Luke rolled onto his back, his legs twitching in the air, and his tail draped over the edge of the bed. He was an odd sight to see.

Todd, entering the room behind Kitty, couldn't stifle the giggle at seeing Luke sleeping.

Luke's ear twitched towards the noise but he didn't wake.

Todd looked over at Kitty. "He's asleep." He whispered to her. "What should we do?"

Luke suddenly shot up and fell off the edge of the bed with a thump. He cried out in shock and jumped to his feet and just about dove under the bed before he caught sight of Kitty and Todd staring at him in the doorway.

Todd raised an eyebrow at Luke, then bent to look at him. "You okay yo?" He asked. *Man, do these guys have problems.* He thought to himself

Luke nodded and sat down, 'Yea, what's up?'

Todd edged from foot to foot. "I saw your lil friend yo. He... said some pretty nasty stuff to me. And then Kit came along and he kinda went back to how he was the first time we met.  We were wondering if you knew anything about it?"

Luke shook his head, 'I didn't even know he was gone... wait, what did he say to you?'

Todd made a face. "Just insults. You know, yo, the usual."

'That's weird... The only person I've known Nikki to insult was Alex... What happened before he started to insult you?'

Todd shrugged. "Nuffing yo! He just started in on me. Asking me shit about my power or something."

Luke's head suddenly shot up, 'I bet this has to do with that shadow thing...' His eyes widened briefly, 'We gotta find the Prof. or Logan or someone!'

Todd stepped back. "Whoa dude, calm down." Just then, Nikki poked his head round the corner, and smiled when he saw Luke, if a bit puzzled, but stopped dead when he saw Kitty.

Luke stood up and walked over to Nikki, "Hey, where've you been?'

 Kitty glanced over at Todd and raised an eyebrow.

Nikki stammered. "I'-I'm sorry mummy, I didn't mean to go out without you telling me, I'm sorry, please don't mummy... please." He started walking backwards.

Kitty looked at Nikki sadly then walked up to him and pulled him into a hug, "Nikki, I promise I won't hurt you," She said softly, "I'm not your mom..."

Nikki shook so hard his teeth chattered. He went totally still and the trauma of the flashbacks he was suddenly flooded by, made his mind shut down to stop any more damage from happening, and he went catatonic.

Todd poked Kitty when he saw a blank look come over the other boy's eyes. "Uhm... Kitty? I don't think that was such a good idea yo."

Kitty slowly laid Nikki down on the ground and laughed nervously, "Uh... oops?" She rubbed the back of her neck and sighed, "I'm so sorry Luke, I didn't know he'd react that way."

 'It's alright Kitty, you didn't know,' Luke nudged Nikki's head with his nose, 'Come on Nikki, wake up...'

Nikki didn't feel anything or hear anything. He was in a place in his head where, for once, everything was fine.

Todd shook his head. "DO you think we should go get Xavier still?" He asked, unsure of what to do.

Both Luke and Kitty nodded.

 "Why don't I like, go get him?" Kitty said inching away from the group then fazed through the floor.

Todd looked over at Nikki and poked him. Nothing happened.

"Does he do this often yo?" He asked

'No,' Luke sighed and sat down, 'I wonder if it's that shadow thing again.' He bared his teeth briefly.

"Shadow thing?" Todd asked, raising an eyebrow

'I don't know myself... It's just what Nikki, the Prof, and Logan told me. They're supposed to /kill/ it or something later...'

"That doesn't sound good." Todd then jumped up slightly. "Hey y, do ya think that's why he was saying all those things to me?"

Luke nodded slowly, 'Could be... we'll have to find out once the Professor gets here,' He glanced down the hallway, 'Wonder what's taken him so long...'

Sighing Luke curled up on the floor next to Nikki's unconscious form, resting his chin on Nikki's chest he glanced at Todd then back to the empty hallway.

Slowly, after some base part of his instincts noticed that the threat had gone, Nikki's brain started clicking back. He started feeling things properly, Luke's warmth against him, the carpet under him... and so on until he swayed slightly and blinked, looking round. "Luke?" He looked over at Todd and smiled fleetingly before turning back to Luke. "Has Mummy gone?" He asked.

Luke raised his head off Nikki's chest and nodded.

 ~Luke, is everything okay?~ It was the Prof.

 ~I think so...~ Luke answered back as he eyed Nikki warily.

Nikki shook his head slightly, then stood up to go sit on the bed, lying across it on his front and bringing his legs up behind him, swinging in the air. "So what we doin today?" he asked, sounding quite chipper.

~Everything's fine.~ Luke told the Prof. then walked into the room.

 'I'm not sure... How are you feeling, Nikki?'

Nikki grinned. "Good. How're you?"

Todd, shaking his head, walked out and downstairs to let Kitty know everything was fine, then get himself something to eat.

'I'm... all right...' Luke raised an eyebrow then sat down and tilted his head to the side.

Nikki copied him. "What?" He asked playfully.

'Hm?' Luke shook his head and stood up, 'Uh... nothing, just thinking.'

Nikki turned over, so his head was hanging off the side of the bed slightly. "Bout what?"

'Nothing really... just stuff.' Luke twitched his tail.

Nikki giggled. "So what're we gonna do today."

'Uh... I dunno what do you want to do?'

Nikki shrugged. "How the hell should I know?" He asked. "Don't you have a session thing?"

Luke's eyes widened, 'Crap!' He glanced at the clock, 'I totally forgot! I gotta be at the Danger Room in five minutes!' He turned for the door then added over his shoulder, 'Will you be okay for a half hour?'

Nikki fidgeted. "Can't I come watch?" He asked, not wanting to let Luke out of his sight for this... who knew what it could involve?

Luke hesitated for a moment then nodded, 'Yea, I guess so.'

"Yay" Nikki rolled off the bed then ran to the door, stopping to wait for Luke. "c'mon, c'mon."

 Luke walked along side Nikki for a minute then broke into a run, 'Think you can keep up with me?' He grinned over his shoulder at Nikki.

Nikki scampered after Luke as fast as he could, getting nowhere near the other boy, eventually having to stop for breath. Getting no exercise in a cell for most of your life would do that to you. "Wait up..." he called.

Skidding to a stop, Luke glanced over his shoulder and snorted playfully, 'Come on slow poke!'

Nikki trotted up and stopped, a hand grabbing the end of Luke's tail. "Slow down." He panted

Luke jumped slightly then tucked his tail between his legs, 'Alright, alright! I'll slow down! Just be careful with the tail!'

Nikki sucked in his bottom lip. "Sorry."