Chapter 9: You're In Trouble, Son!

Chayse caught a quick glimpse of the two love-birds ice-surfing by the window on his way to the Headmasters' office. He paused long enough to wish the two some fun, and watch as the lingering summer heat melted the ice trail behind them. Smart, Chayse thought, no evidence that they're "sneaking" out. Chayse smirked at his word-choice. While Nix and Annika were leaving the grounds without permission, Nix was being a bit showy for it to be a true "sneak out." Chayse shrugged. To each his own.

The cedar door before him seemed so intimidating. Behind that door could sit an ancient man who was still physically in his prime and had retractable claws made of sharp adamantium; essentially three long daggers that could extend from each fist. Or worse, it could be his mom in full-on "School Administrator" mode.

Chayse stared at the nunchaku still in his hand. He debated quickly phasing down into the armory to put it back first, but decided attempting to hide it in the plant outside the Headmasters' office and not making his mother wait was probably the best bet. Between swiping the weapon without permission, running the Danger Room at max level – and locking everyone else out of it – and spending the night outside his dorm with a co-ed, he wasn't sure what he was going to be in trouble for this time. He just hoped his mom wouldn't play the "disappointed" card.

With a soft rap on the door, Chayse slowly opened it and poked his head in. "Hello? You- uh- summoned me?" The office was dark, and he couldn't see his mother anywhere. "Mom?" Cautiously, he walked in further. As he neared her desk a hand shot out from it, forced him to phase, and whipped him through the large oak furniture before slamming him into his mother's chair.

Chayse's heart was already racing from the ambush. Then the disembodied hand retreated. A second later Kitty phased out of the top of her desk and pounced so each hand gripped an armrest on either side of Chayse. "What the hell were you thinking?" she yelled.

The boy gasped and threw a hand to his chest to try to steady both his breathing and his heart rate. "Geez, Mom! I'm too young for a heart attack!"

"Oh, yeah? Well what about your mother? I'm too young for them too, you know!" She smacked him upside the head. Not hard, but enough to get his attention.

"This is about the Danger Room, isn't it?" Chayse bashfully guessed as he rubbed where his mother hit him.

"You mean where you almost died training at higher than the recommended level? And not even faculty could get in to get you because you somehow managed to swipe my Complete Override codes? Yeah! I'm talking about that, Chayse!" Her voice had a strain in it; a high-pitched undertone.

Chayse forced himself to look at his mother. He already knew what he'd see, but he forced himself to look anyway. There they were, tears lining his mother's eyes; about ready to spill over. She was doing everything she could to stay strong and stern as she reprimanded him. She tried to stay impersonal as she disciplined him just like any other student; well, maybe more harshly than any other student. She was in Headmistress mode, and he could tell it was tearing her apart.

She wanted to just pull him in and squeeze him. Hold him like he was her infant again; close to her chest where she knew he'd be safe. Chayse knew his mother well enough to know that much. This was way worse than the "disappointed card." He had legitimately scared his mother.

Clearing her throat, Kitty leaned away from the chair and sat cross-legged on her desk. Pinching the bridge of her nose, she sighed. "Why would you do such a thing? Didn't you understand how badly you could be hurt? Yes, the Danger Room is designed to push to brink of - but never succeeding in - killing you, but that doesn't mean you couldn't be seriously hurt in there! We've had people maimed and end up in comas and other sort of horrible things. There is a reason there's a recommended level for everyone."

She leaned forward and squeezed Chayse's cheeks together, pinching his face in her hand. With her free hand she combed her fingers through his long hair, pulling locks of it out of his ponytail as she twisted strands with her thumb. Chayse had never noticed those worry lines across her forehead before.

With a huff she let him go and leaned back against her desk. She looked up at the still unlit recessed lighting and blinked a few times. Chayse used the time to quickly pull his hair back into the ponytail.

When she looked back at him her jaw was locked and her eyebrows were knitted together. "Beyond concern for your own health, how do you think that run looks to the other students? Even if you could have handled it – which you almost did – that would just be encouraging other students to try it. You keep underestimating how much the other kids here look up to you. You're popular, and doing a stupidly dangerous stunt like that just makes it look cool to the younger ones!"

She tapped her fingers on the hard oak, trying to channel her anger. Another sigh, and then she pushed herself off the desk and started pacing around it. "I know that this is unfair to you, but you need to understand the added burden that older students like you, Nix, Annika, and William bear. You four have so much influence over the other children that I am in charge of here. All the other kids that I'm responsible for their safety. You have to also understand how your actions affect more than just yourself. More than just this immediate family of you, me, and your father." She blew her bangs out of her eyes with a long exhale, "Your father, whom – I'm sure in part – is at fault for your recklessness. I knew those 'Father-Son' trips to the South were bad ideas."

Chayse opened his mouth to protest. What he did was on him. It wasn't his dad's fault or his influence. It was bad enough he scared his mother, he didn't need the added guilt of getting his father falsely in trouble as well. Before a single sound could puff out, Kitty threw her hand up and shook her head.

"I'm sorry, I'm going off topic. We can address your trips later. I need to stick to the issue at hand, and that is your behavior and misuse of the Danger Room. As I just stressed, I may be your mom, but I am also the Headmistress here. In charge of more than just my own kid. Other parents have entrusted their children to me, and it was bad enough that one got injured when Nix had a slip-up with his powers. I cannot allow preventable accidents to go unchecked. Therefore there is no way I can let your disregard for the rules and regulations of this school slide; it would look bad for the whole institute."

Chayse slouched in the chair. He already knew everything his mother was preaching to him. On any other day he wouldn't have even considered going as far as he did with the Danger Room, but he was having such a lousy day and needed something to take his aggression out on. Plus, he needed to prove to himself that he was better than his display during the Capture the Flag maze-run.

This whole thing is because I let Lia's critiques get in my head. Why does her opinion of me matter so much?

Kitty held up one finger as she counted. "First, you are banned from any non-class-related Danger Room training for a week." She extended a second finger, "Second, once that initial week is over, you are on Danger Room Probation. You are not allowed any solo sessions for at least a month, and at no point are you allowed any sessions without faculty supervision. In fact, until you once again gain my trust by proving you're as responsible as I know you can be, you are banned from even touching the controls for the Danger Room. You are to enter the room, train through the simulation, and then exit. That is it. And I never want to hear about you somehow using mine or Logan's Complete Override codes ever again. Understood?"

Chayse grumbled out a "Yes, Ma'am."

"About all parts?" Kitty challenged. She knew from years of experience that the LeBeau men were masters of half-truths and semi-promises. They could find a loophole in about anything. Chayse nodded that he understood everything so far.

"Good, because we're not done yet." Kitty picked up a paper from her desk, "I see that you're starting the Leadership and Tactics class this Monday. You clearly have a lot to learn about leadership, and so you will start the class with two demerits. You may negate these demerits by proving to either me, Wolverine, or Cyclops that you do understand the great challenges of Leadership. It is up to you to decipher how to do that. Keep in mind, if you end up getting a third demerit in that class for any reason, that is grounds for another detention session with Mr. Kinney." She circled her desk yet again, allowing her fingers to trail along the edge of the finely crafted wood. "And don't think we've forgotten the detention you already earned for that excursion to the city with your father after the school mixer. I believe Kinney is just about done concocting that one."

Chayse gulped and sank further into the chair, pulling his legs up to his chest.

"Your fourth and final punishment for your actions is that you shall spend this week down in the infirmary assisting Dr. Reyes as a second intern along with Filipe. I figured, you'll have tons of free-time since you won't be doing any D.R. sessions, and Reyes always seems to have her hands full at the beginning of a semester. Students haven't been fully taught yet, and tend to injure themselves a lot more frequently. She'll need the extra help. Besides, maybe once you see what the infirmary staff and interns have to go through to keep you alive you'll be more inclined to not add to that workload."

Chayse was oddly alright with this last bit of punishment. He did want to thank both Filipe and Dr. Reyes for healing him; this seemed like an appropriate way of doing so. He probably would have thought of doing this on his own anyway.

"Are we clear on all of your new restrictions, rules, and punishments?"

"Yes, Ma'am." Chayse sheepishly looked past his knees at his mother.

"Are you going to do something that asinine again?"

Probably, Chayse thought, and was instantly glad his mother wasn't the telepathic one. Nix couldn't get away with anything! Thinking it best to tell a white lie right now - he would try really hard not to do anything this stupid again – he simply said "No, Ma'am" and climbed out of her chair.

"Good. Then we're done here; for now." She had a stern look as a way to remind him that there was still that issue about whether or not his trips with his father to The Thieves Guild back in Remy's hometown outside New Orleans were a good idea.

Chayse slinked past his mother as she gestured towards the door. He could have kicked himself. Once again he failed. Once again he couldn't live up to the expectations his parents had for him. Once again he didn't think about the repercussions of his actions. Once again he disappointed so many. Normally, he'd cheer himself up by working out his frustrations in the D.R., but he couldn't even do that with his punishment. Chayse had no clue what to do with himself now.

"Oh, and Chayse?" Kitty's voice was a lot softer; kinder. She was definitely in Mom-Mode now.

He stopped at the door, his hand resting on the handle. He could picture it already; the waterworks as she pulled him to her chest and whimpered about how terrified she was about losing her only little boy. He wasn't sure he could handle that guilt piled on top of everything else. Reluctantly, he turned.

Her eyes were surprisingly dry, and a few laugh-wrinkles formed at the corners as she gave him a small smile. "I went back and watched the footage of your session. New high score, saving every victim, and taking out nine sentinels by yourself. A very impressive run. One for the records."

The tension in Chayse's shoulders melted, and the corners of his mouth tugged into a baby smile. "Thanks, Mom."

"Just, don't do that again, got it?"

He laughed back a few tears and nodded. "Yeah, I won't." He jogged over and gave his mother a hug. "Sorry I scared ya."

She tossled his hair and gave him a quick peck on the crown of his head. "Now, go put that nunchuck back before I have to discipline you even further."

Chayse flinched. He should have known he couldn't get anything past his mother either, even without telepathy. He pulled away and nodded before jogging back out of her office. He scooped the nunchaku out of the planter and phased down to the armory to put it back. Maybe I should suggest the Mr. Madrox thing to Mom. Perhaps she'd think of it as leadership thinking.

Despite the harsh reprimand, Chayse whistled as he put his weapon back and headed to see if Dr. Reyes had anything for him in the infirmary. A little praise really can go a long way.