AN: Huge thanks to IceQueen2196 for being a super quick beta.
Apologies in advance to any German speakers, it's only two lines, but I did use Google translate. If there's a better way to phrase it, please let me know and I'll change it.
It was the standard ethics and society discussion, squeezed into a gap of time between school and supper, distilling the latest political speech about the emerging mutant phenomenon and interpreting it on a closer to home scale. But Kurt just couldn't pay attention. He knew the other students had noticed his unusual silence; he caught a few odd looks as he hung back while they all ran to the dining room. It didn't matter. He had to stay focused. This was too important for anything less.
"Uh, Professor, can I talk to you for a minute?" he said, once the 3rd Jamie finally left the room.
"Of course Kurt, what's on your mind?" There was something about the Professor when he said things like that which made Kurt feel as though he had the Professor's complete and undivided focus and attention. It was freaking terrifying.
"Uh, well, I was wondering if, that is, would it be okay with everyone – but especially you, and Mister Logan, but mostly you, if I, uh, invited Amanda over for dinner."
"I see." The Professor raised an eyebrow. Uh-oh, was that a good sign? Kurt couldn't remember.
"Well, ah, I went to her house for dinner, which did not go well, but I was thinking she might like to meet my family. Which is you. Well, and mother and father, but right now mostly you, and I thought she…"
The Professor steepled his fingers. Oh god, oh god Kurt thought, I need to fix this now!
"And it's completely my idea. I mean she didn't ask, but she would ask – and she wouldn't, but she's okay with mutants sir, she knows I'm fuzzy –"
The Professor waved a hand, Kurt shut up.
"Kurt, I am well aware that you have been honest with this young woman, and I commend you for it."
Kurt hid a wince with a nervous smile. He was being complimented for his honesty. He was so screwed.
"I am also aware of your failed attempt at getting to know her parents. A failure which I am led to understand owes more responsibility to Toad than you."
Had Kitty been blabbing about him again? He hadn't told anyone about that night though, so how had – the Professor raised an eyebrow again. Right.
"It's natural for you to want to introduce her to your family; especially as you see a serious future for this relationship."
"Oh, ah, right." Kurt would definitely not have said it quite like that.
"Nonetheless, I am concerned with how she will react to some of the more, shall we say extreme, members of our family, for it is one thing to hear about mutant powers on the news, and quite another to experience them as we tend to around the dinner table. I am also, and more immediately, concerned with how they will react to her."
Kurt hadn't thought of that. Some of the other students had become much more suspicious of "normal humans" since the real reason they were all living at the Institute was revealed. Of course, Scott had always been suspicious of everyone and Logan, well, Kurt was already worried about Logan for entirely different reasons.
"In that regard, you would be wise to consider the extent to which Amanda is prepared for what goes on behind these walls. For instance, does she know Professor McCoy is still teaching, and has she ever eaten anything prepared by Kitty?"
A joke! And a smile? Yes, definitely a smile. This was a good sign, right?
The Professor leaned back. "I ask that you consider these points, and out of courtesy please give myself and the other instructors at least 24 hours notice before Amanda comes over. I look forward to meeting such an apparently remarkable young woman."
"Oh, yes. Yes I will. Thank you Professor!"
Kurt bounded out of the room, now to ask Amanda and figure out how to tell her about Wolverine.
"Hey Amanda, wait up!"
Amanda turned to smile at the pretty brunette running down the hall, "Hi Kitty."
"So, Kurt tells me you're coming by the Institute on Friday."
"Um, yeah. Kurt wanted me to meet his family. I was kind of relieved he meant you guys and not his mother and father in Germany."
"Yeah language barriers suck. Not to mention you two don't really have like, a good track record when it comes to the parental meet and greet."
Amanda groaned, "You heard about that, huh."
"Yeah," Kitty frowned sympathetically, "It took some prying too, threatened to hold Kurt's image inducer hostage. But hey, no big deal, you like, should have seen my parent's reaction when they found out I'd gone out with Lance. I was scared to check my e-mail for like a week!"
Amanda smiled, Kitty seemed determined to be cheerful, may as well join in.
"You know what?" The other girl continued, still cheerful. "We should do something awesome Friday night."
"Kurt and I were thinking of going to a movie."
"Boring, I'm thinking more like skating, or sailing, or both. Maybe the mall, but I guess you'd want at least one boy along. Anyway," They'd reached Amanda's locker, "Leave it to me. Whatever I come up with, it'll be epic!" With a final wave the young mutant turned and skipped the last few steps down the hall, linking arms with Lance who'd been coming around the corner.
Amanda shook her head as she opened her locker and began swapping books for her next class. One or both of those two was following the other around. Maybe they realized it, maybe they planned it, either way it was driving Kurt nuts from the way he kept talking about the "sudden appearances of Lance". She paused with a book halfway out of her locker. The hall around her had gone silent.
"Amanda," came a voice. She moved her locker door, Clay Silvers was leaning idly behind it as though popular seniors would always hang out by underclassmen's lockers. "Amanda," he repeated, "What are we going to do with you?"
"With me?" what was going on? She glanced at the hall, had everyone sped up? The students in the crowd, who had been ambling at best a second ago, now seemed overly eager to get to class, or at least out of that particular hallway.
"You see, I used to think there were just humans and mutants," he turned, facing her and slamming her locker closed in one fluid motion. "The freaks, and us. Then I heard about you."
"Me?" She squeaked, the hallway was nearly empty by this point. She glanced around, one of Clay's buddies was behind her, another lounged across the hall.
"Yeah," A large hand came down on her shoulder, "Cause you, you're no freak, 'far as I can tell. But you're fuckin' one of 'em." He started pushing her backwards, "More'n that, hell I hear they're rolling out the red carpet for you. So you sure as hell ain't one of us." He shoved her hard into his friend, sending her and her books to toppling. She grabbed wildly only to watch as the book was kicked away.
"What d'ya say to that traitor?" More of her things were kicked down the hall, she managed to grab a couple of pens before one boy – Jake, her panicked brain supplied – grabbed her hair and pulled her into a more or less standing position.
"What is it huh? Nothing to say, bitch?" Clay shoved her again, but with Jake's fist in her hair she couldn't move with it, only twist awkwardly. "Won't even talk to your own kind?"
Stop it! Amanda wanted to scream at them Stop! I didn't to anything to you. But the words caught in her throat. She felt as though her tongue had swollen, and she could barely make a sound past the terror in front of her. Someone punched her in the stomach. She threw out an arm only to have someone else grab it at the elbow and twist it behind her back. Clay shoved her one more time before Jake threw her into the wall with a grunt of effort. This time she stayed on her feet, but when she turned there was nowhere to go. Back pressed against the wall she swallowed, she'd seen Kurt and Kitty on the news, if they could be brave, so could she.
The rest passed in a haze of pain. She was called "traitor", and "bitch" again, as well as "scum", "anti-human", "animal lover", "mutant whore", and "slut". She was kicked, punched, and slammed into the wall again and again. She tried to fight back. Even when she wanted nothing more than to curl up and wait for them to leave, she got back on her feet and frantically reached out to deliver a slap, kick, scratch, or punch of her own. Always just a fraction too slow, she would aim for one boy only to be kicked by another. Finally she spotted her chance. Clay had stepped back, laughing, not noticing as he put his foot down on her notebook.
"What'sa matter girl?" He taunted, "Can't get any human action so you've gotta clean up the mutie rejects."
With a shout Amanda darted forward, shoved Clay in one direction, and kicked the notebook in the other. Caught by surprise he went down, hard. Not bothering to look back or even grab her books which still littered the hall, she ran blindly. She could have found her destination in the dark.
The librarian barely glanced up when Amanda slipped in, but the presence of the older woman was instantly calming. No one would try anything here.
"Dude, are you serious?"
Kurt groaned. Today had been going so well. He turned from his locker and looked questioningly at the boy in front of him. "Serious about what, Bobby?" He asked, feigning confusion.
"Don't give me that." The younger mutant practically snarled. Kurt nodded to Ray, who hovered by his friend's shoulder as if he thought he'd have to jump in to hold him back. Sam and Amara were making their way through the crowded hallway toward them. "You know exactly what I'm talking about, and what's worse, you didn't even have the guts to tell us yourself. We had to hear about your little show-and-tell from Logan this morning. Are you trying to ruin everything?"
Now Ray did put a hand on Bobby's arm, "Hey it's no big deal."
"No big deal? Get real man, we're already the freaks of the town, and he doesn't even care."
Kurt held up his hands, "Okay, first of all, I was going to tell you all tonight about Amanda's visit tomorrow, I just asked Logan first, that's all."
"It would've been nice to get a bit more notice though." Sam pointed out. Once the other students saw where they were headed, they'd given the clump of mutants a wide berth and Sam and Amara had caught up quickly.
"That's fair I guess, but second of all, of course I care. Seriously Bobby, do you think, of anybody, that I would forget what it's like to be considered a freak?" He gestured at his image inducer, the move obvious to the four of them but subtle enough to be missed by anyone else. Bobby looked down.
"That's not what I meant."
"Then what did you mean? What's the problem? You guys know Amanda. You've all met her before, you know she's cool."
"She's still a-"
"Come on Bobby," Ray tugged his friend's arm, "You can't be expecting anything too bad. I mean, you told your friends about," he stopped, glanced around and lowered his voice, "your powers." The rest of the young mutants shifted slightly. Even though the Xavier Institute had been officially outed as a home for mutants, most of the students still felt uncomfortable discussing their mutations in public.
"Yeah," replied Bobby after a moment, "The friends I have left. But all I did was tell them, I didn't make them a part of it."
"What are you talking about?" Kurt asked.
Bobby's stare was so cold Kurt would have sworn he'd iced up, "As soon as she steps onto the property, she becomes a target for every idiot who thinks they know God's plan for humanity. If they don't hate her for throwing in with us, they'll hate us for dragging her into it."
"What makes you think that-"
"And then," he continued, ignoring Kurt's protests, "What do you think will happen once everyone else realizes? Once our friends see what kind of reception the mutant's girlfriend gets? We," he gestured to Sam, Ray, and Amara who had all gone still, staring at him, "We were lucky to hold onto the friends that we did, once everything hit the fan. How long do you think that will last if we start making normal people a target too? No one at my old school will even talk to me anymore, even the ones who knew I was a mutant before I left. "
"But Bobby-"
"You're so selfish. If you really cared about her or any of the rest of us, you'd keep her out of it." He turned and strode down the hall. Ray started to follow, then paused.
"For what it's worth, I think he's got it wrong." He said. Kurt nodded his thanks and Ray continued down the hall, jogging to catch up with Bobby.
The remaining three teens stood silently for a moment. Kurt leaned back against his locker, Amara fiddled with her hair, while Sam stared at his shoes as if he couldn't quite believe they were still there. "Wow," he finally said.
"Yeah," agreed Kurt. "And to think I was worried about what the Professor would say." He stood up straight, suddenly aware that neither of the other two had said much of anything during Bobby's outburst. "You guys don't have any problems with Amanda coming over, do you?"
"Not about Amanda." Said Sam quickly, "She's cool and all, and Ray was right, we all told our friends about what we can do, the ones that stuck with us anyway, and it was alright. Once they got over the mutant thing, the rest was fine. I'm not worried about showing off in front of blank-slates."
"So it's just him then? He's just overreacting right?"
Amara bit her lip, "I don't know, Kurt. I mean I didn't have a problem with Amanda, but a lot of what Bobby said makes sense. What if we are just turning our friends into targets?"
Kurt swallowed, "You don't think someone would go after her do you?"
"Well," she paused and glanced up at Sam as though for confirmation, he just shrugged, confused. "I'm not sure. I don't know if I should even tell you this, I-I don't know how true it is but…"
"What?"
"Some guy in Tabitha's geography class was saying how he overheard Clay and his buddies talking about 'traitors to real humans' and something about 'easy targets'. Tabitha thought they meant us or Jaime, 'cause we're the youngest, but maybe he was talking about our friends?"
Sam tilted his head, thoughtful, "That can't be right, Silvers is an idiot, but even he has to know that targeting the normal students will get him suspended, or even expelled."
"Hey, this is just what I heard, I'm not going to go up and ask him or anything."
"Oh man, this is too much. Maybe I should just tell Amanda not to bother."
"No way man," Sam shook his head, "We're already in this far, and it'll be fine. Bobby's just paranoid." Amara still looked concerned, but she smiled and nodded when Kurt glanced at her.
"I hope you're right." The warning bell rang for the next class. He grabbed his books and the three of them headed down the hall.
The rest of the week Amanda found every excuse to be with her friends, including Kitty or Kurt when they were available. There was no need to tell anyone about Clay and his gang. It's not as though the school admin would do anything, and it would just make Clay angrier. Besides, the kids from the Institute were getting enough trouble from the student population without her adding to it.
Somehow her friends seemed to find out anyway, or at least suspect. Priya, who had babysat her younger brothers after school for years, suddenly had time to hang out or walk home with Amanda; Johanne, who loved chemistry, had left that class early two days in a row in order to meet Amanda after her English class at the other end of the school; Lindsay, who had nursed a fierce crush on Jake for more than a year, started herding their group in the opposite direction whenever she saw him; and even Tega, who had been telling Amanda to break up with "that mutie-boy" just last week, was now waving Kurt over as often as possible, and even smiling at him. No one said anything overt, and Amanda wasn't going to bring it up, but she was grateful.
Friday afternoon finally came. She dashed out the door after dropping off her books, reassured her parents that of course she was just going to the mall and movies with Lindsay, and absolutely not was she meeting Kurt because certainly she remembered she was forbidden from seeing him.
He met her at the bus stop at the turn-off for Greymalkin Lane. It was still a distance of a couple of blocks to the Institute, but they were right on the edge of town; the city buses didn't go any farther. Kurt had offered to port her the rest of the way and she'd, of course, agreed. She hadn't teleported with Kurt very much at all since their first date and the idea was still pretty exciting.
She yelped when they appeared on the Institute doorstep. He looked at her, concerned. "Did I drop you?"
"No," She shook her head, and took a breath "It's just, wow, I mean we're in exactly the right place. If we were a bit higher we'd fall, or if we were a bit lower we'd be stuck in the step. How'd you do that?"
He grinned and bowed with a flourish, "Being amazing is what I do best fraulien."
"You're just showing off, weren't you?" she accused, grinning in return.
"What? Never, A number one dude like me? I don't need to show off. I just let my epic-ness speak for itself."
"Then it can speak to itself." She laughed, turning to the door.
"Wait," he caught her hand, all of a sudden looking nervous.
"What is it?"
"Um, it was kind of crazy in there when I went to get you. It's probably crazier now."
"Crazy how?"
"I didn't think they'd have it tonight," He started to explain, "Or I wouldn't have invited you on a Friday, but Tabitha's over tonight and I think the Professor's trying to get her to come back by making the place seem more fun and-"
She could tell he was getting off-track. "Kurt, what's going on?"
"It's a class," he said, "Sort of. Practical applications of mutant powers and it… well… I guess you have to see it. Don't freak out?"
She shook her head and followed him inside, thoroughly confused.
The kitchen was chaos. Amara was roasting garlic and onions over flames she held in her hands; Jamie was running in five directions at once grabbing ingredients for something Storm, who was calling out instructions alternated with warnings, was stirring on the stove; Scott and Ray were competing to chop raw veggies using finely honed blasts; Sam was ricocheting off the walls carrying serving bowls and spoons while Roberto tried to catch him; and Jean was levitating the lettuce to twirl in a telekinetic salad spinner, the water collecting in an orb over one hand. In the middle of everything, Tabitha was flicking explosives at various team members to try to trip them up, while Kitty phased through everyone diffusing the balls as they landed.
Sam spotted them first. "Hey Nightcrawler, catch!" he called, tossing a salad bowl blindly behind him. Instantly Kurt ported away, he appeared briefly to catch the bowl and then reappeared at Amanda's side. He gave her a grin that was equal parts sheepish and proud.
"Right," she nodded, "Crazy. I think I get it."
"Two at once!" shouted Sam, grabbing two glasses out of the cupboard and tossing them behind him. Robeto yelped when one almost clocked him on the forehead. Kurt passed the bowl to Amanda and repeated his trick, nearly missing the second glass.
"You're going to have to do better than that!' He taunted the younger boy. Suddenly a glowing orb exploded at his feet. He jumped and dropped one of the glasses. Jean caught it, sparing a glare at Tabitha who was doubled over with laughter.
"Catch this then." Ray tossed a carrot in the air and directed a small lightning bolt at it. The top blew off, smoking slightly.
"Oh yeah?" laughed Scott, "Beat this" He tossed another carrot and a cucumber in the air, turned toward the sink and lowered his sunglasses. A percussive blast escaped his eyes, rebounded off the reflective sink and sliced both vegetables neatly in half. Jean cried out and jumped when the beam passed next to her, the orb of water lost its shape and splashed across her front.
"Honestly, you're acting like children." The redhead complained. "Pass me that," she gestured to Amanda, who handed over the salad bowl. "We only need a couple more settings, Sam."
"On it." He grabbed a handful of silverware and some plates and took off toward the dining room, only to be blocked when Roberto, who'd been hiding behind Amara to time his attack, leapt forward and tackled him to the ground.
The boys went down with a crash. Kurt and Kitty ported and raced in respectively to catch the scattered dishware, but at the last second a Kitty tripped over someone's leg and a plate phased through her hand to smash on the floor.
"Is everyone okay?" Ororo turned from the stove and stepped forward, but had to duck at the last second when she realized she'd walked into the line of fire. A concussive blast ricocheted off of a frying pan, zipped past a lightning bolt that was blasting the top from a carrot, bounced off the light fixture, and severed the same carrot down the middle. Ororo looked like she couldn't decide whether to yell or applaud.
The decision was made for her when Bobby ran in carrying barbeque tongs and a pan of drippings. "Guys, guys! Check this out! Ice can evaporate if it hits something hot enough? It doesn't just melt, it full-on sublimates!" He shouted. Before Storm could stop him he coated his hand with ice and dumped the pan of hot grease onto it.
Ororo yelled, Amara shrieked, Tabitha started laughing, and Jean telekinetically tossed all the water in the sink at Bobby. Ray, who'd taken a step to better direct his next lightning bolt, slipped on the water and crashed on top of Roberto. The lightning bolt he'd been prepping went haywire and was briefly lost in the cloud of steam before hitting the toaster and setting it on fire.
"Enough!" shouted Ororo. The room went silent. "Clearly there are too many of you and you are too wound up to cook. Outside! Now. Run around, blow something up, I don't care, just out!"
It was a lot calmer outside. Amanda was still a bit intimidated by the number of kids in Kurt's family, but most of them she knew from school anyway. Although Bobby seemed to be giving her the cold shoulder (no pun intended) Amara was sweet and she already considered Kitty a friend. Plus with Kitty around she never had to worry about not having anything to say, the other girl flowed seamlessly from dominating any conversation to drawing everyone in. They were laughing at something Ray had done when she felt a tap on her shoulder.
"Can I talk to you?" It was Rogue.
"Um, sure. What's on your mind?"
"Look, this may not be the best time to say this but you gotta know, this group, we hang pretty tight."
"Yeah uh, I noticed you guys were really close."
"Yeah," Rogue rubbed the back of her head absently, "But more than that, we stick together through anything. And Kurt's one of the best. No matter what we're going through he'd be there for us."
Amanda glanced over her shoulder at her boyfriend; he'd turned off his image inducer and was hanging upside down from a tree with Jaime. "He's a good guy that way." She said quietly.
"Right, but the point is, it goes both ways" Something in the other girl's voice made Amanda turn back, "If anything were to happen to Kurt, we'd be there for him. We'd all be there for him." Amanda stared, Rogues eye's had gone hard as steel and she was playing with the fingers of one glove. What were Rogue's powers again? What would it do to non-mutants?
"N-no, I would never, Kurt and I - "
"Good. Glad we had this chat." Rogue fixed her glove and smiled slightly, then turned back toward the house.
"What was that about?" Kurt walked up and put and arm around Amanda's shoulder.
"N-Nothing, what are you guys doing?"
Kurt glanced sideways at his girlfriend and shrugged. "Come on, let me re-introduce you to Mr. McCoy."
"So the elf's brought home a girl, eh?" Logan's voice echoed down the hall from the kitchen. Kurt winced, the teachers tended to trade off on chores and he'd hoped Beast would be the one taking over after Ororo gave up on the kids. Unless...
"Yes, apparently he confirmed it with Professor Xavier last week, seems he was worried about our reaction." Hank McCoy's educated tones confirmed Kurt's suspicions. He grinned weakly at Amanda, who'd paused to look at a painting. This might actually work out; if he introduced her to Beast and Wolverine at the same time, Beast's gentility would soften Wolverine, and Mr. McCoy's appearance would distract from Logan's... well, Logan.
The adults were still talking, "Well she'd better treat our boy right," came Logan's growl. "Or my reaction won't be so nice."
"Feeling protective?"
Logan snorted, "Why shouldn't I?"
Kurt felt a hand on his arm. Amanda had finished with the painting and was listening as well, eyes wide. "Shouldn't we go in?"
"Are you kidding, they're talking about us! In a school with a psychic, this opportunity doesn't come up very often."
She frowned and looked to be about to retort when McCoy spoke again.
"It's not a criticism, just curiosity. You didn't seem eager to tear Lance apart when Kitty dated him, no more than usual at least."
Logan snarled, "Yeah well, if they'd ever gotten real serious. 'Sides, Kitty's an independent kid. If she'd found out I was after her guy, even to scare 'im straight, she'd stick with him just to spite me."
Kurt squared his shoulders and smiled at Amanda. The adults were talking about Kitty now, he could go in without appearing to be eavesdropping.
"Mr. Logan, Mr. McCoy?" He pushed open the door. "This is Amanda, I wanted to introduce you before dinner."
Beast walked up, using one hairy arm for balance and extending the other. "Pleased to meet you Amanda" He grasped her hand gently.
Amanda looked shocked. Kurt frowned, actually, she looked more shocked than he'd expected her to be.
"P-pleased to meet you, uh" Her eyes darted between Mr. McCoy and Logan.
"Hank McCoy at your service, sometimes the students call me 'Beast', which I hope is more due to my fur than my grading scheme."
"Oh, heh, right." Over by the stove, Logan snorted. Amanda started, and then swallowed, visibly composing herself before turning to McCoy with a genuine smile. "You were my favourite chemistry teacher, sir. I probably wouldn't be doing as well in it this year if you hadn't introduced everything."
Kurt relaxed. She was going to be fine.
"Dinner's almost done kid." said Logan, grabbing a loaf of bread from the cupboard, "Maybe you should go grab the Professor."
"Right. Come on Amanda." He grabbed her arm with a grin and waved at Mr. McCoy as they went by.
"Wait, isn't the professor psychic? Won't he know anyway that dinner's ready?" Amanda asked when they were through the door.
"Yeah, but Logan likes to use his own knives."
"What?" When Kurt just grinned at her she shrugged and caught up.
"Pass the milk?"
"I can't believe she said that!"
"Kelly totally has it in for me."
"Do we seriously have training tomorrow?"
"She might let me have a kitten! They are so cute!"
"I will never understand this stuff."
"It's so slick man. You have to try it out sometime."
"I like your bracelet, where'd you get it?"
It took Amanda a moment to realize someone was talking to her. There were so many conversations going on at the long table. Some people jumping from one to the other, Kitty of course juggling four or five. Kurt had been trying to draw Amanda into his conversation with Ororo, but the instructor had been pulled away by a phone call. "Sorry, what was that?"
"Your bracelet." It was Amara; the younger girl had shifted into Ororo's empty seat. Tabitha was swapping the plates with a sly grin. "It's really pretty."
"Oh. Thanks!"
"A bit overwhelming isn't it?"
"Yes!" She glanced at her boyfriend, "I don't know how you can focus on one person with so much else going on."
"You get used to it I guess." He replied, "It used to be a lot quieter before the juniors showed up."
"Oh please, Kurt!" Tabitha had tuned in and was pointing at the boy with a piece of garlic bread. "You're usually the loudest one!"
"Hey, at least I don't make the juice explode!"
"I did that once! And besides, you've ported to the middle of the table just to ask Kitty something."
"You what?" Amanda grinned.
"He did." Tabitha nodded leaning in. "And at breakfast he'll hang from the ceiling to avoid interrupting Logan."
"No I don't!"
"Yes, you do"
"Well, not anymore, I've matured since you left."
Amara giggled. "You did that just this morning."
"Yeah, well, he was grumpy. You melted another coffee pot."
"Melted!?" Amanda and Tabitha asked together.
"I told the professor to get ceramic or glass. And it was a kettle not a coffee pot." "Whatever. The point is there was melted aluminum and no coffee."
"What about the time Kurt tried to tweak his image inducer and the Prof made him look like a girl?"
"Tabitha!"
"Come on Kurt." giggled Amara, "Your girlfriend is over, we get to make fun of you. That's how it works."
"Says you, I-" He stopped, sitting up and staring at the end of the table.
The girls turned, other conversations around the table stopped as Logan stood with a grunt, clutching his forehead. Knocking over his chair, he stumbled from the room. As the students stared Professor Xavier excused himself and followed, passing Ororo in the doorway. When the conversations started up again, they were muted and hurried as the X‑kids tried to puzzle out what just happened.
"Has that ever happened before?" asked Amanda.
"Not exactly," replied Kurt, "I mean, he's always going off on his own, and there was that one time with the chip in his head- "
Tabitha and Amara stared, "The what?"
"But this looked different," Kurt continued, either ignoring or not noticing the younger girls, "He looked like he was in serious pain. What could cause that?"
"Nothing of your concern," Ororo's strong voice carried throughout the room. "Whatever is troubling Logan, the Professor will help him with it. If you are needed or if it is necessary for you to know, then you will be informed. Now I think Kitty has a plan for the rest of the evening?"
"Oh, uh sure Storm." Kitty stood, "Everyone to the vans!"
By the time they arrived, everyone's spirits were back up. Kitty didn't bother opening the door but phased through the front window. "Welcome to the Rockport Park and Arcade!" She cried.
"Alright, roller coasters!" shouted Bobby. "Betcha can't handle the Mega-Drop!"
"I got us a group pass on the Internet." grinned Kitty, "I figured Rockport was just down the road, we couldn't live so close for so long and not go at least once."
The park was everything the advertisements had claimed it would be. The early season meant that no-one had a long wait and even Scott relaxed enough to challenge Sam to air hockey.
They were in line for the Ghoster Coaster when it hit. Rogue was the first to notice anything and had rushed a guy standing near them in line. Shoving him into the wall she grabbed at something in his coat.
"Rogue, what are you doing?" cried Kitty.
"Aha!" shouted her friend holding up what looked like a large smart phone. "What's this? A tracking device? Who are you looking for? What the hell is going on?"
Rather than respond, the unknown man grinned, then screamed bloody murder.
"Help! Help me! They're mutants! Help!"
Rogue stepped back in shock, holding her hands open by her shoulders. "I- I didn't‑"
The man continued to scream, "Help! The mutants are going to blow up the ride!"
Kurt stepped between Amanda and the man, hands spread wide like Rogue's, "Hey man, we're not trying to-"
Instantly the man rushed forward and punched Kurt in the jaw, sending him toppling to the group. At that exact moment a section of the coaster track exploded.
"Kurt!" Amanda knelt by her boyfriend and grabbed his shoulders. He groaned and started to sit up, a hand to his head. She looked up to find the others in the panicked crowd, only to see Kitty get hit on the back of the head by a wooden beam; another section of track was exploding. The operator hit the emergency brake, stopping the cars only meters away from the hole. Some passengers had already gotten off, slipping through the restraints while the car was slowing down. Everyone was screaming and running in all directions. Amanda reached out to stop Kurt from being trampled and was kicked in the chin. She fell backwards, seeing stars, only to be kicked again by the crowd now rushing for the exit. Out of nowhere, a uniformed arm grabbed her around the shoulders and forced her upright.
"Kurt!" she screamed. "Where are you? Kurt!" The shouts of the crowd drowned her out. She pushed away from the security guard who'd helped her up, but was still too dazed to move through the crush of people. Everyone was streaming toward the exit; it was a choice of move with the crowd or be crushed. She fought her way to the edge, reaching it just as she was pushed out of the line-up area. Stumbling out of the crowd she bumped into someone unnaturally warm.
"Amanda?" Roberto turned and waved at a group that was forcing their way back through the crowd. "Over here guys, I found Amanda!"
"Well that's one more." Bobby ran over, skidding to a stop. "Jeez, how many people were in line for this one?"
"The crowd's thinning out, but where're Kitty and Rogue." Sam jumped onto a bench to scan above the crowd. "Actually, where's Kurt? You two've been attached at the hip all night."
"I don't know" Amanda was watching the stragglers desperately, but no one was porting, phasing, or even moving toward them. "I think Kitty's hurt, and Kurt was on the ground, he could be crushed!"
Amara and a Jamie ran up. "You guys need to come quick. One of the other rides exploded right under the controls. We can't find Jean or Scott and Ray's hurt."
Bobby pointed "Sunspot, Magma, stay here and look for the others. Sam you're with me. Jamie lead the way." The three boys took off at a run.
"Who else's missing?" asked Amara.
Roberto turned and started running back to the Ghoster Coaster. "Kitty, Kurt, and Rogue were in line with Amanda. She got out but that's it. Come on."
The loading zone was in shambles: splintered wood from the deck, line dividers, dropped bags, sunglasses, even a few shoes lay scattered. There was no sign of the missing mutants.
"What happened?" breathed Amara.
"It was so quick. I-I don't know what it was." Amanda walked over to what had been the front of the line. "They're not here." She said dejectedly.
"What do we do?" Roberto didn't seem to be asking anyone in particular, Amanda grimaced. He looked as lost as she felt.
"Wait," she silently counted off X-kids, "Amara, where's Tabitha?"
The younger girl was pacing by the operator booth, holding her elbows as though afraid her arms would fall off if she didn't. "I don't know." She admitted, "We were getting cotton candy and heard screams. We tried to go and help, but there were so many people we got separated, I found Jamie where I thought the screams were coming from, but she wasn't there."
"So there's another accident somewhere?" asked Roberto.
Grabbing Amara's hand, Amanda started jogging away from the loading zone. "That's where Tabitha will be, maybe Scott and Jean too." And Kurt, Kitty, and Rogue she tried not to think. If Kurt had ported out he'd try to find her. She wanted him to, but she also wanted him where he was, helping with whatever was going on. The fact that he might not be able to do either was not something she wanted to consider.
They ran through the park for a minute or two, trying to find the areas of greatest chaos. No one paid them any attention, everyone was running for an exit, searching for their own friends, or yelling into a cell phone for help.
"Look!" shouted Amara, pointing off to the side. A crowd was starting to form around the Twister Falls ride. Although the ride itself didn't look damaged, the control booth was a pile of debris and the loading/unloading platform had collapsed. It was impossible to see from the distance what the crowd was shouting at, but they seemed to be getting angrier Flashing lights to the side were park security vehicles. As they got closer the random shouts became clearer.
"Are you trying to kill us?"
"Get out of here!"
"Where's the justice?"
"All you do is destroy!"
"Filthy mutants!"
Roberto stopped in surprise and instantly put up his arms in a defensive pose. Amara grabbed his arm and pulled him into the hostile crowd. "They're not yelling at you. Come on!"
They pushed forward, the mass of people becoming denser and angrier as they went. Finally, when they could barely keep moving through the crowd, they saw an open space around the broken timbers of the collapsed loading/unloading zone. Jean, dripping with sweat that made stripes in the dust on her face, was staring in shock at the rapidly assembling crowd while Scott, who was equally covered in dirt, climbed over the debris carrying a small girl. The girl was passed out, one arm hanging limply.
"What did you do?" shouted a woman in the crowd, "You hurt her."
"No!" cried Jean, "We're just trying to help!"
"They're mutants! They're lying!' yelled a man.
"You killed that girl!" someone else added.
"Who else did you kill?" cried a woman next to Amanda. She shuffled back closer to Roberto.
"We didn't kill anyone!" yelled Jean desperately. Scott surveyed the crowd in shock and confusion, still holding the girl.
"Liar!" An empty disposable water bottle flew through the air towards Jean. Instinctively she telekinetically deflected it to the ground before it hit her. The crowd roared.
"They are mutants!"
"Stop them!"
"Throw them out of here!"
"Mutie scum!"
"Get them!"
More water bottles were thrown, some spilling water on the crowd as they flew, as well as pop cans, flip-flops, other pieces of garbage, even a clod of dirt; whatever the crowd could grab quickly. Scott crouched and hunched over the girl, protecting her. Jean stayed where she was, focusing her attention on deflecting the worst of the barrage.
"Stop! Please, we weren't trying to hurt anyone."
A man stepped forward holding a broken wooden beam like a club. Amanda hid her face behind Roberto, she just couldn't watch this, behind her, Amara gasped. The man raised his weapon, "Lying b-"
With a scream that was almost primal, a blonde figure leapt from the crowd on to the man's back, toppling him forward. Rolling off, Tabitha wrenched the board out of his hands and held it in a batter's stance, glaring at the crowd. "You wanna fight like animals, fine. Bring it on!" She yelled.
The crowd roared again and surged forward. Both Jean and Amara screamed and acted: Jean by throwing up a telekinetic shield between Tabitha and the oncoming mass, keeping the riot at bay, Amara by running forward. Roberto caught her arm just before the shield went up, but Tabitha spotted them. She pointed them out to Jean and yelled to raise the shield and let them it.
"No!" yelled Jean, gritting her teeth, the crowd had started throwing things at the glowing dome, and although shields were relatively easy to throw up, Jean had trouble sustaining them for too long. She shook her head and switched to telepathic communication, They don't know you're mutants yet. She explained inside their heads, including Amanda's who decided now wasn't the best time to point out that she was not in fact a mutant, Just run. Get out of here. Tell the professor.
"But-" started Amara, they could hear siren's at the park entrance, the police would be here within minutes.
Just GO! Roberto and Amanda grabbed Amara and dragged her out of the crowd. When they reached the edge a group of uniformed police officers started pushing their way through. They ran to the other end of the square and climbed on a picnic table to get a better view. Jean had dropped the barrier and was standing limply between two officers. A team of six or seven police and park security had replaced the shield and were forcibly holding the mob back. Tabitha was struggling with another officer who finally wrestled her to the ground and slapped a pair of cuffs on her wrists. Meanwhile Scott handed the young girl, who woke up and tried to cling to him, over to a paramedic who had forced her way through. As soon as he let go of the child, two officers grabbed him and forced his hand behind his back.
"Come on we've got to tell the others." Roberto grabbed a girl in each arm, shifted, and raced out. Amanda was starting to feel uncomfortably warm by the time they were out of sight of the crowd. When they saw police cordoning off an explosion site she was worried about sunburn.
They found the others sitting behind a triage station the paramedics had set up near the blast site. Bobby was speaking with one paramedic while another was checking over an unconscious Ray.
"Roberto! Amara!" Sam rushed over, "Amanda are you okay?" She pushed herself away. Even shifted back, Roberto was much too warm.
"They were just arrested! We couldn't stop it! We have to help them!" Amara sobbed, pounding her fists into Roberto's chest.
"Who? What?"
"Scott, Jean, and Tabitha." Amanda explained, "Jean ordered us to leave," She put two fingers to each side of her temple to indicate the mental link, "I think it was more of a 'keep the peace' thing. The crowd was out for blood. What happened here?"
"The high voltage wires on the coaster were still live and arcing all over the place. He," Sam jerked a thumb at Ray, "tried to ground it so no one nearby would get hurt. I'm not sure if he could have kept it up if the power hadn't cut out. What about Kurt, Kitty, and Rogue?"
She shook her head. "Did anyone call the Institute yet?" she asked glancing at the paramedic. What would happen if they tried to put Ray on a heart monitor? Was it even safe to keep him near medical equipment like this? She wished she knew more about the mutants that made up Kurt's family.
"Yeah I got a hold of Storm, but Bayville's at least half an hour away. Unless they take the jet it'll take them a while to get here."
Suddenly, Ray sat up with a gasp. The paramedic jumped as Amanda and the X‑kids raced to his side. With a groan he leaned back on Sam. The paramedic shook his head and began checking for concussion while Bobby resumed his argument about whether or not Ray needed to go a hospital. Amanda was impressed. For a fourteen-year-old, Bobby made some very compelling points.
The paramedic won. A couple of the others faked concussions or post traumatic shock to get rides in the ambulances. Roberto didn't have to fake anything. The paramedic put one hand on his forehead and confined him to a solitary ambulance on suspicion of contagious infection causing traumatic fever. By the time they reached the hospital it had been long enough since he shifted that his temperature had returned to normal and the triage nurse banished him to the waiting room with the rest. Three hours later they were still waiting on Ray. The waiting room was nearly empty; despite multiple explosions at the park, very few people had gotten hurt, partially due to Ray. Bobby had finally stopped seething at the paramedics in order to argue with the medical technician at the front desk. Sam and Amanda were both on their cell phones, Sam calling Ororo or the Professor for the 6th time and Amanda bribing Lindsay to continue covering for her. Amara was asleep on two chairs pushed together; Jamie, on the floor by her head, alternately dosed or stared at the soundless television as Roberto flipped through channels without looking at the screen.
Finally, Bobby stomped over and fell into a chair. "They want to hold him overnight for observation." He grumbled. "I gave them the Institute's number as guardian contact info, but if no one comes in person with proof of guardianship, they'll have to try calling his parents before they release him. Ugh, I knew we shouldn't have come here!"
"Why? Where are Ray's parents?" asked Amanda.
Bobby groaned, "Philadelphia." He shook his head, "Why are you still here anyway?"
She rolled her eyes at him. It wasn't the first time he'd asked that question, or one like it. "I'm not leaving you like this."
"Uh-huh, prob'ly too late anyway," He grumbled, "You're stuck with us."
"Hey relax," Roberto tossed the remote at Jamie and turned to his friend. "We'll figure it out."
"I'm not so sure man," Sam wandered over, "The Professor says he and Ororo're still too busy to pick us up." He flopped into a chair, "All six of them are in jail now, some apparently pretty banged up, but they won't even let him in to see them."
"At least they're all together." suggested Jamie sleepily.
"For all the good it does," muttered Sam, "Prof just said to call Beast. I couldn't tell him I've been trying. No one's answering at the Institute."
"Oh."
The group was silent again. Amara stirred slightly in her sleep, Bobby glanced at the med tech who was glaring alternately at them and the stack of paperwork on her desk.
"So what do we do now?"
It was Sam who asked the question, but for some reason Bobby looked at Amanda when he answered.
"Exactly what Roberto said. We figure it out."
In the end, Amanda contributed very little to planning the operation. Or at least it felt that way to her. As the only one with enough money in a chequing account, she was delegated to getting cash and calling a cab to get them to the police station. The young mutants had the job of breaking out Ray.
It was a relatively simple plan, while Bobby distracted the technician at the desk, a copy of Jamie slipped back to Ray's room to inform him of the plan, while another stayed within sight of the med tech to maintain deniability. Ray would then short out the local electrics causing the lights to go out, and the two would jump out the window in the ensuing panic to where Roberto and Sam would be waiting. When the med tech left the desk to see what was going on, Amara would cause the computer to overheat, preventing hospital from following up on the missing patient. At least, that was how it was supposed to work.
Amanda had barely been waiting five minutes for the taxi when the alarm sounded, then quickly cut out; Bobby, Amara and one Jamie burst out of the emergency room doors, trailing smoke and looking terrified.
"What happened?"
"It wasn't my fault!" Amara came to a stop next to Amanda and started coughing violently.
"You were only supposed to heat the computer up a little bit!" Bobby's wild gestures were broken up by coughs, "Not melt the whole thing and set off electrical fireworks! No melting was required. None!"
"I tried!" Amara was sounding strained, "I'm not as good with my powers as you are. Why couldn't you just have frozen it?"
"Because electrical stuff likes cold more that it likes heat! It shouldn't have taken anything from you. You could've-"
"Hey, you guys?" Amanda cut in. There was smoke coming out of the hospital door. One or two people had come out, but it certainly wasn't an evacuation. "I think the hospital's still on fire."
"Uh oh," croaked Jamie.
Bobby swallowed and ran in. Amanda glanced at the other two mutants and followed, Amara on her heels.
The emergency waiting room was hazy from the smoke pouring out of the front desk computer. They could see nurses and doctors running back and forth in the back rooms, and the angry med tech from earlier talking frantically on a cell phone, but no one else was nearby. Amanda lunged to the side for the fire extinguisher.
"What's that for?" Amara asked, "There're no flames, nothing to put out."
"So what do we do?"
Amara turned to Bobby, but gasped when she saw him. He had fallen to his knees next to the desk and was coughing so hard his breath came in rasps. As the girls ran to him he raised an arm as through to use his ice, but dropped it as another round of coughs wracked his body.
"The smoke's worse for him, it's drying things out so he can't ice up." Cried Amara, "Why didn't the sprinklers turn on?"
"Probably the same reason the alarm-" at the stricken look on the other girl's face, Amanda stopped and looked around. The computer was still putting out smoke, but it wasn't as drastic as it had seemed at first glance. What she was really worried about were the exposed wires that were still sparking, and the stacks of paper on the desk. It was a recipe for disaster that ice probably wasn't the best fix for anyway. She turned to Amara and draped Bobby's arm around the younger girl's shoulder. "Take him outside. I'll deal with this and meet you there."
Amara looked as though she couldn't decide between being devastated or confused. Bobby started to say something that was lost in coughs so she settled him against her and started toward the door.
It didn't take long for Amanda to unplug the computer, pull the pin on the fire extinguisher and douse the desk, stopping the spray of electrical sparks and cooling the smoking computer in the process. It did however take just long enough for the med tech to come back out and see her.
"You!" She shrieked, pointing. "You were with those freaks that did this! How dare you? This is a hospital!"
"I-I'm sorry, I just-"
"Save it. I've already called the police. I don't care if this is some kind of mutant terrorist thing or just a prank. They can deal with you."
"The police?" Amanda asked weakly.
"Already on their way." Replied the woman smugly.
Amanda dropped the fire extinguisher and ran from the room. This was getting scarier. She'd never been in trouble with the police before, she couldn't get in trouble with the police! She'd end up with a criminal record, which would keep her from going to a good college, and stop her from getting a good job, or doing any volunteering anymore. Even worse, the police would call her parents and they'd find out she was still going out with Kurt. Her thoughts spiraled, and kept coming back to one important fact.
"We have to get out of here!" She shouted at the mutant kids as she ran from the hospital. All six of them were there, seven if you counted both Jamies, Amara bouncing up and down waving at a taxi that was pulling up. "Get in the car! Go! Go! Go!" After practically shoving them into the vehicle, she dove into the front seat. "Just drive." She gasped, "Downtown. Hurry. Please."
By the time they reached downtown Amanda had calmed down enough to direct the taxi driver to the police station that Professor Xavier and the other students were at. Bobby kept trying to interject with his own directions, but as he wasn't familiar with Rockport he kept pointing the driver the wrong way, after the fourth time his friends pressured him into shutting up.
When they arrived at the police station everyone, except Amanda who had held back to pay the driver, rushed inside. By the time she caught up Bobby was back in full debate mode, now trying to convince the desk sergeant to either call Professor Xavier or Professor Munroe, or let one of the kids into the back to find them. He didn't seem any more intimidated by the man in uniform than he had been by the paramedic or technician earlier that night, but his arguments were much less effective this time.
"This isn't a hospital kid," the officer was saying, "We don't do visiting hours."
"But the Professor is our guardian-by-proxy while we're at school. That basically makes them our brothers and sisters. We're not just any guests, we're family."
"If you're saying your parents are too far away to get you, I'm going to have to call Social Services."
"You can't do that!"
"Watch me." He reached for the phone on his desk.
"That will be quite enough." Ororo stepped through the door between the lobby and the rest of the station and walked up to the assembled kids. "What are you doing here?"
Everyone started talking at once
"What happened?"
"Is everyone alright?"
"We tried to call the mansion but-"
"You can't keep these kids here-"
"Tabitha has a record-"
"Where's the professor?"
"Is Scott-"
"What are you-"
"Why did-"
Ororo held up her hands and everyone, including the desk sergeant, stopped talking. "Yes, all of the other students are here, but you shouldn't be. After our last conversation," she nodded at Sam, "I have also been trying to reach the Institute, without success. Therefore I will be taking you all home now." She motioned them toward the exit.
"Why can't the others come with us? Were they arrested?" asked Bobby.
She hesitated for a fraction of a second, "They are being held on suspicion." She replied, obviously not willing to go into more detail.
The desk sergeant didn't have the same kind of tact. "We take terrorism very seriously here." That set off the kids again.
"Terrorism?"
"You can't think-"
"Why would you-"
"Ororo tell them-"
"Enough!" Ororo's eyes flashed, but otherwise her expression remained as calm as before, "Your classmates are suspected of planting and triggering the bombs at Rockport Park earlier today."
"Why, because they're mutants?" asked Ray, interrupting her.
"Because they were present at two of the four bomb sites, had visited the other two within 20 minutes of the explosions, and were recognized as a group from news footage." As she spoke, each word became more clipped as though the explanation left a bad taste in her mouth.
"And because they're mutants." muttered Ray. Ororo shot him a look.
"But Tabitha wasn't at a bomb site," protested Amara, "She was with me."
"Tabitha is charged with assault." The older woman sighed.
"But it was defensive!" cried Amara.
"They were throwing rocks!" Roberto supported her.
"Can't they let her out on bail or something?" asked Bobby."
Ororo frowned, but it was the desk sergeant who answered, "Policy is to classify all mutant crime as terrorism until proven otherwise."
"And it is our policy," Ororo spoke over their protests, "To co-operate with law enforcement until the true culprits are captured and our people proven innocent."
"I thought it was innocent until proven guilty." grumbled Bobby, Sam nodded.
"Whatever your arguments I can assure you Professor Xavier and I have made them or ones similar," She looked pointedly at the desk sergeant, "Several times. For now the best thing you can do is get into the van and let me take you home." There was a collective groan and some sputtering, but Jamie, Amara, and Roberto at least turned toward the exit. "Amanda, will you be calling your parents for a ride? You're welcome to come with us, but it'll be a tight fit."
Amanda swallowed. She'd come up with a plan almost as soon as they'd arrived and had been praying she wouldn't need to use it. "Actually, Professor Munroe, I think I can help."
Of course Ororo had refused. Firstly with the argument that it could cost her father his job, then on the grounds that it could be considered conflict of interest, finally by pointing out that it was already very late and the whole mess would probably be settled in the morning anyway. Amanda could tell that Storm didn't really believe the last one, but she'd nodded and said she'd just call her parents for a ride to save space in the van. Looking relieved, Ororo had started on the seemingly insurmountable task of herding her students into the waiting vehicle. Bobby and Ray had come to the conclusion that the police station was where the action was, so it was where they wanted to be. The runaround they gave their teacher went from kind of silly to truly funny when a torrential downpour had started up, melting the ice caked around the van's front tires. What made it hilarious was that only Bobby and Ray seemed to be getting wet. Amanda could tell that Ororo was giving the "I'll start treating you like adults when you start acting like adults" speech - a standard of parents everywhere - when her dad arrived.
Municipal Budget Director was not an elected position. It didn't have the same caché as a lot of other government roles, and her father often joked that he was nothing more than a glorified accountant. But it meant that he oversaw every bylaw that went through Rockport, Bayville, and Waterton until he knew then by heart. It meant that he signed over payments for buildings and staff of every fire hall, park office, and police station. It meant that when he wanted to walk into a government building like he owned the place and demand to speak to the person in charge of whatever debacle had dragged him to the neighbouring town this late at night, he could.
Except he didn't. Instead, Mr. Sefton ignored the desk sergeant and settled onto the bench next to his daughter with a tired sigh. "Alright Amanda, you want to tell me what's really going on here?"
"I need your help"
"I can see that. But first you need to tell me the truth."
"I told you-"
"No, you told me some ridiculous story about a friend, a friend I don't know, who apparently was blamed for blowing up the Rockport Park, on a night when, if I'm not mistaken, you're supposed to be at the movies with Lindsay."
She winced, "It's true! Well except for the movie, and I'm really sorry, but you have to help him dad. Promise you'll help?"
"Amanda," he warned.
"Promise me you'll help!?"
"Enough. Now no more lies young lady. Tell me what is going on."
She looked down at her hands, So much for getting him to promise before he knew all the details. "It's Kurt." she said quietly.
"Kurt." He repeated his expression hardening.
"And his friends, who you don't know, so I wasn't lying about that." She took a breath and looked up at her father. "I didn't tell you 'cause I didn't think you'd help him."
"You're darn right I wouldn't." He stood, "Let's go."
"What?"
"Put on your rain jacket and come with me. We're going home."
"You can't! You're already here!"
He reached out and held her arm gently, "For you. I will always come for you. But this is not your problem, and it's not my problem. Your mother and I forbade you from seeing this boy, now he's blowing up roller coasters-"
"He didn't do it! None of them did."
"You can't know that. We don't know what goes on in these people's heads."
"They're not terrorists, Dad, they're good people! I know Kurt, he would never hurt anyone."
"He's dangerous."
"No he's not!" she was practically screaming by this point. "I was there. I saw! They never did anything, it was someone else!"
He paused, "You saw what?"
"Someone else. A guy in a black coat. He pushed a button and the track exploded. It wasn't Kurt, and it wasn't Kitty or Rogue either." She took a breath, shaking; she'd never yelled at her father like that before. She could feel tears forming in the corners of her eyes and she shook her head to clear them.
"We'll let the police handle it." He said finally.
"No Dad, you can't. The police aren't doing anything. They only brought them in because they're mutants, I promise you they didn't hurt anybody."
He sighed, took off his glasses and started cleaning them with the hem of his shirt. "I'm afraid your promises aren't worth very much right now Sweet Pea."
"Please Dad. Just go talk to them. Get their side of the story. You'll see. Please." She stared at him. It was so quiet they could hear the Institute van refuse to start in the parking lot, and the fainter sound of heavy metal through the desk sergeant's earbuds.
"Alright." he said, nodding. "But afterwards we're going to have a long talk about honesty."
Getting to the back was easier than she'd expected. Just as before, the desk sergeant rattled off the rules about only lawyers and legal guardians when suddenly her father had cited off eight minor by-law and policy violations, including the sergeant's earbuds, before casually mentioning his weekly lunch meetings with the mayor (which he had) and golf games with the chief of police (which he didn't). The younger man had turned red then white before stammering an apology and pushing a button to open the door.
"Wow, Dad." Said Amanda, awed.
"You spend enough time with politicians you learn to talk like them." He replied, turning to sign them in.
As soon as the door was open enough she took off in search of Kurt. The last time she'd seen him he hadn't been moving and no matter what anyone said she needed to see for herself that he was alright.
The mutants were locked in two holding cells at the back of the station. Kurt, his face bruised and his arm in a loose sling, ran forward to meet her.
"You're alright, you're alright!" she cried, reaching through the bars. He gave her a lopsided grin and let her hand fall into his. From her seat in the back corner Rogue snorted.
"You two are so sappy." she drawled.
"I think it's cute." put in Tabitha from the other cell. "Kind of a jailbird romance."
Amanda looked up in surprise. In addition to Kurt's sling, they all looked slightly worse for the wear. Rogue was nursing a split lip and was holding herself more stiffly than usual. Scott, deep in conversation with Jean and Professor Xavier, was sporting a thick bandage on his forehead and a tensor wrap on his left knee. Tabitha had a gauze pad taped to her shin and several smaller bandages on her arms. By far the worst was Kitty, who lay on the bench behind Kurt with an ice pack under her neck and a damp cloth on her forehead. A large bruise was starting to colour on the arm Amanda could see. "What happened?" she asked.
Kurt shook his head. "I just woke up. I'm sorry I didn't look for you."
"My fault." chimed in Rogue again. "Blue boy here was all dizzy so I dragged him to the paramedics 'case he had a concussion. They gave 'im something for the pain in his arm an' he slept like a baby. Ain't that right, Romeo?"
He shifted, embarrassed, "Hey, I never know how drugs are going to affect my sys- Mr. Sefton!" His eyes grew wide and he stepped back, dropping Amanda's hand like she'd burned him. She rolled her eyes. Her boyfriend was an idiot. After dreading all night that she'd find out he was hurt, all she could think now was that at least he had enough sense to hold onto his image inducer this time. If that made her a terrible girlfriend, Kurt would just have to break up with her later.
"Kurt." Her father greeted him crisply. "I hope my daughter was at least honest with you about who we've allowed her to spend time with?"
"Dad!"
"I-I..." He took another step backwards. Rogue's expression shifted between barely controlled laughter to horrified fascination as she watched. Standing to get a better view, Tabitha mouthed the word "busted".
"That's what I thought." Her dad pointed an accusatory finger into the cell, but was interrupted before he could continue.
"You must be Mr. Sefton." The Professor rolled up and extended a hand. If he'd heard any of the previous exchange he gave no sign of it. "I'm Charles Xavier, head of the Xavier Institute. I must apologize that this incident coincided with Amanda's visit. It is unfortunate that we must meet under these circumstances."
Mr. Sefton frowned at the other man, but he accepted the handshake. "Yes, it is."
"Hey! You can't be back here." A grumpy looking officer walked over, thumb on his walkie-talkie. "Only guardians and legal representative get access to the perps."
"I represent the representative." Amanda's father replied conversationally. "Additionally, as a government administrator, I am curious about how this case has proceeded. How many witnesses have you questioned?"
The officer straightened his spine and puffed his chest. He still had to look up to answer. "We've got a hotline set up. But so far no witnesses who actually saw a bomber have come forward. Sir." He added the last word dryly.
"And now one has." He gestured to Amanda, "My daughter saw the detonator and can ID the person holding it. As well as provide character testimony on the children you arrested." There was a beeping noise, He pulled out his cell phone and checked the screen, "I need your expert opinion on another piece of evidence officer, may we use this computer?"
The shorter man couldn't seem to decide whether to be indignant or curious. He waved at the desk but Mr. Sefton was already sitting, pulling up his e-mail. Amanda and Professor Xavier followed, the rest of the students minus Kitty were standing at the bars straining for a better look. With a few clicks Amanda's dad opened an e-mail from her mother and started up the attachment. Four small windows opened to security footage from the park. Playing at 10x speed they showed the line-up and loading area of each coaster that exploded for half an hour before the blasts. Amanda winced when on-screen Rogue shoved the on-screen bomber, but no one else commented. There was a near simultaneous flash and two of the windows fizzed to static, the other two pausing on panicked crowds.
"Well, that was certainly illuminating," Commented Professor Xavier.
"What?" grumbled the officer, "I've seen this, doesn't show anything new, just the perps going on the rides."
"Yes." replied Mr. Sefton calmly. Amanda gaped at him. "But between the six of them, only one, the young lady lying injured in your cell, was carrying a bag. You've confiscated that bag?" He raised his eyebrows at the office, who nodded, "As well as everything else they carried?" Another nod, "And there was no trace of explosives, residue or related material?" A shake 'no' this time, "So where did the bombs come from?"
"Probably had an accomplice we haven't caught yet."
"Hmm," He nodded absently and restarted the playback staring at the screen, "They are always surrounded by other people, always part of the crowd, if I didn't know exactly who to look for I wouldn't have spotted them, none are behaving erratically or stepping away to hide an explosive."
The officer snorted. "They're mutants. Maybe they turned invisible or hexed the cameras or something."
"Not these students," replied Professor Xavier sharply, "If it would benefit the investigation I can provide third party verified medical records detailing the full extent of each of their mutant abilities." There was a sputtering noise from the cells. The officer snorted again, but more subdued this time.
Mr. Sefton was still watching the screen, pausing and replaying at random intervals. "Amanda," She stepped up.
"Where did you get these?" She whispered, watching on-screen Kurt and Kitty tease her on-screen self onto a ride. "The e-mail was from Mom, but where did she get them?"
"When you called your mother decided to do a bit of digging in case you were telling the truth." He whispered back. "She has a contact in park security from a lawsuit client a couple of years ago."
"'In case'? I was telling the truth."
"But you lied about where you were going and who you were with. When your daughter calls from the police station you start to question what else you're taking for granted. Now," he tapped the screen, indicating the top right window, "Notice anything?" She squinted at the grainy image.
"That's him!" she cried pointing. Both the Professor and the police officer leaned in to look. "That guy just standing there, he hit the detonator at our ride!" As they watched, the mystery man crouched into the seat then ducked out and walked to the exit. The coaster rolled away with no one in the back row.
Mr. Sefton hit pause and leaned back. "It appears you have a new suspect."
"Could be-"
"Furthermore," he stood, forcing the officer to look up at him, "You have no empirical evidence linking this group to the crime. What you have are young people at an amusement park. No jury in the world will believe that as substantial. Will you arrest them for playing video games next? While you waste our time and yours on your knee-jerk reaction, the real culprit, the real terrorist is free to plan his next move. Do you think he'll stop at roller coasters?"
The other man sputtered, turning red. The argument had caught the attention of a few other police officers working late and they had paused in their work to watch. Mr. Sefton's expression softened and he continued in a quieter voice.
"Think about the message this sends. Right now you're demonstrating that you care more about punishing mutant kids than chasing criminals. But think about what this could mean. What they will say about the man who brought down the Rockport Park bomber, before he could blow up anything else. That man would be a hero."
The man sputtered a bit more, and then detached a key ring from his belt loop. "I just want you out of my station. You make too much noise." He grumbled, "Don't you all have work to do?" He shouted at the onlookers, they rushed to appear busy, a few still watching with backwards glances.
He opened the cell holding Kurt, Kitty, and Rogue first. Not wasting any time Amanda rushed in and threw her arms around her boyfriend. He hugged her back, carefully at first, mindful of his injured arm, then stronger. Rogue gave them a shove as she walked by, half supporting-half carrying Kitty.
"Yup, totally sappy. Your dad's badass though." She said with a smirk. Amanda looked up and grinned. Her dad was currently talking to Professor Xavier which she took as blanket permission to not let go of Kurt. Just past the door, Rogue paused and looked back. "About what I said earlier, you can hang with us anytime."
"Do I want to know?" asked Kurt.
"Probably not." Amanda couldn't stop grinning. She wanted nothing more than to kiss Kurt right now, but she was not kissing him in front of her dad.
As though he could read her thoughts, Mr. Sefton placed a hand on her shoulder. "Come on. We're leaving now. And you," Kurt's eyes grew comically wide, "Stay away from my daughter." He towed her out of the cell. Kurt stayed where he was until Scott yelled at him to get his head out of the clouds.
They watched the fallout on the news. Sunday night a man named Gregory Montcalm was caught trying to cross the border to Canada with 100lbs of industrial fertilizer (labelled as sawdust) and a box of electronic parts matching the detonator used at the Rockport Park. The news anchor said the border guard had recognized him from witness description, which Kurt guessed had to be Amanda's as the Institute students hadn't been called back to the police station, even as witnesses. He couldn't wait to see what her reaction to the news would be.
He'd been trying to get a hold of her all weekend, she didn't come online, wasn't responding to e-mails, and her cell was disconnected. A pool had started up to guess where she was; currently best odds were she was grounded until graduation, ten to one that she was being sent to boarding school in Vermont. Ray was betting on moving in with her Grandmother overseas. Tabitha, who had been granted bail after another half hour of Professor X's negotiations while the students crowded the police station lobby, jokingly suggested that Amanda was just sick of them all until Amara made her stop.
For his part, Kurt had been given a stern lecture for not informing the teachers that Amanda didn't have her parent's permission to visit the Institute; stern, but obvious throughout that the Professor at least had suspected the truth. It was also made clear that Amanda would always be welcome to come back. Ororo had even hugged him afterwards and told him to be careful.
Finally it was Monday. Beast and Logan showed up just in time for breakfast, disheveled, tired, and with mud on the Blackbird. Rogue and Kitty tag-teamed and were finally able to pry "SHIELD" out of Logan as an explanation. Mr. McCoy just said that if they needed to know he'd tell them and it sounded like the students had a lot more fun on their adventure anyway.
Nerves had overtaken excitement by the time he was waiting to walk to school with Amanda. They hadn't really agreed to meet up today, he was just standing at the spot they just usually caught each other. What if she didn't show up? What if she really was on a bus to Vermont right now? He was so nervous he nearly ported away in surprise when she tapped his shoulder.
"Hi."
"Hi." They hugged, but she pulled away sooner than usual. He took her books and stacked them on top of his own.
"You sure you should be carrying those?" she asked, gesturing to the tensor bandage on his wrist.
He shrugged, "It's just a sprain." She seemed even more nervous than he'd been earlier. "Are your parents mad?"
She smiled and held his free hand, leading the way to school, "They were already pretty mad at you. Getting arrested for terrorism wasn't going to help."
He groaned and let her pull him along; she was setting a pretty quick pace. "So now you're even less allowed to see me?"
"If that's possible," She nodded absently, checking over her shoulder. "And I'm super grounded."
"Amanda, look," He stopped suddenly, she stumbled from the sudden resistance from his hand, "I can't keep coming between you and your family."
"What? Kurt, no," She shifted and looked around hurriedly, "Can we talk about this later?"
"I just-"
"Hey look guys!" Came a voice from behind a pick-up truck, Jake stepped into view as Clay Silvers hopped down from the passenger seat and Toby Allen stood up on the flatbed, flicking a cigarette at the ground. "The freak and the furrie. Problem is, I can't tell which is which."
"Does it matter? They all hate normal humans. We gotta teach them respect." Clay cracked his knuckles.
Kurt was kicking himself. How could he be so stupid to stop in front of the parking lot!? Of course Amanda had been scared. He stepped in front of her. The bullies were between them and the school building and he did not like the balance of 3 against 2, especially with his sprained wrist. He reached back for Amanda's hand. "I'm getting us out of here." He whispered.
"No don't!" she hissed, stepping back so he couldn't reach her, "We're on school property, you could get expelled!"
The three seniors laughed, "That's right mutie. Without your powers you're as helpless as your little slut there."
"That's funny." Everyone turned to the truck, Jake's eye's widened in shock. Bobby stood on the roof of the cab holding a large rock above his head, "Because I don't need any powers at all to bust your windshield."
"Drop it," growled Toby.
"Poor choice of words, man" Ray climbed up beside his friend, holding two rocks of his own.
"Get off my ride freak!" shouted Jake.
"Sure thing," the younger boy replied. He pointed with the rock at the school, "Start walking."
The stand-off lasted less than a minute. Jake spat a glob of phlegm behind him, it landed less than two inches from Kurt's shoe, and shrugged. "Got to get to class anyway. This isn't over, Drake."
Only once the older boys had reached the door, flipping off the mutant kids as they went in, did Bobby and Ray hop down from the truck.
"Well that was fun." remarked Ray casually.
Tabitha and Amara ran up behind Kurt and Amanda, "Aw, did we miss it?" whined Tabitha.
"How did you know?" asked Kurt.
Amara grinned, "That guy from Tabby's geography class texted her that Clay and his buddies were going to set a trap for someone this morning. We figured it was probably Amanda and sent her an e-mail"
"And you didn't tell me?"
"I-I didn't think anything would happen." stammered Amanda.
"Always trust nerdy geographers." said Tabitha sagely, she nudged Amara with her hip and winked. "I think he has a crush on me. Anyway, good thing the boys were here early."
"You mess with one of us you mess with all of us, right?" Bobby and Tabitha fist bumped. Suddenly the warning bell rang. "Oh man, we're going to be late!" The four of them started running for the school.
Kurt laughed, "You know what, your dad's right. I am dangerous."
Amanda linked arms with him and started walking to the school, "Yeah, but your family's bigger." She grinned at his questioning expression. "You heard Bobby, I'm one of you now. You're stuck with me."
Epilogue:
"You're sure about this?"
"It was your idea, but I'm all for it."
"Because we don't really have a winning streak with this."
"Third time's the charm?"
"Didn't work for Star Wars."
"Please tell me you're not going to make me do this on my own,"
"I wou-"
"Because for one thing, I don't speak German. If you chicken out I'll just end up making a fool of myself."
"You'll be great. They'll love you. My mom may try to feed you though."
"Through the Internet?"
"Through the mail."
The computer chirped, Kurt clicked the 'Accept call' button and the screen filled with video feed of a cheerful couple sitting at their kitchen table.
"Mutti, Papa, this is my girlfriend Amanda."
"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Wagner."
"Oh Kurt, you did not tell us she was so pretty!" Mrs. Wagner turned to her husband, "Wie schnell können wir seine babyfotos?"
"Mutti!" Kurt groaned. "Keine babyfotos! She doesn't speak German, you're only being embarrassing to me."
Kurt's dad guffawed, his mom winked toward Amanda "Of course we are. What did you think we would do?"
Amanda giggled into her hand. Third time's the charm she thought.