Firstly, thanks everyone who's reviewed so far
Disclaimer: I don't own the X-men or X-men: Evolution, Rachel Summers and Franklin are both owned by Marvel, I do however own all the OCs in this fic
Chapter two: A surprise visit
The Institute looked the same as it always did in winter. A heavy snowfall had coated the grounds and buildings with snow and the fountain was frozen over with ice, the bare trees stood like silent sentries along the drive that led up to the main building, their branches coated with snow. Its serene and peaceful appearance didn't do much to cover up the mayhem inside
Bobby ran down the stairs, dodging and evading the explosive spheres being hurled down after him
"Robert Drake! You get back here and take your punishment like a man" Boom Boom yelled, her blond hair soaked and her eyelashes covered with tiny flecks of ice
"I said I was sorry!" he cried in reply, looking back to see one of Boom Booms bombs impact in thin air
"Now now kids, play nice or I'm gonna have to separate you" Jean said chidingly. Boom Boom gave Bobby a scowling look but turned around and stalked back up the stairs
"Thanks Jean, I owe you one"
"Just don't do it again Bobby" Jean replied, spotting Scott at the far side of the foyer and rushing to catch up to him
"How're you holding up Scott?" she asked, he sighed
"I met Alex's foster parents, it didn't go so well, but they agreed to let him stay here so we could keep an eye on him"
"That's good, isn't it?" Jean asked
"They said the only reason they haven't sued the Institute and had me arrested for criminal negligence is because there isn't anywhere else that can take care of Alex" he added, even though he was wearing his ruby red shades Jean knew he had the look of a haunted man
"Come on" Jean said, grabbing Scott's arm and steering him towards the door
"What're you doing?" he asked
"We're going for a drive, getting out of this place for a few hours will do you some good" she told him. They were almost out the door when the Professor came into view
"Ah there you two are, Scott your teams due for a danger room session" the Professor told him
"Actually Professor Scott said I could take the team this time" Hellblade said, appearing out of nowhere with X-23
"Yeah, Scott told me about it yesterday when I got back" Jean quickly added
"Oh, that should be fine then Hellblade, The Corsairs are due to start their session in five minutes" he told them
'Thanks Hellblade' Jean told the vampire telepathically
'It was nothing, just go and enjoy yourselves' he replied, heading down the hallway, his long black cloak flapping behind him
Taipan put on his own white cloak and folded his civilian clothes up
"Any idea what'sss taking SSScott so long?" he asked Kevin, placing the clothes in the top of his locker
"No clue" his teammate replied as he tied his laces. The two met up with Rust and walked out of their changing room to meet Taser in the danger room
"Hey, you seen Scott? He was supposed to be here already" Rust asked her
"Nope, I've no idea where he is" she replied, finishing her calf stretches. At almost that exact same moment the door to the danger room slid open with a soft hiss and Hellblade strode in, followed by X-23
"Hey, it's Hellblade right? You got any idea where Cyclops is?" Fathom called to the vampire
"He cannot make it, I will be overseeing your training session instead. And Laura will be taking part" he replied as X-23 walked over to The Corsairs
"Hello" she said as politely as she could
"Hey Laura, nice to meet you" Rust replied as he and the other Corsairs introduced themselves. Hellblade remained silent as he saw Laura's nervous look fade and be replaced with one of ease and confidence. Not wanting to get in their way he moved back out of the danger room, heading to the control room set above it
"Let's start with something easy" he muttered to himself, pressing several buttons
"Hey, what are you doing down here?" an accusing voice said form behind the vampire, looking over his shoulder he saw Kitty
"I'm overseeing the Corsairs training session" he replied, not bothering to turn around
"Where's Scott?" she demanded
"He's…unavailable" Hellblade replied
"Why? What did you do?" she asked accusingly
"Nothing. Jean's taking him out for a few hours. With everything that has happened recently can you blame them for wanting to get away for awhile?" he replied, still not looking at her and finally selecting a danger room setting
'Program Storm Alpha Five Seven Initiating' the computers voice chimed. Kittys eyes widened with shock and she grabbed Hellblade's left shoulder, spinning him around to face her
"Are you nuts? That's one of the toughest programs. They won't last five minutes" she told him
"They can handle it" Hellblade replied, calmly prising her hand off his shoulder
"Hey this isn't HYDRA. If anything happens to them it'll mean more than a pay cut" she snapped
"I'm aware of that but they won't learn anything if people like you baby them every time they train" Hellblade replied, starting to get irritated
"They aren't ready" Kitty protested
"They are, they need to be, if things continue as they have done the world will need them at their best, and right now their best isn't good enough" Hellblade retorted. He knew he was right, so why couldn't Shadowcat see it?
"They've been here a few months, it'll be years before they become real X-men" Kitty told him
"You were only here a few weeks before your first mission weren't you?" Hellblade responded, he wondered how Wolverine had managed to put up with her for as long as he had done
"The Institute isn't HYDRA, the kids here just want to be kids, not brainwashed killing machines" Kitty retorted. In the blink of an eye Hellblade had move closer so his face was less than an inch from hers
"Don't you ever say that again, you have no idea what HYDRA is like" he said in a low, deadly voice
Before Kitty could say anything a cry of pain down below caught their attention. Hellblade grabbed Kittys arm and the two phased down to the danger room below. Kendra was on the floor, hands clutching her ankle
"I think I broke it" she said, fighting back tears
"You see? This is exactly what I was telling you about" Kitty snapped at the vampire, who knelt down to check Kendra's ankle
"Well maybe if a very annoying girl wasn't distracting me I might have noticed sooner and this wouldn't have happened" Hellblade snapped back, losing his temper
"You are the most annoying person I've ever met!" Kitty yelled, turning around and stalking away
"Rest assured, the feelings mutual!" Hellblade yelled back as Kitty phased through the far wall of the danger room
"Is it broken?" Kendra asked
"No, it's just sprained, you two help her up, I'll get Nightcrawler down here to get her to the infirmary" Hellblade told Rust and Fathom, who reached down and each put an arm around Kendra and helped her to her feet
As they went to help her to the changing room the power in the danger room and the rest of the Institute was suddenly cut. Hellblade drew his scimitars as a glowing orb of blue light appeared in the centre of the room. The orb grew bigger, turning into a tall glowing blue rectangle and a large shape fell through it.
The emergency lights came on and Hellblade motioned for the Corsairs to stay back as he advanced slowly towards the figure. When he reached it he placed the tip of his shoe against it and gently rolled it over onto hits front. He saw it was a girl, about sixteen or seventeen with short red hair and wearing a green and yellow skirt, a green short sleeved top and yellow knee high boots. Her green eyes opened and she looked up at Hellblade
"Hey Hellblade, long time no see" she said as if greeting an old friend
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Hellblade demanded sharply, hearing footsteps as Kitty ran back into the room to see what was going on
"I'm Rachel Summers, I'm from the future"
In the next chapter – Rachel meets her parents, tells her story, tells the X-men about her mission, and why the future depends on it
To be continued, as always, all reviews are greatley appreciated