I do not own the X-Men franchise.

I know ketchup is used to get rid of green chlorine-hair, but I'm not entirely sure if it works on actual dye. For humour purposes, I'm making it work in this story.

Jamie Gets Initiated

Over the past month, Jamie learned many things from the Institute. Kurt kept a jar of cookies stashed in the very top cupboard (which he sadly couldn't reach), Rogue wasn't as scary as her appearance made her out to be, Kitty could not cook to save her life and every morning of every day, there was an all-out battle for the bathrooms.

The first morning he spent at the Institute Jamie had nearly been trampled as Jubilee and Amara raced each other for the bathroom, only to have Jean telepathically lift them all out of the way so she could go first. The second morning, Scott had beat everyone to the bathroom, but Kurt had teleported inside just as Scott had gotten the shower all set up. Unfortunately for the furry dude, Scott forced Kurt out of the shower and threw him into the hallway with nothing but a towel, much to his embarrassment and the amusement of everyone else waiting in line.

By some miracle, on the third day, Jamie had gotten to the bathroom first. He had been brushing his teeth when Rogue walked in wearing her bathrobe.

He had forgotten to lock the door.

Mortified (although the only person who should have been embarrassed was Rogue, but she didn't bat an eye) Jamie abandoned his toothbrush in the sink and raced back to his room, paste still foaming at his mouth.

After that, he was content to wait until most of his peers had finished with the bathroom.

"Get that butt in gear, bub. You're going to be late."

The boy glanced up sleepily at Logan from his position at the kitchen nook counter. "I've got lots of time."

Logan arched an eyebrow and jabbed a finger at the clock hanging above the refrigerator. "It's eight. School starts in twenty minutes. If ya miss your ride, you're walking."

Jamie paled. Rather than a school bus picking everyone up, Scott, Ororo and Logan carted the kids to and from school. Logan happened to be the one that drove him to Bayville Elementary most days, and he wasn't kidding when he said Jamie would have to walk.

"I'm going!" he exclaimed. He jumped up from his stool and raced upstairs, praying that at least one of the two shared bathrooms in the Institute was free. He reached his room and grabbed some clothes from his wardrobe.

Jamie reached the bathroom and hesitantly knocked. A wide grin crossed his face when there was no shout telling him to get lost. "Yes!"

He opened the door and entered the tiled bathroom. A row of porcelain sinks lined the left wall, a few stalls lined the right and a marble shower was positioned at the back of the bathroom. Jamie threw his clothes on the floor, locked the door and grabbed a towel from the oak cabinet located by the sinks.

Jamie hummed softly as he tossed his pajamas into the dirty clothes hamper (which was really only supposed to be for towels, but he was in a hurry), turned on the water and stepped into the stall, sliding the glass door shut behind him.

Just as he was lathering his Kidz Wash shampoo in his brown hair, someone rapped on the door. "Occupied!" he hollered over the rushing water.

"Blast," Rahne moaned. "Jamie, I'm late!"

"Hey, so am I! If I'm not ready in ten minutes Logan's gonna make me walk to school!"

"All I have t' do is brush my teeth!" Rahne protested.

"Not while I'm in here!" Jamie cried. "Try the other bathroom!"

"We need more bathrooms in this place," Rahne grumbled before leaving.

"You're telling me," Jamie mumbled under his breath. He finished washing his hair and turned the water off. He grabbed the towel from the metal rod and dried his body off. He hurriedly slipped on his clothes and turned to give his reflection a quick once-over.

"Aaaggghhh!"

He stared, stunned and horrified, at the bright green hair he now sported. "Aaaggghhh!"

A heavy banging came on the door, causing Jamie to jump. "What's the matter, Squirt?" Logan demanded.

Jamie threw open the door and Logan jolted, taken aback by Jamie's drastic hair colour change. "Whoa, who gave ya permission to dye your hair?"

"I didn't!" Jamie cried, tears welling up. "I took a shower, and this happened! Am I gonna die?"

"You're not gonna die, kid." Logan studied Jamie's hair thoughtfully. "But I think I know what happened."

Logan walked over to the shower and removed Jamie's shampoo from the shower shelf. He twisted the top off and sniffed it. "Yup. Just as I thought. Someone messed with your shampoo, Squirt."

"But...why?"

"Don't take it personally. Everyone in this place is a fair target for pranks. You've just been initiated."

"Initiated?" Jamie echoed. "What's that mean?"

"It means Bobby pulled a prank on you to officially accept you into the X-Men." Logan tossed the shampoo into the garbage. "He's pulled a prank on every newbie. Don't expect this to be the only one, though."

"I can't go to school like this!" Jamie tugged at his green hair in distress. "Everyone will laugh at me!"

"Wear a hat." Logan ushered Jamie out of the bathroom. "You can deal with your hair later. You've got five minutes before we have to leave. Unless you want to walk."

"Aw, man!"

...

Six and a half hours.

That was the length of time of an average school day. It dragged on enough for an eleven-year-old, but it dragged on even longer when you were constantly being badgered about why you were wearing a knit hat on one of the warmest fall days of the year.

It just got worse when Bobby found him at recess and grabbed the hat off of his head, revealing his green hair for the entire school yard to see.

Pea Brain. Bushhead. The names continued on from there.

At three fifteen Jamie stood at the edge of the road, gripping his hat tightly and shooting glares at Bobby, who was giggling with Sam, Ray and Roberto.

"Ignore them," Rahne advised Jamie. "They'll get bored once they realize they cannae get a reaction out of yeh."

"What prank did Bobby pull on you?" Jamie asked.

"He replaced my cereal with dog food." Rahne wrinkled her nose in disgust. "It was awful."

Jubilee snorted. "You got lucky. He put hot sauce on my ham sandwich. My tongue was burnt for a week."

"I'd rather take the hot sauce over dog food."

Amara smiled grimly. "He put hair removal cream in my shampoo. I made him regret ever doing it."

The X-Van and a jeep rolled up to the curb. As all the New Mutants were still in elementary (with the exception of Tabitha, who was already in high school), two cars were needed just to cart them to and from school. Many of his New Mutant peers would be entering high school the following year, so the cars wouldn't be as crowded (and Jamie wouldn't duplicate every time someone slid into him as they rounded a corner).

Jamie, Bobby, Amara and Sam piled into the X-Van. Ororo adjusted the rear-view mirror and clucked her tongue. "Bobby, what did you do to poor Jamie?"

"It'll come out!" Bobby protested, a grin on his face. "I keep telling him that but he's still mad at me!"

"I wouldn't be mad at you if you didn't steal my hat and let everyone see my hair!" Jamie snapped. "Everyone laughed at me!"

"Don't worry Jamie, the professor wants a word with Bobby," Ororo assured the boy, starting the van up and pulling away from the curb. Bobby paled slightly at this and slumped back in his seat.

"So much for this weekend," he muttered.

"What about my hair?" Jamie wailed. "Is it gonna stay green forever?"

"Not if you shave it off," Sam suggested with a sly grin.

Jamie's eyes grew wide. Ororo shook her head. "Jamie, we'll find a way to get it out. Sam, stop teasing him. Remember how you felt when Bobby pranked you?"

"Oh yeah...the super glue incident." Sam winced and elbowed Bobby in the side. "Sorry, little man."

"It's okay," Jamie mumbled.

They reached the Institute and the kids piled out of the van. Sam heaved open the large wooden doors and Bobby shuffled nervously towards the professor's office. Jamie shoved past Amara and Jubilee and raced up the oak stairs, nearly tripping over his feet in his haste.

"Jamie, calm down!" Ororo called after the distressed boy.

"I can't! My hair is green!"

Ororo climbed the stairs and into one of the upstairs bathrooms. Jamie's face was inches away from the glass, his eyes staring at his bright hairdo. "Jamie, I promise, your hair will be back to its original colour by tomorrow?"

"How?"

"Ketchup."

The expression on Jamie's face was priceless. "You're...going to put ketchup in my hair?"

"Would you like the green gone?" Ororo arched an eyebrow.

"Yes," Jamie mumbled.

"Then come along. It's best if we fix your hair now before something comes up."

Jamie sighed heavily and reluctantly shuffled after Ororo. I can't believe this is happening to me. I'm so gonna get Bobby back...one day.

The duo entered the kitchen nook, where Scott and Jean were sitting at the table having an afternoon snack. "Have a seat, Jamie," Ororo instructed, pulling out a wooden stool.

Jamie collapsed glumly into the seat. Scott offered the boy a sympathetic smile. "We've all been hit by Bobby's wrath, Jamie."

"So I've heard," Jamie grumbled. "I wish someone would turn his hair green."

"Be the bigger person, Jamie. Don't sink to his level," Jean lectured. "Getting him back will only encourage him."

"And that's the last thing we need," Ororo added, coming to stand behind Jamie. She squirted a handful of ketchup into the palm of her hand and started massaging the condiment into Jamie's green-stained hair.

"It's cold!" Jamie yelped, wriggling in his seat.

"If you don't stay still, you'll get ketchup in your eye," Ororo warned. "And I'm sure that's more uncomfortable than getting soap in it."

Jamie immediately stilled, wincing against the slimy substance getting massaged into his scalp. "How long do I have to keep this stuff in?"

"A half hour should do it." Ororo stepped back and studied Jamie's ketchup-laden hair. "I'll wrap some tinfoil around it so you don't scratch at it." She retrieved the tinfoil from the cupboard and wrapped the shiny sheet around the top of Jamie's head.

Jamie frowned and gingerly poked his new headgear. "I feel like a sandwich."

Ororo laughed and nudged Jamie gently off the stool. "Half an hour. Don't take the foil off. When the time's up we'll rinse your hair out and see if it got it all out."

"Okay. Thanks, Ororo," Jamie mumbled, casting a soft smile at the weather witch.

Ororo smiled back. "Anytime, Jamie."

The boy ran for the kitchen door but a thought suddenly struck him before he was completely out of the room. He backtracked and peered up at Ororo with wide eyes.

"Ororo?"

"Yes, Jamie?"

"I'm out of Kidz Wash shampoo!"