A/N Okies, well, I wrote my next chapter :). Yay! Thanks to ShiNoMegami20 for her kindly plug in her awesome story! And to MercuryAngel1 for all of her support :) On with the chapters, I say! Oh, and it may be a little while before I can get 4 up, firstly because I'm on vacation, and secondly because I'm heading back to school soon after...But I'll try. I have a pretty solid idea of what I want to accomplish in the next chapter...Enjoy! Oh, and please do review, I appreciate what anyone, and everyone has to say. Even if it IS negative :D

There was a deep set frown on her face as Micki approached the mansion. There was something about Mara, the small green and pink haired girl that Micki just couldn't find it in her to like. But her conversation with Jen was certainly enlightening. She hadn't realized that Lily still had such intense emotional scars… It didn't matter to Micki, however, because she had faith in Lily. Micki had faith that Lily would be able to overcome her pain, and, with the others, make a concerted effort to overcome the opponents in this war. That was exactly why Micki wasn't overly concerned about the war. She knew that her friends could handle what was coming at them, even if Micki wasn't working at it 150 percent.

Her frown only deepened as she entered the mansion. Her mission was beginning to complicate itself. She always had the feeing that she was being watched, and she had an idea of who was doing the watching. She looked up as she saw the library door come into sight… She wasn't sure if she was prepared for what she had to do that day.

Micki was reaching out to open the door to the library when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She didn't have a chance to think about what happened next, and she didn't even have a time to let out a shout. The next thing she knew was being held against a wall by her neck, and her face was a mere inches away from another angry, dark skinned face. This all distracted her from the piercing pain in her mid back.

Micki was instantly afraid; she didn't know what to do. "Wha..."

"What are you doing here?"

Micki's eyes frantically scanned the face of Wolverine. She knew exactly what he was asking her about, but she was absolutely terrified of the look on the man's face. He looked more animal than human...and completely ready to kill. "I….I was going to the library, to study"

"That's not what I mean." There was a menacing tone in his voice. "Tell me why you're here." He didn't shout, but it was clear that Micki had better give him an answer that would satisfy him.

"I…I'm here with the others!" Micki's mind was going a mile a minute. She decided to tell the honest to goodness truth. "I came with a letter from. From a queen. She wants us to save Earth, there's a huge war going on…And, we, we…" She felt a fist against her stomach, and then she felt something sharp gently piercing her skin. "We're not from Earth! We aren't human!" Micki prayed that this would satisfy him. She didn't know what he was capable of; she knew he wasn't like the others. She knew that she couldn't hurt him, not even with her strength. She had seen him fight, and she knew that she didn't have much of a chance against him, not when he had this much of an advantage over her. She may have had a chance if she hadn't had her guard down in the beginning...but it was too late for that now. She also knew that it would completely blow her cover if she made her true abilities apparent.

Wolverine was clearly shocked; she could see it in his eyes. They were still narrowed against hers, but he was beginning to understand. Things were making sense to him, things were adding up. She felt the stinging in her stomach beginning to stop, and she let out a breath of relief, as Wolverine removed his fist.

"Please, let me go... I've told you everything" She asked, feeling as though she was going to be sick.

Her words had the opposite effect of what she wanted. Wolverine seemed to snap back to focus when she spoke. He actually raised his grip on her neck until she was standing on tip toe.

"You've told me nothing."

Micki felt him grab her left arm and back his face away. He twisted her arm forcefully and brought it to where she was looking at her own scarred forearm.

"Explain this one, kid!"

"I...I" Micki knew that he followed her around the mansion, so she thought of a response that he might believe. She took a breath to calm her panicked voice and responded. "I was in the garden, and I caught it on a gorse bush. It must have been three or four months ago. It's practically healed now." Micki focused everything on her breathing. She hadn't seen an opening for her to use her strength to break free from him. She had a feeling that if she tried to use it at all, she'd end up with a broken bone…and that was one thing that she couldn't afford at this point in time.

"The garden in the mansion?" His eyes were easing up a little, he didn't seem so angry, and Micki felt a surge of hope. Maybe this situation was salvageable.

She nodded. "Yes, right outside."

Suddenly he grinned, like a child who had just figured a complicated riddle. His smile reminded her of a jackal. "Three months ago, you weren't enrolled here."

Micki's eyes widened. There was no getting out of this one. She was doomed.

"We both know how you got this." He roughly shoved her arm in her face again. "And I want to know what you're trying to do to my academy. What are you doing slinking around here! I want answers. NOW!"

The pain in Micki's forearm gave her strength. Maybe if she could distract him a little, an opening would appear. She changed tactics immediately. "Let me go!" Micki had had enough. She found her strength, pulled her arm free, and grabbed his wrist around her neck. "I don't have to answer your questions. This is not a place where I came to be ostracized by some psychotic beast! That is not what this school, 'your' academy, is about, and I don't exactly see distrust as one of Xavier's cardinal values either!" She couldn't quite pull his arm off of her neck, but mostly because she didn't want to hurt him. She knew that if she did anything to hurt him, this situation would escalate further than she had any desire to see it go. It had gone far enough already. She didn't want any more connection between the two of them than they already had by her slit forearm. Her face was starting to turn red because her toes were getting tired. They were cramping from all the weight she had on them.

Micki suddenly realized that what she had just done was a mistake. It distracted him momentarily, as she had hoped, but his faced was suddenly enraged. If he saw her as a threat, she realized, he might not have any qualms against protecting the academy…by destroying her. She tried to stay calm as he prepared to speak again. She didn't know how many more lies and half truths she could tell.

Wolverine extended a claw, and raised it in the air. She felt the hairs on her arms raise as he growled at her. "Listen, I'm really starting to lose patience here... Tell me what you are doing sneaking around this-"

"Wolverine!" A masculine voice called out. "What are you doing?"

Wolverine's eyes went large, and Micki didn't think it was possible, but he was angrier than he was before. Wolverine didn't waste a moment to think, he just responded on impulse. "Student teacher conference." He said calmly; as he retracted his claw. "We're done now." He let go of Micki's neck, gave heri a last threatening glance and turned to walk out of the room, careful to knock shoulders with the other man as he left.

Micki collapsed against the dark wall and held her neck. She finally got a good look at the room that she had been dragged into. It was a small classroom. The pain in her back was caused by a chalkboard ledge. He had hit her hard against it, and she already knew that there was going to be a long bruise going widthwise across her back. Her throat hurt worse than her back, though. For a few minutes, his hand around her neck was all that supported her in a standing position. She breathed heavily for a few moments to make absolutely sure that he had not crushed her esophagus. That was much too close for her comfort

"Are you all right?" The masculine voice asked as it approached.

Micki looked up for the first time to get a look at who said that. It was the brunette second in command. "Mr. Summers? I'm fine...I just thought he was going to kill me…"

She watched him shake his head as he knelt down before her. "I don't mean to scare you, but he may have, given a lack of interruption. Logan is a loose canon, and can be incredibly hard to predict. Why did he attack you like that?"

Micki frowned, and hoped to look in deep thought. She hated to lie, but she did not have much of a choice. "I don't really know, I was just on my way to the library to study…I think he may be a bit paranoid. He kept accusing me of wanting to destroy the mansion, or something like that. I just, I don't understand." Micki looked up at Scott, clearly concerned. "This is a safe place for me, and I would never want to hurt anyone here. I don't know what's wrong with him..." Well, she didn't do much lying, at least…

Scott frowned. "Neither do I. I'm not sure if I'd be able to study after an attack like that from Wolverine. Please, let me help you to your room, Ms…?" Cyclops was very sympathetic towards the girl, being assaulted by Wolverine as he'd just seen was nothing trivial. However, he did wonder why Wolverine would do such a thing. Maybe there was an explanation... Cyclops would certainly have a talk with Wolverine about it later.

"Micheala, but I'm more commonly referred to as Micki." Micki couldn't help but let out a small smile. She appreciated Scott's empathy, but was slightly perturbed that he didn't have any qualms about siding with the student immediately. She dismissed this minor detail as teacher's intuition. "Thank you; I greatly appreciate your kindness." Micki ignored the ache in her back, the burning of her neck, and the sting in her stomach, and dusted herself off to stand. She had been hurt much worse than that in battle, and she fought her intuition, which told her to be overly dramatic. She then used the chalkboard ledge as an aide to stand. "But, I think I'll be fine."

If Micki could have followed Cyclops's gaze, she would have noticed him staring at the three vertical holes in her shirt, each surrounded by a small amount of blood. She had started to leave, but he gently stopped her by grabbing her arm.

"Micheala, you need to see Jean about those cuts." He had concern written all over his face..And Micki believed that it was deeply etched into his eyes, as well, even though she couldn't see them through his tinted sunglasses. "Did Wolverine do that to you?" Scott already knew the answer, but he had to ask for verification.

Micki was inwardly glad that she had forgotten about the telltale mark that Wolverine had left. Since it was there, maybe it could be used against him. She briefly considered going to Professor Xavier and trying to have the Wolverine evicted from the grounds, but quickly realized that those efforts, even if they miraculously worked, would just push the man to stalk her even more. "Yes, but they're just scratches." She said, trying to downplay them. "I heal quickly, and if you don't mind, I'd rather not have them looked at. See, the bleeding's already stopped."

Scott was unhappy about letting that go, but he'd seen much worse go untreated professionally and do fine. "All right, but make sure you keep those cuts clean."

Micki nodded. "I think I'll be okay walking to my room, but thank you for the offer, just the same." The young woman did not want any extra attention drawn to herself by letting a professor walk her to her room. She wanted to remain as unnoticed as possible…and Wolverine certainly hadn't helped her there.

"All right, if you're sure. I need to have a talk with someone, so just make sure you're careful and take your time. You've suffered quite an ordeal here."

Micki nodded, and took her time leaving the room. Once she was out of sight, however, she relaxed her walking to a more normal pace.

Scott clenched his fist as he watched the girl leave. Wolverine had gone too far this time.