Thanks for reading an reviewing, Keep it up! And by the way, I still don't own X-men.
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Professor Charles Xavier sat in his study with a cup of tea and a book. Although he's an intellectual man, he found it difficult to focus on the book. He persisted to check cerebro's alarm system every minute and a half or so, to make sure his own technology hadn't failed him. He wished that it had, meaning his first two students were safe, just spending some alone time together, rather than having been abducted by who know what and taken to who knows where. The feeling of uncertainty rattled him more anything else. Xavier was a man who found solace only in control. Now, control was something he had very little of.
It wasn't that he loved Scott and Jean more than the others; he couldn't imagine such a thing was possible. He was worried that his tutelage had failed them. Had he trained them correctly, he thought, they wouldn't have been taken. Being his first two students, he'd trained them more than any of the others, and if they couldn't get themselves out of any situation, then none of his students would be able to. He thought that if he had built cerebro correctly, they would have been found and rescued by now. His head filled with self doubt and blame. His thoughts were interrupted as the statuesque, white haired, but young, black woman entered the room. She carried a tray of food in her hands.
"I brought you something to eat, Charles." Ororo said in a calm, soothing voice.
"Thank you, Storm. Just leave it here on the desk." The professor said, gesturing towards the large table in front of him.
"Charles, you must be exhausted. Maybe you should go lie down for a while." She spoke to him like a mother.
"I won't be able to rest until they're back home… safe." He protested.
"Scott and Jean are two very capable people. I'm sure that wherever they are, they're completely safe." She asserted. "You should take a break, maybe just take a breath of fresh air for a little while. I'll stay here and watch cerebro. I'll let you know if anything happens."
"Alright," he relented, "Perhaps a break would help me refresh my mind…" She nodded to him as he made his way outside. It was dark now, 24 hours since Scott and Jean had gone missing.
Charles sat outside, admiring the stars. He thought maybe there were answers up there… comfort. He thought about Rogue's troubled mind, Ororo's losing her nephew to the Morlocks. He thought about Logan and his haunting past. He thought about Kitty and Kurt suffering everyday at school at the hands of a scared and confused public. Then he thought of his friend Eric. The only time's they'd met recently, to fight along side one another, was when the world was in desperate danger. Then he thought about his inability to stop any of it. Not being able to do anything left a hole in Xavier's chest the size of the Grand Canyon. The more he thought, the more he realized his self deprecating thoughts were helping no one. His reverie was interrupted as a butterfly fluttered in his face. He merely brushed it away with his hand and continued past him.
"Oh! Professor Xavier!" he heard a small British voice call from behind him. He turned his chair around to see where the voice had come from, but all he could see was the odd, purplish-blue butterfly hovering in front of him. "Professor Xavier?" Charles thought he must have been going crazy because he thought the butterfly had addresses him. "Don't be alarmed," the voice was distinctly feminine with a strong English accent. "I'm not a talking butterfly" the butterfly said, reading the professor's confusion, "this is just a mental projection of myself… I'm telepathic."
"Interesting…" was all the professor could stammer out.
"Yes… I'm sure it is…" Betsy's butterfly responded wearily. She waited but the look of shock never left Xavier's face. "Right," the butterfly continued on, "I know where Scott and Jean are." His expression turned from amazement to utter worry.
"Where are they? What have you done with them?" Charles accused.
"Calm down, they're alright, I promise. Dr. Essex has taken them to perform some kind of genetic experiment. They have yet to be harmed, but I'm sure how long it will last. You must come quickly; I'll give you the coordinates." The professor stopped looking at Betsy like a butterfly and more like a person now.
"Follow me inside, and we'll talk." He said to the butterfly. The insect fluttered after him as he wheeled indoors.
* * *
Ororo and Hank sat in the professor's study, manning cerebro. Hank read a book while Ororo read the daily newspaper. She was reading a story about an upcoming anti-mutant rally in her community. The organizers slanderous comments began to the better of her. She'd them all before. People had been calling the mansion recently, after they'd all been exposed, looking for statements or just to be yelled at. They all came flooding back to her at once. The was the straw that began to break the camel's back. She crumpled up the paper in her hand as her pupils began to glow white. She got up and the wind outside began to whistle. With each step she took toward the raging fire place, there was a crack of thunder and lightening. Hank had put his book down and set his reading glasses on the table as he watched her. She was hypnotizing to watch when she used her power. Her control and stamina made her radiate with power.
"Ororo…" Hank said sternly, trying to avert her attention. She remained unphased as she drew back her arm. She hurled the ball of newspaper at the fire as the whirling winds blew the large bay windows open. The thin paper was instantly engulfed with another crack of thunder. Hank was a burly, hiary man, and he could have easily overcome the woman, but his complacent demeanor left him afraid of her as her emotions ruled her power. He was thrown aback when the weather witch turned to him and yelled.
"Why are they doing this?" Storm screamed at the Beast. "They've forced normal mutant people from their homes and burned them down, they're beating innocent people in the streets… they've forced Evan underground…" She continued to yell at him through tears. "Why are we doing this? Why are we fighting for them?" Hank cautiously walked over to Ororo as the violent thunderstorm outside had turned into a less intimidating, steady down pour. He put his big furry arms around her and pat her on the back as she cried on his shoulder like it was pillow.
"they're scared, Storm. Just like you are. We're fighting to show them that there is nothing to be afraid of. It's like a young child that just heard aout the Boogie Man. It will take some time before they can live peacefully knowing there's nothing in the closet or under the bed to fear." His voice was calming and she smiled at his immature analogy.
"Is that Freud?" He chuckled back at her, as she sniffed her nose. "Well, I guess I can understand them… you do look like the Boogie Man." She wiped her face. "I guess this whole thing with Scott and Jean has me on the edge… more than I thought. Thank you, Hank… for uh, letting me snap."
"It's alright Ororo, we're all on edge. Just because people expect you to keep your composure through anything doesn't mean you can." The beatly man smiled at her and the rain outside began to lift.
* * *
"Look who's come back to ze land of ze living!" Kurt shouted as he saw Rogue coming down the stairs. Kitty, sitting next to Kurt on the sofa in front of the TV, snapped her head around.
"Oh, you're coming with us? I thought you weren't feeling well?" Kitty said as she notice Rogue was wearing her unniform.
"Ah changed mah mahnd… Ah'm feelin' better now." Shem mumbled as she walked past the two and sat in the chair next to the couch.
"I'm so glad you're coming with us!" Kitty squealed as Kurt stuffed his mouth with popcorn he held in his prehensile tail. "I was totally not looking forward to a mission with all a' these guys." Kurt looked offended. "Hey, you look totally bummed… are you sure you're feeling okay?" Kitty felt concerned as she noticed her friend's gloomy expression that looked more pensive than her gloomy looks usually did.
"Bummed?… Ah'm not bummed." Rogue replied defensively. "What are you? A mahnd reader er somethin'?"
"Now I know something's up!" Kitty said.
"Ya, Rogue, we're your friends. Tell us… vhat's wrong?" Kurt interjected. Rogue looked up at her brother and couldn't resist his blue, furry, puppy dog eyes.
"Well, Ah've still got some memories from the Acolytes." She replied glumly.
"Ooooh… anything good?" Kitty asked, looking for gossip. Kurt elbowed her in the ribs.
"Anysing ve should tell ze professor?" Kurt asked responsibly
"Ah dunno… the problem is, is that's it's memories of lahk, families an' stuff. Hobbies… fears…"
"Ewww… no way. They're bad guys. They don't have families, they don't have hobbies, and the only thing they should be afraid of is us!" Kitty explained.
"Ah know, that's the problem. One of 'em has an over protective aunt, and one has a little sister he adores, an' one used to be best friends with Lance."
"Lance?" Kitty interrupted. "Lance used to be best friends with an Acolyte? Which one?"
"Ah'm not sure… when Apocalypse took the rest of y'alls psyches, the memories got kinda jumbled; but he's afraid that Lance doesn't even remember him. And, now that he's found his friend, he;s afraid Lance won't want anything to do with 'im." Kitty looked fearfully at the floor. "an' those eyes… red and black…" Rogue trailed off, her eyes fixed in a trance.
"X-Men." The professor's voice interrupted their thoughts, "meet me in my study, I've located Scott and Jean."
* * *
Ororo and Hank stood up when the professor entered the study, accompanied by Rogue, Kitty, Kurt, and Logan. "Charles, nothing came up on cerebro?" Storm was curious as to how the professor found the missing mutants without using the mutant locator. Maybe his lack sleep had gotten to his head.
"One of last night's assailants, Betsy Braddock… the one who attacked you, Logan, she's a telepath. She contacted me just before the sudden storm." He flashed a look back at Ororo, than continued to all of them. "She has agreed to help us if we help her. She needs to escape as well. They have been taken to the genetic laboratory of a Dr. Nathaniel Essex, just outside of Seattle."
"So this girl wants to be an X-Man?" Logan grunted. The professor pondered his question.
"She never mentioned that… just that she wants to flee this man as well. We must leave immediately."
