Disclaimer: I don't own the X-men. Marvel is so lucky.
A/N: Mature rating due to language, drug use, drunken behavior, and pretty much anything else sinful. If you like going on vacation or partying your ass of this is the story for you. This chapter is a summery of events that have been going on, so it's probably going to be a bit boring, but bear with me. It takes place after Astonishing X-Men #12 and X-men #174. Since House of M is kinda wonky in the Marvel timeline I'm just going to pretend it hasn't happened, because that would just be opening a whole new can of worms. This is my first fic so reviews would be greatly appreciated.
Drama.
That is the one word that can describe the everyday life at the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning. Drama.
The students, the teachers, and the staff have had their fair share of a hearty helping of drama. But, does the fun stop there? Nope. Just when everyone thinks that they are so full from having heaping spoonfuls of drama shoved down there throat, life says "open wide baby", and shoves in another mouthful. You'd think by now that all the residents would have regurgitated all of the drama, being so full that their bellies are going to burst. Nope. No way. They just keep eating the crap like a good little child, trying desperately to clean their plate.
No wonder everyone at the mansion suffers from extreme bouts of angst, depression, and mood swings. Sometimes life at the Xavier Institute can be described as a sorority house, when all the girls are suffering from their periods. It's not a pretty sight. If it is not the sentinels dropping in for a cleansing sweep, then it is a couple breaking up, or it is Mr. Sinister trying to harvest some more of that good ol' fashioned Summers DNA, or someone is having an affair with someone else, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. No wonder Mojo has been getting the highest ratings for years with his airing of X-Men angst. They live a top notch Soap Opera life with scheming tramps, evil enemies, plotting parents, and newly discovered siblings or children.
Well, after some more heart wrenching bouts of angst and depression, especially after the reemergence and re-death of Jean Grey-Summers, and Professor Xavier's admittance of playing a role in the shattered sanity of the Danger Room, many of the members decided it was high time for a vacation. "Screw the world", they thought, "I need to take some time off", and that is where, true believers, our story begins.
Emma Frost sat in her office sipping a cup of coffee and trying desperately to fight off a headache. Life was actually beginning to take a toll on her well being, which was odd for the usually bitchy and formidable ice queen. Not too long ago she had to fight along side her lover, Scott Summers, and many other veteran X-Men to save the world from the Phoenix, who had been resurrected by a Shi'ar madman bent on destroying the cosmic force. In turn, the Phoenix decided to resurrect Jean Grey-Summers, its compatible host body. Then, to try and get everyone to destroy her before the Phoenix became a threat, Jean turned herself into Dark Phoenix- arrg! Just thinking about it increased the pain in her head. It didn't help that she had been in contact with Sebastian Shaw for quite some time. That was something she had to keep secret from everyone, especially the man she loves. Scott wouldn't understand why she was speaking to Shaw. She knew that their trust had been severely damaged after the fight in Genosha to save Xavier from the renegade Danger Room, in the form of a female automaton. She had walked away in the middle of the battle to speak to Shaw, rushing back in moments later claiming she'd left because she had to pee. Scott had been slightly distant to her ever since.
She wasn't the only one suffering from trust issues. Remy LeBeau and Anna-Marie were having major issues since the whole Foxx/Mystique debacle. Remy claimed that he had not slept with Mystique at all in both the form of Foxx and Anna. Mystique claimed that her daughters "filthy Cajun lover" had given her a good tumble in the sack. She had also claimed that she had come to the X-Men to join their ranks and to also seduce Gambit to show her daughter how much of a scumbag her boyfriend really was. Mystique sure loved to cause trouble. Now a huge rift was coming between Anna and Remy, and frankly Remy looked like he has had about enough glares and rude remarks made about him behind his back from the others. Yes, Emma was waiting for him to pop and when he does she wants to be as far away as possible because the outcome was not going to be pretty.
Meanwhile Scott's younger brother, Alex, is trying to get information gleaned out of his ex-fiancées head. Lorna had never been a stable person. She has had her mind screwed with more times than anyone can count, so she's a bit fragile. During their mission in space to battle mind warping aliens, Lorna had had an encounter that had left her shaking and a bit nuttier than before. Alex wanted to know what she saw and pestered Emma about reading her mind constantly. It didn't help matters that Alex had professed to Lorna that he still loved, even though he ditched her at the alter for the school nurse. The fact that Lorna was dating Bobby Drake, the resident Iceman, added more fuel to the fire. Bobby and Alex have never gotten along. Having to be on the same team as each other is one thing. Having the same love interest on the team with them made things even worse. It didn't help matters that Remy and Anna were also on the same team with them. That whole team was set to self destruct any moment. At least Storms team kept their issues to the back burner and out of the sight of others. "Bless, Ororo, Lucas, Rachel, Elizabeth, and Kurt," Emma thought to herself, "they leave all their baggage away from everyone else."
Still, she had noticed a strain on that team as well. It was becoming quite obvious that there was a love….quadrangle, if you'd call it, forming between Ororo, Logan, Kurt and Rachel. Lucas had been quietly brooding since Tessa had left the team. Emma knew that Lucas and Tessa had been really close. She couldn't tell if the feelings were romantic or not, which was a surprise for her, but she noticed Lucas being a bit edgy and upset when he found out that Tessa had left the X-Men and had returned to her role in the Hellfire Club, as personal advisor to the Inner Circle. Then there was Elizabeth Braddock. She had died at the hands of Vargas in Spain, and was recently resurrected from death. She came back from the dead with a more cynical and sarcastic attitude, telling people not to take life so seriously. She has been bonding with X-23, the newest member of the institute and Rachel Grey. Oh my, Rachel Grey, the daughter of Scott and Jean from an alternate timeline. The girl has had, well let's face it, a traumatizing life. Emma knew that her presence had added even more to the trauma of the young woman. If the death of her mother, again, hasn't shattered her, then the knowledge that her father, Scott, had left her mother for her, Emma, surely drove the girl to the brink. Emma has tried, quite successfully to reach out to the woman, but she knew that Rachel still resented her.
Then there was her team, who of course had problems of their own. Ever since the appearance of the mutant "cure" there had been tension among the team. Henry McCoy, the resident doctor, had thought about taking the cure to rid himself of his own mutation. Since his further mutation into a hulking feline had restricted him further from social display he had become more depressed, covering it in his usual cheery manner. Kitty Pryde, who loathed Emma with a passion, was trying to deal with the reappearance of her first love, Piotr Rasputin, who everyone thought was dead. Peter's situation was no better. He had been cruelly resurrected by the same people who had created the "cure" and was being used for experiments. Though he seems to be adjusting just fine, Emma knew the poetic Russian was fighting his inner demons.
Then, of course, there was Logan. Logan had so much baggage that Emma figured she would have an aneurism if she even thought about him. So she decided that it would be best if she just left her thoughts about Logan as "too much baggage," and leave it at that.
Emma let out a weary sigh and sat back. The strain was too high, the tension was mounting, and the troops were becoming restless. She couldn't believe herself when she actually thought it was time for a vacation. A vacation for the whole team, all sixteen of them. They desperately needed some time off together. Remove all of the team and place them in a fun and positive environment that could get them to forget their woes in life and about each other for their sanity, if not her own. So many of them had started projecting and the pressure was causing Emma to have to toss up more shields in her mind. "I can't believe I'm doing this." She grumbled to herself. She was a stickler for work and responsibility, but at this point she felt it was necessary, for the team to start functioning like a well oiled machine again, for them to get away together and not have to worry about the next threat coming to their door step. "Yes," she thought as she got up from her desk and put her smooth white leather coat on, "I will discuss this at the meeting this evening." She pulled her hair out from under her coat, straightened herself out, and headed for the door. As she left her office and headed for the elevator, she crossed her fingers that she wouldn't get much resistance about her suggestion for some mandatory R&R.