Mother

"So, we've checked everywhere she could possibly be in the city; there's no sign of her anywhere. Where else could she be?" Scott asked Jean. It had been five days since Jinx ran away.

They were sitting in Jean's car, a blood red Audi roadster convertible. Jean shifted her gaze from the stoplight to Scott and then quickly back to the stoplight.

"She lived in New York City until she was five. She's only been with us at the mansion for a little over a month. So, that leaves one place," she responded as she pulled into the lane of traffic.

"Alkali Lake," Scott said.

"Alkali Lake," Jean confirmed.

Almost eighteen hours later, they pulled up on the bank of Alkali Lake. They had elected to take a car instead of the Blackbird on the chance that they found Jinx hitchhiking.

Jean instantly sprang from the car and rushed to the passenger side. She flung the door open and dragged Scott out of the car.

She pulled him with her down to the waterline. She quickly scanned the shore of the lake. Immediately off the western bank, there was a sheet of aluminum wedged between two large pine trees. As she gazed at it, there was the tiniest flutter of movement, and she recognized it as a booted foot being pulled out of view.

"Jinx!" she exclaimed ecstatically. She took off running. As she rounded the edge she found herself having to force her way through a dense forest. She emerged into a small clearing. On one edge was the back side of the aluminum sheet, and curled feebly in a ball beneath the sheet was Jinx.

She was asleep with her duffel bag tucked under her head and her jacket draped over her torso. The jacket did nothing to shield her from the cold and she was shivering.

Jean dropped to her knees beside Jinx and began stroking her hair. As the girl stirred, Jean murmured, "Oh, sweetie."

Suddenly, Jinx jerked awake and pulled herself back from Jean quick enough to force the aluminum out of its position. Jean reached to pull the girl into her arms and was shocked and confused when Jinx scrambled out of her reach, pressing her back against a tree.

Jean moved quickly, before Jinx could react, and sat next to Jinx, pulling her onto her lap.

"No!" Jinx shouted, "Let go of me!"

When Jean tightened her grasp on the girl, Jinx began to struggle against her.

"Stop it! I'm not going to let go of you, so stop struggling," Jean said softly.

Jinx continued twisting for several minutes, until tears started trickling down her face.

"No, just let me go!" she sobbed, her struggles weakening. Finally, she gave up and resigned herself to be held and rocked by Jean.

Several minutes passed. Scott emerged from the forest into the clearing and sat down on a log, waiting.

"Jinxy, are you afraid you'll hurt me?" Jean asked.

"Yes," Jinx mumbled into Jean's shoulder.

"Do you want to hurt me?" Jean asked, smiling into Jinx's hair.

"Never."

There was a long but comfortable silence until Scott walked over to the pair.

"Come on Jinx. Why don't you come back with us?"

His tone was condescending, the kind of tone used to address small children or animals. Jean picked up on it and was quick to lash out."

"For heaven's sake Scott, she's a young woman, not an infant!"

Scott looked at Jinx, and for the first time he really saw her. She wasn't dangerous. She was lost and terrified, as she tried to outrun the pain and horror of her past. If that wasn't enough, she had suddenly found herself hosting powers that were stronger than anything she'd ever experienced or controlled. And suddenly, Scott found her could relate to her and he changed his whole attitude.

"Jinx. I'm so sorry. I just. . ." his voice cracked and he trailed off. He inhaled deeply, regaining his composure. "I don't hate you."

He turned and walked away, blinking tears from his eyes.

"Nobody hates you," Jean said. "Please just come back with us."

"No!" Jinx shouted, leaping up out of Jean's embrace.

"Why not?"

Jinx lifted Jean's hand and looked at the scars on her fingertips.

She looked Jean in the eyes and said, "I hurt you without meaning too. Who's to say it won't happen again?"

"I say it won't happen again. Do you know why?"

Jinx shook her head.

"Because I trust you."

"Why?" Jinx asked. To someone like her, love was a foreign emotion.

"You're my daughter, in every sense of that word. I know I've never told you this before, but I love you," Jean said tears running down her face.

Jinx stared down at the woman sitting before her. Jean was her best friend and her companion and her savior. And she realized . . .

"I love you, too. Mom."