**THIS CHAPTER COMES WITH A MASSIVE TRIGGER WARNING FOR AN ATTEMPTED RAPE

SERIOUSLY, BE WARNED. IF THIS IS TRIGGERING TO YOU, PLEASE SKIP THE MIDDLE SECTION**

Chapter 10: "Our Three Favorite Criminals"

Everyone back in Westchester was all curled up with the movie that Chloe had picked out. Well, most of them, anyway. A few of the boys had decided to run a pickup basketball game, and Cody was loudly complaining about how Chance was only taller than him because he was older — all of that.

Krissy was sitting next to Sying at the moment, and when she felt their hands brush and her heart jump into her throat, she grabbed his hand and leaned over to whisper in his ear, "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Sying's eyebrows shot up at the fact that she had hold of his hand, but he followed her out all the same, grinning despite himself.

Krissy teleported them both up to the roof, which was her favorite place when she wanted privacy. She still had a hold of his hand, and he couldn't stop smiling — until she gave his hand a squeeze and stepped back. "Sying, I … I don't think we should go out anymore."

His smile fell entirely as he stared at her. "What?"

"I don't think we should go out on any more dates," she said. "Not — not right now."

"Because of Christian," Sying said, his entire expression falling.

"Not… entirely."

Sying watched Krissy for a long moment. She was shifting her weight from foot to foot and was biting her lip, her tail dragging on the floor behind her. She was obviously upset. "I don't… understand," he said at last.

"I… it's not Christian," Krissy said. "I mean, yeah, I'm going to date him, but that's not—" She took a big breath and let it out again. "I like you, Sying. A lot."

He stared at her. "Now I really don't understand."

She bit her lip again, her tail hardly moving behind her. "Sying, if I date you right now… that's it. I'd want it to be serious. And I can't be serious right now. I just came off a relationship when I spent years being so tied up in it that I almost killed myself trying to cross an ocean." She shook her head. "I don't want that right now. I just … Christian … I just don't want to be alone. But you are … I could fall head over heels for you, Sying. And I don't want to. I need to catch my breath."

Sying was totally stunned into silence, staring at Krissy with wide eyes.

She took a deep breath and chewed on her lip some more. "I'm not … I'm not saying that ... " She moved as if to step forward and then seemed to think better of it. "The timing is wrong, that's all," she said. "And I don't want to hurt you—"

"Yeah," he said, cutting in and shaking his head. "No… I get it. I… I don't get it, but …" He shook his head. "I hope you have fun at the dance," he said before he simply slipped off, leaving Krissy feeling downright horrible as she stood on the roof and watched him leave.

It was after a football game that Elin finally agreed to go celebrate a win with Jacob and his friends. It seemed like half the school was there, and she was laughing to herself at the way that most of the teenagers were drinking cheap beer and falling all over themselves. But she knew that they thought this was the height of rebellion, so she went along with it — laughing harder at how quickly they all seemed to get tipsy. But Jacob wasn't really joining in with that part of the festivities, even if he was trying to get her to drink.

"Not really my thing," she said for what felt like the hundredth time, and finally, he seemed to get the hint.

"Then we should probably leave the giant drinking party," he suggested with a bright smile before he put his arm around her shoulders and led her away from the crowd. "We'll find something better to do."

They headed out, and it wasn't too long before she recognized some of the side roads — far removed from where most people drove. They headed off onto a dirt road that she knew overlooked a local lake, and after he found his preferred parking spot, he killed the engine and the lights and turned his attention to her.

Elin wasn't surprised when Jacob moved closer for a kiss, though she wasn't exactly prepared when he pushed her back until she was against the door of his truck. He simply hadn't been that aggressive in the past.

But Elin liked Jacob, and she didn't want to stop him when he, too, was so clearly ready for more than just a chaste kiss and in an infectiously good mood. And it felt good to be wanted like that. So she didn't stop him as he pressed her into the seats, and she didn't even stop him when he slipped his hand up her shirt, though she had hesitated at that. But when Jacob's hand went up her skirt, he'd definitely gone too far. She broke the kiss and tried to sit up. "Woah, stop."

"Come on," Jacob said in a pleading tone. "We've been dating for a long time."

"Not that long," she corrected him. "And I … don't want to do that. I don't know you well enough for that." She started pushing back, but he was much stronger than she was, and he had already pushed his way over her, blowing the angles she'd have used to force him away.

"Come on; we're just having a little fun," Jacob said, going back to kissing her neck and ignoring her request for him to stop — promising her they'd have a good time even as she asked him to knock it off. While he was pushing forward, Elin was trying to find a way to get back from him without any hard feelings, though that thought disappeared as he trapped one of her hands behind her back, pinning it at a painful angle. He'd managed to grab onto her other wrist and held it down against the seat as he let his free hand roam. And as he started pulling at her clothes, she began to panic.

"You need to stop," Elin said in a shaky voice, but he responded by pressing in closer on her.

"No, just relax," he said in a hoarse voice before he pushed her skirt up past her waist. "Trust me, gorgeous. You're gonna love it."

"Stop," Elin said, struggling to get away from him. "No!"

He was panting heavily in her ear as he kept pressing her down. Elin struggled harder to pull her hands loose, squirming to try to get away from him as much as possible. So she thought her point had gotten through when he very suddenly stopped and turned his head to look her in the eyes.

"Do you really think I'm going to let you hit me?" Jacob said, getting Elin to positively freeze. "You owe me, beautiful," he said. "If you fight me, you're just gonna end up hurting. So quit being such a little bitch and be nice." She started to panic, and he didn't make it much further before she threw her head forward and bashed him in the face.

It was enough that she got room to pull her arm free from behind her back, and when she did, she popped her claws right under his nose. "Let go of my arm," she warned. "Or I will cut your hands and anything else that's trying to touch me off." She was positively shaking in rage as he finally backed off, staring at her claws with wide eyes.

"You… didn't tell me … you have claws?" Jacob gasped out as he put some distance between them. "Why didn't you tell me that?"

"It was — and is — none of your damn business," Elin growled out. She sat up and reached over to yank the keys from the ignition.

"You can't just … shove claws in someone's face — hey, you can't take my keys!" He reached for her, and she planted her foot in the center of his chest and pushed him across the cab.

"I can, I will, and let me tell you how freakin' lucky you are right now. You're mad about claws in your face when you were going to—" Elin could hardly think for the ringing in her ears with how angry she was. "You know what? Forget about me for a minute — now that you know what I could have done to you, you self-centered … jackass."

"I didn't know you were a mutant," Jacob said, looking somewhere between horrified and disgusted suddenly.

"Hey. If you have any brains in your head, you'll shut the hell up right now. Any more stupid comes out of you, and I'll go ahead and clue my father in on what you tried to pull," Elin snarled out, still visibly shaking. "You have no idea how lucky you are that I haven't hit my panic button."

She opened the door and climbed out of the truck, never taking her eyes off of him as she did so.

"You think I'm afraid of your old man?" Jacob shouted, crossing the bench seat and climbing out after her, looking furious.

"You should be," Elin said, straightening up as she stood her ground finally. "I can't believe I have to point it out to anyone, what with the claws? But Wolverine is my dad." She reached down and cut the valve stems off of both tires on that side of the truck and threw his keys into the bushes. "Take one step after me, and I'll let him know what you tried to do to me."

She held his gaze for a long moment as her growl echoed the clearing, and then, she retracted her claws and turned to slip off into the forest, barely holding back from breaking down crying. It was only a few miles between there and the edge of the Xavier property. That was nothing. And for as much as she wanted to let go and cry … she figured she could use the fresh air and time to herself.

When Elin finally got in, it wasn't quite twenty minutes past everyone's curfew that Scott had set, and most of the oldest kids were still up, as was her brother, who was frowning deeply as soon as he saw her cut across the entryway.

"Elin," James said, getting to his feet. "Did you walk?"

"I know, I'm late," Elin replied, not answering his question as she rushed for the stairs with bright red cheeks.

James took about half of a heartbeat before he rushed off behind her, shadowing her every step. He didn't say anything, especially when he could smell the salt on her cheeks and how incredibly upset she was. When she got to her room, she finally turned to look him in the face. "I'm fine," she swore.

"You're a terrible liar," James replied, still frowning. "And even if you were any good at it — which you're not — I could smell that whopper from a mile away."

"Let it go, James," she said before she gave her little brother a kiss on the cheek and closed the door in his face.

He took a step back, mouth open, as he stared at her closed door. She'd never done that before. But … the scents he got from being that close … he could feel the growl rising up in the back of his throat, and he forced himself to take a step back as his hands flexed into fists.

James closed his eyes and cycled through his breathing like his father had taught him, but … he couldn't let it go. Not when Elin was that upset.

Very slowly, he turned around, a stony expression set on his features as he calmly made his way down the stairs, past the Summers boys on their way back from basketball. He ignored Chance, who looked totally taken aback by his expression before he rushed after him, and he ignored Cody as he walked toward the front door, counting his breathing as he went.

James barely acknowledged the rest of the gathered kids in the living room as he headed out, the scent on Elin's collar stuck in his nose — and he wanted to find the owner. Now.

"Who're you going after?" Chance asked him outright when he caught up to him, and when James didn't pause, he just kept following.

"We're not going to stop you — just curious," Cody added. "We can help."

James glanced at the two of them, his jaw locked down tight. "You really have to ask?"

The two Summers boys glanced at each other. "Yeah," they said together.

"I mean, whoever it was screwed up bad, but was it … I don't know. Someone go after Kari?" Cody asked.

James stared back at him for a moment, shook his head, and nosed back down the trail. "It was Jacob."

Cody glanced at Chance with his eyebrows high, and Chance swallowed, his jaw locked, before both of them took off a little faster after James.

James was into the treeline, backtracking on his sister's scent trail, when his cell phone went off with a text from Kari. What are you doing?

He barely slowed as he replied: I've got my phone. Tell them I know I'm grounded.

With that, he stashed his phone and started moving faster until he was nearly going at a run — the trail was that easy to follow — as he wove down the twisted trail. Chance had just called out for him to slow down as they crested a ridge, but James had no plans to do so — if not for the fact that Elin's jacket was lying at the foot of a tree nearby. He almost skidded to a stop when he smelled it, and when he went over to pick it up, he got a much stronger whiff of the guy he was after.

James glanced over at Chance and took a moment to let him catch his breath. "I might need you to make sure I don't kill someone," James said finally as he closed his eyes and visibly went to work, concentrating on scenting out where the trail went — hoping it was close enough that he wouldn't have to track much longer.

"Cody's good at that," Chance said, not touching him but close enough to let him know he was going to stand by him.

"Oh sure, I'm the responsible one," Cody grumbled. Both of the boys had clearly caught on to what the hunt was for after seeing Elin's jacket, and they looked murderous.

James took another moment or two before he shook his hands out hard and started to move forward again. It wasn't very far beyond that when even the Summers boys heard Jacob's voice as he was complaining and swearing about the two flat tires he was trying to deal with. James dropped the jacket on the edge of the parking area and started to stride forward purposefully, his gaze locked onto Jacob. He wasn't growling, but he wasn't exactly speaking either — and when he got close enough that Jacob heard the gravel crunching underfoot, the creep stood up with a scowl to look down on James.

"Oh that's just typical. Lying bitch steals my keys, slashes my tires, now I've got you to deal with like I did something wrong."

James' eyes widened a hair before he positively launched himself at Jacob. He didn't even say a word back to him until he had him on the ground and was pounding the daylights out of him. "She … didn't… say… anything," James snarled out with every punch.

At some point, Jacob reached up to try to dislodge James, but as soon as his hand touched him, James grabbed his hand, dislocated his thumb, and broke three fingers before he cranked his wrist backward at an unnatural angle. All while not breaking his rhythm with his other hand.

The two Summers boys that had come along shared a look as Jacob started screaming, but Chance still didn't step in until it was clear that Jacob had had enough — after the guy was lying still and just trying to cover his head from the blows James was raining down on him and whimpering with every hit. "James," he said, making sure James heard him first as he came up. "Hey, come on. You taught him a lesson," he said. "Make sure he lives to remember it."

"Gettin' off light," James said, half out of breath and clearly still furious as he let Chance talk a little sense into him.

"Yeah." Chance didn't argue it but put his hand out so James could see it before he put it on his arm. "I agree." He helped James to his feet, but before they could head back, the bright red and blue lights of a police car lit up the clearing, followed quickly by the blip of a siren headed their way, and the three boys shared a look.

James stopped where he was and glared around into the dark. "Where the hell were they when this jerk was trying to screw my sister?"

"Well, this is what happens when you kick my uncle off the force. It all goes to hell," Chance joked, trying to get James a little calmer in case the cops were particularly stupid.

When the car got closer, James was the first to simply hold his hands at shoulder level to make sure they could see he wasn't armed, though he didn't go so far as to claim he didn't do anything. Not when it was obvious that simply wasn't the case. "All on you, guys," James said.

"Smart," Cody said his way with a smirk as the cops took in the scene. It was pretty obvious that James had been the one to deliver the beatdown, given the blood on his knuckles.

"You boys got any ID?" The first cop asked, shining his light in each of their faces as his partner called for backup and drew his weapon.

"Only a passcard for Stark Tower. Otherwise, I'm too young," James said. "My name is James Howlett. I don't have a record."

"Chance Summers," Chance said, holding his hands up. "I have a license in my pocket," he added as Cody explained that he, too, was too young for ID — though he actually looked it, still skinnier and with a younger-looking face than the other two.

They directed the boys over to the police car and had James put his hands on the hood, quickly getting down to searching him before Chance took a similar position at the trunk. Cody got a quick pat down, since, in addition to being obviously the youngest, he also looked the least threatening of the group. While the cops asked the boys their questions, it was apparent very quickly when the second cop car showed up that they were in deep trouble. Chance could hear from where he was that, already, the police didn't buy that James didn't have verifiable ID, and after hearing the story that the 'victim' was telling, they didn't even hesitate to put James in cuffs — and moments later placed him under arrest.

"He's fifteen — he's a minor," Cody said, though he was still apart from the other two and glaring daggers at Jacob as the cops gave him back his phone.

"He doesn't look fifteen," the officer told him, shaking his head. "And he beat up the eighteen-year-old football player pretty well. That just doesn't line up."

"Hey. Age means crap when the guy manhandled his sister," Cody insisted, arms crossed.

The cop looked concerned and frowned toward Jacob. "Did she file a report?" He was pulling out his radio as he asked the question. "Because I can bring him in right now if there was a complaint."

Cody paused. "...No," he had to admit. "She just… ran," he added slowly.

"And you three came back here to teach him a lesson," the cop said, putting his radio back already. He let out a sigh and nodded. "I wish that was good enough, but your friend assaulted the guy in the truck." He gestured to the truck with the two flat tires. "If we'd found a knife on him, we'd charge him with the damage to the tires too, honestly."

Cody still had his arms crossed and clearly didn't like the situation. "I can honestly say that you wouldn't find a knife on him — and that they were like that when we got here." He shrugged. "The guy's a jerk. We're not the only ones who think so, apparently."

The cop let out a sigh. "How did you three get here anyhow?" he asked, looking around. "I don't see a car anywhere."

"We walked," Cody said.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," the cop said.

"What?" Cody said. "It's not that cold out."

"No, but it's at least two miles between here and where you live," the cop told him. "That's a long walk to not kick the crap out of someone." He shook his head again. "You got someone you can call for a ride? Because if not, we're giving you a ride home."

Cody nodded. "I'll call my folks, thanks. My dad would have a heart attack if you drove me home." He held his phone up. "Do you mind if I… I'm just going a few feet this way."

"Be my guest," the cop said, keeping half an eye on him as his partner questioned Jacob, trying to determine if Chance was going to end up in handcuffs too.

"Good," Jacob said, his chin jutted out as much as he could when the cop told him they were arresting James. "Put him where he belongs."

"You really gonna pull that crap in front of the cops, you moron?" Chance said, his chin jutted out just as far. "You're the one they should be locking up."

"For what?" Jacob called back. "Bleeding too much?"

Chance glared at him — looking every bit like his dad right before an optic burst, so Jacob was fairly lucky in that regard that Chance was the one Summers boy without powers. "Oh yeah, the attempted assault had nothing to do with it, creep."

"What proof have you got?" Jacob called out, sounding entirely justified. "Her lying? I didn't hurt her one bit. She cut the date short and took off!"

"You're damn lucky she didn't do more than just leave after what you pulled," Chance shot back, completely furious.

"Alright, you need to calm down, or you'll be sharing a booking with your little buddy," the cop that had been talking to him said as the other police car flipped off its lights and started to take off with James in the back.

"You guys... " Chance shook his head as he at least tried to calm down, though considering what he knew had happened with Elin, that just wasn't happening. "This creep gets away with — you know he's — come on."

"All due respect, but he didn't get away with anything by the look of him," one cop said reasonably. "He got the crap kicked out of him, and I'm pretty sure any college ball career he might have had ahead of him is gone, kid."

Chance tipped his head toward the guy and frowned. "Yeah. Well. Karma."

"Unfortunately, dealing out the karma yourself is illegal," the cop replied. "And comes with charges in this case."

"Oh come on," Chance said, though he was quiet after that — at least long enough to hear what Jacob was trying to pull now.

"Maybe they threw the knife," Jacob was saying to the officer he was speaking to. "But one of them had to have cut the tires, because it wasn't like that before. How else would I have gotten out here?" He tipped his chin toward Chance. "It was probably him. He's the one that called off his little friend."

"Oh come on," Chance said again, glaring at the guy. "You call her a liar, you slimy little pervert?"

"They'll both get what's coming to them," Jacob barked back.

"You come anywhere near her again and you'll be losing more than tires," Chance practically snarled at him.

"Alright," the cop nearest Chance shouted, blocking Jacob from Chance's view. "Your parents can come get you at the station." His partner closed the cuffs around Chance's wrists as he began to read him his rights, just in time for Scott to pull up to the scene.

"Hi, Dad," Cody said dryly as Scott made his way over, looking totally thunderous as he took in the scene.

"What is going on?"

"Sir," one of the cops said, holding up his hand to signal for Scott to slow down and keep his distance. "There was an assault, and these boys were involved somehow, though to be honest, I think they're more witnesses than they are suspects."

Scott frowned deeper as he looked around. "Where's James?" he asked.

"The other one? Once we get him all through processing and figure out who he is, we'll make sure you can post bail," the cop replied.

"We told him who we are; they just don't believe us," Cody said.

The cop gestured to Jacob, who had refused to take an ambulance ride into town. "As you can see, it's a little hard to believe that a fifteen-year-old managed that on a young man his size."

"You clearly didn't recognize the name," Scott said, shaking his head. "James Howlett — it's the same name as his father, who teaches at our school. I'm sure you've heard of him. He goes by 'Wolverine'."

The cop paused, and his eyebrows went up. "I'm … not entirely sure that'll help his case, to be honest."

"You wanted to know how a fifteen-year-old could do this damage. Now. Are you going to continue to treat him like an adult or acknowledge that he's a minor?" Scott asked, his arms crossed.

"I'll radio it in," the cop replied. "But there are still protocols they'll have to run, and I'm afraid one of his parents will have to come get him."

"I'll let his father know," Scott said with a sharp nod. "These boys don't attack people for no reason, officer."

The cop nodded and let out a weary sigh. "I'm sure. If they did, we'd have a record on them. But—" he took a step closer to Scott and let his voice drop lower. "They said this guy assaulted some girl, but … if she doesn't file a report, we can't do a thing about it."

Scott looked even more thunderous at that as he turned to Cody, who put up both hands. "That… is true. Ask James." He tapped the side of his nose with his index finger, and Scott narrowed his eyes before he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I'll call him," he said, already starting to pace away — though the call lasted maybe thirty seconds before he turned back around to address the rest of the problem.

As Chance was put in the back of the cop car, the cop nearest Scott held up a hand. "He's under arrest, but he won't see the cell," the cop assured him. "He was throwing around threats in custody … and we can't have that. You can follow us down if you like, but … it's strictly a catch and release."

Scott frowned toward the car but finally nodded once at the officer. "We'll follow you," he said, putting a hand on Cody's shoulder to steer him toward his own car before things could get any worse.

By some miracle, after Scott called Logan to know what was happening, Logan managed to beat them to the police station — likely because the Summers were held up while one of the cops tried to convince Jacob into pressing charges — not that it sounded much like he had any problem with it.

"I've got Murdock on it," Logan said when Scott and Cody walked in the door. He had his arms crossed, and he looked as if he hadn't blinked in long enough of a stretch that the cop behind the desk was obviously nervous.

"Good," Scott said.

It wasn't long after that, though, when Jacob came in with the cops too — seeing as he wanted to press charges, and when he walked through the door, there was a visible shift in the room as Logan turned his way and watched him with a deep glare. But that seemed to be enough to catch the kid's attention and scare the daylights out of him.

Logan didn't move — and he was breathing evenly and shallowly enough that he looked perfectly still — and when the cop tried to direct Jacob into his office, the teenager stopped in his tracks and seemed to reconsider things.

"If you'd like to sign a few papers, Mr. Summers," the desk cop said, grateful that Logan wasn't glaring at him anymore. "We can get things moving."

Scott finally turned toward the desk cop and nodded. "Yes, let's."

There was a soft discussion at the cop's desk with Jacob … that was somewhat echoed with Scott. "I'm sure that any charges would be dropped if your son would simply apologize. We already spoke with um … your friend about the other boy, but …"

"But?" Scott said with one eyebrow raised. "Is he planning to press charges or not? It's a simple enough question if his story has any weight whatsoever."

"Honestly, sir, the officers on the scene rolled up to find one boy bloodied on the ground and another standing around with his fists covered in blood. It's a no-brainer."

Scott kept the single eyebrow raised. "And my son?" he pointed out. "What about the rest of the story, officer? Have you spoken to my associate or his son about what happened to Miss Howlett?" It was clear he was being as polite as it was possible to be, but Cody knew that was just a sign that his dad wanted to take someone's head off.

"I'm afraid if the young lady won't come forward, there isn't anything we can do," the cop said. "But even if she does, that won't change matters for the young Mr. Howlett. He still beat the boy down."

"Yes, I understand that."

"It's alright, Slim," Logan drawled out, his focus still on Jacob. "Consequences for everything."

Scott met Logan's gaze for only a second before he nodded and turned back to the desk cop. "Right. Well, at least I'd like to leave with one of them," he said pointedly.

"They'll both be going home," the cop assured him, though a moment later, Logan smirked to himself and turned back Scott's way. The other officer was entirely frustrated at Jacob's sudden reluctance to press charges.

"Leave it to the lawyer," Logan said low to Scott. "This is over with for now — unless I hear something from Elin that changes my mind."

Scott nodded at that and settled in to wait, though he got a bit more agitated when he saw Chance again and the police more or less turned him over to his dad. "What were you thinking?" he all but hissed out at Chance, who looked down at his hands.

"I know, Dad," he said quietly, but he didn't look sorry in the least, his mouth pressed into a thin line and a muscle working in his jaw.

James wasn't too far behind Chance, and he looked every bit as livid as Logan did, though when he saw his father, he dropped his gaze and relaxed his shoulders without a word spoken.

James and Logan went in Logan's Jeep; both of the Summers boys went with Scott. So it wasn't until they were on the road that Scott broke his silence again. "Did you even consider—"

"Dad, the guy put his hands on Elin," Chance cut in.

Scott's eyes narrowed. "This is just like those boys in combat class. When are you going to learn when not to fight?"

Chance tipped up his chin. "You want to tell me you wouldn't lay into anyone that put their hands on Mom? Or K? Or Charlie? Or Jubilee? Or—"

"That is not the point."

"I think it is!" Chance shot back. "I think if it had been you, you'd do the same thing, and you know it!"

"You're seventeen, Chance. If you'd done any worse, they'd try you as an adult — and you just worked so hard to get onto two different teams. You have your whole life ahead of you — don't—"

"He put his hands on Elin, Dad," Chance broke in sharply.

Scott turned to face him and settled into a glare before he let out a breath. "You're going to write a long letter to your mother apologizing for upsetting her, and then another one apologizing to Mac — he just told the government up there how qualified you are, and you're doing a damn good job trying to prove him wrong."

Chance opened his mouth to argue and then closed it again and leaned back against the seat. "Fine."

When James and Logan got back to the Institute, Elin was waiting at the foot of the stairs — clearly just having taken a long shower and then redressed in the baggiest clothes she owned. Her mother had already told her what had happened, and where the boys were, and that she needed to fill them in on what had happened, since clearly, all of them had jumped to one conclusion or another.

But when the first thing out of her mouth was an apology followed up with "This was all my fault." Logan just started growling, not buying it for a minute.

"Come on," Logan said, pulling her over to himself gently. "You're gonna tell us what happened. The boys can leave."

"Guy was a jerk, Elin — no way is that your fault. He was born stupid," Chance said her way.

But Elin shook her head and hugged herself a little tighter before Logan steered her down the hallway.

Scott opened the door for the two of them and then held up his hand for the boys. "No. Wait in the living room. This should be as private as possible."

"Dad—"

Cody grabbed Chance's arm and nodded. "Yeah, okay, Dad. But we want to know what's up, okay?"

"Fine," Chance grumbled, jerking his arm out of Cody's grasp as the boys headed off.

Elin closed her eyes once the door was shut and Scott was seated before she quietly and emotionlessly went through her side of the story in more detail than both Logan and Scott thought she'd consider sharing. When she was done, she cleared her throat and took a deep breath to steady herself. "I already told Mom. She said to lay it out for you," Elin said quietly. "And I think I shouldn't … I don't know that I should be on the team. For a while anyhow."

Scott stared at her for a moment before he shook his head. "What are you talking about?" he said. "You haven't done a thing wrong. There's no reason to leave."

"Are you sure?" she said suddenly, staring back at him and looking on the verge of crying — showing all her cards as months of support from friends and family seemed to go up in smoke. "Because this keeps happening, so I must be doing something to—" She couldn't quite finish her sentiment before her voice choked out and the tears slipped over her lashes.

Scott let out a breath and looked toward Logan for a moment before he abandoned all pretense of professionalism and simply crouched down at her eye level to where she was sitting and leaning on her father. "Elin, I wish we lived in a world where the simple fact that you are beautiful didn't call down the worst instincts in some men who were never taught self-control or respect, but we do. That's not your fault; it's theirs. For the same reasons it's not your fault if people hate you for being a mutant or for having the family you do or for being an X-Man. Some people are just wired to think they have a right to take what they want and hurt anyone who believes otherwise, and it's just wrong. And I'm sorry that you have to deal with it." He took a deep breath and rested his hand on her shoulder. "If I could make it right for you, I'd do whatever it took. You know that, right?"

She still looked miserable, but she very minutely nodded and then leaned into her dad deeper. Logan was clearly well beyond stringing words together in a meaningful way other than the whisper-quiet 'got your back' that Scott barely caught.

Scott nodded and stayed where he was for a long moment before he finally went back to his seat, though he was watching the two of them still. "You're still the team leader for the junior squad," he said. "And they will continue to follow you anywhere. This changes nothing. That sorry excuse for a human being doesn't get to change anything. At all."

Scott finally simply left the two of them alone and stepped out to deal with the boys — all three of them — while Logan tried to ease Elin out of the self doubt she was drowning herself in, though he did manage to catch the tiniest of giggles from her when Logan promised very quietly not to kill the kid. Tonight.