May 29, 2023

Danielle was so tired and felt like she needed some sleep. Even after two more days with no electric power and another storm that passed through (hopefully the last for a while), she felt like a truck ran her over. She smiled through it all in the meantime, hoping that nobody would notice it. However, on the inside, she was feeling a new emotional pain that she never knew existed. She concluded that it was a part of her. There was no doubt about it because the feelings were hers, but from another time and place maybe. In either case, it made her nervous, more so than the power still being out and her older sons unable to travel to see her.

Doing her usual rounds down in the living room, she aimlessly walked around, addressing the usual things and even scolding a child for trying to climb the walls using their mutation. She ran into Daken once on the second time around, reminding him about his schoolwork, and she ignored Celeste completely. That wasn't much trouble anyway. Celeste was more interested in her friends and purposely rolled her eyes when she saw her mother. That most likely had something to do with Ororo separating Celeste from her friends and the argument she got into with Danielle about it.

Even if the fight was a couple of days ago, it still annoyed the mother who used to be so rebellious. Celeste was so upset over being away from her friends that she pointed the finger at Danielle and informed that (on the top of her lungs) that she hated her. Danielle informed Celeste calmly that if she didn't disturb her classes so much, it wouldn't happen. Of course, this prompted the teenager to run to Logan in the next room, who also played the bad guy and sided with Danielle, although his soothing words made Celeste love him all the more.

Just as Danielle left the living room, Jean stopped her. She pulled her friend to one side and away from the children, her face very grave. Danielle did not bother reading her. Oddly enough, she did not want to know. The way Jean looked at her was very accusing, like it was her fault that something happened. It might be, Danielle conceded, for all that was going on lately.

"The Professor needs to talk to you in his office now," Jean started. "Fiona is also there."

"What? Why?" Hearing that her sister-in-law was there made Danielle nervous.

Jean did not seem like she was in the mood for questions, clarifying the situation quickly. "She needs an explanation from you. This morning, Jay got up and suddenly collapsed. Fiona was not able to wake him up, although he was still breathing. However, she was horrified to find out that he appeared in every way to be wounded…by a few gunshots wounds."

Danielle gulped. "Jean –"

"I don't want to hear it," Jean interrupted. "Save it for the Professor and Fiona. Come on."

Danielle took one last glance at her children. Daken and Celeste were busily chatting with their friends. She guessed that they would be ok for the time being. Logan wasn't in sight and mentioned that he would be researching anyway. While sure that he could check on them eventually (since he tried being so involved in their lives), she followed Jean down the hallway into Xavier's office. She then closed the door behind her, seeing that the meeting was going to be short because of high tension. Sitting in a chair before Xavier's desk, Fiona appeared devastated. Her face betrayed dried tears on her cheeks and reddened eyes and nothing more. However, she stared at Danielle with suspicion.

"I would need you to start explaining what's been happening, Danielle," Xavier began, unsure of how else to. "I have told as much as I could of the story. I believe you can finish where I could not."

"I would not know where I can pick the story up," Danielle protested, sitting in a chair next to Fiona. She took her sister-in-law's hands into hers for comfort. "I guess I can start on that morning…"

"When Logan was acting strange?" Fiona asked in a whisper, taking her hands out of Danielle's.

"Yes," Danielle admitted. "I'm sure the Professor has told you that Logan's…well, his consciousness anyway…came from a different time and place, where the future was destitute. Since then, I have been trying to piece together our past for him. Jay had to be in the loop because of obvious reasons. However, as time has passed and we've used our powers more and more, we have discovered that their past and ours seem to be merging."

"What?" This confused even Jean.

Danielle showed her arm with the black widow tattoo. "This has never happened before. In Logan's other past, it did."

"Would that mean that…that Jay is dead in the other?" Fiona could not believe it.

"I think Logan would be the best to answer those questions," Danielle quickly amended. "I think he would be able to determine what happened to everyone."

"So, would this mean that, whatever he did not affects what we have now?" Jean wondered.

"It could be," Xavier conceded. "But what can be done is also undone. The underlining cause might be the memories of the past now. If they are shown to one who came from another world, then it's highly possible that Logan's memories of another time are merging. His consciousness from then was not supposed to belong here unless showing him the past has brought it up."

Everyone then looked to Danielle. "It could be," she echoed. "It would also be something else that is part of our mutation. It's worth looking into."

"It might also mean life and death," Jean reminded Danielle. "Right now, Jay is acting like he's alive, but in a coma like he's dead. The wounds have been cleaned out. They don't seem lift-threatening, although they are nasty."

"Let me talk to Logan then," Danielle begged, seeing no other solution. Worrying was going nowhere. "I can ask him what happened. I'm pretty sure he can remember that."

Xavier nodded, agreeing, although Danielle had a suspicion that he knew everything anyway. Fiona echoed the sentiment, tears threatening to come down her face again as she shooed her sister-in-law away. Jean, on the other hand, was not convinced that this would help. She had to trust Danielle though. There was no other choice.

Without further ado, Danielle left, confident that she would receive some answers soon. Using whatever powers she had left (there wasn't enough since Jay was dormant), she located Logan in the library. She shut the door behind her upon arrival, following his scent to a table where he was reading a book. He noticed her quickly and closed it, fingering it like it was precious. He put it down though, seeing the seriousness on Danielle's face. She sat down across from him, her eyes bearing into his intensely.

"I need you to tell me everything you can about your other past," Danielle said baldly.

"Why?" This startled Logan.

"Because there are things going on that we can't explain and I think you can."

"Want me to go back to the beginning?"

"That would be great, thanks. I know of it. Repeating won't kill the suspense."

Logan ignored Danielle's sarcasm. "I didn't stumble upon this place until maybe 2001 or 2002 and it was by accident. Rogue ran away from home and decided to sneak into my trailer. I decided to take her along with me. We got into an accident and Storm and Scott picked us up. From there, it's been a bumpy ride."

"You didn't know me then." Danielle seemed incredulous that Rogue was the first Logan met. She also seemed to forget that Logan told her this already.

"No," Logan admitted again. "The Professor introduced us. I thought he did it on purpose too, just for laughs. He seemed to think that we would be a good couple…and we were, I guess…but there was something wrong with the picture. First off, you were pregnant with Riley. The second was that you were still married to Leon Ellis."

Danielle's hand flew to her mouth, shocked. "No."

"Yes," Logan continued, "except he wasn't a dictator then. He was just a plain senior senator who tagged his cousin to the House and helped to make gradual changes that made the future that I came from. He nearly killed you a few times. So did Peter."

"What happened next?" Danielle was more than shocked and seemed so sucked into the story.

Logan shrugged his shoulder in indifference. "A bittersweet relationship that ended up here."

"That doesn't answer much, Logan."

"Why do you need to know?"

"Jay…there's something wrong with him. He woke up this morning, got up and fell. Jean said that he had gunshot wounds. Not life threatening, she thinks, but he's in a coma. He might even die."

This made Logan freeze. First, he noticed that claw marks on Danielle's arm. An accident on his part from another lifetime ago, but nonetheless a little disturbing. Now, it was Jay. Stories from his other life told to him painted a picture of a cocky, drunk ex-Army bar bouncer who introduced his sister to many things when she was young and immature, turning her into an assassin before she was eighteen, much as it was now. By then, one night after a performance at Teller's bar, the two were betrayed by the bar owner and ambushed by Ellis and his forces. Danielle was detained and sold to marriage, but Jay was a prisoner not worth keeping alive. Ellis shot Jay several times as he laughed and eventually died on the kitchen floor.

"God," Logan muttered, the only thing he could.

"Logan, this is serious," Danielle protested in a whisper, toning it down when she saw some students pass them. Sh waited until they were out of earshot before continuing. "It could be that your past and this are coming together. We need to figure out why this is happening and why. It could be me and Jay that are causing this. Who knows? Our powers are so vast –"

"I understand that," Logan cut in. "I have yet to show you anything. A time rift never existed."

"It seems like this was done multiple times and was disturbed after you came."

"For small periods of time, people went back to the past, yes. We went back a day or two at the most. Not fifty years, which is what I did."

"That could be it then. It's a far stretch."

"Yeah, and one that you and your brother are now feeling."

"It's a better-explained and expanded theory than what we had. Now, we need to figure out how to fix it. Who was the one who sent you back to the past?"

Logan paused. "Kitty. I believe Rogue also took over after a while too."

"I don't believe it," Danielle replied. "Kitty Pryde? Mousy little Kitty?"

Logan nodded. "Yeah. I couldn't believe it either."

"It makes me wonder what she knows. If she has powers like that…" Danielle let it trail there.

"She told me that I was going to be the only person who will remember," Logan mused. "If her, you, Rogue and Jay seem to be the key to opening this supposed time rift, then you four can close it."

"Could be." Danielle shrugged her shoulders this time. "Care to take a walk before we check on our wayward children?"

"I think we should." Logan got up, linking his arm into Danielle's as she did the same. "Let's just hope Kitty is alone."

"And doesn't think we're crazier than we are now," Danielle added, laughing as they left the library.

I just want to put in a quick apology here for the lack of updates. I'll try my hardest to get the chapters out faster. However, I do want to thank everyone for reading. I appreciate it greatly. :)