Stumbling Along the Path
"Does it ever wake you in the middle of the night?" Erik asked, "The feeling that one day, they'll come for you? And your children?"
Xavier wheeled around, "I feel a great swell of pity for the poor soul who comes to my school looking for trouble."
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or universe. They belong to Marvel and FOX Studio.
Jean, Ororo, and Jubilee came into the mansion late that night giggling and talking about how cute they thought Johnny Depp was. Scott, Peter, and Kurt behind them rolling their eyes.
"He's not even that good looking." Peter said, elbowing Scott jokingly in the ribs.
"You just wish you could pull the babes like he can." Jubilee turned around and winked at Peter.
"This was the most fun that I have had in… well… all my life. New York is so big!" Ororo laughed, and wrapped her arms around the shoulders of Jean and Jubilee.
"And now you will be a bit warmer too!" Jean said, eyeing the sweaters she had helped Ororo pick out, also happy she had finally been able to get a new bra that didn't stab her in the ribs when she moved.
"You guys wanna go to my room and we can veg out and watch the Breakfast Club, I have it on VHS!" Jean chimed as the girls headed up stairs.
"Well I don't know about you guys but I'm good for the night. No more chicks drooling off actors for me." Peter said, and zipped off.
"Yes, it was wunderbar but I am exhausted. Perhaps some other time." Kurt yawned, as he too vanished in a cloud of blue smoke.
"I had a lot of fun tonight, Scott." Jean smiled at him, "We should do it again sometime."
Scott just stood there, smiling. He realized he hadn't responded and was just smiling like a creep, "Uh. Yeah! Yeah! That sounds good!" His hand came up rubbing the back of his head as he felt his face heat up.
Jean giggled and turned on her heel and headed upstairs to catch up with Ororo and Jubilee. They all went back into their own rooms to grab some pajamas and change before meeting up in Jean's room to watch The Breakfast Club. Jean pulled out her favorite fuzzy socks to go with her blue and white stripped pajama button up shirt and shorts.
Ororo came in wearing a pair of PJs that Jubilee had loaned her that were bright yellow, they complimented her dark complexion well. Jubilee came in rocking a pair of pink footie pajamas and bringing her own pillows to make a floor of pillows in front of the TV.
Jean popped in the movie and they started chatting about their evening.
"Am I the only one who thinks Kurt's accent is just the cutest? He was so nice the way he held the door all evening!" Jubilee started in.
Jean chuckled, "You were eyeing him all night."
"While you cannot see his eyes, I believe someone else was eyeing you all night, Jean." Ororo said, grabbing a pair of sunglasses off of Jean's dresser and smirking wildly.
"Oh, shush. You and Peter would make a cute couple; you both have the hair going for you." She joked backed, ignoring the comment on Scott to avoid blushing.
They continued to joke as the movie continued and talk about all the grand things that had happened that night.
Peter didn't go back to his room that night, he couldn't sleep. He was worried about his mom and decided to go check in on her. The door was locked, but he knew where she kept the spare key. He zipped over to the flower pots on the back porch, grabbed the key, and unlocked the door in .01 seconds.
It was her birthday tomorrow, and she hadn't heard from him in a week now. He hadn't meant for him to lose contact; he just didn't want any of this to get back to his mom. He still hadn't resolved anything with Magneto. He had just frozen there in Africa when he saw him. And since Magneto had left once the mansion was rebuilt, so he hadn't even gotten the chance to see what he was like outside of all the chaotic mess.
He crept into the house quietly. He didn't want to wake her if she was asleep. The TV light illuminated the dark house. He walked into the living room where his mom had fallen asleep on the couch while watching the news. He grabbed a blanket and draped it over her and gave her a kiss on the forehead. Even if he didn't have a dad, he had a damn good mom, he thought to himself.
He went downstairs and thought about what he would tell his mom tomorrow, assuming he stayed. He was afraid of putting her in more danger. He knew that the government was still hunting down mutants involved in the events with Apocalypse, he wondered if they had questioned his mom, due to her past with the man who had now been involved in a handful of tragedies.
He remembered breaking Magneto out of prison not too long ago. He turned on the game in his basement and unplugged the audio cord as to not wake his mom. He couldn't sleep. His mind was racing faster than his legs ever could anymore. Replaying everything that has happened in the last few years. It was all a lot to take in.
He thought about the family Magneto had managed in Poland before they too died, he wondered if his mom and he would have suffered the same fate had Magneto stuck around for them. He thought about his possible sister. He always wanted a sister.
Scott could hear the giggling of the girls from across the hall, but he didn't care. He was stuck on Jean's words to him. Was that her flirting? Was she interested in him? Nah. She couldn't be.
But as he crawled into bed, all he could think of when he closed his eyes were hers, bright emerald green, and her smile. And… oh shoot… they had to danger room in the morning.
It was always so stressful, he knew it wasn't real and it was just practice, but it always felt real. The Professor wanted him to be a leader, someone who could get everyone to work together, but he didn't think the Professor had ever had to try to.
And then there was the fear that one day it would not just be a simulation, that it would be real, and a life or death situation and someone would get hurt or worse killed. And that would be dependent on his ability to lead this team of misfits… it was enough to keep anyone awake at night, and it did.
Kurt flipped open his passport and flipped it close. He teleported to the rafters in the attic. He had made the attic his home. He had taken all his pillows and blankets and put them in the corner.
Next to his corner, there was 6 tea light candles he had gathered from around the mansion, a necklace with a photo of St. Jerome, the saint of abandoned children, along with a rosary and a Bible.
He kept a small knife by his stand, though he rarely touched it anymore. Not since coming to America. His skin was still covered in his tattoos, but he had refrained from adding any new ones. Things felt different here, he was no longer treated as an outcast or a demon. Just a boy in need of guidance. He looked at people like Storm and Cyclops and felt like a super hero instead of the devil that they had made him out to be in the fighting rings of Germany.
He had not had to worry about fighting since he got to America. While they had not taken kindly to his appearance, they still had not shoved him into a box and into a cage. They may have thrown bottles at him at the drive in when he would show his face, but he could live with that. He accepted that not everyone would accept him the way that Xavier had. He was grateful for that.
