Title: A Fresh Start

Author: Lia

juliannahawk@hotmail.com

Series: SECOND in the "unamed" series

Pairing: Storm/Logan *hinting*

Summery: Logan and the little guy find a home.

Disclaimer: I only own the lil girl.

Feedback: If one person says they don't like it, I assume everyone who says nothing doesn't like it.


A Fresh Start
by Lia

Logan steered the jeep on the ice-paved roads. There was bitterly cold wind blowing, and he was glad that she was sleeping close to the heater. He checked to make sure she was okay. He knew she could grow fur if she need to, to stay warm, but he wrapped her in a blanket just in case. He stroked her face briefly before returning on the road. It was slow going. Thick snowbanks lined the roadways, and ice made it tough to stay steady on the nearly abandoned road. He concentrated on the tune fading in and out on the radio. It was turning dark, and Logan was hoping to find a place to spend the night. He was tired of having the poor kid sleep all curled up in the front seat of the jeep.

A sudden impact had the jeep spinning into a nearby tree. Logan was thrown through the windshield and across the frozen field. He staggered to his feet, his head reeling. The front of the jeep was smoking, and he could just make out her small form struggling with the seatbelt, which was frozen closed again. He started towards her, and stopped to inhale deeply. His claws shot out and he turned towards the woods. A tall muscular figure launched himself at Logan. The two hit the ground and rolled for a bit, each trying to gain the upper hand in the fight. It was Victor “Sabertooth” Creed. The blizzard around them increased, and Logan was dimly aware of her mental cries for help.

A figure encased in black leather with a blowing cape approached the smoking jeep, any second it looked like it would ignite. The little girl panicked and growled at her, her small claws tearing at the straps of the seatbelt. The woman was tall with mocha skin like the small girl’s; her hair was milky white like the falling snow. She reached in and unsnapped the belt and pulled the small girl free. “Sh, child. Easy, I’m Ororo, I’m not going to hurt you.” The girl calmed down at the gentle tone but whimpered and tried to break free to run towards Logan.

Storm turned and found the two men still fighting. Suddenly the one with metal claws hit the jeep and slid down it. His claws retracted into his body. Clutching the fragile girl closer she commanded the winds to blow the other far away. Storm led the girl to where the mini X-jet was waiting for her. She placed her inside and told her to stay still. Going back she used the winds to carry Logan inside and laid him down in the other seat. The small girl climbed into his lap and rubbed her cheek on his. {Pa,} she said mournfully, trying to shake him awake. Storm closed the top of the mini X-jet and flew back towards the school.

Logan slowly opened his eyes. He was lying on a metal table. He reached out and found the girl lying next to and on top of him. “Darlin’,” he rubbed a hand over her head. She sighed contentedly in her sleep and snuggled closer to him. He smelt someone else, a woman, in the room with them. A hand reached towards the girl. His protectiveness of her overthrew his tiredness and he grabbed her roughly. “Don’t touch her!”

“It’s okay. I’m not going to hurt her.” Jean whimpered softly as he tightened his grip. “I just was going to check and see how you are.” Logan let go and watched her carefully as she inspected the wires attached to his body.

“She hasn’t left your side since Storm brought you in.”

“Storm?” Logan arched one shaggy eyebrow.

“The woman who saved you and your daughter’s life.”

“She’s not-” Logan stopped and looked down at her. She was his daughter.

“Storm’s quite taken with her I think. Has done everything she can think of to get her to come away, hasn’t worked. She was down here earlier playing with her.” Jean gently began removing the taped down electrical sensory pads. “I don’t mean to pry, but is there a reason she doesn’t speak? Or is she just shy.”

"Actually, I’m not sure." Logan admitted. "I found her out in the woods a few days ago. She'd been living with a pack of wolves. I took her in, so she's not technically my daughter."

"She seems to think she is." Logan looked over and Jean saw his expression soften as he gazed at the sleeping girl.

"She is now." He said softly.

“Does she have a name? And you can get up now. There are some clothes on the chair for you. I think they should fit.” Logan shifted the sleeping girl over so she was lying next to him.

“No name yet, every one I suggest she doesn’t like. How did Storm find us?”

Logan pulled on a sweatshirt, and felt a small hand on his shoulder. It was the girl. She was tugging at the hood and had her head tilted to the side.

“Hood.” He said softly.

“What was that?” The girl seemed to jump at Jean’s voice and hid behind Logan.

“When she tilts her head to the side like that it means she doesn’t understand something, or she wants to know what something is.”

{Hood.} The girl looked over at Jean, and tilted her head to the side as she reached towards Jean.

Jean. Jean said telepathically.

*

“Well the professor wishes to see the both of you. So if you could come with me.” Jean led them down a long corridor towards an elevator at the end of it.

“Who?”

“Professor Charles Xavier. He owns this place. Everyone here, including him, are mutants like you two.”

“Mutants?” Logan said skeptically.

“Yes, humans with an advanced DNA are called mutants. For example, from what I heard from Storm, you have enhanced senses, and you have an amazingly fast regenerative system. I am a telepath, and I posses telekinesis. I can move things with my mind and read peoples minds.” Jean looked down at the small girl who was starting to lag behind staring at her reflection in the metal of the hallways. Logan scooped her up and she played with the strings on the front of the hooded sweatshirt. “Has she ever been in an elevator before? Storm said she was rather scared in the mini X-jet, but that could have been because you were unconscious at the time.” Logan held on tighter to the small girl.

“No, she’s never been in one before. She was terrified of the Jeep the first time she heard the engine. She doesn’t like loud noises.”

“Well thankfully the elevator is silent than.” Jean pushed a button and it slid open. They stepped in and Jean hit another button. It started to rise; the girl let out a small squeak. Jean smiled at her, and the little girl smiled back.

*

“Here we are, I warn you. This is a boarding school for mutants. You’re going to see lots of teen-agers running around with quite an extensive array of powers.”

“Trying to scare him Ms. Grey?” A boy with sandy-brown hair and blue eyes asked. He was leaning against one of the columns in the hallway. “I’m the all-mighty powerful Iceman. You are honored to be in my presence.”

“This clown is Bobby Drake. He controls ice.” Jean gave him a ‘look’, “and aren’t you supposed to be in class now?”

“Ms. Grey, do you think I would skip a class, especially one given by such a wonderful teacher as Mr. Summers?” He asked in mock hurt.
“What did you do this time?” Bobby pouted.

"How come everyone always assumes things are my fault?"

“Because Bobby, they usually are. Who was it who put Kool-Aid coloring in Scott’s shampoo and he had blue hair for a week?” Jean asked with a raised eyebrow.

*

The little girl started to wiggle, and Logan set her down. She ran over to Bobby and sat beside him, she had her head tilted to the side as she stroked his pant leg, using her tail she climbed up onto his shoulder. Bobby smirked and brushed her hair out of her eyes.

“Why hello there cutie. Aren’t you a pretty little girl.” She rubbed against his hand and put her hand over his heart and tilted her head to the side.

“She wants at know yur name,” Logan supplied, watching the boy carefully with his little girl.

“Bobby, Bobby Drake.”

{Bobby.} She repeated, and giggled softly. Bobby was building an ice rose and held it out to her. She tilted her head to the side and looked at it.

“Ice.”

{Ice.}

*

“Bobby, I have to take them to go see Professor Xavier now. So could you kindly hand Logan back his daughter.” Bobby disentangled her hands from his head and handed her to Logan.

“She’s real sweet, hope I can play with her again sometime. Bye now, see you in third period Ms. Grey.” Jean shook her head as the girl whimpered softly.

*

“I’m beginning to think your daughter’s powers are to control people and have them melt whenever they see her.”

“She controls animals.” Logan supplied, cradling her against his chest. “In the woods she would call rabbits to her so I could kill them and we could eat. I think that’s why she lived with the wolves, she called to them.” The girl shook her head in what she had learned meant no. {Pack, pack.} Jean looked confused and Logan explained.

“The wolves were her pack. She’s trying to say that she didn’t call the wolves, they took her in on their own.” She nodded her head up and down vigorously.

“Here we are.” Jean pushed opened the door and held it for Logan to walk through. “Professor, I have to go teach a class now,” She smiled at Logan and the little girl. “I’ll see you two later, bye sweetie.” She gave an extra smile to the little girl who smiled back.

*

“It’s nice to see you have both recovered, please, take a seat.” Professor Xavier motioned to the chairs in front of his desk. “So this is the young lady with whom Storm is so taken with. I can see why, she is a sweetheart.”

The girl struggled free and Logan placed her on the floor. She held onto the desk and walked around it, looking curiously at everything as she passed by it. “Desk,” Logan rapped the desk, than rapped the chair. “Chair.”

{Desk,} she held onto it, and touched Logan’s chair with her tail. {Chair,} she repeated, smiling as Logan rubbed her head with is hand.

Does she speak outside of telepathically?

“I don’t know if she can,” Logan answered honestly. The girl touched the wheels on Professor Xavier’s wheelchair, and her head tilted to the side as she touched first them, than the professor himself.

Wheelchair, Professor Xavier.

{Wheelchair, Professor Xavier.} She repeated, and climbed up onto his lap. She began playing with the pen in his hand and squealed in delight when she found she could make lines appear when she moved it over things.

Pen.

{Pen.}

*

“Jean said this place was some sort of boarding school for mutants.” Logan started.

“Yes, it is. Mostly run-aways who have been thrown out of there homes. I could give you a tour if you like.” Professor Xavier turned and maneuvered his chair beside Logan. The little girl climbed up onto Logan’s shoulder and lay draped over it like a cat. “She’s quite small, how old is she?”

“I think she’s about five or so. No idea really.” Logan felt her tail wrapping around his waist so she wouldn’t fall off. “I found her in the woods, or rather she found me. Took me a few days, but she trusts me now. I’ve had her for a few days or so now.” Logan noticed that the professor didn’t seem too shocked over what he had said.

“You obviously love her a great deal. Who else knows that she is not your natural daughter?”

“Just you and Jean.”

“Very well than, do you want it to be known or shall they only know her as your daughter?”

“She’s my little girl now.”

*

Logan saw her smile suddenly and felt her tail let go. She leapt from his shoulder and ran towards a woman with long white hair and similar mocha-colored skin. The woman bent down and hugged her tightly. Picking her up she walked towards the two men. “Hello, I’m Ororo Munroe, also called Storm.” The little girl was purring eagerly and hugging Storm tightly. “You have the sweetest little girl here,”

“Logan.” Logan remembered Jean telling him she had been the one to save their lives. “Thank you, for earlier.” She smiled at him, he was very handsome. He cared a great deal about the little girl in her arms, she could tell by the way he was watching her carefully.

“It was my pleasure to help out. Tell me, what is her name? She’s such a precious jewel.” The little girl swung her ears back to listen to Storm’s voice. {Jewel?} She said softly in her thought-speech. She looked over at Logan and repeated herself. {Jewel?}

“Is that her name?” Storm asked, amazed at how the little girl seemed so at ease with her.

“She doesn’t have a name, yet.” Logan replied quietly. The little girl jumped from Storm’s arms to go chase a small bird across the lawn. She slid on her belly and hunted it down with a wicked gleam in her eyes. She caught the bird in mid-pounce and carefully carried it back to the others. She let it go and it flew to land on Storm’s finger and start singing.

“She certainly is very active. Youth, I miss it sometimes.” Professor Xavier remarked wistfully.

“Julianna!” Storm exclaimed. The little girl stopped and bounded to Storm’s feet. “Julianna?” Storm asked again. The girl nodded and held her hand to her heart. {Julianna!} She smiled at Logan and he scooped her up.

“Julianna,” he said softly, trying to brush her hair out of her eyes. He couldn’t do anything with it; it was still a huge mess. He had used his claws to crop it short, removing most of the tangles.

“Okay than, Julianna what?” Storm said softly.

“Hawk, Julianna Hawk.” Loan replied, and poked Julianna in the abdomen.

“Show them the hawk Jewel.”

Jewel let her shirt twist so they could see the hawk on the right side of her belly button.

*

“Morphing abilities? And such control for someone so young. Amazing,” Professor Xavier murmured.

{Morphing?} Jewel repeated. She smiled at them all and chased her tail around in a circle until she had caught it in her mouth. Storm laughed as Logan picked her up.

“Jewel,” he attempted to pull her tail free, which resulted in a game of tug-of-war. Logan didn’t want her to hurt herself, so he finally gave up and let her chew on it.

“Will you be staying with us Logan?” Storm asked, again marveled at how a man so rough in appearance was so gentle with his daughter. Jewel tugged on Logan’s hair and her eyes went wide.

{New pack?} She asked hopefully, looking at Storm. Logan nodded to her.

“We’re staying, Jewel’s happy here.” Jewel bounced up and down happily.


end