-A/N-: Some of you may have been a little confused with my Author’s Note in the previous chapter. This sequel is being posted within this fic and not as a separate fic. ‘Cos it’s easier for me and for readers as well.

This chapter is extremely John-centric.

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It wasn’t long before Charles Xavier, in a new body and on new legs, returned to the Institute as a new man. In fact, the professor stepped in through that wide front door just two days after John ‘Pyro’ Allerdyce had.

Everyone was genuinely thrilled of course, and it was as if a switch had been flicked and the not-quite-so-right atmosphere that encircled the mansion had suddenly changed to what it was before the tragedy occurred.

Not that John really cared.

In the two days that he and Bobby had shared rooms, they hadn’t exactly said a word to each other, both too egoistic to bother. A typically mutual friends-turned-enemies relationship.

The only thing that resembled a proper conversation in that room had been when Bobby gave John a disgruntled look on the first day and said, “You’re moving in, huh?” And John had replied, “Yeah. Name’s John - but you’re gonna’ call me Pyro. Who’re you?” Bobby had only rolled his eyes in an ‘I-don’t-talk-to-traitors’ fashion and returned to the book he was reading earlier.

Nights were quiet throughout and they were quite happy with that arrangement. However, that didn’t mean there wasn’t a slight underlying tension between them that lived within the silence. Maybe they both really secretly longed to talk to each other, to say something, to start something. But their days of friendship were long gone and they knew it.

Rogue was a different story however. She was perhaps the only person in the whole school whom he felt genuinely comfortable with. And at times, she had been his pillar of strength. He hadn’t forgotten the near-kiss that they shared that night almost three weeks ago and he was sure that she hadn’t either.

Her powers were back and he was glad that she was holding up better than he thought, albeit her tendency to keep to herself and stay away from people when she could help it. But John didn’t blame her. Not in the slightest.

-

It wasn’t long before the telepathic mentor had called for an ‘introductory meeting’ with all the new mutants who’ve enrolled themselves into the School for Gifted Youngsters in the time during his supposed demise.

It just so happened that John had been summoned to attend that meeting. And he wasn’t too thrilled about the whole idea.

It wasn’t like he hated the professor. In fact, the only reason why he told Magneto that he would have killed Xavier if he were given the chance was because he was sure saying it would impress the man. Only, his statement had backfired and he realized then just how much Erik Lensherr respected Charles.

It wasn’t like he hated the professor. And that was why he went quietly and without too much fuss.

The door to Xavier’s office was left only slightly ajar and John didn’t bother to knock, swinging it open in one fluid movement. Everyone in the room turned to stare at him.

“Ah, John. Come in and have a seat,” the professor said expansively as he motioned for him to sit on one of the cushioned chairs.

Not that there were very many left.

He took a tentative step into the room and sat on one of the remaining seats and looked around at the crowd gathered in the room. There were easily about ten people assembled in the tiny office and he didn’t care much for that. His eyes flitted around the room unenthusiastically. He hated crowds. He really, really hated them.

“And how are you, John?” Xavier asked the mildly irritated boy with sickening politeness from behind his desk and John briefly wondered if the man still had his telepathic powers and was reading his thoughts at that very moment. “It’s been a while since we last met it seems.”

John was deeply unnerved with the professor’s new face. No matter what appearance the old man might have, he still felt the feeling of being read like an open book as he looked into those deep, mesmerizing eyes of his.

“I’m fine,” was all John replied before unconsciously slipping his hand into the pocket of his faded jeans, intending to take his, or rather, Rogue’s lighter out and busy himself with it. But something stopped him.

‘Not now’, a voice that was clearly not his own echoed within the depths of John’s mind.

So he still did have his powers after all. John looked up at the professor with narrowed eyes. Who was he to tell him what to do and what not to do? But Xavier only gave him an amused smile before turning to the rest of the room to address them.

“Greetings to everyone gathered here,” Xavier began, eyes ever twinkling, and John resisted the urge to just walk out of the room at that very moment.

“I understand,” the old man continued, “that you are all new mutants here – for whatever reasons you might have, be it that you had no choice but to come here or be it that you thought it was of your best interest.”

John snorted, but it went unnoticed.

“I trust you have all been given a warm welcome by the fantastic staff we have here and the fantastic students-” John rolled his eyes as though it were the most ridiculous thing he’d heard, “-and have settled in to this new environment quite nicely. I hope none of you have caused any difficulties or distress so far during my absence…”

The pyrokinetic manipulator looked around at all the other mutants in the room, his attention wandering. Some of the kids were barely half his age, and others looked about the same age as he or maybe even older.

He recognized some of them from previous meetings and some of them from when he was with the Brotherhood. Like that Leech boy whom he’d heard of from Magneto. The ‘source of the Cure’. And that guy with the wings – Warren Worthington the third, son of the inventor of the Cure. He had a couple of conversations with him when Rogue first introduced them to each other. John could almost sympathize with the young mutant for being the son of the man who thought suppressing mutation could effectively help people. It’s no wonder the poor sucker came here in the first place, John thought bleakly.

His gaze fell upon a girl with outrageous purple-dyed hair who was checking her nails with an obvious expression of disinterest towards the speaker. And then something happened. With a sudden, almost swift move of her head, she looked up sharply at John and caught him staring.

John nearly tore his gaze away. Nearly. He was never one to waver in a staring competition. Never.

She looked to be about his age. Possibly younger. Or older. John couldn’t decide and that troubled him somewhat. But she seemed so peculiarly familiar to him somehow, the way she looked so smug and sure of herself. He couldn’t quite place a finger on what it was.

“… So, it’s Risty Wilde isn’t it?”

The girl broke eye contact with John and looked at the professor. John’s head snapped up when he realized that Xavier was addressing the girl.

“Yeah, that’s me. What’s it to you, old man?”

John frowned. She sounded like a rebellious teenager who was willing to go to the limits just to test someone’s patience. And again an odd sense of familiarity struck him.

Xavier however, only smiled a small smile.

“It means a lot to me, my dear,” the professor replied. And with that deep, unwavering voice, John was suddenly reminded of Magneto. Of course, Xavier’s voice held a note of warmth to it whilst Erik’s was as hard and cold as metal. There was a subtle difference, but also a subtle similarity in them both.

Risty, if that was indeed her name, only shrugged and looked down at her nails again.

“And what are your powers?” Xavier pressed on, eyeing the girl.

John swore he noticed a brief flash of annoyance flit across her face before she tilted her head up to regard Charles.

“Why don’t you take a guess, old man. Thought they said you could read minds,” she said almost haughtily.

Xavier, in one slow motion, leaned back in his chair thoughtfully, still looking at the purple-haired youth.

“You have a very unique gift, Risty,” he said at last. And his eyes held a different expression than before, “It would be wise if you used it well,” he added. “And welcome to the Institution by the way. I hope you find time to enjoy yourself here as well as learn a few new things.”

Risty broke out into a surprising grin, “Oh, I hope so too.”

John Allerdyce took a moment to study the impetuous girl as Xavier moved on to other mutants in the room. But try as he might, he couldn’t for the life of him remember where he’d come across her character before.

It took almost ten minutes before Xavier had finished conversing with every new mutant, save John, in the room – Jimmy, Warren, some dude named Pietro, a whole group of girls and finally, a guy named Jasper Noel, whom John held a slight curiosity in when he first heard what his powers were.

He called himself ‘Firethorn’ and that alone sparked interest in John. Apparently, he was able to liquefy anything from metal to glass via heat from his body. In other words, he could melt anything with his bare hands if he wanted. And John was somewhat mildly impressed.

Not as good as setting stuff on fire, of course. John scoffed. The loser.

In a few moments, Xavier dismissed the group, apart from John and Warren.

“Let’s start again,” the professor said finally, focusing his attention on the fire-throwing boy and the winged angel. “You’ve both met, I trust?”

Warren nodded.

“Good. Then I hope you don’t mind if I touch briefly on this, ah, delicate subject.” It wasn’t a question. “Both of you have seen - and been involved - in the incidents at Alcatraz, am I right?”

John had no idea where this was going but he nodded grimly along with the angel. He had been on the island, wreaking havoc by setting fire to the cars that were tossed up into the air by his Brotherhood leader. That had been good, clean fun John had thought. Well, not exactly ‘clean’ fun, he realized, but rather that he was playing fairly dirty with the enemy. John frowned, recalling his encounter with Bobby and how the Iceman beat his firepower. He barely beat me though, that cheater, John reflected bitterly as he remembered that Bobby had deliberately frozen his hands to stop the fire.

“Of course I wasn’t there myself,” Xavier continued gravely but with a smile, “Nor did I witness it on the news, after all I was a bit tied-up in a most unusual situation.”

John assumed that this ‘unusual situation’ meant his sudden death caused by the Phoenix and the Grey’s house. He wasn’t there himself, he knew, but Magneto had told him all about it. He had been, at first, shocked that someone such as Jean Grey could do something so dreadful. That was when he realized that she wasn’t Jean Grey at all but someone else entirely and therefore he never once approached the woman during her short stay with the Brotherhood.

“In short,” the professor said then, snapping John out of his reverie, “I want to propose to you both an offer-”

“If this is about j…” Warren cut across suddenly, but Xavier held up a hand and the angel stopped in mid-sentence.

“I understand that your circumstances are… special. But you’re welcome to leave whenever you please.”

Get to the point already, John wanted to snap. He didn’t care much for the ‘special circumstances’ that Warren Worthington III had and he was getting tired of listening to this old man.

“Now, I see our friend here’s getting impatient,” the professor turned to look at John.

Damn right.

“In my best interest, I have consulted with both Ororo Munroe and Hank McCoy on this matter and we have all decided give you two the opportunity of becoming a full-fledged member of the X-Men.”

John’s jaw nearly dropped in surprise. Nearly. A full-fledged member of the X-Men? Impossible. And most importantly, why? He’d only been here for less than three days, dammit! And his betrayal should have been taken into account…

He was well aware that the team of senior X-Men had originally consisted of Storm, Cyclops and Jean Grey. And then Logan. He knew that both Rogue and Iceman were now full-fledged members as well after the incident at Alkali Lake. Hell, he’d seen Bobby in that leather suit of his at Alcatraz. And just recently, apparently, Kitty Pryde and Colossus became members. John was pretty sure Hank McCoy was part of the club too although he was frequently away from the mansion for long periods of time.

Warren started and after a long silence, gave his answer. “I guess I’ll accept the offer,” he said rather hesitantly.

“As I said, whenever you feel like you can finally return to your family, do so. It is your choice to make.”

Warren nodded.

“Excellent, excellent. Well now,” Xavier’s gaze fell on the only other being in the room, “it’s time for Mr. Allerdyce to make his decision. You may go, Warren.”

John eyed the angelic mutant as he was leaving, feathers trailing behind in his wake. Now, it was his turn to make a decision. Almost unthinkingly, he took out the lighter in his pocket and flicked it open.

“So, you trust me then?” John felt the need to ask. He avoided Xavier’s gaze and looked at the zippo in his hand instead.

“Truth be told, Storm had been rather hesitant about this matter regarding you and I don’t blame her for being cautious.”

“I don’t blame her either,” John muttered darkly. The sound of his lighter snapping shut echoed around the room.

“I understand that this may be an issue that only you can resolve, John. You’ve switched sides more often than anyone now and only you know where your real allegiances lie.”

“So you don’t really trust me after all,” was John’s bitter reply, but there was a hint of a smirk behind those hidden features of his. He had expected it. Damn, of course they wouldn’t trust him. Not after all he’s done.

The lighter was flicked open again and he lit it, staring into the flames.

Xavier regarded the young mutant gravely, steepling his fingers and peering at him from behind his paper-clogged desk. “My boy,” the professor began, and again John was reminded of that powerful metal manipulating man he had once served.

“If I don’t trust you well enough,” Xavier continued, “do you think I would be making you this offer at all?”

John fell silent. Whenever Magneto used that tone, he knew that it was when the man was being testy. But with Charles Xavier, John couldn’t tell.

“You don’t have to give me an answer as of yet. Find some time to think it through. You seem to need it. Just don’t make a rash decision. It is your choice ultimately. Not mine.”

There was a note of finality in the professor’s voice that signalled the closure of their conversation.

Although his mind was running a million miles a second, John nodded and smirked, finally snapping his lighter shut. “Appreciate the offer, old man. You’ll get my answer soon enough.” He stood up abruptly to dismiss himself.

When he reached the door, he paused long enough to add, “And if I actually do join up, I hope the others can stand me being around them. Not many of them are actually fond of me you know, Xavier?” he intoned, drawing out his last word almost spitefully.

And with that, John Allerdyce stalked out of the room.

-

That night, as the clock struck twelve, Bobby Drake had climbed into his bed after a long night of studying. Glancing once at the only other boy in the room ­– who was idly staring up into the ceiling thinking of god-knows-what - he clicked his bedside lights off with every intention to get some shut-eye.

His eyes flew open the moment he heard John get up and reach for his zippo lighter by his bedside.

“Okay, where the hell do you think you’re going?” Bobby grounded out as loud as he dared to go.

John looked up at Bobby, startled. And then he broke out into a wide grin. “You talking to me now, huh?” he drawled, sauntering to the door.

Bobby glared, “If you get caught, I swear-”

John snorted, “Oh please. We used to sneak out all the time. Who’re you to tell me not to?”

Bobby opened his mouth indignantly to argue but no sound came out.

“Don’t worry your icy little head about me, Iceman. I won’t. Get. Caught.”

Bobby could only stare blankly as John left the room.

He didn’t know where his roommate was planning on going but deep down, he felt he didn’t truly want to find out.

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-A/N-: Note that Risty and Pietro aren’t OCs. They’re actually real characters from the comics/cartoons. Hope I haven’t bored you guys with this chapter. But I guess it was kinda’ meant to depict John’s relationship with the others around him, particularly Xavier and how they both regard each other.

Next chapter will be full of Ryro-ness. So fear not.

Constructive reviews are much appreciated. And here are some responses to my reviewers:

we-r-the-cure, Hikairi, the sillylittlepanda, Jade598, Kari Lynn Craine, yaba: -Hands you all each a random bag of cookies- It’s on the house. Frequent reviewers get cookies. Lots of them. Haha. Welcome back, guys. So glad you’re willing to follow the sequel.

PyScHoThErApY17: Aww… I’m glad you like this fic so much. I swear I could hug you right now too! Haha. To answer your question, yeah, this sequel is IN this fic ‘cos it’s easier for me to update and for readers too. Or at least I think so. Thanks for reviewing!

Secondrate: Ahah! Someone who doesn’t like Bobby! You are a rarity, my friend. Anyway, a day-to-day fic is what I might try for the first couple of chapters but then it will have to pick up its pace. And thanks for the suggestion! –Hands you a cookie-

Obiwanfan: Good. You liked it. I feel all happy and fuzzy inside. Yay! Thanks for the constant reviews. You’re awesome. –Gives you a basket of chocolate chip cookies-

Xtreme Enigma334, rogueparker, UltimateRider, Anigen: -Hands each of you a cookie- Thanks for reviewing guys! Always appreciate it.