Abbreviated A/N:

Any question as to exactly when this chapter is supposed to take place in Marvel Earth-616 universe, I hope the chapter can sufficiently self-explain. If there's still doubt on how this can be seen as fitting within canon, I do have a rather lengthy explanation; at first I intended to put it in the same chapter as Chapter End Note, but because it really is very VERY long, and as I've seen other people doing it on FFN, I've decided to put it all in the next NON-actual-chapter "Chapter"; so for those who have questions please read it, but I really hope people can actually figure out the time line when finish reading the chapter without reading the additional note (chapter) to get the idea.


A One-sided Conversation

{... Hey Sean, you're probably wondering why I'm calling you, again.} He's wondering, alright.

{... and how do I know? Ha, besides Charles and that Red Hair, She-Thinks-She's-So-Hot-One-Day-She-Might-Actually-Burn-Herself-to-DEATH, Jean Grey; I am one of the more powerful telepaths there is.} You don't say.

It had been a couple of weeks, almost a month and a half, since the official disbandment of Generation X. The kids scattered, trying to figure out their own way and how they would fit into the real world. Sean Cassidy, code-name Banshee, their mentor, seemed fine with their decision, supportive, even; but inside he was in a dark dark place, one that he had yet come out from. He had just lost his long-time lover Moira McTaggert, whom before her own death he hadn't seen or heard from for months; and to add insult to injury, whose death no one even bothered telling him firsthand; his call to Muir Island was redirected to Charles, that's how he bloody found out Moira was gone.

The horrid news could not have come in a worse time. A few days before that, Generation X had just lost one of their own, Synch, the always mature and all-so-kind Everett Thomas. Thus, Sean decided that he couldn't take it, Moira's death atop Everett's was too much for him; so he embraced his sorrow, he embraced alcohol; he didn't even bother hiding it from the students, not really. The Gen X kids however still respected and cared for this some-what fatherly figure of theirs; they told him they "understand", and that maybe it was time that they all try to move on, move forward, but not.. move together. It was a very subtle way to say that they didn't need him anymore. So they thought there's nothing more he could teach them. He didn't blame them, not really. Look at him, he was still some-what a drunk, he didn't think parents would appreciate their children being taught by a drunk, hell, he wouldn't even want his own kid, Theresa, seeing himself like this. After a few more days of self pity, Sean decided that if he doesn't teach, he might as well return to his old profession, something he was equally good at, or perhaps better at (sometimes he wondered): being a cop.

{... He-lloooo? I know we're not really talking, I mean I'm talking to an answering machine for cripes sake, but I know you're there listening, at least for a while, until you got lost in your thoughts, again.} Man, the lass really IS a strong telepath, or was it just a lucky guess?

It had been about a month since he formed the X-Corps, and not long after he gathered three of his former students, his angels, he started getting phone-calls from his former colleague, the former White Queen, the former headmistress of the Massachusetts Academy, Emma Frost.

He never answered of course, though if he were honest, he had tons of questions to ask, for example, how the bloody hell did she get this number? How did she know about X-Corps? He had particularly picked to focus on mutant affairs in Europe, faraway from the X-Men's usual domain; going as far to set the headquarter at Paris, France, instead of his homeland Ireland, just to avoid clashing with the Excalibur, whether the group was still active or not. Even the X-Men didn't know about his involvement until their paths had crossed. Then he would berate himself for thinking of those questions; she had gain back Frost International, and like she just said, she is a powerful telepath; with money, influence and the seemly unlimited ability to read minds, she could easily gain whatever information she wanted. So those were stupid questions, the more pressing problem was, what did she want? What did she think she was doing, or achieving... Calling him, just talking about STUFF, ordinary stuff, like they're friends or something...

Now, that's just HARSH, even for the likes of you, Cassidy. He chided himself.

He considered Generation X his family, he would be kidding himself if Emma Frost was not included in this said family. Of course she was. And just like that, all the self-loathing kicked in, like every time it would when his thoughts lingered around her. He watched her, actually got to know her, beyond the cold exterior that most people saw. She loved her students, she cared for them so much she would do anything for her students, and she did. It was ironic how, in the last moments of Generation X, the kids claimed they were afraid of Emma, that she was a little scary, that maybe she would go back to being evil. That being said, it was him right now they were keeping an eye on, not Emma. Oh, he knew his former students were skeptical about his ideal, but they joined him anyway, so he pretended they were this happy family again, despite the lack of trust. He wondered perhaps deep down inside they realized Emma did the right thing, or at least the best she could in that particular situation. Killing is wrong, but he really doubted anyone would go against him if he someday does manage to off Black Tom (accident or not), like the way everyone seemed to closely monitor Emma's every single move, waiting to jump for the first opportunity to judge and condemn her.

{... As I was saying, like I've said umpteenth times I called you, just in case you didn't get the message, I'm teaching a new group of students in Genosha, so far none of them are as bright as our Gen X... Great.. Can you believe it? I just said ours... anyways... There's no one interested in tech like how Paige is, and no one snotty and fashionable like Monet; good heavens there's no troublemaker like Jubilation or Angelo! There is, however, someone that can win the Most Emo Appearance Award over Jono! She calls herself Negasonic Teenage Warhead, God bless her...}

It was times like this that made everything in the real world go away for a brief second, as if they were back in the Massachusetts Academy, late at night, sitting around the kitchen with a cup of tea, him listening to Emma rant. It was times like this Sean would go back wondering just why Emma called in the first place.

{... You're probably still wondering why I still call you, like literally everyday.}

And then Sean realized, maybe it had nothing to do with being a telepath, maybe Emma just really knew him well. He wished it were also true the other way around.

{... Sean, the three girls are with you, and if my intel is correct, so are the X-Men and Jono as of now. The kids trust you more than they ever would trust me, so promise me, just promise me, even in this down and dark moment you seemed to unable, or unwilling, to get yourself out of; don't ever make them do stuff you'll regret making them do, you hear me?}

Ahhh... There it was. That was why she was calling, at least that was why this time. She still cared for her students, their students, even after they walked out on her without a proper good-bye. He wondered if the students knew just how lucky they were, to have someone to care for you so deeply. He wasn't affronted by her request, not that he would ever force his students, but with what his X-Corps was dealing with (not exactly puppies and rainbows; in fact, just the opposite, if there was a saying for that), he could understand her worry; there was also the fact that mutants like Avalanche and Blob were with X-Corps, so of course Emma was concerned.

{... and Sean? When you finally manage to pluck up to courage to actually pick up the damn phone, we could talk, you know, just like old times. I promise I won't bite. Until next time then.}

And it was times like this Sean wondered just why he never had the guts to pick up the phone... What exactly was he afraid of? A confrontation? From whom, Emma? More like from himself. The idea seemed so ridiculous, but he knew it was on some level very true, he really felt like he failed her in particular, not the students, but Emma; he had let her take on the 'evil' role people perceive her. He always felt that Emma and him weren't particularly close, not as close as it could have gotten, after the rift... The misunderstanding about handing over Penance to Emplate. There was no real closure, only a strong punch (on his face) and some threats (on her part), and some okay-okay-I-understand (his lame attempt on soothing the tension). Just when things were starting to look fine, BAM! School under attack... BAM! A bomb went off killing Synch... BAM! Apparently Emma avenged Synch by murdering her own sister... So much happened so fast, and before any of them really recovered... that phone-call, his damn phone-call that let him learned the truth of Moira's fate. It just seemed like an excuse, albeit probably a good one, still an excuse no less. The kids walked away, well, they were kids...young and all. Sean had also walked away, he was also one, like them, that went without farewell, left the little precious family they built... now so broken and dysfunctional. What was he gonna say if, not when, if he did answer her call? Sorry? The unsaid apologization just became harder and harder to act on, the longer it was untaken-care of. Sean smirked to himself bitterly, Emma really did know him well; she said when... She didn't push him to become better, get over this brooding state, not really. She did however imply, when he finally got over himself, they could talk, and like go back to the love-hate-we-disagree-on-everything-but-we-still-love-each-other-TOTALLY-ONLY-ON-THE-FAMILY-ASPECT-WAY relationship.

He could totally picture the mischievous smile when she said she wouldn't bite, ha, as if.

Sean's thoughts then went back to what Emma had wanted himself to promise her. True, there were questionable people around his X-Corps, and the people he knew for sure he could trust hadn't outnumbered the dubious ones by much (X-Corps as of now was still a small-sized organization after all, not some big scale frightening army), but he was sure that with himself, Jamie "Multiple Man", Leyu "Sunpyre" (the talented chief researcher), Jared "Radius" (a former Alpha Flight member he was not really all that familiar with but acknowledged), and, of course, Sean's three talented former students; those ex-outlaws would not pose any threats. Plus, if they did, Sean was nothing but careful; he had a secret backup guarantee plan if the situation had to come to that.

"I promise ye, Em, all the dark stuff I do here at X-Corps, I will never make them do anythin' I'll end up regrettin' makin' them do, that I promise ye."

He said after the message end and the answering machine became dead silent, wishing he had been able to actually let her hear his respond.

"I promise ye..."


A Real Conversation

~So... um... This really is just like a Generation X reunion of some sort... Are Ms. Frost and Angelo here as well? Is Penance here, too?~

Jonothon "Jono" Starsmore, code-name Chamber, commented, trying to come off brightly, although actually coming out somewhat awkwardly. He had just been led by his former teacher into this room occupied by his former classmates, and after a short talk, he still had some problem adjusting to the situation.

"Nah, like we said, Banshee contacted us individually, and come on, do you really expect Angelo agreeing to be called 'Banshee's angel'? The idea of it is just so wrong on so many levels! He's back in LA taking care of the apartment we rent together and doing whatever it is he does to, you know, survive? I mean like... what's the phrase... earn a living you know... in the real world?" Jubilation Lee, reminding anyone who cared or cared not to listen that her name was to be shortened as Jubilee, answered swiftly, having no problem keeping the conversation going. "and Ha, you would think this X-Corps has something to do with Frostie, seemly evil and all,"

~Uh... No... That's not what I meant...~

"But like we said, it's just us, and you know, that ghost presence feeling I told you about. I was actually surprised when I didn't find Frostie here, don't know where she is... Same goes for Penny." Jubilee went on as if not hearing Jono's small protest.

"Um... if anyone actually does care to know where Ms. Frost is and what she's doing... I asked Banshee about her a few days ago and he told me she's in Genosha teaching another bunch of students. I don't know how he knows or if the information is correct, at least that's what he said she's doing." Paige Guthrie contributed, seemly taking a defending stance somehow. She knew Emma had insisted them calling her by her first name instead of how students usually call their teacher, she guessed it was supposed to make them feel familiarity with being less formal, but seeing how Generation X still ended up being suspicious of Emma, Paige couldn't help referring her as Ms. Frost; the title held some form of respect she thought Emma at least deserved.

They all looked at each other, after a short pause, Monet St. Croix, nicknamed by them as M, burst "Frost still teaching? When will she stop corrupting innocent children with evil thoughts?"

Another brief pause, and then, they all laughed out loud together. Emma Frost teaching, it was good to know some things never change.

"... She wasn't that bad... you know... I'm sure she cared for us in her own... um... way." Paige said quietly after the laughter died down, almost looking a little bit uncomfortable, and just a bit pleading looking.

~I never thought she was evil or anything... I mean she WAS I guess (I wouldn't personally know, but I've heard it all from you guys), but I've never considered her continuing to be, not after she started teaching us at least; just to be clear, on my part.~ Understanding Paige's earlier defend-like mode, Jono hurriedly explained.

"You do realize I was joking about the corrupting innocent children part?" M said impatiently.

Silence.

"Okay, guess not. Fine, I guess it makes sense since I was the one who outed her as being evil and can't be trusted in the first place." Monet said, with a frown on her beautiful face, started pacing and continued, "I don't think I'll go back and say I was overreacting back then; like what do you expect, I just saw her doing some real damage to an innocent person, possibly murdering said person, and why? Only because he questioned her, and with questions he actually did have rights to ask. Maybe she didn't kill him, maybe he lived, maybe he was fine afterwards, but how would I know? I was too damn scared 'cause from what I saw, he seemed like he was foaming, meaning he looked like he was already fucking brain-dead, so I ran away to you guys, and shared everything I saw, or at least what I thought I saw. "

"The thing is, if I had known the guy was alright later on, I would have probably been okay with the whole incident; the fact however, was I didn't know, and still is scared to know. I understand that she was trying to protect the school, but what made me afraid was the power she held and what she could do to achieve whatever she wanted to accomplish, what she could do to us. Understand even in my mind the sentence was 'what she could do to us' not 'what she would do to us', it still scared me, I'm not even ashamed of admitting it, and that was why I acted the way I did."

"It took me a while to realize the flaw of my thoughts, that what she could do, she however would never do us; because simply, I'm not stupid, I'm pretty sure I'm the smartest of us all, and of course I know Frost... Emma, cares about us, loves us even; she would never hurt us willingly, lethally anyways. Not unless it was some punishment we deserve or some tough-love exercise. Just to be clear, on my part" She finished her speech by quoting Jono's statement, after the uncharacteristically long confession.

~Crystal.~

"Well, that sure as hell clarifies a lot!" Jubilee exclaimed. "I see the whole incident pretty much like M does, I mean, come on, I've been with the X-Men before us even happened, I've seen some real evil and Frostie's not even near being close. I've heard about the fiasco when her consciousness was in Iceman's body and how she had a breakdown after learning the Hellions were gone, and seen how devastated she was and just quiet for a long time since then; so yeah, I know how protective she could be for her next set of students... which was us. I just like to mess with her, you know... 'cause it was fun. But I know she's just all sass and talk, not evil. We're all good now? Paige?"

"... Yeah, we're all good. Phew... You know I seriously thought I was the only one kind of missing Ms. Frost..."

"Waddaya know? We really don't give her enough credit to begin with."

"I'll have you know that I, also kind of miss Ms. Frost, she is after all, the only one besides me that has taste and class and all..."

~and the ability to cook the worldwide famous sentient omelet?~ Jono might not have been there personally during the particular event, but he had heard enough about it, and judging by how adamant his classmates had been about keeping Ms. Frost away from the kitchen, and how terrified when she was not, he couldn't resist bring up the omelets.

They all shuddered.

And then laughed.

Those omelets did a wonderful job to scar people for life, but it was still something they could laugh about at the end of the day, some good old times.

~This... Feels nice... Getting together... and stuff.~

"Yeah, we should like totally do this more often!"

"Maybe we'll do it again some other time after this whole gig is done then?"

"Sounds good to me."

~Alright, I'll leave you ladies for now and go check on the area you talked about, laters!~