Thanks to:
LoneRaven – I'm glad you liked it that much!
Raphaella – I bet he will be repulsed! And awkward when he gets home, not that I could take advantage…could I?
Todd Fan – Scott the man-ho? I live with that! You snuggle Forge as much as you want!
Heartsyhawk – No, you did just type that to Scott! I'm beginning to pity him too…
Lil Jean – This was my slowest update on this fic ever, sorry 'bout that!
Tara – You gave me some good ideas and I've used one of them right here! Thanks!
Rogue14 – EEEW! No, it was slime and not anything else on Scott's chest…man, I'm not gonna be able to get that image out of my head all night! A Scott/Logan chapter is in the works but it won't show up for a while yet.
Firefly25 – I'll be using at least two of the suggestions on your list, thanks for them and enjoy this chapter!
UncannyAsianGirl – I LOVE the idea of the commune, I'm using that very soon, thanks for the suggestion! I remember that Simpsons episode in question, that was one of my favourites.
LadyEvils – I forgot all about the iron, it makes its return here though! I'm pretty sure Scott will make his way through the entire Brotherhood, ha ha…
Shield-Maiden – Take a deep breath, I can't have one of my most constant reviewers dying – I might get sued! Changing Forge's character is fun and because Evo hardly used him I can get away with it too!
Evil-Bunny-Leader – It was a pretty gross chapter, lol. Sorry 'bout the slow update!
A. Ceretta – I think I can manage an Emma chapter! Should be chapter 10 or 11.
Archmagus – Cleaner images, will do! Oh wait, there's something disturbing in here…but no nudity today! And no Toad.
Katherine4 – Poignant? I guess it is a little, with Scott trying to get home to his beloved. Enjoy this chapter!
E-T – Thanks and a happy New Year to you too!
TheDreamerLady – There will be a Scott/Logan chapter (it's been the most requested one to date!) and yeah, the OTHER redhead will be showing up shortly…
Diaz F – Another vote for Jott! I'll do my best ;)
AUTHOR NOTE: Happy New Year everyone! And, uh, apologies to everyone I harassed by E-Mail while drunk! You know, it just doesn't seem like a New Year without twelve pints, inexplicable bruising, the phone number of some guy I don't remember snogging and a fight in a kebab shop…
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters I torment.
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Scott opened his eyes and blinked. Not his room again. This dimension was proving to suck already and he wasn't even out of bed yet. At least he was in the mansion this time.
There was no one else in the room, much to his relief, so he went over to the dresser to see if he could work out whom the room belonged to. There was a pile of schoolbooks and he glanced through them, frowning. His name was on all of them. All the stuff in the room was his. Throwing open the wardrobe, he recognised at least half of the clothes inside.
OK, so in this dimension he had a different room. No big deal. At least he didn't seem to have a girlfriend, or worse, a boyfriend. Maybe he was back in his own universe, just with a different bedroom! That was the only explanation for it!
Ecstatic, Scott dressed and pranced down the halls until he got to Jean's room and knocked on the door. He was going to apologise for the iron and then take her to the mall to buy her the most romantic, reasonably priced item he could find. And then he'd take her to the best restaurant in Bayville, if he could arrange for Amara to sort out the sprinkler system again.
When Jean opened the door and looked out, he gave her his best smile, the one she had always made him look cute and shy. She gave him a faintly puzzled smile in return.
"Hi Scott," she said.
"Who is it?" called a voice from within.
"It's just Scott."
Scott felt the smile on his face freeze. He recognised that voice…
The door was pushed further open and a familiar figure walked out, clad in only boxers. "What's up bro?"
"Alex!?"
"Well duh." Alex put a casual arm around Jean's shoulders and smiled. "What's up kid?"
Scott took in Alex's appearance. His face seemed older, his body more filled out and his face less tanned than usual. Looking down at himself, Scott's heart sank. He hadn't used to be this short.
"YOU'RE the elder brother?"
Alex and Jean exchanged glances. "That's genetics for you," said Alex cautiously. "You still feeling the effects from that whack on the head you got in the Danger Room yesterday?"
"Yes!" Scott seized this information. "I've got, uh, temporary amnesia! So you have to fill me in on a few things."
"Like?"
"Like everything!"
"Everything? Well, you're my little brother, you lived in Hawaii until recently when you moved into the Institute and in spite of all those waves you never learned how to surf – I've no idea why, I'd love to try it. We were orphaned in a plane crash and you were adopted and I wasn't. But I'm not bitter!"
Jean gave Scott a worried look. "Maybe we ought to make him see Mr McCoy. Does Scotty-Wotty want to go see the nice doctor to have a look at his boo-boo?"
Scott winced. "No, Scotty-Wotty would not!"
"He's so cute when he's all crabby!" Jean ruffled Scott's hair and he cringed. He may have lost some height, but he wasn't a baby.
He turned on his heel and stormed off. At eighteen he was mostly in control of his hormones but at fifteen he really wanted to yell at his brother about stealing his girlfriend. It was hard work to remember that he was now too young for her.
Rogue exited a room nearby and almost bumped into him. "Oh sorry Scott. Didn't see you there."
"Go away! No one understands me!"
"No one wants to."
"Screw you!" Scott stormed out of the mansion, brimming about the unfairness of it all. He was trapped in the body of a fifteen year old and his brother was sleeping with his girlfriend. Life sucked.
As he wandered into the grounds he decided to put off going to see Forge for a while. He needed to think things through, try to find a way to talk to the boy that wouldn't get him treated like a kid. Instead, he took a walk between the trees and debated on how things had gone terribly wrong and whose fault it was.
He had just decided that Forge was to blame for everything when he heard a rustling noise. He glanced around but saw no one. He leant against a tree, wondering if it was Alex following him or if his brother had gone against his wishes and told McCoy about his 'head injury' – that was just so like him – and was just thinking about shouting obscenities into the air when something fell out of the tree his was leant on and landed beside him.
He spun around and saw X23 in a crouch beside him. "What the hell did you sneak up on me for? I nearly had a freaking heart attack!"
"You were supposed to be a half hour ago." X23 glared at him through narrowed eyes.
"I was?"
"You know you were! I had to sit up this tree all morning!"
"Well sorry. I had to talk to my brother."
"Again?" X23 lost her angry look. "Is he still on your back? You ought to give him an adamantium punch!"
"Yeah," grumbled Scott.
"I could put a head in his bed. Horse, elephant, Jean…"
"I don't think that'll help."
"Be fun though. I guess we've got the rest of the morning together now."
"Actually, there's something I have to do…"
"Again!" X23 glared at him. "You promised to spend the morning with me!"
"I know, but…"
"You won't let me come to the mansion in case you get teased about having a thing for Logan. You hardly ever have time to see me. And you got me an iron for Christmas! Where the hell would I plug it in?"
"There was nothing wrong with that iron!"
"You can't beat anything bigger than a squirrel to death with a cold iron and I can do it quicker with my claws!"
"I need to go talk to Forge!"
"Why?"
"I can't tell you in case the world blows up!"
"It's always the same with you Scott. Every time I want to spend some time with you, you say the world's gonna blow up!"
"I really mean it this time!"
X23 popped her claws and advanced. "You are gonna spend some time with me even if I have to kill you and prop your body up with a tree!"
"Eep!" Scott blasted her and ran while she was still down. Behind him he heard her getting up and pursuing. He tore through the gates and as fast as he could to Forge's house. He hammered on the door frantically, glancing over his shoulder as X23 got closer.
The door opened and before X23 could get to him, Scott shoved his way into the house and slammed the door behind him, glancing at the startled face of Forge's mother.
"I, uh…"
A pair of claws sliced into the door and Scott ran for the stairs and into Forge's room. The boy glanced up startled. "Scott? What are you doing here?"
"X23's chasing me!"
"Again? I don't know how you expect me to give you romantic advice, after what happened with me and Wanda…"
"No, you don't understand, I'm – wait, you and Wanda?"
"Yeah, Pietro tried to warn me she was a little bi-polar but I didn't realise…"
CRASH!
"Oh no, she got in!" Scott looked around desperately and spied the trans-dimensional device poking out from under the bed. "I'm from another dimension, you blasted me with that and now Alex has my life! Quick, you have to shoot me before mini-Logan uses my dismembered corpse as a sex toy!"
Forge shrugged. "OK, sure."
"But make sure it's MY universe." Scott got a little misty-eyed. "I've realised that I live in the best world possible."
"Best world possible, got it." Forge fiddled with the gun for a moment and pointed it at Scott. Just then a pair of claws sliced through the floor at Scott's feet.
"Hurry!"
"Got it." Forge shot Scott and he vanished in the obligatory flash of blue light. At the same moment a square of the floor fell into the room below and X23 leapt into the room, blinking in surprise when she realised Scott was nowhere in sight.
"Did he go out the window?"
"No, he was from an alternate dimension so I shot him with this trans-dimensional device."
"You sent my boyfriend to another dimension?"
"He wasn't your boyfriend. I'm sure our Scott will show up sooner or later."
"You wanna make out 'til then?"
"Well, I do deserve something for the property damage. OK!"