xXx

Logan made his way up the stairs with a cling-wrap-covered plate of food in one hand and a thick stack of "get well" cards in the other. When he reached the door to Storm's office, he shifted the cards and knocked, but got no response, so he knocked again, more insistently. Once again, nothing, so, with an exasperated sigh, he grabbed the door handle, and found that it was unlocked, so he let himself in.

Immediately he was greeted by the sound of tiny sobs and whimpers. He looked over to where the sounds of sorrow were originating, only to see Storm leaning on her desk face-down with her head buried in her arms, crying and moaning pitifully. After setting the food and cards down on an end-table, he walked over and said her name in a soft, gentle tone. She looked up; her blue eyes misted over, and burst into fresh tears as soon as she saw Logan standing before her.

"I'm sorry," she sobbed, attempting todry her eyes, "I'm just tired; I haven't been sleeping and…"

"Why haven't you slept, Storm?" he asked in concern, coming around to kneel before her desk chair.

"I have…I have dreams, Logan," she told him, shivering in revulsion and sorrow, "I see his eyes, those orange cat-eyes, every night when I lay in bed, and I feel him on me, all over me." Once again, she began to cry and shake. Logan took both of her hands in his and pulled her up from the chair and into his arms. In desperation and out of a need for comfort, she threw her arms around him, pressing herself to his body, and weeping into his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Storm," he whispered to her, stroking her back, "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be," she said, "You've been wonderful. I've never seen you so gentle with anyone."

"I feel responsible for you now, Storm. Ever since I found you…" he began, but she cut him off.

"Saved me," she corrected, "You saved me."

"Yeah. Ever since then, I feel like I need to help you through this," he finished.

"Thank you. I don't know if I ever really thanked you for what you did that night, what you've been doing for me," she told him.

"You don't have to. All I want is everything all right again," he replied.

"I know. I'm trying; I really…as hard as I can, I'm trying," she said, stepping away from him.

"Yeah, I know," he let go of her, and then strode over to the table where he'd abandoned his cargo.

"I brought you some stuff from dinner," he held the plate out to her, but she shook her head.

"I'm not hungry," she stated.

"Did you eat lunch?" asked Logan. Storm shook her head.

"Then you're going to eat this. You need to eat," he uncovered the plate, took a fork out of the pocket of his shirt, and set it in front of her, watching carefully as she took a few bites.

"Oh, and hey, when I told the kids that you were sick, they all got get-well cards for ya," he said, grabbing the cards and setting them in front of her, "Some of 'em are even home-made."

"Oh, Goddess," said Storm, setting her plate aside to open and read one card after another, "these are all so sweet."

"Yeah. It's obvious the kids love ya, Storm," Logan said. She nodded.

"Sometimes I worry that I don't do an adequate job as headmistress," she admitted, "I always think of the way that Charles would have done things, and what big shoes I have to fill, and I think that I'm not doing it right, or as well as I should. At times, I wonder why all of these children like me as much as they do."

"They like ya because they know that you care about them. After Chuck died, you could have turned your back on all this, closed the school and sent everyone home, but you didn't. You didn't do it because you want what's best for all of these kids, just like Chuck did, and you care what happens to them. They realize that, and I know they appreciate it," replied Logan.

"You love the children, too," Storm said, catching him off-guard.

"What?" he asked.

"You don't leave anymore," she replied, "When you first came here, you would always leave, for weeks at a time. We wouldn't know where you were, when or even if you were coming back. But you always did. You've stopped that now, you've stuck around, even took on all of the training classes that Scott left behind. You wouldn't have done that if you didn't also care about the students."

"Maybe you're right," he said, "Or maybe I always came back because I had no nowhere else to go, but just didn't want to admit it then. Maybe I finally realized that it's pointless to try and find a place for myself anywhere else."

"Maybe," she said, giving him the first smile that he'd seen from her in days, but that was soon interrupted by a yawn.

"I'm so tired, Logan. Can you do me a favor?" she asked.

"Sure," he replied, "What is it?" She crossed over to the sofa and stretched out, but left just enough room for someone else to sit.

"Stay here while I take a nap. I never seem to have nightmares when you're with me."

Logan nodded and joined her on the sofa. To his surprise, she rested her head in his lap and turned onto her side, her face level with his crotch. He tried not to think about that as he reached out to stroke her hair and shoulders, attempting to soothe her into sleep. The last thing that Storm needed at this point was to open her eyes and find his soldier standing at attention. It didn't take long for her to fall into slumber, leaving Logan wide-eyed, and thinking about what she'd said, her theory on the reason that he stayed at the mansion.

"You love the children, too," she'd told him.

"I guess I do," he thought, but then something else occurred to him, something that caught him completely unawares, and made him glance down at the sleeping woman in his lap and look at her in a new light, "Or maybe…there's someone else in this mansion that I love."