Generation Next (X-Men fanfic)

Thirteen

A'Cadia grumbled under her breath as she made her way upstairs. While she understood why Ziva didn't like her, the girl could at least try to give her the benefit of the doubt. She continued down the hallway, muttering to herself with her head down. Halfway down the upstairs hallway, she slammed into something solid and stumbled back.

"Ow!" She rubbed at her forehead, even though no damage had been done. The adamantium and her rapid healing kept her from major harm in most situations.

"Watch where you're walking, kid," Logan told her as he moved to walk around her.

A'Cadia gaped at him. She hadn't been alone with him since she'd gotten here a week ago. Now here he was, standing not two feet from her. Couldn't he see the resemblance between them? Hell, Ziva, Craig, and Skylar had. Words failed her and after a moment he shrugged and started down the hallway again.

He stopped moving, frowned, and turned to her. "You have a problem, kid?"

She shook her head to clear it and frowned back at him. "I just ..."

"Just what?" he asked.

She held up a fist and looked him in the eye. The shink of the adamantium as the claws came out was a distinct sound and one he knew well.

Logan's eyes went from her face to the claws with a frown, followed by a low growl. "Stryker."

A'Cadia retracted the claws. "Yes, apparently a different Stryker according to Skylar. Though I've always had them, the claws I mean, the adamantium just made me stronger."

"How?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. My mother would never tell me who my father was."

He staggered back until his back hit the wall, where he stayed, staring at her in silence. His shock was obvious. "You're ... what?"

She sighed. "My mother is Claudia ...."

"Wellington," he finished for her, his eyes wide. He remained silent after that, back still to the wall as he stared at her.

A'Cadia drew in a breath, shook her head, and turned away. "Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. We can just pretend this conversation never took place." He didn't stop her as she made her way down the hall and knocked on Craig's door.

The door opened and Craig glared at her. "What?"

"Come on back downstairs, we think we might have an idea of where Lenny is hiding out. We need to figure out a way to escape this place to go looking for him." She didn't wait for an answer, simply turned around and headed back down the hall.

Craig followed her reluctantly. He didn't want to go back down and face Ziva again, but they had to find Lenny. His lips pulled down slightly into a frown as they passed Logan, whose back was pressed into the wall. He stood there staring into space vacantly like he was in a trance. A'Cadia ignored Logan as if he wasn't there, so Craig didn't bother to ask her what Logan's problem was, he figured she probably didn't know. It probably had to do with the curtain climbers. They continued their way down to the living room.

"All right, Sparky, I brought him back, let's talk this thing out. Figure out how to get the heck out of here."

A sizzling bolt of electricity hit A'Cadia just before she made it back to her chair. "Jeez! What in the hell?" A'Cadia looked around.

Ziva smirked at her. "I told you not to call me Sparky."

Craig caught A'Cadia before she could bolt across the room and shred Ziva. "No claws, A'Cadia! Come on! Can't you two please get along?" He felt like he was trying to separate Ziva and Lenny again.