Ororo's lower lip trembled, and, although she was staring ahead at Logan, she wasn't truly seeing him.

"What am I going to do about this?" she asked, a thousand thoughts whirling through her head all at once. She felt her legs turning to jelly beneath her. Logan saw it, too, and he rushed forward to save her from falling. He led her to her white leather sofa and sat next to her.

"When I was younger, I used to think that this school was like a fortress, that we would all be safe as long as we were behind these walls," Ororo lamented, "The truth is, we were only safe as long as nobody knew what kind of school we really are, and we were still thought to be a prep school."

Logan nodded, remembering the night that they had been exposed to the world, when the sanctity of their environment had been invaded by the military, which, subsequently, caused reports on every major news station in the US that gave away the true nature of the Xavier Institute.

"I thought that we had entered into a state of peace with the humans. A fragile peace, yes, but I never expected anything like this," Ororo said.

"I did," Logan replied, "Honestly, since the whole 'cure' bullshit went down, I was just waiting for something to go wrong."

"I'm sure that everyone was," she admitted, "Especially now that Charles is gone and I've taken his position."

She stood up and walked to her window, pressing her cheek against the cool glass as a tear streamed down from her eyes.

"Don't tell me that you're blaming yourself for this," said Logan, standing up.

"I don't know," she replied, "But I have to wonder whether or not this would have happened if Charles were still alive and running things. He was at least well-respected and established. Having someone new running the school just leaves us completely vulnerable."

She turned to him with tears tracing salty paths down her cheeks, and the urge rose within him to go to her, wipe her eyes and hold her in his arms. Alas, he could do nothing but speak.

"It would be that way no matter who had taken over, Storm. You can't blame yourself for everything that goes wrong around here."

"Oh, yes, I can, because most of it is my fault. If I were a better headmistress…" she began sadly, but Logan cut her off.

"You are a great headmistress," he said, "You've just gotten off to a rough start because of the circumstances that forced you to take over the school. You're only getting discouraged because you're a perfectionist, and you think that everything is going to Hell just because the year's gotten off to a rough start. We're in the middle of a transition, Storm; this is how change happens!"

She shook her head and banged it softly against the glass of the window. Logan felt the urges to strangle her until she saw reason and to hold her until she stopped crying all at once, and his emotions conflicted so greatly that he was rooted to where he stood.

"Do you realize how much the kids love you?" he asked, trying a different approach, "Hell, even the rest of the teachers look up to you. There's no problem you haven't fixed, no hurtle you haven't jumped. Everyone has faith in you. You can do anything."

"Anything but protect this school and everyone in it," she whispered, "Maybe I should just shut it down, send everyone home." Logan shook his head and took a step towards her, grabbing her shoulders.

"No," he said fiercely, "You're not thinking right now, Storm. If you were, you'd realize that closing the school down is not the answer. Whoever left the note, that's just what they want us to do. We'd only be giving in to their demands. Anyway, we can't close the school because if we did, we'd be sending every student here out into the world as helpless as a newborn puppy. You know that most of them either ran away from or got kicked out of their homes; this school is all they have. It would be cruel and selfish of us to turn them away."

His hazel eyes burned through her stormy blue ones, still leaking tears from the corners. Ororo took a deep breath and nodded before she was able to speak again.

"I know. I know that, but, Logan…I'm scared," she said, "I'm afraid that whoever left the note on the front door is serious, and that they'll attack. I'm holding the lives of everyone in this house in my hands, and if anything happens, then it's my fault."

Without warning, she wrapped her arms around him and pressed herself against his chest, dampening his button-down shirt with her tears. Surprised as he was by her sudden show of emotion and affection, he seized upon the moment, taking the chance to pull her close and stroke her smooth, caramel skin while burying his nose in her platinum tresses. He felt his soul practically leaving his body and floating in the air as her scent and the feel of her invaded him. Logan wanted to stay this way forever, to never let this go, but, to his immense disappointment, he was brought back to Earth by the sound of her laughter.

He looked down to see that she was wiping her tear-stained cheeks with the front of his shirt while smiling and chuckling. She shook her head and looked up to see the bewilderment on his face.

"What's funny?" he asked, "A minute ago, you're bawling your eyes out, and now…"

"I'm sorry," she giggled, "I'm so sorry. It's just that I've been long overdue for a breakdown. I feel lightheaded, Logan, and I'm so confused that I don't know what to do. I need help."

"With what? Are you about to pass out? You want me to walk you to your room, or…"

She interrupted him with another bout of laughter. "No, no…I meant that I need help with…everything. I was out of my mind when I decided that I could run this school single-handedly while still keeping all of my old classes. I need someone that I can count on to help me with all of my duties as headmistress. Doing it alone has taken too much of a toll on me; I don't know how much more I can handle."

"I'll help you," he offered. Ororo stared at him as though he were a diamond that she was appraising.

"You mean it?" she asked. Without hesitation, he nodded.

"Absolutely. Anything you need done, just let me know and I'll do it. Hell, I would have offered a long time ago, but you never gave any hint that you needed or even wanted any help," said Logan.

"I know. I tried to be braver than I am," whispered Ororo. She stepped into his arms once again, giving him a squeeze around the middle.

"Thank you," she told him, not looking up to see his face. If she would have, Ororo would have known that just one touch from her was all the thanks that Logan would ever need.