Marvel owns the X-men, no profit is to be made by this work.
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He had been walking around the halls aimlessly looking for some of the old school he had called home back when he had been not much older than the kids he met time to time. Looking as if it had been there forever, the student dorms were one of those new additions, heading on past to the old bones of the building. Finding a familiar window, he looked out and saw the shrubs that had broken Sean's fall were still there as he had a good laugh thinking of them all watching and waiting.
"Remember to scream..." Alex whispered with a chuckle.
From his vantage he could just barely make out a place he had yet to visit, just the flickering of the eternal flame piercing the darkness out across the lawn. It had been something he had put off ever since he got the call from Hank months before, and yet here he was confronted with it fresh out of excuses. Heading on through the old bones filled with memories of bygone days, he couldn't go off there empty handed.
Standing before the door with a fist raised to knock, he caught himself at the power the place still had over him knowing well the Lord of the Manner was off evermore. Stepping in and flattering at the sight of the empty wheelchair sitting off by the window, he had been there for that too as he found his feet obeying him again stepping up to the desk. He found it just where he figured he would, a bottle of scotch in the second drawer under a stack of files.
"Looks like you didn't get a chance to have a drink of this one Chuck." Alex remarked at the unopened bottle.
"Still the second drawer?" Sean called from the door.
"Right where we found it the first time." Alex said showing the purloined bottle.
Walking together in companionable quiet though the halls to the foyer and beyond, the garden path was neatly tended that lead to the memorial. There were fresh flowers out and little notes, a few cards, even a pair of gaudy pink sunglasses at one that had Alex feeling a twist in his stomach. Charles Francis Xavier, Jean Grey, and his own baby brother Scott.
"You remember when he started losing his hair?" Sean asked looking to the likeness of the man in the granite.
"I told him just to use whatever Hank was shedding." Alex chuckled, working the foil from the bottle and easing the cork out.
Looking to the three memorials he couldn't help but think maybe they should have done the same for another years ago, but then again he always kept that man in his heart that still weighed heavy despite all the forgiveness his last moment conveyed. Having a long drink, he passed the bottle back to Sean who raised it before taking one himself.
"To Darwin..." Sean said softly, the whisky burning in his belly.
"To stupid little brothers..." Alex added, taking the bottle again and this time pouring a belt to the grass.
"To driving him bald." Sean laughed, having a swig and pouring a belt before Xavier's marker.
Looking to the last, though they hadn't known her they could tell she must have been loved with the flowers laid at her marker and the envelopes carrying secret messages for her. Having a drink in silence knowing not what to say to her honour, Alex bent low to his brothers and toyed with the sunglasses there thinking back all those years when the awful truth came out, that it ran in the family.
"Funny how it took Hank to help us both keep it under control." Alex whispered, daring to try on the shades but figuring they had to have been a girls before setting them down again.
"He always wanted to be like his big brother." Sean said softly as he passed the bottle back.
"He was a stupid kid who didn't know just how real it is, how easy it is to just..." Alex growled, unable to speak that last word that had been his fate in the end, to just die.
"Once you Summers set your mind to it..." Sean mused.
"You can't talk us out of it." Alex smirked bitterly thinking of the wedge it had driven between them.
"Terri talked about him a lot, told me he was a real stand up guy, a real role model. Well that and she had a huge crush on him, bloody hell man like I need to know that. Anyways, you should be proud of him." Sean admitted, those calls on birthdays and holidays making the infrequent visits bearable over the years.
"He's my brother, I'm always proud of him. Doesn't mean he doesn't deserve getting his ass handed to him for, for..." Alex heaved a breath as the stubborn tears finally fell.
Taking comfort from the hand that fell to his shoulder, he finished the last of the bottle and set it down beside the sunglasses as a promise to come back again for a bit more shit talking and a drink.
"Hey Bro, you see Dad up there, deck him one for me will ya?" Alex said, drying his eyes and climbing to his feet.
"I hear that bar down the road is still around." Sean smirked trying to brighten the mood.
"Something tells me we shouldn't be driving, bad example to the kids we're supposed to be helping as of tomorrow." Alex remarked, running a hand through his hair unable to believe himself.
"Who said anything about driving?" Sean said with a wink.
"No, no way." Alex barked realizing just what his friend was talking about.
"Pussy." Sean said throwing the word back in his friends face.
Gritting his teeth realizing he'd worked himself into a corner, taking Sean's hands and holding tight as they took to the air.
"You drop me and I'll kick your ass." Alex threatened, all the while thrilling at the rush of flying over the tree tops.
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"Well ya told me ta call ya the moment I landed." Marie growled as she stalked along to the carousel to find her luggage.
"Well it ain't my fault if my connection had a delay, and I tried callin' ya then but ya didn't pick up. Well it's yer fault for havin' a dead battery mister." Rogue rambled, grabbing her bag and heading off to the doors.
"Well okay then...alright, yer forgiven. Sweet dreams to you too Sugah. I gotta go." Marie carried on in a gentler tone with a blush.
With a continent between her and the only home she'd known since -it- had happened to her and changed her life, she walked through the doors and looked around to all the taxis and limos lined up picking up passengers right along with everyone else reunited with friends and family. Hearing her phone ring again she thought it might be Bobby having something else to say, only to see Jubilee come up.
"Heya Jubes." Marie answered.
"She hated that name as a child, I see she grew out of that." A woman remarked with a hint of amusement in her voice.
"Uh..sorry, miss. I'm, uh Rogue. Who's this?" Marie stammered.
"Her mother, Missus Lee though you can just call me Cayla. If you look to your left you should see me." Cayla said.
Turning and looking around, she saw someone leaning against what at first looked like a Landrover until she noticed the Mercedes logo on the front. Dressed in jeans, a blouse and calf length boots it was easy to see the relationship between mother and daughter even if the mother looked to have a sense of style. Rushing up a little out of breath not wishing to keep her waiting, Marie offered a hand in greeting.
"Jubilation was called into work, so I said I would pick you up. Have you eaten?" Cayla explained and inquired all the while helping Marie with her bags.
"A burger at my connection." Marie replied though the thought of a real meal had her stomach voice its own opinion.
"It seems we're both famished then, I know just the place. Hop on in." Cayla said, climbing on in.
Driving in silence as they pulled out of the airport and jumped onto the freeway, jet lagged as she was the hours awake trying to outrun the setting of the sun from one coast to the next cumulated in a yawn that roused another from Cayla.
"I'm sorry for ya havin' ta pick me up Missus Lee." Marie apologised feeling horrid.
"Think nothing of it, a taxi would have just been so crude and vulgar, hardly the impression I'd like to make. Besides, a day cooped up in the lab had me in need of some fresh air and a proper meal that wasn't found from the vending machine down the hall." Cayla promised, a dismissive hand waved to the worries expressed.
Noticing the badge hanging from the rear view with Cayla's likeness on it, albeit in a labcoat with her long hair tied in a bun and thick rimmed glasses, Marie noticed that it was actually Dr. C. Lee. Talking about ones parents at the school was usually a taboo with many having hard luck tales and painful memories accompanying the revelation that they were mutants.
"Unlike my husband you can be assured I don't bring my work home with me, the CDC would frown on that." Cayla joked, a playful smile roused at Marie's shocked expression.
"I'm among one of their virologists, keeping an eye out for the next pandemic." Cayla continued.
"Wow, I mean I knew Jubes always said her folks were smart but..." Marie offered, remembering a time Bobby had spilled the local school gossip on her friend forcing her into a corner.
Jubilee had then just said they were both doctors and that her mother was smart, 'like keep up with Doctor McCoy smart'. Working for the CDC did sound 'Hank smart' she had to agree.
"If you don't mind me askin' what's your husband do?" Marie asked trying to carry the conversation along.
"A psychiatrist, I've learnt to get very blunt with him and my feelings due to his constant nit picking of meanings and subtext. I believe the last argument we were in I threatened to shove my stiletto up his buttocks if he didn't quit badgering me as soon as I got home." Cayla said sweetly despite the gruff language used.
"That's what ya meant by him bringin' his work home?" Marie asked with a nod given.
Warming to the woman, she settled in her seat and looked out to the city amazed that she was really here. Los Angeles, with all the places she had only heard of littered around from Hollywood to Santa Monica and of course where she would be calling home for the summer at least, Beverly Hills. From her window seat on the plane she had been afforded a view of the Pacific as little more than a black expanse running off past a city of light filled with all the Californian dreams that brought people looking to make it big.
Pulling off the freeway and on down a boulevard, passing by clubs and restaurants and the ever present McDonalds Marie looked to all the people just out enjoying themselves seemingly without worry. Living the life she had for the past years and meeting the people she called friends, it was hard to forget what lay beyond that veil of normalcy.
Hearing a song she knew, a remix at that she remembered from a show she had been watching with Kitty and Jubilee alike, she felt her first bit of homesickness realizing just how far away it was. All the same she turned up the stereo to see Cayla smiling down at her.
"A gift from Jubilation, a soundtrack to welcome you. In her absence she asked me to say Welcome to L.A., Woman." Cayla said fondly.
"Thanks." Marie said smiling, noticing the hand resting on hers squeezing her gently.
"As her mother I'd also like to say thank you, I'm told you were among those who had gone off to rescue her and the others. I want you to feel at home while you're here." Cayla added.
Nodding even as she felt a flush wash over her and tears well in her eyes, it was refreshing to realize there were parents out there that didn't care about the big bad M word and just accepted their children for who they were.
"Thank you Missus Lee." Marie whispered struggling to find her voice.
"You're welcome, now then lets get a bite." Cayla said as she pulled off to a restaurant with valet parking.
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Having gotten the call they'd be there soon, Logan sat out front of the garage in a lawn chair with a cooler of beer beside him suffering through reading the Taming of the Shrew for the start of the new school year only a summer away.
"Gonna have ta talk ta Ro about some of these books." Logan grumbled, flipping a page and having another sip.
"I could suggest a few."
Looking up to a shadowy part of the roof he found Kurt sitting there with a foot across his knee and his arms behind his head, staring up into the night sky with his tail idly flicking back and forth.
"Feel free. Anythin' has gotta be better than this." Logan remarked waving the book around.
"Treasure Island has always been a favourite." Kurt noted.
"Sure, whatever. Just send me a memo." Logan rumbled as he got back to his reading.
"Did you mean an email?" Kurt asked, his yellow eyes piercing the darkness.
"Did I say email?" Logan countered, kicking back and flipping back a few pages figuring he'd lost his train of thought.
The laughter wasn't mocking or harsh, in fact Logan had to admit he didn't mind hearing it. Anyone that could sneak up on him was the kind of guy he wanted at his back in a fight anyway, Kurt having returned to the school a few days back. He was taking a liking to the guy, and the fact that he was good with the kids was a bonus. It left him free to get some work done while Kurt babysat.
Hearing the roar of an engine pushed hard with the squeal of tires taking a turn all too sharp, Logan looked up and waited for the headlights to pierce the bend and vanish in that dip before another blind hill that would lead them to the front gate of the school. Ripping up the drive and coming to a halt in burnt rubber and exhaust, Logan sat his ground and reached out with a foot to tap the bumper listening to the engine purr. As it was cut only the sound of the tinkling of cooling metal in the warm night joined the two doors being thrown open.
Looking to the leggy blond in white, he looked past her which earned him a curious look from both her and Ororo. Shrugging, he went back to his book and beer leaving them to walk around front and sit against the hood of the sports car.
"Just what were you looking for?" Emma asked though something about the smile in her eyes told him she already knew.
"The Corgi's, yer highness." Logan said, offering a bow as best he could manage from his seat.
The two ladies burst out into a fit of giggles that bid nothing good for him, looking to Ro to see her a little more carefree than her usual calm. Having to smile at it, it was probably with a bit of trouble if she loosened up a bit and unwound. Keeping things bottled up was never good for anyone, he knew that better than most and it still weighed on his soul just what it had cost someone else he held dear to his heart.
"Oh my goodness my dear Ororo, this one is surprisingly deep. I can see why you like him." Emma said rather out of the blue.
Staring up at her and thinking again to a phone call he'd gotten from Ro, he looked squarely to Emma and did his best to imagine her in her knickers. All it earned him was a seductive smile that told him just as much as he expected, she was the real deal and wasn't about to shy from it.
"A very nice try Mister Logan, but better than you have undressed me with their eyes. In his defence darling he was just playing, I wouldn't go setting an alarm tonight as I believe both you and he will be needing a good slumber." Emma said, turning to Ororo to sooth the jealousy that had been roused.
"Here's something from next years reading list." Logan said throwing the book he was reading to Emma.
With eyes only for her, he kissed Ororo long and hard until he felt her nails dig into his shoulders. Not caring that he had an audience, he quickly scooped her up into his arms and walked off to the school needing a break from being the responsible one while she was away. It was time to have a conference with the Headmistress and work out a few issues he had, right down to just who the heck had walked off with his bottle of Scotch he had just stocked Chuck's desk.
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