As always, thanks for everything you do, whether it's faving, following, reviewing, or just reading. Here's chapter four, in which Matt has his "orientation" in the form of a danger room session.

The "Danger Room" didn't look like much, but he was sure that they didn't name it that for nothing. It was the size of a school gymnasium, but there were no bleachers and all of the walls were metal. If he looked up, Matt could see what must have been a two-way mirror, giving him the mirror side. It reminded him of the windows seen used on police shows, but it was probably Professor Baldy on the other side, not the cops. That didn't make Matt feel any better.

Bobby had let him borrow a shirt and a pair of sweats that were a bit small on him and taken him on his "orientation," if one could call it that. Really, he just led Matt down the hallway, pointing out everyone's bedrooms and then some classrooms. Bobby had then taken him down the elevator—which's door was already fixed—and down to the room labeled "Danger Room."

"Don't worry," Bobby had said. "On lower levels, you're not in any actual danger. This is just a training room and you're getting an evaluation."

"Evaluated on what?"

"How good you are," was all the answer Bobby had given him.

The memory made Matt scowl. Way to be vague. Now he was just standing here waiting for an evaluator to show up or scientists to flood the room and decide that his powers made him more useful as a test subject than as a student.

Finally, he heard Professor Xavier talk through what must be an intercom. "Are you ready, Matt?" he asked.

"Ready for what?" he asked.

"A simulation."

"Of what kind?"

"We just want to see the extent of your abilities so we know where to place you. Don't worry, you're not getting graded and you won't be in any real danger."

There were so many more questions and snarky remarks that Matt wanted to make, but he was sure that that was all he was getting out of the professor. "I'm ready," he said, putting lots of confidence behind the remark and staring right up at the window he was sure the professor and some others were behind. He wasn't nervous about performing well since Andrew wasn't here to show him up; he was actually nervous of doing too well and being seen as a complete freak or perfect test subject.

Matt resolved to hold back.

Suddenly, a metal disk flew towards his face. He barely had time to react as he brought his arm up to deflect the disk, sending it harmlessly towards a wall.

Now on high alert, Matt got down into a defensive stance and looked around him, waiting for another attack. This time there were two disks, which he easily deflected since he was expecting them. For the next few minutes disks and other objects flew at him, but Matt simply misdirected or stopped them. Then, a concrete block the size of a horse fell from the ceiling. Where are they getting this stuff? Matt jumped out of the way and slightly pushed it away. He made sure not to fly out of the way because he wasn't sure if they knew about that power. It could work to his advantage to have a power up his sleeve.

"Are you sure you're not trying to kill me?" he asked.

"Of course not, Matt," Professor Xavier's reassuring voice said. "How heavy of an object can you lift?"

Matt knew he could easily lift cars, but he wasn't sure where his limits currently were. During the bridge ordeal he had gotten at least five cars at once, but that plus the concrete of the bridge had proved to be far beyond his limits. "A car," Matt finally answered.

To his surprise, a car was the next thing to drop into the room. Matt caught it with his telekinesis and threw it into the wall. He allowed himself a little smirk at the display. His nose hadn't bled at all throughout the entire test.

No comment came through the loudspeakers, though. The floor where Matt was standing suddenly rose up. "Now I want to test agility."

He was only about fifteen feet up, so he easily jumped down, using a bit of his flight to cushion the fall. All around him, objects one would find on an obstacle course rose from the metal floor. It was obvious that he was supposed to run it, so he did.

As far as the spectators needed to know, telekinesis was his primary power. Therefore, he didn't show off any tricks on the obstacle course: he only jumped as high as a normal person would.

"Are we done?" he asked after he ran the course. "I'm hungry."

"Of course, Matt," Professor Xavier said. "Please see me in my office this afternoon around three. Until then, your time is free."

"Cool, Prof," Matt said with a mock salute. To Matt's right, the door to the Danger Room opened up, so he went through it and back upstairs.

"That was an impressive session," Jean remarked as she reviewed the video of the Danger Room session.

Professor Xavier nodded in agreement.

"Why are we just now finding this kid? Isn't he a little old for having new powers?" Scott asked.

"With that level of control, his powers can't be that new," Jean said. "Trust me on that."

"Then why hasn't Cerebro picked up on him before?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but when he was in the coma I tried to delve into his brain," the professor said. "His brainwaves were…different from any mutant I have encountered before."

"Different how?" Scott asked warily.

"It's not in a way I could explain, but his life appeared normal until about six months ago, at which point I hit a 'wall' of sorts."

"So, is he a possible telepath, then?"

The professor shook his head. "No, his mental shields were nothing like ones employed by telepaths, but still quite impressive. I could reach his conscious thoughts when he woke up, but once he realized what I was doing, he quickly consciously blocked me out."

Jean was silent for a moment before she input, "When he was unconscious, it felt like something…else was blocking his thoughts."

"He's working with a telepath?" Scott asked.

"Definitely not," Professor Xavier answered. "An unknown outside source blocked many of his memories, and he blocked them once he was conscious."

Scott sighed in annoyance. He suspected this kid was going to give them lots of trouble. "So what do we know about him?"

"His name is Matthew Garetty, he's from a suburb of Seattle, and his parents' names are Paul and Deborah Garetty," Jean said.

"And yes, I did contact his mother a few days ago, who was surprised to hear that her son was alive and well," Professor Xavier answered before Scott could ask. "She begged to get in contact with her son, saying that she hadn't seen him in months. I told her that he was still avoiding home but it wasn't her fault. She replied with, 'I know. Please tell him it's not his fault,' and hung up."

"That's weird," Scott remarked. "Did you tell Matt? Do you know what isn't his fault or why he really left?"

"No," Xavier said. "He doesn't trust us, so for now he doesn't need to know that I contacted his mother. We all keep secrets for reasons, so I'll keep mine and respect his."