DISCLAIMER: Generation X, Emma Frost and Banshee belong to Marvel Comics. John and Chas belong to DC/Vertigo Comics. Arcania, Keith and Karen are mine. No money being made, don't sue.

NOTES: Please don't archive or use origanal characters without permission. I'll let you as long as you ask.

FEEDBACK: Please send lots to RhiannonAZ@aol.com.

John Constantine walked into the small kitchen of his apartment and hoped 'Cania had made some coffee before she headed to school -- and that she hadn't drunk it all, being the caffeine junkie that she was. There was about a quarter of a pot, which he started to drink. After a moment a couple things hit him -- the coffee was fresh and the TV was on in the living room. Something was going on. That was all he could come up with in his hung over state.

John walked into the living room and saw Arcania sitting cross legged on the floor. She was wearing flannel pants and a tank top and was eating ice cream out of it's carton and snickering at a talk show.

"Arcania?"

"Eh? Oh, it's just you Dad." Large bright blue eyes blinked at him.

"What day is it?"

"Tuesday. So?"

"So you're supposed to be at school."

"I'm tired. There was a bunch of crap with some demon yesterday, an' Mel had another 'I don't really exist, I'm a figment of somebody's imagination' spell an' Mona was tryin' t' talk me into helpin' her throw somebody ELSE over, an' some tosser from the Guild was tryin' to get me to help him with something --"

"That isn't an excuse. You can't bloody skip so much. If you keep this up you won't even graduate."

"So? Last I checked a high school diploma wasn't a requirement for practicing magic. Besides, I already know more than the teachers have forgotten."

"That isn't the point, luv." John paused and decided that this was as good a time to breach the subject as any. "I've been thinking ..."

"That doesn't happen very often, now does it."

"I've been thinking that maybe you ought to go someplace that won't bore you as much. I was talking to somebody a few weeks ago and he mentioned that Emma Frost is on the straight and narrow these days, but she's still running that school of hers in the states."

"You wouldn't."

"I'm not goin'.", the tall lanky girl with the long, dirty-blonde braid insisted. She stuck her hands deeper into the pockets of her ragged black trenchcoat and scowled.

"Yes you are.", said her father, who could help but thinking that the two of them sounded like a pair of three year-olds. A thin ribbon of smoke billowed out of his cigarette and he took a long drag. Variations of this conversation had been taking place for the past few weeks, gradually becoming less and less intelligent Arcania's side. John ran his hand through his hair and was slightly surprised that none of it came out. Messing about with demons wasn't half as stressful as raising a stubborn teenaged daughter.

"It's a feckin' boarding school.", she whined. If one stopped to think about the present situation it was rather incongruous, humorous almost. John Constantine and his daughter Arcania were two of the most powerful mages in the world, and 'Cania usually acted at least ten years older than her age. At the moment it could accurately be said that she was acting ten years younger.

"I suppose it is, but it ain't exactly like all then stuck up ones that Buckingham used t' send ya to." He had forgotten how many times he had made that point. "An' ya get along well enough with Emmie. An' don't that one friend of yours, Starsmore, go there."

"Still a boarding school.", 'Cania muttered. The hatred of such institutions was deeply ingrained in her. From the time she was eight to when she was thirteen and her before her dad got custody of her, her step-father, Robert Buckingham, had shunted her off to countless boarding school and academies to remove his wife's bastard daughter from his presence. It had been rare for her to spend more than one term at any given school though, especially after her mother had died when she was ten. At first she was angry at everyone that had put her there and lashed out, getting into with her stuck up classmates and arguing constantly with the idiotic instructors. Soon she had become more creative and came up with intentional ways to get kicked out. The one she was most proud of was taking over the PA system from the air ducts and reading Allen Ginsburg over it until they had found her.

Constantine sighed. "Let's go, 'Cania." As much as he hated making his child unhappy, the Massachusetts Academy would be good for her. John would be the first to admit that he was a horrible role model, and, however much he tried, a far from perfect father. As much as he tried to be, he wasn't even there half the time. The fact of the matter was that however weird the Massachusetts Academy was, it was stable. There was also the danger that Arcania seemed to thrive on. He still attempted to protect her, but he had long since given up on trying to shield her as he had for the first twelve years of her life. He had to admit that she would be in the game as deep as he was even if she wasn't the Esoteric.

At seventeen Arcania Elizabeth Constantine was a Master of the Thieves Guild, a magus, a member of the "Trenchcoat Brigade", and the Esoteric -- heir to an almost unlimited power that was somehow akin to the Endless. It could be said that she took after her dad with a vengeance. The young woman that possessed all this power frowned and picked up her guitar and a bag and began to load her things into Chas's cab.

Jubilation Lee was even more hyper than usual. One new student was already there and two others would arrive soon. The new guy was a fellow native of California that seemed to think he was a hippie. He wore baggy and ragged cargo pants and a Grateful Dead T-shirt and his red hair was in dreadlocks. Jubilee still wasn't sure what his powers were. Keith, that was his name, Keith Ross, just kept saying something about "Heart Of Gold" and grinning.

Banshee had gone to pick up one of the other new kids, a girl named Karen Crane, at the airport. Frosty had said that she was a teleporter and illusionist. She had two powers! That was so cool! The third newcomer was another girl and Emma hadn't told any of them, except maybe Banshee, who she was or what she did. Jubilee was dying of curiosity.

She might have been excited, but everyone else was acting normal. Which meant that Monet and Angelo were arguing, Paige was rambling about Tristan to anyone that would listen -- or just couldn't run away fast enough -- Penance was roaming around the woods, Ev was playing with Artie and Leech, and Jono was moping around the basement listening to some Rolling Stones song on repeat.

Jubilee sat at a window with Keith, watching the front drive and talking, though it was obvious that neither understood more than half of what the other was saying. Keith broke of in the middle of a story about something he claimed had gone down in the Haight and Ashbury section of San Francisco. "What the hell is a London cab doing in Massachusetts?" Sure enough, a small black English taxi was coming down the drive, followed by a black Harley.

"That is too weird.", Jubilee stated. "C'mon, it must be one of the other new kids, the one Frosty was being all mysterious about." When they got outside they found the White Queen talking to a tall blond man wearing a tan trenchcoat. A short brown-haired man was unloading the cab and talking to himself. "Chas old mate, I need ya to help me get 'Cania to her new school, he says. You just need to take a right off the A-12, he says. Of course it ain't nothin' weird. Ha! If this is England I'm the bloody Queen!" Frost and the man ignored the cabbie's muttering and were occasionally glancing at the motorcycle.

"She doesn't seem very pleased."

"She'll get over it. C'mon 'Cania, stop sulkin'."

The black trenchcoated figure on the bike reared back her head and tore off her helmet. "I'm not bloody sulking, you ... you ... Wanker!"

"I'm disappointed, you're usually more creative."

This inspired dark mutterings and black looks from the young woman. She lit a cigarette and headed into the house.

Jubilee and Keith followed hesitantly. The girl stopped in the foyer and her eyes narrowed behind her blue tinted sunglasses. She was listening. The faint strains of Jono's music could be heard. That is to say it was faint in the front hall. In the basement it was probably deafening.

"The wanker.", the girl hissed, "The stupid, bloody toerag." She whirled around and faced Jubilee. "How long has he had that song playing?"

The young Chinese girl only stared.

"HOW LONG?"

"Umm ... Most of today?", Jubilee stuttered, utterly confused.

"The fucking, stupid, bloody wanker." The young Asian girl continued to stare in shock at the reaction. "Where is he? No, don't answer that. Let me guess. The basement, right? Typical." She stormed off and stopped short. "Er, by the way, the basement would be in which direction?" The Esoteric was one of the few people that could say that in such a situation and not inspire laughter. Then again, the whole 'I'm embarrassed, but if you laugh at me I'll kick your ass or turn you into a newt, depending on what kind of a mood I'm in' aura might have something to do with that. Not that more than three people here knew it yet.

Jubilee pointed with a blank look on her face, and obviously had no clue what was going on. Neither did anyone else for that matter. Arcania stomped off in the direction indicated by Jubilee's finger, swearing at the top of her lungs. This was, of course, when Banshee chose to arrive with the third new student. Cassidy and the girl both dropped the bags they were carrying. Sean just stared in shock. The girl, however, pulled out a small notebook and began scribbling furiously in it, repeating of few of Arcania's oaths under her breath. John gave her an odd look.

"Er, Sean, this would be Karen Crane then?", Emma asked, trying to get her colleague's attention off the disappearing Arcania. The Irishman didn't give any indication that he heard.

"Yeah, that would be me.", the brown-haired young woman said distractedly, still scrawling down obscenities until 'Cania was out of earshot. "Don't have to write 'so-and-so swore profusely' anymore.", she mumbled to herself.

"Who ... Who was that, Emma?", Cassidy demanded accusingly.

"Oh, that would be Arcania Constantine, one of the new students, I told you about her ...", Emma stammered, looking daggers at Conjob.

~Constantine, you so owe me.~

As Arcania went down the basement stairs the sound of her tirade couldn't begin to challenge the Rolling Stones on full volume. Jono shifted as something broke through the veil of his self-pity. He went to turn down the volume a bit, an odd expression on what was left of his face. At that moment Arcania started pounding at the door, yelling at the top of her lungs. "Damn it Starsmore, don't make me come in there and kick yer arse!"

Jonothan's legs collapsed beneath him. ~That's it. I've finally gone off the deep end an' I'm hallucinating that Janey's outside the door yellin' at me.~

"Yer not effin' hallucinatin', don't call me Janey again or I'll send ya t' hell, an' open the friggin' door."

Jono slowly got up from where he was sitting on his ass. ~Wot in bloody hell are you doing here Constantine?~, he asked as he unlocked the door.

Arcania entered and plopped down onto a debris strewn couch. "Ya ain't heard? I'm yer new classmate." She scowled and lit a Silk Cut. It was a moment before Chamber could reply. ~ That. Isn't. Funny.~

"You're telling me? 'It'll be more stable.' 'Ya have t' finish school.' I happen to like my nice unstable environment an' I won't learn anything I need to know at school." She began to pout.

~You're serious! How?~

"Emmie owed Conjob a few." 'Cania looked around in vain for somewhere to flick her ashes and ended up stubbing out her cigarette on a table. "You actually live down here? Fuck, I thought my room was bad." The room was, in fact, horrible. Dirty laundry was scattered all over, along with CDs, video games, books, and ... a couple ashtrays? "Er, Jono.", Arcania began as she got up and snagged one, "Please tell me you ain't been smoking through your nose."

~What? Oh, hell no, I just kinda miss how they smell and ...~

"Let me get this straight, you've been lighting cigarettes, watching them burn and trying to inhale the smoke. Then again, I'm not one to talk. If I were in your position I probably would be smoking through my nostrils."

~Yeah, you always were a nic fiend. So why did you come invading my room?~

"Cause, one, you could hear "Paint It Black" as soon as you come into the house, two, that's your "I'm going to sit around all day and feel sorry for myself" song, three, you were being depressed at me. You stupid wanker!"

Jono was one of the few people that would understand that. Arcania had always considered her mutant power a weakness, and as such it was kept under wraps. ~Sorry.~

"I don't mind that much, but for Christ's sake Jono! Quit bloody feeling sorry for yourself. That's probably at least half the reason you haven't gotten a handle on the whole face thing."

~You're an insensitive bitch 'Cania.~

"I'm a Constantine. What the hell did you expect?"

"That's the new student? The one you were being so mysterious about? I can see why! I can only hope this isn't typical behavior. * sigh * What's her power? She does have a power, Emma?"

"I have no idea whether or not she's a mutant, Sean. From what I understand, she is a mage of some sort.", Emma replied somewhat nervously. "It runs in her family." The White Queen cast another glance at John.

Constantine leaned against a wall and lit a cigarette. "Bit of an understatement."

The students looked on in confusion. "If you would come into the office Mr. Constantine, we have some things to discus."

As they walked away Karen's eyes shuttered. "Did he say Constantine?"

~So how's everyone doing? Is the band still together?~

"Yeah. It's a trio now, though. Has been for a while. I tried to sit in when I could, but ... Ya know how it is mate."

~Not really, but I can guess.~

Sean Cassidy's eyes slowly became larger and larger. The file on Arcania Elizabeth Constantine, or, as she was refereed to in the earlier parts of the files, Jane Elizabeth Buckingham, was huge. Almost all of it was disciplinary problems. He almost missed the grades and found them hard to believe, considering. How could such a determined trouble case be such a good student? When did she find the time to study? "Emma, may I have a word with you?"

They walked to the other side of the room, away from Constantine. "I didn't know she was this bad. I only got the file earlier today."

"You didn't ... You only ... Then why the hell did you agree to take her on!", Sean said urgently, trying to keep his voice down.

"Because I owe her father and I don't want to be on John Constantine's bad side.", Emma hissed.

"Who the hell is he that 'being on his bad side' is such an awful thing? If he's some kind of super-villain," there was a huge amount of doubt in his voice, "You'll regret it. We've had enough trouble with your sisters ..."

"Don't bring that up again. And no, he is most defiantly not a super-villain. He's a mage. And whether or not she's a mutant Arcania is an intelligent and talented young woman that will be very valuable to the team. And all this --", she held up the file, "Was years ago. I'm sure she isn't this bad anymore."

Jubilee frowned in puzzlement at the question. "Yeah, that's what she said. So?"

Karen's eyes went even wider. "Not good, not good. Pretty damned cool, but this is so not a good thing." The mid-western girl sat down on one of her bags. "We're all gonna die.", she muttered almost inaudibly.

"So the other new girl's father's last name is Constantine. Would you mind explaining why that's important?"

"Because that was John fucking Constantine."

Everyone looked at her blankly. After a moment Keith spoke up. "There was a John Constantine in this old punk band, I can't remember their name ... They rocked though."

"Mucous Membrane, and bit was more like it. Good for pissing people off though. But anyway, what I'm trying to point out is ... How can I put this -- Have any of you ever read "Rake At The Gates Of Hell"?" She wince internally. 'Great, I'm here ten minutes and everybody's gonna start thinking of me as the weird quiet girl that reads comics and 'is-probably-in-the-Trenchcoat-Mafia'. I was hoping I could make it a week before I became an outcast. Oh well, why should anything be any different here?' She looked at what seemed to be a sea of blank faces. "It's a horror comic book." She sighed. "I'll take that as a no. Anyway, it's about this ... not really evil ... this mage that's very dangerous and a total bastard." They still didn't get it. "The main character is based on John Constantine."

"Oh.", Jubilee said calmly popping her gum.

Karen normally had a very even temper, or more accurately put she was usually to shy to express a quick one. For some reason though she snapped this time. "Therefore him being here is a very bad thing you fucking twits!"

The two young Brits came in just then. Having missed the first part of the conversation they exchanged puzzled looks. ~Wonder what that was about.~

"Me dad probably.", Cania replied as she lit a cigarette, smirking a bit.

Paige began berating the new girl, even though she had already decided that she didn't like the Englishman or his daughter one bit. "Really, it ain't at all nice to say things like that about him. Ya'll have never even met him before. Anyway, you don't even know he was this John Constantine person you were babbling about. Ah think you're just being horrible." Husk finished her little self-righteous speech and waited for agreement and apologies.

A few things struck Arcania at once. How much the criticism affected the brown-haired girl, the other blonde's insincerity, the mixture of confusion and something else coming from Jono and the curiosity eating everyone alive. She had no problem with dishonesty (it would be a bit hard for an unofficial member of the Guild to) as long as there was a reason behind it. In this case there was none at all, other than a holier than thou attitude. "Who the hell asked for yer opinion sunbeam? Anyway, I may not have heard much of what the kid said, but what I did hear was dead on." Actually all she had heard was "very bad thing you fucking twits.", but it was easy to figure out what the brunette had been talking about considering she was wearing a "Dreamer" T-shirt. Besides, Arcania had gotten a laugh out of the girl's note taking. "So piss off."

"What?"

"Are you deaf luv?"

"Well I never!", Paige huffed.

Arcania looked over Paige's outfit, which looked like something Britney Spears would wear. "Some how, I doubt that."

Husk stood speechless.

"So mate, ya want to show me round campus?" Arcania smiled and exited stage left. It was her specialty.

The two English teens walked along the Mad River in silence, staring into its depths. This was where Jono went when he wanted to wash all the angst away. There was a helluva lot of angst. That was one fact of life that both of them knew damned well.

The tour of the campus had consisted of the pair going outside and continuing to walk, neither saying a word. They had always been able to know when not to talk, to just be there. Arcania picked up a stone and tossed it into the river. "So ... What's up with you and little Miss lack of personality?"

~Wot?!~ Jono looked at his oldest and best friend incredulously.

"You 'eard me. The blonde that needs to get some new clothes that won't make 'er look like a slut. What's her problem? And what the hell's going on between you two?" Arcania had never been one to mince words, especially when one of the few people she cared about was affected. "She yer girlfriend, an ex, what?"

Starsmore slumped against a tree, taking a while to reply. ~I'd have to go with 'what'. We always kinda liked each other, I guess. I dunno, maybe she just felt sorry for me or somethin'. Anyways, a while back 'er mum got pretty sick, so she 'ad t' go home. So I told her 'ow I felt ...~

'Cania sat down on a boulder and looked at him in puzzlement. "I don't see the problem yet, mate."

He ran his fingers through his hair, obviously embarrassed. ~I'm gettin' t' that. Ya see, I figured she'd be gone fer a while, at least a month. So I'd have a bit of time t' sort myself out, right? A lot of other shit was happenin' then too. About two weeks later she's back. Within ten seconds she's huggin' me an' tellin' me how much she missed me. And I ...~ He paused, not wanting to go on.

"You said something stupid, didn't you." Arcania had seen her father screw up enough relationships and the few she had ever had tended to go to hell in a handbasket.

~No. I didn't say anything stupid. I just didn't say anything. I bloody well froze, didn't I.~

"That's even worse.", Arcania groaned sympathetically.

~Thanks for yer support. How the hell would you know, anyway?~, Jono snapped, knowing how little Arcania dated.

"By observin' me Dad fuck up relationships. I may not know much about productive ones, but I sure as hell know what fucks 'em up ... Still, you could always tell her -- Not that I understand why you'd want to."

~Me neither. I tried to, but she just kept blowing me off. Then bleedin' rat boy shows up an' she starts droolin' over him.~ The bitterness in his 'voice' would have been apparent to anyone.

"A bit jealous, are we?" Even as she said it she knew that wasn't it.

~Not exactly ... It's just that ... He's a complete bastard! I mean, if it had been somebody else ... It could 'ave at least been someone who's halfway decent, ya know. He's a self-absorbed little wanker. Ya see Tristan's grandfather had Jubilee's parents killed, years ago. She found out an' found the evidence an' 'ad 'im thrown in jail. An' the little cunt has the nerve t' say somethin' 'bout 'ow she took away 'is family t' Jubes. An' SHE just throws 'erself at 'im.~

"That's a bitch." 'Cania shrugged and lit a Silk Cut. "Get over it, mate."

For a minute or two Jono stared. Then he began to shake with laughter he couldn't express. ~Get over it, she says. Wot am I supposed t' do, forgive an' forget?~

"Nah, I ain't much of one fer forgiveness, an' forgettin' mean yer mind's goin'. But get over it. It ain't worth it. SHE ain't worth it. Trust me. I got a sixth sense about these things."

~She wasn't always like this.~

"I'm sure she wasn't. Either that or yer standards have gone down hill ... Oh, never mind. I forget about Gayle."

~Shut the hell up.~

An hour later, when Jono and 'Cania came back in, everyone was in the rec room, except the adults. They came in and everyone stared at them. "Christ, what's their problem." All of Generation X, with the exception of the two new members, were either in shock or being eaten alive by curiosity. The sight of an undepressed Jono was rare.

"It seems that everything is in order Mr. Constantine.", Banshee said, feeling that it was anything but true.

"Just call me John, mate." He turned to Frost. "Thanks again Em. I really appreciate this."

The elegant White Queen got up and hugged him awkwardly. "Don't mention it John. I owe you after all." It seemed strange, she reflected, that this man was one of the few people she considered a friend. "Besides, if she takes after you in the least it'll keep the place ... interesting ..."

John laughed wryly. "She does. A bit too much for my liking really." Ice blue eyes met ice blue eyes and they both smiled. Both of them were cold, hard and cruel, but that was out of necessity. "I should be going pretty soon. I guess I'll say goodbye to 'Cania and head out. It's been good seeing you again, Emma. You've done good for yourself."

~I had help John.~

Though they all had questions none of them -- not even Jubilee -- could bring themselves to speak up. After a few minutes of awkward silence they went back to watching a "The Kids In The Hall" marathon that was on Comedy Central. They sprawled out on couches, chairs and the floor, ignoring each other for the most part.

A few footsteps came from behind them. "Arcania."

The lanky young woman got up and turned around. "Dad. I take it that you're abandoning me to the Spandex Brigade now." There was a slight amount of bitterness in her voice.

"Yeah. I have t' be going. Take care of yourself and try not to cause too much trouble, eh?"

"I'll try. I can't give any guarantees though -- I'm your daughter after all."