"Ziva, you've got a table!" her boss yelled from behind the spilt counter that gave the wait-staff access to the kitchen staff so they could speak to them.

With a sigh, Ziva rolled her eyes. As if she couldn't see that on her own, she turned and crossed the diner, plastering a smile on her face as she approached the table. A young couple with a small child occupied the table. "Are you ready to order or would like me to get you some drinks first?"

They opted to order since their little boy was attempting to use his silverware to dismantle the paneling, she turned away to head off and put in the order. As she passed behind the counter, the hairs on her arms rose, as did the ones on the back of her neck. It could only be one thing, another mutant was closeby. It was a side effect of her powers. Maybe even another power altogether. It wasn't like she knew anyone to ask. The extra electrical energy singing through her body seemed to work like some kind of mutant radar letting her know when someone was closeby. She turned slightly and eyed the door. Two men stepped into the diner and stopped, looking around. The first man was intimidating, to put it mildly. He was tall, ripped, with shaggy deep, blond-brown hair, long sideburns, and he had a look that told anyone that messed with him that he could easily kick their ass. The man emitted an animalistic aura to him that caused you to think he might go feral on you any second. The white t-shirt, leather jacket, and jeans he wore were all pretty normal. Still, the man looked dangerous. He was scanning the interior of the diner as if he expected to find enemies inside waiting for him.

Her gaze slid to the second man. He was a few inches shorter than his companion, his hair was several shades lighter than his friend's was. His look was nowhere as fierce and he seemed much more relaxed. A smile tipped up the corners of his lips and she realized he was much younger than his friend, probably closer to her age. The kid was in shape, as cut as his buddy was, he looked like some cross between a football jock and a skater. Built, and good looking, but with shaggy hair that hung down to brush his shoulders and hang in his eyes. There wasn't a skateboard in sight, so maybe not a skater. Though she didn't really care much in the long run. His clothes consisted of a faded band t-shirt, a pair of well-worn jeans that hugged his body as if they'd been made for him and sneakers.

They could be father and son. They looked enough alike to make it a possibility. If they were it might be bad news, it would mean they might fight well together. With a shrug, she turned away and put in the order for the other table. She tried to calm her nerves, it wouldn't do to lose control of her emotions and short-circuit everything in the diner or worse blow something sky-high. A groan slipped out when she turned back and noticed the two newcomers had taken seats at a table in her section. It figures.

With a sigh, she plastered on her polite, I'm-here-to-help-you smile, and made her way over to them. "What can I get for you guys?"

Feral and deadly gave her a grin that could stop a girl's heart. Damn. Why did the dangerous ones always have sexy smiles? "A place where we can speak in private."

Her eyes widened a fraction. "I beg your pardon?"

The teen smirked at her. "Ignore his lack of manners." He leaned slightly closer to her. "Look, we know what you are and we need to speak with you. Alone." His tone was low enough that no one in the diner could overhear the conversation.

"Right. Not happening. I don't know you and I have no idea whether you're a friend with abilities or here to locked me in a cage. Kiss off and get out of here." She turned away, wanting to get far from them as quickly as possible. Someone else could take the table, she wasn't about to entertain their delusions.

"I wouldn't walk away if I were you, this is important," Mr. dangerous snarled at her as he reached out and grasped her wrist.

She glared down at his hand where it circled her wrist, preventing her from leaving the table. She bent low, getting nose to nose with him and speaking directly to him so quietly that only he could hear her. "Let me go or I'll put enough electricity through you to layout an elephant."

He laughed at her, actually laughed. A full out, throw his head back, laugh. The teen rolled his eyes and stood, moving to stand by her side. "Again, forgive Logan's lack of manners." He sighed and stepped closer. "This isn't exactly going as planned. But if you don't come with us, you'll regret it. Very soon."

"Is that a threat?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at him. His buddy did threatening a lot better, but she still wasn't happy with his close proximity.

"No, it's a warning," he replied as he raised his hand and placed it on her shoulder. "Sorry, but we don't have time for this discussion." Her eyes rolled back into her head and he caught her as she fell. "See, Logan, all it takes it the right bit of persuasion."

Still seated in the booth, Logan snorted. "Great kid, leave me to deal with her boss. Nice. I'll get you for this later." He turned to face Ziva's boss who was crossing the diner, looking more than a little angry that they had accosted one of his wait-staff.

"What did you do to her?" he demanded, waving a large stainless steel spoon at them, something that looked suspiciously like broccoli cheese soup flying in all directions as he waved it.

"Nothing, she's fine, I think she fainted. Probably coming down with something," Logan answered him quickly.

"Yeah, I'm sure she'll be fine in a few. We'll take her home," the boy holding her piped in.

"You know her?" The boss looked suspicious, but the spoon was now still.

Logan plastered a serious look on his face as he stood. "Yes, Ziva's in good hands. No worries. Craig, let's get her home."

Her boss could do nothing but stand back and let them leave.

"Dump her in the back."

"Seriously, Logan, she isn't a sack of potatoes." Craig shook his head as he climbed carefully into the back of the truck. He wasn't about to dump her in the back of the vehicle like a thing, she was a person.

"Same as far as I'm concerned right now. Can't believe I let Storm talk me into running this little errand for her," Logan said as he climbed behind the wheel.

"Hey, if it's true this bad guy wants her then we needed to get to her first," Craig reminded him as the truck peeled away from the curb.

"If that little girl thinks she can bring me down, then she needs to be set straight," Logan harrumphed from the front seat.

"Drop it, Logan, she obviously doesn't know how hard it is to drop you. Let's just get her back to the school. I've no idea how long she'll stay out for."

His only answer was a snort from the front seat. Craig rolled his eyes. Logan could be hard to deal with on a good day, downright impossible on a bad one. At least he seemed to be in a fairly decent mood today, despite his grumbling. Craig had no desire to tangle with him if the claws came out. As the Wolverine, Logan was downright deadly. And nearly impossible to kill. The adamantium, a metal alloy bonded to his skeleton, made him practically indestructible. He healed almost instantly as well. No one knew how old he was, except Logan himself, and he wasn't telling. The man was a loner for the most part. How he ended up part of the X-Men was anyone's guess, the man didn't work well with others.

He decided to ignore Logan and dropped his eyes to the girl he cradled in his arms. Her attitude screamed rebellious and her hair and clothes enforced the impression. He reached out and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. It was so dark brown it was nearly black, streak through with deep purple highlights. His eyes went to her clothes and he wondered how she got away with the outfit at work. Maybe her boss simply didn't care what his employees wore. It didn't matter, not to him anyway. She wore a loose-fitting t-shirt, a pair of jeans that were artfully ripped. The black Converse high tops she wore were old and faded. She either didn't care how she appeared to others or it was a carefully put together costume to get people to back off and leave her alone. Everything about her screamed hands-off.

His eyes remained on her as he spoke to Logan, "So what exactly can our new friend here do? You never did tell me what her power is."

"Control electricity," Logan told him calmly.

He had a sudden urge to drop her. "Electricity? Like she's a walking electric chair? She's gonna fry my ass if she wakes up right now."

Logan chuckled. "Told you to drop her in the back. You didn't listen, kid."

Craig swallowed hard, his eyes still fixed on the very innocent looking girl in his arms. Innocent looking, but deadly. He almost snorted, weren't they all similar to that? He thought of the three little curtain climbers they had back at the school, yeah those three could level a building if they chose to. Innocent looking little kids who could kill you if you turned your back on 'em long enough. He didn't want Ziva to wake up and fry him, he willed her to stay asleep, though it was subtle. He didn't want to risk giving her brain damage. A grimace twisted his lips. When his powers had first manifested he couldn't control them. A simple touch could put a person out for the rest of their life if he wasn't careful. And that wasn't a guess. When his family stumbled across Xavier's school, it had been a relief. The school helped him, he could touch someone now without affecting them unless he wanted to. He could also control how long he put the person out for. At least for a normal human he could, it was much harder with mutants because sometimes their powers interfered.

He went rigid when Ziva suddenly stirred in his arms. "Logan, she's waking up!"

"Stop panicking kid, jeez. We're nearly there."

"We damn well better be. I do not want to be a charred memory."

"She ruins the upholstery you get to explain it to Storm."

Craig scowled at the back of Logan's head. "Hard to do if I'm dead." Craig remained quiet as Logan pulled the truck up in front of Professor Xavier's school for Gifted Youngsters. Logan opened the door for him and he stepped out, right as Ziva regained consciousness. The fierce anger in her eyes didn't bode well for him.

"Put. Me. Down. Now!" she snarled between clenched teeth.

"Uh, might not be such a good idea. Sometimes my powers make people a little wobbly," he replied warily.

"Down. Now," she demanded.

Craig gave Logan a pleading look, he wasn't sure what he should do. "OW! What the hell?" Despite the shock, she jolted him with, he somehow managed not to drop her.

"I told you to put me down. Either do it, or the next one will put both our butts on the pavement," she snapped.

"Wow kid, you are such the charmer." Logan was chuckling as he headed for the front door of the school.

Craig shot his back a death glare as he set Ziva on her feet. "Follow us. Storm will want to see you right away." He started after Logan, looking back only once to make sure she was following. She was, though she didn't look happy about it.

"Where are we?" she asked as they headed down the hall to Storm's office.

"It's a school for people like us. Where we can live in peace while learning to control our powers," Craig told her, walking backward down the hall as he spoke. "We're taking you to see Storm, she's the headmistress. She took over as head of the school after the professor's passing. He started this place."

Logan had stopped beforethe office door and was waiting on them to catch up. This was going to be so much fun. Craig could feel theanimosity rolling off Ziva. She didn't want to be here. He supposed knockingher out probably had a bit to do with that, he'd apologize to her later forthat, he turned around just as Logan shoved the office door open and theyfollowed him inside.