Chapter 10: The Older Siblings We Never Had…

Oh, yes! My life was officially over. No X-men had nearly done half as much damage as I had done today. I was stressed, pissed off and extremely tired…and we can all thank Zippo here for my current state.

So there we were, the two of us, side by side, shoulders slumped staring blatantly at the floor as One Eye aka Red eye aka Cyclops aka Scott Summers circled around us admonishing our previous behavior.

Ms Munroe on the other hand sat comfortably on Red Eye's desk, legs crossed, every now and then she stood up to stretch. I did not notice her expression as I was too shy to raise my head and look her in the eye. Nope I was fine looking at her faded jeans.

"Do you two realize that you are on the same team?" Scott raised the question, his voice kept on getting a pitch higher, "As part of a team this shouldn't be…we are family here…"

He was ranting on and on, about unity and loyalty…I wasn't listening, instead I was admiring his office. Pictures of everyone on his desk, on the walls…including white mane, but predominantly pictures of his red head. So Scott taught mathematics, interesting….

"Kiki!" The man with the red shades called out my name, "Are you even listening?"

I quickly looked to the ground, I heard John Zippo hold his laugh, my hands instinctively balled into fists.

"What's so funny, John? You should be ashamed of yourself, as the older student here and knowing our creed, which I have explained to you with passion over and over… you have absolutely no excuse for this kind of behavior!" Scott shook his head, clearly he was extremely disappointed in John because the entire time, he seemed to blaming him more than me. Heck I'm not saying that Flame boy didn't deserve it. I'm just pointing out what I was noticing.

"As for you, Kiki…" Ororo calmly interrupted Scott, "Having spoken to Charles on a one on one basis, I wouldn't have expected this from you."

What are we your kids? I thought to myself, I looked at Flame boy and he too clearly seemed baffled at this type of mothering and fathering from both of them. If he only knew half the story….

Scott took a deep breath before continuing, "Not all the X-men get along, guys! But we are civil…"

You pretend! I thought, stopping myself from smiling, silly guy, I knew they were all pretending, for instance Scott couldn't stand Angel, I knew that for sure…if he had half the guts me and Flame boy had, he would have done far worse to Angel than what Flame boy and I were planning on doing to ourselves…

"What's so funny?" I think shades was looking at me, I wasn't sure because behind those red shades I couldn't see his eyes. How do Munroe and Grey deal with this? Not being able to look at his eyes…I mean that's what attracts me to guys in the first place- their eyes! I caught a glimpse of Flame boy's eyes and shuddered…thank heavens his eyes were nothing to write home about!

"Kiki? Scott is asking you a question?" Ororo was getting agitated, I think I was slowly loosing my spot on her favorite list. If she even had one.

I thought quickly, I was tired and wanted to go to bed, "Miss Munroe and Mr. Summers…"

John let out a sigh but before he could butt in and ruin my game plan I quickly added,

"This is all a misunderstanding!" I started smiling.

White mane got up from the desk while fiancé stopped circling around us, in fact he moved towards me looking me straight in the eyes,

I walked over to Flame boy and held his shoulder, "See…John and I were just displaying our abilities….I told him I could copy any…."

"That did not look like a display of talent to me, did it to you , Ro?"

Ororo shook her head, "You are not trying to get out of this, Kiki…are you?"

I raised my hands showing defeat, "So, John and I aren't the best of friends, but believe me…no harm was intended. I just wanted to prove to him that I could do what he asked me to do…you know dampen his ego…" I jokingly punched Flame boy on the shoulder, who was still adjusting to my sudden character change.

Rubbing his shoulder, John smiled uneasily, "Yeah Scott…we sorta got carried away…I'm sorry I disappointed you…I'm sorry Ms. Munroe.." he gave Scott, the sincerest look I had ever seen on a person. Damn, I didn't know Zippo had it in him! That look definitely made wonders as the man standing before us grabbed Zippo by the neck and playfully shuffled his head.

"Don't do it again, kid!" Scott was all smiles now.

I looked at Ororo, who was still watching my every move. I shrugged my shoulders.

"There were a lot of valuable paperwork in there, Kiki. What if it had all blown out of proportion?" She raised her eyebrow, John and I might have convinced Scott but Miss O was certainly not bawled over.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Munroe…I" I was rubbing my foot on the carpet, I clearly did not know what else to say.

She smiled however and patted me gently on my back.

"Do you have an older sister Kiki?" she asked softly

I shook my head slowly, "No…"

"Then, my dear…I want you to look at me as your sister…your older sister, you can tell me anything. And do call me by my first name from now on…" she giggled and hugged me.

I smiled, "Sure Ro…thanks." We were still in an embrace, the look on John's face hadn't escaped me. He was watching us carefully and I instantly knew that he did not like what she had just told me. Scott, on the other hand, loved it! He was all smiles from ear to ear but Zippo…I tried to smile at him, you know try and forget what happened to both of us earlier. Let bygones be bygones, and move on and be hopefully friends, he however, didn't smile back. Instead a sneer escaped his expression and I instantly knew that we were back to square one again.

The adults let us go ahead. The door was left open, I was too tired to bother myself at the endless possibilities those two had- especially now that they had just finished older brother-ing and older sister-ing Zippo and I.

Speaking of Zippo, he didn't say a word. We walked up the stairs, I noticed that his click of friends, yes the other members of the Fab 4, had been patiently waiting for him.

"Oh John! You ok? Tell us what happened?" The one called Kitty jumped and embraced him.

Kitty such a cute name for such a mean person…sheeshh., some people didn't deserve the names given to them…really.

"We saw you and Scott and Ro…the look on Scott's face...Wow! I knew he must have been extremely pissed off!" Bobby couldn't hide his excitement…like he was happy Scott was actually mad at John. Some friend you are, I thought to myself. Bobby was obviously jealous of Scott and John's brotherly-ness.

"Oh John…you know how you guys are so close…I hope he doesn't stay mad at you for long." Marie/Rogue/ White streak sighed. She placed her glove covered hands on his face.

I continued walking, pass them, because clearly they had all made up their mind to ignore me. I guess they all branded me a traitor and not worth their friendship…and believe me, such close-mindedness would fit nowhere near me…

What a day…what a strenuous day indeed. I smiled as I turned to head in the direction of my room, I caught John watching me. I do not know why he was staring at me. His expression was that of regret. Yes, for wouldn't any normal person at least say thanks for helping him out of a situation?

I guess not…because like people, mutants come in different characters as well. His pride would not let him say what he was contemplating to say…I know, I might be wrong. But I have seen that look before on countless of people.

Yes, in fact I saw that look couple of hours ago on almost all the X-men as they stood rooted to the ground unable to speak up…but wanting to…as the wolverine harassed me into a frenzied fright…yes I have seen that look before and John aka Zippo aka Flame Boy had that look…

Yet unlike Ororo Munroe, he did not have the courage to come forward and speak up.

"What a day!" I said out loud…

Shaking my head, as I walked towards my bed I took my jeans off and flung my shirt to the side I slumped on the bed lying on my back and with a smile of relief I closed my eyes and drifted off into a deep sleep.