Recruitment


It was a Tuesday. Amelia Hunter was in the library of the College of William and Mary when she felt it.

An itch. A tickle in the back of her mind.

She was intrigued.

Curiosity had always gotten the best of her, so she opened her mind and gave a mental scratch.

She gasped and gave a little jump in her chair. Her mind was flooded with fast moving images and loud, incoherent noises.

Just before she mentally pulled back, something caught her attention: she mentally collided with a pair of brilliant blue eyes.


Four days later…

Green grass, tall trees, stone buildings, and students milling about –an average day in a typical college.

Two men were headed in the general area of the library. One, wearing a cardigan, looked wistfully about as it hadn't been too long since his own college days. The other, wearing a turtle neck and a leather jacket, kept his eyes moving –taking everything in without really looking.

The man in the leather jacket spoke. "So, where's this one, Charles?"

"She, Erik. And don't worry we're close." The man in the cardigan, Charles, replied. He smiled distractedly. "She really is quite remarkable."

Erik frowned at how his friend's mind seemed to be elsewhere. "How is she different from any of the others?"

Charles's smile only widened. "You'll see. She has so much potential."

The men reached a staircase leading to a large and impressive looking library. At the top of the steps was a girl.

She looked normal enough in her grey pleated skirt and plum blouse. She had wide, almond-shaped eyes, the same shade of brown as her wavy hair that she wore half up. The only thing to suggest something out of the ordinary was a smile playing on her lips and a knowing look in her eyes.

Eyes that were looking directly at Charles.

The men stopped and the girl directed her gaze at Erik. She was looking at him as if he was a product on a shelf and was trying to determine whether or not he was worth the price.

The girl turned on her heel and walked into the building. Erik raised a questioning brow at Charles who merely shrugged and quickly followed the girl.

The men pursued the girl, catching glimpses of her hair and skirt as they trailed behind her. They reached the back of the library to find the girl sitting at a table for four with an expectant look on her face.

"Don't tell me you really thought I was going to walk off with two strangers. Sit down and tell me what it is you came here to tell me –and be honest." Her voice was smooth and alluring.

Erik took the chair opposite the girl and was just about to speak, when Charles put his fingers to his temple and restored Erik to his senses.

Erik looked livid, but it was Charles who spoke. "That wasn't very nice. We had no intention of lying to you, but this conversation would have been best to begin with some introductions." Charles took a seat between Erik and the girl. "You need to learn to be patient."

She hadn't looked away from Erik since he sat down but she turned now to look at Charles. "Alright then."

Charles shifted uncomfortably in the chair. He had thought she would be the easiest to convince. "My name is Charles Xavier and this is my associate Erik Lehnsherr," he gestured toward Erik who was still glaring at the girl. She seemed unaffected by his friend. "We came here today because you're different –you're a mutant: a human with special abilities." Charles paused letting the girl have a moment to take in his words before he moved on to the next part of his speech –about how she wasn't alone and how they could help her.

"I know," she said simply.

Erik was shocked and angry by her words. "What do you mean you know?"

"I've had these abilities since I was a little girl. No one I knew was different but I figured it was highly improbable that I was the only person on the planet who had some sort of power." She said this all rather dryly, annoyed by Erik's anger. "Oh. My name's Amelia Hunter –just in case you still wanted to know."

Erik and Amelia glared at each other.

"Umm… Right." Charles wasn't sure where to go from there. When they had gone to the others, Sean and Angel had been happy and relieved, Alex and Darwin had been hesitant but hopeful –this wasn't the reaction he was expecting. "Lovely to meet you Amelia. I'm glad at you willingness to accept your abilities. Erik and I –for lack of a better word– are recruiting people. People like ourselves –other mutants. To learn how to control our powers and use them responsibly, and meet other individuals with abilities of their own. If this is something you would be interested in –please join us." This wasn't going according to plan. Charles grimaced at his speech. It was rushed and he sounded like one of those boring college recruiters he had had to listen to when he had been the one being recruited.

Amelia shrugged. "I already know you're a mutant," she told Charles. "But what exactly is it that you can do?"

"I'm a telepath –like you. I can read people's minds. Though not yours –you must be blocking me. I can also communicate telepathically, make people do things –surely you know this?"

"I'm not a telepath," she said smiling. "I'm just… persuasive. I can make people do anything I want. And I can feel… what it is they want." Her face became serious. "You really do want to help. He just wants revenge." She gave Erik a hard look before resuming her neutral guise. "Why can't you read my mind?"

"I'm not sure. Your 'persuasiveness' must be some type of telepathy. I looked into your mind a few days ago and again today when we were looking for you –you seemed to be able to look into my head as well."

"I couldn't make sense of any of it," she conceded. "But when you're trying to read my mind I can feel it –it's like someone's knocking at my door and I have to wake up and get out of bed in order to answer."

"Come with us, Amelia. We can help you. There's so much more that you're capable of."

Amelia pursed her lips but looked at Erik. "And what exactly is it that you can do, Erik?"

Erik had been paying very close attention to the conversation but gave Amelia a smirk. "Let's just say I'm good with metal, Amelia."

The pins holding up her hair pulled themselves free and landed on the table.

Amelia wasn't pleased. "That wasn't very nice." She paused. "There's more to this than what he's saying." She was referring to Charles but talking to Erik.

"Yes."

"What's he leaving out?"

"We're helping the government by trying to stop a homicidal mutant with nefarious yet unknown plans."

She smiled. "Sounds like fun." She addressed Charles. "I'm in. I just need to get a leave of absence –since I'm assuming we don't have a set time in how long this 'mission' is going to last –give me ten minutes."

Charles was just about to tell Amelia how unlikely it was that she –or any of the others – would actually encounter Shaw and that the point was to meet other mutants and learn to control and use their abilities responsibly, but Erik spoke first.

"Ten minutes?" He sounded impressed.

It was Amelia's turn to smirk. "Probably five –I'm that good."