Victor and I reached the edge of the trees at about 1 am. I said, "My window is open around front. I'll have to climb in."

"Aha! So you snuck out?"

"I had to. My experiment, which never ended up taking place, wouldn't have worked is Logan had known I was performing it."

"Experiment?"

"Oh, nevermind. I have to go."

He grabbed my hand. "Wait. I'll go with you and give you a boost."

"Why are you helping me? It's kind of freaking me out." Secretly, I was happy he was helping. I wasn't quite ready to leave his company yet.

"I can let you try and fail to climb the wall of a building if you really want me to."

"Whatever." We made our way around to the front of the mansion. I pointed up at my window on the 2nd floor. "There it is. I think, if you get me to that vine…woah!" He had scooped me up into his arms. I felt his muscles tense beneath me, then he leapt into the air and right through my window. He landed surprisingly quietly, feet first on the floor. He set me down, but my arms were still locked with fright around his neck. "You could've warned me," I whispered angrily.

He nodded. "I could have, but then I wouldn't have gotten to laugh at scaring you."

"You're such a boy," I complained. He smiled and my heart jumped into my throat at the sight of it. Everything in me screamed NO!!! You can't fall for him! He's evil, he's a monster, Logan hates him…he's handsome, he's a gentleman, you like him. The war being fought in my head was nothing like the ones that plagued Logan's dreams. It was much more deadly.

"Well," he said slowly, "if I am such a boy, then it wouldn't be inappropriate for me to do this." His face slowly got closer and closer to mine until he was kissing me. The war fought on inside me, but soon, the opposition retreated and the winning side took over. I pressed as close to him as was physically possible. I yearned to be closer. Our kissing intensified, and as a result, I found myself against the wall. The resulting bump made me break off and listen intently into the next room to make sure no one had been awakened.

I chuckled quietly and told him, "Shush!" He buried his face in my shoulder as a rather loud laugh rumbled out. I pushed him back towards the center of the room, fighting laughing myself. "Shh, I said!" The passion between us had calmed a bit and we could talk again. "You should go," I whispered. "If Logan finds you…"

"I'm not worried about him," he said, brushing my cheek with his thumb.

I removed his hand and answered, "You should be. Now that his memory has been restored, so has his anger."

"He didn't kill me then, he won't kill me now."

"Just like him. So damn stubborn!"

"And yet, if you ask him, he'll say we're nothing alike."

"I believed that once."

His deep, blue-grey eyes gazed intently into mine. "How about now?"

I reached up and touched his cheek. "I believe there are some similarities. Those are what draw me to you. But there are stark differences…and it is those that I fear."

He kissed me lightly again. "Don't be afraid of me," he murmured.

"How can I not be? You're Victor Creed. The subject of so many nightmares that Logan and I wake up screaming from."

"He dreams about me?"

"Mostly about the wars you fought in together. One of the most common is the firing squad incident."

Victor's face darkened. "You know about all of that?"

"Everything," I answered. "Now you know why I thought you evil." He wouldn't look at me. I sighed and leaned my head against his chest and wrapped my arms around his muscularly thick torso. He put a hand on my head, and wrapped the other arm around me. "I can't believe I'm doing this. Do you know how crazy this is? Logan is going to kill me."

"Leslie," he whispered.

"What?"

"I'm not the same as I was then. I was a bloodthirsty animal. Sometimes…I still can be. But, I've changed. You know that, right?"

"Of course I don't. How can I know anything about you? You show up out of the blue, in the middle of the night, and with no apparent purpose. But…despite my much better judgment…I'm going to trust you. Although, there are three words I'm quite certain that Logan will say to that."

"And they are?"

"People never change." Victor didn't respond. He simple kissed the top of my head. We stood in each others arms until I yawned. He swung me into his arms again and carried me to my bed. He laid me down on it and knelt by the side. "Don't go," I begged. He smiled, the moonlight reflecting off his sharpened incisors.

He brushed my cheek with a thumb. "I'll stay until dawn," he said. "But then I have to go."

"Fair enough," I yawned. He climbed into the other side of the bed. I rolled over and burrowed into his warm body.

I was asleep before I could've even said goodnight. I was haunted by my own dreams that night. I was in a dark wood, and I could hear Logan calling my name. I kept answering, but he never heard me. Finally, I found him. He was kneeling over a dead body. My body. He was crying. I started forward, but he tensed and jumped up. He looked me straight in the face and said, "You are dead to me." I woke up, shivering and sweating at the same time.

The sun was just peeking over the horizon, so I glanced around for Victor. He was about to jump out the window. "Hey!" I called. He turned and looked back at me. I jumped out of bed and quickly walked over. I remembered I still had his jacket on and gave it back.

He slung it on, then turned back to me. "You'd better get a shower before Jimmy gets up. He'll smell me on you."

I nodded. "Will I see you again?"

He answered, "Leave your window open." Then he kissed me and jumped out.

I watched him dash into the woods and out of sight. I decided it would be prudent to just stay up and take a shower. I couldn't risk Logan smelling Victor. That would be catastrophic. After my shower, I got some Febreez and sprayed my room and the clothes I was wearing the night before. I made myself accept that his would be my regular morning routine until I could find a way to convince Logan that Victor was alright now. That he wasn't evil. Of course, I wasn't sure of that myself yet, so it was going to be a while. I looked at the Febreez bottle and said, "You and I are going to become great friends."

Others were beginning to stir and get up. It was a school day, but which one, I couldn't remember. I sighed. Logan would be expecting me to help in a Danger Room simulation. One hoped I could face him.

I made my way down to the kitchen to find some breakfast. When I got there, I found Colossus in there already. "Hey, Pete."

"Good morning, Leslie. You're up a little earlier than usual."

I smiled. "Most definitely. It wasn't by choice really."

"Bad dream?"

I glanced over at him. How did he know? But then I realized that he didn't. I was being paranoid and he was just being curiously concerned. "Yeah, bad dream," I answered. He nodded and proceeded to down half a quart of milk. I opened the fridge and rummaged about. Apples, eggs, milk, leftover pizza…we needed groceries. I sighed and settled for the pizza. I was turning to leave, but stopped dead when Logan walked into the kitchen.

He saw me and visibly brightened. "Hey, kid! Sleep good?" I choked on my pizza. He beat me on the back. "You gonna live?"

I nodded and managed to swallow. "I slept fine, Logan. You?"

"Well enough after I got out of REM."

"Yeah, I saw that. WWI?"

"Yup. You have an A in history?"

"I HAD and A in history. I'm not a student anymore."

"Well, excuse me," he said.

I froze yet again. He said it the exact way Victor had the night before. It was overwhelming. I burst out, "Logan, are you going to need me in a Danger Room simulation today?"

"It's Monday, Les. I don't have that class."

"Oh…yeah. I forgot." Flustered, I just sat down at the table and fell silent.

Colossus saved me from my discomfort, but his choice of conversation made it worse. "Hey, have you two heard the stories of a mystery predator in the woods around here?"

Logan shook his head. "No! What are they saying?"

"Hunters have been reporting unidentified claw marks in the trees and some on the ground."

The piece of pizza that was halfway to my mouth slowly got put back on the table and pushed a few inches away. Logan noticed and asked, "Leslie, are you feeling ok?"

"No!" I cried as I got up and dashed to the bathroom. I didn't get sick, but my heart was racing and sweat was beading on my forehead. I splashed my face with cool water and willed myself to calm down. My secret wasn't going to stay one very long if I kept this up. After I had regulated my bodily functions, I made myself get through the rest of the day. I said hi to those who said it to me, I answered Storm's question about where Logan was, and I even managed to debate with Bobby over who was better, the Indianapolis Colts or the Baltimore Ravens. By supper, I was exhausted.

At about 5pm, Logan approached me and asked, "Hey, me, Bobby, Marie, and Colossus are going out for something to eat. You wanna come with?"

Very quickly, I appraised the situation. I had complained of not feeling good earlier. I could use that to get out of it. But, if I was going to convince them that nothing was going on, I'd have to do some of this. So… "Sure, Logan! Where we going?"

"Believe it or not, Olive Garden."

I cracked up. "Are you sure you won't break anything this time?"

He shrugged and grinned. "You gonna ride with me on the bike?"

"Yes. Let me go grab a coat." I ran up the stairs and down the hall to my room. I got my big, furry coat out and slid my arms into it. As I did, my eyes fell on the window. I wasn't sure what time we would get back, so I reached out and slid it open all the way. Hopefully, Victor would have the sense to wait until everyone was back and asleep.

After that, I ran out to the garage. Everyone else was there and waiting. "Took you long enough," Bobby joked.

I stuck my tongue out at him and said, "Not all of us can make the stairs a solid ice slide to save time, Iceman." Bobby laughed and jumped into Scott's old car with Marie and Pete. I mounted Logan's motorcycle behind him and firmly latched my arms around him. He sped off into the night.

During the 30 minute ride into town, I sat silently, thinking. My cheek was pressed against Logan's back, and I couldn't help but marvel at how soft his leather jacket was. Of course, he had had it for nearly 20 years now. It was very worn in. But it had never torn. He sometimes called it his lucky jacket. Then we found out how he came to have it. After that, he came to call it his VERY lucky jacket of remorse. God, he could be so depressing.