Jolie held a few crinkled dollars out to the man in the truck. He looked at it for a moment before he realized what it was. "No, no. It was no problem." He shook his hand at her offer. The trucks engine rattled loudly as it sat on the side of the road.

Jolie pushed her meager offering back into her pocket. "Thank you." She paused for a moment. It was hard for her to say that to any human anymore. But she had not grown beyond doing it yet, she was willing to accept kindness where she could find it, or when she was extremely desperate. She stepped away from the truck, he almost immediately drove off. She had noticed he had been uncomfortable with her the entire ride. Now she was left alone, on an empty street where only one streetlamp lit the area, there wasn't another light for miles in either direction. The snow had piled up on the sides of the roads, but fresher powder covered the road, leaving only the new tracks of her ride here as evidence that anyone had been here. She looked determinedly across the street, there was an iron gate, black and foreboding, she knew she needed to get past it.

Jolie shifted her shoulder blades slightly, a strange crunching noise was heard in the silence, her face grimaced slightly. Twin holes in the back of her winter coat twitched as though something were trying to poke through. She flexed her back a few more times before two white prongs emerged from the holes. They looked soft to the touch as they grew even longer, and whiter than the snow. As they grew longer they became wider as well, finally growing large enough to be identified as wings. Jolie flapped them experimentally before she adjusted her bag over her shoulders and lept into the air. Her wings caught the air beneath them and began to propel her both up and forward. She easily passed over the iron gate and followed the driveway that wound around below her. She could see maybe a mile ahead where the huge mansion lay, only a few decorative lights on outside. No one inside appeared to be awake. She quickened the pace of her wings and was there in moments.

Landing carefully she looked to see the best place to enter the mansion, there were the main doors to her right, but there was a smaller metal door to her left that looked as though it were used less often. She headed in that direction and produced a small leather pouch from her pocket; in it were a few small metal picks. She pulled two of them out and began to work at the small rounded handle. A small click made her smile; she replaced the leather pouch into her pocket and opened the door slowly. No alarms and no flashing lights hinted that she had been able to enter the mansion. She took her first few steps in tenuously; finally she relaxed as she inspected the interior. She had entered through a smaller hallway that fed into the main entryway. She took another step when she heard the rustle of clothing next to her.

"What do you think you're doing?" The voice was full of threat. Jolie held her breath before she jumped in an effort to fly, but she was caught by the neck abruptly and thrown against the wall. "I don't think so bub." Se felt the cold burning of steel slide past her neck, not penetrating, but fully able to at a moments notice.

She could barely see the outline of the captors face, his hair was untamed, and his face showed a rough outline of not having shaved recently. She struggled to get enough air through her constricted throat. She lifted one of her hands up to his face, her hand began to glow with its own electricity, a small ball of white light growing in her hand. She could see the look of confusion on the mans face.

"That will be enough Logan." Immediately the lights for the hallway came on. Her captor released his grip and she tumbled to the ground and gasped to catch her breath. She looked up to see a man in a wheelchair, apparently where this other voice had come from. Jolie noticed the man, apparently Logan, eyed her suspiciously still. She looked to her hand to see they still glowed with her own electric power. She let the power slowly fade until it was gone. Only then did Logan retract the long metal blades back into his knuckles.

"Hello Jolie." She looked back to the man who was sitting in the wheelchair, she noticed that when his chair moved it didn't seem to use the wheels but instead it glided just a hairs width above the ground. She wondered why he would know her name. "I'm Charles Xavier." He offered his hand as support to lift her from the ground. She took it more as a polite gesture but was surprised to find with what strength he lifted her. "Would you be so kind as to follow me?" Charles Xavier didn't wait for her to respond, but turned on his smooth chair and floated down the hallway.

Jolie looked around for any means of escape, or any choice other than to follow this man. But the look on Logan's face made her suspect that she would have no desire to do anything but follow. She managed to push her feet forward and she shuffled all the way to the large office that Xavier led her to. She recognized from one of the pictures that she had inspected before she was sent on her mission. The large wall of books seemed to hold particular interest to her, but she didn't let her gaze stray for too long. She sat down without waiting for an invitation on one of the plush couches. In reality she was much tired, and she could always wait to take what was needed. "What brings you to my school Jolie?" Xavier had seated himself on a large leather chair that sat behind his oak desk. His hands were folded neatly on the table, and his eyes seemed to be searching for something. Jolie avoided eye contact as best as she could, she didn't trust his gaze.

"Well Charles," She leaned back into the couch in an attempt to look nonchalant, but Logan grabbed her roughly by the scruff of the neck.

"That's Professor to you, punk." He glared down at her. Jolie realized very suddenly that Logan was not a man she wanted to be angry with her.

Xavier cleared his throat. "Perhaps Logan, you might leave us alone for a bit." His tone did not suggest that Logan would be aloud to say no. He looked from Xavier back to Jolie and snarled. He released his grip forcefully, leaving Jolie with a feeling of a rug burn on the back of her neck, before he walked out of the office and closed the door behind him. Xavier cleared his throat again to bring Jolie's attention back to himself.

"I'd rather we be a bit more formal Ms. Mark." He smiled a little he returned to his questioning. "So, please tell me. Why have you come here?" Jolie thought about what had been said to her before she had come. She knew certain things prevented her tongue from revealing her plans.

She could think of no other lie on the spot, so she thought it was best to stick with the truth. "Professor," She started out, still feeling the stinging sensation on her neck. "The truth is I cannot tell you."

The Professor looked at her strangely, as though seeking into her very being. "I believe you." He spoke quietly as though coming to a revelation of something Jolie knew nothing about. "Can you say anything about it?" Jolie shook her head, she knew anything related to it, names, addresses, phone numbers, even favorite colors would not get past the tip of her tongue. "I see..." Xavier sat in thoughtful silence for a moment. "Do you think you would allow me to look into your mind for myself?" Jolie was a little surprised, she had been warned that there would be telepath's at the school, but she had not realized that the Professor had been one of them. She always imagined them to be tall and wiry, with long stringy hair. But the Professor was most certainly bald, and might have been tall, but no longer was that the case.

She nodded confidently, she knew her thoughts were also protected, she could see the brick wall in her mind now. He would search and he would find nothing, it was as simple as that. She saw him switch from the leather chair back to his wheelchair and glide over to where she was sitting. He placed both his hands at her temples but did not quite touch her skin. She felt a slight warmth spread over her body as the professor closed his eyes in deep concentration. But there was a sudden sharp pain in her forehead as she saw the professor cringe slightly. His teeth clenched and his fingers curled into fists as if he were fighting some sort of struggle. His strength finally broke and he cried out before collapsing out of his chair and onto the floor.

"Professor?" Jolie sat there, unsure of what had happened. The door suddenly flew open and Logan entered the room, his eyes widened as he saw the professor lying unconscious on the floor. He immediately looked to Jolie with an intense rage in them, he quickly closed the distance between them, his metal claws unsheathed. Jolie still sat, shaking now; stunned and unable to explain what had happened.