Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters; please don't sue me I am a poor college student. I am not making any money off of this and I am just writing it for the benefit of my own entertainment as well as the entertainment of the other fans out there. Also, this is a story from my own imagination, any resemblance to real life events, or even those in fiction is completely coincidental. As an additional note, there are so many fan fiction stories out there on this site as well as others, so any similarity is coincidental or great minds just happen to think alike. I do claim the non-Marvel characters, such as the Williams family, Damien, and the new offspring of the LeBeau and Summers families. Thanks!
Note: I apologize for the spacing and random indents and anything of the sort. When the pages are loaded onto this site everything seems to get a bit messed up. I noticed that single lines get double spaced randomly. Sorry about that.
Through the Years
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Setting the Stage
Mrs. Kendal's class was in the middle of a lively question and answer session after recess. Summer break was starting in a few days, and they had learned so much in this past year. None of them wanted it to end. One girl even asked if it was possible to stay here in first grade with her instead of moving on to second grade, and was nearly on the verge of tears when she was told that she indeed could not stay back. The question and answer session was Jessica's favorite part of the day, even better than show and tell which was Nathaniel's favorite. Maybe it was the fact that Jessica loved to learn the answers to all the questions she had stored up inside of her. Maybe it was the fact the teacher tactfully answered a question sometime around November that was aimed directly at her. A little boy asked during the Q & A session why Jessica had a streak of white hair when only adults like Mrs. Kendal should have white hair. Jessica didn't know what to say to that, it never really occurred to her that her hair made her different. After all, Momma had the same streak. But Mrs. Kendal handled the question with grace. She said that all people have different hair colors. She noted that around the classroom there were students with blonde, black, brown, and red hair. She also stated that sometimes people have white patches in their hair because it was genetic (she also explained what genetic meant, a point Nathaniel was happy about since he heard Uncle Hank use it all the time). Mrs. Kendal explained that she knew a boy in college that had a tiny white patch on the side of his head. In fact, that boy's grandmother grew up with the same white patch. She asked Jessica if anyone else in her family had the white streak to which Jessica replied that her Momma did. The class then understood that Jessica's unique hair was genetic and therefore it was never a factor in school again, much to the little girl's delight. Yes, Jessica was going to miss Mrs. Kendal and the first grade.
She shared this thought with Nathaniel as they left the classroom at the end of the day. They walked down the hall of the school to the playground outside where they were to wait for Aunt Jean. This is what happened everyday. She, Natey, and David would wait for Aunt Jean while they sat on the swings and talked about their day. Today they saw David sitting on the swings, already out there waiting. But they dropped their backpacks and starting running towards him after they saw what happened to him.
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David Williams sat on one of the swings waiting for his friends to get out of class. His class got out a few minutes early and Mr. Troy let them play outside until their parents came. Since his mom worked at the local college, one of his neighbors down the street, Ms. Jean always picked him up. Then he and his friends would go back to the Mansion and play. Or sometimes he'd spend time with Dr. Hank. Sometimes he'd join his friends in their self- defense class with Mr. Logan, but he wasn't very good at it so it didn't help him with his bully problem. He didn't like being physically awkward in front of his friends, he didn't have cool powers like Jessie-Rose (unless of course she needed him to borrow them for a bit) and he didn't have Natey's athletic talent. He was pretty smart, but that didn't help him out with his problem with Max. That boy picked on him every chance he got. Luckily it wasn't everyday, whenever a parent or teacher was around, which was most of the time, Max left him alone. Also, if Natey or Jessie-Rose were there he was pretty safe too since there were witnesses. But whenever Max would get him alone, he would tease him, call him names, but luckily he didn't usually do anything physical to him. He didn't want to tell his mom either; he knew that his dad died because of a bully, at least that was how he saw it in his mind. He didn't want her to worry about him.
Just as he saw Jessie-Rose and Natey coming through the doors from the school to the playground, someone shoved him off the swings and started pounding on him. He saw Jessica and Natey drop their backpacks and come running towards him.
Jessica and Nathaniel weren't the only ones that saw what happened, as adult footsteps followed behind them.
"Max Cooper, what is the meaning of this," bellowed Mr. Troy, David's teacher came running over to the two boys. Not realizing the teacher had seen what happened, Max got off David immediately.
"We were just playing Mr. Troy, really," Max started to say, but many years of teaching made him wiser to this and he stopped the bully before he could say anymore.
"Save it Max, I saw what happened. What do you have to say to David?"
"I'm sorry," he grumbled without feeling.
"Good, now, we are going to take a little walk down to the principal's office, ok." After checking David over to make sure he was unharmed, Mr. Troy escorted his young detainee to the principal. After they had left Jessica helped David up while Nathaniel went back to get the bags they dropped in their haste.
"Are you ok David?"
"I'm fine Jessie-Rose, don't worry about me."
"I have to worry silly, you're my best friend," she leaned over and gave him a hug. He hugged her back and then helped her onto the swing and began to push her on it, just the way they always did. She giggled with delight, but then proceeded to tell him what was on her mind.
"Really David, don't let him bother you, Max is a poop."
David giggled, "Yeah, a bug eating poop."
They both giggled the way first graders tend to do. At this point Nathaniel had rejoined them placing Jessica and his backpacks on the ground by David's. He grabbed the swing next to Jessica's but didn't move on it. He sat so that he was facing David, who was still pushing Jessica's swing. Nathaniel then took on a tone that any of the X-men would think was channeling Cyclops.
"David, something tells me that Max has been picking on you for a while. You should have told us, we are a team we stick together. That's what we do. Promise me that you won't keep things like this from us again."
Jessica's swing came to a halt. She spun around so that she was facing David too. David looked at his friends, knowing how lucky he was to have them, and knowing that it would be a relief to not have to suffer in silence, alone and scared.
"But I don't want him to pick on you too," the blonde haired boy said pushing is glasses back in place.
Once again, channeling his father, Nathaniel stated, "That's not your call to make, it's ours."
"Yeah Shugah," Jessica echoed. "Nothing can beat us together, not some bug eating poop bully, not anything.
"Thanks you guys, you're the best!" They then proceeded to play tag until Jean arrived to take them back to the Mansion.
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A few days later, Remy LeBeau was cleaning out the last drawer in his desk and placing the papers in a big box. He'd need a lot of that stuff for next year so he wanted to keep it safe. Mon Dieu, this year went fast, he thought to himself. It felt like just yesterday he was making introductions to his students, and doing the best he could to keep the female students interested in the lesson, instead of him. But it was fun, and he loved it. Hopefully next year's students would be as fun as this year's had been. Now he had the whole summer off, an idea that pleased him. He wondered why he didn't go into teaching in the first place, for him it was the perfect job, next to thieving of course. It was a new challenge everyday, he got the summer off so he could pursue other things, and it was honest which was a factor Rogue appreciated for the sake of their family. Just as he put the last pile of papers into his box he heard a knock at the classroom door. Thinking that a student forgot something in their haste to start summer break, he said they could enter, but he didn't looked up from his task until he caught a familiar scent of lavender and auto shop smells.
"Well, well, Mrs. LeBeau, what have you been up too," he said smiling at his grease covered wife. Her entire jumpsuit was covered, and her face had dark spots all over it. But she even managed to make that look good somehow.
"Logan and Ah were tryin' to fix a leak in the fuel tank of one of the minijets; unfortunately we didn't take into consideration how big the leak really was. Next time Bishop borrows one of the jets for a mission and says that he might have gotten a small hole in somethin', Ah'll know better," she smiled at him holding up her arms in frustration.
Remy got out of his chair and made his way over to her. "Den is dis your way of tellin' me dat it's time for you t'go home too?"
"Honestly, if Ah have to look at another piece of machinery, Ah'll scream."
He took her left hand in his, removed the stained glove and kissed her hand. "Well, chere, since you had a bad day, I'll make it up to you in t'best way dis Cajun knows how."
She looked at him with a longing desire in her eyes, "Are ya gonna cook me dinner, Remy, please say that ya will!"
Remy chuckled softly, "Well, I can do dat too, if it will make you happy."
"Ya know it will."
He pulled her in close to him, but she pushed him away, "Don't Remy, ya'll get yoah clothes all dirty."
He pulled her in close anyway and gave her a long, passionate kiss. "Don't be silly girl, you t'ink after all dis time, a lil' bit of grease is gonna keep me from you?"
She returned his kiss and then helped him carry his large box out of the classroom as they made their way to pry Jessica away from her friends and head home.
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"He wants you to do WHAT," exclaimed Bobby Drake. "No, no, you can't do it, I absolutely forbid it!"
"Chill, Bobby, I haven't decided yet, and besides, it's my life, I can do as I damn well please," Jubilee shouted back.
This had begun as a very civil conversation between two friends in the dorm's kitchen. The students were all asleep, well at least those that were left, after all summer break had just started the other day. Most students had already gone home leaving just a dozen or so behind that didn't have anywhere else to go as had happened every year since the inception of this school.
"Well what about your commitment to the school," Bobby asked.
"Xavier can find someone else, jeez, it's not like there's no one left in the Mansion," an exasperated Jubilee said.
"But why Chicago? Why not someplace closer?"
"Because that's where Damien's job transferred him to and since he asked me to go with him and since...And I do...I mean...," she paused before she fumbled some more. "He's a great guy Bobby, why shouldn't I go?" With that she left the room in a huff, leaving Bobby standing there to contemplate silently the reasons she should stay here with him.
Meanwhile back in her room Jubilee milled over what she had just said. She had nearly said "And I do love him" about her boyfriend; however she couldn't bring herself to form the words. Why not? She did care for him and he was a great guy. But something was holding her back from making that sort of commitment and she knew exactly what it was too. Bobby. But why? Damien obviously cared for her, maybe even loved her. He showed her everyday how much she meant to him. But Bobby? He cared for her as a friend, sure, but he didn't love her like that, did he? No, he made that clear last year. But she couldn't shake that feeling. She was still in love with him. But he didn't love her, and Damien seemed to. No, Damien didn't just seem to, he definitely did. Why else would he want her to come to Chicago with him? He treated her wonderfully; all the X-men loved him, heck even Wolverine gave his unrestrained approval, which rarely ever happens. She made up her mind. She'd go to Chicago with Damien and forget out her feelings for Bobby Drake. She sat down at her desk, turned on her computer, and began to write a rough draft letter of resignation to Professor Xavier.
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A few weeks later, Professor Xavier mulled over Jubilee's resignation and sought to find a replacement for her. Jubilee began packing and stopped talking to Bobby. Bobby tried to think of ways to tell Jubilee how he felt. The Summers' clan was in Alaska making their annual visit to Scott's grandparents. The LeBeau's had just come back from a wonderful visit to see Jean-Luc LeBeau and Tante Mattie in New Orleans; this time there were no surprise visits from Belladonna. Kurt conducted business as usual at his church. Storm and Wolverine made the final plans for their fast approaching wedding. Monica Williams picked up the summer semester at her college teaching a few classes while David spent his time at the Mansion, and Carlie was away at camp as a councilor. On one of these normal summer days, Hank and his little shadow were in the lab. Hank was analyzing samples while David sat at the computer.
"What's this Dr. Hank," David asked Hank. The little boy seemed so undersized in the chair specifically made for the large, furry X-man. It made him look even smaller than his eight years of age. He was on his knees leaning over to the keyboard of the good doctor's computer.
"Let me see," Hank walked over to the computer and was surprised at the results. "Why those are top secret files, how on Earth did you access them?"
The little boy proceeded to explain how he put together all the processes Hank had taught him since taking him under his wing. Although he'd have to explain to David not to go though files he shouldn't be accesses, he couldn't help but be proud that his protégée was so smart.
"Well, my little Hacker someday you might just pass me up on computer skills. It always seems to be that way huh, the younger generation picks up on technology faster than its predecessors," Hank mused aloud, mainly to himself.
"Uh huh," the newly christened Hacker mumbled while he looked for that computer game he KNEW Dr. McCoy kept on here. He always saw him playing it...AH HA, there it was. Hank went back to his analysis and David played his game.
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Men and women of all ages gathered in a meeting hall waiting for things to begin. A closer look into a few of the conversations reveals nothing out of the ordinary. In one corner a group of women laughed and told stories cute stories about their children, catching each other up on what might have happened to them since the last time they all met. In another corner some men ranted and raved about the local baseball team and how they weren't having as good of a season as expected. Still another conversation among a group of high school students consisted of complaining how impossible it was to get tickets to see the latest band perform. There was nothing out of the ordinary about this group until the meeting was called to order and everyone took a seat.
The man at the podium banged a gavel and spoke, "This monthly meeting of the Friends of Humanity will now come to order! It is refreshing to see so many new faces as well as familiar ones here this month!"
The Friends of Humanity. The name alone will send cold chills down the spines of those who do not believe in their cause. The name alone can cause even the strongest mutant to become momentarily weak with fear. That is because this organization thrives on fear and hatred. Sometimes even whole families become part of it, in hopes of eradicating the mutant menace and making society safe for normal humans. This meeting isn't the only one being conducted, but rather there are hundreds like it going on around the country, maybe even around the world. This was just one chapter of it holding its monthly meetings in Salem Center, Westchester County, New York. Hundreds of people gather here from many of the neighboring towns to discuss the same thing...what to do about the mutant menace.
There are ground rules to being in this organization of course, most importantly is that you cannot be a mutant. That's why most of the members are no younger than 16 or so, insurance that children brought into the organizations won't turn into mutants later. But younger children are raised with the values of the FOH at home; the parents make sure of it. One member sitting in the front row, Max Cooper, Max Cooper Senior that is, made sure that Junior knew the importance of humans over mutants. When he heard that the son of the good-for-nothing, thankfully dead mutie-loving Senator was in his boy's class, he was upset. He didn't want his son exposed to any mutie-loving ideas. When he heard that Max bullied that boy, he couldn't help but be proud. He even refused to punish the boy after getting a call from the principal when he got in a fight. Rather, Max was rewarded for his behavior towards David Williams. And Max Junior enjoyed the attention that his father gave him.
At the meeting, newly elected chapter president Jackson Porter lead the group in discussing new and old business.(1) But he knew he had to keep it brief since he had another meeting to go to. Word of his work getting the local schools, and eventually most schools in the state, set up with mutant scanning devices had spread to the higher-ups. And they liked what they heard, so they wanted to meet with him about a new project.
After the meeting was over, Porter made his way to DC on board one of the FOH's private jets. It did help having a number of wealthy members. At this meeting he was told that there was a new technology being developed; one that would wipe away the mutant menace once and for all. But it would take many years to develop, probably a decade or so, depending on how fast they could work. They already had the funding, they just needed a location and they wanted to develop it in Upstate New York. They figured that if they went as far upstate as possible, they wouldn't be bothered by the authorities. The remote wilderness on the border of the US and Canada would provide the perfect location for this wonderful new technology. After hearing the proposal, Jackson Porter shook hands with the other men and women present agreeing to their terms. He would find a nice, secluded location for them to conduct their research and construction. On the plane ride back he pulled out a picture of his daughter, her husband, and his infant grandson. He knew this technology would make the world safe for them. A device that could wipe out mutants world wide in one shot, it was too good to be true, but if it meant making the world safe for his little grandson, then he would do everything in his power to see the FOH dream become reality.
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Author's Note- Ok, I tried to fix it, but I don't know what's up with For some reason the first bunch of chapters don't show up as having titles. Weird. I'll keep trying to fix it though. Anyway, not just yet, but soon, prepare for another "timewarp," with the plot lines of this part of the story wrapping themselves up, it's almost time to hit the next part. I've started to plant the seeds for the next important part too, so you'll have to search for them. Does that make sense? Well, if not stay tuned to find out!
(1)- Hey, remember him from Ch 23 & 24?
Tammy- Glad you liked the romantic Remy and the girls chatting scenes! And you are right; it is hard not to like Damien. I mean I created him for conflict and didn't intend to care what happened to him, but now I like him too! :-P
Ishandahalf- If the requirement for all kindergarten or first grade teachers is to be grandmotherly, then mine never got the memo. My kindergarten teachers were super young and hip and my first grade teacher was EVIL! Well not evil, but she was scary. Don't worry, you won't have to wait too long for Storm and Wolverine's wedding, it's coming soon! Also glad that you enjoyed the LeBeau family's interactions. Honestly, they are just so much fun to write, I just think of all the things I wish Marvel would do, and then type it up! Oh and whistle innocently as much as you want, something tells me Rogue might want to be the one doing the comforting :-P
Sweety8587- Hmmmm, iced up bowling ball, nice touch! :-)
T, Adeline, ANdy- Thanks as always! Your encouragement keeps me going! :-)
Brias- YAY for Jersey! Thanks for reading my story and I hope you continue to enjoy it! :-)
The 'Pike- Well, I guess that Damien is a bit of both, I mean he is explained a little more in terms of background than just a temporary conflict character, but his main goal is to create a conflict. And don't be frightened to submit your own stuff. Hey, it isn't easy to submit anything on here, at least not at first! I mean I really was afraid to submit my first piece "Who Gives This Bride?" but then I figured "What the heck I have nothing to lose!" But you get use to it and then it becomes an addiction :-P