500 Miles

Complications II

By Princess Alexandria

SEVEN YEARS AFTER NEW YORK

……………..

"Hey if it isn't the Queen of the Internet." Phil teased her as she stepped into the break room. He held up the magazine that came up with that little nickname after she'd granted them an interview.

"Yeah, stuff it or I'll take my crown and put it where the sun don't shine."

"Kinky." He smirked at her. "So… how does it feel to be famous?"

"You did this to me on purpose didn't you? You talked the reporter into wanting to focus on just me and not all three of us just so you could tease me about it later."

"No, your story was just more interesting. Starting a business on the heels of a breakup with a lesbian lover, working while finishing school," His voice became more regretful. "Being attacked in the parking lot and then turning around to sponsor women's self defense classes for all the women around this office." He shook his head and Christy just sighed. Maybe she'd been too candid in the interview. "I just got a call from Steven asking if I wanted a job after I finished my degree and I took it. Hardly interesting."

"How are you feeling about the gay thing being out there?"

"We'll survive. It wasn't your fault she did her homework. I thought you handled it pretty well."

"But it will affect us won't it?"

"Just more bigots we wouldn't want as customers anyhow."

"Steven agrees with that?" She hadn't talked to Steven since the magazine came out, but most likely she'd hear from him today. Phil and Steven were closer so she usually asked Phil something to gauge how the phone call would go.

"Steven's a little worried, but this will blow over and we'll be standing stronger than ever. I even got a few calls because one of the Realities three is gay, so you may bring in business just for loving the ladies. I don't get that, but hey it works for us." He looked her in the eyes. "We screened customers with that other thing in mind. Bigots tend to be bigots universally. I think our client base is among the best in the world. We hand picked them." His eyes took on a mischievous glint. "We could rename ourselves Tolerance and Acceptance Internet. T&A Net."

"The Internet has enough T & A on it as is." She wiggled her eyebrows. "And please don't let the others hear you talk like that. The last guy I fired for sexual harassment was enough for me."

"I know." The teasing air was gone. "How's class?"

"Doing okay. I could probably kick his ass if I had to do it all over again."

"You would have been able to do that after two months. You've been at it two years, solidly."

Christy just gave him a small smile. She did feel safer.

…………..

"I found Emma." Steven told her after they'd discussed the interview. "She's going to a conference on women in business. The one you told me you didn't want to go to."

"How's she look?" Her in control, commanding voice faded to a softer voice she used when it was personal business. She barely noticed herself doing it. "Is she doing okay?"

"She congratulated us on the business. Said she heard good things." He paused. "And you know she looked good. So you wanna change your mind and represent us?"

"Damn it." Christy sighed. She hated these things. "Sign me up."

"Okay. You better order more business cards."

"Don't worry, I'll play at sales." She didn't have Phil or Steven's knack for sales, but this convention was partly a chance to make connections, and it wasn't like the guys could go and fit in.

"Christy, its been years." Steven started. "You can tell me now, were you and Emma dating in college? I mean you did spend a lot of time with her and Max may have been an ass, but now I kind of wonder."

Christy sighed. "No, we weren't. And before you ask I didn't even like Astrid."

"Okay if you're sure."

"I think I'd remember sleeping with someone like Emma Frost." For the rest of her life, she would have treasured it.

"I bet anyone would. You didn't see her last week. Time has only made her hotter." He had a hint of a lecherous boy in his voice. "Want me to see if she needs a roommate again?"

"Shut up." She shook her head. "Just fax me that damned registration form."

"Don't forget who's been with you all these years, who helped drag you up to the newsworthy business woman you are today… so if you get lucky on this trip I deserve at least some details."

"You're a pig Steven. Hard to believe I used to think you were a gentleman." She just smiled and shook her head. "I need to go terrorize the techies. Talk to ya later."

………………….

"Christine Taylor." She told the woman at the check in desk.

The older woman looked at the list and then checked her off. "Here is your packet, and nametag."

"Great, nametags." Christy muttered as she stepped away from the desk.

"I know." Some random woman started talking to her. "I hate how I get holes in my clothes." The brunette smiled at her. "I'm Stephanie Christensen." The woman pulled her nametag into sight. "Of Comptrex. We manufacture a few different computer components."

Christy kept her discomfort at this sort of thing hidden. "Christy Taylor from Altered Realities."

"I heard about that company." Stephanie studied her. "You were interviewed lately, I thought I recognized you."

"Great, now I'm famous." She gave an embarrassed smile. "I knew I should have locked myself in the bathroom when the reporter came in."

"You took a big risk in that interview. Were your stockholders upset?" Christy swore she heard some condemnation in the woman's voice now. Great. This wasn't what she came here to talk about.

"We have a good service, so I'm not worried." She felt like a politician. What she wanted to do was just walk away.

"Still, some people may have reservations about working with a lesbian."

Christy stood a little taller. "Yes, well I have reservations about working with bigots so I think it all will work out in the end."

"Aren't you at all afraid of losing clients?"

"No." Christy answered as if the question were stupid.

"I would hardly think you'd need to worry." A cool and strangely familiar voice behind her entered the conversation. "Altered Realities, and a rather interesting choice for a name Christy, has the reputation to withstand a little mudslinging." Christy turned to see a blonde in a white business suit smirking at her.

"Emma."

"Emma Frost?" Stephanie tried to integrate herself into this conversation as well and Christy shared a look with Emma. It was like it hadn't been eight years.

"Excuse me…" Emma glanced at Christy.

"Stephanie." Christy supplied.

"Stephanie. I need to borrow Christy."

"I didn't realize that Altered was working with Frost Enterprises." Stephanie continued to annoy her.

"We aren't." Christy started, but Emma interrupted her.

"Yet." They left a stunned looking Stephanie in the lobby as Christy and Emma headed to a more vacant area to talk.

"Thank you for the save." Christy glanced back at the woman.

"She wasn't your friend. I would imagine Comptrex wants to pull some of your clients away from you. They're starting to branch out into your territory."

"And I probably should have known that?" Christy shook her head.

"No, I have a good information gathering system. Don't feel too bad."

"God Emma, it's been years." Christy took in Emma's well put together look. "You look great."

"So do you. You look like you've recovered." Emma looked into her eyes. "Have you? Any lingering problems? I was a mere novice then."

"I still know Psychology too well." Christy glanced around before taking the leap. "Do you want to have dinner?" There were things that just took longer to say.

"And skip the after opening ceremony polite chit chat with people that would like to stab me in the back. Why that sounds lovely."

"I'm sorry I didn't call you." Christy looked down. She'd always regretted losing contact. "By the time I tried you'd moved."

"It was a rather eventful time for me." Emma's voice softened. "And I tried to call you too, a few times, but I think you probably didn't get the messages. Michelle didn't seem to want to forward a message without a full description of how I knew you." Christy just clenched her teeth and shook her head. Yet another reason to be pissed at her ex. "I heard, or actually read, what happened dear. I'm sorry it turned out to be true."

"Yeah me too." Christy moved to stare out at the other women with Emma as they waited for the doors to open so they could get seated. "I tried to call you that night I talked to Steven. In a way you got me where I am today. I was asking him if he'd seen you and he told me about his business plan."

"That part was left out of the interview."

"Well the gay thing was already out there. The reporter came out and asked me about that. She'd found out about my time in the college gay and lesbian group and well." Christy looked back into the ice blue eyes her double had always been fascinated with. "I know you had a tough time with the teasing in college. I decided to spare you going through that again."

"I've grown a bit since college. I won't get upset and lash out if people think I'm a lesbian."

"Oh well good, since you're spending time with me and we're in a convention full of gossips." Christy glanced at the small group looking their way. "I've just become the lesbian businesswoman of the month after all."

The doors opened. "I have to work out a business deal with someone." Emma moved away from the wall. "And since we'll be skipping out early, I need to make sure I sit near them. Meet me in the lobby at eight?"

"I'll be there." Christy put her hand in her pocket and felt the pile of business cards she brought with her. On her own she made her way to another table and did her explanations of what Altered Realities was for other people waiting for the conference to start. She shook hands and took cards and kept one eye on how at ease and confident Emma appeared in this environment, while Christy felt like she'd love to go back to her computer and away from this phony end of the business.

………………

"I thought you were going to be a teacher." Christy grinned at her dinner companion. "Not a corporate shark."

"What I can't be both?" Emma's grin was wicked, sexy, "But actually I do run a school for young mutants. Teenagers are trying, but I will manage to educate them despite their protests."

Christy's eyebrow rose a little as she thought of Emma trying to be both a CEO and a teacher. She didn't see how that was possible, Christy couldn't handle two jobs like that. "A school for mutants." She glanced around and noticed they strangely were given no attention whatsoever. Normally Christy knew at least one person would have to be looking at Emma, even in college Emma turned heads and she was even prettier now. She forgot what she was going to say and looked around again. "You've gotten more powerful haven't you?"

"Well, I have practiced." Emma took a sip of her wine. "Keeping our conversation private is hardly a chore."

"Now." Christy smiled just a little. "I remember a girl that couldn't always focus enough to pick only one person to read." Her smile faded. "At least one of us developed, I'm still doing nothing more than pulling in power to make my eyes glow. It doesn't even help me see in the dark, I tried."

"But you still do it, even if it does nothing for you?"

Christy started to use her fork to search out an olive in her salad. "I don't know. It was stupid of me to complain, it isn't like the powers are all that incredibly useful. It just helps me relax." Emma's small smile showed the blonde knew better, "Well, afterwards I'm relaxed." Christy gave Emma a wicked grin before putting the fork in her mouth. "You have the useful power though." She finished after swallowing.

"Well, I have found a few uses for it."

"So, a teacher?" Christy spoke after a moment. "Been doing that long?" Emma had said she wanted to teach, it was nice to know she got to.

"A few years." Emma's eyes seemed to harden just a little. "I had another class, but they died a few years ago."

Christy stopped breathing for a moment, her fork only halfway to her mouth. Emma sounded just like the dream, and the death of an entire class wasn't common. Christy had thought she was cruel to even imagine that happening to Emma. "Did one of them have lavender hair?" She spoke quietly, remembering the photo on the fireplace mantel.

Emma looked at her, seemed to be trying to look into her. The touch of Emma's mind bumped up against Christy's shield, but Christy didn't lower it. She found herself replaying conversations in her mind, they were dreams, weren't they? "Sharon, Catseye was her codename. She could become a large lavender cat. She was so playful and innocent." Emma spoke slowly and Christy found the blonde's intelligent eyes staring at her intensely.

"Red and black outfits."

"Uniforms." All thoughts of eating or drinking were gone as Emma seemed to be watching her. "Christy?"

"It can't…" Christy found her eyes roaming over the table, at the nearly done plate in front of her and the only half eaten plate in front of Emma. Her eyebrows drew together in confusion. "She always said I was an illusion, a dream." She stared at Emma. "Do you remember anything?"

"Anything of what? Personally I'm more than a little intrigued as to how you seem to be remembering things you shouldn't know."

Her face had to be pale, she felt like it had lost some color. "Your coma. Did you remember anything about your coma?" If Christy had Emma's attention before, she had a feeling no one else existed to the blonde now. "You were out about a year weren't you?"

"I think perhaps its time for me to pay the check." Emma waved for the waiter. "We obviously have a great deal to discuss." If Christy weren't so deep in thought she might have offered to pay, but she was still recalling all the hints, the clues, that she'd ignored. It never was a dream.

Emma's stride was a little long for Christy to keep up with, but she did. They'd picked a restaurant within walking distance of the hotel. "I thought I was crazy, dreaming about you so often." Christy spoke softly. "And you kept saying I was the illusion, I was the dream."

Emma stopped with her at a crosswalk and at this hour they had it to themselves. "You're saying that you were able to get into my mind when I was in a coma?"

"Do you remember any of it?" Christy found herself hoping. Emma had told her she probably wouldn't, but then this wasn't a normal coma was it?

The light changed and they started to make their way across the street and to the hotel. "I have vague memories of dreams, visions. My students…"

"Blaming you." Christy got a sharp look when she finished that sentence. She decided to stay quiet for now. They finished their walk to the hotel in silence.

"So," Emma stopped in front of the elevators. "Your room or mine?" A slight smile showed Emma was teasing her and from her glance at the third woman waiting for the elevator this was a game. The tension was fading.

"Mine." Christy took the few steps and hit the button for up. "After all the times we did it in your room, it just seems fair." The three of them stepped into the elevator.

"Yes, my roommate did make sneaking you up into my room easy didn't she?" Emma made it sound like they'd done more than stay in the same room and Christy felt herself smiling. Emma really didn't worry about being called gay anymore. "College really was an adventure with you around."

"It's not like I could control myself around you very often." Christy paused as the elevator stopped at a lower level and the other woman got out, after giving them an odd look. She laughed after the door closed. "You've gotten wicked in your old age Emma."

"Oh that was harmless fun, and I'm hardly old. I do remember you're three years older dear, that's a lifelong condition." Emma smiled, but then she took a deep breath. Her voice was more serious. "There were complications when I separated the two of you weren't there?"

"A few. Sometimes it doesn't feel like she's completely gone. I pick up some skills a little faster than normal." Christy thought about how impressed her martial arts teacher was with her progress and how it felt like she was learning Psychology, something she knew her double left behind in her.

"I'm going to need into your mind." The blonde stepped out when they reached their floor. "I want to know why we ended up spending so much time together, when even awake I shouldn't have been able to contact you that far away."

"Okay." Christy opened her hotel room door and held it open for Emma. "It isn't like you haven't been there before." She spoke more quietly, more to herself. Letting a telepath in was a little scary. The last time Emma had just been helping her with her shields, this time Emma would be taking a look around.

The brush against her shield made her sigh. Christy sat down on the bed and lowered the shield just a little, trying not to bring it down more than was needed, because she didn't need the added embarrassment that might bring. She felt warmth and tickling in her mind, but other than that she wouldn't have known Emma was doing anything.

Christy stayed quiet so Emma could concentrate on whatever she was doing. After a while she wished she'd turned the radio on at least. With no music and nothing else interesting to look at Christy found herself studying Emma.

Emma had a far off look in her eyes. Christy took in the blonde hair and the slightly shorter cut. The pantsuit was tailored, fashionable and white. Christy's eyes traveled back to the ice blue of Emma's, even though Emma seemed to not see her. They were always her double's favorite feature on Emma, that was clear by how often that Christy saw her lover in those eyes. They were pretty. Emma was beautiful and sat with such confidence. Even as a teenager Emma had confidence that seemed a little beyond her years, but now it was clear this woman was in control. Did anything fluster her?

Emma had accepted their connection during the coma rather easily. Did she remember any of their talks? Did she remember comforting Christy after bad days or sharing stories about her own business dealings while helping Christy figure out what to do? Did Emma remember she was the one that told Christy to hire security, to trust her instincts? Emma's advice saved her life.

Christy had missed her when she went away. She'd tried to get the dream back a few times. She missed having a friend like that, because while Steven and Phil were friends it wasn't the same. Christy didn't really have any female friends, and her connection to Emma was as intimate as any she'd ever had, Michelle included. Could she have that back?

"I see no reason for us to drift apart again Christy." Emma spoke softly. "And I value your friendship too." The blonde rested a hand on Christy's arm. Her tone became more businesslike. "As for what I'm seeing in your mind. I'm going to need to consult with someone else, because after having seen as many minds as I have, I can still say you are unique. That shield of yours is something very uniquely yours."

"Okay." Christy sighed. No easy answers, well that was par for the course for them.

"The issues you've had with remembering things that you didn't experience and with the skills and knowledge you picked up are actually not my fault, they're hers." Emma sighed and kicked off her heels before moving to sit Indian style on the bed. "You had a teacher in your head and from what I saw, and what we both know of her, she was once again trying to leave you something to help you out. Since she was teaching Psychology you were her primary student. As for fighting, she mentally rehearsed moves didn't she?"

Christy thought about the times her double had nothing to do. That Christy would sit and remember her world, her best friends training her to fight or use the shape shifting powers she no longer had, and some embarrassingly personal moments with her Emma.

"So it wasn't the split, I just picked this up from her naturally?" Well as natural as a situation like that became.

"Yes," Emma pushed a piece of her hair behind her ear. "But she can't leave personality traits behind, just skills and memories." Emma spoke softly and Christy felt her body relax.

"Okay." Christy's own shoes joined Emma's on the floor and she turned to face the other woman on the bed. "But what about…"

"That is where I need a second opinion. I think I've seen something like this before, but I don't want to speculate just yet." Emma's voice was a little harsher, tenser. It didn't help Christy relax. In fact she became concerned about this connection they shared, and she hadn't been before.

"Do you remember me?"

Emma gave her a soft smile. "I do now. I borrowed your memories of us. It's really quite surprising how much I can get up to during a coma. I had no idea."

"You always were an over achiever." Christy smiled a little shyly back. Borrowing those memories seemed really intimate, but Emma had a right to them.

…………….

Christy hated conferences. She'd known that before and as she stood with a group of women talking about the glass ceiling, which she didn't have problems with. She knew that the only thing valuable about this long weekend was Emma.

"Women are going about this all wrong." Emma spoke coolly from her place in the circle of estrogen. "If they stopped worrying about being equal to men and just realized that they were superior things might improve. So your boss is leering at you, use it. Men are so easy to manipulate if you take the time to learn how."

Christy smirked as that got a shocked silence for a moment. Emma sure had changed, but it was funny. She decided to play too. "Oh I know. I've learned to wear lower cut shirts to our partner meetings, and I've had no problems getting funding for my departments." She'd only done that once as a joke, but it had worked.

"But… but…" One slightly older and less than attractive woman complained. "How are we supposed to get me to take us seriously if we dress like harlots…" harlots? That woman read too many romance novels. She wasn't fooling anyone. "just to get what men get?"

"Actually, I got the lion's share of the budget allocations that time." Christy didn't let it go. She shared a mischievous grin with Emma and sat back in her seat.

"It's a woman's power. We have what they want and even if we aren't going to be trading in it… they know it." Emma spoke as if this group of ten women were her class. "Men are the inferior ones, because they are a slave to their sex drive and we can control that, manipulate that."

The other women were a little distant with Christy and Emma after that. As they walked out of the small group discussion Christy leaned closer to Emma. "I don't think they liked that."

"Oh you noticed?" Emma's barely there smile was cute. "So many women don't like to admit that they do actually get power by the mere fact they are women. They don't use it and frown on other people using it."

"I only dressed like that once. It was a meeting on Halloween." Christy blushed as she remembered the incredibly revealing outfit.

"And?" Emma held open the door for her.

"It was power." Christy had to admit it. She'd thought they were just joking, but Emma actually believed this. Stranger still she was getting Christy to believe it a little too. Christy had seen the look in her partners' eyes and she'd played it up when they started talking about budget allocations.

"See dear. Men are easy to overcome if you use the right weapon." They stepped into yet another small group discussion about something or other. At this point Christy was just going where Emma did. She didn't care for any of the choices of talks planned for this morning.

………..

The conference was ending way too soon. It was the most fun Christy had at a boring conference and Emma had introduced her to enough people and helped her get contacts to make Steven happy.

There was one more thing she'd come here to do. Christy sighed and imagined the less than stellar response this would get as she stepped closer to the circle of people around Emma. In an experiment she lowered her shield and thought loudly. Emma. The slight wince Emma had as she did that made Christy grimace.

Too loud dear. Emma sent back while nodding and seeming to listen to a woman dressed in a blue dress suit. What is it?

Can you come by my room when you're done here?

Okay. I'll just be a little longer. Emma started to talk to the other woman and Christy was impressed with Emma's ability to multitask. Christy turned to go pack for the trip home.

Christy folded her clothes and put them back in the suitcases. She also changed into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. She was more comfortable dressed like that than as a businesswoman. At work she only had to dress up when she was going to be dragged along on a sale.

She sat down on the bed and caressed the cover of the other journal she'd kept custody of for so many years. In all that time she'd respected her double's wishes and kept it closed. This one was for Emma.

Her own journal had been right more than it had been wrong. Christy's stock tips were generally correct. The comments about her personal life were less and less so as her life moved away from the one her double must have had.

When she heard the knock on the door Christy quickly tucked the journal under the pillow. She didn't want to lead with that, since Emma had dumped it the last time she saw it. Christy didn't want to be digging it out of the garbage again. She glanced at the can in her room to make sure nothing was in it just in case, before she opened the door.

"Hey." She smiled and stepped out of the way for Emma to come in. When Christy saw Stephanie walking past and giving her an odd look she just ignored it.

"I was serious about seeing if there was a project I could hire you for." Emma moved to sit at the table, instead of the bed. Since she was wearing a skirt it was probably more comfortable.

"I know I'd love it if you did." No point overselling to Emma.

"I'll get the details to you later." Emma sat back in her chair with a sigh. "So shall we do this now? I did get a glimpse of why you wanted me here."

Christy was a little taken aback by the comment. She wasn't used to people knowing what she hadn't told them. "I still have your journal." Emma didn't look surprised. "Mine is well… the global stuff is pretty accurate. I made a lot of money using it to make business decisions and buy stocks. The personal stuff is a little hit and miss." Christy didn't get up to get it just yet. She wanted to gauge Emma's reaction better first. "It's only good for a couple more years. She wasn't that much older than me now when she came through." Emma had lost most of the advice's value already.

Emma didn't pace, she just sat still, thinking. It was a different reaction than the last time. Christy spoke more softly, "I don't know what's in your book, but I know that I have to start shifting my investments around. A lot of popular stocks are going to crash in about three months and if I didn't know it I could lose everything I've work for. You should at least check and see if she talked about stocks in your journal. If not I'll let you borrow mine."

Emma sighed, and she looked pretty tired suddenly. "I've learned some hard lessons since the last time we had this discussion. I'd like to see the journal."

Christy got up and moved to get it from it's hiding place. Christy didn't turn around as she said this last bit. "She loved you and I know she really hoped you'd take this." Christy turned to face Emma, with the journal in her hands. "I'm glad you changed your mind. It's hard to read some of the things she writes, but…" Christy reached out and handed the journal over. "If you need to talk about it, you can talk to me."

"Christy." Emma ran a finger over the cover, but wasn't opening it. "Thank you." The telepath glanced at the clock. "You need to check out don't you?"

"Yes. I have a flight in two hours." Christy felt a little like she was abandoning Emma with what was bound to be a painful book to read. "I should go now." Emma was rather still. "When are you leaving?"

"I arranged to stay an extra day so that I could do some shopping." Emma stood up.

"I can change my flight." Christy was already thinking of what she might need to reschedule to do that and she didn't think anything would suffer for it.

"There's no need. I'm sure that I could just curl up with an old book tonight." Emma stood up with the journal in hand.

"If you're sure." Christy reached down to pick up her luggage, but she stopped herself and took a step closer to Emma. "It really was good to see you again." The hug was slightly awkward, but it still felt good. Christy pulled away with a heavy sigh. "Let's not wait eight years to see each other again." A contract with Frost Enterprises didn't guarantee that Emma would ever need to talk to Christy again.

"I don't intend to."

……………….

Christy watched the news as she ate her breakfast. It was always fascinating to watch things she'd been warned about play out and the news was filled with reporters discussing the recent financial shock as stocks thought to be strong plunged in value practically overnight. Her own portfolio was safe. She'd managed to get out with some time to spare, enough time that it shouldn't be too suspicious. She didn't really consider the journal she had as insider trading.

The phone rang, a rare occurrence. "Hello?"

"I should thank you for not giving up." Emma's cool voice filled Christy's ear. "If I'd been hit I would have lost everything and that includes the school. I was heavily invested in all of those stocks."

"She wrote the journal." Christy didn't want to take credit for her double's work.

"Don't sell yourself short dear. Your timing was impeccable. She may have written the words, but you made sure I read them." Emma paused for just a moment. "Do you feel like visiting Boston?"

"If you're in town over the weekend we could go to this lovely play that I have tickets for."

Christy felt a small spark of anticipation at the idea of having actual exciting plans for the weekend. To drop everything and visit a friend across the country would be beyond impulsive in comparison to the rest of her life. "I'd love to." She smiled.

…………..

"Is that her?" Christy heard young voices behind her as she was arranging to change her return flight to a window seat. Her plane had actually landed early.

"What would a friend of Ms. Frost's look like?" Another young voice spoke more quietly as Christy stepped away from the desk and hide a smile as she watched the group of teenagers looking around for her in the crowd and completely missing she was behind them.

"I don't know. Maybe she's dressed all…"

"Jubilee!" The blonde girl sounded southern and didn't seem to want the Asian girl to finish that sentence. "We don't know how Ms. Frost knows Ms. Taylor."

"College." Christy smiled at the way the group of two girls and boy with grey skin all spun around quickly, almost like a little dance. Her trained eye noticed the battle readiness in their stances, before they relaxed. "I met Emma in college." It wasn't her college, and it didn't capture the strangeness of it, but it was the right answer.

"Oh." The blonde stepped forward. "I'm Paige and this is Jubilee and Angelo. Ms. Frost had a call and couldn't come to get you herself." The rigid stance and overly polite behavior made Christy think of a tense business meeting.

"She didn't tell us the chica was so pretty." She heard the boy whispering to Jubilee and had to pretend to not hear it. It wasn't meant for her ears.

"She's probably a super villain."

"Well." Paige spoke louder, probably trying to drown out her friends. "We have the van… well, of course we do. Do you have more luggage?"

"This is it." Christy picked up her two bags. "Let's go." A super villain?

"So, was Frosty a good student or did she cause a lot of trouble?" Jubilee asked after the silence and staring Christy got from all three kids.

"Frosty?" Christy smirked at the nickname. Emma probably didn't care for it.

"Please excuse Jubilee she doesn't know how to respect her teachers." Paige glared at Jubilee. That earned a loud pop of bubble gum as a response. These were teenagers? Christy didn't think she'd ever been so immature. She sighed and shared a glance with Angelo. Was he leering at her?

"Where's the van?" Christy asked to get them all moving again. They'd just stopped moving once they reached the parking garage.

Once they got to the van and Angelo loaded up her bags Jubilee started talking to her again. "So Frosty, was she a nerd?"

Christy took the passenger seat and thought for a moment. There was no way she'd get out of this conversation. "Emma was focused. She studied hard on everything she did. She was learning to use her telepathy, managing a full course load, all while helping me out." She gripped the door a little tighter as Angelo took a corner hard, as if this was a race. Great. These kids were going to kill her.

"Was she ugly?" Jubilee asked and Christy heard the sound of Paige hitting the tactless girl. "Or really clumsy? Gimme something."

"Jubilee! It isn't polite to badger Ms. Taylor like this." Paige finally gave up on the non verbal attempts to stop her companion. "I don't think Ms. Frost would appreciate…"

"She used to sleep cuddling her pillow." Christy interrupted Paige's tirade to pay Emma back for sending these three to get her. "It looked like she thought it was a teddy bear."

"Well that's not really anything good." Jubilee pouted. Christy turned to look at the girl again.

"She's my friend. That's the best you'll get." She shook her head.

It looked like Paige was studying her. Paige probably was wondering if she was a super villain like Jubilee suggested. How did Christy get such a bad reputation already?

They drove up to a large mansion. Christy knew Emma had a school, but to see it looking so impressive was something else. Christy didn't spend her money that way. Hers was mostly invested and she lived more modestly than she could. It was her way to dealing with the fact that her journal would eventually stop having all the answers and she'd have to manage her money herself.

Emma came out the front door and Christy just shook her head when Emma could see her. It looked like the mischievous smile on the blonde's face grew. "Her hair is not really blonde either. She's a brunette." She told the kids before opening her door. Her double had accompanied Emma to the hair salon a few times.

"We already knew that." Jubilee said with a heavy sigh as the girl got out of the van after her.

"Hey Emma." She smiled at the telepath and moved forward to hug her. Her voice fell to a whisper. "My god, I thought you liked me."

"Sorry about the children dear." Emma pulled back and smirked at her. "I had a parent I needed to talk with finally return my call. It was the best I could do." Her voice rose. "Angelo, please take Ms. Taylor's bags to her room for her."

Christy wondered if he'd be going through her underwear while he was alone with her things, but she just moved to walk along side Emma as the telepath started her way back inside. It was a little cold to talk on the driveway.

…………..

"I wish they had a place like this when I was younger." Christy muttered as she glanced into another classroom. Maybe she'd have something useful to show for all her power if they had and she'd known she actually was a mutant.

"They did have a school." Emma sighed. "You and I just weren't lucky enough to warrant an invitation."

"Isn't that typical, at least you had Astrid."

"Astrid turned out to be a problem." Emma closed the classroom door as they left. "We parted ways."

"Oh." Christy glanced at Emma. "I wish I could say sorry, but she was trouble."

"And you knew this how?" Emma stopped walking and leaned on the wall.

"Her eyes were scary when she looked at me sometimes. She hated my double and she hate me even more. She couldn't usher me out the door fast enough."

"Yes, well it turned out she was manipulating me. She was destroying my relationships so that I would only have her."

"Oh." Christy felt disgusted and angry for Emma. "That is so messed up."

"Yes, it was." Emma moved with such grace as she pushed herself off the wall. Christy found herself admiring the blonde's body for just a moment too long. "Shall we? I believe dinner is ready."

Christy was grateful to leave the dinner table. It had been a meal full of interrogations, even from the other adult at the table, Emma's co-headmaster Sean. Apparently Emma didn't bring friends home very often and it warranted a lot of prying questions about what Christy did for a living, what her mutation was, and how she'd met Emma. Rather than go into great detail she skimmed over the whole possession part of her history. Emma wasn't volunteering anything about Christy's double, so she took Emma's lead.

"This is my office." Emma opened the door and Christy followed a little more slowly. She was startled to see the fireplace. She looked over at Emma then back at familiar chairs. "Oh." Was all she got out. This was the setting for all those night time visits. Emma's school office.

"Would you like to have a seat in the real thing while I pour you a drink?"

"Sure." Christy took her heavy coat off and draped it over the back of the chair before sitting down.

Emma handed her the glass then took her normal seat. "She saved me. That crash would have ruined me." Emma's voice was tired and the seriousness of the conversation was a jarring change from the playfulness of the tour Emma took Christy on. "She wrote a lot of things." Emma took a deep drink from her own glass. "Thank you for coming to visit." Emma gave her a small smile. "I did miss you, and our little talks. It's not the same over the phone."

"Any time." Christy held her glass in her hands and studied Emma. There was more to it. Emma read things she didn't like, and it must have been bad for Christy to be able to see it. Even in the dreams they used to share Emma was more guarded than this.

"It turned out my first mistake was not taking the journal the first time she offered it." Emma stared into the fire instead of at Christy. "And from there it compounded. I could have known about the attack that killed my students, the Hellions." Christy set her glass down.

"I didn't give it to you to upset you. I'm sorry." She hadn't even considered the effect missed prophecies might have had on Emma. She hadn't realized that it would have been that bad.

"You don't need to apologize." Emma waved the apology away as she said it. "I almost lost the school and another student. The stock crash was supposed to send me begging at my sister's doorstep and she was going to go after my students to hurt me. I can't imagine why I would have gone to her for help, but I don't doubt it, not now. Not after reading all of the things that have already happened."

Christy reached across to the other chair and put her hand over Emma's. She felt guilty. She should have tried harder to reach Emma. She should have read the book so she'd know how bad it was. She should have forced Emma to take in the beginning, only she knew how upset writing it made her double. She should have realized there would be a reason for that. Her double didn't get upset easily. "I'm sorry." She spoke again, softly. Her voice filled with regret.

"You don't need to apologize." Emma seemed to shake off her melancholy. "You helped me prevent Everett's death. That is worth celebrating. That's why I asked you to visit." It seemed a forced cheer, but Christy sat back as if she believed it.

"Do you ever wonder if she made it home?" Emma asked quietly after a moment.

"All the time."

……………

Emma talked Christy into speaking to her class, which was so incredibly small Christy had heard of larger families. From the sounds of it the Paige girl might have come from one of those irresponsibly huge families. She always hated telling people how she became a co-owner of Altered Realities. It made her seem more business savvy than she really was, and she didn't dare explain about the journal, because what if it WAS insider trading?

As she was finishing her who am I and what do I actually do for a living presentation she noticed Emma lean back against the wall and cross her arms in front of her. "Christy. Just for curiosity's sake… could you explain conditioned responses to the children?"

"Well, Pavlov was one of the pioneers in Conditioned responses…" she found herself effortlessly starting a lecture in a topic she hadn't studied in seven years. Paige was of course taking notes even though this probably wouldn't be on a test.

"What about TCP/IP protocols?" Emma glanced meaningfully at Sean as she brought up a completely different topic. "What's the purpose of those?" Christy just stared at Emma for a moment, wishing she could read the telepath's mind, but the students staring at her expectantly, well except for Angelo and Jubilee who were whispering in the back, made her feel like she needed to speak.

She remembered the classes she'd taken and the way her teacher's explained this. It took her a moment to collect her thoughts, but she then went into why it was important for all computers to communicate and how much work went into creating a common language for them to do that.

When Christy wound down she saw Emma opening her mouth again. Christy grinned and stared at the woman. "I swear to god if you ask me to talk about Biology I will make you regret it. I know the kids would love to hear about how a freshman Emma Frost..."

"That won't be necessary." Emma smirked at her and played along. Christy didn't believe she had any really embarrassing stories to share. The kids laughed and Emma nodded at her. There would be no more impromptu classes.

"You do pretty well right off the cuff." Sean complimented her.

"Thanks." Christy smiled as the kids left the room. Saturday classes weren't something she'd ever had to suffer, but Emma made the kids come listen to Christy. It seemed like cruel punishment for something the kids must have done. At least it wasn't morning.

Once he left Emma moved to sit on the desk next to the one Christy was sitting on. "You had to think a little longer before talking about computers."

"I noticed."

"But you were doing the exact same thing each time, remembering a class that had been taught. It's just that the one she had playing in your mind was easier to access."

"How did you…" Christy's eyebrows drew together as she stared at Emma. She hadn't lowered her shield.

"There's a door in your shield. I didn't notice it before, I didn't have the experience to years ago, but it's there and it's opened to me." Emma's mental touch caressed her shield. Christy liked how it felt. "Monet couldn't get in. I watched her trying." Christy heard the rest even though Emma didn't speak. This is most likely another change that is due to her being in you. She said she had a link to her Emma and this looks like the beginning of a link to me.

"Oh my god." Christy stared at the desk Emma sat on as she tried to process that.

"I think we found how we were able to communicate when I was in a coma."

"Did you know about this during the conference?"

"I suspected, but I had to do some research on similar links." Emma grimaced just a little. "There were a few things that Christy neglected to mention about her link to her lover, but one thing is that it increases my telepathic range when it comes to you."

"And the others?"

"Won't be important, because we won't let the link grow anymore than it has."

Christy went quiet as she considered yet another thing her double did to her. The nightmares she got from that woman bothered her, the knowledge she ended up with just from being in her mind, she had mixed feelings about that too. Christy wasn't sure what to think of this. The year she had the dreams, she thought she was mad, but she was happy to. She liked having Emma to talk to. What would this cost her though? Everything her double did came with a price. The time away from her lover destroyed her relationship. The journal helped her get a business and money but she doubted her ability to do it on her own and made her feel guilty when people talked about her success. This link… would it drive away the only really personal friend Christy had?

"Okay." She spoke softly. There was nothing she could do about this, and if she were honest about it, she didn't mind Emma being able to get in. She trusted her enough for that. It wasn't like her mind held deep dark secrets. Her life was dull and hardly worth browsing.

"Okay." Emma repeated her word. It felt more like a promise to not let it be a problem. Christy took it that way. "We have a play to dress for. I was thinking we could go to this nice little restaurant in town beforehand as well."

"I better get going then. I still need a shower from that jog you felt like taking in the cold."

"You didn't have to join me." Emma smirked at her.

"Right, after you accused me of being a desk jockey?" Christy felt some of the tension ease out of her shoulders as she held the door opened for Emma. "Give me thirty minutes and I'll be ready."

……………………..

EIGHT YEARS AFTER NEW YORK

…………………

"I looked at the web pages you created." Christy spoke into the camera and watched the monitor as she did it. "For the most part you did a good job, but I sent you each a revised copy of what you did. Angelo, would you mind if I shared yours?" The students were all a little tired looking, but she didn't have a lot of sympathy for them. For them it was nine, she was up at six to teach before going to her regular job. The students couldn't see it, but she was still wearing her pajama bottoms. Her mornings consisted of rolling out of bed, brushing her hair and turning on the computer. After class she'd shower, eat, dress, everything else. Then she'd get to work by nine.

"Angelo had a good idea here." She continued to highlight what the boy did right so the others could learn from it. She smiled just a little at the proud way he sat in his chair as she did it.

"Christy." Emma stepped into view as the students were filing out of the room. "Can we talk for a moment?" From behind Emma she could see a few eyes glance Emma's way before leaving. Something was off, there was no speculation in those eyes. The kids looked a little more than just tired, they looked depressed.

"Sure." Christy noticed Emma waited until she was alone in the classroom before talking into the camera.

"You've been doing a great job helping out with classes. I really appreciate it." Christy just nodded. Emma was on a role so interrupting her didn't seem necessary. When Emma called her and told her that Sean needed to lessen his class load because of a sick loved one she'd agreed to teach. Working out the how took a little longer than actually convincing her and she'd liked helping out.

"Moira died." Emma finally got to the point. Christy felt a wave of sympathy for the normally friendly and upbeat man. "Sean is still here, but he's in no condition to teach or anything else really. He's a wreck and he told me yesterday that he's going to be leaving. I can't run this school by myself."

"Are you shutting down?" Christy was stunned. Emma loved teaching and she loved the school.

"No. What I need is to find at least one more full time teacher. The other guest lecturers all have other commitments they can't or won't get out of." Emma sat down on a desk and seemed to stare into Christy's eyes. "I need your help. He's leaving at the end of the week, and we're only halfway through the school year."

"You want me to move to Massachusetts?" Her voice got a little higher with her surprise. Emma wanted her to become a teacher. "But my business…"

"Can you work from here? Like you're doing for your classes now?"

Christy felt like saying no. It would be hard to work out how she could manage it all, but then she remembered a young girl staying up late and getting up early so that she'd have enough hours in the day to learn how to help Christy. She owed Emma, she owed her big. "Let me talk to my partners and get back to you." Christy had to at least try to work this out.

It wasn't like she didn't like teaching.

………………..

"Look." Her voice raised a little in frustration when the guys started to ramble and panic when she told them she needed so much time off. "I can still do some work from there. I can do teleconferences." She waved at the monitor that held Steven's face. "I can process reports. I work from home sometimes, it will be the same thing but only for longer. If I have to I can fly back once a month for a few days." She sighed. "I owe her."

"You owe her?" Steven asked, but he didn't sound as tense.

Christy couldn't give them details. "Those months I stayed with her in college. My life was hell and she helped me straighten it out. I'm going. That isn't up for debate. I'm here to ask you guys to help me figure out how I can do this." Once again she found herself moved by how willing her partners were to stand by her. They made suggestions and bounced ideas back and forth and in two hours they had a plan.

Christy promoted someone into the position of division supervisor, something that was once her responsibility. A shuffling of personnel and she was freed up almost completely. It wasn't a comfortable feeling to walk away from the business she'd spent almost all of her time on for nearly ten years. It would have probably felt less uncomfortable to leave her thumb behind than her office.

……………

Emma came to pick her up from the airport in a limo. Christy let the driver help her with the bags, several bags. "Thank you for coming." Emma spoke softly to her as they waited for her driver to pull away from the airport.

"I hope you don't end up regretting inviting me." Christy gave Emma a weak smile.

"Not possible."

Emma led Christy into the school and into the office across from her own. The walls looked empty, but it had a desk and a layout similar but smaller than Emma's. "This is your office." It didn't have rows of monitors and the hum of several computers in it, but it had a large fireplace and a view of woods on the property. "We can alternate our time off to tend to our businesses." Emma looked into Christy's eyes. "I really think we can make this work."

"I'm sure we can." Christy gave Emma a soft smile as she felt the warmth of Emma's mind brushing against her own.