X-Men Forged: Lost Son

by JasonLauchlan

Jason is now an X-Man, and after a harrowing first semester, the next semester throws everything its got at him. From rekindled rivalries to new threats from the shadows, this is all overshadowed by a mysterious figure doting upon Jason, as well as Jason finally finding love. How will Jason deal with the next several months? And will finally Jason find out his mysterious origins?

2. Chapter 1: Poseidon

CHAPTER 1: POSEIDON

Xavier Institute for Gifted Children – Monday, December 19th, 2011, 7:57 AM

Jason Downs opened his eyes, seeing the familiar ceiling of his room and feeling the familiar air of it as well. Looking around, he espied his roommate, Piotr Rasputin still snoozing away under his blanket. Jason smiled at seeing his best friend, sleeping without a care in the world. "It's about time he is sleeping and doesn't look like he's worried about anything. Took him long enough." He didn't quite have the best sleep himself, but it was sufficient. He had been having dreams for the past two days; nothing clear, just whispers, a lot like the ones he had before coming to the Institute. Jason was a mutant, much like everyone else at the Institute, and his power was the manipulation of matter and energy at an atomic level, rearranging the physical structure to whatever he pleased, or in the case of energy, redirecting it by manipulating the flow of electrons. He was the Alchemist as a result.

Jason sat up in his bed, and looked out the window, seeing a small snowfall drifting down over the Institute grounds, quite a serene view. He was quite thankful for the relative relaxation he had been able to get now that the semester was over. On top of that, just three days ago, he had faced down Magneto and pretty much destroyed his base, almost dying in the process. He never told anyone that he almost died; that was bad enough. Still, the events of three days ago catapulted him into joining the X-Men officially. On one hand, that was a gratifying feeling, but Logan was a little more on his case to make sure he attended training. Some things never change.

He sat up in bed and looked over at Piotr again. Piotr Rasputin was a newer member of the Institute, only being there a year, but he was one of the most experienced. He could change his flesh into a nigh-invincible metallic alloy that was as flexible as skin but as hard as diamonds. His metallic form gained him nearly a foot-and-a-half in height, and he was already a head taller than everyone, branding him the Colossus. Piotr himself had endured a particularly rough year. He went from basically a hostage of Magneto, a solemn student and being kidnapped again by Magneto. Jason was able to rescue him from his clutches, and the Asteroid M event had changed Piotr in a big way. The last few days, he had seen Piotr smile more, carry himself taller and be more energetic. It was a very welcome change. Piotr had confided in Jason that he was finally ready to move on from his guilt. He still had no idea where his family was hiding, but he figured he would find out as soon as he asked the Professor. After a humiliating defeat at the hands of a brash but skilled Alchemist, Magneto had disappeared as did Mystique. Jason doubted that he would bother Piotr and his family again.

Piotr stirred a bit, and Jason looked away out of habit. He didn't want to get caught staring like some creep, although Jason didn't mind looking at Piotr one bit. Jason tried very hard not to blush; lately he had been growing increasingly awkward around Piotr, and during his near death experience, he realized why. The problem is that he didn't know if Piotr felt the same. While he did find out Piotr was in fact gay—or rather just the fact he liked boys—earlier last year, thanks to a slip of the lip, that didn't mean that he actually had romantic feelings for him. As a matter of fact, Jason didn't realize he himself was attracted to men, or in the very least Piotr, but that didn't mean much if it wasn't reciprocated. For all intents and purposes, Jason was just a really good friend and confidant to him. It depressed Jason a little, but he wanted what was best for Piotr, and if it wasn't him, then he wouldn't be mad.

Piotr stirred again and his eyes slowly opened. He looked around, and espied Jason sitting up, looking distracted. "Jason? You up?"

Jason looked at Piotr. "Yeah. You sleep well?"

Piotr sat up himself, wrapping the blankets around himself because the air was just a smidgen too cold getting up. He may have spent his winters in Siberia, but getting up from a snug and warm sleep to relatively colder air was never pleasant. "I did. What about you?"

Jason shrugged. "Sort of."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Jason smiled a bit. "Not really much to tell. It was the dream again."

Piotr nodded. Jason had told him about the dream he had yesterday, and that it was barely anything at all.

"I've had this dream ever since the deal with Magneto. I don't know if they're connected, but…" Jason shrugged. "I don't really know. It could also be me using that gem Magneto had. After all, I have been able to transmute without having to clap my hands since then too."

Piotr remembered that. In their first team exercise with Jason as their newest X-Man, Jason had accidentally transmuted something without clapping his hands. That was followed up by another visit with Dr. Strange, who reasoned that his exposure to the Emerald of Cytorrak had probably evolved his mutant DNA to be more effective with transmutations. Scott had also been exposed to the Emerald's power, but when he unleashed all of his power behind his optic blasts that night, the enhanced DNA relapsed and Scott was back to his normal levels of power. Dr. Strange reasoned that the same could happen, but Jason knew that unleashing his full power could be devastating to anything or anyone around him, so he didn't dare risk it for something so insignificant. "Perhaps you should talk to the Professor?"

"Maybe," Jason said. "But honestly I have no idea what to even say to him about it, especially after what the gem did to me. If there's anyone I should talk to about this, it's Dr. Strange, but right now I'm on leave from study with him until school starts again. He's doing something 'magical' for the world, I guess."

Piotr felt like his body temperature had regulated to the room, so he let the blankets fall. "Perhaps it is just a dream."

Jason shrugged. "Very well could be." Jason smiled. "Hell, maybe I'm just finally losing it." Jason purposely did a crazed laugh to punctuate it.

Piotr chuckled, and Jason realized that it was a very welcome sound. Before a few days ago, it was a very rare sound. After Piotr resolved to finally let things go, Piotr was happier period. It even made his heart flutter a little bit. Clearing his throat, Jason decided it was time to get up and get started with the day. "Well, maybe we should get up before it takes us two hours just to use the showers."

"Perhaps you are right," Piotr said.

Jason climbed out of bed, and quickly located an undershirt to wear. "We may have good heating in here, but sometimes it's not good enough. Hopefully it's a little warmer in the hallway."

Piotr agreed, gathering up essential toiletries for the shower. "Better hurry, comrade, or else I get first shower."

Jason laughed. "Oh, like hell you are!" Jason snatched up his toiletries and made a run for the door, with Piotr right at his heels. They both scrambled for the bathroom down the hall around the corner, enjoying this little race a little too much. When they rounded the corner, they skidded to a halt as they saw a red-haired woman, carrying her own set of toiletries into the room. Before she entered, she looked to see Jason and Piotr looking at her disbelievingly. The girl, Jean Grey, smiled. "Sorry, boys," she cooed and closed the door when she entered.

Jason and Piotr started slightly agape for several seconds. Finally, Jason pursed his lips. "She so doesn't play fair…"

XXXXXXXXXX

8:47 AM

The kitchen was already bustling with hungry students and teachers alike clambering for breakfast, and the chatter was an all-time high as the younger students were quite excited to spend a day in the snow, and with Christmas just around the corner, the holiday spirit was quite strong. The mansion wasn't quite Christmas-ready yet, but over this week, it would be. The month of December was quite a busy one this time around for the Institute, so holiday decorating was a little down the list. Still, that didn't seem to bother anyone any.

Jason and Piotr entered the room to find the room already packed. "Aw, crap," Jason said. "We'd better act fast or else the only food we get is licking it off the plates."

Piotr's face wrinkled up slightly at the suggestion.

The two dove right into the bustle, grabbing plates and silverware while attempting to grab what they could from a quickly dwindling supply of early morning edibles. Pretty much everyone was there, except for Scott Summers. He was in Hawaii after getting permission from Professor Xavier to spend the holidays with his newfound brother, Alex Masters. They had reunited just before the business with Magneto a few days ago. After saving the world from a falling Asteroid M, they deserved a break from X-Men business. Scott also saw it as a way to encourage Alex about the Institute.

Jason and Piotr quickly found their spots as the New Mutants were talking about their plans for the day. Meanwhile, Jean and the rest of the X-Men were at their own table talking about their own plans for the holidays. Kurt looked excited. "It's been too long since I've seen my parents. I've got so much to tell them…"

"It has been quite a year…" Storm said.

"You can say that again," Jason said, working on a slice of bacon.

"Like what are your plans anyway?" Kitty asked Jason.

Jason took a gulp before answering. "Well, since Christmas is this weekend basically, I thought about going back home for Christmas for the weekend and then come back."

"Did you tell your parents?" the Professor asked, taking a sip of coffee.

"Yeah, I spoke to them yesterday on the phone. I was actually thinking of asking Dr. Strange if I could use this…" Jason held up the Amulet of Agamotto that hung around his neck ever since Dr. Strange entrusted it to him. "…to go to my parents' house so flying fees wouldn't be a problem."

"It's hardly an inconvenience, Jason," the Professor said.

"Maybe," Jason said. "But it would be a lot faster. It takes about six hours to fly from here to there, and long flights and jet lag aren't exactly something I'd like to endure over Christmas, especially since I have a five-year-old sister who might wake me up at five in the morning."

The Professor smiled. "You make a fair point."

"I thought so," Jason smiled, washing down food with some milk.

Kurt looked at Jason's milk as he drank it. "Well, in the meantime, since school is out, we'd better make sure Herr Scar has plenty of milk to consume."

Jason laughed. "Laugh at it now, fuzzy elf, but as long as my bones can actually take a hit, I'll drink away."

Piotr couldn't help but agree. "In Siberia, we milked our own cows. It was not easy this time of year."

"I can imagine," Kurt said. "It's cold enough in South Germany where the Alps are; my family also has a farm and sometimes we had to call down the cows from the high pastures, sometimes in the winter. Wasn't fun, but we had to."

"Did you ever do that singing that can call them down?" Jason said.

Kurt looked confused. "What do you mean?"

Jason waved it off. "Sorry, it was something I saw on YouTube one day and I heard it was an Eastern European thing. Apparently there's some high pitched singing that one could do that kind of puts cows into some kind of trance and they come right down to you. I think it was called kulning."

Piotr looked at Jason. "I have heard of it; I think it is from Sweden."

"I think you're right." Jason drank another bit of his milk. "Gets my attention anyway…"

"Well, you are what you eat," Kurt said.

Jason held up a slice of bacon, looking directly at Kurt. "Did you just call me a pig?"

Piotr coughed a bit.

Jason decided to change the subject. "So who else has holiday plans?"

Kitty spoke up. "Well, I have to fly out back to Chicago tomorrow. Hanukkah is almost here and I promised my parents I'd come back this time. I missed out last year."

"Oh," Jason said sadly. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"It was last year, no big deal. I do want to go back this year."

Jason couldn't blame Kitty for that. Kitty's parents were both Jewish, and Hanukkah was a big deal for the Jewish people, as much as Christmas was a big deal for Gentiles, although for different reasons. Missing Christmas was just weird, although no one particularly judged anyone for that. "What about you, Jean?"

"My family is upstate," Jean said plainly. "It's only a few hours away so it wouldn't be a problem."

"I'm staying here," Rogue said. "I'm fine with that."

Piotr looked away. For a while he entertained the idea of staying here, but after the deal with Magneto, he thought about asking the Professor for a conjugal visit, for lack of a better term, with his family so that he could see them again. Now that he felt better about himself, he thought he could see them with a lot less worry.

Jason espied Piotr looking away, and he could guess what he was thinking about. Before the business with Magneto, Piotr was very depressed about the season because Christmas was a big deal for families, and being cut off from them was devastating. Now it was different, or so it seemed. Still, if there was someone who deserved a great Christmas, it was Piotr.

Jason was then distracted by the news playing on the overhead TV. "Hey, check it out!"

Everyone chimed into the news, where the news-anchor described a strange sighting in Manhattan.

"Reports have been coming of a strange sighting within central Manhattan where several holiday shoppers have reported seeing an 'angel' flying over the city. No one has been able to get a proper look at this 'angel,' but all could agree that it looked very much like a man with white wings soaring high above the streets. As of yet, there still hasn't been a clear sighting of him yet recorded…"

"That's the third sighting so far…" Jason said. "I'm beginning to think it's no longer a hoax."

"Perhaps, but even Cerebro hasn't picked up anything. It could still be a ruse."

"Maybe," Jason said. The report shifted to the weather, and for the most part it seemed like it was going to be mainly uneventful across the country, except for Hawaii where the typhoon season was still underway, and the remnants of a tropical storm that wasn't expected to mature was threatening to hammer the islands, particularly Oahu where Honolulu was. "Uh, Jean? Isn't that were Scott is?"

Jean had also been watching the weather, and had thought about the same. "I don't think they'd be dumb enough to go out in bad weather. Alex might, but Scott?" Jean was about to say no, but she checked herself. "Well, let's just say that I hope that Scott would talk him out of it."

XXXXXXXXXX

Hawaii Coastline – 10:21 AM

"How did I get myself talked into this?" Scott thought to himself, sitting on the edge of the beach. His eyes was almost always fixed on the dark storm clouds that dominated the skies, while holding onto a laptop computer. Alex was somewhere out on the waters with his surfboard, which he just recently modded to keep a shielded micro-camera on it so it could give anyone watching a feed few could boast on the board.

"Woohoo! Shame you're such a landlubber, bro!" came Alex's voice over the speaker. "We're getting fifteen footers easy, maybe even twenty!"

Scott didn't quite share Alex's enthusiasm; the incoming storm had been on his mind and he had hoped Alex wasn't stupid enough to tempt Mother Nature. Since he was sitting on a towel on a beach when he could be inside away from getting wet proved that wasn't the case.

"How's the feed?" Alex asked.

"Clear on this end," Scott said, trying to keep the edge of nervousness off his voice. He was quite certain he had felt a few raindrops as he sat there. The wind was already gusting to about thirty miles an hour, and if the weather reports he had been monitoring were any indication, it was bound to get worse. "Alex, make this the last round. The storm is getting worse, and I'm not feeling good about it."

Alex shook his head on the feed. "Spoken like a true landlubber. Let's do the math here, bro: big storms plus big ocean equals massive waves!"

Scott was about to shake his head, when he noticed a particularly large swell of water forming on the sea.

Alex appeared to have noticed too. "Like this one!" Scott watched him get on his feet swiftly in the feed, and he to smile to see his kid brother have the time of his life out on the water. He couldn't really begrudge his brother for being a little reckless. After all, the urge to race in his car was always there when he took it out. A lack of open roads and the higher probability of a life-threatening accident was an excellent deterrent.

While it was difficult to see through the video feed, Alex was pushing his surfing skills to the limits as he shot through the waves like a bullet, weaving to and fro just ahead of the wave's quickly collapsing crest. Scott could hear him hooting and hollering without even listening to the feed; Alex was definitely feeling the thrill.

Suddenly, Alex's board shifted ever so slightly, but it was just enough for Alex to flip backwards into the water. Scott had never seen someone wipeout quite like that before, and he quickly looked up to if he was ok from where he was sitting, and did not see Alex at all. He couldn't even see the board over the dark grey seas.

"Alex?!" Scott exclaimed as he stood up, the computer forgotten on the towel. He didn't hear a response, and there was no sign of either him or his board. How could he have disappeared so quickly. Alex had bragged that he was a great swimmer, so where was he? "ALEX?!" Scott called out again, cupping his hands around his mouth.

No answer was once again the reply offered to Scott. Scott began to grow frantic; Alex couldn't have already drowned. It was too fast! Where was he? "ALEX?!" He called out again.

"Scott?" crackled Alex's voice through the computer speakers.

Scott nearly jumped when he heard Alex answer, but he snapped out of it and ran for his computer. Scooping it up clumsily, he looked at the screen and saw a rather fatigued Alex holding onto his board. "Alex, you scared the hell out of me!"

Alex laughed, and Scott noted with slight alarm that it was rather tired-sounding. "Yeah, sorry about that, bro. Chalk that one up for the outtake reel."

Despite the nature of things, Scott had to stifle a laugh. "I suppose that will go for something." Scott looked back out to sea, and still couldn't see Alex anywhere. "Where are you? I can't even see you anymore?!"

Alex then looked sheepish, although Scott thought he heard a sense of anxiety in his voice. "Uh, yeah, about that. Bro, I've got a little problemo."

Now Scott began to feel anxious. "What is it?"

"I'm caught on a riptide, and it's pulled me pretty far from the beach. You need to come get me…"

Scott had heard of riptides, or rather rip currents, and what they often did. Inexperienced swimmers were in a lot of trouble with them, but a good swimmer had minimal danger as long as he kept a cool head. If Alex said was true, then the rip current was quite a big one. "Hold on, I'll get the Coast Guard on the horn and they should be able to find you."

Alex winced. "Uh, actually, I was kind of hoping you'd come find me yourself? I really, really, don't want to look like an idiot to the Coast Guard."

Scott's cautious side screamed at him to call the Coast Guard, suggesting that Alex's pride was not nearly as important as his safety, but Scott was trained to deal with hazardous situations. Hell, if he could deal with the Danger Room, he could deal with a simple rescue, right? "Ok," Scott said, hoping he wasn't going to regret this. "There's a boat rental place very close by. Give me a few and I'll be right out!"

"Yeah…," Alex sighed. "Mind hurrying?"

Scott threw himself on his feet and took off running towards a boat rental dock. Thankfully, it was quite close by, but every second, Alex was drifting further out to sea. Scoot reached the door and quickly saw the closed sign. Scott normally wouldn't have advocated breaking and entry, but this was an emergency. Scott lifted his ruby quartz glasses, blasting away the doors literally with a look. Replacing his glasses, he quickly located a boat in the marina. He quickly untied the boat and quickly boarded it, and just as fast located the keys having been left in the ignition of the boat. Careless as that was, he was very thankful for that.

Scott switched the boat on and shot out of the dock as fast as he could. He needed to be quick; the storm was definitely getting worse. "Next time, Alex, we're staying home," he thought to himself. No time for lectures to an imaginary representation of his brother; his real brother needed a rescuer and fast.

XXXXXXXXXX

The Professor was in his study, looking over the files of all the enrolled students at the Institute while the other teachers—except for Logan who was taking a much-needed road trip after the Asteroid M business—were watching the other students enjoy the snow. Most of the newer students, affectionally called the New Mutants by the more seasoned students here, were outside enjoying the snowy weather. They were quite a handful, very young and spirited, and sometimes a little destructive. It wasn't uncommon for at least one of them severely damaging something. Thankfully, they had a repair specialist in the ranks.

The Professor came upon the file of their newest member, Jason Downs, code-named Alchemist. He had enrolled just this August, and was already their newest X-Man. While the others in the New Mutants were quite capable of being X-Men themselves, none had quite shown the maturity to took to serve. Alchemist was another matter, having endured many trials from mentor and foe alike in just five months' time. Jason had risked it all fighting Magneto just a few days ago; they all thought that he had died when Scott and Alex had destroyed a falling Asteroid M, but Jason had surprised them all when he quite literally dropped in as if nothing had happened. Later that night, Jason was offered a seat among the X-Men for his valor, conviction and fortitude.

Jason once voiced his concerns that his former New Mutant teammates might be jealous of his promotion, but Jason apparently needn't have worried; apparently they didn't see him as defecting to a new team, but simply as him just moving on. While he no longer trained with him, he did come watch them train in the observation room. They were his team for a while; some bonds don't break.

Jason's promotion to the X-Men had increased the head-count to ten: Wolverine, Storm, Cyclops, Marvel Girl—Jean had finally picked a name for herself after Jason offhandedly said to Jean "You're a real marvel, girl" and it stuck—Rogue, Shadowcat, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Beast and finally Alchemist. Being on the X-Men also seemed to change Jason's overall outlook on things; he was less preoccupied, less somber and more radiant. As a matter of fact, even Piotr "Colossus" Rasputin was more joyful the last two days than the last year combined. While Jason was on Asteroid M, Jason had rescued Piotr from imprisonment and doubtlessly fought for Piotr's true freedom from Magneto. Jason was fiercely loyal to Piotr, and Piotr was extremely close to Jason. The Professor had them share a room since the beginning of the school year because he thought they'd bring the best out of each other. The Professor smiled; it does feel good to be right.

The Professor replaced the file back into the drawer and looked out the window. Jason had no idea what happened to Magneto after the events of Asteroid M, and no one that had escaped had even seen him leave. Truth being told, no one had seen Mystique depart as well. She had left the fight and was not seen since. He knew better than to think that she was gone; she was just out of view. Mystique was as slippery as a snake and just as elusive. Magneto was not to be taken down so easily as well; they were both still out there, he knew. It was only a matter of time before either of them revealed themselves.

XXXXXXXXXX

Scott was speeding through the waves as fast as he could, but the winds were picking up and the waters were choppy; he had to slow down considerably. Scott's gaze shot to and fro, but he could see no sign of Alex. "Alex!" he cried into the computer's microphone. "Can you see me?!"

Scott could see the anxiety growing in Alex's face. "No, bro! I can hardly see the shore either! Where are you?"

"I'm coming, Alex," he assured Alex, although he wasn't sure who needed the assurance more. "Can you fire up a flare so I can ping your position?"

"I'll try," Alex said. Scott could see he was still tired. Scott saw him climb up onto the board and balance himself on it, while holding on with one hand. With his other, he curled it into a fist and rose it up out of the view of the screen.

Scott immediately looked up as soon as his fist disappeared from the screen. Alex had the ability to fire concussive blasts from his hands, much like how Scott can fire optic blasts through his eyes, which earned him the name "Cyclops." Alex had also been given a name by Magneto a few days ago: Havoc. He quickly saw a beam of yellow light shoot up from the waves about thirty degrees to his left. "I see you! I'm on the way!" Scott whipped the boat around so his aim was right at the light source and pushed the engine to its limits. He shot forward for another fifteen seconds, and he still couldn't see Alex. "Alex, do another! I'm sure I'm close!"

Obediently Alex fired another one into the sky. "That's it!" Scott said, spotting the golden beam. "I'm getting closer! Just hold on!" Scott whirled the boat towards the light again and shot forward again. Another fifteen seconds and there was still no sign of Alex, and it was aggravating Scott. "Alex, I need one more. I keep losing your position!"

Alex was already breathing hard on the feeds. "I'm wiped, man. I don't think I can; if I do, I think I'm going to g…der…"

The feed was breaking up and growing staticky; the battery in Alex's onboard camera was getting low. Scott grew alarmed. "Alex! I'm losing your feed! Alex!" Alex didn't appear to hear. "Alex!" He still didn't respond; Alex actually looked close to falling asleep.

Scott warred with his options; he had to keep looking for Alex at this point, but with Alex's growing more and more fatigued, things were looking more and more hairy. Scott more or less promised Alex that he wasn't going to call for help, but what good would a promise do if Alex was going to die if he kept it? Scott espied the two-way radio on the dashboard of the boat. He made his decision immediately. He scooped up the receiver and dialed the emergency channel. "Mayday! Mayday! This is Scott Summers. I need immediate assistance one klick away from Nihaua Beach! Mayday!"

There was a lot of crackling of interference, but Scott could hear that someone was trying to reach him, quite possibly the Coast Guard that patrolled these waters from Pearl Harbor. "…Summ…cast your coo…ates."

"Hello?!" Scott called out over the radio. "Can anyone hear me?!"

There was more static, but even more degraded than before.

"Hello?!" Scott kept trying, but the signal dropped. "Damn it!" Scott cursed, nearly breaking the receiver against the dashboard. He checked his angered stupidity just in time, and he replaced the receiver and continued to ride further out to sea. He had just his found his brother; he wasn't going to lose him here again!

XXXXXXXXXX

3:07 PM EST

Kitty was busy packing for her flight to Chicago tomorrow, feeling mixed about the whole thing. She loved her parents but her being a mutant was still an awkward conversation, but thankfully, it was getting easier. The day she discovered she was a mutant, her parents actually tried to keep her from going to school, but at the time, Kitty wanted nothing else but to be normal and pretend last night didn't happen. She still remembered the dream the previous night; she was flying over the city and when she reached her apex, she fell like a stone, and right before she hit the street, she woke up to find herself sprawled in their basement. She later discovered that she had phased through the bed in her sleep because the blankets were still stuck in the ceiling. School was another matter; she was bullied like usual, but she had run into another mutant: Lance Alvers, the school rebel, who had the power of seismic geomanipulation, which gave him the name "Avalanche."

Kitty had met Jean Grey at her school that night after a very bad day at track and field, a class she despised. She had retreated into the school auditorium and was hiding out on the stage where a stage set was being built. Jean had offered to help Kitty with her powers after demonstrating her telekinesis to her, and later revealing she had telepathy. A freaked out Kitty had run from her, a mistake that still irritated Kitty to this day, and it was over a year ago. She ran into Lance who had offered to help her control her powers by owning them, and Lance did help her do that…but to her regret, she had phased both her and Lance into the principal's office. Jean and Kitty's parents had intercepted her in the office, and an angered Lance tried to bring the whole school down on them. It was a close call, but Kitty was able to phase her parents and Jean out of the rubble, where Professor Xavier was waiting. After seeing what Lance really was and that Jean and the Professor were really here to help her, she decided to join the X-Men at the Institute, becoming "Shadowcat."

Her parents had warmed up to her mutant abilities over the last year, and she felt very loved by her parents, awkwardness not withstanding, although she never doubted it. It was just the growing pains while learning about her mutation that was the main thing. She had missed last year's Hanukkah because it was during the school year, but this year was different; it started tomorrow night and she would definitely be with family this time.

Her cellphone rung while she was placing her favorite purple stuffed dragon, Lockheed, into a part of the suitcase. Looking at it, she didn't recognize the number, although it was local. Picking up her phone, she answered it. "Hello?"

"How're you doing, Pretty Kitty?"

Kitty frowned; it was Lance. Lance was a member of the Brotherhood of Mutants. At school, they were just jerks; on missions, they were fierce rivals of the X-Men, and they had crossed paths multiple times. Ever since they first met, Lance had an odd fascination with Kitty, and Kitty sensed that Lance liked her although he wouldn't properly admit it. "What is it, Lance?"

"Hey," Lance said, detecting how unhappy Kitty was. "You're still not sore about the whole thing with Magneto, are ya?"

"You mean when your boss wanted to kidnap us all and basically turn us all into all-powerful zombies? Jason told us about the whole thing."

Kitty could hear a slight echo of scorn in Lance's voice. "I knew he would; he kind of ruined it for all of us."

"Who's 'us'?"

Lance's fiery temper almost made him snap back, but he showed uncharacteristic restraint. "Never mind. Listen, Kitty, I didn't call to fight."

That more friendly tone Lance was making threw Kitty. Normally, Lance had a rebellious attitude and his tone was more sarcastic and aloof. "Then why did you call?"

Lance didn't respond immediately, and Kitty sensed that what he was going to say was uncomfortable for him. "See, I was really wondering if…" Another pregnant pause. "If you wanted to hang out at the mall today…"

All of Kitty's mental processes suddenly stopped. Did Lance just…?

"Hello?"

Kitty was able to reboot her brain just coherently enough to respond. "Oh, sorry about that, Lance. I kind of didn't realize what I heard…" Kitty was just about ready to eat her foot with crow sauce for that remark. "I-I mean, are you asking me out?"

The awkwardness seemed to focus back on Lance, who was also slow to respond. He snapped out of it, and Kitty with a bit of dismay heard his aloofness try to come back. "Hey, if you're just going to make fun of me—"

"No-no-no!" Kitty exclaimed. "It's nothing like that I promise!" Kitty then looked discombobulated at herself. "Why am I trying to justify myself like were dating or something?" she thought. Recomposing herself, she said more calmly. "It's just I never thought you would…or even thought about it."

"Well…" Lance said. Kitty sensed that this was probably something Lance hadn't thought about himself and this was something more spontaneous, and he did it before he could convince himself not to. "…you know what, you can just say no if you don't want to…"

"No, it's not that! I'm just—" Kitty nearly slapped herself in the head. There she went again!

"Hey, Kitty!"

Kitty looked at the source of the new voice, and her eyes nearly fell out of her head. Standing just inside the room was Kurt Wagner, the lovable blue fuzzball that could teleport at will, occasionally known on the field as "Nightcrawler" or "The Incredible Nightcrawler" depending on whom one asked. Kitty realized what she was doing and spoke into the phone. "Uh…can I call you back about this, Lance? I promise I will."

"What's going—"

Kitty hung up, knowing that she will have to explain this to Lance at some point, although looking at Kurt, she was unsure how. "What did you do to yourself?"

Kurt strutted into the room. Sure enough, his usual lithe form was exchanged for a rather muscular version of himself. He now had bulging biceps, prodigious pectorals and—Kitty tried not to count—but a set of eight abdominal muscles like bread loaves sitting on his stomach. His massive form was barely contained by a dark red sleeveless shirt. Even his khakis were having a hard time keeping his thick thighs contained. Kitty hoped to Jehovah that he wouldn't turn around.

Kurt flexed rather pretentiously. "Mm, I've been working out," he said, dramatically lowering his pitch to sound big. "What do you think?"

Two seconds into Kurt's showmanship, his image flickered like a television changing the channels, and his normal form returned, his clothes more appropriate to his body-type and weather situation. Kurt noticed when Kitty bit her lip to keep from laughing and he looked down at himself. "Aw, man!" Kurt sullenly skulked out of the room.

"You really shouldn't be playing with your image inducer, Kurt!" Kitty called out after him. Now that the distraction was gone, she looked at the phone she put to her side. The awkward conversation was still fresh in her mind, and she felt bad about it. She thought about calling Lance back up and accepting his invitation. She had nothing to do until tomorrow anyway, so it's not like she'd be late for anything. Then again, how would the others feel if she was hanging with one of the Brotherhood boys? What would the Professor say?

A part of her chided her timidity, saying that it was her life and that no one had any business telling her whom to hang out with, and she was old enough to make her own decisions. Another part of her cautioned her to not trust Lance too much; Lance was a rebel—a part of Lance that Kitty did feel attracted towards to her shame—and a scoundrel, a regular Han Solo in some regards, and that was the part that made this all the harder. Sighing to herself, she decided one time wouldn't hurt. She picked up the phone and pressed redial.

Meanwhile, Kurt was fiddling with his image inducer that he wore on his left wrist, trying to figure out why the hologram faded away like it did. As he did, another hologram cocooned his form without him realizing it as he walked down the hallway. One who did notice was Piotr, who was going back to his room for some drawing when he popped out of an adjacent hallway and saw a distracted Kurt…swollen up like a dirigible and practically jiggling his way down the hallway with each step. Piotr looked really confused when a blue-furred blobby Kurt that was even bigger than the Blob waddled his way away.

Piotr looked a little disgusted. "Comrade, I am thinking you need diet," he said to himself quietly.

XXXXXXXXXX

Jason and Jean were in the kitchen still, working on a late afternoon snack of Christmas cookies and eggnog, mildly watching the TV. Everyone else was either around the Institute or outside enjoying the snow. "I have to admit," Jason said, taking a sip of eggnog. "I could get used to drinking this."

Jean smiled. "I wouldn't get too attached to that. You'll get sick."

"My mom said the same thing," Jason said, smiling.

"Well, if she and I agree on something, maybe that must be right."

Jason merely looked at Jean.

Jean smiled. "Don't say it, Jason."

"I didn't think I had to; you know you don't."

Jean took a sip of her own eggnog. "It's just one of the perks being me."

Jason laughed. "Maybe you're right."

"Oh, I know I am." Jean sobered up a bit, seeing Jason smile a bit. "You know, Jason, these past couple of days, I've seen a real change in you."

Jason tried not to blush. "Yeah, I know. I forgot to shave."

Jean backhanded Jason's arm softly, but Jason hammed it up with the reaction. "Ow, I'm delicate…"

"Seriously though, this is what I mean. You're just better humored overall lately. It's nice…"

Jason really did blush a bit this time. "Yeah. I just feel better about things, like I finally got to deal with what I've been needing to deal with for the last few months. The business with Magneto was ironically what I needed, I guess."

"I suppose you're right," Jean said, taking a bite of a cookie. Swallowing it, she added. "How do you feel otherwise?"

"Well, my brain still seems to be holding out regardless."

Jean sobered up a bit. Jason had regular visits to the Neurological Institute in New York because of his unconfirmed prognosis of Charcot's Syndrome, a sclerotic disorder that had a scary resemblance to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Jason had suffered the disorder after receiving significant cranial trauma after being caught inside his parents' car inside a tornado, which had also paralyzed his father from the chest down. The impact causes a number of small hemorrhages in the right side of his brain that added pressure to the brain, creating the risk of future neuropathies and gradual loss of muscle control. Surgery and a shunt in his brain had dealt with the majority of the bleeds as well as the added pressure, but many bleeds were too small to detect or too deep in the white matter to find. It was far too risky to try to look, so they were let be and Jason was monitored at the Institute here and the doctors'.

Jean sighed. "Well, that's good to hear."

"It's kind of the only real damper on anything that I have. I'll take what I can get if it means I'm not so much of an asshole."

"Well, that's good to hear."

"I mean it, though…"

"I know you do, Jason," Jean said. "And we are happy with how far you've come."

Jason smiled. "Thanks, Jean…"

By this time, the weather report was back on the TV and both watched it with mixed interest, but both did tune in when Hawaii's report of the strengthening storm. The weatherman was urging people to stay off of the beaches as the tropical storm had unexpectedly strengthened, promising winds of sixty miles an hour now, just shy of hurricane strength.

Jason side-eyed Jean, who was starting to look a little worried. "Maybe we should give Scott and Alex a call to see if they're ok?"

"I think you're right."

While Jason and Jean were watching the weather, Kurt—having shed his plus-size hologram—had walked in for a snack and had saw Jason and Jean watching the weather. He saw the report himself and asked. "Hey, isn't that where Scott is?"

"Yeah," Jason said, not turning to Kurt. "We're both kind of hoping that Scott and Alex weren't dumb enough to go out during a storm. I'd like to think I'm a good reason not to—" Jason had turned to address Kurt properly, and nearly leaped out of his seat in surprise. "WHAT THE FUCK?!"

Jean, startled at Jason's outcry, turned and saw Kurt, whose head was now three times it's normal size on top of a normal-sized body. Jean couldn't help but scream in surprise as well.

Kurt was taken aback by their reactions. They looked at him like turned pink. "What is it?! Why are you yelling?"

Jason had gotten up from his chair and sidled away from Kurt's massive head. "Kurt, did you screw up your inducer again?"

Kurt's massive eyes blinked. "Why?"

"It's either that, or am I going to find a giant peach outside?!"

Jean looked for something that would do for a mirror, and located a reflective metal pot. Snatching it up with her telekinesis, she held it up so Kurt could see himself. "Just look at yourself."

Kurt looked at his reflection and saw what was wrong immediately. "What in the—" Kurt then looked sullen, which was quite magnified on his large head. "I didn't mess with it that much!" Kurt turned and left the room, appetite gone.

Jason and Jean watched him go, and nearly laughed when Kurt still ducked to get out of the room despite the top part of the head was just light imagery. Jason leaned on the window ledge. "I wonder what he was doing to make that glitch happen…"

Jean looked at Jason. "Do you really want to know?"

Jason shook his head. "No."

XXXXXXXXXX

Scott was growing desperate. The feed with Alex was shaky, but Scott could tell that he was still hanging on, but he was definitely growing tired. He had been subjected to the waves for over an hour now, and it was finally getting to him. Scott tried again with the radio to call for help, and was having a hard time getting a Coast Guard ship to hear him. "This is Scott Summers! I'm three klicks north of Finn Ridge Point! I need immediate assistance! I'm searching for my brother!"

"Scott Summers, confirm position…re…" The channel was dominated by static. This storm seemed to block everything coming in.

"Hello?!" Scott shouted over the rain and wind. "Are you there?!"

"Scott?" drifted in Alex's voice.

Scott looked over at Alex to see him looking earnest. "I think I have one more in me. Look out for it…"

Scott could definitely tell that this last one had to count. "Ok, I'm looking for it."

Alex shakily raised his fist to fire one last blast, and Scott's gaze shot around to search for the golden blast. Quickly, he saw it, and saw that it was quite close. "I saw it! You're very close! I'm on the way!"

Scott pushed the throttle as far as he could and the boat shot towards Alex.

Suddenly, Scott heard Alex cry out, and looked at the feeds. Instead of seeing Alex, he saw an underwater view and his heart froze. Alex's surfboard flipped over and sent him into the water, and he was nowhere in view. "Alex!" Scott called out, but he knew it was unlikely he heard him. "Alex, no!"

Scott arrived in the area where he thought he saw Alex's blast originate from, and he quickly saw an upside-down surfboard being thrashed by the waves. It was certainly Alex's, and he was nowhere in sight, causing Scott's heart to sink like a stone. "Alex…"

Before he could even fathom the worst, a massive wave crested to his port side and washed over the boat. Scott had never felt the power of a wave before, but it was like being slapped by concrete. It almost swept him over the side. Recovering, he coughed up the water he accidentally inhaled during the wave. The wave did the trick though; he snapped out of his stupor and he knew he couldn't give up now.

"Alex!" he yelled over and over, and honked the horn as loud as he could. If Alex was close, he had to have heard something. "Alex!" Each yell was louder and louder, threatening to rip apart his vocal accords with each one. Scott looked around, and still couldn't see Alex. He was beginning to wonder if Alex had indeed drowned.

"Scott?" came a weak cry from behind him.

Scott spun around, just in time to see a hand grab at the boat's siding. Scott practically leaped at the hand, and just in time as it lost its grip. Scott's arm shot out and grabbed the arm, and could see Alex's head just barely staying above water. "I got you!" Scott said, and he pulled with all of his might to get Alex over the side and onto the boat. Combining Alex's weight and the strength of the water trying to rip them apart, Scott had to throw his own weight into pulling Alex out of the water. Finally, Alex was out and in the boat.

Alex was barely awake, but still breathing. "Thanks, bro…"

"I was starting to lose hope," Scott said, relieved. "When I saw your surfboard…"

Alex chuckled, although it was more like coughing with all of the water that he accidentally inhaled. "Well, I got tired of waiting for you to come find me…"

Scott smiled. "We got to stick together, right?" Scott looked around and saw a pair of life jackets tied to the side of the boat. He undid the ropes and quickly got one on Alex. "We're not out of the woods yet, so let's wear these so we won't drown."

"Just get eaten?" Alex said.

"Well, if you have that humor, I think you'll be all right." Scott was still tired from both pulling Alex on board and the relief which took the strength out of him for a while. "So much for a relaxing holiday week, huh?"

"What?" Alex said, still breathing hard. "You're not having fun?"

Scott was about to laugh, but seeing a massive swell of water tower over them. "Hang on!" Scott said, and the wave smashed against the boat, drenching them and nearly capsizing them. Coughing, Scott stood up. "We need to get out of here. Hang on!" Scott ran for the wheel and made the boat turn around to head back.

Alex sighed as he hung on. "You don't have to tell me twice…"

XXXXXXXXXX

Back at the Institute, Jean and Henry McCoy were watching the a few of the New Mutants having a snowball fight while enjoying some hot chocolate. Henry McCoy, often called "Hank," was one of the teachers here at the Institute. His mutation was far more evident, much like Kurt's. He was covered with blue fur and had a distinct ape-like appearance, which gave him amazing agility and strength. Coupled with an already brilliant-mind, "Beast" was a valuable asset to the Institute.

Towards their right was a lone mutant who was trying to stay low as the opposing team was keen on taking him down with snowballs. Bobby Drake was the oldest of the New Mutants, freshly sixteen,, and rather a bright kid, when he wasn't so carefree that is. Keeping his head low, he used his chilling powers to form a snowball on command. Bobby possessed cryokinesis, manipulating the very air to chill to whatever temperature he desired and be able to create frigid blasts, earning him the name "Iceman."

He was about to hurl the snowball, but quickly ducked as a blast of molten magma and a blast of electricity nearly took off his head, although it did obliterate his snow fort. Recovering, he saw Amara "Magma" Crestmere and Ray "Berserker" Carter, looking rather smug with a nearby Jubilation "Jubilee" Lee warming up her pyrotechnic powers. Thinking quickly, Bobby shot out his hands to unleash a frigid blast of pure ice. Everyone scattered as a jagged ice-formation formed where they were just at. Amara retaliated with a ball of magma, steaming the winter air instantly.

Mr. McCoy could only shake his head as the New Mutants abandoned the snowball fight for a battle royale with their powers. "People, people! That is not how you have a snowball fight!" Handing over his mug to Jean, he took the field, narrowly dodging a frigid blast from Bobby. "This is how you have a snowball fight." With his two ape-like feet, he scooped up a massive snowball and hurled it at Bobby, who took it right in the chest. The other New Mutants started to get a little nervous, and quickly scooped up their own snowballs to defend themselves.

While Jean was quite amused by the spectacle, her amusement evaporated when a serious-looking Jason stepped out of the Institute and look squarely at Jean. "Jean," he began. "You need to follow me to the lounge."

Jean could sense that Jason was gravely concerned, and was half-tempted to take a look inside his mind to see, but Jason was very sensitive about people entering his mind uninvited. "What's wrong?"

"Just come with me. You really need to see this."

Jean placed Mr. McCoy's mug on a nearby rail, and quickly followed Jason inside. Jason was very brisk with his walk, and Jean had to keep up. The further they went, the more nervous Jean was becoming. Finally, they arrived at the lounge and found Ororo and the Professor watching the news, and Jean's heart sank. She knew what was coming.

"Tropical Storm Wu had grown considerably in strength in just the last twelve hours, and the Coast Guard and Harbor Patrol are stretched too thin for the rescues. As of right now, we've received reports that one Coast Guard unit is on the search for two teens that were swept into the storm: Alex Masters and Scott Summers…"

Jean held a hand over her mouth as her worst fears were realized. Jason looked sadly at Jean, wishing he knew what to say to console her.

The Professor knew exactly what to do. "Storm, prepare the X-Jet." As Ororo got up and made her way out, the Professor turned his wheelchair around to face Jason and Jean. "Jason, find Piotr and tell him to suit up and meet us in the hanger for immediate takeoff."

Jason nodded. "At once!" Jason turned around and took off down the hall, destined for his room. The Professor turned to Jean. "Jean, suit up. We need to leave immediately."

Jean rallied her senses to the situation. "I will." Jean didn't give the Professor another word; she knew that he would have a few words with her about the gravity of the situation, but he would have to wait until they were in the air. There was no time to lose.

XXXXXXXXXX

It was ten minutes—too long for Jean's nerves—later when the Professor, Marvel Girl, Storm, Alchemist and Colossus gathered in the hanger bay. Storm was already in the Blackbird preparing it for takeoff as the Professor met with the three X-Men.

"Our mission is clear: we find Scott and Alex, recover them and return as quickly as possible. I realize that this mission is more personal on a number of levels, but we must keep clear heads. May I count on all of you to do that?"

All three chorused, "Yes, Professor."

"Good. Everybody on board. It's a long flight and we need to go full speed if we have the best chance. Good luck, X-Men. Dismissed."

The X-Men boarded the Blackbird first, with the Professor following close behind on the lift mechanism. Everyone quickly buckled themselves into their seats while the Professor took the pilot's seat as it lowered itself into the floor to make room for his wheelchair. Once's the locks latched into the wheelchair. The Professor guided the Blackbird to the runway.

"Opening the hanger doors," Storm said in the copilot's seat, as the hanger doors on the far side slid open, revealing a cascading waterfall on the other side.

The Professor wordlessly pushed the accelerator forward and the Blackbird shot forwards and through the waterfall. Once out, the Blackbird shot skywards and drifted westwards, locking in on the coordinates of where the last time the boys were heard from.

Alchemist thought about his first mission with the X-Men, which ended up being a rescue mission. Scott and Alex were caught out in the middle of a tropical storm while out at sea. Alchemist, with growing nervousness, realized what he had just signed up for: he was going into the heart of a violent windstorm on open water. There were very few things in the world that was that far up shit creek, and for Alchemist himself, it was all the way up to the source.

"Jason?"

Alchemist turned to his friend, Colossus, who was sitting next to him. "Are you all right?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm ok. Just hoping that we aren't too late."

Colossus nodded, signifying he understood.

Alchemist dropped his voice to a barely audible whisper. "Hawaii is nearly five-thousand miles away, and this jet only travels a little above Mach 3. That's three times the speed of sound, Peter…"

Colossus' mind wasn't quite getting what Alchemist was inferring.

Alchemist reiterated. "If I did the math right, it means that it will still take over two hours to get there. That's a lot of time for shit to hit the fan."

Colossus finally saw what Alchemist was talking about. Despite their best efforts, it would still take a considerable amount of time to reach them. Colossus decided to reassure the more practical Alchemist. "Scott is also X-Man; he can keep himself safe until we are getting there."

Alchemist relaxed a bit. "I know; I just couldn't help but see the numbers."

Colossus put a hand on Alchemist's shoulder. "Focus on mission, nothing else."

Alchemist nodded. "Yeah, you're right."

Colossus smiled, but then remembered that Alchemist had a leeriness of storms, and they were flying right into one in mere hours. "Are you ok?"

Alchemist knew Colossus well enough to know what he was asking about, and nodded. "I will be. We won't be there for long anyway. We'll be in and out, and I think I can deal with that."

"Ok," Colossus said.

Alchemist knew he was more reassuring himself than he was Colossus, but if he could talk himself into doing this so Scott and Alex wouldn't have to deal with what he endured this past April, then he thought he'd be ok. He only hoped Scott and Alex were.

XXXXXXXXXX

Scott was pushing the boat to its absolute limits trying to get them to safety. Alex was trying his best to stay awake, and was likely borderline hypothermic. While the temperature was hardly cold in Hawaii, even in December, Alex was in the water for a good hour, and was still clad in his surfing suit which was still soaking wet. The storm had brought in frigid winds along with sheets of rain, making it impossible to stay dry. Even Scott was dealing with chills, but he was determined to fight it out until they made it home.

The waters were so churned by the storm that each swell was like a hill, and Scott had to really fight to push the motorboat over each one. At one point, the wave crested while they were still on top of it and they practically dropped straight down in front of it as it began to tower over them. Scott floored it and was able to just clear the wave.

Suddenly, Scott heard a peculiar clicking from the engine. Alerted, he looked at the dashboard at the numerous gauges, and his eyes caught the gas tank gauge. The needle was squarely on the E. "Oh, no…" Scott breathed. The boat began to slow until the engine completely died, and they drifted to a stop.

Alex had heard something sputtering and looked around. "Was that a chopper?" Alex said.

"I wish it was," Scott said. "We just ran out of gas. Can you see if you can find a gas tank?"

"Sure," Alex got to his feet and started lifting the chair seats to scour the compartments.

Scott looked at Alex for a bit, hoping that Alex would be successful. When he turned back forward, his eyes nearly fell out of his head. A thirty-foot swell was bearing down upon them. Something that big would surely obliterate the boat. Scott took off his glasses and opened his eyes. A searing optic blast cut through the wave like a hot knife to butter, splitting the wave right down the middle, allowing it to crash to their sides and not on top of them.

Scott closed his eyes and replaced his glasses. Alex was not aware of what happened; his head was still deep in the compartments trying to locate a gas tank that could help them. Scott was trying to keep the boat from rocking too much by sticking to the high side of the boat, but was growing alarmed as the swells were getting larger and more intense. They must be very close to the core of the storm if it was this bad, and Scott knew enough about storms that if one was too close to the core, calamity was only a gust away.

"Found one!" Alex exclaimed as he pulled out a red plastic tank with gasoline slurping around inside.

Scott turned around to see Alex, and saw a forty-foot swell form right on the aft side, threatening to tip them over. "Hang on!" Scott exclaimed.

The swell swept up the boat and as it crested, it crashed right down on top of the boat. Scott and Alex were swept off of the boat as the boat capsized. Alex managed to grab onto a crate that broke free of the boat and hung onto it, looking around. He couldn't see Scott. "Scott! Where are you? Scott!"

Scott's head popped up from the water, only afloat thanks to the life jacket he was wearing. Scott knew how to swim, but the waters were so turbulent that it was difficult. Alex thankfully was experienced; when he saw his brother struggling, he pulled the crate towards Scott. "Scott! Grab onto this!"

Scott was able to grab onto the crate while Alex held onto the other side of it. "Thanks…"

"Hey, glad I got to return the favor…"

Both looked at the boat, just in time to see it sink beneath the waves. Scott stared at where it was moments ago. "That's not good."

Alex sighed, and had to laugh. "You know, you kind of stink at rescues…"

Scott looked at Alex. "Really? What about your big storms equals massive breakers line? This big enough for you?"

As if Poseidon himself was emphasizing Scott's point, a big swell swept over them. Both coughed as the waters washed over them and their heads poked back above the surface. Alex said. "Yeah, you got me there, bro…" Sighing tiredly, he continued. "It figures, you know?"

"What?" Scott asked, finding the shift in tone strange.

"After all this time, we finally find each other…and then we are stuck out here when we're finally getting to know each other…"

"Hey!" Scott said harshly. "Knock off the 'before we die' speech; we'll get out of this!"

Alex smiled. "I know, bro, but I got to say this. I've been thinking of changing my last name to Summers again now that I found you. Haven't told my parents yet, but I figured they'd be keen on the idea after meeting you."

Scott smiled. Alex was just trying to be honest in this situation. "Well, let's get out of this mess first. Finishing the adventure first, then the paperwork…"

"Our private Poseidon Adventure?" Alex said.

"Well, at least this time, we're not stuck on a sinking cruise ship. Besides, this is a lot better for us in the open. A helicopter could show up any minute to save us."

A searchlight suddenly beamed over them, highlighting them in a white halo. Looking up to see the source, they then looked at each other and nearly laughed. "Damn, bro, you're good…" Alex said. "Are you psychic too?"

Sure enough, a rescue chopper from Harbor Patrol was able to track them down. While they had been searching for them, the pilot had seen Scott's optic blast from afar when Scott split the wave to keep it from demolishing the boat. The chopper drifted over them until it was directly overhead. After informing a nearby Coast Guard vessel that they located the missing party, a rescuer slid the door open and jump into the water, all the while tethered to a wench inside the chopper. The rescuer swam to the pair. "I can only take one of you at a time, so you'd better choose between you who goes first right now."

Scott immediately answered. "Take him first; he's been in the water the longest and needs medical attention."

Alex looked incredulous at Scott. "But—"

Scott cut him off. "Big brother rule, you have to do as I say!" He looked at the rescuer. "Take him!"

The rescuer nodded and worked on securing Alex. Alex looked apprehensive. "Are you going to be ok?"

"It's only going to be a few minutes," Scott said. "I'll be fine. You are more important right now."

"Hang on, son…" the rescuer said, and he motioned to the chopper to reel them in. The wench inside the chopper began to spin and the rope grew taut as they began to rise towards the helicopter. Scott watched them go, encouraged. They were going to be ok.

Disaster struck in the form of a lightning bolt striking the tail rotor, and the rotor quickly became engulfed in flame and smoke. The helicopter began to lurch and struggle to keep altitude. The pilot began calling for evac as the rotor continued to fail. Scott suddenly saw a new danger: at this point, if the helicopter fell, it would fall right on top of all of them, crushing them. Alex and the tethered rescuer held on and the helicopter whipped them about as it struggled, and suddenly, it lurched and began to fall. Alex and their rescuer hit the water, and Scott acted without thinking. He raised his glasses off of his eyes and aimed a small optic blast at the side of the helicopter. The blast was enough to push the helicopter away. When it struck the water, it was thirty feet away from its original position. Scott saw two other rescue personnel safely get out of the helicopter before it began to sink into the water.

Paling suddenly, Scott remembered who was still attached to the helicopter. Alex and the rescuer were still recovering from the splashdown and had no idea that the helicopter was about to pull them down with it. Scott quickly saw the rope floating on the water, and saw it was quickly disappearing under the water, threatening to grow taut. Scott aimed a very precise optic bast at the rope, mere inches away from the back of the rescuer, severing the rope before it could pull them under.

The flash of red light attracted the attention of the rescuer however. Whipping his head around, he saw Scott replace his glasses and had a strange look on his face underneath his helmet. Before he could say anything, the pilot and copilot resurfaced and were making their way towards them. Reaching Scott, they grabbed a hold of Scott so he didn't drift away from them. The rescuer with Alex snapped out of his bewilderment and pulled Alex towards the three. They finally were able to tether themselves together to make a living raft.

"So much for that," Alex said, looking very tired.

"We're not lost yet, son," the pilot said. He got one hand free to push a device on his vest. Scott saw a small red flashing light. "We're outfitted with GPS tracking in case of an emergency."

"And this definitely quantifies as one," Scott said.

"There's a Coast Guard vessel three clicks away, so we just need to hang on in the meantime."

"No arguing there," Alex said.

"Well, since we have the time to kill," the rescuer began. "Guess I owe you a thank you." He was looking at Scott.

Scott looked strangely at the rescuer.

"If you're worried that I'm going to turn you in or something, don't. After thinking about it, I remember that we were still tied to the chopper. If you didn't save us just now with those eyes of yours, your brother and me would be dead. Can't really hate you for that."

Scott sighed in relief. He knew he had risked mutant exposure by doing what he did, but there was no choice in the situation. Had they more time, doubtless the rescuer would have cut them loose, but there were only seconds to make a decision. "Well," Scott said. "We can exchange thanks once we get out of there. Although can you not mention the fact that I'm a mutant to anyone? Kind of trying to stay low here."

"I can't blame you for that," the rescuer said. "I have a brother who is gay and my parents weren't too fond of the idea. He was later thrown out of the house and I basically walked out myself. I understand the need to keep things quiet until you're ready."

"Thanks," Scott said.

"Hope those Coast Guard guys hurry up," Alex said. "I'm wiped…"

XXXXXXXXXX

The Blackbird was well over the Pacific Ocean by this time and was heading straight for the Hawaiian Islands at over Mach 3. The X-Men were wasting little time to reach Scott and Alex. Storm was monitoring communications between the Coast Guard and the rescue crew who had possibly located Scott and Alex, while the Professor kept going full speed towards the storm, which was growing more and more visible in the distance. Marvel Girl, Alchemist and Colossus had stayed mainly quiet in the back, and the Professor could sense that Alchemist was trying to keep himself grounded by counting as far as he could by sevens.

He had considered the idea that Alchemist was a poor choice for this mission due to his astraphobia, but there was little choice. Alchemist was one of the most adaptable mutants they had and his assistance could mean the difference between a successful or failed mission. Alchemist did say that he would be fine and that what he was doing was just trying to make sure he stayed fine. Either way, Alchemist was trying his best. If they were quick, and provided nothing else went wrong, this should be a smooth mission.

Colossus had kept an eye on Alchemist the whole trip, but didn't say much. He was allowing Alchemist to deal with his own issue, waiting to help only if beckoned. Marvel Girl on the other hand was a little more complicated. She was reaching out with her telepathy, trying to get a lock on Scott's familiar mental signature, but wasn't having much luck. The Professor knew she was fretting about this whole thing, and he couldn't blame her. Still, he trusted she would be objective as a junior leader of the X-Men.

Storm spoke up. "I just got a report. The rescue chopper that spotted Alex and Scott is down, a suspected lightning strike. No word on the rescue crew or the two boys."

Marvel Girl's concentration broke and she looked up when she heard Storm's report. She was about to become very worried, but the Professor spoke up before she had a chance. "We're coming up on their last known coordinates in a few minutes. Let's hope it's not too late."

The Professor's hope in the face of bad news was very reassuring, and Marvel Girl knew that Alchemist and Colossus were feeling the same. She could still sense Alchemist trying his best to stay calm as they punched into the storm's area of impact. Lightning flashes were abundant and the rain was heavy, but they had Storm with them. Alchemist knew that she wouldn't allow themselves to be in danger, so Alchemist just fretted about his anxiety instead. Colossus was nearby to make sure Alchemist wasn't alone.

Marvel Girl tried to relax herself; it was usually Scott who would tell her that everything would be ok, and he wasn't here. Marvel Girl didn't realize how much she depended on Scott as a voice of reason sometimes, and she was needing that now. Marvel Girl looked out the window at the meteorological carnage waging outside, and her thoughts drifted to Alchemist. Alchemist didn't talk much about the night that change his life forever, but she felt like this wasn't too far from that. She couldn't blame him for feeling nervous; even she wasn't feeling relaxed.

Suddenly, in the lightning flashes, she spotted something far to the right, their north. "What was that?" Marvel Girl spoke up. Another lightning flash lit up the sky again, and she saw it for sure, and was immediately alarmed. "Was that a tornado?"

Alchemist's eyes popped open. "What?" he said alarmed.

Colossus looked out the window, saw the funnel cloud and immediately reached over and shut the blinder of the window so Alchemist wouldn't see it. When Alchemist looked surprised at Colossus, he merely responded. "Trust me, comrade."

Alchemist sighed nervously. "It's a little late for that, but thanks…"

Storm was not so worried. "Be calm, Alchemist. I won't allow one to form near us."

Alchemist tried to breathe. "Couldn't you just…banish the storm? I know why you wouldn't before, but this is more of an emergency because of Scott and Alex…"

Storm looked back at Alchemist. "If this was a smaller storm, certainly, but a tropical storm is much larger and it would take me a long time to dissipate it with my powers, time I'm afraid we don't have and it would take all of my concentration."

Alchemist nodded. "That makes sense."

Colossus laid a hand on Alchemist's shoulder. "You are not alone."

"I know…I keep telling myself that."

"We will find Scott and Alex, rescue them and get out just as fast," the Professor reminded Alchemist. "We won't linger, so please stay calm if you can."

"I would appreciate that," Alchemist said, trying to regain his humor.

"Currently any funnels we see may not be any trouble, unless they touch down into the water."

"Not helping, Storm," Alchemist said, clasping his eyelids shut tight.

"It's only all the more imperative that we act fast. Be prepared, X-Men…"

XXXXXXXXXX

Scott, Alex and their would-be rescuers held on to each other as the storm continued to lash at them. They were expecting that soon a Coast Guard vessel would home in on the pilot's GPS signal and send out a rescue. Scott in particular hoped that it would be soon because Alex was definitely not looking so well. At one point, Alex almost nodded off. "Hey," Scott said loudly. "No snoozing! You got to stay awake, Alex!"

The copilot, whom Scott learned was also a field medic, added to Scott's plea. "He's right; staying awake is the only thing keeping you from complete hypothermia."

Alex sighed, and he was growing more and more tired. "I am so spent…I don't know how much longer I can force myself to stay awake."

"Just hold on for a little bit longer, Alex…," Scott said. "After all, help is on the way. Another chopper might come any minute…"

There was no sound of helicopter blades or sight of searchlights this time. Alex chuckled. "I think you're losing your touch, bro…"

"It worked last time; might as well keep trying."

"Keep that optimism up, Scott," the rescuer said. "We could all use it right now."

"Well," Scott said. "It helps to think that I doubt it can get worse."

"Now, see," the copilot said. "That's probably not the way to look at it. I've been in the forces long enough to know that when you think that, that's when it hits the fan."

XXXXXXXXXX

The X-Jet was struggling to keep a straight path in the winds, but the Professor was confident in its ability to stay stable. They were coming close to the core of the storm, and where the last known coordinates of the rescue helicopter went down. If the boys were close, they could quickly rescue them.

Suddenly, the scanners picked up a signal coming from the waters: a GPS tracking signal, likely from one of the rescuers. "Marvel Girl," the Professor said. "Reach out your telepathy and see if you can find Scott and Alex."

"Ok," Marvel Girl did so, and immediately got a result. "Yes! We're coming up on them! They're with the rescue crew."

"Good," the Professor said. "We need to hurry."

Storm then looked out the window, towards their trajectory. "Oh, dear…"

Marvel Girl looked as well, and gasped. Colossus and Alchemist looked as well, and Alchemist instantly regretted it. "Oh my god…" he sank in his chair, closing his eyes.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Guys?" Alex said. "Do you hear a roar?"

Scott listened up. "Now that you mention it, it sounds like the winds are really picking up."

The rescue crew suddenly was on alert and were looking around. One of them finally spotted the source. "It just got worse…" he said, pointing towards the source.

All twisted around to look, and their stomachs turned into stone. Dropping from the clouds above was a whirling column of cloud, narrowing at the bottom into a point like a massive cave stalactite, all of the churning as it spun, inching closer to the waters. Alex had seen waterspouts before, but not nearly this large or imposing. Scott had never seen a proper tornado before, and he was beginning to see why Jason was so afraid of them. This one was huge, close and dangerous.

Suddenly, just below the base, the water churned into the circulation, creating a mass of water spinning around the bottom of the vortex. Before anyone could even fathom what they were seeing, the winds exploded to over a hundred miles per hour, tearing at them like claws. They also felt themselves being pulled into the circulation.

"Everyone!" the pilot said. "Bury your faces into our coats! We need to keep as small a target as possible!"

"Shouldn't we try to swim out of it?" Scott said.

"We're in its suction inflow. We'd just wear ourselves out trying. The best thing we can do is make sure our faces aren't torn up inside the debris cloud. Now do as we say!"

Scott and Alex found the nearest crew's coat to bury their faces in and waited. The crew held to the boys and to each other tightly. Scott couldn't believe this was happening; they were going to get sucked into a tornado and there was nothing they could do about it. They were at the mercy of the storm, the same type of storm that disfigured one of his own friends.

The twister churned its way towards them, sucking up everything in its path. It was only a stone's throw away now and the winds were trying to rip at any part of them it could. Scott held onto his brother tightly, and Alex did the same. No matter what happened to them, they would go together.

Suddenly, the winds died. They lurched a bit but the only thing moving them now was the waters themselves. Everyone looked at each other, wondering what was happening, and Scott suddenly became aware of a screeching sound, like a jet engine. Looking up, he suddenly saw a black shape facing down the twister, challenging it. He recognized the build immediately. "It's the X-Jet! Help is here!"

Everyone else looked up, and they could see a blast of wind was punching at the twister, blasting a hole into it. The rescuers weren't sure they believed what they were seeing; the winds seemed to be coming from the jet itself.

"Jean, now!" came a voice. Scott recognized it. It was Storm! "I can't hold it back for long!"

From beneath the plane, the loading ramp lowered from beneath the place. They saw a red-haired girl, dressed in a black sleeveless suit with a gold belt and boots step out, a fastened pendant around her neck bearing a gold badge with a red X on a black center.

Marvel Girl called down to them. "Hang on! We're going to get you out of there!"

Scott was relieved at first, but wondered how exactly they would. Jean had never lifted more than two people before, and there were five. It would take considerable telekinetic strength. Doing it one at a time would take too long and the tornado was already fighting back.

Back on the plane, Marvel Girl was trying to reach down with her telekinesis and scooped them all up, but was having a lot of trouble wrapping her powers around them all. She was straining already and she wasn't even lifting. "Professor," she cried out mentally. "I don't think I can get them all!"

"Keep trying, Jean," the Professor's words came to her in her mind. "You have to do it."

Behind Marvel Girl, a struggling Alchemist was trying to block out the view of the tornado right in front of them, in addition to blocking out the images of that fateful April night. He was already sweating, and grasping the chair handles so tightly that his knuckles were white. He was breathing so hard that Colossus was growing very concerned.

Alchemist hated himself right now; one of his friends was in a bad situation and he was cowering like a lost puppy. He was an X-Man, damn it! He needed to be better than this. Jean was able to face the tornado! Why wasn't he?! He knew it was because he had been conditioned by Mother Nature herself to fear her, and there wasn't much he could do. If he did nothing, however, then Scott and his brother could suffer the same fate as he did, and they might not survive.

Alchemist's eyes blasted open. Scott and Alex were in very real danger, the same danger he was himself in months ago. Back then, he was powerless to do anything; he wasn't powerless this time. He had alchemy and the brains to do something. "Peter?" he said almost in a whimper.

Colossus was so surprised that Alchemist was still lucid that he almost jumped. "Yes?"

"Do we have a tethering rope?"

Colossus looked around automatically and found a rope tied to a small wench, just strong enough to carry one person. Grabbing it, he offered it Alchemist who clipped it to his belt. "What are you doing?" Colossus said.

"Something incredibly stupid," Alchemist said.

Colossus suddenly knew what Alchemist was planning. "Jason, that rope is not strong enough!"

"It's not for them," Alchemist said, standing up. "It's in case something goes wrong." He made for the loading ramp.

The Professor suddenly sensed Alchemist was up to something. "Alchemist," he said aloud. "What are you doing?"

Alchemist was already right beside Jean, who was still trying to gather up all five people. "I'm making sure no one else goes through what I went through." Alchemist suddenly threw himself into a dive off of the place.

"Jason!" Colossus cried out.

Colossus' cry broke Marvel Girl's concentration, and he saw the plummeting form of Alchemist. "Jason, no!"

Alchemist plunged into the waters, close to the five.

"What is he doing?" the pilot asked.

"I don't know!" Scott said. "But I hope he hustles!"

The Professor called out with his telepathy to Storm. "Hold on, Storm, Alchemist has a plan."

"Hurry," Storm thought. "It's already fighting back!"

Back below, the five waited nervously. The winds fighting the twister looked like it was waning, and the hole was growing smaller. Any moment now, the twister could overpower all of them. "Why isn't she doing anything?" the copilot asked. "Isn't she one of you guys?"

"She is," Scott said. "She's a telekinetic, but she never did this many people before. She's having a hard time grabbing us all."

The three crew looked at each other, weighing their options. Finally, they agreed. "Then you two go."

Scott and Alex exclaimed together. "What?" Scott finished by himself. "You want us to leave you behind?"

"We're trained to accept the inevitable, and we already have help on the way," the pilot said. "You two are the reason we're here, so if it means we stay behind to save you, then so be it."

"No way!" Alex said. "We can't just leave you guys behind! You'll get chewed up!"

"Better us than you two," the copilot said. "We'll be fine. We're more equipped to survive than you two. Now get going!"

"But—" Alex began to say, but was interrupted when they were surrounded by a green glow coming up from the waters. Scott looked around and saw bolts of green lightning shut up from the waters.

"What's going on?!" Alex asked, surprised by this turn of events.

"I don't know!" Scott said. Just then, the water started bubbling from underneath. Scott thought the water was warming up, but that wasn't the case. He looked down and saw something was rushing up towards them and getting much larger.

Before he could fathom this, a mound of ice started rising from the water, surrounded by the same energy Scott was seeing. Suddenly, all five felt something touch their feet and push them out of the water. Everyone fell off of their feet on the slippery ice, completely flabbergasted at what was going on. Finally, Alchemist himself emerged from the waters with his hands planted against the ice, one on top of the other.

"It's Jason!" Scott said.

"What's he doing?" The copilot said.

"He's transmuting a giant iceberg to push us up to the X-Jet. He's using ice's own buoyancy to do the work!"

The pilot looked impressed. "I don't know how he's doing it, but don't that be all. You guys are amazing."

"Do you think he can do it?" Alex said. "He looks really beat."

Sure enough, Alchemist was looking a little sickly, like he was putting his own life energy into this. "Let's hope so!" Scott said. Looking up, he saw that they were closing in on the X-Jet.

The iceberg continued to grow under Alchemist's command, surrounded by a halo of alchemical energy, sucking in the water to freeze into ice. It took all of Alchemist's energy to focus on the transmutation and not acknowledge his worst fear still churning away behind him. He couldn't fail here; if he did, they would all die, so he pushed himself beyond his limits. He began to taste blood coming from popped capillaries in his nose; he was overdoing it but he had to keep going. He just hope he didn't start coughing up blood next.

After a minute, the iceberg gained enough height for the X-Jet to safely guide the boarding ramp. Alchemist finally stopped his transmutation, and keeled over instantly.

"Jason!" Scott said.

"I'll take care of him!" Marvel Girl said. "Everyone get on board, now!"

She didn't have to ask twice; Scott, Alex and the three rescue team members quickly boarded the craft. Marvel Girl saw that Alchemist wasn't moving and quickly reached out with telekinesis to scoop him up. Thankfully, Alchemist was comparatively light and so she was able to get him on board easily. "We're all on board! Get us out of here!"

The Professor reached for the controls, all the while calling out to a struggling Storm. "Storm! Get back in here!"

Storm was barely holding against the tornado's strength, and was relieved to let go with one final push, giving her the time to lower herself back into the X-Jet. "I'm in! Let's get out of here!"

The Professor steered the X-Jet away from the twister and immediately pushed the engines to maximum power, blasting off away from the tornado. The X-Jet shot out of the storm within minutes, and clear skies welcomed them.

Storm was soaking wet from the rain, and quickly saw an unconscious Alchemist with a worried Marvel Girl and Colossus hovering over him. "He is barely breathing," Colossus said, his voice edged with fear.

"He overdid it," Marvel Girl said. "I'm trying to wake him up, but he's really out of it."

"I'll tend to the boys," Storm said. "Keep trying, Jean…"

Marvel Girl nodded, and reached down into Alchemist's mind with her telepathy. He was there, only extremely fatigued. "Jason, you need to wake up. You did it; you saved Scott and Alex. You're ok now."

Colossus didn't know what Marvel Girl was saying to Alchemist. "Is he going to be all right?"

Suddenly, Alchemist coughed as he snapped awake. He sat up, hunching over like he got punched in the stomach, and his hands trembled from all of the abuse they endured. Marvel Girl relaxed. "He will be; he just needs a lot of rest. Can you help him into a chair? I'm going to check on Scott."

Colossus nodded, feeling relieved that his friend was ok. "Are you ok to stand?"

Alchemist was wheezing a bit as he spoke. "Yeah, I think so. I may need help."

Colossus helped Alchemist stand up; Colossus was strong enough that he could probably carry Alchemist no problem, even without his powers. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I just died and woke up again. I'm just glad we got out of there…"

Colossus undid the tethering rope attacked to Alchemist's belt. "Yes, let us go home so you can rest."

"Now that sounds like a great idea."

Meanwhile, Marvel Girl and Storm were tending to the soaking wet survivors they just rescued. Marvel Girl wrapped blankets around a shivering Scott and Alex. "I'm glad you two are ok…"

"Yeah," Scott said. "Me too."

"Kind of sucks sitting on that ice though," Alex said.

"Well, be thankful," Marvel Girl smiled. "It was either the ice or being sucked up into a tornado. We already had one of us do that already, and I'm sure he'd rather you not do that."

"Yeah," Scott said. "I'll thank him when we get home."

"Wait," Alex said. "Is that how he got the—"

"The scar?" Scott finished. "Yeah, it was. That twister was more powerful than the one back there, but just as scary. Jean got to see him after that and he was hurt pretty bad."

"Wow," Alex said. "And he just threw himself out there to save us like that?"

"Yep. He must have been scared stiff to do that, but he saved us. We owe him big."

"Well, he's not the only one. I owe you big as well. You really kept me alive out there. I mean, if it wasn't for you…"

"Hey," Scott wrapped an arm around his brother. "It's like you said, Alex. We brothers have to stick together. I'm sure you'll get to return the favor someday."

Alex smiled. "Maybe…thanks, bro."

"Anytime."

While Marvel Girl watched over them, Storm was helping the rescue crew, who had watched the two brothers bond. "I have to say," the pilot said. "It seems you got quite a group here, miss. You all look out for each other."

"Yes," Storm said with admiration for Scott. "We do." She looked back at the rescue party. "I hope you don't tell anyone about us. We know that mutants are controversial and some know of our existence, but not where we are living for the moment. We really need to keep out of sight for now."

"It's ok, miss," the pilot said. "If anything, we owe you for saving us today. Our lips are sealed. As far as we're concerned, this was just another rescue operation. "

Storm seemed to accept that. "We will drop you off near Honolulu so you can make connections with your squad."

"Now that would be appreciated," the pilot said as he smiled.

XXXXXXXXXX

Back at the Institute, the snowball battle had just ended, and there was torn up snow everywhere. The New Mutants were strewn about on the porch, completely exhausted and covered with snow. Mr. McCoy barely looked tired, but he looked disappointed at the carnage. "Well, so much for our winter wonderland…" He dropped an unused snowball. He looked at the four New Mutants lying about, clearly done with snow. "It seems that I may need to try different approaches when it comes to teaching students on the propriety of wintertime activities…"

Mr. McCoy stepped over the fatigued New Mutants. "We'll have to wait until the next snowfall before we do that. As you were, students." He smiled as he entered the house to clean up. The New Mutants could only moan from exhaustion.

XXXXXXXXXX

A few hours later, Kurt waited outside the infirmary as Scott, Alex and Jason were examined by the Professor and Dr. McCoy. Alex was the worst off with minor hypothermia but was recovering nicely. Scott had a mild case of it as well, but was getting some good medical attention. Jason was more just tired than anything else. Kurt had gotten wind of what happened and wanted to check up on them, but was told to wait outside until they were stabilized.

The Professor exited the infirmary, and Kurt walked up to him. "Are they ready for visitors?"

The Professor smiled. "Yes, Kurt, they're quite safe now. Jean and Piotr are with them now. You may go ahead, but remember, they do need rest."

Kurt smiled. "Thank you, Professor." He began walking around the Professor to enter the infirmary.

"Hold a moment, Kurt." He turned his wheelchair around. When Kurt turned to face him, he saw that the Professor was offering his image inducer. "I was able to reset your inducer; it should be working fine now."

Kurt smiled with a toothy grin. "Thank you, Professor. I promise I won't mess it up again…" After the Professor got back, Kurt had given his inducer over to be fixed after it turned Kurt's fur bright magenta.

The Professor turned back around. "Yes, I'm sure you won't."

Kurt put on the inducer and pressed a button to activate the hologram.

Meanwhile, inside the infirmary, Jean was feeding Scott with some homemade chicken soup. Alex was in an adjacent bed, watching in amusement how Jean doted upon his older brother so. "Any chance I can get a bite?" Alex said, smiling.

"Wait your turn, Alex," Jean said, not looking at him as she placed a spoonful of soup in Scott's mouth. "There's only one of me."

Scott swallowed the soup quite happily. "Yeah, that hits the spot."

"You're lucky, you know?" Jean said. "You're body temperature was down nearly two degrees. Any longer in that water, you both could have probably had real problems."

"Yeah, well, as long as Alex doesn't do anymore storm surfer specials, I think we won't have to worry about that anymore."

Alex smiled. "Yeah, I've learned my lesson."

Jean looked serious. "You did scare me, Scott. Thinking that I nearly lost you in the ocean…it scared me."

Scott looked sorry. "Yeah, I'm sorry. I'll try not to do that to you again." Scott was noticing that Alex was looking at him, as if he was completely stupid. Scott then realized that Alex was practically screaming at him in thought, wondering why he wasn't making a move. Scott couldn't blame him; Jean was a swell girl, that he knew, but she was taken by Duncan back in high school. He couldn't do anything while she was; that would be disrespectful, and he couldn't do that to Jean, as much as it sucked. He was too slow, and he had to deal with it. Alex would just have to understand.

A sneeze cut off his brooding, and all three looked at Jason in the bed, recovering from a sneeze. "It just goes to figure," Jason said, sounding a little congested. "They are in the ocean for hours and don't get a sniffle, but me? Hell no!"

Scott and Alex tried to bite their lips. Jason's rant sounded rather comical with congestion. "Well, Jase," Alex said. "No good deed goes unpunished."

"You're telling me?" Jason said. "I mean, Scott gets a beautiful nursemaid to tend to him, and I get this." Jason motioned to Piotr who was tending to him.

Piotr made a very strange look at the comment, unsure if he should be offended, apologetic or what.

Jason looked at Piotr, and started cracking up. "The look on your face, Peter…"

Piotr realized that Jason was teasing him. "You are evil, Jason."

"You know it!" Jason said, laying back in the pillow. "Your slavish attention is quite welcome though."

Piotr shoved Jason's shoulder, who over-dramatically reacted to it.

"Hey! I'm sick! You can't do that!"

The others shared the laugh. Alex sobered up first. "Hey, Jase, thanks for what you did. I heard that it was really hard for you to do that."

"Yeah," Scott said. "That could not have been easy for you to do that."

Jason smiled. "Honestly, after snapping out of it, it was quite easy. I mean, Scott, look at me. I'm an exemplar of why what happened to me shouldn't happen to anyone else if I can help it. No one should go through what I went through, and I mean it."

"We know," Jean said. "Thank you, Jason."

"You're welcome. I had the power to prevent it from happening, and I wasn't about to mess it up this time."

Piotr looked concerned. "Is that how you felt back then?"

Jason looked at Piotr. "No, there was nothing that could have been done for me then, or my dad. This time was different; I did have a means to save my friends and I wasn't going to let my own PTSD stop me. I know no one would blame me, but sympathy won't save anyone. Owning up to my fears and facing them when my friends face them is what matters. I'm still fucking terrified of storms, and that's not going to change. Despite that, I can't let that keep me from doing what I need to do."

"Well, in any event, thanks," Scott said. "You really saved us out there."

"You're welcome," Jason said, laying back against the pillow.

"Hey, guys!"

Everyone looked to see Kurt walk in, his image inducer on. Everyone stood staring at Kurt.

Jason was the first to say something. "What the fwow?"

Kurt blinked. "What?"

Jason and Piotr looked at each other, completely unsure of what to say.

Kurt finally spoke. "You're all acting weird. I was just stopping by to see if you guys were ok."

Scott looked at Jean, and Jean was looking like he was trying very hard not to laugh. "Uh…yeah…we're ok…ma'am?"

Kurt looked really confused. "'Ma'am'? Are you sure you're ok?"

"I think we are," Alex said. "The real question is 'are you?'"

"What do you mean?" Kurt stepped into the room, and quickly noticed his reflection in a mirror. He was now supporting dark lipstick, longer hair and eyelashes, and quite a curvaceous figure complete with some tasteful breasts. "AHH!" Kurt screamed.

Everyone broke into laughter at Kurt's incredulity. Whipping around, he screamed. "Professor?!"

The Professor was waiting just outside, grinning. "I'm terribly sorry, Kurt, but I simply couldn't resist."

Jason was clapping as he was laughing. "Well, I have to say, Kurt. You do look good!"

"Very funny, Jason," Kurt said ruefully.

Everyone else was laughing at the practical joke, and even Kurt found himself laughing at it. He then checked himself out in the mirror. "You know, I do look good."

Scott looked at Alex. "Well, Alex, this is just one thing that might happen if you ever decide to come here with us."

Alex was still recovering from his own laughter. "Yeah? That's definitely tempting."

"No rush though," Jason said. "Trust me, it may not be easy here, but it's always entertaining. Right, Kourtney?" Jason looked at Kurt.

"Kourtney" crossed her arms.

Everyone else starting laughing again, and Scott knew that everything was just fine. They may have nearly died, but it was overall a good day. He wouldn't trade this experience for another.

XXXXXXXXXX

And there it is. Chapter 1 already done! (Well look at me there…) I told you I'd stick this out! Hope you enjoyed it! Chapter 2 comes at a good time. Here's a synopsis.

It's Christmastime in the Big Apple, and the very atmosphere is festive. While the city prepares, an angel seems to be swooping in and saving people and stopping bad guys. Jason and Rogue are sent into the city to investigate these angel sightings and soon find that someone else is interested in this angel. Can this heavenly messenger withstand an old threat, or will this angel fall? Find out in Chapter 2: Wings.