Disclaimer: I own nothing except Alexandra and Luke Sandford And their grandma. Apart from that, nada, so please don't sue me.

A/N: First X-men fic – be nice to me! This is set before, during and after X3.

Chapter One - Going Back Home

"Luke!" I shrieked. "What the bloody hell did you do with my toothbrush?"

It didn't seem possible; we'd only been back in England for ten days, and all of the things I'd brought from home had scattered themselves around the house, from my shoes turning up in the bathroom to my makeup bag in one of the kitchen cupboards, of all places. And now, to top it all off, my toothbrush had gone missing. Though that probably had more to do with my brother than it did anyone else.

"Alexandra! Please do not use such language!"

I winced; my grandmother is the only person who calls me that, and I hate it. "Sorry, Grandma! But will you please tell Luke to give me my toothbrush back?"

"I'll give it you back if you tell me where you put my physics textbook. You just know Storm's going set us a test as soon as we get back."

"I didn't take your stupid physics book!" I retorted. "You left it at school, you utter moron!"

There was the sound of a car horn from outside – I looked out the window to see a black cab on the street. "Crap! Luke, the sodding taxi's here!"

"Already? I booked it for three- Bloody hell how did it get to be three o' clock?!"

Throwing the last of my textbooks into my case, I sat on it to shut it, then yanked it off the bed, hearing Luke do the same in the bedroom next door. It was time like this when I thanked God for my mutation. I rolled my eyes at my brother's look of entreaty and then stretched out my hand, reducing the pull on both of the cases. All we had to do was float them down the stairs. Grandma was waiting at the bottom, looking disapproving at the casual use of my powers. Unlike our parents, she didn't mind that we were mutants, but thought that our powers should be used only when it was really important. Clearly, she'd never tried to carry two, ton-heavy cases down a staircase.

I kissed her cheek. "I'll call you when we land."

"Have a safe flight, dear, and give this to Charles for me," she said, handing me a letter.

Grandma and Professor Xavier went way back, decades, and it was only because of that really that Luke and I attended his school in New York state. Otherwise we'd be going to a similar (but state-run, and therefore not as good) institution in Britain. We'd come back for the Easter vacation, which was two weeks, and the flight back to America left in three hours. It was going to take forty-five minutes to get to Heathrow.

I took the envelope and shoved it into my hand luggage. "I will. Bye, Grandma."

Luke kissed her too, and then we bundled our things into the taxi, waving as we drove away.

"Heathrow, love?"

I nodded. "Yes please. Quick as you can."

He did go quickly; it didn't take us more than thirty-five minutes to get to the airport. We paid the fare (plus tip – thirty-five minutes in London traffic really was good), and scrambled to get out of the cab, grabbing our cases and rushing to the right desk.

"You got the tickets?" Luke asked me.

"Yes. You have your passport?"

His mouth dropped open. "Oh my God, no! Lex-"

"What?! How can you not have-"

His face suddenly split into a grin and he began laughing madly. "Ha ha, I can't believe you fell for that!"

I held up my hand, fingers curling into a fist in an empty threat. "I swear to God I'm going to crush you one of these days!"

"No you won't," he winked. "You'd miss me too much."

I shoved his ticket into his hand. "Come on."

Just over two hours later, we were taking off, and I could relax. Somehow we'd managed to get through check-in and security without Luke getting chucked out of the building and actually onto the plane. Now we just had a seven hour flight to JFK, probably about an hours' cab-ride and we were home. I love Grandma, and she'd basically saved our lives when she took us in after my mother decided she couldn't have us in the house anymore, but Britain isn't home anymore. Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters is.

Yawning, I pulled out my iPod and plugged in, closing my eyes and willing the remaining hours to evaporate. I hate flying – it was made worse by the fact that I could get to New York under my own steam, instantly if I wanted to. I'd raised this fact with Professor Xavier before we left, but he'd pointed out that if immigration services came knocking, we'd be in the country illegally. So we were stuck flying. With stewardesses who were caked in makeup but who looked at my hair as if it had personally offended them. I'd tried to get used to it, but their looks still rankled. It wasn't as if I could help that it was purple. Besides, I quite liked it.

"Hey, Lex! Lex! Lex!"

Growling in frustration, I yanked the headphones out of my ears. "What?"

"Are you going to drink your orange juice?"

I rolled my eyes and chucked it at him, settling back into my seat again. I love my brother, but for ten days straight he'd been my only company, and I was dying to get back to the rest of my friends.

Thankfully, the flight wasn't too bad, and we landed at JFK at 20:00 local time. The taxi journey back to school seemed longer than the flight somehow, but when we got out I sighed in happiness at seeing the huge school. It felt good to be home. "Come on," I smiled. "Grab your stuff."

The professor met us at the door. He's sort of our godgrandfather – my mother's godfather, and more like a father to us than our actual father had been. It was always good to see him, and his smile was beaming. "Indigo, Switch!"

I grinned. "Hi, Professor!" Outside of class we were allowed to be less formal, so greeted him with hugs.

"How was your flight?" he asked.

"Long and boring," Luke answered.

"And irritating," I added.

"It wasn't that bad," he said.

"Well you weren't stuck on the plane with you," I shot back. "How are you, Professor?"

"Absolutely fine. Glad you have you back," he said, turning to go back inside. "How is your grandmother?"

"She's fine," I answered, pulling out her letter. "She gave me this for you."

He took it with a smile. "I look forward to reading it. Now, I should imagine you two are anxious to see your friends. They're in the third floor television room – the new season of CSI starts tonight. And, Indigo?"

"Yes?" I asked.

He indicated upward, and I blushed as I followed his gaze. In my excitement to be back I'd lowered the gravitational field on the cases more than I meant to, making them totally weightless. They were now gently bumping against the ceiling. "Oops. Sorry." I concentrated a little, and the cases began to sink back. "Thanks."

He nodded and wheeled toward his office. "Good to have you both back."

We raced upstairs, dumping our stuff in our rooms and then dashing to the TV room. As we got to the door, Bobby was on his knees in front of the TV, its screen filled with static. "Come on you stupid piece of crap-"

"Let me help," Luke announced, walking over to him. Everyone else in the room – Kitty, Rogue and Piotr – looked at the door, grinning.

"Hey, you're back!" Rogue said, getting up to hug me.

I hugged my best friend back briefly, used to the light-headedness that came with touching her. "Good vacation?"

"Wasn't too bad," she answered, brushing her silver-streaked hair out of her face. "Yours?"

"Trapped with him for ten days?" I asked, indicating my brother. "Torture."

I hugged the others as well, then sat down. "Switch, would you hurry up?" Bobby said. "It's going to start soon."

"Chill, Iceman," Luke said, putting a hand on the screen and closing his eyes.

Every groaned and rolled their eyes. "Anyone ever tell you how unfunny you are?" I asked, throwing a cushion at him.

The picture buzzed back on. "Anyone ever tell you how brilliant I am?" he shot back.

The first evening back wasn't terribly exciting, but it was exactly what I wanted – and it wasn't until CSI had almost finished that I even remembered that I hadn't phoned Grandma yet. "Back in a minute!"

On the way to my room, I passed Wolverine going the other way. I blushed a little bit. I'd always had a bit of a crush on him – it had faded now, but it was still a little embarrassing. "Hey, Logan."

He nodded curtly. "Indigo."

I rolled my eyes as I went past. Once a loner, always a loner. Apparently being away from the Institute for…however long he'd been gone this time, hadn't done anything to improve his mood. My mouth turned down at the corners. No doubt Scott was still as depressed as he had been. Jean had been dead for almost a year now, but everyone still missed her – Wolverine and Cyclops more than anyone. It was sad. When Jean was alive they couldn't be friends because they both wanted her, and now they couldn't help each other in their grief for the same reason.

Once I'd phoned Grandma, I went back in time to catch the last ten minutes of the show before I had to go to sleep. It might only be nine pm here, but it was two am in England, and I was completely wiped out. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was dead to the world.

There was no way I could have known that the day after would change my life.

As Luke predicted, Storm did set the seniors a physics test – the same test that I'd aced last year, since in physics I'd been fast-tracked a year ahead. Something about being able to manipulate gravity just helps me to understand things like that.

I smiled at my friends as they went in, Kitty's face a picture of panic. "Good luck," I whispered as she went past.

She shot me a worried smile and entered behind Luke. I grinned and began to walk away, stopping when Professor Xavier's voice sounded in my head. Indigo, come and see me a moment, would you?

Of course, Professor, I sent back, changing direction and heading to his office. A few moments later I knocked softly on the door. "Yes, Professor?"

"Come in, Alex," he said.

I did, sitting down in a leather chair in front of his desk, looking curiously at him. There was no point in me asking, since I was probably mentally the question screaming at him. Judging by his smile, I definitely was. "I have a mission for you, Alex. If, that is, you'd like to take it."

My eyebrows shot up in surprise. "A mission? Really? Professor, are you sure I'm ready? I mean I-"

"Do you feel ready?" he asked.

"Depends what it is," I said honestly. "I know I've been putting a lot of hours in the danger room, but I don't think I'm up to combat by myself."

"You needn't worry – no conflict involved," he smiled. "A few nights ago I felt a mutant reaching out for help; quite blindly, and I imagine any telepath strong enough would have heard it. I traced its origin to California with Cerebro – I would like you to find him."

"But, Professor, what if it's a trap? It wouldn't be the first time-"

"I know," he interrupted kindly. "And I was going to say don't contact him right away. Aside from the fact that he may be a threat, approaching him directly could only scare him further away from the help that he seeks."

I nodded. "Alright. Sure, I'll go."

He smiled again. "Wonderful." He came around the desk and reached out to put his hands on my temples, giving me the location of the mutant, whoever he was. "Be careful, Alex," he warned as I left. "I sense this mutant is as afraid of himself as anything, and will be reluctant to talk to anyone."

I thought about it. "Ok, I'll be careful. Thanks, Professor."

"Go down to the hanger bay - Logan will pilot you there."

I nodded. "Thanks."

"And good luck, Alex."

A/N: Review please!