ISSUE # 72

' Damn it!' That was all Logan thought as he threw his shirt down on the ground in his room. Even after the attack he was angered beyond belief over what had happened, but there was nothing he could have done about it. And that's what he hated the most. Being helpless was something Logan always despised. And that couldn't be even more true now.

Logan pulled a chair up to his dresser and pulled out his bottle of whiskey and began guzzling the booze straight from the bottle without hesitation.

After nearly drinking half the bottle, Logan finally took a breath. The heat from the booze touched his cheeks for a brief moment before his healing factor took it away. Just as he went to take another sip, his phone began to ring.

" Never a God damned moment." Logan cursed. He reached for his phone and answered it. " What?" Logan asked in an aggressive way.

" Hello, Logan."

" Charles?" Logan spoke. Surprised to hear the voice of the man on the other side.

" Yes, Logan. It's me... I'm sorry to call you at a time like this. I heard what happened. But I need your help. Something in space has come up and I'm putting together a team. I need you old friend." Charles told the man.

Meanwhile, down in the danger room, Emma was busy training her new team of X-men candidates.

" This is a simple exercise... All you have to do is knock colossus down." Emma told the group who was in the chamber itself.

" Why am I sitting this out?" Ian asked the woman.

" Because it wouldn't be beneficial for you to be in there, when you clearly have an advantage, the others don't." Emma explained to the boy. " They have to be prepared to face their troubles without being sheltered by you."

" This is dumb. I'm not gonna sit around doing nothing. I've been kept out of every single training exercise since this team was founded. If you're gonna keep placing me on the side lines, then I'm not gonna be a part of this team." Ian told the woman. He got up from his seat in the observation room and went to leave.

The moment the door opened; however, Logan stopped him from going forward.

" We need to talk, Runt." Logan told the boy.

" Logan, what's going on?" Ian asked the man.

" I said in private." Logan stated once more. He nodded his head to the side and Ian followed him away. Walking all the way back to his room to speak.

After closing and locking the door behind him, Logan finally turned around to speak.

" Alright, we're alone. What's going on, Logan?" Ian asked the man.

" You asked me to train you, kid. In war and killing... Well, now's your chance. There's a few of the staff getting together to handle some business, that's needs to be " Handled" And I was asked to come along." Logan explained. " But I'm not going. I still got business here to handle here. I want you to go." Logan told the boy. " You don't have time to think about this... Either you do it now or you don't there's no time for waiting. What's your answer?" Logan asked.

For Ian, this came out of nowhere. But it is what he wanted from Logan.

" I'm in." Ian replied.

" Okay, You got thirty minutes to get ready if you want to meet them. Go get packed up. Your suit, and necessities only. Take this, this is where the team is going to meet." Logan told the boy. He passed him a small note with coordinates for a location on it. " Good luck kid."

......

After leaving, Logan's room. Ian walked to his room.

At his door, he saw Laura waiting for him.

" Already finished with the exercise?" Ian asked the girl.

" Yes. We did not... Do well." Laura told the boy.

" It happens. Colossus is tough. Sorry I didn't stay behind to watch it all. Logan pulled me away for something" Ian told the girl.

Ian opened the door and gestured for Laura to follow him inside.

She did so and sat down on his bed while he opened his closet and started grabbing things.

" Are you going somewhere?" Laura asked.

" Yes...." Ian told the girl. " I'm kind of glad you came here. I was hoping to see you before I left." Ian spoke. " I'm going to handle something for Logan. I'm probably going to be gone for a bit. I know things are hard around here, and I just need to get away for a bit..." Ian explained to the girl.

" Oh...." Laura uttered softly. Her voice barely above a whisper. She was disappointed.

" Don't be sad, Laura. I'm not going away forever. I will be back, and I'll be stronger. I'll be able to protect you all better. I'll be able to protect you better. This past week has made it very clear to me Laura that I still lack something... Something necessary." Ian spoke. " I believe this will help me find it. I know, we've only known each other for so few weeks. But I trust you Laura, please, while I'm gone look out for them. The others on your team... They're still defenseless. They've never had to experience so much death at one time. You'll need to be their support now." Ian told the girl. He knew it was unfair to ask her such a thing, but what else could he do. Laura was the only other person in the school, other than himself and Logan, who knew how to deal with situations like this.

And although she was sad to hear he was leaving Laura understood it, in her own way anyway.

" Okay..." Laura replied bluntly.

Ian hated Laura alone, but he couldn't coddle her all the time, he knew that, and she did as well.

" Be safe..." Laura told the boy.

Ian grabbed his bag of things and slung it over his shoulder. He looked to Laura and saw how upset she really was.

Ian raised his hand tapped Laura on her forehead with two of his fingers.

Larua looked up at the boy, stunned by his sudden actions.

" Hey, what's with the sad look? It's not like I'm going away forever. I promise you I'm coming back Laura. I won't die on you... Not that easily." Ian told the girl. " Just wait for me alright." Ian told the girl. " Take care of yourself until then." Ian waved goodbye to Laura and walked out of the room.

Ian left the mansion and began making his way to the location Logan gave him, with Logan's bike.

....

" Are we still, waiting Professor?" Kurt asked the man.

" Yes, Logan said he'd be here soon. Once he arrives, we'll take off immediately kurt." Charles told the man.

" But professor..." Kurt started to speak, but the sound of footsteps echoing throughout the hall took the man's words away.

" Ah, Logan, you're finally..." Charles started to say.

" Sorry, professor. But Logan's taking a bit of a vacation. So, he sent me instead. Have to say, when he told me you were alive and a human, I didn't believe it. But it appears he was right." Ian spoke.

" Ian Sinclair, you're walking?" Charles asked. He couldn't believe it. It had been a while since he had seen the boy, but the last time he did he was still on crutches.

" So, are you old man. Heh! It's good to see you're alive." Ian told the man. " I know it's been a whole year since we last met, but a lot of things have changed. In privacy, I like to be called my name... But when we're in the field, I go by Onslaught now. So, where are we off to now?" Ian asked.