I'm glad to see people liked the first part! Thanks for the reviews, and here's a second, turning this into a short story.

About nine days later…

"Are we in a hurry?" Laura asked mildly, putting a duffel bag in the vehicle's trunk. Logan preferred bikes, but with a passenger… no. The Dodge Charger was a stylish black, v8 engine, and upgraded with a large steel grill guard, along with bulletproof glass. Logan hadn't needed the bulletproof glass, but the mercenary whose hide he had saved had already installed it before giving said muscle car to Logan.

"Not sure." Logan admitted to the girl, loading a second weapon case. "But we're on a tighter schedule." He had had plans to take his new daughter to Atlanta, but a friend had called him…

"I checked the weather." Laura commented. "Along the border, and within a hundred miles, there will be plenty of snow."

"Yep." Logan said. He glanced over the car, mentally checking off that he had tested the fluids, changed the oil, checked the tires, and made sure the battery hadn't died from sitting around for a month. It wasn't very parental to be taking Laura into a situation, but he felt more eager, in his element. Laura seemed a little more focused, maybe better at ease. It was what both of them did. It was their lives.

"Packing for a while, huh?" Rogue asked wryly, walking into the garage. Laura glanced at her, nodded in greeting. Logan shrugged at her question, but was glad it wasn't Scott. He didn't quite appreciate the stash of weapons Logan kept at the mansion.

"Maybe the boy scout is rubbing off on me." Logan managed to joke, "be prepared." Rogue glanced at the open trunk, and raised an eyebrow in a very Wolverine-way.

"Is that a rifle case?" She asked. "You know they passed some strict gun control for New York earlier this year. A fifteen round pistol magazine is five years in prison." Logan waved at the rear of the vehicle

"They're dummy license plates, for any cop unlucky enough to pull us over." Logan said offhandedly. "They don't lead to me, or this place."

"That, and we could take care of any police before reinforcements showed." Laura said seriously, holding up one hand, but not extending her claws. Rogue nodded agreement to that. Logan double checked one more thing. They were ready.

"Time to go?" She asked.

"We're supposed to be waiting by the Canadian border in a few hours." Logan said. He smiled a little. "Keep outta trouble while we're gone, Marie." Rogue hugged him.

"You know me." She said. She paused, looking at Laura, who appeared a little uncertain herself. Rogue smiled a little oddly, like she saw some humor in the moment, then embraced the girl. Laura was frozen for a moment, but gingerly hugged her back.

"Have a good time, and watch out for Logan." Rogue said. "You two are quite the duo, you know?"

"So. We're away." Laura said. Logan nodded, shifted the gears, and accelerated onto the expressway. "You said you'd brief me in the car."

"Not much to brief." Logan commented. "Nice to see you and Marie gettin' along, though."

"She's not so bad." Laura said quietly. Logan wouldn't mention it, but he had been flat out relieved that Laura had rapidly started speaking and acting less like a weary soldier, and more like a teenager. "The 'southern gal' thing isn't as annoying, after you get used to it. So who is at the border?"

"Mallory Kane." Logan said. "And she's not quite there yet."

"So who's Mallory Kane?" Laura said. "What does she do?"

"Basically, same stuff as me, just not as suicidal." Logan said. "She's a former United States Marine. Joined when she was a little older than you, stayed for a few years, then went to private sector when she saw an opportunity."

"How'd you meet her?" Laura asked.

"A rescue that got bloody." Logan said, thinking back. "Some gang members kidnapped a boy from a well to do family. The dad wasn't dumb enough to think he'd get his son back alive just by paying… so he forked over half a million, and someone got a team together. It was me, Mallory, and a few others."

"Did you get the boy back?" Laura was interested. Logan shifted lanes, glancing over his shoulder, watching a police car for a moment. He shook his head.

"They had killed him an hour after the grab… nine years old, but they still shot him in the head. They had just kept him alive long enough to take proof of lifes for a few days." Logan said, falling quiet.

"They do that, a lot of the time." Laura said. "My mom sent me on a rescue once… the girl was lucky, still alive. So what did you do to the kidnappers?"

"What you think we did." Logan stated.

"You look nervous." Laura remarked, her lips twitching into a smirk. "You're used to traveling alone, aren't you?" Logan shrugged offhandedly.

"Mostly." He admitted. She was quiet for a moment.

"Me too." She said, looking at him, then out at the highway, at the bare trees and pines flashing by. "You've been doing it for longer than me, though."

"So, has Storm or Jean helped you decide on what to study, for a degree?" Logan asked. This was going to be a long drive. ..

"I want to be a fighter." Laura said without hesitation. "I was thinking women's MMA."

"What, professionally, for sports?" Logan asked. He should've guessed. Laura nodded.

"Rogue said you fought for money, though you only fought in bars." The girl said. "I want to go to tournaments. Travel. I'd be the best." Logan smiled.

"You'd kick ass." He said. Laura was quiet for a few minutes, but it was a better silence.

"So… what did you do… before Weapon X?" Laura asked carefully. "Did you… did you have a family?" Logan stared at the road ahead of them. He knew she would start asking sooner or later.

"What, no one said anything about me?" He said, a little gruffly, knowing full well he hadn't gone into the gory details of the past with his new daughter. He didn't want to think about the past. It brought too many mistakes back to live. Laura was looking at him carefully.

"Remy said that when it was time for me to know, you'd tell me." She said.

"Does it really matter?" Logan said, mentally tossing the question aside. It was best to keep your eyes on the road ahead—off the rear view mirror and the roadkill behind you… Laura fell silent, and they drove on with the only sound being the hum of the engine and the dulled sounds of the surrounding traffic.

Logan tried to get his mind off the forced conversation, and onto the destination, what they had ahead of them. It still gnawed at him… Mallory was always short as far as communication went, but for her to be tromping over the border-

"It does to me." Laura said quietly. Logan glanced over at her, the intent, serious look on her face. She had been trained as a killer since birth, but he saw the same youthful desire to please, and sympathy, that he had seen on many faces at the Xavier Institute.

"I appreciate it, kid." Logan said, taking her hand and squeezing it. "I just don't want to bring ghosts back right before a mission. Bad luck."

"You believe in luck?" Laura asked, looking a little amused. Logan chuckled.

"It's made the difference for me quite a few times."