Thanks for the feedback :) : raniatlw, Dusty, Risty, Jack B. Nimble, WormmonABC, Jaina12, IceBlueRose, Eboni, Pandora, SkyDancerHawk, Steven P. P, UnknownSource
Bardic Feline many thanks for betaing.
****** ****** ******
Jean hurried into the dinning room. "Don't mind me Professor." She said. Portions of food jumped from the serving dishes to fill up the plates set around the table. "I'm just grabbing some plates for everyone. We all decided to keep Rahne and Todd company and eat down stairs."
"That's fine Jean." Xavier said warily as he watched seventeen plates, glasses and silverware sets levitate off the table. "But don't you think it would be a good idea to have everyone come up and get their own food?"
"I didn't want to disturb the party." Jean said. "Despite everything people are in a really good mood. Todd and Rahne aren't hurt that badly, they'll be fine in a couple of weeks. Lance is completely healthy for the first time in nearly five months counting from when his headaches started getting really bad. Pietro got Rogue to spend time with the rest of us and he thinks he knows how to teach her to adapted to her new powers. No one else is hurt at all. Well Kitty's still bruised up and so's Evan from fighting, but that's hardly worth mentioning with everything else that's happened. Todd and Rahne aren't getting in trouble for using their powers because Rahne's human friends stood up for them so maybe there's hope… I can't believe I ever liked Duncan; he's such a creep… And school got canceled Monday because someone put quick dry cement down all the drains. Even Principal Kelly can't blame that on mutants."
"I'm glad to hear that, but still don't you think…"
"Oh it's no trouble Professor." Jean said dismissively. "I've lifted a lot more weight than this."
"Yes but the fine control needed to keep that many items in the air and upright… We just got the last of the stains from the most recent food fight out of the carpet." Xavier protested.
Jean noted several plates listing to one side and quickly righted them. "I can handle it." she insisted
"I believe it is terribly rude of the others to leave this all to you." Ororo said with a slight smile at Xavier. "It is only right that the work should be shared."
"Exactly," Xavier said with a sigh of relief. //Students could someone please help Jean?//
Almost before he finished the thought Kurt popped into the room, grabbed two plates out of the air and transported away. Two blurs of motion appeared and more plates disappeared.
"I could have done it," Jean protested. She started down stairs as Kurt returned for a second load.
Scott met Jean about halfway to the infirmary. "Sorry Jean, I was talking with Kitty about her new schedule. Let me take that."
"Oh no, this one's mine." Jean said grabbing the last plate out of the air.
"Todd, how many times do I have to tell ye, stay in yer own bed!" Moira thundered.
"I'm holding Rahne's plate for her," Todd objected. Jean and Scott walked to see Todd sitting on the edge of Rahne's bed. He had a plate balanced in each hand and was using his tongue to snatch food from his own while Rahne used a fork on hers.
"First ye'll jostle her arm. Second ye'll tear yer stitches. Third and most importantly she's barely fourteen, ye've just turned fifteen, I'm her guardian and I'm not comfortable!"
"Moira come on!" Rahne whined. "It's perfectly innocent."
"I wasn't planning on letting ye date until ye turned sixteen. If ye weren't my patients I'd be turning a squirt gun on the both of ye. Every time I turn around ye two are getting cozy."
"We ain't near as bad as them." Todd said pointing to Lance and Kitty. Lance had swiped some of Kitty's food, in retaliation she'd tackled him. Lance didn't seem to be trying too hard to get away. In fact the only thing Lance's efforts appeared to have accomplished was getting himself and Kitty more entangled.
"Or them." Rogue and Pietro were in a corner, heads together whispering.
"And I bet Jean and Scott are doing the same, only they don't want any of us to know."
"Well none of them are mine." Moira replied tartly. "Although… Lance! Kitty! Knock it off before you break something!" The pair on the floor blinked up at her innocently. "Dare I ask where your food ended up?"
"I put it somewhere safe." Kitty said. She reached into the floor and retrieved two plates.
"Is that sanitary?" Amara asked.
"Awww it don't matter." Fred said. "Hey guys remember that perfectly good shipment of meat the grocery store gave us just because the packaging was messed up?"
"Uggh," Lance groaned. "You were the only one who didn't get sick from that crap. I thought to grocer was trying to poison us for all the trouble we'd caused and all the shoplifting."
"Why don't I remember?" Pietro said with a frown as he glanced up from his conversation with Rogue.
"You're probably repressing." Todd said. "The Prof said you might stay detached from the traumatic stuff or even repress it. And trust me, that was traumatic."
****** ****** ******
Upstairs the doorbell rang. "I have it." Storm called. She answered the door to find Rahne's friends, Vest and Mindy, standing on the front step. "Hello children, how may I help you?"
"Ms. Monroe?" Vest asked politely. "We were wondering how Rahne and Todd were doing?"
"You must have been at the parlor." Ororo said with a warm smile as she realized they were part of the group who'd acted to help Todd and Rahne against the bullies. "They will both be well. Neither Rahne nor Todd were seriously injured."
"That's great." Vest replied.
"Would you like to come in and see them?" Ororo asked.
"No thank you." Mindy said quickly backing away.
Vest glanced after her then looked back at Ororo. "Maybe next time. Tell them Vest and Mindy said hi." He said then followed after the raven-haired girl.
****** ****** ******
After lights out that night Lance looked over the schedule Scott had drawn out. He still was having trouble believing that the X-Men's field leader had found a white board and bothered to drag it up to their room. "Yeah, it looks all right, but have Kurt and Fred meet Tabby after fifth period instead of me. I need to work out some sort of make up with my English teacher for the verbal report I missed."
"Sure, that'll work."
"Do you have Amanda's schedule?" Lance asked suddenly. "I was just thinking, she hangs out with Kurt so much someone might go after her too."
"Good idea," Scott said. "Kurt'll know it. I can ask him in the morning."
"Yeah, we better get to sleep before Baldy reads our minds and finds out we're breaking curfew." Lance said.
Scott gave an exasperated sigh. "He doesn't do that you know. The only reason he ever monitored you was because everyone thought you were suicidal. He wasn't comfortable with doing it. With the amount of power the professor has he really doesn't want to abuse it or violate anyone's free will. It'd be too easy for him. He only uses his powers when he has permission from the person or when it just has to be done. It's not a choice he makes lightly. He really didn't like getting into your thoughts, especially when you made it clear you hated it. Moira only talked him into it because it would have been so easy for you to do something permanent to yourself on an impulse."
"I wouldn't have done that." Lance said. "I thought about it, but I wouldn't have."
"Night Lance." Scott said.
"Night."
Lance waited for Scott's breathing to even out then quietly slipped out of the room and downstairs.
He grabbed the phone and shut himself up in a small study room. Then he smoothed out the crumpled page he'd torn out of the library's phone book.
"This is stupid. They won't like you, or want you around as soon as they get to know you. They'll probably be worse than a new foster family because they'll think like Jean, they'll expect you to be the same just cause you're related or something," Lance muttered under his breath. He sighed. He wanted to talk to his mom. "You're as bad as Pietro." he told himself as he started dialing one of the Petros' numbers.
"Hello?" a sleepy, elderly voice asked.
"Umm, sorry to bother you." Lance said. "Do you know how I could contact Sophie Petros-Alvers?"
"Who is this? How did you know my Sophie?" The woman asked. Her voice caught on the name.
Lance swallowed, "I'm Lance Alvers, I really need to talk to her…"
"Oh my god, you're Sophie's little boy? Oh my god. Wait a second, Andrew! Come to the phone its Sophie's baby!" The woman yelled. "That awful husband of hers made her give you up, I just know it."
"Could… could I get her number?" Lance asked.
"How are you? You must be all grown up. I never did get to see either of you, but I've looked at Sophie's picture books. You and your sister were so cute. I could hardly see any of your father in either of you. You have to come see us. Tell me all about yourself."
"You say you're Sophie's boy." an older man, presumably Andrew, said skeptically. "When were you born?"
"Geez, all I want is to talk to her." Lance snapped. "I was born on January 15, 1985. My middle name is Tremain; Missy's was Chrysanthemum. We both hated them. When Missy was twelve she got into Mom and Dad's important papers and scribbled hers out on every document she could get her hands on."
"I had to make sure Lance." Andrew said. "This comes totally out of the blue for us you understand?"
"Can I talk to my mom now?" Lance demanded. "Who are you anyway?"
"Sophie was our daughter." Andrew said. "I'm sorry Lance, she died in a car wreck two years ago."
For several minutes Lance just sat there, silent and stunned. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel. He barely remembered her. He wanted to talk to her. He hated them. He might have forgiven them. She was dead. He realized he hadn't said anything for a long time. He didn't know what he was supposed to say to that. He just wanted off the phone. "Oh… um… I'm sorry I bothered you…"
"No! It's no bother. We'd love to meet you Lance." his grandmother insisted. "Please don't hang up."
Lance felt a sudden surge of panic. "Look, before this goes anywhere and we both end up disappointed… You know about mutants right? You saw all the news stuff that was everywhere a little while ago didn't you? I'm one of them." Lance announced. "Do you still want anything to do with me?"
"You're still Sophie's little boy, of course we want to see you." Andrew insisted.
"I…" Lance started then choked on his words. He hung up the phone and hurried back to his room to stare at the ceiling, unable to sleep.
A few minutes later the phone rang. Xavier picked up the extension by his bed. "Hello this is Charles Xavier at the Xavier Institute of for the Gifted…. Yes, Lance Alvers is a student here… You're who? … He called you? …Yes, he is a mutant and yes he was most likely testing you… Until this moment I had no idea he was attempting to contact his parents. I'll speak with him in the morning. At the least I'll let you know whether or not he's interested in any further contact… Yes, I'll try to find out why he reacted like that. Goodnight."
****** ****** ******
Gambit glared at Wanda as he hung upside down, again. He was tangled in the branches of a weeping willow tree she'd hexed. "It be time for breakfast. We are stopping, get used to de idea. Put me down and stop actin' like a brat!"
"No!" Wanda snapped at him. "You stop calling me a brat! I don't like it."
"Too bad. Stop actin' like one and I'll stop callin' y' one!" Gambit replied crossing his arms stubbornly.
"One minute you're all 'Oooh you're so beautiful' the next you're calling me a brat!" Wanda exclaimed. She stomped her foot, the tree twitched spasmodically. "Why won't you act like a normal person!"
"What? Be afraid of y'? Treat y' wit' kid gloves 'case y' get mad? Not m' style chere." Gambit replied. He charged a few branches that seemed intent on tearing him limb from limb, as well as the one that was trying to hug him. "Y' can hex me all y' want but y' ain't a 'path, if I don' want to tell y' where to find your father's base, y' can't make me."
"Wanna bet!" Wanda growled.
"Chere, I been interrogated by people much scarier dan y' an' dey weren't sweet on me neither."
"I don't like you." Wanda huffed, blushing fiercely. The tree violently tossed Gambit away.
"Oh really Chere, den yo' hold on to me so tight cause y're scared of m' drivin'?"
"I'm not scared of anything," Wanda insisted. "What does that have to do with this? Tell me where the base is!"
"No."
****** ****** ******
"Lance, may I speak with you for a moment," Xavier said calling the teen away from breakfast.
"Yeah?" Lance asked following Xavier into his office.
"Don't you think you were rather abrupt with your grandparents?" Xavier inquired.
"How'd you know? Did you read my mind?" Lance demanded.
"Star six nine." Xavier replied blandly. "They were upset, they called back."
"Oh." Lance said.
"After going to what I assume must have been some effort to contact them it seems odd that you simply hung up in the middle of the conversation…"
Lance shrugged. He got up and walked to the window.
"Lance?" Xavier prompted.
"They were totally cool about the mutant thing. They must have already known. They're probably planning on taking over the world or something."
"They thought you were testing them." Xavier replied. "They were simply saying what they thought you needed to hear. They weren't sure they should even believe you."
Xavier caught a glimpse of Lance's stubborn, set expression in the reflection from the window.
"Pietro and Wanda's problems with Magneto are unique. Your Grandparents are not plotting world domination."
"If their problems are so strange why does Kurt have pretty much the same ones?" Lance demanded.
Xavier resisted the urge to put his head in his hands and groan. He already had a fairly good idea of what had happened. Lance was one of the most dedicated pessimists he'd ever met and the boy was chronically suspicious of people who claimed to have good intentions toward him. Still this was bordering on irrational. And Lance was stubborn, he would undoubted rationalize his actions for weeks if it meant he didn't have to admit that he'd panicked.
****** ****** ******
Jean, Kitty, Evan, Fred, Kurt, Tabby, Forge and Amanda stared at the diagram Scott had laid out on the library table with a mixture of disbelief, amazement and dismay. "Lance tell him this is nuts." Kitty begged.
"I already told him diagramming it was anal, but it's a good idea. Actually I helped him work out some of the details." Lance said. Fred, Tabby and Kitty shot him betrayed glares. "Look guys, it was one thing to be informal when it was just Fred and I watching out for Todd. The X-Men weren't really targets, not like us anyway and double standards kept Tabby safe enough. Hell she slowed things down when they went after Todd just by being there because the jocks didn't want to be seen picking on a girl."
"Most of the school doesn't want us here." Scott said as he took over. "Teachers as well as students. A lot of them don't even see us as human anymore. We can't use our powers without making thing worse, not to mention getting in trouble. Unfortunately that won't stop them from ganging up on us to get over the fact we scare them. And we don't want to fight in the first place."
"Speak for yourself." Evan muttered. Scott glared at him.
"If we don't give them the opportunity to get anyone alone we're hoping they'll eventually get bored. In the mean time this should keep anyone from getting hurt." Scott handed comm. units to Forge, Tabby and Amanda. "If something happens, or if someone's not where they're supposed to be, call."
Tabby raised her hand. "I'm seeing a problem. You realize I skip at least nine classes per week. How'm I supposed to manage that with people walking me to and from class?"
Scott opened his mouth to lecture her about skipping. Lance raised a hand to stop him. "Let me handle this one Cyke. Tabby, as far as I know, you're the only person in this room who doesn't have someone with the power to make you miserable checking up on you're attendance record. If I have to go to class or get extra training sessions with Wolverine, you have to go class."
"Scott, isn't his just a little paranoid?" Jean asked.
"After what happened with Rahne, Todd and Kitty? I don't really think so," Scott said.
****** ****** ******
"Let's go Rogue. Doesn't the dress fit? What's taking so long?" Pietro demanded. He stood outside of her door and tapped his foot impatiently.
"Ah feel like an idiot." Rogue complained. "Why do we have get all dressed up? We're just going to the dinning room."
Pietro glanced down at the tuxedo he was wearing. "Because it's fun." He insisted. "Besides, I was bored last night and Mr. McCoy gives me more homework if I use that as an excuse for pranks. He says it's his duty as an educator to keep students sufficiently challenged and constructively occupied. So I made ballroom clothes for us. Now come on, this'll help. Wasn't I right about how me gradually talking slower would help you understand them? I sped up bit by bit so shifting back to their frame of reference wasn't so hard at first. We just have to do things backwards with you since you switched up to my time frame all at once. This will help with controlling your body. I was taking dance lessons when my powers started kicking in, having a beat to pace myself against helped me remember what everyone else thinks is normal."
"Alright, Ah still think dressing up to go nowhere is insane, mind yah." Rogue said coming out of her room wearing a floor length, emerald green ballroom gown with a full skirt that flared around her as she moved. It was backless so Rogue wasn't the only one wearing gloves to prevent inadvertent contact.
"You look great." Pietro said. "I'm not just saying that because I made the dress either. It didn't look that good until you put it on."
"Yah're looking pretty hot too." Rogue said. "Ah guess Ah'm seeing some of the appeal of playing dress up."
Pietro grinned and formally offered her his arm. "I've got the CD player set to triple time so it shouldn't be that slow at first. You'll figure it out, you'll see."
****** ****** ******
After fifth period Lance quickly headed toward the school's applied sciences building. He'd warned Todd dozens of times against letting anyone corner him out here. It was isolated enough that the teachers wouldn't notice a fight unless it was right in front of the main doors and there were only a few classes taught in the building so not that many students were around either. It was a great place for fights if you didn't want to be interrupted. Best of all Duncan Matthews had sixth period in the building.
When the blond quarterback walked around the corner of the building Lance slugged him.
"What the fuck is your problem?" Duncan demanded in shock as he wiped away blood from a split lip.
Lance responded with a sharp punch to Duncan's solar plexus. As Duncan's knees folded Lance grabbed the other teen's shoulders and gave him a strong shove downward. He brought his knee up to collide with Duncan's chin then let the dazed senior hit the ground. Lance planted a knee on the back of Duncan's neck to keep him pinned. "I'm not really one for giving warnings." Lance said calmly. "So consider yourself privileged. From listening to Red complain about you, I'd say football is pretty much you're whole life. You ever touch one of my friends again and you won't be playing anymore, understand?"
Lance let Duncan struggle for a moment, long enough for it to be obvious that he was letting Duncan up. Then he stepped back.
"I knew you were low Alvers, but standing by those mutie friends of yours? They're subhuman or something." Duncan said as he got to his feet.
Lance stared at him in disbelief. "Damn, you are slow. Should I spell it out for you? I am a mutant moron, and if anyone here is a lower life-form, it's you."
****** ****** ******
Rogue stood in the circle of Pietro's arms. Her body was as rigid as a statue.
"Would you relax? I'm not going to touch you." Pietro snapped.
"And that makes dancing so much fun," Rogue stated sarcastically.
"Do you want me to touch you?" Pietro demanded. "Then I wouldn't have to waste all this time trying to teach you something you obviously don't want to learn."
"No!" Rogue exclaimed. She pushed away from him. "What-if-Ah-hurt-you?"
"I think we should test it before you decide we can't kiss anymore," Pitro argued. He hung on to her arm to keep her from leaving.
"Ah-ain't-risking-it!" Rogue yelled. She spun and dropped to one knee. Pietro found himself flying through the air. He landed with a thump. Rogue paused in the doorway. "Ah couldn't live with mahself if Ah killed yah." She said in a quiet voice. Then she left.
"I liked it when I could change her mind with a kiss," Pietro complained to himself. "I-liked-kissing-her. I-know-I'd-like-dancing-with-her-if-she'd-just-stop-being-so-stubborn!" Pietro took a deep breath. "Okay, keeping your girlfriend isn't going to be so easy anymore. Think of it as a challenge."
Pietro scrambled to his feet and ran after Rogue. He caught her just outside her room and wrapped her in a restraining embrace. "It's-okay." He told her. "I'm-not-touching-you. Nothing-is-going-to-happen. Just-relax. Please-relax. I'm-just-holding-you. It's-okay. No-one-is-going-to-get-hurt."
After a few seconds some of the tension eased out of Rogue's frame. She turned to Pietro and returned his embrace. Pietro stroked her hair as she buried her face against his shoulder.
"Damn. Ah really want to kiss yah right now," Rogue muttered.
Mentally Pietro agreed that it was incredibly frustrating to suddenly find themselves unable to touch. All he said was. "It'll be okay."