Sorry this chapter took a while! And thanks VERY much for all the watches, favorites, and reviews on the story (the reviews especially)! Keep them comin', and I'll do the same. Enjoy! :D
To say Cameron had been surprised at Logan's offer of lunch would be a slight understatement. Previous to this she had considered him to be an acquaintance; neither a friend nor an enemy, but an ally. In fact, she had barely talked to him and felt that he had been disinterested in getting to know her, apart from learning about her mutation.
Their sudden lunch date caught her off guard. Cam was almost tempted to bring a hidden knife or something, in case he intended to finish her off when they were alone. From what she had observed, if anyone could do it, it would be him.
With this train of thought she had not noticed her companion stop until she rammed into his back. In most fairytale stories, this was when the male would magically twirl around and snag the woman by the waste to stop her from an undignified fall. But Cameron's life had hardly ever been a fairytale. She fell flat on her butt, something the Wolverine turned around just in time to witness.
Cam harrumphed and tried to glare up at him, but could not hold back her peals of laughter as she stood up and dusted her shorts off. Logan watched with a small smile at her unashamed behavior.
"Wow" was the next thing she said as she stare at the sleek vehicles in the parking lot. "Which one's yours? Hey, do I get one?"
"You'll have to ask Chuck. And there's my baby."
Cam's eyes widened at the large, rugged, most amazing black bike she had everything. "It's amazing!"
Logan gave her a surprised look, which she noticed.
"It has charisma."
The clawed mutant laughed at that. "Yer one of a kind, I'll give you that."
Her answering smile made him feel like she had sparked one of her little flames inside of him.
"Nice place," Cameron commented as they both strode into the small pub. "It's…cozy."
Logan snorted. "You always describe things in weird ways?"
"Normally." They sat at a small table. From the familiar greeting the waiter gave Logan, Cam guessed he was a regular here.
They both ordered a hearty lunch after that heavy workout from before.
Cameron moaned as the hot barbecue sauce oozed down her mouth. The throaty sound sent a weird feeling in Logan's body, as he silently watched her.
"So," she began, "what's with you and Rogue?" She had gotten the gist of the events at the Statue of Liberty and Alkali Lake since arriving at the mansion, but she wanted to hear what he had to say.
If there was a safe topic, it was Rogue. As Logan described his dealings with the teenage girl, Cam noted the tenderness in his expression, something that softened his entire face.
"So what about you and that kid of yours?" he questioned when he finished.
It was Cam's turn to grin. "Link? I met him when he was ten. He'd run away from home. I told him I'd take care of him. It was…different. I'd been alone on the streets for so long, having someone else with me was hard at first; but it was so worth it in the end. Last year he got his powers. Freaked us both out, to be honest. But once we figured out what his powers were, I helped him with it. And it actually was really cool. You have no idea how many mutants pass you by in the street every day, until you have Link. And that's another thing! Do you have any idea how many different mutations there are? I mean seriously, some of them are just so out of the box that I-"
Logan watched her ramble on for a full fifteen minutes, getting caught up in her passion and excitement. Her large grey eyes were alight as she ranted on and on about things that the Canadian had never stopped to think about. The feeling with which Cam spoke incensed him, made him believe in what she was talking about. That childish delight on her face as she spoke of the simple pleasures in her life, of Link, of her beloved city…
Neither noticed that she was practically yelling until the bartender drew their notice to a couple of angry anti-mutant customers. The pair hurriedly left.
"Sorry about that," Cam lamented as they sped back to the mansion. "Wow, first time someone takes me to lunch and we get kicked out. Just typical."
Logan grunted. "First time?"
"Well, it's not like I had a lot of money for expensive lunches, genius. I didn't even have a damn home!"
Sensing another onslaught of words, Logan remained silent. It was different having someone else with him on his bike. But it was not necessarily bad. The feel of her hands around his waist, her throaty chatter in his ears…
Not bad at all, he thought with a small grin, before he froze. Jean.
Ever since he and Cam had made amends a week ago, she had not entered his thoughts…or his dreams. The woman he loved, the woman he killed.
And he had just forgotten.
When they reached the mansion Cameron swung off the bike and felt the air to make sure Link was still in his class. When she turned to thank Logan, he was gone.
"Storm?"
"Yes, Cam?" The white-haired beauty gave a warm smile to the other woman. "Please, come in."
Cameron slowly entered the empty classroom and shut the door behind her. "Is something wrong with Logan?" She jumped right to the point.
Storm paused and stared at the Class Five. "What happened?"
"I don't know! He took me to lunch to calm me down from that Danger Room session, and everything was fine until we got back and then he just disappeared. And then when I saw him in the kitchen he wouldn't even talk; just became a grumpy bastard." She snarled the last part.
Ororo sighed. "I suppose I should tell you, what with you being a Class Five."
"Oh, what the fuck does that have to do with it?" Cam roared. "Are we back to that shit again?"
"Cameron, calm down." It took a few deep breaths, but the black-haired woman eventually nodded.
"Good." Storm sat down at her desk and sighed. "Jean was engaged to Scott Summers, another mutant who grew up with us. But when Logan game he fell in love with her as well. After Jea- the Pheonix, killed Scott, it transferred it's affections to Logan. To kill the woman he loved…he hasn't been the same since."
Oh God. Cameron closed her eyes. No wonder Wolverine had been so hostile to the thought of another Class Five.
"Cam?" Ororo said worriedly. "Are you alright?"
Cameron nodded and opened her eyes before giving a bitter laugh.
"Fuck."
Storm stared at her new friend as she left the room. Those two had more in common than they realized…she only hoped they would not destroy the mansion in the process of figuring it out.
