Chapter 30

First Date

At the institute

Vacation. One of the biggest things students look forward to during the school year. It was the time to relax, not think about grades, sleep a lot, have fun, and wait for the absolute last possible second to do your homework.

It was Monday, spring break.

The X-men were enjoying their vacation with a late breakfast, due to the extra hours of sleep they were getting. But it won't last long, Logan probably has the rest of the week planned with crazy danger room sessions to keep them plenty busy in the mornings.

They all had some sort of plans to enjoy themselves somehow, but today will be an interesting day for Dean. Today he planned to have his date with Jean, which they have decided to keep discreet.

Their secrecy was all due to keeping the others from making a huge deal out of it. But they do have to be careful, news in this house spreads like wildfire. Especially with Kitty's big mouth, she can be quite a gossip queen.

Dean walked in the dining room, he joined his teammates at the table and devoured a ton of food.

"Man it feels good to have a break" Evan said.

"Feelings mutual, I just wanna sit back and relax" Kurt said.

"Don't get too comfortable elf, you ain't taking a break from me" Logan said reading his paper.

Kurt frowned.

"I'll take Logan over school any day" Rogue said.

"I'd take school first" Kitty said.

"I really don't get you guys, I love training" Dean said.

"Oh don't worry we know" Scott said rolling his eyes behind his visor.

"We can't all be demigods" Jean said glancing at him for a moment with a smile.

Scott caught that glance and grew curious towards its meaning.

The Professor found an appropriate moment to join the conversation, "Speaking of Demigods, Dean how're things at Camp?"

Dean gulped his food awkwardly from the unexpected question. He looked around the table and everyone had their eyes fixed on him, "Um, good, things are good" he said sheepishly. Dean felt weird talking about Camp Half-Blood, like anything he said would sound preposterous.

"I'm sure you're wondering why I'm asking this. The truth is, after recent events, I've grown curious" Charles admitted.

Dean nodded, "Well that's…nice" there wasn't much else to say.

"I would like to know what its like, and what you do" Charles said.

"Are you sure you can handle this?" Dean asked.

"I'm going to have to" Charles said.

"Ok then" Dean put down his fork, "Basically, Half-bloods are found and brought to this place to be trained so they can defend themselves against creatures that hunt us. It's like a safe haven of sorts. They bring them around the age of 13 and train them how to survive"

Charles nodded, "I see"

"I'd be happy to tell you more but I'm still learning about everything, gimme some time to get used to that world. Then I'll be able to answer anything you ask" Dean promised.

"Very well then, just try to be careful when dealing with those creatures" Charles said.

"I will Professor" Dean said.

For a minute there the table went silent.

"Hey does anybody know what day it's going to be the hottest?" Rogue asked wanting the warm weather to come.

"I believe that would be Thursday" Charles said.

"Anyone up for a beach day?" Kurt asked.

"I'm all for it" Evan said.

"Me too" Jean said.

"Me three" Kitty said.

"I don't see the harm in that" Scott said.

Dean smirked, "That's funny, Thursday is my birthday"

"Wow we have to do something then" Jean said feeling excited.

The Brotherhood minus Eileen and Pyro were out trying to blow off some steam. Their recent loss had them feeling down.

The 4 teenagers walked down the street.

"I'm starting to think we suck" Toad said with a frown.

"Starting to? We do. We haven't won a single fight" Pietro said.

"Should I start a diet?" Fred asked nervously.

"No, that won't change anything. Don't forget we're still one person short" Lance said.

"It's gonna have to be someone good to make a difference" Pietro said.

"Maybe miss blue and grumpy ain't doing her job right" Toad said.

"Hell yeah, how do sit ups help me?" Fred asked.

They took a turn down an alley.

"Maybe we need someone new to help us" Pietro said.

Lance turned around and they all stopped.

"I don't care what the problem is. I'm tired of being a second rate mutant. The next person to mess with me is going to get their world rocked" Lance said.

Right as he said that someone bumped into all of them without even acknowledging them.

Lance clenched his fist in anger, "Hey!"

Kratos turned around and faced the Brotherhood looking unamused.

"You got a problem baldy?" Lance asked.

Kratos ignored him and kept on walking.

"Get back here!" Lance created a shockwave that sent Kratos back towards him.

Kratos regained his footing and faced them, "You want to test your power mortal" he clenched his fists.

"You got that right!" Lance sent a tremor that created a wave in the ground.

Kratos pulled back his right hand and punched the wave shattering it, "Is that it?" he stared him down as he approached.

Lance froze, his attack didn't do anything.

"Who the hell is this chump?" Toad leaped towards him.

Kratos grabbed Toad midair and threw him into the wall.

Toad was thrown so hard his body made an imprint on the wall and he was stuck there. He groaned in pain.

At the Institute

Dean was in the danger room doing his exercises. He had his earphones in his ears listening to Under the Knife by Rise Against.

He threw punches and kicks at a fast pace pushing his speed to his absolute limits.

{Wake me up inside, tell me there's a reason
To take another step to get up off me knees and
Follow this path of most resistant
And wherever it takes us
Whatever it faces and wherever it leads}

Dean rolled forward and jumped for a tornado kick. When he touched the ground he did a leg sweep and came up with an uppercut.

{Something for the pain, just to kill this feeling
And though we look awake inside, we're all still sleeping
And I've spent my time here alive but barely there
Do you believe we'll ever make it? Do you think we'll ever really see?}

Dean summersaulted backwards a couple of times. He stopped, held himself up with one hand, and spun in the air (upside down) for a kick.

{Wake me up inside
These dreams all die if we let them
Wake me up inside
Today won't start if we just give in
'Cause you'll be anything}

Dean landed on his feet and jumped high up. As he ascended in the air he threw punches and kicks pretending to fight an invisible opponent.

{Just wake me when it's through
I don't want to feel the things that you do
Don't worry, I'll be fine
I just don't want this dream, wake me up inside}

Ever since he met Jessica he's felt the need to learn how to fight in the air, you never know when you'll encounter someone who can fly.

Magneto had a serious issue. That boy Charles has taken in has become a real nuisance. The boy was strong, and not in the ordinary way. He needed someone like that on his side.

Perhaps it was time to pay his daughter a visit. If any person could tip the scales of power, it was her.

As he flew in the sky he came across his Brotherhood in the middle of a fight.

Fred threw a punch at Kratos.

Kratos blocked with his forearm and was sent skidding a couple of feet back.

Pietro zipped around Kratos and rapidly punched his body.

Kratos simply stood there and took all the hits as if they were nothing, "Has the fight started?" he queried.

Pietro stopped and stared at him in disbelief, "How?!"

Kratos backhanded him knocking him into a dumpster.

"Enough!" Magneto commanded and the Brotherhood stopped.

Kratos looked up and saw Magneto floating in the air. He leapt up and drew his adamantine blades.

Magneto willed the metal blades to move downwards.

The blades dragged Kratos down like a ton of bricks and he smashed into the ground.

Magneto then took control of a light post and made it wrap around Kratos.

The Brotherhood backed away to make room for their leader.

Kratos struggled to free himself.

Magneto lifted him up and brought him closer.

Kratos used all his strength and started to bend the light post.

"And who might you be?" Magneto asked.

"Someone not to be trifled with!" Kratos began bending the light post.

Magneto saw potential in this boy, how much is yet to be seen. He turned to the Brotherhood, "Boys, go home. I'll handle this"

"But father we can handle this goon" Pietro pleaded.

"Obey my command Pietro!" Magneto shouted at his son.

"Fine" Pietro looked unhappy as he left with his buddies.

Magneto returned his attention towards Kratos who just broke out of his hold, "Come then, let's see what you can do" he waved him over.

Jean was so excited. Her first date with Dean, something she's been wondering about ever since they started spending time together.

Today they planned to go see a movie, Dean let her pick out which one to watch. Dean knew from the start that they were going to see something he was going to hate, so he just let Jean do the honors. And guess what Jean picked, a romantic film.

Jean just finished getting ready and walks out of her room in a fast pace to go find her handsome date.

She found him ready to go waiting for her by the doorway leaning on the door with his arms and legs crossed.

He was wearing his usual outfit except he added a belt with a lightning bolt buckle.

Dean noticed her coming down the stairs and gave her a warm smile, "You ready?"

"Yeah, let's go" Jean said walking out with him.

"And just where are you two going together?" Logan asked passing by.

They both stopped in their tracks and looked at each other clueless as to what to say without giving away that this was a date.

As usual Dean came through with his slick tongue, "The real question is if Kurt is done shaving his legs again?"

Logan's eyes widened at the memory of the last time Kurt shaved his legs and clogged up the whole plumbing system, and Logan had to fix it. "ELF!" he yelled running to go find Kurt.

"And problem solved" Dean said opening the door for Jean.

Jean chuckles, "How did you find out about that anyways?"

"A little cat told me" Dean said with a wink.

Jean laughed.

Rogue went down to the gym area to work out a little bit of her frustration.

She hit the heavy bag with her left jab, then a heavy right hook followed by a left knee to the midsection.

She moved over to the sliding heavy bag, her personal favorite. For some reason, Rogue took a liking to this specific one.

Rogue backed up and landed a powerful kick on the heavy bag's torso area sending it sliding sideways.

She moved to the opposite end and mixed a combo of punches and kicks before ending with a powerful high kick sending the bag sliding again.

She always felt that whenever she hit that bag with her foot, and sent it sliding, she imagined herself kicking away all her problems; Her inability to control her mutant power, her messed up past with Mystique and her inevitable lonely future.

Rogue walked away from the sliding heavy bag and set herself on the bench press machine. '150 should be just fine' she thought to herself.

Lately, observing Dean's dedication to exercising his body has slightly motivated her to try harder.

Rogue changed her mind and sets the weight to 200 ib. She lifted the bar up and down feeling the burn in her muscles to the newly adjusted weight.

Kratos breathed heavily from fatigue. He was trying his absolute best but the man in the red armor was far too powerful to kill on his own.

Magneto felt impressed. The boy kept on breaking through his defenses, even though Magneto was still untouched it's farther than anyone has gotten in a long time.

Kratos rushed forward again for another attack.

Magneto used metal scraps from his ongoing fight to deflect the boy's attacks. He then willed a dumpster to fly at Kratos.

Kratos caught the dumpster and pushed against it but it wouldn't budge.

"You can't win boy, give up" Magneto said.

Kratos pushed against the metal, "Only the weak give up"

"Then it would suit you, for you are nothing compared to me" Magneto pushed harder.

Kratos struggled, "How did you achieve…such mastery?"

"I realized my life's purpose, and I used it as a goal to realize my full potential" Magneto said.

"Could you show me how?" Kratos asked.

Magneto saw he had the boy's attention, "What is your purpose?"

Kratos began to push back, "My purpose is to gain my father's favor and for him to claim me as his own so I can one day stand by his side"

"A noble purpose, but how far would you go to reach your goal?" Magneto asked.

Kratos pushed a little further, "I would cross the seas with my bare hands"

"How much pain would you endure?" Magneto asked.

"As much as need be" Kratos' hands started to bend the metal.

"How many men would you kill? 100? 1000?" Magneto asked seeing the fire in the boy's eyes.

"I would kill them all!" Kratos shouted as the metal flew back from his burst of strength.

Magneto gazed upon the son of Zeus with fascination, "Such strength of will…" he smirked, "You'll do just fine"

Dean and Jean walked out of the theater room, "So how did you like it?" Jean asked.

Dean shrugged, "It was alright, I've seen better" he threw the popcorn he was eating in the garbage, "I've had better popcorn too"

"I'll agree that the popcorn stinks, but the movie wasn't that bad" Jean said.

"Just the way they handled their situation was hilarious" Dean said, "Each one of those ladies has a different problem with their man and what they all needed to do was be honest and have some self-respect. But no, they just listen to some weird book that supposedly explains men's behavior" He laughed.

"But can you blame them? They didn't have anything else to do" Jean said sharing a laugh.

Dean looked at her, "Well look, if you ever have a problem with something I do, let me know. Don't play mind games to get your way, just be honest"

"Alright Mr. Relationship expert, I will" Jean said with a smile.

"Hey leave the sarcasm to the professional" Dean said referring to himself.

They walked outside and Jean immediately felt the cold air touch her skin.

"Oh my god, it got so much colder. And I didn't even bring a jacket with me" Jean said shivering.

"Here you can take mine" Dean took off his leather jacket, "I don't feel cold anyways" he handed it to her.

"You sure?" Jean asked.

"Jean, trust me. I'll be fine" Dean assured her.

Jean quickly put it on, "Wow, I feel so warm in this thing" She said zipping up the oversized looking jacket, "Why is it so warm?"

"Well first, the wind doesn't get through the leather. And second, my body emits more heat than an average person. Probably due to the amount of density in my muscles"

Jean was impressed by his educated perspective, "Wow, that's an accurate answer"

"Yeah, I have tons of homework to do" Dean said rolling his eyes.

Jean tilted her head in confusion, "Homework? It's spring break"

"No not from school, Chiron told me to read as much as possible. So I've been through at least half the books in the Institute's library already" Dean said.

"Why did he tell you to read books? Shouldn't you be practicing with swords?" Jean asked.

"Knowledge is power, right?" Dean asked.

Jean nodded, "That's what they say"

"Then by that logic I'm gaining more power" Dean said.

"At least you're not all brawn and no brains" Jean said.

At the Institute

Rogue was on her last set on the bench press, 200 pounds was giving her the challenge she needed.

'5…6' she thought counting her repetitions.

'7…8 almost done'

'9…'she prepared herself for the last press. She pushed with whatever energy she had left in her arms and brought the bar about half-way up. At that point all her struggles were for nothing, she could feel her muscles slowly giving out.

Scott walked in, "Hey Rogue, have you seen..." he noticed her struggle on the bar and spotted it getting lower, "Whoa" he ran over to her and helped bring the bar back up and noticed the difference in weight compared to her usual amount, "What's with the extra weight Rogue?" Scott asked concerned.

Rogue got up from the bench and grabbed her towel, "I wanted to push myself a little, is that so bad?" she wiped the sweat off her face.

"Well no, but you moved up quite a bit from your usual amount that's all" Scott said sounding concerned.

"Don't worry about it, I'm fine. I don't need your help" Rogue said walking away.

Scott was left standing there clueless as to what he did wrong, "Ok then"

Rogue took her time walking to her room, her mind was in a deep train of thought. The more members the X-men have the more useless she feels. Everyone can do something beneficial to the team, but what can she do?

She can get her butt kicked by Toad, that's what. That was totally humiliating, and the worst part is there was no one else there to help her. She had to handle it on her own, not like everyone else who got help with their fights.

Rogue longed to feel important…more specifically to feel needed. And right now she's not really feeling a "need" vibe from her teammates. Nobody really understands her; Kitty is her roommate so she knows more than the average person and Kurt has made a bond with her ever since their encounter with his past.

But to be honest though…..Dean has gotten really close to her and treats her like a good friend. He constantly says that he believes that Rogue will eventually control her powers but Rogue doesn't believe that for one second. She just can't comprehend how a thing like that could be possible. But still, it helps to have someone who believes in you. Rogue smiles at that thought.

Dean walked Jean to the entrance to the mansion, "You know, on a regular date this would be the moment when I would have to say goodbye and goodnight, but we live in the same house"

Jean smiled, "Yeah, I guess so"

Dean and Jean's eyes met and took a moment to just admire what they were looking at.

Jean had a great time tonight, the movie was great, the ride home was great, and the whole time Dean was respectful and didn't try anything on her. In Jean's eyes, Dean was a true gentleman, and a gentleman deserves a reward.

Jean leaned closer to Dean's face and kissed his cheek, far from the lips but close enough to be a tease. Well at least a small reward.

"Goodnight" She said walking inside.

Dean stood there watching her walk inside. When she did go inside he touched the spot where her lips touched his cheek. His face grew a smile and he walked towards the cliff where he could look at the ocean, 'Sometimes life isn't so bad'

Author's note: The ghost of sparta siding with Magneto, who could've seen that one one coming? And it seems like Dean is interested in pursuing Jean for the time being. Next chapter is one that most of you have been waiting for for a while, the long awaited meet of Percy and Dean!