**History Lesson**
Jesse ran until the pain in his lungs was greater than the years of painful memories that were overwhelming him. He stopped and bent over with his hands on his knees for support as his body shuddered and gasped for air. He dropped to his knees and wiped the sweat from his face. Why now? Why not years ago like everyone else? Why did he have to go through his youth with the brand of throwback? Why did he have to live with his father's contempt for having sired a non-mutant child?
He hung his head in disgust at the cruel cards that fate had dealt him. He thought of his mother. He could almost see her kind face and hear her reassuring words, 'Jesse, you don't need powers to be special.' Oh, mom, how is this possible?
"Hey, kid," Logan said.
"Go away. This is all your fault," Jesse accused angrily.
"Kid, you are confusing the hell out of me," Logan said as he sat down next to Jesse. "I think I need a little background to understand what is going on with you."
"Go look after your girlfriend," Jesse said quietly. "Leave me alone."
"Dani would fry my ass if I came back without you, Kid," Logan said humorously.
Jesse couldn't help cracking a smile at that. He couldn't imagine Wolverine being afraid of a tiny woman like Danielle. But he had to remind himself just how powerful she was in a fight. Definitely someone to respect.
"Where would I go?" Jesse asked. "I just want to sit and sort things out, I'll go inside later."
"I ain't leaving you out here alone, Jesse. It's getting dark, and your pal Odium is out there somewhere."
"I'm not the one he's mad at," Jesse said, and immediately felt bad for saying it. "God, Logan, I'm sorry."
"Forget it," Logan said with a hint of annoyance. "Tell me what happened, I need to know."
"I don't know where to start," Jesse said.
"How do we know each other?" Logan asked.
"We really just met. You were on the museum tour this morning, and you followed me to my office. You seemed to know me, but I had no idea who you were," Jesse paused trying to sort the day's events in his head. "You told me about Odium and said something was going to happen in the mansion, and then you left."
"Left?" Logan asked.
"Yeah, you said you'd stay close, like you were watching for your chance to take him by surprise. You intended to stop him before he came here," Jesse explained.
"Go on, you're doin fine," Logan prompted.
"Well, you came back to see what I was up to, and that's when we realized Odium was already in the mansion. When we went to the lab to stop him, Miss Carr, I guess you had met before, delayed you."
"How?" Logan couldn't believe he could have been delayed by a woman.
"You called her Bella the Butcher, and she seemed to fight rather well," Jesse said.
"Oh, I see," Logan was still skeptical, but waited for Jesse to continue.
"You caught her and tried to use her as leverage to get Odium away from the portal, but she tried to cut your throat, so you killed her, right in front of him," Jesse said. "He was mad, and swore to …return the favor."
Logan went pale, "Oh, god."
"Then you tossed me through the portal and here I am," Jesse finished.
"So I trusted you on less than a day of knowing you?" Logan asked.
"You seemed to," Jesse said.
"Hmmm," Logan was lost in thought. Jesse started to get up, but Logan stopped him.
"Okay kid, I get all that, now what is it with you?" Logan demanded.
"What do you mean?" Jesse asked suspiciously.
"You said you didn't have powers, and that there was a name for people like you," Logan said. "Explain."
"That would require telling practically my whole life story, and that is none of your damn business," Jesse said bitterly, and got up to leave. He looked around, but in the fading light he couldn't tell which way to go.
"Lost?" Logan chuckled.
"Wolverine, why are you such a pain in the ass?" Jesse asked angrily.
"I thought the name said it all," Logan said laughing. "Life story," he said sternly.
Jesse slumped down by a tree. It wouldn't be wise to argue with this guy, so he sighed his resignation and started his tale. "My mother was drop-dead gorgeous, but she was an ordinary human. She had an IQ that was so high, no one had been able to measure it."
"Like mother, like son?" Logan asked.
"Something like that, but she made an error in judgment and married my father," Jesse said. "Dear old dad was a very famous mutant with a long ancestry of famous mutants, all bad ones."
"What happened?" Logan knew this story wouldn't be a nice one.
"Father was mad that I never exhibited any powers and blamed my mother. She died a few years ago, under questionable circumstances. I can't prove it, but…" Jesse said heatedly.
"I get it, so how did he treat you?" Logan asked. He was wishing he could get his hands on this kid's father. Bastard.
"I moved out, we don't talk."
"And everyone else, if you go to a Mutant school, how did they treat you?" Logan asked.
"If I hadn't been the son of a football star it probably would have been worse. All things considered, I was probably lucky."
"Not good, huh?" Logan didn't need an answer, he already knew.
"In the future, there is peace between Mutants and Humans, but it is an uneasy one. Throwbacks like me are an insult to both sides," Jesse explained.
"What did you just call yourself?" Logan practically yelled. There was a hate word if ever he'd heard one.
"That's the name for a half breed with no powers."
"You got powers now, kid. Don't ever use that word again," Logan said harshly. He got up and tried to calm the sudden fury that was burning inside of him. What kind of future was that? No wonder the kid had a chip on his shoulder. "Lets go," was all he said.
They returned to the mansion in silence. Logan walked the kid up the stairs and they stood in the hall between their rooms. Jesse reached for his door, and turned back to Logan, "Don't you dare feel sorry for me, I can take care of myself," Jesse said sternly. He turned the doorknob, but Logan interrupted his retreat.
"Kid you are tough as nails, but you need to let yourself have friends," Logan said.
Jesse disappeared into his room without another word. Friends. In what century?
Logan frowned and went into the room he shared with Dani. She was sitting in her recharge chair playing Solitaire. He smiled wickedly at the skimpy sheer nightgown she was wearing.
"Learn anything?" she asked as she turned another card.
"Too much," he said sadly. "The kid had it pretty rough."
"You like him," she said.
"Yeah, I guess I do," he said almost surprised at his answer.
"Softy," She accused.
"Never," he said with a cocked brow.
"Never ever?" she asked playfully.
Logan looked her up and down, taking in the sight of every luscious curve, and gave her a devilish grin. "Not right now," he said suggestively.
"Show me," she teased.
Logan pulled his shirt over his head, and reached for the zipper on his Jeans. "I can do that."
*****
"Jesse, why are you so interested in my family?" Andromeda asked.
"Cause you said you traced our ancestry all the way to the beginning of the Mutant Movement," he said. "Come on Mom, tell me about them."
Andromeda sighed, but decided to indulge her curious son. "The matriarch of our family was a normal human, named Anastasia," she began. "She had a hard life, but had a wonderful daughter, and the family was traced through the daughters. They all lived in this area. Each generation had only one child, always a daughter, until you. You're the golden son, Jesse, the first in the line," Andromeda said proudly.
"Show me the lineage," Jesse begged.
"It's late, Jesse, go to bed before your father gets home," his mother warned.
"Will you be okay, Mom?" Jesse asked worriedly.
"Just fine, go to sleep," she said soothingly.
"Goodnight, Mom, I love you," Jesse said as she turned out the light.
"I love you, too," she said.
Jesse thrashed about in his bed, knowing where the dream would take him, and powerless to stop it. He moaned, and mumbled softly, "No, no, no, no…" His pleas never stopped the flood of pain that washed over him when the dream came.
"Human! Did you think I wouldn't know?" Jett yelled as he hit her.
"Carter, what are you talking about?" Andromeda asked, truly confused as she rubbed her now burning cheek.
"Bitch! Damned Human spy. How long? How long have you been keeping these secret records?" Jett accused.
"Carter, I'm an archivist. Record keeping is my job," she tried to explain. He was drunk and bordering on insanity. She had to get him to calm down.
He advanced on her, and she backed away through the French doors that led to the balcony. He hit her again and she was thrown back against the railing.
"Liar. Stupid human with a stupid human brat," he moved to hit her again, but she dodged. Carter Jett Stanley lost all sense of reason as the drunken rage took him. He grabbed his wife by the throat and tossed her off the balcony. She never had time to scream.
"No!" Jesse yelled as he sat straight up in his bed. All the water pipes in the mansion groaned and creaked as he tried to calm down. His heart was pounding in his chest and he was drenched in sweat. He heard the pipes groaning and consciously tried to relax. The noise stopped. His door burst open, and Logan, Dani, Jean and Scott were standing there.
"You okay kid?" Logan asked.
"Fine," he rasped as he caught his breath. "Just a bad dream."
"Yeah, kid, I understand bad dreams. Just try not to blow the water pipes, okay?" Logan joked.
Jesse laughed. "I'll try not to," he chuckled as everyone left.
Jesse's dream had called up an interesting memory, Anastasia was the matriarch. But how do you find someone based on a first name? He knew that the family had lived in this area from the beginning to his own time. Maybe he could do a little research tomorrow.
*****
Blood. Rivers of blood was all he could see. Odium's eyes burned with unshed tears for the woman whose blood haunted his dreams. Bella. His Bella, beautiful sweet deadly Bella, lying in a never ending river of blood. Three nine inch long blood drenched claws hung from the hand of her killer. She was unceremoniously tossed like a rag doll at the feet of a freak. Her cold eyes stared at him from a pale expressionless face. Then she was engulfed in flames and hissing his name, "Orson! Avenge me…"
Orson's body jerked awake. His body was cold with sweat as waves of hatred washed over him. Wolverine! Where are you tonight? Are you cuddling with your woman? Enjoy it, it won't last. Tomorrow he would set things in motion. The X-men were extinct, and they didn't even know it.
There was a quiet knock on the door. Orson barked at whoever was foolish enough to interrupt his sleep, "What the… do you know what time it is?"
"Sir, our inside contact has news," Rufus informed him.
"Fine, I'll meet him in the board room," Odium hissed.
"Uh …him, right," Rufus said with the shake of his head. Odium was in for a surprise.
Odium found their contact sitting at the head of the boardroom table. She appeared to be a quiet unassuming child with strange eyes. Odium's eyes narrowed on the innocent face and his suspicious nature pushed him to dislike her immediately.
"Shape-shifter!" he spit out with hostility. They were sneaky and deceitful, every one of them. Never trustworthy creatures. They were self serving above all else and quickly switched sides without warning. "Show your true self, or I'll show you what we do to shape-shifters in my century," Odium warned.
He watched the sickening transformation as a quiet child grew and changed into a nearly naked blue woman. He recognized her immediately. Her reputation as a ruthless asset to Magneto had been on record.
"Now that you can see me, why not show me the real you," she said menacingly in a strangely hollow sounding voice.
Odium's lips turned up ever so slightly at the blatant challenge. "Very well, but be prepared, I am not what you expect," he said as he turned away from her.
Mystique watched in horror. The change was not shape-shifting; it was more like a trick of the light, or the mind. He had been wearing a disguise, and now the truth was clearly seen. His skin was powdery blue, smooth and scaly like a snake's. His eyes were like a viper's cold and black and lidless. As he walked around the table she saw it, his color changed. His skin blended with the colors around him. Chameleon! He regarded her coldly. His eyes were empty, and Mystique wondered if they could show any feeling at all.
"What news do you bring that forced me from my bed?" he hissed, very snakelike.
"A boy from the future has come to warn them," she said.
Odium paused and pondered this news. "What is his name, his appearance?" Odium asked thoughtfully.
"Young, around twenty, black hair, earrings, very intelligent…" she listed her observations.
"Jesse! Nosey prick," Odium interrupted. "What does he know?"
"Nothing, just a name and your target," she said. She watched his skin turn flaming red as his anger flared.
"Do it tonight, we'll take them in the morning," he ordered.
"And the boy?" Mystique asked.
Odium turned to look at her. His eyes bored into her like daggers of ice and it was all she could do to keep from shivering. "Kill him today," he said coldly. "Quietly."
Mystique left the room without a word. Ass hole. She must have been a complete fool to join Gabriel's organization. Gabriel was gone, and Odium was completely insane with revenge. This was going to end in disaster for everyone. She needed to find Eric. This farce had gone on long enough.
*****
Jesse sat alone, at a corner table and ate in silence. Logan had given him a smile when he took his seat, but seemed to know he needed space. Jesse glared at the food on his plate. What are these? Funny bread, piled up, and a cup of brown stuff. He drank his juice and eyed the strange food suspiciously.
"What's wrong, don't you like pancakes?" Kitty asked quietly as she sat across from him.
"I don't know, I've never seen anything like them before," he said flatly as he cocked a brow and studied them. "Pancakes?"
"Pancakes. Observe," she said and proceeded to demonstrate the proper pancake preparation. "Butter then syrup, and take a bite," she explained and put a bite in her mouth. "Mmmm."
Jesse imitated her, spreading the butter, then pouring the syrup, and taking a bite. His expression changed from suspicion to delight. "It's good," he said.
"Welcome to the twenty-first century," she said.
Jesse looked at her in shock. None of the students were supposed to know. "How'd you find out?" he asked.
"I walk through walls, I make a good scout. We all know, but they don't know that we know. You know?" she said with a sly smile.
Jesse returned her smile. "The faculty underestimates you guys, don't they?"
She looked him in the eye with a firm confidence beyond her years, "Yes."
They shared a laugh, and Jesse's mood greatly improved. He watched her quietly eat her…whatever they were, and felt a strange excitement. She was friendly but shy. He could tell she was interested in him, but was it just curiosity, or more?
"What do you eat for breakfast?" Kitty asked.
"Leftover pizza," he said. "What can I say, I'm a guy."
They laughed again and Jesse felt a knot in his stomach. He liked her. He liked her a lot and he was suddenly very worried about Odium.
"Kitty, what else do you know?" he asked.
"Not much, but we know you didn't drop in for a casual visit," she said seriously. "Wanna share?"
"No, just…stay close, okay?" he said earnestly.
She could see the worry in Jesse's deep brown eyes, and his concern for her. Wow, but his eyes were beautiful.
"Promise me Kitty," he said.
"I promise," she agreed.
"Good," he said. "I gotta go, can I see you later?"
"Sure, meet me for lunch?" Kitty asked, blushing slightly.
"Count on it," Jesse said, and got up to leave. He walked past the faculty table lost in thought with a smile on his face.
"Turn down the volume on that smile kid, you're blinding me," Logan said chuckling.
The rest of the X-men were laughing too.
Jesse just blushed and kept walking. Wolverine, a pain in the ass in any century.
