This is Mio thinking or a special emphasis on a word.

This is Lovette playing a song.

This is something being read form a piece of paper, not out loud.

STORY BEGINS

When the Black Bird landed, Kitty and Rahne ran into the hanger to meet us. Rahne waited outside, but Kitty just fazed through the door, wrapping me into an immediate hug, "Mio! I missed you so much!" She pulled away, smiling, "I'm mean, it hasn't been the same without you."

The door opened and Rahne walked in, "You mean class hasn't been the same. I kind of miss Summers running in with some complaint, like salt in his shampoo, and blaming you immediately." She winked, "Still haven't confessed to that one, have you?"

"Deny to the grave." I smirked.

Rogue laughed, shaking her head at us, "Logan's been actin' a bit down eva since ya left, and Lovette's been the same."

"Well, I'm here now, where is the little ankle bitter?" I asked.

"MIO!" Screamed Lovette, running into the room and latching onto my leg. I expected her to start babbling about how much she missed me, but instead, she pulled away, "I learned a new song!"

"Really?" I asked. She was always hearing new songs, and wanted to use her power of manipulating vibrations to play them like a human radio.

"Wanna here it?" She asked.

"Sure." I said, no avoiding it.

"Ya know ya love me, I know ya care." She played.

My eyes widened, "Oh no-"

"Just shout whenever, and I'll be there."

I bit my lip, Why this song? Why me?

"Ya want my love, ya want my heart, and we will never ever ever be apart."

My glare turned to Kitty, glaring, "I know it was you."

She shrugged, laughing nervously, "She got into my CD collection."

"Who has CD's anymore?" I mumbled

"Are we an item? Girl quite playing. We're just friends? What are you saying?" She broadcasted, in the annoyingly high, and surprisingly male voice. "Say there's another, now look right in my eyes. My first love broke my heart for the first time."

Conner covered his ears, and Megan started nodding her head to the beat, while Rahne just made a break for it, shouting, "Come with me if you want to live!" Curse that Scottish wolf…

"And I was like, baby, baby, baby oh! Baby, baby, baby, no! Thought you'd always be mine."

Now, I was stuck with a new Bieber Nation addict, and a dancing alien. By the end of that song, I wanted to claw my ears off. Or shoot myself through the auditory canal. Which ever one hurt worse.

Finally, I shrugged Lovette off of that song, and got her talking instead of broadcasting. As soon as I walked through the halls, following Rahne's scent to find everyone, I could immediately feel the change in the air. People stared, whispered, and looked away when I tried to make eye contact. Just like before. I think it really had more to do with the fact I was related to Logan then the fact I was related to one of the more dangerous enemies of the X-men.

Most of the kids here were scared of Logan, because they had no back bone, they feared his training sessions, they had seen him go into a rage in the danger room before, or the more rare option, they were one of Scott's little pets. Anyone who sided with Scott either hated, or feared Logan. Pretty much just feared.

I tracked her scent to the lunch room, where I found them sitting down at one of the larger tables, laughing and eating the bland cafeteria food. I dragged Lovette over with me, sitting between Jubilee and Conner.

"Hey Mio." Conner greeted, smiling at me.

"Hi. What goes on?" I asked.

"Everyone keeps staring at your friends." Rahne said, chuckling, "They're new meat, remember?"

My eyes narrowed, "Crap."

"What?" Artemis asked.

"New meat means initiation." Jubilee said, smirking.

Rogue nodded, "Mio ova here skipped right ova hers. Neva went through it."

"I refuse." I said, repeating what I had said all those years ago. Right after that I had made a mad dash to the air vents, and I had hid there for three days. "Besides, they're not new meat, they're just visiting, after a few days, we'll all be going back to Happy Harbor."

Kaldur nodded, "The team will not be joining the X-men under any circumstances. I fell it would be inappropriate, none of us are mutants, and I would not wish to offend anyone."

Rogue shrugged, "Careful about talkin to loud shugah, some might be offended just at you visitin."

"Are they really that sensitive to people other than mutants staying here?" Megan asked.

"Well Megan, you have green skin, telepathy, and telekinesis, here you'll be accepted instantly. Wally has super speed, and we might be able to pass him off as a prodigy because of his brain but that lie would only last a few seconds. Conner has super strength, super hearing, and other talents I'm sure will develop over time. Robin, we could probably pass him off as having some low key power like enhanced reflexes and mind power. Artemis, we could pass you off with super sight and enhanced reflexes, again, low key. Kaldur, we could tell everybody he has water and electricity manipulation. That should keep you all safe for our stay here, and you'll all fit right in." I explained, "If we tell the truth, it might start a riot. Seriously, so use those lies like a high school girl uses eyeliner."

Artemis raised an eyebrow, "They hate humans that much?"

"Humans have hated and condemned us since our species was discovered. We've been hunted down, forced to reveal ourselves, treated as outcasts, and some of us have been unfortunate enough to have been… experimented on like lab rats. They'll take in a powerful mutant, wipe their memory clean, and then train them, teach them, to be a weapon, usually to be turned on their own kind." I explained, and a silence fell over the table.

Robin finally cleared his throat, "Well, I here you guys have an awesome training room."

"The Danger Room?" Asked Rahne, a smirk spreading over her face. "You'll wanna avoid that as long as you can. Mio will shove you in there soon enough."

Conner spoke up, shattering the attempt Robin made at a subject change, "You talk like you were made into a weapon, and experimented on. Is that true?"

I stared at my plate, really just hoping he wasn't talking to me. I slowly looked up, and saw him looking directly at me, the emotionless yet slightly curious expression he wore so often lightly gracing his features.

I looked at my plate again, cafeteria food sucked, and I wasn't hungry anymore anyways. I stood up, and walked out, biting my lip and trying not to look back at them.

I was walking through the deserted hallway, when suddenly I tripped over something, something really solid. I grunted, catching myself, and standing up, looking at my attacker, Hellion.

He stood there, leaning against one of the lockers, munching on an apple, "Long time no see Mutt."

"Hello Julian." I said, glaring at him with crossed arms, "Going to use TK to try and give me a swirly again?"

He snorted, "Last time I tried that, you sliced the toilet in half, then tried to do the same to me."

"Want me to do it again?" I asked.

"You still holding a grudge on me for that?" He asked, taking another bite of the apple.

You didn't bother to find a clean toilet." I reminded.

"Not like I actually dunked you in." He reminded.

"The intent was clear, anata wa, orokana, yōchina, chūmoku no katsubō, tai wa hīrōdearu." The intent was clear, you stupid, childish, attention craving, wanna be hero.

"That didn't sound nice." He said, swallowing, and raising an eyebrow.

"The thing I love most about speaking in Japanese is that almost no one here knows what I'm saying." I said, smirking and walking away.

"I'm not done catching up with you yet." He called after me.

"See if I care." I said, but when I tried to go further, I walked into a TK shield. I turned around, seeing him smirking at me, and tossing his apple core into a nearby trash can.

"Don't try to play games with me Mutt, you're playing with the big boys now, remember?"

"You just jealous I was given a job by Batman himself, and you weren't?" I asked, smirking.

He shrugged, "If Batman wants to take a gamble on you instead of someone more experienced, that's his business. I've got a good thing going here, and I don't intend to leave it. How's that group of stupid kids Young Justice going by the way?"

I glared at him, "None of your business, now are you going to take the shield down, or do I have to stab you?"

He chuckled, "Stab me."

I walked towards him, but walked right into another TK shield. "Would you cut that out?"

"You're fun to mess with Mutt." He said, smirking.

"Really, I thought you picked on me to get Laura's attention." I snapped, touching the shield with my hand, and lightly pressing against it. "Is this some way to get her attention back after she took off without you?"

He growled, "Shut up about things you don't understand, and we both know you don't understand that." His frown turned into a smirk, "You're still nothing more than a weapon, you don't understand feelings."

"Neither does Laura!" I protested.

"Yeah, but at least someone likes Laura, someone willing to teach her about it, me. No one's there for you. Not after Jake found out what a psycho you are and ran away screaming his head off, literally." He smirked, knowing he had won, and the shield under my hand vanished.

He turned around, walking away, "Nice talking to you Mutt, as always."

I growled, what did Laura see in that guy? I shook my head, walking down the hallways I had spent four years in, three in middle school, and only one in high school. I had been in tenth grade in Happy Harbor high school, and it was better there than here, mostly because no one knew me.

I walked out the front door, heading where I knew I could get peace. I smirked as I came up on the door, hearing a suddenly crash, and then a colorful stream of curses erupt from that were tainted by the Canadian accent.

I walked into Logan's garage, smirking as I saw him trying to stop an oil leak from the X-van, wearing his old cowboy hat. He hardly wore that around the kids, usually just when he was alone, or in a good mood.

"I wouldn't let Professor X hear you talking like that."

He turned around, a grin spreading over his face, "Hey kid."

"Don't worry, I won't tell on ya." I promised, grabbing the oil stained towel from his work bench and walking over, crouching down next to him. "As long as you don't tell on me for skipping out on a few visits to friends today."

He smirked, taking the towel and mopping off the oil covering his face. "Sure thing kid. Wanna help me with my rounds?"

I nodded, and we started working on each car, doing routine checks and fixing up some of the ones that didn't quite make the cut. Took me back a few years, when I was twelve, fresh out of the Dark Avengers, thinking I knew everything. Even after Daken had knocked me down a few bars, I wasn't counting on everyone else doing that too.

Logan did it more than anyone, constantly showing me that none of my skills were as adequate as I thought. Teasing me about my low scores on the danger room, how I could barley drive a car let alone the X-van, my difficulty with speaking English, my low grades, and the fact I always talked bigger than I was.

At first I thought he was like Daken, disrespecting me and calling me pathetic. Then I decided that I wasn't going to let him talk about me that way, and I had really applied myself for the first time in my life.

Even I was surprised at how fast I had taken to real training, instead of Hydra brainwashing. With a little of Logan's instruction, I had quickly risen through the ranks, and had proved that I deserved to be a Howlett.

Logan began to recognize my potential, and had seen to it I had been placed in the team I wanted, which was originally Paragons, but shortly after joining me and Wolf Cub had gotten into a heated argument, I don't even remember what it was about. We had both started shoving, and in a matter of seconds, we were both ripping each others guts out.

After we calmed down, we had both decided we wouldn't be able to work together, and I offered to leave the team, he was there first after all.

After looking through some files, I had decided the only ones who didn't have a team mate on there I hated, or a team mate who's name I hated, was the Hellions. Emma Frost had been a bit of a red flag, but I managed to get over that. It was Hellion I couldn't get used to, him and his supid mouth!

It was like all he wanted to do was tease me about my accent, or make fun of me when I couldn't pronounce some of the words at all! He'd tell me that if I was looking for the 'special' class room, I must have missed it, or something else that made fun of my language disability.

Once, Hellion had put up which Danger Room session plan we did, and had immediately looked at me, "I'm guessing you want to just charge in, right?"

I had said, "No, I think we should… should… uh" I struggled to remember the right word. How did everyone here speak English so well? I learned Chinese easily, why was English so hard? It was the most impossible language ever!

They all looked at me expectantly, and finally Wither had spoken up, "What? We should what?"

My face turned a deep red, and I stared at the floor, then just mumbled, "Uh… cornucopia?"

Hellion had a field day with that one.

Logan spoke up, shaking me form my thoughts. "I said the size eight wrench."

I looked up, seeing him holding out his hand. I grabbed the wrench, handing it to him quickly.

"What's on your mind kid?" He asked.

I smiled, "You remember my first week in The Hellions?"

"How could I? You broken Hellion's left wrist, and gave him a minor puncture wound." He reminded me.

I chuckled, "In my defense, he was asking for it."

"Course he was." Logan smirked.

I shook my head slowly, then frowned, "I spent four years training my claws off… and nothing changed."

He raised an eyebrow, grabbing a beer off the counter and using a claw to take off the cap. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"He can still beat me." I mumbled. "I still don't stand a chance."

"Not true." Logan dismissed.

I looked up at him, and he continued, "I remember when you wouldn't have been able to even touch him, but on that mission with the Injustice League, you got your fair share of hits on him."

"Not enough to matter." I said, crossing my legs and staring at my knees.

"That's fear talkin." He said firmly. "You're improving."

"Not fast enough." I said, shaking my head. "I'm still not able to protect her. I… still have to depend on other people to protect Lovette, like a college kid using his mom's credit card."

Logan put his hand on my shoulder, "Mio," He hardly ever used my real name, so when he did I knew he was serious. "You've only been doing this seriously for five years, Daken's been doing this since he was born. The fact you're able to get hits on him already, that makes me more proud than you'll ever know."

He stood up, grabbing another beer off the counter, "In fact." He sat back down, popping the top off of it, "We never celebrated that." He handed me the beer, and I took it, raising an eyebrow. He tapped his to mine, and then too a long gulp of his, then looked pointedly at me.

"I thought you said I was to young to drink this." I reminded him.

"You turned sixteen two weeks ago, I sent you a card." He replied.

"Oh, yeah." I took a hesitant sip, and nearly choked. I had always thought it would be like soda, but it was entirely different. It had a nasty bite to it, and all I wanted to do was spit it out, but before I could, the bite went away, and all that was left was an interesting flavor that I couldn't really place. I swallowed, and felt the bite again as it went down my throat, but that faded too.

I looked up at Logan, and he smiled, "Well?"

"I like it." I said, taking another sip, prepared for the bite this time, and finding it slightly more tolerable.

Logan nodded, taking another swig of his, "Now, if Chuck asks-"

"This never happened." I finished.

"Good girl." He said, messing my hair up.