AN: By popular request I am posting another chapter of Wolf Road. I have a bit of the next chapter written, but I don't know how long it will take to finish. I have had ¾ of this chapter sitting for quite awhile before getting the courage to complete it.

"Talking."

'Thoughts.' eg. Thinking to one's self.

"Thought talking." eg. Xavier and Jean projecting words with their minds.

Chapter 3: Puzzle Pieces

"Lumos" Rafe whispered the charm quietly but no ball of light appeared in his cupped palm. "Lumos." He whispered louder, still nothing happened. "No, no, no. There must be something left. I can't be defenseless. Please Merlin, something." In his panic Rafe didn't feel the change starting but as the teeth in his mouth became bigger and his finger nails grew sharper, Rafe looked up into the mirror to see himself shifting into his animagus form. 'Thank Merlin I still have Grim.' Down on all fours Rafe reveled in the familiarity of his inner beast. Hearing Jean growing restless Rafe shifted back and leaned over to flush the toilet

Rafe looked at himself in the mirror. His physical appearance hadn't changed any but now that he thought about it, his senses felt heightened. Things were louder, images clearer, and smells stronger. He had found his 'mutant' power. Now to face the Professor.

Jean led him through the maze like corridors to a slick stainless steel elevator. The elevator opened into a richly decorated hallway and she gently steered him to the left, down the empty corridor. They walked in silence. Jean was unsure of what to say to the young 'soldier' and Rafe was glad for silence after the loudness of the war. Soon enough they found themselves in front of an oak door and before Jean could knock the Professor's voice rang out, "Please come in, Jean and Rafe." Rafe shivered at the similarity between the Professor and his now dead mentor.

Jean opened the door and gestured for Rafe to enter, "I'll be back when you're done with the Professor. I'm sure that some food and rest will do your body good."

Rafe nodded in thanks and stepped into the large office. He kept his eyes trained on the calm face of the man seated at the far end of the room. If he didn't let his eyes wander he wouldn't be able to see the rest of the room. If he didn't see the rest of the room his mind wouldn't be able to think about the room. He didn't want to make any more comparisons between his mentor and the man before him, the memories felt like incendio had been cast on his mind. "So Professor, you wanted to talk to me?"

While Rafe had been looking at the Professor, the Professor had been taking stock of the boy in front of him. Rafe walked with his back straight, steps measured and almost silent; stealthy and dangerous. Rafe's green eyes spoke of horrors that would never be forgotten. The young face was aged beyond its years by the simple presence of those eyes.

"Yes, please take a seat," Rafe took the comfortable leather chair indicated, his eyes never wavering. Xavier felt all his questions battling for precedence and decided to get them all out in the open. This way Rafe could lead the direction of the conversation and hopefully divulge more about himself. "I want to know more about you. How you came to be wounded, what your mutant power is, and where you stand on the struggle between mutants and humans."

"Professor, I don't want to be rude, you've taken me in and given me medical treatment and clothes, but I can't answer all of your questions. Don't take this the wrong way. I will answer what I can, but what I don't answer is not because I'm trying to hide anything, but because I can't answer. If that makes any sense then I can start trying to accommodate you."

Rafe wasn't sure of what he was doing; it felt a lot like first year where he was flying by the seat of his pants. He was also fairly certain that the Professor was scanning him for lies of any kind while he was talking. He could sense something gently probing his mind, unlike his experiences with Snape; it felt almost soothing in its attempts to detect what it was looking for.

The Professor steepled his fingers and stared hard at him for a moment before responding, "Of course. I'll keep that in mind and maybe I can answer a few of your questions as well, I'm sure you have some."

"Thanks. First off, as I'm sure you can tell from my accent, I'm not from around here. I was born in England, and just recently I arrived here to start a new life. As you know, your team found me unconscious and naked on the docks of Boston. I am not really sure what got me to that state, I was carrying around quite a bit of money and a few personal possessions that now seem to be gone, one can only guess at the circumstances as I'm not sure about them myself. A week or so before I arrived here, I was in a fight for my life and that is how I received my more recent injuries. As you can imagine, I do not want to expand on that situation." Rafe gave the Professor a stern look at that, hoping that the man would not press the issue. When it looked like the man was not going to say anything, he continued, "My mutant power is a secret of mine that I am not willing to share until I get a few of my own questions answered. I'm sorry for lying to you about it earlier. Your last question has me a bit stumped; I'm not sure where I stand on the battle between mutants and humans. Is there anything else I can answer for you Professor?"

The Professor looked calm but Rafe could detect a bit of shock from the man, he could only guess at the reason behind it though. Xavier crossed his hands on his desk and leaned forward slightly, looking at Rafe like Dumbledore used to when the man had too many decisions to make.

"Rafe, I have many questions for you but I do not believe that now is the time to ask these questions. I will tell you a little about myself and this institute and then we shall see where we both stand in the morning, does that sound fair to you?"

The proposition sounded fair and if the Professor were anything like Dumbledore he would discuss the situation with his fellow "teachers" before making a decision regarding Rafe. He was no fool, Rafe knew that this was not an ordinary school, the level that he had been taken to first was obviously hidden and not in the original floor plan, and the people that had come to pick him up deferred to the man as more than just a Professor, he was their leader. The question was what was he leading them in?

"Of course Professor, please enlighten me." Rafe knew he sounded a little tense but the situation all around was starting to get to him.

"First of all, my mutant power is to read minds. I found you by using Cerebro, a machine that enhances my powers. Cerebro suddenly shifted focus to Boston and targeted in on you, as to why, I am unsure. Through Cerebro I concluded that you were an unconscious mutant and took that as a sign that you may need help, so I sent out a team to find you. This institute is a school for mutants to learn how to control their powers and to get a normal education without prejudice. The student's teachers have another job, defending our rights for the equalization of mutants and to stand against Magneto who wishes for mutants to rule over normal humans…"

By this point Rafe was starting to get overwhelmed, 'I came to a new universe for Merlin's sake! Apparently prejudice and wars are something that cross universes, but surely, what are the chances that not even twenty-four hours after I get here I'm in the middle of it all again?' Rafe's outward appearance didn't change but Xavier must have caught a shift in his mental state because he suddenly trailed off.

"Is there something wrong Rafe?" Xavier was getting frustrated by the readings he was getting from Rafe, he seemed to have a natural defense around his mind that only let out the odd emotion. When he was talking about the fight for his life Xavier found a great feeling of sorrow and loss and could almost picture what looked to be funeral pyres. The image was blurry, brief, and didn't seem connected to Rafe's "fight". When he had mentioned the fight against Magneto, Rafe had tensed up and the boy's mind felt busy and almost dismayed. A quick flash of a snake-like face with red eyes and then Rafe's mind seemed to calm as soon as he asked if he was all right.

While Rafe wasn't happy about the situation that he now found himself in he realized that he didn't have a choice. Destiny, fate, prophesy, whatever you want to call it, something had decided that Rafe would be involved in fighting for freedom once again. He couldn't back down from this battle, here, in this world, he was now a 'mutant' and so he had an obligation to put his best effort into the fight. 'Never give up, never surrender.'

"No Professor, I just realized that I am exactly where I am meant to be."

-X-

The meeting had closed shortly after that and Jean appeared and led Rafe to the kitchen.

"That was a fairly short meeting." Jean hedged.

"Yeah, I think that he wants to have a meeting with the X-men regarding me in the morning. He isn't sure if I should be a student, teacher, or X-man and he seemed reluctant to press further for answers."

"That's unusual for him." Jean didn't know how to act around the teen. Xavier usually wasn't so hesitant and vague. The only indication that Rafe was welcome at the school was the fact that the boy wasn't gone already.

Rafe muffled the snort of laughter that wanted to escape at Jean's remark. He was always the anomaly and apparently the same held true here. Rafe sighed and ran his hand through his hair, he guessed that he was being rude by not opening up to the strangers who took him in, but even after all the years with his friends interaction with people still confused him.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?" Jean stopped walking and turned to look at him, her face looking earnest.

"I'm not being very forthcoming. I can tell that you all want answers before you can relax, but I can't give you answers until I get some more information myself."

Jean nodded and gestured him to turn right through a hallway, "It's alright, we understand. Now we've made it to the kitchen, are you hungry?"

"Yeah actually, I'm a little peckish."

While Jean started rummaging in the fridge, Rafe was trying not to stare at all the pristine stainless steel appliances, which were awe-inspiring. The kitchen wasn't Rafe's first clue that this world was more technologically advanced but years of cooking for the Dursley's made him more aware of changes in cookware. "Nice kitchen." The words slipped out unchecked and Logan instantly latched onto it.

"What, you some kind of chef or something?"

Rafe blinked at the unusually hostile figure and shrugged, "Nah, I know my way around a kitchen, but I'm no chef."

Jean purposely set the container of water on the counter with a clang to break up the tension between the two men. She turned to Rafe with a smile, "So, Rafe, we have coleslaw, sandwich makings, eggs, or we could cook up some KD. What would you like?"

Rafe puzzled at the word "KD" but didn't want to highlight his ignorance and so he decided to keep it simple, "Just a sandwich is fine, it's getting late and I shouldn't eat so much before bed."

Jean nodded and started pulling out what Rafe would need for his sandwich. Rafe took note of the seating in the kitchen and grabbed a stool a couple down from Logan at the island.

Jean sat between the two and tried to act as a buffer between Logan and his new target of study. Despite Jean's efforts Logan was staring at Rafe as the teen made his sandwich. Rafe wasn't sure if he wanted to confront the man or not. The man gave off some violent vibes but he also seemed protective in his actions. Rafe silently sighed, 'My first night in this new universe is just on the right side of pear shaped. I don't want any conflict and yet I can't even eat my bloody sandwich in peace.'

"You guys have some questions for me?" Rafe asked as a kind of truce. He took a bite of his turkey and lettuce sandwich and savored the simple fare.

Jean looked over at Logan, who winked at her, and sighed, "So the Professor told us that you have the mental feel of a soldier, could you explain?"

Rafe swallowed hard on his food and tried not to snort in dismay at the question. "Right. Of course you'd start off with the hard question."

Logan narrowed his eyes at Rafe and was about to comment on the statement when the teen started talking.

"I don't know what I'm legally allowed to tell you," which was true as Rafe reflected on it. The magical statute of secrecy would normally stop him from revealing anything but this universe, as far as he knew, didn't have a law like that.

Logan snorted, "Right. You were working for MI6?" the derision was clear in his tone.

Rafe tried not to snap at the man, "No." Rafe ran his fingers through his hair. 'I wish I had thought up a cover story, but maybe the truth won't hurt anything.'

Jean rested her hand on Rafe's shoulder in a comforting motion. "It's ok, just tell us what you can." The concern shone through in her expression and Rafe suddenly knew where to start. He wasn't sure if it was the red hair or the motherly gesture but he knew that he should start with his mom and dad.

"Before I was born there was a terrorist that my parents were working against to "take down". They did so much damage to his cause and his followers that they became a prime target. My mom was pregnant with me and so my parents were put in a safe house with only one person who knew where they were hiding. After I was born they were betrayed and the terrorist came after them. He murdered my parents and he was about to kill me when he was severely injured. He managed to evade capture and went into hiding. When I was eleven I was sent to the same boarding school that my parents had gone to. That's when the terrorist started his uprising again. By this point he had a grudge against me because in his twisted mind it was my fault that he was injured. Year after year we had minor confrontations until, when I turned seventeen, he finally had enough followers to wage war against my school and the government. I led the battle at my school against his men for a while before he finally showed up himself. In the end it came down to the terrorist and I fighting one on one, and only I came out alive. I lost a lot in that battle. I came here to escape that life." Rafe couldn't look at the mutants beside him while he was talking. He had to separate himself from the story in order to tell it without dwelling on the details. His story, even without the magic, seemed unreal and he wasn't sure how they would react.

While Rafe was talking Scott had come into the kitchen, he wrapped his arms around Jean's waist, resting against her he examined the teen while the story unfolded. The teen had managed to condense more than seventeen years worth of information into just a few sentences and yet he managed to cover the highlights of the events.

No one said anything after Rafe finished his story, even Logan was finding it hard to say something against the teen. The tale seemed outlandish and didn't make sense when one thought about how they should have heard about something like that, and yet… the small group found it hard to not believe Rafe's story. It was obvious that the mental wounds were still fresh and the teen's eyes held such deep anguish.

Rafe broke the silence first, "Is there somewhere I could sleep?" He really wasn't tired and did not think that he could sleep after all that had happened, but he couldn't stand the looks that they were giving him.

"Of course, I grabbed a pair of pajama's for you to borrow for tonight and set up a room for you on the second floor. I'll show you the way." Scott kept his tone casual, as it was obvious that Rafe was uncomfortable with the situation.

After Rafe and Scott had left the kitchen, Jean started clearing up Rafe's half eaten sandwich. "I should have let him eat before asking that question."

The statement wasn't directed at Logan but he could tell that the redhead wanted some input. He took a long swig of his coke, wishing that is was a beer instead, and thought about the teen's reactions. "Probably, but I also think that the reason that he answered wasn't just because you asked. You must remind him of someone."

Jean was silently impressed with Logan's unusually wordy answer. "I think you're right. I just hope that the meeting tomorrow morning will allow him to stay. I get a feeling that we're the environment he needs right now."

Logan didn't answer, but he had a similar feeling.

AN: Next chapter has more drama. Should the X-men's meeting be written out in detail or should only the conclusion be revealed? Please comment. Thank you all for your kind and motivational reviews.