"It wasn't that it was so bad," Rogue told Gambit after they'd returned, "but it didn't feel very natural."

"Gambit tell you," Gambit said.

"Storm stayed longer, I wonder what she was doin'," Rogue changed the subject..Storm had been awfully quiet since then.

"You thinking about them?" Jubilee asked. "They didn't seem so bad...for humans. I mean, the kids were okay."

"I think they were about as welcoming as could be expected," Storm said vaguely. "I'm not upset about that. Just uncertain."

"Yeah, I don't know if I want to go back or not," Jubilee said. "Did you know they do a Youth Camp in August though? Sounds fun.... They mentioned it. But I'd never do something that cheesy."

"If you wanted to, I'm sure we could spare you," Storm said, "just for a short time."

"Oh, it's just for a weekend," Jubilee said. "But I don't want to go. What if something went wrong? It just sounds like a lot of work anyway."

Storm was sure she was lying about not wanting to go.

"I'm worried about Jubilee," she told the Professor later. "I think she'd like to do things that other young people do, with them, but thinks being a mutant will always stop her."

"A sad reality," Xavier said, "but it is often true. She might be able to hide it, but if an accident happened...and we were not there to protect her..."

Hank heard about the new idea of a drive for food and clothes from Wally, and he said his hospital for the blind had once had something very similar.

"It might work," he said. "But many people will not see mutants as anyone they should help."

"Well, I had a thought," Wally said. "Shine and I thought we could go through a few neighborhoods and spread the word ourselves, just warm people up to the idea. I always say a good deed is a great ice breaker."

"Mr. West, if you run into some mutant haters, you could be seriously hurt," Hank said.

"Nah, we'd be fine," Wally said.

And they did exactly as he said the following week, after the announcement was made--using pamphlets from the church.

They actually recruited a few of the younger people there to help them.

"They sure don't waste any time," Rogue said.

"Dey movin' too fast." Gambit was determined never to approve anything they did, apparently. "Dey get tripped up sooner or later."

Rogue sighed.

Kurt couldn't help with this effort, but he did visit the Morlocks with them and share his story, which won over at least a few more of them, to the others' chagrin.

Before anyone knew it, it'd been 3 weeks since they'd started.

How they got things going so fast puzzled the others. The X-men had worked for years to get any form of recognition from the law for mutant rights. Appealing to people on a small scale like this had never occurred to them.

And most of them still thought it was foolish, even those who believed they had good intentions about it.

But Professor Xavier did comment that it seemed people liked the idea of small changes.

"It won't hurt anything," he said. "If this is what they want to do, then they aren't hurting us, and our fellow mutants may benefit a from it. I see no reason not to let them stay here. I think their trial period is over."

"And we just let them stay indefinitely," Scott objected. "We're not a charity center. They ought to find their own home. And why time travel just to accomplish all this? Surely they have a wider goal."

"Scott, until they reveal it, I can only judge the situation as it is, and why should we turn them out for doing things we think are small?" Xavier said. "We have the room and the resources. They aren't a burden on us, and they have done work around the house, as they promised. In fact, I think it's cleaner than ever. Mr. West certainly is a fast worker...so why cause dissension by asking them to find another arrangement?"

"I just can't see why someone would waste the ability to time travel on such menial tasks," Scott said.

He voiced this thought to Shine and Wally themselves later.

Wally's response was to laugh at him.

Shine's?

"I guess if helping people is a menial task, we're all wasting our time," she said. "So you save their lives from power-crazed madmen, and we're trying to provide them a little with basic necessities. Seems the end goal is the same, and you didn't want us to get in the spotlight and speak for you anyway. I don't understand you, Scott. This is what you wanted."

Scott had no answer.

Kurt did wonder if he himself really needed to be here.

"You're going to be important," Shine said, "and you are, to us.... And look, The Way members are getting used to you. I didn't hear that much whispering last service. A few more weeks and they'll accept it. Once that happens, there's going to be so much more we can do. Just stick it out."

"I just feel idle here," Kurt said.

"Well...you find out what you should do," Shine said. "Don't let us tell you. God knows best."

Kurt took her advice on that.

His solution was to try to help the X-men out more around the house with things like training and such, freeing people of their time. He said he felt better being useful.

Logan finally asked if he just wanted to train with them, and he actually accepted.

[Nod to how in many versions he's actually one of the X-men.]

He was pretty useful in a fight scenario. Logan said it was a shame he was a preacher--he could have gone on a mission with them.

After three weeks, it did seem like the three newcomers had been there for a long time, even if it wasn't that long.

While things were not yet running smoothly, they were running smoother. They chose to mostly ignore their differences of approach and style.

Jubilee found it easier to adjust, being much more adaptable at her age and interest level than the others were. She stopped thinking of them as outsiders at all.

Some problems popped up in that third week with mutants across the globe. Some reports of oppression and outbreaks of violence, so the X-men had other things to focus on anyway.

Wally and Shine didn't offer to come this time, knowing they'd be turned down anyway.

But privately Shine said she was sure they couldn't avoid action forever.

"Yeah," Wally agreed. "But if we're not with them, then I'm thinking we might just run into trouble on our own. And that could be interesting."

"I hope it's not in the form of more anti-mutant violence," Shine said. "Even we can't manage a mob on our own."

"We're just at a lull," Wally said. "On every mission, we'll get a little space where it's quiet, and then boom! it gets crazy."

"I'm kind of enjoying this," Shine said. "It's nice not to be stressing out all the time and to do more normal things, and I like the X-men. Even if they still think we're a bit weird, they're not so distant as before. Save for Gambit...and Scott.... But I could almost get used to not being in the center of conflict."

"Yeah, I could too," Wally said. "But it's kind of funny how as soon as you start to think that, conflict happens."

"I know," Shine said. "Being trope savvy really sucks sometimes. Maybe if we watch for it, it won't happen so soon, huh?"

"That never works in movies," Wally said.

[Nope.]

* * *

The following day, Shine and Wally were busy still spreading word about the drive, which was now underway.

Jubilee was bored enough to join them in it, and they had a few more people helping them hit the more suburban areas of New York.

Jubilee didn't understand how Wally kept finishing whole blocks ahead by the time she even got down one street. Did he just toss the fliers at doorsteps?

But then he'd stop to help someone carry something or whatever and end up taking longer.

On the plus side, the tired moms in these neighborhoods loved him.

Shine at least went at a normal pace. She and Jubilee hit the streets together just for safety--for Jubilee.

The other kids, mostly ones from the The Way, who were old enough to group up, did their tracks together. Aside from Jim, who was the oldest one there besides Shine, they had a few teenagers on the older side: Brittney, Caleb, Johnny, and Trinity. Shine said that Trinity's name was ahead of its time, which no one got.
Surprisingly, they reported only a few people had been rude to them.

"Why are you doing this?" Jubilee asked them when they'd all paused for water and cold soda pop.

Brittney shrugged. "Why not?"

"I mean...yeah, but for Mutants..." Jubilee wasn't 100% sure if they'd heard she was one or not. At least not all of them.

"Mutants are cool," Jim said. "They can do a lot of amazing things. Sometimes I wish I had super powers."

Jubilee made a face.

"Like Spiderman," Caleb laughed, "or Captain America."

"Yeah, but mutants are freaks," Jubilee said, a bit sourly, "not superheroes like the others."

"What do you got against them?" Trinity asked her. "I mean...some of them can be kind of scary on TV, but that doesn't mean they're all bad. We've studied them a little at my school. It's pretty interesting."

"I don't..." Jubilee said. "I just.... A lot of people hate them."

"Well, a lot of people hate a lot of people," Jim said, making Caleb and Brittney snicker. "But aren't we supposed to be nice? WWJD and all that."

"WWJD?" Jubilee said.

"What Would Jesus Do," all of them chorused like it was a slogan.

"I even got the wrist band." Trinity held it up. "That was the theme of Youth Camp last year. It was pretty good, actually."

"My parents don't really like mutants," Caleb said, on a more serious note. "My mom said I could do this, but she didn't want me to go up and talk to one. She says they're a menace...I guess because so many of them end up in the news for hurting people. I guess maybe if they believed in Jesus though, they'd be better. Maybe no one tells them about it because people are scared of them."

"I'd be scared too," Trinity admitted. "But it's fine to give them stuff. Maybe that'd make them think we were nicer, huh? I mean, I guess I'd be mad if I had signs everywhere saying I couldn't eat places. It's just a big mess."

"You guys are way ahead," Jim said. "My college has a whole group of anti-mutant weirdos who hang around campus. It's...kind of freaky. Everyone's scared of them, but I think they're mostly just bullies who wouldn't have the guts to actually do a lot, not like the ones who blow up government meetings and stuff. I just figure, if you're gonna make a whole group against a  bunch of people who just happen to have different DNA, then maybe they really aren't so bad. I mean, if that's the only reason people don't like them, it's not that good of a reason...don't you think so, Jubilee?"

Jubilee blinked. "Uh...yeah, I've just never heard anyone say that who wasn't...well...a mutant."

Trinity gave her a narrow look. "Well, people have very different opinions, you know."

Shine was listening to all this and smiling. "I'm glad you kids are already so interested in this. Where I come from, teenagers spend more time inside doing nothing than they do actually getting out on the field."

"Yeah...well, no one ever actually asks us to do anything normally," Caleb said, "so mostly we just hang around our homes too. This is kind of exciting though."

"Yeah, but that one guy did curse at us and tell us not to solicit," Brittney said. "I'm not even sure what soliciting is..."

"Just means going up and asking for something," Shine said. "Usually for money, or in our case, help."

"I just think it's messed up to get mad at someone just for asking for donations for people who need it, whoever they are," Jim said.

"Not a popular opinion, Jim," Shine said, "so keep hanging onto it tight. Just stick close. I don't think anyone would attack kids, but if they did, we'd be better off in a group."

"We know," they said.

"You told us already," Caleb added a bit sassily.

Shine took that without comment. "We should finish this neighborhood before we call it a day."

They split back up.

"You were surprised to hear them," Shine said.

"Yeah," Jubilee said. "Most humans are scared of us.... Maybe they'd be different if they knew though."

"I'm sure Jim at least is aware, the other three maybe," Shine said. "Caleb and Trinity don't even go to The Way. They go to different churches, and Brittney mentioned this to them at school. She told me earlier. They met at camp, apparently, and lived close enough to stay in touch. All their churches are in the same district. Reminds me of when I went to youth camp, though it's a bit different in my time."

"So...is it fun?" Jubilee asked.

"I was always really homesick, so I didn't enjoy it that much," Shine said. "But I did have some amazing experiences a few years, one in particular. I've never forgotten that...changed how I viewed things. Camp doesn't stick with a lot of people, I admit. It's over hyped, at least in my time. But when it does stick, they aren't ever the same, like with most things. Those kids are special. They're ready to do something. We need hundreds more just like them."

"How do you find these people?" Jubilee said. "First you find that pastor guy, and now them. We always find people who hate mutants, but you just find ones who want to help them.... It's weird. I didn't think there were that many people like that in this state."

Shine laughed. "Jubilee...it's a mix of two things: One is God guides us. And the other is that you will always find what you're looking for."

Jubilee was puzzled. "Huh?"

"You all look for hate everywhere. You expect it, and you fear it. Understandable, but if you were to meet anyone who wasn't that way, you'd pass them by. You simply don't look for the signs. Wally and I do. We try to find not the ones who will hate us, but the ones who won't. We read those signs, and so we're able to find those who'd work with us. I won't say I never strike out, but as long as it works some times, it's worth trying."

Jubilee thought maybe she was right.... When was the last time she looked for any sign of a human not disliking them when she was out and about? She was the least pessimistic X-man, but she hardly went out of her way to see good in humans. 

"So why do you want to help mutants?" she asked Shine.

Shine slid a flier into a mailbox slot. [Which you're not supposed to do now, but I have no idea if the rules are the same for the timeline or state she's in, so she's got a chance, I guess.]

"I don't actually care about mutants in particular, Jubilee," she said seriously, startling her.

"But--"

"Let me finish. I would do the same for whoever I was sent to help. If you all were humans, I'd help you. And I'd be concerned with what's important to you. As you're all mutants, you're concerned with mutants, so I'm helping them. I'd have helped mutants anyway if I got the chance, but not actively sought them out the way I'm doing. You see, I don't have the time or energy to help everyone who needs it on the planet, so God in His wisdom directs us to the right group. If we tried to keep up with the entire world, we'd die of exhaustion. I know people who try, believe me. Pressure makes them snap sooner or later. But because we balance it out, we keep going."

"Huh," Jubilee said. "I mean...I guess I can see why you'd do that. So you don't normally help mutants?"

"We didn't call them mutants in the last place I was. But outcasts are my usual," Shine said. "I just seem to do well with them. Wally does well with the winners, the people on top. I play to the people who no one else likes. I'm wired that way, always have been. Together we can handle anyone. In your case, you're kind of both. X-men may be the only mutants anyone actually looks up to in society, which makes you winners, out of the outcasts...but still outcasts. Perfect for us."

"You make it sound like we're a scientific experiment," Jubilee said.

"I picked up that habit from teaching, but it's not how I really see it," Shine said. "You know how Hank talks--I'm like that."

Jubilee nodded. "Well...hey, for what it's worth, I think you guys are pretty cool. No one's ever done something like this for us...or the Morlocks."

Shine smiled. "Thanks. I'm not doing it to be cool, but I'll take it when I can get it. Now hurry up, you're talking to me instead of doing your job."

Jubilee made a face at her but went back to work.

* * *

It was later afternoon when they got back to the mansion, with no further incidents to be worried about.

Jubilee had even gotten invited to hang out with Brittney and Trinity sometime the next week. They were going to the beach to beat the heat.

But when they walked in the door of the house, it was kind of quiet.

"Huh, I thought nothing was going on today," Shine said.

"Maybe they had an emergency while we were gone," Wally said. "Jewels, did you have your com-link?"

"It's a communicator, and, no, I didn't think I'd need it," Jubilee said. "Why did you call me Jewels?"

"Because it's the perfect nickname for you," Wally said. "And Jubilee is hard to say all the time. Shine, should I check?"

"Yeah," Shine said. "I'll look in the study."

They split.

Jubilee peered into the kitchen but found nothing.

Wally came back a minute later. "Hey, I think you two should come down to the computer room."

"That's not what we call it--" Jubilee began, but Shine was already racing down there.

Wally was watching--the monitors were on, showing something that was apparently in Canada somewhere.

"Professor X is not here," Shine said. "Isn't someone suppose to monitor at all times?"

"Where did they all go?" Jubilee asked nervously.

"Well, this old gadget is somewhere in Ontario," Wally said. "Don't know the name of this town. But we should try to call them."

He pressed a button. "Hey, X-men? This is Wally. Jubilee's a little worried about where you all are. Can you just give us a sign you're okay?"

Static.

"So no one's paying attention," Shine said.

Wally tried again.

Finally, to their relief, someone answered.

"Mr. West?" It was Hank.

"Finally! Where are you?" Wally said.

"It's most distressing," Hank said. "We received a direct request for help from an old friend.... Maybe you've heard of him--Morph."

"Who?" Wally said.

"Shapeshifter," Shine said. "Less crazy Mystique."

"Oh," Wally said. 

"I'm not sure where the others are currently," Hank said. "I believe this whole thing was a trap. Someone appears to have hypnotized Morph into calling for us. Which has happened before, only we had thought he was still on Muir Island...but he wasn't. The others have perhaps gotten lost. Someone has been messing with our minds, another psionic mutant, I think. But I don't know which one. There are so many."

"And all of you are there?" Wally said.

"Cyclops and Jean were on a different mission," Hanks said. "A minor issue with a shipwreck. They were helping to rescue people, some mutants.... But if they did not return yet, then I suspect they don't know we're even gone. I can't reach Jean at all. And the Professor is oddly silent also.... My mind is fuzzy..."

"We're going to come help you," Wally said.

"Your immunity to telepathy might be useful, but there may be other dangerous mutants around. Do not worry," Hank said. "We will find a way out. Wait for Jean--she can use Cerebro to help us. Try to contact her, actually...oh..." He disappeared.

"Oh no!" Jubilee said. "This is bad!"

"Let's not panic," Shine said. "This has happened before. But if Morph is involved, I hope that only means he's been used and not brainwashed all over again."

"Eh, that couldn't happen twice...could it?" Wally said. 

"It did happen twice," Shine sad. "Think like Twice, but not self inflicted."

"That's a shame," Wally said.

"He was getting better though, so I suspect foul play," Shine said.

"Well, Jean isn't answering," Wally said. "But look at this GPS...or whatever it is. She and Scott are hours away, even by plane. See, this is why you need teleporters. Speaking of which, where's Kurt?"

"Ah, he might be in his room," Shine said. 

Kurt poofed in at that moment.

"I heard you come in, but no one vas in the downstairs, so I came in here. Is something wrong?"

They told him quickly.

"This is not gut," Kurt said. "Ve must help them at once."

"Yes, but, Kurt, it might be dangerous," Shine said.

"I don't care," he said. "They are my friends."

"Right," Wally said. "Well, I think we'd better just go ourselves. Secret or no secret, I don't like the looks of this."

"Hypnosis is not a joke," Shine agreed. "And I'm afraid it might go further than that."

"I'm coming!" Jubilee said.

They hesitated.

"I guess she is an X-man," Wally said.

"If you come, you follow our orders," Shine said. "I know you're an X-men, but we're adults, and you are not in charge of us. That's the natural order, got it?"

"Uhh...yeah, sure." Jubilee didn't want to be in charge anyway.

"Kurt, we kind of have experience, so that goes for you too," Wally said. "Just easier that way."

"I am fine vith that," Kurt said. "But...perhaps now is time to reveal your special gift to this little one, Miss Shine."

"Gift?" Jubilee said.

"I think she's ready." Shine nodded. "But, Jubilee, this is a secret from the others for reasons I can't fully explain. You need to let us tell them when the time is right."

"What?" Jubilee said.

To her shock, Shine waved her hand in a sharp, angular gesture, and a glowing doorway of light just appeared in the room, out of thin air!

"Oh my gosh!" Jubilee jumped back. "Are you a mutant!?"

"No," Shine said. "I have a gift. It's not my power, I just use it sometimes. Now you want to talk, or shall we find your friends?"

"Uh...yeah," Jubilee said.

"It only stings for a moment," Kurt said. "Don't vorry."

"Stings?" Jubilee said.

"Let's go!" Wally pushed them through.

* * *

On the other side, Jubilee felt like someone had zapped her with a joy-buzzer, but it didn't really hurt, just made her go weak for a second, then she felt fine.

Kurt waved his tail. "That didn't feel as bad the second time..."

"I told you, you get used to it," Shine said, coming out last. "I don't know where they are specifically, I just took us to the location I saw on the monitor. I think I can find them if I try. But only one at a time."

"Okay, whoever did this probably doesn't know about Kurt," Wally said. "So if you want to look, then I'll look with Jubilee. But how can we tell each other if we find them? I miss having links."

"We'll have to try to regroup," Shine said. "I still don't want them to know all about us...so keep it to a minimum. I just want to get them and get out of here. We have immunity to the psionic, but you two don't, so don't try to fight anyone you find, okay? Just try to alert us."

"This is a pain," Jubilee said. 

"How...often have you done this?" Kurt asked.

"More times than I can count," Shine said. "But usually it's dumb kids who get into this situation."

"I'll start looking," Wally said. "Come on, Jewels." He took her by the arm and suddenly dashed off at a speed that made her almost lose her lunch.

When he stopped to look around, she gasped. "You're...fast?"

"I am speed," Wally said. "Sorry...bad joke. Yeah, back home they call me The Flash."

"Anything else I don't know?" Jubilee said.

"If I think of it I'll let you know," Wally said.

He took off again.

Before more than a few minutes had gone by, he'd found something.

Looked like an old campground--no one was using it anymore--just one for tents or maybe trailers.

"Well, if I had to guess, they're here somewhere," Wally said. "There's a river down there."

"Did you hear something?" Jubilee was getting nervous.

They got real still.

Then they heard footsteps, almost silent ones, but a twig snapped.

Wally shoved Jubilee into some bushes and got down.

They saw a few people decked out in...1800s garb?

"This...is not what I expected," Wally said.

"I know those guys!" Jubilee hissed. "They tried to capture Jean! Once when she was the Dark Phoenix."

"Uh...I thought aliens did that," Wally said.

"But they wanted her power, only we kicked their butts," Jubilee said. "They must want revenge."

"Great," Wally said. "What's with the get-up?"

"I don't know--they think they're cooler?" Jubilee hissed.

One of the men spoke then.

"You sure you saw something, Wyngate?"

"I'm sure," said the other. "At least, I thought I had. But maybe not..."

"I got this." Jubilee held up her hands.

Wally put her hands down. "Hang on, Jewels, you're a little too visible. Check this."

He dashed to a different part of the ring and picked up a rock, then he tossed it, knocking the other guy down.

"Shaw?" Wyngate said. Then he looked around. "Who's there? Show yourself."

"Fat chance," Wally called, before zipping to another part of the clearing.

Wyngate then turned toward him and fired a gun that direction. Of course it hit no one.

"You'll have to be quicker than that," he called, real cocky.

Fire!

"Missed me again," Wally said. "In fact, I can run circles around you."

Wyngate was sufficiently unnerved.

"What do you want?" he said.

"Oh, nothing much," Wally said.

Suddenly Wyngate was on his rear end, and his gun was gone, and he had his hands tied together with his coat.

"Just tell me where I can find the X-men and I'll let you go," Wally said. 

"The X-men?" Wyngate said.

Jubilee popped out. "Yeah, tell us, you slime ball!" She sparked her hands.

Wyngate leaned away.

"I didn't do anything to them!" he said. "We just wanted some revenge! To make them suffer the same humiliation as us, that's all! To tear them apart."

"That sounds like doing something to them," Wally said.

"It was Frost!" Wyngate said. "She did it! We just helped. We hypnotized the little guy, but she's the one who messes with their minds..."

"That's horrible," Wally said. "You started this and now you're what? You need an ego boost so you're picking on people who never did anything to you."

Silence.

"Well, that doesn't surprise me," Wally said. He punched Wyngate and knocked him out cold.

Wringing his hand, he said, "We gotta let Shine know, Jewels. Let's hope they're still okay for now."

Jubilee bit her lip. "Yeah..."