September 20; 3 days before Anti-Mutant Act:
Jean was sitting on her couch reading a book when the professor rolled into her room.
"Jean, I need you to do me a favor."
She put down her book and looked up at her mentor. "Sure, professor. What is it?"
"Cerebro has just picked up a new mutant in Atlanta, Georgia. She's 14 years old and her name is Carol Danvers. Storm is leaving this afternoon to visit her. I was wondering if you would accompany her on the trip?"
Jean considered this for a moment. She had needed to get out of the mansion and take in some new scenery lately anyway.
"Sure, I'd be glad to!"
"Thanks, Jean. You leave in two hours." The professor turned to leave Jean and let her pack.
"Wait! Professor?"
He turned back around to face his favorite pupil. "Yes?"
"I didn't think we were accepting any more new students right now."
The professor smiled. "Well, we aren't to be honest. But this girl has a gift that could come in very useful for the X-men and would be incredibly dangerous in the hands of anyone else, specifically the Brotherhood."
"What can she do?"
"For one thing, she can fly. But more important than that, perhaps, is that she has superhuman strength. In fact, that's how her powers manifested this morning. She slammed a door after a fight with her parents. The door slammed all the way through the doorway and fell to the floor."
"Wow!" exclaimed Jean. "I see what you mean!"
"Yes, now pack your things and get ready to leave."
*****
Jean carried her bag downstairs quickly. She hadn't been on a recruiting mission in nearly two years. The last time she had done this, she had been 17 years old and a senior at Bayville High. Now she was 19, one week from 20, and a teacher at the Xavier Institute. Life has certainly changed lately, she thought to herself.
When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she met Scott.
"Hey, what's with the bag? You running away from me?" He laughed.
Jean just smiled at him. "No, I'm going on a recruiting mission to Atlanta with Storm," she explained. She noticed Scott's mouth turn down in a frown. "Don't worry, we'll be back tomorrow. You won't even know I left!"
Scott thought about this. "I didn't think we were taking new students right now."
"Neither did I, but the Professor says this one's important."
"Okay, but take care of yourself."
"When do I not? Normally I have to take care of myself and you at the same time!"
Scott laughed. "Right, whatever. I'll see you when you get back."
They shared a quick kiss and Jean went on to meet Storm in the kitchen. She was collecting some drinks to take with them on the trip.
"Hey, Storm," called Jean. "You ready to leave?"
"No, but I'm ready to get there. I hate traveling on commercial flights. They're so…cramped."
"What?" asked Jean, surprised. "We're not taking the Blackbird?"
"No," said Storm, clearly perturbed. "Charles says that he wants the Blackbird to stay here so that the Brotherhood doesn't realize that we're gone. He's hoping they don't know about young Carol yet."
"Great," said Jean sarcastically. It had been years since she'd flown in anything but the Blackbird.
"Alright Jean. Time to go," said Storm as she picked up her bag and walked to the door.
"Let's do this then," said Jean. She contacted the professor telepathically and told him that she and Storm were on their way out as she walked to the door.
*****
Jean opened the hotel door and dropped her bag on the floor before dropping herself onto the bed. It had been a long flight and she was ready to get to sleep.
"Well, it's no mansion, but it'll work for one night," said Storm as she looked around the small hotel room. "Tomorrow we'll go meet Carol and her family. For now, I'm beat! Good night Jean."
"Good night, Ororo," said Jean as she changed into pajamas and crawled into bed. She was asleep as soon as she hit the pillow.
September 21; 2 days before Anti-Mutant Act:
Jean and Storm awoke early the next morning. They got dressed and went straight to the Danvers' home in the suburbs of Atlanta.
"Here we are," announced Storm as the cabdriver drove off.
"Yep. Let's do it," said Jean as she approached the porch on the front of the house.
They knocked on the door and waited for an answer. After a moment, a middle-aged woman opened the door and smiled at them.
"Can I help you?" she asked.
"Hi," said Storm casually. "My name is Ororo Monroe and this is Jean Grey. We were wondering if we could talk to you and your family about your daughter?"
"My daughter?" said the woman suspiciously. She frowned at Jean. "How do you know Carol?"
Jean answered before Storm did. "Well, Mrs. Danvers, we're from a private school in New York that works with kids like Carol…"
"What do you mean by that?" asked Mrs. Danvers.
"We work with kids that have special gifts," answered Jean casually.
"I don't understand what you mean."
Jean tried to find the right words, but they didn't come. After a moment, Storm answered. "We would like to talk to you about Carol's newfound gifts. Perhaps you'd like to tell us about yesterday morning?"
Mrs. Danvers flinched. "What do you mean? Nothing happened yesterday morning."
An attractive teenage girl came up to the door. She was fairly tall and had long blonde hair. "Who's there, Mom?"
"No one, honey. Go get your father."
"If we could just come inside, Mrs. Danvers, we could explain ourselves more completely," suggested Jean.
Mrs. Danvers hesitated, but ultimately opened the door all the way and allowed them into her home. Just then, a large man emerged from a doorway across the room.
"Is something wrong, dear?"
"Nathan, these women are from some school up north. They want to talk to us about Carol."
Mr. Danvers looked confused.
"How do you know Carol?" he asked, echoing his wife's earlier question.
"Mr. Danvers, we are from a school in New York that works with gifted children such as your daughter. We'd like to talk to you about Carol joining us," explained Storm.
Just then, Carol appeared in the room. "What's that, sugar? You're from a school up north? What's going on Dad?"
"I'm not sure, sweetheart," replied her father. He turned to Jean and Storm. "Have a seat," he said. "Now, what do you mean 'gifted'? Carol is certainly smart, but she doesn't have the grades to attract private schools from across the nation. Who are you?"
"My name is Jean Grey and this is Ororo Monroe," explained Jean. We're from the Xavier Institute for Gifted Children. We deal solely with kids like Carol…"
"What do you mean 'like Carol'?" interrupted Mr. Danvers.
Everytime we do this, the parents are in complete denial!, thought Jean.
"I mean mutants, Mr. Danvers."
"What?!" shouted the now angry man as he stood up. "I don't know where you got that idea but my daughter is no freak! I don't know who you people are, but this is outrageous and I want you out of my house now!"
Whoa! We've had some unhappy parents before but never like this! Jean scanned Mr. Danvers' mind quickly. That's strange. He has no idea that she's a mutant! A revelation came upon Jean. He wasn't there when her powers manifested! Jean quickly scanned Carol and her mother to be sure. He wasn't there and they decided not to tell him because they were afraid he'd overreact. I can see why. Jean tried to think of what to do now.
"Mrs. Danvers, could you tell us about yesterday morning?"
Mrs. Danvers glared at Jean. "I already told you, I don't know what you're talking about."
Jean turned to Carol who was close to tears. "Carol, do you know what I'm talking about?"
Carol bit her lip and studied the floor between her feet. After a long moment, she nodded her head. "I pulled the door off its hinges," she said slowly.
Mr. Danvers turned to look at his daughter. "You did what? That's impossible!"
"Actually," said Storm quickly, "its quite possible. Carol has acquired superhuman strength as well as the gift of flight."
Carol looked up for the first time since this conversation started. "I, I can't fly," she said.
Storm looked back at her and said softly, "Actually, you can, you just haven't done it yet."
Carol smiled. Jean smiled too. The one power that no one ever seemed sad to have was flight. It was everyone's dream to fly and now Carol could do it! Jean knew what it felt like to fly. She had lifted herself by telekinesis many times, which was essentially the same thing.
Mr. Danvers stood tall in front of the couch. "That's it! I want both of you out of my…" He trailed off as he went deep in thought. Just before Jean delved into his mind though, he began to speak again.
"I'm sorry about that. I get upset sometimes." He sat back down. "So if you two are from a school of mutants, then I suppose you're mutants yourselves, right?"
"That's right," said Jean.
Talk about your mood swings!
"So what can you do, sugar?" Carol asked Jean excitedly. Since learning she could fly, Carol was clearly more interested in everything.
"I have telepathic abilities and Ororo can control the weather," said Jean.
There was a short pause before Mr. Danvers asked if anyone would like a drink.
Jean and Storm looked at the man who had just changed right before their eyes and decided that they didn't trust him.
"No, thank you," they said together.
"Linda?" he said, turning to his wife.
Mrs. Danvers hesitated, then said she'd like a cup of coffee.
Mr. Danvers disappeared into the kitchen and returned with a cup of coffee for his wife a few moments later.
"So anyway," said Jean, eyeing Mr. Danvers suspiciously, "we would like for Carol to come join us at our school."
"We'll have to think about that," said Mr. Danvers.
"Of course," said Jean, who was now anxious to get away from this house and this strange man. She really didn't care if Carol came with them or not, now.
"By the way," said Mr. Danvers, "you said you can read minds, right?"
"Yes," said Jean. She didn't have to read his mind to know what he was about to ask.
"Can you tell me what I'm thinking right now?"
Jean sighed. She hated when people did this. "Sure."
Jean concentrated on Mr. Danvers' brain waves, but to her surprise, she couldn't pick them up. She couldn't pick up anyone's!
What's happening? Why can't I read his mind? I can't even read Storm's mind! What's wrong? This should be really easy.
Jean frowned and held her head. "I…I'm sorry, but something seems to be wrong. I can't do it right now."
Mr. Danvers grinned. "That's okay." He stood up and walked around to stand behind Jean and Storm. "I'm sure we can figure out the problem later."
"Actually, we are expected back at home tonight," said Ororo. She looked over at Jean perplexed by her sudden power loss.
"Oh, but I think you should stay here," said Mr. Danvers. He pulled two syringes out of his pocket and stuck them into Jean and Storm's necks. The two women tried to stop him, but quickly slumped to the floor unconscious.
September 22; 1 day before Anti-Mutant Act:
Jean awoke and tried to look around. She was in a bright room. She tried to stand up, but couldn't move. She then realized that she was tied down. She moved her head to the right to look around and saw Storm tied up and laying on a table next to her. On her left was Carol in the same position. Carol was clearly unconscious. Jean studied her surroundings.
Where am I? Why am I tied down? Why is Carol here? This isn't gonna be good.
"Jean? Are you okay?" asked Storm.
"I don't know. What's going on?"
"Apparently Mr. Danvers has a bit of an eccentric side to him," answered Storm. "We're in some sort of laboratory, but it looks to me like we're still in the house. The strange thing is I can't use my powers and before he attacked us you said you couldn't use yours, right?"
Jean thought back. It was hard to remember exactly what happened before she found herself on this table. "I think that's right. Yeah, I remember now. I couldn't read his mind."
"Well then, I think its safe to say we're in trouble," said Storm.
A groan came from Jean's left. She looked over and saw Carol finally waking up.
"Carol, are you alright?"
"Huh? Oh no! Why am I down here!" whispered Carol distressingly.
Okay, she clearly recognizes this place, thought Jean. "Carol, where are we?"
Carol turned to look at Jean. She flinched when she saw Jean's face. "You! This is all your fault!" she yelled.
Jean was shocked by the sudden outburst.
"Carol, I'm not the enemy. Do you know where we are?"
Carol ignored her. "If you hadn't told him I'm a mutant then everything would have been fine! But no, you had to show up and announce it like its no problem! He hates mutants, sugar! Don't you get that?! That's why he has this lab. He's been trying to find a way to stop mutants for years! And now he knows that I'm one because you couldn't keep your big mouth shut!"
"Carol! Calm down," said Storm. "If we have hurt your relationship with your father, then we are truly sorry. However, it seems that now your father plans to treat you just as he plans to treat us. Please trust us and perhaps we can escape from here."
Carol grew quiet and thought for a long time. Finally, she calmly answered Storm. "Dad hates mutants. He always has. He built this lab about 5 years ago. He works down here all the time trying to find a way to do something to them. Hurt them. Kill them. He doesn't care. He just wants to find a way to make them less of a threat to the world. The other day he came up and announced to Mom and me that he had made a discovery that would make us rich. He had made a chemical that he thought would temporarily take away a mutant's powers. It goes straight into the brain and attacks the extra body chemicals there that provide a mutant's power. Now, it looks like he has a test subject. And he knows it works cause it took out your powers. That, sugar, is why he asked you to read his mind. When he went in the kitchen, he hit a switch that began pumping this chemical into the living room through the air conditioner. After he saw that it worked, he knocked you two out and then injected you with the chemical. If his calculations are right, then you shouldn't be able to use your powers for…" she looked at the clock on the wall, "…another two hours. It takes away a mutant's powers for 12 hours. Anyway, after he was done with you, he came towards me. I tried to run from him but he caught me and did the same thing to me that he did to you."
Jean and Storm listened anxiously as Carol told her story. Before they had a chance to answer her though, Mr. Danvers came down the stairs in the corner of the room.
"Look at you. You certainly are a smart little mutant. Of course, that's what happens when you live with normal people for 15 years. Lying to them for 15 years about what you really are. Y'know, I wasn't sure where I was going to find a mutant to test my chemical on, then you two showed up. Now, I have three test subjects! Isn't it funny how life always works out for the best?"
"You're insane!" cried Storm. "This is crazy. You've locked up three people in your basement and you're planning to perform experiments on them! You're going to perform experiments on your own daughter?! Whats wrong with you?!"
"She's not my daughter!" shouted the man. "My daughter isn't a mutant! She couldn't be! I'm no mutant and neither is my wife. No, clearly she was planted in the hospital to be taken home by us while my real daughter was stolen by mutants! They probably killed her just for sport! Now, I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to make sure this chemical works right and then I'll sell it to whoever wants it. As for your fate beyond that, I don't know what I'll do with you when the time comes. I'll think of something." He smiled menacingly.
Jean thought of Logan. He had been captured once and experimented on. He had ended up with claws and a metal skeleton and only survived because of his regenerative powers. She shuddered to think what was going to happen to her. She heard a sob come from Carol. It suddenly struck her how strong Mr. Danvers' language had been about his daughter.
"Now, you're all due for another dose before your powers come back," said the man. He walked toward them and injected the chemical into each of them. Jean could feel it moving up her arm and across her shoulder. Soon, Mr. Danvers turned and began walking back up the stairs.
"I think I'll leave you three to enjoy being normal for a while. Goodnight."
He walked through the door and left them lying on their tables. Jean closed her eyes and prayed that this was all a bad dream.
September 23; day of Anti-Mutant Act:
Mr. Danvers was back downstairs working in his lab again. He had already given each of the girls another dose for the day. Now he was working on another batch of the chemical and listening to the radio. Jean, Storm, and Carol had given up talking to each other a few hours before. It was clear that there was nothing they could to stop this madman.
"…that was James Taylor's 'Fire & Rain'. Great song," said the voice on the radio. "Now we've got some really huge national news here. Congress has just passed new legislation on the Mutant Crisis."
Everyone in the laboratory was suddenly listening to the radio with great interest.
"Congress has just passed a new bill that says that all mutants are to be rounded up and detained in what sounds to me like labor camps. Also, if you know of a mutant living in the United States, the government is asking you to call a national hotline and report them."
Mr. Danvers looked back at the mutants tied up behind him and giggled like a little boy, then grabbed a pencil and wrote down the hotline number as the radio DJ called it out. "Looks like this is your lucky day," he said to them as he grabbed the phone.
Jean and Storm exchanged looks of worry as Mr. Danvers dialed the number.
"Yes, is this the mutant hotline? There's three mutants attacking me and my wife! They're in our house right now! Okay, thank you!" He hung up the phone. "Five minutes and you three are going where you belong!"
*****
Before long, there was a knock on the door. Mr. Danvers answered it and welcomed the armed soldiers into his home.
"Uh, we got a call that you were being attacked by mutants," said one of the soldiers. They were clearly confused by the sight before them. Mr. and Mrs. Danvers were sitting in their living room with three mutant girls tied up and laying on the floor.
"That's right. We managed to tie them up and now you can take them away for us," answered Mr. Danvers.
The soldiers looked around confusedly. "How did you subdue three mutants?" asked one of them.
"Well," started Mr. Danvers, "it wasn't hard really. Not with this." He held up a vial of his chemical. He turned to the soldier who was in charge of this mission and went into a full explanation of what was in the vial and how it works while the other soldiers picked up Storm, Jean, and Carol and carried them to a van outside the house.
"No!" shouted Jean when they picked her up. I can't let this happen! I have to escape and tell the professor! Scott, I could really use your help right now!
She tried to get free of the soldier's grip and escape. Instead, another soldier saw her fighting and hit her in the back of her head with the butt of his gun.
Jean's sight went black and she slumped over in the soldier's arms.
