A/N: Hello, my lovelies! It's been months since I last updated this little story and I would like to say that it won't happen again, but I can't make that promise. Life gets in the way and I'm working on publishing my fourth book, so I can't tell when the next update will be. But for now, I'd like to thank the ones that stuck around and hope that you like this short update…

OOOOOOOOO

Scarlet moved through the mansion in absolute silence a week after she had been denied the chance to prove herself on a mission with the others. Things would shake and move and the lights would flicker every time someone would try to talk to her. She avoided going to Danger Room sessions with the other teens and put more effort into her training with Logan, though she rarely said a word to him with each one of the training sessions.

The dark haired girl leaned back against the wall as the Danger Room remade the forest scene that she had destroyed while battling Logan. Her chest rose and fell as she fought for breath and sweat beaded on her skin. Logan moved himself onto his feet and looked down, taking stock of the injuries that she had inflicted upon him. There was only a small rip in Scarlet's X-suit, something that she'd deal with after stepping out of the room. Logan's suit would have to be seriously repaired and she knew that she wasn't going to do it for him like she once did.

"Again," Scarlet said, watching Logan shake off his injuries.

Fire balls from the Danger Room came hurling through the air after her word. The copy mutant twisted out of the way and landed on a tree. She crouched against the trunk, waiting. Logan growled and came after her, using the Danger Room to help him train her. She used the tree to propel her through the air, knocking him down with claws in his shoulders and jumped over him.

Scarlet took off into the simulated forest and dodged all that the Danger Room threw at her. Her eyes burned pure red as she twisted through the air, avoiding another fireball. Her footing slipped and she landed on the ground below with a small grunt.

"Damn!" she hissed, flipping back onto her feet.

The dense underbrush moved around her as an unseen enemy approached. Scarlet breathed heavily and looked around, hands tensed into fists. Her burning gaze turned onto the robot that burst from the underbrush and she raised her hand, pointing a finger at the Danger Room's creation.

Scarlet spun around slightly and threw her other hand out, catching Logan in her grasp before he could land his sneak attack on her. The robot was crushed when she turned her attention back onto it. Hurling the metal ball in the opposite direction, Scarlet turned fully onto Logan and she threw him through a tree, moving after him. She knocked him through tree after tree until the Danger Room's projection flickered with her anger.

She lifted him into the air and approached him slowly. "Loser," she growled at him. Scarlet turned away from him as the Danger Room's projection reset. "Again."

"Maria," Logan ground out, falling to the ground when she released him from her powers.

"It's Scarlet!" the copy mutant hissed at him, though she never met his gaze.

"Whatever." Logan rose to his feet. "Why are you being such a bitch?"

"I'm always a bitch. It's part of my personality and I don't see any point in trying to change that now." She crossed her arms. "Are we going to do another round or am I going to step out while you run off on some hero's mission?"

"Is that what this is all about? You not being able to go on missions with the group?"

Scarlet slid a glance in his direction. "Maybe it is. Maybe it isn't."

"Maria, you don't get invited to the missions because you're not ready to," Logan said, watching her. "You're getting there, but not yet."

"When will I be able to? Hmm? When there are no more accidents? When I have complete control of every single power that's decided to pour into me? Because we'll be waiting for Hell to freeze over if that's what it takes to get me out there with perfectly controlled powers."

Scarlet shook her head and frowned deeply. "I don't get why everyone still doesn't trust me. I've lived my life with people that don't trust me because I'm 'dangerous' and 'uncontrollable' and they were right back then. But now, I've been practicing. I've been putting all my effort into controlling everything that's rushed into me. I've been sweating and working my ass off trying to prove to everyone that I'm not a monster among mutants. And for what? People still don't trust me and it's like no one ever will."

"Darling, if it was up to me, I would have you out with us," Logan said, crossing his arms after putting a cigar between his lips. "You're right. You have been working hard, but you're also being a childish little bitch." He smirked. "You could use some experience in the real world of the X-Men and I ain't saying that you shouldn't. But it's not up to me. I just report what happens in here to the boss man. What he does with that is not something that I can control, darling."

The corner of Scarlet's lips twitched as she looked at him. "You think that Scooter has something to do with me not getting anywhere any time soon?"

"When has Scooter not blocked someone from getting anywhere?"

A small laugh passed through Scarlet's lips and she shook her head. "You've got a point, Funny Hair…" She let her arms fall to her sides, turning to face him directly. "You wanna go for another round before we call it quits for the day?"

Logan nodded and squared up with her, cigar still between his lips. "One more round."

"Loser buys the winner pizza."

"Well, then I better win because I've seen the amount of food you can shovel in, darling."

Scarlet laughed. "Give it your best try then, Funny Hair. Because I ain't going to let you get the upper hand here."

OOOOOOOOO

Scarlet laughed as she climbed out of the truck that Logan had driven into town to get the pizza that she'd won by kicking his ass. She hadn't asked for more than three pizzas because she didn't want to waste all of Logan's money in one go. Already she was thinking about what else she could win from their training sessions whenever she kicked his ass again.

The sound of a little girl crying immediately silenced her laughter and her smile faltered as she neared the entrance to the mansion with Logan in tow. Storm was trying to talk to a little girl, who looked to be no more than five years old. Scarlet's eyes wandered over the dirty dress on the girl and the little bag that sat on the ground beside her. Tears were pouring down the girl's face and she kept repeating the same phrase over and over again.

"What's going on over here, 'Ro?" Logan asked, approaching slowly and seeming suddenly a little awkward.

"Someone dropped this little girl off and left," Storm explained, looking up at the man for a moment. "We're having a little communication problem here. I think she's speaking in Spanish, but it's a broken dialect."

Scarlet crouched down in front of the girl and looked at the girl's dirty little face. Tears fell freely from dark brown eyes and her lips trembled as she fought back each sob.

"Hello," Scarlet said in the girl's Spanish dialect, keeping her eyes locked on the girl's. "What's your name?"

"L-Leticia," the girl cried, rubbing one of her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Do you know who dropped you off here, honey?" Scarlet asked. "Was it your mom and dad? Did they drop you off?"

Leticia shook her head. "Not my mommy or daddy."

"Oh." Scarlet frowned at that. "Were they foster parents? People that took care of you, but weren't your mom or dad?"
The little girl nodded and more tears fell down her face. "I want my mommy!"

Scarlet pressed a hand against one of Leticia's arms and felt the girl's pain. She saw the car crash that stole Leticia's birth parents' lives. There had been three foster homes that the girl had been in, each considerably terrible. Yet, when the last one figured out that the girl was a mutant, they had shoved everything that the girl owned into that pathetic little black bag and drove until reaching the mansion where they dumped the girl and left without saying a word to anyone.

"Honey," Scarlet said, shaking off the disturbingly cruel images. "I wish that I could give you your mommy back, but I know that you'll have a big family here. Everyone here is just like you. We all have special powers that we may not understand, but we're learning. Together."

Leticia's bottom lip quivered again. "I want Puffy!"

"She keeps saying that over and over," Storm commented from the side. "What is Puffy?"

Scarlet tipped her head to the side and probed the girl's mind a little. "They didn't let you keep your Puffy when they sent you away?"

The little girl shook her head. "I want Puffy!"

"Okay." Scarlet let the girl's arm go and placed her hands on her own legs. "Leticia, I want you to close your eyes and think about Puffy. Think about him very hard and don't peek. Can you do that for me?"

Leticia nodded and closed her eyes tightly. Scarlet took a deep breath, focusing on the images that the little girl was thinking about. The copy mutant reached behind her back and pulled out a small stuffed animal.

"Okay, Leticia," Scarlet said, holding the toy. "Will you hold your hands out to me? And remember, no peeking."

The little girl sniffled, but kept her eyes shut as she held her hands out in front of her. Scarlet gently placed the stuffed animal in the girl's hand.

"You can open your eyes now," Scarlet told the child.

Leticia opened her eyes slowly and looked down at the object in her hands. A stuffed elephant that looked a little worn out sat on the girl's open palms. A little plain chain was wrapped around the neck of the elephant, holding a small locket where Scarlet knew two pictures of her parents remained.

"Did I do all right?" Scarlet asked, tilting her hand to the side as the little girl let out a small happy cry and danced around.

Without warning, Leticia leaped onto Scarlet. She wrapped her arms around the mutant's neck and muttered 'thank you' over and over again. Scarlet allowed herself to relax for the moment, hugging the girl for a few moments. Her body thrummed with heat as the little girl's powers were copied into her body.

"Now Leticia," Scarlet said, pulling away from the girl. "Can I see a smile?" She offered the girl a small smile of her own as the girl nodded. "That's great. Now, why don't you go with Storm over here and get situated…And yes, I will be around the mansion if you need me."

Leticia leaped at her again and placed another strong hug around Scarlet. This time, she was the one that pulled away. Scarlet looked up at Storm and switched back to English.

"She's ready to go to her new room and see Chuck," Scarlet announced, straightening to her full height. "He'll probably have some way to bridge the language gap between everyone and Leticia."

Storm shook her head and scooped up the little girl's bag. "I don't know how you did it, but you did well. Thank you, Maria." She held her hand out to Leticia. "Come with me, Leticia."

Almost reluctantly, the little girl pulled herself away from Scarlet and let Storm guide her into the mansion. Scarlet watched her disappear through the door before remembering that Logan was standing near her. She glanced at him and crossed her arms at the sight of the smile on his face.

"What?" she demanded.

"You say that you don't want children, but here you are mothering an orphan," Logan commented.

"I meant what I said," Scarlet muttered, frowning at him. "I don't to have children. And I thought that you understood that Funny Hair. Was I wrong?"
"No. I know you don't want children, but I think that you'd make a good one if you did want children." He gestured with his eyes in the direction that Leticia and Storm had disappeared. "You helped her when you didn't have to."

Scarlet shook her head and looked away. "I'm not a heartless monster like so many people think that I am. When I see a child being abused or cast aside because they have powers that most don't, I have to step in. I have to get them somewhere safe where they can be the people that they want them to be."

"And that proves my point."

"Logan," Scarlet said slowly in a low voice. "She needed help and I gave it to her. If she wants to seek me out for comfort, then I won't turn her away. But I won't be a mother to her. She's already lost enough mothers in her life and I don't want her to lose another one if I have to leave here for good."

One of Logan's eyebrows crooked up. "You're still thinking about leaving, princess?"

Scarlet shrugged and turned completely away from him. "Thanks for the pizza, Funny Hair. I'll see you around sometime…" She threw a careless hand up in goodbye and looked up at the mansion to see the Professor sitting at the window. "I always have to be ready to leave…"

OOOOOOOOO

A/N: What'd you think? I'm trying to remember where I wanted to get with this story as it's been forever since I typed up a chapter. I think I know the goal and that this may not be a super long story…But I don't know yet. Anyway, thank you for reading and I hope that you drop in a little comment in the little box. Thanks! -Scarlet