Chapter 071 – Surprise

[2009 – July]

Having already finished our meal, we stayed seated, Jean telling me stories about her life in the X-Mansion with a longing expression in her eyes, while I told her about my most recent breakthrough with my shields, our fingers entwined atop the table.

*RING* *RING*

Suddenly though, our moment was interrupted by the sound of my phone ringing, which lay on the small coffee table next to the leather sofa.

"Watch this.", I urged Jean with a slight smile, reaching out mentally to surround the small device in a barrier.

Mentally fusing the shield into the space it occupied, I forced my will upon reality as I pulled the phone directly into my palm and banished the shield again.

A minor disadvantage of doing so was that the device had lost signal while inside my barrier, though I simply unlocked it with a passcode and saw that it was Emma that had called me.

I had almost made it an instinct to wrap Jean in my barriers when we were together, so it was no surprise that my half-sister tried to contact me by phone as her telepathy didn't work on Jean for the moment. Otherwise, she would have most likely tried to contact me through the lovely redhead.

"That wasn't teleportation?", Jean questioned in surprise, the speed of my barrier's movement being simply too fast for the naked eye.

My smile not vanishing, I replied with a shrug, "It might as well be. There is no real limit to how fast space can move. It's the very medium by which distance is measured. So by controlling it, distance becomes relative."

A thoughtful look in her eyes, Jean nodded in understanding, her beautiful mind comprehending the underlying concept of what I had just done probably even better than I did.

"Emma seems to have something to talk to me about.", I informed her, as I tapped the screen and called her back.

It took only a single ring for me to hear her answer the call.

"Elijah. Please come to my office, something rather urgent has come up.", her calm and melodious voice reached my ear not a moment later.

Subconsciously raising a brow, I frowned as I asked in a low voice: "Should I be ready to fight?"

"No, no. Nothing like that.", Emma replied, "You will see when you arrive."

"Hmm, okay. I will be there in a few minutes.", I answered and hung up.

"What was that about?", Jean inquired, her hold on my hand tightening slightly.

Shaking my head, I replied with a small smile: "I don't know, but something seems to have come up. Wanna come with?"

"I promised to meet up with Clarice and Angelica for a small trip to the mall.", she declined with an apologetic smile, "Something about a girl's day out."

My hand holding onto hers, I rose from my seat and stepped around the table, before leaning down and capturing her soft lips in a loving kiss. Leaving a playful bite on her lower lip, as I whispered: "Have fun. And be careful, my love."

"Mhm-hmm.", she hummed in acknowledgment, her eyes closed as she simply savoured the aftertaste of the kiss, her fingers brushing over my bare chest lovingly.

Smiling affectionately, I left her side and went into the bedroom to get ready.

Changing into some more appropriate clothes, which consisted of a black button-down shirt and a pair of slim black slacks, paired with black dress shoes, it took me less than five minutes to be ready.

I loved comfortable clothing, especially hoodies and worn-out jeans, but I also enjoyed more formal wear at times. The one criterion I took note of with everything I wore was quality above all else.

Natural textiles like cotton, wool, silk, linen, etc., were my favorites, though I valued the quality of the workmanship equally. All of that naturally didn't come cheap, but at times like that, I was simply lucky to be a Frost, which meant that I did not really have to worry about money.

Looking into the full body mirror next to the closet, I saw a pair of shining green eyes and sharp cheekbones, dark locks framing a charming face, and a black cotton shirt that stretched aesthetically over a perfectly-muscled physique, the slim pants making for an elegant yet youthful look in combination with the dress shoes.

"You look very handsome, very sexy.", a whisper came from behind me, as Jean's arms wrapped themselves around my midsection, her face peeking around my right side, her gorgeous features adorned by her fire-red mane.

"The dark colour brings out your beautiful eyes.", she added with a smile, her hands brushing over my chest and abdomen affectionately.

Grabbing her waist and pulling her into my embrace, I rebuked: "Yours are more beautiful, Firefly."

"No.", she whispered as she tiptoed, her lips brushing tenderly over his, "They are not, my love."

…

Knocking on the Headmistress' door, I heard Emma's voice calling me in only a moment later. Though as I stepped into the office, I was more than a little surprised to see a certain black-haired girl sitting calmly in one of the chairs that stood before Emma's desk.

"Laura, what are you doing here?", I couldn't help but question, the only outward sign of my surprise being a raised brow.

The girl though didn't reply, her clear green eyes staring at me with an emotion I could not quite decipher.

"The young Ms. Kinney here has come to enroll as a student in the Massachusetts Academy.", Emma answered, wearing one of her professional business suits. It was bright red and perfectly accentuated her pale skin while hugging her curves tightly even while seated behind her desk.

She wore a calm smile on her face, her crystal eyes shining with a thoughtful luster.

"I have accepted Laura's request and she will attend the academy from now on, though as she is a rather special case even among mutants I decided to settle her in the Hellion Mansion.", Emma paused for a moment, her gaze shifting from Laura to myself.

"I understand that you two know each other and have been getting along well at Xavier's, so I want you to show her around, Elijah, and guide her to her new room right across yours and Jean's.", she added, simply deciding to ignore the fact that just a few hours ago Laura had tried to break into the mansion with the other X-Men.

I knew that Emma saw great potential in Laura, and she was right to do so, as the girl was Logan's daughter, or clone, depending on who you asked. And she could certainly live up to the weight this title carried.

Logan was practically a living legend, his status amongst the X-Men, skill, and sheer experience made him a formidable man. And Laura was supposedly even more deadly than him, if one took into account that she had been raised to kill, taught how to take a life since the day she had been able to walk and talk.

I wasn't mad at Laura personally for attacking the mansion, as I understood that Laura didn't do so for any kind of righteous inclination, but simply because she had accompanied her father.

Still, I was more than a little shocked to hear that she wanted to join the academy under Emma's rule.