XCave.NET

Summary: Another trip to the school is in order….and the past just doesn’t stay buried.

For Logan and Ororo, the next week began pretty much the same way as the last one had, except for one thing….the feeling, the memory of the time they had shared together with each other. Even though, it would be two days before they would see each other again, the thoughts of the other were strong and in the forefront of their minds.

Their next meeting happened with Logan coming to pick Amiko after her tuition class. Dressed in his work clothes, with grease stains all over his grey overalls, he looked very much out of place among the plush, well kempt surroundings of Xavier’s.

----

Ororo was middle of a sentence when a knock at the door drew her attention.

“Yes Mr. Peters?” She looked up at the aging security guard. Samuel Peters was currently, the oldest and longest worked employees of Xavier’s, that is, except for Professor Charles Xavier himself. Starting when the school was just limited to sixth grade, he had seen it grow and prosper right before his eyes. Now in the twilight of his career, he was incredibly thankful to his good luck that he gave up on the then higher paying mall security guard job in favor of the lesser paying school one. With both of his sons settled and his youngest, the star if his eyes, his daughter in university herself, he was looking forward to his retirement with both anticipation and dejection. While on one hand he was happy than he would get to spend more time with his family, especially his newborn twin grandchildren, he was sad that he would have to give up on a large part of his life….his work at the school. His wizened eyes had seen thousands of students walk along these corridors, and even if he might not remember all their faces, let alone their names, a part of him did feel proud and content at the small contribution he had made towards their future.

“That man is back again,” Sam nodded towards the front of the school.
“The same man?” It took Ororo a second to catch up on what Sam was implying. However, as soon as she got it, her confusion vanished, giving way to an expectant smile. “Oh. Please show him in.”
“You sure Miss?” The older man asked in confirmation. He had seen the stranger and truth be told, he would rather call the police than allow him in the school building…and that too near a solitary teacher and student.

“Yes Mr. Peters,” Ororo nodded once again. “He is here to pick up his daughter,” she gestured towards the studying Amiko. “Please show him in.” Although, according to the time, Logan was nearly half an hour before the stipulated time, she did not mention it to the guard…nor did she mind it herself.

----

Minutes later, a silent figure slinked in through the back door if the classroom, with only a smile passing as a greeting between the two adults.

Logan knew that he was early….and he had done that deliberately. Even though he was not ready to admit to even himself, forget the others, he wanted to meet the intriguing Ms. Monroe again, and maybe get to know her a little better. She was the first woman after Mariko towards whom he had felt this way. The reason why he had waited this long to make this move was not because of any feeling of social courtesy or waiting period he felt. It was more to do with his feeling that by doing this, he was somehow betraying Mariko’s memory….his love for her.

He knew that Mariko wanted him to be happy and would not mind him…would want him to be with someone who gave him that happiness…that love. He knew that because, during the last days, with her life force rapidly slipping away, Mariko, the first woman he had ever been in love with, made him promise her that if he met someone that he liked, he would not give up on that, just because he felt that it would be dishonorable to her.

Even though he had been reluctant with his promise, Logan never thought that a time would come when he would actually have to think about it. Content with his work and his children, he felt no need for any company outside his small circle of misfits…until now.

He did know what or where his efforts would lead him with Ororo…he just knew that he wanted them to lead them to something positive….hence his visit.

----

Sometime later,

“Hey Dad.” Amiko turned around to put her books back into her bag and caught sight of her father sitting a few rows behind her.

“Done?” Logan rhetorical question was both for Amiko as well as for her English teacher.

“Yup,” while Amiko answered with a toothy grin, Ororo merely nod of confirmation, accompanied by a slight curving of her lips…their eyes catching and holding each other. Dressed in a sky blue shirt, cream-colored pants and matching coat, her tied into a bun, Ororo looked less like a schoolteacher and more like a business executive.

“Ready to go,” Amiko’s disclaimer broke through their silent conversation, causing them to break their gaze.

“’k,” Logan grunted, scratched the back of his head for a couple of seconds, looking for an excuse delay their leaving….and came up with a really dumb one. Fishing out the keys to his jeep, he held it out to his daughter. “You go ahead. I gotta something I….just go.” He stopped himself before he gave an explanation that would warrant at least a dozen others.

Wanting to get out as soon as she could, Amiko grabbed the keys, left her bag for Logan and sprinted out through the door and down the corridor.

As they heard the echo of Amiko’s retreating feet, the couple turned to each other.

Just as he was about to say what he had been repeating over in his mind for the last half an hour, Logan stopped short at a new entrant into the room, with the word ‘asshole,’ cropping up in his thoughts, his smile turning over on its axis.

---

“Hey Ororo, do….” Scott Summers halted at the sight of the other man already in the room with his colleague and friend. Already having developed an image about Mr. Howlett, Logan’s dirt an grease spattered garb only served to embellish that image…the one about him being a redneck biker, who might even be abusing his own children.

“What are you doing here?” Ororo winced at the accusation in her friend’s voice. Even before she caught sight of or heard Scott, she had noticed the sudden change in Logan’s body language, and although initially surprised by it, the reason by the sudden change was clear to her now.

“Scott, Lo…Mr. Howlett…” she limited herself to using Logan’s formal name. “….is here to pick up his daughter. We were just about to leave. You wanted something?” She asked, hoping that Scott would take the hint and leave them alone.

Alas, that wasn’t what was on Scott’s mind right now. Even though, his ears caught what Ororo said, his mind did not comprehend it. All his attention was focused on the man standing a few feet away from him…his fists balled up as if he were about to attack him, or worse….Ororo.

“Huh,” some of the words did manage to trickle in into his consciousness. “You said something?”

“Mr. Howlett is just here to pick up his daughter,” Ororo repeated again. “And discuss about her progress.” She lied, not knowing why she did that. Maybe it was just to diffuse the situation, or maybe she just wanted Scott to leave.

“Is that so?” Scott turned to Logan, suspicious-disbelief clear in his eyes.

Instead of contradicting Ororo, Logan ran with it, barely containing himself from lashing out and beating that smug condescending tone out of the four-eyed dickhead. “You got a problem with that?”

“No…” Scott reeled back from the verbal punch. “No, of course I do not have a problem with that. I am just surprised…”

“Thank you Mr. Summers,” Ororo cut in before Scott had a chance to complete his sentence. “I’ll see you later.” That was a barely concealing spelling out for Scott to get his butt out of the room.

His eyes never leaving Logan, Scott just nodded in an answer and slowly turned towards the door.

“I’ll be in my office,” and he was gone.

----

“Sorry about that?’ Ororo apologized for Scott’s intrusion. Just thirty seconds with the two would make it clear that Logan and Scott weren’t big fans of each other...and she, she already knew the reason behind it, putting her in an even more troubling situation.

“‘s ok,” Logan nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders. “You wanna…” he gestured towards the door. “I mean, you busy with….”
“Oh, no,” Ororo denied it with a raise of a hand. Whatever Scott wanted could wait. ‘Probably just wants to know when I am leaving.’ “Don’t worry about it.”
“You sure?” Logan didn’t seem convinced. ‘Just don’t have anything going on with dickhead,’ he pleaded silently. “You two…”

Catching onto his implication, Ororo burst into a laugh at his unspoken words.

“Scott is not my boyfriend. He’s just a colleague.”
“Uh-huh,” still some of the doubt remained.
“Yes.”

Stepping towards her desk, she carried on. “He’s most probably on the phone with his fiancée right now. You remember Jean, right?”
“Fiancée?” Logan squeaked.
“Yes,” Ororo nodded her head. “Remember Doctor Grey. She and Scott, they are engaged to be married. The three of us were supposed to go over some details of the marriage ceremony. Probably came to ask me about that.”

“The redhead friend of yers,” deep hazel eyes lit up in realization.
“Yes, that one. She is his fiancée.”
“’k. You must want to go now.” Logan apologized, his curses once again returning to Scott. Fucker couldn’t have given them ten minutes more.
“Yes,” Ororo nodded. “But I can wait until Jean comes in from the hospital.”
“Oh…hmmm.”

---

“Logan….” Ororo broke into the companionable silence between them as they walked down the corridor towards the front door of the school.
“Hmm,” Logan tilted his head towards her. Well, if nothing else, the least he got out from his impromptu appearance was fifteen minutes of her time. Hopefully, that would…

“I just wanted to let you know that’ll be free this Saturday evening.”

…pan out into something better.

“Huh,” it took for a second for the words to hit home. “Really,” he blurted out before he could stop himself. “I mean you sure? What about yer trip out of the city.”
“That,” Ororo answered as a smile started to curve the corners of her lips. “Its going to be on Sunday.”

At the silence, she asked again.

“So?”
“So?”
“Is the invitation still on,” her voice held a hesitant hope.
“It is if you wanna,” Logan voiced his own doubts. “I mean we ain’t like yer….” He jerked his head towards the direction of Scott’s office.
“Yes, I am sure.” Ororo passed on the second comment. “So, am I still invited?”
“You gotta ask?” The familiar lop sided grin was back.
“Yes….No…Good.”

----

“What time do you want me to reach the diner?” That question got a ‘hmph’ in response.
“I’ll pick ya up,” Logan’s firm answer did not leave any room for argument. “I have to come fer Amiko’s weekly report. We do it like time. Unless you wanna…”
“I…” Ororo hesitated again. “I wouldn’t want to impose on you…
“No hassle,” Logan fielded that question mid-sentence. “Its on the way,” his lie was clear to both. They both knew that for coming to her house, then going back to his and then to the diner…not to mention the return trip, would work out, if not more, at least double of what his usual drive would be.

“Okay” Ororo finally gave in. “What time?”
“Six thirty?’
“Make it six,” she amended it. “We wouldn’t want to be late again.”
“Sure,” both of them recalled Jubilee and Marie’s outbursts from the last time. “Six PM it is.”

Any further conversation ended as Jean’s Accord pulled into the school parking lot.

“Jean is here,” Ororo started towards the school front desk to contact Scott on the intercom….mostly as a formality, as she was sure that Jean would have already called, or was even now talking to Scott.
“Uh,” slightly disappointed and equally annoyed at the redhead’s and before that her pansy-fiancé’s intrusion, Logan nevertheless decided to take his leave. “See you on Saturday then?”
“On Saturday….Six PM.” Even though she hadn’t pressed the access number to Scott’s office, Ororo instinctively covered the mouth piece of the phone. “Good bye Logan.”

“Bye,” a two-finger salute and he was gone.

-----

Unnoticed by them, ever since they had stepped out of the school doors, Scott Summers had been observing them like a hawk. There was something about Mr. Howlett that unnerved him. Maybe it was the way he looked, dressed and talked. Maybe it was the way he carried himself, as he owned the place he entered. Maybe it was the fact that he had not one but two girls under his care, one of them a teenager, the other one just on the cusp of it.

‘And what is the deal with the name Logan?’ he frowned at the thought. He remembered reading Amiko and Jubilee’s student files. There is was no mention of *Logan* in their father’s name, first or middle.

What set off his alarms even further, was the way Logan had been talking to the regal Ororo.

‘Familiar,’ he mused. ‘Too familiar.’ And Ororo, usually one to stay controlled and to-the-point with strangers, especially the parents of the students, was talking to him as if they were friends and not just passing acquaintances.

The start of a Jeep interrupted his line of thought as Logan pulled away from the school.

‘Is there….’ He squashed the thought even before it began. ‘Not Ororo. No way. Don’t even think about it.’

‘But still…what if?’

----

Elsewhere,

“Are you sure it’s him?”
“Yeah, I am sure. I checked the records. He lived in Calgary, at the Our Saints House for Children orphanage for almost seven years. Before that he was in a couple of other places, but there are no records of that.

“That means he is still alive?”
“Yes Ma’am.”

“Good….find him.”
“Ma’am?”

“I said find him….as soon as possible. We just cannot leave him out there.”
“Yes ma’am.”

“God, nearly three decades. What are the odds on that?”