Shay, in blue jeans and Green Day tee shirt leaned against the small bar, Coke in hand, talking softly to Nat when Wren came in.

“Hello!” Nat’s face lit up.

“Hi, Wren,” Shay said.

“Hullo.”  She came over to them and retrieved a bottle of water from the mini-fridge.

“I was just asking Shay about this place, she tells me it's like 100 square miles.” Nat said.

“I haven't exactly gone out and measured it, so I will take your words on it,” Wren twisted the cap off and took a sip.

“I never measured it either,” Shay said with a shrug.

“I was wondering where exactly it is,” Nat said.

Wren lowered the bottle, already half empty.

“Perhaps it is better that we do not know,” she speculated.

Shay shrugged.  "I don't think even Jessy can tell you that.  I think it's a big secret."

“I've never been one for trees and stuff, maybe a little Balboa Park.” Nat said.

“Nah, this place it like wild, you know, animals and everything.” Shay told them.

Nat glanced over at Wren.  "Umm . . . I guess you're all Hollywood . . . ?"

Wren raised an eyebrow and awarded Nat a cool glance.  "What exactly do you mean by 'all Hollywood'?"

“Uh . . . ya know, big city, oxygen bars, Rodeo Drive, limos.”

“I lived overseas most of the time,” she said.  “Generally, the only time I come home is for the summer.  However, you and I might have different ideas of . . . Hollywood.

“Really? “ Shay gushed.  “Where overseas?”

“I move often, but father prefers that I school in Britain if I can.  Which is usually not all that difficult given its size.”

Nat folded his arms across his chest.  "What do you think of this place?"

“I think it's beautiful.  Certainly does not rain much, but I'm not sure if that's a bad thing.”  Wren shrugged, a very graceful shrug.

Shay smiled.  "It rains, just Spock controls the weather pretty much."

“Controls the weather?”  Nat sounded incredulous.  “Where did all this high tech stuff come from?”

“I dunno,” Shay shrugged.  "But they've got some pretty wild things.”

“Was I seeing things this morning or was that a robot vacuuming the hall outside my door?” Nat asked.

“Oh, sure, Spock can make all kinds of things.” Shay assured him.

“Like my board?”

“Yeah, and my mountain bike and all of our laptops,” Shay agreed.

“So, Wren, what do you like to do?” Nat seemed to be waiting for her to speak.

Wren smiled ever so slightly.  "I dance."

“Dance?” spouted Shay with enthusiasm.  “You'll LOVE Ms. Everith's classes then!  Have you met her yet?”

“I did . . . “ Nat said.  “She's . . . got a weird aura.”

“Weird?”  Shay gasped.  “She's an angel!”

               “An angel?” Nat said.  “Like harp and wings?”

               Amusement touched Wren’s eyes Nat noted, but did not reach her lips.

Shay shrugged.  "I guess so but I've never seen her wings.  I heard she can fold them inside.”

“What about the dragon I heard about?” Nat said, watching for a reaction from Wren.

“’Uncle’ Nick?”  Shay looked pensive.  “I haven't seen him but the triplets talk about him all the time.”

“Did Nicky give you those pictures back?”  Nat shifted gears on her.

Shay blushed and stammered.  "Yeah."

“I heard Jessy brought a guy home last night, he got in the way of a fight between her dad and some guy with super strength.” Nat said.

Wren perked up.  “Mr. Longstreet?”

Nat frowned, curiously hurt because her obviously was concerned about Kyle Longstreet.  "I think the kids said Shockwave."

Relief flashed across Wren’s face and Nat’s heart sank.

“Yeah, Mr. Longstreet's super strong too but he'd never fight Ghost Archer, they've been friends for years!”  Shay offered.

“How many adults are there around here, anyway?” Nat asked Shay.

“You mean adults like us, right?”

Nat nodded.  "Yeah, not the Nicky type."

“Who have you met?” Shay asked.

“Mr. Longstreet, Ms. Angeles, Ghost Archer and Raven.” Nat recited.

“We've got Mr. Hawkins, he's Icehawk,” Shay counted off on her fingers.  “Daimon, he's the Rabbit's daddy.”

Suddenly Nat was tense.

“Umm . . . Rabbit?” he said darkly.  Wren blinked at him, a little surprised.

Shay went on blithely unaware.  “You know, Brittany!”

“Then why don't you call her Brittany?” Nat said through gritted teeth.

Shay sighed in exasperation.  "Cuz she afraid of EVERYTHING!"

“Not afraid of me . . . “ Nat said, looking at her coldly.

Wren’s gaze slid over the other girl as if she were inspecting the wall behind her for imperfections in the paint.  “She probably has a very good reason." Nat flushed at Wren’s words.  SHE understood.

“HER dad's DAIMON!  He's like the greatest super in the Bay Area, next to Archer.”  Shay’s tone was condescending.  “And her 'mom'!?  Psylocke from the X-MEN!  What's she got to be afraid of?”

“And my father is Aiden Collins,” Wren said coldly.  “Does that mean I like limos and being stalked by photographers and high-heeled shoes?  Everyone has their reasons.”

“You should see her jump whenever I pop up next to her!”  Shay laughed.

Wren and Nat both gave her identical cold stares.  It was Nat that spoke first.

“I don't think you should do that anymore, Shay.” He said.

Shay laughed  "Why not?”

Nat leaned toward her, using his height to loom over her.  “Because I don't want you to.”

Shay looked up at Nat with wide eyes.  "You like Rabbit?!"

“Well.  I'm sure I have somewhere else to be." Wren bent and recovered her bag and turned to leave.

Nat glared down at the girl. "YES" he hissed. "I LIKE Brittany and I don't like people calling her names!”

Shay held up her hands defensively.  “Easy, big boy, it's just in fun!”

“NOT ANY MORE,” Nat said slowly and distinctly.

“YEESH!”  Shay rolled her eyes and stalked past Wren and out of the room.

Nat watched her go, still upset.  He muttered, “Even in the middle of other people like me, they have to tease."

Wren paused and turned back.  "You did the right thing at least."  She said, a note of surprise and approval in her voice.

Nat flopped down in his heavy duty chair and looked up at her. 

“Thanks . . . Brittany's really pretty cool." He said.  “She's just like all of us, a little lost with all this.”

“Some people are just better at lying than others.”

Nat eyed Wren for a moment  "Well, maybe not like you.  You seem like you got it all together"

“No.  I'm just the best liar of them all.” She told him.

“Why do you have to lie?” he said, slouching back in the chair.

“It's in my blood.”

Nat smiled slightly “A mutant liar?  Interesting power.  Although, I guess that isn't a mutant power if it's in your blood.  How'd your parents take your powers?”

Wren blinked and regarded Nat calmly, reassessing.
          “They took it.” She said and left the room.