I don't own any of Marvel's characters, and I am making no money off of them in any way shape or form, nor am I using any of them with permission. I own Dinah and the gang, but that's it. Marvel owns the rest.
Author's note: Okay, so this chapter is kinda slow because I'm introducing everyone, but it picks up after this, honest! Hope you like it!
*** Dinah Arnette ***
"Why is there a Monday at the start of every week?" Dinah moaned as she smacked the snooze button on her alarm clock. Rolling out of bed, she padded down the narrow hall of the trailer where she lived with her two younger siblings and her mother, who hadn't gotten out of her bed at the back of the trailer in 4 years, not since the twins were born.
Turning on the radio for the news, she turned on the water in the shower, pausing to look in the mirror as she brushed her thick dark brown hair out of her face. Her wide grey eyes stared back at her out of her heart shaped face. Grimacing at the blackheads on her falcon-like nose, she ran a layer of lip balm over her plump pouty red lips before getting undressed and into the tiny shower stall, and turned on the hot water, scrubbing down she absentmindedly listened to the news report.
"Another act of anti-mutant terrorism took lower Manhattan by storm yesterday when a group of anti-mutant activists known as the Friends of Humanity attacked the mutant group known as the X-men. They were on attending a conference on genetics for the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning located in Salem Center New York. Professor Charles Xavier made his press statement this morning. Can we get that clip Ted? . . . . . 'Greetings, I was saddened and disheartened by the anti-mutant activities put towards my students. I have always felt that pacifism was the best approach, that, while change takes time, it can be accomplished in the effort to get humans and mutants to work and live together in harmony. . ."
"What a nice thought, it's good that mutants have such a strong man backing their community," She murmured while she made a desperate attempt to shave her legs, cursing when she got cut.
Five minutes later and she was out and attempting to dress herself in the tiny space, her ample hips knocking in the sink giving her more bruises to add to the previous days collection before going to haul her brother and sister up, badgering them into clothes for the day before kissing their mother goodbye and heading out to drop off her siblings at day care before walking to the general store where she worked with her best friend.
"Hey Cindy," she said, plunking herself down onto the the high stool behind the counter next to her friend.
"Hey Dinah, how's things at Casa de Arnette?" Cindy asked.
"Oh, same old, same old, Momma still hasn't moved. I'm getting worried, it's getting close to yet another D-day," Dinah replied.
"D-day?" Cindy asked, pulling out her compact to check her make-up.
"Yeah, it's the day Daddy left home after the twins were born," Dinah explained. "She gets real despondent every year around this time. And Mandy and Joey always know something's up, but not the details. They never knew Daddy."
"Well you practically raised your little brother and sister," Cindy said.
"You know what? There's nothing to be done about it. How's the Prince of Pigs?" Dinah asked.
"He's good, Michael Jackson will be nice and plump in plenty of time for the state fair," she said, glancing out the window at the cornfield that backed out trailer park.
"I still can't believe you named your pig after Michael Jackson," Dinah replied, running a coat of mascara onto her eyelashes.
"It's the little things," she said and they broke up into peels of laughter.
When work was finished and Dinah and her brother and sister were walking back through the trailer park to their house. Rounding the corner, they saw a black pick up truck and a man advancing on their trailer.
"NO!" Dinah screamed, running for the trailer. The man turned around.
"Dinah! Baby girl! Daddy's come home!" Said a man with dark chestnut hair and a mustache.
"No, you don't get to come back here after all this time! . . . Have you been drinking?" Dinah asked, disgusted.
"Sissy?" Amanda asked, tugging her shirt.
"Mandy, you and Joey go on to Grampy Wilshires, I'll come get you later," She said, pushing them away.
"But-" Mandy started.
"GO!" Dinah roared, sending her siblings running.
"You grew up into a right bitch Dinah, you know that?" Her father demanded, smacking her hard across the face, drawing blood.
"Yeah, and you grew up into a real woman hater!" She yelled right back, throwing her hands up into the air. "Where did you go? Momma hasn't left the trailer since you left, she can't even leave it anymore Daddy!"
Then she stopped and stared. Her father, his truck, and her families trailer along with the other surrounding trailers were floating three feet off the ground.
"You-You're a mutie, an effin' mutant scumbag!" He screamed at her. Freezing she stared from her father to the trailer, needing to get past him into the trailer, needed to get her clothes and money and then get away, as far away as possible.
Slowing lifting her hand, she pointed at her father and willed him to move, which he did, slowly until he stood, unable to get any traction to pursue her, then she jumped onto the front step and into the trailer. Quickly she threw her clothes into a duffle bag and grabbed her money and passport out of an old shoe box from under the bed. After penning a quick note apologizing to her mother, she fled, leaving her family behind, tears streaming down her cheeks as she ran away from the trailer park where she had grown up, away from her mother and siblings. Determined to get to the school in New York with the strong man.
* * * Glenn Morgenstern * * *
Covered in soot, Glenn leaned against his pitchfork as the elevator brought up him and the other men on his shift out of the black coal mines and into the evening sun. He shrugged off his friends and made his way home. A small cottage with a white picket fence just outside of town proper.
Pressing in through the front door, he smiled at his Aunt Mable as she looked down the hall from where she stood at the stove.
"Hey Auntie, how's Uncle Gabe doing today?" Glenn asked, kissing his aunt on the cheek.
"He's doing much better, another week and you'll be able to go back to your summer vacation Glenn. Why don't you go on up to see him?" Mable said, smiling up at her strong nephew.
"Uncle Gabe?" Glenn called as he made his way up the stairs, the old steps creaking under the weight of his muscle.
"Glenn, how're the mines today?" His uncle asked, putting down the magazine he was reading. He had been injured in a cave-in at the beginning of the summer.
"They were dark, but there weren't any mishaps today," Glenn said, sitting down on the stool next to the bed.
"That's good. Dr. Crothers came by today, says I'll be able to go back to work on Monday," Gabe said.
"That's what Aunt Mable said. I'm glad to hear you're doing so much better." Glenn said. "Well I'm gonna go wash off this grime. You don't how she gets when we show up dirty to the table."
"You go do that son," Gabe said, patting his nephew on the arm.
Sighing, Glenn walked up the stairs into the attic. There he filled the old bathtub and stripped down, doing his best to fit his massive 6'6" frame into the tub. He was twice the width of an average man, and all of him was muscle. He even had to bend down to see himself properly in the mirror. Studying his wide blue eyes under his brow, he stuck out his tongue and wriggled his nose. Someone had once said that he looked like Michaelangelo's Adam, but he didn't see the resemblance, despite being constantly told this. His stubble was getting longer, but now that he was in the mine, he didn't care so much about it anymore. Brushing his unruly blonde hair out of his eyes, he went and dressed in clean pants and a shirt and went down to help his uncle downstairs to the dining table.
"Wow, this roast is really good," Glenn said, shoveling down his dinner like it was nothing.
"You're a growing boy, and my men need their meat and potatoes," Mable beamed.
That night, as Gabe was getting ready for bed, he noticed two swollen lumps on his back next to his shoulder blades. They hurt when he flexed his shoulders, and that night he slept on his stomach.
The next morning, he brushed out his short black hair and pulled on his overalls and t-shirt. He pulled on his boots, and tried to ignore the pain in his back. Taking his helmet and his lunch, he walked back to work, taking the elevator down the shaft into the mines. He worked hard, using the pitchfork to crack apart the coal, then shoveled it into the trolley. He worked like his for hours, never faltering or stopping to rest like his colleagues. Occasionally he would stop for water, and then go back to work.
About an hour before quitting, then pain in his back got worse, and Glenn dropped the pitch fork and pitched forward onto his knees. Groaning, he tried to breath into the pain and came up coughing from all the coal dust.
"Hey Glenn, you okay buddy?" The foreman asked, patting his back. "Glenn, your back, there's something on your back under your shirt."
The foreman reached around Glenn's torso and unclipped his overalls, but before he could lift up Glenn's shirt, Glenn gave a scream, and two beautiful black glossy wings, like a bats, broke through his back, spraying blood and lymph.
"Glenn's a mutant! Glenn's a mutant!" His fellow teammates yelled, and started advancing on him.
Panicking, Glenn turned and started running, and then, almost on instinct, spread his great gossamer wings and took flight, flying up the mineshaft and out into the cool Ohio air. He flew down the street to his aunt and uncles. Seeing him from where she stood water her plants in the front yard, she turned and ran into the house ahead of him.
"Pack your bags Glenn!" She screamed as Glenn tore up the stairs and into his attic room. Throwing his clothes into his father's old army bag, he grabbed the only picture he had left of his parents and then turned and fled.
"Take the keys, and go, your cousin works in a school for mutants in New York, in Salem Center. Go, and call me when you get there. I love you Glenn. Your parents would have been proud of you. Now go!" Mable commanded, allowing only enough time for Glenn to hug and kiss her before climbing in behind the wheel and tearing out of town.
* * *Jesse Augustus * * *
Remy pulled up in front of the Killgare Hotel in his car. The hotel was in an upscale part of Chicago, and the sheer class of the place put made him smile. After finding a parking space, he made his way to the check-in desk and then went up to his room.
"Not my usual digs, but it'll do," Remy said, walking into the hotel room. There were dark hardwood floors, and plush oriental rugs. Monticello style windows lined the south wall, with heavy drapes tied off to the side. There were beautiful dark wood furniture pieces, a sofa, two chairs, a low coffee table and an impressive entertainment system. The bed itself was a massive kingsized canopy bed with an ornate duvet cover. You had to go up to steps to get to it, and through another door was the bathroom with a large shower stall and a deep sunken marble tub.
After he tipped the bellboy, he took his bags and put them in the bedroom before taking a shower and changing into jeans and a an old t-shirt. Making sure he looked more like a worker and less like a guest, he got ready to go and seek out who he was here to find.
Taking the elevator down to the first floor, he made his way into the utility halls of the hotel, avoiding service elevators and taking the stairs down, deeper into the hotel until he found himself following the trail of coal through long darkened hallways. The floors and walls were made of concrete. Remy found himself in an L shaped hallway. As he rounded the bend, he saw at the end of the long hall the kind of door that you would find on a ship, 'water-tight' Gambit's mind placed.
As he approached the door he heard the sound of shoveling going on. Placing a furred hand on the door, he pushed inwards and stepped into the boiler room.
There were enormous piles of coal everywhere, and 8 boilers in total, four on one side, four on the other. At the end of the room, Remy could make out a cot with some old bedding on it, and he tamped down hard on a surge of anger after experiencing the lushness of the hotel above.
The boy he found had stopped shoveling and was staring up at Remy. Remy in turn looked down at the kid. His skin was covered in heavy black scales, and around the edges glowed with the embers that lay beneath his skin. His eyes were black with slits for pupils, like a cats, but they glowed with the same fire that showed between his scales. The kid didn't have a drop of sweat on him, despite the overwhelming heat from the boilers.
"Can I help you sir?" The boy asked, his voice was raspy.
"You Jesse Augustus?" Remy asked, his ruby eyes glinting in the dim light.
"Y-yes, who are you?" Jesse asked nervously, his hand fidgeting on the handle of the shovel.
"My name is Remy LeBeau, Jesse. I'm from a school for mutants. I was sent here to get you, that is, if you want to come with me," Remy said carefully. He understood why the boy was in this boiler room, and he felt bitterly angry towards the boy's parents for sending him away like this.
"W-what kind of a school?" Jesse asked, and Remy had to suppress a smile at the boys wary interest.
"It's a school for children with gifts like yours. A place where you'll be respected and safe, you'll get a good education, and learn how to control your powers," Remy said quietly, leaning against the warm concrete wall.
"I like to read, my boss, for Christmas, he bought me a book of poetry. Will I be able to read at this school?" Jesse asked, and Remy's heart broke a little bit more.
"We have a whole library of books, you can read as many of them as you like," Remy said softly.
"My parents sold me to be a boiler man. They said it was because Tony, that's my little brother, kept dreaming my dreams," Jesse said, staring down at the coal.
"What did you dream about?" Remy asked, scarcely daring to breath.
"Fire," Jesse said. "I dream about fire."
"Always?" Remy asked softly.
"Every night," Jesse replied solemnly.
"Can you start fires? Is that your ability?" Remy asked, slowly circling around to the problem at hand.
"Yes, I can start them, I can control them," Jesse said slowly.
"Would you like to come with me back to the school?" Remy asked.
"Will you be there?" Jesse asked.
"I'm the gymnastics teacher there, you'll have that with me, and I live there with the rest of the teachers and students. What do you say?" Remy asked softly.
"When can we leave?" Jesse asked, digging his shovel into a mound of coal so that it stood up on it's own.
"As soon as you're ready," Remy replied.
* * * Carlos Santiago * * *
"Hey Carlos, come in here and take a look at this!" Carlos' sister Tina called to him. "Stupid mutantes, got attacked at some genetics conference down in financial district."
"Shut up Tina, they're just people like everyone else," Carlos said, mussing up her hair. "Now are you coming with me to the store? Or what?"
"Yeah yeah, I'm coming, lemme get my shoes," Tina said.
Waiting for his sister, he paused to study himself in the mirror. It wasn't something he did often, mostly because he didn't think of himself as particularly attractive. He had a smattering of freckles across his broad nose, his lips were big on his wide face, and he had slightly larger-than-normal brown eyes. His thick black hair was straight and never did what he wanted it too. He was shorter than most guys his age, and while he always joked with his friends that it just put him eye to eye with all the girls, he was, in fact pretty sensitive about it. Not that'd he'd ever admit to it.
"Ready?" Tina asked, walking back into the room, and together the pair left their apartment.
"So your fourteenth birthday is on Saturday, you wanna cake?" Carlos asked as they left their apartment building and stepped into the late August air.
"You know we can't afford that, you didn't have one at your 16th birthday," Tina pointed out.
"Yeah, but I'm a guy, cakes aren't masculine enough," he replied, striking a pose.
"Look at you, trying to be macho," she said, poking at her brothers arm.
Walking the 12 blocks through the Bronx, they waved to friends that they had grown up with their whole life. Stopping when they reached the super market.
"Dad's working the night shift again tonight, I thought we could make him pancakes tomorrow," Tina said as she pushed the cart down the aisle.
"It is Friday. . . I don't see why not," Carlos mused, putting pancake batter into the cart. "We'll need milk and eggs though."
"No problem, I'll go get them," Tina said, and bounded off down the aisle.
When they were heading back to their apartment building, they were stopped by gang of guys.
"Well lookie what we have here, a hot little thing and her brother," said one of the guys.
"Shut up Tito, we're just trying to get home," Carlos said.
"Oh ho, look at you trying to act tough in front of your sister," Tito sneered while the guys around him laughed.
"I mean it, shut up Tito," Carlos said, getting angrier and angrier.
"Carlos, stop it, they aren't worth it," Tina said, pulling at her brother with her free hand.
"Yeah little pansy, listen to your sister," Tito taunted, laughing.
Shoving the bags he was carrying into his sisters arms, he started stalking towards Tito, but when he stretched out his hands to push him back, instead a strong wind blew up, creating a miniature tornado, causing the group of them to fall backwards several feet before hitting the ground. Shocked, Tina was the first to move.
"Carlos! Run!" She yelled, shoving bags into his arms. Turning, they ran down the street, dodging in between cars and running until they collapsed in front of a tv repair shop 8 blocks away that was showing footage of the mutant attacks and Xavier's speech.
"That's it, you need to go there, to that school Carlos," Tina said, breathless.
"What? No, Tina, I can't leave you," he said.
"Carlos, you were always afraid of taking risks. Poppy and I will be fine. I can mail you your clothes, and you can always come and visit us. Here. Take this, I've been saving my money. It's 45 dollars and 37 cents, enough to get you to Salem Center. Call me when you get there Carlos. I love you," Tina said boldly, smiling at him, her brown eyes dancing.
"I-Tina," Carlos started.
"Carlos, your a mutante, go be with your kind," she smiled, her brown eyes dancing.
"I love you Tina," Carlos said, finally accepting what she was saying. "Are you gonna be okay to get home?"
"I'll be fine, go Carlos, call me when you get there," Tina said, gathering their shopping bags in her arms and ushering him along to the subway.
When they got there, they hugged each other fiercely before parting ways.
* * * Sparrow * * *
A young girl woke up early Friday morning, listening to her father cursing about the mutant scum, yelling at the television that the anti-mutant activists were right, that that Xavier ought to be burned. Sighing, she got up, and pulled on a pair of jeans up her long white legs and over her slender hips, and pulled on a shirt. She ran a quick brush through her long straight strawberry blonde hair. Her unique blue-green eyes caught the light as she stared solemnly at herself in the window. Her wide lips and blanched cheeks portraying no feeling, no thoughts towards her broken father in the kitchen.
Pulling on her boots, she climbed out the window and walked out to the barn. Pushing open the door, she went and tacked up her small mare, and, grabbing her helmet, headed out of the farm, away from her father and his bigotry, and into the mountains of Montana where she had grown up.
When her mare was warmed up, she broke into a canter, riding along, laughing and smiling in the early morning sunlight. She stopped off at lunch time, letting her horse graze while she laid out in the sun, her strawberry blonde hair fanned out around her head as she laid on the bank. When she and her horse were rested, she pulled on her helmet again and mounted, riding off along the perimeter of their cow paddock.
When she turned in the bend, she startled a brown bear that stood up on two legs, causing her mare to panic and rear, casting her backwards off the back of the horse. Disoriented, she pushed herself back, trying to get away from the bear, but when it swiped, she panicked and shrank, her arms becoming wings, her five toes dissolving into three. Her mind, reduced to that of a sparrow knew the command to fly, and she took off, flying over her horse, over the cows, and back to her home.
There she perched on the kitchen windowsill, watching her father in his underwear with a beer at his side in the kitchen.
"Mutant freaks," he scoffed, and the girl's little sparrow heart broke at his words. But she could hear the uplifting words of Professor Xavier echoing from the television, heard that he was the headmaster of a school in New York, and armed with that, she turned and took flight, heading east, hoping for something better.
* * * Sayaka Suzuki * * *
"Sayaka, stop rubbing your hands, you're only going to make it worse," her mother scolded.
"Ma, stop, it's the only thing that relieves the pain," Sayaka sighed. "This is the fifth doctor we've been to in two months, and all of them have said the same thing, that there's nothing medically wrong with me."
"Oh, all those doctors got their degrees in the Virgin Islands," her mother clucked.
"Ma, the last one graduated from Johns Hopkins, that's not in the Virgin Islands," Sayaka retorted, rubbing more anti-inflammatory into her hands. "You know, there's a doctor in upstate New York that deals with mutants."
"Nonsense dear, you know how your father feels about those-those people," her mother said haltingly.
"Dad doesn't need to know Ma. Just like you decided he didn't need to know I cracked the foundation on the beach house when I went into the basement to relight the water heater and that's why we came back early from vacation," Sayaka said. "Or when I damaged the driveway when I got my period two months ago! Just like you decided he didn't need to know about Nobu coming out of the closet!"
"Your brother being gay and your joint problems are in no way connected," her mother said tightly, gripping the steering wheel harder than necessary.
"No, but you insisting that Dad doesn't find out about the big things in our lives is," Sayaka replied.
"Saya, stop this, I will not have my daughter saying these horrible things," her mother said.
"Ma, pull the car over," Saya said.
"But-"
"PULL THE CAR OVER!"
Her mother pulled into a parking lot and stopped the car.
"Mom, you can't keep denying that this is happening. Nobu likes boys and my hands hurt, which makes me do things I can't control. Maybe this doctor can help us. Can we please at least try?" Sayaka begged.
Her mother sighed deeply. "What's this doctors name?"
"Dr. Henry McCoy. He takes patients on a case by case basis, but he's a regular doctor and a geneticist, maybe he can help," Sayaka begged.
"Fine, if you can make an appointment, I'll take you," her mother replied tightly, gazing down at her daughter who painfully rubbed her joints. Her beautiful daughter who could no longer hold a pen or brush her teeth on her own because her hands hurt so much
Several hours later, Sayaka sat at her desk, the phone sat in front of her quietly mocking her. Finally with a sigh, she pushed her sheet of thick black hair out of her face and picked up the phone and dialed the number. It rang once, twice, thrice before a man answered the phone.
"Hello? This is Dr. McCoy speaking," came an intelligent sounding voice on the other end of the line.
"Hello Dr. McCoy, my name is Sayaka Suzuki. I was reading an article that said you sometimes took mutant patients on a case by case basis, and I was hoping you would consider mine," she said nervously, her hands fidgeting in her lap like a bird with an injured wing.
There was a moment, sounds of the man settling.
"Please, continue when you're ready," the man said courteously.
"I have had constant joint pain and semi-regular migraines for the last 8 months. And during that time I managed to crack the foundation on my families beach house and rip an enormous scar into my families driveway," she said nervously. "I take pain killers for the migraines, and I use an anti-inflammatory on my hands, but neither work terribly well."
"What were you doing during both of these occurrences?" The man asked gently.
"When I cracked the foundation I had gone downstairs to relight the pilot on the water heater and I tripped. The second time I had my period and a bad migraine and was being taken to the hospital, I brought my hands up to my head, because of the light, it makes my migraines worse, and it caused the driveway to rupture," she said, silently berating herself.
"About how often would you say you get migraines?" The doctor asked.
"About twice a month," she replied.
"I would like to see you, are you in the area?" He asked.
"No, I live in New Jersey, but I can get a ride to your place no problem," she said.
"Wonderful, are you available tomorrow at 10 in the morning?" Dr. McCoy asked.
"Yes, I'll just need the address," she replied, grabbing a piece of paper and did her best to hold the pen as she wrote down the address. "Thank you so much Dr. McCoy, I'll see you tomorrow."
The next morning Saya woke up early, going into the bathroom she hopped in the shower and went through her ablutions. When she climbed out, she wrapped herself in a towel, and put some toothpaste on her mouth. She wiped the steam off the mirror and studied herself in the mirror while she brushed her teeth. Her brown almond-shaped eyes had gold flecks in them, and she had her grandmothers high cheek bones, and her fathers short stature. She was slightly overweight, but never let it bother her. Smiling her broad lipped smile, she went into her room and pulled on a long skirt and a green blouse. Then she pulled on her gloves and grabbed her purse before starting the long drive up to Salem Center.
Sayaka and her mother pulled up in front of the imposing mansion and stared up at it in awe.
"A doctor owns this place?" Her mother asked.
"I don't think he lives here alone," Sayaka offered, but she didn't sound too sure as she pulled off her gloves to rub more anti-inflammatory into her hands.
Climbing out of the car, they approaching the door wearily and her mother stuck out one manicured hand and rang the bell. A few moments later a tall man covered from head to toe in blue hair answered the door. He wore black pants, and a white blouse with a red brocade vest and a cravat.
"My name is Dr. Henry McCoy, may I infer that you are Sayaka Suzuki?" the man asked.
"Yes you may," Saya replied. "This is my mother, Megumi Suzuki."
"It is a pleasure to meet you madam, won't you please follow me?" Hank asked, leading them into the house. They followed him through several long corridors to a medical exam room at the back of the house where a red headed woman sat at a computer typing notes.
"Mrs. Suzuki, would you mind waiting here while we attend to your daughter?" Hank asked, beaming down at her mother.
"Not at all Dr. McCoy," her mother replied coyly, lowering herself into a chair as the doctor and the red headed woman left the room.
"Sayaka, this my assistant Jean, why don't you sit down on that table and we'll take some blood and do an exam, alright?" Hank asked as Saya climbed up on the table and seated herself.
After taking her blood pressure and doing a general check-up, he took a sample of her blood, and did a comprehensive medical history. Then he looked at her hands, feeling the pressure points and nerves and joints.
Then he left the room for a while with the sample of her blood. Saya nervously sat alone in the exam room, looking around at the tomes of medical books that lined the walls. When the doctor returned, he sat down and stared at her for a moment.
"I've run your blood through a genetics test Sayaka, and it seems that you test positive for the X-gene. The disturbances you've experienced, the cracked foundation and the broken driveway are indicative of your mutant abilities," Dr. McCoy said.
"Please doctor, just say what you mean," she said, gazing into his kind eyes.
"What I am saying, Miss Suzuki, is that you are a mutant, and those disturbances you've experienced are manifestations of your powers, I would say that you have the ability to cause earthquakes," Hank explained.
"Earthquakes?" She choked out. "Me? But I'm nothing special."
"Everyone is special Sayaka, whether or not they are a mutant. Now I can understand if you are nervous about telling your mother about your gifts. But I feel you should know that this is a school for mutants, a place where kids can be safe and get a proper education without having to worry about discrimination. And if you and your mother are open to the idea, I can speak with the headmaster about getting you a place for our fall semester," Hank explained.
"I-I think that would be best," Sayaka said, feeling a little bit winded.
"Would you like to tell your mother alone?" Hank asked, too understanding.
"N-no, would you stay?" She asked him.
"Of course," Hank replied.
Together they left the exam room and her mother stood up.
"Ma, umm, Dr. McCoy ran a few tests with my blood, and it seems that I'm positive for the X-gene. . . I'm a mutant Ma. All those disturbances, the cracked foundation, the driveway. . . I make earthquakes Ma," Saya said.
Her mother looked from her daughter to the doctor and back again.
"But the good news is that this is a school for mutants, it's a place where I can be safe and still get a good education," Sayaka said nervously.
"I-a school?" She asked tentatively. "What am I supposed to tell your father Saya?"
"Tell him it's a private school that your daughter received a scholarship for," Hank offered. "We can arrange that any correspondence regarding your daughters schooling here not any mention of your daughters gifts."
"Saya, is this what you want?" Her mother asked, looking down at her daughters honest round face.
"Yeah Ma, this is what I want," Saya replied.
"Okay, well, who do we talk to?" Her mother asked, her hands now as nervous and fluttering as her daughter's were the day before.
"Follow me," Hank said, leading them out of his office and into another part of the mansion. Logan walked past them on his way to the pool, and Sayaka eyed him appreciatively, feeling more and more certain that this was the right move for her.
The doctor lead them into an office where a bald man in a wheelchair sat at a desk.
"Professor Xavier, this is Sayaka Suzuki and her mother Megumi Suzuki. Mrs. Suzuki brought in her daughter for joint pain and migraines, and after I ran a few tests, it was discovered that Sayaka has the x-gene. She creates earthquakes," Hank explained.
"Thank you Hank. Would you two ladies please join me?" He asked. "My name is Professor Charles Xavier, welcome to my institute."
After a lengthy discussion and a tour of the mansion and grounds, Sayaka's mother felt confident enough to sign her daughter up, and they hugged at the door.
"I'll bring your things up tonight. You just go and get yourself settled in, okay? I love you Saya-chan, I'll see you in a few hours."
After her mother left, Sayaka went up to her new room, and stretched out on the bed, feeling like things were finally going to change for the best.