Chapter 11: "The Fallout"

Elin wasn't in her room for very long after getting settled out — with Logan making all sorts of promises that it would be handled — before Sying knocked gently on the door. He had his head tipped to the side and a sort of frown on his face as he watched her. "Okay. I hide in the barn for all of, what, a couple hours? And the world falls apart. What is going on?"

"No one can handle things without you around," Elin said before she sat down on her bed cross-legged.

"Clearly," he said with a little smile before he hopped up next to her. "What happened? Seriously. You look…" He trailed off a bit. "So, who am I sending to the hospital?"

"James already took care of it," Elin said. "Police were involved. He and Chance have a record now. Or … at least an arrest." She looked up at him. "It's just … stupid."

Sying stared at her. "They… and the cops… what?" He shook his head, clearly shocked. "I think… you might need to run that by me again."

"Jacob was not a nice guy," Elin said flatly. "And I ended up popping my claws on him."

For a second, Sying was quiet, before he completely failed at biting back a hiss. "Okay, what hospital is he staying at? I can live on Hala; they can't extradite me there."

"Don't, please," she said quietly. "I already know that Dad has detailed plans in place."

"You're my aunt," Sying said. "I care about you! I'm allowed to make threats too!"

"Well, if I ever run into him — or if you ever run into him — feel free, but as far as seeking the jerk out?" She shrugged. "Not worth it."

Sying shook his head and then reached over to give Elin a quick squeeze. "I'm so sorry. I really hoped this would be good fun for you."

"I should have known better."

Sying shook his head at her. "It's not your fault," he said. "It's never your fault if people trod on your heart, okay? Even if it hurts like hell," he added a bit quieter.

"I dunno," she said, matching his tone. "How long is it acceptable to not be my fault?" She shook her head lightly. "I'm sure sooner or later … I had to have done something for this to keep happening."

Sying dipped his head down slightly to catch her gaze. "So… how much of me getting kidnapped all the time is my fault?" he asked her gently. "I mean, sooner or later, you'd think I'd learn that I shouldn't ever have any time to myself. Or go anywhere alone. Or relax for half a second. Right?"

"It's a little different, though," Elin said. "Not like you're giving the kidnappers your phone number and kissing them."

"I sorta did," Sying pointed out. "Not… the Russians. But I sorta did."

"The one creepy Shi'ar doesn't count."

"And the one creepy football player doesn't count," Sying said. He took a deep breath. "Look, I'm not going to sugarcoat it. You and Nolan… that went on way too long, and you knew it, and I was glad when you broke up with him. That one was bad taste. This one is your Andri'i. Not your fault. He took advantage. End of story."

"Still doesn't feel like it was one-sided, though," she admitted before she pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around them.

Sying watched her for a moment and then let out a breath and scooted over to rest his head on her shoulder. "I know," he said quietly. "But it's still not your fault. Your mom hammered that in my head pretty good a couple years back — that it doesn't matter if you kissed the loser. You didn't give permission for anything else."

"Yeah, Dad, Mom, Scott, Chance … James. You're all in the same boat," she said.

"I know you feel like it's your fault," he said. "And you're welcome to come hide with me for a while if you want. You're allowed to feel crummy."

"Yeah, Dad gave me a free pass — kinda," she said. "But he did that thing … the one that makes it sound like not taking the break is the way to handle it?"

"Yeah, well, screw it," Sying said. "If he complains… you were hiding with me because Krissy and I aren't seeing each other anymore."

"Why not?" she asked, honestly surprised by it.

Sying leaned his head back until his head was resting on the wall. "She likes me."

"Then, what's the problem?"

"Apparently, that's the problem," Sying said.

Elin frowned and watched him for a moment. "Oh."

"I didn't… really… understand it," Sying said, letting out a sigh.

"No, I suppose you wouldn't," she agreed.

"Do you?" he asked, picking his head up again.

"Maybe?" she said, shrugging. "I think she's just scared."

"Of me?"

"Of not getting her dashing happy ending if something goes wrong."

Sying shook his head. "That doesn't make sense to me," he said after a long pause. "She… she said she'd want to get serious with me, and that was why she wanted to stick with Christian and just… have fun, I guess."

"She and Chance broke up … whenever … and then kept hanging out all the time. She hasn't had time to rebound. This guy? He means nothing." She tipped her head a little. "He's a palate cleanser."

Sying blew out all his breath. "Thanks," he said at last.

"That's my best guess without talking to her," Elin said. "Because she did not talk to me about this. Not since your ice cream date anyhow."

Sying nodded. "Yeah… you're probably right, though. You're pretty much the closest thing to a handbook on her. 'Elin's Guide to Dramatic Purple Elves'."

"I'm sorry," Elin said. "She'll get bored with this guy."

"You said that about Chance," he said. "I mean… you were right. But I don't want to wait another three years." He swallowed and bit his lip. "Elin, I don't know what to do. I can't just move on when I know… I'm crazy about her, and I always have been, and I can't just walk away from that!"

"Well … either it will work out or it won't," Elin said with an understanding tone. "But please don't just wait for her to come around. You still have to live."

Sying snuggled her a bit more with his head on her shoulder. "I don't want to … one day she'll come around, and I don't want to be dating someone else when that happens. I'd be a liar and a hypocrite if I did anyway because I'd drop her in a second if Krissy asked, and that's why Charlie and I aren't dating anymore…"

"So don't date then," Elin said. "It's not like there aren't a million things you want to learn."

"True," Sying said. "And I am old enough now to take Ael on a few trips we've been meaning to go on."

"There you go," Elin replied. "A plan in place to have fun with your brother and be so amazing that the sun can't compete."

Sying grinned up at her and then let out a little laugh. "Alright, but you need to do the same thing," he said.

"I tried to quit the team."

"Seeing as you said 'tried,' I'm going to assume that didn't actually work."

"I was not aware that Scott has veto power?"

"Well that was your mistake," he said with a smirk.

"But I'm going to think about it. I think … if this jerk pulls something, I'm going to have to make it known who I am at school," Elin said.

Sying nodded. "I know you've been enjoying the low-profile thing, but honestly? I'm glad to hear it. Dad's always saying I need to embrace being different — whether it's being half-human on Hala or half-Kree here. Kinda think you should do the same thing."

"Yeah … that's kinda how Dad put it — in his own way, though it was more like 'screw 'em'."

"I feel like my way is more about loving yourself than it is about spite," Sying teased.

"Um … my father was not being spiteful," she said with a smirk. "It was more of a 'do your thing and don't care what anyone says' kind of angle … with less … words."

"Yeah, I know," he said, then reached over to give her another squeeze. "Whatever you need, you know I'll drop everything to help, right?"

"I know." She was once again quiet about everything and gave him a small smile. "But it's late," she said. "And I've kept everyone up too late tonight."

"I really don't mind," he promised, even though he was standing up. "I was hiding anyway. Not like I had anything better to do." He leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Love you, Aunt Elin."

"Love you too," she replied, leaning into him for just a moment before he gave her another quick squeeze and headed out so she could have some peace and quiet.

The whole weekend down to New York had pretty much been the most trouble Chance had been in with his dad that he could remember, so when he got back across the border to school - with a load of undone homework and a bad mood — he really wasn't happy about being almost immediately pulled out of class to go down to the liaison's office.

"What … happened stateside, Mr. Summers?" the calm-sounding, meek-looking man asked. In fact, this was the most emotion Mr. Horton had ever shown, Chance was sure.

Chance let out all his breath. "It's… a long story," he said. "A guy tried to assault a friend of mine. She got away alright, but the guy... "

Horton looked surprised for a moment and then shook his head slowly. "It sounds like you tried to take the law into your own hands … in a legal kind of matter," he replied.

"She wasn't going to report him," Chance frowned. He'd been through this enough times that he was pretty well fed up with it, though he was trying to be more cordial, considering this was an 'official' reprimand at this point.

"Are you sure the girl was even hurt, then?" he asked.

"What kind of question — of course," Chance said, his eyes narrowed as his head snapped up and he glared at the man.

"It's a very relevant one," he replied. "I was under the impression that you wanted to be a hero, not a vigilante of petty insults."

Chance frowned at the guy. "First of all? If you call attempted rape 'petty' again, I'm walking out that door and never coming back. I'm not going to talk to anyone who thinks that garbage."

"Mr. Summers," he said evenly. "You said assault. You didn't say a word about anything like that. The way it comes off on paper sounds like a backyard gang war."

"Well, it wasn't," Chance said, leaning back a bit but still glaring.

"So how was it that you came to be momentarily incarcerated?"

"You can read it for yourself."

"Clearly, the report is lacking," Horton said before he gestured openly. "Please, in your own words."

Chance let out a sigh and scrubbed his face with both hands before he leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "You know we have ferals at the school. Not hard for them to track a scent. We found the guy responsible, and that would have been that, but when they arrested James, he started trying to accuse us of wrecking his car. It got heated. He was just angling to get us all in trouble."

"I see," he said slowly. "And that's how you found yourself with an arrest record alongside one of the ferals."

Chance nodded. "I admit I lost my temper, but I swear — there was good reason."

"Mr. Summers," the man said before he let out a sigh and leaned back, his glasses discarded on his desk. "You are aware, I'm sure, of how hard this organization has tried to distance ourselves from exactly that image … the rabble-rousing, following the animalistic instincts … we're trying to rebrand this team. And until this … scuffle, you were our best foot forward."

Chance let out a breath and nodded slowly. "I wasn't trying to…" He closed his eyes. "I know how it looks. I was just trying to defend my friend, I swear."

"It hits a little too close to what the original team looked like," Horton continued. "Half of them were borderline felons. It did us no good then, and now, it still doesn't exactly scream 'hero'."

"It won't happen again," Chance said quickly.

"I certainly hope you're right," he said, leaning toward him and nodding. "You have some incredible potential if you would tap into it." Horton sighed heavily and watched Chance for a long moment. "We'll need to revisit this sooner rather than later. I want to see you succeed, but honestly, Mr. Summers, how are we supposed to outfit someone who is playing weekend warrior with one of the most high tech suits in the world?"

Chance felt his hands clench for a moment, but he just nodded and swallowed hard. "I swear, it won't happen again," he said again.

"I should hope not," Horton said, looking almost scandalized. "We'll review and reconsider things in a few months. See that you keep your nose clean in the meantime."

"A few-" Chance had to bite back the question — or accusation — before he could get it out.

"I'm sure we could step things up if you put an extra effort forward in helping your fellow students out. Get more involved."

"You want me to help train the junior squad?" Chance asked, his head tipped to the side.

"No, I want you to help some of the less integrated students find their way into the mainstream."

Chance watched Horton for a long time before he finally nodded. "I don't have much time between training and homework, but I'll make time for that," he promised. He took a deep breath. "I wasn't trying to jeopardize the team. You have to know that. It means a lot to me."

"Yes, I'm sure it does," Horton said. "Just be more aware of your actions when you're not with us. In uniform or out, if you're part of our team, you represent us. Everyone in the team does."

"I know," Chance said. "Believe it or not, I got the same lecture from another team leader this weekend. I know."

Horton gave him a tight kind of a smile. "Yes, well. Rest up; you have a big day of training tomorrow."

Chance nodded as he got to his feet. "Give me three weeks," he said. "You can see the training, and you can review my record, but if you still think in three weeks' time that I'm not putting in my best… I don't know what else I can do."

With that, Chance headed out, still feeling a bit unsteady, since this meant he couldn't go work on the suit with Mac like he wanted to — and he had just finished doing all the measurements and working out some specs, too.

He was so lost in his own thoughts that he almost didn't notice when Jamie came sliding up to him. "What's the deal?" she asked when she saw him. "Someone said you were a criminal now? There's no way, right?"

"Jamie, I really don't want to talk about this right now."

She looked shocked as she looked him over. "Wait. Are you serious?" Her eyes widened. "I chewed that guy up and down calling him a liar!"

Chance shook his head and let out a sigh. "It wasn't… like… that," he said. "Some idiot tried to… this guy almost hurt a friend of mine and…" He paused, not wanting to give away too much because he didn't want to betray Elin's confidence. "Look, it was a long weekend, and I don't really want to talk about it."

She pushed out her lower lip for a moment before she finally nodded. "I'd just hate to think you were going rogue on me," she said with a teasing smile. "Where's that dark side been hiding this whole time?"

Chance shot her a dry look. "This isn't a joke, Jamie. I really screwed up on this one, and I'm pretty sure I'm on probation from the team."

"They can't do that," Jamie said, her eyes wide.

"Uh, yeah they can," Chance pointed out. "They're the ones that have to okay all my paperwork and contract and everything."

Jamie frowned at him for a long moment before she simply popped on her toes and kissed his cheek. "I'm sorry to hear that," she said. "But it can't be all bad, right? You're not off the team or you wouldn't be here, right? Tell me you're not off the team."

Chance shook his head lightly. "No, I'm not off the team. I just…" He let out a breath. "I don't know when I'll have time to have a life at this point, between two teams, homework, and now they want me doing outreach here to be a better ambassador for the team…"

"Oh, that part's simple enough," Jamie said with a crooked smile. "You're taking me to the dance, and I'm totally a 'project', let's be honest." She patted his arm. "As for the rest, don't worry about it. I'll make all the dance arrangements — I really should anyway, since you're the one who has no life… I'll handle it. You just focus on the teams, okay?"

He turned toward her for a moment, taking in her almost manic grin. "Don't go overboard, okay?"

"It's our last fall formal — and my only one as a free agent away from Viper," she pointed out. She squeezed his arm again. "Don't worry — it'll be fun." With that, she all but flounced off before he could really argue, and he was still shaking his head to himself by the time he got back to class at sat down by Oliver, who was shooting him almost sympathetic looks — which just had him buckling down to focus on studying more, because that was the last thing he needed.

For the rest of that weekend, Elin had kept a low profile and tried to avoid everyone. Scott had given her a pass from practice with the junior team — well, not so much a pass as it was a 'you're taking a day off' kind of thing, but still. The sentiment was there, and that just meant that the team all heard at the very least a shortened official version of what had happened.

To make matters more complex, Elin really didn't want to head back to school. Her parents had given her permission to blow it off — either short term or altogether. But she had declined the offer fairly quickly. Especially since, once Logan had gotten her calmed down, he had regained his usual poignant commentary and encouraged her to face the creep just so he couldn't chase her off. And naturally, her mother echoed the sentiment in her own manner.

But she realized once she was there, she really should have reconsidered.

Word was out. On all of it. Previously friendly faces were giving her glares and watching her warily. The girl she'd been chatting with every morning before first period stared at her wide-eyed before pointedly turning the opposite direction. When she got to her locker, there was a message in sharpie that called her every dirty name related to her genes, lineage, and gender that anyone could imagine.

But she tipped her chin up and flat ignored it as best she could. She turned the tumblers on her lock and took her books out for class. As she made her way to class, the crowd seemed to part, and Elin found herself narrowing her eyes. She hadn't done a thing wrong … but she was catching flack for it.

Her sharp ears caught the vein of popular opinion, and on hearing it, her cheeks flushed bright red. Not only had Jacob lied to his friends and spread it around that she had slept with him - but also that she was head over heels for him and that she threatened him after he broke up with her. Which was how he learned that she was a mutant. And Wolverine's daughter. She'd attacked him in a fit of rage when he turned her away… if you believed the word in school, that is.

She wanted to track him down and kick the crap out of him — and any of his buddies that had been spreading the lies mixed with her truths about her family. But she knew that wouldn't do her a bit of good.

Instead, she casually corrected them.

"No, I didn't touch him, but my fifteen-year-old brother kicked the crap out of him."

"Yes, Wolverine and K are my parents. Yes, I favor my mother heavily, no, my dad doesn't waste his time with knuckle draggers like him — lucky him, since he couldn't handle my little brother."

Outside of that, Elin ignored the looks and hushed whispers all week. It was clear she wasn't exactly welcome anymore, but the more she thought about it … it was really just more of a reason for her to shove it in their faces.

"Why aren't you going to that mutant school?" one of the cheerleaders asked, though she kept a fair distance as she clutched her books to her chest.

Elin set her tea down and looked up at her as she drew in a deep breath. "Because I should be able to go to school wherever the hell I want."

"But … you didn't tell anyone you were a mutant before."

"That is the only bit of truth that slimeball said out of everything he said about me," Elin pointed out, but the girl just chuckled.

"Everyone knows that he only picks up the easy girls," she told her.

"Not new people," Elin corrected her.

"You've been here your whole life, right? That doesn't make you new — it just makes you naive. You should have learned more about him before you jumped into bed."

At that, though, Elin couldn't control her growl. "I didn't sleep with him." She narrowed her eyes and sneered at the girl. "But you did. Recently."

The growl alone was enough to make the girl and her friends step back. The cheerleaders skittered away, and Elin lost her appetite. This wasn't going well. She hadn't even made it through one marking period before she found herself ostracised on several fronts.

When she got back to her locker, the graffiti had gotten worse — threats and the usual insults, mixed with taunts about how she was trying and failing to be 'human'. But all that really did was tick her off.

By the time school was out and she'd driven herself home … she realized as she sat in the garage that she didn't want to ignore these kids. And she didn't want to leave.

She realized as she stared at her father's motorcycle that she wanted to teach them a true-to-life lesson in mutant-human relations. But for as rotten as they'd been to her, she was sure she wouldn't be able to do it without at least part of her uniform on to remind herself of what the goal was.

The thought wasn't very encouraging, and when she got up to her room, she dropped her backpack on the bed, frustrated. It would be a lot easier to just say to hell with it and stay here. She knew Scott would let her come back immediately. Hell, he'd even offered it after they got James out of jail.

But then they wouldn't be any better off. If she was going to do the right thing- it was clear that the right thing was her hardest option.

She let out a frustrated growl and headed to her closet to find something to change into. She wanted out of those clothes that smelled like the school. But when she opened it up, she only got that much more irritated when she saw the dress she'd picked up in Paris shortly before Jacob freakin' tried to force himself on her in the pick up truck.

"I really liked this dress," Elin said after she thought about it for a moment and yanked it off the rack. But … maybe … Krissy might have a use for it instead. She pulled the dress out of the closet and headed right over to Krissy's room, planning to simply leave it there with a note - and sure that Kate could get it altered any way it needed to be for her.

She knocked, and when she found the room was empty, she laid the dress out on Krissy's bed and was just jotting down her note when Kari came by and asked what she was doing. "Do you know where Krissy is?" Elin asked.

"She's down at team practice — like you're supposed to be," she pointed out, crossing her arms and frowning at the dress.

"Oh, right," Elin said, frowning deeper before she put the note on top of the dress. "Well. One missed practice won't matter, I'm sure."

"Right. One missed practice… because of a dress?" Kari wrinkled her nose at the dress. "I mean, it's cute and all, but it isn't 'miss practice drop dead gorgeous.'"

"I'm late — and that means a hassle," she replied. "And I'm entitled to a break now and again. So I'm taking one."

Kari perched on the top of the desk chair nearby. "I didn't say you weren't," she said. "And considering James texted me before he got arrested, I'd say everyone could use one after what happened. But I'm just curious." She pointed with her tail to the dress. "It doesn't scream 'birthday present' or 'just because.'"

Elin let out a sigh. "I was going to wear it to the homecoming dance, but... I'm not going to their homecoming or our fall formal."

"Why?" Kari asked, her head tipped to the side.

"No date for one…."

"So? I'm going with Zoe. She doesn't have a date either — not for lack of boys trying, mind you," Kari giggled. "And Abracadabra got grounded — whatever it was was bad enough that Doctor Strange was mad? So… Harry's not coming with me."

"I think Doc gets a little worked up sometimes. He might surprise you and magic his way in. But as for the dress — maybe Krissy can find a use for it."

"Krissy's got a different dress from Paris," Kari said. "It's got matching gloves. You know. For Christian."

"Well, she can use it next time — or when he takes her somewhere nice." She pointed to the note. "I also am telling her to take whatever dresses she likes out of my closet. You're welcome to do the same. I don't want anyone looking at me anymore."

Kari watched Elin carefully, her head tipped to the side and her tail swaying behind her. "You know," she said slowly. "You can go with me and Zoe if you like. But I know there's a few guys who don't have dates who are just… fun. That's the whole point, right?"

"It's supposed to be," she agreed, already thinking of asking her mother to let her go up to the cottage for the weekend instead. "I don't think that's really an option, though. you know how awful the dances have been for me since Nolan. I just ... I don't need to keep hearing it."

"Then find someone you like." Kari held up a hand. "Not… like. Just find someone fun. That's why Zoe and I are going." She smirked. "I think Cody is going to have a heart attack when he sees what she's wearing, but that's just me. Zoe does that to… everyone."

"Right. I'll think about it; thanks, Kari," Elin replied before she simply headed out of the door.