Author's Note: This story is entirely meant for fun. Yes, it does have a plot, and it will be written as if it were a serious story, but the whole seven OC's sort of negates that. So this is me, giving you a warning. There. Now you have no excuse not to hit the back button if this isn't what you're looking for. Any flames regarding how my writing sucks and my OC's are the biggest Mary Sues ever will be laughed at. And possibly deleted. Note I said flames, not concrit. Concrit is fine and good.
And I've gone on long enough, so I'm just going to take a final moment to thank Abby, Kayce, Megan, and Paesha for being the inspiration behind this fic and many of its characters. You guys rule!
Chapter One
"Did you need something, Charles?" Storm asked as she leaned against the door of Xavier's office.
He had been staring out the window, but he looked up at hearing her arrival and smiled. "Yes. I wanted to ask a favor of you. I've detected some mutant hostility not too far from here. If you could…?"
Storm smiled in understanding. "Of course. I'll get Scott."
Xavier closed his eyes briefly. "Scott's not here at the moment, Ororo."
She sighed, but didn't bother asking where he was. Storm had a feeling she knew. "I'll take Logan, then. He's probably in the mood for some action."
"Yes, he usually is." Xavier replied, his eyes amused. "Oh, and Storm? There are some mutants there that may need help. Please tell them that they can always find it here."
Storm nodded, then left to go track down Logan.
The outdoor café was a favorite amongst the local college students and usually filled almost beyond its limits. That day, though, there were several empty tables, all surrounding one occupied by five young women. Four of them were relatively normal looking, aside from one with blue and white hair that could easily be explained the fascination people of that age seemed to have with hair dye. However, the fifth member of the little group was quite obviously a mutant. A body covered with silver scales and topped off with silver hair and bright blue eyes tended to give that away.
None of the other four seemed at all bothered by this fact, though, as they cheerfully sipped drinks and picked at the remains of their lunch. In fact, the purple-eyed woman with long, curly black hair sitting next to the scaled mutant casually leaned over and commented, "See, this is why we hang out with you, Anorra. We always get plenty of space to ourselves."
"Cassandra's right." The woman on the other side of Anorra agreed, brushing a strand of layered black hair out of her green eyes. "No invasion of the personal bubble."
"Cassandra? Sam?" Anorra said. "Shut up."
Samantha opened her mouth to reply, but was distracted by the arrival of their cute waiter, who had come to take their more or less empty plates away. As soon as he was safely out of hearing range, Samantha informed them, "Okay, now, him? He can invade my personal bubble."
The brunette next to Samantha began to choke on her soda, blue eyes tearing up slightly.
"Um. Don't die, Rachel?" Samantha suggested.
"Thanks." Rachel muttered, once she had caught her breath. "You're so helpful."
"This seems to happen a lot." Cassandra said absently. "I think one of us should learn the Heimlich or something."
"I know it." Anorra replied. "Or at least, I know the basics. Picked it up somewhere."
"I know it, too." The final member of their group said, moving her silvery blue eyes away from her remaining French fries. "We learned it in health class when I was in high school." Her long blue hair had fallen over her shoulder with the movement, revealing the white that the end of her hair was tipped with.
"Oh, good. So we've got Zephyr and Anorra to count on next time one of us makes a stupid comment and someone ends up choking." Cassandra said.
Samantha crossed her arms. "My comment wasn't stupid. It was accurate."
"And way too much information." Rachel informed her.
"Don't make me start on you and your tennis guys." Samantha returned.
"Hey, there is no one better than Rafa." Rachel replied.
Anorra rolled her eyes. "You had to mention tennis. We almost went a whole lunch without it."
"Rachel was probably thinking about it." Zephyr said. "Even if we weren't technically talking about it."
Cassandra nodded. "Good point."
"Miss, you shouldn't sit there!" A male voice called, drawing their attention away.
A young woman with spiked blue and black hair had taken one of the tables next to them. She was currently flipping through a menu and utterly ignoring the man who had spoken. He didn't seem to take the hint, though, for he walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Really, miss, those mutants are dangerous." He tried again.
She turned to look at him, black eyes glaring at him. "Don't touch me." She told him, voice tinged with anger.
The man winced and recoiled back in horror. "You're one of them! A damn mutant!"
The woman stood up, looking incredibly pissed off. She reached out a hand towards him, and his eyes widened even more.
"God." He said. "I can't….I have to get something to eat!"
The man turned towards his table, but before he could make it, he collapsed to his knees. His arms wrapped around his stomach as he looked pleadingly at her from shrunken eyes set in a face that was looking more skeletal by the minute.
"Hey!" Zephyr shouted, standing up. "Leave him alone!"
The woman's concentration was broken and the man dropped to the floor, gasping for breath.
"Just like a human." Another woman said, coming up to stand in front of Zephyr. Her long brown hair was wild and streaked with random strips of gray and black, and her hazel eyes were filled with disgust. "Standing up for one of your own, but you never lift a finger to defend a mutant."
She took another step towards Zephyr, and the blue-haired woman lifted up her arms, holding out her hands. The approaching mutant stopped suddenly, unable to move.
A smile spread across her face. "You're a mutant! Sorry about that, hon. I've got no quarrel with you, then. Let me go, would you?"
Zephyr dropped her arms, and the woman gave a nod of gratitude before moving to the spiky haired mutant's side.
"You want to finish him off, Aphedria, or are you gonna let me?" She asked.
"What do you think, Charm?" Aphedria snapped.
"Fine, fine." Charm replied, taking a step back. "Have all the fun."
"Hang on." Cassandra said, standing up. "No one's finishing anyone off."
"You do realize it's fighting like this that makes people hate us, right?" Samantha asked, joining her.
Aphedria turned to glare at her. "They'd hate us no matter what we did, so why not fight?" She lifted her arm, pointing her hand towards them.
Anorra growled and sprang up. "You point that thing somewhere else."
Aphedria shrugged. "Fine." She agreed, then turned to select one of the few patrons that hadn't left yet.
The X-jet hovered over the area for a moment before finding a place to land that wasn't occupied by fleeing people. Storm and Wolverine descended from the plane, then paused to survey the scene. The outdoor café where things had apparently started was in relatively good condition, with only a few broken chairs and some scorched tables. However, a burn holes pitted half of the courtyard where the battle was currently taking place, and a huge puddle of water covered one part. Hovering in the air above it was a young woman holding what appeared to be a small ball of fire. Another ball of fire was hurling towards a woman on the ground, who was encased in a red, shimmering dome. An eight-foot tall silver dragon let out a rushing spray of water, which hit the dome and pushed it and the woman back a few feet.
Across the courtyard, another young woman screamed, "Zephyr! Run, now!"
Something invisible pushed a blue-haired woman a good ten feet away from the spiky-haired mutant that had been moving towards her. The spiky-haired mutant gave a frustrated yell, and was promptly tackled by a large black lion.
"Any idea who were supposed to be helping here?" Wolverine asked.
"Get off me you human-loving filth!" The spiky-haired mutant shouted, throwing the lion off.
"Not her?" Storm replied, spreading her arms and allowing herself to rise into the air.
The lion clambered up, then, and padded over to stand between the blue-haired woman and the one who had screamed. The dragon joined them, and the woman hovering in the air landed next to them.
"There's five of us, and two of you." The mutant who had warned Zephyr to run said. "You really want to see how this ends?"
The mutant encased in red hesitated, then called something in a language that sounded like a song. A red convertible streaked towards them, and she and the spiky-haired mutant hopped inside before taking off at about three times the speed limit.
The lion sniffed the air and the group turned to face Storm and Wolverine as it shifted, slowly becoming another young woman.
"Who are you?" She asked.
Logan didn't really like the whole meet and greet thing. That was usually Scott's job. Scott and Storm and….Logan cut off that train of thought right then. He didn't want to go there. One thing Logan had always been good at was forgetting the past, and he wasn't going to try and break that habit now. Pulling himself out of his thoughts, Logan turned to eye the five young women that Xavier was currently talking to. Xavier seemed to be of the opinion that they might join them, although as what Logan wasn't sure. They seemed to be caught in that age period when they were too old to be students, but too young to really be teachers.
Since they had arrived at the mansion, the two black-haired women, Cassandra and Samantha, had done most of the talking. Zephyr had added in an occasional comment, but Anorra and Rachel hadn't really said anything. Logan figured their shyness would wear off eventually. After all, Rogue's had, and now she was quite the friendly young woman. He was glad she had adjusted so well.
"So." Xavier said, finishing his speech and leaning forward slightly. "What do you think?"
Samantha shifted her weight slightly. "Well, it's definitely more appealing than our current school of choice."
"Really." Cassandra agreed. "I mean, come on, dorms or mansion? No contest there."
"What would we do?" Zephyr asked. "Besides learning about our powers. I mean, would we just go to classes, or would we help out the teachers…?"
"Aside from classes on your powers, there are some mutant knowledge and ethics classes, as well as some advanced courses in other subjects that you could take if you desired." Xavier replied. "If you wish to help the teachers, I'm sure they would appreciate it, and if you have any special skills you may wish to lead your own class. Most likely only a small group of students until you get settled in, but we do have a relatively short staff and could always use more."
The five women glanced at each other.
"You have stables, right?" Samantha asked, but she seemed to already know the answer, for she continued on. "I grew up on a ranch, so I know how to lead trail rides and such. And the whole tack and groom thing, too. If, you know, you don't already have a riding instructor."
Logan looked at Xavier. They used to. It was Scott. He knew the basics, and could at least teach proper care of horses. But after….Well, riding class had been the first thing to go. Now only experienced students were allowed access to the horses.
"As it happens, that position is open, at least temporarily." Xavier told her. "I'm sure you'll do a splendid job."
Samantha grinned brightly, looking pleased. Rachel hesitated for a moment, then leaned forward.
"I could give tennis lessons?" Rachel offered quietly. "Do you have a tennis team?"
Xavier shook his head. "Not currently. But we do have baseball, basketball, and football teams, so there's no reason we couldn't add tennis to the list. I can start a sign-up sheet to see if any of the students are interested." He then glanced over at Zephyr. "Yes, I think Storm would appreciate your assistance in teaching the older children how to fly."
Zephyr jumped and nearly asked him how he knew what she was thinking before she remembered he was a telepath. "Oh. If you're sure. I mean, I don't know everything. I thought maybe I could provide demonstrations, you know, air pressure in the cabin and stuff."
Xavier nodded. "Whatever you don't know and would like to learn, Storm will teach you. She holds an advanced piloting class once a week."
"Track!" Cassandra announced suddenly. "I could do that. I really don't run out of energy, you know, so…"
Logan shrugged. "You want to teach the shrimps the merits of running their pants off, go ahead. One less thing for me to have to cover Cyke for." He'd be watching her, though, for at least the first few times. Just in case.
Anorra, who until then had been silent, asked softly, "Can I think about it?"
"Of course," Xavier told her. "Come talk to me whenever you want." He paused to look over each one of them briefly, then nodded to himself. "We'll get you settled in your rooms for now, and when you're ready someone will take you to pick up your things. If you'd like, you can have a tour of the mansion before you go."
Logan furrowed his brows slightly. "I don't have to show them around, do I?"
"You know, you really should have more friendly people with you to do the whole 'my school is the best' thing." Cassandra commented.
Logan turned his glare in her direction. "Watch it, bub."
Cassandra blinked at him, then looked over at her friends. "Did he just call me 'bub'?"
"I think he did, Cass." Samantha said cheerfully. "Although how he confused your chest for a guy's is beyond me."
"I think bub might be a gender neutral thing, in this case." Zephyr suggested.
Samantha shrugged. "I hear bub and I think Bubba, and then the whole mental picture thing starts…"
Rachel shook her head. "Once again, too much information."
"At least you weren't drinking this time, or you'd probably have to pay for soda damages to the furniture." Anorra told her.
"No, I'd make Sam pay it." Rachel said.
Logan stared at them for a moment, then raised his eyebrows at Xavier. "They're going to be X-men?"
The women didn't even hear him, and whatever response Xavier had been going to give was cut off by a knock on the office door.
Xavier smiled. "Come in, Bobby, Rogue."
The door open and the two walked in, stopping in front of the door to look over the five women.
"These are the newest mutants at the mansion." Xavier told Bobby and Rogue. "They'll be joining you and Colossus for training." He turned to the new mutants. "Rogue and Bobby will show you your rooms, and the rest of the mansion if you'd like."
"Yeah, I'd like a tour." Rachel spoke up, rather quickly, then hesitated. "If you guys don't mind."
None of them did, and with a final good-bye to Xavier and Logan, the younger mutants trooped out into the hall.
"So," Bobby said as the walked. "Like the professor said, I'm Bobby, and this is Rogue."
"Pleasure to meet you." Rogue told them, her Southern accent obvious in her voice. "Since we're gonna be training together, do you mind telling us what y'all can do?"
"And, you know, your names. That might be useful, too." Bobby added.
"Sam." Samantha replied. "And I talk to animals. And turn into them, too."
"I never run out of energy, and…" Cassandra started, but halfway through her sentence she stopped saying words. Her mouth kept moving, but nothing came out.
"She does that sometimes." Zephyr said. "We're pretty sure it has something to do with her second power, but Cassandra's never been able to tell us what it is." She paused. "I'm Zephyr, by the way. I control air pressure."
"Rachel. I fly." Rachel said with a smile. "And I can create flaming tennis balls and throw them really hard and fast."
Rogue blinked. "Flaming tennis balls?"
"Sounds kinda cool." Bobby commented with a grin.
Rachel grinned back at him. "It is. It doesn't really help in a tennis match, though."
There was a moment of silence before Anorra realized they were waiting for her to speak.
"I'm a dragon." She told them. "Or at least, I am some of the time. When I am, I can breathe water, and control a bit. And my name's Anorra."
Rogue nodded. "Y'all have fieldnames? Bobby here's Iceman and, well, I just go by Rogue."
Samantha and Rachel glanced at each other, then shook their heads.
"Cassandra is my, um, fieldname." Cassandra replied.
"Same here." Zephyr agreed.
"Telepsa." Anorra said.
Samantha grinned a bit. "We'll think of something eventually, won't we, Rach?"
"Sure." Rachel said. "Can't promise it won't be dorky, though."
Most of the group laughed, and the tour continued. They were headed towards the gym when they meet Kurt in the hall, who was walking the opposite way. He was wearing his X-men uniform and looked a bit worn out.
The second Samantha spotted him, her eyes widened slightly and she took half a step for him. Fortunately, Anorra was close enough to her to grab Samantha's arm, stopping her.
"No." Anorra told her quietly.
"But the pretty…" Samantha protested, equally as softly.
"No pretty." Anorra murmured, then let go with a warning glance as Kurt stopped in front of them.
"Hello Rogue, Bobby." Kurt greeted, then looked over at the others. "New residents? Gutentag. I am Kurt Wagner, but in the Munich circus I was known as the incredible Nightcrawler."
Bobby and Rogue exchanged amused grins at the way Kurt still introduced himself.
"Samantha Redbone." Samantha said, offering him her hand. "No nifty nickname, unfortunately."
Kurt blinked at her, then shook her offered hand.
Samantha smiled, and while the other introductions were being made she leaned over to Anorra and whispered, "Ha. I got to touch the pretty."
Anorra rolled her eyes, but didn't return the comment.
"They're going to be training with us." Rogue told Kurt.
Kurt smiled. "Really? I will be looking forward to seeing you all in action, then."
They chatted for another few minutes before going their separate ways.
When Kurt was gone, Samantha let out a sort of gasping noise. "Did you see him?"
"Yeah, he has that effect on people sometimes." Bobby said with a grin. "You'll get used to him."
Samantha shook her head. "I will never get used to seeing someone that beautiful." Her voice turned slightly wistful. "You think he'd let me paint him or something?"
Bobby raised his eyebrows and Rogue grinned slightly.
"Don't mind Sam." Zephyr told them.
"Yeah, she's kinda crazy." Cassandra agreed.
Rachel nodded. "Crazier than the rest of us, definitely."
"Which is saying something." Cassandra said.
"I tried to stop her." Anorra said. "She just wouldn't listen."
Samantha mock-pouted, turning to Bobby and Rogue. "They gang up on me. It's not my fault."
"We're sure it isn't." Bobby told her, in a 'I'm talking to a crazy person, so I'm just going to agree with whatever they say' tone.
Rogue laughed. "You can't trust Bobby. He'll gang up on you, too. He does it to me all the time."
Bobby shot her a look. "I do not. Okay, there was that one time. But you deserved it!"
"No one deserves that!" Rogue protested.
Cassandra stared at them for a moment. "I think I've decided I don't want to know what 'that one time' was. Because my mind lives in the gutter, and any more information will just make it even worse."
"At least you don't get mental pictures." Samantha told her.
Zephyr tilted her head. "If you get mental pictures, and Professor Xavier's a telepath, does that mean he gets them, too?"
The seven of them pondered that for a moment, then Samantha commented, "We are going to spend so much time in detention."
She wasn't the only good thing that had ever happened to him. He had experienced plenty of other times of good fortune in his life, but none of the ever mattered. Because he knew that, without a doubt, each one of them would fall. Something would go wrong, something bad would happen, and then the good time would be over. It always happened. Always.
But not with her. He had never been able to count on anything before, but he could count on her. She would always love him, and as long as he didn't take advantage of that, he couldn't mess that up. And he didn't. Because he loved her, too. She was his reason. The reason why he took ever tragedy in stride, never letting it bother him too much. Because he knew that she would be there.
And then one day she wasn't. She was gone, and for the first time in his life something bad happened to him that hadn't been his fault. It didn't hurt any less. In fact, it seemed to hurt even more. There was no reason. No reason for what happened to her, and now he had no reason. There was a part of him that wanted to die. He tried it, once, when the night was late and the alcohol had clouded his mind. But, of course, he couldn't die. He knew that.
Besides, he had a reason, now. He had a way to make everything right. Not better, no, nothing could be better without her. But he could make it right. He could make everyone understand everything he had been through. He didn't know how long it would last. He didn't care. For now, he would just do it.
