Leah woke up early the next morning feeling delicious. She couldn't stop thinking about Angel and the dinner they were going to have that night. She couldn't wait to tell Storm. Storm would be happy for her, she just knew it. But Logan was still proving to be a confusing mystery. Leah hated mysteries. They needed solving, and she intended to figure out exactly what made him as bitter as he was. It was too bad he seemed to dislike her. Not that she particularly liked him either.

She slipped on some clothes and strode out of her room towards the kitchen. When she entered, there was a strange man making coffee. She cocked her head sideways.

"Hello," she said quietly, looking at the man with curiosity. The man, actually Xavier, smiled.

"Why hello there," he said with his thick accent. "Leah, I believe. Hydrokinetic? How fascinating. In all my years as a professor of this school, I've never met one." She smiled, unsure.

"I'm sorry, I thought I'd met everyone!" She stepped boldly towards him. "You are correct. My name is Leah. Who are you?" she said, extending her hand.

"My name is Professor Charles Xavier." Leah gasped.

"I thought..." she said quietly, disbelief lacing her words, "I thought you were-"

"Dead?" Xavier added. He chuckled. "So did I. The miracles of new science will never cease to amaze even me." Leah laughed.

"Well, it's wonderful to have you back! Have you spoken to Storm?" she said softly. "And Logan? Something about the way he operates makes me think he blames himself for your death," she said in speculation. Xavier smiled.

"Storm I have seen, but I haven't found Logan. I can feel his guilt from a mile away, though."

"Can you sense emotions?" Leah inquired, wondering exactly what the professor could do. He smiled.

I can do more than that, he said intensely, but she realized that he hadn't spoken at all. She sucked in her breath.

"Oh..." she gasped softly. Xavier just went on with his dialogue as if he hadn't just transmitted a phrase into her thoughts.

"Logan blames himself for more than my death, though," Charles said softly. Leah looked at him, nearly begging him to go on. Charles chuckled. "That is a story for him alone to tell, Leah." She was disappointed, but brushed it away.

"I'm sure Storm is extremely grateful to have you back," she said, smiling. "She was having some trouble for a while there, but now that she and Logan are together..." She let her thought drift off before adding, "I think he makes her feel better about herself." Xavier patted Leah on the shoulder, already feeling like a father to the woman.

"Relationships tend to do that to people, Leah. You'll find out soon enough. I think Angel is anticipating dinner even more than you are." Leah opened her mouth, but stopped herself as she felt the crimson creep up her face. Xavier laughed, a loud full laugh, patted her on the shoulder again and strode out of the room, coffee in hand.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Logan paced around his room. Something was different this morning. His shirt was off and he felt the cool air evaporate the sweat on his chest. Something was in the air. It smelled like Charles Xavier, but that made no sense. Charles was dead, disintegrated at the hands of Jean. Oh, Jean. He couldn't think about her now. But how could Charles be here?

"The wonders of modern science," came a familiar voice from across the room. Logan spun around to see a stranger standing in front of the door. "Yes, Logan, it's hard to believe, but I am here. I owe science a great deal now," said the stranger with Xavier's voice. Logan shook his head, unable to comprehend the situation.

"You were blown into a million pieces," Logan said slowly, "but I know that you're you. You sound right and you smell right." Logan felt himself reeling in his tracks. Xavier wasn't dead. He was standing here, in front of him. Logan took a few tentative steps towards him and laid his hand on the stranger's shoulder.

"All this is true. Miracles happen, Logan. Every day." Logan squeezed the fabric of the professor's shirt, testing for palpability. When it didn't break into tiny pieces at his touch, a sob of relief broke out of his throat. A third of his guilt had just been peeled off his chest. Charles smiled, and laid his hand on Logan's shoulder in return.

"It's good to have you back, Professor," he said slowly, looking into Xavier's face without a smile.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Erik sat on his hospital bed, smiling broadly at his progress. He looked at the door, and it opened and closed with the smallest thought. It was time to get out of the miserable hospital. It was time to be remitted into the life he knew. It was time to finally obliterate the human race.

The radiator ripped itself from the wall and flew into the hallway, smashing against the door on the other side of the hallway. A few attendants came flying down the hallway to stop him, but he sent shards of the shattered radiator into their faces and chests. The screamed and fell, dead, to the floor. He marched towards the hospital entrance, flinging metal at anyone who tried to get in his way.

He arrived outside without being detained. He saw that police were beginning to show up with their plastic guns. But it was useless. They were in metal vehicles. He piled the cars upon one another, but decided to keep one for himself. He flew it upward, shaking its passengers out and set it gently down next to him. He slipped in, grabbing the wheel and speeding towards the edge of town. He had to find Mystique and Pyro. It wouldn't be too hard.