A/N: Hello my loves! I've been missing in action for a very long time. But there are reasons for that and I'd rather not bore you with them. So instead, I bring you this little update and thank you for sticking around during this weird period.
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Scarlet avoided being alone with Scott and Jean, among a few other teachers. She noticed that her friends were starting to come closer to her with each day that passed accident free. The problems that her father was causing had kept many of them out of the mansion, so dealing with her new powers on her own was easier too.
"Why did he have to let it get this bad?" Scarlet wondered, pulling ivy from the walls of the mansion as she had been asked to by the professor. Something she knew he was asking her to do, just to keep her busy while the others were gone saving the world. "Doesn't he know that this could seriously destroy the mansion's foundation and bricks?" She snorted. "Of course, he does. Chuck knows everything in his old age."
"Hey Bitch!" someone called out as Scarlet tossed a bunch of vines onto the pile behind her.
Dammit! Scarlet thought, brushing her hair out of her face with the back of her hand. This prick now? Dammit!
"What do you want, Pyro?" she demanded, turning to look at him and putting her hands on her hips. "Because, if you haven't noticed, I've got things to do. Things that I'd rather be doing than talking to your ugly mug."
The fiery haired teen flicked his lighter and sneered. "Yeah, keep talking. Everyone knows that the old man put you on these chores because you can't control yourself out in the world." He laughed. "You couldn't even control your anger for a minute out on the field."
"And yet, you're not out there either," Scarlet commented, tilting her head to the side. "So say something about control there, asshole."
Pyro's eyes narrowed. "At least I didn't get the entire bunch of senior X-Men to kick me off the team. You couldn't even get the peaceful doctor, Jean Grey on your side. Bitch, you really screwed up if you couldn't keep an ally in her."
"Shut up. I don't care what Jean thinks about me. I don't need the X-Men to feel like I belong here. I don't need to cop an attitude to get myself noticed." She gestured at the lighter in Pyro's hand. "And I sure as hell don't need one of those to use my power correctly."
Scarlet tossed her hair over her shoulder and let her hands drop to her side. "Now, if you don't mind. I have work to do." She turned her back on him. "Go play with yourself and leave others alone, Pyro."
The copy mutant's body tensed up when she heard Pyro's breath get sucked in as a loud hiss. She heard his lighter flip open and managed to drop out of the way as he shot a stream of fire at her. Hitting the ground, Scarlet saw that the fire landed on the green vines that covered the wall.
"Dammit!" she cursed, rolling to her feet as Pyro recollected himself in preparation for another attack. "Watch yourself, Asshole!"
"Burn Bitch!" Pyro snarled, throwing another stream of fire at her.
Scarlet jumped out of the way and pulled the fire into her control, hovering in the air. She let the fire stream around her like a large hoop and then threw it back down at him in the form of a fiery spear. Pyro held his hand up as if trying to push the fire back against her.
"What the hell is going on here?!" a woman's voice demanded.
A rush of water hit the fiery streamer that connected Scarlet with Pyro, steaming it out of existence. Scarlet let herself fall onto all fours as her sister moved into sight.
"Hey Aqua," she greeted, straightening.
"Don't 'Hey Aqua' me," Addison snapped, crossing her arms as she stood between Pyro and Scarlet. "What the hell is going on here? John, you still have detention that needs to be served, inside the mansion. If you get going there in the next five seconds, I'll consider not reporting your actions to the Professor." Her brilliant blue eyes turned towards the burning ivy on the wall of the mansion."I'll pretend that neither of you attempted to burn the mansion down. Now go."
Pyro flicked his lighter shut and shoved his hands in his pockets. Scarlet and he shared a dark hateful look as he walked past her. No one spoke until he had disappeared from sight. Then Addison spun on Scarlet and pushed her shoulders back.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Addison demanded.
"He started it," Scarlet said simply, crossing her arms. "All I was doing was pulling the ivy down and the asshole decided to mess with me."
"And you thought it would be wiser to burn the mansion down than to ignore him or get an adult to handle the situation? Really mature, Maria."
Scarlet shook her head. "If you haven't noticed, Sis, the adults aren't on my side right now. My anger issues and poor control on the field and all." She glanced at the burning ivy and reached her hand out, pulling the fire into the palm. "That's why I have to do the tedious chores. To keep me out of trouble and mellow me out." Scarlet closed her hands once the fire was consumed by it. "It keeps me out of the way."
"Maria..."
"It's better this way," Scarlet muttered, frowning at the smoking remains of the vines. "I have to be kept out of sight, far out of mind until I finally get a grip on myself. Even if that means that I'll be walking on glass for years to come."
Addison reached out and put a hand on Scarlet's shoulder. "Maria, I'm –"
The copy mutant shrugged her sister's hand off. "Don't. Don't feel sorry for me. I don't need your sympathy. I just need – need to finish all the things that Chuck asked for me to do today. Okay? Just go and hang out with your boyfriend."
Scarlet walked back over to the wall and pulled at the vines again, trying not to pay any more attention to her sister. The vines fell apart under her hands, brittle from the fire that had burned them. Scarlet paused and stared at part of one, watching the black try to hide the dancing flames under the skin of her hand.
Is this a sign? Scarlet wondered, turning back to the task at hand. And if so, what is it about?
OOOOOOOOO
Logan found Scarlet in her usual spot after hours when she was too wired to go to sleep like the other people in the mansion. She was seated on the counter in the kitchen where there was a nice little corner for her to relax between. Her hair was pulled up in a sloppy ponytail and she seemed more tired than normal as she munched on an ice cream sandwich. Logan caught her eye and she offered the box to him, which he noticed only contained two more.
"Sorry," she muttered once she managed to swallow her mouthful. "I was hungry."
Logan shook his head and grabbed a beer from the fridge. "You're always hungry, darling. Especially after you've been upset about something."
"That obvious, huh?" Scarlet tossed the wrapper in the air where it turned into a bird that fluttered around Logan's head.
"You could say that." Logan turned to look at the copy mutant and leaned back against the counters. "What's eating you?"
Scarlet shook her head, reaching into the box. "Nothing."
"Nothing? That's not what Fishtail told me." Scarlet's eyes met his briefly. "She said that you burnt the side of the mansion after fighting with Pyro...Why'd you let him get to you?"
"I don't know. I just let him push some buttons. Buttons that are still raw." Scarlet rubbed her face. "I just wanted to punch him in the face for what he was doing to me." She looked at him once more. "Do you know that I still feel raw about being kicked out of the X-Men after my first mission?"
"I couldn't tell," Logan said sarcastically, offering a small smile. Scarlet's red eyes flashed onto him. "That explains why you're being such a bitch to everyone." Logan took a swig from his bottle. "Do you want to tell me why you lost control on your first mission, darling? I've given you time to think about it, but now I need answers."
Scarlet shook her head and stared at the floor like it was interesting. "I saw my father there, flying like some warlord over his army. That didn't really piss me off like I thought that it would. I could handle seeing him. I've managed to see him at times without blowing him up. But something changed when I saw what he was doing."
"What was he doing?"
"He was hurting the only person that gives a damn about me," Scarlet muttered bitterly. "Magneto was pulling you apart just because he can take your skeleton and do whatever the hell he wants with it."
"Maria, I've gone against Magneto before," Logan reminded her.
"But no one was going to help you in time!" Scarlet exclaimed, dropping her ice cream sandwich on the floor. "No one was going to help you, so I had to do something! I couldn't let him hurt you like he hurt me! I care too much about you to let him do that to you!"
Logan stared at her in silence for a moment, watching her chest rise and fall rapidly. Her red eyes were wide and feral, but fear was starting to cloud them. Suddenly, the beer in Logan's hands didn't taste as good.
"Maria," Logan began.
"You can't get hurt on my watch, Funny Hair," Scarlet said, jumping off of the counter. "You are the only person in this mansion that understands and cares about me. So...Be safe for this bitch." She pushed the box of ice cream sandwiches towards him. "Here. Have the last one before the kids wake up and fight over it. I'll – I'll see you tomorrow."
Before Logan could say anything, Scarlet had already turned and walked out of the kitchen. He set his beer down on the counter beside him and sighed.
"What am I going to do about that girl?" he wondered, reaching into the box and pulling out the remaining ice cream sandwich.
OOOOOOOOO
Scarlet tossed and turned in her bed after trying to fall asleep. She sat up and looked at her roommates, all sleeping and snoring peacefully in their beds. It was unfair how easily that they could fall asleep and how they could stay asleep without any trouble. She had never had a good night's sleep like that in her entire life.
"Bitches,"she hissed under her breath, throwing her legs over the side over the bed.
She walked towards the door and moved through it like it didn't exist. The halls were dimly lit and eerily silent as she walked down the carpeted floor. Scarlet wrapped her arms around herself, glancing around at the art that littered the walls.
"Maybe I could do some of the chores that Chuck wants me to do tomorrow right now," Scarlet muttered to herself, pacing the length of the dorm level of the mansion. "That way, I can have more free time to...to..." She scratched her head. "What could I do?"
The copy mutant stopped in the middle of the hallway and looked at the door that she had paused in front of. She bit her thumb as she focused her thoughts on the person that slept beyond the wooden barrier.
Logan...
Scarlet flinched as she saw his body being pulled and stretched apart as her father held him under his power. She could see the pained expression on Logan's face and hear his cries as each bone popped and stretched at the will of Magneto. Her stomach tightened and her heart pounded in her ears.
Logan...
Scarlet reeled back a step and pressed a hand over her mouth. I don't want to think about that. Not again. Logan's going to be okay. I will do everything that I can do to make sure that he's going to be okay for as long as I live. Because he really is the only one that cares about me. And I really need him in my life..
Shaking her head, Scarlet turned away from the door and headed back down the hall.
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A/N: Well? Let me know what you think in the little box. And I'll try to do better with updates. Thanks, my loves. -Scarlet