Birds chirped out side as a light summer rain drizzled slowly, the faint pitter patter echoing off of the tin roof. Dark circles accompanying tired bags beneath wary amber eyes stared out the window, the faint creaking of trees in the breeze seemed especially loud in the silence. All that the prone form could seem to do was take shallow breaths and swallow, nothing registered. Not in that moment, not in the span of five seconds that seemed to last eternity.

He was gone, was the thought that rang over and over. Her mind viciously focusing on that one word;

Gone.

Gone.

GONE.

It was her fault, she mourned. Tired eyes clenching shut as she rested her damp forehead against the cool window, her breath fogging it. Amber irises flickered back into view as the salty liquid finally welled up in her eyes and fell like the summer rain outside.

* X * Time Skip * X *

The train grated loudly as it left the station, she recently had decided to move to get away from the memories. Honestly, she could use a fresh start and with her recently obtaining her nursing degree she could hopefully find a job in the city. Personally, she already missed the country side and forest she had always called her home. Coming from the rural south it was odd to slowly see the land become cultivated and swarming with cities and people.

Resting her head against the train's window she closed her eyes and allowed the rocking of the compartment to lull her into sleep. A sudden whistle and jolt is what woke her, when the train finally pulled into New York she honestly was a little overwhelmed in her sleep addled state. Grabbing her weathered and rather old suitcase, she picked it up and slowly stepped off of the train and onto the platform. Her meager belongings seeming to weigh nothing. Sucking in a breath she slowly walked forward and entered the hub bub of the city.

Sunlight filtered down from high above, barely seeming to get past all of the tall buildings, glinting off of the windows as the glare hit her eyes. Grimacing she struggled to keep herself calm and breath easily, the energy and complete chaos causing her to be rather dizzy. Alas, perhaps this was not a good idea, she thought wearily.

Suddenly she was jostled and her small case hit the ground and a startled yelp escaped her lips. Glancing up she froze seeing two men, one tall and rather anxious looking with glasses whilst the other had a warm friendly smile and coincidentally was in a wheel chair she noted. She must have tripped or something, she realized in mortification, over his chair. A flush crept up the back of her neck, causing the tips of her ears to burn.

"I'm sorry!" She blurted, quickly getting herself back up, accent coming out thicker due to her anxiety. Immediately however the warm feeling of sunshine and bubbles coursed through her causing the young woman to give pause. The tall man with glasses gave off the sensation of cool crisp air and jittery bubbles, ah that must be where the anxious feeling was coming from...then the other man...was happy.

"It's quite alright love." She blushed again as he leaned forward to grab the case and held it out, for some odd reason she had the feeling this man was waiting for her. More importantly, she could feel him analyzing her to the very core, it was something she'd felt from her mother...the very same person who passed on her genes to her. With a start she realized the man was positively grinning, the warm sunshine feeling intensifying and seemed to fill her from the inside out until she also felt excitement bubbling up.

"Charles. Charles Xavier." He stated whilst holding out his hand. The tall man seemed to have relaxed for some reason after a second and was simply studying her in curiosity. Swallowing, she held out her hand and spoke up timidly in her Georgian accent.

"E...Ellie Mae." Brushing copper hair behind her ear she jumped when she realized that everyone around them had frozen. Breath catching in her throat she looked around sharply, anxiety coiled its greedy hands around her chest and constricted until she couldn't breath.

It's alright, we are not going to hurt you. Ellie's head snapped back to the man, Charles. Tired amber eyes wide as she stared at the man in shock.

"How...how did...you...you're a..." She whispered it softly, realizing with dread that this man was indeed telepathic. Just like her mother. Quite suddenly the ground came up to meet her face and then there was nothing. Although she could have sworn that she felt something grab her and faint voices as the shock took over.

Oh what would her mother have said, passing out in front of complete strangers?

* X * Point of View Change * X *

Charles wheeled out of Cerebro excitedly, Hank would you be so kind as to meet me in my office? Continuing on, Charles made his way down the corridors until he found the wooden doors to his office. He paused when he saw Hank already there and grinned.

"Come in, I've great news." Charles spoke up, stopping his wheel chair in the middle of the room and turning to his friend. Hank's feline features and golden eyes staring back at him, blue fur fluffed up around his shirt collar.

"What do you mean professor? Have you found anyone else?" So far the school was small, only fifteen students so far. Hank, Charles, Alex and Sean making up the faculty.

"Yes, she arrives today at the Grand Central Station." Charles happily intoned, his blue eyes bright as he folded his hands in his lap.

"She? What can she do, could you tell yet?" Hank inquired, immediately intrigued. It had been arduous to find the students they had so far, but as of yet they hadn't found another adult mutant. Charles shook his head before speaking.

"As far as I can tell she has a psychic ability, but the specifics of it are lost to me. We'll have to wait until we meet her to fully understand her ability and see if she'll come with us. Granted, I'm almost positive she'll come, being as she is currently looking for a job." He chuckled and brushed his hand through his hair.

"When do we leave?" Hank asked immediately, already calculating how much time it'd take to get to the station and how much serum he'd need to look human so he didn't scare the poor woman.

"Would it be bad if I said we should've left five minutes ago?"

– – – – X – – – – X – – – X – – –

After they'd arrived to the station both has looked around until Charles had pointed her out mentally to Hank. There, the tiny thing with reddish hair. Hank glanced around until he saw the female Charles had pointed out. She indeed was small, petite really, with delicate pointed features. An upturned nose, pale skin slathered in freckles long copper wire red hair that fell to her ribs in corn silk smooth tresses. But it was her eyes that caught his attention the most, they looked sad and wary.

It wasn't until she accidentally tripped over a lose rock and fell next to them that he jolted, feeling a quick flash of phantom pain and embarrassment. His currently blue eyes widened as he looked to the Professor to be sure, only to find a huge grin. Charles words confirmed it to him. Brilliant, she's an Empath. Must've been the reason why she decided to go into nursing.

Quick introductions were made, Hank could tell that Charles was having a minor conversation with her. When her eyes widened and she looked around quickly before locking eyes back with Charles, her lips popped open in surprise. Ellie Mae was shocked for a total of three minutes, the feeling radiating in waves to the two of them before she fell face first. Hank lunged and managed to snag her before she could face plant, glancing at the professor he paused to see Charles already had her light suitcase in his lap and looking expectantly at him.

I suppose we'll set her up with a room then until she comes too, yes?

AN:

So I know being third person plus the different points of view is probably confusing. It was a random idea I had that I just had to get down, let me know what ya'll think and if I should continue? Set before Apocalypse and Days of Future Past, but after First Class.

D.R.