I do not own X-Men anything.

And yes, despite it all, I still love Hank.

Once Upon a Time

Everybody's Got a Mission

The running and upkeep of a mansion is a consuming and arduous task.

Much less a school of castoff, hormonally charged, mutant children.

There was the feeding . . .

"Okay, morning and evening meals're buffet style in the dining room. Lunch is sandwiches, trust me, on tuna days just starve . . ."

. . . the housing . . .

"Boys' wing to the left, girls' wing to the right, if you get lost, send up a flare. Oh, and you'll probably have a roommate unless your superpower is Deadly Morning Breath or something . . ."

. . . the laundering . . .

". . . cuddly bear fabric softener but don't use too much or the place will flood like crazy. Oh, and don't forget to turn off the iron when you're done . . ."

. . . the cleaning . . .

". . . chores but they're not too bad. Mostly our rooms and we take turns giving our assigned bathrooms a once over . . ."

. . . and the repairing of the structure itself.

"Hey, uh, do you know where I can score some Super Glue?"

"No. Why?"

Thankfully most of the children were so grateful for the change in scenery . . .

". . . -work next to that old busted tree Scott Summers destroyed."

". . . yeah, what with all the super powers around here, you think we'd have, like, The Duct Taper, to fix that or something . . ."

. . . the acceptance . . .

"Dude, that is so cool! Do it again!"

"Really?"

"Yeah!"

. . . and the protection from misunderstanding humans . . .

". . . any adult and we can help you, yes?"

"Okay, Professor. Thanks."

. . . that they really didn't complain too much about the chores, homework, and abundance of steamed vegetables and mashed potatoes on their evening dishes.

Not unlike the House Elves that had not yet been created by J.K. Rowling yet, there were many mutants working behind the scenes at Xavier Manor that nobody really noticed much.

"Good morning, Mrs. Hamford."

"Good morning, Professor."

More than ever before.

"Wilson, good to see you."

"Good to see you, Professor."

Due to student enrollment being higher than it ever had before.

"It smells delicious in here, Mrs. Estelle."

"Why thank you, Professor. Care for a biscuit?"

Which just left one more vital element to bear in the Running of The Manor.

"Yeah, no, I'd love for her to have a place she can learn to . . . control her, uh . . ."

"Powers."

"Yeah. It's just that, well, I'm a janitor. My wife is a teacher. We don't have enough money to pay for something like that."

Financing.

"Please allow that to be my concern, Mr. Richards. We have contingencies for situations such as this."

"Really? And she wouldn't be . . . slaved or . . . sold in any way?"

"Goodness no. I assure you, she will be cared for here with the utmost respect and decency here, I assure you."

Charles Francis Xavier's family was filthy, stinking rich.

Not as much as they once had been, for sure.

But enough to keep the school going for the immediate and distant future.

So long as . . .

". . . going to go through the roof, Professor."

"You let me deal with the insurance company, thank you."

. . . the students didn't completely wreck the place.

And there was absolutely no way there was not going to be some sort of damage incurred . . .

"Scott! Sentinel!"

"Got it!"

. . . with the X-Men training going on somewhere below the basketball court.

Zap!

"Scott! Narrower beam next time! You nearly burned my face off!"

"Well, get out of the way then!"

"I can't; I've got to be ready to disable the bomb! Kurt!"

"Ready!"

Bamphf!

"Let's see if he actually-"

Bamphf!

"Hey, you got it back in one piece!"

"Yeah, what did you-"

"Less talk, more focus!"

"We're trying, it's just-"

Snicckk-

"You're dead."

"What?! That's not fair! You just snuck up behind-"

Red-visored mutant boy knocked to the ground, menacing blue-skinned mutant leader looming above.

"Hey!"

"Raven!"

Blunted knife clenched in her scaly fist.

"Stop simulation."

Power down.

Sentinels frozen in stasis.

Lights brightening in the windowless domed room below Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.

And Raven Darkholme's deadly, flat voice.

"Your enemy's not going to be fair. You saw that in Egypt. He's not going to wait until you catch your breath to walk up from behind and pike you in the spine."

Unblinking, reptilian yellow eyes.

"If you hesitate, if you don't work with your team and focus every bit of your energy on everything around you with razor sharp precision, you will fail and you will die."

"Raven-"

"No. If you can't learn to follow direction and shoot to kill, you'll be the direct cause of the death of your teammates. Is that what you want?"

The boy's hidden eyes were sullen.

"No."

She drilled him into the floor for a second longer.

"Then get your act together."

Before turning away.

"Or you're off the team."

And directing another command.

"Again, Hank."

"You're driving them too hard."

She didn't even bother to take the time to glare at him.

"No, I'm not."

Instead barely acknowledging his existence in the room.

I'm not just your Danger Room button-pusher, Raven.

"If you scare them too much, they won't be able to perform."

"I'm not here to talk about their sexual performance, Hank."

Grrr . . .

"That was uncalled for, Raven."

Deep breath, try again.

"What I mean is-"

Overruled.

"I know what you meant, Hank. But they have to be ready. For anything. What could be more scary than The World's Oldest Mutant trying to destroy them?"

You.

But she was gone.

Shit.

"Jean is dead. –"

"What the hell, Raven! –"

"No! Jean is dead, her body's on the ground in front of you-"

"Stop it! That's funny!-"

"It's not meant to be funny. It's meant to make you think-"

"I don't want to think if Jean's . . . if Jean's . . ."

"I know. That's the point. You don't want to but in the heat of battle, you can't quit just because you're feelings are hurt. You have to keep going, finish the mission."

"Raven, stop-"

"No. That's just the point. You can't stop. You can't give up. You can't let your emotions get the best of you in any situation."

She stepped away from Jean, supine on the floor in mock death.

"Stop simulation."

Sentinels down. Lights up.

Scott continued to kneel before Jean, heart pounding in earnest even though he knew she fine.

Eyes open and breathing and everything.

But Raven wasn't finished.

"You can't let yourself care for anyone too much. You can't get attached. It makes you weak. It makes you vunerable."

She paused.

"It makes you lose. And then you die."

Another pause.

"Session over."

And then, she was gone.

"I'm sorry for today, Scott."

"It's okay."

"No, it's not. I didn't realize how much it would affect you."

"Why wouldn't you think it would affect me. I . . . care about you."

"You 'care' about me?"

"Yeah, I care about you. And seeing you laying on the floor like that and the lights swirling and . . ."

Scott Summers' voice trailed off.

Jean's green-eyed locked onto his face.

"I just . . . I just . . ."

And he just couldn't pretend it didn't matter.

"I've lost everybody who's ever meant anything to me. My brother's dead. My parents act like I was never born . . ."

Because it did. It really did. All of it.

"I don't want anything to happen to you too. I . . . I love you."

Anybody paying attention would have seen Jean go paler than she usually was.

It was the first time he had said it.

"You . . . you love me?"

Barely a whisper.

And Scott felt his face grow hot even under his visor.

"Well, yeah, Jean. I love you. You didn't know?"

She didn't reply for a second and he felt dread that he had said too much too soon.

And now it would be awkward and weird and wrong between them.

"Well, no, I . . . I mean . . . I didn't think . . . I love you too, Scott."

He shook his head, humiliation rising.

"You don't have to say it just because I did- aw, god, this is so stupi-"

And Jean's hands rose up to cup his face, still his rising anxiety over being so . . . exposed.

"No, Scott. I'm not. I just . . ."

Her lovely pale face crimsoned, even more so in his ruby quartzed vision.

"I just never felt like I was someone who could be loved. I mean . . . my powers are so . . ."

She stopped, momentarily at a loss.

And then decided to go back to the last thing she had said, thought, that made sense to her.

"I love you, Scott. I really do."

And then she kissed him.

And he . . .

"Oooo, Jean's kissing Scott-"

"Hey, okay, come on, these are not the droids you're looking for, guys, move along-"

"Aww, Peter-"

. . . let her.

Thanks to brigid1318 for choosing to review! :)