"Logan, hurry up!"

"Keep your shirt on, this isn't easy!"

"Don't you know how to do this?"

"Hey, kid, do you mind shutting up for a second? I'm trying to concentrate!"

Silence. "Here, I'll show you. You just stick it in, then turn it..."

"I know how to do this, Marie. Give me a second."

"Maybe if you used your belt..."

"How would that help?"

"Well, it would be easier to pull yourself up to the window and break it than trying to pick the mansion's door lock!"

Logan quit trying to pick the lock with the weak piece of wire he'd found in his bike's storage compartment. Of all the days to forget his key! There were usually a passel of kids roaming around that would answer his knocks at the door. Most of them were gone, however, having gone with the Professor, Storm and Scott on an outing to the fair. Marie was standing beside him, tapping her foot impatiently at his fiddling with the lock. Ordinarily, he would simply stick out a claw and pop the lock, but one experience with the Danger Room lock had left him with fried hair for weeks, and he wasn't eager to repeat the experience. Adamantium really was an excellent conductor!

He looked over to Marie, who was raising an eyebrow at him in amusement. That was one of his quirks that she'd picked up from absorbing him and it had never really left her. Either that, or she was spending way too much time with him and he was teaching her bad habits. "Need help?" she
asking with a grin. Logan growled at her, which only caused the grin to widen.

"Here, sugar, let me," she told him, then reached for his belt. A feeling of self-preservation took over and he backed up. "What are you doing?" he asked her cautiously. A womanly smile crossed her lips. Logan's eyes widened, then narrowed in suspicion. What was she up to?

Marie reached again. "I need your belt," she explained. She lunged and managed to grab his belt buckle. Logan, surprised, backed up again and reached the edge of the front porch. Feeling himself falling, he grabbed onto the nearest solid thing for support, which turned out to be Marie's glove-covered arm. Normally, keeping a person from falling over would be no problem. However, when that person's skeleton was coated with metal, it made him a little heavier than average. Unable to keep him upright, Marie had no choice but to follow him in his trip into the flower beds. With a shriek, she flew through the air and landed with an "Oomph" on top of her friend. A few seconds of stunned looks were quickly followed by a burst of giggles that erupted from the young woman. Logan looked up at her, eyes narrowed. "What are you laughing at?"

At first, Marie was laughing too hard to answer. Logan sat up, ripping up tulips and daffodils as he did so, and stared at her. "Marie," he said. That was all he said, but it was enough. Really, the man could convey so much with one word. This one said Stop laughing or I'll make sure you can't sit down for a week. Marie's giggles calmed down, but a grin remained. "Oh, I was just remembering something Jubilee said this morning," she answered.

Evidently unsatisfied with that, he raised an eyebrow, seeking further explanations. He was not disappointed, but the answer was not what he had expected. "She always knew I'd get you in "bed" , someday!"