"Could you have, you know, not hit me? I would have appreciated that."

"No. You would have taken it for granted. You need to learn that you're not on top of the world, Dakota. People out there will try to hurt you."

"You hurt me!"

"You should have been ready."

Dakota scowled and sat back in his chair, pressing the frozen bag of marbles to his head. There was a slight trickle of blood down the side of his face where he had been hit with the butt of the knife, but other then that, he was fine.

"You didn't have to come in looking so angry, Seth. We thought you were a mass murderer."

Seth shrugged. He was a built man, definitely topping six feet. His tan skin was wrought with muscle, and his long black hair was pulled back into a small, low ponytail. He hadn't shaved lately, as his black beard was growing unruly, and you could see the start of gray hair mischeiviously hiding in it. But, it was the little things he did that made this beast of a man seem trustful. The way he folded his calloused hands in a polite gesture on his lap, or his dark blue eyes that never failed to seem like they were looking into your soul. And his very white teeth against his tan skin that you always saw, because he always smiled.

"I was angry that Dakota left his gaurd down for a petty video game."

"It's not petty!" Dakota defended. "It's Black-Ops."

Seth rolled his eyes.

"Anyway," Wade interuppted, leading the conversation in a different direction. "What exactly did you want, Seth?"

Seth turned his gaze to Wade. "I can't come see my nephew every other year or so?" He looked proud while looking at his nephew, but it was almost as if he was trying to mask the sadness he felt over leaving Wade. Regan, Cordell, Mandi, and Dakota had know Wade long enough to know Seth was the only family he had left. Seth was also a mutant, which he used to his advantage, attempting to reach out to other mutants. His job left him little time for his own nephew, though, and Wade took it to heart.

Seth stopped by regularly every year or so, enough to see Wade's group expand. 'Wade's family is my family' he always said, and he tried to teach them as much as he could in his short visits.

Wade stiffened. "Two years, actually,"

Seth smiled dryly. "Right."

There was an awkward silence in the room. Regan sat in a chair beside Dakota, watching the tension in the room grow. Wade was looking at the table sadly, and Cordell was averting his eyes to the cabinets, looking for food. None of which they had, as usual.

Seth cleared his throat. "Cordell, how is your childhood friend?"

Cordell looked up from his cabinet search. "Oh. Sadie?"

"Yes. Your very eccentric human friend that dresses like a ten year old."

"Oh, she's fine. Doing an art program in Brooklyn, actually. She really likes it."

"Good to hear."

"Yeah."

"She actually is planning to apply to a school in Manhatten just for talented students for the arts."

"Mmm," Seth murmured.

"What?" Wade asked. Seth was clearly making Wade paranoid. He was the only person who could.

"It's just that, I came across a very... intriguing school." Seth seemed to try to be working his way into the subject slowly, like it was poisonous. And knowing Wade's short temper towards Seth's ideas, Regan didn't blame him.

"Who cares about intriguing schools?"

"It's just that, I think you might be interested in this one. As in, attending."

Regan practically slapped her mouth, she moved so quickly. "Wait! You mean we would go to school?"

Seth smiled at her slightly. "Yes. I mean exactly that."

"No way! Seth, that would be so cool-," Regan stopped. Wade was giving her a glare, a glare that asked if she was questioning Seth's leadership over his own. She wasn't, of course, but Wade didn't seem to care.

"Seth," Wade scowled. "Don't get her hopes up. We can't go anywhere, we're mutants. It's not our place."

"Hear me out, Wade." Sensing Wade's hesitation, Seth plowed on. "There are mutants all over the world. Someone started a school for talented children, such as yourselfs. Other people like you go there, live there, learn how to use their powers and protect themselves. It's a safe haven for all mutants, none of you would have to worry about being attacked or losing your home, not getting enough food-,"

"I thought we were doing pretty damn good for ourselves!" Wade shouted, his face looking murderous. "We don't need these people who think they can teach us everything about life-,"

"You have four other people to look out for, Wade. Don't let your selfish pride get in the way of their lives."

"Seth, I swear, I-," Wade seemed to catch himself and not mention what he was going to say. "Let's talk. Outside." Wade stood up, screeching the chair back and stomping to the porch covered in snow. Seth nodded to Reed and Regan, and followed Wade.

After they had both left, Regan looked to Reed and Dakota. "I really want to get out of here," she said sadly.

Regan woke up the next morning to find sunlight streaming through her window. Her room was small, and the window only the size of a couple books, but she still loved it. There were two small twin beds on each side of the room, with foot cabinets on the end; one for her, one for Mandi. Since they were the only girls, they got one of the two bedrooms; Wade got the other, and Reed and Dakota alternated the floor and couch in the living room.

Regan sat up, and looked around the room. Her half was clean, with some random articles scattered around. Magazines, books, clothes, volleyball things. Mandi's half, though, looked like a tornado. She had black posters halfway off the wall, black clothes scattered everywhere, broken CD cases and headphones everywhere. It was like the twin movie, except Mandi and Regan didn't look alike.

Regan got up and put her hair in a ponytail, not changing out of her shorts and t-shirt yet. She walked into the living room to find Dakota and Reed gone; Dakota had a job at the local chain resturant cooking, and Reed liked to visit the library in the mornings.

Once she ventured into the kitchen, she found Wade at the table, dressed for the day and surrounded by papers and newsclips, his face buried into the laptop in front of him. He was constantly trying to make papers, resumes, organize papers, or find information on any mutant sightings on the internet.

"Morning, Ray." Wade didn't look up as he greeted her, simply sipped his coffee and continued to read.

"Morning, Wade!" She smiled, fixing a stand up hair on his head and getting some coffee for herself. "Is Seth still here?"

Wade's shoulders flexed, but continued to do his work. "Yes. I let him have my room last night."

"Oh." Regan sat down at the table next to him, and they sat in silence until Seth joined them later. It was polite chatter among him and Regan; no mention of the previous conversation she was dying to know about. Seth seemed to know, though, and winked at her when Wade wasn't looking, certainly telling her he would talk about it later.

The morning was shattered when the front door slammed shut. They could hear boots scraping the floor, and being flung across the room. Wade sighed.

Regan knew who it was before she saw her walk in. Mandi stomped through the room in a short skirt and fishnets, and a leather black vest. Her makeup was smudged, and her short spiky hair was an abomination.

"Where were you last night?" Wade asked, crossing his arms.

"None of your buisness," she replied curtly. Regan shifted uncomfortably, knowing Mandi and Wade would clash.

"It is my buisness. You could have gotten hurt."

"Oh, shut up Wade! You act like you know what you're talking about, but you have no clue. Just shut up!" She flipped her hair and left, slamming the door into her and Regan's room.

Wade rubbed his face and put his head in his hand, staring blankly at the computer before going to Mandi's room and proceeded to argue with her. Seth watched sadly, as Mandi used to be his favorite before she grew rebellious an got an attitude with him.

Hopefully, Regan wished, Wade would get so upset with her attitiude, he would agree to let them all go to Seth's school.