(Flashback of ch4)
Dawn settled into one of the nearby chairs as she commented at the bunch. "The odd ones you know Oz. Why doesn't it surprise me you know mutants?"
The young man shrugged. "Must be my personality. Kinda attracts the weird people." He smirked at Dawn as she looked offended. She swung her hand without warning, hitting his arm with a pleased grin on her face. "Ow," Oz rubbed him injured body part.
"Baby," Dawn declared as she leaned the chair back. The door opened up and she slammed the feet onto the floor in surprise. A young man with short brown hair and a slim statue stepped into the room and the young woman behind him. Dawn recognized her from earlier and mentally noted Xavier calling her Rogue.
So this must be Scott Summers, Dawn thought to herself as she looked him over. He wore a pair of khasi slacks and a blue sweater. She vagued noted the red shades he was wearing as she rose from the chair and extended her hand in greeting.
"Hi, I'm Dawn Summers." She offered him a smile and he shook her hand. "This is Oz," she stated as she motioned towards the young man still sitting.
"I'm Scott, and this is Rogue," the girl nodded her head and grabbed a seat across from Oz. The werewolf sniffed the air as discreetly as he could, noting an unusual aura around Rogue, but said nothing concerning it. Scott sat next to his teammate as Dawn turn her place beside Oz.
"The professor said you've already talked to Alex." Scott stated casually.
Dawn and Oz nodded and the latter handed Scott, the same folder he had offered the younger Summers boy just the day before. "Hopefully your reaction won't be as, upsetting."
Scott nodded and opened up the folder. He slid it between him and Rogue and the two glanced through it silently for a moment. Dawn looked at Oz suspiciously, being unclear of Scott's relationship with Rogue and thinking it was inappropriate for her to be looking at the documents that told of Scott's family. The werewolf merely offered a shrug and a small smile. He had seen the contents and he wasn't family, so what was the harm in it, if Scott felt he trusted this young woman.
"So how did you find all this out?" Scott asked as he closed the folder.
"Spring Cleaning," Oz answered automatically. Dawn scowled at him and he glanced down at the table, crestfallen. Scott and Rogue exchanged concerned looks before Dawn spoke.
"Actually we were going through Buffy's, your mother's, personal things. That's how we stumbled upon my sister's secret life."
Scott was glad he was sitting because the news certainly would have knocked him off his feet. "How long has it been since she died?" He managed to ask with a steady voice, while his insides were bouncing around like mad.
"Most recently? I'd say about a month." Seeing the looks of confusion on the X-Men's faces, Dawn explained further, "Buffy had a tendency of coming back to life. Several times in fact. But it's for permanent this time, she saw to it herself. Good news is we have reasons to believe your father's still alive."
Scott released the breath he hadn't realized he was holding. All he ever thought about his folks were lies. They survived the plane crash, his mother has survived death numerous times apparently, and now there's a chance his father was alive. "Well, I'm not too sure what happens next." Scott confessed with a shrug, Rogue gave his hand a small squeeze then motioned her head towards Dawn.
"Ah think ya two should get ta know each other. Make up fer lost time, as it wer." Rogue stated as she rose from her chair. "Why don't ya show your aunt around Scott, Ah'm sure she'd love to see how life at the mansion is like. Ah can keep Oz out of trouble. Rahne said something about he'd enjoy Alex's program in the Danger Room."
Oz shot his head up at 'Danger Room' and glanced around nervously. Scott chuckled at the man's reaction as he rose as well.
"That sounds like a plan." Dawn nodded and pushed Oz to follow Rogue out the door.
"Computer Execute sequence Alpha Summers 8-2-1-5-9. Clearance level Rogue."
"Access granted. Sequence Alpha Summers 8-2-1-5-9 has been initated, program will began in ten minutes."
Rogue looked Oz over in the control tower and walked to a shelf that held different styles of training suits. She handed him a black wetsuit and pointed to the changing room.
"I suggest you get into that. You don't want to be in jeans for this," Rogue explained as she went back to typing on the large keyboard.
Oz looked at the outfit he was just handed, noting the odd "X" symbol on the chest, and walked into the room without saying a word.
"Rogue, what's your status? Over."
The young woman sighed as she pressed the comm button on her jacket, a matching "X" to the one of Oz's wetsuit, and replied. "Danger Room, over."
"Copy that. Is Cyclops with you? Over."
"Negative, he's giving his aunt a tour of the grounds. Over." Rogue typed in the final modifications for Oz's run through of Alex's program as the young man emerged from the room carrying his own clothes in his hands. She glanced over at him and noted the well defined muscles that the suit seemed to accent. Oz noticed the look and secretly wished Dawn was present to see him, knowing she'd enjoy the view as well.
"So what exactly am I doing?" Oz asked as he motioned down to the floor of the DangerRoom.
Before Rogue could answer however, the emergency lights flashed and the siren wailed. "Red Alert. The Institution is on Red Alert. Faculty and students report to the DangerRoom immediately. This is not a drill. Red Alert. The Institution is on..."
"Storm, what's going on!" Rogue screamed into the comm as she reached up with her hand to lower the volume of the siren for the control room. The door to the Danger Room flew open and the students rushed in, all talking excitedly. Oz noted a few adults were ushering the kids in as Xavier appeared rose in the elevator to the tower. He wheeled up to the control panel as Rogue jumped up and with a press of a button, his voice echoed through the DangerRoom causing silence to engulf the occupants.
"Please, you all must remain calm. X-Men make your way up to the control tower. The rest of you mingle amongst yourselves until an emergency program is activated." They had little time to comply as the scenery changed from the hard metal walls to the sandy beach, a sunshine peeking out from over the horizon. The students whooped and hollared their pleasure with the sequence and many raced into the cool waters, still dressed in jeans and such. Jamie had spotted the boards and made enough copies of himself so that he carried a board of a different color. The Jamies laughed happily as they paddled out and awaited the waves. Meanwhile Amara and Jubilee laid on their backs, contently sunning themselves. As the younger students broke off to enjoy the sand and surf, the X-Men rode the elevator Xavier had used just moments ago to get to the tower.
Cutting off the two way mic, Xavier wheeled to face his team, crestfallen that it was missing its leader. The others seemed to notice the shortage of members as well and glanced around in hopes of spotting the hidden friend. Finally Rogue voiced the question that was on everybody's minds.
"Professor, where's Scott?"
