Chapter 2: Danger

It had been a few weeks since Kya had arrived and she was finally settling in. The crowds of people in the hallways parted as Kya walked towards the kitchen with Kida, her Irish Wolfhound, in tow. Typically students ate in the dinning room but then again Kya wasn't a typical person. She was met with a grunt of welcome from Logan as she took up the stool next to him and gave him a nod of recognition. They ate in a comfortable silence before Scott came in.

"Kya, what are you doing here? Why aren't you in the dinning room with the other students?" He said scornfully. Kya looked up from the section of the newspaper she'd been reading with a bored expression and shrugged.

"I prefer to eat alone." She said. Scott scowled,

"And what do you call him?" He asked nodding towards Logan. Kya looked at Logan and tilted her head,

"I call him Logan, why what do you call him?" She said with almost malicious innocence. Logan scoffed and glanced up to see the expression on Scotts face. Tight-lipped, ridged, glaring, he was pissed. Scott turned away from them and made for the door,

"Never-mind, I can see why you two don't mind one another company. You're a perfect match really, if I didn't know any better I'd say she was your daughter Wolverine, why she's almost as standoffish as you are."

Kya turned to Logan after Scott had left and raised an eyebrow,

"Is he always so unfriendly in the mornings?" She asked with a wicked grin, Logan chuckled and patted Kya on the shoulder.

"Kid, I think you and me are gonna be good friends."

Kya growled as her 3rd period class rolled around. It was English, one of her favorite subjects, but with Mr. Summers, one of her least favorite teachers. She pushed the great wooden door open and did a double take, it was not Mr. Summers but Logan standing at the front of the class smirking cockily at her.

"Ms. Fringe how nice of you to join us 20 minutes into class. Fortunately for you, or perhaps unfortunately considering the lengths you probably had to go to in order to avoid detection, Scottie boy is off on a mission and so I am filling in." Some of the students snickered at Logan's abuse of their english teacher while others scowled, Kya however smiled appreciatively at him and nodded. He hadn't been joking and she had known it though they both found it amusing.

"Your assignment is to write a 400-500 word essay from the point of view of a soldier in the Korean War. It doesn't matter which side you pick." Logan said and handed her the worksheet that explained all the details. A shadow passed over Kya's eyes and she took out a pen and paper as she started to write, not even looking at the handout.

'I used to think it an honor to fight for my country and considered myself a martyr for women in the armed forces as I overtook battlefields with a sniper rifle on my back and a pistol in my belt. Then they placed me in that hell hole. They say it only lasted 3 years, I tell you it lasted longer. I was a marine, they didn't have women in the marines back then but I suppose I was special, unique enough to be worth bending the rules for. They placed me with a unit of 9 men, all of whom were supposed to be the best of the best, and dropped us in a no-name jungle close to the north-south border that we ended up calling 'The Edge.'It took less than a week for us to lose our first man, and the rest fell shortly after. Grenades shoved down foxholes, trip-wires, ambushes, it was guerilla warfare at its worse and I was forced to endure every moment of it...'

Logan sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he read it. It was like she had been there. He admired the way she had put a twist on the story. Instead of her writing from a soldiers point-of-view like all the others she wrote as if she were the soldier, she didn't change her circumstances or edit anything about herself as far as he could tell, she made herself blend seamlessly in with the events.

"Kya, can I see you after class please?" Logan said from his desk as the bell rang, some of the less mature kids made 'oooh' sounds but Kya just rolled her eyes.

"Yes, sir." She said smiling pleasantly at him and approached the desk. He waited until the other students had left the room before speaking to her.

"This is good." He said bluntly dropping her paper on the desk. She smiled pleasantly at him and nodded.

"Thank you." Logan grunted in response and Kya turned to leave. To anyone else that little exchange might have seemed awkward but neither Kya nor Logan were the type go around their ass to get to their elbow, if they wanted to say something they said it, no need to make it overly complicated or elaborate.

The real surprise came later in the day when she was 'called' down to Professor Xavier's office to be told that she would be undergoing a trail later that day to gauge her ability to control her powers. The time was set for 2:00PM (to which she responded sarcastically'Aw not AM professor? And here I took you for a night person) and she went on her way. When 2 o'clock finally rolled around she was met by Logan and led to the Danger Room.

"Okay kid, here's how it's gonna work. Me and you are gonna go in and Scotter over there is gonna turn the thing on. We are gonna be given a number of objectives and we have to complete them, once we finish them all the program will end. Got it?" Logan asked leaning against the door to the Danger Room. Kya nodded,

"Ya okay, but why do you have to come?"Scott snickered and Logan scowled,

"Ta make sure ya don't get yerself killed."

"Ah, okay. I was just wondering I didn't mean to offend you." Kya said shrugging. Logan smiled and put his hands in his pockets,

"Don't worry 'bout it kid."He said.

"Now come on we got to get changed, unless of course you plan on fighting in that?" Logan asked eyeing Kya's jeans warily. Kya laughed and shook her head,

"No no, I've got something else in mind." She said smiling at Logan as they headed towards their respective dressing rooms. Scott scowled as they left, he didn't like being second to Wolverine in anyones eyes and that girl was starting to annoy him.

'First Objective: Basic Control'

A pleasant if not mundane female voice said. Kya was then asked to transform into her wolf form, into a transitional form, into a human form...

"Human means without the fluffy tail and ears." Scott's voice broke through the silence. Kya growled,

"I like my tail and ears."

"Are you even able to make them disappear?"

"Yes."

"Then show me."

"Why?"

"Because we need to see if you can go out in public or not."

"Is my word not good enough?"

"No."

Kya smirked and laugh good-naturally allowing her tail and ears to disappear. She fidgeted awkwardly, she didn't like not having them there, it made her feel vulnerable.

"Can I have them back now?"

"No."

"What? Why?"

"We need to see if you can stay like that."

"Dammit Summers quit being a bastard,"Logan cut in glowering at the control station before turning to Kya. "You can have your tail and ears back now if you like." Kya smiled thankfully at him and he watched with amusement (and slight disgust) as her spine extended and fur grew to create a fluffy dark brown tail and her ears shifted on top of her head and become furry. Before he could help himself he had reached out and touched one of the ears and was surprised to find it so soft, he ran his fingers along the outside of the ear and Kya leaned into the touch unable to resist, it just felt so good. Logan found himself wondering if her tail was as soft and reached out to touch it when a sharp cough cut through the air.

"If you two want pet and stroke each other be my guest but please don't force me to witness it." Scott said curtly. Logan shook his head and glared up towards where he knew Scott to be.

"We weren't doing nothing and you damn well know it Summers." He growled.

"I know what I saw and what I saw wasn't 'nothing' Logan, now if you don't mind I'd like to get this over with.'He said before turning off the interface.

'Second Objective: Basic Agility'

The room shifted into a military style agility course which Kya ran through quickly while Logan watched from the sidelines.

'Third Objective: Adaptivity'

The room shifted slight, it was still an agility course but it was slightly different as Kya began to run through it the course began to change depending on the ease with which she completed the task and ultimately forcing her into using her powers.

'Forth Objective: Combat Skills'

The room changed to become something like a boxing arena. There were a total of 10 rounds, each round lasted 3 minutes and every round you were faced against a different opponent who was slightly more difficult and designed for your specific needs. Before the matches started Scott turned on the intercom just long enough to tell her that she didn't need to worry about completely all 10 rounds, very few people did. And so she was even more determined to make it through, which she did.

'Fifth Objective: Collaborative Goals'

The room began to change once again as tall walls began to spring up around Kya and Logan who were now standing side by side. It turned out to be a maze which Kya had to make her way through. Throughout the maze were agility challenges and enemies that would spring out of nowhere, not only that but the maze was constantly changing. Kya closed her eyes and listened hard, she could hear the pattern, everything worked in a pattern, even if they didn't realize it they had patterns, especially computer programs. Ah, she had it.

"Good job Kid." Logan said as they stepped out of the Danger Room. He was impressed, he couldn't deny it. It was the first time that he had ever been with a new student in the Danger Room and not had to bail them out of some kind of trouble. He thought back to the essay Kya had written earlier that day and paused,

"Hey Kya?" He asked, Kya stopped and looked at him. Logan though for a moment and shook his head,

"Nah, never-mind. It's nothing."Kya shrugged,

"Okay. Thanks for chilling with my in the Danger Room today."She said cheerfully, Logan smiled at her and nodded,

"Anytime Kid, all you have to do is ask."