Shielded: I never thought that I would be back here at the Institute for anything more than a brief visit. But, here I am. I'm back where it all began and my life has taken a number of unexpected twists and turns. It's here of all places where I'm determined to find myself again, find the woman that was lost long before that tragic day my late husband died. Eventual OC/Scott, lots of OC/X-Men interaction.

Disclaimer: The X-Men and any other mentioned Marvel characters are not my property. I cannot claim ownership over them, and I ask forgiveness from their creators should they ever see how badly I've butchered their perfect creations. Eleanor Jenkins and a few other characters are my own, however, so please leave them alone.

Rating: There are adult situations in this story, but they are much later on in the story. That being said, however, it would be safest to assume that this story is rated M+ for Mature Audiences since there is some language and a number of alcohol/drug references as well as suggestive material. Chapters containing sexually explicit material will have forewarnings, however, so if you're uncomfortable with those type scenes you'll be able to skip ahead with ease!


"The softest hearts always have the toughest shields." – Claire Cross, Double Trouble

Shielded

~Chapter Twelve~

"This is your first team training exercise," Kitty observed with a quick nod. "I know it probably seems a little daunting, but we've been doing this together for a long time now. People come and go sometimes, as you're probably not surprised to hear. But, Scott's a good leader. He's a good judge of strengths and weaknesses and helps us get better - individually and as a group."

I flexed my hands inside of my gloves and tried not to shift my weight around awkwardly in spite of the discomfort I felt standing in the middle of the Danger Room with the well-trained X-Men. Similar to their active uniforms, the spandex and cotton blend uniforms were form-fitting and meant to offer protection from the elements while also providing uniformity that would allow everyone to recognize one another.

Everyone seemed comfortable and unaware of how ridiculous we all looked in bright yellow and blue matching uniforms. No one else seemed to mind that the uniforms were so form-fitting that the fabric clung to their skin. And no one else seemed bothered by the fact that the form-fitting material meant every lump, every bulge, every ounce of fat was visible.

But, I was far from comfortable.

"So have you decided on a code name?"

"Jubes! You can't just ask someone if they've come up with a code name. Not everyone thinks it's important." Kitty rolled her eyes at her companion and offered me a look meant to be consoling. "Just ignore Jubilee. She doesn't have a code name either and it drives her nuts. Nothing we come up with is good enough for her, though."

"You can't name perfection, chica." The dark-haired Asian-American laughed heartily and grinned mischievously at me. "So, you do the shield thing, right? Go with Human Shield!"

"That's the dumbest-"

"You're the dumbest, Kitkat!" Jubilee countered shrilly. "Hey, at least I'm trying to help her out. I say we all write a couple suggestions down and toss them in a hat and draw the winner out."

Kitty rolled her eyes and nudged her friend in the side with a jab of her elbow. "Look, Eleanor - I hope Eleanor's okay since we're, like, training and all - we all have code names, except for Jubes and Rogue who is, just, ya know, Rogue. Some of them are nicknames we got, and others we picked at some point."

I remembered how excited Scott and Warren and Hank had been to start using their code names. Cyclops, Angel, and Beast. Warren's code name wasn't a surprise given the nature of his mutation, but I'd always thought that Hank's was a little derogatory. Scott's... It made sense in a strange sort of way.

When both Jubilee and Kitty suddenly quieted down, I found myself turning slightly to face where Scott parted the crowd to stand in the center of our gathered group. I shifted nervously and wondered why the full team wasn't present, but didn't voice my concerns.

"As you can all see, we're running with a small group tonight. This is on purpose. First of all, I'd like to officially welcome our resident go-to and new recruitment officer, Eleanor Jenkins. You're all acquainted with her, I've no doubt, and I hope that with time we'll all be able to work efficiently as a team. Questions?"

Jubilee took a step forward and raised her hand. "Uh, yeah. Does this mean she's totes an X-Man now?"

Silence filled the Danger Room for several tense moments before Scott inclined his head slightly. "Yes. From here on out, I expect everyone, especially those of you that are still students here at the Institute to treat her as an X-Man and show her the respect that comes with that position." He pinned Jubilee with a hard stare, no doubt insinuating that his comment was directed at her, and then cleared his throat. "Tonight is a trial exercise of sorts. Our circumstances are a bit unusual, hence the unusual team and the exercise we are going to complete."

The room shifted suddenly and I exhaled sharply when I felt high grass brushing against my calves. None of the others seemed at all perturbed by the rapid change, but I hadn't spent nearly enough time in the Danger Room, so it was a very new experience to me. Excited, I spun in a quick circle and found myself smiling for a brief moment before I realized that everyone stared at me.

"We will be breaking into two teams this evening. I pray that there never comes a day that any of us are forced to use our abilities against any of our friends, but this makes for good practice."

"Sweet!"

He tipped his head towards Jubilee and waited for her to stop bouncing in place before he continued with his explanation. "The first team, Red Team, will have the objective to retrieve the flag from the Blue team. The second team, obviously the Blue Team, will need to keep the Red Team from retrieving said flag from their group."

"So we're playing capture the flag?" Bobby Drake asked, incredulous. "Seriously, Cyclops?"

Kitty and Jubilee giggled a bit amongst themselves and I once against shifted my weight nervously. "Yes, Iceman." It was obvious that Scott Summers was gone; replaced instantly by his alter ego Cyclops. "I want to see whether people go on the offensive or defensive and how we work together in this type of environment. Eleanor?" I blinked in surprise when he used my name. "For the purpose of this exercise only, would you care to pick your first team member? I'll pick next."

It was no different from a grade school game of kickball, I realized. We were captains; charged with picking what we thought would be the best team. Apprehensive, I glanced around at the others and hesitated for a moment before I pointed at Hank. "Beast."

He grinned mischievously and I was transported back in time for a brief moment. Gone was the furry blue face; all I saw was young and smiling Hank as I'd once known him. "Excellent choice, if I do say so myself."

Cyclops didn't hesitate in pointing at Kitty and jerking his head. "Shadowcat."

And so it went until we were down to Jubilee and a young woman I barely knew, Paige Guthrie. I wasn't sure about which would be the best pick, so I went with my gut. "Husk," I called out and smiled with the young woman offered me a shy smile and jogged across the room to join my team.

Cyclops, Storm, Iceman, Shadowcat, and Jubilee made up the Red Team. Beast, Husk, Colossus, Pyro, and I made up the Blue Team.

"Here's your flag," Cyclops offered stoically. I glanced at the flag briefly before I took it from his grasp and folded it tightly. "We'll spread out and plan. In five minutes, the game begins."

While the Red Team immediately headed off in another direction, the Blue Team gathered around me and waited for instruction. I stared at the black flag with the white and yellow X insignia on it for a few moments before I glanced up at Beast.

"This is a Cyclops test, isn't it?" His eyes glimmered with mirth and I shook my head. "Fine. They assume we're going to stay on the defensive, agreed? Not this time. I've got an idea." I laid out a rough plan of attack that would, I hoped, cause the Red Team to tap out and admit defeat. "And because they'll never suspect it, I'm not keeping the flag," I decided as I handed it off. "You take good care of this and don't let on that you have it."

Five minutes later, the Danger Room was a woods-type setting. Between the trees, the tall grass, the moonlight from an undefinable source, and the sounds of animals scurrying – it felt a little too real. I heard a rustle above and glanced up and tried to make sense of the hand motions that Beast used, but they weren't very familiar. Relying on my gut, I nodded my head and continued to trek carefully through the woods while he swung through the treetops gracefully.

It didn't take long to run into the first person from the opposing team. If Iceman was surprised by my appearance, he didn't show it. In fact, he reminded me a little too much of Cyclops when he lifted a hand and directed a patch of ice directly in front of me. "Hand over the flag, Eleanor."

I lifted my hands defensively and peered at him innocently. "I could. I could." I brought my hands down towards my face and then pushed them away from my body, palms out, and watched him tumble backwards several times. He acted rashly, attacking heavily by creating ice and attempting to ease out of the force field I shoved in his direction. But, he didn't stand a chance. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. There's only so much oxygen," I warned when I had him trapped inside of an invisible force field that gave him just enough room to spread his arms.

There was a sound overhead and I continued to watch Iceman as he struggled to break through the shield. Within a few seconds, his frustration caused it to appear as though he stood inside of a snow globe. Ice plastered the shield around him, but didn't escape.

When I felt the wind tickle the back of my neck, I turned on my heel and lifted a hand in warning as Storm arced towards the ground gracefully. With the force of the wind behind her, she slammed into a shield that I quickly shaped into the form of a slide so that she wouldn't be injured. Having taken her by surprise, she didn't react until her booted feet hit the ground and she flipped forward in a rough tumble.

Since it had worked on Iceman, I pushed out with my powers and quickly crafted a large force field around her form. Once she was captured inside, I sighed heavily and, with my mental connection to each shield still in place, let my hands fall to my sides.

The woods, dark save for the streams of moonlight from overhead, were suddenly encased in an orange glow. No doubt Pyro making an entrance.

As I turned to look for my teammates, I realized that Storm was curled up in a tight ball on the ground. I took a few steps towards her before the first crash of lightning slammed into the ground just in front of me and sent me sailing backwards. I'd instinctively shielded myself from the attack, but I was still winded and frightened when I managed to regain my feet. She thrashed inside of the shield and a blast of red arced through the night sky briefly before it focused on the side of the shield.

I felt rather than saw the flash of red light as it slammed against the side of the shield. With a groan, I realized that Cyclops had attacked the shield with one of his optic blasts. I spied him running between trees and towards where Storm was curled up on the ground and opened my mouth to taunt him when I saw the worried look on his face.

Then it all made sense.

I threw my hands down and the shields I'd created dissolved instantly, releasing Storm from her tiny prison. With a sob caught in my throat, I ran towards her as the weather grew fierce. Wind whipped at my braid and my uniform and hail pelted my personal shield and rain streaked down from the sky angrily.

"Ororo!" I skidded to a stop and dropped to my knees and hesitated for a moment before I placed a hand on her shoulder. Unexpectedly, pure energy rippled from her form and I was thrown up into the air several dozen feet before I began to fall. With a shriek caught in my throat, I caught myself midair by creating a shelf-like shield under my feet.

Shaken, I stared down at the others below as the Danger Room morphed back to the clinical and high tech room it had been before the scenario had started. Cyclops had reached Storm and he and Beast knelt on either side of her, comforting her as best as they could. Jubilee and Shadowcat were off to the side bickering and Husk looked quietly proud as she walked beside them with a knowing smile on her face.

My concentration broke and I dropped from the sky without warning, a shrill shriek escaping my lips moments before I slammed into something unforgivably hard. With the shock of pain racing down my spine and across my backside, I briefly saw spots at the corners of my vision before I came to the realization that I'd survived the fall from a dozen or more feet mostly unharmed. Tender and sore, yes, but nothing felt broken.

As I wheezed and tried to catch my breath, I become aware of the fact that the hard ground beneath me trembled. I half considered the possibility that there was an earthquake when I was suddenly shifted to the side and realized that I hadn't landed on the floor – I'd landed on Colossus.

He shifted out of his organic metal form and I found myself sitting sideways on his broad chest for exactly three seconds before I launched myself upwards and onto my feet so quickly I felt faint. Once the world had steadied and I no longer felt like I was going to fall over sideways, I scurried away from Colossus and tried not to meet his gaze.

"Ororo." I cursed under my breath as I skidded to a stop and dropped to my knees next to Beast. Her color was a little off, but her eyes were bright blue and the tears had mostly dried. "I am so sorry. I have to be honest and say that I only skimmed the profiles I was given to study other than the basics. I should have known better. I should have known that Scott would-"

"I'm fine," she interrupted with a quick shake of her head. I realized I was trembling, either from fear or adrenaline I couldn't be sure, and hugged my arms around my midsection nervously. She met my gaze and my lips quivered at the thought of causing her so much mental and emotional pain. "I fear my issue with small or enclosed spaces is still one that I struggle with occasionally. I am sorry if I injured you during my panic."

"I'm fine. I shielded myself. Then I fell on Colossus," I blurted out, blushing when she threw back her head and laughed. "I'm really sorry. I can't believe how stupid I was."

"Hank, could you please help Ororo up to her room? I know you're fine, Ro, but please just let me have my way this time." It was obvious she didn't want to follow Scott's directives, but she reluctantly allowed Hank to scoop her up into his arms and stalk from the room with her in his grasp. Still kneeling on the floor, I found myself the focus of Scott's attention and squirmed. "Are you okay?"

Startled by the inquiry, I gruffly nodded my head and managed to rise unsteadily to my own feet. St. John and Paige appeared on either side of me and I glanced at the young woman briefly before I folded my arms under my breasts and rocked back on my heels.

"And not to fear, I am uninjured." His warm chuckle caused me to tremble again, but I managed a fake smile when Peter walked over to stand next to Scott. He rubbed his chest for a moment and then shook his head. He explained, very briefly, that he'd tried to catch me but had misjudged and merely acted as a rough landing pad. "I did not hurt you, did I?"

"I'm just amazed you didn't turn into a silver pancake," I blurted out sharply, cheeks heating when he lifted his brows in surprise. "I mean, I'm fine. I'm sorry for landing on you. Boy, I really messed up on my first group exercise."

Scott cleared his throat and I tried not to think about the beads of sweat I felt trickling down my brow and down the back of my neck and instead met his gaze as levelly as I could under the circumstance. "All things considered, you did fine. Just out of curiosity, did you give the flag to Hank or keep it to yourself?"

My lips twitched with a grin and I jerked my head to the side to indicate the young woman that stood next to me. "Paige here had it the whole time, actually. What? You didn't see that coming?"

He was quiet for several beats before he finally shook his head. "Unexpected. Well done. See the rest of you next week."

After he'd left the room, I turned to the others and found myself the object of study for several people. "What?"

"That's about as close to a compliment as you're going to get from him, chica. Way to go. Nice job on those shield things. Handy." Jubilee held up her hand and I glanced at it in confusion before I lifted my own and slapped her palm. "Welcome to the X-Men."

A shiver trickled down my spine with her words. It was official: I was considered one of the X-Men.