Chapter 10:

                Xavier glided silently into the observation booth over the Danger Room. The room was empty, the doors sealed. Inside, a huge night-black panther limped in a tight circle, once in a while giving a half-hearted snarl. He stared at the panther for a moment, startled into silence, then turned to Bobby. "Robert, what happened?!"

                Jubilee gripped Bobby around the waist a little tighter. "Come on, Professor, it's not like it was his fault or anything, jeez, what ya gotta jump all over him for?" She would have said more, but Bobby hushed her with a finger placed gently on her lips. She subsided.

                "We were sitting at the burger place at the mall, taking a break. She bought something for me, and I thought a kiss would be a nice way of thanking her." He ignored the flash of jealousy in Jubilee's eyes; he'd worry about that later. "Derek and his friends were sitting right behind us. They started making fun of her. I almost went over there, but Mickie tried to prevent me.

                "We left the restaurant and went to find Jubilee and Jean. Derek and his friends stole the bags out of Mickie's hand and ransacked them. I lost my temper and started fighting when they broke one of the prisms for your birthday gift. Security threw all of us out. Derek started to walk out to his car with Mickie's bags, and that's when she lost her temper. She changed her shape into that panther." He waved a hand at the window.

                Xavier turned to stare at the big cat. Jean… he began.

                Jean shook her head. I tried to find Mickie in there. It's no use. She's gotten lost in the Panther's mind. Charles, I know we've worried about this, but I never really thought any of the students would have this much raw power to just…shift…like that into something this big. What do we do now?

                I have to talk to her. Jean felt the flick of Charles's attention turning from her to the big cat on the floor below.

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                Mickie?

                Trapped. Bad place. Bad place, can't run, can't hunt, can't go find the bad two-legs and kill them…

                Mickie. It's Professor Xavier.

                The cat snarled. Bad voices, talking in the mind. Make the voices shut up. Hunt down that voice, shut it up. Then leave here, find dark place to hide, lick the wound in the front leg that hurt so much.

                Xavier pushed deeper into the mind. He tried standing at the inner barrier to that mind and calling for the little spark that was Mickie, but he wasn't going to reach her. The feral personality had overridden the human personality.

                So he pushed deeper, past the upper levels, the feline predators levels, and descended deeper. As soon as he pushed past the last of the cat's underthoughts of pain, he broke through to a deep, velvety blackness. There was no awareness here. Collecting his thoughts, he projected a call down into that blackness. Mickie!

                There was no coherent answer. He didn't 'hear' anything psychically. But he did get the faint impression that something, somewhere in there, had become aware of his presence. He tried again. Mickie!

                ?

                It wasn't a question, more like an impression, actually. But, encouraged, he tried again. Mickie?

                Hurt hurt hurt hurt…

                I know it hurts, Mickie. But we can't do anything about it right now.

                Why? And finally the thoughts were fully human.

                Because you're in the form of a black panther, dear, Xavier said gently. You lost your temper and shifted into a panther. Jean tried to get you out of it and accidentally broke your leg.

                Mickie's astral form turned and looked around her confusedly. Where are we? This isn't my body, is it?

                It is your body, your mind…but we're deep inside your mind, below your conscious thoughts. I had to come down here to find you so I can lead you back to your body. You'll have to shift back before we can do anything about that broken leg.

                Oh. Mickie looked at him, ashamed. I really messed things up this time, didn't I?

                You are still young, Xavier said comfortingly. You are still unused to your powers. Once you know where your limits are, and what you can and cannot do with them, you'll be all right.

                My parents thought that since I found out how to get out of my cat form, that everything was all right. The last time I talked to them last night they said they were wrapping up their visit to my uncle and they wanted to come here and pick me up. I told them I didn't want to leave, that I wanted to stay here, but they said that since I've learned control I didn't need to be here anymore.

                But you still do have a lot to learn, Mickie, Charles said. This little incident proves that. When they get here, I shall have a talk with them. I would like you to stay here. A smile twitched his astral lips. Although, I believe Scott may not agree completely. Bobby's pranks have been a little out of hand this year, and I believe he thinks it's because of you.

                Mickie's eyes widened. It wasn't me, I swear!

                Xavier laughed at that. Well you have had a hand in some of the pranks, so there is some truth to what he thinks. Scott still doesn't realize that the incident with his pocket was your doing, he believes Bobby did it. I haven't told him otherwise. However, his pranking around is also Jubilee's fault, since he's trying to impress her, though I have not informed Scott of that either. He seems to have forgotten some of the  things he did to get Jean's attention.

                Mickie laughed. Oh, tell me, please?

                When you're back to normal. Xavier said. Come back to your body. It will hurt, but as soon as you change back, Hank can work on that broken leg. He started to leave her mind. After a second's hesitation, she followed him back.

                Xavier severed the link with Mickie's mind, and opened his eyes. Before them, down in the Danger room, the black panther shifted back into Mickie's body, minus the clothes. Her face immediately crumpled in pain, and she started whimpering as she brought her broken arm up to her chest. Xavier blinked. The break had been in Mickie's left front panther leg, and with her now in human shape, that translated to her left arm.

                Hank left the observation room, followed hastily by Jean. Mickie looked up as the door opened seconds later to admit them into the room. Jean wrapped her jacket around the shaking girl, and began to lead her to their medlabs.

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                Bobby pushed the door open. "Is Hank here?" he whispered. Mickie shook her head, and Bobby opened the door wider, urging Jubilee in before he closed the door. "Hey," he said to her. "We would have come sooner, but Hank said you needed to rest."

                "Hank's a worrywart," Jubilee grinned, and plopped down on the bed beside Mickie. "'Sides, we won't stay long. Just wanted to tell you we're glad you're back."

                "Yeah," Bobby said. "The panther thing was totally cool, but you're a lot more fun when you're human." Mickie laughed.

                "You know, before all this happened, my parents were going to take me out of here?" she said. 'I talked to them a couple of days ago, and they said that since I learned to shift out of my cat form by myself, and I could now do it at will, then I didn't have to stay here, I could come home."

                "Oh, no!" Jubilee looked horrified. "You can't leave! Like, if you leave, who's gonna help us torture Scott?"

                "Oh, well, since this little incident happened, I guess I still have a lot to learn about my powers, right? So they can't make me go. I want to stay here."

                "Cool," Jubilee said, relieved. "Then you can help us sew Remy's pocket--"

                "Jubes! Wait till her arm heals before we do anything like that!"

                Mickie's eyebrows rose. "What are you going to do to Remy's pockets?"

                The three teenagers settled down to plan.

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                Okay, that's it for this story.

                I'm glad you all enjoyed it; I had a lot of fun writing it. It was a change from my usual plotline, and I'm grateful to Niina for challenging me, one; and two, letting me know what she thought of it.

                Thanks also to all the wonderful souls who dove into this story and embraced it, and then told me you liked it. I love getting reviews. Several of them also gave me ideas for succeeding chapters, which was cool. Thank you, all of you, for hanging in there with me and enjoying all of the stories. Thanks also, in particular, to Wolf55, who has been my steady reviewer since my very first posting on ff.net. Thanks to AnythingbutOrdinary, who's obvious delight with all things anti-Scott and all things pro-Logan, gave me the idea for the condom joke.

                Now you all are wondering why that sounded so much like a goodbye. It's because it is. Circumstances at home have changed.

                My hubby and I have been renting a place in Baltimore for the last couple of years. The owner of the house, however, has just passed away suddenly, and his next of kin has informed us that they want to sell the house; they don't want to rent to us any longer. We have to vacate by July 9th.

                We were fortunate enough to find a place; it's right around the corner from us, actually; a townhouse whose current owner wants us to rent it from him once the remodel is complete. However, since we only have a couple of months to get together the money to move, to pay the first month's rent and the security deposit, a change in our spending habits is going to become necessary. We're shutting off our cable and my internet service at the beginning of May, so unfortunately, I shall no longer be able to post new stories. Which stinks, really, I have an Ororo story, one Ororo/Moose spinoff fic (Moose from 'No Greater Love'; remember Jubilee's big biker friend?) a Warren fic, and my first Jean/Scott fic, as well as the rough idea for another Jubes/Logan fic.

                I shall, of course, continue to write while I am offline; by the time I am able to sign back on hopefully about mid July or early August, September at the latest, I should have a whole pack of new stories to share with all of you. I regret having to disappoint all of those readers out there who have come to enjoy my stories, both those who review, and those who do not.

                I will keep the email addresses of all those people who have kept in touch with me so far, and email you (you know who you are) when I am back online. If anyone else wishes to be informed when I am ready to post new stories, please drop me a line and let me know; my current email address will continue to be valid until May 1st. I am doing this so that everyone who needs to get in touch with me can do so before I sign off.

                Thanks again to everyone who has read reviewed, or enjoyed the stuff I write. I have enjoyed writing them, and I hope to see some of you, hopefully, back for more when I begin posting again after the move.

Thank you all muchly;

Jaenelle Angelline