Though she wasn't thrilled about this whole situation, Ziva followed the two men through the door. She had no idea why they'd brought her here. She also didn't trust them after the way they had brought her here. She shot a venomous glance at the teenage boy before she focused on the woman who was sitting behind the large desk that dominated the office.

"You're back. I suppose I don't have to ask how it went since she's here." The woman smiled at Ziva and rose from her chair.

"Yeah, it went fabulously. Miss. Attitude here didn't want anything to do with us. She wouldn't even hear us out. The kid had to zap her." Logan jerked a thumb at Craig.

Ziva watched as the woman rounded the desk with a grace, she knew she could never match. The woman moved as fluidly as water flowing over stones. Her figure wasn't overpowering, but she generated an aura of power. When her piercing blue eyes landed on Ziva, it made her want to run and hide. The bright, almost electric blue of those eyes distracted one from the stark white hair that flowed in gentle waves to her shoulders. Her hair gave the impression of lighter-than-air strands floating on the breeze.

"Welcome to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, I'm Storm," she told Ziva with a smile.

"Great, nice to meet you, why am I here?" Ziva asked with as much attitude as she could muster. She'd learned long ago never to let anyone walk all over you. Once they did it the first time, they'd believe they could do it forever.

"You're here for your safety."

"Safety? I was fine where I was. No one knows what I am." Her gaze flicked to Logan and Craig. "Well, except for these two yahoos."

Storm cocked her head to one side. "We have intel that tells us that someone is after you, and whoever it is they are very powerful. We don't have anything solid about the mutant, but we believe whoever it is might be trying to take over as Magneto once attempted to do. I felt it was important to send Logan and Craig to bring you here, where you can be protected."

"I can take care of myself; I've been doing it since I was thirteen."

"Yeah, so what? I've been doing it a lot longer than you, little girl. Get over yourself and accept the help we're offering before something kills you." Logan snapped before he looked at Storm. "Am I free to go now?"

Storm looked resigned to Logan's bad temper. She nodded and waved him from the room. "Craig, can you please show Ziva to her room. She'll be bunking in with Skylar."

"Sure, no problem."

"Who said I was staying?"

"Would you rather take your chances out there against an unknown enemy?" Storm asked.

Ziva sighed and shook her head.

"Good."

Craig opened the door and led her out of the office.

"What if I don't want to stay?"

Craig shrugged. "You can go if you want to, but I wouldn't suggest it. If the rumors we've heard are true, then someone wants to get hold of you in a bad way. Storm is right, you're better off here."

"It's not like I'm out there advertising my powers. Who would know about them?"

"Any telepath strong enough to read your thoughts and see who you are and what you're capable of," he replied and led her up the stairs.

"Perfect, thanks, now I have that to worry about."

He chuckled. "Sorry." They made it to the top of the stairs, and he led her down the hallway and opened a door about halfway down and stepped back so she could enter first.

"So, who is this Skylar that I'm rooming with?"

"That would be me, roomie!"

Ziva froze in the doorway and stared at the girl who was sitting cross-legged on the bed against the far wall. Her head was crowned with a riot of red, wavy hair. She was dressed as Ziva imagined an elementary school teacher would be. Neat, pleated pants and a poufy blouse covered with a cardigan with apples on it. The cheerful grin grated on Ziva's last nerve. If she was going to be forced to live here, then fine, but did they have to give her Polly Sunshine as a roommate?

Skylar jumped up off the bed and hurried over to greet her. "It's going to be so awesome having a roommate!"

Ziva only just managed to avoid the hug Skylar tried to force on her.

"Oh, not a hugger, huh?" She backed off, but her hazel eyes were bright with excitement. "It's so great to finally meet you, I swear Storm has been talking about you for weeks now."

Ziva sent Craig a look filled with loathing. "I will make you pay for this."

"Hey, don't blame me, Storm is the one who decides who goes where."

Skylar giggled. "If Craig was the one deciding, you'd probably be bunking with him. Too bad, Craig, you're stuck with Lenny."

Ziva's eyebrows lifted slightly. "Who's Lenny?"

Craig held a hand up slightly below his head. "Short, dark hair, slightly annoying, and controls water." Craig shrugged as if that was all the explanation she needed.

"You forgot that he will flirt with any female that gets within two feet of him, which is why he's annoying. Not as annoying as the carpet crawling three, but still up there on the list. What's your power, Ziva?" Somehow, Skylar managed to cram all of that into a single breath.

Craig moved past them as he spoke. "She can control and manipulate electricity." He flopped down on the bed opposite Skylar's bed. "And she packs quite a punch even when set on low, so I don't suggest you annoy her."

Ziva sent him a scowl because she was certain that the bed was meant to be hers. He didn't seem to care that he had gone and made himself comfortable. It didn't bother him to drop his body anywhere. A really gorgeous, totally ripped body. She cut off those thoughts. She wasn't planning on being here long enough to get to know any of these people well. As soon as she could manage it, she was going back to her regular life, which was far away from this weird, screwed up, mutant happy camp.

"I could have explained it to her myself, but thanks, Sandman."

Skylar's eyes went wide, and she backed several steps away from Ziva. "Ooooo, that was a bad idea."

In one swift, lithe movement, Craig was up off the bed. "Do not call me that, no one calls me that. I'm not some glorified sand throwing creep who slips up on people and drops them off into dreamy happy land."

Ziva blinked. She supposed it made sense for the guy to move that quickly. It would be hard for him to drop someone with his power if he moved like a slug. "Chill, oh grumpy one, I didn't mean any offense." She shrugged. "The name just fits your power. I'll remind you that you did put me to sleep."

"It's a lame-ass name," he muttered and resumed his former position on her bed.

"My turn!" Skylar said with enthusiasm. "I can possess inanimate objects and teleport."

Before Ziva could comment, another boy appeared in the doorway.

"Dude, when did you get back?"

Ziva eyed the boy. He was slimly built and nowhere near as muscular as Craig, nor was he as good-looking. His eyes flicked around the room as if they couldn't settle on one thing to look at. His dark brown hair was short and combed back from his face. Those ever-moving eyes of his were brown and so dark they appeared black.

Craig rolled onto his side and propped himself up. "We got back a little bit ago. Ziva, this is Lenny."

Right, the annoying, flirts with everything, Lenny, who could manipulate water. "Nice to meet you," she told him.

Lenny turned when they heard a loud noise in the corridor.

They all watched as two small girls and a slightly smaller boy raced past the room while screaming at the top of their lungs.

The girl in the lead of the little troop skidded to a halt and backtracked to stop near Lenny. In one hand, she held a large can of whipped cream and in the other, she held a TV remote. "If you see Logan, don't tell him that you saw us," she told them. She looked at them with wide green eyes that were going for a look of total innocence but managed to miss the mark by a wide margin. The tangled mass of auburn hair that crowned her head looked as if it hadn't seen a comb since the day that she graced the planet with her presence. It appeared as if she'd chosen her clothes for the day by picking random items up from the floor, sniffing them, and then determining if it was still good to wear.

Skylar rolled her eyes and moved over to stand opposite Lenny. "Mellissa, are you three annoying Logan again?"

"Umm ... maybe." The little girl stared up at Skylar with that look that was still trying for innocent and failing.

"You should give him back the remote before he kills the three of you," Skylar told her in a stern tone.

The little boy, whose index finger was crammed up his nose to the second knuckle, shook his head. "No way, do you know what we went through to get our hands on that remote? My plan was executed down to the second! The second!"

Craig placed a palm flat on the floor and leaned as far as he dared off the bed. "Stevie, if Storm sees you with that finger up your nose, she's going to give you the Kleenex lecture again."

The boy shrugged. "Like I care."

The third girl kept her hands clasped behind her back while she rocked back and forth on tiny feet clad in pink sequinned ballet slippers that matched her sequinned tutu. As she rocked, her blond curls bounced, and her cherub face was stretched into a big smile. "Logan will never catch us. He hasn't yet!"

"I see you, you three little cretins!" Logan roared from the other end of the hallway.

The three kids took off at top speed.

Ziva turned to look at Craig. "What in the world was that?"

"That was the curtain climbing three," he replied.

Lenny stepped further into the room. "Mellissa was the one with the whipped cream. She's sort of their leader."

"That's just ... I don't even know. What are they doing here?"

"They have powers, just like the rest of us. Mellissa can become invisible. The one in the tutu is Angela, she shoots energy blasts from the palms of her hands. The boy with the finger up his nose is Stevie, and you're better off not knowing his power."

Ziva scrunched her nose. "How bad can his power be?"

Skylar shoved Craig's feet out of the way and sat on the end of the bed. "Trust us, it's gross."

"I was a waitress; I cleaned up people's leftover food. I can handle it."

Craig looked at Skylar, who then looked at Lenny, who looked at Craig with a shrug. Craig finally sighed. "His boogers have powers."

"That's gross. You're kidding right?" Ziva asked.

Lenny chuckled. "Nope, not even a little. We still haven't figured out how he knows what each booger does, but they do have some interesting powers. Really gross, but interesting."

"Well, oookay then. What were the three of them up to?"

"They like to randomly steal the TV remote from Logan. It's a game to them to see how angry they can make him and if they're able to get away with it," Craig replied.

"Hold up, aren't they a little young to have powers?" she asked.

Craig shrugged. "Sometimes, younger kids get their powers; it doesn't happen often though. Mellissa and Angela are both six, and Stevie is nine. He may not look it, but he's older than the girls. He's also a genius. Don't mess with any of them if you want to continue living."

"Whoooooooo!" Mellissa screamed as she ran back down the hallway. Logan was hot on her heels. There was no sign of Stevie or Angela.

Ziva shook her head. This entire place was nuts.

Lenny sidled up beside her. His dark eyes swept over her from head to foot and back again. "Sooo, you have a boyfriend?"

Ziva placed a hand in the center of his chest and shoved him away from her. "Back off, Stir Stick, you are not my type."

Craig burst out laughing. "Stir stick? I like that one."

Lenny sent her a disgruntled look and headed for the door. "You'll give in eventually." He turned back and winked at her.

"Doubt it. You do know that water conducts electricity, right?" she asked.

He froze and looked at her over his shoulder. "What?"

Skylar giggled. "Ziva can control electricity."

Lenny scowled. "Don't even try it or I'll drown you."

"Try it and I'll electrocute you, Gulf of Stupidity," Ziva snapped back.

Craig rolled off the bed and stood. "Okay, you two, that's enough. Lenny, let's go so Ziva can get settled in."

Skylar jumped up off Ziva's bed. "Yeah, we should get some sleep, we have classes tomorrow."

"Whoa, no one said anything about classes." Ziva glared at Craig.

Craig grinned at her. "We all have to take classes. It's a requirement to stay here. Get some rest, we'll see you tomorrow. Don't worry, you'll be fine."

"Go on and get out of here before Logan or Storm show up and tell you it's lights out." Skylar made a shooing motion at the two boys.

"Probably a good idea, if Logan shows up, he'll be snappy. He's probably still in a bad mood. Night!" Craig sent them a wave, grabbed Lenny, and hauled him out of the room.

Ziva walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. There really wasn't any settling in she could do. She sighed and looked at Skylar. "I just realized I don't have any of my stuff."

"We can talk to Storm tomorrow and ask her if we can go get your things." Skylar grinned at her. "I'm so glad we're roomies! Night!"

"Night, and my name is Ziva, not roomie."

Skylar giggled and disappeared into the bathroom to change into her jammies. She returned dressed in a flannel sleep set with kitty cats running rampant across them. She crawled into bed and snapped the light off that sat on her bedside table.

Ziva kicked off her shoes and crawled beneath the covers fully dressed. She lay there in the dark staring at the ceiling. Here she was, in a weird new place full of crazy new people. There was a cute boy, and an annoying, slightly cute boy she'd love to electrocute. Her gaze went to Skylar snuggled under her covers. A roommate who was way too cheerful and three very small, evil little munchkins who seemed to enjoy poking bears, or whatever Logan was. Good lord, she hoped he wasn't one of the teachers.

Gee, her life was looking up, wasn't it?

She closed her eyesand forced herself to relax and get some sleep.