Evan was making his way to his room to grab his skateboard. With the
Danger Room session out of the way he was ready to have fun the rest of the
day. He was just getting to the elevator when he heard someone crying down
the hall. He paused and looked toward the sound of the crying and saw
someone curled up in the shadows. He turned and started toward the person,
concern knotting in his stomach.
"Hey, who's there?" He called.
Evan nearly jumped in surprise as two ruby red eyes looked up at him. He paused mid step and watched as the person seemed to curl further into the shadows, as if trying to hide.
"Who's there?"
Getting no reply Evan walked over to the curled up figure. He knelt down and started to reach a hand out, but jerked back at a frightened whimper. Up close he finally recognized the identity of the person crying.
"Jakob?"
"Make them go away...someone make them go away." Jakob whimpered.
Evan frowned. "Make who go away?"
"Them."
Evan frowned deeper, but then he remembered what Jakob's ability was. Jakob could see and communicate with the dead not to mention channel dead spirits. It was also believed he could bring the dead back to life, but no one had seen him do it.
These thoughts sent a chill down Evan's spine that made the boy squirm in discomfort. He particularly didn't care for talking with the dead or even believing that the dead hung around so someone could talk to them, or see them for that matter. Ghosts were a boyhood fear of his, though he'd never admit it to anyone. There was only one person who knew and that person would never tell because he was afraid of ghosts as well.
"I can't make them go away man, but how about you go away from them?" Evan suggested. Away sounded like a good idea to him.
"They follow. They follow me everywhere." Jakob murmured fearfully. "Everywhere."
This kid is gonna have serious mental problems. Evan thought to himself. "C'mon Jakob, is there anyplace they can't follow you?"
"Outside, they died in the mansion...can't go outside." Jakob replied softly.
This is useful knowledge. Evan thought. He offered his hand to Jakob along with an encouraging smile.
Jakob looked up at Evan's hand, squinting for a moment to make sure that the older boy was alive and not dead. He easily recognized the purple aura around Evan as to mean a living mutant. However, the little girl that was bent down beside Evan's feet had a blue aura, meaning she was a dead human. His heart thumped in his throat as she reached for him.
And then he saw a dead male human walking up behind Evan. Jakob felt the strong urge to protect his friend and get him out of danger. He grabbed Evan's hand and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet before he shoved both of them toward the elevator.
"Go, go, go." Jakob urged softly.
Evan didn't need any encouragement. The way the boy was acting made him think the ghosts were following behind and that was a sure fire way to get him to go faster. He followed Jakob into the elevator and sighed as the doors slid shut. He relaxed...until a thought hit him.
"Jakob...can ghosts walk through walls and stuff?" Evan asked.
The grip on the skateboarder's hand tightened. "Y-yes."
Shit. Oh shit. Wouldn't Pietro love this. Evan thought to himself. He mentally smirked at the thought of his once friend turned rival being in a haunted mansion. They had watched a horror flick together when they were real young and had been scared witless by it. He had never overcome that fear and he seriously doubted Pietro had either.
"Are there any ghosts in here?" Evan asked, somehow keeping his voice steady.
Jakob looked fearfully at the man with the blue aura that was scowling at them both. He was grumbling about something or other, but Jakob was trying not to listen. Jakob could tell Evan was possibly even more scared of the ghosts than he was and decided not to tell him about the one in the elevator with them.
"No."
"What do you mean no? I'm standing right in front of you. Don't lie young man." The ghost scolded.
When the elevator stopped at the right level Jakob jerked Evan out with him and took off running toward the front doors. Evan gladly matched the younger boy's pace as he was just as eager to get away from any ghosts inside. When the two finally burst outside they collapsed on the grass to recover from the exertion.
"Man...I...I don't think I'll ever be able to sleep in there again." Evan gasped out. "How many ghosts are there?"
Jakob wondered briefly if he should lie. He didn't want anyone to live in the kind of fear he did. Day and night he watched for spirits or listened to them making noise no one else could hear. The only way he ever slept and slept peacefully was when he had Matt put him to sleep and then had Trenton give him good dreams. No one deserved to go through that.
"There's only three," He cringed mentally at the lie. It was actually more like ten. "And they only ever bug me." Again another lie.
He didn't think Evan needed to know how the ghosts tended to roam into bedrooms and watch things. He had once caught a dead teenage mutant watching him change clothes. But Evan didn't need to know that.
"There you are!" A voice called out.
Both boys looked up to see Scott approaching, followed closely by Matt, Trenton, Dominic, Taylon, Cody, and Willy. Apparently the word had spread about the basketball lesson. The boys didn't stay behind Scott though, for as soon as they saw the look on Jakob's face all six boys were at his side comforting him.
Scott blinked at the scene, then looked at Evan for an answer. "Well, you know how his power deals with spirits. You do the math man."
"There's ghosts in the mansion?" Scott asked in surprise.
"He's says there's three." Evan replied.
"Y'know, this gives the movie Sixth Sense a whole new meaning." Scott commented with a frown.
"Tell me about it."
Meanwhile the six Hellraisers had managed to calm Jakob down enough to remind him about the basketball lessons. The ghosts were forgotten as excitement took over. The seven boys then practically tackled Evan and Scott and dragged the two boys around to the basketball court to begin their lessons, effectively roping Evan in to the whole thing. When they got there no one was too surprised to see some of the older Hellraisers there too.
"We're just here to keep an eye on the kids." Erik said.
"What you don't trust us with them?" Scott asked.
"Nope." Erik, Ian, and Jesse said in unison.
That ruffled Scott's feathers a little bit, but he let it slide for the sake of the kids. Instead he and Evan just turned their attention to teaching the boys everything they knew, which together was quite a lot.
Ian was watching the game with interest when out of the corner of his eye he spotted a familiar face. He turned his head to look at Jamie, who was watching the lessons with a look of longing. The look on the boy's face pulled at Ian's heartstrings and he decided to do something about it.
Without a word to his two companions he phased through the ground, much like Kitty was apt to doing, and then came up right behind Jamie. The younger boy didn't even notice Ian until the Australian placed a hand on his shoulder. Ian smiled as Jamie nearly jumped out of his skin in surprise, before spinning to see who was there.
"Why the long face kiddo?" Ian asked.
Jamie looked down at the ground. "I want to play with them."
"What's stopping ya?"
Jamie snorted. "I can't play with them. If they bump me there'll be twenty copies of me. If the ball hits me there'll be even more copies of me."
"Ah yes, the contact problem, eh? Well, there's got to be some way you can be involved." Ian said.
"Yeah, I can watch from the sidelines."
Ian frowned. It had become obvious to him in the time that he had been at the Institute that Jamie was often left out of everything. It wasn't only because of his ability to multiply on contact, but also that he was a few years younger than most of the other students. It had gotten a little better with the coming of some younger students, like Matt and Trenton. But all of the younger Hellraisers, and the older ones for that matter, had a bond that Jamie just didn't share with them. In short, Ian could tell that the young Jamie felt like he just didn't belong anywhere.
Ian didn't like for anyone to feel left out. He had too big of a heart to stand by and watch someone long to belong, need to be a part of something so bad it almost physically hurt. He had no doubt that Jamie's teammates would occasionally do things with Jamie, but he could tell that for the most part the thirteen year old was not included in most things.
So, Ian decided he was going to do what no one else really did. He was going to make Jamie feel included. He was going to offer to let Jamie go with him wherever he went and teach the boy anything he could. Even the things Professor Xavier might not want the boy to learn.
"Say Jamie, I've got some things to go do. Would ya like the join me mate?" Ian asked.
For a moment Jamie just stared at the older man. Why was a twenty-one year old guy inviting him along? Then he realized, what does it matter? Someone wanted to spend time with him and that was all that really mattered.
"Sure!" He exclaimed, then slapped a hand over his mouth in embarrassment.
"C'mon then, I've got to let my mates know I'm leaving and probably tell Master Summers that you're coming with me." Ian said with a grin.
The Australian put a hand on Jamie's shoulder and led the boy over to where the basketball training was going on. Scott was busy being an instructor so Ian turned to Erik instead.
"I'm leaving mates, tell the X-men I've taken Mr. Multiple with me." Ian said.
Erik looked down at Jamie. "Are you sure that's such a good idea? You should ask permission first."
"Why? It's not like I'm goin' to do anythin' shonky with the little ankle biter around." Ian replied. "We'll rock up before it gets dark."
With that Ian led Jamie off to his car. Erik watched them go with a frown.
"This isn't going to help the tension around here." He mused.
"You're worrying too much." Jesse replied. "Ian's doing a good thing for that kid. Besides, we'll just tell Kyran about this and let Mr. Fearless Leader handle things."
Erik smirked. "I like the way you think."
"I know."
"Hey, who's there?" He called.
Evan nearly jumped in surprise as two ruby red eyes looked up at him. He paused mid step and watched as the person seemed to curl further into the shadows, as if trying to hide.
"Who's there?"
Getting no reply Evan walked over to the curled up figure. He knelt down and started to reach a hand out, but jerked back at a frightened whimper. Up close he finally recognized the identity of the person crying.
"Jakob?"
"Make them go away...someone make them go away." Jakob whimpered.
Evan frowned. "Make who go away?"
"Them."
Evan frowned deeper, but then he remembered what Jakob's ability was. Jakob could see and communicate with the dead not to mention channel dead spirits. It was also believed he could bring the dead back to life, but no one had seen him do it.
These thoughts sent a chill down Evan's spine that made the boy squirm in discomfort. He particularly didn't care for talking with the dead or even believing that the dead hung around so someone could talk to them, or see them for that matter. Ghosts were a boyhood fear of his, though he'd never admit it to anyone. There was only one person who knew and that person would never tell because he was afraid of ghosts as well.
"I can't make them go away man, but how about you go away from them?" Evan suggested. Away sounded like a good idea to him.
"They follow. They follow me everywhere." Jakob murmured fearfully. "Everywhere."
This kid is gonna have serious mental problems. Evan thought to himself. "C'mon Jakob, is there anyplace they can't follow you?"
"Outside, they died in the mansion...can't go outside." Jakob replied softly.
This is useful knowledge. Evan thought. He offered his hand to Jakob along with an encouraging smile.
Jakob looked up at Evan's hand, squinting for a moment to make sure that the older boy was alive and not dead. He easily recognized the purple aura around Evan as to mean a living mutant. However, the little girl that was bent down beside Evan's feet had a blue aura, meaning she was a dead human. His heart thumped in his throat as she reached for him.
And then he saw a dead male human walking up behind Evan. Jakob felt the strong urge to protect his friend and get him out of danger. He grabbed Evan's hand and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet before he shoved both of them toward the elevator.
"Go, go, go." Jakob urged softly.
Evan didn't need any encouragement. The way the boy was acting made him think the ghosts were following behind and that was a sure fire way to get him to go faster. He followed Jakob into the elevator and sighed as the doors slid shut. He relaxed...until a thought hit him.
"Jakob...can ghosts walk through walls and stuff?" Evan asked.
The grip on the skateboarder's hand tightened. "Y-yes."
Shit. Oh shit. Wouldn't Pietro love this. Evan thought to himself. He mentally smirked at the thought of his once friend turned rival being in a haunted mansion. They had watched a horror flick together when they were real young and had been scared witless by it. He had never overcome that fear and he seriously doubted Pietro had either.
"Are there any ghosts in here?" Evan asked, somehow keeping his voice steady.
Jakob looked fearfully at the man with the blue aura that was scowling at them both. He was grumbling about something or other, but Jakob was trying not to listen. Jakob could tell Evan was possibly even more scared of the ghosts than he was and decided not to tell him about the one in the elevator with them.
"No."
"What do you mean no? I'm standing right in front of you. Don't lie young man." The ghost scolded.
When the elevator stopped at the right level Jakob jerked Evan out with him and took off running toward the front doors. Evan gladly matched the younger boy's pace as he was just as eager to get away from any ghosts inside. When the two finally burst outside they collapsed on the grass to recover from the exertion.
"Man...I...I don't think I'll ever be able to sleep in there again." Evan gasped out. "How many ghosts are there?"
Jakob wondered briefly if he should lie. He didn't want anyone to live in the kind of fear he did. Day and night he watched for spirits or listened to them making noise no one else could hear. The only way he ever slept and slept peacefully was when he had Matt put him to sleep and then had Trenton give him good dreams. No one deserved to go through that.
"There's only three," He cringed mentally at the lie. It was actually more like ten. "And they only ever bug me." Again another lie.
He didn't think Evan needed to know how the ghosts tended to roam into bedrooms and watch things. He had once caught a dead teenage mutant watching him change clothes. But Evan didn't need to know that.
"There you are!" A voice called out.
Both boys looked up to see Scott approaching, followed closely by Matt, Trenton, Dominic, Taylon, Cody, and Willy. Apparently the word had spread about the basketball lesson. The boys didn't stay behind Scott though, for as soon as they saw the look on Jakob's face all six boys were at his side comforting him.
Scott blinked at the scene, then looked at Evan for an answer. "Well, you know how his power deals with spirits. You do the math man."
"There's ghosts in the mansion?" Scott asked in surprise.
"He's says there's three." Evan replied.
"Y'know, this gives the movie Sixth Sense a whole new meaning." Scott commented with a frown.
"Tell me about it."
Meanwhile the six Hellraisers had managed to calm Jakob down enough to remind him about the basketball lessons. The ghosts were forgotten as excitement took over. The seven boys then practically tackled Evan and Scott and dragged the two boys around to the basketball court to begin their lessons, effectively roping Evan in to the whole thing. When they got there no one was too surprised to see some of the older Hellraisers there too.
"We're just here to keep an eye on the kids." Erik said.
"What you don't trust us with them?" Scott asked.
"Nope." Erik, Ian, and Jesse said in unison.
That ruffled Scott's feathers a little bit, but he let it slide for the sake of the kids. Instead he and Evan just turned their attention to teaching the boys everything they knew, which together was quite a lot.
Ian was watching the game with interest when out of the corner of his eye he spotted a familiar face. He turned his head to look at Jamie, who was watching the lessons with a look of longing. The look on the boy's face pulled at Ian's heartstrings and he decided to do something about it.
Without a word to his two companions he phased through the ground, much like Kitty was apt to doing, and then came up right behind Jamie. The younger boy didn't even notice Ian until the Australian placed a hand on his shoulder. Ian smiled as Jamie nearly jumped out of his skin in surprise, before spinning to see who was there.
"Why the long face kiddo?" Ian asked.
Jamie looked down at the ground. "I want to play with them."
"What's stopping ya?"
Jamie snorted. "I can't play with them. If they bump me there'll be twenty copies of me. If the ball hits me there'll be even more copies of me."
"Ah yes, the contact problem, eh? Well, there's got to be some way you can be involved." Ian said.
"Yeah, I can watch from the sidelines."
Ian frowned. It had become obvious to him in the time that he had been at the Institute that Jamie was often left out of everything. It wasn't only because of his ability to multiply on contact, but also that he was a few years younger than most of the other students. It had gotten a little better with the coming of some younger students, like Matt and Trenton. But all of the younger Hellraisers, and the older ones for that matter, had a bond that Jamie just didn't share with them. In short, Ian could tell that the young Jamie felt like he just didn't belong anywhere.
Ian didn't like for anyone to feel left out. He had too big of a heart to stand by and watch someone long to belong, need to be a part of something so bad it almost physically hurt. He had no doubt that Jamie's teammates would occasionally do things with Jamie, but he could tell that for the most part the thirteen year old was not included in most things.
So, Ian decided he was going to do what no one else really did. He was going to make Jamie feel included. He was going to offer to let Jamie go with him wherever he went and teach the boy anything he could. Even the things Professor Xavier might not want the boy to learn.
"Say Jamie, I've got some things to go do. Would ya like the join me mate?" Ian asked.
For a moment Jamie just stared at the older man. Why was a twenty-one year old guy inviting him along? Then he realized, what does it matter? Someone wanted to spend time with him and that was all that really mattered.
"Sure!" He exclaimed, then slapped a hand over his mouth in embarrassment.
"C'mon then, I've got to let my mates know I'm leaving and probably tell Master Summers that you're coming with me." Ian said with a grin.
The Australian put a hand on Jamie's shoulder and led the boy over to where the basketball training was going on. Scott was busy being an instructor so Ian turned to Erik instead.
"I'm leaving mates, tell the X-men I've taken Mr. Multiple with me." Ian said.
Erik looked down at Jamie. "Are you sure that's such a good idea? You should ask permission first."
"Why? It's not like I'm goin' to do anythin' shonky with the little ankle biter around." Ian replied. "We'll rock up before it gets dark."
With that Ian led Jamie off to his car. Erik watched them go with a frown.
"This isn't going to help the tension around here." He mused.
"You're worrying too much." Jesse replied. "Ian's doing a good thing for that kid. Besides, we'll just tell Kyran about this and let Mr. Fearless Leader handle things."
Erik smirked. "I like the way you think."
"I know."