A/N - Hello! And welcome back - this is the not-so-long awaited sequel to "Age of Magneto". We join our heroes after a ten year jump from last we saw them. Lots has changed, but the best things have stayed the same! So let's see where everyone is and what's gone on since last we saw them.

Chapter 1: Human-Mutant Relations

"Let's get out of here and have some fun."

Kate grinned as Tommy leaned over to whisper in her ear in the middle of class. They were supposed to be paying attention to human-mutant relations, but considering she and Tommy had been literally living in the mansion and living the dream their whole lives - and considering Kate herself was human living in a house full of mutants - she was tempted. She really, really was.

"C'mon," Tommy said, leaning a little more out of his seat so he could reach her better. "Human-mutant relations: Advanced Kissing Edition."

Kate couldn't help but laugh at Tommy - and then when Scott gave them both a dry look with his eyebrows raised over his glasses, she laughed a little more openly. "I'm the top of the class in that course," she whispered back over her shoulder when Scott went back to his lecture.

"Exactly," Tommy said. "We don't need the remedial stuff."

"You make a good point."

"Plus, window's open. I can totally get us out in the time it takes him to say 'this is a boring class'."

"You're on," Kate whispered - and she'd barely gotten the words out before she felt him pick her up. The next second, they were out on the lawn and laughing.

"See?" Tommy grinned and pulled Kate into a kiss before he'd even set her down. "It's almost the end of the semester; the sun is out; and why would we stay inside on a day like this?"

Kate couldn't stop laughing as she kept her arms around Tommy's shoulders. "We're in so much trouble - you know that, right?"

"I'm in trouble every other day," Tommy said, shrugging easily before he kissed her again. "Let's get in a little more."

Kate laughed again as they ran, hand in hand, toward the treeline, still stealing kisses the whole time until they were decently out of sight of the school and the kisses were becoming more frequent than their running steps. This was what she liked about dating Tommy - he was always fun.

They stumbled through a few more steps until they were totally wrapped up, with one of Kate's hands in Tommy's hair and the other wrapped around the back of his neck, while Tommy had both of his hands at her waist and kept pulling her tighter.

And Kate didn't stop him - not when she was having so much fun. Tommy had a way of turning everything into an adventure, keeping her off-track and making her guess what was coming, and she loved that rush.

Or, well, she did - up until the moment he shifted so that he had one hand on her waist and the other up her shirt as he said, "Let's find a place, huh?"

Kate paused and pulled back slightly to look Tommy in the face. He was still grinning ear-to-ear as he met her gaze, and it was hard to say no to him when he was so fun. But when he pushed her shirt up a little more with his other hand on her bare back, she put her hand on his chest and physically put the distance between them.

"Slow down, Tommy."

"Those are totally foreign words," Tommy said, still smiling, though he had stopped trying to take her clothes off.

Kate shook her head at him and laughed before she leaned in to kiss him, and the makeout session resumed more or less like it had been before - until Tommy's hands started to drift again.

"Hey." Kate stopped and put a finger in Tommy's face, though he looked totally unapologetic. "What did I just say?"

"I'm going slow," Tommy protested. "You don't want a room - I heard you."

Kate rolled her eyes at that and put her hand on his shoulder instead, strong-arming the distance. "I'm dating you for fun, Tommy. And that's a little too far for just fun."

"That and your parents would totally know if we fooled around, right?" Tommy asked.

"They would, but that's so not the point here," Kate said, smiling in spite of herself.

Tommy shook his head and tried to lean in and steal another kiss, but Kate's stiff arm stopped him. "Hey, you're hot, and I like you. What's the problem?" he said, shaking his head at her. And then, when Kate didn't budge, he rolled his eyes. "You really think Kurt and Meggan aren't-"

But that was too far over the line for Kate, and she flushed bright red before she kicked Tommy's feet out from under him. "Really?"

"It's an open secret, Kate," Tommy said from the ground. "So maybe you need to figure out what your definition of 'fun' is, because I'm fine fooling around while you play games, but you need to decide if you are."

Kate stared at him and then let out a noise of pure frustration before she spun on her heel and stalked back up the lawn, her face a beautiful shade of crimson that had her completely forgetting for the moment that she was very much in trouble for skipping class - in the middle of class.

She was still red-faced and didn't really want to go in where the other students would be just getting out of their classes anyway, so she tried to slip in through the garage. But she didn't realize her dad was already there - she'd forgotten he'd given a test in history, and he always came to the garage once the test was over. He gave the kids as much time as they needed and then left once they were done.

"Pull up a creeper," Logan said without looking up at her.

Kate paused and then let out a sigh before she wound up underneath the old Mustang she'd been restoring with him, since she'd just turned sixteen and had bugged him for a car long enough that he told her she had to work for it. And considering she'd grown up handing him tools since she was four, this was relaxing for both of them.

"There a reason you were out instead of nappin' in Slim's class?"

Kate flushed red again. "Yeah," she said, hoping he'd leave it at that - though she knew she'd already totally busted herself. When Logan set the wrench down and turned her way, waiting to hear what the excuse was this time, she let out all her breath. "It was Tommy's idea-"

"You're really gonna screw yourself over for one of his ideas?"

"No," Kate blurted out, turning a little redder before she pushed her hair behind her ears. "Class was almost over anyway-"

"Yeah, no," Logan said, shaking his head at her. "Try again."

"It doesn't even matter," Kate huffed, crossing her arms and looking away - since she could never really stand it when her dad gave her that look, or worse yet - the tone. "I'm not…" She trailed off, realizing she hadn't really done anything about the way things were with Tommy. He'd just… kind of left it open for her to fool around if she wanted. Which didn't make her feel that much better about the whole thing either.

"Sure it matters," Logan said, getting back to work, though he was clearly irritated. "You're skippin' class to suck face with the delinquent; it matters." He tipped his head and tested the waters. "As long as that's all you're doing. Otherwise, I might have to skin him."

"No," Kate said, flushing angrily all over again.

"Just seems like that's where you're headed."

"Yeah, you're not the only one who thinks that," she muttered, crossing her arms a little tighter on herself

"So I should skin him."

"I dunno. No," Kate said, still unable to look him in the eyes. "I … told him no, so that's that, I guess."

"Historically speakin', that don't hold much water with that family."

"Yeah, well, so he left it open," Kate said, her fingers drumming against her crossed arms. "But I'm not that interested," she said quickly.

"Then quit playin' around with him," Logan said. "If he's gettin' to the point of thinking it needs to go further, cut him off at the pass."

"Yeah," Kate said, and that was going to be all she said, except she ended up blurting out, "You don't think Kurt and Meggan are-" and then cutting herself off before she could finish the question.

Logan turned her way entirely. "What the hell does that have to do with it?"

She blushed furiously. "It's just - something Tommy said-"

Logan frowned at that, studying her for a long while. "So's this some kind of stupid race then? Who can be dumber faster?"

"No."

"Then what the hell do you care about what anyone else is doin'?"

"I don't," Kate insisted.

"Katie."

She quailed a little under his dry look. "I don't," she muttered again.

"Do I gotta go put Tommy in a cast?"

"No," she said almost sullenly.

"I will."

"No," she said, her eyes wide. "It's not like - Dad, I can take care of myself. I know how to strong-arm a guy, okay? It's fine. It's stupid, but it's fine."

"Listen, I know you've heard your share of crap around here about any given person on the team, but do me a favor and don't treat yourself that cheaply."

Kate dropped his gaze, feeling like she was five and getting caught trying to steal cookies from Charles' office. "Okay," she said quietly.

"You can do better'n a Quicksilver knock-off."

"I know," Kate said, this time with a small smirk.

"Since you know so much," Logan said, "you probably know you've got some kissin' up to do with Slim. For the next two weeks."

"Dad!"

"Hey. If it was the first time, I'd go easy, but it's not."

"But it's the last, I swear," Kate said.

"We'll see about that." Logan waited until Kate headed for the door inside. "Your idiot sweetheart's got runnin' time with me. No powers. Think I might make him wear a weight belt, too. Or carry his brother."

"Oh, don't punish Billy," Kate said. "He hates waking up early."

"Yeah, but your mom said he'd be okay if I gave him a horsewhip for the run."

Kate rolled her eyes. "Mom spoils him because she thinks he and Teddy are the best thing since graphite arrows."

"She spoils Billy 'cause he ain't tryin' to get into yer pants every damn minute."

Kate flushed again. "I told you I cut him off."

"Sweetheart," Logan said, shaking his head, "this power set's a pain sometimes. And around him, it's a real pain lately."

Kate rolled her eyes. "I got it, Dad. I picked a dud. Fun while it lasted."

"You're too impatient," Logan amended.

"Yeah," Kate said, letting some of her honest frustration show. She really had liked dating Tommy, and she actually wasn't all that sure she wanted to stop - except that she knew her dad was right and they were in totally different headspaces. "At least he was better than Eli."

"Eli's lucky he's still alive," Logan said in a low growl.

"I'm pretty sure that's because you caught him before Mom did," Kate said, almost smiling at the memory - since Logan had caught Eli yelling at Kate for some stupid something or other and had not liked it.

"No, it's because Cap stopped me," Logan admitted. "You didn't see the run-in after."

"No, apparently not."

"Doesn't matter now," Logan said. "You need to go ask Scott when he wants to see you before he comes lookin'."

Kate let her shoulders drop. "Fine," she muttered, pushing herself up to her feet.

This was just not her day.

Tommy hadn't gotten off clean either, as it turned out. He'd been running along, trying to get out of the funk of Kate's bad mood, when he very suddenly stopped right where he was, mid-step, and then found himself in front of his mother.

"You're grounded," Wanda said. "Again."

Tommy flashed her a brilliant smile. "Hi, Mom."

"Hello, sweetheart," Wanda replied, unable not to return the smile. "You'll be running with Logan at five every morning for the next two weeks. With an inhibitor collar. And I'm told if you complain, he's already asked Billy to help make it worse."

"Seriously?" Tommy threw his hands up to illustrate how unfair he thought this was.

"Seriously," Wanda said, nodding.

"So, what, I have to wear a collar at the crack of dawn and we didn't even do anything?" Tommy groaned. "That's not cool."

"I was told it was for you skipping out of Cyclops' class," Wanda said, one eyebrow raised. "So what did I miss?"

"Oh, no, we totally skipped out on class; that part's true," Tommy amended.

"To do what, Thomas?"

He held his hands up again. "Geez, Mom. It's not like Billy and Teddy aren't getting hot and heavy lately - or didn't you know that?"

"Are you really comparing yourself to your brother? Are you that competitive?"

"Um, that's not the point," Tommy said.

Wanda folded her hands and smiled pleasantly. "Do you love her, then?"

"Wow, Mom, that's … no, we're not that-"

"Then you shouldn't even be trying to get further than you have. You do know that could be very bad for your health, right?"

"Hey, it's not like we weren't on the same page," Tommy protested. "She just wanted to have fun too. I thought the problem was when you're not on the same page."

"The problem is also when you're skipping class to try to get more alone time."

"What can I say?" Tommy said, grinning brilliantly. "You've seen her, right? She's gorgeous. Total spur of the moment thing."

"You can't do that," Wanda said.

"Why not?"

"Because it makes being on the same team hard for everyone," Wanda said, hoping that would mean something to him.

Tommy sighed heavily. "It's fine, Mom. I'm about 95% sure she just broke up with me anyway, so…"

"That really doesn't make me feel any better," Wanda replied, looking honestly sorry to hear that.

"Yeah, well, it happened," Tommy said, shrugging it off as best he could. "It's fine. Not like I didn't know what I was in for, seeing as I've known her since we were kids."

"And you've been stealing kisses since you were kids," Wanda said.

"She's pretty," Tommy said. "And she never dated Kurt, so I figured I'd take my shot, right?" He shrugged. "It's fine."

"Are you going to be alright?" Wanda asked.

"Yeah, sure; I'm always fine," Tommy said, shrugging again. "No biggie."

Wanda sighed and crossed the distance to wrap him up in a hug and kiss the side of his head. "You don't have to be like this if you're hurting, sweetheart."

"I'm okay," Tommy said, though he had a tight hold on his mom all the same.

"I don't believe that's true," Wanda said. "But you should talk to Logan about what he expects before he comes looking for you."

"Yeah. Whose idea was it to make me run with me ex's dad, again?"

"Scott's," Wanda said.

"He's secretly a sadist, Mom. A sadist."

Wanda kissed his cheek again. "Not so secret."

Kurt had been reading in the study after class - minding his own business - when he heard Tommy complaining about getting in trouble again. Kurt couldn't figure out how someone so fast was so easily caught. Often. But it wasn't overly interesting. Not when it happened so often.

At least, it wasn't interesting until Kurt heard his own name.

And of course, everything after that was very interesting. Kurt listened, shocked at all that was coming out - though when the conversation seemed to peter out, he was sure to look totally engrossed in his reading. Which was probably one of the easier acts he'd pulled off in the last few weeks.

It was just so … fortuitous how the timing was working out. Especially when the professor's old friend, the esteemed Dr. Moira MacTaggert, was set to open up her own facility in Scotland to accommodate some new mutants that didn't want to move to the States. And Meggan was pining to go back home. So it was clear to the two of them that their little romance was quickly coming to an end.

Kurt hadn't totally ruled out going himself to the new school, but … if Kate was actually interested, then he didn't see a reason to follow Meggan overseas. It was just a matter of testing the waters well before then.

And from the sound of it, Kate was going to have to do the one thing that she really despised: getting up early to run. But at least on the trouble meter, she wasn't into the dangerous territory. She was going with Scott, which meant a long but reasonable run, where Tommy was stuck with Logan, who never failed to find a way to make it a miserable experience.

But that meant Kurt could try and make it less miserable for her if he only woke up a tiny bit earlier - and had coffee waiting when she got in.

His tail was swaying behind him as he headed for the stairs, though he paused and considered his options. Yes, coffee would be a good move, but for as hot as she'd be after her run, iced coffee would be better. He redirected himself to the kitchen to start looking for the things that K used when she made iced coffee and set to work - since if it was going to be done right, he knew well enough that it would have to sit overnight. And then he could simply get it prepared while she was out being miserable with Scott.

He was sure to put the cold brew in the back of the fridge when he was done, where it sat overnight, undisturbed and unnoticed.