A/N - Welcome back to another tumultuous tale of 2nd Gen X-Men working their way through life and trying to fix the world so that everyone gets a fair shake. This is Volume 45, so if you're not up to date, please check the reading order on my profile ... there are links there and everything. Just keep in mind Odd numbered volumes can be found HERE on my profile while even numbered ones can be found with robbiepoo2341, my co-author and partner in crime.

Chapter 1: Oh Yeah, Life Goes On

The senior X-Men had gone after the Superior Rising leaders, and Deadpool had gleefully gone off on his own with both Hawkeyes to make sure the message "do not mess with my intern or my favorite Hawkeye" was received loud and clear. And now, both Jana and Cody were starting to act more like themselves, which let a calm settle over Westchester.

Knowing how rare those periods of calm were, the senior X-Men in particular took full advantage. Including some of the older members of the second generation.

It was absolutely no secret that Chance and Elin had left the door open to having kids— and it was also well known that a few of the teenagers needed to stay away from that particular issue — so the betting pools had begun again.

No one in the mansion really needed to take a pregnancy test, or even see Hank if they knew what to look for. It was a pretty simple tip off if they could just … read Logan. Which was probably why most of the mansion's residents needed to take the damn pregnancy test anyhow.

But on this particular morning, Logan was in fine form and in an easy to read fantastic mood. He had pulled K over to him tightly and was just … smiling as he nuzzled into her hair.

"You … are awful," she told him, though she had wrapped him up and kissed him soundly the more he pulled her closer. "And zero poker face."

"I'm pretty sure everyone else in the world would disagree with you," Logan argued.

"That just makes both of you wrong. Whoever that is that would disagree with me," she argued right back, doing her best to give him a stern look and barely managing it since she adored it when he was anywhere near this happy.

He knew better than to argue too hard, particularly since she'd been a little bit growly, so instead of picking on her for the reason behind his great mood, he gave her another overly involved and drawn out kiss then headed down to move on with his day. School was in full swing, which meant Nina Quill had come back from space (along with her brother) to learn more about her powers in a safer environment. With K dedicating much of her time to teasing Jana about the way she'd come back from Japan with an obvious crush — the teasing helped the kid feel more at home - and Kurt pulling his hair out trying to keep his troublemaking Hawkeye of a son from abusing his newfound ability to teleport, Logan didn't want Kitty's daughter to feel like there wasn't space for her, too.

The two of them did much of the same meditation that a lot of the more volatile kids needed — but because she wasn't exactly volatile, there was a fair bit of swordplay as well, since Nina had asked if he'd teach her how to be a ninja like her mother.

Of course, he tried to talk her out of the ninja part. He would much rather see her take the more honorable side of the sword and go for samurai. But seeing as he was the only one in the mansion with training on both sides of that particular set of tracks … if ninja was what she really wanted, then ninja it was.

When he got out to the little spot near the lake, Nina was already waiting and bouncing on her toes to get started, even though she was still tweaked about using bokken instead of real swords.

She beamed at him when he caught up to her still smiling to himself. "You're in a good mood," she observed, then rushed over to give him a hug — as her customary greeting.

"It's a good morning," he replied, sure to give her a tight bear hug in return. "But you're gonna need to meditate before you start whippin' a sword around." He gestured to the makeshift rack that they used — which was little more than a pair of grooved rocks that would hold the wooden swords — and then made his way over to a spot by a tree nearly in full color.

"I guess," she said, blowing her breath out and moving some of the curls that had fallen down into her eyes when she was hugging him.

He was smirking to himself as he listened to her drop herself into position with a big breath that came out almost all at once. "Gonna take you forever if you're gonna mope about it."

"Well, if I'm here all day, then who's going to defend Jayce's honor when he and Celeste go out tonight?" Nina said, perfectly straightfaced as she at least tried to look like she was concentrating.

"You think he needs his honor defended?" Logan asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I think he needs a good sock in the jaw half the time, but yeah, probably."

"I can do that," he replied evenly.

Nina smirked and peeked one eye open at him before she shook her head. "Nah. I'll do it myself. If you do it, he'll be sick for a week trying to phase away from an adamantium hit."

He was smirking still as he reached over and tapped her knee. "Alright kiddo. Come on. Focus. Get yourself centered right and then I'll show you a couple new moves before we go in."

She couldn't help but get excited at that — though that just meant she had to try that much harder to focus on the meditating, almost scrunching up her face to try and force it so that Logan had to chuckle at her. He could see so much of her mother in her at times like that, though she was also a lot like her dad: ready for trouble and quick to try a good, cheap trick. Which was likely why she'd gravitated so much toward being a ninja.

When she finally got herself under control, he could hear when her breathing evened out and her pulse slowed. And when he looked her way, she looked as if she'd finally found an anchor. So he smirked to himself again and then allowed her to set the pace, knowing that she wouldn't be able to sustain it for too long.

And it was clear when she was done — even before she spoke up — because she was jiggling her knee and the antsiness was creeping back in.

"Go back to calm," he told her. "Breathe deep and slow — and get to your feet."

For just a second, Nina looked like she hated the slowdown, but she did that and then bounced a bit on her toes anyway, almost unconsciously. "So… you said something about new moves, right?"

He smiled at her for just an instant before he attacked — at first with a few things she knew or should know. They kept the light sparring up until it was clear she was thinking proactively and trying to put in attacks of her own rather than just block him — and in a quick move, her bokken went sailing through the air. "There's one," Logan said.

Nina looked toward the fallen bokken with an expression that was equal parts excitement and disappointment in losing her weapon. "Okay. Show me that again," she said, turning back to him with a troublemaking grin that was the one thing she'd really inherited from her dad looks-wise.

It didn't take long for her to learn the disarming move when he walked her through it — though it was a little different from the others she'd learned already with a complicated little twist of the wrist and a hard flick that she didn't quite have the strength for yet.

Finally, she let out a sound of pure frustration and shook her head. "It looks so good when you do it."

"I've been doin' it for a while," he pointed out.

"Yeah, but still," she said, taking a ready stance again. "I want to be able to do it too."

"Then practice — and do a little more strength training."

"Oh good, something I can use as an excuse to push my brother around," she couldn't help but tease. She pulled a face. "No, no, Jayce, it's for training!"

"I don't know what you're talkin' about," he said, which only got a little laugh out of her that rang in the air so much like Kitty that he lost part of his smile for a moment. "You'll get it. Even if you don't torture your brother with it. But if that helps …"

"It really, really does," she assured him, looking as serious as she could.

He shook his head and picked up the bokken again. "Last trick, then you can practice 'em until you get it down. Ready?" As soon as she took up a ready stance, he tipped his head for her to attack him, and after a quick, sidestep and a very smooth looking move, he sheathed her bokken and stepped back with both bokken in his hands. "I don't expect you to figure that one out for a while."

She was grinning outright. "Oh, that is going to look so cool when I master it," she assured him.

Logan chuckled low and reached over to ruffle her hair after he handed the training sword back. "I'll walk you through it. Then we're gonna have to head back up to the house. You're already sweating."

"Dad would say I'm glistening," she said without missing a beat.

Logan rolled his eyes and let his shoulders drop as he let out a breath. "Come on. Try it."

Of course, even a few tries in, it was clear to Nina that it would take her a while to get it, but that hadn't dampened her enthusiasm in the least as she excitedly trailed behind Logan once the lesson was through and they were headed back up to the mansion.

"Next time, to break it up, I'll start you on some throwing stars."

Nina let out a little "yes!" that didn't sound like it was something she could quite contain before she grinned sideways at him and hurriedly ran over for a hug. "You're the best, you know that?"

"Love you too, Punkin'," he replied, smirking at her enthusiasm.

That night, Kari was still feeling a little down when she got back to the mansion, even though she had been the one to break up with Tim.

The truth of the matter was that even though she honestly enjoyed spending time with him, and he was a good guy, she wasn't… interested in him that way. There weren't any sparks, and she knew she had to break it off before he got even more attached than he already was.

And considering he had already been pretty darn attached from the start, it hadn't been easy. At all. And she really just wanted some hot chocolate and some quiet so she could stop feeling like a horrible person for making him that genuinely upset.

She hadn't been expecting anyone to be around, since it was the weekend and most of her friends were on dates of their own, but she was honestly glad to see it when she noticed James there — clearly just off of a sparring session and grabbing a bite to recover from his dad putting him through his paces.

"Hey, awful long face for just coming in from a date," James said with a frown. "Do I need to kill him?"

"Oh, that would just make it worse," Kari said, pulling a face as she shook her head. "No, I… broke up with him. Not … no."

He frowned deeper at that. "What triggered that? I thought you were having a good time?"

"I was," she said. "But he wanted more than a good time — not — not the way that gets him stabbed," she amended quickly. "Just…" She let her tail and ears droop. "Well, I wasn't in love with him. And he was."

"Oh," he said in a breath then looked honestly sympathetic before he stepped around the counter. "I'd give you a hug, but I'm still a little sweaty."

But the invitation was out there, and she darted over anyway, wrapping her arms around his middle and halfway nuzzling in. "He was such a good guy," she muttered.

He wrapped her up in the hug and kissed the top of her head. "Yeah, but you did the right thing if you weren't interested."

"Yeah, I know," she said in a breath. "But it's still stupid. I should have been interested, right? He was smart and sweet and funny and that's…" She trailed off and let the statement hang.

James let out a breath and then, without any further warning, scooped her up to take her into the living room. "It's not enough. And if you let yourself fall for someone because they're so head over heels — it's the long way around."

Kari looked up at him for a moment and then let out a breath, rearranging herself so he could carry her better. "I've told you that I love having you around, right? You always know exactly what to say."

"Nothing you haven't heard before, I'm sure."

"Yes, but sometimes I need the reminder," she said, pulling him down with her to sit on the couch once they got to the living room as she tried to get a better hold of herself.

He sat with her and pulled her into a solid bear hug. "Not a good idea to fall for someone just because they fell for you."

"Yes, but it was nice to have someone fall for me," Kari said.

"Oh, sure," he agreed.

"Maybe I'm not built for dating other artists," Kari said, shaking her head. "They seem to all be either jerks or fall too deep too fast."

"Lotta people in love with being in love," James laughed.

"I'd rather just be in love," Kari said, reaching over to poke him in the ribs with a smile. "Is that so much to ask?"

"Depends on who you ask, I guess," he said with a shrug.

"Well, I'm asking you," she said.

"I dunno," James replied. "I'm not an expert."

"I don't think anyone is," she said. "I've heard Noh talk about love songs and our fascination with romance enough to know that much."

"Okay. But stop. Alright? Noh…." James had to chuckle. "If it was that odd, why the hell did he stay here this whole time?"

Kari looked up at him with a troublemaking sort of gleam in her eyes. "Fascination with romance."

"Such an odd species," James said in his best approximation of Bruce Banner.

Kari couldn't help but giggle at that, trying to do her best impression of Noh in response. "Truly, they don't seem to know what it is that they want."

"Not the species I was talking about," James added — keeping the impression going.

Kari was barely keeping her giggles in check as she raised her eyebrows and did a very good off-guard Noh. "Oh?"

James grinned back at her. "Yeah, so now would be where he'd just roll his eyes as if you were nuts ... or … break … the building. Pick one."

"Well, you just got done sparring, so we'll save breaking the building for the next Great Impersonation," she teased.

"Yeah, I had a hand in wrecking the mansion once, not gonna be responsible again."

Kari let out a breath and leaned over to kiss his cheek. "You can always say I made you do it," she teased lightly. "I'm very, very evil. Part demon, you know."

"Nobody'd believe it," James said as he leaned back. "So … are you alright? Or did you need me to feed you while I'm at it?"

Kari couldn't help but laugh. "No, no mother duck; I'm good with a snuggle… and possibly some hot chocolate."

"First you say no — then you amend it to something overly sweet and awful … make up your mind."

"Hot chocolate isn't food," she said. "The marshmallows, maybe, but it's more of a drink."

"Yeah, you know I don't add marshmallows anyhow," he said. "You gotta do that yourself if you want it."

"I don't think marshmallows go very well with my evil demonic image," she teased.

"Which is why you love 'em," James said as he got up and headed for the kitchen again.

She teleported over to meet him there — just so that she could wrap him up in another hug before they could start pulling down the chocolate mix. "Thanks again. I needed the pick-me-up."

"I didn't do anything," James insisted.

"Don't underestimate the power of a good hug," she told him, sticking her finger out at him with a little smirk. "You did plenty."

"Easy to please," he replied with a shrug.

"That's why you like me, I think. Low-maintenance," she said as she got down the marshmallows.

"Yeah, that's my measuring stick," he said, shaking his head at her as he got started with the cocoa.

Technically, Cody had missed his junior and senior year, but that didn't mean he'd stopped learning. He was more than capable with math and science and English — Sinister had been a stickler for proper English — so it was really just the social studies classes that he'd missed, if he wanted to really stretch his imagination and try desperately to finding a silver lining to having spent so long in Sinister's clutches. It was enough to pass a GED, so he was through with school. That was good. He didn't want to go back into a classroom when he still wasn't good at not eavesdropping with his telepathy and also could feel everyone staring at him even when he didi keep his mind to himself.

But that also sort of meant that he didn't really… have anything to do.

It felt a little bit like all his friends and family had just gone on without him — which was ridiculous, he knew. It wasn't like he would have asked them to stop living if he'd known he was going to go missing in the first place. But the kids his age all graduated with life plans. His older siblings were married. And he really had no other plans for himself besides staying home.

"I have the same problem," Jana said from the doorway.

Cody frowned for a second, but his reaction wasn't nearly as bad as it used to be. She looked different; even her voice was different, though he still had to think hard to remember that she was Jana and not Sinister.

"I wasn't prying; you were projecting," she said as she slowly went to the cabinet to get the green tea. "When I left, I was an X-Man. And I was just a little older than you."

"I know," Cody said with a little frown, though he tried hard not to track her with his gaze like he was watching her.

"Do you want to join again?" Jana asked.

Cody nodded slowly. "I think so."

"Would you be able to work with me if I was on the team again too?" Jana asked.

Cody glanced up at her and frowned for a long time. "Eventually," he admitted at last.

She nodded at that. "Yeah, I wasn't saying right now," she said. "I don't think I'm ready to be on the team either."

"So what are you doing in the meantime?"

"Believe it or not, getting to know my… Remy," Jana said, waving a hand. "Picking locks. That kind of thing."

"Sounds fun."

"It's way more than I knew how to do when I was a kid," Jana agreed with a little smile, though she lapsed back into silence as she got her tea ready.

The two of them went on like that for a long moment, and when the silence was a bit too much, Cody was the one to break the ice. "I like the color." He took a moment to take the tea from the counter and pour himself a mug too.

Jana couldn't help but smile to herself as she ran a hand through her hair. "Thanks. It's harder to maintain than I thought with the healing."

"That's what Elin used to say," he agreed. "That's why she never kept it short."

"Yes, but she didn't have an equally good reason not to have it long," Jana said, absently tracing the lotus on her neck.

Cody watched the motion and, after another long moment, his curiosity got the better of him. "How … does that work?"

"Repetitive injury," she said in a perfectly matter-of-fact tone. "If you pound it in enough, it'll stick. Of course, if anyone ever shoots me or cuts me there, I'll have to get it redone…"

"It's a good change," he said, almost absently. "What made you do it?"

Jana looked up at Cody in surprise and then couldn't help but smile. "I guess you were still pretty young when I left," she said. "I wasn't exactly a cardigan kind of girl before either. And piercings, tattoos… hey, they're visual reminders that I'm me."

He nodded slowly, considering her answer as he let the tea steep; then, all at once, he let out a little 'hmm' and headed over to the garbage to dispose of his teabag. "A cardigan would be unsettling."

Jana smiled lightly. "Especially when you consider that, in my head, I'm not too much older than Gerry and Charlie. I might have been aware of what was happening, but it feels like someone hit pause in my life, made me watch someone else's life, and then expects me to act like I've aged."

"I just mean … a cardigan would make you seem a lot older, and more like something ... " He stopped and backed off from his thought, not wanting to finish it out loud. At all.

"Yeah," Jana said quietly, looking down into her tea before she took a deep breath and made a visible effort to shake it off. "I was thinking about getting another one on my arm, once I'm back on the team. Just the 'X'. Little… reward. Or reminder. Or whatever you want to call it."

He very nearly smiled at that one, though it came off only as half of a smirk - just as understated and quiet as anything his father could pull off. "I can see that. Maybe it would start a trend."

"You want one too?" Jana asked with a smile. She was trying to keep out of his mind - it would be weird - but she could hear the interest all the same.

"I … haven't really thought about it," Cody said. "I don't know what I'd want."

"Well, mine is the symbol of rebirth," she said as she tapped the lotus on her neck. "But you don't really strike me as the poetic symbol kind of guy."

"That and rebirth symbols … no."

"Well, Kari has a whole slew of drawings and paintings… you should see the one she did of Leslie Ann as Famine. Leslie Ann has it tucked away to remind herself of how far she's come."

"Maybe ... " He thought about it, and for a moment, he got lost running through the work he'd seen that Kari had done - and all that was getting so popular.

"You could always get a 'mama's boy' tattoo," Jana said with a small smirk. "That would have pissed him off."

That did get a smile out of him, though. "I know you're joking, but that's pretty fitting. As far as rebellious goes, anyhow."

"Kinda weird that we live in a group where loving your mom is seen as rebellious," Jana said, shaking her head. "I mean, not in our group. I've already got Marie teaching me how to hotwire security cameras."

"If you start getting too deep in the tech, you might want to check in with James. He's been … trouble. With that stuff."

"I remember," Jana said with a small frown. "I was aware, you know. Just … not driving."

"Right. Then you know better than anyone how much he got ticked off at our little tech guy."

"Maybe you should pursue that," Jana said. She leaned back. "Before I left, I was more into strategy. I wanted to lead the team one day."

"I don't know that I'm patient enough to do that," Cody said.

"I am," she said with a smirk as she finally set down her tea and looked up at him. "You wouldn't have to go to Japan for some ink, you know. And I'm sure K or Kate would tell you where to find dye if you're interested."

"Oh, yeah, my mother would totally approve if one of them gave me tips on how to dye my hair." He said it in a perfectly even tone, but he had meant it to be more sarcastic.

Jana paused a bit and then shook her head. "Kate's been dying since pretty much as long as I've known her. I think she's a safer bet than you're letting on. And K does it for undercover reasons. It's not like I'm talking about a perm box you got at the dollar store."

"That's not … no. There's a running joke that you missed out on. It's … nevermind."

Jana frowned at that as she got to her feet to wash out her cup. "Yes. Well. Anyway. You don't have to change a thing, Cody."

"I know," Cody said, staring at his cup. "But I don't feel like myself anymore anyhow."

"Me neither," Jana admitted. "It's … challenging redefining yourself, isn't it?"

"It … kind of is."

"Would you tell me if you decide to change, though? Hair or tattoo or whatever - I kind of want a picture to send to Remy. He'd think it was hilarious if we both went all…" She gestured at herself. "Whatever this is."

"I'll consider it," Cody said slowly.

"It - it wasn't an order," Jana said, suddenly and quickly backing off and looking upset with herself.

"I know," he replied. "I just don't know if I'm ready to do anything. Or to share it with everyone."

Jana nodded. "Well, either way… see you 'round," she said, once again looking for space and wondering when, if ever, she and Cody would be able to inhabit the same room without fear and awkwardness reigning.