Part 2

Hank looked at his sleeping patient and then at the mess that made up his DNA. He was going to need help on this. A day and he knew that. Hank sighed, knowing of only one other geneticist who could possible help him. He hated doing this. He knew this was the time Curt normally ate dinner with his wife and son but Hank needed help…Remus needed help…so, Hank picked up the phone and dialed his number.

"Connors' residence," a woman's voice said.

"Martha, it's Hank, Is Curt there? I have a patient what needs the help of a geneticist."

"Of course, Hank, just a moment."

The line was quiet for a minute before Curt was there.

"What can I do for you, Hank?" Curt Connors asked.

"Well, not for me but for a new patient of mine," Hank said. "We found a man who has two warring genetic structures. We need to find a way to stabilize and merge them. I need some help on this one, Curt. I have no idea who else I can call."

"I'll call you back form the Neo-Genics lab in an hour, Hank," Curt said, his voice becoming Dr. Connors in les than a second.

"Actually, hank began, "Is there anyway I could get you to come here? This is...I think you need to see the patient to understand."

"Come and pick me up then, hank," Curt said. "I'll pack a bag. This sounds serious."

'It is," Hank said. "The combating DNA is causing this man extreme pain and the condition is contagious so long as he's like this. He's sedated and only a danger in the alternate form, that of the secondary DNA strand, Cainus Lupus. I think..Curt it's bad. I mean, really bad. Logan found him with his leg caught in a bear trap. He saw him change back and the if the shift from wolf was that painful, I dread what the shift To wolf is like."

"I'll be waiting then, hank. Come and get me," Curt said. Hank heard him ask Martha to pack him a few changes of clothes, that there was a deathly ill man who needed his help. Hank smiled. Curt had one of the kindest, most understanding wives. Martha never questioned when hank called him. She never got angry either. She knew Curt was a healer of the highest degree and when someone needed him, he had to go. It physically hurt him not to. Hank suspected that was Curt's mutation. He rang off and then had a room prepared for Curt's needs. And then, he waited. It was less than an hour later that the jet returned and Curt was led into the lab where hank had set up the things eh and Curt used.

"Lets have a look," Curt sad as Hank brought up the double DNA Remus had that was fighting for dominance.

"Holy hit," Curt whispered. Hank knew Curt almost never swore so that was a telling how he was feeling about this.

"Hank, keep him sedated until we find the answer. It's getting worse."

Hank cursed as he realized what Curt saw and nodded. Curt immediately took one of the samples and began to separate it. He would need to look at each component of the blood to find the answer.

"You may have to call Martha again and tell her I need Peter or Deborah to bring me some equipment from the lab," Curt said. "This may require some of the things I have there."

Hank nodded and waited. Curt wrote the list out of what he would need as they looked at each gene in Remus' DNA. Curt swore fluently at least three times meaning this mess was as big a shock to him as it was to hank.

But Curt seemed to understand it at least. Once the list was finished, hank called Martha and asked he to send the students up with it. Curt would continue to examine the genes until the equipment arrived. He was not going to rush this. The man's health was too important to him for him to make him worse. It would break the oath he had taken to harm none and help those in need if he rushed this. But he seemed to know what he'd need so hank went and got it for him.

"We need a fresh sample from the girl," Curt said three days after the equipment had been delivered. "I need to see the genes active."

Hank nodded and sent for Rhane and then, he watched Curt do back to the sequencing and re-sequencing he was doing with the samples.

"If this works," Curt said, "We'll have maybe offered a cure to whatever caused this in this man. If that happens, it'll be a true healing."

'Hank nodded and they went to work while waiting for Rhane. Curt would not leave this until he'd found the answer. That hank knew and was reassured by.

*********************

Dr. McCoy?" Hank heard a tentative, Scottish voice ask from behind him. He turned and saw young Rhane Sinclair looking down at his patient.

"The professor said you needed my blood for something? He said you might want a fresh sample. Is it to help this man?"

"Yes, Rhane," Hank said. "It is. He's been hurt, you see. Something is wrong with his DNA. Logan and the professor asked me to fix it."

"Sounds like a good thing to do for him. Could I stay and watch him for a while? Just while you work? Something about him called me to him."

"I think that would be fine, Rhane," Hank said. "I know if I were as sick as he is I'd want someone to sit by me."

"Aye," Rhane said as she sat down on a stool by the bed. "Me too. What's his name? Did the professor tell you?"

"Remus I think," Hank said. "There were two names in his mind, we think Remus is his real name and Moony just a nickname. We'll know when he wakes up. After I've fixed the mess that was made of his genetic structure."

"Okay," Rhane said as she took the man's hand. He was sleeping the sleep of the deeply sedated, and had been for the last tow weeks, so Hank could work, Rhane knew. But he had called her. Like his mere presence had brought her to him. And she didn't know why. She held his hand and watched as Hank used her DNA as a working template. He was determined, Rhane knew, to fix the instability in the man's DNA structure. She didn't know why it felt so important to her that he succeeded; but it did.

"This may be easier than I thought," Hank muttered to himself as he worked. The genes were all there but some were activated and some were not. The trick was finding the way to activate the ones that weren't and hopefully snapping the gene sequence into an alignment. There would be much testing

before he even considered injecting the man with whatever formula there was. He wanted it to be right the first time.

"Rhane," Hank said. "Could you sit with him a few minutes? Curt and I have to run this through the analyzer in the next room."

Rhane nodded and Hank left the room. She stared down at the man's face again puzzling out what was drawing her to him. She watched him for hours while Hank did whatever he was doing. She had a feeling he was talking to Doctor Connors. Curt had come at a summons from Hank the day after the man had arrived. She knew, they all knew, Hank always called Curt when presented with a problem he couldn't answer himself. And Curt had come immediately on hearing there was someone who needed him. She didn't notice the man's eyes open before his hand touched hers. She didn't scream though when it did. She just watched, wondering what he'd say before the sedative took him to dream land again.

"Heather?" he asked. Rhane looked down at him in shock. Her mother's name had been Heather Anne Sinclair. She looked like her mother but for her blue eyes and her coloring. And there was this man looking at her. He shook his head no then.

"Not my Heather," he whispered. "Heather had green eyes...Paler... Who are you?"

"Rhane," She told him. "I'm Rhane Sinclair. Heather was muh mum."

"Love the Rain, Remus," he whispered to himself. "I'll make you love rain....Heather...Sweet, gentle Annie...I..."

And he fell asleep then. Rhane looked down at him in wonder.

He'd known her mother...her mother had told him he would love rain. What did it all mean?"

"Dr. McCoy?" she called four hours later. Hank came back into the room holding the tube and smiling. It looked like it would be a simple matter to fix this man after all. Well, simple for him thanks to having Curt on hand to help him. Curt Connors was his ace in the hole for tricky genetic troubles. It had become apparent to Hank that possibly the only people who knew more about genetics than Curt were the professor and Moira MacTaggart, Rhane's foster mother.

"He woke up for a minute," Rhane said. "He knew my mother. He called her his Sweet, Gentle Annie. Annie was my mother's middle name. Who is he Dr. McCoy? Why did he say she'd told him he would love the rain?"

Hank looked down at the man and wondered himself. He was beginning to have an idea now of why. He'd noticed it when he'd first drawn the blood from the man but with the double DNA it had been hard to be sure. But, if the man knew Rhane's mother, maybe the DNA would confirm what he was suspecting.

"I'll have answers for you soon, Rhane," hank said. "Can you get me a needle from the supply room? According to Curt, this should work. And you know, I trust Curt about his patients."

Rhane nodded and got the needle, brining it back to Hank. Hank injected the man on the bed, Remus, Rhane was sure, and they waited. The reaction was almost instantaneous.

First the man shifted into a wolf the way he had apparently always done so... and then, he shifted back to a human...then to the wolf again only less of the bones shattering this time. Back and fourth, he changed seven times before the change wasn't with shattering bones and liquid pouring off of him. Then it was slightly jerky as the body got used to it's new reality and then...Hank watched the screen monitoring the DNA and smiled as it merged seamlessly into one genetic structure. One DNA that had finally absorbed the Cainus Lupus strands and incorporated them. And Hank looked at the new DNA impressed. Curt was a freaking genius. Well, with any DNA bar his own it seemed. Hank decided he'd work on Curt as Curt had spent all of the last two weeks here with him working on Remus. Curt was a good man.

Turning his attention back to his patient, Hank stared, as finally the change was as smooth as Rhane's own and the man jerked one final time before he settled into sleep. Hank looked at the screen as he noticed the genetic markers between the man and Rhane. The DNA strands were very similar and Hank checked them. He nearly choked when he saw the results.

"Charles?" he called mentally. Professor Xavier came down immediately and looked at the two samples.

"Are those both Rhane?" he asked.

Hank shook his head no. "One is the man and the other is Rhane. Charles, look at the markers. They match. This man is related to Rhane. And there is only one way I can think it could be."

***********************

"Did he know?" the professor asked. Rhane knew looking at the strands what they were talking about but she had a feeling....

"No," she told them. "I don't think he did."

"Did I know what?" the hoarse voice asked. He looked at Rhane for a moment as he processed everything that was happening around him. Then, he really looked at her and then at the two men...one looked like a blue gorilla and the other was a bald man in a wheelchair. He could almost hear their thoughts as they wondered if he had known he had a daughter. The answer of course being...

"No," he told them. "I had no idea I had a daughter. God will you please stop yelling?"

"We haven't said anything yet," Hank said. Remus looked at him and then clapped his hands against his temples.

"Shut up," he whispered. "Shut up shut up shut up!"

Rhane knew, the same as anyone at the school would know, the man was experiencing a telepathic flare. The professor moved over to the bed and put his hands on Remus' head. Going slowly, showing him how to build shields to keep the noise out. Finally Remus looked at Rhane.

"I didn't know," he whispered to her as he thanked the professor with a thought. "I was told my kind were sterile...that I couldn't have kids. Your mother was in my class at school. At Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You should have gone there…a letter or something should have come for you..you are a pure blood witch..."

"Reverend Craig burned such a letter," Rhane said sadly. "He said it was an evil place, but I've come to realize he was wrong about so much. I'm not sure I can go there though. I have to learn here how to use my powers. Just as you do...father?"

"Father works," Remus said to her. "It's what I am after all. And we can work on me being Dad once we get to know each other. And I can teach you magic if you like? We'll have to get you a wand eventually but you can learn on mine...provided I can remember where I left it when I changed...when was it? How long have I been asleep?"

Two weeks," hank said. "We wanted you sedated until I could fix the problem with your DNA."

"What problem?" Remus asked having read Muggle science and knowing what DNA was.

"You had two separate strands of DNA in you," Hank said. "One was your normal genetic structure over laid with your magic and with the X-Factor as we call the Mutant gene. The other was a strand belonging to Cainus Lupus. Rhane's mutation is to turn into a wolf at will. Using her DNA as a template, a colleague of mine, who is now sacked out in the other room, and I worked around the clock for the last two weeks to find a stabilizer for your Genetic structure. We managed to make the two strands merge so your DNA and your daughter's are now as similar as they get. You have to learn to control your change as well as the telepathy and any other mutation you have."

"Okay," Remus said. "And what do you want in return from me?"

"Well," the professor said. "Aside from Rhane and Illyana, there could perhaps be other students here who have magic potential. Could you teach them?"

"I'll have to send for some books," Remus said. "Or find my old school books if I an. As I said, I'm not even sure where I left my wand when I changed. It would be with my clothes and the change caught me unawares the other night. I lost track of it."

"I found them," a gruff voice said. They all looked and saw Logan standing in the doorway. Logan set a bundle of very worn clothes down by Remus s well as his wand.

"We'll have to get you new clothes," Logan said. "You'll need better. Besides, if you're teaching here, I'm sure the professor could pay you."

"A job?" Remus questioned. He thought for a minute before he nodded. "All right, professor. You have a magic teacher."

The professor nodded and smiled.

"Once you're strength returns and you've eaten a few square meals, we'll take you to the mall and get you outfitted. Where do you have to go to get what you'll need to teach?"

"I'll take care of that when I'm stronger too," Remus said.

"I'll have to convert your money to wizard money to but things in Diagon Alley."

"Of course," The professor said. "I'll see to having a room made up for you. Rhane, perhaps you'd like to show your father around?"

Rhane smiled and nodded, taking Remus' hand and he got up and pulled on his worn clothes. Rhane took his hand and led him out of the med-bay and Hank and Charles looked at each other.

"I'm going to devote time to healing Curt," hank said. "He helped me after all."

"Of course, hank," Charles said. "I think that would be fair. What do you think of him?"

'Remus?" Hank asked. "I think Rhane couldn't ask for a better father." Charles nodded, that meeting his mental assessment of the man. "Well, I guess we had best get dinner prepared. So we can introduce Remus to the school tonight."

Hank nodded and they headed out. He knew Curt ha fallen asleep in the lab after Hank had said it worked. They'd move him to his room later.

For now, they all needed to rest. Logan looked at the now nearly identical DNA strands and smiled. He'd always known the wolf girl's father was out here.

It had just taken time to find him. And here he was. Nice thing about coincidence, when it was on your side...it was the best thing in the world.

Part 5

Two months later, Remus was playing flag football in the yard with the students. Two months without the wolf and he was looking healthier and stronger, and his control over his mutation was as good as his control over his wolf. Using himself and Rhane as templates, they'd effected a cure for Curt Connors, the man who'd stabilized Remus' own DNA and for Remus, his blood samples were a small thing to give to the one who'd saved him and given him a new life.

One that included his daughter now running around in her wolf form chasing the Frisbee he was throwing. He played this game too, in his wolf form but Rhane enjoyed it more. Her magic lessons, and those of a girl named Illyana were going well. He'd also trained Jubilation Lee in the use of her magic as well as Katherine Pryde, Rogue and Robert Drake. He'd taught those who needed it including a girl named Wanda. She'd come and Remus had taught her as much control s he taught the others. And life had been pretty good as he taught the children here how to handle combat situations. He was an X-man now, had his own uniform and everything. Black leather and blue accents, it suited Remus 'Moony' Lupin.

So of course, the day came that something happened to disrupt his new life. And it came in the forms of Sirius black and Severus Snape. Arguing as they apparated in over why he'd be near children, a filthy creature like him, and his children, all of the children at the school, responded. Severus was hit with a shockwave of power from Peter slamming his hands together and causing a shockwave. Sirius was tossed backwards by a few of jubilee's fireworks.

And Remus...was frozen as he saw them getting angry.

Thankfully, Rhane was not. She grabbed her father's wand and pointed it at the two men who were getting to their feet.

"Petrificus Totalis!" She shouted. And they both froze. Rhane looked at them in disgust and Sirius and Severus both gaped at her.

"Sirius," Remus said, "Severus, Meet my daughter Rhane. Daughter of Heather Anne Sinclair."

"Impossible," Severus snarled. "Werewolves are filthy creatures that are thankfully, sterile!"

"Bullshit," Rhane snapped angrily. "He's muh father and my mutant power reflects what he was. Aye, Was. We found a cure. Ye ever insult m' father like that again an I'll turn ye into a slug!"

"Rhane," Remus called gently. "Enough."

"It's not enough, father," she growled. "It will never be enough for what this bastard put you through. Aye, I know you lost yer last teaching job because of his big mouth. It was in the journal you let me read. I'll be damned if I put up with how he treats you. You don't need to tolerate it anymore either. You never did. I'm proud to be the daughter of Remus Lupin and Heather Anne Sinclair, and I'll tell any two bit jackass who asks that verra same thing."

"Rhane," Illyana said, "Stop talking like I do. I agree wholeheartedly but please don't talk like that yet."

"Alright," Rhane said. "But he'd better not insult my father again or I'll put him through the wall."

"Looks like she told you, Severus," Sirius said.

"Oh, I'll do the same to you if you ever come in here assuming you know anything about my father. He is not the same person he was in school, nor is he the same person you last saw. He's a teacher here, well paid, well dressed, a regular mutant type, Non-contagious, non-werewolf in that sense of the word, person. He's one of the best teachers here, he plays with us, teaches us, laughs with us, watches really cheesy movies with us and if'n you ever think you can bully him into anything again, Sirius black, well, Illyana has a bit more than your wand, she has a soul sword and she's not afraid to use it."

"A Soul Sword?" Snape asked. "Really? And you let that thing teach...urk..."

"Allow me to restate what they said, comrade," a big young man said.

"Illyana is my sister so I am protective of her. I would rather have Remus Lupin teach her than one such as you. You see, Remus does not care about purity of blood or who played a nasty joke on him in school; he does not continue hate unto the next generation. As my sister and her friends will not say it, I will: Grow Up!"

Peter dropped Snape on the ground and stood over him, glaring down. The rest of the senior team came out as well and looked down at him and Sirius after Remus released them both from the Petrificus Totalis spell.

"May I ask," Professor X said, "Exactly what it is you want with Battle Mage?"

"If you mean That Cre…Lupin," Snape stopped himself at the look from the blond girl named Illyana, "Albus Dumbledore has requested he return to aid in the battle against Lord Voldemort."

"Very well," Professor X said. "Remus, if you wish to go, you may. If you wish to take a team with you, you may. That includes Rhane, Illyana and the others you've taught magic too as well as anyone you think would be of use."

"I'd like all of your help," Remus said softly. "I don't know what we'll be facing but I know Peter is impervious to all magic in his armored form, the iron in your alternate form is impressive, peter, Logan, Storm...I could use you all...if you can come."

"Remus, we are a team," Professor X said. "A family if you will. If you want all of our help, then my son, you have it. Storm? Please go and prepare the X-Jet. We'll fly to Muir Island and then go from there, all right?"

"Thank you, Charles," Remus said. "I'll go pack."

"It better be your new stuff, Remus," Logan called after him. "You ain't got nothing to be ashamed of anymore, not that you ever did. So you walk with your head high. You're a better man than any of them."

"Didn't you torch my old stuff Logan?" Remus asked. "No, wait, that was Jubilee, once I was outfitted to her standards. Anyway, I only have the new stuff. Lets go."

And Storm nodded, heading into the school to oversee the packing of the students. It was time to face Remus' world and tell them how little they thought of how they treated people. It was indeed time.