Monster's Night Outaas
A Part of the Second Chances Story Arc
By Mandy Lever
"So, just why are we going to the mansion when it's been gutted, sir? I mean, is it safe?"
The sun was just rising as the kids all helped out packing the car for the day's coming road trip. The morning was somewhat dismal - the clouds from last night's rain weren't quite cleared, and the sun hadn't quite broken through yet.
Perfect
for Halloween, thought Sean. But he had to answer Everett's question."Because, Everett, the X-Men are family," Sean said as he packed another cooler in the back, "an' sometimes we need tae be reminded of it."
"So, exactly what are we going for? A big dinner for Halloween, and games and costumes and stuff?"
Sean smirked a little. "Aye. And, it's sort of a 'welcome home' for a few old friends."
Everett arched his brow as he hefted one of the boxes. An overnight party at the mansion. complete with old friends of Mr. Cassidy's. Maybe that would help him get over that funk he'd been in during the past three months. The pair had been packing the blazer for almost an hour now, while Angelo and Paige packed the second car - a plain, pale blue mini-van.
With the last bag in the blazer, the two looked over at the backup van. Sean would be driving the Blazer, with Gayle, Jonothon, Jubilee and Everett as passengers, while Angelo would be driving Monet, Paige, and Penance in the van.
"How goes it?" Sean called over, and Angelo and Paige looked up from putting Monet's admittedly weighty overnight bag in the car.
"Almost ready." Angelo called back. "We just gotta get Penance into the back, after we get these bags in place."
Sean nodded, and then looked at Everett, putting a hand on the young man's shoulder. "Thank ye, Everett, ye were a good help. Now go help Angelo and Paige finish with that, will ye, and then we'll head out."
Everett nodded and moved off. Sean watched the boy go, and then looked across the quad. Monet, Jubilee, Jono and Gayle, who'd all gotten out of packing for one reason or another, were all waiting for the call that they could get in and begin the six-hour drive to Westchester. It wouldn't be that long, but it was long enough that some had grabbed headsets, books, and other little things to entertain them. And, at eight o'clock, when the last bag was put into the van, and Angelo worked at coaxing Penny in behind it, Sean gathered the rest and got them into their respective vehicles. Perhaps it was going to be a long drive, after all.
In the Blazer, Jonothon, Everett, and Jubilee crammed into the back seat while Gayle sat up front. She gazed quietly out the window, as she secured her hair in a ponytail with a pale green scrunchie.
"So, who are the friends that you're going to get to see? Other X-Men?"
"Aye," Sean said as he got the car started up. "Kitty, Kurt, an' Peter. Kurt an' Peter joined the X-Men back when I did, an' Kitty followed sometime later. It'll be nice tae see them an' have them closer now that Excalibur has been disbanded."
Gayle suddenly gave him a sharp look—anyone from England knew about Excalibur and their many exploits. "They disbanded?"
"Aye," replied Sean again, but thought nothing of the pensive look that she turned in to the window. "Ye situated back there?" He called back to the trio crammed in the back.
Muffled replies of "Yeh, yeh," drifted forward in response.
Sean nodded, and then headed out of the driveway, Angelo following in the van close behind. As Jubilee started up her 'driving chatter', the kids settled in for the long drive ahead, and Sean just kept himself occupied with thoughts of a nice, cold beer with Kurt and Peter and some relaxation away from the kids, if just for a moment or two.
* * * * * * *
Sitting on the porch, Ororo, Kurt, Logan, and Piotr awaited one of the final arrivals. "And there he is," Kurt said softly, his yellow eyes glittering as he watched the two cars pull up in the drive and stop, "So strange to have all of the 'second genesis' here, except for Shiro and John." From the van came a gray-skinned young man that rushed to the back - and threw open the doors - and was almost run over by a streak of red and black which darted for the treeline.
"And it seems that the fourth generation of mutants is just as varied as the rest of the students that Xavier had gathered the first three times." Ororo noted.
Logan nodded quietly, and a smile touched his lips as he saw Jubilee and her companions piling out of the car. However, his nostrils flared and he caught a new scent.
"They've got a new girl in the brood, it seems," he said, as he took in her scent. His eyes darkened. There was something… wrong with that girl, and he didn't like it. She carried decay and pain in her scent.
The rest of the kids began to unload the car while Sean got out. Logan pointed out for Piotr and Kurt a gray-skinned youth in particular, with whom Sean was speaking with. "Angelo," he said as the three men looked on, "a good kid."
Logan surmised - headmaster and student were having a few had a few words about the girl who'd just darted for the treeline and Sean didn't seem to particularly pleased. Angelo went trudging after her as Sean came up the stairs, leading the kids with their overnight bags and their coolers and bags the mansion.
* * * * * * * *
"Madre de dios, Penance…"
The first thing that Angelo wanted here was lunch. Lunch, after driving six hours. Oh, and to find a bathroom after imbibing three jolts over the said six hour drive. Not to mention a smoke—Paige and Monet refused to have him drive and smoke at the same time. It's what he got for being packed into a car with three girls - two of which were anal about not smelling like cigarette smoke when they greeted the X-Men. If he could, they certainly could.
What he didn't want to be doing was to be chasing after the most mysterious Generation Xer, who had promptly dashed for the woods after getting out of the van. Honestly, he could understand why—hell, he wanted to run and stretch his legs! Just… not out into the middle of the woods.
As he trudged, he did pull out a cigarette and his lighter. Might as well light up now, since McCoy had made the mansion a 'smoke free' environment. So you be could be assaulted by Sentinels, bashed by Zero Tolerance, but lung cancer was out of the question.
Finally, the rustling in the bushes clued him off. There was a quiet sound, and then a brick-red face poked out of the bushes.
He glared down at her, his luminescent blue eyes meeting hers. "Christ, Penny, c'mon back. There's no reason to go running into the woods here. Everything's okay." She crept from the bushes, tilted her face up to his, eyes intent on his expression, then looked toward the mansion and then back at him, that childlike face unreadable.
"Yes, Penny. Back to the mansion."
She didn't move.
Angelo made a low, frustrated sound, and said, "Penny, c'mon, Señor Cassidy is going to be all over my punk ass for lettin' you get over here in the first place. You need to come with me."
She still didn't move.
Finally he threw up his hands, and began to stalk back to the mansion. Penance would move when she wanted, and eventually, she'd return. They should have sent Jono or Jubilee after her. After all, she responded far better to either of them then she did to him.
The Latino boy just sighed heavily, and stalked off. Maybe if he had noticed the yellow eyes peering back at Penance, he would have realized why she wouldn't move.
"Stupid. But you know, don't you, shadow-child?" rasped the voice that belonged to the yellow eyes. "Yes. You know. Go after the Grayling. Only we true monsters will be out tonight."
Penance did not respond. She simply watched the yellow eyes till they vanished, and then bolted for the mansion, catching up to and then passing Angelo with ease.
And from the woods, Marrow laughed.
* * * * * * * *
Sean was satisfied when he saw Penance dart back to the van, but frowned a little as she scrambled under it and Angelo couldn't coax her back out. With luck, the girl would eventually come out and he idly hoped that her razor sharp spines of hair didn't damage anything in the undercarriage.
"She was… all weirded-out, Señor Cassidy." Angelo said as he walked up to the stairs, dropping his finished cigarette in the drive and crushing it out. "I think someone or something was out on the grounds."
"It was probably Sarah." Ororo said with displeasure. "During the day, she skulks either the lower levels or the forested area at the edge of the grounds." Ororo made a vague sound of disgust. "Were it not for your students and… the White Queen's involvement in the initial encounter that alerted us to Gene Nation's presence, we would have sent her to you."
Sean idly thanked every saint he knew of that she hadn't. The last thing he wanted to deal with was a psychotic Morlock. He had enough trouble with autistic geniuses, boys with no faces (but plenty of romantic problems), and girls who feed on their classmates' genetic marrow. "I think we've got our hands full now with our current class, Ororo," Sean offered gently as he watched Penance for a moment. The girl's pale blue eyes shown out from beneath the van, but she wasn't coming out anytime soon.
Angelo looked up to his teacher, saying "I think she'll come out in her own time. Unless you want me to grab Jono? She always reacts well to him…"
"Nae, Angelo, as ye said, she'll come in her own time." He smiled to Ororo thinly, ill-concealed weariness coloring his tone. "But I doubt she'll come intae th' house."
"Which is probably a good thing, considering all the expensive furniture," Angelo drawled as he headed into the mansion. "Lunch on yet?"
"Aye. They're all inside eatin'. Go join them. I'll be inside in a moment." Apparently dismissed, Angelo vanished into the doors of the mansion.
Ororo looked at Sean quietly. There was no deep bond between the African and the Irishman, no camaraderie like there had been between her and Piotr, or she and Kitty. But regardless, she murmured, "Sean? Is all well at the Academy? You seem… worn."
He nodded, remaining silent. "Aye. It's not been…easy. Being alone with the children an' all."
She moved closer over to him, laying one hand on his shoulder. "If you need assistance, Sean, you know you need but ask."
He gave her a brief smile, and then said, "An' ye know that if the X-Men need us, we're here for ye. Even as teacher and students, we can still do whatever we can for you."
A smile touched her lips, and she turned her cat-like eyes to the mansion. "So, shall we wait for your errant charge to come out from under the van, or shall we trust her to come inside eventually?"
"Penance can take care of herself. I'm sure she'll make herself known when she's ready," Sean looked down at the shadowy form underneath the van, her blue eyes staring blankly across the grass. No, she wouldn't be joining them anytime soon.
Sean offered his arm to Ororo, and the pair walked up into the mansion where lunch - and the chaos that accompanied any gathering of the students of Xavier's dream - awaited them.
* * * * * * * *
Piotr, Kurt, and Kitty all watched with quiet awe as the students began to converge and unpack in the kitchen. "Were we ever that young?" Kitty asked the pair of former Excaliburites as they watched the kids pack.
"Some of us still are, Ms. Shadowcat," Kurt offered with a playful twitch of his tail.
"I'm twenty-one, Kurt!" she retorted. "Hardly… These kids. Jubilee's fifteen!"
"And how old were you when you joined us, Kitty?" Kurt again offered. Kitty scoffed and then just leaned back as they watched the chaos unfold.
"Has it been so long? That we can watch them and marvel at their youth and vigor?" Piotr asked quietly, as he looked on at the team.
"Makes you think back, doesn't it?"
Kurt nodded quietly, his dark lips quirking up in a smile. "We'll have to welcome them. After all, all of Second Genesis and … what are they? 'Fourth Genesis'?" he asked, arching a brow over one golden eye. "Regardless, we haven't quite welcomed them as they should be."
"If Bobby were here, he'd prank them into oblivion," Kitty observed with a wry grin.
"Ah, I doubt Kurt was thinking anything so crude," Piotr amended. "Were you?"
"Nein, mein freund." Kurt said as he looked over the group. "We'll simply have to make them feel at home. Llet them know that they are part of the extended X-Family."
Kitty nodded, a smile crossing her lips. Then, she tugged on the arms of both men, and says, "C'mon, lets go see Sean. I think I've got an idea that just might work…"
* * * * * * * *
Oblivious to their audience, Generation X went on with the chaos around then. Jubilee and Ev unpacked the coolers, putting the stuff for the evening's festivities into the fridge, and then laid out the pre-made sandwiches for all to consume. Monet, Jono, and Gayle skirted the edge of the kitchen - the first refusing to do such menial tasks, the second being moody about his lack of ability to eat, and the third apparently on principle.
Once everything was laid out, the table's chairs were suddenly taken up but all of the students, who proceeded to munch and converse among themselves.
Jubilee watched Gayle as she took up a sandwich and unwrapped it, curiosity showing plainly in her gaze. "Hey, uh, Queenie," she began, "does food, like, uh… do anything for you? I mean, like, does it fill you up, or are you simply a 'Soylent Green' typa girl?"
Gayle fixed her with an odd look, and said, "'Soylent Green'?"
"What Jubilee is trying to ask you, Miss Edgerton," came the cool voice of Monet as she nibbled delicately on her sandwich, "is if you gain any sustenance or nourishment from anything other then Jonothon's psionic energies." Gayle looked over, and there briefly seemed to be a battle of wills between the haughty Englishwoman and the doubly-haughty Algerian. But in the end, Gayle's eyes flickered away.
"No, I don't. It's a psychological thing, I suppose. I eat because I want to."
Jubilee ahhed and nodded, going back to stuffing her face messily. Everett rolled his eyes at her antics, and then asked, "So, what are we going to do tonight. Does anyone know what's actually planned?"
I plan on avoidin' the 'ole bloody affair. Jono muttered inwardly, leaning against the counter sullenly.
"Well, that won't be anything different from what you do at school, Jonothon," offered Paige brusquely from the table. "So it comes as no surprise to anyone that you'll do it here."
"Fangs in, chica," came Angelo's voice before Jono could respond. He finally made it inside, to the sandwiches, the bathroom, and a nice, cold drink. With everyone half done with their respective sandwiches and clustering around the table, he had to stretch a tendril of skin around them all and lash it around the one marked 'A. ESPINOSA'.
Paige gave him a quiet look, and then shrugged a little. "Just pointing something out."
Angelo let out a low sigh, and Jubilee and Ev exchanged looks across the table. Finally, Jubilee looked away from Ev, gesturing with her sandwich as if it were a pointer. "Dude, Hayseed, we love you and cherish you but we don't want you airin' your dirty laundry and stuff, since you and Yorkshire went splitsville."
Wasn't nothin' to go 'splitsville', Jubilee. Just wot was in Paige's bloody imagination. Jono retorted, and then stalked off, leaving the kitchen to wander down one of the hallways.
"Fuck. It's no wonder you two never got on." Gayle said sharply, and thenrose from her chair and wandered down the opposite hall.
Angelo looked over a glowering Paige, an aloof Monet, a smug Jubilee, and Everett, who looked like he's rather be just about anywhere but at the table. "Fine. I'll go after him." He growled, as he got up from the table and, forgetting his barely touched sandwich behind, headed after Jono.
Ev looked over at Jubilee, Paige, and Monet, and then took a slow breath. "Someone ought to… y' know… try and make her feel welcome too, you know. Instead of," he dropped his eyes under Paige's glower, " you know, just bickering around her and over her." He rose from the table quietly.
Jubilee reached out and caught his hand. "You sure you wanna do that, Ev? I mean…"
He nodded solemnly. "Yeah. I do. Don't worry. I don't think she's gunna bite 'r anything." He gave a somewhat weak smile, and then began to slipped away down the hall.
Paige just sighed. "I think I'm going to go find Sam." She said simply, as she rose from her seat, and headed shortly after Gayle and Everett.
This left Monet, who finished her sandwich nonplussed, and then looked across at Jubilee.
"Hey, if you think I'm gunna either comfort you or fight with you, you gotta 'nother thing comin', M."
Monet shook her hair silently, and rose from the table, cleaning up after herself briefly, and then turned and said, "I don't need your company at all, Jubilation. Good day." And with that, she strode down the hall that Angelo and Jono had vanished down.
Jubilee just sighed softly, and shook her head. "Yeah. Great way to re-present the team to the mansion, Jubes." She muttered to herself as she looked over the now empty table.
* * * * * * * *
"Hey! Amigo! Slow down, man. You're the only one here with longer legs than me!" Angelo called as he stalked after Jono, catching up to the British mutant not shortly after he'd headed into the spacious back yard.
Shite. Wot do yer want?
"Nothin', really. Just makin' sure you're not being all sulky and gothlike while we're under the fierce scrutiny of the X-Men."
Jono glanced back at Angelo, to make sure he was joking. Fortunately, from his expression, he was. So he merely rolled his eyes and stalked to the treeline, where he stopped and dropped into a slouch onto a stump.
"Look, about Paige-"
I don't want t' 'ear it, Jono snapped irritably. There was nothin' between us. Nothin'.
"I could be a real smart ass, and tell you that you sound like you're trying to convince yourself that, but then, you'd probably just punch me for it."
Prob'ly.
Angelo gave another beleaguered sigh. "Listen, I'll be straight with you. That's total shit."
Jono turned slowly and regarded his Latino companion with cold eyes. Oh. Really. Do tell, Dr. Espinosa.
Angelo brought out his lighter and slowly lit up - might as well enjoy another cigarette, even if he didn't get to finish his lunch. "Well, shit, we all know Paige had a thing for you. And everyone knew you felt something bad, even if it wasn't 'love', per se," he said between drags.
Oh. I see. Any other great bits of wisdom to share wit' me?
"Yeah—," Angelo replied in a displeased tone, "quit being such a lousy fuck over it." ignoring Jono's warning growl, he continued, "we did not fuck up your relationship. You and Paige did that all on your own." He paused, and then added, "which, by the way, was a relationship. A rollercoaster one, but one none the less."
A lot of relationship advice from someone 'oo 'asn't been involved with a gel in two years, Jono said dryly, folding his arms over his chest.
"Not for lack of trying, amigo," Angelo muttered under his breath.
There was a moment of tense silence. Jonothon sat, arms still folded over his chest, glowering at everything he surveryed in general white Angelo simply finished his cigarette.
Then, the harsh laughter started.
Both turned their heads toward the tree, where the finally noticed the lanky, feminine form up in a twisted oak not far from the pair. "What a couple of soft-skinned, ugly fucks you are," she grated, as she leaned forward in her seat, grinning like the cat who ate the canary. "Morlock on the outside, upworlder on the inside. The worst kind of mutant."
Angelo straightened immediately, and Jono also sat up, looking over at the strange (comparatively, anyway) mutant that had made her presence known. "Just look at you," she continued blithely. "Pathetic. Blind. Soft." She sneered at Angelo at that last word.
"Well, at least we're not sociopaths, like some mutants we know, eh, 'Marrow'?" Angelo drawled, as he sent his cigarette butt flipping end over end at her. Her arm blurred - there was a ripping sound, and then a swish - and then the butt fell, sliced in half, as Marrow grinned.
"Wanna try again? I bet I can hit anything you toss at me."
This is not 'ow I wanted t' spend the day. Not t'day.
"What… Halloween some special day to you, Upworlder?" Marrow mock-cooed as she lept from her perch. Jono merely shrugged his shoulders.
Maybe.
Angelo simply sighed - he felt Jono's mind touch his, and over the private contact, the Latino urged, Don't let her play with you, hermano. She's a sick, sick fuck.
I think I can 'andle 'er, Ange. 'specially if she's playing nice with the X-Men, came Jono's terse reply.
Marrow watched them quietly—saw the glances. "Ah. You're a 'Chuckie', like the red head and the nimbo. Talking quiet-quiet to softskin there." The Morlock said as she circled the pair.
Wot's it t' yer, sunshine?
She idly flipped a bone blade, the one she'd cut the cigarette in half with, end over end. "Not much. It's really too bad, though. You look like Morlocks. You might even have what it takes to be Morlocks. But you're not. You're soft-skinned, pasty-fleshed, weakling upworlders, playing at being human," she sneered as she eased herself from the branches and came toward them.
I'm not playin' at bein' anythin'. Jono stated, ignoring Angelo's glower, and continued to reply to the bony Morlock's comments.
"Looked in the mirror lately, 'sunshine'?" Marrow growled in return. "You're nothing but a mask-wearing hypocrite." She shook her head, as she turned and began to walk away. "Better stay inside tonight, boys. This is the Monsters' night out - the Morlocks' night." She then paused, as an idea struck her. "Unless you want to play at being a Morlock. See how long you last…"
Before Angelo could stop him, Jono said, Yer on. Name the time and place, sunshine.
Reaching down that mental link, Angelo practically screamed at Jono as he looked between Morlock and Englishman, shock coloring his features. ARE YOU NUTS!? Jonothon—she's a psychopath! I've SEEN what she's capable of!
Jonothon's answer left the other young man cold. Angelo, did I ask fer a nursemaid?
Marrow grinned widely. "I knew one of you had to have some stones!" she crowed, as she turned fully.
"Fuck that. I'm not letting you go with her, Jono. You're outta your head."
Then it was a stare down between the Generation Xers.
Jonothon turned, his dark brown eyes boring into the strange, luminescent blue of Angelo's, and then he spoke.
"I'm coming with you."
It was the closest to a compromise as they could come. Cheers, was Jono's only reply, and then the both looked at Marrow.
"Outside. Sunset. Alone. No others. They're Upworlders inside and out. Only the Monsters run with me." And with that, she sprinted into the underbrush, leaving the two young men alone.
* * * * * * * *
"Stupid bloody plonker, getting all involved with that," CRACK!, "blonde bint!"
Gayle, in her wanderings, had apparently discovered the game room, surmised Everett as found her. Looking in, she was being rather brutal with the cue stick and chalk, before moving about the table to choose her angle. "Hey."
She didn't look up as she leaned over the table, her eyes zeroing-in on the ball that now apparently represented all of her frustrations. The cue stick lanced across the table, sending it spinning toward the eight ball she'd aimed at. "Can I help you?" She asked, looking up, her voice taut and angry.
"Uh," Everett began quite lamely. This was going to be harder then he expected. He was normally much better at being the supportive, caring one. And here he was—floundering and doing about as well at this as Jono had done with Paige.
Of course, the fact that the woman before him was a genetic draining Emplate, and he'd spent that some time himself as such a detestable creature—
No, she wasn't a creature! No more than he had been.
"You don't have to do this, you know." Gayle said, her lips pressed into a thin line as she straightened, setting the butt of the cue stick on the floor. "I don't expect you to put aside your… trauma. But thank you for the effort."
He hadn't expected her coldness. Once before, when he'd talked to Jubilee, just before this trip, she said that Angelo had told her that Gayle was okay. But this razor tongued, cold-hearted woman seemed nothing like the person whom Jubilee described. Of course, he hadn't seen any of these good traits first hand—so how could be sure?
He resolved himself to try and give her a second chance. "Look, I didn't mean to—"
"—Mean to what? To come in here and try and ease your fear of me?" she snapped sourly. "To remind me you, and the rest of the class, think of me as an invading monster? That Angelo's the only one who's treated me with any decency?"
"Hey, now, stop it!" Ev snapped back. He didn't often feel his temper rise, but Gayle was getting him riled, and easily so. "I am giving you a second chance. Which is what, as ANY human being does, you deserve. Or are you going to tell you are a monster?"
She looked at him for a moment, her eyes hard. He met her gaze evenly, eyes not judging. Finally, hers dropped. "I'm sorry. This has just been… stressful."
He nodded, and then frowned a little. "I… I can't say I'm comfortable with you. Your presence means… too much to me, in the wrong ways. But, I'm willing to give you a chance. Not all of us are going to treat you like crap just because of Paige and Jono… and Emplate."
She nodded quietly, her eyes still riveted to the pool table. She could probably categorize the type of felt, count all the scuffs in it, and name the company that produced it, if she stared at it any harder.
Everett just sighed softly. He'd tried. He really had. Hell, he guessed that he couldn't reach just everyone. "I'll leave you to your game."
"Everett?"
He paused in the doorway, looking over his shoulder. Gayle didn't look up at first, but when she did, her expression was that of a kicked puppy. "Yeah?"
"I'm sorry. Maybe, we'll try this again when tensions aren't so high."
He nodded quietly. It wasn't exactly a great start, but at least it was one. He slipped out of the game room, leaving Gayle to contemplate what both had said.
* * * * * * * *
Just where did the boy hide?
Paige had wandered through the length and breadth of the mansion, and still: No Sam Guthrie.
Where had he gone?
After all, Sam had come home from the farm when she had, when Hank and Cecelia had decided to stay to monitor Joelle's condition. She felt bad about making Hank divide his time between his Legacy research and her sister, but…
It was her family. She had to do something to help her sister.
"Looking for Samuel, Paige?"
She jumped and whirled and then realized that the door she just passed led up to the loft. So engrossed was she in her search for Sam, she'd missed it opening—and Storm stepping out.
"Uh, yes ma'am."
"Unfortunately, he's out shopping with Logan for the celebration tonight."
Paige sighed softly. She wanted some time to talk to him—alone, without a lot of watchers. Why? Well, she wanted to tell him about Jono. About Angelo. To ask about Joelle. All of these deeply familial subjects… and she wanted to do it without an audience.
"Is there something troubling you, child?"
Her jaw set, and then she looked into the strange, cobalt eyes of the woman before her. And then she said what had been eating at her ever since she talked to Storm on the phone the night she'd called for Dr. McCoy's assistance. "Ma'am, with all due respect? My name is Paige. Please don't call me child." She'd quote her age but she saw little point in it.
Storm arched one delicate brow, and then nodded. "I'm sorry, Paige. I did not mean to offend." She replied coolly, as she looked Paige over a moment.
The Kentucky-born mutant suddenly almost wished she hadn't corrected Storm. The X-Woman's scrutiny made her distinctly uncomfortable.
"You and Samuel seem to have so much in common. Headstrong, intelligent, and a touch proud." Storm offered with an indiscernible smile.
Paige fought back her blush and cleared her throat. "Well, thank you. I think."
Storm moved graciously aside, and motioned down the hall. "Walk with me a moment, Paige?"
"Alright, ma'am." Well, she couldn't actually tell the leader of the X-Men no, now could she?
"Please, Paige. If I am calling you by name, you can most certainly do the same. I am Ororo."
"Alright, Ororo." Paige offered with a smile, sliding her hands into her pockets as she walked along besides the African Goddess.
"How have things been at the school, PaigeHow are your studies coming along?" Ororo began easily, moving gracefully beside the young woman.
A smile lighting up her features, Paige began, "Yeah, I'd like to think so. I mean, there's always room for improvement, but we're doing really well." She glance over at Ororo who kept her face forward, a strange, Mona Lisa-esque smile still on her lips.
"Really? Sam says you are quite the ambitious student." Ororo offered after a moment.
"Well, m- Ororo, I'd like to think that I am. I want to go places,to do things…" She flushed a little when she realized how lamely vague that sounded. "I'd like to be something to the team."
"The team… as in your peers, Generation X? Or… another?"
Ororo had her pegged. Of course, she'd kept few secrets from her classmates about her ambitions to not only lead Generation X but one day the X-Men at large. "Both." She finally settled on. "Sam started out leading the New Mutants, then was deputy-leader under Cable - and now he's come to the X-Men. I'd like to be able to do something similar."
"Many of your classmates do not share your aspirations, Paige," Ororo nodded, her slim white brows raising in a querulous manner. "How do you deal with their ambitions? Their hopes and dreams on where they want to be someday?"
She swallowed. What was this?! Some sort of test? An Interrogation? Ororo apparently knew of her desires and dreams - was she seeing if she were worthy? Oh God! She was! She had to be!
Paige maintained that cool smile of her own - and tried to banish the tightness in her voice. "Ah- I can understand where they're coming from. Like… Angelo—He came from a world of violence in South Central L.A., and I know the last thing he wants to do in enter the violence of the 'X'-world. I'd never want to force him into anything that'd make him stay, if he -didn't want to." But then, she couldn't think of almost anyone else who she'd want at her back, either.
Ororo nodded quietly, apparently satisfied with her answer. "Remember, Paige," Ororo said as they reached the stairs, "with leadership comes heavy burdens. Never take on leadership for pride's sake. And make no mistake, sometimes you sow more then you reap—and when you reap, the bounty is never solely yours. To lead, there must be someone to follow. Without them, you lead only who you lead everyday. Yourself." Finally, a true smile graced the African's full lips.
"You have much potential, Paige. One day, you may go far. Good luck, and Goddess be with you." With that, Ororo began to stride elegantly down the grand staircase, leaving Paige there, staring after her.
"Ah've never been so damn nervous in mah whole damn life!" she breathed, once the windrider had gone, and then dashed down the stairs to try and find Angelo.
* * * * * * * *
Angelo had tried to talk him out of it three times.
Jono had rebuffed him with 'Sod off', 'Fuck off', and 'Bugger off'. Did the British really need that many ways to say the same damn thing?
Jonothon, for his part, was determined to go. He avoided Gayle. Well, to truth be told, he avoided everyone. Everyone, except Angelo. Who would not be avoided. He seemed to have glued himself to Jono's hip, and Jonothon couldn't shake him if his life depended on it.
Dinner went quickly - out door barbecue. Jonothon suffered the glare of one Sam Guthrie - apparently, Paige had told him about the breakup. Ev and Jubilee joined most of the X-Men is a game of Volleyball, Monet remained studiously aloof, and Gayle did likewise, nursing a drink that Jono could sense was alcoholic by riding her senses and tasting the tang of spirits on a tongue he didn't possess.
As the sun began to set, they began to make their way around to the woods.
Marrow was waiting for them at the gate as the pair navigated quickly down the path. They were so glad the X-Men were otherwise occupied!
"It's about time you two showed up," She snarled. "Take long enough?" she demanded, and then just puts a hand, dismissing any replies and turned her gaze out over the access road. "We've got a long walk ahead of us. So keep quite till we get to the tunnel entrance."
Angelo just lit up casually as Jono arched a brow. Tunnel access?
"Yeah, Tunnel access." Marrow sneered. "What, you thought the subways came out this far? Nope. We're riding a sewer sweeper down."
Angelo didn't seem too put-off by this idea. Jono, on the other hand, made it clear with the grimace that contorted his already-mangled features that he was not too keen on the idea.
And all it served to do was just make Marrow laugh harder.
"What- you think we have a choice? C'mon, Band-aid, Stretch. Time to go… 'trick-or-treating—Morlock style."
Angelo felt his heart sink. He watched, for a moment as Marrow and Jono stalked off, and then picked up the pace to follow after.
* * * * * * * *
Gayle was the first to notice they were gone. She felt their mutagenic imprints leave the campus, having scanning the grounds.
Jono and Angelo were gone.
However, as they were friends, Gayle thought nothing of their sudden absence. They were probably just slinking off to wander down to Salem and do… something Halloween-ish.
Or maybe Jono'd told Angelo about tonight and they'd gone out to do something on their own.
"Shite!" She hissed abruptly as she suddenly remembered. Well, since he was gone, this would be a suitable time to do what she'd planned. She ignored the stares of the X-Men and her fellow students as she put her drink aside and rose from her chair.
"Hey, Gayle, where ya goin' so damn fast?" Jubilee asked as she say Gayle get up and head into the mansion.
"Ah, just remembered something. Someone… needs to have a doubly special Halloween." She smiled a moment, and then dashed inside.
Jubilee looked at Ev, and then at Logan, who sat one to each side of her. And then she shrugged. "Whatever cranks her handle, I guess…"
* * * * * * * *
The ride on the sewer sweeper was, to say the least, unpleasant. The smells, the dampness, the general miasma of the whole place made it a horrible, wretched place to be.
And Jono despised every minute of it. Just as he couldn't stand hot weather, no could he abide sticky, damp weather. And that's what was down in the tunnels. Moisture clung to everything, getting under his bandages and making his mood plummet from 'grouchy' to 'naff off yer tosser before I lob yer 'ead off'.
Angelo, on the other hand, was inured to this sort of thing. He just held on, and didn't say anything. Marrow had to respect him for that much. She could see another pair of survivors when she saw one; though Angelo seemed to have fared better then Jonothon had; he wasn't wallowing in misery, nor starting in with guilt and self-flagellation, but merely… content with his lot.
But eventually, it rolled to a stop. "Bottom floor! Rats, corpses, and sewage! Everybody off!" Marrow cried with glee as she lept easily from the platform they'd rode on to the narrow walk-way below.
Jono snorted as he and Angelo went down a more conventional route. So, wot's first on the list fer this 'monster's 'oliday'? he asked irritably.
"Well, depends. I've something to do. A ceremony."
They looked at her a moment, and then at each other. Angelo was the first to voice what seemed to be their mutual concern. "This ceremony doesn't include gutting humans and nailing them to walls or nothin' does it?"
She arches one brow, and then, after a moment's pause, laughed at them both. "No," She chortled, "But if you want, we can do that later."
Why don't I doubt that? Angelo thought down his two-way with with Jono.
Yer the one 'oo wanted t' play nursemaid. Jonothon replied, but even he had to admit, he wasn't pleased with the current turn of events. He switched to a more 'open' projection and spoke to both teammate and Morlock. So lead on. We'll follow, let yer do yer ceremony, an' be done wit' it.
Marrow paused, and gave the two boys something of a look, and then shrugged idly, as she began to head down one of the tunnels, the two young men following behind her.
* * * * * * * *
She didn't get it.
She'd just… broken up with Jonothon. He'd occupied her thoughts for days afterwards and it was an effort to drive him from her skull.
But she wasn't thinking of him. She wasn't thinking of him at all. She was thinking about Angelo.
The last few months had given Paige plenty to ponder over, and this was just another thing to add, as she lay in the grass and stared up at the sky.
She sighed softly, her blue eyes troubled. Angelo'd really been there for her, the past few months. Even if he hadn't told her about Gayle being on campus all summer.
And he'd been by her side through it all. Through everything. To be honest, she couldn't say that she had a better friend.
And now she began to really wonder just what she felt about him.
She rubbed her eyes irritably once, and then sighed. No. She couldn't think about that. It'd be… a rebound. Yeah. That's it. A rebound.
She groaned inwardly and forced herself to sit up. There was no use sitting and thinking about it. Maybe… maybe she ought to talk to him?
No. She hadn't seen him most of the evening, and it was the general consensus that he and Angelo had probably snuck down to Salem for whatever reason they had. After all, Jono was, what, twenty, twenty-one years old, and though Angelo wasn't even eighteen yet, she didn't worry. He could take care of himself. They could both take care of themselves, right?
Then why was she oddly apprehensive…? Must just be the Halloween jitters, she dismissed. Imagine! Getting all worked up over nothing!
"Hey! Hey Hayseed!"
Paige sighed softly and closed her eyes. Jubilee was the last person she wanted to talk to. After all, the campus had noticed the sweet glances that she'd been slipping Everett. While that hadn't been anything new from the past two years of watching it go on, what was new was that Everett was returning them, along with some cute, shy blushes.
Why did they get to have things go right? Why couldn't they crash and burn horribly and suffer like she was right now?
Well, because apparently they were made for each other.
"What, Jubilee?"
Jubilee rambled as she walked up, to lean over the girl on the grass, grinning broadly. "Listen, Paige, I'm never gunna tell ya how to run yer life 'r nothing-"
"Good."
"But I AM going to tell you to knock it off! It's a party! With the X-Men! And you're sitting out here," and she waved to the lawn, indicating where 'here' was, "and just moping! God, did Jono rub off that much off on ya? Do we gotta de-angst ya 'r somethin'?"
Paige groaned a little. "Thanks, Jubilee, for the sentiment, but I'd rather-"
"Sit here and mope. Yeah. I know." She grinned a little, and reached down to take the hayseed's hands and Paige grudgingly allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. "But ya see, you're in Generation X, while you may suck rocks at romance, ya got friends at least."
"How… inspiring." Paige idly wondered if anyone would noticed if she husked into a rock form and beat Jubilee's overly cheery skull in.
Jubilee reached out and took Paige's arm, and then looked up at her. Jubilee's bright eyes of sapphire met Paige's moody, sky-colored eyes, and the younger girl said, "Paige, get over it. Thing happen. Sometimes they don't work. You learn to cope. One of the things I learned when I was with the X-Men," and before Paige could open her mouth to gainsay her tirade, she continued, "Was that one of the hardest things to hold onto wasn't love 'r passion 'r anything else. It was hope. And Paige, you were so bright and cheery and we all HATED you for being perky. And now we see you… and well, we're about to ready to wrap you up in bandages and put you down in the basement of the girls dorm. You're not Jono. You… you can get over this. He's still stuck. You're not. Right? I mean, Ange adores ya and he's there for ya, we're buds, right, and Ev's your friend… things'll get better…Right?"
Paige stopped as she listened to Jubilee lay her pearls of wisdom at her feet… and then said, very sotfly, as she began to head back to the mansion, "So. What game are we playin' next?"
Jubilee's smile brightened her entire face. "We're bobbing for apples… if Penny hasn't speared 'em all, anyway." Now, all she had to do was to talk to Everett next, and her night would be complete.
* * * * * * * *
The trip deep underground took time. Jono was not quite aware of it's passage, as he did not sleep and as such, had a rather unreliable biological clock. Angelo, on the other hand, did sleep, did have a perfectly working biological clock, and knew it took almost an an hour and a half to get down to where they were headed.
Both of them knew, from class, what this place was. The Morlock Alley stretched and yawned before them, and they could only stand and stare in awe. To think, this placed used to house hundreds of mutants. All freaks and outcasts, just like them.
Then looked at each other, and with Marrow, strode through the inches-thick muck and mire. They could see old bloodstains, the hooks on which the pre-Apocalypse Angel – then carefree playboy, Warren Worthington III – had been held prisoner and maimed.
Jono could sense the energies of the place. This place was deep beneath the earth, and had an almost primal feel. Angelo himself was not unaware of the feelings this place generated, and crossed himself while walking through. It had been home, meeting place, and in the end, abattoir for hundreds of mutants. And it didn't take Doctor Strange to tell you that their spirits were not at rest.
"S-Sarah?"
All three young mutants whirled at the coarse voice, the labored breathing – and saw the broken Callisto, leaning on a crutch for support.
"Light! What are you doing down here, Marrow? And who are they?" The woman demanded, tossing back her wild mane of black hair, one blue eye looking from Jonothon to Angelo.
"I came for the Ceremony of Light, Callisto," Marrow explained as moved quickly over. "You should not be up. The Healer says you still need rest." She moved solicitously to the woman's side but Callisto resisted her aid. "Who are these two?"
"The walking bandage is called Jonothon. The hairless sewer rat is Angelo," Marrow said, pointing her finger at each one in turn. "They are youngling X-Men. Chamber and Skin." Both resisted the impulse to retort some come back as Marrow crudely introduced them.
Callisto's single eye narrowed to a blue slit, and she motioned the two boys over to her nook. They could see the mattress supported by the rusty bed frame, the tattered blankets.
'ullo, Jonothon ventured first, and Angelo followed suit. "Buenos noches, Senora."
Callisto snorted. "Definitely not the wind-riders brood. Who watches you, boys? Not Ororo. You wouldn't talk to me if she was your caretaker." The woman's word with thick with bitterness and pain of both body and soul, as she limped back to her bed and dropped down upon it.
"We study at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters in Massachusetts, Senora." Angelo said. "Under Sean Cassidy."
Callisto seemed satisfied with that answer, giving a single, brusque nod. "Why did you bring them here, Sarah?" she asked the younger Morlock, turning her eyes to her now.
"They wanted to play at being Morlocks for a night," Marrow explained, "So I'm showing them the ropes."
That earned all three of them a harsh laugh. "Lets get a look at you two, then." Marrow stepped aside, so Callisto could more easily scrutinize them with her single, cerulean orb. Angelo was somewhat discomfited by the woman's intense stare, but Jono strangely used to being so inspected.
"You. With the bandages. Chamber. Why do you wear them? What you got to hide, boy?"
The Brit's brows furrowed. Wot do yer got under yer eyepatch? He asked.
Marrow bristled. "Watch your words, upworlder, or I'll remove your nose along with the rest of your face!"
Callisto put up a hand, the other Morlock ceasing her rant before it'd really begun. "No, he's right. So, missing something, eh?" She looked at him a moment, and then asked, a touch softer. "Take them off. There's no need to hide down here, boy. You're among your own kind."
Jono paused, blinking once. Angelo and Marrow both expected him to deny her request, but were equally surprised as his hands went to the back of his neck, to the knots at the back of his neck. A few sharp tugs, and they were undone.
Callisto did not gasp, or look on in awe – there was only the widening of that single, cyclopean orb that indicated that the flickering, blue energy that coruscated where the young man's face used to be had any affect on her.
Then, Callisto's voice echoed through the 'Alley'—in it was the old hints of command and power she'd once wielded over the Morlocks in this place. "Don't replace those bandages until you leave this place. Show your true face here. No one will hate you for it. Here, you are home. Do you understand?"
Oddly enough, Jonothon did. Right. He says simply, and then looked back to Angelo a moment, before letting his brown eyes drop to the concrete.
Callisto's eyes then turned to Angelo. "Come here, boy." He stepped closer, as she sat up, and then reached out one finger slide over his skin and then slip beneath the chain from which his crucifix hung. "Ahh. A good little Catholic boy, are you?" She asked.
He nodded just once, remaining quiet.
She let it fall to his chest, and then looked up at his eyes. She smirked a bit, and said. "Your eyes. His flame. The same, luminescent blue." Angelo's brow arched, and he turned those self-same eyes to the space of flame where Jono's jaw used to be. Callisto was right. It was the same shade of ethereal blue.
"I guess now I should tell you that when he's upset, the flame is yellow and orange, and when I am, my eyes are red." Angelo quipped lightly, and Callisto chuckled. "Ah. Meant to be, then. Must be a sign. Light be with you both. Even if you do carry it in your heart – or in your eyes."
She looked to Marrow. "Take them. Show them what is was to be a Morlock. And then, go to the Cathedral." She paused a moment, thoughtful. "But, Sarah - let Chamber light the room."
Marrow blinked once, and then nodded. "As you wish, Callisto." She went to move away, and then paused. "I will be back for you later."
Jono and Angelo were given a dismissive wave of Callisto's hand, and the pair turned to follow quietly after Marrow. They exchanged one sidelong glance at one another, and Angelo smiled as Jono returned the expression as best he could, eyes crinkling at the corners.
So wot are we going t' do, 'Sarah'? Jono asked as he and Angelo followed toward one of the tunnels.
"First, you call me 'Sarah' again and I'll give you another hole." Marrow growled over her shoulder. "Second, we're going to go 'trick-or-treating'."
I don't think I like the way she says that. Angelo offered, but Jonothon just shrugged.
We're stuck wit' it. She does anything stupid… we'll stop 'er.
Angelo just shrugged his shoulders and fixed his eyes on the Morlock before him as the three of them paced through the sewers toward the 'upworld'.
* * * * * * * *
The costume party was long since over. Sean had retired to his room early. The X-Men were mostly inside, doing whatever is was the X-Men did in the late night, an Everett Thomas was, for once, just… relaxing. He'd eased into the hot tub out by the pool and just… let all the tension from earlier in the day and the soreness from one too many volleyball and basketball games just drain away into the water.
He didn't think about Gayle, or about the funny looks Logan gave him all through dinner, or the goofy things that everyone did at the party. He just sat and existed for a while.
He didn't know how long he'd been in there, water foaming and frothing against his skin, when he heard her voice. "Room in there enough for two?"
He couldn't have fantasized it, could he? No. Not that realistically, and he didn't have those kind of thoughts. Not him. He was Everett Thomas! He was…
He was opening his eyes to Jubilation Lee, in a red and yellow explosion of color that she'd call a swimsuit. French cut on her hips, low cut in the back, and hiding everything in the front, it was almost enough to make him think of Jubilee… in an untoward way.
"Wha?" Well, that was eloquent, Ev, He chided himself briefly, as she stood there, towel over her shoulders.
"Well? Room for two, or is this a private party?" She asks, a slight smirk forming on her lips.
"Sure." He managed after a moment, sitting up, as she dropped her towel and stepped down into the water.
"Living it up at the mansion, eh? I think we need one of these that we don't have to get 'athletic access' to get into." The whirlpool at the Academy had a specific use. To help ease the pain of muscle strain. It was not for any sort of social use; Sean had made that very clear after a few remarks from Angelo.
He chuckled a moment. "It'd be nice." He admitted, as he extended his arms to rest on the rim of the tub. She, on the other hand, only let the back of her head rest on the edge, the rest of her body hidden beneath the churning water.
They remained in silence for a moment, simply relaxing in each other's company. Ev also sank into the water once more, letting his eyes drift close as it bubbled up around his throat.
And then a small hand was on his knee.
This, of course, reminded his dim mind that he was in the hot tub with none other then Jubilation Lee. This got him to come right out of his blissful relaxation with a gasp and a jerk. "Wha?" He asked again, eyes going wide open.
And there was Jubilee, standing in the tub, her hand on his knee, trying to rouse him. And she was. Just not the way she intended.
"I was just making sure you were awake. Don't want you noddin' off an' then suddenly breathin' water." She explained as her lips spread into her quirky grin. "Don't look so startled. I wasn't gunna try an' molest ya 'r nothin'."
Oh. Darn.
He was glad for his dark skin, hiding his slight blush, as he sat up again, and then settled back. "No, you just startled me. I was… I guess I was almost asleep."
She laughed lightly, and then turned to drop into a seat next to him, and he was suddenly rather aware of her closeness. His thoughts turned, strangely, to Monet. Or, rather, the twins that comprised her. He'd kissed her – them? – could he do the same, someday, to Jubilee? It was a strange thought, but he knew that one day, it might become a possibility.
She began to relax again, and he could feel he began to lean against his shoulder. It brought a slight smile to his lips, and he glances over at her, as she slowly brought her head to rest on his shoulder. He felt his heart skip a beat. And slowly, he slid his arm around her to bring her close.
At this time, he decided: Happiness was a cute, wonderful girl on your arm in a hot tub.
"Ev?"
He turned his head, and glanced down into those sapphire eyes. She was looking up at him, with an expression so serious, it almost didn't belong on her usually cheery face. "Yeah, Jubes?"
"Ev…" She paused for a moment, eyes darting down to flicker as if in thought. "Ev, wouldja do more 'en just… hold me?"
His voice caught in his throat. He couldn't breath. Suddenly Ev's private world spun the opposite direction on it's axis. Just what was she asking?
"I mean," she said, taking his silence as a request for clarification, "wouldja… kiss me?"
Oh. Kiss her. He broke out into a ridiculously sweet smile, and said with all the heartfelt and sincerest affection he could muster. "I'd love too."
Her smile hesitantly began to form as well, but he was already leaning in. Her hand, warm and wet from the tub, reached up and touched his cheek. It certainly wasn't the whammy Monet laid on him, just before the Prime Sentinel's attacked, but it was just as earth shattering.
Their lips touched, held just for the span of a few heartbeats, and then parted. She looked up to him, blue eyes a-swirl with the emotions she felt. Affection, apprehension, anticipation; all could be seen so plainly on her face.
"You're beautiful, you know that?" It was just one of those things he had to say. Just looking at her, he couldn't just keep it to himself.
She blushed a delicate pink, and then embraced him briefly in a tight hug. "Maybe… we oughta get outta the tub now. Settle in one of the TV Rooms and watch a movie, 'r somethin'?" She asked. It was a request for closeness that he couldn't deny.
"Sure." He said, moving his arm back – and then, just briefly, she caught him, tugged him back to her, emboldened by the first kiss, and gave him another – a touch more insistant, a little more 'adult' – but easily just as earth-moving as the last, if not more so. He was almost off balance for a moment – but then they parted.
"Gowon, Ev." She said, grinning a little, before she scampered out of the pool herself, wrapping up in her towel and drying off quickly. "Go get dressed. I'll be down to your room in a minute. Then we'll find those movies." She said with a jaunty grin, and then headed across the back porch and into the mansion.
He just stared after her for a moment, dazed. Finally, he moved, grabbing up his towel and beginning to dry off himself, before moving into the house. Oh, how good it was to be young and in love!
* * * * * * * *
How it must have sucked it be to a Morlock!
Angelo had not had one positive experience the entire night. It was spent chasing Marrow around the city as she snuck into the residential zones to scare the little children – with which Jono participated, apparently feeling vindictive. Was it just Angelo, or had he gotten to be something of a total prick ever since Paige gave him the heave-ho? The two stole candy, kicked in pumpkins, and generally made asses of themselves.
Mostly because whenever a bone-blade got drawn, Angelo and Jono had to draw the line… though Jono didn't feel too badly about a few sliced costumes and wrecked pumpkins, he refused to particpate in out-right murder or assault. Angelo wouldn't even give them the satisfaction of anything other then his bright blue eyes turning bloody red at the very oblique suggestion Marrow made about a few 'real corpses' to decorate a porch. But as this was day that the Morlocks honored their dead, she obliged them. There would be no blood shed this not.
Maybe, Angelo pondered to himself, he should just hail a cab and get out of here. He began to seriously consider it, after trailing them for a couple of hours. However, as the night wound down, so did their energies.
Then, Marrow announced, there was work to be done. "First. We're going to gather things for Callisto. Food. Not sweets. Real food."
An' 'ow are we gonner do 'at?
"Easy," Marrow said, as they led them behind a McDonalds. "We call it 'dumpster diving!'" And with that, she hefted herself into the dumpster and did that. A bone dagger was pulled free, as she carefully cut one of the bags and emptied it of it's contents. "Catch!" She called down to Jono as she tossed the plastic – but he stepped back and let it hit the concrete with a wet sound. Not on yer life.
"What," she sneered from her place atop the heap of refuse, "Too good to dig in the trash, upworlder?" She lept down with a sickening ease. "Or do you have the monster part of a Morlock – but not the survivor? It takes both, you see."
She turned her eyes to Angelo. "What about you? We're not going back till I get what I need for Callisto, boys. So you either work with me, or you wait on your ugly asses here while I work."
Angelo turned his blue eyes to Jono, brows furrowing. The Brit folded his arms over his chest, and says, I am not divin' inter a bin fer no body. Not yer. Not Angelo. Not at all.
"We could just buy somethin'…" Angelo mumbled, but was shot down by a sharp glare from their guide to Morlock life.
"No charity," was her flat words, and then she went about her business, working nosily in the garbage, commenting 'too spoiled', 'too old', 'moldy' and other such disparaging comments about some of the food.
Jono just watched her for a moment, and turned to say something to his companion – and got Angelo's flannel thrown in his face. "Hold that. I don't want it to get nasty." He said simply, as he began to climb into the dumpster after Marrow.
Just wot the fuck 'r yer doin', mate? Jonothon queried over the mental link he'd maintained most of the evening.
The gray skinned youth worked side by side with Marrow, not responding at first to his teammates mental question. I was on the street for a while too, Jonothon. I know what it's like to have to dig through someone elses trash for your next meal. Might as well make it a little easier on 'em by makin' it quicker to get it done, si?
Jono was quietly humbled by his friend's words, and then looked down at the bag at his feet. At the very least, he had to think, he slept in his dank basement by choice – he likes the atmosphere. But he was taken care of in relative comfort. Who knew that he took something so simplistic for granted?
With that in mind, he reached down and picked up the bag. Toss away. Jus'… try an' 'it the sack, please? He asked as he opened it for the two searched above. He could sense Angelo's brief beam of pleasure at Jono's cooperation, and glanced over at Marrow… who was still grumbling over the quality of this McDonalds – and then just went back to his work, foraging as best he could.
* * * * * * * *
She was already waiting for them when they arrived. She'd dragged herself into the Cathedral, on her crutch, to wait. The hour was growing night. Her single blue eye watched and waited. But she'd learned patience over the years.
Finally, the trio appeared. Sarah walked in front, the young leader of the Gene Nation turned fledgling X-Men showing that she was more then in control of the two that trailed after her.
Angelo followed next, flannel tied around his waist after the dumpster-diving. His blue eyes were thoughtful, distant – remembering, perhaps, that he might have been a more then likely recruit when the Morlocks were strong.
And Jonothon was the black spectre behind them both, hands shoved deep into his pockets and looking just as throughtful. His brown eyes were downcast, his bandaged visage-
His bandaged visage?!
"Why are you wrapped again?" was the first question out of her mouth. Jonothon blinked once, and then looked vaguely ashamed. We were above ground. Didn't want t' scare anyone, he hesitantly admitted. But the answer satisfied Callisto.
"It's well enough anyway. Come into the center of the room, Jonothon." She waited till he was in the center of the room, before she approached. "This is the Ceremony of Light. It has served many purposes. Once, it called the First One too us. It a way to celebrate the Light we could not have in this life, as the freaks and monsters of society, their dirty little secret beneath the city."
She spread her arms, indicating the glass and mirror set in every crevice, every niche and nook. "Here is where we also use the Ceremony of Light to honor our dead. Those who have gone into the Light itself, and left us here in the Dark. One day, we will join them, but for now – we honor them, mourning that our Darkness if deeper for our loss."
She looked at Jono, letting her one eye rake over him. "The glow. The hole. How far down does it go?"
M'… m' chest is gone, he said after a moment's pause. Why?
"Light it up. Be our light – our single, living candle. Light the Cathedral with your fire."
He understood after a moment. He looked over to Angelo, and his friend came forward to take his jacket and shirt as he shed them both. For a moment, he stood there, his chest and face wrapped still. And then the bandages began to fall away.
The effect was dramatic. With each bandage that fell, the light in the room increased. Jono's 'soul' – the flame of his core - lit up the room more brilliantly then it ever had before. It had once been said that a single candle could seem like the light of day in this room, but Jono's illumination went far beyond a measly candle. He let the flames flicker and wrap around his thin form, increasing the intensity. For the first time in his life – he found his powers, his curse, his disfigurement something other then revolting. The effect he created was… strangely beautiful.
And with the room lit, Callisto began the tradition. The count of the dead. A litany of names began to fall from her lips. "Sunder, Analee, Healer, Masque, Beautiful Dreamer…" and more, an oral Book of the Dead for the Morlock culture. Sarah joined in, adding her voice to the remembrance.
Angelo merely watched the spectacle and crossed himself once, placing a brief kiss on his crucifix, and murmuring a prayer for the dead. His brothers, his papa…all the friends that he had lost.
And the four mutants celebrated All Hallow's Eve in a way they never expected too.
* * * * * * * *
In a word, Sean was angry.
In another word, Sean was also worried out of his mind. Jonothon and Angelo hadn't come home last night. Marrow had vanished from the campus as well. And he had added a few new gray hairs.
So when they strode up like nothing was wrong with the fact that they'd been gone all like with Marrow, he was tempted to scream at them.
However, when they saw who they helped along with them, he stopped short. The wild black hair, the eye-patch. All the X-Men knew her.
"I take it ye have an excellent explanation fer this?" Sean said testily as they came up the steps, the smell of sewage assaulting his nose.
Yup. 'ad t' … do a few things, in town, Jonothon said simply.
"Apparently." He looked at Callisto's pain-bent form. "Do ye need assistance, lass?"
"Get me to the medlab, Cassidy." Callisto said simply. "After that, we'll talk about what we can do for each other."
Sean looked to the two young men, but saw nothing but calm in their eyes.
So he allowed them to take her inside, pondering what just to do – and just what she meant.
* * * * * * * *
Everett took one last look at the mansion grounds, a smile breaking over his face in the morning. He was up early to pack up the blazer and van with Sean, while most of the other students were still inside and saying their good-byes.
"Hey. Kid."
He turned at the gruff voice, blinking once. "Excuse me?" And then he recognized the mutagenic signature that the voice had with it. His senses sprung to live – suddenly, he could smell cigar smoke, taste the moisture on the breeze from last night's rain, and hear Sean's heart beat.
And the heart beat of the man behind him. He turned and looked at the man for a moment, and nodded. "Yes sir?"
Logan, Jubilee's quiet, feral father-figure stood there, looking from his whopping five foot four height up at Everett's six foot stance. "I have one thing ta say ta ya, boy. Halloween night."
Ev's heart suddenly froze in his chest. He SAW?! Someone SAW him get ROMANTIC with Jubilee in the HOTTUB!?!? The blood began to roar in his ears – but it didn't drown out the man's next words.
His smoke-husked voice was low and gravelly. "Break her heart, an' I cut yours outta yer chest. Git it?"
Everett blinked once, and would have explained himself. Said something! But instead, he merely nodded quietly. "Yes sir."
Logan would have said more, but then both men's senses caught a scent on the breeze. Older. Musty. With the sharp tang of steel.
"So which car do I ride in?" Callisto asked as she stood on the porch and looked down at the boys by the cars.
"Yuir gunna be in the van, lass." Sean called.
It took a moment for both Everett and Logan to process this. Finally, Logan found his voice. "Yer goin' to the school with Irish, Cal?"
The woman nodded as she gingerly came down the steps, one by one. "Yup. Shoulda heard Marrow howl." She sighed softly. "But she'll get over it. She knows her place is here."
Logan just nodded once, as Everett turned his inquisitive gave to Sean. "Is Callisto going to be…" he never thought he'd say these words, "replacing Ms. Frost?"
Callisto gave a low chuckle. "No. I'm not 'replacing' her. I won't be teaching you a damn thing about how to be pretty and dainty. I will teach you how to survive. And how to fight."
Logan gave a slow nods. "Good choice." He said simply, and then looked at Everett a moment. "Remember what I said." The, the blocky little man just walked away.
Everett, Callisto, and Sean exchanged glances, and then the two men just went back to work, while Callisto idly watched the sun beginning to creep it's away across the sky over head.
* * * * * * * *
Gayle didn't realize how… familiar she'd gotten with the school since that fateful first day in July. How much like home it'd gotten to be in less then three months. But she found that it was far more welcoming then the expanse of the X-Mansion and the stares of the older students of Charles Xavier.
She hummed a soft tune as she went about unpacking the last of her things from the trip – and found an odd packet. Within was simple silver ring – and the X of the X-Men was held within it – and a small note. She unfolded and read quietly turning the ring over again in her fingers.
To the Students Of Generation X,
We'd like to welcome you into a sacred trust. A trust that we were brought into, many years ago, by one man. It began with five. Then, eight more were chosen. More have come and gone since, and you are the most current set of students to earn the right to wear the 'X'. We remember very well our first days together; laughter, love, and tears all treasured just the same. The bonds you form now will serve you well, so cherish the times you have together. There will never be anything like these early days where you learn not only about who you are as mutants, but who you are as people.
We wish you the best of luck. You are our hope for the future, the inheritors of the Dream. Defend it well, whether as an X-Man, an artist, a scientist or a statesman. Never forget who has brought you together, and for what purpose: A better understanding of you and your world.
Best Wishes
Katherine Pryde,
Kurt Wagner,
Piotr Rasputin.
She fingered the ring in her hands, feeling… oddly saddened. She was no mutant, no member of Generation X. She was-
There was a knock at the door, and she looked up blankly at it for a moment, before it sounded once more. The languid, double rap was suddenly recognized. It was Jono.
She got up from her seat beside her bag, ring and note still in hand, and opened the door. "Yes?"
He stood there, hands in his pockets. C'n I come in?
She blinked a moment, and then nodded. "Uh, sure. Here." She opened the door wider so she was out of his way and he could get in, and then shut the door gently behind him. "What do you want?"
He looked at her moment, and and then down to the note in her hands. Got yer readin' done? I didn't know if yer'd get one 'r not, seein' as they don't really know yer an' all. .
She chuckled briefly. "I…I don't feel very right about getting it." She moved past him to lay both ring and note on her dresser. "I'm neither mutant nor an inheritor of 'Xavier's Dream'." She admitted. "I'm not sure I can believe in the peace he strives for."
He raised his right hand, and displayed that he was indeed wearing the more masculine version of the ring she'd been given. Neither do I… but it's grown on me some since I got 'ere.
"Ah," she said softly. "So how's Callisto?"
Settlin' in nicely. Jono had been quietly amazed when Sean had walked out and announced that Callisto would be going to Academy to aid him with the students. Marrow, on the other hand, had not been pleased. But Callisto told her that he place was with Generation X – helping them so they wouldn't end up like her last lost family, while Marrow's was fighting for the ones who were still alive. In the end, things had settled down after returning to the school. She's… gonner be a good teacher. Show us another side of things.
A silence suddenly crept between them, as he dropped his long fingered hands, and neither knew quite what to say. Of course, they both found something at the same time.
"So what about Halloween? Did you enjoy…"
Gayle, I want yet t' know-
They both stopped and paused. Yer first. Jonothon prompted.
"I just wanted to make sure your birthday went alright." She said. "Did you find what I left you?"
He nodded. Yeh. Me old jacket wos getting' a bit ratted up. The new one is greatly appreciated. The silence again reared it's head, and they fell into wordlessness again.
But Gayle reached out, and gave Jono a bit of a verbal push. "What were you going to say?"
Eh? Oh. He paused, and looked down at his feet. Actually, the gift an' the 'ole… night put a few things back in perspective, Gayle. He looked up to meet her eyes. Yer said… Yer said yer'd wait.
She felt her heart catch within her breast and freeze there, achingly still for a moment, before resuming it's beat. "Wait for you?"
T'… get over this 'ole… shite with Paige.
She nodded mutely, her jaw slightly sagging. Was he saying what she thought he was saying?
Well, I can't promise nothin'. But I realized… I been tryin' t' make meself a monster… when I'm nothin' but a man 'oo's down on 'is luck. But- he siddled a step closer. - I think I can make me own luck, now.
She was suddenly aware of how very close he was. And how inconvenient it was that he had no mouth. Because if he had, she would have thrown her arms around his neck and kissed him senseless.
I'm not sayin' 'at we're going to pick up where we left off. He said, looking down at his feet. Nor… 'at I'm really… much one fer it, jus' yet. But… I do want yer back, gel. He paused a moment, lifting his eyes to hers. I do. I jus'… wanted t' make sure yer still.. wanted me back.
She nodded mutely, and he closed the gap, thin arms slipped around her and drew her close. Her arms slowly came around him, palms resting flat against his back and shoulders, taking in the texture and scent of the new leather jacket she got him. She swore that he moved as if those bandages were suddenly going to become flesh and be very kissable lips. But no, his course was a little off, as he nuzzled her cheek. It wasn't a kiss, just like it wasn't quite a 'storybook romance'– but they made do just fine with what they had.