Sorry, I've been AWOL lately. Running around chasing plot bunnies, but don't worry, I've got a firm grasp on a couple now :) lol. More to come, but first of all, this one! (Result of a 2-hour car ride… pillows, paper, and screaming banshees. Don't ask.)

Disclaimer: The X-people don't run around singing songs by Kelly Clarkson as far as I know, but if I owned the series, you would definitely be seeing more of this!

Italics are the song, normal quotes are just normal talking, but that's not had to figure out :)

Miss Independent

X-23, or Laura, as she was now called, stared at Alex Summers from across the room. She'd been staring at him for quite some time now, since he'd walked into the room with Bobby and Ray, carefully being sure not to get caught looking. She frowned internally, trying to make sense of her bipolar thoughts: Look at me! Look at me! No! Don't look at me! Well, it wouldn't be a bad thing… But don't look at me!

The funny feeling in her stomach wasn't helping either. They hadn't had lunch yet, and breakfast was hours ago, so it couldn't be food. What the heck was going on?

Alex turned from his friends and caught Laura's eye, smiling. She blushed and ducked her head, cursing herself for being careless. The group of boys vacated the couch, leaving only Tabitha, Laura, and Jubilee in the room.

A slow, but definitely evil grin spread across Tabitha's face as she watched this interaction with amusement. She quirked a brow (A/N: this is where you start the song, if you listen to it while reading, like me ;) My advice, read it through first, then listen to the song at the same time).

"So, you and Alex, huh?" Tabitha said casually, smirking.

"Huh?" Laura said, the ever-attentive Wolverine-clone caught off guard. Tabitha's eyebrows shot up into her hair.

"I have no clue what you're talking about," Laura said, knowing fully well that Boom Boom was about to make trouble.

"Oh, puh-lease. You think I didn't see that?" Tabitha scoffed.

"I do not like – " Laura growled, only to be caught off by the crazy blond who jumped to her feet.

"Miss Independent, Miss Self-Sufficient," she teased. Laura took a half-hearted swipe at her, knowing Professor Xavier wouldn't be happy if she mauled the girl.

Tabitha jumped back, smirking. "Miss Keep-Your-Distance, mmmmm."

Laura pouted. Jubilee was watching, amused, from her spot on the armchair in the corner.

"Miss Unafraid."

"Tabitha."

"Miss Outta-My-Way. Miss Don't-Let-A-Man-Interfere."

"Shut up."

"Noooooo." Tabitha was getting into the song now, wagging her finger at some invisible guy.

"I'm warning you."

"Miss On-Her-Own."

"Seriously."

"Miss Almost-Grown. Miss Never-"

"Tabby."

"Let-A-Man-Help-Her-Off-Her-Throne, so."

Laura was on her feet now, advancing upon the singing girl, ready to slice her throat to pieces.

"By keeping her heart protected, she'd never ever feel rejected," Tabitha sang, seemingly unaware of the oncoming danger. "Little Miss Apprehensive," she twirled and pointed straight at Laura, catching her, yet again, off guard. "I said, ooh, she fell in love!"

"What?" Laura shrieked. Jubilee had a grin on her face that, similar to Tabitha's, could only spell trouble.

"What is this feeling taking over?" Tabitha started head-banging wildly and stomping around the room, a confused and irritated Laura watching her with slit eyes.

"Thinking no one could open the door. Surprise! It's time to feel what's real." She threw an arm around Laura's shoulders and started guiding her to the door. "What happened to Miss Independent? No longer need to be defensive. Goodbye, old you, when love is true."

Jubilee pulled her headphones off and bounced over to them, an eager look on her face. Tabitha slung her other arm around her and they paraded up to her room.

Jubilee slammed the door behind them and Tabitha pushed Laura onto the edge of her bed.

"Try this on," she said as she threw a midriff bearing pink tank at her, along with a pair of what could only be described as brown denim underwear. They couldn't even be considered shorts.

"Ooh, this, too," Tabitha added, a brown three-quarter length jacket flying towards Laura's head.

"Miss Guarded-Heart," Jubilee sang, adding her own flair to the lyrics.

"And this," Tabitha said, taking a moment to apply some pink lip gloss before tossing the tube to the poor girl. Halfway into the shorts, Laura ducked and the gloss landed on the pile of clothes she'd set beside her.

"Miss Play-It-Smart, Miss If-You-Wanna-Use-That-Line-You-Better-Not-Start, no," Jubilee took a pair of pink sunglasses and slipped them into her hair, winking at herself in the mirror. Tabitha laughed.

"But she miscalculated, she didn't want to end up jaded," Laura pulled a pair of wedges with brown straps onto her feet, Jubilee and Tabitha grinning at the clone's resignation. "And this miss decided not to miss out on true love."

With a new confidence boost, the girls left the room in search of the boys, Jubilee singing like no tomorrow. "So, by changing her misconceptions, she went in a new direction. And she found inside, she felt a connection, she fell in love!"

Jubilee did a slow 'pop, lock, and drop it' on the last word, jumping up with a, "Whoo!" Tabitha laughed and even Laura cracked a grin.

"What is this feeling taking over? Thinking no one could open the door. Surprise! It's time to feel what's real." Tabby chorused while Jubilee harmonized. "What happened to Miss Independent? No longer need to be defensive. Goodbye, old you, when love is true."

Reaching the end of the hallway, the girls walked down the stairs slowly, spotting the boys at the bottom. Ray spotted them and nudged Alex; even Laura had put an extra sway to her hips.

"When Miss Independent walked away," Tabitha started softly.

"No time for love that came her way,"

"She looked in the mirror and thought today – "

"What happened to Miss No-Longer-Afraid?" Jubilee said, sliding a glance to Laura, who looked slightly apprehensive.

"It took some time for her to see," Tabitha slid her arm around the suddenly shy girl and gave her a squeeze.

"How beautiful love could truly be." Jubilee sang as they reached the bottom of the staircase. Laura grinned and nudged her friend back.

"No more talk of, 'why can't that be me?'"

"I'm so glad I finally see!" Laura sang, finally joining the song.

The girls walked by the boys, Laura winking at Alex, who looked absolutely stunned, and Jubilee blew a kiss to Bobby, who merely smirked. Tabitha, more daring, trailed her finger over Ray's jaw as she passed, leaving him with a reaction similar to both Alex's and Bobby's.

"What is this feeling taking over? Thinking no one could open the door." Laura sang.

"Oh yeah!" Jubilee cheered, cartwheeling into the yard.

"Surprise!" Laura followed her, grooving to the beat of their a cappella song.

"Surprise!" Tabitha echoed, skipping through the door.

"It's time, to feel – "

"To feel!"

" – What's real!"

"What happened to – "

"Miss Independent?!"

"No longer need to be defensive. Goodbye."

"Goodbye!"

"Old you, when love is true." Laura finished. All three girls burst out laughing, falling onto the grass.

"What's up with them?" Sam asked, coming up to the shell-shocked boys, who were staring at the trio with various expressions through the glass.

"Miss Independent," Alex said, shaking his head back and forth slowly, a slow smile spreading across his face.

So, what'cha think? Harder than I thought it would be to write it, especially the harmonies, but I hope I got it mostly right…

R&R people, you know the drill!

- JJ Bean