Riven opened her eyes, tired of dreaming of the War, and of what happened to the Professor, Scott, and Jean, and climbed out of her bed as the moon climbed higher in the sky. She moved down the steps, having somewhat taken over as the Doctor in the school. Riven had taken extra time off her schedule so Jean could teach her the workings of the medicine, and of what it took to be a doctor. Although Riven was not a legal, liscensed doctor, she was partially in charge of the lab in the basement of the school. If someone came in with a problem she couldn't handle, she made sure that they got the help they needed, whether she sent them to the hospital, or she called Dr McCoy and had him help the student.

Jogging into the elevator, and crouching as it lowered to the basement, she rubbed her eyes, and moved down the hall in her night shorts and tank top. John was still laying on the table, eyes closed, breathing rhythmically in the silence, which was broken only by the beeping of his heart monitor. Reaching down, she gently ran a finger over his hair, and smiled softly, biting her lip as she leaned down and kissed his forehead.

"It's so good to know you're still around…" she whispered, and rested her forehead on his shoulder for a second before checking him over, and heading back upstairs. Angel came in from the yard, and stumbled, trying not to run her down.

"Hey, girlie…" She smiled.

"Hey, Angel…how're you doin?" she asked, leaning over and hugging him gently.

"I'm doin' okay…how're you? How's Pyro?" he asked, running a hand over the top of his head. Riven sighed, and shrugged.

"Still unconcious. I hope he wakes up sometime soon…" she said, and gave him a gentle hug, looking at his wings. "How're these feeling?" she asked.

"Fine…They're sore when I have to tie them to me when I sleep, but otherwise their fine," he said, moving into the hall. "I'm gonna go hop in the shower, and then I'm probably gonna go for a fly," he said, and walked away. Riven smiled, and walked passed the main doors, stopping and looking over.

"Can I help you?" she asked. The unfamiliar girl turned, and bit her lip.

"I…well, I certainly hope so…I'm Leigh. And…I heard that…I could come here to be safe…" Riven faintly smiled.

"Safe from those who fear you?" she asked. Leigh nodded, tugging at the black Adidas cap on her head. Riven nodded. "I'm Riven…and this is Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Come on, let me show you to our headmistress," Riven said, finding it still so strange. She continually wanted to say "to the Professor," but she knew she couldn't anymore. She led Leigh down the hall a little ways, and opened up an office door, peeking in at Storm across the room. "Storm?" She lifted her head, and smiled.

"Hello, Riven…Come on in."

"Storm, this is Leigh…I think she'd like to talk to you about residing here," she said, leading Leigh inside and just nodding her head a little. Smiling a little more, Storm stood.

"Welcome, Leigh. I'm Storm…" Leigh nodded, a small smile on her lips, as she reached out and shook her hand.

"Hi…so…is this where I can stay?" Storm let the smile on her lips grow more, as she nodded, and reached into her desk, pulling out a few slips of paper and a couple books, setting them on the desk.

"You may stay here as long as you would like…Riven, if you wouldn't mind, run this over to Logan, and then come back so you can show Leigh around the school…" she stated, handing Riven a slip of paper with some words scrawled on it. Riven agreed to it, walking back out of the room and down the hallway. Leigh cleared her throat.

"Will, um, I be living here in the school, or will I have to find a place?" Storm immediately shook her head.

"No worries, Leigh, we have housing right here in the building. When Riven gets back, she can show you to her room. There's a spare bed in there. And let's see…I'll be the history and english teacher, no worries there. Hank will be the Physics and Government teacher; Logan is the self-defense teacher, as well as the math teacher. Since three of our teachers, including the Professor, have passed, we all must double up on classes until other teachers can be hired," Storm stated, "so after a few days, you might become tired of us." She laughed, making it a joke, so Leigh laughed as well.

Riven tapped on Logan's door, and he looked up, scratching his head.

"C'mon in, Riv…" She walked over, handing him the slip of paper.

"We have a new girl coming in…I get to show her around when I go back to the office," she said, and looked around the room. Bobby and Kitty sat along one wall, Rogue on Bobby's other side. Riven recalled that Rogue had run off, but she didn't know where she'd gone, or when she'd returned. She made a note in her mind to catch her and ask her later, as Logan nodded, and went back to his class as Riven walked out, gently waving to the girls. They both waved back, but it was then that Riven noticed Rogue's bare hand clasped in Bobby's, and she knew where Rogue had gone. Hesitating, she moved back to Storm's office, and stepped beside Leigh.

"Alright, Riven, thank you. You may show Leigh around. I said she may take a room with you, if that's alright…" Riven gave a soft smile, and nodded.

"That's just fine. Come on, I'll show you around…" she said, helping Leigh off the chair and taking her down the hall. "If you need anything, Leigh, don't hesitate to ask me. I've been here a few years, I know my way around, I know the students, the teachers, the grounds, and the works. Anything you need, you can always ask…" She pushed open the bedroom door, and walked over, patting the only empty bed, which was right next to Riven's. "This will be your bed," she said.

"Looks cozy…Thank you…I do have one question…" she said, setting her bag on the bed and following Riven out the door. Riven glanced at her.

"Shoot."

"Any cute guys here?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. Riven squeezed her lips together, smiling and trying not to laugh, before both girls burst into giggles.

"Actually, there are. There's David, aka Colossus. I'll point him out when I see him. And Angel, but he's in his room right now. Logan's not bad to look at, and neither is Bobby...but he's taken. Come on." Riven led Leigh around, the two girls becoming fast friends, as Riven introduced her to David, Bobby, and Logan, once his class had let out. She paused when she felt a pair of hands on her shoulders.

"Boo."

"Heya, Angel…Just the one I was lookin' for. This is Leigh, she's new here," Riven said, patting Leigh's shoulder. Leigh hesitated, and smiled, reaching out to shake Angel's hand.

"Nice to meet you," she said. Angel smiled a soft, wistful-like smile, and nodded.

"Nice to meet you, too…I'm Angel." Riven looked between them, and thought, I found her cute guy, a smile on her lips. Angel hesitated, and blinked a few times, smiling again. "I'm gonna, uh, go for a walk…or a fly, depends on how I feel…I'll…see you guys later," he said, watching Leigh as he walked out the door. Leigh blushed, and looked down, then back up at Riven, who just smiled and led her into the kitchen.

"I think he likes you…" Riven said, handing her a soda from the fridge. Leigh blushed more, and shook her head.

"No…"

"Yeah. Angel's a sweetie, and sometimes he's hard to decipher, but I'm pretty good at it," she said, smiling softly as she opened a bottle of her own. Leigh just blushed as she down some of the soda.

Riven looked around her, scared out of her wits, as the Army fought against the Brotherhood, as Jean stood still and silent on their side, while her's was trying to defend Worthington Lab's and save the source of the "cure." She watched as Kittie raced into the building, through the walls, to find Jimmy and keep him from harm. Suddenly, things changed. Everyone had evacuated Alcatraz Island, and Logan was trying to convince Jean to come back so he could save her. Riven was terrified: she was still on the Island, within distance of Jean's power. She moved, quickly, to try and get away, and found that her feet weighed a ton a piece. Struggling to drag herself off the Island, Riven looked around, and saw everyone running from the Island still, some getting caught and shredded in an instant. Her feet finally let loose, and she was sent flying onto the bridge, turning around to see John still laying in the debris. Her eyes wide, she pushed herself onto her feet, and caught a glimpse of Logan stabbing Jean, causing all the power she was emitting to cease, and for everything to fall to the ground. John didn't move. Riven hesitated, and raced over to him, dodging the falling debris.

"John! Wake up!" she cried, shaking his shoulder. He didn't move. She cried a little as she struggled to push him out of the way as a car fell, landing where he had been as they rolled a little out of the way. She laid on him, taking a deep breath, and as she sat up to shake him again, his hand clasped her throat, his eyes open wide. She coughed, looking at him in surprise. "John…" she squeezed. "What're you doin?" He raised his other hand, snapping his fingers to create a flame, and brought it close to her head. "John…please don't….please…" she begged him softly. He stood up with her, and held the flame beneath her hair.

"This will teach you to help the enemy," he growled, shoving the flame into her face, and bringing it down to her stomach, torching her as they stood…

Riven sat up, eyes wide, as she sat, half laying down, on the couch in the living room. The TV was on, but it was nothing but static, so she turned it off, trying to calm herself down, as she headed down the hall, looking around her very carefully, for any sign of something being wrong. Not finding anything, she finally just went into her bedroom, and laid down, tugging the blankets up to her shoulders, and staring at the wall.

Riven moved around restlessly on her bed that night, unable to fall back to sleep. The room was coated in darkness, and there wasn't a sound in the room save for Riven's movements. Finally, she pushed the blankets to the foot of the bed and stood up in her plaid pajama bottoms and gray spaghetti strap top. Rubbing her hands over her hair, she slipped into her Dr. Scholl's slide on shoes, and shuffled down the hall into the elevator. She leaned against the wall of the elevator, adjusting to the bright light, and moved down the hall in the basement towards the lab, to check on John. As she approached the room, however, she heard some sounds that were neither breathing nor a heart monitor. Confused, she stepped into to see him sitting up, looking around and tapping his fingers on the metal table.

"John?"