Alex gathered his family members for an important meeting, or at least for something important to him. He had them spill out over the couch and seats from the dining room and stood there with a complacent expression on his face. His lips were pressed in a thin line as his forefingers and thumbs were also pressed in a body language that read "So listen up y'all."

He had stood like this for several minutes before he inhaled sharply and finally addressed the topic.

"Okay, so I know that this is hard for all of you, but for once in your lives… Can you act normal? Just for me? One night, that's all it takes."

"What's in it for us?" Nathan questioned from his lounging position. His feet were kicked up on Rachel's lap much to her dismay but she didn't do anything about it.

"What's in it for you?" echoed Alex. "You don't get an energy blast to the face if that's what you're wondering."

Jean stood up abruptly, ready to defend her son from such threats but Scott pulled her back down into the seat before accusingly standing up himself. "Do you want to have a problem Alex? I don't care if my powers don't work on you, I'll gladly use my fists."

Never missing the opportunity to egg on a fight, Nathan began cheering on his father. "Alright dad! You show Uncle Alex what for!" The boy pumped a fist in the air with his rallying cry, prompting for Scott to shake his head out of the disillusion.

"What? No—" Scott grabbed his nose bridge. "I'm not supposed to be teaching you this. Violence is not always the answer."

"Tell that to the monkey wrench bruise." Alex grumbled as he rubbed the back of his neck. Rachel even giggled a bit at this, earning herself a glare from her uncle. "Look guys," Alex continued. "Lorna is coming over and I need everything to be nice for her."

"Lorna?" Gabriel pipes in out of curiosity. "I thought the fair Mistress of Magnetism hated you now."

Alex reached out his hand as if he planned on choking Gabriel but decided against it and instead acted like he was force choking him instead. In turn Gabriel regarded him with an innocent look that made Alex's hand tremble with anger.

"It's just complicated okay? If everything goes well tonight, we could by the least, be friends again."

Gabriel slacks his jaw. He remembered that when he was Emperor of the Shi'ar Empire, Alex and Lorna had plotted to kill him. How ironic that now Alex was practically begging him to behave so he might have a shot at dating her. This was definitely a favor Gabriel could exploit later.

"Alright brother," Gabriel said. "We'll do as you say but I think you're in no shape to bring someone over."

He was speaking for everyone else regardless if they wanted to play into Alex's plans or not. But most importantly he was speaking for everyone when he says that Alex has been being more of a jackass as of late. Of course, not in those exact words because then the jackass in Alex would begin to show.

Ever since the can of worms that was Red Onslaught— Red Skull with the brain of Professor X— Alex had been in a constant shift of a pissy mood with violent tendencies. His personality was flipped to all his bad qualities and hasn't been healed since Red Onslaught was defeated. No one was quite sure of why or they simply didn't care enough to delve into it. Even Alex felt this evil inside of him and he wasn't sure what to do about it.

Frankly he really needed some help and he knew just how.

"Ah, Rachel! How's my favorite niece?" he asked. "Listen, you put some mental dampeners on me so I don't go all… y'know."

Rachel glanced at her mother and then back. "Why can't my mom do it? She's way better at using her powers than I am."

Alex gave her a confident dip of his head. "I need you to do it because I need Jean to prevent Scott, Gabriel, and Nathan from saying anything stupid. Got it?"

The three in question brandished offended looks, wide eyed with their mouths agape before Jean used her telekinesis to close them.

"You can count on me." says Jean with a bit of a smile. "I think it's very cute that you're trying to reconnect with Lorna. When did you say she was coming over?" she asked.

"Today."

"Today?"

Jean stood abruptly once more, about to strangle Alex but Scott held her back again. With a hand on her midsection, he eased her back down. "Couldn't have given us a heads up Alex?" asks Scott, his brow surely arched from behind his visor.

Alex glanced at the clock that hung over the kitchen island counter. "This is your heads up." he said. "Be ready in three."

"Three? Three what?"

"Minutes."

Scott grit his teeth. "Alex!"

The family scrambled to get ready and straightened themselves up to sit properly as the gate opened. Lorna stepped through in her usual green garb that denoted her as Polaris, the Mistress of Magnetism.

Alex hurries to greet her with a warm smile and extends out his hand for her to grab. "Hey, Lorna! You made it!"

"Didn't think I'd bail did you?" Lorna questioned with her brows raised. "That's your sort of thing, not mine. Remember?" She ignored his hand and walked past him to take in the view from outside. Choosing to ignore the comment she just made, Alex followed behind her.

"Takes your breath away doesn't it? Well welcome to the Summer Home." he said. Alex made an awkward gesture to the window before glancing back at his family for some help.

"Give her the tour." Jean offered telepathically.

"Offer her a drink instead!" Rachel piped in.

Alex screwed his eyes shut and shook them out of his head. "Why don't we head to the kitchen, get you something to drink and I'll give you the tour?" he offered as the alternative.

Lorna turned toward him and gave a bit of a tight smile. "Sure, I'd like that."

She grabbed onto his arm and let him lead the way, scoring one win for Havok.

Once there Alex opened the fridge and let Lorna pick out whatever she wanted.

"Hunh," she remarked audibly. "That's a lot of alcohol."

Suddenly Gabriel slid in and blocked her view of the fridge. "Ah yes well, those are all mine. But you could have anything else!" He smiled good-naturedly and gave her a curt nod of understanding. On the other hand, Alex clenched his jaw and glared at his brother from behind Lorna's shoulder. He looked like he was about to murder him as Rachel cued in just in time.

"Hey! Wouldn't look so good if you knocked someone out in front of your girlfriend here." she says telepathically.

"She's not my girlfriend, and hasn't been for a long time." Alex replied sternly.

"So you mean to tell me this isn't about you and her getting back together?"

As soon as Alex thought of a reply he was immediately hit with a strong pain in his brain. He inwardly grimaced and refrained from saying "ow" out loud.

"What was that?" he asked accusingly.

"That was a mental slap. You're welcome."

During Alex and Rachel's mental exchange, Jean and pulled Gabriel away from the kitchen and poured Lorna a glass of freshly squeezed lemonade instead.

"Made with lemons from my garden." Jean had said with a smile before departing.

Lorna raised both of her brows as she looked at Alex. "Indoor garden? You must have it really hooked up around here."

Alex smiled halfheartedly. "Uh yeah, Jean wanted it so… Scott made sure she got it."

"They're a good couple."

Alex's heart sunk. "Yeah."

The two walk away for Alex's tour of the house when Nathan loudly whispers to the rest of his family.

"Wow, he's totally blowing it, isn't he?"

"Yup." Scott agreed.

Jean swats the back of her husband's head, doing the same for her son. "Have some faith in Alex! He's doing his best." she whisper-hissed. "I think he's a better person when she's around."

Scott rubbed his head in shame. "Yeah… but I feel this is exactly why she never wants to come over when I invite her. She knew he'd be like… this."

They watched as Alex and Lorna disappeared from sight as he showed her where all the bedrooms were located, leading her down to Jean's garden.

Lorna brushed her hand against blossoming flowers as she walked past them, Alex in tow. She avoided looking at him under the artificial lighting until they made it to the end of the row of flower beds. She lifted her gaze up just enough to glance at him before looking away at the window.

"Who knew Jean had such a green thumb huh?" Lorna asked awkwardly.

Alex chuckles lightly, rubbing his neck with his hand. "Well I guess when you settle down in a house with your loved ones, you start picking up other hobbies that don't include fighting."

Lorna's lips twitched into a bit of a smile before she frowned ever so slightly. "What're we doing Alex?" she asked suddenly.

"Um… currently standing in my sister-in-law's very expensive garden, having a very awkward conversation."

Lorna just gave him a look.

Alex rolled his head back. "What? You never want to come here in the first place. I know it has something to do with me because you've been avoiding me!"

Lorna's expressions turned sour, just itching to leave, but she doesn't.

Without the help of Rachel like he had asked, Alex cooled down himself and took a deep breath. "Right right, time and all that. I'm sorry. I hope I didn't mess things up again."

Lorna softly shook her head, causing her green teresses to shake with her. "Why are you being so weird?"

"Weird?" Alex inquires. "Weird how? Is it the anger thing because—"

"No Alex." Lorna states firmly. "I know why that is. Why do you seem so distant? I mean, you love your family. Why does it seem like they're gawking at me? What did you tell them?"

"I uh, told them to act normal."

For a moment she was silent, causing Alex some panic. Then she broke into a grin and laughed loudly.

"Normal? Oh Alex, you're a Summers. There is no such thing as normal!" she leaned an arm on his shoulder, lightly pushing him back. "I should be offended, I've known you guys since forever! And look at me! I'm Magneto's daughter, there's no normalcy in that!"

Slowly Alex began to join in on her laughter as he felt more at ease. "Yeah… I don't know what I was thinking. Since it's been so long, I just wanted to make a good impression of where I am in my life right now."

"I don't know," Lorna began. "I've heard that you almost killed a man and landed yourself on the Hellions. That's an impression enough for me."

Alex felt his cheeks burn.

"But that's okay. I hear you're making an effort to be better. So c'mon—" Lorna brought her lips to his burning cheek and placed a kiss there. "Let's go back to your wonderful family and let's pretend I'm in it, okay?"