Jay had been cleared through the gate with all of his luggage that consisted of a suitcase, a duffel bag, and a gig bag for his acoustic guitar around his back. Jay's mom had called and sent him to the mansion to get help for the rough times he had gone through. At first he hated the idea, but there was really no other place he could go to escape. It was a good thing though, he really needed it despite how much he thought he didn't.

Jay was dressed in his black 'Attack Attack' t-shirt, dark wash blue jeans, and his pair of classic converse. His wings were tucked in his shirt and wrapped around his torso, the only thing that seemed out of place was a hump on his back that his gig bag covered. As he pulled his luggage up the walkway, he looked around the grounds. He could see why his brother liked it so much, it was peaceful unlike his home town. "Well, least I don't hafta deal with my brothers or sisters." Look at that! Jay managed to find a plus to his afternoon already!

Part of being a cadet was training. And training meant cardio. So Paige had gone running on a wonderful, cool spring day. It was one of the times she was happy not be on the busty side; she disliked sports bras, but found it uncomfortable to run without one for any lengthy period. Over the bra, a t-shirt, and spandex shorts, which she had found were surprisingly comfy. When they didn't ride up, anyway. As today was her running day(Paige ran every day, but some days more than others, and today was five miles out, and five back in) she wore her New Balance sneakers. Some of the others wore headphones and took their MP3 players, but not her. Music slowed her down and distracted her. Situational awareness, Colossus had called it. It was more important off campus; a lot of the X-men's enemies knew where they lived.


She could see a new student already in the driveway, making his way up to the mansion. She called out, "Can I help ya'll with that?" and was shocked to see her brother turn around. "JOSH?!" she nearly stammered. "What're you doin' here?"

Jay saw in the distance a girl jogging, and it seemed normal. She had called out to him for help and he immediately froze. His eyes widened and he had dropped his handle to his rolling luggage bag. "Paige?!" His voiced raised in pitch as he yelled in his southern accent. He was taken by shock that his sister was actually at the mansion, and he never knew. It upset him a little bit, but he tried to remain calm. "Mom ran me off to here 'cuz of the Cabots..." Jay said it blankly, and was a little more concerned why Paige was there. He picked up his rolling luggage and walked towards her at a faster pace than normal.

"Now can ya please explain tuh me why you are here? None of us knew where in the heck you were. I had to help mom with Julie and the rest of the kids." He tried not to make his inquisition seem hateful, but more trying to understand. Though he wasn't the best at hiding his emotions, he was still working on that.

"The Cabots? Um. I don't know how to put this delicately...did you get Julia pregnant? Did he try'n kill ya'll?" It'd serve him right, Paige thought. Josh had always been smooth with the girls back home. She immediately felt bad. It wasn't his fault that old man Cabot was off his rocker, or that he was more outgoing than her or Sam.

"I didn't have anywhere else to go. After that thing at the junior prom, I just couldn't take it no more. Being a mutant in a small town. I had to get away, but I didn't know if they'd take me here. So I ran away. I, um, hitchhiked and begged and stuff." And some other things, things she didn't want to tell her little brother. "But here I am. Sam isn't here. The X-men don't know where he is either. And its not like I didn't have to help out when I was still there. I'm sorry to put you out, but its not like you were doing anything else besides foolin' round with girls or playing your guitar out in the woodshed." Paige wasn't gonna take any crap from her little brother. Oh no, he'd had to start doing stuff! Feeling defensive, she crossed her arms over the chest.

Julia pregnant? It didn't take much for Jay to stumble on his thoughts about Julia, especially when you said her name. Then Paige mentioned Julia's father. His head dropped as his sister carried on with why she had left, giving her justifications that did not seem good enough to him. His chest began to hurt as his heart throbbed. Jay couldn't stand the fact that he was the reason the love of his short life was dead. He snapped suddenly, "Playin' my guitar in the shed is the least of yer worries!" As most southerners, Jay's accent got thicker as he became more upset, "I was doin' a heck'uva lot more than you think! I was the only one who did somethin' besides Julie." He dropped his suitcase again and put his finger in his sister's face, "Julie and I did more than you ever did."

The Jay's train of thought went back to the Cabot's, "And ya'know, what?" Jay's wings pushed against his back, having his gig bag push up and down for a second, "What happened between Julia and me ain't any of your business..." he trailed off with that last statement. It hit him again, the anger that blinded his sorrow had weakened. He didn't like it, so he fought it and tried to make sure he kept the anger rolling. But the tears coming from his eyes gave him away, "Julia is the best darn thing that ever happened to me, and no one can ever take her away from me. She'll always be with me. Even if her dad does blame me for her being gone."

Gone. She was gone. That was one of the few times he had ever said Julia was dead. He hated admitting it, but he had to face reality sometime. With that he backed off and looked his sister sternly in the face sourly, "Like you've been through much more than I have."

"Well, that's because you got a cool power! Me an' Sam were stuck with being the girl that turns into rocks and stuff and the boy that turns into a rocket! Not exactly the picture of normal! What boy wanted to be with a girl who could bend him in half?! All you had were wings. And whadda you mean she's gone? Did she...it wasn't her daddy, was it?" As with all Southern families, even during fights, family gossip took place.

"An yeah. I have been through a lot. I've been shot at, seen a buncha guys gunned down right in front of me BY THE GOOD GUYS and I've just started training to be an X-man. Woman. Whatever. Maybe not when I ran away, but I've done a lot since I got here. And you're still acting like a baby brother." Paige didn't know if she'd meant that or not, and regretted saying it. She took a step towards Josh, and touched his arm. Speaking more calmly, she started over. "What happened to Julia, Josh? She was my friend too, before she was ever interested in boys."