"No ma'am, that won't happen, I promise." Bobby said.
"All right." She looked at Danny. "If you start to feel bad, come back here immediately."
Danny nodded.
----------------------------------
Danny's day had been full of surprises and they just kept coming. After demonstrating for Ms. Munroe that morning, he had come back to the Med-Lab pretty much drained and gone back to sleep. Dr. Grey had warned him that suffering from heat stroke would make him tired sooner but he had only half-believed her. That afternoon, after having his first solid meal in over 24 hours, one of the older students from the school came down to visit and to see if Danny couldn't go 'exploring' a bit. The student introduced himself as Bobby Drake and he seemed nice enough but would he be that way out of view of the adults?
After gaining the upper floors of the mansion and, away from the prying ears of the adults, Danny decided to see how trustworthy Bobby could be.
"What's this place really like?" he asked.
In typical teenage fashion, Bobby shrugged and said "It's cool."
"He's not going to send me back to my folks, is he?" Danny asked.
"Not unless you wanna go. But, he'll want you to let them know where you are and that you're okay."
"If I do that, then they'll know where I am."
"Don't bet on it. Professor Xavier's got his ways."
Danny chewed on that piece of information and did not respond immediately. He followed Bobby into one of the many "game rooms" in the mansion but stopped dead in the doorway. It was, quite possibly, the coolest room he had ever seen.
"Have a seat." Bobby said, dropping into a chair. "You want something to drink? Don't worry about getting yelled at, we drink in here all the time."
Danny only half-heard Bobby. He was too busy staring around the well-appointed room. A myriad of books and games lined the walls. An overstuffed couch was set in between a scattering of chairs and placed directly in front of the largest tv set he had ever seen. He simply stared. He could really get used to living in a place like this.
"Go on, sit. Chair's not going to bite." Bobby said, watching Danny.
Danny sat in a chair close to the door.
"You want to watch something? We've got a satellite dish. 500 channels and more movies than you'll be able to watch in a lifetime." Bobby said.
"Sure." Danny replied, with a shrug. He didn't know what to think at that point.
After some channel surfing, a baseball game was found that both boys liked and silence descended.
At the bottom of the 3rd inning, Danny asked Bobby "What can you do?"
"Turn stuff into ice. I can make stuff out of ice too." Bobby replied. He made a fist, then opened it a moment later. An ice baseball rested in the palm of his hand.
"Cool." Danny breathed.
Bobby shrugged and dumped the ice baseball into the nearest trash can. "I can always hire myself out for parties. What about you?"
"I can move stuff by controlling the air around it. Ms. Munroe calls it elements control. I can't make it rain but I can make the rain move and I can make the air scatter someone's stuff." Danny held out his hand and the TV Guide flew off the table.
"Cool." Bobby said, impressed.
"Whatever." Danny replied.
That evening, Danny sat in Professor Xavier's office for the very first time since arriving at the mansion and he was utterly terrified. While the Professor hadn't said that he had to leave, the Professor hadn't said he could stay either. The Professor had asked him if he wanted to learn how to control his powers and that was a good thing but, what if Professor Xavier had changed his mind? Where would he go if he wasn't allowed to stay? He couldn't go home.
Professor Xavier faced him from across the desk and smiled. He reminded Danny of his favorite uncle, an uncle Danny hadn't seen in years and probably didn't even know where he lived any more.
Story of my life. No one knows where I am and no one cares. He thought darkly. He looked at the floor and missed the momentary frown on Professor Xavier's face.
"I trust you are feeling better?" Professor Xavier asked him.
Danny looked up and nodded. Whatever happened to him, he would take it like a man.
"You are welcome to stay and go to school here. As you can see, we have plenty of room. However, I would ask that you notify your parents and tell them that you are safe and all right."
Danny jerked in his chair as if surprised and stared at Professor Xavier not quite believing his ears. The Professor had said he could stay! He opened his mouth to thank Professor Xavier, then closed it and hung his head. "It'd be better if they didn't know. They've got too many other things to deal with. It's better if I'm not there."
"Are you certain?" Professor Xavier asked.
Danny nodded.
"I want you to watch something." Professor Xavier said. The doors of the armoire near him opened, revealing a tv set and VCR. Both the tv and VCR came on at the same time, a moment later, the newscast Logan had recorded began to play again.
Danny watched the newsbroadcast, transfixed and when the tape was done, he was shaking slightly.
"Now, having seen that, do you really think your parents don't care?" Professor Xavier asked.
Danny stubbornly shook his head. "If I write them, they'll know where I am and if they know where I am, they'll want to come and get me. I don't want them to come! I've made too big a mess at home! I'll only make things worse if I go back! I don't want them to know where I am! They're better off without me!" The longer he talked, the louder, and more upset, he became.
Behind him, the door to Professor Xavier's office opened a crack and Scott appeared in the doorway. He cocked an eyebrow at Professor Xavier, who shook his head. Scott withdrew but left the door open.
Professor Xavier waited for a moment, then cleared his throat and said "I understand. You wish to spare your parents any more pain. But think about this for a moment. Wouldn't your parents be in more pain if they didn't know if you were safe? Or would they suffer more if they did know you were safe? I can guarantee that were you to write a letter, it would be delivered in such a way, so, they would never know where it came from."
"Really? You can do that?"
"Yes. Would you like to write one now?"