Chapter Four

Logan:

"You want me to be a what?" I asked, laughing disbelievingly. For a guy who wasn't big on jokes, the Professor had pulled a pretty good one this time.

"A teacher, Logan," said Charles, a hint of annoyance in his voice. He apparently wasn't joking. "We've been in need of a combat teacher for a while, but I've never been able to find someone quite suitable for the position. I think you'd be perfect."

I stared at him in disbelief. The Professor was offering me a job. A teaching job. I shrugged. "All right. I'll try it out. What do I have to do?"

"Teach," Charles said sarcastically.

Now he gets the sense of humor, I thought. And a dry one at that. Fantastic.

"Teach the students about combat. Show each child how they can use their powers for confrontation and defense purposes," he said. "I don't think you'll have any trouble teaching them street fighting, either." He smiled. "Fighting seems to be your line of work. You'll forgive me, but I don't have a cage on hand."

I sneered at him for the allusion to my past. Like I needed reminding. Then, I smiled. I'd met Rogue at a bar where I'd been cage fighting. For the money, of course. Not that I liked the feeling of my fist meeting someone's face. Not at all. Yeah, she'd walked in there, and stood out immediately, because she smelled so… innocent. Not a common scent in a bar. I'd been interested in her at once, just because she was so different. It seemed like such a long time ago since she'd hitched a ride with me that night…

The smile faded from Charles face. "Logan…"

I looked up at him, snapped back to present, and knew what he was going to say. "I know, Professor. I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm dealing with it, all right? I don't need someone telling to keep my hormones in check, like I'm some damn teenager." It kind of pissed me off, him going into my head whenever he thought he wanted to, but I guess he only did it when he thought it was necessary. Like just now.

Charles sighed, and the frown didn't go away. "It isn't your fault if your feelings toward Rogue aren't as platonic as they once were. I'm just advising you to be careful."

I growled. Like I didn't know all of this already.

Charles ignored it. "It's time for dinner. I believe we're having steak tonight."

The anger in me subsided a little. I loved steak. Yeah, yeah, I know. Big surprise. "Steak?"