Disclaimer: The X-Men don't belong to me. They are Marvel's. The characters of Leo and Ty Dyson, and Benj Dents are mine.

Author's note: Keepin' it short

Decided to keep this chapter slightly shorter because it didn't need to be long, I got enough of the story I wanted into the words I had. I left a few things to the imagination too.

Read, enjoy, review. (and beware of were-bunnies)


Leo stomped down the hall to his room. Frustration pulsed through his veins as he stormed to the door way. He twisted the doorknob violently, crumpling it, and threw the door open. He hastily slammed the door shut. The door hinges rattled, and the entire wall shook.

His third Danger Room session had gone even worse than the first. The second had been okay, a simple hand-to-hand combat session with Cyclops, who'd whooped his butt. This one had ended terribly. Leo almost killed Ray. Again in the lion humanoid shift he submitted to animal rage and had come after Ray. He was getting tired of trying to control it whenever his emotions raged.

As a kid he never had as much trouble as he did now. Maybe it was just due to his hormones, but one way or another, there was a noticeable difference between how he handled it now.

As his frustration subsided, it left him feeling numb and empty. He sat down on his bed and held his head in his hands. Angry tears trickled down his face.

He was ashamed.

Ray really hadn't done anything; he was just in the way. It wasn't anything like the three teenagers that had sent his house up in smoke when they lived in Michigan. They deserved what happened, Ray didn't, and Leo had just barely stopped himself.

Soft footsteps attracted his attention. He looked up at his doorway. The door hung horribly askew, hanging by only one door hinge. A yellow-orange gloved hand pushed the door aside and stepped inside. She was still in her uniform too.

"Leo?" Rogue asked gently.

He turned away and quickly wiped the tears from his eyes. His voice cracked as he answered, "Y-yeah?"

"Mind if Ah come in?"

Shaking his head, he moved over so Rogue could sit next to him. "I-I didn't mean to-"

She held up her hand, "No one thinks ya did. We've all had trouble controlin' our powahs. Anyone who tells ya something diffahent is lyin'."

Leo raised an eyebrow. He found it unlikely that every one of the X-Men went through the same sort of thing.

Rogue sighed, "When mah powahs first manifested Ah was at a school dance. Ah put the guy Ah was dancin' with in a coma for a few days." She looked him in the eye. "Then when Ah absorbed Storm's powahs Ah almost killed the whole team. Latah, Ah lost control of mah powahs again. Ah couldn't keep all the minds straight inside mah head and lost it at a concert. Ah almost killed everyone, again."

He stood up and faced her. "Yeah, well that's just you. You have more than one mind in your head, it makes sense!"

She ground her teeth together, "Not just me. Scott likes ta pretend he's got everything undah control too. Why do ya think he has ta wear those glasses? Without them he would blow all of us away. Jean lost control when her powahs grew and nearly killed the professor." She snorted, "And Kitty still phases through the bed while she sleeps. Kurt can't stop being blue and fuzzy any more than the sun can stop shinin'."

"They don't have to keep a lion tamed within themselves though!"

"Beast had the same issue as ya do. He lost complete control of the beast within, but he's found a way ta be grounded." She stood up as well. When standing she was just as tall as Leo, and she met her emerald eyes with his amber ones. "Even Logan has trouble with his inner demons. Ya might say we all have our own lions ta tame."

"She's gotta point you know." A gruff voice said from the door way.

Both teens whipped their heads around. Logan leaned up against the door frame wearing his uniform.

"Why don't I show you how to tame yours?" Logan asked extending his hand.

Leo glared at him. It was a bit rude to have been eavesdropping, but he was desperate.

"Fine." He responded roughly.


"Rise and shine runt!" Logan's gruff voice sounded from the door.

Leo groaned and rolled over, putting his pillow over his head. Logan had decided that his lion taming would take place at five in the morning, Leo's least favorite time of day. He was a morning person, but not this much of a morning person.

In the other bed Benj picked up his pillow and threw it at Leo. "Get up! OrI'll getn one." His tongue was paralyzed with sleep.

With one last mutter of complaint, Leo jumped out of bed.

He touched the crystal on his chest lightly, causing it to glow. Ever since it'd grown on his skin he was always reassuring himself that it was there. As it glowed softly he picked up a fresh red shirt from his drawer and pulled it on.

"What do you have in mind, sir?" He asked as he closed the door to his room silently.


"Hit me." Wolverine said, arms spread out. He was back to wearing the orange classic Wolverine uniform.

Leo raised an eyebrow, scratching his deflated spikes out of his hair. "You want me to what?"

"Come on, give me your best shot runt." Wolverine growled.

Leo shrugged, allowing a little anger to flow through his blood in order to shift. His shoulders grew broader, soft golden fur grew all over his body, his jaw widened, and his teeth grew to sharp fangs. He extended his hands, feeling the power behind them thumping in his chest.

"You sure?"

The gruff man nodded.

Stretching his arm back he took aim at Wolverine's orange chest. A furry fist came fast and hard at his chest.

Wolverine caught the fist and twisted back his wrist. Leo shrieked and yanked his arm back.

"What the hell!" he shouted angrily.

Wolverine shook his hand and shrugged. Readjusting his gloves he said, "Try again."

Leo grimaced, sensing more pain in his future. Ignoring the guaranteed pain he swung his right arm toward Wolverine's head.

He ducked letting Leo's fist soar over his head. Leo stumbled as the force behind his swing caused him to continue spinning. A sharp pain at his back came from Wolverine's boot. Leo spun around and threw a left hook at him. Wolverine dodged again, weaving in and out of each swing he threw.

Chuckling Wolverine taunted Leo, "That all you got? I said hit me!" Leo stopped, panting. "You're going to have to let some of that beast loose to get a piece of me."

"I can't… can't do that. Don't have… enough… control." Leo gasped, clutching his side.

"Do it. I can stand up to anything you can do." Wolverine said.

Leo sighed and closed his eyes. The beast within him was clawing for a way out, and Leo let a part of it out. Roaring he jumped at Wolverine, attempting to dig his bronze claws into that annoying orange suit.

The change was notable; suddenly Wolverine was having a harder time avoiding the kid's swipes. He was beginning to grow tired, while the kid found new energy. Smiling to himself, Wolverine was glad he got to teach this kid a thing or two. One, because Leo couldn't kill him no matter how hard he tried; and two, because Leo reminded Logan of himself. It had taken a long time to tame his inner "lion".

He slipped up and let Leo get in too close. The golden lion grabbed him by the shoulders and flung him across the Danger Room. He hit the wall hard, denting the metal. Snarling Wolverine stood up to face Leo, but he was just standing there.

Leo shifted back to human and wiped a hand across his face. A crazy gleam shone in his eyes as a lunatic smile spread across his eyes. "Now THAT was fun!"


"Again."

Leo sighed, bending over and placing his hands on his knees. Sweat poured down his face. Wolverine was pushing him hard, daring him to lose control.

He stood next to Leo, arms crossed. "Again."

Leo groaned as he stood up and took his stance. His uniform was soaked through with sweat, and he had several fresh cuts and bruises on his face. He glanced over at Logan, who was standing smugly in his own uniform. He was really starting to piss Leo off.

"Computer, Leo's Run Number Two." Logan shouted. The walls of the Danger Room rumbled to life. He had spent some time coming up with the perfect training session for Leo, to push his limits of control.

Small cannon barrels pivoted out of the wall. With a whirling sound they fired baseball-sized metal balls at Leo. Breathing hard he ducked the first few, then weaved back and forth between the next wave. One was headed straight for his chest, reaching a hand up, Leo caught it and crushed it.

The metal balls started coming faster. Leo extended his claws and started slashing them out of the air. He was too tired to continue dodging. For a second, he let his guard down and a ball struck him in his shoulder.

This completely shattered his concentration. Multiple metals balls hit and bruised him all over. He fell to his knees and covered his head with his arms. One found its way between his arms and bashed him in the rib.

"Stop!" Logan growled. The cannons ceased firing.

Leo slowly stood up and glared at Logan.

"Again."

"No. Not again." Leo panted. He felt one of his ribs that was hurting a ton.

Damn it, broken. He thought angrily. He would heal up, sure, but in the meantime, ow!

"I'm pretty sure I have a broken rib, so let's call it a day." He grumbled to Logan.

Logan snorted, "A broken rib? That's all? You're gonna quit just because of a broken rib? You got less guts than I thought kid."

Taking a deep breath, Leo turned away from him. He was only trying to get him riled up, trying to make him lose it. This time, he wasn't going to win, Leo was. He replied while shifting back to his human form, "Yep, see you later Logan, sir." With that, he left the Danger Room.

Logan chuckled to himself, that kid had some spunk.


Beast was sitting in his study, enveloped in a good book. It was nearly two in the morning. The light from the lamp next to his armchair was growing hot from being on for so long.

A soft knock sounded from his door.

Beast turned around, "Come in."

The door opened silently, and in walked Leo. He was suited up in his uniform, but his hair was hanging loosely on his head. It looked like he had just finished another late-night training session with Logan. There were dark bags until his normally cheerful eyes, casting a dark shadow that seemed to extend beyond himself.

"Ah, Leo. What brings you here so early?" Beast asked.

"How do you do it?" Leo sighed.

"What?" Beast questioned, placing his book mark into his book.

Leo walked in farther and shut the door. "How do you control the beast? How do you stay so grounded?"

Beast smiled. "Shakespeare."

Leo frowned. "Shakespeare?"

"Yes, I find that his plays hold a special meaning. I like to recite them if I start to lose my head."

"…uh… So I should memorize Shakespeare, and then recite it as I lose control?" Leo laughed. "I don't think that'll work."

Beast stood up and gestured for him to sit. "Well, what do you like to do? What do you feel the most at peace doing?"

Leo thought as he sat down. He liked doing a lot of things, but one thing he could relax and focus his mind on was drawing. "I like to draw." He answered. "But how can that help me keep control?"

"Maybe when you start to feel yourself losing control you can think of sketching things." Beast suggested.

Leo closed his eyes and thought about it. Perhaps it would work; he could try it the next time with Logan. He could focus on the lines things naturally created, the smooth strokes he liked to use when sketching. Already his mind felt less at ease.

Beast stood there for about another couple minutes until he realized Leo had fallen asleep in his chair.

"Well I guess I won't be finishing that book tonight." He whispered, exiting his study and leaving Leo to dream on.


As of November 29, 2011 I have no OC submissions, but have a couple offers. You can either PM them to me or put them as a review. If you can't fit everything on one message, split it in two. It's fine.

*As you know, OC submissions are closed, but thanks for everyone who did. I might open them back up along the road, but if you have a REALLY good OC I suggest you use them in a story of your own. If you're thinking 'No, I don't write my own stories, I couldn't do that.' Please, try. I would love to help if need be.*

Next chapter: The Brotherhood wasn't done in this story. They're always up to trouble. But what happens when Magneto asks them to do something?

*OC Update: (Final) I have 5 characters, a gay 17-year-old guy (love interest for my own gay character), a straight 15-year-old girl, another straight 15-year-old girl/wolf, a 9 year-old boy, and his older sister a 16 year-old lesbian, oh and a straight 16 year-old-guy.