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Chapter Seven

***

Storm began to wake from her sleep when the first light of the morning started streaming through her window. The sheets felt cool against her bare skin.

She had slept alone that night. As Storm and Wolverine navigated their relationship, they were experimenting with different ways of being together. Some nights they slept outside, side by side in sleeping bags or snuggled together inside one bag. Other nights they spent apart, perhaps with one outside and the other in his or her own room. Many nights they cuddled up together in one of their beds and remained that way until dawn.

`We don’t talk about it too much,’ Storm mused, as she stepped into the shower. `But if one of us needs space, then the other gives it’. She guessed that other couples who had more closely fused together might judge their flexibility as odd but Storm spent minimal time concerned with others’ opinions of her personal life.

She didn’t feel the need to compare herself against others, though she did have a few observations. The other couples seemed as if they could spend all day together. Even Rogue and Gambit appeared to never run out of things to say to each other. Perhaps because Logan was naturally not verbose, he and Ororo didn’t find themselves having extensive conversations often, nor did they need to be in the same Danger Room session each time or sitting next to each other at each and every meal. It didn’t mean that they didn’t enjoy each other’s company; it was just that neither felt the need to be together every minute.

Storm knew that many of the other X-men watched them, at least a little. Ororo and Logan received many covert glances during meals or social events. Perhaps some found it odd that they weren’t inseparable, though any who knew either Ororo or Logan should not deem it so. She suspected that several of the men might envy Wolverine and she fought against the urge to find that flattering.

As she stepped into her shower, Storm wondered if Cyclops ever felt irritation at his personal life being under such a microscope. It seemed to come with the territory; leaders were subject to more scrutiny in pretty much every area of their lives. But she didn’t plan to ask her fellow co-leader about it. He seemed adept at taking many things in stride now. Storm also considered that she could discuss some of these thoughts and experiences with Rogue or Jean “ she sensed that both would love to talk on the subject “ but she simply had no desire to discuss it. She was more content than she had been for a long while.

Storm’s communicator chirped. “Yes, Cyclops?” she asked.

“Can you please report to the Danger Room right away?” he asked.

“I will be there momentarily”.

Storm dressed quickly and flew outside, up Victory’s ramp, and into the Danger Room. When she entered the training facility, she saw Angel and Cannonball practically snarling at each other, and Colossus standing by looking nearly as angry. With their rumpled uniforms and hair, the three appeared as if they had been in a scuffle. Jubilee stood off to the side appearing puzzled, and Storm heard Professor Xavier’s wheelchair make its way into the Danger Room behind her.

“Is something the matter?” Storm asked.

“What happened?” Xavier asked at nearly the same time.

Cyclops looked at Angel and Cannonball and sounded mildly disgusted. “Well?” he asked. “Do you care to tell them what happened?”

“He picked a fight with me,” Cannonball claimed.

“That’s crazy. He started it!” Angel responded.

“Let’s start at the beginning,” Xavier said, calmly. “I want to hear from both of you. Tell me exactly how this began”. He turned to Colossus. “Are you involved in this too?”

“Unfortunately,” Colossus muttered.

“We’ll start with you, Angel. Please begin and tell me what happened, step by step”.

Storm listened to the X-men tell their versions of what had occurred. As far as she could tell, none of the three had any sort of ongoing grudge or feud against each other. It appeared that Angel and Cannonball had simply let their tempers get the best of them, Colossus got dragged into it, and a fight ensued.

The Professor pressed his hands together as he listened to each man’s tale. When they were finished, he said, “I propose that we have a cooling off period. I want the three of you to walk away from this and not have any contact with each other. Difficult to do in our surroundings, but I know you can manage it. Let’s discuss this situation tomorrow”.

Angel, Cannonball, and Colossus wordlessly filed out of the Danger Room. The Professor turned to Jubilee. “You are well, are you not?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” Jubilee shrugged. “Seen plenty of arguments in my life. I, uh, think I’ll hit the gym,” she said, turning to leave the Danger Room for Victory’s regular gym. Xavier watched her depart, confident that she truly was unflustered.

“A ‘cooling off’ period,” Cyclops remarked, when he was alone with Storm and Xavier. “It’s a good idea”.

“I daresay if I had enacted it each time you, Wolverine, and Gambit had argued in the old days, you would have had many cooling off periods as well,” Xavier commented. “I didn’t consider the concept until recently”.

“The three of us didn’t fight quite that aggressively when we got on each other’s nerves back then”.

Storm raised an eyebrow. “But you perhaps came close a few times”. She took a breath, “So what do you think was really behind today’s fight?”

“I believe that they were looking for a way to let off some steam,” Xavier said.

“Don’t people usually let off steam when they’re under stress or anxious?” Cyclops asked. “Granted, we’re stranded here for now, but we couldn’t be in a more tranquil or welcoming setting”.

“Yes, but the fact remains that we are stranded, tranquil setting or not. I suspect that many team members are feeling somewhat helpless knowing that not only is FOH in control back on earth but there is nothing we can do to combat them right now”.

Storm nodded. “Yes. All of us wish we could remedy the situation and make a difference on earth, but as of right now we can do nothing but train for battle - even though we may not have an opportunity to truly use our combat skills for a long time. If ever”.

“That does make sense,” Cyclops admitted glumly.

“There is another possibility as well,” Storm began. “The fact that we all live in close quarters with each other, that each of us interacts with the same 14 people each day; it could result in us simply getting on each other’s nerves”.

“That might be it as well. When people get irritated, they might look for reasons to start fights”.

“I believe there may be another component which is exacerbating the situation,” Xavier began. “As everyone surely has noticed “ indeed I hear jokes made about it during dinner and such “ we have a gender imbalance on the team. I believe that a lot of the men are finding it difficult”.

Storm knew it was illogical but she felt a hint of discomfort at discussing this subject. She couldn’t even say why, other than perhaps she was feeding off of Cyclops’ and Xavier’s own discomfort. She hoped she could mask her emotional reaction and she responded, “I understand that. Unfortunately we can do even less about that situation”. She paused and said, “I do have empathy for those who would like…a love interest”.

“The situation was difficult back on earth due to the laws passed regarding mutant and non-mutant contact, but now we are in essence marooned on an island with only the 15 of us. There is potential for the situation to escalate and to, perhaps, someday become very ugly”.

“I’d never really thought of that,” Cyclops said. “I mean, of course, I always knew I was lucky to have Jean. But Professor, when you say that this situation might escalate, do you mean that we might see more fights like this?”

“It certainly is possible,” Xavier answered.

“We should brainstorm on solutions then,” Cyclops said.

“Well,” Storm began, “at least we have the Danger Room and the gym so that people can work off that type of energy. Perhaps we can ask Nightcrawler to offer some type of counseling or mediation as necessary. He has experience with that sort of thing. Of course, that won’t solve our gender imbalance nor will it topple FOH”.

“But as we’ve said, those two problems are beyond our control,” Xavier remarked. “So we need to consider any solutions”.

Storm suspected that if some of the other X-men had been in the room, an off-color joke or two may have been made but she herself was not about to make one.

“We could offer an anger management class,” Cyclops threw out. “Though I don’t know who would teach it. But it couldn’t hurt”.

The three departed with no ideas other than asking Nightcrawler if he would be willing to offer counseling should team members request it and Storm agreeing to do some research on the subject of anger management.


***

I was eating dinner one evening, sitting at the table with Gambit, Rogue, Colossus, and Storm. Wolverine joined us just as we were starting the meal, and I had to smile as I saw him give Storm a peck on the cheek. We were eating a bit later than everyone else; the sun had set and the glowing from the dining hall’s lights cast shadows across the walls.

Rogue and Gambit sat next to each other, of course, and they did all these couple-y things. As I munched on my salad, I noticed them coming up with practically any excuse to touch each other. She had her bracelet on, so when she made a remark about how delicious something was, she could pick it up and give it to Gambit to nibble on. I actually didn’t mind it when people did that kind of thing, though by the time we were eating our dessert, they were awfully frisky with each other.

“You have good Danger Room session today?” Colossus asked.

“Dos Sentinels in dere no match for me today,” Gambit said.

“You had it on a high setting,” Wolverine added.

“Dat’s right”.

Rogue rolled her eyes. “It was so high, it wiped him out for the day! He was too tired to do what *I* wanted to after the Danger Room session!” she exclaimed, pretending “ I guessed “ to sound upset.

“And whatever could that have been?” I asked innocently.

“Well, sugar, it involves a bed…” Rogue began. Then she started again, “Though it doesn’t have to ““

Storm normally tolerates a lot from Rogue, but she actually cut in and said, “Now, Rogue, perhaps this isn’t appropriate dinnertime conversation”. As Storm said the words, I noticed her glance in Colossus’ direction.

I wondered what the deal was. “It’s okay, Nightcrawler’s not here so we don’t have to worry about offending a Catholic monk,” I said, trying to come off as funny. I didn’t think this one went over too well. I have a lot of quips that don’t end up coming off as funny as I intend.

“Dat’s okay, we be leavin’ soon,” Gambit began. “Remy’s not tired any more now, chere, so if you want ““

He couldn’t finish his sentence before Rogue grabbed his jacket and led him out of the room. They both left food on their plates.

“Ah, lovely!” I remarked sarcastically at their behavior. I stabbed my slice of replicated watermelon with my fork. The food replicator churned out decent food but this watermelon was too bland. I resolved to look at the program.

And then I went on, saying, “Well it’s nice to see that some people have someone to get down with”.

Storm sent a look my way and I had to wonder if she had become a prude or something. Since when was alluding to sex not okay at the dinner table? I could remember lots of risqué conversations back at the mansion over the years, though they usually occurred when certain people (such as the Professor, Nightcrawler, Cyclops) were not around “ and they weren’t around this day either.

Colossus at least didn’t look like he was ticked off by Rogue and Gambit’s behavior or my comment. If anything he looked curious.

And then I knew for sure he was in an inquisitive mood when he asked me, “Bobby, when did you become a…what is right word? Gay?”

“Well, I didn’t really *become* gay. I was just kinda born this way,” I said. I was a bit surprised that Colossus brought up the subject, but maybe once you’ve been stuck with the same 14 people you decide to try to get to know them better? We’d pretty much gone through all the “small talk” subjects.

“So this not a choice for you?”

“God, no, not at all. I wouldn’t choose it”.

“Why not?” Storm asked. Maybe she thought this subject of discussion was okay then?

I shrugged, “I dunno, it’s easier to be normal. This has made me feel bad about myself, like I’m a wimp or something. I mean, I know in my head that I shouldn’t feel that way, but I guess I just do sometimes”.

“It don’t mean you’re a wimp,” Wolverine said. I was surprised that he was contributing to this particular discussion. “In Alpha Flight, there was a gay guy. Arrogant guy, Northstar, but a good fighter”.

I took another bite of the tasteless watermelon and was suddenly wishing this line of discussion would finish up before it turned into another attempt to get me to train as a fighter. And it also reminded me that, given what FOH bragged they had done to Alpha Flight, it wasn’t like I’d get to meet Northstar ever. That didn’t cheer me up.

Colossus spoke up, “I would choose to be mutant. Of course I did not choose to be mutant, but I would choose it any day”.

“Why?” I asked.

“Life in Russia very hard now. My powers help me to get out. And coming to Xavier give me family. Nothing ever replace my sister Illyana. I miss her always and miss rest of my family too. But at least here I have different family, I have somewhere to belong. If I am not mutant, I not have this”.

“Wouldn’t be under attack by FOH either though,” Wolverine mumbled.

“In Russia, we under attack every day by hard life. This is better for me”.

I glanced over at Storm and she really looked pensive. I wondered if she was thinking of her godson Mishnari. She didn’t talk about him much but I guessed that she missed him.

***

The days passed in a slow but enjoyable way for me. Since I didn’t set foot inside the Danger Room, I didn’t have a block of time each day spent on training. So I generally did what the others did in their leisure time “ went swimming, canoeing, wandered around the forest, played games in the rec room, used Victory’s gym, watched the others play sports, and fiddled with the food replicators trying to make the food even better. I’d sometimes tag along with Hank as he took samples of, say, the material the building’s walls were constructed from or of a bird’s feather that had fallen to the ground but, as usual, I never understood the science part. It got chillier in the evenings and often I’d sit in the room with the fireplace, along with the others, drinking hot chocolate and just talking.

I know many of the others would think it’s weird of me, but one thing I missed from our days on board Victory was playing computer games. But the only part of the ship that we powered up was the Danger Room and gym, so no computer games were available. They did use up energy and we always had to try to conserve it, which I totally understood.

Once the four women decided to have a “girls’ night out”. I was told that this consisted of them doing things like painting each other’s nails and giving each other facials, and they decided that they were going to sleep in the rec room that night. So the guys were all like whatever, we sat around outside, played cards, and drank beer. So it was pretty much what we do any evening except none of the women joined us. I remember Colossus musing about what a great evening it was and Hank then said, “It is hard to believe that we have been here for a total of five weeks”.

I also had a hard time believing that five weeks had passed, but they had.

A few days after that, Jubilee bounded up to me as I was working out in the gym. “I gotta talk to you when you’re done!” she exclaimed.

“I can be done right now,” I said, eager to get an early ending to my workout. I wish weight lifting and cardio machines weren’t so boring. Whatever Jubilee had to say looked to be much more interesting, judging by the look in her eyes.

Just then, Forge entered the gym. The other X-men used it quite a bit too since the Danger Room didn’t necessarily train you in every way.

“Come on,” Jubilee said, leading me towards the door. We walked to her room. Whatever this was going to be, it was going to be really good if we needed privacy.

“You’ll never guess what Angel said to me today,” she began, just after she closed the door.

“You’ve got to tell me!” I said, sitting down on the chair and leaning forward.

“I’m walking from the building to the lake. And he comes up to me and asks if he can walk with me. Which seemed kinda weird, but whatever”.

I was practically hanging on her every word. I couldn’t wait to hear what would come next though by this point I had a small inkling.

“Then he says “ and god, I hope I can remember this right “ he says, ‘You know, Jubilee. I’ve always liked to have feminine companionship. I know I’m quite a bit older than you and you might think of me like an uncle or other brother. But maybe you could think of me in a different way’. Then he asks something like if I wanted to get together or get to know each other better “ I don’t remember his exact words after that since I was so freaked”.

“Oh. My. God. That! That ding-dong!” I exclaimed.

“Ding-dong??” Jubilee asked, and we both laughed heartily.

“What did you say? I gotta hear this!”

“I didn’t know what to say! I mean, I want a boyfriend but just the idea of it being Angel feels so wrong. I mean, I thought about what me and you’d talked about before and the idea of kissing him makes me want to start laughing. Even though I want a boyfriend “ and even though he is rich and kinda handsome”.

“He’s not rich here!” I said. “And I sure wouldn’t be surprised if FOH crashed his accounts back on earth anyway. I thought there was some legislation where they were proposing to do that to all mutants. And besides, who cares about money if the idea of kissing him makes you feel like bursting out laughing?”

“Totally”.

“And were those the exact words he used? ‘Feminine companionship’??” I echoed, incredulously.

“You can’t make that stuff up. Those were his exact words”.

“So “ what did you eventually tell him?”

“I managed to get out something like that I’ve known him since forever and think of him like a big brother so that it’d just be too weird. Even though he’s very nice, I said. I mean, sheesh, we have nothing in common, but I didn’t say that. He looked disappointed”.

My head was still spinning. “Wow. Did this like come out of nowhere?”

“I guess now that I think about it, maybe it didn’t. He’s been really sweet to me the last few weeks. He did all sorts of nice little things”.

“I see. Now we know why”.

“I gotta tell Wolverine!”

“I dunno, Jubilee. He might break the guy’s wings off”.

She rolled her eyes. “Wolvie’s gotta get over that. Angel didn’t do anything wrong”.

“Nothing wrong, just something totally embarrassing and out of place”. I then quickly added, “Not that there’d be anything wrong with a guy hitting on you, of course. You’ve become a beautiful young woman”.

“Thanks, Bobby, but you sound like Storm now”.

“It’s true!” I insisted. And it was. I liked her hairstyle now; it was long and had bangs. Even her face itself was no longer as girlish and she was really starting to mature into beauty. And hey, maybe Angel really did want a relationship, but if he just wanted sex then I have no doubt Wolverine would break his wings off, regardless of whatever Jubilee might want.

There were still so many things I wanted to ask, so I went on, “How’d Angel take it?”

“He seemed fine. He said something about letting me know I could change my mind or think it over or something. I do almost feel bad for turning him down”.

“Don’t. You can’t go out with a guy out of sympathy. That wouldn’t be right. Hey, I think it’s cool what you did “ even though you want a boyfriend you turned him down since he wasn’t the one”.

“I knew you’d have something cool to say. ‘Cause right now I just feel *weird* all over”.

I nodded. “I think it’ll pass though. And I won’t tell anyone, if that’ll help”. Though I was dying to tell Rogue and Gambit.

“Thanks. Now I gotta figure out how to avoid a guy in a small place like this. Maybe I’ll camp out in the woods for a few days,” she joked.

“You might run into Storm and Wolverine there though,” I pointed out. It was said that the two of them spent a lot of time in the forested area.

“As long as I don’t run into Angel”.

***

Victory’s sick bay had been powered up and Hank stood facing Jean and Scott. The couple held hands, Jean sitting on one of the beds and Scott standing next to her.

“Everything looks splendid,” Hank said, holding printouts with the ultrasound’s results in his hands. “There are no abnormalities, the fetus is growing at precisely the rate I would expect, and the placenta is in a good location in relation to the cervix”. He walked over to the couple to show them the test results and pictures.

“We are so lucky,” Jean said, beaming. “My intuition told me that everything is fine but it’s nice to have it confirmed by science”.

“You had said that you wanted to know the baby’s sex, correct?” Hank asked.

Jean and Scott looked at each other. “It would be nice to know,” Scott said. “We can at least start picking out a name”.

“We’ve had plenty of surprises in our lives “ and I’m sure we’ll have plenty more “ so it would be nice to have something *not* be a surprise,” Jean added.

“Well, the baby is a boy,” Hank said.

After thanking Hank for his help, Jean and Scott found Professor Xavier and shared with him the news that the baby was healthy and would be a boy. The ultrasound was also the main topic of discussion for the X-men at dinnertime. Jean shared the ultrasound pictures with anyone who wanted to see them.

“People are desperate for something to talk about,” Scott said, when he and Jean had retired to their room for the evening. “Maybe ‘desperate’ is the wrong word but since not much happens here, I think they’ll talk about anything”.

Cyclops’s words had much truth to them. The X-men had now watched all of the movies that had been on Victory’s computer, even the most insipid and juvenile ones.

“Well, I think they are sincerely interested in it too,” Jean added. “After all, we’re doing something that none of them has ever done. Some are more interested in the topic of babies than others but all are at least curious, I think”. She sighed, as she opened a drawer and pulled out her pajamas. “I wonder if we’ll be off this place before the baby arrives”.

“Something has to come up by then,” Scott said, but his tone was unconvincing to both himself and his wife. Snowbird’s people had not contacted Xavier for weeks. The hand-held sensors that he and Storm had designed so shortly after the X-men had landed proved unnecessary. The area of space surrounding the planet had been devoid of any remarkable activity whatsoever. Scott nearly had to laugh when he remembered the haste with which he and Storm and worked on the devices.

“I hope so,” Jean said, though without much passion. She patted her abdomen which was beginning to protrude slightly. “Although I have to admit that the idea of remaining here has an appeal, at least when I think of having the baby. And raising him. Earth right now is such a bad place to raise a child, especially a mutant child. Though we knew that already”.

Scott sat down on the bed. “We did. But somehow the baby’s arrival feels more real, more imminent now. And that really changes everything. It makes the situation on earth feel more dire”.

“I know. And we won’t be able to tell if our son’s a mutant until he’s born”. Jean finished dressing and sat next to him. “You haven’t seemed all that worried lately,” she said, putting an arm around his back, “but you do seem a little worried now”.

“No, no “ not that much. It’s more that I’m realizing that raising a child will be as challenging an undertaking as leading the team has been”.

“I’m sure that we’re up to the challenge. Never for a moment did I doubt that you’d be a wonderful father. You’re a great team leader and you’ll be a great father”.

He turned to her. “And you will be a great mother. Anytime I feel nervous about raising a child, I just remind myself that you’ll know what to do”.

Jean smiled widely. “I am always so honored that you think so highly of me. Because I always think so highly of you. After all these years, I can’t get over it”.

“Me too,” Scott said. “Sometimes I have to pinch myself to think that you chose to be with me”.

“And I feel exactly the same way! I’ve always felt totally honored that you pick me to love”. Jean paused. “I mean what I said at our wedding so long ago. I truly wish everyone was this happy. I feel sad that not everyone is”.

***

A beeping noise woke Cyclops and Jean several nights later. Jean heard it first, and she nudged her husband.

“What is that?” Jean asked. The tone was different than the one on the communicators.

Cyclops sat bolt upright when he realized the origin of the strange sound. “It’s the device that Storm and I created when we first landed. Victory is sensing something!”

“Can you tell what it is?” Jean asked.

“No,” Scott said, reaching for the gadget which was sitting on the desk. Jean turned on the light as Scott peered at the device. “I think we need to get to Victory to get more information. I’ll go there and power up the bridge”.

“I’ll let Storm and the Professor know,” Jean said, scrambling out of bed and covering her nightgown with a blue robe.

Cyclops opened the bedroom door and saw Storm a few steps ahead of him in the hallway, carrying a lantern. Her device had also awoken her. Jean headed in the opposite direction towards the Professor’s room.

Storm and Cyclops walked rapidly out of the building, into the crisp night air, and through the field where Victory had been parked. Storm resisted the urge to fly; for some reason she did not want to appear to be trying to speed ahead of or trumping Cyclops. So she felt the slightly damp grass under her feet and wished she had found her slippers or some other shoes earlier. The first light of the morning was just beginning to present itself from behind full clouds. She knew her heart was beating faster than normal.

The X-men leaders walked up the ramp and reached a control panel. Punching in a code and several instructions, they restored power to the bridge and then walked down the dimly lit corridor.

Storm sat at one of the chairs and turned on the computer, silently speculating that it felt almost alien now, to be surrounded by the hum of computers and the feel of metal. Granted, she visited the Danger Room every day but the atmosphere in that holographic room was unique. On the bridge, the process of punching keys on a computer’s keyboard came back to her instantly though she acutely felt that this type of activity had not been part of her life for the past couple months.

Jean and the Professor soon reached the bridge.

“Do you have any idea what it is that you sense?” the Professor asked.

“We should have a clearer reading very soon,” Storm responded.

“Do either of *you* sense anything?” Cyclops asked the telepaths.

“No,” Xavier responded. “Nothing out of the ordinary”.

“Here,” Storm said, a minute later. “It looks like…a starship. Another starship”.

“Look at these readings,” Cyclops said. “It appears that the other ship is on a direct course to this planet”.

“I thought that there were some mists or something surrounding us,” Jean said. “Like a natural cloaking device. So how could it be directly on a course here?”

“I don’t believe it could be just a coincidence,” Storm said. “Their trajectory is definitely taking them directly here. They must have some way of sensing this place”.

“How far away are they?” Xavier asked.

“From what we can tell, at this rate they should be here -- not for a while,” Cyclops managed, surprised. “They are travelling slowly, much more slowly than Victory’s top speed”.

“It looks like at least 6 or 7 days until they reach this planet,” Storm said. “Unless they do increase their speed, if they can. I wish we could detect more information about their ship but it is simply too far away”.

The Professor added, “As they get closer, we should be able to learn more about their ship and, at some point, Jean and I should be able to reach their minds. We forget how vast space is, and without Cerebro we can’t reach into minds that are this far away,” he said, studying the chart of space.

“But we will eventually,” Jean concluded. “I wonder which type of sensor will learn about the ship and its inhabitants sooner “ Victory’s or the Professor’s and mine”.

“I will attempt to communicate with the beings to whom this planet belongs and discern if they have any information,” the Professor said. He closed his eyes as the others watched him intently. He remained withdrawn from them for a minute or two before opening his eyes and shaking his head. “Nothing. They are not responding to me now”.

“I guess it’s not a surprise,” Jean said. “They haven’t communicated with us since you recovered”.

The room fell silent. Cyclops surveyed the three other faces. “I wish we knew whether the ship that approaches belongs to friends or foes”.

Storm nodded. “I suppose we are all wondering if it’s FOH”.

“I dearly hope not,” Jean said. “Since Snowbird’s people own this planet and since she was or is a member of a team of mostly mutants, I really hope that they would somehow not allow FOH here”.

Cyclops and Storm looked at each other. “We won’t know for a while who is on board this ship or whether the mystical beings of this planet can or will stop them. So I believe we need to prepare for the worst, just to be safe,” Cyclops said.

“I agree,” Storm said, as both co-leaders rose to their feet.

“What do you propose?” Xavier asked.

“We could get everyone out of bed now and get them to the Danger Room,” Cyclops said.

Xavier shook his head. “I do not think that would be a good idea. We do not want to cause people to panic, especially given that there is nothing we can do now and given that the X-men *have* been training every day here. I simply do not see any benefit in waking everyone up and sending them to the Danger Room”.

“Are you certain though?” Storm asked. “What if it is FOH? We might be safest if we board Victory and cloak ourselves. Our ability to hide and flee quickly is one of our strongest assets now”.

“If it is FOH, we will find out in enough time that we will still be able to board Victory and leave if need be. The other ship is still days away”.

Cyclops and Storm looked at each other.

“I suppose you’re right,” Cyclops said. “But if it’s FOH, remember how quickly they beat us at the mansion? We still have no idea how they did it”.

Jean spoke up, “I still like the Professor’s idea of not wanting the others to panic. As quickly as FOH beat us last time, we should still know with plenty of advance if it’s them or not”.

“I just don’t see any benefit to pulling everyone out of bed and either into the Danger Room or having them pack their belongings,” the Professor said, and it became clear that his idea would be the one they followed. “I propose that we instead call a meeting, share with the others what we have learned, and advise everyone that they might need to prepare to leave if we believe it’s FOH. We do need to emphasize that we have no idea who is on board this other ship. And we should let them know that we will continually monitor space “ and Jean and I will attempt to reach them telepathically “ so that as soon as we have more information, we will then act accordingly”.

“I like that plan, Professor,” Storm said.

Storm’s communicator chirped. “Where are you, ‘Ro? You want breakfast together?” Wolverine asked.

“Actually, Logan, can you come to Victory’s bridge? We have news”.

“Bad news?”

A second or two elapsed before Storm’s reply. “We do not know one way or another at this point”.

***

Gambit slept next to Rogue on their bed. His dreams were largely pleasant ones these days. He dreamt of Mardi Gras, of someday experiencing it again with Rogue at his side. He dreamt of warm nights and long, lazy days of games and companionship. He dreamt of the excitement of a mission from which he emerged victorious. He dreamt of the sweet woman at his side who appeared so fierce towards others and so loving towards him.

“What is that bangin’ noise?” Gambit heard Rogue mutter. He almost turned over and went back to sleep.

“Rogue and Gambit, I am sorry to bother you,” Storm’s voice could be heard, though Gambit wasn’t sure if she was standing outside their door or talking on their communicator. “But please report to the dining room at once”.

“Are we under attack or somethin’?” Rogue asked, her voice throaty.

“No, but it is important,” Storm insisted.

Every muscle in his body protested, but Gambit slowly pulled himself out of the comfortable bed.

Soon all of the X-men were sitting at the tables in the dining room. Given the hour of the day, most were in various stages of undress though Remy noted that the Professor, Jean, Cyclops, and Storm had all put on regular clothing. The others wore an assortment of pajamas, robes, sweatpants, and the like.

The four leaders shared the news and answered a barrage of questions. They did not know any more than they had earlier that morning.

“All we can do now,” Cyclops said, “is to continually monitor space. Storm and I will be doing that constantly either from the bridge or with our sensor devices, and of course the Professor and Jean will be telepathically trying to learn about the other ship’s inhabitants”.

“And I will attempt to reach the beings who own this planet again,” the Professor added, “to see if they will be willing to share any information”.

One or two X-men raised the idea that had been discussed earlier, of leaving the planet and taking advantage of Victory’s cloak, but everyone came to agree that this would be premature.

“However, any of us should be ready to depart at a moment’s notice now,” Storm finished. “We are going to put an escape plan in place, like a fire drill”.

“I hate not knowin’!” Rogue exclaimed. “I feel like I gotta know what’s comin’”.

“I understand. All of us feel that way to same extent. But our best course of action is to wait and see what we can learn and then act when we have more information”.

“Dere any advantage to takin’ Victory out and tryin’ to intercept dis other ship?” Gambit asked. “We could learn more about it sooner if we get closer to it”.

“That is not a bad idea,” Cyclops said. “But remember that we still have an issue with not having enough dilithium, so anytime we power up the ship, engage the warp drive and the cloaking device and the life support, we are really draining our supplies. And if it does turn out to be FOH, we are going to need all of those things in abundance”.

“As far as we know, the other ship doesn’t know that we’re here, and we wouldn’t want to lose this advantage,” Storm added.

“If it is FOH, then maybe we gotta take some of the power supply that’s on this planet,” Wolverine said, referring to the contents of the locked shed. “I hate to do it but maybe we don’t got a choice”.

“We can cross that bridge when we come to it,” the Professor replied. “We can at least consider it as a possibility though right now I am not in favor of it”.

The meeting ended soon afterwards, with the team abuzz on the news. The morning Danger Room session took on a new urgency for all of its participants.

***

More than a day had passed since we got the news and we still didn’t know anything else about the other ship. I could sure see where Gambit had been coming from when he had the idea of taking Victory out there to learn more. All we knew at this point was that the ship wasn’t wavering from its direct course here.

I sat on the porch eating lunch with a few of the others. I noticed everyone chomping on their burritos a lot faster than usual, as if they couldn’t wait to get back to the Danger Room. Hank had even invited me to join them in the Danger Room the day before, and believe it or not, I had almost considered saying yes. But I was too afraid of looking like a dork in front of everyone else.

Once I was done with my lunch and had watched everyone scamper back to the Danger Room, I got an idea in my head. I walked over to the forest alone. When I was satisfied that I was deep enough within the thicket, I iced myself over and made an ice slide. I sped around the forest and shot out bursts of ice at various targets. Well, the targets were huge trees so this exercise wasn’t exactly that hard, but whatever. One advantage of my powers is that they aren’t destructive. The ice always melts eventually and it wouldn’t harm the forest in any significant way.

As I glided along on the ice slide, I was doing a great job dodging the trees and other obstructions. I was doing so well that I kind of forgot about it. Until I hit a tree head on and fell.

Muttering swear words to myself, I got up and limped out of the forest. My head was killing me. If I needed a reminder as to why I didn’t fight alongside the others, I had it. I couldn’t recall any of them ever banging into something in the middle of combat. And now I had to think of an excuse for staying in my room the rest of the day and hope that I wouldn’t have any visible bruises or a bump on my head the next day.

***

“C’mon, ‘Ro. Sittin’ on this damn bridge ain’t gonna help things,” Logan insisted.

Storm leaned back and stretched. “You are right. We haven’t been able to detect anything more about this ship since the sensors initially picked it up this morning, no matter how many times I attempt to recalibrate the machine”.

“And you got the portable sensor in case somethin’ does come up. So bring it with you “ let’s take a walk”.

“Logan, you are always full of excellent ideas,” Storm said, smiling.

As the two walked hand-in-hand through the forest, Storm’s thoughts kept returning to the other ship. “Perhaps when we wake up tomorrow morning the ship will be close enough that we can learn more about it. I also need to remember to remind the Professor that if he senses anything during the night, he should wake me up at once”.

“He’ll do it. You don’t gotta remind him”.

“How do you think the team is handling the news?” Storm asked. “Do they seem anxious to you?”

Logan nearly chuckled at the question. Feelings weren’t exactly known as his area, though he wasn’t unperceptive either. “Well, there were lots of bad guys demolished in the Danger Room today”.

“The group definitely seemed to have more energy in there then I’ve seen in a while,” Storm acknowledged. She then turned to Wolverine. “We should talk to Jubilee. She might be afraid”.

“Kid’s a lot tougher than anyone realizes”. He paused. “But yeah, it couldn’t hurt to talk to her. We don’t gotta do it this instant though”. Logan’s keen eyesight caught something in the distance. “You in here earlier making ice?”

“Ice? No; I generally do not use my powers anywhere other than the Danger Room. The climate is so perfect here anyway. Is ““ Storm stopped speaking as she and Wolverine got closer to the object that had caught his eye.

“Looks like one of Bobby’s ice slides,” Logan said. “Half-melted. And I can smell that he was here earlier”.

“I wonder what he was doing in here making ice slides”. The couple looked around and saw several puddles on the ground, which suggested that several more ice slides had been made and fully melted.

“His idea of a joy ride maybe”. Wolverine would never admit it, but he felt that the mutants who could do things such as fly or careen on an ice slide were lucky. He loved speed and he greatly missed his motorcycle.

“But we have been here for two months and not seen any ice slides in here before,” Ororo observed. “Perhaps Bobby does want to train! I should talk to him again”.

“Hold on, Storm. You don’t gotta solve all the world’s problems today. Bet you’d be better if you take some time to relax. ‘Sides, these ice slides are in the middle of the forest “ maybe that means he don’t want anyone to talk to him about training”.

Ororo took a breath. “Alright. It is just hard to take some time for relaxing right now. I feel full of excitement and nervousness”. Admitting her feelings was never easy for Storm, but she found that each time she made a small step in that direction, it became less difficult.

Logan stopped walking and stepped close to her. “I got an idea for somethin’ that might relax you. Might make you more excited though too”.

Storm smiled. “I did say earlier that you always have excellent ideas, didn’t I?” She pulled him into a kiss, one that became passionate very quickly.

***

TO BE CONTINUED





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