Down to You: Parts 4-5

by Agora

Author's Note:  "Down to You" follows X2.  Spoilers are a given.

IV: Interlude

 Rogue sat next to him on the couch, picking up the remote control to where it had been dropped on an empty cushion. "You watchin' this, sugar?" she queried, not waiting for a response before changing channels.

"I guess I'm not anymore," Logan replied with a sour look on his face. "Although I was watching hockey."

"Okay," she acknowledged, continuing to flip channels. She paused on the E! Network.

"You gonna put it back, kid?" His lips moved into a perturbed purse, despite the fact that the offender was Marie. There's only so much disrespect to hockey that a man can stomach.

"Nah," she slowly answered, a small smile playing at the edge of her mouth. "How 'bout MTV?" she countered, changing the station again.

"How 'bout hockey?" he growled, reaching over for the remote. His arm had lazily traveled about half of the distance between them before he actually looked towards her, only to discover she was on the far side of the room in the chaise lounge.

"Nah, but I could go for 'Trading Spaces'," she countered, changing the channel yet again.

Logan could feel annoyance welling up inside of him. This wasn't really cute anymore. At all. Well, okay. It was a little bit. He moved across the room towards Marie, trying his best to look menacing without actually seeming scary. "Marie, darlin', I think you need to give me the remote."

"Nope," she replied, moving as far into the corner of the chair as possible.

"Marie, I am watching hockey. Give me the remote."

"Make me," giggled, sticking out her tongue.

"Last warning, Marie," he growled, extending a claw in her direction.

As though in reply, Marie took the remote and shoved it up under her shirt, resting against her abdomen.

"Come and get it, tall, dark, and hairy!" she laughed easily, easing her way up the far side of the chaise lounge, trying to seal an escape route over the top.

"Marie, your skin does not scare me. It never has. It never will."

"Lo-gan," she pouted, nervousness threading through her features as she rather ungracefully succeeded in pulling herself over the top of the chair, plopping to the ground.

"Marie, I think you're about to be tickled," he smiled wickedly, cornering her behind the chair and reaching into his back pocket for a set of gloves he kept around especially for her.

"Logan, no! You can have the remote!" she said, playfulness gone from her voice. She'd been on the receiving end of a losing tickle fight with Logan before, and he didn't stop until she was practically laughing so hard she couldn't breathe. "Please, sugar. I didn't mean it! I love hockey! Hockey rules!" she protested, attempting to placate the Wolverine.

"Sorry, kid. You had your chance..." He leaned over menacingly, reaching for her even as she cowered further into the corner.

"You lose something behind the couch, Logan?" came a young voice from the doorway.

Logan turned his head to tell him to butt out, but Rogue beat him to it. "Bobby, help!" she shrieked, tossing the remote over Wolverine's head to her new accomplice.

Logan shrugged and sat back on the couch. "Hey, Otterpop, put it back on the hockey game."

"Uh, sure," Bobby said, handing the remote back to the original owner before crossing the room to retrieve his girlfriend from the floor.

Bobby and Rogue walked from the room towards the front door. Logan turned the channel back just in time to see Toronto score a goal. As the door opened, he could hear Bobby whispering, "You know, you don't have to flirt with him all the time. You could give me a little of that attention."

Sorry ass, Logan thought to himself. As though Marie meant anything by that. That's just how she was - how they were.

"I'll show you some attention," she whispered back conspiratorially, charging away across the front lawn towards a break of trees.

Logan's eyes narrowed. The hockey continued.

V: Winds of Change

 The Professor had gathered the senior staff into his office. It was late on Friday afternoon, and the sun through the windows created long shadows across the room. Ororo was seated, as was Kurt. Logan stood behind them, looking across their shoulders and the large, imposing desk towards Xavier, and behind him, to where Summers was standing in the corner.

Ororo smelled nervous. And if that was the smell of nervousness, then the emotions rolling off of Scott in the corner were unquantifiably so. The blue elf seemed oblivious to it all. As per usual, he couldn't read much of anything off of Xavier. He seemed weary though.

Logan absorbed the scene and stood ready, feeling as though something were about to happen.

"My X-Men, I have called you here today to discuss the future operation of our school. As you well know, I have been quite occupied lately. I have not only been trying to monitor the activities of the Brotherhood, which has reformed now that Erik is free, but also to keep a vigilant eye on other strong mutant activity. The events of the past year - both the incident at the Statue of Liberty and the assassination attempt on the President - have begun to flush out new extremities in the mutant community, extremities whose intentions are not necessarily for the best of all humanity."

He paused, looking from one member of his audience to the next, as though gathering strength for what he was about to say.

"Moving forward, the official headmaster of the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters will be our own Ms. Ororo Monroe. In the past four months since we returned from Alkali Lake, she has displayed an uncanny and unique ability for leadership, both on the field and off. Storm will continue to lead the X-Men as well."

Xavier paused again, nodding to the white-haired weather goddess in silent congratulations. Storm let a small smile slip through her still-nervous mien, but didn't appear at all surprised. Of course, Logan figured, he would have discussed it with her ahead of time. But if Ororo was officially the leader of both the team and the school, then...

As though following his train of thought, which he very well could have been, Xavier continued. "This however, is not the only change. We also have some staff additions. Kurt has agreed to formally join the teaching staff, and will be taking over Ororo's previous commitments to the social studies education of our students. Dr. Henry McCoy, a prominent mutant researcher, will be joining as well to take over our medical lab as well as teaching literature and science classes. Ms. Elizabeth Braddock will be teaching the English language as well as mathematics. Both will be arriving over the course of the weekend and will begin classes on Monday morning.

In addition to teaching responsibilities, both Hank and Betsy have expressed an interest in training with the team as well, and I anticipate that they will be a wonderful addition to our family. Hank, or 'Beast', as he refers to himself, possesses superhuman strength and speed, extraordinary endurance, great agility, exceptional acrobatic prowess, and excessive manual and pedal dexterity. Betsy, or 'Psylocke', is a telepath who can sense thoughts and communicate with others over great distances, as well as create a physical manifestation of her telepathic ability, a rather unique ability. Due to a recent mishap, she currently occupies the body of a Japanese ninja, and thus has a fair amount of physical prowess as well."

Scott was looking out a window, a lost look on his face. No words were necessary... While no one could replace Jean Gray, she was, indeed, being replaced.

"Next, I am sad to say, we also have a family member who will be departing. We all know that Scott has, well... It would not be an easy position for any of us to be in. Scott has decided to take a leave of absence from the school and the team, and will be traveling back to Alaska, where his adopted family resides." Xavier turned his chair to look at his prot¡¦¡¦. "Of course, you always have a home here, Scott, but we do understand your need to build your life again away from a place that holds so many memories that you're not ready to deal with yet."

Scott looked over from the window, offering the group a grim, controlled smile. Logan felt bad for the man, but he understood. If it had been him, if Jeannie had been his mate, he would have left a long time ago. He met Scott's eyes, and a look of understanding passed between them. Logan smiled back at him, trying to seem reassuring, and Scott nodded in reply before returning to looking out the window.

"I myself," Xavier continued, "will be continuing my research efforts in order to not only keep a watchful eye on fringe elements which might disrupt our cause, but also to continue my search for hope." He finished this last part enigmatically, his own eyes meeting Scott's a final time before moving back to the group.

"Finally, effective immediately, the following junior members of the team will become members in full-standing: Rogue, Iceman, Shadowcat, Jubilee, Colossus, and Gambit. All have performed well so far, and will form a combat unit on their own. They will report to Storm, and their field leader will be Rogue. Due to her unique mutation, she has not only developed but by happenstance also acquired a good deal of strategy knowledge and combat skill. They will, of course, be used for less dangerous missions at first to develop team cohesion. Further down the road, Storm may switch members of both teams as she sees fit to maximize our effectiveness."

Xavier paused, meeting each of their eyes. "Thank you. That is all."

To be continued...