Time passed slow for the next few months, most of the institute went back to normal and all the kids and other students had their ups and downs and all that. Rogue and Remy had decided to get more explorative with their relationship as her and the Professor were working through some mental training to see if she could somehow deactivate her powers even a little bit. Which surprisingly to all of them except maybe the Prof was starting to work.

Storm would never forget the time the teen showed them...

It was 12:56 pm on Saturday, November 3 when they were walking out on the grounds, sensing someone was coming toward them the two turned just in time to hear,

"Hey guys guess what!" Rogue was already to them at this point Kurt wasn't too far away as apparently he'd been the first one to see what she was so happy about.

Without warning she laid her bare hand on her serogate father's forearm.

"MARRIE WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

Ororo snapped at the younger girl which made her flinch slightly but thankfully not enough to make her lose her calm state of mind and absorb Logan's life force. Storm watched for a moment as she realized nothing happened, he didn't go pail, there was no transaction of any kind besides looks that is. Logan smiled at her as he realized what this meant for her, she could touch people now. Then a moment later his face drooped slightly knowing what this could mean to her.

"I better not see you hangin' out with boys after this." She didn't know why she didn't see this coming, she rolled her eyes at him.

"Ah'll be fine, you know me, Ah don't take no shit from anyone." She said cockily,

"Language Rogue." Ororo said correctively,

"Sorry Ororo." She apologized to her, she normally wouldn't really care about apollogizing for her language or actions around others, but because it was Mrs. Howlett and no one in their right mind disrespected her she was polite.

"Ya know what I mean Stripes, I don't wanna have to charge into your room and rip up a guy who's gettin' too cozy with ya, you know I will." He said with a serious look on his face, she looked like she'd been expecting this.

"Ya won't have to, ya scare off all the guys around here anyways, they pretty much crap themselves if you're walking toward them in a bad mood anyway, all of 'em except your kids that is." His expressioned got less stern at her words which he knew were true.

He was proud of himself for his status that he'd kept through all these years even with having his and Ororo's kids. None of their kids were scared of him of course, none of them liked making him upset, but they knew he wouldn't do anything to them or their mom if he was mad, the most he'd do was slam a door or maybe go outside and cut up some wood or something. In the time he and Ororo were married he'd found how to use his anger for more than just destruction.

Like a few times when something needed to be destroyed but no one had talked about how to do it yet, then the next thing they knew a mad Wolverine had gone to work on whatever it was and they didn't have anything to talk about anymore. He didn't do that all the time though as it was a rare thing when something needed destroying rather than creating, unless of course it was an enemy in the danger room.

"Yeah, just make sure they don't lose any o' that fear kay kid." He said he put his hand on her shoulder before continuing to walk toward the front of the mansion. She watched as they wallked.

"That's amazing, how did you do that?" The dark skinned woman asked still standing beside her.

"Me an' the Prof been workin' on some control practices, I guess I've gotten pretty good at it huh?" She said smiling.

"It would seem so." She smiled at the younger girl before her, then put her hand on her arm.

"You are an amazing young woman Marrie, always remember that, never let your powers or control of your powers get to your head, or dim your personality. That is where the others before us went wrong. We love you very much."

Ororo said smiling to her, Rogue wasn't all too sure about why she was being given this spiel right now, but she knew both the woman in front of her and the man walking away from them loved her very much and would do just about anything to make sure she was safe. She felt the same way about them and a lot of other people here as well. She wished there was something she could do for them to ease their situation.

She'd heard Ororo and Logan talking about worse case scenario if he never got better, and worse if he didn't have much time left with them. She wasn't ready for this, and she knew no one else was ready for that either, she thought of things to do to make their lives easier for them at least a little bit here and there, both her and Kitty as well as some of the others. Though Logan didn't always think it was necessary being all his sensitive ego that every man has. One time he and Scott got into it about continuing training sessions like he usually did. He was about to shut the younger man down when Storm came into the equasion.

Scott had come to him while he was cleaning his knuckles to rewrap them in the bandages that he'd beed instructed to put them in for a while longer

"Hey Logan, can I talk to you for a minute?" Scott asked the older man, who continued about his business with his back turned to the younger man.

"Spill it." He responded, Scott prepared himself for a negative reaction as he spoke.

"Some of us were thinking, and... we were saying that maybe you should retire from training sessions for a while." Logan's movements stopped, he straightened up before turning his head to look at taller mutant.

"You were thinkin' what?" He asked partly not sure he heard right, partly not thinking Scott had the guts to stand up to him like this. He could smell the ferimones coming off the kid, they weren't of a kid anymore but of an adult, one who was challenging him for the position of alpha male and he wouldn't have that.

"Look, the last training session that you had with the kids was, well, less than productive." Scott said nervously knowing what would happen next.

"You sayin' I can't do my job anymore kid?" Logan said suddenly a mere three feet away from the young leader, the laser eyed mutant put his hands up in surrender realizing that he'd probably gone too far into the subject too quickly for it to seem like just a harmless talk now.

"No! No! It's just... look the last time you almost died in there ok?" Logan backed down slightly but not enough to set Cyclops at ease, he tried to be careful with his words now.

"I'll be fine Cyc, you just focus on your part of things and let me worry about mine." He turned back, and picked up the gause for his bandages, then Scott became indignant and continued.

"No you won't." He stated bluntly, again the other man stopped for a moment, but then continued.

"What makes you think that?" He asked,

"Cause you have more to think about than just you now Wolverine." He had to calm himself slightly to stop his claws from excavating from their sheathed position.

"Alright smart ass and what other panifully obvious bullshit have you got up your sleeve?"

"We don't know how long you've got to be around here still, and there are some of us that still need you, besides Storm and your own kids. You can't be so selfish to think that we're all going to be fine without you, someone else needs to help you sometimes, not just Hank and the Professor, don't you get it?" Semi insulted by his outrightness he turned back to him with a look of irritation and slight anger, but before he got the chance to speak Scott continued.

"You think Rogue or Kitty's ready to see you go yet, or even Jean and me? No! We're not, you're a big part of our lives man, does the adamantium on your skull somehow block your mind from getting these things? I mean come on!" Now the look on Logan's face was all but good, none of the younger students ever called him out like this. He was asking for it big time and his claws knew it as they were itching to come out, he marched toward the younger mutant with balled fists pinning him against the wall in a second.

"Who the hell do you think you are to speak to me this way, hmm? What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"You're like an uncle to me Logan, I speant the first half of my life being tortured to, you think you're the only mutant who's ever been experimented on? I don't know who my family is either." Logan's temper dimmed a bit at this, but he didn't show it, he didn't expect what happened next though.

"What are you doing!?" The men turned to see Storm standing there at the door a look of disapproval on her face, the older man didn't answer just looked at her, she went to them and swatted him away from the younger mutant. His face turned from anger to annoyance then slight shock as she slapped his rear when he turned.

"Hey!" He said not expecting the last swat to his butt, she gave him a look that told him not to try with her as she wasn't in the mood.

"Go clean your fists my love." She told him, his brows furrowed at her words.

"NOW Logan." She stated, he didn't like it when she was in this mood, but he knew there wasn't much he could do about it now, being that she wasn't going to give in any way now, he walked over to the place where he'd been doing just that minutes ago, meanwhile Ororo went to Scott.

"Are you alright?" She asked putting her hand on his shoulder, he sighed relieved.

"Yeah, just a little shaken up. Thanks Storm." He said a smile replacing the worried look in a second.

"Maybe it'd be best if you go now." She told him,

"Yeah, you're probably right." He answered her and put his hand on hers for a moment, then walked out of the room, the older woman watched him as he left, then turned to her husband walking toward him, he was wrapping his hands in the gause at the moment.

"What was that all about?" She asked him, he looked up for a moment then back down to his hands.

"Nothing." He stated coldly, she came beside him looking at his face, it was still annoyed as it was when she first saw him in the room with Scott.

"I know it wasn't nothing Logan... he wanted you to stop doing Danger Room sessions didn't he." At this Logan stopped again and turned his head toward her examining her face. She was calm, he knew her emotions that hid beneath the surface, the understanding, the love, the worry, the fear.

"How'd you know?" He asked finishing wrapping his hands.

"Logan." She said his name and her voice wavered slightly, this did it for him, he closed his eyes and he held his breath for a few seconds, his eyes went to their corners to look her in the face, her expression was different this time emotions showing.

"I can't do that 'Roro, you know I can't." She pursed her lips and looked at his hands that were now fully bandaged and hanging from his forearms.

"You still want to be the tough guy here, and you are, you will always be. But as much as you are you need to focus on your situation now, we all need you to... I need you to." He turned his head toward her again brows furrowed slightly as she spoke.

"What am I to them if I'm not helping them preparing them for the hard times of life? Answer me that 'Ro." His eyes told her he meant every word from his lips. She cupped his face in her hands, looking him in the eyes making him turn his body and look up at her.

"You are many things, to me, and to everyone here." She pressed a kiss to his forehead before continuing softening his composure before she continued.

"You are a great man, a teacher, a good drill sergant when you need to be, but besides that... you are as a father to some of the students here as you know you are with Kitty and Marrie as well as others, and you're like an uncle to others as well, like Scott and Jean, Bobby, Sam, Tabitha, and many others."

"Tabitha?" He said with a smirk, she was always the one with a sassy attitude that sometimes annoyed him to no end especially on missions, he didn't understand why she couldn't be serious when it came to situations that needed her to be.

"Yes, even her. You're the defender of this place, and even though you're older sometimes Charles sees you as a son as well as a good friend." This surprised him, he was old enough to be Chuck's great grandfather though he did look younger than the man thanks to his once healing factor, this was funny to him.

"Heheheh... we thinkin' the same Charles?" He asked, she smiled to him, she knew he never would think of this.

"Yes, Charles Xavier, he loves you no less than he loves all the others here, you should know that by now." He smiled softly at the thought passed through his mind.

"And to me and the children." She paused for a moment thinking of how to say it, he'd heard it before, but when it came to letting him know how much he meant to them all there was no end to her desire inform him how much he was loved and appreciated which is what all men need.

"Without you, I don't know what I'd do, you're my confidant, lover, my equal in every way, the man I trust more than any other person on earth for as long as I live, I know that. and you mean so much to the children. Are you ready for us to lose you? Cause I'm not ready for you to go, none of us are." She couldn't stop her emotions from getting the better of her at that last part. He could see that in both the rain outside and the mist in her eyes.

"No." He stated to her, he didn't know what to say next.

He loved everyone there, that was why he did the Danger Room sessions with them, because he wanted them to be ready when all hell broke loose on them and he knew they weren't, well some of them were more ready than others, but that doesn't excuse the point. They all needed to be ready for whatever happened, and that was the only way to do it... but maybe she was right. Maybe it was time to relinquish the control to someone else at least for now.

He sighed closing his eyes, then opened them looking up to his wife who was still holding his face her palms.

"Fine, you win this time 'Ro." He said softly to her she closed her eyes and enveloped him in an unexpected embrace that was almost too tight for even him, he hugged her back burrying his face in her neck relishing her scent as it was something that always soothed his mood. She leaned her head against his as well loving the feel of him in her arms.