FOUR: LET THE GAMES BEGIN.

"She can't swim..!"

I hear the blood curling scream when my ears finally stop buzzing so loud. There's a rhythmic pressure pushing on my chest, making my ribs hurt. I want to tell who ever is doing that to stop, that it's really annoying. My nose hurts, my throat hurts, and my body feels like it's dripping with water. Someone's mouth goes on mine, blowing air into my chest, I feel their fingers on my chin, before they return to pumping their hands on my chest.

I can hear Bree crying and Scarlet yelling at her to stop, I just can't get my body to move quite just yet. That is until I hear Logan yell, "all right, Romeo, you've done enough."

Water shoots out of my mouth and nose before I shove Romeo's mouth off of mine.

Gross!

"Lina..!" Bree screams, running up from behind me and wrapping her arms around my back the second I sat up. She keeps crying, but now tears of joy. Scarlet sits in front of me, setting her hands on my shoulder. She has that look in her eyes. The one where I know she's trying to hold herself together and is breaking on the inside.

"I'm fine," I tell her, wiping excess water from my chin.

She glares at me, "duh."

I look around me. Jay, Carrie, Logan, Ororo, Scott, and Charles surround me. Across from me on the ground is Romeo, wiping his mouth free from water with the back of his hand. I glare at him, controlling my anger before looking to Charles. "What happened?" I ask, before pulling Bree into my arms, a proper hug where she can rest her head under my chin.

"The bridge you crossed had loose floorboards at the end, we had initially designed it so you're partner would be able to instruct you to jump off," all eyes go to Romeo.

He looks at me, and to my surprise says, "you should be thanking me."

"Thanking you..?" I spit out to him, before pushing Bree cautiously away from my arms so she wouldn't get caught in the middle of my rage, "you almost killed me! You son of a bitch!" I scream before throwing myself at him and shoving him to the ground. Once I'm on top of him I send my fist into his cheek bone and continue to shove against his chest all while screaming at him, "you said you wanted to fight! Come on, let's fight!!"

Logan is the one to pull me off of him, right when Romeo's nose start to bleed. "Cool it! Both of you. You two are done for the day, go clean yourself up and get out of my face."

I'm still angry when I shove myself out of Logan's arms, and head in the opposite direction. I don't even know where I'm going, I just know I need to get away from here. "Lina, the boarding house is in the other direction," Charles informs me, nodding his head to the East. I head in that direction, with Romeo trailing behind me, pinching his nose. I was so fed up with him, serves him right to have a bloody nose. On his clothes.. that are wet..?

By the time we make it to the boarding house I've put all the pieces together. No one else's clothes were wet after Romeo performed CPR on me, meaning he'd jumped in after I went under. The pinch of guilt in my stomach pushed me to apologize for giving him a bloody nose. Then I remember I wouldn't have been in this situation if he had just helped me in the first place, like he was supposed to.

When we're on the elevator, all the anger and adrenaline is out of my body, and exhaustion hits. Romeo and I are the only two on the elevator, riding down to the basement. He has blood on the front of his shirt, his cheek is enflamed from where I punched him. My clothes are dripping constant drops of water onto the floor.

"Why do you hate me?" I finally ask before we arrive in the basement.

I can tell he's considering telling me the truth, which I don't expect. Which is why I'm surprised when he says, "because of your father. Glass." Romeo winces as he pinches his nose with the opposite hand now, wiping blood on his shirt. "Your father set a fire in my apartment building when I was thirteen. Fire killed my parents."

What!?

I don't know what to say. I have so many questions zooming through my mind. Why would my father do that? Who were Romeo's parents? If Romeo is seventeen now, that means this only happened four years ago, where was I? Where was this apartment? I go with the most reoccurring question in my mind, "how do you even know it was my Dad? Anyone could've set that fire."

"Because I saw him," he finally looks at me. This is the first time he speaks to me without anger or pettiness, he's being so truthful with me that I can't help but believe him. I believe him only for a fraction of a second. "Purple suit? Black cane? I saw him light the match. Your father's a cold-blooded murderer."

Right on cue, the elevator dings, and he walks out, without another word.

Much later in the day, once I'm out of the shower, I keep thinking of what Romeo said, about my dad. Sure, Glass did some bad things - doesn't everyone? - but start a fire? For what reason? There had to be some reason, some explanation for why he... I couldn't even think it. Because that would mean that the idea of my dad being that evil is true, and if he is that bad, what does that make me? Worse? After all, he is my dad. I always thought of him as the Mastermind everyone told me he was. Stories of Mister Glass followed me like stink on a log all while growing up, which played a big role in why I always wanted powers. To live up to his legacy. But now, it's starting to seem like I may need to rewrite his legacy, to clear his name. I don't know who he really is, I know what the stories say. But I've never met him. I only have memories of what Mom and others tell me. Nothing of my own. No sweet stories of how he read me bed time stories or tied my shoes. Except, for one time, when I saw him across the road. He was strolling down the street, his purple suit and cane making an unmistakable tap as he trailed down the sidewalk. I remember seeing him and freezing up, something in my gut told me it was him, so I stayed as still as I could, letting my fear keep me in an almost invisible state. When I looked back, he was no where to be seen. No purple suit, no tapping cane.

Bree and Scarlet come home with Logan at five-thirty with dinner. They're laughing at some joke one of them told. I can hear Scarlet and Logan talking in the kitchen, while Bree climbs the stairs two at a time, and runs into me at the top.

"Lina! I was just coming to check on you," she pulls me into a hug, "Logan told me there's this thing called land drowning - it's when there's still water in your lungs after you almost drown under water - and a few hours later, you die."

I glare over the railing. Logan is in the living room, he has a handful of pistachios that he's snacking on. He catches my eye then with a grin, says, "glad to see you're still alive."

"Don't mess with Bree like that," I warn him after giving Bree a hug then coming down the stairs. He just chuckles and slaps my back, as if to say good job.

Weirdo.

Scarlet is putting away some groceries it seems that they've picked up. Some oranges, pop tarts, cereal, milk, peanut butter, I spy some ice cream that she places in the freezer. "You okay?" She asks me, raising an eyebrow. I grab one of the plates that she sets out.

"Yeah," I tell her before looking over the selection of Chinese take-out that they have brought home. My stomach growls at me, and I realize how hungry I am.

"Want to go and give Romeo a taste of his own medicine tonight?" She suggests quietly under her breath, and before I can answer, Logan emerges from around the corner, tsk'ing at Scarlet.

"I already told you, no. You're not going to go make this kid's life a living hell because of some vendetta he has on your sister," Logan points out, then opens the refrigerator and grabs a beer. "Sometimes people don't like you, comes with the job."

"What is up that kid's ass about you anyway?" Bree asks once I hand her the beef and broccoli, I move onto the white rice when I answer.

"I could take a wild guess." Scarlet starts but I stop her before she can even think about continuing.

"He told me," I inform the three of them. Logan pauses from drinking his beer, Scarlet's smirk disappears from her mouth and Bree is reading me. "He told me that my dad killed his parents after setting a fire in their apartment a few years ago."

There's a short silence that passes over the room.

"Well, he's lying," Scarlet pipes up before continuing to make her plate.

"I don't think so," I finally admit out loud and to myself.

Bree quickly sets down her chopsticks and abruptly leaves the room. Scarlet furrows her eyebrows and fumes, "where is she going?"

"To call Mom!" She brightly answers from the living room, where the house phone is. I continue to eat, Logan is unusually quiet, and staring out of space with skepticism.

"What?" I ask him.

"Nothing," he tells me, then continues drinking his beer, even though I know it's something.

"Hey Mom," Bree brightens when she comes back into the kitchen, smiling, with the cordless house phone against her ear. "Uh-huh, okay, just a sec, I'll put you on speaker phone." Bree clicks a button and sets the phone on the table.

"Hi Mom," Scarlet and I chime together.

"My beautiful girls," she squeals through the phone, her voice travels through the room and it feels as if she's here with the four of us, eating dinner, and catching up. "Who'd you get for home chaperone?" Her voice is filled with eager anticipation.

"Hey Dora," Logan leans toward the phone, and in an almost alien manner, raises his voice as if she can't hear him.

"Oh, God." Mom groans. "Is that Logan?"

"It is," he answers, too loudly again.

"She can hear you, you don't have to yell," I tell Logan who just rolls his eyes. Mom chuckles then switches the subject, I can tell she's been eager to talk with us since we left.

"How are you girls? I miss you already."

"We're good!"

"I guess you could say good," Scarlet mutters.

Our mother snaps her attention to what Scarlet isn't saying. "What's that supposed to mean, Scar? What happened?"

Their eyes go to me. "Uh, I kinda sorta went in the water today," I tell her, hesitantly. Then I quickly add, "but I'm okay, really!"

"What happened?" Mom repeats, now in a serious tone.

Logan grabs the phone, sighing, "Dora, you're still a worry wart, I see."

"Logan, those girls cannot go in the water. They drown instantly, they're not like other kids that can't swim, it's different for them"-

"Yeah, yeah," Logan yaps before explaining, "we got her out in time so there's no need to have a typical Dora episode. She's okay, really."

He hands the phone to the ever beaming Bree, "on a happier note, our first day was great! Everyone here loves us, they're all so nice."

The phone gets passed to Scarlet who joking informs, "Yeah, they're making fan clubs for us," before handing the phone to me.

"Fan clubs?" Mom laughs, her voice much lighter now, "that's very funny, Scarlet."

"No really," I tell her. "She's being serious." I set the phone on the table and push the speaker button once again.

"Why are they making fan clubs for you guys?" She's still laughing, probably because she doesn't believe us.

"Some of the kid's really like Dads," Bree mentions.

Mom gets so quiet I think the line disconnects. I grab the phone and hold it to my ear before giving a confused glance at my two sisters. "Is it not working..?"

"Mom, you still there?" Bree questions, leaning on to the table, near the phone.

"I told you girls never to speak of your fathers. To anyone." Goosebumps form on my limbs hearing her eerie tone. "Oh God. They're going to find you." Who does she mean? She must mean Dads. Who else would she mean?

"Why does it matter if Dads find us?" Scarlet asks, her short-temper getting the best of her, but being the first to ask what we were all thinking.

"I'm not talking about your girl's dads, I'm talking about The Sham..," she trails off, I can imagine her biting her tongue. Then, she hesitantly continues her revelation, "I'm talking about The Shamrock Society."

"The Shamrock Society?" I recall, racking my memory, only to come up blank, "who are they?"

"That doesn't matter. I'm coming to get you."

"Coming to get us!?" I repeat, standing up from my seat on alert, "Mom, talk to us, what is going on?"

"Pandora, calm down," I had almost forgot about Logan, who was overseeing this entire conversation in silence. "Look, your girls are protected by some of the most powerful mutants in the world. Some leprechauns won't harm them here, trust me. It's no where near St. Patrick's Day so don't get your panties in a bunch."

"They're not leprechauns, they're..," she huffs, before collecting her thoughts and speaking in a calmer tone now. "Bree, give the phone to Logan, let me speak with him."

Bree's mind is still running, but nevertheless she obeys and hands the phone over to Logan who grunts before putting the device to his ear. "Yup, it's me. Uh-huh... Oh... Really? Does Charles know?" He stalks into the living room, on alert, and out of earshot.

I look between my sisters, "so much for answers."

"There goes just one more thing for Mom to worry about," Scarlet grits her teeth, stabbing a piece of orange chicken. "Bree, what're you thinking?"

"I'm still thinking about what Romeo said about Glass," she blinks, shaking her head. "I don't understand why he'd say something like that. I mean if he's lying - and all signs are pointing to him telling the truth - that's a terrible joke to pull considering his parents did die."

"Wait, how do you know that?" I ask.

"I read it in Romeo's mind earlier. When he pulled you out of the water, he kept thinking about his parents. I originally thought they died from drowning. And now that I think about it, that explains why Glass continued to come up in his head whenever you're around." She runs a hand through her scalp before tugging her red hair out of her high ponytail. "It just doesn't make any sense. Why isn't Mom being honest about Dads?" Dads is what we call all three of our dads, instead of just saying 'our Dads'. "What is she hiding, ya know? Who are these Shamrock people?"

"Nobody you need to worry about," Logan is leaning against the entrance of the kitchen, his arms in a tight cross in front of his chest. "Your mom says she'll call tomorrow. And that she loves you. The whole deal."

"She didn't want to say good-bye to us?" Bree turns to face Logan.

"Nope, said she's busy." Logan explains, "now finish eating, go to bed. I'll be back soon."

"Where are you going?" Scarlet asks, mid sip of her glass of water.

Logan grabs his leather jacket, "out." And with that, he leaves. The three of us look between one another, I'm the first to roll my eyes.

"How did we get so lucky to get stuck with him?" Scarlet asks sarcastically, stabbing yet another piece of her orange chicken. I eye Bree's sharp look, I know she's reading Scarlet. What I don't know is what she reads, I do know that it's something that brings the all too well-known look in Bree's all knowing eyes. She's always been the best at keeping secrets.

I finish unpacking my room around eight, when the sun is long down and the three of us are tucked inside our own rooms. I can hear Bree next door singing to herself, while Scarlet's door is locked from across the hall. I spy the red sock on her door, it's slipped over the door handle meaning that she is having her privacy time, meaning she's in her room masturbating. If the sock was knotted around the handle, that would mean she had a guest in there. And that she was having sex. The sock trick started when Mom walked in on Scarlet and one of her past boyfriends. I chuckle to myself knowing Scarlet is already making herself at home.

By nine o'clock I'm writing in my journal, sketching about my day, my hand cramping by the time I start to write about Romeo. Before I could finish there's a knock on my door, my nose is caught of guard by the smell of faint smoke. I stare across the hall, afraid to see Scarlett's doors in flames. Instead, I see Logan, he nods at me as a sign of hello. I nod back.

"What's with the red sock on your sister's door?" He nods towards Scarlet's door, cigar burning in his mouth.

"Eh, you don't want to know," I shake my head, then glare at this cigar. "You really shouldn't smoke those in the house."

He opens his mouth to retort, only to pause. I watch his ear perk up, most likely his heightened senses coming in to hear what faint moan come from behind Scarlett's door. "Oh."

"She has insomnia, it helps her sleep."

"Your mom said she has pills," he recalls.

I purse my lips, "she likes that way better. Plus, her pills make her drowsy."

His mouth clicks, trying hard not to laugh. He fails, chuckling when he enters and sits on the chair at the end of my bed. "Look, about your old man..," he starts off, only for me set me feet on the floor, facing him.

"I think I've talked about my Dad enough for the day," I tell him and he simply shakes his head, causing me to stop.

"I know a thing or two about having a shitty dad, alright, kid?" He puts his hand out towards me, "it's hard, thinking your Dad is one thing only to find out he's the complete opposite. From what Pandora told me, you never met your dad, yeah?"

Okay, so we're doing this. We are talking about my dad. "Uh, yeah, I've met him once. Saw him," I admit, shaking a hand through my hair swiftly, "he didn't know who I was. I was with Mom and Bree and Scarlet, we were in California, during the Summer. On Vacation. I saw him across the street. Purple suit. His cane. Walking with that same look on his face, like in all the pictures I've seen."

Logan nods, pursing his lips. "Anything else you want to get off your chest? It'll stay between just you and I."

I scratch the back of my head. "I was thinking about going to find him. After talking with Romeo, I just have all these questions for him, now. And after talking with Mom tonight I know for a fact she won't tell me anything."

Logan stands from where he was previously sitting, clapping his hands together. "I thought as much. And it doesn't seem like I can stop you, so the only logical thing to do is help you."

"You want to help me?" I ask for clarification, before he leaves the room.

He nods, like I had only asked the most logical question. "Sure. Why not?"

"Uh, I don't know, because you're supposed to keep me from doing stupid things such as trying to find what could be my arsenic, murderous mutant of a father?"

"I can tell you what to do, but doesn't mean you'll listen," he tells me with not much left to go off of before leaving my room. Before he walks off completely he says, "talk to Charles, ask him about Cerebro. He may be able to find your Dad."

"Just so you know, I heard everything." Bree pops her head into my room right as Logan walks in the opposite direction of my room. "And if you're going to search for your dad, I think it's only safe to say we look for mine, too. And Scar's. Triple book it."

"You're seriously up for that? Meeting Dads?"

"Sure," she crosses her arms, "I don't see why not. Plus, I don't know about you, but I've always wanted to meet my dad, he seems like the most sane out of the three."

The next morning, when I wake up, something instantly feels different. I keep telling myself it's because this is my first official day at the boarding house, but that didn't explain why I slept so well throughout the night. The first thing I remember this morning is that today is my first day of training. I'm looking forward to trying to figure out my powers, exactly how they work, exactly how to control them.

I'm brushing my teeth when Bree knocks on the door and shimmies in, "morning, Lina."

"Good morning," I reply washing my face off with my purple wash cloth. "How'd you sleep?"

"Really good," she admits grabbing her green brush from off the back of the toilet seat. She brushes through her red hair and glances at my reflection, "did you hear Scarlet leave this morning?"

My eyebrows furrow, "she's not in her room?" Bree shakes her head no. "Hm. No, I didn't hear his this morning? Did she say bye?"

Bree shrugs, "not to me at least. Maybe she couldn't sleep."

"After her little session last night I would be surprised," I joke with Bree as we walk out the bathroom side by side. She chuckles and begins to braid her hair. Her fingers part her hair down the middle before conducting two braids on either side of her head. She's wearing a red turtle neck today, with faded blue jeans and yellow sunglasses to match her yellow sketchers. Today I'm wearing brown corduroys, a black crop top, and a navy jean jacket. I wore the jacket in fear of it being too chilly, but the second I felt the high sixties weather I ditch the coat on the couch before leaving.

We're walking along the dirt path from the dorms to the school, I'm finishing my eggo when Bree hums, as if she remembers something she needed to tell me. "Logan talks in his sleep. A lot. And he has a lot of nightmares, they kept waking me up last night."

"You saw his dreams?" I ask her while she's mid crunch in her red apple.

"Uh, yeah, it was a bit inevitable when he was practically screaming his thoughts from his room all night long." She shook her head, seeming out of breath, "he's been through a lot."

"Like what?" My interest is cut short when Jay calls our names.

"Hey," Bree welcomes him as he jogs to finish catching up with the two of us. "How'd you sleep, my fellow partner in crime?"

"I like your sun glasses," he comments before pricking them from Bree's face and putting them on his own. "I slept like a sloth thanks for asking. How about you two, how was your first night in Casa de Las Mutants?" He looks between the two of us, a cheerful grin on his face.

"Pretty good," Bree chirps.

"Yeah, better than expected," I tell him once we come inside, "do you know if Romeo plans on showing up today? Specifically for training?"

"Uh, I don't see why not.. oh, right. Yeah, he told me that he told you about his parents." Jay sighs, lowering his head, "I wanted to tell you, give you a heads up, but I was sworn by secrecy. Believe me, Lina"-

"I do, Jay. And it's okay," I chuckle lightly. "I'm not upset."

"You're not? Phew, that's great." He scratches the back of his head, "as soon as the two of you clear the water - bad pun, too soon, I regret that - then we can all finally start working like a team."

The bell rings out above us, and the crowd around us begins to diffuse into first period. "I'll see you guys later."

"Yup," Jay agrees before heading off in the opposite direction with Bree.

"See you later, Lina."

Once I'm in art class, it's like everything is the same as yesterday. The students are sitting in the same seats, Colossus is at the front of the class room, inviting me in with a bright smile. When I pass the group of my mini fan club in the back I see Gill, but not Darla Ann. She's not in her usual seat today, but nonetheless I wave to the small group who return my smile. I make my way to my seat, only to stop when I see Romeo is in his own, sketching in his notebook. I march over to him, my speech prepared. He doesn't even look up when he cuts off my optimistic words.

"Let's get one thing straight Princess, I told you what your murderer of a father did to my parents so that you'd get off my back. I don't want your pity and I don't want your friendship. I want you to leave me alone." He finally looks up at me, "got it?"

My response falls from my mouth. "You're such a dick."

His eyebrows raise, and I realize as I walk away that he was surprised to hear my response. Screw him. Forget about wanting answers about his family. Forget about offering an invitation to knowing the truth. If I- No. When I find and speak to my dad I will be doing it for me. Not to clarify and question why he set fire to Romeo's old apartment building. I'll be interrogating him for myself.

By my next class, the one all the X-men students share, I am calmer. I find Bree in her same spot as before. Scarlet's chair is empty, and when I come to think of it, I didn't spot her on my way to class. Right as I'm racking my brain for if and when I saw her sometime this morning Carrie taps my shoulder. I jump, startled. She's so quiet. "Your sister wasn't in first period." Her voice is sweeter than I imagined. She's no older than me.

"Wait, what?"

"Scarlet. She wasn't in class this morning. I haven't seen her since last night." She explains thoroughly as we walk in together.

"When was the last time you saw her?" I ask as we walk to our seats together.

"She was outside, around midnight. She was with Logan." She tells me, putting a strand of hair behind her ear, "I saw the two of them beside your house from my window, I live right next door with Jay and Rome."

Scarlet was with Logan. Why? "Okay, yeah, thanks for letting me know Carrie."

"Mhm," she hums somberly before taking her seat.

"Bree"-

I don't even finish my sentence, she already has her Worry Look on her face. "I know. I read, she's missing."

"Let's"-

"Talk to Logan?"

"Yeah but"-

"Yeah you're right, let's wait until lunch, maybe she'll show up."

I fume. "Bree, stop"-

"Reading you. I know. I'm just worried."

"I am too, but"-

"I know, we have to stay calm."

"Okay, Bree. Seriously. Stop."

"Right." She shakes her head, "sorry."

At lunch we decide to talk to Charles, only to be informed by Logan that he's out, visiting a friend.

"Who's Magneto?" Bree practically slams her hand on the kitchen table. We rendezvoused back to the house the moment our lunch period began.

Logan spun around from where he was facing the refrigerator. He cracks open his beer bottle and exhales, "stay out of my head, Red," he warns before looking between the two of us and setting his beer aside, "where's the third musketeer?"

"That's what we've been trying to tell you. We don't know where Scar is," I tell him, then shoot a sharp look at Logan. "What were you doing with her around midnight?"

"Oh so now I'm a suspect?" He raises his eyebrows, a small chuckle of disbelief escapes him.

"You were the last one seen with her," I remind him.

Bree groans with frustration, "Lina, drop it. He didn't do anything to her. They were just flirting, we need to call Charles."

"Flirting..?" I mutter, Bree and Logan continue to converse over my train of thought.

"Bree, it's fine," Logan tries to wave away her worries, "I don't think we need to call Charles. Look, she probably just went home or something, let's call Pandora."

Logan and Scarlet were flirting?

"No, Logan, she isn't the only one missing. Dozens of kids around the boarding house haven't been to class, others say their room mates leave to go to the bathroom, but never come back. It's not right." Bree shakes her head, exhaling shakily, "something's going on. We need to call Charles."

Logan stares at her for a while, squinting at her for a what feels like forever before he sets down his beer on the counter. "Come on," he seems more serious now, "let's go talk to Ororo."

We follow him back to the boarding house and into the basement where the fellow X-Men are. Ororo was speaking with Carrie, Jean and Scott were nowhere to be found.

"And Scott and Jean..?" Ororo asks once her and Logan converse on what the next steps are.

"With the professor. Beast flew back to D.C this morning."

Just then Romeo and Jay come in, laughing at something probably stupid, when they approach the group Jay is the first to notice something's not right in the atmosphere. "What's going on?" He asks, looking between all of our faces.

"Scarlet's missing," I answer.

"Along with other students," Bree adds.

"Wait, seriously?" Romeo steps from beside Jay, looking to Logan for answers.

"Yes seriously." Logan hisses through his teeth before running a long hand down his face. "We're going into lockdown."

"Lockdown?" The four of question in sync.

"Wait," Jay pipes up and looks over his shoulder, then back to our small group, "where's Carrie? She was just with us"-

"I'm right here," her voice quite literally comes from the shadows as she steps away from the wall and rejoins the group. "In order to go into lockdown we would need a headcount of all the remaining students, every thirty minutes, you do know that, right?"

All eyes go to Logan. He chews on his cigar, his face says it all, he doesn't know that. "Well, then, let's start counting. Smarty Pants, you're comin' with me and Ororo. Romeo and Lina start counting the kids on the main level of the boarding school. Bree and Jay, take the second level."

"Why do I have to go with her?" Romeo juts his thumb in my direction. I'm starting to think I better give his black eye a touch up. "Can't I go with Jay?"

"Think of it as your second chance of team building. Try not to kick each other's asses, and don't get lost," Logan barks out his orders at us, while smoke lifts from his never ending cigar. Ororo approaches the four of us with two silver devices in her hand. She hands one to Bree and Jay, then one to Romeo and I. Before I can even look at the device, Romeo takes it in his hand.

"These are communication devices. You can communicate with the team this way, and we'll be able to track you, worse case scenario." She informs before winking and turning back to Logan and Carrie, "be careful, kids. And let us know when you've got the first number."

"God why'd we get stuck with the lame job of counting kids?" Romeo groans, dropping his arms to his side while the four of us scurried out of the training room. "I mean every thirty minutes? Who came up with this batshit plan?"

"In any normal situation Charles would be able to know the exact number of kids on campus within moments," Bree informs him as we step out into the hall. "But since he's not here it's gonna be a lot harder."

"We'll just have to figure out how to do it ourselves," I tell them as we approach the elevators. And idea occurs to me right as the elevator bell dings. "Hey maybe we can use our powers to"-

Romeo steps on the elevator before me, smirking before I could even think to finish my question. "Oh and what're you gonna do? Slow all the kids down?"

That's exactly what I did.

Or, at least, tried to. We told all the kids in the main level we were going to have a sleepover outside of all the rooms, and in the main level of the boarding school. They went crazy with excitement. The kids were either chasing one another or running around, or in one little boy's case - crying. First I tried to group them up, to get them in increments of ten. But that didn't work because none of them were listening. Then I tried to stand on higher ground and count all the bodies I could spot. That didn't work either because I couldn't keep track of all the moving bodies. I had now resulted in walking through the crowd, freezing clumps of kids as I passed. I was beginning to realize that I could only slow down an average sized child for thirty seconds to a minute. But the bigger the kid, the faster they could move, and be immune to my freezing capabilities.

"I counted fifty-four," I inform Romeo, who had been sitting at the top of the stairs, his palms against the carpet and his eyes shut.

He opens his eyes, "you're wrong. There's forty-six."

I glare at him. "You're just saying that because you don't want to agree with me."

"You're right, I don't want to agree with you," he raises his eyes to me as I stand, in attempt to look over the sea of all fifty-four kids. "Because you're wrong."

"And you're right because you just happen to know the exact number of kids in the room, how..?" I cross my arms at him, then glare down at his figure.

"I know I'm right because I feel everyone's aura," he explains pressing his hand to the carpet again. "I can feel each of the kid's energy and I counted each energy I felt. All forty-six kids."

I ponder his logic for a moment. My chin rests against my knuckles while I hum a response, "Okay.. but, what if some of these kids have powers like Carrie? Where they can manipulate energy? And they can manipulate their aura? Make double or take away their aura?"

I can see it in his face he knows I'm right. "Yeah. Well you're still wrong. There's no way you counted correctly with your makeshift catch and release system."

He was right. Both our methods failed. The right answer was to combined our skills. Maybe if I could freeze all the kids at once he could get a good count of them all together. "I have an idea." I tell him, and although he acts like he doesn't hear me, I know he is listening. There's no where to go, we're on the steps, with a sea of children beneath us. "Look, it'll only take a moment. We work together now then you can go back to pretending I don't exist and hating me."

I watch his jaw twitch. "Fine."

"Alright, so if I can freeze all the kids in the same place, then you can count them." I look up at him, he's now walking up the steps towards the balcony. He's getting bigger ground, it's such a smart idea I follow his lead.

"And exactly how are we supposed to get them all in one place?" He looks over his shoulder as he approaches the balcony. Once I'm beside him, he gestures to the kids that widely are racing around the hallways. I spy one girl climb on the roof and another boy appear beside her before disappear into the air once again.

"I was thinking you could take care of that," I keep my eyes on the kids and continue, "you can manipulate people's auras, like their energy right?"

He hums in a approval, showing minimal interest.

"Right so, maybe you could pull their energy all into one place?" I finally look at him when he doesn't reply. He's looking down at the kids, probably trying to come up with different ways to tell me I was wrong. But he surprises me when his eyes close and he raises his hands above the kids.

He stays like this for a moment, and I don't realize what he's doing until the chaotic noise from below stirs into confusion. I look over the balcony and the kids below are being clumped right below us. Most of them laugh, some cheer with excitement. "Now. Freeze them." He hisses, sounding uncomfortable.

"Right," I stand next to him flexing my hands out in a quick motion, and freezing the group. The weight of the group of kids is different than I've felt since gaining my powers. It's like holding all the kids frozen is pulling me over the balcony, and draining my energy. Instantly, my body feels drained and I'm fighting to hold my grip. Romeo's beside me, and I can't see him but I hear him muttering under his breath the numbers. When I hear him near the twenties I groan, adjusting my feet and ignoring the blaze of exhaustion that blossoms from my chest. I feel sweat trickle down my forehead as I grunt, "you almost done..?"

"Keep holding them," he tells me, walking to my side and continues to count. After a few moments he concludes, "sixty-two. Drop 'em."

I don't realize my breath is being constructed until I let the kids go and I gasp, practically crashing down against the railing. I try to hold myself, to simply lean against the railing, but my knees weaken and I fall against the floor. I let my eyes shut, letting exhaustion take over as my the blood from my nose drips on the floor. One drop, then another. I brush my forearm against my nose, trying to wipe the blood from my nose. "Shit," I whisper staring down at the blood streaked on my forearm.

Romeo looks down at me, he looks away at first but when he sees the blood he smirks and says, "I guess that makes us even."

I glare at him, gripping the railing and pulling myself up. "Call Ororo on the communication device, tell her we got sixty-two. I'm gonna go change, I'll be back," I exhale, trying to shake the exhausted feeling from my bones.

"Guess I'll be here," he exhales, slumping against the railing, resting against his forearms, looking down at the children below. "Babysitting."