August 8, 1992

"Amanda?"

"Kurt?"

Kurt grinned and cradled the phone next to his head.

"Yeah, it's me," he said.

"What happened?" Amanda said, "The hotel said you all weren't there any more."

Kurt winced.

"We had to leave suddenly," he said.

"What do you mean?" Amanda asked, "Where are you now?"

He sat back on his bed.

"New York," he said.

"New York?" Amanda said.

"My...my father got sick," he said, "David found out when he called to check in. He had me teleport us over immediately."

Kurt wasn't sure if that was exactly what had happened, but it was better than telling her that he didn't know.

"Oh my God," Amanda said.

The sympathy in her tone was unmistakable. Kurt could just about imagine her face at the moment.

"I was pretty burned out after that, but we didn't think that my father should be left alone," Kurt said, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. It's just...with one thing and another there wasn't much time to talk."

"Kurt, don't apologize," Amanda said, "Is your father okay?"

He smiled to himself. Of course she would understand.

"Yeah, he's fine now. It's nothing long-term," Kurt said.

"Thank God for that," she said.

He heard her shift the phone.

"Are you going to come back soon?" she asked.

Her voice was tentative and Kurt smiled sadly.

"I think I'm going to have to stay here for a little while, make sure that everything is okay. My father's trying to get back on his feet and my mom's pushing for him to rest," Kurt said, "I don't think that now is a good time to leave, and beyond that, the school got pretty rattled when he got sick."

"I can imagine," Amanda said.

Her voice sounded a little sad. Kurt understood. They'd thought that they were going to have another week or so of being with each other before she moved on with the rest of the circus to California. Now they'd had that taken from them.

"I wish I could see you again," he said, "I..I could teleport over to California for a bit."

"That's pretty far from New York," Amanda said.

She was right. He'd have to make at least one overnight stop, and college would be starting soon.

"I could manage it," Kurt said.

"Kurt, I don't want you to injure yourself just to see me," Amanda said, "That's actually the last thing that I want."

"I could make it work," he said, "I can do some pretty fast consecutive jumps-"

"Kurt, this is what phones and emails are for," she said.

She laughed.

"I told you before that I could do a long-distance relationship," she said, "I'm made of pretty stern stuff. I don't give up when the going gets tough."

"I know," Kurt said, "I don't either."

He pulled the phone closer and thought of his parents downstairs. He'd have to tell them about Amanda pretty soon. So far David was the only member of his family who knew. It wasn't as though he were trying to hide her, but he was still nervous about telling his parents that he was in love with someone.

Then again, now wasn't exactly a great time. He'd hoped that Remy would have the decorum not to start up trouble immediately when he got back to the Institute, but Kurt knew that John pushed all of Remy's buttons. Between that and his father's condition, now wasn't exactly the best time either.

Kurt pulled himself into a crouch and swished his tail back and forth.

"What's going on with you right now?" he asked, "I'd love to hear."

"There's nothing new or exciting right now," she said, "It's pretty much just run of the mill things."

Kurt closed his eyes.

"I like the sound of your voice," he said, "And, to be honest, with everything that's been going on over here..."

He smiled.

"Run of the mill sounds pretty amazing," he said.

He heard Amanda breathe in on the other end.

"All right charmer," she said, her voice soft.

Kurt grinned.

"My brother wants to add a few more flips to the act and my parents are thinking about joining us for the finale of the tour," Amanda said, "Of course, I'm not sure if they're up for all of that, but I've learned to trust them..."

He closed his eyes. Normal did sound great.


"Just be careful Luna," Lorna said.

Luna nodded as she walked into the house, both of her hands in her parents'. Her footsteps wobbled once or twice, but for the most part they were fine. Alex shared a glance with Lorna. Their daughter was recovering nicely from the metal poisoning in her blood. Her face had lost its ashen color and she seemed more alert.

Alex thought back to his son, the way that he had all but fled from Luna's hospital room. He knew what it meant to have a mutation that could hurt someone, that you couldn't quite control, weren't even sure where to start.

The only solution had been to take him to Westchester as fast as he could. Alex and Lorna had been able to counsel him on how to control his powers to manipulate metal, but this was a completely different situation. They'd never seen anything like his mutation before.

Alex had wished that he could stay with him at Westchester for longer, but duty had called. He'd hoped that his son would be safe there until they could visit him, could learn control to where he could come home. Leaving Max at Westchester hadn't sat quite right with either him or Lorna, but with Luna in the hospital and the Mutant Registration Act coming before the Senate there wasn't much else that they could do.

Angel walked into the living room, her smile bright. Luna smiled at her and Angel walked up.

"Feeling better Luna?" she asked.

"Much better," Luna said.

"I've got a gift for you," Angel said.

She walked to the couch and picked up a stuffed bear. Luna grinned and Angel handed it to her.

"I'm almost too old for these Aunt Angel," Luna said.

"Not for a little while longer," Angel said.

Angel looked at Alex and Lorna, her face absolutely aching for approval. Lorna nodded and Alex inclined his head slightly. He still wasn't sure how he felt about his children's babysitter being the woman who had betrayed them at the CIA compound all those years ago. He'd only let her into their lives for Lorna's sake, and even now it was difficult to trust her in his house.

At the same time, it was obvious that she cared for both Lorna and the children. She even played nice with him, but he wasn't sure if that was an act or not. Then again, Alex was suspicious by nature. It was one of the only remnants of his old life that Westchester hadn't quite been able to cure him of.

"I got some food ready," Angel said.

"Thank you," Lorna said.

She looked down at Luna.

"We can eat in the living room today," she said, "I don't want to stress you out too much."

"Thanks mom," Luna said.

Luna walked over and jumped onto one of the couch seats, still holding the bear that Angel had given her. Lorna smiled and gestured towards the kitchen.

"If you could watch her for a few minutes Angel?" Lorna asked.

"Sure thing," Angel said.

She sat down next to Luna and began chatting to her. Alex followed his wife into the kitchen. He could see the lasagna that Angel had obviously made for their return. Since she'd first dropped into his family's life she'd gotten much better at cooking. He supposed it fit the new, auntly image she was trying to build.

"She really knows how to welcome someone home," Lorna said.

"She did a good job," Alex agreed.

He put his hand on a counter.

"I was wondering," he said, "When do you think that it would be a good time to visit Westchester?"

Lorna paused, putting her hands on the counter.

"We can't all go at the same time," she said, "Luna's still weak."

"I know," Alex said.

He turned around and leaned his back against the wall.

"I think we're going to have to go in pieces again," he said.

"I thought we might," Lorna said.

She swallowed.

"I should go first," she said, "It...it's been so long since I've seen him Alex."

It had really only been around a month. Alex knew what she meant though. Max was their first born, and neither of them had imagined having him so far away when he was still so young. Alex was confident that he was doing well, they heard regularly from him, but he'd had a difficult few weeks. He needed his family with him.

"You're right," Alex said.

He rubbed his temples.

"We might want to consider relocating there for a while," Alex said.

Lorna looked at him, surprised.

"Do you think it's going to take that long for him to gain control?" Lorna asked.

Her voice was pleading.

"I have no idea," Alex said, "But...if this goes on for much longer...we don't have enough money to make fifteen trips back and forth every month."

She nodded. Lorna looked over at him and touched his face.

"It's going to be alright," she said.

He nodded and pulled her against his chest. She rested her hands on his shoulders. He could feel that she understood, a deep understanding that had come from years and years of marriage.

Sometimes Alex thought that the best decision that he'd ever made was marrying her.

"The best we can do now is to stand by him and help him as best we can," Lorna said, "He needs us right now."

"And he'll have us," Alex said.


"Dad, I think that I'll be fine by myself for a few days," Terry said, "It's just prison detail. Not exactly a big deal."

Sean rubbed the back of his neck. He'd gotten his latest assignment that morning. Normally he wouldn't mind, but he wanted time off to go to Westchester. If he couldn't, then he would have preferred Terry to have been assigned with him.

Neither of those things had happened.

"It's not you I'm worried about," he said.

Terry rolled her eyes.

"Wade can take care of himself," she said.

"Trust me, I know. All I'm asking is that you keep him away from the munitions storage," Sean said, "You know how he gets around things that go boom."

"Yeah, I do," Terry said.

She crossed her arms and looked down.

"Believe it or not, I'm not blind to why he freaks people out," she said.

Sean was glad to hear that, although he still wondered just what it was his daughter saw in the mercenary. He'd decided not to talk about the subject unless it was necessary or she brought it up. He still wasn't sure how he felt about it.

"Terry, I know," he said, "And...I'm actually glad that he's sticking around."

Terry looked up, her mouth parted in surprise. He shrugged.

"I might not like him, but I don't want you to get hurt either," Sean said, "So, the better he treats you...the better."

His daughter smiled at him. Sean wondered how she'd grown up so fast. Missing the first seven years of her life had been a great blow, and the ones that he'd gotten had gone by so quickly. They were simply precious memories now.

"Thanks," she said.

"No problem," Sean said.

Terry coughed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"We can hold down the base for a few days," Terry said, "You go off and try to figure out where Magneto got that mutant beam."

"Mutant beam makes it sound stupid," Sean said.

"No one ever gives anything good names," Terry said.

He nodded. Terry smiled again.

"Don't worry," she said, "What's the worst that could happen?"