Hello everyone . . .

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Chapter 9:

Shania slowly woke from a dreamless sleep. She yawned, and opened her eyes as she stretched under her blankets. She sighed contently feeling Logan's arm under her neck. Turning sideways, she saw her man, his eyes closed, sleeping serenely. She smiled.

Usually, he was always awake when she woke up. It was the first time she was actually seeing him sleep.

She looked at him for a long time, admiring him. She understood why Jean was jealous. Because Logan was truly someone to be envious over for. What she didn't understand was that the red-haired beauty already had a man, and a good one at that. Plus, they were fiancés.

She ran her finger in Logan's messed up hair.

But for the younger one? The other was barely twenty!

She ran her finger around his cheekbone, around his eyes and lips, an adoring smile illuminating her features.     

Time passed and he still didn't seem close to awake. The thought of bringing him breakfast in bed crossed her mind, as she decided she should get up. Careful not to make too much movement so Logan could keep sleeping, she swung her legs to her side of the bed when she felt an arm pass around her waist, pulling her back in. Logan made some sort of muffed noise, and she smiled.

"You're not going anywhere, bub!" he said, his words drowned in the pillow his face was hidden in, as he pulled her even closer. "I'm not finished with you."

Shany giggled.

*~*~*~*~*

In Jean's room, both she and her fiancé were getting up, ready for another day in the mansion. Jean was cleaning herself up in the bathroom and Scott was literally in his drawer, trying to figure out which shirt he should wear today.

Jean walked back in to her dresser and figured out that she was going to wear a red skirt with a matching top, before walking back into the bathroom, with her clothes.

Scott looked at her go, visibly noticing that something was wrong with his fiancé, and he thought he knew just what it was.

"So," he started to say to her from the room. "Logan's back."

There was no response, and Scott smiled to that.

"And with someone," he continued, trying to see if it was going to give an effect.

"That doesn't surprise me," he heard her say smugly, and visibly not sounding too happy. "How long do you think it's going to last?"

Scott's eyes widened with curiosity under his glasses.

"What?"

"How *long* do you think it's going to last?" Jean repeated, her head popping out of the bathroom.

"What do you mean?" Scott asked, slightly surprised of her attitude. "They look perfect for each other."

Jean's eyebrows raised in antipathy.

"No," she said firmly. "Frankly, can you believe it? Can you truly fall in love after knowing someone for two days? You heard their story at dinner yesterday! She saved him from hypothermia. And what next? They're in love."

Scott smiled a redundant smile.

"Well it's called love at first sight," he said, pulling on a chemise.

He heard her sigh in disapproval as she walked back into the bathroom to finish getting ready.

Once she disappeared in the next room, Scott turned, looking at the door she had walked through, an anxious look on his face. Was she still stuck on Logan? Suddenly, Scott's visor went incredibly bright, a frown appearing on his features.

*~*~*~*~*

Two hours later, Shania was on her way to the kitchen, dressed and ready for what this day was going to give her. She was wearing black pants and a small tank top, which left her too denuded to be in the school, so she had added her leather vest on top.

She had finally understood the whole map of the school and could now find her way pretty easily.

When she arrived in the kitchen, she noticed a few students munching on some toasts, pancakes, eggs and bacon that Ororo was preparing, moving form the fridge to a bowl, then to the counter and toaster before running back to the stove where more eggs were being done. At the same time, there was a brown haired teenager, around the age of twenty, sitting crossed legged on the nearest chair, talking to her while shuffling a deck of cards. At first Shany thought he looked absolutely normal, until she saw his flame-red eyes.

A few students like Bobby and Kitty saluted her. Rogue was sitting between them but didn't even turn in her direction, ignoring her completely.

"Hello, Shania!" Ororo said, handling a large plate of pancakes to a bunch of students, unaware that there were large marks of flour on her cheeks and nose. "What would you like to eat? Pancakes, eggs, toasts, bacon, sausages? You name it."

"Wow," Shania whispered. "Well, I'll have . . . some of everything!"

Ororo smiled before turning back to the stove.

"Can I help?" she asked, walking towards the counter.

"If you want too," Storm said, placing a bag of flour on the counter, in front of a few empty bowls.

"I'll do the pancakes then," she said, grabbing an apron that hung on the wall.   

She started cracking eggs into a bowl, aware that Ororo was watching her curiously. She poured in some flour after having mixed the eggs properly, then added milk. Again she mixed everything until it was only a plain yellow substance. She added some sugar, then let it rest on the counter while chewing on some bacon.   

Five minutes later, Logan arrived in the kitchen, waved to Rogue who smiled widely. He walked to Shania and kissed her on the lips, making a few girls in the room sigh interiorly.

"So, what's cooking?" he asked, looking around the counter.

"I'm doing pancakes," Shany said joyfully. "Just like back home."

"Ah, where are you from, by the way?" Ororo asked, deserving plates from one of the tables.

"Canada," Shania answered. "I've lived there for as long as I can remember. First it was in Quebec, then in Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta was my last spot for the past year."

Scott and Jean arrived and seated not too far away, each taking a cup of coffee before sitting down.

"And you lived alone?" Scott asked, following the conversation.

". . . well, I had my dogs . . . but yes, I've lived alone for the past . . . five years, approximately," Shania said, pouring some of her pancake dough in a pan. "Before that . . . I lived with other people I knew."

She visibly didn't want to go into details, and so everyone respected that, even though Jean seemed interested in knowing more.

*~*~*~*~*

They all ate together, and after that, Scott went down to the garage, probably to fix his cars or something. Jean went down to the med lab and Ororo left to take care of her garden, so Shania and Logan were left to decide what they were going to do.

*~*~*~*~*

Down in the med lab, Jean went directly to her office and sat in her chair, an inquisitive look on her face. Now she was very curious of knowing about Shania's past, but it wasn't just to satisfy her need to know about nearly everything, but more to try and find something to hurt Shania or her relation with Logan. 

Oh, but it wasn't necessarily because of Shany that Jean hated her. It was because she was with Logan, and that he wanted to be with her, preferring her to Jean. That pissed her off really bad. If Shany had arrived at the school any different way, Jean would have accepted her very well and they would already be very good friends, but because Logan had his eyes on someone else, that was the true reason of her hatred for Shania. She didn't like the fact that she couldn't have who she wanted. Yes, she loved Scott immensely, but Logan was the Wild Card. He was almost Scott's right contrary, but still looked so exciting to be with, that she caught herself thinking about him in a way an engaged woman shouldn't, and Shania's presence didn't help anything.

Jean sneered threateningly, making a vase explode with her power.

*~*~*~*~*

Shortly after noon, Logan disappeared to go work out in the gym, and Shania decided to go look around outside. Not many students were out yet probably because of the cold, but there were still a small group of boys playing basketball on the court Pyro had taken the time of melting. There were also some girls walking around, talking, and a few younger kids building a snowman. 

Shania came to walk towards the farthest place on the grounds, near the large redbrick wall covered by frozen wild vines and hidden by tall leafless trees and empty large bushes. There was a stone bench there and she decided to rest there, where no one would bother her.

Or at least she thought. Shortly after her arrival, Rogue came walking by. Shania didn't move from her place, leaning on the trunk of the closest tree. Rogue didn't notice her at first, playing with the dog tags around her neck, humming to herself with an inexpressive look on her face. She was wearing a blue winter coat and had gloves on but had nothing on her head.

Her eyes widened when she noticed Shany sitting not too far away, and she somewhat frowned, turning around and ready to walk away.

"So, you're the one Logan told me about," Shania said without moving from her spot.

Rogue stopped and looked over her shoulder, visibly interested.

"He . . . he talked about me?" she asked timidly, momentarily forgetting to who she was talking.

"Sure he does," Shania continued. "He told me everything starting from the moment he met you back in Alberta, to after the Liberty Incident."

Rogue caught herself smiling, and quickly tried to hide it.

"Well . . . I should get going," she mumbled, walking away without adding anything.

Shania smiled to herself, eyebrows cocked up and a calm look on her face. She stayed there for a while, knowing that she was alone and that now most of the students were back in the mansion, probably staying in the common room. Logan would have finished his work out by now and would probably go looking for her, and so she got up from her place, walking slowly in the snow.

But someone was watching, not that far away, standing on the wall delimiting the school grounds to the rest of the world. This person, hidden by the tall branches of the trees below, was a man, probably in his late mid thirties maybe going towards his forties even though he looks much younger than that. He was very tall, but didn't look at all as strong as Logan. He was slim, had a mix of silver and blond hair, and was wearing a long trench coat under which were black clothes. He was also wearing army boots and fingerless gloves covered his hands that were resting in his pockets. Black sunglasses covered his eyes and there was a cigarette in his mouth. He was placed against the wind so his odour couldn't be brought towards the school, and it was as if he was immune to cold, even though he was wearing what seemed to be light articles of clothing not at all made for winter. He looked over the grounds with an unresponsive look on his face. His eyes lingered on Shania before turning towards the entrance where Logan had appeared. His left had came out of his pocket and he took out the cigarette from his mouth, holding it between his index and middle finger as he blew out a cloud of smoke, a small smile appearing on his face. He pulled out his other hand, holding out a cell phone. He pressed on a number and brought the phone to his ear as he inhaled another smoke from his cigarette.

"Yes, general," he said into the receiver. "Yep, I found her alright."

He hung up, removing his sunglasses, as he looked at the school one last time. His silvery grey eyes glowed dangerously, eyeing Shania who was now being held in a loving embrace by Logan.

He took his cigarette out of his mouth and threw it in the bushes, putting back his glasses on his nose.  He turned towards the side of the road and jumped from the five metre high wall. He arrived on the not-so-snow-covered-land, one hand on the ground. He got up, dusted off a patch of snow from his shoulder as he walked towards a black car that was parked not too far away. Before entering the vehicle, the man turned around, and looked at the school's gate with a menacing glare.

"Oh, I'll get you, my dear," he muttered. "You can count on me for that."

He entered his car, started the engine and drove off.

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Now you have the right to try to guess who he is. He could be, her ex-boyfriend, her husband (?), her hated (step)brother, a good ol' plain enemy, someone working for the government dudes, or someone else. HELP ME OUT! (I have an idea but I want to see if you guys can give me a better one)

Next chapter coming in SOON.