Author's Note: While Bryan Singer was directing, the X-Men films pretty consistently followed the storyling of the "Ultimate X-Men" line of comics over the original line of X-Men comics. One of the many small changes made in this line of comics was that the character of Colossus was an openly gay character. Since Bryan Singer's films followed the Ultimate version wherever it seriously differed from the original line, I will follow that tradition.

Teamwork

Peter Rasputin, aka Colussus, did not look like someone who had much to worry about. Only his closest friends knew that behind the seemingly invincible exterior was a somewhat nervous boy.

Peter regularly spoke with Professor Xavier outside of class, so the professor not overly surprised when the young man tentatively entered the Cerebro chamber.

"I'm sorry to bother you, Professor," Peter began from the doorway. "I heard you were back and I wanted to speak with you about something. If this is a bad time—"

"Not at all," Xavier assured him. "Please, come in."

Peter entered, and the large doors closed behind him. When he stood beside Xavier, the room suddenly changed dramatically from the featureless metallic blocks into vibrant patterns of colors so complex Peter couldn't easily absorb everything he was seeing.

"Wow," Peter exclaimed in a hushed voice as he gradually realized what he was seeing. "You can really see the whole world at once with this thing?"

"Yes. But not in any meaningful or helpful fashion. I can only pinpoint particular mutants – or humans – with a great deal of concentration. And the one person I need to find – Magneto – is impossible to find because of a specially designed helmet."

"Couldn't you try finding one of his followers?" Peter asked.

"Thank you for the suggestion, Piotr, but I assure you that had already occurred to me," Xavier answered sedately. "Now, what can I do for you?"

Peter shifted nervously before answering, "Well. It's kind of a big deal, but it's kind of not… I just wanted to talk to you before I did it. I'm thinking about telling everyone. About… you know."

Xavier smiled warmly. "Piotr, I'm very proud of you. I have no doubt you'll find most of your classmates very supportive, but that doesn't make it any less courageous. If you have any problems I expect you to come to me immediately."

"Thank you, Professor."

The dizzying display of colors suddenly shifted dramatically, and Peter heard Xavier inhale sharply.

"Professor? Is everything—?"

"Go find Scott or Ororo," Xavier instructed. "Tell them to gather the others at once."

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The four senior X-Men – Cyclops, Storm, Nightcrawler, and even Wolverine – gathered in Xavier's office. "Thank you all for coming. As you know, I have been using Cerebro to try to locate Magneto for some time with limited success."

"Does this mean you finally found him?" Scott asked, clearly excited.

"Unfortunately, no," Xavier answered. "But I have reason to believe we might be getting close. I discovered a disturbing amount of mutant activity… at Alkali Lake."

The X-Men sat in stunned silence.

"I was unable to determine the exact nature of the activity. Something is… interfering with my scan. Which could very well mean Magneto is behind this, as he is the only mutant I've ever encountered that has the means to block Cerebro."

Scott was already on his feet. "We'll leave right away! Storm, prep the jet. Nightcrawler, Wolverine—"

"Actually, Scott… in light of our recent encounter with Mr. Striker, I wondered if it might be prudent for one of you to remain behind at the Mansion. To ensure the security of the students."

Scott looked as though he were about to agree, but his expression suddenly darkened. "Professor… I know what you're thinking, and I promise I'll be fine. If we can learn anything about Magneto's whereabouts and plans, it's absolutely essential that we follow up on it. You need me on this one."

Xavier seemed reluctant, but conceded, "You're right, of course. I'm certain I don't need to remind you all to exercise the utmost discretion. If Magneto is there, do not under any circumstances confront him alone."

Logan grunted rebelliously, but Scott promised, "Of course, Professor."

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"Maybe the Professor is right, Scott," Storm suggested as she finished the pre-flight sequence. "Even if it weren't Alkali Lake, you just got back from Massachusetts. A little rest wouldn't be the worst thing in the world."

"No matter how uncomfortable, I'd hardly consider our conversation with Emma a combat situation, Storm."

Storm raised an eyebrow as if to ask, Oh, really?

Scott shook his head. "Give it a rest, Storm," he asked quietly, so the others at the rear of the cabin wouldn't hear.

Storm nodded reluctantly, and any further conversation was cut off when Wolverine dropped into one of the passenger seats behind them. Nightcrawler followed shortly afterwards, teleporting over the short distance as had been his habit lately.

"Not to pry, but doesn't using your power so much make you tired?" Storm asked.

"Ordinarily, yes," Kurt confirmed. "But I've had so much energy lately!"

"Well, keep in mind we might be going into a combat situation," Scott pointed out.

"Of course," Nightcrawler agreed.

"Storm?"

"All systems go."

"Let's get airborne."

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When Peter entered the common room, he was relieved to find it occupied only by his closest friends Bobby, Rogue, and Kitty.

"Hey Peter!" Kitty greeted pleasantly. Bobby and Rogue were too busy oogling at each other to take as much notice of his entrance.

The windows rattled briefly, and everyone but Peter looked up to see the X-Jet launching from under the basketball court.

Rogue practically ran to the window, and Bobby was right behind her. "Where are they going?" Rogue demanded outloud.

"I think the Professor found something on Cerebro," Peter offered with a shrug.

"Oh come on!" Bobby exclaimed. "They can't keep leaving us out of the loop like this. They gave us uniforms and everything after Alkali Lake."

"Just a few more weeks of combat training, then we can join them for real," Rogue soothed.

"At least you two are that close to being on the team," Kitty pointed out. "Who knows when we'll be allowed to go with them. Right, Pete?"

"Hmm?" Peter answered, distractedly. "Oh. Right. Yeah."

"Is everything okay, Peter?" Kitty asked as Rogue and Bobby returned to their seats on the couch.

"Yeah," Peter assured them as he took a seat nearby. "It's just… there's something I kind of want to talk to you about."

"Sure," Kitty said as she turned off the TV, and Rogue and Bobby actually looked up from each other to give him their attention.

Peter took a deep breath to steady himself. "It isn't really a big deal or anything, but… we've been friends for a while, and I feel like there's something I need you guys to know."

Peter hesitated, and Bobby characteristically broke in with a joke to lighten the mood. "Oh God. Peter… you don't think you're a mutant, do you?"

That actually brought a smile to Peter's face, and gave him the courage to blurt out, "Actually, they're not sure if it's genetic yet, but… I'm gay."

Oh God. I said it. I can't take it back. I said it.

Peter abruptly realized he was staring at the floor instead of looking at his friends' reactions. He almost couldn't bring himself to look up. When he did, he was relieved – and surprised – to see calm, almost amused smiles rather than the looks of shock he had expected.

"Thank God," Rogue said simply, flopping back on the couch in apparent relief.

Peter blinked in surprise. "Wait. What? I was hoping you guys would be okay with this, but—"

"Peter, we've been wondering when you'd finally tell us," Kitty said, rolling her eyes. "It was really hard pretending not to know."

"You… you knew?"

"Think about it," Bobby reasoned calmly. "All of us were mutants growing up among humans. We're used to being 'different.' I even had to 'come out' to my family as a mutant right before Alkali Lake… who better to recognize someone going through the exact same thing for different reasons?"

"Oh! I guess that makes sense." Peter smiled. "So… you're really okay with this?"

Kitty reached across the table and squeezed his hand encouragingly. "I'm just glad you finally trusted us. I know that couldn't have been easy."

Peter sighed with relief. This wasn't what he had expected at all.