Chapter 5
Emily said good bye to Ann and shoved her last suitcase in the fire. When it had disappeared she stepped in herself and repeated the words the woman, at the Ministry of Magic's Department of Trans-Contenital Transportation, had told her to say. The familiar feeling took hold of her and after five minutes of travel she dropped off at the American branch of the DoTCT. It took three hours to get through all the paper work and find her luggage.
"Is someone picking you up miss?" a young man asked her.
"Yes, if you can point me in the direction of a public phone. I told him I would call when I got through all of this." She motioned around indicating to the surrounding area. With a sweet smile.
"I would love to. But, it's easier to just use my phone right here." He turned his phone around for her to use it. Quickly she dialed the number Uncle Charlie had given her.
"Hello?" it was Scott.
"Hey stranger! You picking me up?"
"Who is this?" he asked.
"It's Emily."
"Oh, yes! I'll be there in ten minutes." The line went dead.
"Thank you sir." Emily said as she hung up the phone.
"No problem. It's nice to see someone come through here who has everything planned."
"I've made this trip hundreds of times."
"Then how come I haven't see you here before?"
"Because, I've not made this trip in a long while."
She then started making her way to the door. She sat on a bench in front of the large brick building. It looked no different than the thousands of other buildings in this town. She was glad magic went so far to conceal itself. The likely hood of witches and wizards being burned at stake still would be far greater if they hadn't learned to hide. She let herself drop off into thought of how the mutants could do the same to hide. But as always the oppion on her dear Uncle Erik would come to mind. "We shouldn't need to hide to be accepted my girl." How many times had he set her on his knee and spoke those words in her ear.
"Emily Elizabeth?" a familiar voice called yanking her from her thoughts. Her head snapped up and there stood Scott. He'd grown several inches taller and didn't look so much like a rag doll now. "That can't possibly be you." He said coming closer. She smiled.
"OHH Little Scottie!" she said standing up to hug him. For a long moment they stood old dispute forgotten and just held each other right there on the New York street. "It has been far to long." Emily said pulling away from him. They took each other in slowly updating the images they'd played host to since they were 17.
"You look great!" he grinned.
"You're not such an awful sight for sore eyes yourself." She shot back.
"Let's get your things loaded. My car is the blue one right there." He nodded toward a very expensive sports car as he grabbed hold of two of her bags. Emily gathered up the others wonder if it would be horrid of her to use magic.
"Spiffy wheels there kid. What you do to get them?" she asked as he popped the trunk.
"The Professor gave them to me." He shrugged loading the final bag.
"Professor? What ever happened to Ole Charles or one of the other names we used to call him?" she asked.
"I grew up." He said opening her door. They both climbed into the car and buckled up in silence. They drove a ways before either made a noise.
"Can we at least have the radio on or a CD or something?" Scott nodded reached down never removing his eyes from the road a flipped on his radio. Automatically, horror reached Emily's ears, as a boy band sang about losing a love. "What on earth is this?" she demanded.
"Oh Ummm, I don't remember their name right off."
"Scottie, did something happen while I was gone? Did you convert to a 13 year old girl?"
"No."
"Here, let me update your tastes a little then." She pulled her large purse up onto her lap and rummaged through it finally pulling out a stack of CD's rubber band together. Shuffling through them she found one she approved of and slid it into the CD player. After a few seconds that seemed to take an eternity, Fat Bottom Girls reached their ears.
"Who is that?" Scott asked sounding very much like her father had when he first heard the band.
"This is Queen. I've got others if you like but this is more what a 35 year old man should be listening to. Not Backstreet Boys. The Beetles, sure they were a great band. But N'SYNC doesn't cut it."
"Right."
"Logan, you need to be on your way." Charles implored.
"I'm going I'm going. Just let me go say Bye to Marie." The man said grounding out his cigar and standing up.
Though Charles had no solid proof he was certin that Logan was the only person who'd be able to find his niece's husband. But this wasn't the first time he'd had to trust instinct over knowledge when Emily Elizabeth was a factor. Her entire childhood she'd done things that weren't normal by even his standards and her connection to 'the Wolverine' was defiantly a strong one he'd have to trust.
Watching the man lumber down the hall he was reminded of the letters from Denise. She wrote fondly of a young man, whom at the time was about their age, that her husband had hired to tend their stock. Denise and Austin were originally from a small farming town in England close to the Ireland border. They both adored animals and even while they lived in New York, at the mansion would bring in several creatures not commonly kept by or even seen outside of a petting zoo in New York.
"Professor?" he turn around to stare into the brown eyes of Storm.
"Yes." He answered sounding gruffer and more formal than he had intended.
"Scott just called. He's picking up Mrs. Rees right now." He nodded.
"Good. Will you see Logan out then. I want him gone before Emily Elizabeth gets here." Orora nodded acknowledging her new orders and left him in the middle of one of the many long hall ways.
He decided to head toward his office knowing that there would be a class forming there soon. It was one of his favorite classes to teach. Literature, was one of his favorite classes as a child and now he was older and confined to a wheel chair he spent much of his time reading. It was hard to believe that a nation founded on the back of hard working men could have strayed so far from the entertainment that had sustained their forefathers. Children were far to interested in video games and computers to ever pick up a good book. When asked to do a research paper many of them would say "I'll google it later." Instead of asking for an encyclopedia. But his class was one of the few he could teach with out having to hear about askjeeves, google, or some other search engine that practically did the work for the children. Today's class was on a good he'd read several times and taken a lot out of, Lord of the Flies.
"Already leaving? You just got here." Marie said as she walked with Logan to the living room.
"Yes, well I only stopped by to check on you. Xavier has something he wants me to look into."
"What?" she asked him. He knew it was useless to try and refuse her answers because since the day he met her he'd given her anything she asked for.
"I'm not s'posed to say but, I'll give you a hint. It's to do with the new teacher you've got coming."
"New teacher? I didn't know we had a new teacher coming."
"Yea, she should be here any time now."
"And you're not going to stay to greet her?" Marie asked a smirk pulling at her lips.
"No, I've got more important things to do. You'll say 'hi' for me though." He said giving one of her white strips a pull.
"Yes."
"That's my girl. Come on then." He opened his arms and hugged her tightly.
As much as Logan hated to leave her behind he hated the idea of the danger she'd be in if he brought her. Careful not to let their skin touch they parted and Marie watched him speed down the drive on Cyclopes' motorcycle. Logan had seen Storm watching them from a distance waiting to shoo him away if he took too long. It was a wonder that girl didn't explode with all the hate she allowed to brew in herself. He could only imagine it had worsened since Jean's passing.
Logan pushed theses thoughts aside as thoughts of his new mission began to fill his mind. Since he'd met Striker he no longer needed to know who he was. What he'd discovered that night had been enough to prosuade his search to other areas, such as a steady job. When work failed to employ him he'd go to Xavier who was always in need of something. This time it was to find the lost husband of a new teacher. All Logan knew was the man's name was Logan Rees, he'd spent several years in England working as a farm hand when he fell in love and married Emily Elizabeth Baskins. Emily was the daughter of two mutants her father controlled, and even started fire on command while her mother was the opposite she played with ice. Logan and Emily's relationship had been looked down on by the whole family because he was much older than she. Mr. Rees had come to the states when no one would employ him in the UK because of his contacts with mutants. He'd gotten several odd jobs in the states and was setting up to bring his wife and daughter to a new home when he disappeared.
Logan knew this wasn't going to be enough to go on. Mrs. Rees had refused to tell what line of work he'd been in. What his mutation was. Or anything else that would single him out. She had however sent a description: he was tall, dark hair, muscular build, strong sense of morals. But that too wasn't going to be much help. Logan sighed and leaned into the bike. Now more than ever he was determined to put miles between himself and Xavier's School for Gift Youngsters.
By the time the 18 tracks had played themselves out Emily and Scott had fallen into a deep silence. What lay between them was a hurdle neither was willing to cross just yet. Emily moved her hand from her own lap to the gear stick that sat between them. Now between her palm and the gear stick was Scott's hand.
"Don't." His eyes didn't leave the road.
"Scott, what all has happened since I left?" he moved his hand causing her to retract her own.
"I had a steady girl. I got a job that I love. Hell, Emmi I finally became the guy we always said we'd become. The good guy who fights the bad guys. It isn't just some game. But…"
"Had? You had a steady girl? What happened?"
"She's gone." he said in a far away voice.
"Define gone."
"Dead. Bye-bye. Resting in peace." She looked at him as saw tears rolling down his checks. He had the little twitch in his lip she had once found so adorable.
"I'm sorry I didn't know."
"You should have." he muttered just barly loud enough for her to hear.
"I should have known? How was I supposed to know?"
"It was Jean." something set over Emily that she hadn't felt in years. A deep sadness mixed with a raging fury that she'd felt only once before.
"And how exactly was I going to know?"
"You should have been here. You should have been with me! Here! I shouldn't of had to write. I should never of had to tell you because you should have been here." His voice had peaked at 'here' and then dropped into a whisper.
"You're still pissed off because I married Logan." she wasn't sure if it was a statement or a question.
"I don't know……Emily, we're here." She looked up ahead of them. There it sat the mansion. Some how it was even more grand than she had remembered.
Scott didn't even bother to help her with her baggage. She pulled out her wand with a quick swish and a flick it rose from the trunk and floated behind her. She pushed past Scott who had paused at the door and into the large school. She took it all in slowly. To her right was a winding stair case that she'd once rode down on a comforter with Scott laughing at her side. The first door on the right down the hall on her left would bring you to the room in which she had shared her first kiss with Scott. When she turned around to see him eyes closed glasses off cleaning them on his shirt she wanted to run to him.
"Charlie in the same place? I should go to his office and tell him I'm here." she said instead. He nodded.
"I should show you."
"No need, Cyclopes." she strode off. Memory didn't fail her and she found her way to her uncles office. Before she even knocked on the door it opened and there stood a beautiful black woman with eyes the color of Hershey's kisses.
"Hello." she said it in a stiff way that made Emily wonder if someone had ironed her.
"T'sup." Emily grinned stepping into the office past the woman.
"You had a fight with Scott." Uncle Charlie said looking her over.
"Doesn't anybody believe in a friendly 'Hi how ya doin' ' anymore?"
"Emily Elizabeth meet Orora, or as she insists on being called Storm."
"Your suitcase just smacked the wall." Storm said leaning out the door.
"Oh!" Emily called her luggage to her side and then looked back to Xavier. "I've missed you Uncle Charlie!" she went around the desk and leaned down wrapping her arms around the man. He patted her arm.
"I missed you too. Now, go sit. Storm what we discussed will be fine. I think you should see to Rouge and Iceman." Storm left the room making nearly no noise.
"Uncle?"
"What was is it you wanted to badly to tell me?" he said getting straight to bussines.
"The Department of Mutant Control has been pressing for a while now to make a world wide sweep of mutants. Their main concern is the US. The United States has been a huge influence on the rest of the world. Through, means I'm not sure of they have received intelligence that, well put it simply this year they will be attacking this school." Charlie looked at his niece for a long moment not sure if he really wanted to believe her but knowing she was telling the truth. He nodded.
"Okay, what do you propose we do?"
"I plan to teach the students to defend themselves against magic by bettering their skills against other mutants of varying abilities."
"Good. How have you been dear?" he asked, making it known that it was time to move on.
"Well Uncle. How are things here?"
"I don't know Josh. I mean are the states grand enough to bother?" Josh wrapped his arms tighter around her as they watched the sun set beyond the lake.
"Is your freedom?" He asked. It never stopped amazing her the simplistic way he thought.
"You won't let me get in too deep will you?" she asked leaning back into his chest.
"I will never stop you Ann Marie. But I will always be there to pick you up when you fall."
"Is that a yes or a no?"
"You'll know when the time comes." he kissed the top of her head and a sudden feeling of safety washed over her.
"Mmmmk, Josh you know I love you right?" she felt him nod. "Good."
"Do you know how?" she knew this game and played along.
"No, how?"
"Because when you walk in the room and see me, you glow. And when we are all alone you flash me this look that screams 'I'm yours'."
"How else?" she asked.
"It's in the way you touch me when you don't want anyone to know what we are really up to. It's plain as day in the way you move."
"Anything else?"
"Oh, the most important way."
"What is that?"
"May I show you?" he asked and she nodded turning around to face him. "It's the way when we are close like this and you lean in like this," he leaned in closer. "and then your perfect lips purse. I feel your breath on my face. Every inch of my body, every cell of my blood, and my entire soul craves to be even closer to you and not let even the light seep between us. Then our lips meet like this." It was hard to refuse him anything at her best but it was only the fact that she knew soon one of the teachers would sweep out on the lawns to shoo everyone back to their common rooms that kept her from giving in to him.
"Ooooh Josh, we mustn't." she said pulling back.
"I know." he scooted away from her. "We must wait until…. What are we waiting for?"
"A promise I made to expire. Come on we should get back to the common room." Ann Marie stood up held out her hand for Josh.
Emily Elizabeth followed Scott, who Charlie had called, into her bedroom. She was horrified by what she saw, nothing had changed. The walls were a pastel pink, on her bed were the same lightly colored flowered blankets. She walked in and dropped her bags. Looking around she stared blankly at the walls.
"Oh my gosh!" Scott was leaning against the door frame a slight smirk on his lips.
"What?"
"It's, I don't know. Nothing has changed. I figured Charlie would have given it to one of the other kids."
"No, not his precious little Emmi's wooom." he laughed.
"Oh shut up!" she pulled open the top drawer on the dresser and dug to the bottom, she picked up a small silver key then went to the closet.
"What on earth are you doing Liz?"
"Wait." she pulled up the carpet in the closet the slid away a wooden door . She reached down and pulled up a tin box. Covering the hole again she crawled to the middle of the room.
"That would be?"
"My treasure box." she grinned looking up. Emily unlocked the box and started pulling out the items. "Do you remember this?" she asked holding up a tiny ring from a gum ball machiine.
"Yea, I gave that to you when we were little." she nodded and pulled out birthday card.
"Emma Lizzy, You're my best friend so have a Happy Birthday. Party hard and I hope you get everything you want. Your Best Friend Scott." she read on the front was a drawing of a boy and a girl holding hands the girl was wearing a party hat that matched her pink triangle of a dress.
"Emma Lizzy?" Scott mummble slipping in the room.
"Yea, Jenna always called me Emma and Zander would call me Lizzy. So when you first got here you just called me Emma Lizzy. Oh… Look Scottie! It's the receipt from that liquor store we went to." Scott went to take it and their hands touched.
"That was a bad night." he said stepping back leaving the faded piece of paper in her hand.
"Like you remember it."
"More than you do, at least. Well you get settled in. I'll send someone to get you in time for dinner."
With the warm fuzzy moment gone Emily threw the box across the room, tears building in her eyes. She wanted to remind Scott of the fun they had once had. Instead she had just reminded him he was supposed to hate her. She pulled herself to her feet and unpacked her things. She was forced to charm her dresser and closet to hold more. All the make-up and perfums that she had left behind with the rest of her childhood had to be thrown out and replaced by colors other than hot pink and scents that didn't smell like Strawberry Shortcake. When this task had been completed she set herself down to write a letter to her daughter. She included in it an additional letter for Ann and instruction on when to send her owl back. She was interrupted from her task by a knock at the door.
"Um Ma'am you in there?" A girls voice came.
"Yes, come in." she said addressing.
"Ma'am Cyclopes sent me to bring you to dinner."
"Yes, of course the man couldn't come himself. Remember that for the future. Men are weak and stuborn." Emily said turning around. "Anyway, I'm Emily Elizabeth. Whom might you be?"
"I'm Rouge." the girl said with a smile.
"I love what you've done with your hair. I always wanted to dye mine. Parents would have killed me though."
"What's stopping you now?" she asked. Emily laughed.
"I'm not sure. So Rouge, that's not your birth name. What made you chose it."
"I always liked it. I guess. Don't you have a nick name?"
"Not like that. My school didn't encourage such."
"Where did you go to school?"
"Hogwarts, it's a school in England."
"You run away or your parents send you?"
"My parents sent me. You run to get here?"
"Sort of. I was running away after if first…. Mutated or whatever, and I found this guy Wolverine and hitched a ride with him. His truck wrecked and the X-Men saved us."
"Sounds like you've had a lot of excitement. I would enjoy hearing more of them. But for now why don't we head for dinner?"
"Of course." The two continued talking all the way to the dinning hall and after a quick introduction, to Bobby Drake/ Iceman, they talked straight through dinner.
