DISCLAIMER: Pete Wisdom, Gambit, Wolverine, Storm, the Professor, ect, belong to Marvel Comics. This is just for fun, no infringement is intended. The "Have you ever had one of those days ..." bit belongs to JB McDonald. Likewise, no infringement is intended. Rhiannon (I like that name. You never would have guessed, huh?) and Indigo are mine. If you want to use them or archive this story please ask my permission, I’ll probably give it.

NOTES: Poitr isn’t in the X-Men yet because he’s younger than Pete and Remy, and I don’t especially like him anyway (rat bastard thinks he can beat up Pete and get away with it ... mumble ... mumble ...). This is intended to be first in a series (though I can’t guarantee it’ll be finished) and the idea wouldn’t leave my brain.

FEEDBACK: Send feedback and that kind of stuff to RhiannonAZ@aol.com. No flames please.

Prologue
1988

Logan watched as Cyclops left the room already making plans for the new students. He glanced at the Professor and was surprised to see the man sigh. "I doubt that Scott will get on with the new recruits very well."

He raised an eyebrow and was handed three rather thick files. They were labeled Pete Wisdom, Remy LeBeau, and Rhiannon. He flipped through the girl's file first. The first thing that caught his eye was a picture of a sixteen year old girl with an electric blue streak in her black hair holding a three year old with a mane of bright blue hair. The photo and most of the information was from social services. The girl had run away from home when she was twelve and had a child when she was thirteen. As with anyone who had been on the streets for years she had done a lot of things to survive.

The thinnest file belonged to Remy LeBeau, who was from New Orleans and thought to be a pick-pocket. Other than that the only information they had on him was that he was likewise a run-away. 'Pick-pocket ... New Orleans ... LeBeau. Shit. This kid had better not have the Guild after him.'

The thickest file was Pete Wisdom's. The British teenager generated 'hot-knives'. His parents had divorced recently and it seemed that he had spent a lot of time crashing with his older sister and squatting even before that. His father was a police specialist on serial killers with mental problems and his mother had a few issues of her own. He had quite a few minor run-ins with the law, mainly 'drunk and disorderly', but one stood out.

A court transcript that started out, "Have you ever had one of those days?" It started with an insightful statement, "That looks like it hurts.", and continued with my oh so witty rejoinder, "Ya think? ..." As Logan read on he couldn't stop laughing.

End Prologue

Charles Xaiver looked on as Cyclops tried to cope with the new recruits. Only two of them had arrived so far and Wolverine was at the airport picking up the third. The team leader had protested this, worried that the Canadian would give the young man an adverse first impression of the X-Men, but the Professor suspected that the feral ex-spy was one of the few team members that could handle the young Brit. Needless to say Scott Summers was not among their number.

The afore mentioned brunette was desperately trying to hide his distress about the other two students. Scott smiled insincerely at Rhiannon as the young woman from Newford played with her daughter, Indigo and nearly ran out of the chamber. The child toddled up to the red-haired, red-eyed youth that sat off to the side and played solitaire while never taking his eyes off the room. "Hi."

The young Cajun smiled politely at the child, "Hello, petite."

The toddler frowned slightly, "What's pet ... pe ... What's that?"

"What, petite?" She nodded. "It French for little.", he smiled more widely at the girl. "I'm Remy. And you would be?"

"Indigo."

"Dat's a pretty name petite." The young man began to do card tricks to amuse the child. Gradually his paranoia began to slip and everyone began to relax.

After only a short while though Cyclops's voice was heard from outside in the hall. "Excuse me, aren't you a bit young to be smoking?"

Whoever he was speaking to gave no reply. The veteran super-hero backed into the room in front of a lanky black-haired youth. "I said put that cigarette out young man!", Summers intoned in his best 'stern but fair authority figure' voice. That was a huge mistake.

Pete Wisdom turned his burning blue eyes on the older man and slowly, deliberately, blew a smoke ring into his face. "Sod off, ya wanker." He pushed his way into the room, leaving a choking and spluttering team leader, as well as a chuckling Wolverine, in his wake. The expressions around the room varied from exasperated, to angry, shocked, confused, and in a few cases extremely amused. It didn't do much to lift his first impression that one of the first things he did was give every woman in the room a once over. Jean Grey frowned at both the inspection and his treatment of her boyfriend and realized that the young Cajun had done the same thing earlier.

The flame-haired Southerner walked over to the Englishman and whispered, "Mon ami, I been wantin' to do dat all day."

At the same time the toddler wandered up to him and pulled at the leg of his torn black jeans. "Icky.", she said, pointing at the cigarette.

Wisdom blinked, only then noticing the little girl. He wouldn't have lit up in the first place if he had known there was a kid there. Still he couldn't seem like he was giving in to the overbearing Yank. "Wot? Ya don't like me fags then, luv?"

"Uh-uh", the small child shook her head.

"Ya want I should put it out?", he asked, exaggerating his Lower East End accent even more than he usually did. In reality it was quite faint and he really had to think to mess up his grammar that much, but it annoyed the hell out of people like that All American Straight Arrow with the weird glasses.

"Uh-huh.", the little girl nodded emtheticly.

"Anythin' fer a pretty gel like you, sunshine.", he said as he put the cigarette out with a flourish. "I'm Pete by the way, luv."

"I'm Indigo. That's my mommy Rhiannon."

"Pleased t' meet you, Indigo." He turned his attention to the slim young woman with brown and blue hair, "Cute kid. My niece is about the same age. If ya ever need some one t' baby-sit 'er for the night or anythin' let me know. I'd be glad t'."

The girl smiled at the unexpected offer. "Thanks." She was very surprised at how supportive some of the people here were being, but she had only been here a day so far. She was sure that it probably wouldn't last. In her experience people tended to be ill at ease with her and Indi, if they didn't condemn them outright. Being a single mother at the age of sixteen was hard enough, but add being a mutant in to the equation and she was frankly surprised that no-one had tried to do anything to them and had no illusions that it was anything other than luck that they hadn't.

Professor Xaiver cleared his throat to catch everyone's attention. "Now that every one is here we can get to know each other. I'm Professor Charles Xaiver, Peter."

"It's just Pete, mate."

"Of course Pete. Pete Wisdom I'd like you to meet your fellow new students Remy LeBeau and Rhiannon."

"Whotcher, mates."

Professor X turned his focus to include the other two teens. "This is Logan. You didn't meet him earlier because he was picking Pete up from the airport." Wolverine nodded an acknowledgment and covertly studied the young Cajun. "This is Ororo Monroe, from Africa." The self-proclaimed goddess smiled beatifically at them, and was answered by a roll of Wisdom's eyes. "That is Sean Cassiddey of Ireland." Banshee's grin was received better. "These are my earliest students, Scott Summers and Jean Grey."

"An' they still ain't graduated, after all this time? That's a pity, mate, really it is.", the young Englishman muttered just loudly enough for Remy, who was standing next to him, and Cyclops to hear.

The Cajun fought to keep a straight face and Summers began to splutter. Everyone cast questioning looks at Scott, not having heard Pete's remark except for Logan, whose acute senses had allowed him to overhear. Wolverine chuckled to himself. He had expected the two to clash, Summers tended to go into 'fearless leader' mode and was as straight arrow as they come to boot, which of course rubbed the kid's obvious dislike of authority figures the wrong way. He was glad that Wisdom's first reaction was verbal, though. It was clear that he had a short temper.

"I assume that all of you want to rest after your long trips, so as soon as you're ready someone will show you to your rooms if you have forgotten their locations. I will be in my office if anyone needs me. We will meet here again tomorrow morning and an ... orientation will take place. I will see you then"

Remy stared after him. "He's jokin' right? That sounded a lot like 'it's bed-time children' t' me. It ain't even ten yet. An' the sooner we get this 'orientation' the better, if ya ask me."

"Yeah, probably, but I think we all know what's goin' on 'ere. Ya up for a game of cards mate?"

"Sounds good to me."

"Rhi? You in?"

"Thanks, but I better get Indigo to bed."

"Well later then."