1

Todd walked into the lunch room of their school with a bag filled of whatever Fred had filled it with to justify stuffing his own. Across a sea of students, in one corner there were the mutants that tolerated his presence in school as they did in their home because...well, every reason that was true did not seem to appeal to him right now. On the other far edge of the sea, an amalgam of their most fervent rivals: and despite the views the majority had of mutants collectively, these rivals were also mutants.

Todd took a breath as he began to lope over to his place when the heavy foot falls of boots managed to invade his personal space to be heard in the crowded room. He turned and X-23 was there, along with Rogue.

"I understand that we should start sitting together at lunch.", X-23 informed him as if telling a parent about learning about butterflies.

Rogue sighed. "I told her not to put you on the spot."

"And then refused to explain what that meant.", the other girl countered.

"It's just hard to put into words."

Todd shook his head. "That's okay."

"Eating together?", X-23 asked with a hint of disappointment.

"No, yo.", the boy assured. "Putting me on the spot.

"But I don't think there's a space free...", he stated looking around.

"There's one right there.", X-23 said pointing to the center long table where the jocks and cheerleaders usually sat. She immediately took off for it as it was still empty.

Todd looked to Rogue. "She doesn't...", Rogue started. "Let's just get her.", Todd agreed.

By the time they got to the other side of the table, X-23 was already digging into her tray. Thank goodness for the X-gene's demand for calories to keep up powers, Rogue thought. The only overweight mutant she knew of was Fred and that was kind of his power.

"Look/", Rogue began before she was cut off.

"Maybe you got lost.", a football player absolutely surrounded by football players stated.

Before Todd could remember the name of this one that also was not Duncan, he felt a tug on his shirt. He looked down and Wanda was tugging him to sit on the bench of the picnic style cafeteria table. It was nearly impossible that Pietro, Lance, Fred and her could have slipped by the jocks without them noticing and into their seats no less but turning the highly improbable into the plain as day was her very first ability.

"Yeah, thanks for saving us a seat.", Jean told Rogue. As Todd was sitting down, Rogue felt a very faint push from no where guiding her to sit next to Todd. Before she finished, it seemed like the entire student body of the Charles Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters had filled the length of table.

X-23 looked to her left. The Blob hung off the end and Avalanche sat next to her. Across from them was Quicksilver and (she squinted, hmm...forgot her name) his... (she squinted again, they were connected somehow and with the touches they constantly exchanged it was obvious but she saw how Cannonball and Husk acted around each other and they were way more brother and sister than even Nightcrawler and Rogue so it was something else) sat across from the previous two. Directly across from her was of course, Toad and next to him Rogue. Jean Grey (need to get her a real name) and Cyclops and Spyke and Cannonball and/

"I said maybe you got lost.", the football player interrupted X-23's thoughts.

"How?", she asked. "It's our school's cafeteria?"

"Look here, mutie."

One would have thought they all had super speed as fast as they stood up. The only ones not standing in less than the blink of an eye was Pietro slowly standing as Wanda pressed on his shoulder to slow him into not using his powers in school, Todd who had bent over to put his face in his hands and X-23 herself. "No, I'm X-23. I suppose 'Laura' to you."

She checked her memory. "I don't know anyone named 'Muty'."

Scott called out across the table. "I don't know about you fellows, but I'm pretty hungry. Maybe we could just all get back to lunch? Please.", he stated in a tone of leadership.

Principal Kelly stormed up to the table. "What trouble are you kids causing now?", he accused the mutants.

The football player took a step back. "I didn't do anything. um...They used their powers on me."

"And which powers were those?", Jean asked.

He opened his mouth and then fell silent. For all the absences these kids took, the times on they were on the news as public menaces, even the regular cheating and skipping classes the ones at this end of the table did - none of them used their powers at school. So for the life of him, he could not place a single one to an ability. Except maybe-

"He looked at me with those yellow, bug eyes.", he accused Todd.

Todd immediately lifted his face from the coverage of his hands to roll those eyes, which were not that yellow anyway, before planting his face once again. Scott was standing right there and wearing solid ruby quartz glasses worth more than the table they were sitting at and he was the kid with the weird eyes.

Jean reached past Rogue to slap his shoulder for the thought.

"Detention Tolensky, you know the rules.", Kelly snapped.

"That's all?", another jock asked.

"Is that all?", Ray repeated.

Principal Kelly spun to see who had spoken but Kurt already had Ray's nose in a math book. The image that surrounded him looked to the man with the picture of innocence. Kelly frowned.

He turned back to the jocks. "It's nice out today. Maybe you have lunch outside. Anyone stops you, tell them I said you could along with your friends.

"As for you...", the man trailed off as all the mutant students of the school appeared to be the picture of order, sitting calmly around the lunch table.

In frustration, he slammed his hands to the table on either side of X-23. "I accommodate you despite the fact that you shouldn't even be allowed in public, let alone a school. Do you think that that just for once you could pretend to be grateful for my generosity and actually not attack the normal students? Pretty please, with a cherry on top?

"Because the next time, I'm not just handing out detentions. I'm canceling every after school program there is! Soccer, band, gymnastics..."

"Are you talking about all the stuff you've forbidden us from participating in anyway?", Jubilation asked. "Oh no, I'm going to be kicked off the gymnastics team for something I've actually done, no..."

"Detention, Lee.", Kelly stated before storming off.

The girl folded her arms and pouted. Lance reached over X-23's and Jean's trays, extending a fist to Scott with his lanky arms. Scott considered with a passive face then touched it with a fist of his own, allowing Lance his celebration of overcoming 'The Man' without making an issue of it.

"We're having a party on Saturday.", Kitty blurted out hoping to continue this chance at friendship. Silence draped over the Xavier side of the table. Much quieter she meekly asked, "like, Did you want to come?"

Wanda's condescending smile widened, then her eyes. She bit back her barb from the little kitty-cat and turned to Todd. Without missing a stroke of teasing Pietro's hair she asked, "Well, toad? Do you your little girl-friends want to go to a party?".

X-23 shrugged. "I was told I have to be there, so I could learn to act like a person and not a weapon. Rogue was going to be there anyway."

She looked up. "Right?"

Jean mouthed 'girl-friends, plural'.

Kitty, Tabitha and Amanda shrugged as if that would offer her sympathy.

Rogue tried to glare a hole in Wanda. "Sure, shug. Wouldn't miss it for the world."