Chapter 2

The next morning Charles gets ready for a busy day. While he waits to hear back from Peter and his aunt about permission to see Ms Allen he has decided to make today a day he focusses on attacking the lingering issues from Apocalypse affecting his students.

Though that day starts with speaking to the Mayor of Smallville over the phone. Lilandra couldn't stay any longer, needing to get back to her job but she had left Charles in a better state than she found him in relation to his own recovery and her aid continued albeit long-distance.

Once Charles feels he is ready he aims to just tackle the problems one at at time.

First stop is the infirmary to check up on his students and see how they are recovering. It pleases him that they are all getting better and there shouldn't be any permanent damage done.

Next stop after that; Betsy...mostly because she requested it.

Charles observes her closely as they sit together, quietly in his study...and Betsy quiet isn't right. One can't help but note the prominent mark on her face now. "I can wait for however long you need, Elizabeth," he assures her while at the same time hoping to prompt her into responding.

Betsy's hands wring each other in her lap. "I don't know what's happening to me," she says quietly. "My brain feels like it's on fire. Last night...I...last night I blasted Warren across the room in a temper," she confesses with shame. "I still don't know what I did to you in Egypt...sorry about that by the way."

"You have no need to apologise," Charles assures her. "I should thank you for trying to stop me," he says instead. "As for what you did...you created a psionic construct...a painful one from what I recall...like a psi-blade. When you stabbed me it felt like being stabbed only without the physical injury. If I hadn't been under Apocalypse's control I have no doubt the sensation would have shorted out my nervous system and rendered me unconscious. A useful gift going forward."

Betsy raises her right hand and looks at it. "How do I...I don't even remember what I did. It was...instinct."

"We'll get there in time," Charles assures her. "First let us see what we can do to calm this fire you say you feel. These new gifts of telekinesis and psionic constructs...you're not going to be able to understand these without control of your own mind."

Betsy smiles and lets out a small breath of relief. She should have done this days ago. Idiot.

After his session with Betsy, Charles can say he's got a better idea of what's happened to her after linking their minds. The x-gene enhancer...all it did really was open the pathways to the power that was already there within her.

It would have come to her sooner or later as the next evolutionary stage of her development. The x-gene enhancer just prematurely activated these latent abilities.

First stage was to just help her get control and calm her mind. Next stage was probably to get Jean to help Betsy explore her new telekinetic abilities.

Truth is Charles long suspected Betsy had greater depths to her powers than she had shown so far...though he says that about basically everyone but in her case it was why she came here in the first place. She was struggling to control her ever growing power.

It'll take many sessions with her but they'll get there.

Next on his list of people to aid; Chloe...so here she is in his study sitting, clearly not comfortable within her new skin.

It was a little bit startling, her golden form, mostly because she stood out so clearly. You couldn't miss her.

Not that it mattered how she looked. It's just an observation.

Charles was reading over Hank's analysis of her bloodwork and DNA. It was not easy to interpret. Oh, she had an x-gene that activated but there were also traces of kryptonite in her system...most likely a result of living in Smallville for as many years as she has. It was hard to know exactly what effect the alien mineral had had or would have.

He could also sense her anxiety under her attempt to appear calm and in control.

"I apologise for taking this long to officially welcoming you to the Institute, Chloe," Charles begins with.

That clearly surprises her, indicated by her eyebrows rising a tad. "You don't need to apologise, Professor. I mean I can guess what Apocalypse did wasn't pleasant."

Charles closes his eyes momentarily and pushes the unbidden memories back. "No. It was not," he confirms, his tone hardly reflecting even a fraction of the horror of it. "However, I am recovering," he says as much to convince himself as anybody else.

"That's good...great," she says and then cringes for sounding like an idiot...and probably condescending and insulting. She's a writer. You'd think she could come up with the right words wouldn't you.

If Charles took offence he doesn't show it. "And you Chloe? How are you doing?" he asks her, hoping she'll open up a little.

Chloe blows a strand of her blond hair out of her face. "Oh you know...just dandy," she says, telling what is clearly a complete lie and doing it badly.

Charles arches an eyebrow. "Chloe...I'm psychic," he reminds her.

"Oh," Chloe says, suddenly recalling that as if she had somehow forgotten, her face falling...well the mask falling away and her face showing more of the real turmoil she is feeling.

"Tell me what you're thinking," Charles requests of her.

"I don't know," Chloe admits. "I'm not a bigot. I don't have anything against mutants..."

"But the idea of people you know, like your cousin say, seeing you as you are now terrifies you," Charles picks up her thoughts. Ok, he's a bit clearer of where she is now. It's more she's afraid of the reaction of others than of herself...though that is obviously an anxiety.

"That and...did I come back from the dead?" she wonders...because that's freaky.

"I can help your mind remember if you allow me," Charles offers.

As a journalist Chloe always seeks the truth. Also, "I need to know...despite how scared I am."

Charles smiles at her. "There is nothing wrong with fear. Everyone feels fear. It's what we do with it that defines us."

"So...what do I do?"

"Relax," Charles tells her. "Close your eyes, breathe deeply, clear your mind," he advises...which Chloe does.

Charles closes his own eyes and reaches out with his telepathy, touching Chloe's mind.

"I'm here, Chloe," he speaks telepathically, his voice soothing as he tries to be comforting. "Now take us back to before the sky went dark. What were you doing?"

The images in her mind transform to her and Lois in the car and it's like she's sitting in the back seat watching herself with the Professor sitting next to her observing.

"Ok, now there's no pressure or rush," Charles tells her. "In your own time. The sky went dark."

The sky outside goes dark and Chloe in the driver's seat convulses. Lois tries to grab the wheel but it's all for naught as it plunges off the bridge into the river.

The scene moves and Chloe and the Professor stand on the bank as the memory of herself tries to revive Lois to no avail. She holds her cousin and the tear falls...hits Lois and there is a brilliant flash of light.

Charles uses his powers to freeze the memory right at that moment. "Concentrate Chloe. What were you thinking? Feeling?"

Chloe's brow furrows. Feeling? What was she feeling? "Lois," she answers. "I was feeling Lois...her body...how it was injured. I just knew what was wrong with her and wanted to make it right...and why didn't I remember that before?" she asks the Professor.

"This all happened in fractions of a second, Chloe. I'm slowing it down, amplifying your memory."

"What does it all mean?"

"My best guess right now is that you're an empathic healer. You literally connect to someone so you can sense their injuries and heal them."

"And waking up in the morgue?"

"I have had some previous experience of mutant healers. The effort of healing is draining. On someone as close to death as your cousin seemed to be here combined with this was the first burst of your powers it is most likely you overdid it. You weren't ever dead I would say. More your body was so drained it entered a state that only appeared like death while it recovered. A form of...healing coma."

Charles then brings them both out of her memory. He's learned what he needed to.

Chloe blinks...not really sure what to make of it all. "And m-my skin?" she asks, wondering why it now looks like it does.

Charles scratches his right eyebrow in a nervous gesture. "Harder to explain precisely why your skin changed currently beyond it's a side-effect of your mutation," he has to admit he can't give an answer.

There is a pause as Chloe mulls thinks over. She breaks it by asking, "How-how do I use this?"

Charles smiles. That's a question he almost always gets asked by new mutants. How do they use their new gift. It's never one that has a swift, precise answer. "That's the journey you are now on," he answers. "That's the journey all mutants...in fact all people take. How do they use the gifts, whatever they might be, to contribute to the world."

"All I ever wanted to be was a reporter," Chloe mumbles, as if her dream is leaving her.

"And you can still be one," Charles assures her.

"Can I?" Chloe asks. After all look at her!

"Yes," Charles insists. "But you will have to learn about your new powers as well. That'll take time. I won't lie about that. You'll most likely need to learn about biology and anatomy. A better understanding of these things would aid you in using your powers more effectively. I'm sure Hank would have no issue teaching you. You'll need to learn about the empathic side of your powers. I can aid you with that."

Chloe rubs her face. It all still seems overwhelming to her.

Charles can sense she feels that. Like with Betsy this is only the start of a process. They've taken the first step in revealing to her the nature of her power. Now comes the infinitely harder task of helping her accept and come to terms with what all this means for her.

Next issue on the Professor's agenda; Clark. For the same reason he was checking up on Ororo just before, ie seeing how they're recovering from being a Horseman...but in Ororo's case it seems for now Logan's helping her as much as Charles himself could so he leaves it be unless he finds out otherwise she needs his particular help for something.

Therefore he can concentrate on the Kryptonian teen. Never an easy task considering Clark's tendency to internalise his feelings.

Charles observes Clark sitting there...and there's just a darkness around his whole aura. He sighs. He didn't realise it was this bad.

"I get the feeling you're mentally criticising me," Clark remarks in response to the look he is getting.

Charles shakes his head in denial of that. "Not at all. Everyone copes with trauma differently, Clark but bottling it up is not going to help you. I know how terrible it was to be turned into Apocalypse's puppet..."

Clark cuts him off. "No. You don't Professor. I'm not like you. What Apocalypse had to do to get me to submit..." he shakes his head as if trying to forget.

"What did he do to you, Clark?" Charles tries to get the teen to open up. He saw much in Apocalypse's mind but nothing on what happened to Clark.

"Doesn't matter," Clark dismisses it. "You can't help me Professor. This is a battle only I can win."

"I don't understand."

Clark runs his hand through his hair. "Is this private?" he requests abut the nature of this conversation.

"Of course," Charles assures him.

Clark rises to his feet and walks to the window. "He's not gone," he confesses in a low voice.

"Who's not?"

"War. He's still there, inside me, clawing to get out," Clark explains...and in the reflection in the glass he can see him.

Charles sits up straight. He didn't know...didn't realise.

"I'm been distant from everyone, which was no doubt something you were going to ask about because, mostly, I don't trust myself to keep control right now. Half the time I keep imagining...or he keeps imagining the violent things I could do to people. The other night I spent actually counting the number of different ways I could kill someone. You don't want to know how high that number got."

"Clark I can help," Charles offers.

"No, you can't because you can't connect to my mind," Clark refutes that, believing himself alone in this struggle.

"I can instruct you on how to keep him contained," Charles argues. "Until we find a way to destroy him."

"If only it was that simple," Clark wishes.

"There are other ways. Magic as I recall," the Professor suggests, referencing the time Clark was captured by the Hellfire Club and Emma had her telepathy magically enhanced which allowed her to access Clark's mind. "I could talk to Steven," he says in reference to Dr Strange.

"Not that simple. Apocalypse made some alterations to prevent that. I was his greatest prize and he didn't want it taken away. There are barriers to my mind now I doubt even you could break through. It's like me and War stuck together in a prison with no way out. I don't know what it would take to get through them."

Charles must admit he's never heard Clark this defeatist...ever. What did Apocalypse do to him? It's more than just War still being there. Charles can just feel that is the case.

"I'll listen to any advice you can offer Professor but this must remain between us, please. I don't want anyone else to know," Clark chooses to accept the offer but with condition.

"I'll honour your request Clark but I will say I don't agree with it," Charles makes clear. At least, he supposes, Clark is telling him which is slightly better than not telling anyone at all.

"Thank you," Clark says. "Before we get to that there's other stuff we need to talk about. I would have done it sooner but I spent most of last night trying to lose SHIELD's tracking satellites. They've started hunting me."

Charles rubs his brow. "I was afraid of that."

Clark shrugs and turns away from the window. "I made my choice. Don't regret it...or I may if I can't keep control because what War would do to them is not something you want to think about. Point is before that I was at the derelict district, you know in the far west of Bayville, where the homeless tend to gather."

Charles nods. He knows the place.

"Ever since Apocalypse last week there's been a steady trickle of mutants arriving there and I don't think it's going to stop. From talking to them I think they're the new ones that Apocalypse created and have been kicked out or forced out or left their homes. It's only a trickle now but in a few weeks..." he leaves it hanging.

Charles rubs his brow again. He never considered. Oh this is going to cause issues...especially with the Mayoral elections due in a couple of months.

"My main concern really is that that place isn't fit to live in...and if I'm right in that more will be coming the Institute can't possibly hold them all...and from the ones I've talked to they don't want to be X-Men. They just want a roof over their heads. I was thinking that perhaps it's time the X-Men do the charitable act and volunteer to fix it up...once the legal ownership issues are cleared up. You may want to get onto your lawyers."

Charles agrees...and you know Clark's idea is pretty good. They did it in Smallville, helping that community rebuild...twice. Now they should do it closer to home. Perhaps that'll placate those attacks on the X-Men from other mutants that they're always siding with humans. It's not true by the way. Charles fights for equality...which means pretty much having enemies on both sides as they've discovered these last couple of years.

On well, nothing good is ever easy and is always worth fighting for.

"Oh, I should mention on my reporter side my sources have indicated that Kelly is planning to lead a protest outside Bayville High first day back against us attending. You probably want to get everyone ready for that," Clark adds in.

Charles blinks. He didn't know that. He really must keep a closer eye on Kelly as well.

The fallout from Apocalypse...this is gonna last awhile. Perhaps forever more. Everything has changed and there is no going back.

Later that night...

"Clark, ya got a minute?" Rogue asks as she knocks on his door and enters, to find Clark in his Superman outfit, the red boots, blue pants, red and blue jacket with with S-shield on it, about to leave for the night.

Clark wants to say no for varying reasons but he goes with instead, "Sure."

"Where's Bart?" Rogue wonders.

"With Jubilee, canoodelling or something," Clark replies vaguely. Honestly he's not been paying attention to his roommate much lately. Too much else on his mind.

Rogue closes the door. "Clark we nevah got a chance ta talk about what happened last week," she mentions.

"What happened?" Clark asks, a puzzled look on his face.

Rogue looks at him incredulously. "Ya know when we were flying," she prompts him.

Still nothing.

"When we were hovering togethah, just before ya overheard about Apocalypse."

Still not getting anywhere.

Rogue is exasperated. "Good gawd, we almost kissed!"

"Oh that!" Clark suddenly remembers. "Yeah, that would have been a mistake."

"Excuse meh!"

"Rogue...what has changed since we broke up?" he asks her before answering the question himself. "Nothing...which is an amazing thing to say considering what we've been through but the reasons remain. I have secrets I have to keep and unless you've suddenly come to an understanding as to why on top of the fact you would have to reciprocate with the bits of your life you refused to talk about before we're still exactly where we were when we broke up."

Rogue frowns.

"Look are you ridiculously sexy and attractive, of course you are. I'd have to be dead not to notice that," Clark says, just to clear the air as to why he's saying what he's saying.

Well that is kinda flattering, Rogue must admit.

"But we're friends and I will always be your friend but right now it's best that is all we are...which is something I'm pretty certain I've said before or something like it. We need to break this cycle Rogue. Put what we had in the past and move on...which again I'm sure is something close to something I said before. Let it go...for both our sakes. Think about that," Clark advises her before he zips off.

Rogue had opened her mouth to say something back but he's gone. She briefly wonders if he had said the opposite if she would have really tried it with him again...but apparently that option is off the table. Maybe it is for the best and that's Clark right. They have to stop circling round and just finally let it go.

Rogue sighs. Now that's dealt with all she has left is brooding over Mystique. Gawd why can't she be old enough to drink. Maybe Dom knows a good way to distract herself...and look how low she has sunk. She's considering going to Dom. The world must be ending...again.

Academy of Tomorrow Annex, Bayville...

The once upon a time long ago former home of the Brotherhood until Emma bought it over and did it up to house her selected students.

A lot has changed since she first came here. The Hellions had been exposed and Emma had turned them into heroes just to rankle the X-Men really. Not that she thinks heroics is a particularly good idea but it served a purpose in causing discord amongst the X-Men and even got Amara to defect.

Course once she started she had to carry on and they did. At least until she let her students go their separate ways for summer vacation.

And then even more happened. Especially Apocalypse which has completely changed the situation and political climate in ways the Hellfire Club could not have foreseen.

Though how could anyone have foreseen a 5,000year old Omega level mutant showing up and trying to transform the world?

Speaking of the Hellfire Club Emma's not seen much of her fellow Club members as of late. Not that she particular cares for them because she doesn't but what she does get is the feeling she's being marginalised. That something is going on behind the scenes.

It wouldn't the first power play within the Club nor would it be the last but what bothers Emma is if that is what is going on she hasn't heard much wind of it and that's not good. It's harder to protect herself and her students if she doesn't know what's going on and who is behind it.

Well that's something she'll have to keep an eye on...along with her sister...who by the way just showed up the other day with Shinobi Shaw in tow. She means really?!

After the battle in Smallville she just brings a wanted man to her school and Adrienne's reasons...you know what Emma won't list them because they're all lies.

She may not be able to read her sister's mind...it's a weird familial genetic trait that makes them immune to each other's powers...she may not be able to read her sister's mind but she grew up with Adrienne and she knows when her sister is lying.

So bluntly Emma doesn't know the score beyond clearly her sister is up to something. She has the Cuckoos on it, watching her sister and Shinobi. At least Emma knows she can trust those 5.

Amazingly it could be worse. Her other sister Cordelia could show up. Emma has to repress the shudder at the mere thought.

Cordelia was a bored teen who acted out to get some attention. Last time it was shaving her head bald. It was truly pathetic.

God Emma hates her family.

But none of students get to know this. Nope. All Emma shows is what she wants them to see. That's how it should be done so she watches them carefully as they disembark the bus this evening.

First out is a tall, large African American man with a bald head and brown eyes. His name is Christopher Aaronson, 19, otherwise known as King Bedlam. His mutant power was to be able to project a psionic interference that can disrupt thought patterns making it next to impossible for the person subjected to think coherently. The most common signature of this is that someone affected spouts gibberish. While he has now graduated from High School Emma needs him here as he was technically the field leader of her team.

Following him out a massive, hulking figure, over seven feet tall, and all muscle, with short blond hair and green eyes and this is him at only 18 years old. His name is Buford Wilson aka Beef and his mutant ability, naturally, is superhuman strength.

Third out is a 16 year old girl with fairly long bright purple hair. Her eyes are golden and slitted like a cat's. She has a slender feline frame and her most notable feature is a long, prehensile purple tail she possess that even now twitches and moves seemingly of its own accord. Her name is Sharon Smith aka Catseye and her mutant ability allowed her to transform completely into a panther-like creature or a half-feline 'werecat' form. This gave her the speed, agility and enhanced senses of a wildcat even in her more human form. Sharon was most excited about a couple of things. Now the Hellions were out she didn't need to hide away due to her noticeable mutation and that meant this year she would attend school...and that also meant more time for her to spend with her fellow shape-shifter and friend Rahne Sinclair(aka Wolfsbane).

Fourth out is the current girlfriend of Alex Summers...wow for Jen this is close to her record time for dating a single guy as matter of fact. She brushes back her shoulder length blond hair allowing her blue eyes to be seen more clearly. Her full name is Jennifer Stavros also known as Roulette and from a fairly young age it was clear she would posses a voluptuous body. Now she was 18 she wasn't far off giving Emma a run for her money...a fact Jen loves to show off with her clothing choices. Her mutant power is to generate disks of psychic energy that alter the laws of chance of anything they touch, resulting in either good or bad luck for their subjects by altering the probabilities field around the victim at whom she throws the disc. Her black energy discs create 'bad luck' while her red energy discs bestow 'good luck'.

Fifth out is Fabian Marechal-Jublin, 17, aka Bevatron. He is of average height, and of lean frame, with short, sandy-blond hair and blue eyes. The French youth's mutant ability enabled him to generate bio-electrical blasts of considerable force. It is a similar power to that possessed by Berzerker.

After him sixth out is Emma's number one headache, the spoilt brat of a 17 year old called Julian Keller aka Hellion. He's fairly tall with an athletic frame, short dark hair and cold blue eyes. He is a telekinetic and potentially could be the most powerful telekinetic Emma had ever seen...if he ever bothered to put the work in but like she said he's a spoilt brat and thinks he's above such things as hard work. If his family wasn't so wealthy and powerful and Emma didn't need them on her side she might even consider giving him the shove but right now she needs all the allies she can get so Julian stays.

Seventh out, puffing a cigarette, the slender yet curvaceous figure of the 19 year old Alison Blaire. She had short black hair that was gelled into spikes and her ears, nose and lower lip had various piercings plus both arms were covered in tattoos and apart from being a phenomenal singer her mutant power the ability to convert sound into light. Course Ali, as she preferred to be called, was only part of this team because Emma was paying her with a record contract. She had spent most of the summer on tour with her rock band, Dazzler.

Eighth is another girl. Angelica Jones aka Firestar. She is 16 with long, light-red hair, blue eyes, and a slender frame. Her ability enabled her to manipulate microwave radiation, to generate powerful heat-rays from her hands, amongst other things. Angelica is most happy to be back because she's dating this senior, Randall Chase and has missed him loads.

Following her and ninth out is Allan Rennie, codename Murmur, dressed as usual in his hooded cloak which hides a body covered in bandages to conceal whatever physical mutation he has. He can open teleportation portals allowing quicker movement from one place to another. It has it's limitations. Like Nightcrawler's ability Murmur must see it or know it by heart. As for how old he actually is...well not even Emma is sure. She guesses 18-21 is the right range.

One person not here; Amara because Emma couldn't bring Empath along with her because her scheming would be exposed and there's too much of a risk that if Amara hangs around her former friends her commitment to the Hellions might waver. Though Emma is not saying no, never but in fact Amara is better off at the Academy with all its facilities while she learns to understand her new geo-kinesis powers.

And watching all this from above; Superman.

Clark really didn't intend to find himself here. He was just out when he spotted the bus pulling up and chose to see who it was Emma brought along with her. There was no-one new but he had to believe Emma was actively scouting all the new mutants that have appeared thanks to Apocalypse. She was the kind of person with the resources to have others do the scouting for her.

On a good day Clark doesn't like Emma. She tried to mind-rape him, she no doubt told a whole bunch of lies to entice Amara away, she basically broke up Scott and Jean, hurting Jean in the process and her actual final agenda...Rao only knows what it is Emma truly wants.

On a good day he has dark thoughts. Today, with War constantly there at the back of his mind, his thoughts are far darker than usual.

He gets spotted which gets some smart-mouthed comments from Julian. "Well, well, well," he says as he folds his arms across his chest. "If it isn't the...what do I call you now? How about the Last Dork of Crap-tun? I mean that was your planet's name right?" he asks with a smirk.

Superman's eyes start to glow red.

"Julian," Ali says warningly because...well ok, she does have a soft spot for Kal after their sort of hook up a couple of summers back and she thinks Julian is pushing a sore spot that should be left alone but she has also seen what Kal can do if he's pissed off...and Julian doesn't want to go there.

Julian doesn't listen. "So what brings you here? I'd thought you'd be off somewhere being all mopey about being the last of your kind. If they were anything like you I'd say we're all better off without that race of losers."

Superman's eyes glow brighter still.

"Oh that's the idea, Clark," War praises what are Clark's less than pleasant thoughts in response to that. "We should totally teach him a lesson! Hey, how about you let me do it. I mean I wouldn't do anything you haven't thought of doing and look at him. Look at that smug expression. You want to wipe it off as much as I do," War tempts him.

It's only momentary that Clark finds himself agreeing with War but that is all it takes as one second he is the air and the next second Julian is doubled over by a massive punch to his mid-section. Superman then grabs him by the back of his shirt and tosses him high into the air, all long before the Hellions can react.

When they start to he blasts a huge trench in front of them with his heat vision. "If you want to know the Great Apocalypse's version of what Truth and Justice looks like, then please step over the line," he dares them, with a truly disturbing smile...War's smile.

Julian lands...atop the bus with a large thump, crumpling the roof. A groan from the dark-haired boy's lips shows Clark didn't throw him as high as he could have done. Oh, he'll have to correct that. His eyes burn red and he starts to slice into the bus...heading for the gas tank...but just before he hits it Emma steps in the way in her diamond form which deflects the bast.

Superman sneers, blurs forward, grabs her and smashes her into the side of the bus, denting it severely. "You are nothing. Do you know that Emma?" he asks her.

Emma looks at him...actually a bit lost for words for once. The violence, the ferocity...from Superman it is completely out of character from what she's seen before from him.

"Your school? I can burn it to ash from miles away. You'd never see it coming. Your precious students...you think I'd even break sweat in killing them?" he asks her. "You're all so arrogant. Think you're so damn special. You're insects!" he hisses. "You live only for as long as I choose to let you...and while your diamond form may be indestructible Emma I can always throw you into the sun...or just send you clear out the solar system, floating through the interstellar void forever. I know I'll let you decide Emma...no, not where I throw you but which of your students do you want to see die first, hmm?" he asks her.

"I'm not playing that game," Emma says defiantly.

Superman(War?) chuckles deeply. "Then I'll just kill them all!" he roars.

That is when Ali steps in...yes, really. She leaps over the trench he made and grabs his arm. "Kal! Stop!"

His head snaps round, his lip curled up into a snarl. "You volunteering to be first, Ali?"

Ali gathers herself and stares him down. Stares into eyes with so much darkness within them. She's never seen that look. That couple of summers back they were together there was always a lightness, a mischievousness, a gentleness she saw before, even if it was only a glint in the corner but not now. Now...is truly frightening.

But Ali can do this. She knows she can. "I'm not a saint," she starts with. "Never claimed to be but we spent enough time together for me to know this isn't you. You're not a murderer," she claims.

"You don't know a damn thing about me, Ali. You never did and you never will," he tells her bluntly. Whatever she saw before wasn't the true him and he never told her anything much.

"Don't I? I know that summer back you were running away. I know because I've done it. I also know as much as you may want to you can't ever truly get away from who you are. This isn't you. Stop running and be yourself. Remember who that person is. He's a hero...which only dammit turns me on more which sucks...for you more than me because that person turned down this!" she gestures at herself.

Superman blinks...and then laughs loudly. He lets Emma go still chuckling, moves over to Ali who isn't sure what he is about to do...not until he gently cups her chin and kisses her on the lips.

Ali moans deeply in response before he pulls back and she looks into his eyes which seem lighter than they were mere moments ago.

"Ali," Superman breathes. "Don't ever change," he asks of her. "But do me a favour?"

Ali nods.

"Stay very, very far away from me and make sure your friends do the same," Superman says with deadly seriousness as a warning. Yes, Clark's back in control. He then blurs off leaving a very shocked and stunned Hellions...plus one injured Hellion lying on the bus roof.

Ali blows out a breath. "Dammit, why does he have to be such a good kisser?" she laments because her body feels like it is on fire. She's going to need a very cold shower.

Emma's diamond form slips away as she stares at the direction Superman left, her ice blue eyes narrowed in thought. What was that?

Author's Note: A few people made comments that Chloe should be going around healing everyone and even helping the Professor walk again. I'm sorry but in what world does she have that level of control over a power she gained a week ago? Add in her internal freak-out over what has happened to her and in reality it's going to be quite some time before she's ready to do anything big. I felt a need to really, once and for all, put closure on Clark and Rogue and that meant settling that almost kiss. Feelings sometimes linger when logically they shouldn't. I did consider adding Amara to the Hellions but to do so would risk being self-defeating for Emma. If Amara was around the more chance there would be of someone twigging that her boyfriend is Empath and second that her former friends might talk her round to coming back to the Institute. Hmm, seems like Clark's struggling in his battle of control with War and when he struggles I wanted it to show by explosions of unusual levels of violence from him. What happens if he loses control completely? A thought that'll be plaguing him in the days ahead. Thanks to everyone wrote reviews. Next up; the fallout from Apocalypse sadly continues for many people.