I woke with Tony staring at me. I could feel him grasping my hand through my leather gloves. He looked genuinely worried.

"Anna! You're awake." He smiled at me.

"He's got great powers of observation, don't he?" Wade was leaning against the door.

"Well, he is a genius, so they say." I chuckled, and instantly regretted it. My whole body ached. "I don't remember being this hurt."

"You weren't. Just massive bleeding from a grazing on your leg. It's mainly metal-boy's fault your hurt." Wade growled.

"How, exactly?"

"He dropped you."

"You hit me in the head with a baseball bat!" Tony yelled.

"How was I supposed to know you'd be showing up at my place?"

"Do you greet all your visitors like that?"

"I don't get visitors. For a reason."

"Then why did she say to come here?"

"Hell, I don't know! I'm no doctor!"

"I don't trust hospitals." I broke in, trying to stop the fight.

"But you trust a merc with your health?" Tony looked at me incredulously.

"No, I trust Weasel." I stated in a hard tone, so he wouldn't argue with me.

"Aww! I feel special." Weasel stood on the other side of me with a huge smile on his face.

"Am I all patched up, Weasel?" I asked, choosing to ignore the other two testosterone-driven males.

"Yep. I pumped you full of O-positive blood and bandaged up your leg. Try not to exert yourself for a few days; you're anemic and that makes the blood less able to clot like it should."

"You're an angel, Weez." I smiled and sat up. I looked around; I was in Weasel's house. Of course; Wade would never let Tony into his home. Hell, he wouldn't even let Weasel in there.

"What happened, Anna?" Tony asked.

"I was shot at."

"Well, that's obvious." Wade scoffed. "Who was it?"

"Dunno."

"You don't know?"

"I know he was a Hydra agent. And I think he was the Aryan's brother."

"The Aryan?" Tony cocked his head slightly to the side.

"You don't know the story." Wade chuckled. "You killed him?"

"Of course." I rolled my eyes. "He attacked me. I killed him. Easy enough of a concept to understand."

"You killed him so easily?" Tony's eyes went wide.

"What? You figured out that you don't know anything about her, metal-boy?" Wade smirked.

"You're really annoying, you know that?"

"I try."

"Stop it, both of you." I yelled.

"Annie, I should probably get you home." Wade looked to Tony. "You should leave now."

Tony gave him the deadliest look I've ever seen. "I'll see myself out."

"You do that."

"I'll be back at the lab tomorrow, Tony."

"Good. I'll call you tomorrow when you get out of school to check up on you." He left, and Wade laughed.

"You're right, Annie, he's a creeper."

"Wade, what the hell? Why are you being so weird about him all of a sudden?"

"I think I should leave you two alone." Weasel looked uncomfortable as he ran out of the room.

"I don't like him."

"A week ago you were cooing about how cute it was I got to meet him."

"That's before I knew-"

"What, Wade? Before you knew what?' I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Before I knew he was actually looking at you."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"He wants you, Siobhan. He wants to use you like he uses all the other pretty women he's around."

"Do you seriously think I'd fall in that trap?"

"You knew?"

"Of course!" I frowned at him. "He's sent me flowers twice now. I know what he wants, but he's not going to get it. I can't touch people, Wade! I can't kiss a sweetheart, I can't give a hug to a friend, hell I can't even shake the hand of someone I meet! I will never be trapped in anyone's sex net, because I can't have sex!"

"If you could, would you fall into his lap?" Wade yelled back.

"No! There's only one man I want, Wade, and I can't have him!" I jumped out of bed and stormed into Weasel's study. "I need a new teleporter. Mine was in Sinead." He silently handed me a new belt, and I popped back to the mansion. I shut myself up in my room.

"Annie! What's wrong?" Logan was at my door. I owed him an explanation, but I didn't feel like it. I couldn't handle it.

"Nothing. I'm fine." I called back, choking back my tears. I would never let him see me cry.

"Alright, kid. I'll be downstairs."

I plopped down on my bed and cried into my pillow. How could he not know? Through all of our teasing, did he really think I didn't have feelings for him? He was my best friend, I'd never take it so far as to ruin what we had, but how could he think I'd ever think of anyone else? What hurt the most was how he thought I was actually interested in Tony! Yeah, he was attractive, yeah I caught myself starring at times, but I'd never thought about it seriously. It was kinda like my obsession with Tom Cruise- it was never gonna happen.

I don't remember when I fell asleep; I only remember waking up the next morning, the skin on my face tight with my dried tears. I forced myself to get up, my leg hurt like hell. I took a shower, and pulled on loose jeans and a black tank top. I slowly walked down the hall to Logan's room. I knocked hesitantly on the door.

"Yeah?" Logan growled through the door.

"Dad? I need to talk to you."

"What's wrong?" The door flew open instantly. He looked worried.

"Did anyone tell you what happened yesterday?"

"Fury called and said I needed to talk to you. Didn't tell me why."

"I was attacked yesterday. One guy, really bad shot."

"Why didn't you tell me?" He growled, looking me over to see any damage.

"I was fine. Tony came and got and took me to Wade's to have Weasel look at me."

"You were hurt?"

"A bullet grazed my leg, I lost a lot of blood and passed out. I'm fine, otherwise." I looked to the ground. "Sinead blew up.'

"I'll buy you another truck; I'm more worried about you."

"I'm fine, Dad."

"'You don't look fine."

"It's only my leg."

"That's not what I meant." He looked at me, trying to read into my thoughts as if they were written on my face. Maybe they were.

"Wade and I had a fight. No biggie."

"Bull. You and Wade don't fight."

"We've fought before."

"Not seriously. You're thick as thieves."

"We've just hit a rough spot." I scratched the back of my head, trying to search for the right way to phrase it.

"It'll smooth over. It always does. I hate Deadpool, but for some damn reason, you love him."

"Yeah, for some damn reason."

I ran down the stairs to the kitchen and grabbed the bacon sandwich that Kurt made me every morning.

"Where were you last night? You didn't come to dinner." Kurt looked worried.

"I just wasn't hungry. No biggie."

"Annie, I've seen you out-eat the Blob, you're always hungry." Jean laughed.

"Thanks, now I feel fat." I pouted. "I'm gonna go run through the Danger Room before class."

"Annie, we only have ten minutes." Scott laughed.

"My first class is study hall, I can skip it. That gives me an extra hour." I winked at him.

"Fine, but don't blame us when you get detention." Jean laughed as they fled out of the kitchen and out to the car.

I walked down the hallway to the danger room. I placed my hand on the scanner and the large metal doors opened.

"Welcome, Siobhan."

"Initiate training exercise 134, solo mission." I said loudly.

"Yes, Siobhan."

The objective of exercise 134 was to rescue a hostage in a bank robbery. Basic stuff; but it was all cardio that would help clear my mind. There were three men with guns, simple AK-47's. Well, simple for me, not simple for your common bank robbers. For the sake of not dying, the guns shot out little laser bolts. They stung like hell, but was in no way life-threatening. Past the goons with wanna-be guns were three hostages, each with a knife held at their throats. All I had to do was disarm the gunmen and free the hostages without getting them killed. No biggie.

Forty-five minutes later, I had twisted my ankle and let three hostages die. Great way to start a day. My attempt to cheer up just pissed me off more. I limped out of the danger room and down to the Professor's office. I lifted my hand to knock on the door, but he got to the punch before I could.

"Come in, Anna." He smiled at me and I limped in. "Shouldn't you be in class?"

"I needed to take a few minutes for myself."

"A few minutes to hurt yourself?" He chuckled.

"Not on purpose."

"Exercise 134 is a team mission only, Anna."

"You knew I was running the simulation? You could have stopped me."

"No, you would have gotten angry and done something even more insane."

"It's like you know me or something." I sat down in a chair in front of his desk; my ankle was a throbbing pain.

"Would you like me to bandage it up for you?"

"I can do it; I just need you to open the medical unit. You have it locked up."

"Alright. Are you sure you want to go to school today? It would be understandable if you wanted to stay home today." He was searching my face.

"No, I have to act as if nothing has happened. The project could be doomed-"

"The project is not as important as your health, Anna."

"It's much more important, Professor. We need Captain America." I shuffled uneasily in the chair.

"Something's bothering you." He made it a statement.

"I'm worried, professor."

"About?"

"Everyone. Myself. I don't know." I shook my head.

"Calm down and tell me what's on your mind."

"I got shot at, professor. On my way to the lab in my truck. They didn't get e, so they'll try again. What if they come here next? I'm endangering everyone around me."

"You knew that Dr. Carson had been assassinated."

"Yes, and I'm cool with getting myself in trouble; I know I can get out of it. I have no right to put everyone else in danger."

"Do you think you are better than us, Anna?"

"What!" I stared at him in shock.

"You think that you can pull yourself out of danger, but we cannot."

"That's not what I said."

"It is."

"I know you can, but I don't have the right to make you. I don't want anyone hurt because of me."

"Anna, we are a family. We help each other."

"Helping is one thing; I'm getting everyone in major dootie."

"There is nothing we can't handle. You must have faith in us as you have faith in yourself."

"I would rather know that you can survive and not put it to the test." I limped out of the room and got the keys to Logan's bike. I didn't care about my ankle anymore.

Between getting all my friends killed and fighting with Wade, I was…on edge. I was so not in a good mood, and the pain in my ankle didn't help. I limped to my second period class and sat beside Jean.

"You're the only 17 year old in the graduating class, and you're skipping class?" She laughed at me as I opened my folder. She looked down to see my swollen ankle. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. What are you doing today after school?"

"Nothing, why?"

"Meet me in the parking lot after school." I said in hushed tones. She nodded, knowing what was going to happen.

The day passed by quickly. There was another announcement about the talent show, but I knew there was no way I was going to get to enter. I was going to be far too busy. Today I was going to meet all of my team members and Jean was going to spaz out in utter joy at the lab. These were going to be the highlights of my day. Wow, I'm pathetic.

My phone rang, I answered, already knowing it was Tony. He always kept his word.

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

"I'm…ok."

"You don't sound ok."

"I'm a teenager, Tony. We're never truly ok."

"Point taken. I- I want to apologize for yesterday. I know that was no time for a petty fight."

"It's ok. Not entirely your fault."

"Still, I should have been more mature."

"Being immature around Deadpool is expected. He's contagious."

"He's not worth your time, you know."

"Tony, let's get something straight, ok? The flowers are nice. You're sweet, but please, stop. You're notorious for going after the wrong thing, and that's not something you're going t get out of me. I'd prefer we keep this strictly platonic."

"I see. I'm sorry you feel that way, but I'll respect your wishes." He sounded hurt. Why didn't I care?

"Thank you for getting me to Weasel's yesterday, and thank you for checking up on me. We'll be at the lab in about ten minutes."

"We?"

"Yes; we." I hung up the phone.

Jean rode behind me on the bike as we made our way to the warehouse. I had my .45 on my side; I made sure there were two more in the saddle bags, along with my blades. I was not going to be caught off guard again. I was careful to maintain the speed limit, trying not to attract any attention to us.

She gave me the weirdest look as I walked towards the warehouse, but she followed without a word. We went down in the elevator, and, I swear, people ten miles away heard her scream.

"OH. MY. GOD! This place is amazing!" She looked like a child at the North Pole. "Annie, this place has everything!" She ran from station to station checking out all of the equipment.

"She seems enthusiastic." Tony chuckled as he walked up behind me. I beamed at him.

"I knew she'd love it. Fury's putting her as my…I don't really know what to call it. She's gonna tell me if people are trustworthy."

"Can't do that yourself?"

"I'm a little too trusting."

"I can see that." He laughed.

"Where's Fury?"

"Not here. I get to introduce you to your team.'

"For someone who wanted me to work for him so badly, he's never around."

"He's a busy man."

"So it would seem."

"Well, wanna meet them?"

"Not really, but I don't really have a choice, do I?"

"Nope."

"Damn."

There were six people standing in front of me; one I knew, the others I didn't. I gave Killebrew a hard stare, he gulped audibly. Tony looked at me questioningly, I just smiled.

"Hi, I'm Anna Howlett." I said sweetly.

"Seriously? You're our head scientist?" One man scoffed. I looked at him with a frown. I recognized him from the dossiers as Alex Triform. He was great at what he did, but he had records of being…well, a pain in the ass. I was going to have to watch out for him.

"Yep, seriously." I replied dryly.

"Shut up, Alex." A blonde beside him elbowed him in the ribs. I liked her. "I'm Cynthia Crawford. Sorry about him, he's an asshole."

"You two have worked together before?" jean asked, now standing beside me, completely calm.

"Done spazzing?" I asked.

"For now" She smiled.

"Yes, we've worked together several times." Cynthia replied.

"You two work well together?" I asked.

"Not really."

"Why not?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Well, he's a lecherous pig."

"A brilliant, lecherous pig." Alex laughed. I scowled at him.

"You may leave, Alex."

"What?" He gasped in shock.

"I'm not dealing with assholes."

"You can't just fire me!'

"Oh, yes I can. You have an attitude problem, I have an attitude problem; we'll butt heads, so I'm nipping this problem in the bud." I smirked.

"Thank you, Don Knotts." Tony chuckled.

"Thank you for getting my Andy Griffith reference."

"Fury hand-picked me!" Alex yelled.

"Yeah, and I'm kicking ya out." I smiled sweetly. "Buh-bye now."

"Agent Craig, take him for debriefing and all that good jazz, please." Tony talked into a little ear piece and a man in a black suit escorted Alex out.

"Ok, who's next?" I smiled and looked at the remaining, unnamed three. One man, I recognized as Kyle Pellbrook, left with them. Guess he didn't like me either.

"Patrick O'Malley." A redheaded, scrawny man of about 38 smiled at me, and shook my hand.

"Nice to meet you, Dr. O'Malley." I remembered his degree in bio-chemistry from his dossier. "Do you have any problem working with me?"

"None that I can think of, ma'am." He replied. Wow, manners.

"Awesome." I smiled.

"Why are you wearing leather gloves and long sleeves in March?" The last person asked.

"You must be Carla Foster." I smiled.

"That was rude, Carla." Tony shook his head.

"No, I appreciate bluntness." I smirked. "It's so I don't kill anyone."

"Gonna need a little more info than that."

"My mutation sucks the life energy out of people. I can't have any physical contact with humans or mutants." I was beginning to like this chick. She was stereotypical Mexican, 37 according to her dossier, and a mother of 3.

"So, no touching you."

"I won't give you the chance. Hence, the gloves and sleeves." I laughed. "Anyone else have any questions?" I wouldn't look at Killebrew.

"No, ma'am."

"Awesome, then I'll see you all tomorrow. Same place, same time." They all began to scatter. "not you, Killebrew. We need to chat."

I waited until we were alone; Jean and Tony went up in the elevator to chat. He looked at me with fear in his eyes.

"How ya doin' Killebrew?" I asked.

"I volunteered for this job."

"Didja now?"

"Please don't kill me."

"I'm not the one you should be worried about."

"I've been going to church every Sunday."

"And this means what to me?"

"I'm trying to make up for what I've done." He had tears running down his face. I tried not to laugh. God, I hated this man.

"You really think you can make up for what you did to all of those people? Wade is not going to forgive you, no matter what you do."

"I made so many mistakes."

"You will be punished for them."

"Are you going to kill me?" He looked into my eyes for an answer.

"No."

"You're an angel of mercy."

"That's Fury, actually. I tried to kill you; he forbade it."

"You- tried?" His face stretched with terror.

"You betcha. I want you dead for what you did to Wade." I scowled at him.

"For making him a monster." He whispered.

"He's not a monster!" I screamed. I grabbed him by the collar and yanked him up off his feet. "He is not a monster, you are!"

"Please-!" He choked out. I dropped him to the ground and stared at him.

"I am being forced to work with you, Killebrew. I will behave and so will you. However, when this is all over, and the Cap is awake, I am free to do whatever I want. Ya know what I wanna do, killebrew?" Hey, that rhymes…

"Kill me?" he squeaked.

"Nope. I'm giving your sorry ass to Deadpool, and God have mercy on your soul, you rotten bastard!" I stomped off, leaving him in a pool of tears and fear.