Hey, folks. I hope you like this new chappie. Sorry, I know it's been a while but I guess it's worth it, considering the amount of reviews I've been getting. I love you all! Thanks a bunch for your reviews!

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Chapter 10

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4:00pm

Sam came out of the room and into the hall way.

"Did you do it?" Roberto asked, seeing his friend.

"Yeah," the southern boy replied. "Ah found it right away. They left it on the coffee table."

"Good," Roberto commended. "Let's go fix something else."

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Grey/Summers

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"Alley," Jean said, coming into the girl's room. "Are you ready to go?"

Looking around, she saw that Alley was on her bed, thinking. It was pretty obvious that she had been crying, but she wasn't now.

"Are you okay?" Jean asked, softly, going to sit next to her.

"Jean," Alley started, "Do I have to go to my sessions with Professor Xavier? I mean, I'm sure he's really nice and all, but it'd be embarrassing. When I said I have no control over my power, I mean I have NO control."

Jean put her arm around the child's shoulder. She wasn't quite sure what to say to her. She knew how hard it was to come to terms with something like not being able to control a power, but she didn't have anything she considered good advice, having been through it the hard way.

"Alley, if you don't go, you might never get any better." She replied.

"So?" the brown-haired girl argued. "You have no idea how hard it is to be a kid and not be able to control your powers!"

Jean smiled. "Oh no?" She stood up. "I want you to come with me. I have something to show you."

Alley followed Jean to the living room. The redhead went to the closet and pulled out a photo album. She sat down next to her 'daughter' and opened the book.

"See this picture?" Jean asked. Alley nodded. It was a picture of two little girls, one with red hair and one with brown hair. They looked very happy. "This was me, the day before I got my powers."

"Really?" Alley asked, "You like you're my age!"

"I am." Jean answered. "Well, about six months older, but close enough."

"Wait a minute," the child started, "I thought it was weird to get your powers so early. Were your parents mutants, too?"

Jean shook her head. "No. Mine manifested because of something bad that happened to me."

"What?"

"Well," she began, "when I was younger, I had a friend named Annie. This is her in the picture with me. We were best friends since before I can remember. We did everything together. One day, we were playing ball in my front yard. I threw it too hard and it went into the road. Annie went to get it. At the same time, a car came around the corner going way faster than it was supposed to. I was so scared I couldn't even yell a warning." Jean paused to wipe a tear from her eyes. "She never even saw it coming. I ran out and cradled her head in my lap. Then, I suddenly felt something in my head. It was Annie. I was inside her head until the moment she died. That was when my telepathic abilities first manifested. I went into a coma for two years because of that experience. I would probably still be in a coma today if it wasn't for the Professor. He guided me out of it with his own telepathy and brought me here. At first, I felt like I couldn't do anything. I constantly had a headache and there were voices in my mind that never went away. But Professor Xavier and the other adults helped me gain the control I needed. If they can help a hopeless case like I was, they should have no problems helping a bright girl like you." She smiled.

"You really think so?" Alley asked, skeptical.

"Of course."

Suddenly, Alley threw her arms around the older girl in a hug. Jean, not expecting it, automatically wrapped her around the child.

"I think I'm ready to go now, Jean." Alley said, standing up.

Jean smiled and the girl went to put her shoes on.

Scott came in and sat next to Jean.

How long have you been standing there? she asked.

The whole time. he answered. Are you okay? I haven't heard you talk about Annie for a while now.

Yeah. She smiled weakly. He hugged her.

"Come on, Jean!" Alley said, rolling her eyes.

Jean laughed and let go of her boyfriend.

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Ororo/Logan

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"Hey," Logan started, coming into their living room. "Where's the kid?"

"With Bobby and Jubilee." Ororo answered, not looking up from the book she was reading.

"Oh." Logan replied, sitting down next to her on the couch. He picked up a newspaper. "It's quiet."

Ororo nodded. "Yes. I love the children to death, but I'm really enjoying having a place all to ourselves and Anna. Nothing gets broken, practically no noise..."

"No Stripes yellin' at Gumbo, no Half-Pint tryin' to make us try her newest creations, no new recruits blowing everything up..." He added. "And I think my allergies are finally clearin' up."

Ororo laughed. "Logan, I hardly think the children have anything to do with your allergies."

Logan shrugged. "Ya never know, 'Ro."

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Drake/Lee

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"What are you two doing?" Jubilee asked as Anna and Michael walked through the room, pulling all of the sleeping bags behind them.

"Playing house." Michael answered. "We're gonna make a house." Anna nodded.

"Oh. Have fun." She replied.

"We will." Michael said. Anna looked back at Jubilee and waved 'bye'. Before she could turn back around, though, she bumped into something and fell down.

"Whoa," Bobby said, having been the one she bumped into. "Careful, sweetie."

Michael hurriedly helped her back up and put himself in between them. "We're really sorry. She didn't mean to bump into you. Please don't hit us."

"Michael," Bobby started, sadly. "I told you before, I would never hurt anyone. Especially not you or Anna."

Anna put a hand on Michael's shoulder and smiled at Bobby. "Come on, Mike." She picked up all of her bags and started to walk about. "Bye-bye Mr. Drake."

"Bye," Bobby said as the two wandered away. "Jubes..."

"He'll trust you eventually." She answered.

"I hope so." He sighed.

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Maximoff/Tolensky & Maximoff/Smith

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"Hey-Tolenskys!" Pietro said, bursting into Wanda and Todd's suite.

"We're here!" Tabby announced loudly.

Suddenly, Anya started to cry.

"I got her!" Todd yelled, coming out of his room.

"Okay, then I've got them..." Wanda said, approaching their 'guests'. "What do you guys want?"

"Well, the schedule said 'visit Wanda and Todd,' so we're visiting Wanda and Todd." Tabby explained.

"That's weird. Mine says 'free time'." Wanda replied, looking at her own schedule.

"Well," Pietro started, "ours-actually-said-something-else-but-we're-not-exactly-following-it."

"So you decided to come here?" Todd asked, coming out, holding the now quiet two-year-old.

Tabby nodded enthusiastically. She pushed their 'son' in front of her. "Have you met Zach? He's a ton of fun!"

Zach smiled and waved.

"No, I don't think we've met." Scarlet Witch said, sitting down on the couch with Toad.

"Zach, this is Auntie Wanda, Uncle Todd, and..." Tabby looked at the toddler, not knowing her name.

"Anya." Todd finished.

"Right. Anya." The blonde smiled. She turned to Pietro. "Want a cracker?"

"I-guess..." he replied.

She reached into her purse and her eyes widened. "Ew!" She threw it across the room and looked at her hand. It was covered in a clear sticky substance.

"What's-wrong?" Pietro asked.

"There's something in my purse!!!" she squealed, shaking her hand off. Zach and Anya giggled.

Pietro got up and looked inside the purse. "Ew... Hey-here's-a-note!" He took it out and read it. "It-says-'That's-for-the-paint. Signed-Rahne'." Pietro started laughing. "I-told-you-that-was-a-bad-idea."

"Oh, she does not know who's she's messing with!"

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Rogue/Remy

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"Hey, chere," Remy greeted, going into her room. "Why don' we drop the kids off at Jeannie and Cyke's and go to the movies?"

Rogue sighed. "Number 1, knock before ya'll just burst into mah room like that. Number 2, just because we're pretend married does not mean we're a couple!"

"Aw, come on, chere!" he said, putting on a very sad face.

"And don't call me chere!" she replied, pushing him out of her room and shutting the door. "That Cajun's gonna drive me nuts..." she muttered to herself.

Remy shrugged. She'd come around eventually. After all, no one could resist Gambit's charm for long.

Erin wandered over to him and tugged on his pants leg.

"Dad?" she asked.

"Yes?"

"Can I have some ice cream?" Erin asked sweetly.

"I don t'ink Rogue would like it I gave ya ice cream before dinner..." he responded.

"Please?" she replied, giving him a sad puppy dog face.

"Well..."

"I won't tell Mom. I promise." She said.

Remy smirked and leaned against Rogue's door. "I guess it would be okay."

Suddenly, he fell backwards as the door behind him open. Rogue peeked her head through. "Did ya just say she could have ice cream right before dinner, Swamp Rat?"

"Would ya yell at Gambit if he said yes?" the auburn haired mutant wondered.

She glared at him.

"In dat case, no." He answered, standing and brushing himself off.

Rogue rolled her eyes.

"Mom?" Erin started. "Can I have ice cream?"

"No." Rogue replied.

Erin shrugged. "Okay." She walked away.

"Hey, wait a minute..." Remy looked at Rogue. "Why does she listen to the first answer you give 'er, but she begs Gambit until he gives in?"

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Braddock/Worthington

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"Do you really think we need all of that?" Betsy asked, looking at the large pile of things Warren and Kimberly had placed into their cart. The three had decided to go to Target for lack something better to do with their free time and, after two hours, Betsy was starting to get a little bored. There's only so much shopping a girl can do with only one store.

"Yes." Obviously her 'husband' and 'daughter' did not share her world-weariness. Between Warren being too rich to shop at a place like this before and Kimberly being too poor, the two of them were having the time of their lives.

The lavender-haired teen picked up an item out of the cart. "What is this?"

"A leaf blower!" Warren answered, sounding excited.

"Why do we need a leaf blower, Love? We don't have a lawn to take care of." She replied.

"Aw, come on, Bets..." he said, pouting.

She rolled her eyes. "Fine." She sighed. "But why do we need a food processor? We don't have a kitchen."

"But it's not just a food processor!" Kimberly protested. "It's a Magic Bullet! They've never been sold in stores before ever!"

Betsy looked between the two blonde haired mutants. "Let's go to the check out line before either of you puts something like a 20 lb. bag of cat food into our basket."

"Already got one!"

"Ugh..." the telepath sighed. "You didn't happen to get some aspirin, did you?"

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Sinclair/Madrox

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"That'll teach her." Rahne muttered, wandering back into her suite. "I'm home!"

"Mommy!" Kyle yelled, popping out from behind the couch and latching himself to her leg.

"Hello, Pup." She greeted, patting him on the head. "Where's Daddy?"

The little boy giggled.

"What?" Rahne asked, suspicious.

"A big box was at the door so Daddy opened it and it sprayed ink all over his face and now he's trying to scrub it off." Kyle explained.

Rahne's eyebrows shot up. "What?"

"Rahne!" Jamie called, coming into the room. Kyle immediately started laughing. It took all of Rahne's self control not to. His face was literally black. "Tabby sent you a package." He stated, dryly.

"Ye opened my mail?" the Scottish girl asked.

"I will obviously never do it again." He replied.

Rahne burst out laughing and soon joined her 'son' on the floor, holding her stomach.

"Ugh." Jamie sighed and threw his towel at the two. He wandered back into the bathroom to try again.

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Crisp/Aquilla & Pryde/Wagner

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Kitty, Kurt, and Kelly came up to the 'Crisp family' suite and stood in front of the door.

"Jordan!" They heard through the door. "Stop that!"

"Are you sure you vant to play vith him?" Kurt asked, a reluctant look on his face.

Kelly nodded happily.

Kitty looked at him and shrugged.

"Okay..." He knocked on the door.

"Coming!" the heard Ray yell. A few seconds later, he opened the door and the 'Wagners' could clearly see Jordan hanging from the ceiling light and Amara yelling for him to get down.

"What are you doing here?" Jordan asked, dropping to the ground and landing gracefully on his feet.

"Jordan! Be nice," Amara scolded.

Jordan rolled his eyes and went over to Kelly. "Did you come over to play?" Kelly nodded. "Ugh. Great... stuck with a girl again... Come on, then." The two kids walked away and into Jordan's room.

"Sorry to pop in on you like this, but Kelly really wanted to come see Jordan," Kitty explained, stepping into the room a little.

Ray and Amara looked confused. They glanced at each other and then back at Kurt and Kitty. "Why?" they asked together.

Kurt shrugged.

"Well, come in and sit down." Ray invited.

"Ve actually can't stay," Kurt explained. "Appearantly zere's been a change in our schedule and ve have to go to the movies."

"Yeah," Kitty agreed. "Do you think you could like watch Kelly for a couple of hours?"

"Sure," Ray replied. "Maybe that'll keep Jordan too busy to cause trouble..."

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If you think it's fun to read Jordan, wait until you see what I'm going to do with Kelly. -rubs hands together evilly-

((By the way: I, too, wish X23 and Alex were in this story, but I started it before I liked them and I couldn't find a way to add them afterwards. Sorry R-man and X-TREME-X23!))