A/N: Thanks for the reviewers/followers! I combined two chapters because they both just seemed too short... So here it is!

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"She couldn't turn away from the eyes that held her. Eyes as deep, as Dark as the night, yet there was something that sparked with warmth, that kept those eyes from being cold." ~ Lora Leigh

Once we got back, it was past one in the morning. I helped Scott carry Logan down the the medical ward for Jean to take care of him while Storm took Rogue to talk to Charles. After handling that and changing into comfortable clothes, I went straight to Charles' office where Rogue and him were speaking.

"I assure you that you are safe here, Rogue." Charles said as I walked in.

I sat down in the chair beside her in front of his desk. "Have you decided to stay, Rogue?"

"Yes, I believe I will,"

I nodded and looked over at her. "You'll need to learn defense then. Class is usually at ten-thirty in the morning, but you need to catch up on what we've already learned so tomorrow you'll report at nine-thirty. Come in something loose."

"Yes, ma'am,"

"Don't call me ma'am, it makes me feel old. Call me Josie," I picked up a book off of Charles' desk and flipped through it, not really paying attention to any of the words. "What is your power, Rogue?" There was a stiff silence and I could feel that Rogue was uncomfortable. She looked down at the ground. "Hey, there's no need to be ashamed," I said, sitting the book down. I reached over to place my hand on her arm but she flinched away. I looked back over to Charles with a questioning look.

"Josie, would you show Rogue her room?" He gave me strict look. He was unhappy at something and I think it was more than likely me.

"Sure," I stood and headed towards the door. As I headed out, I heard Charles in my head, Be kind, Josie. She is harmless... for the most part. I rolled my eyes at that reassuring statement.

She followed me out of the office and we started going down the hallway. She was nervous and would not meet my gaze. "So-" I cleared my throat. "-how long have you known Logan?"

"Only a few hours." She answered in a small voice.

"Really?" I raised my eyebrow. "You're awful protective of him for it to to be that short of time."

"He's the first person like me that I've met."

"Well, now you know others." I said as I glanced over at her and she finally looked over at me.

"What is your power?"

"Well, for one, I can manipulate dark matter but it's dark, complicated and limited. There are a lot of cons with it, so I try to avoid using it whenever I can. Anyways, when I do, it's because I have no choice. I can create objects, but once I do they're out of my control." I explained as we turned a corner and went up some stairs.

"That's... crazy."

"It is," I shook my head. "I don't use those abilities anymore, though."

She swallowed and looked down at the ground. "At least yours is that you kill people by one prolonged touch,"

I looked over at her. "That's your power?" She merely nodded so I placed my hand on her shoulder which she tensed at. "I'm sorry if I sounded snotty. It's just every other mutant has these amazing powers and mine just seems so bland. I feel as if my powers are unfair to others in a fight so I don't even use them."

"You fought that beast-man back there."

"That's Sabretooth," I informed. "And I'm a martial artist."

"Do you really think you could teach me a few things?"

"Definitely. After your classes tomorrow go to the third floor, it's the last room to the left," I stopped at a room and opened it up. "Here's your room. If your friend decides to stay when he wakes up, his will be down the hall. There should be a pair of jogging pants and a hoodie in there and I will see to clothes are brought to you. I assume the professor gave you your class schedule?"

"He has," She said as she walked into the room and glanced around it. "This is all mine?"

"Yep, until another female student arrives, you've got your own room," I glanced at the clock. It was hitting one-thirty in the morning. "Now, if you excuse me, I have to go sleep. You should rest also, but no sneaking out and going into rooms that you know you shouldn't be in. The professor's a telepath, so he'll immediately know if you do."

"O-Okay,"

I started to walk off, but stopped. "By the way, you'll be eating with me in the morning and I can give you some fighting strategies. I'll come get you around nine." With that I walked off and went upstairs to wait around in my room for dawn.


The next morning Rogue and I discussed combat over breakfast. I hardly got any sleep since I had insomnia Scott and Jean joined us for a while and we kept a smooth conversation going with Rogue, though she quieted when they were there, I still was able to speak with her. Before long she had to go to class and Jean went to check up on Logan. Scott and I headed to go train.

"You're friendly with Rogue." Scott observed as I threw knives at the targets that were about twelve feet away. We were practicing aim.

"So?"

"So you usually stay away from students unless you are teaching them defense."

"Well, I guess Rogue reminds me of myself," I said as I threw two more knives at the targets, nearly getting a bullseye. "A younger, more Southern version of myself."

"I can see what you mean," He nodded. "It has nothing to do with the fact the other mutant she was with is handsome?"

I glanced over him. "You know I'm not one to loose my head over a guy, Scott."

"Yes, but I saw you looking at him back on the Blackbird."

I rolled my eyes as I went over to the target and yanked the knives out. "I wasn't looking at him like that,"

"I'm not blind, Jo,"

"How do you know? If you even tried to read the eye charts you would fry them before you were even able to, so I'm pretty sure you're legally blind," I turned towards him and started juggling the knives. "Do you remember when we were younger and you said, 'The day you are able to juggle, I will eat an entire stick of butter'?"

We both laughed a bit. He finally said, "I think you have me confused with Alex."

"Right," I said as I caught all the knives without hurting myself. "Anyways, I think Rogue could be a member of the X-Men. She could be an asset."

"You think so?"

"Yeah, I mean, even if she doesn't want to use her powers, I can teach her everything I know," I walked back over to him. "It'll be a few years, but she'll do well."

"You've known her about eleven hours and you're already expecting so much from her." He observed with a smile.

"Well, I could blame that on my mother or father, but seeing as I don't know either of them, it doesn't really work out like that."

Scott looked away from me. "I'm sure the professor is not telling you about your father for a good reason."

"I know he is, Scott, everything he does is for a good reason, but I feel like I don't know who I am since I don't know who I came from."

He placed his hands on the side on my arms. "You're Josephine Edie Xavier, one of the two amazing women in the world,"

I looked at him warily. "Right next to Jean, I suppose?"

"You are,"

"You're full of crap, you know that, right?" I playfully pushed him back and started to walk away. "Don't you have something else to do than act like I'm your favorite person?"

"Well―" Suddenly I froze on the spot and felt my heartbeat accelerate. Logan, Charles' voice said in my head and I ran out of the room with Scott on my heels.

I rushed to the bottom level where I bumped into Ororo. "Come with me!" I said as I grabbed her hand and yanked her towards where Charles was leading me.

"What's going on?" Ororo asked.

"I have no clue." Scott responded as we stopped at the door.

"He's not a threat," I said before I opened the door and walked in with them trailing behind me. Logan was standing a couple of feet away from the door, still close enough to notice when we entered.

Logan's expression when he saw us was unimpressed. He barely glanced at me. "May I present Ororo Monroe, also called Storm... " Charles said from his spot in front of the desk.

Ororo gave a short nod to him. "Hello," She moved over to Charles' side.

"Scott Summers, also called Cyclops," Cyclops offered his hand to Logan, but he just stared at it. Charles spoke again. "And Josie Xavier."

My eyes didn't leave Logan the entire time. He was tall and the good size muscular. "What? No nickname for you?" He snorted. I didn't like the harsh look in his eyes. He looked at us as if we were mentally insane.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Well, you're just oozing with charm, aren't you?"

Charles interrupted Logan before he could say another word. "They saved your life. You're at my mansion, a school for mutants. You'll be safe here from Magneto."

Logan's brows furrowed and he looked down at Charles. "What's a Magneto?"

"A very powerful mutant who believes a war is brewing between mutants and the rest of humanity," Charles glanced over at me before focusing his attention completely on Logan. "I've been following his activities for some time. The man who attacked you is an associate of his named Sabretooth."

Logan sneered, "Sabretooth?" He then pointed at Ororo. "Storm." He made a clicking noise as he looked back to Charles. "What do they call you? 'Wheels?'"

"Actually, he's Professor X," I snapped, stepping closer to Logan. "And, if it weren't for him, we would have never arrived in time to save you from Sabretooth."

"Josie," Charles gave me a pointed look that didn't affect me whatsoever as I glared at Logan. All the initial attraction I had for Logan was now officially gone.

Logan scoffed. "This is the stupidest thing I've ever heard," He began to leave, but Scott was standing in the doorway, not moving. "'Cyclops,' right?" Logan grabbed him and I was immediately by their side, a dagger to Logan's throat. "You want to get out of my way?"

"Let go of him," I ordered.

"I don't really take well to sharp things at my throat."

"Funny, I don't really take well to uptight strangers threatening my friends."

Logan turned towards me, completely pissed off, and started to say something when Charles said something that stopped him in his tracks. "Logan. It's been almost fifteen years, hasn't it?" You could see Charles' words chilled Logan to the bone. He actually released Scott and looked back at him. I put the dagger away but stayed near just in case. Charles continued, "Moving from place to place, with no idea who you really are?"

Logan practically growled, "Shut up!"

"Give me a chance. I may be able to help you find what you're looking for," Charles requested.

"How do you know―?" Logan's confusion and anger were evident at this point. "What is this place?"

"I'm going to take my leave," I gritted my teeth before practically running out of the room. I didn't stop until I had made it to my sparring room. I laid down on the mat and forced myself to breath.

What was that guy's problem? Usually when we save a mutant, they're so kind and thankful. Logan acted like it was a chore to even look at us.

I guess it was longer than I thought just lying there because before I knew it Rogue was walking in here in some jogging pants and a hoodie with another mutant, Bobby, who I've briefly spoken to in the past. "Josie?" Rogue rushed to my side. "What's wrong?"

I sat up and waved her off. "I'm fine, nothing to sweat about,"

"What is it?"

"Don't worry about it, I'm fine," I said as I stood to my feet. I looked over at Bobby. "You're Bobby, right? The ice guy?"

"That's me,"

"You haven't been in my class this semester," I said with narrowed eyes.

"No, I have it next semester."

"Well, then I'm Josie," I introduced myself and glanced over at Rogue. "AKA Rogue's self-named mentor." She smiled back at me. Clapping my hands together, I looked around at the gym. "So, after warmups, do you want to work out or go straight into defense? You both don't look very muscular, so I want to see how much you can handle on the bench."

"Then I guess that's where we should start," Bobby said, glancing over at Rogue with an unsure look.

"After warmups," Rogue added, giving me a smile.

I looked in between the two before nodding. "Let's start then."


During our break, Charles brought that new mutant Logan - or Wolverine, I didn't really care at this point - to see where the gym was. As soon as he entered, Rogue ran up to him and threw her arms around him. "Hey kid," He said gruffly. I scoffed and stood from my seat on the mat. "Aren't you supposed to be learning something rather than sitting around?"

I glared at him. "We're on a break," Rogue quickly said before I could get a word in.

He looked over at me. "Are you even a trained fighter?"

I looked at Charles, silently telling him that I was going to hit this man if he didn't shut up. "I am, and I could easily take you, Wolverine."

"I highly doubt that,"

"Then maybe we should see for ourselves," I took a step towards him, my fists clenching up.

"No, Josie, not now. I need to get Logan down to the lab for some tests," Charles said.

"Well, I'll come with you then," I said, keeping a scowl on my face before I turning to Rogue and Bobby, my face softening for a moment but I made sure to keep a stern face. "You two continue to lift some weights, okay? I'll be back once John Doe over here gets his checkup." I turned towards Charles to see they had already started to head out. I quickly ran to catch up with them. "So I talked to Hank yesterday," I said as I did so.

"Yes, he mentioned that on the phone."

I glanced down at Charles. "Then I guess he also told you that I know that you think Magneto's up to something,"

"Perhaps now is not the time to discuss this, Josie," Charles said as we got into the elevator. "I'm sure our guest doesn't want to hear this."

I looked up at Logan, grimacing at him. "I'm sure he doesn't mind. He doesn't seem like the most informed person anyway, so he probably has no clue what we're even talking about,"

Logan scowled at me. "'The most informed'? That's the best insult you could come up with?"

"See, Charles? He's not that smart," I looked down at Charles. Josie, control yourself. He's our guest, you shouldn't be treating him like that, Charles projected into my mind.

"Well, you're no Einstein either," Logan muttered as he turned forward. With a scowl I faced forwards and bit my tongue. Stupid men. They're absolutely insufferable.

We got down to the lab and while Jean gave Logan x-rays we waited patiently. "Sabretooth just... ran away," I said after explaining to Charles what had happened when we came across Rogue and Logan. "It's just so odd. I've fought him a few times before, but this time he had a fearful look on his face."

"Did you use your powers on him?" Charles' brow furrowed. "Did you use your power on him?"

I shrugged, looking over at Scott and Storm. "I mean, I could've without realizing it, but you know I don't like using my powers in a fight."

"I'm sure that you didn't mean to, Josie," Charles looked up at me. "You are your mother's daughter, after all."

"Yes, according to you, she liked a fair fight, too," I said with a slight eye roll. Charles didn't always talk about my mom, but when he did it was to say in what ways I was like her. Which was actually a lot. It made me wander if I was like what my biological father was in any way. "You know, Professor, I'd say you were pretty close with my birth parents." I added as I leaned against the wall.

"Well, why do you think I was given custody of you?" Charles said. "Your mother wanted the person she trusted most to raise you the way she would."

"Wait, she knew she was going to die giving birth to me?" I asked, glancing over at Scott.

"The doctors said it was unsafe, but she was determined she was going to have you." Charles got a far away look on his face. I had never heard this before and it made me feel bad. My mother had given her life for me... Our conversation was interrupted by Jean entering the room with Logan's x-rays.

"The metal is an alloy called adamantium. Supposedly indestructible. It's been surgically grafted to his entire skeleton," She said as she put them up for us to all see. We gathered around and studied the pictures.

"How could he have survived a procedure like that?" Storm asked.

"His mutation. He has uncharted regenerative capability which enables him to heal rapidly. This also makes his age impossible to determine," Jean explained.

I looked down at Charles. "So he could very well be older than you, Char."

"Who did this to him?" Scott asked.

"He doesn't know. Nor does he remember anything about his life before it happened." Jean answered.

Charles spoke up. "Experimentation on mutants. It's not unheard of. But I've never seen anything like this before."

"What do you think Magneto wants with him then?" I asked as I looked back up at the photos.

"I'm not entirely sure it's him Magneto wants."

I turned towards him. "Rogue? You think that Magneto wants Rogue?"

"It's a possibility we cannot rule out."

"She's a child! Surely he has more of a heart than that." I said, my brow furrowing. Yeah, I had heard bad stories about Magneto, but you think he'd be above trying to kidnap a teenage girl.

He grimaced slightly as he turned to Jean. "Why don't we go run some more tests? Josie, you should go back up to teach Rogue some more defensive moves. I'm afraid she might need them." I looked at him, my expression probably showing my mixed emotions before I left the room to do just as he thought I should.


After I taught Rogue and Bobby for a while longer we ate dinner together. I could already see that Bobby was enamored by her and I found it endearing. After dinner I let Bobby walk Rogue to her room with the promise nothing would happen and watched them go off.

Throughout my thirty-seven years, I hadn't ever been in love. There had been a few hopefuls over the years, some mutants and some humans, but they none of them ever lasted long. My first crush had been on Scott, but after he fell deeply in love with Jean I had made myself stop thinking about him like that. Jean, after all, was like my sister.

"He likes her," Scott said as he walked up to my side.

"She most definitely likes him," I said with a small smile.

"She's only been here a day and you act like she's your daughter."

I looked over at Scott with a roll of my eyes. "I'm merely helping out a fellow mutant,"

"And it has nothing to do with the fact she was with Logan?"

I put my mouth into a hard line and folded my arms as I turned towards him. "Jean put you up to this, didn't she?"

"She just wants you to be happy, Jo. She thinks you should find someone," He folded his arms too.

"I don't need anyone, Scott. I'm okay how I am now: alone," I started walking to go find Jean; I needed to speak with her about why she was trying to play matchmaker.

"Oh, come on―"

"No, don't even try to argue with me," I snapped at him as I turned down another hall. "We have much bigger things to worry about than getting me a date."

"It was Jean's idea, not mine."

"Well, she needs to learn to keep out of my nonexistent love life," I said and started to walk faster but Scott grabbed my arm and turned me to face a room where Jean had her hands at Logan's temples.

After a second, Jean seemed to be freaking out and yanked away from him. "What do you see?"

She turned and saw us in the doorway. "Scott, Josie," Jean glanced back at Logan. "Good night, Logan." She left the room, but Scott and I remained in the doorway.

Logan looked at with a small smirk. "You gonna to tell me to stay away from your girl?"

"If I had to do that, she wouldn't be my girl," Scott said.

"Hmm, well, then I guess you've got nothing to worry about, do you, Cyclops?" Logan said as he stepped closer, his tone taunting and condescending.

"Yeah, it must burn you up that a boy like me saved your life, huh? Gotta be careful. Might not be there next time," Scott started to leave, but looked back one more time, "Oh, and Logan - stay away from my girl. Come on, Jo."

"Give me a moment," I said to him and he gave me an unsure look. "Oh, go on, I'll see you in the morning. Jean's waiting for you."

He gave Logan a warning glare before leaving the room. As soon as he was out of sight Logan spoke again, "I thought Jean was his girl,"

I looked back at him with a scowl. "She is."

"By the way you looked at him―"

I put my hands up, looking at him with an unhappy expression. "Whoa, no. I'm not in love with Scott."

"Really? 'Cause―"

"You're an arse. I honestly can't believe I was just going to try to make a truce with you," I snapped before I walked away from the doorway. I stormed up to my "classroom" - ignoring all the people I passed - and started punching on the punching bags.

"Josie?" I ignored Charles' voice from behind me. I heard him sigh before his voice moved closer. "Your thoughts are quite defeating right now."

I continued my beating on the bag. "Well, you know I've never minded you reading my mind,"

"Another way you're like your mother."

I growled, stopping suddenly and turning towards her. "Just stop talking about her, Charles. I don't want to hear how I'm so much like the woman I practically killed before I even took my first breath. I don't want to hear the love in your tone when you talk about her. I don't want to talk about her. "

He nodded solemnly. "I understand,"

I blinked back tears in my eyes. "Thank you," I muttered before walking out of the room. I didn't get halfway down the hall before I ran straight into Logan. "What the heck?" I grumbled as I smashed into his chest. "Why are you up here and not in bed?" I demanded.

"I came to apologize," He admitted with a little reluctance. "I had no right to say what I did... Are you crying?"

I looked away from him. "It's allergies, don't worry about it. Everything's cool between us," I said before I moved past him. My knuckles were bleeding because I hadn't tapped them up so they were my priority right now. Once I got to the kitchen only did I realize that he had followed me. "Uh, can I help you?" I said as I turned on the cold water. I put my hands under it.

"I... I wanted to thank you for taking in Rogue,"

I shrugged, not bothering to look up at him. "She reminds me of myself, I guess,"

"With a Southern accent."

I chuckled softly, thinking back to what I had said to Scott. "True. Can you get me a wash rag?"

He did as I asked and watched as I cleaned my bloody knuckles. "I didn't make you cry and mess up your knuckles, did I?"

I rolled my eyes. "Trust me, you had nothing to do with the tears, Wolverine,"

"But the bloody knuckles?"

"Well, I think it's much better than beating your face in," I pointed out as I dried my hands off and put a thin layer of gauze around my knuckles. "Even if it's not as satisfying."

"Like you could,"

I turned towards him. "Don't try me, I could take you down within a minute. My power is the manipulation of dark matter. Do you know what dark matter is?"

"Why don't you remind me?"

"It's a substance that is scientifically theorized to make up most of the physical universe. I can manipulate gravity - I can make anything appear such as shadows or anything. I can pierce your skin and cause a nasty infection that would kill you less than a week. My power's not one to be trifled with." I responded with a confidant look.

"But you don't use it?"

"Well, it's never too late to, if you insist," I said as I folded my arms.

"Why? Do you know how many people you could take down with that?"

I slightly shook my head. "You wouldn't understand. You can magically heal and you have sharp claws... You just wouldn't get it," I walked past him, calling back, "By the way, Scott's like an older brother to me. You suggesting that I'm in love with him kinda makes me want to barf so let's avoid that again, shall we?"

I left him in the room and headed back to mine. I had no clue what was going to happen that night, or I wouldn't have let Logan go to bed.

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