Epic X-Men #6: Veil’s in Sight
*Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters*
Sitting in her dorm, Emma enjoyed a book she always wanted to finish, but never got to read, due to something always going on in her old home. Whether her father threw his fits, her parents argued, or the family fought with one of her sisters, there was no peace and quiet Emma could find to take advantage of for herself. Granted, she was bored at first, but when Moira asked Emma what she usually did when she was with her parents, Emma would name either schoolwork or meetings with people her parents wanted to impress. Never really anytime for Emma to do things she has always wanted to do herself. After realizing it, Emma actually felt pure delight, having such a calm atmosphere she could be in to unwind and let her guard down.
*ding dong*
Well, it was fun while it lasted Emma supposed. Getting out of bed, she walked over to the front where she saw Moira in conversation with a familiar brunette in tight-fitted business attire. Emma’s eldest sister, Adrienne Frost, had come to visit.
“Emma! I missed you so much, lil’ sis. How’s life treating you these days? Wait.....is that the same outfit you wore when you left? Oh my word, things have been hard on you haven’t they? Don’t worry. I’m sure I can convince mother and father to lend some extra cash”, Adrienne said cheerfully.
”No, thank you. I appreciate the offer, but I have plans with my money that would require I save it all up”, Emma said simply.
”Oh, well, isn’t that cute. You acting all grown-up and planning for your future. Mother would be so proud to see you now, I’m sure”, Adrienne said, though Emma wasn’t buying any of it.
”As fabulous as it is to see your....face, again, sister dearest, why exactly are you here? It can’t be to visit me of all people”, Emma said with arms-crossed.
”Oh, you and your downer attitude! Oh well, I suppose it can’t be helped. Yes, I am to speak a bit with Professor Charles Xavier in detail about what he plans to do with his school. Daddy wants to see if there is profit to be made in this venture and if he can work a deal”, Adrienne explained as she checked her nails.
”Well”, Emma trailed for a bit, thinking a little about Xavier’s goal with this place. She hadn’t exactly believed that Xavier was avoiding the prospect to benefit from this rather ambitious project of gathering mutants under his roof to learn ethics and philosophies, but thus far, not a single of his moves seemed all that shady. If anything, most of his moves seemed all too risky in a way that could only prosper small reward if they panned out. She thought back to the day Xavier went to get Jean as a prime example.
Emma tried to see the leverage Jean could give Xavier in any way that could boost Xavier‘s reputation, profit, anything. She couldn’t find any. Yeah, Jean was an Omega as Moira had said, and Emma was a little fuzzy on the details, but if Xavier was seeking something along the lines of controlling some of the most powerful mutants with his school, he would have simply brainwashed everyone to do so. Not only that, but not one of Xavier’s lessons were outright threatening or violent. There was some offensive measures, yes, but Xavier made it clear that it was only if she had no other choice when Emma asked him about more flashy displays. Not only that, but if the media had discovered Xavier was responsible for letting a mutant who caused so much panic take residence in his school, his reputation with this school would be ruined absolutely and it would be hard to come back to remotely a similar position that he is in right now. Perhaps greed wasn’t the right sin. Maybe he was just a perv? But if such was the case, Emma would have detected something. Yeah, okay, Xavier could block her powers, but he only did it to the extent of going so deep into someone’s secrets. Emma still had a pretty good view of his surface thoughts and Jean’s thoughts and feelings were always on display. None of them foretold that of disgust, guilt, or....bleh!
Enough with that train of thought. In basic terms, Xavier seemed like the very picture perfect image her father had tried to emanate to his colleagues, only instead of making grandiose gestures, he took more interest in the individuals and never pushed further than he should. If he were as bad as Emma had suspected before, he was damn good at his act.
“I don’t think he is seeking purely to profit from this. I think he just wants to teach. He has a good inheritance to fall on, so it’s not like he has any reason to seek monetary value in this”, Emma thought aloud.
”Oh, Emma. Sweet, naive Emma. Money in itself is reason enough to seek it out. I didn’t think you would have had anything useful, anyways“, Adrienne said dismissively before the emotions on her face went from a look of arrogance to confusion. “Strange...”
”What was that, dear?”, Moira finally said after awkwardly keeping in the background away from the negative tension between two sisters.
Turning to point at Moira, Adrienne asks, “You. You’re the housemaid or something, right?”
“For the moment, perhaps. I am a good friend to Charles and helped him in his research about the mutant genome. After Charles wanted to build his school, I wanted to make sure he and his students would get along fine in this new school he built. It’s not a jab at his competence or anything. I just am a worry wart, is all“, Moira said bashfully.
“So, you aren’t just any housemaid, but a close friend?”, Adrienne said taking a few steps toward Moira, who took a couple steps back in response.
”Yes. So.....if it’s Charles you want, I’m afraid you will just have to come back later to meet him yourself”, Moira finished while backing away, more on-guard to the woman who looked at her strangely. Like a cat playing with its food before tearing it apart.
“Oh no, I don’t think that will be necessary”, Adrienne said as she rushed at Moira, grabbing her by the head tightly. The moment she made contact, her body lit up brightly with psionic power built from within. Adrienne was a mutant, too!
“Adrienne, what are you doing ? Release her, immediately!”, Emma warned.
”Don’t be so cross, Emma, I’m just getting a little information is all. I was suspicious when I felt a ton of leftover psionic imprints around this place. Wonder what Xavier could be working on, let’s see what Xavier’s favorite science geek has to say. Fair warning, this would be a lot quicker and less painless if she just gave in, but it appears that she already knew that given how she is resisting my efforts at every turn. If that is the case, then she has to be hiding something juicy. Is that right.....Moira Ann Kinross-Mctaggert? Do you have secrets about Charles that you’d wish to share with the class? Don’t be shy, we are all friends here.”
Moira didn’t relent thought. With teeth clenched, Moira resisted with everything she had in her to not spill a single bit of information that would blow the cover of this place. She could feel the tendrils of Adriennes powers prying open every piece that made her who she was to examine like a scientist. A mad one at that. So, she intruded Adrienne’s work with everything she learned from Charles. Pure rage, diverting subjects, useless info, red herrings, anything and everything to keep her darkest secrets and her most important ones locked tight.
”Adrienne, I said, release her!”
That was all the warning Emma gave before shooting at Adrienne a psi-bolt. Adrienne didn’t looked bothered at all, so little of an effect was seen that Emma wondered if she even used her powers to begin with.
”So...my little sister is a mutant, too. Dad will get a total kick out of this. I wonder what other dirty secrets you have been hiding? Now I’m curious”, Adrienne said with a smirk as she continued to wear Moira's defenses down.
”That was just a warning shot, Adrienne. If you don’t cut this crap, I won’t hold back”, Emma said in a menacing tone that amused Adrienne even more.
”Is that so? Take your best shot. I know that if you could have stopped me, you would have done so. We are Frosts. We take opportunities and make the most of them”, Adrienne said smugly.
”True, but I seek to go a more different route”, Emma said before unleashing wave after wave of raw psionic power that stunned every nerve in Adrienne’s body. “You seem to have natural resistance to my powers, sister, but it isn’t enough. You are a garbage psychic compared to the one‘s I had to deal with. I gladly would have spared you of that little information had you listened. Believe it or not, I am not as opportunistic as you or father unless I am sure it will benefit me. I’m gonna be smarter and happier than the lot of you because I didn’t choose to ride his coattails. I will take my money and use it how I wish, and I will become rich my way! So long as I am doing so, you will learn to respect me. You and everyone else in that household because now you know that you have no power to stop me.”
Emma stops the onslaught of psychic energy to give Adrienne time to regain control of her limbs. Adrienne then looks at her sister in shock at the display Emma just performed.
”Pathetic. Run along, now. Your presence has ruined my good mood.” Emma said turning to walk away to her room. Adrienne did as she was told then and there, for she could feel in her mind her sister keeping a close eye on her for signs of her thinking about attacking Moira again.
When Adrienne finally left, Emma felt her body finally relax. She hadn’t known how tense she had become, but her sister really did truly bring her back to why she was so on-guard all the time. To survive being a Frost.....
****************************
*Orphanage in Anchorage*
Given the okay to speak with the supposed foster parent of Scott Summers, Charles wheeled into the office to find a man with raven black hair and a well-trimmed beard working on his laptop. Looking up, the man gives a smile in greeting to Charles as he enters the room.
”Ah, so you ARE the great, Charles Xavier! I swore, I laughed at the thought of one of the scientist who discovered the mutant genome to visit my humble abode. I mean, it may not look so humble, but more like a mess instead, but trust me! It looked better in the older days when it was still operational. That was due, in part, to all the extra hands, but eventually, after all the changes to the foster care system and all, it just came to be me, Claudine, and Scott. And I am not gonna have two children do an entire household, especially with the homework teachers given them nowadays”, the man says rather energetically.
Taking in his appearance for a second, he was wearing a buttoned down white shirt with black trousers, with a well kept slicked back hairstyle. He seemed rather well put together, but appearances and first impressions weren’t something Charles felt all too trusting about ever since he got to this place. Still, if he wanted to have any slim of a chance of convincing this man to let Scott be in his care, Charles would be civil and open.
”Your home is fine, Mr.....”
”Oh, gosh. I completely forgot. It’s just...you and your studies and....Ahem. Anyways, I am Nathaniel Essex. Previous owner of this orphanage. Now it’s just a simple house with me being a foster parent to Scott and a real parent to Claudine”, Essex explained.
”Really? Why, Scott? Why not any of the other kids you had to release to others care?”, Charles asked curiously.
He sighs and takes a seat at his desk as he recalls past events.
“Sad to say Charles, but our government had failed Scott in ways that happens more often than it should. I’ve seen it, too. His brother, Alex Summers, was taken away from him by adoption of a different family. They couldn’t take Scott, due to being unconscious at the time, or wanted him. We had no idea if his sustained injuries were something that would prevent him from coming out of his coma”, Essex explains.
“Injuries? What injuries don’t you mean?”
“Scott and his brother jumped from a plane before it exploded prior. From what Alex and Scott each explained, their parents seemed to had been on the plane when the boys jumped. We suspect they didn’t make it“, Nathaniel said in a somber tone.
”Suspect?”, Charles asked in suspicion.
”Unfortunately, we found no bodies among the wreckage and after time had past, no one reported sightings of new arrivals with the description of his parents”, Nathaniel explained further. “That is why I took Scott under my wing. Many children had similar stories to Scott, but the boy opened up with feelings no boy should feel at his age. Worthlessness for being helpless in the devastation, failure for not sticking by his brother, and so much more at the time.”
”I see....”
”That is why if anyone is gonna add the boy to their household, I am gonna be sure they would be the right fit for him. He can’t have anymore instability after the trauma he went through”, Essex concludes his rant.
“Well, I am glad you say that because I‘d want the same thing for my students”, Xavier agreed.
”Oh yes! There were rumors of you building a school. How is it going with that by the way?”
“That’s actually why wanted to come talk to you. It’s in my belief that Scott Summers is a mutant”, Charles reveals finally.
”......so, you do know” Nathaniel says with a sigh. “At the very least you are open-minded. With how this world is being towards mutants, I was scared of anyone finding about Scott’s abilities. I took him out of school to be homeschooled, used most my money that I inherited to deal with his powers spiraling out of control, and then there was taking care of Claudine. Sometimes, I worried that I was so busy trying to take care of Scott that I neglected my daughter....What could I do though? Scott is....”, he trails off with a troubled expression.
”That is why I wanted to extend to Scott an invitation to attend my school. I think it would be good for him to learn to control his mutant powers and grow to be the respectable young man you know he can be”, Charles says with as much earnestness he can muster.
Things, as expected, were hard on Scott and he wasn’t expecting the man to agree, but Xavier hoped that maybe he would understand that Scott’s need to be around those like him would be the best thing. Xavier wasn’t expecting to go adopting a teen when he made the school, but if it would help Scott come into a better environment, no matter how much his foster parent was trying to handle it, Xavier would do it. He was confident he was better equipped to help Scott learn to control his abilities, whatever they could be.
”Well....”, before Nathaniel could finish, a loud boom was heard proceeded by the shaking of the room that held Xavier and Nathaniel. Nathaniel ran to the window to check on the children and what he saw changed his stance to Charles completely.
”Teach. Ha! Teach your students to what, be ruffians? Thugs?”, he punctuated while pointing at the window.
Xavier quickly got to the window and sighed in disappointment.....this would was about to get messy......
**********************
*Earlier in Scott’s room*
“Holy crap. You’re...you’re...”, Scott couldn’t finish his thought. He just saw this girl go all Jedi on those jerks. Or would Carrie be more applicable? Whatever. She was incredible.
”A mutant, Scott. Like you”, Jean said softly in an attempt not to spook Scott.
”Not exactly like me. I....come with me outside, yeah?”, Scott said as he led Jean out of his room. How do you explain powers like his? A laser, but not a real laser? More like a punch beam? Lame.
“Scott, don't worry so much. I’m positive you have a cool power”, Jean said excitedly.
”Not as cool as yours”, Scott said as he guided her outside to show her. “Observe the tree.”
”Uh, Scott, there is a lot of trees”, Jean said in the middle of the clearing before the first began.
”Uh, yeah. You will see it... just keep an eye on me and follow the...thing. Just watch”, Scott said giving up on explanations.
Scott took a look everywhere to make sure no one was truly around. When he was sure the coast was clear, he lowered his glasses and opened his eyes. In a flash of red, a beam streamed from his eyes, obliterating straight through three trees and leaving notches in others that were near the beam.
“Wow. That's incredibly powerful”, Jean said with astonishment painted across her face.
“It’s alright“, Scott shrugs. “I don't have much use for it. It is actually more of a burden than anything”, Scott admits, thinking of the amount of damage he had caused when his powers erupted from his eyeballs.
He had been scared when his powers arose, wondering if everything and everyone was hurt. Thankfully, Mr. Essex had a friend who devised him some glasses to wear. Scott may not be able to take them off without turning trucks over or see in a variety of colors like he used to, but he got used to having them easily enough.
“So, you gonna share what that thing was back there you did?”, Scott asks after he realized he was staring off, though Jean wasn't paying attention to him, but rather the damaged tree he just took down. After he spoke up, she turned to him and gave a nod with a stiff smile.
”Okay. So...my ability is telekinesis. I can control things with my mind. Observe the fallen tree”, Jean said as she gestured an extended arm toward the tree. Feeling the pressure build in her head, Jean‘s telekinesis wrapped around the tree and started to lift it from its position on the ground.
”Whoa”, was all Scott could say as he witnessed the tree be moved from the stump to the open clearing. “That was....amazing.”
”Yeesh, that one was heavier than anticipated. I did it though”, Jean said with a pleased look on her face. “I am also a telepath.”
“A what?”
”I read minds. Or try to as of late. For some reason my telepathy has been off ever since I got here. Thank goodness it didn’t fail me when I needed to find you.”
”So, that’s how you know so much about me? You read my thoughts?”, Scott Summers asked. He didn’t feel comfortable with that knowledge of someone always in your head.
“Kind of. I actually know you because....I connected with you the first time they arose. When we were ten....well, when I was ten“, Jean said tentatively. This was really delicate territory that she was crossing.
“I don’t remember this at all”, Scott remarked.
”Well, you had bigger stuff to worry about and for all you knew, I could have just been a figment of your imagination at the time. Me? I only had my powers to deal with, so I don’t blame you for not remembering”, Jean explained.
”Alright. Tell me what I’m thinking now”, Scott challenged. Her logic made no sense, but they sure flowed pretty well. He saw the telekinesis granted, but she was claiming to have memories with him that he couldn’t recall. That was fishy and he wasn’t going to deal with a liar.
”What?”, Jean said with a shocked expression.
”Tell me . What am I thinking?”, Scott said obstinately.
”I don’t know if.....okay”, Jean sighed. Thankfully, and strangely, she and Scott had been far enough away from the house for her telepathy to have reappeared again. ”You think....that you believe me that I had telekinetics powers, but you find it suspicious that I knew you from when you were younger.....You are starting to recoil emotionally right now. You think I got the info from your head about your past, but I didn’t Scott. I don’t have that well-tuned control to do that. I wasn’t entirely sure my telepathy would work considering how unreliable it’s been ever since I got here.”
”....So, what do you want? Why did you spend so much time with me? What’s your aim?”, Scott asked. This didn’t sit right with him. Someone who could get into his head and know the most personal things that they have no business knowing? It really soured his entire mood.....yet, Jean didn’t seem that way initially. She was nice and kind to him from the very beginning? She said she was here for a reason before, though, and it definitely couldn’t be to see him.
“You’d be surprised”, Jean said under her breath.
”What?!”
”I said I wanted to find and offer you to come with the professor- and with me- to his school. Where people like us can learn to control our abilities. Now, more than ever after meeting you, I want you to come with us”, Jean said.
”So, you want me to go with you to a place I don’t know about with people I don’t know, yet who claim to know me? So that he could what? Use me? Make me his weapon?”, Scott said raising his voice.
”You make him sound like a bad Saturday morning villain of the week in those 90’s cartoons”, Jean said good-naturedly, hoping to lighten the mood that was getting worse the longer it went.
“This isn't a joke, Jean! This my life we are talking about!”, Scott yelled. After a moment of awkward silence, Scott sighs frustratedly, “You know what? Can you just....go? I want to be alone right now. I will let you know before you leave what my answer is.”
Seeing that there was nothing left she can do Jean turns and walks away. Typical. Boy has trust issues because everything was taken away from him. Telepath walks in and is to blame for things she did not do, Jean thought bitterly. Scott wasn’t being fair, but it wasn’t like Jean had any way to prove herself right. Scott was the one who forgot her and it would be up to his mind to recall the memory. Granted, she did wish that she could just reach inside his brain and dig through his memories to go”Hah! See! I told you! We did know each other!”. No use dwelling on it now. Scott said he’d give her an answer before she left.....
.....Who was she kidding? He wasn’t coming with them. She knew it. He knew it. Its a shame because he deserves better than this place.
“Does he now? And who are you to decide that?”, a girl about her age said with her arms crossed and two other girls at her side. She wore a tight black crop top with a corsetted pattern down the middle. She wore gold earrings and hooped necklace to match. The most interesting part about her though was the red diamond she had in the middle of her forehead. She stick glue on there or something? Looked kind of cool, actually, but Jean wasn’t looking for beauty tips. She looked at the other girls who were eyeing her menacingly.
Another trio of bullies? What is with this place and forming trios to antagonize people? Jean wasn’t in the mood to deal with them, so she tried to avoid a confrontation as much as she could.
”Excuse me. I’m kind of needed somewhere. If you can excuse me, I am just gonna-” just as Jean was trying to maneuver her way past, one of the girls shoved her back hard enough to make Jean fall.
”Ow! What’s your deal?!”
”My sources told me you were getting close to my boy up there?”, the raven haired girl said.
“Wait....you and Scott...are-“
”Not officially. He is more of my boy toy, if you catch my drift”, she said with a smug look.
Oh. Well, it’s none of my business, Jean thought to herself. Waving off the thoughts of Scott and this chick, Jean tried to get up again, before being pushed again.
”Quit it!”
”You gonna stay away from him from now on?”, she asked.
“I am pretty sure it’s up to him. You have a problem with it, take it up with your ‘boy toy’. I don’t want any part of this”, Jean said distressingly. Why was this hurting so much? She needed to get away quickly. Find the professor, tell him it was a lost cause, and leave.
“Very well.”
Jean staggered as she tried to get back on her feet and regain her balance. She would get cuts and bruises, but she felt okay for the most part. She was tired of this, emotionally and physically. She just wanted go home at this point. As she was about to continue walking, her little attack dogs pushed her down again.
”Okay, you know what?!”, Jean yelled, having enough of her bull.
“Yes. I do and I’m gonna tell you just what’s up”, she said before her diamond piece on her forehead began to glow reddish-purple hue.
Just then, Jean felt an intense headache coming down that worsened with every passing moment. Jean thought she screamed at one point, but the pain had brought a ringing and throbbing sensation in her head, making it difficult to hear anything. Yet, somehow through it all, she heard the girls voice in her head. “Listen good, hussie. I don’t want you ever coming near Scott again. I don’t want you coming into my home and taking what's mine. I want you and your bad-Patrick-Stewart-rip-off of a dad to never come back. Ever!”
How was she.....she’s a telepath. She’s a mutant!...........So hard to think.........Too hard to concentrate. So much pain. Where was the Professor when she needed him? Just then, she felt the force of air leave her gut before something hit her face. The two girls from before were beating her as their friend back there was hitting her with her psychic mumbo jumbo.
Stop! No more! That was what Jean’s thoughts cried out, but the onslaught continued. As it continued, she heard a second voice in her head.
Jean! What the hell is- oh god, Claudine! Scott’s voice said in her head. So the hoe had a name? Good to know, Jean thought before taking another kick in her shin.
”Claudine! Stop that’s enough!”, Scott yelled at Claudine.
”Hush now, Scott. I’m almost finished here”, Claudine said before returning her full focus back to Jean, not giving her any chance to focus on her telekinesis.
“Claudine, please, she’s had enough. If your dad finds out about this-“
”My father is none of your concern, Scott. He has better things to deal with than tramps who think they can do whatever they want in my home”, Claudine said as another scream came from Jean as she clutched her head.
”Claudine, please, stop!”, Scott begged. Claudine liked hearing him beg, but she didn’t have time for that. Maybe later, but for now, she took hold of his mind and was about to go on mind-wiping him and put subconscious instructions on what to do, but just then a blast from an invisible force threw everyone back.
This wasn’t good. Claudine didn’t think Jean would have been able to take advantage of the momentary divide of her attention, but now there she was, bloodied and beaten, but more importantly, pissed as hell. Claudine tried reaching out to her mind again, but this time, her thoughts were more guarded this time. Raising her hands to Claudine and the girls, Jean held them by their throats telekinetically, slowly squeezing them so that they could feel the most pain from it.
”Jean. No, Jean, stop! They aren’t worth it!”, Scott yelled. This had gotten bad quickly. He got so worked over his own issues that he forgot completely about Claudine possibly finding Jean. He could have prevented this, protected everyone from this.
“I am not finished, yet”, Jean said before raising them up and throwing them. When they tried to get up to run, Jean tripped them from under their feet telekinetically, not letting them have the option to turn tail.
If Jean didn’t stop this, she would get in so much trouble. She knew that well, but she didn’t care at that moment. She was humiliated in the worst way she had ever been in her life. She was not gonna let them get away with that!
”Yes, you are”, she heard Xavier say before she felt her powers suddenly disappear. Jean collapsed from the air, not having the strength to catch herself with her legs.
“Jean!”, Scott cried as he ran to her side. He checked to see how bad her injuries were. Looking at her face, he saw tears stream down her cheeks as blood from her nose dropped. There was slight coloring at the eye that would indicate a black eye would form, she had dirt all over her face, and a bruise on her forehead and cheek where they had kicked her. Jean turned away from Scott’s gaze and he felt the prickles of guilt forming.
”Xavier! I don’t know what kind of rules your school runs, but here, there was absolutely no hand to be raised against one another!“, Mr. Essex yelled as he helped the girls up.
Wheeling up from behind was a bald-headed man in a wheelchair, who did not look anymore happy than Essex did.
”Is that so? Then I suppose you would love to explain the state Jean is in right now?”, Xavier gestured to the girl lying on the floor, panting.
“Are you suggesting they threw the first punch?”, Nathaniel said.
”I don’t know what happened here, Essex, but I find it odd that three normal girls managed to overpower a mutant girl with telekinetic powers, especially after she had been training her whole life to control and use them to defend herself. Don’t you?”, Xavier rebuttaled.
The logic was sound, causing Essex to stumble over his words, but he continued. “Nonsense. Anyone could have done that to her”, Essex said as he tried to wave the issue.
”Oh, then perhaps some other children in your care came and ruffed Jean up? Is that what you are saying? And what of Scott here? Who do you think he will say started the fight between Jean and your girls?”, Xavier presses further. He looked well put together from Scott’s point of view. Almost as if none of the absurd accusations regarding Jean being the one who started things bothered him. If only the boy knew. In Xavier’s mind, he wished he could make them feel every bit of pain Jean felt and more in that moment, but that wasn’t how you dealt with things. It would only serve to make things worse.
“I could sue you. Yeah, I could sue you and the public would believe me over your word. She is a mutant after all”, Essex said. Scott couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He was gonna let Claudine and the girls get away with it? He wasn’t gonna apologize? What the hell?!
”You can’t do that”, Scott yelled. “It wasn’t her fault! It was your kid who started all this! And now you’re gonna let them take the fall for her doing? That's just...”
”Scott, that’s enough. This doesn’t concern you. Go to your room”, Essex commanded.
”No, I’m not gonna sit by and allow this”, Scott shouted back.
“I said, go to your room”, Essex once more ordered, this time aiming for Scott’s mind.....yet, Scott was still standing stubbornly in place.
”No! I won’t!”
Essex was astonished. Why didn’t-
“Quite interesting“, Xavier said thoughtfully before turning to Scott. “You know Scott, I saw in Jean’s head your argument with her, as a telepath myself. You have every right to not trust us. A telepath, if trained well enough, can do a lot more than simply read your thoughts. They can bend your will to their own devices, make you believe any emotion you feel is your own, and even attack it directly with a concentrated burst or waves of psionic energy. We are dangerous beings and it would appear that not only Miss Essex is a telepath, but she inherited it from her father, who just now tried to invade your mind and force you to go to your room.”
Scott’s world at that moment came crashing down around him. The man who took him in and cared for him, was a telepath? How long has he been keeping this from Scott? What did he do to Scott with his powers?
”Scott, don't listen to him. He is a bold faced liar. He said for himself he is a telepath! He could be manipulating you for his own ends!”, Essex yelled desperately.
”I don’t doubt that he could...but the very fact that I still want to recoil from him and everyone here, shows me he is a lot more trustworthy than you. She...”, pointing to Jean, who managed to get herself into the Professors lap before falling asleep from exhaustion. “She didn’t deserve any of this! I made excuses for this place! For you! I thought things couldn’t be so bad, but now....I’m not sure if what I’m thinking is correct at all....I don’t want to be here. I’m leaving with them and you can’t stop me!”, Scott said with finality.
When Scott got to his room, he started to feel trepidation. What if the bald guy manipulated his brain, just like Essex? What if he was trading one prison for another? But where could he go if he couldn’t stay with either of them?
It is then that Scott found himself in a different place. A place filled a calm serenity. It looked like his grandparents cabin, a place he loved to go with his mom and dad before it all went to hell.
”Scott”, Xavier said as he wheeled from seemingly nowhere.
”What are you- what is-“, Scott couldn’t finish his thoughts completely. Was Xavier doing this to him?
”I can assure you I am not, but whether you believe it is up to you. I am sorry for the intrusion, but I wanted a safe space to meet away from Essex' ears. Right now, I have set blocks up in your head, so that I don’t have to further protect you from his attacks. You will be capable of resisting his attempts if he or anyone like him ever tries again“, Xavier explains. “I am sorry things turned out this way. I‘m sure Jean already gave you the whole song and dance about my new school, so I won’t go into it. I just want you to know, that whatever you decide is your choice. You don’t have to stay at the Institute if you don’t wish to. You don’t have to take any courses there if you don’t wish to. If you do stay there, I would require some sort of arrangement for you to earn your place there, but that is under the assumption you’d want to stay and it would be discussed with you in-depth.”
That all sounded reasonable, but Scott didn’t know anymore. What was his own thoughts? And what about things he wanted to do before all this took place? Like finding Alex. He also wanted contact his grandparents.
“You can do all that, Scott or you can do anything else. From here on out, it will be up to you. You can doubt me all you like, just the same as you can choose to trust me. I’m not saying you should, considering the circumstances, but I will say this: If you do choose to continue to work with me, in whatever arrangement you choose, know that I will support you as best as I can, until you feel ready to strike out on your own. That could be the promises Essex made to you prior, but at this point, I could only give my word. Anyways, you have all the information. Get your stuff ready, please, so that we do not stay any longer than we need to. I especially want to get Jean some medical attention, so please understand my haste.”
The next thing Scott new, he was back where he was before, except.....he remembered everything that went on in that place. Was it in his head? It didn't matter. He just wanted to leave. He didn’t know if he was ready to join any school the Xavier guy had to offer, but he couldn’t stay here.
So, with all the important stuff packed away (he didn’t have much to begin with), Scott entered the car's back seat, where Jean slept soundly the entire way. As they drove away, Scott watched her even breaths as she slept to recover from the days events. He wasn’t sure if what he felt right now was real, but given who Scott believed he was, he was sure the pained guilt was real. Guilt from not staying by her back there. Scott would see to it that he make it up to her, somehow.....
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