---

---

It had been some time since Luna had found James pouring over notes he was working on and muttering to himself about wiring and how to rig something up for this place. It was then that she noticed James muttered to himself a lot. She had taken his notes from him, reviewed them and made a couple changes that she thought may work better and then it was the two of them working closely and bouncing off ideas in order to rig up power, heat and water for the Underground.

Luna loved working with her hands like this, it had always steadied and calmed her. Machines were fixable. A missing wire a busted part, once you found the problem it was easy to fix. People, people were not something fixable. You had to read them, be sensitive, be compassionate and understanding. That wasn't something Luna could do easily but with James, she seemed to be able to relax a bit more around him. It helped that they shared a common interest and the whole, 'you saved my life' thing.

Luna was taking a break from getting a wiring harness assembled so they could start working on lighting. She sipped on her water and looked over at James. "So how did you get into this work? Who were you before the Underground?" Luna asked James.

When Glimpse had come over and offered help, or injected herself into it really, he was more than happy to have another pair of hands on the project. There was a seemingly endless number of tasks to complete to bring their new home up to standard and every pair of hands helped. Not to say he didn’t enjoy it. James loved having things to do with his hands. Feeling useful made him happy and being able to practice the vocation he was going for anyways prior to all of this made him doubly so. It was fun working with someone who had a similar skill set. Made it feel a little less survival and a bit more professional and James appreciated that more than he could say.

“I have a dual degree in mechanical and electrical engineering. My family owns a few businesses across the fields and I always liked working with my hands so it just made sense. My uncle is an electrician and he works with a few construction contractors. I was apprenticing with him before I got wrapped up with sunshine and Max.” James replied, avoiding the subject of his dad. He fiddled with the tools they had for a second before continuing. “I was going to open my own mechanic shop but clearly life had other plans. How about you? What were your plans for life?”

"What you see honestly. I've always worked with my family, this is one of my first operations outside of the family and I'm grateful for the challenge I guess you could say. I was always in the lab with my father, watching people from all sorts of fields working hard but I had an affinity for mechanics and so got my schooling for Mechanical engineering and when we were weren't out fighting, I was in the lab fixing and building." Luna sipped on her water and looked around at the different tools, wires and generators they were responsible for keeping running. Hopefully they would be able to stay here for awhile, it would be a shame to need to leave after getting everything in place.

Surprise hit him as he grabbed his own water, taking a long gulp with a satisfied sigh. “I’m surprised you left a lab for this. I don’t mean any disrespect for our little space but it’s not a high end lab. Hell, I’d kill for my dad’s garage right now.” James commented as he looked around pointedly. “So all you wanted to do here was keep them up and running? Seems like a downgrade for someone with your background.”

Luna laughed and nodded. "A million euro lab is one hell of a place don't get me wrong but, I wanted something for myself. I've always been in my father's footsteps and trust me, I look up to him and he's my dad after all but, I wanted something outside of him and my famous family. Sure there aren't all the bells and whistles here but that challenge is half the fun," she said and nudged him. "Look at what we created here. I know many people in my father's labs who wouldn't be willing to get their hands this dirty."

James smiled when she nudged him, nudging her back. “You’re not wrong. These aren’t conditions anyone sane would have an interest in maintaining.” James shook his head with a laugh. “I will say, it is nice to have a project that I have to work on without anyone hovering over and directing me. The challenge is refreshing and working with someone rather than under someone is a breath of fresh air.”

James chewed his lip and took a moment to just watch her. He knew it was probably a little weird but when the anxiety kept him up at night, he’d do a quick head count in the mornings and Luna was always the first one on his list. He had hoped it’d have died down but sometimes someone would shout or he’d hear something heavy hit the ground and it was like he was back there all over again with that aching stillness in his chest and his hands covered in her blood. He shook his head to clear the images and turned back to look over their little set up.

"Let's hope this one doesn't get blown apart by the Hellfire Club again." James sighed. It was a lot of work for some laser blasting jerk to take it all apart. He glanced at her again. "Can I ask you something and if it's too heavy a subject then we can move on from it but how do you cope with everything we've been through? I can't stop thinking about all the people I've seen hurt and what could have happened if things were even worse. I mean, Casper after the Morlocks was an inch away from death, Jack was in rough shape, all the kids after Vulcan nearly brought a building down on them, Sapphire and Havok nearly bleed out, and your heart literally stopped. I just can't stop thinking about it all and sometimes it's just so much, you know?"

Luna genuinely smiled and nodded. It had been nice having someone to work with and she had learned a few valuable things from James, not only in mechanics but with people as well. She watched him watching her, seeing something shift but let him try and work it out. Luna generally tried to stay out of prying too much. She didn't want people thinking she was reading their minds constantly or something. She wasn't completely surprised by his question. It was a question they all had at some point and time. Luna picked up one of their tools and weighed it in her hands.

"Death has followed me my entire life. My first power developed after nearly drowning. I reached out to my father telepathically and he managed to save me. My family, we face death every day. I would watch them go and not know if they would be back to tuck me in at night or have breakfast with me in the morning but they always pushed me to not stop living my life so I didn't. The worry is always there, the fear of losing them but I don't stop living because I was raised not to." She looked back at James and rested a hand on his knee. "To be honest James, I fix things, things I know I can fix and make new, that's how I deal. When I was stabbed... I still see it, I still feel it. Most nights I wake up sweating from reliving it. For you though, you literally had my life in your hands. You've saved so many of us already. I don't know how you keep doing it but you still keep living, keep saving. That's all we can do. Get up and do the next right thing."

James listened intently as Luna spoke, nodding where appropriate. He smiled weakly at the comforting gesture and he took a few minutes before he spoke again. “I know that it makes sense but… I’m still scared shitless. You do what you can and you don’t what you can’t and you make your peace with it but I know what happens when you can do something but you aren’t there to do it.” Like when he was fucking around in D.C. and his entie life was burning down in Oregon. “And I’m terrified. The aftermath of that was awful. I shut down for almost four years, Luna. I settled my family issues, I got two degrees that take four years each, I moved almost as far away from everything I came from, and restarted before I felt even a semblance of normal again. I mean, where do I go from here? Where could I possibly go that the guilt and the horror couldn’t follow me?” James sighed and leaned a little on her. He felt a little better saying all that but even so, he definitely needed to see if Casper was okay with a cuddle night. It was going to be another bad sleeping night, he could already feel it.

“Well, that was depressing. Thanks for being here for me though and I’ll keep your advice in mind. It’s just been eating at me for a while but I’m sure everything will turn out fine. We’ve made it through so far.” James said decisively. “And you’re right. All we can do is keep moving forward and contribute what we can so that’s what we’ll do and hopefully it won’t all crumble down around us.” James took another gulp of his water and smiled at Luna. “Anything on your mind? God knows I spilled my guts to you without warning.”

Luna watched James with sympathy, she had become close with him in these last few weeks and she didn't like seeing him this way but was at the very least glad he was getting it out. "Maybe returning to Oregon might help settle some of that guilt...Talking to them. You wouldn't have to go alone. I would go with you, Casper too I'm sure. There will always be people to save but sometimes we need to save ourselves first." Luna rested her head on his when she leaned against him.

He moved to drink some more water and Luna laughed when he asked if she had anything to get off of her chest. "Now that is a loaded question," she told him. "It's nothing, pressing. I just want to make something of myself that isn't surrounded by the reputation of my father. Pride is a horrible companion."

“I don’t think wanting to make a name for yourself is a terrible thing.” James said, happy to side step the going back to Oregon issue. There wasn’t anything to go back to. He hadn’t been speaking figuratively when he said his life was burning down back then and he was more than satisfied to keep that in the past. No need to open old wounds. “I mean, you’re trying to do that while you’re here, chasing rats out of moldy walls and shitty electrical jobs, not bending people to your will or kidnapping them. Plus you’ve done a good job for as long as I’ve been around so a little pride is warranted, as much as my opinion matters on that anyway.”

Luna looked over at James and smiled at him before she hugged him. "Thank you James, for everything. For saving me of course but for being a friend as well. I don't have many of those." She looked back at the work they still had. "Well, shall we get back at it?"

James hugged her back. "Of course. I'm always here if you need someone." He said, turning back to their project. He looked at it, looked at the lighting, and sighed. "Why did there have to be rats?

---

---

A few days had passed since the Underground's visit from Professor Xavier. In that time, Waverley went about her new life in her normal anxious manner, struggling to adjust to the impoverished lifestyle of the Underground. But, amid the numerous panic attacks and her search to find her place in all the chaos, she watched one individual: the scraggly young man she'd come to learn was named Casper. She was no spy, but throughout her days, she eyed him as inconspicuously as she could, watching his movements, learning which room was his. She couldn't help feeling a little guilty for keeping the boy under such close surveillance, but if what the others had said was true, if he really could speak to the dead, it'd be worth it.

So Waverley watched, and waited, waited for the boy to be alone in his room, without his brother, without anyone to interrupt. Once it seemed like that was the case, she slunk up the stairs with her head down, and then through the hallway. She stopped at room five, taking a deep breath, before gently knocking on the door.

Casper was facedown on his pillow, wearing only a skirt and nothing else. He enjoyed the breeze that it gave him when he walked. His brother was off doing something for one of his clients as a private investigator and Ben was... what was Ben up to? Casper had meant to leave a movie or something for him playing, but there wasn't anything in there to allow them to do that. And unfortunately books were only helpful to Ben if Casper was turning the pages for him. "Hey, there's someone at the door," Ben said, perched on Jack's bed. He looked bored out of his mind, but wouldn't you be, if your only company in the afterlife was Casper?

"Is it Black Tom Cassidy?" Casper muttered into the pillow.

"Do you really want me to check?" Ben asked, getting off of Jack's bed with a sigh. "Why would Black Tom be here anyways? I thought he was based in the UK. Or New York in the off season."

"Why would my father get his withered old ass down to D.C.? It's a weird time to be alive, Ben. Tales of suspense - wait, no, tales to astonish are unfolding!" Casper protested. He still hadn't moved from his position on the bed, unable to see Ben walk through the door and return a moment later.

"It's Feedback."

"...Shit. Tell her I'm not home."

Ben rolled his eyes. "He's not home!" Ben shouted. Of course, no one but Casper was able to hear him. All he could do was watch Casper waste his life, taking for granted everything that Ben sorely missed.

Waverley furrowed her eyebrows as she heard a soft muffled mumbling coming through the door. She couldn't make out what he was saying, but it didn't sound like there was anyone in there responding to his words, and if there was, she couldn't hear them.

"Um, sorry, I didn't quite catch that," Waverley said, her face close to the door. She hesitated for a moment, before continuing. "Was it something along the lines of 'come in'?" she asked, her fingertips on the doorknob. Part of her wanted to just go in, but she knew barging in wasn't going to win her any points. And she needed all the points she could get for the favor she was planning on asking.

Casper groaned, rolling over and then half-crawling, half-collapsing out of his bed. He really didn't want to deal with Waverley today - but then again, he never wanted to deal with this. He knew that she was probably here to get answers about the one she had lost. He banged his head up against the door for a moment, practicing a wide grin, before he pulled it open. Aside from his skirt, he was entirely nude, allowing Waverley to see all of his tattoos and imperfections. "If you're here to borrow a cup of sugar, I gave it all to the wolf."

Waverley, who'd been leaning in close to the door, jumped a little when the door suddenly popped open, revealing the lanky man who she'd been looking for, in all his skirt-clad glory. For a moment, she looked at him with confusion in her eyes, unsure what he meant, before the confusion drained and she nodded. He was quipping. Under normal circumstances, she'd have quipped back, but she didn't. Her arms hung stiff in front of her, her hands nervously squeezing one another. "Ah, uh, no, actually," she began, before letting out a sigh. "I...was wondering if you could help me with something..."

"Are you ready for this?" Ben asked Casper.

"Hell no," he told his best friend, shaking his head at him. He then turned his attention back to Waverley and stepped aside, motioning for her to come in. Maybe he'd luck out and she just wanted makeup tips from him - he was really good at telling people different things to try. It brought him a lot of joy. "Is it something fashion or cosmetics related? Because I LOVE the purple hair and I think we could really do some cute cat eyes on you, maybe even put some little rhinestones on your cheeks to make everything pop!"

"Uh, what?" Waverley replied, furrowing her eyebrows. Her mind was running at a million miles a second trying to figure out how she was going to lead up to her question, so his sudden unexpected mention of a possible makeover threw her off. "Oh, uh, thanks," she finally managed, her hand automatically reaching up to the purple locks falling over her shoulder. "But I was actually coming to talk about something a little more serious. You...see dead people, right?"" Instead of beating around the bush, Waverley decided it'd be best to just get to the point, before the young man could convince her to get a beauty treatment instead of pursuing the topic.

"Nope," Casper lied instantly. Ben gave him a bit of a look and tried to whack him in the back of the head, only for his hand to pass through harmlessly. So far, no ghost had been able to injure Casper. His father used to remind him that he had only scratched the surface of his abilities - that he could do far more than just summon the dead. It had been his way to justify trapping a kid inside of a mausoleum for days at a time. "I definitely do see dead people," Casper muttered, shooting a glare in Ben's direction. "What do you want? Here to ask Hitler if he really couldn't draw? Ask JFK if there was a second shooter?" he asked, feigning ignorance.

Waverley raised her eyebrows at Casper's quick denial of her claim. When she'd heard about his ability, she had her doubts. It went against everything she'd ever believed in about the afterlife, so she was ready to walk away with minimal disappointment, when Casper corrected himself. "How would JFK know-" she began to ponder, before shaking the question out of her mind. That wasn't why she was there. "No, nothing like that. I...I was actually coming to ask if you might be able to help me talk to my mom. As I'm sure you've heard, she passed away recently, and I would really appreciate a chance to talk to her again."

He curled his fingers into his hair, sighing once more as he looked at Waverley. "Look... You're not going to find anything but pain. You're not the first one to come to me asking for help summoning someone they love," he told her as gently as he could. His heart was hammering and Ben was giving him a suspicious look, as if he were wondering why Casper was being kind for once. "But I also know that you aren't going to leave me alone about it until it happens, so fine then," he clapped his hands together. "You owe me a pina colada. I'll summon her for five minutes and then that's it, okay? No repeat requests. No begging for another session. Just... this is it."

As Casper began to speak, his voice seemingly full of pity, Waverley's entire body seemed to slump, shifting from its stiff, rigid, anxious position to a dejected slouch. She'd predicted that rejection would be the most likely outcome, but she'd still hoped for more. She was getting ready to beg, but then the scraggly young man surprised her. She straightened back up, her eyes with shock, then excitement as a smile spread across her face. "Really?" she said, surprised. After a moment, she quickly nodded, worming her way past Casper into his room. "You got it! I'll get you a whole tub of pina colada!" she exclaimed before turning around to look at him from the center of his room. "Is there anything you need? A memento, or a drop of blood? I'm sure we could find a rat around if you need an animal sacrifice!"

Ben burst out laughing. "What does she think this is - a slasher flick?" he asked.

Casper forced a smile onto his face, hiding the immense offense he took to that. He knew that some people enjoyed the creepier things in life, but he preferred to avoid them. If he had his way, his world would be sunshine and rainbows all the time - without the ominous storms and blood rituals that seemed to accompanying the dead. "I'm not a satanist or a witch - I'm a mutant," Casper said, his words sounding a bit forced. He tilted his head up slightly, before he sat down on the bed. Closing his eyes for a moment, he fought the urge to bail at the last minute on Waverley.

Opening his eyes again, he flinched and scooted backwards, seeing the bloody and deformed cop standing at the foot of the bed - Waverley's mother. "She's... She's h-here," he said, his voice cracking. "Ask her whatever you want, she can hear you, and please, god, make it fast."

Waverley felt a twinge of guilt as she realized she'd let herself get carried away. Of course he didn't need blood or animal sacrifices. This wasn't a movie, and he wasn't some mysterious shaman. He was a mutant and this was his power. She was about to mumble an apology, when he spoke again. Waverley's eyes widened, looking away from Casper and towards the empty space in the room, as if searching for any signs of the paranormal. She found no such signs, other than a feeling. And she knew that it was probably nothing, just her mind playing tricks, but, by God, it felt like she was there. And suddenly, all the excitement was gone. Waverley's wide eyes began to dampen, and she covered her mouth. She'd thought so much about how she'd get to this moment that she hadn't realized she had no idea what she was going to say.

"Mom? I-I love you," she called out, her voice choked up, slightly muffled as her voice slipped past her fingers. "A-and I'm sorry for not being with the family right now. And I-I'm sorry if me being here, trying to help these people, is confusing for you, and I'm sorry if you're...disappointed in me, or something. But you always told me to do what was right, and I think that's this right now, for me," Waverley finished. What had started out as a well constructed statement quickly unraveled into a rambling mess of the worries that floated at the surface of Waverley's mind. After they'd tumbled out, she took a few breaths. "I...I hope you understand that, mom. That me...doing this isn't me trying to disgrace your memory. It's me trying to honor it."

As Waverley's mother spoke, only one of her eyes moved. Her lips were swollen and her jaw didn't open quite correctly, as if it were partially jammed on the right side. "Waverley, I love you and I always will..." the ghost began softly. Casper had his eyes closed tightly, just listening. No one else could hear her. "Do what is right... Even if the law doesn't understand. Avenge me."

Casper swallowed thickly. He wasn't that surprised to see the just cop take a bit of a homicidal turn - death tended to do that to a soul, especially so soon. "Sh-she says she loves you too... A-and she wants you to do what's right - to avenge her death."

If she weren't so caught up in the moment, Waverley might've hesitated or pulled back at Casper's relaying of her mother's violent words. But instead, she shakily nodded her head, her hand clamping tighter over her mouth. She wasn't sure what she wanted to do to Max. But she knew she wanted to do something horrible to him. She let her hand uncover her mouth, dangling at her side.

"I promise you mom...He'll get what he deserves," she said, her voice still shaking. But it seemed like something other than overwhelmed melancholy was causing her voice to tremble. There was an undertone of anger.

The spectral form of Waverley's mother approached her child, trying to wrap her into a ghostly hug but her arms passed on through. She couldn't comfort Waverley. All she could do was rely on the medium to tell her what she said. "Look after your sister, please... She'll need you more than ever... Once my murder is avenged, I believe I can rest."

"Your mother wants you to help your sister... A-and she says once you take care of things, she can rest... Which is something the horror franchises actually kinda got right? Ghosts can sort of come and go from the other side as they choose... It's just when they're around me that they're dragged from whatever afterlife they're in. Like a magnet."

Casper's explanation of the mechanics of the spirit world, which would've usually intrigued Waverley, was instead tuned out by her entirely as she slowly cast her eyes down to the ground. She wanted to take care of Riley, she did, but she wasn't sure how she could. She didn't want to leave the Underground, not when she was just starting to feel in control of things. And Riley couldn't join the Underground; there was no world in which asking a mourning, already cynical teenager to come live an abandoned building full of dysfunctional super humans was a good idea. Not to mention that, while the girl was a genius, she also wasn't mutant, as far as Waverley could tell. She wouldn't fit in well with those members of the Underground who were less than friendly to humankind. She supposed she could try to split her time up between the Underground and home, if she didn't mind not sleeping.

"I-I'll try my best...but she's strong...she'll be able to get through it, I know she will...maybe better than any of us...But I'll try to be there for her as best I can." She said, before pausing for a moment. Her eyes finally darted over to Casper once again. When she spoke again, her voice was worried and uncertain. "How...how much time do I have left?"

He opened his eyes, peering at her. "I honestly don't know. I've never really had a good sense of time," he admitted. "If you, uh, want to keep on talking... she's here..."

Waverley gave a nod of understanding, before dropping her head to look to the ground. She should've made a list, full of things to talk about. But she hadn't, and her mind was emptied of words. She was silent for a dozen or so seconds, before she raised her head back up to look at the empty space in front of her.

"B-before you go...I-I want you to know that you were the best mom I could've ever asked for. Me and Riley...we are who we are because of you. And...it might sound cheesy, but we'll always carry a piece of you with us..." as she spoke, a sad smile took residence on her lips, and the tears that had been pooling up in her eyes were threatening to spill over.

The ghost smiled at Waverley, putting her hands on her cheeks - even with the knowledge that her daughter couldn't see her. She kissed Waverley's forehead. "Be brave. Be strong. Be fierce," she whispered, before fading away. Casper couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. He wanted a million shots of vodka. Maybe a gazillion. And then he needed an entire barrel of cocaine straight into his blood. "She said she wants you to be brave - and then she left."

As the words left Casper's mouth, she could feel the likely psychosomatic feeling of maternal familiarity disappear. The tears that clung to her eyes finally fell, rolling down her cheeks. She let out a deep, shaky breath, standing silently in place for a few long moments. Then, she began to walk to the bed upon which Casper sat. As she neared him, she wrapped her frail arms around his neck, pulling him into a loose hug, her head propped on his shoulder.

"Thank you," she whispered, among the sniffles and unsteady breaths. Her body trembled against him, like a dog who'd been left out in the rain.

Casper froze for a moment, looking a bit like a deer in the headlights. Yet as confused as he was at Waverley's embrace, he wasn't heartless. He felt for her, even if helping her grieve for her mother threatened to bring back horrifying memories of his own childhood traumas. "You are welcome," he said, hugging her back and rubbing her back slightly, hoping that it might help her to calm down.

---

---

Casper had on his nicest outfit, stealing money from his brother's wallet to use a local dry cleaning service for this very occasion. He had "borrowed" from perfume from Sephora and had spritzed himself lightly. His eyeshadow was designed to make him look dramatic and mysterious and thanks to Jack's hair gel (he used a lot of product), Casper's hair was stylishly spiked. He wanted to look his very best for his first date with James. It had been a while since he had gone on a real date with anyone. Usually, his love affairs started as drunken hook-ups and then... well, ended just like that.

"Ben promised that he's going to be quiet, so it'll just be us," he told his partner with a grin.

"Yeah, I don't really want to watch you two make out in a carnival bathroom," Ben commented, rolling his eyes. "Not my ideal afterlife."

"Have you been to a street carnival before?" he asked. "This one is supposed to be good - I saw an ad for a fortune teller, a sword swallower, a fire juggler... Honestly they're probably all mutants, which is ironic - everyone hates us unless they're bored."

James wasn’t one to indulge in shoplifting for anything other than desperate times but reviewing what he had―literally the clothes he came in with and the few others he asked to pick up for safety reasons as he started diving into renovations―James quickly decided he didn’t have anything that qualified as date clothing. Honestly, Casper was nice enough that he would probably let it slide if he explained it but James wanted to make him feel like he put an effort into it so he swallowed his pride and may have made a few things disappear from a goodwill donation express. Those after hour donation bins outside were incredibly easy to sneak into if you knew how to jimmy a hinge. It definitely wasn’t fancy by any means; a black leather jacket, a grey short sleeved shirt, and a pair of grey slacks but hopefully it left a good impression for Casper. Maybe it was kind of silly to think that way after everything they’d been through so far but he wanted Casper to enjoy himself.

“No chaperone? What will your brother say?” James gasped in fake astonishment, bumping shoulders with Casper playfully. “Guess I’ll have to be good on my own. I’ll have him back by midnight.” James saluted into the air. He had no idea where Ben was but he had made an effort to get on his good side. Can’t have the disapproval of the eternal best friend. Not that it was much of an effort. Assuming half the stuff Casper said was true, Ben’s sense of humor was great and his commentary on events were even better.

“No, I never have. This will be my first time!” James said excitedly. “I’ve seen them in shows and stuff though. Though, I could kill for a funnel cake. That stuff is like crack and I want all of it. We can share one if you want?” James suggested.

Casper couldn't help but grin widely. "If Jackie complains at all, then he's one to talk. I'm pretty sure if he ever did one of those 23andme kits, he'd end up with a little gaggle of bastards to pay child support for," he explained. That had been one constant of his life living in New Orleans - the parade of one night stands Jack was either returning from or leading out of the house before their mother got up. "Ooooh funnel cake, yes we are definitely going to be having five of those," Casper agreed. "They're not as good as crack - they're better, actually. The high is always great but it's the coming down that sucks. Funnel cakes don't have that problem."

It wasn't too long until they reached their destination. It was along the water, with a few basic rides set up on a temporary basis. There was a ferris wheel and of course, a staple - spinning teacups. Various booths had prizes that could be won by throwing darts at a balloon, spraying water at a target, or climbing up a twisting rope ladder to ring a bell. Stands all over the place were selling every type of sugary item, from funnel cakes to candy apples and cotton candy. A main stage area of sorts had been erected where the various performances were going on. Right now, it was a country singer.

James laughed with a shake of his head. “Perfect! Now I can die happy knowing I’ve only had the best sugar high.” James joked as they reached the carnival. He looked around, the excitement in the air infectious. This was going to be an awesome time, nerves be damned. The tea cups caught his eye and his inner adrenaline junkie peaked it’s head. While not as great as a rollercoaster, he loved seeing how fast he could whip them around the few times his dad took him to DisneyLand. “This place looks like a ton of fun! Thanks for bringing me.” James grinned at Casper.

“Also, you look amazing today. Makes me wish I had more to work with but at least I get the prize of having the hottest date here.” James brushed his hand against Caspers. “So, where do you want to start first?”

Casper's heart went into overdrive as James brushed his hand against his. While it felt like an eternity, it was really only a matter of seconds before he took the leap of faith and took James' hand in his own, holding it tight. His fingers were warm and calloused, but what Casper felt mostly was an electrifying jolt that went up through his body. "See, I think I have the hottest date here," Casper argued. "How about the tea cups? That way we can get the vomit inducing experience done with before we start loading up on those funnel cakes."

James couldn't stop the startled jolt when Casper took his hand but he relaxed into it quickly, his smile growing bigger at the move. James wanted to, absolutely, but he wasn't sure how comfortable Casper would have been holding hands on their first date. He squeezed Casper's hand, relishing the warmth it sent through him, and ignored the flush his compliment brought on. "I hope you don't regret that decision. Spinning rides are my favorite. The faster they spin, the better." James laughed as he eagerly headed to the ride. "It’s been so long since I had the chance to get on a ride. I'm super pumped!"

"In the words of Stanley Hudson - drive fast and leave a sexy corpse," Casper told James with a bit of a flamboyant flourish. He had watched a lot of Office reruns in his day. It was one of the few shows that Ben didn't mind watching over and over again, as he generally preferred the new stuff. "I don't regret anything. Except for maybe going skinny dipping a few winters ago... I'm not sure my nipples have ever been the same," he mused, getting into line. The line wasn't too long, so they'd likely get to go on the next time the operator stopped to let people off and then new people on.

“A sexy corpse.” James laughed at that and then immediately looked at Casper in astonishment. “Skinny dipping in winter? Christ, that must have been awful! I’m pretty sure I would prefer to set myself on fire again than jump in that water.” James shivered as he thought about the bitter cold. Cold weather, yes. Freezing water, no. “That’s awesome though. What made you decide to skinny dip in the middle of winter? Spontaneous decision or is there a story behind that?”

Casper thought for a moment, trying to remember exactly why he had gone skinny dipping. It then hit him all of the sudden. He had been on a bender with these people - a mutant, an inhuman, and then three humans - and they had just happened upon a lake. "Honestly? I was pretty turnt... I think we were going to try to become mermaids and have an orgy or something, it's all a blur," Casper answered. He couldn't even remember if his companions had been girls or boys that evening. Come to think of it, Casper couldn't remember what any of them had looked like.

James took a few moments to process that information but once he did, he couldn’t stop laughing. He leaned on Casper a little and squeezed his hand, gasping for breath best he could. “I’m sorry.” He managed to choke out between laughs. “I don’t know why but that’s hilarious.” He had to wipe the tears from his eyes as he collected himself in time for the ride operator let the previous people off and let the gate open for the next wave. “I don’t know how it felt at the time but man, that’s a great story now. He looked over the teacups thoughtfully and pointed to one on the far edge. “What do you think about that one? Look spinny enough?”

He couldn't help but laugh at himself as well, an amused grin on his face. "It made a lot more sense at the time," Casper shrugged. He was fairly certain that mermaids weren't real - that there was no one living under the sea. He could see there maybe being a few mutants or inhumans with that sort of power, but nowhere near enough to have any sort of society. He then followed James' finger and spotted the teacup, nodding as he practically ran on over to it and jumped inside, cutting off anyone else who had been trying for that one. "Ha, suckers, we got it first!"

James followed close on Casper's heels, throwing himself in and bumping up next to Casper with a smile. "Gotta sit close so we can get up that momentum!" He said cheerfully. It would actually make spinning the teacup a little harder but James wanted an excuse to sit next to Casper rather than across from him. His hands were ready on the spinning wheel and he nudged Casper with his shoulder. "Ready to out spin these losers?"

"Too bad I forgot the handcuffs," Casper bemoaned. They couldn't really hold hands while spinning the wheel of the teacup, but he locked his elbow with James' before placing his hands on the wheel. "Oh definitely - we're going to make all the soccer moms and doughnut dads look horrible!" he agreed. A single mom and her twin kids came up for a moment, peering into the teacup as they entertained the possibility of joining them, but one look at Casper's outlandish clothes and his prominent tattoos caused them to turn heel and find another ride. "You know, if it's just us, there is something else we can take for a spin?" Casper suggested.

The happy feeling when Casper locked their arms together disappeared for a moment when the woman so obviously snubbed them after looking at Casper. It annoyed him to no end and he couldn't resist sending a nasty look after her but he wouldn't let that ruin a date with the best guy here. James blinked at Casper's suggestion as he tried to figure out what they could take for a spin inside a spinning teacup. A spin, huh? James felt his face heat up at the first thing that popped into his mind but he shoved that way far back. Inappropriate for this location. He sent Casper a curious look. "What is that?" James asked.

Casper's mind was firmly in the gutter. "Oh, you know..." he hinted, as the ride kicked up and he started to spin the wheel viciously. He wanted to see how fast he could get this thing to go and simultaneously consider to hint to James about rather lewd activities. It was the best way that he knew how to flirt. "The sort of thing two hot single dudes can do? The reason why paranoid guys make sure they're six feet apart in a pool?"

James let out an excited whoop as he whipped the wheel around, pressed against the teacup as the pair pushed it as fast as it could go. James' face felt like it was burning but he couldn't help the laugh that escaped him at the reference. "I'm not even sure how we'd do that right now." James shook his head as best he could but his smile never left. James wouldn't lie and say he wasn't interested bu th he had other ideas of their first time being intimate. "But I think I'd prefer to do that somewhere we can take our time, if you don't mind."

"Oh, okay," Casper said, taking it in stride. "I'm guessing the roller coaster isn't a suitable second location?" he asked with a bit of a wicked grin. He didn't mind if they waited to be intimate with each other - and he'd have just as much fun just spinning on the teacups right now at this random little carnival. "So where did you grow up? And how'd you get to be so swol?"

James stared at the grin on Casper's face with his comment about the roller coaster. James didn't think Casper could get more attractive but he was wrong. So, so wrong. He shook his head before he gave it to Casper's ideas, not that he was 100% against it in the first place, and gave himself a second to cool down. Though the follow up question brought him back to earth pretty quick. "I grew up in Oregon. My family owned an auto repair shop in Asotrio." Even after six years, James had a hard time keeping the lingering sadness ut of his voice. "As for swol, I didn't really mean to. I used to get kicked out of the garage when my messing around got a little carried away and so I would head out for a run or a swim or just the gym when I needed an outlet. Plus, I just like doing stuff and when I didn't have a lot to so, the gym would call my name. I've spent more hours kickboxing or running than I care to think about." James explained. "What about you? Besides aspiring to mermaid orgies, what are you into to kill time?"

While most mistook Casper for being a complete idiot, he was rather perceptive. He could hear the bit of melancholy in James' voice as he talked about his home and he reached out, giving his hand a quick and firm squeeze, trying to be supportive. He completely understood home being awful - his own home life had never really been stellar. "Besides getting high off my ass?" Casper prefaced. "I really love fashion and makeup - I want to be a drag queen when I grow up."

James squeezed Casper's hand back gratefully. He'd been close to his dad and he wasn't sure he'd ever really be over it. He waited for the ride to wind down before replying, taking the rest of the ride to put himself back into a more positive mood. James popped out of the ride and offered a helping hand to Casper. "Make up and fashion, huh? I'm sure it isn't hard to tell but it wasn't ever quite my thing." James said honestly but it didn't mean he wasn't willing to listen about it. "What caught your interest in it? And is it more than just the current..." James paused with a thoughtful frown as he picked his words carefully. "Political climate that's stopping you from pursuing it? Unfortunately, I don't know much about drag queens so you'll have to catch me up on stuff."

He accepted James' hand out of the teacup, the world spinning a little bit and Casper paused for a moment, one foot in the air until things set themselves right. "I think I just wanted to feel beautiful, even if it was only on the outside," he answered honestly. It was perhaps a bit too heavy for first date talk, yet Casper was hardly an expert at what sort of conversation topics were appropriate. He had felt broken almost his entire life - trying on lipstick, using mascara, twirling in a skirt... it was a way to regain some control, some sense of self. "Honestly... It's mostly that it's a lot of work - and I haven't really been totally conscious long enough to get some high quality stuff together. Jackie'll probably have me shipped off to another treatment facility within a few months," he added, sighing sadly at the last thought. But he didn't want to focus on sad things. "So! Roller coaster? Or funnel cakes? Which next?"

James listened as Casper spoke, more than happy to hold Casper's hand while he waited for the world to settle. It hurt his heart that Casper had so much going on behind that fun loving facade and considering what few details Jack offered up before the last time James snapped unfairly at Casper, it made sense that he would. Once Casper's finished stepping out, James pressed a chaste kiss to Casper's cheek. Hopefully, it wasn't... too quick but the man made James want to smother him in affection. He wasn't great offering verbal comfort but he could wrap someone up in hugs and kisses to soften the insecurities and keep out the cold of the world. "I think you're gorgeous right now and every way I've seen you." James said as he let go of Casper's hand and wrapped his arm around the man's waist. "But since you asked, we have exactly five funnel cakes with extra powdered sugar with our names on them and you even have your choice of conversation: insane things I did as a teenager in the name of science or the outrageous and cringe worthy lies I then used to get myself out of trouble for said scientific endevours." James offered dramatically, air quotes and everything.

Casper's eyes widened and his mouth broke out into a wide grin. "I adore you," he told James, still feeling a bit of a tingle where James had kissed him on the cheek. "Can I pick both conversation options? But if I have to pick one, things you did in the name of science, bonus points if you also were the kid who would watch Bill Nye and Mythbusters back to back!"

James took a moment to appreciate how good Casper looked with a smile. He felt a little silly playing it up a bit but if it earned him that look, he'd keep trying. He took a moment to pretend to consider Casper's question. "Well, normally I only let special guys get them both but since you're amazing, yes you may have both and I get to start with bonus points? You'll see where I got my terrible ideas from in the first place." James laughed with a shake of his head. "First and foremost, please don't try any of these. My hormonal teenage self had absolutely no sense of preservation and almost no control over my most valuable assest. Understand that I am 100% okay in every way and I have learned my lessons. Many, many times. So, my dad had this '64 corvette he restored himself. He loved it. I used to joke he loved it more than me. It was to the point, we wrapped our shoes in plastic bags and put towels down if we weren't coming immediately from the house to the car."

"I had been experimenting to see how long it took me to patch up more than just some superficial damage in the garage. I had recorded it, written it down in one of those back to school .50 sale notebooks, and my oxygen deprived brain tells me to sit down. So I go ahead and sit on the only available seat, the open passenger seat of my dad's corvette, and I don't know if I didn't patch it up quickly or I nicked myself while I was working and didn't see it but suddenly I realized there was blood smeared across the leather seat of my dad's car." At the time, this was horrifying but now, the memory was hilarious. "So I froze because I knew I was dead meat. Like completely and utterly dead and I was panicking hardcore. It couldn't have been longer than a few seconds but then my dad opens the door to the garage and before he can even ask me what I was doing, I yell "I'm cleaning it up now! It's just some bodily fluids!" and I have never seen my dad slam a door shut so fast. We never talked about it but my dad didn't let me anywhere near that car unsupervised for like a year."

Casper listened dutifully, and at the very end of James' story, he just couldn't help himself anymore. He tried to hold back the chuckle the entire time, but with the tale concluded, it all came out at once - a laugh that seemed to come from the mouth and the nose simultaneously. He could just picture James exclaiming that, and even better, the sort of look that had to be on his father's face. He shook his head, still laughing. "That's genius!" he exclaimed. "Have you ever considered writing for sitcoms? You're an amazing storyteller - and an expert at finding yourself in those sort of situations apparently."

"Yeah, tell me about it." James leaned his head on Casper's shoulder as they walked, muffling a groan at his misfortunes. He kept talking as they got in line for, talking about how he used to go biking in the mountains and that's when he learned how he really wasn't concerned about broken parts, how his experiences with fire got a little out of hand (he accidentally set fire to what used to be a retention pond in his neighborhood), and how he used to have book after book after book detailing his progressions. "Honestly, as terrible as it was what I was doing, it helped organize my work a lot. And while I was in college, I used the same set up for my work out routines and clearly it worked." He said as they sat down at a little bench, funnel cakes in hand. He tore a piece off and scarfed it down with a pleased hum and licked the powdered sugar off his fingers. "I had a bit of an invincibility complex when I was younger. I've grown wiser in my old age." James joked.

Casper scooped up a piece and shoved it into his face, grinning a bit mischievously before booping James on the nose, leaving a powdery impression behind. Casper's mouth was full as he chewed though, so the grin was a toothless one - making him look almost like the poor man's Cheshire Cat. Swallowing thickly, he was tempted to go for another piece, but James' joke amused him way too much. "Now that you're old, what's next then?" he teased. "Are you going to retire in the Bahamas? Get a lawn and yell at kids to scram? Get elected to Congress?"

"Sleep. So much sleep." James deadpanned, thinking about all the sleep he's in his life time. His eyes crossed looking at the powder of his nose and he chuckled at it as he wiped it off. He picked some off off the paper plate it was on and flicked it playful at Casper before taking another bite and closing his eyes as he savored it. The funnel cake was a blessing compared to the usual fare they had to scrounge up at the Underground, not that he wasn't grateful but the funnel cake was a plus. He'd have to bring some back to split with Sunshine. "If I get the chance to retire, I'm heading into the mountains rather than the Bahamas. I've always wanted a little cabin up in the forest to disappear to every now and then, you know?"

Casper grinned devilishly, taking a moment to try to calculate how pissed off at him James would be if he smashed one of the funnel cakes into his face. On the one hand, it would be pretty hilarious and would make a lasting impression - on the other hand, James could find it to be obnoxious. Yet he hadn't run off scared so far, right? He hadn't been startled by the mermaid orgy story? "Sleep is my kink," Casper agreed. "Oh, a cabin in the forest? Much better than the alternative - a cabin in the woods," he joked, before he just couldn't help himself. He scooped up a handful of funnel cake and then smooshed it onto James' nose. "Tag, you're it!"

James froze when Casper smooshed more than just some sugar on him. He turned his head slowly, staring blankly as Casper for a few moments as he wiped off the mess before he couldn't help himself. He tried to keep back the laughter but he knew the shaking of his shoulders gave him away so he returned the favor, tearing off a piece and smeared it across Casper's cheek. "Tag!" He laughed. Casper was silly and James was absolutely head over heels for it.

Casper giggled. "This definitely isn't the white substance I usually have on my face..." he joked. Once again, his brain fought briefly against his poor impulse control. Yet given how James had taken the start of this game in stride, Casper figured it couldn't hurt to take things up a notch. They had bought five funnel cakes anyways - and he fully anticipated James to return the favor again. Picking up the half eaten funnel cake, he then gently smooshed it up against James' face. "Tag! No tag backs!" he then insisted.

James nearly spat out the piece of funnel cake he had started eating when Casper said that, somehow managing to swallow and cackle without choking. His face heated up again at the comment but he quickly shut that out of his imagination. "You're a menace, Casper." James said fondly, grabbing Casper's wrist and pulling Casper towards him. James leaned in as if he was going to kiss Casper again but at the last second rubbed his cheek up against Casper's, smearing cake onto Casper. He did leave another kiss, stealing a taste of some of the sugar he left behind, and sat back. "Since I can't tag back, I thought I'd share instead."

Casper faked a gasp, clutching his free hand to his chest. "My stars and garters, I do declare that my Jane Austen like sensibilities have been offended! But yet I cannot help but feel this magnetic force connecting us, as if it were fated by the skies above - oh, how will the good people of this street carnival view us? What of our reputation and dignity?" he asked, trying his hardest not to giggle. He was positively enamored by James' company. "And what would my father think? And the good Count Prince Man? Prince Charming? Charming Knight? Shining Knight? Oh, whatever his name is."

"But it doesn't matter," Casper said dramatically. "I have never asked something like this of a man before... but would you do me the honor of puking our collective guts out together on yonder roller of coaster?"

James couldn't hold back the laughter at Casper's theatrics, taking to his feet and holding out his hand for Casper's and pressed a kiss to it. "It would be my greatest honor to partake in the puking of our collective guts." James replied, pulling him to his feet. So far, James thought the date was going amazing. Casper had a great sense of humor and it was easy to relax around him. He couldn't help but smile fondly at the man and squeeze his hand a little tighter as they man their way to the rollercoaster.

---

---

Sapphire went to see about going to look for Sunshine. The kid was amusing in her mind, but she could see some similarities between her and Sunshine, now would she ever admit that out loud? Never, but that didn't mean it wasn't true. "Hey Sunshine? Want to learn something that might also involve injuring Havok potentially in some way?" Sapphire asked her when she eventually found her.

Sunshine had been in the training room of sorts, throwing knives. She always hit her target, thankfully, due to her mutant powers. She glanced up from her amusement and raised an eyebrow at Sapphire. "Did you used to date him or something?" she asked. Sapphire seemed to really enjoy hurting Havok, and she figured it was the most likely explanation for it. "You seem to really hate him and want him dead."

"Hell no, just he gets on my nerves and it's fun to torment him in retaliation. And I would never want anyone dead Sunshine, no matter what. Even the ever annoying Havok. So, you up for it? Or should I just walk away now and probably torment him on my own out of boredom?"

The young mutant narrowed her eyes slightly. She may not have been the most educated person around, but she had street smarts and a general sense for people and relationships. "So you want to date him then," she concluded, pulling her hair into a ponytail. She then tucked her ponytail out through the back of her Yankee's Cap, looking a little bit like the image of Annabeth Chase from the Percy Jackson series. "But alright, what do you want me to do? And will there be pretzels? I want a pretzel."

"No way!" she said, shaking her head at Sunshine. "And we have bags of pretzels or whatever that you can munch on afterwards okay? Right now we're going to see about teaching you actual fighting that doesn't rely on your powers, okay? Since there is a chance that you might come across a situation where your powers won't help you. I hate to admit it, but it can happen more often then you think. So we're going to see what we can do to help you out with that."

"...I can hit anything as long as I throw hard enough, I think I'm fine," Sunshine pointed out, raising an eyebrow. "And if they get near me, I just give them the plague. Easy."

"But what if you end up in a situation where your powers don't work? Where your powers are surpressed? There are easy ways to do it, there are collars that can be used, or just hit with a dart that has a power inhibitor, boom, instant powers gone. Relying on your powers all the time will probably end up getting killed. I used to rely on my powers a lot when I first got into this sort of life style of playing hero, someone I knew years ago once told me about using my powers "They can be a handicap if you rely on them too much". She knew a lot more than I did about combat despite being younger then me, and despite what she might have thought at the time, I did actually pay attention to her words. Relying too much on your powers will likely get you killed... And I don't want that sort of thing to happen, okay? Plus it gives you an excuse to punch someone, so what's wrong with that?"

Sunshine let out an irritated sigh. She really wanted to protest that she never would get in a situation like that, but Sapphire had promised her pretzels. And she didn't want to listen to more of a lecture, which she had the feeling she would end up getting if she continued to argue against learning to fight without her powers. "Okay, but you do realize even in normal fights and all, I can't turn off my perfect aim," she pointed out. "I can't be bad like everyone else - like you and Havok - at aiming even if I tried."

"You'd be surprised, perfect aim, and being able to hit your target every time are two different things. What I mean by that is someone could still block your fists whether you believe that or not. Say you try to punch me in the face, and I instantly lift my arm up to block you, meaning you hit my arm as opposed to my face. Big difference, anyway, let's find Havok. Come on Sunshine, let's go," she said, before she started heading off to see about finding Havok for some sparring.

"Fiiiine...." Sunshine huffed, following off after Sapphire. She had to notice that no one else was being forced into a training session, but at least it wasn't one of Colossus'. His were always pretty weird. He had made her do the one with the rope line with a few others and it had been painful and annoying. She'd much rather train with Magik anyways. "Let's go find your not boyfriend." It wasn't particularly hard or challenging. Havok was pacing the hallway on the second story, talking to someone on the phone.

"I'm not mad at you, babe - I was just worried sick... Yes, of course I know," Havok was saying softly. "I'll be there, I promise. You're my magnet girl... I love you too... Be safe... Bye."

Sapphire couldn't stop herself from snickering at Havok when he got off the phone. "Magnet girl? You two are sooooo nauseating sometimes! Guessing that was Polaris you were talking to?" she asked him.

"GueSsINg thAT wAs PolARiS YoU wERe TaLKinG tO?" Havok mocked, curling his lips back to expose his teeth as he talked, with both of his hands on his hips. While the Mutant Underground didn't have much, Havok had a phone. He wasted his free time like anyone else on the planet - looking at memes. "Yes, I was talking to Lorna - she's fine, we're going on a date at Olive Garden with the money Scott gave me."

"Okay, now that was flat our rude Havok!" she instantly snapped at him, before she swung her fist and hit him in the head, before pulling her fist back. "Wonder how Lorna will feel about you suddenly having a bruise on your face," she said with an eye roll before turning to look at Sunshine. "If you ever do need to punch someone just make sure you do it properly since otherwise you could hurt your hand and that would not be good."

Sunshine rolled her eyes, contemplating just leaving Sapphire and Havok alone to do whatever this was. "Right, got it, hurt other people when punching..." she mumbled. "Seems advanced." Her stomach growled and her mind was instantly flooded with thoughts of pretzels again. She had giggled a little bit when Sapphire punched Havok though - it was slightly amusing.

"I was rude?" Havok protested. "You're the one that came up laughing at me because of my relationship, I think that was rude!"

"Yeah, you were rude, and you always will be in my mind. And why can't I make fun of you being in a relationship? I find it amusing," Sapphire commented with an eye roll. Though, to be fair she had never actually been in a relationship with anyone before. She had left home at 14, and didn't really interact with too many people until she joined X-Factor, and after that the Underground, but not like it really mattered to her at all. "Anyway, come on, I need help teaching Sunshine basic hand to hand combat since she seems to think just using her powers all the time would result in her never losing a fight."

He threw his hands up into the air. "I can't win," Havok said with a sigh. "And why me? Can't you get Colossus? He likes training people."

"Because... It's more fun? I mean seriously, Colossus is okay, but he can sometimes get on my nerves more then you do."

"I'll help you, but I'm not going to be a punching bag."

"Who said anything about you being a punching bag?"

Sunshine huffed slightly, looking really disappointed. "If he's not going to be a punching bag, then what's the point of asking him?" she asked Sapphire point blank. She had come to understand that these little sessions of Sapphire were mostly in order to torment Havok. She didn't like the idea of changing the game. No one in the Underground deserved to be beat on repeatedly except for Havok. He had ruffled her hair and called her a kid once, meaning the only logical option was to hold a grudge.

"Eh good point, kind of would be implied I guess wouldn't it? Come on Havok, let's go," Sapphire said, laughing slightly at Sunshine's words.

Havok sighed. "Seriously? Why am I supposed to agree to this again?"

"Because Sunshine could actually use help in the combat department and if you don't I'll start calling you a wuss or a chicken for not doing it?"

"Oh, right, your charming personality and the magic of friendship has convinced me," Havok quipped, rolling his eyes before he headed down the staircase and into the training room.

Sapphire laughed slightly, before glancing over at Sunshine, and then turning to follow him downstairs. "This is going to be soooooo much fun. It's been a little bit since I've gotten a chance to beat up Havok anyway..."

Sunshine followed the two downstairs and into the training room, a bit annoyed since that had been where she was practicing her throwing knives beforehand. She knew that Sapphire seemed to have a strong opinion about her hand to hand combat skills, but from what she could tell, it was just an excuse to spend time with Havok and inflict physical pain on him. That was fine with her, she just wished that Sapphire would admit it.

"Ready to go Sunshine?" Sapphire asked, turning to look at her when they entered the training room. She wondered how exactly she'd do with this whole thing. Since all she had seen Sunshine do was use her powers, she never really saw her try her hand at fist fighting, and that was somewhat concerning in her mind.

She shrugged. "I guess so?"

"Alright then, let's get started... We're going to keep things somewhat simple to see how well you are at fighting before we do anything else... So go see about punching Havok. And no Havok, I'm not saying you can't defend yourself. Afterall how would Polaris react if she saw you with a few black eyes? You can block her attempts to hit you if you want to. Or not. It doesn't matter to me."

"I'm pretty sure Lorna wouldn't care if I had a few black eyes - she'd mostly be concerned if I had more than two," Havok quipped. Sunshine walked up to him and threw a punch, which Havok then promptly blocked. She threw another punch, which he blocked and Havok then started to yawn.

Sapphire rolled her eyes slightly at Havok's response, before she just watched what unfolded, letting out a bit of a sigh. Clearly Havok was getting a little bored with Sunshine's attempts at hitting him, and in her mind it was somewhat sad. "Alright, going to be blunt, you need to swing a bit harder then that. Actually, it doesn't matter how hard you hit if you can't even land a punch okay? So why not try something a little different to try and swing at him in an unexpected way. To be perfectly honest, shouldn't be too difficult to outsmart Havok."

"I REALLY take offense to that!" Havok protested. Sunshine ducked down and tried to punch him in the nuts, only for Havok to block in the nick of time. "And that's just rude - and cheating!"

"What? It's true. And actually I wouldn't consider that cheating, especially since we never actually set any rules, so how is what she did cheating Havok?" Sapphire said with a bit of a laugh as she looked over at Sunshine. "For the record, tactics that cause your opponent to get distracted so you can retaliate against them I personally encourage, since sometimes pissing your opponent off will cause them to slip up in someway allowing you to actually hit them."

A wicked smile then came across Sunshine's face. "We haven't set any rules," she echoed, a devious idea coming to mind. Being so young, she didn't properly weigh the consequences of her actions, instead just thinking about the immediate satisfaction and payoff. There was no rule that said who she had to punch. Sapphire just wanted her to learn how to punch. "Sneak attack!" Sunshine shouted, before swinging a punch at Sapphire's face.

Sapphire had been at the least somewhat expecting someone to take a swing at her. Though to be honest she had more of expected it to be Havok as opposed to Sunshine, but when she heard Sunshine's words, she instantly brought her arm up, blocking the attack. "Word of advice? Don't yell out what you intend to be doing, this isn't a D&D campaign where the rogue has to tell the person controlling the monsters what they are doing. You do that, as was just shown, you let your opponent know what you were doing."

She wrinkled her nose slightly, looking at her in confusion. While she knew most things in pop culture, she didn't know a lot of nerdy, geek culture. That hadn't been a high priority for discussion in juvi or on the streets. "What's D&D? Is that a sex thing?"

"It's a board game, it stands for Dungeons and Dragons," she said with an eye roll towards Sunshine. Yup, this girl clearly knew absolutely nothing. Sure, Sapphire technically didn't even have a high school diploma, but it was kind of hard to avoid Dungeons and Dragons since it was kind of a big game of sorts. "Maybe I'll teach it to you later."

Seeing Sapphire's eye roll instantly put Sunshine on the defensive. She crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing slightly. "I have to go. I told the Pandabutt that I'd help him clean his office," she lied, before she walked briskly out of the training room and headed for the exit to emerge aboveground.

"Yup, going to call BS on that one," she commented, before she raced after Sunshine. "Hey Sunshine wait up!" she called after her. Once she caught up to her, she spoke again, "Okay... What's wrong?"

"The Hufflepuff ate too many doughnuts and puked them everywhere all over his files, he needs my help to clean them up," Sunshine fibbed, not looking Sapphire in the eye as she continued to walk. "Can you go away? Doesn't someone need to go torment Havok?"

"...As someone who typically tends to not talk to many people when something bugs me? I can tell that you are lying... So how about you actually tell me what's wrong."

She rolled her eyes. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Elsa."

"Don't push your luck kid, tell me, since trust me when I tell you, it may seem like the world is always out to get you, but sometimes there are people who just want to help you out... Here, how about we play a little game, we take turns telling something about ourselves to the other, deal? You can tell me what's up with I'll even start... I'm from Hawaii, which given my power set seems a bit weird when you think about it. But I never cared much for the heat down south for obvious reasons."

Sunshine raised an eyebrow suspiciously. She had been made to play these sort of games in juvi with the counselor in group sessions. She never particularly cared for them. But at the same time, she didn't want to deal with Sapphire lecturing her and hoped to just get rid of her as quickly as possible. "I'm from New York."

"No need to give me that sort of look, I've given that look to more then a few people!" Sapphire said with a slight laugh. "In order to go through college despite never finishing school I ended up working for a corporate superhero team known as X-Factor. The friend I quoted earlier during our little training session? Her name's Belladonna and worked with me on the team."

"Sounds great for you, you got to be a superhero," Sunshine muttered dryly. "My mother abandoned me when I was just five or six years old."

"...I'd have rather been abandoned then what my parents did to me. They didn't really abandon me... They tried to have me killed. I was scared, wanted nothing more then to forget what... Happened..." she said, her voice sort of trailing off as she got sort of lost in what would be evident by her facial expression as a painful memory. She had been scared of her powers, and wanted nothing more then for her parents to understand what she could do, or to comfort her for what she had done by accident. But no, they locked her up and tried to have her killed. "My father was a Purifier sympathizer, same with my mother, they locked me up and tried to turn me over to the Purifiers."

Sunshine's expression hardened even more. She didn't need to hear that her life could have been worse, that someone else saw what she had gone through as easy. "Αφήστε μόνο μου την κόλαση μόνο!" she cursed, before taking off at a run, hoping the ice witch didn't follow her.

Sapphire let out a bit of a sigh, before she took off after Sunshine. The kid definitely reminded her of herself, which meant that things probably weren't going to end well if she was left alone like that. "Sunshine wait!" Sapphire called after her, racing to catch up with her.

"Πηγαίνετε στο Tartarus!" Sunshine screamed. She instinctively started to form a ball of deadly disease, but only managed to conjure up the common cold. She then threw it back at Sapphire, hitting the other mutant in the shin - though it could have been far worse, since the only real symptoms Sapphire would experience would be a sore throat and some sniffles.

"Sunshine wait, I'm sorry if I said something to upset you... I'm not exactly a people person, and am really horrible with how I word things, literally ask anyone in the Underground, I'm horrible with words since I'm like you and don't trust a lot of people, they have to earn my trust which is not something you can easily get without really trying to not get on my nerves. So how about, we start over okay?"

Sunshine hesitated. "...Fine," she told Sapphire warily.

"The last thing I said to you came out wrong... I didn't mean that what happened to you wasn't bad... Actually, being abandoned at 6 years old... That sort of thing shouldn't happen to anyone, no matter what... Hell I was 14 when my parents tried to kill me, but at least I wasn't that young... I'm sorry if it sounded like I thought it was better then what happened to me, since honestly, for most kids being abandoned at that age would probably be a death sentence... You're a survivor, which is how you're still here, and honestly that is an amazing thing."

She shifted uncomfortably, not really accustomed to being praised. In fact, Sunshine couldn't recall ever being praised in her life. "Whatever..."

"You also had it right, that I had it somewhat easy, was kind of lucky getting a chance to be a superhero, because what happened for me, doesn't happen for everyone, and I know that... If the CEO of Serval Industries hadn't found me on the boat I was working on, I'd probably still be there doing emergency repairs on the hull if the boat got a hole in it... And let me tell you, life never gets easier... You just have to roll with the punches, or do the best that you can... Actually ever heard of an organization called OMEN? Up until a few months ago they were still a thing, before being disbanded, and a lot of them ended up joining the Purifiers. Not too many people paid much attention to what that organization was doing... And damn so glad at least that organization kind of imploded and disappeared, even if some members of the group are now Purifiers..."

Her eyes narrowed again at the mention of the Purifiers. She hated them. They had taken so much from her, though in that moment, something started to bother her, to nag away at her. That night in the Morlock Tunnels, Erg sacrificed himself against the Sentinel - but there had been Purifiers there too. She knew that Shaw and Sinister had been responsible for the Sentinel. But were they controlling the Purifiers too? It troubled her and just raised more questions, as well as painting a more sinister light on Max, since he had run off to join them. Max must have not cared that Erg died. "Okay..."

"It's okay not to trust people. But you seriously need to learn that not everyone is out to get you... Yeah, a lot of people in the place we live in right now probably are, but that's something that will never go away. There are people who want to help you, it just sometimes is hard to tell who wants to help you, and who doesn't. But over time, you'll be able to tell the difference. Look, I know that you probably don't trust me, but whether you trust me or not is irrelevant, since I trust you. Actually I have told you more about me then I've told most people here... Actually Veil is the only one I have told a lot about me."

Sunshine stared at Sapphire in silence for a few minutes, weighing her options. "When I look at words on paper, the letters move around," she finally said.

"Well, you don't have to learn to read if you don't want to... But believe it or not there are a lot of people in the world who have that sort of problem, it's more common then you think."

"English is really hard to read," Sunshine told her quietly.

"That's okay too. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that."

"And I know that I don't know a lot of stuff, okay? The only time I really went to school was in juvi and the teachers hated me, mostly because I'm a mutie."

"School is boring anyway! They don't teach you anything important most of the time anyway! How about this, I'll teach you things that you actually should probably know, and some of the stuff is things they probably don't teach you in school. Okay? And I'm sorry if I made you feel bad about not knowing a lot..."

She shrugged her arms. "It's whatever. You were too busy making googlie eyes at Havok anyways."

"No I wasn't! How many times do I have to tell you, I don't have a thing for Havok."

---

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For most of the world, there was hardly anything significant about the date - it was just another freezing December day. They were unaware that on the tenth, Wanda Maximoff had changed the entire world and molded it in her father's image - creating a kingdom for Magneto, the House of M. Hardly anyone recalled the real world, less than two dozen in fact out of the billions of souls on the planet. They were ultimately successful in convincing the Scarlet Witch to restore reality.

Yet now that the world has been restored, those who fought against the House of M have no memory of what happened in the real world from December 10th to the 18th. To them, they've just gotten back, appearing in the real world without a clue as to what they missed. And to everyone else, those who don't remember?

They have no idea what horrors their friends faced.

The Hellfire Club Headquarters -

The penthouse was decorated for the holiday season, a combination of Christmas and Hanukkah paraphernalia all around. Sage, Polaris, and Magneto were all Jewish, Reeva was Catholic, and the Frost family enjoyed the holiday season from a purely commercial aspect. Emma Frost and her daughters/clones, the Three in One, were off on holiday in Malibu for the moment, enjoying the sun, beach, and waves. Magneto was absent as well, off with the Brotherhood and preparing some scheme, no doubt. Sinister was in one of his many laboratories off campus.

This left just Sage, Polaris, and Reeva at the Hellfire Club Headquarters on this chilly afternoon. Polaris had a green turtleneck on with a silver heart locket around her neck, a gift from her boyfriend, Havok. Using her powers of magnetism, she was absentmindedly spinning a dreidel as she gazed out the window. Sage stood in front of a computer terminal, seemingly in a trance - her mutant powers made her into a living computer and she could communicate with machines instantaneously.

"Ryan, need I remind you the consequences if you do not uphold your end of the bargain?" Reeva said sharply into the phone, pacing back and forth by the bar. Her fingernails were sharpened like talons. "Good. Don't give me more reason to doubt you and you need not fear for your thick neck."

Lotus Apartments -

As for Desiree, well... The day had been normal for her so far. She had the day off from work, giving her the time to do whatever her heart desired. With the heavy winter chill setting in and snow piling on the streets of D.C., most people had chosen to be indoors - unless, of course, they needed to do some last minute Christmas shopping. The Purifiers had even relented slightly in their campaign of terror against mutants, as if the season of mercy actually could sway their hearts.

Unfortunately, her day was about to take a turn for the abnormal. The scent of smoke would strike her senses first, followed by panicked screams as other tenants in the apartment building fled, and lastly with the sharp RIIIIIIIING! of the fire alarm. From her window, she would be able to see the thick, heavy, black plumes of smoke floating up towards the sky.

Her apartment complex was on fire.

---

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Veil had no recollection of House of M. To her, it had been an ordinary week. Xavier's spy within the Hellfire Club had started to send them cryptic messages, written in a sort of code that she was trying her best to figure out. She had gotten the latest cypher as a text, with Veil then copying it down onto a piece of scrap paper and deleting the message as instructed. It had come in just two hours ago and she still hadn't managed to crack it.

No matter what way she looked at it, it didn't make any sense to her. She had tried turning it upside down, assigning numbers, randomizing letters, looking for patterns - nothing. "Goddamnit Sage..." she muttered. Xavier had finally told her the identity of their friend on the inside. Sage, the Living Computer. Unfortunately, that also meant that every piece of information they received was like a clue for an escape room. Their private detective on call, Jack, hadn't gotten a chance to look at it - she wasn't even quite sure where he was.

Rubbing her temples, Veil pulled out her phone and went for her next strategy. She doubted it was a super common cypher that Sage had picked out, but maybe just googling cypher on the Internet would help things out. "Can someone find Jack?" Veil called out, as she started scrolling through the results. "It's time sensitive!"

She then saw Havok run from the entranceway staircase and move as quickly as he could to the exit, leaving the Mutant Underground without even saying hello. "Gee, thanks Havok, glad to count on you!" Colossus, Negasonic, and Magik weren't around at the moment to help either - the three of them had gone on a supply run, getting more food and water. They were critically low on fruit and Veil didn't want to discover what they looked like with scurvy.

Veil then hit the jackpot. She stumbled across an article about a pigpen cypher that had the same sort of strange characters. "Finally!"

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Sunshine flinched, snapping out of what felt like an extremely vivid daydream, a hallucination sprung to life. She jumped up and stared into the mirror, tentatively touching her face with her hands. Her shoulders relaxed slightly. She wasn't a six year old kid. Taking a few calming, steadying breaths she then checked herself over, locating each scar that she had known. Her clothes were all hers. Fred's carcass was rotting inside the drawer she had stuffed him in, right next to her spare pair of socks.

"Ήταν απλώς ένα όνειρο, ευχαριστώ τους θεούς..." she whispered under her breath, speaking Greek fluently. Her father had been Greek - or so her mother claimed - and she had been forced to learn the language. It was the only thing she really remembered still from her early childhood, the only lessons that she continued to use. The rest of it was a blur. She couldn't even clearly recall what her mother had looked like anymore, it had been so long since she had seen her, since she had been abandoned.

Sunshine's stomach growled. She must have missed lunch. She wasn't a stranger to missed meals, but she knew that there would be something down in the dining room still hopefully. They didn't have any non-Underground members staying with them at the moment, so she figured there ought to be something left over. If there wasn't, she could just pickpocket the Hufflepuff...

She winced at the thought. Maybe avoiding him for a little bit would be for the best. She really didn't want to see him after that hallucination. It was embarrassing to think that in that fantasy or whatever it had been, Jack had been her father.

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Casper suddenly became aware that he was sitting outside the Mutant Underground - well, more of on top of it, as the entire hideout was underground. His back was braced up against a tree. A doughnut - probably stolen from Jack's office - was sitting on his leg neatly. His hands had chocolate smeared all over them. It wasn't the first time he suddenly found himself somewhere with no idea how he got there - it happened to the former drug addict all of the time.

His heart sank into his stomach as it came back to him all at once. He had been in Louisiana, a member of the Thieves Guild with his brother. Jack had had a daughter. James had been a secret agent, a James Bond type. And Ben... He had been dead, but that wasn't really new for the dead mutant. "Hey, Ben... You remember all of that too, right?" he asked. "Especially the parts where you became real?"

Ben nodded, looking stunned and dazed. "...Yup."

"....Great," Casper said, before he got up and the doughnut fell onto the ground, icing down. Casper didn't care though. He needed to check on Jack, to see how he was doing after the loss of his daughter. He really hoped that somehow Jack wouldn't remember Lexi, it probably would be easier for his sanity. He then needed to find James as well, make sure that he wasn't hurting after everything that had happened.

Superheroes tended to have horrible mental health. Casper would know, as his father was Professor X after all. "Jackie! James!" Casper shouted, jogging down to the Mutant Underground entrance just in time to see Havok barrel on out and jump into one of the old clunkers they kept on hand. "Havok, wait!" Casper added, but the young Summers didn't wait, flooring it and taking off as fast as he could.

"Aren't you cold?" Ben asked unhelpfully, eyeing Casper. He was in a pair of torn jeans, an ill fitting tank top, and a heavy black coat. Considering how Casper usually dressed, it was pretty much the most weather appropriate thing he had. The snow was collecting in Casper's dark hair, looking almost like celestial dandruff.

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Callie had been spending the last hour or so in her room, just messing around on her phone at the moment looking around the room it was actually a lot nicer then their hold HQ she actually had a room. Though she had a roommate she got along pretty well with Glimpse for the most part. She slipped her phone into her pocket and grabbed her jacket, before heading down the hallway and down into the foyer catching Havok rushing out of the front door for some odd reason. "Okay it's nice to see you to Havok." Callie called out to him, she had no clue why he suddenly up and left without as much as a word really, she was curious if Veil had sent him out on some kind of mission or something.

She heard Veil's voice, and started to walk over to the training room seeing Veil was on her phone. "You know you kind of look like Negasonic with a really messy hairdo hunched over your phone like that right?" Callie said jokingly as she walked over towards her friend and leaned up against the nearby wall. Negasonic was always constantly on her phone it looked like it was more attached to her hand more than anything. "So who are you texting anyway, did you send Havok out somewhere he kind of left in a real big hurry?" Callie asked.

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Sapphire was in the training room, leaning up against the wall as she blinked, her mind registering what had happened, and a surge of adrenaline seemed to take over as she raced out of the room, hearing Havok take off, more or less ignoring Veil and Spark Plug as she went. "Havok wait!" she called after him, but by then he was already in a car driving off. That wasn't all too surprising, she figured he'd goof and talk to Polaris, but one thing was clear, they really needed to have a long conversation about everything.

The surge of adrenaline she had suddenly disappeared, leaving her somewhat tired, and shivering almost as went back into the training room, still ignoring Veil and Spark Plug as the typical aura of cold that was typically around her to the point where Veil and Spark Plug would feel a slight chill as her hair and eyes darkened as she leaned against the wall and slid to the ground. Her mind was racing, and she put her hands to her head as everything that had happened went running through her mind, she was panicking slightly about it. This sort of thing didn't happen to her very often, where she'd have a full blown panic attack of sorts, and definitely never in front of other people.

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Jack was sitting on his bed in the room that he shared with Casper. It took a moment, but it finally registered in his mind what exactly had happened over the course of the past few days. He was glad to be by himself at the moment, since at least it meant he could have a few moments to clear his head before he went out to where the others were. Not too sure, but he figured that not everyone would remember that world considering he would have expected some sort of commotion to happen if that was the case.

Lexi... Jack's mind wandered to the little 6 year old little girl he'd had in the other reality. One thing stuck out in his mind, and it was a promise he had made to her. The promise that he would find her again, even if it took him to the ends of the Earth and back again, he would find her. No matter the cost, or how long, he owed her to at least try and find her. The last conversation they had was still fresh in his mind, and no matter what it wasn't going away, but he was kind of glad it didn't. Since it was the last time he'd likely talk to her for a while. Jack couldn't stop himself from putting his head in his hands as a few tears came to his eyes,as the conversation kept playing out in his mind over and over again.

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Brutally jarring. One second James was wrapping his head around Ben and keeping Jack from bleeding out and the next he was staring at a wrench in his hand, sitting on his bed, and preparing to finish the daily maintenance. The clang of the wrench hitting the floor barely registered. His stomach rolled and he clapped his hand over his mouth, trying to focus on breathing and not losing whatever was in his stomach to the memories battering inside his head. His stomach portested loudly but he stood up. His legs wobbled and he stumbled a little making his way out of the bedroom.

He made it as far as the stairs. He sat on the top step ungracefully. He stared across the entryway as he tried to make sense of the two different people in his head. James didn’t have the time in… the other world to process with the battle at the execution immediately moving into fetching allies moving directly onto the final confrontation. There was never a time to figure out what was happening. But now things were far calmer than where he came from and it left him no places to escape his introspection. That James Kingston had owned his own repair shop. That James Kingston still had his family. That James Kingston owned his own repair shop. That James Kingston actually achieved everything he wanted.

But at what cost? That James Kingston didn’t know when to stop. That James Kingston lost what made James himself. That James Kingston didn’t mind, no encouraged, plans that brought civilian casualties into the equation. He wanted to turn Sydney, Australia into the Hulk’s playing ground just to make it easier for them to catch the man. Not in a few days, not in a few weeks. It had been a long play and one that would have cost millions of people their lives. And that James enjoyed it. Or at least, what little concept of joy he had left. James didn’t need to cycle through the memories to know what happened in interrogations. How delightfully easy it was to toy with anyone he had the opportunity to sit in a room with, fancy stainless steel utensils stained red and an ego torn to shred with a few hours of carefully calculated comments.

In a fantasy world, James was alone because he liked it. In a fantasy world, James tortured because he lost any concept of empathy. In a fantasy world, James killed because it was convenient.

In a perfect fantasy, James was a monster.

James didn’t know how to handle that so he pulled himself up and stumbled to the only place he could think of right now. He banged on the door to Casper’s room.

“Casper. Please.” James’ wasn’t quite sure who was speaking but their voice was trembling and weak. They sounded so far away. James absently wondered if this was how Casper heard ghosts speak. James noticed a few water stains appear on the floor. He frowned. He’d add a leak to the list of things. That was probably a priority though. He’d ask Luna if they had the stuff to fix it. He couldn’t seem to get a grip on what materials they still had but she probably knew.

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Leighton was nervous at first. The last time she was in a store, she nearly killed a guy. She scoped it out, made sure she avoided any mutant detectors if she saw them. She didn't know if anyone knew, but she wanted to get out of the place. She wasn't liking how it seemed to be turning out. She was beginning to suspect her aunt lied to her. Or at least, didn't speak the whole truth, which was lying my omittance anyway.

So why had she stayed? Because she knew she could be of use here. Enemies closer and all that. She wanted peace amongst everyone and would be better suited with the resources provided. She and Max would do their part to ensure there were no attacks, no war, no damage.

And she wanted to do some Christmas shopping. Damn it all, it was still the holidays. Granted, she didn't have many to buy for, but she at least wanted to give Max something. Perhaps send something to the Mutant Underground if she could. She missed some of them (Veil, James, hell even Jack).

She scanned the shelves. What to give them? Max was hard since he could whip up stuff himself, but she wanted to try, at least.

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The events of the past had weighed heavily on her.

She had always been the one in control. The one who got others to do her bidding. The one who got things done, damn the consequences. To think she had been so easily manipulated. So utterly convinced she was a part of that world. Some thief working alongside those she did not know. She didn't discard her actions. Far from it, she relished them. But they were not her. She was not herself there, even when the truth was revealed.

And she helped bring that bitch back. She deserved no less than to feel the pain of the world in her own head. That kind of power was impressive and scary. She could not be left to her own devices. Far be it for her to judge another, but Scarlet Witch deserved death.

All that in due time. It was the holiday season. She didn't care one way or the other for it. Especially with the war against humans and mutants on the horizon. It was not going to be a merry Christmas anytime soon.

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There was a sharp gasping sound as Max cling for air. Now sitting upright in his bed, holding his hand to his throat as he looked around the room. A soft thud could be heard behind him as a small soft replica of the planet Mercury landed onto the sheets. There were books and pages surrounding his area on the bed, notes scribbled and glasses lain neatly to the diagonal of a book. The scene looked familiar to him, like a distant memory, as he pieced together how he'd been previously laying down tossing the replica into the air and catching it while thinking about the subjects he was currently reading. Without Leighton around he hardly left his room unless it was to train his powers, but Jinx had been making life for him a little difficult...right? It felt as though he couldn't recall the week that had happened, just heading down into the sewers back the the club and then all that was left was this...dream. It was so vivid, so real, and...

Max thought about his powers in that world, what he could do, what he was capable of achieving when his had mastered control over them. He ripped open portals, took out guards without fail, and was able to lead the life he wanted. The amount of power almost scared him, almost. Wanda's application of them wasn't morally right, but perhaps he could do it better. But first, he had to try. He quickly scooted back towards the headboard of his bed, legs crossed and arms outstretched. He tried not to use any words of power, to just imagine what he wanted and then create it like he did in that reality. The entire room began to glow with his familiar magic until it revealed a mural of space across the walls, ceiling, and floors. He scowled. Ok, try again. He concentrated harder, pushing his will onto the reality that was this room and bending it to how he wished to perceive it. The glow was now brighter, swirling across the room as it encompassed all until it came to a rapid stop. Everything around him looked as if he was actually in the vacuum of space. The interior was pitch black and expensive, save for the specs of light that littered the false sky across the rooms borders and gave it depth to the infinite. Max screamed in excitement and no sound could be heard. His eyes grew large when he realized what he'd just done.

He slowly extended one foot off the bed, attempting to touch the floor and finding that it still had purchase. Despite the illusion cast upon the room, it was still solid and retained it's true dimensions. Most would find this scene to be unnerving, terrifying even, but at this point in time he was infinite. Max began to walk about the room, feeling the walls as he made his way around. The memories still fresh in his mind about the other reality, now shifting from his power and Wanda's, to James, Casper, and all the others he'd met along the way. He paused for a moment as his heart felt like it was in a vice grip and he had to know whether this was dream or reality. There was a spell he used back there, one to contact others from a distance. He attempted to reach out to James but it was as if the fear of hearing his voice, the fear of hearing this world was true, wasn't what he truly wanted. Max made his way back to the bed, grabbing his replica and throwing it in anger at the wall, having no sound come of it. He sat down and knew he had to speak to James, reaching out to him once more and grabbing hold of him. "James, I know it's been a while but...this is Max. I'm learning to control my power, expanding it. I hope you're doing well but...listen I need to know. Do you recall another reality?"

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Jinx, Pickpocketing

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Jinx smelled the cold air of the mall, just outside the Macy's storefront. It smelled of privilege, naivety, and money. Christmas time was always a bittersweet time for him, it was near his birthday which he often spent alone and cooking his mothers own recipe for french styled cupcakes. He'd sing in french each year as he held her ring close and blew out the candles. As the years went by he adopted a more grinch style of celebration, doing the same tradition on the 11th and then using the rest of the month leading up to the 25th as means to ruin the holiday for all the humans he could get his hands on. He took in the scenery as he watched parents waltz around lazily, searching for generic gifts that wreak of money yet have no personal touch to them. This would be his hunting ground. It started off with the anti-mutant detectors. He had meant to cause them to malfunction, reading humans as mutants and allowing his brethren and sisters free pass into the stores, it didn't however seem to go as plan. The machines had merely broken and his fun was damped but this still allowed him the freedom for more.

Jinx made his way into he store, scouting out those who would make great targets and eyeing the perfect woman. She appeared to know no struggle in life, and he thought that could be a gift he would give her this holiday season. As he walked on passed her, his hand expertly slipped into her small purse that she so carelessly hung behind her, a true sign of the idiot elite, and he took her wallet. He kept walking as if nothing had happened, nothing to give away what he had just done as he made his way through the store, admiring odd bits and bobs, looking past them and for another victim. There was a man, alone, he appeared to be prime target as it would make for an easy catch. As Jinx went to pick his pocket he succeeded once more, the man seemingly none the wiser as he kept moving forward, heading towards the Macys restroom and taking a stall to check the contents of the wallets. The first had 300 dollars in it, a decent score that he was certain would put some damper on the womans plans. The second however, only held food stamps. Well, it wasnt money, but the idea of a human telling his family they wouldnt have bread for Christmas just brought a smile to his face.

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Luna sat on the floor of her shared bedroom, a bag of make-up in front of her lap as she meticulously put on her make-up, adding the finishing touches to the wing on her left eye. She checked the contouring of her cheeks, with the slight gold shimmer and once she was satisfied she packed the goodies away and slid the make-up kit under her small bed. Sure, the make-up was excessive but Luna liked to dress the part and she had always found the ability to be able to change your face with make-up important; especially, when undercover.
She walked back to the mirror one more time and pinned her hair up. It had grown out more, despite her idea of wanting to cut it. For some reason she no longer wanted it short and was thinking about dying it red as well.
Over the silence of the last couple months, with the undercover agent’s texts coming in, Luna had kept in contact with her parents a bit more and was working on honing her own skills as well in order to help herself and the Underground once it was go time. Once she was downstairs she noticed Havok rush from the Underground building. She frowned as she watched him go. Didn’t something happen that she wasn’t informed of yet? She debated going to Veil but she continued on with her previous task and focused on what she could while they waited for something to happen and that was keeping the lights on in the Underground and the water running.

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Cayden had taken himself out for a run after a light breakfast if one could even call it breakfast. It was definitely fast. A piece of bread and two slices of an apple but really, how much of an apple did you really need in order to keep the doctor away. The fresh air felt good for Cayden, there was very little activity going on in the Underground and Havok had been acting strangely. With no new kids present in the Underground really, there was much for Cayden to do to keep his hands busy. Other than learning from James and Luna about the inner workings of keeping the Underground running.
Cayden ran back towards the Underground, making a real push near the end and came huffing and puffing up to the entrance only to see Casper jump up and Havok run out and jump into a vehicle. ”What was that all about?” Cayden asked, slightly out of breath still. He stretched his hamstrings and quads while he waited for an answer from his friend. Casper and Cayden had become friends after the fun with Mister Sinister and made sure to keep the atmosphere light within the Underground.

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Desiree's apartment was strangely bland for the cheery time of year. There wasn't a single poinsettia, sprig of holly, or strand of tinsel to be seen. There was no Christmas tree, or any other decor pieces representing one of the various holidays. Her apartment was all white walls and grey furniture. Nondescript, to the point of being bizarre. It hardly looked lived in. This was what Desiree preferred. She kept to herself, and on the rare occasion that she allowed someone into her home, she wanted them to find nothing particularly interesting.

Not that it mattered. Her apartment wouldn't be around much longer at the rate the fire was burning.

When she first scented the smoke, the hairs on the back of her neck rose. Her pupils dilated, and though she calmly stood up from her bed, her panic was quick to start overwhelming her. A million thoughts and reasons flashed through her mind, and while most of them were ridiculous at best, she couldn't help but ponder them as she scooped up her purse and jacket.

Had someone left their oven on, and been so careless as to wreck the holiday season for everyone around them?

Was there something deeper to all of this, that she wasn't picking up on?

Was it...them? Had the Purifiers done this? Were they trying to flush the mutants out of the apartment complex to attack them while they were vulnerable?

She had to suck in a deep breath. Tell herself it didn't matter. Not yet. She'd think on it all later. The events were unfortunate, but she had to get out. How was she going to get out? She looked around herself, clutching her purse close to her chest. Her car was in the lot downstairs. She had to get there. Sucking in a breath didn't calm her, as she tasted thick smoke. A hand clamped over her mouth. She whirled around, and that was when she saw it.

The fire escape. Of course.

Her safest bet was right before her eyes. She ran toward her apartment's large window, unlatching it with trembling fingers and throwing it open. She shook with fear as she took a step out onto the platform, smoke rising around her. Her first few steps were unsteady, but as she got a hang of going down the stairs and making a sharp turn, she found her strides growing longer and faster. Strangely, her mind took her back to when she used to race down the staircases in high school, laughing alongside one of the others in her year.

Before she knew it, her shoes were gripping the concrete. She looked back at her apartment, a sense of emotional pain clenching her gut. It was lost. Even if they managed to put out the fire, there was no way she'd be able to return to the apartment in due time. She was on her own, with only the belongings she had in her purse. Part of her felt bad for the people who had lost pets, or the people who were watching their holiday gifts go up in flames.

The other part of her was focused on self preservation.

Rushing across the lot, she dug out her keys and clicked them repeatedly in search of her car. Finding the beat-up sedan, she quickly hopped in. Hesitation filled her as she adjusted the rear view mirror. Where was she even going? A hotel, maybe? Would that even be safe? She pressed her forehead against the steering wheel, taking in its coolness. She sat there, thinking things through.

She needed to regroup, get the basics back. Be in a crowded place, where she could get situated safely. That was probably the best option, she could think things through while she bought a new toothbrush. She huffed, finding this almost funny, in a twisted way. Turning on the vehicle, she pulled out of the lot and began driving toward the nearby Macy's.

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The Hellfire Club Headquarters -

Reeva's phone call didn't take too long to conclude. "Honestly, you can't find good help these days," she muttered angrily. She didn't like having to use the Purifiers, but they were a tool like any other. In order to build a nation, sacrifices were demanded. Mutants needed a homeland, a space where they were free to exist without being challenged for their gifts.

"Well, what are you gonna do?" Polaris said sarcastically. She continued looking out the window, spinning the dreidel over and over again. She didn't consider anyone here to be her friend. She didn't trust them to not kill her if it suited their agenda. The mistress of magnetism was loyal to Genosha, not to the Hellfire Club. Professor X had failed to find a solution for mutants. Polaris wasn't going to repeat his mistakes.

"First responders have been dispatched," Sage informed Reeva robotically. "No news yet on whether or not the hit has been confirmed."

Reeva nodded, her eyes seemingly watering for a second before her stoic facade resumed. "Let me know the second its confirmed - she's too dangerous to leave alone. If she doesn't join us, well..."

A few more moments passed in uncomfortable, tension filled silence. "She's fleeing the scene. Jinx and Ice Queen are in the area. Should I activate them?"

"...Do it."

Macy's -

Luck seemed to be on Leighton's side, as no one was really paying much attention to her. She would be able to spot Jinx as he entered the store - and Jinx would see her as well. It always is a little awkward running into your coworkers outside of the office, isn't it? The mall itself was decked out for the holidays. Macy's opened up into the mall entrance, giving them a clear line of sight to a mall Santa taking photos with little kids and annoyed slightly older kids.

A group of cheerleaders were shopping in the same area as Leighton. "Ugh, did you hear about Trevor?"

"No, what happened?" one of them gasped.

"He woke up covered in scales - like a fucking fish! So gross. Honestly, they should just put people like him somewhere else, for their own good."

The second cheerleader shook her head skeptically. "I don't think that's, like, right. Besides, Nate looked so hot when he got those muscles."

"...He's not a mutie, Kelli! He was just roiding!"

Both Jinx and Leighton's phones would vibrate with a message. It had been sent from Sage. There was an image of a black girl with honey brown eyes and simple instructions. APPREHEND - DEAD OR ALIVE.

Lotus Apartments -

In the rearview mirror, Desiree would see a man standing outside of her apartment building. He was dressed in a leather jacket, ripped jeans, and combat boots. There was a thin scar on the side of his face and his hair was a pale, dusty blonde. In his hands, an orb of flames was floating above a lighter. He smirked, seeing her, and did a little bow, taking credit for his work. He had destroyed her apartment complex. But why?

He didn't follow her however. She'll be able to pull into the Macy's parking lot this round without issue.

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"You know my hair can't be tamed," Veil told Spark Plug, rolling her eyes slightly. No matter what she tried, her hair was a wild beast - it had killed so many brushes that Veil wondered why she even bothered at this point. They regularly would snap after just a few minutes. "No, I didn't send Havok anywhere. Sage sent a time sensitive message, so of course she decided to encrypt it with an outdated cypher," she murmured.

She kept switching back and forth between the cypher Sage had sent and the decoding guide she had found online for a pigpen cypher. "Lotus... Apartments... Eighteenth... Afternoon," she read aloud as she finished. Goosebumps then crawled up and down her arms as the temperature in the room dropped, drawing her attention over to Sapphire. Sage's message was clear - they needed to hurry to the Lotus Apartments. Something was clearly wrong with her best friend, however. "Spark Plug, go see who's around and available - I want a team of about five. Tell them to be prepared for a fight and possible evac."

Veil then quietly walked over to the wall, sliding down next to Sapphire. As easily as breathing, she turned Sapphire invisible, hoping it would give her some privacy. "Do you want to talk about it? Or would kicking someone's ass help?" she asked softly.

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Casper spun around wildly, taken by surprise. He hadn't seen Cayden in over a week, as far as he could remember. Cayden hadn't been around in the House of M illusion that the Scarlet Witch had crafted. And while Moonwalker was his friend, he knew that his brother likely needed him - and Casper needed his boyfriend. He wanted to cuddle James and just pretend the entire ordeal had been a nightmare, where the only good thing had been that his father, Professor X, wasn't around. And Jack having been with his kid, he supposed that was a good thing too. "I just got back from Magneto's Palace, no time, sorry!" Casper blurted.

"That should make about zero sense," Ben commented.

"I don't care, we don't have time to explain! Jackie is probably super depressed right now wondering where his daughter is!" he pointed out, before Casper stumbled and went off into the Underground at a run. He emerged into the entranceway and he then scrambled up the staircase, about to run to James' room when he spotted James in the hallway outside of Casper and Jack's room. "James!" he shouted, before barreling into his boyfriend and hugging him tightly. "We gotta find Jackie before he does something dumb! Also have I mentioned I love you and missed you?" he rambled.

"Somehow, you seem even crazier now than when you were tripping on drugs."

"Not the time, Ben!" Casper complained.

---

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Sunshine's stomach growled again and she decided to stop dawdling. She got up, out of the bed, and crept out into the hallway. She could see the clusterfuck of James and Casper - two people she also didn't really want to talk to. In that dream or whatever it had been, Casper had been her uncle... Would that then make James her step-uncle then? She wasn't quite sure, but looking at them just made her stomach churn, so she crept down the stairs of the entranceway and went into the dining room.

She was a little bit surprised to not see anyone. She could hear voices in the training room, so maybe everyone was in there working on some annoying technique with Colossus. It allowed her uncontested access to the food though, so she wasn't about to start complaining. Her stomach continued to make a symphony of complaints, urging her more and more to dig into whatever scraps there were. Sunshine bit her lip, looking at the table with the lunch food set on it. There wasn't much left at all.

Picking up a granola bar and a Caprsi Sun pouch, she went and found a quiet spot in the corner, sitting down as she ripped open her meal. As much as she wished there was more food available, she knew that beggars couldn't be choosers. She was lucky that there was food here at all.

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Waverley let out a grunt as she pushed her bent arms straight, struggling to push herself further off the ground. She was on the ground of the Underground training room in push up position, off to the side near a wall, as to stay out of the way of anyone who wanted to use the training room for fighting purposes. She appeared to be nearly at her limit, her frail arms shaking as she lowered herself back down. She felt like there was a wildfire burning inside her arms. Her movement wavered as she tried to push up once again, only for her arms to collapse under her, her body falling flat against the floor. She let herself lay there for a few moments, panting, before she got to her feet.

"Eighteen. Not bad," she mumbled to herself, brushing specks of dirt off the festive Die-Hard t-shirt she'd swiped from her house on December first. She silently admitted to herself that, while eighteen push ups wasn't bad, it wasn't particularly good either. But it was sixteen more than she'd been able to do before joining the Underground. She looked down at her bicep, lightly jabbing it with her finger. Since she'd started exercising, her arms, which had once been thin and bony, surrounded by a light layer of pudge, had become thin and bony, surrounded by a light layer of pudge that became slightly firmer when she flexed. To call them muscles would be an exaggeration, but they weren't nothing. She swiped her water bottle off the ground, the wrinkled plastic signifying that it had been filled and refilled numerous time. She took a swig from it, before her ears perked up at Veil's request for Jack. She capped her water bottle and grabbed her jacket from its position waded up against the wall.

"On it!" she answered, throwing her jacket on as she hopped up the stairs. As she did, though, she paused, hearing Veil mention a new mission. A small smile appeared on her lips, not paying Casper any mind as he sped past her. It sounded to her like she'd be needing to grab her rebar on the way back from grabbing Jack. Without further hesitation, she continued down, passing by a number of rooms. She finally arrived at Jack and Casper's room, only to find James and Casper in a tight embrace outside of it, the latter mentioning how much he had missed the former.

"God, you guys are so fucking adorable." Her tone of voice was one might use when talking about a particularly cute puppy. Missing someone after not seeing them for only an hour or two tops? That was love. Her smile of adoration lessened to a more casual one, as her eyes shifted from them to the door. "Do you know if Jack's in there?" she asked, not waiting for an answer as she reached out and knocked on the door. "Hey, Jack, you there? Veil needs you pronto." she called out.

---

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Oh. Desiree thought, her inner voice dull, placated. A mutant.

She was being hunted...by a mutant. A man who she had never seen before in her life. And the worst part? He was wearing ripped jeans and combat boots. An edgy fire bender was trying to kill her, or at the very least drive her out of 'hiding', and looked smug as hell while doing it. She cursed, raising her hand to her lips and beginning to chew on the dip of flesh between her thumb and forefinger. Her teeth scraped against skin, but the comforting motion did little to calm her nerves.

How was she supposed to defend herself against a mutant? Was this as far as his plans went, or was he going to chase her down? Did he know where she was going? How could he? Hesitantly, she looked in the rear view mirror once more. As far as she could tell, there was no one following her. The flow of traffic was as hectic as usual during these times. Returning her gaze to the road, she sucked in a slow, shaky breath. She just had to get to the store. She'd figure things out when she was surrounded by people.

Before she knew it, she was pulling into the Macy's parking lot. Exiting her car, she hovered beside her vehicle for a few moments, waiting. For what, exactly? She wasn't sure. Perhaps she was waiting to be attacked. Or for someone to wave a sign around that said 'SAFETY THIS WAY' in big, bold letters. Either way, her hand was trembling as it gripped the door handle of her mottled blue sedan.

All around her, people were filtering in and out of the Macy's. There were young children, older men and women. Some seemed stress, others seemed content as they heaved bags into their trunks. She would bet a dime that none of them were in a situation quite like hers. At least she could pass off her distress as holiday stress. Taking the hood of her jacket, she lifted it cautiously over her head.

Without another word, she entered the stream of people that were making their way into the store.

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"I'll buy you a whole truck load of combs just for you, for Christmas." Callie said jokingly, she remembered Sage being their inside man with the Hellfire Club, but not to much on her really though. And with Havok suddenly leaving and Veil answering that she hadn't sent him out anywhere. She probably figured it was something personal or some kind of family thing, they could have really used him, but she understood if something important did come up. She did perk up a little bit though that they had some kind of mission to go on finally and nodded towards her.

"Five people got it, text me whatever you have and we will head out." Callie said, she then felt the temperature in the room drop slightly looking at Sapphire, there was something going on but she knew that Veil could help her better than she could. Callie quickly left the room, and walked through the foyer, Feedback having gone out of the room already and to get the others she pulled out her phone and started to send Glimpse a text on her phone.

"Hey, we got a mission right now, and could use you."

Callie hit send and made her way into the dining room to get something to eat real quick seeing Sunshine there and smiled. "Got a mission, if you are up for it." Callie said, Sunshine she enjoyed her company and knew that she could be useful to.

A scowl manifested on Jinxs face as he recieved Reevas message. Why now of all times did she have to cut into his amusement. Her rules were boring and lacked devotion. Well at the very least he had the option of killing her if it got to it. He made his way out of the restroom, glancing from left to right as he searched the Macys for her. If anything Reeva probably had Sage track the members locations and signaled those closest to the wanted human? Mutant? Why was she always so vague?

There was an over abundance of people in the store, Leighton included. Another buzzkill if he ever met one. His eyes darted from face to face, occasionally glancing at his phone to freshen the memory until he saw her. It didn't appear to be her at first but then a curl of her hair slipped from under the hood. Her honey-brown eyes accentuated by the dark shadow cast on her. Didn't anyone ever teach her that hoods indoors was extra suspicious?

Jinx quickly made his way towards the target, wide smile and waving to her as if he knew her. "Hey! There you are, what took you so long?" He got close to her, his arm now hooked into hers as he began to whisper. "You're being followed, I'm here to help you. Now quick do you have a car to get away in and a phone?" His voice sounded urgent as if they could be spotted any minute...by Leighton.

Desiree had yet to think of a plan.

She thumbed through a rack of sweatshirts, pretending to scrutinize the different colors and logos. The truth was, she was trapped in her head, and as she shuffled over to the next rack she found herself caught off guard by a plain looking man with black hair and green eyes. Before she knew it, he was hooking her arm into his.

Immediately, she bristled with panic, hardly listening to the words he had to say. Her mouth gaped slightly, as a choked cry of surprise escaped her. He hadn’t threatened her with any weapon, and what little she had managed to pick up told her he was trying to help. But who was he? How did he know what was going on with her? There was no way this wasn’t a trap.

She let a few seconds go by without answering, before mumbing, ”Do I know you?” The words were foolish. Of course she didn’t know him. On a whim, she shook out her arm, trying to shake him off quite erratically. Once their arms separated, she quickly backed away a few paces.

”My car’s in the lot…” She continued, ”Better get back to it.” With that, she began walking off, heading toward the ‘lot’.

"Its ok. You don't know me but I know you. I'm one of Xaviers kids, not biologically but a student. We have a spy that can infiltrate enemy messages and there appears to be a target on you back. I was sent here to protect you and get you to one of our establishments until the X-wing can take us back." He spoke in hushed tones, not wanting to alert anyone that mutants were present in a department store.

At the mention of Xavier, Desiree stilled for a moment before continuing at an easier pace. She wasn’t well versed in Mutants and their organizations, but everyone knew about Xavier and the X-Men. Some people loved them, some hated them, Desiree didn’t know exactly where she fell in the spectrum.

Still. This was probably not a good time to be trusting. Desiree had spent the past...what was it now, four years? Not making friends, not allowing people into her personal space. Like hell was she going to let this guy get under her skin...more than he already was. She just needed him off her back.

”Look,” She began, turning to face him. ”I’m not in the mood for jokes right now. My apartment complex is burning to the ground as we speak. I just want to go home. I’m not trying to get involved in mutant antics.” Again, she turned, tension making her back ache as she faced away from him.

Jinx quickened his step, now getting in her way as he faced her. His was low but stern, serious, and tense. "That's Pyro's M.O. He's one of Magnetos lackeys and is probably the one hunting you down. Listen, I just want to help. That's all. I wasn't lying before with what I said its just...I'm not an X-Men ok. Theres a smaller, less known group called the Mutant Underground. It's hard for us… we try to help mutants but our name doesnt carry the same weight as his golden team does. Please...let me help you." Jinxs head tilted down, as if sorrow was filling him. His eyes tilting up giving her a pair of sad puppy eyes.

Desiree blinked, her hands clenching at her side. She lifted them just enough to begin popping her knuckles. ”Stop.” Crack! ”Lying.” Crack! Crack! Flexing her fingers, she urged them down to her sides once again. ”Leave me alone, please.”

Jinx rolled his eyes as she attempted to...intimidate? He wasn't sure what she was doing but it definitely wasn't doing much other than pissing him off. He tried playing nice, he tried to get her quietly. But now the gloves were off. "Alright fine. I guess you wanna do this the hard way then?" There was no noticeable change, no flash of light or puff of smoke. Nothing to say that he had jinxed here then and there. The beauty of his mutation is it had no tell, free to be used when he pleased without the ire of humans. "Go ahead, scream. I dare you." his voice was much more menacing now. Still low enough for only their ears as his posture changed and he straightened up to look down on her.

Desiree didn’t try to scream. She was going to make a final plea for him to move out of her way and let her go. This was starting to scare her. But, when she raised her voice, nothing came out…

Nothing came out.

She couldn’t speak. She tried to scream, throwing her head back like a maniac. Nothing happened. Her fists clenched at her side, tears beginning to pool in her eyes. Was this what her father felt when she had overloaded his senses? Extreme panic, an urge to harm the one who caused this?

Like a sputtering spring, her powers lashed out. She wasn’t focused, wasn’t sure what would happen. When he looked unaffected, she went for what she knew best.

Lifting an arm, she cocked it back the way she had been taught in the self defense course her mother had urged her to take. In an instant, she slammed it into his nose, hearing the somewhat satisfying crack of bone. But it didn’t feel satisfying. Not at all. It felt like she had just harmed someone else. Her eyes widened, and she moved her mouth in an apology. Again, nothing escaped her.

Maybe that meant it was time to run? But if she ran, wouldn’t mall security come after her? Wouldn’t Purifiers see the struggle? She was sure some were around. A string of swears ran through her mind. She was screwed.

Jinx recoiled back in horror as the prey dared to attack him. His vision began to cloud up and he knew it had to be her doing. Good news was he now knew she was a mutant, bad news was she had the ability to affect his sight. "You bitch. You'll pay for that."

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Sapphire didn't even really register at first what was being said around her, her mind was racing as she tried to take deep breaths to calm down, but no matter what she did, her heart rate just kept going faster. Her brain kept flashing back to the last moments in the reality of House of M, and it had been something she had done by accident. Then again, last time had also been an accident, and it still haunted her to this day. Killing people was not something she took lightly, and to her it was something only monsters really did, henceforth making her a monster.

"I-I-I don't even think you'd believe me Veil," she said between breaths, not even looking over at her friend. Sapphire's mind was not really slowing down, but she wanted nothing more then to tell Veil what had happened, but she knew it would sound insane to anyone not involved. How was she supposed to tell Veil about that other reality? Where Magneto was king of the world, or how she was a SHIELD agent, and how she ended up killing Polaris in that reality? "You really wouldn't believe me... And punching something might help..."

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Jack heard the first knock on the door, and he didn't even get up from where he was before he shouted at the door in response to James. "Casper isn't here James! I don't know where he went!" he called out, not moving really from where he was. His mind was not really wanting to deal with everyone else at the moment, more or less wanting to be alone. Being by himself was usually when he actually could take some time to sort through the thoughts in his head, but nothing seemed to be going away. He just kept thinking of Lexi and the other reality.

He eventually heard Casper's voice through the door, and then Waverly's as she joined the area and proceeded to knock on the door saying that Veil needed him. Letting out a bit of a sigh, he ran his hand through his hair as he thought of what to do, eventually just putting the thoughts from his mind about what had happened, making sure he didn't really look like he was upset or something, and walked over and opened the door. "Wow, you have no faith in me Casper?" he said with a bit of a laugh, before turning to look at Waverly, "So what's up?"

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Max’s voice threatened the fragile distance James managed to create between this James and that James. Memories rushed out unbidden. Max in the tunnels. Max with the Resistance. A fire on the ceiling. A portal. Dr. Strange. The Hellfire club. James leaned on the door, trying to remember which one was here and now and which one was the other side. There was so much to sift through. Two lives to reassemble. It was like two jigsaw puzzles spilled onto a table together, the edges and pictures just similar enough that it was a struggle to figure out which piece belonged where. And all the while, this voice, this… person whispered things.



“He trusts you. He reached out first.”



His thoughts came to a grinding halt as a body hit his and he instinctively wrapped his arms around them. James stared down at this person he was hugging. He knew them, something about them made him feel so happy and he recognized they were important but his mind was still reeling through the past… how long had it been? The Hulk, the execution, the witch, portals, Max calling… Max calling… The name hit him like lightning.

“Casper.” James crushed his boyfriend, pulling him into a kiss without really thinking about their surroundings. He savored the warmth for a second before smiling weakly at his boyfriend. “I love you so much, so fucking much.” James rested his head on Casper’s shoulder and just took a second to breathe before he registered Jack had responded and then also opened the door with Waverly standing right there. James’ head whipped up and he stared at Jack for a long moment. The last time he’d seen Jack, the man was bleeding out on the floor and James was struggling to patch him up. Ben had been doing a fantastic job though and James couldn’t help himself, grabbing Jack in his other arm and bringing the three of them in a tight hug.

“Everyone’s okay. Thank god.” James sighed. Well, they needed to talk to Sapphire and… Havok. Shit. That was going to be a nightmare. James stepped back, keeping an arm around Casper’s waist and pinching the bridge of his nose with his free hand.

“We should tell Veil before we do anything.” James suggested. And Max. Shit. Hopefully, that line was still open. He recalled the spell from when he used it at the Resistance headquarters so he thought it back at Max. “Yeah, I do but what the fuck! You've been AWOl for how long and you're just now contacting me and fucking telepathically? Dude, not cool!”

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Luna reached the room where they kept the generators and tools to keep everything running smoothly. She checked everything over and noticed everything running smoothly. The pipes were starting to get cold from the temperature drop and they would probably have to rig a heater up of some kind to keep them warm unless they could find an insulator. She would have to talk to James about that.
She had enjoyed working with James, developing a sort of friendship with him that consisted of talking mostly about machines but also dreams and their goals. On the rare occasion they would speak of what happened back at Sinisters' but they never lingered long on that topic of conversation. She was thankful James had Casper as well, the two of them seemed to make a good pair, even though they didn’t look like it but the oddest people usually made the best pair.
Her phone buzzed inside her pocket and she pulled it out to read Spark’s message. Finally, something new to do then check generators. She put her phone back into her pocket and headed down to the first floor to where she had seen Veil to get some information on what was going on. As she walked closer to the Training Room, she noticed the temperature drop and got worried she missed something with the generators.

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”Umm, right…” Cayden watched Casper run off without so much as explaining what the hell he was meaning. Was Casper doing drugs again? Cayden headed inside, more confused than he was with Havok taking off and he headed down to look for Veil, finding her in the training room. It was freezing in here, much like it was outside but Cayden was still warm from his run.
”Uh, Veil… Something’s up with Casper. He babbled about just getting back from Magneto’s palace? But he was here all morning right? I don’t think I was gone that long from my run,” he noted. He finally realized she was sitting on the floor and he cocked his head to the side. "Hey, are you okay?" He walked over and sat down on the floor in front of her. She was always on point for all of them, their guardian basically so it wouldn't be strange to Cayden if she struggled and broke from time to time.