1Chapter Thirteen
The next day, the Professor over saw the issuing of a sleeping draft to our hostages, then Jean and Storm flew them to an undisclosed location for unloading, before flying back. We finally got to fall back into our normal routines. We still had our missions of course, but as the school year drew closer, the bad guys seemed to show up less and less.
Logan and I, along with Rogue, went to New York for school shopping and to see my parents. I had called to tell them about the Magneto front and they had again tried to get to me come back home, but I insisted that I was fine in Bayville, and encouraged them to come and see me. My mother was out of the hospital after the attack made on her by Mystique, but was weary of traveling.
Our first stop was my Father's house where my Mother was staying while she recuperated. It was interesting to see them living under the same roof -not to say that they hadn't before. My father often stayed with my Mother and I when I was ill, or the time I had broken my leg when I was ten (before I had acquired my healing factor), but this was different. They seemed a little more open with one another, and they didn't argue the whole time we were there. My mother rushed down the steps to hug me, and then Logan, straying on him for an extra moment while he gave me a raised eyebrow.
"Darling! Who is this lovely girl?" My mother motioned to Rogue, who was hanging back on the steps.
"Oh, Mom, this is my friend Rogue."
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Rogue." My mother shook her gloved hand, "Tell me, do you go to Joey's little school do?"
I groaned. I hated it when my parents called me Joey.
"Uh, yeah. I'm her roommate."
"Oh, how lovely! Well, please! Come inside and meet Joey's father, Stephan. He's a writer, you know." I could tell that Rogue was visibly uncomfortable as my mother ushered her up the stairs, her hand on her back, motioning around with her other free hand.
"Um, Mom...you might not want to...uh...touch, Rogue..." Logan and I followed the two up the stairs, and into the foyer.
"Am I missing something, Darling?" She turned to look at me, and Rogue pulled her jacket a little more tightly around herself.
"Rogue doesn't like being touched, Mom." I said, hanging my jacket next to my Dad's, "Lets just keep it at that."
"Ah, your friends, Darling... I'll never understand them. Well come, come...follow me. Stephan is just in the study working on another little Sci-fi novel..."
"C'mon Rogue, I'll introduce you to my dad..." I lead her through the hall towards my father's study, "Mom, why don't you get up some drinks...Logan, you can help?"
"I'd really rather –." My mother dragged him towards the kitchen, talking his ear off before he could say no.
"Dad?" I knocked on the door before opening it. He looked up from his computer screen.
"Oh, hi Joey."
"Oh jeez...stop calling me that!" I covered my face with my hands, "It's embarrassing"
"Ah, I see you brought a new friend." He stood up, coming around the desk.
"Dad, this Rogue. Rogue, My Dad."
"Call me Stephan."
"Nice to meet you." Rogue shook his hand, and then shoved her hands into her pockets.
"Shy one, isn't she?" Dad asked me, eyebrow raised.
I shrugged, and he gave me a hug.
"Why don't we got sit in the kitchen... You still dating that Logan fellow?"
"If Mom hasn't molested him, yes." The three of us headed towards the kitchen, where my Mother was pouring drinks, and flirting with Logan.
"What'll you have?" My mother asked Rogue and I.
"Just a soda, will be fine. Rogue?" I turned to her.
"The same." She shrugged.
"And you Logan? What would you like?" She turned her misty eyes onto him, batting her eyelashes.
Logan raised an eyebrow, "I'm driving, so I think I'll go with a soda."
"Well, Joanna has her license, if you'd really like something else."
"She doesn't know how to drive a stick." Logan lied.
I sat at the table, and put my head in my hands, "This is why I don't visit." I told my Dad and Rogue, "Mom flirts with Logan the whole time."
"I do not!" My Mother turned to us, "It's just...friendly banter."
"It's flirting." I informed her.
"Oh poo." She waved me off, bring us our drinks.
"I really hope you don't mind me stopping off at the bar while you and Rogue shop." Logan leaned down by my ear, "Because I am going to need a couple of stiff drinks once this is over."
"It's alright." I tapped his leg with my knuckle, "You do whatever it is you need to do."
"Thanks."
After a tortured visit with my parents, the three of us were more then happy to be on our way, me a hundred dollars richer with fifty bucks in my pocket from each parent.
"Oh, Daddy...do you mind if Rogue and I charge some stuff on the VISA?" I asked sweetly, before we left, Rogue and Logan making their way quickly down to his jeep.
"Of course not honey. That's what it's for...just nothing to extravagant, okay? I am only a writer."
"Of course not." I hugged him, and then gave him a quick peck on the cheek, "I'll call you."
"Bye, honey."
Once in the jeep, I heaved a large sigh, "I am so sorry to you both -Logan, for my mother hitting on you, Rogue, for my Mother...being my mother... My father for being...my father."
"It's alright." She smiled, pulling her seatbelt on, "They're sweet people, really."
"Logan, I promise, I will never, ever leave you with my mother alone again... She didn't like...feel you up again did she?"
"No, I managed to keep a safe distance away." He confirmed, pulling from the curb.
"Oh, hey...good news. My Dad said we could use the VISA to charge stuff." I grinned maliciously at Rogue.
"I feel kind of weird charging stuff on your Dad's card, Jo. Or should I say...Joey?"
"Oh god...Don't even go there...that's horrible. Ugh. I hate that name. It's so embarrassing."
Rogue laughed at me, "It's not as bad as what my parents called me, so don't fret."
I decided to let it go, not wanting to make Rogue pour her heart out to me in front of Logan as he pulled into the closet parking spot he could find.
"Well, you two go enjoy your shopping...I am going to go get a very stiff drink..."
"You want to meet us somewhere before lunch? Or will you be drinking your lunch?" I raised an eyebrow as Rogue jumped out of the jeep, swinging her purse over her shoulder.
"I'll probably be drinking something...you want to meet at TGIF around one?"
"Sure." I gave him a quick kiss before following Rogue towards the entrance.
"You aren't drunk, are you?" I asked, sliding into the table where Logan sat, already nursing a beer.
"No. This is only my second."
"While in here, or today?"
"Today," he smiled, and leaned back in his chair, "So, what did you buy?"
"Just some jeans so far."
"You've been shopping for over an hour now, and you've only bought jeans?"
I shrugged, "I've really been helping Rogue shop."
"Not that I need help shopping..." Rogue perked up.
"Of course not." I shook my head.
After lunch, Rogue and I wandered back into the mall with Logan trailing behind us. Rogue was nearly finished with her shopping, and I was just starting mine. By the time we finished with the clothes, it was almost three o'clock and we decided to call it quits. I sat in the back of the jeep with Rogue, our bags secured under the seat, and in the back behind us while Logan drove.
Over the next week or so, Rogue and I finished our school shopping, including all of our supplies. School was still only a short week away when Logan woke me up earlier when I would have liked.
"You like surprises, don't you?" He asked, when I had opened my eyes at him blearily.
"...What did you do?"
"I didn't do anything..."
"Then what is this little surprise?" I asked, rolling over on my side.
"Your parents are here."
"What!" I sat up, "Why are my parents here?"
"The Professor invited them up before the school year started."
"What? Why?"
"So that they could see the school, and get to know the area." Logan sat down on the edge of the bed, "They're downstairs right now. Jean is giving them a tour."
"Oh crap." I sighed, "I just saw them!"
"I know, Kid." Logan kissed me on the cheek, "You better get dressed, they're waiting."
I joined my parents down in the foyer as Jean was wrapping up her tour.
"So, that's the building it's self -and here is Joanna...maybe she'd care to show you around the grounds?"
"Mom...Dad." I hugged them both in turn, "What are you doing here?"
"Well, your Professor called us the other day and suggested we come see the Campus...so we took him up on the offer." Dad said, putting his arm over my shoulder, "So, how about showing your Mom and me around the grounds?"
I gave my parents the tour of the grounds, and then the Professor invited us into his office.
"As you can see, Joanna is getting an excellent education through not only the Xavier Institute, but also Bayville High school. Are there any questions that I can answer for you while you're here?"
"How is this all being paid for?" Dad asked, "I mean, I haven't gotten any bills for tuition, so I know it's not coming out of my pocket."
"The funds for students tuition and all of our training equipment is donated through private investors, as well as Government grants, and of course a lot of my own estate goes into the school."
My parents asked their questions while I stared out of the large bay widow in the Professors office, watching the students that had returned for the new school year getting reacquainted, and use their powers openly.
"Joanna, perhaps you would like to show your parents to the Danger Room control booth. I believe you have a lesson with Mr. McCoy."
"Sure. Follow me." I turned away from the window.
"I think you'll be pleased with the progress that Joanna has made while at the Institute, and please...don't be alarmed at our training process."
"What does that mean?" My mother asked, as I lead my parents to our lower levels, into the Danger Room control booth where Hank McCoy, blue fur and all, was setting up for my lesson against Gambit, Rogue, Kurt, and Logan.
"Mom, Dad, this is Mr. McCoy." I introduced them to Hank, "He's a scientist, usually."
"I'm just taking over for Logan while he joins in on a training session." Hank shook both of my parents hands, "Don't let the fur alarm you, it's something you get used to."
"I think after what I've seen today, nothing would alarm me." My Mother shook her head, and then Kurt walked in, sans image inducer.
"Hey, what's up." He waved.
"Hey Kurt, these are my parents." I introduced him.
My mother leaned over to whisper in my ear, "Dear, he has a tail..."
I sighed, "Why don't you and Dad sit over here, and watch?" I lead them to a couple of chairs on the Observation side of the room, in front of the glass panel, "Uh...I better get down there."
"Alright darling, and after this why don't you show us around the town, hm?"
"Sure Mom." I nodded, "Sounds like fun."
I dissented the stairs with Kurt and entered the Danger Room it's self in my uniform.
"Your parents still here?" Logan asked.
"Yes." I sighed, levitating above the floor as it moved and shifted around, "Mom wants to go see Bayville after this."
"Then I'll try not to hurt you to bad."
"I know you won't."
"Alright, lets run Logan Lesson two-oh-three, alright?"
I groaned, "Isn't that the one with the Indiana Jones quality?"
"Yep." Logan nodded, "I like that lesson."
"Yea, until you get flattened." I sighed.
"Alright people, lets get started...is everyone here and accounted for?"
"Remy is here! Sorry I am late... Remy was having a problem with a Miss Jubilation."
"What did you do to Jubilee?" I asked, crossing my arms.
"She seems to think that I cracked her tennis racket on purpose...of course, that is totally untrue, mon chere."
"Don't talk french to me." I shook my head, "We'll take care of it later."
"Starting now, if you don't mind." Hank said as the lighting changed the control booth disappeared. Kurt and I teleported on top of a tower as the laser guns emerged from the walls, and the rolling ball was released, as well as the robotic enemies we were to defeat. Lesson 203 was about team work, and to be aware of everything going on around you. First things first, take out of the guns that were currently showering down on Logan and Rogue.
A quick hand movement crumpled them.
"Don't you miss the lessons on the flat space, with the rotating guns? I kind of wish we hadn't gotten that extra grant money." Kurt sighed, bamfing down onto the floor onto the back of one of the robots, pulling it backwards. The robots were made of plastic, and therefore I couldn't just take them all out. They actually required work.
Gambit was flipping out cards, which took out his robot, while Logan was slicing through his third.
"Are you going to leave any for the rest of us?" I asked, stopping Logan.
"I hate it when you do that." He was pinned, effortlessly on my part, "And we're supposed to be working together, not against one another..."
I smiled, letting him drop back down, and put my hand through the robot, pulling its cords loose, watching it crumple to the ground, "We should probably make sure a couple of them can be repaired, at least."
"Stop chit-chatting." Hank warned from the booth.
Then the large rolling rock started it's journey from the top of the room, picking up speed as it rolled.
"Shit." I sighed, "This is gonna take a while. Rogue!"
"Yea?" She turned, where she was tripping the last robot over.
"Come here, quick. It's almost to the bottom."
"Sure." She took off her glove. With one hand, I stopped the rock, with the other, I touched my hand against Rogue's, "Okay, hold it."
"I've never felt so useless in my entire life." Logan commented.
Rogue let the ball continue to roll, more slowly then before, "I can't hold it the way you did."
"That's fine, just keep it slow." I told her, "Gambit, you might need a fresh deck."
I shuffled through my powers, settling on the plasma blast. The rock became smaller and smaller, before Rogue's power wore out, and it continued to tumble towards us.
"Finally...something to do." Logan stepped in front of it, claws drawn.
"Logan, you are such a show off." The bolder was now small enough that he was able to rip it apart, showering the rest of us with little pieces of rock.
"Next time, can we run a lesson where I have more to do?" Kurt requested, as the lights changed, and the floor shifted back to it's flat, open state.
"We could run Lesson Two-Fourteen..." Hank suggested.
"Oh, no...thank you, but I think I'm good."
"Well, I have to go show my parents around...Crap, Remy!" I cursed.
"What did I do?" Remy asked, confused.
"C'mon, lets go find Jubilee." I sighed, "Well get my parents, and then go find Jubilee."
After collecting my parents, and requesting that they wait for me in the car, I found Jubilee on the front porch, holding a broken racket.
"What do you want?" She glared at Remy.
"See what I deal with?" Remy asked me, "I did not break your racket, okay? It was an accident...and besides, isn't it time for you to change sports anyway?"
Jubilee glared at him, and I pushed him towards the railing.
"Look, why don't you borrow Warren's racket for the afternoon, and then later tonight after my parents leave, I'll borrow the jeep and we'll go buy you a new racket."
"But I liked this racket." Jubilee insisted.
"I'm sorry, but I don't have a power to repair things... I can break a lot of things, but I can't repair them..."
"He should be punished." Jubilee insisted, crossing her arms.
"Okay...Remy, not only are you running an extra lesson with me tomorrow, you have to find a racket and play tennis with Jubilee this afternoon while I'm gone... okay?"
"Why should I listen to you?" Remy asked.
"Because everyone listens to me..." I told him, "I'm a leader...deal with it. I have to go." I teleported into the garage where my parents were waiting my by Dad's SUV.
"Sorry about that..." I got into the backseat, "So...was there anywhere in particular you'd like to go?"
After my parents left, I borrowed Logan's jeep and Jubilee and I headed into Bayville to the local Sports Equipment store.
"So, how was the visit with the 'rents?" Jubilee asked, doing a couple of practice swings with a 'high performance' racket.
"It was fine. Parents are parents, I guess."
"I wish my foster parents would come see me...but I guess I'd just be kidding myself there. They just thought it was cool to have an Asian foster child...help out the needy and all of that." She replaced the racket, and picked up another, "So, what do your parents do anyway?"
"My dad is a freelance writer, and novelist, and my Mom is part-owner of a used bookstore." I picked up a light weight racket, and gave it a couple of swings.
"That's cool."
"Yea, it's my favorite place in the world. I love the smell of old books... The best thing my Mom ever did was open that store. When I was little, right after it opened, I would sit behind the counter and read all of the old books, even if I didn't understand them. Once in awhile, Mom would even let me play cashier, and take the people's money and make out receipts." I put the racket down, deeming it to heavy, "Then when I got older, my mom gave me a volunteer job, and showed me how to catalog, and price books. When I turned 13, she married my ex-Stepfather, Daniel...it kind of went down hill from there."
"What happened?" Jubilee asked, not interested in the rackets anymore.
"I told Mom what a slime ball he was, and went to live with my Dad for awhile. They got into this huge custody battle and the court basically ordered me to go back to my Mom's since my Dad was on a fixed income, due to his freelance stuff. When I was 16, my mom and her best friend from high school, Gale, gave me a part-time job at the store, and I spent almost every waking hour I wasn't in school there, just because Daniel was never there. He refused to step foot in the place...said the smell made him sick." I rolled my eyes, "I realize now he was just an idiot, and didn't like that I was smarter then he was."
"So...what happened? How did you end up here?"
I sighed, "I started showing signs of my powers... I met this kid named Riley, she was on the Debate team with me. She has a telekinesis power, and one night at the dinner table, I moved the salt shaker. Daniel freaked, and my Mom backed him up. He talked her into his little plan... drug me, and push me out of the car on the highway for dead." I shrugged, "I never got to say good bye to my Dad, or even try to explain myself... they just...did it.
"So anyway, I woke up when Jean, Ororro, and Scott showed up to save me, and got me on the jet, and then I just remember waking up at the Institute." I picked up a light-weight, high performance racket, "I think I like this one."
Jubilee dropped her mouth open, "You've got a past like that and you're worried about a tennis racket?"
"Look, it's behind me now." I shrugged. "And besides, I've forgiven my Mom. She's a twit, but she's still my Mom...and if it wasn't for her and Daniel doing what they had done, what would I be doing now? I'd be sitting in a dusty old bookshop, waiting for the apocalypse." I smiled at her, "Got one you like?"