This was meant to be just a transition chapter, and it turned into more John&Lorna friendship moments! I love writing those too :)

"I want to go to Westchester before the end of June," Lorna announces one night while they're eating dinner. "I know we usually go after classes end, but it's going to get harder to fly soon with this little one," she puts a hand on her now visibly pregnant belly.

Both Lorna and John have kept in contact with the X-Men and the school since they graduated, and tried to go visit regularly, so it's not really a surprise. But it still catches John off-guard. It's been hard, in the last months, to make plans beyond the next few days, let alone think of getting out of town. He doesn't have enough head space for that. That's why he and Clarice haven't talked about the future at all, and John doesn't look forward to it. He can barely see himself in two days, so months or years are out of the question.

"Okay," John says, shaking the thoughts out of his head and trying to pierce through the fog. "Do you guys want to make a weekend out of it?"

"That's what we were thinking," Marcos answers. "Do you want to come with us?"

"I don't know," John hesitates. "Last time I was there was..." he trails off.

"It's not going to be like that. I'm sure everyone there would like to see you, and the situation is very different."

"Yes, of course. I just...it's gonna be hard to go back. All the times before that, I went with Pulse."

"The Professor is worried about you," Lorna says. "I had him on the phone the other day. He doesn't want to ask you to come, but...I think he needs to see you're really doing better."

John sighs. "I know he's worried. He even offered to come down here, and he barely ever leaves the school anymore. Alright, I'll come. It will be nice to see all of them, I suppose."

"Good," Lorna says. "There's also another reason I want to go sooner rather than later."

"The baby?" Marcos asks.

Lorna nods at him. John looks between them, confused. "What about her?" he asks. They've known for a couple of weeks that it's a girl, though Lorna's ultrasound was the day after Memorial Day, so John was in no mood to celebrate. He still got Lorna and Marcos to take a night for themselves and have a nice dinner at a restaurant.

The baby is another thing he can't imagine yet. He'll have to move out before she's born, most likely, but the thought of looking for an apartment fills him with dread. And a new human being to care for, a vulnerable, fragile baby when John can't even take care of himself...

"I don't know if you've noticed, but the pregnancy is affecting my powers," Lorna says.

"Yes, I saw you break that handle the other day. Are you saying you're losing control?"

"Not yet, but I still have three months to go, and my powers are growing faster than I can keep up with. I don't know if it's the pregnancy hormones or the baby."

"You want Jean's advice," John understands.

"Yes. And I think my obstetrician is freaking out. He's never had a mutant patient with powers that strong, I'm afraid he's going to bail."

"Damn. That's not good."

"There's no specialist in the area, we checked. The closest is in Miami, so I figure it's easier to just ask Jean. She'll point me in the right direction, at least, and she can confirm that everything is going well."

"Okay," John says. "Sounds like a plan."

He spends the rest of dinner lost in his thoughts, his brain trying to adjust to both new ideas: going to the school for the first time in months, and Lorna being worried about giving birth. He knew it couldn't be easy for her, but it's the first time she's talked about it so openly.

She doesn't want to bother him with this, John understands. She's been trying to spare him, because she thinks he has enough to think about. He feels almost resentful, bereft of their former easy friendship, when they didn't hesitate to tell each other everything.

It doesn't occur to him until later that he does have enough to think about. He hasn't been paying attention to Lorna and her pregnancy, because it's too much for him to process.

He's been a terrible friend.

Lorna brings the subject of going to Westchester back on the table a few days later, when they're sharing a coffee in the empty café, during the Monday morning lull. Monday is Clarice's day off, so it's just the three of them, and it's a very quiet day.

John has had enough time to get used to the idea of going to the school, and his mind feels a little less foggy. It still amazes him how much clearer he feels on good pain days.

"Would the weekend after next work for you?" Lorna asks.

"I don't have anything planned," John answers. "Classes will be over, so I just have PT on Saturday morning, but I can move it over to Friday or even cancel it for once." He keeps to himself that his therapist has been talking about spacing out sessions for several weeks anyway. He's not ready to admit that he's not improving anymore.

"Do you think we could take Monday off and stay until Monday night? Otherwise it's going to be really short."

"We can close the café for one day," Marcos says. "We haven't taken a single holiday since we opened, besides those two weeks back in August."

The weeks they took to come see him at the military hospital in D.C., John realizes. He wasn't in any state back then to worry about what they'd done with the café, but of course they would have had to close it.

"Okay, I'm going to book the plane tickets in a couple of days, so we need to agree on a timetable," Lorna says.

"Can you wait a bit longer?" John asks on a whim.

"Sure, why?"

"I'm thinking of asking Clarice to come with us."

Lorna immediately smirks. "Isn't it a bit early for her to meet the family?"

"You do know the Professor isn't actually my father, right?" John raises his eyebrows.

"He certainly thinks of you as his son."

"Yes, along with all the kids he's ever taught, including you."

"John, we all know you and he have a special relationship."

"Yes," John admits. "But I wasn't thinking about it like that for Clarice. I think it would do her good to see the school. She doesn't know many safe places for mutants."

"It's a good idea," Marcos nods. "I think seeing the Institute is what reconciled me with the idea that mutants could have happy lives without all the shit I saw in the cartel."

Lorna nods her agreement.

"Thanks," John says. "I'll ask her tomorrow."

Marcos slips back behind the counter to serve the single customer who just entered. John remembers, unbidden, that the first time Clarice showed up was a day like this, when Marcos was doubting aloud, just before she entered, whether they even needed the extra help.

Given how much stress it seems to have relieved from Marcos and Lorna's shoulders, hiring Clarice was the right move, even discounting the fact that it allowed her relationship with John to develop. And now with Lorna's pregnancy leave looming in the corner, they're probably grateful that they have someone already trained to take over Lorna's duties.

One more thing John never talked with her about, he realizes.

Lorna looks tired today, and she's taken the opportunity of the empty café to sit down at John's table, a hot chocolate in front of her. She stopped drinking coffee two weeks ago when she realized it made her power surges worse.

"I haven't really been here for you lately," John says. He's not sure what he wants to tell her exactly, but he has something to apologize for. "There's been a lot going on, but that's no excuse."

"You have so much to worry about−" Lorna starts, not even trying to deny the truth.

"No. You've gone above and beyond for me when I needed it, when I still need it, and I'm being a terrible friend. I'm sorry."

Lorna shakes her head, looking down at her mug.

"The fact that you're here at all is huge," she says quietly. "When you were injured...I was terrified. We lost Pulse, and we were so afraid we'd lose you too. And then when you came home you were all...messed up and..." Lorna bites her lip, blinking back tears. "I'm just really glad you're here."

John winces. Ever since his injuries, it's all been about him, about his pain and his grief and his recovery, so much that Lorna and Marcos's own pain and grief got played down. They probably tried to spare him their worry as much as they could, and he feels awful, suddenly, for not seeing it.

"That's mostly thanks to you," he says. "I'll never thank you enough."

"There's no thanks needed. That's what friends are for."

"Friends are also supposed to be there when their friends are dealing with a complicated pregnancy. I can see how stressed you are."

Lorna smiles sadly. "It's scary," she says, "because we know so little about pregnancy in mutants, let alone about specific powers. I'm so afraid that something will go wrong, that I'll lose the baby, or die in labor, or even hurt someone else. No one knows what's going to happen."

"For what it's worth, I'll be at your side," John says. "I probably won't be of any use, but I'll be there. Anything you need."

"I'm glad. At least I won't break your fingers if I squeeze too hard during labor."

"Right," John laughs. "But seriously, there's no need to spare me. I'm doing better, and I want to be here for you."

"Oh, I was serious!"

John rolls his eyes, smiling.

"It's going to be a huge change, to have a baby around," Lorna says. "I know you're here for me, but you've been through a lot of big changes recently. I don't want to add more on your shoulders."

"A new life," John says. "It's a good change. I think I can handle that."

"I'm not sure you'll have a choice," Lorna grins. "This little one seems pretty eager to come out into the world!"

"You've started feeling her?"

"Yeah, for a couple of days. It's pretty early for a first pregnancy, apparently, but she's already a kicker!"

John laughs, savoring the light in Lorna's eyes. She and Marcos are going to have a baby, everything is going well with Clarice, and this is a good day. For the first time in almost ten months, he feels like things are actually looking up.

"You're getting faster!" John exclaims the next day when Clarice finally manages, for the first time, to open a portal her size without having to widen it in degrees. It takes all her concentration and her energy, but it's a huge improvement over what she could do just weeks ago.

"Thanks," she says, dropping the portal. She stumbles as it disappears, putting her off balance.

"Wow," John catches her. "I think that's enough for today."

Clarice nods, then yawns widely. John doesn't let go of her until she's sitting down, and even then he keeps watching that she doesn't fall off her chair.

"I'm okay, just tired," she says.

"You've been at it for two hours, so that's not surprising."

"What about the youth club?" Clarice frowns.

"It started over half-an-hour ago," John smirks. Clarice blinks. Now, she can hear the children chatter and move around in the main room, but it's the first she's noticed. "You were really focused."

"I guess," Clarice laughs sheepishly. "Don't they need you?"

"No, they have enough adults. Sonya's back, so she's handling things. I think she took most of the kids to the park, actually, that's why they're not making a lot of noise."

"It's a nice day," Clarice remarks, looking wistfully out the window.

"You want to go out?"

"Can we go out without going through the main room?"

"Sure," John shrugs. "It's technically a fire escape, but there's no alarm on it. Come on."

"Thank you," Clarice says. She sways again standing up from her chair, and John is here to catch her.

"You sure you want to move?"

"Sunlight might help. I don't know, it's something to do with the purple lights."

"Marcos needs the sun to power his ability," John offers. "It could be similar for you."

He doesn't let go of Clarice as he leads them out of the classroom and to the end of the corridor, to one of those fireproof doors that can only be opened from the inside. The glass panel bears the remains of what Clarice assumes is the last act of vandalism the center suffered, paint marks and a crack in the glass.

They sit again out in the sun on a bench. The center has a small courtyard protected from the street by a fence, and they're alone. Clarice cuddles up against John, relishing his protective presence. She feels drained.

"Maybe we should space out the sessions," John says. "Or make them shorter. I know you're mostly doing this for me, but I don't want you to harm yourself."

"Shorter could be a good thing," Clarice approves. "But I want to keep going. I like that my portals are starting to feel more natural, and I'm not just doing it for you. It could be useful, plus I actually want to be able to sleep beside you without you worrying."

"Right. Still, with the summer we'll be able to train on Saturdays, so you won't be doing it after standing at the café all day."

"On the weekends?"

"The center is on summer time from June 17th, so I won't have classes anymore," John explains.

"Does that mean you'll have free weekends?"

"Pretty much. I'll still oversee the youth clubs but my presence isn't strictly needed now that Sonya's back. Lorna, Marcos and I will be going up to Westchester for the weekend in a couple of weeks."

"What for?"

"I told you about the school Lorna and I went to, remember?"

"Yes. That's where you're going?"

John nods. "We've kept in touch with the teachers and the people who work there, most of them are good friend. It was a little more than just a high school for us. I've tried to go back as often as possible when I was in the Marines, and Lorna goes at least once a year. We usually wait for the summer holidays, when there are fewer kids around, but Lorna wants to go before her pregnancy is too advanced."

"And you're going with her?"

"Yes. Marcos too. They'll close the café and we'll make a long weekend out of it."

"How long will you be gone?"

"Actually, I wanted to ask you if you want to come," John says, with some hesitation.

"You want me to come with you?"

"The people there, they're the closest thing I still have to a family."

"You want to introduce me?" Clarice blinks.

"Not necessarily like that," John shakes his head. "But I'd love for you to meet them, and I really want you to see the school. I still consider it my home, and it's a really nice place for mutants."

"So where is it?"

"Near New York," John answers, amused. "But you know it's not just any school, right?"

"I got that it's a mutant-only school−"

"It's the base of the X-Men."

Clarice blinks. "They're based off a school?"

"Always have been. Professor X is not called 'Professor' for nothing. He built this school into his family mansion, back in the seventies or something. Hundreds of mutant kids have gone through there."

"Wow. I had no idea. I basically only know what we see on TV, mutants in suits and masks. And you're close to them?"

"I almost became an X-Man," John says.

"Really?"

"Yes. I stayed on at the school for almost a year after I graduated, and during that time I trained with them. I was looking at my options, and Scott, the leader of the X-Men, offered me a spot on the team."

"Why didn't you take it?"

John shrugs. "It wasn't a good fit for me at the time. I don't know, I guess I wanted a different kind of fight. My father was a Vietnam veteran, and I had all these ideals. I thought if I fought alongside the humans, I could show them that we're just like them."

Clarice nods in understanding, biting her lip.

"I was nineteen and naive," John continues. "You know something of how that went. Now… I don't agree with everything they do or stand for, but they're doing good work. On a personal level, most of them are friends or mentors to me."

"I'd love to go with you," Clarice smiles. "It's a bit daunting, but I think I can handle it, and it's important to you."

"It is," John nods. "Thank you."

Clarice snuggles closer to him again, then sits back up with a thought.

"Wait, does that mean we're flying to New York?" she asks.

"Yes."

"I hate flying. I always get searched, and half the time they try to hold me even though I don't have anything forbidden."

John laughs. "Well, this time you'll be flying with me. Which will probably make it even more interesting."

"Why? I'm sure you don't get flagged down that often."

"With two pounds of metal in my back? And wait until you see what it's like to get a wheelchair on board."

"You're taking your chair?" Clarice asks. She tries to make it sound perfectly neutral, like the curious question that it is. Their discussion about John's wheelchair a few weeks ago may have mostly cleared the air, but she's still careful about the way she phrases things.

John doesn't hesitate. "On a trip that long, yes. I want to be able to move when we're there. And I'm not using an airport wheelchair."

"Alright. I guess I'll see how that goes, then. How long will we be there?"

"The plan is to fly there on Friday afternoon and back Monday evening. Monday is the least busy day for the café, that's why Marcos and Lorna chose it, but I know you volunteer at the shelter, so if you'd rather change it−"

"No, it's fine," Clarice says. "Shatter can do without me for once. We have more volunteers during the week now that summer's coming anyway. Kids who want work experience, that sort of things."

"Good," John smiles. "Then I'll book the plane tickets in the morning." He plays with a strand of her hair, looking straight into her eyes. "I'm really glad you're coming."

The next few chapters will be spent in Westchester, meeting a number of well-known mutants... Are you looking forward to it? I know I am!