Chapter 9 Espeth

Paige looked into the cockpit where Bobby Drake and Kurt Wagner were controlling the Blackbird. Xavier had insisted that none of the kids could fly a Blackbird until they were 21, for insurance reasons, and Emma didn't have a clue how to fly one. She always had her "people" fly here wherever she needed to go.

"How much longer?" Paige asked Kurt, who was in the pilot seat.

"Just a little longer, mein friend. Just a little longer." Kurt said. Paige loved his German accent. There was something about accent's that got under her skin. She turned around to head back to the seats and was alarmed to find Jono standing right behind her. As usual, his upper half of his torso and lower half of his face was covered with his traditional wrap that contained his ever flowing energy.

"You alright, luv?" He projected telepathically. Not having a mouth meant that was the only way he could talk. "You took off up here rather hastily."

Accents. Paige shook her head and replied: "I'm fine, just getting kinda antsy to find out what's going on now. We've learned in the past that if Espeth comes calling, it's usually for a good reason. It's been so long since we've had a mission that was just ours, you know? So long since we've been by ourselves at the academy. Guess I might be feeling a little nostalgic."

"I agree with you about Espeth, but you can't be worrying about stuff until it happens. That's your problem, luv. You are always thinking too far ahead."

"And you are never thinking far enough." She said and pushed her way past him to return to her seat next to Jubilee.

Back at the academy, Jono and Paige had been THE couple that everyone talked about. They had been so in love with each other that nothing could separate them. Nothing except for one thing. It had always been Paige's ambition to become an X-Man. It was why she was at the academy. On the last day the academy was open, Jono was the only one that had gotten a letter inviting him to come to the Institute and join the X-Men. That's when the problems started. Paige was instantly jealous that Jono was going to be living out her dream. She eventually swallowed her pride and stood next to Jono for months after that. Only to find out second hand that he had had an off again, on again relationship with Pop Superstar Lila Cheney. Upon finding out evidence of the relationship herself, the aftermath wasn't pretty. Jono didn't deny the relationship, in fact, just the opposite. He seemed to flaunt it in her face. Hurt and confused, she didn't talk to him again for a year, until she came back to the states and joined the X-Men. Now it seemed everything she did with the X-Men was tainted by her need to show him up. Yes, he had gotten here first, but she was better, and she felt that she needed to prove it. She has developed feelings for Warren Worthington III, the mutant known as Angel. He had the same feelings for her as she did him, but Paige was often left wondering if she had these feelings because she actually loved him, or if this was a way she could flaunt her new relationship in Jono's face and make him feel the same way she had felt a year ago. The answer wasn't obvious and through all the studying she had done throughout her life, she was used to everything having a definite answer. The situation annoyed her to no end.

Coming out of her thoughts, she turned to look out the window and ran her nose right into a huge bubble gum bubble, popping it.

"Hey! What gives, Paige? That was the biggest one yet!" Jubilee complained.

Paige had to laugh. Whenever she felt down, there was always care- free Jubilee to brighten her day. Half the time she didn't even know it. Paige wished her life was that simple. "Sorry, Jubes. It was an accident."

Jubilee scooted closer to the window, giving Paige a mock accusatory stare and started to blow a bubble again. Paige acted like she was going to pop it several times, causing Jubilee to gasp each time she did. Whenever Jubilee gasped in anticipation the bubble would shrink back in on itself a little, and Jubilee would get an annoyed look on her face. Paige busted up laughing, which caused Jubilee to do the same, and at that point the bubble was history, and so was any future attempt. Each time she tried to blow another one, Paige would start laughing, causing Jubilee to go into fits herself.

The intercom buzzed and Kurt started speaking. "Zis is your captain speaking. Ze weather outside is lovely in Massachussettes today, not a cloud in site. We will be beginning our decent shortly. Please return your trays to their normal upright position, and please remember that your seat cushions cannot be used as a flotation device, so I hope you know how to swim."

The plane touched down on the front lawn of the Massachussets academy and Paige and Jubilee looked out the window to see a familiar van parked outside the academy. Styx was with Espeth, that was a good sign.

Styx was the technological genius behind the original Genogoth group. There wasn't a computer system in the world that he couldn't get into, a phone he couldn't tap, and information he couldn't find. That always made him a valuable ally. And with his full beard, shaggy hair, hemp jewelry and tye-dyed shirts; his hippie looks made him the last person you'd expect to be a computer whiz.

The ramp lowered to the lawn and as Jono, Jubilee, and Paige began descending the ramp, they saw the familiar green haired girl they knew as Espeth walking across the lawn. She waved at them as they approached. When they got to her, she wrapped them all in a big hug. Paige realized that it looked as though she had been crying.

"So what's this all about?" Paige asked her.

"Let's go inside and I'll tell you all about it." Espeth said, sniffling.

Paige and Espeth started walking toward the front porch where Styx was waiting for them. He waved to the group as they approached. Jubilee, Jono, Emma, Bobby, and Kurt hung back.

"Must be pretty serious," Bobby said looking at everyone. "She looked pretty torn up."

"You guys notice Chill isn't around..." Jono said looking around.

"Probably stayed behind. Had a job or something." Jubilee said.

They all found out differently when they got into the living room of the academy and Espeth told them the horrific tale.

It had been a stormy night and Espeth and Chill were enjoying a relaxing night at their cabin on Puget Sound. Life was getting hectic for the both of them and they had needed a vacation. Chill was working as Recall's agent, booking him in promotional spots and working out the details behind his career. He had started receiving threatening phone calls against Recall, which wasn't all that out of the ordinary, until the person started mentioning things that he shouldn't have known about Recall. Personal Things. Chill tried to stand up for Recall, and once the caller had found out who Chill was, Chill realized this was someone they had ran into before, and the threats were real. He had notified Recall and Recall had agreed he needed to get out of the spotlight for a while. He had left his show and went underground waiting for this whole thing to blow over. Espeth and Chill had decided to do the exact same thing and had been vacationing at their cabin for about a week already. But there was no getting away from the person that was making the call. That night, a former associate of Espeth's had shown up on the doorstep of the cabin. The man known only as Leather was standing there with blood pouring down a wound in his head. Espeth and Chill had quickly brought him into the cabin and treated the wound. Leather told them about how the Genogoths had disbanded and Black had gone crazy and killed 32 mutants that were formerly under the Genogoths. When they refused to believe it, he had produced documents proving the facts.

They spent the rest of the night talking and reminiscing and come time for them to go to sleep, Chill and Espeth had insisted that Leather make himself at home until he felt better. As they bedded down in their room, they still couldn't believe what Leather had told them. They fell asleep with those thought on their mind.

Espeth had suddenly been awakened from Chill shaking her. She realized she had been coughing in her sleep and she was coughing still as she realized the room was filled with smoke. Chill was saying something, but she couldn't hear him over the roar of the flames. Flames? She spun around in the bed and saw that the whole wall that was connected to the living room was one big wall of flames. She looked around the room and realized that the whole room was on fire. She started to panic, throwing the covers from the bed against the flames, uselessly trying to put it out. Chill had grabbed a blanket and used his mutant ability to freeze it around her and then he had pushed her through a window and out into the woods. Before she realized it, she was running through the woods in sheer terror. She looked behind her expecting to see Chill running right behind her and when she realized he wasn't behind her anymore she started running back toward the house.

As she ran up on the house, she saw Leather and a couple of other people she didn't recognize standing outside the window she had come out of. On the ground was a person on their knees. Not a person....Chill. She started to run up to him when Leather pulled out a gun and shot Chill execution style. It was all Espeth could do to stifle the scream that erupted in her throat. Once again, she turned and ran as hard as she could through the woods. She spent the next four days in the woods trying to find some kind of civilization. Once she finally did find a house, she dialed the number of the only person she knew she could still trust. Recall. Recall was still in touch with Styx and had sent Styx to get her and take her wherever she would feel safe. She had decided to come to the Massachussets academy and look up Gen X.

There were many pauses in the story where Espeth would start sobbing uncontrollably, and they all understood why. They had in a way gotten used to losing people. It just was part of the territory of the kind of work they did. But it never got any easier, and each one of them knew exactly how she felt.

"So do you think it's true? About Black?" Paige asked finally.

"It has to be!" Espeth said. "Leather and Black worked together. I don't know what happened, but the Genogoths have been corrupted and now apparently serve as a Mutant Hunting group."

"It can't be true." Styx said at last. He had been standing off to one corner listening to the story for what had to be the hundredth time. "I haven't been in contact with Black for over a year, but I know him better than anyone, and he would have had no part in this."

"Then they probably offed him too." Jono said, sighing into his hands. "This sucks."

"Anyway, Leather knows I'm a witness to what happened and he will be looking for me. That's why I came here. You guys have dealt with this kind of thing before and who better to trust than my best friends?"

Espeth looked at Kurt as if seeing him for the first time since they had gotten there. "What the..." She started to say.

Kurt smiled and said, "Not now, child, first we have an appointment to make." He said and looked at Paige, tilting his head.

"Oh, crap, we've got to get to the airport, I told Monet I'd be there to pick her up!"

"Pick her up? I guess a lot has happened with you guys I don't know about."

"We'll fill you in on the way." Jubilee said, popping another bubble.