Wanda could feel her hands itching, the sparks thrumming around her skin. She wanted to hurt someone, to hit them, to make the bubbling cauldron of feelings inside her stomach go away. All she needed was the merest hint of where to start.

There wasn't an object though, and for now she just felt sick. Despite the scene it would have caused, Karma had almost posed as a convenient, and very attractive, target. As the minutes ticked by though, it did make her a little ashamed how eager she was just to hurt someone, put the blame somewhere else? Hadn't that been what Magneto had accused her of days ago, the reason why she was estranged from her mother and sister?

But it hadn't really occurred to her that Lorna wouldn't tell any of her new friends about her family. It should have, admittedly, but it still came as a shock to the system. Wanda hadn't hesitated to tell Domino what had happened to Lorna, and she hated that her baby sister had basically been denying their existence for the past few years.

But then again, could she blame her? Lorna has been in a normal, happy place that had all the trappings of permanence since she was seventeen. Wanda doubted her sister's first few years at the school fell under that category. Her sister had a job that she obviously enjoyed, and many people who cared about her.

The last thing she needed was everyone finding out about her life pre-Westchester. It would probably screw up any potential friendships and, most likely, any potential romantic relationships. Not that she had seen any of the latter, but still.

It still hurt though, which was a good way to describe everything that was happening at the moment. It all hurt. Everything, even the things that shouldn't. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear as she followed the others out, receiving venomous looks from Karma as she did so.

At least she wasn't the only one who wasn't quite ready to burry the hatchet. It would have driven her mad if all of the X-men turned out to be a saint like Hank or a cool, righteous realist like Alex.

She felt someone walk next to her, and she didn't have to look to see who it was. Even so, she deliberately looked away.

"Hey," Peter said, "I know you're still pissed at me."

It was an understatement. Wanda had just been getting calmed down enough to talk to her mother and, maybe, to Lorna, when she'd heard Hank babbling something about possession. She had wanted to talk to both of them, see just how much damage had been done.

Their answers were supposed to help her figure out whether or not she was ever talking to her brother again. Now that that opportunity had been taken, she was going to go with the safe route and ignore him.

"Just um, I think we need to find Lorna," he said, "And then I think we need to have a talk. All of us. Even...even mom I think."

She continued to look away, resisting the urge to smack him and ask what he thought that would help. It was too late for some sort of family therapy session.

"Or maybe you just need to listen for five minutes before I skat," he said, "I uh, I'm kinda getting the feeling that we may never see each other after all this gets settled."

It was certainly a possibility.

"Just, um, when that time does come, I do want you to know that I'm sorry," he said.

She shook her head. It was time to break the silence.

"Sorry isn't enough Peter," she hissed.

He chuckled and she wanted to smack him for that.

"Nah," he said, "Didn't say it was. Just wanted to let you know that. I'll let anyone know that really."

"What good is it if you tell it to everyone?" asked Wanda.

Peter looped his hands in his belt, his stride becoming increasingly off-kilter. Wanda knew that his foot must still be causing him pain. Good.

"Not much, maybe," he said, "But, all the same, I need to say it."

She glared at him out of the corner of her eye as they walked outside. Daylight had all but fled, and she could feel the chill bite of the air. Peter was still right beside her, probably still waiting. He could wait forever.

"Everyone!" Alex called, "Five minutes?"

Grateful for the distraction, Wanda looked over at Alex. He was standing in his combat gear, arms folded across his chest.

"Now, I don't think she would've been able to reach the main road, not the way she was going," he said, "I think she wanted something from the school, which is why she didn't just run off the minute this thing possessed Lorna. Since we know she didn't loop back around to the school, we should probably split up in teams of two. Quicksilver, got any advice if she puts up a fight?"

Her brother cleared his throat.

"This thing, it's a pretty vicious fighter, and it sure as hell doesn't feel pain," he said, "But it's got a broken wrist. It hasn't shown any inclination not to use it, but it's still something worth noting. The left arm will be a lot weaker than the right."

"Okay, good," he said, "Now, it's movie night for the students, so they wont' know what's going on. All the same, I would like to keep explosions to a minimum. Some of them are older, and they're already figuring a lot of stuff out. Now, there's seven of us, which makes this a tad problematic when it comes to splitting up."

He breathed in.

"But, here's my suggestion," he said, "Three teams. Karma and Cannonball, you're together. Beast, you and Magneto."

She thought she saw Hank wince a little bit, and Magneto raised an eyebrow. There was obviously some sort of history there, but whatever it was, it was probably better than putting him with Karma or Cannonball.

"I'll take the twins," Alex said.

"Sure that's safe?" snorted Karma.

God, that woman.

"Yeah," Alex said, "I got this. We all have radios, so give a shout-out if you find anything."

There were several nods from the X-men. Alex pointed at Karma and Cannonball before jerking his thumb in one direction. The two took off, not saying a word. He nodded quickly at Hank, who hesitated before walking up to him.

"Hank," Magneto said, his tone more of a statement then a question.

"Two minutes," Hank said irritably.

He reached Alex and the two began speaking in hushed voices. Curious, Wanda went and tucked another piece of hair behind her ear. As she did so, a thin film of red sparks coated it. She didn't normally use her powers to listen in on other people's conversations, they often had better ways, ones where the audio actually came thorugh clearly, but she was feeling a little curious at the moment.

What exactly did Hank want to say to Alex that they couldn't hear?


"How are you holding up?" asked Hank.

Alex forced himself to give his friend a level look.

"Fine," he said.

"How are you really holding up?" Hank asked.

Alex sighed.

"Not great," he said, "Not really. Not that that matters though."

"Why not?"

"Because it can't," said Alex, "I'm not going to do Lorna any good by getting all emotional like her siblings are. It doesn't help her."

"And yet you chose to be paired with them," Hank said.

"Because it was either me or I throw Karma and Cannonball to them," he said, "Karma hates Scarlet, and Sam doesn't know that they're all related. I don't know if the twins have clued in yet that it's not common knowledge that they're Lorna's siblings."

He'd sounded clinical, detached, up to that point, but he couldn't help the slight crack in his voice when he finished.

"She already got her choice about whether or not to tell people that taken away from her once in the past twenty-four hours," he said, "I'd like to avoid doing that again if I can."

Hank nodded and, for a moment, Alex thought that the conversation was over.

"And why did you really decide to go with them?" Hank asked.

Alex opened his mouth to protest, but Hank just shook his head. Sometimes he really did miss the times when his friend was too shy to offer opinions about the emotions of others.

Apparently those years were long gone.

"Don't try to deny that there's something else going on here," Hank said.

Alex ground his teeth together. Seeing that he wasn't going to protest, Hank shoved his hands in his pockets. Alex had always thought it was strange that he had included pockets in his uniform, but maybe he'd done that just so he could do this.

Seemed fitting.

"Alex, how long have I known you?" Hank said, "Granted, you've shown yourself to be tougher than we've given you credit for in the past. Raising Scott, taking charge of the X-men, but what you told Lorna this morning...I thought you were a good man before that but after..."

Hank swallowed and Alex waited patiently, his hands digging into his arms.

"Charles would be proud of you," he said.

It was all he said on the subject but, somehow, it said it all. Alex cleared his throat, feeling the lump there.

"And that's when I knew you really loved her," said Hank, "Because I know what it took to make you say that. I know that it wasn't easy, but you meant it."

"That wasn't on the field," muttered Alex.

"No, you're usually pretty detached on the field, and that's a good thing," Hank agreed, "But that doesn't mean that you don't make any emotional decisions, and I'm pretty sure this is one of them."

"Well, if you've got this all figured out, can we go?" asked Alex.

"You want to be with them because they understand, I think, in a way that the rest of us can't," Hank said, ignoring him, "Sam and I were her teachers, Xi'an's her friend but you love her, and that changes things. The only one with sentiments on that level are the twins, and I think you know that."

He rubbed his temples, trying to focus on something that wasn't Hank's barrage.

"Is there a point to all of this?" he said.

"Just that, when you do find her, I want you to know which part of you is going to find her," he said, "The X-man, or the man who loves her."

"All this, just to tell me to keep myself detached?" Alex demanded.

Hank shook his head again, sadly this time.

"No," he said, "I'm telling you that I hope the X-man doesn't find her, because I know what Havok does to people who hurt people on his team, whether they fight alongside him on the battlefield or not. I want Alex to find her, because I think he's going to have a better shot of bringing her home than Havok."

There was another lump in his throat, which Alex swallowed.

"I'm not the only one who Charles would be proud of," he said.

Hank's expression faltered slightly, but he kept his eyes on Alex. He hadn't received his answer yet.

"I just want her to be okay," he said.

Hank clapped him once on the shoulder and gave him a tentative smile.

"Then go make sure she is," he said.

With a quick nod, Hank walked over to Magneto. Alex straightened his jacket and headed towards the twins, determination in his step. Peter was still looking off to the side, perhaps wondering how long things were going to take. Wanda looked like she'd been smacked in the face.

Whatever it was, it wasn't important. All they needed to do was find Lorna.