The X-Men sat around the table, discussing their latest battle. It had been easy-routine, almost-but Xavier still wanted to discuss it. Just a battle between them and some "mutie-haters", that's all. They handled in three minutes flat-and were out of sight in thirty seconds. So easy, even Jubilee did it with ease, and laughed about it.

Wolverine knew all of this, and was quite bored with it, too. Drumming his fingers impatiently, he stared at the door, hoping something new and more exciting would come.

He broke his gaze only to blink, and that was all that was needed for her to sneak in. One moment, the door was empty-blink-there she was. And she looked directly at him.

"Long time no see, Wolvie. You've changed." Those were the words from the newcomer's mouth. Words enough to send the room into silence, and the Blue Team to its feet. Every single student, some not that anymore, was in their fighting stance. That is, all except for Wolverine.

Logan was standing up, true. But he was not ready to fight. He stood there, shocked, in a vulnerable position that was new to him. His mouth was wide open, and he uttered a single word, "Betsy?" His eyes stared at the girl in the girl in the doorway, not believing what they were seeing. Then, and only then, did he do what instinct told him to do. He kissed her.

He kissed her, the kiss filled with more love and passion than he had ever felt in his life. And Betsy, better known as WildCat, returned his kiss with the love that she had felt over the last lonely six years. In those seconds, everything in the last six years was wiped out, and Wolverine and WildCat's passion for each other was all that remained.

The kiss ended, broken only by the surprise of the X-Men. Storm stared in shock, obviously amazed at Wolverine's actions. Jubilee smiled, then giggled at the sight of burly Wolverine with a frail young woman in his arms. Xavier was the first to speak.
"What is the meaning of this?" he asked, not amazed at Wolverine's illogical actions. His question was directed at Betsy, who was then embraced in Logan's arms. Xavier went over next to Betsy and waited for a response.

Betsy took a breath and prepared herself. "Now, Professor, I can explain-" she started, but she was cut off by the Professor.
"Of all the people in the world, only a few have been able to sneak through this mansion's defenses. Who are you? How did you get here? And WHY are you here?" The Professor was enraged. This girl had broken through the defense grid, obviously, then found her way to the X-Men's ready-room, and was greeted by none other than Wolverine! Something was definitely amiss.
Betsy steadied herself from Xavier's explosion and spoke again. "Professor X, if I may call you that, it's a long story. And I will be glad to tell it, if you could remain calm enough to listen to it." Her calmness surprised everyone in the room except Wolverine. He knew this girl, everything about her, and that she would tell the truth.

"Please continue," Xavier said, now under control.

"When I was just a little girl, my parents abandoned me. Only seven, I learned to live off the pocketbooks of people on the street. I developed my mutant powers early-I was just ten when they kicked in. My powers are almost identical to Wolverine's, just younger and not at their full potential. Anyway, I used my powers to my advantage on the street. But, I think it must have been my carelessness that got me caught.

"I was picked out of the gutter by a bunch of men who said they could make my life better. So I went with them. The thing I didn't know was that these were the survivors of the Weapon X project, the same project that gave Wolverine his adamantium skeleton.

"I went through the same process Wolvie did, and ended up the same way, too. I escaped, destroying their machinery in the process. I was only eleven, and had no home, no friends, nowhere to go. So I ran deep into the woods. And that's where I stayed. Also, that's where I met Wolverine.

"I dunno why he was there, and I don't intend to ever ask him. But he met me while I was lookin' for dinner. I had been used to kiddie meals at McDonalds', so I wasn't quite ready to hunt. He came out from behind a tree, and nearly scared me to death. I wasn't used to using my powers to survive, especially my new adamantium skeleton. Anyway, he helped me to hunt and other things. I guess you could say he trained me.

"But one day the barrier between student and teacher was broken. We became friends-more than friends. We shared a love, and I hope that we still do. We stayed together in the wilderness for three years. Until I was fourteen. One day, he just sorta...left. I dunno why. I lived in the woods for another year, but found it unbearable. It wasn't right-Wolvie wasn't there. So I found my way to Boston. I've spent the last six years in an apartment, earning a living at Burger King. But I spend summer in the woods, honing my skills. I want to be as good as Wolvie. Maybe even better.

"Just last week I saw an article on Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters in the paper. I turned on the TV and what did I see but my Wolverine, fighting a battle against those mutant haters. I put two and two together and came to see my Wolverine."
WildCat's history left the X-Men silent. The quietness was loud enough to deafen them, if it had not been for Cyclops' question.

"So now what?"

Betsy took a step backwards into a mock thinking pose. "Gee, I don't know. I've come all this way...what should I do now?" She straightened herself up and looked at Professor Xavier with respect. "Professor, I would like to join the X-Men."
Jubilee's smile turned into a pout. But the fire in Logan's eyes was rejuvenated at the thought of his beloved joining the team. He could train her again, rekindle the love that they had felt. Jubilee saw Wolverine's look and despised Betsy.

"You can stay overnight while we discuss it. We'll tell you in the morning our decision. Is that all right?" Xavier said. WildCat nodded her head. She turned around to face Wolverine, then asked him a question.

"So, Wolvie, why don't you show me to the guest room?"

As the two left hand-in-hand, Cyclops walked over to Professor Xavier. He tried to get the Headmaster's attention, but Professor X was in a world of his own. Cyclops sighed and sat down next to Beast.

Out in the hallway, Logan led Betsy to one of the guest rooms in the mansion. Betsy's hand gripped Logan's tightly, as if to say, "I've found you, and I'm not losing you again." She looked up into the face of the X-Man Wolverine and smiled. Quickly, she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. He smiled and drew her close. He kissed her, this time on the mouth.

The couple continued down the hall. Finally, Logan stopped in front of a door. He pressed a few buttons on the keypad next to the doorway, and the door opened with a 'vitt'. Betsy looked cautiously into the room. Inside was a bed, table, dressing shade, and other small pieces of furniture necessary for an overnight stay. She walked in with Logan right behind her.

Betsy sat down in a chair by the table. Placing her head on the table, she sighed. Logan followed her in and sat down next to her. Betsy stood up and looked around the room a bit more. She checked the drawers in the dresser. The first drawer had some clothes for a woman, including a practice suit for the danger room. The second drawer contained men's clothing, and another practice suit. The last drawer had shoes in it. She took the practice suit and some exercise shoes behind the screen to change into.

"Logan, you might want to change also, since I plan on practicing with you in a little while," came her voice from behind the screen. Logan smiled at the thought of sparring with her again and unbuttoned his shirt. Underneath was his Wolverine uniform. He stripped off his outer layer of clothing and put on his Wolverine mask. In these simple actions, he changed from Logan to Wolverine, the X-Man.

Betsy stepped out from behind the screen a short time later. But she was no longer Betsy-she was WildCat, the wilderness-raised fighter. The practice suit was pure black, white only in the places where the light in the room reflected off of it. It was a full body-suit, with long sleeves and long leggings. The exercise shoes were red. All together, WildCat was ready to fight.

"C'mon," she said impatiently. "I'm in need of a good workout." Switching off the light, she walked out of the room. Wolverine followed, closing the door behind them with another 'vitt'. The hallway was empty as they headed towards the danger room.
Wolverine led the two through the twisting hallways of the mansion. As they walked, WildCat inspected the mansion. She could see small relay boxes in a corner or two. Maybe they're for communication, she thought. You could get lost in a place this big. WildCat's thoughts were broken by the sound of Jubilee running towards them.

"Wolvie! Look what I-" Jubilee yelled. She cut her announcement off short when she saw WildCat. Jubilee gave her an icy stare. "Oh, hi there, Betsy. Sorry for interrupting you guys." Jubilee looked over at Wolverine for a second, then ran back down the hall.

Wolverine and WildCat continued down the hall. "Crazy kid," he muttered. The two walked in silence. They came to the danger room shortly. "So, Bets, what program you up for?" Wolverine asked, and rattled off a list of programs the danger room had programmed.

Wildcat grabbed his hand and yanked it away from the panel. "Like I said, Wolvie, you've changed. You weren't this way six years ago in the woods. You've gone soft. You've been tamed." WildCat's words hung in the air, heavy and seemingly true.
Wolverine shut down the program chooser on the console and pushed another button. The danger room door slid open with a lout 'vhiht'. The room was empty at first, but when WildCat looked harder, she saw that the danger room was in fact a forest, not unlike the woods the couple had lived in years ago. WildCat walked in with a smile and Wolverine behind her. The door slid shut with another 'vhiht', and all was dark.

WildCat's senses kicked in and she listened hard to the wilderness surrounding. There was a slight breeze, and the crickets were chirping. To the left of her, she could hear rustling in the bushes. It was just a holographic deer-nothing to be afraid of. She suddenly caught a familiar scent nearby-and turned around just in time to dart out of the way of Wolverine's attack. He landed hard on the floor, rolled, and stood back up.

The two faced each other, each staring into the other's eyes menacingly. WildCat was the first to unsheathe her claws, each popping out with a 'shnkt'. Wolverine, surprised by her early aggressiveness, was late in baring his claws, and paid for it. WildCat pounced on him, knocking him to the ground. She flipped over him, using his chest as a base-block, and landed nimbly on the ground behind him.

As soon as she landed, Wolverine got up again. WildCat prepared to attack again, but in that instant, he disappeared. Knowing that he was about to ambush her, she darted around the holographic woods. Keeping herself moving fast, Wolverine would find it harder to attack and pin her down.

Wolverine didn't miss. His attack was sharp and precise, with claws outstretched and ready to slash. And slash they did-right into WildCat's shoulder. She ignored the pain, knowing that her healing factor would take care of it. Instead, she whipped around and sliced into Wolverine, who was just regaining his balance. He let out an animal-like cry of pain as she slid away into the shadows.

"So. You've improved. Who you've been practicing on?" Wolverine said into the darkness. The answer was a rustling of leaves and WildCat flinging herself down upon Wolverine. But this time, Wolverine was ready. He rolled onto his back, grabbed WildCat's arms, and flipped her heels-over-head onto the ground. She landed with a 'thud' and a whimper of pain. The human part of Logan wanted to walk over to her and comfort her. The animal half of him decided to let her be-she could make it.
But WildCat didn't get up. She laid there on the cold ground, still and motionless. Finally, the human part of Logan defeated the feral side of him. He ran over to WildCat's side with a worried look on his masked face. He put his hand behind her head and lifted it slightly. "'Cat...'Cat, are you okay?"

WildCat's eyes flicked open, and a smile grew on her face as she threw him off of her-hard. He flew into the wall and slid to the ground. WildCat jumped up and ran back into the trees, laughing. "Gotcha!" she called out.

Wolverine growled his wounded pride and ran after her. The woods were silent now-the crickets had stopped chirping. Behind him, he heard a slight rustle of leaves-and a quiet giggle. Tensing himself, he prepared to jump. He caught her scent, and leapt, turning himself around in mid-air. His claws came out with a 'shnkt' and he aimed them directly towards WildCat.
She looked at the approaching claws and panicked. But not for long-the claws slashed her arm and leg, and knocked her off the branch. She fell to the ground and regained her balance almost immediately, but she was still fazed from the attack. She looked up at her attacker. Wolverine was now sitting in her spot on the branch, laughing his head off. They were even.
Wolverine jumped down from the tree, still chuckling. "You may be good, girl-in fact, you've improved-I'll give you that. But you still need some training. I'll train you, too-in that danger room setting. It'll be just like old times." Wolverine rubbed his chest, which was still healing from WildCat's attack. Yi, he thought. She has potential-more than I saw when I first met her. He put the thought out of his mind and started towards the danger room door.

She followed him, and the two left the danger room. Wolverine punched a few buttons on the keypad, and the woods disappeared. One more button closed the door with a 'vhiht'. The two walked down the hall towards their rooms.
There were more people out in the halls this time. The first person they met was Cyclops, who was on his way to the danger room. He nodded at Wolverine, but disregarded WildCat completely. This happened with Storm, Beast, and Rogue, in that order. WildCat started to feel rejected.

Finally, they reached WildCat's room. They kissed, a short one, and then Wolverine started off across the hall. WildCat, confused, said, "Wolvie, where are you going?" He turned around and looked at her with love in his wild eyes.
"'Cat, my room's across the hall. I'll be over when I'm done changing." He blew her a rough kiss and entered his room. The door closed-'vitt'-and he was gone. WildCat went into her room and closed the door.

She chose some new clothes from the top drawer. A short red top, ripped denim shorts, and a pair of sandals. She went behind the screen to change. The red top was a cut-short shirt that buttoned down, then tied. Fully dressed, she stepped out from behind the screen and looked in the mirror.

What she saw was herself, only seven years younger. When she had met Wolverine, she had been wearing ripped shorts and a red shirt. She saw a teenager: young, unsure, and scared. She realized that the relationship between her and Wolverine had been a stretch at first. It was then when she remembered the details of how they first met.

The only detail in Betsy Byers' mind is the blinding brightness of the mechanical fire in the distance. The lab, where she was given her new adamantium skeleton and claws, was now in flames. And all that Betsy could think was that she had to get away from them, or they would hurt her.

She was twelve, and on the run from the government. She had been running for three days straight-she was tired, and needed food. Her mutant powers could help-heightened animal senses and healing factor could help her hunt-if only she knew how.

She stopped running. She sniffed the air and caught scent of an unfamiliar animal behind her. She spun around, claws and teeth bared. She looked into the darkness of the woods, waiting for her stalker to appear.
Two eyes appeared in the dark. Locked on her, the person walked into the light. A burly man, his fists clenched and eyes wild. He growled at the girl, trying to scare her. His claws were also unsheathed and ready to fight. When he caught sight of Betsy's claws, he retracted his.

Betsy looked at his claws, not believing her eyes. There were others like her? How many? And was this one going to hurt her? She refused to let down her guard, and growled at the unknown. She could feel her muscles tense, as the animal side of her prepared to jump on the man. She jumped, and was surprised at the height and length of the jump. She landed on the ground behind the man clumsily, throwing her off guard.

The man came over to Betsy with a hand outstretched. Beaten, Betsy retracted her claws and let him help her up. The man was wearing a yellow skin-tight outfit with black stripes. He had a mask with pointed ears on. Even though his attire was comical, the ferocity in his eyes kept Betsy from laughing.

He said his name was Wolverine-some called him Logan. He explained to Betsy that he had been the first to receive an adamantium skeleton. Betsy explained that she had been the last. She had lost all sanity for five minutes and destroyed the lab and everyone in it. And she wasn't proud of it.

Wolverine said that he was planning on staying in the woods for a while, and if she wanted to stay, she could. It wasn't a hard choice for Betsy-stay here or run forever. Wolverine taught her to use her powers. She discovered herself in those woods, and had a glimpse of her full potential. She wanted to be as good, or better, than Wolverine, even if she had to die in the process.

Betsy fit the sandals over her feet. They fit perfectly. She stood up, walked over to the bed, and flopped down onto it. Her mind flashed back to when she and Wolverine were walking down the hall. How all the people they met in the hall had snubbed her. She started to think that nobody there liked her.

There was a slight knock at the door. Now depressed, all that Betsy could manage was a "C'mon in."

Logan opened the door slowly, as if expecting a jaguar to be inside. Or maybe, a wildcat. Seeing Betsy on the bed, Logan went over to her and placed a parcel next to her. He then turned and sat in a nearby chair and waited for Betsy to look at the package.

Bored and intrigued at the same time, she picked up the small parcel and started to unwrap it. Inside was a skintight suit, orange with black stripes. Almost like a tiger. Holding it curiously, she turned to face Logan.
"Logan, what is this?"

Smiling, he explained. "Beast made you a uniform. What do you think of it?" Betsy looked at the uniform and smiled.
"Well, it's great. The only thing is, I just changed!" She started giggling, just like she had before the whole ordeal. Betsy couldn't stop herself from laughing. It felt so good, so normal, just to laugh like a little girl again.

Logan watched Betsy laughed, and knew that she had no idea what she was getting into. She may not laugh again for a long time. Or she may laugh every day for the rest of her time with the X-Men. Betsy was too unpredictable for even Logan to understand. He'd just have to find out for himself.

If Cyclops heard the uncontrollable laughter coming from the guest room, he barely showed it. Turning to his companion for his walk down the hall, he stated a question that had been on his mind for several hours now.

"Professor, what do you think about Betsy? Do you think she's ready for this?" Cyclops asked him. His voice was filled with uncertainty for the future.

Professor Charles Xavier did not answer right away. "Scott, there is something about her...something different than the rest of us...that something tells me that Betsy Byers may be able to teach us more than we expected."

Cyclops thought about what the Professor had said. Hurrying to catch up with the Professor's hovercraft, he wondered what the future would hold for Betsy and The X-Men.
 

CandyCaneCar
Summer of 1997
 

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