions his body to where my hand slides off him.

xavier grabs my sweatshirt and pulls it off, along with my top, pulling my bra down to attach his lips to one of my nipples, using one hand to hold my own, as the other reaches down to my own pants, sliding them down with my help as i wiggle out of them. i feel him slide my panties to the side as well, pumping one finger inside of me.

i moan, moving one hand to hold the back of his head, grabbing his hair and sliding my fingers through it. i close my eyes and spread my legs to allow him in further as he slides another finger in.

he pulls himself away from my nipple and looks up to me to peck my lips. "you like that, baby? do you want me to fuck you yet?"

"y-yes.." i nod, looking up to meet his eyes in the darkened light as he pulls his fingers out of me and sits up, taking his top off. i lean down to pull my underwear off before he stops me, taking my hand and pushing it back to my side. he moves himself to grab me by the hips, helping me sit up and turn me to face the center console of his car, leaning my body down and positioning himself behind me. i feel him press his dick against my folds, slowly sliding the tip in before starting a rhythm.

he leans down to kiss my cheek, licking the side before nibbling on my ear and motioning one hand to wrap around the back of my neck. his fingers grip my skin as his roughness begins to build up, his other hand now placed on my clit as he begins to rub in a circular motion, earning a heavy gasp on my end while he stimulates me.

"you feel so good, [y/n]... you gonna come for me, hm?" xavier asked softly as i nod. he then moves his hand from my throat to my ass, slapping it harshly as i yip in surprise. "you don't cum until i say so, or this is going to go on for way longer than what you can handle."

i giggle, turning my head to glance to him. "you're funny. you know i like a fuckton of stimulation."

xavier clicked his tongue at my remark, grabbing me by the waist and pulling my body towards him as he sits on the seat, slamming me down on him and i gasp, shock sending through my body as he length pushes itself into me. he continues to rub my clit, and wraps one arm around my waist, holding my tightly.

"go on and bounce on daddy's dick, if you wanna say shit like that." he scoffs, holding me tightly as i begin to ride him, my feet planted against the seat while i take each and every inch of him. i feel him grunt with every thrust, our moans mixing together as we pleasure each other.

"i didn't know you were so dominant, xav..." i mutter, both my hands on his knees as i move. "it's really hot, to be honest.."

xavier grinned, grabbing my hair with his hand after moving it off my waist. "oh really? if you think so, then why don't you let me take it a step further."

"whatever you want, daddy."

and with my permission, he helped to turn my around to face him, leaning me down on the seat once again, locking our lips as he repositions himself inside me. he begins to thrust again, this time a bit softer than what he was doing before. i feel him take my hands and hold them both above my head. he looks down to me and smirks, tilting his head.

"open your mouth."

i do so almost instantly and feel his spit hit the back of my throat and i swallow, our eyes locked through each and every stroke, and breath we take. he bites his top lip, picking up his pace to the point my head hits the car door a bit, but i barely even notice from the amount of stimulation coming from his thrusts. i close my eyes and hang my mouth open, moans filling the silence other than the slaps between our skin.

he moves his free hand to hold my throat once again, but from the front of my neck. just when i thought he couldn't go any harder, xavier lets go of my wrists and moves his hand to cover my mouth as he slams himself into my walls, making me yelp underneath his palm.

my entire body was shaking from the shock it was receiving from such immense pleasure, and pain. i move my arms to wrap around his waist, pulling him closer down to me as he continuously thrusts completely in and out of me, his balls slapping against my sweating skin, which was quickly filled with my own cum, dripping against his dick and balls while he continued.

just as xavier grew close, he pulled out of me, adjusting his body to line his dick up with my mouth and shoves it down my throat, gasping as i take him immediately, despite how caught off guard i was. he groaned, looking down as he fucked my face, both of his hands sliding down to hold my cheeks.

"this is so hot, fuck, [y/n].." he moans, looking down to me. "i've never wanted anyone more in my life than you. you're so hot.. you take my dick so good, baby..."

i shove my head up after his words, his dick balls deep down my throat as he gasps, cumming immediately upon my actions. he pulls out after a few seconds and sits back on the seat, leaning his body to the side.

i sit up, wiping my mouth with a red-stained face as i scoot towards him. i pick his lips, leaning down to rest my head on his shoulder. i feel his arm wrap around me and his free hand take my own, playing with my fingers while he catches his breath, and i do the same.

"i hope i didn't hurt you."

"maybe a little, but i liked it." i admit, laughing at my confession before glancing back up to him. "i didn't know your feelings for me went so deep as to fucking me to the point i can feel like, every nerve in my body."

xavier blushed, shrugging lightly and kissing me once again. "guess there is more to me than what you know."

"so no more secrets?" i grin, intertwining our fingers. "promise me you'll be honest about your feelings from now on, sexual or not."

"promise." xavier nodded, hugging me with his arm that was around me. "no more secrets."

[callmelittlesunshinefics]

Dancing On My Own (Gambit X Reader, Part One)

Alrighty folks, this was meant to be a quick fluffy one shot that keeps getting longer and more angsty and has been sitting in my drafts for entirely too long now. Still very much a WIP that will be continued this week or next, PG13 for the time being with potential to take a turn for spicy down the line :)

A/N: Some quick background, the reader (Y/N in fic, described with she/her pronouns) is based off of an OC I tend to pull out pretty frequently. Half human, half angel, displaced from their home universe and dropped into this one (in which Lucifer, the tv show, is also cannon because why not maybe do a crossover down the line?). Gambit x Reader is the main ship we're sailing towards, but there's definitely some Logan x Reader if you squint. OH and last last thing, there's a party and I'm shamelessly linking the dress I had in mind for the reader here.

gif credit :) : @counterspelling

Dropping below a read more, don't be shy, come say hi when you're done reading! :)

“‘Stay for the summer!’ they said, ‘quiet and relaxing’ they said!” You throw the words you were told back at Jubilee who looks back at you completely unfazed as you continue untangling string lights to hang in the garden. 

“Honestly Y/N if you had stopped for two seconds to think about who was telling you that, you probably would’ve gone back to LA.” 

She was completely right, of course. You showed up to Xavier’s school not a mutant, not fully human either, and just looking for a place on the east coast to stay. Your uncle Lucifer made a few calls, found a friend willing to host a universe-displaced nephilim, and the rest was history. You might not be a mutant, but you were a partial human with powers you couldn’t always understand, and even other angels in this universe weren’t always able to help. Charles met and understood you quicker than anyone you’ve ever encountered in this universe or the next, so when you were asked to extend your stay and take on some guardian duties over the summer you were happy enough to agree. 

“Jean is the one who told you it would be relaxing, and Jean’s idea of relaxing is staying at a constant level 8 of activity.” 

“How is that not like the school year?” You rolled your eyes, dropping the lights. 

“Well during the school year she bounces between a 9 and 10, reserving 7s and 8s for the weekend. I can make you a diagram or something if you need it.” 

“I’m going to need a lot more than that by the time we’re done here.” 

“Maybe Gambit can help you with that?” Remy had sauntered over from the basketball court, at least that’s what you assumed given his current state of undress. 

“Unless you’re here to help decorate, I don’t think so handsome. If Jean catches us behind schedule the phoenix might make a reappearance…” You looked around and took a deep breath, realizing that other than the lights, everything looked pretty set. There was a reasonable sized clearing in the garden and Jean had hired a company to install a temporary dance floor. Chairs and tables were scattered around picnic style, and Jubilee had done an amazing job of setting up the bar despite being the only one unable to drink, legally.

“I think it’s actually just the lights,” Jubilee nodded to the messy pile at your feet, “And I think Gambit would be more help with that than me anyway, so?” 

“Go ahead,” you nodded smiling and she ran over to hug you, “And if you go to the mall, bring me back a pretzel!!!” You yelled after her knowing it was useless, she’d bring you a pretzel whether she heard you or not. 

“Avoiding me, chere?” Gambit eyed you with his usual flirtatious undertone that you couldn’t make heads or tails of. 

“In fact, I am. Grab that end?” You handed him the lights as he waited for an explanation, “Okay, I’m going to sit in the tree, I just need you to feed me the lights as we move. Ready?” You didn’t give him a chance to answer, disappearing and reappearing in the branch just above his head. 

Gambit stared back troubled and suspicious, so you nodded and gave him the sarcastic, albeit not entirely untrue, answer he was waiting for, “Oh Remy my attraction to you is just so strong and all consuming that I had to avoid you in order to get anything done at all. Every second I can’t throw myself at you is torture. Et cetera, et cetera, please start passing me the lights so I can go inside and shower.” 

He laughed and finally did as you said, “You know if you wanted ol’Gambit all you had to do was ask.” 

The two of you worked in a comfortable silence passing the lights through the trees. Just as you finished wrapping the last string, your footing slipped and you let out a quick yelp before bracing yourself for a fall that never came. 

“I never would have guessed angels could be so clumsy.” 

“If we weren’t you’d be short of a pickup line. Tell me honestly, how many times have you asked a lady if she fell from heaven?” Remy laughed and began walking away with you still in his arms. 

“Not as many as you think, chere. Are we about done out here?” 

You looked around and nodded, “Finally, yes. It was a good catch by the way, but I think I can walk on my own.” 

Placing you back on the ground, the two of you walked towards the mansion in another comfortable silence. Remy was probably tied with Jubilee as your closest friend in the school. You could remember the first day you arrived, how he couldn’t stop watching you. It wasn’t until later that same night, you were out in the garden and could still sense him watching you, that you decided to do something about it. You walked right up to him, introduced yourself, and asked him to kindly explain why he was staring at you like he’s seeing a ghost. 

It turned out the boy who grew up being told he was a demon had a lot of mixed feelings discovering angels and demons were not only real, but one of them was living under his roof. Remy felt a bit silly admitting it to you, but he owed you an honest answer when you confronted him so directly. And when he told you what people had said about him, what he suspected his own parents must have thought of him, your heart broke. You told him stories of all the demons and monsters you’ve encountered, and reassured him that he didn’t come close to fitting the bill.

“What’s on your mind, Remy?” There was quiet and then there was Quiet. You were still pretty new, but you knew well enough when something was bothering him.   

“Are you heading back?” You stopped short, and he stopped to face you. 

“Back where, Rem?” 

“Anywhere that’s not here.” He was facing you but he wouldn’t quite look at you, as if he didn’t actually want to hear the answer.

You took a deep breath, “The honest answer is that I don’t know. I don’t really feel like LA is where I belong, but I’m not a mutant or a gifted youngster either. I mean, I’m not even from this u-” 

“Okay, okay.” Gambit interrupted you with a hug, correctly sensing an impending panic attack from you, “Gambit just worried he won’t get to see you s’all.” 

You took a deep breath, sighing into the hug, “Well that’s really stupid.”  He pulled back to look at you, full of confusion. “It’s really stupid because if I were going anywhere you’d be the first person I tell, and because it takes me about 5 seconds flat to get anywhere. I’d be back before you even knew I was gone.”

You smiled wistfully and he returned it, “I’d know.” 

The two of you continued heading in and you finally felt brave enough to ask the question you’ve really been wanting to ask. 

“Well, I have to head up and start getting ready for tonight. What about you, getting ready for your date?” Of course, you weren’t sure he actually had one, but that was as direct as you could bring yourself to be. 

“Suppose I should be doing the same. Save Gambit a dance?” He kissed your hand and walked away, leaving you flustered and confused. You immediately pulled out your phone.

Y/N: okay so i said ‘gotta go get ready! what about you, getting ready for your date?’ and he said ‘suppose i should do the same’ what do we do with that??

JB: does he think you have a date?? 

Y/N: SHOULD i have a date??? 

JB: yeah, one of you should have asked the other out by now 

You dropped your phone on your bed, having finally made it to your room after a flurry of texts. Complicated feelings for your maybe best friend aside, it was still important to you to be slightly better than presentable tonight. 

Tonight was the first time all summer the adults of the mansion could relax and have a good time, and some non-residential mutants would also be joining the mix. You had never really been to anything so strictly social with the gang, and you didn’t take your invitation lightly. 

It wasn’t exactly formal, but Jubilee was able to confirm your suspicion that it wasn’t exactly casual either. You showered, taking more time than usual to exfoliate and moisturize, trying to pamper yourself into relaxing and getting excited for the night ahead, trying to ignore Remy’s words from earlier bouncing around your head. 

Two simple words that have had you in a tailspin since he said them so casually. ‘I’d know.’

The trouble maker in you wanted to test him on it, and you did a quick assessment of yourself to see if you could. Fresh out of the shower but mostly dressed, you were presentable. Should you take a quick trip overseas, hop over to France for some wine for tonight and back in a blink? You closed your eyes and heard a knock on your door just as you were about to take off. 

You opened your door more suspicious than you’d care to admit, suddenly paranoid that Gambit sniffed you out, but you were met with Jubilee instead, weighed down with garment and shopping bags from the mall. 

“You never answered me! I have your pretzel and you promised we’d do makeup together so-“ it was all the preamble she gave before forcing the pretzel on you and making herself at home in your room. 

“I was showering! And I really thought you were going to be gone longer?” 

“I just had to pick up some stuff I ordered for tonight, plus giving you and Gambit some time to flirt didn’t seem like a bad thing.” 

You rolled your eyes, “We have banter, definitely, but I’m not sure I’d call it flirting. He flirts with everyone.” 

“So you realize that what he does with you is different?” She turns it on you but you’ve heard it before. 

“Yes, different as in he’s not interested!” 

Jubilee made a sound of frustration before giving up and asking for help with contour. You dropped the subject and fell back into your usual routine, an easy friendship that reminded you more of sisters than friends. You showed up at the mansion looking for a place to stay while you visited old haunts, and you made a friend in Jubilee who was willing to venture into those places with you, even if it meant confronting ghosts.

“Lucky for you I think I found the perfect way to test his level of interest. You didn’t pick out what you’re wearing yet, did you?” 

“Well yeah, I was just going to wear-” You started motioning to the dress you picked for tonight, but Jubilee was moving and cutting you off before you even finished.

“Okay so scrap that, I grabbed something for you at the mall,” she reached for one of the garment bags she had laid across your bed, “and if this doesn’t get a reaction out of him, I’m at a loss. What do you think?”

She unzipped the bag and your eyebrows flew up so fast you wondered if they were still there. It was hot pink, sequined, and most noticeably, short and backless. You reached out to touch it and couldn’t deny how beautiful it was. Sure, the pink was a lot and it showed more skin than you were strictly comfortable with, but you couldn’t deny that the striped details of the sequins were gorgeous, or that the dress would hug and accentuate your curves…dangerously. 

“Now tell me what’s really going on because there’s no way you were able to afford this dress.” 

Jubilee snorted, “You got me, it comes with a letter.” She handed you a small envelope you promptly opened and started reading. 

‘Your young friend told me you planned to attend a party wearing some frumpy thing off a rack and that’s simply unacceptable for my niece, I have a reputation to uphold, Y/N ;) Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do! Sincerely, your Fairy DevilFather (p.s. TRY to have fun?)’

“Lucifer intervened to send me a dress?? How did you two even contact each other?” 

“I answered your phone once when he called while you were showering. We really hit it off, he actually sent me one too!” She excitedly pulled out another bag and showed you an equally gorgeous, albeit much more modest dress. Part of you wanted to argue, but another part of you realized how exciting this was for your friend and you weren’t about to let her down when she was waiting for you to join her excitement. 

“I think we might be best dressed tonight?” You smirked and she whooped, celebrating her victory. 

“Oh I’m ready, maybe everyone will finally accept the fact that I’m 20 and stop treating me like I’m still 15.” 

You knew it was a sore point for her, but you still smiled. The way all of the x-men treated Jubilee as their adopted child was something that endlessly warmed your heart, even if it frustrated your friend. The two of you took your time helping each other get your hair and makeup perfect before donning your dresses and leaving your bedroom, having already started to hear the arrival of a few guests and the slight murmur of conversation. 

You stopped just short of the stairs, turning to face Jubilee, “Don’t they say ‘fashionably late’ is a good thing?” Your anxiety was starting to get the best of you, wearing such a risque dress to attend a party with lots of new faces. 

“I think we’ve already reached fashionably late, babe, if we wait any longer they’ll think something is wrong.” You took a deep breath and started to make your way down the stairs. The mansion was empty, signalling that everyone else had already made their way out to the garden. 

The sun was just beginning to set when the two of you arrived to find the party already in full swing. Jean and Scott were dancing, Logan and Hank sharing a drink by the bar, and around 20 faces you had never seen interspersed with the rest of the team. You heard a low wolf whistle behind you and felt a hand on your lower back. 

“Breaking hearts tonight, chere?” Remy was on you before you could even turn to look at the sound. 

“If I’m lucky.” You shrugged. 

“Think I have enough of that for the both of us.” He winked and you tried and failed to suppress a snort that only made him grin wider. 

You turned to say something to Jubilee and your eyes narrowed when you realized the little traitor had run over to greet her friends, leaving you and Gambit alone. She looked your way and winked as you openly glared at her. 

“Well it looks like I’ve been ditched so I’ll need to borrow some of it.” You grimaced in the direction of the crowd, not needing to elaborate.  

“All yours, chere.” He offered you his arm and you accepted, making your way into the party and jumping right into a flurry of introductions, hugs and handshakes that Remy led you through, guiding you away when it was time to move on. 

It seemed innocent enough but you couldn’t stop focusing on the fact that Remy’s hands never left you. Whether it was an arm wrapped protectively around your waist or his hand on your exposed lower back, lazily tracing shapes you couldn’t make out, it was becoming increasingly distracting. He introduced you to Kurt and you only caught 30% of the conversation, too distracted by Remy’s hand tracing the curve of the dip at the back of your dress. You were relieved when Remy excused the two of you to go grab a drink.

“Admit it, not as bad as you thought.” Gambit smirked at you, leading you to a table where Logan and Jubilee were catching up. 

You rolled your eyes, “I never thought it would be bad, I just,” You took a deep breath, “I don’t know, I guess I was worried I wouldn’t fit in here, or that everyone would be wondering why I’m even here but too polite to say anything.” 

Logan and Jubilee both looked in your direction, hearing the tail end of your conversation that you didn’t bother hiding from them. Logan very openly looked you up and down before chuckling and taking a sip of what you suspected to be whiskey. 

“No one’s kicking you out of here looking like that, that’s for sure.” It was maybe the first time the wolverine had ever given you a compliment and you blushed. 

“You clean up rather nicely yourself, Logan.” 

“Then why are you spending all night with the cajun instead of talking to me?” You were surprised but did your best to cover it up, meanwhile Jubilee was fighting off a laugh herself by taking a sip of her drink.

“Because the cajun knows how a lady should be treated.” Gambit grumbled, leveling Logan with a look before departing briefly to get the both of you drinks.  

“Does he?” Logan asked you while you sat to join them, shooting him a quizzical look before he continued, “Know how to treat a lady?” 

“How much have you had, Logan?” You asked, eyeing his drink. 

“Not that much, darlin’. Answer the question.” If there was one thing you loved about Logan it was his lack of bullshit, and judging by the look on Jubilee’s face as she waited for your answer, right now it was probably her favorite thing about him too, 

“He’s been a perfect gentleman, but we’re just friends.” You tried to say it in a way that wouldn’t reveal how much that bothered you, but both of them knew better. Gambit returned a second later with your drinks and you only got two sips in before Logan insisted on a round of shots. 

One round turned into two, turned into three, turned into…you lost count. Jubilee was swaying happily in her seat, having convinced the two men to let her join in with half shots somewhere around round three. Everyone’s judgement was impaired by that point, but she made a great argument about drinking for the first at home where she’s safe or something else you couldn’t remember anymore in your happily inebriated state.

A song came on and you gasped, turning towards the dancefloor and excitedly announcing your love for the song. What it was called? You couldn’t remember if your life depended on it, but you needed to dance. You locked eyes with Remy who smiled but shifted his eyes away awkwardly, causing you to quickly deflate. 

“Have you even had a dance yet tonight, Y/N?” Logan asked you suspiciously. 

“Not yet.” You pouted, considering heading out on your own, dance partner be damned. 

“Knows how to treat a lady my ass.” Logan grumbled in Gambit’s direction, shooting a glare at him before getting up and begrudgingly but kindly offering you his hand. 

“Oh. my. GOD.” Jubilee squealed, far too gone to contain her excitement at the drama, as she would say.  

You beamed at Logan, accepting his hand and making a run for the dance floor, pulling him along behind you. 

“That crazy cajun might try to take my head off later for this.” Logan grumbled, settling his arms at your waist while you threw yours around his neck, getting closer than was strictly necessary so the two of you could continue your talk while dancing. Your eyes shifted over to where you just left your friends and you felt a stabbing pain in your chest when you looked for Remy just to see he had also made his way over to the dance floor, with Rogue. 

“I don’t think you have anything to worry about, Logan.” Your eyes were starting to tear up and you looked up trying to stop it as Logan became worried, turning to figure out what made you so upset. His eyes landed on Gambit and he growled, holding you a little closer as he actively tried to calm down. 

“I’ll kill him.” 

“You won’t.” You laughed, “He’s allowed to be with whoever he wants.”

“Yeah, but he’s not allowed to follow you around all night like a lovesick puppy just to ditch you when he catches another scent.” 

You smiled sadly, “He was being a good friend earlier, that’s it.” 

Logan pulled you closer and leaned down to whisper in your ear, “I watched his hands stray all over you, Y/N,” He touched your bare back to emphasize his point, “He’s not a friend, he’s a coward.” You couldn’t take it anymore and hugged Logan, hiding your face in his chest to let a few tears escape, hoping you would feel a bit better if you could get some of your distress out. 

“Might have to kill em for making you cry.” Logan grumbled and you laughed, smiling up at him despite yourself. 

“Believe it or not you’re helping enough like this.” The two of you continued dancing and Logan’s discomfort wasn’t wasted on you, but he’d be damned if he let the two of you leave that dance floor before Gambit and Rogue. He was making a point. 

The music began to slow down and Rogue and Gambit finally went their separate ways. You watched as Remy found Jubilee again and made their way back over to the table, you turned to Logan.

“Think we should head back?” He looked behind you and shook his head.

“We finally get a song that’s more my speed and you want to leave?” He shook his head no and pulled you closer, making you laugh and rest your head on his chest as the two of you swayed lazily. 

“Thank you, Logan. It’s not how I expected the night to go but I wouldn’t have gotten through it without you.” 

“Dancing with you looking like that isn’t exactly a punishment.” He snarked and you chuckled.

“Mind if I cut in?” You looked up to meet red eyes, Remy looking between you and Logan harshly before addressing you again more quietly, “Didn’t Gambit ask you to save him a dance?” 

You hesitated and Logan took that as his cue, “Bad timing cajun, Y/N just said she was getting dizzy, we’re heading back to the table.” Logan put his arm around you and lead you out of there, leaving Gambit to grumble and trail the two of you back. 

Jean had joined Jubilee to rest and eyed the three of you quizzically as you made your return.

“Y/N!! I found out that shots of vodka with cranberry juice is amazing, look!” She held out a shot for you and you grabbed it and threw it back before Logan and Remy could even finish their protests.

“Chere! Didn’t you say you were dizzy?” Gambit took the shot glass out of your hand, leading you to a chair. 

“From the dancing, Rem! I definitely haven’t had enough to drink yet.” 

Jubilee whooped and passed you another shot, clinking it to her own before you both threw them back. Jean looked at you even more confused and you tapped your temple with a wink, an agreed upon gesture inviting her to read your mind. 

“Rough night but I promise everything is okay, just need to drown my sorrows a little with you guys. Logan’s been doing his best.” 

You heard Jean’s response in your head, “Fair enough. I’ve been cutting Jubilee’s shots with a lot of cranberry juice. Seriously, a LOT.” 

You struggled to mask your laugh, “As I was saying, definitely not enough to drink, I’m gonna go-“ You stood and made your way to the bar on your own before anyone else could say anything, but you could feel a few sets of eyes watching you leave. 

Someone had been manning the bar, but as the night wore on and the guests dwindled, those of you remaining were left to fend for yourself. You assessed your options and reached for the gin, giving that a generous pour before adding sprite, a splash of cranberry juice, and a lime wedge before you can talk yourself out of it. 

“That looks amazing, can you make me one too?” Jubilee had appeared at your side and you smiled before making her a much more restrained version of yours. “Now I need you to tell me eeeeevery detail of you and Wolvie dancing I mean I neeeever-“ 

“To be clear,” you interrupted, sipping at your drink, “It was a pity save when it became painfully obvious Remy wasn’t going to ask.” 

“After spending literally all night following you around and basically growling at anyone that tried to get near you, what’s up with that??” She made a good point but you weren’t sure what she meant by that first part. 

“Pause, rewind, what are you talking about ‘basically growling’?” 

“You seriously didn’t realize how handsy he got with you when Kurt started getting friendly?” 

You realized you were drunk when you couldn’t stop the words from coming out of your mouth, “I was so distracted by him being handsy I didn’t even hear whatever Kurt was saying to make the connection.” 

Jubilee nearly spat her drink in your face and she started smacking you excitedly, “Can you please please go tell him that??” 

“But then he didn’t ask me to dance!! He pointedly looked away!!” 

“So Logan? What happened there?” You were starting to suspect your friend wasn’t nearly as inebriated as you thought, her tone sounding surprisingly sharp shifting gears. 

“I really don’t think there’s anything more than his mother-hen instincts going on there.” 

Her eyes rolled and she shrugged, “I’d agree if it was just one dance, but-“ 

“Again, pretty sure that was to save me from being zeroed in on Gambit’s dance with Rogue..” 

She didn’t have a response for that one and she simply clinked your drink before you both took generous sips, “Don’t tell Jean.” You whispered as you topped both of your glasses off before heading back to the group.

Jean had left to track down Scott who was mingling in the small groups that remained, some still dancing but most everyone else was doing the same as your small group. Jubilee bounced into the seat next to Logan and you drifted a beat too long before sitting next to Gambit. The silence that stretched between the two of you was no longer as comfortable as it was earlier, so you broke and piped up first. 

“I almost tested you earlier, you know.” 

“Almost?” Remy squinted at you, “Been testing me all night, chere.” 

You narrowed your eyes back but decided not to engage, continuing your thought instead, “When you said you’d know if I left?” His playful glare dropped and he waited on your next words, “Just a quick trip before the party but still, decided against it.” 

Remy chewed on what you were saying and not saying, wondering how the night had gotten so far away from him. Everything started out better than he expected, getting to show you around the party, not letting you too far out of sight in that dress, and then the hesitation. His own doubt sneaking in, reminding him that Y/N is quite literally an angel, he knew her place in the world, but his? He looked over at you waiting for a response and decided that didn’t matter right now.

“Still have sea legs or are you about ready for that dance, chere?” He didn’t leave you much room to answer, already standing with his arm extended. 

“You know I literally just sat back down, right?” He rolled his eyes at you, grabbing your hand and pulling you to your feet alongside him. Your night was clearly nowhere near over and you gave in, letting Remy lead you back onto the dance floor and into his arms. 

[assassin-artist]

My X-Men OC, "Solar Flare". Infodump and random info below the cut

so first things first, she was originally a Destiny 2 OC. In d2 she was an immortal warrior with fire powers and complete amnesia about her past... When I first decided to revamp her into an X-Men OC I thought I should change that bc, umm, immortal with amnesia, that sounds like a familiar xmen character lol... but then I decided fuck it, she's my OC I get to make her however I want.

So, as an xmen OC, she is a mutant with a very strong healing factor, and the power to control/manipulate solar radiation, which mainly comes off in the form of fire. Her body naturally runs at a higher temp than normal, and though people assume this means she's resistant to heat, that's not true at all. Her body might be able to handle more heat than a normal human could, but she's still at risk of burning herself with her own powers if she's not careful - which, when it comes to herself, she's usually not. She's doesn't worry about it because of her healing factor, willing to burn herself if needed, but she is very worried about burning others or doing too much damage to the area around her. She absolutely hates the summer because of this, and loves the cold. Will have the AC blasting in her bedroom at all times lol

She still has complete amnesia regarding her past. Her first memory is of waking up in a decimated library on the outskirts of a ruined village in France. She sought information about her past for years, but kept "getting distracted" with wanting to help the people she came across in her travels. During this period of wandering, she went by a lot of different names - none of them chosen by her, though, as she enjoyed letting other people pick a new name for her to go by. She would eventually wind up making her way into America, where she ran into the early X-Men for the first time. After explaining her situation and powers, she's invited to join them in Xavier's school, but she's too hesitant to commit to a group that she doesn't fully trust, so she turns them down. Thus, she went back to searching for her memories.

Though she was afraid to commit to being a full time member of their group, she was still willing to help them in combat if she was nearby, and she still formed bonds with some of the members. In general she was easy to get along with, as others found her to be very patient and easygoing, she didn't like to argue over things. She became very fast friends with Wolverine due to their similar amnesiac circumstances, and he liked to call her Red-Hot as a nickname. She also got along well with Hank McCoy and liked having philosophical and religious conversations with Kurt Wagner.

Her personality is very... calm. She likes to just 'go with the flow' of things in life, so she rarely gets angry or loses her temper. Insult her and she'll probably just laugh it off, or ask why you're in such a bad mood. She loves kids and animals, and she tries to always be patient with others, especially those who are difficult to get along with. She's of the belief that the people who are hardest to love are those who might need it the most, and she's always willing to extend a helping hand to others with little in return. Patience is her strongest virtue.

Her biggest flaw is her fear of commitment. She's afraid of joining the X-Men as a full time member because she's worried she won't want to stay, she didn't want to be in any relationships despite being in love with someone because she was afraid she'd get flighty and want to leave it, and she won't even pick a proper name for herself because she's worried it wouldn't be right for her.

Eventually, with a lot of time and soul searching (much of which was done in deep, hours long conversations she would have with Nightcrawler from time to time), she decided to leave the past behind and instead enjoy the present and look forward to the future. She made peace with not knowing who she used to be, and finally decided to settle on the name of "Claire", instead of hopping from name to name.

She also has a god-awful sense of humor. Very punny. Nobody ever laughs at her jokes. RIP Claire's pride

Cringe is dead, we love selfshipping and oc/canon on my art blog, so I like to ship her with Wolverine :3c (of course I give Wolverine a redhead girlfriend). Look I even filled out this silly ship chart for them lol (I put Logan down as "?bisexual?" bc apparently there are multiple comics where he's with men? I haven't read them but we love a bisexual short king).

Logan the canonical truck freak fr... She liked him from the moment they met, but as they got to know each other, her feelings grew deeper. At the time she realized these feelings, she was still deeply afraid of commitment, and so she kept it to herself and tried to just be a good friend. Eventually, when she got over her fears and was a valued member of the X-Men for good, she finally asked him out on a date (right after a very tough mission, and she was still giddy with adrenaline and feeling bold lol). They've been together ever since 👍 Claire tries to be a calming influence on Wolverine, but honestly, sometimes she agrees with him when he loses his temper at awful people. She sees him as someone who's willing to do whatever it takes to get a job done, and he sees her as someone too kindhearted to be getting her hands dirty with the work he does. She only wishes he were kinder to himself, and chides him when he gets self-deprecating.

Now for a few random facts about her, hrm... Her favorite food is watermelon. She has a sweet tooth and likes to bake, she often drops by random classes at Xavier's with home-made goodies for the kids. She loves the idea of having children but is worried she won't be a good mother. The kids at Xavier's know that if they want something and Logan says no, they could probably go to Claire and beg her for it. She's a softie towards kids and can't say no when they get their puppy dog eyes out...

It's become a running joke to celebrate her birthday on a random day since they don't know when her real one is. They pick a new date every year. She's got a decent singing voice and is trying to learn the guitar from Hank McCoy. She jokes about Northstar having a messy love life, and calls Dr. Nemesis a crotchety old man even though she might be older than him.

Mmm... that's all off the top of my head. I'm the kind of person who likes to make a new OC every time I have a cool idea, so I have a ton of them... maybe I'll make posts about other ones as well some day.

[kykyonthemoon]

Bittersweet

A girl. Two moons. Revolving.

── .✦ Xavier x MC (Reader) x Rafayel

── .✦ Tags: high school AU, love triangle, open ending with a bit sadness, light angst, female reader, no y/n, inspired by music

── .✦ Word count: 1k4

── .✦ Ky Ky's notes: This fic was inspired by the song Bittersweet (WONWOO X MINGYU ft. Lee Hi).

Requested anonymously.

── .✦ Masterlist ♡ Request a fic - closed for the time being.

"I'm leaving."

The girl's voice echoed in the wind on the vacant hill. The sky above was filled with innumerable stars. Raising her hands high, she was trying to hold them back for herself. This sky. This place. This friendship.

The two boys stood close to her yet a step apart, exchanged short glances before returning their focus to her.

"I've decided to study abroad."

That was all. She called them both to their regular meeting place, and the three of them raced up the hill. That place held the memories of all three.

Back in high school, they used to sprint up the hill after school to watch the sunset. She alone, and two moons. Ones who chased and one who ran. It had been more than three years since.

"Xavier. Here you go.

The girl handed out a bottle of filtered water to Xavier. He accepted it, his other hand carrying a clean towel to wipe the sweat off his forehead.

"Thank you."

She grinned. At that time, a group of other female students walked by, covertly looking at Xavier and then giggling at each other.

"Look how famous our class president is." She said with a bit of teasing. "You excel at studies and know how to play sports. How many love letters have you received since the start of the year?"

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Xavier responded. He stared at the girl in front of him, who was smiling and teasing him. She was as bright as if all the warm sunshine in the world was gathered in her smile.

They were classmates. She sat at the desk in front of Xavier. He had always been watching her from behind, in secret.

"Xavier, help me with this homework!"

"Can Xavier help me with my class duty today?"

"Wait for me to come home with you!"

She was usually loud, bouncing around in front of his eyes. When did Xavier realize he liked her that much? Perhaps it was late that afternoon, after the school day had ended, yet she was still sitting in her seat.

Xavier just took a long nap. He had dreams about a certain world, when he could practice swordsmanship with her in the blue flower fields, and even travel among the stars. When he awoke, the whole class had departed, leaving her the sole one reading a book. Her little physique obscured the sunset light from the window for him.

"Is it already that late?"

Xavier rubbed his eyes. She turned and grinned. "Yes. Seeing you sleeping so soundly, I didn't have the heart to wake you up."

"Sorry… "Why didn't you go home first?"

She tilted her head. The aroma of flowers and grass filled the classroom as the breeze swept in.

"If I go back first, you would most likely wake up feeling lonely, as if the entire world has abandoned you. Isn't that true?"

Her cheeks faintly blushed the color of sunset. Xavier could only gaze at her in silence for a long time. If possible, was he allowed to touch her?

"I don't want Xavier to feel abandoned." She rose up and put the book in her bag. "Come home with me."

Their houses were in the same direction. After becoming friends, the two frequently headed home together. There was also a snack shop on the road that she adored. She always lingered there for a bit before going home, arms full of sweets like a toddler.

"For you." She poured chocolate wrapped in yellow paper into Xavier's palms. They resembled moons, stars, and even spherical planets.

"If you like, I'll try making chocolate for you." He replied, but the girl erupted into laughter.

"I appreciate your kindness, but you should stay away from all the kitchens. Last time I came to your house, we almost burned it down.”

Xavier rubbed his head. She grasped his arm and enthusiastically remarked: 

"It's okay! Next time,  I will make cakes and bring them to you!” 

A small amount of warmth remained on Xavier's arm, making him feel fluttery inside. The road stretched straight and long. He prayed it would never stop so he could always be with her.

Rafayel transferred from another school in the second semester of that year and became a classmate seated next to her. Because he was a newcomer, he greatly appreciated her friendliness and enthusiasm. She toured him around the school and the surrounding area, where she frequently socialized with friends. With her companionship, he no longer felt scared or lonely in his fresh surroundings.

Rafayel and she joined the art club together. Her artwork was not exceptional, so she frequently sought him for help. Weekend painting sessions made Rafayel the happiest since he could witness her confusion, her attentiveness, and sometimes, her wrath while drawing. He simply smirked at moments like that. When she found out, she became enraged and "accidentally" used her brush to create a line on his cheek.

"Hey, my face is not your canvas!"

"Rafayel, please concentrate on sketching. Don't speak and disturb the entire group!" She leaned over and whispered to him. Rafayel grimaced and wiped the paint from his cheek, but it simply smeared further. She laughed.

"Let me clean it for you."

She took out a tissue and dabbed it on his face. His deep pink and blue-ish eyes seemed to be drawn to her.

Despite the fact that he only recently moved here, Rafayel immediately became well-known at school for his drawing and singing abilities. But in his eyes, there was only one girl he wished to be with.

After the art group activities, it began to rain. Rafayel spotted her standing alone on the porch, gazing up at the overcast sky. Her palm extended out to collect the new drops of water that fell from above. He approached her and asked:

“Didn't you bring an umbrella?” 

She shook her head. 

“Me neither.” Rafayel replied, his hand reaching into his bag, pushing the umbrella deep to the bottom. 

“Then we have to stand here a little longer.” She shrugged. And he smiled. Standing next to her, no matter how long it took, he would not mind.

A moment later, the rain ceased. The sun began to rise again. She turned to Rafayel and said:

"We can go home now."

"It's still raining lightly." Rafayel extended one hand out over the porch.

"Nah, it's okay." She responded. Then she dashed out, grabbed Rafayel's hand, and pulled him away. "This light rain won't make you sick!"

Her laughs were crisp, mixed with the sound of the raindrops. Warm sunshine pierced the transparent curtain of water. Rafayel called out: 

"Wait for me!"

At that moment, when the two linked hands and played together in the rain before rushing towards the rainbow, perhaps Rafayel had captured the most beautiful thing this world had to offer.

Two moons revolved around her world.

Because of her, Xavier and Rafayel became friends. They regularly strolled together after school to the nearby hill. The place witnessed many moments of happiness between the three, watched their friendship bloom, and nourished the two boys' quiet affection for her. There were times when either Xavier or Rafayel wanted to confess their feelings to her but could not dare. The relationship between them was so beautiful that it could not be exchanged for anything else.

Both Xavier and Rafayel understood how much the other adored her. This made their situation much more complicated. Aside from being each other's rivals, they both treasured their friendship. As a result, each of them was waiting for someone to speak first, so that the story between the three would have a clear ending. Nobody expected that the person who put an end to it would be her.

After she left the hill, the two guys remained standing next to each other. For a very long time. The girl they loved was leaving, and when she returned, nothing would be the same again. 

Rafayel turned to face Xavier and gently nudged his arm. 

“Let's go home.”

"Yeah. Let's." Xavier responded. They had long ago resolved in their hearts that their affections for her should remain concealed forever. That was the best for all three of them.

Xavier and Rafayel strolled merrily down the hill, grasping one other's shoulders. The wind blew. Sunset slipped away. Each of them had their own concerns, which they could only be able to convey in the future.

-The end- 

[starkdirewolflove]

Latest episode of X-Men ‘97, wow.

Omg there was so much going on in that episode can’t believe it was only 36 minutes.

Love square of Jean, Scott. Madelyne and Logan. Love triangle of Magneto, Rogue and Gambit, relationship drama galore.

I find it really amusing that Emma Frost has a front row seat to the drama with Jean, Madelyne and Scott like her own personal telenovela. Love that Madelyne has been forging her own path and becoming a part of the council of Genosha.

There’s a reporter doing a documentary about the X-Men and Xavier’s school. I’m a bit confused about Roberto being there. When we first meet him he’s a young rich party boy, heir to a wealthy Brazilian family that can just take a private jet wherever he wants to go and is ashamed and afraid of people, particularly his mother learning he’s a mutant so he leaves after episode one. Then he’s just always at the mansion hanging around with Jubilee and he’s in this documentary about a mutant school. Is he out to his family as a mutant or does he not care who knows anymore? I feel like this should’ve been addressed at some point.

Things are still really rocky with Scott and Jean, I can understand why he blew up at the reporter, she was being really invasive about his personal life and calling him a liar about having a son. And who was that doctor to make any statement about the birth? The bigot refused medical help to a woman in labour. But then he goes and has his psychic affair with Madelyne, dick move. And he’s been doing this since she left while shutting Jean out then turns everything around on her. Like Jean has been traumatised by what Sinister did to her. She doesn’t know how long he had her abducted, what he did while she was his prisoner, her mind is all messed up and on top of that her husband had a baby with her clone who had completely stolen her life (not Madelyne’s fault, this was 100% Sinister’s evil plan) and the only one who is actually supportive and understanding of her pain is Logan, no wonder she kissed him. Good on Logan for not trying to make the kiss into a big deal, Jean and Scott are married and he respects that even though he’s in love with her. The betrayal from Scott was even worse for Jean because their psychic connection has always been sacred between the two of them and her anchor when the Phoenix was overwhelming her and then he disregards all that because he’s in love with Madelyne too supposedly. Like I get their shared grief over having to give up their baby, it doesn’t give him a free pass to cheat on his wife.

Gambit was such a gentleman throughout the whole Rogue and Magento stuff, even though it was breaking his heart to see her with another man he respected her choice, didn’t try to blame or shame her about it and said they can be friends still. Rogue had a really rough time this episode. From the start of this season I felt uncomfortable with this Rogue and Magento pairing but when she explained their history to Gambit it was even worse because it just sounded like grooming and made Magento a creepy sexual predator. So Rogue ran away from home as a teenager after the trauma of putting the first boy she kissed in a coma and being rejected by her dad, gets taken in by Mystique who gets her to use her powers as part of her mutant terrorist group then brings this vulnerable teenage girl who is afraid to touch anyone to a middle aged man to help her control her powers and instead of doing that he fills her head with his ideologies and because he can touch her without it hurting either of them they become lovers. 🤢🤮 so creepy. Magento leverages the council of Genosha that he will only lead them if he can take Rogue as his “Queen” or co leader to the public, so she feels backed into a corner after seeing how amazing things on Genosha were for mutants now. Then after that amazing dance scene she realises that Gambit is the man she truly loves and what they have is more meaningful and goes beyond being able to touch and she chooses her swamp rat only to lose them both by the end of the episode.

The attack on Genosha was brutal but it was so amazingly done. Cable traveling back through time to try and warn everyone about the attack even though it goes against the rules of time travel, seeing Madelyn for a moment, her recognising him as her son by his eyes and him calling her “mom” as he got pulled back through time. The music, the chaos and panic you could literally feel through the screen, Magneto’s holocaust flashbacks, the Morlocks being trapped and thinking no one was coming to save them, Nightcrawler almost dying saving Rogue and Magneto.

Rogue and Gambit were the ultimate power couple fighting their way to the Morlocks, a better dance than the one she had with Magneto. Magneto saving Rogue and Gambit while he tried to shelter the Morlocks from the sentinel blast, so tragic. Then Gambit saves Rogue from getting herself killed by attacking the sentinel in a rage, takes it on by himself to save everyone and destroys it but sacrificing his own life in the process 😭.

The tragedy is they foreshadowed this in the first episode when Jean/Madelyne went into Trask’s mind and then both Jean and Madelyne got a psychic premonition of the attack just before it happened but were unable to do anything to stop it.

When the dust settles at the end you see the X-Men witness the aftermath of the attack, the few surviving mutants gather around the crater where Rogue is cradling Remy’s body. She’s finally able to touch him but only because he’s dead. “Sugah. I can’t feel you.” 💔

That killed me at the end, was so shocked that they killed Magneto and Gambit within minutes of each other. I know they probably won’t be dead forever but fuck that was brutal.

I know next week’s episode is gonna be Storm centric so we’ll probably have to wait 2 weeks to see what happens with the rest of the X-Men and hopefully by then Storm is ready to rejoin the team. There was a moment in the Genosha attack where Val Cooper is helping evacuate mutants to the gardens and she looks back at the sentinels and there’s this look in her eye that made me wonder is she Val Cooper or Mystique in disguise? We haven’t seen Mystique in the show so far but what if she’s been there all along? Maybe she was afraid of being exposed as an imposter by the sentinels because they’d know she’s not human.

[kseung]

Wednesday Addams x Reader

Jekyll

Requested

Warnings: violence, blood, hospital, coma-ish stuff.

Words: 1,090~

Sorry for the delay, and for making this one a bit too short :(

Being a werewolf was great, for you at least. You had wolfed out pretty early on, so by the time you went to Nevermore you could control yourself pretty well already. It made having a roommate far easier.

That was proven useful when you had to jump in and attack the Hyde. Enid wolfed out, but being new... she stood no chance. She still did most though. You wanted to really make sure that the Hyde wouldn't bug anyone in a long time.

Wednesday had almost lost hope once more that day. However, you showed up at the best moment. It was a show she wished she could see, but that was not the best moment. Maybe some other day she'd be able to see you wolf out.

You took the Hyde on your snout, making sure to bite down hard on joints like the elbow or knee. You got covered on more and more blood. Initially, the Hyde's, but after he clawed your back it was your's too. You cried out, but before you could do anything he had bit the side of your leg.

It made you angry. There was absolutely no chance you'd let him get out without serious damage. You slashed right through the skin on his chest, essentially forcing him to become human again. He tried to run, so you threw him against a rock. If it weren't because of Enid you're sure you'd have regretted your next moves.

You turned back, making sure to stay next to the now-awaken Enid, guarding her from the Hyde. You were almost shaking, but still acted tough. Sadly, that did not last long enough. The effect of adrenaline wore off, forcing you to recognize the wounds you ignored before. The last thing you felt was a trickling sensation on your back before passing out cold.

•••••

When Wednesday returned, Enid hugged as tight as she could; a gesture returned by Wednesday. She was glad Enid had made it out alive, but then, where were you?

—And...? Where are they?

Enid looked away, hiding herself further in the coat she had around her shoulders. She mumbled something which Wednesday didn't hear. It made her assume the worst. Enid looked back. Wednesday followed her sight, noticing you covered with some coat, laying on the forest ground.

She ran as quickly as she could, trying to calm herself as much as possible. There was hope. She kneeled next to you, placing one hand on your cheek and using the other to lift the coat and check for wounds. Gruesome, to the worst of her expectations.

She acted as logically as possible at that moment, managing to get you a ride to the hospital. At least the teachers in the school could do something, for once. She knew you'd be okay. You are strong.

•••••

—It's been days and they're still sleeping—, said Enid. —I really hope they're okay—. Ajax nodded.

—Don't even gotta say it—, Xavier sighed. —Wednesday has been worried sick these days. She barely even sleeps or eats—. Speaking of your gothic girlfriend, she had just passed out from exhaustion. She had nearly died herself, experienced the pain of being stabbed, fought to death quite literally. Almost a miracle she was still there.

—I didn't think I'd find myself saying this, but I do hope this... wolf wakes up—. Bianca sighed as she took her jacket. She dressed up for the cold outside air, bid some goodbyes, and left.

—I think I'm- we... are gonna leave—, Ajax said. Enid smiled awkwardly. She held your unoccupied hand for a second, supporting you silently. She took Ajax's hand and they left.

—Guess I'm gonna wait outside.

•••••

It had been some hours when Wednesday woke up, groggy and uncomfortable from the position she had dozed off on. Her neck was not doing great, but it was worth it. You seemed like you were doing okay.

—Wake up soon, or I'll kill you myself.

As expected, you did not respond. She sighed and went back to sitting on the uncomfortable chair. She crossed a leg over the other, letting a book rest against her thigh. Her left hand was too occupied holding yours to read.

She didn't notice it, but you had started to wake up. Mostly because she herself was getting sleepy again. Thing, being the best appendage to ever exist, gave her notice. He pointed and signed until she understood. Her neck cracked due to the speed, but seeing you alive was more important.

She placed a hand on your cheek, lightly feeling the scars. She couldn't help but get teary-eyed. Her love was awake. You leaned into her touch, relaxing despite the situation. She quickly called for the staff, letting them do their job while the thoughts of having you in her embrace, annoying her, sank in.

After some time spent with checkups, you were allowed to rest. You hadn't been too bad in regards to broken bones. However, you were still weak due to bloodloss. Tyler's claws had really made you bleed.

They gave you water to help with the dryness. You used your weak voice to ask for water... and mouthwash. It made Wednesday smirk, trying not to chuckle at your quite you ask.

—Hey there, Wednesday—, you rasped out. Your voice was still rough, as you hadn't spoken for days. The water was of little help. You had slept real good.

She almost contained her smile, but it was you. It made her feel relieved. She sat on your bed, holding your right hand in hers. The gaze she sent you was full of emotions, much to her dismay. You could tell she was glad, happy even, to see you alive and well.

—Hello, amor.

You smiled. It felt weird, since you now had some scars on your face. But it was okay. You had gotten them to protect Wednesday. It was but a sign of your love.

—Did I make you wait too much?

—Yes. As usual.

—Let's not wait any longer.

You leaned in for a kiss, a sweet and short one. If it was too deep, you'd probably end up bursting your lip again. Not that Wednesday minded the blood.

—Thank you, Wednesday. You're always good for me.

—As you are. Perchance it shows.

You smiled and nodded. —I hope it always shows—. You traced a scar with two fingers, entrancing her with your eyes as you did the gesture. She felt seen. And she liked it, because it was you.

—I'll always know.

One more kiss wouldn't hurt you.

Got the reference? Jekyll and Hyde, except that there is no Hyde anymore because you ⚔️

[yangjeonginsbbg]

Reunited - Joel Miller

A/n: I just finished watching episode six of HBO TLOU, I haven’t played the game so I have pretty much no idea what happens after the ending of this episode, don’t come for me

Genre: Fluff, angst, some suggestive stuff

Summary: After almost twenty years of being apart, Joel makes his way back to you in Jackson, and also finding out someone else had came along too

“Honey, I’m taking Sarah to school now,” Joel’s voice called through the house, searching for yours. A quick shout back gave him the go. You soon heard the door shut, and the house became quiet, besides the radio that played quietly downstairs. Today was your husband’s birthday and you wanted to make it great, but being a doctor meant you’d get called in at random points, whether it be Christmas, your birthday or the middle of the night.

You met Joel after he brought Sarah into the ER with chicken pox, he was so worried and it warmed your heart to see that he cared so much for her. He brought her in a couple of times after and soon decided to ask for your number. About a year after, your casual dates developed into going to each other to fool around, and soon became a proper relationship and you became a proper family. You, Sarah and Joel (and Tommy).

“Alright, present, check,” You mumbled to yourself. “Cake, still at the bakery.” You made your way towards the mirror and looked in it, breathing slowly. You ran a hand over your stomach. “And you too, we’ll tell him later.” You’d been pregnant for a week at this point, but with Joel’s birthday coming up and your busy schedule, you never had the time to tell him.

That night, when you left for work, because a woman had a ‘seizure’ and was brought into the ER, you never once thought you wouldn’t see Sarah or him again, and that you’d have to raise a young boy by yourself.

Fifteen years later, you arrived at Jackson with Xavier, the fourteen year old you’d given birth to in the middle of an abandoned hospital, trying to make as little noise as possible as a way to not attract any infected. Upon arrival, you immediately recognised someone, someone who was stood on top of some scaffolding. Tommy had arrived in Jackson not long before you, he wanted to stay but you wanted to go out an look for Joel, but the depression of finding out about Sarah kept you grounded there.

“We’ll be safe here for now Ellie,” Joel said to the girl on the horse in front of him, just before he spotted a familiar figure. His concerned expression dropped, fading into relief. “TOMMY!” Joel got off his horse as Tommy climbed down the stairs, before holding each other in an embrace. Tommy chuckled, holding his older brother. Maria and Ellie stared at the reunion, and Ellie cracked a smile.

“What the fuck are you doin’ here?” Tommy asked, pulling away from the older.

“I came here to save you,” Joel answered plainly, a chuckle from him turned into a laugh and they pulled each other in again. Tommy pulled away after a couple of minutes, before smiling and nudging Joel’s shoulder.

“There’s someone you’ll probably want to see,” Tommy smiled.

You, on the other side of the town, were stitching up a young girl who’s slipped on some ice and split her knee open.

“Your doing really well Beth,” You praised. “You’re so brave honey.”

“Thank you Dr Miller,” She whispered, holding onto her stuffed bear. You grabbed a bandaid from the first aid kit, and placed it on her knees.

“You know, that’s gonna leave an epic scar,” You smiled, helping her up. “Now, don’t run, and make sure you keep the bandage on for two weeks, otherwise the stitches might open again.” The young girl nodded and walked out the door, you turned around as you heard her speaking to her mother, or at least you thought it was her mother, and began repacking the med-kit.

“Y/n? There’s someone here for you,” Tommy’s familiar voice came from the other side of the room.

“Another kid?” You asked.

“Not exactly.” When you turned back around to face him, you were met with someone else, someone familiar, someone who had aged a lot since you last saw him.

“Joel?” You whispered, your voice barely audible, you slowly made your way around the table. He came closer to you and pulled you in gently, before squeezing you tight. “Oh my god.”

“Oh honey,” He muttered, barely believing that it was you, mostly because he thought you’d been dead for twenty years.

“I’ll give you two some privacy,” Tommy nodded, taking a step back.

“I thought I was never going to see you again,” You mumbled against Joel’s shoulder.

“I thought you were dead,” He whispered back. His arms held your whole body against him. “My girl, my beautiful girl.” You pulled away and held his face in your hands, stoking his prickly cheeks with your thumbs.

“You got old,” You sniffled, tears brimming in your eyes.

“You aged well,” Joel grinned, and you hummed before pulling him into a kiss. You had missed the feeling, you’d never gotten over Joel, after all, your son was pretty much a spitting image of him. You wrapped your hands around his neck and smiled into the kiss, Joel returned the action, holding your hips and placing you onto the table. He bit your lip, causing you to whimper a little, and reached for the buttons on your shirt.

“Oh Jesus Christ! I’ll come back later!” A different voice yelled, it scared you and caused you to kick Joel, who groaned at the action. You closed your eyes before sighing and pushing Joel away a little, who held his stomach. “Mom, who’s this?”

“Mom?” Joel repeated. You buttoned your shirt back up.

“Xavier, this is Joel,” You introduced slowly, and you saw Xavier’s eyes widen. “Joel, this is Xavier Joel Miller… your son.”

“It’s um, nice to meet you sir,” Xavier nodded politely, Joel was shocked to say the least and looked at your for reassurance.

“I’ll tell you about it in a bit,” You said, Joel turned back to the nineteen year old and shook his hand. Xavier wrapped his arms around the taller man and Joel was a little stiff before hugging him back.

“My son,” Joel muttered.

That day you spent catching up with Joel and getting to know Ellie, who when you first saw her, thought was Joel’s daughter, but turned out they were only moving her to somewhere else. You were a little relieved to hear that. You lived opposite Maria and Tommy, so naturally Joel and Ellie moved in with you and your son.

“Dude, you’re so cool for a nineteen year old,” Ellie laughed as Xavier spoke with her. “All the nineteen year olds in FEDRA are fucking assholes.”

“Ellie!” Joel hissed.

“Wow, she may not be your daughter but she sure as hell has your mouth,” You laughed, placing a coffee in Joel’s hands, “Have you ever had Cocoa sweetheart?”

“No,” Ellie smiled, taking it out of your hands. “But I heard it’s good.”

“How’s he my son?” Joel asked as you sat down next to him.

“Well do you remember that night when you were laid off,” You started. “A week before the outbreak? Sarah had gone to visit Tommy and you were stressed, so I told you that you could do anything to me.” Xavier gagged and stood up.

“Ugh, I could’ve gone my whole life without hearing about my conception, but here we are,” He scoffed. “You coming Ellie?”

“Absolutely,” She chuckled.

“Don’t go to far!” Joel yelled as they walked out the door, you placed a hand on his leg and kissed his cheek.

“They’ll be fine,” You smiled, Joel leaned back and placed the coffee on the end table.

“How long have you been here?” Joel asked.

“About five years ago, maybe four,” You answered.

“So you didn’t give birth to him here?”

“No.”

“Where?”

“The middle of an abandoned hospital, I was alone there until some gang found me a couple of weeks later, they took me in,” You explained, Joel looked at you with a sadness in his eyes.

“Has there ever been anyone else?”

“No, never, what about you?”

“No.”

“Good.”

“I don’t like the name Xavier though,” Joel smiled after a moment of silence, you chuckled.

“Why?”

“Too formal, you know, if I ever had a boy I always thought I’d call him Jack, or Charlie,” Joel smiled softly.

“Jack?” You repeated. “Jack Miller?”

“Yeah.”

“Doesn’t it remind you of the guy from The Shining though?”

“No baby, that’s Jack Nicholson,” Joel laughed, you returned the laugh and he wrapped arm around your shoulder before you curled into him. “I missed being with you like this.”

“Me too,” You sighed. “I love you Joel Miller.”

“I love you too Y/n Miller.”

“I love you more.”

“I love you most.”

[dr0wning-in-hell]

One Of a Kind- Xavier Thorpe

Summary: Y/N is a rare creature, something that’s thought to be extinct. She’s hated by all Normies, and maybe even some Outcasts, but one Outcast in particular thinks differently of her.

Warnings: a bit of angst, some fluff, probably some cursing,

Word Count: 2.9k+

Characters/Pairing: Faye!Reader x Xavier Thorpe, Mentions of Principal Weems, mentions of Tyler

Prompt: simply that Y/N feels like the biggest Outsider amongst Outsider, but Xavier is there to prove her wrong and let her know that she’s just a one of a kind.

A/N: Reader is similar to Maleficent, but without the horns. :) Has magic and those giant wings that I freaking adore

New Masterlist| Color Prompts| Prompt List| buy me a coffee!!

Y/N had been found on the outskirts of the forests in Europe before she was sent to Nevermore. Principal Weems was the one who originally found her anyways, so she thought it was her duty to take care of her and give her shelter, not just because she was an Outsider who was hated by half of humanity, but because she was one of the rarest creatures she had ever laid her eyes upon. 

That was when Y/N was 12, until she was brought to Nevermore she had spent her time as a child hiding in dense forest areas that no one could possibly get to, secret caves that held her own hideaways far from the Normies of the world. When she was brought to the school for Outcasts, she felt like a freak. Everyone at the school was pretty, popular, they all looked semi-normal, but not Y/N.

No, Y/N had to have fangs, longer and sharper than any vampire’s, naturally long nails that should have counted as talons, and ginormous black wings that shrouded her body. Y/N was, in her eyes, a human bird. 

From the moment she stepped foot onto campus all eyes were on her. At that young of an age she was scared, she scared herself and everyone else, but as she grew up she turned that frightened little girl into a power to be reckoned with. As everyone at school watched her grow into this confident young lady, they also became less scared of her. She had her times where she’d lose her temper and lash out, her magic uncontrollable as she’d stomp away and wreck everything in her path, but they knew she was just like them in that sense. Unable to control how they felt because there was not a single person in the world that understood what it was like to be an Outcast. 

By the time Y/N was 16 she had learned that it was just better for her to stay on campus at all times than to go into town and try to be normal with everyone else. The Normies may be able to hide their hatred for the Outcasts at least somewhat decently with the others, but with Y/N she could always see the look of disgust on their faces from a mile away. Every time she’d try to go into town with a few people from school she was always picked on, bullied, and it wasn’t even just the Normies who did it. She’d be invited out as a joke several times, it wasn’t until the third time she was made fun of and abandoned in town that she realized no one would ever truly except her for what she was. 

Outreach day was approaching and Y/N was dreading going, but Principal Weems was making Y/N volunteer this year by having her paint a mural of Nevermore and the town of Jericho together in harmony. The thought made Y/N gag. Why would she want to celebrate such a stupid day that obviously had no meaning to anyone in the long run?

If this wasn’t mandatory then Y/N wouldn’t be going and setting herself up for embarrassment. Rude comments ran wild in her head as she mocked what some people in town were going to say as she showed up to celebration. 

She packed up her painting materials in a duffel bag and then headed to the Quad, where all the other students would be getting their assignments. When she walked into the Quad everyone had already begun hoarding together in their cliques, so Y/N just stood next to the wall and waited till they were all dismissed. One thing about having these giant wings was that she couldn’t ride on the bus with everyone else, instead she was going to have to fly herself down the town. 

Y/N’s eyes scanned the crowd of students, watching as they opened their assignment letters. Some students were happy but others seemed upset about what they got. One of those people was Xavier, someone that Y/N admired from a far but would never confront face-to-face. He must’ve been upset about what he got, the same going for his friend Ajax.

Feeling as though she had intruded on people’s private conversations, Y/N picked up her duffel bag and headed towards the front of the school. Little did she know that as soon as she walked away from the bustling students who were rushing towards the busses, Xavier had looked up from his assignment card and watched as the black winged beauty turned away and walked away. 

Xavier didn’t see Y/N again until everyone was in the town square to listen to Principal Weems and Mayor Walker go on about how important the day was and how they created a new statue in honor of the town embracing the Outcasts. 

It was complete bullshit and everyone knew it. Y/N must’ve gotten bored listening to their speech, because once they were all dismissed to go to their jobs for the day, the Faye was no where in sight. Xavier sighed as he trudged over to the Weathervane for his assignment. Working in the same café as Tyler, his tormenter, was not how he wanted to spend the day. 

When he walked into the café his eyes landed directly on the winged beauty. She stood in the corner awkwardly looking down at her phone as she waited for her order name to be called. Once she heard her name called out she went to grab her drink quickly and bolt from the small building. Y/N didn’t even look up as she brushed past Xavier and out into the open. 

The taller boy watched as she walked with her head low, going to the designated area for the portrait she was to draw. It was the same wall that Xavier had painted on last year, on this exact day. The thought of her putting all this effort into a portrait and then possibly having it destroyed just like he had done to him, angered him more than it should have. Taking in a deep breathe he walked over to Tyler, who also didn’t looked too amused that he was in this situation as well.  

An hour, maybe two at most had gone by before he saw what Y/N’s painting looked like. It was amazing, to say the least. The wall Y/N was using as a canvas was a mirror image of the town on that exact day. Both the town and it’s people joining together with the students of Nevermore in celebration of Outreach Day. The thing that pulled it all together? The heavily detailed painting of Joseph Crackstone in the center of the town. It was perfect for that day, and exactly what Principal Weems wanted out of the feather winged girl. 

As Y/N stood a few feet away from her painting, admiring it and criticizing it, she could hear the words that the towns folk were saying. 

“What a freak.” Some mumbled. 

“Who let the little birdy out of her cage?” Some would tease menacingly. 

“If there were a contest for being the biggest freak of all the freaks, she’d for sure win.” 

One would think that on a day like today, these small minded people would put their snide comments to the side and at least pretend to be decent, but no, in fact they were even worse. Usually she could handle those harsh words, but for some reason today was just the day for her to snap.

Bawling her fists she began to pack up her painting supplies, anger consuming her as she thought about all the horrible curses and spells she could use on these lesser people. Y/N was so overwhelmed with anger that she began to shake which caused her to drop some spay paint. 

Before she could reach over and grab some asshole had to kick it so hard that the can busted open, spraying Y/N and ruining the bottom half of her painting. With tears blurring her vision and anger blurring her judgment, she stood up quickly, her hands glowing a bright green as she threw the Normie against the wall opposite of her. She growled lowly, her eyes glowing the same green as she began to close off the person’s airway with her magic. If it weren’t Xavier to snap her out of her trance, Y/N for sure would have murdered the man. 

Y/N’s eyes stopped glowing, along with her hands, her gaze moving from the man she was choking to Xavier who was standing in front of her with a very concerned look. For a split second Y/N’s eyes looked at the man, her growl scary enough to send him hurling around the corner and down the sidewalk. 

Without a word she took a step away from Xavier and turned back to her supplies. She through the busted can into her bag, zipped it up, and then tried to walk away. As she was a few steps away from the tall blonde, he reached out and gently grabbed her wrist. Y/N stopped and turned to look at the boy, confusion grazing across her face. 

“What? You gonna make fun of me too?” Y/N’s words were harsh, but Xavier knew that she was still angry. 

Letting go of her wrist he lets out a soft sigh, “I was going to ask if you were okay.” He said looking at her and watching her expressions. 

Y/N looked taken back at his question, as if no one had ever asked her that before. “I’m fine,” Y/N huffed. She was clearly lying, but why on Earth would she open up to someone she barely knew, so easily? Xavier’s look on his face was basically saying, ‘really?’ He knew she was lying and was hoping she would just talk to him a little bit, even if this was their first time really talking. 

Letting out a huff of frustration, Y/N let her walls fall down as she looked away from the boy. “Fine, no, I’m not okay. I’m pissed.” She paused and waited for a response but only got a nod telling her to continue. “This is all just so stupid, it bullshit. No one cares about today, they just care about the money they get from this stupid day.” Y/N rolled her eyes as she looked up at Xavier. “No one actually cares, they never will. We will always be the freaks and outcasts to them, they will never see us as equals.” 

Xavier could practically see the steam rolling off her skin, seeing how angry she still was. He knew there was nothing he could say that would make her feel better, so instead he gently took her duffel bag from her and offered to take her to the Weathervane.  It took a moment for  Y/N to consider the offer, thinking that this was just going to be another joke, but once she realized that Xavier meant no harm she agreed and the two began the short walk to the coffee shop. 

It was a good thing that the café was slow that day, or else Y/N and Xavier probably wouldn’t have been able to talk as much as they wanted to. The other great thing about it being slow was the fact that wasn’t a lot of people around to gawk at Y/N and make rude remarks about her looks. The only other person in the building was Tyler, but he could care less what the Nevermore students were doing, especially Xavier. 

Xavier and Y/N sat at a booth close to the counter, both of them feeling the tension as they squeezed into their seats. Well, Y/N squeezed into her seat because of her wings, Xavier was fine. 

It was quiet at first, the two just looking around and avoiding each other’s gaze for the first few minutes before Xavier decided to speak up. 

“Your painting looks great, by the way.” He smiled softly, hoping that she’d realize he was here to talk to her and not belittle her. “The detail in it is amazing.”

Y/N was a bit taken back by the compliment. She wasn’t used to people saying nice things to her, let along talking to her at all. “Thanks, though I’d rather see that stupid statue burn than to paint it, thanks.” Anyone who was listening to their conversation would know that she was joking, she was being serious. 

Xavier chuckled a bit and nodded in agreement, “Trust me, I know how you feel.”

Y/N snorted at his response. How could someone like him? Someone who looks normal, understand how she felt? The only odd thing about him was his father, and the face that he could make his artwork move or come to life. Xavier looked confused at Y/N’s slight harshness and watched as tried to lean back a bit in the booth, crossing her arms as she looked at the wall.

“Hate to break it to you, pretty boy, but you most definitely don’t know how I feel.” Her words were harsh, and completely true. While Xavier could have anything he wanted and grew up only being know as the son of a famous Outcast, he would never really know what it’s like to feel like Y/N. To be tormented for how he looked. It’s never a problem that he has ever had to deal with.  

Silence filled the space between them once more, both of them unsure of what to say next. Xavier studied Y/N’s face, memorizing every curve, mark, and point there was. To him, someone she barely knew, he thought she was the most beautiful and unique person on this planet. Even though he didn’t really know her all that well, his heart wanted to know more so he could get closer to her and learn to understand her. 

Y/N’s eyes unfortunately wandered over to the window where she could see the townsfolk pointing and gawking at her. The anger that had slowly started to subside started to come back stronger than before, her eyes starting to glow that vivid green color. Xavier’s eyes followed hers and once he noticed what, well who, she was staring at, he immediately when to  calm her down. Without thinking or hesitation, his hands grabbed hers softly, like she was made of the finest porcelain and he didn’t want to break her. 

“Don’t worry about them,” he said softly, his thumbs rubbing small circles into the backs of her hands. The action startled her at first, but then she found it calming. Her eyes stopped glowing, her heart went back to normal and she no longer felt like ripping out those peoples throats.

“Why do you care so much?” Y/N asked with a tilted head, “You don’t know me, so why do you care so much?” It was a genuine question she wanted the answer to, but Xavier wasn’t sure if he could really tell her why he cared.’

The boy gulped, trying to find a way to word his thoughts in a way that didn’t sound creepy or stalker like. There was a long pause before he said anything, it was when she went to pull her hands away from him that he sputtered out the truth. “I’ve always liked you, thought you were the most mesmerizing being to ever lay my eyes upon. I’ve watched you, since the moment I started going to Nevermore, I- I just didn’t know how to approach you. I was nervous.”

Y/N raised an eyebrow at him, thinking he was joking and was put up to this as a joke. “You’re only saying that to say it, you don’t mean it.” Her eyes averted downwards towards her lap, trying desperately to focus on anything but the feeling of her hands still holding his. “No one thinks that of me, I’m a monster.”

Xavier’s gentle squeeze on her hands was enough to pull her Y/E/C eyes back up to his blue eyes. “I don’t think that.” The warry look on Y/N’s face was enough to tell him that she really had never been told that in her life, “I promise, if I truly didn’t think that, then I wouldn’t have said it in the first place.”

The shaky sigh that Y/N let out worried him. Had he gone too far? Did she find him repulsive now? Was this all too creepy?  

“I don’t think you understand how much that means to me,” When their eyes met he finally saw the tears that brimmed her waterline. Carefully, he reached up and swiped away the stray tears that managed to slip down her flushed cheeks. The soft smile that Y/N let Xavier see was something he’d remember forever. He’s the only one who’s seen her cry, who’s seen her smile, who’s been so kind and genuine to her. 

This was the beginning of something new, for the both of them. It would be rocky in the beginning for sure, but both teens could tell that they’d let out the best of each other in the long run.

[starpearlz]

‘That’ kind of friend -> Xavier Thorpe

Summary -> when Weems said you have summer school, you didn’t think it would be a summer camp

Warnings - Fluff Summer camp!AU implied Wednesday and Enid, cigarettes, reader being mean to Xavier, Nothing in the show happened besides Wednesday going to nervermore, Xavier being kinda delusional-

Over 1k words

Gif not mine

When principal Weems told you that you had to go to summer school.. you really didn’t expect to have arts and crafts time with it. In fact she didn’t tell you that you’d be a counselor for a summer camp, specifically Nevermore summer camp. Imagine trying to tame fifteen little outcasts at once, it’s not fun. Their were three female counselors, well two because Wednesday stays in the cabin all day. And three male counselors, Ajax, some siren guy that you haven’t met, and Xavier fucking Thorpe.

Enid and I were struggling, she tried taming the werewolf kids who kept trying to throw paint, while I was trying to calm down crying kid while two gorgens were laughing. The only kids that were actually quite were the vampire in the corner drinking a straw plastic cup.

“Can you call Ajax or something!” You yelled to Enid who had paint all in her hair, “I would but I’m a bit busy- stop pulling my hair!” She yelled at the giggling kids, god why can’t they come when you need them instead of them always coming at the worst times. Like yesterday when all the kids were settled down yesterday watching some popular kids movie, they came in with sugary popsicle making them hyper again.

Hearing the kid cry in front of you got you out of your thoughts as you tried to pat his back trying to calm him down. “Hey- woe it looks like a circus in here,” Ajax said walking into the cabin, you glared at him as a sign for help. He nodded quickly running to Enid, pulling the kids off of her.

As soon as the crying kid saw Ajax he ran to him wrapping his arm around him, he was facing the opposite way helping Enid, he was so small that his face went straight into Ajax butt; he jumped startling him. You signed as the kid started talking to Ajax with his face still in his butt.

Kids are so weird- “kids are so weird.” A voice said next to you making you turn your head, realizing it’s Xavier with his arms crossed looking at the counselors trying to calm the kids down, you slightly groaned.

You weren’t all too thrilled when you found out Xavier would be a counselor this year as well. When you were younger you two were friends, not best friends but if you saw him in a new class you would sit with him friend. But then after he hit puberty he stopped talking to you and when you would try to talk to him he would just completely ignore you or give you the most driest answer ever

But as soon as him and Bianca broke up he talked to you again as if nothing had happened. “Yep,” you said looking at them still struggle. “Lucky for you, I’m an expert at arts and crafts.” He said giving a slight smirk as you rolled your eyes, “of course you are, tortured artist.” You said as he pulled out white thin paper that was about three feet long. “Who wants you put their hands in paint!” - “oh god.”

—

It was past midnight but your mind couldn’t stop racing, you sat up looking at the two beds next to you noticing Enid beds empty. looking at the other bed seeing Wednesday with her arms crossed to her chest and Enid next to her. You sighed putting on a big jacket on, opening the door and closing it quietly. You walked to the lake sitting down on the dock putting your feet in. You shoved your hand to your jacket pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. Pulling one out and looking for the lighter in the other pocket.

Hearing creaking behind you scared it was Weems you put your cigarette back in your pocket, then you realized it was just Xavier. You gave him a confused look “What are you doing up so late?” He shrugged sitting next to you, “couldn’t sleep..” he mumbled as you lit your cigarette. You can tell he couldn’t sleep from his bed hair to his drowsy eyes. You blew out a smoke, “Ajax fell asleep before you, I’m shocked.” You said as he chuckled “The kids probably tired him out.” You nodded taking another hit staring at the water blowing out the smoke before Xavier gave a small laugh.

“What?” You said looking at him confused. He looked back at you shaking his head, “nothing, nothing.. just something I remembered from earlier.” You rolled your eyes “now you have to tell me, you can’t just laugh and not say anything!” You said a little to loudly looking at the cabin behind you. “I just remembered what Arthur said earlier, that’s it.” Arthur, the crying boy from earlier who has telekinesis. You tried to chuckle but it ended up coming out like a scoff, “what did that little rugrat say.” ‘He really does look like Chuckie from the rugrats, with the glasses and everything’ you thought as you took another hit of the stick, as Xavier chuckled again.

“He thought we were dating.” Surprised by that statement you inhaled the smoke making you go into a coughing attack. He start patting your back taking the stick out of your hand into his. “Really, he thought we were dating!” You said in shock still slightly coughing making him nod, “even the other campers thought we were dating.” After one last big cough you finally caught your breath. “How.. though, I thought, that they thought, that we hated each other.” You said as he gave a silly smile shrugging. You sighed shaking your head, “I’ll make an announcement about it tomorrow.” You said monotone as he scoffed, “is it that bad that they think we’re dating?” “Yes! What if I end up liking some counselor or something and the kids are just saying I’m dating you!”

He gave you a side eye “so you like a counselor here?” He said clenching his jaw. You rolled your eyes “no I don’t, it was just an example.” You said taking your feet out of the water standing up.

“We’ll, you were wrong about how we hate each other.” You rolled your eyes, “obviously I know that know you just told me-“ “I don’t hate you.” He said plainly looking up to make eye contact “and I don’t think you hate me as much as you say you do.” You rolled your eyes again walking to your cabin. “You wish Thorpe.” He sighed looking at the water, “she wants me so bad.” He said taking a hit from the cigarette.

[fandomnsfw]

Doll House - Stiles Stilinski x Reader

Pairing: Stiles x Reader

Prompt: Doll House by Melanie Martinez

Warning: None really...a little blood I guess? Mainly Fluff

Thank you to my Beta @lets-imagine-fanfics once again for fixing my screw ups! XD

ENJOY!!

******

You walked into the school, a smile firmly placed on your face as the girls spoke about their weekend. Jenny was talking about her date with Mark while Anna was laughing about something Hayley had said. You spotted your brother across the hall and waved as the girls started swooning over him.  

“Hey, big bro. How was practice?” You asked with a sweet smile.  

“It was good. Hey, what time is mom co-”  

“Yo, Xavier, you forgot your phone!” You heard a voice exclaim as he spluttered out the changing room.  

“Thanks, Stilinski.” Your brother laughed before pocketing his phone.  

“Hi Y/N.” Stiles muttered with a grin.  

“Hi, Stiles.” You giggled as he ran his hands through his hair which was still wet, from what you guessed was the showers. You walked off with the other girls who instantly started gossiping about your brother.  

“I dunno about Xavier but Stiles got hot recently.” Anna sighed, fanning herself before bursting into a fit of laughter along with the other girls.  

“Anna’s right, Stilinski buffed up and grew his hair out. He looked like the perfect guy, I mean if you get rid of the spazziness.” Jenny snorted, as she flipped her hair over her shoulder.  

“I gotta go grab something from my car before class, I’ll see you later!” You exclaimed cheerfully before making your way to your car.  

You took out a packet of cigarettes lighting one up before taking a much-needed drag. You felt yourself instantly relax. It wasn’t like you hated your friend it’s just they were very superficial and you had enough superficial people in your life to know that you’d never have true friends as long as you kept them around. You glanced at your phone as you took another drag from the cigarette.  

Mom - ‘Going out tonight won’t be back till late. Use the credit card to eat out.’  

Dad – ‘Working late tonight.’  

You snorted as you read your parent’s texts before throwing your phone into your Prada handbag. As you took another drag you heard someone speak from behind you.  

“You know that’s bad for you right?” You’d recognise that voice anywhere. That voice was attached to the man you’d fantasised about on a regular basis. Stiles Stilinski.  

“You know it’s rude to pry right?” You snarled as you took another drag.  

“Oh, so now that your friends and brother aren’t round you show your true colours.” He snorted sarcastically.  

“No, more like I don’t feel the need to act like a fake Barbie doll now my friends aren’t around.” You sighed as crouched down.  

“I used to know someone like you.” He chuckled, as he squatted down in front of you.  

“Lydia Martin.” You huffed with a laugh.  

“The love of Stiles Stilinski’s life.” You added sarcastically.  

“Oh, so you heard about that?” Stiles laughed, running his hands through his slowly drying hair.  

“Everyone knows. It’s also like everyone knows not to touch Lydia now because it’s like a written law that you two will end up together. Small town. People gossip.” You scoffed irritably.  

“Lydia’s in love with someone else. I’m over her. We’re friends. I know you were dating Kieran and everyone kept saying you two were the perfect couple that you’d marry each other straight outta high school but last week you broke up.” Stiles retaliated softly with a sad smile.  

“He didn’t know the real me. Seemed cruel to keep leading him on.” You muttered with a frown as you thought about your parent’s marriage.  

To everyone in this town your family was perfect and rich but behind closed curtains, your entire family was fucked. Your brother smoked weed constantly, your mother was an alcoholic and your father was a cheating piece of shit that brought his mistresses home.  

It’s not a family if you have to pretend.  

“You’re different from what I thought.” Stiles whispered, more to himself than you.  

“Why? Because I’m not perfect?” You huffed with a dark laugh.  

“No. You seem less…Doll-like…I feel like when I see you I’m staring at a fragile doll-like if I touch you or stare too long you’ll break.” Stiles sighs sadly, causing you to stare at him in shock. He hit the nail on the head. You put out your cigarette before glancing up at him with a sad smile.  

“Sometimes the things that go on behind closed doors are things that have to be hidden for the sake of the family.” You replied the words taken from something your mother once told you.  

“If you can’t be true to yourself then you’re not living. You’re just breathing.” Stiles shot you a sympathetic smile that should have pissed you off but somehow it made you smile back.  

“My mom drinks…” You started as you stared at the ground.  

“She does it to forget my dad’s infidelity.” You laughed your tone dark and hateful.  

“That’s fucked up, dude.” Stiles huffed angrily.  

“You’re telling me…My brother started smoking weed last year to deal with it but now it’s like half the time I see him…He’s fucking stoned out his mind.” You whispered, the pain now evident in your voice.  

“I’m the first person you’ve told about this aren’t I?” Stiles muttered as he stood up, holding his hand out so he could help you up.  

“Yeah. I’ve seen you with your friends…You’re loyal. I feel like I can trust you.” You stated as you stared into his eyes looking for any sign you’d just fucked up by telling another person about your fake family.  

“I won’t tell a soul.” Stiles chuckled a big grin on his face.  

“Thanks, Stiles. You’re lucky to have friends and a dad like the Sheriff.” You commented shyly.  

“You know my dad?” Stiles commented confusion in his voice.  

“Yeah, he’s brought back my brother stoned or drunk a few times. Your dad never books him for it because I have a feeling he has an idea what goes on behind closed doors. He’s a good man.” You muttered softly as you remembered the conversation you had with the Sheriff.  

“Thanks. I think so too.” Stiles huffed proudly. You giggled at his expression before walking off.  

“Bye Stilinski!” You chuckled over your shoulder earning an excitable wave from the boy in return.  

Over the next few weeks you hung out with Stiles after school, occasionally some days he couldn’t come due to plans with his friends but if he couldn’t hang he’d text you constantly. You’d grown closer and it made you happy to be able to talk to someone about your problems.  

You got out of your car grabbing your white leather Chanel handbag before spotting Stiles’ jeep pull up. You looked around to check that your friends or brother weren’t about before running up to him and jumping on his back, not realising Scott was at the other side of the car.  

“Good morning Sti.” You giggled as you kissed his cheek.  

“Good morning princess.” He retorted sarcastically before glancing at Scott who was now staring with wide eyes.  

“Stiles, why is Xavier’s baby sister kissing you?” Scott muttered making you now very aware of his presence.  

“I-I only kissed his cheek I m-mean…It’s not l-like I…ya know.” You stuttered nervously as you looked around to check no one else had noticed the display.  

“Hey, Y/N, breath he’s just shocked. He doesn’t care.” Stiles chuckled softly as he ruffled your hair, earning a glare from you as you fixed your hair.  

“No, I don’t mind, just wondered. I didn’t realise you two were friends…Wait! Is this the girls you’ve been texting constantly, that’s had you smiling every 5 seconds.” Scott laughed as he pointed at Stiles with an amused face.  

“No!” Stiles shouted quickly.  

“No!?” You snapped angrily as you glared at him.  

“I mean yes!” Stiles corrected earning an eye roll from both you and Scott.  

“How come you never talk in school?” Scott asked causing you to freeze.  

“I didn’t wanna drag her down to my nerd depths.” Stiles chuckled as he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.  

“Scott’s right, we should talk in school too!” You exclaimed as your heart started thumping nervously.  

“Y/N, you don’t have to-”  

“No, come on you can walk me to my locker!” You giggled plastering a fake smile on your face which you were sure Stiles could decipher by now. You linked arms with him and began walking towards the school.  

“Ha! No.” Stiles shook his arm out of yours shocking you and Scott.  

“I am not walking in there linking arms. I’ll look like your new gay bestie!” Stiles exclaimed dramatically causing you and Scott to burst out laughing. He threw his arm over your shoulder with a grin.  

“And walking in like you’re my new Bae is better?” You snorted as you wrapped your arm around his waist.  

“Don’t ever say Bae again or I’ll disown you but yes it's better.” Stiles laughed sarcastically, earning a slap to his chest from you.  

“I’d rather you really were my boyfriend but ya know.” You muttered under your breath.  

You walked into school with Stiles’ arm slung around you and it took all of 5 seconds before the whispers started. You kept your head up knowing if you lowered it, people would think you had something to be ashamed of.  

Scott glanced at you with wide eyes as if asking if you were okay but you just sent him a smile. He walked you to your locker where your friends were waiting. He gave you a hug before kissing your forehead.  

“Laters, princess.” He chuckled as you shot him a heart-warming smile.  

“Bye.” You whispered shyly and once he was gone the hyenas were on you so fast, you almost didn’t even see them move.  

“You’re dating Stiles!?” Jenny whisper yelled with wide eyes.  

“No.” You muttered quietly wishing you could say yes.  

“Then why did he call you princess and kiss you!?” Anna questioned angrily.  

“He’s a friend of mine.” You answered sweetly, trying to stop yourself from strangling each and every one of them. You ignore the rest of the questions and head to class as you took deep breaths and tried to calm down.  

When lunch came around you were worn out from all the questions from other students had been asking, so when lunch came around you went to the cafeteria and took your food to Stiles’ table. You looked around the table seeing no chairs so you just sat on Stiles’ knee. He made no comment as you started eating your lunch but you could see every one of his friend staring at you.  

“Why is Xavier’s sister sitting at our table?” Liam asked quietly.  

“I have a name too, Dunbar.” You huffed angrily as you shot him a frown.  

“Y/N, right?” Lydia asked sassily.  

“Yes, Lydia.” You answered just as sassily.  

“Woah! What happened to make you all pissy?” Stiles asked as he looked into your eyes.  

“Nothing.” You sighed as you looked away from his intense gaze.  

“Oh no, we’re not doing this again, princess. Tell me.” Stiles sighed his brow furrowing slightly.  

“I’ve been hounded none stop since this morning and I really want a smoke but I promised you I wouldn’t.” You pouted as you glanced at him briefly. Stiles nodded before picking up a fry and holding it to your lips without any more questions.  

“My question is why is she sat on Stiles’ knee?” Malia growled causing you to freeze. You remembered her and Stiles dating for a while but you were sure they’d broken up. Maybe you’d been wrong.  

“Why does that matter?” Jackson huffed obnoxiously.  

“There were no seats and Stiles is single and obviously her friend.” Ethan added earning a nod from Scott.  

You tried not to smile so you shoved another chip in your mouth. Stiles tucked your hair behind your ear sweetly before holding out his water bottle for you. You took it with a thank you before taking a sip. The rest of lunch went like this, though I could tell his friends felt a little awkward. Stiles reassured you they just had to get used to you.  

After you walked to your locker with him, he placed his hand to the side of your head against the locker. You glanced at him in suspicion before he leaned in and whispered in your ear.  

“Your girlfriends are staring from behind their books.” Stiles chuckled against your ear, sending shiver straight down your spine.  

“What, so you thought you’d make my life harder to explain by making it look like your whispering dirty shit in my ear.” You whispered back, purposely brushing your lips against his ear. He pulled back biting his lower lip to try and hide his smile.  

“I mean if you’d like me to make it easier I could totally whisper dirty things in your ear?” Stiles stated with a smirk. You let out a little snort even though you knew your cheeks were likely red but you couldn’t bring yourself to care.  

The rest of the day was filled with more questions and gossip but after spending lunchtime with Stiles you didn’t care. You head was filled with thoughts of him. Stiles had asked if you wanted to have dinner at his but you’d yet to go to Stiles’ house and you were honestly nervous. Would his dad be home? Would his dad like you even though he’d basically arrested your brother more times than you could count?  

At the end of the day, you followed Stiles home in your car with a nauseous feeling in your stomach from nerves but you ignored it as you pulled up and got out with your handbag. Stiles slung his arm over your shoulder which made you laugh remembering earlier in the day.  

You walked into his house following him to what turned out to be the kitchen. He grabbed two soda’s passing you one silently before his dad walked into the kitchen clearly shocked to see you in his kitchen drinking soda.  

“Hi, Y/N.” The Sheriff greeted with a small smile.  

“Hi, Sheriff.” You greeted politely, which made his smile widen.  

“Please call me Noah. I didn’t know you and Stiles were friends?” He questioned as he pulled out a bottle of water.  

“It’s a new development.” You laughed as Stiles looked between you and his dad quietly.  

“Oh, are you the new girl my son has been goi-”  

“Okaaaaay! That’s enough of that pops.” Stiles exclaimed with a glare.  

“Well, it’s good to see Stiles dating again.” The Sheriff huffed with a proud smile.  

“Oh, we’re not dating!” You squeaked with a blush.  

“God, no need to sound so offended.” Stiles snorted sarcastically.  

“The whole school thinks we’re dating if I was offended I’d correct them.” You replied, sticking out your tongue childishly.  

“Why does the whole school think your dating?” The Sheriff asked with a raised brow.  

“Cos Stiles put his arm over my shoulder when we went into school today, then at lunch he p-”  

“THAT’S ENOUGH OF THAT!” Stiles shouted rather loudly causing you to jump.  

“Well, that sounds like an eventfully day.” The Sheriff chuckled you nodded cheerfully as he started asking about the rest of your day.  

You sat in the living room with the Sheriff while Stiles made tea. His words were fatherly and caring which made you smile down at your lap happily. He asked about your brother which you awkwardly answered but he didn’t judge you or bring it up after that.  

“So, you like my son?” The Sheriff questioned as he stared at you over his coffee.  

“W-What?” You squealed a blush making its way to your face for what felt like the millionth time that day.  

“He may be blind but I’m not.” The Sheriff chuckled causing you to laugh.  

“Yeah…He’s sweet and he accepts me for who I am even though my family is screwed up. He’s very affectionate too.” You giggle as you remember all the forehead kisses and hugs he’s given you.  

“It appears you’re just as blind as my son.” The Sheriff mumbled making your eyes widen as if you’d miss heard it.  

“Pardon?” You asked politely.  

“Nothing, anyway Stiles should be done soon why don’t we go and sit in the dining room?” The Sheriff asked with a smile. You gave him a nod and followed after him.  

You sat down at the table with the Sheriff as Stiles served up lasagne. After he’d done he stroked your hair. You looked up at him and he kissed your forehead quickly before sitting down. You smiled happily as you dug into the food. Stiles cooking was beyond amazing, which honestly didn’t shock you because you knew his dad worked a lot and his mom wasn’t around so you figured Stiles knew how to cook.  

“This is really good!” He exclaimed with a giggle.  

“It’s my mom’s recipe she taught me how to make it.” Stiles muttered with a smile. You leant over and ran your fingers through his hair before caressing his cheek with your thumb. He glanced over at you with a grin and nodded to you letting you know he’s was fine.  

“You two are so sweet!” You heard a female voice come from behind you. You turned round to see Scott and Mrs McCall stood there.  

“Mrs McCall!” You giggled as you ran over to give her a hug.  

“Hi, sweetie. I didn’t know you and Stiles had started dating.” You let out a dramatic whine as the Sheriff and Stiles started laughing.  

“How do you know my mom?” Scott asked as he sat down with a plate of lasagne.  

“Ermm well…” You flushed as you awkwardly pushed your food around.  

“Y/N wants to be a nurse when she gets older.” Mrs McCall supplied while wiping sauce off the Sheriff's cheek causing him to grin.  

“Really? You never told me that.” Stiles gasped as he reached out to hold your hand.  

“This town is kinda accident prone so I want to be able to help people.” You giggled but for some reason everyone froze, causing you to frown. You felt like there was something you should know but you decided to leave it for now and ask Stiles later.  

A few seconds later there was a knock at the door you stood telling them you’d get it but what stood at the door shocked you to your core. There stood Jackson and Ethan holding a bleeding man that looked vaguely familiar.  

“Oh my god! Get him in here!” You screamed urgently.  

“Stiles, can you get me warm water, alcohol and a towel please!” You screamed as they laid the man down on the couch.  

“Wh- OH MY GOD, DEREK!” Stiles screamed as he ran up to the man.  

“STILES TOWEL, WATER, ALCOHOL GO!” You screamed as you ripped off Derek’s shirt seeing several slash wounds it looked like an animal had mauled him.  

“MELISSA, I NEED YOUR HELP!” You screamed as you took off your cardigan and held it to the worst wound. Melissa ran in with Stiles following. You took the towel and water before cleaning most of the blood when you’d done you grabbed the alcohol and looked up at Jackson and Scott.  

“Hold him down.” Was all you needed to say before you began cleaning the wounds with alcohol the man thrashed around and roared but right now the fact that this man had glowing blue eyes wasn’t a problem or something you could get scared of, right now you needed to stop his bleeding.  

“Ethan, hold his legs.” You screamed as his legs started kicking around.  

“Melissa, hold this for now.” You said pointing to the cardigan on the vastly bleeding cut.  

“I need you to tell me how to help him. He’s obviously not human and right now I have no idea whether I should call an ambulance or wait.” You sighed as you looked at Stiles.  

“Werewolf. He’ll heal fast.” Stiles muttered but instead of questioning you nodded and turned to the Sheriff.  

“I need a needle, lighter and thread. Even if he heals faster, it’s not going to stop bleeding until I close it.” You stated softly before turning to Melissa.  

“I think we should stitch this one then bandage his torso just until the bleeding stops.” You muttered softly as if asking for her approval.  

“Well done, Y/N.” She muttered in a soft motherly tone that made you smile.  

After Melissa stitched him up and bandaged him, Derek passed out. You picked up the remaining vodka and took a swing earning a raised eyebrow from the Sheriff. You stood up and crossed your arms.  

“I just tended to a bleeding dying man who turned out to be a werewolf. I think I deserve it.” You sighed before turning to Stiles.  

“Explain. Now.” You snapped angrily. You weren’t angry because Stiles associated with werewolves you were angry because he didn’t tell you. You had thought he trusted you.  

“That is Derek Hale. He’s a werewolf.” He stated simply with an awkward smile.  

“That much I already figured out myself, thanks. How many of your friends are wolves?” You sighed knowing that going back a few years Stiles wouldn’t have been seen dead with Jackson but now it was like they had mutual trust.  

“That’s not my secret to tell.” Stiles sighed softly.  

“Scott, your one right?” You questioned as you turned to him.  

“How?”  

“My brother has been playing lacrosse with you since freshmen year. You don’t think I noticed when you went from asthmatic and benched to first line with perfect health and reflexes?” You snorted before turning to Jackson and Ethan.  

“Ethan and his brother turned up when people started dying last year. I’m gonna go with your one and Jackson…You and Stiles used to hate each other and now you seem to have this weird mutual understanding. So I’m gonna go with you too. So that leaves you.” You pointed to Stiles.  

“What, you can’t suss me out?” Stiles chuckled with his arms crossed.  

“No, I can’t.” You muttered angrily as you glanced at Melissa you way wiping away Derek’s sweat.  

“Derek Hale. Cora Hales big brother and has an Uncle called Peter. The family died in a fire 12 years ago.” You muttered as you stared at the man.  

“How do you know that?” Stiles asked suspiciously.  

“Laura used to babysit me…” You whispered sadly as you remembered hearing about her death nearly 2 years ago.  

“Derek probably doesn’t remember me. We only met once or twice.” You snorted as you remembered the huge crush you used to have on him.  

“I used to have a huge crush on him. He’s grown a lot since I saw him so I didn’t recognise him until you said his name.” You muttered as you remembered all the times Laura teased you.  

���Why does everyone seem to like Derek Hale!?” Stiles grumbled childishly.  

“Because he’s hot.” You, Melissa, Ethan and Jackson said at the same time.  

“Objectifying a man while he’s passed out from blood loss. Classy, Y/N.” You heard a gruff voice mumbled. You looked down to see Derek with one eye open.  

“I was taught by the best.” You chuckled before you felt an arm wrap around you. You looked to see Stiles glaring at Derek who raised an eyebrow at you.  

“No, we’re not dating!” You snapped at him but he sent you a smirk.  

“Shut up, I don’t need your opinionated facial expressions, Hale.” You huffed as Stiles snorted next to you, before kissing your temple affectionately  

“You grew up.” Derek huffed  

“I feel old.” He added making you laugh.  

“So who runs the pack?” You asked softly as you glanced at Stiles. Stiles raised an eyebrow at you as if asking how you’d know that a pack needs a leader.  

“I read a lot of werewolf romance novels, okay? Don’t judge me!” You huffed with a blush as everyone laughed at you.  

“That would be me.” Scott chuckled but his answer had your jaw hitting the floor.  

“Scott McCall is an Alpha?” You gasped.  

Months after finding out you’d been accepted into the pack as another human member. You had settled in with everyone else, you finally stopped caring about fake friends and pretending to be someone else.  

You were currently sat at a pack meeting with Scott talking away about a pack that had asked permission to pass through. You’d zoned out to stare at Stiles who was sat next to Scott with a serious expression. He ran his hands through his hair before biting his lip in what looked to be stressed out manner.  

Once the meeting was over you grabbed yourself a water from Derek’s kitchen with a sigh. You wanted to tell Stiles how you felt but you had no idea how. Maybe you should just kiss him? Or jump his bones?  

You laughed at the thought, earning a raised eyebrow from Derek who had come to put the coffee pot on. You shot him a grin before skipping back to the living room. The pack were setting up a film so you sought out Stiles, spotting him sat in the corner of one of the couches.  

You sat on his knee then looked up at him with a smile which he returned. You decided while the pack was busy you’d make your move. You leaned up and pressed a soft kiss to his lips before turning to the film with a blush creeping up your neck. However, as you finally started calming your heart, you were picked up.  

“We’ll be back in a minute.” Stile stated as he carried you to the kitchen bridal style.  

“Wanna tell me what just happened?” Stile asked seriously which honestly scared you.  

“I-I kissed you?” You supplied, though it came out more like a question.  

“Why?” He asked just as seriously as before.  

“Because I like you…if not m-more than th-that…” you stuttered your blush coming back tenfold. Just as you were about to get down Stiles cupped both your cheeks and planted a passionate kiss on your lips before pulling back and gazing into your eyes.  

“Thank god. I’ve wanted to do that for forever.” Stiles sighed before placing another kiss on your lips.  

“Would you do the honour of being my official girlfriend?” Stiles muttered with a small hopeful smile.  

“I would love to Sti.” You giggled happily.  

[racefortheironthrone]

Weird, long ask but could you explain Emma Frost? I’m starting to get into the X-Men (especially thanks to the People’s History of Marvel, thank you!). But what is her deal? Like I’ve read wiki summaries but I guess I want to know, is she an X-Men? She seems to be one of the faces of the team in modern events, but is she even a hero? How much does she undergo a face heel turn? Does it feel naturally written? What’s her role (in-story and meta-wise) and relationship with the team? Do they trust her? Accept her? Does she switch her view of muntantkind, from a tool as the Hellfire Club saw mutants, to identifying it as her community? Or does she act like that, and to an extent join the X-Men, for her own benefit and self-interest?

The vibe I get is she has become a hero and member of the team, but maybe not the family? And she’s still willing to use all the manipulative tactics she did as CEO and member of the Hellfire Club, but for mutantkind. (Which I love). Is that right or is Emma Frost totally different?

It's a long ask, but it's not weird at all - Emma Frost is a very important character, but also one of the more complicated ones in terms of her complex relationship with the X-Men. I'm going to ssume that you've read my People's History of the Marvel Universe essays on the Hellfire Club and the education of Emma Frost, but I would also highly recommend Cerebrocast's episode on Emma Frost as essential listening.

While Emma Frost started out an outright villain, a succession of writers carefully laid the groundwork for her heel-face turn, creating a very psychologically grounded explanation for her transformation. Even during her "snow phase," Emma was always a devoted teacher of young mutants. While she ran the Massachusetts Academy and the Hellions with a manipulative, domineering, and ruthless teaching style that was highly influenced by the "gaslight girlboss gatekeep" method she learned from her family, she also cared for her charges.

When the Hellions were murdered by the villain Trevor Fitzroy in UXM #281, Emma Frost awoke from a coma to find that her students were all dead. Her grief turned inwards and Frost blamed herself, believing that she had failed to teach her students to defend themselves - and that they might have survived had they trained under Xavier and Magneto instead.

This belief was why Emma Frost decided to merge her Academy with the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters, becoming one of the two lead teachers for Generation X. She was initially deeply distrusted by her co-teacher (and de facto parole officer) Banshee and many of her students, especially Jubilee who remembered her as one of the X-Men's villains. It took a long time for her to build up a rapport with her students, and despite her efforts she eventually lost their trust when she killed Adrienne for causing Synch's death.

However, her most enduring period with the X-Men started with Grant Morrison's New X-Men. In the wake of the Genoshan genocide, Emma Frost not only joined the Xavier Institute but also became a full-fledged member of the X-Men for the first time. While Emma was initially motivated for a desire for revenge against Cassandra Nova, she stayed on after Nova was defeated and essentially became the "loyal opposition" inside the team.

Arguing that Xavier's "x-liberalism" was inadequate to deal with the reality of human hatred for mutants, Emma taught her students the ideal of "mutant excellence" - that only by making themselves the best, the most powerful, the most successful could mutants develop the ability to protect themselves from a hostile humanity. This caused her to clash quite a bit with Xavier and his true believers (it didn't help that Emma had also started her psychic affair with Scott, making her conflict with Jean very much both political and personal), because she had no compunction about using her powers against threats to mutantkind.

Especially in the period after M-Day when leadership of the X-Men shifted from Xavier to Scott, Emma was absolutely ride-or-die for a more revolutionary brand of pro-mutant ideology (and became "part of the family" due to her long-lasting relationship with Scott), but remained distinctive from the rest of the X-Men because of her pragmatic willingness to use the ruthless methods of her villainous past to advance the cause - very much a believer in "by any means necessary."

So overall, I would say her arc has been a shift from villain to anti-villain to anti-hero.

[h4arts]

How would the Wednesday chacters act if their partners were having a bad day

wednesday characters comforting you after a bad day (i ran out of ideas so i couldn't write for everyone, i'm so sorry 😭)

-wednesday: she wouldn't notice super early on but she would pick up on little things that weren't something you normally did. she would take you to her dorm after classes and ask if something had happened to make you have a bad day. if it was because of someone, she'd tell you that she will find and threaten whoever did it. she'll let you lay on her bed while she reads to you and when you feel better, she'll leave you with a small kiss to your cheek.

-enid: spends a lot of time with you so she knows nearly the exact second your day starts becoming a bad one. she'll check on you throughout the day and immediately goes to find you after classes to see if you had gotten worse or better. if it got better, she'd be happy and ask you to help her repaint her nails. if it got worse, she'd give you the most comforting hug and ask if you want to talk about it. she won't leave you until you fell better, even if it's three in the morning and you only feel the slightest bit better.

-xavier: he would notice early on in the day, so any classes you have together, he'll sit with you and make sure no one bothers you and after classes you don't have together, he'll give you little pictures he drew instead of taking notes. if you still felt bad after school, he'd take you to his art shed and let you paint on one of his blank canvases. if you aren't really a painter, he'd offer to help you or just let you mess around as long as nothing gets messed up.

-tyler: he would bring you snacks and let you pick something to watch for as long as you want. he'll stay up with you all night if that's what you need. he also always conveniently has a little handmade gift for you. it ranges from pieces of jewelry to pop-up cards. there's always so much though put into those too that he makes it hard to feel bad for too long, no matter how bad the day got.

-divina: she would let you rant to her for hours about anything and everything that went wrong. she'd probably try asking you if you remember anything good that happened and then help you try to focus on that instead of the negatives.

[strange-dreams-are-made-of-these]

Take My Whiskey Neat

Summary: Amaris, a mutant with regenerative healing and bone-like claws, grew up within the confines of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. She became a teacher, falling in line with the order of the X-Men. She had always felt like a part of her had been missing for time. Though one day the X-Men save a young girl terrified of her powers and a man who could only remember the last twenty years of his life. Things begin to change, for all parties involved. Tags: Cursing, Canon-typical violence, abandonment issues, use of an original character (this shouldn't count, but here it is), if you think I forgot about something, please tell me and I will add. Word Count: 26K (my longest chapter ever) A/N: I wrote this because like 19 people liked one of my posts. This is for you guys. Please let me know if you want in on the tag list. This is not beta read. divider credit to @cafekitsune

Warm rays of sunshine always found the perfect way to slip between the curtains of the bedroom window, slowly creeping from the floor up to the bed and into the eyes of Amaris, causing her to wake up if she hadn't already been awake by the time the sun rose. Today was one of those days where the extra hour or two counted most to her. Her rest went interrupted a few times, tossing and turning between the sheet and blanket of her bed hadn't been unusual for the young woman, but the dreams she had between the interruptions had been very uncommon indeed.

The first memories she could recall had been in the mansion, watching Saturday morning cartoons and eating cereal with other kids, learning how to ride a bike down the long driveway of the mansion, and having her first date even with a classmate who has now moved on somewhere in the Carolina's using his powers to work at a nuclear plant.

But the dreams she had were of a time she couldn't remember.

There were kids running around behind two adults, one man and one woman. The woman had long brown hair and tanned skin. The man had brown hair, a little fluffy, and was lighter than the woman. They ran nearly hand in hand with the children running behind him. Given her view of events, she seemed to be held in the arms of the woman.

"Kayla, get the kids out of here."

"Not without you."

"I wasn't asking."

The man then looked at what Amaris thought was her, placing a kiss on her forehead. "Daddy will come back for you, baby girl. I promise."

Amaris would continue to wake up before she could see what would happen next. It was frustrating to her, having been the type to always want answers as quickly as possible. She shook her head as she rose, placing her feet on the floor and rubbing the side of her face. What could the dreams have possibly meant? It was too early in the morning to even bother The Professor with such questions, and with her first class to start in roughly two and a half hours, she decided to ask him later.

The sounds of birds outside filtered through the cracked window, making the young woman smirk. She stood up, walked around her bed, and crossed the room, shutting the door before starting off her day the right way. She made her bed, picked out her outfit for the day, took a shower, brushed her teeth, and put half of her hair up in a claw clip. As she finished getting ready for the day, she took a moment to pause, looking down at her hands. Her thumbs gently ran over her knuckles and the inside of her wrists. Being thankful for the school and Charles Xavier, she was able to learn how to control her powers, but she would still feel as if she could feel the physical pain of the use of her powers constantly. She always had to be careful, not wanting to risk injuring others.

She left her bedroom, having been one of the first few mutants out of their rooms for the day. Her dreams still haunted her, wondering who the man and woman were, why she had been there, and what had happened after the man parted ways with her.

Having been caught up in her thoughts, she nearly bumped into another one of the school's teachers. "Oh, good morning Jean." She spoke, offering a warmish smile.

"Good morning, Amaris." Jean smiled back, observing her friend and colleague's facial reactions. Jean squinted a little as she observed Amaris. "Did you sleep well?"

It was always hard to keep things away from telepaths. They were too smart, literal walking lie detectors. "Not really, but I'm fine. I think." Amaris added, placing one hand on her hip and the other on the back of her head. "I was going to ask The Professor, but I don't want to bug him with mundane things like dreams."

Jean shrugged her shoulders, giving Amaris an encouraging look. "We don't call him The Professor for nothing. Dreams are powerful visions. Mutant dreams are something entirely different altogether."

"I know." the slightly younger woman replied, exhaling a deep breath. "Jean," Amaris started, "Do you think it's possible to see or remember parts of the past you can't remember?"

Jean looked puzzled now, placing a hand on Amaris' shoulder. "I don't see why not. Do you want to talk about it?"

Amaris, appreciating the gesture, delicately removed Jean's hand from her shoulder. "Maybe later? I want to think about what I saw for a little bit." It was better for her to process what happened before she shared it with others. Amaris cleared her throat, changing her smile to a more genuine one. "You have the press conference thing today, right?" Jean nodded in response. "I'll be watching. Break a leg. Remember that Senator Kelly is a wrinkly bag of opinions, not facts."

Jean looked down for a moment, stifling a laugh before regaining her composure and looking back to Amaris. "No doubt he will have a way to twist my words, but at least I'll have The Professor with me to turn to when the inevitable happens."

A hand appeared on the small of Jean's back. A gruff voice spoke up as he appeared to her side, his red Polaroid sunglasses tucked perfectly on his face. "Hopefully this will give our students the right motivation to continue their studies here too."

Amaris looked at Scott, giving a small wave to greet him. "I would love to stay and chit-chat with you two love birds, but I have an English class to teach." With those words, Amaris parted ways with her friends, walking down the hallways of the mansion.

There had been many things going on today, and she knew Jean's meetings and conversations were important for mutants everywhere. Amaris wasn't speaking on mutant rights or actively assisting in aiding the ones who needed help. Only teaching them how the English language worked, and occasionally donning a black leather X-Men suit when they required her assistance. Storm, Jean, and Scott seemed to have their places and roles solidified with Charles staying behind to not only watch over the team but to ensure the safety of the kids, along with the few other teachers of the school, like Amaris.

It wasn't a difficult life to live, having been a resident and student of the School for the Gifted herself. Yet, it's all she has ever known. Living in the X-Mansion, learning to control her powers, finding a way to use them for good, helping her friends and students control their powers, and training with the X-Men on the lower floors. It was exciting to have powers and be a mutant, but it was terrifying to have powers that could harm others if not properly used or trained. She had friends like Ororo, Jean, Scott, and even Charles who understood the things that happened to her but also had experienced those things too.

Amaris opened up the doors to her designated classroom, seeing Charles next to her desk. She could hear his heartbeat from outside the door, not causing her to be scared or jump. He smirked looking at her. "Just who I was wanting to see."

Amaris walked up to the desk, leaning against it as she crossed her arms. "Am I that in demand, Professor?" She asked jokingly, giving the older man a smile.

"Only when your dreams are louder than one's thoughts." He replied, waving his hand in a gesture for her to sit down. Amaris willingly sat down at the student desk in front of him, not sure if this was the right time to have this conversation. "I know you told Jean you didn't want to talk about it, but talking about these dreams can help you more versus not talking about it and it hurt you."

She shook her head as she looked to her teacher and mentor. "Why are you so wise?" She asked him, rhetorically. "I don't know where I was. I can't even tell if it was me. I just remember there being a man and a woman leading a group of kids out of some place, maybe a building or a hangar or something. But, it was like I wasn't running with them. It was like I was in the woman's arms. The man told her to run away, he turned to her, kissed her, then he turned to, who I think, was me. He kissed my forehead and said 'Daddy will come back for you.'. Then I would wake up." She looked at Charles as he examined her, moving his wheelchair toward her at the desk. "I don't know what to think about it. It felt so real."

He reached a hand out, patting her hand that rested on the desk. "My dear, I think you already know the answer to that." Charles had always been a comforting being to his students, no matter how old they became. "My question for you is, what are you going to do with this information?"

Amaris looked at Charles, searching his eyes for anything that should be an answer for her. He was always hard to read, mastering a solid facade. Amaris exhaled another deep breath. "It wasn't much information to do anything with. But why would I just now be remembering something that happened so far in the past?"

Charles removed his hand, resting back in his chair. "I am a telepath, not a dream interpreter. However, I think your subconscious is trying to kick start something in you, beyond just remembering potentially the face of the man. I think you should reflect on this dream of yours and apply it to your life here at the mansion. There could be a lesson to learn from it."

Amaris huffed a little. "I thought I learned everything I could about myself. That's what this school was built for, right?"

Charles chuckled. "There is always time to learn or teach something. Hm, speaking of..." The door opened up and a small group of students entered the room. Charles moved his wheelchair, navigated the classroom, and exited the room. Amaris stood up watching Charles leave, feeling as if she had more questions than answers now. She collected herself, walked to her desk, and grabbed a stack of papers to distribute to her students.

Amaris had stayed in her classroom, grading the tests from the two morning classes she had. She spun the red pen between her fingers, and the sounds of the students talking and playing filled the air as both her classroom door and windows were open. She loved the smell of fresh air, and it had been such a wonderful day weather-wise for the school. Who could pass up on fresh air? Maybe she should have taken a break herself and walked outside. There was plenty of time for that later. First, she needed to grade these papers.

Other duties prevented that. A red light flashed on her watch, looking down to see the x symbol blinking. She put her items away, quickly standing up and making her way to the elevators. She met up with Storm as the two women walked into the elevator. "I hope it's nothing too serious," Amaris admitted out loud, though prepared to do what was needed.

"Agreed," said Storm, "Yet again, we have both said that about the last three alerts." When the elevator doors opened, the women stepped off, heading directly to the meeting room. Scott had been staring at the monitor, Charles and Jean joining him. They both just came back from their meeting with the U.S. Senate, having a difficult time with Senator Kelly. "What's going on, Scott?" Storm asked.

The man looked between the four others who joined them. "We have a hit on Magneto, or at least that's who we think this signal is picking up." He pressed a button on a remote, and the screed zoomed in on an area in the Canadian Rockies. "The quicker we get to him, the less of a risk he has causing trouble."

"Why would he be in the Canadian Rockies?" Jean asked.

Charles hummed a little. "He is looking for something. Magneto would not be sloppy enough to be caught unless he was looking for something or wanted to be caught. We must be careful."

"Storm, why don't you come with me? Jean, fly the jet and stay back in case we need any help. And Amaris-"

"Stay at the Mansion with the Professor, in case something happens, and get everybody to safety. I know the drill." Amaris spoke, holding up a hand with her other arm crossed over her chest.

Scott nodded, looking between everyone, avoiding making eye contact with Amaris as she sulked away from the group, taking a seat in the war room and putting on a com link. Amaris watched as the other three left to suit up as quickly as possible, turning on the monitors to watch the hangar and the inside feed of the jet. She didn't understand, she had been nearly five to six years younger than the others. Just because she was younger didn't mean she wasn't ready to fight. She was twenty-four years old, she could handle herself.

Charles could tell that Amaris was bothered by the constant choice to leave her behind. "He doesn't think you any less competent than the others, or himself." He watched as they left the mansion in the jet, making their way to Alberta.

"It feels like it, but I don't have much room to talk. I want to be a part of the X-Men, not piss off its group leader."

"You are not an aspiring member of the X-Men, you are an X-Man. And Scott isn't the group leader, I am." Charles spoke firmly as he looked over to Amaris. "He doesn't bring you out to the field because you are like a sister to him. He feels the need to protect you, which means dealing with your brooding while he and the others go out on missions."

Amaris stared at Charles as he spoke, a little cooing-like sound coming from her core. She was confused by his statement, mostly the latter part. "He what?"

Charles nodded. "Scott has known you since your childhood. You must have been three when you came to the mansion. He has looked after you like an older sibling would cautiously watch their younger sibling. Every tumble you took, every scratched knee, bothered him and he would worry about you. No matter how many times he watched you heal instantly in front of his eyes." Charles held onto the fond memories of his students and their happier times. "Try talking to him sometime, and encourage him to use you for the team's greatest outcome. Soon we will have a new set of young recruits, and who knows, maybe sub-team B will need its own team captain to keep them in check."

Amaris often wondered where the other's trust in her had been placed, but she never imagined finding out this way. "Maybe he can't trust my... abilities." She tried giving some reason for Scott's hesitation.

"It's not his hesitation to trust you and your gifts, child. He hesitates in his trust in himself, not wanting anything to happen to you. We must all realize we are not just mutants, or teachers, or students. We are all family. We must protect each other, even if it means making questionable choices we can regret later."

Amaris had been quick to equip the med bays, hearing about the two inured mutants that were coming in. One was a teenage girl, practically wrapped head to toe in clothing and fabric. The other was a man, maybe young to mid-thirties, who somehow instantly healed from being injected from his truck yet was knocked out by known mutant Sabertooth. It had been a little while since an adult mutant had been brought in for help by the X-Men, so Amaris was sure to make sure everything Jean could have needed was made available to her. He seemed to be in some type of comatose state while the girl had a superficial cut to her leg. It was easy to heal, and Amaris had been grateful to be of assistance to her while Jean took care of the man.

Amaris had finished stitching up the girl's leg, observing how quiet she had been the whole time. Setting the tools down on a tray next to her, Amaris removed her gloves, discarding them on the tray as well. "I think you have had a rather eventful day." The girl nodded a little, apprehensive about the care she was receiving. "Are you hungry? It's almost lunchtime, but I think I can sneak you a sandwich and a drink before the others see."

"Others?" the girl asked, an indication of a Southern accent that gave Amaris a clue where she was from.

She smiled, stepping away from the table. "Kids. Your age and younger. A couple even a little older." It was always nice to be able to help others, and the woman knew this girl was in desperate need of help. "My name is Amaris. I'm a teacher here at Charles Xavier's School for the Gifted. This is a place where people like us can live freely without the fear of others doing harm to us."

The girl seemed to relax her posture slightly, but not enough to feel comfortable. "How do you know what I am?"

Amaris knew in order to gain her trust, she would have to open herself up to the young girl. She held her arm in front of her, safely away from the girl. With the slow reflex of her tendons, three bony claws exposed themselves. Two protruded between her index and middle knuckles and ring finger and pinky knuckles. The third protruded from the inside of her wrist. The girl looked shocked, her jaw lowering a little bit. Her face changed, paling a little. "They look just like..."

Amaris looked at her, confused. "Like what?"

"Like Logan's."

"Who's Logan?"

It had been a few hours since Rogue and Logan arrived. Rogue was thrown directly into the world of the school, with the help of Amaris. She had always been prepared for new students, having notebooks, pencils, pens, folders, and other items ready for new students. The woman had helped Rogue get her classes registered in the main system, finding open seats in the five main courses the students were required to take: English, History, Science, Math, and Social Studies. This would give the young girl time to meet with her new peers, get a feel for how the school days work, and give her time to figure out which other extra classes she wanted to take.

She kept her emotions at bay and made sure Rogue was settled for the day, having some mixed feelings when it came to the situation that had occurred. Rogue's words rang heavily in Amaris' mind, saying her mutation reminded her of the man she had just met the night before, on the same continent in a different country. It wasn't unusual to see similar mutations in several people, maybe at varying degrees or strengths, but to learn there was another person the X-Men rescued who had the exact same mutations she had was scary.

As she roamed the halls leaving her classroom, Amaris was hit with a certain smell. Sniffing the air a few times, she picked up on the scent of cigar smoke, gasoline, and a hint of fear. This sent Amaris into a little override state, fearing somebody was making their presence known to unsuspecting students. Amaris carefully tracked the anomaly, leaving the corridor of the hall and heading toward the staircase. She paused when she heard the heartbeat, beating rapidly in his chest. Students passed her by, heading down the stairs to their next class, not knowing there was a powerful mutant who hid from them. And he was afraid. The sounds of his feet shuffling on the hardwood and the rugs were his biggest giveaway, letting her know when she could start her own descent down the stairs.

The sound of a door opening and closing let her know where he had been, and given their current location in the mansion, she knew that this man had stepped into Charles' classroom. As she made her way down the stairs she watched the door open again, children leaving with their bags and supplies, a moment or two later another girl left, this time phasing through the walls. "Miss Pryde, use the door next time. Phasing should be for emergencies only, remember?"

The girl nodded. "Yes, Miss Amaris." She then quickly made her way up to the other students.

She shook her head a few times as she stood outside the door, listening to what was being said. She had been too nearly focused on what was happening behind the door to not notice Scott and Storm walk up behind her. "Well, are we just going to stand out here all day? or are we going to go in there and get some answers?" Scott asked, sounding dry.

Amaris rolled her eyes at him, then opened the door when she heard the Professor come to a stopping point. She walked in first, followed by Storm and then Scott, who stayed behind on the threshold. A rather tall man watched as the others filtered into the room. "Ah, yes. Logan, I'd like for you to meet Ororo Munroe, also known as Storm." Charles spoke, introducing the two. Logan gave a look to Storm, eyeing her up and down as the two stared at each other. Amaris hadn't known Storm to look at somebody that way before as if he had stars dancing above her head. It was strange, to say the least.

Charles continued on. "This is Scott Summers, also called Cyclops."

Scott offered a hand out to Logan to greet him, though was taken aback when the man ignored his hand. This brought a little more tension to the room.

"This is Amaris, one of our younger staff members here." Charles gestured over to Amaris, who took a place between Storm and Charles. She stared at the man, looking between his tufts of hair and his posture. She thought she had seen a man like him before somewhere.

Logan chuckled looking at her. "No special name for you, huh?"

Amaris shook her head. "I'm not really the field hero type."

Logan grunted a little in response. Charles took this time as an opportunity to speak again. "These people saved your life." The sound of heels clicking against the wood and Jean entered the room, running one hand across Scott's shoulders. "I believe you have already met Dr. Jean Grey."

Amaris looked at Logan, examining him as Charles spoke with him. There was a certain likeness to him that she thought she had seen before, but she couldn't place her finger on it. What was it about this man, who looked in his middle thirties, that crawled and gnawed at Amaris' insides, as if she was supposed to know this answer?

"You'll be safe here from Magneto." Charles continued.

Logan looked puzzled as he eyed Charles. "What's a Magneto?"

"A very powerful mutant," Storm answered, observing Logan. "who believes that a war is brewing between mutants and humans."

Logan looked between Storm, Jean, and Charles. He avoided eye contact with Amaris and had his back turned to Scott. Amaris peered over to Scott, unable to read his facial expressions. "I have been following his activities for some time. The man who attacked you is an associate of his called Sabertooth."

Logan looked away from Charles, looking at Storm, or maybe a little past her. "Sabertooth?" he questioned under his breath. His head spun around the room for a moment before speaking again. "Storm," he pointed at her, then eyeing Amaris, smirking. "No special name who sits behind the scenes." Amaris cocked her head at him, releasing the tension in her jaw as he turned to look at Charles again. "What do they call you? Wheels?" A moment of silence fell among the group before it was interrupted by Logan's chuckling. "This is the stupidest thing I have ever heard."

Logan shook his head, turning around and heading toward the door that Scott stood in the way of. Amaris could hear the little threat Logan made, watching as the man in the grey X-Men hoodie grabbed fist fulls of Scott's jacket, pulling Scott closer to him. She watched as Jean's hand flexed, but Amaris gave her a look, moving her hand over Jean's. The woman settled as they watched the two men interact.

"Logan," came the sturdy voice of Charles, "it's been almost 15? 21 years, hasn't it?" This perked not only the interest of Logan but Amaris as well. It was an interesting year range to think about, with these other elements she had been made aware of recently. "Living day to day, moving from one place to the next, with no memory of who, or what, you are."

Logan turned around quickly, baring his teeth. "Shut up!"

Amaris bared her teeth at the same time, a slight growl emitting from her belly as she was prepared to protect her friends and her family.

"We can help you. Give me a chance. I may be able to help you find some answers."

Logan rested his face after eyeing Charles, then looking at Amaris, then back to Charles. "How do you know?" He asked aloud, though determined on his reaction as he looked in various directions, the others were sure Charles had been displaying his gifts to him. To earn his trust, and for this stand-off to end. Logan's demeanor changed, a small half smile creeping up on his face, his tone changing when he spoke. "What is this place?"

Charles smiled, knowing he had finally found a common ground with the man. "Come with me, I'll show you." Charles made his way to the door, Scott stepping out of his way. Logan was slow, but followed him out, leaving the four current X-Men to process what happened.

Storm looked at Amaris, confused by her actions. "Why did you do that?"

Amaris looked at Storm, furrowing her brows. "I can't help that I growled. It's kinda a part of what I am. Whatever kind of mutation you want to call this."

Scott approached the three women. "We can't let our guard down while he is here. Magneto clearly wants something to do with him. We may not like it, but it's what we do."

"What do you mean we, Scott?" Storm asked, a little chuckle leaving her lips before she left the room.

Jean placed a hand on Amaris' shoulder. "I've never seen that side of you before. Are you sure you're fine?"

Amaris shrugged it off, grabbing her jacket sleeves and adjusting the fabric as she walked away. "I'm fine," Amaris spoke bluntly, leaving the room to find something else to do. Something productive, and keep herself busy and away from the thoughts of others. She needed fresh air, away from her team members and fellow teachers.

Most importantly, away from the stranger who didn't feel like a stranger.

A few hours had passed, and Logan was willing to stick around to find some answers about himself. While Amaris, Scott, and Storm all finished their classes for the day Jean took time to further examine Logan. This included a set of X-rays of his entire body, some blood work, and a genetic sequence test. Once these results were in, the X-Men and the Professor were all called in for a meeting. Amaris took her seat as usual while Jean stood to present her findings. "The metal is an alloy called Adamantium. It's not a naturally occurring metal. This is something somebody created. It's supposedly indestructible." The screen then flipped to a new set of X-rays. "This has been surgically grafted to his skeleton."

Storm spoke up, her voice in shock. "How could he have survived such a procedure?"

Jean turned to her, her arms crossed. "It's his mutation. He has uncharted regenerative abilities. It enables him to heal rapidly." Jean's eyes shifted to Amaris, watching as she stared at the X-rays. Everything about Logan's mutation reminded her of Amaris, aside from the metal quality.

Amaris felt something in her chest. A whole? A rumble? It was hard to tell. The information was uncanny, how much her mutation reflected his. To see a similar mutation was normal. To see something almost a carbon copy of another was downright mysterious.

"This leaves guessing his age nearly impossible. He could potentially be older than you, Professor." Jean looked at Charles, both deep in thought.

"Who did this to him?" Scott asked.

Jean turned to him, shaking her head. "He doesn't know, nor does he remember anything about his life before this happened."

Charles sounded disgusted, yet kept an even level head. "It's not the first time we have seen experimentation on mutants. However, to this degree, it's something I certainly have never seen before." He moved his wheelchair closer to the X-rays as he scanned over them again.

Scott watched between Jean and Charles. "Why do you think Magneto needs him?" He sounded curious.

Charles spun around, looking at his X-Men. "I don't think he is what Magneto truly wants. And this baffles me." As he spoke to them, his eyes fell upon Amaris, who wrung her hands back and forth as her eyes were glazed over. "Until we locate Magneto again, we mustn't let Logan or anybody else leave the school."

Storm, Jean, and Scott all left the room. Amaris remained in her seat, her fingers rubbing over the tender slots between her knuckles. Charles approached her, sensing her concern. "I can sense something is troubling you. You may find this hard to believe... but I think it bothers me as well."

Amaris focused her eyes on Charles, watching him as he spoke. "What is the likelihood of finding the same mutation in two people, to an extent like this?" She gestured toward the genetic sequences and X-rays posted on the walls.

Charles gave her a little nod. "It's very rare. So rare, in fact, it could only come from one possible source." He rested his hand on her forearm. "Blood relations."

Amaris shook her head, looking down as he spoke. She didn't think it could be a possibility. Looking back up, she could feel herself fighting with her emotions. "The man in my dream, that I told you about this morning, I didn't see his face. I could see his posture, the outline of his head and shoulders," she paused for a moment, battling the shake that rumbled in her throat, "The sound of his voice... It all looked and sounded like him."

Charles nodded as he watched her, feeling the discomfort and even possibly the hurt that she had been feeling. "We can't say that for certain. However, I will be more than happy to give you a copy of your genetic testing and we can compare them to his, only if you want, that is." Charles had known Amaris her whole life, finding her presence comforting and a wonderful addition during her schooling years and as a teacher now. She was family to him. "I can always dive into your mind to see this dream you had, see if I can make it any clearer."

It was a lot to process at one time. To start remembering her parents, having a mysterious man be rescued by her fellow team members, and then learning that he had been through a metaphorical seven rings of hell and through their attempt to help him by running these tests learn there is a chance they are related was something she never thought would happen. "I don't even know where to start thinking about this mess. How do you approach somebody who only remembers fifteen or twenty-one years of life and tell them, 'Hey! I think we are related.' That doesn't make a lot of sense."

Charles nodded in agreeance. "The choice is yours, my dear. You can find out the truth and hang onto it for as long as you live, which very well can be for an extremely long time. Or, act on this impulse and share your discoveries. Who knows? He may need you more than you think." Charles hummed again before turning his chair around. "Whatever choice you make, understand you are the author of your own fate. Don't let the past determine your future."

Amaris was left alone in the debriefing room, left to look at the x-rays of the man named Logan, to ponder her choices of self-discovery or self-destruction.

The day passed rather quickly. The Professor convinced Logan to stay for a couple of days, exchanging the gift of protection for the gift of uncovering his past. It was a noble thing to do, even for Charles, but Amaris thought it was a big gamble. If Magneto ever found out that Logan was at the X-Mansion, he could turn his thugs onto the school. The children were at the forefront of Amaris' mind, and their protection meant everything to her.

Setting her freshly washed plate in the drying rack next to the sink, she turned around, bracing her back against the countertop. She rubbed circles into her forehead, trying to alleviate a migraine she thought she had. It was funny to think with an overactive healing regenerative factor that she couldn't combat a single migraine. Or understand how unbelievably painful it was.

There was another person in the kitchen, having shared a dinner with Amaris. "You seem off today, Amaris," Storm spoke, walking her plate over to the sink. Amaris moved out of her way, still leaning against the counter. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Amaris looked at Storm, one of, if not her closest, friends she had at the mansion. "Ororo, I've been here at the mansion since I was three. I feel like I've put my time into learning and mastering my skills. The Professor tells me I am an X-Man, but I don't feel like it. Scott pushes me off to the side. I can get up and close to our enemies and not have to worry much about damage. I bounce right back. Instead, I'm constantly stuck here with Charles watching the mission hundreds or thousands of miles away." She looked at Ororo, her facial expression dropping. "Is there something wrong with me?"

Storm shook her head, placing a hand on Amaris'. "There is nothing wrong with you, or with any of us. Don't you see? He trusts you enough to stay back at the school in case something happens out there. He trusts your judgment, to analyze what may have gone wrong and how to fix it. You are our safety reserve, our watchful eye."

Amaris didn't know how to feel about the situation, nor how to respond to her comments. She felt that she wasn't being valued in the same way somebody with weather control, telekinesis, or optic blasting powers was. She was, at heart, an animal. Animals needed let out off their leashes from time to time, just to stretch their joints.

"Maybe a training day is in order, hmm? How about you and I run some simulations in the danger room tomorrow? It's been a while since we've faced each other." She smiled, trying to get any type of reaction out of Amaris.

She relaxed her shoulders, giving a quick nod before leaning off the counter. "You know, that sounds good."

Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of a man screaming for help. Amaris was the first to leave the kitchen, running faster than Storm. She ran toward the source of the screaming, finding some students outside the door of where Logan was staying. Scott and Jean had arrived before her, and she was quick to work on wrangling the kids. "Go back to your dorms. go on now!" She called, more or less barking as some of the children jumped at her reaction. Storm had followed inside the room as Amaris overheard her tell her it was an accident.

Jean took care of Logan as his body squirmed on the floor and he choked for air. It was apparent he was having a seizure. Once Rogue and the children were gone, Amaris entered the room. "His healing factor is working again, just a little slow." Jean monitored him, checking his vital signs. "I think the seizure is over. We should get him up on the bed."

Scott nodded, grabbing Logan from under his arms. He struggled to lift the man. "What the?"

Amaris furrowed her brows. "Did you miss some sessions at the gym?"

He chuckled looking at her. "Oh, by all means, be my guest." Jean, Ororo, and Scott all stood to the side. Amaris walked over to Logan, taking one of his arms and throwing it over her shoulder. She then wiggled his body around before lifting him up into a fireman carry. She was careful to place his body down on the bed, then fixed his legs and arms so they weren't in uncomfortable positions. Her hand reached for his, setting it over the blanket as an electric current raced through her.

"Daddy will come back for you, baby girl. I promise."

Amaris jumped back a little, holding her hand close to her. Jean took a step toward Amaris, but she was quick to back away toward the door. "I'll make sure everyone goes back to bed." With those words, she left the room, her eyes big as her heart beat rapidly in her chest.

She had questions now, questions that could only be answered with the help and cooperation of Logan. Hopefully, the Professor will be able to help Logan find some missing pieces.

"Okay class, find your seats, quickly please," Amaris called out. She picked up her clipboard, taking a quick attendance. "John?... Bobby?... Kitty?... Jubilee?... Rogue?..." She looked up when there wasn't a response, seeing the empty seat. It was unusual to see a seat empty, although given it was her second day of classes. Amaris set her clipboard down, sensing something was wrong. "Well, kids, uh... use today's time as a study hall. I don't care if you listen to music, study for other classes, or finish late homework. Don't make too much noise." The woman got up from her seat, rounding her desk. "Everybody will get full marks for today." The kids began speaking to each other under their breaths as Amaris walked by, closing the doors behind her as she rounded the corner.

She knew something was wrong, and could almost sense that there was danger lurking somewhere. Amaris made her way towards the dorm rooms, finding the one Rogue had been assigned to. When she opened the door, she saw the bed had been stripped and her clothes and bag were gone. "Fuck." she muttered under her breath, now sprinting toward Storm's classroom. She made her way around the hallways, avoiding colliding with inanimate objects and living beings.

As she approached Storm's classroom, she could hear her speaking with Logan. She slowed down, settling herself as she stood near the cracked door, using it to shield herself from Logan and Storm.

The woman had used her powers to create a small rain cloud, moving it around the room to water the plants that were growing. Storm always had a way of finding the better side of life. She constantly reminded the kids about how precious and perfect they were, even just for existing.

Logan had his hands stuffed in his pockets as he watched Storm manipulate the cloud to her will before making it disappear. He let out a slow whistle before chuckling. "I guess every day for you is a sunny day."

Storm smiled warmly, turning to look at Logan. "I try to keep to the weather report. Besides, I don't want to get too tuckered out before I could even enjoy nice weather."

Logan hummed a little, his hand now moving a pen on her desk. "Maybe if you had the right company, you could still enjoy it, without being too bent out of shape."

Storm looked up at the man, her hands resting to her sides. She studied his face, trying to find some sort of semblance of a trick in his eyes. Those perfect hazel eyes of his were something any girl could melt for. She parted her lips, ready to speak, but Amaris decided now was the best time to make her presence known.

The door swung open as she entered the room, looking between the two. "Rogue's gone," she sounded defeated.

Storm looked from Logan. to Amaris, then back to Logan. "We have to tell the others. Come on."

Storm walked past Amaris, Logan following behind her. Both Logan and Amaris locked eyes with each other, looking puzzled in the brief moment they were connected. He had a pleading look in his eyes, like a part of him was begging to be noticed. Noticed by her. Amaris let out a shaky breath as Logan passed by, their eye contact breaking just in time.

The three adults headed toward the elevator, hopping on and going down to the meeting room. Scott and Charles had already been there. Logan led the two women to the room, the circular doors parting to let them through. "Where is she?" He asked as the three entered the room.

Scott turned around, watching as they entered. Amaris could see at first the wrinkle that pressed in his forehead as he saw Logan, though he quickly softened it once he saw the others. "Who?" he quizzed.

Amaris was about to speak but had been cut off. "Rogue," Charles spoke firmly, almost in a whisper. His face and eyes shifted as he thought, possibly trying to connect with her. "She's gone." The older man moved his wheelchair, leaving the room to enter the hallway.

The other adults followed him as he turned down the hallway, stopping before another circular door. He moved a little bit forward before a light appeared. It swept over his eye, a robotic woman's voice confirming his identity before opening the door.

As the door opened up, Charles moved into the sphere-shaped room, Logan following behind him. As the two spoke, Storm grabbed Amaris' arm, taking a few steps back before whispering to her. "Look, about what you saw in my classroom-"

Amaris shook her head. "I don't know what you are talking about." She had yet to tell Storm or the others about her situation, or what information she possibly had about Logan. It wasn't her place to speak on such a topic if it couldn't be proven yet. It also wasn't her place to tell her friend who she should trust or speak to. That was a negative thing to do, even worse than repressing one's own thoughts and feelings.

Storm looked at her, then she nodded slowly. "Okay." She gave her friend a gentle squeeze on her arm before stepping back with the others.

Amaris stayed where she had been left, though she was shortly joined by Scott. "I know you hate the question."

"Yet you still ask." She stated coldly, avoiding making eye contact with him. "Do I have something written on my forehead?"

Scott huffed a little, keeping their conversation between them. "Ever since Tin Man showed up, you have become distant. You have actively avoided me over the last day and a half. Is there something I've done to upset you?"

"Is my name Jean?" It was a snarky comment, sure, but snarky comments deserved snarky replies. Amaris peeled her eyes away from Jean and Storm, looking at Scott now. "I'm tired of you treating me like I'm a student, still. I'm not a child. I'm not made of glass. I don't go on missions with the other X-Men, I don't step inside the Black Bird, even to dust it. Hell, Scott, I don't even get to touch the wheels. You bring a mutant with unknown potential into the school and demand we protect him with our very lives. Something you wouldn't trust me to do for you out there in the open world."

He clenched his jaw as she spoke, seeing how she was hiding herself with carefully chosen words. Still, what she said spoke a lot about her character. "Him? Rogue is the one with unknown potential. I brought her here for her safety and protection. Storm was the one that brought Logan here."

Amaris stared at him, her eyes shifting between his. She thought about what she said, clearly remembering the only pronoun she used was in reference to Logan. "You know what I meant." Her retort sounded much darker than she intended.

Logan came back to the group before the door closed. This caused both Scott and Amaris to divert their attention back to the group. It was always a little nerve-racking to have to wait to hear about what Charles found, certainly now more than ever when they were trying to find Rogue. Amaris absent-mindedly rubbed her knuckles, staring at the door as Charles used Cerebro. Logan looked at her, narrowing an eyebrow. "What's with her?" He asked Storm, pointing to Amaris.

Storm looked at the younger woman and then back to Logan. "Her mutation causes her to have constant pain in her hands. When she gets nervous, she rubs her knuckles. It helps-"

"Alevite the pain?" Logan asked, finishing her question.

"Yes," Amaris responded, looking at the two of them. "I can answer your questions. I'm more than just the water boy for the team."

Scott, Jean, and Storm all looked shocked by her comment. Logan however nodded a little, pressing his lips together as he pointed his finger at her again. "I like you, you're funny."

Amaris looked up at him, grinning. "It's a phase, it will pass." She then looked back to the door as it opened up. Perfect timing in her opinion, yet the world worked on its own time.

Charles looked between the five adults as he told them his findings. "She's at the Westchester train station."

Logan was the first to speak up. "Where is it?"

"A few miles west of here" Charles replied, barely getting the words out before Logan turned around. He moved behind Storm, pressing a hand to the lower back of her back. It was a simple gesture, dismissing himself as he attempted to leave the group. However, Amaris could see the tiniest flush on her face as it happened. She didn't know if she felt happy for Storm, or to feel disgusted that her latest crush was potentially Amaris' biological father.

"Logan," called Charles. "You can't leave the mansion. It's the perfect opportunity Magneto needs." His words felt more like a plea rather than a command.

Logan turned on his heel, watching Charles. "I'm the reason she took off." There was a change in his tone. He hadn't sounded gruff as he normally did. He was justifying why Rouge left, and why he needed to leave the mansion. To find her. It was noble of him.

"We had a deal," Charles replied, ending any room for arguments.

Storm interjected the two men. "She's alright, she is just upset. Any teenage girl would do the same." Her looks shifted between Charles and Logan, wondering what was going to be the next set of words spoken.

Thankfully, it was Charles, who already had a plan. "Storm, Cyclops, find her. See if you can talk to her."

Amaris rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest as she looked down. A smile appeared on her face as she whispered. "As per the usual." Before anybody else could speak on the matter, she left. Ororo and Scott followed behind her, though not too closely. Jean walked near Charles, wondering what their next plan was. Logan wasn't sticking around for answers, leaving the two mind readers alone.

Scott and Storm went to their rooms to grab some jackets. Amaris stood in the main hallway after leaving the elevator. She couldn't continue to live her life like this, working on a team that protected mutants and humankind only to be left behind at the school to sit on the sidelines.

She heard the elevator door open behind her, turning to face the taller man wearing multiple layers of jackets. He seemed lost, pondering which way he was going. Amaris perked up, finding a way to play this into her hands. "Looking to make a jailbreak?" His eyes flickered to hers, arching an eyebrow. "You're secret is safe with me. I want to, after all."

"Is that so?" He asked.

Amaris nodded. "I'm just saying, if I wanted to get out of here, I might want to head to the end of this hallway, make two lefts, and enter the garage. Then I might want to look at the wall next to the door, where all of the keys are conveniently hung."

Logan stared at her, turning his head to the side as he listened to this information. "What do you get out of it?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "Nothing of material value. Maybe just the hope that I can go out there too one day, you know."

He nodded, watching her. "Hey kid," he placed a hand on her shoulder, pulling her from her daydream, "don't let the others push you around. You want to get out there, then throw yourself out there. You'll end up stuck in a place like this if you don't get out. After all, they can't keep animals in cages forever."

Amaris was a little shocked if she was being honest. She had avoided all contact with Logan after lifting him into the bed the previous night. She avoided one-on-one conversation with him. She even avoided him when others were present. To hear him speak like this gave her hope that maybe he was a good guy who would stay around.

Yet again, what would he stick around a place like here for? Her?

Certainly not her.

Logan turned to head down the hallway, calling back out to her. "Your secret is safe with me."

Amaris watched as he left, chuckling a little. Maybe he was right. Maybe she had to throw herself out there in order to be taken seriously. She was a caged animal, and she was ready to let loose.

Amaris followed suit behind Logan, against every fiber of her being. Defying a direct order from Charles went against the code of an X-Men. Charles had been family to her, a father figure if she had to pick one. She wasn't acting out to defy him or to slap him in the face. She was going to prove to Charles, Scott, and the rest of the team that she was much more than just an English teacher with bone claws.

Amaris entered the garage, grabbing a set of keys to one of the cars they had, watching as Logan mounted Scott's motorcycle. The two stared at each other, Amaris nodding her head to Logan before he smirked at her. He soon took off, the rumble of the motorcycle filling the garage as he left. She quickly found the car she was going to take, Jean's 2000 Dodge Viper, hopping into the driver's seat and following suit behind Logan.

A few minutes later, Scott and Storm entered the garage, walking towards Storm's car. The heel of her boots echoed on the ground as she approached her vehicle, though the absence of Scott's made her turn around. "What?"

Scott pointed to an open space in the middle of the garage. "Where's my motorcycle?"

The two looked around for a brief moment, then Storm spotted another open space. She hummed in thought, tilting her head slightly. "I would say on the same road as Jean's car."

Scott looked at the open spaces, then he made eye contact with Strom, approaching the passenger door. "Come on, something bad is going to happen with those two out there."

Storm opened the doors, turning the engine over as they pulled out of the garage. "If you ask me, it's been long overdue for Amaris to join us. She's been ready."

Scott shook his head, looking ahead. "We need to focus on finding Rogue first. Then we will deal with this mess."

Amaris parked beside Logan just as he got off the motorcycle. She stuffed the keys of the car into her pocket as she stepped up on the sidewalk. Logan looked at her as they walked toward the main gate. "Listen, lady, I don't need a babysitter."

Amaris chuckled a little. "You must be joking if you think I'm babysitting."

"Then what are you here for?"

The two walked through the front doors of the train station, filled with people walking around and talking rather loudly. "Like you said, an animal can't stay in its cage forever."

Logan gruffed, looking away from the younger woman before looking up at the train announcements and seeing which trains were going where. He pointed at one of them. "I have an idea where she is going. Just stay here and keep Patchy and Sunshine off my tail." He walked off, without saying another word.

"Logan! Logan!" She called out, though he refused to answer her. She knew she could stealthily hunt him down, as he had a rather distinct smell about him. However, he was right. Scott would show up furious about Logan taking his motorcycle. Storm would show up trying to find Rogue as quickly as possible. Then there was the matter of Amaris going against orders to do what she deemed fair and include herself in this little rescue mission. Knowing she didn't have many other options, the woman found a space near the entrance, ready to catch Scott and Ororo as soon as they entered the station.

It may have only been about ten minutes since Amaris and Logan had arrived at the station. She had no idea if Logan had still be there, or if he even found Rogue. The approaching footfalls indicated that she had at least been found. "What the hell were you thinking?" Scott asked, looking down at Amaris.

"The Professor told you to stay at the mansion." Storm calmly spoke, looking at her friend.

Amaris leaned off the wall, shaking her head. "He didn't tell me to stay behind. He told you two to go to the train station. He didn't tell me anything." She then looked to Scott, hiding her true intentions from him. Thank goodness they couldn't read her mind. "I heard your motorcycle taking off. I know you wouldn't have taken it since this is a rescue mission, so I followed behind it. I'm looking out for my teammates."

"You should have told one of us." Scott sneered.

"The longer you focus on this, the more time Rogue has to escape. We can worry about your one-sided lecture later. Let's find the girl, find Logan, and get out of here," commanded Amaris.

Ororo nodded. "She's right Scott. Magneto is looking for the perfect time to strike. This is it. We need to work as a team to find those two."

Scott turned away from Amaris, junior to him by six years. "Fine. But as soon as we get back to the mansion, I will be talking to Xavier about this."

Storm led the trio to the main hall of the station. "Scott, look around. I'll talk with the ticket agent. Amaris, be on the lookout for anything unusual."

Without much acknowledgment, the three separated. Storm walked up to the line at the ticketing booth, Scott took a position in the queue, looking around for the young teenager. Amaris found her way to the center of the room. Something had been off by this encounter, it didn't seem right. She smelled the air, finding a putrid smell. Standing in a train station that thousands of people traveled through daily wasn't an ideal space to locate the source of the smell. There was a little murky smell like something had been sitting in water for a long period of time.

Storm spoke with a ticketing agent, describing Rogue. "She is about seventeen. Uh, my height. She has brown hair and she-" She saw the agent's eyes begin to widen, hearing a man grunt behind her before turning to the sound of snarling. 

A gloved hand grabbed her up the neck, lifting her up and pinning her against the glass divider at the station. Another growl was heard before a whispered command was made. "Scream for me." Sabertooth then pushed Storm back against the glass cracking it.

Some people began to scream at the sight. "Scott!" Amaris called, beginning to rush over to Storm. He turned to look at the situation, though things turned into a dangerous situation. His visor was ripped from him quickly, too quick in fact. His eyes were open, causing him to use his optic blast power to blow a hole in the ceiling of the building, exposing it to the night sky. People were terrified now, running and avoiding rubble. Amaris spotted a little girl crying, no more than two. She watched as a piece of rubble began to fall. She quickly raced over, capturing the girl in her arms as she tucked and rolled, avoiding the rubble. Once up, she spotted an employee of the station. "Here," she ordered, handing the girl over to the employee. "Get out of here, quickly."

Amaris rushed over to Scott, making sure he was safe as he pinched his eyes closed. "Do you have a backup pair on you?" She asked loudly over the sounds of people screaming.

"No, I traded them out," he replied, now placing his arm over his face. "Where's Storm?"

Amaris looked up, seeing Storm still pinned to the glass. She watched as her eyes slowly clouded over. Within mere seconds, a thundercloud appeared and a thunderous bolt of lightning struck the mutant who held Storm. His body was sent flying across the station, through a brick wall. The glass partition shattered around Storm as she was let go and fell to the ground. 

Amaris watched as a second mutant jumped down from the ceiling, and then bounced through the new hole in the wall. "I'll get them!" Amaris exclaimed.

Scoot was quick to grab her arm, squeezing her elbow. "No, it's too dangerous to face them on your own. Don't give people more room to talk about mutants."

Storm rushed over to the two other X-Men, both women careful to help Scott. "Magneto is here, somewhere. I hope Logan has found Rogue."

Amaris looked at Storm, the same look in her eyes. "I hope so too." She looked at Storm, standing up as she pulled away from Scott. "They have to be on a train. I'm going to find them."

Scott shook his head. "which train? How will you know?"

"I'm going to assume it will be stopped on the tracks. If I hear people screaming, I know I have found the right one."

Meanwhile, on the train, Logan found Rogue. "Hey kid," he greeted her. Logan didn't really care much for others, though he found himself weaseled into the lives of others if they were kind to him. Rogue had found a little soft spot in his old, dark heart. He sat down next to her, seeing how her expression had changed. She seemed to try to pull herself away from him, as much as the seat would have allowed her. Her eyes darted away from him as she began to breathe a little heavily.

Logan spoke again. "I'm sorry about last night." He looked at her as he spoke, somehow speaking more calmly to her than before.

She was a little shocked, eventually meeting his gaze. "Me too." she cooed out, feeling embarrassed about the situation.

Logan smiled a little, nodding his head slightly. At least she is responding to me now.

"You running again?"

Rogue shifted her gaze from Logan to the empty seat in front of her. "I heard The Professor was mad at me." Rouge's southern accent was strong toward the end of her sentence, a sign Logan learned quickly as a way to tell she was emotional.

"Who told you that?" He quizzed.

Rogue looked back at Logan, sheepishly replying to him. "A boy at school." The look Logan made when she told him was something that made her instantly question her choice. "You think I should go back."

Logan looked away for a moment. His whole life, the parts he did remember, he had always been on the run. Either heading to or away from places, finding new lines of work to make money, or living in his trailer on his truck. He always was on the run. "No... I think you should trust your instincts." Advice he couldn't take himself.

Rogue didn't know how to take the advice given to her, in turn taking the time to tell Logan something from her past that haunted her. "The first boy I ever kissed ended up in a coma for three weeks." She paused, thinking about the bittersweet moment. "I can still feel him in my head." Logan furrowed his brows, wondering where she was leading the conversation. "And, it's the same with you." The teenager began to cry, feeling the warm salt deposits run down her face.

The man looked over at her. A part of him still hesitated to reach out for her, remembering a little too well about the events of the previous night. He may have been a fool, but he still had a heart. He carefully wrapped an arm around her, pressing his hand to the hood of her jacket, pulling her in for an embrace. He knew how much she needed it, to need that level of comfort. Rouge felt instantly warm inside, feeling just a fraction of what it felt like to be hugged again.

"There's not many people that'll understand what you are going through," Logan stated, looking down at her. "But I think this guy, Xavier, he's one of them. He seems to genuinely want to help you, and that's a rare thing... for people like us."

Rogue sat up a little, looking at Logan. She had stopped crying at that point, looking at his face to see if he was just pulling her leg. The train started moving, sending the passengers a little forward in their seats. This broke the hug between Logan and Rogue. He looked back at Rogue, smirking. "So what do you say? Give these geeks another shot?" He saw a flicker in her eyes, the quick grin that spread across her face. "Come on," he whispered. "I'll take care of you."

"You promise?"

Logan nodded. "Yeah, I promise."

It seemed the two had a plan. On the next stop, they would turn around and head back to the school. The sudden stop of the train threw them all off. Logan braced himself on the seat in front of him as the lights began to flicker. He was quick to stand up, looking at the back of the train car. Metallic sounds rumbled through the car. Slowly it was dismantled, and layers of the exterior were pulled apart. His eyes widened at the sight as a man appeared in the train car, floating toward him with a long billowing cape behind him. Logan turned to look at Rogue, signaling for her to remain hidden behind the seat.

As the man approached Logan, he unsheathed his claws, stirring the people near him as the pristine six claws appeared. The older man appeared a little jovial as he spoke. "You must be Wolverine." Logan made two steps towards him before finding himself frozen. The man used his hand as a conduit, freezing Logan in his place. "That remarkable metal doesn't happen to run through your body, does it?"

Logan couldn't move. His fear was apparent in his eyes, though he stared the man down before him. If looks could kill, the aggressor would be on his deathbed.

With a flex of his hand, magneto willed Logan's arms out to his sides, flexing his wingspan. He then began to bend Logan's claws at unnatural angles, pulling growls from deep into Logan's chest. With another gesture, Magneto raised Logan into the air, causing panic within Rogue. "Stop!" Her pleas fell on Magneto's deaf ears. "Stop it, please!"

Logan did his best to fight through the other man controlling his body, able to muster out one question. "What the hell do you want with me?"

"You?" Magneto chuckled, finding his question quite humorous. "My dear boy, whoever said I wanted you?"

Sudden panic set in when Logan forced himself to look at Rogue. Of course, he had wanted her. Why would anybody want Logan? Whether it be for good or nefarious purposes.

Magneto pointed at Logan, sending him flying back to the other end of the train car, knocking the man out. Rogue made a run towards Logan, though quickly subdued by Magneto. The man smirked, using his powers to pick her up and leave the train car.

Amaris had heard the sounds of metallic rumbling, following it as quickly as possible. People began running toward her, pulling loved ones as quickly as possible. She found the destroyed train car, hopping into it as quickly as possible. She bore her bone-shaped claws, though her efforts were in vain. Everybody had been gone. Everybody except for Logan.

When she heard his groaning, she retracted her bone claws, running up to the man. She bent down, moving some of his hair out of his face so she could look at him. He grabbed her hands, quickly pulling her up and pinning her against the wall. In a fit of rage, he believed her to be an enemy.

She growled back at him, causing him to blink away his confusion. In the midst of their little tussle, he had unsheathed his metal claws again, and she unsheathed her bone claws. He looked down at her hands, one pointed at him, the other resting at her side. His eyes were still clouded, though a vision came to him.

A woman sat in a bed, covered in blankets. She had a swaddle in her arms. He walked up to her, sitting by her side. "We still need to name her, Logan."

He chuckled, taking a seat in the chair next to the bed, and scooting it over to be as close to her as possible. "You remember the story about the moon and the wolverine?" He asked her as the woman shifted to look at him. She gave a slight nod, a few beads of sweat on her forehead. He looked out the window, seeing the reflection of the full moon shining down on them. "There is a full moon out tonight, you are my moon. It only makes sense."

The dark-haired woman giggled, "What makes sense?" she asked him.

Logan reached over, gently taking hold of the newborn girl. He was nervous as hell as he saw just how little she was in his hands. "To call her a child of the moon." He looked down at the baby, gently brushing his pinky finger over her cheek. "You are my pretty little girl, Amaris."

Logan retracted his claws, causing the girl to do the same. "What the hell?" He let go of her, taking a few steps back as the two animalistic mutants stared each other down. Amaris slid down the wall, using it as her backing as she stood to face him, wondering what his next move was going to be.

You are my pretty little girl, Amaris.

Amaris.

He was lost in thought, seeing his eyes glazed over. "Logan," Amaris called out, attempting to pull him out of his state. "Logan, where is Rogue?"

He turned around, looking at the destroyed train car, items scattered about ranging from coats to bags. He looked back at Amaris, his eyes softening briefly. "Magneto," He huffed, making eye contact with her again, those light brown eyes of hers. "He took her. He didn't want me, he wanted her."

Her jaw dropped slightly, her eyes widening. "I think I know where he's heading to. Come on." Amaris took a couple of steps forward, though Logan remained still. He blocked the only viable path on the destroyed train car. He looked down at her, inhaling the deep scent of her being. She smelled familiar to him, but he couldn't tell. Amaris stared up at him, being almost a whole foot shorter than he. He examined her, his eyes trailing over her features. He needed answers, but they also needed to find Rogue.

He turned around, watching his footing as he left the train car. Amaris felt an unsettling tightness in her chest. She had a pull in her heart, not caused by natural forces. She was feeling a yearning, for a part of her to be seen. Maybe this man was truly her father. How his presence, in only the twenty-four hours or so they have known each other, felt somewhat comforting.

No, she thought. We need to find Rogue.

Storm and Cyclops cleared out of the train station when Jean met up with them. She had given Scott another set of glasses. He was thankful to her, pressing a brief kiss to her cheek as the three adults left the ruined train station. "Over here, The Professor is in the car."

Storm spoke up. "Logan and Amaris are here somewhere, looking for Rogue."

"Amaris? Amaris is here?" The red-haired woman asked looking between the two.

Scott nodded in defeat. "She defied a direct order from Charles. She isn't ready for field work."

"Are you kidding? She saved that child from being crushed. She was quick to help you when your visor was stolen, and she jumped into action to help people and find the others." Storm countered as they made their way to an SUV.

Jean chuckled a little. "Sounds very heroic to me."

Scott didn't like their answers. He opened the door for the women to get in, but Jean ignored it and got into the driver's seat. Storm entered the car with Scott following in behind her. "I'm sorry sir." He addressed Charles.

Charles looked up in the mirror to look back at Scott. "This isn't your fault, young Cyclops. There were more nefarious pawns present in the game."

The X-Men and their leader watched as three people left through the main entrance of the train station. Police officers readied their weapons, aiming at the mutants who caused the havoc this evening. Magneto stood in the middle with Sabertooth to his right and Toad to his left. Toad held something over his shoulder, what could only be a person. Too heavy to be Logan, Charles was sure of it.

The police started to shout commands at the three. They were commanded to place their hands in the air. Erik observed the scene, complying with their demands. Though, in his typical fashion, he used his powers, levitating two police cars in the air. He flipped them over, then dropped them onto two more of the cars. He grinned as he witnessed their reactions, the majority of them scared and frightened. "As you should be," commenting to himself proudly.

The three mutants watched as the police officers began advancing on them, pointing their guns at them. "That's not very nice." Magneto had pulled their weapons from their hands, now pointing them at all of the officers, readying them for use. "You Homosapians and your guns," he tsked.

Sabertooth's hand reached over to circle around Erik's neck, causing him to pull his attention away. "That's enough, Erik" came the vocalizations of Sabertooth.

Toad, who held Rogue's body over one shoulder and proudly wearing Cyclops' visor on his head, turned to face Magneto. "Let them go."

Magneto turned his head to look at Toad as he pleaded. He was smarter than that, instantly knowing they were now in the presence of his once closest friend. "Why not come out where I can see you, Charles?" He called out to the crowd, wondering where he had been hiding.

Jean, Scott, and Ororo watched Charles as he spoke to Erik through Sabertooth. "What do you want her for?"

Magneto quipped back, "Can't you read my mind?" He gestured to his helmet, something Charles knew prevented him from peeking into Erik's mind. "What now? Save the girl?" Erik had always been two steps ahead. "You'll have to kill me, Charles. And what would that accomplish?" Charles listened to Magneto and focused on his concentration when connecting to Sabertooth and Toad. "You know if they pass that law, they will have you placed in chains with a number burned into your skin."

Charles spoke to him, trying to be a voice of reason. "It won't be that way."

Erik gruffed. "Do you want to find out? You must kill me." Charles remained silent, pondering Erik's logic. "No? Then let me go."

Charles took a different approach, focusing his connection deeper into Toad's mind. The mutant began to walk away from Erik and Sabertooth, a blank stare on his face.

Erik didn't like this one bit. He was always a man of action. He used his power to fire off one of the weapons, however stopping the bullet as it made contact to a man's forehead. His cries, along with the crowds, could be heard as the bullet slowly spun around causing a burn in his skin. "You're pressing your luck, old friend," Magneto called out to Charles.

Charles turned to look at Jean, sitting in the driver's seat. They listened are the many guns loaded themselves, causing a stir in the crowd. "He's powerful, but not powerful enough to stop all of the bullets." Jean pleaded with Xavier, understanding what she was saying would counteract their rescue mission.

Charles knew this wasn't the way he wanted this to go. he wanted to save Rogue and bring her back to the mansion, but to spill innocent human blood for the price of one mutant wasn't the best outcome. He slowly closed his eyes, releasing the hold he had over Sabertooth and Toad.

The two henchmen blinked slowly, coming back to their relatives. Sabertooth let go of Magneto's neck while Toad rejoined his boss.

A helicopter could be heard overhead. It didn't have any identifying signals on it, nor did it have police lights on it. "Professor," Storm spoke, watching as the three men walked to the helicopter as it landed in front of Magneto. "What do we do now?"

Charles inhaled a deep breath, watching the men load onto the helicopter before taking off. "We must find out what Erik has planned, quickly. With Rogue's powers, there is no way of telling what he has planned."

Amaris and Logan had watched as the helicopter left, guns falling to the ground as their ammo fell out. Amaris spotted the SUV, seeing Charles and the others inside. Charles looked at the young woman, sensing the shamefulness she bore inside. "Meet us back at the mansion, we must regroup," Charles spoke to her inside her mind.

She shook her head. "Come on, Logan. We need to head back."

He looked down at her, still shaking broken glass out of his hair. "And join those losers while Rogue gets taken away?"

She looked up at him, feeling a tear inside her. "Those losers are all I have. So, yes. We go back, figure out what he is doing, why he needs her, and then save her."

He saw that flash image again in his eyes, almost hearing a baby cooing in his mind as their eyes locked together. He breathed heavily, recovering from their run from their destroyed train car. "Who are you?" He asked brashly, not able to shake it from his mind.

She couldn't tell what he meant, or if he had been in a proper state to drive. His senses seemed intact, and she knew from their previous meeting he was nearly indestructible, able to heal from every wound imaginable. "I'm nobody." It was the only response she could think of at the time. Before he could react, she left him, making her way through the crowd of people to get to Jean's car.

I'm nobody, I've always been nobody.

Amaris beat Logan back to the mansion, carefully backing the Viper back into the garage. As she got out of the car, she was met by Scott, his arms crossed over his chest. Amaris huffed a little, not knowing how much more she could take. "I'd rather have this conversation with Charles. It's nothing against you. I didn't listen to him. It wasn't your orders."

After closing the car door, Scott watched her, dropping his hands to his sides. "You can't go galivanting around when you feel like it."

Amaris laughed a little, shaking her head at him as he spoke. "Again, it's been an amazing time, Scott, but I need to speak to Charles."

"After this." Scott closed the distance between the two, wrapping his arms around Amaris. She was shocked by the gesture, pausing for a moment or two. "Thank you."

Amaris wrapped her arms around Scott, closing her eyes for a moment, if anything to feel the moment. "Why?"

Scott patted her shoulder once, pulling out of the hug. "You saved the lives of many people tonight. You don't get enough recognition around here for your efforts as is. You did something dangerous tonight, something that would get us benched from the team. But you sprang into action without dictation. Things could have gone worse without you there."

Amaris looked up at him as he spoke. It didn't seem like something he would normally say. "When you showed up at the station, you looked like you were ready to rip my head off clean."

Scott chuckled, holding his stomach. "What big brother wouldn't do the same? I have to watch after my little sister." The two looked at each other, laughing after a moment of silence. He then wrapped one arm around her shoulder as they walked toward the door. "I can't protect you forever, certainly not against Charles."

She nodded, placing the keys back on their hooks. "I know, but it's my actions, and I need to face the consequences."

"Good luck," He commented as they entered the mansion. He let go of Amaris, watching as the younger woman walked before him.

She entered the main hallway of the mansion, seeing Jean and Charles standing in the center of the grand room. Here goes nothing, she thought to herself. She stopped in front of both Charles and Jean. She faced Jean first, "I'm sorry I took your car. I filled it up with gas before returning it where I found it."

Jean smirked, knowing there was no harm done in the action, though she certainly couldn't let Charles audibly know that. "I accept your apology."

Charles looked up at Amaris. "My girl, what you did went against the code of the X-Men. You left, alone, took another member's car, chased danger on your own again, and you could have easily been killed." He paused, gauging her reaction. Her face appeared soft with each remark he made. He leaned back in his wheelchair, breaking the silence. "You also nobly went on a mission to rescue Rogue, set your safety to the side to save the lives of children and adults, assisted Cyclops and Storm as they were attacked by Magneto's henchmen, and chased down Logan and Rogue to save them. All without direct orders from your team captain."

Amaris smiled a little at the end, though was quick to relax her face again. "I am sorry, Professor. I understand if you wish to remove me from the team. I will not go against your orders again."

Charles laughed, then smiled at Amaris. "Remove you from the team? Why would I want to do that?"

Amaris looked at him puzzled. Soon one of the older students stepped forward from a dark corner. "Amaris, I am moving you up to the A teams roster. You will also remain as my next team captain for the B team. Mr. Peter Rasputin will train with you in the next couple of years, once he finishes his schooling, to be your second in command."

Amaris looked from Charles to the student, then back to Charles. Acting quickly, she knelt down, wrapping her arms around Charles. "Thank you, Professor!"

Charles returned her embrace, smiling as she stood back up. "You demonstrated all of the qualities I search for when assembling my X-Men. Continue to set an example for our students. You very well may be teaching our next set of X-Men."

Amaris nodded, regaining her composure. "Yes sir."

Charles nodded. "Very well. Mr. Rasputin, please return to the dormitories. We have official X-Men business to conduct." Amaris and Peter made eye contact with each other, giving a simple bow of their heads before he left the group. Charles spoke up again. "For this to go right, we will need Logan's help. Rogue trusts him deeply. If we are to find Rogue and bring her back, Logan will be our key."

Amaris looked at Charles. "You're wrong Professor," she commented. "It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when."

Charles chuckled. "Spoken like a true student."

The front door of the Mansion opened up. Logan came marching through, his leather coat in his hand as he shut the door, making his way in. Charles turned his chair to face him, noticing how his face looked. He could tell the taller man was angry. "You said Magneto wanted me. You lied."

"At the time, we were under the impression Magneto wanted you. After all, it was your truck that was destroyed, and you were tracked to Laughlin City." Charles replied.

Logan looked from Charles to Jean, then over to Amaris. He pointed a finger at her, speaking again. "Why did I hear your name in my head? Back at the train car?"

Amaris was puzzled as he spoke. "What do you mean?"

"Nah, don't play that shit with me, lady. What did you do to my mind?"

Charles waved a hand. "She didn't do anything to your mind, I can assure you that." He then looked at Amaris, giving her a knowing look. She nodded, knowing they couldn't put this off much longer. "I promised I would find you some answers to your past. I believe I may have already found something, without having to dive into your mind."

Logan looked at Charles, narrowing his eyes. "Why should I trust you, again?"

Ororo approached the three of them. "Because I've seen it too." She looked at Logan, her eyes turning soft. "We all have. It's your genetic testing."

"Let's go down to the lab. I have everything of yours pulled up." Jean added.

"Logan, there is something we need to show you," Charles stated, then turned his chair to head toward the elevators.

Amaris watched as Charles, Jean, and Logan began walking toward the elevator. Storm approached her. "Ororo?"

The woman smiled, "You think that I didn't add the two together?" She asked her friend, laughing a little. "Amaris, with abilities like that, and eyes like yours, it's hard to deny it."

Amaris' eyes grew a little wet, trying to suppress her emotions as Storm spoke. "How long?" she managed to whisper.

Storm reached out to move some hair that had fallen in Amaris' face. "Since the meeting yesterday. Scott, Jean, Charles, and I all spoke about it while you stared at those X-rays."

Amaris looked down briefly, feeling one single tear run down her face. "All my memories are here, within the mansion. I can't deny this is my family here."

Storm nodded, supporting who she would consider her best friend. "We still are, we still will be... But, Amaris," Storm held Amaris' face in her hands, wiping away a single tear. "He needs his family too."

The two women wrapped their arms around each other as Amaris felt the pull in her chest again. Her words were shaky as she spoke. "What if he wants nothing to do with me?"

Storm rubbed small circles on Amaris' back, soothing her. "That's impossible. He wants his memories back. He wants his life back. You are a part of that." After making sure she was fine to go, Storm let go of her. "Now let's get down there, and see just how much of a genetic match you two are."

Amaris wiped her face, then wiped her tears off on her pants. There was no time like the present. "The quicker we get this out of the way, the quicker we get to saving Rogue."

"That's the spirit!"

The two women made their way down to the lower floors, walking side by side as they met with Charles, Jean, Logan, and Scott in the debriefing room. Logan eyed Amaris as she walked in, noticing how she kept her distance from him, and mostly everyone else in the room. Jean spoke up. "Here are the x-ray slices of Logan's forearms." One side of the screen had his X-rays displayed, showing the metal skeleton and claws he had. She then displayed another slide. "These ones are Amaris'. As we can see, they both have two sets of claws, three, in each arm."

Logan looked at the X-rays, then back to Amaris. Jean then presented another slide. "This is Logan's genetic sequence." She then presented another slide next to it. "This one is Amaris'." They looked very similar to each other. "this is what they look like, laid over top of each other. Logan's is in blue, Amaris' is in yellow." the next slide showed their DNA laid over the top of each other's. "Everything in green is shared DNA."

Logan and Amaris both looked at the sequences as they moved over each other. Scott, Storm, and Charles remained quiet. "I have run your blood samples three times," Jean continued. "Logan... Amaris is your daughter."

Amaris could feel her eyes begin to water again. She slowly looked over to the six-foot two-inch tall man, somebody who towered over her. He looked at her, his brows furrowing. "No, no. That's impossible. I would have remembered if I had a kid. You're too old to look like my kid. I-I would remember."

Charles spoke up this time. "Didn't you remember, Logan? In the train car?" Logan looked at Charles, then back to Amaris. "I can look into both of your minds and see if I can unlock a portion of what has been forgotten."

Logan had been hesitant. "If this is a trick-"

Amaris shook her head. "It's no trick. Charles is a man of many talents, but tricking another to believe something like this," she gestured toward the x-rays and genetics on the slides, "he couldn't do. Not because of his abilities, but his morals."

Logan looked at the man in the wheelchair, letting his mind relax. He gave a brief nod to the older man. "Amaris, come here, please," Charles asked.

Storm patted her shoulder, causing Amaris to pick up her feet and move. Each step felt like she had been tied to cinder blocks. She met up with the two men as the others stood back. Charles placed two fingers on each of their temples, delving into their minds.

Flash images of their shared past flooded their brains. For Logan, he saw a pregnant woman holding her belly, then turning to her holding a baby. The baby lay down on his chest while he sat on a couch in a house. He watched as the baby aged up, taking her first steps, speaking her first words, and playing with toys at his feet.

For Amaris, she could now clearly see his face. Logan's face hadn't changed much from what he looked like now. He was speaking to her, as a baby, holding her, even dancing at one point with her on his hip and a woman embracing the both of them.

Logan, Amaris, and Kayla.

The three mutants were pulled out from their deep dive. Logan appeared shocked, his eyes widening at the discovery. His jaw dropped a little as he studied the girl in front of him. She looked like the woman he saw, had the same tanned skin and dark hair as her, yet her eyes... 

they were his eyes.

The room was silent, uncomfortably silent, as the two mutants stared at each other. Amaris saw Logan's face in her memories finally, being able to see him in that scene again.

"Daddy will come back for you, baby girl. I promise."

Logan shook his head, walking away from everyone. The others looked concerned, watching as he silently walked away from the group. Charles went after him, and Amaris was left feeling the aftershocks once again. This time, the tear felt as if she was pierced. Storm wrapped her arms around her friend before Amaris began to cry, sinking down to the floor as the unbearable weight of abandonment filled her again. She knew she wasn't ready for this conversation, and she trusted Charles with her secret. Ororo smoothed down Amaris' hair as she cried into Storm's shoulder. Jean placed a hand on Amaris' shoulder, and Scott supported Jean, standing by her side.

Charles blocked the elevator as Logan approached it. "Truth has its funny way of hurting."

Logan looked as if he was seething. "You must be sick if you think convincing me that the girl in there is my..." Logan couldn't quite get the images out of his head, or the words out of his mouth. "She can't be."

"Why can't she?" He asked him as the elevator doors opened up.

Logan remained silent for a moment, looking down at the man. "There is a girl out there with the world's most repulsed magnet. She needs our help." Logan made his way around Chares, getting into the elevator. "I'm doing this either with or without your help. Jedi mind tricks to the side. I'm going to find Rogue if it's the last thing I do."

He pressed the button of the elevator, closing the door. Charles groaned a little before Storm met up with him. "Is it true, Professor?" she asked him.

Charles nodded. "It is. Though, this was not how I thought things would go."

She nodded, looking at her mentor. "He will go after her again. We need his help to find her. If he goes alone, we won't have a fighting chance against Magneto."

Charles nodded. "Come with me. You and Logan seem to get along on the same level. Maybe you can help me ease his mind and get him to think logically."

She nodded, ready to find Rogue, though feeling sorry for Amaris and the events that played out.

Charles and Storm both stood in Logan's room. He ran water over his face, tracking it in his hair as he got himself ready to leave the mansion to search for Rogue. He wiped his face with a towel before turning to face the pair. Logan was still torn up about the events down in their briefing room, knowing they had lost precious time in recovering the teenager. "You said he wanted me," Logan repeated to Charles, grabbing his jean jacket and putting it on.

Charles looked at Logan, Storm standing behind him with her arms crossed. "I made a terrible mistake. Everybody makes them."

Logan chuckled as he adjusted the collar on his jacket and shirt. "Yeah, you have a funny way of making the wrong mistake at the wrong time, bub."

Logan grabbed his leather coat, walking past both Storm and Charles, giving her a look up and down as he approached the door of the bedroom. "How are you going to find her?" Storm asked him cautiously.

He paused in the doorway, putting on his leather jacket. "The traditional way: Look" he replied, then leaving the room.

Storm was quick to follow him, knowing the Professor would need time to get down to the main level of the mansion. The two mutants walked down the stairs. She called out to him, "Logan, you can't do this on your own."

Logan continued to walk away from her, approaching the front door. His tone became more gruff and jagged. "Who's going to help me, hmm? The X-Men? Give me a break. All you have managed to do is destroy a train station and zap a man with fangs and fur."

"Then help us. Fight Magneto with us." She offered, knowing it was the only solution they had.

She continued her approach, though Logan stopped in his tracks, turning around and closing the small gap between the two. "Fight with you? Be an X-Man? Fight with the one-eyed freak? You, the storm chaser? Who the hell do you think you are?" He asked her, having been through enough with the mansion's occupants in the last forty-eight hours. "We are mutants. The whole world out there has it out for people like us. They hate and fear mutants. You are just wasting your time, and for what? To protect them?" He shook his head, beginning to turn his body away from her. "I got better things to do than that."

He took a few steps away from her, before turning back. She looked stoic, something that was hardly seen in people. She had been taking the full front of his ranting, taking in each word he spoke. "You know, Magneto's right. There is a war coming... you sure you're on the right side, doll?"

Storm exhaled a deep breath, looking into those hazel-colored eyes again. "At least I've picked a side." Her voice remained easy, level as the face she projected.

Logan huffed, heading back for the door. Once it opened up, he was met with the site of a pale, sickly man, and Amaris.

She seemed out of breath, sweaty herself. She looked up at Logan, then painfully over to Storm. "It's Senator Kelly. He needs help." The man began to collapse, both Amaris and the senator falling into the arms of Logan. Storm raced over to help them.

"Let's get him down to the lab. Amaris, get Jean." Storm commanded.

Logan let go of Amaris, the two looking at each other again. He then followed Storm's order, helping her get the man down to the lab.

Amaris shut the main door of the mansion, then quickly off to find Jean. Amaris had found the doctor in the kitchen with Scott. "Jean, we need you in the lab. Senator Kelly is here."

Scott jumped up. "What's that scumbag doing here?"

Jean stood up too, looking at Amaris. "Something bad has happened to him. He smelled like radiation. Like, a lot of radiation."

Jean brushed past Amaris, going directly to the lab. Scott looked at Amaris, examining her face. She was drenched in sweat, her cheeks looking a little puffy. "What happened to you?"

She looked up at him, finally recovering her breath. "I went running. I saw a figure entering the driveway, and I bolted after them. I found Senator Kelly, and I knew he needed help."

Scott nodded, looking down at her. "Go take a shower super quick. I'll go down to the lab and see what's going on."

She nodded, no longer in the mood to fight with anybody. She left to go to her room, ready to be changed out of the clothes she had been in and into something a little cleaner.

The X-Men had been called into a meeting in Charles' office. Scott, Jean, Logan, and Amaris had been there. "The machine emits radiation," Charles began to explain, "that triggers mutation in ordinary humans."

Jean spoke up. "The mutation is unnatural. Kelly's body is rejecting it. All of his cells are breaking down."

Logan paced the room, listening and observing each of the people in the room. Scott and Jean sat next to each other on a couch. Charles faced them, as one would do in meetings. Logan paced behind the couch, while Amaris stood next to a bookshelf, opposite of the others. She didn't take up much room, crossing her arms over her chest, keeping her frame tight, as if needing to plan a quick escape.

"What effect does radiation have on mutants? Should we be worried?" Scott asked both Jean and Charles.

"There appears to be none," Charles explained. "Though I do fear it can seriously harm any normal person exposed to it."

Amaris watched out of the corner of her eye as Logan stopped pacing, looking at Charles as he explained what he found in Senator Kelly's mind. "What does Magneto want with Rogue, then?"

Charles sounded defeated as he replied. "I don't know."

Logan huffed, moving off the wall and heading to walk out of the office.

"Wait a second," came the voice of Amaris, taking a few steps forward to meet with the group. "You said this machine draws its powers from Magneto, right?" Charles, Jean, and Scott looked at her as she spoke. "And this weakened him."

Logan paused as if he had already been connecting the dots. Charles nodded, "Yes" he pondered, thinking over the events he saw. "It nearly killed him."

Logan turned to face the group. "He's going to transfer his power to Rogue and use her to power the machine." He looked at Amaris, the first time they had looked at each other since they had their previous meeting, then at Charles. The three of them had a knowing look, having found that final puzzle piece.

Meanwhile, down in the lab, Storm had been observing Senator Kelly. He called out in the darkness of the room, "Is somebody there?"

Storm's heels clicked against the ground as she approached him, hesitant at first. "Yes, I am here." As she approached the exam table, he reached out for her, his hand grabbing hers.

"Please, don't leave me," he pleaded. "I don't want to die alone."

Storm nodded, looking down at him nervously. She was bothered by his skin, though she didn't show it on her face. His skin felt wet, and every vein in his body could be seen. They were a bright blue color, exposed through his nearly transparent skin tone. His breath was labored, breathing what Storm believed were going to be his final breaths. She then looked confused, hearing the sounds of running water. That was when she noticed pools of water forming at his shoulders.

Kelly spoke up, his voice coarse. "Do you hate normal people?" Maybe out of desperation, he needed to know how his life measured to the ones he wanted to bring down.

Storm had no reason to lie to a dying man. "Sometimes." She spoke, a light accent could be heard.

"Why?" he asked sheepishly.

Storm struggled for a minute to find the right words, as the sounds of moving water increased in volume. "I suppose I'm afraid of them. What they can do to me."

Kelly grinned a little in shock, his voice shaky as he spoke. "Well... I think you've got one less person to be afraid of." He struggled to get out. He then smiled up at her, only briefly. The water increased as Kelly's face, arms, and legs began to disappear in a pool of water. It took nearly a minute before the man in front of Storm until into a huge pool of water.

Storm was quick to leave the lab, running and making her way to Charles' office. When she walked in, she sounded a little out of breath, her hand and shoes were still wet. "Senator Kelly is dead."

Charles's face glazed over briefly as the others looked at Storm. He had to get his mind right, thinking about their next step. "Cyclops and Amaris, go prepare the jet. Storm, Jean, suit up. Jean, also get Logan a uniform."

Logan looked at Charles as Scoot stood up. "Professor, are you sure this is a good idea? He will only endanger the mission."

Logan chuckled a little, "Yeah, I wasn't the one who gave the train station a new sunroof, pal."

Scott stared Logan down. "No, you were the one who stabbed Rogue through the chest."

Amaris spoke up. "Is this what we are doing? Petty jabs at each other? There is a teenager out there that we obviously all care about and need to save. There is a machine out there capable of activating dormant mutations in humans, that will kill them."

"That's enough, out of all of you." Charles calmed the room, looking at the two men in the room. "I'm going to find Rogue. Everybody does as they are told. Scott, Logan, settle this."

Charles left the room, Amaris quick to follow behind him. She was ready to do her part, and most importantly, stay out of Scott and Logan's way. "You must keep a level head when you go out there. Any moment of deviation from your mission means life or death. Keep your guard up." Charles coached Amaris as they entered the elevator. "I know you will have their backs when you are out in the field. However, you can not focus on where everybody is at the same time. Stay guarded, and help the others."

Amaris nodded, looking over at them after they exited the elevator. "Yes, Professor."

Amaris walked over to the locker room area, quickly finding her uniform and changing into it. She was glad she took that shower, knowing sweat and leather suits didn't mix well. Xavier entered Cerebro, intending to find Rogue. She didn't take long, changing into the black leather suit, hers having a rusted orange line. She adjusted her gloves, making sure her claws would come out without damaging her or the suit.

She walked out to the main hallway when she heard the door open. "I'll go start getting the-" She looked up, seeing Charles down on the floor, passed out. She pressed a panic button to warn the others as she rushed to his aid. She checked his pulse and then his breathing, making sure he was still alive. Once she established that, she carefully picked up the man, took him to the lab, and set him down on a clean exam table.

Thankfully Jean and Storm had been the first to meet up with her. "What happened?" Jean asked, the two women starting to hook him up to a chest monitor and a brain wave monitor.

Amaris shook her head. "I don't know. He went into Cerebro, he was maybe in there for five minutes. The doors opened up and I found him on the ground. I called for you guys and then I got him set up on the table."

Storm looked at Amaris, offering a light smile despite the situation, "You did the right thing."

Amaris stood back as Storm and Jean worked on Charles. Scoot and Logan both arrived too. The men looked at the older gentleman, hearing the constant sound of the monitors beeping, indicating he was alive.

After what seemed like half an hour, Logan approached Scoot, never meeting his gaze. "I'm sorry," He muttered, then left the lab.

Scott was fighting the emotions that could easily be felt in the room. Jean was focusing more on what the cause was, while Storm remained in the moment watching Charles and holding his hand. Amaris had left the room, taking some time to herself in the courtyard outside of the main door.

Logan had been there too, having just stumbled upon her. He ran a hand through the back of his hair before taking a seat next to her. She looked over at him before resting her forearms on her knees, looking down. She held a cigarette between her index and middle finger, tapping the ashes away.

"I thought you didn't smoke." Logan looked up, seeing the full moon they were currently under. He had always marveled at the moon, feeling almost bonded to it. "She was right. You did everything right."

Amaris raised an eyebrow, sitting up and looking over at the man to her side. The man she had found out that evening was her biological dad. "If I did everything right, then why did he go down?"

Logan signed a little, dropping one hand to his lap as he smoked a cigar. "Jean is trying to find out the reason. She thinks it has to do with Cerebro." He looked over at her, seeing how concerned she had been about the man they all came to love and care about. Hell, even Logan himself found something warm about Charles Xavier. "It's not your fault, kid."

Amaris looked up at the moon. She chuckled a little, thinking about some wonderful memories. "Before my powers became known, I used to sneak outside and stand in the moonlight. Charles would come and find me, asking why I was outside." She looked down, wiping a hand over her face before looking over to Logan. "I always told him I was made from the moon. The moon and I were one."

Logan looked at her, taking a long puff of his cigar, and holding the smoke in before exhaling it. He didn't know what he should do. Acknowledge her story, remain silent and move on, find a way to tell her that he couldn't get the images out of his brain of what Charles had shown him, from his past.

From their past…

Amaris looked away, looking down at her hands. "I want to kill Magneto and every pathetic worm that does his dirty work." Her jaw clenched as she flexed her fingers, working out an imaginary knot in the palm of her hands. "But it's not the way Charles would want. I would be no better than Magneto."

Logan snickered. "Or those pathetic worms that work for him." He smirked when it brought a chuckle out of Amaris. "Look, he wouldn't have put you on the team if he didn't think you were like Magneto. It's obvious that you know what you are doing."

Amaris leaned her head back, taking a drag from her cigarette, letting the smoke billow out of her mouth. "Most of my students still don't know what my power is. Yet, I always tell them they should never be ashamed or afraid to use their powers."

Logan nodded, looking over at her. "So why do you hide them?"

A grin etched her lips as she responded. "I'm afraid of losing them. Just because I can heal from scratches and burns easily doesn't mean I can regrow by bone claws." She felt it was a valid reason to give.

Though in Logan's eyes, it wasn't a proper answer. "Fear works against you. Humans fear mutants. Mutants fear humans. To be afraid of yourself, that doesn't make sense." He took the last puff of his cigar, tossing the extinguished butt into the bush behind him after making sure it was out. "What does make sense is using your gifts to save people's lives and prove to Xavier again and again about your worth and value."

Amaris looked up at Logan as he spoke, her brows furrowing. It had been their first real conversation, and it had been meaningful, to the both of them.

Storm raced up to find the duo together on the bench. "Sorry to interrupt, but Jean fixed Cerebro. She knows where Magneto is and what he plans on doing. We need to leave, now." She then looked at Amaris' hand, placing a hand on her hip. "Amaris, those things will give you cancer."

Amaris stood up, using the palm of her hand to extinguish the cigarette, gritting through the momentary pain. "I can't get cancer, remember?" She flipped her palm over, showing the burn healed within a matter of seconds. She then discarded the cigarette in the same bush Logan used, knowing she would have to clean it up later.

Logan cackled a little, finding the younger woman's sense of humor welcoming. Storm had approached him with a uniform, handing it over to him. He raised an eyebrow as he looked down at it. "You can't be serious. You want me to wear that?"

Storm corrected him, "Charles wants you to wear this."

Once Logan took hold of the suit, the women left him, re-entering the mansion. He looked down at his, his calloused hands running over the leather. He had fought the entire time he had been in the mansion, with the others, with himself. Now he had a chance to do what he said he was going to do. Find Rogue, bring her back to the mansion, and make sure she is looked after.

Now the stakes were different, no matter how much he wanted them to be different.

Scott and Jean were the only two not in their uniforms yet. Amaris, Storm, and Logan were in theirs as they circled around an interactive table. Scott led the meeting, in Charles' place. 

"Magneto is at Liberty Island. Now, we presume his objective is to mutate the world leaders at the U.N summit on Ellis Island." As Scott spoke, the material on the table moved around, projecting the buildings of the Statue of Liberty and the buildings on Ellis Island.

Storm watched the table, then looked at the others. "He doesn't know that his machine kills." She shifted her weight as she continued on. "Just judging from what the Professor saw, if Magneto gave Rogue enough power-"

The table changed scenes again, displaying a shift in the city. "He could wipe out everyone in New York City," Jean concurred.

Logan looked from the table to Scott, observing everybody in between. "We should land the jet here," Scott said, pointing to the backside of Liberty Island.

Amaris looked at the structures in place. "We can fly in under the George Washington Bridge, follow the bank next to Manhattan. It would make for a better access point and flight pattern instead of flying over it and then landing the jet." Scott looked up at Amaris, his jaw dropped slightly as he was surprised. "What? I've studied the flight patterns of the Black Bird. It's a solid plan."

Logan looked at the model, thinking they had forgotten about something. "What about harbor patrol? Radar?"

Scott shifted his focus to Logan, smirking. "If they have any technology that can detect us, then they deserve to catch us."

Jean nodded. "I'm going to check the Professor one more time. We need to leave in the next ten minutes."

"I'll get the jet ready. Who knows what we will meet with once we get there." Amaris backed away from the table, thinking about the many things they could run into.

"Make sure we have enough medical supplies on board. We can't afford to lose anyone today." Storm commented, looking over at Amaris and giving her an approving nod.

"That includes the Professor," Logan added, looking between Jean and Scott.

All of the X-Men left, heading to different areas to begin preparing for their mission. Scoot, Storm, and Jean had all been on missions together before. It was the first time Amaris was going on one. Logan had only known the five other adults for less than two days and he was already trusted with fighting alongside them under their group's name. It was either their mistake or his saving grace.

Only time will tell.

Once everybody had been ready, they boarded the jet. Scott and Storm sat in the pilot and co-pilot chairs. Jean sat behind Scoot, Logan sat behind Storm, and Amaris sat behind Jean. Logan fiddled with the zipper of his suit, adjusting the neckpiece and fixing the dog tags he wore under his suit.

The jet began to whirl with sounds as the navigation systems, flight systems, and airlock systems activated. Logan could still be heard adjusting his suit. "You actually go out in these things?" He asked, not really expecting any type of response.

Scott looked back at him, a hint of sarcasm lingering in his tone. "What would you prefer? Yellow spandex?"

Amaris chuckled, adding, "He looks like the white suit jacket type of guy to me." This earned a glance from Logan, watching her as she had her fun. He shook his head, turning forward again before looking at his hands. A metallic snikt could be heard as he used his claws, making sure he would be able to use them. Amaris' smile faded as she saw the claws, remembering how they came to be. No mutant should have to go through that, no matter if he remembered it or not.

Once all of the systems were online, Scott pressed a few buttons. The roof over the jet opened up, moving the basketball court through a sliding panel. Once everything was clear for them, they lifted the jet up, leaving the underground hangar and hovering over the school. The basketball court closed again before they took off, heading toward Liberty Island.

It didn't take that long for them to navigate to New York City, flying well above the helicopters that circled around the harbor. The Mansion was only located an hour and a half north of New York City, but the jet was fast, making the trip around twenty minutes. Just enough time for everybody's ears to pop.

The bridge came into view as Scott began to descend toward the water. They flew under the bridge, turning on their cloaking device to disguise the jet. "Storm, can you give us some cover, please?"

The white-haired woman's eyes clouded over as fog began to fill in the harbor area. It was easy for them to navigate the fog as Cyclops pressed a button, changing their view to outline Liberty Island and all of the objects in front of them. Scott navigated to the back of the island, as he had planned in the meeting. He began to turn the engines off on the jet as they lowered closer to the ground. For a brief moment, the jet fell, clashing against the water. Everybody in the jet stirred at the sudden jolt, pulling a quick apology from Scott.

Logan stared at Scoot as the jet was then completely powered down. "You call that a landing?"

Amaris was the first to get out of her seat. She opened the jet door, exiting as Jean, Logan, Storm, and Scott followed her. The X-Men were careful, traversing Liberty Island as they jumped over barriers and examined the area. The two men made their way to the front of the group, figuring out their next steps. Scoot looked up at the Statue of Liberty, pondering for a moment. 

He then looked at Logan. "The torch. It's the highest point on the island."

"Makes perfect sense," Amaris commented. "Magneto wants to watch as he destroys the world leaders. That is his vantage point."

Jean nodded as she looked up. "Rogue's there. I can feel her."

"What are we waiting for?" Logan asked, quickly leading the group up to the doors of the museum. He let the others go in front of him, knowing the place would have metal detectors. Scott, Jean, Amaris, and Storm all crossed through the arch with ease. There had been a monitor on the security desk, and a news report about the U.N meeting was playing, filling the empty museum with sound. As Logan passed, an alarm began to ring. He used his claws, slashing the machine and disarming it and the alarm. Sparks and light filled the air next to the man as the electricity was cut. The others looked back at Logan, though Scott snickered. Logan retracted two of his claws, using the middle claw to flip Scott off. This earned a laugh from the leader of the group before Logan joined them.

The group began to walk through the museum, though Amaris was quick to pick up on a feeling. She smelled the air, unable to place where this other presence was. "I don't think we are alone."

Logan stopped, smelling the air as well. "There's someone here." He agreed, his eyes darting around. He sniffed again as his body shifted.

"Where?" Scott asked, ready to defend his group.

Logan was quick to respond. "I don't know. Keep your eye open," he half jabbed at Scott before walking away slowly, hunting the presence he and Amaris detected.

"Logan," Scott replied firmly back, earning a wave of Logan's hand. "Damn it." he cursed under his breath, watching him leave the group.

He turned around to look at the others. Amaris looked as if she had been picking up on something in the opposite direction of where Logan was headed. Then something else caught her senses. They all watched Logan appear in front of them again. Amaris had this uneasy feeling about the man's presence, taking a few steps forward. "Anything?" Scott asked as Logan walked toward him.

"I know somebody here. I just can't see them." Logan avoided all eye contact with the group, something that threw Amaris off. It wasn't like him. Except it couldn't have been Logan. He didn't smell the same. Amaris bore her bone claws at the same time the sound of the metal ones was unsheathed. Suddenly another Logan appeared, grabbing his doppelganger and tossing them into a room next to the group of people.

The two Logan began to fight, tossing each other against the floor and walls. Scott brought a finger up to his visor, readying himself for a shot. As the others approached them, both Logan had their claws extended out, waving their arms in front of them.

"Wait!" They exclaimed in unison.

One of the two Logans had sliced at a weight on a wall, closing the metal door before the other lunged at him. The sounds of two men fighting with each other echoed from the other side of the wall. A distorted woman's shriek could be heard on the other side of the door. "It's Mystique," Amaris spoke.

"Back up, back up!" He told the women, standing guard in front of them.

Amaris turned around. "Where are you?" She called out, smelling his dirty musk again. She knew she could smell someone else in their presence.

A man came flying through the air. Amaris ducked as he aimed for her. Though unluckily for the others, Scoot took the brunt of the attack, having been kicked into a display. Toad then kicked both women to the side as he faced Amaris. The mutant used his long, green tongue to shut a door to prevent Scott from interfering with his plans. Amaris had her claws out again as she stared down the man. "Do you need recommendations for a dentist?" She quipped, ready to battle with him.

The man tilted his head at her, a sinister grin spread across his face. He then spit at her, a sticky, yet hard, substance covered her eyes. She groaned, trying to claw away at it with her fingers, leaving her to stumble around blindly. He then looked at Jean, spitting the same substance at her. This time, it covered her mouth and nose, preventing Jean from breathing.

He used his tongue again to attack Storm, picking her up by an ankle and tossing her to the second floor. He felt pleased with himself, only momentarily though as Amaris turned to face him. She had still been blinded, though she began to rely on her other senses to give her direction. The man of few words began to dance, almost literally to her, using his footsteps to trick her. Amaris swung one of her hands toward where she thought he had been, instead, wrecking another display case.

Storm peered over the guard rail, looking down at Toad. The man laughed, beginning his next chase with his next victim. He ran down the hallway, then relying on his abilities, he jumped up to the second floor with ease, causing Storm to find a way to give herself some space between the two of them. Everything remained silent for a moment, outside of Jean's attempts to get the acid off her face, Amaris' struggles with breaking glass, and the sounds of Logan fighting with Mystique.

Toad flipped in the air, kicking Storm back into a display of the island, knocking the stand and figures off its display and onto the floor. Storm grunted as she was kicked backward, rolling off the table as quickly as possible. As she stood up, she had been kicked again, harder this time as she flew through the air. Her back collided with a concrete wall before sliding down an empty elevator shaft. Toad walked to the open doors of the elevator, looking down and smirking at her crumbled body.

He kicked the bar he had placed at the doors, catching it and turning away so the doors would close. He spun the stick around in the air, then bowed to his electric performance.

Below on the second floor, a controlled blast was heard. Scott escaped the room he was stuck in, quick to find Jean struggling to breathe. She had laid down on the ground, supporting her back against a wall. "Don't move." Scott looked down at her, lowering his blast level before zapping the acid off of her face.

Jean took in some rapid deep breaths, polling oxygen back in her lungs. Amaris could be heard in the next exhibit over, battling with her sense of direction. He kept scratching her face, fingers and claws in use. There had been dried blood on her face from how deep she had scratched herself. Jean and Scott found her, keeping her distance. "Amaris, stop. Let us help you." Jean spoke, looking at the younger woman.

Amaris snarled at first, glancing over to the sound of her voice. "How do I know it's you?"

Jean spoke in Amaris' mind. "Even Mystique couldn't use my telepathy powers."

Both Scott and Jean watched as Amaris relaxed, putting her natural weapons away. Scott blasted the acid off of her face. Amaris took a step back as she absorbed the blast, wiping away the pieces of acid that fell from her face. She watched the both of them, nodding. "Where's Storm?"

An elevator could be heard dinging, announcing its presence. Rumbling thunder could be heard as the doors opened up. Toad turned around to see the woman floating in the air, her eyes were glazed over and her hands were spread to her sides.

Toad began to approach her. "What will it take for you people to die?!" He lined himself up with Storm, though his plans were foiled as gale-like winds kicked up behind her, sending the rest of the displays flying out the window and deck behind him. Toad tried battling the wind, though his efforts were in vain as a display collided with him, sending him outside.

Storm walked out of the museum onto the desk, graceful as she continued to bend her powers to her will. Toad used his tongue to anchor himself on a metal railing as she continued to weather-based assaults. "Do you know what happens to a toad when it's struck by lightning?" She asked him, raising her head up towards the sky. The ends of her hair appeared electrified as little lightning bolts bounced off of them. A dark cloud hovered above the torch, and a thunderous clap of thunder followed. Storm looked back at Toad, smirking. "The same thing that happens to everything else."

A bolt of lightning shot down, connecting to the metal railing. It fried Toad and his tongue, sending the remains of the man backward as he let go, the wind throwing him into the cold waters of the harbor. Storm smirked, releasing her hold on the wind and lightning before turning around and reentering the museum.

In another section of the museum, Logan stood in a room, observing his surroundings. He knew that Mystique couldn't have gone far. "Logan, is that you?" Storm asked as she joined him in the room.

"Shh." He commanded, keeping his guard up. He remained facing away from her as he used his skill set to try and figure out where his current enemy was. "The other one ain't far away."

Storm slowly approached him. "Come on, we need to join the others." She called to him, placing one hand on his upper bicep.

Logan sniffed the air again.

Target identified.

"I know. There's only one problem." He turned around almost instantly, using his claws and piercing Sorm through her abdomen. She groaned, her eyes widening as she stared at Logan's face. "You're not one of the others."

Logan let go of her, watching as her eyes began to shift from white to yellow. Her hands produced metallic claws as she crumbled to the floor. Her skin changed from Storms darkened skin tone to an unnatural blue state. White hair turned red, and a strange pattern etched itself into her skin. Logan watched as the woman fell in front of him, wounded by his claws, pressing his eyebrows together as he watched her. He wanted to make sure she was dead. After she remained still for a while, Logan left to head back for the others.

Scoot, Jean, and Amaris were all together, picking up where they had left off on their hunt for Magneto and Rogue. The door that had closed earlier opened up, and Logan appeared. Scott placed a finger over the button on his visor, ready to use it.

Logan waved his hands up looking at the three of them. "Woah, woah. It's me." He tilted his head to the side.

Jean stayed back behind Scott. Amaris pulled her hands into fists as Scott observed him. "Prove it."

Logan shrugged his shoulder, keeping his hands up. "You're a dick."

Amaris was the first to relax as Scott took a moment to analyze the answer. He then nodded, lowering his hand. "Okay." Logan felt relieved, relaxing his hands before looking over at Amaris. He could hear the pounding in her chest, having wondered what happened to them while he was busy playing with a mutant-like Barbie doll.

Storm interrupted the conversation, speaking to them over the second-floor landing. "Hey, you need to come see this." She spoke, nodding up for them to follow her. Scott and Jean were the first to head toward the nearest staircase. Amaris and Logan looked at each other, a pastime of theirs as of late. They both nodded to each other, silently communicating they were fine, before following the footsteps of the others.

Minutes later, the team ended up in the stairwell of the torch. Scott led the team up, ready in case they were met with trouble. Behind him was Jean, then Storm, Logan, and Amaris. The five of them stopped as they looked up to the top of the torch.

Logan's voice cut through their silence. "Everybody get out of here."

"Why?" Storm asked.

"I can't move." His body slowly turned, then was forcefully pulled up to the ceiling of the room they were in. He grunted as he tried to move.

A piece of metal began to move, pulling Storm to the opposite wall. Scott tried to blast the metal, by was foiled when he was pulled to another part of the wall with Jean following him.

Amaris was the only one standing in the middle of the room. She looked at the others, knowing her powers weren't going to be of much use to help them escape.

Magneto appeared, floating in through an opening. "My brothers, my sisters. We meet again." He looked up to Logan, smirking darkly. "Let's point those claws away. For safety reasons of course." Magneto raised his hand, using his power to manipulate the metal around Logan and inside of him. His arms were raised, crossing over his chest with his knuckles pointed to his chest, a metal bar covering his arms so he couldn't move. Magneto then looked at the young woman in the center of the room. "My, I didn't think Charles let precious little students out of his sight."

Amaris stared at him, afraid to move herself. "I'm not as young as you think I am, old man." A brave little lie, with a bigger bark than a bite.

Magneto chuckled. "My, what a temperament you have. Somebody ought to teach you a lesson about back-talking your elders."

A roar could be heard as Sabertooth jumped down, landing behind Erik. He stared at Amaris as the others helplessly looked on.

Magneto turned his attention to Scott. "If I were you, I'd close my eyes." Sabertooth crossed the room and picked the visor off of Scott's face.

Scott shut his eyes tightly, taking in a deep breath. "Storm, I think now's a good time for a lightning show."

"We can't Scott," Amaris spoke. "We are in a copper room. One little hint of a spark will end up frying all of us."

Magneto nodded, looking down at her. "Pretty and smart. I guess you can have the best of both worlds."

Logan sneered. "Stay the hell away from her."

Magneto looked at Logan, seeing a vein expand in his forehead. "It seems I've struck a nerve with this one." He turned to face Sabertooth, then hinting to the girl.

Amaris was no match for the much taller mutant. He grabbed her in a headlock, making sure she wouldn't move. Amaris was lifted into the air, holding onto the furball's arms as he held her closely.

Jean spoke up, watching Magneto out of the corner of her eye. "Senator Kelly found us."

Magneto looked at her, taking a step toward her. "He survived his fall, hmm? And the swim to shore? What a lucky man. He has much more power than what I could have ever imagined."

"He's dead." Jean bluntly stated.

Storm added, "It's true. I watched him die." Magneto shifted his gaze from Jean, now approaching Storm as she looked at Magneto. "The same will happen to all of those people down there, and in the city."

"Are you sure about that?" he questioned her. He walked away to stand next to Sabertooth, holding Amaris as she struggled to breathe under Sabertooth's hold on her. "Why can't you all and Charles see what I am trying to do? Huh? Why are we allowing humans to control our fate? Mutant lives can not be held in the hands of human leaders."

Logan stared at Magneto as he spoke, catching himself eyeing Amaris. His Amaris. His little girl.

"Help! Please, somebody, help me!" Came the long-awaited voice of Rogue, pleading for her life, sobbing through her cries for help.

Logan looked back down at Magneto. "You're so full of shit," He started, venom slipping into his words. "You want to be the righteous one to save us all, it should be you in that thing. Not a teenager who hasn't lived her life yet."

Rogue's cries continued to fill the room as fireworks began to fill in the background. Magneto looked away from Logan, then at Sabertooth. "Any sign of resistance from any of them, kill the girl." He then left, floating out of the room.

Logan’s heart began to beat rapidly, hearing the screams of Rogue and choking sounds Amaris made under Sabertooth’s hold. It was all too much, and knowing he had a plan to get out of his situation, he prepared himself for the pain. Logan yelled, tightening his tendons and releasing his claws into his chest. The six metal claws penetrated his lungs, killing him. Because his metal skeleton was so heavy, his frame bent the copper, causing him to fall to the ground.

“Logan!” Jean called out watching as he fell.

The grip on Amaris' neck became tighter. Her hands clawed at his arm as he suspended her in the air. Scott was defenseless, breathing heavily as he listened to the cries of Rogue and the choking sounds of Amaris. Jean wasn't powerful enough to get into Sabertooth's mind to release his hold on her. Storm Wouldn't have been able to use her powers without causing them all damage.

"What do you get out of this, Fido?" Amaris asked between gasps of air, trying to avoid eye contact with all parties.

Sabertooth looked down, smiling a predatory-like grin. "You think you're so funny. How funny do you think it will be when your friends watch you die."

"She did nothing wrong to deserve this," Storm called out.

Sabertooth walked up to Storm, making sure the woman saw the fear in young Amaris’ life. "You still owe me a scream, pet." Sabertooth took a step back, looking into Storm's eyes. In a quick motion, he snapped the neck of Amaris, dropping her lifeless body to the ground. Storm screamed, wiggling against her restraints as she watched Amaris fall.

Sabertooth turned his attention back to Logan, walking to stand over his corpse. Though Sabertooth could tell something was wrong. He bent down to pick the other man up. Logan was quick to stand up, sinking one set of his claws into Sabertooth’s chest. He caught the sight of Amaris on the ground, her head bent at an awkward angle. He tried to listen for her heartbeat.

Except it didn’t beat.

Logan’s face pulled together, yelling as as Sabertooth pushed Logan out of the room onto the crown of the statue. He rolled backward, catching himself before he fell, looking down at the ground hundreds of feet below him.

Sabertooth grabbed one of Logan’s feet, pulling him back. Logan kicked at Sabertooth, disorienting the man. He recovered quickly, throwing Logan across the head of the statue. Logan recovered, unsheathing his claws again. “You killed my girl. I’m coming for your god damn head.”

Sabertooth roared again before the two exchanged blows, almost dancing around one pivotal spot on the the top of the statue’s head. Their grunts and roars filled the room below them where Storm, Scott, and Jean were still pinned to the wall.

Logan watched Sabertooth as he reache for his dog tags, stabbing the man through his hand. “This is mine.” He snarled.

Sabertooth took a hold of Logan by the neck, tightly holding him in the air. “I’ll kill you, if it’s the last thing I do.” Sabertooth then shifted his hold on Logan, tossing the man up into the air, throwing him over the side.

Logan used his metal claws, catching onto one of the spikes of the crown, using his weight to circle around the copper statue, flipping around and landing on his feet. Logan yelled, jumping and propelling him toward Sabertooth, sinking his claws into his chest again. Sabertooth flipped Logan off of him, making Logan slide down the side of the statue. He sunk his claws into the statue, ending up anchoring himself on the opposite side of the wall that Scott and Jean had been pinned to.

Sabertooth landed in the room again, looking down at the girl in front of him. She should have moved by now if she were to come back. “Pathetic.” he mocked.

Logan dropped into the room, eyeing Sabertooth. “I ain’t finished with you yet.” He looked at Scott, Jean, and Storm, making sure they were safe and perfectly situated. “Scott, I think you dropped something, pal.”

“Open your eyes when I tell you, Scott.” She whispered to him.

“No,” he protested.

Logan held up the visor, “Jean, now.”

Jean used her powers to move the visor at an angle so Scott could use it. “Scott, open your eyes, now.”

Scott reluctantly opened his eyes, using his blast to attack Sabertooth, sending the mutant out of the room. He fell from the head of the Statue, crashing into a boat below.

Logan quickly released everybody for their metal restraints before turning his attention back to Amaris. His lower lip quivered as he knelt down beside her. He was acting before he could even think, moving her body by flipping her over, holding her upper body against his lap. He pushed the hair out of her face as her head moved at another awkward angle. “Come on, baby girl,” he whispered, looking down at her face. “You’re my kid. You have to wake up.”

Scott looked down at the two mutants, Jean and Storm both closing in on his sides as he wrapped an arm around them. They had all become family, they couldn’t afford to loose family.

Amaris’ eyelid twitched, a strong heartbeat returning to her chest. She exhaled a deep breath, groaned as she felt a pop between her shoulder blades. She opened her eyes to see Logan peering down at her, worry and concern washed from his face. “Hey, hey that’s it.” He whispered to her, holding her while she woke up.

“Logan?” she asked him, bringing a hand up to her face, rubbing her temple.

He shook his head. “I’m your dad, kid. You should address me as such.”

Amaris had a pink color wash over her face as Logan pulled her in for an embrace, both of them grabbing onto each other as if they were saying goodbye.

A loud shrieking could be heard as Rogue yelled. Jean, Scott and Storm looked up to see her standing in the middle of a device the whirled around her.

Logan and Amaris both stood up, looking at Rogue. Their bonding time would have to be set to the side. “We have to get her out of there.” Logan stated the obvious. “Cyclops, do you think you can hit it?”

Scott studied the machine briefly. “Those rings are moving too fast. I’ll end up hitting her.”

Scott turned to face Storm. “Can you fly me up there?”

She shook her head. “It doesn’t work like that. I could easily throw you over or under it.”

“Then let me go,” Logan stated. Scott looked over at him, worried. “If I don’t make it, you can at least still blast the damn thing.”

Storm had been standing next to Amaris, making sure she was fine. Jean looked at Scott, nodding to the plan. “Okay, let’s do it. Jean, use your power to steady him.”

The women all agreed, making sure to give Logan his space before they manipulated him. Storm’s eyes began to cloud over as she guided Amaris against the wall. “Everyone, hand onto something.” A force of wind filled the room, encapsulating Logan in it. Jean outstretched her hand, using her powers to steady him. Logan was pulled up into the air, spinning around slightly as he struggled with the sensation of flying.

Logan found his way to the top of the machine, still feeling Jean focusing him until he was balanced and Storm releasing her hold of the wind around him. A bright white light overcame the machine as Rogue began to scream again, feeling herself starting to drain.

Scott, Storm, Jean, and Amaris watched Logan as he stood on top of the machine, standing on pins and needles to see what would happen next.

Logan timed the rings, jumping down inside the machine without getting hurt. He pulled his claws out again, attempting to slash at the machine. He had been stopped, however, by Magneto who used his powers against Logan. Logan kept his eyes trained on Magneto, seeing out of the corner of his eye how Rogue’s hair began to change to white, groaning as the machine continued to roar to life.

Scott brought a hand up to his visor, watching as the white field of radiation began to grow. “I’m taking the shot.” He announced, aiming for Erik. He blasted the older man in the back, throwing Magneto to his back. It released his hold on Logan, who focused his energy into stopping the machine. As bits and pieces of it fell apart, Jean and Amaris could be heard catching their breaths.

Helicopters and boats could be heard beginning to rush to the island. “We have to get them down from there and head back to the mansion,” Amaris commented.

Scott turned to look at her. “How do you plan we do that?”

She looked at the summit of the torch, thinking. “Get the jet up here, we will pick them up from there, then get out of here.”

“Come along. We need to hurry before the authorities get too close.” Storm wrapped an arm around Amaris, heading out of the head of the statue and flying down to the jet.

Up on the torch, Logan looked at Rogue. She had that same look about her face that Amaris had mere minutes before. He cut her restraints away, catching her in his arms. She wasn’t responding anymore, breathing shallowly. Logan looked at her hair, touching the white that now grew at the front of her face. He pulled a gloved hand to his mouth, removing it and dropping it to the ground. “Come on.” he whispered, daring to touch her again after what happened the previous night.

He finally touched her face, closing his eyes as he tried to give her some of his power. He was ready to feel it drain from his body again, if only to make her wake up. After a few seconds, he didn’t feel anything. He opened his eyes to look at her, seeing no change in her face or appearance. He left his hand on her face, starting to feel the effects of the battle, how worn down her was, now to lose the teenager he promised to keep safe.

He began to weep, the side of his face brushing up against hers. He moved his hand to cup the back of her head, bringing her face closer to him with his cheek pressed to her forehead. He failed her. He had to accept he failed her.

His eyes widened, feeling his skin pull near his eyes. He felt a sharp pull within his body, a dull ache taking a hold of him as he felt the air in his lungs leave. The skin on his face began to rip apart, and blood began to pull out of the spaces in his suit where he had previously been injured.

Rogue woke up frightened, pushing Logan off of her. Soon the jet arrived at the torch, the hanger door opening up. Jean and Amaris walked out. “Rogue!” Jean called, extending a gloved hand toward her.

Amaris rushed out to find Logan on the floor, gasping and bleeding. Rogue grabbed Jean’s arm, entering the jet. Amaris picked up her father, getting back into the jet and setting him down on the medical gurney. Jean and Amaris both began to work on Logan. “It was an accident.” Rogue said, repeating the same statement from the night before.

Amaris looked over at her. “No, he saved your life.”

Once back at the mansion Amaris and Jean rushed Logan into the infirmary. Storm stayed with Rogue, doing an assessment on her. Scott’s first thought was checking on Charles. He was surprised to see the man waking up.

“Welcome back.” Scott muttered, looking at Charles.

The older man chuckled, looking at him. “I knew you would lead the team well.” He pulled his face together, gathering something went wrong. “How did we do?”

Scott approached the man, stuffing one hand in his pocket. “Rogue was rescued, though not without some complications.”

“Complications,” Charles asked.

Scott nodded. “She used up nearly all of Logan’s life force to come back to us. Though this was his call.” He moved out of Charles way to show on the other side of the glass wall Logan laying on an exam table connected to oxygen, a heart monitor, bandaged up, with Amaris at his side, holding his hand between hers. “Amaris nearly died as well. I thought she wouldn’t recover.”

Charles hummed, observing the Howlett’s. “They are designed from the same structure. They both will bounce back, on their own timing of course.”

Nearly a week had passed since the X-Men rescued Rogue. Both Rogue and Amaris had checked in on Logan, Though Amaris stayed with him nearly the entire time. Other members of the team, and Charles, had to convince her to go get proper sleep in her bed, to shower, just to stretch her legs. Scott, being the big brother he claimed to be for Amaris, would often bring her something to eat, or cover her up in a blanket if she happened to fall asleep. Her reasoning behind staying with Logan so much was she didn’t want him to wake up alone.

Jean had convinced her to take a shower and eat a meal at a proper table. Amaris had been reluctant, but complied to her requests. Jean monitored Logan, doing another set of vitals on him. She examined his face, seeing his wounds had closed up. She then lifted the dressing off his chest, her fingers tracing over where his other wounds would have been.

Logan stirred when she touched his ribs, gently grabbing her hand. “Stop, that tickles.” His voice was rough as he woke up from his deep sleep.

Jean smiled looking down at him, thankful to hear his voice. “How are you feeling?” She asked him.

Logan chuckled a little. “Like a million dollars.”

She continued to smile at him, taking note of his reactions. He seemed fine, physically and cognitively. “What is the last thing you remember?”

Logan flexed his fingers, thinking about that night. “Scott blasted Magneto… I cut Rogue out of her restraints… and.” His eyes widened, then pushed himself up as he pulled at the wires connected to his body. “Where’s Amaris?”

Jean placed a hand back on his chest, forcing him back down. “I sent her to take a shower. She’s been here by your side day-in and day-out.” She watched the relief wash over his face. “She’s been talking to you, telling you stories about her childhood here, asking you questions about your favorite music and your favorite places you’ve been to.”

Logan hummed, nodding slowly. “I could remember hearing her.”

“Rogue has been down here to check on you too.” Jean added, removing the electrodes from his chest. “She wasn’t kidding when she says she can absorb personality traits along with peoples powers and energy.”

“Sorry about that.”

Jean smiled, tossing the stickers into a trash can under the table. “I think she’s taken a little liking to you.”

Logan coughed a little, still stirring out of his coma. “You can tell her my heart belongs to somebody else.” Logan had taken quite a liking to Storm. She challenged him in ways that nobody else did, and she had a lovely personality to back it up. “How’s the Professor?” he asked, nervously.

She nodded. “He is well.”

Logan was relieved. Everybody was safe, well, and accounted for. He did what she said he was going to do, and maybe a little more.

A pair of boots could be heard entering the lab. “Logan,” Amaris whispered, seeing Logan awake. She dropped a paper plate that had a sandwich on it, her damp hair resting behind her as she crossed the room, standing on the other side of the exam table.

Logan sat up again, using one arm to support himself, wrapping the other around her smaller frame. Amaris wrapped both of her arms around his neck, stifling the sob that built up in her chest. “What did I tell you before?” Logan asked in her ear.

Amaris giggled, feeling the tears she had sealed away behind to fall. “Hi Dad.”

“Hi, baby girl.”

Jean left the room, leaving the father and daughter to have their moment together, this time without anybody to interrupt it.

Logan pulled away from Amaris, helping her to wipe her face. “Metallica. One, The Unforgiven, and For Whom the Bell Tolls.”

She looked at him puzzled. “What?”

He smiled looking at her, finally seeing the bits of him that built her. “My favorite band and my top three songs from them.”

He smiled looking at her, brushing the wet hair out of her face. “You could hear me?” She asked him.

He nodded. “The whole time.” He chuckled a little as he observed her face. “So, about that jailbreak?”

Amaris gave Logan some clothes to wear so he could leave the infirmary. He went up to his room, taking a shower and getting dressed in the same clothes he showed up to the mansion in the week before. She made him something to eat, knowing he had to be exhausted still from all of his downtime.

Amaris brought the food to his room, where she had been met by Charles. “I suggest you get your strength up. I still have my end of the deal to uphold.” He watched as Amaris entered the room, having made Logan a couple of cheeseburgers. “I think the both of you would benefit from a little trip. Learn more about each other, learn about your past.”

Amaris handed the plate over to Logan, both of them looking at Charles. “Come down to the debriefing room after your lunch. I will give you all the information I have to offer you Logan.”

Charles left Logan’s bedroom, rejoining the rest of the mansion’s occupants in their daily lives.

An hour or so later, both Logan and Amaris showed up at the debriefing room, seeing the interactive table again. “I found this abandoned military base in the Canadian Rockies, at Alkali Lake. It’s close to where we found you, Logan.” The two men looked at each other as Charles presented the information. “Not much is left, but it’s possible to find some answers.”

Logan nodded as he studied the scene. “Thank you.”

“Amaris, the choice is yours. No matter what you choose, you will always have your spot as an X-Man.” Both Charles and Logan looked at her. Amaris looked at the man she grew up with respecting and learning from as a father, then to the man who was her father. It was a hard choice to make, but in the world that they lived in, everybody had to leave their nests and learn how to fly.

Amaris nodded, “I’m going with you.”

“Are you going to say goodbye to them?” He asked both of the mutants. Logan and Amaris looked at each other, giving a slight nod. “There is a jeep in the garage. You will find the title work inside the glove box in your name, Amaris. You should take it. Alberta is a long ways away from here.”

Logan extended a hand out to Charles. Charles shook Logan’s hand. “Thank you, for finding more than what I thought you could have found.” Once they let each other’s hands go, Logan looked at Amaris. “I’m ready whenever you are, kid.”

She nodded. “Let me go pack up a bag. Get us some things we might need.” Logan nodded, walking away. Amaris walked over to Charles, smiling at the man. “You have given me every tool i could possibly need in this world. I can never pay you enough for that.”

Charles laughed, taking a hold of her hand between both of his. “My dear child, share those tools with Logan. Learn from each other. Once you both find the answers you are looking for… come back here. I wish to hear all about it.”

Amaris nodded. “I will.” she whispered before leaning down and hugging Charles again “This isn’t goodbye, Professor. I’ll just see you around.” She let go of the man, standing up and walking away from him. She moved about the hallway, catching sight of her suit hung perfectly in it’s glass container. She passed by the lab, having spent more time in it this week than any other portion of her life.

Making her way to the elevator, she hopped onto it, heading to the secondary floor of the mansion. She headed for her room, grabbing a duffle bag that bore the symbol of Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. The same symbol was used for the X-Men’s gear. At least she would have a piece of them with her when they left.

She changed her clothes, keeping her boots and jeans, though opting for a t-shirt and a jacket. In the bag to packed two blankets, a couple of flashlights, an extra jacket, and some under garments. She knew they would end up picking things up along the way between Westchester county and Alberta. The most important thing to have would be the clothes on their pack, a couple of provisions, and some cash for gas.

Amaris took another look at her room, knowing that this chapter of her life was completed, and she was moving onto the next.

She made her way down the stairs to see Logan and Rogue talking with each other. The teenager gave a wave to Amaris before returning to the main room where other students could be heard.

Storm approached Logan, Amaris noticed this and kept her distance, giving the two some time to talk.

“You gave us quite a scare for a while, there.” Storm told Logan, fixing the collar on his leather jacket.

Logan chuckled as he watched her. “Yeah, so I’ve heard.”

Storm smirked, looking down briefly as she spoke. “Should I be under the impression you aren’t coming back?” She looked up at him, a soft look painted in her eyes.

Logan brought a hand up to his neck, pulling his dog tags out. He removed the necklace, taking her hand and placing the dog tags in hers, then closing her hand. “I’ll come back for these one day, doll.” Storm looked down at their hands, giving Logan the right moment to reach down and press a chaste kiss to her cheek. He pulled back, letting go of her hands. “I promise.”

Amaris smiled watching the interaction between her long time best friend, and her newly found father. She walked around to meet them, hoisting her bag over her shoulder. Storm and Amaris looked at each other, remaining silent before embracing each other again. “Don’t worry, Storm. I’ll make sure we stay out of trouble. We don’t need to rely on the X-Men to save us on our road trip.”

Storm laughed, letting go of Amaris. “Go, find yourselves. Then return to us.”

Amaris nodded, watching Storm as she left. The young woman looked up at Logan, a glint in her eyes. “Are you ready to go, old man?”

Logan arched a brow looking at her. “Now I’m the old man?”

“You’re my old man, are you not?”

Logan opened up the front door of the mansion, shaking his head before they started walking to the garage. Amaris found the jeep Charles told her about, checking the registration was in the console, along with passports for the both of them. Jean and Scott must have gotten these ready for them to make crossing the borders easier.

Amaris placed her bag on the floor of the backseat, watching Logan as he eyed the motorcycle that belonged to Scott. “Do you want me to haul your bag?”

Logan approached the jeep, setting the bag down. “I think I do.” He then made his way over to the key rack, grabbing the keys to the motorcycle.

Logan mounted the bike, revving the engine before taking off. Amaris followed her father in the jeep, wondering what next adventure lay in store for the Howlett’s.

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