The girl sighed, and nodded. "All right," she said in a preoccupied voice. She rose from the bench, then stood still.
"What are you waiting for?" asked Jean.
"I don't know which roads to take," the girl answered after a slight pause. Jean frowned, and tried to reach her mind to see if the girl was slow – and retreated in shock at the effort it was taking for her to hold on to Kurt's mind from this distance. She looked at the girl with new respect, and led the way to the Institute.
"By the way, what's your name?" she asked, suddenly realising that she had no idea what to call this girl.
"Monster."
Jean blinked. "Huh?"
The girl didn't respond. 'What sort of a name is Monster?' Jean wondered to herself.
They walked the rest of the way in silence, Monster's pace quickening as they drew closer to the gates. Jean found herself hurrying to keep up, and called ahead to let the Professor know that they were coming.
When they entered the gates, Professor X could sense for himself the strain on Monster of holding her connection to Kurt open. But as they drew closer, she began to relax, keeping his mind secure with what the Professor was startled to recognise as the ease of long practise.
Studying her mind also gave him the answer to a question that had been worrying him for quite some time. Her connection to Kurt was rather like a one-way mirror – all of his experiences were open to her, but nothing from her reached him unless she wanted it to.
It's a very interesting connection, isn't it, Professor? 'asked Jean.
Indeed it is, he agreed. If I am not mistaken, it is also the reason that Kurt had no idea what he had done with Kitty's CD.
Jean paused, unable at first to remember what he was talking about. Wait – you mean that she's the one who did something to it?
I think it's a distinct possibility, Xavier responded dryly.