AN: Thanks for all of the reviews on my last one shot, honestly didn't expect any let alone such positive ones from some people that I'll admit I've story stalked. I rewrote this from different views and different starting points and hope you guys enjoy it. Personally I wasn't sure if this was a Laura/Alex story or a Jubilee/Amara take over.
As always all characters belong to Marvel
"Ok."
It was an odd thing to think that the small tornado of chaos that entered the house was caused by one word containing two letters. If any of the residents had been called out and told that something would come up that would change their lives for a week they wouldn't have been too surprised. Instead they would have offered possibilities; Magneto, the Brotherhood, Jubilee coming back and so on, exhausting all possibilities and still not figuring out the cause.
The chaos started with two confused new mutants and their two overly helpful team mates
He had finally cracked, Alex Summers had finally cracked and it hadn't been because of his brother. Instead the reason for his clammy hands, the nervous picking at his cuticles and the sudden paleness visible even with his constant tan, was thanks to a girl barely reaching five feet. This time she hadn't even threatened to dismember him in some way. What he was about to do however might have her finally following through with all of her threats. His latest soon to be stupid move had been triggered by a chain of other stupid moves and surprisingly enough it had all started with Jubilee, someone he had never met before.
Jubilee had been sent back to the mansion therefore reinstating the trio of trouble consisting of Jubilee, Bobby and Sam. This had been as good as it could be till Jubilee had slowly started leaving the boys to hang out with the girls on the team, shocking the boys that anyone else could be picked over them. In an attempt to keep Jubilee part of their group, and maybe get a bit closer to the cute girls, the boys started to spend more time around Jubilee and the girls. This, was how Bobby noticed something, odd. He could swear he felt someone watching him, not all the time, just when he was around the girls, and not even all of the time then. Apparently he wasn't the only one to notice because one day while several of the younger mutants were sitting by the pool Laura tensed up. Although she fought back the urge to look around Bobby didn't, that's how he spotted Alex looking at him, well not at him, but the person next to him. After that Alex didn't stand much of a chance, as soon as Bobby became slightly bored he attacked. With gentle nudges, from his icy friend Alex was talked into committing his newest stupid move.
"Hey Laur, wait a minute?" Alex jogged up to the silently waiting girl, halting awkwardly in front of her.
"Yes?" She prodded, wondering why his heartbeat had increased and why he had suddenly stuck his hands in his pockets, maybe it was because of the sweat she could smell on them.
"Um, I was wondering if you were free, on Friday?" While he could only look at her for a few seconds at a time before having to glance away she simply studied his actions before responding.
"This Friday I have a training session with Logan at six am before school. After school I have a study session till five thirty before running a danger room exercise. Depending on the results and end time I will probably have extra training sessions and patrol the grounds with Logan." Now he couldn't look away, blinking in surprise and quite unsure of what he was supposed to say in return.
"If you're not too busy would you like to grab some dinner? Or maybe on Saturday if that would be easier for you." He rushed the last part out not sure if he would be able to work himself up to ask her again if it didn't work this time.
She seemed quite confused herself, still not sure where he was heading with his questions.
"We have dinner every night though, is there a change in plans?"
By now his nervousness had been slightly pushed to the side as his need for her to understand what he was trying to say came into play.
"No, no. I mean, yes, we do have dinner every night with everyone else. I was just wondering if you wanted to go to dinner, with me, like a date." By now he was back to nervous and she was firmly set on confused, not that she was about to let this weakness show.
"Ok."
After a danger room session with only slight awkwardness between the team that was still being adjusted and fine tuned, Laura stayed behind in the locker room. Amara was taking her time as usual, being known as the one who always took the longest to get ready and get out of the bathroom, locker room or any room that had a mirror in it.
"Oh hey Laura, I thought you would be gone by now." The Brazilian girl walked into the locker area, drying her hair with the waves of heat being directed from her hand.
"What is a date? I thought it was just used to refer to a specific day or a meeting, but I think the word was being used in a different way." Laura watched curiously as Amara started smiling widely and doing a weird dancing motion where she looked very much like a bee hovering above a flower.
"Who asked you on a date?"
"Alex."
Now Amara started clapping her hands, if possible even more excited than before, which was quite a scary thing.
"This, is great, amazing, absolutely wonderful! I totally saw this coming, you guys would look so cute together."
By now Laura had slid away slightly on the bench, inching farther away from the girl. Since fighting had now been taken away from her as an option for confrontations, excluding emergencies, she had only been left with fleeing.
"Could you please explain what is so special about this date?" Laura watched Amara carefully as she sat down on the bench across from her, her still slightly damp hair forgotten.
"A date is when a guy, or a girl, asks someone that they like as more than a friend to go out. The first one is usually dinner and a movie, something simple like that. Basically it's a chance to get to know the other person better and see if you click." Laura nodded thoughtfully at her words, remembering how Alex had been asking about dinner.
"So it is like a courting ritual." Amara didn't look exactly comfortable with the wording but knew that for the moment this was good enough.
"I guess, so, have you picked out what you're going to wear?"
"Can't I just wear what I normally wear?"
It was at that moment that Amara realized that as much as Laura knew about fighting techniques and survival, she knew just as little about what Amara liked to refer to as 'the real world'.
"Jubes, major help is needed." Amara walked into her friends room, not bothering to knock, something that would have seemed ridiculous to her when she first came to Xaviers. From being the shy girl that would at times raise her hand to speak she had gained confidence as she started to better control her powers. Now she had no problem with barging into rooms, although she did still usually knock.
"Hello to you too Mara." Jubilee called from where she had been lounging on her bed.
"Sorry, hi. Like I said, major help." She started pacing in front of her friend, hands waving around to emphasize her words. It was mainly Amara's actions that caught her attention, less so her words. Still, she couldn't help but bite the bait and become infected with the energy that radiated off of her friend. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed Jubilee readjusted herself into a sitting position.
"So, what's the need for major help for?" Jubilee really couldn't keep herself out of anything for too long.
"Alex finally asked Laura out on a date."
"About time he grew some balls. So what's the problem?"
"She asked me what a date was. She needs help."
If she hadn't been giving Amara her attention earlier, she definitely was after that.
"What's the plan Magma?"
"I'll get Snickt ready and you make sure that Aloha doesn't mess it up on his end."
"Aloha?"
"Yeah, you don't like it?"
"Eh, it's a bit too typical. How about Wet Dog?"
"Um, pass Pineapple?"
"Doesn't really fit, how about Hang Ten?"
"Eh, why not. Just don't screw up on your end."
"Ditto."
Jubilee started with her half first.
"Heads up!" The shout came too late and the softball that was quite far from being soft collided with the blonde boy's head.
"Sorry!" Was quickly yelled afterwards from the frozen boy but the blonde simply waved it off.
"Hey are you ok?" Jubilee seemed to appear out of nowhere, something that Alex was still getting used to with Kurt and Kitty.
"Huh, oh yeah, I'm fine." He smiled his usual smile and while he was still slightly dazed Jubilee sprung. Grabbing one of his arms she tugged the confused boy along, farther away from where the others were playing mutant ball.
"So, I hear you finally grew balls and asked out Laura."Her statement caught him off guard and for a moment he wondered just how hard the ball hit him. As foolish as it may sound, he had hoped that he would have at least a day of breathing room before everyone found out. The expression on her face however told him that he had heard right, and the grip on his arm told him he didn't have too much of a chance to escape.
"Yeah." He shrugged slightly, ignoring the first half. Although she was still quite new to him he had quickly learned that her powers simply mirrored her personality, and sometimes standing far far away was the best choice. Too late.
"Good, because we have taken pity on you and the Summers curse." If he had been worried before it he could now add confused to the list, and he was quite sure it had nothing to do with the hit.
"We? Summers curse?" Jubilee glanced up at him and actually gave him a pitying look.
"We as in Amara and myself. Summers curse as in not the 'I must save all girls' one but the 'I like this girl but will brood for years even though the sexual tension is enough to make everyone around me scream only to mess it up royally in some pathetic way or another when I finally grow some balls'. That one." She supplied quite happily, as if pleased to have opened his eyes to the more obvious things in her world.
"Wow, that's a wordy curse."
Ignoring him Jubilee simply continued.
"So here's what we're going to do. Amara already has the other half covered so while she's making her more, um, normal, I'll make sure you don't screw everything up and end up in the hospital."
"Laura's normal, and she wouldn't send one of us to the hospital wing on purpose." Alex argued, of course he had to spring up to defend her. Rolling her eyes and biting her tongue to keep from comparing him to Scott, she pet his hand as one might in an attempt to soothe a child.
"She shares dna with Logan and is a teenage mutant clone, ninja and turtle fit in more than normal does. And she won't send you off, she likes you, but if you mess it up I'm not to be deemed responsible for my actions."
Jubilee tried to look serious, she really did, but the goofy look that showed up when she told him that Laura liked him made it quite hard, and slightly pointless.
"Step one, working on your inner self."
Laura eyed her carefully, not sure that she had asked Amara for help at anytime.
"Are you saying there's something wrong with me?"
"No, no, no. Not at all." Amara quickly spoke up, shaking her head and her hands.
"Then what are you trying to say?"
"Just that you need to remember that this isn't a war and not to freak him out."
Laura raised her eyebrow in response, honestly unaware about what she was talking about. Freak him out? He had appeared to be comfortable enough when she had been comparing the Yakuza to the classic Mafia, listing the pros and cons of both groups styles. Maybe when she had mentioned the possibility of him surviving against either group that had been a bit too much, maybe.
"Just, tone down the intensity, at least for a bit."
"I'm intense?"
"Maybe we should just skip to step two."
"Step two, finding the perfect outfit."
After everything in Laura's closet had been deemed too casual and too dark something that she had been warned about had happened, Amara had decided to take her on a shopping trip.
The scents were overwhelming. People with their scents, both natural and unnatural, food that had more fat than nutrients, and the practically grey air coming from outside. That in itself was too much for Laura's taste. Combining the strong scents with loud noises, bright colors and a house mate that were really far too happy to be considered sane and she was ready to run. Only a few things kept the girl from bolting, the need to finish what she had started, sheer curiosity, and the tight grip that Amara had on her was also quite convincing. If she wanted to she could escape, they were only on the second floor after all. Meeting with the Professor and Logan about breaking another team mate however wasn't ideal.
"Ooh, my favorite store is right there and I already have the perfect outfit in mind." Once again Laura was amazed at how happy shopping could make Amara and kept from saying anything about the hand print that was slowly burning its shape into her arm. The bruises would heal before Amara even noticed, it wouldn't do to worry her. Instead she allowed herself to be led to the store, keeping her eyes open for any possible dangers of course.
Laura had been trained to survive, to be able to assess her situation and finish out any order given to her. Somehow she doubted that any of the languages she had learned would help her talk herself out of the mess she had gotten herself into. With the air vent too far away to not be spotted and Amara literally right in front of the door, she could see her feet tapping impatiently, sneaking out without damaging anything would be difficult.
"Are you ready yet?" Amara called from outside the change room, clearly annoyed that she was being forced to wait.
"Hold on." Laura called back, trying to buy a bit more time and remind herself that she really did like Amara. She had spent far too much time training the girl in self control and hand to hand combat, not to mention all of those hours creating procedures and then explaining them. Really it would only harm the team, and the team came first.
"Hurry up already!"
Then again, Jubilee had plenty of firepower, as did Roberto.
Friday came quickly and hit hard. According to schedule Laura started with an early training session with Logan, something she had been looking forward to since it would give her a chance to relax. For the first part of their sparring she was too focused on executing the new moves perfectly to be too bothered by his actions. So she let the grim look on his face and the slower responses slide by. Then he went and made it awkward.
"I heard you have a date with surfer boy." He swung with a left, forcing her to duck under.
"And?" She swung back with a right using her momentum for a bit of extra power, not that they were sparring to intentionally wound of course. Then again that didn't mean much with their accelerated healing.
"What are his intentions." Logan never asked a question really. He simply demanded an answer, which as he liked to say, was the faster way of getting things done. Blocking the hit he swung her fist back down before quickly blocking the second hit.
"He plans to drug and rape me, preferably in an alley or a dirty bathroom to make the experience more authentic." Her blank face and tone caught him so off guard that he didn't notice the next flying fist that made contact with his face.
"I can handle myself Logan." She informed him with both hands on her hips while he shook off the sting of the hit. "Besides he's just a friend."
"Just a friend right." He watched as she walked off, grabbing her towel on the way. He made a mental note as the doors closed behind her, he would have to have a talk with the younger Summers regarding his young clone.
School wasn't much easier. Word had spread quickly enough in the mansion and school wasn't very different. Even with the everyday prejudice the mutants faced gossip was gossip and the friendlier students didn't mind asking enough questions for the entire school.
"Dude, how'd you score with Laura? She's hot, seriously, how did you manage to get her?" Alex looked over at the table where Laura was sitting with a group of girls, no doubt answering her own set of questions. With her head slightly tilted to the side and the small grin on her otherwise focused face he could tell she had overheard the ramblings of his friend. While he only had to deal with a question or two at a time and slightly admiring facial expressions she was being attacked with questions from all sides.
"What are you going to wear?"
"Are you going to do something with your hair?"
"How did he ask you, was he romantic? I bet he was romantic."
The air was filled with questions and squeals as they all huddled up closer to her as if that would help somehow. If someone had gone back to when Kitty had been in her valley girl phase, given her Multiple's power and a large amount of sugar, this would be the result.
The final bell was an even larger relief than usual and although Laura didn't full out sprint to the car waiting for the mutants, her steps were taken with a bit more urgency than normal. It was also one of the days when not having her own bike was high on the list of things that needed to be changed. The possibility of the professor allowing her to drive it to school was already quite slim, it would bring unwanted attention. Offering to get a black one hadn't exactly helped the situation either.
The danger room session quickly became the highlight of the day that simply wouldn't end. Any quiet that had been wished for during her study time had been disrupted by Amara. It hadn't only been her either, no, Amara had brought in most of the girls on the floor that weren't too busy to 'help'. Helping consisted of her trying on several outfits before they finally decided on the original one. Somehow this had taken up most of the time and the girls that had the danger room next were forced to run off to change.
Someone had decided to be nice to her that day. Instead of focusing, as usual, on team work, it had been a free for all. Opponents had been brought in from everyday life, history and even a few fictional books. Never before had Laura taken so much pleasure in vaulting off of a headless opponent about to collapse and slicing the neck of another with a simple kick.
The others took notice to stay away from her area.
Laura in turn didn't realize, her mind having gone blank as she kept herself busy, no thoughts were required and at that moment it was as calming as meditation.
All too soon the program ended and as per usual, they were brought up to talk with Wolverine about their performance. She simply nodded when he spoke, leaving as soon as she could before Amara could catch up to her. Alex on the other hand, didn't have the pleasure of leaving.
"Hold on surfer boy, we need to have a talk."
The pitying looks Alex received from his team mates did little to calm his nerves. The fact that they hurried their pace out of the room did even less.
It was at that moment that Alex did something incredibly smart, he didn't say anything. Oh he wanted to. He wanted to plead his case, beg and barter for his life but his mouth was just too dry and although his brain was sending warning signals he lost the ability to speak.
"I'm not going to kill you at the school when people just saw me asking you to stay behind."
Of course Logan wouldn't say that he wasn't going to kill him period, oh no, that would be too lenient, too easy and possibly a lie later on.
"Let's just get this over with. You hurt her, I hurt you times whatever number I feel like. You make her cry, I cut off a limb for every tear. Piss her off and I'm not holding her back. Got it, good." He eyed the younger Summers, enjoying it just slightly as he watched him squirm.
Still not able to speak Alex settled for nodding enthusiastically. Having one of the key leaders at the school as a brother wasn't about to help him now.
"She likes you, I guess, don't ask me why, personally I'm not crazy about your permanent beach smell. If I smell your scent on her I'll like it even less, got it?"
Another nod quickly followed.
"Like I said, she likes you for some reason, so don't screw it up. You can leave now."
Yet another nod and Alex headed out of the room, aware of Logan's eyes on him the entire time.
Amara found her way into Laura's room quickly enough, having put off her usual full relaxing after a session routine on hold. If she hadn't she would have missed the entire show. Laura in return hadn't doubted that exactly that would happen and instead of arguing with her had simply left her room door unlocked while she showered. So it didn't come as a surprise when she came out of the bathroom and saw Amara comparing accessories to the outfit already laid out on the bed.
"Get changed so I can start on your hair and make up."
"Hair? Makeup?"
"Yes, yes, now go."
With that Laura was promptly pushed back into the bathroom, this time with a bundle of clothes. As she was changing she couldn't help but let her eyes wander to the window. It was small but she could fit with minimal contortion needed, below that was a small ledge and she could easily use it to get to another room or simply jump off. The pain she would receive from the girls in the form of nagging for ruining her clothes however pushed the later option to the end. Surviving to run off was only good if she could survive when she came back.
"Hurry up Laura, don't make me come in there!" Amara threatened through the door, a slight jump in temperature said she wasn't joking around.
Time to face the music. If she escaped the rest of the girls would bring her back happily and the boys would as well, simply to save their own skins. Besides, this was part of being a normal teenage girl, right?
Laura was surprised in the end. Time had been put into finding the correct shade and brush, doing everything perfectly. When the brushes had all been put away she was aware of a change in her appearance, simply not as drastic as she felt was being done to her.
"Do you like it? It's the whole minimalistic look, it really suits you." At least Amara looked proud of her accomplishments.
"You mean you spend all of this time to look as if you did nothing?"
"Sometimes more, but yeah, pretty much."
On the other side of the mansion in the boys area there was also work being done.
Clothes were being flung and after initial protests Alex had simply resorted to trying to figure out a new design for his surfboard. This was meant to help calm his nerves, mainly the ones that Logan had instilled in him. Jubilee in the meantime, had no qualms about searching through other people's personal things or threatening to blow various objects up.
"Wear this," instead of clothes flying onto the bed and floor, a pair of jeans and long sleeved shirt were flung at his head.
"At least you already showered, that's good."
Even as he was changing in the bathroom attached to his room he could hear her shuffling around as she continued to give him 'helpful advice'.
"Don't go all surfer boy, it can be cute at first but it dies really quickly. If you wear one of those tacky aloha shirts, I will blow you up, seriously. Don't flip your hair too much, you're not a dog, just one of the male gender so it's close, but no. No man sandals, you're feet are all weird looking, just get a pedicure."
At some point however he simply tuned her out, something he was quite proud of really, before stepping out to be judged.
For some peculiar reason the foyer became a popular meeting spot that evening. Students were casually leaning on the walls talking with their friends or hanging off the staircase railings and goofing off. Even the teachers seemed to constantly be passing by, making sure to check in with the students scattered around the room. So of course when Jubilee came in, dragging her charge by the hand, it was only out of convenience that most of the residents happened to be there.
Without any surprise the girls were the first to react. Pushing Jubilee to the side with as much gentleness as they could remember to show they quickly started with their own set of small adjustments. Quick fingers mussed up his hair and fidgeted with his clothes before as a collective the group backed up, admiring their quick fixes.
Just in time too because that's when Laura was forced to make her entrance. Having won the argument about a grand entrance versus a more low key one, Laura had just barely managed to slide in through the shadows before being spotted. Amara waving her hand at Jubilee to catch her attention probably had something to do with it.
The two girls were clearly proud of their work, watching as the others fawned over their pet projects.
"Snickt and Hang Ten look good." Jubilee commented, keeping an eye on her project to make sure he didn't mess up his outfit.
"Of course." Amara replied, not seeing how any other ending could have been possible with their handiwork. She in turn was making sure her own project didn't bolt like she had threatened to earlier.
What no one seemed to realize was that although everyone could clearly them, they had yet to actually see each other. Only when Alex started to gently nudge his way past the group of guys giving him more 'helpful' tips, was this problem realized. Bit by bit a pathway cleared till they could finally see each other.
"Is surviving help from friends and making it through the group mandatory before a date?" Laura questioned curiously, eyeing the still present group of conveniently placed friends. He smiled, glancing at the people closer by, some were blatantly staring while others pretended to bashfully look away.
"It is with our friends."
"Can we get new friends before we do this again?" This time she asked him quietly, unsure of the procedures to teenage courting.
"Lets just get through this first, ok?"
"Ok."