Disclaimer: I do not own, nor am I making any money from, the X-Men characters. Also thank you to my good friend Corrinth for the use of her creation Ilehana Xavier, aka Vixen.

A/N: What ever you do, don't forget to review! Tee hee hee.

Scene Three

Logan opened the cupboard and reached for another three bottles of soda. Then his heightened sense of hearing alerted him to another person about to enter the kitchen, so he got an extra bottle. He used a single adimantium claw as an effective bottle opener, flicking the caps onto the work surface. Turning back to his companions he plonked the glass bottles down on the table and waited for the Iceman to do his thing.

Bobby was only too happy to oblige, he'd lost count of the amount of bottles he'd chilled for Wolverine. Next to him, his girlfriend Rogue continued her story in her sweet Southern belle accent.

"So anyway, just as Bobby got to the branch where the Frisbee was stuck, Nightcrawler appeared and grabbed it first! Bobby fell right out of the tree in surprise, but before he could hit the ground, Nightcrawler appeared again, caught him, and teleported outta there! It was the funniest thing I have ever seen!"

"Cheers Rogue." Bobby commented; he'd had to suffer the humiliation of her telling the story to at least three different audiences already this evening. Still, at least Logan wasn't laughing like all the others had done. Actually, he wasn't even listening; he was looking past the couple and out the door. Bobby turned to see who it was, and smiled.

Blaze smiled back, a little unsure. She'd only been out of bed an hour; it had taken that long to find the kitchen. Now she'd found it, she was absolutely starving, but the room was full of strangers. The lad who'd smiled beckoned her in.

"Hey, Blaze. I'm Bobby, you wanna soda?" So that was why Logan had got four bottles out not three, Bobby realised, he hadn't just been being greedy.

"Thanks," Blaze perched on a stool and accepted the bottle. Anxious to state her claim to Bobby, Rogue introduced herself.

"Hiya, I'm Rogue, How are you feelin'?" She practically draped Bobby's arm around her shoulders, just in case Blaze had any doubt.

"Much better, thank you." Blaze looked confused. In a school as big as this one seemed, how come everyone knew who she was? As if he was telepathic, Bobby tried to make her at ease.

"Don't worry about everyone knowing your name. News travels fast round here, and we've had a few days since you arrived to prepare."

"Prepare for what?" Blaze smiled honestly, almost relaxing for the first time in a long while.

"Well... I guess..." Logan smiled at Bobby's uncertainty, but he could see why the boy was getting flustered. And Rogue for that matter. The newcomer was pretty, with deep brown eyes and auburn hair, button nose, rosebud lips and high cheekbones. And she did have a charming smile. But there was something about her that Logan just couldn't place; something untrustworthy that spooked him. And she smelt of fire, more so even than Pyro had done. Logan had never liked the smell of fire.

"Hey, Logan, don't just stand there, come introduce yourself!" Rogue obviously needed backup. He smiled as he wondered if Blaze knew what she would be taking on with Rogue. He offered Blaze his hand, felt her weighing him up, strength, agility, powers, as she shook it.

"Nice to meet you, Logan. Are you a teacher here then? What do you teach?" Blaze enquired sweetly enough.

"Art, apparently." He replied, looking sideways at Bobby and Rogue.

"Oh." Blaze raised a single eyebrow questioningly.

"It's a long story." Logan filled in, not believing he was warming to a girl he didn't entirely trust. How old was she, he wondered. She didn't look much older than Bobby or Rogue, but there was none of their innocence about her. Perhaps twenty-one, or twenty-two...

"I can believe it. Is there any chance of a bite to eat round here? You know what they say about hospital food." Blaze placed the empty soda bottle on the worktop, and Logan realised he hadn't even started his. It would be getting warm again. He wished he could figure this kid out.

Logan excused himself as Bobby fished in the freezer to find enough pizza for everyone. That boy was certainly going to get an earful from Rogue later; he was too nice for his own good. At least Blaze hadn't seemed too smitten with the kid. Hoping to find a sympathetic ear for his instincts on the new girl, he went to find the Professor.

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"Logan, I do believe your fears are unfounded. Blaze is here because she is afraid of her own mutant abilities. It's not the kind of problem a person can fake, especially not to me. Do you trust me?"

It was a stupid question, so Logan didn't justify the Professor with a reply. Instead he changed the subject.

"How's Cyclops doin'?"

"I believe your answer is just being thrown out of a taxi. Care to join me?" Xavier flicked his wheelchair control and headed out of the office. Logan followed him, shaking his head.

"Again? I know the guy has problems but..."

There were children in the corridor, so whilst hurrying them off to bed, Xavier answered Logan telepathically.

**We have all developed ways in which to cope with the loss of Jean. **

**And you think that letting Cyc go off the rails like this is helping him cope? **

They were outside now, with the front door shut behind them. Sure enough, a taxi at the end of the drive opened its door and a very ill-looking Scott Summers fell out. Huffing and shaking his head, Logan went to collect his fallen colleague. The things he did for the Professor...He hoped that something around here changed soon, things were really starting to drag.

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After eating an entire twelve-inch triple cheese deep pan pizza, three scoops of vanilla ice cream and a king-sized chocolate bar, Blaze was not only sated, but also increasingly relaxed in Bobby and Rogue's company. Plonking her third empty soda bottle on the worktop before Bobby's frosting had even started to melt around the sides, she stood, placed her hands on her tiny waist and asked, to Bobby and Rogue's delight,

"So what do you people do for fun around here?"