Don't shoot me, please. I've been busy. Two jobs and all that.

Disclaimer - I do not own X-Men. It belongs to Stan Lee and Marvel.

LOGAN'S POV

I was warm. I was warm and comfortable and whoever was throwing small pits of rolled up paper at my face was going to die a painful and horrible death. I groaned into my pillow. That's when I realized that my pillow was a person. Not just a person. The memories (what few memories I could find) from last night flooded my brain and I bolted upright, off Leah.

I looked around and saw Damien sitting in the armchair across from the couch. He was smiling an evil little smile, violet eyes glittering. "Did I interrupt you?" He asked.

"Shut up." I warned the annoying little Irishman. "What are you even doing here?" I asked, getting off the couch entirely.

"I got into town no too long ago. I thought I'd pay a little visit to Xavier's." He said shrugging. "Didn't know I was going to see a cute little show."

"Go away."

"Nope. I've already said hi to the people I wanted to and the only one left is my little Leah." His smirk grew. "Or is she your little Leah?"

I growled at him and stalked off.

LEAH'S POV

I woke up to the sound of Logan growling. My eyes opened and I saw Damien, sitting in the armchair, looking at the doorway into the foyer. "Hey." I said.

He looked over at me. Damien had shoulder-length, purple hair and wide purple eyes. His skin was so lightly toned I often made a vampire joke or two when he's around.

"Well good morning sunshine." He said, smiling. "What did you do last night?"

I sat up, brushing my hair straight with my fingers. "Nothing. Sat awake till three before Logan stumbles home drunk. He sits, we talk. He leans on me and refuses to get up. We fall asleep. But not before he decides to say that he loves me out of the blue."

"What?" He asked, surprised.

"I know." I agreed. "It was so random."

"I bet you're psyched."

"You bet wrong" I corrected.

His eyebrow raised in question.

"I'm seeing someone. And to be honest, I don't plan on leaving him for Logan. Now I have to find a way to tell him without completely destroying our friendship."

"Really? You're seeing someone? Who?"

I sighed. "Ya know, anyone else would yell at me, and they have. But something tells me you'll like this."

His smile changed to an evil one. "Really?"

"Have you heard of Ghost?"

He leaned back and started to think. "The one known for killing those politicians?"

"That's the one."

He looked at me blankly for a moment before his eyes widened. "No."

"Yup."

"Wow. I'm so proud of you."

I chuckled. "Thought you'd say that. So. How was Egypt?" I asked.

He sighed dramatically, looking away and then back at me. "It was amazingly terrible."

"Of course."

"Come on. Let's go to the mall. We can chat. I'll buy lunch."

I looked over to the clock. 1:14 pm.

"So how many people do you think saw us?" I asked, getting up.

"You really wanna know?"

"Nope." Damien was too good at math. He was a genius and an experienced explorer. He'd spend time anywhere in the world where he could have his 'next great adventure.' Once in a while, he'd grace us at the institute with his presence and then flit away. "I need to change. Gimme ten minutes."

"Meet me down at the garage. I heard you have a sweet new ride."

After changing and getting on the road, Damien riding his own Cruiser, we found ourselves at the local mall. It was routine for Ien and me to run off to the shopping plaza whenever he was in town. The mall was our little get away where we could catch up without having to deal with the other people at Xaviers.

We parked in front of the small panini shop next to Sears and sat at our usual corner table in the back. "So. Tell me about this Ghost. Is he sexy?"

I grinned evilly. "Wouldn't you love to know."

"I'm sure he is. Anyone who takes out that gay hating Mississippi senator is sexy in my book."

"He's free, ya know?" I said tilting my head, trying to find a better way to describe it. "It's like he's not tied down to the social norms and the awful ways that the government uses to control us."

"Isn't he in the Brotherhood?" He asked, opening he menu.

"Yeah. But he's not Magneto's slave. He has his own morals and his own way of thinking and he's just trying to defend that right."

"Good man." Ien nodded in agreement. "I respect anyone who lives by their own rules."

"So." I said, trying to swerve the conversation towards him. "How's your Logan?"

He smiled. "What?"

"I mean, are you guys still a couple?"

"Well we broke up in Morocco. We got back together in Nubia. He's doing very well. You'll be able to see him again tomorrow. He has some things to take care of." He replied.

I chuckled as the waitress walked up to us.

MATT'S POV

I watched as Leah sat down with the purple-haired stranger. They were laughing as they chatted and their conversation didn't falter even as they ate. I watched intently, reading the man sitting opposite of her. He was odd looking and obviously gay. Not that I had a problem with hat, it just allowed me to strike him off the "potential predator" list.

I moved carefully in the shadow world and moved closer, listening in.

Leah was talking. "-caught me off guard. It explains his behavior, though."

"What behavior?"

"He built me a machine he would barely let me touch a year ago."

THe man shrugged. "Well neither would I. You crashed three cars already."

"May I speak?" She asked.

"I'm sorry. Continue."

"Thank you. And then he took me to the bar. I dunno. I guess I should have noticed with the constant cock competition between him and Matt."

"So they've met?"

"Yeah." Leah confirmed. "They've interacted plenty. Needless to say, every thing's going to pot."

"I leave you alone fora few months and I miss everything. How is that?"

She chuckled, looking straight through me. Her face went from amused to concerned and sad. "I don't know how I'm going to break it to him, though."

My blood froze.