A little extra chapeter about what happened between Mystique, Wolverine and Jean Grey (why the hell doesn't she have any nickname?! Phoenix doesn't count since it's some sort of second personality!), just because I wanted to write it.

If you just want to get on with the main-story you can skip this, it has nothing to do with it!

Jean Grey was furious.

And anyone around could tell it wasn't a good thing, neither for those who got in her path or the one who caused it. But the one who caused it had just walked out through the door.

She felt a temptation to simply use her powers and force him to come back, but something stopped her. Instead she turned on her heel and marched out.

Whispers immediately began to erupt from the room she'd left, but she was too much into her own boiling mind to care. How dared he?! It was all because of her, that little bitch! Never, not even in her wildest dreams, could she even get the idea that this would happen!

Back at after their first mission with him he'd said his heart belonged to someone else, and now he said he hadn't meant her! That it had been that other little slut all the time! How could he ever believe that she took all their flirting for a joke like he did?! And he said Scott knew, oh shit…

She marched down into the garage and took one of the cars there. She then took of for a long ride. She knew that the Professor could sense her anger and let her be, and he also knew that she'd be back sooner or later; she could never really leave the mansion…

Logan leaned against a wall when he was out of sight for anyone. That was close! He'd never seen Jean so angry in his whole time here, what the hell was that all about? He just told the truth, she said that it was what she wanted to hear! He could never imagined that she was so sure about what the truth was that she'd be upset when she found out it wasn't. She was a telepath, for Gods sake! She should have known what he meant with all that!

Now he heard that someone was coming, and judging by how close they were without him noticing it had to be her…

Oh, yes, it was. Walking up to him in a way that both was teasing and, unknowingly, gave away how well trained her body was, Raven walked up to the man with a concerned look. She stopped in front of him with her arms crossed, not saying a word. She knew well enough how to get men to talk.

Logan sighed and got of the wallpaper. This was just what he needed; a person that almost was like him. It was surprising even to those two how well they got along, but they did. But Logan was right in that they were alike; both of them had put their past behind them. Mystique maybe hadn't forgotten, but she acted as if she had. Logan had forgotten, and after Alkali Lake he'd decided he didn't want to know about it.

Now they both could joke about the first time they'd seen each other, how they had beaten each other up, and how equal they were. The fact that they were had in no time at all bloomed up in a friendship; starting with "training" (where both of them really just wanted to beat the other up), going over to jokes with less violence and more fun, to end up here, where they were talking and spending more time with each other than some (Jean Grey for example) could tolerate.

Logan just shrugged at her and Mystique accepted, he'd talk when he'd found the words.

They started to walk down the hall that they both could tell would be empty from students, Logan still deep down in his thoughts;

How the big fight with Jean had started he really couldn't remember, but it had something to do with something he'd said that he now couldn't remember. She'd said it was when he woke up after their first little confrontation when Magneto got some stupid idea of turning the world's leader into mutants, when he'd given all his healing powers to Rogue. He had a vague memory of thinking back at a blue figure that actually could beat him, and he wasn't stupid, he knew who it was. And since he still was dizzy from the unconsciousness, he might just have cracked something like that…

Logan didn't want to admit it, but he already then had developed a strong attraction to the woman. How her agility, strength and fearlessness had hit a spot in him he didn't even knew he had. But only in his most confused state he'd admit it.

Now they could get along as friends, but only one of them could admit that they liked the other more than so, and as it was now, Mystique wouldn't push him. She had enough on her mind.

Sure, she knew Eric hated humans, but she wasn't one! She wasn't! Still, he had walked out on her like that, leaving her in a truck with no chance at all to get back to her own kind. Now she finally could see how stupid and blind she'd been, lying to herself every day. As soon as you weren't of use for him, he'd throw you away, like a child with a toy. Sure, she wanted mutants to get their part of the world, but now she fully could see how wrong their way to that had been. Unlike most people, Mystique now could see, not only how two, but three sides in a war saw things. She could feel the humans fear, how confused they were, and how their nature told them to get rid of whatever it was that put them in danger, since they couldn't flee from it. She saw how the Brotherhood forced their way through, leaving a trail of death behind (dead people won't stab you back when you walk away), how they had lost all hope of a world where they would be allowed to live at all. So they tried to create a world where they could live for them selves. But now she finally also could see how the x-men and Xavier were thinking; that people from different cultures had learned to live together before and hopefully could do again, if they just could give each other a chance (the very chance they wanted from the others).

They continued to walk straight forward until they reached the balcony that gave them a beautiful view of the back yard. Walking up to one of the rails overgrown with ivy and now as well covered in snow they both leaned against it, not looking at the other.

While Mystique spend her time twisting and turning the point-of-views of all the parts in this fight for survival, Logan once again tried to reach into his own head and break down the walls in there. Some of them were too strong and he didn't even care to try his strength on them. Now he was looking for the one hiding another truth from him, one he hadn't cared much about before; his feelings. He knew he had them, but now he wanted to know why, it started to irritate him. Why was it that he now had the need to protect someone that wasn't even in danger, a need to pull her close just to be able to smell her or to feel her in his arms? Oh no, Logan wasn't stupid, but he was a master of denial. He wanted to find any sort of other reason to this that the one that was obvious even to him.

After finding up stupid excuses and crushing them himself for about half an hour he realised that the very person causing all this had began to shake beside him. The cold was worse to Mystique than to Logan since his mutation didn't allow him to get damaged by it, so it prevented the cold from hurting his body by heating it up, which then caused him not to feel the cold as bad as the woman. But Mystique was stubborn enough not to go back inside, she wanted all the time she could get with the man she loved, even if it mean freezing her ass of.

Logan shock his head at her, she sometimes was just like the students (or the Professor)! He gave her a look that made her turn her head and glare back;

"What?"

"If you're gonna get sick I won't be the one to look after you."

"I'd never dream of asking you to."

Smiling, they both got back inside. Without much of a conversation they decided to get something to drink and take one of the TV's.

Said and done; Logan got one of the beers out of his secret stash (that the Professor only let him keep as long as no students found out about it; he was sure of that if Logan started to smuggle alcohol into the mansion the younger ones soon would learn the tricks). Mystique on the other hand found some tea-bags and made herself something warm.

While waiting for the water to boil, Mystique decided she'd waited long enough;

"So, what was goody-missy-red so mad about before?"

"Huh?"

Logan had been busy with counting his bottles so that he could keep a check on the numbers (may God have mercy on the ones who dares to steal beer from the Wolverine!) and hadn't really been aware of that someone was talking to him before she was halfway through the sentence, and then it didn't make any sense at all to him.

"You could hear how she was shrieking quite far away, and I almost got hit by a flying math. What were you two up to?"

"No idea."

"What?"

"She was the one starting, go ranting about something I said quite some time ago, and I don't even remember saying it. When I told her outright I didn't want to cheat on Summers with her she went ballistic…"

Mystique laughed;

"Well, if you said that out right, it's no wonder she was tipsy! You should be glad you still can walk!"

"Hmphf."

"Yeah, well, she could have twisted the metal on your bones, in that way it would be permanent broken you know. No even your healing power could bend adamantium."

Now Logan was a bit freaked, he'd never thought of that possibility before…

"Hey, how come Magneto never did that?!"

Mystique shrugged;

"Because he saw that you could be useful some other ways, ad he never really put much time in considering you important enough to bother putting out."

"…thanks…"

Smiling, the once blue mutant now poured herself some hot water, cupping her hands around the teacup to warm up her fingers.

"And why would Red ever get to her mind that you waned to cheat with her?

"No idea."

"Really, you that dumb?"

Logan glared at her as they walked out of the kitchen to find a quiet room somewhere.

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"That she's been drooling after you for ages."

The blunt answer surprised Logan a bit, but then he shrugged;

"Well, now she knows what I think at least…"

Mystique sniggered;

"Yeah, and the way she sounded it wasn't good for her."

Logan smiled and shook his head.

Since it had gotten pretty late most of the kids had went of to bed, so it wasn't too hard to find a room where they only had the other to fight with about the remote. After almost spilling beer on the sofa and tea on the remote itself they settled on an old movie they both had a vague memory of.

Soon the cold and tea took out its right on Mystique and she fell asleep, wrapped up in a blanket some kid had left behind. Being inside helped her a bit, but it was mostly thanks to the heat she got from the other person in the quite small sofa that she kept her heat.

And as everyone probably already know; if one starts yawn the other soon start as well. Logan found his eyes getting heavy and got himself in a comfortable position in an attempt to wake up, but soon enough he was breathing heavily.

Mystique was almost brought up from her slumber when a strong arm wrapped itself around her waist, pulling her closer to a warm body next to her. She woke up enough to realise what had happened, but not enough to care that much. She just snuggled into the sleeping mutant, being as happy as she could by the moment, and going back to her dreams.

It would take quite some time for Logan to realise, but this was the first night for a very long time that not even the hint of a nightmare disturbed his sleep.

On one of them noticed that while a smile creped up on the woman's face her hair slowly turned brighter, from black to brown and then moving on until it an hour later wore a bright shade of red…

So sweet that you almost get holes in you teeths XP... oh well...

As I said, nothing of the main-story here, just something I felt for writing.