Morty
By Maikafuiniel

Authors Notes: And this chapter will go out to lovely Zero-Vision! Mostly because I had zero-vision of me writing this chapter today, but it turned out that what was to be, was to be!

Chapter 11
Mortimer Toynbee brought up a towel to his face, to wipe away the water that still clung to his hair- he had finished his latest class at the gym, and had taken a shower to wash away the sweat when he was finished. It always surprised him just how much he was sweat after these classes, having never sweat before, but after two weeks of being relatively human these changes were coming forward more naturally.

He looked at himself in the gym mirror, scrutinizing his hair quietly- until finally pulling a bottle of gel from his bag. He couldn't imagine himself ever spending more then the time absolutely necessary to his survival in the bathroom before the change, but now that he actually had something to be proud of, he was finding himself in front of the mirror several times a day.

When he was finally satisfied with how he looked, he pulled on a t-shirt and pair of jeans. They were bought a few days prior when he had gotten a chance to go out without a body guard. Not that Magneto would ever admit he had people following the younger boy, but that was perfectly fine with him. His battle skills were improving rapidly once he had gotten a hang of making his body move the way he wanted it to, but he still didn't want to get into any situation where he could end up dead. He couldn't just jump out of the way any more…

Forcing his thoughts and musings to go back into hybernation, he left the bathroom and was immediately confronted by his sensei. "Mortimer," Mister Bandii said happily, "You did well today."

"Thank you sir," Mortimer replied, "But you know how much I love doing classes focusing on the jumps."

"That I do." The teacher replied slowly, "You have a gift for the jumps."

"More then you know," Toad said under his breath, before continuing, "What exactly was it that you wanted then?"

"There is a place opening up here at the gym- sadly, nothing to do with the Karate and Kung-Fu department- just something with cleaning supplies and making sure that people who don't have memberships coming in. A job. I heard you taking with Michael the other day about getting one."

Morty raised one eyebrow, and smiled. A few weeks… and he was doing so well. It almost made him angry, that this was the life he had been missing while living with his mutation. If only his genes hadn't made him just that little bit different, he could have had one hell of a life. Something real.

Michael, one of the other boys in the class, was nice enough. Justin, Chris, and Thomas always hung out with him, and it seemed that they had a Brotherhood of their own. Sure, they weren't terrorists, but that didn't take away from the family-like relationship they had going on. And they had been nice to him. A gang had been nice to him.

Sarah and Jessie, the only girls in the class, were always watching him and giggling. At first he had been embarrassed, but when he heard a little bit of their conversation- something about how soft his hair looked, he couldn't be anything but complemented.

Even his home-schooling was going well. Now that he wasn't competing with an entire class of students, and with only geniuses as teachers, he was far along the road to catching up with his age group. The mechanics portion of the job seemed boring, but the piloting simulators had been nothing but cool. Not too long from now, he had been assured, he would be cleared to pilot helicopters. He would probably never get up to piloting a jet liner- but then, bringing people to their vacations wasn't exactly what Magneto had in mind when he had forced him to start learning.

Even the other members of Magneto's merry band of miscreants seemed to get on well with him.

His accent had faded, not entirely of course, but after the first burst of pure-British sound it had faded into an American lack-of-accent with a British twist. According to Sarah and Jessie, it was cute. Morty would just take their word for it.

"Sure!" he replied quickly, trying not to sound desperate, "I mean, yeah! That would be great!"

Bandii restrained the urge to laugh at the boy who seemed to be far too willing to indulge in the simple facts of human life for his own good. "I will see you tomorrow then, at six in the morning, sharp."

"Six?" Came the slow replied, "Um… in the evening?"

"You wish," the teacher laughed for real this time, "People exercise early Mortimer. You'll be paid eight dollars an hour of course, for your time, and you might even talk some of the members into teaching you a few things."

Morty agreed and turned to walk away, his thoughts moving quickly in his head. Sure, he wanted to get away from the base as much as possible- living in a world where he wasn't persecuted was turning out to be better then he could have imagined. And really Magneto only wanted him to be there for home-schooling… the part where he would have to report about the X-Men wouldn't come until he actually made some real contact with them.

There was only one conclusion that he could come to. He shuddered. The horror! The drama! The sheer fact that he was going to actually be asking for this!

Walking down the street, his eyes open in amazement at the mere thought, he spoke out loud. "I… I have to go back. I have to go to school."

Xavier sat in his chair, watching over the latest Danger Room session with Scott by his side. "The new recruits are coming along nicely," he said, without looking up at the boy, "Although there does seem to be some rivalry between Bobby and Amara."

"Well," Scott tried to defend his teammates, "It's nothing unnatural. Fire and Ice. Black and white. Once they have to fight together, really fight for their lives, they'll have figured out a way to work together- or to avoid each other when it really matters."

Xavier nodded, and pushed the finish button quickly as to give his smallest members a quick breather; turning to Scott he asked, "I forgot to mention it yesterday, but have you talked to the young boy at all yet? The one from the mall?"

Scott shook his head lightly. "Not yet. A few people have seen him wandering around town, usually alone but not always." He smiled for a moment then said, "I think Kitty has a crush, even if she won't say anything."

Xavier smiled in a fatherly fashion, "And?"

Scott stopped for a moment, choosing his words carefully. "Honestly," he said, "I don't know how to approach him. Every time I try he gets out of there. Not quick enough to be suspicious, but he defiantly isn't going out of his way to make friends here in Bayville. On the plus side he's been acting the exact same whenever he sees a member of the Brotherhood- worse even. I don't think they've noticed him though, past a glance Quiet about his home life and past, or so I've heard. And we honestly don't know if he even realizes he's a mutant or not."

"And any news on Forge yet?"

"Still can't find him," Scott replied sadly, "I know he wanted to go and see his parents… and he was spending so much time in his lab trying to figure out how to age himself appropriately. For all we know, it worked and he's living the high life. But it's been weeks now, and we haven't found anything. I don't know what we're going to do."

The professor looked upset, but not unwilling to accept the fact that the boy may have simply left. "He can take care of himself," Xavier said, "He's a strong boy. It would help if we had some sort of contact with him. A phone call. A note. Morse code would even suit when it comes down to it. I just hate to think he's out there…"

"Alone." Scott finished, "And we're the X-Men. A team. We don't leave people behind, and we don't leave anybody out in the cold. In danger."

"My thoughts exactly," the professor said, "And so, you understand why you can not put off talking to the boy any longer. He's in danger here, and if Magneto finds out about him, he'll be in danger wherever he is. We need him here."

Scott nodded. "Next time I see him. Next time I see him, he's going to be agreeing to be living here professor. I promise."

"Good," the older man replied, and once again pushed the simulator button. Scott and Xavier continued to watch training sessions for most of the day.

Morty stood in front of Magnetos desk, his hands grasping at his pockets- he hated this. This feeling of not knowing what to do with his hands. Not knowing if he should be standing stalk still or trying to relax. Trying to figure out what Magneto expected him to say- and what would be the most smiled on. Trying to befriend a murder terrorist.

"Pardon me?" Magneto asked in a weird form of surprise, "Am I delusional, or simply mad?"

"It's just… I don't know. I got offered this job, you see, a good one. At the gym. Cleaning and sorting mostly, but still a job. And I have to be there and six in the morning- which I'm okay with. That is," he stopped, "If you are."

"Continue."

"So it would get in the middle of my classes- and I get that you brought those teachers over here just for me, and not to say that I'm not grateful or anything, but I've caught up with my year and everything-"

"Get to the point," Magneto said, "I have people to kill."

"I want to go back to school. Like I said before, but now with a reason that wasn't incoherent rambling that started the second I walked into the room."

"Back to school," Magneto mused, "I suppose that it's possible. You are caught up, even ahead in some areas. And my information suggests that people have been seeing you around town enough, with everything you've found you have time to do now."

Morty blushed silently, knowing that it was girly how much he enjoyed shopping now that these things had been opened up to him. Social functions were a blast, and in the end of all things he couldn't imagine going back to living the way he was.

"Mortimer," he said slowly, "It has come to my mind that were you born like this, with the choices you have now, you could have had a very… profitable life. And you've proven that you're using your new life to the best of your abilities. What held you back before, along with your mutation, was your choice of friends. My son, dear as he is," Magneto said sarcastically, "Is simply not the kind of person one chooses to associate with when trying to become a powerful being. Avalanche and the Blob were the same way. If you can promise, swear even, that your life won't fall back if you associate yourself with so many people your own age at school… I don't see why you can't go."

Morty ginned widely, and found it hard not jump the desk and hug the older man. "Thanks!" He said, and near skipped out the door.

Magneto watched him leave, repositioned his cape so that he could sit more comfortably, and frowned. Toad had seemed so pleased with his decision… and meanwhile he had been feeling almost, god forbid, proud. Fatherly. Something he hadn't felt since he lost Anya.

He turned to his paperwork with another frown; Pyro had blow up another chair in the lounge.

Meanwhile Morty continued to dance down the hallways, laughing at his success. Things were just… going so well! Weirdly well! On one level he was excited- but he knew it wouldn't last forever. "Might as well enjoy it though," he laughed.

"Enjoy what?" The voice of Sabertooth came from around the corner, and quickly the man came into view.

"Mags just gave me permission to go to school," Morty replied to the older man, whom he had learned to get along with. It was an odd relationship the pair had, but it worked weirdly well.

"Good for you kid," the cat replied, quickly carrying on, "But there's a special on Discovery channel right away- something about jungle animals. Wanna' watch?"

Morty nodded with yet another grin, everything was coming up roses right now. "I'll go and steal some popcorn from Pyro."

TBC