It didn't take much to get the festivities back in full swing. Or even to get Hank back on the ceiling fan. Spirits were easily lifted and although it was clear the choice to switch to soda was the right one, the mood was light and fun.

After a few disastrous attempts at beating Darwin with a chair, Fern was once again laid out on the pinball machine. Admittedly, most of her attention was on the boys. They were kind of hard to ignore, with Sean making a show of skidding across the floor and Darwin's playful taunting. Even Alex was smiling and Fern wondered how long it would be before she could bow out and go to bed. Still, she didn't want to dampen the mood, so she kept grinning and applauding as Sean hit Darwin so hard the chair was knocked from his freckled hands.

"What are you doing?!" A sharp voice interrupted her thoughts and the young woman jerked.

A sharp pain shot through her bust and Fern bared her teeth instinctually as her gaze whipped toward the shattered window. The jovial air depleted around the group as they realized they were being watched. Hank fell off the ceiling fan to land gracefully on his feet. Angel twiddled down to the floor. Darwin's rock-like skin retreated back into his body while Alex and Sean shared a nervous glance.

To her surprise, a petite brunette stood in the courtyard, flanked by Charles and Erik. While the latter looked unimpressed, Charles looked irritated and of course, the woman was irate. She pointed behind her, "Who destroyed the statue?"

"It was Alex!" Hank told her. He ignored Alex's affronted glare as he adjusted his glasses.

Angel giggled, but sobered as the blonde beside her spoke.

Raven was quick to correct him, "No- Havok. We have to call him Havok, that's his name now," as she stepped forward.

The young woman approached the window, either unaware of the looks of disbelief she was receiving from the others, or perhaps just ignoring them. "And we were thinking, you should be Professor X," she told Charles, pointing at him in a manner that suggested she didn't notice his scowl. Her hand moved to Erik as she finished, "And you should be Magneto."

"Exceptional," Erik replied with a hint of sarcasm. He shook his head and walked off, the brunette woman following close at his heels.

Charles shook his head with disappointment. Gaze locked with the blonde's, he told her; "I expect more from you."

Raven's expression fell as he walked off.

Alex spun the table leg in his hands. "Maybe we should call him Professor Killjoy instead."

Sean glared at him, but said nothing as Darwin cleared his throat. He touched Raven's shoulder delicately and offered a weak smile when her teary eyes met his. "Maybe we should turn in."

"I've got to go after him-"

"Let him cool down first," The taller man suggested. "Things'll look better in the morning."

"Sounds good to me." Fern hopped off the pinball machine. Striding over to the door, she didn't bother to wait for the others or to stop and console the blonde. Darwin was doing a fine job and she was sure if he failed, Hank would step in. Someone would, anyway.

To her surprise, Angel fell in step with her almost immediately. She arched a near invisible brow, but said nothing as the petite brunette smirked up at her. Just mirrored her expression and stuck her hands in her pockets.

"So what went down with those guards?"

"Apparently segregation is alive and well in Virginia," Fern replied with a sneer that flashed both sharp canines and bicuspids. "And they don't know where to stick me."

Angel's features darkened. "I guess they don't have mutant bathrooms set up yet, huh?"

"Nope."

"Like I didn't have enough trouble being black and female." The shorter girl huffed as they approached their room. "Now I can add freak to the list, huh?"

Fern just lifted a shoulder. The action pulled at her bandages and she fought a cringe as they slipped into the room they had been assigned.

Angel flew up to the top bunk with ease as Fern moved to the adjacent bed. Pulling her backpack into her lap, the former dancer kept her eyes on her bunkmate. As Fern stripped out of her jacket and top, Angel's thick brows perked up in surprise.

"You bind your chest?" She asked.

Fern sighed with relief as she undid the tensor bandages. Slowly inhaling, she answered with a weak, "Only around strangers."

Reaching down to unzip her boots, Angel tilted her head. "How come?"

"People hassle me less when they think I'm a boy." The taller brunette tilted away from Angel's curious gaze. She hated being gawked at and while the other mutant didn't seem frightened or unsettled, Fern still didn't appreciate how intently she was being watched. Vaguely, she hoped Angel wouldn't notice the notch of scale free skin on her side. Ignoring how her scales rippled as circulation came back into her chest, Fern yanked a sweatshirt back over her head. Her breasts tingled in a way that reminded her of static on the radio, her nerves slowly waking from being asleep for so long.

"Really? You get harassed?" Angel stripped out of her halter top and pulled her nightshirt over her head. "Even though you're…?"

"Abnormal looking?" Fern offered as she stood. She undid her belt and slipped out of her jeans. Every movement jarred her chest and she became acutely aware of how chafed her skin was; around the top of her bust and underarms, along the top of her ribs, thick harsh strips of skin that were raw and bruised. They would take a while to heal, she knew. Surface injuries always took the longest. Cuts could be healed in a matter of hours, if not minutes, depending on their severity; but bruises? Bruises took days, sometimes weeks; although she wasn't sure why.

Angel offered her a sheepish smirk. "Yeah."

"I do." Pulling on a pair of sweatpants, she shrugged with a hint of frustration. "I'm pretty sure guys would harass a cardboard box so long as it had a set of tits."

The shorter brunette smile turned bitter from the upper bunk. "I hear that."

As she dropped down on her mattress, Fern asked how long they had to wait for Raven before they were allowed to go to sleep.

"Long day, huh?" Angel asked with a sympathetic simper.

Fern only offering a stilted quirk of her lips in reply.

"Go ahead. I'll tell Mystique you tried your best to stay awake but couldn't swing it."

"Thanks."

"Not a problem," The petite brunette told her with a smile. As she pulled the latest issue of Ramparts from her backpack, she added, "So long as you don't mind the light staying on."

Fern waved a hand and pulled her blanket over her head. "Won't bother me none."

There wasn't so much as another word between the two. Only a dim light shone through the young mutant's blanket and for that she was grateful. Her back ached, but she didn't dare roll on to her stomach, not with how painfully her bust throbbed. Still, she was breathing easier now. Closing her eyes, Fern sighed. The air under the blanket quickly became humid, but she didn't terribly mind.

In truth, she'd much rather have been at home. Away from the judgmental agents and their harsh words, away from the unfamiliar bed and unfamiliar people. She supposed they weren't all bad; recalling how Darwin had defended her and how Sean had smiled when she pulled the coke bottle, brought a small smirk to her lips, but the young woman would have rather have been at home. With her dog and her bed and her lake and her mother. Especially her mother. The membrane flickered over her eyes as her throat tightened, but she didn't make a sound.

The door to their room opened, but Fern didn't move.

Raven's gentle voice rang with annoyance as she asked, "She's in bed already?"

"She tried to stay up, but someone's sulking went on too long," Angel told her with a hint of mirth.

"I wasn't sulking."

"Pouting then, whatever."

Fern rolled her eyes at their banter and rolled onto her side. A sharp pain echoed through her ribs, but she ignored it. Her bright eyes stared at the wall only a few moments before she fell asleep.

In the room across from them, the young men were also settling down to go to sleep. With Sean in the top bunk above Hank and Darwin above Alex, the redhead seemed content to fill the silence with casual conversation while the others undressed.

"So," Sean pulled off his red button up as he grinned, "I guess the mutant thing explains why we're all gorgeous."

Darwin chuckled as Alex scoffed. The blond shook his head, "Yeah. Big Foot and Frog Girl, real sexy."

Sean threw his shirt at him. "Hey! Fern's just…a different breed of fox."

"Exactly." Darwin agreed, giving Alex a playful shove. "We can't all be blond haired and blue eyed, Summers."

Alex rolled his eyes and tossed Sean's shirt to the floor. The redhead didn't bother to pick it up as he flopped down on the bed. "Her skin is like a kaleidoscope, how can you not be into that?"

At his snort, Sean quickly directed his attention to the bespectacled man in front of his bunk. "And don't think I've forgotten about you, Hank!"

"Please, leave me out of this." Hank blushed. He really didn't feel like being compared to the biggest freak in the group; he didn't think his ego could handle it.

Sean completely ignored him. "You've got that whole Buddy Holly thing going on. It's works for you."

"Cassidy," Alex cut in sternly. He had slipped into the bottom bunk and was already under the blanket. "Shut up."

"You shut up! Don't act like you're not totally stoked to be here, Summers. The hard ass act isn't fooling anyone."

The blond groaned and yanked the blanket over his head. "Go to sleep."

"You go to sleep!" Sean snapped back at him, tone playful as Darwin turned off the light.

"I'm trying to go to sleep, Sean! Shut up!"

When Fern woke up the next morning, it was to Raven babbling excitedly. Fern groaned and yanked her blanket over her head as the blonde hovered over her bed.

"Come on, Fern, time for breakfast!"

"I'm not hungry."

Raven gave the brunette's covered shoulder a shove. "Too bad, get dressed."

The Ailey girl growled but sat up. Her chest still ached, but she ignored it as she stretched out to touch her toes. She then slipped off the bed and rose her arms above her head, cracking her back and giving her limbs a moment to wake up as she listened to Angel mutter under her breath.

"I can't believe you would wake us up this early…" The petite woman on the upper bunk grumbled. "You can't be that desperate to see your little boyfriend, can you?"

Raven glanced at her from where she was carefully laying out her outfit on her mattress. Eyes sharp, she snapped, "What was that?"

"Nothing," Angel said a bit bitterly as she flopped back on to her bed.

Turning her back to the others, the young Ailey eased her sweatshirt off her shoulders. Her chest was still a bit sore, but nothing she couldn't handle. The line of chafed skin still circled her bust and her breasts were clearly bruised. To an outside party, it probably wouldn't have been noticeable, but Fern knew. Even if she hadn't been able to feel the subtle throb of pain she would've known simply from the dullness to her usually lustrous skin.

Raven cleared her throat behind her. At Angel's insisting hand gesture, the blonde asked, "So…Angel says you bind your chest?"

Fern rolled her eyes. Shifting her body away from them, she reached for her bag. A frown tugged at her lips as she pulled out the tensor bandage. She had never had to bind two days in a row before. As she began to wrap it around her upper ribs, the grey girl replied with a stiff, "Yep."

Behind her back, Angel and Raven shared a glance. The blonde stepped forward, clearing her throat as she took a seat next on Fern's bed. "You don't need to do that. It's just us."

The brunette mutant didn't acknowledge her. Just kept calmly working the bandage around her breasts. She didn't so much as look at Raven; it was best she ignore her.

"You know no one's going to bother you here, right?"

At the blonde's soft tone and sad smile, irritation rose in the grey girl. She found them patronizing. The idea of Raven telling Fern to be herself while she sat there disguising her natural blue skin was laughable. The brunette didn't blame her for it, it was just an odd sentiment all things considered.

Tucking the edge of her bandage in, she lifted her blue eyes to Raven's. Keeping her features schooled in a mask of false pleasantness, she asked, "What's for breakfast?"

The blonde offered her a weak smirk before she patted her leg and stood.

"Well, if you hurried up," Angel cut in with an impish grin. "We'd be able to find out for ourselves, wouldn't we?"

With a roll of her eyes, Fern quickly pulled on a white tunic and jeans. Tugging her cowboy boots on, she nodded for them to go on without her. After a moment of contemplation (and a moment to psyche herself up emotionally), she followed the girls to the bathroom with her toothbrush in hand.

While Angel and Raven discussed what it was they were expected to do with Charles and Erik out of the country, Fern brushed her teeth and tied her hair back in two tight braids along the sides of her head. In all honesty, she didn't particularly care that the men had left the country; she was more bothered by the fact that they had not only not told them personally of their departure (they had left that up to Raven), they had gone back on their promise to help them manage their mutations.

They were still talking when she left the bathroom. Sliding her gloves out of her front pocket and her toothbrush into it, she kept her head down as she passed a few agents. They didn't give her any trouble, but their mere presence was enough to make her a little jittery. Gloves on, she darted into the same rec. room the mutants had been granted access to the night before.

Hank and Darwin looked up from the spread of food that lined the bar.

She nodded to them with a brisk, "Morning," before she moved to sit on the couch.

"Aren't you gonna eat?"

Fern pursed her lips. With a hint of anxiety, she asked who had prepared it. Hank and Darwin shared a glance before the former told her it had been delivered by the agents.

The grey girl shook her head. Stomach in knots, she told them, "I'm fine."

The young men shared a glance, but neither said anything. Instead, they simply filled their plates and joined her on the couch. Well, Darwin did. Hank opted to sit in one of the chairs across from her.

"So, Miss Ailey," Hank started, adjusting the plate in his lap absently. "How'd you sleep?"

Leaning back, she stretched a leg out onto the table in front of her. "Fine."

"The girls didn't keep you up all night with their gossiping?" Darwin asked, gently nudging her in the side as he bit into a piece of sausage.

Her tensor bandage rubbed against her chafed skin. "Not really."

"Sean kept us up half the night." Hank explained with a shake of his head. "The boy likes to talk."

The young man beside Fern waved his hand. "I think he was just excited."

"I'm not saying I blame him, it's amazing, so many mutants in one place." Hank fixed his glasses. He cast the grey skinned woman a glance. "If you don't mind, Miss Ailey-"

With a chuckle, Darwin interrupted him. "Why do you keep calling her that?"

"She doesn't like it when I call her Fern."

"Why not?"

"I don't know." The men looked at the woman expectantly.

"I don't trust doctors," Fern replied with a shrug. "They're cagey. What were you saying, McCoy?"

Deciding to be frank and not cagey, he answered with an honest, "I want your blood."

Fern and Darwin both stared at him a long moment before the young woman stood. Clapping her hands together, she bowed slightly. "And I think we're done here. Darwin, so nice to meet you. McCoy, feel free to tell the others I'll be waiting in Blake's office for my ride if they need me."

Darwin caught her sleeve and pulled her back on to the couch. "I'm sure he didn't mean it. You were kidding, right?"

"Um, no? I'd love to get a blood sample from her." Hank shifted a bit closer to the couch. When Fern subtly angled away from him, the young scientist frowned. Looking around her, he told Darwin, "Her mutation is so fantastic I have to wonder if her genome is different from ours."

"Ours?" Armando and Fern echoed at him as Sean and Alex slipped inside.

"Charles, Erik and Raven have already given me a sample," Hank explained. "And of course I have my own. I was hoping to get a sample from everyone today."

Fern visibly bristled as the other boys joined them, plates stacked high with food and their hair still mussed from sleep. The grey girl ignored them as she bared her teeth at Hank. "They promised we wouldn't be lab rats."

"You're not! You won't be. We wouldn't even have to go near my lab, I promise. We could do it in here."

"Come on, Ailey," Darwin elbowed her with care as he set his empty plate on the table. "It could be a chance to get to know one another."

"What could?" Sean asked before he took a sip of his orange juice. He frowned at the sight of Fern's empty lap. "Why aren't you eating?"

"Because who knows what they did to it."

"Oh my god." Alex shook his head as he loaded some scrambled eggs onto piece of toast. "Are you always this paranoid?"

"Are you always this trusting?" She snapped at him.

"Wait-" Darwin held his hand out, clearly appalled as he realized, "if you thought it was poisoned why would you let us eat it?!"

She shrugged nonchalantly. "You're my test subjects."

"Fern!"

"What?!"

Sean chuckled at Darwin's appalled expression and shook his head.

Behind him, the other girls slipped into the room. They quickly bid the group good morning and went straight to the food. Fern shook her head in distaste.

"Well…" Hank cleared his throat and set his empty plate on the table. "Since we're all here, why don't we get to know each other a little better?" He looked to Sean (who seemed to be the most amicable of the group, except, of course, for Raven) and asked, "You're from Ireland originally?"

The redhead blinked in surprise, but nodded none the less. "Yeah. My family immigrated to Texas when I was four." His bony shoulders bobbed casually. "We've been here ever since."

As Raven took a seat beside Alex and Angel slipped into the empty seat beside Fern, the Ailey girl asked, "Do you remember any of the trip?"

"Nah," Sean lied. Some of Sean's earliest memories came from the boat trip over. He remembered being cramped between his older siblings, remembered the sound of his baby sister crying and worse the sound of her coughing. He remembered the taste of stale air and being hushed when his stomach hurt- but he never told anyone about that. He didn't see the point in burdening someone else with something they couldn't change so he kept it to himself.

Taking a sip of his juice, he kept quiet as Hank redirected his attention to Fern. "And Charles said you're adopted?"

"Charles needs to learn to keep his damn mouth shut," Alex said with a scowl. "How much did he tell you exactly?"

Hank blushed. At his silence, the blond man shook his head. "It's none of our business if she's adopted, or if Sean's an immigrant-"

"Or why Alex was in prison," Fern added. Her tone firm, she told Hank, "You're supposed to earn information like that; not steal it."

"That's a little dramatic," Raven cut in. With a frown, she said, "Charles wasn't trying to invade anyone's privacy."

"So he went through our heads and told a total stranger our personal business, why?" Angel asked sarcastically. Flipping her dark hair over her shoulder, she told the blonde, "I know he's your brother, but the guy clearly has boundary issues."

"I still like him better than Erik," Sean cut in. The air was getting a little too tense for him, and while he agreed with Angel's sentiment, he didn't want the group to argue. "The guy seems a little…"

"Obsessive," Fern offered. "With his mutation. With ours."

The redhead pointed his fork at her. "Exactly."

"He's just passionate," Raven told them with a hint of irritation. Fiddling with her fork, she bit her tongue as Fern pressed on.

"I don't like it." The Ailey girl pursed her lips. "He's creepy."

Raven scoffed and rolled her eyes at the grey skinned brunette. "You don't like anything."

Fern conceded with pursed lips and a nod. "True."

Hank cleared his throat. "So, when did everyone's mutations manifest? Alex?"

"I don't know," Alex shoved a bit of bacon in his mouth. Thinking over what he wanted to say, and whether or not he wanted to lie, the blond finally settled on the truth with a bob of his shoulders. "When I was twelve or so?"

"Interesting. Sean?"

"I was eleven. My older brother jumped out of a closet to scare me and I broke the window." The redhead grinned impishly. "Had to tell mom we were fighting to cover it up."

Fern blinked in surprise. "Your parents don't know?"

"Of course not! Are you kidding?! My parents are devout Catholics," Sean explained. "They wouldn't take too kindly to me being…different."

"Really? Huh." The Ailey girl thought back to her brief time at the convent. None of the nuns had ever given her mutation a second thought, at least as far back as she could remember.

Sean eyed her curious features with interest a moment, but said nothing.

"How about you then?" Angel asked, kicking her foot up on the table beside Fern's. Giving the other girl's cowboy boot covered toes a nudge with her bare ones, she asked, "When did you get all…you know."

"I was born like this," Fern replied casually. Her gaze shifted to Raven. "How about you?"

The blonde shook her head and dropped her gaze to her plate. Pushing her eggs around with her fork, she shrugged, "I was ten. It just showed up one night."

"Really?" Hank leaned forward a touch. "It only took one night?"

Glaring at him, Raven replied, "That's what I said, didn't I?"

"Easy, Darkholme," Darwin broke in with a smile. "He didn't mean any harm." Sitting up a bit straighter, he looked at Angel. "How about you? When'd you sprout your wings?"

"Come to think of it, I was twelve too." Angel hummed and set her empty plate down beside Hank's. "Weird."

Darwin opened his mouth to reply when a knock on the door interrupted him. Blake Sullivan poked his head inside the room and smiled at the group. "Morning, folks. Everyone sleep well?"

The mutants answered agreeably and he smiled. "Glad to hear it. Fern, I was wondering if I could have a word?"

"Ooooh," Sean teased as the grey girl stood. "Someone's in trouble!"

As she passed him, Fern gave the redhead a light slap upside the head. In response, he gave her hip a light shove (even though he had to crane over the back of the couch to reach her). The brunette turned and tried to shove him back, but Sean latched onto her hands.

"Hah!" He cheered triumphantly as her gloves slipped off. Holding them above his head, Sean crowed, "Got yer gloves!"

Fern glared at him, but it was hard to stay mad when he looked so damn proud of himself. As he slid them onto his own hands, the young woman turned back to face the Agent who was smiling at her from the doorway.

Closing the door behind her, Blake teased, "Good to see your making friends."

"He is not my friend." Fern bristled as her skin flickered with embarrassment. "He is a menace to society."

Sullivan looked doubtful, but he sobered quickly. "I heard you had some trouble with a couple agents last night."

Her scales paled and she looked away from him.

"So it's true." The man sighed. Fern waited for the disappointment to come, for him to scold her for walking around the facility unaccompanied and was genuinely surprised when he put his hands on her shoulders. "If anyone bothers you again I want to hear it from you personally, understand? Not through the grapevine. This is your home, as temporary as it may be, and you have a right to feel safe here."

A smile pulled at the young woman's thin scaleless lips. She nodded. "Okay."

"Shake on it?" Agent Sullivan asked, holding his hand out with a grin.

They shook hands.

"You're a good man, Blake Sullivan," The mutant told him with a fond squeeze of his hand.

He inclined his head respectfully. "And you're a good kid, Fern Ailey." He let go of her hand and nodded toward the door. "Now go eat breakfast. I cut the pineapple myself."

"A man of many talents, I see."

Sullivan chuckled and nodded. "I get by."

"Have a good day, Agent."

"You too, Fern."

The young woman smiled at him before she slipped back into the room.

A/N: That scene between Raven and Charles wouldn't be so painful if Raven wasn't like 35.