CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE:

XAVIERS SCHOOL FOR GIFTED CHILDREN

So this was the infamous rabbit?

Logan gritted his teeth together. He didn't even know the girl, had no cause to dislike her, but the fact remained that she would probably drive a wedge inbetween Cassie and his brother.

Logan shook his head, mentally slapping himself. `He's NOT my brother!` He turned to the others and gave a low, commanding growl. "Alright, guys, get some food, come on." He supervised their plates, although Rogue, Jubilee and Clarisse didn't really need supervision (he'd chewed them out before, so they knew what to get). All the while, he kept his eye on Cassie and the new girl as they embraced, Cassie jabbering a mile a minute.

"I'M SO GLAD YOU'RE HERE! How on EARTH did you get here!? Did you bring Manny with you? It doesn't look like you brought much."

Logan growled in annoyance. "Hey, Cassie!" both girls turned to face him, Cassie arching an eyebrow at him while Bunny wolf-whistled.

Now it was Rogues turn to growl.

"Get over here and eat!" Logan ordered. "Vic'll run me through if yer not fed!"

"Is this the, uh, Sabretooth?" Bunny asked, pointing with one finger.

"Nah, that's Logan." Cassie answered quietly, although Logan heard it all very well.

"Damn!" Bunny said appreciatively and Rogue growled louder, making Logan turn to look at her with both amusement and a little surprise.

Cassie took hold of Bunnys hand, pulling her to the table. "Don't worry, Rogue." She addressed the southern belle. "Bunny's married."

"Yeah, and I don't cheat." Bunny snorted. "Doesn't mean I can't appreciate."

When Rogue growled a little louder, both of Logans eyebrows went up and Jubilee scooted away from her a little. "Whoa there, chica."

Logan started up his 'purr' going to sit beside the southern belle and draping one strong arm over her shoulders. Some strange, primal part of him wanted to pull her onto his lap and feed her, but he shoved the urge down. This was Marie, after all! She was just a kid! And practically his ward! After all, he had been the one who had 'found' her, rescued her from the then insane Sabretooth.

Logan mentally shook himself; Victor wasn't the problem right now (and, for the record, he couldn't BELIEVE he wasn't seeing the 'Sabretooth' as a problem.)

A little of Logans frustration…..okay, A LOT of his frustration…..came out when he addressed his sister-in-law. "Vic and I didn't go through all this trouble just to thin out the population of deer, Cassie, now EAT!"

Cassie rolled her eyes and sat down to her plate while Bunny raised her eyebrows at the feral. "Who shoved a thorny stick up your ass?" the Native American asked.

Rogue choked on her piece of meat and Logan had to hit her on the back, snarling at the rabbit, a little shocked when she snarled right back.

"Bunny's a trouble-maker….." Cassie said conversationally, forking a piece of meat in her mouth then making a face at the gamey flavor before swallowing. "This tastes weird."

"That's because yer used to cow." Bunny answered, sitting down next to her.

Logan nodded his head towards the Native-Americans belt of knives. "You sure you should be wearing that?"

Cassie snorted into her food while Bunny, quite calmly, withdrew a throwing knife and, with startling speed and accuracy, sent it flying over Logans head—"HEY!"—and embedding itself in the wall, smack-dab between two panels of wood.

Jubilees gum fell out of her mouth as Rogue gawked.

"I'm sure." Bunny said, smirking proudly before turning to her younger 'sister'. "So, Cat, the question is, am I here for a rescue mission or a neutering one or both?"

This time both Logan and Rogue choked, Rogue hitting her chest with her fist while Jubilee out and out laughed. Logan had blanched a pale white.

Cassie shrugged, ignoring the others reactions completely. "Actually, I'm not sure, more support I think." She sighed and put down her fork. "This Victor/Sabretooth person is a serial killer" at Logans glare, she sarcastically corrected herself. "excuse me, MERCENARY who completely believes I'm his mate, so he kidnapped me while I was hiking in the woods, made a huge fuss over me while freaking me out and then the telepath in the wheelchair and Mr. Metal-claws over there—" she gave a nod towards Logan "—rescued me, only apparently I'm not allowed to leave here either."

Bunny shrugged, helping herself to some venison. "Well, if you want to leave we'll just go after we eat."

Logan let out a protesting growl. "It's not that simple, darlin."

Bunny shot him a fiery glare. "Well, I'll MAKE it that simple."

"And then Victor will most likely hunt you down and kill ya for take'n his mate from him, then Cassie will hate him and we'll all be in a world of hurt." Logan growled back.

Cassie froze, her fork hovering in her hand mid-air. "KILL Bunny!?" she squeaked, absolutely horrified.

"You know I'm not that easy to kill, Cat." Bunny soothed, rolling her eyes.

Roddy tugged on Cassie's sleeve, looking up at her with big, reptilian eyes. "I don't want you to leave."

"Oh honey." Cassie picked up the little mutant and hugged him to her chest. "I'm sorry, but this isn't my home, and I have a job….." suddenly her face grew panicked. "MY JOB! Oh CRABCAKES! Bunny, what day is it!?"

"It's Wednsday." Kayla/Bunny answered calmly, cutting her venison. "You don't have to work till Friday. And, anyways, I called your work and told them you were sick. Since you rarely do that, they were fine with giving you the weekend off."

"Where do you work?" Rogue asked, trying to start at least a semi-normal conversation.

Cassie chewed her lower lip nervously. "Tillys Sandwiches. Not the Ritz, I know, but hey, it's money, pays the rent." She straightened panickedly again. "Dagnabit, the RENT!"

"It's not due till next week." Bunny interjected calmly.

Logan was amused. "More proof that you need a keeper."

Cassie rolled her eyes. "I CAN take care of myself."

"From what I've seen you can't." Logan argued calmly. "Infact, you tend to get into trouble."

Bunny smirked. "I'll say. Did she tell you about the time that she got stuck up a pine tree? Took me and Manny hours to get her down."

"What were you doing up a pine tree!?" Jubilee exclaimed, looking both amused and shocked.

Cassie shrugged, looking determinedly at her plate. "I just wanted to see what the view was like, geez Bun!"

"Or the time she tried to go to work in just her underware?" Bunny continued.

"It was five-O-clock in the bloody morning!" Cassie defended, waving her fork at her onee-san. "Nobodys' brain is supposed to function at that time!"

Both Logan and Rogue snorted, even Jonesy giggled.

"How about when you melted your carpet with the iron?" Bunny asked before sticking another piece of venison in her mouth. "Or caught the pizza box on fire because you forgot it was in the oven?"

"You are making me sound completely incompetent." Cassie growled in annoyance. "Please stop."

Bunny smirked.

Logan put another piece of deer meat in his mouth, speaking as he chewed. "Sounds tah me like you need Victor."

"Don' chew with yer mouth full, sugah." Rogue chastised gently.

Bunny's eyes flashed fire. "Tell me about this 'Victor'."

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VOCABULARY:

INCOMPETENT: adj: 1. Not able to do what is needed; without enough skill or knowledge.