Unreal

Ok so you're getting the return of someone in this chapter.

For Ava, who brought up a few things in her profile, I'm gonna answer two of those here. She does have a name, but she wouldn't talk to Kurt. She allowed him to give her a new name as sort of a way of getting a new life or something like that. You'll learn her real name soon though. Also, with the wrists thing…she doesn't cut them…that you'll learn in the next chapter but if you take a look at the trailer again you'll notice something (circular scars around the wrists, glowing bands around the wrists…putting the pieces together?)

Grace and Kurt went with Logan and Rogue down to the med lab, Logan carrying Bobby who was still unconscious. Rogue had covered every part of her body but her head. Her eyes were red and slightly puffy from crying so much. Grace felt sorry for her, even though she wasn't really sure what was going on. She barely registered what Hank said about a cure not being permanent. She barely registered the tests that were performed on Rogue. Bobby woke up after a few minutes and tried to calm Rogue but she seemed inconsolable.

Everyone, even Kurt, had their attention on the shaken couple. Therefore no one noticed Grace slip away. She walked a few halls of the institute before walking outside and away from it. She needed to think, although she wasn't sure what about. She was only vaguely aware of walking into a bar and pushing her way through the crowd. She didn't bother ordering anything, she knew she didn't have money to pay for it and she would never get away with telling them that she was twenty-one because she knew for a fact that she didn't look it.

"What's a pretty little girl like you doing here?" Grace turned to see about four big men standing behind her. They weren't really Logan big…more like fat big. Grace blinked…did she really just compare a bunch of guys to Logan? "Hey…didn't you hear us?"

"Maybe she's a dumb blonde." One of the guys said, laughing.

"Right…a dumb blonde with dark brown hair…gosh you're smart." Grace said, surprising herself as well as the men.

"Hey…don't make fun of my buddy." The first one said.

"Or else what?" Grace asked. "You'll point your finger at me? No…you'll call me names." She made a disgusted face. "Gee…you think there's any beer left in this place or should they just jam a tap into your stomach and pour it out from there?" One of the guys fell over as if to emphasize the fact that he was completely wasted. Grace had no clue where the backbone suddenly came from.

"Oh…we can do a lot…a lot more then that, princess." One of the other guys said.

"Don't call me princess." Grace said.

"Or else what?" The first one said. Grace's eyes darkened and she made the ground shake by accident. The men, and other people in the bar, fell over from it. "She…she…SHE'S A MUTANT!!!" Everything changed from that point on. Grace found herself caught up in a giant fight in which she had to use her powers to keep herself from getting killed. Someone grabbed her and she did everything she could to get away but nothing worked. She was getting pulled out of the bar and away from the fighting.

"Let go of me!!" Grace shouted.

"You wanna get yourself killed?" Grace froze as she heard Logan's rough voice. She stopped her struggling and he got them outside relatively safely. "You're pretty good as sneaking away unnoticed. Not even blue boy realized it."

"Oh…" Grace said.

"Funny…you don't strike me as the kind of girl who'll leap into a fight." Logan said, examining her in the light of the street lamp with his arms crossed. "You ok, kid?"

"Don't call me that." Grace said. "Please."

"Alright." Logan said. "You got pretty messed up." Grace looked at herself as best as she could. She had cuts everywhere and a few bruises starting to form.

"How's Rogue?" Grace asked.

"Shaken…but fine." Logan said. He chuckled a bit. "That cure was meant to be permanent but it's only lasted a year. A lot of people are gonna be disappointed." Grace looked up and down the street. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know." Grace said. She looked at Logan. "It's mutants."

"What is?" Logan asked, confused by the sudden change in topics.

"Those people. On the bikes." Grace said. "The ones after me."

"They're mutants?" Logan asked, even more confused now as Grace nodded. "So let me get this straight…they're…what are they?"

"They're…mutant…mutant hunters." Grace said. She jumped as Logan's claws shot out suddenly. He walked closer to her and Grace instinctively backed up. He reached towards her but Grace's panic got the better of her. Her eyes darkened and Logan froze. His arms were flung out to his sides so his body was like a cross and then, horrifyingly, his claws started to curl backwards, forming half circles and then full circles towards his hands. He yelled in pain. It took him a second to register that it was Grace doing this and not…

"Grace…" Logan groaned. She gasped as if suddenly realizing what she was doing. Her eyes resumed their regular colour and she crumpled to the ground looking completely exhausted. Logan looked at his hands and grimaced at the sight of what she had done.

"My, my…even without Charles you seem to find some talented ones." Logan's eyes snapped up at the sound of the familiar voice.

"So I was right…flame boy was there." He said. Grace lifted her head. Magneto and Pyro made their way into the light from the street lamp. Logan raised an eyebrow. "Thought you were 'cured'."

"Wolverine, when you are as powerful as I am…those things don't last that long." Magneto said.

"I guess Rogue's as strong as you then." Logan said. "Got her powers back a few hours ago."

"So she did go through with it." Pyro said. He chuckled. "I knew it." He looked down at Grace. "What's wrong with her?"

"None of your business." Logan said. He groaned as he moved his hand, the tips of his claws poking into his flesh. He looked down at Grace. "Little help?"

"I don't…" Grace started. She chewed her lower lip and looked down again. Logan sighed.

"Allow me." Magneto said, raising his own hand. Logan hissed this time as his claws slowly straightened back to their original positions. He retracted them and rubbed at his knuckles before lowering a hand to Grace. She looked up and took it before he helped her up.

"What's going on?" Grace asked, looking between Logan and Magneto. Logan put an arm around Grace's arms.

"My dear child, don't you know what you've brought upon us?" Magneto asked. Grace shook her head very slowly. "Your little…hunters…have followed you. They are after you. And it seems quite obvious the X-men are not going to give you up without a fight. My dear…you've become the cause of a war."

"A war?" Grace asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well this is insane." Ororo said, nearly half an hour later. Logan and Grace were standing in front of her, Hank, Rogue, Bobby, Kitty, Warren, Peter (Colossus) and Kurt. Logan still had his arm around Grace and this gesture did not go unnoticed by the majority gathered around them. "You can't honestly trust or believe him."

"Storm, it's getting damn near obvious what we're getting ourselves into here." Logan said.

"Just because he says that there's going to be a war, doesn't always mean there's going to be a war." Ororo said. Logan raised his eyebrows. "Ok so the last couple of times he's said it…"

"Trust me on this, I thought we were through with those as well." Logan said. There was a cough and Logan and Grace turned around so that they were facing the same direction as the rest of the X-men. A good ten feet away from them Magneto and Pyro stood right where Logan had left them, but it was quite obvious they had heard everything.

"My dear, when you've been around as long as I have, you tend to figure out these things quite early." Magneto said. "So…if any of us expect to make it through this stage alive…" He let it sit there for a second as different emotions crossed the faces of the X-men. "Then we all must learn to trust each other." Kurt's eyes dropped down to where Logan's arm was resting around Grace. He watched it tighten up and pull her just a bit closer. There was a quiet moment as everyone soaked this in.

"Is this really going to happen again?" Ororo asked, sounded tired.

"I'm sorry." Grace said as an answer. She wiggled a bit to get out of Logan's hold before turning to face everyone. "I never should have let Kurt bring me here. I never meant for this to happen."

"If you're going to say that you're going to leave…don't." Logan said, turning so that he was facing Grace and only Grace. "You're here…and here is where you're gonna stay."

"You're one of us now." Rogue said.

"We take care of each other, Grace." Ororo said. "And we're gonna take care of you."

"You're in safe hands." Hank said. Everyone else who hadn't spoken just nodded in agreement. Grace wasn't quite sure about what to do so she looked at Kurt.

"We're staying." Kurt said. Grace took a deep breath and nodded. This was obviously something she wasn't used to, having people around that wanted to help and actually seemed to care.

"You're not going anywhere ki…Grace." Logan said, quietly. Grace looked at him.

"We'll leave you all alone." Magneto said. He nodded at Pyro and the two headed out. "See you in the morning." Everyone watched them leave and then just stood there for a while.

"Can I talk to you?" Grace asked, quietly. Logan nodded and the two of them left the group. He looked at her as they stood silent for a moment.

"Something you wanted to say?" Logan asked.

"Umm…I…I just wanted to say thanks." Grace said. "For…everything these past couple of days. You've been…not a whole lot of people have really treated me this way so…that's what I wanted to thank you for. So…thanks." She stood up on her tip toes and gave Logan a quick kiss on the lips before she even had time to think about it. She froze, half way back to resting her feet flat on the floor, and realized what she had just done. Logan looked at her before he surprised both of them and gently brought her closer to him before lightly touching his lips to hers again. Grace wasn't quite sure what to do but her body went on its own. Her eyes closed and her hands rested on Logan's shoulders and there they stood for the next couple of seconds.

While Logan and Grace were having their little low-key make-out session, the X-men still stood in their group, unsure of what to do.

"This is too much for one night." Rogue said, putting her hand on her head.

"I guess when you're a mutant, you're never really quite done with fighting." Warren said.

"You'll get used to it." Ororo said, dryly. The doorbell rang and she made her way over to the door. "I just want to know what else could happen." She opened the door and turned to look at who was standing there before she froze.