"John, knock it off!"

"I'm not doing anything!"

"I can feel you poking me in the back!"

"It's not me!"

"There it is again! Stop it!"

"I said I wasn't doing anything!"

Logan looked longingly at the liquor store as they passed it. He really loved that place. It was dark and mostly unpopulated, kept almost every kind of alcohol imaginable in stock and most importantly, lacked teenagers.

"Jooohn!"

"Both of you knock it off!" Logan growled and clutched the steering wheel tighter. Good God, why had he agreed to this? This was insane! He wouldn't wish this type of punishment on his worst enemies!

He hoped Scott had it ten times worse.

"Are we there yet?" Jubilee whined, speaking in excessive volume to hear herself over the music blaring in her headphones.

"Five minutes," was all Logan could trust himself to say.

A collective sigh echoed through the teenagers. "Thank God. I can't put up with this immaturity any longer."

"Look who's talking."

"Shut up."

"Make me."

Logan thought that if there were any way he could have loaded up on whiskey without hearing about it from the professor, he would turn this van around right now and buy out the entire store. He glared into the side rear-view mirror and glanced at Scott, who was 'closer than he appeared'. Logan may be in charge this weekend, but giving Cyke a reason to tattle to the professor was just asking for trouble. Logan didn't ask without a good reason.

He turned the van onto the gravel road rather sharply, effectively shaking the teenagers out of their bickering. They turned to look out the tinted windows with enthusiasm. "Oh look, it's so pretty out here!"

"I hope we see a bear."

"You would."

"What's that suppose to mean?"

Logan slammed on the brakes after pulling into the unpopulated end of the campsite. "Git out," he ordered as the students slammed back in their seats. Without waiting for a response, Logan opened his door and slid to the earth with a solid crunch. He inhaled deeply. The air was crisp and sweet and smelled of everything he loved. He relaxed a bit, rapidly cataloguing nearby flora and fauna in his memory.

As the teenagers filed out of the van, Logan reached across the drivers seat and snatched the park map off the passenger seat. He already had an idea where they were going but decided to take the professor's advice and stay safe. Logan pushed the folded map into his back jeans pocket before shoving the keys into his front pocket. After shutting the door, he joined the guys at the back of the van.

Logan watched the three girls as they wandered into the surrounding vegetation and began marveling over the beauty of the wildflowers. Content that they were safely occupied, he turned his attention back to the van's rear double doors and opened them. Immediately he picked a pack of cigars out of the box closest to him and selected one to stick in his mouth as he pocketed the remainders. Feeling better already, he turned and sat on the edge of the van's bumper. Logan glanced between the three boys and grinned. "Gotta light?"

As Pyro stepped forward, Logan's eyes moved to the spot where the gravel path emerged from behind an old oak tree. Seconds later, the second van pulled into view.

"He drives kinda slow," Bobby noted, which earned an approving grin from Logan.

"No kinda about it," he replied as he pulled an almost orgasmic drag from his precious cigar. Man he was addicted to these things.

Logan watched critically as Scott eased the van to a gentle stop beside the van Logan was resting on. The engine died and shortly after, doors were opened and more excited teenage voices polluted the park's serenity. Scott appeared at the back of the van and let his quartz glasses settle on Logan with appeared to be an attempt at disapproval. "Nice driving."

Logan huffed, sending a small cloud of sweet smoke into the air. "Yeah, I took the training wheels off before we left." A brief pause. "You get to carry the fishin' poles."

Logan imagined that Scott rolled his eyes, and Logan turned his head as to not let the X-men leader see his satisfied grin. "Well, we better get a move on," he announced loud enough for the teenagers to hear. "I want each of you over here to collect your supplies. Form a line or somethin'." Logan waved his hand as he stood and turned towards the boxes stacked neatly in the van.

The group of twelve students slowly accumulated in a single file line facing Logan. As each student opened their backpack for a brief inspection, Logan divvied out the supplies so each teenager received equal rations of food and supplies. Logan grinned around his cigar when he found a small bottle of Crown Royal in Pyro's backpack. He said nothing, instead dropping a coil of rope and a first aid kit into the bag on top of the alcohol.

Scott was last, gathering the remaining supplies in his own larger pack. Logan grinned as he tossed two lightweight fishing poles at Scott's chest. Scott frowned as he caught them. Logan himself took nothing besides what was in his pockets. Keys, cigars, the map and the com link. Personally, he only needed a fourth of what he was carrying. As the students congregated around the start of the trail, Logan locked the vans then joined the group. Scott remained quiet the entire time, only speaking when spoken to. Logan thought that was pretty nice.

Logan took the cigar out of his mouth. "All right, listen up. We'll hike as far as we can before nightfall, then set up camp. Don't get lost. Don't piss off any animals bigger than you. Got it?"

"Um, what if we do get lost?"

"Follow the trail markers. Use your compass. Follow our footprints. Or just keep up." Logan looked from face to face. "Any other questions?"

Logan thought they looked kind of scared as each student shook their head without hesitation. He nodded. "Follow me then." Placing the half-used cigar back in his mouth, Logan turned and began walking briskly down the narrow dirt trail, the teenagers strung along behind like ducklings.

Soon Scott was at his side. "A little harsh, don't you think?"

"No."

Scott was quiet for a moment. Then, "Are there really dangerous animals around?"

Ha. Sure were, and as far as Scott should be concerned, Logan was one of them. "Yup."

Logan's head was up, his superhuman eyesight searching the woods as Scott replied, "Like bears?"

Logan glanced at the younger man. Cyke wasn't afraid, was he? "Yup."

"Huh."

Logan shook his head in opposition and sighed a cloud of smoke.

"You know where you're going? Without looking at the map I mean?"

Scott was looking between Logan's face and the pocket containing the folded park map in expectation. Hadn't the guy ever gone on a camping trip before? "Yeah," was all Logan could bring himself to say.

Scott changed the subject. "You brought the com link right?"

Or maybe he hadn't changed the subject. "Yeah," he replied, insulted that Scott would think they would need it. Logan was grateful when Scott was quiet after that. The lure of the surrounding woods served to soothe his nerves and Logan surrendered to it as much as he dared. Bullfrogs sounded from their unseen hiding places among the small dark places. Spotted Salamanders darted through the fallen leaves littering the trail, alerted by the heavy footsteps of a man with adamantium covered bones. A Corn Snake slithered under a rotting log and Logan realized that he had not mentioned the numerous native poisonous snakes in his departure speech. Whoops.

"Um..." he started, coming to a stop that he would have considered sudden. He turned, pulling the last quarter of cigar from his mouth and waited for the small group to condense around him. "One more thing," he started, glancing at Scott, then back to the curious young faces. "Watch your step. This park is home to more than one kind of poisonous snake." Their faces fell. "Don't git bit."

As most of the teenagers began worrying amongst themselves and searching the ground, Marie looked straight at him. She said nothing, but she didn't have to. The calm fear shining through her eyes told him everything. He would watch out for her. For them all.

o0O0o

"It is sooo hot!"

"Can't we stop and rest?"

"I'm thirsty!"

"This trip sucks!"

"At lease at school there's air conditioning!"

Logan was itching with pent up frustration. The group had been whining for at least the past mile. He had done his best to ignore them, because someone told him once that by ignoring something, said thing will go away. Well, they were 'going' alright, but it was the same direction Logan was traveling and he was becoming highly irritable.

Scott, who had fallen behind by a few paces, suddenly appeared at Logan's side. Logan could feel the heat rolling off the other man and forced himself to hold his tongue. "Logan," Scott panted, "I think we should-"

"Alright!" Logan exploded, turning to shout at the tired teenagers. "We'll stop, okay? Quit bitchin' and we'll take a rest!"

The students all but fell on to nearby rocks or tree stumps. Scott stomped a foot and opened his mouth. "I was going to say, I think we should keep going. To get there by dark that is."

Logan tried to feel apologetic but couldn't muster it. "We'll get there." He looked at the students. At least they would sleep good tonight. Logan could use the peace after a day of putting up with this crap. This was insane. The professor was probably laughing his butt off right now.

"You're the boss," Scott sighed as he turned away and Logan knew the words were not sincere.

Everyone else was sitting, so Logan sat too. Perhaps it was his healing ability, or the fact that he'd had a rougher, longer life than these pampered kids, but Logan was not tired. Sure he was hot and sweaty and probably was beginning to stink, but he was also ready to forge on. He wasn't used to being handicapped by kids, and he didn't think he liked it.

Logan sat unnaturally still for a man who had just spent two hours hiking up a mountain. While the others guzzled water and picked at trail mix, Logan went back to observing his surroundings. He liked this place. There was an abundance of animals, which would have provided good hunting if not for the protection of the government. He inhaled deeply, recognizing the smell of a couple native species of trees and wishing he had learned the names of them. Pine essence was rich in the air, along with the smell of dried leaves that had been laying on the ground since last year. Logan's heart beat a little faster when he smelled the faint odor of deer droppings. His eyes dove downwards, searching the impressionable ground for the cloven-hoofed tracks that would be nearby. When he finally found a clear hoof print about ten feet away, he called attention to it.

"Hey guys, come here." Logan got up and kneeled before the track, pressing one jean-clad knee into the dirt. "Take a look at this. Who can tell me what animal made this track?"

The teenagers stood in a semi-circle behind Logan, peering over his shoulder until he stood up to allow them a better view. Once he was out of the way, the group closed around the hoof print. There was a moment of silence before Bobby raised his head. "That's a deer track!"

"Good job," Logan said, smiling because Bobby was obviously proud of himself. "First test passed."

Logan never really taught the students how to track animals, much less how to determine the species of an animal from it's track, but Logan figured it was a handy thing to know. It could be extra credit at least.

A few of the students bent down to look at the print closer, but most of them returned to their resting places. "Five more minutes, then we're moving out," Logan informed them, earning a collective moan in disappointment.

They had been traveling north and Logan was sure that they were about to come to a river. Plants were lush and strong here, and many different animal species had crossed paths here recently. Plus, he had looked over the map last night. Logan leaned to the side and pulled the folded map out of his pocket. As soon as it was completely open in his hands, Scott was beside him.

"We still on track?"

Logan made an exaggerated observation of the bold blue trail marker beside him. "We're not lost, if that's what you mean."

Scott found the decency to look embarrassed. He avoided Logan's gaze and studied the map. "We're heading for the river?"

"We're heading for dinner."

"Ah."