Chapter one: The Ninja and the Party.
Tonight, Xavier and Hank were out on a "Diplomatic" assignment in washington. Xavier made provisions for the students to have a good time in his absense and wind down from all the superhero work.
Obviously, his provisions came in the form of a party.
Logan made it clear to the students that he would be holed up in his room, and not appearing at the party. The students took this as a challenge, and he knew that if he was caught outside of his room, he would never hear the end of it.
At seven O'clock, the party had started. He knew that they had enough to go well into the night. No problem for him, he didn't tend to sleep well anyway. After half an hour, there was a knock on his door.
With a groan, Logan got up and opened the door a crack. He was a bit glad to see Ororo, and not one of the kids. "What's up, 'Ro."
"Logan, I came to ask you to come down to the party. Everyone is enjoying themself. Rouge is even getting along with Jean." Ororo said, raising a thin eyebrow at the grizzled old Canuck.
"Sorry, 'Ro. I've already made it clear that I ain't goin' to the party, and I'm stickin' to it." Logan said, pushing his hand through his hair.
"Do you want to come to the party? We won't think less of you, Logan, if you just let loose and socialize for once." Ororo said. "Jean asked me to send for you, you know." When she saw the look on his face, she had to stop herself from smiling.
Despite the age difference, she could tell there was a bit of a spark between the two whenever they trained together.
"That so." Logan said. "Well. You'll have to tell her I'm sorry, then." He said, then turned away and closed the door.
Ororo sighed, shaking her head slowly and walking back to the party.
A few minutes later, Logan got a very, very bad hankering for some whiskey. He searched his room, but couldn't find any. He reached only one conclusion.
He had to leave the safety of his room to get booze, but he would not allow himself to be caught outside of this room.
He went to his closet, opening it and pushing everything aside before taking out a uniform he hadn't worn in years.
He slipped on the plain black mask that had a whole cut around the eyes, then the black shirt, gloves, and pants. Lastly, he put on a pair of shoes with thick, soft soles that would make little noise on any surface.
He shut his light off, then stepped out on his balconey and grabbed onto a pipe. He pressed his feet to the wall and slowly went down to the ground. He crouched and looked around, then headed towards the garage.
He made sure to be careful of windows and light, and stopped infront of the garage door.
"Guys, what are you doing?" Jean asked, realizing that the TV was on, and apparently showing whatever the schools Camera system saw on split-screens.
"You heard Logan say zhat he vasn't goingk to leave his room tonight. Ve're just makingk sure." Kurt said, grinning a little.
Jean shook her head. "You guys are terrible. If he shows up, and you give him trouble..."
"What's your problem?" Scott asked. "He's a moody bastard. We won't "Give him trouble"."
"Because he'd kick your ass?" Jean asked. She and Scott had been separate, recently. Since they'd graduated, they had kind of grown apart. Not that it wasn't any fault of hers.
Scott raised an eyebrow, but shut up. What was with her?
Logan had made it into the garage, and was searching his jeep for the flask he knew he had left inside it.
He opened the door and rummaged about, finally feeling the flask.
He lifted it, but it felt too light. He unscrewed the stopped and looked inside.
Empty.
He growled, trying to think of any other place he had stashed some whiskey.
...The kitchen.
The party went on without any more harshness. Every now and then, they would check the TV to see if there was any movement. Nobody really noticed anything, and thought that Logan actually was going to stay in his room during this one.
However, Jean looked at the screen that monitored the garage and spotted a bit of movement in Logan's car.
She narrowed her eyes, and saw someone clad in black rummaging about in the car.
She looked at the others. "I'll be right back, okay?" She said, setting down a drink, then stepping out of the Rec room and started towards the garage.
She opened the door and looked into the garage, narrowing her eyes and trying to see in the darkened room. She shut the door, then stepped further into the garage.
She held her hand infront of her, ready in case someone jumped out infront of her.
Suddenly, she felt her knee collapse, and an arm go around her neck. The arm was covered in black clothing, just like the person she had seen on the TV. The intruder quickly pulled her into the darker part of the garage, out of the Cameras sight.
She winced. "Who are you...! What do you want...!"
The intruders other hand was held infront of her, so she could see it. He clenched it into a fist, and three claws came out of the hand.
Her eyes widened. "Logan?" She said quietly. "I thought you were in your room?"
"Yeah, well. I started needin' some whiskey, so I came down here to get my flask." He said, letting her go.
"Why the get-up, then?" She asked, turning around to look at him.
"If I get caught, I'll never hear the end of it. So I gotta do this the best way I can." He said, pulling off the mask.
"Why don't you just go to the party, and enjoy yourself?" Jean asked, putting her hands on her hips. "And don't do that to me, again. I was about to give you an aneurism."
"Thanks for the tip, darlin', but I still gotta find my booze." He said, grabbing the mask's edges and slipping it on. "Since you aren't giving me crap for being out of my room, how about givin' me a hand?"
"Logan, you know how I feel about drinking."
"Yeah, yeah." Logan said. "I'll owe you one." He started heading for the door that lead inside the institute.
Jean raised an eyebrow. "How about dinner?"
Logan froze when he heard that. "Aren't you a little young, Red?"
"I'm 18." She said, walking towards the door and standing beside him.
"I'm ancient." He said, crouching and slowly turning the handle.
She laughed slightly. "I can deal with that. Now, do you want my help, or should I tell the others that I saw you?"
"When did you become manipulative..." Logan muttered, then held a finger up to show her to be quiet, then nodded consent.
He opened the door, and motioned for her to go first. She stepped in, then waved to him that it was clear.
He stepped in, then tapped the side of his head to show that they should talk telepathically.
"What do you need me to do, Logan?" She asked him mentally.
He started down the hall, towards the kitchen. "Make sure nobody leaves the Rec. Room. A power outage might be nice, if Y'could fix one up."
"Got it." Jean replied, heading to the Rec. room. "Where's the RP?"
"RP?" Logan thought quizically.
"Rendezvous point." Jean thought, smirking a bit.
"There isn't one." Logan thought, stopping at the end of the hallway.
"Right. Kitchen in a few minutes?" Jean thought.
"No. Not the kitchen, someone might show up."
"Fine, how about a room?" She thought, holding back a bit of laughter.
"If you can find me, then we'll "Rendezvous.". If not, I guess yer gonna hafta wait for that dinner." Logan said.
She nodded. "Fair enough." She stopped at the wall near the Rec. Room, sending a wall of psychic energy infront of the door to hold it in place. She shut her eyes, concentrating on the Institute's generators.
Soon, the power fizzled out.
The people in the Rec. Room tried the doors, but they wouldn't open.
Logan got into the kitchen, rummaging through the fridge before he found his second flask. He grabbed it and tested it.
Full!
He slid it into a pocket on the uniforms pants, then quickly left the kitchen and made his way towards his room.
Jean let the power come on, then released the hold on the door. After a moment, she made her return to the party.
Logan stepped into his room, tossing his mask on the bed. He unscrewed the stopper and began to drink.
Damn, that was kind of fun. He hadn't been sneaking around like that in years.
Later on, there was a knock on the door. Logan groaned a bit. "'Roro. I'm not going to the damned party."
There was another knock.
He slowly pulled himself up from the bed and walked to the door, opening it in time for Jean to step into his room.
He turned around, looking at her with a surprised expression. He didn't think she had been serious about this.
She took a deep breath, then said quietly. "Am I late for the Rendezvous?"
Logan gave a little smirk, and let the door shut behind him.
The End.