X~Men

Charles Xavier sat in his study trying to catch up on his paperwork. The new girl Aubree McKrea was an enigma he wasn't sure he had the time and patience to solve. She was the only child of Rick and Dianne, a couple of associates of his; she was spoiled and adored up till her fourteenth birthday. It wasn't surprising that things changed soon after the mutation was discovered. What had him puzzled was the fact that she looked in everywhere normal up until six months ago. Why would she turn blue now two years after the first signs were discovered? But that was undoubtedly connected to the one other thing that continued to bother him; the fact that her abilities weren't exactly stable. New ones would show up seemingly at random combined with the fact that she would go through such peaks and lows that he was beginning to wonder if she could gain any control at all. He could only imagine the problems that would arise when she; unable to adjust quickly enough to a peak in her abilities, tried to control one person and end up taking over a crowd.

The empathy and telepathy seemed the most consistent, and from the descriptions he had gotten from Rick, they were the first to surface; along with rapid healing discovered in a hospital directly following a car crash that should have left her paralyzed from the shoulders down. Charles needed a lot of time to train her, but from Rick's hintings; time was the one thing they didn't have. It frustrated him when all he could pick out of his mind was broken pieces. It seemed that a person or a group was aware of Aubree's mutation and has hunting her; and wanted to use her abilities or wished the child harm; with an underlying impression that only she could save herself from them. Rick must have seen Aubree do something grand to make him think that she alone could do more than all his students combined. He couldn't pick out whatever it was that had happened, and it was obvious that Aubree wasn't going to tell him. The only way to be sure which one it was would be to get inside her mind. Aubree gave him the definite impression that he couldn't do that without notice, or consequences.

Almost falling asleep on his pile of papers, Charles decided to call it quits until morning. Aubree would have to wait until then. He only hoped they wouldn't run out of time. He had reason to pause though when he felt a little nagging feeling like he was forgetting something important; something in the back of his mind was tugging at him. With a jolt he realized it was Aubree. Closing his eyes he mentally reached out for the feather like probe and was instantly drawn into her mind.

Charles stood at the edge of a cliff. The sea crashed threateningly on the rocks far below him. The sky was clouded and dark as far as he could see, a quiet promise of an oncoming storm. He turned around to see the soft rolling green hills of Ireland stretching far beyond the horizon into the sunset. A single small whitewashed stone building with a new thatch roof and smoke coming from the chimney promised a respite from the wind now ripping the warmth from his body.

A blink of the eye and he was on the doorstep; another and he was inside at a rough table in a warm fire lit room, staring into intense green eyes belonging to a pale freckled face of a strawberry blond sixteen year old. It took him a few moments to realize she was Aubree, as she had looked not to long ago. Before he could collect his thoughts together to ask her some of the questions he had formulated moments ago she brought a finger to her lips and he blinked.

Seated at the base of an immense waterfall Charles couldn't begin to think over the roar it caused. Sun filtered through the dense canopy glinting off of Aubree as she moved, giving an angelic impression. The lush thick carpet of moss wasn't damaged, adding to the surreal effect. Realization set in instantly. This was her way of changing the conversation. Stubbornly he forced his thoughts back to the small house by the sea. He blinked.

Aubree scowled at him and added another log to the fire.

"Happy?"

With the roar of the waterfall still ringing in his ears he could only smile at her, at least until he could begging to hear his own thoughts again. Trying to find a more politically correct way of saying things that she couldn't shoot down was even harder.

"How much do you know about the circumstances that brought you to my school?"

"Hmmm, let us see." She began sarcastically, watching the fire the whole time. "I turned blue. My parents decided they couldn't stand to look at me anymore, and sent me to America. That sound about right?"

"Do you honestly believe that?" Her shields astounded him. He was inside her mind, yet he could only see and read what she wanted him to. Aubree's control was amazing for someone who supposedly had no training.

"What else am I suppose to conclude when they tell me nothing?" Aubree momentarily lost control as her abilities dropped in power. A feeling something akin to a little hurt and lost puppy came across loud and clear. "Why are you here anyway?" She snapped annoyed at herself as well as his being there to witness her lapse.

Charles accepted the last for what it was, another way to change an uncomfortable subject. He smiled at her. "If you didn't want this conversation you shouldn't have invited me." Curiosity got the better of him. He had to ask; it was innocent enough. "Why did you?"

There was a long pause before she shrugged. "I was lonely."

The real reason hung just beyond his reach. Tempting him to grab it while her shields were down. Suddenly there was a surge and the opportunity was lost. The unreal shields were immediately snapped back into place as her abilities incised in power. But there was something else now in the back of her mind. A presence not his yet outside of herself. Aubree's head snapped up and she looked in that direction.

"I think you'd better go now."

Charles blinked and found himself back in his wheelchair, even more confused than before. Something was wrong, something was very wrong. He could still feel that mental touch although it's memory was slowly fading. It belonged to someone of great power and experience. Perhaps Rick's concerns were justified after all.

{Gean}

He soon felt her sleep fogged mental touch.

{Go to Aubree, Quickly, I'll meet you there.}

Gean picked up on the urgency underlying his orders and didn't ask any questions. Charles only hoped they wouldn't be to late; time had ran out.

~ Backward ~ Library ~