"Bobby, I told you to form a wall! My exact words almost!" Scott growled, pacing the room.

Bobby had his hands spread in a what-do-you-want-me-to-do-about-it-now gesture. "I thought you said force them to fall! So I iced up Rogue and Storm. Not that it worked anyway. Rogue just broke the shell and Storm shot me full of lightening bolts. Sheesh!"

Scott opened his mouth to further scold Bobby when Wolverine stepped in. "It's done and over with. Bobby didn't hear you and you lost. Now order the dang pizza. I'm starved." Scott shot Wolverine a disgusted look and stomped out of the room.

Siku looked at the remaining two adults in the room. "Uncle Wolvie, Uncle Bobby? Can I go outside?"

Wolverine looked at her funny. "It's raining, Siku. What do you want to go outside for?"

"Well, you guys pretend to be fighting bad guys but none of you fight in bad weather in the Danger Room. I want to practice on my gym bars in bad weather."

Bobby blinked at her. "You know, she's right. We always have perfect weather conditions in practice. Good idea, Siku." Siku beamed. "But you can't go outside. If you caught cold your father would kill us." Wolverine winked at her and followed Bobby out of the room. Siku went back to staring out the window in pure boredom.

That night, she just couldn't get any sleep. Her father, Beast, was snoring softly in his bedroom when she went to check and see if he was awake. No other noises could be heard from the other X-Men. Siku assumed everyone but Uncle Gambit was sleeping. Uncle Gambit was no doubt, "painting the town", what ever that meant.

Siku crept silently down the hall, down the steps, down another hall to stop in front of the Danger Room doors. From watching the adults punch in the password, Siku knew what buttons to push. She punched them in and entered a beautiful rain forest. Giggling in delight at the new and unusual surroundings, Siku began to dart behind trees, laughing at the brightly feathered birds that populated the holographic scene.

Being only five years, Siku vaguely comprehended what "practice" meant to the X-Men. Never in a million years, though, would she have guessed they would be fighting huge robots in such a pretty surrounding. After climbing a tree to view the scenery from above, Siku spotted two large forms heading in her direction. Puzzled, because they looked vaguely familiar, she watched them get closer and closer. In horror and almost a little too late, her brain recognized them as Sentinels. Sentinels were bad, she knew, but how they got passed the mansion security and into the building, she didn't know.

One Sentinel leaned down to pick her up, stating, "Unidentified mutant. Capture and destroy." Shrieking in fear, Siku dodged the hand, and landed on another branch. Swinging from tree to tree, she used the acrobatics skills Uncle Gambit had taught her on her gym bars to maneuver safely each time a Sentinel got close.

As she was running from a particularly stubborn robot, she heard a swishing sound like the door she entered make. Swerving in the sound's direction she began screaming, "Sentinels! Help me! Sentinels are in the mansion!"

"Siku! Where are you, petite?" yelled Gambit. He'd come home, slightly tipsy and covered in strong smelling perfume, yet ready to confront the scene he saw every morning of Rogue and Joseph being cozy. The alert indicator next to his bedroom door had been flashing brightly when he staggered up the stairs, indicating someone in the Danger Room. Punching a few buttons to learn who else couldn't sleep tonight, he was horrified to see Siku swinging on tree limbs a few steps from Sentinels.

"Mon Deiu, let me get to her on time. Dis program ain't for de beginners." Slamming his fist on the panel turned on the mansion wide alert klaxon. Maybe someone else could get there before he did, but it was doubtful. He sprinted down the hall, where his bedroom was the last, passing X-Men in various states of undressed as he passed. "Siku in de Danger Room," he shouted as he ran.

Beast looked horrified and quickly followed Gambit. Wolverine growled something unmentionable and grabbed Bobby's arm. "Let's go. It's probably our fault anyway."

By the time Gambit reached the Danger Room, Siku was flagging. Her muscles ached from the prolonged exercise of flips, jumps, twists, turns, and running. When Gambit shouted her name in return she about fainted from relief. Uncle Gambit would save her.

"I'll go to the Control Room and shut off the program," growled Wolverine. Beast, Bobby, and Gambit headed to where Siku was shouting for help.

They found her, crying and screaming, in the grip of a Sentinel. Gambit charged one of his ever present cards, flinging at the Sentinel's head. Bobby froze the legs of the second one while Beast nimbly leaped upon the one now headless to grab Siku as she fell from the Sentinels lax grip. Beast hit the floor running from the two falling Sentinels who disappeared with the rain forest.

Comforting his hysterical daughter, Beast turned on Bobby. "What did Wolverine mean, it's both your faults?"

"We were discussing the Danger Room scenario from this afternoon in the rec room when Siku looking out the window. She said that we never used different weather when we practiced. I assumed she means we don't come out drenched from rain or sweating from intense heat. So Wolverine and I set up this rainforest to practice in different climates and weather conditions."

Beast nodded. "Siku, what were you doing in the Danger Room?"

Siku sniffled, burying her head in Beast chest fur. "Everyone always seems exhil....exhila...."

"Exhilarated?" put in Gambit with a smile.

"Yeah. When they come out of the Danger Room. I couldn't sleep so I thought I'd see what was so special about it." Her eyes got wide as she remembered. "Daddy, the birds and animals in the forest. Are they okay?"

"Siku, hon, they ain't real." Wolverine joined the group surrounding the frightened little girl.

"Huh?"

"The birds and animals are holograms produced to make our surroundings seem more real. The realer it is, the better we can remember our practices if we ever find ourselves in a similar situation," Beast explained patiently.

"And the Sentinels are pretend too?" Siku was looking much more relieved. "They didn't break into the mansion somehow?"

Gambit chuckled and pinched her nose playfully. "Non, petite, they pretend too. You did pretty good in der. We have to make you an easier program so you can practice on rainy days too, oui?"

Siku's face lit up. "That would be cool." She stated mimicking her Uncle Bobby's favorite expression.

The other X-Men finally got down to the Danger Room. "What happened? What's going on?" demanded Scott, looking rather ridiculous with only half his uniform on right side out.

"Not'ing. Just a little late night practice dat got out of hand." Gambit winked at Siku and she winked back.