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.
AJ can’t help fidgeting. Sure, she’d been in the Danger Room before to assess her abilities. This, however, is new. This program is designed for her to advance command of her own powers. But until she gets used to the idea, she won’t be alone in the room.
For now,
“Lying won’t help me, will it?” AJ replies as she arches back and stretches, her Shi’ar uniform conforming to every movement. As she snaps back upright, her dark curly hair flies into her face.
Wolverine just chuckles. “Not really. Might want to start tying that hair down though. Know the rules?”
“Nothing is ‘real,’ the program is set to ‘harmless’ which means if I get ‘hit’ it will shut down. Should I know anything else?”
“More than we can get into now.” He starts. “This is important. I know the set up is nice n’ all, but that’s for people with human senses. Or Shi’ar senses, I guess. But I can still hear the echoes from the walls, the mechanical gears, and the smell is still off.”
“Not something most of the team has to worry about.” AJ replies.
“We’ll be working in the
“I’ve read the reports logged in the library.”
Even behind the mask, AJ realizes his eyebrow just shot up in surprise. “I didn’t know anyone ‘cept Scott bothered with ‘em. Been in a jungle before?”
“Not too many of those where I’m from.” AJ replies with a smile. “But you are going to walk me through this, right?”
“Wrong. You’re gonna to try’n hunt me down, while I hunt you. Stay here while I go to the far side of the room. Then the program starts.”
AJ often wonders how the Danger Room was constructed. She is sure its footprint is very close in size to the whole mansion above. How come it didn’t destabilize the foundation? Or where did all the excavated earth go to?
“Ready?” He calls across the room.
“As ready as I will be.” AJ answers.
“Try’n make it quick.” She watches as Wolverine salutes the still visible window to the control box, indicating to the Professor he should start the program.
In a flash, AJ is surrounded by a lush jungle, sunlight barely breaking through the canopy. The humidity and heat slowly start to kick in. Above her, she hears recordings of birds and other forest animals. She feels herself be lifted by a force field designed to look like the forest floor. She looks down, and sees a little frog jump across her way. As the air becomes even more humid, she starts to smell things. To someone with human like senses, it would smell like a rainforest. AJ wants to pinch her nose. It reminds her of cheap perfume. Don’t forget what you are here for. She reminds herself. She tries to block out the “sounds of nature” soundtrack, and starts her hunt.
******************************************
Charles is tempted to nudge AJ to
start the class. She seems preoccupied
by the new surroundings, and doesn’t realize
He watches for a while. The simulation is only a distraction of
course; the actual teaching will be done by
******************************************
William remembers this room from Ziska’s timeline. He’ll have to repaint it again, but that’s a small price to pay for a new mattress, a warm blanket, and all the pillows he can handle. Not to mention food, a library to die for, and a small allowance do with as you please. He doesn’t miss the old warehouse and scrounging for food and whatever else he needed. And while he has classes five days a week, there is always Saturday to sleep in.
That is, unless you’re best friends with Franziska Xavier.
He slept through the knock on his door a few minutes earlier. The window pane is a bit harder to ignore. He finally scrambles out of the feather bed and opens his curtains, blinded by the mid morning sun. But he refuses to open the window. Ziska, wearing a huge grin on her face, is floating in mid air, wearing a grey sweatshirt and basic jeans, with her messenger bag draped over her shoulder. “I thought you are a morning person.” She chides through the glass.
“No good cartoons on anymore, so I sleep.” William replies mid yawn and opens the window. “You could take a hint, or at least use the door like a normal person”
“I could.” Ziska replies now sitting in the window frame rather than float. “But you locked the door and didn’t hear me knocking earlier. ‘Course, I could have unlocked it, so at least I am respecting your privacy.”
“Zee… it is ten o’clock in the morning. Why are you waking me?”
“Because Dad wants us out of the house by eleven.”
William snaps awake. “Why?”
“I’m assuming it’s that big staff meeting where he will be talking about us, but doesn’t want us to know that it is about us, so he wants us out so we can’t overhear.”
“Aaaand, what makes you so sure this is about us?”
Ziska shrugs. “The headline ‘Topic: Future placement of AJ,
William and Franziska’ is a dead giveaway. Not my fault
William eyes Ziska carefully. “Those aren’t work-out clothes, and you wouldn’t be seen dead in public wearing that. What’s on your mind?” Then again, I’ve never even seen her wear jeans until two months ago. He considers to himself.
“I am going to go dig in the dirt for treasure.” Ziska replies. “Wanna join me? After breakfast I mean.” Ziska digs in her bag for a sandwich and a fruit juice cocktail bottle.
This is annoying. William thinks to himself. “Let me get ready, will you? At least I should take a shower.” William tries to walk away.
“Yeah, about that, this might get messy, so you might want to leave that for later.”
He freezes mid stride and half turns back to her, trying his best to glare at her. “How long have you been planning this argument?”
“What argument? I just can’t let you come up with any more excuses. But this should be worth it.” With a wink, Ziska closes the window and floats back to the ground.
******************************************
Too small. AJ thinks to herself. She may never have been in a jungle, but considering she isn’t on an expedition and all the environmental additions are artificial, she has no problem realizing what is going on; even if it doesn’t stop her aggravations. They’re hoping that I’ll be distracted by every little sound. But Wolverine knows how to be quiet. Damn it though, seeing all these birds and not being able to check around from their point of view is annoying.
AJ keeps walking through the forest. Instead of listening to every sound, she listens for the absence of sound. It occurred to her that maybe the program might not be quite set up that way. That a frog’s croak would still sound even if someone were standing right in front of the supposed source. If that is the case though, why is there such a big “quiet” area a few paces behind her? She looks up and notices a group of wild parrots added in for decoration. She jumps and mid leap transforms into a blue and yellow macaw. As she approaches them, the artificial birds scattered and she hides in the crowd. She rolls to her side to look back. There’s Wolverine, motionless behind a large fern, trying to keep track of all the birds. AJ downsized to a finch and neatly blends into the shadows while diving down towards the ground. Wolverine still isn’t moving.
To come up behind him, AJ has to fly around a tree. She makes the course adjustment easily enough, but when she comes around the tree, Wolverine isn’t there. What the hell? AJ thinks to herself while heading back to higher ground. She perches on a tall tree to look around, but can’t spot him. She adds the eyesight of a Peregrine Falcon and hearing of a Barn Owl to find him. Gotcha! She twists her head to pin down the location where Wolverine is hiding. She can’t see him from her angle, but she slowly walks towards the end of the branch for a better vantage point. She looks down again, and sees something blue. In a flash she’s off the branch, wings open wide, gliding down on top of the uniform blue.
It is Wolverine’s glove. But his hand isn’t in it.
Realizing just a little too late
what is going on, AJ leaps up trying to escape, but before she gets far,
“Nice.” Wolverine smugly says as he releases her. “You had something else planned, right?”
AJ switches back into a person and composes herself. “Well, I was hoping tagging you would count as a catch.”
Indignantly, he considers for a moment. “I’ll make sure the games rules are clearer next time. But you don’t have much combat experience, right?”
“Does a self defense class in college count for anything?” Around them, the room turns back into a basic metal box. AJ isn’t used to the shifting floor and for a moment looses her balance. “How do you ever get used to that?”
“With a lot of time.” Wolverine replies while steadying her. “As for the ‘college course’… depends who you’re trying to catch I guess. Ready for round two?”
******************************************
Realizing the simulation is over
Charles reviews what happened in the last few minutes while he was lost in
thought. So, why exactly are we wasting our time on the basics here? He wonders to himself. AJ
comfortably uses the terrain to her advantage.
It is not her fault
Gently
Call
it a hunch, but she’s got better instincts than she thinks.
******************************************
The new tactic startles AJ. Wolverine isn’t sneaking around anymore. Maybe she said too much when she mentioned the college course. After the fact, she assumes he thought it’s funny. Per his file, he has years of experience in the martial arts. She doubts he’ll attack her from behind, even if he probably can take whatever she can deal.
Or, is he testing something else?
Flight or fight? AJ thinks to herself, even if that’s just a bit to obvious. But that must be the answer; He’s gauging her instincts. Fight it is then.
Wolverine is stronger than she in her human form, and he probably can throw a harder punch. She’s a lot lighter, making her faster. So, she runs ahead. Hmmm… looks like the layout is the same as before. So where’d that little tree go? As it comes into sight she hears him catching up. She intentionally slows down to close the gap. Before he comes in reach, they arrived at the tree. AJ grabs hold, hard enough to swing around the tree and come face to face with him. Since she is still holding onto the tree, she has to use her legs to attack. The way she sees it, her knee will hit him hard in the gut.
Wolverine catches onto her plan as she holds onto the tree. His open palm stops her knee mid flight and the impact throws her off balance. Before she falls backwards, he pulls her leg forward and catches her at arm’s length. “You learn fast.” Wolverine assures with a smile. “Maybe next time you should practice it the forest out back.”
“That is enough you two.” The Professor’s voice echoes while the room switches back to default. “AJ, perhaps you should go rest.”
AJ doesn’t like being told what to do by anyone. “I’m not that tired, I can manage another round.”
“We’ll test your endurance another time. For now, take it easy.” The Professor responds, and AJ hears the microphone click off.
******************************************
Two rounds
are enough for a novice like AJ, and Charles is more than happy with the
results. She is a great teacher, has
proven herself to be level headed in new situations and now has
******************************************
AJ has a tendency to plan ahead, so when her Danger Room ended before she expected it to, she has nothing to do. Even Ziska and William are no where to be found. Finally she decides to go for a run in the woods before lunch.
She loves the crisp autumn air. Having a forest so close is a nice bonus. The leaves are starting to turn and she watches squirrels get ready for winter.
Still, she realizes something else must be going on. She isn’t used to being shut out and dismissed, at least not from the Professor.
******************************************
The current group of X-Men gathers in the library to discuss the possible of adding three recruits at the same time. It has been two month since this group has arrived, and some kind of decision has to be made.
Scott is the first to speak. “I’m voting AJ in. She’s level headed, pays attention to details and is a quick thinker. She also has enough of a grasp of her powers to not freeze when most needed and side effects are limited. She also as great intuition for things we might miss at first glance.”
Jean however disagrees. “She’s only been here two months. Don’t you think that we are pushing too far too fast?”
“Not to mention I haven’t heard her actually say she wants to become part of the team.” Rogue adds.
“I do agree that she is more than capable of being in our midst. Though I would think our near regular activity might push her away, as she seems to prefer peace and quiet.” Hank points out.
“Alright, we’ll get back to that then.” Professor Xavier decided. “How about William then?”
“His previous experience is in his favor.” Hank starts. “But the past few years of his life in this reality are vastly different from Ziska’s timeline, especially since he only remembers what happened in that time line. He was not given the physical training here, has much to learn, and the responsibility of getting a diploma on top of everything else would be too much. Something has to give, and I don’t feel it is right to dangle a spot on the team in front of him and expect him to finish school with acceptable grades.”
A few moments pass, then Professor Xavier asks. “We agree then that William shouldn’t join full time yet?” As he looks around again people slowly nod, but he feels the tension rise. “That leaves Franziska.” Several members of the staff grimace at the name.
The problem is obvious. For the first six weeks, Ziska had been insubordinate, rude, uncooperative, and a few other choice terms Charles didn’t like to think about. Then he and everyone else found out the reason behind it and the problem was fixed. And while she made tremendous process in the last two weeks, it wasn’t quite enough to erase what transpired before, especially for those who never accepted the memory transfer. Those that did opt for the memories have a hard time deciding what to do now.
******************************************
“This is stupid.” William grumbles. “Where’s the tree?”
“If I knew, I would have gone there first, trust me. But, I was twelve the last time I played there; Dad also never had reason to put up a tree house in this time line, and who knows how often the tree has been used as target practice.”
“Don’t you have telepathic memory or something?”
“I’m not messing around with my telepathy with this new dam in my head just yet. Besides, nine years is a lot of time for things to grow. And since Dad didn’t raise a little kid in this time line.” Ziska looks at another tall tree. “Obviously, there was no need to put up a tree house.”
“So, correct me if I’m wrong, if the tree house isn’t here, wouldn’t that also mean that whatever was in the tree house isn’t here either?”
“It would.” Ziska answers while she floats up to another promising tree to check for markings. “But what we are looking for isn’t in the tree house; it’s buried under the tree. Way I figure it, the timeline splits from when I was conceived. Dad buried it under the tree in which he built his own tree house.” Ziska smugly looks back at him. “And as I remember it, you like treasure hunts.”
“I like scavenger hunts, semi cryptic clues in a race against other teams to find the prize. Usually some cheap dollar store trinkets, but still, a prize.”
“Well, this is a real treasure, not those chocolate gold coins Dad used to hide around the library.”
William stopped in his tracks. “So…. Wait, why did your father bury a treasure? And why didn’t he retrieve it himself?”
“Dad had a
screwed up childhood.” Ziska explains. “That’s putting it mildly. In my timeline, he didn’t want to think about
it, so despite ‘telepathic memory’ he forgot all about it, until I found it by
chance when I was twelve. And since
“What kind of treasure are we talking here, his old baseball card collection or something? What was your father into… back… whenever?”
“I mean gold, pearls, and diamonds; Grandmother Sharon’s jewelry box. I think there was other stuff too, but Dad never opened to other packages while I was around.” Ziska stops as she kicks a rotten piece of wood out of the way and carefully examines the tree stump before her. Something on the side catches her eye, and she crouches down.
She learned how to use passive force fields a long time ago, when the old X-Ray machine had broken and Bobby might have had a broken leg. She was just worried if it would work on dirt and wood as well as flesh and bone.
William watches as she closes her eyes. The new barrier that’s in her head now is much more solid, and it dampens her power. He doesn’t really mind that.
“I think I can feel it.” Ziska snaps back to reality.
“Are you sure?” William asks leaning against a tree facing the stomp Ziska’s been circling.
“Positive. See this?” Ziska asks as she pulls a rusty nail from the stump. “This must be from the old steps when it was Dad’s tree fort.”
“Well, since this is just a tree stump, we don’t have to be so worried about wreaking the roots.” William mentions as he stretches.
“Still, the roots may have wrapped around the box, so we have to be careful. Ready when you are Will.”
He loosens up and approaches the stump, but then faces Ziska. “Mind giving me some room to work with then?”
As Ziska backs away William pulls the earth away from the roots carefully. A part of him wonders if Ziska’s imagination is running away with her. But he doesn’t feel bad enough to not get even with her for the rude wake up call. So he splatters her with the dry dirt.
Ziska brushes the dirt from her face. “Feel better now?”
William feigns innocence. “Guess I’m rusty.” William proceeds to pull the earth out under the tree stump, without trying to loosen the whole stump. No one likes a crushed treasure.
******************************************
******************************************
With the tree roots under half the stump bare, Ziska and William lie on their stomachs while shining a flashlight into the crater.
“That it?” William asks as he sees a dilapidated crate mangled in the roots. William slides into the hole and checks the box. “I’ll try to pull it out; can you lift the tree stump telekinetically?”
“I can try.” Ziska responds. She reaches out telekinetically, wrapping her mind around the massive stump before her. But the roots have spread too far and the tree is well grounded, so even pulling hard only gives William another foot of clearance. On the other hand, if she pulls too hard the stump might crumble and William would be a sitting duck underneath it. “This is going to be harder than I thought. If you want, there’s a Swiss army knife in the bag, it does have a saw attachment.”
William reaches for the bag on the ground and rummages through it just as AJ arrives. “What are you two doing?”
“Emptying Dad’s first safety deposit box. Mind helping?” Ziska strains to say while still lifting the stump.
AJ slides into the hole with William and sees the wooden crate half in the dirt and half crushed by the roots. “That’s going to be a mess.” She points out.
“Well, the items are inside the crate.” Ziska huffs. “How bad does it look?”
“The crate is toast.” William remarks and starts sawing away some of the roots. “I’ll need to push out more earth before we are done here. Hold your breath when I give you the mark Zee.”
“That may not be necessary.” AJ adds and starts snapping roots. “Ziska, what is in the crate? It might just be easier to break that open than trying to get through these roots one by one.”
“It’s Grandma’s jewelry box, and a few other trinkets. Go ahead and break the crate open, but I don’t remember how heavy the items inside are.”
How heavy can it be? AJ muses while breaking apart the rotting wood. As she reaches inside the crate, the first thing she feels is fabric. Silk? Okay, gotta be careful with that. “Hang on; I’ll make a bigger hole.”
“You take the left side, I’ll take the right.” William announces and proceeds to break away more of the wood.
Between the two of them, they first pull out a large garment bag with a hole in it. AJ sees something silky shimmer inside, realizing that is what she touched. The garment bag is followed by three small velvet pouches with what feels like beads inside.
William reaches back into the crate for more fabric, but realizes that the fabric is wrapped around something rather heavy. “Zee, what’s the box made of?”
“Some kind of enameled metal.” Ziska replies. “Guys, hurry up, I’m getting a headache here.”
AJ clears the other trinkets out of the hole under the roots and steps out of Williams’s way. “You’re clear.”
William slowly pulls on the fabric hoping it won’t unfurl. Finally carrying the box, he turns around. “This has to weigh a few pounds.” He places the box on the ground and scrambles out.
Meanwhile, AJ reaches back into the crate. “It’s empty, I’ll be right out.”
As Ziska sees AJ and William are clear, she lets go of the stump, and it settles down into the hole. She hears the old roots snap, but doesn’t worry about it anymore. “Thanks for all the help.” She says with a smile but has to sit down. “Oh I can’t wait until I can turn up the power a bit.”
******************************************
“So, we’re back to square one?” Bobby asked while rolling his eyes.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jean asks back.
“We all agree that AJ is the only one up to the task, but we are worried how the two sorta-kinda veterans would respond to having a complete new arrival promoted over them? None of them are kids, I’m sure they’ll understand the reasons. And it isn’t fair to AJ to hold her back because of two others.”
“Which team would you put AJ, Professor?” Ororo asked.
“Pardon?” He asks back, having been slightly lost in thought.
“Would you consider putting AJ on the Gold or Blue team?” Ororo clarifies, but realizes that he’s thinking of something else. “Do you have an alternative in mind?”
“Sort of.” He begins. “I do intend to offer AJ a place on the team. However, I fully expect her to decline it.”
“So… we havin’ dis meetin’… why?” Remy asks.
Professor Xavier takes a moment to gather his thoughts. “As it stands, both Gold and Blue are strong teams. Adding anyone to either side would take time to adjust.”
As the Professor pauses, Ororo realizes where he’s going. “Not to mention, a few months down the line we’re likely to have this discussion again, and likely both Ziska and William will be ready. So the adjustment time would be repeated again.”
“Precisely.” Charles continues. “Now, I don’t think sending them off site to X-Force would be beneficial either, as William would loose out on his education and this IS Ziska’s home after all. However, AJ, William and Ziska already acted as a team. I grant you it wasn’t a planned mission, it worked out for Nathan’s benefit.”
Scott leans forward. “Are you suggesting we turn the three of them into a new team altogether?”
The Professor shrugs. “I don’t see any harm in it. They are well balanced within their own group, and I have no doubt that they can offer support to either of your teams, if not go out on missions on their own. Any objections?”
******************************************
The trio arrives back at the mansion and walk up the patio stairs with their treasure. All three are covered in dirt, but it was time well spent. The place the items on the patio table and take a seat.
“So… now what?” AJ asks.
“I don’t think Dad will be too happy if we drag in all this dirt. And I’m not talking about the items.”
William waves his hands and a lot of the dust falls off his friends. “Well, nothing should fall off you inside now.”
“And the rest can be fixed with a shower.” AJ chips in.
“So… you two aren’t the least bit curious what’s in there?” Ziska asks while pointing to the pouches.
“Don’t you think we should wait for your father?” AJ asks.
“Eh… I guess. They key is in the library anyway. Wonder if they are done with their meeting.” Ziska replies and walks towards the door.
“Could you bring me something cold to drink?” William calls after her.
“What meeting?” AJ asks.
******************************************
“So… that’s it then?” Ororo asks still in disbelief.
“We now, almost officially, have a new team.” Scott replies. Who are we calling in first?”
Before the Professor gets to answer, they hear a knock on the door. Maybe the decision was just made for us. He considers. “Come in.”
The door slightly opens and Ziska steps in. “I know you are having a big meeting, but can I just get something quickly?” She asks the group.
“We’re actually done with the meeting...” Professor Xavier starts, and is shocked when he realizes she is covered with dirt. “Where have you been?”
“Playing in the backyard. Guess some things don’t change.”
Charles watches her walk to a shelf close to the door to his office, where he keeps some of the personal documents and she floats few feet up and reaches to the top shelf. She takes out two old scrap books and puts them aside, instead reaching behind where they were to pull out a little velvet bag. He recognizes the bag as she pulls it out. “How did you know about that?”
She turns to him and smiles. “You showed me. Wanna see something else you forgot about?”
Normally, Charles would chide her about her improper language, as he insists she was taught better. But realizing what she is getting at, he lets it slide. “How…?”
Cutting him off, Ziska says with a grin. “Come look.”
******************************************
“Hey, where’s my cold drink?”
“Here you are.” Ziska replies as she pulls three bottles of flavored water from her sweatshirt pocket and hands two of them to her teammates.
“Why flavored?” AJ asks.
“Because for plain we have a water cooler.” Ziska replies.
As the three trade barbs, Charles eyes the old bed sheet he wrapped around the box and the jewel pouches he grabbed from his parents’ bedroom. He’d rescue the garment bag from the garbage.
“I’m sorry Professor.” William starts. “But the suspense is killing me. What are those?”
“These… these are things I didn’t want my stepfather pawning off.” He explains and turns over one of the little pouches, from which a knot on jewelry tumbles. “I suppose I could have been a bit more careful in wrapping these.”
“You were a kid, what did you know about jewelry?” Ziska adds.
“I suppose. But these were antiques even then.” Then he chuckles. “Mother never worse them. She thought they looked too old fashioned. Ziska, would you please give me the keys?”
Ziska fumbles with the library pouch for a moment and pulls out a little key. William and AJ take the hint and finally unpack the large jewelry box. Though no longer “mint condition” the detailed flowers and vine design still had most of its bright enamel.
“I have to say Professor, your parents had taste.” William points out.
“As I understand it, the jewelry box itself has been in my family since the late 1890s.” Charles replies and unlocks the box. Charles couldn’t begin to guess how old some of the pieces are, but most were handed down through the family, the newest edition being Sharon Xavier’s engagement ring and other gifts from Brian Xavier. “You were looking for this for a reason I take it?”
“Yes.” Ziska replies and reaches for little a sapphire ring. “You gave this to me on my thirteenth birthday. I guess I missed it.”
“It’s yours to have.” Charles then sees the other two in front of him. “While I have you three here, I have an announcement to make.”
“AJ made the team?” Ziska blurts out.
“Ziska, you aren’t supposed to be eavesdropping.”
“
“So… the meeting William mentioned was for our graduation?” AJ asks.
“Yes it was AJ, and your performance today was the finishing touch. William, you have too much work on your plate to consider being a full time member. Ziska, there are still a lot of questions regarding you, and that might take more time to resolve.”
“Dad, I understand, it is fine.” Ziska responds.
“I’m not so sure about that. “AJ adds. “I’m already teaching and everything, I’m not sure if I can do the X-Men routine on top of it.”
“I thought you might say that.” Charles replies, and pulls out a necklace from the pile. “This… recover was a group effort I take it?”
“Yes, though AJ volunteered.” Ziska replies.
“I just got a rude wake up call.” William fires back
Charles smiles. “You three do make a great team. And having reservists on site doesn’t hurt either.”
The three look at each other, first in shock, then coming around to the idea.
“Oh this will be fun.” AJ blurts out.
The End