The moment Nell slid into the backseat of the sedan, she eyed Scott and the suspicion in her mind solidified; this was bad timing for new students. This was a highly suspicious situation in reference to recent events. This was almost certainly Magneto's hand wiggling puppet strings. And he knew exactly which puppet to manipulate: Xavier. Xavier's first and only thought would be for the child. He would put the child's safety – whether or not he or she might be in any true danger – above the safety of his team.
She wanted to believe otherwise. She glanced at the man as secured her belt. Perhaps he was playing chess as well. Perhaps he had considered that Magneto might be involved in this and he was giving Magneto sufficient rope to hang himself.
She could feel Scott's gaze burning – metaphorically speaking – into the top of her skull. She looked up and he mouthed, Let me talk. She shrugged and rested her head against the leather padding.
Scott waited until they were on the road and then he simply asked, "Have you considered that this might not be what it seems?"
Xavier didn't answer for a moment. He turned his head and smiled kindly. "Matters rarely are for people like us."
"I mean that this could be Magneto's doing. We could be walking into a trap. We could be leaving a trap."
Xavier focused his gaze on the road. "Do you doubt the abilities of those we left in guard of the mansion?"
Nell smirked. So he had some sense then. He'd left the Wolverine behind on purpose. She thought Scott looked a little surprised too. It was a decidedly strategic move and, on the part of Xavier, suspicious and almost Machiavellian. Her respect for the man repaired itself a bit.
Since Scott appeared to be at a loss for words, she started to ask, Why me? but instead asked, "Can you tell us anything about the child?"
"She's fourteen so it's probably best if we don't refer to her as a child. Her name is Lena. Her parents are beside themselves. Apparently her powers have manifested in some disturbing ways and she needs fast and firm aid to learn to control them before there are more unfortunate accidents."
Nell frowned. "'More' as in again or 'more' as in worse?"
He let out a small sigh. "Both, I wager."
"So I like to know what I'm dealing with."
"She can manipulate water and therefore anything that contains water. In that sense, her power is similar to yours. You can affect the electrical impulses in the human body." He paused and looked out of his passenger window. "She can manipulate the water in physical bodies."
Scott jerked his head to see Xavier.
Nell wove her fingers together in her lap and eyed her knuckles. "She's killed, hasn't she?"
"So far, a couple of family pets. I prefer we offer our assistance before it goes any further."
For a while, they rode in silence. When they sat at a stoplight, Nell asked, "Is that why you brought me? Because our mutations share that trait?"
"No. Honestly, I hadn't realized that commonality until a few moments ago. I brought you because you seem to have a way of putting others at ease, which is rather ironic for your gift, and I felt the girl would benefit from having as many calm, empathetic allies as possible."
Nell searched for words.
Scott spoke up. "Storm is good at putting people at ease."
"Indeed," agreed Xavier. "Which is why I left her in the company of Logan." He met Nell's eyes in the rearview mirror. "Because you seem to have the opposite effect on him."
She struggled not to blush. "Are you making a joke?"
He tilted his head slightly and offered a small smile. "I'm not blind, you know." Turning back to face the windshield, he shrugged. "In any case, you seemed more appropriate in this instance. After all, water is a poor conductor for electricity."
"Worried I might lose my temper and attack her?"
"Quite the opposite. I am not worried at all about your abilities to handle yourself should this encounter prove to be less than innocent."
Again Scott shot an incredulous glance at the professor. Nell allowed herself a rueful smile. She had underestimated this man. Clearly, he was not so optimistic as to be stupid.
She felt like throwing Scott a bone, mainly because she knew Logan wouldn't have, and so she brought up teaching and led him to ramble on for a while about the lesson he should have been giving right now instead of driving.
The time passed quickly. Before long, Xavier was directing Scott down side streets and into the driveway of a bungalow shaded by old trees. It was a nondescript house. The only other car in the driveway had a greatly worn and faded "Bush for President" bumper sticker. The yard needed mowing.
The front door opened just after Xavier had maneuvered his wheelchair onto the concrete. She had to think they'd been watching the whole time, waiting for the right moment to introduce themselves. The father came down the front walk. The mother remained on the stoop. There was no sign of a young girl or anyone else.
"Professor Xavier, I hope?" The father had his hand extended as he approached and shook Xavier's with both of us. "You don't know how much this means to us. We just don't know what to do."
"Mr. Petrovsky?"
"Yes. Call me Dan, please. Please, come inside."
Dan's clothes were baggy and wrinkled in a way that suggested recent weight loss. Dark circles loomed under his eyes. Nell shifted her gaze to the mother and saw a woman standing statue still but who was clearly a whirling dervish in the mind. She followed Scott as he followed behind Xavier, and the three of them were led into a small living room decorated excessively in ocean theme. Nell sat in the proffered armchair and eyed the seashell encrusted picture frames on the shelves.
Introductions were made all around. Dan and the mother, Ellen, sat close beside each other on the couch. He reached without looking and took her hand. "Lena's in her room," he said. "I thought we could talk a bit more about your school before we brought her in."
"Of course," Xavier said. He gave a gracious smile and began to describe his school, the focus, the merits of his faculty, the spacious facilities.
Nell listened here and there, but mostly she studied the parents. There was something about the mother, a certain glassy terror in her eyes. She had witnessed some of her daughter's accidents, if they were accidents. The glazed empty gaze betrayed otherwise. She had yet to make eye contact with a single one of them and with her husband possibly once.
After Xavier had detailed the school and noted the progress of several students, including Scott, he paused. "I am happy to go over all of this again with Lena. She should hear it herself if you decide we would be the best help for your family." He too glanced at the pictures on the shelves. "I gather she is your only child."
The mother turned to gaze out of the window. The father nodded. "We tried, but we never had such luck again. I think we're a little old for a baby now."
Still the mother stared at nothing. Nell's skin began to crawl. The terror was gone from the woman's blank stare and had been replaced by a dull sort of hopelessness.
Nell stared at Xavier until he met her eyes and gave him a long, severe look. He nodded a fraction and concentrated his gaze on the mother.
As a distraction, Nell addressed the father. "I'm very sorry. I know it's hard when you want a child and you can't. Did you try for many years?"
The father sighed, glanced at his wife who didn't look back, and seemed to resign himself. "Until about ten years ago. The doctors told us then it would be best if we stopped, for both of us. It was too hard on her body, they said, after so many….failures." He let out a long breath and raised his chest a tiny bit. Smiling tensely, he gave a small laugh. "So I took the bullets out of the gun, you might say, and that was that. We love Lena. We love her very much. We wanted more to love, but we're happy."
The mother's gaze flickered toward him for a moment and then back to the window. Nell shivered. She had the sudden sensation of an eavesdropper and looked round but couldn't find the girl. She was hiding and listening, somewhere nearby.
Xavier sat back and looked to Nell and then Scott. He was visibly pale. Nell stood. "Maybe some coffee."
Dan smiled. "Yes, I can help you—"
"I can get it, unless you mind. Scott will help me."
She wasn't sure if Xavier worked a bit of mental persuasion on them or if the father truly didn't mind. The mother was certainly not paying attention.
Scott followed Nell into the kitchen. She found the coffee pot and poured the cold coffee down the sink. Scott came over and lurked behind her, radiating curiosity.
"What the hell is going on?" he hissed.
Nell refilled the carafe. "This girl is trouble."
He frowned. "I thought we were expecting that."
She set the carafe on the counter and motioned for him to lean down. "That woman has not been miscarrying," she whispered.
He turned his head so fast his cheek brushed hers. "Are you—"
"I'm sure. Xavier must have suspected as well. He read enough of her mind to see that she fears it, the mother. She doesn't want to believe it but she wonders."
Scott's face was a mask of disbelief and disgust. He watched mutely as she poured the water and measured grounds. Men. His brain was clearly doing everything it could to refuse to believe the obvious.
"We can't leave her here. She's bored and powerful. That's never a healthy combination."
"We can't take her with us. Can we? I – she – how could someone do that?"
The percolating coffee filled the silence while she sought for words. She wanted to comfort him – he had been wanting for comfort for a while – but she was hesitant to say anything that might downplay the girl's malevolence.
"Don't try to rationalize it. Don't make excuses for her. Don't underestimate her for a second." He opened his mouth, but she went on. "Some people are simply screwed up. They come out wrong. Maybe it's her soul. Maybe she doesn't have one. Maybe it's her brain. The point is, you give wide berth and treat her like nitroglycerin."
"Someone has to watch her."
Nell poured the first cup and nodded, the tension in her neck and shoulders already tight enough for a catapult. "Don't you worry about that. You watch the others. And for God's sake, you keep Rogue the hell away from that monster. If you ever so much as leave them in the same room together…"
He flinched even as he reached to lift mugs. "I won't."
"She'd go mad. We'd lose her."
"I won't."
She picked up two mugs and nodded at the others. Together they returned to the living room and set them down. Scott followed her again as she returned for the last mug and searched for cream and sugar.
"Do you think Magneto, if this is his doing…Do you think he knows what she's capable of?"
Nell frowned. "Honestly, I don't know. That would be a question for Rogue, if anyone. I think she knows a lot more than she's been saying."
"That's an understatement."
She decided to leave that comment for now. There were more pressing matters.
Back in the living room, Xavier and Dan were discussing a coffee-table book now open. Nell recognized Babe Ruth in a large black and white photograph. Coffees were sweetened and stirred. Everyone settled back into his place. It was time for the inevitable.
"I guess I should get Lena," Dan said.
"I think it's time we met her," Xavier agreed.
The mother stared at the floor.
The father disappeared down the hall and returned a few minutes later. Lena came behind him, headphones dangling from her neck. She had a fragile sort of beauty, an angular face, a sharp nose, high cheekbones. She was too thin and her baby tee shirt, with a band name Nell didn't recognize, heightened the effect. Her hair must have been naturally closer to the chestnut brown of her mother, but she had bleached it blonde and added neon red highlights.
She made a point of looking at each one of them in turn, her eyes opened wide in what was probably meant to appear innocent and timid. Nell worked to mask her own expression. The child had been acting for a long time, but Nell had been around far longer. She saw through the pretense, through the fake visage and the affected body language. The child was sizing up each of them, calculating.
There was no question. They would have to take her with them. She needed help far beyond the ability of her parents, who would certainly be safer and happier without her.
She would be a cobra in the mansion. She was dangerous all by herself. If she was Magneto's agent, he had underestimated this one as badly as Lear underestimated his older daughters. The only question was who would feel the first bite. With power like hers, with hunger like hers, he would do well to protect his advantage.
Fine, she decided. You think you're walking into a nursery full of children? Keep thinking that. The last child who made playthings of people didn't live to regret it.
And I will make damned sure you don't either.
Please forgive my grievous and long absence. Since the last time I updated, I have lost family members and changed jobs. I'm about to change jobs again. Being an adult is hard and sometimes I forget that I need to be here on a regular basis for the preservation and renewal of my own soul through storytelling. I hope you'll forgive and stay with me.