Graduation 2007
"Everybody smile!"
Bobby, Rogue, and two of their classmates grin cheesily into the camera, flipping tassels out of their faces, graduation caps akimbo.
"Alright." Jean chuckles as she hands the camera back. The four graduates scamper off across the lawn.
"Yeah, that'll work," she hears Logan say. "Someone's gonna knock that over, move it."
"How's it coming along?" Jean asks.
Logan gives the volunteers another apprehensive look. "Who voted for fireworks again?"
"The seniors. They almost always pick fireworks." She observes his face carefully, looking for something. "How're you?"
He raises an eyebrow nonchalantly. "It's weird meeting everyone's parents. And not meeting them."
Jean lets out a deep sigh. "They don't really make it easy on you."
He grunts in agreement. "How's Rogue seem to you?"
There it is. "Happy."
"Yeah," he says distantly. "And Bobby?"
"He's handling it well, but I don't know for how long." Jean bends down to pick up an abandoned program. "Logan, she's fine. She knows her parents better than we do."
"It's not fine, it's wrong. What kind of parent doesn't show up? They should be- Ace."
Ace is sitting at a concrete bench not a hundred feet away, and at the sound of her name turns her head expectantly.
"Move on."
Her shoulders slump guiltily as she moves around the corner of the building and out of earshot. Jean gives him a perplexed look. "You don't need to yell at her it isn't her fault."
"It wouldn't be if she weren't trying. She has a look when she's listening in."
"Ah, yes she doesn't have that look in class much. That must be why I'm not familiar with it." Jean smirks. "You were saying?"
"Nah, it'll still be bugging me later," he replies, pushing the matter aside. "I just don't want Rogue to hurt."
"I think she can take care of herself pretty well. Got into college on her own didn't she? And dragging Bobby in after her. I think she'll be alright." She nudges him with her elbow. "Besides, if Rogue feels comfortable leaving you I think that says something. You can't stop her from growing up, Logan."
He smiles gently. "Wouldn't dream of it."
I can't hang out with Matt. Apparently this is his last chance to kiss a certain senior girl, and I really don't want to be present when that backfires. After all, she has a boyfriend who can melt things with his mind. I don't know about the unwritten laws of high school, but anyone could tell you that's not a line you want to cross.
Speaking of which, Logan does not appreciate it when people listen in on his conversations with 'Jean.' I wasn't trying to, they just happened to be within my range and I was bored. He didn't have to yell.
It's not much more interesting on this side of the house. I'm discomforted by the presence of my classmates' relations some of whom are obviously mutants as well. The human parents, for the most part, have segregated themselves onto one side of the lawn and are watching the rest of us suspiciously as they urge their children to hurry up with the goodbyes.
I climb through the forest of folding chairs to get away from them all, making it to the other side of the lawn before I realize I'm just further away from the mansion. I could've gone back inside. Matt dragged me out here and then dumped me as soon as what's-her-name with the boyfriend passed by. All I did was sit down to wait for him when Logan yelled at me and told me to move it, so now I'm stuck over here and will have to cross through the minefield of parents to get back.
Then I notice the long, brightly packaged fireworks neatly stacked in a corner of the yard. I saw a few magnificent ones at New Years and I'd love to watch one go up in person. These are all small though, and I assume because of the forest surrounding us it pays to be careful with these things. I pick up a blue one, inspect the candy-wrapper packaging and imagine the beauty on the inside. I put it down quickly as I hear footsteps coming toward me in the grass.
"Hey," it's just Bobby, "you want to send that one up? Here, lemme see it."
"You're going to send one up now?"
He shrugs. "I waited till the last minute to pull a senior prank, sue me."
He wiggles the fingers of his extended hand, so I give him the small firecracker. He looks it over judgingly before shaking his head and pointing to another one near it.
"That one'll show up better in this light," he says, gesturing at the dusky sky as he strips the wrapping off.
I begin analyzing it, taking in every detail and measurement, calculating how far, fast and high it will go given the design and the amount of combustible material within, and if I test the wind-
"You okay?" Bobby asks.
It's like being tapped on the shoulder in a dark room. He gives me a curious look, then shrugs like it really doesn't matter to him whether I'm weird or not. We walk over to the bare patch of dirt where the stake is set up. To the right of the stake the lawn continues for a few yards before stopping at the low stone wall encompassing the gardens. A graduate leaning against the wall companionably mocks Bobby for his mischief, then calls a friend over to watch.
"Alright, stand back," Bobby announces as he flourishes a match. "You never know when the manufacturer will have screwed something up."
I step back, mentally taking note of the number of people who've stopped to watch. I'm used to listening for heartbeats and other sounds that would give me a warm body count, but the Professor has been teaching me how to control this mental static and now is a prime opportunity to practice. The world fizzles as he gives up on the first match and goes for a second. I let the static rise to a steady buzz, and with a bit of maneuvering manage to single out six minds. There's Bobby, three graduates, a relative, and…
A sixth person doesn't fit. I try again as Bobby finally gets the third match lit. This telepathy is playing games with me, so I revert to my more experienced senses. No, there are six heartbeats, six different scents. I turn and visually count the people around us. Five. I turn back to Bobby as he kneels down to light the fuse. Six.
"Jean? What's wrong?" Logan holds her firmly by the arm as her eyelids flicker and she holds her head with one unsteady hand.
"I'm not sure exactly…I…Where's Bobby?"
"He's with Rogue over by the-"
"No, he's not. Rogue's with Kitty…They're not- He's by the fireworks-"
Jean's alarm is innately felt by Logan, and in the same second they're both running. They turn the corner of the mansion to see Bobby bent down on the other side of the lawn, and hurry around the folding chairs to get to him.
Too late.
Jean tries to hold the explosion back as bystanders scramble to get away. Logan runs into the heat and grabs a prone Bobby by the arm. He looks as if he jumped clear of the explosion just before it went off, but his robe is singed in places. A graduate runs forward and takes him from Logan who turns back to grab Ace. Through his ringing ears, Bobby grasps hold of the situation, and reflexively throws a blanket of ice over the popping, spinning flames.
Logan pulls an unconscious Ace away from the flames. There's a cut on her neck, and scorch marks on her skin and clothing. Safely away from the now smoldering epicenter, he lies her down in the grass, and clears hair away from her wound. Nothing happens.
"C'mon," he growls.
Jean comes to their side, out of breath. "Why isn't she awake yet, I thought she took your power?"
She rips a bandage open and quickly places it on the neck wound, but is barely finished securing it when Logan lifts Ace up and storms towards the infirmary.
The sixth one, he shouldn't be there, he's not-
My head throbs. The atmosphere of the infirmary initially brings back unwanted memories, but they fade as soon as I sit up. Storm is speaking gently with a distressed graduate, as Dr. Grey smoothes out a bandage on Bobby's face. Two other graduates hold cold compresses to their skin, occasionally making pained faces as they adjust in their seats. Earnestly, my mind tries to collect the last few minutes of memory. I blacked out, clearly, and there was an accident in which students were injured. Bobby is giving me a concerned look and Dr. Grey turns to see, the match was being lit, and I was counting warm bodies. One, two, three, four, five…
"For a minute there we were afraid the healing power didn't take." Dr. Grey smiles reassuringly as she begins to remove my bandages. She gently feels my neck with her gloved hand then looks me in the eye. "You pushed Bobby out of the way, you know. That was fast thinking."
"What happened to my neck?" I ask, wiggling my leg. Ankle's in a splint.
"You were nicked by something in the blast."
"Big bandage for a nick," I mumble.
She smiles. "Go wash up and find Logan, he's worried about you."
I slide off the gurney, and except for a dizzy feeling everything has gone back to normal. Whatever that is. Bobby stops me before I get to the door.
"Hey, hey, I'm really sorry. I don't know why it did that, that wasn't supposed to happen." His brows meet each other beneath the worry lines on his forehead. "Seriously, I'm so sorry. Thanks for pushing me clear."
I shake my head more or less to clear up my thoughts. "There was somebody else there."
He looks at me in confusion. "Yeah."
I stumble out the sliding door. The infirmary is part of the underground infrastructure. It's at one end of this corridor, and the Professor's Cerebro faces it from the other end. I think he's inside right now.
The guests have all gone, and the remaining students are sitting around looking very nervous. I notice they're clustered in certain hallways, but it isn't until the third group that I recall these to be the emergency exit points Summers showed me when I first arrived. I must not be the only one who thinks this wasn't an accident. However, Dr. Grey told me to wash up, so either she doesn't know what's going on, or it isn't an actual emergency yet.
In the shower I watch streams of blood and soot wash down the drain. As the scene becomes clearer in my mind, I realize that of the people injured I was the closest to the explosion, and though it was small it was powerful enough to leave third-degree burns on individuals standing several yards away. Yet I walked out of the infirmary like nothing had happened.
Dried and dressed, I head to the boys' dormitories where a helpful junior directs me to a bathroom. Matt sits on the floor next to the toilet, staring blankly ahead of him. I close the door behind me and he looks up at the sound.
"I thought they'd come back," he blurts.
"Who?" I ask.
He swallows and makes a nasty face. "The soldiers or whatever. I didn't see them I just…I got out through an exit before they got to our floor. I didn't see them."
"There aren't any soldiers." But there were once and that's more information than I want to know. "No one's attacking the school."
"How do you know?" he snaps.
"Because I was there, I just got out of the infirmary."
"You wha-? I saw Bobby, he's burnt up."
"Look, the point is I know we're not in trouble. Alright?"
He looks flustered and kind of flails about uncertainly for a second before settling down again. "Alright. But how do you know?"
Someone knocks on the door. "Er, Mr. Logan's lookin' for ye."
"Thank you," I say over my shoulder. "Matt, I'll see you later tonight, okay? We'll watch a movie or something."
"Quit calling me Matt, lady, my name is Sonus."
Yeah, he's fine.
Logan's waiting for me in the hall. He doesn't acknowledge my absent injuries, only says, "Prof needs to talk to you."
The groups of worried teens have dispersed and the grad party is starting up without delay. I don't think there will be fireworks, however. Logan leads me to the study where all the X-Men and Bobby are sitting in earnest counsel. I'm directed to sit with Bobby on a couch facing the others.
"Ace, I'm glad to see you're alright," says the Professor. "Bobby has already told us his side of events, now we'd like to hear your insight."
I look at Logan.
"Instincts, Ace. What happened?"
"I told Bobby I'd never seen a firework go up. He was going to show me a small one, except he was having a problem getting the match to light. While he was busy I was counting the number of people who were watching us just to practice a few of my senses."
The Professor nods.
It's uncomfortable explaining this with the team's attention all on me. "There were six people watching us, but I could only see five. Then the wind shifted slightly and I could smell the extra person hiding in the gardens. Bobby had just gotten a match lit so I pushed him out of the way. The flame jumped onto the wick all on its own and engulfed the firecracker."
"What?" asks Bobby in disbelief.
"The match never got close enough to the wick. It couldn't have been your fault because you don't control fire."
Maybe I should have kept that last part to myself. Bobby's face falls and goes nearly as pale as the gauze on his cheek. He looks at the Professor who gives him a morose nod.
"He left campus a few moments after the explosion," he states gravely.
"But why would he-" Bobby stumbles for the words, his eyes watering slightly as his face crumples in shocked anger. We sit quietly, the room a soft hum of static.
Bobby's voice is firm and unreasonably calm as he finally says, "That was his senior prank. He did that just to… Please, don't tell Rogue."
