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[b]Xavier's School for Gifted Youths
Westchester County, NY[/b]

Logan leaned against a tree, looking over the school grounds as he smoked his cigar. This was the closest the Professor would let him smoke, but he liked it out here. It was peaceful, and he could watch over the kids just fine from back here. Logan saw it as watching over his flock. If the old Logan could see him now, he'd probably have plenty of things to say to the current Wolverine. But Logan was happy. He finally had a family again, and this one he'd protect until it killed him. The mistakes of the past still weighed heavy on his mind, but he was working on making up for it.

"You know that's bad for you, right?" Jean's voice announced herself as she climbed up the hill Logan was perched on. She had grown into such an outstanding young woman that Logan often had to catch himself from beaming at her. He knew it embarrassed her. But he considered her her daughter, and she considered him her father. It was his job to embarrass her.

"Kid," he sighed, "I've been smokin' 'em for over a hundred years. If they were gunna kill me, they would have."

"Yea, well, Professor X says you set a bad example of the kids," Jean took a seat next to him. "They all think it looks cool."

"Anything I do looks cool. I can't help it," he chuckled gruffly.

The next few moments go by without a sound, other than the breeze running through the tree on the hill. Sometimes Logan wished he was the one that could read minds, especially when it came to Jean. She hadn't been herself for months, ever since Scott jumped ship. Summers was always sketchy, or at least Logan always thought he was. But even Wolverine was surprised when he turned and went with Magnero. Just thinking about it almost made his claws pop. Jean took it even harder, though. The two of them were close, too close. She still believed Summers could be saved and brought back. It was naive, Logan thought, but who was he to crush her hopes. 

He just wished he could make it easier for her someway.

"So how are classes going?" he finally tried to break the silence. She was taking graduate level courses through the school and online, hoping to become a lawyer. 

She looked at him with a funny, "You're a teacher. You talk to the Professor every day. You know how I'm doing."

"I wanted to hear it from you," he shrugged.

"I'm doing fine," she responded nonchalantly. "It would help if we weren't flying all over the world trying to stop supervillains."

"Well, that's the life we lead," he said. The X-Men had been abnormally busy since the return of the Brotherhood, not to mention the Purifiers coming after mutants yet again. Their people were under more fire than they had ever been before, but Logan and his team were there to protect them. Half the team was still incredibly green, but they were doing their best. 

"You ever think we won't have to fight again?" Jean asked, putting her head on his shoulder. He never realized how fights weighed on those that weren't born into a life of conflict. Jean was never meant for this life like he was. The question was one he didn't know how to answer. Wolverine was a fighter. He was a warrior. He had killed more people than Jean had probably ever met. There probably wasn't going to be a time where he wasn't fighting. But he hoped there was sometime she wouldn't be.

"I hope so, Red," he comforted her. "I hope so."

That hope was for her, of course. He held none for himself.