AN:Welcome to the latest chapter of Gravity's Burden! Now we can pick up where the story left off, which was a bad spot if I say so myself. Disclaimer: I don't own any of Marvel's property and I don't think they'll be signing anything over to me any time soon. Bummer. Also, credit to the chapter title goes to Daughtry. You guys have probably heard of this, unlike my other song titles.
Chapter 21
Home
"Was it really best to leave him to himself? He just got a hold of himself if we believe everything that we've been told so far. He needs someone with him to watch over him while we sort everything out."
Logan questioned what had been relayed to him from Storm about Luke. They were in a secluded corner of the med bay in order to keep students from overhearing their conversation. There was no need to make all of the older kids riled up over the news. They would demand to see Luke, which would stir up the younger students and none of them would get checked over.
"If you had just been released from being controlled by someone else and you were having memory problems, the last thing you would want is to be surrounded by the people you were supposed to remember. Cut him some slack. He looked exhausted anyways. We'll let him sleep through tonight, then tomorrow we'll start straightening everything out. Let's just handle the kids for tonight and watch over Xavier and our other guests."
Ororo looked into Logan's eyes for a brief moment before conceding. The man had his own troubles with memory and the woman wasn't going to push on such a touchy subject with Logan of all people. And she had a point. They had enough on their plate as it was.
Rebecca had been overseeing the check-ups on the younger ones while the older students waited behind them, loitering around Xavier's bed until they could be tended to. It was a pretty simple process to the check ups and it was going faster than Storm would've originally dared to hope. Any student with an obvious injury or cut would heal back as it would naturally over time to its natural state by Marley, who was more than happy to help out.
The younger kids were all ok, staying safe in their fight with Rift due to them looking out for each other and the large numbers advantage they had on her. Sam was the only one notably hurt with a possible concussion from running wild with his powers. Smashing into things at breakneck speeds headfirst while spinning like a top could do that to you, Storm figured.
The older students were a little bit more battle worn. Marley used her powers on every one of them, regardless of the complaints she got for wasting time on needless effort. Rebecca just sternly ordered the kids to turn in for the night after they had been treated. Katie waited on Marley afterwards, but when all the older students had been checked over, the two left for their rooms with Rebecca not too far behind to double check the student's curfew. It heartened Storm to see the two had already become friends, but from what she had been told by Logan, she regretted it had been over such dire circumstances. The school would certainly suffer repercussions for letting such danger befall their students.
It wasn't fair. Young mutants are a danger to themselves as they are to everyone else. So Xavier had a school just for helping young mutants learn to take control of themselves and ward of the public's coming revelation of mutants. But now a secret organization of criminal mutants have set their sights on the school and put everyone in the mansion at risk. To kill an innocent girl just to get at what they wanted… the Network was a brutal group of people indeed. There had to be something that could be done about them. The Professor would have a way to tend to them, Ororo was sure. He always managed to make things work out.
The man had been in bed and was responding well to the IV fluids he was on. He looked as if he was merely sleeping instead of being near comatose. It was calming, but also gave cause to worry. He looked peaceful enough to stay that way forever. Storm had no doubt that Xavier could win his battle in the Astral Plane, but him leaving that realm was different. She would just have to be patient and have faith. A hand slipped onto her shoulder in comfort as Logan silently offered his support.
"You were never checked over by Marley, were you Logan? How'd you fare with the mutant who could split metal? I know you have a healing factor but that doesn't mean you can't be hurt."
The burly man snorted at the last statement, flexing his hands and slipping his claws out of their slits. He examined the blades himself before letting Strom rake them over with her eyes. "He split my claws right up the middle. He didn't even try. For the first time that I can ever remember my bones were broken. My healing factor fixed them up in a minute or so, but still. I'm supposed to be indestructible with there damn metal bones. Yet there's someone out there that can still cut through it all. And if he couldn't do me in, Magneto always could. I don't feel tough enough to take care of the kids anymore."
"Logan, you're one of the strongest people I know. You are the bravest and most stubborn men I've ever met and no one can take care of our students like you do. And it's not all about protecting them from people who want to harm them. You're a role model for a lot of these kids. And you've trained them to take care of themselves."
The two let words die between them as they watched over the man that had pulled them to where they were now. Silence watched over the man with them, until Wolverine made for the door.
"I'm going to keep an eye on our guests in the Danger Room. I don't trust leaving only the security system to watch over them."
Just then, the med bay door opened and a man familiar to Logan in many ways stepped in, Rebecca behind him. "I believe I have a solution for your unwanted guests. I'll take them off your hands."
"Furry." Logan growled out, before looking around the old solider to Rebecca, who was lost as to what to do. "Why did you let him in the house? He probably has an army parked in our back yard by this point. Get out of here and stay out of the mansion's business, Furry. The last thing we need is the government sticking their nose in our school."
The grey-headed veteran brushed off Logan's lack of hospitality and stepped further into the med bay, looking over Xavier as Storm moved in between the two to guard the unconscious telepath. Furry seemed undeterred by this and merely turned back to Logan.
"She did the right thing letting me in. I'm here to take the Network agents you have tucked away in your game room downstairs into custody. I need you to let me in there in order to avoid having to blow my way past your security. So if you'd be so kind as to take me there, no need for a full tour of the house. We're in a hurry."
Wolverine snarled again and crossed his arms. "You're not going anywhere else in this house. I'll bring those two up and you will be waiting at the front gate for them with your entire encampment ready to leave the moment you have them. If Shield wants these clowns then you can have them, but you are NOT coming inside this school. I won't have you taking our students for your reserve back up emergency contingency plan."
A look crossed over Furry's face before passing. He then agreed "That sounds like what I'd expect from Xavier, not you Logan. I was expecting you to tell me that I couldn't have them."
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out what looked to be an old fashioned pocket watch on chain and opened it up, checking the time before closing it shut and lifting it to his mouth while pressing its dial on the side.
"All teams, abort extraction efforts and return to Hill for posting. Double over on exterior guarding and prepare for departure."
Furry then made for the door, looking to Rebecca and asking "Will you see me back out, ma'am?" The young teacher sputtered for a moment before blurting "What do you want with those cutthroats? Why are you taking them in and what are you doing with them?"
"I'll let Logan introduce me later. I'm sure he'd love to. But for now, just know that you're better off never knowing who, what, when, where, or why when it comes to us." With that, the man turned and left from the room. A quick nod from Storm urged Prophetess to leave right behind him, guiding him out into the hallway and foyer.
Storm then looked over to Wolverine with an expression that clearly asked for an explanation.
"Nick Furry. He's a big time commander of Shield. I used to work for him at some point. It's a lot of secret government hush-hush crap. They are supposed to be the guys who keep the peace outside of national politics and rules. So they use less than conventional tactics to get things done by any means necessary. If Furry is here for those agents, then Shield must be really trying to crack down on the Network. It's best to keep ourselves out of it, Ororo."
"Alright, Logan. I will trust you with dealing with this. I only hope the Professor agrees when he wakes up that this was the best thing to do."
Wolverine slipped out of the med bay, leaving Storm to watch over the single most important man in her life.
"Both of you, shut up and don't move. I can't let my cover be blown yet. This all would have worked out if you two weren't busy getting your asses handed to you by softies and could've helped me with our objective. I had her! And then some stupid boy butted his head in. Now she's gone and we've run out of time. Magneto has fled and Xavier and his team have made it back to the mansion. We can assume that the other half of your squad are failures just as you two are."
Fissure and Rift both looked at each other and wanted to roll their eyes or cuss the mutant woman that was freeing them. But they were in her debt at the moment and indeed they had failed their objective. She had too, but they weren't going to point that out. They were just going to silently plot revenge on the annoying woman.
Ghost was attempting to free the two the best way she knew how while still being subtle. And that was to melt the ice. So at the moment she was holding onto a large chunk of ice that was pinning Fissure's wrist to the floor. It was solid ice and would take a minute to melt, but once it did, Fissure could finish freeing himself and then Rift.
The door to the large room opened, nearly making Ghost jump in surprise, and three mutants came into the room. Ghost cursed her luck as the three made their way to the two still ice bound mutants. Ghost slipped off of bit, still in ear shot range, where she stood perfectly still and waited.
The three stood in front of the two and the oldest stepped forward, crouching down between the two agents. "We're hauling you two outta here. Someone's come knocking on our door to collect you two scum and I'm giving them to you. So I'm going to cut you off the floor. Either of you two try anything at all, and I can guarantee that you will either end up in the Ice Age, vaporized by Cyclops over there, or you will meet my buddies here" Wolverine extended his claws, aiming them at the two, "on a more personal level."
Ghost cursed her luck yet again. Getting out of here was much harder now. She couldn't free the two with three mutants around. And even if she could, the ensuing fight would bring the entire mansion down on them, as well as whoever was attempting to capture them outside the mansion. Ghost would have to follow her two squad mates wherever they went until a better time to free them presented itself. It also wouldn't hurt to see who exactly it was that was trying to capture Network agents.
The fact that they even knew Network agents were here was odd enough. If they had found these two, then chances were high that they had already found and captured the other half of the squad at the soccer field.
Ghost was in for a long night.
Nick leaned back in his seat inside his transportation, staring at the monitor that was connected to one of many satellites in Shield's pocket. This one in particular had been in orbit for quite a long time, and while the political world was announcing its deactivation and eventual removal from obit, Nick knew it would just be getting an upgrade in software from his people. As it was now, it was still tremendously useful.
He was getting images of the heat signatures moving about in the mansion he was parked outside of. This was impressive, but the heat signatures were coming from individuals 60 feet below ground level covered by several layers of building. They were all varied, but thanks to the information he had pulled, he had figured out why.
Bobby Francis Drake. Mutant boy of only 15 and gifted with cryokinesis. He had had someone brief him on what all that meant. The boy could generate ice from his body, without any seemingly harmful effect on himself. He never suffered from having his body temperature drop or dehydration from expelling water in a cooler form. It was bizarre. And yet there he was, riding in an elevator with a near non-existent heat signature.
Logan, as Fury had already figured, had a slightly lesser body temperature due to his Adamantium skeleton. The two prisoners had been assumed to be bound by thick ice. This would not only explain Drake's presence in the situation, as well as Wolverine not having his claws out as he marched the Network agents through his home. The last signature had been identified as well.
Scott Summers. A senior at the local high school with an outstanding record there. He also the mutant of choice to lead Xavier's team of misfits. Upon learning this, Fury pulled out any footage they had on him in action, and the man had to admit that give a few years of training and the boy would make an excellent solider. His file also read that he was extremely loyal to Xavier. Fury could respect that, in a way.
The signatures made their way through the house in a path that Nick had already mapped out from blueprints he had pulled on the house. They were right on schedule with no interferences from the rest of the house's residents. Good. They approached the door to the home, with Logan stopping the group and opening the door and taking a whiff of the air. Nick saw this from a side monitor showing him a sniper's view through his scope. Logan must've sensed that the yard was clear, as he led the two agents out by himself, leaving his students inside the house.
'Logan must think I'm out to gun them all down. Leaving them inside was smart. I won't have any visuals to put in the books on Drake, or newer ones for Scott. I guess Logan did remember some things from his time with us…'
A squad of his men were waiting at the gates, which opened inward for Logan, who then all but shoved the Network agents into the squad's hands. The standard procedure wasn't suitable to deal with mutants, especially mutants with abilities like these two. but a solution was found quickly and simply. The team bound both mutant's hands to each other, palms touching. The files for both mutants had been pulled long ago and poured over, on the off chance that they were ever captured. This is what the division had decided on when it came to dealing with these two, as well as several others that had similar power outlets.
The binding was a knock-off of the revolutionary cement formula created in California to advance deep sea research, particularly in the Mariana Trench. This version used by Shield couldn't compare to the original in withstanding pressure, it made up for it in practicality. It was carried in a small vial, then applied to the hands. Once it began to oxygenize, the liquid would harden into stone. If Shield ever apprehended a mutant that cold break out of that, then Furry doubted they would have much chance of holding the mutant in the first place. At least not without resorting to much more desperate means…
Once the criminals were loaded into their selected carrier, the convoy pulled out, making tracks to the true pick-up point. From there, the two would be brought to Shield's newest facility being built and developed specifically for mutants and other superhuman criminals that Shield was detaining. Nick grimaced to himself, looking over the files again for the umpteenth time. Something wasn't fitting right.
They had managed the impossible and captured an entire team of Network agents in the field. This was the biggest breakthrough Shield had ever gotten in breaking into the mutant criminal ring. It was something his advisors would only dream of, and it had happened without any losses of personnel on his part and without any real need for a cover-up.
The public had been wiped by Xavier and no one would be the wiser that a soccer field was a small war zone for super-powered kids instead of victim to bad pyrotechnics. That was a lot easier to sleep on than what had happened in Salem three weeks ago. There was hardly any rain pouring down on the town to blame the massive amount of flooding on, but that was what the news reported. How typical.
Furry tapped a few buttons to make his monitor switch to the camera feed from Carrier 3, the one tasked with holding their catch of the day. The view showed what the man expected. The squad of six were sitting in their seats, each individual uniquely restrained and strapped in thoroughly while forced to look ahead. There wasn't an audio feed on the camera, but Nick could see them conversing. They were angry with each other, going by the facial features. Nick let his eye drift to the supposed leader of the team, the one that wasn't registering any kind of brain activity when Shield found them.
The man had been observed to have a body consisting of nearly 90% percent water instead of the norm of 70 something. He was able to expel this water at the sacrifice of his own mass, but was able to call it back through mental abilities yet to be explained. It was unlikely that the man could add on to his own mass through other water sources, but it was a possibility the research team had warned him of. Asides that, there was a warning of telepathic abilities that hadn't been registered on scale. Suspicion was that it was weaker than a true telepath. Nick hated suspicion.
Breakfast at the mansion was exciting. The tables were filled with chatter, stories being exchanged from the night before and rumors being started and spread to boot. A few key people were missing from the socializing, which was noted by the more observant students. Ororo and Rebecca were watching over the kids, discussing a few things to themselves. Mostly small talk, which was interrupted by a Katherine Pride, dragging a pair of girls behind her.
"What's the occasion this morning, girls?" Rebecca asked, sipping at her coffee and wondering why two of her students were being dragged around by an older student. It made for an odd sight and the tow girls in mention didn't look exactly happy to be there.
"Where is he? I know you guys are hiding him around here somewhere, probably to let him rest or whatever, but I want to see him! Give him a piece of my mind while I'm at it! Like, who goes and gets kidnapped, brainwashed, shot, then shows back up home after making everyone hwo cares about him think he's dead?"
Rebecca only caught half of what Kitty was talking about, but Storm caught on and placed her hands firmly on her hips when she answered Kitty's demand.
"Kitty, the Professor is tending to Luke right now. Some things have happened and right now Xavier needs time to sort things out. That means he needs some peace and quiet while he tries to help Luke sort through the remnants of Magneto's influence. You will see him, soon even, but You ARE NOT, under any means necessary, to disturb him while he's with the Professor. It's been a long night and we're lucky that things went our way like they did. Just enjoy breakfast and give us some time."
The girl pouted, visibly dejected at being put off. The two girls she had dragged with her as proof of Luke's presence, Katie and Marley, had long since slunk back off to the table again, returning to the huddle of younger kids. The boys were mostly retelling the fight from last night, exaggerating it and blowing it out of proportion. Bobby looked as if he wanted to add on to something every time someone talked about the Network agents.
Ororo suspected that it had something to do with the two being removed from the mansion grounds last night. Logan likely told Bobby to be silent on what actually happened, until the story was sorted out with Xavier on just what to tell the kids. It wasn't like they would lie to them, but Xavier was very sensitive on the students realizing the full magnitude of what those two being in the mansion meant.
The storm bringer watched as word spread about Luke as Kitty returned to her spot among the older students. Their expressions were mostly shocked, but they put the pieces together on their own. They were relived, for once. There wasn't time to mourn for him last night, the way things had collapsed into battles against dangerous mutants. The shock of him dying hadn't even settled in, and now it was gone, thankfully.
Normalcy. That was all these ids were wanting. Even for around here, so much had become unbalanced. It was all Storm could think about at the moment, it was as if a sixth sense had awoken in her letting her know just how off things were. But she had faith that it would get better. She had to have faith.
Exhausted was a fitting word for Charles Xavier. His mind had been in combat on another level beyond most people on top of already being strained from wiping memories and replacing them with the false impression of a terrible accident instead. That, added on to the lack of sleep he'd acquired over the past few days, was wearing down on him heavily.
But the man toughed it through. There were matters to be tended to and he would push aside his weariness to tend to them. First and foremost would be the two, no three, intruders that had invaded his home last night. They had been routed and captured, or had fled the premises. It was highly troublesome that only the two agents had been handed over to Shield instead of all three. Logan claimed the girl was completely out of mind when Furry had arrived at his home last night to collect the two criminals.
Odd that he could forget such an important detail, Xavier suspected it had something to do with the woman's powers. To conceal oneself so fully that she would never appear to others unless she acted was a frightening power indeed. And would make for an incredibly lonely existence if she couldn't control it. Xavier had probed around with his own mind to see if the girl was still around the grounds, but he felt no traces of her, as he suspected. Wolverine had attempted to contact Shield on Xavier's behalf to warn them of the mutant, but they hadn't received an answer, which didn't bode well with Charles at all.
There was little that they could do at the moment about it. Shield had taken the agents to an unknown location and couldn't be warned of the threat the women held. Cerebro had not picked up any traces of her current location, but what it had sensed from last night was recorded and put on file, along with newer files on the other agents that had been in Cerebro's radius.
Luke's file was updated last night as well, but Xavier wasn't willing to share it with his study room's occupants just yet. Luke most likely already knew most of the information recorded and didn't want to know the rest. Some of the new developments Cerebro reported were well apparent, such as the tinge Luke's skin tone had taken. It was decidedly an unhealthy one, but not one that needed to be disguised with a similar model watch as Kurt's or Amanda's. The boy himself looked fine otherwise. Xavier hadn't yet asked about the wound he'd received in the fight at the soccer field or about his time with Magneto. As a matter of fact, Xavier hadn't even spoken to Luke yet. He had been sitting quietly in a chair while he and Logan discussed the hornet's nest that had been kick in the Network.
"Logan, I believe you made the right choice last night considering what was available to you. I'd have preferred to wipe all of the agents' minds about their contact with us, but there's no use worrying about that now. All but one are with Shield and if you believe that is enough to secure them, then I'll trust you on the matter. You've had more experience working with them than I have."
"And none of it had been pleasant, Charles. Furry is the kind of guy that gets things done, no matter the cost. If you ever have to deal with him, remember that much about him. But what are we going to do now?"
"Settle the kids down. Get them back into schedule and I want you to push the older group from here on. While I'm incredibly proud of their actions last night, I fear that things will be more difficult down the road before they get better. We must be ready. As for the younger kids, Rebecca and I will have to speed them into training at a much quicker pace than I had originally planned. Thank you for all you help, Logan. You proved yourself invaluable last night. Please, go find yourself some breakfast before the children eat it all. And let them know I'm doing fine. I'm sure they're needlessly worried over my sake."
Wolverine nodded wordlessly, exiting the room while mumbling something about sausages. Luke felt a small smile tug on his lips, as if there was something faintly in his mind telling him to laugh. He held back, though. Xavier's eyes had settled on him and there was such an odd expectancy that Luke had for the man he felt it would be wrong to laugh.
"How are you, Luke? Be honest with me." The man had folded his hands up and laid them on his desk, watching his student intently, as if reading him for some hidden secret.
"I feel like I just woke up, Professor. I like the feeling." Luke said. "I don't know what things were like before, but being back now just feels…right. I want to be here. And that's all I need to know."
Xavier's heart warmed at that, his face showing as much. He then began to ease into a string of questions, slowly, so as to not overwhelm the boy and to let him think.
"Your memory has become spotty, has it not? You aren't remembering things as they were supposed to be. You remember the X-men, the training, the fighting. But you don't remember us. Not Scott, Kitty, Kurt, or Jean. You can't recall just exactly how well Evan liked your practical joke on Logan. You're not sure why you and Rouge have a distance between the two of you. But you do know that these people are the ones you want around you. That this is the right place for you."
"Yeah. Magnus showed me a lot of things and I felt a lot of things in me change, but I still knew this was where I wanted to be. This was the place I'd fight to come home to or to keep safe. Nothing else came to mind as important when he started messing with my head."
"'He'?" Xavier fished. Magneto hadn't likely tampered with Luke's mind himself, but had gotten a telepath with shared views to assist him in 'recruiting' Luke into his flock. Now it was time to see what all Magneto had done to cloud out Luke's memories of his time with the Acolytes.
"Some guy. I never really learned his name. He got yelled at a lot by Magneto. Apparently he did a bad job in nudging the other weaker mutant into line. He mostly there for crowd control, not for doing stuff like you could."
"Magneto has a lot of mutant with him, I take it? What is he doing with them?" Xavier asked, prepared to take in the bad news. Better to know now than be blindsides later.
"Magneto is taking in every mutant he can that's not already with some group. He's giving them a place to stay, food and water, stuff like that. It's kinda like a big halfway-house for mutant who don't fit in with society anymore. Especially mutants who can't hide their mutations so well. He's taking care of them, all the while saying that one day they won't need to hide from humans in fear."
That certainly wasn't as sinister as Xavier was expecting Magneto to be up to. Thank goodness. While it was troubling that he was leading mutants down a certain train of thoughts against mutants, Charles would let it slide so long as mutants were safe along with their secret.
"What did you do while he had you? Can you remember that much?" Xavier asked, going after another important question that needed answering.
Luke nodded his head, recalling "We talked a lot. He told me about his life and about what humans had done to him. He told me of his fear for mutant kind's future. He asked me what I thought about it all and he never wanted me to stop talking about it when I started. All the while, he'd show me how to use my powers fully. He taught me how to fly right away and oftentimes we'd go flying over cities or whatever was around us. I didn't recognize any of the places we went by. He treated me like I was his son more than I was his prisoner."
"Did you enjoy your time with him?" This was important to Xavier on many levels. If Magneto hadn't been set on preparing for war with humans, Xavier would've loved to have him here as an instructor. He needed to know if it was still inside his friend to be good without reason.
"Yeah. I can't say I would've been there if I had a choice in the matter, but I learned a lot from him about my powers, myself, and the world. He's not that bad a guy when you get past the fact he wants to risk mutant kind in order destroy human kind."
The confirmation brought hope back into Xavier about his friend, but he put it aside. Luke was right. Magneto did still want war.
"It is good to hear you were treated well with him. It gives me hope that Magnus may one day change his ways. But for the moment, we will have to treat him for what he is. A man on the brink of plunging the world into war. I'm interested in seeing what he taught you, though that will be saved for a later time. How well are you recovering physically from the near fatal injury you took? It looked most certainly fatal last night. How did you survive?"
"I'm doing good. I'm not sore or in pain. Marley plucked the bone out of me and then made my body finish healing over the hole. At the same time, whatever she did must've cleared out whatever Magneto's telepath did to me."
"Logan told me most of what happened last night. Magneto must've been worried about losing you for him to here for assistance. You are important to him, Luke. Your powers must appeal to him because of how similar they are to his. And that is an incredible amount of power to be burdened with. You can see what his did to him. I don't think the world could withstand two mutants of that caliber…warped as he is." Charles warned. He wasn't sure what amount of damage Magneto may have made on Luke's faith in humanity, but he hoped that the corrosion could be restored in time.
"I understand, Professor. I think even he understands that, to some level. He didn't try and convince me all humans were evil or something like that. He just told me what had to be done in order to ensure the safety of mutants. It's a pretty tall order for him to try and fill on his own."
"It's a burden he chose for himself." Xavier stated sternly. There wasn't any pity to be had for the man who had chosen himself to be Mutant kind's apparently much needed messiah. It was his choice.
"I don't feel bad for him, Professor. But if he wasn't there to take care of mutants, even if he's putting them over everyone's safety, then a lot of mutants would be in trouble. I don't know if I would do it just like he does, but I think I'd have to do something after seeing all the tragedies out there. But I'd do things more like what you do."
Xavier was glad for that. His student, now 'enlightened' by Magneto, still thought that Xavier was doing things right. It was reassurance to the telepath. After so much had happened, especially so recently, it helped to know that others agreed his way was the proper way to go about helping mutant kind.
"What do you want to do now, Luke? You're back here with the X-men. You're home. What is it you want to do now?"
The question was out of the blue. Luke looked up into Xavier's eyes for a moment, which immediately started to examine his before they shifted away. He scrunched up his face in thought for a moment, before answering " I just want to stay here until I figure out what's next. I want to do something important with myself. I mean, I can do more than normal people can. So why not do something more than normal? So I want to be here making a difference until I get the feeling I can make a better one somewhere else, if there is ever a time I feel like that."
Xavier chuckled at the answer for a moment before replying "I think I can live with that. You sound different from before, Luke. Changed. I'm glad. Magneto evolved your responsibility along with you powers, it seems."
Luke rubbed the back of his head sheepishly for a moment, before replying "Thanks Professor. I'm gonna leave and let you rest up a bit more. You look pretty tired. Do you want me to come back later to talk? I could probably bring you some food while I was at it." Luke offered, sliding out of his seat and standing upright and stretching.
"Thank you, but I'll have to decline. I'll retrieve you later when I've recovered enough to properly examine your memory problem. You've told me all I needed to hear for the moment, Luke. I'm glad you've returned to us."
Luke smiled and nodded his head to the man, before turning and leaving, closing the door behind him. As soon as it clicked back into place, Xavier could hear an uproar of voices shouting in the hallway. A quick check with his mind showed that his older students had ambushed him outside of his office. How nice.
Luke himself wasn't sure what to expect when he turned around and saw his teammates right there waiting on him. There was that split second of silence, followed by the click of the door, before everyone started talking at once. Luke could only hear some bits of what everyone was saying, but judging from the amount of hands patting him on the shoulder or back, halfway hugging him or punching him on the shoulder, the gravity manipulator could only make one of two assumptions. They were either mobbing him in an attempt to throw him out, or they were welcoming him back.
It turned out that it was the later when they herded him to the rec room and pretty much pushed him down into a chair as they all piled up in their own seats. The chatter finally broke through and Scott's voice was the only one talking when he asked "So how are you? We heard from Marley and Katie what happened last night. You've made a full recovery or something like that. What all did Magneto do to you?"
Luke noticed the concern in Scott's voice and smiled a little before answering loosely "I'm fine. Old Buckethead jut kept me around and tried to make me stronger after he woke up my X-gene or something like that. He told me it had been recessive beforehand. Kinda like Xavier's brother before he became the Juggernaut."
The group of teens all nodded before Evan piped up and said "So you're even more kickass than before, right?"
"Evan!" Jean warned, her tone not so much scolding as it was a signal for Evan to lower his voice, less he be heard by one of the instructors.
Luke shrugged his shoulders, shooting back "Kinda depends on how much I was before. I think it's an upgrade for sure. Before, I could hardly move half of what I can now. And I'm not in as much pain anymore, so that's a plus. I think it was worth the trouble of being kidnapped, to be honest."
Everyone half-heartedly laughed at that, but Luke did mean it. He felt more in control of his gift now than ever before. It was a good feeling. He then decided it was his turn to ask the questions, so he did.
"What've you guys been up to while I've been occupied? And what were you guys thinking, fighting in the middle of a crowded soccer field last night? Was Lance and them deliberately trying to blow everyone's little secret?"
Kitty answered this, unsurprisingly given how it involved Lance. "Lance was wanting everyone to treat the Brotherhood goons better by making them afraid. He called us out and from there it just turned into a giant mess. Then you showed up outta the blue and just pinned everybody. Luckily, after you got floated off, Xavier wiped out all the memories of us, so the cat is still in the bag. For now, at least. I don't think they'll try it again, but who knows when we'll have to use our powers to help people?"
Luke nodded. "I know what you mean. We're supposed to help people and all that. When I was with Magneto yesterday, he saved a bud of kids because he thought one of them might've been a mutant. But he could've just as easily saved them because it was the right thing to do."
Scott nodded his head, agreeing. "I saw that when it happened. I wasn't sure how that bus got back on the bridge, but I wasn't sure what I would've done if he hadn't of intervened. I may have blown our cover just as wide open as Lance did, but without the Professor to hide it."
Jean patted Scott on the shoulder and said "I think we all would've risked it, Scott."
The group let out a "yeah" in agreement. And it was true. Somewhere along the line they all knew that they were supposed to do something more with themselves than just be normal. They were X-men. And they were finally back together again.
The teens stayed and chatted for a little while longer, before they finally split up to go enjoy their day. Scott and Jean were going out for ice cream, Kitty as going to write an email for her folks again, Kurt was going with Evan to the park to skateboard, and Rouge was going back to her room to read. Luke was left strolling around the mansion, thinking of what all he could get into for the afternoon in order to not waste it.
He rounded a corner, heading to the tennis court to grab a tennis ball for his wall game, but bumped into someone. A little someone who turned into a lot of little someones. Seven identical faces looked into his own as Luke picked himself up. The identical faces all piled back up into one body and vanished, seemingly merging up with the original boy. Luke smiled and stuck his hand out, saying "I'm Luke. I guess you're one of the younger students around here, right? Nice to meet you."
The boy looked at his hand for a moment before shaking it himself, squeezing tighter than he probably should've. Luke barely noticed, thinking more about the kid's mutation. It seemed cool.
"I'm Jamie. Sorry about bumping into you. I guess you see what I can do now…" The boy was nervous, as if he was used to being picked on or something whenever he accidentally cloned himself.
"It's cool. Don't worry about it. I think having a personal army of buddies to play tag with is cool. You like playing tag? Or hide and seek? I'm kinda bored and you look like you are too. We could go outside and play a bit if you'd like."
Jamie's face brightened as his head bobbled up and down. "Sure! All the other guys are playing pool and told me I was too short to play since I could see over the table that well."
Luke, now heading towards the back yard, commented "That hardly seemed nice of them. But whatever. With you making some duplicates, then we can have a lot of fun without them. And I even promise not to use my powers to make things unfair."
Jamie's stride as he fell in behind Luke slowed as they made it out to the back yard. There was still plenty of light out, as it was only mid-afternoon. Jamie finally mustered up his courage and admitted "I can't really make duplicates on my own. I don't know how to do it on purpose. Last time, it just happened."
Luke stopped and turned around to face Jamie, still smiling, much to the younger boy's surprise. All the other guys thought he was a loser for not being able to control his powers.
"It'll come to you in time, Jamie. I still have to work on controlling my powers even now, and I've been using mine for years. But I think I have an idea. Do you trust me?"
That was an odd question that had never ended all that well for Jamie before when other boys asked him. Even when Jamie was back home, he used to get pranked and picked on by older boys. He didn't think that Luke was that kind of guy, but it wouldn't be the first time he'd been wrong about judging character. Deciding to trust Luke after all, Jamie nodded his head slowly.
Luke's smile dimmed some when he saw Jamie's hesitancy to trust him, but decided to go through with his idea anyways. Making sure Jamie held still, Luke held his hands out, above his shoulders, feeling inside himself and finding his powers. When he had that feeling, he jerked his hands down. Jamie mimicked Luke's hands, collapsing to the ground like a sack of potatoes. But like Luke had hoped, the boy had instinctually split up into multiples. There were now six Jamie clones laying down on the grass.
They all slowly got up, looking at each other as realization set in and overcame the slight pain they felt. They all laughed out loud, before jumping in place at their apparent success at splitting. So with that, Luke decided to proceed with their yard games.
"If you guys want play tag, that'll be cool. But one, two, three, not me!"
One clone caught on a little slower than the rest and the games began. Everyone scattered running around and laughing like kids. Which was fine, because they were. It was really funny for Luke when the clones would mix up who was it because they all looked the same. Luke had fun, making sure not to move too quick and let himself get tagged on occasion to humor the younger and slower boy.
"What're we going to do about the younger students until they can protect themselves? Rebecca's powers would give a bit of warning against Network agents or Magneto, but there's always the chance we'll be too busy to respond. They'll need someone there to protect them until they can work together as a team to protect themselves. I'd say let me or Storm do it, but we're gonna be busy pushing the older kids, Charles. You got any ideas?"
Wolverine was outside on the patio with Xavier. The two were enjoying the good weather, as it was an illusion that the world was alright. But the two both knew something would have to be done in order to protect their students from the world. Xavier let his mind wander a bit in silence, coming across Luke and several copies of Jamie out in the yard. Stray thoughts sprung out from their minds, catching his attention and drawing him in some. Their sense of pleasure and happiness carried over to Xavier, making him smile in his wheelchair, without apparent reason. This made Logan ask the man just what exactly it was that he was smiling about.
Xavier just shook his head and looked out over the yard, before answering "I have an idea."
AN: Yes, I know this isn't exactly before Christmas like I said it would be, but it's awful close. Thank you guys for reading and I hope you liked this chapter. There was a lot of unwritten character development that I'm conveying while Luke was with Magneto. And we all know the guy isn't a truly evil, so I hope I highlighted his good traits as well as his objectiveness. Luke has come back to the X-men changed. And I think it's mostly for the good. I won't hint as to where this all is going, but I am excited. Some ideas fluttered in on me and my plan for the story has been altered to suit them. Things are looking good.
Review if you have anything to comment on and I look forward to writing you guys yet another chapter. Until then, BigWillis out!