Chapter 2.
Jake was surprised at how everyone else seemed excited. There was no talking, no messing about, they were all attentive, all sitting forward patiently waiting for Miss Lee to start her so called ‘lesson’. She would have been such an easy target but he didn’t have much of a choice but to go with the flow, he was the new boy and much as it seemed this place was just about as crap as the last one, it was back to Mr Collins or stay here and Hell itself would have to freeze over before he would go back.
“Well let’s see, it started a long time ago.......”
“A long, long, *long* time ago.”
“Yes, thank you for that Peter, my legs may not work too well anymore but surprisingly enough my hearing is still pretty damn good. But you’re right; it was a long, long time ago. I was young.....” she quickly shot a warning glance around the room “.....and before you say a word, yes, I know it seems hard to imagine, but you’ll just have to trust me on this – The old woman sat before you was once young. I didn’t always look like this you know. My hair wasn’t always grey, my legs worked just fine and I sure as hell didn’t have any of these wrinkles.
Anyway, so we’ve established that I was young, but my life had been, hmm, well to put it bluntly it was fucking awful” there were more than a few gasps and shocked expressions floating around the room, Jake in particular looked like he’d swallowed a few flies “Oh give over, I know full well there’s no words I can say that will shock any of you, I could probably learn a few of the more trendy ones from you lot and this old dog is certainly up for learning a few new tricks! I may look like I’m knocking on deaths door but I wasn’t always this way – get used to it, this old girl can swear and to this day probably drink most of the mansions inhabitants under the table. I do what I want when I want to do it and there isn’t a damn thing anyone can do about it. I did not grow old gracefully I just grew old. Got it?” she threw them a wink and a smirk and a slightly deeper appreciation for anyone over pensionable age was seen in the eye’s of all those around her. “Now let me concentrate, this old brain’s on it’s last legs and shrinking by the minute you know” letting the giggles die down she continued “So my life was shit - emphasis on the s the h the i and the t, but the Professor found me and brought me back here to the mansion and it didn’t take long before this place became home.
Back then, things were a lot different, you’ve all studied history, you know all about human/mutant conflicts, the registration act and the war - well I’ve lived through all of it, and let me tell you, some of it was about as far from pleasant as you can get. When I was young I thought it was just how things were – people just hated mutants and that was that. When I came here, the Professor preached his dream of one day living in a world where humans and mutants lived in peace, and it did sometimes seem just like a dream - especially when the war came, but we kept on fighting, kept on believing in that dream, and, well, with only a few flaws left here we are.
“What was it like to be an x-man?”
No way thought Jake, no way in hell was this woman ever an x-man/woman/person/whatever, just no way.
“Was Mr Logan one?”
God forbid he quickly added to his thoughts.
“Yes Nathan he was. And Sophie?” She paused for a moment, how to explain that one, what was it like?
“It was like being in Heaven and Hell at the same time, but that’s not what I need to tell you about today.
Back then this place was a safe haven for mutants, somewhere they could stay and be safe - or as relatively safe as the world would allow. Not just a school, not just somewhere to learn control of your gifts but a sanctuary for those lost, abused or thrown away. You have to remember that back then mutants were outcasts – a lot of families sold, hurt or threw away their own flesh and blood just because they were different.
That’s sort of how I first came to know my best friend Rogue, well her and the old fool sitting out there in the snow.
I’d been here about a year when the biggest meanest mother of them all arrived. We had a guy here at the time called Colossus and he was absolutely huge” Jubes spotted two of the girls giggling and couldn’t help but smile “That was his code name girls not his measure in other departments, although thinking about it.....” at some horrified looks from a few of the boys in the class Jubes decided to leave that particular part of the story well alone. Certain facts did not need to be recorded for this type of history lesson, though if certain parties were to remember certain facts then that was all well and good, and for the record, he had nothing compared to.........well enough was enough, after all it wasn’t remembrance day, a sex education lesson, or a ‘which x-man had the biggest penis’ competition.
Although maybe it was remembrance day after all; she couldn’t help but giggle out loud as her mind constructed the perfect picture of the competition winner, naked as the day he was born, standing proudly with a specially designed medal that didn’t hang around his neck.
To the highly observant there was still a glint in her old eyes as she continued “Anyway as I was saying, Piotr or Colossus as he was known, was a giant, he stood 6 foot 6 which is about two meters to you lot and was built like a brick privy, that’s a.....well never mind lets just say he was a big guy, especially when he armoured up – he could turn himself into living organic metal making him look even bigger, damn handy in a fight but generally he was a pussy cat, it was written all over him, quiet, shy and just a big old gentle giant. The new guy however was a totally different kettle of fish. He screamed mean, evil badass from any angle. He was well built, with muscles to make any girl swoon, nowhere near as tall as Piotr so you wouldn’t think he looked that threatening but you’d be dead wrong, he just had a certain look that made everyone want to run a mile and every time you took another look he seemed to be able to take it to another level.
His name was Logan. Codename Wolverine”
Yep, Jake thought, here we go, the life and times of the soon to be his teacher more commonly known as the mean evil badass bastard. He had a sneaky suspicion that Mr Collins was loosing the championship title belt he’d won ever year – this years winner of the ‘bastard who screws up my life’ belt could well be going elsewhere.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Apologies to bima for the lateness in posting! but if it's any consolation I've been working hard on chapter 3 too!