Inferno

Chapter 5: Meet the Greys

By

The Uncanny R-Man

Disclaimer- All familiar characters belong to Marvel.

Shout Outs-

Needles- That's exactly why I don't like Scott, he keeps on cheating on his wives.

Unknown Legacy- I'll see what I can do about Nimrod.

Lil Jean- Help yourself to cooked Logan, luv. Leg or breast?

Ruby631- Oh yeah, Rachel digs the fuzzy dude/chick. Don't worry, Rachel is here to stay.

Slickboy444- Oh yeah, Rachel is one hell of a powerhouse all right. Heh. Can you expect anything different from the host of the Phoenix Force? More fluffiness between Rachel and Kurt coming right up.

TheLegendaryManHimself- Glad you liked the fluff. Scott will give Kurt the over-protective father talk soon.

Ellen- Of course the Danger Room was easy for Rachel, she's the frickin' Phoenix!

GothikStrawberry- More Rachel/Kurt fluff soon. As for Rachel meeting the Greys, just wait and see. Heh.

Agent-G- Oh yeah, you can bet that Jean and Scott will be freaked when they find out about Rachel and Kurt. Heh. Nice to see you noticed the X-Men: Legends reference too.

Thanks to- Silver Warrior, Helen, Wen1.

Xavier's-

Rachel and Kitty were sitting on the grass in the mansion's garden, watching Kurt and the others play 'Mutant Ball.' The game was somewhat similar to that of soccer but with mutant powers. Chaos almost always ensued.

'What exactly are the rules of Mutant Ball again, Kitty?' Rachel asked.

'I'm not like, exactly sure myself.' Kitty replied. 'I could swear that Bobby makes the rules up as he goes along.'

Rachel winced as she saw Tabitha drop a time bomb down the back of Bobby's pants.

'Ow! My pancreas!' The mutant known as Iceman yelled.

'Bobby, you don't even know what a pancreas is.' Amara replied.

'Well, do you?' Bobby asked, placing his hands on his hips.

'Of course I do.' Amara replied snootily. 'It's… a part of the body… Something to do with the digestive system… I think.'

'You don't know at all.' Bobby smirked. 'C'mon, let's play ball!'

Rachel and Kitty both sighed at once as the chaos ensued.

Kitty looked over at he roomie's dreamy expression and then at the figure she was gazing at. A certain fuzzy blue figure…

'So, you like Kurt, huh?' Kitty asked cheekily.

Rachel snapped out of her stupor and gaped at Kitty, her eyes wide in shock.

'What? No! I-I… no… Kurt… like… uh…'

Kitty snickered at Rachel's babbling.

'Oh shut up!' Rachel hissed, swatting Kitty on the arm. 'So what if Kurt does have a nice ass? Is it a crime to look?'

'You so were not looking.' Kitty giggled. 'You were like, ogling him! You have it so bad for him. When did this happen?'

'When did what happen?' Rachel asked innocently.

'I think you know what I mean, Rachel.' Kitty replied seriously. 'Your newfound obsession with a certain fuzzy dude's fuzzy blue tushie.'

'Well, we kinda… kissed.' Rachel said, scratching the back of her neck. 'It was a spur of the moment thing…'

Kitty let out an excited squeal and grabbed Rachel in a hug.

'Omigod! That is like, so cute! You two are sooo adorable together!'

'Pryde, have you been at the sugar again?' Rachel asked, struggling under the smaller girl's unusually tight grip.

'Li'l bit…' Kitty admitted. 'But you kissed Kurt! That is sooo…'

'Sooo not a big deal.' Rachel said, cutting her off. 'It was just a kiss. It's not like I have lusty wrong feelings about him…'

'And do you like, have lusty wrong feelings about him?' Kitty asked.

'Yes…' Rachel sighed. 'He has no damn right to be so damn sexy! Look at him! With his tushie that's to perky you just want to run up there and… Gah!'

Kitty clutched her sides as she laughed out loud.

'You have it so bad! You dig the fuzzy dude!'

Rachel just let out a sigh and rested her elbows on her knees. She definitely had to talk to Kurt about that kiss…

Later-

Rachel was now fidgeting nervously in the foyer. She was supposed to be going with Jean and Scott to meet Jean's parents. Rachel couldn't even remember the Greys in her reality. She could remember Scott's father though. He was the captain of a starship called the 'Starjammer.' She didn't tell Scott this, as she didn't even know whether Corsair even existed in this reality.

'Penny for them…' Jean said as she walked up with Scott.

'Hmm, sorry?' Rachel asked, snapping out of her stupor. 'I was miles away…'

'Want to tell us about it?' Scott asked.

'I'm just nervous, I guess.' Rachel shrugged. 'I'm going to meet my alternate reality grandparents. How freaky is that? Do they even know whop I am?'

'Umm, no.' Jean replied. 'Not yet anyway. I can't exactly say Hi mom, you've got a granddaughter that's older than the woman that was supposed to have given birth to her. That woman is me. I don't want to give them heart-attacks.'

'Well, they're expecting us so I say we'd better go.' Scott said. 'Better late than never, right?'

Rachel took a deep breath and followed them outside to Scott's car. First her lusty wrong feelings about Kurt and now the thing with Jean's parents, it made Rachel glad for the mental shields that her reality's Xavier taught her. God knows what Jean would think if she found out…

An hour or so later-

Scott pulled up outside the Greys' house and held the door open for Jean. Rachel helped herself out and joined them by the side of the car.

'You okay with this?' Jena asked, gently squeezing Rachel's hand in comfort.

'To tell you the truth, no.' Rachel replied. 'I wanna go home and drown my sorrows in Logan's whiskey stash.'

'Suicide later.' Jean said. 'Grandparents now.'

Rachel took more deep breath as Jean knocked on the door and stepped back to wait for an answer.

'Well I guess nobody's in. What a pity, can we go now?'

Jean put her hand on Rachel's shoulder, preventing her form leaving.

'Don't worry.' She said, sending Rachel calming thoughts. 'Everything will be okay…'

Rachel just gave out a scared whimper and watched as the door opened.

'Daddy!' Jean grinned as she enveloped her father in a huge hug.

'Jeannie!' John Grey smiled as he wrapped his arms around his daughter and kissed her on the cheek. 'It's been so long. What have you been up to.'

'Oh this and that.' Jean shrugged. 'Y'know, saving the world and whatnot.'

'Scott.' John nodded.

'Sir.' Scott replied, shaking John's hand.

'And who is this fine young lady?' John asked.

'This is Rachel.' Jean replied. 'She is a… friend.'

'And can this 'friend' not speak for herself?' John asked.

'Hi…' Rachel squeaked, shaking John's hand vigorously with both hands and not letting go.

'You can give my hand back any time you want.' John said. 'No rush.'

Rachel just smiled nervously and let go of John's hand.

Inside-

John led everybody into the sitting room where Elaine, Jean's mother, and Sara, Jean's sister were sitting.

'Hey there stranger.' Elaine said as she gave Jean a quick hug. 'You never ring, you never write.'

'Scott keeping you busy, I see.' Sara teased.

'Sara!' Jean hissed. 'Shush!'

'Everybody, this is Rachel.' John said. 'She's a… friend.'

'Hi.' Rachel said, holding up her hand in greeting.

'Anybody for tea?' Elaine asked. 'Coffee or anything?'

'I'd like some tea if that's all right.' Rachel replied. 'Lots of cream, no sugar.'

'Just how Jean likes it.' Elaine chuckled. 'You must be very good friends.'

'You could say that.' Rachel chuckled weakly.

'So where do you know Jean from, Rachel?' John asked.

'I'm a mutant too.' Rachel replied. 'I'm part of the X-Men too.'

'Oh, I see.' John nodded. 'I can't help but notice how similar you two are. It's almost as if you're copies of each other.'

Rachel just chuckled nervously once more and looked at Jean.

'Help.' She telepathically yelped.

Jean just smiled in reassurance.

'Uhh, Mom, Dad, there's something we need to tell you…'

'I knew it!' Sara grinned. 'You're pregnant, aren't you?'

'Sara, hush.' Elaine whispered. 'Are you pregnant, Jean?'

'Oh God no.' Jena chuckled. 'It's about Rachel actually. Dad wasn't far off when he said that we looked like alternate versions of each other. Rachel is actually my daughter from an alternate future.'

Rachel winced as she looked at the expressions of the Greys, they all looked dumbstruck, their mouths hanging open.

John was the first to talk.

'H-how did you…?'

'How did I come here?' Rachel asked. 'Well, time travel really. I'm the host for an all-powerful entity called the Phoenix. My reality was in danger so I had to travel back into the past to prevent the danger form occurring. I kind of overshot my destination and landed in Bayville a few moths ago.'

'That's where I recognised you from!' Sara said, clicking her fingers. 'You're that naked mutant that was on the news.'

'Guilty as charged.' Rachel replied sheepishly. 'I was a little dazed from my journey and kind of went on a rampage.'

'This is a lot to take in.' Elaine said. 'What was this great danger that you had to come back to stop?'

'Well it all started when a group of mutants known as the Brotherhood assassinated Senator Kelly.' Rachel replied.

'The Brotherhood?' Elaine asked. 'They're those boys that are always bothering the X-Men, aren't they? But they're just children.'

'As I said, I overshot my mark.' Rachel aid. 'I arrived too early.'

'What happened after this Brotherhood assassinated Senator Kelly?' John asked.

'Well anti-mutant hysteria was so bad that the US Government brought in something called 'The Mutant Registry Act.' Any and all mutants had to register their powers or be locked up. Then from mutants, it went on to non-mutants with powers, people like Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four. Then there was the Sentinels, they hunted down and killed those that remained while the survivors rotted in concentrations camps.'

Jean and Scott listened on aghast. They knew that the reality that Rachel came from was a bad one but they never knew it was this bad.

'And that's pretty much it.' Rachel said solemnly. 'Almost all of the X-Men were wiped out. Only a small group of us were left in the camps. Those of us that somehow stayed free were soon rounded up and executed or locked up in the camps.'

The Greys just stared back at Rachel, barely believing their ears.

'My God, how can such a thing happen?' Elaine asked, horrified at the thought of such atrocities. 'It's terrible. It's like Nazi Germany all over again.'

'Well fortunately it hasn't happened yet so we've got quite a while yet.' Rachel said.

'There is one thing that's bothering me though.' John said. 'If you arrived too early in the past, why not travel further onwards, to the time that you were supposed to?'

'It was a one way trip.' Rachel replied regretfully. 'So I'm pretty much stuck here. It isn't so bad here actually, I have my friends. I've got my eye on a cute guy too.'

'And just who might that be?' Scott asked, getting into the part of over-protective father already.

'I-it's Kurt actually.' Rachel replied, biting her nails nervously.

'That furry blue boy?' Elaine asked. 'Th-that's… unusual?'

'If you think that's unusual, you should see who I was with back in my reality.' Rachel chuckled. 'Ever hear of Franklin Richards?'

'Reed and Sue Richards' son?' Sara asked. 'The Fantastic Four Reed and Sue? The Mr Fantastic and Invisible Woman Reed and Sue?'

'Yup.' Rachel nodded.

'Wow.' Sara blinked. 'That's just… wow.'

'See, I told you everything would be fine.' Jean said telepathically. 'I really have no idea why you were so worried.'

'Well it's certainly a weight off my shoulders.' Rachel replied.

'Now, about you and Kurt…' Jean said, a cheeky smile gracing her lips. 'Or shall I let Scott take care of that?'

Rachel let out a telepathic groan. Life was never simple with the X-Men.

Xavier's, the next day-

The talk with the Grey's had lifted a great weight off Rachel's shoulders; it felt great to finally talk to somebody about her problems. Sure, she was still stuck in an unfamiliar time but she had friends to help her through. Jean and Scott were always there for a helping ear. Then there was the Professor; he was always good for advice. Kitty, although she teased Rachel a lot, she was a good friend to the redhead. Then there was Kurt…

Rachel stopped outside the fuzzy elf's door and raised her hand to knock.

'Oh God, I can't go through with this…' Rachel muttered to herself. 'Kurt's a friend. I can't ruin what we already have. But that kiss… Wow. It was like kissing velvet…'

Rachel sighed dreamily as she thought back to how magical it felt to kiss Kurt.

Rachel was so caught up in her dream that she didn't even see Kurt walk out of his bedroom.

'Vatch out!' Kurt yelped. But it came too late as the pair collided into each other, ending up in a pile on the floor.

Rachel let out a gasp as she realised where Kurt's head had landed, right in-between her cleavage. Kurt looked up at her and smiled sheepishly.

'I-I zhink I should get up now. People might see us.'

'Y-yeah.' I think that would be best.' Rachel replied.

'Sorry.' Kurt winced as he helped her up. 'Zhat never usually happens.'

Rachel just chuckled nervously in reply.

'Just out of curiosity, vhy vere you vaiting outside my room?' Kurt asked.

Rachel blushed slightly and cleared her throat nervously.

'W-well I… I uh… oh God… you… me… dinner… tushie… want smoochies…'

Kurt blinked a few times as he tried to decipher Rachel's babble.

'Are you trying to say zhat you vant to go on a date?' He asked. 'Is zhat it? You vant to go on a date? With me?'

'Uh-huh.' Rachel nodded sheepishly.

'Okay.' Kurt shrugged.

Rachel blinked in confusion at Kurt's sudden agreement.

'B-but… How? How did you just accept it like that?' She asked.

'Well I enjoyed zhat kiss ze uzzer day.' Kurt replied. 'And I'd very much like to have anuzzer. Is eight o' clock on Friday okay for you?'

'Umm… sure.' Rachel replied, still a little confused over the sudden turn of events.

Kurt just smiled and gave her a jaunty salute a she walked away.

'See you zhere, ja?'

'Kay…' Rachel answered weakly. Man, Scott would go nuts about this…

TBC…

Next: The Match is Struck

Kurt and Rachel go out on their date only for it to be disturbed by an unwelcome guest. Selene is back and this time she has friends. This time wants to end life on Earth, as we know it! Man, these immortal sorceresses sure know what they want…