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momma and the younger kids on the farm. Up until I got that letter, I thought Josh’d always stay on the farm, on account of he took such pride in it. More than once w’hen I’d come home for a visit, Josh’d go out of his way to tell me that he ’n’ momma had the farm well in hand, thrusting that fact in my face like a badge of honor he’d won in a war I’d never fought. ’Course, he was always a little jealous that our sister Paige and I had gotten to leave the farm and go to private boarding schools. But at that same time, he’d always take great pride in the fine job he ’n’ Momma had done in taking care of the farm and our younger brothers and sisters. Besides, Paige and I only went away for school because we’d discovered that we had mutant powers, and going away to the Xavier Institute and the Massachusetts Academy was the best way to deal with them. Josh was pretty relieved that he didn’t have that particular curse.
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    ’Cept maybe his singing. Lord, he has such a lovely singing voice, like no one I’d heard before or since. Oh, ’cept for Lila. Or Alison Blaire. ’Course, they’re professionals. What the heck did my dangfool brother know about “making it” as a singer? How could he leave the farm to go on some merry chase to be the next Garth Brooks? I love my brother. But if he was standing in front of me when I got the news, I swear I would’ve boxed his ears. How dare he leave Momma alone to run the farm for something as frivolous as this? College I could understand. But a singing career? With poor Joelle probably still recovering from her run-in with that cult and the rest of the young’uns still not big enough to handle the farm by themselves, and Momma . . . well, I just couldn’t stop thinking about it. I had to figure out what to do.
    Now mind you, I ain’t ashamed to say that I had one or two other things worrying me on a fair to regular basis— not the least of which was my recent promotion from leader of the X-Force team to a full-fledged member of the X-Men. But dangit, family’s important. I couldn’t stop thinkin’ about Josh leaving the farm. And I couldn’t stop thinking about my momma workin’ herself to the bone, with me gone for years, Paige havin’ left only recently, and now Josh. And I couldn’t help but feeling a symphony of guilt that started as soon as I discovered my mutant powers and took Professor Xavier’s offer. But most of all, I couldn’t stop tryin’ to figure out what I could tell Josh to make him give up this damnfool idea and get him to go back to the farm where he belongs. And that’s what I was thinkin’ about when the Beast threw Gambit at me.
    For most of the week, Professor X had seen fit to pit
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    pairs of us X-Men against each other for practice. For this particular Danger Room session, the Professor put the Beast and Gambit on one side, and Archangel and myself on the other. Two flyers against two walkers. Heck, I had Archangel on my side, and he’s one of the original X-Men. I figured we had it all over Hank and Remy. Of course, I didn’t account for how distracted I’d be over that letter.
    The X-Men call it a “fastball special”: one member throws the other one to take out one or several opponents. Well, that’s all well and good if you’re fighting against the Marauders or the Genoshan High Guard, but I guess I didn’t expect it in a simple Danger Room sequence.
    I’m invulnerable to dang near anything when I’m using my blasting power. Gambit knew that, and it gave him free reign to cut loose. Remy charged up his quarterstaff, filling it to bursting with energy, and, with the force of the fastball special behind him, brought it full-tilt into my solar plexus. Now, it didn’t exactly hurt. But it bounced me off a couple of the Danger Room’s walls and shocked me out of blasting. I hit the floor, dislocating my shoulder.
    Now, these Danger Room sessions are rough on purpose. Professor X says it’s