I kept a firm hold on Japhi's arm throughout the entire hearing to both
restrain her and to siphon off the extra power that leaked past her
shields. And here I thought that I would be the fidgety one with the
attention problem. My ward alternated between bouncing with excitement and
readying herself to lung at particularly.unpleasantly opinionated speakers.
If we hadn't been in such a public space I would be tempted to help Japhi
wrings their necks before crispy frying them. Oh wait-death by burning is
a much more painful way to go. Wringing their necks would be such a waste
of potential. Humans and their petty prejudices.
Mel had once said that immortals were like abused children, innocents who had seen far too much of life. Of course, she also said much the same about weredragons except that she left out the innocent part-we were created to kill and destroy which is why we guarded the phoenix. Too bad there weren't many male white dragons in all of recorded history, then it truly would have been a pairing of opposites.
Japhi tried to leap forward but I pushed her down in her seat with my free hand. She dragged me hear in the first place so she damn well was going to stay for the entire thing-without manifesting her true form. Now that was something that the media would just love.
Okay, next time flaming bird girl needs a babysitter, Mel has the honors. Even if she isn't a White Dragon and nearly immortal. At least she's a mage. That would work.for all of two seconds. Damn, how did Kat survive seven thousand years of this?
It was Senator Robert Kelly's turn to speak and he was just as charming and just as much of a pain in the ass as usual. At least he was no longer against mutants-I wonder why? NOT! I had seen his eyes flash yellow for the first time two-three years ago. Mystique's been a busy little girl. Not that I liked girls, but she looked a heck of a lot better blue and scaly. Of course I would be partial to scales. I wonder if she had any brothers?
Finally the hearing ended and everyone started filing out of the hall. I kept a hand on Japhi's arm to keep her from bolting out.
Japhi grinned foolishly.
The hall was almost empty save for a couple of people still discussing the hearing. Japhi pulled free and skipped out into the corridor, giggling all the way.
By one of the windows, something caught my eye, bringing me up short.
"Charlie?!" I screamed before pouncing on the man in the wheelchair.
"Roana? I haven't seen you for years!"
I hugged him before pulling away to perch on the windowsill. "It's been what? Ten? Twelve?"
"Fifteen, Erik and I were working on a post doc project together and you were the undergraduate intern assigned to out lab to get coffee," Charles Xavier gestured to his companion. "May I introduced to you Ororo Munroe, also known as Storm. She teaches History at my school. Storm, this is an old friend-"
"Friend? If I remember right both you and Erik used to call me 'that damn bitch' at least twenty times a day. And what is this about a school?"
Xavier tried not to laugh. "If you had stayed away from the programs that you were supposed to there wouldn't have been a problem."
"Uh.how many alterations to the Cerebro program did you find?"
"Two hundred fifty three, a hundred ninety two before you left."
I frowned, working out the numbers in my head. "Damn! I had been sure that I had made at least three hundred modifications. A hundred and forty to operating system controls, seventy to the memory cache, fifty to the neural interface, and forty for pranks in general, although I still maintain that the backdoor was Erik's contribution."
"Do you mean the one triggered by a complex series of numbers or the one triggered by entering the phrase 'Erik is a pansy and Charlie is a stuck up prig'?" Charles raised an eyebrow in amusement.
"It didn't say that-oh crap!" I groaned as he started to laugh.
"BUSTED!" a child's voice call.
I looked up at the insane cackling. "Japhi, are you coming down or are you going to give me an essay on thirty uses for telekinesis that don't involve flying or pranks?"
"Let's see.rapid healing, exciting molecules to burst into flame, calling wind or lightning, shape shifting, rapidly cleaning my room-oops, probably shouldn't have mentioned that one." She floated down, landing gently on the floor.
I rolled my eyes. "Charlie, this.imp is my daughter Japhi. Japhi, this is Dr. Xavier who I used to annoy-I mean work with." She giggled at my quick shift of phrase.
"Actually I am a professor now."
I could almost see the wheels turn in his head as he calculated her age.
"Is she Erik's?" he asked bluntly.
"No. She's actually my cousin but I adopted and raised her. Besides, Erik wouldn't even give me the time of day. He said that because I wasn't a mutant, I wasn't worth the air that I breathed."
"But you are a mutant, I saw you levitating things in the lab when no one was looking, and you always have been able to block me from your mind." His white haired companion looked surprised at that.
"Japhi, Mel, and I are mages with minor mind gifts. Japhi's talents obviously extend more towards telekinesis." I glared at the red haired imp who just smiled innocently before ruining the effect by sticking her tongue out.
"Perhaps the two of you would like to visit the school? Unless you have other plans of course," Charles offered.
Japhi perked up at the thought of a mutant run school.
"We'd love to," I replied, my ward's eagerness almost overwhelming my thoughts. "I'm just doing some independent research and home schooling Japhi, nothing that can't be put off for a while." I growled in my mind but she quieted almost immediately.
The professor looked at me in surprise. "Your mind voice is very strong."
I winced, I hadn't realized that I had been broadcasting. "Family trait. Sorry about that, I'm not used to being around other 'paths. The three of us don't get many visitors so we needn't bother restricting our range when we yell at each other."
************************
Japhi was almost literally bouncing off the walls by the time the car pulled into the driveway leading to the Xavier Institute. In barely more than an hour I had already been forced to siphon off significant portions of her power on three separate occasions. She might be several thousand years old compared to my thirty five, but she was still a young child without any playmates.
Professor Xavier laughed at her antics. "She didn't by any chance sneak some sugar or caffeine when you weren't looking?"
"Nah, she's just looking forward to being able to play with other children. It's just the three of us back home and Mel isn't that much younger than I am. I think she's tired of amusing herself."
"Perhaps she would like to take classes with the other students even if you will only be here for a day or two. She might benefit from the interaction."
"Not unless you either want a major explosion or have advanced college level classes. Japhi is.different. We had to pull her out of public school because she was bored and a bored telekinetic is Not a Good Thing. Her pranks are bad enough when she isn't bored. She's almost done with Pre- Med and plans to either John Hopkins or Tufts for medical school in the Fall. Her hardest problem will be keeping her powers in check long enough to finish all of her training."
"She mentioned healing earlier, how exactly can a telekinetic assist healing?"
"Telekinesis can be used to knit bone and tissue together as well as speed up the chemical reactions within a cell. Everything about healing can be boiled down to movement, and if you can affect movement, you can affect healing. It just takes fine tuned control."
Charles laughed. "For some reason, I have a problem with seeing that imp with the control needed."
"Oh she has the control, but she also has an excess amount of energy." She was bouncing again. "Japhi!"
"Sorry," she mumbled, slumping down in the seat.
Storm parked the car in the very large garage that I remembered from my earlier visits. This time however, it was filled with an interesting assortment of cars and motorcycles, mostly in excellent condition. Somebody was trying to overcompensate for something.
"Charles? Who has all the toys?"
"Scott Summers, he's in command of the X-men. His fiancée died a year ago and he still isn't coping. Japhi reminds me of her, minus the restraint. Jean was always hesitant about her powers whereas Japhi is very eager and willing to use hers." Something in his voice betrayed his sadness even though his mind was shielded from casual contact.
Japhi leapt out of the car as soon as the door opened. Next time we needed to go somewhere, we will be flying-and not in an airplane. That much power in an enclosed space was too much for any sane person to deal with, granted Mel didn't consider me sane, but I'm not that much a glutton for punishment.
"Wee! Toys!"
"Japhi!"
"Motherrr-"
"No Japhi." I sighed, this was going to be a long visit. Whoever this Summers guy was is going to be getting a very rude surprise quite soon.
Xavier raised an eyebrow. "Is she always like this?"
"Always and forever."
***********************
A/N: Thank you to those of you who have reviewed the story. Please email me if you have advice or corrections to make, I appreciate constructive criticism and apologize for problems ahead of time since I don't have a beta.
Mel had once said that immortals were like abused children, innocents who had seen far too much of life. Of course, she also said much the same about weredragons except that she left out the innocent part-we were created to kill and destroy which is why we guarded the phoenix. Too bad there weren't many male white dragons in all of recorded history, then it truly would have been a pairing of opposites.
Japhi tried to leap forward but I pushed her down in her seat with my free hand. She dragged me hear in the first place so she damn well was going to stay for the entire thing-without manifesting her true form. Now that was something that the media would just love.
Okay, next time flaming bird girl needs a babysitter, Mel has the honors. Even if she isn't a White Dragon and nearly immortal. At least she's a mage. That would work.for all of two seconds. Damn, how did Kat survive seven thousand years of this?
It was Senator Robert Kelly's turn to speak and he was just as charming and just as much of a pain in the ass as usual. At least he was no longer against mutants-I wonder why? NOT! I had seen his eyes flash yellow for the first time two-three years ago. Mystique's been a busy little girl. Not that I liked girls, but she looked a heck of a lot better blue and scaly. Of course I would be partial to scales. I wonder if she had any brothers?
Finally the hearing ended and everyone started filing out of the hall. I kept a hand on Japhi's arm to keep her from bolting out.
Japhi grinned foolishly.
The hall was almost empty save for a couple of people still discussing the hearing. Japhi pulled free and skipped out into the corridor, giggling all the way.
By one of the windows, something caught my eye, bringing me up short.
"Charlie?!" I screamed before pouncing on the man in the wheelchair.
"Roana? I haven't seen you for years!"
I hugged him before pulling away to perch on the windowsill. "It's been what? Ten? Twelve?"
"Fifteen, Erik and I were working on a post doc project together and you were the undergraduate intern assigned to out lab to get coffee," Charles Xavier gestured to his companion. "May I introduced to you Ororo Munroe, also known as Storm. She teaches History at my school. Storm, this is an old friend-"
"Friend? If I remember right both you and Erik used to call me 'that damn bitch' at least twenty times a day. And what is this about a school?"
Xavier tried not to laugh. "If you had stayed away from the programs that you were supposed to there wouldn't have been a problem."
"Uh.how many alterations to the Cerebro program did you find?"
"Two hundred fifty three, a hundred ninety two before you left."
I frowned, working out the numbers in my head. "Damn! I had been sure that I had made at least three hundred modifications. A hundred and forty to operating system controls, seventy to the memory cache, fifty to the neural interface, and forty for pranks in general, although I still maintain that the backdoor was Erik's contribution."
"Do you mean the one triggered by a complex series of numbers or the one triggered by entering the phrase 'Erik is a pansy and Charlie is a stuck up prig'?" Charles raised an eyebrow in amusement.
"It didn't say that-oh crap!" I groaned as he started to laugh.
"BUSTED!" a child's voice call.
I looked up at the insane cackling. "Japhi, are you coming down or are you going to give me an essay on thirty uses for telekinesis that don't involve flying or pranks?"
"Let's see.rapid healing, exciting molecules to burst into flame, calling wind or lightning, shape shifting, rapidly cleaning my room-oops, probably shouldn't have mentioned that one." She floated down, landing gently on the floor.
I rolled my eyes. "Charlie, this.imp is my daughter Japhi. Japhi, this is Dr. Xavier who I used to annoy-I mean work with." She giggled at my quick shift of phrase.
"Actually I am a professor now."
I could almost see the wheels turn in his head as he calculated her age.
"Is she Erik's?" he asked bluntly.
"No. She's actually my cousin but I adopted and raised her. Besides, Erik wouldn't even give me the time of day. He said that because I wasn't a mutant, I wasn't worth the air that I breathed."
"But you are a mutant, I saw you levitating things in the lab when no one was looking, and you always have been able to block me from your mind." His white haired companion looked surprised at that.
"Japhi, Mel, and I are mages with minor mind gifts. Japhi's talents obviously extend more towards telekinesis." I glared at the red haired imp who just smiled innocently before ruining the effect by sticking her tongue out.
"Perhaps the two of you would like to visit the school? Unless you have other plans of course," Charles offered.
Japhi perked up at the thought of a mutant run school.
"We'd love to," I replied, my ward's eagerness almost overwhelming my thoughts. "I'm just doing some independent research and home schooling Japhi, nothing that can't be put off for a while." I growled in my mind but she quieted almost immediately.
The professor looked at me in surprise. "Your mind voice is very strong."
I winced, I hadn't realized that I had been broadcasting. "Family trait. Sorry about that, I'm not used to being around other 'paths. The three of us don't get many visitors so we needn't bother restricting our range when we yell at each other."
************************
Japhi was almost literally bouncing off the walls by the time the car pulled into the driveway leading to the Xavier Institute. In barely more than an hour I had already been forced to siphon off significant portions of her power on three separate occasions. She might be several thousand years old compared to my thirty five, but she was still a young child without any playmates.
Professor Xavier laughed at her antics. "She didn't by any chance sneak some sugar or caffeine when you weren't looking?"
"Nah, she's just looking forward to being able to play with other children. It's just the three of us back home and Mel isn't that much younger than I am. I think she's tired of amusing herself."
"Perhaps she would like to take classes with the other students even if you will only be here for a day or two. She might benefit from the interaction."
"Not unless you either want a major explosion or have advanced college level classes. Japhi is.different. We had to pull her out of public school because she was bored and a bored telekinetic is Not a Good Thing. Her pranks are bad enough when she isn't bored. She's almost done with Pre- Med and plans to either John Hopkins or Tufts for medical school in the Fall. Her hardest problem will be keeping her powers in check long enough to finish all of her training."
"She mentioned healing earlier, how exactly can a telekinetic assist healing?"
"Telekinesis can be used to knit bone and tissue together as well as speed up the chemical reactions within a cell. Everything about healing can be boiled down to movement, and if you can affect movement, you can affect healing. It just takes fine tuned control."
Charles laughed. "For some reason, I have a problem with seeing that imp with the control needed."
"Oh she has the control, but she also has an excess amount of energy." She was bouncing again. "Japhi!"
"Sorry," she mumbled, slumping down in the seat.
Storm parked the car in the very large garage that I remembered from my earlier visits. This time however, it was filled with an interesting assortment of cars and motorcycles, mostly in excellent condition. Somebody was trying to overcompensate for something.
"Charles? Who has all the toys?"
"Scott Summers, he's in command of the X-men. His fiancée died a year ago and he still isn't coping. Japhi reminds me of her, minus the restraint. Jean was always hesitant about her powers whereas Japhi is very eager and willing to use hers." Something in his voice betrayed his sadness even though his mind was shielded from casual contact.
Japhi leapt out of the car as soon as the door opened. Next time we needed to go somewhere, we will be flying-and not in an airplane. That much power in an enclosed space was too much for any sane person to deal with, granted Mel didn't consider me sane, but I'm not that much a glutton for punishment.
"Wee! Toys!"
"Japhi!"
"Motherrr-"
"No Japhi." I sighed, this was going to be a long visit. Whoever this Summers guy was is going to be getting a very rude surprise quite soon.
Xavier raised an eyebrow. "Is she always like this?"
"Always and forever."
***********************
A/N: Thank you to those of you who have reviewed the story. Please email me if you have advice or corrections to make, I appreciate constructive criticism and apologize for problems ahead of time since I don't have a beta.