Hello everyone, I am back after an extremely long hiatus. I would be happy to tell you all what has been going on in my life but for now I say we get back to the story. Where we last left off Troy Mignogna, Max's boyfriend had seemingly murdered Bryce in front of River, Forge and Raina. Let us see what's next.

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Bryce Harrington took a deep breath as he stepped through the doorway of Professor Charles Xavier's office. He slowly crossed the room to seat himself in one of the armchairs located in front of the professor's desk. He had just been released from the hospital following a two-week stint in recovery. While checking on the greenhouse with his fellow garden club members he had witnessed a friend being assaulted by their significant other and had been injured when trying to intervene.

Over the following two-week period his friends had continued to awkwardly avoid the subject of what happened after he blacked out. So, when Beast and the Prof had called on him to give a statement, he decided he was going to finally get answers out of someone. He looked up at the others with a serious expression gaining a small but troubled smile from the school's headmaster.

"I can tell that you have questions Bryce and I would be happy to answer them" Professor Xavier began, "But first I need for you to recount for me what happened in the rose garden two weeks ago!" He finished receiving a nod in response.

"I remember hearing Troy screaming at Max… Max was crying and Troy shoved him to the ground…" Bryce began looking down, "Troy climbed on top of Max's chest… and grabbed him like near the bottom of his neck… close to his collar bones" He continued looking up and out a window that faced into the back lawn.

"Did you approach Troy next?" Beast asked him calmly seeing a storm of anger and frustration brewing in his student's eyes.

"Sort of I guess; I ran toward them and turned my bracelet into a half moon and shot it out at Troy… I didn't even want to hurt him really, I just wanted to get him off of Max… But then I remember him grabbing it from the air and throwing it back at me!" Bryce recalled eyes going wide as he remembered the feeling of the impact and what felt almost like a vibration before blacking out.

"What is the next thing you remember after that?" The professor questioned in a smooth, calm tone.

"Waking up in the hospital and seeing River beside me… on a ventilator!" Bryce stated unaware of the tears that had dotted the corners of his eyes, "I fell asleep but when I woke up again the bed was empty… River is ok right, nobody will tell me what happened!" He demanded at the end of his sentence.

Beast and the Professor shared a glance before Beast sighed softly, crossing to stand closer to the back windows of the office.

"Bryce, your heart stopped when Troy shocked you…" Beast began seeing Bryce's eyes bug slightly, "if River hadn't stepped in with their mutation you would be dead" He finished. It was all to clear that Bryce was just filled with more questions than before.

"What happened to Troy" He started "And what about Max… is Max ok?" He added with great concern for his friend arising in his mind.

"Max is physically fine… he is receiving treatment that he needs for the emotional and mental aspects of this and as for Troy, he fled the grounds and hasn't been seen since!" Professor Xavier told the boy who sighed in relief, "S.H.I.E.L.D. and the agents of P.R.I.M.E. are aware of what occurred with Troy and he is now on their wanted list for attempted murder." He added receiving a nod from Bryce.

"Bryce if you see him or if you hear that someone else has seen him, we need to be notified immediately, do you understand?" Beast stated to the students who nodded once again, "Now if you would like to go and rest you are welcome to do so… River, Max and Yourself have been excused from your final exams for the year so please take some time to recover!" He finished.

Bryce stood slowly and stretched before thanking them both. He made his way out the door and through the groups of students working on final exam prep in the library. Instead of heeding Beasts advice however, Bryce decided to head to the third floor via tube to ask Dante or Judah if they had seen River.

When he finally approached his Teachers' door, he heard what sounded like a rather loud argument on the other side.

"Dante I'm done hearing about how you think I should and shouldn't use my mutation!" River shouted in frustration at their brother, "If I hadn't of helped Bryce would have died… I wasn't just going to let him fucking die!" River added in anger.

"You could have died!" Dante shouted back with equal vibrato. Bryce's eyes went wide, Dante never yelled at River which was really something since he yelled at everyone else.

"Listen Love, I think maybe you both need to calm down and take a minute…" Judah began only to be interrupted by his fiancé.

"Don't tell me to be calm!" Dante started again, "You and my sister are the only family I have!" He said hearing a gasp from his husband to be. Moments later Bryce heard the sound of flesh on flesh and the shouting continued louder than ever.

"That is the final straw Dante you transphobic fuck!" River belted before rushing toward the door with out another word, flinging it open and slamming it behind them. Blinking and seething River looked over to see a shocked and angered looking Bryce. Without a word Bryce reached over and grabbed his friend pulling them close into a hug, noting that they had on long sleeves and no skin showing aside from their face. Neither said a word while the flood gates opened, and River sobbed silently into the crook of the others neck. After a moment River pulled away and looked at Bryce.

"Let's go have some coffee flavored sugar or something…" River stated brushing away a few tears.

"I'm supposed to be avoiding it since my heart stopped…" Bryce sighed, frowning as the realization of his greatest joy being taken away had finally dawned on him.

"It's cool, I know where Chain-link and Bungee keep the decaf!" River said making Bryce laugh before they both headed toward the closest tube.

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Blake, Layla, Mari, and Kurt were sitting on the lawn studying for their literature finals, at least they were trying to study. Mari had received multiple texts from Bryce which had caused the others to lose the plot of what they were doing. They were all happy to see that Bryce was well enough to leave the hospital and that he would be ok after all that had happened two weeks prior.

"Bryce said he is gonna be in the dining room with River for a while if we wanted to come say hi!" Mari began seeing her two female companions smile, "I'm glad to see that all three of them are ok… I really thought that was it for Bryce!" She added getting a nod from Kurt.

"Do any of you know what happened with River… how did he-they bring Bryce back literally from the dead?" Blake responded with a question.

"I'm not sure… what ever they did though Bryce is very…" Kurt stated before trailing off staring up at the front gate with a small smirk. Blake looked up from her study guide at him with furrowed brows.

"Very what?" She implored before following his gaze to see what he had spotted. Crossing the lawn from the gate was her brother, Darius, and the rest of his P.R.I.M.E. teammates. Blake rolled her eyes when she realized Kurt was looking at Darius.

"Alright Mr. Lovebird, go get 'em" She ushered from Kurt to her brother with a laugh, causing Kurt to blush visibly through the blue fur on his cheeks. When Darius was within an arm's length Kurt stood and closed the distance between them, nestling himself in Darius's embrace. Envy, who had tagged along with the group rolled her eyes and scowled at Kurt who just frowned before burying his face in Darius's chest.

"What has gotten into you lately babe?" Darius asked Kurt with a chuckle. Kurt just shook his head before pulling away and taking the others' hand.

"You can go ahead and talk to Xavier without me guys!" Darius told his team, "We're gonna go spend some… quality time… together!" He added making Kurt blush and look away from the group.

"Right-o Sarge, alright Lady Sarge take me to Dr. McCoy please!" Paige demanded after saluting an exasperated looking Darius.

"Yeah yeah right this way!" Blake said with a laugh bidding Mari and Layla goodbye before she motioned for the others to follow her, "So what's up with Beast?" She asked Paige who had been typing something into a tablet as they walked.

"I proposed a study to him a few months ago and he wants to run my idea by Professor Xavier before he agrees to help me…" She stated only briefly looking up to acknowledge her team leader's younger sister.

"A study on what… I thought engineering was your thing." Blake began getting a half nod from the other girl, "Wouldn't Iron Man be a better partner?" She finished seeing Paige look briefly uncomfortable.

"I have a few sciences in my wheelhouse… my IQ has always been high, but I was in a cheer accident three years ago and my IQ weirdly increased… I gained a passion for sciences other than mechanics…" Paige told the other girl whose eyes went wide for a moment.

"So, is it a genetics thing you want to work on then?" Blake questioned trying to move past the awkward moment from before. Paige smirked before going back to her tablet.

"Precisely Lady Sarge!" She responded before placing her tablet in her shoulder bag as they approached the Professor's office door.

"Well here it is, if you need anything just shoot me a text!" Blake told them before bidding them farewell and heading toward the dining room.

Meanwhile across the property near an old tree sat Kurt and Darius, who were just lounging and trying to relax. Darius could tell Kurt seemed stressed but was unaware of exactly what had happened to get him in this mood.

"So, some kid who was your classmate is now on the S.H.I.E.L.D. wanted list… wanna fill me in on that?" Darius questioned seeing the other take a deep breath and struggle to let it out properly.

"You remember Max and Bryce, right?" Kurt asked him in response.

"Yeah Max is the like Twinky blonde who's dating Shylow right?" Darius responded with a question of his own.

"Twinky?" Kurt questioned with an eyebrow raised making Darius chuckle in response.

"You know what I mean!" He told the younger who sighed and shook his head.

"Yeah I know… well Max and Shy broke up a while ago, Max had a new boyfriend!" Kurt told Darius who nodded in understanding, "Max's boyfriend Troy turned out to be an abusive psychopath… he almost killed Bryce!" He added seeing Darius's eyes go wide.

"So that's what's up with the attempted murder thing… is Bryce ok?" Darius implored quickly.

"Ja, Bryce's heart stopped beating for a minute, but he was… resuscitated and he is doing much better!" Kurt told the other.

"How'd they get him back?" Darius questioned seeing Kurt shake his head in response.

"I don't entirely know… it had something to do with our classmate River's mutation!" Kurt answered before going on to suggest they talk about something different. Darius obliged before looking over at the house in the direction of the dining room windows.

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"I'm sorry to ask this again but what is your mutation… and why are you all covered up… the whole prude look just isn't like you!" Bryce asked River again as they both sat down at a table near the back of the dining room, overlooking the back lawn. River shuddered for a moment before sighing and looking at the other.

"You asked me once if my mutation was like Rogue's… and I said kind of but worse!" River told the other who nodded as he followed along, "Well… when people touch Rogue she takes things from people…" They added.

"That's right…" Bryce said raising an eyebrow.

"When people touch me, they take things from me… not always my memories and thoughts, but my energy and lifeforce!" River continued seeing the pieces falling together for Bryce, "I can technically bring people back when they start to fade away, but if they are too far gone and I don't let go I may die trying to save them." They finished seeing Bryce look over solemnly.

"Why would you risk your life to save me River?" Bryce asked the other in return who looked up with a shade of anger pass briefly through their eyes.

"Aside from Markus and Raina, you are really the only friend I have… and you are a good person!" River exclaimed, "You have a lot to offer this school and the world and I wasn't gonna let someone like Troy Mignogna take that away!" They finished receiving a smile from the magnetist mutant.

"I'm lucky to have a friend like you… with or without your mutation!" Bryce told his friend, "I've seen you hold Markus's hand without gloves before though?" He suddenly remembered.

"Markus's left hand is actually cybernetic… it's not natural so my mutation has no effect on it!" River pointed out getting a nod from the other, "I'll never be able to hold anyone's real hand… I can't kiss people… I can never have a serious or intimate relationship with anyone…" River added sighing and looking away. Bryce shook his head at his friend before laying his hand on their clothed arm and giving it a small squeeze.

"I'm sure that there is someone out their who you'll have that connection with someday…" Bryce said softly, "Just give it time…" He added getting a small smile from the other in response.

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So that is chapter 15 published 3 years and 5 days after chapter 14! I genuinely hope someone likes this since it was such a long time coming! I also assure you that chapter 16 will be here fairly soon as well… no 3 year gap I swear!

-Lonelybelovid, Back from the dead!