Disclaimer: If it's not Angela, Sam, Chasca, Totem or Buzz, then it's not mine...as for the ones who are, they're very antisocial and don't play well with others...so do not approach, to do so may cause harm...:)

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Interlude: Alkali Lake

A flock of birds burst into sudden flight with the appearance of a sleek black jet landing in a clearing near the tree were they roosted. A few moments later, a ramp opened in the back and two men walked out. One was extremely tall, over seven feet and well muscled. The other was over a foot shorter and sported a pair of sunglasses with red lenses. They seemed to be in a rather subdued mood, neither one paying much attention to the majestic scenery of the Canadian Rockies. They carried little with them, having left their packs and supplies in the jet. The shorter of the two carried a small box with him as well as a bouquet of blood red roses. The taller held what appeared to be a sketchbook and a bouquet of his own, white lilies. Without speaking, they made their way through the forest to the edge of a massive lake.

This lake had been here for some time, although just a year ago it had mostly been contained behind a huge dam. It was unclear to those who knew about this place exactly what had happened, but the dam had given out and flooded the valley below. Some of the people in nearby towns speculated that the government had blown the dam on purpose. Still others believed that it had just finally given up. A small minority blamed it on mutants. They were the most correct, though not for the reasons they thought.

The shorter man made his way to a rocky outcropping that gave him an unhindered view of the entire lake. He swallowed hard as he stood there, his eyes resting on a spot just below him. His companion moved down the shore a few hundred yards, giving his friend the privacy he needed for the task at hand. He walked to the water's edge and carefully placed the lilies in the water, watching as the current carried them out towards the center of the lake. A moment later, he opened his sketchbook to capture the rest of the scene as it unfolded.

The shorter man knelt on the rocks and carefully opened the box he held. Inside was a photograph of him with a strikingly beautiful redhead, both of them laughing at something happening off-camera. Also inside was ring, white gold with a large diamond surrounded by six smaller stones. The last thing was an envelope made of a thick, creamy parchment. Written on the outside was a short phrase, "Jean, my love".

The man fingered the envelope for a moment before speaking. "Jean, I miss you. It's been almost eight months since I lost you. It's been really hard, but I'm trying, I really am." His voice caught in his throat and tears started to make their way down his cheeks. He brushed them away and continued. "There's this new mutant at the school, Angela. You'd have liked her, she's a lot like you in a lot of ways. She's someone that knew Logan way back when and believe it or not, they're totally in love with each other. Always have been." He fell silent for a moment, gazing at the photo in his hands. "Anyway, Logan told me that in the end, you chose me. I'm so sorry I ever doubted you for even a second. But I was fooled by my eyes when I should have listened to my heart the whole time." He chuckles bitterly. "I guess that Logan isn't as dumb as I wanted to believe. And Angela, she's been a big help, even if she likes to tell the whole truth all the time. Things are getting bad out here, Jean. You wouldn't like what the world is coming to. Angela's been training the kids with Logan and you'd be so proud of them. We have two full teams now and a third one ready to step up. By the time she's done with them, we'll have an army. We'll be able to protect everyone."

He wipes away a few more tears and gazes over the water, his eyes falling on the bouquet of lilies floating out there. "She also figured out I needed more than just Storm and the Professor to help me out with mourning you. Remember Sam Levison? Atlas? He's been at the mansion the past few weeks. I don't know how she did it, but she talked him into coming out just for me. I have a feeling he'll be staying, though. She likes to tell him the truth, too and I think it's finally dawned on him that he can't hide forever. He's fighting it, like he fights everything else, but she'll wear him down." He swallows hard again, no longer bothering to wipe away his tears. "I think he's kind of taken with Storm. It's sweet, really. I know he had a crush on her back when we were still students, but he was always so afraid to act on it. I hope he'll get the nerve to say something to her when we get home."

The man stands up and tosses the roses into the water. "Anyway, that's why I came back here, to say things to you I should have said before. I always thought there'd be time, you know? I wanted to tell you I'm sorry for being so jealous of Logan. Now that I've met Angela, I know why you reminded him of her, even if he didn't remember it right away. And I wanted you to know that I love you even more today than I did the first day I saw you. I'm always going to love you, no matter what. I'm sorry we never got around to getting married. That's probably my biggest regret, really. And I promise you, I'll live my life as well as I can. I'll do my best to always be someone you can be proud of. I'll see you again, someday, when it's my time. I know you'll be waiting for me." He puts the items back in the box and closes it, snapping the lock shut before dropping it in the water. "I love you, Jean. Goodbye."

He stands there for another moment before turning and walking back to the beach, feeling as though a great weight has been lifted from his shoulders. He knows that he'll never forget Jean, but now he can move on and it doesn't feel like he's betraying her if he does. He walks about half the distance to his friend when it happens.

They're hit simultaneously, the figures moving so quietly that neither one of the men heard them approach. The taller man is taken by surprise by a hard kick to his knee, pain blossoming like fire all through his leg. He goes down hard yet still manages to regain his feet and turn, favoring the injured leg. His assailant has already moved out of range and as he bears down on him, he's suddenly struck in the face by something wet that burns his eyes, effectively blinding him. He's still near enough to the edge of the water that he backpedals until his feet are submerged and plunges his face into the icy lake. Another kick to his knee causes him to fall again, sprawling headfirst into the water. He stands up with a roar and backhands the assailant, sending him flying into a tree fifty feet away. The figure hits the trunk with a jolt and falls to the ground, unconscious.

Meanwhile, the shorter man is under attack by a woman with flaming red curls and brilliant green eyes with slit pupils like a cat. She's incredibly fast, faster than anyone he's ever fought before and he finds himself in a completely defensive position. She lashes out with wickedly sharp claws and teeth, her moves reminiscent of a tiger playing with its prey. His breath comes in sharp gasps, a painful stitch forming in his side as he realizes this is not a fight he can win. He misses a crucial block and she kicks him on the side of his head and he goes down, unconscious.

The taller man turns in time to watch as the woman picks up his friend, carrying him as though he weighs nothing. She runs with him towards the woods and the man goes to pursue her. Before he can take more than a few steps, the man he tossed aside mere moments before stands up and shouts a challenge. He turns to meet it, but hears the distinct sound of a helicopter approaching. The assailant merely smiles and melts into the forest. The tall man attempts to pursue him, but his knee buckles and he falls again to the beach. Dragging himself along the shore, he works his way into the tree line and conceals himself beneath the boughs of a huge evergreen. Moments later, the helicopter lands somewhere in the woods behind him. After a few minutes, it takes off again and disappears into the distance.

The man limps out onto the beach and just barely catches sight of the chopper as it retreats. It appears to be moving due east, though it could turn to the north or south after it's out of sight. Gritting his teeth, he barely manages to limp back to the jet, his sketchbook forgotten on the beach behind him. He finds a first aid kit, which thankfully has several braces and splints in it. He patches up his knee as well as he can, then sits carefully in the pilot's seat and begins the pre-flight routine. He's thankful that he has an eidetic memory and that he'd paid close attention to everything his companion had done on the flight out here. As soon as he's ready to take off, he raises the ramp and picks up the radio to make a very important call.

"Storm, it's Sam." He says. "We have a problem."

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Chapter 19.

(Logan)

The next morning I had a special training session with Chasca. For some reason, I didn't like the thought of her going into a fight with just her claws and her flying to keep her safe. So, I'd been training her with various weapons and the one she did the best with was the katana. She was a natural with any bladed weapon, but she wielded the katana like it was a part of her. Of course, so could I, but I still had no memory of how or why I could. I kept hoping that something would get jarred loose now that I'd had my chipectomy, but everything was still hidden from me. At any rate, it didn't matter too much. Chasca was a brilliant pupil and it was a pleasure to teach her. We usually started off slow with a kata that was a variant of the tai chi kata we used as a warm up for all training sessions. Once that was done, we switched to actual combat moves, she using a real katana while I used a bokan. We flowed around each other like a pair of dancers, attacking and countering in an endless series of patterns. Angela told me that watching us spar was a thing of beauty and never missed a session if she could help it. I still have a hard time accepting the word "beauty" in any sentence that includes me, but she insisted that it was true and I should just shut up about it. She's the boss.

On this particular day, Totem was in the Danger Room as well, he and Angela standing off to one side and commenting quietly to each other about the fight before them. We had begun incorporating her flying with her sword work, since it is one thing that would give her a tactical and strategic advantage over most opponents. Still, adaptability is one thing that I'm known for and having a flying swordswoman just presented me with new obstacles to overcome. After scoring a few good hits on me, I figured out how to compensate for her advantage and once again had her on the defensive as much as the offensive. An hour later, we were both soaked in sweat and she was ready to call it day. I terminated the program and the four of us exited the Danger Room.

"Logan-san, you have done well with Chasca." Totem said, giving me a little bow. "And you handle the katana with great skill. Tell me, where did you learn it?"

"Bub, your guess is as good as mine." I replied. "Just another one of those things I know without knowin' why."

"So you have not remembered anything new since your operation?"

"Nope, not a damn thing." I shrugged. "It'll come back when it comes back. I ain't gonna worry about it too much."

"I understand. Still, I would be honored if you would spar with me. It has been some time since I had a skilled opponent with the katana."

"Sure. We'll squeeze it in later this week." He bowed again then took Chasca by the hand and the two of them walked off to the elevator. I turned to Angela and she looking at me with a huge grin on her face. "What?"

"A few weeks ago, you'd have said no for fear you'd kill him." She said. "Now you're practically best buds."

"Well, now that all that telepathic compulsion shit is gone, I can deal with him." I replied with a smirk. "How about you? I saw you guys givin' a runnin' commentary in there. A few weeks ago, you'd have either gutted him or fallen all over him like you were in heat."

She smacked me on the shoulder and I laughed. "I never acted like I was in heat around him!" She said as she laughed. "I save that for you."

I pulled her close to me and nuzzled her neck. "Mm, really? Care to prove that?"

"Ew, you're all sweaty!" She protested weakly.

"There's a shower right over there." I pointed out and she chuckled. Without giving her a chance to protest further, I scooped her up and carried her into the locker room, locking the door behind us.

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We discovered another thing Chasca could do, though I wasn't sure how to add it to her training. It seems that her saliva also had an anti-coagulant property, lending further weight to her bat-like mutation. I wanted to test it but the Professor was totally against it unless Dr. Endicott was around, just in case. I didn't think it would be a big deal, since I heal from anything. But he was concerned that my healing factor wouldn't recognize it as a toxin as such and wanted to make sure I didn't bleed out or anything. I had classes all day anyway, so we scheduled the test for later that evening when the doctor could come to the mansion.

Buzz had created some strategy and tactics programs for us to use in those classes, so the kids could run scenarios on the computer and try to figure out for themselves what did and did not work in every possible situation. He based the different computer scenarios on the ones he'd done for the Danger Room, so that once they felt they had something that would work, they could play it out real-time in there. If they were successful, they passed. If not, they had to keep trying until they passed. There were no letter grades in this class and precious little in the way of papers to grade. Either they did it right or they didn't, there was no middle ground. Of course, there was more than one way to work each scenario and they were all open to improvisation on the fly. It was (and still is) our belief that flexibility in a combat situation was the only way to keep yourself and your team alive. That had always been One-Eye's biggest downfall. He could run a carefully constructed mission scenario that was letter perfect, but he never left room for improvisation. If there's one thing that Angela and I know better than anyone, it's that plans never survive the first engagement with the enemy. We hoped to teach him that much needed flexibility when he got back with Sam from Alkali Lake in a couple days.

The class in question was Beta team's final exam. After this, as long as they'd passed everything else, they'd be considered full X-Men. A couple of them, like Rogue and Kitty, were planning on continuing here with college level courses until they would be forced to attend a regular university to complete their education. Piotr, Bobby and Jubilee all planned to stay here and teach, the guys would be permanently taking over the defense classes for the twelve and under kids, while Jubilee would be teaching elementary level English and Social Studies. Kyle wasn't interested in teaching, he just wanted to be an X-Man and no one had a problem with that. Since these plans all hinged on their passing this exam, the room was silent as they each worked at their computers trying to find the best way to beat the program. Every step they made, every decision, was logged and sent to the two main computers that Angela and I had in front of us. With a few clicks, we could monitor each kid as they worked or wait until they were done and go over the decisions they made. As each one finished, we excused them and after they were all gone, we settled in to go over the results.

It came as no surprise to us that they all passed. They'd each done the scenario in a slightly different way, but each student had made sound decisions. Jubilee actually showed the best improvisational skills, but Bobby had the most promise in leadership. Piotr was solid in both areas, but didn't excel in either. The rest were perfectly competent, but we agreed that none of them would be comfortable in a leadership role. So, by default, we decided to use those three scenarios in the Danger Room for the second half of the final exam. We left the classroom, only to be jumped by the six of them as soon as we got to the lounge. With a laugh, Angela gave them the good news that they'd passed this part and that the second half would happen in three days, after Scott and Sam returned. They congratulated each other very loudly and we escaped to the patio for a quick smoke.

Angela started shivering almost immediately, so I sat down on one of the iron chairs and gathered her into my lap. She snuggled in and sighed. "How come you're never cold?" She asked.

"Darlin', I'm from Alberta." I replied with a chuckle. "We had a lot more winter up there than we do down here."

"Mm, so it's a Canadian thing?"

"Somethin' like that." We finished our smokes in silence then just sat there, enjoying the quiet for a few minutes. We heard the patio door open and Storm came out to join us. "Hey Storm. What's up?"

"I just heard the good news about Beta team." She said. "They're pretty excited."

"Understatement of the century." Angela replied. "I had no idea that Jubilee had a secondary mutation of 'deafening scream'."

Storm laughed. "It's not that bad. You just have those extra sensitive ears."

"We'll have to remind her to be careful when she's on the communicator in the field. I'd hate to have to gag her in a combat situation."

"Well, I just came out to tell you that you're late for your next class. Delta team is waiting." Angela and I groaned, but we went back inside to the classroom.

Delta team wasn't nearly as far along as Beta in this particular class, although they'd done well enough so far that we felt confident that they could successfully protect the mansion in case something took both Alpha and Beta away for any period of time. We felt even better about it now that Totem and Chasca had joined Jesse, Julian, Jamie and Davey. I was actually glad that Totem was on the team. He didn't heal as fast as I do, but he was a tough combatant and with his adamantium skeleton he was as unstoppable as I am. And with everything we'd done for him to break his conditioning and give him his life back, I knew it would be a matter of honor for him to protect this place in return for that assistance. Deep inside, I knew he'd eventually make full X-Man, if he wanted to.

At any rate, the only reason he was in the class was because it wouldn't be fair to the team if he wasn't. I knew he was trained in all the same stuff Angela and I were, so he usually finished long before the others and would sit and talk with us while the rest of the class finished their assignments. He understood that he had to be there to make it fair, but it was boring for him. We sat there discussed different options for the rest of the team, debating if we should train anyone else with different weapons (like we were with Chasca) or if it would be best to concentrate on their powers. He was all for teaching them weapons work, while I thought that those with a good offensive power (like Davey) wouldn't really need them. We were still arguing the pros and cons of it when Angela cleared her throat rather loudly.

I looked up her with a raised eyebrow. "Whatcha need darlin'?"

"Class has been over for almost ten minutes." She replied with her arms crossed. "Are you planning on helping me grade these or should I let you boys finish your lover's quarrel?"

Totem surprised us both by laughing out loud, then hopping to his feet and bowing low before her. "My deepest apologies, Angela. I will leave you to finish your work." He then turned to me and winked. "I'll see you later, Logan-san."

We watched with our mouths gaping as he swept out of the room. "Who was that and what did they do with the real Totem?" She asked.

"I have no idea." I replied with a smirk. "But it looks like thinkin' for himself is workin' out pretty well."

"I'm sure Chasca is a big help, too."

"Every man needs a good woman." I smirked at her and she slid into my lap, wrapping her arms around me and kissing my forehead. "Mm, you know, we've never…"

"Don't even finish that sentence, Logan." She said as she slid back off my lap. "It's the middle of the day and there's no way I'm going to have sex with you in our classroom!"

"Come on! Where's your sense of adventure?"

"I left it in our room. Now help me grade these."

I grumbled but set to work evaluating the results of the programs. Most of them did pretty well except for Julian, who made a few bad decisions. Technically, he would have passed since his team made it out in more or less one piece. However, there were several injuries and some damage to the surroundings that could have been avoided had he simply changed his tactics a little. After debating the point with Angela, we decided we had to fail him on it and make him run it again later.

Evening finally arrived along with Dr. Endicott. We waited until after dinner to go down to the infirmary with her for the test of Chasca's anti-coagulant, because if I was gonna be down for a few hours, I was doing it on a full stomach. The real trick was getting her pissed off enough to resort to biting me, which I figured wasn't going to be easy. I was right.

Dr. Endicott had never seen me in full sparring mode with anyone, much less in a mode to intentionally make some harm me. She'd seen my healing factor at work, but she'd never seen the rest of what makes me who and what I am. She watched in stunned silence as I attacked Chasca, coming at her with everything I had except the claws. She managed to fend off most of my attacks, but I was still getting through with enough that she was landing some pretty good slashes on me. I managed to grab her from behind and put her in a pretty good hold with my weight shifted back just enough to keep her from tossing me over her shoulder. With only one option left to her, she bit me.

I don't know how this would work on someone who heals slower than I do, but the mark she left on me bled a lot more than a similar wound from someone else. I really didn't want to test this on my woman, since there was a real possibility of her dying from blood loss and even though she comes back I still hate when it happens. Totem wasn't around and I didn't think it would be fair to Chasca to ask her to bite the living shit out of the man she was falling in love with. Still, we had to test the overall area of effect this thing had, so the doctor took a scalpel and made several deep incisions starting at the point of the bite and working outward. As it turned out, it only extended about two inches from the point of the bite mark, but if she bit someone with less of a healing factor than I had (or worse, no healing factor at all), they would suffer serious blood loss if she bit them several times. Very good to know, all told.

The doctor made notes of the experiment and said she wanted to explore this further before leaving. Chasca, Angela and I made our way upstairs to the lounge to relax a bit before going to bed, at least two of us still suffering from the aftereffects of adrenaline. Of course, the lounge was full of kids since it was still too chilly out for them to hang around outside after dinner, so we left Chasca there with her friends and went to the patio instead. I'd barely gotten settled in to enjoy a smoke when Storm came bursting through the patio doors. The look on her face told me all I needed to know.

"What's wrong?" I said, tossing my cigar on the patio.

"It's Sam." She replied, a tremor in voice. "There's been an attack at Alkali Lake."

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AN: Hope you're all still enjoying yourselves...:) Only 2 chapters to go after this one...Special thanks to my beta readers, Zac and Turiel Tincdaniel for their constant support and dedication...Extra Special thanks to Turiel for sending me dark chocolate Kit Kat bars to bribe the muse with...:) Super Special thanks to the readers for liking this enough to stick with it...and Extra Super Swanky thanks to the ones who review...without your input, i don't know if it's worth my time to finish the story...:)