October 18th, 1962

Raven and Vi stood on the grounds watching the giant satellite. They could see the figures on top of it but at such a distance it was impossible to tell who was who.

"Do you think he'll make it?" asked Raven.

"Probably. If not, I can soften his landing," Vi said with a shrug.

"Did I miss it?" Alex asked, as he came from behind to observe with them.

"He hasn't jumped yet," Raven replied.

Suddenly, one of the figures pushed another, Sean, off the satellite.

"What do you want to bet it was Magneto that pushed him off?" Vi said bitterly.

It had been a few seconds and Sean still hadn't screamed. Vi prepared to use air to cushion him but it wasn't necessary. With an ear piercing shriek, Sean was flying.

The three spectators cheered and clapped once they were safe to uncover their ears.

"I wonder if he'll stick the landing," Alex said.

"Did they go over that before they pushed him off?" Raven's eyes widened.

"Ah, he'll be fine," Vi waved it off.

They quickly covered their ears again as Sean let out another scream.


October 21st, 1962

THUMP!

"Dude, I know you said you don't want to hit a girl but you'll have to get over that," Vi told him as she offered a hand to help him up. "What if you have to fight the Angel chick? She's not going to hesitate."

Sean sighed as he stood, "Yeah, I know." He had been sparring with Erik but after the satellite incident three days before, Sean didn't want to be anywhere near him and Vi couldn't blame him. So Erik was off doing his own, probably diabolical, thing since Alex was testing his chest plate with Charles and Hank.

"Okay, then you need to fight me," Vi got back into her regular stance.

Sean reluctantly did the same. They began trading blows and blocking. He was doing better, but he wasn't quite where he needed to be. She sighed and stopped.

"Since dinner is pretty soon let's just call it a day," She handed him a water bottle before taking a drink from her own.

"Awesome," his eyes lit up comically at the thought of food.

Vi broke through the trees to find Charles standing in the same spot at the edge of the spring, "At least you didn't bring Magneto with you this time."

He turned to look at her, "I thought that we might have more progress without Erik. While I'll admit that he does get results, his methods are harsh to say the least."

"Pushing Banshee off the satellite made that kind of obvious," Vi pointed out as she moved to stand next the the telepath.

Charles cleared his throat, "Well, as Erik showed us previously, you can unlock your gift with anger. What you need to do is find the point between rage and serenity."

"Isn't that Magneto's thing?" she raised her eyebrow.

He took a deep breath, "I know this is not what you want to hear, but you and Erik are more alike than you would like to admit."

Vi snorted, "Thanks for that."

"At least give it a chance. If it doesn't work, then we can try something else"

She stared at the telepath for a moment, "...Fine. So how do we do this?"

"I'll need to access the brightest corner of your memory system," Charles informed her with a wiggle of his fingers.

Vi sighed deeply, "Just try to stay out of the spoilery stuff, okay. I don't want you seeing too much of your future or theirs," she gestured in the general direction of the mansion.

Charles pressed his fingers to his temple and she shut her eyes. His presence being so deep in her head was unnerving at first but the warmth of it had begun to sink in. Suddenly, there was in image pushed to the front of her brain.

She was very young, about 6, and her mother and father were there. They tucked her into bed and laid on either side of her to read a story. Her mother stroked her violet hair as her father's voice lulled her to sleep with a smile on her face.

Vi could feel things that she hadn't been able to feel properly since the Alcatraz incident. Every ripple of the water in the spring, the movements of the air, the rumbling of the earth, the licking heat of flame. She got lost in it for what seemed like seconds to her.

Vi, love, you may want to stop before you raze the grounds.

Her eyes snapped open to find a mess of flame and water and rock in the air. She gasped and quickly replaced everything. Slowly, she turned to Charles, tears staining her cheeks and his, "Guess you were right."

He smiled lightly. After a moment it faded and he asked quietly, "What did he do to make you hate him so much?"

She sighed and hesitantly looked into his eyes, "I was 10 years old. People came to kill my family because of our relation to him. They ended up killing my mother and my little sister, Luna, and my father died to protect me. I had to live on my own for nearly a year and, to make matters worse, I couldn't control my powers, but eventually you found me with Cerebro. He's also the reason I lost my powers." And he's the reason you're dead. Thankfully, Charles wasn't in her mind at the moment.

Charles placed a hand on her shoulder, "Vi, I am so sorry."

Vi turned her eyes to the trees, "Don't be. Just...don't tell him, okay?"

"Erik will not hear of this, I swear."

Vi nodded.

"Are you hungry? Dinner must be done as I can feel Sean's excitement radiating all the way out here," Charles chuckled lightly, glad for a chance to change the subject.

Vi cracked a smile, "I bet you can. Let's go, Chuck."

"Don't call me that."


Vi sat in the dark kitchen with a bowl of ice cream, reaching out to feel the breeze outside. She was a little more comfortable there now that she had unlocked her powers again.

Her spoon slowly lifted out of her bowl and she turned to see Erik leaning in the doorway, "Shouldn't you be asleep? You have to train in the morning."

"So do you, but I'm not your mother so I wouldn't have mentioned it," Vi rolled her eyes as she grabbed the spoon from the air.

Erik moved to stand at the end of the island across from her, ignoring her comment, "Charles tells me that you've unlocked your gifts. That, at your full potential, you're quite extraordinary."

Vi locked eyes with him and ate a spoonful of ice cream, "Just cut to the chase, Lehnsherr. What do you want?"

He gave a small smirk, "You may hate me for whatever reason, but that doesn't change the fact that we're gods among ants. We're the next stage of evolution and despite what Charles may believe, we are meant for more than-"

"Okay, you can stop there," Vi interrupted, taking another bite of ice cream.

Erik frowned, "So you agree?"

She raised an eyebrow, "Honestly? I've always agreed with many of your points, but my hate for you outweighs any hate I could possibly have for humans. In another world where things had gone differently, I'm sure I would have been right there on your side, but this isn't that world. So you can stow the 'Kill All Humans' speeches because I've heard enough to last me a lifetime and they don't do shit."

"I thought there was a chance that you would see reason. I was wrong," Erik replied darkly.

"Right. I can't 'see reason' because I don't want to join your terrorist boy band. That makes sense." Vi stood up and placed her bowl in the sink.

"When the time comes, you'll wish you had said yes."

"Whatever, go try that shit on someone else," she waved dismissively as she left Erik standing there alone.


She stood at the door to Hank's lab and knocked quietly. Vi had decided not to bother Sean that night since she had been doing it the last few days, but after that talk with Erik a few minutes before, she needed to go somewhere. Hank hadn't given her any reason in the last few days to make her think he was in a bad mood so that was her best bet.

The door opened slowly to reveal Hank. "Vi? What are you doing here?"

"Couldn't sleep. Mind if I sit in here with you?" She asked, trying not to seem to hopeful.

Hank pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes for a moment before stepping back and opening the door wider, "I'm working so don't expect too much conversation. And don't touch anything."

Vi stepped in and scoffed, "Hank, I'm not an idiot. I've known you for like 6 years, plus you were my science teacher for some of that time, so I know all about how to act in your lab."

"Well I don't really know you yet, so I don't trust you with my lab," Hank replied as he returned to looking into his microscope.

"Fair enough" Vi shrugged before she began to look around the room. Hank occasionally glanced at her nervously out of the corner of his eye.

She stopped at the large metal table at the other end of the room and her eyes widened, "Holy shit, Hank". Hank looked up and headed to where Vi was standing once he realized what she was referring to.

He cleared his throat, "It started with Alex and Sean. I needed something to attach their equipment to. Then I realized that even with all of the training, we would still need protection..."

"Can I...?" Vi gestured to the mass of blue and yellow fabric on the table.

Hank gave her a nod. She ran a hand over the rough fabric of one of the suits, Alex's, judging from the hole in the chest, then picked it up to look at the whole thing, "Damn, it's heavy. Kevlar?"

"Among other things"

"How many do you have done?," Vi asked as she inspected the suit closely.

"Mine, Raven's, Charles', and Erik's. Alex and Sean's are done aside from attaching the equipment. I still have to finish yours and Moira's," Hank told her, sounding slightly overwhelmed.

"Wait, did you just say...you're making one of these for me?" Vi set the suit down and looked at him, not knowing how to feel.

Hank rubbed the back of his neck, "Yes. Raven suggested it actually. The design is similar to the one you have now, so hopefully you'll like it."

Vi smiled at him, "Of course I will. You've never done wrong with my uniforms. Thank you, Hank"

Hank smiled back nervously.

"I have one question though. How did you get my measurements to make the suit?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Raven helped with that. With everyone's, actually."

"So Raven turned into each of us so you could take the measurements?" Vi suppressed a laugh.

"These were meant to be a surprise, so yes," He shrugged.

"Well I figured that much since pretty much all of them wouldn't be caught dead wearing bright yellow. Alex especially. Is that why you picked it?"

Hank gave a small smile, "Maybe."