Danny had finally agreed to meet Scott's "family", albeit with a great deal of reluctance. He had tried to find a way to worm out of the deal, but Scott had gone a long ways to ensure he couldn't pull out of it. Danny complained the entire way to the place. He was told to close his eyes by Scott, and obeyed, after protesting the unfairness of the treatment. He was guided out of the car, very careful to keep his eyes closed. Finally, he gained permission to open his eyes. He was surrounded by voices and thumping hearts, so he had expected people. But when he did open his eyes, he did not expect to see a huge, stone mansion.

"Scott, you told me you lived in a house, not a fu-freaking palace!" Danny stated accusingly, just barely keeping himself from using the "f" bomb. The only reason he caught himself was because there was a girl, maybe ten or eleven, and he supposed cursing in front of her would not be socially acceptable.

Scott was smirking. Danny rather wished he would stop. He allowed his gaze to travel around the group, studying the people. There was a tall, African-American woman with white hair, a man with what appeared to be black horns made of hair, a blond boy, three girls with brown hair, one of which was the young girl, another of which who had a white streak, and the other, who had her hair in a ponytail, a blonde woman, and a boyish person who had black hair. Danny was confused. He slowly glanced up, meeting Scott's gaze.

"This all of them? Or are there some more? Are they even related to you?" Danny allowed himself to look for possible family members. The girl with the white streak was the one who looked the most like she could be family.

"Through friendship, they're related." Scott replied. "Meet Ororo Munroe, Logan Howlette, Robert Drake, Matilda Soames, Anna-Marie, Katherine Pryde, Emma Frost, and Forge." Scott gestured to each person as he spoke, and Danny just stared blankly.

"And how am I supposed to remember all these names?"

Scott's smirk grew bigger. "You ask. Again. And again, until you know who's who."

"You just want to torture me, don't you?" Danny deadpanned. "Or embarrass me."

"Whichever one works for you, Danny." Scott was being dreadfully unfair. Danny responded with the most dignified thing he could do. He stuck his tongue out.

"How old are you? Like, twelve or something?" The one he vaguely remembered being called Katherine Pryde asked.

His nose wrinkled slightly, and he allowed himself a grumble of annoyance.

I'm sixteen. SIXTEEN! Not...twelve. He thought angrily, eye twitching slightly. He took in a deep breath, and told himself not to yell at her. Instead, he smiled ever-so-sweetly, and said, "Actually, I'm nine." He maintained a smile the entire time.

Long pause. Silence. No one moved, and they all looked confused. Well, everyone except Scott. They exchanged looks, trying to figure out what he meant.

"Um...nine? You cannot be nine." The girl protested.

"Exactly. I'm sixteen. I am not nine, or twelve. Sixteen." He repeated it for good measure, and waited for their reaction.

"Sixteen? Really?"

"Yup. Scott guessed fourteen last time, but only because he thought it would make me feel good to be mistaken for being older than he thought I was."

"Oh. Sorry?" Katherine answered.

Danny smiled slightly. He finally turned slowly in the direction of the mansion once more, and commented, "I still don't know why you didn't tell me you lived in a palace." Sure, he'd seen bigger, but this was pretty big.

"It seemed unnecessary." Scott informed him. "So how many names do you remember?"

"Katherine Pryde. Ororo Munroe. Emma Ice. Forge. Logan Wolf. Matilda Sums. Anna-Marie. Robert Duck. I can guess who the names belong to, but the last names didn't fully stick. Is Forge even a name?" Danny asked.

"You got the last names wrong. Pryde, Munroe, Frost, Howlette, Soames, and Drake. Try not to upset Tildie. She can be terrifying." Scott stated. Danny heard chuckles.

Danny was certain there was an inside joke somewhere in there. He ignored it. "And what exactly is this place called? It is way too huge to not have a name. Is it a school?"

"Xavier's School for the Gifted."

"Ah..." Danny couldn't stop himself from asking, "So, where's this chap, Xavier?"

"Don't bother yourself." said the gruff voice of Mr. Logan. Danny winced. He hadn't gotten the best opinion of him from Scott, so he was rather pre-prejudiced against him. And his voice was terrible.

"Alright. I won't ask again." Danny had assessed the present members of this school, and decided he didn't like Logan or Emma. He supposed he should study the others closely, so he could decide if he liked him. He nodded, "Okay, so...what next?"

"We get to talk, and eat." Scott informed him.

Danny had to admit he'd enjoyed the food, and the conversations. Mostly, he listened as others talked, but he got to answer a few questions, and left under the impression that he'd been assessed, and hoped he'd passed. Danny arrived at home, and finally allowed himself to sleep...

Like it? Hate it? Review it! I own nothing. Also, sorry, for not making this very interesting, but I have a few more interesting bits before the main plot begins, maybe two or three or so more one shots to establish the way Danny sees the X-Men and the way they see him.

-Miaulin