After classes ended, Bobby, Rogue, John, and Kitty all ganged up on Pete and Miranda and demanded that they explain where they'd gone. Miranda told them what happened and about their punishment. John said he wished he could have been there to fight Mystique, while the others were a little less enthusiastic, telling Miranda she shouldn't have gone. But then they moved on and went their separate ways. Pete and Miranda sat down at a table to go over Scott's class. But before they started, Pete surprised her with a question.

"Do you want to learn how to fight without using your powers?"

"What?"

"I mean, you said yourself that you lost your concentration so you couldn't use your powers when you fought Mystique, and because you couldn't fight her without your powers, she beat you. So I wondered if you might want to learn how to fight. I could teach you some of the stuff I know, at least the basics."

Miranda wasn't sure how to respond. It would be smart to learn how to fight physically, for the reasons Pete had said. If she couldn't focus on her power, she at least wouldn't be helpless like she'd been against Mystique. But did she want Pete teaching her? She was already spending more time with Pete, and Kitty had pointed it out. She didn't want to give Kitty more reason to think she liked Pete as more than a friend. She was attracted to him, there was no doubt about that, but she didn't want to give him that control over her. The last time she liked someone he'd used it to manipulate her, and she wouldn't give anyone that power again. But would getting fighting lessons be a problem?

"I guess it couldn't hurt. When would we do it though?" She saw Pete think for a second.

"Maybe we could do after your meetings with the Professor in the afternoon. We could start with doing it every other day, so you won't be too tired for the Danger Room sessions."

"Okay, but not today. I'm already tired from lack of sleep, so I'd probably just end up falling on my face."

"That's fine. We can start whenever you're ready."

She put it off until the weekend, wanting to start on a day when she didn't have a Danger Room session. When they joined their group for the next session though, the Professor said he was changing their simulation. He told them he wanted to see how they could work as a team against an opponent, to learn to use each others' strengths while covering for each others' weaknesses. Storm would be acting as their opponent. The students quickly huddled together to discuss a strategy.

"Miranda's and Bobby's powers will be weaker against her because they're both water based," Kitty pointed out.

"John, you'll probably have the most advantage," Bobby said. "Why don't we have Rogue borrow your power and the two of you will be our main attack force. Pete, you might be able to get close to her in your metal form because of your strength. If you can do that, you might be able to distract her. Kitty, go with Pete. You can hopefully phase through her attacks and help Pete get close."

"Do we know what we have to do to 'win' in this simulation?" John asked, grimacing as Rogue touched him to borrow his ability.

No one knew. With the strategy planned, they spread out and faced Storm. Once the professor gave them the signal, Storm immediately began a whirlwind inside the Danger Room. She also used to wind to levitate her body, remaining out of reach of Pete and Kitty. John and Rogue immediately began throwing fire at Storm, but she just deflected it with water. Bobby tried to freeze the water, but she only threw the icicles at everyone. Pete and Kitty were still making their way towards Storm, but they didn't know what they'd do once they reached her. Miranda tried to manipulate the water around Storm and turn it against her, but their power was evenly matched, making the water stand still as they fought for control over it. As she struggled with that, Miranda suddenly had a thought. She let go of the water and focused her power inward. Concentrating on the water within her own body, she began lifting her body, hovering at an even level with Storm. Everyone was surprised by this, even Storm. Miranda then kept Storm occupied with their battle over the water. This allowed John and Rogue to hit her with a fireball and Pete and Kitty made it to the floor beneath her. Pete lifted Kitty in the air using the strength of his metal form, and Kitty grabbed hold of Storm's feet and began to pull her down. When she was back on the floor, the professor sounded the end of the simulation.

"Miranda, how did you make your body float like that?" Rogue asked when they were out of the Danger Room.

"I manipulated the water in my body. I've never done it before, but it made sense for me to try at the time."

The others also commented on her powerful display. She thanked them, but then changed the subject. She didn't enjoy being the center of attention, even if it was to congratulate her. The next session was similar, but instead of Storm the group faced Scott. They came up with another strategy that used everyone's strengths and succeeded in beating him again, only this time with a few injuries from Scott's power. Still, the professor was pleased with their progress as a group. But he was changing their sessions still more. He told them that he was splitting them into two smaller groups: Pete, Miranda, and Kitty and Bobby, Rogue, and John.

Miranda wasn't upset at the change like some of them were. She saw it as a chance to hopefully further improve her abilities. The professor had said in their last private session that he believed her mutation wasn't complete. He suspected she still had a few more changes to expect before her powers were fully developed. She hoped the final changes wouldn't be anything to drastic, but still, with a new group and new simulations, she might be able to see those final mutations emerge.

That weekend, Pete gave Miranda her first lesson in self defense. He first showed her some of the more sensitive areas to aim for to inflict the most damage: groin, nose, etc. He showed her simple defensive maneuvers, such as spinning out of a grip when someone's grabbing her from behind, or when someone's pinning her to the ground. She tried out the moves on Pete, and managed to spin away from him. Next they went back to practicing hitting the sensitive areas of the body. After that Pete had her just practicing punching and kicking. By the time they called it quits for the day Miranda was feeling more confident in her ability to fight off an attacker long enough to pull out her water whip.

"Thanks for teaching me how to fight," she said.

"You're welcome. But you still have a lot to learn," he reminded her, to which she nodded.

The next day, the professor announced that he was taking all the students on a field trip to the Museum of Natural History. Everyone was excited. They didn't often get to leave the mansion, and especially to visit museums and other similar places. But they weren't allowed to just go off on their own or in small groups. They were split up into larger groups, and each group had to stay with one of the adults: Storm, Jean and Scott, or the professor. Jean and Scott got most of the younger students.

Miranda found herself in the professor's group, along with Pete and Kitty and several other students. The professor showed them around the museum, pointing out interesting exhibits and taking time to talk about his favorites. He also spent time answering any questions they had. Miranda particularly enjoyed the fossils that had been put back together and stood up in the shape of the animal. As they traveled through the museum, Miranda was reminded that she had been an accomplice to robbing museums like this, though not this particular one. The thought threatened to dampen her mood, but she was determined to enjoy herself as she was no longer that person.

After they had been there for some time, the professor suddenly stopped speaking in the middle of a sentence. He looked down the hall, and then began moving down the hall in the direction of the food court.

"Follow me, students," he told them. "There is something that needs my attention." As they walked, they noticed everyone else around them had stopped moving. People were standing absolutely still. Some were still pointing at things, and others were in the middle taking a bite of food, but they remained as still as the statues in the exhibits around them. Once they arrived in the food court, they noticed Bobby, Rogue, and John standing and looking at the frozen people around them. They heard Bobby tell Rogue he hadn't caused everyone to stop moving.

"No, I did," the professor told the trio. "And the next time you feel like showing off, don't." He gave John a pointed look.

Miranda noticed a boy on the ground, his arm dusted with ice she knew had come from Bobby. Obviously John had been showing off his fire power and Bobby stepped in. She rolled her eyes, wishing the former would grow out of his need for attention. They noticed the professor listening to a news report on the TV, something about a mutant attack on the President. They left the museum, and as they exited the building, they noticed people began moving and talking again. Miranda wondered what everyone in the food court would think when they saw John and Bobby had disappeared.

"Why'd you have to show off?" Bobby asked John later, when everyone had returned to the mansion.

"He was being a jerk," John said sarcastically.

"Still, you didn't have to set his arm on fire."

"Yeah, you got us kicked out," Miranda added, "though not by the museum security at least."

"Oh, and were you having that great of a time looking at the stuffed mannequins and old bones? Please, the only good thing about that trip was getting out of this mansion. Don't you ever get sick of living life cooped up in this place?"

"Some of us got sick of living life outside this place first."

Not wanting to listen to John complain anymore, Miranda left the room. She watched, surprised, as everyone followed her out but John. They migrated to the living room. Miranda involved Kitty in a game of cards, while Pete began helping a younger student with his homework and Bobby and Rogue sat on the couch. Miranda looked up when Rogue went running off to greet the person who'd just arrived on a motorcycle.

"Who's that?" Miranda asked Kitty.

"That's Logan, a.k.a. Wolverine," Kitty explained. Miranda remembered Rogue's story of her encounter with Magneto. "He left after the Liberty Island incident, but only the professor knows where to. Guess he's back."

"How come Rogue's so happy to see him?"

"She has kind of a weird relationship with him. It's like a really close brother/sister bond, you know? He saved her life a couple of times when Magneto was after her."

"I guess that would definitely bring two people a little closer. Ha! I win again." Miranda laid down her winning hand of cards, but watched as Bobby pulled Rogue back into the living room.

That night at dinner, Logan was eating across from her, Kitty and Rogue. She was curious about this stranger. She knew about his involvement with the X-Men thanks to Rogue and Kitty, and also about his unique abilities. He was the ruggedly handsome type, somewhat scruffy looking with that facial hair and worn out clothes, but those didn't take away his handsome features. He was well built, enough to rival Pete she decided, but didn't seem interested in anything around him. Rogue had also told her about the tension between him and Scott over Jean. She wondered if Jean was on his mind right now, as he was staring out the window with vacant eyes. He glanced over and caught her looking at him briefly, so she quickly looked away and returned her attention to her friends.