The little red numbers were an unholy sight. Emily could do nothing but glare as the digits ticked away, her irritation growing. She had been tossing and turning for the last hour, having been woken by someone's nightmare, and she was now fully awake.
After a few moments of denial, Emily pulled herself out of bed and walked to the window. The sun hadn't even made an appearance yet; it wasn't fair that she needed to.
She trudged downstairs and stopped at the glass doors leading out to the backyard and tried to map out where she had seen the lake. Sticking in her ear buds, she stepped out and set off at a light jog, hoping it was in the right direction.
Thirty minutes later she found herself at the lake's edge, watching the small waves lap at the shore. The grounds were even bigger than she had anticipated.
As she caught her breath and stretched, she watched the sun's light touch and tickle the sky in a glorious sunrise. She sighed to herself and closed her eyes, taking in the soft morning breeze.
Hearing a scuff, Emily jumped in alarm until she saw Logan emerge from the trees. His chest heaved with every breath, a white tank top stuck to his chest and sweats hung low on his waist.
"Morning," she said and forced her eyes away and back to the rising sun.
He gave a grunt in reply as he made his way over and stopped next to her. "Early riser?"
"Someone's nightmare woke me up and I couldn't go back to sleep. Figured I might as well get an early start on the day."
Logan didn't say anything as he looked out to the horizon, eyebrows furrowed in vexation.
Emily felt uneasy standing there as she recalled their last interaction. Her body nervously shifted away and she saw him give a curious side-glance. He leaned closer to her and she sucked a breath with a twitch in surprise before he smirked while passing and walked down to the shore.
Frowning at his amusement, she watched him kick a rock across the water and turn to look at her.
Emily broke the silence first. "So, how long have you been at the school?"
"Few years, on and off. I come and go as I please."
"And how long have you been teaching?"
"A few years on and off." He shrugged.
Nothing about him screamed teacher material and she narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Are you even qualified to teach?" She had the distinct feeling he wasn't.
The innocent question elicited a bored look. "Depends."
"On what?"
"Who you ask, I suppose."
"I'll take that as a no then." She trailed off and looked across the lake.
"Does it make a difference? I know what I'm doing and I'm the best at it; that's good enough."
"Alright, if you say so." What the heck kind of school was Xavier running here? Uncertified teachers? Was this a joke? "What is it that you teach again?"
"What do you think I teach?" he quipped with a smirk while making his way back.
She pursed her lips as she looked him over, trying to come up with something that would fit his gruff exterior. His strong stature elicited an image of some sort of bouncer and she smiled to herself at the ridiculous thought. She vaguely remembered Xavier telling her the day they had met, but all thoughts escaped her as she stared at him stalking towards her.
"I don't know, art?" she offered with a sardonic smile and tried to shake the butterflies in her stomach as his eyes locked on her.
He rolled his eyes. "Nice try." He chuckled in front of her, mere feet away.
"Then enlighten me, please," she said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Defense."
Emily raised a curious eyebrow. What did defense pertain to and what did they need to learn defense for? Was Xavier running some sort of mutant children's crusade? "Care to elaborate?"
"Nope," he countered and stepped forward, causing Emily to side step as he passed her with a haughty smile before taking off at a run back towards the trees.
She watched him until he disappeared and shook her head to herself as she turned back to the lake. There was a lot more to be uncovered at the mansion and the longer she was here, the more questions she had. Wondering what she had gotten herself involved in, she turned on her heel and started off at a light jog back to the school.
After a shower, Emily headed down to the kitchen with her stomach growling. Ten minutes of searching and the smell of bacon soon led her to the kitchen where Logan was hunched over a pan of sausage, a heaping pile of bacon already cooked on the plate next to him. He gave her a brief glance as she walked in and returned to his food as she started the kettle. She moved around the kitchen and started up on some eggs while chopping up some fruit. The kettle gave a whine and she went in search of the cups.
With each cabinet lacking the cups she needed, her frustration grew, Logan's amusement did as well and she glanced over at him.
"What?" She huffed.
"Nothing." He shrugged while trying to bite back a smile. She continued to look through cabinets until she finally turned to him in contempt.
"Down there." He pointed to the cabinet next to the stove.
"Thank you." She sighed and poured the hot water over the tea bag and made her way to the table.
Spreading out her planner, she looked over it with her phone in hand until Logan sat down across from her with a mountain of sausage, bacon, and eggs. Her nose upturned at the sight as she watched him dig into his food.
"What are you doing?" he asked and stabbed at a piece of sausage, shoving it in his mouth, causing Emily to look away in repulsion.
"Planning my day," she said as she wrote in things she needed to do later.
She tried to ignore his loud chewing until she'd had enough. Her fists clenched and she looked up at him in annoyance. "Must you do that?"
"What? Eat?"
Emily rolled her eyes. "No. Eat like such an animal?"
"You don't have to watch," he shot back and shoved a piece of bacon into his mouth.
She glared and pursed her lips before looking down at the plate of food. "Do you know how bad that is for you?" she questioned and he shrugged.
"So? It's good."
"If that's how you normally eat, you can probably expect a heart attack by forty."
"I don't think I have anything to worry about." He shook his head with a knowing look.
She paused. "That doesn't look fully cooked." She eyed the meat and he scoffed.
"Would it be possible to get through the rest of this meal without you lecturing me on my eating habits?"
"I'm just saying, pigs carry a lot of parasites, the most common is trichinella, and they cause infections in humans. The cause: undercooked pork."
"Well, you can spare me your health lecture 'cause it's not really necessary. Now, if you don't mind?" he muttered and went back to his food.
"Alright then." She sighed and took a bite of her toast.
Emily went back to her planner and finished up the rest of her day as she ate the last of her breakfast. After washing up she opened up a crossword book and flipped through the finished puzzles until she found a new one.
She could feel his gaze but ignored him until she couldn't stand it anymore.
"What?" She looked up with a perplexed look.
"Is that what you do for fun?" he teased.
"Studies have shown that mentally stimulating activities such as reading or crosswords may slow the decline of the brain."
He was silent as he mulled her over and shoved the last of the sausage into his mouth. "You don't get out much do you?" he asked and picked his teeth. She narrowed her eyes and gave a huff as she went back to the book, hoping if she ignored him that he might leave her alone. "What exactly do you do for fun? Do you even have fun?" he asked with a dubious look.
"I have plenty of fun. I like to read, play piano, do puzzles-."
"So, boring things?"
Emily took a deep breath as her jaw clenched and she slowly let out the controlled sigh. She knew he was doing it to get a rise out of her and it made her internally cringe that he was succeeding. "I think I am going to enjoy my crossword elsewhere, thank you very much. Good day." She got up and gathered her things without so much as a look over her shoulder as his light chuckle sounded.
Where the hell was the office? What was this, Hogwarts? She could have sworn that Xavier's office had been down this hall, marked by the orchid in the window. The meeting time was drawing close and she didn't want to be late. Nothing said reliable like being late to your first meeting with the boss.
Spotting a young girl with a white streak in her hair walking down the hall, Emily hurried over to her.
"Excuse me." The girl looked startled for a second as she eyed Emily, unsure and yet curious. "Do you know where Charles Xavier's office is?"
"The Professor? Yeah it's right down there and to the left." The young girl pointed to the opposite hallway.
"Thank you." Emily sighed in relief and rushed down the hall.
She came face-to-face with a large oak door and checked her watch to realize that she was still ten minutes early; she could wait. About to step away from the door she heard a voice in her head telling her to 'come in'. Emily jolted with a squeak and looked around in alarm for the disembodied voice, as she was the only one in the hallway.
"Please come in, Miss Jameson," she heard from within the office.
Looking around still, she opened the door and looked inside at the amused man trying to hide a guilty smile.
"Forgive me, I did not mean to startle you, it's a bit of a habit."
"Oh. It's alright," she mumbled with a sheepish frown at her unnecessary alarm. "I'm a bit early, I can wait if you'd like."
"No, please, come in." He shuffled his papers into a folder and tucked it away. "Do you play chess?"
"Yes, I do."
"Would you mind?" He pointed to a chess set near the window.
Bringing the set over, he began to assemble the board as she pulled up a chair.
"How was your first night?"
"Excellent, thank you." She nodded. "You'll need to forgive me, it's been a while since I last played, and I might be a little rusty," she said and made the first move.
The old man gave her a cheeky smile and made his move. "I will go easy."
A comfortable silence filled the space between them as the two of them moved across the board until Emily sighed as her king was removed from the board. Looking up, she tried to smile through her defeat as she chewed the inside of her cheek.
"Again?" she questioned and Charles laughed under his breath as he began to set the board up once more.
Emily wasn't sure what to say. She had always been self-reliant and the thought of having to reach out for help aggravated her, especially to a stranger. Though, she had to admit, he was one of the more calming people she had been around, and he seemed to have a genuine desire to help. Despite, Emily was still somewhat reluctant to believe that he would really be able to do anything for her.
"I was very young when I came into my mutation. I was only five when I realized I could read minds and soon after I found I could control those around me." He moved one of his pawns. "The bombarding of people's thoughts around me was overwhelming at times and I took to isolating myself for some time."
Emily knew of the torment he spoke of, often wanting to hide herself away, far from the daily assaults she endured day in and day out. She couldn't very well disappear like she wanted and leave all her problems behind, though it wasn't like she had never given it a thought.
"I eventually learned to control my powers and went on to help others." He looked up at her from his chess piece and she swallowed hard. The open window brought in the sounds of the children playing out in the garden and she turned her attention away from him to alleviate the anxiety of her growing apprehension of whether or not to trust him with her private life and thoughts.
"Emily, I know what it's like to detest your gift. To fear your gift." He paused when she looked back over to him and she wondered if he was reading her mind or not. It wasn't like she would even know. She suddenly knew why people felt the discomfort they felt around her, and the constant wonder if your private thoughts and feelings were being exposed. "It does get better, I promise, and I would like to help you."
Her eyebrows furrowed. "Why?" What sort of motive did he have behind helping her? There was always a motive; no one did things just to be nice.
"Because I have been there and I have felt the things you feel and it's no way to live a life."
"Are you reading my mind right now?" she tested, wondering if he would leave her with at least some privacy.
"No, I am not. I will not unless you allow me permission to do so."
The question now was whether or not she could trust him. This was it, the whole reason she was even here.
"I give you my word Emily that I will keep your confidences. I need you to be mentally and emotionally receptive in order for me to help."
"Fine," she said and held her breath, wondering what consequences this leap of faith was going to bring her.
"I didn't always have trouble with my mutation; it only started three years ago."
"Did something provoke the loss of control?"
Staring at him, her stomach churned at the thought of revealing the source. "My mother was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's several years ago and she was able to manage alright for a while until she took a turn for the worse. I had to step in and take care of her, on top of a lot of other things." She continued with the game and frowned. "My brother." She took a breath and sighed, trying not to let her emotions get the best of her. "He walked out while I was in the middle of my graduate work and on top of that I got sick and ended up in the hospital." Shaking her head to herself she gave a breathy laugh. "I suppose it was my own fault: I tried to do it all. Shortly after that, I found myself unable to keep everything out."
He watched as she plucked his bishop and leaned back in his seat while contemplating what she had told him.
"I thought it was the stress that caused it all to go haywire but it never got better."
"Stress can take quite a toll on the body and mind, more than you may realize, especially in such a high stress situation as the one you experienced. However, I do not believe this is permanent, and I have no doubt that with a bit of time and training, you will accomplish things you never thought possible, including the control you are seeking."
"What makes you so sure?"
"You are stronger than you realize, Emily." He smiled and captured one of her pawns. "Telepathy and empathy are so closely related to each other that they are almost one in the same. We both have influence over the thought process. Whereas telepathy is much more direct, with thought control, you are able to change the way someone perceives a thought. You see, everything has an energetic vibration or frequency and as an empath, you are able to sense these vibrations and recognize even the subtlest of changes and manipulate them as you see fit."
Emily mulled over the information, staring at a spot on her shoes. He seemed pretty confident; she couldn't detect a trace of uncertainty, alleviating some of her concerns.
A knock at the door interrupted Emily's thoughts as Storm poked in her head. "Sorry Professor, Emily," she apologized and Xavier motioned her into the office. "Hank is here, and he says it's urgent."
"Forgive me, Emily," Xavier said to her and looked to Storm. "Bring in Hank."
Emily's eyes widened when a big blue ape-like man stepped into the office. She had remembered seeing him on the TV after the Alcatraz incident but in person was a completely different story. "Hank, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Xavier asked as the animal-man walked over and shook the Professor's hand.
"I come with urgent news; I do wish this was under better circumstances." His gaze shifted to Emily staring wide-eyed, mouth agape. A buzz in the back of her mind brought her back to reality before all eyes were suddenly on her.
"Emily, this is my good friend Hank McCoy," the Professor said and Hank's massive furry blue hand extended towards her, an earnest gaze meeting her own.
"Emily Jameson," she offered and his massive hand engulfed her own.
"Nice to meet you, my dear." He beamed exuberantly before turning back to Xavier and taking a seat, dwarfing the large armchair.
No sooner did Scott and Jean step into the office and they all looked to Hank, awaiting his urgent news. Tension started to rise and Emily immediately started to feel uncomfortable; this wasn't a good kind of visit.
"There have been reports of the cure failing," he said finally and the room took a nosedive into confusion. "In the last month there have been thirty cases of mutations resurfacing. Full manifestation is apparent within a month of the first signs."
"How can this be? They said the cure was permanent," Scott murmured in disbelief, not believing Hank.
"They rushed the cure, Scott. There were no long-term trials." Hank sighed.
"So does this mean that for everyone who received the cure, their powers will come back?" Storm asked.
There was an awkward lull, as Hank seemed to be searching for the right words. "This is not true in all cases, so far." Hank trailed off and took a breath. "However, I feel this may be the case. It's too soon to tell though." His uncertainty and doubt shone through the words meant to be reassuring.
"That means Rogue's powers may come back," Jean said while exchanging looks with Storm.
Emily watched everyone in silent contemplation while trying to retain her composure with everyone bombarding her in the office. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths trying to focus on getting them out of her head.
Thoughts raced through her mind at the thought of the backlash that the failure of the cure would bring. In most cases the cure had been seen as a godsend for those with more obvious mutations but others detested the idea of needing to be 'cured'.
"So what happens now Hank? People are going to be angry, people are going to revolt, so how does the government plan on handling this?" Scott asked.
"We don't know. This was surely unexpected and there have already been a few cases of violence that have been contained but it's only going to get worse. Friends of Humanity and the Mutant Liberation Front have become more active with each passing week."
Jean turned to the Charles, who was deep in thought. "Professor, what are we going to do about Magneto? If he has regained his powers it's only a matter of time before-."
"I know, Jean." He nodded with an unsure expression and turned his gaze to Hank.
"That's not all." Hank hesitated. "There has been word of Senator Creed pushing the Mutant Registration Act back into play. Things aren't looking good with President McKenna either; he is going to lose this upcoming election. Senator Jacobson is playing on the recent mutant attacks to tip the scale in his favor and it's working. People are scared and he is promising them safety."
"At what cost though? Not all mutants are dangerous, they can't do this!" Storm exclaimed.
Hank turned around to face her. "People are scared, Storm. President McKenna's lack of response after Alcatraz lost many people's favor. Jacobson is coming down with an iron fist, and people aren't distinguishing mutants apart from one another; they only see what happened at Alcatraz and believe us all to be like Magneto."
It was all too much and after excusing herself, Emily found sanctuary in the garden. Rubbing her temples, she tried to focus on other things than the mound of bad news that had just been dumped not ten minutes prior.
Two students came into view, the same one that had given directions to the office and an Asian girl sporting a bright yellow vest and bangles, chatting about what sounded like the latest issue of Cosmo. They stopped when they saw Emily and glanced at each other.
"Hey, you're that new teacher or something that everyone is talking about, right?" the girl in the yellow vest inquired and earned a glare from her friend.
"Jubes, you can be so rude sometimes, you know that?" her friend said and gave an exasperated smile. "I'm Rogue, this is Jubilee. You will have to excuse her, she is always this rude."
Rogue. Jean had said something about Rogue's powers coming back with the cure failing, did she even know? "It's alright." Emily forced a smile. She wondered what sort of mutation she would have had to get the cure in the first place; she looked rather normal with the exception of her white streak. "My name is Emily, and yes, I am the new language teacher."
"Told you." Jubilee stuck her tongue out at Rogue. "How old are you? Are you old enough to teach?"
"Jubilee!" Rogue shrieked and smacked her arm.
"Ow, girl, not so hard!"
"Well stop being so rude and maybe I wouldn't hit you."
Emily watched the two girls in amusement and waited until they had finished bickering before she spoke.
"I won't tell you how old I am but yes, I am old enough to teach." Emily chuckled at Jubilee's dissatisfied look. She was a troublemaker that was for sure, but hopefully nothing she couldn't handle.
"Come on, Bobby told us to meet him in the Rec Room," Rogue said and tugged on Jubilee's arm. "It was nice to meet you Emily, see you in class."
"But I have more questions. Are you a mutant?" Jubliee complained as she was dragged away.
"Well that's too bad," Rogue muttered and soon Emily was alone once more, smiling at the odd interaction. Things sure never got boring around here that was for sure. It was hardly possible with a mansion full of mutant children.
Once she managed to calm herself, a loud growl from her stomach brought her to her feet in search of the kitchen.
Storm and Lucy were sitting at the counter mulling over their lunches when Emily walked in.
"Hey guys." Emily waved and walked to the fridge. She heated up rice and chicken from the night before and leaned against the counter as she waited. "I like the flowers in your hair," Emily offered as she eyed the flowers weaved into Lucy's braids.
"Oh, thanks." Lucy beamed. "They're from the garden. I grew them myself."
"Is the garden your doing?"
"Yeah, Ro and I have been working on it for years, ever since I got here." She hid behind her hand and whispered, "It was terrible before I came around."
"Hey." Storm gasped and playfully slapped Lucy's arm. "I did just fine before you got here."
Lucy gave a sneaky shake of her head and poked at her salad as Storm glared at her.
"She likes to think that the flowers would have made it without the rain that I brought." Storm eyed Lucy with a teasing smirk to which Lucy rolled her eyes.
"Alright, fine, you helped a little."
"Would you like to sit with us?" Storm motioned to the stool next to her.
"Yes, thank you." Emily took her seat and poked at the chicken for a moment as she tried to hold back the itch to ask the question in the back of her mind. "Hey Storm, can I ask you something?"
"Of course."
"You guys, I mean, the X- Men, were at Alcatraz weren't you? Fighting Magneto and the Brotherhood."
"You don't know too much about the team, do you?"
"No, well, the Professor mentioned that you guys help people and I took that it was operated a bit outside the government." She paused. "Is that what you guys do? Fighting and stuff like that?"
Storm and Lucy exchanged glances of hesitation and distrust, obviously not wanting to reveal too much to the newcomer.
"Honestly, the Professor or Scott would be better at answering your questions about the team," Storm said and Emily felt a stab of disappointment at the lack of information. The whole idea of the X-Men was intimidating to her; she knew nothing about fighting. If helping others meant that she would be out there risking her life, she wasn't so sure she wanted to be a part of the team.
"Of course." Emily nodded and stabbed at a piece of chicken. There was no reason she couldn't just ask the Professor, though it would have been nice to have an idea of what the team did.
"Did you follow what happened at Alcatraz much?" Storm asked.
"I tried, but all the media outlets were saying different things, so it was hard to discern fact from fiction." Perhaps she might get some answers after all.
"We were there at Alcatraz, all of us." Emily shifted her gaze over to Lucy while trying to imagine the sweet flower child in some sort of battle.
"Not me." Lucy held up her hands. "I am not into all that fighting." She chuckled.
"We caught up with Magneto at the cure facility and managed to take him out, nearly killed Jean in the process, but we did it."
"The papers said that the National Guard stopped him."
Storm laughed. "Of course, can't have everyone knowing about the team, can we?"
"I suppose not," Emily agreed and sipped her water while contemplating the new information; it was a hell of a lot different than what she had read in the paper.
"So Emily, you got a boyfriend?" Lucy leaned over with a wide smile.
"Boyfriend?" Emily chuckled. "I don't have time for a boyfriend." She laughed as if it was the most ridiculous thing in the world. She couldn't even remember the last time she had even gone out on a date. Things with her mom hadn't exactly made things easy.
"So that means you're single, right?" Lucy questioned and Storm gave her a glare.
"Oh no you don't Lucy, no more playing matchmaker."
"For your information, I was the one who set up George and Martina and now look where they are, married with a baby on the way."
"One success out of how many failures?" Storm scolded and turned to Emily. "Don't ever let her set you up."
"It's quite alright; I'm not looking to date." Emily chuckled.
"Come on, Storm." Lucy pouted while Storm ignored her. "Fine. But, I will let you know I do have a sixty percent success rate."
"Try thirty." Storm laughed.
"Whatever." Lucy rolled her eyes.
"Hey Emily, we're all going to the bar tomorrow. We try to get out at least once or twice a month if possible just to get away from the kids for a bit and have some fun. Why don't you come with us? It will give you a chance to get to know everyone a little better."
Emily smiled as she wiped her mouth and gave an apologetic look. "I really appreciate the invite but I am going to be in the city this weekend." Storm nodded in understanding before going back to her food. "Rain check?"
"Most certainly."
Emily poked through her food as she listened to Storm and Lucy making plans for dinner before excusing herself for a nap.
Darkness cloaked the room when Emily woke. She turned and glanced at the clock that read nearly seven in the evening and she sat up cursing herself for over sleeping. Now she would be lucky to get a wink of sleep that night.
Stepping out of her room, she locked the door behind her and turned into a solid mass that stopped her in her tracks.
"I'm terribly sorry I-." She stopped when she realized it was Logan. "Oh, hey." She grumbled and started down the hall.
He walked a few steps behind her and she glanced over her shoulder at him as he watched her with his ever-present smirk.
"What?" She stopped and asked him with an accusing stare.
Logan shoved his hands in his pockets and strolled up to her.
"A little bit on edge are we?" He chuckled, standing closer than necessary. "Wake up on the wrong side of the bed?"
Emily scoffed as she took a step back from him. "I'm fine." She turned on her heel and continued to walk with him trailing behind in a silent stalk. She tried her best to ignore him, not wanting to give into his intentional annoyance.
Before reaching the kitchen she had had enough and whipped around to face him and he wore a mock questioning look.
"Is this really how you get your kicks?" She stood with her hands on her hips as she glared.
The innocent look he was trying to give didn't suit him. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"You know exactly what you're doing. I don't know where you got the idea that it is okay to sit here and harass me but let me tell you, buddy, that I am not going to have it." She got up into his face and he watched her while trying to hold back a smile as she ranted until she stopped with a huff.
"What is so funny?"
He leaned in closer and she stood her ground, not wanting to give him the satisfaction. "You get this eyebrow twitch every time you get going." He lowered his voice as his eyes locked on her. "It's kind of cute."
"You are impossible." She pushed his shoulder. "Leave me alone." She turned on her heel and walked into the kitchen, leaving Logan to laugh at her riled form.
After finishing with the dishes from dinner, Emily took her seat in the library with a book in one hand and tea in the other. It was relatively unoccupied minus the two young girls walking out chatting about some boy named Kevin they had a crush on. Finally, she was left alone and relieved sigh escaped as she sat down and cracked open the worn out novel. She had lost track of how many times she had read about the romance between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. She knew it all by heart at this point but nothing wrapped up a long day like Jane Austen and a cup of tea.
She got three words in before the doors opened; Rogue and a boy she had seen her with earlier strode into the room oblivious to Emily's presence behind a bookcase.
"Rogue, would you just calm down?"
"Calm down, Bobby?" Rogue spat. "You realize what this means?"
"I told you, I don't care." He tried pleading with her.
She sounded on the brink of tears. "Yes you do. It will go back to how it was before."
"Rogue," he said, taking her hand. "We will figure this out together, alright?"
Rogue choked back a sob with a sigh and allowed him to wrap his arms around her in a comforting embrace. He brushed his fingers through her hair and kissed her forehead.
"Besides, you don't even know if they will come back. No need to get all worked up over something that hasn't even happened."
Uh oh, wrong move Bobby. Emily, at that moment tried to figure out the best route of escape without detection as Rogue pushed him away.
"So, what? I am just getting all worked up? Getting emotional?" she snapped and stepped away from him.
"No Rogue I-."
"Just go away," she snapped and refused his pleas to calm down before he gave up and walked out of the library muttering about 'being unreasonable.'
Rogue's sobs echoed in the empty room and Emily sat for a moment listening to her before getting up and walking into view. Jumping in surprise, Rogue soon tried to dry her tears as she stood with her arms wrapped around herself while trying to hold back the tears threatening to fall.
"I'm sorry, I didn't realize anyone was in here. I take it you heard everything." Her cheeks burned from embarrassment that Emily disregarded.
"Yeah, it's okay though." Emily smiled trying to comfort the girl as best as she could. "I can leave if you'd like to be alone," Emily said and turned to leave.
"Do you think I am overreacting?"
Oh, goodness. She was no good at this stuff, upset people made her uncomfortable.
"Well, I don't really know the whole story or circumstances…" Emily trailed off and sighed to herself as she walked over and sat down on the couch and Rogue followed in suit.
"My mutation," she said and looked down at herself. "I never used to be able to dress like this." She motioned to the shorts and tank top she was wearing. "Before I got the cure, my skin, well, in short it sucks the life out of people," she said bluntly and drew her gaze away in shame.
Crap. Emily suddenly understood the fear and panic that Rogue was experiencing; it was a very real thing.
"I understand how you feel, Rogue." Emily tried comforting her and Rogue discreetly rolled her eyes.
"How on earth could you know how I feel? Do you know what it's like to not be able to touch someone, a hug, a handshake, or a kiss?"
"I don't know what it's like to experience those things Rogue but I understand how you feel." Rogue gave her a confused look. "My mutation, it allows me to feel the emotions of people around me. I can feel exactly what you are feeling and I am sorry."
Tears welled up once more in her eyes and Emily felt a stab in her stomach. For someone who knew how to relate to people, she was really terrible with this whole comforting thing.
"I know you are scared and that's okay, Rogue." Emily reached out and rubbed her back while trying to soothe her as best as she could. Slowly but surely, Rogue calmed until she sighed in exhaustion. "You know, Bobby really cares about you, he only wants to help."
"He doesn't understand."
"Maybe not, but he is scared, too. The cure hasn't failed for everyone so there might still be a chance."
"What if it comes back though?"
Emily didn't really know what to say or do; it was out of her control. She felt tightness in her chest at the young woman looking to her for help, her eyes fearful of what the future held.
"Then you cross that bridge when you get there. Bobby said he isn't going anywhere and somehow it will work out." The words sounded wrong as they came out of her mouth, meant to be comforting, leaving Emily felt uneasy.
"Maybe you are right, I might just be overreacting."
"It's okay to be scared, Rogue."
The girl managed a smile as she wiped her tears and looked around with a sigh. "I should go find Bobby and apologize; I didn't mean to yell at him."
"It will be alright, Rogue." Emily smiled and they both knew the words were a lie but Rogue forced her chin up and got to her feet.
"Thanks for talking Emily."
"My pleasure Rogue, anytime." She smiled and with a small nod she was gone, leaving Emily to the silence of her own thoughts. She felt terrible, like she had lied to Rogue when telling her it would all be all right. It wouldn't be if the cure were a failure. Well, only time would tell.
Emily tried going back to her book but the nagging feeling in her stomach drew away all attention and after twenty minutes she finally gave up and headed up to her room in hopes that a bit of sleep might take away the sinking feeling she was experiencing. Tomorrow was another day.
Sorry this took so long, way longer than I had thought it would. I can't guarantee regular updates but I am not going to stop writing.
Also, I wanted to throw a shout out to my awesome beta LifeBringsMeOnlyTears, without her this wouldn't have been possible :) Go check out her stuff if you get the chance.
I also went back and reworked the other chapters so check that out if you want. Feedback is always encouraged :)