X-Men-First Class: Rise or Fall

Chapter One Hundred Eighty Five

Author's Word: Flowers, candy, puppies, kittens, dream houses in Malibu! These are only a few of the apologies I have to offer for having not posted in so long. I'm so sorry, fam! Okay, bad news. I had some mild health related issues to deal with that have calmed down. Good news, we celebrated my birthday and, more importantly, we celebrated another year with my oldest cat. More updates to come from here! Please enjoy and review!

Short one equipped with fat package of cookies and the taller carrying their two glasses of milk, they setup the small snack on a crate between them while they used the floor as seating. Though aware that he himself possessed quite the sweet tooth, it amazed Sean the way Cody could stuff up to three cookies in his mouth with another two ready in his hand. It probably helped that the kid had no fear of prolonged stomach aches hanging over him.

At the phone going off, Sean rushed up to answer the basement extension.

He attempted to swallow as he got out a, "Hello?"

"Are you eating?" the British accent sounded.

"Charles," Sean acknowledged. "You know, you don't have to call every night."

"Oh don't I? I'll remind you that whether near or afar, it's still my duty to see to it that you sleep at a decent time." Charles then added, "Honestly, snacking so close to bedtime."

"Bedtime?" Sean rolled his head back against the nearest wall. "Have you heard that I'm almost eighteen?"

The Professor came back with, "Have you heard that it's a relatively short drive from Boston for me to have a word with your bum instead?"

"No," the teenager protested, making his tone as pathetic as possible. "Daddy…"

A chuckle vibrated from Charles' end. "That's better. How did things fare today?"

"The crew had to call off again," Sean reported. "I'm hoping things are going better at the Temple. I'm going to check in tomorrow."

"Be sure you give them my best," said Charles. "I have to see about the boys, but say hello to the others and try to rest soon."

"I will," Sean replied dutifully. "Night, Daddy."

"Sleep well, Tigger."

Sean walked back towards Cody and let off a snicker upon sight of the boy.

The milk mustache coated lips wondered, "What?" Cody then squirmed and batted with his arms at Sean moving in to clean his face. "Cut it out!"

Sean warned lightheartedly, "Fighting means tickling…"

Not to his remote surprise, Cody resisted even more so now. Sean put down the napkin and started attacking the child's ribs with dancing fingers. Cody squealed until full-blown laughter burst through.

Taking the opportunity, Sean finally wiped off his mouth for him. With a fake punch to Cody's stomach, the redhead retook his seat. He then watched Cody crawl around and take over space in his lap while munching on another cookie.

IIIIIII

Sunlight bathing his bare back, the garden filled his nostrils with pleasant aromas. He took another breath followed by a slow exhale. The bangs and clatter of machinery that blasted through the atmosphere next caused every loosened muscle to refill with newfound tautness and his eyes shot open with blue orbs capable of passing for red. Jumping to his feet with a growl, he sped for where the team unloaded their materials while talking amongst themselves.

Approaching the 'head hard hat', Logan tapped on that very object to get the taller man's attention. "Hey! What's the big idea? My family's still asleep in there, jackass."

Readjusting his hat, the construction supervisor informed, "We needed an early start. We have to clear out by noon today."

"What?" Logan reacted furiously. "You already bailed on us yesterday."

"Do you know how many jobs we get over the summer? We're backed up clear to the moon."

Logan informed menacingly, "If you don't start doin' the job you been paid good money for, I'll give ya a one-way ticket to the moon."

Another member of the crew piped up, "Shouldn't you call the rest of the munchkins together first?"

Ready to lunge, the plush material of his wife's robe kept the raging mutant at bay.

"Baby, let's just go inside," the suddenly appeared Kayla coaxed. "We don't need this project held up any longer."

Logan struggled to keep his claws in as he walked with her. "Fox, I tell ya, this is bull. We could've built a whole new house at this rate. In my day, when you got paid to do a job you did it."

"I know, but keep in mind this is the only construction crew available that won't probe into our lives," Kayla gently reminded. "Believe me, I don't like it, either."

Logan kissed and slipped a protective arm around here. "You shouldn't be out here around this mess, anyway." His free hand went over her stomach as they entered what remained of the X-Mansion.

IIIIIII

Back against the trunk of a tree, Sean watched Maya lounge in the grass in front of him. It did not escape his notice how dazzling her long hair pouring out over her green skirt and blue blouse made her appear. A book currently captured the bulk of her attention, allowing him to get a good stare in.

"I'm glad the Temple's finally shaping up. The rabbi looked…" Sean then got a solid glance at the history text and tugged it out from under her, startling the girl. "You're reading up on demonic activity in the twentieth century?" He eyed her incredulously. "Tell me you're kidding."

"They're real, Sean," Maya emphasized, propping up on one elbow. "We both knew that way before all this happened."

"But it's over. He's gone and he doesn't have the gull to come back here."

"Because of you." Sitting up on her knees, Maya leaned forward to get in close to him. "Sean, you had it in you the entire time to defeat this thing. He never stood a chance with you." She stroked at his red strands. "Knowing that made me fall in love with you harder than ever."

Sean moved in until barely a whisper separated their lips. "I'm having trouble seeing the problem here."

"The problem is mine." She glanced away despondently. "You scared him and I gave him a good scream."

"Maya," Sean placed his chin on her shoulder, nearing her ear. "You know that's only because I don't have a phobia. Alex and Leon are way stronger than I am and it trapped them, too. Why should I have a phobia? I haven't been through half as much as you guys."

"If my faith was stronger…"

"It would have tried to pick on you more," Sean insisted. "Frank is light and that thing enjoyed making fun of him. And neither of us would have been able to get rid of him for good if it wasn't for Charles. You've always been able to hold it together through this craziness. Don't start questioning yourself."

Maya allowed herself to collapse against him and she gazed up to meet his eyes. "Maybe I'll stop when you realize you're not less than Leon or Alex."

"You first," Sean challenged then bowed his head to properly kiss her.

At a rustling followed by bounding from the bushes, they both peered over disconcertedly.

Cody's giggles seemed to fill the surrounding area as he freed himself from the bush. "Gotcha!" He then proceeded to make smooching noises their direction.

"Oh, Cody," Maya breathed with some small amusement.

"You little…" Sean made a swiping motion at him.

Cody darted away with a chant of, "Seanie and Smiley, Seanie and Smiley!"

IIIIIII

In full battle gear consisting of a green apron, yellow rubber gloves, and old work shoes, the blonde reached the kitchen. Leon, with a scarf to shield his hair in place, added additional polish to the table to give it the utmost shine.

At the sight of the eldest in the eating space, he cautioned, "Mind your feet. I just mopped."

"Gotcha." Alex kicked off his shoes and took a wide skip to further protect the floor in his pursuit of the refrigerator. "I just finished with two of the bathrooms. I swear, yours and Becky's hair," he took out a bottle of coke then sought out a butter knife to get the cap off, "murder on the drains and they're falling apart as is."

Leon fondled a handful of his smooth strands. "I'm afraid your preferred method of dunking your head in the stream doesn't work on us."

"Ha-ha." Cap off, Alex enjoyed a long drink. "Keep that up and I'll dunk you in the stream." He looked around next. "You seen Frank?"

With a shrug, Leon offered out, "Perhaps he found something to set on fire."

"Better not be anything of mine." Leaving the kitchen, Alex arrived inside the bedroom in use by the younger boys.

Dangling off Scott's bed, Frank remarked pointedly, "Thanks for knocking," as he flipped another page.

"Hey monkey boy," Alex walked in fully, gazing around at the assorted clutter of clothes, sports equipment and other small toys, in addition to dust formulation, "you call this clean?"

"Hey!" Frank reacted to Alex seizing his comic book.

The twenty-year-old only gave him an unmoved look back. "Dad told you to straighten up in here."

"Yeah, well," Frank flipped over onto his feet, "I wanted to go into town for a change."

Alex reminded, "You know he likes having Scott and Becky with him for errands. Besides, Scott clean up last time."

Frank rolled his eyes. "Thanks, hall monitor. Where would I be without you?"

"I'll tell you where you'll be if Dad comes home to this. Now, clean your room and curb the attitude." Alex threw the comic onto the lower bunk and walked out.

Mutely mimicking him, Frank gazed about the room. He released a heated exhale through the nose.

IIIIIII

Reacting to the tap on his shoulder, the head of the construction crew turned away from his cutting board.

His member informed, "We've got a little problem," and pointed back with his thumb to where Cody sat contentedly inside a cherry picker with arms folded behind his head.

"Hey!" The leading construction worker charged over. "Get outta there, you dumb kid." He then made a strained gagging noise as he felt himself jerked back.

Veering the hard hat around, Victor gathered a fistful of his shirt. "What'd you call my nephew?"

Rapidly tempering his anger, the other man explained, "Just, uh, you know, don't want to see the little fella get hurt."

Letting go of him after a sharp glare that turned his brown eyes into knives, Victor walked over and calmly detached the boy from the machine. "You quit foolin' around. You know better than to go near this equipment." He stood him up with two hefty swats. "Now get inside and help Maya with that laundry."

Hands going behind him, Cody bobbed his head and hurried towards the house.

Logan came at him from the opposite way and did not miss the way his son rubbed his bottom before dropping his hands. "What're you gettin' into out here?"

"Tell ya later, Daddy. I gotta go help Smiley." Cody made a fast haste with that.

Watching his boy go, Logan shook his head and continued on to stand by his brother. "Can you believe this?"

"Sinful," Victor responded. "They'll let any green joker who can swing a hammer on a crew these days."

"Damn this English architecture," Logan bemoaned. "You and me could've had this in the bag."

"Hey, watch it!"

The brothers flinched not at the tumbling brick pile, but did exchange a narrow-eyed visage.

II

After withdrawing the sheet from the dryer, Maya shook it out briskly to further combat the wrinkles. When she went to fold it, a sudden snug from the other end made it difficult.

"Tug of war!" Cody declared, continually pulling.

"Cody!" Maya tried to keep from giggling. "You're going to rip it. Help me fold and we'll go play out back, okay?"

The boy eased off at the compromise. "Okay."

Taking out a small pile for him to fold on his own, Maya worked on her own section.

She then noticed his particular folding technique consisted of crumbling the sheet into a ball. "Sweetie, wait. That's not how…" Maya trailed when she went to take the linen and noticed the redness on the backs of his hands. "Oh no."

Cody frowned at her abrupt change in features. "What's wrong, Smiley?"

"Look at this." She clutched his small appendages. "I think you got into poison ivy out in the woods."

"It was itching," Cody realized, "but I didn't really think about it."

"You've certainly been scratching it enough. Come on. Let's show your mom." Holding one of his hands, Maya guided them out of the laundry room.

IIIIIII

Clutter rearranged into whole other but hardly neater piles around the room, Frank decided his job done for the day. Before leaving his room, he activated one of his visual mutations. Applying an X-Ray to all around the house, he spotted Leon and Alex conversing in the living room. Leaving his room, Frank took the back way out of the house.

Eager and charged by the sun's magnificent beams, Frank ran about the yard for a few minutes until racing into the barn. Making an acrobat of himself, he performed jumps and flips into the hay mound. After his fourth time, his attention floated overhead to the opening on the second level. He stared at it for several seconds until he finally hopped up.

Frank made his way up the stairs then crouched at the space the floor offered. A smirk arching at his lip corners, he could feel the temptation and adrenaline combine and build within him rapidly. He spent only a brief moment on the decision and got up. He walked off a few feet and immediately dashed back. Bringing his hands together, he dived as if prepared to hit water. However, his legs failed to follow his arms' lead and his lower body left him wedged in the not-so-wide set space. Stuck against the side wall, he tried with all his vigor to squirm free.

It soon gave in, but the elation Frank experienced became short-lived at the ensuing cracking noise. He released a high-pitched holler as he along with a portion of the floor dropped into the hay.

"Frank!"

At the voice, the teenager had to wonder if the blonde had somehow inherited their mutual father's knack for fast movement and unbelievable timing.

"I'm okay!" he groaned out.

Regardless, Alex jogged over and crouched to inspect the youth himself. "What happened?" He checked him over for injury as he helped him up.

"I'm fine," Frank reiterated. "I just fell."

Seeing the broken wood on the floor, Alex shifted his gaze upward and a glare formed at the chunk of floor missing from overhead. "You fell, huh?" He turned the angry countenance on the boy. "I told you not to try that jump, you little idiot. You could've hurt yourself!"

"Well, I didn't!" Frank retorted. "I'm not Joey and you can't boss me around. I'm fourteen you know."

"Could've fooled me," Alex scoffed then seized him by the wrist.

"Let go!" Frank's attempts to snatch away proved vain when Alex simply hoisted him up.

Making a chair out of a nearby crate, Alex next deposited the boy across his lap. He wasted no time in delivering swats across the seat of his pants.

Despite himself, Frank could not keep from jumping. The worn jeans he used for lounging around the house were so thin that they offered extremely little in protection. He had been over Alex's knee before, usually a few swats if he'd decided not to follow directions during training- something that did not happen often, but this hurt infinitely more. He hated it, but tears developed in his eyes.

Though this task normally came with the heaviest of hearts on Alex's part, he knew Frank far better than the kid would ever willingly admit. In fact, he often reminded Alex of himself, so he knew it would take serious firmness to get through. Frank's outcry had produced a wealth of negative possibilities in Alex's mind and he would not allow him to harm himself simply by being defiant.

After a few more well-placed strikes to the center of his behind, Alex redirected the hand to the boy's back. "You go to your room and wait on Dad. Straight to your room, got me?" He witnessed Frank's nod. "Good." He stood him and offered a small hug, which Frank only stood stiffly in.

Once Alex let go of him, he made a hastened path for the house. Between his speed and the blurred tears in his eyes, he bumped right into Leon outside.

Hanging onto him for a moment, sincere kindness reflected in the older teen's face. "Are you okay?" His fingers went into the brown hair.

Frank looked down. "I have to go to my room…"

Leon let him, watching him go into the house. Well-acquainted with it, he would not wish Alex's wrath on anyone.

IIIIIII

"Well, it isn't poison ivy," Kayla determined, gently smoothing the ointment against her son's skin. "It looks like a small rash." She smiled. "Hard to believe you could be allergic to anything."

Facing her on the bed, Cody squinted at the discomfort. "It's burnin', Mama."

"Hold on." Kayla wrapped his knuckles in white bandages. "This will help until it heals itself."

"Lucky," Maya piped up from where she sat at the edge of the panic room bed stroking Bounty in her lap. "I got exposed to real poison ivy before. And for added fun, it came with swelling."

Kayla laughed softly at the girl's disgruntled countenance. "There are some who believe the cheetah received its spots due to playing in the poisonous plants after dark."

Cody moved over to nestle against her large stomach. "His ma should've put ointment on it."

"I'm sure she would have if he would have stopped squirming." Kayla tickled his nose with her fingernail.

Maya wondered, "Is that how the leopard got his spots, too?"

Kayla considered that. "No, I'm fairly certain he was merely being a copycat."

Cody and Maya looked at each other and laughed in unison.

IIIIIII

Leading the way into the garage, Sean made an attempt at explanation. "It was making a weird sound on the way home earlier. Kind of like a grrrr, aaag, roo-roo, grumble rumble kind of thing."

"Sounds like my wife when she wants me to make a midnight snack run." Logan shook his head. "Have a baby with a dame, become her minion." He aimed a finger at the boy. "You remember that."

Sean saluted him. "Yes, sir. So," he indicated his BMW, "can you fix it?"

"I'll take a look under the hood." Logan placed his toolbox down. "And pay close attention. You can't own a car and not know how to take care of the thing."

"You sound like Alex," Sean recalled with fondness in his tone. "He's always getting after me about auto shop stuff. He's shown me some things, but I still like a second pair of eyes." As Logan began to inspect the hood, Sean next brought up, "So my friend Ben and a couple kids from Temple invited me and Maya out tonight. Can we go? It'll only be for a couple hours."

Logan glanced back at him. "You plan on gettin' tattooed?"

"No," Sean replied immediately.

"You kids don't know how to live." Logan turned back to the car. "Knock yourselves out, red."

Sean grinned. "Thanks."

"Sure, but hey, next time Charles calls you might want to let him in on the fact that the gas and kitchen lights had to be shut off."

"Let's just give it a few days," Sean bargained. "I really don't want to bug them with every problem. Charles, Emma, Erik, everybody. They've had to deal with enough. We can handle it."

Logan bobbed his head. "You got a point. Alright."

Sean let off a snicker. "But it was funny watching you chase that one guy with a wrench."

Logan threw his head back in a hearty chuckle. "Yep."

IIIIIII

Reacting to the massaging hand at the small of his back, Frank realized he'd dozed off and stirred. Sitting up, he discovered the pain in his bottom very much diminished.

"Dad," he acknowledged upon glancing back.

"There's my little boychick," the man returned. "Did you rest well?"

Frank nodded then put forth, "I guess you talked to Alex."

"Yes," Erik confirmed.

"You mad at me?"

"No, but from what I gathered you aren't very happy with your brother for having to punish you."

"If it was something really bad, like during training, it'd be different, but Alex can get so bossy sometimes. I'm fourteen, I help out all the time at home, and he still treats me like one of the little kids. Everybody does."

"I've seen you act like a very responsible young man of late." Erik cupped his chin. "However, taking a leap that could have resulted in a broken leg or neck is not an example of that. I would have bared your backside if I'd been home."

Frank bit his lip. "And now?"

"Now," Erik leaned in to join their foreheads, "you're to stay in your room for the rest of the day. I'll bring dinner in for you. It'll also be a good opportunity for you to get this room in order."

"Yes, sir," Frank nodded.

"And I want you to remember two things. One, Alex does love you very much."

"What's the other?"

Erik pulled back to look at him more directly. "That he is not Lincoln, who I believe also loves you more than you're able to see at times." Frank bowed his head a little and Erik took the opportunity to kiss the top of his hair. "Though not nearly as much as I love you, boychick."

Frank looked up again with a smile. "I love you, too, Dad."

The word providing him with a swell of fulfillment, Erik wrapped both arms around him.

"Dad?" Frank piped up after a moment. "Can I go find Alex?"

"Go on." As the boy stood, Erik called after him, "And if you need proof of how he feels…" He held up the melting bag of ice.

Frank touched his behind in realization then continued out. He did not need his powers as he located the one he sought in his room.

When the two shared a look, Leon stood up from his own bed. "If you'll excuse me, I have to see a pair of Pretty Eyes about brushing my hair." He walked out, tapping Frank's shoulder as he did.

Rising up on his own bed, Alex faced the younger male. "Hey."

"… Hey."

"Still hate my guts?"

Entering closer, Frank rubbed his arm bashfully. "Sorry for being a jerk. And for being stupid."

"Hey," Alex reached out to reel him closer, "I've done stupid jerk before, not to mention bratty little brother. You can ask Hank about that one."

"Oh, I believe you," Frank assured.

With a mock roll of his eyes, Alex took him by both wrists and looked at him seriously. "Frank, you have to be careful pulling crazy stunts like that. Dad's lost too much in more ways than one. For some reason, he wants to keep us around."

"You're right," Frank concurred quietly. "I'll be careful." He made a face. "But right now I have to go be stuck in my room, even though I know I deserve it."

"Oh yeah? Well, what do you say we all head out for a swim tomorrow?"

"Sounds great," Frank grinned.

"Good. Now, back to your cell." Alex smirked. "I've been waiting to be able to say that for a change."

Now Frank playfully rolled his eyes but promptly followed instruction.

IIIIIII

After all five in their group lowered their individual texts, Ben started them off with his usual question. "So, what'd you guys think?"

"I've reread this passage I don't know how many times and it still makes my head crazy," Merina said, stirring her grape soda with the straw.

"I know," Maya concurred. "So first she gets raped and then her own father wants her to marry the guy?"

"And then her brothers turn around and wipe them out when they're least expecting it." Sean tapped fingers along the table in thought. "Okay seriously, who's wrong here?"

"Good question," Ben ate a French fry before going on, "because what's really bizarre is that we never hear from God on any of this."

"Maybe they're both supposed to be wrong?" Russ suggested. "Because if anything like that happened to my little sister, I'd just have to beg forgiveness later."

"Even though He knows you don't mean it," Merina brought up humorously.

"And He'll love me, anyway," Russ reasoned matter-of-factly.

Some blatantly obvious snickering caused the five to look up. Russ, Merina, and Maya all wore annoyed countenances while Ben's remained even and Sean's eyebrow raised.

A pair of tall male students passed their table and one stepped forward to clap a hand down on Ben's shoulder. "If it isn't Bible Boy and his merry geeks. Get sold into slavery lately, Benjamin?"

The other one threw out, "Real sorry about your little church. Maybe if you pray real hard, Jesus'll build you a new one."

Shooting up from her seat, Merina's hands went to her hips. "I really feel sorry for you guys."

The one closest to Ben came back with, "Oh, you do?"

"Yeah," the blonde girl continued. "You're so boring and pathetic that you have to interrupt other people's conversations. We'd let you join in but your brain must be this big," she made a short space with her hands, "to participate."

At Russ' laughter, the other infiltrator pointed at him. "You want to take this outside?"

Getting to his feet suddenly, Sean accepted with, "Sure," and got all eyes on him, "because the way I see it, there's three of us and two of you. Unless you want to feel like real men and fight with the girls, too."

Shaking his head, he said, "Forget these guys, Clay."

As the two proceeded out of the restaurant, Ben spoke with, "Joseph was the one sold into slavery." He looked towards the offending boys. "Benjamin was his younger brother."

Dissolving into crude laughter, they walked out with multiple comments on their lips.

Maya squeezed Sean's wrist, feeling the tension pulsing through him. "Are you okay?"

He nodded, easing back into his seat. "Who were those guys, anyway?"

"Two all-time creeps from school," Merina explained.

Russ put forth, "Bet you anything they're with whoever trashed the Temple."

Sean said immediately, "We can't be sure of that."

"It doesn't matter, anyway," Ben dismissed, looking at Sean. "Your family's donation is going to have the Temple back on its feet in no time. We're going to use what's left to help the families in the congregation who need it." He smiled. "My mom says the best revenge against your enemies is being at your best."

Sean smiled back at him with a satisfied air.

IIIIIII

At the small nudge to his feet, Victor moved attention away from the monitors to observe his nephew. The little boy operated his toy tanks on the floor. It did not escape Victor's notice just how interested in Eye Spy Cody had become since finding himself the sole small child in the house.

Logan walked in and zeroed in on his son. "Time to get ready for bed, Cat-Cat."

"Aw, okay." Cody gathered his toys into one arm and scrambled out from under the control panel.

"Hey, hey," Logan reproached at seeing him reaching under his bandages again. "Your ma told you to cut out that scratchin'. You want to make it worse?"

"It keeps itchin', Daddy," the boy grumbled.

"Let me see." Lowering into his chair, Logan pulled back one of the bandages enough and received all too good a view of his son's knuckles. "Geez, Cat…" He redressed the area. "Go ask your ma to put some more cream on it. And you stop that scratchin'."

"Okay."

After the boy left, Victor turned to his brother, as if reflecting his thoughts. "Weren't you right around his age when?..."

Making a fist out of his right hand, Logan responded by extending his lengthy bone claws.