"-so than the X-men show up in their jet and whisk Lana and me here." I finished telling Eric my story as we sat down on the cement steps at the front of the school/mansion. Eric asked his friends for some space during lunch so we could catch up. I pretended not to here Dave (the rhino boy) mutter to Stretch (the red headed stretchy guy) "Fang gonna get some act-ion, Fang gonna get some act-ion!" as we walked away.

I grinned at Eric as I added "And then a dog jumped on me and turned into a naked boy."

Eric blushed. "Uh, yeah, sorry, about that. I'm covered in fur and naked most of the time, so sometimes I forget that it's not socially acceptable to be naked as a human."

"No worries, it's not like it was the first time I saw you in the nude." I assured him with a serious face.

"You have not!" Eric gasped.

"Eric, remember when you were going through your Tarzan stage?" I argued. "You ran through the woods every day to my house naked, beating your chest yelling "me Tarzan, where Jane?". You killed my innocence because you insisted that Tarzan didn't need underwear."

Eric groaned and lay back on the cement covering his eyes. "I blocked that from my memory."

"So what were you doing before anyway? Do you really like playing fetch now?" I asked laying beside Eric on the cool cement.

"Ha ha, no!" Eric shook his head. "You saw that girl who was throwing the disk? About fourteen? She was feeling a bit homesick. She said the thing she missed most was the days she walked her dog to the park and played fetch with him, so I stepped in. We aren't allowed pets here, but we are allowed to turn into animals."

"That was really nice of you." I replied quietly.

"Nah, I just know what it's like to be homesick and want some small silly bit of home. If I could help one person with that feeling, even if it means tasting plastic in my mouth for the rest of the day, its worth it." Eric said, getting up and stretching.

"I can't imagine how hard it must have been, you only being six and leaving home and country to go live with a bunch of strangers." I said, staring up at him. He reached down and pulled me to my feet.

"This place is my home. The moment my dad took a swing at me with that bat and my neighbors hunted me, I was homeless. Here, I'm accepted and loved." Eric said smoothly as we walked on.

"So you didn't miss BC?" I asked.

"I missed my mom and the way things used to be. And, and I missed you." Eric admitted. We both blushed and stopped walking. Eric moved to stand in front of me, looking down into my blue eyes. "Didn't, didn't you miss me? I mean, we were best friends, and your parents were X-men, so its not like you didn't know where I was. Didn't you care even a little, enough to write back to me?"

I was shocked. "I didn't know where you were! Eric, I swear, I didn't know what happened to you. I got a really bad infection from a dog scratch around the time you went missing! I was delirious with a fever and by the time I was well enough to ask, all my parents would say was that you went to live with some relatives because your dad was a bad man! I wrote to you, for awhile, but when you never responded, I thought you made new friends and forgot about me."

"You're telling me that you don't remember me turning into a wolf in front of you and getting the shit beat out of me by my dad?" Eric asked skeptically.

The look on my face was his answer. Now he was confused. "Really?"

"I think my mind might have been tampered with." I admitted. "My parents wanted to keep me away from the mutant world, and having a mutant best friend wouldn't help them do that. They know telepaths that could do it."

"But why? You're all mutants!" Eric asked.

"Honestly Eric, I didn't know about my mom and dad being mutants till last night." I told him, keeping my eyes on his face. "I had no clue about them being X-men, or what happened to you."

I began walking again, and Eric fell into step with me.

"All these years, Wolverine would visit the mansion about four times a year. He'd always check on me and I'd give him letters to give to you. He always avoided talking about you and made it clear you weren't a topic I should talk about." Eric said, then fell silent for awhile. "We're going to get your parents back Leah, and then everything is going to be great. You know about them now, so you can all live at the mansion. Maybe one day, you and me will be X-men."

He doesn't know, I thought, he doesn't know that I'm not a mutant.

I felt the need to confess something to him, even though I couldn't tell him the truth about me.

"I'm…worried about seeing my parents again." I admitted. "I mean, I want them to be safe and here and stuff, but I-I almost feel nervous about seeing them again. It feels like we're strangers now. I mean, not telling your own kid that you're a superhero is kind of huge. I just wish I knew…I don't know, more about who they really are."

Eric didn't say anything, and I laughed out of embarrassment. "I'm sorry, we're pretty much strangers now and I'm dumping on you. Just forget it."

"We're not strangers, we've seen each other naked." I looked up in to his mischievous eyes. "That time we went to the teacher's bonfire picnic? We wanted to go swimming really bad, but our moms said the lake was too cold. So you came up with the brilliant idea that we'd sneak off and swim naked, so our bathing suits and clothing wouldn't be wet and no one would ever know. The whole teachers staff caught us skinny dipping. So I've seen you naked too."

Before I could threaten to kill him if he ever told anyone else that story, Eric grabbed my hand and ran towards the school.

"And I know a way you can get to know your parents."

xXx

I stood outside the locked door, glancing around nervously. Eric had led me here, then turned into a bird to fly up to the window and unlock the door from the inside. There was a faint click and the door opened to reveal a grinning Eric.

I hurried inside and shut the door, muttering, "This is so illegal."

"No its not." Eric said flapping his hand and rolling his eyes. When I glared at him, he said, "Okay, the breaking and entering part is kinda illegal, but since it's you dad's room, we're not going to get in trouble. Well, you're not, but he might 'snikt' me when he gets back and smells that I've been in here."

"Snikt?" I repeated skeptical.

"You ever hear the sound his claws make when they pop out? All the students here agree is a snikt kind of sound." Eric explained. "Nevermind. You just, look around, reconnect and whatever, I have to go to my last class of the day. I'll catch up with you later, okay?"

"Thanks for this Eric, I really appreciate it." I said quietly, not looking at him.

"Hey, what are old best friends for?" Was all he said in reply before leaving me alone in the room.

Alright Daddy, let's see who you really are I thought as I examined the framed pictures on the walls. A few of them were really old photographs. I mean really old. Like, WWII old. I knew my dad was in the Canadian armed forces, but I had no idea he was in a world war! But there he was. Standing with a bunch of soldiers in uniform, looking like they were just about to be shipped out. He only look a few years younger than he did the last time I saw him. A thick cigar was between his teeth and his hair was crammed under a cadet's pointed hat. In another photo he was shaking hands with Captain America, both of them laughing about something. Other photos were more recent, like the one where he was glaring at the camera, surrounded by Avengers in front of their jet. I grinned to see Spiderman with one arm around Dad and the other giving the piece sign. I personally thought Spiderman was the bomb but I'd never admit it around Dad because whenever he saw him on tv he'd groan and say what an 'annoying punk' that kid was. Another picture was of the X-men. I was shocked to see my mom in this picture, dressed in some kind of kinky leather bathing suit and cape (hypocrite! She confiscated this really cute dress I bought because she thought it showed too much leg. Here she is showing my more than a little leg!). Again, Dad looked moody and smoked a cigar.

On the bedside table was a picture that was more like the Dad I knew. He was sitting on 1976 Harley-Davidson Electra Glide Flh with Mom riding in front of him. She snuggled in the cradle of his chest like a love sick teenager.

I opened the table drawer and found a pack of cigars. Oooh, Dad I thought you quit! These things will kill you…nevermind, I guess a guy with super healing doesn't have to worry about cancer. But still! He reeks when he smokes these. In the same drawer was a bag of jelly beans, making me smile. Only I really knew about his sweet tooth. And then there was a small bottle of sweet pea and lavender hand cream, the kind that Mom used. It was opened but unused.

I moved to his closet. Here I was taken back again. Where at home Dad usually worn a pair of jeans and t-shirt and a plaid shirt, I guess when he was here he was always in uniform. The closet had five ruined outfits and three good conditioned ones. I looked away from the dark red stains near the tears in the material and held my breathe so I wouldn't have to smell the reek of burnt flesh that hung to one of the worse conditioned ones.

I went back to his bed and sat down on it. I was no closer to knowing who my Dad really was. He's famous, really old, and gets himself torn apart from time to time. He's not just my protective, loving, funny mechanic Dad who would play pick up hockey in the streets with a bunch of kids who needed another player.

I know about the Wolverine. He's a lethal weapon, a smart ass and a loner despite the fact that he's always on some team.

I reached over and picked up his pillow, holding it over my face. It smelled like him. Motor oil, wood smoke, and freshly cut grass. I continued to hug it to me as I curled into a ball on the bed.

I know Dad loves me, but what does Wolverine think of a non-powered daughter?

xXx

As I slept, I dreamed.

I was back at the British Colombia house, toddling across the cold wooden floors to the living room where I heard the muffled sounds of the TV. I peeked around the corner to see Daddy laying on the couch, a beer in one hand and the other behind his head. The flickering light from the TV danced across his face. I was about to say something so that he'd know I was there, but his nostrils widened and he looked over at me and smiled.

"Hey darl'n, what you doing up?" Daddy asked softly as he got up from the couch and came to kneel in front of me.

"I had a bad dream again." I answered. "I can't sleep now."

Daddy sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "I know what that's like. Your mom is going to be home late tonight, but do you want to stay up with me?"

I nodded and held his hand as we walked back to the couch.

"Who's playing?" I asked, seeing the hockey game playing on the tv. I leaned against Daddy as he took a drink of his beer.

"Toronto and Vancouver."

"Who's the bad guys?" That's how I decided who to cheer for. I'd ask Daddy, who knew everything, who was the good guys and who was bad guys.

"Toronto." He answered with a grin.

"Are the bad guys win'n?"

"Nope, they're getting their as- I mean, they're losing."

"That's good."

By the time Mom got home, the game was over and both of us were asleep. I was curled up on Daddy's chest, both of us snoring in synch.

xXx