Okay people, I'm sorry but I lied again. I was writing this update and realized that I had already gotten to seven pages and I still didn't have our favourite white haired X-men in the scene yet. I'm sorry about this. I just felt like I had to do this build up and explain a few things before Storm and Leah saw each other, and I thought people would be bored with a super long update. So their encounter will be in the next update, which will be done before Friday.

Anyway, hope you'll all still read this chapter and not be too disappointed.

J.C Posch

PS. How do you guys feel about having Remy in the story? I love his character but if you guys don't want him in the scene much for this story, I'd like to know. Or if you'd like him in it more, I'd like to hear from you as well. Pretty much any requests I'm open to listen to. I get a lot of good ideas from Imaninja :)

xXx

That night, Dad and I stayed in the apartment instead of going down to eat with the rest of the school. It was just easier. I had planned on faking a sickness so that I wouldn't have to go down (and knowing Dad, he was probably coming up with his own scheme), but it turns out we didn't have to bother because Jean came to our rescue. We heard a knock on the door and Dad answered it. He came back with two full trays.

He set down the trays on the round table in the kitchen and looked at me.

"I think I love that woman." I said in a monotone voice.

Dad snorted. "Yeah, I think I do to."

We ate in silence.

For months, I've missed my parents more than anything in the world. I hardly gave another thought to my destroyed home and my Canadian friends, but I was dying without my parents. All I wanted to do was talk to them. To get to know them and their superhero identities. I had so many questions.

But here we sat, in silence.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. Family meals were the best! Especially the ones when Dad had just got back from a business trip (or rather, secret superhero missions. I keep having to remind myself of that). Those were the best! Mom and me would tell him about everything he missed while he was gone (I can't believe how naive I was. He never told us about his trip and I just assumed it was because he thought his adventures were boring compared to ours. And now I know better). We'd laugh so hard! I even got my regal, graceful mother to snort milk out of her nose once. I still have a pick. And my favourite part would be how Mom and Dad treated each other. They acted like love sick teenagers. I'd roll my eyes and tell them to get a room, but secretly I got the best feeling when I'd catch them being lovey-dovey. When Dad went up behind Mom and slipped his arms around her slim waist, while pressing his face into her coffee neck, it gave me hope that true love existed out of fairy tales.

Why can't we go back to that?

Suddenly, Dad started sniffing around.

"What is it?" I asked, nervous.

If we were about to be attacked, I'd be super pissed. Thankfully, Dad smiled and my nerves relaxed (slightly). He got up and went to lean against the kitchen wall.

"Alright half pint, the gigs up." Dad told the wall in a friendly tone.

"Huh?" I asked.

And then the wall moved and I understood. Benny grinned at me sheepishly as he stepped away from the wall.

I rolled my eyes. "Come here, Benny Boy."

Benny eagerly raced to me and climbed up on my lap.

"You don't have to hide, Ben." I told the little boy, but he only shrugged in response. Suddenly, as if I was possessed, I lifted my head and looked at Dad as he put together a plate for Benny.

"Why did you never tell me the truth?"

"Pardon?"

"Why did you never tell me the truth?" I asked again, slower this time. I said this calmly, so I wouldn't disturb Ben.

"Leah, um, this isn't the best time to talk about this." Dad said, showing his discomfort.

"When would be a good time? Are we going to wait another seventeen years? Or maybe the seventeen after that?" I said in a polite but cool voice.

A reasonable voice inside of me screamed for me to shut up. To just shut my big stupid fat mouth before I said something that hurt him more. But it was a cold voice inside that was the audible one.

"You lied to me about everything. Who you really are, who Mom is," I spat. "For Christ's sake, you even lied to me about who the Hell I am!"

"We did what we thought was best for you-"

"I HAVE THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE WHAT IS BEST FOR ME! YOU KEPT THE TRUTH ABOUT WHAT A GOD DAMN FREAK OF NATURE I AM!" I shrieked.

What the Hell was wrong with me? Please, for the love of goodness, someone stop me!

"I'm not human, I'm not mutant, I'm a mistake! I wasn't supposed to be born! And now everyone else has to pay for it! I get people hurt, killed and f*cked up in the head! I can cause wars!" I yelled.

I hardly noticed that Benny had scurried back to the wall to hide. What kind of monster am I that I would scare a kid?

"Leah, calm down!" Dad said sternly, pain in his eyes. "You don't mean any of that-"

"I meant every word! You should have gotten rid of me at birth! People would be better off if I was dead!" I was crying now, really hard.

I was so out of control, it wasn't even funny.

I stormed out the room, leaving my wheelchair behind once more, heading towards the door.

"Leah, don't! We have to talk." Dad followed me.

"No." I said, under my breath as I opened the door. I think that was one of the few times I said that word to Dad.

"Where are you going?" Dad asked, sounding mad now. We both have a bit of a temper.

"To the library. Or to Canada. I said sarcastically. "I don't know."

"At least take your wheelchair!" Dad tried to say before I slammed the door in his face.

I waited, motionless. I held my breath, ready for the door to open. I was ready for it to open so I could take back all the horrible things I said. But it didn't.

I choked back a sob and headed down the hall.

Everyone would be better off if I was gone.

xXx

It was a night to be stupid. First I screamed stupid hurtful things at Dad and now I was breaking into a high security room where my unstable mother currently stayed.

Stupid stupid stupid.

But I really needed to see Mom.

Dad and me always had a really special bond. I was totally a 'daddy's girl'. But my relationship with my mom was just as special, just different. I love them both equally.

I have this really good memory about her, from when I was about eight. I had come home upset because Pricilla, the most popular girl in my class, was having this huge water party for her birthday. She had invited both second grade classes to her party. Everyone but me. Even though she and I weren't good friends, I wanted to go because my friends had been invited (plus nobody wants to be the only kid not to be invited to something). The most upsetting part was her reason for not inviting me. Because I was 'a toasted cracker' and an 'Oreo' (her words, not mine). She told me that her parents didn't like the fact that my mom was black and my dad white. I know, this doesn't sound like a particularly good memory so far, but it got better. Mom had heard about the incident through the teachers and came up with a plan. On the day of Pricilla's party, Mom took me out on the best day ever. The weather was perfect as we went horseback riding, on a picnic to the closest provincial park to look at their falls, and even paragliding! I forgot all about the stupid racist's party. So on Monday I told everyone about my amazing day and they informed me that they didn't go to the party because of the lightning storm that went on all day. And the best part? Lightning hit a tree and fell on Pricilla's dad's new BMW, completely totalling it, during the night. I thought that their accounts for the lighting storm were really weird because the weather had been so nice where Mom and I had been, but I let it pass as karma. It was petty to take joy in their misfortune, but racism is even more petty.

Its good having a 'weather witch' for a mom.

What's not good is trying to break into a computer sealed room in one of the most secure buildings ever.

I fiddled with the keypad on the door for almost twenty minutes, swearing under my breath. I tried hundreds of passwords, but each one was met with a mechanic voice saying 'Access Denied'. X-men.

Storm. Blackbird. Xavier. 123. Bald is beautiful. Cyclops' for president. Tony Stark's underpants.

I let out an angry sigh and slammed my head against the metal door with frustration. I had officially went through every passcode I could think of. What were they doing anyway, locking her up? That's what started the problem in the first place!

"Cher, you supposed ta be down here?" A sexy Cajun voice asked behind me, making me grimace.

I turned and gave him what I hoped was a convincing smile.

"Uh, yes. I am."

"Real smooth, petite." Remy grinned, dragging out his words.

I scowled. "Are you supposed to be down here?"

"Yes, Ah am." Remy beamed and then winked at me. "See chere? Dat's how yah lie convincingly."

I rolled my eyes, not bothering to point out to him that a lie isn't so convincing if you told them you lied right afterwards.

"So we both know dat we ain't supposed ta be down here," Remy drawled. "and I dink we both know we down here for dhe same reason, yeah?"

I nodded.

"Well dat just peachy den, cause looky here," Remy reached into the long trench coat he was wearing and pulled out a card. "Ah got One Eye's keycard."

I fought a smile, despite the night I've been having. "You stole Summer's card?"

"Borrowed, Ah borrowed his card." Remy said in his pleasant drawl, his eyes gleaming. "And Ah also borrowed his phone, the keys to his convertible and a pack a gum. Yah wanna piece?"

Remy tossed me a pack of Juicy Fruit and I laughed. "Sticky fingers?"

"Nah cher, golden fingers." Remy corrected, twiddling his long pale fingers at me.

A charming thief. Go figure.

I followed him over to the keypad. I had noticed earlier that there was a place to put a card, but I hadn't bothered to even fiddle with it, knowing that I lacked a card. Instead I wasted my time trying to come up with a password.

"So if you're an X-man, why did you have to steal a key card? Wouldn't they just give you one?" I asked.

"Yah'd dink so, wouldn't yah? But nah, they don't seem to trust me too much, despite being on their team sometimes. Remy like to roam too much for 'em, yah know? They don't take me seriously." He answered. I noticed that his drawl thickened a bit more and wondered if I had brought up a sore topic.

Another question popped into my head.

"How do you know my mom? She left the X-men about seventeen years ago, and you look to be about…twenty three." I decided on an age. "So unless you two were buddies when you were six, something doesn't add up. Plus it doesn't sound like you've been at this school for your whole life."

Remy looked me over, his eyes lingering on mine.

"You dink too much." He said finally.

I shrugged in response. I couldn't argue his statement. Maybe his pronunciation, but not his statement.

"Well, if yah really wanna know, 'bout seven years ago, Ah saved her life and she saved mine." Remy said finally.

I widened my eyes. "No way."

"Yes way." Remy nodded. "Ah was still liv'n in N'Orleans then, work'n as a thief. Ah was only 'bout fifteen or sixteen. Ah been hired by these suits ta steal some plans ta this building see? Well, Ah stole 'em and Ah brought em back to these guys. And den Ah learn they planning on us'n the plans to assassinate dis guy."

Intense stuff, but I didn't see how Mom fit in.

"So Ah try ta steal 'em back, but Ah get caught. Dem guys were gonna shoot me in the head but suddenly, dis little girl's voice pipes up and says 'hey! Don't shoot him!'. We all looked 'round and saw this pretty little girl, probably only nine or ten, star'n dem down with her stern blue eyes. She den lights some tanks on fire and gets me out of the building." Remy went on with his story.

"Are you trying to tell me that seven years ago my mom was a little girl?" I asked sceptically.

"Cross my heart and hope ta die, petite." Remy did the motions about his heart. "Ah won't go in ta the details of it, but some crazy scientist guy went and kidnapped yo' momma before turning her in ta a kid again. Dat guy was da boss of the guys dat hired me, and dats why she was dere. We stayed together for almost three months before ol'Wolvie tracked her down. Ooh, the lash'n she gave him when he tried ta explain dat she was a full grown woman and his wife! Eventually, they got her back ta normal, but she remembered me and tracked me down. She got me set up with the X-men."

I looked at him shrewdly, "I don't believe any of that. I would have been about ten then, how could I just not notice my mom missing for months?"

As soon as I said it, I had a weird, fuzzy flashback sort of thing. It was during summer break and it was just me and Dad for what seemed like a really long time. We ate a lot of tv dinners and Dad was sad and worried a lot. And then Dad left me with Hal, and for weeks I lived with him in the apartment above the bar.

"I got kicked by a horse my ass." I growled suddenly.

Remy looked confused. "Beg yah pardon?"

"I had some fuzzy memories around that time, but my parents told me that it was because I was kicked in the head by a horse." I explained. "But now I think a certain red headed telepath had erased my memories. Again."

"The joys of having parent's for superheroes, right petite?" Remy grinned. He turned to the door and swiped the key. There was a few beeps and the lights on the door turned green. "Stormie means the world ta me Leah, but yah can go in first."

"Thank you." I said, honestly grateful. Feeling overwhelmed, I hugged the man that was practically a stranger. To my surprise, he hugged me back instead of getting weired out.

"Yah just be careful in dere, 'kay cher? Stormie ain't quite herself at the mo'." Remy warned gently.

I nodded my head and stepped inside.