Misfit- Chapter 3
Disclaimer- I own noting except my destiny and my large collection of Hugh Jackman Photos that are currently covered in drool. MMMMMM… Hugh Jackman drools Um oh yeah… all that is not mine belongs to them but what is mine belongs to me.
Notes- Ok. Thanks to Anything but Ordinary3 and ncsgirl for their kind reviews for this fic. Thanks to ZilentZombie, Xx-Disturbed-xX and Darkthedestroyer for their reviews of Retribution X which made me write this, simply to make people stop bouncing on my brain. Thanks, please R and R. Now on with the show!
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Professor Xavier sat at his desk listening to the man speak. It wasn't often he got to speak with someone who had had prolonged access to one of the students other than his teachers. Runaways were the usual pupils he encountered, brought by social workers to the academy at his request. This man had made inquiries himself for his charge having heard rumours of the schools true identity.
The girl having gone AWOL had given him an opportunity to talk to the man in charge of Elizabeth's care.
Mr Thompson passed back and forth across the length of the room muttering under his breath "Damn girl… Always ends in trouble… should have kept her where she was…" It went on and on.
Xavier let his mind connect with that of the man.
"You're not Elizabeth's father?" Xavier ventured. The man turned quickly to face him "No." He slowly approached the desk before taking a seat on one of the chairs in front of it. "I'm here on behalf of Elizabeth's father. As much as he wanted to be here his schedule was concrete, he couldn't move any meetings- he apologises for that." He sat for a second before leaning forward perplexed, "How did you know." Xavier tapped his temple "But you don't have to be a telepath to see that you are far more concerned for your charge than any father. You have to be taking care of someone else's child."
"A telepath and a wise man. I take it you are careful when to read another mans thoughts and what you read?"
"Exceptionally careful. And I sense you don't want me to…"
"Don't try to discover anything about Elizabeth from my thoughts." He snapped. Xavier was quiet taken aback by the man's outburst but the man regained his composure. "What I um… what I meant to…" He looked shocked by his own actions just as much as Xavier was. "Judge Elizabeth on her own merits instead of what I think of her. She's a fine woman, Professor- rash sometimes, brazen often but none the less a fine woman. I think of her highly, but I see the faults in her more than I see her perfections."
Xavier sat and though for a second. The man didn't want him to access his thoughts on the girl, but that didn't mean that he couldn't…
The door swung open and Storm, Logan and Kurt frogmarched a young woman in, she wasn't resisting- more looked annoyed at the fact she had been caught.
Thompson gave her an angry glare and shook his head. "I'm ever so sorry Professor, all of you, to put you at such inconvenience. Elizabeth what were you thinking of…"
"I just wanted to have a look around. You were marching me to this office so fast I didn't even get to look at the front door!"
"There will be plenty of time for that if you are excepted, if on the other hand you are NOT as may prove to be the case after your little disappearing act, I don't want to use up to much of these… People's valuable time."
"Believe me it's not a inconvenience. I've been kept waiting for a lot longer than the time taken on young Elizabeth's little self-guided tour." He shot the girl a friendly smile, which she tried to return without her companion noticing.
"What are you smiling at? I don't think this is a laughing matter young lady."
Logan, Kurt and Storm shared a three-way look. Xavier heard all three thoughts, all exactly the same "God this guy is pissing me off" in one form or another.
"Mr Thompson, why don't you take a seat outside? Now that Elizabeth is here I would like to have a chat with her. Get to know each other. Is that alright Elizabeth?" The girl opened her mouth to speak but Thompson interrupted. "Whatever you would like to say to her can be said in front of me." He assured. Elizabeth rolled her eyes back in her head, she had obviously had this talk before. "Thompson, I can talk to someone without your input." The girl's tone of voice had changed, more to the point, more forceful. The man just looked at her for a second before getting up to her "Elizabeth I don't think that is wise." He warned. Her eyes flashed with anger momentarily and Xavier could feel it in every cell in her body, but she took a breath. "I can handle this, thank you though for your concern." He looked befuddledly between Xavier, the mutants and Elizabeth before conceding "Fine, I'll be waiting outside." He left quickly with all eyes following him.
Xavier let out a sigh of relief. "Storm could you make sure that Mr Thompson is comfortable, maybe fetch him a cup of tea." Storm let out an exasperated huff and followed out the door that Thompson had used. Kurt and Logan stood for a second, unsure. Xavier sensed it, "Thank you gentlemen, I don't believe Young Elizabeth will be doing anymore exploring for the moment. Go back to whatever you were doing." Logan's thoughts were peppered with expletives as he left, Xavier got the impression that he rather wanted to find out more about the girl. Kurt simply teleported out of the room into the corridor outside. Elizabeth was left standing alone.
"Please, take a seat. I don't think this will take long." She stepped hesitantly forward and tugged the seat a little further from the desk so that she could cross her legs on the chair without hitting her knees against the wood. She looked a little worried, but not scared like he would have expected.
He looked at her, trying to get a connection with the girl like he had with the guardian, hoping for a better response from her. Her mind was open, willing to be read and so he entered it.
Darkness met him, it was cold and dark- followed by a blinding flash and a rush of memories that were painful, like explosions in his brain. Brain freeze followed. He gripped his temple as did the girl, her eyes clenched tight trying to fight the pain. He disconnected himself with her and he returned to normal, she however gripped her head still. "You're a telepath?" she winced.
"yes."
"Should have warned me, had some bad experiences as a child, overwhelms most telepaths I've ever met, and believe me I've met a few." Her bright blue eyes were open again and no pain remained from what he could tell, but still she massaged her temple.
"Let's do this the old fashioned way shall we?" He smiled and this time she did return it. "What is your name, what do you like to be called?"
"My full name is Elizabeth Windsor. My… My…" She paused, unsure of how to term it, she wanted to say friends but it didn't seem right. "People who know me call me Lizzie" she finally said.
"I see." Said Xavier sadly. "If you don't mind me asking, how did you get away from Mr Thompson and Storm?"
She smiled wily. "I used my power."
"And what is that Power Lizzie?"
"Wouldn't you like to know." She grinned.
"How long will this take?" Sighed Thompson impatiently as he stirred his tea. He had been waiting for half an hour and was still only halfway through his first cup, which was stone cold by now.
"I don't know. It normally doesn't take this long." Storm looked at her watch. It normally didn't, two minutes and the Professor exited and pronounced if the child was to become a pupil or not. This had to be a tricky case, either that or the girl Elizabeth didn't want to co-operate. From the girls actions earlier she would hazard the Latter would be truer than the former.
"Would you like another cup of tea Mr Thompson?" She put on her best fake smile. The man had been cautiously asking questions for all the time the girl had been inside. Questions about the types of mutants attending the school, the lay out, security. Questions she had never heard a guardian ask before, not that they got many guardians dropping in to see where the child would be going to school. Most wanted to get rid of their charge at the first chance they got. Sad, thought Storm, but true. The way the mutants were treated by the rest of humanity, it was cruel and torturous- she feared them because of it. This man sitting before her was normal- a threat- and she was uneasy but she could sense the same from him. He obviously was one of those humans who accepted them but still feared. That was the most dangerous kind of human, because a scared human would attack a threat that didn't exist simply because of that fear.
The door creaked open before the man could answer. Elizabeth strolled out beside Professor X's wheelchair, she was beaming from ear to ear as was he.
"Mr Thompson we would be honoured to accept Miss Windsor to the academy."
Thompson looked from the girl to Xavier then back- he didn't seem as happy.
"Right, well, I'll make the arrangements for all her effects to be brought here. She has some of her belongings with her that should suffice until the rest arrive. I believe her father will have to sign a document of some kind?" He ventured not taking his eyes off of Elizabeth.
""Technically not, Mr Thompson. Legally, as Elizabeth is 19, she is an adult and can sign herself into the care of the academy, which she has done." Xavier nodded to the girl but she just stared back at her former guardian. Their eyes were frozen, locked together as each contemplated the enormity of their situation.
"Well if that is the case," Finally Thompson broke the silence, "Then there is nothing left for me to do." He stood, still looking Elizabeth straight in the eye, and offered his hand to the young woman. "Good bye Elizabeth." She broke eye contact and looked down at his outstretched hand before removing her hand from her pocket and taking it. "Good bye Mr Thompson, Give my father my love."
"You know I will." Finally he let go and started his way down the corridor before pausing at the corner. "I hope to see you soon, Lizzie." And then he was gone.
The class was quite loud for seven students but the noise they were creating was almost deafening. Waiting for their new teachers they were trying to discover things about each other.
These were the new intake. 7 misfits that had found shelter at the school.
Elizabeth included.
She sat at a desk in the centre of the classroom, if it could be called that, it was more of an arboretum. The sun shone down on the class of vastly different people, and Elizabeth wished she could forgo the experience of a class and lay outside under the shade of the trees and soak up the sun. No matter how much she wanted to have a class her desire for the light outside was greater.
The woman who called herself Storm stood at the front of the classroom preparing herself to talk to them, as was the head master and a few various other people who, she guessed were the teachers.
"Right, hello." The white haired woman smiled as she perched herself on the edge of the desk the light flowing in from all around her. "You probably all know who I am, and who Professor X is by now- but we all wanted for you to meet us all and learn a little about us…"
One teacher shook his head adamantly, it was the one with the throwing knifes. The man to his right, the man in sunglasses, seconded him.
"Okkkay." She said keeping the smile but getting a little frustrated. "Let's turn this around. How about you? How about we find out more about you and who you are."
The class shifted a little bit nervously they looked at each other and broke eye contact immediately as if hiding some guilty secret.
"Now come along, I know that some of you have been here longer than others but let me reiterate, no one here will judge you on your powers or the fact you are different because you are just as different as they are."
The group took a collective breath to calm themselves.
"Would anyone be brave enough to start us off? Just say something about your powers and yourself." The professor added from where he was sitting.
"Can we use out codenames?" One girl towards the back called out.
"Certainly. If you think you're ready."
Elizabeth raised her hand confused and embarrassed. The professor nodded in recognition, granting her the floor.
"What's this about codenames, I think I missed that lesson."
The professor and Storm both smiled amused.
"I have no doubt you did, Miss Windsor." He agreed. "Codenames are what we Mutants take when we feel we are ready to accept and acknowledge our powers and gifts. Only the individual mutant knows when they are ready to do that and what form their codename should take."
"Storm." Storm spoke softly as if remembering.
"Cyclops" The man with the sunglasses smiled.
"Wolverine" The man with the muttonchops who had thrown the knives said.
"Nightcrawler." The blue skinned mutant added finally.
Elizabeth committed each to memory.
"These are my X men, your teachers- and when I think I have taught you as much as I can you will make the choice whether to join us or leave and enter the world in control of your powers and in full knowledge of who you are."
The group again looked in on it's self, strangers connecting on some level.
"Some of you will have already decided to abandon your name and accept your code name, due to your advanced ages." Elizabeth could feel his gaze on her but she chose to ignore it.
The girl who had asked about the use of codenames stood up and the class turned to face her.
She was wearing a black top that was close fitting and a pair of black trousers. A sleeveless green ripped vest hung open over her shoulders, it matched her green eyes, which stood out against her coffee skin. Her black hair hung in waves and swirls around her face with streaks of light brown highlighting it.
She wrung her hands in front of her with nerves. "Hi!" she squeaked in an excited voice before coughing to calm herself. "My names Nala, I'm 18, and I'm going to be called Digital and…" She dropped her voice as if telling a secret, which was a marked difference from the normal level of her voice "… I'm a mutant." She nodded solemnly causing the class to giggle.
Elizabeth shook her head in disbelief at the joker confessing to the class that she had always been one and that it had something to do with her jeans but she hadn't worn them since and she still had her powers.
"What can I do?" The girl repeated after a heckle from the sour looking Wolverine. "I can mess up computers, I touch their screen they suck me in I zap around in their hard drive and when I come out I know everything that's on their computer- all the info in their files, even if they've got it stored on there their credit card details." She paused before looking proud "You know that crate of viagra that got sent to Bill Gates from his own credit card- Me!" She nodded pleased.
"Anything else?" The boy sitting next to Lizzie asked, pretending to be bored, which put of the comedian. "Yeah, I can travel through phone lines as long as their connected to a modem, which cuts down on the cost of transport no end."
"Thanks. Who's next?" Asked professor X as Digital returned to her seat. "Perhaps you Mr Crowley?"
The young man feigning boredom next to her unhappily stood up. He was chewing a toothpick in a macho way, with his hands in the pockets of his red jacket. He was Latino and had bleached blonde hair.
"My name is Jack Crowley, 19, but you can call me Firefly." He said passed the toothpick as he turned it over in his mouth. "I don't really have much of a power. I can make my skin glow green, it tends to distract people, screws up their senses. Any questions?" When none were forthcoming he sat down promptly, trying to look tough, but almost swallowed the toothpick. He spluttered gasping for air until the man sitting next to him patted him sharply on the back.
"Thanks Man" Firefly muttered looking embarrassed as the class smiled on the verge of laughter.
The man who had saved him stood up. His black hair flopped into his eyes and he pushed it away with his hand. He was wearing what any man of his age on the street would be wearing; a black pair of jeans and a metalica t-shirt. He smiled at the class. "Michael Keaney, 20, But I'm Fear to all my mates." He smiled, "Cause I don't need it!" He put his hand down on the desk in front of Digital who looked on spell bound as he picked up her pencil and with as much force as he could muster brought it down point first onto his hand. There was a sharp squelch that Elizabeth had never heard before. Fear brought up his hand, half the pencil was on one side, half was sticking through the skin with a few drops of blood on its point. The class groaned in union, Digital who had been up close to the scene had turned a shade of green deeper than her eyes. But hat wasn't where it ended. Fear reached up and slid the pencil from his hand with another squelch, making Digital turn an even brighter green.
"Please stop doing that…" the girl said queasily. The boy could only laugh. "Doing what?" He asked as he held his palm out in front of him for everyone to see. There was nothing, no hole, no blood nothing to say that there had been a pencil stuck in his hand at all. Elizabeth and the rest all looked astonished.
"It's been done…" One of the teachers moaned only to have professor X shut him up.
The boy sat himself down and another person took his place. This ones mutation was a little more pronounced. Her skin was a silvery blue, her huge eyes were purple, and her hair had shades of green. She wore a pink halter neck and a pair of blue stonewashed jeans. She smiled self-consciously.
"Yeah I know, I'm a fish." She nodded.
"The name was… she halted before shaking her head and continuing, "That's in the past, my name now is Aqua. And as well as breathing underwater I can well it's embarrassing…" she looked down at the floor.
"Don't be embarrassed." Firefly smiled dropping his macho boy act altogether now he had the toothpick out of his throat.
She looked up happily now as her eyes sparkled. "I can make bubbles…"
"So can I. In the bath when I've had beans for dinner." Digital interjected, the group laughed, relieving the tension.
Aqua giggled a funny kind of laugh, kind of like the sound Dolphins made. Then she continued.
"But from what I know they contain some kind of gas. It makes people faint… its kind of like tear gas."
"You produce it naturally?" Fear asked.
Aqua nodded nervously, unsure of what reaction she would get.
"All right!" He nodded in admiration. "If I could choose I'd love that."
The woman more comfortable now sat and another took her place.
She was tall, but only because of the huge boots on her feet that almost doubled the girl's height. She was a Goth. Her skin was pale almost white, by make up not her powers. Her hair was in a pigtail on the top of her head, black with red at the bottom for about an inch. Her purple and black clothing was ripped stylishly and there was the glint of metal belt buckles and the like from underneath. Over the top of the ensemble was a crocheted purple woollen coat that fell all of the way to the floor, even passed he boots.
"My names Connie Berth but my codenames Obsidian." She smiled under all the make up. "Storm gave me the name, because of the way I dress I guess." The white haired teacher just nodded and returned the attention to the girl standing.
"I can make rooms go dark for a short time. Even it the lights on or its sunny outside you won't be able to see your hand in front of your face. Its not as cool as some your powers but… well lets just say I've become a little attached to it."
Almost everyone in the room had stood and told the rest about their powers but one girl still had not.
Storm and Professor X, Kurt and Logan were all sitting expectantly for her to stand and reveal how she had escaped. All were a little perplexed and enthralled by her mystery, but they all wanted it to come to a quick end.
The woman sat listening to the rest of her classmates until it was her turn. As the final classmate finished though the bell rang for the end of class. They all stood to leave, but Storm called them all back.
"Guys there's still one person to go. I know it's the end of the day but maybe we should listen to her before we go so we can get on tomorrow." The class sat back down and waited for the next mutant to stand…
However she didn't.
"Elizabeth?" Storm looked around the desks and realised that the girl had gone again.
"That damn kid… where's she gone now?"
"I would tell you. But I am afraid I cannot read her mind for fear of overwhelming her. I believe this girl holds more secrets than she will care to confess to us." Professor X shook his head sadly.
"She may not to you bub, but she might to me." Logan said before stomping out of the class and letting his claws slide out of his arms, slowly savouring the thought of what he'd like to do to the girl who had made them all look like fools… again.
Do the shake and vac and put the freshness back, the shake and vac and put the freshness back. But before you do please review. Thanks!