Many happy returns to the returning readers, and robbie - I do hope that they help cheer you up. It's a good, safe space to hide when I am irked with stupidty ... like I was when I hammered this chapter out after seeing what they did to Scott in the latest Jean-centric comic. (Murder face. In place.)

Not to mention Phoenix's interpretation of Logan that had me seething. To hell with you, firebird.

*ahem* Yes. anyhow. Scotty is a force to be reckoned with, and if you liked the cozyness of what was going on down the coast, well ... this chapter is even better, and we get a peek at an even SWEETER Scotty. (awwww, he's so darling when he's not being manipulated) ENJOY!


Chapter 4: A Leader In The Making


It was almost serene waking up every morning in the little cottage tucked away in the woods. The ambient sounds that went hand in hand with being that deeply into the forest was all any of the three residents could hear outside of the distant sound of waves on the shore and wind in the trees.

In many ways, it was exactly like stepping back in time. Outdoor plumbing, no electricity, and a wood burning stove for heat and to cook with … but the rustic setting was good for all three of them.

For Logan and K it was simply a matter of going back into some of the old ways of doing things and using little tricks to make that style of living easier that had been long forgotten at least three generations ago. For Scott … it was almost like a living, breathing history lesson. And he honestly enjoyed it.

He wasn't really one to sit still for too long anyhow, so television and movies all the time wasn't really how he preferred to do things. The fact that they had to do so much to keep up the status quo was kind of relaxing. It kept his mind off of things when he had to haul water to cook with and wash dishes, and the fact that there was firewood to be split so they could cook, too.

He was just finishing up splitting with Logan when K breezed by them with a towel wrapped around herself and a bar of soap in her hand. "Lake's this way," she said, pointing down another non-existent trail. "It's cold, but it works."

Both of them stood there for just a moment watching her disappear into the trees, the chore of splitting temporarily forgotten. "You going to follow or …"

Logan turned Scott's way and couldn't help but laugh to himself. "No fun if it's too cold," Logan laughed before he simply went back to work. "Besides. Job ain't done yet. Just have to do it twice if I quit now."

Scott smirked and glanced down the trail one more time wondering to himself how far away the lake was. "Still … We're pretty secluded here …"

"Slim …"

"I'm just saying. What if we were followed?" He watched Logan go from shaking his head to honestly tensed as he thought about it and he had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling when he saw the instant protective urge pop up. And he couldn't hold it back at all when Logan swore under his breath.

"You're testing me, aren't you?" Logan said as he leaned the axe against the side of the house, though by that time, there was no way Scott would be able to hide it.

He shrugged in response as he set up the next log to be split. "Maybe."

Logan cursed under his breath, shaking his head before he started for the path K had taken, sure to ruffle Scott's hair as he passed him. "Scream if there's a problem."

"Yeah, okay," Scott said, almost snerking as he went to splitting wood again. They were only gone long enough for the birds to start singing and the squirrels to start playing around the cabin though before Scott was once again thinking.

The one drawback to having nothing but work to do was that it didn't engage his mind enough to keep him occupied. By the time Scott finished the little stack that Logan had set aside to last them through cooking and washing up afterward, Scott was almost somber. He looked around the woods and took in the sights and scents of the place that were strong enough that even he could place them … and he was trying to learn as much as he could about that too in case he ever had to describe something to Logan or K.

Scott sat down on the chopping block, his elbows on his knees as he closed his eyes and listened to the forest around him. He took a deep breath and tried to describe it to himself. Pine trees, of course. Not that it's any kind of shock. That's … God, it smells like home. He frowned to himself and tried to get control of his emotions at the realization. It's a little different than Alaska. The moss smells different. And the ferns. He concentrated hard, but couldn't quite figure it out. He felt something on the toe of his shoe and looked down to see an overly curious ground squirrel that was watching him carefully, but the moment he smiled, the striped little creature darted off to safety, barking and chittering at him from the other side of the wood pile.

He was smirking to himself when Logan and K came up the path. It was easy to spot her when she was in a bright white towel, after all, even though the glasses made everything red. Logan however was sopping wet and shirtless. "How was the lake?" he asked, to which Logan smirked.

"Cold."

"Not that cold," K argued, grinning outright when he pulled her closer and got her half soaked all over again.

"I'll take you down when you're ready," Logan said.

"And after you get a towel," K laughed. "I doubt you want to follow your dad's footsteps and just … dive in." She was grinning at Logan, and Logan didn't look the least bit apologetic about it. "You'll feel better after a quick rinse anyhow."

Scott nodded, and didn't wait for more of an invitation before he headed inside to grab a towel - though he gave Logan and K some time to get dressed again as he waited outside on the deck for Logan to take him to the lake.

But the little interludes had him thinking to himself about how long they could keep this up. He had no idea when the glow was on or not. Which meant he had no idea when someone outside of their very small circle could tell if he was a mutant - as if the red lenses weren't a dead giveaway that something was off anyhow.

Maybe this was the best case scenario for now. Hide out in the woods. Take a shot at being a unit. But then … if it didn't work out, then all the time spent was going to sting that much more. His thoughts were interrupted when Logan stepped out a short moment later - dried off and in clean clothes.

"Little overdue for a wash up, eh?" Logan said to Scott as they started down the trail.

"Yeah, little bit," Scott said, suddenly a bit self conscious of what a day of travel, and several days without running water might smell like to someone with enhanced senses.

He doubted Logan or K would ever say anything to him about it, of course. He didn't think that they would say or do anything to make him feel even more self-conscious than he already did - though that in itself had him feeling a little more aware of the glasses and the whole reason they'd had to leave South Carolina.

Like it or not, he knew he was different from his newfound family. In more ways than one.

The lake was something that Scott could hear clearly before they actually saw the deep blue inland sea. That's what smelled so different. His home in Alaska had the arctic ocean breeze blowing in - and this place …. "Lake Superior," Scott said, smirking to himself as he took it in. The beach was a sea of pebbles and fragmented rocks sticking up in places through the soft sugar sand. But the image of the massive lake was almost abrupt when stepping out of the tall, deep forests to see beach.

"Water's pretty shallow for quite a way out," Logan said. "Bit brisk though this early in the year." With that, Logan settled in on a flat bit of black rock that was a bit shaded by the gently swaying birch trees that lined the edge of the forest.

It was completely different than the beach they'd just left in South Carolina. Or the beach edged by forest back in Oregon. This felt almost like a totally different country when compared to the salt water places they'd hidden at so far.

With a quick glance over his shoulder that confirmed that Logan was simply stretching out to take in the still brisk breezes and the early season sun, Scott headed for the water's edge. And very nearly just backed right back out of it. The water wasn't just brisk. Or even cold. It was frigid.

He was very nearly holding his breath by the time he nearly forced himself in and tried to scrub up as fast as he could. He didn't want to not wash up when he knew that he couldn't smell that great, but he also could only stand so much of the incredibly cold water before he nearly jumped out of his skin and rushed back for the shore to try and get dry, and fast.

He shivered all the way back to the cottage, but when they did get back, he was flat out relieved to see that there was smoke coming out of the chimney, and even though his teeth were chattering, and he was half frozen, he didn't miss the scents that were drifting out of the cottage. K had found a way to cook something, or at least she'd made use of whatever they'd brought with them. There hadn't been anything of use in the cottage when they got there, and none of them had gone into town to buy anything.

"Warm blankets by the fire," K said as she moved the cast iron pan off of the wood burning stove.

Scott didn't wait to be told twice, though he did rush upstairs to get into clean clothes before he wrapped up in a blanket . K handed him a bowl of what looked to be some kind of stew, then she sat down across from him with a little smirk. "I can heat up some water for you next time," she offered. "I forget how most people don't have the cold tolerance we do." She pulled her feet up underneath herself and half-tucked into the couch with her own little bowl of stew. "And seeing as it's still early in the season … Sorry. It's not … always entirely liquid yet at this point in the year. I just wasn't thinking about it like that."

Scott smirked into his bowl and nodded. "It's okay," he said. "Like I said, it reminds me of home."

But that seemed to somehow get an even warmer smile from her. "You're going to make me blush, Caramel Mocha. Especially since this is home." She pulled her shoulders up to her ears. "And you're welcome for as long as you like - or to come back since … well. You know how to get here."

"Might be an overstatement," Logan said. "You were drivin' that last stretch and half the roads don't have signs on 'em." But K waved it off.

"You'd figure it out if you had to. It's all about direction, remember?"

Logan smirked and nodded to himself, and Scott had time during the silence that came after to try and figure out what it was that they were eating. "Snowshoe hare and partridge," Logan said. "They were near the cottage, so it wasn't a hard find."

"Fiddleheads will be ready in the next few days," K said between bites. "I'll grab them before the bears get moving."

But that had Scott smirking a little wider. He'd grown up on base, but even the airmens wives gathered the first harvests that the forest had springing up in patches. He had to wonder if this area was the same. "Does that mean mushrooms go along with them?" he asked, smirking to himself and waiting to see the reaction - which he had correctly predicted was completely pleased.

"Have you spent much time hunting for them?" K had to ask - not surprised at all when Scott shook his head lightly.

"The few times I went we were cut short by bears," he said. "Grizzlies with cubs …"

"Not overly friendly," K agreed, nodding. "Yeah, morels are just after the ferns, but the little game lives around here all over, and the smelt run should be going now, if you like a billion tiny fish."

"Sounds good to me," Logan said in a drawl as he took the seat next to K. The two of them curled into each other without a bit of prompting as if that had simply been the case from the very start.

Scott halfway watched them for a moment, smirking quietly to himself at the expression on his Dad's face as he rested his nose in K's hair. It wasn't until he saw Logan smirking a little wider that he even noticed that she had nearly the same expression. It really only just added to the peaceful moment, and began to seal it up in Scott's head that yes, outside of some very important paperwork … it looked like he might just have his family coming together.


The next few weeks passed the same way … there was a pop up blizzard late in the season that draped the little cottage with a thick blanket of snow, but when Scott saw it that morning, all he could do was smile. The cottage was warm, though there wasn't any change to what had become their little schedule deep in the woods. K puttered around to clean up after their meal - though Scott was sure to help by hauling water in for her and doing the heavy lifting while Logan headed out to do a little hunting and split more wood.

It wasn't easy living, but it felt good anyhow. Tucked in and safe with the forest embracing them, keeping them hidden.

Scott had taken to a little trail of his own … it didn't circle too far out, but it was a good loop for him to look for hares and partridge, carrying a .22 rifle over his shoulder as he went in case he got a shot. Of course, it was really more for his sanity - just to get out and move. Most of the game around the cottage had gotten the message that there were predators there, so they were smart enough to hunker down when one of them came by anyhow.

But at the furthest point out from the cottage, with Lake Superior roaring in the not too far distance, Scott paused and frowned to himself, wondering how long it would last. How long they could possibly just … stay hidden in the woods.

Though neither Logan nor K said anything about it, and almost pointedly refused to draw attention to it, Scott could tell now that the glow behind his red lenses was on far more often than it was off. He finally got to where he could feel that it was working, without needing to pay attention to his peripheral vision where sometimes … if he was lucky … he could see a bit of color. That was probably one of the worst parts now. Everything was always red now.

He took a few moments at the farthest spot on his loop and sat down on a fallen log. He already knew from previous trial and error that if he got started trying to work on control, he was often so overwhelmed by the intensity of it that he would need to sit down afterward anyhow.

Scott had thought it over long and hard. Shooting out over the lake toward Canada would be like lighting a beacon. And protecting K's hidden sanctuary was just as high on his priority list as keeping their budding family safe and learning how to control his optic blasts. He couldn't see any scenario where being reckless was something that could be excused there. Even for a moment.

So, he made his way over to the edge of the white cedars that bordered the little section of bog that K had pointed out to him as a spot to avoid walking in. From what Scott could remember from science class and the way these bogs were created to begin with … it should be safe for him to shoot into the peat. He was more than a little paranoid about shooting toward the ore laden outcroppings … he wasn't sure how powerful his blasts were, and he was concerned that if they were strong enough … it might look like seismic activity. So he'd just have to pay the price of wearing a little peat moss and bog muck.

He closed his eyes and tried to concentrate hard, focusing on 'off' as he took his glasses off and held them in both hands. He let out a slow breath, and set his jaw before he opened his eyes. He tried to control his reaction when the world looked red, but nothing had blown up, even though his heart rate had ticked up and he was breathing through his mouth to get more air. This was new.

Scott forced himself to keep his gaze locked onto the half-rotten log that had an inch of slushy snow on it still, but as he let out his breath and blinked a couple times, focused hard on using his abilities. Much sooner than he expected, he felt the change and he tried to control it. Two blinks later - the log blew up with a loud, sharp kzapt! He closed his eyes for a moment, his heart pounding in his ears as he worked to slow his breathing.

He didn't realize his hands were clenched in fists as he worked his jaw over, and he tried to ignore the creeping panic as he forced himself to focus harder. He opened his eyes, still focused to the same spot - and another blast hit. He repeated it over and over and over again, until he realized he simply had no way to know how to stop it. He was near the point of frustrated tears when he finally put his glasses back on and then looked around the clearing, taking in the damage.

Of course, he'd been right. The peat bog was no worse for wear - outside of bits of mud and peat now dangling from some of the tall white pines. The air around the bog smelled of wet dirt - moreso than it had half an hour before.

Whatever he was doing - it wasn't working. And like it or not, he knew they couldn't just stay there in the woods. If they did, he knew that it would only end with Department H eventually finding them - and then what? If they managed to get free again, K wouldn't have even that place to hide.

This wasn't working out like he'd wanted at all. He had his family, but even in the safety of the woods, they were on borrowed time, and he knew it. The trouble was that they didn't have any long term solutions. Not any that didn't hinge on him learning how to control his optic blasts. He paused in his trek back to the cottage, wondering to himself when he'd started referring to them like that. Probably when Xavier put a name to it, he thought to himself. Though that only had him wondering what else the man could know, if he had a fitting name for something like that … he probably did know how to fix it. Or … control it at the very least.

He stared at the cottage - now at least within sight. The smoke was curling up lazily from the stone chimney and he could feel the pull of the place that promised warmth of every kind as soon as he reached the doors. And for the first time, it hurt to think of it that way. His family inside that he was sure he'd have to leave now.

Scott's shoulders were slumped as he made his way up to the house. He knew what he had to do, even if it was a longshot. He just didn't know how Logan would react. He forced a smile when he got inside to find K and Logan working together in the kitchen.

He watched the two of them working … Logan doing the cooking for a change and K cutting up all that Logan needed to work with. He took his boots off and hung up his coat by the door before he made his way further inside and simply fell into step setting the table and getting ready for dinner. He didn't know how to handle it otherwise. And it wasn't exactly the conversation he wanted to have anyhow.

But he should have known it wasn't going to be long before one of them caught on that there was trouble brewing. "You alright, Scotty?" Logan asked as he looked up at him. "Ya look like someone ran over your dog."

"I've just been thinking it all over," Scott said in a breath.

"What part?" K asked, looking honestly concerned.

"All of it," Scott said. "I've been working on trying to get control … out at the peat bog. But … I have no way to stop it. I've figured out how to turn it on …. But then I can't get it to turn off."

Both of them were openly staring at him, but neither of them had anything to add or offer to Scott's thoughts. Until he finished what he was thinking. "I think I should call Professor Xavier and see if he can help me like he said."

You could hear a pin drop in the cottage as both ferals simply stared back at him in open shock. "We don't know anything about this guy," Logan said.

"I'm sure we could ask Captain America to look into it," Scott said reasonably. "And I'll bet the Avengers could find out anything you wanted." He paused and took a deep breath, his gaze momentarily going to the worn wood floors that showed decades of use, even though it was clear it had never been sanded or finished before he tipped his chin up a bit to look at his Dad. "If I can't fix this … it's just a matter of time before we get caught anyhow." Logan opened his mouth to say something but Scott kept going. "And if I can get a handle on it … then I can help when they come looking again instead of making it harder."

Logan held his gaze for a long moment, but Scott didn't miss the expression on K's face that clearly read that she did not like the idea of this one bit. But to his surprise, she didn't say a word.

"We'd have to go back to have Cap look into it first," Logan said, not dropping Scott's gaze. "Can't risk callin' 'em and expectin' the Department not to intercept the call."

Scott drew in a breath and nodded his head. "Whenever you guys are ready to move, then," he said.

Logan nodded his head and Scott let out a breath that showed exactly how much that one decision took the weight off of him.

"I'll start packing," K said, though much of the cheer she'd had going on had simply vanished as she headed into her room.

"She'll be fine," Logan said. "Pack up, we'll head out in the dark."

Scott nodded, though he was looking toward where K had disappeared. "If there was a way to … if I knew how to control it, I wouldn't…" He let out a breath and turned back to Logan. "This is just temporary. Until I can get a handle on this. You and K…" He trailed off, looked back to where K was, and just let it drop. "Yeah, I'll get packed."

Logan watched Scott head up the stairs before he made his way over to where K was carefully and quickly putting her things back into her bag. "You alright?"

"Oh, sure," K said, nodding, though she didn't turn to look at him as she kept working.

"You know you can't lie to me, right?" Logan said as he stepped up behind her and rested a hand at her hip. She paused and turned to look at him.

"Yes. I'm well aware," K promised. "This falls into the 'trying to be tactful' category."

"Don't," Logan said, shaking his head. "Go ahead and tell me what the problem is."

She narrowed her eyes and thought it over for a long moment before she shook her head lightly. "Not my place."

The shock was plain enough to see on Logan's face as he leaned toward her on hearing it. "Of course it is," he said, shaking his head already. "That kid thinks the world of you. You can speak up."

But she shook her head again and turned to get back to her work. "No. This is between the two of you."

"You're travelling with us," Logan argued quietly, then he paused as he watched her fill the bag with clothes. "Or are you thinking of parting ways?"

"No," was her only response before she picked up her bag and turned to give him a quick kiss that she ended before he was quite ready for it to be over. "I'll start the clean up and meet you boys at the truck."

Logan stared after her for a few moments before he grabbed his bag and followed suit. He didn't know her well enough to know where her head was at, but it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that she didn't like the idea of Scott going to Xavier. At all.


K was, of course, the one to start the drive from her hideaway. She kept her eyes on the trail as she wove between trees and down the muddy trail without once looking as if she was going to question their decision to return to New York. of course, that likely could have been because the trail had deteriorated a bit since they'd first come to hide in the woods and recuperate.

"Going through Detroit?" Logan tried to tease after they'd put some miles behind them, but long before they came up on the bridge again.

"Too close to the international crossing," she said dismissively.

"Wasn't too close before," Logan said, frowning slightly.

"That was a few weeks ago," K said in a reasonable tone. "And i'm not repeating a road if I can avoid it."

He frowned slightly, but let it drop since she obviously wasn't in the mood to pick.

The two adults seemed more distant to each other the further they were from K's little cottage.

She wasn't unfriendly, but the level of flirtation was far less than it had been before, and both Logan and Scott were wondering what exactly it meant. But if it was weighing heavy on Logan's mind, he wasn't showing it much. Not when he was so busy trying to plot out a plan on how to best look into this Xavier guy.

He was sure that Steve had looked into him after that little stunt last time, but it wasn't always easy to find anything on people when you wanted to. And gathering intel like that took time. Which, as both K and Scott had pointed out repeatedly, they simply didn't have a lot of.