Time of day: Afternoon
Place in the time-line April 14th

---

Alex Summers had come to the school to serve his brother and sister in law, to stand with ShadowX as it tried to save the mutant race through dark and sinister means that were presented in righteous methods, determinations that were chosen by two people slowly slipping into madness, perhaps. He would support them, publicly, to keep himself and the children safe... as much as he was able to. And, as much as he was able to meant that he was going to be doing things in a way that he was not comfortable with, that he was not sure would work. But he was going to do it because there was no other way.

"This way, girls," Alex called to the two little ones who were following him. Because he was still worn from the abuses of his self-neglect under the direction of the obsessions that were forced upon him, Scott and Jean... ShadowX, as Alex thought of them... had allowed him some time to recuperate. His powers stemmed from cosmic radiations that he absorbed at all time, and the most ready source of his energies was, of course, the sun. So, after obtaining permission, which was readily given because he was still so obviously theirs, Alex had taken the two youngest members of the school out to the forest waterfall, so that, ostensibly so that they could play in the stream while he soaked up some sun.

Times were so hard, the little ones needed to be given some time to play.

Alex looked at the two little girls, and he couldn't help but feel sad for them. Meghan had been staying with Scott and Jean while her mother hid out in Mutant Town in the Halfway House, it's occupants nominally shielded by Box's machines, which reflected Jean's telepathy back so that if she tried to probe the people inside, she got feedback that would confuse the readings enough that she would not be able to identify them... Or so went his theory. Hopefully, they could hold off long enough to make a difference, to save the kids from Scott and Jean... to save Scott and Jean from themselves. Alex was going to get the little girls out, out to people who could take care of them while he tried to figure this out. His only regret was that he hadn't been able to take little Val, too. He hadn't been able to find the boy.

They reached the stream and Alex sat down on a flat rock on the sun and said, "Here we are, kiddos, that wasn't too far a walk was it?"

There was a sudden swoop of wind, and Pietro stood in front of them, his sister in his arms. He set Wanda down and said, "Summers, you made it. We wondered if you would."

Alex looked up at the pair, "How's it going in the rebellion?"

"As well as can be expected." Pietro said, "Everyone is upset, everyone is confused. They have never dealt with such a thing before. My sister and I have lived for a time beneath the Great Emperor Doom. Dictatorships are new to you Americans."

"I don't know if they are so much dictators, yet." Alex said, "But I get your point." He turned to the little girls, "Hey, girls, I have a good idea. You want to play a trick on Mama and Papa, Rosie? You want to go and see Meghan's mommy?"

Things were strange at the mansion. Even the Institute's youngest members had to admit it. There had been far less smiles than normal, and not just because of the fake giant robots only two days earlier -- something Rosie and Meghan didn't really want to think about. No, there was something going on that was affecting everyone, and even though Rosie and Meghan were happy with their new little X-men uniforms, there was still an underlying worry there.

The chance to go outside and play, then, was one that the little girls were delighted with. They followed Alex obediently, laughing and giggling as they skipped along the path towards the forest waterfall. It was a hot day, perfect for wading in the cold creek.

"I miss my mama." Meghan declared at one point, as they neared the waterfall. Rosie nodded in solemn agreement; though Mina was not her own mother, she was as good as her aunt, and both little girl's had felt the lack of the woman's presence.

The somber mood changed, however, when Rosie shrieked, "FROG!" and darted the last few meters of their journey to the creek, where she squatted and peered in awe at the toad sitting motionless on the bank. Meghan followed, already struggling to get one of her shoes off. "It's so cute!"

Rosie looked up, shading her eyes from the afternoon sun, when a breeze plucked at her clothing. She had been around them all long enough to know when Pietro -- forever "Pi-to" to her -- was around, and her mouth split into a shy smile when she saw the twins. It seemed like forever since she'd seen them.

"Hiya!" She chirped, casting one last admiring glance at the toad before straightening. Meghan kept on the ground, nose wrinkled as she studied the animal.

What the adults were discussing in low voices made no sense to Rosie whatsoever. She was about to turn back to sit with Meghan, and watch the toad some more, when Alex turned to them.

"Hey, girls, I have a good idea. You want to play a trick on Mama and Papa, Rosie? You want to go and see Meghan's mommy?"

Meghan's head shot up. "Mommy?" She repeated, standing up so quickly that she nearly tripped into the creek. Instead the little girl steadied herself, and looked around as though she might see her mother peeking out from the bushes.

Rosie lookd less convinced. "Papa doesn't like tricks." She said softly, remembering the fiasco with the purple hair dye. The statement seemed especially true recently, where her parents and lots of the others had been quick to be stern.

Then again, this was Unca Alex, and Rosie trusted him with her life. Besides, it was Aunt Mina they were talking about. "I like Aunt Mina." And as long as they would be back for supper.... Rosie nodded slowly, looking up to Alex expectantly. "Are we goin' now?"

In the other room Pietro paced, he was a champion pacer; no one could wear a groove in a perfectly good floor like Pietro. However, the one thing he wouldn’t do was worry his sister along faster with calls of, we are going to be late, mostly because he wouldn’t rush her and secondly, being the fastest man alive, he was never late.

Wanda looked at the three little dolls in her hands. At first, it seemed impossible; her magic didn’t extend very far away from her. She had pondered the problem for days, when, as she idly twirled the rose shaped bracelet given to her by Jeffries that the answer was clear. They would leave a small bit of her near the children. She dropped the dolls in her bag along with odd transmitter.

“Okay, I am rea-,” the words were barely out of her mouth when Pietro scooped her up and they were off; mere seconds later they came to a halt under a bright blue sky, with Alex and two girls nearby. Wanda looked around the groove of trees for a hiding, white haired dragon boy, as Pietro and Alex talked, but he was no where in sight.

"Are we goin' now?"

Wanda gave Alex the transmitter that would keep the doll girls alive. “Here. Somewhere in the house would be best.” Then she looked down at Rosie; it seemed it was her destiny to be a child thief. It was mildly disturbing how good she was at it. “Yes, we are going now. You don’t want to waste a moment, do you? But first, to see Meg momma, you must close your eyes and keep them closed for the magic to work.”

Wanda gave Alex the transmitter that would keep the doll girls alive. “Here. Somewhere in the house would be best.”

Alex took the device and said, "You're a miracle, Wanda," He tucked the transmitter into his pocket and said, "It'll be in my room, against the wall that my room shares with them." He couldn't say Scott and Jean's names, because one, he didn't think that was Scott and Jean anymore, and two, he didn't want Rosie to know what was happening, what was going on with her parents. God, they were going to get this fixed and they were going to be normal again and Rosie... she didn't need to connect the strange things they were becoming with the parents she needed. Her real parents had been so horrible...

Wanda instructed the children to close their eyes and Alex wished it was all that simple for the grown ups. Close your eyes and not see what was happening... not just around here, but in the world. After the sentinel attack there were so many new faces here, children who had been shaken from their sleep with fire and hatred and terror. So far, though, the reports of the attacks on the Edraitti had not been in the news, not even with the devastating mental punishment that had been inflicted on the SHIELD agents. Alex wondered about that. What was Fury going to spin this into?

"Piet?" Alex asked as Wanda dealt with the girls, "You haven't asked about Lorna." He spoke quietly, so as not to disturb the kids... or Wanda.

"I do not wish to know," Pietro said, his accented voice not showing his emotion, a trick that he seemed very good at when he wanted to be, "You will watch her, and you will do what is necessary to save her. As much as I do not think you are worthy of her, it is plain to me she will never find one who loves her as much as you do. That will have to be enough to protect her during this strangeness."

Alex's lips twitched. That was as close as he'd get to getting a blessing from Pietro. "I'll keep her safe. Take care of my niece for me."

"Always." Pietro said.

At Wanda's words, Rosie happily closed her eyes, but Meghan hesitated. Unlike Rosie, Meghan hadn't ever dealt with Wanda's special brand of magic, and she wasn't entirely sure what to make of it.

As if she could sense her friend's hesitation, Rosie nudged Meghan. "C'mon." She whispered, eyes squinched as tight as they could go. "It won't work without ya." She wasn't entirely sure what was going to happen, but whatever it was, Wanda would make it awesome.

It almost sounded too good to be true, but as Meghan finally relented and shut her eyes, the little girls didn't ponder it. To think on the matter meant to open up all the pain that they'd been through, and perhaps scar them for life. No, better to believe in magic and fairies, and the power that the grown-ups had to make everything okay again.

The talk of the grown-ups made Rosie squirm just a little, impatient. She wanted to know what was going on, and why they had had to be all the way out in the woods for this to work, but the questions in her mind went unanswered.

When her mind hit upon the problem that her parents weren't coming, Rosie shook it away. They were busy -- they'd been busy for the past few weeks, and didn't really play or go on fun trips like this anymore. Maybe later. Rosie had the feeling that her Unca Alex would make it all better.

"We're gonna go whoosh." Rosie intoned to Meghan, eyes still closed.

While Alex and Pietro spoke quietly to one side, Wanda concentrated on the two little ones. Warned by Pietro that their little doppelgangers might frighten the girls, she watched for their eyes to close. Rosie was eager for the magic and always ready for adventure, screwing her eyes up as tight as she could; as if she were making the magic come faster by pure effort. Her friend seemed less sure but the need for her momma swayed her into compliance.

Wanda reached into her bag drew out the dolls she’d made of the two little girls. Since Pietro had taken her from the dark, mysterious mountains of their homeland to this new land of diversity, anything mystical or spiritual struck a cord with her; slowly and gradually, like a magpie, she took the bits she liked and discarded what she considered were nonsense and like everything about Wanda, if she believed it, the world twisted to make it so.

She put the two little dolls on the ground nearby and returned to stand before the children. She placed a hand on the top of each girl’s head, for a moment looking like a priestess bestowing a blessing. A scarlet glow of energy started at her fingertips and spread down their little bodies. Off to the side, the little dolls, who began as palm-sized dolls and beeswax and grass, grew and shaped into the girls beneath her hands even down to the details of their clothes.

“For the magic to work, you need to be thinking of Meghan’s momma. Do you see her blonde hair? Feel her strong arms?”

Wanda slipped an arm around each girl’s waist and lifted them to her, then quietly nodded to Pietro.

Alex watched as the figures shifted from dolls into the images of the little girls and he whistled, softly, "I'd said it once, I'll say it again, Wanda, you are a miracle. " He bent over her and kissed Rosie on her forehead, "You mind Mrs. Harker, and you have a good time, ok? Mama and Papa will be so surprised you've gone a vacation like a big girl. Won't they be proud of you when you come home and Mrs. Harker tells them how good you were. That's going to be very funny."

He turned to Pietro, "Tell Mina that I promised her no more than two days. Now that she knows she can trust me, tell her I promise to make things right again. That I'm doing my best here."

Pietro looked at his team leader, his friend, and he lifted his sharply pointed chin with decisive arrogance and said, "You have never done your best. You have always done more. I do not compliment lightly, so when I say that I am honored to have a place in your dream then I assume you understand the import of what I say."

The white haired gypsy turned away, and scooped up Wanda in his arms, the girls carefully clutched in hers. It looked awkward, looked over burdened. Pietro hardly thought of it. "Deep breaths," he warned, and then, he was gone.

Alex was left alone in the forest with two little doppelgangers, who looked so real, and as they waved good bye to the long departed Pietro, acted so real too. "Well, little girls, we don't want to arouse any suspicions, so I suppose you can play in the water if it won't soak your stuffing. Unca Alex is going to work on his sun tan so Mama and Papa don't think I wasn't following their orders to the exact end."