Rebirth and Awakenings
Chapter 3
The next three weeks passed slowly for Scott. He got to know more about his fellow students. Ororo was from Kenya and had lived several years in Egypt; she would be a senior next year and she liked gardening. Warren had wings and could fly -- which didn't impress Scott in the least. Jean was a telekine, and even the Professor was a telepath. Only Hank's mutation was not discussed in detail, other than it was "controlled." Odd, that. They seemed to be pretty open about everything else.
Scott had hoped that with the "manifestation of his gift" (Professor Xavier's words) his headaches would go away. But he had come down with two horrific migraines during this time. Once was during a weekend and Jean sat with him for several hours. Just knowing she was nearby made him feel better.
But more than anything else, Scott was phenomenally *bored*. It was as bad as being in the hospital. He had nothing to do. Hank and the Professor tested his "gift" every day, coming up with new measuring techniques to analyze the output of his eyes. But that was in the morning. In the afternoon, Hank and the Professor worked in the lab on the results, leaving Scott to his own devices.
When he lived on the streets, Scott's haven had been libraries. He was good at making himself invisible to the staff and other patrons. No one noticed the boy who came in in the morning and didn't leave until closing. Libraries were heated in winter and cooled in the summer and had water fountains and bathrooms. And books. All the books he could ever want. So he read. He read everything he could. But now, with his eyes covered, that joy was closed to him. In desperation, Scott accepted Hank's suggestion that he learn braille and he also listened to books on tape that Professor Xavier used when traveling. The Professor tended to prefer the classics, but Scott didn't care. Listening to Shakespeare was at least something to do.
On the weekends, however, things were different. Ororo and Warren were there all day. They were active and lively and they always had something going on. But while he liked Ororo and tolerated Warren, Scott felt drawn to Jean. She came every weekend and always seemed to find a way for him to participate in whatever was happening, even though his eyes were still covered. He liked being with her.
And everyone else noticed. Including Warren.
* * *
Warren, especially, thought the whole situation was ridiculous; the kid obviously had a monumental crush on the lady. And he hadn't even seen Jean! Even though Warren had a few daydreams in that direction himself, he felt it was about time someone put the kid straight.
He found Scott sitting in the library, reading one of the braille books the Professor had purchased for him. Hank had mentioned how quickly Scott had learned Level I braille; Warren wasn't impressed.
Scott lifted his head when Warren entered the room and then lowered it again. "Hey, Warren," he said by way of greeting.
"How'd you know it was me?"
"By your footsteps."
It was that calm surety of the answer that got on Warren's nerves. The kid was so often right it was annoying.
"Were you waiting for *Jean*?" Warren sneered.
"Maybe."
"You're not fooling anyone, you know. Everyone knows you've got a crush on her. Even she knows."
"No, I don't," Scott answered.
"Oh, pu-leeze. You wait to hear her voice on the weekends. It might interest you to know that she doesn't come here to see you. She's got more important things to do. Don't kid yourself, Slim; she a twenty-three year old med student just being nice to some poor blind kid ..."
Scott felt a rage build and his hands became fists. He might have his eyes covered, but he still had a good sense of sound and direction. He jumped out of the chair and swung. His knuckles made contact with a jaw with a satisfying crack.
"You little ... "
Okay, maybe swinging at someone you couldn't see wasn't such a hot idea. Warren hit back hard and split Scott's lip open. The force of the blow was enough to knock him into the wall behind him. Scott had nowhere to go and was going to be on the receiving end of a real beating. Again. He raised an arm to ward off the next blow. It never came.
"Warren! Stop it. Right now."
It was Jean. Surprisingly, Warren obeyed. Scott had no way of knowing that Jean was protecting him with a psychic shield. Warren couldn't breach it in any way.
"He started it," Warren said defensively. "He hit me first."
"Why?"
Warren said nothing. Neither did Scott.
"I see," Jean said. "A guy thing."
With a furious glance at Scott, Warren stalked out. Jean helped Scott up from the floor and lifted his face to the light.
"Let's take care of this, shall we?" she offered.
* * *
Scott sat still as Jean efficiently washed off the blood and applied ointment and band-aids. Her fingers felt cool on his face. He didn't mind her touching him.
"Are you going to tell me why you two were fighting?"
"No," he said honestly. He thought about it some more. "It was silly."
Jean didn't have much experience with teenage boys, but she wasn't a complete fool either. She was well aware of Scott's feelings towards her. But if he didn't want to tell her what the fight was about, she wasn't going to make him. She could guess, anyway.
"Hank was telling me about some of the tests they've run," Jean said, changing the subject. "He thinks quartz crystals might work out in producing some kind of shield for your eyes."
"Yeah," Scott agreed and then acknowledged, "I don't understand half of what he says, but he seems to know what he's talking about."
Jean laughed. Hank had an IQ at genius level; he had raced through his undergraduate degree in record time and finished a joint MD/PhD program in the same about of time it took most people to finish the standard MD program. If there was anyone in the world who knew what they were talking about, it was Hank.
* * *
That evening, Scott and Warren called a truce. There wasn't much else they could do; they were stuck in the same house for the next couple of months, until Warren started at Yale. So they sat on the couch in front of the TV with Ororo sitting between them. A human barrier forced them to be somewhat civil to each other. At least for the time being.
They were halfway through a decent movie (Ororo interpreted the action on the screen for Scott when there was no dialogue) when the doorbell rang. Jean answered it.
"Robert, right on time. Let me get my purse." Jean moved quickly up the stairs.
"Hey kids," a voice called from the hallway.
"Hello, Dr. Bob," Ororo and Warren sang out in unison.
"Please don't call me that," he said in return.
"Who's that?" Scott asked.
"Jean's boyfriend, Robert Blaine" Ororo responded. "He's a doctor, too. A first year resident. We call him Dr. Bob."
Scott thought that one over. "Like the Muppets?"
Warren smiled. Looked like this kid was quick on the uptake. "He prefers Robert," he said carefully. "*We* prefer Dr. Bob."
"Any resemblance?"
"We think so," Warren replied.
Scott grinned. There was finally something he and Warren could agree on. It was a start. He passed Warren the popcorn and they settled back to watch the movie.
* * *