Scott Summers
It was a rather rare day for me. I was the only one in the apartment. Everyone one else was out. Craig left with Peter and Ned to go pick up Kitty, Betty, and MJ for the Valentine's Day Dance at Midtown. Kitty was with Betty and MJ because the three of them decided to go get ready at Betty's residence. Carmilla is keeping an extremely low profile, bouncing around from safe house to safe house until she feels safe enough to come back. I had the apartment all to myself. But I wasn't going to be here for too long. Joanna wanted to do something tonight, so she was going to be here soon.
To say the last few weeks have been rather eventful for me would be a huge understatement. A lot of the things that did happen were things that I probably could've predicted. Teaming up with Spider-Man? With the frequency of which the heroes in this city are put in positions where they have to team up, that would've almost been a certainty. Taking on Justin Hammer? Facing corrupt corporate executives was par the course for my life. Being slandered by J. Jonah Jameson? Well, I'm a mutant. Being slandered by the media was nothing new. Forming the X-Men again? It was already in the cards. However, there were quite a few things I didn't expect. I didn't expect Peter Parker, the boy behind the webbed mask, to become a significant part of my life and another teenager I try to look after. I didn't expect to reestablish ties with Pepper Potts and Happy Hogan. But most of all, I didn't expect to end up in a relationship with Joanna.
While I've heard of Joanna during my time in the military – albeit under her codename Frenzy – I only met her after I, along with the other X-Men, unlawfully entered her apartment. I was surprised when she started flirting with me. I thought it was her just her way of messing with me. But the more I was around her, the more I realized that her interest in me was genuine. And then I became interested in her along the way. We had a lot in common. Both of us were mutants. Both of us had a military background. Both of us had parents who were deceased. Of course, there were differences between us. I'm reserved, she's forward. I tend to take time to try and figure a person out in plain conversation. Joanna openly flirts. I'm, admittedly, a bit of a prude. She's crass. While I'm not lacking in sense of humor, Joanna tends to find a way to joke during situations I wouldn't find humor in. But, ever since California, she was able to bring out parts of me that haven't been out in the open since Jean. We joked. We bantered. She was able to get me to open up about things I wasn't usually so open about. There are people who know me for years that I consider friends who have barely scratched the surface of what there was to know about me. In a span of a few weeks, Joanna was able to know me as well as Peter does.
I guess life as a mutant is far from normal.
After I got ready, I waited for Joanna. During that time, I decided to get some work in. As I sat on the sofa, there were several papers and documents spread out over the coffee table. I took different notes and made reminders to call up certain people for future meetings and talks. I got so lost in the work that I was slightly startled when I heard a knock on the door. I looked down at my watch to check the time. I then stood up and walked over to the door. After checking the peephole, I opened the door and looked at up Joanna. She was dressed in a pair of black jeans with a matching turtleneck sweater and pair of flats. Her long dreads were tied behind the back of her head in a ponytail.
"Good evening, Joanna," I greeted with a smile.
"Hey, Slim," she replied with a smile of her own. I stepped aside, allowing her to duck down and enter. I closed the door behind her before I turned around. She faced me, bent down and planted a kiss on my lips. I reciprocated, and the kiss last a few seconds before she pulled away. "How are the others?"
"Carmilla's in hiding for a little bit, and the rest of them are going to the dance at Midtown High."
"So you're the only one here?"
"I am."
At that, Joanna smirked. "You know, a lot of people would've done the basic thing and try for a Netflix n' Chill night."
I chuckled as I shook my head. "I like to think I'm more than basic." I raised my eyebrows briefly. "Would you like anything to drink before we go?"
"I could go for some water."
"Alright."
I made my way into the kitchen and opened the fridge door. I looked inside and stared at its contents before I grabbed a black can. I closed the fridge and walked up to Joanna, who was standing over the coffee table, looking down at the papers I had laid out. I handed her the black can. She looked down at it, raising an eyebrow.
"Liquid Death?" she said.
"Yeah, it's pure water straight from the Austrian Alps," I explained.
"Water in a can… Interesting." She cracked it open and took a sip. She looked at the can again and nodded a couple of times. "That is some good water." She lowered the can and nodded towards the coffee table. "What's all this?"
"Just me planning for the future," I replied. "I don't know if I told you this, but, the X-Men used to be based out a school."
Joanna looked at me and raised an eyebrow. "A school?"
"A school. You see, we had a boarding school – The Xavier Institute For Gifted Youngsters. It was a safe place for mutants. They could earn their high school diploma while learning how to control their powers. Most of the people who graduate the school go on to live as normal lives as they possible could. Some of them join the school staff. And a handful of people become a part of the X-Men, if they want to. So, I've been looking at different properties and buildings where I can establish as a new school."
"What happened to the old one?"
I sighed as I looked over at her. "After The Battle For Earth, I think we had all of three weeks before the crackdown on anti-Accords activity ramped up again. Little did I know, Logan – or Wolverine as he's mostly known as – made a deal with General Ross behind my back so the X-Men would become a government sanctioned team. This happened during The Blip Years. Some of us were okay with it, me and quite a few others, however, not so much. Logan and I got into a huge argument. Eventually, we decided to give it a go. Things were okay at first. But I was waiting on the other shoe to drop. And it did. We were flying back from a mission in Japan when there was a situation near The Samoan Islands. Basically, this large sea monster was about to wreak havoc in the area. We radioed in for clearance. Our handlers denied it. Some of us didn't like that, so a group that included me, Kitty, Craig, and Carmilla took things into our own hands.
"After we handled that situation, we made our own way back and… well… General Ross wasn't happy. He told us that if we ever did that again, we'd be looking at a year at The Raft. I, along with a bunch of others left afterwards. Craig, Kitty, Carmilla, and I stuck together since then. Others who left went on to do their own thing. The ones who stayed with Logan eventually became X-Force and ended up with most of Xavier's property."
Joanna tilted her head at me. "Xavier?"
"Charles Francis Xavier – codenamed Professor X. He's a mutant who established the school. He's actually the world's most powerful telepath. I was his first student at the school and he was like a father figure to me. However, after Ross turned up the heat on the school, he fled to Genosha. All of his known property was seized by the government, though Tony Stark managed to grab the aircrafts for himself, as I found out very recently." I sighed as I looked at the papers. "Getting the mansion back would be impossible. But with the X-Men working with Pepper and Stark Industries, we can find another place for ourselves to start anew. This time, it'll be in New York City." I frowned. "I just hope that, when it happens, I'll be able to maintain it."
I paused for a moment. I then shook my head. "But, beyond that, I also have to recruit people. I still need to gather leads, but…"
"You got this, Slim," Joanna assured. She turned and faced me as she smiled.
"You're just saying that," I replied with a self-deprecating tone.
"I'm really not." Joanna brought her left hand up and cupped my chin. She leaned forward until our faces were mere inches apart. "I'm not just saying this because I'm dating. I've seen what you're able to do. I was with you in California and at Ravencroft. I've only met one other person who could possibly pull off what you did, and she has the resources of a whole nation." She brought her face closer before she placed a kiss on my cheek. Underneath my glasses, my eyes closed as I savored the contact. She pulled away and playfully punched my shoulder. "Now come on. We got a whole night for ourselves and I'm not here to spend it all on pep talks. Are you ready to go?"
"Yeah, I am," I confirmed. I reached into my pocket and pull out my keys. "Shall we?"
