will1@earthling.net

 Locke in a Summers Land

 by Phil Hartman

 DISCLAIMER: Jake, Connor, Deirdre,
Brian (the Summers) and Brandon are 
mine. The rest are Marvel's. It's all 
fiction. No money is being made off of 
this.

 TAGLINE: After her fight with 
Cassandra Nova, Betsy's trapped 
outside of her body, and seeks some 
small help ...

 NOTE: AU; The sequel to "Short Bright
Bugspray of the Soul," and something a
bit lighter ... even if it does involve 
Summerses :)

 NOTE 2: Some language, plot bunnies,
silliness and - well, Summerses :)

-------------------------------------
 
 The irony of it was just too annoying.

 #Psy-LOCKE. Locked out of her body.
Bloody hell, this is just too cute ... if it
weren't potentially lethal,# Betsy Braddock
thought, looking down at her comatose
physical form in the X-Mansion's medlab.

 She was being monitored closely by 
Hank McCoy, and she couldn't help but feel
guilty; he should've been free to follow the
evidence she'd found of Cecilia Reyes' location.
But a team had been organized by Logan, so
the missing Puerto Rican doctor's fate was
in good hands.

 #And I suppose being comatose does 
qualify for a doctor's attention. Especially
when there's no bloody REASON why I'm
STUCK OUT OF MY BODY!?# Betsy psi-snarled,
struggling to re-enter her body.

 She yelped, as - for the fifth time in an
hour - her astral form unceremoniously
bounced off of a powerful psionic shield
surrounding her physical form.

 #This shouldn't be bloody possible. My
mind is outside of my body, and should
be generating a shield for itself. So why,
if I'm out here, is my body psionically
shielded against my mind? And why the
HELL does the shield read like I'm inside
my body!?# Betsy thought, frustration
coloring her purple-tinged form with
shades of orange.

 She calmed herself, then tried again to
telepathically reach - well, anyone. Despite
Charles Xavier sitting beside her bed, and
Jean Summers standing at the other side
of her body, Betsy still couldn't seem to
get their attention.

 "Something's very wrong, Charles.
I can't penetrate Betsy's shield, but if
her mind's not inside her body, then
how can she be shielding herself?"
Jean asked her mentor.

 #At least you're asking the right questions,
Jean. I have faith you and Charles can figure
out a solution ... eventually,# Betsy thought,
flowing *through* Jean -

 - and getting a sudden reaction.

 "She's here. But it's like she's - split.
Or faded - not dying, but more like her
conscious mind is trapped outside her
body," Jean exclaimed, looking around.

 #YES! That's it - and why didn't I think
of that? If I knew what I did against that
sow Cassandra - obviously, we won, but
if I knew more about how that happened,
I might be able to formulate a solution,#
Betsy pondered. She looked at Xavier,
who appeared to be lost in thought.

 "She manifested both her telepathy and
telekinesis at the same time to defeat 
Cassandra. That must be the key - if
she was genetically keyed to keep her
telekinesis latent, then perhaps triggering
her telekinetic power caused some kind of 
genetic damage that is keeping her from
returning to her body ..." Xavier murmurred.

 #Oh, that's bloody WONDERFUL. I pushed so
hard that I scrambled my DNA? Well, I
can't have switched off my telepathy 
completely, or I wouldn't be astrally 
projecting. I hope Henry's got a genetic 
scanner refined enough to pinpoint the
damage ...# Betsy thought.

 She watched Hank move to perform the
scan, listening as he almost *purred,*
"I do hope, if you're there, Elizabeth,
that you keep hanging on. We are going 
to fix this, I promise."

 #I believe in you, Henry, dear. It's
not your skills I doubt, dear friends - 
it's how much time I have,# Betsy
reflected.

 Then, she "heard" a voice from the
south-southeast, and turned - 

 ~Hello?~ 

 Then the voice became a light, and
a flame-filled tunnel, and Betsy
suddenly felt acceleration pulling
her away from her body -

 #Oh, not ANOTHER near-death 
experience ...#

--------------------------------

 "I HAD her!"

 "Red ... she'll be OK. She has to be."

 "Tell that to Betsy, Scrapper. She
was stuck outside her body, for God's
sake - I could barely sense her. I don't
think it's just genetic damage, like
Uncle Hank thinks. I'm afraid she 
might've used up so much psionic
energy that she might not be able to
return to her body."

 #Thanks for the vote of confidence,
Rachel,# Betsy thought, blinking the
disorientation out of her "eyes." She
looked around, finding herself in a 
well-furnished living room, and saw
two teenagers sitting on a couch.

 Rachel Summers brushed red bangs
out of her green eyes, and leaned on
Franklin Richards' shoulder. "I thought
I could sense her - I thought maybe I
could show her the way back, or at
least told Mom or the Professor where
Betsy was," the telepathic girl sighed.

 "Don't beat yourself up. And you
might've done the next best thing,"
Franklin said, gently motioning Rachel
to sit up as he looked right at Betsy.
She smiled, holding out a hand, and
started to project -

 - but Frank shook his head, then stood,
and scowled.

 "She is here. But it's not like it was
in Dreamtime - even if I astrally 
projected, I'm not telepathically skilled
enough to get ahold of her, and the local
astral plane is ... different. Less stable,"
Frank said, his voice becoming apologetic.

 ~Not your fault, Franklin. What happened
in Australia was a unique experience - and
it may be helping. I did have to keep my
astral form cohered there long enough to
speak to Bishop  ... willpower is one thing,
but telepathic experience is just as important
in surviving cases like these ...~ Betsy thought,
trying to smile at her rescuer.

 "She's HERE!? Betsy - Frank, let me look
through your eyes, let me try to help her!"
Rachel asked as she leapt to her feet. He
took her hands in his, and Betsy could feel
them psi-link - 

 - even as she "heard" a cacaphony of 
other mental voices, and turned to see the
sitting room fill with a crowd of young,
red-headed (or mostly red-headed) children.
The tallest, Betsy recognized as Nathan, 
Rachel's 10-year-old brother, but the others ...

 #I'm embarrassed to admit that I lost track
of how many Scott and Jean have actually
*had,*# Betsy thought, blushing a bit as
she looked at the gathering crowd. 

 Nathan squinted, his blue eyes narrowing as
he seemed to take in Betsy's outline, and he
nodded. "She's there, all right - I can't 
really make out more than a blurry purple
blob, though," the fifth-grader said,
afternoon sunlight glinting off of his buzzed
brown hair.

 "I can see her," a shorter, red-haired girl
with green eyes said, cocking her head at an
angle. "She's mad - and scared - but she's
kinda laughing, too."

 ~An empath, and a telepath?~ Betsy sent,
amused - the girl was right, she admitted,
even if she was a bit too blunt. But then,
many empaths Betsy had met tended to cut
to the chase ... 

 ~I'm Deirdre, or DeeDee,~ the Summers
girl sent, smiling. ~Don't you remember me?~

 ~I'm sorry, DeeDee. There are so many of 
you that it's easy to lose track,~ Betsy sent - 
she was grateful for the contact, and the 
children seemed pleasant enough.

 A boy with the same green eyes and height
as DeeDee, but crowned by a mess of 
red-brown curls where she had straight
red hair, met Betsy's gaze and held out his 
hand to her. "She's kinda faded, tho'," he
said, looking at DeeDee with concern.
 
 "Well, don't suck her up, Con! You can't
make her a statue or anything," DeeDee
insisted, looking at the boy with an angry
glare.

 ~A statue? How ... intriguing,~ Betsy
thought, raising an eyebrow and looking
at the boy. He shrugged, then smiled
sheepishly at her as his hands started to
glow with pink energy.

 "How can you guys 'hear' Aunt Betsy
and I can't?" Rachel asked, walking over
to where her younger siblings were 
gathered around Betsy's astral form.

 ~They might be more accustomed to 
telepathy,~ Betsy sent; maybe, if there
were enough psis around, she was somehow
feeding off of the spare psionic energy, and
it was reinforcing her astral form?

 She felt a TUG, then - gentle, reassuring,
and not entirely unwelcome, and looked down
into two pairs of blue eyes. They belonged to 
the smallest of the Summers children - two
boys with identical faces and average-length
red hair.

 "Don't be scared," one of the twins said,
smiling. "I'm Brian."

 ~Hello, Brian. I'm Betsy - my brother is
named Brian, as well. I'm not scared anymore,
Betsy sent, smiling as she took the boy's
offered hand and shook it. She dropped
to one knee, then looked at his twin and
asked, ~Can your brother see me?~

 "Nuh-uh. Brandon's not a tepe," Brian
said, looking almost apologetically at his
twin. Brandon shrugged, then smiled
in Betsy's general direction before he
looked at a noise behind the children.

 "Captain - we've found Ms. Braddock's
astral form," Rachel said, her tone becoming
respectful as Captain America walked into
the room. The Sentinel of Liberty nodded,
then smiled faintly as he shook Rachel's,
then Frank's, hands and looked toward
where Betsy was rising.

 "I'll take your word for it, Rachel - and
that of our latest guests," Cap said, as
the air split. Betsy felt a surge of relief
when Hank appeared from the growing
teleportal, followed by Jean, Scott,
Neal, and Davis Cameron - 

 - and a panicked-looking Warren, who
was cradling Betsy's still-comatose body.

 "You're sure she's here?" Warren asked
Rachel, who nodded as she and her siblings
greeted Jean and Scott. 

 "She's right there, Unca War," Brian
said, pointing at where Betsy was still
floating. Warren smiled at the boy, then
walked toward Betsy's astral form
before looking at Hank.
 
 "The psionic energy surge which accompanied
Betsy's use of both her telepathy and telekinesis
has dissapated, Warren. She should be able to
re-enter her body now," Hank said, smiling
as the younger Summers kids looked at him
in awe. 

 "God, please let this work," Warren breathed,
walking toward Betsy, who reached out a hand
to her body - 

 - but not before she heard a shout from the west,
and had a flash of *someone* shouting something
about "I'm related to THEM!?" -

 - and enraged blue eyes, set in a grim young
face with the faintest red fuzz for hair, met hers - 

 - and then she was back in her body.
 
 "Something - Warren, set me down, I'm
all right," Betsy asked. She smiled at him,
then gave him a peck on the cheek and  returned
Neal's relieved grin before she dropped to one
knee and let the Summers kids gather around.

 "Thank you all," she said, hugging Brian and
Brandon, then shaking Connor's hand and 
returning DeeDee's bear hug. "If it weren't for
you, I'd've been terribly lonely until the other
adults got here."

 "That's OK, Aunt Betsy," DeeDee said, beaming.
"We're just glad you're OK."

 "Thank you, Deirdre. And let this be a lesson -
don't push yourselves without knowing what
the consequences will be," Betsy advised, before
she stood and let Rachel, then Jean, hug her. 
 
 ~We owe you, big-time. Whatever that 'Cassandra'
being was, she almost killed all of us. If you hadn't
intervened ...~ Jean sent, privately, as
Davis reopened his teleportal, and Scott shooed the
Summers kids through it back to the mansion.

 ~Think nothing of it. But, Jean ... just before I
returned to my body, I thought I saw - maybe
precogged - well ...~ Betsy sent, walking 
with Jean through the portal into the X-Mansion's
War Room.

 ~Did you and Scott have any children before Rachel?~

 Jean went ashen, and Scott's head snapped up from
where he was chatting with their children. Rachel
caught the exchange, then herded the younger kids
out of the room, as Hank, Neal, Warren, Frank and
finally Davis came through the portal from
Avengers Mansion.

 "Uh - I'll leave," Frank said, gulping as he
noticed the tension between Betsy and the adult
Summerses. The teen followed after Rachel, while
Warren walked to Betsy's side and gave her a 
concerned glance.

 "I ... get the feeling this is a little 'old-school,'
am I right?" Neal asked, starting to point Davis
toward an exit.

 "I'd appreciate you showing Davis around the
rest of the complex, Neal, thank you. And if
you happen to see the Professor or Ororo,
please send them here," Betsy asked, her
voice carefully neutral. 

 The Hindu X-Man silently nodded, not missing
the way Scott put an arm around Jean, nor
now Warren seemed to shelter Betsy with his
wings. Hank looked confused, but waited until
Neal and Davis had left to ask, "What is going on?"

 "Jacob," Jean said, her eyes welling as she
met Betsy's gaze. "Betsy saw him."

 And at that, Warren and Hank gasped, echoed by
empathic "gasps" of shock, regret, confusion
and - defensiveness? - toward Jean and Scott.

 "I'm not accusing you of anything, any of
you," Betsy said, gently; she wasn't about to
pass judgment until she had a better idea of what
in the hell was going on. 

 "All I know is that somewhere out west,
there's a young man with a great deal of
anger, and your hair and Scott's eyes, Jean. 
I didn't want to drag all this out before I 
asked about it, but if this is a threat to the team -"

 "It shouldn't be," Scott said, turning to see
Xavier roll in, followed by Ororo. To Xavier,
Scott said, "Betsy had a precognitive flash
about Jake."

 Xavier's expression became pained, while
Ororo looked curious, then concerned. She 
crossed the floor and put a hand on Jean's
shoulder, and asked Betsy, "Who is -"

 "My first child with Scott, Ororo, all
right?! We gave him up for adoption at
birth!" Jean blurted, pulling away from
Scott. 

 She walked a bit away from her husband,
then met Betsy's blue gaze and asked, "Is he -
what did you see?"

 "I felt something, as well. He's angry - 
blue eyes, very short hair, maybe military,
given his self-control - and he knows that
he's related to you. It came from out
west, somewhere," Betsy said, letting
her regret seep out - she hadn't meant to
open old wounds ...

 "I'm not angry, Betsy, believe me," Jean
said, her expression softening as she reached
for her friend. The women linked hands, and
Jean gave Ororo a regretful look until the
Kenyan woman hugged both Jean and Betsy.

 'You had good reason to keep this quiet,
my sister, I am sure," Ororo whispered,
even as she looked at Xavier with a questioning
expression.

 "Charles actually wanted us to keep Jacob,
'Ro. But we couldn't - Scott and I weren't
married, we were 19 ..." Jean breathed,
wiping her eyes as Ororo released her and
Betsy.

 "You see, Jake was human. And we couldn't
risk him becoming embittered, in a place full of
only mutants ... no matter how much it hurt to
let him go ... it hurt too much to tell any of you.
I'm sorry ..."

 Betsy's heart sank as Jean clung to Scott,
and she looked at Warren. "You were right not
to tell me this," she told her ex-lover. "I have
no right to accuse you of keeping this secret ..."

 And she didn't, Betsy thought. How many dark
little nuggets of *her* past as a STRIKE agent,
or even simply a naughty supermodel, had she 
neglected to share with her teammates, because
they didn't seem to be important?

 "Thanks for understanding," Warren said, and
Betsy hugged him, if only out of a desire for 
simple adult human contact. She'd been out
of her body for too long, and the emotional
shocks of the past 24-plus hours were 
catching up with her ...

 ... but there was one last thing to be said.

 "Jean, Scott - you need to know," Betsy
interjected, as she yawned from exhaustion.

 "Your human son?"

 "He's coming for answers. And I think he's
not going to be alone ..."


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 tbc ...
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