A/N So, the further I get in this fun little adventure of wolverineness, the more I become aware that I've totally fudged up some timetables…So maybe it's not RIGHT ON with Joining Together. Sorry, sorry Rhea! I just like skipping months, and weeks, and such. end 'A/N'
Wolverine was shocked when he first saw IT, or her as it could more properly be called now. At the time the little Sakura was clinging to his back. He had just finished calming himself after Sakura's most energetic attack, and had not expected another surprise; especially as he entered his haven, the mansion. Once he opened the door, the scent hit him like a sack of bricks. The ever vigilant Wolverine, for a moment, couldn't move. And there stood a young woman, talking to Professor Xavier. She didn't seem to even notice Wolverine. The scent of the elusive thing was emanating from this young woman. The shock gave Wolverine a moment to finally get a good look at what could potentially be his hunted adversary. Truth be told, she wasn't that tall, she just stood like she was. Her silvery hair was tied up on the top of her head in intricate folds. Her face was long, and her visible ear had a chip out of it, cut off at the very tip so that they were just under the length of a normal person's. The girl couldn't have been younger than 17, or older than 20. She wore simple clothes, a thigh-long maroon fitted shirt, with a thick belt over it, all over brown trousers with animal-skin boots. Although she was not remarkably tall, the girl had to bend, almost menacingly, to see the Professor eye to eye. She was clearly confrontational. Clearly looking for something. Asking about the very girl, Lily, who had left that day. That's when Wolverine saw it, as she stretched her left arm out to lean on Xavier's chair for more balance as she questioned him. A 3 inch scar widthwise, barely healed. He had found his prey.
Logan had completely forgotten that Sakura was on his back, so it brought him around to himself once the girl jumped off. "Thank you" was all that he could mutter under his breath, grateful that he had finally found what he was looking for. This was a huge part of the puzzle that plagued the mansion. He could finally start to piece together what that girl was up to.
The wolverine walked away as Sakura and Mara greeted Micki, confirming another suspicion of his. They knew each other.
An undetermined amount of time later
Wolverine had become careful about watching Micki; he knew where she was at nearly every moment of every day. His caution was not only in his assurances of the girl's movements, but in the concern of detection. He did not want her to know that she was being watched. Wolverine became very familiar with the girl, and her actions. She woke every morning at 5, dressed, and entered the bathroom for no more than 30 minutes. Emerged showered, and returned to her room for about another half hour. She would then make her way to the mansion's garden and spend an hour meditating. That was when her classes began. Wolverine was very confused by the fact that she was enrolled in only 3 classes. 3 classes are hardly enough for her to be called a student.
These classes were geography, history, and art. Not exactly a well rounded education. After her 3 classes, at about noon, she would head out into the garden again for lunch. And, after lunch, she would spend about 3 hours in the library studying various things. He also noted that for the first week that he watched her, she spent absolutely no time studying…but, after that week, she would spend hours on end in the library. Some evenings she wouldn't emerge until after nightfall. Once the girl finished in the library, she would go to her single room and spend the rest of the night in there. There almost no time for socialization, with the exception of class and lunch. She was a very solitary creature, not unlike the wolverine. The longer that Wolverine watched the girl, the more concerned he became about his suspicions. There was absolutely nothing remarkable about her. She never disappeared for long periods of time, in fact; she never even left the mansion unless completely necessary.
It took Wolverine quite a while to decide to search her room. And, once he did, nothing seemed to be any clearer. It was after the first week that he went into her room during her classes. It was a simple room, a single. It was rather small, no more than 12' by 20'. Like the rest of the mansion, it had maple molding all around the room, with pale beige above. There were sparse furnishings, only what the academy provided; a small oak-framed bed, a dresser, a small writer's desk, and a side table.
The bed was neatly made, and the only sign of clothing was two pairs of pants hanging in the closet, as well as two shirts. Wolverine checked briefly in the dresser, but there was only one drawer that had anything in it, and that was only underclothes. There wasn't even anything underneath the bed. There was but one sign that the room was occupied, one personal effect. It was a picture of the girl, Micki, looking the nearer to relaxed than Wolverine had ever seen her, as she leaned against the blue haired girl, 'Jen'. The picture had a simple background, only a brick wall that could have been anything, a traditional castle, a fence, or any number of things. Completely unremarkable, except that Wolverine couldn't identify what stone the fence was made out of; another curiosity about this different girl was uncovered. Wolverine felt that if he could figure her out, all of the other mysteries surrounding the other girls would fall into place. Although, Wolverine would still watch the others on occasion, just to be familiar with the other strange girls…But there was something about the girl who snuck around the mansion first that he couldn't trust. The others he understood at face value almost immediately, but this one was hiding something…something deeper than what the others were hiding.
Wolverine was careful to make sure that everything was as he found it before he left the small room. He did his best to make sure that there was absolutely no trace of his time in the room. He knew that Micki wouldn't be back in her room for quite a while, since class was still in session, so his smell should be gone by then. In any case, the scent is a concern only if she could smell well enough to detect it.
Wolverine left the room and returned to his own to think. He had a few hours before the girl's classes let out, and he fully intended to introduce himself as soon as she finished lunch. He was getting incredibly frustrated at his inability to figure out exactly what was going on. She was doing something, and he had a feeling she wasn't just trying to get to know the mansion. Everything pointed in another direction. She wasn't staking it out for Lily, who she seemed so persistent on finding when she met the professor, because Lily arrived later than she had come as that ever elusive 'thing'. If she thought that Lily was going to come, she would have made herself known immediately after finding that Lily wasn't there. She also wasn't fearful. She had no problem meeting other people, although she was closest to the others. There was something going on with those, but Wolverine thought he already had that mostly figured out…She was different, though. She was a true mystery…And Wolverine didn't like mysteries. He was going to find her out, and when he did…She would regret never coming forward in the first place.
Wolverine slammed his fist into the small writing table in his room.
"Why isn't this making any sense?" He growled at the now splintered wood. The man was usually very patient when it came to a hunt, but this was getting ridiculous. The girl left him absolutely no clues whatsoever. There were no odd occurrences at the mansion other than the arrival of the other girls, and the invisibility of the girl. As far as Wolverine was able to gather from his sleuthing, the others didn't know of any powers that Micki had other than her super strength. If she had no other powers, then why was Wolverine unable to see her when they first met? And how did she escape from him so easily in their fist encounter?
It just didn't add up.
As Wolverine thought, he looked up at the small analog clock he had on his desk. It was 1:20. Lunch was almost over. She usually spent it talking with the other unusual girls, and she rarely socialized with anyone outside of her little clique. The Xman stood up and made his way down the stairs towards the small courtyard that the students used as a picnic area on nice days. He stopped short of exiting the mansion, and observed through a window. It was a beautiful day, and he saw that she was beneath a tree.. She was just standing and talking with two other girls, the one called Jen, and the one called Mara…Then Jen, the blue haired short one from the photograph just ran off. They must be close, the xman thought. Wolverine didn't understand what made the other run off, but he saw that 'Mara' was still hanging from the tree. He watched carefully as the two exchanged words, Micki seemed vaguely upset and closed off to the monkey-like girl. But he could see that the monkey-girl wanted answers from Micki. It wasn't long before the silver haired woman took her leave of the monkey girl…And Wolverine would be waiting for her inside the institute when she came in. Micki was going to be a little late to the library on this day.
A/N Yay, special thanks to Jen and Rhea for their support and reviews! Luff you guys! End A/N
