The Professor hadn't been lying when he said she didn't live far from the Mansion but that was only if you considered 10 hours a quick trip. According to the maps she was somewhere in foothills of West Virginia, about five miles away from any other people. Logan looked over the supplies he had brought with him. If this mutant was going to be as reluctant or dangerous as Charles said she might be, he wanted to be prepared. He had enough tranquilizers to put himself down for a day or two, if it came to that. He was going to take her back no matter what. Once she got there, if she didn't like it she could leave but he wanted to know if she was Marie's mother or not.

Watching the beautiful sunrise Logan could see how the country side curved and wound through the hills. His truck swayed back and forth through the turns like an old drunk trying to walk. Topping one of the larger hills he saw the appeal this place would have to somebody that didn't want to be found. It was nice enough to look at and if you believed the scary movies that the older kids watched on Friday nights, nobody was going to stick their nose into your business. His attention sharpened when he came across a dirt drive that went up the side of a hill and curved away from the gravel road. Pulling over he checked the map. Yeah this was the place. He put the map back in the glove box and tucked the syringe of tranquilizer behind his belt.

The dirt drive swung along much like the roads did cutting through an untamed wilderness that Logan could appreciate. It wasn't Canada but it was damn pretty. However the further he went the more disturbing it became. All of the trees were sheared in half, scattered on what used to be forest floor and there was nothing green, not even the grass. He rolled down the window to see if he could smell what had happened here. Rotting smells assaulted his nose. He gagged. Not just the trees and the plant life but animals too, all dead and all rotting. "What the fuck happened here?" was all that he could think. Coming over the last curve he saw a beat up Chevy truck that looked like it had rolled several times and the remains of what might have been a cabin.

"Well Chuck I hope I got here in time," Logan said aloud to himself.

Six weeks before Xavier disappeared:

She could feel all of the life that surrounded her, the animals, the birds, and even the fish. Her skin tingled with anticipation. "Just let go. It will feel so good. Let go. You were never meant to keep the power bottled up. Just. Let. Go." her thoughts were spinning.

Jezzy knew she couldn't hold it much longer. This was the worst it had ever been. Years she had been suppressing it. Only letting it out in short spurts on the grass around her home. She ran from the cabin. Just off the front porch and grabbed at the grass that was still alive. Instead of just drawing its frequency and life force, something went very wrong. Her mutation amplified and began to reach out to all the living grass, the living trees, the animals, and even the damn fish in the stream. When she tried to stop the result made a sound almost like a sonic boom but it leveled everything in its wake.

She was losing consciousness and the only thing her fried brain could come up with as she fell to the ground was, "So this is what the Irish mean when they say 'May the road rise up to meet ya.'" And then there was darkness.

A few hours later:

"Wake up young lady I think we need to talk."

"…The fuck" Jezzy groaned sitting up grabbing her head. Finally she looked around and gasped in horror. It looked like a tornado had come through.

"Like I said we need talk about your mutation"

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU AND WHAT DO YOU WANT?! DID YOU DO THIS TO ME?!" Jezzy screamed.

"I am Professor Charles Xavier and I run a school especially for people who have a gift such as yours. I, myself, am a telepath and I assure you, that the destruction that you see is was of your mutation's doing. I would like you to come to my school so we can help you and perhaps you can help us."

"Well Charles," her voice dripping with venom, "I don't need anybody's 'help'! Least of all a noisy telepath who wants to 'help' me! Get out of my head."

It took almost all the energy she had left but she shut him out of her mind before he could reply. She lay back down amongst all the carnage and sobbed until she fell asleep.

Two weeks before Xavier's disappearance:

She felt lost and not for the first time. You should have taken him up on his offer she thought to herself. Jezzy took another sip of her beer and one last puff on her cigarette. Fuck that! was her next thought. She had no idea what that Xavier guy wanted with her but whatever it was could not be good. "Probably part of terrorist group or something" she muttered to herself. Last time she had been around anybody else for more than twenty minutes ended in a huge scandal, government hush money, and a baby. She could feel the tears welling up. Where are all these emotions coming from damn it. I haven't been like this. . . well since the day I got here, she thought to herself. Her mind seemed to flood with the memories. She began to sob.

All of this was starting to make her crazy. She jumped up from the steps and threw her beer bottle at the remains of the walls, causing the almost musical sound of shattering glass. Her skin tingled wanting her to let go again. It was like a red hot fire crackling across her body and she wanted to let it go. Running out of the broken building she searched for some sign of life, she was nearly giddy with the idea of sucking the essence from what ever she could find.

"Stop young lady! Stop!"

The voice in her head made her stop dead in her tracks.

"You need to calm down. You don't really want to do this."

Bubbling up for the depths of her mind the realization hit her of what she was about to do. Suddenly her skin shut down and the frequency bubble around her snapped away and she fell to the ground in a heap. She was scared of what she was becoming.

"You need help. Please just think about my offer. I got a good look at your memories tonight and I think there is much you and I should discuss."

At first she just sobbed leaving the connection open and letting as much of her pain flow through as possible, almost hoping to hurt him. He had been listening to her thoughts without her permission anyway. Finally she found her voice. "I do not need help! In fact if I were to come to you, you would be the one needing help!"

"That might so but I still think you would benefit the most. Just send me a thought when you maybe ready that is all I ask."

Feeling exhausted and defeated she said the only thing that came to her mind. "Fine Charles you win. I will consider it but don't expect to hear from me. Oh and please get the hell out of my head!"

With that she felt him withdraw from her. Even though the night was cooling off it seemed like a good idea to sleep on the ground for the second time in month.

Present day:

Logan parked his truck next to the beat up Chevy and slid down from the driver's seat. He sniffed the air again. This time along the rotting smells he could also smell stale beer and cigarettes. Stalking up to the cabin slowly he saw an old folding chair tucked between the two walls that were left standing. Beer cans were stacked four and five high on the floor and cigarette butts littered whatever free space was left between them. His nose caught another smell. Female, sort of familiar, and very strong. She was here somewhere. Walking quietly across the floor he looked where there should have been another wall and saw the double doors that would lead to a cellar under the house. He strained his ears trying to listen for a heartbeat but all he could hear was a low hum. It was coming from under his feet. Cocking his head and his eyebrow, he went to the two doors and opened them silently.

A narrow stair case was the only thing that he could see but the humming was a lot louder and the smell was thick, like she hadn't bathed in quite sometime. Silently he descended the into the hole stopping to give his eyes a few seconds to adjust. In the corner of the room a women was sleeping on what was left of a recliner, a book clutched in her hand and small lantern beside her.

"And people think I live like a Spartan?" Logan laughed in his head.

He could hear her breathing and the hum was louder but not so loud that anyone without feral senses could hear. Not wanting to wake her he walked as quietly as he could until he was standing directly in front of her. His breath caught. No wonder she smelled familiar. To Logan she looked how he would image Marie in a few years. Same color hair (minus the stripes), same face, and almost the same body build. This women had larger breast and what one could only describe as a beer gut but otherwise it was Marie he was staring at.

"Yeah Chuck I think you are wrong. This one is too young to be her Mother. Slightly older sister maybe. But mother probably not," Logan said to himself.

He reached down and grabbed her shoulder slightly to wake her up. Her hand grabbed his wrist and her eyes shot open. Eyes that were not even close to being Marie's eyes stared up at him. Through his hand he felt almost the same buzz as Marie's mutation right before the life force was taken but nothing was being pulled and that low hum that encased her was spreading to him.

"Who are and what are you doing here?" she hissed through clenched teeth.

Logan couldn't find the words to speak at first. It was so odd to be looking at an older Marie with those eyes. They looked like the yin and yang symbol only instead of black and white or even brown like Marie's they were light blue and dark green. He swallowed remembering that she had asked him a question.

"I was sent here by Professor Charles Xavier." Logan replied and slowly let his claws release on the hand she wasn't holding. He was trying to show her that he too was a Mutant. She didn't look impressed and if anything it just pissed her off more. Pulses shot through his hand rattling his ademntum skeleton.

"I am sorry!" she said almost as if reading his mind. "I am not mad at you. . . I was going to take the Professor up on his offer. . . I can't control. . . this."

She was shaking and her voice was getting choppy. "You are strong. . . I can feel your life force. . . please don't let me take it. . . the damage outside was me. . . knock me out kill me run. . . do something fast!"

His movements had been so fast she didn't even noticed that Logan had already stabbed her in the neck with the syringe full of tranquilizer. Her hand dropped his wrist.

"Thank you," she whispered before her eyelids dropped and she fell into a deep sleep.

Logan sat down on the floor for a minute and grabbed an unopened beer from the case beside her. This women had literally rattled his bones. The Wolverine in him was screaming for Logan to kill her now, she was too dangerous, but he couldn't do it. Not after what had happened with Jean. And Marie, well she needed to know.

Finishing the beer he got to his feet and scooped the unconscious women up over his shoulder. "She really needs a bath," Logan thought trying to hold his breath. Again instead of her heart beat all he could hear was the low hum. He moved them out of the basement and took her to his truck practically throwing her into the passenger seat so he could breathe again. He didn't even consider grabbing any of her possessions. A few deep breaths and a lowered window later they set off for the Mansion.

About twenty minutes into the trip, Logan switched off the radio, frustrated that he could only get gospel music. It took him a minute to realize that he could still hear the song. Instead of the low humming coming from her it had now changed to the gospel song.