002.
"C'mon, focus, Hayley."
"I'm trying."
Her eyes narrowed at the metal steel door in front of her. Sweat dripped down her forehead as she heard the thumping sounds outside of the building. Sentinels were surrounding the building and she knew that she only had a few minutes to get this door open to grab the formula and get out before the Sentinels started to attack.
"We don't have much time left!" Storm hissed.
The pressure was building up on Hayley's mind. C'mon, open the door, open it she thought. Open, open, fucking open!
The steel door broke off and slammed against the wall. As Bobby went inside to retrieve the formula, Hayley stumbled backwards a bit, her head spinning. She felt someone catch her from behind. "You alright?" Rogue asked worriedly.
"Yeah, small headache," Hayley lied. It was a painful headache but she didn't want to tell her this. She just wanted to get this over with and go back up to her room to sleep.
Bobby came back out with the formula bottle in his hand. "Alright, let's move," Logan commanded.
Hayley focused on keeping her head straight. She shook her head lightly and ran behind the others. Her vision was a bit hazy and she found her eyes slowly closing.
"Hayley? Hayley? Hayley!"
The pain in her head overpowered her ability to focus. She felt herself collapsing and waited to feel the pain hit her back but someone had caught her in time before she hit the metal floor. She groaned and threw her arms around the person carrying her. "Oh my God.."
"It's alright, kid. You're okay," Logan said softly. "Shut it off."
"I'm sorry.." Hayley apologized in a low voice.
"Don't worry about it."
She opened her eyes and found herself being settled in a chair. Rogue and Bobby watched her with pity in their eyes. Piotr walked over to hand her a cup of water while Storm shut down the Danger Room.
Logan knelt down before her, a hand on her shoulder. "Feeling better, kid?"
"Peachy," she muttered. But her headache was slowly residing.
"You should really go to the professor about this," he said.
"I can handle it."
"This isn't the first time it's happened," a loud voice snapped.
Hayley looked up to glare at Kitty Pryde who was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. "This is about the fifth time it's happened and I'm sick and tired of having our training sessions cut short," she said crossly.
"Well Pussycat, maybe you should've stepped up to the plate and phased through the door instead of bitching about how much your leg hurts," Hayley hissed.
Kitty Pyrde was the thorn in her side ever since she had been a kid here at the school. Dear little Kitty, the cute innocent mutant that could walk through everything, walked into the classrooms with a sweet smile on her face and malicious intentions in her mind. She had even tried to steal John away from her and Bobby away from Rogue but failed miserably once Rogue came back to school and threw it down with her.
Hayley and Kitty had been at each other's throats since the very first day when they had training sessions in the Danger Room. Kitty always tried outsmart, outdo Hayley in everything that she tried to do and nearly tried to injure Hayley in a session about a year ago. They had been on bad terms ever since.
"Enough," Storm interrupted. She turned to Kitty and the other X-men. "We're done for today. You're dismissed."
"We'll save you a seat," Rogue said to Hayley as they walked past her.
Hayley slumped back into her seat, downing the cup of water. She crumpled the paper cup in her hands, frustrated with herself.
While her pyrokinesis was still working, her telekinesis had been weakened since the Alcatraz Island battle. Dr. Jean Grey, their beloved Jean Grey had been taken over by her inner personality, the Phoenix. The Phoenix controlled every bit of Jean Grey and in the end, the only thing she wanted to do was destroy everything around her. Hayley and Logan were the only ones who were able to battle against her- Hayley being a Level Five mutant just like Jean and Logan being able to heal rapidly.
Since the mind battle between herself and Jean Grey, her telekinetic powers had weakened. Slowly but surely she had been able to move objects, starting off small. She was able to lift up chairs and open doors but there were certain things that she hadn't been able to open instantly just yet. Such as the steel door from the training session.
Hayley didn't like being weak especially when she was a Level Five mutant, the highest level of mutation in history. She especially didn't like being weak in front of people like Kitty who would take in great satisfaction seeing her in this state of mind.
"Ready to walk back to your room?" Storm asked in a rather irritated tone of voice.
Hayley smirked. She knew that Storm didn't really like her much and the feeling was mutual. Hayley and John had been partners in crime when it came to messing around and not paying attention in class. Storm was not their biggest fan and Hayley knew that she wasn't pleased with Xavier's decision on letting Hayley stay at the school to possibly become a mentor or teacher.
"Yes m'am," she said in a mocking tone. Storm narrowed her eyes but didn't say anything.
Logan walked next to her as they headed upstairs. "Kid, you need to watch your tone."
"Oh Logan, I learned that tone of voice from the best," Hayley grinned, remembering Logan when he first arrived at the school. He smartmouthed everyone and got on everyone's nerves, especially the late Scott Summers.
She saw the curves of his lip go up. Her heart warmed. It wasn't easy to get Logan to smile.
"See you at dinner, kid," Logan said as they parted ways.
Hayley walked back to her room, relieved to have training done and over with. Her headache had gone away but her body ached. She grabbed fresh clothes and headed to the bathroom to take a quick hot shower before heading downstairs for dinner.
She showered, changed clothes and tied her wet hair back into a messy ponytail. She walked out of her door, heading downstairs. She greeted the students that passed by and ushered the slow ones into the dining hall.
Hayley walked into the kitchen and helped bring out all the plates for the kids. The plates hovered onto the table in front of each person. As Hayley walked past the tables to go eat with Rogue and Bobby, the kids murmured a thank you.
"Thank God that you have telekinesis," Rogue said, eating her meal.
"Seriously. Can you imagine the chaos if the kids went up to the counter one by one?" Bobby laughed.
Hayley giggled as she ate her dinner. She couldn't help but feel jealous when she saw how happy Rogue and Bobby looked. She was happy for them; they deserved each other but when she looked at the empty chair next to her, her heart mourned. She mourned for John to come back and sit next to her.
"Kitty was being a real bitch today," Rogue remarked.
Hayley rolled her eyes. "She needs to shut her mouth."
The three friends laughed, giggled and talked about a variety of topics during dinner. When they had helped clean up the dining hall, Hayley was told to go to the professor's office to talk to Xavier about something. She sighed. No doubt it would be about her episode in the Danger Room. She had avoided talking to Xavier about them before.
She took a deep breath and knocked on the door. "Come in, Hayley."
Professor Xavier was one of the nicest people that one would ever encounter. He was a kind old man unfortunately stricken to his wheelchair but still, he made the most out of it. Hayley looked at him and couldn't help but be amazed that he and archenemy Magneto were once best friends. They were completely opposite from each other.
Xavier lifted his head from the papers on the table and smiled. "Please sit. Logan should be coming soon."
Hayley raised an eyebrow. "Logan?"
Xavier said nothing. He waited for her to take a seat. "While we're waiting," he said, "let's talk about what happened today."
Hayley sighed. "Nothing to talk about. My telekinesis isn't strong like it used to be, that's all."
Xavier nodded. "I know. I know that you're trying hard and you are gradually improving." He grinned. "That's all that we ask for. For you to try."
Xavier always knew the words to say to make someone feel better. Granted he could read minds but Hayley knew that he didn't take advantage of his ability and that's what she liked about Xavier. He was a fair man and didn't force people into doing things that he wanted them to do even though he could make them do it.
"Professor. I was wondering-,"
"About John." Xavier's smile disappeared. "I'm afraid that he's using some sort of mechanism to block off my power. Something like what Erik used all those years." His smile came back. "He knows you too well, Hayley."
She bit her lip. "You don't know where he is? Not one clue?"
Xavier sighed. "I don't, Hayley. I'm sorry. I'm sure he's safe."
"Do you think he'll come back?" Her voice cracked.
Xavier paused. "That I do not know."
The door opened and Logan came in. Hayley cleared her throat, leaving her head down to force back her tears.
"Ah Logan. Sit." Xavier pulled his chair out from behind the desk and in front of the window. "There's a mutant down in New Orleans, Louisiana who's been causing a bit of a stir. He's known to steal and he's quite good at it. His real name is Remy LeBeau but his nickname is Gambit. Some prison guards gave him the nickname a while back. I want you two to go down there and bring him back to the school."
"Why bring back some thief?" Logan asked.
Xavier just smiled. It was quite normal for Logan to question every task that Xavier put out for him. "He has potential, Logan. He reminds me of you."
Logan grumbled and Hayley chuckled.
"You two should head out now and call me when you arrive in New Orleans. I'll be able to give you the exact location once you arrive."
"Anything we should know about this Gambit? Power-wise?" Hayley asked.
"Gambit is able to manipulate kinetic energy. Meaning he can put energy into anything, even something as small as a playing card. He also has a hypnotic charm that he uses to get things his way so be careful, Hayley," Xavier warned.
Hayley snorted. She doubted that some card-throwing thief was going to work his charm on her.
"Alright Doc. We'll call when we arrive."
Logan and Hayley walked out of the office and into the elevator.
"Ready for this, kid?" Logan asked.
"Oh yeah."
"Your telekinesis going to be ready?"
"It'll be fine," she gritted her teeth.
Logan chuckled. She knew it amused him to make her angry. Likewise.
"If you say so. If you don't feel good, you let me know."
They hopped into the sportscar that had once belonged to Scott. "It's gonna be a long drive. Need to use the restroom?" Logan asked.
"No but if you need to, I can drive," Hayley grinned.
He scoffed. "No way am I letting you drive this car. We'll get into some sort of fucking car wreck."
She pouted. "Why are you worried? You can't even die."
"Well you can."
"Now that's a lie. I could use my telekinesis to avert us away from any collision," Hayley shot back with a proud smile.
He chuckled. "Fasten your seatbelt, kid. Safety first."
