Author's Note: I may be a little shaky with the character personalities... sorry... :/
I'm not so good with writing this type of story. As much as I loooooooooove X-Men and Logan... I am afraid I will end up butchering both. I would LOVE some criticism, and some tips on getting this thing right. Thanks. Brooke.

X-Men: Tear Drops and Roses

Chapter 2- Viper Returns

August 15 2007

Xavier School

A loud explosion ricocheted against the walls of the simulation room. Though the students could not even tell there was a wall there. They saw themselves in icy tundra fighting a large snow monster that towered above them in height. Logan and Storm stood behind the group of students, ready to jump in if anything happened to go wrong. The monster let out an angry roar as it began to charge the group. Most managed to run away, but the few remaining managed to hang on to Kitty, whose power was to be able to move through solid things. After the monster had run behind them Kitty and the others ran to hide behind a rock.

"Kitty, we need you to help everyone go through that thing so that we can catch it off guard." A blonde haired boy said. "If we can take it by surprise then we can take it down quick." He said hurriedly. Kitty didn't seem to think that it was such a good idea. She shot a glare at the boy. "No, Bobby! I can't do that! I can't take everybody… only a couple." She admitted as she looked at the group of ten, feeling very uneasy about the task ahead of them. The monster made no hesitation in making its next attack. Its heavy claw landed upon the ice that shielded them. The students ducked to miss the ice that flew at them. Logan watched anxiously, wanting to jump in there, but the look on Storm's face told him that it would be best if he stayed right where he was. Since Scott's death he had to take of the position, but he wasn't happy about it. It wasn't as if Logan was skilled with working with children.

Bobby looked up. He looked around to the others that had seemed to give up already. "Get up! We have to fight! Get up, get up, GET UP!" He shouted, motioning them to get up. No one budged. Not even Kitty moved. "Bobby, we're done… there's no way that we can beat this thing." She said in a defeated tone. Bobby glared, "Don't say that, Kitty." He said. Since Rogue had become a human, Kitty had been hanging around him a lot more and it had begun to get on his nerves a little bit. "WE HAVE NOT BEEN DEFEATED!" He shouted as loud as he could. Bobby turned his back to them and made a charge. He ran head on towards the huge monster in front of him. At the same time the monster began to swipe its huge claw at him.

Logan, unable to just stand there and watch Bobby rush in recklessly, ran forward as well with claws extended. Just as the claw was about to hit Bobby, Logan made his move. The virtual claw of the monster fell off and the simulation ended. Storm looked at Logan angrily, but when she turned to the students she smiled sweetly. "Great job, students, you did well. Class dismissed." She said as she took a bow. As the students filed out Storm fixed her gaze on Logan. "I've told you once… no I've told you a MILLION times. These students need to learn to defend themselves. Defend THEMSELVES, Logan, defend THEMSELVES." She said sternly. Logan sighed, "If it were a real battle ice box would have had his head cut off." He defended himself easily. "It's Ice man." Storm corrected. Logan rolled his eyes in return.

"Logan, that's not the point. You know that they are supposed to defend themselves." She responded as she crossed her arms and walked towards the exit. Logan followed close behind. "I know, Storm, but you can't say it didn't work." He said with a smirk. True. Storm actually loved his on the fly decision making, but as the acting leader of the school she had to act like the acting leader of the school.

As they entered the main hall of the school a loud knock came at the door. Logan raised an eyebrow. 'Someone's eager to get in.' He thought sarcastically as he opened the door. There stood 30 year old Blair Richards. Her auburn colored hair was pulled back into a pony tail. She now stood at 6'0 even, and sported leather pants and a maroon colored shirt. "Who the hell are you?" Logan asked rudely. Blair cut her eyes at him. "A little rude, are we?" She retorted to Logan, who smirked in response. In one second Storm pushed past and drew Blair into a hug.

"I was afraid that you would never return!" Storm exclaimed before letting Blair go. Blair smiled, "If you strangle me I might not ever get to leave." Blair said with a laugh. Her face then turned into a more serious look, "Actually… I heard… about the professor. Is it true, Storm?" Blair asked as her blue eyes stared directly at storm. Neither of them had noticed exactly how Logan was looking at Blair. He wasn't actually checking her out, but he didn't fail to notice her athletic body. Logan decided not to say anything. The subject of the professor still brought him some painful memories that he didn't like to talk about. Especially the fact that Jean had killed the professor… that was what REALLY killed him inside.

Blair looked at him and tilted her head, as if she knew what he had been remembering. "Um, I was told there was a memorial here… but I saw three in a nightmare." She said as her gaze turned back to Storm, "Who else was lost?" She asked calmly. Storm hesitated before saying anything. "Jean and Scott were both lost." She said in a grim tone. Blair bit her lip, "Can I see the memorials?" She asked with a frown. Logan watched Blair carefully, unable to come up with an opinion about this new mutant. What really scared him was that he didn't know her power. He didn't know if she was in his head. The way Blair had looked at him made it seem like she knew exactly what he had been thinking. After Jean died Logan had begun to grow weary of that kind of power.

"This way…" Storm said as she began to walk towards the back courtyard. Blair followed slowly and Logan fell in beside her. "So… you never answered my question." He said quickly. Blair looked up to him with a smirk, "Did I not?" She asked sarcastically. "Excuse my manners." She added. Logan couldn't help but smirk. After all, he was in the midst of someone that could verbally cut him down in an instant. "My name is Blair Richards… but I prefer that you call me Viper." Blair looked ahead once more as the courtyard came into view. "Who the hell are you?" She asked as she stared forward. "Logan." He replied, "Call me Wolverine." He added, trying to match her wit. Blair didn't say anything more. She moved towards the memorials, leaving Logan and Storm to watch on quietly.

As Blair knelt in front of the professor's memorial she bowed her head and said a silent prayer. She wasn't sure if God worked with mutants or against them anymore, but she couldn't help her natural response. Once Blair looked up she felt her eyes moisten. Tears began to stream down her pale cheeks. The professor had done a lot for her, including help her tame her powers a bit, which was something that she REALLY needed at the time. He had also helped her clear her criminal record from accidentally killing her father. Jean and Scott, well, they were different. Blair and Jean had become close friends. She had felt as if she could share ANYTHING with Jean. Scott was someone that Blair didn't like to remember as much. Sure he was still a big part of her stay at the school, but she didn't like to remember him for any reason.

Logan watched Blair kneel at the memorials. He leaned toward Storm, "Is she gonna be okay?" He asked as his eyes stayed glued to Blair. Storm shrugged, watching Blair was well. "We'll see, won't we?" Storm responded. Logan started to walk toward where Blair was, but Storm caught him by the wrist, "Do NOT go over there." She said in a threatening tone, "She might hurt you." Logan chuckled at the idea of someone as small as Blair hurting HIM of all people. "Don't laugh, Logan. I am absolutely serious about that. Blair is more dangerous than you think." She said as a warning, but Logan simply drew his wrist away from Storm. "I like to walk on the wild side." He said to Storm as he continued toward Blair. "Bad idea…" Storm muttered under her breath as she watched on. She had to be ready to do something just in case Blair's powers decided to act against Blair's little bit of control.

Blair took in a deep breath. She could feel her mind closing down, and that was VERY bad. If her mind didn't stay open then she had no way to keep the poison that was seated deep within her brain from affecting her. Her eyes, probably the most dangerous part of her physical body began to change their color from their bright blue to a dark maroon that almost matched her shirt. It spooked her when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Her mind completely closed itself off, allowing the poison to manifest itself in her own mind. "Viper…" He started softly. When he got no immediate response he tried to turn her so that she would face him. Imagine how surprised he was when Blair turned on her on and stared him in the eyes with her red eyes. Logan immediately looked away, slightly shocked by the change. When he looked back his mind began to project mental images that had not been there before.

In his mind he saw Jean there holding Scott in her arms, and then her eyes turned a fired orange color along with her hair. Jean stared at Scott, but he didn't seem to be able to open his eyes. Logan winced as the mental image of Scott faded away in a million little pieces. Had Jean done it? Had Logan done it himself? Then Jean began to fade away herself. Logan could picture himself running toward the disappearing image. "NO!" Logan shouted out of nowhere. The mental image was gone, but his head was burning. Students all over the courtyard turned to see what was going on. Logan dropped to his knees and looked up to the red-eyed Blair. "What are you doing to me?" He hissed. Blair didn't answer. She sat there as if she had never heard him speak. Her eyes flashed from maroon to blue and back to maroon before she finally closed her eyes and fell unconscious to the ground.

Logan, now relieved that the burning sensation in his head was gone, knelt next to Blair. "Storm, she's unconscious." He said as he placed his hand on Blair's cheek and lowered it to her neck to check for a pulse. Storm rushed over as quickly as she could. "I told you not to go." She said as she shook her head. "Carry her to the lab… we have to get her awake as soon as possible." Logan didn't even ask why before he scooped Blair up in his arms. "Lead the way." He said to Storm urgently. As he carried Blair down the hall toward the lab, he looked at her blank face. He was curious about her strange power, and he was almost positive that it was her that had put that image in his head. But what about the feeling he had afterward? Logan decided that he might need to find out more about this woman's power.

Storm looked back to Logan, "I don't know if I can remember everything that the professor did last time. This last happed about 16 to 17 years ago when Blair was but 13." She said solemnly as the large steel doors of the laboratory opened up. "There is only one person that might remember how this should be done." Logan looked at her uneasily. One person was never a good thing. He figured it was probably someone that he wouldn't want to talk to or even see. Storm drew in a deep breath, "We need to find Mag—I mean Eric." She said finally. Logan groaned. His life couldn't possible get anymore complicated that it was. Another beautiful girl waltzes her way into his life, and he has to deal with Magneto…AGAIN.