A/N: Sorry it took so long to update! I hope you all enjoy this chapter. It's a bit strange but I think they all are. A little OOC, hope you don't mind! A little fluff, a lot of teasing... well, you'll see.

Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men! I only own Shadow and Nebula and of course the plot is all mine! :)

Read on!

Shadow awakened for a start. Her eyes fluttered open and she already felt every emotion possible crash on her, all before her eyes could even adjust. But they didn't. As always. Blindness. She sighed. But wait a minute.

"Huh?" She gasped, jumping into a sitting position, looking around frantically. She looked at her alarm clock. "Four in the morning. It's four in the morning?" She grabbed her alarm clock and shook it, to see if it would change but it didn't. She smiled, "I've only been asleep for an hour? It's night still?" She asked the walls.

Shadow jumped to her feet and ran to the light switch, flicking it. She ignored the pain of the sudden bright light and blinked rapidly so her eyes would adjust. Her bed, the wardrobe, the vanity, the moonlight shining in through the windows.

She bit her lip and stood on her toes, clutching her pants tightly, "Ohh, Hank, you did it, you beautiful man!" She screamed quietly as she marched in place out of excitement. She gasped again and ran to the vanity, stopping abruptly before the mirror.

"Oh..." She whispered, frozen in place. Her eyes watered. Her lip trembled. She reached back and grabbed the waving tail behind her, pulling it forth, glaring at the spear head. "Oh." She hissed angrily, squeezing it with hate, as if trying to choke it. She clenched her other fist, feeling her claws dig into her marked skin. She bit her lip, keeping herself from sobbing. She hissed, her pointed teeth digging into her already scarred lip.

She released her tail and buried her face into her hands, letting herself cry quietly. "Huh?" She choked out. She removed her hands and blinked the tears away, leaning into the mirror desperately. She couldn't believe it. She didn't know if she should cry harder or laugh. Tentatively, she pulled her hand up to her face, gently touching her nose. Her human nose. "This stayed?" She giggled. "And I can see!" She hissed happily. "I can see." She repeated, trying to keep on the positives. "Hahaha, I can see!" She shouted happily. "Oops." She hissed, covering her mouth and quickly tip toeing into her bed.

She laid back and sighed happily, closing her eyes. 3, 2, 1, "Nope, can't sleep." She said and rolled out of bed, going to her wardrobe and pulling it open. "It's kinda hot... Wonder if this place gotta pool." She said with a little smirk on her face. "Hm... Wonder if I gotta swim suit." She mocked herself. She went to her vanity, pulling out one of the drawers. "Ah, here we are." She said, smiling as she pulled out the black two piece. "Good." She smirked.

Shadow found the pool rather easily at the back of the mansion, a few minutes past the garden. She pulled her shirt and pants off and tossed them aside. She watched the water, sitting still and clear. Shadow glanced at the lights under the water, lighting the pool in a cool aqua blue.

She walked to the stairs and without giving it much thought, stepped inside. The water wasn't cold to her relief. It was rather warm, just right. She walked the rest of the way in, diving in head first. She swam straight to the other side. When she emerged, she shivered at the slight breeze that had just passed. She giggled, running a hand through her hair to move it from her face.

"Couldn't sleep either?"

Shadow gasped and sunk into the water, leaving only her head out as she searched for the voice. She couldn't see anyone around all around the pool. "Who's out there?" She asked carefully.

"Just me." The person said. Obviously a man. Obviously him.

Shadow sighed, closing her eyes and rolling them. "Do you always follow me around?" She asked teasingly.

"Do you always sneak out at late hours?" He teased back. He walked out from the shadows and stood at the edge of the pool with his hands in his pockets, a slight smirk on his face.

"I do actually." She said, swimming to the edge to meet him. She raised herself up and leaned on the ledge, looking up at him with a smile on her face. "Why didn't you stop me, Logan?" She asked seriously.

He sighed, crouching down to be at more of an eye level, but avoided her questioning eyes. "Would you have stopped?" He answered with a question of his own.

"No." She whispered. She tilted her head, searching for his eyes.

He shrugged, glancing at her through the corner of his eyes. He almost laughed, "A nose? That's what you got?" He mocked.

"You should have seen me earlier." She teased with a smirk.

He broke out in a grin. It almost scared Shadow, seeing him smile. "I was followin' ya, remember?" He pointed out.

"Oh yeah." She hummed, smiling at him.

"You okay?" He asked, now serious.

"All things considered." She sighed, looking away from him sheepishly. "Have you checked on Hank?" She asked after a moment.

"Yeah." He said simply.

"And?" She pressed on, looking at him for an answer.

"Still... normal." He said skeptically, not sure if that was the correct word.

"Normal? He didn't change back?" Shadow asked, her eyes wide.

"Not yet. He had a bigger dose though. Might be back to himself by mornin'." He explained.

"Oh..." Shadow whispered. She looked away and stared at a pebble near Logan's foot. "He won't be very happy..."

"I'll say." Logan agreed. "So... why the nose?" He asked teasingly, trying to lighten the mood.

Shadow gave a weak smile, "I dunno." She answered simply. She was still sentimental about the serum's failure. "I can see though, for now."

"Well, yeah. It's dark." Logan pointed out.

"No. I could see in the light too." She explained.

"Think it'll last?" Logan asked, sounding almost hopeful.

Shadow snickered, "Hope so." She raised her head and looked up at him. He was looking away, seeming to be lost in thought. She smiled, taking in his appearance. Being able to see was just enough. Being able to see him. Everything. "Why are you up anyway?" She asked, breaking the silence.

Logan glanced at her from the corner of his eyes and cracked a half smile. He shrugged, "Routine." He said simply.

"Since when is following girls around routine?" Shadow mocked, holding in her laughter.

Logan turned to face her with a glare, "That's not-" He sighed, thinking it would be pointless to argue with her about it. "Need to get some fresh air from time to time." He mumbled, looking back out toward the trees leading into the woods.

Shadow followed his gaze, "I know what you mean." She whispered. She had to fight the sudden urge to hop out and run out there.

"Well, I'm out." He grunted as he stood up, stretching his back a bit. "Comin'?" He asked, reaching his hand out for her.

"I think I'll stick around a while longer." She said.

"You'll catch a cold." He blurted out randomly.

Shadow was taken aback somewhat by his statement. "No, I'll just stay a minu-"

"Hypothermia." He insisted. He shook his arm slightly, waving his fingers.

Shadow scoffed in disbelief and rolled her eyes, unable to hide her toothy smile. She reached out and took his hand. Logan pulled her out of the water effortlessly.

"Thanks, Logan." She giggled. Mentally she was already grabbing her clothes and putting it on. Physically, she was still holding his hand, staring at him as he stared back. She couldn't look away. Not until he did. And he didn't. His gaze was strong and full of many emotions, she could see.

Logan swallowed the lump in his throat. He resisted the urge to squeeze her hand, as if reassuring her about something. He didn't know what exactly though. Her purple eyes bore into his dark ones. He wondered to this point, who would be the first to look away.

"We gonna be here all night?" He asked, not breaking their eye contact.

"Can we?" She almost whispered.

"You'll freeze." He said, breaking into a small smirk, his eyes sparkling.

"Alright, let's go then." Shadow said, finally taking her hand and picking up her clothes. She pulled her pants on and held onto her shirt, not wanting to soak it. "Come on." She said, turning to Logan who was still in the same place, his hand still extended.

"I think I'll just take a walk-"

"Oh no you don't." Shadow said, taking his arm and pulling him along.

Logan chuckled and let her pull him. He kept a foot of distance behind her, just looking around. "Have you thought about what you're gonna say when the others see ya tomorrow?" He asked after moments of silence.

"What you mean?" She asked curiously.

"Oh, Shadow, you have a nose! It's a miracle!" He said, changing his voice into a high pitched cartoonish one. He waited for her answer but it never came. He scoffed, "You didn't think it through." He stated.

"I never do." She mumbled. "What am I gonna say?" She wondered frantically.

Logan shrugged, "I dunno. It's your problem." He answered her rhetorical question.

"I don't want Hank to get in trouble." She whispered, her grip tightening around Logan's wrist as she thought of what she could say.

"When they see a non-Beast Hank tomorrow, he'll have some explaining to do for himself. One way or another, he's fuc- screwed." He corrected himself at the end. Didn't seem like the time to swear.

"True..." She considered. "Well, Professor, there was this freak accident. A toxic bee stung me in the behind and I got a nose!" She acted out dramatically, faking an amazed tone.

Logan chuckled, "Relax, kid. Chuck is pretty understanding..." He tried to comfort her.

"You think he'll understand?" She asked hopefully.

"The hell he will! The man encourages mutants to embrace their mutations and to love themselves and shit. You tried to change yourself, Izzy. He's not gonna like it." Logan explained, not believing that Shadow actually thought he'd understand.

"Aw, shit!" She hissed, slapping her forehead.

Logan took that extra step to be next to her. He turned his head and looked at her with a serious expression on his face. Shadow noticed and looked at him, suddenly feeling small and defenseless under his firm stare. She could physically feel herself inching away from him. "I'm tellin' ya now; you're not runnin' away from this one. You're fightin' the battle this time." He said sternly.

Shadow winced at the tone in his voice and nodded before quickly looking away with a blush on her face. She felt like a six year old being scolded by her tough but protective father. A father she sometimes feels like kissing. That's just as wrong as her actual self wanting to kiss Logan. Her blush deepened as she tried to push the thoughts of her kissing Logan away.

Logan got a strange feeling all of a sudden. Like a wave of something just hit him full force. He could literally feel the feral side of him snapping for a second. It's like he was being called out to something, drawn to something strong. He took a deep breath but that didn't help. It was actually worse. He glanced at Shadow absentmindedly and was going to look away but there was something different.

"Maybe you should put your shirt on." He grumbled awkwardly.

Shadow swallowed the lump in her throat that formed from hearing his deep voice all of a sudden. She turned quickly to look at him and almost reeled back from the look he was giving her. It was intimidating but somehow comforting. She didn't understand exactly how that made any sense.

"Oh..." She said, looking down at the shirt in her hand.

Logan inhaled deeply, "I said maybe." He added quickly. "If you want..." He said, his eyes flashing down to her exposed flesh.

Something in Shadow's head screamed like crazy. She saw him looking but she didn't do anything about it! She just blushed and stared at him, staring at her. Snap out of it! "Oh." She said, looking ahead, fiddling with the shirt in her hand.

"It's just that it's kinda cold now." He explained sheepishly.

"Oh, I know." She answered quickly. "Hey... You... I dunno." She said, shaking her head and staring at her feet as they moved.

"What?" He asked. Logan leaned forward to look at her face, searching for an answer. "What?" He pressed on.

"You feel okay?" She asked, not looking at him. "Cause I feel... I dunno, weird." She explained nervously.

"Same here." He said, looking ahead, clenching his jaw.

"You do? What do you think it is?" She asked, curious as to what it could be. She assumed he felt the same she did.

"Um... no idea." He lied. The feeling was somehow familiar to him now that he thought about it. He tried connecting one with the other and slowly something was coming up but he wasn't liking it. He gently pulled his arm out of her grip and pretended to scratch the back of his head.

"I'm hungry." She blurted out.

"Me too." He agreed quickly, picking up the pace. They reached the front of the mansion and he opened the doors for her, stepping in and closing the door after quietly.

Shadow wasted no time in walking into the kitchen. She opened the fridge and looked around for anything to eat. "There's chicken." She said when Logan walked into the kitchen.

"Chicken's good." He said, sitting on the stool and leaning on the counter.

"Great." She said, putting it on the counter.

Logan didn't question anything and stuck his hand in, pulling a piece off the cold chicken and putting it into his mouth. Shadow was quick to follow, pulling off a leg and munching away on it.

After the fifth bite, Logan stopped and glanced at her, an eyebrow raised. "You know we're eating cold chicken, right?" He asked.

"Yup." She said quickly, as if she had been expecting him to say it. "Oddly enough, it's better than the heated stuff." She mumbled.

Logan couldn't disagree but he didn't agree either. He was wondering what was going on. He was acting weird. He wasn't exactly sure if Shadow normally ate refrigerator chicken but he knew he didn't. Not unless he was a bit on the feral side. Which he isn't. He remembers one time, a long time ago, back when he joined the X-Men, he ate cold turkey, right after he had... well, slept with Jean. It wasn't exactly the same feeling, but it was similar. He still couldn't explain it. He couldn't explain it now. He had a theory but he didn't like it.

Shadow glanced up at him. He was lost in thought, playing with a piece of chicken in his hand. "You okay?" She asked worriedly. She put her chicken down and leaned over to look at his face. He looked troubled. "Logan." She called out when he didn't pay attention to her. "Hello?" She waved a hand in front of his eyes and it took him a second to react.

"What?" He asked. Now he stuck the chicken in his mouth.

"What's the matter with you? You seem out of it." She said, her eyebrows furrowing with worry.

"I'm fine." He said, leaning on the counter top. "Just thinking." He mumbled, looking down at the meatless chicken. Had they eaten it already? "I dunno about you, but I'm still hungry." He said, looking up at her through lashes.

"Yeah, same here." She said, spinning in her seat and hopping off, walking to the refrigerator. She opened it, blinking past the light, and looking for something else to eat. "There's turkey-"

"Nah, I'm good. I'm off, see you later." He said hurriedly before practically running out of the kitchen.

Shadow stood there, totally confused, with cold turkey in her hand. "What was that about?" She asked. She shrugged, taking the turkey with her as she left the kitchen and headed to her room.

Logan walked quickly up the stairs, down the halls and into his room. He closed the door and locked it, laying against it to catch his breath. He wasn't actually out of breath but he felt like he needed more oxygen in his lungs. He could feel the cold sweat on his forehead and on his palms. He rubbed his forehead and closed his eyes, sighing heavily. "What the-" He growled, snapping his eyes open when suddenly the image of Shadow invaded his thoughts.

A nose could really make a difference. She looked much more human with a nose. The markings, the fangs, the claws, they all seemed normal. The tail was still a bit odd. It was weird checking her out and then having it wave around. But the nose, goddammit, she looked amazing. She did without it, she's an exquisite mutant, but... he sighed, not knowing how to explain it, not even to himself.

"Aw, fuck." He groaned, closing his eyes, leaning his head against the door. "Fucking idiot." He growled at himself. "Why?" He hissed. "Fucking shit." He stopped himself from slamming his fist against the door. He groaned and pushed himself off the door, trudging across the room and into his over-sized bed.

"No." He said sternly. "Just, no." He told himself. "The fuck are you talking about? You can't help it." He covered his eyes with his arm. "Gonna have to." He sighed, clearing his mind and trying to relax into sleep.

A/N: Well, there you have it! The ninth chapter! Familiar with the term pheromones? Oh, you had already figured it out? Smart readers! Bet you caught on quickly. Doesn't make sense? It's fiction. It doesn't need to make sense! :D I hope you enjoyed the chapter as much as I enjoyed updating!

Leave a review, let me know how you're liking the story (or disliking... please be nice ;-;)! Reviews are coming in pretty slow, may not update for a while, all depends.

Anyway, brace yourselves for the next chapter! What will the X-Men think of Shadow and Hank's little science fair experiment? What's going on with Logan? Will Shadow be able to see now? Will Hank remain human-looking? What will happen when Professor X finds out? What will Kurt think of Shadow now?

Review, people, review! Love ya lots!