Okay, before we go any further, I should fill you in on a few important things. Evan, Rahne, Jubilation, and Tabby are back with the X-Men, and they've been joined by Laura Kinney (X-23), Forge, Warren Worthington (Angel), Piotr Rasputin (Colossus) and Remy LeBeau (Gambit). I will be calling Rogue by her real name, Anna Adler (I don't think that's her real last name, but she was raised by Irene Adler aka Destiny)
Also, here's most of their ages, at least in this fic:
Scott, and Jean: (Class of 2001) - Forge is also their age
Kitty, Anna (Rogue), Kurt, Amanda, Lance, and Fred: Grade 12 (Class of 2002)
Rebecca, Julia, Austin, Ray, Pietro, Wanda, Evan, Todd, Tabby, and Roberto: Grade 11 (Class of 2003)
Sam, Bobby, Amara, Jubilation, and Alex: Grade 10 (Class of 2004)
Rahne and Laura: Grade 9 (Class of 2005)
Paige: Grade 8 (Class of 2006)
Jamie: Grade 7 (Class of 2007)
Paige and Jamie are in middle school, and everyone else listed goes to high school, except for Evan because even a holowatch can't hide all those spikes. So he's home-schooled. And Scott and Jean already graduated and Forge does go to school anymore, but you all knew that already.
One last thing, I'm going to do my best to write in the accents, but I can't promise I'll do a good job.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own XME or Paige (since she doesn't appear in XME)
WORD COUNT: 6185
Thursday, January 24th, 2002
Rebecca gasped when she saw the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters through the jet windows. She'd known it would be big, but she hadn't imagined a three-storey building bigger than the Metro Centre. The property it stood on was even bigger, about twice the size of the Public Gardens, complete with a large pool, a basketball court, and a baseball diamond. The entire estate was surrounded by a thick forest, which reminded her of Point Pleasant Park.
She was so enthralled by the sight that it took her a minute to realise that Ray was flying the jet right past the house, towards the woods instead. "Um… I think we just missed it," she whispered.
"Nope. Hangar entrance is this way. Can't exactly land on the front lawn."
They continued until a magnificent waterfall appeared before them, and Ray angled the jet right towards the middle. Austin jumped up. "You're flying us right into the middle of that?!" he shouted. Before he could make his way over to the controls, Pietro got up and grabbed his arm.
"Relax, would you?" he snapped.
Jubilation tapped a few buttons on the console, and a large boulder suddenly jutted out of the rock face, blocking the flow of the water and revealing two large metal door that were slowly sliding open, giving them access. The jet shot in and landed in a somewhat bumpy manner before rolling to a smooth stop.
The hatch on the bottom opened up. Ray, Jubilation, Jamie, and Pietro got out, and Austin and Rebecca followed apprehensively. The hangar was as large and spacious as everything else around here, and also housed another aircraft, with possibly room for one more. A small crowd of people was waiting by a set of elevator doors off to the left, many of them wearing dark spandex suits.
One of them, a well-built man with dark hair and a scowling expression, walked over. His gaze rested for a second on Jamie, who gulped, then moved to Rebecca.
She stared back, not sure whether she should be scared, or impressed, or what. Finally, he spoke: "This her?" Rebecca recognised his voice from the earlier radio conversation. Wolverine, wasn't that what they'd called him?
"Yep," Ray responded seriously.
"So what's your power, miss?" Rebecca blinked. She vaguely remembered flying – sort of.
"Uh…" she mumbled, "I'm not… completely sure. I… I think I can fly, but other than that…"
"She might have some sort of shockwave ability," Ray interrupted, "There were a couple times where she'd freak out and something we couldn't see would knock us all over." Rebecca blinked in surprise. She could recall feeling some sort of strange sensation once or twice during the fight. Like something within her had pushed out… like a shockwave emitting from her body.
She caught Austin staring out of the corner of her eye. His expression was difficult to read, but she thought she could make out a small trace of disgust. Rebecca bit her lip. Austin hated mutants. And now she was one.
A redheaded woman stepped forward. She looked to be only a few years older than Rebecca. "Look, Rebecca," she said, "I know this is a big change, but trust me, you'll get used to it." Rebecca looked at the new faces for the first time. The first one to catch her eye was a large blue ape-man crouching by the doors. Rebecca cringed at the sight of him. The rest of them weren't as frightening. There was a tall guy with a red-tinted gold visor, a masked man with huge, feathery wings, a guy in a trench coat restlessly shuffling a deck of cards, a white-haired woman, a tall and muscular young man, a skinny Native-American guy, and a bald man in a wheelchair. This last one carried an aura of peace and kindness.
"Do not worry, Miss Reid," he assured her, "This Institute is a safe place. Everyone here has had some difficulty adjusting, but I assure you, you're among friends here." Rebecca gave him a small smile of gratitude. He and the redhead seemed genuinely nice. "I am Professor Charles Xavier, the founder of this school." He extended his hand, and she shook it. When Xavier offered the same to Austin, the latter instead stared at it like it was a slimy tentacle. Rebecca elbowed him slightly, and he gingerly shook the Professor's hand. Then Xavier turned to the redhead. "Jean, will you please show Rebecca and Austin to their rooms? Rebecca will have the last empty one, Austin will have to stay with Sam until we can help Bobby. We'll have to wait for Sam and Evan to get back with Paige, and of course everyone else comes home from school, before we break the news."
"You mean they don't know yet?" Jubilation interrupted.
"The only ones who know the outcome of this battle are all in this room. I would suggest not mentioning anything to the other students, besides Kurt, Kitty, and Anna, at least not until the briefing."
The redhead, Jean, turned towards the elevator and gestured for Rebecca and Austin to follow. "Come on," she said, "I'll give you guys the tour." They stepped into the elevator with her, Jubilation following right behind them. Pietro and Ray lingered behind, the former talking to the man with the cards, and the latter stalking off through another door labelled 'Danger Room'. Jamie started after them, but was stopped by Wolverine's hand on his shoulder.
"Where do you think you're going?" the man growled, "You skipped out on your probation, kid. Don't think you're getting off scot-free."
The elevator doors closed before he could plead for their help, and they ascended upwards.
"Hey," Rebecca whispered to Austin, "Are we cool? You know, with this whole mutant thing?" She had to know how he was handling the news that she was a mutant.
Austin gave her an uncomfortable look. "We'll talk about it later," he whispered back.
The elevator slowed to a stop, and the doors slid open to reveal a carpeted hallway. Rebecca guessed they were in the main part of the mansion now. Jean led them down the corridor and into a large, open room with a wide staircase on one end and a set of double glass doors that apparently led out front on the other. "So this is the front entrance," Jean explained, "The kitchen, dining room, and rec room are down the other hallway on the other side of the stairs there, and the elevator to all the lower levels is obviously the way we just came. Oh, and the back entrance is down that way, too." She started up the stairs, which Jubilation had already started climbing. Rebecca and Austin followed Jean up to another long hallway, this one lined with doors. A glance back in the other direction showed something similar; Rebecca caught Jubilation slipping into one of those rooms. They quickly came to the first one on the left, which looked like it'd come off its hinges a few times. "All right, Austin, this is the room you'll be sharing with Sam." Austin reached for the door handle, but it turned and opened on its own. Surprisingly the room was empty; no one was there to have opened it. Rebecca glanced back at Jean, and saw that she had one hand outstretched. Did she just do that?
Inside, the room was very messy, more so on the right side than the left. Jean raised her hand again, and clothes and books and the occasional piece of food floated up the floor and flew into one of the dressers – the remains of the occupants' snacks, however, went into the garbage can. "Bobby usually sleeps in here, but since he's…" Like everyone else, Jean seemed to be at a loss for words once she started on Bobby and Wanda's fates. A shadow crossed over her face for a few seconds, but then she shook it off. "So when Sam gets back and asks you why you're here, just tell him to talk to us."
They went back and the three of them doubled back and headed down to the other end of the hall, in the same direction Jubilation had gone. Jean telekinetically opened the door again to reveal a room with two beds, dressers, and desks. It looked like no one was staying in there.
"This'll be your room, Rebecca," Jean stated, "Besides staff and senior students, you're the only one with your own room, at least until another girl joins. The other new girl, Paige, is going to stay with Laura across the hall."
Rebecca looked around more closely. The room was nice and neat, the beds made, and the windows spotless. A set of wooden double doors was located on the other side, leading out to what Rebecca assumed to be a balcony. There were also two closets on opposite sides. She walked over and pushed the balcony doors open, gasping at the view. The sun was higher in the sky than it should've been; that confused her until she remembered the different time zones – New York was an hour behind Nova Scotia. "This is really cool," she said, turning to face Jean and Austin, "I could get used to living here." She saw Austin frown at the statement.
Jean, on the other hand, smiled. "I'm glad you like it," she replied, "But there's one little thing we've got to take care of. I'm pretty sure the news of your 'disappearance' has reached your families by now. I don't know about you two, but I'd want to let my parents know I was all right."
Rebecca gasped. Of course! Meghan and Chase were probably worried out of their minds! First Julia, and now her. Austin's parents must be going crazy, too. "Where's the phone?" she demanded.
"Outside the door." Rebecca hurried out, pulling Austin's hand as she passed him. The phone was sitting on a small table a few feet away from her door at the end of the hallway; Rebecca had been too excited about her room to notice.
She picked it up and took a deep breath before dialling her home number, remembering to punch in the 902 area code. It rang once… twice… After the third ring, she was about to hang up, but halfway through the fourth, she heard a click.
"Hello?"
"Meghan, it's Rebecca."
"Oh, thank God! Are you okay? What happened? Where are you?"
"I'm fine, Julia's working for an evil mutant, and I'm in New York."
"What? What happened to Julia? And why are you in New York?!"
"She and I… We're mutants. Her powers showed up yesterday right before she went missing, and mine did, like, an hour ago. All that commotion down at the harbour was us. Some evil psychic mutant guy got into her head, and she tried to kill me, Austin, and five other mutants."
"She WHAT?!" Meghan shouted.
"I know, it's crazy. We just barely got away, and two of the others still didn't make it. We're at their base right now."
"Wait, in New York? Are you talking about those 'X-Men' people?"
"Yeah. Those two mutants that go to my school are good friends of theirs. They want us to stay here for a while."
"Are you crazy? No, we already lost your sister, we're not losing you."
"Meg, she isn't herself. She wants to kill me, and here I'm surrounded by people who can defend against her. And besides… I want to learn who to use my powers right. They can teach me, and you and Chase and Rochelle could get caught in the crossfire if I come back home. This is for you guys, too."
There was silence on the other line, except for the clanking sound of the old dishwasher running in the background. "Okay," Meghan finally whispered, "Okay, you can stay there for a while. But you have to call every day and let us know how you're doing, alright?"
"Alright. I've gotta go now. Austin's here, too, and he needs to call his folks as well. I'll talk to you tomorrow. 'Bye."
"'Bye, hon." Click.
Rebecca handed the phone to Austin, and then leaned against the wall. So that was it. She would be staying in New York in a mansion full of super-powered strangers. Okay, so technically, she had powers of her own, but still.
Once Austin finished his phone call, he put his hand on her shoulder, steering Rebecca towards his new room. "We need to talk in private," he bluntly told Jean. He shut and locked the door before turning to face her. "So what exactly did you mean when you asked if we were cool?"
Rebecca bit her lip. "Well…" she began, "I was wondering if it would still work out between us. I mean, I know how you feel about mutants. And now that I'm one, I was afraid you might…" She paused for a couple seconds, not sure how to phrase it. "Not want to go out anymore." The very thought sent an unexpected tear tumbling from her eye. If he broke up with her, she didn't know how she would cope, considering all the other chaos in her life right now. She needed someone to be there for her.
Austin spotted the bead of moisture running down her cheek before she could wipe it away, and moved closer, putting both his hands on her shoulders. "Babe, look: this doesn't change anything. Sure, you're a mutant…" It looked like it pained him to say that. "…But you're still you. And while I can't stand being around the rest of 'em, let alone the thought of sharing a room with one, that doesn't mean I'm not willing to make an exception for you. And besides, I am staying here for you." And with that, he pressed his lips almost forcefully to hers, and she giggled as they fell onto his new bed.
Austin was almost a completely different person when they kissed. He was rather stoic and reserved when they talked, so they just made out a hell of a lot more than other couples.
"What was that all about?" Tabitha asked, "From the way Jean's face looked, it must've been something serious."
"It was nothing," Kitty reassured her teammate with a grin before entering her room.
As soon as the door closed behind her, however, Kitty let her fake smile drop. Slowly, as if in a daze, she dropped her schoolbag as well, made her way to the bed, and flopped down onto it. She hadn't felt like this since Apocalypse had supposedly killed Ororo and the Professor. Bobby was like a brother to her, and she'd been getting close to becoming friends with Wanda. She knew everyone else was hit hard, too. Jubilation refused to come out of her room, without telling the other New Mutants why, and Ray was reportedly in the Danger Room, taking his frustration out on the laser cannons. Pietro was probably back at the Boarding House by now; he'd been the one to explain what'd happened – all the other witnesses being unavailable – and had zoomed off the second he was allowed.
A light knock brought Kitty back to the present. "Kitty?" It was Ororo.
"Come in," she replied. Ororo quietly opened the door, still in uniform. She drifted in, sitting on the bed beside Kitty.
"How are you holding up?" she asked.
Kitty shrugged. "Okay, I guess. Everyone who already knows is miserable; it's going be even worse when the news gets out to the rest of the students. I mean, just listen to Ray going at it downstairs." The explosions could be heard even from there.
Ororo nodded in agreement. "Indeed. And if I know Roberto, he will undoubtedly join in. I haven't seen him like this since Evan joined the Morlocks. He was very upset when they attacked him after he'd been one of them."
A particularly loud explosion rumbled up from beneath them, and then all the noises stopped. "I think he just broke the Danger Room," Kitty commented. She and Ororo exchanged looks for a second before running out of the room.
By the time they reached the elevator, the doors had opened up. Ray stepped out, his uniform charred and his face blank. He barely acknowledged their presence, aside from muttering: "Danger Room needs work," as he brushed past them.
Logan was right behind him. "Kid demolished the entire arsenal," he told them, "Wound up short-circuiting the central system. Never seen him use that much power since Porcupine joined the sewer-dwellers. Gonna take a while to fix, though. I'll have to get Forge on that."
"Hey, it's better if he lets it out now," Kitty pointed out, "and not later with a whole bunch of people around."
Logan considered her statement, and then nodded in agreement. "Good point. Sparky may lose his cool a lot, but this is definitely one of his extreme moments, and his temper sure shows up in his powers. Last thing anyone needs is to be anywhere near him right when he's like that."
Kitty turned back to return to her room, but Ororo laid a hand on her shoulder. "Kitty," she said, "Rebecca and Austin have gotten permission to stay here, but all they have in terms of clothing are their school uniforms. I came to you because someone needs to take them shopping, and I had a feeling that would make you feel better. Are you up for it?"
Kitty's spirits lifted instantly. "Shopping?" she squealed, "Hell yes!" With that, she tore off to the room Austin Jones would be sharing with Sam. She didn't bother knocking or trying to open the door, she just phased her head through the wood. "Hey!" she chirped, completely startling the couple making out on Bobby's – no, Austin's bed.
The two of them abruptly pulled apart with the sound of a plunger being yanked from a toilet. "What the hell?!" Austin shouted, falling right off. He almost brought Rebecca down with him, but she suddenly stopped and hovered a foot off the floor.
Kitty chuckled. "Oops. Sorry. Mostly everyone here's used to that by now." She phased herself completely through the door and grinned at them. "Oh, and just so you're warned, it's the exact same thing with Kurt and his teleporting. So if a fuzzy blue guy poofs up beside you, try not to freak out, okay?"
Austin glared at her. He was a scrawny blond guy with brown eyes filled with a coldness that gave Kitty the chills. "What do you want?" he spat.
Kitty didn't like his rude tone at all, but she continued on. "Well, if you're going to be staying here and going to Bayville High with the rest of us, you're going to need more than just those uniforms." She gestured to the clothes the two of them were wearing. "So… we're going shopping!" She jumped up and down for a full five seconds before she realised they were staring at her. "What? I like shopping. By the way, my name's Kitty Pryde. But we use codenames while in training and on missions and stuff, so in that case, so in that case, call me Shadowcat."
"Cool," Rebecca commented. She had green eyes and black hair streaked with orange, tied up in a loose ponytail. "I wonder what mine's going to be."
Kitty shrugged. "Dunno. They usually have something to do with the mutant's powers, and we need to study yours a bit more. I mean, take Sam for example. He can rocket around at high speeds and demolish pretty much everything he crashes into – he hasn't perfected his control yet, so he crashes a lot – and his codename's Cannonball. Except for when he hits something he can't break, then he'll either stop or ricochet off, and then we like to call him Pinball, even though he hates it. But enough about that. Are we going shopping, or what?"
Austin, who by then had picked himself up off the floor, shrugged. "Yeah, whatever," he grumbled, "Guess we'll have to go at some point." He turned to help Rebecca, and jumped little when he finally noticed she was floating.
Rebecca gave him a small, weak grin before carefully twisting around in mid-air and setting her feet on the floor. "Don't worry," Kitty assured her, "You'll get the hang of it. The first time my powers emerged, I fell through my bed and two floors!"
With that, she turned and phased back through the door. She heard the lock clicking behind her, and the door opening.
The three of them headed down the hallway while Kitty kept on talking. "Now, you'll get funny looks if you go out in public with those things on, so you'll each have to borrow a shirt from another student. I think Kurt and Tabitha would be about the right size." They stopped at Tabitha and Amara's room first, and, as was her habit, Kitty simply phased her head through the door.
Tabitha was inside, chatting animatedly with Amara. "Hey, guys. I'm taking some new students shopping. All they have to wear is their school uniforms, so Tabby, Rebecca needs to borrow one of your shirts until she gets stuff of her own, okay?"
Tabitha nodded, got up, and went over to her dresser. She chucked a few clothes over her shoulder before producing a blue long-sleeved shirt and tossing it to Kitty. "Have fun!" she told her.
Kurt wasn't in his room, so Kitty just grabbed a shirt and left a note. While Austin and Rebecca quickly changed in the two hallway bathrooms and Kitty waited outside, Scott, Anna, and Warren walked by. "Hey, guys!" she greeted them, "I'm driving Rebecca and Austin to the mall. Anyone want to come?"
"You're drahvin' them?" Anna asked.
"Uh-huh."
For some reason, they all looked very nervous all of a sudden. Kitty wondered why. Was there some sort of anti-mutant protest she hadn't gotten wind of yet? Something that could present a danger to them? Oh well. If anything came up, she could get them to safety, between her powers and her awesome driving skills.
"I'll come along!" Scott volunteered immediately, "Hell, I'll drive!"
Kitty couldn't help but pout a little. One thing she didn't understand was why she never got to drive. Oh well. "Sure. I'm just waiting for them to change into some stuff they borrowed from Kurt and Tabitha, and then we can hit the road."
At that moment, Rebecca came out of one of the bathrooms. She jumped a little when she saw all the people there. "Oh, uh… hi," she greeted them nervously.
"Hi." Scott stepped forward. "I don't think I gave you my name earlier. I'm Scott Summers, one of the Instructors here at the Institute. And this is Anna Adler and Warren Worthington the Third." Rebecca quickly got over her shyness and shook hands with them. "And I'm also your ride to the mall today."
"Oh, you don't have to go to so much trouble."
"Believe me, I don't mind. I run our school carpool, so driving people around is no problem. We're waiting for one more, right?"
"Right here." Kitty jumped a little when Austin spoke up from behind her. For a guy who'd practically yelled at her for startling him, he moved pretty quietly. He stood there, impatiently tugging at the dark green turtleneck he was now wearing. It looked a little tight on him. "We going or not?" Kitty felt her dislike for the guy grow. Rebecca was really nice, but did she have to bring him along?
"Come on, my car's out in the garage," Scott stated in reply. Austin shrugged and followed them, skirting around Anna and Warren with an expression of disgust.
Bayville Mall was pretty impressive. Rebecca noted that it was only slightly smaller than Park Lane Mall back home. The chatty girl, Kitty, talked all the way there. Austin was grumbling about wanting his iPod – which was also back home – within less than a minute. Rebecca, on the other hand, hung on to her every word, fascinated at how normal these people were.
On the flight down there, she'd still been in shock over the earlier events, but had gotten to learn a bit about some of them. As far as she could tell, Jamie was the youngest – and hated it. Jubilation seemed very close to that Bobby guy, given her reaction to his fate, and Ray's decision to leave. Pietro had distanced himself a little from the others; he was probably more comfortable around his own team, the Brotherhood.
Then there was Ray. He was tougher to decode. He had kept his face locked in the same serious expression all the time, only the clenching of his fists or a dark glance at the floor ever giving away his anger, at least until he got someplace where he could smash stuff, like the 'Danger Room' (Kitty had mentioned that he'd been smashing stuff down there until he'd broken everything). It was like his heart was hidden behind a mask, one that had very few holes in it. She didn't know how she'd figured all that out. She was no psychologist.
All in all, these mutants didn't seem anything like the monsters the media had cast them as. And Rebecca was glad for that. She never liked judging people before she'd even gotten to know them; her parents had drilled that into her brain ever since she was a child, and Meghan had taken over once the girls had come to live with her. Chase had joined in on the day the two of them had started dating seriously.
When they reached the mall, Kitty immediately dragged Rebecca off, leaving the boys to their own devices, into the girliest boutique she'd even set foot in. Not that she'd been to a lot; most of her wardrobe came from second-hand shops. But Kitty insisted that she'd pay for it all – on the Professor's credit, of course – so Rebecca was soon being shoved item through frilly pink item literally right through the changing room door. She wondered how people were taking this, having mutants in the store. Kitty replied, when Rebecca finally asked her, that she'd already been on a first-name basis with the manager before the secret of mutants was let out, and the store wasn't going to lose its most valued customer by barring mutants from shopping there.
After about fifteen minutes – although it felt much, much longer to Rebecca – Kitty had a huge epiphany that the clothes there just weren't working out. So they went to the local bargain store, where Rebecca was very satisfied. They bought a few pairs of jeans, a couple t-shirts, and a pair of black elbow-length fingerless gloves that she put on the second they left the store. Then it was a quick trip to Target to pick up the necessary items like socks, underwear, and such. Rebecca planned on asking Meghan to send some of her stuff down by air mail, but she'd need a few things to get by on until then.
An hour later, they met up with Scott and Austin at the food court. The boys had a total of two bags compared to the girls' half-dozen. As soon as he saw her, Austin instantly relaxed. She sat down next to him, and he whispered to her: "I thought you might've been abducted or something."
"In a way, I was," she replied, sticking her tongue out at Kitty.
The brunette in question made a face back. "Yeah, yeah, whatever," she retorted, "It's not my fault you have, like, no taste in designer fashion."
"She locked you in a changing room and shoved her choices in at you, didn't she?" Scott interrupted. It was hard to read his expression with those weird red shades of his – did he ever take those off? – but the smirk and raised eyebrow told all, despite his eyes being hidden. "It happens every time she takes someone shopping."
Kitty made a face at him, too, before jumping up. "Okay, so I am, like, so parched. I'm going to grab a smoothie from the juice bar. Any orders?"
"Orange juice," Scott replied.
"If they've got a strawberry-banana smoothie with yogurt, I'd like one," Rebecca added.
"I'm fine," Austin muttered.
Kitty bounced over to a nearby counter, and as soon as she was out of earshot, Scott leaned over. "Just so you know," he half-whispered, "There were a few unwritten rules Jean never went over with you guys. There's three major ones, and it's best for your own personal safety that you stick to them. Number one: never argue with Logan or Laura unless you really need to; Two: never let Kitty behind the wheel of any vehicle, because she drives like a maniac; and Three: the topic of the Morlocks – I'll explain that later – is out of the question when Ray's in the room unless absolutely necessary. It's a soft subject for him, and it gets him into a bad mood. And Ray in a bad mood is a very dangerous thing."
Kitty returned at that point. She handed Scott and Rebecca their drinks, then plunked down and started sipping at her own. Before the conversation could continue any further, Scott's cell phone rang. "Hello? … Okay… We'll be right there. Thanks, Jean. 'Bye." He hung up. "Sam and Evan are almost back with Paige. We should return to the Institute now."
Sam shouldered the pink backpack – one of the dozen holding his sister's stuff – and dragged the heavy suitcase down the ramp of the Velocity. Why did girls need so much stuff? While Paige and Evan also lugged as much as they could, they'd still have to make a second trip to get everything out.
Sam noticed that the Blackbird was back in the hangar. "Check it out," he said, doing his best to point it out with both hands full, "Looks like Bobby, Jubes, and Ray are back."
Upon their arrival above ground – it was a miracle the elevator was able to hold all that weight – Evan, Sam, and Paige were greeted by a surprisingly uneasy Tabitha. "Hey, guys." She gave them a weak attempt at a grin. Immediately, Sam felt a sense of slight dread come over him. If Tabby couldn't put on a decent smile, something had to be wrong.
Evan picked it up at the same time, and moved forward. "Tabby, what happened?" he asked.
"Not sure, but everyone who already knows is pretty upset about it. All I know is that Bobby didn't come back with Ray and Jubes. But we're about to have a briefing about it. C'mon, we're just waiting for Scott and Kitty to get back with the new kids."
Upon reaching the rec room, Sam saw pretty much the entire residence of the mansion crammed in there: the Professor, Ms. Munro, Mr. Logan, Mr. McCoy, Remy (it was weird calling Gambit by his real name) Warren, Jean, Kurt, Anna, Ray, Jubilation, Jamie, Rahne, Roberto, Amara, Alex, and Laura. The latter five seemed just as uneasy, worried, and confused as Sam felt.
Five seconds later, the sound of a car engine could be heard, and within a minute, Scott and Kitty hurried in, towing a boy and girl Sam had never seen before. The four of them went to the 'front' of the assembly, where the Professor sat facing everyone else with the instructors and senior students – and, surprisingly, Ray. Now was the point where the Prof would tell everyone to settle down, and Mr. Logan would clear his throat very loudly when they inevitably didn't, but the room was already dead quiet. Everyone was dying to know what had happened.
"Before we discuss anything else," the Professor began, "I would like to introduce everyone to Paige Guthrie, Sam's sister." One or two people waved, but their attention was clearly on the mysterious news they were waiting for. "She will be joining us to learn to control her powers, like the rest of you. And now, I must bring us to the events of Bobby, Ray, and Jubilation's mission." By now, everyone was on the edge of their seats.
He rolled his chair back a little, and Ray stood up. "Bobby, Jubes, and I went up to Halifax to investigate that new mutant signature. It wound up being two mutants, identical twin sisters from Pietro and Wanda's school. Yesterday, one of them, Julia, went missing around the time she was detected. The three of us met up with Wanda and Pietro at the museum where they were on a field trip with the other twin, Rebecca. Then Julia showed up." He swallowed, clearly not liking whatever had happened next. "Apocalypse is still out there," he stated bitterly, "And Mesmero's got Julia under his control. She's extremely powerful, and we barely managed to get out of there in one piece. But one of her powers is to open these sort of portals to another world, the Spirit Realm, or something like that. She… she got Bobby and Wanda. They're gone."
Sam felt the bottom drop out of his stomach. No. Not Bobby. Not his best friend. He watched the reactions of the other students. Jubilation – who'd finally been coaxed out of her room – choked out a sob, and Rahne gasped and hugged her. Roberto bleakly spat a string of Portuguese profanities at the floor. Alex and Laura grasped each other's hands, then realised what they were doing, and pulled apart.
As for Sam himself, he just stared in shock at Ray, silently begging him to say it wasn't true, for it all just to be a really bad joke. But it wasn't. Amara and Paige hugged him from either side, Amara burying her face in his shoulder and wetting his shirt with her tears.
Sam then noticed the other girl, the one he still didn't know. She had pain written all over her face – and was that a bit of guilt? Her companion put his arm around her uncomfortably. He'd been looking rather bored until she'd started sniffling; now his attention was all on her. In his expression, however, Sam only saw mild pity and agitation.
After letting the news sink in, Ray gestured to the two of them. "Rebecca and her boyfriend Austin are going to be staying here with us for now. Sam, Austin's bunking with you." And without another word, he sat down.
The Professor rolled forward. "Thank you, Ray. Now, I understand that this loss is hard on all of us. But keep in mind, if there is a way for Bobby and Wanda to return from the Spirit Realm, they will find it. Until then, we have to stay strong. Rest assured, we are doing everything we can to find a solution. That is all, you are dismissed."
Everyone drifted out in small groups. Rahne and Roberto did their best to comfort Jubilation. Jean leaned on Scott, but didn't cry; she was a leader figure, Sam knew she had to put on a strong front for the rest of them.
Sam numbly ignored his girlfriend and sister. He just wandered out of the room and around the mansion, lost in his thoughts. His best friend was gone. Sure, Professor Xavier had said there was a chance they could get him back, but how much of a chance?
Sam was so preoccupied with his thoughts, he didn't realise he'd wandered all the way back to his room until someone spoke to him. "So, you're Sam, huh?" Austin was standing across the room, putting clothes into what had previously been Bobby's dresser. All of Bobby's stuff had been unceremoniously tossed into the corner.
"Yeah," Sam mumbled, "I guess we're roommates for now."
"Guess so."
Okay, so next time, which will hopefully be soon because I was supposed to have this up last week, Rebecca and Austin will start at Bayville High, and tensions will rise.
Until then, R&R. Please, somebody? I'm starting to feel unloved.
