Author's Chapter Notes:
Things are back on track, hopefully, they will stay on track. Much thanks to cschoolgirl, without whom this chapter would still be a jumbled mess.
She getting ready for lunch in one of the school's cafeterias with her friends. Sitting down at their usual table, Jubes and Kitty are quick to start a discussion on the latest fashion, even Ava seems to be showing some interest in the subject. But her mind is elsewhere, despite their growing familiarity Logan is still a sort of mystery to Marie. Even with the vast amount of time she devotes to figuring him out, he still remains stubbornly enigmatic.

That night he all but promised he would take care of her problem with Magneto and try as she might, she could not figure out how he can do it. As a founder, Magneto is considered among the most trusted people here and one of a handful of senior instructors in the school. Short of taking on students himself she can see no way Logan can stop Magneto from becoming her squad’s adviser. And she knows there is simply no chance Logan will start teaching classes.

Realizing her food is getting cold, she cuts into a piece of grilled chicken before she can take a bite a few of the boys near her stop eating, mouths agape, their eyes fixed on one side of the room. Several others boys soon follow, and out of curiosity Marie too looks over. Standing in the western entrance, is Emma all in white, talking to Ms. Grey. It’s been close to a year since she last saw Emma, and it is with a hint of jealousy to see that Emma is as stylish and beautiful as she remembers.

She can understand why the boys are all staring, Emma’s ensemble includes tight fitting slacks and a white laced corset, that more than accentuates her natural curves and ample bust, her shoulder length blond hair and light makeup shows in her unique sense of style, confident yet sensual. Something Jubes said finally draws her attention away from that far too perfect pair. “Crap, Ms. Frost and Ms. Grey together again, the boys are going to go crazy during P.E.”

“Yeah…,” Kitty agrees dejectedly. “I thought Ms. Frost got assigned to Washington?”

“Maybe she is only here to visit?” Jubes offers hopefully.

Before Marie can speak, she feels Emma's mind brush against hers ‘act natural’.

Just as she settles herself, the pair of gorgeous women stops in front of their table. Ms. Grey speaks first “Hello, Marie. Kitty, Jubes, I’m sure you two at least know Ms. Frost?”

They both nod, apparently as anxious as Marie feels. Ms. Grey smiles down at them. “Starting today she will be your faculty adviser.”

Ms. Grey takes a step back and Emma speaks up with a smile, “It's nice to meet you all, I hope to arrange a one on one with everyone, later today so we can go over the rules and procedures of this program.”

“Marie if you don’t mind, please see me first thing after lunch.” Emma shows no signs of recognizing her, Marie nods, quickly grasping the role she is to play right now. Emma looks between Jubes and Kitty still looking shell shocked. “I’ll contact you two when I'm ready to see you.”

Marie can still see her friend's gaping at the retreating forms of the two women before they both sigh together, “I can't believe Ms. Frost is going to be our adviser!”

“Why? You guys didn’t seem too happy before.” Despite her memories, there is still a lot about this school, this world that she just doesn’t know.

“Well, she is a genius for one, she completed her Doctorate before she was 18 years old!” Kitty, now gushing with enthusiasm, starts reciting Emma's numerous accomplishments, “And her telepathic powers could eventually be as powerful as the Professor's!”

“This is going to be so awesome!” Kitty and Jubes shouted together in excitement, almost leaping out of their seats. Marie could only shake her head at her friend’s antics, but she did share their feelings on Emma. She is honestly happy that Emma is here.




Emma’s office is still largely empty, but already her influence can be seen. From her Harvard Law Degree hanging just behind her seat, to her collection of rare medieval text arranged neatly on her dark oak book shelf. Emma gives Marie a warm smile when she looks up from her papers. Stacking them neatly to her side she gestures Marie to take a seat. Leaning forward Emma offers Marie a cup of tea “Are you surprised, Marie?”

She is, Marie could not believe her luck, Emma is here, and is going to be her adviser. Adding a cube of sugar and some cream to her tea, she takes a quick sip. “Of course I am! How did you get assigned here, did Momma send you?”

“Well, you know you have to keep this a secret,” Emma doesn’t even wait for an answer before she continues, “Logan asked for me to be reassigned. “

“Logan can do that?” Marie is surprised at the thought of Logan dictating personnel changes and to her Momma no less.

“Of course, he is the head of your security team.” The way Emma is talking makes it sound like she is the only one not aware of this trivial little detail. “So while officially I'm back as a new teacher, I’m also secretly here as a member of your security team.”

“I have a security team?” The surprises just keep on coming. She is beginning to wonder just what is actually involved in her security detail.

“Yes, you do. How do you think Logan guards you when he is away?” Logan has guards on her while he is away? She never even considered that possibility. It made sense though having a team near by, he did give her that phone with the alert button, and out on a mission, there is no way he could have responded in a timely fashion.

“Does the Professor know?” If the Professor knows, then Magneto would know, the thought of Magneto knowing more about her security than herself is very unsettling.

“Only Logan knows the full picture. Plus it’s not like the Professor can object, your mother is his most powerful ally in the Senate. That's not even mentioning all the donations he receives from her company.” Relief fills her at Emma’s answer, of course only Logan would know, he is as suspicious of Magneto as she is, if not more so. Not to mention that there are very few things Logan takes more seriously than her safety, if any.

“What about Momma? Won’t she need someone to help her?” Emma has been invaluable to her Momma in the Senate, even with the Professor's ethics rules on telepathy, there is much Emma can pick up with her powers.

“He introduced another telepath as a replacement for me. I think her name is Sage?” Emma remarks absentmindedly while refilling Marie’s tea. “But nevermind her, you have to fill me in on what you’ve been up to since you been here."




Today is suppose to be just another one of a series of routine training sessions as a Junior X-Men. But the Danger Room looks especially intimidating right now, the glare from the overhead lamps seems stronger than usual, the metal walls more menacing, even the students around her appear to be more subdued. Covered from neck to toes in form fitting black leather, Marie stands at attention with her assigned team in the middle of the Danger Room. There are four teams of six that qualified, and for the most part, students that tested together are assigned together. That is how, to her delight, she ended on the same team with Kitty and Jubes plus a trio of the more popular girls, Alison, Laurie, and Lorna.

Watching over them all from above is Magento, in full battle regalia. With Emma as her adviser, she has the excuse she needs to continue avoiding Magneto. Even still, once a week she takes one of his classes, she had to talk Logan out of rearranging her schedule. She knows that they need new teams trained as soon as possible, her personal hang ups matter little in the greater scheme of things.

Especially since with the information Logan managed to obtain during his latest mission, the X-Men have begun regular sorties against suspected mutant laboratories. The strain of continuous operation is starting to show, Mr. Summers looks more worn out than ever and even the normally resplendent Ms. Grey is starting to show signs of fatigue. Even with that in mind she still can not help but tense whenever Magneto’s gaze finds her.

“Today we will attempt a mock combat exercise, I know many of you think this is nothing new.” Floating down from his perch, Magneto addresses the assembled students. “But all you have done previously is simply practice against machines, today you will be facing me.”

A wave of anxiety ripples through the crowd. Combat against Magneto, even if it is just an exercise, is not to be taken lightly. Marie fights back against the sense of dread slowly filling her. “During the next hour your goal is to survive, your initial class ranking will largely be determined by the length of your survival and by the skill in which you utilize your powers.”

“I know many of you are nervous, do not be. Today will give me the opportunity to see where each if you are in the mastery of your powers.” Magneto makes it a show to look at each and every one of them with a smile. The rest of the class, might not know what that smile means but she does. “Only with a clear understanding of each and every one of your abilities would we be able to help you all excel in this program.”

This is not going to be a simple exercise, the actual purpose is not a demonstration of their control, it is to demonstrate Magneto’s. He wants them all to know their place, know how powerful he is, know the authority he possesses over them, know what he is capable of. Unfortunately, while her understanding of Magneto gives her an advantage tactically, it also gives her a significant disadvantage psychologically, only she amongst all these students truly understands who Magneto truly is.




The battle is proceeding just about how Marie expect it, which is not well at all. Magneto struck her team first removing the greatest threat to him, his daughter Lorna. With the only person that can naturally counter his powers knocked out, he roams the simulation amusing himself with their struggles. One by one each of the students is neutralized. After forty-five minutes intense activity in a ruined cityscape; she, Kitty, and Jubes are the only remaining students left on the field.

The rubble cuts into her skin as Marie attempts to crawl into position, it still boggles her mind at how realistic things in the Danger Room feel. Having spent most of the exercise so far leading her team to avoid Magneto, Marie is almost at her limit. The exercise area is now littered with traps carefully laid by Magneto, methodically eliminating their avenues of escape and options to attack. There are slowly being squeezed to death and by the smirk on his face, Magneto is ready to end this. While she would conceivably gain the upper hand by accessing her memories of Magneto, she is reluctant to do so, fearing what his consciousness could do when it’s domineering presence is at the forefront of her mind.

Instead, it’s Logan’s skills and tactics she employees, his instincts and thoughts seem to fit well into her mind, it settles over her like a warm cloak, helping her focus, giving her suggestion and advice on possible courses of actions. Magneto must have noticed as well, his arrogant voice echo through the room, “I see some of you have trained with Wolverine. While I cannot doubt the effectiveness of his tactics, you will come to learn that it has no place in an organization like this. They are simply bad habits, ones that I shall break you of.”

As much they try, Kitty and Jubes are simply not experienced enough to keep up with her, which means there is no chance of a successful simultaneous attack by the three of them. Jubes is the first among them to be eliminated, not responding to one of Marie’s signals quickly enough, seconds later a spool of metal wire hoist her upwards, binding her arms and legs, finally dangling her off a lighting fixture. Marie knows what comes next, the ground warps erupting around them all at once, seeking to bind them. She reacts instantly grabbing Kitty by the hand and together they fade into intangibility.

“I admire your spirit.” Magneto leisurely floats after them, “But this is the end, you both should just surrender.”

Kitty stumbles first, and Marie feels a wave of nausea overwhelm her before her legs give out from under her. She rolls onto her back, she can barely focus her vision as a splitting headache pulsing in her temples. She watches as Magneto binds Kitty with metal from the floor, ending her time in the exercise. She was almost ready to resign herself to her fate when she caught a glimpse of Logan in the control room. Of course, no matter how logical her reasoning is, or how sound her argument is, Logan would never leave her to face Magneto alone.

A fount of determination wells up inside her, she needs to show him that she is no longer a child, that he doesn’t need to constantly look out for her, that she has the potential to stand beside him come what may. Suddenly she rolls into a crouch pushing against the dizziness fogging her mind, a ruby red beam burst forth from her eyes. Marie feels her headache recede as, a swirl of metal converges on Magneto, melding together creating a shield in front of him. The metal shield buckles and warps under the pressure, with a wave of his hand Magneto, calls the floor beneath Marie to surge upwards in a deadly blossom of spikes.

The spikes pass harmlessly through Marie, and she disappears in a puff of blue smoke. Magneto rolls to the side as another lance of red light pierces the ground next to him. Slowing her descent to avoid the storm of metal Magneto is now directing towards her with a rapid succession of teleports, Marie unleashes several colorful bursts of light. The pulses of plasmoids splatter in a shower of sparks against Magneto’s metal shields. Now super-heated the metal disk begin to melt from the heat. Seizing the opportunity Marie hits the ground and rolls into a crouch, cutting through the now liquid metal with a good placed sweep of her kinetic blast.

There is an audible gasp in the room when Magneto is flung back by the force of the beam. Throwing his arms and legs out he stabilizes himself just before he impacts the far wall, his eyes blazing with rage. Marie stands with a triumphant smile, but it fades as the entire room dims, the air around Magneto distorts and crackle with electricity. Marie clutches her head and drops down to one knee, a strange tingle spreading through her body. She feels as if her body is being torn apart.

Before she can come up with a response, a loud ringing echoes through the room, and the pressure on her body recedes. By the time Marie rises unsteadily to her feet, the Danger Room had already reverted to its standby state, all evidence of their struggle erased, the class is over. It is with quite a bit of satisfaction that she manages to catch the brief lingering emotions in Magneto’s eyes. By the time the entire class assembled again, both her and Magneto are back to their usual selves.

“That was an excellent performance, all of you have done well. While it will take some time to score each of you individually,” His cold calculating gaze is back, the only departure from the usual Magneto is how different his gaze feel as it lingers on her, he almost looks proud of her. “It should be obvious that as the sole survivor, Ms. D’Ancanto will serve as the class captain. The rest of you will receive your score and placement next week. Class dismissed.”




It was a rough class, she barely managed to hold on until the end, but hold on she did, a sense of pride fills her at the look of shock in Magneto’s eyes when she landed that combination attack on him. She would like to think it is the years of training she undertook, but she knows Logan’s instincts, and even the Magneto in her mind played a large part in her victory. As much as she likes to claim credit for this victory she knows she still has a long way to go before she can fight beside Logan or even the regular X-Men teams.

Kitty, Jubes and numerous other students had to take a trip down to the medical ward, having sustained several more serious injuries, leaving her by herself in the girl's locker room. Just as she finishes dressing up her wounds, she notices a group of students marching towards her. It is apparent that they are not here to celebrate her victory. The students stop a respectable distance away noticing Marie's state of undress. A blue haired girl speaks first with noticeable hostility. “You think you're just so wonderful don’t you?”

“What do you mean?” Marie looks over the gathering of students, their animosity towards her is perplexing as she is pretty certain she has yet to speak to any of them.

“Don’t act all innocent! I saw you at the parties, and now here during the training sessions. You pretend you're better than us, with your powers, skills, and fancy manners.” The blue haired girl folds her arms defensively, her voice continues to rise. “But I know better! You stole all of that with your power. You are just some runaway and a thief! A stray the Wolverine happened to pick up because he took pity on you!”

Raising her arms before her in a placating manner, Marie tries to defuse the situation, which is beginning to attract a crowd. She really can’t make a proper argument for herself, some of what that girl is saying feels true. “Look, I don’t-”

“Shut up! You’re a fake! Nothing about you is real!” The girl is shouting now, her face is flushing from anger.

“What's going on here.” Magneto’s calm voice cuts through the room. Marie curses to herself, she didn’t realize Magneto’s presence until he announced himself. Shows how much of a novice she really is, when a simple argument like this can throw her off her game.

“Mr. Lehnsherr!” The group yelps in unison, obviously as surprised as Marie is by his presence. Still, they recover quickly, quicker than she does. Another girl with short, blond hair speaks this time, pointing an accusing finger at her. “She shouldn't be here, we all worked hard to be in this program, but she cheats, all she has to do touch someone and-”

“Enough.” As much as she fears him, she can’t help but respect Magneto’s commanding presence, easily silencing the entire room with one word. Everyone, including her, is wondering how he intends to settle this situation.

“We are all gifted with our powers, however different they may be. We are all obligated to use our powers to their fullest extent.” She is more surprised than she should be, he is in her head, she should have known. She assumed he would have turned this into a moment to demonstrate his control over the class, over her. Instead, he turns this little spat into the issue of mutant supremacy. “Ms. D’Ancanto is simply doing what is proper for a mutant of her level. All of you should take note.”

It is over as quickly as it started, most of the faculty would not dare stand up to Magneto, much less the students. As the impromptu gathering scatters, Marie is left alone with him. She feels his piercing gaze rake over her body and finds herself backing away as he approaches. Forcing herself to stop, she stands her ground and glares back at him. Amusement flashes in Magneto’s eyes at her display of defiance. “Ms. D’Ancanto, you must report such incidents to me in the future, I will inform you of the proper response to de escalate the situation”

“Sir,” Marie stops herself from grimacing at the title and comforts herself with the fact that it is the proper way to address a teacher, nevermind that it is also what the echo of him in her mind wanted. Mustering as much determination as she can she finds her voice. “Ms. Frost is my faculty adviser, this is a subject that I should only discuss with her.”

Magneto’s eyes narrow at the mention of Emma. She gasps and jerks away from the metal locker behind her when it shifts suddenly. The condescending smile slips back perfectly into place. “You are an intriguing one Ms. D’Ancanto. I have had many women before, but none are quite as responsive as you, or respond quite the way you do.”

It is becoming plain as day what his intentions are. He takes another step forward, forcing her to back up against the lockers, pressing herself against it when he approaches closer still. His arms rise slightly but he lets out a breath and places them by his side, he leans in close instead. “It almost as if you know exactly what I want.”

She forces his presence from her mind and responds in the evenest tone she can at the moment. “This is the girl’s locker room sir, you shouldn’t be here.”

“Ah yes, how absent minded of me,” To her relief, he takes a step back, but she can still feel his eyes on her. After what seems like hours, he lets out a satisfied breath. “Until next time then, Ms. D’Ancanto.”

Marie slumps down onto a bench, finally relaxing now that he has left. It is always a struggle to keep Magneto’s presence contained, even with Logan’s presence doing much of the work. She does catch a few stray thoughts as Magneto's echo fades, and comes to a disturbing realization. Magneto wants her, wants to control her for sure, but he is not here solely for her if anything she can just be a convenient distraction, while he pursues his ultimate goal. He is here to recruit, to turn as many of the students here to his cause as he can. This alliance will not last, he is already planning beyond it, she hopes the Professor will eventually see this as well.
Chapter End Notes:
Up next, the girls go relax with a trip to the mall.
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