The worst thing about remembering a memory in a dream, or even a daydream was the fact that motion couldn't be changed; a hazy, foggy tint just lingering on the edges of vision to make it known that this was not real. What was happening had already happened, at least to Logan it had, and that's also a painful thing about remembering past events; he was the only one who would know. Much like coming back to change the past, once his mind caught up with wherever he woke come the future, he'd be the only one to remember things which hadn't necessarily happened with those around him.

No Magneto trying to convert the Statue of Liberty into some machine to inflict and force mutations on humans; on a meeting of many minds of different states, oblivious to the fact that Erik was even in the world, and wanted to harm people to such a degree that having forced mutation on them, would either make or break them.

Likewise, there'd be no threat of a cure for mutation, or the threat of legislation; to have to sign up, to be known and to be watched and monitored, and if there was the possibility of being too strong, no doubt having the cure forced on whoever, for the sake of society around them. In fact, this aspect was something Logan was hoping wouldn't appear anyway, he knew people, and people weren't trusting of those that are different, no matter what; people could be very good at hiding their true thoughts and feelings, but they'd surface eventually.

Jean. Yes, admittedly he had liked the redhead, before she firmly shot him down; but he had to kill her, to stop her killing everyone else. Logan never agreed with Charles interfering with her mind, but in hindsight, considering the absolute unhindered and uncontrollable power Jean had within her, honestly maybe it wasn't necessarily a bad thing; she had killed Scott, Charles, many others that Logan didn't even know the name of; she had tried to kill him, she had failed and he had to do the deed. Her ghost lingered in his mind and sometimes on the periphery, just a little reminder that she was no longer alive, but there was also that thing of succeeding here and hoping Phoenix would never appear...

This time, however, it was a birthday; September 6th, Thea's birthday. Despite everyone else wishing otherwise, she really didn't want to celebrate her birthday, seemingly one of those types that was indifferent to it. It was just a day, any other day, nothing particularly special about it; did everyone else agree with her though? No.

Hence why come the morning, and getting ready for her day, she had been most surprised by most jumping up in the kitchen shouting and wishing her a happy birthday. Logan had been present, coffee in hand and just watching the woman try her hardest not to absolutely shrink and cringe. By this point, he'd been in the school for long enough to get to know everyone and their little quirks, and one thing he'd learned about Thea: she hated being the centre of attention. She was just happy to flit and be present for things, content with being in the background and also left alone. Logan could appreciate that, constant drama and talking could be tedious, trust him, he knew that.

He'd been caught up in Rogue and Bobby's romance issues to last him a lifetime, and honestly, he spent most times trying not to get involved there. He didn't want to know, she was an incredibly dear friend, someone who easily quipped back his bullshit with her own sarcasm, so oftentimes he also urged her to go speak to someone else, seeing as how the younger female had noted that Logan had spent time chatting completely idly to Thea, Marie went to her.

Logan despaired, inwardly, good with children but teenage drama clearly was something that just had Thea wishing the ground would swallow her whole, he'd caught her flying up to hide on the roof whenever Rogue's voice was asking around for her; case and point, teenage dramas weren't either of their thing, and both took to escaping, he appreciated that thing they had in common.

In fact, it had been a slow growing thing, little nuances that had come to his mind that the pair got along quite well, he felt like apologising to the woman as she received hugs and pats on the back from their friends. She was good at acting, he had to give her credit, but even Logan could see she was incredibly uncomfortable here. It seemed there were some that had got her a present, and in truth, yes, Logan had got her one too however it was still stashed in his room. He didn't know why, but he just felt odd giving it to her, especially with others present; it wasn't anything bad! Completely neutral present that he thought was actually a half decent idea from him, not saying he had bad ideas, but women and presents, not something he was exactly experienced in or on.

Perking up and out of his thoughts, Logan leaned away from the counter when Thea was seemingly making a beeline for him, or the coffee behind him; holding up her arms, her hands waved his way, Logan sighed, him first then the coffee, well didn't he feel privileged there? She leaned up and wrapped her arms around his neck, "Please tell me they haven't got a party planned later." She whispered to him, Logan kept the hand that still held his coffee away from her, while the other patted her gently on the back.

Leaning his chin against her shoulder, he flicked his eyes around their friends, by now they were finishing their own breakfasts to get ready for their days of teaching; lucky him, he hadn't been given anyone to teach, so he had a free pass to do absolutely nothing all day, which is and was what he usually did most days, yes, it got incredibly boring, and yes, sometimes he just ended up wandering around the school and eventually sitting in on lessons; he got teased for that, but he was bored. "You know, that ruins the aspect of a surprise." He replied, smirk on his face and leaning away when he felt her pull away, she wasn't happy with his words, her amethyst eyes practically glaring up at him.

"If there's a party and dancing, I'm forcing you to dance." Thea pointed a purple hued finger his way, a smirk now on her face as Logan's eyes widened from over the top of his coffee cup.

"No, no party." Logan said quickly enough after recovering from the mental image of being forced to dance. Shaking his head, he nodded down at her while she took to fixing herself a coffee. "Happy birthday, Thea."

She smiled brightly, and Logan could've sworn that actually her smile here was rather genuine, unlike the uncomfortable smiles from earlier on around their friends. "Well thank you, Logan." She sounded amused, not actually expecting him to be present, clearly, let alone do such a thing as wishing her a happy birthday.

"Got any plans?" Logan watched her turn and lean against the counter beside him.

"I have to work. Why, if I weren't, were you going to offer to take me out?" She sipped at her drink, wincing and putting the cup down. She bypassed him and opened the fridge, ignorant to his eyes growing a little distant as he stared at nothing and straightened up in his leaning position. Returning with milk, and grabbing the sugar pot on the way, she sought to rectifying her coffee. Noticing him being weird, well, weirder in Logan standards, Thea just patted him on the arm, bringing him back to reality she smiled his way. "Logan, I was joking...sorta, working on your birthday sucks. Even if I don't exactly like to celebrate it, I still think a day off would be great!" Picking up her cup and moving towards the door, she turned and smiled again. "You do still owe me a ride on Scott's bike, just saying. Have a good day, see you later." Thea waved over her shoulder and exited the room, though she came back in a few moments later to scoop up the few presents she got given then smiled at him and left again.

That same hazy tinge at the edges seemed to blur just a bit more before the environment changed and Logan found himself walking along the corridor, small bag in hand. By now, school had finished, he never gave Thea her gift, and she clearly was off hiding to avoid any other birthday things that might spring up. The kids had been kind and done things for her all day, her friends who weren't around in the morning found her throughout the day, Charles, seeing as how he knew how she felt about her birthday just gave her a soft smile and left it at that.

"The day's almost done, and you're only just going to give her a present?"

Logan's eyes flicked up to the ceiling, Scott sounded amused that he was clearly being late in giving Thea her present. Turning and tilting his head slightly, Logan looked Scott up and down, "Not everyone wanted to be first in line," Logan replied, earlier on, Scott was practically throwing Thea her gift, the poor woman still looked utterly baffled by the whole thing let alone the onslaught of presents.

There was a short sigh from Scott, crossing his arms over his dark jumper, he just nodded Logan's way, there was quite a space between them, where Scott was clearly leaving the room, he was in to go elsewhere and caught sight of Logan's form retreating down towards Thea's room. Logan still stood half turned and eyes slightly narrowed Scott's way, the pair never really got along, Scott was a stickler for rules, and sticking to them, and Logan was not a rule person, and found Scott's ways of doing things damn tedious. When first coming here, flirting with Scott's girlfriend probably didn't help matters, but that was in the past, Jean made her choice.

Fidgeting with the little bag in his hand, Logan just narrowed his eyes more when Scott looked at it. "Or is it you've waited until the end, so everyone else couldn't see what it was?" Scott asked, he wasn't alluding it to being something inappropriate, more, well, something utterly useless and totally something she wouldn't like. If that was the case, Scott didn't blame Logan for wanting to wait.

This was partially why Logan wished to wait, judgemental people, Scott being a prick, it's like although he was here and for the most part, he had been accepted with open arms, begrudging open arms by Scott, some still didn't believe he'd involve himself in group things, like a birthday. Furthermore, what right did someone have to question what he had bought, Logan never felt that he'd need to defend why he did anything he did, or in this case why he'd bought Thea what he had.

"I'm sure anyone can upstage that stationary set," Logan rolled his eyes and turned on his heels. "You didn't set the bar that high." He waved a hand over his shoulder as he turned the corner with a frown. Truthfully, he had no clue what Scott bought her, he just made an educated guess based on Scott and the fact that Logan believed he couldn't creatively buy a decent present, even if it jumped up and slapped him in the face.

Now he felt like he was in a foul mood, and that would clearly show on his face, Logan was really quite expressive and unfortunately when it came to negative emotions, they showed exceptionally well. He continued on before pausing at her door, he reached up to knock, looked at the bag and then just muttered to himself and hung the little bag on the handle. Scott's words shouldn't affect him, but he also had this weird little lingering thought of watching her question what she was opening.

Logan ran a hand down his face, "Screw this," he muttered to himself and practically stormed back to his room, a cigar was calling his name, and maybe a beer. He remembered this whole thing frighteningly well, maybe not frighteningly really considering it was a good memory to have come to mind. He'd been laying on his bed, hand behind his head and the other lifting a cigar to his lips, Charles hated him smoking in the school so to bypass and appease him a little, Logan had a window open, that'll do, right? But a knock on the door had his eyes looking towards it, not that he was looking at anything in particular, the ceiling wasn't all that interesting.

But he didn't answer, so the knock happened again, Logan wasn't feeling sociable now and shut his eyes, blowing out smoke and frowning when the knock now was appearing as a beat, a very rhythmic beat. "Logan, I know you're in there. I can smell the smoke and practically feel you brooding through the door." Thea sounded fed up, even a quiet sigh coming from her, she knocked again and Logan remained silent. "Bugger it, I'm coming in, regardless of if you're literally coming out the shower or something." She still sounded fed up, but she opened the door and peeked around it and looked warily around before noticing the dark-haired male laying stretched out on the bed, ankles crossed, hand with cigar between his fingers resting against his stomach, he'd at least looked her way and she grinned; whether that was because she was pleased, he was just there, and she hadn't caught him in a predicament.

Waltzing in, Thea kicked the door shut quietly behind herself and looked around, his room wasn't particularly tidy, clothes and bits strewn about, he had one of the bedside lamps on, but it was still sort of shadowed in here. "Are you literally brooding in a dark room?" Thea asked, her nose scrunching up when he exhaled more smoke.

"I'm thinking," Logan said while sitting up and pointing at the lamp, "There's a light on."

"Right," Thea laughed, she really appreciated him stating the obvious.

Cigar between his lips, he rubbed his hands together and nodded her way. "What's behind your back?" Her hands and arms were tucked behind herself and Logan felt like he already knew.

"This thing," Thea whipped the bag out from behind her back, she looked it over confused. "You know, I heard someone stop outside my door, and that person spoke and I could've sworn it sounded like you. I was marking work and was thinking why the hell didn't you just knock? To my surprise, I open the door and look what falls off! A bag! A suspiciously birthday present looking bag..." Thea said this all rather dramatically, waving the bag and pointing at it and looking from it to him, all the while Logan sat on his bed looking and watching, exhaling smoke and frowning, she was quite the storyteller.

"Yeah, definitely looks like a birthday present."

"Logan! You're not stupid, stop acting it. Why didn't you knock?" Thea despaired, she didn't like it when he played ignorant, he had a brain in his head and when he actually shockingly used it, he could come up with good ideas, and good conversations; he wasn't dumb, and it annoyed her that he was playing it.

"You don't like your birthday, I thought I'd just leave it-"

"That's bullshit, and you know it! You saw everyone bombard the hell outta me earlier, and you didn't join in? I mean I know you're not one for following the crowd, but seriously, Logan...ditch and run a present?"

Logan moved, pulling himself along the bed and throwing his legs over and looking up at her. He just looked at her with a rather disgruntled expression, Thea just stared at him blatantly; she didn't get what his issue was, Logan would like to say it wasn't Scott but also, Logan didn't do presents, there was something about giving Thea a present that, as odd as it might sound but it made sense to Logan, he just felt like it'd change something, he didn't know what, he was probably being presumptuous or was it hopeful?

When he didn't answer and just sat there looking at her, Thea groaned dramatically and hung her head, her features getting lost behind long dark purple hair. "You're bloody difficult sometimes, Logan. I do hope you realise this." She stated while pushing hair out of her face and pointing at him.

He shouldn't have found himself smirking, but he did. "One way to keep everyone on their toes."

"If that's what you're going with, fine." Thea walked over and just sat down next to him, reaching up though she pulled the cigar from his lips and reached over to balance it in the ashtray he had on the bedside table.

Logan just sat there, looking about and over to his now confiscated cigar, he was enjoying that. He had the bag put in his lap, and Thea looking at him blankly, her purple eyes flicked from him to it and then back again. He got the hint, letting out a low cough, he turned a little and held the bag out. "Here."

"Aw, Logan. You really shouldn't have, thank you so much!" Thea put on her best surprised voice, genuine smile on her face because she was finding his awkwardness really amusing. Logan fidgeted and was happy when she took the bag from his hand, he opted to straighten out his vest and pull imaginary dust from it than watch her open the bag. His eyes did hesitantly look up at her when she actually let out a surprised sound, this time not putting it on, she was actually surprised as she turned the items over in her hands.

"You bought me new gloves." Thea smiled up at him, she was different than Marie, who unfortunately couldn't touch people for very long, Thea wore her gloves whenever she went out to avoid people looking at the purple skin on her hands and forearms. Her eyes were usually hidden behind sunglasses.

"Yeah," Logan felt stupid saying that, but what else was he meant to say? They were gloves, definitely gloves; a soft white cotton but with a flowery lace overlay design.

"They're so pretty."

"They're gloves." Logan ran a hand through his dark hair, now he just looked at her oddly.

Thea rolled her eyes his way, "They're gloves you went out and saw, and looked at and thought I'd like, Logan. That means a lot, that's a thoughtful gift. Not saying others weren't thoughtful! But...this is truly the most thought out present I've received for a long time, thank you. Don't look like that! I'm being honest! Thank you, Logan." Thea gave his arm a playful whack when he scoffed and looked incredulous, he clearly thought she was pretending.

"You're welcome," he rested his forearms against his thighs and looked her way with a small smile gracing his face. He had to suffer Thea putting her gloves gently back into the bag and tapping him on the arm and gesturing with her hand, Logan just frowned, he at least half turned her way, one hand now clasping his knee as his other arm remained the same.

"You're so difficult!" Thea laughed and just swatted his arm away, Logan had no choice, here she came giving him a thankful hug, even if it was more her head resting against his shoulder, an arm around his back as her other wrapped around his stomach. "Thank you." She said quietly, Logan just rested his arm around her and leaned his head atop hers, that action seemingly had her arms tightening around him just a little bit more. Leaning her head away, she narrowed her eyes at something that was near a cabinet, "You have a mini-fridge in here?"

Logan let out a thoughtful noise before leaning away from her and looking its way, "Uh, yeah?" He had to think of more words to say then different versions of yes. But also, he wasted no time getting one, he thought the other adults present would have them too.

"Why?" Thea looked up at him with a thoughtful frown, her arms were still around him as she watched him look from her then to the fridge.

"Beer, and any other food. We live in a school, so there's no beer downstairs."

"You don't say? I didn't know we lived in a school! Check you out being a responsible adult and not allowing kids to underage drink." Thea was joking right back to his own sarcasm, Logan just looked at her with his own smirk while shaking his head.

"They'll do it regardless, I just rather they didn't drink my beer." Logan stated, kids would always do things they weren't meant to, but he stuck by it, they could do that just not with his alcohol. Patting her shoulder, Logan felt her let him go perhaps a little begrudgingly or that was just him imagining things, he stood and walked over to the fridge and leaned down to retrieve two beers from it. He easily twisted the tops off and held one out to her, alcohol didn't always make things better, but it could maybe soften the blow of her birthday just a little.

Thea paused drinking; Logan looked at her curiously when she just stood up. She nodded towards the door, peeking out and making sure no kids were around, she went off towards the nearest set of stairs that led up to the roof. As much as sitting having a drink in a room that smelt like cigar smoke was great, she'd also rather have a drink in fresh air. Logan just followed suit, he was less on guard than her, he didn't care if some kid caught him walking about, beer in hand, but she clearly did.

It was still warm, even with the time of evening that it was, summer heat still lingering and could be felt in the air even though the sky was darkened and pinprick white stars were starting to appear in the inky black above. Logan drunk from his beer bottle and watched her happily fly up and sit down on the brickwork that ran around the roof, the little wall acted as a good leaning position for him before joining her in climbing on and sitting down too. She smiled and was actually wondering when he'd cave and just sit, silently drinking and looking up and around the grounds of the school; it wasn't like if either accidentally fell it would do much, she'd fly and the landing would hurt him, sure, but he'd just spring back up and heal.

"That mini-fridge is a good idea."

"See, I do have them, sometimes." Logan toasted his bottle to hers; Thea clinked her bottle against his and looked at him plainly. She wasn't even going to berate him for playing stupid again, she just drunk her beer and sighed slowly, she'd much rather have had a chilled day to herself then work, as anyone else surely would feel the same? Logan didn't like the almost wistful sigh that came from her, "What is it?" She was bad at acting, or rather maybe just to him he could see when she was faking.

"Do you know, I actually don't know if today is my birthday." Thea said while looking at him with a sad smile, Logan looked confused. "I was given this day, because my mother actually couldn't remember the date. Even then, it wasn't her that made this day as my birthday."

"That's why you hate your birthday?" Logan asked, he could get it if that was the reason.

"Hm, in a way, yes." Thea said, Logan could see unresolved resentment from a mile off, but he wouldn't press her for details; she had never pressed him when he had lapses down possible memory lane but then those moments were fleeting and he couldn't recall much. He certainly wouldn't do the same to her. With a sigh, she slouched and slipped forwards, turning in the air she looked back at him, she certainly didn't foresee spending the latter part of her birthday out here with him for company, but she wasn't complaining.

"Why are we out here?" Logan wasn't unhappy about leaving his room, but he didn't get the same allure to being out like she did.

"Your room stinks, Logan." Thea said with a quick tilt of her head and a grin. "I don't mind you smoking, but also it's my birthday and I wanted to at least get out for some of it, and you were willing company so..."

"Oh, now it's your birthday, huh? You've spent all day hating that fact, but if and when it suits you, it's your birthday." Logan joked, pointing his bottle her way and chuckling to himself as he drunk from it, her expression went blank before she let out a quiet laugh.

"I can be a hypocrite."

"I don't think so," Logan said before his brain really registered, he'd blurted that out. He'd seen hypocrites, her teasing and joking here wasn't anything like any other hypocritical thing he'd done himself, or seen others do.

"Well, that's very kind of you." Thea smiled, finding his slightly wide eyed expression amusing. She didn't know if it was a compliment, but she was taking it and that just had Logan looking at her with even slightly wider eyes.

"I was being honest."

"I know." Thea smiled again; she didn't mean for her previous words to sound a little joking. Logan just looked too serious for the moment at hand, she inhaled slowly and drunk some of her beer. Something felt odd, different, a slightly heavy feeling that made her feel weird; his honest compliment and her just made her feel strange, she didn't often get compliments so she'd never imagine in a million years to ever get one from Logan.

Watching the process of her thinking and reacting was amusing to him, even if Logan kept his expression completely neutral. He had to give her credit for trying to be unaffected, but even before coming out here, her little rosy cheeks from his present weren't missed; heightened senses, he couldn't miss much, her heart rate spiking sure as sure could be thundered a lot in his ears when she sat there holding him too.

He drunk slowly from his bottle, it had been a slow thing, them skirting a little around each other, joking and teasing aside, ultimately Logan could say Thea was one person here he had got really close to. He had tried shooting his shot with Jean, she'd irrefutably denied anything ever happening, that wasn't to suggest Thea was second best! No, definitely not, never, more...once pulling her out from the background, where she was clearly happy, Logan actually got along with her more than he ever expected. That also wasn't to say he thought they wouldn't gel; Logan did have a way of rubbing people up the wrong way.

She responded to any sarcasm with dry wit, or she just shot him down with logic that had him pausing for thought, she also was quite calming, probably because her general disposition was relaxed most of the time unless she was riled up, which Logan hadn't ever truly seen, control seemed paramount, and he just mused it was because of her powers and the danger potential there.

When exactly it clicked in Logan's mind that he may have a little infatuation towards Alethea Finch, he didn't know, but he did know if there was any snippets of time they had together, he treasured and held close; his life had been chaos and confusion, missing memories and black spots, but her, in all her calming, controlled, funny and witty, joking and sarcastic ways were a fixture, a warming, comforting fixture in his life that he would like to seek out more if he could.

Would a leap of faith truly be that bad? The worst was rejection, Logan was painfully used to that, too used to it than he should be. It would hurt, of course it would, but he would always respect someone's decision. The fact he let out a low, confused but thoughtful noise with an equally thoughtful expression had Thea looking his way weirdly, Logan muttered to himself, put his beer on the wall beside him and held out his hand.

Not really understanding what was going on, Thea reached out and let out a surprised noise when he tugged her forwards gently; being in the air there was no resistance, and even less resistance when she came to rest between his legs with his arms around her and her head nestled against the crook of his neck. Blinking a little confusedly, Thea didn't quite get where this was all coming from, but she shut her eyes and wrapped her arms around him, free hug from Logan on his own free will, who was she to say no? He was very warm, she felt him rest his chin on top of her hair and a slow sigh came from him, she heard the air inhale and exhale along with feel his steady heartbeat against her chest.

Feeling pressure against her hair, Thea's brain took longer than it should to realise he had kissed her gently, lingering a little for a few minutes before leaning back. Thea's eyes stared at the wall running around this part of the roof, his forgotten beer bottle, hers resting next to it before blinking slowly and looking up at him. She minutely lifted her head to look at his face, and she eventually leaned away and looked over the earnest expression on Logan's face. She didn't think she'd seen him look such a way, let alone at her.

His hands rested against her waist, the warmth of her could easily be felt through the overly baggy t-shirt she had opted to change into after finishing her day of teaching. Her own hands lifted up and came to rest against his jaw, her fingers trailing through the facial hair there as they just exchanged a look, Logan leaned forwards, closing the little gap between them and rested his forehead against hers.

It took barely a few more seconds before he brushed his nose against hers and encouraged her to lift her face just a little more, a hand left her waist and cupped her face to bring her close, whatever space that was between them was gone the moment Logan pressed his lips to Thea's. She didn't push him away, her fingers trailed over his jawline before her arms wrapped loosely around his neck, she still hung there in the air with an arm around her waist as his other hand buried itself loosely into her hair.

Something impacted against Logan's head, he felt the dull ache and found himself frowning in this moment before hearing a familiar voice speak out; "Sorry! Sorry...who just hit their head?" Even as the last vestiges of remembering this moment left his mind, Logan realised it was Charles talking. He grumbled, quite audibly and irritably just to make it known it was him that had suddenly found himself with his head smacking the glass of the window in the car.

He swore, if there was something he'd do, he'd show Charles how to properly drive a damn car. Charles needed a refresher; Logan didn't mind bluntly being that refresher. His eyes opened behind his dark glasses and a hand rubbed at the spot that impacted against the window. "What are you braking so hard for now?" Logan's voice was low, still ticked off sounding but also confused.

"Ah! Well, it seems like whoever had this car last didn't do the decent thing of filling it back up before returning it." Charles explained, Logan even saw him pat the dashboard as if to pity the car being bereft of fuel. He just sighed heavily, not wishing to comment he just waited for Charles to continue. "Sorry, I know a service station is perhaps not preferable, but I'd also find breaking down in general not preferable."

"Makes sense," Logan had to agree, breaking down halfway through the journey wasn't exactly ideal. He had zero clue when he himself went to sleep, the silence of the car just lulled him and he was gone before he knew it. Looking to the side, he wasn't at all surprised to see Alethea had almost folded in on herself as she continued to sleep sitting sidewards, Logan couldn't help but sigh, that could not be comfortable even if his head was still trying to chase the lingering memory he just had in his sleep. "I'll wake Thea," Logan said it only to go wide eyed when Charles exclaimed suddenly.

"Oh, no! No, don't. Don't do that. Sorry to shout, my friend but she...does not do well with being woken up." Charles waved a hand over his shoulder as he indicated to turn into the station that was coming up. He waved Hank away when he was going to reach over and balance the steering wheel, Charles and his flippant driving was clearly doing him in too.

Logan looked from Alethea, to Charles, or at least the back of his head. "She's like human origami back here, I think waking her now will be doing her a favour." He stated, literally if she curled up anymore, she would find her head in his lap and be in a little ball, as is he managed to get his hand free of her grasp and was going to place a hand to her shoulder.

Charles let out a confused noise, it sounded almost like a whine. "If you get energy thrown at you, and you go sailing out the door, I will laugh."

"Will that happen? Wait...does she do that?" Logan paused, reassessing the situation here, he really didn't want to get accidentally attacked, let alone get shot through a car door.

"It's a risk," Charles stated while managing to pull up to a pump, he turned in his seat and even double took. "Bloody hell, how'd she get like that?" He didn't quite believe Logan, he thought he was being dramatic with how his sister was sleeping, but no, Logan was being honest; Alethea's legs, well, one of them was still tucked underneath her and the other was stretched in the footwell, her body had turned to sit sidewards, her arms splayed out across the cushion between herself and Logan as her upper body had literally slid down her seat in travel and she was very close to leaning either on the cushion with her hands, or on Logan.

Logan just pulled his glasses down and looked at Charles like he'd just come to some great realisation. "I told you."

"It is quite like human origami, you are right. Well, allow me." Charles would feel bad if their new friend got hurt because he dared to wake her up. Arguably yes, she would definitely do more damage to Charles than Logan if her powers did spark up. But anyway, Charles exited the car, he walked around to her side, and opened the door hesitantly, he placed a hand on her shoulder and even his expression was tense. "Alethea, it's time to wake up." He was gentle, very softly spoken as her eyes squeezed shut.

Logan just sat watching, the gently-gently approach wasn't working. Reaching forwards, he rather unceremoniously poked a finger to her forehead and pushed, her sleeping body did lift up from the action, if only a little did she slide back up her seat. "Wake up and go stretch your legs." Charles waved his hands, trying to dissuade Logan's blunt ways, but too late, with a sudden jerk she smacked Logan's hand away, a burn appearing on his skin as she sat bolt upright, deer in the headlights look plastered all over her face.

"Did we arrive?" She asked, oblivious before looking at Logan. "I am so sorry!" She slapped her hands to her cheeks and leaned forwards.

"No," Charles leaned out of the car and rested his arm on the roof. "We need fuel."

Alethea looked away from Logan's healing palm and peeked her head out with a smile. "Snacks?"

"Fuel!" Charles laughed, he shouldn't find her determination to get travel snacks funny, but it was. They had thwarted her last time, but she was certainly determined as she climbed out of the car, placing her glasses on her face as she stretched and clicked several joints with very loud pops before trotting off with her hands shoving some money in her pockets as she did so. Watching as Hank and Logan exited the car, Charles just patted the roof and took to walking to the pump.

Both went and entered the station too, they didn't stick with each other and Logan wound up finding Alethea looking over an aisle of sweets, shaking his head and pinching the bridge of his nose, he took a packet from her hand and looked it over. "At least it isn't biscuits." She joked considering that's what he took last time from her.

"I think they'd be safer than these." Logan shook the packet; she stuck her tongue out between her teeth and just stood there goofily grinning his way. Shaking his head with a dry laugh, he put them in her hand. "If I have to listen to Charles complain about you being hyper, it's all on you."

Alethea rolled her eyes, "I'm not your responsibility to keep an eye on, Logan. Plus, you're the one who'd suffer, you're sitting in the back with me."

He laughed and held his hands up, "Didn't you hear? I'm taking over driving, so you'll have Charles." He was joking, no such plan had happened, but he watched her expression dwindle from enjoying the joking to actually looking disheartened. Logan took his sunglasses off and hooked them into his vest, he hadn't buttoned his dark shirt all the way up and eventually crossed his arms. "I'm not taking over driving, Thea. I think we'd have to pry Charles out of the driver's seat."

"Oh, good." She brightened up and smiled his way before turning on her heels and looking over something else.

Logan followed after her, he wasn't even going to ask why she saw this as good; was it wrong of him to say it's because she enjoyed his company, even if all she did was sleep? "We shouldn't be too far out now, so I wouldn't go overboard again." Logan had to state as a few packets were picked up and looked over, she was really assessing them with something akin to scowl, she was judging which was worthy to get bought, clearly.

Alethea sighed heavily, "Fine." Deciding on the sweets Logan gave back to her, and something else she moved towards the cashier. "Want anything?" She asked, only to frown at him when he made a beeline for some cigars in a cylindrical case on the counter. Puffing out her cheeks, she exhaled slowly and dramatically. "I meant food, Logan!"

"You should've specified." He commented with a shrug and gestured for her to pop her items down, she mumbled and grumbled, but ended up paying and looking about, Hank had been and gone and Charles came in to pay for the fuel, he did eye up what was in her hands. Alethea pointed at Logan when Charles was going to say something about the cigars, last time he checked his sister didn't smoke...

They exited the building, Alethea opened her sweets and popped one in her mouth before her eyes widened and she put her hands on Logan's shoulders and shoved him to the side. "Don't light it up near the pumps!" She despaired and looked at Logan like he'd grown another head, he was just idly lighting the cigar between his lips with a match from the box they'd bought too. "Only because you heal fast, doesn't mean others do."

"You make it sound like I'm going to throw a lit match," Logan wasn't that stupid. He was almost successful in lighting his cigar but thanks to Alethea, the thing had gone out and he looked absolutely put out by that as he looked at the unlit cigar now back in his hand. The others he stashed in the inside of his jacket, along with the matches.

Pouting and putting her items in his hands, Logan just opened his mouth to ask where she was going before, he shut his mouth and just looked up at the sky for inspiration, or something. She had spotted the toilets, enough said, she was gone and left him holding her things, charming. Noticing Charles, Logan managed to put his almost lit cigar in his pocket and held her things with one hand, the other slid into his jean pockets. "All good?" He asked, seeing Charles eye the packet he held it out, Charles winced at the overly sugary sweet but nodded.

"We should be another hour, if that. Sorry about stopping, I know you wanted to get there as quickly as possible." Charles said while readjusting his sunglasses and looking about. They didn't look remotely odd just standing there having a chat while clearly waiting for Alethea to reappear. Luckily the pumps weren't overly busy so there wasn't a queue growing where Charles had parked.

Logan nodded slowly, seems Charles was slowly levelling out, or he had sobered up enough to come to the realisation that this was happening anyway, whether he was out of it or not; or perish the thought, he might actually be enjoying Logan's company too. "It couldn't be helped, as you said, the alternative was breaking down..." Logan was going to say more but trailed off when the pair heard female shouts and something sounding like it definitely broke in the toilets.

Two women practically ran out of the toilets, climbed into their car and sped off like the devil was chasing them. The door got begrudgingly kicked open and out trudged Alethea looking like she'd just had the worst news of her life told to her, her expression was truly stormy, it wasn't just stormy, she was pissed off. There was a distinct difference, she was angry. Charles was instantly running towards her, even Hank climbed back out of the car looking around confused, he saw how the females ran and his friends expression wasn't reassuring. Logan just looked around before holding out her snacks, Alethea looked dismally at them but took them and went off to the car silently.

"What did she say?" Logan asked Charles, he hadn't seen her ever look like that, even the version of her he knew, it was sad, she looked sad.

Charles looked from his sister climbing into the car to Logan, "I think they commented about her hands, and kept on, think one even made a joke about finding some bleach."

"She wouldn't...?" Logan asked hesitantly, leaving the question hanging.

Charles tilted his head, he looked a little sadly up at Logan, "Unfortunately, she's already tried. Not before her mother did it first, erm...I shouldn't say anymore, it's a horrid subject that hangs over her. Her and Raven both had image issues, it was hard to watch, I couldn't relate and I hated that I couldn't...but they are both beautiful, and I love them as they are; how could I not, they're my sisters."

"Sometimes, despite of what others say, it doesn't make a difference." Logan said lowly and looking at the car, he could see Hank turn in his seat to try and talk to her but all she did was stare down at her lap with her head leaning against the window. Hank looked their way and shook his head, Logan sighed and patted Charles on the shoulder, "Come on," this was a big issue, one that Logan may not have the gentle tact to deal with. "What did you break?" He asked once back in the car, Charles shot him a quick look before starting the car, Hank looked startled, he didn't know she broke something.

"I tried to hit one with a door." Alethea blinked slowly and looked sidelong at him, Logan didn't quite like the fact that her eyes looked almost black; her glasses were being played with in her hands. "It doesn't take much to stick a charge through it, hinges are very easy to break. I missed; they ran."

Logan sat there silently, he was expecting something casual, not her blatantly admitting to trying to hurt someone, Charles sighed, "Alethea," he said her full name, that had her frowning, showing that she wasn't ready to be patronised.

Well, all Logan had in mind was he could see why Erik could or would try and encourage her to follow him, if she quite easily could hurt two random women for a few offhanded comments, what was the difference between this and the rest of humanity? Shaking his head, Logan turned in his seat and looked at her. "Are you really gonna give a damn about what two random women say to you in some shit stain of a service station?" The slow turn of her head and her eyes staring at him signalled it enough, Logan had zero tact for this. He scoffed out a laugh and shook his head, "There's nothing wrong with you, at all; people's comments that you're never gonna meet again shouldn't matter. The minority doesn't make the majority, Thea." Logan said seriously enough, hoping to drive it into her head, she was perfect as she was, maybe she could cut down on the apparent anger that could easily come from nowhere, but she was still fine. Now Logan knew why the woman he knew was always so controlled, because, well, it didn't take much to set her off, did it?

"Only because in your time you had some semblance of peace with humans, doesn't mean we do. Logan, you're here to stop them making a weapon to kill us. Tolerance doesn't mean acceptance, and people will never truly accept things they don't understand, or are scared of." Alethea said while popping a sweet into her mouth and looking out the window, she was getting fed up of his imploring expression to listen to his words and take solace in them. Well, she had a counterargument for that right there, a war and death of many mutants. "Words can hurt, no matter how used to them you are, it doesn't matter, it all winds up having the same effect."

"Which is what? You trying to hit people with doors?" Logan raised an eyebrow at that, she must go through a lot of doors, maybe she even branches out to tables and chairs?

Hitting her head against the headrest, Alethea just laughed cynically. "You're missing the point again, Logan. I know what I did was wrong, and I know Charles taught me better, but people are really irritating sometimes, and mean. Is it so wrong to think that yeah, sure, here's the reason why you should be wary."

"It's thinking like that which makes them turn against us." Charles shook his head, a sad sigh coming from him. He never wanted to fight with people, he wanted to get along with humans, he had hoped one day he could have both mutants and humans in his school.

Alethea scrunched her nose up as her eyes squeezed shut. "Yeah, I know, I am sorry. But they were really very rude!" Alethea threw her arms in the air and exclaimed irritably. "They said I must've had more paint on myself than the wall. And the other made a comment on how nail varnish is only meant to be on my nails. They made other comments but eh..." Alethea shuddered and pulled a face while waving her hands in the air, as if that would rid her of any bad emotions she was feeling.

"If it makes you feel any better, one almost tripped on the way to the car."

"Hank!" Charles shot him a look when he just came out with this bluntly, his eyes looking back at the map and just throwing this comment out casually.

Alethea let out a laugh and put her hands over her face, she was at least trying to keep the laughter quiet and within, but she failed. "Okay, yeah, I'll take that."

"You can be scary," Hank said while looking over his shoulder and smiling, he didn't blame the women for running like they were in a marathon. "You go full on blank mode, it's creepy."

"Do I scare you, Hank?" Alethea leaned forwards with a coy smile.

"No, because I know what you're like." Hank rolled his eyes and turned to look forwards again.

Leaning back into her seat, she looked out the window and ate another sweet before feeling a hand against her arm, she looked over at Logan, he still looked at her with a little concern lingering in his eyes. "You good?" He asked quietly, the pair looked to Hank and Charles when they bickered over a turning.

"Mmhmm, sorry...if I was rude, Logan. You didn't deserve me lashing out at you."

"Look, I completely get it. Are you good though?" He didn't care about her rant, well he did, but he could take it, it wasn't the worst thing to come his way, nor did she mean any of it, he could tell in her voice there was zero conviction; she didn't want to hurt him, she was just saying stuff she thought would hit a nerve.

Alethea nodded and smiled at him, "Don't worry about me, honestly, I'm good. I just had a moment."

"Don't worry about...yeah, not sure how I'm meant to not do that, Thea." Logan said honestly, raising an eyebrow, it was increasingly hard not to worry about her, all things considering.

"I'm not your responsibility, remember?" Alethea smiled gently and ate another sweet, she did offer him one and wasn't surprised to see him look at the packet like he wanted it to burst into flames. That was one way to decline a sweet, she laughed, he could've just said no.

He looked at her long and hard, Logan just shook his head slowly, Alethea's smile dropped and she looked at him worriedly, his expression was concerning to her just because of how distant it was, a blankness like he was just trying to process something as his eyes looked her over. "You may not feel like that, but I do." He had to be honest, he felt a certain level of responsibility for her, he just did, how could he not? There was an underlining level of care, that no matter what time, or timeline, Logan knew sure as the sky is blue, that that would never, ever go away.

It was her turn to look at him like he looked at her moments ago, a breathless sigh slowly coming from her as they just sat there looking at each other, a level of understanding seemingly settling in and before she could say anything else, Charles piped up, "I don't know what you're whispering about back there, but care to share?"

"Logan thinks sugar is the root of all evil and that if I have any more, I am going to be buzzing about back here like the Duracell Bunny." Alethea said while slowly looking away from Logan and coming out with this lie as easy as anything, Logan just sat back up straight and looked her way, she was very quick with her response, he had to give credit there.

Charles laughed, "Yeah, well, I feel like he isn't wrong." He actually agreed there, she did like sugary things too much but it wasn't like he was in anyway able to tell her to back off considering his recent addiction issues.

Charles concentrated back on driving, he was ignorant to the look which was shared by the passengers on the back seat, there was something unresolved that needed to be spoken about when there was a suitable time, but for the moment an impasse of acceptance, Logan would constantly look out for Alethea, because of loyalty and lingering love for the woman he knew, and she'd accept that, even if she wasn't wholly sure she knew how to feel about it, she just didn't want him accidentally blurring lines and imprinting.

She remembered full well the expression he wore when he clocked sight of her for the first time, the haunted look of seeing someone that was unexpected, but the instant relief that also flooded his eyes wasn't missed either. Don't get her wrong, Logan was a good looking guy, his blunt sarcasm probably shouldn't amuse her as much as it did, but it really did. She may not wholly know much about him, being on the short end of the stick here, him already knowing a version of her even with little snippets of information missing, but she did enjoy his company.

There was something about him that felt safe, comforting, even though it wasn't easily missed that he had an attitude and could probably be quite dangerous if the moment called for it. After all, he said it himself, he'd been in every war this country had been in, to survive that regardless of healing, he had to be good at fighting.

Alethea popped another sweet in her mouth, even as Logan shook his head and slipped his sunglasses back on, she just smiled brightly only to reach across while saying his name despairingly. "You can't smoke in here, it's a rental!" She was deterring him from lighting that damn cigar again, she did it earlier for their own good, not that she didn't trust him, she did, but smoking near pumps of fuel was just stupid.

"Listen, sweetheart, I don't stop you eating them, so quit stopping me." Logan said while catching a hold of her hand and holding onto it, hell no was she taking his cigar from him. Even if he had another two in his jacket pocket, not the point, just no. He felt he had a point, those sweets were arguably just as bad as his cigar was for him, but he didn't stop her because she enjoyed them, he needed to decompress so much, and smoking was a good fix, a beer would be good, but there was none here in the car.

"She is right though, Logan. Sorry, but you'll have to wait until we get to Peter's." Charles called over his shoulder and heard the irritated sigh come from the man behind him, perhaps sigh was generous, it was more like a very pissed off sounding growl.

Alethea sent him a triumphant look, "You win this round," Logan pointed her way and stashed his cigar again, he crossed his arms, frowning out the window and glaring at anything that passed before hearing a rustle. His narrowed eyes were sent at the sweet packet then, even if the look lessened because of her looking actually apologetic. As far as peace offerings went, it was a horribly sugary one, but Logan took it anyway and got another happy smile for his troubles.

—

(A/N: Haha, I actually didn't know until Googling to check stuff, but the Duracell Bunny actually came to exist in 1973 when DoFP is set, and the little critter was meant to be a throw away, one-time thing...idk why, but it's amused me - blame being tired from work, literally, I have a festival to work over the weekend, I will be done in. I am also unsure about updating next week because of work and a few holiday days. But I'll try where I can, thought I'd let you all know now that if I disappear possibly for a week, it's because of that not me abandoning this. Just be patient my schedule is literally all over the place.)