It was early in the morning and Ian was up, after a long night of trying to get sleep, and was now getting ready for the day. It had been a weak since he returned to the institute, and during that time he received many get well wishes and the likes from the other students and teachers in the school.
" Good morning, Beautiful. Have a good first day at your new job." Ian picked up his phone and texted Rahne.
" Good morning, handsome. Thank ye, I'll do my best. I love ye." Rahne replied.
" I love ye too. Call me after school, I wanna hear all about yuir day." Ian sent out a quick reply and quickly left his room. He walked down the stairs to the next floor and was greeted by one of his friends.
" Yo! Sinclair, what's up!" Julian shouted as Ian walked down the flight of stairs.
Ian turned and greeted the boy in return.
" Yo, what's up Julian? What are you doing up so early?" Ian asked. Julian was the last person he expected to see up and early.
" Oh, I had remedial classes today, and Miss Frost made me get up early for them." Julian replied.
" Oh, that's right. i forgot you had those." Ian stated.
" Yeah..." Julian spoke as he rubbed his head. " So... How are you holding up man?" Julian asked.
" I'm making the best of it, Julian. Trying to get on with my life. But it'll be a while before I'm alright." Ian told the man.
" Yeah, I figured." Julian spoke. " Well, look man, if you ever want to talk about it, I'll be there for you man." Julian stated which was surprising for Ian. Julian had never treated him as anything even close to an equal, yeah, he eased up on him before, but he was still a jerk. And yet now, he offered him a shoulder to cry on.
" Wow, Julian. That was unexpected." Ian spoke.
" Yeah, well. Don't expect it every time you get hurt. I'm not gonna hold your hand for you." Julian replied.
" Yeah, okay tough guy. You ready to go to class?" Ian asked.
" Yeah, man. Let's go." Julian replied.
The two boys walked to their math class together. Something that surprised Bobby as he had always seen Julian messing with Ian.
" Good morning, you two. This is... Uh, well. I'm glad to see you getting along for once. Ian, once again, it's good to have you back. You don't have to be here today if you don't want. You can afford a few more days of rest if you want it." Bobby spoke.
" No, I'm good. I'm already behind as it is. I'll have to play catch up big time if I want to keep up with the others." Ian told the man.
" Well, alright then. But you haven't missed as much as you think. In fact, I'm sure you'll be caught up in no time. Just make sure to pay attention in class." Bobby explained.
" You got it." Ian replied.
Ian was confident he could catch up in no time if he just put forth the effort, but when class did start, he realized how far behind he was. The things they were going over were completely different than anything he had read in the book so far. It was so bad that Ian had Cessily, Julian, Brian, and Santo of all people helping him along with the lesson. Cessily was always a beautiful and smart girl in Ian's eyes, but the rest.... Now that's the problem. Getting shown up and helped along like a helpless child, now that lit a fire in Ian's gut. He promised himself that he would spend as much time after school was over catching up.
After the class was over, Ian walked with the new mutants on to the next class, which for Ian and Cessily would be science.
" Man, that sucked so bad." Ian groaned. He hated having to have Julian and the Hellions help him with Math.
" Hah! Eat it, nerd. I'm smarter than you now!" Julian exclaimed. He wrapped his arm around Ian's neck and hugged him.
" Knock it off, Julian. Don't mind him, Ian. Julian's just glad he's finally better than you at something." Cessily stated.
" Hey, Cess!" Julian exclaimed.
" Face it, Julian. You're the jealous type." Cessily told the boy.
" Yeah? Well, Ian... You should have seen how much of a nervous wreck; Cess was while you were- OW! OW! OW! OW!" Cessily hit Julian over the head repeatedly with her bag.
" UGGHHHHH!" Cessily growled. " You can be so annoying, Julian!" Cessily exclaimed. " But I'm really happy you're okay, Ian." Cessily spoke. Her attitude did a complete 180 from when she was talking with Julian.
" Thank you, Cess. I'm glad to be back. But man does this suck! I can't believe I had to take notes from Julian of all people." Ian groaned.
" Oh, it's not that bad. You can always borrow mine if you want." Cessily told the man.
" Thanks, Cess. I think I'm gonna need all the help I can get." Ian replied. " As long as it's not from Julian, I'll take it."
" Oh, you can go straight to hell." Julian exclaimed. " See ya later jerks. Come on boys!" Julian huffed and stormed off with Santo and Brian laughing at him along the way.
" Come on, Cess. Let's get to class. I can't wait to see how far behind I am here too." Ian groaned.
" Oh, don't worry. I made sure to take as many notes as possible. You can borrow mine anytime." Cessily replied.
" Thank ye, Cess. Yuir a saint!" Ian cried he, he stared at Cessily through a ray of light and cried manly tears.
" Hey, Ian!" Sofia called out. Ian turned and saw the New Mutants were approaching him and waved.
" Hey, Sofia. Guys." Ian spoke.
" What's going on, man? Haven't seen you at any of the training sessions." David asked.
" Yeah, well. I'm not on the squad anymore that's why." Ian replied.
" What, why not?" Sofia asked.
" Well, you guys have Kevin now. So, there was no room on the team for me. But hey that's okay. I still get to train with Logan. And that's better than nothing." Ian told the group. " But, hey I'll catch you guys later. We have class right now."
" Wait, I got this one too man." Josh stated. " Come on, I got the notes you'll need."
" No, thanks. Cess said she'd let me borrow hers. But thanks man." Ian replied.
After saying goodbye to the others Ian, Sofia, and Josh all walked into the classroom where Hank was already writing on the board.
" Mr. McCoy?" Ian called out to the man.
" I'm not here yet! Just ignore me!" Hank exclaimed. He seemed rather excited about something, but what? Ian didn't know. Hank then hopped down from the ceiling and quickly departed from the classroom.
" Okay? That was weird." Ian stated.
" You're just now getting that?" Josh asked.
" Hey, I like Mr. McCoy's enthusiasm." Ian stated.
" I do too. That doesn't mean he's not weird, Ian." Cessily replied.
" Eh, it is what it is." Ian spoke.
After Hank left to handle whatever, it is he needed to the rest of the class came flooding in. It seemed like they had some kind of sixth sense that let them know when to come in, as they almost always seemed to come in at the same time.
' Ugh! These guys are so loud, I can barely hear myself think. Where is Mr. McCoy when I need?' Ian asked himself.
Suddenly as if on cue, Hank burst back into the class with a smile on his face.
" WELCOME STUDENTS! Sorry I'm running late, but I just had to greet someone before we started today. Let me tell you, today is gonna be a special day because we have a new assistant teacher joining us. She's one of my old students and a very beloved member of this school. She was also a founding member of the original new mutants; you might have known her as Wolfsbane. Please give me a helping hand in giving a warm welcome to our newest staff member, Rahne Sinclair!" Hank exclaimed.
Ian's eyes darted towards Hank after having heard the name. He watched in shock as Rahne, his girlfriend, walked into the classroom, with her hair straight down, and wearing a green suit with a skirt.
The moment she entered, she started looking over the class, with a smile on her face, and then it happened, she locked eyes with Ian and her smile vanished. She realized in the moment that if she wasn't careful, people would know they know each other. So, Rahne played it off in attempt to keep others from getting suspicious.
The rest of the class, however, were too busy clapping to have noticed.
" Hello, it's a pleasure to be back, working with all of you. I look forward to seeing how you all grow for the rest of the year. Thank you." Rahne spoke.
Ian was shocked by this development. Not only had he not known that Rahne was a mutant, but now she was his teacher too. It seemed like the universe was just doing everything in its power to try and pry them apart. Before they had to worry about the small age gap they had, which in New York wouldn't have been a problem since the age of consent was 17. Ian knew this, he had looked it up. But now, he was also dating his teacher, which is frowned upon even more than a19 year old and a 17-year-old dating each other.
He hung his head low and sighed, because he knew that sometime today, they were going to have to have a talk about this situation they've found themselves in.
" I can't believe it. Rahne's back." Ian heard josh say.
He looked up from his desk to see the boy staring at Rahne with a smile on his face, and for a moment a feeling of anger snuck into Ian's heart. He noticed how Josh eyed her up and down and he knew right there that something was up.
" Alright, let's begin class." Ian heard Hank say. He turned his attention back to the front of the class and watched as Hank started to write on his board more.
An uncomfortable hour later and the class had come to an end.
" Alright, students. I will have Rahne pass out your homework. I expect you'll have no problems in handling it." Hank spoke. He handed a giant stack of papers to Rahne, and she began passing them out. She made quick work of it, but as she passed by Ian's desk, she gave him a look that Ian understood perfectly.
It was the " We really need to talk." Look. Ian knew from anywhere.
After everyone had been handed their sheets, Hank quickly dismissed the class. He then gathered his things and quickly left to return to his lab
" Come on, Ian. Let's go." Cessily spoke.
" Sorry, Cess. I need to... I need to uhm.... See the teacher about something. I'll see you later." Ian replied.
Cessily nodded her head, thinking Ian might have still been confused about the lesson, and quickly left the classroom behind, leaving only Ian and Rahne still standing there.
" We've got a lot to talk about, don't we?" Ian asked.
" Ye think?! Why didn' ye tell me, ye where a mutant?" Rahne asked.
" Why didn't ye tell me you were a mutant?" Ian replied. IF Rahne felt it was important, she knew, then he could argue the same.
" Because I'm... What I am isn't... Look, I just needed tae know. Ye can't hide things like this. If the others find out, I've been seeing one of my students. Och, dear." Rahne exclaimed. She was nervous and rightfully so. Teacher-student relationships were frowned upon by almost all of America.
Ian walked up to Rahne and placed his hand on her face.
" Hey, ye look real sexy in a suit, lass." Ian spoke. He looked down at Rahne's face and smiled.
" This is nae funny, Ian. What are we gonna do?" Rahne asked.
" We do, what we've been doin, love. We keep pushing forward. Together. Whatever happens, we face it together. Isn' tha' wha' we promised each other. To face our struggles together? To overcome our problems together. I know we also promised no secrets. And I'm sorry for keeping this from you. I wanted tae tell ye, but I jus didn' know how. I promise, I had nae intent on hidin this from ye, love." Ian told the woman, wrapped his arms around Rahne's waist and hugged her.
" But wha' if someone find's out? Och, dear wha' will Dani think? There's no way she'll be happy about this, neither will Emma, or Scott. Or... Or.." Rahne spoke frantically.
" Rahne, dear." Ian spoke,
" Yes?" Rahne asked.
" Kiss me." Ian told the woman.
" Okey." Rahne looked up and relaxed in Ian's arms. She leaned up on her tiptoes and planted her mouth softly against Ian's.
After a few moments, Ian took a step back.
" We'll get through this together. Alright?" Ian spoke.
" Okey." Rahne replied.
" I'll see you after class?" Ian asked.
" Yeah. I'll see ye after class." Rahne replied. Ian kissed Rahne again and then turned to leave the class. " Ian." Rahne called out to the boy, and he turned back. " I love ye. I really do." Rahne spoke.
Ian smiled and turned back. He walked up to Rahne and kissed her again.
" I love you too, Wolfsbane?" Ian asked.
" Och, it was ma codename. It fit." Rahnestated.
" Ye know, when we get the chance, I want tae talk powers. I would love tae see yuirs." Ian spoke.
" Later. Now, hurry and get tae yuir next class, before ye get in trouble." Rahne exclaimed. She was trying to run Ian off as fast as possible.
Ian laughed and walked out of the classroom with his head held high and a smile wide on his face. He knew they were in for a long year together. But if they made it through the end, then nothing could split them apart.