X-Men: New Class

by Ambaryerno

Set in the Earth-10005 Universe, a new class of students arrives at the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters. Inspired by Agents of SHIELD, X-Men: New Class loosely adapts Kyle and Yost's New X-Men as a hypothetical live-action television series. (Note: This story only accounts for up to X-Men: Days of Future Past, and will not be updated for Apocalypse)

9. 1x08 - Angels And Demons: Fallen Angel

Previously on X-Men: New Class...

The battle for Jay Guthrie's soul began, as Jay accepted Stryker's invitation to meet in hopes of learning more about why the Reverend chose to intervene in the attack, not realizing that Stryker himself orchestrated these events for his own ends. As Jay continues to wrestle with Stryker's efforts to ingratiate himself with the young mutant, Jubilee attempts to reach out to him on his sister's behalf.

Meanwhile, even while courting Jay Guthrie, Stryker has secretly fired the opening salvo in his new war on mutants by dispatching Matthew Risman with orders to abduct mutants for the mysterious benefactors supplying him with weapons and technology. Receiving word of the disappearance of one of their victims from the woman's family, Professor Xavier has ordered the X-Men to investigate...

1x08

Angels and Demons Part III

Fallen Angel

###

Act I

###

"Oh, put that one over in the corner for right now," Jubilee said, and Jay huffed a bit as he shuffled in the indicated direction, the box, which must have weighed a metric ton, obscuring his view of the way ahead. He stretched his wings out a bit for balance as he worked his way into the corner, and set the box down.

"Are there any more?" he grumbled as he stretched out his back. This was not exactly the way he wanted to spend his evening, but Jubilee had intercepted him after class (which he was having difficulty focusing on, anyway) and pronounced that as punishment for his absence the other day he would spend the evening helping her set up her new office space.

Jubilee, her Radars not in their customary place to keep them safe while they worked (but for some reason she hadn't bothered with her large hoop earrings or the bangle bracelets on one wrist), made a show of adjusting the plaque reading, Jubilee, Student Counselor, on the door. "Oh, maybe three or four like that one you can bring up from storage."

He couldn't hold back the groan of frustration at hearing that, and Jubilee just regarded his reaction with an amused smirk. "Dude, this is nothing. You have no idea how much manual labor I got to do in detention, so you should be happy I'm having you help me get moved in to my brand new office and not some of the fun chores I had to do. Like that time Ororo had me spend two whole weeks replanting the bushes that I accidentally set fire to while trying to show off for your brother."

Jay wiped the sweat off his forehead with one elbow. "Wait, you an' Sam?"

"Oh, nothing happened so don't get all squicked out on me. But still, there I was the new girl sophomore and he was the big upperclassman, and I got a little bit carried away, so paf! there went a whole plot of rose bushes," she said, miming the explosion for emphasis.

"Sam never said anythin' about it to us."

"Well, the part that I left out is that a stray bit of plasma splashed onto his pants and kinda burnt out the seat, so he was pretty embarrassed by the whole thing..." Jubilee trailed off sheepishly, and Jay was suddenly left with the rather disturbing image of his brother's backside hanging out of his jeans etched with acid directly onto his brain.

"Oh God, I can't unsee it."

"Yeah, I don't think I made much of an impression."

"Thanks a lot, now I need to go ask Quentin to bleach the image out of my brain."

Jubilee's grin broadened. "I'm not saying it wasn't worth it all the same, but..."

"Oh come on, ain't I bein' punished enough?"

"Nope, not enough. And you still have those five or six more boxes to move, so you might want to get to it."

"Wait, I thought you said there were three or four?"

Jubilee folded her arms beneath her breast and fixed him with a malicious smile. "I may have miscounted. And we still need to continue our little chat when we're done, and the more you try to stall the more boxes I'll have forgotten about."

Jay sighed and rolled his eyes. "All right, all right," he grumbled, and started off down the hall on his way to the storage room.

Jubilee's office was in one of the unused rooms in the lower level's west wing, much of which was given over to the staff, so there was little in the way of traffic here. He could, however, hear the chaos of the lounge as the students gathered to unwind from the day's classes over dinner. Being a school night most of his classmates would remain at the mansion rather than make the trip into Salem, so from the sound of things it was unusually crowded in there tonight. He sighed. If there was at least one good thing about being stuck helping Jubilee after class, it was that it gave him an excuse to avoid the rest of the crowd.

As Jay reached the point where the hallway from the west wing opened out into the sitting room he saw Sooraya and Cessily coming down from the dorms above, Sooraya's abaya fluttering around her, Cessily dressed in a pink tank top and lowrise jeans, while the lights in the hallway reflected off her metallic silver skin. Not particularly up for company and wanting to finish his chores for Jubilee as quickly as possible, Jay tried to duck past them down the hall leading to the basement, but Sooraya caught sight of him before he could slip out of view.

"Good evening, Jay!" she said warmly, and stopped at the foot of the stairs. Jay did his best to mask his disappointment at being caught — he didn't, after all, want to make it obvious he was hoping to avoid them — and turned to face the two girls.

"Good evenin' Soo," he said, and nodded to Cessily. "Cess."

"Hey," Cessily said. "We're just on our way to dinner, care to join us?" She jerked a thumb vaguely in the direction of the lounge.

"Sorry, but Jubilee's got me doin' some stuff for her after class," he said. "I've got six boxes an' climbin' with my name on 'em, an' if I take too long before I'm done they'll have a couple more friends joinin' 'em."

Sooraya studied him for a moment, then turned to Cessily. "You go on ahead, I will catch up with you and the others in a minute."

Cessily regarded them both with a raised eyebrow, and what Jay suspected might have been a smirk. "You sure?"

"Yes," she said, and stepped towards him. "Save me a seat!"

If there was a smirk there before, it quickly turned into a full-blown smile. "Ok, see you two later," Cessily said, and there was no mistaking the suggestive tone of her voice, which made Jay's face heat a bit in spite of himself.

"Look, it's just a couple of boxes," Jay said as he started on his way again, and Sooraya fell in next to him.

"Nonsense!" she said. "I'm happy to lend a hand."

"To be honest I think Jubilee wants me to move 'em all myself. I wasn't exactly volunteerin' for this, you know."

"Oh?" she asked, and he could see her eyebrow lift curiously through the opening in the face of her niqab.

He stuffed his hands in his pockets. "She's callin' it 'work therapy,' an' it's my punishment for skippin' class the other day."

Sooraya considered that for a moment. "Well, I do agree that good, hard work can be a wonderful catharsis."

Jay managed a lopsided smile at that. "There's not much that breaks through that serenity of yours, is there?"

She laughed softly. "It helps letting the little annoyances in life slide when one places their faith in Allah that all will be as it shall be." Sooraya sobered a bit and glanced sidelong at him. "How have you been doing? With your own relationship with Him, I mean?"

He sighed, and resisted the urge to touch the crucifix hung around his neck. Jay could feel it there, the cool metal lying against his chest, but he had found no more clarity over the last few days as before this whole insane mess began. "I don't know, Soo," he admitted. "I try askin' God the 'why's' an' the 'how come's', but if He's answerin' I don't know that I hear Him. Leastwise, not anything that don't confuse the heck out of me."

Sooraya listened to him intently as they walked, the only sound she made while he talked the soft rustle of her abaya brushing around her. "Sometimes His answers do not come in grand gestures, but in quiet whispers," she offered. "If we do not hear Him, perhaps it is because our own voices are too loud."

"I suppose, or maybe it means there's too many other people talkin' all at once."

She conceded that with a nod. "That is certainly a possibility." Sooraya hesitated a moment, as if she were wrestling over what she intended to say next. "If you would forgive me this intrusion, you have never really spoken openly with anyone of your faith before now."

Jay shifted uncomfortably, the weight of the crucifix feeling strangely heavy on his shoulders and neck. "I don't know, I guess to me it's always been such a private thing, an' I know for a lot of the others they don't have much place for it, especially seein' as there's a lot of people who want to use God as a means of puttin' us down."

Sooraya nodded slightly. "Men like Stryker?"

He nearly missed a step at that, and felt a ball of ice form in his gut at his name, but Sooraya said nothing more to suggest she meant anything particular about it. Nor did she seem to notice him falter, and kept walking along at his side with smooth and even strides. "I suppose so," he said. "But I'm glad I decided to talk to you. I guess it helps knowin' there's someone else here who believes as strongly as I do."

He couldn't quite tell, but it almost seemed that Sooraya was beaming beneath her niqab when he said that, and Jay felt a bit of a flutter he hadn't in a long while. For a time they said nothing more, and just made their way together along the hall headed for the basement.

###

Act II

###

The third-floor hallway was dimly-lit and in a poor state of repair, with rows of doors in the same ugly green paint on either side, and dingy wallpaper that looked like it hadn't been changed since the 70s (and a worn and threadbare carpet to match). Scott and Jean made their way quickly and quietly along it, passing a maintenance room on their right, and a broken elevator shaft on the left. Scott wore a baseball cap pulled somewhat low to help mask the shape of his visor, while Jean — her long red hair tied back and wisps of it peeking around her knitted cap — was actively sweeping her power over anyone they came across to blur their memory of the pair's features. Ordinarily they would have avoided such an overt suppression of witnesses, but the Professor had made it clear he wanted this matter investigated with discretion. Fortunately, at this hour the halls of the tenement building in Hunts Point their search had led them to were largely empty, so Jean didn't need to exert too much influence to mask them.

Iceman and Colossus are in position, Jean said into his mind, so far everything looks clear.

Good, he thought back, Let them know we shouldn't be too long. Stay alert, and try not to draw too much attention to themselves.

Jean quirked a grin. That might be a bit hard for Peter.

Scott grinned back. The enormous mountain of muscle that was Peter Rasputin did tend to stand out, even when he was not using his power.

The door they were looking for was nearly all the way at the end of the hallway. It was the same green as the rest of the doors they had passed, most of them flaking and chipping from use. They were all in sore need of being stripped and refinished entirely, but the superintendent, lacking the money, resources, or just the interest in seeing the job done right, had satisfied himself with new coats slapped over the existing ones. The brass number on the door was tarnished, and the wallpaper around the doorframe was starting to peel away. The smell of mold permeated almost everything, and he scowled at the thought that anyone could be allowed to live in such conditions.

Putting aside such concerns and turning his focus to their mission, Scott knocked heavily on the door. There was no response for a few moments, and he glanced at Jean.

"She's there," Jean said, her eyes going somewhat distant as she probed the room beyond with her power. "There's some fear, and she wonders if it's some of the local thugs."

Scott knocked again. "Miss Sandoval? We're not here to hurt you, we just have a few questions about your roommate."

Again, at first, there was no response, then Scott heard the sound of deadbolts sliding, and the door opened a crack, prevented from opening fully by the security chain. A young woman's face, her features somewhat obscured by shadow, peered out, and Scott was conscious of the muzzle of a sawed-off shotgun leveled somewhere in the general vicinity of his chest.

"You're not cops," she said, with a thick Spanish accent.

"No, ma'am," Scott said. "I suppose you could call us private investigators. Your roommate's family hired us to look into their daughter's disappearance. May we come in?"

The woman behind the door eyed him closely, and then glanced at Jean.

"You're like her, aren't you," the woman said, making it a statement of fact.

"That's right," Jean said, having guessed her meaning.

The door closed for a moment, and Scott heard the sound of the chain being removed from its rails. The woman then opened the door the rest of the way, and motioned for he and Jean to enter. Scott nodded politely and stepped inside, and Jean followed with as comforting a smile as she could manage.

Be careful, she's very nervous, Jean's voice echoed in his head.

The woman was in her mid-twenties or so, of average height and somewhat heavily built. Her black hair was cropped around her shoulders, and she dressed in jeans and a button-down shirt. She also still held the shotgun in her hands, but the safety was engaged, and from her posture Scott gaged she was likely not as ready to actually use it as the impression she was trying to give. He and Jean both removed their hats and gloves, and Jean loosened her scarf, but they kept their coats buttoned up.

"I didn't think her parents would actually take me seriously," the woman said. "The police sure didn't seem to care all that much that one of the local girls went missing, especially a mutie."

Scott regarded her for a moment. "Did she give you a reason to believe they wouldn't?"

The woman shrugged. "Not really. She'd only been staying here a few months and kept to herself most of the time. I really only saw her when she gave me her share of the rent, or as she was coming and going."

"When was the last time you saw her?" Jean asked, searching the room with her eyes and, Scott knew, her power, seeking perhaps for some psychic echo that might offer a clue as to her whereabouts.

"A couple nights ago when she went out to work, and she hasn't been back since."

"Did she have any regulars?"

"No idea. Like I said, we didn't really talk all that much. I don't think she had a pimp, and she'd been roughed up a time or two, but nothing more than is usual for around here."

"Did she ever bring anyone to the apartment?" Scott asked. "Friends? Boyfriends?"

She shook her head. "No one. At least not while I was home."

"And she didn't say anything to suggest she might be in some sort of trouble?"

"No. Look, I'm sorry I couldn't be more help, but like I said, she kept to herself."

She's telling the truth, Jean said in his head. Or at least what she thinks is the truth.

Scott nodded. "Thank you for your time, Ms. Sandoval. Would it be all right if we took a look in her room? It's possible there might be something there that might have been overlooked."

The woman shrugged. "Go ahead. If the police aren't going to do anything, may as well someone who will take a look."

He nodded. "Thank you, again."

###

She watched them from a corner across the street from the apartment building and out of their direct view. Two of them — a man and a woman — had entered the complex, leaving the other two outside.

Mary brushed a wisp of blonde hair back behind her ear, and surreptitiously touched the activation button on her Bluetooth earbud. She heard a click and then the sound of a phone ringing, before a voice picked up on the other end.

"Yes?" a man said.

"It's Mary, let me speak with Brother Matthew."

She casually lifted her iPhone as if checking messages, but took advantage of the camera to study them men more closely and take a few pictures. After a few moments she heard another voice on the line.

"Report?" Risman said.

"Four people approached the apartment complex. They weren't locals, three men and a woman. The woman and one of the men went inside and they left the other two outside." She tapped the screen on her phone. "I'm sending you images now."

There was another brief delay.

"They're two of Xavier's people: Robert Drake, and Piotr Rasputin," Risman said. "Both should be considered extremely dangerous, especially Drake."

Mary eyed the two men closely. One — Rasputin, as she recalled from her briefings — was an mountain of a man, who couldn't quite conceal his muscular build under his loose-fitting jacket and shirt. As for the other, Drake hid his boyish face behind a full beard. Both men might have appeared handsome to anyone unaware of the perversion of their nature, but so it went with the Devil's servants, to appear in fair guise to tempt the unwary.

"Do you have ID confirmation on the other two?" Risman continued.

"Negative," she said. "I didn't get a clear look at them. The man was wearing a hat and may have had sunglasses."

She heard a sharp intake of breath. "Scott Summers, which means the woman might have been Jean Grey."

"The telepath?" Mary said, and a little bit of worry seeped into her voice as her stomach tried to knot itself.

"We're sending a team. Hold your position, observe, and report. Do not make contact. The device should protect you from the telepath and prevent her from reading you."

"Yes, sir."

"Sit tight, we'll be there soon."

###

"I don't know," Jay was saying as he leaned his back against one of the boxes in frustration. "It's just so confusing. Things happen an' no one can tell me why."

Sooraya looked away from the box she had been inspecting. They were in one of the school's lower-level storage rooms, and the dim lighting made reading the tags rather difficult. "Like who?" she asked. Jay's shoulders slumped and his wings hung limply in that manner she had come to recognize as a posture of defeat and sorrow, though she need not look to his wings to interpret his mood. There had always been a profound sadness in his eyes, and now it was especially evident.

"Like Jubilee," he said, and folded his arms across his chest. "She's supposed to be here to help us figure things out, right? I ask her 'why,' an' all she tells me is that maybe there's not a 'why' to any of it, that sometimes bad things just happen an' there's no reason to it."

"And you do not accept this," Sooraya said, and made it a statement of fact.

"I just keep askin' over an' over in my head why God could let these things happen."

Sooraya folded her arms beneath her breast and approached him slowly, her stomach fluttering nervously as she did so. The more conservative adherents of her faith would look down upon her for being alone with Jay without a chaperone, though being with him here was not quite so exhilarating and mortifying as visiting him in his room while he was half-naked. Well, perhaps not half-naked by the standards of the West, but had her mother, wherever she was, caught her then Sooraya would well have been scandalized.

"You are not alone in such thoughts," she said. "I wish I had an answer for you. I..." Sooraya hesitated a moment, then reached out and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Allah has His reasons that the world should unfold as it does."

Jay sighed and hugged himself. "I just wish I knew what they were."

She smiled behind her niqab. "As do I, Jay, but His reasons are His own." Sooraya sobered and sighed. "I wish I could say or do something more that could bring you comfort, but all I have is my faith that whatever happens is as it should be, for good or ill."

Jay met her eyes, and for a moment she thought she might lose herself in their depths, and be overwhelmed by the well of pain beneath their surface. He twitched one corner of his mouth into a sad smile. "You have more than that, Soo," he said. "You're one of the levelest, sweetest, an' most genuine people I know."

Sooraya felt a small smile creep across her features. "Is there nothing more?" she asked, and as her face heated she was glad for the material of her niqab masking the coloring of her features. She had never understood Noriko's fixation on what others thought of her appearance, and Sooraya had always felt confident of herself without the need of such validation, but in spite of herself she found herself wanting to hear Jay say the sorts of things she had overheard David and Julian say to Nori and Sofia.

Jay kept his eyes locked on hers, and whether he could tell what she was thinking in that moment Sooraya couldn't guess. For a moment he opened his mouth as if to say something, but abruptly he looked away from her again, and lowered his head. "I better get back to work," he said, and Sooraya felt her heart fall as he quickly changed the subject. "Jubilee's probably wondering what's keeping me."

Sooraya forced down the disappointment she was feeling, and nodded. "Very well, but I insist on helping."

"Thanks," he said, and grunted as he hefted one of Jubilee's boxes in front of him. She might have thought he deliberately put it between them so he need not look at her, but Sooraya dismissed such a notion as silly paranoia. "I really do appreciate it. Y'know, everything."

Sooraya offered a sad smile at his back as he made his way out of the storage room, spreading his wings a bit for balance as he shuffled through the doorway. "Of course," she said, and picked up a box herself. "What are friends for?"

###

Nori wearily stumped up the steps leading to the dorms, made her way down the hall to her room, flung open the door, and shut it behind her as she stepped inside. Sooraya was nowhere to be seen, which suited her just fine. Though the least she could have done was leave a light on. She hesitated a moment as her eyes slowly adjusted to the dark, then grumbled irritably under her breath and raised one hand, and called on her power. A small globe of ball lightning crackled to life in the palm of her hand, small sparking tendrils dancing along the metal surface of her gauntlets, and casting just enough light for her to navigate the obstacle course of furniture and dirty clothes leading from her door to her bed.

She had just made it and let her power release harmlessly into one of the grounding coils affixed to her bed frame, and flung herself down in the dark again when there was a knock at the door. She groaned in irritation and turned on the lamp by her bed.

"What?" Nori snapped.

The door opened and David poked his head around the frame, illuminated in silhouette by the hall lights beyond. "Hey, Sooraya's not here, is she?"

"No, I don't know where she is and I don't care."

David faltered at the sharpness of her tone, and it took a moment for him to find his voice again. "Um, is this a bad time?"

Nori sighed and mopped her face. The days since her gauntlets blew up on her and she nearly electrocuted the entire ground floor (though a part of her regretted having missed Keller) had not found her at her best, and that she'd been avoiding David hadn't made her feel much better about herself. Though come to think of it, he had seemed kind of distant lately, as well.

She sat up and leaned over her knees. The metal of her gauntlets was cold against her upper thighs where they were bared by her skirt, but she just ignored it as she always did. All part of the joyful package of being me. "No. I'm sorry, baby, come in."

David slipped around the door and shut it behind him, leaving the room in shadow except for her bed lamp. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, and his shoulders were slumped dejectedly in a way that set Nori on edge. "Can we talk?"

At that her heart seized up in her chest, and she felt a ball of ice forming in her gut. "Oh no. If that's what this is about it's not a good time after all."

"What? No! No, it's not that," David said hastily, and hurried across the room to join her at her bedside.

Nori eyed him closely, his assurances not exactly easing the lump in her throat. "What is it, then?"

He hesitated a moment as he lowered himself beside her on the bed. "Look, I know you've been feeling kind of bad lately, which is why I didn't say anything before, but I got some news a couple days ago I really wanted to tell you about." There was a hint of restrained excitement in his voice, tempered a bit by doubt.

"What?" she asked warily. Whatever the news was had him excited, but the fact he had held off from telling her did little to help her relax.

David pulled a folded sheet of paper from one of his back jeans pockets, and handed it over to her. "I got this in the mail a couple days ago," he said as she took it from him. The paper had been carefully unfolded and folded several times already, so whatever it was David had clearly been agonizing over it.

Nori unfolded the paper and started to read, and felt her mouth drop open in surprise. The ball of ice also grew until it filled the entirety of her stomach. "Is this for real?" she asked.'

"It is!" he said, and there was no mistaking the excitement in his voice.

Harvard. David had even accepted to Harvard, with a full scholarship.

"That...that's great, baby," she said hollowly. "Have you said anything to them yet?"

"Not yet." The excitement in his voice faded as he gauged her reaction, but she just stared dumbly at the letter in her hands. "I wanted to talk to you first."

"Why me?"

David blinked in surprise at her response. "Well, because of us," he said. "I mean, if I do this, I'd like for you to come with me."

Nori tore her eyes away from the letter. "Come with you?"

"Well, yeah," he said.

"What would I do at Harvard? I don't have the grades, and I couldn't get a scholarship."

"I don't know, I thought you could go to one of the schools in the area..." he said, and fumbled over his words.

"Oh, sure, me in the outside world!" she snapped and jumped to her feet. "I'm not lucky like you! I can't blend in like you can." She held up her gauntleted hands and shook them in his face. "Everyone will take one look at me and know what kind of freak I am." The light next to her bed flickered as she lost her temper, and with it what hold she had over her power. Electricity danced across her skin, and fizzled and popped, and David shrunk back from her in alarm. "This is the only place I can fit in! You're supposed to be so smart, didn't you think about that?"

David got to his feet and backed away from her defensively. "That's why I wanted to talk to you first!" he protested.

"Oh, don't humor me, David! How many times have I heard you talk about how much you dreamed about this?"

"What did you want me to do, then? This is a big decision and like it or not it would affect both of us."

Nori hugged herself tightly in a vain effort to regain control over hserself. "How am I supposed to feel? If you go and I stay you'll be two hundred miles away. If I come I won't fit in there; I won't be able to go to school with you, and you know I can't control this!" She raised her hands and studied the palms of her gauntlets, an omnipresent reminder that she would never be normal or truly able to function outside the school.

David hung his head. "I'd hoped you would be happy for me."

"I am! I'm proud of you!" she protested, and a healthy layer of guilt blanketed the ball of ice in her belly. "I just...I don't know what to tell you." Nori sunk down on the edge of her bed as tears began to stream down her cheeks. "I just want to be alone right now."

"Nori..."

"Just go!"

David opened his mouth as if to protest but, thinking better of it, nodded and started for the door. He was just reaching for the handle when the door swung open on its own and he nearly bumped right into Sooraya on her way in.

"Oh! David! I'm sorry," she said awkwardly. "I wasn't away Noriko had a visitor. I can come back..."

"It's ok, Sooraya," David said, "I was just leaving." And without pausing to look at her, David slipped around Sooraya and vanished out of view, leaving the two girls alone.

Sooraya shut the door behind her and carefully removed her niqab. "I thought we agreed you would let me know when David was here," she said. There wasn't any accusation in her voice, only a little annoyance at the breach of their agreement, but Nori just stretched out on her bed and rolled her back to her roommate.

"Sorry," she said curtly.

Sooraya didn't respond for a moment, then slowly started across the room. "Nori, are you alright?"

"I'm fine!" she snapped. "And it's nothing you would understand, anyway, so go do your whatever it is you do on your little carpet thing and leave me alone."

"What do you mean I wouldn't understand?"

"It's a boyfriend thing. So what would you know about it?"

"That is a very unfair judgment to make."

"Oh please, we both know how you people don't date. You just sell little girls to old men."

Sooraya slapped her niqab against her leg. "That is enough! I have tried to be patient and polite with you, and after all this time you can still do nothing but belittle and demean me and my faith!"

Nori sat up in surprise at the outburst, and when she locked eyes with Sooraya she was actually caught off-guard as her characteristic serenity vanished under what was actually anger. "Don't pretend like it's not true!" she snapped back. A part of her knew she was crossing a line, but right now she didn't care enough to stop herself. "So don't even try to offer me advice because you can't understand what it is I'm feeling right now."

Sooraya started away from her, and angrily settled her niqab over her head again as she headed for the door. "If that is the way you wish to be, fine, I will not fight with you anymore. I will leave you to wrap yourself up in your own little problems and will not trouble with you anymore. But I will offer you this last piece of advice: You may want to open your eyes and take notice that yours are not the only problems in this world, because if you do not you may drive away everyone who tries to care about you."

And with that, she stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind her, leaving Nori alone with her tears.

###

Act III

###

"So why don't you start at the beginning?" Jubilee said.

Jay slumped in the chair in her office, his wings folded behind him as he leaned his chin on one fist. Jubilee sat across the desk from him with her feet kicked up, and leaning back in her own chair with her hands folded behind her head. The boxes were pushed off to the various corners of the office to await unpacking, but she had decided Jay had done enough manual labor for the moment and called a break for them to talk.

"Beginning of what?" he grumbled.

"Oh, I don't know, how about we start with the fight that had your sister ready to tear her face off."

"There's nothin' to say," he said. "A bunch of guys took exception to me an' decided to make a point of it. Then somethin' spooked them off. That's it."

Jubilee sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. Jay's obstinacy at skirting the issue was beginning to grate on even her nerves now. "Look, Jay, I know it wasn't fun to have a bunch of guys dancing on your head like that, but there's no 'that's it' about it. You don't skip class over 'that's it.'"

"Well I don't know what you want from me," he said petulantly.

"Just talk to me, dude."

"Everyone wants me to talk to them! You, Paige, momma, when all I want is to be left alone!"

"You talk to Sooraya," she said pointedly. "I think I remember telling you that you would be bringing those boxes up, not you and your friends."

Jay fumbled a bit as he thought of a response, and Jubilee smiled inwardly. It was a little thing, but enough to throw him off the guard he'd put up around whatever had been bothering him since the fight. "Soo just... she understands me better'n most, that's all."

"What about me, dude? I'm very understanding."

"It's not the same," he protested. "Talkin' with Sooraya is just different."

Jubilee dropped her feet to the floor and leaned forward onto her desk. "It's a religion thing, then?" Jay looked at her sharply, and she brushed off the suspicion in his eyes with a wave of her hand. "I saw the crucifix you started wearing recently."

Jay reached up to where it lay beneath his shirt and clutched the cross for a moment. "That's part of it," he admitted with a reluctant nod.

She considered his response for a moment. Jubilee had overheard some of their classmates — particularly Cessily Kincaid — gossiping about Sooraya's interest in Jay. Some things certainly never changed, and putting so many coeds together in such close quarters, mixed with teenaged hormones and an environment where the dispossessed and persecuted could feel they belonged certainly tended to be a fertile breeding ground for relationship drama. "Well, I won't pretend that I've ever been a religious person, but that doesn't mean I can't understand and listen."

"But you can't tell me why, either."

"No, I can't." Jubilee sighed heavily. "I wish I could. Believe me, I do. But it's also not my job or place to tell you what you want to hear. A lot of the time life sucks. There's just no other way around it. Bad things happen and sometimes you just don't understand why they did. Our part is decide how to learn and grow from it, and move on with it.

"The hardest thing in the world is letting go. I understand that because I've been there. Maybe you're hurt, or confused, or angry, but whatever you're feeling it's only natural to hold onto it."

"Then what am I supposed to do?" Jay asked bitterly.

"It all comes down to you. I can't tell you why, and I can't tell you what to do. No one can. It's something you have to figure out for yourself. What I can give you is someone to sound things off of. What you're thinking and feeling, and all that, and maybe I can even offer you advice, but in the end it all comes down to you, and what you decide to do with it."

Jay didn't respond for a moment, and Jubilee watched him closely. He seemed to be lost in his own thoughts, and she wondered if he had actually listened to a word she had said. "So how are things going with your music?" she finally asked once it became clear Jay would be saying no more on that track.

"What's that?" he said, as the change of subject caught his attention, and he snapped his eyes back to her.

"Your music," she repeated. "Paige was really happy to hear you'd started playing again. And, well, you never did tell anyone how your gig went the other night. I know your sisters were really wanting to know how you did."

"It went pretty good," Jay said. His tone wasn't exactly eager, but it was a bit more engaged than he had been up to that point. "The front man gave me a card for a friend of his an' suggested I give him a call."

"Have you?"

Jay faltered again, and something strange passed across his eyes as he considered his response. "No, I didn't."

Jubilee leaned back in her chair again, but studied him closely. "Why not?"

"I just... I dunno, I guess after what happened I kind of lost track of things, an' forgot. An' I guess..." he trailed off. "I guess I didn't feel like I really had a chance."

"Paige said you had your own band at home."

He nodded. "It was just a bunch of us local kids, mostly playin' small gigs at the school or the bars an' all."

"What did you play?"

"Mostly blues and rock, and sometimes a bit of bluegrass or country dependin' on the crowd. An' there was always some joker screamin' for 'Free Bird.'" The last he added with a smile of wistful amusement, and Jubilee chuckled softly as well.

"Well, maybe it's just me, but I think you should give the guy a call. I mean, the worst he could do is say no, right?"

Jay sobered. "There's worse things he could say."

She shrugged. "Maybe, but you don't know if you don't try, right? Unless you've got psychic abilities you didn't tell the Professor about on your enrollment form."

"No, but I've seen it enough. Most folks were all right with me, since it was sort of a small community, but there were still a couple venues we were refused because of me.

"I'm not like Sam or Paige, or even Mel that can blend in. I guess that's part of why I made it part of the band's stage presence, I figured I might as well use it and make it my own, you know?"

Jubilee nodded.

"But that's small-time stuff. Trying to make it for real? Most folks would just as soon run me off the stage soon as they saw the wings."

"I don't think you're giving people enough credit," she said. "Dazzler is doing pretty well for herself."

Jay sighed. "That's different. I mean, she was already a big thing before she came out, an' she made it when everyone thought the lights was just effects work."

Jubilee raised a finger pointedly. "But the response when she did come out was mostly positive, and it certainly hasn't hurt her ticket sales, either."

She folded her hands on the desk and leaned out on her elbows to look Jay squarely in the eyes. "Give yourself a chance, dude," she said. "It's no different than what happened the other night: If you let it get to you and push you down, and more importantly let it scare you, you're just going let it beat you.

"Most of all, if you keep focusing on the 'why' about the things you can't change or undo, you'll never be able to move forward. Did you stop and dwell on the 'why' when you were rejected for a gig back home?"

Jay shook his head. "No," he said resignedly. "We just looked for another place to play."

"You moved on. I know it had to have sucked to be rejected, especially if it was because of what you are, but you didn't let that get you down. You moved on and found something better. It's the same thing with this; don't dwell on the 'why.' Move on from it, and find another way."

###

Nothing had changed on the streets by the time the five-man team arrived. They were dressed plainly in winter coats and hats, and if they were armed, their weapons were concealed. Four of them passed Mary by so as not to arouse suspicion from passersby, while the fifth, the leader of the group and who trailed them at a distance to look like he was not with the others, approached her closely, lowering his face to hers in what would look to anyone not watching them too closely like an intimate greeting. Mary mirrored him and leaned in as if returning the gesture.

"What do you have, Mary?" John Standish said into her ear. His black hair was just visible beneath his hat, and his face was angular and lean.

"Four. Confirmed identities of Piotr Rasputin and Robert Drake. The other two may be Scott Summers and Jean Grey," Mary said with a glance past Sandish's shoulder to eye the two mutants skulking in the doorway, trying their best not to stand out.

Standish took a surprised breath. "Summers and Grey? Are you sure?"

"I only saw them for a moment, but Matthew believes it's them from the description."

Standish smiled, a mirthless expression that would make most people uneasy. "Well, that would be quite a prize then, wouldn't it?"

"What do you want me to do?"

Standish made a show of brushing the hair peeking out from her own cap away from her face. "I think we need to get their attention."

###

Bobby yawned and leaned against the wall. So far, no one had come in or out of the building, or even given them so much as a cursory look as they loitered outside. It was cold enough there weren't too many people abroad that night — leastwise in Hunts Point — anyway, and there was a space heater outside the tenement's entrance that made hanging out outside at least superficially plausible. And it's not like the cold bothered him anyway.

Peter, however, was dancing back and forth with his hands stuffed into his pockets, and huddling down into his coat in an effort to stay warm. "...first time we have an actual mission in how long? And it has to be on the coldest night in New York in history," he grumbled.

Bobby cocked a smile at the enormous mutant. "Come on, it's not that bad. Weren't you born in Siberia?"

"It was Chernobyl, and we emigrated when I was three."

He chuckled and turned his attention back to the street. "You're getting soft, Pete. I think we need to toughen you up a bit."

"That's easy for you to say. Not all of us are immune to the elements like you and Storm."

"Just think about Kitty back at the mansion waiting to warm you up when we get home. And I'm sure how much you've been complaining won't slip out to the rest of the school."

Peter grunted and leaned against the wall behind him. "Keep talking, little man. By the way, when is Marie going to make you get rid of that dead animal you have glued to your face?"

Bobby scowled and self-consciously stroked his beard. "What are you talking about? Marie loves the beard. Besides, last time I shaved I got mistaken for one of the students."

"Even with it the kids still think you look like you just got off the bus yourself."

"Oh come on," Bobby protested, "I don't look that young. If anything Kitty's got it worse. I mean she's like a Hobbit, even next to me. That can't be easy, being shorter than most of your students."

"It's not easy towering over them either," Peter said distractedly, as something across the street drew his attention, and he narrowed his eyes trying to focus on it. "Most of them are too intimidated to even look me in the eye."

Bobby frowned and followed the big mutant's gaze. "What is it?"

"Trouble of some kind."

Sure enough, across the street he saw a woman with her back against the wall as five men crowded around her. Bobby couldn't hear what they were saying (too bad Wolverine is off doing whatever it is he does off alone, we could really use his ears for this) but he didn't need to with the way the men were closing around her. The woman glanced back and forth seeking some means of escape, but her assailants had her completely closed off.

"Come on, we've got to do something," Bobby said.

"What about Cyclops and Jean? They told us to keep watch here."

"I'm already letting her know something's up. No one's even approached the door, anyway, so it'll keep. Come on."

###

We've got some trouble out front. A bunch of guys are harassing a woman across the street, Colossus and I are checking it out.

Bobby's thoughts echoed in her mind, and Jean frowned.

Hang on, Bobby, she thought back, We're trying not to draw attention to ourselves.

They'll probably scatter the second they realize there's witnesses. It will only take a second.

"Damn it, Bobby," she muttered. They had mostly finished their investigation of the missing woman's room, but had turned up nothing that might offer a clue as to where she had gone. No diary, nothing on social media, not even a phone or tablet. Scott had chosen to act with discretion out of respect rather than tear the room apart entirely, but Jean had doubts there was anything to find, anyway. Someone didn't just fall off Cerebro. If she couldn't be detected, there likely wasn't someone left to find.

Jean reached out with her power and opened herself fully to the minds around her. The link she had already established with Scott, Iceman and Colossus was suddenly joined by a flood of voices in her head; the missing woman's roommate, the families in the tenement, and even the minds of people on the street outside and in the neighboring buildings. When she was younger she could only hear the inner voices of those nearest to her, but her power had grown considerably over the years, surpassing even that of the Professor. Xavier had called her a Class 5 mutant, and that her power and potential were unlimited, and he even wondered if some day she might not even need Cerebro. Of course, just being able to probe out into the surrounding block was more than enough for right now.

She directed her attention to Bobby's mind, then expanded her focus from there and...

Nothing.

Jean frowned. She could see Bobby and Peter on the street, but aside from them she felt nothing, and a ball of ice formed in her gut as she realized the implications.

"Scott!" she shouted, and took off in a dead run before waiting for him to respond.

###

The library was mostly empty that evening when Sofia stepped inside; most of the students had retired to their rooms by this time, or were relaxing in the lounge except for a few who had projects to work on for class. That Santo had said Julian, of all people, was hard at work when he missed dinner came as a surprise. Well, at least it meant he was taking his schoolwork seriously for a change, and perhaps was at least trying to be civil to the new girl.

While Sofia had to admit Laura could be unsettling to be around, it didn't excuse the way Julian and Santo treated her. Especially Julian. Santo was like a big, rocky, five hundred-pound puppy following his lead, so she was almost willing to excuse him. Julian, however, knew better. She sighed heavily. He should know better.

She wove past several tables and bookshelves, exchanging a few greetings with the handful of students present as she made her way across the room, before finally locating Julian at one of the workstations farthest from the door, bent over his notepad and a book spread open on the table in front of him. He was alone.

Sofia frowned. If he was here, where was Laura?

"Hey," she said, as she approached. "I missed you at dinner."

"Sorry, I had a lot to do on this project," he said, tearing his attention away from the book just long enough to accept her greeting as she threaded her arms around him from behind, gave him a peck on the cheek, and leaned her chin on his shoulder.

"So I see. Where's your partner?" she asked.

"Don't know. Don't care. So I've got to do it all on my own now."

Sofia growled in annoyance and shoved away from him in disgust. "Oh what did you do this time?"

Julian spun around defensively. "I didn't do anything!" he said in protest. "She totally flipped out on me the other day and I haven't seen her since!"

She planted her hands on her hips and spit him with a glare. "So for no reason at all she got angry and is trying to avoid you."

"That's right!" For his part, Julian's expression and tone seemed earnest, though at best that usually only meant he was just clueless about whatever he'd done. "I keep telling you the girl is crazy!"

"Julian, nobody gets upset for no reason."

"Well I'm telling you, I didn't do anything to deserve having my head ripped off."

Sofia eyed him closely. "Well what did you do that didn't deserve it?"

Julian folded his arms across his chest and scowled up at her. "All I did is ask her about that stupid kids book she's already carrying around everywhere, and she completely freaked out and ran off."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, do you really expect me to believe she's hiding from you just because of that?"

"Yes, because that's what happened!"

"Really, Julian, you are usually so much better at covering your ass than that. Come on!" she grumbled, and grabbed him by the arm and hauled him out of his seat.

"Hey! Come on where?" he yelped in protest.

"We're going to find her, and you are going to apologize."

Julian managed to shake her hand off his shirt — something particularly nice from Abercrombie — and bunched his hands into fists. "Are you kidding me? I don't have anything to apologize for!" he said. "She flipped out on me."

"Oh please, Julian, you can stick with your little story all you like but I know you better than that. Now let's go!"

And with that she grabbed him by the hand again and dragged him from the library.

###

Act IV

###

"Hey, there some sort of trouble here?" Bobby said as he approached the crowd. The woman was of average height, rather pretty, and with wisps of blonde hair peeking out from beneath her stocking cap. She stood with her back pressed against the wall behind her. One of the men — Bobby guessed he was the leader of the gang — looked away and scowled at him. He could tell little about the features of him or any of the other men, as their faces were largely lost in the shadows cast by the lights illuminating the streets.

"This is none of your business," the man said, "so just keep on walking."

"Five of you and one of her seems a bit unfair," Peter said, stepping up beside him and folding his arms across his chest. He stretched himself to his full height and glowered down at them, and suddenly the gang of men seemed incredibly tiny. Pete's size and massive build was intimidating enough on its own. When he was actively trying to scare someone the man could be a downright terrifying sight. "Are you alright?" he asked, with a look at the woman.

"Please, don't let them hurt me," she whimpered. "They've been following me for over a block."

"Shut up!" the leader of the group snapped, and drew his hand back as if prepared to strike. Peter was moving almost immediately, and caught him by the wrist.

"I wouldn't even think it," the big mutant said, and his voice grew dangerous.

Bobby looked between each member of the gang to gauge their reactions. None of them dared so much as blink in response to the warning. Nonetheless, Bobby kept a loose grip on his power just in case. "I think you guys should get out of here," he said. Bobby glanced up at Peter and nodded. "Pete?"

Peter released the ringleader's wrist with a shove that nearly took him off his feet. "Go on!" he barked. "Before I decide to stop being polite. I really don't like violence, and you really don't want me to make an exception for you."

The tension in the air was so thick that even Logan's claws wouldn't be able to cut through it as Peter glared at the leader of the gang, and he glared back. Peter balled his fists and tensed in preparation for a fight, while Bobby subtly positioned himself to move between the men and the woman just in case it came to blows. In the distance he could hear the wail of a police siren, or the low rumble of traffic, but in this part of the City there was no one else in sight. Whatever happened next would be entirely up to them.

Their opponent backed down first. "Come on," he said curtly to the rest of the group, and nodded his head for them to follow as he withdrew down the street. Bobby let out a breath in relief and released his grip on his power, while Peter followed the men with his eyes until they disappeared around the corner whence they came. Bobby hesitated a few more tense moments until it was clear they wouldn't be coming back, then turned his attention back to the gang's intended victim.

"Are you all right?" he asked, and approached her slowly and deliberately, to show he wasn't a threat.

"Yes, yes, thanks to you," she said with a nervous laugh.

"My name's Bobby, and this is Peter," he said. "Do you have someone who can come get you and make sure you get home safely?"

The woman shook her head. "N-no, I live alone about two blocks further west from here."

"We should at least call the police," Peter suggested.

She nodded as she fumbled with her purse with shaking hands. "Yes, um, I'm sorry, I have my phone..." She managed to get her bag open and reached inside, but as she removed her phone she also grabbed a handful of other odds and ends, and all of it — her phone, wallet, and keys, a compact, an emery board, a box of Tic-Tacs, a stack of business cards and a notepad — spilled out onto the sidewalk at her feet. "Oh, shit!" she blurted out in embarrassment.

"Here, let me," Bobby said, and bent over to help her gather her belongings.

And just as he did so, he heard Jean's voice screaming in his mind.

Bobby! Pete! Get out of there! Get out of there now!

"Wha—?" Bobby managed to blurt out in surprise at the sudden warning, but it came too late. Before even the idea of responding could form in his mind he heard a sharp pop and felt something strike his neck, followed by an agonizing jolt of pain that arced down his body. He reflexively tried to scream but the shooting pain piercing him to the core tore the air from his lungs. He lost his balance and collapsed writhing on the sidewalk. The distinct sound of Pete calling his power to him echoed across Hunts Point, layers of organic steel beginning the process of armoring his body before he, too, cried out and collapsed.

The last thing Bobby saw before darkness took him was Peter lying half-armored on the sidewalk, dancing and jerking as electricity from a heavily-modified Taser in the hands of the woman coursed through him.

###

"I'm telling you I don't have anything to apologize for!" Julian protested as Sofia dragged him by the arm up the stairs to the dorm level. His protests fell on deaf ears, however, and Sofia refused to accept that maybe he was telling the truth and the little freak had jumped on him for nothing.

"You never have anything to apologize for," she said, her accent getting particularly thick as her temper started to get the better of her. "Julian, I love you, but you have got to learn you can't keep treating people the way you do!"

"Oh come on, don't go all after school special on me," Julian said, squirming his arm a little until finally (and without having to resort to his power) he managed to slip loose of her grasp.

Sofia rounded on him in frustration. "It's bad enough hearing the way you talk down to everyone when I'm around. You don't think it hurts me a little to hear about how special and wonderful your family life is? We're not all so lucky to have mommy and daddy around."

"That's not what I—"

"What did she even do to you in the first place? Just because she's a little bit different? The whole reason we're even here is because we don't fit in outside. It's bad enough being persecuted outside of school, why do you have to bring it inside, too?"

She seized his arm and started off again, and Julian yelped as he staggered forward when she didn't even bother to make sure he was following. "Right, because you totally didn't judge me when we first met."

"You're right, I did. And sometimes you make me think I was right about you all along."

The dormitory hallway wasn't empty, and Julian's face heated when the attention of, well, everyone turned to watch as Sofia dragged him towards Laura's door. Quentin Quire leaned against the frame of his doorway and he smirked in amusement at the sight.

"Oooh, time for Keller to get a spanking?" he said. "So what did you do this time? You know, for future reference so I can have a turn." Quire winked at Sofia, and it was all Julian could do to not TK him through his door.

"Oh shut up, Quentin," Sofia growled as they passed. "Shouldn't you be peeking on the girl's locker room right about now?"

Quire regarded his fingernails indignantly. "Dr. McCoy installed a suppression field to block telepathy."

"Ugh, I don't know who's more disgusting, him or Santo..."

They reached the door to Laura's room and Sofia knocked, still holding tight to Julian's arm to keep him from fleeing. The knots of students — Rahne Sinclair and Dani Moonstar stood just outside their own dorm, Melody Guthrie and her posse were gathered a bit further down the hall, and he had no doubt Quire was sneaking around in someone's head for a closer view — all fell into expectant silence.

At first there was no response, and Julian found himself hoping that maybe Laura had snuck out to wherever it was she disappeared to, but that hope was dashed as the doorknob turned, and her pale face appeared in the crack of the door. She nearly retreated again at the sight of him, but before she could close the door Sofia stepped in between them.

"Hello, Laura," she said, and Laura stopped and turned her green eyes to meet Sofia's brown. The girl said nothing at first, and an awkward silence hung in the air for a few moments. Sofia fidgeted a bit, before continuing when it was clear Laura had no intention of saying anything. "Julian has something he would like to say to you."

Laura's attention shifted to Julian, and he was left with the distinctly a distinctly uncomfortable feeling by the searching intensity of her gaze. The room behind her was dark, and all he could see of her in the shadow was her fair-skinned faced framed by the fall of her black hair, as everything else was lost in the darkness behind her. It presented a rather unsettling image, like talking to a ghost who could gaze clear through him. Julian scowled and forced himself to respond. "I'm telling you, I don't have anything to say to her!"

"Julian!" Sofia snapped, and swatted him hard across the shoulder. "For once in your life can you—"

"He is right," Laura said, her voice barely above a shy whisper.

Sofia stopped with her mouth agape at that, and Julian folded his arms across his chest and spit her with his best "I told you so" glare. He didn't get to use it often, but damn if he wasn't going to take advantage of the opportunity.

Laura hugged herself ashamedly. "I am sorry. Julian did nothing, and I overreacted. I should not have gotten angry with him."

"Oh..." Sofia said, and her own face colored in embarrassment as the weight of her mistake settled over her. She cleared her throat as she felt the eyes of everyone in the hall on her, and as much as he might have liked to, Julian couldn't quite take pleasure in seeing her squirm. "I see. Look, would you...uh...like to join us down in the lounge? Everyone was going to be watching a movie—"

The stammered invitation was no sooner out of her mouth than Laura, feeling whatever business had brought the pair to her door was done, retreated back inside and closed the door in their faces. Sofia just blinked as she was cut off. "Oh-kay," she said. "That was sort of rude..."

Julian, his arms still folded across his chest, said nothing and just eyed her with a raised eyebrow.

Sofia met his eyes for a moment, then sighed and slumped her shoulders. "All right, all right, I'm sorry, ok? I was wrong, and I'm sorry," she said. "That doesn't mean you still couldn't be nicer to her."

Julian just smirked at her. "I think Quire said something about a spanking. That may be the first good idea I think I've ever heard from him."

Sofia just rolled her eyes and let out a growl of disgust as she stalked back up the hall, the amused eyes of everyone who had witnessed the exchange following her as she retreated towards the lounge.

###

Before Scott could even think of asking what had happened, Jean had rushed from the apartment, much to the alarm of the resident. All Scott could do was charge after her. A few bodies appeared in the hallway while even more faces peaked out of their doors at the sudden commotion, and Scott was forced to shoulder a path through them with only a few hasty apologies as he bowled someone over, or warnings to clear the path as he hurried to catch up with his wife.

With the elevator out of order they were left with no way down but the stairs, and by the time he reached them Jean was already on her way down. Scott took them two or three at a time, using his shoulder to bounce himself off the wall as they wound down to the ground floor without slowing, the tread of his boots on the threadbare carpet covering the concrete stairs echoing dully in the stairwell.

Jean! He thought at her. What's going on!

Iceman and Colossus are in trouble! came her mental reply, and the strained sound of her voice in his head told him all he needed to know: They were hurt and Jean was feeling their pain through the mental link.

Scott pushed harder, grabbed hold of the railing as he reached another turn in the stairwell, and flung himself around the corner. Then he was at the ground floor with Jean well ahead of him as she burst out of the tenement building and onto the street. He shouldered the doors out of the way as he followed after her, and was met by a blast of cold air as he rushed out into the night.

No sooner was he on the street than he heard the report of weapons fire, and the sound of bullets chewing into the steel, concrete and wood of the apartment building's door and walls. Windows exploded in clouds of shattered glass, and he heard the sound of people screaming. Scott quickly dove to the side and out of the line of fire. He landed hard on his shoulder and felt the air leave his lungs with a grunt, but there was no time to delay now. His hand went to his visor, and when he heard the gunfire fire slacken he quickly calculated the direction from which the shots had come, popped up, and unleashed a blast of concussive energy in that direction.

The glowing ruby beam slashed across the street, just enough of a burst to gouge a hole in the wall of the building across the way without causing serious damage — Scott was firing blind, and he didn't want to hit a bystander — but it was still sufficient threat to send the man there aiming an assault rifle diving out of the way before he dropped behind the cover of a low concrete wall himself as return fire from another of the men ripped across the street.

How many! he thought to her.

I don't know! came her reply, and through their psychic link he could feel her tension. I can't sense any of them, they're blocking me!

What about Bobby and Peter?

Across the street, they're still alive, but unconscious.

Scott risked another quick look, firing a volley of low-powered blasts to keep their unknown adversaries' heads down. He saw their two downed comrades across the street, being dragged by two men and a woman around a corner. There were three other men, all armed with assault rifles, moving carefully and with military precision in an attempt to catch him in a crossfire.

Where are you? he thought.

About half a block west of your position, behind a delivery van.

Do they see you?

They did, but I think you have their attention, now.

Scott smiled tightly as a plan began to take shape. More rounds splattered against the wall, and he ducked the flying fragments of concrete spraying across him. Good. I'm going to keep it. There's three of them with Iceman and Colossus, see if you can't give them something to think about.

Got it!

Go!

And at that thought, Scott jumped to his feet and started firing rapid bursts. He sprung to his left, swinging further east along the road and taking shots at times over his shoulder to keep the three gunmen down. The Professor wouldn't likely be happy about the mess they were making, but they had no choice. Iceman and Colossus were in trouble, and he had a gut suspicion that whoever the gunmen were, they were connected to the disappearance.

I'll see what I can do to take a prisoner, Jean thought at him, reading his thoughts.

Don't take any chances. Priority one are Pete and Bobby.

More gunfire ripped into the asphalt and concrete of the road and sidewalk, and Scott had to take cover behind a dumpster as his opponents walked their fire closer and closer to him. Bullets ripped through the thin metal shell, most of them chewing up the trash inside, but he felt the heat of one round slash through his coat and graze the skin of his arm. Damn, they always make these things bullet-proof on TV. Scott leaned out and fired once more in the direction from which the shots had come, and this time he was rewarded with a yelp of pain as his blast caught one of the gunmen in the shoulder, spinning him around and slamming him into the wall of the building across the street. His weapon flew from his hand and clattered across the sidewalk.

One of the others broke cover under a hail of fire from the third that forced Scott back behind the dumpster. He flattened himself out to present the smallest target possible to any round that might find its way through the dumpster and its contents. The report of the rifle trailed off as the gunman had to stop and reload a fresh magazine, so Scott hazarded another look, taking in the battlefield in a heartbeat:

The wounded man was being carried back under cover again, taking him and the second gunman out of the fight. The third was on the second level of a fire escape, fumbling with a new magazine. Scott quickly took aim and fired again: this time targeting the bolts anchoring the fire escape to the wall of the building. Metal groaned and squealed, and the entire assembly tore free and toppled over. The gunman dropped his weapon, which clattered harmlessly to the ground below, and just managed to steady himself and hang on as the fire escape slammed into the wall of the building next to it. With one of his comrades down and the other busy helping him, the man thought better of his situation and scrambled for cover, quickly disappearing from sight.

Scott scanned the area and saw no further sign of their assailants, but in the new stillness he could hear the sound of sirens growing closer as the police responded to the shootout. He scrambled back to his feet and rushed off in the direction Jean was heading.

###

"Hurry it up!" Mary shouted, her hands looped under Drake's arms as she dragged his limp body into the alleyway where their vehicle was waiting. Summers and Grey had reacted faster than anyone had expected, and before they could even begin to secure their two prizes, the others had rushed from the building. Gunfire barked in the night as the other three members of the team laid down suppressive fire, and Grey had only narrowly gotten under cover — aided by what looked to be a telekinetic shield — behind a van that was now riddled with bullets. Mary swore vehemently at the thought of collateral damage, but such thoughts were tempered by the knowledge that the people here had harbored one of the abominations, and were now collaborating with Xavier's militants.

Standish and their remaining compatriot strained against the bulk of Rasputin; a towering mountain of muscle who she had only narrowly subdued before he could fully call the organic steel armor that made him such a threat. "Give me a break, Mary! It weighs a ton!" Standish growled.

The report of gunfire was joined by another sound, and a brilliant ruby beam speared across the street from the apartment, as Summers emerged and engaged their comrades providing covering fire.

"Summers is comic!" she cried in alarm. The thought of contending with Jean Grey, the only Class Five mutant known to exist, was a worrying enough prospect even with the suppression devices protecting them from telepathy (being telekinetically ripped apart would leave them no less dead than having their minds destroyed). Having to contend with both meant the situation was about to get very, very bad.

"Damn..." Standish wheezed as he continued to try and haul the motionless bulk of Rasputin off the street. "We may have to cut short and leave this one behind.

More gunfire punctuated by blasts of concussive energy shattered the night air, and echoed deafeningly in the confines of the alley. Mary thought her ears might start bleeding at any moment. She had just about gotten Blake to their waiting car when she looked up to see the silhouette of a woman in the alley, blocking off the far end and approaching them. Her heart leapt up into her throat when she realized just what had happened: Summers wasn't coming for them. He was drawing fire.

"Standish!" she cried, dropping Blake and scrambling for the pistol tucked inside her coat. The others quickly abandoned their efforts to retreat with Rasputin, and several shots rang out as they drew and fired. The rounds never reached their target, as Grey flung her hand out and effortlessly scattered the volley.

Standish took one look over his shoulder at her and said, "Go!" Then reached into his coat for the grenade and yanked out the pin. Mary watched in horror as he charged at Grey, and it was only when the hand of the last member of the team seized her by the shoulder as he sprinted past her that she, too, turned and ran.

###

The woman and one of the men turned and ran as their companion produced and armed a grenade, charging at her with the intent of blowing them both up. It was a useless gesture, of course, but in the end served its purpose: Jean had to let the other two go in order to shield herself, Iceman and Colossus from the blast. The grenade exploded in the man's hand, and she threw up a barrier of telekinetic energy to contain it. Insulating its wielder, unfortunately, proved something of a challenge, and he cried out as his hand evaporated in a blinding flash of light, heat, and an expanding cloud of red. All the same, however, the man was lucky to be alive.

He collapsed on the ground in front of her and writhed in pain, and Jean quickly reached out with her power to hold him fast and silence him. Bobby and Colossus are safe, she thought to Scott. I've got one of them.

I'm on my way. We better make it quick, the police are coming.

Sure enough, Jean could hear the sound of sirens drawing closer as the noise of the battle faded. After a few moments she heard footsteps behind her, and felt Scott's presence as he came up beside her.

"Are they alright?" he asked, kneeling at the two younger X-Men's sides. They were just starting to come around again, and their thoughts were groggy and disjointed. Jean shuddered inwardly at the feeling of their pain over the mental link they established during the mission, but where once she might have found it overwhelming, now it was merely a discomfort.

"Yes, though we'll want to have Henry look them over when we get back," she said. She cocked a small smile as Scott helped the pair sit up. "Bobby is more embarrassed at being caught off guard than anything."

The boyish mutant rubbed the side of his neck where a thin trail of blood trickled from the wounds where the Taser had struck him. "You don't usually expect to get tased by the person you just saved from a mob."

Peter said nothing, and just leaned wearily against the wall behind him.

Satisfied that the two younger men were all right, Scott turned his attention to their prisoner, and regarded the ruined stump of his hand. "What about him?"

"He tried to kill all of us," Jean said. "I was able to contain the blast, though the others got away."

Scott glanced up at her. "Anything from him?"

She shook her head as she reached out towards him. Now, even knowing exactly where he stood and without anything else to distract her, she was still unable to touch his mind. "Nothing. It's like he's not even there."

"Well, I guess we've got to do it the old-fashioned way. Let him talk."

Jean nodded, and released her hold on him just enough to allow him to speak. But before anyone could even ask him a question she heard a soft crunch, and the man started to shake violently and his mouth foamed.

"Jean! Stop him!" Scott cried as he recognized what was happening, but it was too late: No amount of telekinetic power in the world would stop the poison working its way through his system. The man convulsed a couple times and then stilled, all the while the sirens grew closer.

"Damn," Scott said.

"Scott, let's get out of here," Jean said, glancing back out of the alley and stretching out with her senses. Now that the exchange of weapons fire had ceased, bystanders were emerging from the surrounding tenements, and the last thing they needed was to have to answer questions.

Scott nodded. "Right. The Professor isn't going to like this."

###

Act V

###

The knock at Professor Xavier's office door came softly, as if hesitant to disturb him. "One moment," he said, as he finished scanning the line of the paper he was grading, making a few marks in red ink, then capped his pin and set it aside. A brief touch of the mind on the other side of the door quickly revealed the identity of the visitor, and though he resisted the urge to probe deeper for the purpose of the visit, Xavier knew at once that her business was, in her mind, important.

"Come in, Sooraya," he said, and settled back in his chair. The door to his office opened, and Sooraya Qadir, wrapped as usual in her flowing abaya and her face concealed by a niqab, stepped inside and closed the door behind her. She folded her hands in front of her as she quietly made her way across the room, but Xavier could tell at once in her posture and the storm of emotion churning in her mind that something had broken her usual confident serenity.

As she reached his desk she bowed politely in greeting. "Good morning, Professor," she said in polite greeting. "I hope you had a pleasant evening."

"Yes, I did, thank you," Xavier said. Whatever matter had brought her to his office at such an early hour was not so urgent that she felt the need to dispense with propriety altogether. "Please, sit down," he added, and motioned to the chair across from him.

Sooraya gathered her abaya and gently and gracefully lowered herself into the offered seat, and folded her hands into her lap. She lowered her head a little bit as she drew nearer to broaching the subject that had brought her to his office that morning. "I apologize if I'm disturbing you, but there's a matter I wished to discuss with you."

"Oh, no, not at all," he said. "I was just grading a few papers, and could actually use a bit of a break." Xavier leaned forward and folded his own hands on the desk in front of him. "What can I do for you this morning?"

The girl heaved a visible sigh, and Xavier could feel a small amount of turmoil as she wrestled with putting her thoughts in order, and argued quietly to herself whether she even ought to say what was on her mind at all. Finally, she spoke.

"It is about Noriko Ashida, Professor," she began, and Xavier couldn't miss the discomfiture in her voice and thoughts over even coming to him with whatever was troubling her.

Xavier frowned, memories of the recent outburst of her powers fresh in his mind. Henry repaired her gauntlets and upgraded them to better control her powers, but ever since she had lost control Xavier had noted a profound shift in her mood. "Is everything all right?" he asked.

"It's not that," Sooraya said. "I understand Nori is going through a difficult time right now, but this is something that has been troubling me for a while. I have tried to listen to Allah, and to turn the other cheek, as it were, but I feel that things have reached a point that I cannot tolerate it anymore.

"Whether she means it the way it comes out or not, Nori is constantly disrespectful of my beliefs. I cannot change what she herself believes, nor have I the right to control what she says in public, but I cannot even find peace in the comfort of my own room! I have tried to endure it as best I can, but even Allah's infinite patience would be sorely tried!"

Xavier offered her a sympathetic smile. "And yours has already been exceeded?"

Sooraya nodded. "I know she is at heart a good person, and I try my best to be polite, but Allah forgive me, I'm quite ready to break her nose if she opens her mouth again!"

He chuckled softly. "Well, we can't have that, now, can we? Both for Noriko's sake and because poor Henry is already greatly overworked as it is." Xavier paused and considered a moment. "Perhaps we can reconsider the living arrangements. Laura Kinney is currently in a room by herself, and as I understand you two get along quite well."

She nodded. "We do, yes."

"And in point of fact, I think it might actually do her some good as well to have a roommate. If you like, I can talk to her and see if she would be willing to make the switch."

"I would, Professor, thank you. It's not that I find Noriko to be a bad person, I just cannot tolerate her disrespect any longer."

Xavier smiled. "I understand entirely," he said. "We're a small community here, so such personality conflicts can be much more difficult to manage. But don't worry, we'll get everything straightened out."

Sooraya smiled behind her niqab and nodded graciously. "Thank you, Professor."

###

Julian read over the passage again to make sure he was seeing it right, but much to his annoyance nothing in the text was any different than the first five times. He sighed and looked back to his notebook and compared it to what he had written. It had been slow going so far this morning, and he still wasn't quite sure he understood what the hell the point was that Smith was trying to make, but he scratched out a few more notes nonetheless.

This would be a lot easier if Wednesday would quit sulking and help out, already.

The library was empty that morning. Even the nerds like Josh and Alleyne were busy elsewhere, and Sofia was still annoyed with him over last night. Not that it was fair for her to be angry at him, she was the one who made the big deal over things and blamed him for something he didn't actually do. But no, here he was alone in the library trying to do the work of two people on a project that didn't interest him in the least.

He heard the sound of a door opening, and looked up from his work to watch Sooraya depart Professor Xavier's office. The school being what it was, most everyone knew about her most recent altercation with Ashida almost as soon as it happened. While he hadn't bothered listening for the details, he'd heard enough exasperated grumbling from Sooraya in the past to know it was likely some squabble over her faith, and from the sound of it, this time Ashida had crossed the line. Hmpf. And Sofia's always giving me trouble over how I treat people.

Before he could turn his attention back to his homework, as Sooraya left the library he saw Cyclops and Jean Grey enter, both looking exhausted, and with the former scowling over something. Julian frowned as well as he watched the two make their way for the Professor's private office. Something was bothering Mr. Summers tremendously, and it wasn't the usual annoyance over Santo's antics in auto shop. As if sensing his attention, Jean Grey looked directly at him, and he heard her warning voice inside his head.

Go about your business, Mr. Keller. And remember we have a training session later.

Julian shifted uncomfortably at the echo of her thoughts and turned his attention back to his work as Summers and Grey disappeared into the office, and the door clicked shut behind them.

He sighed heavily and jotted a few more notes down, then paused as all the words started to blur together, leaned back into his chair, and mopped his face. When he opened his eyes again, it was to see Laura shyly approaching the table, like a scolded puppy wary for another rebuke. There was a feline grace in her movements, and she was completely silent. Had she not chosen the most exposed means of approach she could have crept up on him and he would never have even heard her. Julian shuddered at that thought, and at just how unnerving it was.

Without a word she slipped into a chair across from him, and laid her backpack on the table to start working.

###

Scott shut the door behind him as he and Jean entered the Professor's office. He sat waiting for them at his desk, but said nothing as they approached. Scott was worn from the fight, the drive back from the City, and dodging the police rushing into Hunts Point in response to the attack, and would have liked nothing more than to head right to his and Jean's room and collapse for the rest of the morning, but the Professor needed to be briefed immediately.

As if in anticipation of what they had to say, Xavier turned to his workstation and pulled up a news feed. A field reporter stood on the corner not far from where they had engaged the gunmen, with police cars casting flashing blue and red lights across his face and the wall behind him.

"As you can see," the reporter was saying, "the police are still blocking off a part of Hunts Point in the aftermath of what's been described as a gunfight involving automatic weapons fire. Officers responding to the calls of gunfire have yet to release any details, but preliminary reports suggest several gunmen opened fire at a tenement complex that was home to a mutant woman who vanished in this area several days ago.

"It's unclear at this time whether the incidents are connected, however police are confirmed to be questioning the woman's roommate, and are seeking information on three men and a woman reported in the area of the building, two of whom are believed to have met with the resident shortly before the altercation began."

Xavier muted his terminal but allowed it to continue running for the moment, as he turned to address Scott and Jean. His expression was stern, but Scott could clearly see the concern in his eyes.

"Well, so much for maintaining a low profile," he said, levity that even without telepathy himself Scott could tell his mentor wasn't truly feeling. "What happened?"

"Iceman and Colossus were keeping watch over the entrance to the building while Jean and I spoke with the missing girl's roommate," Scott said, folding his arms across his chest as he thought back to the events leading up to the fight. "Unfortunately she wasn't able to offer many leads on what might have happened. Apparently, while we were occupied with her, Bobby and Peter were responding to a woman they saw accosted by a gang of men across the street from the complex."

"I was in contact with Bobby the whole time," Jean said. "At least to him it looked to be just that: a gang of men were harassing a pedestrian, and they decided to stop it. When I tried to reach out to the minds of the people they were confronting I didn't feel anything."

Xavier frowned. "You didn't feel anything?"

Jean shook her head. "No, Professor. It's like they weren't even there. As soon as I noticed it I called Scott and tried to warn Bobby, but by then it was already too late. The woman was acting as bait, trying to lure them out into the open. Before either of them could respond she'd tased them both. As soon as Scott and I made it outside they all started shooting, and we had no choice but to defend ourselves."

He sighed and steepled his hands in front of him. "Bobby and Peter?"

"They're ok," Scott said. "Hank is giving them a looking over now to be sure. He said the device they were hit with was higher-powered than usual, probably especially designed for use against a mutant who might be able to resist a normal blast, but otherwise he said there was no risk of serious injury. It sounds like had we not been there, they'd have joined the woman we were trying to find."

"Kidnapping mutants..." Xavier murmured under his breath.

"Four of the men and the woman got away," Jean added. "The sixth stayed behind and tried to kill himself, me, Bobby, and Peter with a grenade once we broke up the attack, but I managed to shield it. However even once we were close I still couldn't read or probe him, and as soon as I released him enough to speak he used some sort of suicide pill hidden in one of his teeth. He was dead within seconds."

"Dear God."

"I can't believe the attack and the disappearance are unrelated," Scott said. "The woman vanished without a trace, these six just happened to be at the apartment in a position to ambush Iceman and Colossus, and they have a means of blocking a telepath even as strong as Jean."

"I agree," Xavier said. "It's all too much to be a coincidence."

"Then what do we do?" Jean asked.

"Send out the word — quietly — to all of the mutant communities and shelters in the New York area. Let them know to be on their guard, and if anyone feels they may be in danger that they are welcome to come to the school."

Scott nodded. "We should do something to try and track down the last of those gunmen."

Xavier raised an eyebrow. "I would agree, but these men have already shown a willingness to open fire with automatic weaponry in populated areas. I'm afraid that any attempt to confront or capture them may lead to innocents being put in the crossfire."

"We can't just let this go, Professor."

"I agree, but let's work with the system first. Use whatever contacts and pull we have with the police, offer them our full cooperation in the investigation. And contact Logan, he has friends who are much better suited to such an investigation."

Scott sighed and nodded again. "Right."

He wasn't certain if Xavier was reading his thoughts or not, but nonetheless the Professor offered him a sympathetic smile. "We'll get to the bottom of this, Scott. But before we can act, we need to know where."

"I just hope we can before it turns into something worse."

###

Stryker sat at his desk, his leg throbbing painfully as he stared down the five standing with their heads bowed across from him. To say Sister Mary's report was discouraging would be a gross simplification of the matter. In all honesty, he was furious, but losing his temper now would accomplish little. Matthew stood at his right hand and glared across at them as well, and his cheek twitched in barely-restraint rage.

"My orders, I assume, were clear?" Stryker said. Just because a tantrum would be of little use, didn't mean he couldn't still make his anger clear, of course. His voice was cold and hard, and all five flinched at the first words he had spoken since they entered his office alone. "I was not yet ready to make a move against Xavier or any of his militants. You were to observe and report on their activities only."

"Yes, Reverend," Mary said, her voice subdued at the chastisement, and keeping her eyes averted.

"May I ask, then, why you chose to disregard those orders?"

Mary swallowed hard. "Brother John saw an opportunity, sir. Drake and Rasputin were alone outside. He thought if we acted quickly, we could subdue and seize them before the others could respond."

"Did he, now?" Stryker said dryly. "And just where, pray tell, is Brother John now?"

"Dead, sir."

"That's right!" Stryker snapped, finally allowing a measure of his full anger through, and even Matthew jumped a little in response. "God is on our side, Sister Mary, but we are not so strong or prepared yet to openly challenge the demons in that school, that is why I have given orders that any samples be obtained from outside. Now I imagine word is spreading to be wary, and that puts all our efforts at risk."

Stryker sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Did Brother John say anything to them?"

"I don't believe so, Reverend," Matthew said from his side. "According to the police reports my contacts provided, he died shortly after Grey prevented him from killing himself with that grenade, through the poison capsule in his tooth. By all accounts the telepath was unable to breach the shielding our benefactor developed, and he was able to use his capsule the moment she released her telekinetic hold on him."

He nodded. Adam had indeed delivered on what he promised, and without it, the encounter might have proven an even bigger disaster. "Well, there is at least one unexpected benefit of Brother John's rash decision."

Matthew raised an eyebrow. "Reverend?"

"How do you think Grey and Summers were able to respond so quickly? Brother John's plan was sound in theory, yet none of our equipment picked up any communications between their two teams."

"The telepath..."

Stryker nodded, and tapped his lip thoughtfully. "The telepath. You know, one of my areas of research as part of Weapon Plus during the Cold War was the use of telepaths to facilitate coordination in combat. Imagine a communications system that can't be intercepted by an enemy, capable of beaming information directly into a soldier's brain, without the need to explain it or the risk of confusion as to their intent.

"Brother John's gamble may have provided us some quite useful intelligence after all, and something that, had he not acted, we may have only learned too late to our great regret." Stryker tapped on his desk to emphasize the point. "It will not be enough to shield our own people from the enemy's telepaths, we will need away to jam their communications as well."

He gave that another long moment of consideration, the turned his attention to the others. "Go, you're dismissed. Get some rest and report to Dr. Abrams at the warehouse."

A chorus of "Yes, Reverends" followed, and the five filed out, leaving him alone for a moment with Matthew.

"That was a very narrow stroke of luck, Matthew," Stryker said. "I wish you to make it clear to everyone that, barring my explicit instructions, there is to be absolutely no further contact with Xavier's militants. Things are much too delicate now to risk striking too soon." He grimaced a bit as he rubbed his throbbing leg. "I made that mistake once before. Never again."

"Yes, Reverend," Matthew said. He was about to open his mouth to say something more, when their attention was drawn by a knock at the door.

"What is it?" Stryker said.

The door opened a crack, and Elizabeth poked her head around the frame. "Pardon the interruption, Reverend," she said in her prim accent, "but Jay Guthrie is here to see you."

"Ah, yes, do show him in!" Stryker said, quickly shifting his tone to his polite minister's voice. "Matthew and I have just concluded our business." Stryker glanced up at him and inclined his head, indicating he was to leave now. "Matthew."

Matthew nodded slightly, accepting the command to depart, and made his way out of the office. He paused at the door and cleared a path for Jay Guthrie, wrapped in his long coat and hiding his wings, before departing and closing the door behind him. Jay made his way across the room, and Stryker levered himself with effort out of his seat to personally direct him to one of the chairs where they could talk informally.

"Welcome! Welcome, my son! I'm pleased to see you again. I hope you didn't get in too much trouble after our last meeting," he said.

"Well, I got detention for cuttin' class, but that was all," Guthrie said, as he took a seat. Stryker settled into the chair next to him.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit today, my son? Oh, where are my manners, would you care for anything? Tea? Soda?"

"No, sir, thank you. I just been thinkin' a lot about what you said, about wantin' everyone to understand one another an' all. Bridgin' the gap? You say that God's got a plan for me, an' I was hopin' you'd help me make sense of it. An' if I really can do somethin', I want to help you reachin' out, too."

Stryker smiled. "God does indeed have a plan for you, my son, and I will be glad to help you realize it."

---

A Note From The Author

Happy Bourbon Day...er...Valentine's Day, everybody!

I'll admit this episode was incredibly challenging to write, which contributed to the delay in posting it. At first I envisioned that the majority of these past three episodes would focus on Jay being tugged at by Stryker, but upon actually writing it I realized there wasn't really much story there. So that's when I decided to expand some of the subplots in this "trilogy" more, including the Purifiers action in this episode.

So we do see a couple of this trilogy's minor subplots resolved or advanced as well. Laura and Julian get a bit of screen time together that's mostly civil, and we get to see the development of a conflict between Nori and David which will play out over the rest of the season, as well as an advancement in the conflict between Nori and Sooraya that's been running since the pilot. Hooray for advancement!

I think this episode has the most dialogue by Colossus in the entire Earth-10005 universe, including all his film appearances combined. The origins I hint at are as near as I could find to his official background in the Earth-10005, but I decided to toss in Bobby's quip about Siberia as a nod to his comics birthplace. Since what little he speaks in the films is in an American accent, I also decided to have his family emigrate from Ukraine when he was very young.

And I hope Cyclops fans are pleased with his part in this episode. One of the main failures of the films was how poorly he was used. Part of that was the circumstances of Last Stand, since Marsden was cast in a major role in the competing Superman Returns, so he was by necessity largely cut out of it. I also wanted to introduce the use of telepathy to coordinate in combat, which I don't think really got used in any of the films so far.

All-in-all, this episode sets up the remaining third of the first season, and we will soon be entering the stretch towards the season finale.

Stay tuned!