"Oh, shit. Wolverine is going to kill me," the teenager moaned.

"Don't worry about it, Forge," said a comfortingly familiar voice behind him. "Every thing worked out for the best."

"But, Mrs. Gibney," Forge started as he turned to face his teacher, "I just sent Jessie back in time, Spirits only know how far back or where she ended up, I blew up Doctor McCoy's lab, and..."

"She landed in an alley in New York City," CatsClaw assured him. "And it was only two years before she was born. She walked to the mansion, started at the school, beat the hell out of Pyro as a teenager, got her parents together, kicked the Toad's ass six ways from Sunday, saved Cyclops' life, fell in love, got transformed into an overgrown housecat, became a teacher here, got married, and is now explaining this to one of her best friends."

The young Shaman's jaw dropped. "Jessie?"

"In the fur," she told him with a wink. "Now let's get this cleaned up."

"I guess it just happened?" Rogue asked with a sigh as she walked down the hall. "Think we could send Aaron back when he gets to be difficult?"

"I was not difficult, Momma," CatsClaw said cheerfully.

"Who said anything about 'was'?" Rogue turned raised eyebrows on her friend and grown daughter.

"Umm. Excuse me, Mrs. Logan? Mrs. Gibney...I mean, Jessie?" Forge stammered. "You, the X-Men, knew this was going to happen and you didn't stop me? Jessie could have wound up...she could have...anywhere...anywhen.."

"Forge," CatsClaw said with the same endless patients she used while teaching the remedial classes, "you're babbling. The point is that nothing terribly bad happened to me. Everyone knew I'd be fine. And I am."

"But I could have gotten you killed!"

CatsClaw rolled her eyes and turned to rest her furred hands on each of Forge's shoulders. "No, you couldn't have. I was already here as CatsClaw, I had to go back as Wild One."

"Why aren't you mad at me?" Forge whispered.

She leaned in until her mouth was right next to his ear. "Because you gave me what I always wanted. You freed me from what I thought was expected of me. And I'll always love you for that."

"But I always loved you for you," Forge whispered back.

Rogue pulled a quick vanishing act. She had known this was coming, from the time she saw the way the young mutant had looked at her still human daughter.

CatsClaw cupped his face gently between the rough pads of her palms. "You loved Wild One, Forge. You loved the way she wasn't afraid of you. You loved her because she was a little piece of human in a place that was otherwise insane."

Forge swatted her hands away and scowled. "You don't know that."

"Yes, I do," CatsClaw said slowly. "The Jessie you knew... You were right when you called her self-destructive. She was angry and unhappy. And she couldn't see how you felt about her."

"You're going to tell me that you...that she always belonged to Mr. Gibney, aren't you?" Forge muttered as he turned back to the remains of the lab.

"No," CatsClaw sighed. "She didn't belong anywhere, yet. She was too busy ripping her own insides out."

"How can you be so calm about this?"

She shook her head and walked over to where the temporal displacement device had melted into slag on the counter. "I don't have a choice, Forge. I've also had twenty years to get over it. I'm still your friend, you know. I always will be, but I'm not Jessie to anyone but Kyle now."

Forge stared at her for a long time. "You're happy. You're actually happy this way."

"Yes, I really am happy, Forge." CatsClaw turned to face him again with an almost teasing smile on her cat-like face. "I was all wrong for you anyway."

"I suppose you're going to tell me who's right for me?" Forge asked as he rolled his eyes.

"Duh." CatsClaw grinned. "Wolfsbane has been making goo-goo eyes at you since she got here. She's pretty, smart, and even-tempered, with just enough of a wild streak in her to make things interesting."

"Is matchmaking endemic around here?" Wolverine grumbled from behind Forge. The boy jumped. "Easy, kid. I ain't gonna hurt you."

CatsClaw laughed softly. "Go on, you two. I'll start cleaning up while Forge tells Beast what happened."

"Great, since Mr. Logan isn't going to kill me, you're going to let Doctor McCoy," Forge grumbled.

"I'm sure Hank will be more creative than that," Wolverine assured Forge as he dragged the boy down the hall.

CatsClaw looked down on the little scrap of technology that had changed her life so long ago. "I had to get sent back twenty years to get what I needed to make me happy. I always told Charlie this place was nuts."