A/N: A very long one for you after that looong wait. Title from Bright Eyes' Lua. Up next: the epilogue.

Guest: Thank you :)

WARNING! Descriptions of drastic injuries and a looooot of pain

Chapter 16: What's So Simple In The Moonlight By The Morning Never Is

Evan emerged from the fiery wreck of the city center with Wanda delicately cradled to his chest. Pietro swallowed the bile that rose to his throat and ran over, taking his sister from his… Ex-best friend? Ex-nemesis? Who was Evan Daniels to him right now?

In between running back and forth with the injured he didn't allow himself to worry about her, knowing what it would do to him. But when Phoenix decided to fuck with her head further, unlock whatever father pushed back – don't think about it.

"Thank you" He nodded, looking straight into his eyes to try and avoid casting his eyes on the overgrown bone. "Will you stay?"

"No" Evan shook his head, his hand reaching for Wanda's, before retreating to his side. "Not now. Maybe… Maybe someday."

Pietro put Wanda down on the nearest stretcher and walked over to him, hugging the man. It was awkward and physically uncomfortable with Daniels' spikes, but his arms still circled around Pietro's back.

"You can always come up and hang out with the Hood" He patted the bone over Evan's shoulder-blade before stepping back. "I-I've got a kid now."

"Whoa" Evan started to blink rapidly. "Wait, how old-"

"She just turned two" Pietro patted his suit pockets until he found a picture. "Luna."

"Cute name" Evan was clearly still shocked, because it took him a while to take the offered paper. "She looks like you."

"Yeah" He hoped she would turn out to be completely different with everything else. But even at two, Luna still showed some Pietro-esque behaviors. Like being awfully impatient, even with her speedster of a father. "She'd probably love to meet you. She already loves the Ninja Turtles."

"Good to know you're still an asshole" Evan gave him back his picture, chuckling. "At least that didn't change."

"I'm serious, Daniels" Pietro made an effort to look the guy straight in the eyes. "Stay for a few days. She'll probably feel better."

He wondered if his sister would ever even speak to him without trying to hurt him.

He deserved that.

Violette's legs were covered in burns, which paired terribly with her bandaged fists. Laura's roommate however waved off her concern, asking if the explosion looked cool. Pyro said it did look beautiful, but her limp noodle body blown back by it ruined his experience. His right hand was left to rest for now, to be set after a series of X-rays. Piotr fussed over the blankets covering each of them, murmuring to himself in Russian. She caught a few curses, but actively refused to listen closely, knowing it was his way to cope. Alex walked around the SHIELD medical tent, touching the tops of their heads while counting to six over and over again, clearly as a way to calm himself. Gambit looked all of them over once before going back to Rogue's cot, raising her gloved hand to rest his forehead on.

"Laura!"

The girl turned away from her hurt teammates to face her surprisingly emotional father. She could clearly see his lip tremble as he walked over and hesitantly reached out his hand. She nodded her head and immediately was pressed into his chest. His suit was ripped to shreds, causing his rough chest hair to tickle her cheek in a bizarre way.

She tried to wrap her arms around him, but her hands still couldn't reach all the way.

"I know I can get through anything, not a thing people haven't tried" He said into her hair, his hand clutching the back of her suit. She could smell the saltiness of tears, sharply contrasting with the usual tabacco and musk. "But with you... Well, guess I doubt our powers."

"I'm okay" She could hear his heart beating rhythmically right by her ear. Her throat dried up, something constricting her windpipe. The vision Phoenix showed her back at the Hellfire base flashed in her mind, making her own eyes sting with unshed tears.

She heard her teammates awkwardly whisper to each other, their voices making her relax enough to let a few of them escape. This was her family, became so in only six months, when the first fifteen years of her life were spent alone. She brushed away her tears with Logan's shredded shirt. When he tried to pull away after a minute she shook her head, tightening her grip on his uniform, despite her spine starting to ache from hunching over.

"Laura?"

She opened her eyes, watching Jamie stumble in, almost tripping over a set of cables running towards the occupied cots.

"Why are you out of your tent, Monkey King?" Logan's voice lacked its usual gruff, but Jamie still shivered under his scrutiny.

"I-I just wanted t-to check up on Laura" The top half of his uniform was off, his chest covered in bandages, small patches of seeped through blood highlighted by the stark white.

"I'm just old trash apparently" She heard Violette whisper to their teammates, Piotr chuckling warmly in the background.

Logan grumbled something and let go of her, ruffling her hair. She could see him raise a finger to his nose and knew he sent Jamie a look, because the boy swallowed audibly.

Laura walked over to him, raising an eyebrow in question.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine-"

"I mean, with the fighting Jean part."

She immediately shut her mouth, her teeth clinking against each other. She let herself glance at the cot she knew was occupied by her, surrounded by privacy screens. Her heartbeat was back to normal, strong but no longer fast like a hummingbirds the way it was while she was still Phoenix. She could clearly smell Jean's blood, not only on the girls cuts but lingering on the spot where Laura wiped her claws off it on her own suit. The boy's blue eyes raked over her face, waiting for a tell on her thoughts.

"It was awful" She finally said, the silence around them making her face heat up. They were far enough from her team so that their hushed voices wouldn't be heard and she felt grateful for that. No need for more people than Jamie to know about it. "And I hope I never have to relive that."

"I'm sorry" He took her hand, the chunky glove she was wearing making hers almost as big as his. He towered over her, his brand new 5'7 starting to dwarf her 5'2, making her even more annoyed about the fact that the adamantium covering her bones stunted her already unimpressive growth. Although with her father sporting a whooping 5'5, she probably didn't have much growing left in her either way.

He sounded genuine, unafraid. She was sure most of the Institute kids still feared her. They probably didn't have a chance not to, only being around her during missions and training. She felt her chest swell, thinking about how he insisted on being near her since the beginning, despite her finding him annoying at first, so she could have a friend.

She nodded, her fingers tightening around his.

"Do you feel okay with hugging?" He asked her, sounding hopeful.

Laura let herself wrap her arms low around his hips, still keeping a minuscule distance to not agitate his cuts. Jamie's hands felt warm against her back, his breath brushing the top of her head in a surprisingly pleasant way.

When they stepped back she decided to think about her feelings at a later date. Because the way he whispered that he cared about her against her forehead made her heart skip a bit.

Lorna looked up as she heard the flap of the med tent she was stationed in open. New Mutants shared it with the Brotherhood, which caused her to ask Mr McCoy to put up privacy curtains all around her cot. She couldn't look at the twins any longer – or rather, look at Pietro. Wanda peacefully laid on her own cot, the slight bruising on her temple and a bandaged arm seeming incredibly slight in comparison to Toad next to her, the skinny boy covered in casts, gauzes and bandages, hooked to machines she had no idea about. Her med training was supposed to start yesterday, but she guessed she'd have to learn on the job at the institute, if anyone let her move at all. She was scheduled for an X-ray after they finished with Bobby, to check whether any of her ribs were broken.

The tiny gap in between her privacy curtains just let her catch a glimpse of purple, but she already knew who it was. Her spine straightened immediately.

She saw him without his helmet a few hours ago and had to admit, she could see the similarities between them. Pietro stood right next to him, but the more she looked between the two of them the less she was convinced he looked like a carbon copy of his father. Their shared coloring did most of the trick, but she could see both her and Wanda took after him more.

What a weird thought. To compare herself this much to complete strangers. Strangers who shared her DNA.

She jumped a bit as she heard a metallic clank – someone was knocking on the frames of the curtain right in front of her.

"Yes?" Her voiced sounded wheezy and weak. She probably did break a rib.

The curtain moved and Magneto – her father – stood before her, his face neutral, although his ripped cape exposed a bandaged thigh. He limped slightly as he walked over to her cot, resting his hand on the frame.

"How are you feeling, Miss Dane?" He didn't look at her, instead grabbing the chart on the foot of her bed. If not for the costume, he'd look as if he were her doctor.

She had no idea how to answer. Miss Dane? He surely knew who she was. The picture in the file X-Force recovered was a bit old, but there was no mistaking her hair.

Magneto sighed and finally let his gaze meet hers. She froze as he half-sat by her feet, suddenly seeming much older. Or maybe his age.

"I'm sorry" He said quietly, as if afraid anyone would hear him apologize. "For not contacting you sooner. I'm afraid I've only learned about your existence a few months before, while you were already at the Institute. Despite my retirement, I doubted it would be a welcome surprise."

She always knew her dad wasn'ther biological father. She suspected he knew that too, from the way he looked at her until the divorce. Her thoughts were confirmed after her parents officially split and he never tried contacting her at all. Her mom thought she had her fooled and pretended he was just a regular asshole who didn't care about his kid. Lorna didn't have the heart to come clean to her.

But yeah, finding out her father was a mutant terrorist, that was a bit of a shock. Maybe finding out from a file was the better option. Let her have some distance.

"It's fine" Because it was. He didn't really owe her anything then, if he had no idea. She should probably be pissed at her mother for keeping her from knowing him, but it was probably for the best. And from the whispers she heard about him and his other kids, she was lucky they met after his retirement.

"I would like to get to know you properly, Miss Dane" Did he think she wouldn't want him to use her name? Was he this formal to let her keep her distance? To cushion his feelings if she refused? She didn't know him well enough to read him, and his guarded expression didn't help. "If you'd be okay with that, of course."

She glanced behind him at the space he exposed while opening her curtain. She could see Pietro sitting next to Wanda's bed. He looked up for a second and their eyes met.

"I-I" They weren't mad anymore. "I need to think about it."

Magneto nodded and stood up, his hand hesitating before landing on her forearm.

"Even if you refuse my offer, you should talk to Pietro and Wanda" He said, the guard behind his eyes cracking. She could see the gray orbs glisten under the fluorescents. "While I may not ever be a part of your family in your eyes, they should be. Believe me, they're amazing and you shouldn't miss a chance to have them in your life."

He looked chocked up as he spoke about them. Something in Lorna cracked. No one ever spoke about her like that, like she was their treasure, like it pained them to think about life without her.

She nodded. Magneto took his hand away and wished her health before limping away, leaving the curtain open.

He finally left his team just to walk into the other tent. She got hurt, but only enough to have to sit out the last few minutes. He was too far away to help her. It was his fault.

She sat at Amara's side, the injured girl breathing slowly but strongly. He looked at her for a second, to tell St. John how she was.

"Tabita" Piotr cleared his throat and pointed towards her shoulder when she looked up. "What did the doctor say?"

"Eh, probably broken collarbone and a giant cast for a while, but I'm towards the end of the X-ray queue" She shrugged with her left one. Her right arm was resting on a sling, tied to her chest with a bandage. "They kinda don't trust me not to move it around. Can't blame them."

They both chuckled. She cocked her head to the side, smirking.

"If you want to cash in that coffee now, I'm afraid we don't really have that many options around."

Piotr felt his cheeks heat up. He rubbed the back of his neck with his left hand, as his right one rested on her uninjured shoulder.

"How about one when we're back home?" He smiled at her, his cheeks surely red by now. "Or maybe чай. Uhm, tea. You'll need your sleep."

"Damn, what a caring guy you are" Her smirk turned into a grin. "Sure. Oh, could you come a bit closer? I think you have something on your face."

He felt mortified, imagining some horrendous blobs of dirt on his face while he talked to her. He obliged and leaned towards her.

Tabitha grabbed the back of his neck with her left hand and closed the gap between them, kissing him. His eyes fluttered shut.

He ignored the whistling somewhere to the side when they moved apart, his face already flaming hot without thinking about having an audience.

"I think we'll have a lot of fun, Pete" She patted his cheek before yawning. "Damn, maybe you were right about taking a nap. Think you could help me stand up, big guy? I'm kinda wobbly and don't want to break a fall with my last good hand."

Instead of that he picked her up delicately, smiling as her own cheeks turned a dusty pink. He put her down on an unoccupied cot, leaving a tender kiss on her forehead before leaving.

Remy decided to let Wolverine battle it out with SHIELD when the organization wanted to move them to their base instead of the Institute. He knew the man would do anything to keep their hands away from both Jean and Rogue.

She wanted him to know her name. He wasn't sure if only him, so he kept it to himself, mouthing it along her covered knuckles to test it out.

Anna.

He knew it already, could feel it the second he heard her say it. Just before she touched him.

Remy's eyes traveled to her other hand, pale and exposed to the chilly early morning air. He didn't know if the touch was a fluke or a thing to stay. He'd love to say he didn't care about it, but knew it would influence her thoughts about them being together, as if her powers were the thing stopping them before. She finally let him in despite them, after months of convincing and a realization of her own mortality. Would that fleeting touch, a quick brush of fingers against his cheek, make her retreat?

He felt a heavy hand clap his shoulder.

"We're going home, Gumbo" Logan's gruff voice sounded weird, the underlying exhaustion seeming out of place. He sounded like all of them felt. "Keep an eye on her until we're rid of them."

Any samples they craved were probably already picked out from the bins overflowing with used gauze and bandages. But Remy still nodded, the man's grasp on his shoulder tightening for a second before disappearing.

Apparently he just earned his X-Men stripes.

Traveling back to the Institute with so many of them injured was a hard, but thankfully quick process. With the abundance of SHIELD helicopters and jets on the scene doing 'clean up' he was in the med bay still by Rogue's side in two hours.

"She'll probably be up soon" Beast checked her vitals for the last time, sighing. "Please tell her the Professor's already awake. She'll feel better knowing that."

He didn't mention Jean.

He looked around the tiny kitchen, feeling a bit uncomfortable in the unfamiliar space. Wanda was lying upstairs, still unconscious after he took her down. Todd got moved along with all of the machinery into his room, but he was set to wake up in a few hours as the drugs wore off. Fred stood by the stove, refusing Evan's offer of help as he made piles of different favorites, comforting himself while making the Brotherhood's comfort foods. Lance sat with his chair scooted as close to Kitty's as possible, his right arm pulling the surprisingly unharmed girl even closer, his left one covered in antibiotic cream. Evan was glad to at least have Kitty here with him, even if she was ten times more at ease.

His eyes kept drifting to the toddler Pietro bounced on his knees. Luna stared right back, her hands moving as if to poke the bone covering his forearm.

Maybe this was a mistake.

"Do you wanna hold her, Daniels?" Pietro's tone barely resembled what he sounded like all those years ago. Only a sliver of the mocking remained, covered by warmth and joy that sounded incredibly unusual for Evan.

"Sure" He delicately put his hands on Luna's sides, transferring her to his knees. The girl poked at the bone covering his peck. "Hi there. I'm Evan."

She cocked her head to the side.

"Hi, I'm Luna" She smiled, showing a perfect set of tiny teeth. She pointed towards the bones on the top of his head. "Turtle?"

Evan sighed as everyone started chuckling. He couldn't help but join in, his previously tense shoulders sagging.

The moment he woke up, he needed to be near her.

Warren – what is he doing here? - had to stop him from going after the teams, at times with logic, other times with brute force. Because he couldn't stay behind. He couldn't leave them to fight alone. He couldn't leave her alone. Not when she needed him.

When they came back, Scott could once again feel her. The connection they forged way back when he helped her during her first power surge, the one he thought they lost a few weeks ago, when her mind started to betray her.

Jean was back to the way she was before the headaches, levitating things at random and accidentally reading minds. Back to normal.

Her breathing was even, stable. He could see the way her chest rose and lowered in fluid movements. The steady beating of her heart rang through the room.

Up - and down. Up - and down.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

There were a few scratches on her face and he caught a glimpse of a bandage around her thigh before Mr McCoy covered her with the sheet. But she looked miles better than most of the other residents of the Institute. Gambit and Jamie had to be looked over for any stray pieces of glass embedded into their bodies. Tabitha was put in a cast that basically covered her entire chest. Sam and Rahne were covered head to toe in bruises, to the point where they couldn't even lay down without hurting something further, but dubiously lucky to not have broken anything major. The casualties seemed even worse than after Apocalypse – hell, he heard Alvers would probably have a burned imprint of Jean's hand for the rest of his life, that they had to figure out how to properly set Tolansky's leg because of his joints and operate him on site.

If he just waited long enough, she'd wake up. She'd be back and he could finally rest.

Her eyelashes fluttered for a few seconds before her eyes finally opened, closing almost immediately after being assaulted by the fluorescent lights.

She should probably be used to them by now, ending up here as much as she did. Soon enough Rogue was bound to get her own room down in the med-bay.

There was an ache deep inside her bones she had to chalk up to Phoenix. She didn't know what her body did after absorbing her, but nothing seemed broken or newly hurt – she probably stayed in one spot.

There was a weight next to her. She turned her head to the side, not surprised to see Remy. His previously exposed (although heavily bandaged) torso was covered with a pristine white T-shirt, looking a bit ridiculous with the lower half of his suit covered in dirt and blood. His forehead rested against her gloved knuckles, some of his bronze hair tickling her forearm.

"Remy?"

His head immediately shot up, his red on black eyes taking a second to focus on her face.

"Cherie" His voice was tinted with the shallow sleep she woke him up from. "L-Let me just-"

He pressed the button next to her bed, yawning.

"H-How is-"

"The Prof's up" He brushed his hair back with his right hand while his left never strayed from covering her gloved fingers. "And fine. Red's still asleep. Kitty's with the Hood, in great health. Elf's a bit singed and sleeping it off. Don't worry, cherie."

His words slurred together and she could see his head fall a bit when he closed his eyes. He suddenly jerked up.

"Merde. Mon amour, j'ai l'impression de mourir" He sighed, blinking slowly. "Pardonne-moi, je vais juste..."

His head fell back to rest on her bed, a minute before Mr McCoy arrived into the room.

"Rogue, I'm overjoyed you decided to join us" He looked fondly at Remy for a second before walking over to her. "I'm afraid Mr LeBeau refused to properly rest while you were sleeping."

"Did I hurt anyone?" She swallowed, her mouth uncomfortably dry. Mr McCoy passed her a cup of water.

"Little sips" He nodded, writing something down on her chart. "We have yet to see what absorbing Phoenix might have done to your mind and body. Other than that, no one sustained any injuries resulting from your actions."

She mulled something over. The last few moments of her being in possession of that power.

"Mr McCoy, could you… Tell me exactly what happened?"

He nodded, pulling up a chair next to her bed.

"I believe that the flames around you two subsided after you touched Jean. Jean collapsed and was immediately moved to the med tent. You levitated for w few minutes, surrounded by the Phoenix flames. Phoenix said her last threat before you defeated her. That was it – Mr LeBeau brought you back to the tent."

She blinked a few times before looking back at Remy. She could swear…

The glove on the hand next to him was new. A black, SHIELD uniform one. She glanced at her other hand. Bare.

"I believe he asked for one to hold your hand" The teacher's raised eyebrows and smirk caused her to blush. "A SHIELD medic found a pair. I'm afraid your old ones burned down during the fight."

The memory hit her like a bus. Brushing Remy's cheek – she didn't expect it to be that soft, his stubble long enough not to prickle her fingers. It wasn't as warm as she imagined, the evening breeze turning his skin cold to the touch, especially after her close encounter with the flames.

She moved her hands immediately to her lap, grasping the sheet.

The second Kurt was up he ported to the med-bay. It was a stupid idea – the whole reason he was knocked out was the overuse of his powers during the whole fight – and he paid for it by face-planting on the floor, his head swimming.

"Kurt! Shit, I can't get up."

He raised his head a tiny bit, his chin resting on the cool tile. Violette looked at him from the comfort of her cot, her face twisted with worry.

"Christus, ich liebe dich" He mumbled, a smile slowly spreading over his face.

"Yeah, yeah, it would be better if you didn't try to get yourself hurt cause of that" She sighed, but her own lips also curled up. "I guess we'll have a bit of a down time this summer, eh?"

"You tell it to the next big bad, liebe" He hoisted himself up, a low groan leaving his mouth. "The truly awful ones seem to be more and more frequent."

"Maybe the bad guys will retire for a while though" Her bandaged palm patted the space next to her injured legs, smirking. "We did already get Maggie to do it. And Frost is behind bars."

"Ja, wouldn't want to deal with the weird sex cult now" He chuckled, plopping himself down. His hand raised to her cheek, his thumb drawing tiny circles on her skin. "I love you."

"I love you too" Violette's green eyes glistened, suddenly moist. "Jesus Kurt, please let's take a vacation."

They both laughed and Kurt couldn't help but kiss her, feeling happy and so, so lucky to be here.

His leg bounced as if his life depended on it, a cup of coffee and a pack of Advil in front of him.

He shouldn't have insisted that he was fine, maybe they would have given him something fun.

Kitty's delicate hand rested on his knee, stilling him.

"They'll be fine" She whispered into his bare shoulder, leaving a kiss on his tan skin.

Usually it would make him shiver. Right now it reminded him about the marks on his other arm, the way Phoenix looked at him, like he was some kind of vermin.

He reflexively flexed his hands, the movement of muscles aggravating his burns. He winced, a flash of white hot pain clouding his vision.

"Stop being a dumbass, Alvers" Pietro put a cup of coffee before a surprising addition to their kitchen table, a smiling Daniels holding their favorite B-Hood member. "Flexing only works if they didn't already see you naked."

He growled, the house lightly trembling. Kitty tucked her face into his arm, her cheeks warming his bare skin.

Neither Freddy nor Pietro seemed alarmed at all, giggling at him like two middle schoolers. Daniels looked a bit shaken – hah – but Luna just clapped her hands, laughing.

He definitely lost his power to make these idiots tremble.

He thought back to when he first moved into the house, how Todd latched onto him as if he were his cool older brother, annoying and always there, while Violette just treated him like a girl-friend, joking with him, whining to him and playfully putting him down a peg.

Maybe he never had that power.

He looked around the little table, feeling pangs in his heart at the lack of Todd, Wanda and Violette.

He had to get his family back, all of them.

They all jumped at the three methodical thumps coming from above. Todd was up and undoubtedly saw the 'stomp three times' sign next to the broom, now stationed next to his bed.

"I'll check on him" Freddy wiped is hands on a kitchen towel and walked off, a cup of tea with honey in his hands.

"Thank God we have the big guy" Pietro sighed, brushing his hair back before taking his daughter back from Daniels.

"I think I'll go now" The guy murmured after a minute of silence, waving off all of their protests. "Nah, I don't want to be a burden. Besides, they probably miss me by now."

"Miss you? An angsty boulder?" Pietro earned a punch to the arm from Kitty. "Ouch, I'm just teasing Pryde. Seriously Daniels, stay. Maybe Wanda won't break your face once she wakes up."

"I don't know, I was a pretty dumb kid back then, complained a lot about the games she wanted to play and stuff" He stood up, still hunched over despite stretching. Lance imagined the kind of lower back pain he must suffer from. "And it's almost light. Wouldn't want to scare any young kids dropping off newspapers."

"Seeing what just happened I doubt you're gonna be that exciting" Kitty winked at him, her smile turning a bit sad. "Evan, like, don't be a stranger, okay?"

"I'll try" He nodded at the two of them before leaning over towards Luna and ruffling her blonde waves. "Bye bye, Luna."

"Bye bye" The girl yawned as she waved, nestling her face in Pietro's shirt.

"Take care" Pietro patted his arm, the other hand rubbing soothing circles on Luna's back. "And come back to the surface every once in a while, Donatello."

Lance chuckled as Kitty once again leaned over the table to punch his teammate.

Her mind was silent.

She opened her eyes, the unfamiliar quiet seemingly squeezing her from all sides. If not for the steady beating of a heart monitor she'd think she were dead.

She was alone, the room lit up by a soft, yellowish lamp in the corner. The fluorescents above were turned off. She always disliked them, even while she was at the hospital only for her classes. They seemed too sterile and from her experience both as a patient and a med student, didn't help with recovery at all.

Her eyes shifted to the other side of the room, an abandoned chair with her favorite book, The Great Gatsby.

Scott.

The fog clouding her mind started to dissipate, her memories coming back. There was so much pain, both hers and not, and the flames…

'Jean.'

She normally felt comforted by the Professor's voice, how it reminded her that she wasn't alone with her mind, the thoughts swimming around it. But now it made her stiffen, the memory of hurting him coming to the forefront.

She had to get out.

'Jean, please. We can help you recover from this.'

She hurt so many of them. Her hands punched and broke and burned them. Her words cut deep into them as she violated whatever trust they had, reaching for their insecurities, their trauma, their fears.

'No one blames you.'

But their minds all screamed Jean as they fought. Their eyes all saw her.

She tried to reach for the book with her hand, but the chair was too far from her bed. She tried again with the use of her powers, but the paperback twitched and stayed in place. She concentrated all her power into this single thing, light as a feather, but it wouldn't budge.

'Jean?'

She stopped, wiping away the sweat from her brow. Tears of frustration spilled onto her cheeks. She sat up and turned off the heart monitor before detaching it from her finger.

She tried to block her mind from him. It was just a simple implantation of words, she learned how to do it when she was thirteen.

'I'm so sorry.'

The silence wasn't due to her regular blocks, the ones that deteriorated for the past few months. She just simply couldn't hear their thoughts.

Isn't this what she wanted when she was younger? For the voices to stop?

Her breath quickened.

I have to get out.

She grabbed the clothes Scott left on the bedside table. He knew she hated the gowns, that she'd rather sit there in regular clothes. She changed into them and slipped her feet into the infirmary flip-flops by her bed.

'Jean.'

The loose sleep T-shirt hung off her even more than usual and she looked at herself closely for the first time in forever. The stress ate away at her body. She poked a new hole in her belt to keep the pants from slipping. She closed the door behind her, the well read book easily fitting into her cargo pants' pocket.

She slowly walked through the underground corridors, thinking about why no one was stopping her.

'This is you home, Jean, but no one will keep you here against you will.'

The picture of the apartment in New York she and Scott stayed in when they had classes was shown to her. She agreed, knowing it was the only place untouched by her she had left.

The car keys were in the same place she always left them, in a bowl by the main entrance. Ororo always fussed that the chunky metal took away from her decorative pieces and that she didn't place it there for Jean to leave stuff inside it. They laid among various receipts and half full packages of peppermint gum, untouched by the hurricane that went through the halls. The giant hole in the ceiling was covered with a blue tarp, the early morning light slipping through the cracks made by the wind. The air smelled of dust and ashes.

She closed the broken door behind herself, a few more pieces of glass chipping away as it shut. She looked up at the mansion before turning towards the garage.

Bobby loudly insisted that they all stay in the same room in the infirmary. Everyone knew better than to refuse him, knowing he wanted all of them together under his watchful eye to make sure they were as fine as possible.

Amara was awake but still stuck in her cot cause of a concussion, Bobby's powers didn't jive well with Phoenix and he was ordered to lay still as he got hooked to an IV after IV, while Sam and Lorna were stuck due to broken ribs. Rahne was lucky to end up with a broken leg and a lot of bruising. The worst symptom that plagued all of them was exhaustion, from Jubilee yawning by Bobby's bed to Tabby napping while cuddled to Amara. Jamie slowly dozed off in his chair in between Lorna and Sam's beds and even Ray and Roberto didn't have the energy to bicker as they played cards with Bobby and Jubes. Lorna and Amara talked abut the latest Bayville High gossip and what Junior year probably had in store.

Rahne shifted into a more comfortable position, trying hard not to aggravate Sam's ribs. Her elbow rested on his pillow, letting her nuzzle her nose in his long blonde hair as he slept, his left hand resting on her thigh.

Her inner wolf hummed at her pack being all back together, injured but safe. She let her eyes close, their hushed voices and soft snores lulling her into sleep.

Walking around wasn't as dumb of an idea as he thought according to Mr. McCoy. Walking through pain though – that was a very terrible idea and Alex shouldn't ever do that.

So of course he did that.

After circling his teammates like a weird vulture, counting them to make his mind stop racing – we're all here, we're all here – he ignored the pulling kind of pain in his thigh and wobbled towards the roomthe New Mutants stayed in. Most of the team was asleep in all kinds of furniture, aside from Amara and Lorna.

"Shouldn't you two also rest?" He slowly made his way to them, grabbing the edge of Lorna's cot and resting his weight on it.

"You wouldn't sleep either if you spent a good three hours knocked out" Amara nodded towards his leg. "How worried should you be?"

"Depends on how much more I damaged it during" He waved his other hand around, before clearing his throat. "Um, Lorna, are you good for ummm..." The girls face slightly fell as she slowly shook her head no.

"You know what, I think I am actually sleepy, thank God Tabby brought her incredibly loud cassette player" Amara fished around in her sheets before pulling out the device and shoving the headphones onto her head. "Alex, could you please put up this screen? I'm kinda light sensitive while falling asleep, wouldn't want you two to have to sit in the dark."

"Totally" Amara was a genius and he liked her more and more with every second. He stumbled a bit while unfolding the privacy screen and after Amara's loud 'goodnight' he turned back towards Lorna.

"Hi" She smiled widely, her green eyes sparkling in the dim light. The lamp on her bedside table set off a warm glow, making her pale skin appear tan. "Are you sure you should be walking around?"

"Probably shouldn't, but" He sighed, sitting on the edge of her bed. "Kinda really wanted to check up on you. You know, with everything."

Lorna bit her lower lip, looking down at her lap.

"He wants us to get to know each other" She didn't name who, but who else could it be? Alex put his hand on her shin, squeezing. "I don't know about that. Maybe after everything calms down I'll think about it."

"Good" He smiled warmly, tidying up his thoughts to form a few coherent sentences. "I know it's different, but I wish I had gotten to meet my parents when I was older. I barely remember anything about them. And I love my mom and dad a lot, but I am a bit curious about them. I'm so happy I got to meet Scott though. Not only cause of the mutant stuff, of course."

"I am thinking about talking to Wanda and Pietro" She nodded, before smiling. "I mean I know we'll never be that close, but it would be fun to have siblings" Lorna looked up at him, her hand moving to cover his. "Thanks, Alex."

"No problem" He turned his hand, their palms touching, before leaning in and softly kissing her.

Scott sat in silence, staring at Jean's empty bed, his hands trembling. The sweater he had in his hands still smelled of her, the her he knew – without the underlying scent of smoke and death and fear that surrounded her for the past few weeks. The curtains in her bedroom were meticulously drawn not to let a sliver of light through.

He could understand the need to run. He felt it a number of times himself. When he woke up to the news of his parent's death, of how his brother was presumed dead. When his powers first emerged, back when he was still stuck in the system. All those times when he felt lonely and hated himself for destruction being the only thing he could bring to the world. One false move and he could kill someone.

What he couldn't understand was the need to run from him, not when he thought he was going to lose her forever just hours earlier.

He squeezed the soft material in his hands and let himself cry, the ruby-colored world around him becoming blurry.