I drum my fingers on the desk in front of me, annoyed. It's been three weeks and they still have no idea what my mutation is. I've been stuck in this school while Erik and Emma go on recruiting. With no one but Charles and Hank for company, as Alex is often off with Cassidy and Scott. I continue drumming my fingers.
"That is in fact very annoying, in case you were wondering." I look over at Charles, who is grading papers behind a desk. His eyes stay glued to the essay he's ready though I sigh and lay my head on the desk.
"I'm so bored!" I exclaim.
"Most teenagers are." He says dismissively.
"Well can't I be doing something? Going to town to shop or helping the boys with The Manor?" I plea.
"We still have no idea what it is you're capable of and so, you're asked to stay indoors in case there should be an incident."
"And by incident you mean you don't want me to blow up your school." I mumble. He sighs and looks directly at me at last.
"Parker I understand that this situation is not ideal to you. If you really want something to do, I heard Hank needs help in his lab." He supposes. I immediately shoot up and out of the door. Anything for a little excitement. I book it to the elevator and tap my foot the whole way down. Once the doors open I dramatically jump out.
"The fun has arrived! Thank you very much!" Hank looks up from his microscope at me, surprise clear on his face.
"Hello Parker." He smiles.
"Heard you need assistance." I smile and lean against the table he's bent over. He looks back into the microscope.
"As a matter of fact, could you look at this?" He scoots the machine towards me and I peep through the lens. "That's the DNA of a middle aged white man." Suddenly it goes white.
"Is it supposed to do that?" I wonder.
"No, I'm changing the slides." He can't hide the humor in his voice at my obvious sarcasm. He slides in the next one. "Now Professor Xavier's DNA." He explains.
"They look exactly the same." I murmur.
"Just watch a few seconds." I sigh but keep my eyes to the lens. "I'm adding a bit of a special chemical that isolates the differences between the Professor's DNA and the other strand light up." He explains. I see a bit of a liquid oozing over the strands, then within seconds they're lit with a vibrant purple. Tiny dots all over the strands are lit up, that I wouldn't have noticed before. But now it's oh so clear that this DNA is vastly different from the humans.
"Whoa." I murmur.
"Yeah. Now this is my DNA." He switches then and adds the fluid. The markers light up, this time in blue.
"Why different colors?" I ask.
"Every mutation is different. It alters the DNA differently. So the chemical responds to it differently. The next one is Alex's." this time the dots appear red.
"That is so trippy."
"Yeah. Now, this is yours." He explains, switching out the slides. "I'm adding the chemical." He mentions. The fluid creeps over the slide, but nothing happens. Not even a trace of light.
"Why?"
"I don't know. You obviously have a mutation. Maybe it's just not one I can identify with this chemical." He starts to babble about trying different compounds and then starts off on atoms and nuclei. Suddenly, I get an idea. If Hank is busy thinking about my DNA, maybe I can wring a few answers out of him.
"So…what happened between Erik and Charles?" I ask slyly. He looks at me, with one eyebrow raised.
"You don't know?" I shake my head. "Oh. Well, they worked together to prevent nuclear war. Erik just wanted to get back at the guy who killed his mother, Sebastian Shaw. But Charles is just a good guy. They got all of us together. Raven, Alex, Cassidy, Angel, and Darwin. And in the end, Sebastian died but Erik kind of agreed with his idea of how the world should be. That mutants were the future and the others should be axed. So he went his way with Sebastian's followers and Raven, and the rest of us came here with Charles. They haven't been in contact since then." He explains gravely.
"Wow. No one tried to get them back together?"
"Nope. But I never liked Erik." He shrugs the whole idea off and then dives back into DNA and mutations. But now I'm thinking. If they worked together once, and they were good friends, why couldn't they do it again? I mean they both just want to help mutants. Maybe that's why Erik found me and Emma couldn't figure out my mutation. So they'd have to come face to face once more.
"I gotta go Hank." I jump up, kiss his cheek slightly, and run back to the elevator. Charles is still in his office when I slide in on the waxed floor.
"Remind me to put down carpet. You're going to slip one of these days and as hilarious as it will be for me, you will not be as amused." he comments in a very monotone voice, eyes glued to a paper.
"Very funny, but is all seriousness, I know why I'm here now." He sighs a little but looks up as if to encourage me. "You and Erik need to work together again."
"I'm afraid there isn't much hope in that." He goes back to his paper.
"No, listen. There are so many mutants out there who need you. And Erik obviously has a flair for finding them. But what about the younger ones who are kicked out by their parents or not ready to be in some sort of rebellion like Erik wants. If he really cares about mutants as much as he says he does, than he'll be down with this. He finds them, you take them in. and he teaches them self-defense, while you teach them humanity so they don't kill people for not reason." He's looking at me again as I talk. "I know it sounds like a long shot. But you made a good team in preventing World War III so why couldn't you again?"
"We're different people now Parker. And we want different things."
"So? People can change their minds! Particularly the ones who don't have mind powers. I'm not saying you have to screw around in his noggin, but isn't it worth a try to help your friend to not be so angry with the world?"
"Don't you think I've tried?"
"Of course, but I also think you're mad at the world." He frowns slightly.
"Why would I be?"
"Because you can't walk. But, if you let me try something, and if you can walk again, will you at least take a shot and mending the bridge between you and Erik?" I plea. He sighs heavily and looks at me. I can tell that he's rational thinking is telling him to say no, but his curiosity is telling him, "What the hell? What bad could come of it?"
"Try what exactly?" he finally says. I grin and bounce a little in my seat.
"Just trust me."