Beaubier: I love the family feeling the originals had. And I think that losing his own little brother would make Scott more protective of Bobby.

greenberrypie: Thank you! Scott is a complex guy and having him interacting with the other two is always a pleasure to write.

Anything but ordinary3: I adore Hank as well; I just fear writing such a verbal mutant. The Scott/mouse bit was a moment of insanity I guess, glad you enjoyed it. : ) Yes I know about the typos, I really need to get a new beta reader. School is starting to cut into my writing time. Stan Lee was brilliant with these guys and I can only hope to have a little of that spark he had. No, as you already saw I have not in fact written the Hank plot bunny I had. I was planning on doing so after I finished one of two my stories.

Enjis: Sorry you got confused during that part but I was kind of writing from personal experience there. When I was little there was an accident and there was just so much fear that people just began panicking like that. Your right there was less anti-mutant sentiment than todays' issues. But the X-Men are not back home in the safety of the mansion where the Professor would try to protect them. Awhile back where I lived a man was beaten to death and there was a short hype of racism. The town the X-men are in has had several such events, and the reason they are there in the first place was to investigate these hate crimes. Yes, there is a deep love that the originals have for one another. They are a family that looks out for each other. I don't want to rush that bond.

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"You should have gotten some rest, Robert. We have a schedule to meet and you will only be able to perform your best if you are well rested." The Professor said in his usual strict manner. Though you would never have guessed it by Bobbys' reaction, the ice cube didn't even seem to be paying attention. "*Sigh* Did you at least have Breakfast?"

"Nope." The kid answered carelessly.

"You…" His stern face fell momentary and I got another glimpse at the more vulnerable side of Charles Xavier. In those early days he always played the discipliner, the hash father figure. He didn't want to show weakness to us, he had to be the strong one. We were only kids, and in his eyes that meant he had to protect us. Even though Xavier was handicapped physically, none of us really thought of him as crippled. It was hard to image such a thing in his presence. But we did sometimes forget that like us, he was only human. Words were powerful weapons that left their mark, even if they weren't spoken aloud.

"That was not appropriate Robert." The mask slipped back on and he was the severe disapproving teacher again.

"Neither was reading my thoughts." Bobby snapped back. I not sure if it was Scott or I, but one of us gasped at that. Had the kid gone of the deep end? No one could get snippy with the Prof. It was unheard of.

Xavier folded his hands, his long fingers knitting together in what we dubbed 'patient mod.' He stared at our popsicle until he finally met the gaze. Arms hugging his chest tightly, back slouched he glared up rebelliously. Eyebrows drew closer together, mouth thinning, the Prof studied his student. To Bobbys' credit he didn't flinch during the whole inspection. He must have been too aggravated to give the other the satisfaction of looking away. Whatever was eating the kid up it was clear he had to vent these feelings. Eventually Xavier was the first to lower his gaze and I released the breath I didn't realize I was holding.

"You're just tired and frustrated." He said in a whisper. Let me tell you that when you're angry you do not want someone to be telling you how you feel. It's demeaning, at least it seems that way. You don't want understanding, you want to rage. I can relate.

"And you were 'just' messing with our heads! 'Course that's your answer to everything--" Bobby spat.

"I warned you all that I would be testing your mental barriers soon."

"What?!" I yelped in shock but neither of them seemed to hear me.

"I did not state when I would do so but I did inform you it would be randomly."

"Yeah, so you figured why not do it after--after--" Bobbys' voice wavered and he turned away looking ashamed at himself.

"I have to prepare you for the worst, Bobby." This tone was gentler but still had that steely note behind it.

"And what DID you test us with last night, Professor?" Scott boldly asked.

"I tested your ability to block me out. You and Warren did not sense me and I was able to render you both unconscious." He acknowledged in monotone.

"And Bobby?" I asked slowly getting the picture.

"He did not attempt to go to bed and as a result figured out my test. He asked me to stay out of his mind and I did so." I couldn't believe that the Professor would do such a thing yet I knew he had. It was just too much to take in. Should I have been as mad as Bobby? Maybe but I just didn't have the strength to be mad at the man who took away my nightmares. "Enough of this, we still have plans X-Men. I will retire to my office and in the mean time I want you to go back to bed Robert."

Bobby refused to go after the Prof had left but finally gave in to Scotts' demands that he eat some pancakes.

"Hey! You didn't make me pancakes!" I said indignity.

"No, I didn't." Scott murmured out of the corner of his mouth as if trying to shut me up. But whatever he feared didn't come and I thought I caught a glimpse of that twinkle in Bobbys' icy blue eyes. Scott seemed to have too, for his shoulders were no longer as taut. "It's probably your fault he couldn't rest in the first place."

I glowered at him, furious that he would blame me for last night. "And why's that, Slim?" 

"You have the habit of laughing in your sleep." Scott replied unexpectedly.

I blinked.

"What? I--I do NOT!"

"Yes, you do. It really bizarre actually." Was he attempting to be funny or was he being serious? I wasn't sure; I had never really heard the guy joke before.

"That's not true!" I turned to Bobby for help. "Is it?"

The kid continued eating in silence but I saw that his eyes still sparkled though he still didn't smile. The memory of the riot was starting to come back to me and I knew Scott must have felt as weight down by it as I did. None of us wanted to talk about it, and the Prof would be expecting us to work through it anyway. It was what we had all signed up for, we knew that. So we just had to suck it up and carry on with our training. That's what you'd expect heroes to do, right?

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Let me tell you that a trio of depressed X-Men and one strict teacher makes one hell of a lesson. Scott was blasting the target dummies to smithereens while Bobby froze pretty much everything in sight. We had an outlet for all our pent up anger and we used it for all it was worth. As a matter of fact most of the equipment from section B was turned to splinters. Sweaty and exhausted we were pushed into our mental defense class. The Professor had boasted that this was to be a new more difficult lesson. Oh joy.

"As with all aspects of the mind, psychic rapports are extremely complex. They are a bond—a link between two or more minds. Thoughts and emotions travel through this connection to the individuals, giving even the non-psychic a glimpse into the telepaths' mind. This link keeps the respected parties connected at all times," Xavier tactfully chose to ignore our gasps, "though it can be blocked or filtered with mental blocks. Although this keeps privacy faint impressions still can be felt through the rapport letting the other know if you are endangered or not."

"So you're going to establish this rapport with all of us?" I knew it was a stupid moot question but I wanted to make sure I was hearing right.

"That is correct. It will take time to institute a strong link…but I feel confident that we will succeed in doing so. It will also give us a chance to see how far you've come on your work on you transmitting abilities." He remarked. I didn't look but I just knew he was directing that comment at me. Transmitting as the Prof had called it; was a form of sending your thoughts. You had to direct your thoughts; channel them and be able to give them 'voice' from a great distance. Sound confusing? Yeah, it is.

Scott had managed to do it a few times from the 'Closet.' Bobby had been a little overzealous and 'yelled' at the Prof. (Xavier wasn't too pleased about that one.) I had the most trouble with it. I wasn't sure how to focus enough to 'send' my messages. When I did do it I never managed to have quite the 'volume' the others had. I was told that I had difficulty with the less physical side of our training. I was use the hands on approach, hell I excelled at it, but the less tangible bogged me down. Bobby referred to it was the 'Luke Skywalker problem.' I was too use to thinking a certain way so I couldn't conceive communicating by other means.

The lesson went better than I had hoped for, and we only had minor ringing in our heads. I still couldn't perform the 'transmitting' well enough; something that I could tell disappointed the Prof. Bobby was fallen asleep shortly afterwards earning us a break. Having pity for our plight (or rather Bobby) Xavier told us we would only be doing one other practice today. My peer reliance practice. I couldn't help thinking this was turning out to be an easy day.

A/N: Bobby (as well as the other originals) has questioned Xaviers' motives before. In XMN: THY #1 Bobby even quits the team because he doesn't feel he can trust Xavier. Xavier has had several questionable moments when he has tested his students, like pretending to lose his powers, etc. In both Hank and Bobbys' backstories he uses his telepathic powers to erase information from bystanders minds, even people who accepted the boys as mutants. The laughing in the sleep part is actually a reference to my sister. I still don't know if she really did laugh in her sleep or was just trying to freak me out. Xavier did have psychic rapports with his students. In the early days he monitored his X-Men, and during Dark Phoenix saga he had trouble re- establishing the link with the new class. In XMN: THY #2 Bobby 'hears' the Professor calling for Havok and Lorna to help the other X-Men even though the message wasn't directed at him.