A/N - robbiepoo ... yeah ... Kurt ... that hurt to write. Honestly. And obviously all the sweet kids were there to cushion.


Chapter 11 - One Foot At A Time


For the first time in anyone's memory, Scott dragged his feet on returning to the school until the day before classes were set to start. He had never taken that long for himself - and he'd never let it slide until the day before school started. And the truth was that the only reason he hadn't come back later was because Jean had an appointment to get to. He didn't know what he story was anymore, and he wasn't exactly looking forward to finding out.

Of course, that didn't figure in how much Rachel had been asking about Abbey and the twins - or the fact that his little girl had spent most of the flight home drawing a picture for James. In truth, Scott dreaded what was going to happen when it came to the kids. His daughter was going to get hurt and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Scott's good mood began to slip as soon as they'd exited the jet … and the deep sense of foreboding only seemed to build as they went deeper into the mansion.

Students were buzzing around all over the place, schedules in hand and trying to figure out where they needed to go … teachers were trying to direct traffic and supervise that there were no incidents in the hall while the kids were finding how to settle in … and Charles was there to greet them with a warm, understanding smile.

"Welcome home," Charles said, which never failed to get a broad smile out of Scott at the very least.

"Good to be back, professor," Scott said automatically, even if he really didn't mean it. Not entirely anyhow.

The two of them fell into their usual groove as Jean and Rachel headed for the library, where Jean was sure she'd find K and the littlest Howletts.

Scott, however, was picking up his old concerns the more he and Charles talked. As he'd guessed, Storm had stepped up to make sure the slide into the new year was an easy one. Everyone was registered - everyone was learning their schedules and the schedule of the school itself … and from what he'd seen so far, all of the teachers were ready to go too … except, he hadn't seen Logan or K yet. He was secretly pleased with himself for scheduling Logan's classes in a way that would make it easy enough for himself and Charles to step in for self defense and History, respectively, should Logan go to the Avengers like he expected him to.

"You should talk to him, you know," Charles said.

Scott turned quickly, a frown on his face as he watched Charles for a moment. "I'm sorry -"

"Logan. You should talk with him."

"I guess I just don't see what the point would be, professor. He's going to do whatever he wants anyhow. I'd just be wasting my breath."

"You believe you know how all of this will pan out," Charles said, looking mildly amused. "Did you develop precognition while you were gone?"

Scott gave him a dry look. "I just know how he'll react to anything like a reasonable discussion."

"I'd love for you to prove yourself wrong."

"I would too, but it hasn't happened yet," Scott said.

Charles' smile widened. "Talk to him. Please. If for no other reason than you have to confirm things for classes."

Scott sighed heavily but agreed - not because he wanted to, or because he thought he'd be proven wrong - but because he simply couldn't tell the professor 'no' when it came to a set task. With a job at hand, Scott turned and left to try and find Logan and have as little of a talk as was possible. It took longer than he'd expected, but when he found Logan, he was doing his best to resolutely ignore Kurt as Kurt tiptoed around whatever it was that had Logan turning his back to him.

"You'll need to talk to me sooner or later, Logan," Kurt said, sounding exasperated suddenly.

"I'm talking to you now," Logan replied in a flat even tone that even Scott wasn't used to hearing.

"Yes, but … you can't hold on to what I said before, Logan. I didn't mean a word of it."

"It's fine, Elf."

But even Scott could see that Kurt was distressed, and he couldn't understand why Logan was being so … cold to him. Clearly, he'd missed something big … and equally dramatic.

Kurt looked exasperated, and though Scott hated to interrupt, he also hated to be in the middle of whatever drama these two had cooked up. But he had to follow through, so he cleared his throat as a means of announcing himself. Kurt turned toward him, looking relieved to see him, but Logan didn't even look at him. "I needed to take a minute but if you're busy-"

"Just spit it out, Summers."

Scott almost took a step back at Logan's tone, not expecting the resigned note in his voice. "I was just confirming your classes -" he stopped short, frowning when still, Logan didn't turn and instead kept working on the part that he'd pulled from … something. "What's going on here?"

"Workin' on the Jeep," Logan said. "Already confirmed with you. Unless you're changing your mind about somethin'."

"No." Scott looked toward Kurt who was clearly pleading for him to do something. "Then … you all set for Monday?"

"Yep."

Scott was sure that wasn't all there was to it but he had no context as to why Kurt looked so distressed. "Anything new from the Avengers?"

"Nope."

Again, Scott paused since he couldn't remember Logan acting like this before. "K and the kids alright?"

"Yep." And still, Logan didn't bother looking at either of them, even if it was clear something was up.

Scott let out a breath, unsure if this was just hold over from before or some other fresh hell that he really didn't need in his life. "Staff meeting at seven tonight."

"Okay."

Scott narrowed his eyes and took a step back, but he honestly didn't have the desire to bother with the drama and instead of going through a dozen questions that Logan obviously wasn't going to bother answering, Scott turned and left, shaking his head the whole time. It was unsettling not to get anything from Logan

Jean's appointment went off without a hitch, and everything with the baby seemed to be perfectly on track, which had both Jean and Scott relaxing, though now that they knew things were moving properly, Scott's mind started to wander again at how oddly he thought Logan was acting. Most, if not all of the rest of the staff were more quiet around him than usual - and he wasn't interacting with anyone … which had Scott turning to Jean before dinner while the two of them were alone. Kitty had offered to take Rachel to play with Michael, and it was a moment of quiet the two Summers needed. But the last thing Scott wanted to do with that quiet time was break the silence with discussion of the Howletts. Yet …

"Did K seem alright to you earlier?" Scott asked since he hadn't seen her himself and he knew Jean had gone to find her and the kids with Rachel.

"Quiet," Jean said. "But … she wasn't unfriendly and the kids were glad to see Rachel."

Scott hummed to himself. "Logan and Kurt are on the outs for some reason."

"Kurt was projecting loudly," Jean agreed. "Apparently, he said some things he didn't mean to say. Not that you'd know what that was like."

"I wouldn't," Scott agreed. "I meant what I had to say."

Jean sighed but didn't argue - his mood was slipping too fast on its own -she did not want to have him thinking for one second that she was going to take Logan's side and make it worse. "It would be nice to know what happened while we were gone. I talked to 'Ro, but she said Logan's been minding his own business and avoiding everyone."

"How is that different than any other time that he's wrong and trying to be a pain?"

"Maybe it's not."

But … Logan's family didn't show up for dinner, and he and K barely made it to the staff meeting just afterward. The fact that the rest of the staff didn't find it unusual had Scott alarmed. Logan had pulled away like this before … but not since he'd met K. And only when he was getting ready to leave. But he couldn't deal with that when there was an actual meeting so he soldiered on.

And, as he'd expected, there were a few questions from the usual suspects. Bobby was cracking jokes, Warren was trying to get him to control himself, and Kurt was utterly distracted by Logan. But, when the time came where Scott was asking if anyone had any problems or concerns, Logan pointedly looked at his hands and didn't respond or react. And that had Scott frowning. Now … now was when Logan would suddenly announce that he had a commitment in the middle of the semester, or that something critical had come up elsewhere … but nothing.

"Are you going to visit Jubilee at college?" Kurt asked Logan quietly, but Logan mildly shook his head and kept his tongue. "What about Mac and Heather's Anniversary?" Again, Logan shook his head - and it left Scott utterly bewildered.

The meeting ended shortly after, and as soon as it was done, several of the others were quick to catch Scott - peppering them with more questions on how the little retreat in Alaska had been, but he was distracted. Jean shooed him off, and he rushed to catch up, which he managed to do as Logan and K turned down the hall toward their suite. "Hey, hold on," Scott called out, and Logan turned as he let out a heavy breath. He didn't say anything, instead waiting for Scott to say or do … whatever he was up to as K continued on with the kids. "What's going on with you?"

"Nothing."

"You know we're counting on you to teach, right?"

Logan looked utterly unamused. "And?"

"And you're going to be here for your classes, aren't you?"

Logan held both arms out. "Does it look like I'm leavin?"

"Honestly? Yes."

"Do you want me to?" Logan asked, his lip curling around the words and his teeth on edge.

"Are you going to be like this all year?"

Logan stared at him in pure disbelief for a long moment. "What the hell'm I doin' now, outside of keepin' the hell out of everyone's way?"

"You're not acting like yourself for one thing," Scott shot back, his voice raising. "I want to know why! Are you leaving?"

"No."

"You sure? Because it sure looks like you are."

It was just about everything Logan could do to keep his temper in check as he answered in a low, even tone. "I'm staying until I'm not needed."

Scott's eyes narrowed, though Logan didn't see it, and for a second, Scott wasn't sure what to address or how to address it. The idea that Logan thought his place here was temporary was an old argument and one he thought had been settled. Yes, Scott had lost his temper, but from what he'd gleaned from the team at dinner, Logan had been at the school the whole time the Summers family was gone … and before Scott could come up with any kind of a response, Logan turned and kept walking. So Scott clenched his jaw and decided to turn back the way he'd come and talk to Jean. At least she could translate crazy.

Logan, however, didn't get all the way to his room before someone else caught up to him. "Why are you sticking around?" Logan tuned and stopped when he heard Warren's voice - the sentiment wasn't exactly new though, so it wasn't anything to add or detract from what Logan was thinking.

"What's it to you?" Logan asked, dismissively giving Warren a once over.

"I'm genuinely curious," Warren said. "I know you want to go, so … really. What's the hold up?"

Logan let out a breath as he considered his answer. The truth was that he and Warren had come to an understanding a while back. They understood each other a lot better since they'd both served as Death - and helped each other out of it. "Too much goin' on, flyboy."

"You mean the new baby," Warren said, half smiling. "Yeah. That's … that's really not your problem." When Logan watched him a little more carefully, Warren continued. "If Scott needs help with the school or the team - he's got Storm."

"Yeah, I know."

"And if he needs help with his family, why would he fall back on you?" Warren said. "Hank, Bobby, and I have been here for him from the start. You're not even reliable enough to all on missions since you got involved with the Avengers."

"That's not-"

"You didn't even bother showing up to their wedding, Logan. Come on." Warren was smiling crookedly as he took a few steps backward. "We've got it covered. If you have somewhere you'd rather be - just go. We were fine before you, we'll be fine when you go. Just do usually a favor, huh? Don't lay this on Jean. Even if she asks. She's dealing with enough right now."

"There's the class you keep talkin' about," Logan said as Warren started to walk off. "Ya know, if you spent half as much time worryin' about Bets as you did playin' shitty bodyguard to Jeannie, you might actually have a woman of your own."

"Is that speaking from experience?"

"Nah," Logan shot back, riling Warren just enough. "I figured out a long time ago Jeannie and I never would have worked. She's married with kids and you still haven't figured it out. Good luck with that. I'm sure Bets will just wait for you to pull your head outta your ass. Not like she couldn't have her pick of anyone she wanted, right?" He smirked at Warren then tipped his chin up, headed for the suite.

It had been years since Warren had decided to be a pain, but if it was going to irk him, then chances were good that Logan could manage a little longer with the X-Men.

But he had a point, too. Scott had a sprawling support system. And he likely did trust the original X-Men much more than anyone else. That much was true. Or it seemed like it. But it really wasn't Scott and Jean that was making him rethink things - and Warren could only influence Logan properly in his wildest fantasies. No, what was getting to him was what Kurt had said. That was gnawing at him in the worst ways - and the intel suggesting that the same creeps that had always hunted him were looking for ways to be problematic had Logan weighing out how wise it was to stay there when once again he was putting a bullseye on the school by virtue of breathing.

But … he couldn't just ditch. The Avengers had fast tracked their school and were expecting to open only a few weeks late. They weren't pushing for Logan or K to be there yet, but he was sure that once things started happening, one of them would end up placating the Avengers one way or another. He just needed to discuss with his wife who it should be.

Especially when Rosie and James wanted nothing to do with the tower. James wasn't having trouble, but he didn't like it when his sister was unhappy. He was the best kind of brother in that he was always protecting her. But for the life of him, Logan couldn't figure out what the problem was - and Rose wasn't the kind of kid to complain unless it was a real issue. Something was up - he just didn't know if it was worth it to try and figure it out.

Not when he could see the finish line. When he was that close to finally getting out … it seemed like a distraction to weigh out what Rose didn't like about the tower, or even what his soon to be ex-teammates thought of him, either. He just needed to stick around long enough to know that Jean and Scott would make it through this pregnancy. And then he and K could focus on their family … and maybe even relax enough to get number four going.