A couple of days later, Sasha finally got my chance to get back in shape after staying indoors and doing some chores at home. Her ribs are healed, and she's now riding her motorbike to the old Xavier School for gifted youngsters. 

Spotted the sign next to her, Sasha stopped before she drove in and parked her car in front of the main house, where Logan had been walking towards her. 

He seemed surprised that she came but immediately said, "Morning, Sasha." 

While holding out three bags of McDonald's, Sasha chuckled: 

"Morning," Sasha said. "I brought breakfast and my secret-blend coffee."

Logan chuckled, then gestured to the ruins of the X-Men school.

Sasha stared, a mix of awe and sadness on her face, recognizing its importance to him. Curbing her desire to trigger painful memories, she asked, "What was it like? The school, I mean. How did it work? What did it look like?"

Logan stiffened, turning away. Sasha inwardly cringed, regretting her question. It dredged up his X-Men past, a life she'd declined to join nine years ago. The question also stirred her own memories, reminding her how difficult it was to keep their earlier meeting in Elkford a secret.

It pains her every now and then, but the kiss at the plane and their nights of having sex in her old cabin made her unsure whether Logan would recognize her or not, so now she won't try to get close info about him since... the Logan she knew was half-gone. 

"It was..." Logan trailed off and started again. "It was a place where all the mutants could be however they wanted to be, act normal, and learn how to control their abilities. I was a history teacher and trainer for battle combat." 

Sasha nods in understanding while looking around the ruins around her, "Really?" Sounding impressed: "I'm impressed that you know history."

"What can I say? I'm too good," Logan playfully joked and this made Sasha laugh lightly before she sensed him trying to take the coffee from her grasp but missing it: "Hey!" "Nuh-uh." She teased and scolded him playfully, "We eat together, not before." 

He deadpans, "You really intend on making me starve?" 

This earns him a sly grin from Sasha.

"No, you're immortal." She points out by putting her finger on his chest, "You have claws made of adamantium, you have a fitted muscular body for eternity, AND let's not forget that I raced you, which I lost to you in a motorcycle." 

He crosses his arms, huffing and turns away with a smirk, "Touche..." That's when he remembered what she just said: "Did you just call me 'fitted muscular body of eternity' bub?~" Logan smirked flirtatiously before lifting the broken concrete wall to reveal the hole.

"W-What? N-no!" Sasha stammered, attempting a defense. "I only explained it by examining you." His smirk widened as he caught on. "Yeah, sure," Logan replied, unconvinced, already amused by her reaction. 

Sasha's heavy blush deepened her pout when she spotted the hole. Quickly changing the subject, she asked, "How do we get down—AH!?!"

Logan's sudden action—grabbing her waist and jumping—elicited a gasp. She nearly moaned at his touch but suppressed the sound, glaring at him as soon as they landed."Next time, a little reminder before jumping into the hole." 

When she said and turned to face Logan, she was met with his nose touching hers. 

Both froze, his blue eyes staring into her brown ones as her face heated up, the way Logan was staring at her made her knees weak. 

'He is staring at me. Is he... does he recognize me by my appearance? No, it can't be.' Sasha thought, although their breath hitched from how close their bodies were pressing together by Logan's one muscular arm around her waist. 

There was no point in hiding the sound of her heart pounding in her chest, and she slowly watched him slowly remove a strand of her black hair behind her ear, "L-Logan I..." 

"Ah, I was wondering how this happened." 

All of a sudden, Logan and Sasha were flustered and let go of each other before questions could be asked by Hank, who was showing a smug grin at the action he had already witnessed without his intervention.

Logan wasn't fully aware of why his emotions were bubbling up inside him as he let out a silent sigh of frustration, showing just how tense he had been without realizing it. He didn't want to admit, even to himself, how close he had been to losing his arousal to her completely. 

That near-miss was hard for him to face; the vulnerability it suggested felt way too intense.

Sasha, on the other hand, couldn't help but feel her face heating up from the amount of physical contact she got from Logan right after she began fixing her clothes from the sudden jump before responding to Hank with:

"BREAKFAST ON THE HOUSE!" Pushing the McDonald's breakfast to Hank's chest so he could hold it and eat it while she walked away rapidly to hide behind a desk. 

Time skip~ At the park...

After that, Sasha left to get some supplies for Hank and Logan, in order to fix the X-men ship as well for the lab. 

She enjoyed the scenery of the same park she took in the crack of dawn, that is, until she accidentally bumped into someone in a hooded trenchcoat and came to help, "Hey, you okay?" 

"Get away from me...please." 

"I will," Sasha said, speaking: "Until I hand you some leftover breakfast and my coffee, then I will check up on you." The reaction behind the woman's hooded trench coat was stunned. Slowly but hesitantly, she got up from the concrete floor as she sat on her motorbike. 

Before she failed to hide the drooling and stared at the leftover food and coffee being handed to her, Sasha began to examine her body and gloved hand,s but didn't say anything to further the poor girl's fear. Thankfully, nothing terrible had happened...for now.

"So, the brotherhood is now threatening me," Senator Kelly says while holding the newspaper, "Am I scared? Yes, as you should be." The man continues explaining more things while the two women in the back furrow their eyebrows at him, "Great... just what I need, another political person to deal with." 

Sasha groaned in annoyance while she got a questionable and confused glance from the woman, who asked: "And why is that?" "Let's say he's been to my 4th birthday party...for some political meeting with my father." She mumbled. 

Making the hooded trenchcoat woman widened her eyes in fear, but realizing Sasha's reaction about the Senator being a dick caused her to snort before stifling a laugh, "Was he bad?" 

"Nah, I made him feel like a living hell because he was rude." 

The girl chuckled, "Can't argue with that." 

Sasha smiled at her and ended it by beginning the comfortable yet uneasy silence from the crowd around them before she asked: "Did you like your breakfast?" 

"Y-Yeah...thanks." She fiddled with her gloved hand, "I'm Rogue." Rogue whispered.

"Sasha. Sasha Ross. Nice to meet you." She whispered back with a smile, "Hold on, as in General Ross's disowned youngest daughter?" Rogue questioned suspiciously but didn't let her guard down, "Ugh, please don't mention it; I don't like the spotlight often." Then, after she finished her breakfast, Sasha decided to join her to see what Senator Kelly was saying. 

They both agreed that he is an idiot: "Y'know, for someone kind and a human... I have a hard time believing whether you're a liar or a truthful human." "What makes you say that?" Sasha asked quietly, feeling a little offended by the remark. 

"By the way, you are examining me. I don't like it." Rogue averts her gaze away, making her sigh and cross her arms over her chest: "Okay, I'll stop it if you want, but what I'm gonna tell you is something you should know, but please... don't get angered or sad." She looked at Rogue with concern and worry but motioned to Sasha with an agreeing nod for her to continue as she sighed again: "I...I got captured by the MRD." 

Rogue widen her eyes in shock, "What?... When? Why? I mean, how?" 

"Because I was helping the Wolverine's injuries-" As soon as Wolverine was mentioned by Sasha, Rogue felt her eyes cast a shadow to deepen her trenchcoat hoodie from showing her disappointment, "Logan? How do you know about him?" 

"Well, I spotted him on the road back to Washington," Sasha scratched the back of her head in nervousness because she was telling her about it: "I decided to race him until we both saw an explosion happening at the subway as the firefighters were taking care of the damage, but Erica, I babysit her, which of course, I sacrifice my life to save her but, passed out only to be saved by Logan as little Erica's family came and help out...We got called on and taken, and let me tell you, we were humans inside a mutant jail facility." 

Sasha finished her quiet explanation, and if Rogue hadn't been angry earlier, she would have been now: "How can they be so cruel? Did they hurt you and the family?" 

"Luckily, not the family... but they did on me, and I got to experience how mutants could be treated in the MRD's worst punishments." Rogue glanced at her, "I got my now healed-up ribs back in shape after the incident a couple of days ago, and with the help of Hank and Wolverine saving our lives, they hid the family from harm, and I became allies with them... to also bring the X-MEN back." 

.

.

.

.

.

"No, I won't join." Rogue hissed in anger, thinking that Sasha would try to convince her, but it was the other way around, making her nod a bit: "I won't force you since I don't know much about your powers, and by the way..." Sasha touched Rogue's shoulder, slightly relaxed: "If I met you earlier, I would give you a guestroom at my house and make sure you are okay." 

The way Sasha told her the truth was reassuring like she was a mother figure to a poor girl like Rogue, who smiled a bit before she frown as it dawns on her that she would hurt her, "I wish we did but...I don't want to hurt you." "You won't, I promise." Both exchanged smiles before they continued to listen to Senator Kelly's explanation.  

Somewhere in the park...

A limousine was parked under a tree, and an old man started scolding someone, "Get out of the car, Warren. He continues: "You're embarrassing me." "Isn't it enough that he gets our money, Dad? I have to cheer him on, too?" The young man with blonde hair reveals his name is Warren and speaks a bit disappointed by the arrangement: "That man is a champion of the people." "Some people. Warren corrected his dad: "Not all of us."

Back at the center of the park...

The entire crowd, including Sasha, gasped in shock when she watched Rogue being stiffer than before. The view of the machine is what brought back memories of how Betty explained that different types of robots and machines could be used for evil and for good, if for a reason, but nothing seems: 

"Please, don't be alarmed. You are all quite safe."  Kelly begins calming down the crowd a bit.

Which makes the girls annoyed: "I wish to slap his old face." Sasha cracked her knuckles. 

"I'll join you if we do get the chance." Rogue smirked, prompting a snort from Sasha. The machine's scanners, detecting the threat to Rogue, sped behind her. Sasha hopped on Rogue's motorbike and tossed her a helmet. "Get on!"

Without hesitation, Rogue agreed. 

They sped off, fleeing the Sentinel Prower. 

"Seriously, that thing's beyond repair; the MRD's clearly unstable!" "No shit! Turn right!" Rogue yelled, glancing back. Sasha swerved right as instructed, but braked to avoid a wall, only to find a dead end. "Great, just great!"

Sasha sarcastically shouted, "We're trapped." Turns to the western accent girl in the trenchcoat: "Any last words before death?" 

Before Rogue could say anything, the machine started blasting blasters at them, and it made Sasha take a garbage can as a shield to protect herself and Rogue, who was surprised how a human (not knowing that Sasha has powers), such as Sasha, having the guts to save her.

That was when something shone above them. 

Sasha and Rogue tried to see who it was until they both realized that it was another mutant with familiar wings. He threw a giant rock at the machine before he carried both of them to another safe place so the Sentinel machine wouldn't kill them: "Warren?" 

"Sasha, hey! Long time no see!" Warren smiled joyfully.

"Wait? You both know each other?" Rogue asked in shock.

Sasha nodded: "Long story short, we used to be college friends!" While flying further away from the blasters, Warren explained a bit, shooting at them, "Watch out!" 

Sooner than the trio thought, the MRD machine shot one of Warren's angel wings, making him grunt in pain while it sent him, Rogue, and Sasha down with him. Luckily, their friend came to their rescue and grabbed them as Hank caught them and landed on his feet before the trio could get hurt. 

That's when Wolverine jumps down from the roof. 

He roared, then shredded the machine, tearing through its wires and components. "Are you all right?" Hank asked, concerned. "We are, but first..." Sasha slapped Warren, the blow shocking him, Hank, and Rogue. "Why didn't you tell me you were with the X-Men, you sly dumbass?!"

Warren massaged his cheek, and it stunned him at the sudden slap that he received from his college best friend. 

"First, OW!" He continues: "You didn't need to slap me THAT hard, and secondly, I didn't want you to be a target as my weakness." 

Sasha deadpans in boredom: "Are we getting back to this again?" 

"In this case, no." After their short, quick conversation, Hank coughed a bit as Warren immediately smiled at him: "Oh, great. Now I see you brought the X-Men back together. Along with Sasha getting involved, that is." "We, well-" 

Before Hank could answer, Rogue took over and glared at Wolverine, who was still battling off the mutant killer machine with his claws: "We're not." She responded, plain and simple, it made Warren disappointed, as Sasha stared at Rogue's expression just studying her. 

She can tell that she meant it as a sign of rejection. 

After fighting off the Sentinel Mutant machine, Wolverine jumps down from it and tries to talk things out with Rogue. 

As Sasha follows, while overhearing Wolverine calling out to Rogue, "Rogue, I know you came to the rally." He continues: "Because you hate what's going on." 

"So?" 

"So...together, we could do something about it. Just come back to the X-Men and-" Sasha cut Logan off. "Let's forget it, Logan." Surprised, Logan asked, "Why?" "Rogue and I met at the rally," Sasha explained. "I invited her to join us, but she declined. We should respect her decision."

Sasha's words widened Logan's eyes slightly. 

Rogue came in and furrowed her eyebrows in anger, but contained it with a calm demeanor, as she felt frustrated about a year ago when he left the X-MEN: "She's right. The answer is no. And you know exactly why!" 

She snapped at Wolverine just by taking her off her hoodie and glared straight at him, but she softened a bit when she noticed Sasha's eyes filled with sympathy and worry, almost like a mother figure. 

Logan tries to convince her, "I want you to come back." He tells her, only for Rogue to brush it off like he was nothing, "I'm not going to let you abandon me ever again. Your problem is that you can't stay in one place, Logan." 

Rogue walks backward before putting on her hoodie:

"And no one can follow a leader who's never there." 

But before she could leave, she walked up to Sasha. 

"Hey, Sasha... glad I met you instead of your dad... See ya." 

Rogue walked away before Sasha could respond. Sasha sighed and turned to Hank and Logan, who looked confused until Hank's eyes widened in realization. "You're General Ross's youngest daughter, aren't you?" 

The words made Sasha choke on her breath and turn away to avoid eye contact; Wishing she could be swallowed up and dissapear from the face of the Earth. 

Before she could reply to his response, Logan snapped in disbelief: "Hold on a sec." He points at her, throwing his arms in the air out of frustration, "You're telling us right now that you...you are one of General Ross's kids? Just freaking great." 

"Good riddance," she retorted. "I'm glad to be disowned by someone who doesn't consider me family. And since you're the leader, you should respect Rogue's wishes and learn not to judge on someone who's willing to help you out." 

With that, Sasha storms off, calling out to Warren, aka Angel, to fly her back to the park where Senator Kelly had been. She drives off in anger before parking her motorcycle at her place. She goes to the garage to take her anger out with a punching bag in secret.

Practicing Logan's forgotten lessons with her claws reopened familiar heartbreak, a daily ache amplified by the knowledge that he remained unaware. She finished by shredding the punching bag, collapsing onto the floor in silent tears, the burden of being the sole surviving hidden mutant overwhelming her.