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CHAPTER 42

Thanks to the approaching winter, dusk had swallowed the last sun rays hours ago and now it was bed time for the younger students. Kitty and Pete – like all other senior students – had the job to make sure everyone of the younger children was in their beds while their teachers were on a mission.

"I'm gonna check on Chris in half an hour again." Colossus saw Kitty's inquiring gaze. "He's playing GameBoy and promised me to call it a night once he reached the next saving point."

When they entered the rec room they found Rogue zapping through the channels while Becca slept on her lap and Jubilee stretched lazily on the couch next to the young mother. "Gee, chica, will you finally decide?" The Asian groaned frustrated. "Hey, let's watch this!"

Rogue faced her with an eyebrow arched in disbelief while simply switching to another program. "Big Brother? Ya ain't serious, Jubes?"

"Or do you prefer 'X-Factor' or that 'Next Top-Model'-crap?"

"Are ya nuts? Ah would rather look those reportages about 'how they built a skyscraper in China' than that reality shit."

"True… What's on Discovery Channel?"

A few minutes later the teenagers heard the basketball court roll to the sides, making space for the descending Blackbird. Marie had been antsy the entire evening and now the nagging feeling reached its peak as they saw the professor vanish in the secret elevator. It wasn't unusual for Xavier to welcome his X-Men back from a mission, but still the brunette placed her sleeping baby in her carrier and stood up. "Something's wrong. Ah feel it."

"Where are you going, chica?" Jubilee asked startled while chewing on popcorn.

"Down to the hangar."

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Marie had waited a quarter hour in front of the showers only to be informed by Scott that everyone else was in the infirmary, to which he would return now. Instantly a sickening knot formed in her stomach, but her teacher reassured her that no one was harmed. Against Scott's instruction, Marie insisted to accompany him and so they entered the small lab adjoining the examination room, just as Jean starred at a print-out in utter disbelief. "These DNA results are unbelievable."

Logan stood in front of the large one-sided mirror that separated the two rooms and looked like mesmerized at the unconscious girl perched on a medical table. With a whiff of the air he had registered the arrival of his mate and daughter, but the tortured man and the overprotective animal in him made him center his whole attention on the one question that had crowed his mind the whole flight back. "What do they say, Red? Is she my kid?" From the corner of his eyes he saw his mate stiffen at his words, before she placed the sleeping Becca on a sideboard and approached the observation place apprehensively.

The beast in him had already confirmed his suspicion that the child was his, but Logan needed to hear it. He had to take care of his violated kit now- help her heal from the horrors of the lab – his explaining to Marie would have to wait for the moment – as had his boiling anger. Eventually Logan turned around.

"She's much more than just your child, Logan." Jean finally tore her gaze away from the readings and met the feral's eyes. "To about 90% she IS you."

"Huh? Whadya mean?" 'What did those bastards do to me… to her?'

The redhead looked from one of her teammates to the others. "This is impossible on any natural way. This child has two times the exact same X-chromosome. I ran the DNA sequencing two times to make sure."

"So she's what? My female clone?" His statement surprised everybody. He didn't even follow the doctor's explanation, but also draw the right conclusion.

The doctor was a little taken aback by his correct summary. "Umm, well, yes."

Logan crossed his arms over his chest and he demanded in his gruff manner. "Thought the sense of cloning is to have an exact copy of the original. So what 'bout the 10%?"

Jean saw all eyes center on her, silently asking the same question. "Some of the alternations concern the so called junk-DNA-sequences, eliminating them in some regions of her genome. Others were made to the X-Factor-Gene itself. I assume to amplify its expression."

"To make her heal even faster?" Logan asked with a hitched brow and earned another startled and puzzled view from his fellow X-Men. 'Now they finally get I'm not as dumb as they thought me to be…'

"This was also the first thing to come to my mind." Jean finally brought out. "But it isn't said that they were successful. Concerning her identical X-chromosomes I think there are only two possible explanations for that. One would be that they wanted specifically to create a female clone or that the sample they had from you, Logan, was damaged and they had no other choice."

Silence had befallen the group and everyone observed the little girl sleeping in the sterile room. Scott knew that they wouldn't send that child away – that would be against their ideals – but he had to know his mentor's decision on the matter. "What will we do with her now?" His gaze switched to the old man. "They will surely search for her."

But Logan beat Xavier to answer that question. "I'll keep 'er." He said with determination, his eyes never leaving the little girl's form.

"Logan?" Inquired the professor. It was moments like these that tempted the telepath to access another human's mind without their consents and to sate his curiosity.

"I'm the closest thing to a family she has. I can protect her." He wouldn't let anyone be subjected to the same painful experiments he barely remembered and especially not an innocent child. His child. His heart constricted at the thought that his sweet little Becca would have been in that lab. He would rather die than let that happen.

Xavier steered his wheelchair closer to the feral man. "What are you going to tell her?"

"Well…" Logan's gaze switched to the older man for a moment, then back to the unconscious child. "That she's my daughter." After a moment he turned around slowly and his dark eyes made contact with everyone of his friends. "What she really is will never leave this room, you hear. She'll never learn of this crap."

"Whatchaya gonna tell her when she asks about her mother? Or any of the other students for that matter?" Scott was surprised how easily the feral – the former loner – had adapted to the new situation. On the other hand this wasn't the first kid to be dropped into the man's lap out of the blue. "Tell them she has none or that you're also her mom?"

Logan's death-glare and snarl hushed the other man at once. "Listen, bub, and listen good. I rather have her live in the belief she is the outcome of an one-night-stand than a military experiment to create the perfect weapon!"

The tension was thick, yet Marie was kinda relieved about the revelation about the girl's origin – not that she was fond of the idea of having the man she loved cloned and the resulting child being tested on like a lab rat –but this background information evaporated all doubts about the way she might stood to the little girl. The brunette faced her mate, who was still furious about Scott's statement. "Ya know ya have a thing for fathering children without consummating the act." She saw the shocked expressions of the other adults sending her looks of are-you-nuts-to-anger-him-further. But Rogue stayed unfazed by this and stepped closer to Logan.

The Canadian chuckled on his mate's attempt to lighten his mood. The girl knew him too well. "Then it's a good thing I never stopped during a fuck, 'cept the one time with you, Kid, huh?" He sent her a wolfish grin and she snickered about his comment.

The horrified looks the others threw Logan at his words and then the confused gazes they sent her way when she only laughed were just too precious. Did they indeed think her so oblivious to Logan's former lifestyle?

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They waited a few minutes after the girl had woken up – giving her time to take in her new surroundings and to observe her reaction. The child was obviously troubled by her unknown whereabouts, but to their astonishment she didn't cry, nor did she sate her curiosity and explore the room – the girl simply sat with wide eyes on the bed, waiting for someone – anyone - to tell her what to do next.

When the door slid apart and revealed Wolverine and Rogue, the girl's gaze immediately centered on them – showing no emotions, but Logan's sensitive senses told him that a scared child sat before him. He slowly closed the distance and sank down on the chair next to the bed with a small smile on his lips. "Hey, kid, how are you?" His voice was calm and not so gruff as usually.

The girl looked quickly over to the young woman that rounded the bed and stopped a safe distance away, before her eyes returned to the man she vaguely recognized as the one carrying her away from her room. "Who are you, sir?"

Logan observed the little girl with a smile. 'She has courage.' "I'm your dad."

"Okay." The little brunette nodded in acknowledgment, but the man's calm demeanor made her bolder and so her small forehead wrinkled in a frown. "What is that, a 'dad'?"

Logan's eyebrow shot upwards. 'Did she really ask that?' "Huh? Umm, well… I'm gonna take care of you from now on." He hoped this answer would satisfy the child. "What's your name, kid?"

"X-23, sir." She answered right on cue.

Logan frowned and traded a worried gaze with his mate. "That's not a nice name, kid. How about we give you a new one that fits you better?" She only nodded and he thought about the names Marie had mentioned while naming Becca. Though most of them Rogue had hated or he didn't like. "How 'bout Laura?" He saw Marie flash him a knowing and approving smile.

"Laura?" the girl echoed – unsure what to think about that word or name and what the man might want to hear.

"You like it, kid?"

The small brunette nodded tentatively and added a "Laura sounds nice." as she saw that this was the answer the man had wanted to hear.

X X X X X

After Marie had introduced herself as Rogue, Logan had helped Laura down from the bed and led the two girls back into the observation-room where the professor talked to her in his calming voice – telling the child that no harm would come about her in his school. Soon Laura's trust grew and she dared to ask questions about her surroundings – to everyone's surprise common things had caught the girl's interest – like a flower and the vase on Jean's desk or the professor's wheelchair.

Xavier smiled at the small girl – hiding his concern, which he shared with everyone else. "It was a long day, I believe you must be hungry." He watched the toddler look up from the golden picture frame, she was inspecting, and nod. "Then I suggest your daddy will show you the kitchen." His gaze swapped briefly to Logan 'You should introduce her slowly to the school and a normal life, Logan. She's curios, but all the new impressions might overwhelm her.' and then back to Laura.

"Sounds like a plan, Chuck." The feral nodded and held his hand towards his clone. The child stared at the offered hand rather clueless and made Logan sigh and grasp her small hand. Before the Canadian approached the door, he sent his mate a long gaze, telling her silently to come with him and help him – he needed her calming presence and scent with him.

Marie hadn't anything else in mind than to be there for her love and the little girl, but this small gesture of the man she loved to include her made her heart swell with happiness. She fetched the baby seat and carefully sat it with its passenger in front of Laura while kneeling down with a soft smile on her lips. "This is Becca. She's mah daughter." The risk was too big that Laura would accidentally tell someone that Logan was also Becca's father, so Marie thought it best to leave out this little detail – for now.

The toddler stared unsure down on the sleeping infant, not sure what to think about the tiny creature. After a moment of scrutinizing she reached out and run her index-finger over Becca's hand. "So small."

"She's a baby and will grow, Laura." From the corner of her eyes Marie saw the grins form on the adults' features. "Not too long ago, ya were also so little like she is now."

This made Laura look up and meet the teenager's gaze, shaking her head. "No, I was no baby."

"Sure, kiddo, sure." Logan laughed about the determination in his older child's face and began leading her out of the room and down the corridor with a giggling Marie on his heels. "So, what do you wanna eat?"

"I don't know, sir."

'Sir? She's still half a baby and not in the damn military... those bastards!' The hilarity vanished from the mutant's face, but he suppressed the growl that was forming in his chest.

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Marie had thought their way to the kitchen would take at least half an hour, considering the way the little girl had inspected the lab, but to her surprise Laura stayed calmly between them and held tightly onto Logan's hand. Her large green eyes wandered over the wooden panels of the walls, the expensive vases and carpets and all the other items that made the mansion homey, but no question or word of awe left her lips, her mouth hung only wide open.

Logan watched the toddler's reaction with concern. She was like a scared little kitten that left the card-box it was born in for the very first time. "Here we are, kiddo. This is the kitchen." He said while pushing the door open and loosing the girl's grip to his hand. Laura followed him immediately to the fridge. "OK, kid, what do you want?" His answer was a blank look on the girl's features. With a sigh the usually gruff man opened the fridge and motioned to the food. "Take whatever you like."

The toddler gazed to Rogue and then back to the man, both smiled softly down at her. Eventually she took a step closer to the giant metal box and was surprised that the air got colder the closer she got. Tentatively she reached for one of the many colorful plastic cups and watched the reaction of the adults. When their smiles grew she gathered her courage and spoke up. "What's this?"

Marie kneeled down next to the girl. "That's a yogurt with peach flavor. Do you want it, sweetie?"

"Maybe...," Laura answered after a moment of thought before reaching for another item. "What's this?"

"That's butter. Ya can't eat it like this." Marie saw the curiosity flee from the child's features, just as the girl had made the impression they would succeed in breaking the ice. "Ya can try if you like, but butter like this tastes eww, babygirl." The teenager was relieved to see that the girl didn't stop her exploration and reached for the plastic drawer with the vegetables.

"What's this?"

"A cucumber."

"And this?"

"A zucchini."

"And this?"

"A tomato. How about we'll fix ya a sandwich?" suggested Marie and reached for the cheese while Logan fetched the toast bread from a cabinet.

"A sandwich?"

"Yup, then ya can have a taste of everything ya've found so far." The teenager grasped the box with the beef leftovers. "OK, the zucchini doesn't really fit, but how about we add a little cheese and meat?"

"I know meat," stated Laura and watched the adults put everything on the kitchen island.

"That's good, kiddo." Logan placed three plates on the counter, he was hungry as hell. "Bring the cucumber, Laura." He hadn't closed his mouth as Marie cleared her throat and gave him a serious glare. The Canadian returned his mate's gaze with a frown, not understanding what she meant. Sighing, Marie rolled her eyes and mouthed a 'please' that immediately enlightened the feral, who in turn took a deep breath. "Please, Laura." Those words made his young mate smile.

"Yes, sir."

"Would you like some milk?"

Laura looked up to the older brunette, clutching the long green vegetable to her chest. "Milk on bread?"

Marie suppressed her grin – the last she wanted was to discourage the toddler. "No, sweetie. Would ya like to drink some milk?"

"I like milk." There was a small smile on the girl's face and she held the vegetable up above her head. "Here is the cucoomer, sir."

"Thanks for the cucumber, kiddo." He didn't miss the praising gaze his mate sent him. "And Laura, just call me dad, OK?"

"OK, si- dad."

Marie closed the fridge and held a carton milk and a glass mustard in her hands. "Laura, please bring the mustard to daddy. Ah'll make you a mug of hot milk."

"OK!" The little girl spun around and took the glass before bringing it to Logan with a soft smile on her lips.

A low growl escaped Logan when his sensitive ears registered the approach of some of his students. 'Shit!'

"There you are, chica!" exclaimed the mouthy Asian as she and her friends crossed the doorstep and quieted as she saw the baby wake up and Rogue hurry to her daughter throwing an evil glare towards her loud classmate. "Oops!"

When Colossus's massive frame towered in the kitchen's entrance Laura stared up the giant young man, her eyes huge and her mouth forming an o. "You're big!"

Logan grunted in annoyance while his mate had picked up Becca and was now rocking the baby back to sleep. The young mother turned towards Laura with a smile. "Yes, sweetie, Pete is tall."

"Who are you?" brought the small girl out eventually.

"Huh?" The teenagers' gazes centered on the child before them. "I'm Kitty and these are Pete and Jubilee."

"Umm, chica, maybe it's a dumb question, but where does that toddler come from?"

The Canadian decided to stop the noisy questions before he might have to do some more explaining than he was in the mood for. "We leveled an illegal lab today," he pressed out with a growl and hoped the kids would leave it at that.

Kitty watched the feral slice a tomato with a knife. "So you freed her, Logan?" His answer was a curt nod that seemed to sate his students' curiosity. It was a sad fact that it wasn't a rare occurrence for Xavier's school to get new students this way. So everybody knew better than to ask questions about the traumatizing happenings at the lab or during the rescue.

"Who's Logan?"

Laura's innocent question made the Canadian look up from the sandwiches. "That's me."

"But you said you're daddy."

The feral didn't miss the astonishment on the teenagers' features and cursed inwardly, but stayed calm for the little girl's sake. "Yes, kiddo, for you I'm daddy. For everyone else I'm Logan."

"Why?"

"Okaaaay. Time out!" Jubilee raised her hands to a 'T'. "Daddy?"

Logan ignored his students and Becca's wakening brawl – thanks to Jubes' loud voice - and crouched down in front of his clone. "'Cuz you're my daughter."

Laura contemplated this new information and the baby's quieting cries got her attention. "Rogue is Becca's daddy?"

"Huh?" Logan's brows shot upwards as he tried to get the child's train of thought. "No, Rogue is Becca's mommy." He saw the confusion spread on the little girl's face and thought about an easy answer. "See, Laura, women are mommies and men are daddies."

The little girl pointed with her index finger at Kitty. "She's mommy?" And then at Pete. "He's daddy?"

"No, kiddo!" The feral's eyes widened. "Colossus is no daddy." 'I hope for him he ain't yet!'

"But he's an man." The toddler wrinkled her forehead and crossed her small arms over her chest.

"Yes, he is A man, kiddo, but he is not your daddy. That's me." He saw her nod in acknowledgment. "Do you understand?"

"No."

This honest statement made Logan roll his eyes with a sigh and stood up. "Try your luck, Kid." He picked Becca up from her mother's arms.

Marie suppressed her grin and kneeled down in front of the child. "Laura, just call Logan daddy, okay?" She paused a moment. "You'll understand in time."

Laura nodded slowly, still confused. "Okay."

Marie's smile grew and she faced her mate. "See problem solved."

Shaking his head Logan placed a second loaf of toast bread on each of the sandwiches and picked one of the plates up – his plan to eat in the kitchen had changed the very moment when Marie's friends had disturbed them. It seemed it was time to introduce Laura to their rooms.

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