Anna's eyes opened. She had an audience. Jubilee, N'Ezhno, Elixir, and Triage were all waiting at her bedside.
"Welcome back, Miss Wagner," Joshua smiled.
"What are you guys doing here?"
"We helped the doctors get you here," N'Ezhno said.
"Your friends were kinda worried after you went down," Chris added. "We also wanted to make sure Jubilee was okay after, you know, what happened."
Friends? Anna thought. The idea didn't seem so bad.
"But what did happen? I don't remember much of anything after I touched Miss Ferguson."
"I think I can answer that."
She turned with a start. Blink herself had been resting in a chair with a warm compress over her eyes on the other side of Anna's room.
"Yeah, I'm here. Dani is getting me some coffee. Which I need. Badly."
"Blink, I'm so sorry," Rogue immediately started pleading.
"Calm down," Clarice motioned with her hand. "Too much noise. Besides, I've got an important question for you, Rogue."
"Yes?"
"Before today, had you ever touched another mutant before?"
She thought about it for a moment.
"I haven't touched hardly anyone since I started with my powers. But I guess I couldn't say who was and wasn't a mutant at the time."
"Bingo. You're a sponge."
"I'm a what?"
"Eh, there's probably a proper term for it. I'm not in a creative frame of mind right now. You mentioned you haven't made contact with your mom or your brother, and that's why you didn't find out sooner."
As if summoned, Kurt now rushed into the infirmary with Alison just behind.
"Hey bro," Anna waved.
"Oh, Gott sei Dank you're alright!" Kurt exclaimed.
"We had a bit of a scare, Nightcrawler," Blink motioned for calm. "Jubilee got caught up in it too."
"What on Earth did you three get into?" Kurt leaned in towards Anna.
"I believe Miss Ferguson was just enlightening us," Elixir said, gesturing at the purple haired woman with his gloved hand.
Clarice nodded.
"You have a very particular power," Blink said thoughtfully, "that allows you to absorb and take on the powers of others. You must be sapping their energy somehow, thus the naps all your "victims" take. A sponge."
"Her body also changed when she touched you," Jubilee remembered. "She got your eyes, and your hair color."
"Hmm," Clarice closed her eyes.
"My mutation has physical aspects, I suppose they were part of the transfer."
Rogue was still processing what she was hearing.
"So when I touched you… I stole your powers?"
"That's the basic idea of it. Although I still had my powers when Josh got me up. So it's not quite a one way street."
"It sounds like you figured out a lot," Alison was impressed.
"What I can't figure out is her," Blink pointed at Jubilee.
"Me?"
"You. She touched me and I was out like a light. You touched her and got a mild hangover. Uh, you're like 16, right? You'll understand later I guess."
"I have a pretty good idea," Jubilee held her head. "But you're thinking that the way I reacted to Anna is different than the way you did... For a reason?"
"Yeah. Could be based on our powers. Or age. Further study required."
At the end of the week, Scott Summers entered the infirmary. He was looking for Kitty, but found Rachel and the Cuckoos instead.
"Oh. Hello girls. What are you doing here?"
"Spotting Miss Pryde for her workout," Rachel said shortly. "Well, I am, anyway."
"We're bonding with other students," the Cuckoos said together.
"Miss Frost says it will benefit us," Celeste said.
"That's very good," Scott said. "Four powerful telepaths could be quite the team."
"Mhm," Rachel looked at her father expectantly, as though she were waiting for him to finish his business and leave.
They were all standing around a large cylindrical tank of water. Kitty was floating in the middle of it, staying very still.
"She's training her endurance," Phoebe said, likely not needing to read Scott's mind to guess his confusion.
"Miss Pryde can remain phased into something as long as she can hold her breath," Rachel explained. "So she practices in this tank to expand her lungs and diaphragm."
"Is she… almost done?" Scott asked.
"No," all four girls said at once.
After an awkward pause, Kitty came up for air.
"Well isn't this quite the audience," she mused as she looked over the edge of the tank.
Scott cleared his throat.
"Kitty, I was hoping you could help me. It's about Emma."
Rachel frowned and busied herself elsewhere in the lab.
"I'm not sure how much help I could be if it isn't a professional thing. Me and Emma are still in a… complicated place, if you've forgotten."
"I just need you talk to her. It wouldn't mean the same thing coming from me. The rift with the other staff is becoming worse. The whole secrecy thing."
Kitty lifted herself out of the water and jumped down to ground level.
"Right. And she might be out of luck if she's looking for someone to agree with her. But, let's say I do. What could I say to make her feel better? We're not dating. You two are."
"Miss Frost could ask Mister Summers to agree with her," Mindee offered.
"He agrees all the time," Phoebe said.
"Like on their shopping trips," Celeste finished.
"Girls, could you maybe excuse us?" Scott asked. Once the triplets had exited, he continued.
"Sure, I could tell her that nothing is wrong, and that it will be okay. We tell each other that sort of thing a lot. But that's why it wouldn't mean as much coming from me. You've influenced her more than you know, bringing her into the school like this."
"Hmm," was all Kitty said. Then she reached for a towel.
"I'm the headmistress. Better go headmister something."
The two teachers left the infirmary, while Rachel watched them from afar. She silently chastised herself for remaining silent.
"Strange though the arrangement may be," Emma poured a glass of iced tea for Kitty, "You are my boss. And given our shared past you stand uniquely capable of telling me when I'm being an ass."
The two women were in Emma and Scott's room, a converted double dorm room on the second floor. The transformation Emma had worked upon it was something to behold. One wall had been repainted to a tasteful Chardonnay backsplash, and the light fixtures had been updated with crystal globes and desktop lamps. Two pairs of equally tall, equally ornamented silver and white heels were arranged neatly by one of the closets. A small corner of the room had a set of weights and a few framed photos, a sign that yes, Scott lived here too.
Kitty pondered Emma's words for a moment.
"You put Kurt in a cage when I was a little girl, maybe his opinion would count for something."
"Kurt is too much of a sweetheart to let sleeping dogs do anything other than lie," Emma smiled wryly. "He'd bring them a pillow and an herbal tea to help them sleep better. You have made it clear that you feel differently."
"I've vouched for you personally on occasion," Kitty said defensively. "I wouldn't kid myself and say that I'd be able to manage the books on this place without you. But honestly, I don't think I can get behind the Statutes of Secrecy thing."
"Perhaps it's still the Club talking," Emma said sadly. "I fear what the humans will do to us if they learn that a secret world of enhanced individuals was living under their noses, because I know what those sorts of societies can do."
"And I get that," Kitty said. "But look at it the other way: if somebody slips up, if they discover us themselves, will their reaction be better? Worse? I think that's what Polaris and Dazzler have been getting at. Look at Wakanda. They imagine that somebody from the US Government found their operation and outed them to the whole world. I don't think they would have the bargaining power to share their stuff with the world if that happened. It tends to be more of a taking than a giving relationship."
"I suppose you have a point. I still don't like it. But I can let it be. For now."
"Just focus on your students, keep the peace with Lorna, and try to lighten up a little. We don't need to decide the date of all mutantkind this summer."
They heard a man clear his throat outside. Scott was leaning on the doorway.
"Everything all set?"
"Yeah, we're finishing up here. It was a good talk," Kitty added.
"Good. I've just had a word with the team, they're getting ready downstairs. I think we'll run the Broxton Scenario today. Laura and Rachel will take point."
He vanished from the doorframe again.
Kitty sighed. "Okay. Now that I've helped you, I think you ought to help me. I need to arrange a chat with your boyfriend."
Anna and Jubilee ran into one another once again in the restroom after class. They hadn't spoken since Anna left the infirmary, but now, as she washed her hands, she turned to Jubilee.
"It sounds like they want us to train together," Rogue said hesitantly.
"Sounds like it," Jubilee echoed her tone.
"Well, I just wanted say thanks, for what you and N'Ezhno did earlier this week. I try not to get close to people so they don't get hurt by my mutation. So it's nice to have someone other than Kurt who…"
"Who cares?"
"Yeah well, let's not make it too sappy," Anna laughed.
"Well gosh, Anna. We couldn't just leave you on the floor. Even if you didn't seem like you liked us much."
"I don't really act that way on purpose," Anna simled sadly. "I know this thing I do scares people, so I don't even try to convince them otherwise."
"It must have been scarier for you down in the Danger Room than it was for us."
"Hey, I never said I was scared of anything."
Jubilee laughed.
"Okay, brave girl. Why don't you and I go into the city this weekend? I find that retail therapy usually helps when I'm feeling down!"
"I can't imagine what you 'feeling down' looks like," Rogue said dryly.
"Blame my parents. With a name like 'Jubilation' you kind of have to keep the brand up."
Anna finished washing her hands and threw her paper towel away. The two girls exited, chatting about their plans for the weekend.
Nobody was around to see the trash can spit the paper towel back out with a loud belch.
_Cerebro Files [Elixir]
_Civilian Name: Joshua Foley
_Mutant Ability: Healing and Biological Manipulation, Omega-Level
_Joshua once tried to heal my legs. Indeed, I believe if there was anything wrong with them physically, he worked wonders on alleviating them. But my confinement to this chair goes far deeper than that. How do you treat the psychosomatics of a telepath of my talents? I'm powerless to override my own mind.
After the school closed, I followed Joshua's career intently. He studied anatomy for several years, and then took himself into the most grisly of situations to test the limits of his bioregenerative powers. From what my sources report, he has yet to find them. Making Elixir the newest member of the Omega List was an easy decision.
[ADMN_X/1119-2019]
_None of the Professor's records mention anything about Mr. Foley's left hand. But he always keeps it in that glove, or under his coat. I wonder if he hurt himself? But then, couldn't he just heal it right back?
[ADMN_R/0423-2024]
_Healing mutations are not entirely uncommon. They come in several varieties: regenerative healing factors, like Laura and Logan before her, which apply to the self; and restorative powers, like Christopher and Joshua, which can be extended to others. Elixir, in his time, was considered one of the best of the latter.
[ADMN_F/0422-2024]