Thump….Thump….The heavy throbs of a knock at the door to Professor Xavier's office. For once he was forced to wonder who it was. Scott and Jean had been out of town for weeks (and not due back until later that day), on a bit of a retreat. Ororo had taken Logan off to demonstrate yet another lesson to the students of the Academy. Kurt and the others rarely bothered him, they had always been more or less distracted with the drama of teenage years, and Gambit and Rouge were off, up to only god knows what. None the less, he waved his hand in an air of nonchalance.

"Come in…" The door creaked open and a shorter, well rounded man walked into the office with short, quick steps. There was a thin sheat of sweat on his brow and his upper lip, and his beady brown eyes seemed to dart about, as if looking for a predator that was due to advance. But he said nothing of the sort as he walked into the room, closing the door behind him a bit more quickly than was accustomed. This man was definatly at odds with something…and if not that, simply afraid to be in the school…which did not surprise Xavier in the least.

"What are you afraid of…" Wasting no time on an expected response, Xavier's prying mind began to break the flimsy barriers in the ratty mans. His mind was like a bundle of nerves, a bomb waiting to explode…it didn't take much to see the sorce of his distress, which glowed a scarlet light in the darkness of his mind.

"You come to seek my help…yet you fear that this help could bring persecution for one who is so close to you." The man looked up, shocked that he had known something like that without his mouth uttering a word. His sandy blonde comb over was disshelved as he walked quickly to the desk, and thrust his sweaty palms onto the polished wood. He had heard of this man…this Xavier…who could turn the creveses of your mind. He didn't want to anger him, so he tried to act nonchalant about the feat he had performed on his conscious mind.

"P-Professor! You…you have to help me…I..I…I mean…Help.." The rest of his words were a jumble of cries for help, and Xavier held up a hand to silence his high pitched voice.

"Please calm down…I understand you seek my help…" His voice trailed off as he observed this man with cold, intelligent, gray-blue eyes. "But I also understand that this help isn't for you. Please explain this to me." The man stared at him. His pebbled brown eyes didn't even flicker to anything but Xavier's face, and finally when he spoke again, the influence of Xavier's mind had steadied his speech.

"Professor Xavier…this school…I, I have heard that you teach children with…with…problems." The older mans face pulled into a frown, and he drummed his fingers in his wheelchair. "Problems" was not the word that he choosed to describe his students.

"I treat students who have been the victims of mutation, good man." Xavier said. "They do not have disabilities, nor problems. They have a unique condition, and I perfer them spoken of in such a way."

"Y-yes sir…well…then its true? You…You teach those with…powers?" The professer nodded silently, lacing his fingers together, and resting his folded palms in his lap as he watched the man. He could smell the lingering scent of ash on him, and his clothes were wrinkled, as if having been worn more than once, perhaps even slept in.

"Well Professor…its my daughter. There's something happening to her…" Xavier nodded at this. He had supposed it was something of the sort, and unlacing his long slender digets, placed them on the wheels of his chair and pushed himself forwards, wheeling closer to the man. Yet he left a good distance between them, for he could sense this mans fear.

"Please explain this to me. What exactly has been happening…Mister…?"

"Memorex. Gerald Memorex…" As he said this, he didn't reach out his pudgy hand to shake Xaviers…he was almost afraid to touch him. He only shoved his hands deep inside his pockets as he started to speak. "My daughter…Quinn…about two weeks ago she came home from school and she was crying. Me and my wife tried to ask her what was wrong, but we seemed to be aggravating her. My wife wouldn't let her be…and she backed Quinn into the cornor, asking her what was wrong…" The man gulped down a breath of cool air, his brow sweating. "Quinn kept pushing her away. But finally… she told us that her best friend, Marlane…she had h-hung herself in the basement." Geralds voice shook and he seemed to want to run from the office. He had always hated violence.

"Sir…you must continue. What did your daughter do?" Xavier cracked his knuckles, perhaps more calm then he should have been. He watched the weasel like man, who was rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"Well…my wife tried to embrace Quinn. But she kept screaming for her to get away…she had been so close to Marlane…and to leave her alone. But my wife wouldn't back away and suddenly Quinn … she reached out and shoved my wife away from her. She… she was so angry…and when she pushed my wife, something happened. As soon as she saw her mother fall…she went crazy." He paced slightly as he spoke now, tiny, mouse like footsteps clicking on the wooden floor. His shoes seemed to be burnt. "She curled up on the carpet and closed her eyes so tight, she started rocking back and forth…She had been sitting under the window, and all of a sudden…I don't know how she did it, but the curtains caught on fire. My wife screamed and ran over to Quinn, but the fire seemed to grow wilder. By the time we got our hands on her…the house was burning…and her skin was like hot metal." The man held out his hands, and sure enough, they were pink and blistered, some callused over, others still red and raw. Xavier frowned at the sores, but nodded for the man to go on.

"We all got out of the house, but everything was lost. We kept saying that there must have been a reasonable explanation, but we knew we were lying to ourselves. My daughter had done that…we tried to hide it to. We thought it would go away…but every day we could see her in the hotel room, and she…she…there was fire in her hands. And she didn't look hurt either, Professor. She wasn't even burnt! Professor…can you help my baby girl…is she…is she…one of them?"

Xavier once more rolled a bit closer to him, almost as if his being only a foot or so closer would help the man to handle to news. He seemed to hate the idea that his daughter was, for it was undoubtable, a mutant.

"Mr. Memorex…How old is Quinn?"

"She…She is 15. Why do you ask?" The man fidgeted slightly. He seemed anxious. Why was this man asking so many questions? Was his daughter even human…was she a freak? Professor Xavier seemed quite calm, nodded gently.

"Mutation usually manifests at puberty, sometimes just after…it is a time of…heightened emotional stress. I think this is why her own...mutation…surfaced at that particular time. She was at a peak in her emotions, and all of the stress pushed her traits into existence." The man stared at Xavier in shock. It was as if all of his fear had struck his core and he rubbed his sweating brow, speaking to the floor.

"So she is a mutant…" He mumbled under his breath. But Xavier heard his voice even without his speech.

"Yes… she is. And a powerful one at that. Now sir, I would like you to bring your daughter in by tomorrow. The longer you wait to bring her to us, the further she will sink into this mutation. And I must say, that some do not adjust well to their mutation, and without our help…I do fear she might cause great harm." After another hours talk of the Acadamy, of the programs his daughter would participate in, the benefits to her, and the secrecy of it all, the man left Xaviers office to go for his daughter, with a promise to return the next morning. Xavier wheeled to the window, watching the students in the courtyard, watching their mutations develop. He had never heard of such a mutation surfacing in one so young, and within a week she could hold it at will in her own hands. She was already forming control…this girl, this Quinn… she was more powerful than he cared mention to her father. And with that, he left his office, on his way to see if Scott and Jean had returned. He would need their help…

*****

Her father walked from the office, his burnt and blackened shoes leaving deep ash on the polished wooden floor of the office. He had left her…in the care of these people, these strangers. Looking up, the young girls deep violet eyes rested upon the bald man in the wheelchair. Some all powerful mutant..he couldn't even walk. She folded her arms over her black tank, black arm warmers matching it. Her baggy jeans covered her feet and below. It was hard to find clothes that fit right when you were 5'4, but with a bit of weight on your bones. She looked indeed like a force to be reckoned with, her wild, uneven short blonde hair sticking up at odd angles, violet eyes were unafraid. She knew this as well…she wasn't afraid of this man. After all…he was no different than her. They were both freaks of nature. Not that it mattered anymore, she had no one who depended on her…no one cared if she was human in the end.

Xavier wheeled closer to her, and unlike her had to her father, he held a slight smile on his worn features, and held out a pale hand to her.

"I am Charles Xavier…welcome to my Academy.." His hand extended, Quinn looked at it as if wondering if he was supposed to make his skin change colors, but it didn't. After a few moments of inspecting him for perhaps a threat (and finding none), she shook his hand in hers. Xavier was shocked to find her skin was a bit warmer than it should be, as if that mutation was just under that top layer of skin, waiting to errupt.

"Quinn…but of course you already knew that. Im sure you and my father had fun discussing what a freak I am yesterday…am I right?" Her voice didn't shake like her fathers, instead it was bold and fearless, and traced with a eastern accent that must have come from her mothers side of the family.

"You are not a freak, m'dear. You are a mutant. You are not sick, not disabled, not contagious. You are one of the millions of evolutionary miracles. And in this school, you will be accepted. For everyone here is like you. Now…I would like you to meet someone…" As he said this, the door was pushed open and Kurt walked inside, blue tail dragging along the ground. His golden eyes fell upon the young girl and he blinked in surprise. He hadn't expected her to be…well…so normal. He had expected a woman laced in fire and ready to explode, from what Xavier had explained. But that was not the case. In fact…she was rather cute…Xavier nodded to him, but he brushed it aside, walking to Quinn and holding out a lightly furred, indigo hand.

"Names Kurt Wagner…" His yellow eyes glinted in something that he found funny, but no one else caught on to. Quinn eyed him a bit warily. Didn't he realize what he looked like?! Her eyes traveled from his long tail to his eyes which held no pupils. She wanted to push his hand away, scream for him to go away…but then she realized something. If he was a freak…so was she. None the less, she was not exactly thrilled to be approached by him. She reluctantly shook his hand, the soft fur under her palm tickling her skin.

"Quinn…Hi.." She dropped his hand a bit quickly, but not enough to break Kurts concentration on her. He barely noticed as his hand fell to his side and Professor began to talk again.

"As you know…" The older man said, wheeling to face the both of them head on. "This is Kurt Wagner, one of my prize students. He is also known as "Nightcrawler" to his fellow X-Men." Kurt said nothing as Xavier continued to speak. "The X-Men is a band of my better students and teachers, who work to achieve untity between humans and mutants…among other things." He fell silent as Quinn rolled her eyes, to Kurt's amusement.

"Your asking for the impossible…Be realistic. For the rest of my life, I'm stuck here, because if I go into the outside world, all I will be is a mutant." Xavier frowned, knowing his next words would be unwelcome.

"Quinn, your mutation is very powerful. Your father tells me you can already begin to control your power, which is amazing for one so young. I am extending an invitation, to join the X-Men. To fight with us."

"Are you crazy? Risk my life for a lost cause?" Quinn laughed and shook her head. "Get real."

"I'm not asking for any promise. Im asking for you to consider it. I promise the cause is not lost, but the victory is far. Yet it is not out of our reach. Consider it?"

"Yeah…whatever. Can I go now, Im tired." This was a lie, she simply had to get out of this office, away from the old man. Fighting for acceptance by the people who she used to belong with? If they didn't accept her for who she was, as a mutant, now…she didn't want them to accept her later on.

"Yes…you may go." Xavier frowned slightly and wheeled back to his desk, nodding to Kurt, who had snapped from his daydreams when Quinn had spoken so harshly. He wasn't sure what to think of her now…but there was something about this girl. "Kurt will give you a tour of the Academy, and then show you to your room. You will be sharing a room with Katherine Pryde until we can find you a room of your own.

"Great." Quinn frowned and grabbed the books he had placed on the desk for her, text books for lessons she was to be given, starting the next day. Who knows…maybe she would go. Doubtfully…but maybe. Kurt, on the other hand, was grinning from one pointed ear to the other as he took her arm…sending shivers through her at the shock of that fur. She looked at his hand on her pale skin…he only had three fingers…she shuttered again, but swallowed the thoughts.

"C'mon girly, lets go…lots of things to see." He flashed her a cheeky grin, and his smile was quite ordinary, which was to say, charming. Quinn smiled back, a bit warily. She began to walk with him out the office door. Anything was better than sitting around with that creepy old man…and as they left the office, she kicked the door closed behind them.

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

TO BE CONTINUED…

Note to self for continuance: Next scene-Quinn's room, meeting Kitty. Jelousy about Kurt for a reason not yet known…sorry to give it away people, but otherwise I will never remember and this will be the end of the story!