Disclaimer: The X-Men, and Brotherhood are property of Marvel. OCs: Clay Dune, Portal, and Ricky/Enrique/Cloak are mine. Knife is a creation of magicrazy101. Ash is a creation of San child of the wolves. Glad to see them again. :D

Author's note: This is totally a Monday.

Okay, I'll stop saying when I'll hopefully have chapters up because I will never achieve it. You're all like: yes, next Monday/Tuesday, great! Then like a month later, tada!

But so yeah. I was working on a paper and writer's block hit as I was like oooh, yeah gotta rewrite some things. I'll say in the A/N at the end what changed a bit.

This is the first appearance of a partial team from the Haven.

Enjoy. Read. Review.


Reasons

"Really? You all have that little faith in me?" Leo cried. He spread his arms wide and glared furiously at Kurt, the closest one to him. The professor, Logan, Rogue, Scott, and Jean were in the infirmary with Kurt and the angry lion. Benj was asleep in the bed right next to Leo.

The feline mutant glared at the each of the others in the room, daring them to say something to him. Scott rubbed the back of his neck and looked at the ground, Jean became suddenly preoccupied with her rings on her fingers, Rogue started playing with the strap on her gloves, and Kurt's ears drooped, his tail literally between his legs. But Logan and the professor met his heated gaze.

"Hey kid-" Logan started.

"You must understand, Leo." The professor interrupted. "We had your best interests in mind. Your control over your powers has not…" he frowned, "…been the best, especially when it comes to your brother being injured."

Leo bared his teeth. "That was my first Danger Room session, professor! I got it under control, see?" He said pointedly. "I'm not just some powder keg ready to blow!" He paused, frowning. "Okay, maybe I am, but I've been working on it. You know that, Logan." He turned to his mentor. "Sure, I could still use some work, but I'll never be perfect. How am I supposed to know how I'm doing if I don't get a chance to try and control it on my own?!"

"We just didn't want you to get expelled, Leo." Kurt said quietly.

"There's no need ta get so angry, we were lookin' out for ya and everyone else." Rogue added in.

Scott glanced at the others. "Look, it's not that we think you can't handle it, it's just-"

"-just, well you know, that you don't have that experience." Jean finished. "The rest of us do, so we know how to keep our powers in control."

Rogue rolled her eyes. "Riiight," She snorted. "Like Scott just chooses to wear them ruby quartz glasses, and Ah choose ta wear clothes ovah mah whole body for fun."

Jean stepped around Scott to look at Rogue, "Hey, I wasn't saying that—!"

"No, ya weren't," Rogue interrupted, heatedly staring straight ahead before whirling to face the other girl, "but just because we know how ta use them doesn't mean we got them undah control." She glared daggers at Jean. "Some of us aren't that lucky."

Leo looked from one female mutant to the other, his own anger subsiding as he watched the two bicker. He hadn't seen the two in the same room often, and the times he had, Rogue never said anything to Jean unless she had to. Leo began to wonder if Rogue despised Jean. He couldn't see a reason why.

A conversation that was initially aimed to calm the newer mutant down was now turning into an escalating argument between Rogue and Jean. It didn't seem like either of the girls realized it was happening either, but the boys sure took notice, Scott and Kurt were quickly backing away.

Finally, Professor Xavier put a stop to it. "Rogue! Jean!" He said sharply, freezing both their tongues. "This isn't the time."

Jean looked away from Rogue quickly, while Rogue tore her angry gaze away hesitantly.

The professor sighed. "I am sorry, Leo. We—"

"Can I have a few minutes alone?" Leo asked suddenly, his eyes falling on his brother.

"Of course, we will be right outside when you are ready to talk some more."

"Thanks." The teen replied, tiredly sitting down on the infirmary bed next to his brother's. He waited until all the footsteps had filed out of the room and the infirmary door had whooshed close.

Leo sighed, going back through the last hour. Enrique and he had finished their homework and soccer release forms. He discovered he had to talk to the professor about getting a sport's physical done, as they went through the different forms. Enrique had stayed over for dinner, and that was when Leo started getting suspicious of Benj's whereabouts. By that time, one would assume he would have seen him.

After that, Leo offered his new friend a ride home, anxious to find out what had happened to his brother. Storm immediately counter-offered to take the boy home herself. Leo let her, but he almost wished he hadn't.

He looked at Benj again, his fury truly softening, his eyebrows spreading apart. He could understand why they thought he would lose it, Benj was pretty beat-up. His eye was swollen and purple; there was a bloody gash on his lip, and two very badly bruised ribs. Leo had watched Beast put a new ice pack and wrapping on Benj's chest. It looked like marble cake.

When he had come into the infirmary it was just Beast, Jean, and the professor. Jean was assisting Beast with the first aid, and had informed Leo that she was going to study genetics within medical science. Her classes started the next week, at a campus that was not too far outside of Bayville.

Scott, on the other hand, was attending classes at a community college in the area. After the Apocalypse event, he turned down an admission to a nice college a few hours away. He started putting more time into the X-Men and the Institute. He co-taught (and during the year would solo-teach) the Physics and Mutant Powers class to the younger students sporadically through the week, and was always devising new Danger Room course (with or without Logan). Scott became interested in what the professor suggested, on one day taking over the school.

From what Leo understood, the professor had asked Scott to seriously consider taking his place when it was time. To Scott, his home was the Institute, and he was dead set on staying there.

His mind fell back to Benj. The skater was breathing slowly, every few breaths flinching in his sleep. Leo ran his fingers through his fiery red hair and groaned.

"I should've been there…" Leo sighed. His crystal had alerted him something was up during Biology, but he had completely ignored it. Why didn't their empathy link let him know? He didn't fully understand how the thing worked; it always seemed like Leo's thoughts and events leaked into Benj's mind but not vice versa. He made a mental note to ask his brother about it.

Breathing deeply, he stood, turning to the door of the infirmary.

'Alright, professor.' Leo thought, hoping he'd hear him.

And the professor did, the next instant the X-Men had filed back in, Kitty with them this time.

When they were all inside the room, the professor began speaking. "Leo, like Jean pointed out, you need a way to test your control. Due to your performance in training sessions and how you've handled events today I'd like to give you that chance." Leo looked at Xavier, perplexed. The professor smiled. "I believe it's time we moved you up onto the main X-Men team, Leo. Your hard work and dedication so far has paid off."

"Congrats, runt." Logan grunted.

The feline mutant blinked. His tail curled strangely and then flared back out. He was being moved up to an official X-Man.

Woah. Was the only thought in his head. The shock numbed his body and filled it with excitement.

Kurt was beaming at him, and Rogue was smirking next to him. "Way to go." They said in unison.

"I… wow." Leo muttered. He shook his head. "Wow."

His awed thoughts suddenly crashed to a halt.

"What about Benj?"

There was an awkward pause as Xavier cleared his throat and glanced at Logan and Scott before answering, "We decided he needs a little more time before he's placed on the full team. He works well at the moment with the younger mutants."

The teen frowned. "Oh…" Leo forced himself to hide his disappointment behind a lunatic grin. "Well, this should still be fun!"

Kurt bounced up to him and gave him a high five. "Alright buddy! Now you get one of these stylish fashion accessories too!" He gestured to something that looked like a watch on his wrist. It was dark green, and had a spherical bulge with a red X in the middle.

Professor X came up to Leo and handed him an identical one. "This is the relay to the alert system. It is connected to Cerebro, the Danger Room, and general mansion security."

"Essentially if something's wrong, it blinks." Logan clarified.

"Now, don't lose it Leo." Scott said grinning, shooting a look at Rogue. "Someone in here managed to lose hers." He mocked.

"Hey!" Rogue growled.

Leo looked down at the watch, or communicator, or whatever it was. It appeared oddly familiar, as if he'd seen one up close before. Perhaps it was just from seeing it on the other X-Men's wrists.

Kitty noted Leo's contemplative look. "Is something up, Leo?"

He frowned in response. "I think I may have seen this before."

"Well, like, we have all been wearing them."

He shook his head. "No, it's gotta be from somewhere else." He looked up. "It's like it's on the tip of my tongue but I can't say it." He turned to Rogue. "When did you lose yours?"

"Several weeks ago. But it's only evah been on me or in mah room. No one's been—" Realization dawned on her face and she slapped her forehead. "Benj broke inta mah room. That's when I lost it, the day he snuck inta mah room and knocked me out. He musta taken it then."

Leo's face brightened. "That's it! It was on the dresser in our room a while back! Mystery solved!"

There was a quiet muttering behind him, and he turned. Benj's lips were moving slightly but his eyes weren't open. Leo crouched down and listened to what he was saying.

"Shut up and go away." The blonde teen hissed.

Leo gulped, straightening up and looking at the X-Men.

Logan nodded. "I think the windbag wants us to give him some peace and quiet."

"He told me to shut up…" Leo whined.

The others laughed and began to file out of the room.

Rogue was the last one to leave, and the only one to hear the last of Benj's words.

"We came here together…"


Xavier Institute - Rec Room

"What do you mean Leo's on the regular team?!" Bobby yelled at Jamie. The younger boy shrugged and ran off. Bobby turned to Ray exasperated. "What the hell?"

Ray frowned. "I don't get it. We were here way longer than him." He gestured to the rest of the 'new mutants' who were grouped around them. Of all of them, only Bobby had managed to get on the regular X-Men team, and that was only recently.

"Do you know how long it took for me to earn my spot?" Bobby growled. The next part of the rant was mouthed by Tabitha who sat off to his left. "Like, nearly an entire year! If anyone deserves to be on the X-Men, it's me."

"Dude, the rest of us have been here that long too. And you're at least on the team now." Ray grumbled.

"Why do you care so much that Leo's on the regular team?" Amara asked. "We should be congratulating him, not complaining about his success."

"Yeah, and I seem to remember him kicking your sorry ass the other day in the Danger Room, Bobby." Tabitha teased.

"So what? I wasn't awake! Who is awake and ready at seven in the morning?" Bobby protested.

"Apparently Leo." Tabitha replied smugly.

"I'm going to have to agree with Bobby one this one." Sam added. "It ain't really fair that Leo got on the team over us."

Amara shook her head and stood up. "If you guys want to complain about another guy's victory, go ahead. I'm going to congratulate Leo." She said as she left the game room.

Once she opened the door, she saw that Leo was leaning against the wall just outside.

"Leo!" She exclaimed. "I'm so happy for you!"

He grunted. "At least you are. None of them seem to like me too much." He frowned and stared straight ahead at the wall. Suddenly he roared and slammed his fist into the pedestal holding a small bust next to him.

Amara jumped back, and then tentatively came closer to him.

"They don't get it! I had to work forty times harder than any of 'em!" Leo looked angrily at Amara. "None of their powers involves another side of themselves they can't let out. None of them," he yelled, pointing at the wall, where on the other side was the 'new mutants', "have a lion to tame! Sure I did it faster than 'em, but that was 'cause I had no choice!" By the end of his yelling he was breathing heavily. He looked at Amara whose face was both frightened and sad. "I'm so sorry Amara, I didn't mean to go off on you like that…"

She held up her hand. "It's okay. I'm sorry for our teammates in there who can't be happy for you."

Leo took her hand, and then hugged her. "Thanks Amara, you don't get how much it means to me to hear someone who's happy for me."

Amara's face turned bright red as Leo let go. He smiled goofily then ran down the hall.

She had no idea what just happened, but she was happy it did.


The Brotherhood Boarding House

Lance, Blob, Toad, and Pietro watched Magneto as he inspected the house from the safety of the living room. Blob, being unable to hide efficiently, served as the hiding place. The television was turned on to his usual evening cartoons, and he was able to busy himself by pretending to be engrossed in them as the others peered over his shoulders at the Master of Magnetism.

"Dude, why is he still here?" Lance hissed at Pietro. The unfortunate ground-shaker had hoped Magneto would leave them alone for a bit after their stern conversation about Lance becoming a spy on the X-Men. The man being around constantly was stressing him out.

"How the hell should I know?" Pietro whispered furiously.

"He's your father!"

"Yeah, the father who's been out of my life for years!" Pietro answered back.

"Yo, why don't we just ask 'im?" Toad suggested.

Lance and Pietro looked at him like he had grown horns. "Yeah, great idea! That could never backfire." Lance agreed sarcastically. "Are you insane? Magneto would kill us!"

"What, fo' askin' why he's still here?" Toad said sarcastically. "Look, if you sissies are too afraid to ask him, I will." He jumped out from behind Blob and began to approach Magneto.

"Well, that was uncharacteristically brave." Pietro mumbled.

"Yeah, but if it keeps our butts from being whooped, great." Lance whispered. Anyone else suffering Magneto's wrath but him was a perfectly fine solution.

Toad hopped up behind Magneto and cleared his throat. The man turned around and glanced down at the teen. Once again, Magneto was wearing his 'strictly business' suit.

"So, uh, Magneto, boss, sir… What exactly are you still doin' here?" Toad asked tentatively.

Magneto looked down his nose at the disgusting teen. "I am going to pay for repairs to this pathetic boarding house. My Brotherhood cannot just live in slop. To be taken seriously, you cannot just appear to be teenage delinquents. I have plans for you that require more serious measures. As for why I'm still here, I'm here to stay to whip this team into shape. More than just my daughter's skill is needed."

Toad gulped at the ominous statement and hopped back to the guys. "He ain't goin' nowhere. Magneto's here to stay."

"What?" Pietro yelled, his voice quickly dropping to a hiss. "The man who left us here to fend for ourselves is now living with us? I can't believe this!"

"Believe it, Pietro," Magneto said, causing the boys to yelp. "You wanted to be a part of my plans before, are you still interested?" The boys glared silently. "If not, I can always arrange for public services to come and place you back in foster care." He said menacingly.

The comment was directed at Lance more than anyone else. He spent most of his life in foster care, bouncing between families, and was not willing to ever go back. It looked like he was going to be doing exactly what the man said.

"No, sir." Lance said nervously. "We're on board."

"Good. I think it's time to try to lure the new mutants the X-Men are hiding out." Magneto said, turning away. "Suit up, Wanda will join you shortly."

Pietro emerged from behind Blob's chair. "Just where is Wanda?"

"Doing some… research for me." Magneto answered.


Wanda crouched in the shadows on the roof of a warehouse downtown. She peered down into the alleyway Magneto was having her watch. There was nothing but a dumpster and a couple of overflowing trash cans. She didn't know what was so special about it until she saw a purple swirling mass emerging from the brick wall.

The swirling looked like a portal opening; she assumed this is what Magneto wanted to know about. Pushing increasing boredom from her mind she watched as several dark figures emerged.

First was a girl with dark brown hair with purple streaks. She had a long black trench coat on and some sort of tight purple clothing underneath, but in the dark lighting it was hard to tell what exactly. The girl immediately turned her attention to the portal and extended her hands, as if she was keeping it open.

Then another girl followed out, wearing a tan cloth mask that covered all of her face, minus her neon green eyes. She was also wearing a light weight tan uniform that looked like a martial arts costume, but was slighted armored in the chest. As she emerged from the portal she rubbed her forearms that were covered in an elegantly patterned bronze wrist guards that went nearly to her elbows. A curved sword was slung across her back. She hissed something to the portal and another two figures came out.

Both were girls as well. One was very short, maybe just barely over five feet (but also possibly not even that), and had dark dirty blonde hair pulled into a ponytail. The suit this girl wore was half green, and half blue, the blue half being on the right, the green on the left. On the sleeves and legs there were hazel and brown curved stripes going down to her wrists and ankles. On the back of the uniform was a purple paw-print, and there were two matching smaller silver ones on the chest of her uniform. Brown boots covered her feet, and brown fingerless gloves were on her hands.

The other was of average height, possibly around five foot six inches. She had tan skin, short dark brown hair, and an elfish face. Her ears were pointed as well to match her facial features. The body build of this girl held hidden power, although little muscle showed it was obvious she was extremely flexible and able to hold her own. She wore a tight black body suit with matching gloves, a thick belt with throwing knives strapped on, a black trench coat over top, and orange tinted aviator goggles around her neck.

"Alright Portal, where'd he say he was?" The girl in tan asked, her green eyes sweeping the alley.

"Ricky said he was about two blocks down. He had the woman drop him off at the apartments over there." 'Portal' the girl with purple streak in her hair answered. "He just texted he's trying to get her to leave without her seeing him enter one. She seems intent on making sure he 'gets home okay'." She laughed, a nasally sound.

The elf girl laughed too. "Yeah, if she knew where he really lived she'd probably have a heart-attack." She had an under-laying Italian accent. "So what's the plan Clay?" She asked, turning to the girl in tan.

Clay's eyes narrowed, although Wanda couldn't see her face she knew she was frowning. "Well… Knife," she called the Italian elf, "you and me are going to pick up some groceries." Knife snickered. "Portal, you stay here with Ash and wait for him to show up. When he does, just wait here, we won't be too long."

Knife removed her black trench coat and threw it to Portal. "Hold on to that, will ya?" Portal nodded and caught the flying coat.

"Come on." Clay growled impatiently. "I haven't gotten to steal anything in over a month since Jaller got elected leader." Her voice held a lot of restrained anger.

"Oh relax Clay. When we get back we can talk about that guy in the back of your English class."

Clay stopped nearly at the entrance of the alleyway. "Shut-up. Now."

Knife laughed and ran up the side of the brick wall and perched half-way up. "If you don't want me to tease you, you shouldn't tell me these things!"

Wanda shook her head. These were the mutants Magneto wanted her to keep an eye on? They were nothing but a couple of teenage girls.

"This was a waste of my time." She growled softly. If it wasn't her father who assigned the mission, she would have left right then. She watched the two girls exit the alley and redirected her attention to the two remaining.

The short one, apparently Ash, stood silently and looked around her with curiosity. Portal climbed atop the dumpster and took out a cell phone. The light from the screen lit up the dark alley.

"Alright, Ash. Ricky's almost here. I hope Clay and Knife are fast." Portal said, leaping down from the dumpster. Ash nodded, and wordlessly took Knife's trench coat from Portal. "Thanks."

A male figure appeared in the lamplight just outside the alley. He glanced cautiously side-to-side before entering. Entering slowly he pulled the brown hoodie off his head, revealing short white hair like Pietro's. Unlike Pietro, though, he had a black zig-zag going down on the left side of his head

"Ricky!" Portal squealed as she rushed to hug him. He accepted it one-handedly.

"Hey Portal." Ricky said, wrapping his arms around her and lifting her up. She was just a little shorter than him. "Where are Clay and Knife?" He asked, his voice held a Spanish accent.

"Grabbing some groceries." Portal giggled.

Ricky chuckled silently. "How has your day been Ash?" He asked softly, turning to the silent girl.

Ash mumbled something, and Ricky nodded. "I know right? Beats the 'home schooling' we get at the Haven. Make any new friends?"

Ash shook her head.

"Oh well." Ricky smiled hugely. "I did."

"A guy?" Ash mumbled in question.

Ricky nodded, his smile growing.

Ash didn't smile but showed her happiness for him by giving him a thumbs up. Ricky's smile increased even more, if it was possible. He knew Ash almost never smiled, and that if she did it didn't actually show how she was feeling.

Portal smiled sadly and walked away.

Wanda rolled her eyes. If Magneto wanted her to watch teenage drama she could always turn on Degrassi. She continued to observe as this Ricky described whoever this guy was. She couldn't have been happier than when the two girls Clay and Knife came back with arms full of grocery bags.

"Alright, I give the police twenty minutes or less to find us. Let's go." Clay commanded. "Nice to see you Cloak, how was the Institute?"

Wanda's eyes widened. One of them had been inside the Xavier Institute. Maybe this was why Magneto wanted them observed.

"Fine. It is HUGE. Although I still prefer the Haven. Nothing is better than being able to see the stars from my bedroom." Ricky, AKA Cloak, said.

Clay nodded. "Portal, take us home."

The girl with purple streaks in her hair spread her arms wide and a swirling purple portal opened up in front of her.

Clay tossed the bags to Cloak and Ash and drew her sword. "You guys go on, I'll follow up."

Her team filed into the portal, leaving just Clay and Portal out. Clay turned her neon green eyes up to wear Wanda was hiding. "You." She yelled, pointing her sword at Wanda. "Come on, I know you're there."

Wanda's breath caught in her throat as she stood, preparing for a fight. Clay sheathed her sword and jumped up to the roof of the warehouse. At such a close distance, Wanda could tell the other girl's skin was a sort of tan-gray, like the color of unmolded clay. The wrist guards covered most of the back of Clay's hands, but left her fingers uncovered. She stuck a tan-gray finger in Wanda's face.

"Tell Magneto to leave the Haven alone." Clay growled. Her form stretched and then shrank into a hawk. In her morph she screeched at Wanda and flew off the top of the warehouse, back down into the alley.

Wanda ran over to the side of the building and looked down. The alley was completely devoid of teenagers.

***BREAK***

Xavier Institute

A little later that night, Rogue came back into the infirmary. She moved quietly, hardly making a sound as her feet walked over the tiles. She half-expected to see Leo sitting in a chair beside his brother's bed, but knowing he had a long day, she wasn't surprised he was not sitting there.

When Rogue came closer to the bed she noticed the boy's breathing slowed and grew heavy suddenly. She rolled her eyes, resisting the urge to shove the boy out of his bed. Instead, she noisily dragged one of the chairs against the wall alongside his bed. He flinched at the screeching and seemed to have a moment of thought as to whether that would have woken him up or not. As Rogue sat down he sighed, and opened his eyes, breaking his façade.

"Ah knew ya were awake there." She smirked.

He tried pulling himself into a sitting position, but groaned as his ribs complained, sending a jolt of pain through him.

"I'll just lay here then, if that's okay." He grumbled, staring up at the ceiling.

Rogue laughed softly. "Yeah, that's fine."

"Good."

There was a pause.

"What are you doing—"

"How are ya feelin'—"

The two stopped their simultaneous sentences, Benj chuckling slightly.

"Go on, Rogue."

"Uh, well Ah was just goin' ta ask ya how ya were feeling." She said hastily.

Benj grimaced. "Is 'like crap' an adequate response?"

"Ah suppose." She hesitated in asking her next question. She wasn't sure how he'd react, and he seemed upset in addition to in physical pain. "Does it have anything ta do with yahr brothah being selected for the main X-Men team?"

Silence met her question. His eyes were stonily set upon the ceiling once more, his jaw tense.

"Look, Ah'm sorry for askin'. Ah didn't mean ta upset—"

"He doesn't trust me." Benj interrupted, a sharp point to his tongue.

Rogue blinked, bewildered by his sudden vague statement. "What?"

The teen sat up against his better judgment and looked her in the eye. His eyes were pained and haggard, the shadowy bruise over his face making him a terrifying sight to see. "Xavier doesn't trust me." When Rogue opened her mouth, he plowed on. "Oh save it. Leo and I are on the same level of trouble-maker and I have far more control over my powers. Yeah, I know it's not his fault, but it's a fact.

His face was pale in his anger. "To add to that, we frickin' had decided when we came here we'd stick together!" He clutched his side as though his shouting hurt. "Apparently that don't count no more."

Rogue didn't know what to say to his fuming. He was slipping into a harsher, street dialect, probably one that he mainly used when he was out with his skater crew. Normally at the Institute he spoke calmly, his voice clear, and quiet; however at this moment another side to his personality was showing through. Perhaps it was the best course to wait out his ranting.

But he didn't continue, on the contrary, he sat back and leaned his head against the top of his pillow and sighed. His breathing was shallow, but he was taking obvious steps to control it.

"What exactly happened today?" She asked cautiously.

He laughed bitterly. "Funny. The professor didn't even ask me that. Beast did. Told 'im of course. Xavier didn't even come back in here until he was here with Leo."

"Benj, he was seein' ta othah things. The youngah team had a Dangah Room session. Leo had a friend ovah."

"He still could've asked me, instead of flipping through my mind while I was trying to sleep." He grumbled.

Rogue pinched the bridge of her nose. "The professah has his reasons for doin' things. Ah bet he was just tryin' to give you some peace and quiet."

Benj's defiant and angry face melted a little. "I know. It's just been a rough day."

"Really? Hadn't noticed with ya bein' in the infirmary and all." Rogue said snidely, a small hope to get him to smile or laugh genuinely.

He humored her with a small grin. "Hey, it's not my fault."

"Ya gonna tell me what happened or do Ah have ta make up a story?"

Benj smiled quickly, but his face darkened just as soon as it was gone. "I got into a bit of a fight."

"Well Ah guessed as much."

"Shh, do you want me to tell you what happened or not?" He said smugly, receiving an eye roll from Rogue. Benj continued, "To start it off, I am an idiot. I made friends with people who I should've realized were terrible people. And then I made a bet with them."

"Ahh, it all comes back ta the bet." Rogue muttered. "I nevah really undahstood what that was in the first place."

Benj rubbed the back of his neck, it was embarrassing now to look back on what brought him into the Xavier Institute initially. "Um, basically I had to steal something from the mansion or I'd have to pay this guy Lucius a hundred bucks. Plus he was starting to figure out my family was a bunch of mutants, and began hinting threats at me of what he would do to them if I didn't do certain things."

"So the guy was a jerk."

"Such wisdom in a girl your age." Benj said mockingly, she stuck out her tongue and he went on. "Technically, I completed the bet. I gave your wrist-watchy thing to Vince a few weeks ago to give to Lucius. I trust Vince, so I know it got there. Only, Lucius didn't see it that way, he still wanted his money. He cornered me during ninth period today, I got a little lost running from the shop room up to English." He sighed. "Guy called Socks grabbed me by the throat and pinned me, Lucius asked for his money, when I said I didn't owe him anything he started wailing on me."

Rogue frowned, the injuries on the other teen now making clear sense. "How many times did he hit ya?" She asked, her voice quiet. She wished she could've been there to protect him.

"I dunno, several? A lot? It hurt, clearly, and I wasn't keeping track. I could've taken them if…"

"If?"

"If I had used my powers sooner."

The girl's eyes went wide. "Ya used yahr powahs, Benj? Do ya have any idea—"

"Yeah, I do, but I wasn't just going to lay there. I'd had enough, I had to stop them before I passed out."

"Just what did ya do?"

"I may have flung them into those trees on the edge of the courtyard." He muttered.

"Benj!"

"Just a little bit…"

"Benj!" She groaned. "If the administrators find out, they'll go for yahr head!"

He waved his hands in a motion for her to calm down and quiet down. "Hey hey hey, I think they'll see that it was only in self-defense. I showed a lot of self-restraint. Just look at my face!"

Rogue's eyes softened. His face was hard to look at without feeling sorry for him. The bruising took up half his face and his lip was split. He did not deserve this.

Not really realizing what she was doing, she took his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Hey, ya've taken more shit in yahr first day than we've taken in the past year from that school. If ya can make it through a few more days, Ah think ya'll be okay."

He nodded, but his eyes shot down to their joined hands. Benj could feel his face growing warm, but he didn't know what to do. So he settled for awkward silence.

His savior once again, was blue and fuzzy.

The doors to the infirmary burst open, followed by the young and blue X-Man.

"I hope I am not interrupting anything of dire importance." The elf said as he walked in the room. His statement gave Benj a reason to quickly take his hand out of Rogue's. Kurt nodded at Benj. "It is good to see you awake mein freund. I'm sorry but I vill have to take Rogue away now."

"It's fine." Benj waved it off.

Rogue stood and began to follow Kurt.

"What's up?"

"Da professor wants to see us." He stated. "The Brotherhood is at it again."


For some reason, Magneto just wanted the Brotherhood boys to make trouble at a closed amusement park.

So they did.

Blob was having a great time ransacking all the food carts and stalls. Toad was goofing around the game stands with Quicksilver. The two of them would take turns being the customer then the booth operator. Toad won five gigantic teddy bears and Quicksilver decided to take the rest.

Avalanche leaned back on a bench casually. He turned his head to the House of Mirrors. "How much you wanna bet I can break every mirror in there?" He asked Toad.

Toad squinted one eye closed and stroked his chin. "I'll give you this teddy bear for Kitty if you can manage to…"

The ground shook violently and the House of Mirrors bucked into the air before slamming back down. There was an ear-deafening amount of shattering glass.

"I'll take that bear." Avalanche said, scooping the bear up from off the ground.

"A stolen bear, Lance? Come on. Ya can do bettah than that." Rogue scoffed.

Avalanche whirled around and stumbled back. The rest of the X-Men were filing in behind her. Lance noted an additional member in the back with red spikey hair and a sleeveless uniform.

"Who's the new guy?" Quicksilver asked, running up to Lance.

"Don't know, but I bet we can take him." Avalanche answered menacingly. His eyes rolled back and the ground beneath the X-Men began to shake.

They scattered. The Brotherhood followed suit and split up. Quicksilver noticed Wanda walking in the entrance.

"Hey! Glad you could join us." He called.

Leo got a little caught in the scrambling and lost his footing in the earthquake. A huge shadow fell over him as he picked himself up. It was Blob.

Blob put both meaty hands around Leo and lifted him from the ground. "And what do they call you? Pipsqueak?" He roared with laughter.

"Actually," Leo grunted, the air escaping from his lungs. "They just call me Leo." He quickly shifted, digging his razor sharp claws into Blob's hands.

Blob released him angrily. "Yeeeag!" The Blob screamed, grasping his bleeding hands. He charged forward and swung his bloody fist at Leo. It struck him and sent him flying through the air.

"Huh, you're not so tough." Blob grumbled as he turned and came face-to-hand with Rogue.

"Don't mind if Ah borrow yar powah do ya?" Rogue said snidely as Blob fell face first into the dirt. "Didn't think so."


Cyclops was trying to hit Toad, who was bouncing around on the rides.

"Can't hit me. Nope, too slow!" He taunted as Cyclops missed yet again with an energy blast.

Both looked up as Leo came flying by. Leo crashed right into the bumper-car ride. He got up angrily and brushed electrical parts angrily off of him.

"Yikes," Toad said. "Yo, who is that?"

Leo growled, and ruffled his mane.

"That's," Cyclops said, "Leo."

Toad shrieked as Leo came charging at him, claws extended. Scott tried not to laugh at the comical sight of a toad hopping away from an angry lion. He turned and chased after the pair.

Leo slashed at Toad, but the mutant jumped out of the way, causing Leo to leave deep slash marks in the metal car of the rollercoaster. Toad hopped down to the controls and pushed a green button.

"Heh, I wonder what this one does." Toad chuckled. Leo was hit by the bar in the rollercoaster car and fell over. He sat back up and tore the bar up. Realizing the car was now moving he jumped to the control booth below.

"I'll tell you what it does." Leo growled at Toad. "In fact, I'll show you!" He grabbed Toad by the back of his neck and climbed back up onto the slowly moving rollercoaster car. Toad was screaming, and Leo wrapped the broken bar around him. The two sat down in the car behind with a working bar. Leo snapped the bar down and wrapped part of the other bar around this one. He stood up and waved at Toad. "Have a fun ride." He called jumping from the car.

"Wait a minute! You can't just leave meeeeeeeeeeeee!" Toad screamed as the car plummeted from the first drop.

Cyclops met Leo at the base of the coaster. "Nicely done." He said.

Leo nodded and sighed. "What now, oh fearless leader?"

The two surveyed the area. Blob was out, face down in the dirt; Quicksilver was struggling inside a net of hardened cotton candy, the handiwork of Nightcrawler and Iceman; and Avalanche was hanging upside down from the Ferris wheel.

"Looks like the Brotherhood's all out." Scott said.

Leo frowned, "I thought you said there was one more? A girl?"

Jean floated over to the two guys. "Has anyone seen the Scarlet Witch? I could have sworn she was here before."

Cyclops shrugged. "She's gotta be here somewhere, let's look." The three nodded and split up.

The feline mutant decided to check the area around the bumper-car ride. Leo peered behind one of the controls of the trashed bumper-cars. Suddenly a blue glow engulfed one of the squashed cars, "Oh no." Leo mumbled as he ducked. The car went flying by overhead.

"So you're the X-Men's newest recruit?" Wanda sneered.

"Maybe, who's askin'?" Leo answered, throwing the control panel at her. It stopped in midair, but not from her powers. From in the shadows, Magneto emerged, hand extended.

"I am the one asking." He said, flinging the control panel nonchalantly at Leo. The teen rolled out of the way. He extended his powers and was happy to find that Leo's claws were made of metal. "Now what do we have here?" He questioned as he caused Leo to extend his own claws in agony.

Leo roared in pain.

"Now that's a bit, over dramatic, don't you think?" Magneto taunted.


The X-Men regrouped at the entrance of the amusement park. Everyone, except Leo.

"Anyone find Wanda?" Nightcrawler asked.

Everyone shook their heads.

"Wait," Shadowcat said, looking around. "Where's Leo?"

"Everyone, look for Leo!" Cyclops ordered. "Jean can you try to find him telepathically?"

"I can, but he's not going to like it." She closed her eyes and reached out around the park to try and find Leo. "There!" She said pointing. "He's at the bumper-cars. And he has company."

"The Scarlet Witch?" Rogue asked.

Jean nodded, "And Magneto."

With that comment, renewed urgency flooded into the group.


Magneto made a sweeping motion with his hands and caused Leo to fly across the ride by his claws. Leo slammed into a pile of bumper-cars and groaned. He was getting his can kicked.

"There's so much more you can do with your powers, Leo." Magneto said soothingly. "You don't have to serve a human lover. We as mutants should be above that."

Leo snarled and leapt at Magneto. "Who the hell are you?"

"Think of me as kin." Magneto said, sidestepping Leo. "Since all of your family is dead."

Leo spun around and slashed his claws at the magnetic mutant. Renewed anger pulsed through his veins. "How do you know about my family?" He said, stopping.

Magneto brushed some dust off his shoulder armor. "Oh I know a lot about you Leo Dyson. Your brother Tyler has been trapped in your house in shame for two years because of his mutation. Your adopted brother Benjamin Dents caused his parents' car accident. Then there's you Leo." He said softly, coming very close to the lion. "You have your own dark side, don't you? What exactly happened to those teenagers who set your house on fire? Where are they now?"

"Stop it. STOP IT! You don't know ANYTHING about me!" Leo roared. The lion within was set loose on a short leash. He slashed faster and stronger than Magneto could fend off. He cut deep gashes in the Master of Magnetism's armor. He grabbed the man around the throat and brought him close to his face. He bared his fangs and growled. "Whoever you are, I'm not interested." And flung the man against the wall.

"Leo!" The lion mutant turned and saw the rest of the X-Men running up to him. Suddenly he felt very drained. Kurt was the first to reach him and he leaned heavily on the blue elf.

"Woah, Leo! Your arm!" Kurt yelled.

Leo looked down at his arm and saw it was drenched with blood. He leaned more on Kurt and shifted back to human. "It'll heal." He said woozily.

"Ahh! Leo stay with us." Nightcrawler shook him as the amber eyes started to roll to the back of his head.

Cyclops looked around. "Where's Magneto?"

Shadowcat glanced behind her to where she had left Lance on the Ferris wheel. "Scott! The Brotherhood are gone as well!" The chair that had held Lance was now empty.

Cyclops pounded his fist on the wall of the bumper cars. "How could they just vanish?"

Leo slipped from Kurt's grasp and fell to the ground.

"Oh man, I better get him back to the Institute now." Kurt said nervously.

Leo grabbed his bleeding arm and watched as the world got fuzzier and fuzzier.


Professor Xavier looked on as Beast bandaged up Leo. Already, the teen had healed enough to stop most of the bleeding, but the cut in his arm was still quite deep. He folded his hands under his chin.

Just what was Magneto doing?


Fun fact #21: At this point in the old version, Benj and Rogue were practically dating. Only some problems. There was no lead up, and it so did not work with the ultimate plan with the later Haven storyline. Can't say much more about it. Spoilers.

Fun fact #22: Somehow in the old version of the chapter, I called Leo: Leo Dents. Yeah, uh no. But, ironically, that is the name of Benj's son. Oops, spoilers. Motivation for me on writing more.

Fun fact #23: Original update for this chapter was posted January of 2012. Dude. That's a long time ago. I was also restarting school then, as I am now. Yay.

A/N: Alright, so I fixed some spots that were uncharacter-like in the old chapter and mellowed out Benj and Rogue to a more realistic relationship. They're just friends.

I make no promises when Beyond Reasons will be done. When it was written originally it was done twice, with different endings. Neither of which was I satisfied with. So I will probably have to merge the two together. Also I hope you enjoyed the longer chapter here (not counting A/N it counted 7,198 words).

If you're into AUs especially Westerns feel free to check out Not How It Works.

Until next time.

Keep writing strong.