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)

19. 2x03 - The New X-Men

A Note From The Author

Hey all, just want to apologize for the delay, but the site's been freaking out and this was the earliest I was able to get in to upload this month's episode.

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2x03

The New X-Men

###

Act I

###

Her lungs burned and her limbs ached. The ground beneath her feet was hard, parched, and cracked, riven by deep fissures belching noxious fumes into the air around her that colored the sky a sickening yellow-brown. It stung her eyes and choked her, but still she ran on, exhausted and driven now only by panic.

Somewhere behind her a low howl echoed across the blasted mud flats.

She did not pause or turn in her flight, and instead plunged into a thicket of black, hoary bushes. There was no greenery, only razor sharp thorns like knives that clawed at her flesh as she passed through them, and tore deep gashes in her naked body. Blood flowed from the many wounds left by the thorns, and she felt her strength ebb. The calls of her pursuer were soon joined by responses on all sides, and she knew at once she was being run to the point of collapse, when the pack would spring on her for the kill. There was no reason guiding her as she fled now, only instinct, the desperate desire of prey seeking to escape the predator.

She forced her way through the thicket and back onto open ground once more. Without the tangle of brush to slow her she was able to pick up speed, but she knew it was hopeless. The pack closed in all around her, and bayed joyfully with the thrill of the hunt. Their eyes burned, their gaping maws slavered in their eagerness for a taste of her flesh, and their teeth glistened wetly in the thin light. The forms of her pursuers were perhaps vaguely wolf-like, but otherwise shadowy and indistinct. They ran without tiring, patient for her to make the misstep or stumble that was their cue to finish her.

Still she ran, seeking for the shelter of a distant wall of rock ahead, perhaps to find a defensible place where she might be able to stand and fight.

She would not make it.

Her head swam from loss of blood and want of breath. She gasped and choked, and her eyes were blinded by pain, fatigue, and the stinging gas vented into the air around her. And then she went down. Whether because she could run no further, or because her foot caught a rock, she could not tell. Only that one moment she was on her feet, and the next she felt her face smash into the cracked and desiccated ground beneath her.

And with a howl of delight the pack moved in for the kill.

###

Laura awoke with a cry. Her hand and foot claws burst forth in reflex born of constant drill, and she flailed wildly against the covers threatening to smother her. Her claws tore them to ribbons and filled the air with the down of her comforter.

As Laura came back to full awareness she found herself sitting upright in bed, drenched in a cold sweat, and with the gruesome remains of her latest blanket set lying eviscerated around her, while its fluffy insides floated down around her bed. Her heart pounded against her sternum and her breathing came in ragged gasps, and she clenched her fists and dug her fingernails into her palms to steady herself. A light clicked on, and soft, golden illumination speared across the dorm room. Sooraya raised herself up on one elbow, her dark hair disheveled and her brown eyes bleary as she wiped the sleep from them.

"Laura?" she said. Her tone and the manner in which her words were slurred betrayed she was not yet fully awake. "What is the matter? Are you alright?"

Minimal threat level, target disoriented and unprepared for defense. Quick and direct attack to take advantage of current state recommended...

Laura closed her eyes; the light of Sooraya's bedside lamp blinded her enhanced vision even across the room. She let loose a shuddering breath, and attempted to calm herself and silence her mind. Her claws retracted, and almost immediately the skin healed over, leaving no sign of the lethal adamantium blades stowed between the bones of her forearms and feet. The moment of panic that jolted her awake passed, and the pounding of her heart slowed and soon resumed its normal rate.

"Laura?" Sooraya said, more urgently now that her mind found clarity after having been awakened so suddenly, and she became aware of the state of Laura's blankets. "What happened?"

"It is nothing," Laura said, and pulled the remains of her covers against her chest, more out of shame at her outburst than any self-consciousness over her state of dress.

Sooraya sighed and sat up. "It is not nothing," she said. "You had the dream again, didn't you."

Laura looked at her sharply. Sooraya just gazed back, her brown eyes sympathetically regarded her, and she wore a concerned frown on her dusky features. Having spent her first few months at the school unable to see Sooraya's face due to her adherence to hijab, she was still unaccustomed to seeing her without her niqab. Laura looked away again, and pulled her shredded blanket even higher and tried to shrink out of view. "Yes."

"Would it help to talk about it? I am sure the housekeeping staff would appreciate it if we could find a way to get you to spare your covers." Laura glanced at her, and considered Sooraya's uncertain smile for a moment. An attempt to offer comfort by means of humor. No mockery intended.

Laura gave her head a short shake. "No."

Sooraya sighed again. "Laura, whatever this dream is disturbs you terribly. It is the third time this week alone."

She shuddered a bit at the vague memory of being pursued clinging to her mind, but otherwise she could remember nothing of the dream. Nonetheless, she found it strangely discomfiting.

"Laura?" Sooraya repeated.

"Thank you," she said instead. "You should sleep."

###

He was in the midst of a wonderful dream. Sofia came back to school, and they were taking a romantic walk beneath the trees in a quiet corner of the grounds. It was not too far off his birthday, and she wanted to see him! But the nagging sensation of being watched pursued him as they made their way along the shadowed avenues between the neatly spaced trees. He couldn't tell where it was coming from, and it persisted when he leaned in to kiss her. But before their lips met he came half-awake, and the dream world shattered into a million fragments of light that scattered into the darkness of his room.

And yet the feeling of eyes watching him remained.

Julian tossed and turned a moment, unable to relax and return to his dream while that something watched him. Then by chance he looked to the foot of his bed to see a shadowed figure hunched there. Immediately he shot bolt-upright in alarm, and gathered his power to him while his heart threatened to burst out of his chest at the unexpected sight. He fumbled for the light next to his headboard, and Laura ducked her head slightly to shield her eyes against the sudden brightness.

"Laura?!" he said in a hoarse whisper, equally incredulous and irritated to find her there. "What in the hell are you doing in here?" He kept his voice low, desperately hoping to avoid waking Santo, who snored loudly at the other end of the room. The last thing I need is him seeing her in here, I'll never hear the end of it.

She crouched cat-like on her hands and feet at the foot of his bed as if ready to spring. Her black hair was a disheveled mess, but her green eyes were alert, and glittered under the light of his lamp. She was also not wearing much, just her locket, a black camisole top, and a pair of panties, which added a bit of mortification that she would come sit on his bed in her underwear to his incredulity and irritation at her being there at all. Laura watched him with a strangely agitated expression. "I had a bad dream," she said.

The manner in which she said that was almost comically childlike. Or at least it would have been at any time other than... He glanced at his alarm clock and let out an exasperated groan as he saw the time. "Jesus Christ, it's three AM! What do you think you're doing? You just about gave me a heart attack."

Laura's expression turned confused, and she shifted from her cat-ready-to-spring posture, to sitting back with her legs drawn up to her chest and her chin resting on her knees. She hugged herself tightly, clearly discomfited by whatever led her into his room at three in the morning. "I ..." She hesitated, and screwed her features a bit as she tried to make sense of what she was doing. "I do not know."

Julian rolled his eyes. "Oh, wonderful. And how the hell did you get in here, anyway?"

"Through the door." She gave him a look as if the answer was blindingly obvious and he was a fool for not thinking of it.

"The door was ..." He pinched the bridge of his nose in aggravation. "You picked the lock?"

Laura nodded somberly.

"Will you just go back to your own room and go to sleep so I can, too?"

She shuddered, and tightened her arms around her legs. When she spoke her voice remained quiet, but her distress was clearly evident, and a jarring display of actual emotion he was unaccustomed to see from her. "I do not want to be alone," she said.

Julian gawked at her. "You're kidding me."

Laura gave her head a small shake.

"Why don't you go bother Sooraya?"

She shrugged, a very subtle rise and fall of her shoulders. "I do not know."

Julian flopped back onto his bed, grabbed one of his pillows, and mashed it over his face to muffle the snarl of frustration begging to be released. He stayed like that for a few moments, before peeling the pillow away from his face again. Laura still sat at the end of his bed, and watched him with big green eyes sparkling under the light of his lamp. Are you kidding me, is she actually trying to use puppy-dog eyes on me? There was something almost childlike about the way she hugged herself, and finally he couldn't take any more of it.

He heaved a sigh, scooted over and threw open his covers. "Alright, alright, fine."

Laura lightly crawled along the bed without another word, and curled up into the space he made for her. She pulled the blanket up over her shoulder, and almost immediately fell into a deep sleep. For a moment Julian watched her breathing slow and her body relax. As much as she unnerved him when awake, now she seemed like such a small and fragile thing, seeking comfort from him, of all people, for reasons she didn't seem able to explain. Her fair-skinned face was lost in the dark shadow of her unkempt hair, and she gave a small, contended sigh as if she indeed drew comfort from his presence.

Julian muttered quietly, put his back to her, and rolled himself into his blankets. He shut off his lamp again with a flick of his power, and as he drifted back to sleep himself, his last conscious thought was his awareness of Laura lying beside him.

###

Act II

###

The first thing of which Julian was aware when he aoke the next morning was Laura still lying curled up beside him. At some point during the night he put an arm around her, and she threw an arm across his chest to cuddle closer. Now she slept with her head nestled in the crook of his arm.

The second thing of which he was aware was the big blocky head of Santo watching him, with an amused smirk on his big stupid features, and a mischievous twinkle in his glowing blue eyes.

"Good morning, lover!" he said, his voice a touch too loud for Julian's taste.

"Shh!" Julian hissed, and carefully slid out from around Laura. She murmured something unintelligible, then sighed and rolled herself deeper into the blankets. "Keep your voice down!"

"D'awww, you don't want to wake her up?"

"I don't want anyone to know she's in here!"

"Why not? You looked so cute together. Y'know if you two need a few more minutes I can always come back ..."

Santo started for the door leading out of their dorm and into the hall, and Julian quickly seized the big rocky mutant with his power. "Don't even think about it, rock pile. The last thing I need is you blabbing about this."

Julian released him, and Santo folded his arms across his broad chest and glared indignantly over having been so restrained. "So what's she doing in here, anyway?"

"Hell if I know. I woke up at three in the morning, and there she was at the end of the bed watching me." He shuddered a bit at the fright she gave him, and wasn't sure what part of it unnerved him most: that she so easily broke into his room at all, or the way she decided to just sit and stare at him while he slept.

"Creepy."

"No kidding."

"So of course you decided to let her spend the night. Totally makes sense why you'd go for it, though. I mean, yeah, she's got that whole spooky goth thing going, but she's still smoking hot."

Julian let out a growl of exasperation and mopped his face. "Seriously, dude, don't even start with me this morning."

Santo regarded him thoughtfully for a moment, or at least whatever passed as thoughtfully for him. "So why didn't you tell her to leave, or just TK her out?"

He sighed and watched Laura sleep. In his bed. In her underwear. And the millions of embarrassing thoughts and comments that would ensue if anyone knew about it flew wildly through his head. "I don't know. Some stupid dream had her shaken up. If I didn't know any better I'd say she was afraid to be alone."

Santo scratched his head in confusion. "Doesn't she have a roommate?"

"Look, I don't know what's going through her head. You want an explanation, sit in on the Professor's next Psych class." Julian then looked pointedly at him. "And before you get any bright ideas, I meant that sarcastically. Seriously don't tell anybody about this."

"Aw, why not? I think it's sweet. You're just like a big teddy bear!"

"I mean it, rock pile! Or I'll TK you apart and use you to pave the walkways!"

Santo, however, knew better than to take the threat seriously, and just started making kissy faces at him. "I always knew you were really all fluffy and cuddly inside."

Julian let out a growl of frustration, and braced himself for the torment to come.

###

He woke slowly in a trash-strewn alley, wrapped in a completely inadequate blanket scavenged from some trash bin or dumpster. It was another cold morning, and his breath misted in the air as if he needed a further reminder of that fact. Christmas and the New Year had come and gone, but Kevin gave little thought to the passage of the days. The only thing on his mind now was food.

Kevin sniffled and wiped his nose, and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. His sleeping area was crowded into as sheltered a place as could be found in the alley, wedged behind a dumpster with only a few old and rotting cardboard boxes and a plastic trash bag to provide insulation from the cold asphalt beneath him. The sun was bright but cold, and outside the alley he could hear the blaring of horns, the rumble of traffic, and the background drone of thousands of voices as New York City awoke on this frigid winter's morning.

He pulled his blanket — fortunately he found one made of synthetic fibers — tighter around himself, and swept his eyes across the other human refuse taking shelter in the alley. Most had spent months, if not years, on the streets. Their clothes were filthy, and their faces were haggard. All of them were men; most of them older than him but there was one nearer to his age. Everyone stank of the streets and garbage around them. At first Kevin could barely stand the smell.

Now he wasn't aware of it at all.

Kevin sighed and reluctantly untangled himself from his bedding. His stomach was rumbling quite fiercely, and it had been weeks since he had anything approaching a decent meal. Under better circumstances he might have considered how the other men sharing his alley had gone even longer, but now he didn't care. All that mattered were his own needs, and he had only himself to rely on.

Some of the men stared at him with cold eyes. One of the bums assaulted him on his first day here to steal his coat. Kevin was still in the mad place, then (in fact he couldn't even remember the journey to the City after fleeing Salem). He lashed out without thought or hesitation, and grabbed him with his bare hands. The man's screams that night filled the alley, but Kevin didn't hear them. As he withered his assailant and reduced him to a pile of dust in front of the horrified denizens of the alley all he saw was the face of the man that took Laurie away from him. He cried himself to sleep that night in his grief.

No one else dared bother him since.

He could have gone to a shelter, of course, and avoided this entirely. District X had a place for people exactly like him; mutants with nowhere else to turn and who slipped through the cracks and were missed by the Xavier school, but Kevin knew he couldn't dare turn up in such a place. They were hunting him. He heard the sirens, the sounds of pursuit as he fled Salem after exacting justice on Laurie's killer. And he knew that Xavier would be sending people after him as well; maybe even the Wolverine himself. They couldn't take the chance of letting him run free. So District X wasn't an option.

Kevin stood, grimaced at the stiffness in his back, and tried his best to not let the hollow rumbling in his belly distract him. The rest of the men sheltering in the alley all hastily backed away, and gave him a wide berth as he made his way to the street in search of somewhere he could beg or scavenge a meal.

###

Sooraya made her way down the hallway from the dormitory steps, and her abaya swirld around her legs and floated with simple elegance around her. Although still rather early, the school was alive with the sound of voices in the dormitory hallway and in the lounge, and Sooraya smiled at the sense of peace permeating the grounds; a feeling whose return was gladly welcomed.

She turned into the lounge and exchanged greetings with Megan Gwynn, Melody Guthrie, and Fabio Medina. They loitered around the entrance waiting for Illyana Rasputin to join them. Rahne and Dani waved at her from one of the tables near the door before returning to their own conversation, and she traded several more pleasant "Good Mornings" as she made her way across the room to the dining hall. That was deserted, but she heard voices from the kitchen beyond, and she entered to find Cessily tipping back casually in one of the chairs eating breakfast with Victor and Noriko. Sooraya hesitated at the sight of the latter, but took a steadying breath and made her way to the refrigerator for something to eat.

"Hey, Soo!" Cessily said cheerily around a mouthful of Lucky Charms.

"Good morning, Cessily!" Sooraya said pleasantly, with a slight incline of her head. "Victor. Noriko."

"Morning, Soo," Victor said, and nibbled on a piece of toast. Nori just waved, her head propped up on one gauntleted hand while stirring a spoon aimlessly around her bowl of Cheerios.

Sooraya leaned into the refrigerator and rummaged around for a few moments until she found what she was looking for: a leftover platter of eggs with sejouk and flavored with herbs, from her last trip into Salem Center. "How is everyone this morning? And have any of you seen Laura this morning?" she asked as she backed out of the refrigerator, shut it behind her, and made her way for the microwave.

"Not bad," Cessily said. "And sorry, but I haven't."

"Me neither," Victor said.

Nori just shook her head. Sooraya put her food in the microwave and started it up on "reheat." She frowned behind her niqab; Laura insisted everything was all right, but she woke that morning to find her bed empty, as if she had not slept in it the rest of the night.

Her concern was masked behind her niqab,however, and none of the others seemed to notice. "You missed the announcement, by the way," Cessily said. "Mr. Summers dropped by and wanted me to pass along that our vacation is over and we start training today."

"How exciting!" Sooraya said.

"I'm actually a little nervous."

"It can't be that bad," Victor said, and set his toast down for a drink from the cup of orange juice at his elbow. "I mean they're letting Santo do it, right?"

Sooraya chuckled, and Cessily made a show of considering that. "Well, you've got me there. Although it doesn't take much to just stand there being indestructible."

"Oh come on, you know there's going to be more to it than that," Noriko said with a roll of her eyes. "We're supposed to be learning to work as a team, you know."

Cessily shrugged. "Well, that would be Santo's part."

"Nori is right, Cessily," Sooraya said, and folded her arms beneath her breast. "The X-Men have always functioned as a group. Even Santo must pull his not-inconsiderable weight."

The microwave beeped behind her, and Sooraya went about collecting her breakfast. "The real question is: Who is going to be team leader?" Nori said. "Every team needs one."

Victor grunted a laugh. "I know who's going to want to be. I'd be surprised if Julian hasn't already gone to Cyclops to volunteer."

Nori rolled her eyes. "Ugh, that's all I need, to be taking orders from Julian Keller. I might kill him before the end of the first day."

"Oh cut him some slack, Nori," Cessily said. "He's honestly not that bad. And I think it would be good for him."

"Oh please, he already has Santo following him around like a puppy, he doesn't need you to stroke his ego, too."

"I do think Cessily has a point," Sooraya said, and retrieved a fork from one of the kitchen drawers. "Although I would be concerned that he has the sort of bravado that would create too many dangerous situations of his own. But, that is something that being responsible for the lives of others could temper."

"Anyway," Victor said, "we haven't even started training, yet, so who knows how many of us are going to wash out. Let's not get ahead of ourselves."

They all nodded their agreement.

"Well, if you will excuse me, I think I will take my breakfast out in the lounge this morning," Sooraya said.

"We're supposed to meet in the Professor's office about nine o'clock," Cessily said as Sooraya started for the door. "Don't be late!"

Sooraya smiled behind her niqab. "Thank you! I will see you then!"

Sooraya left them to talk amongst themselves, and retraced her steps back through the dining room and into the lounge. As she was leaving she caught sight of Julian and Santo entering from the other end. Santo, it seemed, was giving Julian a hard time about something, and he dropped heavily into a chair at one of the tables along the outside wall, folded his arms on top of it, and buried his face in them. Sooraya frowned and made her way towards them. Though New York was still held firmly in the grip of winter, the sun streaming in through the large windows lining the outer wall felt warm and welcoming, though it seemed to do little to improve Julian's disposition.

"Good morning, Julian!" she said pleasantly when she reached the table. "Santo."

"Hey, Soo," Julian said. He never lift his head from his arms.

"Sup, Soo?" Santo said, a thoroughly amused grin on his stony features, and his arms folded across his massive chest.

"May I join you?" she asked.

Julian nodded slightly into his arms, so Sooraya pulled a chair out from the table, sat facing the window, and set her breakfast down on the table and began to eat. "Tell me, have either of you seen Laura this morning? I just found out we are to begin our training this morning, but she wasn't in our room when I woke up."

Santo snickered, and Julian lifted his head and glared. "I'm warning you, rock pile."

Sooraya looked between the two of them and frowned. "I'm sorry, is something the matter?"

"Just that you need to keep better track of your roommate," Julian said, and mopped his face.

"What happened?"

Santo's grin broadened into a full-on smile. "Ask Julian."

"Santo, I swear to god ..."

"Julian," Sooraya said, and laid a hand on his arm. "Do you know something?"

Julian let out a groan of frustration. "Look, you need to keep this under your hat. Niqab. Whatever."

Sooraya made a show of placing a hand over her heart and inclining her head. "With Allah as my witness, what you say shall not leave this table by my lips."

He sighed and lowered his voice to a whisper. "She broke into my room last night!"

Sooraya gawked at him, though the expression was lost behind her niqab. "She did?"

"That's not the best part, either," Santo said, much too loud for Julian's tastes to judge by the withering glare he shot him. The big rocky mutant gave no further mind to that than he did Julian's verbal warnings.

"What does he mean?"

"Look, you know her better than anyone, right?" Julian said.

Sooraya sat back in her chair and considered the question for a moment. "I suppose. I must admit that though we share a room and have talked from time to time, I'm afraid that Laura has in truth shared very little about herself with me. Mostly she just seems to listen."

"Well something about some dream she had freaked her out. I woke up about three o'clock this morning to find her staring at me, and she wouldn't leave."

"I know she's been having very bad dreams, lately; I suppose they began not long after Stryker's attack. But it's been particularly bad this week. She will not tell me about them, but it's clear they disturb her terribly." Sooraya frowned, and tapped her fork on her plate. "But I do not understand why she went to you if she desired company; I was right there all this time."

"Isn't it obvious? Laura is totally diggin' him!" Santo said, again loud enough to draw an irritated glare from Julian.

"Shut up!"

Santo just responded by making kissy faces at him.

"Julian, you didn't ..."

"No!" he shouted, and when the attention of everyone in the lounge turned in his direction his face colored, and he shrunk into himself in a useless attempt to hide from the eyes searching for the source of the outburst. "Of course I didn't. I let her stay, but that's it; I just wanted to go back to sleep and I couldn't do that with her there staring at me."

Sooraya frowned again. "I still find it curious she sought comfort with you, rather than talking to me."

"Look, I never know what's going through her head, and clearly you don't have any better of an idea. But she weirds me the hell out! All I know is this better not turn into a routine thing. She's got issues, alright? Real issues."

She sighed and considered her plate for a moment, and deftly lifted a bite of her eggs beneath her niqab. "Perhaps we ought to tell Jubilee?"

Julian's eyes widened at that suggestion. "No way! I do not want anyone else to know about this. If word gets out — especially to Quire — I'll never hear the end of it!"

She studied him closely and took note of the sincerity in his expression. It made little sense to her that Julian would be so defensive about involving the school counselor, but she also knew his pride and ego too well. It was a great concession that he had even been pushed into bringing Laura back when she left in the first place. She sighed again. "All right, I will say nothing. I did, after all, give you my word. But Julian, I still feel this is a matter best addressed by a professional."

"Yeah, well, I'm sure this will all blow over on its own and she'll find something else to freak everyone out over."

Sooraya just rolled her eyes and shook her head as she resumed eating. However the peace of the morning was soon disrupted once again, this time by a much less welcome voice behind her.

"Morning, Keller," Quentin Quire said, and Sooraya craned her neck to find him standing behind her shoulder, dressed in his usual punk-rock fashion and thick-framed glasses, a thoroughly unpleasant and smug grin plastered across his features. Sooraya was often at a loss on American fashion — Nori's nonchalance about her body and their conflict on hijab created no small amount of tension between them. Laura was no more modest with her preference for skirts and corsets, with a darker edge Sooraya found even more baffling — but Quentin Quire's gaudy mismatch of brightly colored blazers and plaid shorts, and his shock of pink hair, was particularly off-putting.

Julian mopped his face. "I'm really not in the mood this morning, Quire," he said. "Take a hike."

Santo's rocky features twisted into a scowl and he leveled a glare at him. "You heard him: Get lost before I mash you into paste."

Quire dismissed them both with a smile. "Really, guys? I'm just here to say 'Good morning,' and that's how you treat me? It's no wonder Mantega decided to go home to daddy, if that's how it is I wouldn't want to associate with you, either."

Sooraya sighed and buried her face in one hand. "Quentin, I do believe you have crossed the lines of what constitutes courtesy."

He shrugged. "Just making a point, Sooraya."

"The only point here is the one your head comes to," Julian said, and clenched his fists. Sooraya caught the telltale green glow emanating from his hands as he called his power. "So do I need to tell you again to get lost?"

Quire held his hands up in a mocking gesture of peace. "Hey, calm down, dude, I just wanted to see if his Majesty had any plans with the Royal Family back home for spring break in a couple months and all."

"Quentin!" Sooraya said in disgust. "You may not have the decency to stay out of other peoples' heads, but even you ought to know better than to make such comments of anyone."

He just folded his arms across his chest and stared over the tops of his glasses at Julian with a malicious grin. "Actually, I find it hilarious. After all this time of lording mommy and daddy's money over the rest of us, Julian Keller has descended from on high to walk among the rest of us rabble."

Julian gripped the edge of the table as he came to his feet, and his chair toppled over backward. His jaw clenched tightly and his blue eyes blazed with barely-contained wrath. Santo joined him, and glared down on Quire with his massive stone body towering over him. Quire, for his part, looked up at both of them without concern, and casually called his own power to him. Sooraya stood and vainly tried to place herself between all of them; if it came down to a battle between telekinetics there was little her power could do to stop them.

"Boys, please!" Sooraya pleaded. "This is not the place!"

"You want to go, Keller? I'm still dying to see how you measure up to me now; I already know exactly what you're going to do before you can even think it, and I'm willing to bet I at least match you in raw power. And as for you," he added, with a glance at Santo, "I think I'll turn you into a rock garden."

Santo smacked one fist into his palm, and the crack of stone beating against stone split the air. "You go ahead and try it. Imma use your scalp as a toupee when we get finished with you."

"Two against one? Really, Keller? You don't think you can take me on your own?"

"Leave him alone," said a low, dangerous voice behind them. Sooraya and Quentin spun around, and Julian buried his face in his hand. Laura had taken advantage of the confrontation to approach unseen, and now stood directly behind Quentin. She held her hands loosely at her sides but balled into fists, and her gymnast's body tensed to spring into motion.

If Quentin recognized the threat in her posture he didn't show it, and just flashed her a greasy smile. "Hey, Laura. What, you mean this loser?" he said, and jerked a thumb over his shoulder at Julian. "You could do way better. Y'know, someone like me. So what do you say, sexy Girlverine? Want to hit up Salem Center later?"

Laura's response came without words. A sharp, metallic snikt broke the silence, and Laura extended the claws of one hand, and stopped just short of his groin. Quire's eyes opened the size of saucers.

"Ouch," Santo said.

"I'll take that as a no," Quentin said, and raised his hands in surrender.

"Leave. Him. Alone," Laura said again with a dangerous edge in her voice. She circled around him to put herself between him and the rest of the group and glared coldly. Quire took advantage of the opening she provided to hastily back away.

"You should really put your girlfriend on a leash, Keller," he said, "although then again, she might be into that sort of thing ..."

Laura took a step towards him and growled, and Quire started off. "Alright! I'm going! I'm going! Jeeze are you frigid!"

Laura retracted her claws and she watched him go, then relaxed from her fighting posture. Sooraya released the breath she had been holding. "Thank you, Laura," she said, and slumped her shoulders. "Ordinarily I might not condone such a reaction, but in this case ...?"

"He should not have said such things about Julian," Laura said, and looked past her at Julian as she spoke. Sooraya looked over her shoulder to find him back in his seat again with his face buried in his hands. Santo watched with that amused grin once more on his features, and Sooraya had no doubt Julian would not be hearing the end of this from him any time soon.

"I didn't need your help," he said. "I could have handled that tool."

Laura frowned in confusion at his response, and Sooraya folded her arms beneath her breast and harrumphed at him. "Well, that is gratitude for you," Sooraya said. "You know the Professor would have just given you detention again if you and Quentin got into another fight."

He sighed heavily in recognition of her unspoken warning. "Look, thanks, but don't make a habit of it. I can take care of myself."

Sooraya sighed and rolled her eyes. "Oh don't mind him, he is just grumpy this morning, and that is probably about the best we can expect from him."

Laura hugged herself self-consciously, and averted her eyes from them. Sooraya raised an eyebrow at that; it was as if someone flicked a switch. "I should get breakfast. We are beginning training this morning."

And with that she started off towards the kitchens without another word, though Sooraya thought she caught a glimpse of green eyes glancing at Julian as she passed the table.

"Dude, she totally digs you," Santo said with that big, goofy grin etched on his features.

"I hate you, Santo," Julian murmured into his hands.

###

Act III

###

The gymnasium was an enormous facility in the labyrinthine subbasement levels deep beneath the school. Weights and exercise equipment of a variety of types and for every possible exercise Cessily could name dominated most of the space, but there was also a large open area that was, in turn, further subdivided for different activities. A regulation-length woven metal piste was laid out on the floor in one corner, and there were racks of epees, foils, and sabres, and a cabinet for storing masks, jackets and gloves nearby. They, however, gathered that morning around the padded mats dominating the part of the gym used for martial arts and floor exercise.

They all knelt barefoot on the floor, with Mr. Rasputin — that is Colossus, as he insisted they call him while training — towering over them all, his massive, muscular frame clad in a gi cinched around his waist with a black belt. They each wore a gi as well, only their belts were white (except for Sooraya, who merely tied her belt over her abaya). Cessily wasn't sure where they found one to actually fit Santo, but both he and Julian immediately began aping every kung fu movie they ever saw the moment they stepped out onto the floor. Nori immediately groused about how it looked, though David took it in stride. Josh said little, and Victor stood with Julian and Santo looking thoroughly embarrassed at their antics. Laura, however, was nowhere to be seen.

It took some time for Colossus to reign them all in, but now they watched and waited expectantly for him to begin.

"Good morning," he said, and his deep voice carried to fill the entirety of the gymnasium. "Professor Xavier and Cyclops have determined that you are to become X-Men." He smiled in amusement. "We'll see. Today you will beginning your training, with me and with the rest of the staff. It won't be easy. You'll be expected to work hard, and be diligent in your studies and exercise. Failure in any of these courses means you will be removed from the team."

"That's kind of harsh, isn't it?" Julian asked, prompting snickers from Santo, and eye-rolling from Victor and Sooraya. Cessily found herself torn between the two responses, so settled for a smile.

Colossus's smile faded and his expression turned into a stern glower. "I'm sure, Mr. Keller, that some of you see becoming an X-Man as something glamorous. I expect you to rid yourselves of that notion immediately; it's a privilege to be able to serve the school in this capacity. It's hard, and it's dangerous. There are many men and women who've come before you, and many have given their lives to defend the Dream. All of us are willing to perform that sacrifice ourselves if necessary."

Josh raised his hand. "With all due respects," he said, "Some of us have already made sacrifices."

He nodded. "True enough. But you are here to learn and listen. The lessons to follow are meant to keep you alive, and teach you how to work as a team. We begin, however, with the self-defense course, which will hopefully significantly increase your chances of the former."

Julian raised his hand this time, and waited for Colossus to nod at him. "Why bother with this? I mean, we've all got powers. If some dude gets up in my face I'll just TK him, right?"

"And what will you do if you find yourself in a situation where your powers don't work? There are some mutants who might be able to turn them back against you. Or you may find yourself facing an adversary who can outright nullify them. What will you do then?"

"Stand behind Santo and let him mash them into jelly."

They all laughed — even Nori and David, in spite of themselves — and Colossus gave them all a moment to enjoy the quip. "Santo is indisposed. Perhaps he is on a different part of the field, or maybe — just maybe — the enemy has found a way to incapacitate him, as was done during Stryker's attack."

Colossus folded his arms across his massive chest and took them all in. "I can't stress enough the importance of being able to defend yourself without your powers should the need arise. And that is where your training begins." He beckoned to someone standing behind them, and they all craned their necks to see whom he was motioning to.

An astonished hush fell over them when Laura circled around the group and approached the mat, her diminutive figure clad in a gi tied with a black belt. Her black hair was pulled back into a neat ponytail, and it was perhaps the first time Cessily had ever seen her without her locket. She bowed stiffly at the waist and said something in Japanese to Colossus when she reached him, then turned and stood in a relaxed stance with her hands clasped behind her back.

"Dude, even her Japanese sounds like she has a stick up her butt," Nori muttered to David.

"Ms. Kinney has agreed to assist me with teaching this class," Colossus said. "All of you, I am sure, are aware of her ability, and there is a great deal you can learn from her. Now, none of you to my knowledge have received formal and accredited martial arts training prior to coming to the school ..."

He trailed off when Santo raised his hand. "I wrestled before I got my powers, does that count?"

Julian buried his face in his hands. "Wrestling isn't real, rock pile."

"Yuh-huh! Wrestling is totally real!"

"That's enough," Colossus said. "Santo, your prior experience will certainly prove useful, although not everything will apply. Now, can I have a volunteer to come up to demonstrate some basic techniques with Ms. Kinney?"

"Hey Julian, you should totally do it and get some time down on the mat with her," Santo said, and jabbed him in the side with one rocky elbow.

Julian's face turned a brilliant shade of crimson, and he flopped over on his back with both palms hiding his face from the others. Sooraya facepalmed as well, all while Santo watched the reaction with his usual stupid, goofy grin. Cessily frowned and looked between them and Laura, who stood with her usual mute stoicness and seemed just as confused by Santo's comments as she was.

"Santo, I swear to God I'm going to start TKing you apart piece by piece, and then I'm going to hide them so you can never put yourself back together again."

"Well, Mr. Keller?" Colossus asked.

Julian peaked out from behind his hands. "Yeah, no, I'm not getting up there."

Colossus regarded him with a raised eyebrow, then turned his attention to the rest of the group. "Someone else, then? Mr. Foley?"

Josh's golden skin paled a bit, and he shook his head. "I'm a healer, right? If things are that bad that I have to fight we're already screwed."

"Nori?"

Nori shrunk down into her gi. "Um. Pass."

"You mean you don't know karate?" Santo asked.

Nori glared at him. "Why? Because I'm from Japan? Hey Santo, you're Italian, I'm sure you must own a gondola, right?"

"Are you kidding?" Julian said, "I don't think he can even spell 'gondola,' Pikachu."

"And I'm from Boston, anyway," Santo said with a pout.

Nori folded her arms across her chest and let out an aggravated growl. "Mr. Rasputin, I mean Colossus, can't I just kill him, instead? You know, just a little?"

Colossus rolled his eyes and sighed. "Perhaps when you're working with your powers later. Now, will anyone volunteer, or do I need to pick someone?"

Cessily sat on her hands, and Victor's skin tone changed color in a vain attempt to blend into the background. David looked between Julian and Nori, and set his jaw resolutely. "I'll do it," he said, "if we can do some free sparring to start."

Everyone regarded him with some surprise as he stood up and stepped out onto the mat.

"Very well," Colossus said, and quirked a grin. "Fortunately we do have a healer present, though please try to avoid joint locks and breaks for now."

Laura bowed to David, David returned the gesture, and both took up defensive postures.

"Ten bucks says she floors him with one punch," Julian said.

No one accepted the bet, and David glanced sidelong at Nori when she kept quiet. "Really?"

"No offense, baby, but I saw first-hand what she did to trained mercenaries, remember?" She turned her eyes on Laura. "Please don't break my boyfriend."

"If you're ready," Colossus said, "you may begin. Remember, you are fighting without your powers."

Cessily watched David and Laura circle one another. They each shifted from stance to stance, and sought for an opening. "Sweep the leg!" Santo shouted, and he and Julian began trading every martial arts movie cliché they could think of.

Laura struck first, and snapped off several kicks in quick succession, which David effortlessly batted aside. He caught her foot on the last and twisted her to the ground. That immediately shut Julian and Santo up, but if Laura was surprised at being upended she didn't show it, and quickly and easily rolled herself back to her feet again the moment she struck the mat. David didn't give her much time to recover, however, and waded into her. A tense, electric silence hung over the rest of them as they watched the fight rage back and forth across the mat, neither David nor Laura able to obtain a clear technical advantage, and only Laura's healing factor-enhanced reflexes, strength, speed, and stamina (which she couldn't exactly turn off) provided her an edge in the fight.

Nonetheless, Laura never succeeded in landing a solid blow against him. David always just managed to keep up with her, and once or twice even managed to take the initiative away. Finally, just as David was beginning to visibly tire, Colossus called a halt to the fight.

"All right, that's enough," he said. "Very good, David, I'm impressed, I wasn't aware you'd studied in the past; it wasn't in any of your transcripts."

"Just a few things I picked up here and there," he said, and panted for breath. "I think I'm a bit out of shape, though."

Laura said nothing, and just eyed him thoughtfully before they bowed to one another and David took his seat again next to a visibly stunned Nori.

"Now then," Colossus said, "I'd like to break you up into pairs, and we'll begin with some basic techniques ..."

###

Cessily and Nori made their way out of the women's locker room, and stepped into the hallway outside the gymnasium. The walls and floors were sleek, shiny, and bare, missing all of the rich décor of the inhabited areas of the mansion above the subbasement, and everything was lit to almost oversaturated by the light panels in the ceiling. Nori tugged at the high collar of her uniform; a one-piece leather jumpsuit that zipped up from waist to throat. It was black overall, except for a broad yellow stripe running up her stomach from the belt around her waist, over the tops of the shoulders, and down her back to her waist again. The collar was black but trimmed with yellow piping, while more yellow piping traced an X inside a circle at the ball of each shoulder, and also provided additional detailing down the lengths of her arms and legs. This was finished off with knee-high black leather boots.

Cessily wore one to match, the only difference in them being Nori's short sleeves to accommodate her gauntlets.

"Ugh, I am sore in places I didn't think could be sore," Nori grumbled as they made their way up the hall to meet the others.

"I'm sorry," Cessily said, and hooked her thumbs through her belt. "I tried not to overdo it."

"It wouldn't have been so bad, but most of the locks and stuff that Colossus was teaching us didn't work on you!"

Cessily gave a small, humorless smile. "Yeah, no bones, and no real joints. Score one for the liquid metal. Makes me wonder how my hair works, you know?" As if to emphasize the point, she pulled her hair back and gathered it into a simple ponytail.

"And can you believe what they're making us wear?" Nori said with disgust. "Oh my god, who would ever think this looked good?"

They rounded a bend to enter the briefing area; a small amphitheater facing a bank of flat panel displays. Santo's enormous rocky figure burst in from another direction, clad in an oversized suit to match theirs, though his top was completely sleeveless (whether by design or because he accidentally tore them off trying to fit into it Cessily couldn't tell). "Check it out!" he said to Josh, who was seated on one of the curved benches, and his voice boomed excitedly through the room. "We've got uniforms!"

Cessily snickered and hid her smile behind one hand. "You were saying?"

Sooraya, clad in her abaya and niqab, laughed as Santo made a show of strutting around the room, and clapped her hands. Julian and Victor filed in behind him, and Julian buried his face in his hand while Victor rolled his eyes. "You look marvelous, Santo!" Sooraya said.

"Hey, how come you don't have to wear one?" Nori asked at the sight of her.

"Cyclops excused me on religious grounds," she said. "Though I appreciate the importance of a uniform appearance if we are to be a team, I'm unable to wear something so, shall we say, flattering."

Nori frowned, and looked down at herself. "You must be kidding me, you seriously think this is flattering?!" She spun around in a circle trying to look herself over, and Cessily laughed as she made a show of checking Nori out.

"Well, it certainly is quite, ah, conforming."

"Ugh, at least let me cut out the middle!" She placed a hand across her abs. "I worked hard for these just so I could show them off!"

"Don't worry," a voice behind her said. "When we're done you and I can sneak off and have look all to ourselves." David adjusted a pair of sports-style glasses, and looked her over. "Although maybe these have an X-Ray setting..."

Cessily's eyes widened. "Woah, X-Ray specs?"

David took off the glasses to look them over. "No. At least, not yet, but Dr. McCoy decided as long as I need to wear them they ought to do something more useful than just help me see better. He and Ms. Pryde are still playing with the software, but they want to try using them as a way to feed information directly to me from the mansion's computer databases. Kind of like a mobile intelligence center."

"Coooool," Nori said, but then pouted and clasped her hands in front of her. "By the way, I'm sorry I didn't take Keller up on his bet earlier. I didn't know you'd actually studied ..."

Nori trailed off when Laura entered the briefing area, and headed straight for David. She, too, was dressed in the new training uniform. "David, may I ask you a question?" she said, and showed no consideration for the semi-private moment she just interrupted.

David gave the back of his head a nervous scratch. "Yeah," he said, and Cessily raised an eyebrow. From the tone of his voice it sounded an awful lot like he knew exactly what that question would be.

"Where is it that you learned to fight?"

"I, uh, kinda borrowed a few things from you."

Laura cocked her head and blinked. "The purpose of the exercise was to learn self-defense without the benefit of our powers."

He sighed. "Yeah, I know, I'm sorry. But Julian was being Julian and someone needed to put him in his place."

Laura considered that for a moment. Nori fixed David with a look halfway between disappointment and amusement, Sooraya chuckled, and Cessily quirked a grin of her own while David squirmed. "You cheater!" Cessily said, and shook her head. "Ok, I'll admit the look on Julian's face when you matched Laura was pretty funny, but you cheater!"

"How much of my knowledge did you retain?" Laura asked

David shrugged. "None of it. As soon as the group broke up and hit the showers, and you were out of range, I lost it. I won't pick it up again unless—"

He never had a chance to finish. Laura threw a fast straight jab that struck him right in the nose. David's head snapped backwards trailing an arc of blood, and he went down in a heap. Cessily stood transfixed in astonishment at what just happened, Sooraya gasped and pressed her hands to her mouth beneath her niqab, and Nori scrambled to catch David before he hit the ground. For a moment silence filled the room while the rest of the group processed what just happened, then Julian and Santo broke out into an uncontrollable fit of laughter.

Laura stood relaxed over David, who held his nose against the blood streaming between his fingers, and Nori glared up at her. "What the hell is the matter with you?!" she said. The lights flickered and arcs of electricity danced across her body.

"Jesus Christ, Laura!" David said, his voice muffled by his hands and sounding strangely nasally. "What was that for?"

She cocked her head to one side. "The purpose of the exercises this morning was to be able to defend yourself without your powers. You used your powers to artificially gain my skill, and now that it has faded you lacked the ability to counter my attack."

Nori barked out a string of Japanese invective and shot to her feet. Cessily quickly placed herself between the two girls, and Julian and Santo continued to laugh. "Woah, hey! That's enough! Yeah, Laura, I think that was a bit over the line," Cessily said. Nori tried to rush her, but she and Sooraya strained to hold her back.

"Seriously, what the hell?!" Nori said.

"No, she's right," David said from the floor. "I cheated just to make Julian look like an idiot. Harsh as it was, it was a pretty effective way to make the point."

"That's still not an excuse for punching my boyfriend in the face!"

"Look, Nori, it's all right!"

Cessily and Sooraya kept a firm grip on her until she finally calmed down, and shook them both off to crouch next to David and inspect his nose. She discharged her power into her gauntlets, and steadily the lights settled down. "Ew, I think it's broken. Seriously, Laura? You didn't need to do that."

"Nori, I said it's all right," David said. "Look, can you just help me over to Josh so he can do something about my nose?"

She sighed and helped him back to his feet, and David hung an arm around her shoulder as Nori guided him to the bench. Julian was red-faced and gasping for breath, and leaned against Santo for support.

"Oh shut up!" Nori snapped, and helped support David while Josh went to work mending his nose.

Cessily sighed and looked at Laura. "You really didn't need to do that," she said.

Laura frowned in confusion. "David accepted the demonstration was appropriate."

"He was only trying to prevent a fight," Sooraya said. "In the end there was no harm done, but perhaps in the future you ought to consider such lessons more carefully. Not everyone would be so quick to forgive in such cases."

Laura hugged herself tightly, and shrunk down into herself. Her face flushed in embarrassment at the faux pas. "I will take that under advisement."

"Come on," Cessily said, "let's get over there. But let's find a seat away from David; I think we better keep you away from Nori for a while."

###

It took Julian a few minutes to get his laughter under control, but somehow he just couldn't stop thinking about how damn funny it was to see Laura punch Alleyne's lights out. Especially after that stunt he pulled in Colossus's class. It made concentrating on Cyclops's lecture that much harder.

Mr. Summers stood down on the stage area of the briefing room dressed in his uniform, though he wore his sunglasses rather than his visor. The team was scattered around the benches. He, Santo, and Victor sat off by themselves in the back corner; cool kids sat in the back, after all. Foley sat with Alleyne and finished up a few last touches on his broken nose while Ashida fussed over him. Cessily and Sooraya took Laura about as far as they could from Ashida and Alleyne while still being in the same room, and Julian smirked in their direction.

That was definitely a hell of a sucker-punch.

He turned his attention back to Cyclops, who was still droning on about...something. Julian heaved a sigh and folded his arms across his chest.

"Good morning, and welcome to your first day of teambuilding," he said, and swept his eyes across the crowd. "The first thing I see when I look at you, is that you're divided; all of you scattered throughout the room, and grouped with your friends, I see. I'm afraid that's really not going to do. You nine are a team, and that is the focus of what we'll be addressing in this course. So I'd like for you to begin by sitting together; not in your own little cliques, but together as one group."

Julian frowned. "What, now?"

"Yes, Mr. Keller," Cyclops said, and folded his arms across his chest and spit him with a ruby-quartz-lensed glare. "Now."

"Man, he's probably gonna make us sit in a circle holding hands next."

Santo snickered under his breath, but the three of them got up and moved to join Foley, Ashida and Alleyne, while Cessily, Laura and Sooraya did the same. Julian rolled his eyes and sighed when he found himself seated next to Laura on the bench. She squirmed a little in uncharacteristic unease, and Julian couldn't help but feel her green eyes flick in his direction. He folded his arms across his chest and kicked his legs out in front of him.

"Not today. The campfire sing-along is next week." Cyclops waited for them to get settled, and then nodded. "Very good. All of you were selected for this team for a variety of reasons. Each of you brings your own unique gifts and talents, and it's forging those disparate parts into one functioning whole that is going to be the true strength of your team."

"Which makes me the Face of the team, right?" Julian said, and twitched one corner of his mouth into a cocky grin and made a show of rubbing his chin. "Because it certainly is a gift to look this pretty."

"We certainly didn't pick you for your sense of humor." The others laughed (aside from Laura, who just seemed lost as to what was so funny), and Julian chuckled at the riposte. Oh yeah, me being taught by Professor Stick-Up-His-Butt. This is gonna be a blast.

"Teamwork is at the heart of all we do. But I'm not going to stand here and lecture you. There are nine of you, so I will be dividing you into three-man squads. These squads will rotate members from week to week, giving each of you opportunities to work together." David raised his hand, and Cyclops nodded at him. "David?"

"Work together towards what?"

Cyclops twitched one corner of his mouth into a smile. "A little competition."

"Wouldn't it be better to have two teams, then? With three, any head-to-head matchup means one team would either be sitting out, or could be doubled up on."

Julian rolled his eyes. "Considering your powers pretty much just means you're really, really smart, how do you not realize how dumb that is? Even Santo can count to nine, and two teams means one team would have one more person than the other."

"Yeah!" Santo said, and frowned. "Hey, wait a minute ..."

"While Mr. Keller's tact leaves a lot to be desired," Cyclops said, "He's correct. It wouldn't be possible to divide you without giving one team a numbers advantage."

"Then again," Julian said, and made a show of studying his nails, "You could always make Alleyne the odd man out, not like Poindexter's power is going to contribute much, anyway."

Nori glared up at him, and even Alleyne bristled at the comment. Cyclops just regarded him without emotion. Or at least any Julian could see behind his glasses. "And what makes you come to that conclusion?"

"I'll give you a couple reasons: First, I heard the Purifiers were able to block telepaths, right? Even Dr. Grey couldn't punch through them. If Alleyne's power is telepathic, he couldn't pick up anything useful from them. And as for pulling skills from us, what if we run into TP area-denial?"

"TP area de-what?" Santo said, and scratched his head.

"Second," Julian said, and raised two fingers for emphasis, "It's all temporary. He skill-grabbed her—" he jerked his thumb at Laura "—to show off during Colossus's self-defense class, and he lost it as soon as he was out of range and turned back into a total poseur again. Which means he's only as good as the people he's around at that moment. It's kind of redundant."

Cyclops raised an eyebrow behind his glasses. "Mr. Keller, I'm impressed. That's actually a very astute, and well-reasoned argument."

Julian smirked again in satisfaction, and made sure Alleyne and Ashida could see it when he puffed out his chest.

"But I want to make this very clear: There are no useless powers, and even the most powerful of abilities can't address every situation. What matters is how you apply them, and that's where learning to function as a team becomes important. Perhaps Mr. Alleyne's power may have limitations, but what matters is how he uses it together with the rest of you. However, I think we'll take Mr. Keller up on his challenge: Two teams, with David as the extra man. Does that work for you two?"

Julian shrugged dismissively. "Sure, bring it on."

"Fine by me," David said, and glared over his shoulder at him.

Cyclops twitched his mouth into a grin. "It's settled, then. And I see no reason not to jump right in."

###

Act IV

###

Scott watched from the darkened observation deck with his arms folded across his chest. Flat panels arrayed on the console beneath the one-way windows in front of him provided feeds from throughout the chamber beyond, allowing him to watch every nook and cranny while the kids worked their way through the obstacle course set up in the chamber beyond. Essentially configured as a giant, indoor paintball range, hardened barriers cordoned off parts of the floor to create a labyrinth of twisting passages, with other obstacles and hazards providing hiding places and ambush sites. The only illumination was provided by a few spotlights, and smoke machines further reduced visibility.

The purpose of this configuration, of course, was to create a difficult to negotiate environment that didn't exactly mimic actual battlefield conditions, but forced the participants to think creatively about their powers.

"How are they doing?" came a voice from the door leading back out into the subbasement hallway, and Scott looked away from the monitors for a moment to see Jean leaning against the frame of the hatch, backlit by light spilling into the observation deck from the hall.

Scott returned his attention to the monitors he was watching. "It's like a melee in there; they're on teams, but not working together. A couple big egos, and most of them aren't sure how to coordinate their powers."

Jean stepped the rest of the way into the observation deck and door shut behind her, plunging it back into darkness. She leaned over the console, and the glow of the terminals bathed her an eerie, pale blue. "It's their first day. I seem to recall it took you, me, and Storm a while to learn how to complement each other, and that's with the advantage of a full telepath."

Scott conceded her point with a nod. "Julian's team is up by a point, and they have the ball now."

"What are the teams?"

"Julian, Nori, Laura, and Cessily. Then David, Victor, Santo, Josh, and Sooraya."

"Uneven numbers? I thought we were splitting them by threes?"

Scott smirked. "Mr. Keller's suggestion."

"Ah," Jean said, and nodded. A small smile crept across her face after she brushed his mind and picked up the gist of his thoughts. "I take it David hasn't risen to the challenge?"

"He's trying, but not having a lot of luck with it yet. I'll admit his power isn't the easiest to apply in this situation, but I think it's just because he hasn't learned how to use it more creatively yet."

"He'll figure it out, I'm sure. As it's telepathic in nature I'll be sure to arrange some one-on-one time with him to see what we can do."

Scott nodded, and grinned. "It's like you read my mind."

Jean chuckled softly, and regarded one of the monitors. "Looks like something's about to get interesting," she said, and motioned at the display.

Scott slipped around behind her to look, as much for an excuse to thread an arm around his wife's waist as to see the monitor, and gently rested his chin on her shoulder. "What have we got?"

"Take a look for yourself."

###

Julian flattened himself against the wall, and gripped the ball tightly against his chest. The corridor he was heading down ended and branched to the left and right, and he felt his heart pounding somewhere around his throat when he approached the juncture. So far he had seen no sign of either his or Alleyne's team for some time in this round, and with the poor lighting and all the smoke filling the maze of twisty passages — all of them very much alike — it was difficult to make out just where he was.

He heard a noise from around the corner and froze, and gathered his power to him. A figure appeared through the smoke, and headed right towards him without breaking stride, almost as if they knew he was there. When they got close enough Julian could make out their features in the darkness of the Maze he didn't exactly relax his hold on his powers.

"You are going the wrong way," Laura said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"No I'm not," he said, more out of a need to feel in control of the situation. In fact he got himself quite lost while dodging Sooraya when he ran across her unexpectedly, and only narrowly escaped her after ducking through several twists, turns, and reversals.

Laura sniffed audibly. "This way," she said, and then darted off back the way he came.

Julian hesitated a moment, then sighed and followed after her as she quickly made her way through one passage after another with the unerring certainty of a bloodhound following a scent, and Julian was flabbergasted that she was able to tell one corridor from another. "Are you sure about this?"

"Yes, I spent the first ten minutes of the match memorizing the layout of the passages."

He frowned; Laura disappeared the moment Cyclops began the timer and this was actually the first he'd seen of her since. So that's where she went.

Laura reached another juncture; the passage they were following split in two. One corridor angled off to the right, the other more to the left. "Wait, I remember this, it's to the right," he said. "That will take us right to the goal at the middle."

She reached out and grabbed him by the arm when he started forward, and dragged him back. "Hey! What's the big idea!" he snapped, and violently shook her off. Laura flinched back at the rebuke, but said nothing. Instead she slowly started up the corridor...

...and with an audible snikt her claws extended, and flashed in the dim lighting as she spun and buried them in one of the wall panels to her right. Right next to Victor's head.

"Shit!" he blurted out, and ducked her blow and dropped his camouflage in alarm.

Julian gave him a smug grin. "Nice try, Vic, but I think this means you're out for the rest of the round."

Victor stood with his back pressed against the wall and panted heavily while he tried to force his heart out of his throat and back down into his chest where it belonged. "All right, all right. Jeeze, Laura, you didn't need to almost take my head off!"

Laura withdrew and retracted her claws. "You should set your ambushes downwind."

"I'll keep that in mind next time."

They left him there and proceeded down the corridor, and now Julian chose their direction with confidence. He turned left, and then right, right again, and then left, past a few other openings on either side. Laura followed along in his wake, her gymnast's figure tense and alert, and her green eyes swept the corridor on either side. At times she paused for an audible sniff of the air, and turned her head this way and that in a manner that immediately made Julian think of a dog pinpointing a distant sound.

I guess she has her uses. Victor would have absolutely had me if she hadn't been there.

Julian frowned and cast a quick glance over his shoulder at her. That was twice today she stepped in on his behalf; first Quire, and now this. What was her deal, anyway?

They came to the end of the passage, and Julian paused. Beyond was a wide, open space accessible via several other passages entering from the four compass points. There was no other cover, and a spotlight cast a brilliant white light on a raised platform at the center. In the middle of the platform was their goal: the basket. All Julian needed to do was get the ball inside, and with less than a minute left on the clock victory was assured.

Of course that also meant getting past the walking mountain of rock between him and the basket.

"Oh crap, Alleyne made Santo goalkeeper ..." Julian said, and felt his heart sink. He pressed himself against one wall of the passage to use the shadows for cover, while Laura took a position opposite him. Her slender figure all but disappeared into the shadows, except for the blaze of yellow highlighting her uniform.

"Can you hit the basket from here?"

Julian considered the distance, but shook his head. "If he wasn't there, sure, but even Santo would be able to cover the goal."

Laura considered that for a moment. "I can take care of Santo."

"You what?" Julian gawked at her, but Laura didn't even look at him, and just studied the distance between them and the goal.

"The ground is too open for me to reach him unseen. Can you get me over there quickly? Santo needs to be taken quickly. I can do it, but I need surprise."

"Yeah, but you know he can turn you into a bloody smear with one hit, healing factor or not."

"I will take him out," she said. "You score the point while he is down."

Julian just stared at her for a moment. Jesus Christ she's insane. "You're sure about this?"

"Yes. Do not miss."

He sighed and levered himself away from the wall, and called his power to him. "All right, it's your funeral."

Laura stepped away from the wall, and Julian reached a hand towards her and took hold of her with his power. The green aura formed around her body as he lifted her from her feet, and Julian was struck by how aware of her he was when he touched her with his power. It was always a strange sensation whenever he telekinetically touched another person; he could feel every breath she took, the subtle pulsing of her blood circulating through her, the beating of her heart, and every twitch of her muscles. And if he really, really concentrated he could even stir her finer hairs if he wished. Julian felt his face heat when his thoughts started to run away with him, and he forced himself to focus his attention on the task at hand.

"Ready?" he asked, and gently steered her body to take aim at Santo in front of him, who was so far oblivious to their presence.

"Now."

And with that, Julian unleashed his power, and Laura was flung across the open space between them and the goal, fast and straight as an arrow. Her claws rang, and before Santo could even process what just happened she struck him hard. Julian nearly overshot his mark, but Laura buried the claws of one hand in Santo's rocky shoulder, and used that to swing around and seize him from behind. Momentum and leverage took care of the rest. Santo yelped, and she spun him into the ground with a deafening crash.

"Dude! Unnecessary roughness!" he cried out, but Laura dropped herself onto his broad chest and leveled her claws at his throat.

Julian strutted across the floor and made a show of stuffing the ball into the basket, and the point was recorded with an alarm and flashing red lights in the floor around the platform. "Score one for the good guys!"

The chamber's lights came on, and Julian blinked at the searing white light stabbing his eyes out. Laura shielded her face against the sudden change in brightness and rolled off Santo. The rest of the class made their way out of the Maze to gather around the platform (except Santo, who remained flat on his back and moaning about the chips Laura gouged out of his shoulder) when the exit hatch opened, and Cyclops entered with Dr. Grey. They strode across the floor and waited for the rest of the team to gather around before speaking.

"Well," Cyclops said, "that was certainly entertaining, and I hope you all enjoyed the exercise."

Cessily sidled up to Julian and Laura, and Ashida joined them. She folded her gauntleted hands across her chest and stared at the floor, and Julian scowled at the thought of her sulking even though their team won. Josh, Sooraya, and Victor helped Santo back to his feet, and they all gathered next to Alleyne, who looked just as crestfallen as Ashida.

"We kicked ass is what we did," Julian said, and shared a high-five with Cess. Laura just watched the display with bemusement, and Ashida refused to partake in the celebration.

"Oh yeah," Alleyne said, and glared. "Just look at the team you had."

Santo folded his arms across his broad, rocky chest, and scowled down at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Cool it, Santo," Victor said, "David's got a point. No offense Josh, Soo, but Julian had the perfect team: Nori can move faster than any of us if she's charged, Julian's TK can keep any of us from even reaching the basket if he's goal-tending, Cessily can shape herself like a wall to block off a passage and we'd never know we were walking past her, and Laura could pick us off one-by-one and none of us would even see it coming."

Cyclops folded his arms across his chest and took them all in. "Individually, yes, Julian's team members had a clear advantage in this matchup. However your team also failed to work together to take full advantage of your own strengths.

"It's not about the score, and if that's the takeaway you kids have of this exercise, I can see we have a lot of work to do. Yes, Julian's team won, but you were all acting as individuals. Now, Julian and Laura, come forward, please."

Julian frowned and stepped forward to stand next to Cyclops. Laura hugged herself tightly and tried to shrink down into herself (though the effect was lost without her oversized jacket) when she came forward as well, clearly uncomfortable at being made the center of attention.

"I did want to call out one thing I liked seeing: The final point was scored not by raw power, but by working together. Santo is without question a very formidable opponent. He's bigger and stronger than anyone else on this team, and one-on-one almost certainly could have successfully defended the goal. However by working together, Laura and Julian were able to take him out of action quickly for the final point. This was the only time during the entire exercise that any of you demonstrated what it was actually all about."

Julian smirked triumphantly at the praise, and straightened to his full height with his hands on his hips. Laura just shyly ducked her head and shifted uncomfortably. At times he thought he caught flashes of her green eyes flicking in his direction, but Julian brushed it off to bask in the adoration of the others.

"I would like for you all to consider this as we break for the day," Cyclops continued. "We'll certainly be revisiting this in the days and weeks to come."

###

"I can't believe we're doing this," Julian grumbled, and slouched in his chair.

"Come on, Julian," Cessily said between sips at her caffé macchiato. "Just give it a chance, will you?"

They were all crowded together around her favorite table at the Grind Stone. On her left, Nori contented herself with sitting in David's lap to help make room for the others, with Santo the odd-man-out, sitting backwards in a chair somewhat behind and between Julian and Victor. Laura squeezed in between Julian and Sooraya, and Josh sat quietly between her and Cessily. There were a few other patrons in the café at the other tables, though they mostly ignored the party with only a few curious looks. Luna, of course, jokingly expressed her dismay at the sight of all of them piling into the establishment at once, but quickly went to work serving drinks and snacks (and most important to Cessily, a big plateful of those cherry tarts).

"Look, Cyclops says we're supposed to be a team, right?" she said around a mouthful, and relished the sweet-and-tart flavor of the cherries. "I just figured, you know, it wouldn't be a bad thing for all of us to hang out together for a change."

"Yeah, well, I'm only here because it's you," Julian said, and shot a dirty look at David and Nori.

"It's no picnic for us to be here, either," David said. Nori just reclined into his arms and made herself comfortable, though the tension as they and Julian stared one another down across the table was palpable.

"Can we please just all get along for at least one night?" Sooraya asked. She cupped her Turkish coffee in her hands, and fixed them all with an annoyed glare. "Cessily is right, I think this is a wonderful idea; we are, after all, going to be spending a lot of time together. I know we all have had our difficulties in the past—" She gave a significant look at Nori as she said that, which didn't go unnoticed by Cessily or, frankly, anyone else at the table. "—but that does not mean we cannot learn to live with one another, and perhaps all even become friends."

Julian snorted a laugh. "Me and Alleyne friends? I know faith's kind of your thing, Soo, but you're asking a lot."

"I can't believe I'm saying it, but I actually agree with Julian," David said.

Sooraya just smiled at them both behind her niqab. "Perhaps, but just to be sitting together at this table, and neither of you have yet attempted to kill the other is, I believe, marvelous progress."

Cessily smirked. "She's got you there."

"So like, now that we're X-Men—" Santo said.

"We're not X-Men yet, Santo," Victor said over him with an annoyed roll of his eyes. "We're just in training."

"—doesn't that mean we should have, like, names now?"

"What, like codenames?" Nori asked, and leaned away from David long enough to retrieve her cup of coffee from the table for a drink. "Like Cyclops, and the other staff?"

"Yeah," Santo said.

"I thought that was something they were going to give us when we were ready for them," Cessily said with a frown. Come to think of it, neither Cyclops nor the Professor had said much at all about what they could expect aside from what the day's orientation classes revealed.

"I don't see why they should get to do it," Julian said, and a broad grin lit up his face at what Santo was saying. "I'm with Santo. We're X-Men, now. And that means we should have codenames."

"Rock on!" Santo said, and fist-bumped him. Victor just groaned and mopped his face.

"God, do you realize how cheesy it is when you say that?" he said. "I mean first uniforms, now he wants a codename. Pretty soon we'll be on to catch phrases. This is real life, dude, not a comic book."

"Well I think it is a wonderful idea," Sooraya said, and looked between everyone gathered around the table. "In fact, I think that it would be most fitting for us to name each other."

David groaned. "Oh god, that won't end well."

"What's the matter, Urkel? Afraid we'll give you something stupid?" Julian said, and smirked across the table at him.

"As a matter of fact."

"Ok, ground rules," Cessily said. "It's got to be nice, and we each get veto power, especially if it's something stupid."

"Sounds fair," Nori said, and waved her coffee cup in Santo's direction. "Well this was all his idea, so the walking pigeon perch should start."

"We could always just call him Rocky," Josh quipped, the first thing he said since they sat down. He took a sip of his drink and went back to his quiet brooding.

"Nah, that's pretty lame," Santo said.

"Let's just use Rock Pile. That's what we call him most of the time, anyway," Julian said.

"Yeah, but you don't mean it nicely," Santo said, and pouted. "It hurts me on the inside."

Cessily considered for a moment. "Well it's totes got to do with you or your power somehow, right? So why not Rockslide?"

He considered that for a moment, and his dopey, rocky features lit up. "Yeah, Rockslide. That's totally bad ass! So, uh, what about you, Cess?"

Cessily lifted her hands in front of her and turned them over to study her gleaming silver skin closely under the lights of the café. "Well, Dr. McCoy says my skin is very similar to mercury, so maybe something like that."

"Nah, that's too plain," he said. "Oh! We can call you Quicksilver!"

David buried his face in his hands. "Santo, first: Mercury and quicksilver are the same thing. Second, Quicksilver is already taken."

"Oh."

"I think Mercury works just fine. I mean if you're going to own what you are, then own it," Julian said, and smiled in her direction. Cessily raised her cup to him and took a drink.

"So what about you?" she asked.

Julian considered for a moment, and rubbed the line of his jaw. "One of the last things my mom said to me before she and dad shipped me off here was that I was a hellion heading for trouble." He scowled at the memory, and Cessily felt her heart (or whatever it was she had that passed for one) ache at the pain in his features. Much to her surprise, Laura looked away from the cup she had been quietly staring into ever since they sat down, and turned her eyes towards him. Cessily studied her closely, but her expression was unreadable. "That's probably the last thing from the heart my parents ever gave me. Call me Hellion."

The others considered that, and murmurs of agreement made their way around the table. "Totally appropriate," David said. "I'm sure you'll live up to it."

"Think you can do better, Poindexter?"

"Please, sit back and watch: So I can do anything any of you guys can, short of duplicating your powers, and even if I don't retain it, it helps me learn faster than anyone else can."

"Yeah, you're a regular prodigy."

David smirked. "Exactly."

Julian widened his eyes incredulously. "What, that's it?"

"Prodigy," Nori said, as if testing it out, then smiled. "I like it."

"So what about Nori?" David said.

"Sparky?" Cessily suggested with a giggle.

"Oh my god, I would die," Nori said.

"I know," Victor said, "Overload."

"That's actually kind of cool. And pretty much describes what my powers do to me." She raised her gauntleted hands and flexed her fingers as if to emphasize the point. "But I'd like something that's more like what I'd do to someone else, please."

"There's always something like, Tesla," David said. "You know, for Nikola Tesla?"

"No offense, sweetie, but I don't think anyone else will get your nerd reference."

"Surge?" Sooraya offered, and Nori considered that for a moment.

"Yeah, Surge," she said. "I like it; it's short, simple, and to the point. And a whole lot less negative."

Cessily shrugged and grinned into her cup. "Surge it is. But I still like Sparky, better. You're up, Soo."

"I know!" Santo said, and his voice all but shook the Grind Stone to its foundations. "Sooraya turns into sand. We can call her Sand!"

"Yeah, that's not going to come across as in any way insensitive or anything," Victor said from behind his hands.

"Actually," Sooraya said, "I have no trouble at all acknowledging who I am or where I came from in such a manner. Though perhaps a name that is a tad less abrasive."

Julian groaned. "Isn't there a special hell for puns like that?"

Sooraya chuckled, and the corners of her eyes wrinkled with the smile hidden behind her niqab.

"Well, if not Sand," Victor said, "to keep with the theme, how about Dust?"

"I think that would do quite nicely," she said. "Dust it is! And as for yourself?"

"I'll just call you Sweetiekins," Santo said, and put a massive arm around his shoulder. Victor all but disappeared under it as he sat and fumed.

"Does he really have to be on the team?" he asked.

"You're kidding, right?" Julian said. "I'm not going to be the one to listen to him moan when we tell him he can't play."

"New Rule," Cessily said. "Santo: No more ideas."

Santo deflated and hung his shoulders. "Aw."

"Anole," Josh said, and Victor considered it for a moment, before replying with a shrug.

"Good enough, I guess. So what about you, Josh?"

"Already thought about it."

"Foley's easy: Golden Boy," Julian said.

"And that's not it." Josh set his cup on the table and folded his hands in front of him as he thought for a moment. "The Elixir of Life from mythology was said to be able to grant immortality, heal wounds, and cure illness. All of you, even David, have powers that can be used in a fight. Me? I'm just a healer. All I wanted to do was use my powers to help people, and it's something Laurie loved about me. Alchemists and adventurers spent lifetimes seeking out the Elixir of Life, but I can do all of that with a touch, and maybe do some good, for her." He picked up his cup again and took a sip. "Elixir."

Silence hung over them as his words sunk in, and everyone bowed their heads somberly.

"Wow," Julian said, and spoiled the moment of reflection. "Way to sap the life out of the room, Foley."

For his part Josh gave him a lopsided smile and raised his cup to him. "Just helping all of us keep a little perspective."

They all shared a small, melancholy laugh, and Cessily turned thoughtfully to Laura. "Well, that's all of us but one: It's your turn, Laura."

Laura looked up from her cup, and Cessily thought she actually saw a hint of trepidation in her green eyes. "My turn?"

"Yeah, you need to pick a name!"

She frowned. "My name is Laura."

Julian rolled his eyes. "Your codename!" he said, a note of impatience in his tone. For Julian, particularly the way he treated her until recently, Cessily found it a remarkably restrained display at that.

"I do not want another name," she said. Her voice turned very quiet, and she tried to shrink away from the attention focused on her.

"Dude, you gotta have a codename!" Santo said, and to Cessily's amusement his expression actually turned alarmed at the thought she might go without. "I mean, it's like part of being an X-Man!"

Laura shook her head, and huddled down into her chair. Cessily frowned at her. "What's wrong?"

"I do not want another name," she repeated, and Cessily was astonished to see just how distressed she was over that matter.

"Look," Julian said, "we're all doing it, and we need something to call you whenever we go out on missions. Morticia? Wednesday? Maleficent?"

"Julian," Cessily said in warning, but the admonishment was lost on him.

"Oh! I know! She's kinda like the Wolverine, right? So we can call her, like, Honey Badger, or the Ferret, or something like that!" Santo said.

"Guys, back off," David said, having also picked up on her discomfort.

"Although you kind of have to give Santo some credit for staying in the same animal family," Victor said.

"Laura?" Cessily said.

"I do not want another name," she said again, and there was a small catch in her voice that caught everyone by surprise.

Sooraya reached out and gently laid a hand on her shoulder. Laura flinched at the contact, but otherwise remained in her chair. "It's all right, Laura, part of this is all just meant a bit in fun. And it would not be taking away your name, but adding a new one; one of your own choosing. Even Mr. Logan has taken on a name."

Laura seemed to consider that for a moment. She lifted one of her hands away from her cup and held it up, and slowly extended one of her adamantium claws. Julian tried to back away as best he could, but was blocked in by Santo's bulk and Victor next to him. Laura ignored him, and just studied her claw for a long moment. She turned it this way and that with a strangely thoughtful expression on her delicate features. Cessily idly wondered how she, too, came to have such claws, and more to the point found herself asking whether it was connected to why she found it so difficult to open up to any of them about where she came from.

Such thoughts were interrupted when Laura finally spoke again, and her voice was so quiet they almost didn't hear her.

"Talon," she said, and retracted her claw.

Laura retreated back into herself again after making that pronouncement, and none of them said another word on the matter. Sooraya lightly patted her on the shoulder, and Cessily smiled at her. Across the table Santo was beaming widely; apparently choosing her name initiated her into some secret club that existed solely in his own mind. Julian's expression was much more difficult to read, but Cessily saw, or thought she saw, the barest hint of a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

###

Act V

###

"Hey man, spare some change?" Kevin said, and reached out with one gloved hand towards the suit walking down the street. The man recoiled from him with a scowl, his features twisted in disgust.

"Get lost, kid," the man said, and continued on his way without slowing.

Kevin curled his lip and glared at his back, and for a moment he saw himself seize him and use his power before taking everything he needed from his shriveled corpse. He blinked and violently shook the vision from his head, but it clung to him at the back of his mind, gnawing at him like the hunger in his belly. And it was a hunger; killing the man who murdered Laurie satiated something deep within him, as if his power was an entity all its own, hungering, desiring to be used, and demanding sustenance.

He balled his hands into fists and forced himself to discard such thoughts, and turned his attention back to the crowd making their way down the street, his hands stuffed in his coat pockets and feeling a small wad of cash and change. Enough, perhaps, for the evening if he kept to the bargain menu at McDonald's.

A tall and leggy blonde made her way past him, and Kevin stepped out into her path. "Spare some change, miss?" he said, repeating the entreaty he had been making all day. She sighed, wrinkled her nose in disgust, and looked through her purse.

"I think I have a couple bucks," she said in a tone that was more annoyed than sympathetic. She rifled through her purse and came up with two crisp dollar bills and stuffed them into his hands. "Here."

Kevin accepted the money with a slight incline of his head. "Thank you, miss, thank you!"

She quickly returned to her own business, and Kevin allowed his eyes to linger on her swaying backside as she continued away from him down the street, before adding the money to the crumpled wad in his pocket. The sun sank towards the west, and streetlamps flickered to life with the approach of night. The temperature was dropping rapidly, and Kevin's belly rumbled audibly. All that awaited him for shelter was the cold, hard ground behind the dumpster, but at least he could do something about his empty stomach.

Kevin started up the street, his hands stuffed into his pockets and ignoring the stares and disgusted grumblings of anyone who passed within a few feet of him. Perhaps he ought to make a visit to the Y to make use of the showers, but somehow he doubted he'd even make it through the front door.

A pair of figures loomed up ahead of him, catching him by surprise in his distracted state as he thought about the idea of a hot bath and a full belly, and he nearly ran right into them before he realized they were there.

"That's far enough, freak!" one of them said in a voice rough from the street. When Kevin looked up he recognized them as a couple of the men from the alley.

The street quickly emptied with the approach of night, and Kevin found that he was alone aside for himself and the men blocking his path. He sighed. "Look, I don't want there to be any more trouble."

"It's too late for that. We all know what you are, and we won't stand for it anymore."

Kevin's eyes hardened, and he doffed his gloves. The men shrunk back at the unspoken threat. "Look, that's nice you guys grew some balls. But I just want to be left alone, you got—"

He didn't get to finish. Something struck him hard in the back of the head, and the next thing he knew the pavement rushed up to greet him.

"Get his coat!" he heard someone shout through the fog clouding his senses. "And see if he managed to score any cash!"

But before he felt course hands grabbing him and stripping him of his possessions, one of the men let out a strangled cry. Kevin raised his head, and found himself staring at the two men from between the legs of a hunched figure standing between them. His assailant's faces were white with terror, and they stood trembling as the figure advanced on them. Kevin tried to get back to his feet, but his legs refused to cooperate, and his head spun dizzily. The best he could manage was flopping down onto his backside and watching the confrontation brewing in front of him.

It didn't last long; the two men immediately spun around and fled in a raw panic, leaving their stricken accomplice (who slipped in behind him while the other two acted as a distraction). There was no sign of an injury on him, but the man groaned pitiably and didn't so much as move. Kevin just scowled at him, and resisted the urge to punish him for the assault.

"Are you alright, boy?" his rescuer asked, and Kevin tore his eyes away from his attacker and looked up into a lined and weathered face framed by long silver hair. In her youth, the woman standing over him might once have been strikingly tall, but now her figure was bent with age, and she leaned heavily on a short, black cane. She wore a heavy and battered old coat and wool trousers, with a plain russet scarf wrapped around her neck to keep out the bite of the wind. Her voice was as rough as her appearance, but kind, and along with her eyes — which were large, clear, and a soulful brown Kevin thought he might lose himself in if he gazed into them too long — Kevin found it remarkably soothing.

"Yeah," he said, and rubbed his head. "I guess."

"Stand up and let me have a look at you," she said, and with an effort Kevin complied as if it were a command. His head swam and he staggered a bit unsteadily, but he managed to stay upright while the woman looked him over.

"You poor child," she said. "When was the last time you had a good, hot meal, and slept in a real bed?"

Kevin hugged himself, and fidgeted uneasily under her scrutiny. "It's, uh, been a while," he said. "Look, I appreciate the help, but I don't think you want to get mixed up in my troubles."

She waved him off. "Oh, don't be silly, boy. Come with me, I don't have much, but I can at least offer you a roof over your head for the night."

"No, really," he said. "Look, it's best that—"

She cut him off. "And as for your troubles?" She chuckled, a strange, raspy sound in the back of her throat. "Your troubles are our troubles, I think."

The woman stared him deeply in the eye, and Kevin saw, or thought he saw, a strange flicker in their depths. The woman smiled slyly while he studied her, and the realization struck him like a thunderbolt. "You're a mutant?"

"Indeed I am. Now then, why don't you come along with me and we'll see about getting you cleaned up. And then you can tell me what such a handsome young man is doing all alone begging for pennies on the street.'

The woman started off down the street back the way he came, and Kevin stared after her for a long moment. Then he retrieved his gloves from where he dropped them, and hurried after her.

###

Julian stirred in his sleep at the sensation of being watched, and slowly he came awake. For a moment he tried to return to the dream from which he had been dragged, but the feeling of eyes on him persisted and he just couldn't shake it off enough to drift back into its warm embrace. He sighed and turned on his light...

...and Laura, crouched cat-like at the end of his bed, ducked her head to shield herself from the sudden change in illumination.

He sighed and mopped his face. "Are you kidding me?"

Laura said nothing, and just sat at the end of his bed, her features both troubled and deeply confused.

"This is so not happening," Julian said. "You got me? You've got your own room, and you've got a roommate who actually has the patience to deal with your crazy at this time of night. So go on! Shoo!"

Despite his annoyance Julian couldn't quite bring himself to add more vitriol to his demand she leave, and his tone only came across as frustrated and mildly irritated. A part of him wondered exactly why he didn't just TK her out again, but somehow in spite of himself he couldn't do it. Laura flinched at the dismissal nonetheless, and while he wouldn't describe the look in her eyes as pleading, her distress over the recurring dream Sooraya described was clearly evident.

He sighed. "Why me?" he asked, and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Why not Sooraya? Or Cess? Hell, get a cat!"

"Oh just kiss her good night and go to sleep so I can, too!" Santo grumbled from the other bed, and Julian rolled his eyes and flopped onto his back.

"You're killing me, Laura." He sighed again. "All right, all right. But this is it, got it? No more sneaking in here staring. Tomorrow you find another way to deal with this. Got it?"

"Ok," she said.

Julian murmured a string of curses and turned his back to the spot he opened for her on the bed, and Laura settled in next to him. She almost immediately fell into a deep, peaceful sleep, her back pressed against his. For a long time he stared at the wall, before finally reaching out with his power to shut off the light.

---

A Note From The Author

Lots of setup for things to come going on in this episode. Some for the near future, some that will be on the burner for a bit, but all eventually going somewhere.

We get our first look at the Danger Room, if not (yet) by that name. To be honest, I found that a somewhat difficult concept to figure out how to work in. However futuristic the tech of the X-Men, the films have generally kept things much more grounded than the books, and giving the Danger Room the full Holodeck treatment was problematic. I decided instead on making it more like a modular arena with practical equipment instead; one of those things that keeps the spirit while still being a bit more grounded. Especially since I'm keeping its setting more contemporary, rather than the mid-2020s setting of Days of Future Past.

Ironically, I wrote the description of the kids' training uniforms long before the Deadpool trailer hit, so the similarity with Negasonic Teenage Warhead's uniform was entirely a happy accident.

Now, when I was writing out the beginning, in the back of my mind I suspected the scene between Laura and Julian might generate a small amount of controversy. However, aside from wanting to have some fun with the shippers, the end of 2x01 left them in kind of an interesting situation that will be driving much of their relationship in season 2. All this time Julian has treated her pretty badly, and Laura has more or less accepted it because it's how she's accustomed to being treated. But now he's changed in his attitude towards her, and she's both confused and intrigued by this. I've always seen her as someone who responds to kindness almost automatically (thus my theory of how Zebra Daddy got his hooks into her. It's also a very real way that abuse victims are trapped by their abusers), so we see that here: as he warms to her she's drawn to that. She's also seen Julian at his most vulnerable; he's trusted her with something very private that he never even shared with Santo, and that in turn has laid the foundations for her trusting him in a way that's unique among the others. So when she's upset and distressed by the dream, she turns to Julian.

The way I see it, however advanced Laura is in some areas, she lags behind significantly in others. Her protests in 1x01 to the contrary, I see this as resulting in situations where Laura is very much a child, and with no other frame of reference she has a tendency to react impulsively and on instinct where her feelings are concerned. Her dream upset her, she's unaccustomed to such feelings, and instinct tells her to reach out, so she turns to Julian without really understanding why she's drawn to him.

At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

The "naming scene" is, of course, inspired by the scene from First Class, and I tried to work in as much of how the different characters got their names in New Mutants Vol. 2 as I could. Obviously there's some modifications (IE, with no Emma Frost there's no Hellions, so I decided to subvert how Hellion got his name by having him choose something negative, which certainly fits the way he's been broken down over the last few episodes), but I tried to be true to it nonetheless. Laura's chosen codename is technically her actual codename. Or at least what Kyle and Yost tried to establish, had Editorial not gotten in the way. As such it only appeared a few times in the book, but I chose to use it here. I also wanted to play up how Laura is almost always called Laura by her friends and teammates in the books, and is only occasionally called by a codename, by putting some actual psychology behind it.

I'd really have liked to have revealed what happened to Wither earlier, but I just didn't have time in 2x02 and it really didn't fit the action of 2x01 (though in hindsight it could have fit thematically fairly well with Laura running away). It's unfortunately one of those things where I only have so much room per episode, and only so many episodes to work with. This is also why Stryker's fate is still up in the air at this point. There's just so much to get through these first couple episodes.

And now that I've about doubled this entry with commentary, I suppose it's time for me to sign off. See you next month!