"You're absolutely positive?" Ria asked.
"Thoughts very rarely lie," the professor answered. They were still standing in the doorway of the kitchen, Victor and Logan both behind Ria as she faced Xavier and Beast. "I found her through Cerebro. She is confused, frightened, and alone."
"I was there just a few months ago. She seemed completely normal-"
"She asked me about it." Victor interrupted.
Ria looked back at him. "And you never thought to tell me?"
He shrugged.
"Victor ain't exactly good at bein' helpful." Logan said, glaring at his brother.
"Watch it, runt." Victor snarled.
"At this moment, she's at school." Xavier said, wheeling out towards his office. "If you all wouldn't mind, I'd prefer if miss Ellen continued her classes here, with us."
"Is she that powerful?" Ria asked as she followed. "Is she okay? What can she do?"
"I only caught a glimpse. She is experiencing semi-controlled out of body experiences, and she's very confused."
"Well, yeah! She's a kid! Her parents don't get it, and they're probably going to lose their minds-"
"I would like for you to come with me and retrieve her," Xavier interrupted calmly.
"Absolutely not," Victor snarled as they entered the office. "She's staying where it's safe."
"I thought as much, and accordingly, I would like all three of you to come. The fact of the matter is that Miss Ellen called for Ria in her panic, and I fear that she may seriously harm herself if she does not learn to control her mutation. You would be very comforting, to say the least, and very helpful in making this as easy a transition as possible."
"Yes, please!" Ria said quickly, already anxious. "When can we leave? Right now?"
"We will need just a few moments to prepare, and then we will fly there. I'm hoping we can arrive shortly after Miss Ellen is home from her classes."
Ria was already dragging Victor out the door by the time Xavier finished, and within the hour, they were on a small plane. It was only when Beast was landing them a while later that it occurred to Ria how conspicuous they were, touching down at a small airstrip not far from her old home. Xavier already had a van waiting, of course, and within another fifteen minutes they had arrived in front of the well-kept home, two cars sitting in the driveway. Ria recognized them as both Mary's and Tim's, meaning that the latter had left work early. When she had lived with them, that very rarely happened. Something had to be going on.
She had almost entirely forgotten her excitement from earlier, and it seemed that Victor had as well. Finding out that they were having three children and the happiness that the discovery brought was overshadowed by this adventure into suburbia. Ria knew that Victor would rather be anywhere else, and honestly, she was dreading what her God fearing adoptive parents were going to have to say about their daughter developing a mutation. They had accepted Ria, but she wasn't their flesh and blood like Ellen was, and with mutants popping up more and more, she was afraid that they were going to see their child as some sort of abomination that needed to be dunked in holy water, or "cured," or exorcised, especially considering the nature of her mutation. Astral projection wasn't something that Mary and Tim were likely to be very pleased with.
Ria was just as nervous this time as she was when she and Victor had first visited a few months ago, but for different reasons now. She needed to know that Ellen, her little, not-so-human-anymore sister was safe, and as she rang the doorbell with shaky fingers, she felt the professor's conscience nudge at her mind in a somewhat reassuring manner. Victor had a hand at her back, claws pricking her while a grumbling Logan stood by Xavier with his arms crossed. Beast was at the back of the group, muttering something about the plane being stolen and how it needed a better cloaking device. When the door opened, however, they were all silent.
Mary was initially happy to see Ria. "Oh, my goodness! Darling, it's so good to see you, come in! And...Victor, hello." As Ria cracked a smile and Victor growled lowly, Mary's face changed to confusion and concern. "...Who are these?"
"Madam, may we come inside?" Xavier asked.
Five minutes later, the mutants, as well as Mary and Tim, were all sitting in the living room. Logan and Victor were behaving similarly to each other, both looking uncomfortable in the pristine home, and as Ria sat awkwardly between them, she began wondering what exactly it was going to be like having the two of them around so much. There was no doubt that they were brothers, both so gruff and big, and Tim and Mary had been staring at them almost as much as they stared at Beast as he desperately tried to get comfortable in the too-small armchair he got stuck with.
"My name is Charles Xavier." the professor began after politely declining Mary's offer of coffee. "I run a school, for extraordinary children with equally extraordinary abilities."
"Mutants?" Tim asked from his seat across from them.
"Honey, please!" Mary hissed, glancing at him as if he had used a slur.
Xavier just smiled. "Yes, mutants. I believe you already know of the powers and attributes possessed by our dear Ria and, I presume, Victor as well."
"Uh...y-yes, yes we do, of course," Mary said, getting more flustered by the second by everything that was going on.
"Then please allow me to introduce Hank McCoy, one of the brightest people I have ever had the pleasure of working with, and Logan, Victor's brother, both faculty at my institution."
"Runt brother," Victor grumbled.
"Can it," Logan snarled.
"Can you two be polite for longer than ten seconds at a time?" Ria snapped loudly atthem.
Logan smirked while his brother just kept grumbling. He was so hard to deal with in social situations. Scratch that, they both were.
"We are here to speak about your daughter," Xavier said, reminding them to focus. "It is my understanding that she is exhibiting abilities beyond what most consider the norm."
"We got a call from her school that she was given detention," Tim said.
"And our baby never gets in trouble, so you can imagine my near heart attack!" Mary said nervously, as if she weren't constantly joking about the ever-real threat of cardiac arrest looming over her.
"They said she was behaving strangely. Almost as if…" Tim looked at his wife. "As if she were possessed."
Victor rolled his eyes.
Mary looked like she was about to cry. "They said her eyes rolled back in her head a-and she was speaking in tongues-"
"Darling, they never said that." Tim said.
"Maybe not to you!" Tears welled up in her eyes. "What are we going to tell everyone at church? Oh, what will Pastor Michael think?"
"We can just tell everyone that she's ill," Tim said reassuringly."
"Even if she ain't?" Victor growled.
"What else are we supposed to do?" Mary snapped through her tears.
"Where is she?" Ria asked, itching to find Ellen and to get away from the people who definitely thought she needed an exorcism.
"Oh, sweetheart, she's upstairs in her room." Mary said. "Poor thing is so scared…"
Ria was up the stairs before anyone could even think about moving. She could hear Danny in his room and chose to ignore him, not really wanting to deal with him when her focus should be on her little sister, and went straight to Ellen's room. After a few soft knocks, she cracked the door open to find the teenager huddled on her bed, knees to her chest, tears still staining her cheeks.
"R-Ria?" she sniffled, wiping her nose on her sleeve in an attempt to look less pathetic. "Why are you here?"
"I came to see you," Ria said, quickly crossing the room to sit on the edge of the bed. "What's been going on?"
"H-how do you know?" Ellen asked, a tinge of fear in her voice.
"Tell me first."
She looked down. "I...I don't really even know what happened...one second I'm fine, a-and then I'm not." she began shaking. "I was looking at myself, and then I was normal again, and then I wasn't, and it just wouldn't stop." fresh tears welled up in her eyes. "I-I looked at myself and my eyes were all white and I wasn't moving, a-and everyone was staring…."
Ria pulled her into a hug. "Has it happened before?"
"Only in dreams," she shook her head. "I got detention because th-they think I'm possessed…"
Ria growled.
"I'm not, am I?"
"Do you think you are?"
"I-I don't know!" she sounded like she was beginning to panic. "They wanted to get a priest, and I don't know what they're going to do, and I'm afraid of it happening again and I can't control it!"
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I don't know!"
"Shh, it's okay," Ria said as calmly as she could. "That's why I'm here. Xavier heard you, so we came to take you back with us."
Ellen pulled away. "Xavier?"
"He's downstairs. Victor is here too. Do you want to come see?"
The girl nodded and allowed Ria to pull her up and lead her out into the hall, Ellen dragging her heels as she wiped her eyes. Ria heard Danny's door creak open as they were walking down the stairs and kept her ears trained on his quiet footsteps. He had grown into such a little shit. Maybe she was just irritated with everything in general amidst the stress and concern she was feeling over Ellen, but the last thing she wanted to deal with was a hard headed teenage boy that wore dock shoes indoors.
There were raised voices that Ria recognized as Mary and Logan. She was a little surprised that Victor wasn't arguing, until she heard him snarl in response to something Tim said. Beast and the professor weren't even trying to interject, which meant that whatever the brothers were upset about was at least a little bit justified.
"Goin' to church ain't gonna change anythin'." Logan said.
"We have to consider it!" Mary almost shouted. "What will people think? They're going to talk!"
"It ain't exactly a scandal," Victor said.
"But it is!"
Tim pinched the bridge of his nose as his wife argued. Much like the last time mutants had visited his house, he was very aware of how dangerous they were, and while he agreed with Mary to some extent, he didn't want to find out what would happen if Victor got pissed enough to put his intimidating size to good use.
"Keep in mind who you're talkin' to." Logan growled.
Ellen made a whimpering sound and the brothers both turned to look at her the second they heard it. She swallowed nervously, shaking slightly as Ria pushed her into the room.
"Oh, honey," Mary said.
"Ah," Xavier said as they appeared in the living room. "Miss Ellen, I presume."
Ria could tell that the girl was scared as she nudged her forward. "It'll be fine," she muttered.
"Y-yes," Ellen stammered, stepping into the center of the room. "That's me. I'm Ellen."
The professor smiled. "I am Charles Xavier. I'd like you to enroll in my school. You'll learn to better control your new abilities, and you'll be among others with similar powers."
"Yes," Ellen said quickly. "Yes, please. I-I want to go."
"Now, darling-" Mary began.
"Mom, I-I don't want to keep going to St. Margaret's. I can't control this, I don't know how to, and-"
"Honey, why don't we speak with the pastor? He can-"
"No, he can't!" She yelled suddenly. He can't do anything for me!"
"You don't know that, Ellen." Tim said sternly after Mary gave him a look encouraging him to speak up. "Your mother wants to try it."
"I want to go with Ria," Ellen said firmly.
"She needs to be with people who can help her get control," Ria said. "I'm going to be with her."
"I thought you lived in a cabin!" Mary said hysterically.
Victor growled, getting more and more irritated by the minute. "We're stayin' in the school for now."
"Not just for now," Beast reminded him.
"If you think I'm raisin' 'em with you around-"
"You sure as hell are!" Logan snapped at his brother.
"Oh my god." Ria said. "Can we not talk about this now?"
"Talk about what?" Mary asked in concern, looking around at them in her temporary distraction.
"I suggest you pack a suitcase, Ellen," Xavier said to the girl. "While we clear things up down here, you can prepare."
"O-okay," Ellen nodded and bolted back up the stairs. Ria heard her bump into Danny, who had been eavesdropping behind them.
"You had to bring it up." Ria glared at Victor.
He glared back. "I didn't-"
"Ria, what's going on?" Mary asked, momentarily forgetting about Ellen. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, I'm just...ugh. I'm just pregnant. Okay? Okay. We talked about it. Good work, team. Let's get going." She heard a loud HA! From behind her and turned to snarl at Danny. "Is something funny to you?"
He was sitting on the stairs. "You let him knock you up?"
Mary looked like she was going to have a heart attack and Victor was trying to jump up to kill Danny.
"Calm down!" Logan ordered as he held him back.
Ria stalked up to Danny. "You're a real shit stain, Daniel. You know that?"
"I'm just saying. You could do better."
"No I fucking couldn't. Don't you dare say that, asshole." Ria shoved past him on her way to help Ellen pack, hearing the professor's voice downstairs as she went.
She reached the bedroom door only to be met with Ellen already heading out, her bag packed and a pillow in her arms. She gave Ria a little smile.
"Can we go?" She asked eagerly.
Ria nodded and they went back down, and a good ten minutes later, were standing outside in the driveway with Victor and Logan while Hank and the professor stayed inside to speak with Ellen's parents and attempt to calm them down. Danny was also inside with them, probably being just as shitty as he had previously been, and Ria was just happy to have gotten away from all of them and out into the fresh air.
Ellen looked happy, albeit nervous, as she stood next to Logan and Victor. The brothers were glowering at each other, Logan's arms folded over his chest while Victor clung to Ria in an effort to relax slightly. He was still somewhat enraged, growling to himself whenever he heard anything in the house that he didn't like.
"Well," Ria said. "That was fucking awful."
"Thank you for not letting them try to take me to the church," Ellen said. "They had suggested it at school, and mom really wanted to do it…"
"You're family." Victor looked at her. "I ain't lettin' them try to get some demon out of you."
"You always think you're in charge, Victor." Logan snarled. "Why can't you keep your damn mouth shut?"
"You're not any better," Ria snapped.
"Am I really family?" Ellen asked excitedly.
"Of course," Ria answered. "Why wouldn't you be?"
"I don't know...I guess...you kind of have your own family now. Sort of."
"So?"
"So...I guess I just don't want to be in the way or anything."
"You ain't in the way, kid." Logan said.
Ellen beamed. "So what is this place like? Is there anybody like me there?"
Logan shrugged. "I can't keep track of everybody. There's all kinds."
While they talked, Ria leaned back against Victor and closed her eyes, breathing in all the smells the early summer suburbs had to offer. Someone a few houses over had been mowing the lawn, the scent of fresh grass floating through the air even after he had stopped to stare at all of the mutants standing outside the house that always hosted the neighborhood Christmas party. A woman walking her children home from their bus stop hurriedly guided them to the other side of the street, despite their initial lack of interest. After she had rushed them away, however, they turned to gape at the odd little group, eyes wide with curiosity and excitement.
They would probably be raised to hate mutants. The kids didn't know it now-they looked like they were probably in elementary school-but their parents were probably wary of what they thought was some kind of agenda. Ria had been out of politics and social strife for years during her time in the labs, but based on everything she had seen in the past few months back out in the real world, people weren't too accepting of mutants. She remembered the diner she and Victor had stopped at during their first trip to this neighborhood and the stares they had received, and she remembered the way the cashier had acted when she bought those pregnancy tests.
Back when she was famous, her mutation had come in handy. It had made her exotic. Sure, some people didn't like her because of it, and she remembered receiving a few letters amongst the hundreds her fans sent her that mentioned praying for her soul, but Hollywood loved her amber eyes and thick black claws, and her careless persona didn't have time for anyone who was prejudiced.
But in this neighborhood, full of relatively new houses and rows and rows of the same landscaping, a place where every holiday season there were dramatic decoration contests and block parties were regular events, nobody cared for the exoticism a mutant offered, and they were only concerned with the fact that they were different. Different was dangerous, especially when the individual in question had fangs and claws and was the size of Victor or his brother, and as one of the children pointed excitedly and Ria offered a small wave, she hoped that she would be a better mother than theirs.
The professor and Beast finally came back out, followed by a teary Mary and slightly relieved Tim. He was probably happy that everything was finally over with. Danny skulked behind them in the doorway, leaning against the frame while he pouted. Ria rolled her eyes at him and stood up straight, Victor letting her go to hug her adoptive mother before Mary went after Ellen. She was almost afraid that she was going to try to make her daughter stay, but they got away with relatively little struggle and were back in the van that had remained waiting for them the entire time within just a few minutes.
Ellen was excited the entire time, having never been on a plane that wasn't a commercial jet heading for Florida or California for yearly vacations. She was bouncing in her seat, even while strapped in, and when they reached the mansion, she shot off, following Beast to her new room without so much as a glance back at Ria.
The older mutant was pleased. Ellen was going to be safe and away from exorcists, and now she could keep an eye on her while they stayed in the school. As she followed Victor back to their own room, she smiled to herself a tiny bit, realized that she was hungry, and dragged him off towards the kitchen just before he was reached for their door.