Andrew

by LeoN1981

A continuation, but separate story, of Frost: in the bowels of THE WORLD S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents have made a startling discovery- Unit 1001 of Weapon XIV. According to the records his name is Andrew Cockoo, but who is he really, and what is his fate? Emma&OC

LeoN: If you haven't read 'Frost' then I suggest you go back and read it, but I hope that it isn't necessary. Andrew Cuckoo, Amber Harris and Mimicry (Tom Harris), are all my characters, but the rest belong to Marvel Comics. Enjoy!

Andrew

***MS. MARVEL***

The boy was strange, a four-foot-five newborn. He blinked at the men and women around him, slowly chewing on a granola bar that he'd been given. Every move he made seemed deliberately slow, as if he had to think everything through.

So far he hadn't spoken a word, and he frowned in concentration at anyone who talked to him. Other than these oddities he appeared to be a perfectly normal boy of about 8 years old. The field medics had given him a cursory examination and pronounced him healthy. They'd also provided him a blanket to cover himself with.

Only a few minutes earlier he'd been inside an artificial womb, the only survivor of one thousand children, clones, linked together into a telepathic super-mind designed to track down and kill every mutant on the planet. Called the Thousand-in-One all but three of the clones had been destroyed by the cosmic entity known as the Phoenix, acting through one of their own. The agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. had been operating under the impression that all the clones had been female, and all but the three had been destroyed, but the boy proved both points wrong.

"According to the simulacrum of Dr. Sublime his name is Andrew Cuckoo, and he was supposed to act as the Mutant Detector in this mad science experiment," Agent Jake Oh announced. "Here's my report, Ma'am."

He spoke to the only person not wearing a S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform. Instead she wore a one piece black swimsuit with a yellow lightning bolt down the center. Long black gloves and boots, with a red sash around her waist, completed her outfit. She was called Ms. Marvel.

"Good work, Agent Oh. Is there anything else on Andrew? Specifically, can you determine if he's Emma Frost's son?"

"Sublime is mum on that, but we're certain that he's a Mutant. We'll keep digging," Agent Oh promised before saluting and walking away.

Turning her attention to the boy Ms. Marvel sat next to him and said, "Did you hear that, your name is Andrew. Now, we aren't certain about your parents, but given your last name is Cuckoo I guess you could say that you have three sisters."

"I don't have any sisters," the boy said in a slow voice that seemed to require much concentration. "All my sisters are dead."

"Three of them survived. Their names are Celeste, Mindee and Phoebe,"

"I don't want to talk about them," Andrew said as a shudder ran through his body.

"Okay, well, as a Mutant you're going to go live at the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning; with the X-Men. It's a big mansion with lots of room for a growing boy like you. There are other kids there, too. No one your own age, but they are nice kids none the less."

"Who are the X-Men?"

"They're Mutants; men and women with extraordinary powers, which they use to protect humans and mutants the world over."

He smiled and said, "I know what Mutants are." With a far away look he added, "They shine so brightly, each with different lights. There used to be so many, but they all faded away." The last he said sadly.

"Only a few remain, maybe two hundred in the United States. They'll be glad to have you bolster their numbers, Andrew. Mutant-kind is on the brink of extinction. Maybe you can help them somehow with your ability to sense Mutants."

"There's more than two hundred," Andrew told the woman. "They just don't know it that they are Mutants yet."

"You can sense Mutants that haven't manifested their powers?" the woman asked.

"Its color and sound – each is different, and together they make a beautiful harmony. You have your own pattern, but it's different from a mutant's, just like you're different from them," the boy explained, looking at the Agents. "You're not human, and you aren't a Mutant, so what are you?"

"I'm a human who's been given special powers. My name is Carol Danvers, but I'm more publicly known as Ms. Marvel. I'm part of a government sanctioned team called the Avengers. We also protect the earth, and all the people in it."

"That's cool."

***EMMA***

Emma Frost, co-headmaster of the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning, sat behind her desk considering the news she'd just received. Hours earlier she'd said goodbye to an X-Man from the future calling himself Marvel, but he'd had another name – Andy Frost. Now she'd received a call from S.H.I.E.L.D. saying that they'd found a boy named Andrew Cuckoo in the ruins of the World.

She could hardly believe it, a survivor from the horror Weapon Plus attempted, a survivor of the holocaust that the Phoenix Force had perpetrated. One thousand little girls, each experiencing an awakening to true consciousness, snuffed out in an instant. Her clones, her daughters, taken from her twice: once when one of her ovaries had been removed while she'd been in a coma, and then when the Thousand-in-One had been murdered by the Phoenix's psychic fire.

Now she found that there was a glimmer of hope, like the light left in Pandora's Box. The question was; did she want to open that box just to see the light of hope knowing that it could set into motion a chain of events that could lead to her own death?

There was a knock at the door and Scott Summers, her lover and fellow Headmaster came in. "I have the X-Jet standing by. Do you want to handle this or should I?"

Making her decision Emma stood and said, "I'd like my girls with me, Prodigy and Surge, too. Is Logan around?"

"Yes, but he's getting ready to leave on his own thing."

"Laura then," Emma said. "And yourself, of course, Scott."

There was a strategy to her selection. Of all the students still at the school David Alleyne and Noriko Ashida had the most experience with younger siblings. Scott was the only member of the faculty with experience raising a child – Nathan, a son from his ex-wife Madelyne. Laura was along for purely selfish reasons. As a clone of Logan she had his enhanced senses, which Emma hoped would be able to confirm if Andrew was her son or not. Her girls, the Three-in-One, were identical to the rest of the clones that had been kept at the facility, and she hoped that they would be familiar faces for the boy.

She sent out a telepathic summons to those she wanted with her and walked with Scott to the hanger. "I'm nervous, Scott," she confided. "What if he is my son – what kind of mother am I going to be?"

"Relax, Emma," Scott consoled, "you know that we're all here to help."

Noriko Ashida, codenamed Surge, was already at the hanger when Emma and Scott arrived. She was a Japanese girl with short, blue-dyed hair, wearing cargo pants and a long tube top, her arms encased in metal gauntlets that helped her control her power to absorb electricity.

"So, what's the mission?" the girl asked.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. has discovered a mutant child at The World, so we are going to pick him up," Scott explained. "We aren't expecting any difficulties, but keep your guard up."

"How old is the boy?"

"According to Ms. Danvers he appears to be 8 years old. Technically speaking though this is his first day on earth," Emma added.

"Oh," the girl said, and then added, "I'll be right back."

She dashed away as the rest of the team arrived. "Where's Noriko going?" David Alleyne asked as he watched her streak away at high speed – internalizing the energy she absorbed to move so fast that the eye barely registered movement.

"I was just telling her that he boy we are going to pick up just emerged from an artificial womb and she ran off," Emma answered, puzzled. She didn't use her telepathy on the students except to communicate with them most of the time, and she didn't dare do it now for fear of letting her emotions bleed into them.

"She probably went to get some clothes for the kid," David explained.

"Oh, good thinking," Emma replied. Her mind was still reeling from the thought that Andrew might be her son to think straight. Turning to her three identical daughters she said, "We are going back to The World. SHIELD Agents have discovered a survivor – a little boy named Andrew Cuckoo. Is there anything you can tell us about him?"

"He is the hinge pin", "the component that made Weapon XIV work without a device like Cerebra." "His power is to telepathically sense other Mutants so that we could kill them," the girls said in unison with their emotionless voices.

"Do you know if he is your biological brother?" Emma asked hopefully.

"We do not know," they intoned. "He was supposed to come to the Institute, but then Sophie died and the Weapon Plus facility was attacked, so he was never released from his artificial womb."

"I see," Emma said, frustrated, "Thank you girls."

Noriko returned carrying a suitcase, and they all boarded the Jet. It was late, and Emma had been up early dealing with Marvel and his hunt for a former student gone rogue. She was surprised when Scott gently shook her awake.

"We're here," he said, helping her out of the Flight Seat.

Following the others Emma took an elevator down to the subbasement of The World to where SHIELD Agents were keeping the boy. Carol Danvers, Ms. Marvel, met them as they walked.

"He's begun speaking but he hasn't had much practice, so he only sounds a little slow. Andrew has also been having trouble with his fine muscle control," the woman explained.

"Of course he is," Prodigy cut in. "He has the knowledge of how to speak and move from the Cuckoos, but he has no muscle memory of his own."

"I see, well we've identified at least part of his mutation – he can sense the energies of a person: human, mutant, or augmented human. He says it comes to him as both light and sound. We aren't sure of his range, but he does say that there are more than 200 mutants in the world."

"He can detect Latent Mutation, then," Emma remarked. "Connected to the Thousand-in-One he is probably aware of M-Day."

"He is," Carol agreed. "We've given him food and a blanket, but we have nothing for him to wear."

"Noriko grabbed some things before we left," Scott reassured.

"Good," Ms. Marvel replied, relieved. She called out, "Andrew, these are the X-Men."

Emma immediately recognized the man called Marvel in the boy's clear blue eyes. He looked at each of the X-Men in turn, smiling, but when he saw the Cuckoo's his expression turned to fear. All around him SHIELD Agents pulled communication pieces from their ears and computers began to malfunction.

"Stay back girls," Emma said, stepping forward. "It's okay, Andrew, they aren't going to hurt you." The woman noticed that most of the boy's fear was centered on Celeste, as if he knew that it had been had been her mainly who'd been used by the Phoenix to kill her sisters.

He didn't look away until Emma knelt next to him. Tears streamed down his face as the boy said, "She killed them – I felt her kill them. I felt them die, and I died with them. A thousand times over I died, but I didn't. I wanted to, but I couldn't."

"Its okay, Andrew, she's not going to hurt you, she never wanted to hurt you. Celeste couldn't control herself – she was being possessed by a creature called the Phoenix. The Phoenix is what killed the others, not Celeste."

"But its still there," he exclaimed. "It's still inside of her, inside of all three of them. It croons of life but glows with death, why keep it around if it means to burn the world?"

"Because it means to burn the world," the woman explained. "The girls are keeping the Phoenix from destroying the world by imprisoning it in their diamond hearts, but doing so comes at a terrible price. In order to hold the Phoenix back they sacrificed their ability to experience emotion.

"All the sorrow and anger you feel now, they can't express. One day, maybe, they'll experience emotion again. But on that day they'll feel the accumulated sorrow and joy, fear and happiness, and every other emotion from every day between then and the moment they locked the Phoenix away. Do you really hate them for their sacrifice?" she asked.

"No," the boy replied quietly.

"Of course not, and you don't need to fear them either. Girls, come here please." The Cuckoo's stepped forward, Celeste in the lead as the dominant personality in their all-in-one mind.

"Hello, Andrew, I am Celeste." "I am Mindee." "I am Phoebe," they intoned in turn. "We were supposed to be your sisters when you came to the Institute, but you never came." "That saddened us." "We were incomplete without you, never at our fullest potential," they explained, speaking in turn.

The boy was still uncomfortable, and stood close to Emma as he said, "Hello," in reply. Sensing his unease with their presence the three turned as one and walked away.

***MS. MARVEL***

"It's amazing," Carol Davers confessed to Scott, "I never expected someone as young as Andrew to take to Emma like that."

"He can't help it," the Cuckoo called Mindee cut in. Phoebe continued, "We were all programmed to imprint upon Ms. Frost." "It's in his bones," Celeste finished.

Scott explained, "All the Thousand-in-One were equipped with nanotech that allowed them to communicate both on a telepathic and cybernetic level. Weapon Plus could send commands to the girls via the cybernetic link, but the Cuckoo's nanotech has been shorted out already."

"What about Andrew, couldn't Weapon Plus potential control him?" Carol asked. "Shouldn't you short out his nanotech, too?"

"That's probably what we'll do, but we also want to study the Nanotech before hand. Maybe we can trace the signal back to where Weapon Plus is hiding now," Scott explained.

"Please, Scott, if you find out where Weapon Plus is let the Avengers handle it. The X-Men can't keep taking the law into their own hands," Carol begged.

"These people are using mutants to create their weapons, targeting mutants in attempts at genocide. This is a Mutant problem, Carol, and the government started it. If we find them we'll deal with them our own way. But if we need help I'll give you a call."

"Well, I guess that's the best I could ask for," Ms. Marvel replied with a shrug.

By this point Andrew had changed into one of the outfits that Surge had packed. Noriko, used to helping her younger brother, Kai, get ready for school, helped the boy dress. He could identify each piece of clothing and knew how to put them on, but he still had trouble with his fine motor control.

He wore blue jeans and a yellow sweater with a red x on the left breast. Shoes were slightly more troublesome, so he ended up wearing two pairs of socks on each foot to compensate for the larger size. The boy looked at all of them curiously, but mostly he looked to Emma for approval.

The woman smiled and waved the boy to her side, which he did so happily. "Come on, everyone, let's go home."

***EMMA***

"So, Gentlemen, what do you think?" Emma asked as she entered the medical ward.

The Xavier Institute had three resident medical experts. First was Doctor Henry 'Hank' McCoy, known as Beast even before he sprouted blue fur and grew a muzzle – he was a genius and had earned his medical knowledge the old fashion way. David Alleyne, Prodigy, had the medical knowledge of every doctor he'd ever met due to his once possessing the power to telepathically absorb the learned skills of those around him. Josh Foley, an Omega-class healer called Elixir, came by his skill in a less legitimate way, by having the Three-in-one copy Hank's medical knowledge into his brain.

"At this time I would advise against shorting out his nanotech," Hank answered, turning on a monitor that displayed X-Rays. "From what I can tell the boy has no Lymphatic System and no white blood cells. His immune system is completely dependent upon the Nanotech."

David continued, "This isn't necessarily a bad thing. The nanotech grants him a perfect immune system, adapting ten times faster than a normal person's. It also aids in the replication of cells, giving him a healing factor similar to Jay Guthrie's in scope. He also seems able to telepathically control the nanotech. I noticed the com gear and computers S.H.I.E.L.D. was using shorted out when he saw the Cuckoos."

"Josh, what do you think?" Emma asked when the boy remained quiet.

"I'm certain that I can grow his immune system, but I'm more concerned with this," he said, changing the display to a CT scan of Andrew's brain. "It looks like a fail safe incase the nanotech is tampered with, and is covered with a gel that will prevent it from shorting out. With my powers I can change things on a genetic level, but I can't bring back the dead."

Josh knew the extent of his abilities from personal experience, having reactivated genetic mutation, brought people out of comas, changed his own skin a gold color, and killed someone by giving him every disease imaginable. With the medical knowledge of Dr. McCoy to guide him Emma would have to accept the prognosis.

"What about genetic testing?"

"That's proving to be a little trickier," Hank confessed, changing the display again. "The nanotech is designed to conceal his identity – it alters the DNA of any sample we've tried to take, so I'm afraid we just can't prove if he's your son or not, Emma."

A look of surprise crossed Josh's face, and he started to say, "Wait, you think he's . . ."

David cut him off, saying, "For the time being we recommend leaving the nanotech intact. It's not threatening his life and Ms. Pride and I are working on a device that will monitor and record any transmissions received by the system. Forge has even offered to help."

"Thank you, all of you," the woman said, looking to each of them in turn. "Please keep me informed of anything concerning Andrew."

She left them, considering what she had learned. Her hopes of determining his parentage, of learning if he was indeed her son, hadn't been high to begin with. The cybernetics in his body masked his neural signature, so looking for mental similarities was impossible. Also, she'd been warned by the Time-Traveling Mutant, Chronic, that the nanotech made genetic identification impossible.

Letting her feet guide her the woman found herself staring out a window into the back gardens of the estate, watching Andrew playing Frisbee with some of the younger students still attending the Institute. Considering his age and the lack of kids as young as himself, it was going to be hard on him. For the time being he was a novelty, but the older kids, all older by at least four years, would eventually grow tired of him.

Andrew needed friends his own age, boys and girls he could relate to, and he wasn't going to find that within the halls of the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning. She considered placing him in the public school system of Salem Center, the closest town. He already had the knowledge of three 17 year olds absorbed from when the Cuckoos merged with the Thousand-in-One, so there was no fear of him doing poorly. The woman's only fear was that he'd be ousted as a mutant and become a target of prejudice.

There was also the matter of his legal situation. Weapon Plus had a working alias for Andrew, making him the half-brother of the Cuckoos. According to these documents he'd been raised at St. Andrew's Orphanage until his mutant telepathy was discovered and he was brought to the attention of Xavier's by the nuns running the place. Of course, St Andrews was a ruin, but holograms and the Cuckoo's psychic imagery would have been enough to convince whoever went to pick him up that it was real – even Emma herself would have been fooled, she was sure.

For the time being he was Andrew Cuckoo, an 8 year old with the power to detect people, human and Mutant, by some kind of Synesthesia, causing him to perceive energy as both light and sound. He had telepathic abilities, too, but he had yet to demonstrate a Diamond Form, which would be a strong point in proving that he was her son. Unfortunately, the nanotech in his system blocked certain parts of his brain from detection, so she couldn't trigger the part of his mind that controlled the Diamond Form in herself and the girls.

Sighing in frustration the woman went in search of something else to occupy her mind.

For all her trying to focus on other things, though, Emma Frost found herself considering Andrew's situation often over the next week. Except when on missions with the X-Men, or overseeing training sessions with the students, Andrew would invariably come up. The school year was fast approaching, so she made the decision to enroll him in the third grade.

Of course, this brought up the need for new clothes and school supplies, so Emma found herself spending an afternoon at the shopping center in Salem Center. It was packed with parents and their children also shopping for clothes and back-to-school items.

Normally the woman either shopped online or went down to New York City to have specialty clothing made. It had been years since she'd even entered a 'one-stop' shopping center. Fortunately she was able to use her telepathy on the mothers shopping for their children to figure out the types of things to buy. Unfortunately, there were so many parents shopping that some of the shelves were stripped bare.

Andrew had no preferences when it came to clothing, due in part to having no personal experience to draw upon. The only knowledge of clothing he had came from three 17 year old girls, which was no help at all. He did, however, prefer plain white tee shirts and cargo pants, also white. She realized with a start that he was trying to copy her preference in white clothing in an attempt to win her approval.

Using the option of other mothers Emma was sure to get a few blue items to bring out his eyes. In the end the only thing left was to pick out some personal items to liven up Andrew's bedroom.

***ANDREW***

Andrew was at a complete loss when Ms. Frost suggested that they look at toys and the like to 'liven up' his room. He'd been given a relatively small room, but it was in a corner and had a great view of the side and back gardens. Entering the toy section the boy was completely lost as to what he was supposed to be looking at.

There were figurines for just about everything, toys that changed into other toys, and various costume bits. Around him there were boys of every age begging their parents for this toy or that toy. He felt surrounded by noise and sought a quieter place to take refuge. Near the back of the toy section were the educational toys where only a few kids went.

Mostly it was parents shopping for preschoolers, but there was one girl his age playing softly on a display keyboard. She finished the song and smiled politely at the praise she was given.

Stepping up beside her Andrew fingered a guitar in a display case. "Do you play the guitar?" the girl asked.

"No, but I think I'd like to," he admitted. Taking the guitar down he strummed the cords until he found the ones he wanted and played a simplified version of the song she'd just finished.

"You have a pretty good ear," the girl complemented him. "You should definitely learn to play."

"Maybe I will," Andrew replied, thinking of the praise he might receive from Ms. Frost.

A man in his early twenties called out and the girl turned to give him a wave. Turning back the girl said, "I'm Amber Harris. Maybe we'll see each other at school?"

"Oh, uh, I'm Andrew," he offered, "and I'd like that."

The girl quickly closed the distance and gave Andrew a peck on the cheek before dashing away, saying, "Bye Andrew!"

Stunned, the boy stood there touching the spot on his cheek she'd kissed, not knowing what she meant by it.

Emma found him standing there and asked, "Did you find anything you liked?"

"Um, yea," he told her, placing the guitar in the shopping cart. "Ms. Frost, what does it mean when a girl kissing you on the cheek?"

A little taken aback the woman scanned his mind before saying, "She probably meant it as an endearment – to make sure you remember her."

"Oh, but why?"

Smiling she explained, "You are a very good looking boy, Andrew, and even girls your own age are going to pick up on your manners, intelligence, and naiveté. A few will even find the combination attractive."

"Do you find me attractive?"

The question would have been daring coming from an older boy, but from Andrew it came out different. He wanted to know if she liked him in the same way he'd chosen all white clothing. With in him the nanotech was driving him towards establishing an emotional connection with Emma – he wanted to be her son.

Smiling kindly the woman said, "If I were to have a son I would want him to be just like you."

***EMMA***

Using her telepathy Emma was able to jump to the front of a checkout line. Besides the clothing and guitar she'd bought a couple notebooks and pencils, and a backpack to round out his school supplies. Once back at the Institute she enlisted the help of a couple older students to move it all up to Andrew's room.

***ANDREW***

That night Andrew stayed up well past his bedtime practicing with his guitar and the starter music provided. He found the instructions helpful to find notes that he'd been missing on his first attempt to play. Reading notes was difficult for the boy, but if he heard a song he could usually duplicate it by ear. The wonder of the playing didn't wear off as time went on, but the boy eventually grew so tired that he put the instrument away and crawled into bed.

Xi'an Coy Mahn stood from where she'd been leaning against the wall outside Andrew's door. Before M-Day, when there had been over 200 students attending the school, Xi'an had been in charge of the younger students. Those kids, like Andrew, who were too young to be part of a Training Squad.

One of her joys had been instilling in her students an appreciation of music. She'd taught them to harmonize using recorders, xylophones, drums and tambourines. The school had only been open for two years before 90% of the students suddenly lost their powers. In all that time though she'd never taught anyone with a natural inclination for music like what Andrew seemed to possess.

Spotting Emma Frost walking towards her Xi'an went to meet the woman. "He's just fallen asleep," the Korean woman explained. "He's been up all night playing that guitar you bought him." Xi'an was sure to put extra warmth in her voice so that Emma would know that there was nothing to be angry about.

It was still strange to think of Emma Frost as an ally, though Xi'an didn't have as much trouble with the notion as some of the other teachers. When Xi'an Coy Mahn had first come to the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning, back when it had still been called the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters, she'd been a teenager. She and a bunch of other mutant kids were known as the 'New Mutants', and like any group of teenagers they had rivals – the Hellions, based out of the Massachusetts Academy in Snow Valley, MA. Their headmistress had been Emma Frost, then the White Queen of the Hellfire Club.

The Hellfire Club was a secret organization posing as a gentlemen's club, the Inner Circle was comprised of mutants trying to rule the world through economics and politics. The Hellions were meant to be the next generation of the Inner Circle, just as the New Mutants were meant to become the next generation of X-Men.

Only two of the New Mutants were now full time X-Men, and if any of the Hellions were part of the Inner Circle they kept it guiet.

Back to the present Xi'an asked Emma, "Is it alright if I mentored him?"

"He's a little young to be on a Training Squad, Xi'an," the older woman pointed out.

"I didn't mean it like that. I meant I could mentor him in his musical skills. He's a natural musician; I'd hate to see that talent go to waste."

"And you think I would let any student's talents go to waste?"

With a smile the young woman said, "Emma, do you feel threatened by me?"

"No, of course not, why would you think that?" the woman in white responded.

"You're afraid that I'll replace you as his mother figure," Xi'an countered.

"Ms. Mahn that is the most preposterous theory I've heard. Now, if you'll excuse me I'm late for a date with Scott."

Walking with her, Xi'an asked, "Why were you walking down this hall, Emma? You were coming to check in on Andrew, weren't you?"

Emma stopped for a moment, confirming the Korean woman's suspicion, and then continued on her way without a backwards glance.

***Andrew***

The last week before the start of the school term for Andrew was spent testing. He had to under go academic tests to prove that he was ready to enter the Third Grade, and Ms. Frost tested him to determine the extent of his mental powers. Although he was still uncomfortable in the presence of the Cuckoos having them around during training was beneficial in one way. The anxiety he felt around them triggered his telepathy in such a way that it affected his nanotechnology.

The first time this happened was in the Danger Room and caused a malfunction that activated one of the X-Men's training programs. Luckily it was one of the minor programs available to the New X-Men, easily defeated by four telepaths and one frightened little boy. Andrew was apologetic afterward, but Emma was more interested in determining how he did it and what his capabilities were.

As for the other psychic abilities he seemed strangely mute. Even the Cuckoos were confused by his inability to project his thoughts through telepathy. Andrew was perhaps the most confused and he pushed himself to prove that he was like Emma in some way.

Whenever he was down the boy recovered through music. He would play his guitar, usually in his room, but sometimes he'd find some semi-public place and garner an audience. As the week wore on Emma realized that Xi'an had been right, the boy needed a mentor who could be objective.

Andrew's first day of school was strange. Ms. Frost had picked out his outfit – white pants with a blue button-down shirt under a white 'v'-neck sweater. Once ready he was given a ride to the bus stop where he joined a bare handful of other kids. He'd been counseled not to reveal that he was a mutant, and he did mean to keep his promise, but he couldn't help sensing the people through his power.

Each had their own sound and color, and he could tell that they were all nervous, just like him.

When the bus arrived the older kids sat in the back, or sat with friends. Andrew sat up front, just behind the school bus driver. He wasn't alone for long as a couple of stops later Amber Harris came aboard and, seeing him, asked if she could sit next to him.

"Of course," he said, moving his book bag so she could sit down. He could sense her nervousness and excitement through her audio-aura and he could also tell that she was a latent mutant.

"So, you got on the bus before me, so you must really live out in the boonies," Amber said, stretching for a topic of mutual interest.

He was supposed to say that he lived with Foster Parents, but instead he told the girl, "Yea, I live with my mom up near the Xavier Estate."

"Really? Is your mom that lady you were shopping with last week?"

"Yea, that's my mom. Her name is Emma."

"Emma? That's a pretty name, but there's one thing I was wondering?"

"What's that?"

"Your last name."

In a bind the boy said, "Well, my parents just recently separated, and she's trying to get my name changed, but it is still Cuckoo."

Amber giggled, "Your last name is Cuckoo?"

Embarrassed, the boy simply nodded. "There's a lot of legal stuff she has to go through, so it might be a while before it's changed."

"No, its okay," Amber told him. "It's a good name, just a little odd."

Trying to find a new subject, Andrew asked, "So, what's the school like?"

The Elementary School for the North Salem School District was a large, modern building constructed in part with funds provided by the Xavier Estate. It housed grades 1 to 5, with an outbuilding for kindergarten and special needs students. A large play ground in the back was filled with swings and slides and sports fields.

Inside there was a large gymnasium that also served as the cafeteria, and an only slightly smaller library with a stage in a sunken area. The school had several class rooms with 20 students per class.

For a few minutes Andrew was afraid that he and Amber would be separated, but fortunately they were both assigned to Mrs. Beatle's Third Grade class. Her classroom was set up with five sets of four desks placed in a square. Unfortunately he and Amber were seated at different groups, but that allowed both of them to focus on the class.

Mrs. Beetle was a kind woman, very lively and entertaining. After about an hour, just as the students attention span began to wane, they were let out for recess. There were a lot of things to do, including games like wall-ball and team sports.

Recess was only about 15 minutes long, just enough time to play off the fidgets, before heading back to class. After another hour came lunch and another period of recess. Like before Andrew hung out with Amber, though he'd been sure to talk with the others in his class group and said hello to them.

"Hey, new kid," one of the boys from Amber's class group called out. "Why are you hanging out with the girly-girl? You bent or something?"

"Ignore him, Andrew," Amber advised. "That's Jim English and he's just a jerk."

Jim wasn't much taller than Andrew, but he was backed by a couple other boys that laughed at their leader's joke. Andrew laughed, too, giving everyone pause.

"Bent? No, I just prefer the company of the opposite sex, where as you . . .?" He looked between the boys flanking the bully pointedly.

"Are you calling me gay, you little punk?"

"Did I say that?" Andrew asked. "I'm just saying that it's pretty thick of you to accuse me of being gay when you have no girl friends."

Beside him Amber fidgeted slightly, but remained at his side.

"You little punk!" Jim roared as he charged forward, grabbing Andrew by the collar and knocking him back.

Amber ran off to get a Recess Monitor while the two boys wrestled. When she was gone Andrew growled to his opponent, "Look, I get it, you like Amber, but this isn't the way to impress her. If you beat me up she'll side with me and hate you. But when she comes back, if we're laughing about this, you'll become her friend. Think about it, Jim."

There was a sound of a whistle, and Andrew pushed himself away, climbing to his feet. Jim got up as well and started laughing, saying, "I guess you are alright, Cuckoo."

"What's going on here," the teacher acting as Recess Monitor demanded.

"Just a misunderstanding," Andrew told the woman. "We've gotten it sorted out."

She looked at them suspiciously before turning and telling the other kids to go back to their play.

Looking between them in confusion Amber asked, "What just happened?"

"Boy stuff," Andrew replied. "You already know him, but let me introduce you to Jim English and his friends . . . uh?"

"Don Lawless and Jason Anders," Jim supplied. "What about your friends?"

Amber had three girlfriends that were her constant companions. She introduced them as; "Andrea Knoll, Erin Smith and Jill Walters."

"I know," Andrew said excitedly, "Why don't we have a four on four soccer game!" Unfortunately the bell rang, so he added, "Next recess?"

"Sounds like fun," Jim put in, and waved to them as he walked off with his confused friends.

"Um, Andrew, are you sure you want to hang out with Jim English? He's a bully, and he never keeps a promise."

With a shrug he said, "At least this way no other bullies will bother us."

Sighing in understanding Amber announced, "It would take a boy to come up with something like that."

Andrew stepped off the bus and looked around. He was hoping that Ms. Frost would be there to pick him up, but instead Ms. Manh was there. She looked concerned at the rumpled and dirt stained clothes he was wearing, and asked, "Are you alright, Andrew?"

"I'm fine," he replied. "I got into a fight with another boy at lunch, but its okay. We ended up playing soccer, and tomorrow he's going to teach me how to play wall-ball."

Confused, Ms. Manh asked, "Wait, you got into a fight with someone at school and now you're friends?"

Not seeing anything strange in that Andrew simply said, "Yea, his name is Jim English, and he's got a crush on my friend, Amber."

"Boys," she sighed as they climbed into the car.

"I was hoping that Ms. Frost would be picking me up," he admitted.

"She's with the X-Men on a mission," the woman explained. "She asked that I try to help you determine the extent of your nanotechnologies."

With a sullen expression he asked, "Why does she care so much about that? I thought she wanted to bring out my telepathic powers?"

"Oh, she does, but we think the nanotech is suppressing your telepathy, so if you can get a handle on that you can access your telepathy," Xi'an told the boy.

***XI'AN***

A half hour later the two stood outside the school. Normally this kind of thing would be done in the Danger Room, but with Andrew that was dangerous. Xi'an brought out a simple remote control car for the first test and handed him the remote.

"Okay, here's the test. Without touching the controls I want you to command the car to move," the woman explained.

Andrew frowned, considering the problem and searching for the trigger in his mind. He reached through the remote and was so surprised to see the toy move that he lost his concentration. It wasn't as hard to find his center again, but it took a few minutes to figure out how to control the steering. After 15 minutes they moved on to another exercise.

Ms. Manh provided a robot toy with a touch pad on the chest. The test was the same, but the results were different. After about a five minutes he said, "Ms. Manh, I don't think I can control this toy – it isn't designed to be controlled remotely."

"I see, so you can only access technologies already designed to be controlled by remote? Okay, below the basketball court is a hanger. I want you to try to open the hanger doors, but they're encrypted, so this is going to be a little more difficult."

Facing the basketball court Andrew's eyes glowed white as he searched for the command to open the hanger door. His face twisted in concentration, and beads of perspiration formed on his brow. Xi'an was about to call him off the test when the doors began to open.

Blinking in surprise Andrew admitted, "That wasn't me."

Above them the X-Jet moved into position to land.

"I guess that's enough practice for today. Let's have dinner."

***ANDREW***

The boy ate dinner with Ms. Manh, her brother, and her sister, in her apartment in the Institute as Ms. Frost was busy with a debriefing. Afterwards he retrieved his guitar and looked for a private place to play. After a couple minutes of searching he found the Music Room, but it was already occupied. Mindee Cuckoo was sitting at the piano playing a fairly complicated piece.

Andrew could tell the Cuckoos apart by their unique aura and sound. Mindee completed her piece, and without turning she said, "Have you come to play your guitar?"

"Yes, but I'll leave and let you practice," he replied.

She stood and said, "No, I'm done practicing today."

"No, um, Mindee, would you teach me to play the piano?"

"You already know how to play. When my sisters and I merged with the Thousand-in-One all our skills and knowledge were downloaded into you."

"I know, but I want you to teach me," Andrew said pleadingly.

"Very well, come sit next to me and we'll try a few of the simple songs to limber up your fingers."

***THREE-IN-ONE***

Phoebe and Celeste Cuckoo stood outside the Music Room, tapping their feet in time with the music. Could they feel emotion they would have felt annoyed and jealous. Each of them had been programmed to bond with their 'little brother' and to aid him in learning to control his powers. Now, with their nanotech disrupted and their emotions suppressed they could not connect with him the way they were supposed to.

"We should join them," Phoebe said.

"No, this is something Mindee must do. She is the musician, you are the fighter, and I'm the artist. He will be uncomfortable with all of us there," Celeste pointed out.

Just to voice it, Phoebe stated, "He is my brother, too, but do we have to complete this part of our function now that we've been freed of it?"

"No, but if he comes to me I will teach him to paint, because he is my brother."

"Then I can do no less," Phoebe replied reluctantly.

***EMMA***

Listening to her daughters Emma Frost wondered, What did you plan for them Sublime?

"Something wrong, Emma?" Scott Summers asked, wrapping his arms around her waist.

The woman leaned back against her boyfriend and said, "Oh, nothing, just listening to my daughters plot how best to befriend their brother."

"So you're convinced that he's your son?" he asked.

"They are, but I'm still waiting on proof," Emma sighed in return.

Whispering into her ear, he asked "What does your heart tell you, Emma?"

"What?" the woman inquired.

"Your emotions, what do they tell you?" he clearified.

After a moment of consideration she replied, "That even if he's not my biological son, he'll be the closest thing I'll ever have to one."

"Well then, stop holding back," he advised.

Sighing, Emma kissed her man softly. "You're right, of course. So, how about it, Mr. Summers? Are you ready to be a father again?"

"What?"

"One of the drawbacks of dating a single mother," she replied.

With a sigh he smiled back and gave her a kiss. "Come on, Emma, if we're going to be Andrew's parents then we need to enforce the rules, and it's past his bedtime."

***EMMA***

Andrew was thrilled when Ms. Frost began to pay more attention to him, and even warmed up to Scott. Per their request he started calling them by their first names, though at school he still referred to Emma as his mom and he mentioned Scott as her boyfriend. His friendships with Amber and Jim grew stronger as the weeks passed, and he even made an effort to get to know the Cuckoos.

One day he sought out Emma and asked, "Um, Emma, I've a huge favor to ask."

"What is it, Andrew?" the woman replied, putting aside some paperwork she was reading.

Nervous, he told her, "Well, one of my friends, Amber Harris, invited me to her birthday party and I'd like to get her a present."

"This wouldn't be the same girl who kissed you, would it?" she asked slyly.

"Um, yes, it is," Andrew admitted.

"Do you have any idea what she'd like?"

"A Keyboard," the boy answered. "She's really into music, and took piano lessons, but she had to give the practice keyboard back when she stopped."

"When is the party?"

"It's in two weeks."

"Since this is the girl who sparked your own interest in music I suppose I could spare some expense. But, your report card is due in a week, and I expect to see you've done well or it's a tambourine for the girl, got it?"

"Yes, Emma, thank you!"

"Give me a hug and then go find Phoebe, I believe today is her day to teach you martial arts." The boy hugged her gladly and then ran off to find his 'sister.'

Picking up the report Emma read the condensed findings from S.H.I.E.L.D. It stated that Andrew was the result of combining genetic material from two mutants, though the file didn't include names. So, if she was his biological mother then who was his father?

***ANDREW***

Andrew arrived at the party once more dressed in his best clothes and carrying a big box with both hands. His grades had been excellent in all areas, even in Gym Class, so Emma had bought the best keyboard on the market. The boy already knew his friend would love it and couldn't wait to see the look on her face as she unwrapped it.

***MIMICRY***

In the Medical Ward at the Xavier Institute For Higher Learning a flash of light disgorged a single teenager. He looked around quickly, trying to get his bearings, before moving quickly and quietly to the door. Though his blue outfit with silver and black markings would have passed for a costume the teenager didn't belong there, at least not yet.

Mimicry was a man out of time. Just a moment before he'd been in the custody of his former Mentors, Marvel and Chronic. Using her Time Control powers Chronic had been taking them back to the future and an uncertain fate for Mimicry.

With the power to duplicate the powers of other mutants the teen had come back in time originally to alter events in his favor. Marvel had stopped him, however, but not this time. Avoiding detection the teen checked the school and then stole some clothes before making his way out of the building. Once on the road he was able to flag down a car and get a lift into town.

Once he knew the date Mimicry knew exactly where to find his first target – at his Grandparent's house in North Salem. With the device on the back of his head providing a distracting amount of pain he couldn't use his powers, so he'd have to find another avenue for his revenge.

***ANDREW***

The party was a lot of fun, and Andrew had been right about Amber liking the keyboard. She was so excited that she gave him another kiss on the cheek. When the party wound down Amber played hostess by greeting the parents of her friends as they came to pick their kids up.

There were only a few of her friends left when someone knocked at the door and Amber went to greet the person. Instead of a parent, however, there was a teenage boy wearing clothes that didn't quite fit him holding a handgun in her face. She screamed, and tried to run, but the teen scooped her up, holding the weapon to her head.

"Fight me and I'll blow your brains out," he hissed in Amber's ear.

Whimpering in terror the girl stopped fighting. The teen carried her into the living room where the last vestiges of the party had stopped. Amber's parents and older brother were looking on the scene with horror, not knowing what to do.

"You," the teen with the gun barked at Andrew, "come here or I blow your girlfriend's head off."

Andrew had never known fear like what coursed through his body at that moment. When he'd first met his sisters he'd been afraid for his life, but now it wasn't his life that was in danger. It was Amber, his first and best friend, and he wasn't going to let anything happen to her.

The teen knelt and said, "On the back of my head is a device – take it off."

Nodding, Andrew stepped around the teen and looked at the device. He knew from his training with Phoebe that there were pressure points all over the body, and thought that this device might be putting pressure on those parts of the boy's skull. The pain wasn't enough to incapacitate, it would just hurt a lot, keeping them from concentrating.

"Why can't you take it off?" Andrew asked.

"No questions, you little shit, now take it off before I lose my patience. And don't try anything funny like reprogramming it with your cyber-link, or I'll start shooting."

Seeing no other way out of the situation Andrew reached up and pulled the device from the teen's head. It came away easily, making the boy again wonder why it had to have been him who removed it.

***MIMICRY***

Mimicry sighed as he stood up, pushing his aunt away from him as he did. He saw the younger version of his mentor about to run to Amber, so he leveled the gun at the boy and started pulling the trigger. The boy threw up his arms in a futile defense, but his skin also took on a sheen which signified that his skin had turned diamond hard.

***ANDREW***

Sharp pain accompanied each bullet strike as the teen unloaded the handgun before tossing it aside. Lying on the ground Andrew looked down at his body expecting to see bloody holes torn into his flesh, but there were none. Instead his hands had a glossy look to them as the light interacted with them strangely, and the bullets rolled off him as he brushed them away.

Realizing that he'd manifested his diamond form like Emma and the Cuckoos the boy was filled with joy. Now it would be obvious who he was – a thousand happy thoughts filled the boy. He looked to Amber, wanting to share his joy with her, but her face gave him pause. The girl was startled, her face showing disbelief at what she was seeing.

Getting to his feet Andrew brushed at the holes in his clothes absentmindedly.

"Hello, Prince Frost," the teen sneered. "Are you ready to die?"

The living room window shattered and Laura Kinsey rolled to her feet. She faced the teen in the ill assorted clothes, growling, and a pair of blades erupted from each fist. On the other side of the room a woman passed through the wall, leaving it perfectly intact behind her.

"Excellent, Talon and Shadowcat," the teen intruder sneered. He lunged at Andrew, and the boy again threw up his hands to fend off the attack.

Andrew's hands passed through the teen's body though and pain more intense than anything the boy had ever felt before coursed through his body. Every nerve ending seemed like it had caught on fire. Screaming in pain the boy's diamond form faded, and he collapsed onto the ground twitching before unconsciousness finally claimed him.

***MIMICRY***

Talon lunged, but Mimicry caught the blades on his forearms, which had gained the glossy sheen of his duplicated Diamond Form. Catching her off guard the teen punched her hard, knocking the feral combatant the ground.

With Talon down Mimicry figured that Shadowcat would make her move, so when he spotted motion out of the corner of his eye he spun, combining powers. His body became flesh for a moment, bone claws erupting through his skin, then diamond once more. It was the kind of thing that Marvel had always been preaching about, combining powers into a greater whole.

Diamond spurs punctured clothing and flesh with absurd ease, but it wasn't Kate Rasputin at the end of his fist. He heard a girl scream – Amber, his aunt – and realized who he'd stabbed through the heart.

It was Jacob Harris, his own father, who dropped to his knees, bleeding from a pair of small wounds in his chest.

"God," Mimicry said in horror, "Oh, God, no." He stepped forward to be at his father's side, but Amber was already there.

Looking up at her brother's murderer the girl's tears evaporated on her cheeks. "Stay away," the girl shrieked, throwing out a hand. A ball of superheated plasma slammed into Mimicry's chest.

The teen screamed in pain, unable to concentrate enough to copy Talon's power of regeneration to save himself. A hole was burnt through his chest, and he collapsed onto the floor of his grandparent's home. His eyes turned to the unconscious Andy Frost just a few feet away, and Mimicry thought, Marvel was right, Time Travel is just too complicated . . . Then he thought no more.

***EMMA***

Local police were all over the scene before Emma could arrive. Kitty and Laura had already given their statements and taken Andrew back to the Institute, but as co-Headmaster she needed to see firsthand.

Jacob Harris was being loaded into an ambulance, complaining that he was fine. It was lucky that Josh Foley had been in town visiting with his legal guardian, Danielle Moonstar. When they saw the fireball blast through the roof of a suburban house they'd both headed over to help.

Foley had the power to manipulate the body on a genetic level, healing it or diseasing it with equal ease. With the medical knowledge of Dr. Hank McCoy rattling around his brain it had been simple to heal the two thin wounds that would have otherwise been the human boy's undoing.

More serious was the situation surrounding Amber Harris. Normally Mutants did not manifest their powers until puberty, but the girl had created a ball of plasma that had gone 1000 ft before dissipating, burning a hole through her attacker the size of a softball. Such power, if uncontrolled, could make her a danger to everyone around her.

As Emma approached the police line she saw the body of the assailant being carted out in a body bag. Her telepathic conversations with Kitty and Laura revealed that the attacker was Mimicry. It was all so circular – Mimicry coming back in time to kill Andrew so that Marvel, Andrew's older self, wouldn't be able to stop him from altering time. Instead the teen almost stops himself from being born, and was killed by his own aunt.

Using her telepathy the co-headmaster of the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning made the Police and Emergency Crews ignore her as she crossed the cordon and approached Amber's parents. Mr. and Mrs. Harris were a handsome couple who worked as Research Scientists, often working on classified information for the US Government. Because of the sensitive nature of their work they wore Psy-Shields and were away from home much of the time. Emma could pierce their shields with difficulty, but she respected their privacy as the parents of a Mutant.

"Mr. and Mrs. Harris, my name is Emma Frost, I'm the Headmistress of the Xavier Institute," the woman stated plainly. "I would like to speak with you about your daughter's future."

They shook hands amicably. "Ms. Frost, I understand you have a vested interest in the fate of all Mutants, but I don't like your school's safety record," Mr. Harris said dismissively.

"I understand your hesitation, Mr. Harris, and it is likely that the school will be closing in a few weeks. What I'm offering is private tutoring. Your daughter is at a crucial stage – if she does not receive training now her powers will enter a dormant state. Depending on the nature of her powers this could be a simple mind block to prevent her from accessing her ability, or it could cause a deadly buildup of energy."

The parents looked at each other in the semi-telepathic way people who lived together for so long often developed. Mrs. Harris asked, "How dangerous a build up?"

"You daughter blew a hole through the roof of your house and sent a ball of plasma a thousand feet into the air. If she builds up too much energy she could go nova and destroy all life on this hemisphere," Emma admitted, wishing that she was exaggerating.

"We'll talk about your offer, Ms. Frost. Thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention," Mr. Harris said, somewhat abashed for his earlier rudeness.

"Excuse me," Amber broke into the conversation. "Are you Andrew's mom?"

The question caught her a little off guard, and Emma considered her answer carefully. Andrew was supposed to have told everyone that he was in Foster care, but it seemed he'd gone against type to create his own identity. But he wasn't wrong – without the nanotech to disrupt her psy-scan she knew that he was her son, even without seeing his diamond form.

"Yes, I am," Emma admitted.

"Can you tell me how he's doing?"

Kneeling so that they were on the same eye level, Emma told the girl, "He's not well, Amber. What that man did to Andrew hurt him very badly. I actually have to head back to the Institute now – we have a team of Doctors at the school and they are waiting to consult with me on his condition."

Stepping forward Amber gave the woman a hug, saying, "Wish him luck for me, okay?"

Returning the hug Emma stood and said her goodbyes. She was once more ignored as she made her way back to her car. Even before returning to the mansion she was talking via telepathy with Hank, David and Josh.

***BEAST***

"We've isolated him in a clean room, but it's too early to tell if he picked up anything," Hank McCoy said aloud, though the four of them were communicating telepathically. "Andrew is stable and resting comfortably for the time being."

I'd like to speak with him when I arrive, Emma replied.

"That's fine, but you won't be able to enter the clean room without a hazmat suit. Josh is brushing up on the Immune System, but until that is rebuilt even the smallest germ could prove deadly."

I understand, Hank, I'll be there in a few minutes. Please ask Josh to wait until I've arrived and spoken to Andrew.

Concern filled the telepathic contact coming from David Alleyne. "There's something else you need to know, Ms. Frost," the young man added. "We've resolved the brain scans and figured out what it was that's in his brain. It's a capsule containing Kick. Even though it's smaller than a pea there is enough drug there to either kill Andrew or infect him with Sublime."

A collective shudder went though the group as the implications came crashing down. Sublime was a Sentient Bacteria that had been around since time immemorial. It had a pathological fear and hatred of Mutants due to an inborn resistance shared by that genetic subset. On occasion it could take possession of the person it infected, while at other times it could enhance Genetic Mutation.

The leader of Weapon Plus, Doctor John Sublime, had been the primary host for decades, waging a personal war against Mutants. Sublime had created Andrew, had made the boys immune system dependent upon on an artificial system, and suddenly it was apparent why. Whatever Andrew had been created to be it was obvious that he'd been intended as the perfect host for Sublime

Could you surgically remove the implant?"

His emotions roiled for a moment before David answered, "I'm certain that trying to remove it will set it off."

I'm pulling into the garage. I'll be there in a couple minutes.

***EMMA***

Emma expected to find Andrew sleeping within the sterile tent, but he was awake, playing with a series of blacksmith puzzles that Hank kept on hand. He was so engrossed on the links and chains that he didn't even notice that she was there.

Hank stood nearby, not hovering, but obviously he wanted to speak to her. When she stepped over to him the fur covered mutant said, "I have David in the lab testing the blood samples we took. We'll know in a day or two if he caught anything. Emma, you should know that if he did catch something only Josh's power will save Andrew."

"What are the options if he hasn't caught some germ?"

"David thinks with Josh's help he can grow an immune system here in the lab, but that will take weeks, even with Elixir's power to manipulate bio-matter. Otherwise Andrew will have to stay isolated for the rest of his life."

"Time will tell, huh?" Emma muttered sarcastically. "Please keep monitoring my son, Hank, and have David start work on his option. Andrew would never be happy living in a bubble and I won't leave him in one."

"Emma?" Andrew's voice asked tentatively over the intercom. A slight distortion made the woman's name almost sound like 'momma'.

Returning to the clear plastic window into the tent Emma saw that the boy was done with the puzzles for the time being.

"Did they tell you, Emma? I have a Diamond Form, just like you and the Cuckoos," he said happily.

Smiling back, Emma said, "So I've heard. I'm very proud of you, Andrew."

A little less certainly he asked, "Does this prove that I'm your son?"

"Yes, it does, but more telling is that without your nanotech I can read your mental-print and compare it with my own," she told him. "For psychics like us that's all the proof that is needed."

"Does . . . does this mean that I can call you mom?"

"I'd like that," she told him happily. He smiled broadly, but that smile turned into a yawn. "Now, it's time for bed, young man. Go on now."

He dutifully crawled into bed, smiling into his pillow as he curled under his blankets. She turned off the lights and stepped away, leaving the Medical Wing at a walk. As soon as the doors closed behind her she changed into her Diamond Form, cutting herself off from the emotions that surged through her.

Walking sedately the woman proceeded to her apartment where she found Scott preparing for bed. Again she waited for the door to close and lock behind her before reverting to her human form. She flung herself into her boyfriend's arms, tears streaming down her face.

"Emma, what's wrong?" Scott asked.

"Just hold me, Scott. Please, just hold me."

***BEAST***

Andrew coughed and moaned, looking miserable on his hospital bed. He didn't even have the energy to play his guitar, which sat on a stand near his bed.

"I'm afraid that we have no choice," Dr. Hank McCoy sighed as he gave his teammate and friend, Emma Frost, the verdict.

"The common cold," the woman mused bitterly. "Can I be with Andrew when it happens?"

"I think he would like that," Hank replied.

Most of the prep work was done, so there was no need to go through hazmat containment procedures. Everyone involved was required to wash up and dress properly, however. Josh Foley, called Elixir for his Omega-level power to manipulate life functions, stood to one side; David Alleyne at his head; and Hank McCoy at his feet, which left Emma to stand beside her son. Andrew reached out and placed his small hand in hers before nodding bravely to Josh, who paced his hands on the boy's forehead and chest.

"Close your eyes, Andrew," Josh advised. "This might tingle."

A glowing gold light seemed to form in the palms of Josh's hands and was absorbed into Andrew's body. The boy's body went ridged and his eyes opened wide. He gave a hard cough and spat into a handful of towels David provided.

Breathing easy Andrew looked to his mother with a smile, and then collapsed onto the hospital bed. Alarms throughout the medical suite went off and the three medics leapt into the emergency without a second thought. Only there was nothing that could be done.

"I'm eliminating the Kick in his brain," Josh, the youngest and least experienced of the three explained, "There's just no brain activity."

Sadness overwhelmed Emma, and she shifted to her Diamond Form to keep herself from breaking down. There would be time for that later, time in private, but she couldn't and wouldn't allow herself to be seen so degraded. "No," she whispered.

"No," "No," "No," three voices repeated in unison.

Looking up Emma saw her daughters watching through the clear plastic window. Their eyes were locked on their brother's unresponsive form and tears were welling in her eyes. They were sad, but the biggest danger was that they felt any emotion at all.

Emma reverted to her flesh form and tried to add her telepathic strength to theirs, but it was too late. All their eyes glowed white, then red, as the power of the Phoenix overcame them. They rose off the ground as psychic flames enveloped them, taking the form of a great raptor – a bird of prey.

The Phoenix, combined from the fragments that the girls had kept locked within their own diamond hearts, surveyed the room. It spotted Andrew's form lying on the bed and suddenly the three girls fell to the ground as it lunged forward. Emma threw up her arms, barring the way, but the cosmic intelligence bypassed her.

With horror evident on her face the woman turned. The Psychic fire had caught the bed alight, but the body wasn't being burned by the flames. Above the bed the flames illuminated a spectral form of Andrew that lowered back into the body, drawing the flames in after it.

In a rush all the flames went out, and after only a moment Hank was at the bedside, pressing his sensitive cat-like ears to the boy's chest. "There's a heartbeat, strong and steady."

Andrew's eyes opened, glowing red, and in a weirdly modulated voice the Phoenix spoke through his mouth, saying, "I am Life. I am Fire. I am . . ."

Cutting off the voice was replaced by Andrew's saying, "No, I don't want to burn, I don't want to kill. Mommy!"

"I'm here," Emma said, taking his hand again.

"I can't . . . I can't control it. It's too powerful."

The Cuckoos, Celeste, Phoebe and Mindee, stepped up to the bed and said, "But it is not more powerful than all of us," in their all-in-one voice. "Open up your mind to us, brother. Let us help you."

Emma felt the psychic gestalt form between her four children and was swept into it. She found herself in the middle of a psychic maelstrom, but unlike earlier experiences linking with her daughters she did not lead the link.

Andrew's personality dominated, his will was overpowering the others, and for a moment Emma rebelled at the thought of being led rather than leading. Mastering herself she relaxed and found a psychic landscape being formed. Andrew visualized a crescent shaped bay with palm trees in the back ground and sun warmed sand under foot. Out past the bay a storm made up of red clouds threatened, but on the beach itself only the wind hinted at the storm.

Strain in his voice, Andrew called, "What do I do?"

"Break it up, Andrew. Splinter the Phoenix and trap it within your sisters," she advised.

He nodded and the storm fractured, three parts were siphoned into miniature tornadoes that connected with the hearts of the Cuckoos. The red clouds were absorbed into the chests of the three girls, but a portion still remained.

"Andrew, don't," Emma said, realizing what he was about to do.

The smiled sadly as the last of the storm connected with him, and the landscape began to fall apart.

Staggering in the mental backlash Emma reached out for physical support and someone caught her before she fell. The Cuckoos weren't as lucky, as only Celeste was caught. Mindee and Phoebe clung to the bed to keep from collapsing completely.

Andrew sat up and clutched his head as dizziness threatened to overwhelm him, too, but he fought the wave of nausea.

"What happened?" Mindee asked.

"I don't know," Celeste said, helping her sisters up.

"The Phoenix is still inside of us," Phoebe added, "but it is . . . less."

Smiling triumphantly, Andrew put in, "I did it. I shared the Phoenix between the four of us. I figured this way you'll be able to keep it under control without completely suppressing your emotions."

Emma reached out with her mind to examine Andrew and found blocks around the corner of his psyche. They were crude, but exceptionally powerful. He might never develop true telepathy, but the Phoenix would be contained, and he hadn't sacrificed his emotions or his Diamond Form.

Turning her attention to her daughters she found that Celeste had already buried her fragment of the Phoenix, locking it away far from the emotions that could nurture it. Mindee was in the process of doing so, and the mother helped the girl shore up the barriers. Phoebe, on the other hand, was examining her fragment and only pushed it away when confronted by her mother's and sister's disapproval.

***WEAPON PLUS***

"Dr. Sublime," the technician called out, "We've received partial telemetry from Units 1, 2 and 4."

Leaving over a microscope the dark haired man waved a hand for the Tech to continue.

"It's fragmented, sir, but it appears that Unit 1001 is alive and the host of a portion of the Phoenix Force absorbed by the other units."

"Anything from Unit 1001?"

"No, sir – his hardware has been completely disabled, and he wasn't tried to contact us."

With a sigh the 'Doctor' stood and said, "Well, it seems we will need to retrieve Unit 1001 to complete Weapon XVI."

"Sir?"

"This tissue sample is useless. Just like the source the X-Gene was removed on M-Day. We'll need to extract the necessary genetic material from Unit 1001. If the unit is alive but not trying to contact us then we'll have to step up the time table. Tell the Retrieval Squad to prepare for extreme resistance."

"Yes, sir," the Tech said before backing away from the head of Weapon Plus.

***ANDREW***

Andrew was glad to be back at school. Nearly a week had passed since the attack on Amber's house and he had grown bored with the seemingly endless tests Dr. McCoy had put him through. When he first arrived, however, he was swarmed with people who wanted to talk to him.

The story of the attack had already gone around school, but no one had a clear idea of what actually happened. Some were under the impression that Andrew was some kind of hero while others taunted him for being some kind of cry baby. One and all ascribed the plasma blast as some high-tech weaponry the perpetrator had been packing and they were under the impression that the attacker had come to get revenge on Amber's parents for some unspecified reason.

He was so relieved when Amber arrived, taking his hand and giving him a kiss on the cheek. She pulled him out of the crowd and once they were alone she said, "I'm really sorry about that, Andy. When I came back to school and people started asking me what happened I stuck to the story my parents came up with, but I also told them you protected me, and were hurt, and that's why you weren't back at school yet."

"Thank you," Andrew told her, tempted to kiss her back, but he didn't follow through.

"So, how are you?" she asked.

"I'm fine," he reassured her. "It was miserable when I caught that cold, but I'm all better now."

"I'm glad to hear that," Amber said with all honesty.

They were at their classroom and went inside just as the first bell rang. With a start Andrew realized that they'd gone all the way from the front doors to their class holding hands. He was about to pull his hand away when something blew a hole in the wall.

Chunks of cinderblock and plaster went everywhere, and Andrew pulled his best friend to him, shielding her body with his. Debris bounced off his body as he changed into his diamond form, and he looked over his shoulder to see a team of soldiers in black suits wearing gas masks. All except one – a man of medium size and build wore no mask, as if to make himself all the more memorable.

Memories long lost to the subconscious suddenly came to the fore like bubbles bursting in the boy's mind. He'd seen that face floating outside the fluid Andrew had been suspended in most of his life.

"Hello, Andrew," the man said. "It's time to come home."

The soldiers tossed canisters into the room which rapidly filled it with smoke. Mrs. Beetle and the students started collapsing where they stood against the wall in fear. Amber went limp in his arms and the boy frantically searched for a pulse.

"Don't worry, Andrew, it's only sleeping gas," the man assured. "I'm not a monster after all. You won't be affected in your Diamond Form since you don't breath in that form."

"Who are you," Andrew demanded as he laid his friend on the ground and turned to face his attackers.

"I'm your father, Andrew. My name is John Sublime."

Something was wrong about that statement, but Andrew couldn't figure it out in his shock. "My home is the Institute," he shouted back, "With my mom and sisters!"

"No," the man said calmly. "You are a weapon, and your place is at Weapon Plus. As for your family, I've prepared a new set of sisters for you, and together you will be unstoppable." John Sublime gestured to the soldiers and Andrew realized what was wrong.

All the soldiers were wearing masks so that they wouldn't be affected by the gas, but 'John' wasn't. Focusing, Andrew looked past the peripherals, using his power to sense living energy. The boy could tell human from Mutant from those humans empowered by something. 'John Sublime' was neither of those – it had no living energy.

"You aren't John Sublime," the boy announced.

"Of course I am."

"Then why aren't you unconscious? This gas should have knocked you out like everybody else!"

John looked around again and said, "Fair point. We'll discuss this later."

"No, we'll discuss this now," Andrew demanded, trying to buy time.

With a sigh the thing called John gestured to the two soldiers, saying, "Take him."

As they stepped forward Andrew tried to figure out what he was going to do. There was a door behind him, but if he went that way he'd put the rest of the school at risk. On his right there was the door out to the school yard, but he didn't know if they had someone waiting there. Last there was the hole in the wall the Weapon Plus soldiers had made. Andrew could see some kind of aircraft that he assumed the soldiers had arrived in, but John was between him and it.

None of them were good options, but Andrew decided the door to the yard was his best bet. He ran, but the soldiers were quicker than he'd expected. They caught Andrew's arms and held tight, turning to boy to face John.

John smiled, a cold, satisfied smile.

Something dark blue bounded through the hole, smashing a soldier to the ground before leaping away. A blast of crimson energy threw another soldier across the room. Around the room the victims of the gas were vanishing in puffs of sulfurous smoke.

Firing another beam from his eyes, Scott came through the hole in the wall, and the soldiers holding Andrew's arms let go to raise their weapons. Andrew kicked one on the side of the knee with all his strength. He was surprised to see the soldier's knee bend the wrong way and hear the howl of pain the soldier let loose.

Andrew turned to face the other soldier, who tried to backhand the boy across the face. The boy felt the bones in the man's hand breaking across his cheek more than he felt the actual blow.

More surprised than hurt the boy turned his head with the blow and saw the door to the play ground burst inward. His mother charged in, shimmering in her diamond form, and smashed the last soldier with fists and feet, even kneeing the man in the groin, not letting up until the soldier went down. She was so preoccupied that she didn't notice John moving up behind her.

"Mom, look out!" Andrew cried out, but it was too late.

"Goodbye," John said as he pulled the trigger, the barrel practically in the woman's face.

Impossibly, Andrew watched as his mother shattered.

With a howl of primal rage Andrew felt his world go red.

***EMMA***

Emma Frost brushed her fingers through her son's silky blond hair on the drive home. She should have been dead – she knew that, but it didn't change the fact that she was alive. In his anguish at seeing her shattered Andrew had accessed the Phoenix and fused her back together.

Then he'd taken 'John Sublime' on a 30 mile flight over rural New York, tearing chunks out of what turned out to be a robot as he went. S.H.I.E.L.D. was combing the area for all the pieces, but it was doubtful that they would find anything larger than a fist.

Finally her boy had burnt a quarter mile of forest as he psychically wrestled the cosmic entity back behind the barriers. It was locked away for the time being; safe, but for how long?

Andrew was a poor custodian for that much power – too young, too inexperienced, and ruled by his emotions. What would happen when his barriers came down again . . .?

"I can't keep him, can I," she asked Scott.

"That's up to you, Emma," the man replied with a sigh. He had no love for the Phoenix either. "You know I'll be there for you, regardless of your decision."

Once back at the mansion Emma gathered her daughters to talk about Andrew's future. They didn't like it, Phoebe especially.

"You are afraid of us," the youngest of the girls accused their mother. "You are afraid of what we are capable of. With him we are twice as powerful as when there were five of us."

"I fear for him, Phoebe, for Andrew. So long as Weapon Plus knows where to find him they'll come after him again and again. He'll never be safe and neither will the people around him. We can't shelter him from the world, or send him to the future, so we have to hide him," Emma reasoned.

"Our mother is right," Mindee said to her sister. "Andrew is in danger and we must see to his safety. I don't like sending him away though. Couldn't we keep him someplace close, somewhere where we can still see him?"

Shaking her head Emma explained, "If this is to work none of us can have any contact with him. None of us should be able to recognize him."

"What are you suggesting?" Celeste asked.

"A round robin – we each hold the memory of Andrew in our subconscious, locked behind keywords that only someone else can open. I'll hold Andrew's keyword, Celeste will hold mine, Phoebe will hold hers, Mindee – you'll hold Phoebe's. Andrew will hold Mindee's keyword – he'll be the hinge key that unlocks us all."

"Why does Mindee get to be first?" Celeste asked, sounding a little sullen.

"She's the one Andrew has bonded with the strongest. Mindee wants to be his sister, Phoebe knows the four of you are more powerful than three . . ."

Phoebe cut in, saying, "And our Mother knows that you will come running her when you remember."

"Now, ladies, none of that," Emma chided. "We're a family."

***ANDREW***

"Do I have to go away?" Andrew whined. Even though he didn't want to he was packing all his clothes into two old suitcases. His guitar was in a special case by the door.

Sadly, Emma said, "I'm sorry, Andrew, but yes, you have to go."

"What will happen to you and my sisters?"

"For the time being I'll be here: Scott and I are closing the school. After that I'll probably take over the CEO position of my company. The girls, well, I'll keep them as close as possible," the mother said to reassure him.

He finished and latched the suit cases closed. Taking one last look around the room Andrew shouldered his cased guitar and followed his mom out to the front drive of the school. Waiting by a black, official looking car was a man who had once been a Mutant called Beak.

"Do you have the directions?" Emma asked her former student.

"GPS," the man replied with a comforting smile.

They loaded the luggage into the trunk, but the guitar when in the back seat with Andrew. Emma sat down with him, having one last thing to say. She'd gotten the idea from Sarah Kinney – Laura's mother.

"Before you leave, Andrew, I want to give you a name." He looked at her in confusion, and she went on, "No matter where you go, to me you will always be Andrew Christian Frost."

His eyes welled with tears and he hugged his mother fiercely, whispering, "I love you, mom," into her ear.

"I love you, too, Andrew," she confided. "Now, lie down, and close your eyes." Once he was arranged comfortably Emma said, "Now, sleep my little prince. Sleep and forget."

Andrew Christian Prince woke from a strange dream and for a moment he didn't know where, or even who he was. Then it came back to him – slowly at first, and then he remembered everything. He was heading to Vermont to meet his new Foster Parents, having lived most of his life at St. Andrew's Orphanage.

"How long was I asleep," Andrew asked the representative of Child Protective Services who was driving.

"Not long," Mr. Berkowski replied.

"Where are we?"

"West Chester County, in New York," he was told. "Just a few more hours and you'll be meeting your new parents."

"Foster parents," the boy corrected. He wiped his cheek, which was strangely damp.

Looking back, Mr. Berkowski asked, "Why are you crying, Andrew?"

"I don't know," the boy said, looking out the back window at a mansion that was disappearing from view.

***EMMA***

Emma Frost stared out the window of her office watching a car disappear from view. She didn't know why, but she felt like she'd forgotten something . . . something important.

With a sigh she put the feeling aside and reviewed the file in her hand. The Xavier Institute was a target – due to the US Government and Xavier's own ill begotten family everyone knew that this was a gathering place for Mutants. As the building was already shaped like an 'X', when it wasn't being rebuilt that is, they should have gone ahead and painted it red.

It wasn't a safe place for the children, most of whom were still too young and inexperienced to be on their own. So, a new place had to be found for them.

Back when Mutants number in the thousands Xavier had envisioned a second campus, a rival school as it were. His plan was to use the old Massachusetts Academy as the location for his School for Gifted Youngsters, and he'd had the grounds and buildings prepared for renovations. An underground complex, similar to what the Institute currently had, was already prepared.

All that was needed was to move the sensitive equipment – the Danger Room and Cerebra – to the new location.

The Massachusetts Academy would reopen as a co-educational preparatory school as it had been since the 1700s. Emma would be a member of the Board of Trustees so that she could hide Mutant children within the student body, but she would have nothing to do with the day to day running of the school. It was best to avoid any semblance of association beyond what was required. Mix in a few adult Mutants into the faculty and split the students into a couple training squads and they'd have a fairly solid cover.

It would be a school, and there won't be any active X-Men living there to tip off the government, or super-villains, or militant hate groups, that there were Mutant children training there. No giant red 'X' on their backs to make them targets.

Putting the file down the woman considered the other file on her desk. Amber Harris was one of the first Mutants to have manifested since M-Day – right under her nose and Cerebra never even picked it up. The girl had amazing Pyro-Kinetic abilities, potentially equal to Johnny Storm of the Fantastic Four. She would need guidance, and protection.

Already the girl had been attacked twice. Once by Weapon Plus operatives and before that by a time traveling Mutant Terrorist called Mimicry.

Thinking of Mimicry made her remember Marvel, the X-Man who'd come back in time to track down his former protégé. Marvel had been known as Andy Frost, and he'd demonstrated many abilities in common with Emma and her girls. She wondered if it was possible that he was her son. Perhaps created, like her daughters, by Weapon Plus in their mad attempt to destroy Mutant-kind.

She wondered what kind of mother she would be to a small boy. What it would be like to have a child in her life that could laugh and cry and love.

Looking over her shoulder at the open door of her office she almost expected to see Ruth Alene standing there with some cryptic remark, but the doorway was empty.

With a sigh she put thoughts of Marvel away and focused on the tasks at hand – preparing a place for Mutants to train to defend a world that hated and feared them more than ever, and planning for the future of an 8 year old. Strangely, the second didn't seem all that daunting.

LeoN: I hoped you liked it. Leave a review and let me know.