We pulled up to the old pub and turned off the truck. We had both been quiet for the entire trip, except for the part when I offered to take Lana home or to a hotel. She only shook her head in reply. I guess she thought riding with me and facing killer robots and burning houses was less scary than facing her family or society. Pretty much showed how screwed up both our lives were.

I hardly knew Lana. She hung out with her crowd, me with mine. We might have had three classes together since starting high school. I still don't know her last name. But we were all that we had at the moment.

Unless Hal helped.

"My mom would kill me if they knew I wasss at a bar." Lana hissed, staring at the pub.

"Not your dad?" I asked quietly.

"He would be a hypocrite if he did." Lana answered sadly.

I didn't pry further.

"Listen, the bar's still pretty full. You go wait around back, I'll meet you there." Lana nodded, so I entered the pub. The smell of beer and French fries filled my nose and the sounds of people talking and the hockey game on the tvs rang in my ears. I pushed my way through to the bar.

"Hey, we got minor in here!" Some drunken lout hollered, grabbing my arm. "Bit young, aren't you sweetness?"

I ripped back my arm and was about to reply, when a loud male voice replied for me.

"Hey! Get yer hands off of 'er, Larry, that's Logan's kid." Hal called good naturedly, slapping the drunk on the back.

"Thanks Hal." I said, looking way up into Hal's rugged face. The guy was a giant, built like a bulldozer. I remember when I was little and he'd come over to visit. He'd let me ride up on his shoulders and forget I was up there.

"What's up kid? You look'n fer yer dad?" Hal asked, leading me to the back kitchen. "Hey, Louise! Take over fer me."

"Yes, well, sort of." I didn't say anything more until we exited the building and entered the quiet area outside the kitchen. "Hal, I'm in trouble. Big trouble."

Hal's happy face changed to one of shock. He went pale.

"Hey, uh, kid, you ain't pregnant or anything, are yah?" The big man asked uncomfortably.

"What? NO! Of course I'm not! Hal, this is serious!" I fought to keep my voice quiet.

"Oh, thank God. Yer old man would flip out, and you ain't seen nobody flip till yer dad has." Hal sighed with relief. "So what's go'n on?"

"You're not going to believe me, but here it goes."

I took a deep breath and told Hal everything that had happened since I got home. I left out the part about Lana being a mutant, figuring that Hal'd be more ready to help if he didn't know, for now anyways.

"-so then the MRD helicopters took off, and then the giant robot tried to kill us, but I got on its shoulder and stabbed it in the head. Which killed it, but I sort of got electrocuted and fell twenty feet." I finished quickly.

Hal looked at me strangly, then laughed, pulling me into a bonecrushing hug.

"Ha! I knew it, I knew ya'd be a healer, like yer old man! Most of us thought yah'd be a weather witch, but I knew it! Pretty late ta develop your powers, but yah got them!" Hal bellowed, laughing.

"What? No, Hal! What are you talking about?" I asked, wriggling to get free. "Powers?"

"Yah, yah don't know?" Hal asked, letting me go.

"Know what?" I asked, exasperated.

"'Bout yer parents! I knew they didn't tell yah, waiting till you manifested yer powers, but seeing as you got 'em…they really didn't tell yah yet?" Hal asked, trying to piece together God knows what.

"Hal, I don't have any idea what you're talking about! What about my parents?" I pried.

Hal sat down on the large garbage bin and rubbed his face. "Oooohhh boy."

"I'm going to flip out soon if you don't tell me what's going on! You think my dad's scary when he's mad? He's nothing compared to me!" I snarled. "Hal, I told you I think my parents have been killed and-"

"They didn't burn in the fire, I can tell yah that much."

"They-they didn't? How do you know?"

"Cause I know the MRD would want them alive. And no house fire could kill those two." Hal answered.

I put my hand to my forehead for a moment and counted to ten.

"Can you please tell me what is going on?" I asked again, fighting to sound calm.

"This shouldn't be coming from me-"

"You're the only person I have to hear it from. Please tell me."

Hal sighed. "Alright, but not here. Let's go up to my apartment, above the bar. I've got some calls to make too."

"Fine, as long as you tell me. And uh, one more thing Hal, my friend Lana's here too, and, well, don't freak out or anything, but-" I bit my lip, but continued. "She's a mutant and she needs help too."

Lana crept out from her hiding spot and gave a timid wave. To my surprise, Hal just shook his head and looked up to the sky.

"Somewhere, yer parents are laughing at the irony of this. Let's go."

xXx

"Oh."

"I know this is a lot-"

"My."

"Please understand-"

"GOD!"

What Hal told me, it couldn't be true. It couldn't! It was insane, and, and-

"My parents are NOT superheroes. They, they are not mutants. I would have known! They wouldn't keep something like that from me."

"Its true kid. Yer mum and dad were the best. Guess yer dad still is, since he still goes on missions." Hal said, taking a sip of his beer.

"No he doesn't! James Logan is NO superhero! He's a mechanic!" I shouted.

"It's true. I think yer a mutant too. That's how you survived that fall. You're a mutant healer, like your dad." Hal mused.

"This is not true! Non of this is true!" Desperate for sanity, I had a spark of insanity. I pulled out my knife and put my thumb to the tip. I smiled with mad satisfaction as blood dripped from my thumb. "Look! Not healing! Now tell the truth!"

Hal looked genuinely shocked that I continued to bleed.

"You're still not a mutant…"

"No, I'm not!" I yelled. I was being crazy, but so was he.

A loud rumbling swept through the room, making it shake. Hal smiled and looked out the window.

"Well, kid, I think I got yer proof right here."