Logan sat up and stubbed out his cigar. A scent floated faintly toward the grassy slope where he'd been relaxing a moment ago. Female, he decided. Smells kinda like violets and something else I don't recognize. A stranger. Since the recent problems between humans and mutants, security had been tightened at the mansion and grounds. Curious, Logan stood and made his way through a stand of trees toward the back of the great house. As the garden came into view, he saw a woman take the hand of the school's youngest resident, Katie, and lead the five-year-old toward the driveway. Frowning, he broke into a run toward the pair, bent on intercepting the intruder.

Since Katie had arrived at the school, literally left on the doorstep almost a year ago, Logan had felt particularly protective of the little girl. Awkward at first around the child, he'd eventually become more at ease, which was a good thing, since Katie had adopted Logan immediately as her favorite adult. Storm might help her dress, and Rogue might give her a bath, but Logan was the one who kissed her hurts and told her bedtime stories about totems and talking animals and warrior spirits. And if she begged him, he might even put a princess in the story. Of course, Logan endured no end of teasing about this and subsequently had threatened to beat anyone who hung around during story time. Now, he'd be damned if some stranger was gonna mess with her.

Stealthily, Logan approached and grabbed the woman by the waist just as she was turning to see who was behind her. He backed her up against the wall of the house and growled, "Where the hell do ya think you're goin' with the kid?" Naturally, he noticed that she was a good-looking, stacked brunette, for a possible kidnapper. Could do without the prissy suit, though. Which led to him briefly wonder what she'd look like without the prissy suit. He forced his attention back to the situation at hand. A faint odor of fear mingled with the violets, and he could hear her heart beat a little faster, although the woman looked him calmly in the eye. Guts, he thought, I gotta give 'er that.

"You want to let go of me?" she asked. A glance at Katie's anxious, tear-streaked face made him back off a bit on the snarl, but he didn't loosen his hold. He found himself enjoying her offended schoolmarm expression.

"You wanna answer my question?" he replied. He felt a tug at his shirttail.

"Logan! Miss Keye and me are gonna find the perfesser and tell him that Dickie was mean to me," Katie broke in. "He made me cry!"

The stranger shoved at Logan's chest, which didn't budge. Logan kept her up against the wall, though by that time his instincts told him she was harmless. Hell, it wasn't every day he got a pretty girl up against a wall, after all. Between a rock and a hard place, he thought, and guess which one I am. He didn't usually go for perfume, but hers was driving him nuts. Damn, maybe he'd better let her go before he embarrassed himself.

From the driveway, a sardonic voice noted, "There you are, Logan. I see you've met our newest faculty member."

Logan let his arms drop and turned toward Professor Xavier. "Who's the beauty-school Barbie?" He watched from the corner of his eyes as she straightened her prissy suit and smoothed he hair.

"Keye, I'd like you to meet Logan, who teaches martial arts, military tactics and strategy, and sometimes provides security measures. Logan, this is Keye Alo'aleki, the new music teacher. We discussed her impending arrival at last month's faculty meeting, which you unfortunately missed."

Keye held out her hand, and said "Nice to meet you" in a voice that implied it was anything but. Logan was somewhat slow to respond, but shook her hand. She acted like she couldn't wait to get it back.

"Since when did ya start hiring nonmutant teachers?" Logan asked. She wasn't a mutant, he could smell it. But there was something about her scent that wasn't quite normal human. Not to mention that perfume. Somethin' ain't right here.

"Keye doesn't have the so-called X-gene mutation, Logan, but she does have gifts nonetheless. However, she will be working here in the capacity of music teacher. She'll also take over some of the psychology and biology classes." Jean's old classes, Logan realized with a pang.

"Not goin' out for the team, then?" Logan asked sarcastically. Personally, he figured she wasn't good for much, besides being eye candy. He could just see her in a pink leather X-men uniform. Girlie girl.

Katie piped up, "Miss Keye is gonna get ridda my nightmares, too! She's very good with nightmares. And she has a dog! And he's not the biting kinda dog, but the nice kinda dog. And she says I can pet him!"

"Her," said Keye, "She's a girl dog. Her name is Newfie. She's out by my car, and I'd better go get her. You can come with me, if it's all right with Logan." She gave him a raised eyebrow.

Katie jumped up and down. "Can I, Logan?"

"Fine by me, kid."

"Again, nice to meet you, Logan." That cool, calm voice of hers was starting to piss him off a little. He gave her a glare just to let her know he wasn't buying whatever she was selling.

The professor waited until the two disappeared around the corner, then looked at Logan. "I take it you have some reservations about Keye. Let me assure you that not only is she a former student, but I've known her family since before she was born. She has degrees in both music and biopsychology. She has very powerful gifts, but she rarely uses them. I'm hoping that one day she'll tell me why."

"Why don't ya just read her mind?" It wouldn't be the first time, Logan thought.

"Believe it or not, Logan, there are a few people I've come across whose minds I can't read. Keye is one of them; most of the others are her relatives."

"And ya still trust her? What was all that crap about nightmares? She better not be makin' promises to Katie that she can't keep." Logan sat up many a night with Katie when she had her nightmares. Hell, he didn't sleep much anyway, so it was no big deal. Poor little tyke must have had some scary times, but she didn't seem to remember them. Maybe that was why he had such a soft spot for her.

"Keye has a couple of gifts that are unconscious One of them is that people who sleep in her vicinity do not have nightmares. I remember that Jean did a study on that for her senior high science project. She concluded that within about a hundred yards of Keye is what Jean called a 'nightmare free zone.' Just by sleeping in the same house as Keye, Katie's nightmares should disappear. You might benefit from that as well, Logan." Logan snorted. He hated his nightmares, but they were the only bit of his past he had, however unpleasant--he wasn't sure he wanted to give them up.

"What're the ones she won't use?" Logan asked, hoping to hell they didn't include telepathy. He'd had enough telepaths to last him a lifetime--even a lifetime as long as his, however long that was.

"Her main gift is somewhat complicated. She can augment a mutant's powers. She can map a person's brain. Because of her research into brain mapping, she has had a great deal of success teaching mutants how to control their powers. She is also able to correct certain problems with unstable minds. However, I gather there was a traumatic experience of some sort, and she rarely uses that gift."

"Shit. Another mind-reader. Better stay out of my brain. Had people mess with me before--didn't like it much."

"Well, Logan, if I recall correctly, most of Keye's gifts depend on physical contact. So, if you avoid touching her, you should be safe," Xavier replied with a smile, obviously referring to what he'd witnessed at Logan's first encounter with Keye. He thought he'd detected a bit of attraction there.

"Not a problem," Logan growled.

Indeed, Xavier thought, I wonder.