Chapter 7

Three Months Later

Aqua looked up at the sky, struggling to catch her breath. It was the third time that week that Ororo had her do the make shift obstacle course that began with a 10 mile run, an obstacle course that took more than an hour to complete and made every muscle in your body scream. The course ended with a swim across the lake at its widest. Now, lying in the sand, not caring about anything other than getting breath in her lungs, she thought over the last three months and how much things had changed.

She thought for sure that they were going to send her away, especially with what she did to DJ and Ororo. But they didn't. Instead, she learned, as she sat in the Professor's Office a little more than a month after the event, that Ororo was going to take over the responsibility for her training. She looked at them all as if they had two heads growing out of their bodies.

"Fuck that," she had said, only to receive a slap against her face.

"Bitch, what ya do…," she sputtered before getting another slap against the face.

"Now, I owed you that and more after what you did to me and my son," Ororo replied, her eyes turning back to their normal color blue, taking a seat in the chair across from her, "But because I feel like you are not a complete lost cause, I've decided to help you. Despite what my confidants and husband feel and against my better judgment, I'm going to go out on a limb and do all I can to help you recognize how special you are and how you can be a valuable member of this team."

When Aqua looked up into her face, Ororo continued, "Now, you have a choice – either agree to the terms of your new training regimen or you can leave."

Aqua sat there and weighed her options.

Did she stay and put up with who she considered the queen bitch and her training regimen or did she leave and strike out on her own. Her mind immediately went to the cold nights where the only shelter she had was an old coat that she lifted from the Salvation Army and the constant hunger pains that lead her to lead a small band of misfits to steal whatever they needed to survive. She thought about the stints in jail and compared it all to the life she had known for the past two years. The warm bed that was her own, the room she shared with Porche, her closest friend. The nice and clean clothes in her closet. Not to mention the huge mansion with all the bells and whistles and all of the food, a guarantee that she would never go to bed hungry again.

In her mind, she knew should stay but her pride wouldn't let her get the words out.

"So what will it be?" Ororo said, leaning back in the chair with a slight hesitation that suggested that she wasn't completely healed.

"I don't know. Seems like you're asking for a lot," Aqua replied snidely, "Not sure if I could stomach being around you that much."

Ororo smiled at the prideful child, recognizing it for what it was. Logan, on the other hand, didn't appreciate her smugness and told her so.

"Ya ought to be kissing her ass for saving yours instead of showing yours," he said, succinctly, before stepping out of the room, claiming having to check on his son.

"Well," Ororo replied when the door shut behind her husband, never taking her eyes of her.

"When do we start?" Aqua asked, letting them know her decision

Now lying in the dirt, she thought about the time after the incident, way before the meeting happened.

She had heard horror stories about Logan and his quick temper and kept looking over her shoulder, waiting for him to attack her to exact his revenge. And he would have been well within his right too. She didn't know what came over her. She wanted to get back at Ororo for embarrassing her not once, but twice and shit like that would get you killed where she was from.

Before that fateful day, she had heard the almost mystical tales of the great Ororo/Storm – mother nature personified, a goddess, the mother to them all, and the fiercest warrior among them. She was the only one who could tame and calm Logan and even his alter ego, the savage beast Wolverine.

The question she asked that no one seemed to be able to answer was why did she give it all up. No one could give her a satisfactory answer so she figured that Ororo wasn't all they claimed that she was and found herself in competition with the woman, even in her absence.

She even went as far as to put the moves on the woman's husband, since he spent the weekdays at the Institute and the weekends with his family. At first, he dismissed her advances as those of a love sick teenager. Tired of the rejection, she had decided to take it up a notch.

She watched him for a month, learning his schedule and his habits. On the designated night, she waited until she saw him return to his room, hair wet from a shower after his Danger Room session. She wasn't worried about him smelling her because she had made a habit of being in that same place for the last month so her scent wasn't out of place.

Now ready to make her move, she waited at his door until the light went out and quietly opened the door. She stepped in and with her back against the door, she locked it. The room was so dark, that she couldn't see her hand in front of her face. So she waited until her eyes adjusted to the lack of light and let out a surprised yelp when she found Logan standing directly in front of her.

"Have ya lost yo' damn mind?"

"No, but I'm about to make you lose yours," she said, seductively, using one hand to cup his package while undoing her robe tie.

"Get yo' fuckin hands off me and get the fuck out of here," he said, his voice filled with disgust, slapping her hand away.

"Why? I heard you like dark meat?" she said coquettishly.

What she say that for. He growled menacingly at her and yanked her from the door, with her robe balled up in his fist. He unlocked the door and tossed her out on her ass, her robe falling open to reveal her nakedness underneath.

"I'm going to pretend this never happened and I expect you to do the same. If I hear a word of this from anyone, your ass will be put out of this school so damn fast that your fuckin head won't stop spinning for a month. Now get the fuck out of here before I really get mad," Logan said, his voice low before slamming the door so hard, it cracked.

Chuckling at the memory of how fast she got up and raced back to her room, Aqua sat up slowly as her instructor walked up.

"You still have the energy to chuckle?" Ororo asked her, a smirk on her face, looking very much like her husband.

"No ma'am. I was grimacing because even my cheek muscles hurt," Aqua replied, sighing gratefully when Ororo bought her lie.

Or did she? Aqua thought as she struggled to keep pace with Ororo as they jogged around the lake before they ended for the day.

"You should get some rest tonight," Ororo told her, panting slightly, as they sat side by side on the wooden bench on the lake shore, not too far from the large back patio of Ororo and Logan's lake house.

"Why?" Aqua asked, before reaching in her bag and grabbing her water bottle.

"Tomorrow's your first session with Logan and if you think I'm bad," she began, getting to her feet and looking down at her, "He's ten times worse. Meet us here at 5am."

Great, she thought, slowly getting to her aching feet and leaning down for her bag, Just what I needed.

Walking slowly to her back door, Ororo thought back over the last four months of her life. Once she decided to train again, she appreciated the side effects of her new regimen. She was finally able to shed the stubborn mommy weight as she called it and experience a huge energy boost that came in handy keeping up with her curious two year old. The first month had been the hardest. She and Logan created a schedule and followed it meticulously to make sure that DJ was cared for by one of them until he got use to being around the others.

Soon after her arrival, Kitty and Rogue took on the title of Auntie, falling in love with the precocious little boy that kept them on their toes. They would often volunteer to watch DJ on the weekends, to give the couple a break. Many times when they showed up at the mansion to pick up their son, DJ would be sitting next to the girls quietly as they slept, tuckered out from the 2 year old ball of energy.

DJ was adjusting quickly to the new living arrangements and having his father around more. But what surprised Ororo was when Logan told her how he cried himself to sleep after she left them the evening of her first Danger Room session. The session lasted longer than she expected and when she returned home, she found her son and husband fast asleep on the couch. Kissing them both, she had gone to take a bath to soak her sore body. When she returned to the living room, she found Logan sitting up, cradling their son.

Now, they were settling into a new routine, one that included Aqua. Ororo tried to combine being a friend to Aqua with her training sessions, often engaging the teen in conversation as they warmed up, trying to learn more about her.

She knew that opening up to someone who you initially hated was going to take time, but Ororo was optimistic and very patient. She knew in her heart that she was doing the right thing but even so, she still couldn't shake the nagging feeling in the back of her mind.

Stepping through the door, she was immediately greeted with a squeal and a near tackle as her son, who seemed to get stronger every day, barreled into her legs at full speed, happy to see his Mommy.

"Mommy!"

"Hey Baby," she said tiredly, leaning over and picking him up for a hug and kiss, "Where's Daddy?"

"Cooking dinter. He making sloppy does," he replied, wiggling, letting her know he wanted to get down, "Come. DJ show you."

Ororo sat down to eat dinner with her family and found it hard to stay awake. When she nearly nodded into her sloppy joe, her husband pulled the plate away and her men escorted her into the bedroom where Logan ran her a bath. Afterward he ushered their son back to the table to finish dinner while she sat in the warm bath and fell asleep. She was still in the water, thankfully still sitting up when her husband shook her gently before helping her to get out the tub.

"Burning the candle at both ends don't ya think?" he asked, after bathing her and drying her off with a thick towel. He pulled out her pajamas and helped her get dressed for bed. As much as she and he would have loved to sleep au natural, the unpredictable little one in the house required clothing to be worn at all times, even when he slept.

Logan just chuckled to himself as he watched his wife drift again. He kissed her and whispered, "Gnite, sleepyhead" while tucking her in.

Turning off the light, Logan headed back in the living room where he left his son on the sofa watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

"Cowabuga!" he yelled along with the animated turtles while munching on the goldfish he had manage to hold onto while thorough engrossed in his show. Logan waited until the credits were rolling before making his comment.

"You have to do a better job with your snacks, kiddo," Logan replied, indicting the floor.

"Sorry Daddy. DJ got carried way," his son replied, hopping off the couch and cringing as he heard the crunch of the cracker under his foot. Looking up at his father sheepishly, "I get mini bacuum. Be right back." The two year old took off at full speed down the hall.

"Slow down, mini me," Logan yelled after him to no avail.

"Kids," he said, gathering up the cheesy crackers from the floor. When his son hadn't returned after a few minutes, Logan called out to him and got no response in return.

"DJ? Stop hiding and come out. It almost bedtime, kiddo," Logan called out, hoping he didn't wake his wife.

Looking around and not finding him or the dustbuster, he peeked in his room and found his son curled up, fast asleep in his mother's arms. Knowing that it was done deal once he got in the bed with his mom, Logan headed back out and cleaned the living room and the kitchen, checking the stove and doors to make sure things were turned off and locked up. He then joined his wife and son in bed, kissing them both goodnight.