Wolverine stepped from the fresh mountain night air into the smog of a bar. It was filled with pissed and depressed drunks, the majority dressed in black and or leather. A long wooden bar ran the left length, booths and tables ran along the right. At the back was a black wooden platform where a drum set, microphones, and amps were set up, ready for the next band. The air was thick and cigarette smoke hung. The lights were dim, nearly too dim to see. Probably to encourage the drunks to stay in their seats and not move around so much, less fights.

Chuck told him about a female mutant he had known and asked Wolverine to find her. He had shown Wolverine an image and said she could heal so she may look very much the same if not a older.

Four men in black and leather took the stage. One to the drums, the others to bass and guitars. A woman took the stage then and lights shown on the stage. The woman wore a short-sleeved black hoodie that only went down to her waist, the large hood enveloped her head. It was zipped up to just above her cleavage and large silver safety pins ran up the sleeves. She wore a black and silver studded belt on her black jeans over a pair of black converse. A thick silver chain encircled her slender neck. For tiny woman she had a hell of a body. Long, strong, slender legs. Thin waist with a solid two-pack of abs. Slender, slanted shoulders and a set of womanly curves. Her face was hidden by the hood and its shadow.

Scattered cat-calls came from around the bar. Wolverine took up a stool. The woman approached the mic. Her chin and a pair of full lips, painted black, were lit. She opened her mouth and screamed, the guitars screamed with her and the band began to play. It was heavier music, metal. The woman alternated between singing and screaming. Her screaming was good but her voice was captivating. While they preformed, Wolverine scanned the crowd. There weren't many women, none of them were the mutant he was looking for. Either Chuck had been wrong about where she'd be, or it was the hooded woman on stage.

When the band left, Wolverine headed for backstage. A large man blocked his path. He had a name badge with 'SECURITY' written on it. "What you doing back here?" the man's deep voice rumbled.

"Here to see the woman."

"No one's allowed back with the band."

Wolverine growled in frustration. "Tell her I'm a friend of Professor X." The guard relayed this to a man via walkie-talkie. About a minute later the woman emerged, face still hidden.

"How's Charles? Is something wrong?" she asked.

"He's good. Nothing's wrong. He sent me to find you."

The woman nodded to the guard then said, "Come on back." The guard stepped aside. Wolverine could have easily dealt with him but he didn't want to make a scene. The woman led him down a hallway with black walls. The hallway was empty. "Why'd Charles send you to find me?" she asked over her shoulder, she couldn't have been more than five foot.

"Dunno, Chuck doesn't always explain," he said following her. She hummed agreement. "Just told me to find you and bring you back."

"Alright, give me a minute to tell the guys." This had turned out easier than he thought.

XxxX

Wolverine sat on the Blackbird behind the wheel. The woman sat beside him. Her hood still up, he heard a hiss from beneath. "I don't trust anyone hiding under a hood," Wolverine less than subtly hinted.

The woman laughed lightly. "Fair enough." She lifted two slender hands to her hood and slid it off. What was beneath suprised Wolverine for a moment. The woman had a gorgeous face. Full lips still painted black, a small nose, flawless pale skin. Her eyes were the color of blood, her pupils were ovular and gave her eyes an almost snake-like appearance. Her long, straight hair hung in an ebony curtain over her shoulders and ended at her mid-back. What caught his eye, however, were the four pink lines that ran over her left eye from above the eyebrow to her cheekbone. "My eyes tend to frighten humans but I hate sunglasses," she explained the hood. Sooner or later the question was always asked. "No the band doesn't know about me," she said explaining another common question.

Once the Blackbird was parked, the woman seemed to know exactly where she was going. He followed curiously as she made her way to the Professor's office. She knocked. A muffled, "Come in," sounded from behind the door. The woman opened the door to reveal the Professor and Beast talking. The Professor came from behind his desk. A beautiful smile spread across the woman's black lips. She leaned forward slightly and embraced the Professor. "It's good to see you, Alexandria."

"You too, Charles. How have you been?"

"Busy as usual. Have you been staying out of trouble?"

The woman laughed. "Not really."

"Who is this girl, Chuck?" Wolverine asked.

"An old friend of mine."

She laughed again. "I used to baby sit him." The statement shocked both Wolverine and Beast. "Most well-behaved kid ever seen."

"I'll call in Ororo to show you around," Xavier said.

When Ororo came in it induced another hug. "Look who's all grown up."

"Dria, it's been years," Ororo said, leading the woman out of the room.

Once the women were gone Beast was the first to speak up. "Interesting, she seems to age like Wolverine."

"She has a healing factor. Not quite as profound as Wolverine's judging by her scars. I haven't seen those." Xavier stated.

XxxX

Wolverine walked into the Danger Room's control area. He found the woman standing with arms crossed over her chest watching the students run a drill. "Hello, Wolverine," she said without turning around. Wolverine joined her by the window. "They're good," she commented on the students.

"Could be better." He watched for a minute. "Alexandria was it?"

"Dria."

"Logan."

"You don't trust me, Logan," it wasn't a question. He scoffed. She smirked. "Good. You shouldn't. I don't trust you either."

This was an odd woman. "Why don't you trust me?"

"Same reason you don't trust me. You don't know me. I'm on your territory," she stated. "And you remind me of someone." Wolverine glared over at her. She just watched the kids. "Don't be too hard on them," she teased then turned and walked out the door. Wolverine growled in his throat.

XxxX

Dria sat cross-legged in a plush chair in the library reading, black hair a curtain around her face. A book rested in her lap. One slender hand rested under her chin, the other on the book. "What are you reading?" she heard a voice behind her.

"The Odyssey."

"Ah, excellent choice."

She turned in the chair to see the large furred man from the Professor's office. She held out a hand. "Dria."

"Henry McCoy. A pleasure, Dria," he said accepting the hand.

Wolverine walked in. "Kid got pegged in the Danger Room," he said gesturing with a thumb over his shoulder.

"Until next time, Dria," Beast said as he rushed out the door. Dria unfolded herself from the chair and went to the bookcase. She had to climb partway up the ladder because she couldn't reach the book's self. She could feel that Wolverine was still watching her. She glanced over her shoulder and down at Wolverine.

"Enjoying the view?" This earned a snarl from the man and he turned and left. Dria smirked. 'This guy's gunna be fun to mess with,' she thought as she slid down the ladder. She caught up to him in the hall.

Dria turned and stepped in front of him, resting a hand on the wall. "Out of my way, kid," he snarled.

She smirked. "I'm at least twenty years older than Charles."

"Still a kid to me."

"How about you and I go to the Danger Room. We'll find out who's the kid," she teased.

Wolverine hated to back down from a challenge. He'd put this cocky woman in her place. "Fine. When?"

She shrugged. "I don't see why now isn't a good time." She turned and led the way towards the Danger Room.

XxxX

Dria waited while Wolverine set up a drill. She stood leaning against the door frame with her arms crossed over her chest. "What's the objective?"

"Kill the Centennial."

"Time limit?" she asked as he stood from the controls.

"Twenty minutes," he said walking towards the door.

She smirked. "Plenty of time." She watched him walk passed her through the door before following him into the Danger Room. They emerged into a desecrated chunk of city. A fallen building lay before them. Garbage in the streets caught fire from a building spitting fire from its shattered windows. There was a three car pile-up that involved a taxi. Other cars lay abandoned or overturned in the deserted city streets. One of the cars' alarm was going off, accompanied by a desperate fire alarm. "Pretty," she said, earning a weird sideways glance from Wolverine.

'Either this woman is our of her mind or she has a messed up sense of humor,' Wolverine thought. He couldn't decide which was more likely. The sound of gears grinding emerged over the alarms. Booming steps made the ground vibrate. A pair of headlight eyes appeared in the smoke. Dria ran to a building and started making her way up a fire escape.

Wolverine ignored her and got in a fighting stance. He dodged as a shot came for him. It tore a hole into the ground where he had been standing. A foot came down near Wolverine and he ran at it, claws extended. He plunged his claws into the ankle and started making his way, claw over claw, up the Centennial's leg.

Once at the hip, the Centennial grabbed at Wolverine. He leapt to its hand and ran up the arm. He stopped at the shoulder to cut into the arm. Several cuts later, the arm fell with a resounding boom to the ground below. Sparks bled from the socket. The head turned towards Wolverine and shot. He dodged towards the neck. "Nice of you to join me," he heard from the neck. He saw Dria crouched at the back of the neck, tearing a panel free. She let it drop to the ground below. She reached in and tore a cable loose. Her entire body shook violently for a moment before dropping limply out of sight. Wolverine ran to where she had fallen from. He jammed his claws into the bare cords a drug his claws along the Centennial back as he slid down to the ground.

Dria had fallen on a car, making a large indentation in the roof and shattering the windows. Wolverine scooped her up and crouched behind the car as the Centennial shook. Dria coughed and brought a hand to her head. "Not the smartest thing to stick your hand in live wires," she said groggily. Wolverine brought her head to his chest and covered her as the Centennial's body sparked with s series of explosions and crumpled to the ground. Debris rained over them for a moment before the city faded. Wolverine sat up. Dria's head rested on one of his arms while the other lay across her stomach. Dria smirked.

"What?" Wolverine snarled.

"A little protective?" she teased.

"Don't get used to it, kid." Wolverine didn't pull away contrary to what his agitated tone would have suggested he done.

"Wolverine?" He looked over at her. "You can let me up now," she said with a smirk. Not wanting to seem bothered by her comment, Wolverine took a normal pace to let her go and help her to her feet. She rubbed the back of her head.

"You hurt?" he asked in a monotonous voice.

"I'll heal. It's just a bruise right now." She looked over at him. "You are protective aren't you?" she taunted. He snarled and walked out the door. Dria watched him go, a smirk on her face.