It was nearing midnight, but Logan was wide awake. After two days in the mansion, he could really use a drink. He headed to the kitchen, expecting it to be deserted. Instead he found Scott sitting at the counter at the center of the room nursing a cup of coffee. Scott looked up, tensing slightly as Logan entered.

"You know, if you're having trouble sleeping, coffee probably isn't the best thing," Logan said gruffly.

Scott reached for the coffee canister beside him, turning it in Logan's direction so that he could read the label: Decaf Coffee.

"Ah." Logan glanced around the kitchen. "You got any beer in this place?" Scott raised his eyebrows in response.

"I'll take that as a no. Got some soda at least?" Scott pointed to the fridge behind him. Logan went to the fridge, grabbed a cold bottle of root beer, and popped off the cap. He sat across from Scott and took a long swig of his drink.

The two sat in silence for several minutes. It might have been awkward, but Logan wasn't prone to self-consciousness and Scott was comfortable enough with silence. When he was finished with his drink, Logan stood. He dropped his bottle by the side of the sink. "Good talk," he mumbled as he left the room.

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A few hours later, Scott and Jean were sound asleep in their bed. Jean woke first sensing that something was wrong. A moment later she heard a yell from down the hallway.

"Scott, Scott . . . wake up!" she yelled. She shook him until he grudgingly turned to look at her. "Something's wrong. Get up!" Scott sat up quickly, switching his night time goggles for his glasses. Together, they rushed down the hallway, nearly colliding with Ororo as they went.

The children were starting to wake too and had gathered outside Logan's room. Pushing through them, the three adults paused at Logan's door, shocked by what they saw. Inside, Rogue was standing at Logan's bedside, blood dripping down her back. She held her hand to Logan's face which was pale and drawn. Jean, Scott, and Ororo stood glued to the floor as the three bloody gashes clearly visible on Rogue's back just a moment ago faded away to nothingness.

When the wound was completely healed, Rogue pulled her hand from Logan's face. At the same moment, Logan slipped, limp and unconscious to the floor. For the first time, Rogue seemed to notice her teachers' presence. Looking ashamed and distressed, she said, "It was an accident," before slipping as quickly as possible through the bedroom door. The students, now seemingly terrified of her, parted to let her pass through the growing crowd.

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By the next morning, things had calmed down at the mansion. Logan had made a full recovery. Rogue, though still shaken, had recovered, too. She tried to ignore the whispers and wary glances that followed her to class.

Charles and Scott were in the lower levels, in one of the smaller labs. Charles was carefully reviewing the data Jean had left him on Logan's mutation and ogling the x-rays which showed Logan's adamantium-coated bones.

"What are you looking for Erik," he mumbled to himself. When he glanced up from the file in front of him, Scott was looking at him expectantly.

"It's strange," Charles signed. "There are more powerful mutants out there. Why should this one be so important to him?"

"Maybe it's his way with people," Scott returned with a smile.

"You don't like him?"

"How can you tell?"

"I am psychic you know," he signed with a chuckle. Just then Logan burst through the laboratory door, Ororo close behind him.

"Where is she?" Logan growled. Scott turned to Charles, signing "Who?"

"Rogue. She's gone." The Professor led Logan to the one room in the mansion he hadn't yet seen - cerebro. According to Charles, the big round room enhanced his telepathic abilities, allowing him to locate mutants at great distances. And it was true – within minutes he'd located Rogue at a nearby train station.

While Scott and Ororo prepared to retrieve her, Logan snuck off on his own. Helping himself to a motorcycle from the garage, he sped towards the train station. He was the reason Rogue had left, and he would be the one to get her back.