Emily Shorn

Chapter 3

When they were a safe distance away from the Savage Land, Logan finally moved from his position on the floor. He shifted the unconscious girl in his arms to get a good look at her face.

"Ah shit," he muttered.

"What?" Scott asked.

"I know her."

Everyone whipped around in their seats.

"You do?" Kitty called.

"Her name's Emily," he replied. "I thought she was dead."

He shifted her gently to a better position, and then went for the medical supplies. He spent the rest of the ride home completely silent, caring for the cut on Emily's arm, and making sure she wasn't jostled by the ride. The others tried to get him to talk, but he ignored them. Keeping Emily alive was much more important at the moment.

The X-wing settled into its docking bay. As the stairs descended, Logan hoisted Emily back into his arms, her wound bandaged carefully.

The girl was slim, surprisingly light. Not that she was a girl, he thought, looking her over as he exited the jet. Life had not been nice to her, maybe even more so than to him. The last time he saw her, she was in a chamber, comatose under so many medications it made him shiver.

Xavier sat waiting for them. Logan figured he would be. Even without it being Emily, the Professor would want to know that their rescue was a success, and Logan didn't doubt Jean had already told him the girl's name. That made things personal.

"Please, Logan, bring her here," Xavier called.

Obediently, he headed for the old man and crouched so he could get a good look at Emily's face.

"She's exhausted," Logan said gently, knowing the Professor's worry, "but it doesn't look like she's really hurt or anything."

With a little annoyance, he noted that Xavier paid no attention to his reassurance, turning instead to inspect the woman himself. He put a hand to her temple, then quickly caught himself and snatched it back. Logan watched him closely as he shook his head.

"I'd almost forgotten," he whispered.

"Professor, who is this?" Bobby asked. "Logan won't tell us anything."

"This is Emily Shorn," Xavier said. "If there's any one thing I regretted in my life, it was not saving her." He sighed deeply. "But this can wait. Logan, if you would please bring her to the upper infirmary, I'd feel much better knowing she is resting comfortably."

Logan nodded. He knew Xavier wouldn't explain things until he got back. After all, this was where it all began. Quietly he headed for the elevator. When he entered, he wondered if the Professor was thinking the same thing he was: waking up in a completely metal, hospital smelling room wouldn't be the best thing for Emily at that point. In any case, he was glad she would wake up in a real bed, surrounded by wide windows and cedar paneled walls and floors. In his opinion, the upstairs infirmary always smelt like a summer cabin on the lake.

When he laid her in what he'd found to be the most comfortable bed, Emily gave out a small moan. He froze in place, hoping she'd remember he just saved her life if she woke up. But she didn't wake. It was just a sleepy protest to all the motion. He settled her in place, tucking in the covers. He tried to be as gentle as possible. God knew she hadn't gotten much of that.

For a long time he simply watched her sleep, thinking. If one of his teammates came in just then he would have denied doing anything but making sure she was breathing, but he was really enveloped in old memories. Seeing her for the first time, learning her story, witnessing the fallout because of her containment. It was the only thing he ever disagreed with Magneto on before coming to the mansion.

Finally he pulled himself out of his thought and headed to find the others. Like always, it wasn't very hard; they had changed out of their uniforms and were grouped in the library, waiting for him. When he entered, he caught their looks. They weren't going to drop this until they were completely satisfied with the explanation. He settled against the wall, a vantage point to observe all of their reactions to what Xavier had to say.

When everything was quiet, Scott cleared his throat. "So what's with this girl? How do you two know her?" he asked.

"It's a rather long story," Xavier told him. "Emily is a very powerful mutant with the ability to disrupt other's powers. Under her control, Quicksilver could slow to the pace of a snail, Juggernaut could trip over his own feet, and Magneto could lose control of even the simplest magnetic material.

"When we first found her, she was on the run with another mutant, a young man named Terry Ram. His abilities were completely out of control. The only way he could keep from flooding everywhere he went was to stay next to Emily. Magneto and I offered them both a place in the Savage Land, and they accepted.

"But Emily's abilities weren't completely developed when she first came to the island. You see, her power didn't end at lowering mutant ability. She also possessed the power to enhance mutant potential. After a few days of being surrounded by hundreds of mutants, her unlocked potential surfaced, and she lost control.

"It took all our strength, but we finally subdued her. The damage was unimaginable. Every mutant within five yards of her gained an uncontrollable spike in power. The entire sector of the city was destroyed with their collective strength. When we finally incapacitated her, all of their abilities went back to normal, but we knew it would happen again. So we made a hard decision.

"We created a chamber that could contain her abilities which were growing every day. I attempted to help her gain control through psychic lessons, but her abilities wouldn't allow me. When I tried to enter her mind, her powers drained mine. I lost all psychic ability for a week each time.

"When Magneto began to push for mutant superiority, he entertained an idea that chilled me to the core. He wanted to use Emily to enhance his power to the point where he could end the whole conflict himself."

"Could she do that?" Storm asked.

"With training, possibly," Xavier replied. "She certainly had huge potential, but to train her meant sacrificing other mutant lives in the backlash of her powers. I pleaded with Magneto to allow me more time to psychically train her, but he became impatient. That was our last argument. When he threatened me, my followers came to my rescue. We were forced to leave Emily behind and flee the island."

His X-men were silent as he touched a hand to his stomach where the metal spike had pierced him straight through, demobilizing him permanently.

Finally, Peter spoke. "What happened to her?" he asked.

"Magneto tried to bring her out of stasis and have her practice in the wilderness with Detonator," Logan cut in. "The explosion reached the city from fifteen miles away. He put her in permanent stasis after that."

"So she's been, like, what? Completely comatose all these years?" Bobby asked. "How'd she get out?"

"I have no idea," Logan returned. "I was sure she'd been killed in the sentinel attack. When Cy and I went to check the place out, I saw the tower she used to be in. It was completely destroyed."

"In any case," Xavier added, "however it happened, she is alive, but if she's gained any control is still a mystery. I want all of you in the lower levels until she wakes up and we have time to talk to her. The shielding down there should protect you from her powers."

The others fidgeted slightly. Logan mentally gave a small smirk. Leave it to Xavier to be bluntly honest. 'Should protect you' was not something any of these kids liked to hear. In any case, they listened like they always did and headed for the lower levels.

"Logan, if you would stay, I'd like you to help me monitor her," Xavier told him.

He glanced back. "You sure?" he asked.

"Your powers are the most controlled out of everyone's," the Professor explained. "And your mind is protected from mine. I need your help if she can't control herself."

Slowly Logan nodded. It was unnerving being around the girl. He had wanted to get her out of that prison so many times, yet he never followed through. What stopped him was a puzzle more so even than his past. But it was true that he had more control over his powers than the others, and what was she going to enhance anyhow? Make him a stronger healer?

The two of them headed for the infirmary in silence. Logan could tell Xavier was as unnerved as he was at Emily's sudden reappearance. He tried to think of something to say, but he had never been very good at that, so they didn't speak.

When they reached the infirmary, he opened the door only to spot Emily trying to climb out the window.