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)

17. 2x01 - Alone

A Note From The Author

Welcome back! I hope you all enjoyed the brief hiatus, but the break is over, and X-Men: New Class has returned!

We'll be doing something a little different this season. I'd like to have things a bit more deliberate than they were in season 1, and that's a part of what I've done over the break. The first is that I did some writing ahead, and have the first four episodes drafted. That's something I'd like to do from here on out; have a backlog of episodes ready to post rather than putting them all up as I get to them. This means I'll also be having a set schedule. My intent is to work on a 12 month cycle: Ten months will see new episodes, with a two-month break between seasons. New episodes will be posting on the first of each month, with a couple months in which there will be a second episode posted on the 15th. That way there will be much less confusion on when new episodes will be going up.

We'll see how that actually works IRL, right?

But without further ado, I present to you the Season Premier!

---

2x01

Alone

###

Act I

###

Scott stepped off the lift from the subbasement and waited for the door — hidden behind the wood paneling decorating the upper hallway in which it was located — to close behind him, and continued on his way with his tablet tucked under his arm. The halls of the school were virtually deserted. Most of the students still at the mansion were in their rooms or in the lounge, and many had elected to take advantage of the extended hiatus to return home to their families. As he watched the crews hard at work tearing apart the walls and damaged paneling, and ripping up the floorboards, he distantly wondered how many would actually return.

Though a sense of normalcy quickly settled back over the school in the wake of the bus bombing, Stryker's assault was proving much harder to shake off. The fear and uncertainty in the air was palpable, and the tension among the children remaining at the mansion was so thick Scott felt he couldn't even cut through it with Logan's claws.

The damage to the building was mostly superficial, however. And while the décor, furniture, and some of the amenities would need to be replaced, the mansion itself survived relatively intact. Sheet plastic hung across the main doors in the entry hall and let in an unseasonably warm gust of air from outside, while carpenters, plumbers, and electricians swarmed through the hallways taking measurements, and the sounds of saws and hammers filled the lower levels with the chorus of hard work.

But none of it could fill the silence left by the missing laughter of the children under their care. Scott felt that void keenly in the pit of his stomach, not least of it from the guilt of even allowing it to happen. They had been blind to the extent of the danger and left their wards vulnerable. Scott clenched his jaw as he turned into the library, and weaved past the workmen removing broken tables, damaged chairs and bookshelves, and loads upon loads of garbage.

Never again.

Scott reached the open door to the Professor's office and knocked on the frame. Through the doorway he saw Xavier seated at his desk, one hand wearily rubbing his forehead as he talked on his phone. A few workmen hefted one of the chairs in the conversation circle — its back had been nearly cut in two by the volume of fire it absorbed during the attack — and carried it out to be disposed of. Scott backed away to clear them a path as they edged around the doorway, and by the time they stepped out into the library Xavier hung up the phone and motioned him in.

"Yes, come in, Scott," he said, and leaned back in his wheelchair. "Pardon the mess, but they've only just gotten to my office."

Scott nodded and stepped inside. Xavier's office was still in shambles: thousands of fragments of broken glass littered the floor, along with bits of splintered wood, scattered papers and books, and more plastic sheeting covered the blown-out windows. His ruined computer had been cleared off his desk, and for the moment he worked with the school's hardcopy resources while he waited for Hank and Kitty to get a replacement ready. Scott made his way across the office and dropped into one of the chairs across from the desk from him, and it wobbled a little unsteadily as he settled his weight on it.

Xavier said nothing for a few moments, and jotted a few notes down on the notebook in which he was working, while cross-checking references in the large volume spread out on his desk. He finally finished what he was doing and clicked his pen closed, then sat back in his wheelchair and mopped his face.

"Long morning?" Scott ventured after a moment.

"Too long," Xavier said. "Though I'm sure you'll be happy to know that the State Department has officially declared Stryker and his church to be a terrorist organization."

Scott scowled and folded his arms across his chest. "That won't be much comfort to the kids."

"I know. They're angry and scared, Scott." Xavier rubbed his temples. "No matter how much I try I can't keep their thoughts out. Not after this, there's just too much."

He heaved a sigh and nodded his understanding. "Jean hasn't hardly slept. None of the other telepaths or empaths in the student body are doing any better. It's not just thinking that Stryker escaped and is still out there, though. Most of them she says are afraid about what's going to happen to the school. Especially the ones with no family to take them in."

Xavier slumped in his chair and folded his hands in his lap. "I know. It's the foremost thought on all their minds; 'What happens now?' I want to assure them that we will not give in to such acts of terror, but for the first time in a very, very long time, I begin to wonder whether I or any of us have the strength to go on."

"You know the staff and I are with you, whatever you decide. We're not about to give up and let him win. He hurt us, yes, but while I'm not that eloquent, I'm sure Hank would be quoting Nietzsche were he in the room right now."

Xavier managed a small laugh. "'That which does not kill us makes us stronger.' You are right, of course; we cannot afford to bow to such acts of barbarism."

Scott nodded his agreement, and Xavier studied him intently. He couldn't feel the touch of the Professor's mind, but he was left with no doubt that he knew Scott had come to him for a particular purpose that morning.

"You seem to have put some thought into how to respond," Xavier said, giving voice to the suspicion.

"I have," Scott said, and handed him his tablet. Xavier accepted it and started looking through it. "There's no other way around it, but what happened here is as much our fault as it is Stryker's. We failed these kids. I think we were so content with the peace we'd won over the past decade that we not only failed to protect them, we failed to prepare them."

"Hm. I seem to recall Kitty mentioning Ms. Braddock said much the same thing."

"She did." Scott sighed. "And I'm forced to admit she was right, because of what happened here not least of all. I know we had hoped that the X-Men were becoming a thing of the past, but I don't think we have any choice but to raise a new squad from the student body."

Scott let that pronouncement hang in the office, but even if Xavier had refrained from plucking the purpose for his visit from his mind, he had little doubt he already guessed. The Professor just studied the tablet without emotion.

"I've chosen the students from those among the upperclassmen I think are best-suited for it. I'm not talking about putting them in the field, at least not right away, but as a means of helping to protect the others when the rest of us aren't here." He sighed and mopped his face. "We were lucky. Max Jordan was killed, but Jubilee, Paige, and David Alleyne are going to be ok, and most of the other injuries were minor. It could have been so much worse, but I can't help but feel that had there been a team here to actively cover the school while the rest of us were following-up on the warehouse lead this may not have happened at all. At the very least, they might have had some warning."

"I do agree in theory," Xavier said. "But Scott, you know as well as anyone the challenges such a team would face. Even if we were to utilize them only as you suggested, it would still put their lives at risk. Especially in the current climate." He glanced away from the tablet and gave him a significant look. "Stryker has already used the existence of the X-Men as a means to publicly attack the school in the court of public opinion, and while most people dismissed his remarks, I have little doubt that there may be some misguided souls who view his actions as warranted. In fact I very much expect it to be questioned whether Stryker was justified if word of my 'secret mutant army' continues to spread. People won't care why you and the others have been organized, which is why we've done our best to keep the team's existence secret from the general public."

"I know, Professor. Believe me, I know. I just don't feel we have a choice anymore."

Xavier sighed and nodded. "Unfortunately, Scott, I do agree. But I would not be doing my own duties as headmaster of this school if I did not at least point it out."

"Most of the names are noted there," Scott said, "as well as why I've chosen them. Mainly it's because I think they have the personalities to be able to handle it. Though for some there might be a question of maturity, I think this could actually be a way to help them develop as citizens, as well."

Xavier raised an eyebrow. "Most?"

Scott took and held a breath, and he felt his stomach begin to churn in anticipation over Xavier's reaction to the last name. "There was one I didn't include yet, because I knew you'd want to discuss it first."

The Professor studied him closely. "Out with it," he said with a touch of impatience, but letting Scott say his piece himself without pulling it from his mind.

He let out the breath and lowered his head. "The last is Laura Kinney."

"Scott ..."

"I know, Professor, and I had this exact same conversation with Logan." He twitched one corner of his mouth into a bemused smile. "Or rather Logan did a lot of snarling and growling while Jean kept him from eviscerating me. But I ask you to hear me out on this:

"Laura is the only one with any sort of combat training and experience, and she has a lot of it. I know how difficult what we'll be asking these kids to do can be; it's physically, mentally, and emotionally grueling, and they've already suffered severe trauma over the past two months. But she can help them through it. And more to the point, I believe she can help keep them alive if things go wrong. And they inevitably do." He waved his arms to indicate the wreckage of Xavier's office. "Exhibit A."

"I'm not disputing the strategy or tactics, Scott," Xavier said, and dropped the tablet on his desk. Scott's belly churned nervously as he saw the frustration in the Professor's face. "Laura is here precisely so she doesn't have to be a part of this sort of thing. She needs to heal, Scott, not jump right back into what she's been running from."

"This isn't going to be the same thing."

"You would be using her as a weapon, just as the ones who made her did."

"None of this would even be mandatory. It would all be up to them to make the choice for themselves. Even for Laura."

"Has it occurred to you that she's not even capable of making that choice for herself? All her life Laura has had people in her ear giving her orders; telling her where she is going to go, what she is going to do, and when she is going to do it. Freedom of choice is something she's still struggling to understand, and I'm afraid that if you put this question in front of her she would agree for no other reason than that she sees you as a person of authority over her, and that she would thus interpret it as an order, not a request."

"Yes, I have," Scott said. "But it also occurred to me that not making the offer would be no better than making one she may not understand the gravity of. It would deny her the right to even consider making a decision for herself, and if we deny her that choice altogether it would make us no different from the ones who abused her. Even Logan had to agree with me on that point."

Xavier buried his face in his hands, and Scott watched him closely. For a few moments Xavier said nothing, then heaved a sigh. "You're right, of course," he said, and picked up the tablet and made a note on it. "As little as I like it, you're right. And more to the point I did place the safety of the children in your hands. We'll extend the offer to her along with the others. But Scott," he said and met his eyes, and Scott felt that even without optic blasts of his own the Professor's gaze might bore a hole clear through him. "As little as I fear it will help her recognize the magnitude of the choice before her, it must be made absolutely clear that her participation is strictly voluntary. We don't order or compel her."

Scott nodded in acceptance of the condition. "I never intended otherwise."

Xavier sighed again and stared at the tablet for a long moment. "This was a day I'd hoped would never need come again. I only hope it is the right decision."

###

Act II

###

Cessily sat on the couch with her knees drawn to her chest and her arms wrapped tightly around her legs. The lounge — one of the few parts of the school that more or less escaped damage during the attack — was unusually empty for this time of day. Victor and Santo shared the couch with her to distract themselves from the oppressive quiet of the mansion with a movie. She honestly wasn't even paying enough attention to remember what it was, and none of the others seemed to care much, either. Yana, Megan, and Fabio were off in a corner by themselves. Mel was gone; picked up by her older brother Sam to take Jay's remains home and to be with her family, though Paige, despite Josh's efforts, was still in too bad condition to be moved.

And Josh...

Cessily sighed, still not quite able to wrap her head around the change in his appearance. She wanted to ask him about it, but he spent almost all of his time since the attack in the medbay helping Dr. McCoy with the wounded. "Trying to feel useful," he said the rare times he ventured out of the subbasement, never long enough for her to sit down and get him to talk.

Rahne and Dani sat in one of the booths talking over breakfast, from the snippets Cessily overheard voicing the same frustration and worries as all of them: What was going to happen to them now? Quentin Quire stood in a circle of younger students (and a few upperclassmen girls) regaling them once again with the story of how he "saved" everyone taking shelter in the classroom. That drew a scowl of disgust from her; Quentin's telekinesis manifesting right then was just a happy accident. If any one person deserved the credit for saving the rest of them it was Laura. And Laura, of course, was nowhere to be seen, all but vanishing in the aftermath of the attack and avoiding everyone. As unsettling as Cessily found the stories of what happened, she couldn't blame her for wanting to avoid all that attention.

She sighed again, a sentiment she saw mirrored on the faces of the rest of her friends, and most of the others trying their best to relax that morning and not finding much success doing so. Oppressive silence hung in the lounge, and the tension made her skin crawl. Or would have, if she were capable of such sensations.

"Hey, who turned the music off?" a voice called from the entrance to the lounge, and everyone snapped their attention away from whatever they vainly tried to distract themselves with and towards the door. "It's time to par-tay!"

"Jubilee!" Cessily said, and a broad smile came to her face as Dr. McCoy pushed her in on a wheelchair. Her hands were raised high above her head, and though she was dressed in a plain linen gown and bundled up in a robe, her Oakley Radars were in their customary place perched atop her hair (looking more neglectfully disheveled than artfully spiked, but Cessily supposed Dr. McCoy refused to give her access to any product that could make a mess of the medbay bedding). A folded blanket was neatly spread across her legs.

Everyone was on their feet at once and rushed across the lounge to meet her. Cessily got there first and, after a moment's hesitation, gathered her into a ferocious bear hug that Jubilee returned along with a grunt and a grimace.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" Cessily began, but Jubilee waved her off.

"Don't be, dude! It's totally ok. Dr. McCoy has me on some totally radical painkillers," she said, and let out a giddy laugh.

Victor glanced at Dr. McCoy before joining in on the hug parade. "How are you feeling? We were all worried about you," he said.

"I'm ok, really. The ol' Fuzzyball-duddy ..." She giggled again in amusement. "You know, he's just being fussy."

McCoy let out an annoyed grunt and rolled his eyes, though there was no disguising the amusement on his leonine features. "It was either wheel you up here in a way I could keep an eye on you, or strap you down in bed. I decided on the answer that would be least aggravating for both of us."

Jubilee leaned in conspiratorially and winked. "He's just grumpy 'cause I took him away from his petri dishes." Everyone laughed, the first sound of genuine levity Cessily had heard in the school since before the attack. "But I heard everyone's been feeling down, so I wanted come up and say 'hello!'"

Megan fluttered her wings, and clasped her hands uncomfortably in front of her in a way that managed to somehow make her look even younger than her stature and fairy princess dresses. "There hasn't been much to feel good about," she said, and the others glumly nodded their agreement.

"I know, guys, I know," Jubilee said, and for a moment the medication-induced grin faded from her features. "I've been there, you know? I mean it's not been a picnic for me, either, but look at me now! Woo!"

And with that she started dancing around in the wheelchair with her hands waving above her head. The rest of the students all laughed and McCoy gingerly laid a paw on her shoulder. "All right, that's enough of that. Calm down before you give Mr. Foley and I more work to do."

"Lame!" Jubilee exclaimed. She shifted her attention back to the crowd gathered around her. "But what I came up to say is, I'm ok. It's ok. We're all gonna be ok, ok? I know some of you might have doubts, but the Professor and everyone are doing the best they can, y'know? And that's not just the whatever it is the Doc's been shooting me up with talking.

"I don't wanna go all after school special on you guys, although I'm probably totally there already, but hang in there, ok?"

"Ok," Cessily said, and the others all voiced their agreement with her.

"Good. Because if you don't, Imma come back up here and paf the lot of ya for spoiling my happy place."

"All right," McCoy said, "I think you've had enough excitement for now. Let's get you back to bed."

Jubilee gave an exaggerated sigh. "Oh, all right. So you kids be good and try to have a little bit of fun, ok?"

Cessily smiled. "We'll try."

"Awesome," she said as McCoy started to wheel her out of the room. "Hey, I know! Let's go find the Professor. We can have a wheelchair drag race in the hall! Weeee!"

None of them could help but laugh at that as she disappeared down the hall.

###

Sooraya knelt on her prayer rug facing the Qibla, with her hands cupped palms-upward in front of her, and her head bowed in penitence.

"Rabbanā Fāghfir Lanā Dhunūbanā Wa Kaffir `Annā Sayyi'ātinā Wa Tawaffanā Ma`al-'Abrār," she said.

She remained like that for some time, repeating the prayer over and over again. "Rabbanā Fāghfir Lanā Dhunūbanā Wa Kaffir `Annā Sayyi'ātinā Wa Tawaffanā Ma`al-'Abrār. Rabbanā Fāghfir Lanā Dhunūbanā Wa Kaffir `Annā Sayyi'ātinā Wa Tawaffanā Ma`al-'Abrār. Rabbanā Fāghfir Lanā Dhunūbanā Wa Kaffir `Annā Sayyi'ātinā Wa Tawaffanā Ma`al-'Abrār." She let the tears she held back ever since the attack flow as she reached out to Allah, and let go of the burden on her heart.

She proceeded through the du'a as she cried, before finally finishing with a soft, "Amin."

"Why do you ask for forgiveness?" came a voice behind her; not one that was unexpected, but it caught her by surprise nonetheless, and Sooraya jumped a little when it broke the silence hanging over her room upon finishing her prayers.

Sooraya reverently folded her rug to put away, and turned to Laura as she worked. She sat on her bed with her legs drawn to her chest, dressed all in black except for the golden locket gleaming in the light of the lamp next to her bed. Sooraya puzzled at the half-sleeves sheathing her forearms; something she had seen her wear on rare occasions, but which she now seemed to have on almost every day. "I must admit that I forget at times you speak Farsi and Arabic," Sooraya said. "I beseech Allah for his forgiveness because my hands have killed."

Laura cocked her head as she considered that. Her face was empty of emotion, but there was something beneath the surface of her green eyes that seemed somehow troubled. "Why?"

Sooraya blinked in surprise at the question; both that she asked it at all, and the earnest confusion in her tone. She sat on the edge of her own bed facing her, and folded her hands in her lap. "To take a life is a terrible sin, Laura. For me to have done so is to break one of Allah's commandments."

"They would have killed you had you not done so."

"I know, but however necessary the act it doesn't absolve us of the guilt before the eyes of Allah. Only He may forgive me for doing so. I do not regret defending our friends, but I do regret that I needed to take the lives of those men to do so."

Laura hugged herself tightly, and scrunched her face. "I do not feel guilt," she said, but there was an infinitesimal catch in her voice as she spoke, that someone who didn't spend a great deal of time around her would miss. "These men attacked us. They deserved to die."

Sooraya gave her a patient sigh, but the certainty of her statement made her uneasy. She had acted only out of necessity, but Laura's response was almost instinctual, and she waded into the combat with neither hesitation nor remorse. It gave her a queasy feeling in the pit of her stomach to think about. "Laura, that is not for us to decide, only He is given the right to judge."

She started to say something, then hesitated, her delicate features twisted in uncertainty and confusion. "I do not understand."

"I wish I had the answers for you, Laura. But Allah alone knows His purpose, we can only do as we believe is right and pray that it's what He asks of us."

"Stryker was no less certain in his conviction."

"No, I suppose he was not. But I put little stock in any man who professes to know Allah's plan. Especially when he should espouse hatred in His name."

"That is inconsistent; the Torah, the Bible, and the Qu'ran were all texts written by men professing to know the will of God."

Sooraya bristled at the remark, but forced down the defensive response forming on her lips. While Laura's thought processes were often a mystery to everyone but herself, she was slowly becoming accustomed to her very deliberate and analytical observations. However the words sounded to her ears, Sooraya understood Laura meant no offense, and it was only in her nature to question such abstract concepts in search of concrete truth. "It comes down to faith, Laura. I believe in my heart in the words that are written, because I have faith in them. But that does not mean I can say 'This is Allah's plan.' Accepting that all shall be what shall be is also entirely a matter of faith."

Laura seemed to consider that, and Sooraya watched her closely. She huddled on the bed as if trying to shrink out of sight of her scrutiny, and it was more and more apparent that something was deeply bothering her. "Laura, are you all right?"

She blinked in confusion at the question. "I am uninjured," she said. "My healing factor has already repaired all wounds I sustained during the fight."

"No, that's not what I mean," she said with a small smile of amusement, but sobered again with a sigh. "I mean that you've been avoiding everyone since the attack, and you seem troubled. I know you're not given to talking about what you're feeling, but I consider you my friend and it concerns me."

Laura hugged herself tightly. "I prefer to be alone."

"Yes, but this is not the same."

"The others are afraid of me," she said, and her bluntness caught Sooraya by surprise.

"Laura, that's not true," Sooraya said, and Laura sniffed audibly.

"You are lying."

Sooraya folded her arms beneath her breast and scowled at her in response to the brusqueness of the accusation. "It's not polite to say such things, especially to someone trying to help!"

Laura flinched at her tone, and ducked her head away slightly. "I am sorry. But I can smell it."

"You can smell when people lie?"

"Yes. The physiological changes that occur when someone lies alters their scent. I know your scent, so I can tell when you are dishonest."

"I see," she said, rather taken aback. "How, then, do you know they are afraid of you?"

"Because I can smell that, too," she said, and Sooraya nodded idly at that. Sooraya supposed it made sense that if she could smell a lie, she could smell fear. "And I can hear them talking about me."

Sooraya sighed. "I will not deny you surprised a lot of people, but you also don't give any of us an opportunity to get to know you better. The whole reason we are here is because people fear what they don't understand."

Laura stared off into space for a moment, as if looking at some distant point, or perhaps a memory. "They are right to fear me."

"Laura ..."

Laura snapped her eyes back into focus, and hugged herself tightly once more. "I do not wish to talk about this anymore."

And that was the last Sooraya was able to get from her for some time.

###

Julian knocked on Sofia's door, and leaned against the wall while he waited for her to answer. The dormitory hallway was mostly empty; anyone still at school was either down in the lounge or shut up in their rooms. He couldn't help but feel the emptiness of the mansion over the past couple days, like a big, gaping wound that wouldn't heal. None of it felt right. It was all wrong, and the halls should have been filled with the sounds of laughter. This quiet was almost as unnerving as the uncertainty of what was going to happen to them next.

Sofia's door opened after a few moments and lulled him from his silent musings, and her face appeared framed in the door. She didn't open it far enough for him to pull her into a hug and a kiss, and almost seemed to be using the door as a shield between them.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," she said.

He stuffed his hands in his pockets and shifted awkwardly for a few moments. "Is this a bad time?"

Sofia looked away, and that made his stomach churn anxiously. Something wasn't right. She let out a heavy sigh and opened her door to let him in, and Julian followed her inside. Laurie's belongings were half-packed, and the emptiness he had been feeling only deepened at the sight of it. But it was the sight of Sofia's suitcase set out on her bed while she folded and packed up her clothing that set off alarm bells in his head.

"Uh, are you going somewhere?" he prodded, and the churning in his belly just got worse.

"Home," she said, and Sofia said it almost as if she didn't quite believe it herself. She sighed again, and hung her shoulders. "I'm sorry, Julian, I meant to tell you, but after everything that happened I just kept getting distracted."

He frowned as he crossed the room, and sat on the edge of her bed to watch while she worked. "Tell me what?"

"After ..." she trailed off for a moment when her voice choked up. "After what happened with the bus, my father contacted me."

"Your father?"

Sofia nodded. She neatly tucked a stack of panties in one corner of her suitcase and leaned over it with her head lowered. "Yes. My father — who never, ever, called me to see how I was doing, and always had Derek do it for him if he needed something — asked me to come home."

Julian stared at her open-mouthed, and the churning quickly escalated into an all-out whirlpool of acid sloshing around his insides. He wanted to throw up. "Like, as a visit, right?"

She shook her head. "To stay."

"You're not going, right? I mean, you're going to visit, but telling him you'll be coming back, right?"

Sofia shook her head again. "No," she said, her voice going so quiet Julian could barely hear her.

He stood away from her bed, a dozen different feelings tugging him in as many different directions. And in spite of himself he fixated on one: Anger.

"You're kidding me!"

"No, I'm not," she said, taken aback by his response. "Julian, what do you think is going to happen, here? The school has been torn apart, and Stryker has painted a big, gigantic bulls-eye on us. He's even proven he can get to us here and there's nothing the Professor can do to stop it!"

Julian rounded on her. "So you're running away? You're going to leave me — all of us — behind?"

"Julian, for the first time ever my father wants to be a part of my life—"

"That's bullshit and you know it!" he snapped, and Sofia flinched back at the heatedness of his tone. Julian didn't see it as he stormed around her room, waving his hands wildly over his head as all of the fear, grief, and anger he'd felt building inside him came out all at once. "You know daddy's just looking at the news reports and thinking just how bad it makes him look if his little girl gets blown up because he doesn't do anything about it!"

"Don't you even say that!" Sofia snapped back. "Maybe it's hard for you to understand because mommy and daddy take such good care of you, but some of us don't have anything outside this school! My father is asking me to come back, and for the first time since my mother was murdered I'll finally have a family!"

"And what do you call this?!" Julian swept his arm around the room. "You didn't need more than this before, but now that things are getting a little bit scary you're going to just run away?"

She planted her hands on her hips and glared. Julian matched her posture with his arms folded across his chest. "We don't even know if the school is going to reopen! Half our classmates have gone home and we don't know if any are going to come back."

"Then they never belonged here in the first place!"

"Julian!"

"What? It's the truth! This is supposed to be our place! And you're going to let Stryker win? Because if you step out those doors that's exactly what you're doing." He jerked his thumb at his breastbone. "I'm not going to just surrender. This is my home and I intend to fight for it!"

"I'm afraid that there's nothing left to fight for," she said.

"Then you're a coward! You're just going to turn tail and run and bury your head in the sand and hope daddy's money can protect you, even though he never really cared for you!"

Tears filled Sofia's eyes, and Julian regretted saying it the minute it left his mouth. But his blood was boiling now and he didn't care. How dare she give in? How dare she just let Stryker win? How dare she run off and leave him here alone?

"God damn you, Julian."

"It's the truth! You just don't want to admit it because you think by playing make-believe you can pretend that everything is fine. You're just fooling yourself. All he cares about is himself and his own image. He never cared about you, it's why he shipped you off in the first place! You're a mutant, Sofia. You're a freak, and that's all he sees. But because it's the 'in' thing to be outraged about everything Stryker's done he's just using it to make himself look good. And you can bet the minute he remembers why he threw you out he's just going to do it again."

"God damn you!" she screamed, and a powerful gust of concentrated wind slammed into the center of his chest and flung him backwards. He hit the ground hard on his back, and his breath rushed from his lungs with a sickening grunt. Julian gasped in a desperate effort to draw a breath as Sofia stood over him, her hands balled into fists and tears streaming in rivers down her face. "You don't know anything!"

Julian coughed and levered himself back to his feet. "Then tell me how I'm wrong!" he wheezed as he fought to catch his breath.

"I'm sick of it! I'm sick and tired of you judging everyone! I'm sick of your ego! You think you know everything! You treat this place like some exclusive club, and that anyone who doesn't measure up to your lofty standards doesn't belong!"

"And if you're not willing to fight for it maybe you don't! Maybe you never were one of us!"

"One of us?" She gawked incredulously at him. "One of us? I have news for you, Julian Keller, there is no 'us.' I don't think there ever really was. Did you ever really mean it when you said you loved me? Or was I just a fancy little trophy to parade around in front of the others? I'd hoped you would understand!"

"Understand what? That you're going to run away the second things get bad? Why didn't you even tell me what was going on? Why did you wait until your bags were packed and you already had one foot out the door?"

Sofia hesitated for a moment, and she let her hands fall to her sides. "Because I knew how you would react. That's why. I knew the moment I said anything that this would happen. I should have been honest with myself from the beginning. You're just a spoiled, selfish ass who only cares about how things affect himself."

"You're the one who's running away."

"Get out!"

"It's the truth!"

Sofia pointed at the door. "I said get out! Get out! Get out! Get! Out!"

Her face was red, her breaths came in heaving gasps, and her tears were flowed freely down her cheeks. Julian stared her down for a moment, then spun around on his heel and followed her arm for the door, gathering his power to him as he went. His aura formed around his hand and he reached out to the doorknob, all but yanking the thing off its hinges as he stormed out of the room and slammed it behind him.

Once he was in the hall again his legs gave way beneath him, and he collapsed against the wall and buried his face in his arms.

###

On the other side of the door Sofia sunk to the floor, and all she could do was cry.

###

Act III

###

Julian stomped down the stairs and headed for the lounge. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the group clustered around Quentin Quire snicker and hide their smiles, though Quire made no effort to disguise the smirk on his stupid face. I know you're in here, and I swear to God if I hear so much as a peep out of you I'm going to rip that Mohawk off your scalp and nail it to my bedroom door, he thought in Quire's general direction, and sure enough, Quire's smirk twisted into a scowl.

You want to fight? Let's go Keller. I've got TK now, too, so let's see what you've got¸ Quire's voice echoed in his head.

Julian just thought a string of profanity back, and continued on his way.

He weaved past the tables and chairs, and ignored the stares of the rest of the student body — clearly Quire had been busy — as he made his way to join Cessily, Victor, and Santo around the television. Sooraya was there as well, wrapped in her niqab and abaya, coming from the kitchen with a steaming bowl of he didn't really care what for breakfast. He idly thought of how odd it had been to see her face the night of the attack, but at the time everyone was so focused on just staying alive it somehow never registered she spent the entire time in her nightie and with her face exposed for all to see.

And as he remembered that night his thoughts drifted to her. The claws flashing, trailing thick, red streamers as she spun through Stryker's men and tore them to shreds. He heard the screams, the panic, and watched them all die over and over again. Her expression never changed, just a calm, serene mask as she casually slaughtered everyone around her. And then the faces of the dead changed as he looked at them, and instead of Stryker's goons he saw Cessily. And Sofia. And Victor. All lying crumpled at her feet as their blood and viscera ran from her claws.

Then she looked at him and charged.

Julian squeezed his eyes shut tight and shook the image from his head. But he couldn't quite throw it off entirely, and it stayed there, just at the edge of his consciousness. It made him want to throw up.

He sighed and threw himself down in a chair next to Cessily, and leaned his head on one hand.

"Hey," Cessily said. "Are you ok?"

"No," he grumbled in a low voice. "Sofia's leaving."

"We know. I'm so sorry."

"Whatever, it's fine."

Cessily sighed, and reached across the space between them to lay a hand on the shoulder. "No it's not. I know how much you care about her."

"I said it's fine," he snapped. "She's leaving, and we're done. Like I said, whatever."

She flinched at his tone, and Julian immediately regretted the sharpness of his response and mopped his face. Cessily just gazed levelly at him. The others remained silent, and even Santo kept his mouth shut. "Look, don't give me that, I know you too well," Cessily finally ventured after a few moments of letting him stew in his own remorse. She sighed. "And I also know when you're just going to sit and sulk and depress the rest of us."

Julian looked up at her from beneath his hand, but Cessily just turned her attention back to the television. Sooraya deftly maneuvered her spoon under her niqab as she silently ate her breakfast, and Victor and Santo sat awkwardly and listened in on the conversation, neither particularly in the mood to contribute.

"I'm not sulking."

Cessily just rolled her eyes. "Of course you're not. I'm just saying if you need to talk ..."

He sighed, and folded his arms across his chest and slumped in his chair. "I know. Thanks."

"So, uh, what do we want to do today?" Santo asked, and idly scratched the back of his head with the sound of stone grating against stone. Another thing Julian found it difficult to adjust to since the attack; after putting Santo back together again he was looking even less human than before. His face was vaguely symmetrical, but looked more like a collection of rubble with sharp projections where his eyebrows ought to be, and a pale blue glow peering out from black gaps in the space between the rocks making up his face for eyes.

"I don't know," Julian said. "I kind of don't want to do anything."

"Aw. I want to get out of here! I mean, it's like actually nice outside."

"Santo, why does that even matter?" Cessily said with a roll of her eyes. "You don't get cold. You don't get hot."

"I start to ice up when it's cold! I think I felt myself eroding last time we went out."

"Santo just used 'eroding' in a sentence?" Victor asked. "If he's actually expanding his vocabulary maybe we do need to get out of here."

"And go where?" Julian asked. "They're still not letting us go to Salem."

"Well, there is at least going out in the grounds," Sooraya suggested, the first she had spoken since he joined them in the lounge.

"You guys can, but like I said I don't want to do anything."

Cessily made a face. "That's more reason than ever to get you off your butt, Grumpy."

"Look, if you want to go screw around outside with Gorignak over there be my guest. I'm staying right here and hoping a ceiling tile comes loose."

She groaned in exasperation. "Oh my god, Julian! Don't be such a baby!"

"Wah."

Before Cessily could say another word the lounge fell into silence so complete he could practically hear his own blood rushing through his ears. Everyone looked to the entrance, and when Julian followed their gaze he saw Laura standing in the doorway, hugging herself tightly and trying her best to shrink out of sight under the scrutiny. Julian felt his stomach tie itself in knots at the sight of her, and once more the image of claws dripping thick, gruesome strings of gore came unbidden to his mind. From the deafening silence hanging over the lounge, he suspected everyone else was seeing the same thing.

But rather than recognizing how unwelcome she was in that moment and leaving, she instead ducked her head and continued into the lounge. Much to his distress she made her way directly for the rest of them, while the lounge slowly filled with the sound of voices once again. Julian had no doubt just what the topic of conversation was, especially as Laura glanced periodically over her shoulder at the knots of people whispering quietly as she passed.

"Hey, Laura!" Cessily said cheerily, though when Julian scowled in her direction it was impossible to miss the anxiety on her features. Victor gave her a small wave of greeting, but Santo just folded his arms across his broad chest and looked away nervously. Sooraya alone smiled warmly, though her expression was mostly lost behind her niqab.

"What are you doing here?" Julian growled at her, and Laura froze at the ice in his voice. "Get lost!"

"Julian!" Sooraya admonished.

"What?"

"No kidding, Julian," Cessily said, and spit him with a glare.

"Oh don't give me that, we're all thinking it! She doesn't belong here!"

"Dude!" Victor said, aghast. For her part Laura said nothing, and just tried to shrink even further out of view.

Julian levered himself out of his chair, and glared down at her. "You all saw what she did!"

"She saved our lives," Sooraya said. "Yours, too, or have you forgotten?"

"What I haven't forgotten is that she's been here all this time and not said a word about what she is. And then she tears those men apart right in front of all of us! What if it had been one of us? Huh?" Julian tightened his hands into fists as he stretched to his full height over her. "She could have killed any of us and do you really think any of us would have been able to stop her?"

A crowd began to gather as his voice rose. No one said anything, however, and just watched.

"I mean seriously, what the hell is she?" He fixed Laura with a glare, and she turned her head away and hugged herself even tighter. "Huh? What are you!"

"Julian, that's enough!" Cessily snapped, and jumped to her feet. She seized him by the arm to try and drag him away from Laura, but he shoved her off.

"She killed those people! How many times have we all been told we don't use our powers like that?"

Laura edged away from him, looking about for a path of escape as he continued towards her, but the crowd hemmed her in and left her with nowhere else to go.

"Would you rather she just let Stryker's people kill us?" Victor said. "And what about Sooraya, you hypocrite!"

"Yes, Julian," Sooraya said, and folded her arms beneath her breast. She narrowed her eyes behind her niqab and stared him down. "What about me? I regret my actions, but I killed Stryker's men too. And what of Jubilee? Why are we any different than Laura?"

Julian ignored her. All of the frustration and anger he'd built up over the deaths of his friends, over Sofia, venting in a rush as he advanced towards her now that he had a target to let it go against. Laura was left with no path of retreat, and she backed against one of the tables. "You're a freak! A monster! You got that? You don't belong here with any of us!"

"Julian, that's enough!" Cessily said.

"Dude, that's way harsh," Santo said.

"I'm talking to you!" he snapped when Laura tried looking away. "Do you understand what I'm saying?" He jerked his thumb over his shoulder at Santo. "He's a walking pile of rubble and you're still the freak!"

"Uh, wait, am I supposed to be insulted?" Santo asked.

Julian stepped up and shoved her backwards, and a collective gasp filled the lounge. "Do you hear me? Go away!"

Laura staggered backwards a step and around the table she was pushed up against, but quickly regained her balance, and he stepped forward and shoved her again. Again she gave ground, and her whole body tensed as if ready to spring. Somewhere in a distant corner of his mind Julian heard himself screaming in warning, but it didn't register. "Please, do not do that," Laura said, her voice barely above a whisper. Had he been in his right mind, Julian might have heard the pleading in her voice. Instead he stepped up and shoved her again and again, each time Laura's body trembling more and more as she held herself back.

"Don't do what? What are you going to do? I said you don't belong here! Do you hear me! You! Don't! Belong!"

Finally Laura could restrain herself no longer, and as he shoved her one last time she instinctively seized him by the wrist. Faster than he could blink Julian felt his arm twisted nearly out of its socket, and then his entire body was driven into the ground. He landed hard on his back, though not hard enough to drive the wind from his lungs, and a sharp metallic snikt rang out across the lounge as a weight settled across his chest. He found himself looking up into angry green eyes as Laura crouched over him, one hand seizing him by the shirt front as the claws of the other hand hovered just short of his throat.

Julian's stomach lurched and his limbs began to shake. But he just looked her in the eye, swallowed, and said quietly, "Don't. Belong."

At that Laura seemed to realize just what she had nearly done, and retracted her claws as she released him and scrambled away. Everyone in the lounge was staring open-mouthed at her, and silence hung over the crowd. Without a word she spun around and ran for the edge of the ring of students pressing in around them, and lunged through the opening that appeared as they hastily scattered out of her way. Laura disappeared through the doorway, and slowly everyone began to breath normally again.

Cessily glowered down at him, and didn't offer him so much as a hand up. Julian just scowled and got back to his feet on his own. "Thanks a lot, rock pile, you were a big help, there."

"If you want to push around the creepy scary girl with the cut-anything-claws you're on your own," he said, and folded his arms across his chest.

Victor mirrored his posture and glared. "That was not cool, Julian," he said, then shook his head in disgust. "I can't deal with you right now."

"What did I do?"

"Yeah, man, that was way over the line," Santo said.

"You too? Are you kidding me?"

"I was a pile of rubble that whole time, and even I know you should be thanking her."

"Come on, Santo, let's get out of here," Victor said, and started away. The big rocky mutant fell into step beside him and lumbered off, while the rest of the crowd in the lounge broke up to return to whatever they were doing.

"If you will excuse me," Sooraya said, "I'm going to see if she's ok."

"If she's ok?" Julian said in disbelief. "She almost took my head off!"

She glared at him. "Allah forgive me for saying so, but I have a hard time finding it a shame she missed!"

And with a flutter of her abaya she stormed off, leaving her half-eaten breakfast cooling on the coffee table. Julian turned to Cessily, who folded her arms across her chest and glared at him in a way that reminded him disturbingly of his mother whenever he gave her too much lip.

"Cess—"

"Save it!" she snapped. "I love you, Julian, but after what I just saw I can't even be in the same room as you. You make me sick."

And with that she, too, turned and departed, and Julian could only watch in disbelief as one by one his friends abandoned him.

Just like Sofia.

###

"Ow! Be careful!" David yelped as Josh gently probed his side.

"Sorry!" Josh said. "You know I'm still learning a lot of this."

"Maybe we should wait for the Doc to get back ..." Nori said from her stool, and watched Josh tending his patient. David lay in one of the medbay beds with his shirt off while Josh, dressed in surgical scrubs, gently laid his golden fingers on the ugly bruise that remained from where her slow-but-brave boyfriend had been shot. She still couldn't quite get used to the sight of it, but Josh had so far refused to talk to anyone about what happened. So instead she sat and watched, and quietly admired David's chest and abs — lucky her to find a guy that wasn't just ridiculously smart, but also ripped on top of it!

"I can do this," Josh said, and sniffed indignantly. "I just need him to hold still!"

"It'd be easier to hold still if you weren't punching me in the ribs!" David said.

"I'm not punching. Dr. McCoy told me exactly what to do, and I'm doing it."

David didn't say anything else, and just winced while Josh continued whatever it was he was doing. He gave a small nod of satisfaction once he finished and stepped away.

"It's all knitting together, so I don't think I need to do anything else. The bruising should fade on its own and I think Dr. McCoy will be able to release you within another day or two."

"Good, I'm sure the Doc will be happy to not have to put up with us arguing," David said, as Josh helped him put his shirt back on again.

"I'm sure it'd have been easier if you'd just admitted you were wrong."

"I would have if I was, but I wasn't! You just don't want to admit I got a higher score."

"Oh, come on! You missed the extra credit question!"

"It was a trick question! There wasn't a right answer, and I told him!"

Josh folded his arms across his chest and glared. "No, there just wasn't an obvious answer, but if you'd thought outside the box—"

"Ugh!" Nori groaned as she hopped off her stool. "Enough already! The only time I like hearing boys argue is when it's over me!" She gave Josh an impatient glare. "Don't you have another patient to tend to? I'd kind of like some time alone with my boyfriend so I can undo all your hard work."

Josh blushed a bit at that, and threw his hands up in the air. "Fine! Fine! I get the hint."

"Good, because I was trying to make it obvious."

He rolled his eyes and stumped away with a shake of his head, leaving them alone in that part of the bay as he went to check on Ms. Guthrie, who had still not regained consciousness. Nori watched him go, before closing off the privacy curtain separating them from the rest of the bay. "He seems to be doing better," she said.

David sighed. "He's just distracting himself. I don't think he's doing well at all."

She sighed and hung her head. "It's not fair, you know? Laurie was so sweet, and to lose her like that, I—" Nori choked up as tears welled up in her eyes. "Stryker didn't even give us time to grieve."

"I know," he said, and reached out for one of her gauntleted hands. They were still unsatisfyingly chunky, and with everything that had been happening Dr. McCoy couldn't spare the time to develop something more to her liking.

"Have you decided about Harvard, yet?"

David sunk back into his bed and heaved a sigh. "I'm not going to go. At least, not yet. I know I have the credits to finish here early, but I do want to graduate with you. And I don't know, leaving now after everything that's happened just doesn't seem right."

Nori's breath caught in her throat, and she shook her head. "No. You need to go. I want you to go!"

"Nori?"

"Go to Harvard and get away from here!" she said, and the tears she was holding back broke free. "I don't want you here!"

David gawked at her. "What? Why?"

"Because of this!" she wailed, and waved her arms to take in the medbay. "David, you don't have horns, or funny eyes. You don't shoot stuff out of your eyes or move things with your mind. Your power just makes you really good at doing things. No one would ever know you were a mutant if you didn't tell them. You're probably the only one of us who's safest outside of here!"

David grabbed hold of one of her hands, and ran his fingers across her gauntlet. Nori squeezed her eyes shut tightly to force out the rest of the tears, and tried to imagine what it would be like for him to touch her without the metal sheathing her hands, or the risk of fatally electrocuting him. "That's a big part of why I can't go. Too much happened, and I can't just run away like that."

"You were almost killed," she said in protest.

David clasped his other hand around hers. "So were you. If not for Laura you might have been."

Nori rolled her eyes. "God, Laura. How do you even deal with that?"

"By accepting that she did the only thing she could do to save the rest of you. I'm not saying it doesn't scare the hell out of me, but I'm glad she did it, because we might not be having this conversation otherwise."

"We could so easily still not be having it! I can't lose you the way Josh lost Laurie!"

David reached out and ran a thumb across her cheek to wipe away her tears. "You won't, I promise. But I'm not going to run off and leave you here alone, either. Admissions said they can defer my application and scholarship until after I finish here, and I want to do that."

"But what if Stryker comes back?"

He quirked a grin. "Then next time I'll be sure to skill-snatch someone who's a lot better at ducking."

Nori laughed in spite of herself. "You're sure this is what you want to do."

"It is."

She nodded against his hand. "Then I guess I have to support you, don't I?"

He chuckled. "I think that's usually the way it goes."

Nori glanced over her shoulder and peered around the privacy curtain. Josh was nowhere in view, nor could she hear any sign of him elsewhere in the bay. "So how much trouble would we be in if I crawled in there with you?" she said, lowering her head just enough that she gazed up suggestively through her lashes.

A smile spread across David's face, and he made a show of craning his own neck to look for Josh or Dr. McCoy coming. "A bit, but I think it'll be worth it."

Nori giggled softly and leaned in and kissed him, and for a moment forgot all about Stryker, and Harvard, and the medbay around them.

###

Sooraya made her way up the stairs, fuming silently at Julian's behavior. Laura only saved all of their lives that night, Allah forbid he show some graciousness! As uneasy as she admitted Laura made her she could not dismiss what she did for them, and no matter how little remorse she displayed for her actions, Sooraya could not help but feel something deeply distressed her she refused to discuss. Why could Julian not see the same? She murmured a string of Farsi invective beneath her breath she promptly begged forgiveness for in frustration at his narrow-minded obstinacy.

"Soo! Hey! Soo!" a voice behind her called, and Sooraya paused on the stairs as Cessily rushed from the lounge to join her. "Wait up!"

"Allah forgive me for having such thoughts, Cessily, but I wanted to smack Julian across the face for what he did," she said, and leaned on the bannister railing while she waited for her to catch up.

"Believe me, I'm the choir you're preaching to. This was out of line even for him."

Sooraya turned and started the rest of the way up the stairs when Cessily reached her, and they continued together. "To think that he would tell any of us that we don't belong here! Here, of all places!" She sighed and mopped her face. "After all that has happened, I cannot imagine how he could be so cruel."

"I'm not trying to defend him, but he's scared. He doesn't want to admit it, but the last couple months have really shaken him up. It doesn't excuse him treating Laura like this, but I didn't see her and even I have to admit it scares me."

They reached the top of the stairs and started down the dormitory hallway. It was deserted, with everyone either still downstairs or shutting themselves away in the privacy of their rooms. Sooraya sighed. "I'll confess that it makes me uneasy as well. I can only assume that the Professor knew about her before accepting her, but I find it troubling he wouldn't trust us with it."

Cessily shrugged. "I dunno. I mean it's not any of our business, I guess. It's up to her if she wants to tell us about herself, right?"

"I suppose. And that at least Julian ought to have respected. He knows how difficult it can be for many of us to be here. But to make her feel unwelcome ...?"

"I know, Soo, I know."

They said nothing more until they reached the door to the room she shared with Laura. Sooraya reached for the doorknob, and frowned when it refused to turn. "The door is locked," she said, and knocked instead. "Laura? It's me, are you alright?"

Silence answered her, and Cessily frowned and leaned against the door frame. She hooked a loose strand of red hair behind one silver ear. "Laura?" Cessily called. "Hey, you there?"

"One moment," Sooraya said, and fumbled beneath her abaya for her room key. She unlocked the door and pushed it open, and she and Cessily stepped inside.

Laura was nowhere to be seen.

"Uh ..." Cessily said. "Is she even here?"

"I thought I saw her heading this way, but she moved so fast."

"Laura?" Cessily called, but there was no response. Sooraya frowned and made her way to Laura's bed. Her backpack was conspicuously absent, as was her copy of Pinocchio, and Sooraya suddenly felt a hollowness eating away at her gut. Some of her clothes were gone as well.

"She's gone," Sooraya said quietly, and balled her hands into fists.

"What? Are you sure?"

She nodded. "Look! Her bag and book are gone."

When Cessily saw for herself her silver features twisted into a scowl. "God dammit, Julian!"

Sooraya spun around and rushed from the room, back out into the dormitory hallway, and hurried for the stairs down to the sitting room with Cessily close on her heels. By the time she reached them Julian was emerging from the lounge along with a knot of other students, his hands jammed into his pockets and his head hanging dejectedly. She was aware of the black cloud that seemed to be following him, but as her temper flared and got the better of her she ignored it.

"Julian Keller!" she shouted, and Julian paused and looked up at her. "You... you ass!"

"Woah, potty mouth!" Santo said from the far end of the entry hall where he and Victor were about to step outside, and in the silence that fell across the school at her outburst his voice carried all the way from the front door.

Julian stared at her incredulously, and Sooraya felt the eyes of everyone nearby on her as she hurried down the stairs with Cessily close behind her. He was so taken aback by her use of profanity that he couldn't even find words to respond.

"Did Sooraya just call Julian an ass?" Victor asked in disbelief, as the pair joined the knot of students forming around them to witness the new confrontation brewing in the hallway. "I mean did she actually just curse?"

"What's gotten into you?" Julian finally managed once the shock of her outburst wore off.

"Laura is gone!"

Victor gasped, and the rest of the students clustered around the sitting room fell into murmuring quietly amongst themselves. Julian just scowled and folded his arms across his chest. "What are you talking about, Soo? She's probably just hiding somewhere."

Cessily glared at him. "She's gone you asshole! She took her bag, her book, and we think some spare clothes and left! And it's probably because of you!"

"Oh come on! Like you can honestly understand anything that freak is thinking!"

"She has feelings you idiot! God! How can you stand there and not even care?"

"Because I don't!" he said. "Because she never belonged here in the first place!"

"Don't you dare say that!" Sooraya hissed, and felt her nails dig into her palms as she balled her fists and gripped her abaya to force herself not to slug him right then and there. "Ever since I have known you you have treated this school like it's your little kingdom, but it's not. This is supposed to be a refuge for all of us, Laura not least of all! She saved your life and this is how you would repay her?"

"Well what do you want me to do about it?" Julian said, and raised his arms helplessly out to the sides.

"You're going to go bring her back," Cessily said, and glared at him.

"What?!"

"You heard me! You're going to go find her and bring her back!"

Julian glared and clenched his fists. "You have got to be kidding me!"

Sooraya folded her arms beneath her breast, and Cessily mirrored her posture. "Do we look like we are joking?" Sooraya asked. "You drove her away. You need to make this right."

"You've all gone freakin' crazy!"

"No, they haven't," Victor said, and joined them in staring him down. "Sooraya and Cessily are right. Look, she spooks me, too, but none of us would even be here right now without her."

Even Santo stepped up, stretching to his full height and glaring down on Julian with his arms folded across his broad, rocky chest. Julian suddenly looked very small, and very betrayed, as Santo took his place next to them. "You, too, traitor?"

"Yeah, me too. She's creepy and weird and I don't think I like her much even if she is pretty hot ..." the big rocky mutant said, and Cessily rolled her eyes.

"You're a real piece of work, Santo," she muttered.

"...but she saved everyone here, including you. That makes her one of us."

"I can't believe this!"

Sooraya narrowed her eyes to slits. "You had best believe it, Julian. And you had best believe if you don't get out there and find her that you'll be learning just how it feels to be as unwelcome as you treated her. I suggest you start now before she can get far."

###

Act IV

###

The afternoon was unseasonably warm for so late in the winter, and her oversized jacket was all she found she needed for the moment.

Temperature approximately 55 degrees Fahrenheit. Wind out of the south, but weather reports suggest colder temperatures will return overnight. Priority: find food and shelter.

Laura forced herself to ignore the voice in her mind driving her to consider such practicalities, stuffed her hands in her jacket pockets, and hung her head as she made her way along the road. All she wanted to do now was walkas far as she could, while Julian Keller's words echoed in her mind.

Don't. Belong. Don't. Belong.

She took a shuddering breath, and fought against the tears threatening to once again well up in her eyes. He was right: She did not belong. The Xavier School was a place for children in need of help, and she was not a child, nor could she be helped. Logan was wrong. She was nothing but a tool to be used and discarded when she no longer served her purpose. She had tried to tell him, but he would not listen, and out of respect Laura agreed to give the school a chance. But in the end he was wrong and Julian was right.

Laura sniffled and wiped the tears from her face as they broke free and rolled down her cheeks. She did not understand what this was. This feeling. In some distant corner of her memory, forced back behind walls and barriers, she remembered feeling this way before, what seemed to be a long time ago. Four years ago. That was when I... Laura immediately slammed the door shut on the memory as it tried to force its way back into the light. The face, so like hers, lying still and unmoving in the reddened snow. And with it came a rush of guilt and shame surging against the dam she constructed to contain the flood as it strained to hold back the tide. It held, and Laura's tears stopped as she drove the feeling back into the dark corners of her memory, but more and more it crept towards the forefront of her consciousness as she began to feel again.

Laura clenched her hands into fists so tight she felt her nails dig into her palms. She did not want to feel. Not that. Not again. But the feelings were awake again and she could not stop them entirely, so instead she focused on one and drew it around her like a cloak against the coming return of winter's chill.

So she felt alone.

Her wanderings proved not to be as aimless as she would have liked. Subconscious practicality won out over her attempts at randomness, and Laura found herself nearing Salem Center. It was practical. If she wished to leave Westchester she needed to secure transportation. She could take a bus from Salem, so here she was. More memories clawed their way out of the recesses of her mind as her eyes took in the sights along Titicus Road. She saw the Grind Stone, and remembered her first trip into Salem with Mark and Cessily and Sooraya. They tried to make her welcome, and the deep pang she felt at the empty place left by Mark's death and Julian's rejection threatened to return and hammer against the shield of aloneness she wrapped around herself.

She did not want to be in Salem. In Salem there were people. And the overwhelming pall of their mingled scents, or the many conversations going on around her. All of it felt uncomfortable to her enhanced senses. Even the whispers. And worst of all, she saw herself kill them all over and over and over again. Everyone she passed was dead the moment she laid eyes on them. Men, women, and children. No one escaped her as her mind calculated plan of attack upon plan of attack.

She could not stop it, so she lowered her head so she need not look at them, hitched up her backpack on her shoulders, and quickened her pace to hurry past them.

A group of boys about her age were gathered at the corner of June and Titicus near the movie theater. She ignored their catcalls, some sending a shiver down her spine, so alike were they to things she heard in the City. Things that made her feel small. Like meat. She killed them all in her head.

Targets distracted by my appearance, not expecting a threat. Take down the leader first.

Laura tried to walk past them, but one ran into her path.

"Hey! Didn't you hear me?" he said.

"No," she said.

"I said where you going?"

"Away." She kept her head lowered. She did not want him to be more than a voice. If she were to kill him better that he not have a face.

"Come on, baby, don't be like that! We can party later."

"No."

He reached out to grab her by the arm. A mistake. Laura effortlessly wrenched it behind him and drove his face into the pavement. It took all of her willpower not to extend her claws and drive them through his skull.

"Do. Not. Touch. Me." she hissed in his ear. Laura then turned her eyes on the rest of the group, and a low growl escaped her throat as she crouched ready to spring at the first one to make a move towards her. They all backed away, and they stank of fear as she released her assailant and continued on her way. Laura ignored the insults hurled at her back as she left them to prey on other girls.

She did not go to the bus stop, and instead forced herself to wander through Salem. As she did, she found herself drawn to the sound of laughter, and by instinct followed it to its source; a playground in a small park. It was unusually warm, so children were out playing in their light jackets, relieved however briefly from the cold grip of the Northeastern winter. Their mothers and fathers stood watch over them, but it did not matter. Laura killed them all in her head. Again and again and again. She was murder, and nothing could stop her.

Adults are primary threat. They will attempt to defend or escape with their offspring. Most will panic. Once primary threat neutralized proceed with secondary...

With great effort she forced herself to stop, the faces of so many dead children surfacing from the depths of her memory where she banished them. She felt sick at the thought of them, but no matter how desperately she wanted them to, they would not go away.

For a long time Laura just stood and watched. Children ran and laughed, climbed on monkey bars, and slid down slides. Mothers and fathers pushed them on swings, and she watched them while the aloneness she wrapped herself in tightened around her throat until she felt it strangle her. A little girl, perhaps seven years old and with black hair sat on a swing, while her black-haired mother pushed her, the little girl's little legs pumping in rhythm with her mother's pushing. She laughed, insisting "higher! higher!" with every push as Laura's enhanced hearing picked her voice out of the crowd.

A hollow, empty feeling started in Laura's belly and radiated outward. Something deeper than her aloneness. A void in her being that started her eyes to watering again as she watched.

The afternoon wore on, and Laura did not move from the edge of the park, watching, her hands in her pockets and shrinking into her jacket. As the sun sunk in the west the air grew colder, and slowly, one by one, the children left. They were carried by their mothers. They walked hand-in-hand with their fathers. Laura could hear the light and life in their little voices and laughter. They were untroubled by memory, by pain. They were happy and content. The little girl on the swing wrapped her arms around her mother's neck and kissed her cheek as she was plucked off and set on her little feet, and they left the park behind together. Laura's tears broke free again, and she found herself standing alone gazing at a deserted playground.

She started forward and slipped her backpack from her shoulder, and headed for the swing set. Laura set her pack down, and lowered herself onto one of the swings; the soft rubberized seat hugged her bottom as she sat down, and she took hold of the chains suspending it from the top bar. Then she began to pump her legs, and slowly swung back and forth, higher and higher. The wind rushed coldly past her face and stung her eyes, and caught the long fall of her black hair until it floated behind her whenever her trajectory carried her forward.

She thought of the little black-haired girl as she swung, but she could not feel the gentle touch of soft hands pushing against her back on each downward swing, and her arc and momentum was driven only by her own power. Laura stopped pumping, and she gradually lost speed and slowed to a stop.

And for a long time after she sat on a swing in the middle of a deserted playground.

Alone.

###

Sofia shuffled out of her room for the last time, a bag hung on her shoulder and drawing a wheeled suitcase behind her. It was growing near to late afternoon, but the dormitory hallway was virtually deserted. She distantly heard the sounds of the workers laboring downstairs, and the quiet background hum of voices. The handful of students in the dormitory hallway looked away from their private conversations, a few offering silent waves. Dani and Rahne bid their farewells with hugs, but the rest were so accustomed to the sight now of their friends leaving that they were numb to it all.

She couldn't blame them. So much had happened the past few months the best she could muster at leaving was a hollowness in her belly.

Sofia made her way down the hallway, where Derek, dark-skinned, his hair neatly styled, and dressed in a neat suit, met her to take her suitcase, and he effortlessly hefted it and preceded her down the stairs. Most of her classmates loitered around the sitting room and lounge to keep out of the workmen's hair. Floorboards and wall panels were taken down, the drywall needed patching and replacing, and all the holiday decorations had been removed (most having been damaged during the fight, anyway). Sooraya and Cessily caught sight of her as she reached the entry hall and started for the door, and hurried to intercept her.

"Sofia!" Cessily called. Sofia paused and set her bag on the ground at her feet as the two girls caught up with her. Derek continued on out the front door, weathering the curious looks from her erstwhile classmates with practiced ease.

"Hey," she said, the word all but forcibly squeezed from her lungs when Cessily glomped her. Sooraya's farewell was much more restrained and dignified, but Sofia could see the tears darkening her niqab.

"You're really leaving, then?" Cessily asked. For all she went on about her inability to cry, Sofia could easily imagine tears flowing in rivers from the look on her face.

"I'm sorry. I just ..." She trailed off as her voice caught in her throat. "I just need to get away. After everything that's happened, I just can't stay anymore."

Cessily nodded. "I understand. Especially, you know, with it being your father asking you to come home."

Sofia's stomach churned as Julian's words echoed in her ears, and a part of her feared he was right — that her father only asked her to come home to protect his own image — but she quickly forced that thought from her mind. No. This time was different. Tears welled up in her eyes as she took in her friends. "I'm going to miss all of you guys."

"You'll always have family here," Sooraya said, and her own voice wavered as she fought to keep herself from breaking down entirely. "Never forget that."

Sofia stepped forward to give them both one last hug. "I won't. You guys take care, ok?"

"Is there anything you want me to say to Julian?" Cessily asked when they parted, and fresh hurt stabbed through her.

She shook her head. "If he can't be man enough to say good-bye himself, then no. It's not worth it." Cessily and Sooraya shared a brief look, but Sofia waved it off.

"Look, I know it's not my place to say anything, but please don't be too hard on him. He doesn't want to admit it, but he's been shaken up worse by all of this than I think you realize."

"It's not that I don't believe you, Cess, but I just can't deal with him over this. If he decides to grow up maybe I'll have something to say to him. But I can't see that happening." She sighed. "Look, I have to get going, Derek is waiting for me. I'll give you a call when I get settled in."

"Ok. And you know, you're not all that far away so it's not like we can't still hang out sometime."

Sofia smiled. "I'd like that." She hesitated a moment, looking them each in the eye, and hefted her bag again to stave off another glomp from Cessily. "You guys take care."

"You too."

Sooraya inclined her head. "Maʿ al-salāmah."

And then Sofia turned and made the slow walk along the entrance hall. She exchanged a few farewells with the other students she passed on her way out the door, and paused for one last look back at the school before heading for her car.

###

"What do you want?" the boy said.

Julian stood at the corner of June and Titicus, confronting a group of locals about his age who were hanging out in front of the movie theater. The unseasonably warm afternoon was slowly giving way to a more appropriately cold New York winter's evening, and his mood was not helped by being forced to ask everyone he passed if they happened to see the little goth freak as she meandered through Salem. It wasn't exactly a difficult trail of breadcrumbs to follow, but it was turning into a long one.

Why can't I just find a dead end so I can go home?

Julian folded his arms across his chest and scowled at the thug-lite poser leading the gang. "I said 'Hey dumbass, I'm looking for someone, have you seen her?'"

The boy glared down his nose at him; he was a good half a foot taller than Julian, and the angle of his head gave him a spectacular view up the kid's nostrils past the hoop of gold stuck through his septum. "I dunno, we see a lot of people," he said, and his equally thug-lite poser goon squad somehow found that hilarious and laughed uproariously. Julian just rolled his eyes in disbelief that anyone could have so bad a sense of humor.

"She's about five-foot-nothing, black hair, spooky, and dresses like she just walked off the set of The Craft."

One of the members of his — and Julian used this term ironically — posse piped up from the back. "Hey, that sounds like the chick who threw you on the pavement an hour ago!"

"Shut up!" the leader snarled, and his face reddened with embarrassment.

Julian ignored him and turned his attention on Number Two-For-Brains. "Where is she?"

"I don't know, man, but I don't think she's looking for a good time if you catch my meaning."

"I don't care what she's looking for, I just want to find her."

"What is it to you, anyway? Girlfriend run off on you?" the leader of the group asked.

Julian rounded on him and glared daggers at him. His power gathered around him as he balled his fists, and the green aura formed around his hands. It wasn't an overt display, but enough to make the thugs take notice, and they all backed away. "Let's get one thing strait Ferdinand: she is not my girlfriend."

"Mutie freak!" he snapped.

"Blahblahblah mutie blahblahblah freak," Julian said. "Try something I don't hear about a million times a day. You have no idea just how bad of a day I'm having. So you want to try something? Go for it, I could use a chance to unwind with something to hit. Or maybe I'll just rip that ugly ass ring right out of your nose." And for emphasis he gave the septum ring a gentle tug with his power.

"Dude, she went that way!" Number Two said, waving further southward along June. "We don't want any trouble from you people."

He dismissed his power and released the idiot with the nose ring. "You people? Seriously?"

The leader glared at him. "Look, you've got what you wanted, so get lost. Because it's Salem I'll be generous and not pound your freak hide into a bloody smear!"

"Whatever, Thug Life. Peace out," he said, and threw a mocking gesture at them as he turned and continued on his way.

Julian passed no one else as he continued south down June, but in no time he found her; alone, sitting on a swing in the middle of the playground, and staring blankly at the patch of rubber mulch in front of her. Except for the two of them the place was deserted, the children long ago gone home as the sun began to sink towards the horizon and cast long shadows that stretched out across the park to enfold it in the approaching night.

He stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets and crossed the park, scowling in frustration and annoyance over the search. Julian had no doubt she already knew he was there, but Laura made no effort to bolt, to which he admitted a degree of disappointment: If she ran, he could go back to the school and tell everyone she refused to return and that would be the end of it. But no, the freak had to just sit there staring at nothing.

Julian reached the swing set, leaned against it, and glared at her. Laura didn't even look at him, and just sat hunched and hugging herself on the swing. The aura of his power formed around his hand, and he idly spun one of the empty ones around to wind it up, then released it and watched it untwist itself again.

"You found me," Laura finally said, her voice so quiet he almost didn't hear her.

"Hail goth queen of the obvious. You stand out," he said.

Her gaze shifted from the ground in front of her to her lap, and her black hair spilled across her face hiding her expression.

He grumbled in exasperation. "Look, can we just go back now? I've been chasing you down all day, it's getting cold, I'm tired, and I'm hungry. You've thrown your tantrum. Get over it and let's go."

Julian's glare was lost on her. She didn't even look at him, and that just irritated him even more. Laura just sat there on the swing, staring blankly at her lap, and Julian stared at her, waiting for her to... waiting for anything so he could just go home.

Finally, after an interminable pause, Laura spoke again.

"You are right," she said, her voice once again almost unintelligibly quiet.

"About what?" he snapped irritably.

"About me. I do not belong."

He rolled his eyes. You're just now realizing it? He nearly voiced that thought aloud when Laura did something he never, ever, expected to see her do.

She began to cry.

It was only a few tears, first one and then another slowly rolling down her cheeks, and in an instant the force of death that so deeply terrified him was gone, and left in its place was a girl sitting alone on a swing in the middle of a playground.

Laura raised her hands, palms towards her, and studied them for a moment as she rubbed her thumbs across her fingertips. Then she balled them into fists and with a distinct metallic snikt extended her claws. The sudden movement as they burst from her hands made him jump, and this close he couldn't help but notice the spray of blood that accompanied them. Jesus, doesn't that hurt?

"I am a killer, Julian," she continued, a slight tremor in her voice. "An animal. A monster." Laura sniffed and retracted her claws again, and dropped her hands into her lap. "It was what they... what I was bred for.

"So when I killed those men attacking the school I felt nothing for them. No regret, no sorrow, nothing. I did not care who they were, and I did not even see them as people. I do not know if I feel anything for them now. They were a threat and something to be destroyed, and nothing more."

Julian frowned as a shiver worked its way down his spine at just how matter-of-factly that was said. He stepped away from the frame of the swingset and warily approached her. Laura did not turn to look at him, and her eyes stared blankly ahead of her. He sat in one of the swings next to her. "Who are 'they?'" he asked, perplexed.

She didn't answer the question, and only closed her eyes as if to shut out some distantly remembered pain. "When I walk into a room I already know exactly how I will kill everyone inside it," she said instead, "and I cannot turn it off." Laura drew a ragged breath, and her voice was on the verge of breaking. "Logan, Sooraya, Cessily, you. The children who were playing here earlier. In my mind I killed them over and over and over again and it does. Not. Stop. I hate it.

"I hate myself."

Julian couldn't find the words to respond, and the fear of being so close to her resumed gnawing at him. But he suddenly realized that it was tempered by the self-loathing dripping from her voice as she spoke, the hatred for everything she was. She still terrified him — the memory of her claws tearing Stryker's men to shreds, her standing there among the bodies covered in blood and gore vivid in his mind — but suddenly he felt something else. Something new for her he never expected.

Pity.

"I do not belong," she repeated, "and I am a danger to everyone so long as I remain."

"Laura ..." he started, but she cut him off.

"Just go." Tears began to flow freely, and he could see now the effort she was exerting to remain in control. "Tell them ..." she hesitated, uncertain what to say. "Tell them whatever makes it better. I am not good at lying. But you are right. I do not belong, and it was foolish of me to allow Logan to convince me otherwise."

The hopelessness in her voice at those words broke his heart, and suddenly Julian understood. Seeing it now for himself, he realized what Sofia and Sooraya and Cessily had tried to make him see, but he was too arrogant and stubborn to see for himself. Whatever Laura was running from, whatever she had been made, the school had been her last chance for some sense of normalcy in her life.

And by driving her away he had stolen it from her.

Julian bowed his head as the guilt settled over him. "No," he said. "I'm not." He looked up at her, and for the first time Laura looked back, and her green eyes wavered from the tears welling up behind them. "I was wrong, and I'm sorry."

He sighed and hung his head again, and they sat in silence for a few moments as he mulled over his words. "This school was my last chance," he admitted. "When my power manifested my parents were tolerant of it as long as I obeyed their rules and never used it outside the house. They didn't want it to get out to their friends and business associates that their son was a mutant. I was an inconvenience they didn't want to have to deal with. Unfortunately, I don't exactly like to follow the rules."

Julian glanced over to her and gave her a lopsided smile. "Not that that comes as any real surprise, I'm sure." Laura just looked back at him without a word. Julian sighed and turned his attention back to his hands. "So of course I made one scene too many, and I was starting to become uncomfortable for them. When they learned about Xavier's shortly after, I was pretty much told I would either enroll here or they would throw me out and cut me off entirely. So here I am."

He clasped his hands together in front of him. "Only Cessily really knows about any of this," he said. "Everyone else? I let them think I was here by my own choice, not because I didn't have one. I didn't even tell Sofia. God I am such an idiot. The person I cared about most and I was so ashamed about why I was here that I couldn't even be honest with her. And now she's gone."

Laura blinked. "Sofia has left?"

Julian nodded and covered his eyes with one hand to hide the tears threatening to well up. "Sofia is gone. Mark, Laurie, Jay, and so many others are dead. Kevin snapped. I'm losing the people that made being here bearable. And when you... It scared me, ok? Seeing how casually you tore those men apart after watching people I cared about, my friends, die ..."

"I am sorry, Julian," she said, and hugged herself self-consciously.

"No, don't apologize to me. You're the one who deserves one. You saved my life — all our lives — even after how terribly I treated you, and you didn't deserve the things I said about you this morning. I don't blame you at all if you want to leave, and I don't know if I can ever really make up to you how big of a jerk I've been. Just don't let me drive you away. You belong here as much as any of us do." He sighed and mopped his face. "In fact you probably belong more than I do."

Laura said nothing, and just turned and gazed at the rubber mulch in front of her again. Julian levered himself out of the swing. "I don't care if you forgive me. Just please don't let me ruin your chance at a normal life." He extended a hand to her, and Laura flinched away from him reflexively as it came up. For a moment Julian puzzled at her reaction, but otherwise made nothing more of it. "Please, just come home."

She hesitated a moment and eyed his hand like it was a rabid dog ready to bite her, then slowly reached out and accepted it as he helped her off the swing.

###

Act V

###

Xavier steepled his hands in front of him, rested his chin against his index fingers, and leaned on his elbows over his desk. Scott stood beside him, and together they regarded the students gathered in his office. He lightly brushed each of their minds for a surface impression of their feelings in that moment, and Xavier was met mostly with curiosity along with a touch of apprehension for good measure. Underlying it all was the fear pervasive among the student body, and their confusion over why they were summoned to his office mingled with their existing uncertainty to keep them alert and on edge.

He hid a sigh behind his hands. This was not what he wanted, but Scott's assessment was right: They blinded themselves, either willfully or out of hope, to the reality of the threat Stryker presented. And it cost them the lives of dozens of their children. Stryker forced their hand; it was time for them to grow up.

It's time, he thought to Scott. There's no point in delaying.

Scott straightened in response, and looked the group over to take them all in: Noriko stood behind the wheelchair David was wheeled in on at Henry's insistence, the two of them presenting a bright beacon of happiness amongst the fear and anger permeating the school. Sooraya sat with her typical calm serenity wrapped around her like her abaya and niqab, with Cessily rocking with anxious energy in a chair next to her. Josh stood at the back of the group not far from David and Nori, his eyes downcast, head hung, and shoulders slumping, while the lamplight reflected off his golden skin. Xavier felt he could reach out and touch the grief radiating from him even without his powers. Santo and Victor stood together off to the side; the former's mind blissfully empty of much of anything, the latter watching and waiting intently. Julian leaned against one of the bookshelves nearby with his arms folded across his chest, looking thoroughly bored and anxious to be anywhere else. Last was Laura, seated in one of the chairs as far from the others as she could put herself, hugging herself tightly with her head downcast. Her thoughts and feelings were unreadable, but at times Xavier saw her green eyes flick in Julian's direction, accompanied by brief spikes of confusion evident even behind her mental defenses.

Xavier puzzled at that for a moment. It of course didn't take long for word of the altercation in the lounge earlier that day to reach his ears, but something more seemed to have transpired between them that neither wished to discuss.

"I know you're wondering why you've been called here," Scott began, and Xavier roused himself from his private ruminations on the children gathered in front of him. "I know you're all upset and angry about what happened. I know everyone has questions about what is going to happen next. And I know that you're all afraid."

He sighed and hung his head. "All I can say to you all is this: I'm sorry. Our job is to be here for you all. To teach you, and most importantly, to keep you safe. We failed in that commitment to you all, and you are the ones who suffered the consequences for that failure."

Xavier felt something dark surging from Josh's mind at those words, but he kept his head lowered and hid his expression from view. However he couldn't hide the glistening tear rolling down his cheek.

"The reason why we've gathered you here today is, in part, to address this failure, and make sure that it doesn't happen again. I've discussed the matter with the Professor, and he is in agreement with me: For good or ill, your childhood ended the night of Stryker's attack. You're not the innocent boys and girls who came to us to learn, but instead are young men and women who have experienced first-hand the cold truth that the world has not progressed as much the last ten years as we had thought. It's time for all of you to decide whether you will be taking the next step and growing up."

All of them, except Laura, now stared at Scott with rapt attention. If any of them guessed the meaning of his words it wasn't evident in the surface impression Xavier felt, and he resisted the desire to probe deeper.

"That is why I've decided that in order to address the school's failures, it's time to form a new team among the student body, whose assignment would be to help safeguard the school, as well as preparing you for the new reality: All of you know Stryker is still out there, and he has declared war against us. It's not a war we want or asked for, but it's one we have no choice but to defend against."

Santo's rocky features brightened considerably. "Dude, does this mean we're gonna get to be X-Men?"

If there was any surprise that Santo pieced Scott's meaning together before the rest of them, it was lost behind the mixture of astonishment and excitement in their minds. Cessily and Sooraya, and David and Nori whispered amongst each other, Victor just stared in surprise, and Julian smirked and fist-bumped Santo. "Rock on!" he said. Only Laura and Josh didn't outwardly respond, though Josh's feelings were a muddled blend of determination and anger. Of Laura's thoughts Xavier could feel nothing.

"Calm down, calm down," Scott said, motioning for silence. "This is not a command or order, but is entirely voluntary. I'm extending you this offer because for various reasons I believe you're the best-equipped to handle it, because you have the most to offer, or because you stand to benefit from the responsibility. It won't be easy. It certainly won't be glamorous." He eyed Santo closely. "And you'll also be expected to maintain passing grades in your classwork in addition to your training."

"Aw." Santo groused, and deflated noticeably, drawing chuckles from the others. Even Xavier had to admit to some amusement at that.

"Any of you who need the time to consider this offer you're under no compulsion to decide now. And I want you all to know that this isn't going to be mandatory. It's entirely up to you." Scott glanced at Julian. "Julian?"

"I'm in," Julian said, the smirk still on his features, and Xavier couldn't help but notice him standing a little taller and straighter. In fact, the fears that had been looming in the back of all their minds evaporated the moment Scott made the offer.

Scott looked to Santo, who nodded eagerly. "This is gonna rock!" the big mutant said, prompting groans and a roll of the eye from Victor, who just shrugged.

"Sure, I mean someone's got to keep him in line," he said, and jerked his thumb at Santo.

"Count me in," Nori said, and folded her gauntleted arms across her chest.

"Me too," David said, and Xavier couldn't help but feel a flare of anxiety from Nori in response.

Josh nodded. "Why not. I'm sure someone's going to need a healer sooner or later."

"Allah teaches to give of ourselves," Sooraya said, "and I can think of no greater service than to defend and help others. I accept."

"Me too," Cessily said. "Don't know about God and all, but I just feel like I want to do something, y'know?"

Only one voice had been conspicuously silent, and everyone turned to Laura. She felt the attention of everyone else on her and tried to shrink out of sight, with her feet drawn up on the chair and her knees hugged tightly against her chest.

"Laura?" Scott asked.

"Come on, Laura, you want to be one of the cool kids, don't ya?" Santo said, and Xavier fixed him with a stern glare.

"Santo!" he said. "This is Laura's decision alone to make. And none of you should by any means feel that you are being pressured to accept."

"It's entirely your choice, Laura," Scott said, and as Xavier reached out to her he could feel the turmoil hidden behind her stoic green eyes. The confusion overwhelmed her as she wrestled with the meaning of Scott's offer, and when Laura finally responded it was without words. She gave a small, uncertain nod, and Xavier closed his eyes in sadness.

She did not understand.

Scott studied her for a long moment, and then nodded as he regarded the entire group. "Then it's settled. Let me officially welcome you to the X-Men. I can only hope you survive the experience."

---

A Note From The Author

I knew from the start that there were going to be two main focuses of this episode: The first was the aftermath of Laura's actions in the season finale. Throughout Season 1 I deliberately kept her nature as secret as I could for those unfamiliar with the books, so hopefully the big reveal in 1x13 would come as much of a surprise to the audience as it did her classmates. That, of course, meant that there would be lingering questions about it among both. Well, of course I'm not going to reveal them all right away, I want more surprises to come! But I knew I would be dealing with how the other characters react to her; particularly Julian.

The second, is that I wanted to establish my team going forward. I'm sure most of you had guessed which characters I would be using based on Season 1 (and of course, I'm sure it's not a surprise to readers of KYost's turn on New X-Men). So that meant maneuvering the different characters where I wanted or needed them. Without M-Day that's obviously going to affect some of the relationships, but I nonetheless have everyone where I want them, and have the team put together.

The imagery of Laura on the playground alone was actually inspired by a piece of fan art on DeviantArt by Danni Torres. There was just something poignant about the idea, and the subplot of her encounter with Julian was built almost entirely around that idea, along with fundamentally changing the dynamic of their relationship. The interaction between Nori and David this episode also came about as something of a counterpoint of Julian and Sofia; the idea being to highlight the differences between them, and why the former relationship survived their problems at the end of the first season, but the latter didn't.

Jubilee high on painkillers and wanting to drag race the Professor was totally spur-of-the-moment, though.

There will be another episode this month, so look for 2x02 on or around August 15th. Until next time!