Disclaimer: Not mine. Never mine. Didn't come up with it. Kiri, on the other hand, is mine.

Wolverine knew someone was coming. He could smell it.

He'd lived at the Mansion long enough to recognize the normal scents that belonged to the various teenagers and adults who lived there. Every spring, of course, there was a motley array of new ones to learn, but this was the middle of January. All the students had been back from Christmas break for nearly two weeks now. No one new should be arriving, and the Professor hadn't sent anyone out on a retrieval in months.

Needless to say, catching a whiff of a new scent so close to the place he now called home put him on edge.

Marie was, of course, the first one to notice. Ever since she'd absorbed his powers that catastrophic night several years ago, she'd understood him like no one else ever had, not even Victor, his brother – mostly because she still had more than a bit of him mixed in with her own personality. She approached him after a Danger Room workout, her brow furrowed with anxiety. He was touched to realize that it was on his behalf.

"Hey, Logan… somethin's botherin' you. What's up?" He grimaced at her easy perception, but figured she deserved an honest response.

"I'm that easy to read, eh?"

"Only to me." She grinned.

"Well, that's a relief." He pulled a cigar out of the pack in his pocket and motioned to one of the others also making their way out of the Danger Room. Jubilee grinned rakishly and obligingly flicked a paf towards the end of the cigar. Her aim was good, and it caught, the ember glowing dully in the fluorescent light of the corridor. "Thanks, kid!"

Although she grimaced at the juvenile nickname, she waved her hand idly in a sort of offhand "you're welcome" gesture. "Let's walk," he said to Rogue, who fell into step next to him.

Together they worked their way upstairs into the more public portion of the Mansion. The halls changed from sterile white to warm, comforting wood paneling, the floors moving from tile to linoleum to stone. Logan continued, leading Rogue out one of the side doors and in to the gardens. It had been a while since he'd gotten to talk to the young mutant he'd offered his protection. She was always busy with her studies, and with Bobby, and he was often gone on missions for the Professor, or himself. She stayed quiet as they walked, another sign of how well she knew him. He would talk when he was ready.

It wasn't until they were standing by the small fountain at the far end of the gardens that he spoke.

"I noticed it a couple days ago," he began. "A scent. Something… no, someone new. Different. I thought it was just a whiff off the street, but it kept coming back. Whoever they are, they're on the grounds. Probably hiding in the trees, waiting."

"Waiting? What for?" Rogue looked puzzled now.

"If I knew, you think I'd still be here, kid? I'd 'a found whoever they are and brought 'em in. But as long as they wait, they're no threat. It worries me, is all." Logan knew he ought to tell the Professor, but something in him resisted. Maybe he wanted to bring the stranger in on his own, prove… something. He wasn't really sure what. That he was useful for something other than sending off to kill things.

"Well…" Rogue paused for a moment, choosing her words carefully. "I'm always here for help, or talk. Keep me up with what you're doin'? Don't run off again, whatever you do."

Logan couldn't help but grin, and pulled her close for a one-armed hug, careful to mind her skin. "Knew there was a reason I kept you around, kid," he joked. They stood like that a moment, Logan's arm draped companionably around her shoulder, her head leaning on his chest. As gruff as he was to the rest of the world, Marie never failed to bring out a surge of affection that he ranked somewhere between that of a father for a daughter, and a brother for a sister. And yet it was still somehow more than that.

A strange, harsh caw broke through their reverie. A bird, a crow to be exact, perched on the branch of a tree at the edge of the woods, not ten yards away, and it was looking at them. Or appeared to be. Its beady, oddly intelligent eyes certainly seemed to be pointed in their direction. It cawed again and cocked its head to one side. It almost seemed as if it were asking a question.

"What a strange bird…" Rogue murmured and stepped towards it. At her motion, though, it startled, and with a furious flapping of wings took off into the forest.

It was only as it disappeared into the trees that Logan realized. That bird was the source of the scent.