Xavier had only talked with Logan very briefly the night before concerning Danielle's return trip back home, but few words had been spoken about the pros and cons with the choice being to follow. He had persuaded Logan to go with her, for safety's sake for the most part, but he still had a few tasks to undergo himself before Logan will take off. Just before his classes would commerce, he called out to Jean and Ororo, asking them to come into his office before their classes started as well. He would talk with Scott alone, the better to keep the outbursts in control, and allow him to decide what was believable or not. After all, taking him to see Senator Ellis had changed his mind about the bomb.
When Jean and Ororo arrived together some minutes later, Xavier faced them with a grave face. Jean immediately knew what he was going to say and was about to protest when Xavier held his hand up for silence. The hurt on her face though was noticeable. Jean was not going to let her friend go alone and fight the battle herself.
"She did not decide alone, Jean," Xavier only stated as the three settled into a circle with the two women standing beside Xavier in his wheelchair. "Perhaps it is best to end this particular battle this way."
"She's not going to kill him, Professor," Ororo replied, almost matter-of-factly, confident of her conviction. "She can't. Those days have been over since before her marriage."
"And will be, even if she was too innocent in those days too," Xavier reassured her, also sure of his statement. "I'm sure Danielle will be sorely tempted to assassinate her husband, but like Leon Ellis, she does not have the hand of God nor ever will. Senator Ellis will surely anger enough people to merit his own death when the time comes, but the rage inside of Danielle will only fester if she allows herself to give into her own uncontrollable powers and demons. She cannot allow her mind to be controlled by her brother forever."
"What do you mean?" Jean leaned in, curious, but also confused as her hurt was replaced by the new emotion. "What does this have to do with her going back and killing Senator Ellis?"
"From what I've studied from the two for several years, their powers were interchangeable when bonded together," Ororo added as Jean nodded. "They are two separate people though."
"No, they were not," Xavier said, further confusing the two. "Well, I should say that they are and they aren't. I should correct myself. However, when I first observed the two so many years ago, and especially after when Danielle first arrived here, I thought that they were both bonded together as one, even when apart, when they combined powers. It was nothing that I ever seen before. Two siblings, several years apart in age, were able to link to each other and create a mega duo that rivaled even the most authoritative mutants. Apart, they were just as menacing and almost without equal. Not only that, their relationship to each other was so close that to kill one might mean having to kill the other. Or, so I thought…
"When Jayden was killed, or died by his own hands, by Senator Ellis five years ago, I thought that Danielle would die too, slowly and painfully, just as Jayden had, although he had laughed to his way to death. Certainly, her depression was obvious, as it had for years. She was dazed and shocked, unable to determine what to do as the days counted down to her wedding. The last days she was here before she was imprisoned by Senator Ellis were rough. When she visited me once a day, I noticed that there was a mental hole in her mind, like half of it died itself. Then, something happened, but I thought that it was pure imagination on my part."
"Jayden had left half of himself in her mind sometime before he was killed," Jean theorized quickly. "The other half of Danielle's mind was with Jayden when he died, which might explain why she was in so much pain."
"It was possible that it had been there to begin with or was infused without them knowing," Ororo added. "Again, what would this have to do with her seeing Senator Ellis?"
"Jayden Mitchell had shell shock," Xavier started.
"PTSD," Ororo muttered to Jean when the latter turned to the former for clarification.
"And when he was provoked, he argued and fought," Jean remembered as an idea dawned upon her.
"When he fought, he aimed to kill," Xavier finalized. "Jayden Mitchell, like his father, thought that the enemy was everywhere when his shell shock controlled him and even turned against his own sister at times, the last having him sent to a psychiatric facility for some time. If half of his mind is still with Danielle, there is a huge chance that that part would take over her more rational mind. The real assassin would come out. She and the children would be killed. Ellis was in Vietnam and would have had more training than Jayden Mitchell ever had, even if old age had slowed him."
"And Logan?" Jean asked, frightened for his life as well, if even he was almost unable to be killed. "Why would you send him there?"
"Protection, I would hope, even if Danielle could take care of herself," Xavier answered grimly. "I am also hoping that I would catch up with Scott before Danielle and Logan left conspicuously enough. I am aiming to avoid another argument between the two, if possible."
Xavier turned to Jean, but she was already tuning into what Scott was doing. She scanned the mansion frantically, hoping to find her first (and hopefully only, she thought) love, but could not find him anywhere. When she concentrated harder, she noticed that Danielle and Logan were already awake and had already packed the car. The two were also herding Michael into the CRV. She then saw that Danielle forgot something, something very important to her, and she went inside invisible, running right into Scott in the lobby without looking to where she was going as she reappeared inside the mansion.
"In the lobby?" Ororo guessed correctly.
"Let's go," Jean only said, dragging her friend quickly out of the office with her without a farewell to Xavier.
Xavier watched the pair leave and sighed. He had admitted some parts in the puzzle to the large mystery yet to be solved, but there was more that he could not connect or could not tell yet, especially to his X-Men. Worse, some of his worries had nothing to do with Ellis and the mutant-hating community. Some of it also had to do with Jean, who he saw resembled Danielle closely and vice versa, and it was not physically either. A long time ago, before he observed Jayden and Danielle in their living room with Erik, he had witnessed something just as extraordinary as the pair in another living room with his friend the pessimist. And it all had to do with Jean.
The Professor shook his head free of the harsh memories, especially those of Jean's parents. That saga had yet to be concluded with the sinister side Jean had dubbed a dark phoenix, but that was another story for another day. One problem at a time, he concluded. When Danielle was properly handled and she had controlled herself (if his theory was right), he would work with Jean.
She too was getting out of control.
~00~
Danielle was in too much of a hurry. By the time morning came and the boys were up and pillow fighting, she wasted in time in getting the day ended. Warning Michael that they were going home for a short period of time and not explaining why (she had no time for niceties nor could afford them), she made arrangements for Devon to be watched by Kitty for the day, the only other person he trusted. With that out of the way (as well as Logan when light dawned, who promised to meet her later), she packed little. By seven-thirty, when the boys cried out in hunger before Kitty arrived to take Devon, she made breakfast in the kitchen as they howled. Then, as Logan came into the kitchen, she directed him to pack the car with what little she put into bags. Within half an hour, the children were fed and she was almost ready to go.
Well, almost.
By the time Danielle was ready to start the car, she forgot something in her room. While the item was trivial, she thought it important and prudent to have it on her at all times, just as she always had when she was younger. Her knives, the only items that helped to keep her alive especially as others surrounded her, sat neatly in a drawer in the room. While they had collected dust in the five years exiled at the mansion, Danielle thought it sensible to grab them, as they might be her only defense, especially in her size and condition.
"Wait here," she only said to Logan as she turned for the front door again. "I'm going to get something."
"I'll get –" Logan began before Danielle was off and walking fast, not seeing where she was going as she suddenly disappeared.
Danielle had meant it to be that way. She wanted to be invisible and turned such, showing nothing to Logan until she reached the door, turning visible again and waving to show him where she was. He still could not see her (or was not paying attention), so she walked right into the lobby, turning too quickly as she knocked into someone. As the two collapsed on the floor, Danielle noticed who she had knocked into.
It was Scott.
"I'm really sorry, Scott," Danielle immediately said as she got up and helped Scott up, trying to make peace with him even if there was none to be had…and get her things and then run back to the CRV and get the meeting with her husband over with. "I didn't see you."
"Neither did I, Danielle," Scott replied stiffly, noticing that many things were out of place as he took Danielle's hand, one of them being that Danielle was going on a trip with Logan and Michael. The other was that she was in a hurry to run off someplace and that her left arm was heavily bandaged. "I was wondering what someone like you would be doing, getting up this early and running away?"
Danielle blushed red, embarrassed. "It's after eight in the morning, Scott. I didn't think that it was too early to take a ride out and to go to the park."
"With Logan and Michael?" A sarcastic eyebrow cocked. "Where is Devon?"
"Why don't you talk with the Professor and see what's up instead of asking me?" Danielle suggested, trying to go around him. "I think he would want to talk with you about it. I don't think it's your business to talk with me about it."
"About what? You're leaving again?" Scott's face turned grim, then angry as accusations poured right after another in his mind. "You were always abandoning us. You always thought that you were better than everyone else and always had an escape plan when no one else had."
"Scott –" Danielle began in a pleading tone.
"No! You couldn't resist, could you, you traitor? Your always had treasonous conspiracies!"
The word stung Danielle harshly and she showed Scott the hurt openly, like a wounded animal limping to safety. Sure, she had heard that word before, many times. Both sides – man and mutant – had put the label of "traitor" on her, to prove that she was not making peace. She was one to the side that had harbored her safely and one to the side that had grudgingly taken her in. And both sides were going to fight, although some were ready for harmony.
She was hoping for the latter, especially now. She had not time to fight with Scott.
By then, a crowd of teenagers had formed. While the younger children were blocked from view by the eldest of the students (Rogue and Bobby leading the way), they had already started whispering about what was going on and why it was happening. The teenagers, who stood there and studied the unprofessional argument ensuing, already heard rumors about Danielle the few days she was around. She was a mutant they said that could not be defeated and was always bringing danger, one that had been tossed around and left to die many times even she was not victorious. While Scott heard their mumbles, he knew that they did not yet sense the danger that was already on their doorsteps. And for that, he was grateful.
However, he was also feeling somewhat smug inside. When he heard some of the things said about Danielle by the others, a warm feeling made itself known inside of him. That feeling didn't last too long though.
"Ok, break it up, break it up," Ororo said loudly, pushing her way through the large crowds already in the lobby. "Don't you all have homework to do? Classes to go to?"
While many of the students growled and grumbled, they eventually left, leaving the youngest ones around. While Danielle had said no retort to Scott concerning his accusations (and refusing to let more than hurt be shown publically), she also was aware that nothing was going to undo the damage already done in front of the students. The gossip was surely going to fly and the Professor was going to be less than pleased about it, especially since it was done so openly.
Just as Ororo cleared out the youngest students, Jean suddenly appeared, glaring at Scott with a face that resembled anger. "We'll talk later," she hissed viciously (and quite quietly), turning to Danielle in time to see the outline of tears barely forming, tears that were wiped away quickly. She then asked her, "When are you leaving?"
"Soon, I would assume," Danielle replied softly, feeling all eyes on her. "I just needed to get something from my room."
"What's the plan?" Ororo then asked her, folding her arms into an embrace across her chest.
"See what's going on and go from there," Danielle admitted, shrugging her shoulders in defeat. "Logan should be sufficient in tag-teaming. I don't know what Leon's game is or what he's up to, but if this has something to do with blowing up the school, then it's time to end it before he does. I cannot allow them to continue."
"And what if you –" Jean began, not wanting to think of the possibilities.
"Then, that's what is meant to be," Danielle cut in sharply, looking to the stairwell and feeling Logan's mind outside wonder what happened to her. "Now, if you would all excuse me…"
Danielle then literally disappeared. Nothing could be heard as she maneuvered herself around people and quietly crept up the stairs and retrieve her knives from her room. She ignored the exchange Jean was imagining in her mind, especially concerning Scott, but instead felt pity inside of her. Whether or not it was for Scott or for the ignorance of all people, she could not tell. She only could leave the past behind her and move on towards a hopefully better future.