Ah ha, Chapter Two – sorry it's been late in coming – spring semester's almost over! WOOHOO! :D Unfortunately, that means more homework…blah.

Disclaimer as per Chapter One.

A note: since I've really only seen season one and two, and an episode of three, some info may seem screwy. I'm tagging it as an AU just in case. No one knows about the Institute kids being mutants yet, no Apocalypse (yet), and the Acolytes are here. Just so you know.


Chapter the Second: Recovery


Kitty Pryde - August 17

Dear Journal,

Kitty tapped the side of her laptop in thought before continuing.

The Institute is back to its normal atmosphere - chaos. I swear, Bobby, Jubes, and Evan have pulled enough pranks in one week to last the entire school year. Speaking of school, I'm a sophomore this year, so I can't wait to see what my schedule looks like. I hope the classes are more challenging than last year's - even if I'll miss out on quality nap time.

She paused, smiled, then continued.

Lance called me yesterday, asking me to a movie - I said yes, because I like him alot. I mean, we grew up together. I've known him forever, but still...

A worried look crossed her face.

Kurt hasn't spoken to anyone since we got home, not really. Sure, he laughs and jokes like always, but when I catch him by himself and he doesn't notice me, he's silent and pensive.

A grimace. Her fingers flew across the keyboard.

He also hates Lance. Jubilee made a snarky remark about him being jealous, which he yelled at her for, something very unlike him. I don't know if I believe that he was just jealous. He would've told me what was wrong. I think. I don't know. I'm just worried about him with the current attitude he has.
Speaking of silent, the new girl - Eryn - hasn't spoken since we got home. She just lays there on her bed in the infirmary, practically comatose. It's creepy - we know she's awake, but it's like no one's home. Jean just went to the infirmary, and I think she's going to try to speak to her. The Professor just called up Betsy, Tracy, and Nell. Betsy nursed a migraine for two days, and Tracy has done nothing but eat and drink things to soothe her throat. Nell doesn't want to be alone. All three of them have been awful quiet. Not that I blame them - I probably wouldn't talk much either if I had been in their situation.
Knock on wood, Kitty. I have a feeling it's going to be a tough year.

----------------------


Tracy held Nell protectively as Betsy crossed her arms before her to ward of psychological chill. The British girl looked at Storm, Xavier, and Mina. Beast was in the infirmary with Eryn, and Logan was in a Danger Room session with the New Mutants.

"You must understand," she said curtly. She swallowed. "This is hard to explain."

Storm smiled comfortingly. "Please, take your time. If there are some things too difficult to discuss, you don't have to."

Betsy nodded, and glancing at the other two girls, she sighed. "Guess I'll go first. I was captured about two weeks ago, by the female mutant with Raith in the hallway - they call her Sidhe. She has some mental block, so she was able to sneak up on me and knock me out with ether. I woke up in the cell, where Tracy and Nell were already. Evidently, they had been there for a couple of days. I also heard others in the hallway."

"Approximately how many of you were there?" Mina asked gently.

Nell shrugged. "We don't know - maybe twenty?"

Tracy nodded. "Sounds about right. They had been testing us - taking blood samples, wounding us to see how fast we heal, making us fight to test our strength." She hugged Nell closer. "They even used electricity on Nell, and she's a hydrokinetic - her body has more water than a normal human."

The eleven year old shivered, looking at the adults with her luminous eyes. "They kept inib..inhib..." she frowned. "*inhibitors* on us, except during tests, and even then we were too weak to fight - they often didn't feed us to see how long we could last without food."

"When did Eryn arrive there? What happened?" the Professor asked, looking at them levelly.

Betsy grimaced, blue eyes haunted. "She arrived a few days after me - evidently the ether had worn off early, so she fought back. They cut her up pretty badly, but stitched it up - she had sutures on her abdomen when they put her in the cell."

Mina's eyes narrowed. "What about Raith? Why was he after all of you?"

Betsy's lip quirked. "Nell listened when we could not - they thought she was too young to understand most of what they talked about, and she told us afterward. Evidently, the Apath was *hired* by someone to get us and test us - he kept referring to a "boss". The other soldiers were under him in authority. Eryn never saw him, at least not until the last day - but he always came to see her when she was unconscious. He had some weird fascination with her."

Mina stiffened.

"Her powers are the polar opposite of his own, from what I've learned," Xavier explained. "If he was how you say, the fact he is interested doesn't surprise me." He sighed, closing his eyes. "Thank you for telling us. You are welcome to stay at the Institute for as long as you like."

"Thank you, Professor Xavier," Tracy said honestly. "But I would like to call my father now that I'm well. I would like to go home."

Betsy thought of her brothers and parents and nodded. "As do I. Thank you for the offer, Professor, but I too would like to go home."

He smiled. "As you wish. Know that you are welcome here anytime." He looked at Storm. "Ororo, would you see them to a phone, please?"

The weather goddess smiled and nodded. "Of course, Charles. Right this way, girls."

As they filed out, both Mina and Xavier looked at little Nell.

She gulped. "I have no home to go to - none of my family are left. They died protecting me."  That fact seemed even more startling in the childlike voice that stated it calmly.

Xavier nodded. "I'll have a room fixed up for you here if you would like to stay. You would be with others your age that are also mutants, and you can go to school with the rest of them."

The cherubic child grinned in relief. "Thank you Mister Xavier." she whispered.

He smiled at her childlike demeanor. "Call me Professor, Nell. The others do. For now, why don't you go see the others and get to know them - if you're hungry, I'm sure Storm can fix something for you."

She shook her head, curls bouncing. "I'm just thirsty - I'll go to the kitchen, if I may be excused?"

Mina's smile turned into a grin. You don't often see manners like that anymore.

Xavier smiled gently at her. "Go ahead. We'll introduce everyone at dinner." He watched in amusement as Nell bounced out. "Lively child. Should give a few of the older students a bit of a surprise."

Mina's raven eyebrow raised. "You just like having new students."

He 'looked' downstairs in the rec room where Rogue was reading a book, Scott was watching television, Kurt and Evan were playing a card game, and Kitty was working on her laptop. He sensed Logan with the New Recruits in the Danger Room, the session almost over, and he sensed Hank, Jean, and the murmur of Eryn's mind in the infirmary.

"Well, you know what they say, 'the more the merrier'."

She snorted. "Someday, you will eat your words, Charles," she said good-naturedly.

He grinned. "I truly hope so."

_______________________

Jean looked around Eryn's mindscape, wary of boobytraps.  She had finally gotten tired of seeing the younger girl stare at the ceiling unblinkingly, eyes completely vacant, so Jean had taken the task of waking her up upon herself. Jean had – against the Professor's explicit instruction to the contrary – entered Eryn's mind.

It was like being in space, only with gravity giving you a sense of being grounded, feet firmly on the earth.  The temperature was mild, a slight breeze ruffling her hair, and somehow she could see clearly, even if it seemed pitch dark.

There.

Jean's head snapped towards the noise, a wet scraping punctuated by muffled cursing in several languages.  She tread carefully, gradually growing closer to the very core of the other girl's psyche.  Her mindscape was steadily becoming more illuminated as Jean grew closer, and she knew when she had reached her destination when she was forced to stop to let her eyes adjust. Once she could see, the sight made her pause in amazement.

The 'ground' was covered in stone rubble of various sized rocks, all of them looking as if they had been blown apart with a mental equivalent of dynamite.  On the outside edge of the mind's core was a girl, her back to Jean, perhaps a year younger than she, wearing the clothing the prisoners had – nothing but a ratty pair of blue jeans and a dirty, stained, and ill-fitting shirt – with jet black hair trailing down her back, nearly touching the 'floor'.  She was sitting down, near an eye-level wall of metal, her hand in a bucket, grabbing handfuls of a liquid substance and slathering it onto the wall, making it taller. 

Abruptly, she stopped and glanced over her shoulder. 

"You shouldn't be here."

It was a simple statement, but it carried more than words.  It held fear, worry, sadness, anger, and hopelessness.  Jean suddenly realized that here, Eryn's empathy wasn't affected by the walls she  - Jean glanced at the rubble – used to have, apparently.

Approaching slowly, Jean knelt by the other girl.  "What are you doing?" she asked conversationally.

Eryn snorted in slight amusement.  "The only thing I *can* do, Jean."  She dipped her hand in the bucket again, pulling out what the telepath realized was more liquid metal, and slathering it onto the wall. 

Jean touched her shoulder gently, and the empath flinched.  "Let me help."

It was not a request, or at least Eryn sensed it wasn't, as the telepath's green eyes were deadly serious.  She shrugged.  "Very well."  She grinned at the redhead, turning to do so, and Jean finally got to see her fully.  "Perhaps my walls will be stronger this time."

Jean gulped.  Over Eryn's heart was a punched hole, as if someone had tried to rip out her heart.  The wound was messy, jagged, and completely raw looking, still bleeding.  Eryn looked where she was looking and shivered.

"Why haven't you done something about this?"  Jean touched the edge of it with feather-light pressure, not wanting to cause the empath pain. 

Hugging her arms around herself, Eryn shivered.  "I can't.  *He* did this to me, and I can still feel him – somewhere.  Like a shadow in the corner of my mind, always watching."  Her shivering had turned into shaking.  "I feel dirty – and no matter how hard I try, I can't get clean."  She looked at Jean with tear-filled grey eyes, which were begging for help. 

Jean searched for any other entities in the girl's psyche, and found none.  "The only people here are us, Eryn.  Perhaps you feel that way because you need to heal.  Why don't you tell me what happened to you?  Perhaps it will help?"

Eryn shook her head frantically in sudden fear, eyes wide.  "I can't."  She looked down at the 'floor'.

Jean grabbed her shoulders, and made her look up.  "Please.  Let me help you."

Silence for a moment, then she started to talk, in the tone of voice that an automaton might have had – completely devoid of emotion, her eyes looking beyond and staring at something Jean couldn't see.

"I remember I woke up around two thirty that morning – I had sensed something was off near the barn, and that perhaps one of the horses was sick – that happens sometimes.  I got up and met my grandmother in the hallway, because she had felt the same thing – she's a human empath.  Both of us went to the barn, and that's where they attacked us  - Vulcan mobbed me and knocked me out with something on a rag."  She gulped, then continued.  "I remember that I woke up as we got off a plane, and I reacted.  I knocked one of them out before the others attacked me."  She touched her midriff and grimaced.  "They sliced me up pretty bad – I blacked out."

"What happened then?"  Jean was steadily growing paler as the story continued. 

"I woke up in the cell with Tracy, Betsy, and Nell, and my wounds were stitched.  It creeped me out that someone had 'fixed' me while I was unconscious.  I was also wearing one of those collar inhibitor things.  They told me what had gone on before I had gotten there – experiments, tests – nasty stuff.  Then, over the course of the four days I was there, they did everything from taking my blood and a tissue sample, to opening my sutures to see how I reacted to pain."  She touched her shoulder, and Jean saw a large scar on her spirit.  "Sidhe took her sword and plunged it into my shoulder just for kicks."

"Good God."  Jean was white, but said nothing more, letting the younger girl finish her story.

Eryn continued as if she hadn't heard.  "The last day I woke up strapped to an exam table.  That's when *He* attacked me with his power, to see how mine reacted.  I remember…" she concentrated harder.  "Pain.  My walls fell, then I hurt.  Then…I remember light."  She looked at Jean.  "Then, I woke up, and I saw the one who saved me, before I heard all of the fighting in the hallway."

Jean smiled, as if to lighten the mood.  "Speaking of which, why weren't you scared?  Most people are."

"Scared?  Of what?"

"Kurt."

Eryn's eyes clouded in confusion before they brightened in understanding.  "Ah – the Guardian.  No, I wasn't scared.  I've seen true evil; I've seen real monsters.  Trust me when I say that Kurt doesn't come close."  She smiled.  "He has a beautiful soul."  She fingered the corner of her dingy shirt.  "I…want to thank you all – for saving my life.  Someday, I promise to return the favor."

Jean's smile grew brighter as she dipped her hand in the bucket, slathering the metal on the wall.  "No problem.  Let's get these up, shall we?  You'll need your shields at the Institute - *believe* me."

Eryn grinned back.  The wound over her heart wouldn't heal now perhaps, but it would in time.

_____________________

Kitty's brow furrowed as she phased through Kurt's door and found the balcony door open.  He only went out there when he wanted to be alone or when he wanted to think, usually one in the same. She spied him crouching on the rail, sans holowatch, gripping the bar with his odd feet, staring off into the woods, looking at nothing in particular.  His tail twitched absently, indicating deep thought.

Personally, she was a bit ticked that he wouldn't at least trust her enough to tell her what was wrong.  On a friendlier level, she was worried about him  - this was the longest he had been like this; even when he had found out about Mystique being his mother, his pensive attitude didn't last this long.

"Kurt?" she ventured quietly.

He yipped and jumped like he had been electrocuted, the hair on his tail standing up like a cat's. He whirled to face her, somehow still holding onto the rail.  "Katzchen! Don't *do* that!"

"Sorry," she said with a grin, not really meaning it. "I just came to see what you were up to, Fuzzy."

He shrugged, grinning, the pensive attitude fading as it always did when he tried to hide it behind that grin of his, and he stepped off of the rail onto the balcony. "What for?  Should I be up to something?"

Her smile faded, and she looked at him seriously.  "Kurt…"

His smile faded also, yellow eyes immediately becoming guarded. "Don't.  I'm fine."  He turned his back to her, to look out at the woods again, but she knew he wasn't looking at the trees.

After five minutes she still hadn't moved, and Kurt looked at her again, and saw the sad expression on her face.

"Don't you trust me?" she asked quietly, not looking at him, her voice wavering. She hugged herself with a shiver.  "I thought we were friends."

His hands spasmed like he wanted to grasp her shoulders, but they dropped to his sides.  "We are."  A pause, then a sigh, as he rubbed his hand over his face as he tried to gather his words.  "It's just that…being in that place, and seeing what happened to them, it…it made me think that it could have happened to any of us, and still can."  He thought grimly of the bodies in the corridor where the 'cells' were as they had retraced their steps to the Blackbird. Evidently, their enemy had decided that taking all of the prisoners would have been a waste of time.

He leaned against the rail, shoulders slumped.  "I have nightmares about places like that, knowing that because of my appearance, I would be treated as an *experiment* instead of a person, and it scares me, because I know I've been treated like one before.[1]  It scares me to think that any one of us could become a…*lab rat* just to satisfy some madman's curiosity.  You know what being there did to Betsy, Nell and the others.  All of them are strong, but they had been unable to escape on their own.  Just like we would be." The look Raith had given him when he had seen him was still burned on the back of his eyelids.  It wasn't fear, hate, or anger, but amusement and curiosity with an incredulous light in his eyes, and against his will, an odd shiver had crawled down Kurt's spine.

Like he wanted to take me apart to see what made me tick. He didn't want to say that to Kitty, though – it would just upset her even more.  Especially if she knew it had caused some of his recent nightmares.  Nightmares, from just a look.  He thought he'd be used to a stranger's facial expressions by now, but obviously not. Even now, he could still here the old schoolchildren jibes – called everything from a Demon to a freak of nature.

And no matter how much you change as you age, some things are too ingrained to completely discard.

During his rant, Kitty's muscles had gradually stiffened until she grabbed his face and shook him.  "Stop it Kurt!  Just stop it!  For one, you *are not* an experiment.  Two, we are a *team*.  If some of us are hurt or captured, the rest will not just sit back and do nothing, and you *know* that! Don't you?"

He sighed, turning away from her.  "Ja, I know."

He sounded as if he didn't completely believe it, and there was still that uncharacteristic sadness in his eyes, but she couldn't think of anything else to say or do to reassure him, aside from promising the impossible.

That she couldn't do, so she did the only thing she could.  Throwing her arms around is waist in a hug; she squeezed hard, and then let go.  "C'mon Fuzzy – dinner is in about an hour, and we all know you like, starve to death if you skip meals.  Besides, it's your turn to set the table."

He looked down at her brunette ponytail and smiled.  Just being around her cheered him up. "Ja, sure thing Katzchen.  Let's go."

 ----------------------------

Eryn groaned as the light in the infirmary pierced her eyes as she opened them.  Her throat was dry and raspy, and she was sore all over, but she smiled nonetheless.

Her walls, with Jean's help, were back up.

Huzzah.

She ran her tongue over her lips with a grimace.  It tasted like she had slept with a week-old gym sock in her mouth. 

"Ugh."  She needed Listerine. *Soon.*

She smiled as her grandmother came into her field of vision, teal eyes dancing.  Mina smoothed a lock of hair away from Eryn's forehead gently, and the teenager suddenly realized how dirty she was.

"How do you feel, liebe?" 

Eryn grinned wryly.  "Like I was pulled through a knothole backwards [2], Nana."  She gingerly sat up and threw her legs over the bedside, wincing at the stiffness in her joints and the slight buzzing in her head.  Jean, standing next to the bed, steadied her.

Huh.  Her voice sounded better than she thought it would.  She looked at her grandmother.  "Where's Aunt Erde?"

Mina sighed, resigned.  "She went to New Orleans about four days ago."

Eryn's head jerked up, startled.  Jean watched the tête-à-tête with interest.

"Why would she go back?  The Thei-" she abruptly stopped and changed her wording, aware of someone who didn't know what they were talking about.  "*He* said he didn't need her in the Guild anymore."

"She went to find information – she said Kei knew something, and she's bound and determined to find out what."  Mina shrugged.  "You know your Aunt – nothing short of Armageddon will stop her when she's set on something."

Eryn slumped, grey eyes sad.  "I thought I'd at least get to say hello, Nana.  When will she be back home?"

Mina smiled and hugged her granddaughter.  "A few weeks.  When you are cleaned up, Charles would like to speak with you."

Eryn turned to Jean, an unspoken question on her face.

The redhead smiled and nodded.  "I'll come with you."  Her smile grew wider.  "Don't worry, the Professor doesn't bite."

The Empath snorted in humor. "No, but I might."

Just then, Beast puttered in from the lab, and seeing them, dropped the file he was holding.  "Good Heavens!  I didn't know you were up and about, Miss Thomas."

Eryn held up her hand in an awkward salute, appearing not to be startled at what, to all appearances, looked like a large, blue – well – beast.  "Just woke up. Thank you for taking care of me, Dr…"

"Hank McCoy.  Call me Hank."  He stooped to pick up the file, before knuckling over to check her vitals and stats.  They all ignored Bobby as he ducked into the infirmary, looking like he was trying to avoid execution.

"Right as rain," he pronounced after a moment.  "Just keep the area around your sutures clean – I should be able to remove them soon – and be careful your shoulder.  It will probably still drain, and let it, or it will get infected.  Keep it clean and bandaged.  If you have any trouble, I'm always here in the infirmary or in the lab."

She nodded, stumbling slightly as she got out of bed.  "Thank you, Dr. McC-Hank," she replied, correcting herself mid-name.  She winced as she stretched, spine popping. "Ooch – that felt good…" She spied Bobby, and her gaze became curious.

He was looking like Death knocked on his metaphorical door.

Eryn turned an inquisitive look to Jean, who smiled.  Bobby Drake – he's a bit of a prankster, and I'm afraid he's angered quite a few of the others recently.

If the empath was startled by the metal speech, she didn't show it, but simply nodded.  She touched her hair with a grimace. "Is there somewhere I can take a shower?"

Mina nodded.  "Charles had one of the guest rooms set up for you – I brought some of your clothes, so you're all set."

Eryn nodded, and opened the infirmary door to move out into the hallway, not noticing Bobby moved behind her like she was a shield.

"GET HIM!!"

Eryn found herself coated with whip cream, coolwhip, and what appeared to be caramel ice cream topping. 

She even thought that someone tossed chopped nuts.

And maybe one maraschino cherry.

Silence reigned, and the only sound was the sound of whip cream dripping onto the floor.

"Um, hello?" Evan managed, all of them managing to look abashed, while trying not to laugh.

Eryn had frozen, a look of steel calm on her face.  She looked at the one person in the hallway she recognized – Kurt.  "Just tell me one thing," she stated with perfect patience.  "*Why* am I covered in whip cream, and no one at least *thought* of it being chocolate?"

Kurt grinned, revealing the can of chocolate cream behind his back with a flourish. "For you, fraulien."

Grinning in return, she bowed and took it.  "Danke, mein herr," she answered, before pivoting and spraying it into the Iceman's face.

The hall erupted in cheers and applause.

Betsy, standing at a distance with Nell and Tracy and watching the spectacle, ruffled Nell's curly hair with a grin.

"I think she'll be just fine."

_______________

Jean watched Eryn fidget, sitting in front of the Professor's desk, under his intense scrutiny. 

"Eryn, I have heard what happened from Betsy and the others, but I would like to hear it from you – tell me what happened."

Jean squeezed the other girl's arm in comfort as she related her story again for the second time in a day, albeit more haltingly, as if saying it aloud physically rather than mentally hurt more than it did previously.  Xavier didn't say a word, his face passive and neutral. However, she froze when the Professor spoke.

"I didn't ask this of the others, and you *can* refuse, but I would like to enter your mind, to see what *you* saw."

She gulped.  "Why?  I mean, I didn't see more than the others did, so what would seeing what I saw make any difference."

He steepled his fingers, every inch exuding patience. "Eryn, you know as well as I that your powers evolved while you were there – you feel it, even if you can't remember.  I'm hoping to see something you don't consciously remember, to hopefully shed some – if you'll excuse the expression – light on this situation."

Her sign of assent was simply closing her eyes and lowering her shields-walls, he reminded himself.  She called them walls. He gently probed her mind, the task easier with her assent, touching only on recent memories, respecting her privacy by not delving deeper into her mind. 

An attack, and a cloying scent in her nose that choked her.  Pain lancing across her abdomen, and blood pooling past her hands.  A mutant, with burning red eyes, hands alight with fire.  Seeing Betsy, Tracy, and Nell in the cell when she awoke.  Nell screaming as electricity crawled across her skin, leaving slight burn marks. Another mutant, a woman, who held a blue-green fireball in her hands; reversing her sword, she plunged it into her shoulder with a malicious grin.

Those and a variety of other images crossed his mind, until he reached the one of the day the X-men rescued her.

Black lightning, hitting her chest, and the pain of her walls falling, the Apath ripping into her mind.  The surprise of her Empathy rising to defend her, her body glowing a hard-edged blinding white. The mental sensation was one of elation and completion, as if the last puzzle piece was fitted into her framework.  Sight, sound, smell – all perception exploded into a dazzling array of sensations, and Xavier was able to See what she Saw at that moment and after, until her Vision died with the realization that she was being saved.  The light died.

No. Not died.  Dimmed.  That light would never be absent.

Exiting her mind, he smiled at her.  "Thank you."

"So I *did* see his soul." Her brow scrunched in puzzlement.  "How is that *possible*?"

He rubbed his temple.  "I believe that fully immersed in your Empathy, you feel what that person feels as well as Seeing who they truly are."  He nodded.  "Yes.  Which is why you were not scared of Kurt – you Saw who he was and knew him, therefore you did not base his soul on his physical appearance like many strangers do."  He smiled gently.  "Now, for another matter."

Jean smiled as another look of confusion crossed the other girl's face.

"Your grandmother and I have discussed having you stay here at the Institute, on scholarship, of course.  That is, if you agree to stay.  You would get to attend High School with the others, and train your powers here, as well as becoming part of the team."

Eryn's jaw had dropped, but she snapped it shut.

He grinned.  "There is also the added benefit of being with mutants your own age."

She tried to speak, and croaked.  Clearing her throat she tried again, but found she had nothing to say for a moment.  Finally, she was able to speak.

"And Nana is alright with this?"

Xavier nodded.  "We discussed it earlier in the week, before your Aunt left, but Mina said it is your decision."

Eryn's heart leapt. To be with mutants my own age, and become an X-man! The opportunity was too much to pass up – aside from the camaraderie and other benefits, she *needed* to train her powers, and there was nothing more her family could teach her.

A grin broke out on her face.  "I would be happy to stay here, Professor."

"I'm glad."  Another smile.  She was beginning to see that despite his seriousness, Xavier had a natural inclination to put people at ease.  He looked at his watch.  "I believe it is almost time for dinner  - I meant to introduce everyone formally then, but it seems you met everyone earlier at Mr. Drake's expense…"

Jean shoulders shook helplessly in laughter, still seeing Bobby's face covered in chocolate cream.

_________________

Jubilee threw one arm over the Empath's shoulders, throwing the other over Rhane's, as they stood in the airport, watching Betsy and Tracy's plane take off for London.  Eryn sighed sadly, watching them depart, just as she did an hour previous when her grandmother's plane left.

"Well," the Asian girl said theatrically. "Guess you're stuck with us, girlfriend."

"Yeah," she answered, rolling her eyes.  "I'm suffering, let me tell you…"

Rhane sighed.  "I'm gonnae miss 'em."  She looked at Kitty, who was teaching Nell one of those clapping games that all schoolgirls did in boredom.  Jamie was watching like a hawk, trying to see who would mess up first.  "Is your Gran gonnae send ye your clothes an' stuff?"

Eryn nodded.  "Before school starts."  She scratched her shoulder carefully, the scabs itching horrendously as they followed Logan out to the X-Van.  "I can't wait – I'm running out of clothes."

Hearing her, Kitty grinned from behind at the same time Jubilee did.  "You know what that means…"

"Shopping trip!"

Rogue, in hearing range, groaned. Why me?  Why *us*?

Eryn and Jean, both noting her expression, smiled.

"C'mon," Jean teased.  "It won't be so bad."

Rogue snorted.  "I'll stay home."

"No way," Eryn said.  "Do they have a Hot Topic? [3]"

Rogue grinned wryly.  "Surprisingly, yeah. Where do ya think I get most of my clothes, huh?"

Eryn shrugged.  "Well, I gotta have someone to come with me, don't I?"

Rogue sighed in mock defeat.  "Fine – twist my arm, why don't ya?"

"Can me an' Jamie come?" Nell piped up from, unsurprisingly, between Kurt and Evan.  Despite her first reaction to the fuzzy Teutonic, she had been known to latch on to the furry goofball like a safety line. She was also seen constantly with Kitty, Evan, or Jamie, who was closest to her age.  "I'd like to go to the bookstore."

Ororo listen to the chatter fade into the background, smiling serenely. The X-men were, whether they realized it or not, a family, and for better or worse, had received two new family members.

And if the laughter in the van was any indication, no one cared a jot.

_______________

[1] reference to Asteroid M (I think) and how Magneto apparently experimented on him as a baby.

[2] phrase in the South – has the same connotation as "Death warmed over" or, as Nemain would say, "Rode hard and put up wet."

[3] Seriously, one of the best stores ever.  Tagged as a freak/goth place, but it's cool. Has all sorts of stuff – including Care Bears stuff and merchandise from other old cartoons and some animes.

^.^ - whew! Chapter 2 finished! Finally! *throws confetti in the air*  YAY!

Next part: Part the Third – School starts, Eryn meets the Brotherhood, and has her first Danger Room session a'la Logan. It doesn't help that one of the boys at Bayville High has decided to make life hell, either….