Lenna smiled at Kaitlyn.

Trap set, trap sprung. Kaitlyn, caught.

"Sure. All we have to do is talk with Lori and ask nicely. You can do that, right? For someone with powers like you, that should be no problem."

That had worked swimmingly. Hopefully, Lori would be around to talk with the girl. Once she was all set up, more training could come. Yes, this kid would grow up strong. Just like a child soldier... with all related life difficulties included.

Lenna didn't really like kids.

Kaitlyn was alright.

Kaitlyn had a feeling that Lori wouldn't need much convincing to let her be part of the team. A super-hero team. This was just awesome! She couldn't wait to tell Danny and Amber and... hold on. The child appeared to be deep in thought for a moment.

"Lenna, is this a secret team, or can I tell people about it?" Kaitlyn had never heard about a Sanctuary super-team before, and she spent almost all of her time time there. It seemed like a question worth asking.

Speaking of questions, this kid suddenly found that she had a lot of them. And she wasn't going to hold any of them back. "Who else is on the team? What's it called? Does that helicopter in the vehicle bay belong to one of them? What about the tank that used to be in there? Does the team have uniforms? How about high-tech communicators? Or a secret headquarters in outer space?" She was just getting started.

That last one was a long shot, she knew. But hey, it was super-hero team. One of the other mutants in the Sanctuary, called Danny, told her some stories about Batman, who once used a ton of money to build a secret headquarters in the earth's orbit for the other super-heroes. Since Lori was both in a super-hero team and was in charge of a big rich corporation, just like Batman, she would probably be able to afford it.

>>"Lenna, is this a secret team, or can I tell people about it?"

"That, you'll also have to talk about with Lori," Lenna replied.

As for the rest of the questions... and there certainly were a lot of them. "Lori can fill you in~" Lenna clasped her hands sweetly, a hint of exasperation in her voice. A bead of sweat trailed down the side of her cheek. "We can go see her now."

Turning, she led the way to the front desk. Lenna had Lisa call Lori. They needed to talk.

Lisa had told her that her two favorite people were there to see her. Nothing more. Nothing less. Lori couldn't even tell if the woman was being sarcastic or not since the paper note had been hand delivered to her desk, but a lovely young office assistant with doe eyes. Roland's cast off was just determined to show her usefulness in the company.

Not sarcastic? Kaitlyn and an adapted. Sarcastic? A rival mobster and his tommy gun. Not that they used those anymore and not that it would take more than a super soaker to take her out of a fight... It was a risk worth taking if Kaitlyn needed her. Why else would she have so many employees if they couldn't handle things on their own for a while?

Lori arrived in style. The summer heat made it far too hot to take anything but a car and personal driver despite the fact that the distance was walkable. Or maybe Lori was far too used to being grounded and poor.

Even just the walk from the air conditioned car to the golden doors was miserable. A misery quickly forgotten when she saw Lenna and Kaitlyn, her favorite and an adapted. The Order Leader smiled all white and sparkly like. "How are you ladies tonight?"

Kaitlyn could barely contain herself as she and Lenna waited for Lori's arrival. She had so many questions, and Lenna didn't seem like she was about to give any answers. So the child sat and tried to wait patiently. Patience was not her strong suit. The ten minutes between the call and Lori's arrival might as well have been ten hours.

"How are you ladies tonight?"

Pacing stopped. Head turned. Eyes widened with excitement. "Ms. Lori!" The kid swept in to tackle-hug the Sanctuary's benefactress

"Lenna was helping me practice with my power and she told me about the Sanctuary's special team! Can I join it?" Kaitlyn was prepared to use puppy-dog eyes and pouts as needed to secure a position for herself.

Lenna smiled as the child-soldier-soon-to-be hugged Lori. She hadn't known Lori and the girl knew each other, but that addition to the facts was a welcomed one. Yes, if anyone could talk Lori into accepting a child into an X-man-fighting rough-and-tumble organization, it was the child herself. With a winning hug-tackle and a line like that, who wouldn't melt?

Lenna wouldn't have to say much for her case, she thought. "It sounds like she wants it, boss. Don't disappoint her." She chimed in with a slight chuckle in her voice. Yes, that'd be enough. Once a child had their minds set on something, it took a whole lot of falling down to change those dreams.

> "Ms. Lori!" There was one person who could always make her smile. Lori's little puppy ran to the door to greet her. Kait glomped her legs and with a 'oof' Lori sort of caught her against her bare legs. The heat had forced her hand. She sported a polished looking skirt suit that let her breathe in the the scalding weather.

She had to switch her mind over from quiet papers and science to the naturally soprano fast pace of a child's talking. Special team? "O-oh! The-" It took a minute to connect the dots. Her eyebrows raised to kiss her hairline and Lori looked up to Lenna. "You told her about-?" She cleared her voice to clear out the incredulity and tried again at a lower, calmer pitch. "Can't we keep any secrets around here?"

>"It sounds like she wants it, boss. Don't disappoint her."

The Order leader smiled a not-quite-right smile, took off her reading glasses and worked to peel the kid from her legs. With her heels, walking for the both of them seemed like a bad idea.

Once they were no longer attached, Lori dropped down to an awkward squat so that she was on eye level Kait, didn't flash her cookies at anyone and could put her hands on her tiny little bomb's shoulders. "This is a very big step in a hero's life, Kaitlyn. Do you really think you're ready?" Blue eyes flicked up to Lenna behind the girl. Those eyes said someone was going to get it later.

>>"Can't we keep any secrets around here?"

Oh, so it was a secret. And Lenna wasn't supposed to tell her, but she told her anyway. Kaitlyn felt a bit proud of herself as she considered how special she must be if Lenna would spill the beans and even actively advocate for her.

Also, Lenna called Lori "Boss." Was Lori in charge of the super-hero team, too?

But now the glasses were off, and Lori was kneeling down to look the kid in the eye as she held her by the shoulders. Her body language and her tone of voice conveyed that this was serious business. Did Kaitlyn really think that she was ready? She nodded, putting on a serious face to show that she was serious and she knew that super-heroism was serious.

Well, that was a look, if ever she saw one. Lori didn't look too pleased about her discovery. Well, tough. Kaitlyn wanted it, and Lenna was set on her own decision. If this person was important to Lori, she'd do her best to keep the girl out of trouble. That didn't mean they couldn't raise her to be the very best.

Kaitlyn nodded to Lori, and Lenna let that answer stand on its own.

"I'll train her," She volunteered. "Teach her to handle herself."

The blonde rolled her lips in on themselves and mashed them together between her teeth as she thought. This seemed like the edge of a cliff with only one way out. She ignored Lenna for now focused entirely on Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn with freckles. Kaitlyn with the kind of eyelashes that grownups envied. Kaitlyn who could move mountains and who did not flinch under her scrutinizing stare.

The Order Leader's features softened as she released her worried lips. "I'm proud of you Kaitlyn. As much as I want to keep you safe, keeping you hidden won't accomplish that." Because the world wasn't made of one way glass. As much as Lori wanted to believe that the Sanctuary was safe, it had fallen to a government raid before. She wanted Kaitlyn to be prepared to defend herself, to give her every advantage.

Lori touched Kaitlyn's chin briefly and smiled to the girl before she stood, her knees popping on her way up. "Lenna." The woman extended her hand to the partial null. Lenna was definitely good in a pinch and kept a steady head in and out of battle. "I can think of no finer teacher." Lori would not let go of Lenna's hand. Instead she squeezed it tighter and tighter as she spoke betraying the coolness of her tone with her intensity. "But I expect her to come out of this experience better for what we teach her here. No missions without approval and if something... unsavory happens, it's your neck."

As if realizing she had been squeezing the hooey out of the other woman's hand, Lori let it loose suddenly in her own. "And when you guys play with guns in practice, no live rounds in weapons." Lori brought Lenna's hand up to her lips and pressed a little kiss against her knuckles as if that would make it better. "Not until until she's a teenager anyway."

Lori was proud of her, Lenna was going to teach her how to be a super-hero, and they were going to be going on "missions." Kaitlyn could barely speak for a moment, dazed by this turn of events as she was, so she stuck to smiling a tiny smile as she watched the two adults talk.

Perhaps, the kid thought, she should look up the word "unsavory" in a dictionary...

Nah, too much effort.

But, wait! "Can I be a part of the team, then?" Lori never said anything about membership; Kaitlyn just wanted to make sure. "And what's it called? And who else is in it? And..." No. Some people got annoyed at the kid when she started asking that many questions, and she didn't want to madden anyone out of letting her join the team.

The tension in the grip told her a lot. If she screwed this up... if Kaitlyn got hurt... Lenna'd get worse. It was a fair agreement. Lenna agreed wholeheartedly. She didn't need to verbalize it to let Lori know. The seriousness and determination in her eyes should have been answer enough. Lenna nodded just once.

All that tension released. The vice grip ended. Lori had one final thing to say.

A small smile slipped on Lenna's lips. "Of course." They'd be using the training room, and they'd be playing things safe. Kaitlyn wouldn't do anything Lenna wasn't comfortable with teaching her. That extended to firearms. She needed a whole bunch of training before the kid would get to play with fire.

As their talk ended, Kaitlyn barged in with so many questions. Lenna arched an eyebrow, and left the fun stuff for Lori to answer. Children, with their never-ending questions, were a joy.

Lenna wasn't stupid, Lori always wanted to be sure since most others could not be trusted, but Lenna... Lenna was solid and sane. Had she been a mutant, they could have done great things together. Once she got the knowledgeable nod, Lori thought her business was done here.

>"Can I be a part of the team, then?"

"You can be on the team as a junior member. Once you grow to be this tall, you can be a full member." Lori held her hand somewhere between her own height and Kaitlyn's current height. This meant she could be on the team, but at Lori's discretion. If it was dangerous she could just tell Kaitlyn she wasn't tall enough yet. No amount of platform shoes would make up that distance, only time could.

>"And what's it called?" Blink.

"It's a secret organization, not a whole lot of people know what it's called." And she wasn't sure it was the best idea to tell a ten year old. Her verbal filter obviously wasn't fit right just yet as proved by the onslaught of questions.

>"And who else is in it? And..." Lori leaned forward and touched her fingers to Kaitlyn's lips to stop the next question before it started.

"These things are secrets. Do you know how to find out the answers to your questions?" The answer there was most likely no. "Wait, listen with your ears, watch with your eyes. If you can figure out the answers and then come back and tell me how you found out, I'll have a big surprise for you." That would help Lori know where the weak links in their secretive armor were and if they needed a bit of fixing up. It would also, hopefully, teach the littlest Order member the value of a secret.

Junior member? That didn't put any dampers on the child's enthusiasm, rest assured. It only gave her something more to look forward to. You had to be a white belt before you could be a black belt, a brownie before a senior girl scout, or a junior member before a full member of... the... uh...

>"It's a secret organization, not a whole lot of people know what it's called...These things are secrets."

So, Lori wouldn't even let Kaitlyn know what it was called? Or who the other members were? Here she was, thinking that she'd been let in on a big secret, only to be denied some of the most basic details?

>"Do you know how to find out the answers to your questions?" Lori's question was answered with a blank, expectant stare. "Wait, listen with your ears, watch with your eyes. If you can figure out the answers and then come back and tell me how you found out, I'll have a big surprise for you. "

Considering asking what this 'surprise' might be, but deciding against it, Kaitlyn nodded and contemplatively stared at the ground for a moment. Then, she looked up and scrutinized Lenna, then Lori for any hints as to what might differentiate a secret organization member from their less glamorous counterparts. She didn't find anything obvious. After a while, she asked yet another question:

"You're both in the... uhh... organization, right?"

Disappointed as the kid might have been about being left out of the loop, it was made more tolerable, and perhaps even exciting, by the mere fact of it coming out of Lori's mouth. She would have to discover everything for herself, with the promise of a 'big surprise' when she finally figured it all out. A 'big surprise' had to be a good thing, too, especially if Lori was talking about it. But waiting and watching didn't seem like a very effective way for her to investigate. Sneaking into people's rooms and rifling through their belongings while they weren't around seemed like a much more potentially fruitful alternative.

A full member of the secret organization would have to have some sort of paper lying around with some of that secret information that she wanted. Or maybe a secret communicator, or a cool uniform. Something like that had to be lying around somewhere, and if she found it, she could tell without a doubt that its owner was part of this 'secret organization.'

As soon as the two adults were fed up with the kid trying to ask even more questions and mine them for hints, she would be heading "back to her room," to search for even more clues.

Lenna's face was a mask of businesslike professionalism as Lori spoke with Kaitlyn. Her arms were crossed. The girl wouldn't be getting any further information out of her, if Lori didn't want her sharing that information. All she'd be getting were some life lessons that'd help her protect herself... and possibly, Sanctuary furniture.

Kaitlyn tried once more to dig up information. Lenna only smiled. She didn't answer that question. Instead, she turned to Lori.

"Well, I think I'll get back to what I was doing. Stay out of trouble, you two. I think Cornelius was making cookies in the kitchen, by the way. The Best Kind. Good bye~" She snuck out the exit with a backhand wave.