The Early Years

This beloved series by L. Burke follows the Original Five (Scott, Hank, Warren, Jean & Bobby) as teens at the mansion under Professor Xavier's mentorship.  These are tales of the downtime between X-missions -- all the normal hijinks that teenagers comit ... well, almost normal.  Add mutant powers, a crafty, strategical genius, a red head with a temper, a science whiz with a thing for Twinkies and Star Trek, his side-kick who freezes underwear, and a good-hearted millionare with wings -- not to mention an occasionally exhasperated mentor and a perky social worker who's more perceptive than she seems.  If you ever wondered what they were up to when not out saving the world, or how Jean survived four testosterone-poisoned boys, this is your insight into those early years.  Very few writers are quite so ... original ... when it comes to adolescent capers.

It isn't really necessary to know much about the comicverse to enjoy these tales; a basic understanding of mutants and the X-world will do.  This series does move toward and assume the (eventual) canon Scott/Jean relationship, but until the last, they're more about pranks than romance.

N.B.  ALL stories in this series are finally formatted and uploaded (at long, long, long last ...).  Some folks have asked if she's still writing; no, she's not.  Most of these were written by the end of 2002/03.
 
Bridesmaid Dresses, Slime, and Other Horrible Things
The Greys come to visit the school to see if they want to send their daughter there.  Exploding basements, sentient slime, and a rude juvenile
delinquent give them second thoughts.

Friday-Night Guy Talk, Stalkers, and Other Strange Things
The boys spy via a telescope, and bond over pizza.  Scott worries about the lipstick that won't come off.  And Jean catches all of them at it.

Tormenting Jean, Killer Robots, and Other Bad Ideas
Jean's study date is treated to Danger Room robots gone berserk and apparent ritual sacrifice in Xavier's living room.

Twinkies, Holdups, and Other Things That Aren't Good For You
One dead rat, one dim-witted 'bank' robber who accidentally holds up the pet store, and a snake that won't eat people.  Oh, and Jean ends up
with another traumatized study date.

Hit Women, Goats, and Other Vacation Blunders
The X-kids in Paris -- Scott rescues a goat, Bobby gets a marriage offer from a Sheik, who's subsequently shot by an incompetent hit-woman,
Warren faces the angry brothers of a girl he claims he didn't date, and Jean is forced to wear a leather corsette in public.  Among other things.

Anger Management, Geeks, and Other Scary Things
Jean is sent to an anger management seminar and Scott volunteers to go with her.  Mind games ensue.  And Scott gives a heart-felt speech about
the value of some kinds of anger.

Boy Scouts, Sex, and Other Mysterious Things
Scott's parole officer Carol talks him and his fellow students into a camping trip with other 'problem' kids, to serve as an example.  Insight occurs all
around, as well as poison Sumac, a drunk Jean, Scott all hot-and-bothered, and a fateful canoe trip.

Trellises, Romeo and Juliet, and Other Romantic Things
Jean's Valentine's Day date dumps her in favor of a bimbo, and Warren and Hank both quarrel for the right to fill in, until Xavier orders Scott to take her,
though Scott can't stand Romeo and Juliet.  (What?  The Professor Matchmaker?)

Chemical Imbalances, Kissing, and Other Sappy Things
It begins with a sick Scott, takes a memory trip through a number of pivotal events in their joint history, and ends with a ceiling full of stars, and an
albatross.  Oh, and a kiss, too.

Can't Fight This Feeling
It wasn't technically part of the series, but it did make a kind of coda.  Written for Naomi.  After Bobby's birthday, Scott and Jean finally find their
way to one another.
Send feedback to Lelia Burke
Making this page was a labor of love for Naomi and I.  We've both enjoyed Lelia's tales for a long time, and Lelia has been a fountain of Summers Family information that's assisted me in my own fanfic.  Unfortunately, her work is spread (in varying degrees of completeness) across three different archives, and "The Early Years" series in particular isn't grouped together or ordered anywhere (although as Lelia says, the order is loose at best, and except for the last two stories, can really be read in any order one pleases).  As I've recommended this series multiple times to fans of Scott, Jean, or the Original Five, it got increasingly complicated to point to all the stories in their several archives, so I decided just to archive them myself.  Naomi had already edited a few, and we're now working on the rest.  Furthermore, the last story was never publicly released, so after all this time, we get the privilege of announcing a NEW L. Burke story.

For a variety of reasons, Lelia isn't writing fanfiction these days, but if you enjoyed these, do send her a note to thank her for her work, her sense of humor, and a fairly sizable corpus of Scott-centric fanfiction.  We'll gradually add some of her other stories to this page once "The Early Years" is complete.

If you find a technical problem with any of these pages, please contact Min.  But send all feedback directly to Lelia, at the link above. :-)

The image was made by Puguita.