Later that night, Logan sat on the couch in the living room, staring at the TV, but not really watching it. All the kids had gone to bed, including Sonya, though she had refused to sleep until Logan had told her a story. At a loss for what story to tell her, since he didn't know any fairy tales, he told her about when he first came to the mansion. Inevitably, the topic of Jean Gray had come up.

"You miss her a lot, too," Sonya had said during a lull in the story.

Logan nodded. "But I have memories of her, so when I start to miss her, I think of the good times we had."

Sonya's eyes filled with tears. "I wish I could remember my dad like that."

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"He left when I was small. Sometimes, I think I can see his face, but it's fuzzy. Like when you wake up from a dream. My mom said that he didn't wanna live with us anymore."

Her tears spilled over onto her cheeks, and Logan's heart gripped with sadness for her. He guessed that he really did have a soft spot for kids. Especially the ones who were forgotten.

Taking her hand in his, he looked into her watery eyes. "I can't say why he left, Sonya. But I'm sure that wherever he is, he still thinks about you."

Now, sitting on the couch, Logan thought about his conversation with the Professor – with his mental version of him, anyway. Subconsciously, he knew he was right; Raven just needed a chance. The only problem was, was Logan sure he wanted to be the one to give it to her?

Logan was suddenly aware of a familiar scent nearby. He looked over his shoulder, not at all surprised to see the person standing there. With a sigh of frustration, he closed his eyes.

"What now?" He asked.

Raven came over and sat down beside him. Her face was calm; underneath, however, he could see her emotions washing through her. She was dressed in a dark red top and slim, black jeans, and her brunette hair was pulled back into a braid. Sage green eye shadow made her doe-eyes seem even bigger, and her already-long lashes were lengthened by soft brown mascara. Her lips were only slightly shiny, suggesting that she'd slicked them with gloss rather than lipstick. Logan realized that he'd never seen her look quite so…feminine, so vulnerable.

"Earlier, when we…" she stopped, recalling their encounter in the front yard, "spoke, in the garden, I left before I could tell you why I came here."

Logan swallowed. He had a gut feeling that whatever she was about to say would cause trouble; not just for him, but for others, as well. Most of the time, he wasn't wrong.

"What's the news?"

Raven placed her hand over his. He considered pulling away, but for some reason he found it near impossible. Instead, he averted his gaze to the TV and waited for her to speak.

"The Brotherhood has their eye on a few of the kids here. Kids who have…certain abilities they wish to exploit for their purposes."

Logan couldn't say he was surprised. The Brotherhood was always trying to dig their claws into a good thing, and more often than not, they only succeeded in turning more humans against mutants. Logan shook his head.

"Such as?" He asked, but she simply shrugged.

"That, I don't know. My job was to come here, get a list of the kids and their abilities, and get out."

"So then why didn't you? You could've come in here when we were asleep last night, and got what you needed."

Raven turned away quickly so he couldn't see her expression. "Regardless of what you think of me, Logan, I don't agree with what the Brotherhood does. I only joined with them so I could find a way to destroy them."

"Yeah? How's that working for you?" Logan growled.

"Look, it takes a while for things to fall in motion. I've managed to do things on my own so far, but that won't always be the case, especially now." She glared at him, crossing her arms over her chest. Logan silently wondered if it was an involuntarily gesture. One to protect her heart.

Inwardly, he sighed. He would never figure women out. To Raven, he said, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way." He finally heard the last part of her sentence, and looked at her curiously. "What do you mean, 'especially now'?"

Raven smiled. "I wondered when you would catch that." She stood up and began walking toward the hallway.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"We should talk about this somewhere more…private. Just in case."

Logan wasn't so sure, but he figured his claws gave him an advantage over her. She was only a human, after all; a well-trained and very strong human, but a human just the same. He let her lead the way upstairs, to the third floor. When she got to his attic bedroom, she pushed the door open slowly and stepped inside. Logan stopped at the door, crossing his arms and leaning against the frame.

"Okay," he said finally, "so talk."

Raven glanced around the room. Her eyes took in the claw-marks on the walls, the single bulb recessed into the ceiling, and then came to rest on his scruffy face. She slowly sat down on his bed, sighing a little as she did.

"It has to do with Sonya's mother."

"Okay." It was his way of urging her to continue. Not to mention the fact that the mention of the girl made his throat tighten, so it was the only sound he could really make.

"Well, it seems that she was told that she would never be able to have children, but she desperately wanted one of her own. So, they went to a clinic, and had in-vitro fertilization. It took, and she ended up with Sonya."

"So what's that got to do with the Brotherhood?" He asked, and she held up her hand to stop him. A small smile played across her lips.

"The clinic was run by them. They didn't use her husband's genetic material. They used a mutant's."

"Whose?"

Raven shrugged. "So far, no one knows for sure. The one thing I do know is, they want Sonya, so they can figure that out. Not to mention that they wanna know what her mutant abilities are going to be."

Logan's voice was soft as he replied, "I already know."

Raven stared at him unbelieving. She stood up and paced in front of him. "How? How could you know that?"

Logan stopped her pacing by taking both arms in his big hands, and she looked right up into his eyes. His gaze was kind, as he replied, "Because she's already changing. She showed me out in the barn earlier today."

He felt her arms tremble as she took in the information, and unconsciously began rubbing them with his hands, trying to warm them – or at least comfort her in some tangible way.

"Then she's in even more danger," she finally said. "We have to get her out of here."

Logan shook his head. "I can't, Raven. I can't leave the mansion."

Raven placed her hands on his broad chest, imploringly. "Logan, think about this. If they get their hands on her…"

"I made a promise to protect all of them, Raven. How could I do that if I ran off with just Sonya?"

Raven was quiet. She bit her lower lip, deep in thought, and then suddenly brightened again.

"Then let me take her. I know a place we could hide out until your friends return."

"No way, Raven," he snapped.

There was no way he was letting Raven out of his sight with Sonya. Not 24 hours ago, she'd broken into the mansion to gather information. What if this was all just a trick? Give Sonya to Raven, and she delivers her to the Brotherhood with a big red bow. No fuckin' way!

Raven looked hurt, but she wouldn't let him know for sure. Instead, she lifted her jaw and proudly stared him in the eye. "Fine," she replied, "I can see you still don't trust me. Not even after all I've told you…"

"Come on…" he interrupted, but she continued anyway.

"…not even after the kiss we shared out there." She pointed out the window to the garden. "What do I have to do, Logan? Bloody my knees crawling to your feet? Let the Brotherhood kill me?"

When he didn't reply, she pushed away from him, her long braid whipping around her shoulder. Her arms clutched at her sides. Hugging herself again, he noticed, as if she would split in two. Raven spun around again, and shouted at him, "What do you want?!"

By now, Logan's senses were in overdrive. Her anger had stirred something inside him once again, and he felt alive, as if his entire body were made of electricity. What he wanted to know was, was she directly affecting him, or was it all within his own head?

Logan's pupils dilated, so much so that he could clearly see across the room, though the only light was the soft glow from the moon. His nose caught the scent of her skin every time she took a breath, and he felt himself growing slightly dizzy.

Raven noticed the change in Logan's demeanor, and she was puzzled by it. He was acting strangely, like…well, kind of like a wild animal, she thought. He had begun to circle behind her, his face dangerously close to her neck. You're just being silly, Raven thought to herself. He's a Wolverine, not a vampire. Still, she turned to face him.

"Logan, what are you doing?"

His voice was husky as he replied, "I never realized you were so…beautiful."

She was about to reply when he covered her mouth with his, letting his tongue run languidly over her lower lip. Raven sighed into his mouth, her control slowly slipping away with each second. She felt his hands run up her back, then down her arms, raising goose bumps on her skin. Raven moved slightly to pull her hair out of the braid, but his grip tightened on her arms, and he pulled her a little too roughly toward the bed.

"Ouch, Logan, stop it!"

He just smiled. "Come on, Raven. We both know you like it rough."

Suddenly afraid, she tugged hard out of his grasp and ran toward the door, but he was faster. He blocked the door, and she collided with his chest, letting out a screech of fear. He grabbed her by her right arm and leg, and effortlessly tossed her onto the bed.

Unable to stop himself, and not caring to, he climbed onto the bed and pinned her down, a terrifying grin on his handsome face.