"I warned you, boss," Tracker snapped as Healer treated his wounds. "I told you that son of a bitch would figure it out."

"Perhaps," Man of War conceded.

"Perhaps?" Tracker laughed without humor. "Christ Almighty, MOW, he was right there. Right in your goddamned armpit, you don't think he didn't get a whiff of your scent? He knows!"

"But, I don't think he remembers completely. I think he just knows that there is a familiarity between us, nothing more."

"You hope."

"Don't be such a pessimist, Dad," Liberty scolded from across the room, an ice pack on her head.

"It's my job," he snarled back.

Liberty rolled her eyes.

"And don't think I hadn't forgotten about your appointment tonight, I want to know with whom."

Liberty groaned.

"Beside, boss, Tracker has a point," Gatewayer intervened to keep Liberty from further humiliation. "He knows who you are."

"We don't know that for sure," Man of War countered.

"But we don't know that he doesn't."

Man of War shrugged. "It was worth the risk."

"What for that kid? What was the point in all of that?"

"I have my reasons." Man of War stood and left the infirmary.

"He always does," Tracker snarled. "He always does."

As he lay in the infirmary, Wolverine stared at the paper in his hand. It was the best news he had ever had in his life, until the kidnapping, but even that seemed trivial to this. He could not wait to show it to her.

Kitku bound into the infirmary, grinning, and hopped onto the bed. "Hi ya, Wolvie!"

She gave him a peck on the cheek. She was looking better than she had in the last two weeks. Color had returned to her cheeks and was as perky as ever. Professor helped her come to terms with the fact that Viper may indeed be a relative of some sort or it was a mind game. Somehow, she had decided to forgive Man of War, after all, in her own words, "Well, he thought he was helping me and I guess he was just misguided."

Wolverine chuckled to himself. It never ceased to amaze him that she could see the good in all people, including Viper. She figured he claimed her as his niece because he was lonely and no one loved him. A bit naïve of her but it was the way she was dealing with it at the moment. Sometimes, Wolverine could not help but figure that they expected too much from her, to accept too much and to just handle it all like an adult. After all, she was only ten.

"What's that?" she asked, interrupting his thoughts.

"This?" He shrugged. "Just somethin' I had drawn up. I called in a few favors and pulled a few strings."

"To do ...?" she asked with encouragement for him to finish.

"Well, actually," he hesitated. "It's something I hope you'll like and that it'll mean something special to ya."

"You bought me the Yankees?" she screeched with glee.

"No," he snarled with a roll of his eyes.

"Oh." Kitku's shoulders dropped in disappointment.

"Yeah, like I'm made of money like that."

"Jasmine said you were rich and loaded."

"Loaded?"

"Well, I think she meant drunk, but ..."

Great."

"Well, if it's not the Yankees, what is it?" Kitku changed the subject quickly.

"This is only if you want it and if you don't, it's okay, okay?"

"Uh, okay, but I can't really say until you tell me what it is."

Logan held out the paper to her and Kitku slowly read it. "This isn't easy for me to read. I've only been practicing a week."

"Kitku, it's," Logan took her hand in his, "It's adoption papers. I want to adopt you as my daughter."

Silence filled the room. Kitku didn't dare breathe or move. She just stared into Logan's eyes as her own burned with tears and threatened to overflow.

"Really?" her voice was a choked whisper.

"Really," he replied, his own voice cracked.

Kitku hugged him close to her. "Thank you."

"No, darlin', thank you." He kissed the top of her head and smiled. "Thanks, kiddo."