Title: Sirens' Song

Author: Sinayah

Email:

Distribution: Ask and ye shall receive.

Rating: PG-13 so far, with an option for R and NC-17 later; those will be marked.

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from Buffy, Angel, or Xmen. They belong to very rich people who don't appreciate them as we fanfic writers do.

Disclaimer 2: The Chapter Title and Lyrics belong to Jim Reeves and the song within the chapter is When I Fall in Love by Frank Sinatra.

Authors Note: This and all chapters following are dedicated solely to those wonderful people who have waited so patiently for me to get my life together and continue with this fic. You know who you are, and it's been your faith in me that kept this story alive.

Chapter 20: Welcome to My World

"welcome to my world, won't you come on in…"

The next morning was the usual exercise in chaos, being Monday, but for once Serena slept through it. Her journey down the coast combined with her injuries and the emotional rollercoaster of her return ensured that the exhausted woman spent the entire morning in bed and didn't rouse herself until noon. When she did finally wake, she was not happy about being left to sleep the day away.

She found a note from Logan explaining that he was going into the city on an errand for Charles and grumbled to herself as she carefully climbed out of bed and hopped her way to the intercom on one foot, knowing she would need help to get herself showered and dressed for the day. "Could I get any female with some free time to come up to my room? And please bring a garbage bag?" She called into the box.

A few minutes later Faith arrived in answer to her plea. "Hey 'Rena, how you feeling today? I'm the only one free at the moment, Red and Storm are down in the ready room with Wheels, neck deep in research, and Dru's still asleep. What did you need? And why a garbage bag?"

Serena explained her problem to the younger woman, and between the two of them managed to get her showered without wetting her bandages and accidentally hurting herself, hence the garbage bag to cover the injured leg. Dressing however, was another matter. "Faith, I do not want to wear a halter dress, or any of my other club clothes. I need to go down to the school later and talk with the chemistry teacher. How about the beige pinstripe outfit?" The amber-eyed woman argued, rejecting the third rather skimpy outfit the slayer had pulled out of her closet.

The brunette sighed and returned the dress, pulling out the requested outfit. She looked it over and nodded, "This one isn't too bad, I guess. But I've got to see you in some of these other outfits one day, you've got some seriously cool clothes 'Rena."

"Why don't you try a few on yourself? We're about the same size; I'm just a bit shorter. Dru on the other hand, is going to require a whole new wardrobe, and soon. She only pulled off wearing my clothes last night because the pants are too long on me. What do you say, you drive me to the school this afternoon and we'll hit the mall afterwards." The older woman said, remembering that she'd need a chauffeur since it was her right leg that was injured.

Faith thought about it while she helped Serena into the clothes. "Yeah that'll work. I hate to say it, since I don't have any cash, but I could use a few things too. I've kinda been living out of Rogue and Spike's closets since I got here." She admitted a bit hesitantly.

Serena smacked her forehead with her palm, only now realizing why she recognized the clothes her friend wore. "You should've said something before Faith. I can't believe I didn't notice you didn't have your own clothes. We'll get both you and Dru a new wardrobe then. But for now, go ahead and grab whatever you like out of mine."

The brunette smiled and turned back to the closet, pulling out a pair of black leather pants and a deep purple crop top. "Thanks 'Rena. I didn't want to ask for anything, since you guys are already letting me live here, but I was getting kinda tired of wearing other people's clothes." She said as she headed into the bathroom to change.

The amber-eyed woman waited until the slayer came out to reply. "That's nonsense Faith. We're not 'letting you live here', you're one of the team and you do your share of work around here. You help train the kids and plan out scenarios with Spike and Logan. And now you're training with Giles to get back in slaying condition. You deserve the perks that come with the job, and one of those is access to the Institute credit card."

The two women talked for a while longer before Serena's body demanded food and caffeine and they headed down to the kitchen. They prepared a tray of sandwiches and drinks to take down to the trio working in the ready room and after having lunch; they went to work on the files Willow and Charles had managed to decrypt. They all worked steadily for a few hours, until Faith noticed it was time to leave.

The two women arrived at the high school about ten minutes after it had let out for the day, having barely avoided the rush of the students leaving. Faith unloaded the wheelchair for Serena and helped the woman into it and they made their way to the administration building to ask where they might find the chemistry lab.

The secretary was glad to help and gave them directions to the science building, even phoning ahead to tell Mr. McCoy they were coming. The science teacher met them outside his classroom and invited them in. Faith hung back, sitting on one of the stools while Serena wheeled herself up to the desk and positioned herself across from the bespectacled man. Before she spoke, she hummed for a few moments and gave the teacher her standard keyword suggestion to ignore the power of her voice. "Good afternoon Mr. McCoy, it's a pleasure to finally meet you. My name is Serena Masterton." She greeted, holding her hand out.

The teacher shook her hand with a firm grip and gave her a curious look. "I'm sorry Ms. Masterton, your name isn't ringing a bell. Mrs. Walker, our secretary, said you were here for a short parent-teacher conference, but you look a bit young to have a child in our school."

Serena laughed lightly and replied; "Technically I am too young, but my charges are all like sons and daughters to me. I work with Charles Xavier, I believe you know him? Anyway, I came today to talk with you about Kurt Wagner and Pietro Maximoff. I know they skipped out on your test last week and I wanted to explain the reason why in hopes that you'd allow them to make up the test or complete an extra assignment to even out the zero they got."

"Ah, now I recognize your name, Charles mentioned you the last time we spoke. I'm glad you came to talk to me about those two boys. I admit, I was a bit worried when they didn't show up on Wednesday, they're usually good students and it isn't like them to behave the way they were this past week." The dark-eyed man replied, giving her a friendly smile.

The ebony-haired woman returned the smile with a slightly sad one. "No it isn't like them. As I said before, all of our charges are close to me, but Pietro and Kurt couldn't be more my sons if I'd given birth to them. Charles told me earlier that you knew about mutants, so I'll be frank in my explanation. I am a mutant, with a very powerful gift. Last weekend, something happened at the mansion and I lost control of my powers. I had to leave in a very unexpected fashion, and was only able to return last night."

She sighed, shaking her head in sorrow. "Everyone has been very worried about me, and as you can see by the wheelchair, they had reason. Pietro blamed himself for my disappearance, and Kurt had no idea why I'd left so abruptly. I am very sorry that they ditched your class, but I hope you can understand why they've been behaving differently."

The teacher nodded in understanding as he replied, "Yes, I understand a bit better now. Some of the other children from the Institute were also behaving out of sorts, and the disappearance of their housemother would explain it. I'll allow Kurt and Pietro to make up the test, but they'll have to do it after classes tomorrow if they want the grade to count on their report cards this semester."

"That will be fine, I'll tell them about it tonight. Thank you very much Mr. McCoy, I appreciate you letting them make this up as neither can afford to take a zero on it. Science isn't their best subject, as I'm sure you know." Serena said, giving the man a smile of gratitude.

The bespectacled man chuckled, "No, it's not. They do fairly well in my class, but only because they study. And please, call me Hank. I get enough of Mr. McCoy from the kids. I hope you won't mind my curiosity Ms. Masterton, but could you tell me about your mutation? The last time I spoke with Charles he mentioned that he was having some difficulty with it, but not what it was."

The raven-haired woman nodded in response and replied, "It's Serena, Hank, and I should have expected you to ask, since you're aware of mutant abilities. I assume you read Homer's works in college, if not in high school. In The Odyssey, he speaks of the sea sirens; their hypnotic voices and mermaid like appearance. My powers and physical transformation mimic them, which is why my nickname is Siren. The trouble he was having was controlling the hypnotic power, but we found a way around it by having me simply implant the suggestion that those I speak with should free themselves from my power and not become influenced by it again unless I spoke a specific key word."

Hank seemed intrigued by her description. "An interesting solution, but effective since you're speaking with me now. I assume you gave me the suggestion when you introduced yourself?" She nodded and her eyes were sorrowful as she opened her mouth to voice an apology, but he held a hand up to stop her. "No, no, I'm not angry Serena. But I need to know more. The suggestion you planted, how deeply ingrained is it?" He thought for a moment before phrasing his next question, "Would it stop an animal, if it had your suggestion buried in a human subconscious?"

Now it was Serena who was curious, and a glance back at Faith showed the slayer an equally inquisitive expression directed at the teacher. "An animal with a human subconscious? I can safely say it would, but why do you ask? Is there something you'd like to tell me?"

The bespectacled man looked to be thinking hard. "I need to think about this a bit longer, and I'd like to get Charles' opinion on my theory. Would it be alright if I came by the mansion this evening to speak with both of you?"

The amber-eyed woman nodded, "Yes, I think that would be fine. You could come to dinner if you'd like, or later in the evening. If you call before you come, someone will meet you at the gate and let you in. I have to ask though, you seem very troubled and at the same time relieved, is this something I should be worried about?"

"No Serena, it's just that you've given me some things to think about, and perhaps a solution to a problem that's been troubling me. I'll explain more thoroughly when I come by this evening. I'd rather the kids not see me visiting, so I'll take a rain check on dinner and come later. For now, let me walk you out to your car. I imagine the wheelchair must have been difficult to manage." He replied, standing up and coming around the desk.

Faith chuckled under her breath as his last comment, but didn't say anything in response and allowed the athletic man to fold up the chair and put it in the van for her when they got to the car. The pair said goodbye to him and drove away before exchanging a knowing look. "You were unusually quiet in there Faith, especially when he started those strange questions. Are you thinking the same thing I am?" The older woman asked.

The slayer glanced at her friend from the corner of her eye, "If what you're thinking is that the hunky science teacher, which is weird enough all by itself, knows about stranger things than mutants, then I'd say yeah, I'm right there with ya. As for me keeping my mouth shut, you were handling him pretty well, but if he hadn't asked for a meeting I would've said something."

The lion-eyed woman leaned her head back against the seat and sighed, "I learned a long time ago not to make assumptions about people, but really, an animal with a human subconscious? That just kind of shouts vampire to me, even demon to some extent, though I'd describe them more as having human-like intelligence. Oh well, I guess we'll have to wait until he comes by tonight to find out."

Faith agreed and the pair turned their conversation to more ordinary things. They got to the mall and the younger woman took full advantage of her passenger's injuries to snag them a good parking spot. The pair shopped for clothing to outfit both the slayer and Drusilla, spending a good hour roaming the department stores.

When they finally got home, they realized they were in trouble. Not only had they not waited to take Rogue and Kitty shopping with them, which had the two girls fuming, but Giles was waiting for Faith to begin her training and the teens had turned Serena's kitchen into a war zone. "This is what I get for leaving. All my training, down the drain. Faith, would you take Dru her clothes since you're heading upstairs? It's going to get very loud in here." The amber-eyed woman said, wheeling herself over to the intercom box.

The slayer took one look at her friend's irate expression and laughed, grabbing the bags and ducking out of the room just as Serena's voice echoed through the mansion. "Whoever it is that made this god awful mess in my kitchen bring your sorry behinds down here immediately!"

Several pairs of footsteps thundered down the stairs and Freddy, Kurt, Evan and Todd skidded into the kitchen wearing pitiful expressions. They saw their housemother beside the counter with her arms folded across her chest. "Ah, here are my culprits. Do I look like a maid? Let me assure you, I am not. I may do a lot of the cleaning around here but this? No, I will not clean this mess. But you four will if you want me to cook dinner tonight. I am going up to my room now, and I will be back down to start dinner in a while. I had better find this kitchen spotless, you understand?" She said, shaking her finger at the boys, who nodded and quickly began cleaning up.

She left the kitchen and made her way up to the second floor, noting that someone had closed the curtains for Spike and Dru. Stopping her chair in a convenient spot, she awkwardly stood and hopped on one foot over to the bed where she stretched out for a short nap. Her exertions over the week were still heavy on her body and she quickly fell asleep.

An hour later, she awoke to find her head pillowed in Drusilla's lap. The vampiress was running her fingers through Serena's midnight locks and the younger woman leaned into the soothing sensation. "Hey Dru, do you like your clothes?" She asked after a moment.

"Very much Pretty, thank you. I thought you might want to wake up now, since the little one's tummies are growling. Would you like me to help you make dinner?" The brunette asked, helping her friend to get up and move to the wheelchair.

Serena smiled up at the other woman, "I was hoping you would. It's been a long time since we played around in the kitchen together. Have you eaten yet? Spike keeps a supply of blood in his room, and more in the infirmary if you're hungry."

Dru returned the smile but shook her head negatively at the offer of blood. "He brought me a few bags when I woke up and told me it was safe to leave the room. I've been downstairs watching the red eyed boy playing games with the slayer on the television. Logan came in a few minutes ago, he was going to come up and get you but Spike wanted to talk to him." She informed the younger woman.

The women took the elevator downstairs and went into the kitchen. "Ah, I see it isn't that they forgot how to clean, they just needed an incentive. Let's see what's in the fridge shall we? I should've looked to see if we needed groceries before Faith and I went out. Is there anything you'd like to make, if we have the ingredients?"

They decided on Cajun cuisine, since they had everything that they needed and whoever had depleted Serena's spice rack had left the hotter seasonings alone. With Dru doing any running around for ingredients, the younger woman was able to sit on a stool and do the actual cooking. An hour later they were ready to serve the blackened trout, red beans and rice, and salad to the others.

When the group responded to Dru's call on the intercom and saw the spread of food, they all groaned in anticipation. After a week of take out and failed attempts by several people they were looking forward to a home cooked, well made meal. Logan came over and kissed his mate soundly, both in greeting and advance gratitude for a meal that was both recognizable and edible. Everyone dug into the meal happily and ate their fill of the spicy food, making a run for the milk bottle between helpings. When they finished, they thanked both women heartily, complimenting them on the delicious dinner.

The teens went back to homework and entertainment after dinner, leaving the adults sitting around the table enjoying an after supper cup of coffee. Across from Serena, Faith looked pointedly from the older woman to the professor and mouthed 'McCoy' to her friend, indicating that she hadn't told Charles about their expected visitor. The raven-haired woman nodded and turned to the bald man, "Charles, you know how I went and talked to Hank McCoy about Kurt and Pietro this afternoon?"

Charles turned to look at his young friend and replied, "I had almost forgotten to tell you the truth. How did that go?"

"They'll be able to take the test tomorrow after classes. What I wanted to tell you about was that something came up while we were talking. I told him about my mutation and he asked some questions that Faith and I found strange. He wouldn't clarify anything, just said that he needed to think a bit more, and asked if he could come by to meet with the two of us this evening. I told him that it would be fine, so we should expect him to arrive later." Serena informed the older man; half-hoping he would be able to shed some light on her worries.

The professor nodded and replied, "It will be good to see how he's coming along. I see the two of you are worried, but I sincerely doubt there's any need for it, so don't fret." He turned his attention to Giles at the other end of the table and continued; "Now Rupert, I believe we had planned on a game of chess this evening. Would you rather play in the rec. room or my office?" The slayer and Serena exchanged another look, this one exasperated, but resigned themselves to waiting and went with Spike and Logan to the rec. room while Dru and Ororo followed Giles and the professor to watch the chess match.

In the rec. room, it seemed to be couples night. Kurt and Willow were sitting close together on one of the couches studying. Kitty was sitting next to her flame-haired friend typing something on her laptop, while her boyfriend Lance sat at her feet playing a video game with Scott. Faith went over to join the laser-eyed teen, ragging on him when he lost the round.

Spike had immediately gone off to the corner recliner where Rogue was reading a magazine and lifted her out so he could sit down with her in his lap. Pietro and Evan were playing ping pong together, which was as close as they were allowed to basketball in the house. Assuming the rest of the teens were upstairs, Logan sat down in an easy chair and Serena positioned her wheelchair beside him.

The couple chatted for a while, and the big man made his mate listen to a lecture on not doing so much while she was hurt. She couldn't really argue with him, since the outing that afternoon had left her in need of a nap, so she took his chiding with good humor, promising to rest more until she was fully healed.

At nine thirty, half an hour before she normally would, Serena told the teens to head upstairs, remembering that Mr. McCoy didn't want to be seen visiting. The children grumbled a bit, but did as their housemother asked, stopping to say goodnight to both she and Logan on their way out.

The amber-eyed woman held Kurt and Pietro back a little longer when they came to her and informed them that they'd be taking their chemistry test after school the next afternoon. That news made the two boys groan, and with a hug and kiss goodnight they vanished up the stairs for some serious study time. Not long after that, Dru came in to inform Serena and Logan that their visitor was on his way up the driveway and Ororo would meet him at the door.

Logan called Spike and Faith on the intercom, telling them to meet everyone in Professor Xavier's office and the trio went to wait with the others. A few minutes later, just after the vampire and slayer arrived with Willow behind them, Ororo came in with the bespectacled teacher. Hank looked nervous to see the group gathered in the large room, and Charles quickly made introductions.

"Come and sit down Hank. You've met Ororo, Faith and Serena of course. The others are Miss Drusilla, Willow Rosenberg, Rupert Giles, Logan, and Spike. You'll have to forgive them, but the older members of the team prefer to stick together. Your questions this afternoon worried both Serena and Faith, and spread to the others, so they're all waiting to hear what you have to say." The bald man said with a bit of amusement.

The teacher nodded to everyone before replying, "I really wasn't expecting to meet with anyone but Serena and you Charles, and perhaps Faith, but I suppose it's for the best. I'm going to assume you know the reason I'm so interested in Serena's mutation my friend, so I'll just go over the history for everyone else."

Hank's dark eyes scanned everyone in the room, but when he spoke, he turned his attention to the amber-eyed woman. "I'm sorry if my questions caused you concern Serena, but as I said, your mutation could be the solution to a problem that's worried me for years. You see, I am a mutant as well. I've been repressing my mutation with a serum of my own design for years."

"I asked you about how your hypnotic suggestion would work on an animal, because that is what my mutation makes of me. A beast with no conscious human emotion, Mr. Hyde to my Dr. Jekyll, if you want to make another literary comparison. Charles has known of course, and he helped me to some extent, though he urged me to accept the change. I've fought that with everything I know, but it troubles me, especially lately, because the serum isn't working as well as it used to." He finished, his last words both worried and saddened.

Serena breathed a relieved sigh during his speech, and when he finished explaining she was smiling and holding back a laugh. Her whiskey colored eyes turned to see Faith suppressing her own chuckles. When the slayer caught her friend's eye, neither could hold back their humor. Leaving everyone confused, they burst into gales of laughter. "We…We really need…to get our minds…outta the hellmouth 'Rena." The younger woman gasped between giggles.

The statement clued in most of the others as to what exactly the two women found amusing about the situation and they joined in for a few moments before Charles broke in to suggest they get serious again. "So you're thinkin what McCoy? That our Chatterbox could act like a failsafe if you went berserk one day? Or do you wanna use her to make sure Mr. Hyde never gets out in the first place?" Logan asked, his tone protective.

The teacher took note of the other man's tone and replied carefully, "Both of those ideas occurred to me, which is why I asked for this meeting. I wanted to ask Charles for his opinion on the matter, and explain to Serena to see if she'd be willing to help me, if indeed she could."

Logan turned to Charles, as did the others, and the professor spoke up, "When you first disregarded my suggestions, I was very worried that what you're experiencing now would happen. I performed a scan of your mind when you entered the room, and what I found doesn't surprise me. The serum you've been using has only forced your mutation to strengthen itself, and when it bursts through, it will be completely feral until it burns itself out. It will happen soon Hank, a matter of a week, two at the most."

The older man's eyes turned to Serena and he nodded slightly appeasing the worry and curiosity in her amber gaze. "However, I do believe Serena can stop you when it occurs, though in her present condition she will need help from either Logan, Faith, or Spike to physically restrain you until she's invoked the key word and calmed the beast."

"It would be best not to just wait for the transformation to take place though, as there's no telling exactly when it will happen. If you have, or can come up with, an antidote that will counteract the serum, then we can induce your transformation under controlled conditions here at the mansion to avoid the potential disaster of your feral self loose in the city." Charles finished, pleased that this need not become a mission for the X-men.

Hank however, was anything but happy. "What if becoming the thing inside me still isn't what I want Charles?" He said angrily, "Can't she just fix it? Just go into my head and convince the animal that it doesn't exist?" He gestured toward Serena.

The raven-haired woman voiced her own rising anger with a hiss that joined Logan, Spike, and Dru's growling. "That is not something I am willing to do, though I might be capable of it, as is Charles no doubt. I will not change who you are in the deepest part of yourself, it is unethical and immoral."

The bespectacled man turned to face her; "I am not an animal Serena! I'm a human being, a man, a scholar and a teacher. If you don't suppress the beast before it gets loose and changes me then I can never be any of those things again!"

"I don't see why not." She returned and her eyes blackened while her fangs, claws, and arm fins emerged. The others saw the point she was going to make, Logan's claws came out, and Spike and Dru showed their true faces. Serena gestured to her appearance, then to her family. "I manage just fine, and so do my mate and my surrogate parents over there. The four of us have beasts inside us, but we're still human."

Serena turned her head and smiled gently at the others before turning back to the teacher. "You might now argue that our physical changes come and go on command, so our situations don't count. I'll counter that before you even get started by telling you this. There are three children here whose mutations manifest physically and are present at all times. Scott Summers wears his ruby glasses to control the laser type energy that comes from his eyes. Rogue always covers her skin because it absorbs life energy from anyone who touches her.

"And then there is Kurt, who wears a holographic image inducer to hide his physical appearance. My son's body is covered in deep blue fur; he has tridactyl hands and feet, a prehensile tail, pointed ears, luminescent eyes, and fangs. Would you tell me that his looks make him an animal, or a demon as he's been called since his infancy? Or would you say that he his simply a teenage boy with a special gift and a unique appearance?" She finished, her eyes almost daring the man to call her surrogate son an animal.

She'd obviously given the man a lot to think about, "I'd say that he's a teenage boy, like you said, a very special boy." He turned back to Charles, "Is what she said true? Can you make something that would hide the animal appearance if I go through with the transformation?"

The professor nodded, "Yes, I can make an image inducer for you to restore your outward appearance, though it's only a hologram, people would still be able to feel a difference if they touched you. Will you go through with it?" He asked.

Hank put his head in his hands and sat quietly for a few minutes, thinking about what both Serena and Charles had said, and what the woman and her friends had shown him. "Yes, I'll do it. There is a counter serum, though I don't know why I ever bothered with it since I never intended to take it." He said finally, and raised his head to look at the group. "I apologize for getting angry Charles, Serena. I've just been fighting this for so long that it's hard to accept that I was only putting off the inevitable."

Serena nodded and smiled at him, "It's alright, I think everyone here can understand your difficulties to some extent. We've all had to accept changes within ourselves, and outside of us. What was it you said to me Dru, when I kept refusing to use my powers, even to save my own life?" She asked, turning toward the vampiress.

Dru glided over and knelt before her friend, her daughter. "The stars have a purpose for everything Pretty. Every gift, every hardship, every life, every death has meaning. The stars gave you many gifts, and a choice. You can use your powers to help others like you, or you can refuse the gifts and destroy not just yourself, but the others who need you too." She replied, repeating the context of one of her first visions of the amber-eyed woman.

The younger woman took Dru's hand and squeezed. "Wise words Dru, and true, like all of your visions." She turned her attention back to Hank and told him, "You had the same choice Hank, and you made the right one by deciding to go through with the transformation. You may not believe it, but even a gift like yours can be used to help others, to teach them and to save their lives. If you use your powers for a purpose that has meaning to you, then it really is a gift."

The teacher nodded and smiled, "Your friend isn't the only wise one. Now, I think it's my turn for a question or two. How can you consider Drusilla and Spike your surrogate parents? They look about the same age as you. And I'm still clueless about what had you and Faith laughing so hard after I explained my situation, and why everyone else joined in."

Hank's questions set everyone to laughing again and Serena gestured to Faith to explain. The slayer came out from behind Charles and spoke to the athletic man, "You should know that not everything is as it seems. There's a whole other world out there, beyond even mutants in the weird factor. If I let Giles, 'Rena, or the fangy duo over there tell it, we'd be here all night, so we'll get straight to the pointy end of the stake. Vampires are real, demons are real, and witches are real. Spike and Dru, they're vamps and have a hundred plus years each under their belts. Wills over there is a witch, and she can do some serious mojo."

She gave a low laugh at the older mans expression and decided to shock him a little more. "Now me, I'm a slayer. Born to fight the vamps and demons and whatnot, your general super-hero crap. I was only being polite when I let you deal with 'Rena's chair earlier." She made a show of giving him a once over, "You're a pretty big guy, bout two hundred, two fifty pounds, most of it muscle?" She asked and waited until he nodded. Then she took a hold of his shirt collar with one hand and lifted him up above her head before sitting him down again effortlessly.

He gaped at the young woman and she finished her explanation, "As for why we were laughing, well, when you started asking strange questions 'Rena and I both thought you were kinda like Giles, hunky teacher by day, evil fighter by night. We figured you were gonna come here and tell us about the demon world, maybe ask for our help with the vamp population here."

"Vampires? As in Dracula? And a witch? It'll take more than a show of unnatural strength to convince me of that." The teacher said once he'd recovered his skepticism. Willow came forward and levitated some of the things on the professor's desk. "Telekinesis." He said, refuting her ability. She snorted at that and muttered a short incantation, making the words 'I ticked off a witch and got away with only a shirt I can't wear in public again' appear on his shirt front.

Dru came over to him while everyone was laughing at Willows trick and let her true face come forward while holding out her arm to the man. "If my appearance can't convince you, try to take my pulse. I assure you, you won't find one." She said.

The teacher looked closely at her face and at the two-inch claws on her dainty hand before placing his fingers over her cool wrist and feeling for a pulse. "Amazing." He said when it became obvious that there was no blood moving under her skin. His eyes roamed over to Faith once Dru moved away, wondering what else the young woman could tell him.

Faith took his curious gaze the wrong way and asked, "What, picking you up as easy as I would a kitten isn't enough proof? I'm not allowed to dust either of the vamps here, even if I wanted to, so I could only give you another strength test. I suppose I could pick Logan up and throw him across the room, but that takes both hands, damned metal on his bones makes him a hell of a lot heavier than you."

"Oy!" Logan spoke up indignantly from beside Serena. "The only time you get to toss me around like a rag doll is when we're sparring Firecracker. Otherwise you keep your hands to yourself."

The group started laughing again, and Hank appreciated being able to join them this time. They all talked for a little while longer, turning the discussion back to the teacher's problem. Charles thought that he had at least a week before they would have to induce the transformation so they decided that he would take a leave of absence after Friday's classes, claiming a family emergency, and he would come directly to the mansion from there.

After the plan had been finalized, Hank left the mansion, lighter at heart than he could remember being since his animalistic mutation had first made itself known in his mind. He found himself looking forward to spending more time with the X-men and learning about them and the things they did. He thought hard about Drusilla and Serena's words, about using his powers for a purpose. If the X-men's purpose was helping people, he thought, then he just might take the professor up on the offer he'd made years ago and move into the mansion.

As it turned out, their plan to induce Hank's transformation at the end of the week backfired. Just three days later, Kurt teleported into the mansion with Pietro arriving a second later, both with stories of seeing an ape-like beast running away from the school campus wearing the torn remains of their science teacher's clothes.

Charles immediately sent the X-men out to search for him, contacting those who hadn't yet returned from school to start in that area, and notifying Giles and Xander to keep an eye out. The plan he developed quickly relied heavily on Kurt, since Serena wasn't yet mobile enough to go on the search herself. The blue furred teen would wait with her at the mansion until Hank was found, then the boy would teleport to that location and bring the transformed man back, straight to the Danger Room where Spike, Dru, and Serena would be waiting.

It took hours for the team to finally corner the beast, luckily just within Kurt's two-mile teleportation range. The boy left the mansion in a whiff of smoke, using Pietro as his target destination. The white haired teen was standing outside the area of activity waiting for his friend and pointed him in the right direction.

On the stage of the outdoor amphitheater Logan, Faith, and Freddy were wrestling with the transformed man and only barely managing to keep him in one spot. When they saw Kurt approaching, they backed away from the beast but kept his attention focused on them while the teen came up from behind.

Kurt launched himself at the beast's back and teleported the moment he felt the man's fur under his fingers. He landed them both in the Danger Room as planned, but the return trip carrying the man with him proved exhausting and he was left unable to teleport himself to safety. He was thrown hard from his teacher's back and landed, not against the wall as he'd expected, but in Drusilla's arms.

Both Spike and Dru had been waiting in the Danger Room incase their preternatural strength was needed to help subdue Hank, and the vampiress had caught the boy while Spike turned the beast's attention to himself. Dru did not hang around once she had Kurt, she ran for the door, calling behind her for the blond to follow.

From the open window in the control room Serena watched with fear as Kurt was thrown, and as Spike took a hard hit to the chest before bolting away after Dru. She waited until the door slid shut behind the blond, then shouted "Forevermore!" at the top of her voice.

The transformed man paused for only a second on hearing her voice, but shook his head and ran to the nearest wall, where he began hammering at it, trying to find a way out. Serena was shocked that the key word hadn't worked, and yelled it again, which still only made the beast pause for a moment.

She hit the intercom button, yelling for Spike and Charles. Both appeared almost immediately, having been waiting outside while she tried her key word since if they heard it they too would fall under her hypnosis. "Spike, I don't know how to work this bloody thing, pad the walls before he hurts himself! Charles, the key word isn't working! He only pauses for an instant and then goes wild again. What's happening?" She asked, both shocked and frightened to see her powers fail.

The professor wheeled himself up to the window next to the younger woman and looked down at his friend. He concentrated, looking deep into Hank's mind to find the problem. "The beast has grown too strong, it's separated itself from Hank almost completely. The part that is our friend is responding to your key word, but it isn't enough to overpower the feral side. We need to calm the animal, make it passive enough for the human to gain a better hold before you can stop him."

"How do we calm him Wheels? He sure as hell isn't going to stay still long enough for us to sedate him, and from what I heard over the com units Logan, Faith, and Fred were having a hard time holding him to one spot." Spike asked, having finished entering the command that would pad the room and prevent the man from harming himself.

Charles shook his head negatively. "I don't know Spike, this is something I hadn't anticipated. I knew the beast would be strong, but nowhere near strong enough to prevent Serena's powers from working. If any of you have any suggestions, I'm willing to hear them."

Dru had followed Spike and the professor into the room with Kurt and guided the boy to his surrogate mother. Serena had the boy in her lap and was humming to him to soothe away his fright. The vampiress looked down over their shoulders and saw the purple-furred man had slowed his destructive efforts. "But her powers are working, just look at him. Pretty is only humming now, but he can hear it and he's calming down." She said, gesturing down into the room.

Charles and Spike looked down, seeing that Dru was right. Though he was still hammering at the walls, he wasn't using as much force and seemed distracted by the soft sounds coming from Serena. "You know what they say Nymph, 'music hath power to soothe the savage beast.' Try singing for a while, see if he'll calm down for you." The blonde said.

The professor agreed with renewed hope, "Yes, that might just work. The suggestion you already planted in Hank isn't working, but that shouldn't stop you from using your power to calm his animal side. The mental integration between the two is thin, and you've already invoked the keyword to the human side. Put a directive to calm down into your voice, see if you can get him to sleep. If the beast is asleep I can use my own powers to help reintegrate the two sides."

Agreeably, Serena leaned on the open window and sang the first ballad that came to her mind, concentrating on a feeling of calm and peacefulness. The purple-furred beast did calm, and stopped banging on the walls, but resisted her efforts to put him to sleep. As she began her third song, the amber-eyed woman was amazed at the resistance he was putting up, but figured that after constantly battling to be freed, it had developed a strong mental defense.

She realized that the music itself was helping as much as the calming suggestion, and since the rest of the team had arrived and seated themselves in any convenient place, she decided to give them a little show. She caught Spike's eye and signed to him with her hands, "Sing the next one with me. When I Fall In Love, okay?"

The vampire nodded and when her sweet sounding alto gave voice to the first note, his mellow tenor joined for a two part harmony. Her previous songs had succeeded in relaxing everyone within the control room and they looked up in surprise when they heard Spike's wonderful singing voice added to Serena's.

When I fall in love,

it will be forever.

Or I'll never fall in love.

In a restless world,

like this is,

love is ended before it's begun.

And too many moonlight kisses,

seem to cool in the warmth of the sun.

When I give my heart,

it will be completely.

Or I'll never give my heart.

And the moment,

I can feel that,

you feel that way too.

Is when I'll fall in love with you.

Generally, Spike didn't let it be known that he liked any kind of music that didn't come with the whine of an electric guitar and a solid, heavy drum in the mix. But his Nymph had found out quite early in their years as friends that he shared her eclectic tastes in music and had a good singing voice to go with it. When she'd asked him to sing harmony with her, he couldn't deny the younger woman.

Though they were singing together, each made a point of looking at their respective partners throughout the song, leaving no doubt as to whom the recipients of their words were. Logan and Rogue smiled back at the pair, returning the emotions silently.

When I fall in love,

it will be forever.

Or I'll never fall in love.

In a restless world,

like this is,

love is ended before it's begun.

And too many moonlight kisses,

seem to cool in the warmth of the sun.

When I give my heart,

it will be completely.

Or I'll never give my heart.

And the moment,

I can feel that,

you feel that way too.

Is when I'll fall in love.

When I'll fall in love, with you.

Just before they finished, Serena signed the title of the next song to Spike, and the vampire shook his head in a firm 'no'. He was not going to sing Disney, no matter how hard her golden eyes pleaded. He did however pass the word along so that 'Beauty and the Beast' had an accompaniment from Kitty and Kurt.

While the children, and sometimes the adults, joined the impromptu sing along with their friend, Charles kept his eyes turned toward the bestial Hank. The transformed man was finally giving in to the power of Serena's suggestion and was now slumped against the wall; half-asleep with his face turned upward toward the control room.

The professor half listened to three more Disney songs, each sending the beast further toward slumber. When Spike started another duet with the young hypnotist, Hank finally fell into a deep sleep. Knowing Serena would be getting tired by now, Charles sent his mind out to the new mutant and probed his thoughts.

He breathed a sigh of relief to see that with the feral side of himself unconscious, the teacher's human side was coming forward again. With his powers, he was able to help the process along by working to reintegrate the two almost separate personalities within the man. When he felt he'd succeeded in balancing out the human and feral sides of his friend, he pulled his mind back.

Both Serena and Spike had noticed him going into a trance-like state, which he did when using advanced telepathic techniques. He spoke softly to the raven-haired woman. "Very good Serena. You need to re-implant the standard suggestion into his mind now that it's balanced, then I believe you should have a nice hot cup of tea to soothe your throat, it must be getting sore."

The amber-eyed woman nodded and turned slightly to look down on the sleeping man. Still singing, she took a more active grasp of her hypnotic powers and firmly planted her keyword suggestion deep in his mind, adding a second directive to make sure that even if he'd gone completely feral, he would still respond to the key word. Once she'd finished, both with Hank and the song she'd been singing, she took a deep breath and said, "Okay, thank Cripes that's finished. I am in serious need of a drink, so let's get out of here."

Hank recovered well from his transformation, coming out of his hypnotically induced sleep a few hours after Serena and Charles had finished. Unfortunately, the havoc his feral side had wreaked in the school and surrounding area caused a few problems. The main one being that the police had deduced that he was responsible for the chaos and had a warrant out for his arrest on several charges and were considering him armed and dangerous.

When the first report had come over the evening news, Charles realized that Hank McCoy would have to disappear and sent Logan, Spike, Faith, and Freddy over to the teacher's home. The foursome were able to recover the teacher's belongings before the police arrived and left the small house ransacked to make it seem as if the man had been and gone.

Luckily, the next few weeks went by in the quiet routine of school and work. The teens accepted their new housemate easily, and the former science teacher settled into one of the free rooms on the third floor. He spent most of the quiet time learning to accept his new appearance and the fact that he wouldn't be able to return to his old life. The group didn't let him get away with isolating himself though; they always made a point to get him down to the common room in the evening to join their nightly activities.

Serena was recovering well from her injuries and her overprotective family finally allowed her to walk around after a week, rather than using the wheelchair or being carried. Enjoying her freedom, the raven-haired woman took up her old routine of cooking and cleaning, and generally looking after her friends and family. As they all did, she spent time in the ready room going over the files they'd taken from the Initiative.

Eventually, most of that work had to be set aside for Giles, Willow, Charles, and Hank, who were the only ones that understood the technical, scientific, and demonic aspects of the decrypted files. But they all helped where they could, looking the growing pile of papers over and sorting them out to be given to the person they thought would be able to make sense of it.

The hypnotist also spent a lot of time with Drusilla. The vampiress was a joy to be around, especially when she wasn't using the stars or her dolls to speak for her. Dru would usually wake in the mid-afternoon and after Serena closed the blinds, would join her friend in whatever she happened to be doing. Sometimes, Faith and Willow would join the older women and the foursome were often seen chatting in the kitchen or found holed up in Serena's room talking as the amber-eyed woman and the vampiress sewed.

The other residents also enjoyed the quiet after all their worry over Serena during her absence and the ruckus with Hank. It was good to see things getting back to normal, Charles thought as he finished off a game of chess with Hank and turned to watch the group on the rec. room one night. Lance and Scott were bickering over some trivial thing, Rogue and Kitty shared the earphones to the stereo as they worked on a project for school and were about to get pranked by Kurt, Evan, and Pietro.

Willow and Faith were over at the pool table teaching Drusilla how to play, and Serena, Spike, Logan and Ororo were watching the news. Even Jean seemed to be enjoying herself, which was a rare occurrence these days. The telekinetic girl was helping Freddy and Todd with their algebra homework and seemed to be enjoying their company. "What's wrong Charles?" Hank asked, seeing his friend scanning the room.

"Nothing at all my friend, nothing at all. Everything is as it should be, and that is a thing to enjoy. So much of the time we're busy fighting against people and now creatures that would like to destroy us because of who and what we are. I've learned to take pleasure in these peaceful moments, and the memory of them keeps me going during the difficult times. Living here, being a part of our team; it's a difficult road to walk Hank, but well worth it. Welcome to our world." The professor replied, smiling as he looked the room over once more.