A Little Friendly Bonding

"So let me get this straight," Tabitha said. "Now not only do we have an ex-Hellion and a whole bunch of new students living here, we have Scott and Jean's future daughter from a possible timeline and bunch of other people from other dimensions including an alternate Magneto who we're saying is a clone but he's not."

"That's right," Rogue nodded. "To throw the FBI and the cops off the trail so they don't arrest him."

"Should work," Remy shrugged. "I mean we already got one clone living here. Who's gonna notice another?"

"So this alternate Magneto who we're all supposed to call Joseph and these Exile guys are living in the basement?" Tabitha was trying to get it straight.

"Well those were the rooms we had when the mansion blew up," Kurt said. "Good thing we not only kept them, we just made a few more."

"So why are they still in this dimension?" Tabitha asked. "I mean didn't they already finish their mission?"

"Yeah why?" Kurt asked.

"Their boss this Timebroker guy wants them to stay a while," Rogue told them. "I heard the whole thing. Says it's good for Rachel to rest a bit but I'm guessing there may be a few loose ends he want's 'em to tie up."

"Okay…" Tabitha shrugged. "Well it's official. We are the weirdest people on the planet."

"At least you're not the weirdest people in the universe," Sunfire said as she walked into the room with Nocturne and Blink.

"Yeah I think Morph and a few of his alternates have that title pretty much sewn up," Blink said.

"You haven't hung around with the Misfits yet," Rogue pointed out.

"Yahoo!" Pietro zoomed past them.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you exhibit A," Rogue gestured with her hand.

"What are the Misfits doing here now?" Kurt groaned.

"Oh just gracing you with our presence," Todd remarked as the other Misfits walked in.

"Couldn't you grace us with your departure instead?" Rogue snapped.

"We haven't had time to meet," Althea said to the Exiles.

"But we do have time to eat!" Fred grinned as he opened the fridge.

"You guys have definitely been hanging around with Roadblock too long," Kitty said as she and Doug walked into the kitchen.

"Hey! Cypher's here!" Todd waved. "Come join the party yo!"

"If you don't know already I'm Althea, codename Wavedancer," Althea waved.

"I think I remember your names," Doug thought. "You're Blob, Toad, Avalanche, Firestar, Dragonfly, Xi and…" He looked around. "Weren't there more of you?"

"Spyder's back home hanging out with Foresight," Lance told him as he grabbed some food from the cupboards. "Trinity, Wanda and Pietro are wandering around here someplace."

"And you guys are stealing our food again!" Rogue grabbed a cereal box out ofFred's hands.

"Well we're hungry!" Fred told her while munching on a block of cheese.

"GET YOUR OWN FOOD!" Tabitha snapped throwing a small time bomb into the fridge.

For once Fred used his brain and closed the door quickly, letting it blow up in there. Cautiously he opened up the smoking door. "Way to go Tabby! You blew up all our food!"

"Your food?" Rogue looked at him.

"There's still some cookies left in here," Todd said taking some out. "Wait Kitty didn't make these did she?"

"No, these actually smell like cookies," Xi sniffed and started to munch on them.

"Oh no you don't!" Remy tried to grab for the cookies. Xi tossed the container to Lance.

"I got it!" Lance grabbed it. "Here catch it Lina!" He tossed it to her.

And was intercepted by Nocturne. "Now I've got it!" She crowed. Then proceeded to munch on them.

"Not you too!" Rogue snapped.

"Yeah we were mooching off these guys first!" Todd said. Soon nearly everyone was chasing each other around trying to get the cookies.

Everyone except Doug and Kitty. "Is it always like this here?" Doug asked Kitty.

"Actually for us," Kitty sighed. "This is kind of quiet…"

"Geeze for a small group you guys are kind of rowdy," Doug blinked.

"Small group?" Kurt asked. Immediately the chaos stopped. "What do you mean?"

"Well back at the Massachusetts Academy there were a whole lot more of us," Doug explained. "So many that each group has to have their own dorm."

"How many more are we talking about?" Angelica asked.

"Well including the teachers and stuff there's about 150 of us," Doug said. "Give or take a few. But then again Ms. Frost said she was getting enough for a new squad before I left."

"One hundred…" Kitty blinked.

"And fifty?" Tabitha gasped. "How the heck could they have so many mutants?"

"They don't even have a Cerebro!" Remy said. "Do they?"

"No, but the Hellfire club does have a lot of contacts from all over the world," Doug said. "The school has been operating in secret for over fifteen years. During that time they've built up a large network. And nearly all of their graduates have gone on to work for the Hellfire Club and their companies in one way or another. And some of them are psychics."

"Fifteen years?" Rogue asked.

"You saying Xavier's really ain't the first mutant school in the world?" Fred gasped. "But how come we never found out about all this stuff?"

"We've learned how to shield ourselves from Cerebro or any other mutant detection devices with advanced cloaking technology," Doug told them. "I've even worked on it from time to time."

"Are you saying that this Hellfire Club not only has an army of mutants they're training, but they have all this technology at their disposal which they can use against us?" Kurt asked.

"That's about it," Doug said.

"Just what we need, another Magneto wanna be group to fight," Lance folded his arms.

"They're worse than that," Xi's eyes nodded.

"He's right," Remy said. "On top of everything else we're talking about some of the most rich and powerful people on the planet. So powerful the law can't touch them."

"At least people know Magneto for who and what he is," Althea said. "But these guys hide under a cloak of respectability, hiding their true selves from the world."

"Man this place is starting to sound more dangerous than the world with the giant mutated chickens," Sunfire groaned.

"Mutated chickens?" Doug asked.

"Don't ask," Blink groaned.

"If they're anything like those mutated seagulls we had to deal with I know the feeling," Kurt groaned.

"Mutated seagulls?" Doug looked at him.

BOOM!

"QUICKSILVER! MORPH!" Forge shouted.

"Ha ha ha!" Pietro laughed as he ran by. Morph followed him in the shape of a cheetah.

Forge was behind them covered in blue dye and shaving cream. "YOU TWO ARE DEAD! YOU HEAR ME? DEAD!"

"Uh, did we mention Morph likes to play practical jokes?" Blink asked.

"And he found a friend in Pietro," Lance rolled his eyes. "Lucky us…"

"Oh great…" Rogue moaned. "Two of them! I miss the angry mobs…"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"What do you mean she shut you out?" Shipwreck blinked.

"Exactly what I said," Xavier looked at him. "When I tried to establish a telepathic rapport with Rachel, Jean took control and shut me out."

"And what's worse is that after my preliminary examination, Jean literally tossed us out of the infirmary," Hank sighed. "Except for Scott she won't let anyone in there. She is being quite irrational."

"Yeah, well right now Jean's maternal instincts have awakened full force," Shipwreck said. "So if I were you I'd back off a little. Just give her a little space and time to bond with the kid."

"I'm afraid it's not just that," Xavier sighed, realizing that he would have to have a talk with Jean about her growing powers sooner than he had hoped. "But I have to admit in this situation, you may have a point. Let me know if there are any changes."

He wheeled out of the room with Shipwreck following behind. "So how are you coping with all these new people?" Shipwreck asked.

"I must admit it is unusual having strangers from another dimension live here," Xavier admitted. "Even if one of them I've technically known for years."

"Speaking of knowing someone, where's Storm?" Shipwreck asked. "I feel like bonding with her today."

"In the Danger Room training some of the students," Xavier said. "Be careful she might want to do some bonding in her own fashion if you interrupt."

"No she's not," Shipwreck said. "That Joseph guy is."

"What?" Xavier asked.

"She's probably hiding in her room again! I'll go find her!" Shipwreck walked away.

"You do that," Xavier sighed. He went to the Danger Room control center and saw Joseph wearing his Magneto uniform. His eyes widened as he saw Bobby, Ray, Jubilee, Rahne, Amara, Roberto, Sam and Jamie chase around a familiar gold ball, which Joseph was controlling with his powers.

"All right now, why don't you all get changed into your civilian clothes and I'll meet you outside?" Joseph told them when they finished. He saw Xavier in the control room and went out to meet him. "I hope you don't mind, Storm looked overwhelmed and I thought I'd help out a little."

"You also changed back into your old uniform," Xavier told him.

"Yes. What's wrong with that?" Joseph asked.

"Remember when I mentioned I was captured by Apocalypse and I saw some of his visions of the future?" Xavier sighed. "One of them was of Magneto teaching my students."

"And you thought it was your Magneto," Joseph sighed. "That's one thing I have learned about precognition over the years, they have an annoying habit of coming true in ways you least expect."

"I certainly didn't expect a Magneto from another dimension," Xavier shook his head.

"Keep trying Charles," Joseph said. "I came around, maybe he will too. Although from what I've heard…I severely doubt it."

"You of all people are saying that?" Xavier asked.

"In my time I admit I have done a lot of misdeeds," Joseph said. "But even I drew the line at experimenting on my fellow mutants and tossing loyal people aside like trash. However I wouldn't worry too much about him. You will have larger problems if this Phoenix Force emerges in your dimension."

"You had the Phoenix Force in your time?" Xavier asked.

"I never experienced it personally, but yes I have heard of it," Joseph nodded.

"How…was it defeated?" Xavier asked.

"Eventually it left Jean after she was killed, but then revived her using the life force of the other X-Men," Joseph told him.

"So it is possible that we may survive it," Xavier thought. "But we can't take any chances. I must take whatever steps needed to prevent the Phoenix from emerging in the first place."

"I'm sorry Charles," Joseph said. "But you may be fighting the inevitable."

The door opened and Wanda walked through it. "Um, is this a bad time?" She asked.

"No Wanda, can we help you?" Xavier asked.

"Can I…Talk to Joseph for a bit please?" Wanda asked. "It's…personal."

"Of course," Xavier nodded and left the room.

"I need to know something," Wanda asked Joseph. "Why do you…did you become like you were? I mean…"

"What drove me to the madness of wanting to rule a mutant dominated world?" Joseph asked. "It is a very long and painful story."

"Is it anything like what happened to my…I mean the Magneto in this dimension?"

"Painfully identical," Joseph sighed. "Both of us lost our families in concentration camps during World War II and we were test subjects of insane Nazi scientists who wanted to study DNA."

"Test subjects?" Wanda was shocked.

"Yes," Joseph said. "After the war I…we both fell in love with a woman named Magda. We had a daughter named Anya. However she was murdered…"

"Murdered?" Wanda asked. "What happened?"

"I was wrongfully accused of a crime and being some sort of sorcerer," Joseph hardened at the memory. "The townspeople set my house on fire. Magda managed to escape the flames but my daughter…" He shook his head. "I was trapped, held in chains by a mob. Helpless. They let her perish in the fire."

"Oh my god…" Wanda felt ill. "And that happened here too?"

"Yes," Joseph nodded. "And both of us took our vengeance on the townspeople. Only Magda survived, but she was horrified at what I had done and fled. I didn't know she was pregnant at the time and for years I knew nothing about the existence of my children. That is how this your Magneto and I differ, while I could not find my beloved Magda, he did."

"I didn't know that," Wanda thought. "But that still doesn't excuse the things he did to me. To Pietro. To Rogue and Kurt and all the other people he's harmed. If anything he's even worse!"

"True, he has become the very thing he has despised," Joseph looked at his hands. "And so did I."

"At least you're trying to make amends for what you've done," Wanda said. "My father will never change. Do you know…What happened to my mother? I was told she died."

"I think she did," Joseph said. "I don't know the whole story in this dimension but I do know one thing, a man called the High Evolutionary was involved as he was in my dimension."

"The High Evolutionary?" Wanda asked. "Who's he?"

"In my dimension he created a society of hybrid animal/humans in acity called Wundergore," Joseph said. "Odds are he did the same as well in this one. In my dimension he merely gave shelter to Magda. But all I do know about this dimension's High Evolutionary is that he helped your father imprison his wife."

"Imprison…?" Wanda gasped. "So there's a chance that my mother may still be alive?"

"Highly unlikely, but I suppose it's possible," Joseph sighed. "I hope I was able to help you."

"You have, at least now I understand why my father acts the way he does," Wanda sighed. "A little anyway…"

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"I still say that using your powers to shove both Beast and the Professor out the door was a little much," Scott folded his arms.

"Let's just say I'm still annoyed with the Professor right now," Jean told him. She was holding the unconscious Rachel's hand.

"If that's you annoyed, remind me not to really tick you off," Scott remarked. "How is she?"

"Scott, she's literally been through hell," Jean told him. "How do you think she is?"

"Don't worry, I've survived worse…" Rachel muttered. "I literally survived the end of my world, remember?" She sat up and looked at the two of them. "So you're both…"

"Yeah…apparently," Scott blinked. "Sorry, this is kind of weird for us."

"How do you think I feel?" Rachel asked. "I may or may not end up being born thanks to everything…"

"HELLO!" Trinity opened the door and shouted cheerfully. "VISITING DAY!"

"Oh goody…" Jean winced.

"What do you three want?" Scott asked.

"Trinity?" Rachel blinked. "Is that you?"

"You know us?" Daria asked.

"Um, the older versions of you," Rachel confessed. "You three were an important part of the resistance."

"Cool," Quinn said.

"What are you three doing here?" Jean asked.

"We thought this might help," Daria held a small hand held device. "It's a tattoo remover."

"Yeah your face already has enough lines on 'em," Brittany said.

"This can help you," Quinn said. "The Exiles said that you didn't want those marks on your face in the first place. So we thought…"

"Thank you but…I can't," Rachel shook her head. "I don't deserve it."

"What do you mean?" Quinn asked.

"They're symbols of my shame," Rachel explained. "Of when I was a Hound. Tracking down and killing other mutants."

"That wasn't your fault!" Scott put his hands on her shoulders. "Don't ever say that! You were just a little kid when…If anyone's to blame it's us. Well the older versions of us anyway."

"You?" Rachel asked.

"We should have kept you safe," Jean said. "But we failed. Not you."

"Still…" Rachel shuddered. "The things I did…"

"You were brainwashed," Scott said. "You weren't responsible for what you did."

"It's a miracle you broke free," Jean said.

"Listen, it's your face," Daria said. "You shouldn't let how someone else thought how you would look make you a prisoner."

"Those lines are symbols of false guilt and shame," Brittany said.

"That's how they controlled you before," Quinn said. "You really want them to keep controlling you?"

"They're gonna keep bugging you until you agree," Jean told Rachel. "Trust me on this."

"I could just use my telepathy to hide the lines but…" Rachel began.

"We wanna help! Please?" Daria begged.

"Dad won't let us play with his tattoos," Quinn said.

"You'd be doing him a favor cause we were gonna put some stuff on him while he was passed out and…" Brittany began.

"All right! All right!" Rachel sighed. "Anything to shut you guys up! Boy I thought you were annoying as adults."

"They couldn't get much worse," Scott folded his arms as Quinn worked on Rachel's face.

"See! It's just like exfoliating those dead cells away!" Quinn said cheerfully.

"Does it hurt?" Jean asked warily.

"No, I don't really feel anything," Rachel told them.

"All done!" Quinn finished up.

"See!" Brittany took out a mirror and showed Rachel her face. "It'll be a little red for a couple of hours but still…"

"It's weird…" Rachel said. "I haven't really looked at myself in a long time."

"What's weirder is that you look just like Jean," Brittany noticed.

"Well so much for our invention helping her looks," Daria said.

"All right! That's it!" Jean grabbed Daria by the arm. "OUT!"

"Sheeze! Some people just can't face the truth!" Daria snapped as the triplets were shoved out the door.

"And stay out!" Scott slammed the door shut. Rachel began to laugh. "What's so funny?"

"I was just thinking that they seem to have a knack for helping me out even when I don't want it," Rachel told them. "It's a long story which I really don't want to get into right now. You don't mind if I get some sleep do you? I'm still wiped out."

"Sure, we can talk later," Scott nodded. "Come on Jean." They went out to give her some privacy. "She's really had it rough. I feel so helpless. We should have done something… Or they should have done something to protect her. How could the X-Men have failed so badly?"

"No one's ever going to hurt her again," Jean said softly, her eyes narrowed in determination. "Not if I can help it."

Next: Life in the X-Mansion goes on. And it also goes insane. As usual…