Stern light jumped home the morning after the hospital visit. He didn't bother Anita. He had only one thing on his mind: getting his life in order. The mutant materialized in his room and changed clothes. The process was slow and almost painful, but he managed it just fine. His room was the same as he had left it. Nothing had been touched.

He would handle his folks later. They were probably either still sleeping or out and about. Letting his family know he was ok was going to be hard. Sobered by that though, he sat heavily on the edge of the bed and looked around.

Before the event, he had been a pretty good kid. Involved at church, quiet, and a home-body. He looked around at the pictures on the walls. A series of five pictures hung on one wall. The left-most one showed him before his mutation. As the pictures progressed to the right, so did the changes brought about by his X-Gene until they ended with one that depicted him present day. At least on the outside.

Now he was harder. There was a keen edge to his mind and a sudden love of fighting dirty. Hatred for Neutron burned in him, fighting for a dominating portion of his time, energy, and focus.

His computer stood set up at the desk by his bed. He turned it on and checked his e-mail. His school account was deleted, but his spare e-mail was still active. Three months of spam. He deleted it.

Then he hit a search engine and started looking up everything he could about the ESU bombing and anything that might lead him to Neutron. He searched for hours. Mostly he got articles from local and national newspapers and other media sources. There were message boards about it, supporting the families of loved ones lost and others expressing hatred for mutants of all kinds.

There was one with a blurry photo. It was apparent from the picture that the radiation from Neutron and Stern's own glowing aura distorted the picture's focus so neither could be identified. So that's what he looked like when he burned brightly. He was a bright light, and by contrast his body was a brighter outline. None of his features were distinguishable. He was just an outline in the light. Neutron, by contrast stood as a dark figure in his trenchcoat surrounded by rippling, shimmering air as he radiation generated from his bare hand distorted the space around him.

Stern flared. Just seeing his picture caused him rage. Without thinking he slammed his fist on the desk. A minute later someone stepped out of the bedroom down the hall. One of his parents. The door opened and Stern swiveled in the chair to face the door. He saw an eye peek through the crack in the door and gasp. Then there was a scream.

Stern light-jumped into the hallway and hugged his mother tightly. "Mom, it's me. It's me, Michael."

Stern's mom cried and cried. His dad emerged moments later with his pistol in hand, ready to defend his wife. When he saw that she was hugging their son, he removed the clip from the pistol and tossed it aside. "Michael?"

Stern nodded. "Yeah. Mom, you're hurting me. My arm's broken at the shoulder, and you're hurting me."

She let go and held him out. "You look like you've had a rough time. What happened to you?"

They went back into Stern's room. Stern took the chair by the computer and his parents sat on the bed. Stern related the whole story to his folks form top to bottom. When he was finished, they looked like they were tired enough to go right back to bed.

"We had your funeral two weeks ago," his mom said at last. "They're setting up a memorial at ESU with the names of all the students who died there. You should go see it."

Stern nodded.

Then his dad spoke up. "But first, let's get some food."

They all rose together and went to the kitchen. Stern's mom busied herself to make something, anything for her baby boy and his dad grilled him about the medical treatment he received for his arm. Stern explained as best he could without bringing up Anita by name. He had enough for them to process without Anita being placed into the equation.

Once food was ready--scrambled eggs--Stern ate what was given him while his parents looked on. His mother wouldn't stop muttering about how she couldn't believe he was still alive.

After he finished, Stern hugged his parents and promised to be back for dinner. He was going to go to ESU.

Seconds later he was there. He strode across campus as quickly as he could before he saw the fenced off remains of the building. There was a notice warning people against nuclear radiation. Just in front of the fence was a large granite slab. Inscribed were the names of the people who had died there.

He reviewed each name, taking time to let his gaze linger on the names of people he knew. Roommates, friends, classmates. One girl he had a crush on last year, but turned out to be too much of a workaholic to be any fun.

Then he saw it. There was his name on the memorial. Michael Stern. At first he couldn't believe it. He reached out and touched the words, letting his fingers trace the grooves.

Stern knelt before the memorial and offered a prayer for the people who died who were close to him. It was a common practice for Catholics to pray for their dead loved ones. He had done it as a child when his grandmother died, and again a few years later as her husband followed suit. He didn't understand it then, but it had helped him. Now that he was older, he understood it but it offered him no ease. Only one thing could do that for him: Neutron, body blazing in a slow, agonizing death.

Stern looked past the fence. Radiation or no, he had to sift through it. He had to find something. A chunk of the bomb, perhaps the destroyed remote. Maybe there would be something of the man himself that he could exploit.

He'd also have to track down Neutron's patsy and shake him down. But one thing at a time.

Stern light jumped past the fence and started to carefully walk over the rubble.