AN: Back again. The delay was caused by personal issues, that's all I can say. I hope updates will be more frequent than they have been, but other things in my life may be taking priority for a while. No worries, the chapters will keep coming- just not as fast as I want them to…

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The sky had lightened to a sickly pre-dawn grey by the time Logan found a main road. What little sunlight that made its way through the clouds was quickly lost in the flurrying snow that whipped in Logan's face and stung his eyes; only his healing ability kept frostbite from claiming his extremities. Selene was faring better than would be expected, but, even as bundled up as she was, she was still trembling violently.

To add insult to injury, the snowmobile, which was their only chance of both evading their captors and finding civilization, was beginning to run out of gas.

It was nearly afternoon and the gas needle was struggling to stay aloft when Logan turned yet another of what must have been a thousand bends in the road. There it was, the run down one-pump gas station and general store seemed like a palace to the weary runaways.

Logan eased the snowmobile up to the storefront and parked it next to a relic of a miniature camper whose front window displayed a wrinkled "For Sale" sign. He swung Selene up in his arms and brought her in to the waiting warmth.

The young man minding the store was surprised at the oddly dressed strangers at first, but when Logan dangled the keys of the top-of-the-line snowmobile in front of his face, his confusion melted into an expression of enthusiastic assistance.

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A warm meal, a decent amount of general supplies, and a rusty red camper later, Logan and Selene were on the run again. While only an hour ago he was running out of gas and fighting frostbite, he now had a place to sleep, food in his stomach, and even a small wad of cash in his pocket.

Realizing that he and Selene actually had a fighting chance, he allowed himself a rare optimistic thought, 'suddenly, my life doesn't look that bad.'

With Selene sleeping contentedly in the passenger seat, Logan surveyed their new home on the road. It was small and beat up, and it wouldn't last forever, but all of the parts worked.

'It looks great,' the confident thought continued

The camper kept them on the move, and most importantly during the long winter nights, it kept them warm.

'It looks cozy' his optimistic side finished as he took in the last details of the small space that hung behind the cab of the truck.

Glancing once more at his sleeping lover before returning his attention to the snow-packed road, Logan murmured to himself, "We'll be ok".

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Far in the opposite direction, a middle-aged scientist removed the silencer from the pistol that still smoked in his hand.

"My apologies, General," a cold, calculating voice sneered, its even tone a far cry from the mock stutter that he had donned for the better part of the last decade. He watched the baffled General struggle for his last breath, and would have happily watched as the idiot's corpse turned cold, but the piercing wail of an infant demanded his attention.

Dr. Nathaniel Essex turned his back on the General's corpse, thoroughly ending that chapter in his life. Playing the part of the stuttering fool had served him well over the past few years as he laid the foundation of his grand scheme. True, recent events had not brought him to the conclusion that he had hoped for, but there was still time.

Essex reached the vehicle and brusquely stopped the infant with a pacifier and turned his thoughts to mending the gaps in his plans- most notably, how to recapture his favorite subjects in time to oversee the next stage of the experiment.

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Sorry for the long wait and short chapter, but the next one is already in the works and should (hopefully) be around my usual chapter length (and posted soon-ish). I just really liked the way the chapter felt with the current ending, so I shortened it a bit.

UchihaAkia, Ithilya, AngelwithDirtyToughts, CHIBI-CRAZY, AnonymousUniverse, Lamminator, trekkie907, Fairy Skull, truepinkluv24, EastAngels2009, and Bobby Rae: Thanks so much! It really means a lot to me that y'all are enjoying it!

JuunBug: Yeah, I know there are spelling/grammar mistakes. I try my best, and usually I'm a total grammar freak too, but whenever I finish a chapter I'm just so excited to post it that I don't do much more than a spell-check and once-over.

Ray, Fire Black Dragon, and anyone else wondering what's happening with James: Like I said, James will work back into the story in the future. Right now he's alive and well, but, aside from occasional reference, the story's going to focus on Logan and Selene. (James is going to be a huge focus later on. I don't want to say any more and ruin it ;) ).

Bridgette Potter: I always imagined them in your general "human experiment" kinda clothes. Maybe the clone's uniforms from "The Island" or River's gray outfit in the beginning of "Serenity" for reference, if anybody's familiar with those movies. (But as of the end of this chapter, they have regular street clothes).

Lucky's Girl: As of the end of this chapter, the story takes place a few months before Logan would have met Rogue in X1. In the next chapter or two, the timeline should become crystal clear.

Wolfy Pup: I don't know exactly how many chapters it'll end up as, but the plot in my head makes it out into a longer story. I may split it up into sequels, or keep it as one huge story, I haven't decided yet, but even if I do split the story up, we should be a while from the end yet.