May 29, 1983
"Now, both of you," David's father said, "I want you to understand that this is not to be taken too lightly. You can still get hurt doing this, so I want you two to be careful. It's why you're wearing protective gear."
David pulled at the helmet strap, shifting his weight. He eyed the door to the Danger Room, aware that Scott was in the observation room. David had been in that room once or twice, looking jealously down as Terry got to participate in simulations along with Jaime and John.
Now he was going to get his chance. He looked over at Kurt, whose tail swished through the air thoughtfully. He could see that his brother was excited as well, but he wasn't as excited as he was. It couldn't dampen David's enthusiasm though. He'd wanted to be an X-man for as long as he could remember. Now he was taking his first steps towards it.
His mother walked in. She looked over the two of them with a slightly dismayed look. Kurt stopped swishing his tail and David frowned. His mother's face quickly returned to normal as she walked over to them.
"Got everything together?" she asked, "No loose straps or anything?"
"No mom," David said.
"Ready to go?" she asked.
David nodded. She put her hands on their shoulders.
"Alright," she said, "It's on a low setting. Just don't try anything too dangerous to impress us, okay?"
"Got it mom," David said.
"I understand," Kurt said.
She smiled and walked over to their father.
"Go on in," she said, "Scott should be starting the simulation soon."
Now that Alex was gone Scott was in charge of the Danger Room. He knew he was in charge of the X-men as well, and they had gone on a few missions. Terry had already started going with them using the codename Siryn. She'd told David it was to honor her father.
David knew that Jaime and John were X-men too. Their codenames were Multiple Man and Thunderbird. He didn't think that their codenames were as good as Terry's, but they still got to be X-men before him. He'd catch up to them soon enough, and his codename would be cooler than either of theirs.
David grinned at his parents and hurried inside the room. Without the simulation on the room looked unassuming, just rows and rows of florescent squares. He knew that they would project a situation soon, although he knew that they would probably be on one that didn't include any Brotherhood members. He figured that they'd just use the one with the spheres that shot lasers or something.
Kurt walked next to him, peering around. He squinted.
"It's too bright," he said.
"It won't be that way for long," David said, "It changes."
"How?" Kurt asked.
"I'm not sure," David said, "But once it changes it won't be so bright."
The light began to ripple. David gave Kurt a thumbs-up.
"What did I tell you?" he said.
He watched as sphere-like shapes appeared. David grinned. He'd been right: it was the one with the spheres.
"The objective is to last for six minutes," Scott said, his voice coming over the speakers, "It's more difficult than it sounds."
David knew it was hard. He'd seen Terry go through it in the past. Still, he knew that he was going to be able to beat it, even if it wasn't on the first try. He was too excited to be in the Danger Room for the first time to worry about losing.
The lasers started coming fast. He dodged them, grinning. David felt like this was what he was meant for as he jumped over the different obstacles that were thrown in his way. Doing this sort of thing was in his blood. His father had founded the X-men and, while he had mixed feelings about his father, he could still be proud of that.
It's nothing to be proud of!
David lost his balance and fell to the ground, shoving the voice back. He narrowly managed to avoid a laser. He knew it wouldn't have hurt, but it had come too close. David swallowed and got back to his feet shakily.
Several of the different spheres moved towards him. He looked around him, seeing that he was surrounded. David swallowed. He couldn't be out of the Danger Room so early, but he wasn't sure how telepathy was going to help him.
Next to him he heard a soft explosion. He turned his head just in time for Kurt to grab his arm. Black smoke filled his vision and he ended up on the other side of the room, coughing while Kurt looked at him with wide eyes.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
David nodded and tried to focus his vision. He'd known that his brother could teleport, he'd just never experienced it himself. It was disorienting to say the least, but it was definitely useful in the Danger Room.
A sphere shot a laser out and David pushed Kurt out of the way. They tumbled to the ground in a mess of limbs, but Kurt quickly got back to his feet. David envied his quickness, but he seemed to have a little trouble concentrating on one thing.
"Three minutes left to go."
David winced. They'd only been in there for three minutes? He eyed the different spheres and an idea started to form in his head. He looked at Kurt.
Can you teleport me to the ceiling? he thought, Above one of the spheres?
Kurt looked at the ceiling and squinted. Another sphere came over and David grabbed his hand. They dived behind one of the obstacles as the sphere fired.
Can you? David thought.
Yeah, I think so, Kurt thought.
He took a deep breath. David smiled.
Give it a try, okay?
Black smoke filled his vision again. David coughed and opened his eyes. He looked down and saw the Danger Room's floor feet below them. They landed on one of the spheres. Another spun around and fired at them.
Teleport!
There was more black smoke. When they landed on the floor the sphere above them exploded into pixels. David looked at Kurt.
Great job, he thought, Let's do it again.
Kurt flashed his fangs. A moment later they were on another one of the spheres. Kurt teleported them four more times before David started to feel overwhelmingly nauseous. However, before he could tell Kurt that they had to stop, he heard Scott's voice over the speakers.
"And that's six minutes. Well done."
David clapped Kurt on the back.
"Awesome!" he said.
He swayed on his feet. Kurt noticed and frowned.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Fine," David said, "Just a little nauseous."
Kurt looked at his feet.
"Sorry," he said.
"Don't be," David said, "I asked you to do it. And it was awesome."
He clapped Kurt on the back again.
"We make a pretty great team," he said.
Kurt's eyes met his.
"Yeah," he said.
David saw the spheres ripple away, the image returning to the fluorescent squares.
"We're going to have to do something about me getting nauseous though," he said.
"Like what?" Kurt asked.
The door on the far side of the room opened and their parents walked in. David nudged Kurt conspiratorially.
Wanna practice teleporting sometime? he thought.
Kurt flashed his fangs again.
Sounds awesome.
Alex looked around the house in disbelief. It was shocking how familiar it was. He had bought it, sight unseen. All he'd needed to know was the address, and the fact that it was even on the market was shocking enough.
His childhood home seemed somehow frozen in time. There was no furniture in it, not yet. Lorna and he had been living in an apartment since the new baby had been born. It seemed cramped after Westchester, but he figured that everything would seem cramped after the Institute's spacious halls.
Max ran out in front of him, laughing. He'd taken to the move well. Alaska seemed like an exciting wilderness, a place to be explored and played in. Alex knew that he missed his friends, but it was better for them to move when they had.
"How's it going?" Lorna asked.
He took a deep breath as Lorna joined his side. He managed a smile.
"Fine," he said.
He looked at the small bundle in her arms.
"How's our little princess doing?" he asked.
Lorna smiled and looked down at their newborn daughter. Luna shifted in her mother's arms, her chubby hands in front of her face. Lorna leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
"She's sleepier than Max was," she said.
"With any luck she's bypassed the Summers hyper gene and gotten a little of your good sense," he said.
Lorna tossed her head.
"With any luck," she said.
She paused and looked around the house.
"I think we'll be able to move in soon," she said, "It's in good condition."
"It is, isn't it?" Alex asked.
He shook his head.
"I last lived here twenty-two years ago," he said, "I just...I just didn't think that it would still be here. I guess it just disappeared with my old life in my mind. But it's all still here."
He walked up to a wall and ran his hand against it.
"I hit my head against this wall when I was trying to fly a kite indoors," he said, "I got grounded for two weeks."
"Why am I not surprised?" Lorna asked.
Alex chuckled. He pointed at a window.
"I was playing baseball with my dad," he said, "I threw the ball, he hit it. It shattered the window. My mom was pretty pissed about that."
He walked over to the pantry. Alex was scared to go there. He swallowed but opened the door anyway. What he saw made his heart clench.
"And this is where my mom marked how tall we were getting," he said.
He ran his hand along the pencil lines that had faded with age. He could just make out "Alex" and "Scott" in his mother's handwriting.
"I was so damn short," he said.
Lorna's hand grasped his shoulder. He looked over at her and smiled, even though it was forced.
"We can make new lines," Lorna said, "I think Luna's growing already."
Alex laughed, a guttural, choked sound. From outside he heard Max's voice.
"Dad, look at this!"
Alex walked out the back door, Lorna close behind him. What he saw made him stop short.
"Dad, it's a tree house!" Max yelled.
He stared as his son ran around the tree. Even though it was run down, the tree house from his childhood was still there. He remembered the tree house intimately, handing his father nails and timber. Images of the first night he'd spent up there with his father and Scott flooded his mind, the way his mother had laughed indulgently at them.
Alex could feel his wife behind him, no doubt remembering the story he'd told her about the tree house years ago. She had a knack for remembering those sorts of things.
"Looks like whoever bought the house wasn't a dick," she said.
He smiled, still feeling flabbergasted. Max made another lap before running up to him.
"Can I climb it?" he asked.
Alex managed to laugh.
"Not right now," he said, "I have to repair it first."
He cocked his head and ruffled his son's hair.
"What's say we do it together?" he asked.
Max's face lit up.
"Really?" he asked.
"Yeah," Alex said.
He looked back at the tree house.
"Really," he said.