Emily tried to keep her breathing even as the silence took over in her mind, her sweaty hands gripping the material of her dress. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Her thoughts drifted towards the massive to do list waiting for her upstairs; her desk had been rather cluttered too; she would have to take care of that as well.

"Concentrate Emily," the Professor's voice echoed in the back of her mind and she focused her thoughts back to the task on hand. "Are you ready?"

"Nope." She let out a breathy chuckle and braced herself for what was to come. His presence slowly receded; the absence left her fighting to remain in control. Seconds ticked by and soon turned into minutes and the shield held, much to her surprise. She started thinking of her mother, wishing she had more time to visit. School had kept her busy and she had been unable to get back into the city. She would have to make time this weekend, no matter what.

Emily felt herself thrown against the back of the seat at the sudden presence of the mansion buzzing in her head and looked around in astonishment before sighing.

"I'm sorry, sir," she mumbled as she twiddled her thumbs and met his gaze.

"No, that was very good Emily, much better than the last time." He nodded as he laced his fingers together, leaning in towards her. "However, I get the feeling your thoughts were elsewhere tonight."

Emily leaned back in her seat and avoided eye contact, biting her cheek in vexation. "I just have a lot on my mind tonight. I didn't get a chance to meditate."

"Is everything okay?"

She observed his sincere concern, wondering if he already knew and was just being polite; the possibility was always on her mind.

"Uh, yeah." She rubbed her forehead and took a breath, nodding as she pushed the thoughts of her mother to the back of her mind. "It's just so much to do, so little time; you know how it goes." She forced a chuckle and shrugged as the clock chimed, signaling the end of the lesson.

"Is there anything else?"

She paused as she got up and pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Actually there is," she said and returned to her seat."I've been doing a lot of thinking and I was wondering if the offer to join the team was still on the table."

Emily gripped the edge of the seat as she awaited his answer, hoping he had not changed his mind. "Of course, you have thought this though and you know the dangers I presume?"

"Yes." She held her breath; this was by far one of the craziest ideas she had had in a long time.

"Very well." He nodded. "I will notify Logan."

What? What did Logan have to do with this? "Logan, sir?" She tried her best to hide her morbid curiosity; this conversation was quickly going down the drain.

"Yes, he is in charge of training the recruits, and he will know when you are ready."Emily was sure her disdain was written all over her face, and she suddenly regretted her decision."Is everything okay, my dear?"

"Excellent." Emily forced a smile and stood. This would happen to her. Somewhere, in a past life, she was sure she had done something horrible. "I can't wait."

He wanted to smile, she was thankful for his control. "Have a good night Emily."

"You too, sir."

Emily kept her composure as she walked down the hall, mindful of the students she passed until she finally came to an empty hall.

"Goddammit," she hissed under her breath as she threw punches into the air. "Stupid, stupid, ughhhhh." She jumped in place wanting to scream.

"What are you doing?" Someone said and she spun around to see a puzzled-looking Remy.

"Nothing." Emily huffed as she smoothed down her skirt. "Excuse me." She frowned and continued down the hall to her room where she could curse her luck in private.

"Ow! Lucy what are you doing?" Emily hissed as her head was jerked back. This had been going on for the last half hour and she was now regretting her decision of giving Lucy free range over her hair and makeup. It wasn't fair; Lucy was an extremely persistent beggar.

"Oh, hush up you baby," Lucy muttered and clipped back a piece of hair.

"You're trying to yank out all my hair, so don't tell me to-."

"There, perfect." She swiveled the chair around and Emily stared at the reflection, one of which she did not recognize.

"Lucy," Emily said breathlessly as she eyed Lucy's handiwork.

"I know-" Lucy started with a flattered grin.

"What have you done to me?!" Emily stood to get a closer look and turned back to a surprised-looking Lucy. "I look like a clown."

Lucy's jaw dropped as she scoffed. "Have you looked at yourself? You look amazing."

"Yeah, if your aim was to make me look like a clown. You said only a little make-up not-"

"Oh, well done Lucy!" Martina said as she walked in holding a dress and heels.

"Wait, hold on, I said you could do my hair and makeup, I never said anything about dressing me up. That's where I draw the line."

"Come on!" Lucy begged. "Your makeup is going to look weird with what you're wearing."

Emily looked down at her knee length floral dress and cardigan. "What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

Martina and Lucy exchanged silent looks of amusement as Lucy tried to hold back a laugh by covering her mouth before clearing her throat. "Uh, nothing is wrong. I mean, if you were having afternoon tea with the professor, that is."

Before Emily could retort, Lucy shoved the dress into her hands and pushed her towards the bathroom.

"No, Lucy- stop." For such a small woman she sure was freakishly strong. "Lucy-"

"Try it on, please." She smiled. Yeah, now she wanted to be nice?

The silky material slipped through Emily's fingers as she gripped it in a silent protest while the flower child started in on her strings of 'please, please, please'. "Fine," Emily mumbled and retreated to the bathroom in defeat; it was this or listen to Lucy's unrelenting demands.

As she closed the door behind her, she listened to Lucy and Martina chatting about the developing baby and Lucy going on about some organic herb that did some sort of magical thing for pregnancy. Emily rolled her eyes to herself; Lucy could lose the flowers in her hair and long flowing skirts but her true hippie always rang true.

The dress was far shorter than she preferred; she had always gone with the philosophy that less was more. Begrudgingly she slipped into the soft material, a reluctant smile forming at how smooth it felt against her legs. As she eyed herself in the mirror she sighed; it felt so wrong. Sasha had always been the sexy one, whereas she had fallen to the sidelines as the nerdy bookworm who couldn't walk ten feet in anything with more than a two-inch heel. Maybe that was why she had fallen for Nathan so hard: he had noticed her.

The pounding on the door ripped her from her thoughts, Lucy's impatient voice calling for her to get out of the bathroom before she broke down the door. Could she do that? Emily chuckled at the idea of Lucy trying to break down a door.

Taking a deep breath Emily took a step outside, tugging at the ends of the short dress in an effort to protect her modesty.

"Hot damn, how much baby?" Lucy sauntered towards her with a wide grin and wiggling eyebrows.

"Oh, stop it. I look ridiculous." Emily chuckled at her antics.

"Think of it as your stripper side."

Taken aback, Emily gaped wide-eyed at Lucy who started laughing. "Excuse me?"

"You got that whole good girl thing going on most of the time; this is your sexy stripper side." A wink was followed by a string of obnoxious kisses.

"I don't really do sexy. It's not there in case you hadn't noticed." Emily frowned and Lucy shoved a pair of heels into her hands.

"Well, you better find something that resembles sexy and put those on because Scotty is going to have an aneurysm if we aren't down there in two minutes."

She couldn't wear these; they were a death trap. "Lucy, I won't make it down there in these heels."

"You'll be fine, come on."

Emily wobbled in her step and grabbed onto Martina for support. "Sorry."

Lucy led her away from the room, bidding Martina goodnight as she pulled Emily down the hall.

With each step towards the front door Emily feared for her life, wondering when she would take the inevitable plunge. She gripped the handrail as they made their way down the stairs and each step closer gave way to a sense of relief. Maybe she would be okay.

It could have been Martina's voice yelling that she had forgotten her wallet from the upstairs or Logan stepping out from around the corner that distracted her and caused her foot to miss the step. This was exactly why she didn't wear heels; gravity was her worst enemy.

Her body shook with adrenaline as she clutched whatever was holding her for support and felt relieved that it was a warm body and not the floor pressed against her face.

"Making it a habit to fall into my arms, darling?" A low voice chuckled in her ear and she felt her cheeks burn from embarrassment. Dear God, why? Why was her life nothing but a string of unfortunate and poorly timed accidents? This couldn't just happen when she was alone? Sure, she would have probably smashed her face in but, hell, it was better than the embarrassment she was currently feeling.

"Are you okay?" Lucy asked as she tried to hold back a laugh as Emily got to her feet. Martina approached with a small clutch in her hands and a concerned look.

"I'm fine, guys. These heels are a death trap." Her room wasn't too far; she could just make a break for it and escape the burning embarrassment as everyone asked if she was all right. Her luck, though, she probably would fall before getting halfway up the stairs.

After laughing off the incident with Lucy, they stood waiting for Jean to get ready. Scott muttered about how she always took forever. Emily stood off to the side listening to them all talk, catching Logan's gaze from across the foyer. She didn't remember Lucy saying anything about Logan coming to the bar. In fact, didn't he say he had had plans or something? His presence was almost uncomfortable as his eyes kept glancing over in her direction. She couldn't get a lock on him with the others in the room and gave up once a figure appeared at the top of the stairs.

Emily stared in envy at the sleek redhead walking effortlessly down the stairs in heels twice the height of her own and, bravo, she was not tripping down the stairs. Jean reminded her of that popular girl in high school that everyone loved, who didn't need to wear makeup and could make a potato sack look like a runway dress. Being homeschooled, Emily was thankful she had never had to compete with girls like Jean; it was enough to plunge any high school girl's self esteem.

"You look wonderful," Scott said as he kissed Jean's cheek and took her hand. "Alright guys, come on."

Was he watching her? Nah, why on earth would he be looking at her? Maybe the alcohol was getting to her head already. Emily eyed the half-finished martini and rubbed her temples; it would take a lot more than that to numb the current buzzing in her head.

Logan stepped around the pool table drinking back a bottle of beer as he played against Scott for the tie breaker; he was good but it seemed Scott's math skills were giving him a run for his money. There! He had most definitely been looking at her. Ugh, what did she care? Had he not been flirting with some busty blonde not ten minutes prior? Yep, there she was, watching him from across the room.

Emily threw back the last of her drink and eyed Lucy's near empty gin and tonic. "I'm going to get another drink, want another?"

"Yeah, thanks doll." Lucy giggled and slapped her butt as she walked away.

Doing her best not to stumble, she smiled in her victory as she reached the bar and ordered the drinks. Emily heard her name from across the room and turned to find its origin only to be met by a moving body. Red liquid splashed on a canvas of white and Emily covered her mouth in horror; tonight really wasn't her night.

"Oh my God." Mortified, she grabbed a stack of napkins and apologized over and over as she blotted the front of her victim's shirt. It was no use unfortunately; the shirt and tie were already ruined.

"It's alright."

Coming to the bar had been a bad, bad idea. "I'm just so clumsy. Seriously, tonight has not been my night. Oh God, I've made it worse." Looking across the room, Lucy was holding herself up with a chair, laughing so hard that it elicited the concern of Storm who rushed over to Lucy's aide.

"Hey, accidents happen. Besides, I think you improved it because now it's got some flair," the guy said and set his empty wine glass on the bar. "Hey, calm down, it's alright." He grabbed a hold of her napkin-blotting hands and to her surprise he was laughing, actually laughing.

How on Earth was this remotely funny? "I'm really sorry. I will pay for everything. Here, let me buy you a new drink-"

"Really it's fine. What's your name?"

Once she was able to lift her embarrassed gaze from the floor, she met his dark eyes and smiled in relief. Thank God he wasn't angry. "Uh, Emily."

He held out his hand. "I'm Carl."

His hands were sweaty, though barely noticeable over her overwhelming guilt. "I really am sorry about your shirt." God it looked terrible.

"How about this: you have a drink with me and we will call it even?"

Lucy and Storm were watching avidly from across the room with smiles plastered on their faces. For laughing, Lucy could come get her own damn drink.

"Are you sure? This doesn't seem very fair."

"Yeah, what are you drinking?"

"Uh, lemon drop."

As he went to order, she looked back to her friends who were mouthing indiscernible words until Carl turned back around with the drinks. "There is an open table over there." He nodded to where a man and woman were getting ready to leave.

Emily tried to get a better read on him as they sat down, distancing themselves from the crowd and found that despite his calm composure his anxiety, matching her own, rang through. He pushed his glasses up his nose as he folded his hands and looked at her with a nervous smile.

"So, Emily, what do you do?"

Emily had to admit: she hadn't thought too much of Carl upon first glance. Thankfully, things had gone well after the-wine spilling fiasco and an hour later she found herself disappointed to leave the conversation as Storm tapped her on the shoulder.

"Just wanted to let you know we are leaving," Storm said quietly and flashed a smile Carl's way.

"I will be right there."

Carl seemed nervous as he took a few breaths and clenched his hands together.

"I should get going; they are about to head out." She nodded over to the group that was making its way to the door.

"Yes of course," he said, jumping to his feet and holding out a hand to help her from her seat.

"Thank you." She laughed, the room twisting in a brief blur.

"I'd like to see you again," he blurted so suddenly that she nearly fell over in surprise.

"Oh." She reeled and then smiled. "I'd like that." Oh what the hell? It couldn't hurt. "Can I give you my number?"

"Yeah." He grinned and patted his pockets before producing a pen. Leaning over, she messily scribbled her name across a dirty napkin. Real classy, Emily.

You would have thought he had won the lottery the way he clutched the dirty napkin in his hands. "I'll call you," he promised and she turned to leave, trying to focus on not taking a tumble.

"I look forward to it. Goodnight Carl."

Everyone was outside waiting when she arrived, apologizing as she crawled into the back seat of the van, unsurprisingly next to Logan. But, even he wouldn't ruin her good mood. As he looked her over she noticed a smudged lipstick stain along the collar of his shirt and resisted her urge to roll her eyes at his self-satisfied expression. Ugh, pig.

They all went their separate ways when they reached the mansion, Storm toting a drunken Lucy while trying to keep her quiet in attempts to avoid waking the students. Standing at the base of the stairs, Emily watched them blur together for a moment and she grabbed the rail to avoid stumbling back. A hand on the small of her back reminded her she wasn't alone and upon hearing him laugh, she glared his way.

"What?" she asked and started a confident walk up the stairs. She didn't need his crap.

Logan followed her slow ascent of the stairs and as much as she wanted to tell him to go away, she was thankful for his presence in the likely scenario that she would take a drunken tumble down the stairs. She almost wanted to kiss the ground as she reached the second floor, thankful she had made it this far. Just a few more steps and she would be back in her room. Come on, keep it together Emily.

As she reached her door, she noticed Logan lingering as she fished out her key. Not wanting to be a total bitch she sighed. "Uh, thanks for walking me."

"No problem," he said and went to continue down the hall.

"Good night, Logan."

"Night, Emily."

The cool fall breeze blew through her hair as Emily stepped outside, papers in hand ready to be graded. Now it was a matter of finding somewhere quiet to do so; it was far too nice of a day to be cooped up inside the mansion.

The garden hummed with life as Lucy sat in the middle singing to the plants. The sight was that of a crazy person and upon hearing a laugh, Lucy looked her way.

"Hey, Emily, come sit," she said and continued singing as she returned to her task of turning the dirt.

"Are you doing this?" Emily asked as she brushed her fingers along the hanging leaves, their energy vibrating up her arm. It was hard to explain and sounded a bit odd but it was as if the plants were happy; she had definitely been spending too much time around Lucy.

"They like it when I sing. Here." She handed over a shovel and pointed to a bare patch of dirt. "Dig."

Oh really?Emily set her papers on the bench and rolled up her sleeves and started to dig through the dirt until Lucy handed her a packet of seeds. She seemed to glow as she looked around at the plants, a smile plastered to her face.

"Thank you," Lucy said not looking up from her work.

Emily cocked an eyebrow, wondering what the hippie was up to now. "Thank you for what?" she asked cautiously; the woman was up to something.

"Volunteering to help out at the Halloween party. I could really use a few extra hands."

Emily sighed. "Is that your way of asking me for help?"

"I even have a costume for you."

"And that is absolutely where I draw the line and no amount of pleading will get me anywhere near any sort of costume you have for me," Emily spoke firmly and watched as Lucy's grin disappeared into an eye roll.

"Fine. But, you will still help, right?"

"Yes."

They worked in a comfortable silence, taking in the sun and Emily sighed happily. "It's such a beautiful day today."

"It is." Lucy looked up with a mischievous grin. "So I heard you got yourself a date last night."

Emily shrugged. "I just gave him my number, it's no big deal."

"Whatever happened to not having time for guys?"

Emily faltered and sighed as she went back to pushing the dirt around the freshly planted seeds. Things with her mother hadn't exactly made her a prime candidate for romance; she couldn't even remember the last time she had gone out on a date. At times, it had been like watching a child; her mother couldn't be left alone and after stage four, leaving the house became near impossible. Perhaps it had been her own denial that she hadn't sought help sooner or the look on her mother's face when it came to mentions of being sent to a nursing home that delayed the inevitable. She would never forget the day she left her in that room with the nurse, crying and pleading that she would get better, that she would make it right. It was not too long after that the woman who had carried her for nine months, who sang her lullabies to soothe her nightmares as a child, the very same woman who had been there to support her every step of the way her entire life had managed forget each and every single one of those memories.

"Why are you sad?" Lucy asked softly.

A warm drop splattered against her arm and Emily raised her hand to wipe away the tears. "I'm sorry, I didn't even realize…" Why did this have to happen now? She needed to get a grip on herself. Looking at Lucy, she felt a twist in her gut as she opened her mouth to speak; she had carried this for so long, it didn't really seem fair to dump it on Lucy because of bad timing.

"I can tell you're sad a lot." Lucy turned back to her tools. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to but I'm here if you want. We're a family here, all of us."

Emily had heard some stories of how many of the kids had come to be at the school and a lot of them were heartbreaking. Many of the kids didn't even have parents, having had been kicked out and given threats of death if they dared to return. Things could always be worse.

"My mom has Alzheimer's, early onset. She has been sick for a long time now."

"Is that why you are always in the city?"

Emily nodded. "I try to see her as much as I can before-" she stopped as her throat tightened at the thought. "It's just a waiting game now. I just feel so helpless sitting here and watching her wither away."

The glow from the plants dulled as Lucy took a breath. "My dad was diagnosed with stage four brain cancer when I was eleven. There was nothing we could do and for awhile we just tried to make him happy. You know, doing the things he always wanted to do. A time came when he couldn't even get out of bed anymore." Lucy's eyes were filled with tears. "It was about the time when my mutation manifested and I felt so useless, having these powers and no way to help him." Her lips tugged upwards into a smile a she laughed softly. "But I found a way. He always had such a wonderful garden and after a while he was no longer able to take care of it so I brought the garden to him. Wall to wall I covered the room with flowers until the day he died. My mom wasn't too happy with the foliage but he loved it and that was all that mattered."

Emily felt a stab of guilt because for so long she had been so focused on her own suffering, her mother's and all the pain that it brought, that she had forgotten whose struggle this was. If anything, the least she could do was make the last of her mother's days as happy as possible.

"I'm sorry Lucy."

"Me too. Just try to make the most of the time you have together."

"I will, thank you." Emily smiled. Lucy never failed to surprise her, whether it was with one of her crazy antics or her wise understanding beyond her years; she was glad to call Lucy a friend.

"Come here, hug it out," Lucy said and pulled Emily into a tight hug. "Now enough crying, we're making the plants sad." Moments later the garden was once more humming with energy as Lucy started singing and watering the soil.

"Watch this." She pressed her hands into the dirt, a calmness falling over her as she concentrated. For a moment nothing happened, and Emily teetered in anticipation as she waited until a small leaf peeked up between Lucy's fingers followed by several others. The earth crawled with the green shoots emerging from the ground, covering every inch of the dark soil until tiny buds blossomed into exquisite flowers of red and yellow.

"Lucy," Emily whispered breathlessly in awe at the flowers that now surrounded where she sat. "This is amazing."

Lucy dusted off her hands and wiped them across her already dirt smudged skirt. "Thank you, thank you very much."

Emily burst out laughing. "That has got to be the worst Elvis impression ever."

"Thank you, thank you very much!" Lucy choked through a giggle as she got to her feet and admired her handiwork. "Do you want to help me weed?"

"Doesn't that break some sort of plant code?" Emily jibbed as she stood.

"No." Lucy frowned. "They are mean and make the other plants feel uncomfortable. I am more than happy to get rid of them."

Emily felt her mood elevate as Lucy went on about how badly kept the garden had been before she had come to the mansion and recounted the tale of the 'horrible no good very bad weed' she had to get rid of; she sounded like some crazy homeless person Emily had encountered in Central Park on several occasions.

"I've got papers to grade, but maybe next time. Have fun with your plants, crazy."

It was nearly time for dinner when Emily finally made her way back to the mansion. She had settled for a spot by the lake with the intent to get her papers done but had sadly fallen asleep halfway through.

"Hey Emily."

Jean came around at a slow jog until she approached. "Hey, I'm heading down to the Danger Room right now. Do you want to come down and check it out?"

She was pretty sure that was where the Professor said that the X-Men trained. "Yeah sure, let me just go put these papers in my office."

"How about you meet me at the elevator?"

"Sure thing."

Emily felt nervous as she followed Jean down the long hallways until they reached the door. Inside was the most impressive control panel she had ever seen. Did all those buttons actually do something?

"Come over here." Jean motioned to the large observation window. Emily's jaw dropped at the sight of Piotr, Scott, Bobby and Logan fighting a giant robot. Holy shit.

"That's impossible."

"Pretty cool, huh? We can bring up any simulation we want for any scenario."

"Like what? Could I fight Santa Claus if I wanted?" Emily sarcastically joked.

"I mean, if you want I guess we could do that."

Unbelievable. She shifted her attention back to the room below and its occupants before zeroing in on one. The metal claws protruded from both hands and he was fighting his way through a mass of smaller robots. His movements were primal; she had never seen such aggression from an individual, yet his grace was undeniable.

Somehow she managed to tear her eyes away and redirected her attention to the room. "What's in there?" Emily motioned to the doorway branching off to the side.

"Uniform room," Jean said from the controls. "You can go inside if you want. It's the button on the far left of the panel."

The door hissed as it slid open and the lights flickered on as she stepped inside and walked around the room. She stood in front of one of the cases, staring at one of the many uniforms, half amused and half curious of the leather outfits. Were they trying to make some sort of statement with these? Kinky. Leather had to get hot as hell; she could imagine the discomfort one felt wearing such apparel. Emily chuckled to herself, remembering the one and only time Sasha had ever managed to get her in leather pants and she swore to never don a pair ever again.

The door on the far side of the room opened and she straightened up as Logan walked inside, ripping off his gloves in his stride and throwing them against the wall.

"Hello," she said while stepping away from the case as she watched him. She averted her eyes and moved to scrutinize another uniform as he pulled the uniform down around his waist. Unabashed, he further stripped to his boxers and she scolded herself for her guilty inspection.

"We start training tomorrow at five. Don't be late."

She spun back around and tried not to stare as he stood to pull on his jeans. "E-excuse me?"

He gave way to a frustrated sigh as he grabbed a towel and rubbed it across his face and neck. "Be down in the gym at five and don't be late."

Emily narrowed her eyes; he couldn't be saying what she thought he was saying. "Wait, five in the morning? Are you serious?"

"Does it look like I'm making a fucking joke?" he snapped as he yanked open one of the lockers and pulled out a fresh shirt.

Sleep was hard to come by as it was, she really didn't need the extra lack of rest. "Perhaps we could agree on something a little more reasonable?"

"We don't have to train at all if you can't manage," he countered and slipped on the shirt.

Emily made a face when his back was turned; who the hell did he think he was? She'd show him. If there was anything that motivated her more, it was someone telling her she couldn't do something. Hard work and dedication her father always said were the keys to success and failure was never an option.

He turned before she had a chance to react and raised an eyebrow in provocation. She tried to ignore the unbuttoned jeans hanging off his hips by locking eye contact, assenting to his challenge. He needed to know he couldn't just push her around.

"Do you think this is a game?" His voice was a deep low rumble that seemed to come from within his chest and she fought the urge to back away.

"You mean, you trying to scare me?" She let out a wry chuckle that caught in the back of her throat as he stared down at her. She felt the cool glass of the display case against her back, unaware of her unintentional step away as he neared.

"That's what you think I'm doing? Trying to scare you?" He was close now; she could feel the heat radiating from his body.

"Well-" she started and looked across the room at the door, only mere steps away from this increasingly awkward situation.

"You want to get into one of those," he nodded to the uniform behind her, "you go through me. If I say five in the morning, you're there at five in the morning. You signed up for this so either stop complaining or quit. Got it?"

She leaned in closer, her voice dropping low. "I never quit."

The door hissed opened and Piotr walked in followed by Bobby and Scott, thankfully diminishing the tension between the two of them and redirecting it elsewhere.

"Logan, what the hell?" Scott sneered and threw his gloves on the table. "We are supposed to work as a team. That was the purpose of this training activity and as always you have to make it about you."

Emily exchanged looks with Bobby while nervously looking between the two men.

"Well, maybe if we were actually training going on instead of you guys dicking around then this wouldn't be an issue. I mean, Bobby, what the hell was that?" Logan turned his attention to the young man who shrunk back in embarrassment while dropping his gaze to the floor.

"No, this isn't about Bobby, this is about you." Scott got up into Logan's face and Emily felt her hands start to shake from the sudden rush of adrenaline accompanied by her racing heart. She knew what was going to happen before it did; was like some sort of car crash in slow motion and she found herself unable to look away as fists started to fly. The two men tussled around the room in a death lock until a body was suddenly hurled her way.

"Oh shit." Emily, unable to move fast enough, found herself sprawled across the ground and unable to breathe.

"Get off her!" someone growled, and the heavy weight on her chest was lifted and she gasped for breath, coughing as Logan appeared over her.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his voice sounding far away; this was a familiar sight.

Logan disappeared from her view as yelling ensued and Emily groaned at the massive pounding in her head, surprised when Jean appeared beside her and helped her into a sitting position. She looked across the room in time to see Logan step out of the room yelling expletives in his wake before Jean started waving a finger in her face.

"I'm fine, honestly."

"I need to check for a concussion."

Emily sighed as she frowned at Jean. "Really, I'm fine."

"Alright, but if you start feeling dizzy or have any headaches-"

"Oh, I've got a headache but it has nothing to do with my tumble," she muttered and Jean helped her to her feet.

"Emily, I'm really sorry," Scott said as he walked up to her. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, it's fine Scott." All she wanted was to go to her room.

"He can't keep doing this." Scott turned to Jean. "He is going to seriously hurt someone one of these days with his temper. I don't care what the professor says about him; he shouldn't be on this team. He doesn't care about anyone but himself."

Emily tuned him out as she rubbed her temples and felt a hand on her shoulder. "Are you sure you're alright, Miss Jameson?" Bobby asked.

"Yeah. I'm just going to head on upstairs."

"Make sure to let me know if anything changes," Jean said as she inspected a forming bruise on Scott's cheek.

"You got it."

Solitude, at last. Emily looked around her empty room and kicked off her shoes as she let down her already messed up hair from its clip. Running her fingers through the curls, she sighed and turned on some relaxing music. She tried clearing her mind, hoping a bit of meditation might banish the pain but before she could find out, a knock came from the door.

Jumping off the bed, she cracked open the door to see Logan standing with his hands shoved in his pockets.

"Hey," he grunted and lifted a hand to run through his hair, rubbing his neck out of sheer discomfort.

"Hi."

"Look, I'm sorry about earlier." He looked uncomfortable as he shifted his weight. "I just wanted to come by and make sure you were alright."

"Oh, well thanks. I'm fine, more surprised than hurt." She chuckled and leaned against the doorway. "I'm tougher than I look." Oh God, was she flirting?

He cracked a small smile, or, at least, she was pretty sure it was a smile and fairly certain it was directed at her. "Good to know."

An oh so awkward yet familiar silence settled between them until he cleared his throat, glancing down the hallway as Lucy and Kurt came around the corner.

"Six."

Emily raised an eyebrow. "What is six?"

"Be at the gym at six for training." He took a step away and she smiled. It wasn't much but it was something and she had no problem with the extra hour of sleep.

"Thanks Logan."

"Yeah, see ya." He bowed out and walked down the hall, ruffling Lucy's hair as he passed. Emily burst out laughing as the fearless girl made the mad dash and jumped on his back, ruffling his hair and took off giggling like a madwoman with a fearful Kurt bounding down the hall after her. Logan looked back at her with a glare as he attempted to fix the mess Lucy had made.

"Bye Logan." Emily smiled and closed the door before she burst out laughing. Oh, it was hard not to love Lucy.

Hey guys, I really enjoyed hearing from you; definitely a motivator to write a bit more, keep it up! Happy reading everyone!

Sorry, I had to pull down the story for a second; I just realized in my overexcitment that it wasn't finished haha