All in the Family (James)

[Jordan Scholl]

Jordan had been fully packed since last night, but his ride to the school was running a bit late. Looking out the window, he sighed at the heavy snowfall. Roads would be bad for driving. Even some of the local schools had shut down for the day just to keep the buses off the roads. Were he still attending school at St. Anthony's, he would have the day off. As it was, today was going to be his first time at the new school.

He would be lying if he said he wasn't a little nervous. He was leaving his family for the first time in his life to move to a school where he had no friends. Any reasonable kid would be a little nervous, if not outright frightened or angry. And to top it all off, this all happened just when he was hitting puberty and discovering a supernatural ability. So yes. He was nervous.

In order to keep himself from having to think about what was going to be happening next, he went to the pile of luggage stacked by the front door and pulled out his guitar case. It clicked open gently and he eased the lid back to look at the beautiful instrument. It was brand new, a birthday/Christmas gift from his parents, and he hadn't gotten much opportunity to play it yet. Now he slid it from the case and pulled the strap over his shoulder.

He gently played a few chords, then smiled and took the guitar back over to the window seat. Looking out over the snow, he played a little bit more. Finally, he sat back against the wall and stared outside.

Yes, his family was supportive of his powers. And yes, they had been expecting it from somebody for years. But why did it have to be him who manifested powers? Of all the cousins, why was he the first one to have to be sent off like this?

The snow was starting to come down in lighter drifts, to the point where Jordan almost thought he could see the sun coming through the clouds at times. "Should be any second now," he said quietly. He packed up his guitar and set it back with the suitcases and the bedding, then moved back to the window seat.

"I hope I don't disappoint everyone," he mumbled under his breath. As he glanced out the window, he spotted a car pulling up into the driveway. "I guess that's him," he said to himself.

Jordan went to the door and answered it. "Mom's in the kitchen, but Dad had to be in to work today. I did say good-bye to him this morning. If you want to wait in the living room, I'll go get Mom." He tried to smile a little but couldn't. Instead he just waved his hand toward the living room and went into the kitchen.

"He's here, Mom," he said. "It's Uncle James."

[Dr. James Campbell]

Honestly, this was a little weird for James. He'd known--they'd all known--for years that there was a pretty good chance that another Campbell or two would manifest eventually. When Ginny first started shooting up in height, he waited, anxious to see if he'd managed to screw her over by giving her the same power he had, the same ability that tortured him for most of his life. But she'd remained normal through middle school, then high school, and now there was no chance of her ever developing powers. Frankly, that was a bit of a relief for him; having one kid who could control the weather was enough.

James drove slowly through the familiar neighborhood, smiling at the kids who evidently had the day off from school, and took advantage to make snowmen and snow forts and some money by shoveling sidewalks. He was fairly certain he saw his younger nephew, Josh, hauling a friend around on a sled, so he gave the kids a wave and pulled into the Scholl's driveway.

When Jordan opened the door, he'd been expecting a hug, but then he remembered that the kid was thirteen, and therefore probably too old for him to hug his family members. Ginny had apparently gone through the same phase with her mother's side of the family, but not with him, almost certainly because she just didn't see him as often. "Hello Jordan. If your mom told you to keep me out of the kitchen, she knows it's not going to work." But as the boy went to get Laura, he took his time in the entry, stomping the snow off his shoes and taking off his overcoat.

James did get his hug, however, from his sister, who came out then and embraced him. "James! How was the drive down? How are Chase and Nikki?"

"They're doing just fine. Nikki's burying our house under twice as much snow as our neighbors, but other than that, everything is going smoothly. Sorry I couldn't come down for Christmas." He hugged her back, grinning. "And yes, I already told Ma this, but I'm deputizing you into telling her as well. I think she's still a bit mad at me."

Laura laughed and shook her head, "No, she doesn't stay mad at you. Except about the wedding. She's going to be mad until you let her have a party."

"But it's been over a year..."

"Congratulations. She's still mad." The younger sibling smiled and ushered him into the living room.

James sat in an easy chair and waited for Laura and Jordan to sit was well. After a moment, he spoke. "Okay, I'm not going to pretend that this is a normal recruitment. You don't need me to tell you that it's okay to be Meta, or that Hammel will help you, or that you'll be safe there. So let's start with this: What do you want to know? I can answer just about anything."

[Jordan Scholl]

Jordan walked behind his mother back out to the entryway, where Uncle James was still waiting. They all went into the living room together, with the two adults going in first and having a nice conversation. Jordan waited quietly for them to finish talking. He remembered that Niko was a weather manipulator, but it sounded like he wasn't necessarily in much control over his power. Were all the students like that when they first came in?

When he thought about his grandmother being mad at Uncle James and Uncle Chase, he smiled a little bit. Grandma Campbell was a wonderful person, and Jordan loved going up to visit her. However, he distinctly remembered the time he had been playing soccer in the backyard and accidentally busted one of the basement windows. He didn't like remembering that day.

Jordan sat next to his mother on the couch. He held one of the throw pillows on his lap and started playing with the fringe. He watched his uncle and nodded through the introductory speech that he gave. He appreciated not being treated like all the other kids, since he really did know a little better than that. He'd grown up with this basically his whole life. Even so, now that he was actually coming to it, he did have just a few questions.

Jordan took a deep breath and straightened up. He placed the pillow next to him on the seat. "I don't have that many questions, really...just some things I was wondering about. Like, who am I going to be living with? And since I'm meta, what are the chances that someone else has it? Like, someone else in the family. Are Crystal or Josie going to be meta, you think?"

He took another big breath. Now that he was thinking about it, there were actually quite a few things he was wondering about. Things he'd never seen the point in asking about before, but now he just wanted to know.

"How many school breaks do we get? How long does it usually take to finish school? Is it going to take me a long time to be done, or can I finish early? What about the other kids, are they mostly living on campus or do they live with their families? The teachers are all specially trained, right? And if I go invisible in class they'll know what to do to help me? And how long will it take to find out what is making me turn invisible? Will I need to take a bunch of extra classes to try to get my power under control? Can I play soccer there? Do you have good internet access, and can I call my friends a lot? Will it be hard for me to get back over here to visit everyone?" He waited while Uncle James answered each question in turn, and he was starting to feel all right about the whole thing.

There was one last question he had, though, the one he had been saving because it was so hard for him to think about. "Am I...is this..." He sighed. It was something he really wanted to know, but he was afraid to find out the answer. "I heard a story from Uncle Chase. There was this person who had a superpower, and it killed him. Like, he died early because of it. Is that going to happen to me?" He had been staring at his hands this whole time, but now he looked up at his uncle. "Is my power killing me?"

[Dr. James Campbell]

James smirked slightly, but it wasn't mean. That was just a few questions?

"You'll be living in the dorm. Each room is set up as a suite. You've got a living room, then four single rooms for you and each of your roommates. I would have said you could live with us, but we don't have any more bedrooms, and you'd prefer to have your own room than share with Nikki, right?" The cabin was only so big, and even though Ginny didn't spend every night there, it had been her bedroom since he'd bought the house, years ago. "And I don't know who your roommates are. The housing director will talk to you about that when we get there." He had a feeling this was was not going to be the end of his nephew's questions. "Most other students are in the dorms. Some have family in town and go in every day, like Nikki, and the ones who are older than 18 sometimes have their own apartments, if they can afford them."

"How about I get some coffee, James, you've had a long drive," Laura interrupted, getting up and heading into the kitchen again.

"Thanks, Laur. Two sugars."

"I know," she called, "and no milk. It's not like you've changed at all since you were a teenager."

The recruiter shook his head slightly, smiling. "I really don't know the chances; the science isn't really clear, and I'm not good at it anyway. But... Ginny's mother apparently didn't pass that gene on, but she's probably a carrier, because of me, so her kids might be meta, someday. I've seen families where all the kids and up being meta, but you know I'm the only one from my parents to be. I can't tell if your cousins will manifest either, though Natalia is probably a bit too old now. For most people, it's between age eleven and fourteen. I was eleven. But sometimes it's different. Nikki was nine, and your Uncle Chase was sixteen."

Wow, there were a lot of questions, but he was used to this. He'd heard just about every variation of them for years. "It's year-round, like I'm sure you know. You get a couple more long weekends off though, and there are five two-week long breaks a year. And since Ginny's mom lives about twenty minutes away from here, we know every route for getting you home for breaks. There's a bus that will take you all the way here, with just one transfer."

"Most people have their powers under control by the time they are eighteen or nineteen, and are able to graduate then, as high school seniors. In theory, you can finish early, but it would take a lot of studying, a lot of practice with your power, and some luck." Or he could be like his Uncle James, and stay on as a student for almost a decade. "The teachers have training, and most of them have powers themselves. I promise, if you go invisible, they will know what to do. Most likely, you won't have to take anything beyond your regular training sessions, but if you don't start improving, then they might schedule you for more."

Laura came back in with the coffee (and a cup of cocoa for Jordan) which James took gratefully. After a long sip, he put the mug carefully down on a coaster and continued to answer questions. "Yes, you can play soccer. We have our own intra-mural setup, and Chase is actually the soccer coach." James shared a grin with his sister before he tacked on, "And I'm the coach of the chess team. But if you tell Uncle Mike that, you're not getting anything for your birthday. Yes, we've got good internet access at the school, better than the cabin, at least. And yes, you can call your friends."

He leaned back a bit in the chair, smiling slightly, but that smile soon faded at the next question. "I'm so sorry, Jordan. Chase shouldn't have told you that. There are some abilities with very serious side-effects, like reanimation, which can bring people or animals or plants back to life. That can sometimes have a negative impact on someone's health. Your power is different, though, and it isn't killing you." By the end of that, his mouth had set into a grim line "And if Chase said anything about scientific experiments, I promise, he was just kidding around."

[Jordan Scholl]

Jordan gratefully accepted the hot cocoa from his mother. She'd even put it in his favorite mug--the one that had a snowman drinking a cup of coffee with the caption "Snow-icide." It had precisely five marshmallows in it--Jordan's favorite number. He took a sip, then set the mug down on the coffee table, carefully centered on the coaster.

All of what he was being told was meant to reassure him, and it did make him feel better. Thinking about it, it made sense that the school was as friendly as possible, since most people going there were being taken away from their families completely. It wasn't all okay for everyone, and they had to make it an okay living environment. Still. That didn't mean he was ready to leave yet.

Just another few minutes...time to say goodbye....

He smirked at the comment about chess and Uncle Mike. Would it be worth no birthday presents? Probably not, but it was something to keep in mind for future reference. Just in case he did something else that destroyed the opportunity for presents.

The last response did make him feel better, but he felt it was important to clarify a few points. "Well," he said, stirring his cocoa and watching the marshmallows dissolve, "He didn't exactly tell me the story. That's just where I heard it. He was talking to Grandpa about it. I was there, though, and they didn't notice me or tell me to leave, so I overheard. And he didn't tell me anything about scientific experiments, but I heard you have a new person at the school. Conner, or Conrad, or something like that, who's doing some experiments. But not for the younger kids, just with the older ones, and only with their permission."

He looked up. "Anything I'm forgetting?"

When the conversation was done and there wasn't much more to do other than say goodbye and leave, Jordan stood. "I'm going to look around the house one more time and go to the bathroom. I'll be down in just a bit."

He went up into the bedrooms and checked all the rooms. Nothing was missing, and he'd even made his bed and cleaned his closet so it would be neat for when he came back. Nothing in the bathroom--he had the toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, mouthwash, whitener strips, comb, shampoo, conditioner...there was really nothing more he could waste time packing.

On his way downstairs, he heard the end of a conversation. He knew from experience, though, that he couldn't sneak up on James. It was better just to announce his presence. This was the only one of his relatives who actually seemed to always perceive just where everything and everyone was. Everyone else Jordan could kind of fade away from.

He coughed conspicuously as he descended the stairs. "All right, I think I'm done."

His mother came over and handed him a box of cookies. "Be safe, all right? And try to stay in touch." She gave him a big hug, which he returned. When he thought he might be crying, he sniffed and blinked away the tears. Then he pulled back and smiled up at his mother.

"Back before you know it, Mom."

It took all three of them to carry everything out to the car, but it still all fit in nicely enough. Jordan was about to climb in when he saw Josh running toward them.

"Hey, Jordan!" the little brother called out. "Watch out!"

"Wha--?" Jordan started to ask just before he was hit in the face with a snowball. Then Josh ran behind Uncle James.

"Don't think that will protect you!" Jordan called with a smile. He bent down and formed a nice big snowball, a perfect mix of slush and fresh snow, then ran around to the other side of his uncle and tossed it. But Josh was no longer there, having darted away again. Instead, the slush headed straight for Uncle James.

Jordan winced even before he heard the thwack of impact.

[Dr. James Campbell]

If news that he was the Chess Club Advisor became common knowledge in the Campbell clan...well, it wasn't like they didn't already know he was a geek. His parents had preserved his old bedroom almost exactly when they'd converted it from "his" room to a guest room. And that meant the inscription from the door to the mines of Moria was still painted on the wall, forever declaring that a nerdy teenage boy had once found sanctuary there. So the birthday present wasn't really in jeopardy, despite the threat.

For a long time, Chase had believed that Hammel was part of some sort of government agency that experimented on metas. When James offered him a chance to apply for a training position, he'd had to convince the other man that the rumors weren't any more true than anything else the younger Hammel students gossiped about on a regular basis. But he was still fond of telling the creepier stories that had died out since he was young and at Hammel.

"Oh, Conrad. He's a researcher. He isn't exactly doing experiments; it's more like statistics. His power involves being able to calculate energy and speeds and such, so he just takes measurements of what people can do. It's nothing invasive or dangerous, observation only." Some of the students had been nervous about the young man coming in and doing his observations, but they had started with the older students who actually recognized Conrad from his school days. And after a few days of it, no one was worried anymore.

When Jordan went upstairs, James leaned forward a little so he could definitely speak without being overheard. "Laura, it's going to be rough for him the first few weeks, it is for everyone. But I promise Chase and I are going to look after him. We'll do everything we can."

Laura grinned at her older brother, nodding, even though she knew he knew she would be crying shortly. "I know you will. Because if you don't, I'll kill you, Jay."

James just grinned back, "Sure thing."

When it came to the packing of the car and saying goodbye, it went a little smoother than it did with most recruitments. There was a tiny upside to having to recruit his own family members.

It wasn't, however, snowballs. James winced as he caught the compressed mound of slush and snow in his side. Of course, snowball fights were the norm, both at his home and on the Hammel campus, but he always tried to avoid them when he was wearing his nice overcoat.

Joshua, with all of his eight-year-old knowledge, was giggling nervously. This was Uncle James, who was the uncle who specifically didn't like to get dirty, and now he had a big white splotch on his side, and it was Jordan's fault. He was gonna be in trouble.

And as Laura looked on, a little amused and a little embarrassed, James pulled his gloves out of his coat pocket and put them on, then carefully brushed the clinging snow off of his coat and looked at Jordan.

Then he winked.

Turning to the gigging younger boy, James motioned for him to come a bit closer. "You know, Josh, that your mom is my little sister, right?" The boy nodded, not understanding where this was going. "And do you know what that means?" Josh shook his head. "That I know what it's like to be a big brother." With a grin, he scooped up a bit of snow and dropped it on Josh's head, sending the boy into another fit of giggles.

James straightened, brushed the snow off of his hands and turned to Jordan. "Are you ready to go?"

[Jordan Scholl]

"I-I'm so sorry, Uncle James, I didn't, I mean, it wasn't supposed to..." Jordan's stuttering apology died off as he watched his uncle wipe the snow off his overcoat.

What a great way to start out at a new school, he thought. Throwing a snowball at one of the administrators. The one who didn't like messy things.

And Joshua didn't even have the decency to stop laughing about it all. So Jordan sent an evil glare at his younger brother.

But then Uncle James winked. And Jordan started to feel a little hopeful. The snow on Joshua's head was absolutely perfect, and Jordan laughed. I guess my evil glares are getting more powerful, he said to himself.

"Hey Mom!" he called out. "Be sure to keep that runt under control. You never know what national disaster he might bring about next." He turned to his brother. "And Josh?"

Joshua turned to look at his older brother, who had formed one last snowball.

"Eat my snow," he called out, chucking the snowball and getting Joshua right in the face. Then he quickly hopped in the car and closed the door, thereby closing off any other attacks.

"Okay, Uncle James," he said, "I think I can go now."

Finally, he'd managed to say all of his goodbyes properly.