ISSUE #33

" So, teach, how've you been?" Ian asked.

" Good, I've been meaning tae tell ye, I finally have my own squad." Rahne told the man.

" Yeah? What's the name?" Ian asked. He was happy for her. Rahne had wanted her own training squad for quite some time now and now she finally had it. She seemed happy.

" The paragons!" Rahne replied. " We have Ben Hammil, who calls himself Match. Hope Abbot, who goes by trance. Nicholas Geason, who's just like me and calls himself wolf cub. Mark Shepard, who calls himself DJ. One of the vale twins Jessica Vale, who goes by preview. And Megan Gwynn, who calls herself Pixie." Rahne explained.

" Oh really?! So, Megan finally got on one of the squads?" Ian asked.

" Yeah, you know her?" Rahne asked.

" Yeah, Megan was one of the first people I met here. For a while she was one of the few people who talked to me. The last time we spoke she was telling me how excited she was for the squad training program. She really wanted to be on one of them so badly, the way her wings flapped excitedly was just amazing. I'm glad she's finally got a chance." Ian told the woman. He was glad Megan finally got the chance to chase her dreams. She was the nicest person in the school and definitely deserved the same chance everyone else got. " How are they doing?" Ian asked.

" Why don't you stop by for one of our training sessions sometimes. I'm sure she'll love tae have someone cheering her on." Rahne asked.

" I'd love too, I haven't had much of a chance to see the danger room in a while." Ian replied. " What else has been happening?"

" Not much, really. I know that might sound crazy. But we've actually had things under control." Emma spoke up.

" Really? Nothing happened? I doubt that. Nothing just doesn't happen at the Xavier school." Ian stated.

" Yeah, it's been relatively quiet at the school." Rahne told the boy.

" Wow, I'm surprised. I figured you guys most have been busy or something. But I guess I was wrong." Ian muttered.

Ian leaned back in his seat and was quiet the rest of the jet ride home,

When the plane finally touched down back in New York, Ian and his group all were picked up by another one of the X-men, Scott.

" Hey, guys. Hop in." Scott spoke

" Thank you, Scott, dear." Emma told the man; she leaned over in the front seat and kissed Scott right on his cheek.

" Absolutely. So, Ian how's it feel to be a free man?" Scott asked.

" Really? Ya know, let me tell you guys about my time in the San Francisco jail. I met a nice pastor in there, a real good man. I mean he was actually a decent man. He talked with me for hours about his life, we talked about the world, and our place in it. And I'll admit, he really helped me out. With my self-doubt, my anger, a lot of things." Ian spoke.

" Well... That's good." Scott spoke.

" Let me finish. While I was there, I had some time to... Think about everything that's happened. And while I'm still considerably mad. That doesn't mean that I don't see now why you did what you did. I don't agree with it of course, but I understand. We're all just fundamentally different people. I wouldn't just watch as one of my friends is carted off for something I knew he didn't do. You might be able to do that, but I can't. So, while I don't have a grudge against you anymore, that doesn't mean I trust you. Cuz, I don't. I know, now that when I need someone to watch my back you three, Dani, Emma, and you? I know you won't be there. So, when you try to talk to me like we're good. Like we're friends, it pisses me off. So, I'm going to respectfully ask you to not talk to me at all, unless it's important. Okay? Okay." Ian told the man.

" Then why come back to the school?" Scott asked. He wasn't about to just let Ian's aggressiveness slide without figuring out where he stood.

" Simple, I do have friends there. I have people who I can trust and people I've come to love. I know, Logan's got my back, I know the Hellions do too. I had hoped the New Mutants would at least attempt to help me, but no. They all just watched just like you did. Now, with all that being said I can't just ignore the real problem out there. A common enemy we all face. The Anti-Mutant organizations out there won't stop until we're all dead or worse. There are many different mutants at the school, some of them are my age and then there are the kids. If I don't protect them, who will? You?" Ian asked. " You spend more time fighting amongst yourselves, or being lost in space, or just away from the school in general. Who's gonna save us when you're all gone? I've been given a gift.... A great one at that. It's not as flashy as eye beams or as cool or as savage as metal claws. It's not as calming as telepathy or as beautiful as turning into a werewolf. But it's a special gift. One that comes with a great amount of cost. But it's one I'm more than willing to share if it means I can keep them safe. Those who can't protect themselves. That's what Father Frank helped me to see." Ian explained.

" Sorry about that, didn't mean tae go on the tangent." Ian stated.

" Nae, dinnae be. That was amazin." Rahne exclaimed.

" Thanks, but that wasn't my point. But that leads me to something else. Scott, I want to be on the main X-man roster." Ian told the man.

" No." Scott replied bluntly.

" Why not?" Ian asked.

" While I can accept most of what you said, there's still one problem. You're still too emotional. Adding on to that, you are still in experienced. You just aren't ready yet." Scott explained.

" Not ready? In two months, I've fought and escaped an entire mutant hunting organization and battled multiple supervillains and won. I've done more in those two months than any student at the school. I have field experience. So, what makes me inexperienced?" Ian asked the man.

" The X-men, each of us has had years of training and experience before actually being thrown into the field. And even then, we did it nearly blind. The point of all this is to help you grow and learn so that when the times comes you can make the transition painlessly. Not throw you into the deep end." Scott explained to the boy.

" That's a fair argument. But if I remember correctly, I've already been thrown into the deep end. There's no pint in me staying on the squads. We both know it. I can handle teamwork just fine. I can take orders just fine, and I'm experienced in combat and search and rescue situations. Training with them would only hinder my progress. We both know that." Ian explained.

Scott looked back at Ian and stared at him in silence for a moment.

" You want on the main team?" Scott asked.

" You know I do." Ian told the man.

" Okay, I'll tell you what... When we get back to the school take some time off. Once things have calmed down and you've calmed down, then We'll test you.... The X-men. All of us together. And if you can handle it, then I'll consider placing you on the roster. Is that acceptable?" Scott asked.

" I'm fine with that." Ian replied. He leaned back in his chair and went quiet, simply staring out the window.

About an hour later, Scott pulled the car into the main driveway of the X-mansion and stopped it.

" Alright, we're here." Scott told the others. He stopped in the driveway and let everyone else out of the car. " I'll be inside shortly." He told Emma.

" Don't worry, we won't be waiting." Emma told the man with a smile on her face.

Ian heard this and looked over at the two.

" What's up with them?" Ian asked.

" Nothing. Come on, I'm tired and I want a shower." Rahne exclaimed.

" Me, too!" Ian shouted. " OH BOY FINALLY HOME!" Ian shouted. He ran up to the front door of the institute and opened it.

" SURPRISE!"

Ian nearly jumped off his feet when he opened the door and was suddenly hit in the face with a full-on surprise from what seemed like the entire school.

" What's going on?" Ian asked.

" It's a surprise party for ye return tae the school. We threw one for Kevin when he got out and figured it only fair we did the same for ye." Rahne explained to the man.

" Rahne, I don't want to have a party. I don't even feel like speaking to people right now." Ian told the woman.

"I know, but ye've been gone so long and well... This just seemed like the perfect way tae welcome ye back." Rahne explained to the man. She looked at his face and could tell he was unamused by the whole thing. " Will ye please give them a chance? For me?" Rahne asked.

Ian rolled his eyes, and a smile cracked his face.

" Och, all right. But only for ye." Ian replied.

" Thank ye." Rahne whispered.

Ian nodded and walked into the school, shaking his head and sighing.

" YO!!!!" Julian flew up to Ian and landed right next to him. " My guy, welcome back!" Julian exclaimed. He wrapped his arm around Ian's neck and Ian returned the gesture. " Come on, dude the others have been dying for you to come back."

" Me too, man. Anything interesting happen while I was gone?" Ian asked.

" Nah, man. But apparently Cessily, ended up asking Kevin out. Didn't work out... But hey at least she finally tried." Julian explained.

" Oh, man that sucks. Is she alright?" Ian asked.

" Yeah, she's fine. But don't worry about that right now. Let's party man!" Julian exclaimed.

" Alright, let's party then!" Ian shouted.

He and Julian walked over to where the Hellions were waiting for the food and joined them.

" What's up guys?!" Ian asked.

" Yo, what's up big guy! It's good to see you again." Brian exclaimed.

" Yeah, man. We missed havin ya around. It's been so boring without a friend to watch WWE with!" Santo exclaimed. He and Brian both dog rushed Ian and piled on top of him, with Julian. Or at least they tried, but Ian started pushing them all up into the air with no problems at all. Even Santo, who's entire six-foot two body was made of solid stone, was surprised how easily Ian handled his entire weight plus two others.

" Did you guys think you could flatten me?" Ian asked.

" Hahahaha! Dude, how strong are you?" Julian asked.

" The strongest there is!" Ian exclaimed. He pushed the three boys off of him and then stood up.

" Hey, Ian." Ian looked up and saw Cessily standing in front of him with a beautiful red dress on.

" Cessily, you look beautiful." Ian said to the girl.

Cessily's metalic skin, flushed and turned a shade red.

" Really?" She asked as she played with her hair nervously.

" Absolutely. You look amazing." Ian reiterated. " It's good to see you again, I've missed you. I'm glad to see you're doing alright."

" Yeah, I've missed you too, ya know. We tried saving you, but the New Mutants and the teachers stopped us. I just wanted to let you know that we weren't gonna let you rot in there." Cessily told the boy.

" You guys, risked fighting the government to save me?" Ian asked.

" Yeah man. Of course, we did. That's what friends do for each other." Julian spoke up.

" Thanks all of you. Seriously I appreciate everything you guys have done for me recently. It means a lot." Ian told the group.

" Of course, I mean... You're practically one of us already!" Santo exclaimed.

" Yeah man, just make it official join us. Be a Hellion. I'm sure Miss Frost wouldn't mind having an extra member on the team." Brian spoke up.

" Hey, stop trying to snipe another one of our members! Ian's one of us, right Ian?" Josh spoke as he and the rest of the New Mutants walked up to the food bar.

" Hey, Ian welcome back man, it's good to see you're finally out. How are you doing?" David asked.

Ian turned towards the New Mutants with a less than pleasant look on his face.

" What do you guys want?" Ian asked.

" We came to see how you were doing, Ian? We wanted to welcome you back. We wanted to see our friend." Sofia told the man.

" Friend? We're friends?" Ian asked sarcastically.

" Yeah, man. Dude, you can't tell me you're still angry about all of this?" Josh asked.

" Look, guys. I'm not in the mood for this right now. Alright? You guys want to be my friends again, you gotta earn it this time. You gotta earn my trust back. Cuz right now, I can't trust any of you. I don't hate you guys, but I don't like you either." Ian told the group. " The sooner we accept what is and isn't anymore the sooner we'll all move along. And who knows maybe we will be friends again? Maybe we won't." Ian told the group He looked over to the side of the room and saw Rahne speaking with her team and decided now was the time to get away. " So, while you all come to terms with that, I'm gonna go around and maybe speak with other people. Later." Ian spoke. He left the New Mutants behind to deal with the Hellions, while he made his way over to Rahne.

" Hey, guys!" Ian exclaimed.

Rahne and the Paragons all turned and greeted Ian.

" Ian! Hey, come here, I want to introduce you to my team." Rahne exclaimed she beckoned for Ian to join her. " Paragons, this is Ian Sinclair."

" Ian! It's so good to see you again!" Megan exclaimed she beat her wings and flew right up to Ian and hugged him.

" MEGAN! I've missed you so much! It's been so long since we've talked, how have you been?!" Ian asked.

" I've been good!" Megan replied. " I've been working really hard to get better with flying and miss Sinclair's been helping me learn how to use my pixie dust better." Megan explained.

" I'm glad to hear it, Megan. You did a good job getting this far. I'm impressed. And I'm happy that you made it on one of the squads. You deserved it. I know how important this was for you." Ian spoke.

" Thank you, Ian." Megan replied with a small blush on her face. " Hey, I know! Why don't you come watch us in the danger room tomorrow?! You know to cheer us on for field day!" Megan asked.

" That sounds like a great idea. You don't mind that do you? Miss Sinclair?" Ian asked. He eyed Rahne smugly and watched as her face lit up like a Christmas tree.

" Sure, that sounds just fine. As long as you don't distract the others." Rahne told the boy.

" Then it's settled. I can't wait to see what you guys can do." Ian exclaimed.

" OH, THIS IS GONNA BE SO AMAZING! I can't wait!" Megan exclaimed. Her wings were beating faster than Ian had ever seen before. It was honestly quite majestic. She was majestic.

Ian looked at Megan's excited smile and smiled himself.

Rahne watched this and deep inside felt something a little different than what she's used to bubble up inside her. But quickly pushed it down.

Ian and Rahne enjoyed the rest of the evening with the school, celebrating his return. Eating cake, dancing, playing games.

Ian and Colossus had an arm-wrestling match, which Ian won, that was the entertainment of the evening. And soon after one last resounding welcome back, the party ended.

But Ian's night was just getting started, for a certain red headed wolf decided that tonight was the night.