The Question: Should We or Shouldn't We

Logan had arrived home before he had any real time to think about what happened to Hawk. He could consider Hawk to be a friend just like he could consider Captain America his friend. They were the kind of people that could be your friends, but it had to be kept secret that you were friends with them, let alone knew them.

Logan let Xavier know that he needed to speak with him about something important. Xavier wheeled around behind the desk and Logan to a seat in front of him, crossing one of his legs. "What is it that you needed to talk to me about Logan?"

"I had a friend contact me. They need help with something." Logan stated, knowing that Xavier would catch on to some things easily.

"It is someone from the government, if I am not mistaken. You know how I feel about government involvement Logan." Xavier said shaking his head.

"Hear me out Chuck, they want to hide a kid," This statement caused Xavier to lean forward.

"A mutant…" Xavier asked, and was to be surprised at Logan's answer.

"A non-mutant," Logan stated. Xavier's eyes went wide.

"You know how I feel about non-mutants finding out about us just yet." Xavier stated. "My answer…"

"Here me out Chuck… the kid already knows about mutants… the kids dad had his DNA messed with… and he didn't have the right DNA. Anyways, this kid knows all about mutants and those who would want to miss use them. His father fought hard to keep that from happening, along with others."

"Why does his father want him here?" Xavier asked.

"His father isn't in the best of condition after what this group did to him." Logan stated. Xavier bent his head, knowing what Logan meant. "Let's just say, that those that they were fighting just happened to get hacked by the kid and now they are against him."

"Logan, would this bring any danger to the students, this child being here. I mean, would this group find us because of him." Xavier asked.

"Chuck, knowing what I know about this group… they pose a threat whether the kid is with us or not. It solves this group's problem of keeping an eye on us and the kid." Logan stated. If he was a man of small nerve, he would have winced at the look Xavier gave him.

"Logan, I don't like the idea of the government interfering," Xavier said shaking his head. He was about to give his answer when Logan continued.

"They don't want to stop us Xavier. Fact is, they want to keep this terrorist group away from the kids. The antiterrorist group used to be huge, but it was thought to have been disbanded. Only a few are apparently left. I don't know which ones. This isn't like your other government agency. They are all for keeping people's rights in tact."

"I don't think it is fare to make it only my decision though… we need to speak to the other students about this." Xavier watched as Logan nodded his head in agreement.

M

Riley lay on the bed in her room, clipping out pictures. She was glad she some how managed to sneak a few pictures of that boy. She realized that while he knew her name, she still didn't know his. She had not happened on the conversation about stealing the exam answers except at the beginning. She glued the pictures down in her notebook and drew hearts around them.

The other pages had montages of all her other so called achievements with boys. This one was going to take longer, which meant more pictures. She sipped on the soda that was on the nightstand, pondering everything. This boy was different from the other boys in more ways then one. He would thus be harder to catch.

She glanced at the few pictures she had taken. There was nothing she could offer him that he wanted; the idea of certain things defiantly offended him. And she wasn't good enough in school to write his papers for him, or do his school work for him. But on the other hand, Kitty Pitty was. But for Riley to get her to do the school work, she would need to bring down her ego even more.

She pursed her lips, frowning. She had always abused the other girl because she had more then she realized. She could charm anyone into doing what they wanted to do, just by using the right words with them. Riley had to always used threats and make people feel like they were lower then everyone else. Of course, with her dad, any words would work.

Riley glanced at her pictures. She was hoping that she wouldn't have to resort to breaking her new toy before she could even play with it. She tapped her finger against the paper. If only she had gotten a black mail picture of that girl. Suddenly the door creaked open.

"Dinner's ready sweetie," This caused Riley to look up at her mother with her blond hair and blue eyes. "If I had that coloring, I wouldn't have to worry about doing things to get guys' attention. Or had that red hair like that lady."

Riley had been very impressed with that woman who had stormed into the locker room and yanked the boy out by his ear. That was the kind of control she wanted over him. No, not just him, but all guys. She closed her notebook to go and eat.

M

Everyone was gathered for a formal meeting in the sitting room of the mansion. Everyone had listened to the story from Logan. No impute was given by Xavier as he wished for it to be unbiased by his wants. One by one they gave their opinions.

"I'm new, so I don't think vhat I say matters much, but… if he knows about mutants and has no problems with them, maybe… maybe I could show my real self to him, no?" Kurt spoke up. The blue boy had caught Logan's attention when he had first met him and he ruffled his hair. The kid was a very good kid, no one could argue against that and deserved a chance. If the kid was anything like his father, he would get it.

"While you are new Kurt, your opinion does matter. You also have a valid point. We are preparing here to have the students interact normally with non-mutants. This might help matters." Ororo spoke up. "Because we really need to begin to trust a few, expesully those who already know our secrets."

"Professor, Logan said that he has knowledge with computers. Perhaps he would be able to help with Cyrebro?" Jean spoke up. She was smart, but she was not into computers and mechanical things. That was a job for boys. "It isn't as if his talents wouldn't be useless to us, even if he is a non-mutant."

"Everyone is useful Jean, whether they are mutant or not." Xavier spoke up.

"Vhen vhy did that one kid not join?" Kurt spoke up in confusion. He was thinking of the fact that Toad had been frightened off.

"I don't want to push it with him. I also knew that something else was afoot in the whole matter, but I really can't be sure what. Also to note, Todd has had a bad life, no parental figure that I know of, I do not wish to push authority on them. We are not going to force anyone to join against their free will."

"Well, I think that having a non-mutant would be bad. I mean, you said we could trust him. Let's say we have to trust people enough that we feel we can share our secrets. Can we then tell them? Or will we have to hide from them? I think we should trust them." Cyclops spoke up. He was thinking particularly about his best friend.

"Then it is decided. The boy can come." Xavier said, nodding his head. If the students felt that they could trust the boy, then that was what mattered to him.

Cyclops then spoke up. "What is his name Logan?"

Logan smiled and left to make the call. "I think that is best left when he gets here."

Jean looked at the ceiling and shook her head. "Oh, let me guess, this is one of Logan's idea of a joke, one that we won't get or think is funny."

"Vhat is that supposed to mean? He seems vike a nice guy?" Kurt spoke up in confusion. Logan had smiled at him and treated him like a normal person. Kurt hoped the non-mutant would do the same.

"Well…" Cyclops said, shaking his head. "See, Logan is a loner. Not that he's a bad guy, he just isn't sociable."

M

Scarlett was sitting in the hotel room she was sharing with Scott Abernathy. There was two bedrooms and a small living room. She was watching the news when Scott came out of his bedroom. He had finished showering and dressing and had a towel to dry his hair. He sat down on the other side of the couch.

"Well, the good news is, they found you a place to stay." Scarlett said, leaning against the couch arm.

"I take it there is bad news?" Scott began to rub his hair dry.

"Well…, alright, from what I've been told about this place, there are currently three high schoolers and three adults." Scarlet stated.

"Doesn't sound bad… I mean, I'll be around kids that are my age and not just adults, not meant to offend any one from Joe." Scott mumbled the last part because he didn't want to get on Scarlett's bad side.

"Well, see, the guy who Duke contacted is one Logan, aka… Wolverine." Scarlett stated.

"What is it about this Logan guy Scarlett?" Spud jumped up between the two of them and curled up.

"Well, believe me when this is no reflection on the rest of them; as of yet I have no information on them. It's more of, that Wolverine guy… let's just say he could make an entire battalion of Cobra soldiers run for their lives."

"He is seriously that bad ass?" Scott whistled, for anyone who could do that to Cobra impressed him.

"Bad ass isn't the word for it, unless you include drill sergeant war buff with it." Scarlett added in.

"I take it, like you guys; this guy has seen his share of arms and war." Scott stated.

"Kid, the guy is a living weapon. He's trained in ninjutsu and in World War… well, he was used as a weapon because of his abilities."

"How can you know all this…?" Scott looked at her in confusion.

"Snake-Eyes told me… Wolverine is sort of part of his ninja clan."

"Snake-Eyes told… hey, Jinx and Kamakara told me that Snake-Eyes lost his ability to speak."

"Snake-Eyes uses sign language… plus… I remember him from before he lost his ability to talk and before he began to constantly cover his face with a mask."

"So… hold it, you also said that this Wolverine guy is part of their ninja clan. Is this stuff you're supposed to be telling me?"

"I don't see that there is a problem, considering you know those three ninjas and somewhat about Storm Shadow. So long as you don't go around telling other people; Wolverine can be particular about certain things. So no questions either."

"What did you mean by sort of though?"

"See, all the members of the clan get a tattoo… well, they gave it to Wolverine and it didn't stay."

Scott narrowed his eyes. "He got it removed by laser. So what?"

"No, when I say, didn't stay, I mean didn't stay. It vanished as soon as they finished tattooing him." Scarlett had a small smirk on her face and waved her hand. "And the reason this happened is the same reason they were able to graph Adamantium to his skeleton and give him Adamantium claws."

"Cobra do that to him Scarlett… the healing ability and the Adamantium?"

"No and no. The guy is a mutant. In fact, all six people you are staying with are mutants. Ones that are born that way naturally and we hope haven't had loonies like cobra mess with their DNA."

"So, they'll have special abilities to do things like… oh… move things with their minds?"

"Yeah, I guess." Scarlett put her hands behind her head.

"Sounds cool then," Scott stated.

"Not cool. Dangerous… at least with Wolverine. The guys a major loner… much like Snake-Eyes… that may be why they happen to be such good friends. For the most part, Snake-Eyes doesn't drink any more, but that Wolverine, he's able to get him to drink hard and play Poker… at least they don't wager money when they do, though neither beats the other."

"Snake-Eyes… he doesn't seem the type too…"

"Look, don't repeat that. That was something I should not have mentioned about him. Jynx, myself, Duke and your father… out of those who are left are the only ones who know that… and few of the old group knew. It just happened we knew him before his accident and knew his past."

"So, I guess you can acquaint the dame danger to both Wolverine and Snake-Eyes?" Scott asked, tapping Spud's head, which was the equivalent of scratching a normal dog's head. Spud let out a sigh of pleasure.

"Yes, but you only need to be afraid of them if they're your enemy or your not considered family by them." Scarlett then decided to leave the discussion at that. "It's late; you had better get to bed."


Author's note – I do not know which ninja clan or who else Wolverine learned ninjutsu from, so I put this twist and spin on it in. Also to note, I am not going to pair up Riley with Lance, but I figure to use her for trouble later on.