More action coming next chapter; this one is more about settling in. Please leave any questions or comments you may have; it's a big motivation for me. Thanks for reading!
The next week was a blur for Cameron. Every morning she and Link would get up around six and hurry downstairs for a hearty breakfast. After two more days of guarding her brother during class time, Cam decided to leave him on his own. Already since coming here she could see some improvement in him; he was still shy, something that would never leave him, but he now had a group of friends closer to his age, and could now converse more easily with new people.
The Danger Room fascinated Cam to no end, and Hank seemed happy to explain its inner workings to her when he had time. He almost seemed lonely at times, hunkered down in the basement when he was not teaching, so Cam's cheerful greeting of "What's up, Doc?" was a bright point in his day.
Angel and Cam had grown remarkably closer, and after the sun set the two would take to the skies together, with the woman using the wind and Warren his wings. Once out of his quiet shell, the rich young man proved to be a good friend.
Even in San Fransisco almost all of Cameron's few real friends were male; she had never really thought about this until she befriended Storm. The Nubian beauty, with her culture and feminine ways, made Cam realize how much more comfortable she was with the opposite sex than with her own.
It became blindingly obvious when Storm had kindly offered to take Cam shopping. Both Link and his sister had enough sets of clothes for a week, and nothing else. And upon seeing the state of Cameron's raggedy tank tops and shorts, Storm had taken immediate action. Cam had been, quite literally, dragged through every store in the mall. Link had gone separately with his friends.
This brought up another problem in Cam's head: money.
"Okay, give me something to do," she ordered the next day as she burst into Xavier's office. Luckily he was alone.
The Professor did not seem startled at all. Well, no duh, the woman grumbled to himself. Just because he can't read your thoughts don't mean he doesn't know you're there.
"Well, what would you like to do?" the man questioned calmly. His blue eyes gazed right into her, almost in a silent challenge.
"Um…" Cam had not stopped to think about that. But when it came down to it, it was basically a question of her strengths. What was she good at?
"I can fight."
Xavier nodded. "Yes, you can. I would have already offered you a uniform by now, if there were not certain complications I wanted to discuss. Really, only two. The first and most important is the question of your Class Five abilities. I believe that Jean's powers were unlocked through a multitude of stressful situations that had occurred at the time. If put it a similar situation in which you or your loved ones-"
Cam immediately thought of Link.
"- were in harm's way, would you lose control as she did?"
The woman looked down at her black boots. "It's possible," she admitted quietly. "But it's the only thing I'm good at."
"Hm…" The Professor sat in deep thought for a minute. "You have remarkable control of your abilities. How do you use them when surrounded by people, in a city?"
Cameron grinned. "Creativity. There's a lot of ways to use mutations, and not all are obvious. I helped Link figure out his powers when he got them last year. Do you have any idea what some of the kids here can do, even if they're Class Two ones or something?" She was starting to get excited. "Even Storm! You know our powers ain't all that different. There are so many loopholes that we can use to create a lot of stuff, and we don't have to start blasting lightning out to do it you know."
Xavier was watching her rant with a bright gleam in his eye. When she finally paused for a breath, he spoke calmly. "How would you like to teach a class here? Think of it as…as a Gym class, for mutants. You can train them, keep them fit and show them how to use their powers as you do. I believe it will aid them greatly."
"Wow," the Class Five murmured. "You know I'm no teacher, right?"
"But you are, as you say, creative. I think that's just what these children need."
He gave her a few minutes to mull over the idea. And the more she thought about it, the more excited she got over the idea. "I'll do it."
"Good." He smiled. "The only other issue I have with your joining the X-Men is that…well, I have noticed you are not one to follow others' orders."
"Nope."
"Storm leads the X-Men. Her orders are to be followed."
"If they make sense, I'll do it."
"And if they don't?"
"Then I'll…make a suggestion."
He sighed. "The decision will be up to her. You may participate in Danger Room exercises with the other team members. Based on her evaluation Storm will decide what to do."
A wide smile broke out on Cam's face. "Sweet. So I-" Suddenly she froze, body tense, before her eyes turned to fire and she rushed out the door.
Worry creased Xavier's forehead. Logan, please head to the recreation room. We may have a problem.
Link was cornered against the wall, two wider and older boys laughing around him. "Whatcha gonna do, huh?" The larger one growled. "Stay away from my girl, or I'll smash your face into the wall."
The next moment he was pulled back by his shirt and shoved into the wall next to Link. His eyes widened when he saw two orbs of pure fire staring at him, along with a mouth that was twisted into a fierce snarl.
"Not before I smash you first, you piece of sh-"
"What's goin' on?" The Wolverine strolled into the room, taking a quick glance at the frightened students before honing in on Cam, Link, and the other two boys.
"Cam," he warned.
It took every ounce of her will to pull away, but when she saw the look on Link's face she melted and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "Come on, kid. I need a Diet Coke anyways," she said soothingly before pulling him out of the room. As she passed Logan the two shared a look.
In the past week she and the resident bad boy had come to a strange sort of truce. They no longer glared when in the same room, and even exchanged amused glances at the antics of the children. But lately Cam had also sensed his presence almost all the time. When she and Hank were in the Danger Room, he would suddenly appear and watch them. Even when she was flying above the grounds with Angel, she could smell his cigar from above.
Logan watched her leave the room and then turned his steely gaze on the now cowering bullies. "Professor's office. Now," he growled. "Rogue, keep an eye on 'em."
Two days ago, Xavier had called Storm and Logan, the senior team members, to discuss the possibility of Cameron joining the X-Men. The thought filled the clawed mutant with a sense of anticipation; watching her in the Danger Room with Hank almost every day had become one . of the highlights of his days. The way she moved and played with her elements as if she were dancing…not to mention how her tanks and shorts stuck to her skin after a particularly hard work out.
But there was something else about her. Kitty had been right about her growls being similar to Logan's. They were filled with the animalistic quality he was infamous for. There was also the way she moved, like an apex predator. There was something feral about her…
And although Logan was not aware of it, she was unwittingly appealing to every sense in his mutated body.
And both were completely blind to it.
