Logan climbed from his motorcycle and pulled his knapsack over his shoulder as he looked up at the huge building in front of him. He had only been gone for three months, but it felt like an eternity. For, Charles Xavier's School for Gifted Children was the first place he could ever call home.
He noticed a tall, young man wearing ruby quartz sunglasses, washing his brand new car in the warm, April afternoon. The young man, Scott Summers, looked up from the new car, probably loaded with all new gadgets, to the rugged man in his old and torn leather jacket. "Hey, Logan!" He called to him with a warm, friendly smile. Logan smiled back slightly and just nodded his head in the young man's direction. "Xavier's been waiting for you to get here. What took you so long?" Scott asked, walking up to Logan while drying the suds off of his hands.
"I ran into some trouble along the way… An old friend, let's say." Logan popped a set of three blades from his hands and looked at them as if they were dirty. He retracted the blades just as quickly. Scott led him into the school through the massive garage that was packed with the newest automobiles with, most likely, the most advanced technology included in the standard package. Charles Xavier spared no expense for his pupils and the teachers of the institute, his X-men.
"So, who was this old friend?" The younger man asked. Logan gave a look of disgust as he remembered his attacker.
"Let's just say he's smelly and hairy." Scott nodded his head as he realized who Logan was talking about. Sabretooth and Logan had been mortal enemies ever since Logan had tried to protect a young girl, named Rogue, from getting taken by the gigantic man in animal skins. Scott furrowed his brow in confusion.
"I thought Sabretooth died when he fell off the Statue of Liberty." He said, trying to dodge students who were chasing each other, because the young boy had evidently stolen the girl's diary and threatened to read it in front of the entire institute. Scott snatched the diary away from the boy and handed it to its owner.
"Thank you, Professor." She said, blushing with a dreamy look, admiring Scott's good looks. He just nodded his head and turned to finish the conversation with Logan.
"Yeah, well, you weren't the only one who thought he was dead. As soon as I caught wind of his stench, I knew something was up."
"So, what happened?"
"As far as I know, he's still knocked out in a bog down in Florida." Scott chuckled slightly until he saw his fiancée, Jean Grey, walking toward the two of them, a smile plastered on her face. Logan looked at her with love in his eyes. As far back as he could remember, Logan couldn't think of a more beautiful woman.
"Logan!" She greeted him cheerfully, gave him a hug and placed a light kiss on his cheek. "Welcome home. How'd the trip go?" Logan just shrugged his shoulders as she gave Scott a huge hug.
"It was all right. I didn't find anything, though… How's Rogue doing?" He asked as they continued to Xavier's office.
"She's good. She's been asking about when you were coming back. But, Bobby's been there to keep her company."
"Oh, the boyfriend." Logan said, not sure about what to think.
"Logan, you can't keep trying to protect her, even if you did promise her." He nodded his head, knowingly.
"I know." He said.
Finally arriving at Xavier's office, passing through frantic students going to their next classes, and finally losing Scott and Jean as they had other things to do. He slowly opened the door to see Xavier talking with a tall, slender blond. They both stopped what they were talking about to look at him. Xavier smiled widely to see the man had finally arrived. "Logan! I was beginning to worry." Xavier turned his head to the woman. "We can continue this later?" He asked her.
"Of course, Professor." She said, giving him a sweet smile. Logan felt a twinge in his heart as he heard that voice. It was a very beautiful sound to hear. The young woman turned and passed Logan, giving him a nod as she closed the door behind her.
"New student?" He asked, noticing how young she looked. Xavier chuckled.
"Hardly. She's a new teacher… She was a former student of mine."
"Former? What happened?"
"Her uncle made her leave at sixteen. Unfortunately, I was not able to finish her training."
"And you think she is ready enough to teach the students at this school?"
"Yes. Actually, when she left, she was unable to control her powers without the use of a pair of special gloves. But, now that she's returned, it's as if she doesn't even have a power." Xavier shook his head as he realized that he was getting off the subject. "So, the trip?" He asked, moving his silver wheelchair behind his desk.
"Nothing." Was all Logan said as he looked at a few new knickknacks one his desk. "There wasn't even a compound this time. Are you sure you had the right area?"
"Yes…" He paused before saying thing anything more. This made Logan very uncomfortable.
"What's wrong?"
"Well, Cerebro has been acting up lately and I wonder if it had the coordinates confused. The entire system has shut down at least twice in the past month."
"What's wrong with it?" Xavier shrugged his shoulders.
"That's the problem. The system checks show that nothing is wrong with the system. We have someone on this, but I don't think she'll be able to fix out our problem."
"Jean?" Logan asked, knowing that she was the only one he trusted with Cerebro. But, Xavier shook his head.
"No. I'm afraid even Jean would not be able to handle this task."
"Are you saying you've brought in outside help?"
"No. She is someone who can be trusted and who is a mutant."
"But?"
"But, she cannot work on it fast enough."