1Chapter Four

Warren and I didn't get back to Bayville, and into our own beds and until late that night. Rogue was already in bed, asleep, so I changed in the dark, and dropped my clothes across the back of a chair to be dealt with in the morning. Then I crawled into bed, prepared for sleep.

It seemed like I had just gotten to sleep when I was being shaken awake by Storm. She told me that Professor Xavier wanted me to accompany her and Jean on an emergency mission. She said it would be a good chance to practice in the field.

I didn't complain, but got dressed and soon found myself buckled into the X-Jet. Once we were in the air, Jean filled me in on the details. A little girl named Jessika Smithe had gone missing. Her parents had placed a frantic call to Professor Xavier, hoping that he could help them find their mutant daughter. He located her in a Church outside of Albany, with Cerebro.

"What's her power?" I asked, looking at the little girls picture.

"Premonition. We have a good source saying that Magneto is behind the girl's disappearance." Storm looked back at me.

"OK...what power am I supposed to be practicing?" I asked.

Storm and Jean looked at each other, then Jean spoke, "Professor Xavier wants you to absorb the little girl's power. He's hoping if you gain it, Magneto will continue to pursue you, and leave her out of it. We already know he wants you, just not why."

"So...by me taking the girl's power, you think that Magneto will just continue to pursue me, and leave this little girl alone?" I confirmed.

"That's what we're hoping."

I nodded, "Okay, but do I really want some nutcase after me?"

"We can help to protect you, Sundry." Storm said. "A parent isn't going to be willing to allow someone to take their child under custody, even if it is for safety. You're already under our protection."

"...Right. Lets just get this over with."

The only light in the church came from some candles by an alter in a corner. Otherwise, the building was dark, cold, and inanimate.

"Jessika?" I called. "Jessika, are you here?"

"Leave me alone." The voice was tiny, and nearby. "You need to leave."

"Well, I can't leave without you." I looked around for the girl. "Why don't you come out, and we can talk?"

I saw a pair of eyes peering over the back of a pew..

"C' mon, I just want to talk to you. I promise." I told her.

"Who are you?" She asked, turning as I came to sit beside her.

"My name is Sundry." I leaned my arm against the back of the pew. "I'm here to help, if you let me."

"I was kidnaped." She told me, hugging her knees to her chest.

"What did your kidnapper look like?" I asked.

"There was this man, in a funny metal hat, with a big cape. And then there was this other woman with him, with blue painted skin, and short reddish hair. She was wearing a white dress." Jessika told me. "They came to my house when my babysitter, Michelle, was on the telephone with her boyfriend. I saw that they would come." She looked up at me, scared. "I see things, sometimes...before they actually happen. They're just little slips of time, like a black and white movie with no sound."

"Do you want to go home, Jessika?" I asked.

She nodded, wiping her nose on the back of her sleeve.

"Okay." I nodded. She threw her arms around my shoulders, her little hands pressing against my bare neck. The shock coursed through my body for a moment, and then I saw my first premonition. Mystique was coming up behind me with a gun drawn, Magneto not far behind her. Just as quickly as it had started, it was over. I wiped around to find my premonition coming true.

"I told you that you should have gone." Jessika whispered in my ear.

"Run outside." I told her. "Go to the jet, and get the people in side." I placed her on the ground, and turned to Magneto. "Leave her alone. I have her power now, you don't need her anymore."

Magneto clicked his tongue, and shook his head, advancing on me, "You all know so little." He raised his hand. I saw the candle stick rushing at me, and I put up my hand to stop it in mid air. With a flick from my other hand, I sent it flying back at him, striking him in the head, sending his little metal cap flying. I was close enough to touch my fingers to his throat. The power flooded through me.

Jessika was frozen in the doorway.

"Go!" I yelled at her, and she ran for dear life towards the jet where Jean and Storm were already rushing down the plank.

Mystique was raising her gun at me, "If only you could have cooperated a little better." She shook her head, and pulled the trigger. It was to late though, I was already behind her, wrestling the gun away from her. Storm created a lighting bolt which struck Megneto, who was again sending all the bits of metal he could towards the three of us. Jean and I stopped as much as possible, but shards still struck all of us, thankfully nothing to damaging.

I barely noticed when the others arrived. Logan barreled in first, ready to take over my fight with Mystique.

"Go back to the Jet, and stay with the girl, it's to dangerous for you to be in here." He ordered me, unleashing his claws with a 'ching!' sound, and a flash of adamantium. I was only to happy to comply. I teleported out of the church, and on board the jet. Jessika was huddled in a corner.

"Are you alright?" I asked, kneeling onto the floor in front of her. "Are you hurt?"

She shook her head no quickly, and put her arms around me. I picked her up, and let her hug me. She was so small, only about eight years old or so. Why would Magneto want to hurt some one so young? When she was finished crying on my shoulder, I buckled her into one of the seats, and gave her a piece of candy. "Just relax." I said. "It'll all be over soon."

Jean was back on the jet first, readying the engines.

"Did we win?" I asked, my mouth foaming over with sarcasm.

"Ironically enough, yes." She turned to me. "Are you alright? Those shards were pretty sharp."

"I'm fine, already healed over. Nothing but flesh wounds." I assured her.

"And how about our little girl?" Jean let Storm take over the controls as everyone else boarded the jet.

"I'm fine." Jessika nodded. "Sundry gave me candy."

"Good." Jean nodded. "You'll be home in no time, Jessika."

Logan was the last one to board, his claws covered in blood, which he quickly retracted when he saw the little girl, "You OK?" He asked me.

"I'm perfect." I shrugged. "My suit is a little torn, but nothing I can't fix." I brushed my fingers over the torn fabric on my shoulders. "I actually kind of like it."

"You would." He nodded.

"Everyone ready for take off?" Storm asked.

I buckled myself into the seat next to Jessika, Logan on my other side. Cyclops sat behind us, along with Rogue, and Kurt.

We had been in the air for a couple of minutes when Logan leaned over to whisper, just so I could hear.

"I was really worried about you." He said. "I was afraid we'd...that I would lose you."

I turned to look at him. I never wanted to kiss someone so badly before in my life. I went with my best judgement, and didn't. "You'd never lose me." I shook my head. "And besides, I got Magneto's power." I smiled.

I was chosen as the one to deliver Jessika back to her parents. They lived on a rural little farm outside of Bayville. I took Jessika up in my arms, and carried her to the front door. I wasn't even half way off of the gang-plank when her parents were rushing off of the front steps towards me.

Her mother and father took her out of my arms, kissing her forehead, and crying.

"I don't know how to you thank you..." Her mother wept at me.

"Seeing this is thanks enough." I smiled. "Happy Holidays."

Back at the Manor, I collapsed onto the couch, still wearing my torn uniform. Logan, who had now changed, sat down next to me.

"You beat?" He asked.

"Oh yea." I nodded. "Besides the whole Christmas Fiasco, there was my parents, dinner with Warren, and this mission, with about an hour of sleep... so, yea... I'm pretty beat." I leaned against his shoulder. "Mmm...You smell way to good."

"Pure man, baby." He teased, putting an arm around my shoulder, then stopped, pulling away. "Where's that boyfriend of yours?"

"I'm not sure...he wasn't called, so he's probably still in bed." I said. "You don't have to be on edge, just because I have a boyfriend, Logan. I'm a free spirit, he knows that. You know that."

He grunted, and put his arm around me, "Well, I could beat the crap out of that little faerie, so he can shove it-."

"Logan." I hit his knee with my fist.

"Oh, right...right. You like this guy. I forgot."

"Of course I do. He's sweet, caring, he's got wings..."

"So you'd rather I had wings then a great personality?" He raised his eyebrow.

"I never said that...and besides, you wouldn't be Wolverine if you had wings. You'd be like...Pterodactyl or something." I told him.

Logan laughed at me.

"Besides, you'd have black wings, I just know it." I told him. "And you wouldn't be nearly as skilled as you are."

He murmured an agreement, and leaned down to kiss me. It felt so good. Warren didn't kiss the same as Logan did. With Warren, kisses were sweet, and kind. With Logan, you could feel that want, that animal need, no matter how soft or how short of a time they lingered on your lips.

After he pulled away, a shock swept over my body. A black and white image of Logan and I kissing, savagely almost, pulling each other's clothes off. I saw a glint of wings through the crack in the door, and the vision ended.

"What's the matter, are you ok, kid?" Logan asked, looking at me.

"Yea...just...new power... Premonition." I shook my head. "They kind of take me by surprise."

"What did you see?" He asked, cocking his head to the side.

"Something I don't want to happen, so I think I'm going to go to bed." I sat up, and patted his knee. "Good night, Logan." I smiled at him. "See you in the morning."

"G' night." He turned on the couch to watch me go.

Rogue was just climbing back into bed when I opened the door.

"Hey." She greeted me.

"Hi." I replied.

"How was dinner with Warren?" She asked.

"Fabulous." I sighed, kicking off my boots, and taking off my jacket.

"So, what's wrong?" She asked, as I changed back into my pajamas for the second time.

"I just...I don't know. I like Warren, and he obviously likes me...but..."

"But you still have the hots for Logan." She filled in.

"Yea." I nodded. "I'm a horrible person, aren't I?"

"No, you're human." She said.

I sat on my bed, and looked at her, "I absorbed the power of premonition from that little girl." I told her. "I had one, after I kissed Logan."

"You kissed Logan?" Rogue asked. "When?"

"Downstairs, a little awhile ago. We were flirting."

"What was your premonition?" Rogue asked.

"We...we must have been in his room, and...we were kissing...and...I think we were going to have sex." I shook my head. "And I think I saw one of Warren's wings going past the door. I'm worried."

"OK, let me get this straight... first, you kissed Logan, then you had a premonition that you slept with him?"

"Yea." I nodded.

"What were you wearing in the premonition?" Rogue asked.

"I don't know...Uh...my uniform, I think." I shrugged. "Why does it matter?"

"Because...then you can control when your premonition will happen or stop it from happening all together." Rogue shook her head. "Do I really have to be the brains behind your powers?"

I thought about that for a moment, "You might have a point Rogue...but, it'll have to wait until daylight. I'm totally beat."

"G 'night, Joanna." She flipped off her beside lamp.

"Good night, Rogue."

I was awoken a second time, much more pleasantly then first time, and for a much less urgent reason. Warren crawled onto the bed next to me, wrapping his arms around me.

"I heard you got into a bit of a fight last night." He said, wrapping his arms around me.

"Well...I was there in the beginning... Then everyone else showed up, and Logan told me to wait in the jet." My eyes were still closed. I felt suddenly ashamed. Warren didn't know what had gone on when the fight was over, on the jet, or in the rec room, the night before.

"Are you OK? I saw your jacket -you should probably get a new one. I think it's beyond repair."

"I'm fine. Why does everyone keep asking me that?" I asked, wriggling out of his arms, and sitting up on the edge of the bed. "What time is it?"

"It's about eight o'clock." He said, leaning on his elbow. I could feel his eyes, boring into my back. "Are you going to tell me what's wrong, or should I just assume it's PMS, or something?"

I sighed, staring over at Rogue's empty bed. I should tell him, come clean... It was better to get it all out now then to wait, right?

"Look, I... I sort of did something when I got back from that mission last night." I told him. "I, uh..." Nervously, I rubbed my hand down my arm, and looked down at the floor. "I was sitting in the rec room, and...and Logan came in."

Warren took a deep breath, but didn't say anything, adjusting himself on the bed.

"I didn't mean for anything to happen...we were just talking at first, flirting I guess, like we always do." I bushed the hair out of my face. "And then...well, he kissed me, but I mean, I kissed him back, so it wasn't all him, in case you thought that."

"Is that it?" Warren asked. There wasn't a lot of emotion in his voice, which made me think that he was more disappointed in me, then angry. I didn't want to look at him.

"Well, I'm not sure if this really...ties into it, but I got the power of premonition on that mission. When he kissed me, I saw...something."

"What did you see?" Warren asked, with that same monotone.

"I saw Logan and I in his room...about to...you know, go at it." I shrugged. "I told him I had to leave after that, and I came upstairs, told Rogue, and went to bed."

"That's it?" He asked. "That's all that happened?" He sat up on the bed, sitting next to me. His wings were pressed down against his back, under a sweater, and he wore a pair of green plaid pajama pants.

"That's all I have to tell you, yes." I nodded. "I understand if you hate me, now."

"I don't hate you, Jo. I'm disappointed in you." He sighed. "I guess, I...I understand. You don't belong with me, and I can't control you, and make you want me the way you do with him."

"I do want you, Warren... You're both very different, and besides you're probably a lot better for me then Logan is, but I can't help it."

"I understand." He knocked his shoulder into mine as one of his little signs-of-affection, and held my hand. "I guess this is it then?"

"I think it's for the best." I shrugged. "I'm so...unpredictable... How ironic." I turned to him, looking at him. "I don't want to hurt you, Warren... and if I, ever, get over this whole Logan-Older-Men thing...there will only be you." I smiled at him.

He didn't smile back.

"I better go." He stood up. "I'll, uh, see you later." He gave me a parting kiss on the cheek, and exited my room, closing the door a little more loudly then actually necessary.

I bit my lip, and pulled the covers back over my head.

Kurt was the next to come and wake me up, for lunch.

"C' mon, Jo. It's your favorite." He tried to persuade me. "And besides, you've been in bed for hours now."

"Just leave me alone, Kurt." I sighed. "I'll get up later."

He sat down on my bed, looking at me, "Warren told us what happened."

"Ugh." I rolled over, burying my face in my pillow.

"It's not that bad." Kurt touched my shoulder. "And besides, we all knew that this Logan thing wouldn't go away so quickly."

"So Warren is ruining my good name. What did he tell you exactly?"

"Just that you and Logan kissed last night, and something about a premonition?"

I sighed, "That was private."

"Rogue already knew..." Kurt reminded me.

"That's because she's my best friend, and I sort of had to tell someone!" I sat up in bed.

"Oh good, you're up." Kurt pulled on my hand. "C' mon, you need food...lots and lots of good food."

"No...just, leave me alone." I fell backwards against my pillows again. "I'll get up for dinner."

"I'll save a plate for you." Kurt patted my knee.

"Thanks, Kurt."

About an hour later, unable to fall back asleep, I had no choice but to get out of bed. After I got dressed, basic jeans, a pair of comfortable boots, my white lace-up corset shirt, with my orange jacket, rolled up over my black armbands. I decided to seek out Professor Xavier for advice.

"Joanna, how wonderful to see you." He didn't have to look up from his desk to now it was me, before I even knocked on the door. "We missed you at lunch."

"'I'm sorry, I just...didn't feel up to it."

"Ah yes...Young Mr. Worthington seemed to have filled in everyone on the latest gossip." He leaned back in his chair, folding his hands on his lap. "Care to add anything? Feel free to sit, Joanna." He motioned towards a chair in front of his desk.

I took a second, shaking my head, "Nothing was supposed to happen...nothing did happen."I bit my lip, staring past his shoulder, out of the window. "It's stupid, really...all of it."

"Why don't you just tell me what happened?" Professor Xavier maneuvered his wheelchair out from behind his desk, and came to rest beside me. "Or, if you like..." He lifted his hands.

"I think I can tell you, just as well as you could see it." I said. "You probably already know, don't you?"

"Very little happens in my school that I don't know about, as much as people would like to hide things from me...it's quite difficult."

I took a deep breath, and started my sorry little story, "It probably started about...a week or so after I got out of the hospital wing. I was up late, watching television. Jean and yourself, I believe, were at a conference, and Scott and Storm were on a mission of some kind."

By the time I was finished, including the premonition (much to my own dismay), Professor Xavier was balancing his chin against his hands, elbows balanced on the arms of his chair.

"Well, your story seems to match up very well with Logan's." He nodded. "Which rules out his insanity." He smiled.

"Logan told you?"

"Not in so many words as you did, but he did allow me to see it." He nodded. "He's just as concerned as you are, Joanna. As I'm sure you're aware, this isn't typical of Logan, or yourself. Are you sure you don't have any further powers that we don't know about?"

"Like what?" I asked.

"A power of persuasion, or something?" He asked. "Obviously not persuasion exactly, but...You know what I mean. It seems you have two very different men, possibly three, chasing after you."

"What do you mean, three?"

"It could be part of the reason that Magneto wants you so badly." Professor Xavier folded his hands in his lap again. "Anything is possible at this point. This is the second incident so far where he's show interest in you, even taken another hostage to lure you."

"I don't want to be kept off of missions just because Magneto is after me, Professor. I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself. I even absorbed his power."

"So you did." He nodded. "And with that, I can further study Eric's power to my leisure, so I thank you for that quick thinking."

"It was nothing, really." I shrugged. "I figured it would be better safe with it, then sorry without it."

"Well, I think this has been a very good talk, Joanna... We should really continue it later." Professor Xavier maneuvered back behind his desk. "Perhaps you should go eat lunch now, while I think all of this over."

"Thank you, Professor." I stood up, nodding at him.

"No, no...Thank you, Joanna." He smiled, and watched me go from his office.