Chapter 3: Packing Pranksters

Forgot to mention this before, but I'm going to say that Hank/Beast is twenty-one.

You'll see why. wink, wink

Zena was still attempting to recover from the shocking news, while Sandra took it in for all it's worth. Meanwhile Storm was busy talking to Zena's parents about Xavier school for gifted youngsters, which Zena now qualified for.

"You mean it's...it's completely free!" her father almost fainted.

While that was happening, Patrick and Bella were asking Shadowcat and Colossus questions about their mutations, what it was like being an X-man and getting autographs much to the X-men's amazement. While Sandra talked endlessly to a quiet Wolverine, while Sandra's cat Oscar, an orange, flat-faced Persian who apparently liked to cuddle, much to Wolverine's annoyance. He eventually evaded both Sandra's insistent chatter and the cat's cuddling by handing the cat to Jubilee and introducing the two chatter-boxes.

What he needed to do was watch the soon to be feral mutant. He watched her closely, looking for signs that she was going to go berserk. She had gone to the upstairs hallway where she now was pacing trying to absorb the information. She evidently was having a few issues with it, but Wolverine couldn't even guess what kind of issues.

Zena had, when she was younger, always dreamed to be a mutant. And even more so to have a tail. But that was not what she wanted now. She had been forced to move past such things when she did not acquire any powers when she turned thirteen and began her period.

Such was the way of her life, as soon as she had become comfortable with something, the one thing that would rip it all apart, would appear.

She ran a hand through her brown hair twinkling gold as the was light reflected.

'It is late at night, maybe I'm hallucinating.' she mused.

Then the front door opened and a young man walked in. He was well built and about 6ft, his hair was brown. And as he turned to close the door behind him, she saw he had glasses in front of deep blue eyes. He was caring a medical kit and walked straight toward her father.

Zena shook her head. Now was not the time for anything else (especially with a Doctor), she must focus on the problem at hand. She walked over to her father to observe the casting procedure.

Zena watched the doctor- Hank as Jubilee had called him- gently feel her fathers hand, and set the bones, then begin to wrap it. He had such soft looking han-

She caught herself.

'No.' She scolded herself silently.

Then proceeded to hide her emotions, like always.

From everyone except Wolverine, who could smell pheromones, and had been watching her since before Hank walked in. Logan smiled to himself, wouldn't that be ironic if what both of them needed most was each other. He almost laughed out loud at how cliche it was.

Jubilee and Storm had thoroughly convinced both of Zena's parents that the institute was not only the safest place but the only place with the experience to deal with her mutation when it manifested. And the more they talked to her parents the more Sandra convinced Zena this was actually happening as she began to pack, for Zena.

Zena sighed and let Sandra pack.

'Heck.'

She still wasn't totally convinced this was real. I mean what are the chances your favorite super heroes show up at your front door, in the middle of the night.

Sandra, though packing, was still talking to Zena. Telling her what could happen, asking/guessing what power she would have, and still throwing questions about what she wanted packed. Zena responded like a pro, " hmm-ing" and uh huh-ing" at the appropriate times. By then they'd moved to their room. Bella walked through the sliding door, and began helping Sandra pack as Zena sat, still dazed.

But that only lasted a minute, before she began to get dressed. As she ascended the stairs to the dinning room she was wearing a dark blue not-so-loose but comfortable t-shirt that extended to just below her jeans pockets, not those clingy skinny jeans, her favorite jeans that had naturally made holes in the knees.

She had in her second piercing (in her left ear just below the cartilage in her upper ear) a purple gem earring and had two small silver earrings in both ears (normal piercing place on the ear) and her hair was now in a ponytail starting just below the crown of her head.

She had two medium sized backpacks and one suitcase that her sisters had insisted she take.

"Okay. Let get going before the M.C.A. gets here." She announced then looked at her parents.

"I went back to college after the party." she said telling them the story she'd thought up for them to tell the M.C.A. Officials.

They nodded. Zena went around kissing and saying goodbye to her family. Her mother whispering

"Visit soon."

With the answer being

"I will."

As she hugged Patrick and Sandra, Sandra whispered

"Call me later and tell me all about the other mutants. Kay?"

"Me too!" whisper shouted Patrick not wanting to be left out.

She hugged Bella, then left but not before she saw Sandra and Bella high-five, grinning like pranksters. Leaving Zena assuming they'd put a weird Halloween eyeball somewhere in her clothes.

Zena followed Hank, Jubilee, Shadowcat, Colossus and Storm around her house to her neighbor's much bigger back yard. She stopped in confusion.

'Where was their car?'

Otis, the neighbor's Alaskan husky, came to her wanting attention. She squatted next to him scratching in between his shoulder blades. Noticing his ears swivel back and hearing the crunch of twigs herself she asked

"Where's your car?"

"Not a car." Wolverine answered.

She sighed figuring he was one of those people who weren't very descriptive. Like when she asked her mom what was for dinner and her mom answered: Food.

Only he probably wasn't as open or happy as her mother.

"Then what is it?" she asked just before she watched Hank, Jubilee, Shadowcat, Colossus and Storm begin to disappear.

"Where- where'd they go?" she asked nervously amazed.

"In the jet." he answered casually.

"Jet!"

"Come on." he growled.

"Bye Otis." she whispered to the dog kissing his nose, then following Wolverine toward the place where the others had disappeared.