Jake watched Mio walk out of the store, not looking back at him. The cashier smiled at him, "Sorry son, I think you missed out on that one."

"Don't count on it." He mumbled, setting down his items and paying quickly. As soon as his deli sand which was paid for, he dashed out after Mio. He saw her at a distance, driving off on her motorcycle. "Hey, wait-"

A hand shot out and grabbed him by the neck. Before Jack could thrash around, or try and fight back at all, he was shoved back against the brick wall of the grocery store. "Get off-"

"Don't try and order me around boy." Daken snarled. Jake's eyes nearly popped out of his skull. He didn't have any idea who this guy was, but he could see an obvious resemblance between him and Mio. Namely, the eyes. Daken's hand tightened around his neck. "I thought I scared you off years ago, and for good reason! You're a pathetic shell of a man, you're even lower than a boy, you might as well be a little girl."

Jake gasped for breath, "P-please… don't-"

"You can stop your begging, it won't do you any good." Daken smirked. "If you won't stay away from her, then I'll keep you away."

"N-no…"

"This is for my cub." Daken snarled, and a quick snikt was the last thing Jake heard, before his blood painted the parking lot. Daken stepped over Jake's body before walking over to his convertible. "She deserves better than you."

WITH MIO:

Donna sipped her lemonade contently, watching some crime drama she had recorded. "You go Casey, show that judge whose boss!"

"Do you do anything not related to your job?" I asked.

Donna looked at me, "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is, all the shows you watch, the books you read, they're all about crime, and always from the point of view of the law." I pointed out. "I get that you love your job, but I think you're taking it a bit far."

Donna was silent for a moment, before sighing. "My dad was a cop. And after that, a Prosecuting Lawyer. He was married to the job, and groomed me for it too."

Starting to regret bringing this up. "Oh…"

"He had his heart set on his little girl following in his footsteps. When I was in middle school, he starting going over cases with me after my homework was done." She turned back to the TV, watching the red headed lawyer talk to some bald guy with an obvious military build and a light New Yorker accent.

"So, what happened?" I asked.

She turned back to me, a bit surprised that I continued the conversation. "What do you mean, what happened?"

"Why aren't you a lawyer?"

"Oh." She mumbled. "Well, he got into a divorce with my mom, married another woman almost immediately, and she had a nine year old son. My dad had joint custody, so I was over at his new house every other week. But he never talked to me about cases again, and I found out why three months into it.

"He had stopped thinking about me being his successor, and put those hopes and dreams into his new son. He wasn't even his blood, and suddenly Dad was all excited about this kid being the new lawyer of the family. He was going over cases with him at night. I tried to join in a few times, but Dad never seemed interested in my input on the case. Sometimes he flat out just told me to leave him and his oh so perfect new son alone."

"In those words?"

"I might be exaggerating a bit." Donne confessed. "But at the time, and even now, that what it felt like."

"I don't get it." I admitted.

"What's not to get?" Donna snapped. "My dad gave up on me. End of story."

"No I mean, if you really liked the idea of being a lawyer, then why give up on it just because your dad discouraged you from it?" I asked.

Donna shrugged, "I got pissed after I realized why he was doing it."

"Because he was a sexist asshole/terrible father?" I offered.

"Pretty damn much." Donna grumbled.

"But why get pissed, an give up?" I pursued. "Why not get pissed, and get more passionate? He didn't believe in you anymore, so what? If that was what you loved doing, then do it. Be a great lawyer, be better than your step-brother, be better than your father ever was! But don't give up just because your dad doesn't want you to do it."

Donna sighed, "I guess… I switched from lawyer to FBI agent because I wanted to outrank my dad. And now I do. Pretty much shoved it in his face about five Christmas' ago that I was doing things far more important than he was. He kicked me out, never spoke to him again."

"… Did he ever tell you why he stopped wanting you to be a lawyer?"

Donna nodded, "He said it was because I never really showed any sign I wanted to be like him. I didn't get it… I still don't. Just because I didn't want to be just like him doesn't mean I didn't want to be a lawyer."

Donna looked down at her empty lemonade glass, and then handed it over to me. "It ain't gonna fill itself."

"I know, fine, woman." I got up, walked into the kitchen, and filled her glass with more lemonade. I really wanted to spit in it, but if she found out, I would be dead.

I walked back into the living room, handing Donna her glass and settling back down on the couch. Now the red headed lady was talking to some chick named Olivia about how the victim was also partially to blame for the rape occurring, and that she didn't feel sorry for her.

Bad ass bitch, saying that to a cop from SVU.

"Have you ever been in a situation like that?" Donna asked.

"I stop rapes, I don't stick around through trials." I brushed off.

"That's not what I meant."

"I figured not, so what did you mean?"

Donna rolled her eyes, "I mean, have you ever been in a situation like I was with my dad? I mean, he thought I didn't wanna be a lawyer just because I didn't wanna be like him."

I stared at Donna for a minute, before sighing. "Yeah, I have."

I stood up, walking across the living room to the sliding glass door of the balcony. I slide it open, seeing Logan there, smoking a cigar. I closed the door behind me as I walked up next to him, just standing there in silence as I tried to find the right words.

"Look, Logan-"

"It's okay." He interrupted me. "It's okay for you to not want my job Mio. I'm proud of you, no matter what you wanna do. Hero or no hero."

I shook my head, "Logan, I do want your job."

He raised an eyebrow, "You sure about that Darlin?"

"Absolutely sure." I stressed. I want to be like you more than anything I've ever wanted. I just… I know that deep down, I could never be you."

"That's the trick to it." Logan explained, flicking out his cigarette. "I'm not asking you to be me, I'm just asking you to look after the Jean Grey School when I'm gone. And your siblings, Rogue, Kitty, Jubilee, all of them."

He smiled at me, messing my hair up by ruffling it gently. "I'm not asking you to be Logan Howlett, I'm asking you to be the Mio Howlett that I've raised for all these years. And don't even use your past as an excuse; I've worked all that out of you. You've earned your happiness, tenfold. I'm proud of you."

I felt tears well up in my eyes at those last few words, but I blinked them all away. "Logan… I think I'm more than ready to take over for you. If you die before me, I promise, I won't let the school fade away, and I'll keep our… special, family in line the best I can."

He chuckled, "You sure you're ready to take on that level of impossibility?"

"You made sure I was, didn't you?"

"Good point." He accepted, and pulled me into a brief hug. When he pulled away, he continued, "Now, about that boyfriend of yours-"

"Ugh, Logan, don't-"

"I think he's a great kid." Logan finished.

I froze, "Wait, what?"

"I like him." Logan shrugged, "I think he's good for you. And… I don't think he'll hurt you. I just need to know, you and him are both heroes. And you're both very good at what you do. If you two work out, and you end up married, you realize the complications?"

"Not sure what you mean."

"Does he want kids?" Logan asked.

Oh, so that's where this conversation's going. "Yeah."

"And how does that work out when Mom and Dad are off saving the world? And with your family, that kid would be under attack from day one. Not to mention, Connor might look like a seventeen year old, but he's only a year old." Logan explained.

I was silent, "Logan, look, I don't even think I want kids. And if the day comes when I do have a kid, I'll…I'll retire."

Logan raised an eyebrow, "Really?"

"No." I said bluntly, "I'll figure something out… maybe call in favors from Donna, have the crazy FBI Agent babysit whenever Mom and Dad go to save the world. Or maybe just drop the kid off at your school, and then go kick villain ass."

Logan nodded, "Alright, just as long as you know."

I went back inside, and Donna smiled at me. "Not gonna make my mistakes, huh?"

"Nope. And apparently, Logan has told you far too much."

Donna shrugged, "What can I say? I'm a lovable baby momma!"

I left the living room, walking into the nursery. A smile snuck onto my face as I settled down next to Connor on the pallet we had set up in the baby's room. It was a couple thick blankets piled on the floor, next to the crib. Connor had painted the walls soft lavender, and I had plans on painting a mural on one of the walls. I just couldn't decide whether I should go with an American themed one, like Wizard of Oz, or something like Merida from Brave. On the other hand, I could do something Japanese, to remind her of her heritage. I could do a Kio fish, or a samurai. Donna said she didn't care, just to make sure it was appropriate for a baby girl.

Connor wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me closer. His lips brushed against my ear, pressing against it lightly as he mumbled a soft, "I love you."

"I love you too." I whispered back. Every time I said that, it was like a little bit of my pain went away. The relief I got from being able to finally say what most people say every day was the greatest feeling on Earth.

Logan was sleeping on the couch tonight, and Donna was in her room. The baby wasn't due for another two months, that's what the doctor told us.

Connor pulled me closer. I could feel every muscle line against his stomach pressing against my back. All I wanted to do was sleep, but I couldn't help that Connor was so damn hot! If Logan wasn't a few doors down then I might end up losing my V-card in a nursery.

I was jolted out of my happy thoughts by someone ringing the doorbell. "The hell?"

"Mio, don't answer it!" Donna called from down the hall. "It's probably church people!"

"At this time of night?" No way." I mumbled, pushing the blankets off and trying to sit up, but Connor tightened his grip.

"Don't get up babe."

I rolled my eyes, "Connor, let go."

"Nope!" He laughed, nuzzling his nose into the crook of my neck. "I will never let you go."

"Mio. It's cold out here. Open the damn door."

Connor and I both shot up out of bed, running out of the room to be met in the hallway by Logan, claws drawn, and Donna, gun drawn. We all rushed in front of the front door, and Connor took a shield from his back pocket, about to put it on his arm, but I stopped him.

He looked at me, raising an eyebrow. "But, it'll even the playing field… I wanna help fight."

"You don't need it." I said, taking the shield away from him and tossing it away. "You're strong enough without it."

"Mio. Seriously. It's. Cold." The voice snapped, and I stepped forward slowly, claws on my right hand drawn as I opened the door with my left.

Daken Akihiro stepped in.