Upon opening my eyes, I immediately closed them because of the white light straight above my head, piercing my pupils.

"Ow. Turn the damn light off." Hearing a 'click', I supposed someone had indeed turned it off so I pried my eyes back open. The ceiling of the medical bay swam into view and I groaned. "Why don't I just have a permanent bed in here? It'd be so much easier. Better yet, this should be my second bedroom." Hey, you'd be grouchy too if you were in the medical wing that many times in so few days. I heard a chuckle that sounded oddly familiar, so I turned my face to where I thought it came from. The smiling face of Chuck Xavier greeted me. Oops. "Heh, sorry about the, uh, swearing. Bright light. Gets me every time. Heh." I smiled weakly. He grinned back.

"Quite alright Crys. Under the circumstances, I'm surprised you didn't delve into more....colorful language. Glad, too. How are you feeling?"

"Do you want a truthful answer to that? It might include some 'colorful' words."

"I take that as you don't feel so good then?"

"Bingo. Right on the dot. Now how do you do that every time?" Anybody ever tell you to go work for the Psychic Hotline, Chuck? I added silently in my head. He looked sternly at me so I rolled my eyes and returned to staring at the ceiling.

"We need to discuss some things when you're feeling better. When you feel like you are up to coming to my office, I'll be waiting." I heard the sound of his wheelchair move away. Then it stopped. Oh, and Crys? he said in my mind.

Mmhmm? I inquired.

Please don't try and run. I moaned because that's exactly what I was going to do as soon as I could run. I certainly did not want to talk about what happened between me and 'Magnet Man.'

I stayed in bed for about half an hour longer, than decided to test my legs. Why was I so tired anyway? How much had that fight taken out of me? Sitting up carefully so as not to get a headache from rising too quickly, I swung my feet over the side. I jumped down and started for the door. My legs seemed fine, except for an occasional wobble now and then.

Glancing down, I noticed that I was still in my regular clothes, as I had not or someone else hadn't changed me into pajamas. Looking to the side of the door, I saw by the digital clock someone had crudely tacked up that it was 1:30. 1:30! Had I been passed out that long? Or had that battle slash fight slash whatever the hell you want to call it taken that long? Chuck probably didn't want me destroying anymore doors, so I opened it using the doorknob.

Nothing made a sound in the hallway, but in the Xavier Institute, that didn't mean that there was nothing there. I checked the ceiling, floor, and the walls as far as I could see. Along the side were some shadows, but who would be hiding in them?

Chuck's office was one way and my room was the other. Thinking, Well, he didn't say come right away, I started down the path that led to my bedroom.

~*~

Tiptoeing down the hallway, I glanced down the side corridors to see if anyone was coming. Every now and then I'd hear voices, so I'd press myself up against the wall until they faded into the vastness that was the Institute. Jeez, even at 1:30 people are up. I'm not even going to ask how they get through school without falling asleep in class. Then I heard a couple that I recognized. Speaking in hushed whispers, I had to strain to actually comprehend the words.

"Kurt? What are you doing here? Are you, like, worried about Crys too?"

"Yeah, I am, Keety. Do you zink zat she'll be okay?" A pause stretched for a couple seconds.

"I don't know Kurt. Whatever she did, it, like, took a lot out of her. She might be in the mad bay for, like, a week."

"Zen vee must go and visit her. After all, zey say laughter is zee best medicine, and who can make people laugh but zee fuzzy dude?"

"I think we should, like, ask the Professor first. Maybe Crys needs her rest." Kurt groaned.

"Fine, but if he says yes, I'm taking us zere ze fast vay." Hearing a *BAMF*, the voices disappeared and I moved on.

Finally, I came to my hallway. I moved quickly inside my room and collapsed face up on the soft bed that was a nice contrast to the one I had been on for the last hour. My sheets smelled like someone had just cleaned them. Breathing in a deep breath, I relaxed, but not enough so that I dripped. *BAMF*.

"Aaaaaaaah!" I screamed while rolling off my bed to the floor to avoid the mass of blue that was coming at me. Turning, I saw Kurt, laying disheveled, where I just was. He turned to see my face and his golden orbs brightened.

"Cryees!" he exclaimed.

"Ladies and gentleman, it has been proven. He does have a long term memory. You've seen it with your own eyes. No refunds or receipts, just refer your friends to us. Thank you."

"Ha ha, very funny Cryees. Keety and I vere just at zee Professor's office seeing if it vas alright to go and visit you. He said it vas okay and told us you vere eizzer in zee med bay or on your vay to see him. Vell, vee checked zee med bay but, obviously, you veren't zere. So vee checked zee hallway vich led from zere to his office, but vee didn't find you zere eizzer. Zen vee got worried and I'll said 'I'll check her room' and next zing you know, I am here. I guess in my haste to get here I must have not been very careful teleporting." Getting up from the floor, I glared at him. He grinned at me.

"Next time work on your landing, 'Fuzzy Dude.' Anyhoo, I'm thinkin' that you didn't come here t' talk?"

"You've got zat right. You're supposed to be talking to ze Professor right now about vat happened. Come, I vill take you." I tried to make a run for it but he appeared in front of me before I could say or do anything. Trying to talk him out of it, I said,

"Hey, if you don't take me there, I won't call you Fuzzball anymore." He smiled, shaking his head, and disappeared once more. I backed up, frantically looking see where he went. I felt a hand on my shoulder from behind, and all I heard before being teleported off to Chuck's office was,

"I love it ven you call me zat."

~*~

Appearing right on Chuck's couch startled me, as I was not used to teleporting in and out of places. I whipped around to find that I was sitting on Kurt, and jumped up. He moved to the right on the couch, and I sat back down. I turned to face, who else but Chuck himself, who was behind his desk, awaiting our attention. When it became clear that we were going to listen, he steepled his fingers and leaned forward with his elbows on the desk.

"Thank you, Kurt, for retrieving our 'missing person.'" I made a point to stare at the carpet so I wouldn't have to see his stern look. "You may go now." I gulped. Well, it appeared that I was gonna have to face this alone. Only after the smell of Kurt's smoke faded did I notice another presence. Logan was standing by the door. They really don't trust me, do they. Think I'm gonna try and get out the door. That's stupid. First thing I'd go for would be the window. Just ride the wave down.

Looking up, I saw that Chuck was looking at Logan, concentrating. Logan seemed to nod, and moved toward the window while Chuck wheeled over in front of the door. I tried to hold my laughter in, but it was to no avail and a chuckle slipped out.

"Something funny, Tidepool?" inquired Logan. I shook my head side to side and decided to stare at the wall instead. By now I was convinced that Chuck didn't ask to read minds, he just read them if he thought he should. Why else would he send the more dangerous one to guard the place where I thought I would escape?

"Crys, look at me," said Chuck calmly. I continued to stare at the wall, pretending to be oblivious to anything he said. If I look into his eyes, he'll make me spill. As long as I don't see his eyes, I'm fine. Don't look into his eyes. Don't look into his eyes. I kept repeating that phrase in my head. "Crystal, look at me," he said more forcefully. I cringed at my full name. You can't make me! Well, technically you can, but.....don't look into his eyes. Don't look into his eyes. "Crystal Blackhound." Don't do it! He sounds way too much like an overprotective parent. Besides, he didn't say my full name. It has no affect if he doesn't say----"Crystal Amara Maylina Alula Blackhound!" Damn! My eyes snapped to lock with his gaze and my mouth hung open.

"How....how.....how..."

He smiled.

"Now that you will pay attention, I have some things that I need to discuss with you."

Getting over my shock, I gestured to Logan.

"If you need to talk to me, what's Badger doing here?"

"Logan is here to make sure that there are no escape attempts."

Sighing, I kicked my feet up on the couch, laced my hands behind my head and looked Chuck in the eye.

"Wha' we gotta talk about? Magnet Man?"

A hacking cough came from Logan's part of the room, which I think was supposed to cover up a laugh, since he never gets sick. Healing ability. Duh.

"Yes. Magneto. Do you know why he came to talk with you?"

I hesitated. Should I tell him that Erik told me he was coming back? Or at least, he told me he'd be watching.

"Well, the way I see it, ol' Maggy got mad that I didn't accept his offer the first time, so he tried to give it to me again. But this time, I flat-out refused so he got really pissed. Tried to kill or at least severely injure me." That wasn't too far from the truth, right? Chuck thought about this and I prayed that he didn't peek into my memories to see if I was lying. Finally he nodded and continued,

"How did you manage what you did?"

Now I was silent. I didn't know how I did it. Like I said before, it was like something else took over me. What was I supposed to say? Deciding that there was only one course of action, even though I hated it, I said to Chuck,

"I honestly don't know. And as much as I hate people in my personal life, I've made a decision." I took a deep breath in and out. "You can go ahead and look through my memories, as long as you only see what you need to see. Besides, I know you already went in to get the name and to position Badger over there to block off my escape route. I'm ready. Though I warn you, go any further than what has happened in the last two days, you might not like what you see."

~*~

A sort of shocked expression appeared on Chuck's face. Not full shock, where you can't move, but a medium shock, like he was taking in the force of what I was saying. He seemed to stare at me to make sure I had actually said what I said. After a while he broke the awkward silence by saying,

"Well, if you're sure. I normally don't do this sort of thing, but I believe this could be an exception. I need to know exactly what happened." He wheeled forward and put his hands on either side of my head, spreadeagled. I closed my eyes and tried to relax, but not too much. I heard him sigh and then go silent.

All of a sudden memories of what transpired only one hour ago came rushing back into my head. I felt myself going down the stairs into the kitchen again. Sitting down with the yogurt. Hearing his voice. Trying to leave. Getting thrown against the wall. Him coming up and saying I was beautiful. Having deadly spikes about to kill me. Then it happened.

My whole demeanor changed. Eyes turned blue. Voice lowered an octave. Enormous amount of power. Breaking Magneto's protective field. Blasting him through the window with hardly any effort. Collapsing.

The memory faded and my eyes shot open. I was breathing heavily and beads of sweat had broken out on my forehead. Looking anywhere but Chuck's face, I muttered,

"Don't ever want to do that again." Feeling a hand on my shoulder, I looked to see that it belonged to Chuck, who was trying to get me to calm down. Slowly, I let my gaze travel up his arm to his eyes. They had a frantic look about them, which was not often seen in his wise, serene pupils.

"I believe that I know what happened, Crys. But it will make things a lot harder for you, especially around here."

I took deep breaths in and out. Finally, I said,

"What is it? I need to know what happened to myself. That wasn't me. Well, it was me, but something triggered that. One second I was mad that he had me pinned against the wall, then next thing I know, I'm staring at the body of Erik Lencherr floating away from where I blasted him out of the window. It all happened so fast." I put my head in my hands and stared through them at the floor.

"Crystal, your powers are developing unusually fast. Your body can't deal with all the energy at once, so it tries to get rid of the excess energy in the form of strong blasts or tidal waves. In time, you can learn to control this. But right now, it is very dangerous to have developing powers and your somewhat....explosive temper. This provokes your body to propel the water out of you in any form. Before you can learn control over your gift, you must maintain control over your temper. There's no telling what could happen if you lost that control."

Taking more deep breaths, I tilted my head back to look at the ceiling.

"So what you're saying is......don't get riled up?"

There was silence, then,

"I suppose you could phrase it that way."

More silence.

"Way easier said than done. But as long as you keep Fuzzball and Magnet Man away, I'll be fine. Badger here don't bother me much."

Chuck smiled a bit. I heard Logan give an exasperated grunt. I smirked at him. He snarled back at me. I turned so Chuck couldn't see and stuck out my tongue at Logan. Then I twisted back to face Chuck. He just shook his head amusedly and continued talking.

"I think it's time for another of our sessions. But this time, I will have Logan try and anger you. No one else that we have seen could have done that to Erik. You must control your anger, not let it control you. Are you ready?" I gaped at him, speechless. Since I was speechless, I thought,

Are you insane? He smiled and said,

"I've been called some more, colorful terms, if you know what I mean." Groaning because of the horrible joke (and if you don't get the reference, you're dumber than I previously thought), I rolled my eyes and finally, having regained the gift of talking, I said,

"Sure, let's give it a whirl. Or a spin. Or anything else that tips my life further off its previously fitted axis." Laughing merrily, Chuck told me the time and date for later that day, so we could all get some sleep until then.