A/N: Thanks to Linda Ku, my amazing beta who always puts so much amazing work into this fic! Sorry for the delay on this chapter- I had thought I'd posted it already.

After a morning of strength training and tactfully avoiding both her emotions and her teammates, Fern decided to treat herself to a nap. Stretching her long arms above her head, she let out a low groan. For full effect, she popped up on her tiptoes, dug her setae into the hard wood, and twisted about until she heard a satisfying *crack*. Relief flooded through her tight muscles. With a pleased sigh, she looked down at her feet. Some of her zen disappeared at the sight of the scratches she had made in the pristine floor; then the girl remembered what Xavier had said about building new memories and untidying the place a little bit. Smug, Fern idly made a little happy face using the claw of her big toe out of the markings that had been left behind. Loose once more, she opened the door and was immediately assaulted by the excited puppy of a human being she was sleeping with.

"Fe! Guess what?!"

She shut the door in his face.

A muffled "Hey!" made her snicker. Knowing Sean was unavoidable, Fern opened the door once more and slipped inside. The door closed behind her without a sound. Planting her back to the door, she crossed her arms expectantly.

The young man was a mess; red faced and pouting, his bright hair was dark with sweat and matted to his face. Still, she didn't see any grass stains, so the girl supposed he'd had a good day.

"What was that about?"

"What was what about?" She smirked before pushing off from the door. As she passed by him, she gave his flushed cheek an affectionate pat. Sticky fingertips touched her sweatshirt by the back of the neck and pulled it over her head. Her a-shirt was a stark white against her black scales and they swirled through a dimension of colors as she flopped onto the bed. Arms outstretched, she made a show of crossing her long legs.

With a roll of his eyes, Sean reached down and grabbed her by the knees. At her weak kick, he slid his hands down to her ankles and lifted them in the air. His shoulders screamed in protest, but he was too excited to care as he gave her a playful shake. "Guess what?!"

Completely unimpressed, Fern offered a blunt, "What."

"I flew!" Sean dropped her legs and fell on top of her. At her shriek, he began to kiss her face. His lanky arms framed her head as his chest collided with hers. Lips bouncing off her cheeks (and temple and jaw and nose), he laughed. "Aren't you excited?!"

"You're all gross!" Her hands found his hair and gave it a yank. At his gasp, and the more troubling grind of his crotch into her hip, Fern warned, "Don't you dare ejaculate."

"Well, I'm never going to ever again, thanks to you."

"You're welcome." Her hands smoothed down to the flushed skin of his neck. Curious pride sparkled in her eyes. "You really flew?"

His put upon frown blossomed into another bright smile. "Yeah! It was amazing, okay so, I was on the satellite-"

Fern let her hands fall and turned to face him as he shuffled away from her. Sean did this mostly so he wasn't screaming in her face, but also so he wouldn't smother her. At least not until she praised him properly.

Unfortunately, her tone suggested that probably wasn't going to happen. "You jumped off a satellite?!"

Sean cringed as she pinned him to the mattress. His aching shoulders dug into the sheets as she straddled him. Unable to keep from staring down the front of her tanktop, the redhead gulped at the sight of her swirling oil slick patterned breasts. "Jumped is such a strong word."

Fern's gaze sharpened. Hunched over him like a feral dog, she ignored how her skin shiveref with confusion and fear and dread. She had never liked the idea of Sean flying, but she had rationalized it was never, ever, going to fucking happen. Apparently she had been wrong, and she had underestimated how willing he was to risk his life on a chance to try. The brunette also noticed how he had decided to secure his hands on her ass, because really, she was too embarrassed to mind how much she didn't mind them. When he just kept staring down her shirt, she sat on his stomach.

Breath effectively knocked out of him, the young man offered a winded, "Hey!" of protest.

Her arms crossed to block his view, or more realistically, his leering. "Explain."

"I...um," Sean swallowed. Fern may have been scowling at him, but he recognized the hint of panic in her skin, and worse, the worry in her pupiless eyes. Hoping to calm her fears, he offered her a crooked, ineffective smile. "I might've been pushed."

Her scales spasmed as she bared her teeth. "Who-"

"Doesn't matter. I flew." He beamed and sat up. His bedmate tried to shuffle back, but he kept her close with an arm around her waist. Batting his lashes effeminately, Sean put on a pout. "Ain't you proud of me?"

Sighing, the black scaled mutant cupped his cheeks. With a quick peck to his mouth that made Sean blush, Fern nodded. Careful, clawed fingers smoothed back the sticky red bangs that clung to his brow. "Of course I am, babe. Now tell me what happened."

His smile went from fond to bright. As his excitement grew, his slow drawl picked up to an almost manic pace, "I was on the satellite, right? And I was having second thoughts, because you know-"

"It's insane."

"Right, so Erik decided I was taking too long and he gave me a helping hand and I flew. For literally an hour. I can't feel my neck," he sighed with pride and fell back against the mattress. "It's amazing."

"He pushed you off the satellite," She repeated calmly as her skin began to twitch.

Not wanting to cause trouble, Sean shrugged. His eyes a bit narrower, he frowned as he watched the scales swirl along her sharp cheekbones. "Yeah, but you know-"

Her voice rose as she sneered, "He pushed you off the satellite!"

"Flying!" He reminded her. Disappointed by her lack of excitement, he repeated, "I was flying!"

The young woman all but jumped out of his lap. Her hands fisted in her short jet black locks, she shook her head. Heart drumming against her ribs, the brunette tried and failed to force back her rage. At Erik for doing it, at Charles for allowing it, for Sean for being so damn blasé about his safety. Shrill and irate, she all but screamed at him, "Fuck flying, Sean, you could've died!"

"But I didn't."

Fern sighed at his downtrodden features and the crack in his husky voice. Offering him a weak smile, she cupped his cheek again. She kissed his other cheek and nuzzled their noses together playfully. At Sean's chuckle and faint blush, she thumbed his jaw. "I'm glad you're okay." Her smile grew a bit warmer. "And it is amazing that you flew. I'm so proud, okay?"

"Really?"

"Of course!" Her arms wrapped around his gangly shoulders. Vaguely, she wondered how his lanky ass arms were even capable of supporting his equally skinny body. Her hand fell to rub one of them. "I mean, you're probably the only guy on the planet who can. I mean, Angel could, but that bitch had wings, so really, it's kind of more impressive that you can."

He laughed. Cheeks still pink, Sean couldn't help how high his chin rose at the praise. He still wasn't totally used to it. Having come from a tough love kind of family, all of the affection and comity in the mansion was still new to him, but he liked it. Liked having people encourage him, liked them being concerned for him, and liked having people, having Fern, be proud of him. His blush darkened when she tipped his chin down and kissed his forehead.

"Get some sleep." Her hands fell, gently pushing him away as he moved to melt into her embrace. Voice collected, but movements a bit slow with regret, she told him she would wake him for dinner.

The young man swallowed. Rubbing his hands on his thighs, he watched as Fern moved to the door. Disappointment welled in stomach at the thought of being alone in their bed and he couldn't helping calling after her, "You wanna lay with me?"

"I can't," She lied, unable to bring herself to look back at him as her fingers reached the handle. "I've got training."

"Oh." He forced back his disappointment with a nonchalant nod. "Of course, I'll catch you later, right?"

With a smirk, Fern left him.

Downstairs, Erik was conversing innocently with Charles. The men were in the study, enjoying a game of chess when the mutant entered the room. They didn't look up from the board, but the Brit did greet her with a cordial, "Afternoon, Fern."

Fern didn't notice. She had already grasped a discarded copy of the Once and Future King from one of the scattered tables. It had a good, heavy weight in her hand. Hurling it at Erik with all her might, the young woman felt an immense amount of satisfaction as it bounced off his temple.

"Fern!" Charles bellowed.

Erik was too stunned to be angry. At least at first.

"No!" She screamed back at him. A firm finger pointed at the German (who was too busy clutching his head to notice), she told him, "You know what that was for!"

Erik scoffed. A fierce blush on his pale skin, he snapped, "My god, Ailey, he's a grown man!"

"Well, he's my man!" She stomped her foot, hands clenched at her sides while her skin swirled in a quick rhythmic pattern over her upper body. "And I don't want sociopaths pushing him around!" Her finger went from Erik (who still wasn't paying attention and was now checking to make sure he wasn't in fact bleeding) to Charles. "You keep your dog on a leash, or so help me, I will get so many more books! Bigger books! Dictionaries!"

Bewildered, the shorter man shook his head. Both at the threat and the antecedent action. "Fern."

Her foot stomped again. "No!"

"Fern," Charles repeated, slightly condescendingly. When he realized he wasn't going to get an apology, or any rational thought, out of her, he simply let out a long sigh. "Make sure Sean rests his larynx. It's been under a lot of strain today."

The nod she offered was curt before she stormed back out of the room, just as fiercely as she had entered.

"Am I bleeding?"

Charles glanced at him. Slightly amused by the man's grousing, he offered a blunt, "No."

"Are you certain? It feels like I'm bleeding."

"You're not." His blue eyes rolled back to the door, and he considered going after his protégé a moment before deciding against it. "It's just a bruise."

Erik bristled. "You could at least muster up a bit of false sympathy for my ego, Charles."

"Your ego needs no help from me," the shorter man replied. Hiking a pant leg up, he sat back down and looked at the chess board. His finger returned to his chin as he began to calculate his next move.

Across from him, his friend just glared.

Sean was already half-asleep when she returned. He hadn't bothered to change out of his sweats, and was clutching a familiar little stuffed dog to his chest. His head lifted off the pillow as the mattress dipped and an arm wrapped around his middle. Blinking awake, he let out a hum at the sensation of her scaled cheek nuzzling into his neck. It was prickly and cool compared to his own warm skin. "I thought you had training?"

"Fuck it," Fern grumbled. He smelt like sweat, but she wasn't terribly bothered by it. Still, a courtesy shower would've been nice. "I've got better things to do."

He chuckled and wove their fingers together. Pulling them tight to his chest, the smile he offered was crooked and fond as the dog fell to the wayside of their affection. "Aw, I love you, too, Fe."

Her skin swirled as he leaned back to nuzzle against her head. Torn between embarrassment and delight, she giggled. "Shut up."

"It's cute you get so worried about me."

"I mean it, Cassidy, it's quiet time."

His voice softened. Thumbing the back of her hand, Sean enjoyed the scratch of her scales. "Thanks for looking out for me."

"Go to sleep, Sean."

"I really-"

"Sleep." Her fingers squeezed his before letting them go. Carefully, they rose to caress his throat. The ridges embedded in her fingertips gently scratched his pale skin as she kissed his cheek. "Charles says you need to rest it, so shut up and rest it."

"Yes, dear."

"Hush."

They were quiet a moment. Sean felt her settle deeper, felt her lock her leg around his as her hand returned to holding his own. "Are you gonna be here when I wake up?"

A cheeky "Maybe" was her response.

The boy's voice wasn't quite so mirthful. Low and almost melancholy, Sean pressed his cheek deeper into his pillow as he murmured, "I'd like you to be."

Fern pressed another kiss to the back of his shoulder. Nosing the hood of his sweater out of the way, she nodded. "Okay. If it'll make you go to sleep, I'll stay."

"Thanks."

The two were only in bed about an hour before Moira showed up at their door. With only a brisk knock of warning, she stuck her head into the room. The two young mutants were mostly just a tangle of limbs. A bit awkwardly, she cleared her throat. When there was no response, she rose a hand to the door frame and knocked again, louder this time.

Sean poked his head up from behind Fern. Squinting at the human, his usually raspy voice was thickened by his natural accent as he asked, "What's up?"

"They're announcing it. We're meeting in the study."

"Announcing what?" He asked, moving to sit up. Fern quickly yanked him back into her arms. After a moment of struggling to get away, he glanced back at Moira, only to find her gone. With a frown, he shook his bedmate awake.

Fern peaked an eye open. Narrowing it on him, she said nothing as he slid out of the bed.

"Get up. Something's happening."

Curiosity peaked by his serious tone, the girl obeyed. "What?"

"I don't know." He shrugged and handed her one of the sweatshirts that littered the floor. "Come on."

She took the sweater and the two were on their way. All but running down the stairs, the duo broke into the study to find the others staring intently at the television. Charles met their gaze individually before he answered their unanswered question. "The President is about to make his announcement."

"Yeah, but what's he announcing?" Fern asked, sliding onto the armrest closest to Moira. She nodded to the woman before she popped a foot up. Toes clenched around the arm panel, she met the slim brunette's gaze.

Moira's features were stern, her brown eyes sharp with concern but not panic. "Russia has been stockpiling missiles in Cuba."

Confusion ruffled the girl's black scales. "So?"

"So it's a direct threat against the United States."

Fern tilted her head. "It is? Why?"

Moira just stared at her. Skeptical, and perhaps a bit condescendingly, the woman told her, "Because we're at war with Russia?'

"We are?!"

Sean slid a hand over her shoulders and offered it a squeeze. "I'll explain later."

"We've been expecting this," Charles admitted. The younger trio (of Fern, Alex, and Sean), seemed surprised, and possibly annoyed that they hadn't been let into the loop, but stayed quiet as he continued, "The President could announce that the U.S is planning to line the border. If that happens we can only assume it's a matter of time before a conflict-"

Raven's gasp cut him off. "It's starting!"

"Good evening, my fellow citizens."

Sean's hand fell from Fern's shoulder.

In truth, the young woman didn't understand much of the speech. All of her education had come from Josie. She had taught her how to read and write, how to appreciate literature and did her best to keep her up to date on the various kinds of science (whether it was astronomy or psychology), but Josephine Ailey was a staunch pacifist. She had lost her husband during the Second Great War, and as such, it was a rather sensitive subject for her. The old woman had never bothered to educate her daughter beyond the basics; the good guys, the bad guys, and a disturbingly in depth discussion about the Holocaust that had given the eleven year old Fern a series of night terrors.

But she hadn't bothered to tell her about the current Cold War the U.S was in with Russia. Partly because she didn't want to scare her, and partially because Josie assumed if the worst did happen, well...they'd both be dead, so really, it wouldn't matter. Besides, Fern had enough to be afraid of; she didn't need to be more afraid of the outside world than she already was.

Fern watched passively. She could feel dread in her stomach, felt it swirl along her scales, but it wasn't at the President's words. The air was tense and cold despite the sunlight shining through the bay windows. Her other leg joined its twin and she held her knees tight to her chest. She didn't like it. She didn't like how somber the man on the screen was, how quiet and still the room seemed despite being full of people. Her sharp teeth ground together as her toes clenched and unclenched around the arm panel.

The cost of freedom has always been high rang through her head. She thought of what she had learned from Josie. About how to be strong and poised and unafraid and wished she could be more like her, but fear spiked through her chest. She knew there would be a cost. She just wasn't sure she would be strong enough to pay it. Swallowing, her legs fell as Erik looked back at the group behind the couch.

His eyes shone, somewhere between desperation and determination, as he told them, "That's where we're going to find Shaw."

"How do you know?" Alex frowned.

From his seat, Charles sighed. "Two superpowers facing off and he wants to start World War 3. He won't leave anything to chance."

"So much for diplomacy," the German man said with a hint of snideness. His gaze went back to the kids. "I suggest you all get a good night sleep."

"...leads to war…" The President droned from the television.

Slowly, they left the study. Only Moira and Charles stayed behind to start on a plan of action. Alex went off to train, while Erik disappeared upstairs. Raven followed Hank up to the lab, which left Sean and Fern in the kitchen. Once they were alone, the young man moved to make good on his promise of giving her a brief history lesson, but it didn't go quite as planned.

"Okay, so Russia-" Sean blinked with surprise as Fern cut him off with a firm kiss on the mouth.

Pulling back, she licked her lips and shook her head. Her scales shimmered. Thumb rubbing the freckles on his cheek, she swallowed. "I don't care. It doesn't matter. I'm sorry I got so mad earlier."

With a faint blush and an awkward shrug, the redhead told her it was okay.

"No. No, I shouldn't have-" Fern shook her head. Voice tight and rushed, she went on, "You were so excited, and you should be, but- I just don't you to get hurt. I couldn't protect Blake or Darwin, but-"

"Hey." He took her hand from his face. His fingers laced with hers as he let it fall to their side. The grip was tight and grounding. "None of us could."

"I just don't want anything to happen- to any of us, but I get scared when you're the one taking the risk."

"This whole thing is a risk, Fe. You have to trust me."

"I do." Her eyes widened slightly as her chin cocked with annoyance. "Your judgement on the other hand-"

Sean shook his head. Torn between disbelief and annoyance, he sneered, "I'm not stupid. I wouldn't put myself in harm's way if I didn't think I could handle it."

Staring at his throat, she managed to croak out, "Promise?"

"I promise."

Her head fell to rest on his collar. As his hand cupped the back of her neck, his arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her close, Fern offered a quiet but sincere, "I'm sorry."

"I know it's hard letting people in. You've been on your own a long time, but you gotta trust me, okay? This kinda thing won't work if you don't."

"I know." Guilt ate at the pit of her stomach. The young woman knew Sean trusted her to an almost disturbing extent. He had trusted her when she was spitting poison, trusted her when she was behind the counter at the base. Hell, Sean trusted her enough to share a bed with her. Nodding, Fern pulled back to meet his earnest gaze. "I'll try to lighten up."

Another faint blush crossed his cheeks. As he cleared his throat, he offered her fingers another squeeze. Caressing her setae with his fingertips, the redhead's mouth twitched downward. "I...I like that you worry. It's nice," His voice stayed gentle as he continued, "I just don't like seeing you get all riled up like that. It's scary."

Fern's features stayed blank, but her scales flinched like she had been slapped.

"Not because of your skin! Because of how you act!" Sean rushed. His hands slid up her arms and held them tight. Through the heavy material of her sweatshirt, he could feel the rough firm press of her scutes, while her glands remained soft. "When we faced Shaw you mouthed off to him! Fern, don't know how fucking dangerous that is?! And you treat Erik like-" The laugh he gave was borderline crazed. Eyes wide, he shook his head as his grip tightened on her sweats. "Like he couldn't just kill us anytime he wanted-"

"He wouldn't." The brunette crossed her arms, inadvertently knocking his hands away. Stubborn, her chin fell. "Charles wouldn't like that."

The young man stayed sober. "Fe-"

"I know what you mean, but..." Fern pursed her lips a moment before letting out a long sigh. She hated explaining herself, to Sean of all people, the one person she thought had her back. Still, the brunette knew she hadn't exactly been as candid as she could have been when it came to her beliefs. She didn't really feel the need to be. Either Sean supported her or he didn't, but she didn't want him to think she was some moron who rushed into conflict. "I know men like them. I've been dealing with men like them my whole life." Her shoulders rose and fell in a quick bob. Her gaze rose to his. Sharp and stern, she told him, "I'm not gonna let 'em scare me anymore." At Sean's puzzled frown, she explained, "Men who only see my mutation. The others were human. These guys are like me, so I don't...I don't know." A bit defeated and a bit tired of the conversation, Fern sighed. "I'm just not gonna let anyone push me around like that ever again."

His eyes softened as his hand rose to cup her scar under her sweatshirt. At her embarrassed swallow, he kept his voice gentle, "They did a little more than push you around, Fe." Forehead falling to press against hers, Sean shook his head. The movement caused friction from her scales to leave a red mark against his pale 'normal' skin. "I don't want you to be scared anymore."

"I can't help it."

"I know." His mouth tipped up to catch hers. "So if you gotta be scared, you can be scared for me."

"No. You're right." The smile she offered was warm and bright, if not a little forced. "Tell me how it felt to fly."

Sean beamed. Arms secured around her waist, he nodded enthusiastically. "Amazing."

A more genuine grin split over her mouth. "I bet!"

"Total adrenaline rush."

Fern giggled. "Scare any birds?"

"No! Maybe. They all took off once I got out there."

"Well, that's no fun."

"I know, right?!"