••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Chapter Ten: The First Step to Freakville

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

When Jean had refused to let Kurt take his breakfast on the run (there had been mention of something referred to only as the "yogurt incident"), Kurt had reluctantly seated himself at the table with the others. He finished his pancakes in a flurry of syrup and sticky blue fingers, and he and Nat were on their way.

They entered the room quietly, Kurt resisting the desire to whistle and Nat resisting the desire to hyperventilate and fall over. Seeing Nat's expression, Kurt gave her elbow a tiny squeeze as they entered the parlor. Moira was seated on a floral-print sofa sipping at something in a mug, with the professor parked in his chair on the other side of a small tea table. He nodded and smiled when he noticed Nat, and Moira's face instantly brightened.

"Sorry to interrupt, sir, but I vas hoping that ve could have a little chat vith you. May ve come in, please?"

Moira's bobbing head nearly fell off her neck with her emphatic show of agreement as she tried and failed to keep a huge smile from emerging on her lips. The professor nodded only a little, an expression of mild amusement on his face.

Acting as if he were leaning back to close the door behind them, Kurt turned around to Nat and gave her an encouraging glance, whispering, "Come on and smile, Fraulein. He isn't going to bite you. I can just about promise."

She hissed back, "It's not the biting that concerns me. It's the impromptu psychic lobotomy."

Kurt bit back a grunt of laughter, but smiled innocently and turned to the professor, walking with his hands clasped at the small of his back like a television lawyer, instantly and showily in "Good Boy" mode. Nat noticed a spot of syrup on his shirt, but didn't mention it. He took a seat in one of the two overstuffed easy chairs in good view of both Moira and Professor Xavier, and beckoned for Nat to do the same.

There was an awkward moment of silence, and she got the nasty feeling that Kurt was planning to let her do the talking. She cleared her throat and opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out, leaving her looking slightly like she had forgotten how to breathe.

Luckily, the pause wasn't nearly as long as Nat perceived it, but the professor seemed to understand that he would have to initiate this conversation. He leaned forward, rubbing his chin and twiddling his thumbs, a friendly look in his eye, apparently to put Nat at ease. It was only half working.

"So Natalie, is there something that you wish to say?"

Yeah, your head is blinding me, she thought, instantly terrified that he had heard it, but he made no indication that he had. She splashed about in the conversational waters, testing the temperature and at the same time looking for shore. "Um…yeah. I, um, hear that you have a…place." She coughed. "You know, like a school or something?" Oh, yeah, she privately groaned. That sounded brilliant.

Moira looked as if she were about to burst with anticipation.

Professor Xavier nodded and took a sip of his coffee, as if he savored the awkwardness that hung in the room like a physical entity. "I do."

Nat felt the all too familiar heat of a blush creeping up on her, and mentally cursed at herself to stop being such a baby. Her hands, at least, felt normal, and she thanked every god and deity she could think of for that. She glanced away from the professor's intent stare, stammering on. "Well, um, I heard that you'd be willing to…sort of…I don't know, train me there."

Moira dropped her scone in her lap. She laughed sheepishly, and picked it up, dabbing at her lap with a paper napkin.

Xavier nodded again, quietly setting his coffee cup aside on a coaster. Nat stared at the little creamy brown swirls in the cup, just for the sake of looking at something rather than the professor. "And is this something that you are expressing an interest in?"

"Could I, um…ask you some stuff first? Before I make any commitments and all?"

Kurt glanced at her, a little surprised, but the professor remained unfazed. "Of course, Natalie. Ask anything you feel that you need to know."

She licked her lips nervously, her number-one fear glaring at her like a light in the eyes: could she trust him? No one on Muir Island had yet heard about a mysterious school fire in England or a missing teenage mutant, but there was no telling how easily the most powerful telepath in the known universe could gain the information that he wanted. "Would you, like, go into my head? I mean, read my thoughts and stuff?"

Xavier looked a bit taken aback for a moment, but masked any discomfort with a featureless expression. He leaned forward, crossing his hands on the table. "I have been known to engage in therapeutic mental connections with the students under my care, for the purpose of gleaning insight into repressed memories or to provide a spot of guidance, but I assure you that any and all sessions are entirely voluntary. And fully harmless."

"What about…confidential?"

Moira eyed the professor with a little frown, confused and perhaps a bit uneasy. He simply raised his sharp, dark eyebrows, surprised at the shy girl's bluntness, and continued on. "Completely. You can rest assured, Natalie, that any information that may be passed between us would remain private."

Nat nodded slowly, her lips pressed together. "About school. The students…they go to a, um, normal school, right?"

"You would be attending a public school with the other students, yes. I believe that it is vital for all of you—" she noted his inclusion of her in his statement with a strange measure of satisfaction "—to remain in touch with the real world while you are receiving training to control your powers. However, I generally request that you keep your abilities classified at school, simply to regain a level of privacy and safety. This way, the students are somewhat integrated into the reality around them but do not have to feel alienated and alone because of their private dissimilarities from the others. One cannot hope to accept one's gifts and differences simply by pretending that they do not exist."

I wish…, Nat thought. She took a deep breath, speaking slowly and carefully, still faintly afraid that she was going to bring up her breakfast. "I think, then, that I would like to come back with you. There's just a few things I need to do round the island, first."

Nat glanced at Kurt for reassurance that she was handling this well, and he winked back at her. Moira was apparently no longer able to contain her joy, and leaped from her chair to rush to Nat's side, locking her in an almost bone-crushing embrace. She said happily into Nat's ear, "Och, I'm so proud o' ye! Ye'll be happy, there, I promise ye, an' it will be so good for ye t' be with some new friends." The scientist caught herself and grinned, moving speedily back to her seat. She sat down like she had just accepted the greatest gift in the world, and beamed about it. She caught the professor's eye and said, "I cannae help it, Charles, I'm joost so glad."

Xavier watched Moira skitter merrily around the room, amused and a little surprised, his eyebrows raised. He laughed quietly under his breath, and returned his attention to Nat, who was now smiling softly to herself.

"I take it that you're willing to leave with us in the Blackbird when we go tomorrow?"

She swallowed and started twisting the sleeve of her sweater around her hand, as if this shielded something. Which, in a way, it does, the professor thought to himself. She blinked hard and continued, looking troubled. "I didn't realize we'd be leaving so soon…"

Moira jumped to the challenge, eager to finalize the situation in the best way possible and to salve Nat's jittery nerves. "O' course, ye c'n come back t' visit anytime ye wish, lass."

Nat bit the tip of her tongue, thinking hard and mentally whirling. "You mean it? Anytime?"

"Day or night, night or day. Ye're family here now, Natty, an' ye cannae forget tha', even if ye want to."

A great warmth blossomed up within her chest, and she suppressed the urge to burst into happy tears, the first ones that she would have shed in a very long time. "In that case…yes, I think I can be prepared to go by morning." The nagging fear that he'd figure her out was diminishing, but still lingered in her belly like a lead ball. There was no way out of this now, at least not without looking even sillier.

I've taken the first step to Freakville, she thought, almost joyfully. Her innards wriggled in a heady blend of excitement and fear.

"Excellent. We'll be leaving around eleven, so please be ready. Now if you two will excuse us, I believe, Moira, that you wanted to show me the latest phase of your research?"

Moira looked at him blankly, her grin still solidly in place. "Hmm? Oh! 'Tis in my office, Charles. I believe ye know the way. End o' the hall, take the elevator doon."

He nodded, moving back from the table with a faint mechanical hum. Absently, Nat took note of the gleaming metal X's that adorned the wheels of his chair, wondering just how wealthy one had to become before they even thought of buying a customized wheelchair. Moira followed him out the door, grinning from ear to ear.

The door hadn't yet shut all the way behind her when she whipped around, rushing back in and drawing Nat into another strong hug. Nat gasped and laughed as Moira swayed back and forth in glee before releasing her and giving her cheek a motherly little pat, then going back out to follow the professor.

Kurt clapped Nat on the shoulder happily, and she jumped, having almost forgotten that he was there. "Das vas just wunderbar, Nat! I think he likes you. You pulled it off vithout even passing out!"

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, nothing." He grabbed her by the forearm and tried to haul her along behind him, but she held her feet steady on the ground.

"Wait. There's something I was sort of wondering, and I guess now's as good a time as any to ask."

"Okay. Shoot."

She looked a little embarrassed. "The professor said that the students at the institute don't tell people that they're mutants, but…. Well, I mean, how can they not tell that you're a mutant? I mean, no offense or anything, but you aren't exactly…subtle looking."

Kurt grinned and pretended to fluff his hair, looking into an imaginary mirror with a laugh. "I've alvays thought that I vas pretty cute, myself."

"Well, yeah, but—" Nat broke off, eyes wide at her own unintentional boldness. Kurt stared at her for a moment, surprised. She made a false little giggling sound, her face and neck bright pink.

He cleared his throat and shrugged, trying to move on, but he was grinning broadly despite himself. "I have a vatch."

She blinked, trying to figure out if she'd heard that correctly. "Huh?"

"A holographic imaging vatch. It projects over my body an image of a less, well, blue and fuzzy person. Unless somevun touches me und feels my skin, novun can really tell the difference."

Nat grinned. "That's incredible! Like one of those fancy shmancy little spy gadgets from James Bond or something!"

"Ja, and you should see vat it does for my pecs." He stuck out his chest, looking rather puffy, like a parrot fluffing its feathers. Nat laughed and looped her arm into his companionably.

"You ready to go and pack your things, Fraulein?"

"As much as I ever will be."

"Then let's go tell the others so ve can celebrate!" And with a comfortable laugh, they were off.