Summary: AU. What if Jean Grey didn't join the X-men? Now, as an outsider, Jean is asking Xavier to help control her increasing powers. But as the X-men soon finds out, she's not as innocent as she appears to be.

Title: Distorted Mirrors

Author: Sherridin

Chapter 1

Jean Grey rapped the door sharply. God, what's taking them so long?

She shifted her weight uncomfortably from one foot to the other. She's been waiting for someone to open the door for 5 minutes now, and the stalling isn't really making her want to stay. Every passing second makes her want to bolt out of the Institute's gates, but she promised herself she wouldn't. Besides what choice does she have? She pressed the doorbell again.

"Alright, I'll get it!" came a muffled voice.

A girl in her teens with spunky jet black hair opened the door.

"Hi, can I help you?" she asked politely.

Before Jean can answer, she heard a bit of a yell from inside.

The girl looked behind her shoulder and yelled, "Stuff it, Bobby!" Then she turned to Jean and cheerfully said, "Sorry about that. I'm Jubilee by the way. Come on in."

Jean tentatively walked into the huge living room of the mansion. "I'm here to meet Professor Xaiver."

Jubilee answered, "Ok, just wait here a sec. I'll call him. You can sit down if you like." She gestured at the sofa.

"No, thanks, I'm fine here."

The guy whom Jubilee yelled at hung around.

Jean looked at the paintings of the room and tried to ignore the boy's stare. Finally Jean looked at him pointedly. "Yes?"

Bobby blushed. "I'm just wondering, aren't you the girl on that billboard at 5th avenue?"

"Oh," Jean said more softly, "yeah, that was me."

"Cool!"

A man with dark shades walked in. He was tall, dark-haired with average built. She wished she could see his eyes though. She judges people by their eyes.

Bobby greeted him. "Hey, Scott. This is Jean Grey," he introduced. "Jean Grey, Scott Summers, our resident brooder."

Jean was surprised. "How do you know my name?"

"Well, I'm pretty up-to-date when it comes to knowing beautiful women," Bobby said, trying to sound smooth but it only made Jean notice his boyish ways even more.

Jean had to smile.

Bobby looked over at Scott who didn't say anything. Bobby poked his ribs. "I don't think he recognizes you though. He's more dense when it comes to the entertainment business. But other than that he's actually a real thinker."

Scott looked at her intently. Contrary to what Bobby believes, he does recognize her. Scott Summers barely spares a glance to those glossy billboards that littered the road. For him, manufacturing all the hype just to sell a pair of jeans or a bottle of perfume was ridiculous.

But strangely enough he noticed a particular one. It's a close-up of a girl with wavy auburn hair. She was looking at something off the frame with a hint of a smile on her lips. Her intense green eyes were simply captivating. There was something poetic and graceful about the picture that he sees it more as art than a marketing ploy. When he passes by that billboard, Scott had to admit he's not completely impervious to advertising after all.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Summers."

Bobby had to poke Scott's ribs again.

"Uh, nice to meet you."

"So, you model a lot?" Bobby asked. "I bet Jubes would recognize you. She has a huge collection of magazines."

Before Bobby can say anything more. Scott asked, "So, Ms. Grey, can we help you with anything?"

Jean gave him a grateful smile. "Please, call me Jean. I'm looking for Professor Charles Xavier."

"I'll look for him," he offered.

"There's no need, Scott," said Charles as he wheeled into the room with Jubilee.

He smiled affectionately at Jean. "Ah, Jean! It's nice to see you again after all these years."

All three students were surprised when Jean hugged their mentor warmly. "And it's good to see you too."

"I see you've met some of students," Charles said, "You can meet the others if you stayed for dinner."

Jean smiled. "I'd love that."

"Good," Charles said, "Now if you would all excuse us, I want to catch up with what's Ms. Grey's been up to lately."

The three x-men were left dumbfounded, as they watch the two talk like old friends.

"I didn't know the professor knows her," Bobby said dubiously. "How can he know a hot model? That's just wrong."

Both Scott and Jubilee just shrugged.

Scott walked past the Professor's study for the fifth time in the hour.

Jean and the professor are still inside talking, and he kept on passing through the hall in hopes of getting a glimpse of the stunning woman again. He had to laugh at himself. Look at you, leader of the x-men, and still having a schoolboy's crush on a girl you've only seen once.

But it wasn't only that she looked breathtaking; there was something more. And he wants to know what that is

The fifth time was the charmer. The doors opened just as Scott was a few meters away from the study.

Charles tried to suppress a smile. "Scott, can you give Jean a tour of the grounds?"

"Sure," Scott replied, trying to act nonchalant. Even the underground levels? He silently thought out for the professor to pick up.

"Yes, even the underground levels," he replied out loud.

Scott gave him an inquiring look, but only got a smile back.

As the professor wheeled away, both of them just looked at each other.

Finally, Jean tore away from his gaze and gave an embarrassed laugh.

She broke the silence. "I have telepathic abilities, so I heard your psychic exchange with the professor there."

Scott was surprised and immediately put on psychic shields. She absolutely cannot see what I'm thinking, he thought.

He realized that Jean must have felt a vacuum of thoughts from what was before an unguarded mind, since she nodded and said, "It's a good idea to try and block me out. I haven't exactly mastered my powers yet."

"Right." Scott began to wonder how much she had already heard.

They went through the normal grounds - the rec room, the library, the kitchen, the gym, the bedrooms, and all the other places a proper boarding school should have. Of course, both were well aware this isn't a proper boarding school, especially with the activities going on below the surface. But they had amusing time pretending it was.

"And for the last stop, the library," Scott said leading them into a massive room with rows and rows of shelves. Plush couches scattered across the room, plenty of them clustered near the fireplace. The heavy curtains framing the tall windows were drawn back, spilling sunlight all over the room.

"Spiffy," Jean commented as she looked around the furnished library.

She swiped a finger on a shelf, making a clean smudge out of the dusty oakwood. She grinned. "Dusty, too."

Scott smiled. "Well, you can see we don't do a lot of reading. Usually it's just Hank and the professor who's holed up in here."

"Yes, he loves books. He would always read me stories-- Matilda, The Little Prince, Chronicles of Narnia, everything," Jean recalled fondly, as she reached up to get a book from an upper shelf. "He'd read them to me when I get those fits of headaches. His stories could always soothe the pain away."

"You seem to know the professor well."

"I met him when I was 8," Jean replied, fingering through the pages, "My powers just emerged and I could hear everyone's thoughts. They were so loud and I couldn't block them out. It was a nightmare. I thought I was going insane. My parents went through a lot of doctors before finding Charles."

Shutting the book, Jean turned to him. "What about you? What's your ability?"

Scott tapped at his glasses, answering, "My eyes emit powerful beams. I can't consciously turn it off so I need to put on these glasses all the time."

"So ready to see the other part of the tour?" he next asked, changing the subject somewhat abruptly.

"Very much," Jean replied.

They went to an elevator that brought them to the underground levels. They arrived at a balcony, which was equipped with computer controls and surrounded by glass panels. They were high above, overlooking a huge space that looked like a jungle, complete with lush trees and greenery.

Jean looked perplexed. "A underground forrest? What is that?"

"It's called the danger room. It's a training area. Right now it's simulating a forest with some hidden enemies." He pointed out the moving figures. "See, they're dodging some traps."

She watched as a laser gun emerged from a shrub behind a lanky man. It fired and he agilely jumped away from the blast in a split second before it hit him. He consequently threw something at the gun that made it explode.

Jean grinned at the ongoing action. "Impressive."

Scott smiled at how she's looking at the danger room with fresh eyes. It made him remember how he felt when he first saw the room.

"Can I try it?" she asked.

"What? The danger room?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Well, you have to have some training first. Have you had any experience of combat?"

"Does rush hour in the subway count?" she asked teasingly.

"Sorry, I don't think the subway has reached the danger room level of difficulty yet," Scott replied good-naturedly.

Jean laughed. "I thought so."

"So, are you staying here to train with us? Join the team?" Scott asked.

"Join the x-men? Oh, no, I'm… I just need to have my powers under control. I'll be having regular sessions with the professor," she answered, diverting her attention to the danger room.

Scott stole a glimpse at Jean, disappointed and somewhat puzzled on why she sounded almost troubled.

Another loud explosion came from below. Jean shook her head incredulously. "You have to let me try this."

Scott smiled. "We'll see."

Jean walked the length of the alleyway. A noise behind the trash bins startled her before she realized that it was just a cat.

It had finished raining, and the damped ground produced a stench that mingled with the wet garbage. At the end of the alley, she turned to the left and reached a shabby door that was inconspicuous in the dark night. She looked behind her back before entering.

"Lock the door," a deep voice announced.

She did so and went to the center of the small room where a single light bulb illuminated the space. Wooden crates made a couple of makeshift chairs and tables. Partly obscured by the shadows and touched only by faint light, a man sat on a crate. He held himself regally though, as if he was sitting not on planks of rotting wood but on a throne fit for a king.

"Please sit," he said politely, though it came more of an order.

"I got in," Jean said evenly, as she sat down opposite him.

The man leaned in, the light illuminating his face to her. Magneto smiled, obviously pleased at her work.

"Did anyone suspect? Did Charles notice anything different?"

"No, no one did," she replied with a tone of disgust.

"Don't feel bad, Jean," he said with false sincerity, "What you're doing is for your own good." His steely voice punctuated every word. "It's for everybody's good."

The man rose up. "I expect this to move on progressively. I'll meet you again in a month's time with the data you should have gathered by then."

"And if they suspect?" Jean asked.

"Then that means you're not doing your job well enough. You don't want me to doubt your actions, do you?" he said threateningly.

The door swung open, and he left in an instant, leaving Jean feeling cold and sick at what she had been doing.