AUTHOR'S NOTE I'm back! The way I post is to rotate which story gets updated and I have 5 that I'm posting so it takes about a month between posts with each story. Sorry! By the way, I have a thing for James Marsden (Cyclops) and VERY MUCH like the way he looks in black leather, hehe.

DISCLAIMER Don't own X-Men. Wouldn't mind owning Logan or Cyclops or Bobby tho…*innocent look*

Little Took I'm glad you like it so far! And it's supposed to bring tears, hehe.

Julie Thanks! I will continue *grin*

Tournesol Oh yes…I am a fan of Scott! Cept I'm also a fan of Logan/Jean…hmm…confusion.

Flameshadow There will be Nightcrawler, but probably not as much as you'd like. Sorry! I don't know…I got the impression that they were married and that they weren't. So I just decided on one.

It was a clear day in Westchester, New York. The sun was shining brightly and a warm breeze gently cooled the handful of teenagers playing basketball outside the beautiful ivy-covered mansion. Fall was approaching, but the air still clung to summer.

The basketball game ended and the six teens made their way back to the mansion. A pretty, dark-skinned woman greeted them at the door.

A girl with a white streak in her hair stopped by the older woman. "It's such a gorgeous day!" she said. The older one smiled and nodded. "Thanks for that!" the first added.

The older woman laughed and tossed her pure white hair over a shoulder. "Don't thank me! Today is Mother Nature all by herself."

The girl shrugged and headed inside. "I'll see you later, Storm!"

Storm just waved and pulled up a chair. She placed it in a particularly sunny spot and sat down in the warm gold.

After a few moments, the sun seemed to flicker. Storm opened her eyes and shielded them as she looked up into the sky. Not a cloud was to be seen.

"Storm!"

The white-haired woman turned around at the sound of her code-name. Approaching from the garage was a rough-looking man in a T-shirt and faded jeans. "Hello Logan!" she called.

Logan, also called the Wolverine, came to stand beside Storm's chair. "Nice weather we're having." Storm nodded. He looked down at her. "Your doing?"

Storm laughed. "Rogue just asked me the same thing! But no, this is all Nature." She shaded her eyes and gazed up into the sky's endless blue. "The sky is so clear. But it was almost like a plane or something flew across the sun a minute ago."

Logan looked up at the sky then back to the white-haired woman with an amused look on his face. Nodding upwards, he casually mentioned, "There is a plane up there. Ours."

Storm immediately looked up again. Her eyes, though not nearly as enhanced as Logan's, picked the faintest speck near the sun. She assumed it must be the Blackbird.

'It seems really small to have caused the sun to flicker like that,' she thought. She pushed the thought from her mind. After all, her own unconscious thoughts could cause a wayward cloud to temporarily block the sun.

"I dunno what you're thinking," Logan said, interrupted Storm's thoughts. "But let's go see what the boys came back with."

Storm got up from her chair, out of the warm and comfortable sun. She and Logan entered the mansion and headed for the lower levels.

***

Wheelchair bound Professor Charles Xavier, founder and head of the school that the mansion housed, waited for Logan and Storm outside the Blackbird's hanger. Rogue, the girl with a white streak in her hair, stood with him. "Ah, Ororo, Logan, good," the Professor addressed, using Storm's real name.

"Any news, Professor?" Storm asked.

Xavier shook his head. "They should be landing soon."

Rogue moved to stand next to Logan. Storm and the Professor watched the girl from the corners of their eyes. She didn't seem to notice. Her attention was entirely divided between the rugged man beside her and the door to the hanger.

After a tense silent moment, the soft whir of engines was heard in the hanger. Another moment's wait and the door slid silently open. Two older men and a younger one stood in the doorway. Each wore an identical expression of disappointment.

Professor Xavier looked expectantly at the man seemingly in charge of the mission. He was tall, with dark hair and a lean body accented by the black leather suit he wore. His eyes were concealed behind a visor made of reddish glass.

"Nothing, Professor," he said. "I'm sorry."

"Ve vere too late," commented the other older man with a heavy German accent. He too wore a suit of black leather, but also wore a long tan coat. His skin, from his pointed ears to his long pointed tail, was deep indigo blue. "Vhen ve got there, all that vas left vas charred remains."

Professor Xavier looked deeply sad. He sighed. "Thank you Scott." The man with the visor nodded. The professor continued. "Now I supposed we wait for the next move."

The younger man, looking to be about 18, had been quiet upon returning. With a look on his face mixed of sorrow and hatred, he turned from the group and stalked off.

"Bobby! Bobby, come back!" Rogue called. She ran after him.

Storm started to follow the two teenagers, but Logan put a hand on her arm. "Leave 'em alone. Bobby's had a rough time."

"He just returned from a mission against his best friend," the blue-skinned man said. Glancing at Scott, he continued, "He's lost a lot."

Ororo just looked after the two sadly. "I know, Kurt. I just wish I could help him."

Kurt's words ripped like knives through Logan's heart. Bobby may have lost his best friend to the dark, but he had lost something much more dear.

Jean Grey was once a Professor at Xavier's school. Her gifts of telekinesis and telepathy made her a valuable teacher at the mutant school. She was well liked by all. Her husband, Scott, worshipped her. And Logan loved her.

Jean's selfless sacrifice for her team at Alkali Lake months before left everyone devastated. The same day, John Allerdyce, calling himself Pyro, had abandoned his team. He'd run off with the bitter mutants Magneto and Mystique and left his best friend Bobby behind.

A glance at Scott told Logan that the younger man was suffering just as much from Kurt's words. Under his protective visor that kept his destructive mutant power controlled, Scott's face was contorted in pain. But, the man code-named Cyclops had to be strong for his team. His wife was gone but there were others who depended on him still.

He wouldn't let them down.