Happy Evil Author Day again, and this year, I'm pulling out the long-ago cancelled sequel to my old fic 'Seether'. All the work here is copied directly from the paper I originally scribbled it on back in 2011, including grammar errors, poorly-organised formatting, overly contrived plot points, and OOC dialogue that now makes me wince a decade later.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own 'X-Men: Evolution' or any of its characters. Rebecca, Julia, all of Ray's family, and Hunter Vargas and his family are all my OCs.

WORD COUNT: 4121


It was a sunny afternoon at Bayville High. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, the birds were chirping merrily, brightly-coloured flowers swayed gently as a warm breeze tickled them, you get the idea. All cheeriness and sunshine, like the pastel-coloured pictures out of children's storybooks-

Yeah, right.

The sun was out, and many of the students were in a celebrating mood. It was graduation day, which is of course always a big deal for a bunch of the students. But at this school, that excitement had a second reason. Today, Bayville High would be rid of eight – yes, eight – mutants for good. Okay, so two more would be starting next fall, but still: eight! The were scattered throughout the rows of graduates, eager to accept their diplomas and get out of that hellhole of a high school. You could say that most of the other students didn't make life easy for them.

A huge group of mutants had their own section – not by choice, but because only Amanda Sefton and a couple other humans would stand near them. Not including Amanda and the group of six from Canada, there were twenty-four of them in that crowd. Warren and Jay were wearing heavy coats to cover their wings, despite the heat, which wasn't being helped by John playing with his lighter as Logan kept a watchful eye on him.

One by one, each graduating student was called in alphabetical order by last name. The first mutant to be officially out of Bayville High School this summer was Ray Crisp. He took his diploma and reluctantly shook Principal Kelly's hand – he was never shy in showing he disliked someone. Gradually, he was followed by his friends Roberto DaCosta, Pietro and Wanda Maximoff, Julia and Rebecca Reid, Tabitha Smith, and Todd Tolansky.

Ray gave Rebecca a huge hug when she got off the stage, picking her up and spinning her around, followed by a tender yet spontaneous kiss on her cheek. Pietro, ever the impatient one, scooped Tabby up as soon as the rolled paper was shoved into her hands and zipped off, with her whooping all the way. Principal Kelly all but growled at this bold display of mutant powers, but couldn't do anything about it.


The mood lightened considerably when the mutants got back home to the Xavier Institute. Kurt and Kitty had put together a graduation party for the eight lucky ones who were now done with Kelly and Bayville High. Ray kept his hand in his right pocket, nervously fiddling with the small box inside.

Roberto elbowed him. "C'mon, man," he urged, "Just go up and ask her."

Ray gave his best friend a panicked look. "In front of everyone? No way."

"You scared?"

"She hates being put under pressure when people are watching. I'm not going to do that to her."

"Then just tell her you want to say a few words in private, go off, and ask her then. I'll make sure nobody bothers you guys while you're busy."

Just then, Rebecca ran up to them. "Guess what?!" she exclaimed, "Lynzi just gave me the best news ever! Her parents gave her that huge RV, and when the new school year starts, we'll be travelling around Canada looking for our big break!"

Ray grinned and hugged her. He knew she'd been planning to do that since she was fourteen. "Alright! That's great!"

"And that's not all. You're more than welcome to come with us. I know you're planning to take your university courses online, so that won't conflict with anything. So, what do you think?"

"Uh… I'll have to think about it, but I'm definitely leaning towards a yes."

Rebecca squealed and hugged him again. "Okay. But try to have an answer by tomorrow. You know how Chris is; he likes having everything planned out way in advance." She pecked him on the lips and ran back over to her friends.

"Dude!" Roberto hissed, "You could've done it then!"

Ray ignored him. He was thinking about the offer Rebecca had just delivered him. Spending his time travelling around in an RV with the girl he loved, even with Chris, Matty, Lynzi, and Julia with them as well, sounded like a good prospect. Still, as he fingered the box, he wondered how that could change things. He watched as Rebecca chatted and laughed with her sister over the chips. How would she react? One of the things they'd never talked about was marriage and family. He didn't know what she'd think.

Sighing, he drew his hand out, leaving the little box with the ring inside. Not tonight, he decided, not until he knew for sure that he wasn't going to ruin the relationship he had with Rebecca.


"Yo, Pietro!" Todd called, "Paper's here!" Pietro jumped up and snatched the newspaper out of his housemate's hands.

"About time. The guy's, like, five and a half minutes late today!"

"I've told you already," Lance replied from the kitchen, "You keep timing the paperboy every day, it's gonna drive you insane."

"You say that like he isn't already," Wanda's voice drifted from upstairs."

Pietro ignored that comment and zipped over to the couch in the living room, stretched out, and settled down to read. The others might mock, but he needed to know what was going on around the world, and he hated waiting for anything. Let's see… economic stuff… a possible mutant registration act… that's something they'd have to discuss… some guy murdered in New Jersey… old building caught fire in Manhattan – wait a second. His eyes focused on the murder article as a familiar name caught his attention.

FATHER KILLED IN MUGGING ATTEMPT.

SON LEAD SUSPECT

Former NJPD Det. George Crisp was found murdered in an alleyway not too far from his apartment in downtown New Jersey two nights ago. Police initially suspected robbery as the primary motive, but a visiting FBI profiler (who prefers to remain anonymous) maintains that Crisp had a personal connection with at least one of his killers. This theory, along with witness statements, has led the New Jersey Police Dept. to Crisp's eldest son Duane, who has been arrested and held on several drug charges until sufficient evidence has been gathered to charge him with the murder.

Crisp leaves behind one other son, eleven-year-old Tyler, who has been placed in foster care following his brother's arrest. Crisp is predeceased by his wife Sally and the couple's second son Raymond, who has been missing presumed dead for six years.

The funeral date has yet to be set, but funding is coming from the police department to cover expenses. Crisp's former partner, Det. Hunter Vargas, told our reporter yesterday evening: "George had a hard time in the last decade of his life, but the New Jersey police department, myself included, is determined to nail his killer. He was a good friend and beloved to many of our number, and he and his son Tyler deserve justice."

Pietro read the article three time over, positive that he was misreading. "No way," he said to himself, "That's gotta be some kind of mistake."

"What's a mistake?" Lance called, sounding only half interested.

"There's an article about some murdered ex-cop in New Jersey. It talks about his family a bit, and it says his second son is dead already."

"So?"

"Ray's from around there, right?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Well it says the kid's name is 'Raymond Crisp'. and he's been dead for six years. What're the odds that there's another kid with the same name from the same area? And didn't Ray join the Morlocks six years ago?"

Lance frowned. "Well, it's possible, but I don't really believe in coincidences. You're right, it is weird. Think we should call the Prof?"

Todd rolled his eyes from his spot crouched on the arm of the armchair (drawing on Fred's face while he slept). "Since when do we report to the X-Geeks, yo?" he asked. "I mean, we sorta get along now and work with 'em sometimes, but-"

"But this involves one of his kids," Pietro reminded the other mutant, "Makes sense to let him know."

Lance nodded and grabbed the phone, dialling the Institute's number. "Hey, Summers, I gotta talk to the Professor. … 'Cuz I do. … Oh, mind your own business! … No, we haven't done anything! Why do you always assume we did?!" Slight tremors began to shake the house as Lance got more and more frustrated. "Look, just put Baldy on! Oh, hey, Prof. Listen, have you seen today's paper yet?"


Ray frowned. There was no way he was going to fit everything into these two suitcases. He and Rebecca were heading out on the road the next day, and he still wasn't packed.

There was a knock on the door. "Come in," Ray called.

Rebecca walked in, raising her eyebrow at all the stuff piled on his bed. "Still not packed yet?" she asked incredulously.

"Hey, like you're any better!"

"Actually, I'm almost done. Helps when your sister's a total neat freak." She shoved a some jeans aside and sat down. "Looking forward to it?"

Ray didn't need to ask what she meant. "Hell, yeah." I mean, it'll be a bit weird, after three years of living here, but honestly, I'm more used to being on the move than most people, so it should be an easy switch. Plus, I'll have you with me this time." She grinned. She was the only one besides the Professor, Mr. Logan, Ms. Munro, Anna, and Evan, who knew about his past – the full version, anyway. Everyone else just knew about his running away from home and joining the Morlocks. They didn't know anything about his home life, other than "it sucked". Okay, so Roberto knew about Mom, but that was it.

Rebecca had been going through a hard time when he'd told her, experiencing the same guilt about her sister that Ray still felt at times. It'd made sense to tell her the full story, if only to let her know that she wasn't the only person going through it.

She got up and put one hand on his cheek. "And having you around will be a huge plus for me, too."

They kissed softly, pulling each other closer. It'd taken them nearly a year to get to this point. After her last boyfriend, Rebecca was scared of falling too fast and making another mistake, so they'd been taking it slow. That was another reason why Ray was waiting to ask her to marry him. He was ready, but he didn't know if she was, and he wasn't about to ruin it all.

The sound of a throat being cleared interrupted them. Scott's head was poking through the door Rebecca had left half-opened, and he looked rather confused. "Ray, the Professor wanted to talk to you. I don't know why, but I think it has something to do with whatever Alvers was calling about earlier."

"Lance?" Now Ray was just as confused as Scott looked. "Why would he be calling about me?" Scott shrugged.


Ray pushed open the door to the Professor's office, and was mildly surprised to see Ororo and Mr. Logan in there as well, looking at him expectantly. "Uh… you wanted to see me, Professor?"

Prof. Xavier nodded. "Yes, Ray. Please take a seat." Ray did so, wondering what was going on. "Earlier, Lance called me about a newspaper article Pietro noticed had a few familiar names."

Mr. Logan handed Ray the paper with a suspiciously pitying look in his eyes. "Page A3," he grunted, "above the ad."

Ray turned to that page, and focused on the article above the Bowflex advertisement.

He felt all the colour drain out of his face as the first sentence registered in his mind.

'Dad…' Ray didn't exactly forgive the man for letting Duane put them through hell, but still…

Taking a breath, Ray forced himself to keep reading. The end of the paragraph didn't surprise him as much as it would anyone who didn't know his brother. He had no doubt Duane had done it; probably along with his gang. His breath caught in his throat as he read the part about Tyler. The poor kid, who he'd left behind like a coward. He was still alive, at the very least. The mention of his mother sent a pang of grief through his heart.

Then he had to re-read the second half of that sentence three times. "Oh… God. They think I'm dead. Ty thinks I'm dead." He threw the paper onto the Professor's desk and dropped his head into his hands. "What the hell am I supposed to do?" he whispered.

He felt Ororo's hands on his shoulders. No one said anything for a while. They were probably half-expecting him to break down or freak out and break something. Truth be told, Ray just felt tired and worried as hell.

He'd left Tyler alone with a killer.

He'd left Tyler, his baby brother, alone with a killer!

And he was all alone now.

"I need to see him," Ray stated, more to himself than the three adults in the room, "I need to go see Tyler."

The Professor nodded. "Of course. Though you will have to explain where you've been for the past six years." Ray tensed up. Talking about his past was tough, even with his friends. Was he really going to have to tell a bunch of complete strangers? Ones who would already be judging him because of his powers? He remembered how terrified Tyler had looked that night they'd surfaced. Would his brother even want to go near him?

Reluctantly, though, Ray nodded. He had to see Ty at least once, to be sure he was okay. "And there is also your upcoming trip with Rebecca's band. You were planning to leave tomorrow, correct?"

Ray sighed. "I can't ask them to postpone it. They'll just have to go without me." Hopefully they'd understand. "When can we head out?"

"As soon as you're ready," Ms. Munro assured him, "Is there anyone you would like to go with you?"

Ray sighed again and lifted his head. "Rob's already gone back home for the summer. Becca's got the band. Those are the only two I can think of. Anna, maybe. She already knows the full story, after an accident in the Danger Room and what happened when Laura first showed up."

"She and Kurt are planning to travel to Germany in the morning."

He let his head drop to rest on the back of the chair. "Alright. Just some of you guys, then?"

Mr. Logan grunted. "I'm up for it. 'Ro? Chuck?"

"I'll stay and keep an eye on things here, Professor," Ms. Munro answered.

Prof. X nodded. "Very well. We can drive out tomorrow in the X-Van. We'll give you time to explain and say goodbye."

Numbly, Ray got up, mumbled a thank-you, and left, a thousand thoughts running through his mind. Predominantly were his speculations of how Tyler would react. Would he run into his arms? Refuse to believe he was who he said he was? Scream and call him a monster? Then there was the issue of proving that yes, he was alive, and that he wasn't some freak who wanted… who knew what they'd think he wanted?

He'd been lying on his bed, suitcases pushed aside, without even realizing he'd reached his room, when Alex came in. "'Sup, dude?" the younger Summers greeted him, flopping onto his own bed, "Aren't you and the twins heading out tomorrow morning? Don't tell me that is your version of packed."

"Uh…" Ray bit his lip. "It's complicated. I'm not going, at least, not with the Roses."

That had the surf rat sitting back up, looking at him in bewilderment. "Huh? But you guys've been talking about it all summer!"

I know, but… some family issues have come up back home. I need to be there."

"Oh." In their year and a half as roommates, Alex had quickly learned that Ray's family was a serious 'no-no' topic. He wouldn't pry. "Well… hope everything works out, dude. You tell Rebecca yet?"

Ray shook his head. "Still haven't figured out how to yet."

"Well, you might wanna do it soon. Give her time to get used to it."

"I know, I know." Ray heaved himself off the bed and trudged out. "Might as well get it over with."

He found Rebecca in her room, arguing with her twin sister Julia. "I don't need that many dresses, Jules! We're not playing formal events, remember?"

Ray couldn't help but smile slightly. One of the things he and Rebecca had in common was their absolute hatred of formalwear. They'd given the rest of the Institute a headache around prom, Rebecca especially. It had taken the combined efforts of Kitty, Julia, Jean, Amara, Jubilee and Laura to get her hair and makeup done. (Laura had just been there to keep her from running away).

Rebecca perked up as soon as she spotted Ray. "Oh, thank goodness! Tell her, Ray! Tell her I don't need five dresses!"

Julia rolled her eyes. The once shy wallflower had developed a far more confident attitude since coming to the Institute. "If you want to sign with a record label, you'll have to go to some formal events as guests! No one's asking you to play in these."

"Ugh, fine! But I'm not bringing that ugly pink one!" Her sister glanced at the indicated garment in mild disgust and nodded.

"Agreed. Was there something you wanted, Ray?"

He bit his lip, not looking forward to this. "Uh, I need to talk to you, Becca. It's kind of important."

She looked up from where she was unceremoniously cramming the dresses into an already-stuffed suitcase. "Sure. What's up?"

Ray waited until Julia had left, and shut the door behind her. "It's about the trip. I… I'm not gonna be able to go."

"What?!" Rebecca stared at him incredulously. "But we've been planning this for months! And why?!"

He sighed heavily, as he'd been doing often recently, and sat down on her bed. "The Professor wanted to talk to me because of this article in the paper. You remember what I told you about my family?"

She immediately sat down next to him. "Yeah?" Her tone was hesitant, like she was afraid of what he might say next. Of course, she had every right to be.

"It said that my father… was… he died a couple days ago. Was murdered." At this Rebecca gasped and hugged him. "The police think Duane did it, and to be honest, I'm not surprised. But Tyler's all alone and I… I have to go see him, make sure he's alright. Then there's the fact that everyone over there thinks I'm dead, since I took off six years ago, never to be heard from again. I've got to clear that crap up."

Rebecca squeezed him once before cupping his chin and turning his face to hers. "Of course. This is your little brother we're talking about. I can tell the others to postpone the tour, and we can-"

"No." Ray shook his head. "No, you guys have been planning this for months. I'm not going to let my screwed-up family issues get in the way."

Her frown deepened. "You're not getting in the way. Why would you think that?"

"What I'm trying to say is that I know how much this trip means to you. You should go."

Rebecca chewed on her lower lip, a sign Ray recognized as meaning she was thinking it over. A good sign. She looked up at him, her deep emerald eyes serious. "You keep me updated, you got that? If I don't get a call from you every day, I'll hunt you down."

Ray laughed at her threat, but stopped at her 'I Mean Business' Glare. "Of course. So long as you keep me filled in, you got it?" She smiled sadly and hugged him again.

"I'm really sorry about your dad," she whispered into his shoulder.


Ray couldn't help but feel anxious as he stood in the reception area of the police station. He'd been offered a seat, of course, but his nerves wouldn't let him sit. Three years of dodging cops, and of course having several pointing loaded guns at one's head for existing tended to make on uncomfortable around them. The Professor had assured him that everything would be fine, and he would've believed the man, but his life story didn't exactly do fine.

When Det. Vargas walked in, Ray instantly recognized him. His face was a bit older, more lined and weary, his dark hair was grey at the temples and almost nonexistent in one patch on the top of his head, and he'd put on some weight, but Ray would know his godfather anywhere. The man didn't seem to recognize him, though. He looked over at the three of them curiously, then walked over.

"Detective Hunter Vargas," he introduced himself, "You wanted to see me?" His eyes rested on the Professor as he spoke, as he was easily the most approachable.

Prof. Xavier nodded and shook his hand. "Yes, we read in the newspaper about the death of George Crisp. My condolences. But a certain statement in the article had us rather disturbed, may we speak to you in private?"

Hunter eyed them with a bit of mild suspicion, but nodded and led them through the precinct to a small interview room. "So what's this about?" he asked them once the door was clicked shut behind them.

Ray bit his lip, unsure of whether or not he should speak up, and what he should say if he did.

Professor X pulled the newspaper clipping from where it had been folded up in an inside pocket of his coat. "A friend recognized Mr. Crisp's name in the article, and alerted us, particularly because of the mention of his son."

"What one? Duane or Tyler?"

"Actually," Mr. Logan cut in, "his other kid. We know for a fact that Ray didn't die six years ago."

The detective gaped at him. "What…" He looked over at Ray and stared intensely at him for a few seconds. "Ray?" he whispered, as if he were afraid of being mistaken. Ray bit his lip and nodded. Hunter's face was frozen momentarily in shock, then split into a wide grin. He then moved around the Professor and pulled into a tight hug. "Oh my God. It's really you. Where have you been? Your dad was going nuts worrying about you. I spent months searching for you!"

Ray sighed. "I was in New York. Lived on the streets for a few years before the Prof here took me in." That was the barest summary he could give of the past six years.

"New York," Hunter breathed, "You were just one state away. I called the police over there, but they couldn't tell me anything." He looked Ray up and down. "God, you've grown. Look at you; you're as tall as me now. You're in high school now, right?"

"Just graduated, actually. I was going to go traveling with my girlfriend, but then Lance called about Pietro reading about Dad in the paper… How's Tyler?"

Hunter sighed. "Scared. Grieving. He's taking it pretty hard. He's living at my place for now, I can see if I can get off-shift early; take you there to see him as soon as possible."

Ray sighed, anxious to see his little brother. "Yeah. Yeah, that'd be great."


Rogue (who I referred to by her human name in this because when I first wrote it, I had this fixation on everyone going by something other than their codenames when off the battlefield) knowing Ray's past comes from two things: One is a fic I wrote in this series called 'Confidant', in which she accidentally gets some of his memories when one of her gloves rips in a training session, and the episode 'X-23', in which X-23/Laura takes Ray and Scott out by ripping Rogue's sleeves off and shoving her in their direction.

Plan for the rest of the story:
Ray manages to get custody of Tyler (personally, I now find this a bit contrived, as Ty would most likely be better off with Hunter, who has a full-time job and is a better position to support him, and would absolutely still let Ray be in his life), and 4 months later, they're not quite happy. Tyler is resentful towards Ray for vanishing on him, and Ray is busy with a minimum-wage job and missing Rebecca. Then, one night, they discover that Tyler has invisibility powers. Ray tries to talk him into going to the Institute, but Tyler doesn't want to. Eventually, his powers are publicly revealed at school, and he gets beaten up for a week until he finally fights back and is expelled, so now they're returning to Bayville. While getting ready to move, they somehow learn that their neighbour's kid, Sean Cassidy, is also a mutant (comic fans will of course recognise his name right away as Banshee). However, before they leave, big brother Duane's friends show up and try to hurt Tyler, causing Sean (who's about Tyler's age, here) to freak out and accidentally use his powers. Ray, Tyler, Sean, and Sean's mom rush to Bayville, and coincidentally run across Duane and his thugs attacking Roberto (again, overly-contrived). Tyler gets knocked out in the scuffle, Duane gloats about/confesses to killing their father, and the matchup of experienced mutants Ray and Roberto manages to chase Duane and company off. At the Institute, Rebecca visits while Tyler is still in the infirmary; Tyler overhears her and Ray talking and learns that Ray's a mutant, too (I can't recall the reason why I had Ray keeping that a secret from him). Tyler, sick of the secrets, tries to run away in the middle of the night, but Julia (who's visiting along with Rebecca) catches him and convinces him to stay. The next morning, the brothers have a talk, and Tyler decides to stay, and even takes up the mutant codename of 'Vanisher'. A couple days later, Tyler and Sean are now friends with Jay Guthrie, but Ray and Rebecca are at a crossroads about their future together. Ray finally proposes to her, but she turns him down because she thinks they're too young to get married. She has a Girl Talk with her sister, Rhane, and her best friend Lynzi, and tells them that she's afraid of getting too attached after the shitshow that was her relationship with Austin, but they think she should really think about it. Rebecca talks to Jean (who by now is married to Scott) and decides to say yes. Unfortunately, this has Tyler upset with her, now, because he thinks she's stealing his brother from him. Later, they learn that Duane has been cleared from suspicion of their father's murder (despite his confession in front of Ray), and police are suspecting Ray because he's a mutant, and Tyler doesn't know what to believe. (Also, Ray and Rebecca have a serious talk about whether they should wait until they're married to have sex.) One day, Duane takes Tyler from school, and takes him to his new local hideout. Ray finds out from Sean, and runs off to the rescue on his own, except Rebecca notices and follows. The other X-Men all prepare to go into the fight, but the Professor narrows the response down to the originals plus Roberto and Julia. At the hideout, Ray and Rebecca show up, and Duane, spewing anti-mutant hate, tries to convince Tyler that Ray is the killer, but Tyler recognises a piece of personal property their father was wearing the last time he saw him, and which Duane now has. Duane admits it, and the X-Men burst in, revealing they recorded his confession. Duane tries to shoot Tyler, but Rebecca protects him with her force-fields, and Ray takes Duane down. In an epilogue one month later, Rebecca and her band now have a permanent gig at a mutant-friendly club in Bayville, and she tracks down Ray and Tyler's maternal grandparents, who have up to this point been out of the picture, and invites them to the wedding.