Author's Note: Yay chapter. And yay for finishing and around five in the morning. So, uh, hopefully this all makes sense. Because it's sleepy time for me now. I'll post this tomorrow…Or later today, actually…And when you read this it will be later today, so that last comment was pointless….Anyway! Chapter! With shiny alternate dimensions of fun!

Chapter Twenty-Three

The blackness didn't fade, but it lightened after only a few moments. Logan found himself sitting down, and he could hear the rushing of traffic. He opened his eyes and realized he was in the passenger seat of a moving vehicle. A truck, it looked like, as he looked behind him to see the bed of the truck through the back window.

"Well, it's about time." Cassandra commented.

Logan turned and saw her in the driver's seat. Except that it wasn't her. He was in another alternate dimension. What was he supposed to do now? Jean had said that he was supposed to find people. He had no idea what she was talking about, with the problem in the dimension and how he was supposed to use it to get out. She'd said he'd know who it was when he saw them…He guessed he'd just have to trust her, and try to figure out what he was supposed to do with that person when he found them. Because otherwise end up being helplessly tossed about through dimensions. And there was now fucking way Logan was going to just sit there and allow himself to be pulled around like a piece of fish bait.

"Are you still not talking to me?" Cassandra asked.

Logan started to say something, then paused as he realized he had no idea why he wouldn't be talking to Cassandra. In fact, he had no idea where they were going, or why, or even if anything that had happened between him and Cassandra in his world had happened here. What if something was different, something that was important in their past that he didn't remember because he hadn't been the one who lived it?

"Okay, I'll take that as a yes." Cassandra said, then sighed. "Logan, hon, you can't just hate him forever."

Okay, why couldn't she give him context clues to work with? He still had no fucking clue what was going on. So instead of replying he asked, "Are we almost there?"

Cassandra shook her head and went back to watching the road. "It's still the same place, Logan. Although I suppose it's been long enough since you started refusing to go that you'd forget where it was." Her tone was sarcastic enough to make him wince slightly.

He remained silent after that, until she pulled into the driveway of a pretty blue and tan house. She switched off the engine and climbed out, reaching back into to grab a foil-covered pan that smelled like peach cobbler before heading up to the door. He followed and then stood as she knocked, shifting uncomfortably.

"Be nice." She told him while they waited.

Oh, hell. They were going to go see Scott or something, weren't they? Scott was the only person that Logan could think of where Cassandra would have to warn him to be nice. And judging by the dish that Cassandra was holding and the fact that he was wearing black slacks and a nice blue button-up dress shirt, they'd probably have to sit through a whole dinner with him. Fuck that.

The door knob turned, then, and Logan braced himself for an hour or so of really dull conversation. When the door opened, though, Logan saw Kurt standing there. He was wearing khaki pants and a red dress shirt, although his feet were bare. His tail was twitching slowly behind him, and his yellow eyes were slightly downcast. Or, actually, his eye was downcast, since he only had one. A large scar was where his left eye should have been.

Logan blinked, first surprised, then suspicious. Kurt was the closest thing Logan had to a best friend; there was no way Cassandra's warning was for the elf. Which meant there had to be someone else coming to this little dinner party. Logan was still betting on Scott.

"Hello, Cassandra." Kurt greeted.

"Hey Kurt." Cassandra replied, throwing her arms around him to give him a tight hug.

He hugged her back, then turned towards Logan. "Thank you for coming, Logan." He said quietly.

Logan grinned at him. "No problem, elf. You wanna let us in before this cobbler over here gets cold?"

Kurt's eye widened slightly and his gaze darted briefly at Cassandra before he nodded. "Yes, of course. Come on in."

He held the door open while they walked inside, then closed it behind them. Kurt and Cassandra started walking down the front hall, but Logan lingered. There were framed pictures lining one of the walls. Most of them showed some combination of Samantha, Cassandra, Rachel, Zephyr, Anorra, Rogue, Bobby, Warren, Kurt, Piotr, Gambit, and Logan himself doing mundane things like having a picnic, riding horses, going to the beach, at some amusement park, or just hanging out. It was strange looking at them, because Logan couldn't actually remember doing any of them. The one that caught his attention, though, was a picture of him and Cassandra. She was in a wedding dress, holding a bouquet, and he was standing next to her in a tuxedo, his arm around her shoulders.

Logan glanced down at his left hand and, sure enough, there was a wide gold band around his ring finger. He looked back up at the wall and picked out other wedding pictures; Warren and Zephyr, Anorra and Piotr, Rogue and Gambit, Bobby and Rachel, and finally Samantha and Kurt. Logan looked at that last one for a moment, then quickly scanned the other photos. Kurt had two eyes in all of them, which was odd. Whatever had made him lose it couldn't have happened recently, since the scar over his eye was quite obviously an old one.

"Logan, come on." Cassandra called, her voice impatient.

Logan started towards her, casting one last look at his wedding photo. This whole alternate dimension thing was really weird. If Logan hadn't been so sure this was real, he would have believed that he was just hallucinating this whole thing. Even Jean. It made more sense to him than the fact that there were a whole bunch of other Logans out there doing things that he had no knowledge of. Like getting married, or having to watch everything fall apart around them.

He paused. Had that happened? Was Warren still alive back home? Logan decided he had to be. The weird feeling Logan had been having started just before the kid's death, so that must have been when everything shifted. Warren had to be alive. Whether Logan wanted it or not, the kid was family. A family that he wanted to get back to.

Logan started moving again, following Kurt and Cassandra into the kitchen and adjoining dining room. There were two tables there, one big enough to hold at least twenty people, and the other a smaller one that looked like it would seat about six. The smaller table was set for four, with nice black china and silver wine glasses.

"You're right on time." Kurt told them. "The pasta is almost done. There are breadsticks, in the meantime." He gestured to a basket of steaming cheese breadsticks that rested on the island in the kitchen.

The three of them made small talk over the breadsticks for awhile until Logan glanced over his shoulder at the fourth place setting and asked, "So who's joining us tonight?"

Cassandra looked away and Kurt found something very interesting to stare at on the floor.

"The other plate is for Sammie." Kurt said softly.

"Oh. Okay." Logan said, puzzled by their reaction.

They talked for awhile, long enough for Logan to start being concerned at the way the fuzzy elf kept wincing every time Logan opened his mouth to say something. As if Logan was going to say something completely horrible to him.

Finally, Logan asked, "Hey, elf, you feeling okay?"

Kurt looked startled, then nodded. "I'm fine, Logan. I'll be fine."

The answer had an automatic quality to it, as if it was one that he had repeated many times.

Logan glanced over at Cassandra, who gave him a bit of a sad smile before saying, "So how's that pasta coming along, Kurt?"

Kurt gave a bright smile that Logan could only barely tell was false. "Thank you for reminding me, Cass, I probably would have let it burn."

He busied himself in the kitchen for a moment, then ushered both of them to the table. He spooned some kind of pasta onto three plates and waited for them to sit down before setting the past bowl in the middle of the table and sitting down himself.

After a moment of silent eating, Logan asked, "When's Sam getting here?"

Kurt's fork dropped onto his plate with a clatter, and Cassandra stared at Logan in horror. Before Logan could say anything, Cassandra grabbed his wrist and dragged him off into another room.

"How dare you." Cassandra hissed at him. "I actually thought you were coming to your senses, and then you go and do that. How much longer are you going to keep hurting him, Logan?"

"Cass." Logan said slowly, starting to understand what was going on. "Where's Sam?"

"She's dead, Logan, and you fucking know it." Cassandra told him. "So whatever this new game you're playing to torment Kurt is, just stop it right now."

Logan winced. What kind of person was he here? "Whatever you think I'm doing, I'm not. I wouldn't try to hurt Kurt like that. I didn't know Sam was dead."

Cassandra snorted. "Logan, I love you, but I'm not stupid. That's just ridiculous."

"Yeah." Logan agreed. "This whole fucking thing is ridiculous. I'm not who you think I am. I'm not your Logan, I'm from another dimension. I don't remember Sam dying, I don't remember Kurt losing his eye, or why I'm supposedly all mad at him. I don't even remember marrying you. Because I didn't do any of those things."

Cassandra stopped and stared at him, standing up on tip-toe to look him in the eyes. "You're serious, aren't you?" She stepped back, shaking her head. "Hell. Well, of all the things we've been through, I guess other dimensions isn't really surprising." She paused for a moment, then asked, "So where's my Logan?"

"I don't know." He answered honestly. "He'll probably come back when I leave, though."

"When's that?" She asked.

He gave a shrug. "I'm not sure."

Cassandra drew in a shaky breath, then nodded. "Kay. Any chance you could talk to him during this little exchange thing, maybe convince him of the whole not hurting Kurt thing?"

"I don't think it works like that." Logan replied. "What happened, Cass?"

She ran her fingers through her hair. "It's been almost two years, and I still don't like talking about it. Which is kind of silly, but…It was the fight." She paused, then continued as if realizing that he wouldn't understand what that meant, "The fight to end all fights. That's what they called it in the papers, anyway. After we won, and people were still able to publish papers, that is. Yeah, we won. And it was a great victory. I mean, look outside. You don't see riots, or fighting, or any anti-anything. We live in a great world. I just wish we were all still alive to see it.

"I don't know…Exactly what happened. The only person who really knows that is Kurt. And, well…We've never asked him. I don't think I ever will, really. He never wants to talk about it. He's only just now gotten to the point where he can talk about her. And I understand, too. I mean, if it had been you….Well, I'd probably be in worse shape than him." She shook her head. "But, anyway. That night's kind of a blur. Probably best that way, since I don't really want to remember what I did. Or what anyone else did. We were in teams. Of two and three, mostly. I was with you. I'm always with you.

"Kurt was with…" Her voice wavered. "He was with Sam and Rogue. God, it's still hard to say their names. Kurt was supposed to get them in, then Rogue was going to take him out, and Sam would protect Rogue and Kurt until it was done. Then Kurt was going to get them out of there. Whatever happened, whatever they did, it worked. We won. But Sam and Rogue…They didn't make it. When Kurt came out, he was alone. You always blamed him, for leaving them behind. Or, well, my Logan did. And still does, I guess. Rogue and Sam, they were the closet things Logan had to sisters.

"But that doesn't excuse his behavior. Kurt blames himself enough without Logan to do it for him. And it hurts even more, since they used to be best friends. I've tried to talk to him, but he just won't listen to me. It's ridiculous, but he's my husband, so there's not much…" She paused. "You said you don't remember our wedding day. We're not married in your world?"

Logan shook his head. "No. We've only know each other for a little over a month."

"Oh. We…." Cassandra started, but then her voice faded as, once again, a roaring filled Logan's ears before everything went dark.

When the blackness faded this time, Logan found himself standing in the grass. In front of him he could see a stadium of mainly college students, most of them standing and cheering. It was nighttime, so the stadium lights were shining brightly. He glanced up at them, and suddenly saw a young woman falling nearly on top of him. Logan quickly shifted his weight, holding his arms out in front of him. He caught her easily, making sure she had her balance before letting her slide to the ground.

She turned to look at him, blue-ish green eyes peering out from the strands of strawberry-blonde hair that had come loose from her pony-tail. "You okay, Logan?"

"Just fine, darlin'." Logan replied, hoping she'd leave him alone long enough for him to figure out where the hell he was.

Fortunately, she nodded at him and went to join a group of young women. All of them were wearing skimpy red and white cheerleader uniforms that looked to be little more than sports bras and skirts that barely covered their butts. A sudden feeling of horror filled him and he glanced at his outfit. Just as he suspected, he was wearing tight spandex pants and a sweatshirt in the same colors.

"Fucking hell." Logan muttered under his breath.

He took a closer look at the group of cheerleaders and spotted Cassandra, Rogue, and Zephyr. Or at least it looked like Zephyr, even though her hair was just blue, and very obviously dyed. They were gathered closely around Rachel, who was leading them and the rest of the cheerleaders in a cheer.

"Much better view than the game, right mon ami?" Gambit asked, coming to stand by his side.

The Cajun was dressed in an outfit just like Logan's, and part of Logan was relieved that there was another guy here that he knew. Of course, there were people that Logan would rather it be than Gambit.

A huge cheer sounded from the crowd and Logan looked out onto the field. The players in red and white were ecstatic, clapping each other on the back and hugging. The other players, wearing yellow and blue, were walking dejectedly off of the field. Some of the cheerleaders started doing backflips, and others began chanting for the knights, which Logan assumed was the mascot for the team.

Logan sure as fucking hell hoped he wasn't going to have to spend too much time here. His body felt lighter, and he had a feeling that if he tried to extend his claws, they would be there. His senses were duller, too, since he couldn't even pick anyone's scent out of the mess of smells in the stadium. He felt human.

"Logan!" Cassandra called, jumping up to throw her arms around him. "We won!" She beamed up at him, and he noticed her eyes were blue, not purple.

"Yeah, we sure did, darlin'." Logan said, trying to sound as excited as she did.

Logan didn't feel anything coming from anyone he recognized. He didn't know what this problem thing was supposed to feel like, but since he didn't feel anything strange, he was assuming it wasn't there. Which meant he had to go looking for more people.

Cassandra looped her arm through his, and they were joined by Zephyr and Rogue. Logan took a closer look at Rogue, and realized her white streak was missing. She looked like she did when he first met her.

"Excellent work, chere." Gambit told Rogue, sweeping her up into a kiss.

Logan waited, but nothing happened. It looked like he wasn't the only one who was human now. Maybe mutants didn't even exist here. Rachel hadn't joined them yet, though, so Logan looked around for her. He spotted her a few feet away, talking to the girl who he had caught earlier. He could just barely hear them, if he listened close enough.

"…unacceptable, Kaliah." Rachel was saying. "You don't mess up like that on game night."

"Everyone messes up some times, Rachel." Kaliah protested.

"Not like you." Rachel replied. "You've screwed up nearly every routine we've done since we let you on this time. We are the best, we can't have you on here bringing us down."

"But.." Kaliah started.

"Now, some people thought I shouldn't even let you on. But I'm a nice person, I gave you a shot." Rachel said. "It's just too bad that you weren't good enough to make it worth my time. I'm a little embarrassed, actually, since I'll have to go tell everyone they were right. That's the burden of being the one in charge. But it's a small price to pay for getting rid of a screw-up like you." She gave Kaliah a sweet smile, then flipped her hair. Rachel started to walk away, then paused and glanced back. "Oh…you can keep the cheer uniform. Burn it, throw it away, whatever. We won't be needing it. After all, it's touched your skin. Who knows how much of you has rubbed off on it?"

Kaliah stared at her, then turned and fled.

Rachel beamed and joined them, tossing one arm over Cassandra's shoulders. "Hey guys! Wasn't that an awesome game?" She asked, sounding exactly like the Rachel that Logan knew.

"Here come our players." Zephyr said, grinning widely.

Five football players were heading their way, joking and laughing with each other as they walked. The players stopped when they reached the group, tugging off their helmets. Logan recognized Bobby, although his hair was a bit longer and curly, Piotr, Warren, who looked incredibly odd with no wings, and Samantha, with brown eyes. The last guy had black hair and hazel eyes. He looked familiar, although Logan couldn't place him.

Rachel grabbed Bobby's jersey and pulled him down to her level, pressing her lips against hers. He wrapped his arm around her and they kissed for a minute of so before breaking apart.

"Way to go, captain." Rachel told him with a grin.

"Yeah, great game, guys." Rogue agreed.

"Thanks." Bobby said, grinning at them all.

"What do you expect with our star quarterback here?" Samantha asked, standing up on tip-toe to ruffle Bobby's hair. "We haven't lost since he joined the team."

"We haven't lost since we all joined, Sam." Bobby said, his grin widening.

"Yeah, Sammie, don't give Mister All American all the credit." Piotr teased.

Samantha laughed, looking pleased. "Okay, we're all pretty damn good."

"Thirty-one to three? Hell yeah, we're good. We kicked their asses." Warren commented, pumping his fist in the air and grabbing Zephyr, kissing her firmly.

"Well, if everyone else is doing it." The unknown guy said in Kurt's voice, pulling Samantha close and kissing her.

Logan had a moment to be startled at seeing Kurt without the blue before he found himself being pulled into kissing Cassandra. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw first Bobby and Rachel, then Rogue and Gambit join in the kissing while Piotr stood there and looked amused.

"Piotr!" Anorra called suddenly, and Cassandra pulled away from Logan.

A small human woman, blonde and blue-eyed, ran up to them. "The rest of the color guard kept trying to get me to go have dinner with them."

"And, of course, you told them that you were going with us." Piotr said, draping his arm over her shoulder.

Anorra beamed up at him. "Of course. Like I'd go anywhere without you, Piotr. Are you thirsty? I brought you water."

She held out a bottle of water to him and he took it, downing it without so much as a thank you. Anorra looked happy, though, as if pleased with the fact that Piotr was drinking her water.

"Liked the way you handled that six foot pole, Norra." Rachel commented.

"She must get lots of practice to be that good." Cassandra agreed, winking at Anorra.

Anorra shoved her playfully. "Shut up."

"Hey, you can't get mad at her for being right." Piotr said, sweeping Anorra into his arms and planting a kiss on her lips.

A couple of female students came up to them, then, and Warren turned to talk with them. Or, more accurately, flirt with them. Shamelessly. They giggled and flirted back, giving him a sharpie and lifting up their shirts so he could sign their bras. He even kissed one of them on the cheek before she left. Everyone else ignored this, but Logan could see the hurt flash briefly across Zephyr's face before she covered it up with a bright smile.

"So, Denny's, yes?" Zephyr asked. "Who's driving today?"

"Not us." Bobby said, tightening his arm around Rachel's waist.

"Yeah, we're going to be distracted with other things." Rachel agreed.

"I'll drive." Samantha offered. "My car'll fit us all."

She led the way to a red and white Volkswagen bus and hopped into the driver's seat. Kurt jumped in the front, resting his hand on Samantha's thigh. Bobby and Rachel claimed the way back seat and began making out almost as soon as they sat down. Piotr sat down in the next seat up and grabbed Anorra, pulling her into his lap. Zephyr and Warren sat next to them. Gambit sat in the next with Rogue in his lap, and Cassandra slid in next to them. Logan joined her and slammed the door behind them.

Samantha took off, driving like a manic. She honked the horn every time she passed a car of people they apparently knew, and much shouting sounded from both cars. Finally, she served into a Denny's parking lot and slammed on the brakes. "And we're here!"

They all clambered out of the car and into the Denny's, where they made a bee-line for a large both in the back. A waitress came to take their order, and Warren flirted with her for a few minutes before telling her they needed more time.

Everyone scanned their menus, except for Anorra, who was curled up against Piotr, and Rachel and Bobby, who were too busy kissing. After awhile, the waitress came back, and Warren flirted with her again. This time, he did it for much longer, until Logan finally cleared his throat and said he'd like to order some time this century. Logan didn't like seeing that "I'm fine, really" look on Zephyr's face. Everyone ordered for themselves, except for Anorra. Piotr ordered for her without even asking what she wanted, and she beamed at him like that was the best thing in the world.

They chatted for awhile, and things almost seemed normal, except for Bobby and Rachel making out in the corner of their booth. Then the waitress came back again with their drinks, and Warren picked up the flirting.

"Anorra, there is no cream on this table." Piotr commented.

Anorra jumped up. "I'll go get you some, sweetie." She darted off, stealing a container of cream from another table and bringing it back. She poured it in Piotr's coffee while he talked with Gambit, then set the container down and went back to snuggling against him.

One of Logan's eyes started twitching. This world was fucked up as hell. Logan didn't even care that none of these people seemed to be the key to his returning home, he just wanted to get out of here. There was no fucking way the next dimension would be as bad as this. Fortunately, just as the waitress returned with their food, Logan's vision began to fade a bit. And this time, he was actually relieved as the world went black.