"Six months just does'nae seem like enough time, y'ken? I mean, I've made albums in that amount of time before but I always feel like it should take longer. Like there's always something I'm missing, some little thing or another I should have tweaked or done differently." Teva sat in Warren Worthington III's spacious, well-appointed office, sipping water from a bottle because her mouth felt as dry as the Mojave. She tried very hard not to let her ragged nerves show but her right leg was bouncing a bit, the change in her pocket jingling against her keys. The left, now-fully-healed leg was stretched out straight.

Warren shrugged from his perch on the edge of his desk, managing to make the gesture graceful. "Sometimes it just comes out, I guess. The sheer amount of work you've done is amazing and you've got enough material for another couple albums if you choose to go that route." His own water sat untouched next to his leg. "You'll do fine, Teva. The singles have been sent out and they're already getting airplay. Seems the world doesn't really care that you're a mutant as long as you're still making music."

"Aye." After so long it was strange to hear her own voice on the radio so often again, not that it had ever been anything ut weird to her. "I dinnae think that's what you called me here to talk about, though."

He smiled. "No, not really, but I do so love small talk." He slid off the edge of the desk and went around to sit in his chair after straightening his Armani suit. "I wanted to speak with you about the possibility of doing a small tour to promote the album once it drops next month. Nothing big, nothing fancy, I'm thinking small, intimate venues more suited to some of the acoustic pieces."

Teva's stomach flipped and she swallowed hastily, taking another sip of water. "I was hoping you would'nae ask me that again," she said, laughing softly. "My least favorite part of this gig."

"A necessary one, I'm afraid. It was something I wanted to discuss with you so that you could make the decision without any pressure from your band."

Her band consisted of a bassist named Cherry Hammersmith, and they'd replaced the pothead drummer with someone she actually knew: Aardwulf had been the drummer for Stellar Echo, the band whose guitarist Teva had been involved with for quite some time; Evan had been her only real extended relationship. Stellar Echo had since split, citing creative differences, and apparently when Aardwulf had heard she was looking for a drummer, he'd made a call. He was one of the best drummers she'd ever heard and he didn't care one bit that she was a mutant. As soon as he laid down his parts of the tracks and the mixing had been done Teva had realized he'd been the missing element, he'd brought something to the table she'd be hard-pressed to find otherwise.

"The album would'nae sound nearly as good without either of them so it's just as much their decision to tour as it is mine. It may be my name on the album but without them I'm nothing."

"But what do you want to do?"

Stay home and never face the world again, that was what. But she knew she couldn't do that, she'd chosen this path. "What do I want to do? Hide and never come out again. I did'nae take well to fame the last time. I ken it's something I need to do, though, so I'll do it."

Warren grinned. "You make it hard to forget how stubborn you are sometimes." He picked up a sheet of paper, glancing at it before he slid it to her. "I've already drawn up a tentative set of places and dates."

"Awful sure of yourself, aren't you?"

"Like I said, I knew you'd do it if I asked. You've never said no just because something bothered you."

No, I totally didn't tell Logan to get bent just because I was pissed. Seven months he'd been gone but even in the first one when he'd still been around she hadn't gone to him, hadn't tried to see if they could work things out. It had been easy to rationalize it by saying it wouldn't have been worth it, that it would have been a waste of time to even try when she knew he'd just fight against it. Right before she'd shut off the link she'd felt how set against it he was, read that he'd already made up his mind to let her go. She'd told him then and it had remained true that she needed to focus on her physical recovery and she couldn't spare anything if he was going to just fight her. She would have been more than willing to work with him if he'd been willing, too, willing to give both them and himself a chance. Knowing how much he still loved her had just made the knife twist that much harder.

"Teva?"

She shook her head, reaching up to brush hair out of her face. Now at shoulder length she wasn't used to it, it didn't react the same way it did when it was waist length. "Sorry, what? My mind decided to wander."

"I was pointing out some of the venues. I know you've played at the one in Stockholm before, same in London. I wasn't sure if you wanted to add one in Scotland."

"Might do that, there's a pub in Edinburgh I played at once, great acoustics." Teva scanned down the list, approved of what Warren had come up with. "Nothing in Japan? I figured Tokyo would be on the list, maybe even Okinawa."

"I figured you'd want to go there even less than you'd want to return to Scotland."

She laid her hand flat on the sheet of paper, meeting Warren's blue eyes. "It's a big place, War, just because Logan's nearby does'nae mean I'll run into him. Knowing him he'd want to avoid me just as much, it's no something I'm worried about."

Warren looked at her a moment before replying. "If you're sure, we can certainly add a couple of dates. Probably between Shanghai and Sydney."

"I'm sure. I always loved Tokyo." She sat back in her chair. "Not going to let one angry asshole dictate what I do with my career."

"I just didn't want to stir up anything," Warren said, "much as it probably surprises you to hear that from me. I know I wasn't exactly subtle either time I decided to pursue you." His head tilted to the side, an oddly birdlike gesture. "Why'd you let me go?"

Teva blinked at him, water bottle halfway to her mouth. She lowered it and licked her lips. "You're no really my type, Warren, in any sense of the word. That and you were still hung up on Candy at the time. You were looking to forget and that is'nae something I can live with. I dinnae want to be anyone's rebound and I dinnae do casual."

"Logan was a fool to let you go."

She felt her lips draw back in something close to a snarl. "And I'm sick of people saying that like they have any bloody clue what they're talking about." She pushed to her feet, still a little awkward when her leg protested the sudden movement. "There were already so many things working against us, his age for one even before we knew how old he really was, and the differences in our lives. Sometimes love just is'nae enough, y'ken?"

Warren got up, coming around his desk to touch her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Teva, I just ..." His hand came up to touch her cheek. "I did have a thing for you, after I got to know you, and even if you didn't want to have anything to do with me I can still say that I don't like knowing that you're hurting."

Teva stepped away, away from his touch. "It's a part of life, War. I should have seen it coming, should'nae have thought that having a direct link to his mind would make things any different." Her hand clutched over her stomach against an invisible ache. "It's over and there's no point in analyzing it, turning it over to poke at the bad parts like that'll make it better."

"Come to dinner with me, Teva."

She looked back up at him, so much taller than her, beautiful like the creature he'd taken the name of. His words were somewhat innocent but she could read what was below them, the spark of heat he still had towards her. "Now you'd be the rebound, War. Not to mention you're technically my boss and I dinnae need more controversy surrounding my comeback." She put her hands on his shoulders, leaned up to kiss his cheek before she stepped back again. "I'm nae ready, not for anything remotely romantic. I want to get through this as intact as I possibly can."

She could see in his eyes he'd been expecting that answer even while hoping for another, but he was smart enough to let it go. "I won't say another word about it." He gestured back towards the list on his desk. "I'll send you an updated itinerary as we get venues lined up. I'm anticipating the first performance to coincide with the release."

Her stomach flipped again. "Aye, that sounds about right. Aardwulf and I will be back in the studio next week, he's got some ideas he wanted to lay down tracks for, if that's alright with you."

"You know you don't need to ask me, Teva."

"But I do anyway." She saluted him with her water bottle. "See you, War."

She wanted to get as far away from his conflicted emotions as possible. He was well over Candy, especially after her death, but he still harbored feelings for Teva that she didn't want to deal with. Having Logan brought up hadn't pleased her at all as she was doing her best to put that behind her.

He'd been gone six months now, longer than anyone had expected him to. The other X-Men were used to him taking off for a time but usually within a month or so he was back like nothing had changed, he had always been something of the lone wolf and found it easier to keep himself in check if he could get away when he needed to. Ororo had mentioned he was in Madripoor now where he owned the Princess Bar, doing whatever it was he did in that hell hole of a principality. He'd been rather vague the one time he'd mentioned it to Teva and she hadn't been entirely sure what it meant that he didn't want to talk about it. Whatever, it didn't matter now.

Just like it doesn't matter he's been staying with some woman. Ororo was friends with Yukio as well and spoke highly of her, and Teva had picked up on just how close Logan was with her. She'd tried to ignore the stab of jealousy and rage that hit her when she'd realized. He's no yours anymore, Teva, if he was ever really yours to begin with. For all he said he was he kept an awful lot to himself and then did'nae seem to think you could handle his past.

"I wish her joy of him," she growled to herself as she came out of the elevator on the ground floor of Warren's building, striding purposefully if slowly out the doors. Her shining black Chevelle SS sat in front, brought around by the valet as soon as Warren had called down to let them know she was leaving. "Thanks, Andrew," she said to the brunette valet when he handed her the keys. He always seemed a little reluctant to give them up even though the most he'd driven the car was a block to the garage.

"Drive safely, Ms. Lawson."

It had taken her some time to be able to drive the car again, her left leg protesting the use of the clutch until she'd learned to ignore it. The car responded perfectly as she slid out into mid-day New York City traffic, still light before rush hour. She'd forgotten how much she hated driving in the city but she didn't feel comfortable using public transportation for the dual reasons of her celebrity and known mutant status; people were inclined to either yell obscenities at her or beg for her autograph, sometimes the same person doing both. It was almost a waste of gas just to get to her penthouse and hand the keys over to the valet there but it was worth it for peace of mind.

"Ms. Lawson, I'm so glad to know that you didn't sell your penthouse," James the doorman said as he ushered her inside.

"And I was glad to find out you were on vacation and not gone. How have things been since I left?"

The older gentleman smiled as he stepped inside with her. "Quiet for the most part, though the apartment below yours has been as obnoxious as ever. I rather think your absence has allowed them to think they can get away with anything."

"At least the soundproofing in this place is excellent. If I'd been able to hear them blaring ABBA at all hours of the night I think I would have done something drastic." She touched his arm. "I won't be here long, James, just about a month."

"I heard you had a new album coming out. You weren't here much when you were touring with your band, either. And then you left for that school ... Good luck with that, Ms. Lawson. I'll be here if you need me."

She left him in the lobby, took the elevator up to her penthouse. She'd been on the verge of selling it shortly before the blow up with Logan and thanked God nearly daily that she'd kept it. It didn't feel like home quite as much as the Institute but it was better than an impersonal hotel room when she was in the city working on the album.

Almost immediately upon unlocking the door something felt off, not necessarily wrong, at least not until she heard someone in her kitchen. She wished very much for one of her guns, both of which were locked up now while she waited for a concealed carry permit, so she settled for reaching out with her telepathy. The mind she touched made her put her hands on her hips and adopt an exasperated, amused tone.

"Remy LeBeau, what the hell are you doing in my flat?" she demanded, her voice carrying through the empty apartment.

The man in question appeared in the doorway, a sly grin on his face and a bottle of Pepsi in his hand. "Remy didn' know when ya'd be back so he let himself in."

"And by 'let himself in' you mean you picked the lock." She crossed the room and pulled his face down to give him a smacking kiss on the lips. "Lucky I did'nae hit you with a psi-blast, you Cajun bastard."

He ducked his head in something approximating shame, still smiling. His red-on-black eyes glowed a bit in the dim apartment. "Came to see how ma belle soeur be doin' all alone in the big city. Make sure she behavin' herself, n'est pas?"

"She's behaving herself quite well, thank you." Teva moved past him into the kitchen, getting herself a bottle of Pepsi. "I did'nae ken you were coming up. I was planning on coming home next week, and definitely now before I go on tour."

Remy flopped down on the leather couch, sprawling his long limbs rather gracefully. He looked up at her through a mess of brown hair. "So that means y' gonna be gone a long while."

Teva sat down next to him, curling up against his side. He was the only man she accepted comfort from, the only one she trusted enough to let her guard down, mostly because there was nothing between them that wasn't platonic; both were looking for a sibling they hadn't been born with and with that came the ease to sit like this without it getting weird. He put his arm around her and pulled her close. "Aye, a few months at least. I dinnae ken if there'll be more dates added to the tour once it gets going, that happens sometimes when venues sell out. No way to ken at this point whether or not this will be that successful."

"Y'know it will be, Teva. Got faith in ya, the kind I don' have in anyone else."

She rested her head on his shoulder. Her hands were restless, tearing the label off her soda bottle and shredding it further into a little pile on her lap. "I hate touring," she said quietly. "I hate being alone, I hate the isolation. I thought if it ever happened again I would'nae be alone, that Logan - I hate that I still miss him, Remy. I hate that he's still got my heart and I dinnae ken how to take it back, how to stop loving him. Seven months and I'm still hoping maybe he'll realize how much of a bleeding moron he was and he'll come back."

Remy stroked her hair, resting his cheek against the top of her head. "It don' get any easier sometimes, chere, even with time."

"I just ... was I wrong? Not just in telling him to leave but in loving him in the first place? For all I was a permanent fixture in his mind there was a lot he never told me, things I did'nae ken because he kept them to himself. He did'nae even tell me about Mariko until I found the swords in his closet and I dinnae ken if he'd have mentioned her otherwise. Seven months with him and I did'nae even ken he'd been engaged!" She felt her breath hitch, cursed Logan for the billionth time in her mind, cursed herself even further.

"Logan be a secretive man, Teva, for all he's a good one. It not be his nature to share a lot o' himself. Ya weren't wrong for lovin' 'im, for wantin' to be loved in return."

Teva sniffled, wiping tears from her eyes with her hand. "I just wish I had'nae given him so much of myself, like maybe that would have made this easier."

"Y' wouldn' be Teva if y' did that, chere. Ya wear your heart on your sleeve for all the world t' see."

"I guess I just made it that much easier for him to stomp all over it then."

Remy shifted so that he could look at her. "Don' say that, Teva. Logan be in the wrong here an' I don't wanna hear ya say otherwise, comprends-tu?"

She looked down, away from his eyes. "All I do is second guess myself anymore, Remy. Dinnae ken what to do anymore."

"Ya gonna get t'rough this, is what ya gonna do. And I'll be here any time ya need me, all ya gotta do is call."