AN: Ah, this has been a long time coming and I am so sorry and so grateful for everyone that stuck by, especially considering the fact that this was an accidental series instead of the intended one shot. I could tell you stories about half started endings that were ruined on multiple occasions due to computer problems following me on three different continents but I would rather just thank all of you. This is my first completed non one shot and it would not have been possible without all of the readers and amazing reviews that encouraged me throughout everything. Thank you and I hope you enjoy. =)
It was quiet. Music was playing from his laptop, the television in his room was turned on and he could even hear the neighbourhood kids playing and arguing with each other. It was still too quiet.
When he had returned home he had caught up with friends, caught some amazing waves, crashed a few times, and returned to his regular schedule. It was easy enough and the bruises on his body were decreasing at a decent pace. In short it was quiet and dull. It didn't matter how many times he hit the beach or how many bonfires he attended with his friends, it was still too quiet, too, for the lack of a better word, blah.
Falling back on his bed he stared at his bedroom ceiling as the program playing in the background went to commercial; even the overly excited screaming person was still too dull and simple. Stretching he ended up staring at his hands. With a bit of concentration he called forth enough energy to make his hands glow slightly which in turn brought forth the pleasant warmth accompanied with his power. Alex allowed his power to fade back to the background after awhile and his arms dropped back to his side. A telephone call pulled him out of his thoughts and led him back to the waves, back to what he was good at.
Everything had returned to normal at the mansion. The groups were slowly starting to work together with a significant decrease in injuries, Kitty had momentarily lost interest in cooking and Bobby was happy to take her mind off of returning to her cooking attempts by teaching her as many video games as possible. So far she was actually proving to be strong competition in the racing games, probably because she already drove like a crazy person in real life.
Laura had been assisting in fixing the danger room, Bobby and Roberto had put their science lessons to use and saw firsthand what happened when metal heated up and cooled down rapidly, when the Professor called for her. She left Logan and Hank to themselves; they knew that she wouldn't leave without a reason and that she would return as quickly as possible. Bobby and Roberto had been part of the clean up team but when they had caused more damage, it had mainly been Bobby's fault; they had been tasked with removing the garbage under supervision of course.
As far as she was aware she hadn't taken part in any activity that would warrant a visit to the professors' office. She hadn't taken part in any destructive activities and neither had she helped out in any exemplary way. Laura wasn't particularly concerned about why she had been called away, simply curious and wishing to return to her earlier task of helping install more traps in the danger room.
She was beckoned in with another mental call and easily slid into the room before she stopped promptly in front of him, forgoing the option of sitting. With legs shoulder length apart and her hands at her side she looked ready to take an order. Her stance was an improvement from her earlier one that had made soldiers look like misbehaving children.
"Laura, we're going to have a possible student come to the house. This case is slightly different since he has already met the majority of the students and is generally knowledgeable about the activities taken part in at the school. This meeting is more of a formality to see if he is ready to join us at this time. I would like for you give him a tour but more importantly answer any questions that he may have. Do you find that arrangement agreeable?"
He cut straight to the chase, something that he knew she appreciated, and he asked her, something that she was starting to get used to coming from authority figures.
The task was simple enough and it was something that was expected from all of the students. Normally Kitty took on the task of showing around new students, with her easy smile and friendly attitude she was practically the poster child along with Jean and Scott. Since the professor was focusing on getting the possible student information instead of making them feel comfortable Laura did understand why she might be the better choice, unless the information the student required was about social groups.
"Although it would depend on my previous engagements I think that I will be able to successfully complete this mission."
The professor simply smiled and nodded slightly.
"Thank you Laura, I'm sure that we'll be able to come up with a time that suits everyone."
With that she was dismissed and she returned to her thoughts on building a machine that simply reflected or even redirected all attacks made to it, it might prove to be interesting.
Laura smelt him before she saw him, it wasn't hard and his scent was still in some places of the mansion. The noise of the other house members also revealed his presence to her quite easily. She allowed them time to quickly talk but as soon as it was officially time for the re-tour to start to cut through the group to him.
"Forge, I am your guide Laura. I assume that you would appreciate starting off with garage, Logan and Doctor McCoy have been working together recently on upgrades."
Just like that the others melted away and Forge followed after Laura as she started to speak about some of the upgrades that had occurred.
He decided against joining the group; he did however say that he would drop by more often and help with some of the more technical based projects. Laura had already decided that she had not failed her mission. She had been tasked with answering his questions and showing him around the mansion which she had. At no point had her mission depended on him staying permanently and truthfully she was slightly relived that no new people would be entering just yet.
Apparently it was a good thing that no new additions were made to the younger mutants, as proven by the fact that they couldn't even finish a fake mission without wanting to attack each other. The Blackbird was eerily quiet with the more active participants of the argument placed as far away from each other as possible. Laura found herself in the interesting position of being used as a barrier and more interestingly, a good example for the other students. She had been used as an example for training situations, school work, and the fact that she actually followed orders, never before had she been used as a good example for behaviour.
Apparently being used as a good example for behaviour wasn't as appreciated or sought over by your peers as being used as an example for how to temporarily paralyze your opponent with one hit. Nonetheless she took the time to go over the events and find everyone's weak points that she could then report to Wolverine to be fixed through proper training. Although the fake mission had been a failure it had been a useful in its own way, even if none of her fellow younger mutants were about to agree with her at the moment.
They piled out of the Blackbird in single file and were ready to head off to their respective bedrooms when Laura froze in mid step and her head snapped to the entrance. The younger group might not have figured out how to get along most of the time, even the older mutants hadn't mastered that yet, or even how to fully control their powers, but they did know to take Laura seriously. Even though they were tired they still snapped to attention and were ready to attack when they saw a familiar body appear in the hallway. The group instantly attacked when they recognized who it was. With tackles, hugs and questions galore; their victim never stood a chance.
"Are you visiting?"
"Dude! You totally missed me the most right?"
"You brought presents right?"
Laura left the group to their antics, it was far too loud for her liking anyways and they would all be too busy to even notice her absence let alone react to it. Of course this was proven true as everyone swarmed around Alex and appeared to have forgotten about their fight and about Laura.
She was quick to find out that Alex had decided to join them; truthfully she had been 89.6% positive that that was the reason he had returned when she had first caught his scent. The addition to the group however had been confirmed by Kitty since she happened to be the loudest person to yell out that piece of information while Laura had been heading off to her bedroom.
"Laura."
Turning her head to respond to her name being called she noticed that Alex had taken the stairs this time. Judging by her facial expression he seemed pleased enough to see her, his body movements however were stiff and indicated that he felt uncomfortable. There was also a possibility that he had acquired an injury or been retained in an uncomfortable position for a long time but the possibility was quite minimal.
"Yes?"
He knew he shouldn't have expected much but it still managed to dampen his mood slightly when her expression was similar to that of someone who was checking the weather. Actually he had seen better reactions to the weather forecast, which made it even more depressing.
"Hi."
Oh now that was eloquent. 'Hi', not even a hello. So far he had managed to say her name and the shortest form of a greeting that involved actual words. He blamed his last dive off of his surfboard, that or there was something in his genes that made him clueless around girls just like his older brother.
"Hello."
According to proper conduct she had responded in the correct manner, according to what she had learned from the other students he was being awkward. Laura registered slight satisfaction at properly recognizing his lack of social grace in the situation. A note was made to find a more accurate word or term for social grace that would be used by someone of her generation.
She was analyzing him, he just knew it. Granted she didn't actually say anything, and he hadn't picked up any telepathic powers but he was quite sure that she was judging him as any person with any amount of sanity would.
"I'm back. Well obviously I'm back since I'm standing right in front of you and talking, well bumbling like an idiot really. So yeah, I'm back and wanted to see you and tell you that I am back. Oh and I'm staying, for good this time."
On the bright side he had actually spoken; several sentences at that. On the not so bright side he probably looked like an even larger fool than he moments before. Earlier she might have thought that he was a fool, now he had given her proof confirming that thought. It was definitely a genetic thing, he would ask Hank about information in genes and if ridiculousness could be passed on.
"I am aware of your decision to remain at the household. I have been since I first caught your scent when we arrived from our mission."
If he had been confused about what to say earlier he really had no clue what he was supposed to say or do now. Normally he would have had some type of reaction to go off of; happiness, surprise, even disappointment. Alex felt even more foolish for having expected a visible reaction from her in the first place; this was not going as he had haphazardly planned.
"I think it would be best if you were placed on my team. It would be the most efficient since I have the most experience working with you and considering the state of both teams it would be highly recommended to keep sudden changes to a minimum."
Her words were delivered in a straight forward manner and even the most skilled body reader would not have been able to read anything off of her. This didn't matter in the world of Alex Masters however. In the world of Alex Masters he knew that this was probably the closest that he would get to a hug and a welcome back from Laura.
"That sounds great Laura, as long as it doesn't bring down the team or something of course."
He was basically beaming even as he gave her a way out and Laura made another to note to look into this odd behaviour of his.
"You would be a beneficial re-addition to the team. I would not say so if it were otherwise."
With a nod to back up her words Alex tried to keep from looking like an absolute lunatic. Since Laura had yet to back up or ask him if he happened to be drugged it appeared as if he were doing a pretty good job at it.
"Of course your time spent away has probably broken some of the habits you were acquiring. It is possible that it will be even harder for you to be properly re-trained."
This should have dampened his mood but he had been expecting something along those lines. The eager grin and easy nod showed that he was willing to put in the time.
"I actually have a question for you if you do not mind."
Now this surprised him. The fact that she had a question for him was odd enough; the fact that she looked slightly hesitant of all things really surprised him.
"Yeah, of course."
Wild ideas ran through his head. What could she possibly ask him? It was quite obvious that she was one of the most intelligent people in the household and he wouldn't put it past her to be able to find any personal information about him if she wished to.
"Do you think that the cloud to your left that's at an approximately forty five degree angle from you possibly looks like a flower?"
For a second he looked at her in confusion, he had not expected to be asked that out of all of the possible questions. When he noticed her slight uncertainty however he looked to his left and spotted the cloud that he guessed she had been talking about. With the puffs it actually did look like a flower that a child might draw, his mother day cards had been covered in them.
"I can see it."
His confirmation brought a small smile on her face that she quickly hid. Alex considered himself luck that he had still managed to catch a glimpse of it.
"I have taken up cloud watching recently. It is still confusing at times but oddly relaxing and similar to meditation."
By now his large grin had calmed down to a non-creepy smile.
"I've been able to identify all of the types of vegetation you taught me about. No more poison ivy incidents."
Laura nodded before she turned back around to look out onto the grounds. She patted the seat beside her and he eagerly joined her, although he did try and cover up his excitement a bit. There were no warm greetings, exclamations of missing each other or even a welcome back but it was perfectly fine for them. It was easier to stare at the grounds in silence only broken up by her pointing out strategic points or him spotting an interesting cloud. When they moved on to possible training schedules or techniques Alex was certain that he had made the right choice with his new definition of normal.