Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Men.

Raven Legacy: Coming of Age
Chapter Seven

After the violence of the day, Scott was anxious to return to his family. He waited until the X.S.E. arrived to arrest Kade, and Max quietly agreed to attend Jean Grey School with Wallinavonkin, where they would be monitored and guided by the X-Men. Emma extracted a promise from Shaw to leave Tess alone, and then he provided a vehicle to return them safely home.

Scott was sick.

No one asked about the deaths of the Inner Circle, and no one probably would. Most of their bodies had been butchered and re-assembled into Frankenstein's monster. The remains could be blamed on collateral damage caused by the Sentinels. Odds were, the Inner Circle kids had either killed or otherwise silenced their parents, and had therefore never been reported missing. Technically, they didn't exist and never had. But actually, they'd killed scores of people on that day alone. Who knew what other mayhem they'd caused?

Why did Scott feel so guilty about their deaths, when he knew the world was better place without them?

"Because Mina could have been Meg," Emma said, reading his thoughts. "And Manuel could've been Alexander. But our children aren't evil, and it isn't wrong to rid the world of evil. Even when they look like our darling angels."

"Children can't be evil, Em."

"Don't be absurd, love, you know they can."

On the way home, they stopped for pizza, and brought several boxes home for the kids, who were exuberant at their homecoming.

"Thank god!" Nate said, turning the power back on. "Now I can finish laundry."

"Not tonight," Emma said. "Tonight – everyone – we're celebrating Nate joining the X-Men. No more chores!"

The room gasped and then cheered. There was genuine pride at this good news, and no one asked what had happened that day – which was Emma's intention. Scott's dark mood turned to quiet melancholy as his children crowded around him and each other. Emma knew by morning, he'd be his old responsible self. He was too sensitive to ever be considered "cheerful", but he'd find a way to live with his guilt. He'd have to. Emma wouldn't indulge his self-pity.

Mystique noticed Magneto's helmet sitting alone on an end table, and stroked the crown with her fingers.

"Where did this come from?"

Raven was the only one who'd heard her grandmother's question, so she answered: "Honor made me wear it. So the telepaths couldn't get in my mind."

"Why you?"

Raven stood up straighter. "Because my powers kicked in! I'm stronger than everyone else put together!"

"Arrogance is a sign of weakness, Raven Anna. Shall we step outside? I want to see for myself."

Most of the house emptied onto the beach to watch Raven's demonstration. With Mystique nearby, Raven could finally test her abilities without fear of failing. Mystique could shift into any mutant and use flight or super strength to help. Luckily, Raven never needed help. She knew her grandmother well enough to know that Mystique wasn't afraid of the kids getting hurt if it helped them learn.

On the sand, Oli sulked.

"Wanna switch with her?" Meg asked him.

"No point. She'd be a better telepath, too."

"Olivier, look, I'm sorry your parents are gone, but are you gonna spend the rest of your life blaming everybody for it?"

"I'm not blaming everybody!"

"Yes you are! Every time something good happens, you've gotta spoil it!"

"Guys, keep it down," Scott told them. "This is Raven's moment… Meg, don't boss Oli around. He's not your brother. You don't know what life's done to him. Let him be. And Oli… There's no shame in being happy, son."

Inside the house, René and Marie took advantage of the rare moment alone. Honor, their roommate, found a sock tied on the doorknob and got the reference.

"Come on!" She yelled, punching the door. "Nate just washed sheets!"

Nate passed her in the hallway, carrying a basket full of clean clothes.

"You can bunk with us tonight."

She followed him into his room and helped fold the mountain range of clean clothes.

"We've got a very strict policy about boys and girls staying out of each other's rooms," she said. "I don't wanna set a bad example for the kids… I'll just take the sofa. My god, look at all this underwear! How can you tell them apart?"

"Easy. If it's more show than cover-" he held up a white G-string, "Emma's. Lesbo undies-" he grabbed a women's version of male briefs, "that's all you."

"Hey!" she snatched back her panties. "Mystique's a lesbian, too!"

"Nope. She's granny panties." He lifted a pair of modest cotton drawers.

"Okay, those were easy. How do you tell the little girls apart?"

"Ancient Chinese secret."

"You mean psychometry."

"Ready to examine the courser sex?"

"Wouldn't wanna be sexist."

He held up a faded pair of boxers with frayed edges. "My dad's. He's too cheap to spend money on himself."

"Oh god... Are the boxer-briefs yours or René's?"

"You can't just let it all hang out there."

"Nathan! That's why you can't keep a girlfriend! Women don't wanna see that crap."

"You're not the buyer I'm selling to. Mine can't be worse than whitey-tighties. I'll give you a buck if you can tell Oli's from Xander's."

She punched his non-metal arm and they laughed, stopping suddenly when they realized Oli was standing in the doorway. Furious tears hung in his eyes. Pubescent's were so easily hurt.

"Oli," his sister started, "We weren't-"

"You've got a phone call," he snapped at her. "It's been buzzing all night. But go back to making googley-eyes with Nate!"

"That's not-"

"I don't care!" he shouted and ran off.

"I was making fun of him," Nate told her. "I'll apologize. Go make sure that's not Tess calling."

Honor had left her phone on the charger. It showed seven missed calls from Uri. She quickly called him back and got an earful.

"I just dropped Tess off at the Afghan embassy. She wouldn't tell me anything. I tried to talk her out of it-"

"Wait. Where?"

"Washington D.C."

"Why?"

"Don't know, 'On, she wouldn't give me any details. But when I picked her up, she looked… You know, Muslim. Arms and legs covered, headscarf, everything. I know she said 'Sage' was dead, but this was… extreme. They're interviewing her now. I tried to give her pointers, but-"

"Interviewing her for what?"

"She entered the country illegally, hun. She's been living under an alias and doing some pretty dodgy things. What she says in there could make the difference between her staying or getting deported. She must realize that. I just wish I knew what she's doing."

"They can't make her leave, can they?" Honor plugged an ear to block out her family's ruckus and stepped into the quiet garage. "She's been living in this country more than half her life! Everyone she knows is dead. There's a war!"

"Getting asylum in the States is next to impossible. She's got to prove there's a definite threat to her life from a specific enemy that's more powerful than the Afghan government."

"She would've been better off to keep lying."

"Unfortunately. But look, she's a smart cookie. She must know all this. She must have a plan… What happened between you two?"

Honor took a deep breath. "I'll dig up some contacts at the embassy. We don't have any friends in Washington, but maybe someone can be blackmailed or bribed-"

"Trust her judgement. Can you do that?"

She kept quiet.

"I'll call you when she gets out," he said. "We'll have time before they render a verdict, and if she tells me what happened, I'll know what they'll decide."

"Uri… Thanks for helping her out."

"Try to get some sleep. No sense in both of us losing sleep."

Honor relaxed on the sectional, but it was nearly midnight when the household finally settled. The enormous windows and French doors didn't obscure the moonlight, and the ocean was too near for silence. At some point, a woman cried out, but Honor dismissed it as Marie. A few moments later, Raven wandered into the living room and gently woke up her sister.

"'On? Am I too big to sleep with you?"

"Courzz nuh," she groaned, opening an arm.

Raven snuggled in. "I dreamed they were on a mission… They were in trouble and I could help them."

But Honor never heard her sister's voice. She had a dream of her own.

Golden sunlight poured through the Afghan embassy. Tessa said good-bye to two men and a woman, and then shook Uri awake. He'd fallen asleep on a bench outside the interview room. Smiling peacefully beneath her silk scarf, Tessa told him they could leave. Alias 'Tessa Jane McNeil' had been legally replaced with Tahira Mohmand.

Fresh sunlight spilled from Honor's dream into the waking world.

Raven opened her eyes to Bekka's smiling face. Their noses were so close that Bekka could count Raven's freckles. With a mischievous smile, the younger girl crowed: "Bek-Bek-BEKKAAAA!"

Honor groaned and smacked Raven's face.

"Stop it! That's not me!"

Bekka's pretty face broke into a rare smile as she doubled over with laughter.

To Be Continued…