Puppy Love

by Hawkeye

Logan awoke with a start, palms and face sweaty, breathing hard, hands clenched
into fists. Only a dream, he told himself, only a dream. He lay back down, wide awake
and stared at the ceiling. It had been a particularly bad one this time. He closed his eyes
as the painful memories faded, but he was too tense to fall back to sleep.

Logan sighed. This had happened many times before. He had spent entire nights
lying awake, not being able to ignore the nightmares. Slowly he swung his bare feet over
the edge of the bed and sat up. Leaning his head in his hands while his elbows rested on
his knees, he tried to think of what to do.

As he sat contemplating, a gentle breeze caused a tree branch to tap gently against
his window. He glanced up at it and remembered what he used to do when this happened
before; before he knew the X-Men. He used to go for a walk.

That�s what I�ll do now, he decided.

* * * * *

It wasn�t too cold for a September night, even if it was one in the morning. He
had gone for a nice long walk which had helped clear his head. He was on his way back
and about to turn a corner of the school�s property when he sensed something and
stopped. A scent that normally wasn�t there drifted before him. In a second, though, he
stopped clenching his fists. He knew what this smell belonged to.

He grumbled a bit as he turned the corner, speaking as he did so. �All right ya
mangy mutt, where are ya?� He half expected to see a dirty old stray roaming the
grounds, but instead saw nothing.

�What the?� Logan scanned the property, his keen eyesight and the light from the
nearly full moon made his search easier. With a furrowed brow he took a deep sniff.

�Definitely dog,� he muttered to himself, annoyed. He didn�t like it when things
weren�t the way he expected. Then, from a bunch of bushes to his right, he heard a soft
whimper. �Gotcha,� he whispered, smiling. He got down low and began creeping up to
the spot where to pitiful noise had come from.

Getting down on his hands and knees, Logan peered into the shrubs. Surprised at
what he saw, he backed away a bit. When he had sufficiently recovered from his initial
shock, he crawled back into the bushes, rear end sticking out. At least no one �ul see me,
he thought of his rather undignified position.

When he emerged again from the dark branches he held in his arms a puppy. �Hey
little fella. I won�t hurt ya. Don�t you worry you�re little head.� The pup, who had been
struggling a bit, seemed to relax. �How did ya end up here?� he asked the dog, looking
for any tags, but finding none.

Unwillingly, a smile crept across Logan�s face as he stroked the little dog. He
wasn�t sure what breed it was, maybe a lab/retriever cross, but it sure looked darned cute.
It had a fluffy golden brown coat, but with small twigs tangled here and there. The poor
thing hadn�t looked like it had eaten in days. Logan carefully removed the branches and
nestled the young pup in his arms.

When he realized that he had been standing there for some time, the smile quickly
faded. �Now what am I gonna do with you, eh kid? I don�t think Wheels would �preciate
you runnin� around here.�

He looked down into big, helpless puppy eyes as he spoke and immediately sighed.
�Boy Logan, you�re becomin� a softy all right. First Rogue, now this,� he mumbled as he
started back to the mansion, the little bundle falling asleep in his arms.

* * * * *

Now, sneaking out of the place alone was no big deal. But trying to keep the
floorboards from creaking and a dog asleep at the same time proved to be harder than
Logan thought. More than once he had to stop dead because he thought someone was
coming down the hall.

At last he reached his room. He had managed to keep the dog asleep and was now
feeling a bit dozy himself. Yawning, he placed the furball on one side of the bed and
climbed into the other after undressing.

�Night Little Bub. Sweet dreams,� he said, hoping the same would be true for
him, too.

* * * * *

As light filtered into his room, Logan began to stir. He had quite forgotten about
his discovery until he realized he had just rolled over in bed and thought he had just
crushed the poor little guy.

Practically jumping up, he found that the puppy was no where to be seen. �Here
little fella,� Logan called hopefully, but getting no response. �Where ya go?� By now he
was down on his hands and knees, again, tracking his scent. It lead to a corner where a
large chair sat. Peering behind it, Logan saw the puppy curled up in a little ball, fast
asleep.

Logan allowed himself a half smile. He was getting fond of his new guest.
Suddenly he wondered what he was going to do. He couldn�t keep him locked up in his
room forever, but if he let him out... On the other hand, the little guy deserved a good
life.

Well, whatever was going to happen, he needed to eat first. They both did. Logan
pulled on a pair of worn jeans and an old t-shirt. He grabbed his jean jacket on the way
out into the hall, carefully shutting the door behind him. So far, so good.

As it tuned out, the big lug had slept though most of the morning, which meant
most of the staff and students weren�t in the kitchen. He did, however, run into Ororo on
her way out.

�Morning Logan,� she said in her usual cheerful manner as she met him entering
the room.

�Ah... mornin�,� he replied after a short pause. Easy big fella, he told himself.
Just be cool and she won�t catch on. At least it�s not Wheels or Jean. Act normal and she
won�t ask any questions.

�Sleep well?� she inquired. Logan froze where he was. She couldn�t know, could
she? No. She couldn�t. Just smile and nod.

�Sure,� he said huskily, avoiding her eyes.

�Good. I�ll see you later then,� she replied as she continued on her way.

Logan let out a deep breath he hadn�t noticed he�d been holding. �Okay,� he said
to himself, �what would he wanna eat?�

* * * * *

Trying his hardest to look inconspicuous, even with half a ham, two chicken
wings, and a bottle of water tucked under his jacket, Logan made his way back upstairs.
Careful not to let anyone see him, yet again (he was beginning to think he was getting
good at this), he turned the corner at the top of the stairs and headed down the hall.

He was just reaching for the knob when he heard a voice from behind call his
name. It was Jean. He stopped dead, arm outstretched, heart pounding. �Can I talk to
you for a minute?�

�Sorry Jeannie,� he said hurriedly as he reached for the knob, turned it, and
jumped inside before she even had a chance to ask again.

�Jeannie?� Jean Grey shook her head, confused, and continued on her way
downstairs.

�Phew!� Logan exhaled deeply, �That was a little too close.� He dumped his stash
before heading over to the chair. �Okay Little Bub, rise and shine.�

The puppy opened one eye as if to say �I�m awake, now let me sleep,� and then
closed it again.

�I brought ya some food,� teased Logan, dangling a nice, meaty chicken wing
above the sleeping dog. Almost immediately the pup was on its feet, panting at the juicy
breakfast. �Up ya go!� said Logan as he lifted the mutt up and put him on the ground,
food in mouth. Standing back, hands on hips, Logan smiled at his little friend like a proud
father smiles at his child.

It didn�t take long before the food was gone. All of it. Logan thought that the
poor guy mustn�t have even seen so much food in a long time.

�I have to go out now,� he said to the once again sleepy dog who had taken up
residence on his pillow, �but I�ll be back as soon as I can.� With that, he quietly crept to
the door and was out into the hall the next moment, a big grin on his face. Walking down
the hall toward the stairs, Logan met Scott going the other way.

�What�s the matter?� asked Cyclops as they approached one another, his brows
furrowed.

�Whatcha mean?� replied Logan, hoping no one had caught on.

�It�s just that you were smiling. I thought something must be wrong,� said Scott
with a smirk.

�Smart a-� Logan was cut off in mid sentence when Jean appeared, having just
coming up the stairwell.

�There you are! I�ve been looking all over for you Logan. I need to see you in the
med lab for a sec.� She didn�t seem to have heard the other two�s conversation. Scott
continued down the hall, smirk still on face, while Logan followed Jean to the elevator,
plotting revenge all the way.

* * * * *

�If she wanted to do tests, she shoulda told me it would take that long,� Logan
grumbled to himself as he headed back to his room, three hours after he had left. As he
neared his door, however, he noticed something wasn�t quite right. The door was open a
jar.

�Ah, dang it,� he mumbled as he sprinted to his room. Opening the door slowly,
he called his friend. �Little Bub, you in here?� No answer. He stepped inside and closed
the door behind him. �Little Bub?� Again, no response. Logan first looked behind the
chair. No dog. He got down on hands and knees and peered under the bed. No dog. He
even went so far as to check the air duct. No dog.

�Uh, oh,� he said slowly to himself. �This ain�t good.� Logan sniffed the air. If
he couldn�t find him by looking, he could at least smell where the little guy was. He was
able to pick up a faint scent which lead him back out into the hallway. The trail lead down
the hall, away from the stairs.

At least he didn�t get too far, Logan thought to himself. Slowly creeping down the
passage, he found the trail lead strait to the second last door on the right. Jean and Scott�s
room.

He knocked. No answer. Slowly opening the door a crack, he glanced inside and
sniffed. No one there. Quickly, so as not to be seen, Logan stepped inside, but left the
door open a bit in case a quick exit was needed. Sniffing, he could tell Little Bub was in
here somewhere. Flicking the light switch, he soon discovered he was right. A huge grin
spread from hairy sideburn to hairy sideburn.

In the middle of the floor, Little Bub was surrounded by the contents of an
overturned laundry basket. Scott�s overturned laundry basket. And Little Bub seemed to
be enjoying tearing the living daylights out of a poor defenseless sock. That is, the only
sock left in one piece.

�Revenge can be so sweet,� sighed Logan as he stepped forward to grab the little
hooligan. The little guy was too quick for him, however, and he darted away just as
Logan went to grab him.

�Get back here!� Logan cried as he turned just in time to see a furry tail disappear
out the door. As he lunged for the exit, Logan just had to look back to check if he was
seeing things. Sure enough, amid the pile of wrecked socks, lay a pair of boxers. White
ones with little red hearts to be exact. Smiling, Logan mentally filed the image as
�blackmail for later� and dashed down the hall after his friend.

Little Bub was already down the stairs by the time Logan reached them, and had
turned towards the rec room. Taking the stairs four at a time, Logan landed on the main
floor and turned left, hoping to catch the runaway before he ran into anyone.

Fortunately, the only one in the rec room was Rogue, who happened to be
watching TV. Little Bub scurried through the room behind the sofa with Logan on his
heels.

�Hey Logan,� said Rogue absently without turning around. She was obviously
absorbed in the show she was watching.

As he ran by, Logan returned a �Hey Rogue,� and continued on out the far door.
Little Bub had taken a right there and had exited out a side door at the end of the hall.
Following close behind, Logan emerged into the backyard, close to Ororo�s greenhouse.
Her GLASS greenhouse. To Logan�s fear, she was inside working away at her plants.
Little Bub rounded the one side, turning left around the far corner of the building, away
from the mansion.

Thankfully, Ororo was facing towards the house.

Without stopping, Logan ran full tilt around the corner. He wasn�t paying much
attention to the ground, and as he turned, slipped in a patch of mud. Flying through the
air, he landed with his face in the goo.

Ororo, thinking she had heard something, glanced behind her. Seeing nothing, she
returned to pruning her garden.

Slowly getting on his knees, Logan peered into the greenhouse above a row of
potted flowers that lay on the table along the back wall. Ororo was busy with something
and it appeared she hadn�t noticed.

By this time, Little Bub was off around the other side and out of sight. Logan
sniffed the air to catch the scent and was off again into a run. The mutt had ventured off
around the side of the mansion, out round the front, and back in a door on the other side.
Logan just hoped no one noticed the big muddy guy running all over the compound.

As he stepped inside again, Logan was able to spot the tiny paw prints the dog left
behind. They led back through the rec room (this time Rogue just waved as he ran
through) and again through the room�s other door. Here, he had turned left and headed
into the techie part of the mansion where some of the not-so-secret labs were kept.

* * * * *

�I know Jean,� said Scott, �But I just don�t think the color�s appropriate.�

�Sure it is!� she said, �You�ve always loved fushia!�

�Shhhh,� he hissed. �I know I do, but I just don�t think *they* should be that
colour.�

The two X-Men were in one of the ground floor lab rooms, standing over a metal
table, backs to the large observation window. �But look!� she said, holding one up to the
light, �It brings out the colour of your ruby quartz!�

�Put that down,� he growled, lowering her arm and frowning, �Someone may see
it.� She was obviously enjoying this, Scott knew, by the little giggles she was trying to
suppress.

At that moment a small dog ran by the lab. A few seconds later, a very out of
breath, very dirty Logan streaked by in the same direction.

�I told you,� continued Scott, �I like my visors black or metallic, NOT fushia!�

* * * * *

Logan was getting tired. He had been chasing Little Bub for only ten minutes, but
was already worn out. On top of that, the mud was beginning to harden and it was getting
itchy. The dog turned right at the end of the hall, and just as Logan reached the corner,
Little Bub scurried past him in the opposite direction. Nearly falling down again as he
reversed gears, Logan followed the mutt into the hall that led back to the stairwell.

Instead of heading up, like Logan hoped, the dog turned left- right into the
Professor�s office. Logan stopped cold. He could think of only two things to do. One:
not bother and hope the Professor would have mercy on the little guy in the event he was
in there, and two: peek his head inside and take his chances.

Deciding the honorable, although not the most appealing thing to do was follow
him in, Logan stepped up and peered inside. He didn�t see anyone, thankfully, and gave a
sigh of relief.

�All right, you little monster,� he said, shutting the door this time, �You got
nowhere to run.�

As he moved toward the desk, the high backed, what he thought was a chair,
swiveled, revealing two creatures; one very fuzzy, the other very bald.

�Logan,� started Professor X as he stroked the puppy, �is this yours?�

Surprised and feeling embarrassed, Logan only nodded.

�You know,� continued Charles, �I used to have a dog just like him. Does he have
a name?�

A little confused, Logan nodded. �Little Bub.�

�Somehow,� said the Professor, �it suits him.� He let the dog go and it jumped at
Logan�s feet.

Reaching down, he picked up the little furball who seemed to be as muddy as he
was. Glancing wide-eyed at the Professor�s now dirtied suit, he could only manage
�Sorry.�

�It�s all right,� said Charles unexpectedly. �I think a small dry cleaning bill is
worth the entertainment.� He motioned with a smile to the surveillance monitors on his
wall. �Plus,� he continued, evidently understandingly, �if you wash the floors, I might be
persuaded to let, ah, Little Bub, stay for a while. At least until we can find him a good
home.�

�Thanks Boss,� said Logan, just thankful the Prof was still talking to him.

As he headed out of the office towards the stairs, he again met Scott who was just
coming from the lab. When he saw the mud-caked Logan with the puppy, a huge smirk
appeared on his face.

�Now, how many times do I have to tell you,� he quipped. �You�re too old to be
playing in the dirt with your girlfriend.� He finished with a triumphant smile.

Logan just continued on his way, but paused halfway up the steps. Turning, he
faced the beaming leader of the X-Men.

"Oh, and Cyke,� he said with half a smile on his face, knowing justice was at hand.
"Next time Jeannie picks out your undies, go with smilies. They�re more stylish than the
hearts."