I never really understood the purpose, liked or disliked, the term of a morning after. I didn't know if a morning after was a term just used if there had been naughty things going on, or if it just meant you had spent the night together. Please tell me it was the first option.

Don't start thinking we did anything bad, honestly, we just went to sleep right away. Okay we kissed a little first, but it wasn't my fault, he made me! Damn that alien!

I groaned at little as the sunlight from my window hit my eyelids, and Conner's arms tightened around my waist.

"Stop movin." He slurred sleepily. Did he think we were just gonna lay in bed all day?

"No." I said, wiggling out of his hold.

He groaned, turning over in his sleep, and I looked over at the digital clock on my nightstand. "What the- it's already seven in the morning!"

I quickly shot out of bed, grabbing my costume from the closet, and changing in the bathroom, while Conner pulled a pillow over his head. I walked out of the bathroom, leaving my mask on the counter, and was about to drag Conner out of the bed when my phone rang.

I got a pocket got a pocket full of sunshine-

I answered it quickly, "What Megan?"

"Conner's not here! I've looked everywhere, at school, even, but he's just not here! I don't know where he is, it's not like him to just-"

"MEGAN!" I screamed.

"Yes?" She squeaked.

"Dear Lord Megan, I know you don't have to breath air, but seriously? Take a deep breath." I ordered. "Conner's right here, he's fine."

"He… he spent the night at your house?" She asked timidly, whispering, "With you?"

"Megan, that's not… it's not like we had… it's complicated." I mumbled, rubbing my forehead, "We'll be over soon, okay?"

She was silent, and I sighed, "Megan, I… I've gotta get ready." I hung up, shaking my head. "Perfect."

"What?" Conner asked, sitting up, a little more awake now.

"Conner, did you ever make it clear to Megan that you weren't interested?" I asked, glaring at him.

"… Define clear."

"Ugh!" I threw my hands up into the air, "Seriously? Great Conner, now I have to worry about Megan sending the entire Martian race for me!"

The doorbell rang, and I stood up, growling, "Now I've got to scare off some Jehovah Witnesses! Great morning!"

I stomped to the front door, flinging it open, and my eyes snapped to the blonde woman in front of me.

"What!" I screamed, the veins in my neck bulging and I was trying to pop her head open by glaring just right. "It's seven in the morning you dumb blonde! I have to get up every morning, every day of the week at FIVE IN THE MORNING! I couldn't sleep in just once, COULD I!"

She glared right back at me, crossing her arms, "Done yet?"

I took a deep breath, "Yep."

"Good." She said. "Does this belong to you?" She gestured down next to her, where a little boy stood.

My heart stopped the minute I laid eyes on him. Couldn't be more than five years old, stood about up to my waist, black poof of hair on his head that fell into a mohawk, wearing a light pink button up shirt that didn't fully conceal the dragon tribal tattoo running up his arm.

He smiled up at me, an innocent little boy smile, that instantly made me want to scream in complete and utter terror. It was so wrong, it should be impossible for him to smile like that, just physically and morally impossible. Daken Howlett never smiled so innocently.

But there was no way this could be Daken Howlett, not the one I know. He's to young, to happy, and way to small.

There's only two logical explanations for this. One: a time rift opened and a Daken Howlett from a very, very, very, very long time ago is now in our present time. Two: my idiotic father went and had himself another illegitimate child.

I looked back up at the woman, "Nope, sorry."

I tried to slam the door, but the woman quickly shoved her foot in the path of the door. I cursed loudly, and Conner came into the room, "What's going on?"

"Nothing." I said quickly, stomping on the woman's toe. She cursed and I tried to push the door shut further. "Conner, you mind if we take the window route to work?"

"Who's at the door?" He asked, walking over to me.

I groaned, opening the door again, and the woman glared at me again. "Can we come in?" She asked. "I don't know if we're being watched."

I sighed. "Fine."

I opened the door, and the woman quickly entered, the boy following.

She sat down on the couch, the boy immediately running off somewhere in the apartment. "Sorry if this was a bad time." She said, but I know she doesn't mean it. She needs help, and she doesn't care if I'm having brain cancer surgery today, she's not going to take no for an answer.

She continued, and I sat down in an armchair across from her, Conner standing next to me. "My name is Donna Kiel, I'm an FBI agent from Los Angeles. Your father, Daken Akihiro-"

"Howlett." I interjected. "I have no idea what he's told you, but Akihiro was a name given to him when he was adopted by a wealthy Japanese family a very long time ago. Howlett is his birth name."

She didn't care, "Whatever. As I was saying, we were hunting down a criminal together in Los Angeles, Roston was his name. I believe that he is responsible for a new drug, called HEAT. It's made form the blood of the pride, and he managed to get both me and Daken addicted to it."

"The blood pf the pride?" I asked. "That's some heavy stuff you're dealing with you know. It could really mess you up."

"It has." She confirmed. "I'm getting over it. While we were there, we tried to get help from a group of kid heroes called-"

"The Runaways." I finished. "I met them once."

"I know." She said, "They wouldn't shut up about you."

I smirked, "Chase still sore from the time I kicked him in his balls?"

She rolled her eyes, then went serious, "They said you were good, very good."

"They were right." I said. "I helped them out of a minor dilemma, killed a few people in the process, and that's why to this day Katrina still prays that I'm going to have my own entrails strung up on tree branches in town square surrounded by half starved street dogs."

Conner raised an eyebrow but Donna continued. "One of them, I forget her name, she used a magic staff of some sort to turn Daken into a child again."

My eyes widened, "That kid… that's Daken?"

Donna nodded, "Yes. He hardly spoke of you, but after hearing so much about you from the Runaways, I asked him about you once. All he said was that last he heard you were, and I quote, in some gay happy harbor high school prancing around with two aliens, a Flash, Bat-Boy, an Atlantean, and an archer like a bad high school musical rerun."

I stifled laughter, "Dear Daddy is so supportive. So, why bring him hear? I don't want him."

She fixed me in her gaze, "I'm trying to work out the disagreement we had with the Runaways and get them to change Daken back. You are the only relative I know of, and frankly I'm terrified about leaving the boy alone in Los Angeles, and having him with me while I'm reasoning with the Runaways will just cause strife. Watch him for me, and then I'll get him out of your hair."

I snorted. "I'd love to see you do that. Frankly the guy won't leave me alone. I know he hasn't told you much, but the guy shows up every few months to just kick the crap out of me cause he gets bored. You'll understand if I'm hesitant?"

She nodded slowly, "I figured your relationship with your father was sketchy at best. I have no idea what's wrong with your family and all the hatred each one of you feels towards your fathers."

I shrugged, "Something in the genes I guess, or maybe fate is just a douche bag."

She shook her head, "Just watch him for a few days."

"A five year old Dad? Me baby-sit said Dad? Really?" I asked. "He's going to try to kill me sometime during his stay, I'm going to get gutted by a five year old!"

"As far as I can tell, he's eight." She corrected.

"Wow." I mumbled. "Pops was a short kid too."

She shook her head, "I'll be back for him a in a few days. Now, on the off chance that she undoes the spell long distance and little Daken turns into normal Daken," She tossed me two little green pills. "Throw the HEAT into his mouth. That should shut him up for about an hour or two. If that doesn't work, cut his head off and cross your fingers."

I gave her a look, which then broke into a smirk "Wow, you sure we aren't related?"

She shook her head, "No, guess your Dad's just rubbed off on me."

I frowned for a moment, "Was there something between you two?"

She paused, standing up slowly, "Not enough to define."

I nodded, "Careful around him." I said sternly. "I understand you're a lot older than I am, you're FBI and you've dealt with psychopaths before, but Daken is not capable of love. If he was, do you think I would have turned out so royally screwed?"

"I know who and what I'm dealing with." She said firmly. "I'm not an idiot."

"I can see you're clever." I mended, "But, you still don't know him."

"And you do?" She challenged. "You said yourself the only time you see him-"

"Is when he's standing over me, drenched in my blood and looking down at me like I'm the most interesting plaything he has ever had." I said, standing up as well, "You never truly know what a person is capable of until they've gutted you for a laugh."

She nodded, "Don't care. Watch him. He has no memories of anything from before he was eight. For some reason, he can't understand English, which mean's you're going to have to explain to him why he's here because I can't speak Japanese at all."

I groaned, and then looked towards the kitchen, where Daken was looking out at us curiously. "Kodomo wa, anata ga makikoma renai yō ni suru hōhō o manabu toki ni bōju suru koto ga dekimasu." Kid, you can eavesdrop when you learn how to not get caught.

His eyes brightened up noticeably, thrilled to hear a language he understood. "Watashi o yurushite, watashi wa tan'ni kyōmi ga atta. Anata no namae wa?" Forgive me, I was merely curious. What is your name?

"Mio." I answered, then turned back to Donna, "Get what you need done, I'll try not to kill him while your gone. It's tempting when he'd be so easy to kill."

She nodded, "Thanks for your time." She nodded a swift goodbye to Daken, and then left.

Conner turned to me, "Weird."

"Very." I agreed. "Look, you go to Mt Justice, and I'll stay here with Daken."

"Mio, suppose he turns back into, uh, normal Daken while you're here?" Conner asked, "Maybe you should just bring him to the base. Maybe the Runaways won't change him back, and then you can have Zatanna look him over and try to fix him."

"And when he does go back to normal have him know the interior layout of the cave?" I asked.

Conner shrugged, "Martian Manhunter could always erase his memories."

"True." I agreed, "Fine you head out there, and I'll be there soon."

He nodded, "Alright."

He leaned forward, kissing me on the cheek quickly, then leaving.

I turned back to Daken, who was standing there, smiling happily up at me, kind of reminding me of Lovette. I heard his stomach growl, and raised an eyebrow, "Kūfuku?" Hungry?

He nodded sheepishly. "Sono josei wa watashi ni kimyōna nanika o taberu tame ni shutoku shiyou to shimashita. Sore wa kimyōnaaji ga shimashita." That lady tried to get me to eat something weird. It tasted odd.

I nodded, "Amerika no fāsutofūdo. Hijō ni yoi, sono kōsokude wa naku,." American fast food. Its fast, but not very good.

I grabbed a leftover plate of curry udon from yesterday morning, warming it up and sitting it down in front of him. He ate slowly, politely, while I sat down across from him, trying to decide if I should tell Logan.

"Dakara, watashi wa shigoto ni ikanakya, to watashi wa anata ga watashitoisshoni kite iru to omoimasu." I said. So, I've got to go to work, and I guess you're coming with me.

He nodded, smiling. "Daijōbuda to, watashi wa jissai ni wanna wa anata no shigoto ga nandearu ka o sanshō shite kudasai!" That's okay, I really wanna see what your job is!

I raised an eyebrow, "Riyū?" Why?

He shrugged, finishing off the curry. "Dona wa, to yoba reru monodearu to iimashita... Sūpāhīrō! Sore wa hontōdesuka?" Donna said you were some kind of a… a superhero! Is that true?

I frowned, "I thought you didn't speak English."

He raised an eyebrow, and I sighed, repeating the question in Japanese.

"Ā! Watashi wa, kanojo wa eigo no jisho ni nihongo o eru koto wa arimasen." Oh, I don't! She got a Japanese to English dictionary.

I nodded, taking his plate and tossing it in the sink. "Retto' s wa, sonogo ni iku." Lets go then.

I took him outside, getting on my motorcycle, and gestured for him to climb on behind me. He hesitantly slipped on, arms clenched around my waist tightly.

I took off down the road, and Daken screamed bloody murder, letting go of my waist, trying to jump off of the motorcycle.

I grabbed his arm, pulling over to the side of the road, yanking him onto the ground, glaring at him, "Nani shite iru no? Baka no ikutsu ka no shurui?" What are you doing? You some kind of idiot!

He looked up at me with something I had never seen in his eyes, fear. He shook with fear, afraid of me. "Gomen'nasai." I'm sorry. He whimpered.

My eyes widened, and I let his arm go, taking a step back, "Ē to... Sore wa daijōbuda... Mōichido tobiorirumasen." Uh… it's okay… just don't jump off again.

He looked nervously to the motorcycle, staring at it in fear, no, complete terror. "Shikashi... Sore ga kowai." But… it's scary.

I bit my lip, Daken was afraid of my motorcycle? No! Daken owned a motorcycle! Daken taught me how to ride a motorcycle! Daken worshipped motorcycles!

I sighed, "Sore dakede wa mashin o it' t, anata o kizutsukeru tsumori wa arimasen." It's not going to hurt you, it's just a machine.

He looked up at me with innocent childlike eyes. "Anata ga yakusoku?" You promise?

This was not happening. I was not doing this today. I was not babysitting my eight year old father, who was making me promise to keep him safe. "… Hai." Yes.

He nodded, grabbing my hand and holding on tight as I put him in front of me this time, steering with one hand as I drove us to Mount Justice. I was going to need serious therapy after this. As if I didn't have enough psychological issues.

God help me when I have to explain this to Batman.