Battle of Washington (any and all!)

[Josh Dalton Worthington]

Josh is sprawled out across the couch – and Warren. Despite Warren’s lack of padding, he was still Josh’s favorite pillow. The two of them were in the rec room, watching tv with some of the kids. Two of the boys are chattering about the show playing.

“Noooo… I don’t like him. His powers are lame!” Josh opens his eyes part of the way, expecting to have to break up some scuffle, but quickly realizes that the guys are talking about what was on the tv. He grins slightly, and closes his eyes again.

“Come on… Superman is awesome! He’s like… Toni, Logan, Bobby, and Warren all rolled into one! He’s super strong, almost invulnerable, and he has freezing breath and can fly! What’s not to like?” The other boy disagrees and bounces in place on the chair in the corner.

Jeremy sounds annoyed, and this causes Josh to open his eyes again. Jeremy being annoyed tended to correlate with things being set on fire. “He has every power! It’s stupid. Nobody has every power! Jeremy looks over at Josh. “Right, Josh? Real mutants don’t work that way.”

Josh suppresses a moan, and can feel Warren shaking in silent laughter under him. Don’t make me bring you into this, darling… Josh shrugs from his sprawled-out position. “No, they don’t. But Superman isnt’ a mutant… and also… this is my day off. I don’t care. I’m not a student, or teacher, or junior doctor. I’m definitely not a pilot… and I’m sure not a geneticist. So….” He snuggles deeper into Warren’s arm. “So… shhh.” This elicits snickering across the group of students.

Jeremy groans. “Jooooooosh…. come on.” He gets up to start bugging Josh, who opens one eye and is about to speak, when the tv abruptly changes to a news studio. The woman at the desk looks harried.

“Breaking news from Washington! Some kind of riot of unknown cause is spiraling out of control in the streets of our nation’s capitol! Police are desperately trying to control the situation, but things are not looking good!” Footage plays in the background of men and women fighting. The camera jostles, panning over the Capitol Building, and then cuts out. The woman’s eyes widen. “Let’s join Leslie at the scene…”

The remote control drops from Josh’s hand. This is it. They’d been waiting for something of the sort to happen sooner or later. This was their chance to alter the future. To give themselves and the rest of humanity a chance. Josh briefly thinks of some of the more dire consequences of their failure.

This is a chance to give my family a happier ending.

Warren sits up underneath him, and Josh slides off into a sitting position.

He looks wryly at the other. “I guess today isn’t my off day, after all.” Josh glances across the room as Storm skids into the doorway.

Ororo looks over at them. “I heard from the kitchen. We’d better get everyone together on this. Get changed and meet in the hangar in 15 minutes, okay?” The two of them nod, and get up.

[Tempero]

While the argument of Superman's powers proves to be something Danny loved to do earlier, he doesn't really feel like joining right now. In fact, he doesn't feel like doing much of anything. Just lying there, splayed on the other sofa, is too comfortable to just give up. The half-sleep in which he has lulled himself guarantees for a complete lack of words coming out of his mouth, just as well as a complete lack of thoughts forming in his mind.

A smile dangles at the corners of his lips, showing that the young man is merely happy to be there and in that situation. The idle chatter continues, but his attention falters, and he slips a few paces further into the warm world of dreams. The smile increases in width a bit as Danny feels the relief of not having to fear falling asleep anymore.

The nightmares were an episode in and of itself, and once he'd settled his oh-no-I-transformed-and-killed-a-kid-not-really-but-the-principle-is-the-same problem, Danny could once again return to the normal counseling he'd been having for a while. At least he is making improvements! He doesn't feel discouraged, despite the fact that as soon as he settles all the problems he has another five thousand appear, and that's the important thing.

And then the channel changes, making the kids grow silent as a prologue to the ensuing Serious Silence. Danny hears the news, now fully awake due to the change of tempo, and his green eyes watch the footage. Josh and Warren sit up, and by reflex so does he.

Ms. Munroe is the next to appear, and her words strike a weird note in Danny's ears. He jumps to his feet,

"I'll help too!"

...and then he flashes back onto the med lab.

The smile that was there seconds ago turns into a frown. His lips open up in a small "oh," and he does all he can to fight the tears back. Knowing that he'd only be a nuisance is a considerate blow, especially since he's been dreaming of joining the team since he first came to the institute.

Turning on his heels, a bit too quickly perhaps but nonetheless safely avoiding detection of the watering of his eyes, Danny mutters a,

"Oh...never mind, I don't wanna get in the way again,"

...and leaves, marching past Ms. Munroe at a pace that might be just a tad bit disrespectful, but not really caring about that.

Once in the hallway, he waits until he winds the corner, and then blinks hard, rubbing his eyes to get rid of the tears. He can't help but let a short sob out, which brings him to the decision that he shouldn't stay in a place where anyone can come any time. He turns and slowly starts to leave for the stairs.

[Josh Dalton Worthington]

>"Oh...never mind, I don't wanna get in the way again,"

As Danny flees past her, Ororo's eyebrows disappear into her hair. She waits for a moment for Danny to be out of earshot. "Where did that come from?"

Josh frowns. "I can make a pretty good guess. Medical lab incident, I'm thinking...?" He gets a nod from Warren, and a burst of understanding from Ororo through his telepathy.

"Well..." Ororo looks conflicted. "I don't like using students. Daniel is 19, however, and could be an asset. This is do or die."

He nods. "So... what do we do?"

"Josh, you go after him. I need to get downstairs and do preflight on the plane." Ororo spins on her heel and heads for the elevator.

Josh's mouth works for a moment. "Why do I always get stuck with this kind of thing? I'm going to be a doctor, not a counselor!"

Warren grins, heading for the elevator with Ororo. "You're the one who's in touch with his feelings around here. And it's more than just the telepathy, J." He kisses Josh on the cheek, and the elevator door opens.

"Alright... I'd better go get him." Josh runs down the hall, and almost smacks into Danny as he turns the corner.

"There you are. What was that? We can use you, you know." Josh crosses his arms over his chest. He notices the wet streaks on Danny's face. "Hey... are you alright? What's wrong?"

[Tempero]

As Josh almost hits him, Danny mutters a "sorry," stepping to the side, expecting that Josh's path proceeds along an urgent line not ending in a mopey teen.

>"There you are. What was that? We can use you, you know."

"What? I'd just get in the way again." he echoes the words said in the rec room, although the spark of hope appears somewhere deep in the back of his mind. Reason, however far from itself it may be, wins over, and he just shrugs, waving his head no.

>"Hey... are you alright? What's wrong?"

His hand moves to his face, and he notices that the weak attempt at hiding the emotion was indeed just that-weak and futile.

"Yeah...I'll...I'll be fine. I just...got my hopes up there for a moment, you know..." he responds quietly, avoiding eye contact.

A chuckle, the sort one makes when trying to make fun of something that is most certainly not amusing, escapes his lips, and Danny shakes his head as if he were conceding how dumb a move he made was.

"Stupid, isn't it? Even after all the problems I've caused, I still can't help but hope to join the team. Maybe I'll grow out of it...or something."

He raises an eyebrow, looking down the hall in the direction where it seemed Josh was headed. "Isn't this kinda urgent? Shouldn't you be going on your way to the hangar or something?"

I know how to control it now... he thinks, recalling the many hours, days, and even weeks he's put into practicing his powers. The thought that he has a fairly good grasp of his powers has been lingering in his mind for a while. However, the awareness that on its own, his mutation's nothing special persists in telling Danny that he is supposed to master others' powers as well in order to be good at anything.

All of this does not appear as a possibility of him being useful in whatever is about to ensue in Washington, sadly.

"Well, good luck!"

[Josh Dalton Worthington]

> "Isn't this kinda urgent? Shouldn't you be going on your way to the hangar or something?"

Josh resists the urge to roll his eyes. Not a counselor. Maybe he was in touch with his feelings better than most of the other faculty - Toni (yes, all she did was blow stuff up), Warren (maybe?), Storm (still has a bit of the ice queen), Jake (let's not go there) - okay, so maybe I'm the best choice. But he was still a bit keyed up from all of this.

"I came to get you. We need all the help we can get, so Storm wants anyone that can fight to come." He winces slightly. "That sounds wrong. You'll be a help, Danny. You're not a little boy anymore. If we thought you would be a liability we wouldn't be asking - you know Storm doesn't play games with that sort of thing." Josh takes a step or two back, and waits for Danny to follow. When he doesn't, he yanks the boy by the arm and starts pulling him towards the elevator.

"If we don't succeed at this, everything is over. We're all screwed. So... you're coming with us." Josh tries to sound cheerful, but the severity of the situation leaves a tone of worry.

[Ororo Munroe]

Ororo closes her locker and makes her way towards the exit of the women's locker area.

Here's our chance. But can we make a difference? Ororo shakes her head. Her own family had been fairly unaffected by the debacle, at least in terms of herself, Jake, and their future child. (That sentence still reverberates through her mind every time she thinks it.) The future wasn't as kind to their friends, or to the rest of humanity, though. They had to do something.

Would be enough? As far as she could tell, they'd done everything they could in the other timeline. (At least, after today, she hoped it would be another timeline.) Maybe being forewarned would be enough. The knew nuclear launches were going to play into this. Preventing them or somehow diverting and covering up the fact of the launch would go a long way. The whole problem had been the international outcry - mental control or not. Little 'details' like that got lost in the shuffle.

When she leaves the room she finds Warren, changed and in his combat suit. More surprisingly, she finds Logan as well.

"Logan?" He voice carries her surprise. "I didn't know you were here."

His voice is tight. "Yeah. Got in last night. Good timing, I guess."

She nods. Logan would certainly be an asset. As far as she could tell, he hadn't been present in the original altercation. Maybe this was one of those critical changes?

Logan's voice emerges as a half growl. "I know I haven't exactly been real reliable," Ororo tries to contain a snort at this - "but this is serious. I can't... we can't... let this happen. Too many people have died." Ororo nods, and the three of them proceed to the hangar. Somehow, she couldn't help but realize this was the most he'd said in awhile. And she suspected that there was only one person's death - maybe two - that he was really thinking about.

As soon as they enter the hangar, she proceeds to the boarding ramp. Ororo looks back at them. "Everyone should be here soon. I'll get the jet warmed up." She disappears up the ramp.

Logan looks over at Warren. "I read the report on 2027." There's a long pause. "I guess you've got pretty big stake in this, don't you?"

Warren nods slowly. Logan was being awfully chatty. "Yeah, I do. I'm trying not to think about it."

Logan snorts. "Kid, if I could do anything to prevent..." He stops, having said too much. "You've got a chance. Don't let it slip by."

[Tempero]

>That sounds wrong. You'll be a help, Danny. You're not a little boy anymore. If we thought you would be a liability we wouldn't be asking - you know Storm doesn't play games with that sort of thing."

Being told that he is not a little boy anymore makes him feel exactly the opposite, but it (thank God) doesn't show. The idea that Ms. Munroe (as he doesn't think he will ever be able to call her anything else, other than perhaps Ms. Storm), doesn't kid around with stuff like this rings true, but Danny finds it too hard to believe that he's being told to come along. Usually, he is just...there...when shit happens.

>"If we don't succeed at this, everything is over. We're all screwed. So... you're coming with us."

As his reluctant standing around transforms into being dragged towards the elevator (little boy coefficient growing exponentially), he can't help but wonder about Josh's words. Having been miraculously able to avoid the entire "half the staff is missing and then come back to tell a story from the future" episode, these words sound more like a lame attempt at persuasion than truth.

"What do you mean we're all screwed? Do you already know what this is?" he asks as his attitude shifts and walks beside Josh, no longer wanting to have to have someone hold his hand through rough spots (a sentiment perhaps unnecessarily magnified through the repeated need for counseling).

The elevator, like a passage into something new which Danny only hoped to do, opens as they near it.

[Josh Dalton Worthington]

"What do you mean we're all screwed? Do you already know what this is?"


As the get into the elevator and it closes, Josh's eyes widen, and he turns to face Danny. "You're joking, right? This really isn't time to make light of the situation." Danny looks confused, and Josh appears agape.

"You really don't know? How is that possible..." Josh can't help but grin slightly. If anyone could wander around the Institute and not find out something of monumental importance, it would be Danny. Sometimes he seemed in his own world.

Josh reaches out and puts his hands on each side of Danny's head. "You need to know all of this stuff, and there's no time." He closes his eyes, and the story flows out of him in a telepathic rush.

After a few seconds, he gasps and his eyes snap open.

[Tempero]

>"You're joking, right? This really isn't time to make light of the situation."

Danny's about to answer the question, but his face apparently does it before him. He opens his mouth to comment on the story Josh's own face hints at, but then,

>"You really don't know? How is that possible..."

Danny nods lightly, and then sees the expression on the other's face. "Hey, what's that grin supposed to mean?" he asks, unable to shake the feeling that the joke's on him. Did he miss someone's great birthday party or something?

>"You need to know all of this stuff, and there's no time."

Hands on his head, and he has only a moment to say, "I'm not sure that's--," before a stream of images inundates his mind. There's some battle in the very school, and then everything blurs, and there's Warren, but not really. There are fast-forwarded conversations, one of which gives Danny some details about Josh and Warren's relationship, not entirely what he wants to know about, and then there are Jake and Ms. Munroe (the same way he can't not respect her, he can't find it in him to call Jake "sir," despite seeing him only a couple of times) and a child who talks about them, and then Toni and many children, mention of Mr. Russell being dead, something about Laurie he wasn't about ready to believe, Bobby being evil, and many, many more details he did not really like. And then he feels what seems to be the greatest impression.

>No. There’s no way. But he’s…. and he said… Dead… [/b]

And then Warren's voice...

> "When it was over, Josh was dead. So were most of the students he was trying to protect. I... felt it."

The telepathic link is over, and while Josh gasps, Danny shudders, taking a deep, sharp breath. He shakes for a few more seconds, as if trying to fight away the feeling of all this new information in his mind, deciding that it isn't true. But it is, he knows that much.

The whole experience makes him more determined to help. After all, from what he's just experienced, it seems that he grows to become nothing more or less than an annoying jerk, so changing the future will have to change that, right?

Finally, the shaking stops, and Danny opens his eyes.

"That is..." he's at a lost for words, but determination draws itself upon his features.

"We'll fix it. I'll help as much as I can, I promise," he says seriously, falling into a pensive silence, at which he feels the twitch of a power stored within him. ever since he learned to control the absorption, he noticed that when he had a power within him, it would sometimes move or so, or at least that was the sensation.

"Oh, that's right! I have Juilan's telekinesis stored, and I've been practicing with it a lot. That'll surely come in handy, hm?" he adds the information, deciding to skip over the reason why he willingly copied Julian, but not Josh.

[Josh Dalton Worthington]

> "We'll fix it. I'll help as much as I can, I promise,"

"Thanks." Josh's voice is sincere. "For me, at least, it's not a option. We've got to succeed." He stops. "And I mean, that's not even a selfish thing. Yeah, ,it would be nice to be alive and all. But this conflict tears apart my family and everyone here. The Institute doesn't even exist anymore." Josh frowns. "Not to get all cliche on your or anything, but I believe 100% in Professor Xavier's vision. This is a good place for mutant kids. It needs to exist."

The elevator doors open, revealing the subbasement.

> "Oh, that's right! I have Juilan's telekinesis stored, and I've been practicing with it a lot. That'll surely come in handy, hm?"

"It should." Josh nods. He pushes the door open to the men's locker area. "Do you want to borrow mine? I'm not trying to brag or anything, but we've been trying to track our development over time. Holding stuff like practice intensity, relative experience, that sort of thing constant... we're pretty sure that my powers are simply stronger. I can do much more with less effort, and my power level hasn't even started to plateau yet."

Josh bites his lip as he opens his locker and begins taking out the components of his suit. "I guess that won't help you if you can't control it, though... Julian's mutation is phenotypically identical to mine, but the genetics aren't the same. That makes a difference, doesn't it?" To be honest, Danny's mutation was one of the most complex he'd ever studied, and it was astonishing on the molecular level.

[Tempero]

>"...Not to get all cliche on your or anything, but I believe 100% in Professor Xavier's vision. This is a good place for mutant kids. It needs to exist."

Danny nods. Though he hasn't really had the chance to meet the professor, other than a few "good days" while passing by, the idea that this one man built up all of this (he does a mental wave over the elevator and the school), must mean that said one man was someone very caring and determined.

> "Do you want to borrow mine? I'm not trying to brag or anything, but we've been trying to track our development over time. Holding stuff like practice intensity, relative experience, that sort of thing constant... we're pretty sure that my powers are simply stronger. I can do much more with less effort, and my power level hasn't even started to plateau yet."

Danny bites his lip, looking a bit to the side. Since that one time when he gave Josh's powers a power boost, he has been determined on not borrowing that power.

"Your power is stronger than Julian's," he comments quietly.

"I boosted Juilan once, and that gave him roughly what you can do now. When I boosted yours that one time...well, you know," he waves a hand vaguely in the air, and then shrugs.

As Josh starts getting his suit out, Danny realizes two things. One, he is grossly unprepared for this, dressed in a sweatshirt and a pair of jeans, with a random pair of low-quality sneakers on his feet. Two, he really does envy Josh for the uniform. Danny gives his best to set up a block on that emotion, so that Josh wouldn't accidentally pick it up, but doubts that it would help much against even a scan that is marginally more deliberate than picking up something that passes by. Luckily, a distraction shows itself in view of further power discussion.

> "I guess that won't help you if you can't control it, though... Julian's mutation is phenotypically identical to mine, but the genetics aren't the same. That makes a difference, doesn't it?"

"They're close enough, I'd say. The colors are only by a small shade different. And yours is more intense, though I think that's because it's mixed with the telepathy. I guess the middle part of the powers would be the same, but the lower and upper limits of yours would be harder to reach. Like, if I were trying to push a building over or write with a pencil, it would be easier with Julian's because I've had more practice. That's not really the problem..." he bites his lip again.

"To tell you the truth, I'm just kind of scared of your power. I mean, not that it would take on a life of its own or anything, but...you know..." he says, hoping Josh does, because Danny himself is not particularly sure of the cause of this small fear.

[Josh Dalton Worthington]

> "I boosted Juilan once, and that gave him roughly what you can do now. When I boosted yours that one time...well, you know,"

Josh lets out a laugh. "Yeah, I know. Believe me, it was a bit of a shock on this end as well." He scoots out of his pajama pants and drops his t-shirt on the ground. As he does this, he realizes that Danny isn't changing.

"You don't have a uniform, do you? You always practice in street clothes." Josh sizes Danny up for a minute. "We should have something that fits you." He suddenly realizes he's standing only in a pair of skimpy boxer briefs, and feels embarassed, quickly pulling on his uniform pants. He moves over to one of the display cases and rummages through a storage unit. "Here... this is one of Bobby's older uniforms, before he switched to the trunks." Josh turns a critical eye on Danny. "I hope the pants fit, because you're way taller than me. If Bobby's top is too big, you can try one of mine." He gives the clothes to Danny and starts pulling on the rest of his uniform. "Believe me, the uniform is necessary. It's got a lightweight kevlar mesh beneath the top layer, and we've also added a couple of other features as well."

> I guess the middle part of the powers would be the same, but the lower and upper limits of yours would be harder to reach.

"You know, that make sense. It's the small fiddly things or the lifting vehicles and holding up buildings stuff that uses the most energy." Josh zips up his suit and puts his gloves on.

"To tell you the truth, I'm just kind of scared of your power. I mean, not that it would take on a life of its own or anything, but...you know..."

Josh turns from the rack of silver earpieces without picking one up, and looks at Danny for a moment. "You're afraid of me?" His voice is even, but there's a hint of sadness to it. "It's funny you say that... for a long time I thought I might have something like the Phoenix inside me... a dark side, so to speak. It was easy to draw comparisons... but, I'm not Phoenix. I grew into my powers, and didn't have them dropped on me all at once." Josh shrugs. "I think that was the problem - the Professor's mental blocks. He was a great man, but great people just make mistakes that are bigger than normal people."

"My powers are a little wilder than Julian's, I think. The Professor and Jean always told me that I had a an incredibly powerful gift - but I think that just makes them a bit harder to keep a lid on." Josh smiles tentatively. "The splitting headaches I get from overuse help remind me that I'm human, though."

[Tempero]

> "Yeah, I know. Believe me, it was a bit of a shock on this end as well."

Danny nods. "Um, sorry about that. I thought I was helping," he says with a shrug and a small "I was innocent then" smile," meanwhile wondering if he has apologized enough yet, or if it would be courteous to do some more of that. He is good at apologizing, after all. And, maybe, that will be enough to distract Josh from the surprise on Danny's face at the rather diminutive amount of clothing in which he seems comfortable standing before the other.

>"You don't have a uniform, do you? You always practice in street clothes."

Danny squints a bit, wondering if there has been a "get your own uniform" sign up sheet circling the school that he missed, and then feels a bit of shame when his normal clothes are mentioned. "Am I supposed to have one?"

>"We should have something that fits you."

He's relieved when Josh puts on the pants, feeling some sort of guilt about seeing stuff Warren should only be seeing (enter guilt, part 89). At the same time tries to hide the excitement he feels because of the mention of him wearing a uniform of the X-men.

>"Here... this is one of Bobby's older uniforms, before he switched to the trunks. I hope the pants fit, because you're way taller than me. If Bobby's top is too big, you can try one of mine."

He takes the uniform and pauses for a bit, as if paying homage to it, and a few seconds pass, and then it is over. He undresses, but does not spend more than a second in his black boxers before pulling the pants up, as much for the excitement of wearing the uniform as for the protection of his own very shy self.

As it turns out, the uniform fits perfectly down, but the top ends up just a slight bit too loose. "Er, the top is too big, but not by a lot..." he says as he tries the gloves on, finding them too big as well. "The gloves too..."

The boots fit, and in a few moments, Danny is standing in the uniform, and though the top parts don't fit all that well, can't help but feel very good in it. Finally wearing a uniform!

>"You're afraid of me?

Danny raises his hands and begins to wave his head no, opening his mouth to correct Josh, but he goes on before such a chance presents itself.

>"It's funny you say that... for a long time I thought I might have something like the Phoenix inside me... ... The splitting headaches I get from overuse help remind me that I'm human, though."

Danny sighs a bit, and waves his head. "That's just the thing. I'm not afraid of you. I'm afraid of your powers, in me. I wouldn't be growing into them, as you said you did. I would be acquiring them all at once. And I've had enough trouble with my own telepathy before, and that's not nearly as strong as yours. Besides...you have two powers. I'm just going to have to grow into that, and the road to it is via other examples of TK and Telepathy that are weaker." he explains, all the while ignoring the temptation in the back of his mind. He wants to try out Josh's mutation, and quite a bit, but he can't do that just yet.

[Josh Dalton Worthington]

> "Er, the top is too big, but not by a lot..."

Josh pulls lightly on the uniform's collar. "Yeah, there's a bit of extra room, but I think mine is going to be too small for you." Josh pulls a pair of gloves out of his locker. "My spare gloves should fit you, though." He tosses the set in Danny's general direction.

> "That's just the thing. I'm not afraid of you. I'm afraid of your powers, in me. I wouldn't be growing into them, as you said you did. I would be acquiring them all at once."

He nods rapidly. "That's a really good point, actually. My powers are dangerous... for other people. They're old hat for me." Josh screws up his face, trying to remember. "Rogue only borrowed my powers once, but it was a bad experience. My telekinesis has a pretty steep learning curve."

Josh scrutinizes Danny, now fully uniformed. "Nice. I'm sure you'll have the girls crawling over you - did I mention the suit perks? I swear, that's what did it for Warren... no one can resist a man in uniform." Josh grins as he plucks a earpiece from the rack and heads for the door.

[Tempero]

He nods in agreement, and replaces the gloves happily. Finally done, he takes a moment to decide what the uniform feels like. It feels great, that's how it feels!

>"That's a really good point, actually. My powers are dangerous... for other people. They're old hat for me. Rogue only borrowed my powers once, but it was a bad experience. My telekinesis has a pretty steep learning curve."

"Yeah, I thought as much. I don't know, maybe when I've mastered Julian's, I'd take yours for a test drive, but only under very controlled conditions and-yeah..." he trails off before ending that with a "because I want to know what's it like."

>"Nice. I'm sure you'll have the girls crawling over you - did I mention the suit perks? I swear, that's what did it for Warren... no one can resist a man in uniform."

Danny blushes a bit, and inwardly curses himself for it, shrugging and looking down at the uniform. "Heh, that's if I even get seen in it. But thanks." he comments, not particularly keen on elaborating on the critical failure he has had in the love department. It is bad enough that everyone knows how bad he is at making friends (something that shouldn't be so hard, right?), he doesn't need more embarrassing details about him revealed. Like that I am 19 and still a virgin... Waiting for that special someone doesn't seem to be as short as people claim it is or as good as movies show it is.

Danny grabs an earpiece as well, figuring it's something everyone's supposed to have on missions, and follows Josh through the door and towards the hangar. On the way, he glances at Josh, and can't help but wonder what it is that he, Danny, could have possibly done to deserve the honor of going on a mission with the X-men, even if it is for just once in his life.

"You really think so?" he asks tentatively as they pass a particularly reflective surface (how couldn't it be with metal all over?), and sees himself in it. It's not standard attire, but he could get used to being seen in it. He finds himself regretting, for a moment, not combing his snow white hair, at least.

As they come up to the door, it opens, revealing the Blackbird. Danny gapes, realizing that he gets to ride in it when going out on a mission, for a change. The whole place is so new that he barely notices the people there.