disclaimer: As everyone knows, I do not in any way own the X-Men. I expect to recieve no benefit from the use of these characters beyond the pleasure I recieve from writing the story and sharing it with others.

What Might Have Been
by Dizi

Chapter 4

The kitchen was busy. With neither Elise or Rey wanting to talk, they watched the goings on as they ate the sandwhiches they were given. Rey was sure if they did they would argue anyway, and was trying to be on his best behavior.

Half-way through the meal, a young man with brown hair and brown eyes wearing a dark blue tshirt with a yellow stylized X in a circle approached them. At his side were two boys who looked to be Rey's age. Both had bright red hair but there the similarities ended, beginning with one having green eyes and the other brown.

The man held his hand out to Rey who shook it hesitantly, having never been offered a handshake like an adult.

"Rey and Elise? Hi, I'm Zelig, but you can call me Z or Firewall. Everyone does." Zelig smiled down at them both. "This is Rob," he placed a hand on the shoulder of the boy with the brown eyes, "and Kenny." He did the same with the one with the green. "They have the room beside yours. I thought you should meet since it's an adjoining room. The two of you will be sharing for a short time, but with them right beside you we didn't think you'd mind. It's only temporary until your mom is better and decides what she wants to do." Or until Logan comes to help with Elise, he added silently, but didn't say so because he hadn't gotten confirmation yet and probably wouldn't until the man arrived.

"Um, okay." Rey wasn't sure what else to say. He was feeling a little weird with all the changes in one day. Two days ago everything was fine. Now, it was all different. He was different, and he was feeling funny again like he had at school yesterday. But he supposed it was good to stay by Elise, and his mother would want him to take care of her. Then again, he'd be sharing a room with his little sister.

"I spoke to Scott, Mr. Summers, and I have some things to set up before we get started, Rey. So, I'll leave you guys to get to know each other while you finish eating." Z smiled down at Elise again. Such a pretty little girl, he thought. He had volunteered to watch her but when Scott hadn't been free to do Rey's testing he recognized it was important to find out about his mutation right away.

Suddenly shy, Elise just kept eating in response to his smile, though she watched him leave with curious eyes.

The instant he was gone all three boys spoke at once.

"That's a student?" Rey asked.

"Is Rogue really your mother?" Kenny demanded.

"That sucks, having to share with your sister," Rob said sympathetically.

Elise threw him a dirty look. "I don't suck, and our Momma's name is Anne."

"I didn't say you suck, just having to share with a girl," Rob explained kindly. "You probably don't want to share with your brother either. The girl's dorm is really full though, that's why they put you together like that."

Glaring at him and holding a grudge, Elise went back to her food and ignored them.

"Z isn't really a student anymore, they just call him that because he's not a teacher." Kenny shrugged. "They've always done that. It's the myth of the X-Men. Dad was called a student until he started running the school."

"Mr. Summers is your father?" Rey forced himself to take another bite. The food wasn't making him feel any better but he was supposed to eat, wasn't he?

"Yeah, it's great because we know everything that goes on around here." Rob grinned.

"But it sucks too because we have our Mom for a teacher. Can't get out of homework if your mother gave it to you." Kenny rolled his eyes. "Hey, what's your mutant power?"

"I-I don't know." Rey swallowed, not just to clear his throat. "All I know is I feel kinda sick alot and my Dad threw a lamp at me and I got electrocuted but it didn't hurt."

"Maybe you're like Bishop, he absorbs energy. He shoots it out. Z can make a force field that can withstand almost anything. Hey, maybe you can do that with your energy. It looks cool," Kenny said enthusiastically.

"It just made me feel better." Rey sighed.

"Just be glad you're not like your Mom. She couldn't touch anyone. It was traffic," Rob said seriously.

"That's supposed to be 'tragic', stupid." Kenny rolled his eyes again. "You are so young."

"I'm only ten months younger than you." Rob responded hotly. "You're the stupid one, you're failing English and your mother teaches it."

"She's your mother too!"

"But I'm not failing!"

"Uh, why did you call my Mom 'Rogue'?" Rey interrupted, pushing his plate aside.

"That was her codename before she lost her powers," Rob informed him, still glaring at Kenny.

"We know all about it because Rob's telepathic and I'm sneaky," Kenny told him, ignoring Rob.

"Kenny has Dad's power but he can control it 'cause he's not brain damaged, and we're both telekinetic, but we're not very strong yet." Rob continued in an undertone, "Do you know what happened to her? It's like the biggest mystery in X-Men history."

Kenny leaned forward, adding intently, "Dad says it's the event that started the change in the X-Men. Everyone started leaving after that."

Rob leaned forward too. "Mom says things were about to change anyway because they all wanted lives of their own, but Rogue's disappearance was the cataclism - whatever that means."

"Catalyst, dork. Not that they told us, but we heard." Kenny added, "So, do you know?"

Rey shook his head in response to the question and them. They may not look exactly alike but they sure acted it. "We didn't even know she had powers until we saw the pictures in Mr. Summers office. She never told us."

"Rey? Don't you want your sandwhich?" Elise interrupted.

"You can have it." He pushed the plate her direction.

She had just started to realize he was looking strange again. Their hair was supposed to be the same color but her's was darker now. They had both been sick before but she couldn't remember their hair changing until this morning. Elise hadn't asked about the sandwhich because she wanted it but because she was worried about him. She was about to say as much when Z came back.

"Alright, boys, back to class. If I keep you out any longer, your mom will be mad at me," Zelig joked, but his attention was mostly on the clipboard in his hand.

"Awww, Z!" Rob groaned. "Just a little longer?"

"Yeah, Rey didn't tell us anything about Rogue," Kenny joined in.

"You'll have plenty of time to talk after class. Knowing you two, you'll find out all the good stuff before anyone else, so what are you worried about?" Z raised a brow. Personally, he thought those two should be planning a career in espionage. They really did seem to know everything before the adults did. Being as Rob's telepathy was pretty weak at his stage of development, it was amazing. He often went to them himself when he wanted to know something. Once Anne's - he had no trouble thinking of her as Anne since he hadn't seen her since he was a child - kids were settled, he planned to pump them for all the info he could get. They weren't the only ones curious. "Hurry up, now."

"Oooo-kay." They grumbled, but grinned at him as they ran to class. It was the one their mother was teaching and they loved asking stupid questions and watching her try to treat them like everyone else. She didn't often succeed.

"So, Rey," Z consulted his clipboard to check his facts. "Scott tells me you were really sick, got electrocuted, and turned right as rain."

"I-I guess so," he mumbled in reply. The description didn't seem quite right but was better than he could come up with in such short words.

"He looked all white, like a ghost," Elise interjected excitedly, warming up to Z, "and he couldn't walk good. Daddy threw the lamp at him and Rey shook all over." She shook her whole body to show him. "Then he looked like himself again and it scared Daddy, so he left."

"I see." Despite himself, Zelig was charmed. Scott had warned him that the two argued, but even so the girl sounded proud of her brother. She was cute as a button, but he had seen lots of cute little girls in this place - not counting his little sister who he had thought was the cutest there ever was. Elise was in a class all of her own, though. "Sounds exciting."

"Yeah." Rey wasn't sure that was the right word for it. Scary, sounded closer to him. He was a little surprised by the way Elise told it. He hadn't thought she was aware of what was going on with him before the incident with their father. Had he really looked like a ghost?

"Rey's getting sick again." Elise reported seriously. "He looks different now. Like he did yesterday morning when he didn't want to go to school."

"Is that right, Rey?" Zelig hadn't seen him before so couldn't judge himself, but he took careful note of Rey's current appearance so he would know what to watch for in the future.

"Maybe," the boy admitted. "I didn't know for sure because of everything else..." He trailed off, thinking of his mother and how hurt she was, how his father had made her that way. He didn't know if he was feeling bad because of that or if he was getting 'sick' again. He hadn't looked in a mirror yesterday. This was all so new and weird, how was he supposed to know?

But Elise insisted, "He's sick."

"Then we need to get started." Z stuck the clipboard under his arm. "I got some crayons and coloring books for you, Elise. Do you think you'll be alright by yourself in the library? It shouldn't be for long, Scott's getting someone to watch over you."

"I'm not a baby." She was clearly indignant. "I can be by myself."

"Let's go then." Leading the way, Zelig didn't give Elise's situation another thought. He was concerned about his assignment and helping Rey. Elise was fine for now, her brother might quickly be another matter.

to be continued.

note: I know it's been a long time and I'm very sorry, there is a full explanation on my bio. To make a long story short, things happened. But I think I'm back on track now. I've got one more chapter done in this story which I will post next week. Then I'll start posting the bits and pieces of other stories I have done because I got a good response asking me to go ahead and do that. So I will.

Alright, about the story. I was actually naming Scott and Jean's kids after all three of the other original five X-Men. However, I messed up. Warren's middle name is Kenneth, hence 'Kenny'. But my first source was wrong about Hank's middle name, it said it was Robert. So I thought it was perfect to name their 2nd child Robert and just call him 'Robby' instead of 'Bobby'. As many of you might know, Hank's middle name is actually 'Phillip' while Bobby's is 'Louis'. I meant to change it once I found out my mistake but I completely forgot. And then I didn't care anymore because I'd been thinking of their kids as Rob and Kenny. So there ya go.

This chapter didn't actually tell you much to further the plot, but it was fun and added more characterization. Next chapter will be a little better plot-wise. And yes, another character will be introduced. But I think you'll like it.

Thanks for reading and the support,
Dizi