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Aura seemed to hesitate about her offer for a moment before she accepted the possibility. That might have been a small thing, but it was a big step for the young woman. Accepting help, or the possibility of help, was not easy for someone with Aura's history and trust issues. It would be a long time before she would actually take the X-men up on that, Gemma wagered, but it was good to know she did not hate the idea anymore.

>> "I am always willing to help protect or rescue any mutant and i follow orders very well. While i am unworthy, my blades are yours if you ask when the time is needed"

"I'll make sure the team knows that" Gemma smiled "Well... I think that is all, for now. I'll reach out if we have any questions about Alex. And... visit any time you want. Let's go help them get settled in before you leave, hm?"

Mother and child had a long way to go, but they were off to a good start at Xavier's. And Gemma was going to help them every step of the way.

The pancakes were a success. Peter wolfed them down, visibly relaxed now that he had some good food in a sate place. Jorge was more hesitant, but in the end, he didn't resist either. She just hoped he did not feel pressured into the whole situation. The sooner they could get Peter settled in, the better. As long as no one was rushed.

>>”So long as you don’t mind another tag along? I’ll stick around until the boy gets himself a room and settles in.”

"That is very kind of you" Gemma nodded. The man she knew would stay until his charge was settled, and used to his surroundings. She let both of them finish their pancakes, before she called Mirror down to the kitchen, and introduced her to Peter. After that, it was just a matter of finding a free room for Peter, and all the necessities - clothes, towels, bed sheets - he would need. By that time, he'd warmed up to Maya, and Gemma was comfortable with leaving them to settle in.

"Let's just stop by at the office before you go" she told Jorge once they were alone "I have a few papers for you to sign, and then we're all done."

>>”I wasn’t in charge of passenger identification, only chaos creation... Participation prize?”

Was the child trying to bribe her? Gemma leveled a look at Evelyn. She was not going to let her off the hook, not until this whole jet theft was over. There were not enough responsible adults at the Mansion who could deal with teenagers in X-men colors publicly wreaking havoc in... wherever they were going.

"No, but you are uniquely qualified to figure out what we need to know. On account of your powers, and also on account of being an accomplice. I am sure you'll manage." she noted, heading out of the Danger room. "Come on. I need to make some phone calls. Do you think it would be too much to ask for Sam to answer his phone?"

>>”I promise it isn’t as bad as it sounds.”

No one ever wanted to draw a death-related anything, even if they did not believe in fortune-telling. Ez seemed intent on softening the blow.

>>”Death is also the card of Rebirth. Facing upward, it signals a time of transformation. Maybe entering a new cycle of life or introducing a new belief or awareness to your life. So our theme is great changes in your life.”

Gemma smiled a little. Big changes, she had had a few of those recently. Jorge de-aging, and then regaining his original age and memories, definitely counted as such. Once again, they were finding their way back to normal together. Life was rarely without change around the Mansion. It was a safe bet. "Well, I can relate to that."

>>”See? Death isn’t so scary. It’s not some ominous sign of your clock ticking… down… Um, Gemma. With your, er, adaptedness, if there was a mutant who could spawn weirdly intimidating hourglasses, those would disappear around you, right? Like… definitely could not be floating there behind us. Right?”

Gemma blinked. The question sounded theoretical for a moment, but then she noticed that Ez was looking past her. Glancing over her shoulder, she noted the floating hourglass too. It was not the weirdest thing she had ever seen... except for the fact that it was floating within the range of her adapted aura.

"Um... that... should not be possible. Are you doing that?" she glanced back at Ez "Is my aura still working?... Do you feel a difference?"

Age difference and hurt feeling side, Jorge and Gemma still understood each other. He knew, without words, that she was inviting him in because of the kid. That made things easier.

>>”Of course, Ms. Taylor. Ugh, that would be just fine. After you, young sir.”

"Don't be surprised if your powers don't work around me." Gemma told the boy as they walked inside the building "I have an aura that cancels mutant powers. It's called an adapted aura. If it is not comfortable for you, you can step out of it, or you can ask me to back up. Is that okay?" she explained, and Peter nodded, looking a little bewildered. "Great. Now. Would you like to find a room first, or get something to eat first?"

At this point, honestly, Gemma was grateful for any and every distraction.

It had been weeks since she'd talked to Jorge. Since the day he found out that she was more than just the school guidance counselor checking up in him. Since then, she'd been through every dark human emotion possible, guilt being the one overshadowing the others. She knew she'd made a mistake. She should have told Jorge the truth right away. There was no putting that nicer. But now it was done, and she was at a loss at how to move forward. Or move at all.

She also didn't know how Jorge was doing. She hoped he had someone to talk to. Somehow, she found that the thought of her making this epic, horrible mistake was a little easier to bear if she knew he had someone to vent to. She didn't even care if he vented about hating her.

Mutual friends told her he was still around, and doing fine, all things considered. Gemma, on her part, decided to give him time and space. He probably needed a lot of those. Hopefully, he would reach out when he was ready. Maybe.

In the meantime, there were the kids. And the school. They gave her plenty of distraction. So much, in fact, that she'd moved straight past her own birthday the day before and it barely registered at all.

It was late in the afternoon now, and she was standing at the front door, waiting. Some Mansion kid had gone out and gotten into a bit of trouble. Some woman called the cops, obviously, and the cops sent out MRC to deal with a 'dangerous mutant' who turned out to be a kid blowing smoke out of his nose. So now a patrol car was on the way to hand the student over with all the appropriate formalities. Gemma would have a talk with him, and make sure he was okay. Another day of work done.

The police car turned the corner, and Gemma waved a hand. MRC people already knew where to drop off the errant Mansion kids.

>>"Alright, a five card spread. We'll draw them out one by one. We start at the center with the present, calling for the theme of the reading."

Gemma nodded. She was curious to see what would come up. She had no idea what was in the deck, so there were no expectations, but Ez had clearly done this a lot, so she trusted her judgment. And she had no doubt it would be fun anyway. Now that she did not have de-aged Jorge on her mind anymore, it was much easier to play around with pretend messages from the universe about the future.

>>”Okay. And here we… go… Well. We start with Death.”

Gemma's eyebrows ran up as she looked at the card. So much about fun.

"Um... that can't be good..." she muttered. It felt like a scene from some cheap movie, flipping an ominous card at first try. Dun-dun-dun...