Edge

C2: Matters of Trust

[Disclaimer: MARVEL owns "X-Men: Evolution."  I own whatever I write/create.  Don't steal and don't sue.]

Ian and Charles Xavier regarded each other on opposite sides of the door.  Ian did not glance at the burly man standing at Xavier's shoulder.  It was not long before she stepped outside and shut the door.

"Let me guess." she sighed, "You came here to recruit me and the three kids living here."

"I was aware only of the two." Xavier blinked, "Pandora and Kris."

"Well, there is one more." Ian crossed her arms, "His name is Pax.  He can slow time, but he rarely does."

"I see." Xavier nodded, "I'm here to offer you and the three children a place to gain control of your powers."

"Safe haven, right?" Ian chuckled, shrugging her shoulders, "I've already gotten an offer from some lady named Mystique."  The man at Xavier's shoulder snarled, his hands clenching to fists.  "I don't plan to take it, however.  She seemed the type of person that likes to have people fear her."

"You'd be right." Xavier laced his fingers in his lap, "Mystique's idea of mutant acceptance is mutant superiority."

"Listen, my home is here." Ian explained, "I can't speak for Pax, Pandora, or Kris, but I'm not that eager to leave.  I'll relay this to them, and if they want to go, I'll send them to you.  I'm not going to make the choice for them.  They have to decide their own ways."

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"Oh, so you're going to try and beat me up." Pandora put her sandwich down and raised an eyebrow at Duncan, "Whatever."  The football player snarled in rage, his hands closing to tight fists.  Pandora stood up and walked to the left.  Duncan, blind with rage, threw a hard left hook and hit Pandora square in the face.  She stumbled back and shuffled to the left again.  Duncan threw a right hook, and Pandora fell.  She stood again and moved once again to the left.

"You just don't get it, do you?" Duncan frowned.  He threw a heavy uppercut and caught Pandora on the chin.  Duncan grinned in self-satisfaction, his eyes closing.

"Duncan, what the hell are you doing?"  The angry shout brought Duncan from his prideful thoughts.  He looked around, finding the three other players that had followed him into the cafeteria on the floor.  They were rubbing the same spots that he had hit Pandora—he could have sworn he smacked her.

"Good heavens man." Pandora frowned, "What's wrong with you?  Been smoking pot much?"  Duncan blinked madly, trying to figure out what exactly had happened.

"But I…I only had something last week." he said.

"What was that?"

Everyone in the cafeteria looked up to see Principal Kelly.  Duncan paled at his admission.  Once he and the three other football players had left with the principal, quite a few people laughed uproariously.

"Much better." Pandora chuckled to herself.

"How on earth did you know he smoked?" Kurt sat down next to Pandora, his gaze incredulous.

"I didn't." she replied with a small smile, "I tricked him."

"Tricked him?" Rogue sat down next to Kris, "How?"

"We're mutants as well." Kris said in a soft whisper.

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Ian walked through the fairly empty streets of Bayville, cigarette caught in the corner of her mouth.  She wondered how safe things would be if the three were discovered as mutants.  A soft curse rushed from her lips as she dropped the cigarette to the ground and crushed it under her heel.

"Christ, this is difficult to understand." she murmured, "It's been forever since I've been even slightly responsible for anything other than me.  That's what I get for being lonely."  She sighed and pulled a piece of paper from her pocket.  It wouldn't be good to sit around and let Kris whine about not having the food he wanted, so she had given the three a bit of paper to make a list.

"Thank god I stole ten thousand dollars last night." Ian laughed softly as she walked into the supermarket.

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Many door slams rang out.  Ian glanced up from Ishmael to see how the first day had gone over.  She had purposefully made the three's first day a Friday—just to let things blow over a weekend if school was bad.  The door creaked open.

Ian was suddenly mobbed.  Pax was hugging her for all he was worth and Kris and Pandora were smiling.

"Thank you for making us go to school." Pandora chuckled.  Kris grinned and punched Ian in the shoulder as thanks.

"Yeah." he agreed, "We found a bunch of mutants to hang with.  Sweet."

"…can't…breathe!" Ian tried to pry Pax's arms away from her throat, "Nice to know you liked it!  GACK!"  Pax finally let go, smiling madly.  Ian took a very large breath, the blue fading from her face.

"If you guys are hungry, I bought that stuff on the list." she said once her lungs decided to work again, "The only drink that's cold is milk though.  Sorry."

"Ah, so?" Kris shrugged, "I can wait to try the power-8 stuff.  I'm not that impatient."

"Huh?" Ian blinked, "I wasn't paying attention."

"For heaven's sake." Pandora shook her head, "You have the attention span of a hamster."

"Yep." Ian chuckled.

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Kris nodded his head to the beat of his favorite mix CD as he scratched down answers to his math homework.  He wanted to get the homework out of the way for the weekend.  It was better to bomb around the new town and see where the worthwhile hangouts were.  Pandora and Pax had agreed to go with him, and they were going to pick up Kurt and Rogue to have them show them around.

A knocking on the desk made his hands buzz.  He glanced up to see Ian and pushed off his headphones, pausing the CD.

"What's up?" he asked.

"While I commend your efforts to finish your work, it's getting late." she replied, "If you have plans, you better get some sleep.  You get pretty unruly when you don't."

"All right." Kris nodded, "I only have a few more problems and I'm done."  Ian nodded and walked away, leaving Kris to his work.

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"Heh, heh, heh!  Taste sharp metal, stupid pig enemies!"  Ian blinked three times before pausing the game.  It was somewhere near midnight, and the three had gone to bed.  Ian always enjoyed playing video games at night, and even if there were three other people in her house, she wasn't going to break her habit any time soon.  She saved the game quickly, to avoid any loss of game play.

"I need caffeine." she stood up and shook her head at her own strange statement.  A quick look through the refrigerator showed nothing that was of her tastes.  Ian cursed the store she had gone to earlier—they were out of the soda she liked.  The only thing to drink was either water, or the strange power-8 drink Kris had requested.

Ian shrugged and took one of the power-8 bottles.  It couldn't be that bad, she surmised.  Though the marketing was ridiculous, many sport drinks were actually decent in taste.  She twisted the cap off and took a drink.

The plastic bottle hit the ground with a thud, the liquid spilling onto the floor.  Ian stumbled, clutching her throat and bracing herself against the refrigerator.  Her bones seemed to catch fire as her skin froze.  She saw pulsing red and could barely breathe.

"Dammit…" she swore, her head pounding.  A sweat broke on her brow as she reached for the four remaining bottles of the power-8.  They hit the floor as she dashed them from the refrigerator.  A sudden, massive charge ran to her fingertips and energy shots fired from each finger.  They hit the bottles on the ground and flung Ian back with the force.

A jar fell to the floor and shattered, the sound massive in the still of midnight.  Ian leaned against the refrigerator, her legs shaking.  Black was eating her vision, and her body blazed in pain.  Time seemed to slow—she wondered if it was the poison she just unknowingly took or if Pax was playing tricks on her.  Footsteps rushed down the stairs, and the last thing Ian saw before passing out was Pax, Pandora, and Kris rushing towards her.

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Rogue glanced up from her book.  Kitty and Kurt were watching a movie, and she had opted to sit in the same room and read.  It was just past midnight.  The southern girl had no idea why there was someone knocking at the door.  She glanced at Kitty and Kurt.  They were completely absorbed in the movie.  Rogue sighed and slipped her bookmark into place before getting up.

The knocking didn't stop for one second and it grew louder and more insistent by the passing minute.  Rogue opened the door, expecting some kind of stupid prank.  She was extremely confused to see Pax, Pandora, and Kris standing there.

"What're you guys doin' here?" she questioned, "You shoulda said if you wanted to go at night."

"Rogue, help." Kris said, shifting arms around his neck.  Rogue grew even more confused—why was Kris carrying someone—a woman—on his back?

"Hey, Rogue, who is it?" Kurt bamfed into the room, "Pandora?  What's the matter?"  Pandora bit her lip nervously, holding Pax up with his arm around her shoulders.  He was holding his breath for all he was worth.  His hand lay on the woman's shoulder.  His breath escaped him and he gasped, his hand dropping.

"Something happened to Ian." Pandora whispered.

—to be continued—