The Cowboy and His Mustang

Posted on Fri Jun 5th, 2026 @ 7:49pm by Jean Grey-Summers & Kennedy Kelly & Josiah Martin & Casey Severide & Bianca Mathew

3,030 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: Episode 8: Shadows Over Avalon
Location: X-Mansion
Timeline: March 17, 1992

The rattle and rumble of the ’86 GMC pickup shattered the quiet of the New York countryside, its low, throaty growl rolling across the grounds and rattling the stillness from the trees. Gravel crunched beneath its tires as it pulled into the circular drive of Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, the horse trailer hitched behind it swaying slightly before settling to a stop.

The arrival did not go unnoticed. Curtains along the mansion’s broad front windows stirred and parted as curious students and residents peered out, drawn by the noise and the unfamiliar sight. The truck, the cowboy behind the wheel, and the mustang in tow had all been expected after last week’s meeting in South Dakota but expectation did little to dull curiosity at Xavier’s.

The driver’s door opened with a creak, and before Casey could fully take in the sprawling estate, the front doors of the mansion swung wide. The same redheaded woman who had appeared on his family’s doorstep stepped out to greet him, her presence calm and assured against the grandeur of the school.

“Hello, Casey!” Jean called, her smile bright enough to sell toothpaste. “I hope the drive wasn’t too terrible. Welcome to Xavier’s.”

Casey grabbed his hat, putting it on, before exiting the truck, stretched a little before answering, "It wasn't too bad, ma'am. Just long. Smokey will be happy to get out of the trailer and stretch his legs. " He looked around, seeing a few curtains moving, but paid them little attention. "Impressive place you have here, ma'am."

“Thank you, it really is a beautiful place.” Jean glanced back over her shoulder, her gaze lifting to the three-story mansion rising behind them. “It was originally built by the Greymalkin family as a summer home, mostly because of the lake out back. Once you’ve had a chance to settle in, we’ll make sure you get a proper tour.”

Her attention shifted to the trailer, to the restless shape of the horse within. “I’ve already asked Joey to come help you with Smokey. He knows the stables well and the horses tend to trust him.”

As Jean spoke, a young blonde woman emerged from the large garage next to the mansion. Tall and slender, she moved with the effortless grace of a dancer, her leotard accentuating the clean lines of her build. Her features were delicate and refined, almost sculpted, with a slight upturn that lent her an air of easy confidence.

“Did you buy another horse?” she called to Jean, breezing past Casey as though he wasn’t there. Without waiting for an answer, she stepped closer and hopped up onto the trailer’s wheel well, peering inside.

“Oh!” Her face lit with delighted surprise. “He’s so short…and… chunky.”

He raised an eyebrow as the young lady moved past him and up on the trailer's wheel well. He chuckled, "he may be short and stocky kid, but when you're in places like the Dakotas, where it is rocky and uneven. He will work better than most of the horses you have in the stable."

Smokey the grey mustang snorted and stomped his front legs.

Casey chuckled a little, "Well, look, you hurt his feelings. It's ok, Smokey, she didn't mean it."

Joey came around the side of the mansion at a light jog, sleeves of his flannel rolled up and a bit of straw sticking stubbornly to his boots and hat like he hadn’t bothered brushing it off fully. Jean had told him to make space in the stables for a mustang, so he knew what the truck and trailer pulling in meant.

His eyes flicked over Casey, quick and assessing. Definitely not city, and not soft. Sat his weight right, hat worn proper, moved like he knew where his feet were goin’ before he put ’em there. Same kind of quiet as a certain mage—just felt a lot less like accidental portals to hell were on the table.

Point to the new kid.

His attention shifted to the trailer, then the horse inside. Jean had said mustang, but he clocked quick enough this wasn’t a showpiece. Good, working stock.

He stepped up alongside the trailer, resting a hand against the metal as Smokey shifted inside, his voice easy and low.

“Hey there, Smokey. Easy, now. We got a good place for you—just need you to come out and see it.”

He glanced back to Casey, giving him a small nod.

“You must be Casey. Mrs. Summers said to expect you sometime today. Josiah Martin—but just Joey.” A beat, then a faint, easy grin. “Reckon Smokey here’ll do just fine. Folks get real fond of tall and pretty ‘til they’ve gotta go somewhere that ain’t flat and friendly.”

His gaze slid over to Kennedy.

“Though I’m pretty sure,” he added, voice edged with quiet amusement, “you just got called ‘kid’ by someone younger’n you, so…”

He trailed off, shaking his head once before turning back to the trailer latch.

“Anyway,” he went on, tone shifting back to business, “you got a way you usually bring him down? Wouldn’t do for a good horse to get spooked just ‘cause it’s new ground.”

“That’s fine,” Kennedy said with a coy, self-assured smile. “He can call me Miss Kid when I’m grading his English papers.” She might still be a teenager, but graduating early and her promotion to RA gave her just enough authority to enjoy holding it over people’s heads.

Hopping down from the wheel well, she dusted her hands off and turned her attention to the two of them. They greeted each other with an easy familiarity, though to Kennedy, they looked nearly identical. Boots, hats, the whole aesthetic blending together. Whatever subtle differences existed were lost on her; anything remotely country, ranch, or western might as well have been its own language.

“Looks like you finally made a friend, Joey,” she teased, her tone light and familiar. “Now the two of you can ride off into the sunset together.”

The jab carried the easy rhythm of someone who’d said things like that before, sibling-like affection hidden just beneath the sarcasm. As the conversation shifted to Smokey, who was apparently a mustang and now a new addition to the school’s barn, Kennedy’s expression soured slightly.

“Just… don’t stall him next to Titan,” she said, her tone turning more matter-of-fact. “He doesn’t like new horses.”

Casey chuckled a little at her comments to Joey. Then turning his attention to Joey. "He's used to other handlers, as he was a workhorse on my parents' ranch. Also, one of our trail horses. He shouldn't give you any issues if he resists, just pat his neck. Thanks."

He looked at Kennedy, "To bad I already graduated high school." He gave her a grin.

"Ms. Summers, is there any job I can do around campus? I was an EMT and skilled farm hand?"

“Lucky you,” Kennedy said, a smug smile curling across her lips as she tipped up her pert, perfect nose. The slender blonde was arrogance made charming. “But I’m sure we’ll find something to educate you in.”

“We offer medical services and critical care to those affected by the Legacy Virus,” Jean interjected, neatly sidestepping whatever banter had begun to kindle. “There’s a mobile medical tent on the back lawn where we house patients, while the mansion itself remains for students and residents. We work with teams in New York City who help us locate the sick and bring them here for treatment since most hospitals refuse to care for mutants.”

Jean paused briefly before continuing, “You’ll meet Dr. Reyes later today. She oversees all medical care and research on campus. She’s brilliant and very overextended, so someone with a background in medicine would be a tremendous help.”

A thoughtful look crossed Jean’s face as her gaze shifted between them. “Now that I think about it, your abilities might interact in interesting ways.” She gestured lightly between Kennedy and Casey. “Kennedy converts potential energy into kinetic energy through her body, while you can manipulate energy within others… but don’t experiment until Dr. Reyes clears you for training.”

As their conversation carried on, the spring breeze shifted, curling down from the wooded edge of the property and settling around them. Whatever scent rode in on the wind struck the horse like a physical blow. Smokey let out a sharp, panicked whinny, his hooves clattering violently against the metal walls of the trailer as he thrashed and strained against his confinement.

The source of his terror revealed itself moments later. From the tree line emerged a wolf, its massive frame moved with a predator’s quiet certainty, thick red fur bristling in the light, yellow eyes burning with an unnatural intelligence. Any wolves he’d known back home would have seemed small, almost insignificant, beside the sheer, imposing presence of the beast now standing at the forest’s edge.

Casey looked from Smokey to where the noise had come from. He stared long and hard at the Red Wolf. Fear, panic, and anger welled up in him. "NO NNO NO NO not again," he said, flashes of Abby's injuries and everything that followed. He quickly found a stone and threw it at the wolf's head. A streak of white energy trailed behind it and flew wide to the right, striking a tree and embedding itself several inches in the trunk. Casey's right arm fell limp, and what looked like burns covered from the fingertips to the elbow. He grabbed the injured arm with his left, holding it to his chest. Tears in his eyes from the physical and emotional pain.

Joey didn't flinch at Smokey's panic, but his head snapped to the tree line the second he saw what caused it.

"Rahne," he said, letting everything fall into place. Spooked horse, new kid...something, and a giant russet wolf on the lawn. Didn't take a genius to put that together.

He didn't move towards the trailer or Casey, though he did flinch slightly seeing the rock embed itself in a tree. OK. Nope. Kennedy could handle the horse, and Jean could take the other boy. This one was his, for now at least.

He moved away from the trailer, angling himself between the wolf and the rest of them, directly in her path as he closed the distance. No rush, no hesitation, and no amused look this time.

"Hey," he called out, letting the word carry more weight than usual. Not quite sharp, but firm enough to be noticed and make it clear he expected her attention. He stopped a few paces off, not squaring up to fight, exactly, but definitely more confrontational than he usually was. "Not near the house, not near the horses."

He paused a moment, "C'mon," he added, jerking his head towards the trees. "You know better than this." His tone softened a fraction, "Let's go. You can say hi and apologise when you change back."

The wolf bristled at Casey’s heated words, lips curling as it snapped in warning. But when the rock sailed in its direction, the animal recoiled and retreated a few cautious steps toward the tree line. Offense flickered in its posture and for a tense moment it seemed ready to lunge back in defiance. Then Joey spoke.

At the sound of his voice, the wolf stilled. Soft yellow eyes lifted to him, wide and pleading, as they carried a depth of understanding that was almost human. A quiet whimper slipped free as the fight drained out of the wolf all at once and with a reluctant turn, it obeyed Joey, slipping back into the woods from which it had emerged.

“She knows better,” Kennedy muttered, already stepping forward to take hold of Smokey without waiting for instruction. The horse stamped and tossed its head, nerves still frayed, before gradually settling under her steady hand. “She’s not allowed near the barn. The horses go half-mad the second they see or smell her.”

“She’s just curious,” Jean replied, though her attention never left Casey. She moved closer, extending a gentle hand toward him, her concern plain. “I’m sorry, that wolf was Rahne. She’s one of our students. She spends a great deal of time in her wolf form, and sometimes forgets how intimidating she can be to strangers. She means no harm.”

“She's mostly harmless,” Kennedy cut in under her breath.

Jean either didn’t hear or chose not to acknowledge it. Her expression softened further as she addressed Casey, her voice slipping into something distinctly maternal. “Are you alright? May I see your arm?”

Casey stood there, frozen, his arm throbbing, unable to move or think, locked in a replay of the event over and over again. It wasn't until Jean spoke the second time that it, released him from the trance he was under. He blinked away the tears that formed, looking down at the ground. "Yeah.. I'm ok," he said quietly. Partly ashamed at reacting as he did, "it will heal." Holding the arm up for her to look over, supported by the left arm.

Jean gave a soft tsk, a note of gentle disapproval in the sound. She hated seeing any of them hurt by their own abilities but it also confirmed Casey was exactly where he needed to be. Xavier’s could help him learn control in a way nowhere else could.

“It’s not so bad…” Casey wasn’t sure if she meant his arm or the situation as a whole. Either way, Jean’s calm steadied him. The headmistress could already sense the potential inside him, and she had no intention of letting it go to waste.

“Casey,” Jean said softly, “close your eyes for a moment, then focus on your arm. Don’t just use your abilities, guide them. Focus on the pain easing, on it getting better.”

“I’ll help if you need it.” She closed her own eyes as she spoke. A moment later, Casey felt the light brush of something serene at the edge of his mind that wasn’t his. A presence that didn’t intrude but sought to steady him.

“Focus on your arm getting better.” Jean repeated once more.

He nodded, then closed his eyes, steadying his breathing like he had done several dozen times before. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, he guided the abilities to the injury, not forcing as she suggested, just a relaxed nug towards the wound. The presence at the back of his mind was soothing and relaxing, like his friends yelling support for him as he rode the bronc through the full 8 seconds. A tingle flooded his arm, a very familiar tingle that told him that he was healing. His fingers felt less and less numb, and the pain subsided.

“Beautiful,” Jean said in quite awe as she watched Casey’s injuries heal before her eyes. She would never understand why society was so afraid of mutants, especially when they could create miracles just like this one. “I think that was a brilliant first lesson, you have amazing potential Mr. Severide.”

She released his arm now whole and unmarked, and turned her attention to the rest of the gathered group. Joey and Kennedy had fallen silent, both knew enough to know when to speak and when to simply observe. Nearby, Smokey had settled beside them with his ears pricked forward and his body relaxed.

“Wow, that’s really useful,” Kennedy chimed in as she attempted to transition away from the brief moment of tension that Rahne had created. “I just blow things up.”

Joey came back out of the tree line, idly brushing leaves off his flannel as he rejoined the group. His eyes flicked briefly toward the woods, making sure no werewolves were following behind him this time.

“Hm,” he hummed lightly at Kennedy’s comment, the corner of his mouth twitching upward again. “Good to know we got the specialities covered then. You blow things up, Casey patches ‘em up, and apparently I wrangle ankle-biters masqueradin’ as predators.”

He shifted his attention to Casey, expression softening as he gave him a quick once-over. Not a stare, but definitely a check.

“Still with us?” he asked simply. “Or d’you need a minute ‘fore we start introducin’ you to the rest of the parade of weirdness ‘round these parts?”

“Hey, I resemble that remark!” said B as she approached. The rest of the students might be peering out from behind curtains, but she wasn’t afraid to appoint herself the welcoming committee. Plus, he came with animals and B was always interested in animals. “I’m B,” she added to the newcomer.

Casey turned his arm and moved it around, amazed by his own abilities. He looked up to the other young man first, answering the question. "Yea I'm ok..Joey right? I'm just getting used to all this." Sweeping his freshly healed arm around, gesturing to the academy or school or whatever it was. "And this," looking at his own arm for a second. He tipped his hat towards B, "Hello Miss." he studied her for a second.

B gave him a lopsided grin. “Trying to decide if I’m a parade of weirdness?” she asked jokingly. “Trust me, I am.”

“Oh you have no idea,” Kennedy replied with a generalized tone of exhaustion. “This whole place is filled with weird.”

“Xavier’s is a diverse and welcoming institution. There’s a place here for everyone,” Jean said with a warm smile, gesturing toward the front doors of the mansion. “Let’s get Smokey settled, and then Joey can show you to your room.”

With that, the group gathered themselves and began the walk across the school grounds. Side by side, the cowboy and his faithful mustang made their way toward Xavier’s, leaving the uncertainty of the road behind them and stepping into the promise of a new beginning.

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