Hey, thanks a lot for the reviews for the previous chapter. They did make me smile... loads...

Anyway, this is the last chapter. I amalso slowly going through this story and trying to correct my mistakes, but bear in mind I usually start writing at 11pm.

Ok, onto the chapter...

Chapter 16

Logan dipped his fingers into the cool salve and spread some carefully across Scott's back. He had received burns to most of his torso and his arms when he had gone to Jean.

The Canadian was very curious as to what their final conversation had consisted of, but he figured Scott would tell him when he was ready; and if it was any of his business. The young mutant though, had been extremely quiet. He'd been almost blank

It had been two weeks since Jean had killed herself. Or rather, sacrificed herself to stop something uncontrollable; it was easier to think of her death that way. Rumours had been flying around, typical of a school, and not all of them were understanding. Most of them, thankfully, showed Jean in a fairly good light. From what 'Ro told him, Jean had been a good teacher and confidant. The students had been fond of her, so probably didn't want to taint their memory of her.

Phoenix was referred to as a totally different person. If one listened to the way the students talked, as Logan was prone to doing recently, it was possible to mistake Phoenix and Jean for two separate people. There were one or two rumours that Jean had gone mad with jealously over the relationship he and Scott were apparently in. (Apparently because he didn't think they had any real evidence to base their suspicions on.)

Scott squirmed slightly as he rubbed the salve in; sure to cover every bit of burnt skin. The young man had been quiet, but it wasn't the same as the first time Jean died. He seemed to be far more ... accepting. He was not drowning in his grief again, ignoring his students and friends. Logan was very glad for this.

"All done. Let's get you bandaged back up, and off to class." He grinned. The school was returning to normal. The classes were mostly back up, except for where there were missing teachers. Jean had gone; her classes were not currently being covered properly, except for those in exam years. Henry McCoy, or Hank, or Beast, or whatever he was currently calling himself was giving mock exams covering the syllabus. The students hated Wheels for putting him in charge of that. Logan had had difficulty breathing properly when the students in one of his classes had complained. He'd laughed so hard.

Three other members of staff had been killed during the confrontation with Magneto and the brotherhood. He knew Scott and Xavier were working to get them replaced, while not taking away from the significance of their deaths. Memorial stones had been placed in different areas for the lost mutants.

Cyke was keeping to his own classes. Though, there had been one where Logan had been called to the Maths class to find Scott shaking slightly, totally ignoring his class. It had been strangely terrifying to see Scott fall apart like that.

Logan had instantly dismissed the class then sent a thought Xavier's way, to let him know he didn't need to worry. The man was a true mother hen. He had not said anything out loud though, simply sitting on the floor next to the kid's chair and he'd rubbed his knee comfortingly. He was there when Scott turned and dropped into Logan's lap for more comfort. He did his best to be strong and silent without bursting into tears himself. It hadn't been easy.

At night, Scott was clearly having nightmares again. It was fairly disappointing; no matter how expected it was, because they had just been getting over the last batch of nightmares.

The kid stood up, pulled his shirt and grinned.

"Guess I'll leave then. Thanks. Logan."

A slightly less sure smile came his way, before the man pressed a kiss to the other's lips and left.

Logan smiled softly, before heading off to find his girl.

"Hey darlin'."

"Marie." She let go of Bobby's arm and waved him off, with a kiss and a promise to meet for lunch.

"You alright?"

"Fine thanks. Ho-"

"How's Professor Summers doing?"

"Much better." He smiled a genuine smile. Stubborn and caring; there was no other way to describe her. She linked her arm with his, ignoring his flare of discomfort.

"Professor Xavier said I can stay. You were right."

He nodded. He would have been surprised if Wheels said anything else. There was a concern that the cure wasn't as permanent as it was meant to be. Mystique was still here. She was helping with the students and general running of the school. Logan wasn't sure that it was a good idea, but Scott said it was better than letting her go and having no say in what she did.

It sounded very controlling and kept her around the students, but Logan couldn't deny the logic. He'd spoken to her a fair few times, and it seemed she had been in love with Magneto. She was always asking after him, how he was coping. Someone had gotten the cure into him, and he was under careful observation. However, she was a woman scorned, and refusing outright to see him herself. She was acceptable now though, and popular amongst the kids. But Logan had noticed that her eyes flashed yellow sometimes. He almost felt like counting down the time till she was back to her old self.

Looking down at Marie, Logan wondered how much time she had. She was obviously thrilled at being able to touch people, even if she did feel a strange guilt. He hoped there wouldn't be any unfortunate accidents regarding returning powers.

The mutant who neutralised others' abilities was staying at the school, but he was having trouble making friends. Marie, Bobby and Kitty were sticking with him though. It was a hard sacrifice for most, he knew. It was a relief that he wasn't excluded though.

They made their way out to the gardens, and sat by Jean's memorial stone. The sky was a brilliant blue, a few white clouds visible in the distance. He stared at the name – Jean Grey. He almost wished it said 'Jean Summers' ... He was aware of the telepathic link the partners had had. He wondered if Scott had the same shattered feeling in his head again. He hadn't asked.

"How long's your brother stayin'?"

"Dunno. He said he'd help me get my memories back."

"An' he's been flirting with Raven."

"What?" Logan didn't know this.

"You can't've missed it. Clear as the sky."

"Really?" he tried to think of something more to say, but noting came to mind. It wasn't that he was disgusted, he wasn't. He just hadn't expected it.

His brother was missing Jean. He'd told him bluntly. Apparently they'd gotten to be friends during their time together. It sounded as though Victor had known her better than Logan had, which certainly niggled some.

He shut his eyes, enjoying the feel of the sun on his face. He felt Marie move to lie on the grass. He sighed, letting it move through his whole body; allowing it to release all the remaining tension he had.

"Logan?"

"Eh?"

"Logan!" his eyes opened to see red. Above him hovered Scott's face. He sat up; grimacing as he noticed his shirt was stuck to his back with sweat. Beside him Scott smiled softly. Marie was nowhere to be seen and the sun had moved a good way on its journey across the sky.

"You ok?"

"You said... You'd listen. If I needed to talk, I mean."

"I'll listen even if ya just wanna ramble."

Scott smiled, though it died quickly. His head tilted down and he pulled up blades of grass. A few times his mouth moved, but no words managed to escape. Logan sat in silence, letting his young man figure out what he wanted to say.

"Jean... she... before, I felt like she had been cut off completely. It's different... she... we were talking and... She... pushed herself... into my head..." it was obviously Scott was struggling to describe what had happened.

"Into your head?"

"Mmm... We had a link, you know... I feel like she's not so gone now. Not just a memory."

"Is it... weird?"

"Nah. I've had her in my head for ages. It's comforting. Shame she still tells me when I make a fool of myself." The kid grinned. "I hope this doesn't make me crazy."

"I sometimes think you're already there. Ow." He laughed as Scott punched his arm. "So do you have... you know? Her abilities."

"Nah. Hank said it's the gene that contains our powers. And I didn't get any of her D.N.A."

"Ah."

"But the Professor said that what decides what power we have is more along the 'soul' or 'essence' so because I already have the gene, and now whatever is left of Jean, I could develop more power."

Scott grinned, and shrugged his shoulders as though to say he didn't mind what happened.

"Sounds like science versus religion." Laughed Logan.

"Should get Kurt involved then." Scott was grinning happily as he stood up.

"Think he's too busy harassing people." Logan got to his feet, and they began to head back inside.

"How could you possibly say that?" he laughed softly, "Though, he's recently been talking quite seriously with Mystique. She looks so sad when she talks to him though."

"I noticed that. Sad and angry." Logan thought about it, but couldn't figure out the way she acted towards his friend. They walked back to the dormitories in a comfortable silence.

"Right, I'm gonna grab a book from my room. You. Shower. You stink."

"You do have a way with words kid. So romantic."

Scott laughed, prodded Logan's kidney, before tapping in his coding and disappearing into his underused room. The Canadian yelped softly, before growling in mock anger. He turned and hurried to his room, stripping his clothes once he was inside and grabbing a towel.

After dinner that evening, the adults gathered together. They discussed the different applicants they'd had for new staff, narrowing down the choices for Scott and Xavier. That had been the plan. Neither man wanted to employ someone who any one would have issues with. They then discussed plans about letting non-mutant students into the school if the genuinely wanted to join, coming to the decision that it wouldn't be a problem. A few other admin pieces and people began to disperse.

Logan made his way to the smaller staffroom. Scott followed. Logan sat himself down, accepting the cola Scott offered from the fridge. Mystique entered the room, grabbing a drink and settling herself down. Logan frowned for a moment, unsure why the woman was there, but he figured it didn't really matter.

It was a few minutes later Kurt and 'Ro came in and sat down beside Mystique. Logan then grinned. He didn't mind listening to the chatter of his friends. When Hank came in with Warren Worthington III the conversation died for a moment, before Scott untangled himself from Logan slightly and invited them to sit down.

Victor brought plenty of beers with him. He had recently taken to trying to stock up beer in all the staff fridges, though it wasn't working as well as Logan would have liked. The man was now employed officially by Wheels, as a sort of Caretaker / Guard / Handyman. They had been informed of this at the meeting, and Logan was glad. It really felt like a family, even more so when the patriarch himself joined them. A few others followed, and couldn't deny his feeling of belonging. He tried to imagine what travelling would be like now, but he knew he'd miss so many people here.

Everyone happily bantered for a long time and no one said anything about the way Scott curled into Logan's chest, excluding Victor who claimed he couldn't help himself. They were on the receiving end of pleased smirks though. He did want to ask when Kurt laughed and held out his hand, accepting some notes off 'Ro.

"What's that for?"

"Huh?" They both pulled a perfectly innocent expression.

Logan scowled at them, his curiosity ignited.

"I'm afraid," laughed Wheels, "A fair few owe Kurt some money."

"Do I wanna ask why?"

"Just a little bet." Assured the mentioned man, with a smile. Logan's stare didn't falter.

"They bet on your love life." He looked over at Mystique, who had been mostly silent since she joined them.

"My love life? Thanks... Really..." He glanced down at Scott, and grinned. The man was asleep against his chest, looking completely content and undisturbed by nightmares. Logan wrapped his arms around him and leaned back into the sofa, shutting his eyes and listening as conversation filled the room again.

He smirked slightly as he battled off the exhaustion that had begun to enter his senses as he heard Wheels and Hank starting a new bet regarding Scott and his powers. The thought of getting to bed was tempting, but he decided he was too settled to move. The effort needed for such an act was too great; even when he acknowledged he had a lot to do tomorrow, and Scott would have horrible kinks to work through.

He exhaled slowly and finally let sleep mingle with his mind.

Wow... Finished... I really hope you have enjoyed reading. As ever, please review and say what you think (Even if you've never reviewed this before)

I hope it wasn't too strange in the end =P

Thanks so much to Cammiegurl, Live4StarWars, xStarSaber, Zoë the god, TigerBlossom17, Sirona, EmeraldGreyClouds, Dixie_D, meg-blue, Milarvamp, WCUGirl, pupnutie, Sechs Eins Zehn, wpoe, Utena-Puchiko-nyu, TenshiNanashi, Lummo, catlover28, That One DOod, EliotSpencer2010, Midnight Spiral and spotty. You are all loved.