Disclaimer: Back there somewhere...you know the drill...but remember that Angela, Buzz, Chasca, Totem and Sam are mine...:)

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Chapter 7.

(Angela)

Hank led me back towards the front of the infirmary, giving Logan the privacy he needed with Rogue. I knew it was tearing him apart to see her like that, alive but still not with us, but if anyone could bring her out of this, it was him. Sometimes a father's love is all it takes to make a miracle and I had no doubts in my mind that he felt that way about Marie. Hell, I loved her too, just like one of my own. I'm sure that if Emma had lived, she'd have been a lot like our Rogue.

Hank made me lay down on one of the tables near the front and proceeded to give me a very thorough check-up. That's one advantage to having a doctor who's covered in fur; his hands are never cold. After going over my vitals, checking my ears, nose, throat, eyes and anything else he could think of, he finally sat down in front of me. "So, how is the little one doing?" He asked.

"Fine, as far as I can tell." I replied. "I've been a little tired, but other than that no real problems."

"Did you run into any trouble out there?"

"Well, yeah. Had an encounter with the same people who took Scott and started this whole escapade."

"And were you involved in this encounter?"

I rolled my eyes. "What do you want me to say? That I stood on the sidelines and cheered my teammates on to a grand victory? Of course I was involved. But I came through just fine and so did the baby, so can we please move on?"

"Angela, I thought I told you not to take any unnecessary risks out there." He admonished. "These first few weeks are critical to the baby's development and it's very easy for something to go wrong."

"Look Blue, I'm sorry ok? But I couldn't stand there and let my team get taken out while I stood around like an idiot. As it stands, we almost lost Kyro."

"Ah yes, Storm told me about that. Venomous bite not unlike a snake."

"Yeah. And if he didn't have a healing factor, he probably wouldn't have made it. So don't lecture me about being careful, all right?"

"So you've had no cramping or spotting since then?"

"Nothing. I feel great and so does my little Wolvie."

Hank chuckled at my nickname for the baby and made some notes in my chart. "Ok, I've asked Dr. Endicott to come out here the day after tomorrow to give you a complete prenatal exam. I've also taken the liberty of procuring an ultrasound machine, which should be here within the week. Dr. Endicott has also recommended a colleague of hers that has no problems with mutants to be your obstetrician, if you would like to meet her as well."

I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. "Why not? What's another person to poke and prod at me every time I turn around?"

He winked at me and made a few more notes. "It's for your own good, my dear, yours and the baby. Am I correct in assuming that you won't be agreeable to a hospital birth?"

"I would rather vomit blood out my eyeballs." I replied dryly. "Just being down here is enough to give me the willies."

"Perfectly understandable, with your history and all." He wrote something else down. "Very well, I will tell Charles that we'll need the full setup down here for a home birth. With so many of the adults pairing off these days, I'm surprised we haven't needed it sooner."

"What can I say? We're driven by our instincts."

He smiled again and started to say something, but we both heard Rogue gasp and the sound of something hitting the floor. I leapt off the table and ran back there to find Rogue sobbing into her hands and Logan in a heap next to the chair. Hank was right behind me and went immediately to check on Logan, so I went to Marie. I quickly pulled on a pair of disposable gloves and took her hands in mine. "Marie, sweetheart, it's ok. You're ok, you're home now."

"What the hell happened to me?" She sobbed, looking into my eyes. "Last thing I remember, I think I was dyin'."

I sucked in my breath, but I didn't spare her. "Well, you kind of did. But when we got home, Josh brought you back." I smoothed her hair away from her forehead, trying to calm her down, but it wasn't working. Thankfully, the doors slid open and Charles came gliding into the infirmary.

"Is everything ok here?" Xavier asked, stopping his chair next to me. I nodded and absently handed him a pair of gloves.

"Angela, everythin' is s-so w-weird." Rogue stammered. "I-I could hear y'all, the Professor and you and everyone, b-but I couldn't figure out how to get b-back. I know the Professor tried, b-but it was so hard!"

"I know honey. But you're all right now." I continued to hold her and the Professor reached out and took one of her hands.

"I could see him, you know that? In the forest, in the rain, tryin' to bring me back like he did before, I saw the whole thing. I saw him go crazy and he hit you so hard. I saw him run off into that storm and there wasn't anythin' I could do!"

I stared at her in shock, not sure what to say about that, so I just hugged her and smoothed her hair until she seemed calm. In the meantime, Hank picked Logan up off the floor with little effort and deposited him on the table next to Rogue's. "Why didn't you tell me he might try something like this?" He asked me with a scowl.

"I didn't think he would," I replied, "not yet anyway. Maybe in a day or so, if talking to her didn't help."

"Angela, you shoulda known better." Rogue interjected, pulling away from me. "Like he'd leave me layin' here in a fuckin' coma if he could get me out of it." Her tone and the look in her eyes were pure Logan.

"Great, now everyone's going to blame me for this." I said under my breath, then glared at Marie. "Just don't try getting into the beer and cigars this time, ok?"

"Whatever. Is he gonna be ok?"

"His vitals are good, his heart rate's a little elevated but not dangerously so." He looked over to the Professor. "How long was he out after Liberty Island?"

"About two days, if I recall." Xavier replied. "It would be in Jean's notes."

"I don't think she absorbed quite so much this time. I estimate he'll come around in about two hours or so." He turned his attention to Rogue. "Now, my dear, I'm Dr. Hank McCoy. Let's see how you're doing." He proceeded to check her vitals, then removed her IV's and turned off the monitor behind her. "It looks like I can't keep you here any longer. His healing factor even managed to reverse any atrophy that was beginning in your muscles, so you're free to go." She jumped off the table and turned to leave, but he stopped her. "Ah! Not so fast, young lady. I want you back here in a week for another checkup. In the meantime, you are excused from all Danger Room sessions and defense training. Am I clear?"

"As crystal. Now can I please go? My skin feels like it's crawling off my bones." Hank nodded and she dashed out of the infirmary, still wearing the hospital gown.

I smiled a little and shook my head. Nothing like a healthy dose of Logan to help her get over being dead. "Well, if they didn't know we were home before, they will now."

"Don't worry about him, Angela." Xavier said, resting his hand on mine. "He only did this because he cares about her."

"No, not just because of that. He did it because he thought it was the only way to keep his word to her. Too damn honorable for his own good, I swear."

"Would you have him any other way?"

"No. Hell, I was on the verge of trying the same thing before I left, except…well, something came up and I didn't think it would be a good idea."

He raised an eyebrow at my cryptic remark, but didn't press me for details. "I know you must be tired after your adventure. Why don't you get some rest and we'll call you when he wakes up?"

"Thanks, but no. I should be here when he comes around, just in case." I didn't need to elaborate on my statement; there was a chance he'd revert back to his feral state when he came to and it would be best if I was there to talk him around. Charles simply patted my hand and glided away, followed closely by Hank. I pulled the chair around from Rogue's table to the one Logan was stretched out on and sat down heavily. "Lover, I've spent too much time waiting for you to come out of one thing or another." I whispered. "One of these days, I'm just going to take you away from all of this and keep you safe, I promise." I took his hand and kissed it, then settled in to wait for him to wake up.

I dozed off about half an hour later and woke up when I felt him stroking my hair. "Hey tiger. Been waitin' for me long?"

I stretched and turned to look at the clock. "Mm, about two hours. Right on cue according to Dr. McCoy."

He glanced at the table next to him and sighed in relief. "So it worked this time. Good."

"Well, you didn't have to bring her back from near-dead this time. But we better get going before she finds the beer."

He sat up slowly and cracked his neck. "I'm sorry I didn't warn you first. Didn't want you to try and stop me."

"I wouldn't have stopped you for long, just for today. Come on, let's get out of here." I stood and turned to go.

"Angela, wait." He said, gripping my arm lightly. I turned back to him and he sighed. "I have to tell you somethin'."

"What is it, Logan?" I asked, hopping up on the table next to him.

"James." He said and I gave him a confused look. "That's my name, James Howlett. Born November nineteenth, 1889 to John and Elizabeth Howlett. I had a brother, John, but he died when I was eight. My mother, she went kind of crazy after that, but I never knew why until later. I had a…well, I guess she was supposed to be like a nanny, but she wasn't much older than me. Her name was Rose. And there was this guy, Thomas Logan, he was the groundskeeper and he had a son everyone called Dog." My eyes grew wide as he recounted the story of his childhood, how he'd been sickly and weak until the night Thomas Logan broke in to kidnap his mother and killed his father. That was the night his mutation manifested for the first time and he killed the groundskeeper and wounded his childhood friend. Rose had taken a hefty bribe from his grandfather to take him away and she had, running with him as far as the money would take them. They'd wound up at a mining camp and when asked for his name, Rose had called him Logan, the name he would carry for the rest of his life. He told me how they lived, how he'd fallen in love with her even as she fell in love with someone else. And he told me how she died and he'd gone feral for the first time. "It's all there, darlin', every last bit of it. Thinkin' back, I wonder if Logan hadn't been my real father all along."

"So that's what happened out there? Seeing Rogue was just the catalyst?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I think so. I mean, not everythin' is clear yet, you know? Some of it's still damn fuzzy. But I keep havin' these…hallucinations or somethin'. First time was right before you took me to the cabin and I just had another one now, after touchin' Rogue. I can't remember them real well just now, but it's like my memory's put itself in a kind of order that I can access almost whenever I want to."

"Oh gods, this is great!" I exclaimed, throwing my arms around him. "Lo…oh crap, what do we call you now?"

He laughed. "I've been Logan too damn long to change now." He replied, returning my embrace. "But I gotta warn you, not everythin' that I've been rememberin' is good. Most of it seems to be pretty bad." He swallowed hard. "Seems like all the women I've loved have ended up dead and it's usually my fault somehow."

I pulled away and looked him in the eye. "Logan, you know that even if I wind up dead, it isn't going to last. We're forever, you know that."

"Even you can be killed, darlin'. So can I."

"Hey, I've survived you for this long. I think I can take it." He smiled weakly and I kissed him. "Come on, let's get out of here. I need a shower."

He smirked with a mischievous gleam in his eye. "Ya know, for someone who's named after a cat, you sure do like to play in the water."

"Less hassle afterwards." I hopped off the table and took him by the hand. He stood up and looked down at me, tracing my lips with his fingertip and I shivered. "Either come with me or get ready to give Blue a show, cuz I'm not waiting much longer." We didn't precisely run back to our room, but we did hurry. Any good news we had for everyone simply had to wait.

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We made it out of our room in time for dinner. As soon as we walked into the dining room, Logan was assaulted by a very pissed off Rogue. "Logan, how dare you do that again?" She shouted, slapping him on the shoulder. "You're a fuckin' idiot, did you know that?"

"Hey! I couldn't just leave ya layin' there, could I?" He replied, grabbing her gloved hand before she could hit him again. "I keep my promises, darlin'."

"It was still a stupid thing to do and tellin' me not to be mad at you for it? I know you know me better than that."

He chuckled. "That I do. But it's over and done, so you'll have to deal with it."

She glared at him, then suddenly threw her arms around his neck. "Just don't do it again, ok? It was hard enough arguin' with my inner you before."

He chuckled again and kissed the top of her head before sending her back to her table. I just stood there smirking and he gave me a scowl. "What?"

"Nothing! Nothing at all." I took his hand and dragged him to the staff table. "Come on, I'm starving."

We took our usual seats at the end with Kurt, who smiled and welcomed Logan back with a hearty slap to his shoulder. I noticed that Buzz was conspicuously missing from the table and scanned the room for him. I gaped when I saw he was sitting with Rogue, Bobby and Jubilee, holding hands with the latter.

"Am I seeing that right?" I asked Kurt, who nodded. "Well, will wonders never cease."

"She cornered him in the computer room a few days after you left." Kurt replied. "They have been dating ever since."

"Good for him. I always knew there was more to him than computer genius." I filled my plate and dug in, with a sudden love for carrots that I could only blame on Little Wolvie. "So, anything else change while I was gone?"

"Ja, ve have a couple new people who arrived about three weeks ago." He pointed to a table near the back where a couple of guys were sitting. "They came through the underground. The one on the right is Varren Vorthington III and I'm sure you can see his mutation vell enough." This was very true, since he was sporting a pair of gorgeous white feathered wings. Add to that a face and body to die for and I could see him breaking hearts in the near future. I nodded to Kurt to continue. "The one next to him is Remy LeBeau, he can charge objects vith explosive energy." As I watched, a couple of the older girls, Rahne Sinclair and Theresa Rourke if I wasn't mistaken, approach the table and sit down. Remy immediately leaned over to Rahne and she giggled. "He also has quite a bit of charm and it has some of the boys a little put out."

"What do you mean?" Logan asked, scowling.

"Vell, he flirts vith all of the girls you see and some of the boys think he is trying to move in on their territory."

"Ah, don't worry about it. He'll learn soon enough not to mess with our kids." He declared and I smiled, then we turned to other topics for the rest of the evening. It was now officially too cold to go outside for brandy after dinner, so Charles had finally relented and we retired to a little-used study on the first floor that he also designated the official indoor smoking room. I was a little surprised that Remy and Warren both joined us as well, but Kurt explained that although they'd come through the underground, they weren't officially students since they were both of age. Once all the drinks were poured and Logan was happily smoking away with his feet propped up, I made my way over to the two of them and introduced myself.

Warren was very sweet if a little shy, but Remy was positively shameless. "Ah, ma chere, Remy is most pleased to finally meet you." He said, bending over my hand to kiss it and I could almost feel the charm coming off him in waves. "I understand you are the one to talk to about joining the X-Men."

I pulled my hand away and resisted the urge to wipe it on my pants. "Not just me, Mr. LeBeau. Logan is my partner for training the new team members and Mr. Summers administers the final tests. It's not a decision to made lightly, on your part as well as ours."

"Remy understands, chere and will do his best to impress you."

I rolled my eyes and turned to Warren. "What about you? Were you thinking about joining the team?"

"I don't know about all that." He replied, his eyes downcast. "I came here because I was tired of always hiding what I am. My father, he kind of freaked when my wings started coming in, so I'm kind of the black sheep of the family I suppose."

"Well, you're welcome to stay here as long as you like, whether you join the team or not. And who knows? Maybe you can help out, teach some classes or something." I nodded to Chasca, who was laughing at something Kyro had just said. "You're not the only one here who can fly. Just one of two who has wings and we could certainly use the help."

"I'll think about it." He looked at me and smiled shyly.

"Good." I patted his arm reassuringly and made my way back over to Logan. "So, what do you think of the new guys?"

"I think the Cajun's gonna be a shitload of trouble, mark my words." He replied, then took a long drag off his cigar. "I don't get anythin' off the other one."

"My thoughts exactly." I ran my fingers through his hair and he rumbled low in his chest. "Now, now. None of that here."

"Keep doin' that darlin' and I'll carry you off."

"Tease." I grinned as he scowled at me. "But that'll have to wait. We have an announcement to make."

"That we do." He slid his hand behind my neck and pulled me down for a kiss, then stood quickly and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. "Hey everyone, we got some things we want to tell you." Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared, since Logan wasn't really the speechmaking type. "First off, I wanted to thank Sam, Chasca an' Kyro for goin' with Angela to find me. I'm sorry as hell that you had to do it in the first place, but I'm much happier knowin' she didn't go alone."

"It was the least we could do, Logan-san." Kyro replied, bowing low. "And I had my own vow to consider."

"Still, I'm glad you didn't let her go runnin' off half-cocked on her own." Sam raised his glass to us and Chasca just smiled. "Now, I'm gonna let my woman tell you all the next bit."

I glared up at him and he just grinned. "You were on such a roll, lover, you could have kept going."

"What, and deny you the pleasure of tellin' 'em yourself? Never."

"Whatever." I took a deep breath and looked over at Hank, who just nodded. "Well, most of you already know this, except for Storm, Scott and you Professor. And our new friends, obviously." I took another breath and told them about the baby. Storm immediately came over and gave me a huge hug while Scott surprised us all by coming over and heartily shaking Logan's hand. Sam immediately raised a toast to the upcoming arrival and Hank unbent enough to allow me one small glass of wine. He then immediately removed me from active teaching duty in the defense classes and put me on restricted duty with Alpha team. I just sighed and finished my wine with a pout.

We stayed about another hour before I felt like I was ready to drop. Logan and I excused ourselves, but instead of heading right to our room, we stopped in to see how Rogue was doing. We found her in the lounge with Buzz and Jubilee, scowling at her math homework. As soon as we walked in, she threw her pencil down and dashed over to us. "Hey guys, how ya doin'?"

"Tired, on our way to bed." I replied, stifling a yawn. "We just wanted to see how you're feeling."

"I'd be a lot better if Mr. Summers would just let me slide on my math homework. Asshole expects me to be caught up by the end of the week!"

"Hey now, is that any way to talk about one of your teachers?"

"Shh, darlin', she can't help it." Logan said. "That's me talkin' for her."

"That's no excuse."

"Yeah it is, especially cuz it's true." Rogue said with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes. "Still, I'm only going to let you slide this time on account of your recent coma."

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that." I looked at her curiously, but followed her over to the sofa. "Angela, I know you're tired so I'll try to keep this short, but I can't think of anyone else who'll understand this."

"It's ok Marie. I have a feeling I know what you're going to ask me." Now it was her turn to give me a curious look and I continued. "Honey, you died and I'm the only other person you know who's done that and come back again."

"That's right." She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. "I can remember it all so clear. I can still feel the rain hittin' my face and I saw myself lying there for so long before Logan showed up. I mean, it felt like a really long time but I don't know how long it really was. But after that, I don't remember anythin' til I woke up today."

"And you want to know if that's what it's like for me?" She nodded and I sighed. "Well, not really. I can feel everything, just like you did, but when my body gives out that's it. There's really no way I can put it into words, like I told you all that day back in the spring. There's just this nothingness, a void I guess would be the best word for it. I'm still aware of me, but nothing about my body. I've read all there is on people who have died and come back and they all have the same story to tell, more or less, but that's not my story at all. There's no sense of time or physical sensation, but I also don't feel like I'm floating or see bright lights and all of that stuff. I don't know how my mutation works or what it means for me in the spiritual sense, but I do know this much." I leaned forward and took her gloved hand in mine. "Whoever it is that created this crazy world did everything they did for a reason. They made people like us because maybe someday we'll be the only things that can save the world. They made people like Stryker so we would know the difference between good people and bad. And they brought you back because you still have something you need to do and you are the only one who can do it."

She sat there for a long moment before reaching out and hugging me. "Thank you, Angela. There's a lot I gotta think about with this whole thing, but this'll help."

"You're welcome, sweetie. And if you need anything else, don't hesitate to ask me ok? Day or night, you come get me." She nodded and hugged me again, then we went and rejoined the others. Logan was telling Buzz and Jubilee a story about some fight he'd gotten into in a bar in Canada about ten years ago. The only thing I heard as I walked up was "I would have sworn she was a man". I crossed my arms and started tapping my foot. "Logan, what the hell are you telling these kids?"

"Oh, nothin' darlin'." He replied, standing up and wrapping an arm around my waist. "Just a little story about a case of mistaken identity is all."

"Mm-hmm, sure." He gave me a little squeeze and kissed the top of my head, then said goodnight to the kids and we made our way to our room. Once there, I flopped down on the bed without bothering to take off any of my clothes and tossed my arm over my eyes with a sigh. Logan chuckled and stretched out next to me. "Damn, I forgot how tiring it is to be pregnant."

"I wouldn't know, as far as I can remember right now." He replied, placing a hand on my stomach and rubbing gently. "So what's goin' on in there right now?"

"Quite a bit actually. He's not quite an inch long, probably has a heart already but we probably couldn't hear it. He's just growing, doing his thing."

"You keep sayin' he? Think it'll be a boy?"

"I don't know, lover. Some women say they know right away, but I didn't with Emma. I would have sworn I was having a boy by all the old wives tales and whatnot. At any rate, his nickname for now is Little Wolvie until he or she comes out."

"Little Wolvie?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well yeah. He's yours. What else would I call him? Little Angie?"

"You're not gonna tell the girls that's what you're callin' it, are you?"

I just smiled and kissed him, then got up and stripped down for bed. I snuggled up next to him and proceeded to make him forget all about his question, leaving him far too exhausted to worry about it.

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AN: Ok, so this update took me FOREVER! Somehow, I lost the completely edited version of this chapter...turns out, it was saved in the wrong folder...doh! But i found it and here it is for all of you...:) Special thanks to Zac and Turiel Tincdaniel, the best beta readers ever! Extra Special thanks to DBK(tm) for his constant support and badgering...Super Special thanks to my readers, who give me faith that there are people out there actually paying attention to this story...and Super Swanky Special thanks to those who have reviewed, which for chapter 6 were reeltreble1031 and Ineluctability...thanks ladies! Also to Dee (MidLifeCrisis) who didn't submit a review, but did tell me over IM that she liked it...:)

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