"Hey," Scott said softly, walking out onto the balcony that Kurt was perched on. "How are you holding up?"

Kurt ran a hand quickly over his face before turning to look at Scott, "I'm okay."

Scott looked away from him and leaned against the balcony, ignoring the wet streaks that were still on Kurt's face. "Professor Xavier is going to do another exam on her. He hasn't given up hope yet, neither should we."

"Jordan's had a tough life. She's gone through a lot that has destroyed others. I know she'll come back…but that doesn't mean I won't worry." Kurt turned his face to hide fresh tears from Scott, "I'd give anything just for her to be alright."

"Any of us would, Kurt, and waiting is making it harder. It's hardest on you and Logan."

"I love her, Scott. Ever since I laid eyes on her…at first maybe it was just a silly crush. But then I got to know her, got to be her friend. I can't imagine not…I can't imagine her not being with me, with us."

Chapter 4-One loses, the other gains

Jean and Jordan entered the mansion together, "Another double date with Duncan and Alex? You didn't even ask me!"

Jean's jaw dropped, "You like Alex! Every time you two are together you have a great time!"

Jordan shook her head, "Common courtesy, Jean! What if I had other plans than hanging out with you and your boyfriend?"

"Fine, cancel."

Jordan glared at Jean and opened her mouth, then closed it. Jean's emotions affected Jordan more strongly than non-telepaths and right now she was angry. Jordan let out an angry breath and stomped up the stairs.

"Everything alright?" Scott asked, walking into the foyer to see Jean's eyes following Jordan.

"It's Jordan! She's just…argh!" Jean threw her hands up and stomped up the stairs as well.

Jordan ran back down the stairs as Jean got into close vicinity, wanting to get away from the emotions and just away from Jean. Scott watched Jordan run out the door, and decided to stay out of it.

"What was that all about?" Kurt asked.

"I'm…not going to get into the middle of it if I can avoid it," Scott said. "Ready to head out to the cliff to set up the rescue mission?"

Kurt shrugged, "I guess. Hey, Scott, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, shoot," Scott said, the two of them walking out the door onto the grounds.

"Do you know if Jordan is going to the carnival with Alex?"

"Why would I know that?" Scott asked.

"Well, you do have classes with him. I figured he may have mentioned something."

"Not that I can remember. Why does it matter?"

"I don't want to ask her if she already has a date."

Scott looked at his friend in surprise, "You are thinking about asking Logan's daughter on a date?"

"Don't say it so loud! Logan might be listening!" Kurt hissed. "Not a date…just…yeah, a date."

"Oh…man. Uh…I don't know, Kurt. What I know is that Jordan isn't attached to Alex, and she's trying to avoid it until she knows how she really feels about him. Play it safe, ask her as a friend."

Early the next morning the new recruits were gathered at the top of a cliff. Logan was the instructor, Kurt and Scott were assisting. Halfway down the cliff Kurt was laying on a smooth part of the cliff that stuck out, pretending to be unconscious. The recruits went one-by-one rescuing the victim, and after each rescue Kurt teleported back down to his spot.

"Next one, Tabitha!" Logan hollered.

"Oh no, not Boom Boom!" Kurt moaned. "I'm dead."

Tabitha was lowered on a rope and stretcher, swinging it slightly as she reached Kurt. "Hey, blue! First thing we need to do is boom apart these rocks!"

"Oh, no, wait!" Kurt said, but before he could a bright yellow explosive appeared in Tabitha's hand and she tucked it next to some rocks that were blocking Kurt from rolling into the stretcher. He covered his head with his hands as the rocks exploded, and he was left unharmed.

"Alright, in you go!" Tabitha sung, rolling Kurt onto the stretcher with her boot.

"Ouch! I'm an injured victim, not a log!" Kurt cried out.

Tabitha giggled and smiled down at him, a smile he didn't receive from a girl often. "Relax, cutie. Pull us up, Badger!"

Logan growled, "The name is Wolverine."

Kurt felt the tug above them, and felt a bit playful. He rolled off the stretcher, falling to the watery rocks far below them. Tabitha cried out in a panic. Kurt disappeared, and reappeared in the stretcher. "Minus ten points for not strapping me in!" He laughed.

Tabitha let out a breath of relief, "So you want to play that way? Let's play, blue."

Tabitha formed another little explosive and started throwing it at the cliff, breaking apart bits of dirt and rock from it, and swinging the stretcher. They laughed, just goofing off as the simulated mission was finishing. "You guys! Cut that out!" Logan shouted.

The stretcher hit the side of the cliff, and the back of Kurt's head cracked against a rock, knocking him out. He rolled off the stretcher once again. "Hey! Get back here!" Tabitha cried out.

"Logan!" Scott yelled. He pressed a button on his visor, shooting the rocks below and breaking them up before Kurt fell in. Logan dove off the side of the cliff, landing hard in the water but determined to rescue Kurt. Scott watched breathlessly, waiting for them to surface. It was at least a minute before he saw Logan come up with Kurt, and a few more minutes before Kurt was able to teleport them back to the top of the cliff.

While Kurt and Tabitha were being punished Jordan and Kitty were getting ready for school. "Are you going to the carnival tonight?" Jordan asked.

Kitty finished braiding Jordan's hair and tying it off, "No. Rhane, Amara, and I are going to head to a movie instead. You want to come? Oh…wait, I bet you and Alex…"

"Please, don't." Jordan moaned. "I'm scared if he asks me I'll have to say yes."

"Well, way I see it, if he really likes you that much it might be worth giving him a chance. But this is completely up to you. I mean, you do say you have a fun time with him, is it really so bad that you don't like him as much as he likes you?"

"What bothers me is that when he's close to me I can't keep him off my mind. It's like I lose who I am. And I get a bit out of control, I'm telling myself to snap out of it…but I can't."

"Well, when you think about him right now, do you still like him?"

Jordan shrugged, "I think he's an alright guy. I wouldn't mind getting to know him better."

"Then, maybe you should get to know him better."

"I don't know if I want to be in the same room with him," Jordan pouted.

"Heh, maybe you should talk to your dad about him…"

"Oh hell no!" Jordan laughed.

"Well, decide quick. He's probably going to ask you to the carnival tonight. Either keep leading him on, or end it. Before it goes on too long."

"I know! What if I already have someone to go with tonight? I'm not saying no to Alex…just having previous arrangements. Delay the inevitable a bit, but at least it'll give me another day to avoid him. I can go with Kurt! It's perfect, we get along great, he doesn't make me freak out, and I know he wants to go."

Kitty frowned, "I'm sure he wants to go, but does he want to go just so he can be your excuse?"

"He'd be doing me a great favor."

Kitty bit her lip, wondering if she should let Jordan in on the little secret about Kurt, but quickly decided against it. Making things awkward among teammates wasn't something she wanted to do. "Well, at least be fair to him and let him know why. Wouldn't want to give him the wrong idea and let him think of it as a date."

"Nah, Kurt wouldn't think that." Jordan said, checking out her braid.

Jordan declined the ride to school with Jean and Duncan, and hopped into the backseat of Scott's car with Kurt. Not wanting to waste any time she asked him, "Did you want to go to the carnival with me, Kurt?"

Kurt let out a depressed moan, and Jordan felt his bad mood like a ton of bricks, "I can't. On probation…"

"Because he pulled a stupid stunt in the training session this morning. Him and your friend Tabitha," Scott finished.

"What?" Jordan let out a depressed sigh.

"I can't believe you and her were friends. I mean, you two are nothing alike," Scott said as he pulled out of the garage.

Jordan looked away, Scott didn't need to know that Tabitha used to be the tamer of the two of them.

"Why don't you go with Alex?" Kurt asked.

Jordan shrugged, "I may just stay home, then. What happened in the session?"

Scott went through the highlights, and Jordan clenched her jaw. Tabitha had nearly gotten Kurt killed. Without Scott and her father there…he would have been dead.

After her first class of the day Jordan went to track Tabitha down. She wasn't sure what she would say to her old friend, if it was just to tell her 'I told you so' or to scream at her for being so reckless she didn't decide. Jordan rounded the corner were Tabitha was, and saw her speaking to a man.

"What are you doing here, Dad?" Tabitha said, her voice trembling and her emotions scared, nervous.

"It's taken me two long months, princess, but I've finally tracked you down," he grabbed her arm, and Jordan almost ran up to knock the man down for touching her like that.

"Leave me alone! I have to get to class." Tabitha jerked her arm out of his grasp.

"I just want to talk."

"I've heard it all before."

"Look…your mom and I are trying to work things out. We can't do it without you."

"Try," Tabitha hissed.

The bell ran, and Jordan turned around to avoid Tabitha and ran the long way to get to class. Jordan waited until lunch to try and speak to her again. "Tabby, have a minute?"

"Not really," Tabitha said, walking past her.

Jordan reached out and grabbed Tabitha's hand, "Find one," she said, leading her around a corner. "I heard what happened this morning."

"Good for you. What's the big deal, no one was hurt…"

"Not that. I saw you talking to your dad, and don't think I forgot about what you told me about him." Tabitha's eyes widened. "Does Xavier know?"

Tabitha yanked her hand away from Jordan, "This is none of your business!"

Jordan looked at Tabitha sympathetically, "I know we aren't friends like we used to be, Tabby, and I don't think we can be. But let me help you out, he is bad news…"

"He's my father!"

"Yeah, he is. And I remember what your faced looked like the first night I met you."

Tabitha shoved Jordan hard, causing her to stumble back, and ran away. Jordan thought about chasing her, but decided the best course of action would be to go to Xavier next.

Jordan sat at a table with Scott, "Not hungry?" he asked, noticing she didn't have a tray.

"I'm going to hide in the computer lab. I was hoping you didn't want that apple."

Scott sighed and rolled the apple off his tray. Jordan grabbed it and tucked it into the pocket of her sweatshirt, "What are you hiding from?"

"From…"

"Hey, Jordan!" Alex said, taking a seat next to her. "Summers," he nodded to Scott.

Scott watched in silent amazement as Jordan's slightly down expression perked up into a wide smile as she turned to Alex, "Hey! How are you?"

"Great! Are you going to the carnival tonight?"

Jordan shrugged and blushed slightly, "No, I didn't have anyone to go with so I was just going to…"

"You can go with me!" Alex said quickly.

"Okay!" Jordan said happily.

"Great! We'll go with Duncan and Jean, we'll pick you girls up at six, alright?"

"I can't wait!" Jordan giggled.

"I'll see you around," Alex said, standing up and walking over to sit with Duncan and his friends.

Jordan turned to Scott and her expression slowly moved to a horrified expression, "Wow," he muttered.

Jordan let her head hit the table, "Scott, I'm so sick of this. This isn't me, is it?"

"A part of you I have never seen before," Scott said. "You just went from Dr. Jekyll to Ms. Perky in less than one second. This is what he does to you?"

"I'm getting out of here before he asks me to go sit with him. Thanks for the apple, Scott."

Jordan stepped into the foyer of the mansion after school, and found herself in an awkward situation. Tabitha's father between Logan and Professor Xavier. "What are you doing here?" Jordan snapped at him.

"He's just leaving," Logan assured her.

Mr. Charger turned around, and his eyes widened as he recognized Jordan. "You…what are you doing here?"

Jordan flexed her fist, "Want a second round, old man? You'll find I have a few new tricks to show you."

"Is this a house for freaks or delinquents?"

Logan grabbed him by the front of the shirt, "That's my daughter, bub!"

Tabitha and Kurt both walked in, and Tabitha's bag fell to the floor. "Dad…what are you doing here?"

"I just came to talk!" Mr. Charger shouted nervously as Logan bared his teeth at him.

"Get him out of here before I knock him out!" Jordan shouted.

"Stop! Stop!" Tabitha begged. "Can…Can I get a minute with my dad, please?"

Logan let him go, and Tabitha moved to a side room with him. He looked at his daughter next, "How do you know that man?"

Jordan clenched her jaw and looked at her father. There was little she had told him of her past, and what little she gave him were good memories or sugar-coated ones. He knew that Tabitha Charger and her had been roommates at a juvenile detention center and had made fast friends, but that was it. "He's a con-man as far as I know. I met him once when he came to visit Tabitha in juvie. She loves him and is scared to death of him at the same time. Kind of funny when you think she could blow him to pieces with only a bit of effort."

Logan looked at his daughter, but couldn't meet her eyes, they were locked on the door Tabitha and her father had just walked through. He had never seen such a dark part of his daughter, and if he knew that she was hiding something he'd be more surprised.

What Jordan left out was that when she met him she had witnessed him slap Tabitha, right across the face and so hard she fell on the floor. Fighting was something Jordan knew how to do, even then, even if it wasn't very well. She had grabbed the first thing she could and hit him across the head with a wooden broom handle, breaking it in half on his skull. He had never seen someone fight back before, and he ran. Maybe he wasn't scared of a little girl, but a little girl with a sharp wooden object protecting her friend.

When Mr. Charger left Jordan relaxed a bit. "Dad, I'm going to the carnival tonight, if that's alright."

"Of course it is," Logan said, patting her shoulder. Jordan frowned a bit, her last reason to escape her date with Alex out the window. "You don't seem to happy to be going though."

"I…I just need to get into the mindset. There is going to be a lot of people there, a lot of excitement. It'll be fun, just have to prepare myself."

"I thought you had a good hang of it?"

"I have my good days and bad days. Some people affect me worse than others. But ever since the soccer game I really hate the idea of being in big crowds. But I can handle it, if it gets too much I'll take a break."

"Good," Logan said. "So, who's this Alex I've been hearing about?"

Jordan groaned, "He's a friend of Duncan's. You know, Jean's boyfriend? I've ended up hanging out with them a lot. The four of us are going together."

"Do I get to meet him?"

Jordan looked at him, positively horrified, "Are you serious?"

Logan scratched his head, "Isn't that what I'm supposed to do? Give me a break, kiddo, I'm new to this parenting gig."

Jordan burst out laughing, feeling his insecurity, "You're doing great, Dad. Um…Alex is just a friend. Really, that's it. Nothing you have to worry about."

"Alright. Well, try not to stay out too late. I'd late to take you out tomorrow morning, get a start on those jet lessons."

"Serious?" Jordan grinned, "You got it! What time did you want me home?"

Logan scratched his head again, "Should I set a curfew?"

Jordan blinked, "Uh…did you want to?"

"Nine sound okay?"

"Carnival ends at eleven."

"Eleven sounds okay," Logan nodded.

Jordan laughed and gave her dad a hug, "Thanks, Dad."

Jordan let herself into Kurt's room, hoping to cheer him up a bit before she was dragged away. He was sitting on his balcony, looking over the lights of Bayville as the sun went down. "Hey you."

Kurt glanced over his shoulder, and back over the lights. Jordan sat on the balcony next to him, "Shouldn't you be getting ready for your date?"

Jordan felt his disappointment, "I'm sorry you can't go."

Kurt shrugged, "My own fault, I guess."

"Let's go," Jordan said, her eyes lighting up.

"What?" Kurt blurted.

"Come on, you can get us there in one go. I'll tell Jean that I'll meet them there. With our powers combined, we can avoid everyone, no one will ever know."

"But…I'm on probation! I'm grounded."

"Come on, Kurt. You want to go, I want to go with you." Jordan felt his spirits rise, she was getting to him. "I don't want to be stuck on another double-date with Alex. I'd much rather be hanging out with you…I feel…I feel more myself around you."

Kurt's heart raced as he looked into her eyes, her hopeful smile. He wanted nothing more than to spend time with Jordan…but, "I…I'm sorry, Jordan. I want to, I really do, but…I'm already in enough trouble. I don't want to risk it. There will be other carnivals. You go, though, have fun, for both of us."

Jordan let the disappointment sink in, "Alright. I'll see you when I get back."

Within minutes of arriving at the carnival Duncan and Jean broke away, leaving Jordan alone with Alex who wanted nothing more than to impress her. Pulling him away from the games with great difficulty, but he either had a short attention span or was determined to keep them busy and together. "Let's get our fortune read by…the Mind Bending Mesmero."

"Oh come on," Jordan snorted.

"It will be fun. Please, you didn't let me win you anything…yet. Why don't we use the Mind Bending Mesmero to tell us if you'll let me win you something later?"

Jordan gave him a flirty smile, unable to help herself, "Okay. This should be harmless."

Jordan went in first, Alex waiting outside the tent. Mesmero sat at a table. He had a tribal tattoo covering his face and bright blue eyes. "Hello, child. I've been waiting for you to visit me. Please, sit. Let me see your palm." Jordan obeyed, trying to keep a straight face. "Mmhm. Very impressive. Your mother is very proud of you."

Jordan's half-amused face went cold and hard, and she jerked her hand away. "I'm an orphan," she said quickly. "You aren't very good at this."

"You're mother is alive, child. Ah…don't let me spoil the surprise." Mesmero waved his hand in front of her eyes, and Jordan forgot what he had just said.

Jordan stepped out of the tent, her mind strangely clear for the amount of people around her. She took Alex's arm, "Let's go get something to eat. Just sit and talk somewhere. I need a break from this place."

"But I didn't get my future told?" Alex said, trying to pull her back.

"He said I was going to let you buy me a burger. Come on, can't risk changing the future now, can we?"

Jordan never sensed Kurt or Tabitha at the carnival, she had been very careful to avoid opening up her senses while at the carnival, but now that her and Alex were two blocks away from the carnival they were too far out of her range for her to sense.

Jordan talked, and Alex listened. Then Alex would talk, and Jordan would listen. He wasn't nervous, he wasn't dumping out overconfidence…Jordan believed she saw what Alex really was, without Duncan and high school politics, and he felt finally comfortable around her.

"My dad was a high school football star. So, as soon as I could walk, before that, even, I had a football and a jersey. He expects me to be as great as he was. I've never told anyone before, but I hate football. Does your dad ever put that kind of pressure on you?"

"Oh, not exactly. I don't feel any pressure from him. He pushes me to do my best, and I do feel obligated to hit my limit, but I know it isn't going to crush him if I don't."

"I used to think that about my dad. I tried to tell him in junior high I didn't want to play sports…he told me to do it anyways and if I still didn't want to do it when I was older and knew what was best for myself then I could quit. Now I still don't like it, but now there are the pressures from my peers. I never asked for it, but I have a label saying football player tattooed on me somewhere. And next year recruiters will be looking at us for colleges, and I don't think I'll ever get rid of it."

Jordan had a shiver run up her spine, "Labels, yeah. I understand that."

Alex chuckled, "What is your label? Because…honestly I don't get you. Not completely, anyways."

"I shed my labels, all of them. I, uh, went to a lot of schools before coming here to live with my dad at the Xavier place. I'm just Jordan now. Formerly gymnastic girl, shy girl, loud girl, mean girl, nice girl, whatever."

"Gymnastics, huh?" Alex grinned. "Seriously?"

Jordan nodded, "Junior high, we almost made it to state but I ended up moving before the last tournament. Gymnastics to that school was like soccer to this one, it was the one thing they were good at. I've moved around a lot, I never got to stay in one place too long." Jordan opened up.

"Yeah?"

"Foster families."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

Jordan shrugged. "I've lived in more places and with more people than I can remember. I used to be a…a real trouble maker. Man you wouldn't believe."

Alex smiled, "No, I can't believe that!"

Jordan was feeling his emotions, there were still butterflies in her stomach, but there was a happiness and a calmness…a feeling that was good and comfortable while speaking to him. "Moving to Bayville, living with my Dad, and…I really feel like I've found myself. I don't think I've ever been this happy before."

Alex took her hand in his, "Me either." Their eyes met, and they smiled.

Alex walked Jordan back to the mansion. "This was the best date I think I've ever had."

Jordan smirked, "This was a date? I thought it was just a get together."

Alex frowned slightly, "My bad. Sorry…"

"Because if it was a date you should probably kiss me goodnight before someone opens the door and asks why I'm getting home so late. Like…two hours late!"

Alex obeyed shyly, kissing Jordan's lips and whispering goodnight in her ear. Jordan made it inside and almost through the foyer. "Jordan, where have you been?" Jean asked, crossing her arms. "You know Duncan and I waited for you two forever. WE were looking for you."

"Ooo…did I do something wrong?" Jordan's happy feelings went away as Jean glared down at her.

"No, you didn't." Scott said, glancing at Jean then back to Jordan. "We just got back from the police station. Tabitha's father was arrested for trying to steal the money from the carnival, with Tabby's help. It…was a big mess and we could have used your help. It's really tense around here."

"Thanks for the warning." Jordan said softly, taking a seat. "So does that add to Tabitha's probation?"

"Tabitha isn't coming back." Jean answered, sitting across from Jordan. "Too embarrassed I guess." Jean shook her head, "You are lucky Logan has been too busy to notice it's after midnight and you just got home."

"Yeah, he is probably planning all the sessions he is going to go through with Kurt through the next month." Scott added.

"Kurt?" Jordan looked at them.

"Yeah, Tabitha talked him into teleporting her to the carnival…it's a long story, Jordan." Scott said.

Jordan felt miserable at that moment. Not because Tabitha had left the institute, or that Kurt was going to be on probation. She felt bad about those things. But what hurt her most…was that Kurt had broken the rules for Tabitha. He had done the same thing she had asked him to for Tabitha.

"And don't worry, I'll wake you up bright and early, because we are having a training session at six." Jean said.

"I already have plans with my dad…" Jordan started.

"Change them. He might not care you weren't there for us, but I do. Six am, sharp," Jean snapped.

Jordan shook her head, too tired to argue, "Whatever."

"Jean, what was that about?" Scott asked softly as Jordan made it upstairs.

"She was supposed to be at the carnival tonight, and she ran off. Not only did she not tell anyone where she was going, like you said we could have used her help against the Brotherhood."

"Do you know what it does to her to be in crowds for a long time? She probably needed a break."

"Why are you making her excuses? I know that she has trouble sometimes, but she can handle it. And that still doesn't excuse telling anyone where she was going, or even that she was leaving. That was irresponsible. No better than what Kurt did tonight. She's just lucky I'm not telling Logan. For all he knows she's been in bed this whole time."

Scott shook his head, "No, you don't get it Jean. She can't handle it yet. She's tried to tell you. You don't have her power, you don't know what it's like for her. I saw her today when Dave's emotions took over her. If you paid more attention when you and Duncan dragged her out on those dates, maybe you would notice too."

"I don't drag her out…If she doesn't want to go all she has to do is say so."

Scott raised his eyebrows, "Jean, you may need to listen a bit more closely, she has been saying so for the past few weeks." Scott turned and went up the stairs.

"Hey, Jordan…" Kurt said, happy to see her.

Jordan met his eyes, and looked away as she walked past him and to her bedroom. He turned, opening his mouth to say something, then stopped. He realized what then what he had done…his foolish mistake. He hadn't taken Jordan up on her offer, her request. He may not have been in any less trouble, but he should have risked it for her…not for Tabitha.

"Hey, man," Scott said. "What's wrong?"

Kurt slumped his shoulders, "I'm an idiot, that's what's wrong."

"Huh?" Scott said, turning to follow Kurt into his room. "Still beat up about the extended probation?"

Kurt fell into his chair, "Scott…Jordan asked me out to the carnival. Asked me to sneak out with her. She is almost all I can think about, and I said no to her. Only to…say yes to Tabitha."

Scott raised his eyebrows, "Jordan asked YOU to break the rules? I…I can't see her doing that."

"She did."

"So, let me get this straight. You chose Tabitha over Jordan?"

"Yeah…" Kurt moaned.

"Yup, you are an idiot. Have a good night," Scott said.