Healing

Chapter 12

Logan sighed. There was a lot of marking to get through. He didn't have loads of homework set for the kids while he was away, but he had several classes each with 2 pieces to do. Then there were also mini tests to see how much they had taken in. In the back of his mind, he felt sorry for Scott; the kid always set homework, as well as his tests. He also had more classes then Logan. Maths was a compulsory class, unlike his. Self-defence and Survival were encouraged, but not enforced.

Logan let out another sigh. He had been making all afternoon, having started as soon as he'd gotten his morning classes out the way. He still was less than thrilled about that. It was definitely unfair that he had to be up so early. He'd just reached the end of the younger self-defence class's work. It wasn't amazing, he'd actually been disappointed. It was hard to imagine now that only 15 months ago, he had never even heard of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. He felt so at home here that the thought of travelling around with no idea where he was off to was no longer tempting; at least, not in the long term. The idea of stealing Scott away for a few weeks where they didn't have to answer to anyone and could do as they please was more than a little bit appealing. It was a shame he'd never be able to convince Scott to ignore his work and leave for a while. It was just something he'd have to work on.

The kid was working a lot these days too. They had been back two weeks, and the only time Logan saw him was when the kid knocked on his door and slipped into his bed at night. Not that Logan was complaining about that. His nightmares had lessened, and he'd leave Scott a note in his room not to come if he had been troubled during the day. He couldn't risk hurting him.

Scott was getting better though. The miserable vibes he'd projected since Jean left them were not a bother anymore. Maybe the idea of her being alive in some form was a comfort; Logan didn't know. He didn't mind either, so long as Jean kept her distance from his Scott. Scott was getting over her though. He'd cleared up their old room; all her work tidied into a box, all her accessories into another box, books that only she read into another. Her clothes had taken up several large boxes, her shoes a few more. Her personal items, like photos she had kept and keepsakes she'd gathered had gone into another box, but Scott had pushed that one under his bed, not to go out with the others.

He said it was not right to forget about who Jean was. The life they'd had, and planned on having was gone, but it had existed. Logan hadn't argued. Jean had been an amazing women who had an ability to warm people through.

This Phoenix-Jean did not.

Victor was still keeping them updated. She was apparently strangely blank. She would stare at things with a child's curiosity one moment, and have lost all interest in it the next. As though looking at it had taken her mind many miles away from her body.

Thankfully (In some ways) she was still Jean. She had moments where she knew who she was, held a real love for her (now) ex-fiancé and tried to explain what was going on in the head of this other her. She'd seen 'Ro and Kurt at one point, when they had been talking to Victor.

She had gone looking for the man Logan now called his brother. She obviously trusted him as someone other than a member of the brotherhood. She'd cried, 'Ro said. She'd cried and apologised profusely to them. She'd then demanded that they keep away; that Phoenix was so angry at them, that she wanted to kill all those linked to Xavier – the man who locked her away. Excluding Scott, of course. She wanted to claim him as her own.

Jean had left 'Ro with a message for Logan; Hold onto him and don't let go. This had led to an awkward conversation between 'Ro and Logan about what she meant. Naturally, Kurt had stood behind 'Ro and smirked through the whole damn thing. He hadn't been sure how to explain to 'Ro exactly what was going on between the two of them. Eventually, he'd admitted to her that Scott was definitely more than just a friend, and he wasn't going to let anything happen to him.

He'd refused to expand. It was not really any of her business; at least... it wasn't yet. Especially not before he'd figured out what the business between Scott and himself actually was. He had a feeling Kurt knew, that fucking smirk certainly implied he did.

Logan refused to ask though. He had his pride. He wasn't some dumb kid who needed help working out his own feelings. Scott Summers was a very important man. He was handsome, and clever. He was funny, but also fairly annoying at times. Cyclops went beyond intelligent; he was fast, both mentally and physically. He always seemed to have back up plans and he made sure as few people as possible got hurt. Two very different personas, but Logan knew this place wouldn't function properly with either of them gone. He was beginning to suspect he wouldn't function properly with either of them gone too.

He knew he needed Scott. But he wasn't sure if it was love, or a strange mixture of lust and friendship.

A smile graced his lips, momentarily. He watched as some kids ran past his classroom. There were rules against running in the corridors, but he didn't know if he could stop the peels of carefree laughter that went with them.

He was glad they could laugh. They had taken in another number of children. About 7 of them Scott had spoken to personally. He'd gone to see their parents; most of whom had no idea their child was a mutant. There were another 5 who they'd gotten off the streets. Then, another 4 who had found their own way here. The fresh input of students who didn't have fear of attack in their minds, or concern for what their teachers and role models were up to, was exactly what they needed. It had relaxed the students who were still here, and gave another boost to the rising morale of everyone.

Things were pretty much back to the way things had been when he'd first arrived.

Logan shoved his books into a drawer. He'd had enough of marking. Time to go kill time in the danger room. Hopefully, it was free.

He set up a fairly simple program, and pounded the shape out of everything that came at him. It was hard to think how he'd gotten by without simulations to beat up. Oh, wait. He'd beat the shit out of real people. Shame, some people needed the shit removing from them, and he'd been happy to help. Not really good teacher behaviour though. Another thing to do when he escaped for a break with Scott.

He was beginning to think he should make a list of all the things he wanted to do with Scott if they ever got enough free time to get away. Though, his mind was strictly not going down that avenue. The kid didn't like being in any serious state of undress around him. Definitely something he'd need to work on, his body was very good for looking at, and probably even better for touching. Maybe it was too soon for Scott though. Logan had decided he wasn't going to screw around with anyone else. Not because of teacherly behaviour this time, but because he was sort of with Scott.

In his mind, he could vividly picture a time when he knew exactly whether or not he was with someone. Not necessarily a simpler time, just a very different one. As a man, he'd been able to demand of a woman exactly what he meant to her. But times had changed, and Scott was no woman. The kid may be younger, but he was still a man. Testosterone moved through the kid's body, and he could hit very hard. Some questions were clearly not appropriate to ask anymore. He winced slightly, remembering how annoyed Scott had been for demanding an answer to that question. Luckily, the kid had found him the next day, with his emotions in check, to apologise.

"Logan?"

He spun, and grinned. Stood by the door was Rogue.

"Hey there, darling. How's it going?" she smirked as she asked.

"Hey. Not so bad."

"Barely seen you recently."

"I know, kid. I'm sorry. Had loads of work to get through."

"Obviously." She smirked again, and raised her brow. Logan couldn't stop the slight chuckle that left

his throat. She was looking at the ruined bodies of everything he'd felt a need to destroy.

"Just had to think some stuff through."

"Right."

"How're you, then?"

"Oh, not so bad, you know? All the teachers keep making us work hard. It's weird having history without Professor Munroe, but I'm glad to have Professor Summers back. Maths was actually really dull without him. He's a little too weird for that lesson to be boring."

She smiled softly at him, and he smiled back, before pulling out a cigar. Was it too early to go to find Scott? Probably. He decided he'd hang around for a bit with Marie. It really was a while since they'd last spoken, before he and Cyke had been sent off to 'gather information' and she always had some interesting stories to tell.

Scott hadn't come to dinner. Logan had sat at the teacher's table, but kept his eyes peeled. Some teachers liked to go sit amongst the students, and occasionally Scott did too. But the kid didn't turn up. Xavier came in towards the end of dinner, so Logan asked if he knew where Scott was. Wheels had smiled at him, in that infuriating way that implied he knew exactly what he was thinking, without even trying. He'd then informed him that Scott was in his office trying to get through some more paper work. He'd told Logan to go get their field leader some dinner, and said he should probably stay there to make sure he ate it.

A perfectly innocent suggestion, but Logan had a feeling Wheels knew exactly how he felt about Scott (Possibly even more so than he did himself). The man may claim to be a serious intellect, but when his children were concerned, the man definitely had a mischievous streak.

Logan had gone to the kitchen and gotten some food for Scott, he wasn't too sure how much he would need so gathered up plenty. He always had spare space in his own stomach for whatever the kid couldn't manage. He had remembered the kid didn't eat large amounts though, just small portions.

Scott was in his office, looking very tired. His hair was sticking in all directions, probably from fingers being run through it many times. It was rather adorable, and it made Logan grin.

"Hey."

"Oh, Logan. Hey. Food? Ah, right. I missed dinner, didn't I?"

"For someone who can tell the time without looking at a clock, your ability to remember about eating often sure is shit."

The kid grinned and moved the papers he was making. Logan just stared as Scott ate. He hoped the kid wouldn't find it too weird, but sometimes Logan struggled to tell reality from make-believe. The chance to spend time with him (Hopefully for the rest of the night, from the way the papers had been shoved) hadn't come often enough recently. He really enjoyed sitting and watched crap on the TV, because Scott always got into it and he loved watching the kid's reactions to things.

They hadn't had time to fall into their old routine of regularly going to the pub. It was a shame, but still a fact. They didn't even curl up and watch TV until Scott fell asleep like they had been doing, because Scott usually worked until he came to Logan's room for sleep. He was looking forward to things moving at a sane pace again. He hadn't realised going away for a time caused so much stuff to pile up.

Scott pushed his plate away slightly and stretched.

"Thanks. Want to go kick the kids away from the TV?"

"Sure."

Logan was content. It was 11:30pm, and the TV was playing some documentary about different caves, and the life that existed in them. Actually fairly interesting, but not Logan's reason for content. Most of the kid's were in bed, and Scott was curled up against him. Logan was slouched back in the sofa, a beer in one hand, the other rested on Scott's back. The kid's head rested on his chest, and he had a feeling Scott was starting to doze off. He was relaxed, and he was comfortable. He was also perfectly content to ignore the fact they both had classes first thing in the morning, and should probably get some sleep in an actual bed, or Scott back would suffer later on.

Logan smiled, and downed the rest of his beer.