>>"...I know." Iggy whispered, "I know, I just don't know how..."

"I know," she nodded. Who really did know how? It was an impossible situation. How on earth could she expect a seventeen-year-old to know what to do? It was asking a hell of a lot. "That's why we're here, Ignacio. The staff, I mean."

She took a deep breath before continuing, letting him gather up some strength or courage or whatever it was he needed in that moment. God knew that he would need more if it if he was going to work through his issues. It was going to take time and perseverance, but it would be worth it in the end. Plus, Juliette had witnessed the effects of pushing stuff down, and it was never pretty. 

"I don't... I can't expect you to work through any of this soon, but I want you to at least take a stab at it. I'm here to talk if you want to talk to me, or if you want to talk to someone else, then that can be arranged. The bottom line is that we're here to help you and make sure that you get through this in one piece, yeah?" she explained. Again, she stopped to let that sink in. 

She stood up, picked up his glass, and refilled it from the jug before sitting back down. There would be a lot to work through, which meant that if he chose to talk to her, it would be a large time commitment. She was willing to do it, though, even if it meant that she had less free time on her hands. Helping out a student who needed it was more than worth it in her opinion. 

"Let's start with something simple, yeah? Nothing deep or buried." She began, "what are you feeling right now? What's the first thought that comes to your mind?" Already, she knew what it would be. He was feeling guilty. If he was going to work through it, though, then he needed to admit that to her and himself. They could work from that point. 

For the very fact that Juliette didn't right Ignacio off and tell him that he had no reason to feel a certain way was helpful. It was helpful in a way that gave Ignacio the choice whether or not to feel guilty for manslaughter. Not only that, she was offering herself as a source of emotional and mental relief. Ignacio grabbed a couple of more pieces of chocolate and stuffed them into his pockets. Those were for later.

Once the glass was set back in front of him, the young mutant picked it up and chugged down half of it. Afterwards he sat it down on the edge of the desk and huffed, he could deal with telling her how she felt.

"...Tired, embarrassed, wanting mango slices," Ignacio thought in Spanish, but decided to say it in English. "I honestly don't know what to think anymore. I mean, what do I do? I...I punish himself enough." He huffed out with a shrug of his shoulders, "I also volunteer at Sanctuary. I even helped a little boy with his homework the other day."

Juliette kept her focus on those kaleidoscope eyes that gave her nothing. There was no hint as to what he was thinking as he chugged the glass of water she'd placed in front of him, so she had to wait until he was willing to respond to get an answer.

>> "I honestly don't know what to think anymore. I mean, what do I do? I...I punish himself enough. I also volunteer at Sanctuary. I even helped a little boy with his homework the other day."

Guilt was a horrible thing. It ate away at people and made them believe things about themselves that weren't true. Juliette had grown accustomed to witnessing varying levels of it from the people around her, but it wasn't until recently that she knew what it felt like. After seeing Booker and breaking up with Sam, the time that followed was difficult and painful, even with Rebecca being there for her. She did feel like she should punish herself for some of the things she did, although she didn't act on any of the impulses. She knew that her level of guilt was nothing compared to what Ignacio was feeling, so she couldn't imagine what it was like for him. 

"Maybe it isn't a matter of atoning for anything?" Juliette suggested lightly. She knew that he likely wouldn't take well to the idea at first, but she needed to plant it in his head anyway. It was a matter of correcting his thinking and pushing him away from self-destruction. "Maybe... you need to learn how to let go and say goodbye."

Yeah, that was certainly easier said than done. It would take a lot of work, but it would be worth it in the end if it meant that Ignacio got to live a normal, healthy life.

"But, Juliette, how else am I supposed to deal with the fact that I killed my parents?" Ignacio asked, throwing his hands up. "I...I don't know if I should have the privilege to say goodbye." Ignacio looked down at the bowl of chocolate in his lap and sighed heavily. He didn't know whether or not he should seek professional help. He desperately needed it.

"I hope I'm able to become better. I hate what I do to myself," Ignacio moistened his lips and continued to stare down at the bowl that was in his lap. "...I start fights so I can get beat up. That's why I stole his pencil, so he could..." Ignacio choked up a bit and decided not to speak anymore. He felt like Juliette knew the last bit of that sentence.

The more that Ignacio spoke, the more that Juliette got the sense that using logic wasn’t going to help all that much. He’d set himself down a path that could only lead to more pain, and he wasn’t going to be deterred from it easily. She had to try something else.

She paused and considered her options for a moment, unsure of what exactly to do. She didn’t quite know him well enough to be able to know what would sound good to him. All that she really knew about him was what was in the file and what he’d told her in the short time that he’d been sitting in that office.

She’d taken part in a psych rotation during her degree, but she didn’t remember all that much of it. In fact, she tried her best not to get too invested. She’d heard horror stories about nurses in there, and while not everything in the E.R. was sunshine and rainbows, she was okay with where she’d ended up. However, it meant that she didn’t have a ton of training for dealing with cases like Ignacio’s. Whatever she knew, she knew from personal experience.

What she had learned was that physical exercise and punching things were often good ways to get emotions out. It certainly wasn’t the only way, and it definitely wasn’t a permanent fix or something that should become a crutch, but it seemed to help. It helped Sam, at least, though she was trying to keep her mind off of thoughts of the ice mancer.

”So you feel like you need to be hurt and to get into fights,” she noted, summarizing what she’d picked up thus far. ”I’m not saying that that’s a good thing, or something that should be encouraged, but have you considered… becoming an X-Men Trainee? I mean, it might give you a way to work out some of those feelings in a healthy way.”

She was by no means a counsellor, but she was hoping that something she did would be able to help him, even just a little bit.

>> ”So you feel like you need to be hurt and to get into fights,”

Ignacio nodded his head with shame. God, she probably thought that he was crazy or something like that. Heck, he wouldn't be surprised if Juliette tried to have him committed. Without looking up, Ignacio stole a piece of chocolate from the bowl on his lap and ate it.

>> ”I’m not saying that that’s a good thing, or something that should be encouraged, but have you considered… becoming an X-Men Trainee? I mean, it might give you a way to work out some of those feelings in a healthy way.”

"...X-Men Trainee?" The thought had crossed the teenage mutant's mind but he never really considered it. Ignacio slowly looked up at Juliette as he placed the glass bowl of chocolate on top of the desk and thought. He could be an X-Men Trainee, right? I mean, he was skilled and could be a good asset to the X-Team. "...Okay, okay. I'll...look into it." Ignacio stood up from the chair and gave Juliette a sincere smile. "Who would I talk to about that?"

After being given the idea of joining the X-Men, Ignacio seemed to look a little more himself. It seemed that the distraction technique had worked, and his mind was running in different directions. For the time being, that would be enough. It definitely wasn’t a permanent solution to anything, but hopefully, it would keep him from getting his teeth knocked out.

>>"Who would I talk to about that?"

”Oh, yes. Not me; I haven’t been on the team long enough to train future members. I can give you the name of one of the senior members, though. I can give you their extension, too.” Juliette pulled out a pad of sticky notes and a pen and began to write down the first name that came to her mind.

Sam Johnson. Juliette blinked and immediately ripped the first note off as soon as she came to her senses and crumpled it up. They were avoiding each other, currently, and she couldn’t exactly send students to him. She now knew why it was considered such a bad idea to date the people that you work with.

Juliette caught herself staring at the blank note for a minute too long, so she shook her head and tried to get any bad thoughts out of her mind. She needed to move on. She looked to her left and looked at the list of extensions on the phone for ideas.

Tetsuya Shinbo. A senior X-Man that she didn’t have a lot of contact with, but seemed like he would be a good person to send Ignacio to. If not, then she could always call on Rebecca or Ghost… well, maybe not the flammable air mutant, but she still had other options.

”The X-Man Shard, aka Shin, as he’s known to most people. Just give him a shout whenever you’re ready and tell him that I referred you. It’s not nearly as scary as it sounds.” She chuckled at that. Her own meeting with Cafas had been a little nerve-wracking, but to be fair, he was a 6’4” movie star who could move metal. She would have been stupid not to be a little nervous.

Juliette took in a breath and rested her arms on the desk, leaning forward and looking him in his kaleidoscope eyes. ”Ignacio, I want you to know that you can always talk to me. About anything.”

>> ”Oh, yes. Not me; I haven’t been on the team long enough to train future members. I can give you the name of one of the senior members, though. I can give you their extension, too.”

Ignacio would be lying if he said that he was a little let down when Juliette said that she couldn't train him because she was still a trainee herself. In Iggy's mind, there was no better pairing between the two of them since their powers were similar.

>> The X-Man Shard, aka Shin, as he’s known to most people. Just give him a shout whenever you’re ready and tell him that I referred you. It’s not nearly as scary as it sounds.”

"The math and Japanese professor?" Ignacio thought that he had him a couple of years back. He seemed like a really nice guy. And wasn't he married to that one fashion designer? Mad props. Ignacio could also see himself working with Professor Shinbo.

>> ”Ignacio, I want you to know that you can always talk to me. About anything.”

"...Anything?" Iggy asked. She shouldn't have said that. "Hm. well...I like guys and girls and everything in between. If someone's pretty, I want to talk to them." He playfully wiggled his eyebrows before standing up from the chair. He fixed his name brand clothes before looking up at Juliette. "I also have questions concerning being an X-Men Trainee. Like, once I become one, what all happens?"

”The Math and Japanese professor,” Juliette nodded. She was pretty sure, anyway. That seemed to fit with his M.O. If she was wrong, then she was sure that they would both forgive her and move on with their lives.

She had wanted to make sure that Ignacio knew that he was supported and cared about there, so she had tried to impress the that he could talk to her about anything on him. That, hopefully, would be the start of a relationship where he felt comfortable telling her things rather than taking out his emotions in unhealthy ways.

>>"...Anything? Hm. well...I like guys and girls and everything in between. If someone's pretty, I want to talk to them."

She hadn’t counted on him being that cheeky. That actually made Juliette grin, which wasn’t something that she was prepared for after the bleak appearance of the first part of their talk. She shook her head and chuckled at the irony of it all.

”I am a Health teacher and a nurse, so if you have questions about your sexuality, that’s definitely something you can talk to me about. I’m technically the designated person for that sort of thing. I can also give you condoms!” she grinned extra wide at that last bit, hoping that it would diffuse some of the tension. The curriculum had also told her to talk about protection lightly and easily so that they would view it in the same light.

She shrugged and leaned back a little, ”it’s alright to like more than one gender, though. It’s perfectly normal.”

>>"I also have questions concerning being an X-Men Trainee. Like, once I become one, what all happens?"

She nodded again and considered his question for a minute before answering. ”Basically, we’ll be training you on how to better use your power, and then you’ll be expected to go on missions and such. In a little while, you’ll be a full X-Man, assuming that you choose to finish the training, at which point you’ll be a full-fledged member of the team. While training, you’ll have a few sponsors to give you guidance, and you’ll never be expected to go on a mission alone.”

Juliette reached her hand forward and took a chocolate from the top of the little pile in the bowl, unwrapping it just as Ignacio had done with so many before that. It was hard to just watch someone eat it. After chewing and swallowing, she went back to addressing the topic at hand. ”Does that make sense?” she asked him.

>> "I am a Health teacher and a nurse, so if you have questions about your sexuality, that’s definitely something you can talk to me about. I’m technically the designated person for that sort of thing. I can also give you condoms!”

Everything was fine and sunshiney until the last sentence came. Iggy groaned and covered his face with his fingers. Why did it feel like he was having this conversation with his big sister? Soon, though his groaning turned into laughter. The teenager slowly removed one of his hands from his face and slowly extended it to Juliette. "You wouldn't happen to have chocolate flavored condoms would you, Juliette?" He teased playfully. He didn't know whether or not she had them -- he doubted, but still. After all, anything was possible especially here at the Mansion.

>> ”Basically, we’ll be training you on how to better use your power, and then you’ll be expected to go on missions and such. In a little while, you’ll be a full X-Man, assuming that you choose to finish the training, at which point you’ll be a full-fledged member of the team. While training, you’ll have a few sponsors to give you guidance, and you’ll never be expected to go on a mission alone.”

Ignacio scratched the side of his neck, rolling over the information that he was given over and over again in his head. "Sí, I understand. So, if Professor Shinbo becomes my sponsor, I train and then after I do some missions, I'll become an X-Men?" That sounded good to him. "Do I get a code name?" Iggy asked her, "if I do, I have a name in mind."

>>"You wouldn't happen to have chocolate flavored condoms would you, Juliette?"

Cheeky little bastard. Juliette raised and eyebrow and stifled a smirk. He had no idea the hell that he had just unleashed.

As a health teacher in a boarding school full of hormonal kids with superpowers, Juliette had made it her own personal mission to make the place as safe and healthy as was within her power. Having an assortment of birth control and protection on her at all times for situations exactly like that one was exactly the purpose of it (and for her own use on occasion, but that was beside the point). It may have made her uncomfortable or sheepish before she had spent several years working as a nurse, but by that point, it was better than some of the other stuff that she had seen. She could more than handle a few teenagers who pushed her buttons for it.

She reached into the bag at her feet and rummaged around until she produced a zip lock baggy. Inside, there was an assortment of little plastic packages. With raised eyebrows, she set it down on the table until she found the brown one that she was looking for.

”One chocolate flavoured condom for you,” she said as she set it down in front of him, leant back in her chair, and gestured widely to it. ”I don’t really care what you do with it, so long as you’re safe and smart.”

Her stance had always been that it was better to allow them to do as they chose and not judge, but to help them whenever possible. It was better to make them feel supported than to alienate them. That was when she would get an outbreak of STDs and a whole lot of awkward teenagers who would have to come to her.

>>"Sí, I understand. So, if Professor Shinbo becomes my sponsor, I train and then after I do some missions, I'll become an X-Men? Do I get a code name? If I do, I have a name in mind."

Juliette nodded. ”Yeah, it may take a while, but eventually you’ll get a full spot on the team. Who knows? Maybe you’ll become the next Alchemist.” She specifically avoided using the name of another of the more famous X-Men. ”And yeah, codenames are generally encouraged. What’s the one that you have in mind?”

It was good to see him getting so excited about this. Hopefully, it would be a step in the right direction.

Ignacio had a playful smirk on his face. There was no way that Juliette actually had a chocolate flavored con--.

>> ”One chocolate flavoured condom for you,..”[/color]

...¿Que? The teenager looked through the slits of his fingers and stared at the wrapped flavored condom. Ignacio slowly lowered his hand and blinked a few times. Huh, dreams did come true. Iggy said nothing as he reached and pocketed the condom.

>> ”I don’t really care what you do with it, so long as you’re safe and smart.”

"Gracias, señorita. I will use it wisely." A cheeky, sly smile came across his face. Juliette was like that cool older sister everyone wanted. Granted, his parents didn't have any other children which was rare concerning Latin families.

>> "Yeah, it may take a while, but eventually you’ll get a full spot on the team. Who knows? Maybe you’ll become the next Alchemist." The next Alchemist? That made the teenage Sun god blush. Juliette must've thought that Ignacio had a lot of potiental. That made him smile brightly.

>> ”And yeah, codenames are generally encouraged. What’s the one that you have in mind?”

Of course he had! With an even wider smile, Ignacio responded, "welll, there's a Aztec god named 'Tontiuah'. He was the god of the Sun -- specifally the Ninth Sun -- and Tollan; the heavens. I think it fits perfectly! I want to get a tattoo of him on my chest when I turn eighteen in just over a month." Juliette could probably notice the way Iggy's eyes lit up when he started talking about Tontiuah. In his opinion, he was waaay cooler than Apollo or Sol. Well, hotter.

>>"welll, there's a Aztec god named 'Tontiuah'. He was the god of the Sun -- specifally the Ninth Sun -- and Tollan; the heavens. I think it fits perfectly! I want to get a tattoo of him on my chest when I turn eighteen in just over a month."

Juliette raised her eyebrows at that. There was no denying that Ignacio was a bit of a free spirit, but getting a tattoo on your chest was a big step, especially if it was large. Some part of her felt like she was talking to her little brother, and she almost wanted to protect him.

”That’s cool,” Juliette nodded slowly. He seemed to be more than a little excited about the idea of it, so the last thing that she wanted to do was crush his dreams or make him feel uncomfortable about it all. All she wanted to do was make sure that he was being safe about it and that he was ready. ”Make sure that you do lots of research before you get it done, alright?”

With that, she dropped the subject. It was his life and his skin, so she wasn’t going to tell him not to do it. There was nothing wrong with getting a tattoo, but she wanted to make sure that he wasn’t going to regret anything.

Juliette glanced at her watch quickly and then at the schedule that she had shuffled into her papers. ”Is there anything else you want to talk about before I send you back to class?” she asked. She was there to talk with him, so if he had other issues, then she wanted to ensure that they were addressed.

>> ”That’s cool...Make sure that you do lots of research before you get it done, alright?”

Iggy nodded his head and smiled at Juliette. It was nice that she cared about him getting a tattoo. "Of course! I did some research and read reviews on Browsedit." Iggy even had the design he wanted.

>> "”Is there anything else you want to talk about before I send you back to class?”

"Hm, I don't think so," Ignacio felt a lot better after having this talk with Juliette, "gracias Juliette, por ayudando me." Then he remembered that Juliette didn't understand or speak Spanish, "sorry, I said thank you, Juliette for helping me." He translated with a bright smile. The future X-Men Trainee stood there for a second before turning and walking out of her office and went back to class.