A young woman woke up to her alarm clock ringing by her here, and in response she swiftly lowered her hand upon it, simultaneously hitting the "snooze" button and knocking the clock to the floor. After a few minutes of restless tossing and turning, the girl sat up, remembering what she wanted to get up so early for.
She slowly rose from her bed, eyes closed, and made her way to her dresser, opening and drawer and picking out a sweater that she threw over her head, further tangling her hair. She then turned to the door and slipped on a pair of tennis shoes before exiting her room. She then really woke up, and started moving down the hall of the prestigious school for mutants, past the rooms of her fellow professors, Ororo Munroe, Scott Summers and Jean Grey, and finally the empty room of the infamous Logan, who had "been on leave" for a few months now. She then crept down the stairs, before turning on her heel and making her way to the kitchen, so she could leave through the back door.
It was still dark outside, but sunlight was just starting to threaten the sky. She threw each leg in front of the other as she ran towards the outside fence of the school, before leaping up to the top of the iron rods. She proceeded to climb over the top and drop down, then walked into the heart of the small forest surrounding Xavier's mansion.
"Victor?" she whisper-screamed. "Victor, where are you? Please don't make me go searching the entire woods for you again. Victor?"She slowed her walk and looked carefully to every angle she could see, except up, of course.
Seconds away from turning back around and giving up, the woman heard a soft rustle from the branches above her and tilted her head upwards. She was just in time to see a giant bulk falling down directly above her. In reaction, she flung her arms over her head and squatted to the ground. The bulk softly landed, and grunted above her.
As she lifted her head up again, she smiled. "Hey big brother."
"Get up, your fucking embarrassing yourself, pipsqueak," he growled. She rose up to meet him, still smiling wide.
"I love you, too."
The two standing together would have looked almost comical, if anyone was there to see them. The woman was not outstandingly short at 5'6", but he, at 6'5", shrunk her to midget proportions. The girl had tan skin with freckles scattered over her nose, cheeks, and shoulders. Her curly, brunette hair was constantly slicked back into a high ponytail. She had bright blue eyes, with short lashes. Her face was plain, and hardly ever wore make-up. She had blunt cheekbones and a square jaw. Nothing special, she would tell herself. She had a very athletic build, sporting muscular legs and a flat stomach. Altogether, she looked very innocent, a strong contrast to the cynical assassin who stood before her.
"So what the fuck did you want to talk about, princess?" he grunted, wearing a much less scream-inducing smirk than normal.
"I heard a rumor that Jimmy would be returning really soon. I'm not sure if it's true, but if it is, I just wanted you to know I would be telling him as soon as I can. I don't think you'll fit into that plan at all, though."
"That's fine; I'm not the one who wanted to tell him, that was you. I don't care if I'm there. I'd rather be gone, actually."
"Well," she sighed, "good for you."
"So how do you want this to play out anyway? Why the hell am I here?"
"I just wanted to tell him, and if he wanted proof he could ask you too, maybe I could talk him into looking at the pictures I have. And you're here in case he doesn't believe me at all and I want to leave. So anyway, I think that's all I had to tell you."
A few moments passed without either of the two talking, before Victor grumbled, "He's too stubborn to just accept it y'know."
"What?"
"I said he's too fucking stubborn. Even if you gave him all the evidence in the world, and he knows you're telling him the truth, he's not going to accept it. He's gonna hate that he's related to me. You maybe not, but me, well you know our past. He's gonna get scared of the fact that everything is going to change once you tell him he's got family. He's gonna be afraid, and run away. You should know that," Victor calmly stated.
She was fuming. "That's a lie. He would want to know more, he would be curious, he wouldn't just ditch. He's smarter than to leave the only thing that could help him remember his past. Besides, if he flees, I'll just follow him."
"Whatever you think, princess. Just be prepared for the worst all right?" Victor said gruffly, implying that he doesn't give a damn about the girl.
"Fine, Vic. Thank you for being here." She smiled at him again.
"Whatever, girl, just go back to your room."
She smiled one more time, and snuck a hug from him, wrapping her arms around his neck quickly before letting go and turning for home. She hugged her arms to her chest and swiftly walked back to the school.
A young woman, named Kate Johnson, woke up to her alarm clock ringing by her here, and in response she swiftly lowered her hand upon it, simultaneously hitting the "snooze" button and knocking the clock to the floor, again. She lifted herself out of bed and threw on some simple clothes, a white button-down and jean shorts. She was a teacher at the school, if you could call the adult in the "study hall" room a teacher. Her dress code wasn't as formal as most others professors because she didn't have a wide variety of clothing when she first came to the school.
It was early in the morning, but not as early as before. She woke up earlier than the students so she could eat breakfast with the other professors before they had to supervise the kids eating in the cafeteria. As she started making her way down the steps to the first floor she saw another young female with a white stripe in her brunette hair, running towards the front doors of the mansion, a wide grin plastered on her face.
Kate twisted her head to where the mutant girl was smiling, and smiled herself.
The rumors floating about the campus were true. It was Logan, back from whatever expedition he left to go on months earlier. He smiled softly at the girl running towards him, and hugged her back as she wrapped her arms around him.
Jealousy raged through Kate. She was practically green with envy. That should be her, hugging her brother that she hasn't seen for twenty years, not this pathetic jailbait, who was…what was that? Wearing his tags! Kate had never felt so wrathful. If she grabbed her brother and hugged him now, like she should be able to do, he would push her away and look at her like she was insane. How does life work so cruelly?
Ororo, who was just walking down the steps herself before she saw Kate gawking at the handsome man who had just reentered the school, put a hand on the woman's shoulder and whispered, "That's Logan; would you like me to introduce you to him?" Ororo wore a keen smile, suspecting something between the two that just wasn't there.
Kate shook her head, trying to utter words out of her mouth to explain, but nothing would come out. Ororo gently grasped her upper arm and led her down the rest of the stairwell, ignorant of the woman's knowledge.
"It's nice having you back, Logan. May I introduce you to our newest professor? This is Katherine Johnson. She governs study hall, which I am very grateful for," she said with a genuine smile.
Logan looked over and gave her a small smirk. "Nice to meet you, kid." He reached out his hand to offer a handshake.
She was displeased with his response, but hid it well under a mischievous smile. She gripped his hand and said, "You would call just about anyone in the world 'kid,' wouldn't you?"
She let go her tight grip on his hand and turned to Ororo, "If you wouldn't mind Ms. Munroe, I was hoping to catch up with a friend over breakfast this morning. I would hope to get back before my first class."
"Oh, go ahead, dear. Don't let Logan here hold you back. Just be sure you do get back here a little earlier than that first class, all right?"
"Of course, Ms. Munroe. Goodbye," Kate said before turning and opening the tall ebony doors as a gust of wind blew in, carrying a few leaves in with it. Logan breathed in much of that wind, and automatically lunged to grab onto Kate's arm, stopping her path to leave.
"Darlin, you might not want to go out there right now." Logan looked to Ororo. "Creed's out there." The weather witch nodded with wide eyes and hurried off to alarm the professor and get the students to better safety.
"It's Sabretooth?" the younger girl, Rogue, squealed.
"Let me go, man," Kate calmly said. "I'm not gonna get hurt, trust me. Vic was the guy I wanted to get together for breakfast today."
"I really don't know if you're crazy or not, kid, but I can't let you go out there. I'll handle this myself. You'll stay here, and try to find Storm, got it? You too, Marie." He put on his brave soldier face and turned to hunt down Sabretooth.
"L-Logan!" He turned to look at Kate, wondering how she ever got so bold after only knowing him for a few moments. "Please don't go out there and start a fight with him. He's not here to fight with anyone, I just asked him to come here for me. I'll go out and tell him to leave if he's bothering you so goddamned much, okay?"
Kate ran out the door before he could reply. Logan watched her jump the outside fence and grumbled, "Your funeral, kid," before turning around to close and lock the door.
Rogue cleared her throat. "Ahem." He looked at her. "You aren't just gonna let her go kill herself are ya? Go out there and help her!"
He looked at her solemnly and grunted, "Been here for five minutes, can't get any time to relax," before unlocking the door and running off to the direction he saw the girl go to.
As he came upon the girl, he saw Kate speaking to Creed, normally and without fear. Then he watched as Sabretooth growled and leaned towards her. Logan jumped forward, running and ramming into Creed, knocking him down as his guard is down. Sabretooth had his head slammed into a nearby tree, spilling his blood and knocking him out.
"What the hell did you do?" Kate screamed, looking over to her fallen brother. "Damn it, it's gonna take a half hour or so to recover from that. You punched out half of his brain." She gently moved him so he was on his back and lifted his upper body, holding him from under his armpits. "Well, are you gonna help me get him inside?"
Logan gawked at her with wide eyes and an open mouth. "What? You think I'm going to allow this animal to come inside the school? There are kids in there! He'll kill someone!"
"I can assure you, one-hundred percent, he will not harm a soul. I'll make sure of that. And you will help me carry him inside if you want to hear about your past." She let go of Victor and looked up at Logan sternly.
Logan was awestruck. His past? What does this chick have to do with his past? He gave in, deciding that he'll risk it to get the information this girl had. It didn't actually put anyone's life in danger, didn't it? They would all be in hiding in the danger room right now.
"Fine." Logan grabbed the beast's feet and helped her haul Creed inside.
"I told him you wouldn't run away," she said with a smile.