Hey guys! Then next chapter should be up next Sunday.
Claddagh, criket, Dawnlady, Makura Koneko, Dark-English-Rose, Sarah, miz, thank you guys so much for your reviews.
Catlimere, I got the idea about the slayer scent from a couple of other stories. They would talk about how she would submerge herself into her slayer side and I though it would be neat if she did and it would change her scent.
me, I had already planned on her changing, so I'm glad I'm not the only one whose thinking processes work that way.
Plato, I'm not sure about x-men villains. I don't have enough info on them yet to decide how or if I'm going to work them in.
Lora Darcy, I love Nightcrawler too. I loved him in the movie, I wanted to take him home and just love him forever, he was so cute. And Clem has always been one of my favorite characters.
Lexi, the new Harry Potter book wasn't too bad, wanted to shoot Harry through most of it. Still liked Goblet better.
Forfiwen, thank you so much for the compliment, I'm flattered.
Wolfg07, no room sharing yet.....
SerinityRules, I have a little loophole about the good demons should it come to that. But I really don't foresee the story lasting that long into the future.
fyrechild, thank you so much for the compliment. I hope my writing just gets better in the future.
I want to thank everyone for their reviews, I really appreciate each and every one of them. You guys rock!
As always, any suggestions you might have for events in the story are welcome.
Chapter Seven
The next morning, Buffy took her time getting ready for breakfast. She had the sudden urge to dress in something better than her old jeans and t-shirts. She didn't want to go overboard so she pulled out a simple skirt and top. Her bag held more than just her weapons. Willow had made it before she had died. It would magically hold anything she put in there. In the beginning she used it to carry weapons around on the hellmouth, but now it was really handy for all of her traveling.
As she got ready, she went over everything she had told the x-men the night before. She couldn't figure out why she told them so much, it was so unlike her to divulge so much information. Maybe Logan had been right, she needed company. And not just the kind to hang around with, but the kind that you can talk to about everything. But that always led to putting them in danger once they were introduced to her world.
She was putting her earrings on when there was a knock at her door.
"Who is it?"
"Logan."
"Come in," she called as she slipped her shoes on.
"Just checkin' to see if...." Logan paused as he took in the beauty before him. Her golden hair cascaded over her shoulders and had a soft glow to it.
"If what?" She asked.
"If you were ready to eat," he finished lamely.
"Yeah." Then she noticed he was looking strangely at her. "What? Something wrong?" She asked self-consciously.
"Nothing. It's just, I've never seen you...."
"Seen me what?"
"Dressed...."
"I'm always dressed, except when I'm naked," she said lightly. She was inwardly thrilled that she had made him nearly speechless. "Let's go, Wolvie. Breakfast is waiting."
He couldn't help but smell her light perfume as she brushed by him. He hoped he could find a way to stay around her because she was under his skin.
They made their way to the dining hall in comfortable silence. When they reached the room she was surprised at the number of kids present. She honestly hadn't expected there to be that many students.
She noticed one girl with brown hair that had a white streak in it make her way excitedly over to them. She was dragging a nice looking boy behind her. Buffy noticed that she wore long gloves that covered most of her arms.
When she reached them she threw her arms around Logan. "Ah heard you were back," she said in a southern accent.
"Hey kid," Logan said softly, returning the hug.
"You stayin'."
"Not sure yet. Depends."
"Oh what?"
"Things."
Knowing that she wasn't going to get anymore out of him, she turned to the guy she had drug over. "This is mah boyfriend, Bobby."
Logan raised an eyebrow, but offered hid hand, "Nice to meet ya."
The girl looked expectantly at Buffy. Catching on, Logan said, "This is Buffy. Buffy this is Rogue."
So this was the Rogue Scott mentioned, she thought. With a sly smile she said, "Hi. Sorry about him, but I'm sure you've noticed Wolvie's lack of manners at times."
Rogue's eyes widened when she heard Buffy's nickname for Logan and turned to see his reaction. When all he did was roll his eyes she couldn't help but say, "Wolvie is a bit rough around the edges."
"Rogue," Logan growled warningly.
"What?" She asked innocently.
"Go eat."
The southerner just laughed and said, "Ah'm glad you're back. Nice ta meet you Buffy." Then she led Bobby back to their table to eat.
"I like her," Buffy said. "What's with the gloves?"
"It's her mutation. She absorbs people's life force through touch. She can't control it," he said softly.
"She was the friend in trouble."
"What?"
"The mission. You saved her."
"Yeah," he said uncomfortably. "Where do you wanna sit?"
Buffy looked around and noticed the blue-skinned mutant sitting by himself. He looked around forlornly at the students who were laughing and talking amongst themselves. He reminded her of Willow when they had first met.
She grabbed Logan's hand and walked over to the lone mutant. "Hi Kurt!"
His yellow eyes looked up at her. "Hello," he said in a soft accented voice.
"You don't mind if we sit here do you?" He just shook his head. "Thanks," she said with a smile. She went to fix herself a plate but noticed that Logan had already done so. After a bite of her pancakes she asked, "Where are you from, Kurt?"
"Germany."
"Cool. What did you do there?"
"I was an acrobat in the circus," he said softly.
"Wow. Why'd you leave?"
"The new circus owner wanted to put me in the sideshow as a freak."
"What?"
"As one of the freaks."
"But why?"
"Because I am one," he said sadly.
"Says who?"
"Everyone."
"Kurt, I'm gonna tell you the same thing I told Logan. You are not a freak. You're different, so what? It's who you are inside that counts."
He looked at her with hopeful yellow eyes. "And what am I inside?"
"From what I've seen, you are a nice, caring, shy man. Who I would be honored to call friend."
He was afraid to believe her. "But I don't look normal."
Buffy pointed out Clem who had just entered with Jean and Scott. "He's not even human and I'm friends with him. Why not you?"
Kurt smiled shyly and said, "Then I would be honored to have you for a friend also." He almost jumped in surprise when Buffy hugged him.
Logan watched as she made the shy mutant feel more at ease. He was amazed by her capacity to befriend people. It almost seemed as if she instinctively went for those on the outside of groups rather than the ones on the inside.
Clem, Scott, and Jean sat down across from them. Clem gave them a cheerful hello and began eating.
Buffy had barely finished her pancakes when Logan began piling more food on her plate. "I ate Logan. You saw me eat three very large pancakes. I don't need anymore."
"Eat."
"Logan..." She stopped his hand before he could shove a piece of toast in it.
"Eat."
"One of these days, Wolvie. One of these days."
Jean giggled.
"Shut up, Red."
Buffy blanched and dropped her fork.
"What is it?" Logan asked, smelling a trace of sadness.
"Nothing," she lied.
"Bullshit. What's wrong?"
She sighed. "That was Spike's nickname for Willow."
Logan remembered the name Willow as the computer expert. "Sorry."
"It's okay. You didn't know."
An awkward silence filled the table until Jean said, "I would like to run some tests on you Buffy."
"No."
"But..."
"No. I'm not a lab rat."
"Clem is allowing me to test for the x-gene, why won't you?"
"Because I don't need your test to know I'm not a mutant."
"But it would..."
"No!" Buffy stood. "If you'll excuse me, I'm no longer hungry," she said, then walked out of the room.
Logan growled at Jean and left also. He didn't catch up with her until she reached her room.
"Buffy."
"Not now Logan."
"But..."
"I said, not now," and she closed the door in his face.
Her cell phone beeped and she saw she had a message from Wesley. After checking it she called him back.
"Hey Wesley," she said wearily. "What 'cha got for me?"
"We're coming there."
"What? Why?"
"I have a few things I want to check out there before I can tell if there is a hellmouth or not."
"Fine, who all is coming?"
"The entire gang."
"Even Angel?"
"Yes."
Buffy was quiet for a moment before asked, "And the other thing?"
"I'm bringing what we could find."
"When will you get here?"
"Tonight, after dark. I would like to meet you at the school if that is acceptable with Mr. Xavier."
"I'll ask and let you know."
"I'll see you soon."
"Bye, Wesley."
Buffy sat on her bed for a moment contemplating what Wesley had just told her. She really wasn't in the mood to see Angel, but she had no choice.
She heard a noise in the hallway. She stretched out her senses and felt Logan. He still made her senses tingle in a very distinct way that had nothing to do with his being a mutant.
The blond slayer could no longer deny the fact that she found him attractive. But she wanted to keep him an arm's length away. Any closer and there came the danger of getting hurt.
Knowing that she'd find her way back to the Professor's office easier if her went with her she resigned herself to apologizing for her rude behavior from before.
Logan was pacing the hallway when she opened the door. He didn't stop until she stepped in front of him.
"Buffy, she..."
"Wolvie, I'm not getting tested. But I want to say I'm sorry for shutting the door in your face."
"I wasn't going to ask you to get tested."
"You weren't?"
"No."
"Oh." She paused before saying. "I need to see the Professor, can you take me?"
"Sure." They walked in silence for a moment till Logan said, "So you've died twice."
"Yeah. First time I was only fifteen. There was a prophecy about the freeing the Master and opening the hellmouth and that I would die. I went to face the Master anyway."
He stopped and looked at her. "You went there even though you knew you were going to die?"
"Had to be done. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't happy about it. Actually, I was scared, but I also knew it was part of the slayer legacy to die young. There was a chance of dying every night that I went out."
Logan just studied her for a moment before asking, "Hellmouth?"
They started walking again and Buffy explained, "Mouth of hell, literally. Mystic forces pull together, lots of apocalypses. My high school sat on top of one. Drew a lot of big bads."
"Big bads?"
"Major demons, not simple newbie vamps. Although some vamps could be a big bad," she added softly.
Before he could ask, she knocked on the Professor's door. They heard him call come in.
Logan turned to go, but Buffy stopped him. "You can come in with me. I just need to ask him something." He nodded his head and followed her in.
"Buffy, Logan. What can I do for you?" Charles asked, gesturing to the chairs in an unspoken invitation to sit.
"I've called my friends in L.A.," she said as they sat down.
"And?"
"They'll be here tonight. They need to do some research."
"I'm guessing they wish to speak with me?"
"Yeah. Wesley wanted to see if he could meet you here."
"That will be find."
"One of the team is a vampire," Buffy said.
"That is fine."
"Are you sure? He's not going to hurt anyone, but it might..."
"It's fine, Buffy. I trust him if you trust him."
"Just checkin'. They'll be here tonight after dark."
"Very well," he said with a small smile. Then he turned slightly serious. "About the testing."
"I said no."
"It's not for you Buffy, it's for us. So we can better understand you. I believe you. I just want to see the difference between you and normal humans."
Buffy considered it for a moment then said, "Fine. But when I'm through I'm through. After today no more testing."
"I understand. You can meet with Jean in the med lab." Buffy nodded. "Logan, could you show her the way?"
*******
It seemed to Logan that the closer they got to the med lab, the closer Buffy walked next to him. When they reached the door he was surprised to feel her slip her hand into his. He looked down at her as she laced their fingers together.
"I don't like hospitals," she whispered.
He nodded in understanding as she gave him a wan smile. They walked through the door together.
"I appreciate your doing this, Buffy," Jean said.
"Whatever. I'm only doing this cause the Professor asked me to," Buffy said a little surly.
"Just sit on the bed. I want to take some blood," Jean said nonplussed. She had received this kind of behavior before, mostly from Scott.
Buffy did as she asked, but didn't let go of Logan's hand. If anything, she held on to him a little tighter.
"So why don't you like hospitals?" Logan asked in effort to take her attention away from Jean.
"When I was eight my cousin Celia died in one right in front of me. I was all alone. Then I had to kill Kindlebot in another one while I had a fever. Not to mention the times worrying over my friends in one. Then the time I was nearly drained to death by my vampire boyfriend. Then the last time I was there cause I was a horrible leader and got some potentials killed and Xander lost an eye all because of me. So yeah, I have issues," Buffy babbled.
"All done," Jean said.
"Really?" Buffy asked amazed. She looked at her arm to see the little pinprick close up.
"I would like to see how quickly you heal," Jean said hesitantly.
"Fine." Buffy looked at Logan, "Cut me."
"What?"
"Use your claw thingies to cut my arm to curb nosy's curiosity."
"I'm not going to hurt you."
"Won't hurt me anymore than it would hurt you."
Logan glared at her, but she sent him a stronger look.
"You see this. It's called the resolve face. Willow taught it to me. Nothing stops it, now cut."
He growled, but extended one set of claws. With a grimace he made three cuts on one of Buffy's arms. They healed in under a minute.
"She heals as quickly as you do Logan."
"Anything else? This is the only time you get me."
"As long as you're willing," Jean said.
Over the next couple of hours, Jean ran Buffy through a gamut of tests on her stamina, strength, and healing abilities. Logan stayed with her the entire time.
"That's it Buffy," Jean said. "I really do appreciate it."
"Can I go now?" Buffy asked.
"Yes. You should have enough time to clean up before lunch."
But Buffy barely heard anything after the yes as she was fairly dragging Logan with her out of the med lab.
As they headed back to the surface Logan asked Buffy about something that had been bothering him since her babble about hospitals. "You dated a vampire?"
"Two of them actually."
"And one of them drained you?"
"I made him. He had been poisoned and the only thing that could save him was my blood."
"He could have killed you."
"I trusted him," she said as they reached her door. As she went to open her door she suddenly realized that she was still holding Logan's hand. Slightly embarrassed, she quickly dropped it.
"Let me know when you're ready for lunch," he said after a moment.
"Ok," she said with a smile as she slipped through the door.
Logan stood there for a minute marveling at the sense of loss he felt as she had let go of his hand. It had felt comfortable and right to hold it as they walked. He contemplated the meaning of it as he headed to his room.