Hello earthlings! Sorry it's been a while since my last update, life has been… a thing. Which I am kinda-sorta surviving. Anyway. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, and I hope you enjoy! I own nothing except a dysfunctional computer.

Race walked into the house, dropping his stuff on the table and not pausing for a second in his debate with Albert. "I'm telling you, the original trilogy is overrated!"

"No way! You need to get your brain checked."

"But what's not to love about the third trilogy? Epic romances, space battles, dysfunctional families-"

"The original had that too, they just did it better!"

"I think Phantom Menace was the best one." Dollhouse grinned as she pushed past the two astounded boys. Before she could be drowned out in a sea of protests, Jack walked into the room. He grinned when he saw them.

"You survived your first week of school, huh?"

"Barely," Race moaned, draping himself dramatically over a chair. "How am I s'posed to survive a whole year of this?"

"Prayer."

"Thanks, Dollhouse. Real helpful."

"Where's everyone else?"

"Finch, Tommy Boy and Elmer are at some club and Henry's helping out Miss Medda at the theater. They said they'll be home by dinner. By the way…"

Jack shook his head. "I have a class in an hour. Whatever you can scrounge up." This time, all three teenagers groaned dramatically, and the oldest boy sighed. "Oh c'mon, maybe you can order a pizza or something."

"Pizza!" Romeo ran into the room, having heard the magic word. Les ran after him. "C'mon, pizza!"

Race ignored the two kids. "Who all is home?"

"These two hooligans, Crutch, Mush and Lucky. Jojo said he'll be home by five-ish. I'll be home by eight and for the love of god, please don't burn the house down." Jack affectionately ruffled everyone in the room's hair before grabbing his backpack and car keys and running out the door. The kids gradually meandered away to do their homework, with Race eventually ending up at the kitchen table. Jeez, school with actual teachers was hard. They'd been homeschooled for the first three months they'd been living in this house, but now their new legal guardian had decided that they needed to go to "real school".

The first few weeks after the rally had been… hectic. Pulitzer had given his permission for the kids to stay in his extra house, even after Katherine had gone back to boarding school, and he'd started up a program where he basically just kept an eye on homeless mutie kids. Which was a little weird for everyone, but his image had been messed up after it was revealed that he was a hunter, so this initiative had helped. He provided resources and was legally their guardian, but all the kids knew that Jack was really in charge. He, Specs and Davey had all started attending community college, which was far easier now that they didn't have to work a bunch of minimum-wage jobs just to survive. That was something all of the older kids were very happy about- no longer having to deal with the jerky customers they had encountered on a day-to-day basis.

And Race was finally out of the gang. For real this time. They were still out there somewhere being criminals but Spot had, a few days after the rally, let Race go, promising not to bother his family again. That was probably good for Spot's health, because Jack had been really mad at the guy. Race no longer had to steal things or hurt people. He still saw the gang members walking past him sometimes, but he just ignored them and they him. That was over. The only reminder Race had of it was the fact that he'd been able to convince Dollhouse to leave that life and move in with them. Nobody minded that much. And, best of all, everyone trusted Race again. It had taken them a few months, especially Albert, but now everything was normal between the group. Normal, at least in this situation, was good.

Race did his homework. Eventually, the other teens arrived home and they ordered a pizza. Then Mush made a passionate argument about why they should be allowed to watch a movie in honor of Friday, and none of the older kids were going to fight too hard about it.

For the first time in as long as he could remember, Race didn't have to worry about where he'd sleep that night or whether he'd eat the next day. He was safe.

"See you next week!"

"Bye, guys!"

Davey smiled at his younger sister as the bus pulled away from the station. He'd missed her after he'd run away. He was glad he could see her now.

He hadn't seen his parents in a few months, though. The first time Davey and Les had gone back to Virginia to visit, they'd been cold and weird. The two older Jacobs siblings agreed that, for the moment, it'd be better if they just met in a restaurant somewhere. For Les's sake. Maybe one day they would forgive the kid for accidentally almost destroying his school, and maybe one day Davey would forgive them for how they'd acted when he'd first developed powers. And maybe they would. But right now, he was content to just visit Sarah weekly. Besides, this town still wasn't completely safe for mutants.

After the rally, conditions for mutants had changed drastically in the city Davey and Les had been lucky enough to stumble into. First of all, bounty hunting, places like the Refuge, and mutant-only jails were no longer legal. Mutants found guilty of crimes and homeless mutants were supposed to be treated like any other citizen. And, more importantly than bounty hunting being outlawed, people were actually not doing it anymore. Also, the public's attitude towards mutants was softening. It wasn't perfect. There were still incidents of normies calling mutants names and generally harassing them. But they were becoming less frequent. Maybe someday, they'd go away for good.

Nationwide things… weren't too much better than they had been before. But the articles and pictures had motivated some mutants and normies to hold their own rallies, and for officials to take a good look at their policies regarding mutant treatment. People were starting to realize that hunting should not have ever been a thing and why on earth had it ever been legal? 23 states had already completely outlawed it, and while now it was being done illegally, progress was still progress, right?

For the first time since he'd realized he was a mutant, Davey thought that maybe he had a chance in life.

The bus pulled to a stop outside the same Chick-fil-a where the boys had met Jack a few months ago. They walked the few blocks to the World's Library to pick up some books- it was now a weekly tradition among the kids, partly just to visit with the librarians but Davey liked to stop by on his own sometimes too. Afterwards, they caught a taxi heading towards the house.

On the way, they passed the city's best (out of three) college- an imposing gray building where Davey spent a lot of time. He was intending to major in teaching- maybe become an English teacher, or science. Jack was planning on getting whatever kind of degree you needed to become an animator for kid's cartoons (the other boy wasn't quite sure yet what exactly he needed to study either) and Specs was focusing on economics. Frequently they argued over who had the biggest workload, but to Davey it was all kinda fun, interesting work.

And Les was doing well in real school. Davey had been worried about how he'd transition back to that, but three weeks in and he'd said it was going fine. All of the kids said that it was going fine.

A few minutes later, the taxi pulled up in front of the house. Les scampered for the door as Davey paid the driver. Grinning, he followed his brother towards the sounds of his friends yelling inside the house.

It really was a miracle how they'd survived so long on the streets. With how loud and chaotic they were and their habit of picking up strange mutant children… it was really strange.

But Davey wasn't complaining.

Katherine knocked on the door to the house, grinning as the door was thrown open. "Hey Jack! Your girl's here!" Crutchie called. Some of the other kids made oooooh-ing noises straight out of a sit-com.

"Yeah, yeah, you can all shut your mouths," the older boy said as he walked in. He smiled at Katherine as they hugged. "Been missing you, princess. How's school?"

"Amazing!" Katherine had been accepted into her dream school. She was taking classes that actually interested her, had real, interesting friends and, best of all, rarely had to deal with her father or annoying teachers telling her to "act like a lady". "How's your school?"

"Same old, same old. It's better than homeschooling myself, though."

"Yeah, I'd bet." The two of them stood awkwardly for a second before laughing and heading to the car. Even after all the summer, being with Jack still felt new. Like every date was their first… and wow, that was the cheesiest thing Katherine had ever thought. But it was true? Which was weird.

Especially since, for a little while, she'd thought he would be gone. After the rally, he'd told her and the kids that he still wanted to go to Peace, New Mexico, the mutant-only city. But none of the kids had wanted to go, and while Katherine almost thought he'd go alone, of course Jack wouldn't leave the kids behind. Especially now that they were all together again. Crutchie was such a sweet kid, and he seemed to make the group whole. And Dollhouse was the coolest sixteen-year-old girl Katherine had ever met.

The two arrived at the theater early enough to buy the only food Medda allowed in her theater- cookies made by her friend, Cass, who owned a small but delicious bakery a few blocks away. The woman who ran the theater had offered the couple some of the best seats in the house for little cost. They'd protested, of course, but Medda had just shrugged it off, saying, "it's the least I can do for my favorite teenage couple!" Which wasn't very businesslike, but ok.

The play was excellent- as usual, Medda only hired the best. It was not something the younger kids could come see yet, though. Jack and Katherine laughed and chatted as they walked back to the car passing several posters of Pulitzer talking about treating mutants equally, helping to save the world, etc. Katherine hadn't actually read the posters.

She'd had a long talk with her father after the rally. After they'd gotten over the initial "you're a mutant! Why didn't you tell me?" and "you lied to me for years and tried to hunt down innocent people!", they'd actually discussed everything. He hadn't been excited about Katherine dating Jack and continuing to visit with the kids, but he'd agreed to it. And he'd hugged her and told her that her mother would have probably been proud. Katherine wasn't totally dreading the dinner she was supposed to have with him tomorrow night.

Jack dropped Katherine off at her house, and the two kissed before he drove away. She smiled in a way that if anyone had seen her, they would've made fun of her mercilessly. She wasn't entirely sure, but she thought she may be in love for the first time in her life.

Jack grinned. For the first time in a long time he had a stable home, a beautiful girlfriend, and his whole family. He was happy.

Was that ending too cheesy? Eh, whatever. Anyway, that's a wrap on this story! It was so much fun to write, and now I can say that I've written and finished a multi-chapter fanfiction! Yay! Anyway, if you have any other story ideas for me, leave a review or PM me (I probably won't respond because I don't know how to send private messages, but I do appreciate the message if you want to send one!), and, as always, if you have constructive criticism or words of encouragement, leave a review! Later, potaters!