The X-Men characters featured in this story are property of Marvel Inc and used without permission.

No profit is made from these works.

AJ Rovner/Unicorn was created by Abby Rovner and is used with permission.

Ziska Xavier is my own creation.

William Creek is a jointly created character. You know who you are and thank you

“So, we have now instead of David being Professor Xavier’s son, Franziska as his daughter?” Nathan asks in disbelief.

Hank nods. “Now aren’t you glad I let you sleep before trying to explain that mess? Then again, considering your own life…. Well, you get the idea.”

“Is she… how can I put this…” Nathan stammers.

“Mentally stable?” The thought had occurred to Hank before as well. “So far, so good, though Logan vouches for her. And I would hope that she has… matured a bit in the time when she was neither here or there.”

“How’d that happen anyway?” Nathan asks.

“How did what happen?”

“The neither here or there… how did she get stuck in the middle?”

Hank’s eyebrow shoots up. “I… never thought to ask her about it.”

Nathan starts to get out of bed. Hank comes closer to help, but Nathan holds up his hand. “I’ll be fine. All I needed are the stitches and the blood. And I can’t stand being stuck in bed.”

“That would be why Scott for a while considered putting a lid on your crib.” Nathan shoots Hank a glance. “You kept climbing out.”

“Old habits die hard I guess.” Nate replies as he gets up.

******************************************

Kitty, Kurt and Piotr came along for the ride to New York. It’s one thing if there is a single new member to the X-Men roster. But an entirely different story when three newbies show up at the same time. Cooler heads prevailed though as they gave the new recruits some time first, especially after just finishing their first unsupervised rescue mission.

A few hours after his arrival in New York, Kurt saw Scott and someone-he-at-first-glance-thought-was Kitty outside talking. He watched as the two shook hands. Almost immediately, Scott stumbles back and seems to go into convulsions. Mein Gott! Kurt thought, and teleported out onto the patio, arriving just in time to catch Scott from hitting his head against the railing. “Kitty, go get Hank.”

“Nice catch Kurt, but wrong girl.” The woman replied and bends down to help Scott.

He looked at her, and realized it wasn’t Kitty at all. They just have the same hair color, and since this woman wore her hair in a pony tail, he misjudged the length. “Give me a hand.” He said as he flung Scott’s arm over his shoulder, and reached for her hand to do likewise.

“Don’t!” She squeaked, but it was too late. Kurt touched her hand.

******************************************

“Was ist going on?” Kurt asks in his still broken English.

“Summer vacation has started and Ziska is coming home.” Scott explains.

“Wer ist ‘Ziska’?” Kurt asks, but then remembers Scott doesn’t speak German. “Who is she?”

Realizing what Kurt asked, Scott finally replies. “She’s the Professor’s daughter.”

“She does not go to school here?”

“It’s… complicated, to say the least.” Scott answers as he warps his arm around Jean.

The three of them look out the window again and see the car pulling up. Warren is driving and Professor Xavier is in the passenger seat looking into the backseat, where Kurt just barely makes out a head. When they stop, the back door opens quickly, and a girl jumps out, racing for the trunk. When Warren finally opens it, she pulls out her father’s wheelchair.

“She’s in a rush as always.” Jean comments.

******************************************

Having limited telepathy himself, Kurt recovers more quickly than Scott. They are propped up in chairs in sight of the patio doors, and Jean is tending to Scott.

“How are you holding up Kurt?” She asks.

“I’ve been better.” Kurt replies, and rubs his temples. “That was some ride.”

Jean smiles. “Even a little telepathy seems to help. The memory transfer worked on me through our psi report. But I think Scott will be out for a while.”

Kurt is becoming more aware of a sore spot on his head. “What happened to me?”

“You did hit your head.” Ziska’s now familiar voice calls from the door as she comes in with an ice pack. “Sorry, I wasn’t quite quick enough to catch you.”

“It could have been worse.” Kurt replies as he takes the ice pack from her and puts it on the lump on his head. “How long does the buzzing in my head last?”

“I dunno.” Ziska responds.

Kurt raises an eyebrow. “Wirklich?”

“Yes, really.” Ziska replies. “I don’t intend to study how long people take to recover.”

“I appreciate that.” Scott mumbles as he comes back to his own senses.

“Now that wasn’t so bad.” Ziska responds. “I’m pretty sure William was out longer.”

“William also didn’t have a psi link to unload on.” Jean reminds her.

Scott grimaces. “I’m sorry Jean; I didn’t ever consider that the transfer could affect you.”

Jean brushes a few stray hairs out of Scott’s face. “Lucky you, it seems I enjoyed being a ‘big sister’ for a change.”

******************************************

“Okay, I give, why is the handshake example a permutation and not a combination?” William asks.

Professor Xavier sighs, but AJ answers. “It IS a combination. When person A shakes hands with person B, B is already shaking hands with person A.”

“Why do I need to know this? This is what calculators are for. And I can take a calculator into the exam.”

“You need to know how to set up a scientific calculator to do that though.” AJ quips.

William looks up at the two of them. “Seriously?”

Charles nods. “You can take a scientific calculator to do the math, but you need to know how the formula works.”

Irritated, Williams drops the calculator on his desk. “So why does this damned thing have so many buttons if I can’t use half of them?”

“You’ll be using the rest of those buttons in Math Course Three.” Charles explains. “That is, unless you changed your mind about taking three science courses instead.”

William carefully eyes the textbooks in the far shelf. Physics sounds good right about now. He thinks to himself.

“I wouldn’t advise physics.” Charles interrupts.

William shoots the Professor a look. “I thought you don’t randomly read minds.”

“I don’t. But that wasn’t much of a leap.” Charles responds. “The Physics Regents exam also requires a calculator, and is more closely related to Course Three mathematics.”

AJ never was a fan of math either, but with Scott suddenly unavailable for the day, she volunteered to help Professor Xavier tutor William. Still, she is curious. “What did Ziska do?”

Charles can’t help smiling. “Well, the plan was a bit different in the boarding school, but as I understand it she did the equivalent of three math credits and two science credits, Biology and Physics.” Charles replies and then starts to chuckle. “She wanted to know what laws she could legally break when she was ready.”

“Having telepathically enhanced memory probably didn’t hurt.” William grumbles.

“Considering at the time she didn’t have access to her telepathy, it was a non factor.”

Stunned, AJ asks. “Why didn’t she have access?”

The smile quickly fades from Charles’s face. “She started to show telepathic abilities a few days before she was due back in school. I didn’t have enough time to teach her, so I… tempered her powers, so that she wouldn’t all at once read the mind of everyone in her immediate vicinity.”

“Better safe than sorry.” William retorts and turns his attention back to the math book in front of him.

Before he gets far, there is a knock in the office door. Bobby had finally come home from his visit home. “I’m sorry to interrupt… but this is kind of important.”

“Not at all.” Professor Xavier replies. While you’re here, how about some introductions? This is Abigail Rovner, and this is William Creek, a new student.” Bobby noticeably cringes as the introductions are made. “Bobby, what happened?”

“I…. didn’t notice the new car in the garage… and… well…I’m really sorry.”

AJ’s eyebrows scrunch together in surprise. “I didn’t come with a car.”

Bobby then glances at William. “Don’t look at me; I’ve been homeless for the last six years. But… are we talking about a bright lime green sports car?”

“… Yes. What’s left of it anyway.” Bobby replies slowly.

William scoffs. “That thing outlived its prime a few times over anyway. But someone might want to go tell the owner.”

“Let me guess. Ziska?” AJ asks.

“I’ll go get her.” William replies and bolts for the door.

Bobby, now even more confused, looks back at the professor. “I thought we were only getting one new recruit. Is Ziska another new student?”

“No… it’s a bit more complicated than that.” Charles answers honestly. “But I think we should go check on the damage for now.”

******************************************

From the other room, the group hears foot steps coming down the main stairs and coming closer to the sitting room.

“Has anyone seen Kurt?” Kitty asks.

Kurt’s chair is facing away from the entry, so he stretches around so Kitty can see him. “I haven’t seen myself, but I’ll make a note you are looking for me.”

“What happened to your head?” Kitty asks as she sees the ice pack.

Kurt looks over at Ziska, not entirely sure what to say. She just shrugs her shoulders back. I don’t mind taking the blame Kurt.

“I… think I was ‘zapped’ with the memories of an alternate time-lined self featuring Fräulein Xavier here.” Kurt deadpans.

For a moment, Kitty is very quiet. Then she turns her attention to Jean. “How hard did he hit his head to make that up?”

“That’s the truth though.” Kurt adds.

“It’s not even that funny of a joke Kurt.” Kitty answers turning back to him.

“It’s not a joke.” Ziska replies. “I am from a different timeline.”

Kitty now turns to Ziska. “He… just called you ‘Fräulein Xavier.’”

“Calling me ‘Doctor Xavier’ just doesn’t work as well.”

For a moment, Kitty seems to twitch, until she remembers what she was just told. “Alternate timeline?”

Ziska laughs. “There are only so many places in the universe where this discussion would be over so fast.”

“What discussion would that be?” William asks as he walks in.

“Oh, just in time for the finale.” Ziska responds. “Kitty here was just told who and what I am.”

“Cool.” William says. “But I bet you there is one thing you didn’t tell her yet.”

“And what would that be?” Ziska asks back.

“That you are a pedestrian. Or a passenger. Whichever.” William watches as Ziska’s eyes grow big. “The lime apparently kicked the bucket.”

“The what?” Jean asks.

Ignoring Jean’s question, Ziska demands an answer of her own. “What happened to my car?”

******************************************

As Nathan comes to the main area of the house, he is looking for his family. He was sure that Scott and Jean were just in the sitting room, but must have left as he got off the elevator. He closes his eyes for a moment, and looks one more time and quickly finds them. Garage it is then.

******************************************

Moments later, Professor Xavier glides into the garage accompanied by Bobby and AJ.

“Talk about an accordion, how hard did you hit it?” AJ asks.

“Not that hard!” Bobby insists. “See for yourself.”

Charles and AJ turn to see the car Bobby was driving, which just has a few scratches on it and a dent in the bumper.

I don’t remember buying… this. Charles thinks. As he finishes the thought, Charles looks over his shoulder. The others take the hint and also look towards the garage entry to the house; as the door swings open, out steps William, followed by Ziska and some others.

Bobby takes a little step giving Ziska a clear view of the damage. She pushes down on the scrunched up hood, which can’t take any more abuse and pops out, nearly hitting Ziska in the face. Charles at first reaches forward to make sure she’s alright, but clearly the hood didn’t even reach her.

Scott is the first to speak. “Wow.”

“I didn’t hit it that hard!” Bobby says as he is really starting to get nervous.

“Yeah, I see that.” Scott answers, and points to Bobby’s car. “But this… was this car in this bad of a shape when you picked up William?”

“I don’t think so.” Ziska replies as she keeps circling her car. “William?”

“How the hell does a car rust this much in three days?” William replies.

“A little more time line alteration?” Kurt asks.

“Well, there are almost four years when this car is unaccounted for.” Ziska mutters to herself.

“Not to mention we don’t know what happened to this timeline’s counterpart of it.” Scott adds.

“Excuse me?” Bobby blurts out.

“Excuse what?” Ziska asks back.

“’Time line alternations?’ What’s going on here? Didn’t we fix this?”

Again, Ziska returns a question with a question. “Fix?”

“Bobby.” Charles starts. “I would like to introduce you to my daughter, Ziska.” He then turns to her. “I believe you remember Bobby.”

Very slowly, Bobby turns his head back towards Ziska. “You’re his…”

“”Relax, it will get easier Bobby.” Ziska responds. “But this… seems to be a lost cause.” She adds while padding the roof.

“Wait just a minute now.” Charles interrupts. “How did you get me to buy you this… wreck?”

Now kneeling, Charles can just see Ziska’s head over the hood. “YOU were somewhere in deep space with Lilandra. This is a year’s worth of allowance in cash, a brand new driver’s license and a teenagers-only dance club opening a town over.” She then watches her father closely. “Don’t look at me like that. You had it easy as far as my teenage years were concerned and me being in trouble.”

“That’s debatable.” William chimes in.

After glaring at William, Ziska is back on her feet. “Look. This car literally is the dumbest thing I did as a teenager. It wasn’t unsafe stupid, I was just having some fun which didn’t involve somehow needing an exclusive membership or a platinum card.”

Charles sighs. “You still need an adult to sign the paperwork.”

“I did have an adult. Not my fault the salesman was too lazy to check who he was.” But then, Ziska quietly adds. “Or too scared.”

She didn’t think I’d miss that, did she? Charles thinks. “Why would the salesman have been scared?”

“Well, because the person I introduced and my uncle was pretty big and scary.”

“You got Logan to come with you?” William asks.

“No, of course not. I asked Nate.”

“Excuse me?” A voice booms from the background. Ziska didn’t realize that Nathan had joined the group.

“Nate, hey, glad you’re feeling better.”

“Don’t change the subject.” He warns.

Ziska in return shrugs. “I meant that actually. And while I know you don’t remember because of the time line twisting, my time line version of Nate was more than willing to accompany me.” Now Ziska turns back to her father. “And honestly, how much sense would it have made for a sixteen-year-old to come to a teenage nightclub in a Bentley?”

“She’s… got a point there Professor.” Scott chips in. “Besides, if we’re talking about the place I think we’re talking about, anything more expensive looking than this would have been robbed.”

Charles looks at the car one more time. “Please tell me you outgrew this color.”

“A long time ago. But it was the only paintjob the dealer was able to do on short notice.”

“Why on short notice?” Charles asks.

Ziska rolls her eyes. “So you don’t remember the short list of cars you ‘thought’ were fitting for a teenage girl? Wait, probably someone advised you on that, unless it was mom’s short list. Anyway, I needed the car in the garage before you came back from outer space.”

Charles turns towards Scott, but he seemed to be talking to Nathan. He would simply have to ask him later. “I think it is safe to say this is beyond repair. We’ll start shopping for a replacement tomorrow. In the meantime...” Charles starts and turns towards William. “If you’re still considering taking high school physics, this would be a good example to work with.”

For a moment, William considers his options. “Can I use a calculator?”

******************************************

What happened here? He asks so only Scott and Jean can “hear” him.

Scott turns around and smiles. Bobby crushed Ziska’s car. He is still for a moment. Has anyone…

Hank filled me in on her. Not to mention it would be kind of late now after that discussion. Nathan replies. So, how are they getting along?

Pretty good, actually. Jean replies. But she has always been easy to get along with.

You seem pretty sure of that. Nathan points out.

Well she WAS your favorite babysitter. Scott adds with a grin.

I assume this means you’ve both... been zapped, or whatever she calls it?

Jean nods. Your father here volunteered.

Nathan turns his attention back to Scott. Did you really consider putting a lid on my crib?

The End