CHAPTER ONE

The day was January 4, 2016 and it marked the first day of the term of the first mutant president. Formerly known as Professor X, President Charles Xavier, as his first official duty in office signed into law the Mutant Civil Rights Law and extended the Hate Crime legislation to include malicious crimes against mutants.

Though that day saw a new beginning for the lives of mutants, it was the beginning of a slow death for the legendary team of mutants who fought for the rights of both humans and mutants. With Professor X living in the White House, the activities of the Xavier School for the Gifted continued as normal. But every subsequent semester, the number of students decreased as parents felt that since their children could attend and be accepted at a school closer to home, they kept their children home.

After a while, only the members of the original team were left but even some of them had moved on and became secondary members. Colossus decided to head back home to Russia to be closer to family. Kurt Waggner better known as Nightcrawler decided that he wanted to build a life with his new wife, Kitty Pride, away from the mansion. Dazzler, determined to be a movie star, struck out to California to build her career along with her boyfriend Bobby Drake, aka Iceman. Jubilee, intent on learning more about her cultural heritage, set out on a tour of China, sending post cards almost weekly from a new locale.

Though they decided to remain at the mansion, Rogue and Gambit decided that this was the best time to make most of their free time and to see the world under very different circumstances. Instead of visiting foreign locals to fight, they were able to travel and act as tourists and the newlyweds they were.

Hank McCoy, feeling compelled to seek out an opportunity to continue part of his life's work, went back to educating minds that thirst for knowledge. Within a few months, he was appointed to a directorship of the Department of Mutant Studies at Harvard University where human and mutant scientists alike worked together to unravel the mysteries of the X gene.

Jean, Scott, Logan, and Ororo decided to stay at the mansion. Logan and Ororo continued the routine they had established over the last few years. Beginning their day with an early morning stroll of the grounds, followed by a session of Tai Chi, and an one-on-one sparing session or a Danger Room exercise. It was during one of their strolls that Logan asked Ororo a question.

"'Ro, now that the team is pretty much done, is there something ya wanted to do but didn't have the chance too?" Logan asked as they walked among the dew laden trees, making their way to their favorite place by the lake.

"Logan, to be honest, I haven't given it much thought. I know there are some things I would like to do but right now, I'm just enjoying the peace and quiet. What about you?" she asked, joining him on the log and gazing out over the lake.

"You know how I love to cook and come up with new dishes, right?" he asked, glancing at her and turning his eyes back out at the lake.

"Mm hmm," she said, eyes closed, enjoying the warmth of the sun. As he spoke, she could see the many meals that Logan had created for the team over the years and how surprised they were that he could 'burn' as well as he did.

"Well, I always did want to have a restaurant and bar for truckers and bikers where I could serve whatever I want," he replied. When he looked over at her, he saw the quizzical look on her face.

"After all these years, it never occurred to me that you would want to have a restaurant," she replied.

"Yeah well, it ain't something I would normally talk about. Ya seem to have this gift to get me to talk about anything," he replied.

"That's just my Goddess charm," she said, making him chuckle.

"I guess so. Think I should do it?" he asked.

"Absolutely! You've got time now and," she paused, making sure she had his attention, "You may want to get started before you get too old."

He laughed out loud, causing the birds to stir in the canopies above them.

"Alright then, it's a plan. When the opportunity presents itself, I'm gonna go for it."

Ororo knew it would only be a matter of time before her friend left. She didn't realize that the time would come so quickly.

As they made their way back to the mansion for Tai Chi, she decided that she would reveal to him her true feelings the following day. She had kept them to herself for multiple reasons. The day she realized her feelings for him, started out as any other but when she got near him, she had all of the telltale symptoms, nervousness, butterflies in the stomach, and the inability to speak to him Shocked at her response, she quickly retreated to her room to rationalize what had happened. Don't get her wrong, there was nothing wrong with Logan but she always imagined herself with a tall, dark, handsome guy from her homeland. But she knew from experience that love was blind.

That faithful day was two years in the past and she had decided then that as long as she was the co-captain of the X-Men, she would not pursue a relationship with one of her teammates. She wanted to spare herself the public humiliation that came along with an "office romance". Her feelings were confirmed with the drama that surround Logan's affections for Jean and the mess that happened among Dazzler, Jubilee, and Bobby.

With her mission to reveal her feelings in the forefront of her mind, that following morning, she waited for Logan at their spot so they could begin their daily walk. But much to her dismay, he wasn't there and after waiting for thirty minutes, she headed to the lake house. Climbing the steps, she saw an envelope with her name taped to the door. Grabbing it, she tore it open and her heart sank as she read the message.

Dear 'Ro,

Sorry to leave ya like this but an opportunity presented itself for me to pursue my dream…will be in touch soon.

Logan

Well, doesn't that just beat everything, Ororo thought as she reread the letter again before putting it in her jeans pocket. When I'm ready to tell him how I feel, he pulls one of his disappearing acts.

That was three months ago.

Ororo had continued her daily routine of walking the grounds to the lake, going through her Tai Chi moves and completing Danger Room exercises. There were days when Gambit would join her but for the most part, Ororo was on her own. She had continued the routine with the hopes that her friend would return for a visit or something but she hadn't heard from him since that day by the lake.

One day, Ororo woke up and started her morning routine. On her daily stroll, she couldn't enjoy it as she had yesterday. Her mind was preoccupied with the loss of her friend. As soon as his face appeared in her mind's eye, she remembered something. Determine to see if her instincts were correct, she entered Logan's house, using the spare key from the hide a key location in the yard. Stepping through the door, she reached for the light switch on the wall, illuminating the room. On a mission, Ororo made her way to Logan's bedroom and looked on his nightstand.

Missing like I thought, she whispered into the empty room, before turning and retracing her steps back out the door, pausing to turn off the lights. I have something for him this time, she thought as she took to the air, headed back to the mansion.

Landing at the back door, Ororo went in and headed to the subbasement. Reaching the War Room, Ororo figured that Logan, in his haste to leave, did not remove the GPS chip in his watch. Flipping to his signal, she smiled as she read the coordinates.

Happy that her hunch was correct and hoping against all hope that he still had his watch, Ororo turned away from the monitors and headed up to the main level in search of Scott, to tell him that she was on her way to Canada.