The Lighter Side of Darkness
~Xavier Institute~
"Jean, cerebro has just picked up three new mutant signatures in central New York. I want you to take Scott, Roberto, Kitty, and Kurt with you and investigate." The professor said to the girl beside him.
"Right away Professor." Jean said walking to the door.
"Jean, you must not startle them. These mutants are using their powers to protect themselves from something." The professor said turning his wheelchair to face the other telepath. Jean nodded, showing that she understood and walked out of the room. Soon Jean and the others were on their way to central New York.
~An ally way in central New York~
"Jill, keep running!" Adam shouted to me, turning around and using his powers to create a large force field. I grabbed our little brother's hand and took off running down the dark ally. Adam quickly followed knowing that he had only managed to slow our attackers.
"Come back here you little punks!" One of the men shouted as they continued to chase us down the dark ally. Adam grabbed my hand and picked our brother up as we continued to run for our lives. As we approached the end of the ally a black jet landed in front of us. Adam skidded to a halt and crouched over us protectively as the jets ramp came down.
"Stay away from us!" Adam shouted holding his hands out to emit a very large blast of energy.
"Please wait. We're not here to hurt you." A red haired girl said using her own force field to cancel out the energy blast. Adam, not trusting her, read her mind to see if she was lying.
"Please, we want to help you." She said walking up to the three of us. Sensing that they were not a threat Adam stood.
"Get back here you freaks!" A man shouted as he and two others ran towards them.
"I got this." A boy with brown hair said releasing his powers. Before he could do anything, however, he changed back to normal.
"It's not working. I don't have enough juice." He said looking back at the girl. Handing our little brother to Adam, I walked to the middle of the ally and looked from side to side.
"Perfect." I said spotting the water pipes that ran along the walls. With a wave of my hand the pipes burst and water started to swirl around me. I threw my hands forward and a wave of water rushed towards the three men. As the wave washed them back down the ally we all got on board the jet.
"Are you alright?" The red haired girl asked after we had taken off.
"Our little brother's arm is hurt." Adam said to her. He handed our brother to me and walked to the other end of the cabin with the girl. I sat down against the wall and held my brother close.
"Here let me see his arm." The brown haired boy said kneeling in front of us. He wrapped my brother's arm in gauze and made a sling to support it.
"Who are you people?" I asked as he put the sling around my brother's neck.
"We're the X-men. I'm Roberto and that's Jean. The blue guy in the corner is Kurt and the pilot is Scott." The boy said, "Who are you?"
"I'm Jill, that's my big brother Adam, and this is our little brother Toby." I said looking up at him, "You can harness the power of the sun, can't you"
"How did you know that?" He said looking up in surprise.
"Toby told me. He can tell what other mutant's powers are and he has slight telepathic abilities." I said looking down at my little brother as he slept.
"I take it from your display in the ally that you control water, right?" Roberto said with a smirk.
"Actually I can control any type of liquid. Adam is telepathic and can emit blasts of energy from his hands." I said.
"Well, we're going to take them to see the professor." Jean said as she and Adam joined us. At the word professor my eyes grew wide and I clasped my hands tightly over my ears.
"No! Not again! No!" I screamed knocking Toby to the floor as I curled into a ball.
"Jill! Please don't say that word around her. You can't say any word that could be connected to someone that works in a lab." Adam said Kneeling beside me and hugging me.
"Why? What's wrong with her?" Jean asked stepping closer.
"Don't come near her. If you come within a three foot radius of her when she's like this, she'll rip every last drop of liquid from your body." Adam said making a force field around us, "Jill, it's me Adam. Listen to me; they're not taking us back to the lab. They're taking us to a safe place where that man can't get us. Just calm down, Jill." Adam said to me. I slowly calmed down and fell against my brother limply. Toby, sensing that it was safe, crawled over to us and wrapped his arms around me. We soon fell asleep and Adam went to talk with Jean.
"Why did she freak out when I mentioned the professor?" Jean whispered.
"When we were younger Jill and Toby were captured and sent to a government lab for testing. I managed to get them out and wipe Toby's mind clean, so he didn't remember anything. Jill on the other hand, remembers it all." Adam said looking over at me.
~Back at Xavier Institute~
We stood in the large office of Professor Charles Xavier and waited for him to continue.
"As Jean mentioned to you earlier Xavier Institute is a safe place for people like us. Here we would help you harness the full extent of your powers and teach you how to control it. We could also help your sister cope with her memories so that she has full control over her powers." The professor said looking over at me, "By the way, what are your names. When cerebro detected the three of you no information came up."
"My name's Adam Gracie. That's my little sister Jill and our little brother Toby." Adam said gesturing to each of us as he said our name.
"How old is your brother?" Xavier asked.
"Toby's seven, Jill's fifteen, and I'm nineteen." Adam said. The professor nodded and wheeled himself around the desk to shake hands with Adam.
"Well, I hope that the three of you enjoy it here. The other students are very kind and will help you any way they can." He said as the four of us headed to the door. All of the students jumped back and tried to act like they weren't doing anything when we opened the door.
"Everyone, I would like you to meet our newest members. This is Adam, Toby, and Jill Gracie." The professor said to the group of students in the hall.
"We already know Jean, Kurt, Scott, and Roberto, but who are the others?" Adam asked looking at the four who had saved us in the ally.
"This is Kitty Pryde. Kitty has the ability to…" The professor began, but I held a hand up to stop him.
"We know what their powers are. Toby told us." I said looking at my little brother, "He can tell anything a bout a person as long as they're within a ten mile radius of him."
"Well, I can safely say that I've never met anyone like your little brother." The professor said, "Anyway, back to the introductions. This is Rogue, Tabitha, and Amara. Over there are Sam, Jamie, and Ray, and over there is Scott's brother, Alex. Jill, Kitty will show you and Toby to your room. I'd like to have a word with your brother in private." I nodded and picked Toby up before following Kitty down the hall. As we walked away from the group I heard Toby's voice in my head.
"He's watching you." He said. I turned around just in time to see Scott's brother look down at the floor.
"Here you go. This'll be your room while you're here. If you need anything my room's right across the hall, and the bathroom's the last door on the left. Well, I'll see you in the morning." Kitty said skipping across the hall to her room. I walked over to the bed and put Toby down, slipping my old worn out backpack off my shoulder.
"Here." I said handing Toby his pajamas. We walked out of the room and headed down the hall to the bathroom. I sat outside the door while he changed and rested my head on the cool wood.
"Hi." A voice said causing me to jump. I looked up and saw Alex looking down at me.
"Hello." I said standing up as Toby came out of the bathroom. Toby looked up at me and sent me a message through my mind.
"Jill, I'm hungry." He said through his telepathy.
"All right we'll go find the kitchen." I said looking down at him.
"Who are you talking to?" Alex asked eyeing me suspiciously.
"Toby. He's hungry so we're going to go find the kitchen." I said looking up at the blonde haired boy, "I'm not crazy by the way. Toby doesn't talk out loud, but he communicates with Adam and I telepathically."
"Well, I can take him to get some food if you want." Alex offered. I looked at him then at Toby who nodded in agreement. I let go of Toby's hand and he walked over to Alex.
"We'll be back in a bit." Alex said as they walked to the stairs. I walked back to my room and slipped into my pajamas. I got ready to toss my bag to the side when I remembered that I still had Adam's night clothes. I pulled them out of the bag and walked to the door, pulling it open right as Alex got ready to knock. Toby held his hands up and I picked him up with one arm.
"Alex, could you take me to my brother's room? I need to give him his stuff." I said holding up the pajamas.
"Sure." He said with a smile. When we got to Adam's room I knocked on the door.
"Thanks sis." He said when he answered the door and I handed him his pajamas. He looked over at Alex and looked back at me.
"I think this boy likes you." He transmitted his thoughts to me. I smirked and side glanced at the boy beside me.
"Goodnight Adam." I said looking back at my brother as we headed back to my room.
"Thank you for the help Alex." I said standing in the doorway to my room.
"You're welcome." He said looking down at the floor. Suddenly Toby reached out and gave Alex a hug causing me to step closer to him so I wouldn't fall. I looked up and saw that I was only a few inches from Alex and had to look down to hide my blush. Toby let go and I stepped back, silently sighing in relief. I put Toby down and he ran in the room, crawling onto the bed.
"I think you're the first person that's Toby's hugged besides Adam and I." I said looking up at Alex with a smile. He smiled back and laughed nervously.
"I guess I'm just good with kids." He said. I smiled again and stepped forward. His entire body tensed when I wrapped my arms around him in a hug.
"You a nice guy, Alex." I said giving him a quick kiss on the cheek before retreating into my room and closing the door.
"You hugged him on purpose, didn't you?" I said pulling the blankets off of Toby's head. He just smiled up at me and nodded. I smiled back and he scooted over as I crawled under the blankets.
"Goodnight Toby." I said turning off the light as he curled up next to me.