Inside the hall, when Logan and Marian parted, Scott almost immediately jumped on him like a bird of prey. He blocked him with his body, and was breathing loudly. Logan immediately tensed and clenched his fist, feeling his claws tickle. What was wrong with Scooter again?

"Logan, I think we need to talk."

"Why?" angrily gruffed Logan. He tried to push past Scott, but the man attempted to hold his ground.

"What happened... I'm not saying it's your fault, but I'm asking you not to influence her too much."

"And what if you minded your own business?" replied Logan. He caught Scott's wrist. "I'm off to bed."

At Logan's irritated growl, Scott went away, frowning. The Wolverine was suddenly very angered. Scott had come to put his nose in his life again, and maybe he was right. Maybe Marian was taking a bit of Logan's personality. Logan hated to admit it, but Scott seemed to understand a lot of things without knowing much. It still wasn't his business.

Logan undressed once in his room, and dropped himself on his bed. He stared at the ceiling, unable to sleep. He couldn't take Marian's steel eyes out of his head. Staying in the mansion for too long was something he hated. He always felt like he wasn't truly at his place, and the community life wasn't made for him. Logan thought Marian felt the same way. Even though he thought she was not adapted to the life here, a part of him remembered her pursuers. He wanted to come with her, to make sure she was alright. They were probably not destroyed, despite him slaughtering a few of them.

Logan tried to close his eyes, but he did not sleep much that night.

The next morning, he woke up late and came into the dining room hungry as ever. The room was almost empty, only a few students sat there to study while eating. It was a stormy day, and most of them were staying inside. As he sat at a table to eat, Scott came in. Logan ignored him, as he was sure the eyes behind the glasses were staring at him. He turned his face towards the large window and growled.

The sky was as dark as a blot of ink. Logan heard the rumbling of thunder from time to time. He disliked this particular weather. The feral inside of him dreaded the weight of the sky and the atmosphere, and didn't like the various sounds parasiting his ears. And for Logan, being wet and surrounded by lightning meant potential great pain. His metal-laced bones were a terrible disadvantage for him, and even though he would not die, electrocution was one of the most painful feelings he had ever experienced.

Logan thought of Marian. When he had found her, out of fear, her body had released a violent surge of electricity. It had caused him great pain, but he didn't want her to know. It was no use. The pain was there but it didn't mean anything. He went out of this in great shape, as always. Nevertheless, his skin shivered when a lightning bolt appeared in the sky from afar.

When he finished eating, Logan stood up and carried his plate to the counter. He looked at the sky one last time before exiting the room. For a second, his hair stood erect on his skin, and the instinct of the Wolverine sensed something. Suddenly, the ground started shaking and the loud sound of thunder echoed through the mansion. The walls were trembling, and a wooden beam crashed just next to a few girl students who were working in the dining room. Logan immediately shouted at them to leave to the laboratory, down stairs, which was a place well protected with steel walls.

He left the room in a haste, going towards Marian's room. Each time he crossed a student, he told them to goto the lab. The walls of the mansion were not trembling anymore, but what happened could happen again. Logan ignored what was the cause of this disaster, but it was suddenly not an earthquake. He finally arrived before Marian's room. He knocked on the door, and called: "Marian! Are you here?"

No answer came. The door was locked, but Logan didn't care at all. All he needed to do was to push brutally at the wooden door, and it destroyed the lock and opened. He looked inside. Marian was unconscious on the floor, she had probably fallen. The window was completely destroyed, and some shard of glass had planted themselves in her skin. Logan's eye caught the sight of a wooden wardrobe as well as the curtains slowly catching fire. Fast to act, he picked up Marian and quickly exited the room.

"Fuck..." he muttered. He knew she was still breathing, and she didn't appear to have wounds apart from the bloody slits some shards of glass had created. He went down to the hospital wing of the lab, coming past groups of students, curiously watching them.

Probably called by some of the students, Jean quickly walked to Logan, leading him into a room. He layed Marian on a metallic bed, staying near her in case she woke up. Jean put her glasses on as well as her medical blouse. She examined Marian closely, and firstly concentrated on taking out the shards of glass from her skin. There weren't many, but she didn't want to cause more damage. She used her telekinetic ability to pull the out softly without touching the wounds.

"Logan... Do you know what happened? Some students told me there was an explosion near her room, and that some other bedrooms caught fire too..." she frowned.

"I don't know... I heard the shock, but didn't see anything. Everyone's alright?" mumbled Logan.

"Yeah... A few girls were slightly burnt, but nothing terrible. And don't worry for her, everything seems fine. I don't know why, but she has just passed out."

Logan nodded. He was slightly reassured, but he made Jean understand he wanted to stay with Marian. He waited next to her, leaning against the wall. At the same time, he kept some curious young mutants to stick there nose through the door. They were probably all wondering what had happened, and Logan knew they were just here for gossip.

Even though no one really knew what happened, Logan had his own idea. Marian didn't control her mutation well, and the sound Logan heard looked very much like a lightning bolt striking the mansion. It had probably come through her body, not killing her, but too strong not to make her collapse. He confided that to Jean when she came back in the room with some bandages, and she opened her eyes wide.

"I think you're right, Logan. I'm worried, it looks like her mutation is even more dangerous than we thought..." she said while looking at the unconscious girl. "I don't know if she can stay here... I'll tell the Professor that..."

"Are you serious?" laughed Logan.

"What?"

"Wasn't it the same for you? I'm sure you're glad the Professor kept you around, when no one wanted you. Where else could you go?" gritted Logan through his teeth.

A bit ashamed, Jean began caring for Marian's wounds. She took off Marian's shirt, while Logan reddened and turned around, and gently cleaned her wounds.

"It's not the same now, Logan. When I came here we were just a few. Now look at all the mutants we have around, how are we going to manage with a danger like that?" Jean looked guilty while saying that. She fidgeted with the bandages, and didn't turn her face to Logan.

"Alright... Let's just stop talking about this. You're not the one who decides anyway." Logan angrily answered.

He hated all the smells in there. The antiseptic odour of the lab, the metallic one, Jean's perfume... His nose only caught one pleasant scent: Marian's skin. Out of repsect, Logan didn't turn around. Jean hadn't even warned him she was about to undress the young woman. Another thing that angered Logan. But the Wolverine inside made sure he filled his nostrils with her scent.

"It's fine, Logan. Now you can look." joked Jean, not really caring about the girl's privacy.

Logan saw she had pulled a white blanket over Marian's torso. She had a few bandages on her arms and on her abdomen, but the wounds weren't too bad. Jean layed a last one on her lower chest.

"I think we're done here. Nothing grievous."

Marian opened her eyes at this moment.

"Ugh... My head..." she slowly said while rubbing her scalp. She touched her bandages and looked around. At first she was scared, being in a lab again, but her steel eyes stopped on Logan. "Logan... I'm sorry about what happened..." she muttered.

"It's fine, kid. No one was harmed." he reassured her.

Jean could just smile, but Logan sensed a great awkwardness in her behaviour.

"I'll leave you with her, Logan. Call me if you have any problem." She quickly exited the room, rejoining the students who were all over the place. Logan heard her telling them to get back up, that the danger was gone.

Marian had empty eyes, and held the cover over her chest to hide her cleavage. Logan handed her her shirt, which she quickly put back on. Logan understood how vulnerable she felt, naked in a cold lab, full of wounds. When he was sure she was dressed, he came near her and laid a hand on her shoulder, gently. She shivered at the touch.

"Don't worry, I know what happened and it's not your fault. Has it happened before?" he calmly asked.

"Just once... But it was in the forest, and no one was around. Only a few trees were burnt." she answered.

Her eyes were red, and her jaw was clenched so hard Logan could see the muscles twitching. She repressed the urge to cry. Slowly and a bit painfully, she descended from the metallic bed, still looking everywhere around her. Logan understood her need to go as fast as possible out of there.

"Logan... Where can I go?" she asked miserably.

She didn't bother trying to look strong here. She was weak, and needed some safe place to rest. Logan knew she would want to leave as soon as she recovered. But for now, the mansion was a place full of curious and scared mutants. She had no room anymore, and there was no place she could stay on her own. Well, there was one...

"You can come in my room. No one will bother you here." he said.

"Okay." she nodded.

Logan led her out of the laboratory wing by slightly pushing her in the crook of her back. He quickened his pace even though she was tired, because of the students looking at them in the corridors of the mansion. He opened the door, and Marian slided in without waiting. He pointed at his bed while locking the room. She sat on it hesitatingly, while he took his own seat in the frame of the window.

"Aren't they... Going to talk?" she wondered.

"Who the fuck cares?" huffed Logan. "You just need to rest. Don't think about them."

Marian slowly crept under the sheets. But she could not sleep. Logan didn't want to make her feel uneasy. Even if it was probably strange for her to be in his bed, it was the only place where she could stay. She simply held the sheets, lost in thought. When he turned his head to her, Logan couldn't tell if she was staring at him, or if she was looking at the rain outside through the window.