In a world that hates and fears mutants, the X-Corporation employees known to the world now as the X-men have overcome adversity over the course of four months. After the loss of Candy Southern, the X-men found that they needed to move on. But Senator Kelly being determined to force them to register under government contract proves to hinder them.

After having gained two more recruits to the X-men in Ororo Munroe and Doctor Cecilia Reyes, the X-men are finding kinships in the two newest members. Cecilia Reyes being hired as Hank McCoy's lab assistant, her responsibility is to not only help Hank with research, but to mentor Jean Grey, who is aspiring to become a doctor and follow in her late mother's footsteps.

Now, with an opportunity to have a quiet night to themselves, the X-men prepare to take a night off after their Danger Room session, taking them back to a place of being able to be teenagers, and not just a team of superheroes.

Issue 26: Night Off

X-Corporation Tower – The Danger Room

Per usual, the X-men found they were in their daily Danger Room session with Logan and Carol. With Forge in the control room working the simulation, he'd put the session on a medium level, something that wasn't the least bit difficult for them. The objective was fighting the Brotherhood of Mutants. However, to say that Beast and Forge were not the best at writing dialogue for their enemies was an understatement.

"I WILL EAT YOU ALL FOR LUNCH!" shouted the hologram of the Blob.

"Furball, I swear to Christ you really need to do a better job at coming up with dialogue!" Logan yelled, dodging the laser trip beams and paintball guns.

Hank jumped on top of a platform as he said, "Sorry Forge and I aren't that ingenious!"

"Forge, can't you make this session a little tougher?" asked Bobby.

"You don't want me to go easy on you guys? It is one of Storm's first sessions," Forge pointed out from where he sat in the control room.

"Our enemies won't be gentle! Crank it up!" Scott retorted. "Can you bring it up to a slightly more difficult level?"

"Not tonight, Slim," Carol said as she observed them from above, her hands on her hips. "Besides, like Forge said, this is one of Ororo's first sessions."

"Yeah, you're right," said Scott, taking his shot at a holographic image of Scarlet Witch.

Jean put up telekinetic shielding around her to defend herself from several paintballs that were being fired at her. Ororo proceeded to use her powers fire a bolt of lightning at a holograph of Toad.

"Besides, why is our objective to fight the Brotherhood?" asked Warren as he flew above, dodging the lasers. "They're in jail, last time I checked."

"Haven't you heard of Murphy's Law, Birdbrain?" asked Logan, making another one of his sarcastic comments again. "Anything can go wrong!"

"Enough with the bird jokes," Warren groaned as he dodged more lasers that were firing at him. He used his ability of flying to his advantage to shield himself with his wings. Bobby proceeded to fire at the canons and tentacles, freezing them using his powers.

"By the way, Warren, has anyone told you how weird you look when you're walking up the stairs?" asked Bobby as he slid down on a path of ice.

"Shut up, Iceman!" Warren grunted.

"I'm just saying. It's like seeing a pigeon crossing the street!"

Warren rolled his eyes as he flew down to take out Avalanche. Scott concentrated his powers on the Blob with Storm's assistance while Jean worked to take down Kid Omega with a telepathic burst. Before they knew it, the entire Brotherhood was down for the count, and the session for them was over.

"Alright, Forge, stop the simulation. Good work everyone," Logan said, pulling his Wolverine cowl off his face. "Though, I've gotta say, Popsicle. You better start putting in more hours in the gym, bub. You've been slacking off, kid."

Bobby let out a sigh, shaking his head as he allowed his organic ice form to melt away from his body.

"Scooter, way to think on your feet today; I commend ya fer knowing what the hell yer doin'. Jeannie, I can only say the same to you," Logan said, turning his attention to Scott and Jean.

"Thank you, Logan," Scott said around a nod. The fact that Logan had told him that he knew what he was doing, that was the biggest compliment you could receive from him. However, Scott and Jean secretly knew Logan had a very soft and sensitive side to him and that he had a bigger heart than most thought. He just didn't show it due to the fact that he felt the need to keep the very tough exterior.

"Hey, c'mon Logan why are you playing favorites?" asked Warren as he landed down next to Ororo.

"I'm not, Wings," Logan retorted, a slight growl in his tone as he crossed his arms. Though Jean could pick up on his thoughts of, 'those two . . . they really are my favorites . . . I love those kids.' "Oh, and Ororo, for yer first time in here, yer doing well, too, but, I expect ya to put in more hours training in the gym," he added to their newest recruit.

"Thank you, Logan," Ororo said, smiling in his direction.

"Alright, we're all done. We'll presume this tomorrow. You guys have the rest of the night off, enjoy the gift of youth while Logan and I head back home," Carol told them as she watched her and Logan's students walk out of the Danger Room to head upstairs so they could go out and enjoy the rest of their evening.

It was a rarity that any of them got a night off to themselves. Though they all knew Hank would be spending the rest of his night in his lab, most likely conducting experiments of some sort. Ororo and Jean were going to go out with Scott, while Bobby was most likely going to meet up with Mary-Jane, Peter, Angelica and Johnny.

Warren was most likely going to end up going out to a prestigious club for the night. While Warren had the image of a billionaire playboy, that was an image that he didn't like the idea of living up to, unlike Tony.

Warren liked to be tied down to a long-term relationship; he'd almost married Candy before she was murdered. But, he did know that all of the beautiful women in the world couldn't compare to Candy; she'd been his security for so many years, he knew that he had to learn to let go. But, it was harder than he ever thought that it could be. He never thought that he could ever be that deeply in love with somebody before he'd started dating Candy.

Jean made her way up to her bedroom, getting herself ready for her night out with Ororo and Scott, considering that they were going out to see the latest Brie Larsen movie that had come out. Fluffing her hair out after having put on some makeup, she exited her room to meet with Scott and Ororo.

In a lot of ways, both girls were glad, because after Scott had gotten his driver's license, Tony had given him one of his cars: a red Maserati convertible, fully loaded with leather seats. To say Scott had gotten hooked up would be an understatement. One thing Tony and Scott could connect on was their love of engineering and cars, which made Tony happy that there was someone who appreciated it as much as he did.

"Scott, I still do not know how you drive from place to place," Ororo said, grinning.

"Believe me, he doesn't see colors. He only sees red." Jean smirked.

"Everything is fucking red!" Scott laughed, shaking his head as they got into the car, Jean in the passenger's side. "I think that to myself every damn day."

"That's why I was shocked that you had passed your driver's test, Slim," Jean laughed.

"Oh, shut up! You act as though you hadn't had faith in me," Scott told her.

Jean playfully slapped him, causing Scott to wince in a teasing way. "Aww did that hurt you?" she asked him. Scott nodded, pulling off the puppy-dog look. Jean kissed his arm and then slapped him again. "You're such a baby," she said to him, laughing lightly as he started the car.

Ororo smiled from the back seat as she watched the banter between the two of them. She could just tell that from the moment she'd met them, that Jean and Scott had a bond that was very special between them. They might not have realized it, but almost everybody, including Logan, Tony, Pepper, Carol and the professor noticed too.

Rec Room

Meanwhile, Bobby was waiting on Warren. Since he couldn't drive yet, Bobby was relying on Scott, Happy and Warren to take him places when he wanted to go and hang out with his friends. Jean joked that once Bobby got his license, he'll be out the door at six A.M and come strolling into home at around ten at night without calling after school. That was why Xavier wanted to work on getting Bobby online schooling with Hank and Xavier acting as his personal tutors. After what had happened with Angelica being kidnapped by Cameron Hodge all those months ago, Xavier was especially worried for the safety of the kids, and online schooling would ensure their safety. Ororo was already getting tutored for her GED so that she could have the opportunity to go to college.

Bobby sat there in the rec room, waiting for Warren to drop him off at the diner that he was meeting his friends at. Looking down at his cellphone, he could see text messages from Johnny and Peter in their group chat, asking him where he was.

Pete: Bobby? Where are you at right now? We're all here waiting.

Johnny: C'mon, Bobby! Angelica's complaining about you not being here. I swear, dude, she's bitching right now

Angelica: Ignore Johnny, dude. He doesn't know what he's talking about right now.

MJ: Listen to Angelica. Don't listen to Johnny. He really should leave the responsibilities of being a drama queen to me.

Bobby let out a series of chuckles at his friends' text messages.

Bobby: Guy's, chill the hell out. I'm coming, guys. If only Warren would just hurry up . . .

Johnny: When it comes to him getting ready, he's slower than molasses. He's more high-maintenance than Angelica

Angelica: Johnny, I dare you, say that again . . .

Angelica typed a series of flame emojis to warn Johnny of what could happen to him. Bobby burst into laughter. Finally, Warren emerged out of his room, hair combed back and gelled. He was smelling very strongly of cologne – Ralph Lauren's Hot cologne to be specific – and he was dressed in dress shirt and slacks. He looked as though he belonged on the cover of Men's Vogue.

"Well, there you are! Where the hell were you? You take more time getting ready than Jean and Ororo combined. You're worse than a chick!" Bobby exclaimed, getting off the couch.

"Hey, what are you going to do, Bobby? Sue me?" Warren asked sarcastically as they prepared to take a Warren's car to the restaurant Bobby was meeting his friends at.

"No, I'm not. But, I feel I've gotta do something about it . . . maybe take away that Australian shampoo that you use." Bobby smirked mischievously.

Warren feigned a shocked and terrified expression. He and Scott had the hair to envy, after all. "You wouldn't!" he gasped, but, laughter escaped his throat as he prepared to pull out his car keys. Once they were in the garage, they approached Warren's white Bentley. Warren got into the driver's side and proceeded to drive Bobby off to the diner for the rest of the night. Once they were at the diner, Warren drove his car towards Queseda Valets after Bobby exited the car. The valet service station was not too far from the Lee-Ditko Late Night and Spirits, a high-end club that he frequently went to and was known as a regular.

Driving up to the valet service, he pulled his credit card out and handed it to one of the valets.

"You guys know what to do. Take care of my car; just had it waxed," Warren said, stepping out of the car.

"Absolutely, Mister Worthington," the valet said as he watched Warren turn off his image inducer watch and fly towards Lee-Ditko Late Night and Spirits, which was about a twenty-minute flight.

He proceeded to fly towards the club that he frequented. When he and Candy had been dating, they weren't the type of couple that went out constantly. They'd preferred quiet moments on the couch. But now, Warren found that he was going out clubbing a lot more than usual. He knew it was a habit he'd picked up as a coping mechanism to deal with Candy's death. It seemed as though after Candy's funeral, that he'd been going out clubbing almost every weakened. He stopped outside Lee-Ditko Late Night and Spirits, one of the few mutant-friendly clubs in town, and it was probably one of the most prestigious.

Arriving at the door, he flashed a grin at the security guards who worked there. Over the past few months, he'd grown to be a regular customer. And of course, the security guards knew who he was, given who his parents were.

"Hello, gentlemen," he said with a smile.

"Hello, Mr. Worthington. You haven't been here in a bit," the bouncer said.

"Well, I've been busy with work. I'd just gotten a promotion a week ago," Warren said as he entered the bar.

Upon entering, he saw dozens upon dozens of mutants in the space, along with a few humans who were probably too intoxicated to realize that there were mutants there. Warren felt glad that there were places like this, considering he could allow his wings to be exposed freely. Walking up to the bar, he sat himself down.

"Hey, can get I get a glass of Blue Moon please?" he asked the bartender.

"Yes, Mr. Worthington." His beer got placed in front of him, and he proceeded to take a sip. He remembered the first time he'd tried beer. It had been at a house party when he was a freshman in high school, fifteen years old to be exact. It had been him, Cameron and Candy, and the three of them had been drunker than skunks. Cameron had bet Warren that he couldn't clean a whole pool table while drunk.

"War, I bet you two hundred dollars that you cannot clear off this whole pool table after having a couple shots of Captain Jack," Cameron had said to him at the time, his voice slurred from having drunk five shots of Bailey's Irish cream. Warren remembered that night. Cameron had been leaning over the couch, swaying drunkenly. Candy had been completely drunk off shots of tequila, her makeup smeared slightly as she practically leaned on top of him. He could still remember her drunken laughter, and how they'd been piss-faced. That was a time where it had been simple, where he didn't have to worry about the complications of mutation. Even though Candy had been a drunken mess with smeared lipstick, that was still his favorite memory of her. Even piss-faced drunk swaying on her feet and vomiting after too many shots of tequila, he'd still thought Candy had been the most beautiful girl there.

Of course, Warren had ended up winning that bet, and ended up robbing Cameron of two hundred dollars. It proved Warren was the king of playing pool. Seeing how pissed Cameron had been had been the real highlight of the night. It had been at a time where Warren still had a lot of arrogance in him. He remembered how he had been back then. He'd been spoiled, stupid and arrogant. Even he could admit to that.

After having his family disown him when he was sixteen, his arrogance dissipated after ending up on the streets and living with other mutants in a large pack in order to survive. It hadn't been a gang, necessarily, but, it had made him realize that he needed to grow up. He ending up in a hospital after being beaten by street thugs humbled him even more. It made him realize that even some humans cared about mutants, and that there was still hope.

As Warren continued to sit at the bar, he smiled to himself, knowing that over the years he'd grown up a lot, and thank God he did, because if he hadn't, he'd still be the idiotic spoiled brat he'd been at age fifteen.

'In a way, even though I hated my dad and mom for throwing me out, I am kind of thankful in a way, too, because that time I'd been away from them made me realize that I had to mature. If I hadn't . . . well . . . I would be fucked,' he thought to himself as he continued to sit there quietly, continuing to drink.

Up next: Captive Angel