A/N: hahaha guess the allure of Evolution is stronger than I thought so I'm back with a new one again. Its Evolution's beginning-my way. Hopefully it'll be good; I've read some great ones on this site. Please review. Please?
Professor Xavier sat behind his desk, his eyes closed. He sighed and gave his head a shake. Time to tell the students. He sent out his mind and called Scott, Jean, Bobby, to my office please.
He wasn't kept waiting for long. Barely a minute had passed before the door opened and his three current students entered.
"Is everything alright, Professor?" his first student, Scott Summers, Cyclops asked. Tall and solemn faced, wearing his custumal red sunglasses, he was an imposing figure. That is, when he wasn't hit with the occasional twangs of teenage life. He was young, but in his ways and mannerisms he was as old as Xavier himself.
Jean Grey, Marvel Girl perched on a chair in front of Xavier. Also tall, she was a beautiful, willowy young woman, with long red hair and sparkling red eyes. She was the reasonable of the three, the keeper of the peace.
And finally, Bobby Drake, the Iceman was the youngest and most exuberant of the trio. Sandy haired and hazel eyed, he had a lively and infectious grin and nature that made almost anyone like. He was the prankster who made the world seem happier even when it was dark and gloomy. He plopped down on the chair Jean was resting on.
Xavier looked over his protégés, fond memories filling his mind. They were his children in many ways, who shared his thoughts hopes and dreams.
But there were also bad memories, memories that had haunted his nightmares for a long time. For that, Xavier had wrestled with his decision for a long time.
He looked at his students as he made his announcement. "I have decided to reopen the school."
Scott looked surprised, Jean gasped and she smiled widely. Bobby whooped and jumped up in excitement, before being smacked by Jean for nearly knocking her off.
"Professor, that's so great" Jean said in excitement.
"Yeah it is Professor" Scott agreed.
"When are you reopening?" Bobby asked eagerly.
Xavier smiled at his youngest pupil. Of them all, he'd perhaps suffered the worst with the school shut down to new recruits.
"As a matter of fact, a new student will be joining us later tonight" there were intakes of breath from Scott and Jean and an enthusiastic "Awesome!" from Bobby.
"He will be here by the time you get back. He will be your age Bobby, so you will show him around town and school and everything else."
"Ok" he nodded eagerly, delighted at having someone his own age. He loved Jean and Scott (not that he would ever say it aloud) but they were older and viewed him more as a little brother. Jean adored him and him and Scott had had memorable arguments and he did not have close friends around his age, school friends too risky to divulge secrets. He would be glad of a new addition.
"Don't you dare corrupt him Bobby" Scott said, a hint of dry humour bellying the warning.
"Who me?" Bobby asked, looking wide eyed and innocent, a look fooling nobody. Jean was silently giggling, suppressing the urge to laugh. Xavier had to stop himself smiling at his students' antics.
"Yes, you" it was now unclear if Scott was serious or joking, his poker face was impeccable and of course his glasses hid his eyes. "The last thing I need is worrying about another person putting purple dye in my shampoo or dumping a bucket of ice water on me when I'm asleep...."
"That was to help you man" Bobby interrupted. His face was almost as impassive as Scott's, but his eyes were sparkling in mischief. They always gave him away. He flashed a wicked grin. "It was the day of your exams. Hank and I were worried you'd oversleep."
"So you decided to give me a rude awakening?" Scott said archly. Now it was obvious he was joking; if he was angry there'd be a trace of it in his voice. Not that Bobby would pay attention to it.
Bobby grinned. "Well, we were also investigating about whether the idea cold showers help you remember stuff better. Hank said it had something to do with minds able to remember stuff better after the brain gets a sensory shock, like cold water on skin. Or something like that."
"And so you decided to try it on Scott?" Jean couldn't keep the laughter out of her voice now.
"Not all of us are blessed with total recall, Jeannie" Bobby replied unabashed. "It wouldn't work on me, for obvious reasons, it would take a while for Hank to feel anything, Warren's immune to the cold too. So in the interests of science, we did what any scientist would do-and experimented."
He grinned at Scott. "Besides which, you can't refute you got great results in maths, Scottie boy."
"It might have just been your excellent tutoring" Scott said dryly.
"There is that" Bobby made a show of thinking and grinned. "Well an objective scientist has to properly document all factors in an experiment. We could repeat it."
"Not if you want to be blasted into next week, you won't" Scott retorted. Jean had lost it somewhere and was laughing hysterically. She laughed so much; she lost her balance and toppled onto Bobby's lap. This made her laugh harder. Bobby joined in and then Scott followed. Xavier chuckled at their antics. It made him warm inside to see them so happy.
He waved his hands at them. "Go on, I believe you have a previous engagement."
Still giggling, Jean and Bobby hopped up. Jean paused just as they were about to leave, her face turning thoughtful.
"What about Hank and Warren, Professor? Will they be coming back?"
He sighed. "I don't know, Jean. I will talk to them, but both are busy with there own lives now. I do not believe they will return. At least, not yet."
The three looked disappointed.
"Not yet, at least" Bobby, ever the optimist, put in. The familiar cheerful expression returned, but Xavier knew it was a little forced. Hank was his best friend and he missed Warren too.
"Come on" he added impatiently, linking arms with the older two and dragging them out. "We have to go the game and so Jean can take pictures of her boyfriend's sweaty muddy body posing for her viewing pleasure."
Jean's indignant response was cut short when the door shut. Charles chuckled. Finally, things were starting to get more normal.
Or what was normal for the Xavier Institute at least.
*******
The stands of Bayville High Stadium were nearly full just at the half time of the game. Having nothing better to do, or simply people reliving the glory days of high school, most turned up to watch the Bayville Tigers against the Wild Stallions from the town beside them.
Scott sat next to Bobby, idly flicking the dollar coin in his hand through his fingers. The Tigers were currently winning, but Scott really didn't notice. His attention was on the tall red head taking pictures of the captain of the team, Duncan. Large, blonde and tall, he and Scott really didn't get along.
"Earth to Scott" Bobby waved his hand in front of Scott's face.
"Huh?"
"You zoned out buddy" he glanced down and saw what Scott had been looking at. "Oh. Something much more interesting than football, right Scotty?"
"Oh shut up" Scott frowned.
Bobby looked at him shrewdly. "When are you guys going to hook up already? It's been two years; it's getting painful to watch."
"I don't..."
"Yes you do" Bobby rolled his eyes. "It's obvious you guys like each other. And you are a much better guy for her than that performing blonde ape." He jerked his head down at Duncan.
"Jean likes him" Scott gave in. Bobby for all of his jokes was no fool. And he cared deeply for Jean. He'd want her to be happy.
"Jean likes you too" Bobby snorted. "She just doesn't realize Duncan isn't good for her. Yet."
Scott snorted."Really?"
"Really" Bobby nodded vigorously. "You are. Give it time."
Scott looked away from Jean and tried to focus on something else. The mascot provided some mild amusement when he tripped and fell onto part of the crowd.
"Oh and Scott?" Bobby said suddenly. Scott glanced at him to see he was looking intently at him.
"When you and Jean get together, if you screw it up or make her unhappy, you'll be hearing from me" he said in complete seriousness.
Scott felt a little nervous. "And if she hurts me?" He winced slightly at the words. Bobby eyed him for a moment.
"Not that I'd believe Jean would do such a thing" Scott sighed "but I'd have words with her."
Scott glanced at Bobby, who was now looking down at the pitch, a slight grin on his face. Scott grinned too and then cursed as he dropped his coin. It fell down into the dark area below the stands.
He paused as he noticed something. A hand underneath the stands below them, sneakily snatching peoples' wallets.
Interesting. Out loud to Bobby he said "back in a minute. Mind my seat okay?"
Bobby eyed his friend as he made his way down the bleachers, in what he'd always dubbed 'Fearless Leader Mode'. He glanced down and grinned.
"You're not leaving me behind" he whispered and got up too.
Below the bleachers, the pickpocket was attracting more attention than he undoubtedly didn't want. Not only had he attracted Scott and Bobby, but also part of the school's football team, who were still waiting for the game to resume. Led by Duncan, the three had cornered the thief as he tried to escape.
"Well boys, it looks like we got a thief on our hands" Duncan sneered, towering over the quivering person in question.
"Yo, come on man, no harm done a' right?" the teen Todd Tolansky said nervously. Small and very scruffy, talking wasn't really helping his state when the others took in his very poor personal hygiene, worn clothes and pale green face.
"It's the new kid" one of Duncan's friends announced as he lifted him upwards, grimacing at the smell.
Duncan just cracked his knuckles threateningly. "What do you think we'll do with him?"
"There's nothing going to happen to him Duncan. Just let him give the money back and leave him alone."
Duncan's friends' paused at the unexpected sight of Scott Summers standing at the entrance under the bleachers, his shades flashing. He looked imposing.
"Summers" Duncan spat at one of his rivals. "Come to the rescue of the Tolansky freak?"
"He's not a freak Duncan" Scott said flatly. "He'll give the money back to those he took it from. No one has to get hurt."
"Yeah, I can do that yo" Todd agreed instantly.
"Awww, I could cry" Duncan smirked as he friends laughed. They dropped Tolansky as they made their way to Scott, prey temporarily forgotten. And prey hopped away, going so quickly that money and wallets lay scattered behind him.
"Hey!" Duncan shouted, but it was too late, he was gone. Duncan glared at Scott. "He got away you jerk!"
Duncan threw a punch. Falling on martial arts, Scott blocked and retaliated, making sure not to knock him out. His two goons sprang into the fight eagerly. Scott blocked their mediocre punches and returned his own, knocking the guys down. Then he saw Duncan charging at him like he would if he was playing football. He tried to dodge, but it was too late. Wind rushed out of his lungs as Duncan rammed him into the bleacher support beam. The momentum knocked his glasses off.
For an instant, his eyes were exposed to the world, before he shut them, but it was too late. The intense red beam of kinetic energy blasted out, slamming into Duncan. From the deafening noise and resounding explosion, it sounded like it had done a lot of damage.
Scott groaned and slid down the support beam, cradling his head. Now he'd done it. Goddamn his powers.
There was a great deal of noise, full of panicked shouts. Scott just stayed where he was, not knowing where his glasses were. They were nowhere near him and if he moved, he could get hit with debris or risk his eyes opening involuntarily.
"Hey" he felt a touch on his arm as he heard Bobby's familiar voice. "Here you go."
Scott felt his shades in his hand and very carefully put them on and hesitantly opened his eyes. The world remained safe, in its familiar shade of red.
Bobby grinned at him and gestured quickly for him to get up. He led him out of the bleacher.
"What's the damage?"
"You took out everything in your line of fire, including most of the other side of the stadium and some support beams. I had to make some ice supports to stop them collapsing." He glanced around. "Jean's taken care of Duncan's friends; she's just dealing with the blonde ape himself."
"Don't call him that Bobby" Jean said reprovingly as she came over. She smiled at Scott. "I'm going to have to wipe the other people's memories; it'll take a little longer." She glanced at Bobby and her face became concerned. "Bobby?"
Scott looked at Bobby. His normally cheerful and unruffled face was pale and blank and he was staring at nothing.
Jean called Bobby's name again and this time he responded. "Yeah?" he answered distractedly. He was now scanning the mingling crowd. Scott noticed his fists were clenched.
"Are you okay?" Jean repeated, grabbing his arm.
He took a deep breath and looked back at his friends anxious faces. "No need to erase their memories, Jeannie." He grimaced. "Emma did."
"What?!" Jean's exclamation drew some funny looks. She looked furious.
"Emma? Emma Frost? What is she doing here? I....."
"Jean not here" Scott hissed. He looked around and motioned for the two to follow him behind a bleacher that was mercifully free of damage and therefore, people and firefighters.
"Oh hang on" Jean said suddenly. She stared at an investigator who was staring at the wreckage. But he then shook his head and Scott could hear his mumble of a gas explosion.
"Now then" she rounded on Bobby. "What about Emma? What did she do? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine Jeannie" Bobby said, looking exasperated. "She contacted me on the pitch, said that she was around and that we really weren't great at keeping ourselves hidden some stuff about us and Xavier being idiots and erasing the crowd's memories. She also said she was planning on staying in town for a while" he added, looking at Scott.
"That cow" Jean snarled, eyes flashing. Scott suddenly found himself glad of his glasses, because they hid his eyes and the sudden apprehension he felt in the face of Jean's anger. He'd never say this within ear or mind shot, but when Jean was angry, frankly, it scared him. He never told the guys that, but the feeling they felt the same.
"Jean, calm down" Bobby said, looking less shaken and more normal. "I don't like her either, but we shouldn't let her get to us."
Jean grumbled, but quieted down. Relieved, Scott took charge. "Come on guys. We'll have to tell the Professor."
Jean nodded, her face turned away for a second to the crowd. "The cow is good for something anyway. Everyone thinks it was a gas explosion." There was an ominous look on her face and Scott knew she'd start ranting about Emma again.
Bobby sensed danger too and said quickly "Come on Jeannie we have to go. And while we get back, Scott can fill us in on how he lost his glasses in the first place."
Scott groaned. Trust Bobby.