Shift

Stella fidgeted uncomfortably in her position outside the cage. Logan's match was next and she didn't want to miss it, but something else was weighing heavily on her mind. She checked her phone again for the fifteenth time that night. Beside her, her friend Melanie Campbell, otherwise known as Riot, shook her head impatiently. 

"It'll get done, okay? Now put the stupid phone away and place your bet already, the fight's about to begin!" She urged, tossing her pink and black hair back dramatically and fixating her eyes on the cage. Stella sighed and handed a few bills to the bookie.

"One hundred on the new guy." He raised a quizzical eyebrow at her, but wrote her name down with her bet. Stella turned her attention back to the fight.

Logan's opponent was almost twice his size, a beefy regular with an unbeaten record. His torso and arms were covered in tattoos, some of which he was rumored to have received in prison. There was a reason they called him Brutus the Brutal. Under the dim lights of the arena, he was even more menacing. Cracking his knuckles, he stared down at Logan, his eyes like tiny black orbs. The general consensus in the crowd was that Logan didn't stand a prayer. Stella wasn't so convinced, however.

When the bell rang, Brutus struck Logan with what should have been a jaw-shattering blow. Much to his and the crowd's astonishment, however, Logan didn't appear fazed in the slightest. He grinned back at Brutus, encouraging him to hit him again. And he did, several times, each with the same crushing force. Logan didn't seem at all bothered though; in fact, he appeared slightly bored.

When Brutus began showing signs of slowing down, Logan made his move. He somehow managed to flip Brutus on his back, pinning him down with one foot on his neck. Despite the fact that Logan appeared to be only a third of his weight, Brutus looked like he was about to choke. When he tapped out, there was a roar of confusion throughout the arena. The only person who didn't appear at all shocked by the outcome of the fight was Stella, who calmly collected her share of the bet money and returned to the bar.

When Logan joined her there a few minutes later, she was casually sipping a glass of vodka while examining something on her phone. She glanced up at him, smiling and putting her phone away. Logan instantly sensed something was wrong, but chose to ignore it. Ordering a beer, he thought about what the professor had said, wondering if he could really trust this girl he barely knew. Then he decided it was worth the risk. 

He studied her carefully, beer in hand. "About that device you said you made... would you be willing to sell a version of it to me?" Stella downed the last of her drink before answering. "Depends. Why do you need one?" Logan hesitated for moment, then decided it didn't matter. "I work at a school for mutants. Since we're basically hiding in plain sight, we're rather vulnerable to our enemies if they find us. It would be nice to be able to protect our students as much as possible." Stella considered this, then pulled out a business card from her pocket and handed it to him. "Send someone to my office tomorrow and we'll see if we can work something out." Logan thanked her, glancing at the card as he tucked it into his jacket pocket. Then something occurred to him when he saw her name printed on it.

"You're Senator Sterling's daughter, aren't you? I thought there was something familiar about you."

Stella bit her lip, then nodded. "I'm lucky my family supports mutants, but I can't risk their safety because of me. My brother's a respected doctor at one of the best hospitals in the state, not to mention my father's political career. So I design and build technology, staying out of the public's eye as much as possible. The device helps me keep my mutant identity a secret."

Logan nodded understandingly, then decided to press his luck. "You spend a lot of time in places like this, then. Have you heard anything about that new criminal gang, the Spooks? I've heard they might be mutants." Stella's eyes flickered a bit, but she kept her composure.

Lowering her voice she whispered, "They're supposed to be extremely powerful and dangerous, and possibly dealing on the black market. But since no one apparently knows who they are, they could be anywhere. You have to be careful. People like that tend to have a lot of equally nasty friends with a blood lust. You should watch who you're talking to about them." Logan wasn't too concerned, having dealt with murderous thugs many times before, but he didn't tell her that.

"If you were one of those guys, who would be your next target?"

Stella's eyes widened. "You're not planning on going after them, are you?" She sounded panicked.

"I can take care of myself alright. No need to worry about it." That wasn't really what was bothering Stella, but she kept that quiet.

"Well, there's bound to be a connection between what they're stealing," she suggested vaguely.

Logan agreed, then decided to change the topic, noting how worried she had become. "Where'd you learn how to fight?"

She shrugged. "My father insisted that I take a few martial arts courses, and I practice with some mutant friends of mine, not to mention the people here. What about you? I don't think Brutus was expecting whatever it was you did to him today."

Logan chuckled. "I trained with ninjas in Japan. And I have this." He showed her his claws, which reflected the lights above them. 

Stella was impressed, then suddenly frowned, leaning forward slightly to examine the adamantium closer. "Let me guess, Hydra's work?" Her voice sounded rather bitter and disgusted. Logan was surprised, but he confirmed it. He didn't like talking about his time at the lab, but something about Stella made her seem almost like a kindred spirit, like she somehow understood exactly what he had gone through.

"How'd you know about that anyway? That program wasn't exactly public." His eyes narrowed.

Stella stared at the floor, her eyes teeming with sadness. "I've done a lot of research on them. You're not the only one Hydra's hurt." Before Logan could ask her what she meant her phone rang and she excused herself, slipping out into the shadows of the night once again.

Logan stared after her, dumbfounded. It seemed this just kept leaving him with more questions than answers. He liked a challenge, though. He had gotten what he came for, and after a few more drinks he headed back to the mansion to report his findings to the professor and do some research of his own.