Disclaimer: I don't own anything, although Idid just make a little doll for Mr. Boo-Boo Sock Monkey to play with, so he won't be lonely. I think I'll name her Jean since her hair looks like Dr. Grey's. Anyway, here's the next chapter, please enjoy.
I woke up in a panic; I had to get out of there before he killed me. I sat up, ready to run away, but realized that I was in a bed in what looked like a hospital room. I reached up, felt the bandage on my forehead, and wondered who had taken me to the hospital? Maybe Josh had felt guilty about what he had done and had called an ambulance, or something. I was sure that the nurses would want to know that I was awake and so I looked around for one of their alert buttons, but I couldn't find one. I continued to look around and noticed that it wasn't a proper hospital, but looked more like a lab of some kind. My mind began to race, what was going on?
"I'm glad you're finally awake, how are you feeling?" a woman asked me as she walked into the room. She was tall, had red hair and was very pretty.
"Where am I?" I asked, trying to keep my voice under control.
"I'm sorry, someone should have been here when you woke up to explain but we've been so busy with the wedding. I'm Dr. Jean Grey; you're at Professor Xavier's school for the gifted,"
"What am I doing here, how did I get here?"
"Logan brought you here,"
"Logan?" I asked, confused.
"Yes, he teaches here,"
"This is the school that he lives at?" I asked, looking around.
"Well, this is just the infirmary, the rest doesn't look this scary," she said with a warm smile.
"But how did he know to bring me here, I went home by myself,"
"He and my husband followed you because he was concerned about you,"
"Your husband?"
"Scott, I think you met him and Bobby last night,"
"Oh, yeah," I said, still very confused. "How did they know what happened to me, they weren't inside when it happened?"
"They heard you scream, so they busted down the door and went in,"
"I don't remember screaming,"
"It's a good thing you did, though, that his was really hard and you were bleeding pretty badly; if they would have gotten you here any later I don't think you would have done so well,"
"What did they do to him?"
"I'm not sure; Scott carried you out to the car and left Logan in there with him,"
"He probably killed him then," I said, the panic from before starting to bubble up again slightly.
She smiled at me. "He didn't kill him; he probably had a few broken bones but nothing for you to worry about. Logan won't get in trouble for anything,"
"How did you…?" I was thinking about what he had done to Josh, worrying that he might call the police on Logan.
"I'm telepathic,"
"What does that mean?"
"It means that I can read minds and project thoughts into other people's,"
I looked around me once more. "So this really is a school for mutants?"
"Miss Wells, I'm glad to see that you're feeling better," a man said to me as I walked into an office with Dr. Grey. Logan, Scott and another woman with white hair was in there with him. "I'm Professor Charles Xavier, this is my school,"
"Hello," I said with a shy smile. "It's actually Rynolds now, instead of Wells,"
"You got married?" Logan said.
"No, it was my mother's maiden name, so I changed it,"
"I apologize, Miss Rynolds, would you like a seat?" he said, motioning to a free chair beside the desk behind which he was sitting.
"It's fine, and yes, thank you," I said, walking to the chair and sitting down.
"I would like to extend an invitation for you to live here at my school. I am quite aware of your situation with the immaturity of your powers and would also like to personally help you with developing them further,"
"What do you mean by developing them; I thought they were fully developed?"
"While you were living with your foster parents I understand that you were slightly hesitant to practice your powers and test your mutation and so they have not been fully developed,"
"How did you know that, I never told anyone?"
"I, as well as Dr. Grey, am telepathic,"
"Is everyone here physic?"
He smiled at me. "Not quite, I would have only assumed as much that Logan would have told you his powers,"
"Well…no, neither of us actually ever…talked about it, I was just told that he was a mutant and I knew that he knew that I was, but I didn't know about it until he left," I said, looking over at Logan. "What can you do?"
"Uh, well…Jean?" he said.
"His mutation is a rejuvenation ability, which allowed for his skeletal structure to be link with an indestructible metal called adamantium, and it makes up the three, twelve inch claws in each hand, which he can detract at will," Dr. Grey explained.
"Oh…that's kind of cool…" I said.
"What about you?" Scott asked.
I lifted my hands, facing the palms together and forced a small amount of energy from both, allowing the electricity to weave around each other until it grew to the size of a tennis ball. "I can get it a little bit bigger than this, but I just thought that that was it,"
"Is it electricity?" the other woman asked.
"Yeah, it's pretty strong; I can usually boot the battery to my truck with it,"
"That's why you didn't have jumper cables," Scott stated.
Logan swore. "Pretty strong? Six years ago you could shock even me," he said.
"When did I do that?"
"One night you were mad at me and when you touched my hand it shocked me,"
"Yeah, that was a bit of a problem, I don't do that anymore," I said, absorbing the energy back into my palms. "Besides, if you've got aluminum running through your body, it would probably hurt you worse than others,"
"It's adamantium, not aluminum," he defended.
"Sorry, adamantium," I apologized.
"I believe that you could develop your powers even further than you have over these past few years, now that you don't have to hide them," Professor Xavier said.
"So this whole school is just to teach mutant kids and you all teach them?"
"That's right," he said.
"And everyone knows what this place is and they're okay with a mutant school?"
"No, the public thinks that we're merely a school for gifted children,"
I tried to take it all in; the whole idea of a school, especially one as big as that one was, full of mutants was so huge, I had never known there was such a thing. He had offered me an invitation to stay there, but my old thinking mentality had stayed intact over all of those years and I couldn't help but wonder why he would want me to stay there. Past experiences proved for me that he needed a motive, one that I didn't know, but the speculation made me uneasy. I had already stayed the night in his house and received medical attention from his staff, more than I wanted to be indebted to him, but enough for me to be grateful.
"I do not expect you to pay me back for any of this," he said.
I looked up at him from where I had been staring at the carpet, thinking. "Oh, I uh…" I said, blushing. I wasn't enjoying my introduction to the telepathic abilities.
"I do, however, wish to offer you a job,"
"A job, like what kind, because I can't teach," I said.
"No, a recruiting job, I've been told of your fantastic people skills," he said and Logan laughed.
I shot him a look. "I wouldn't say that they were 'fantastic' per say,"
"You seemed really comfortable with all of the people last night," Scott said.
I had worked in a bar for more than half of my life, it just seemed natural to me, but I had never thought of it as having good people skills, it was just how I had grown up.
"What sort of recruiting?" I asked.
"I would like for you to help talk to the children who will be eligible to attend the school. I feel that because you are younger and more to their age, that they will listen to you, rather than me or the other members of my staff,"
"Not to be rude, but I sort of have a job already,"
"Uh," the white haired woman said sheepishly. "I'm afraid not, I contacted your boss to inform her that you have been injured and that you might need some time off, but she said that someone had told her that you were a mutant and she said that you were fired,"
I let out a sigh. "That's brilliant," I said sarcastically, running my hands back through my hair.
I knew that I must have looked like a mess. My hair was all over the place, my makeup was smudged and Dr. Grey had given me one of their zip-up gray sweatshirts that was at least two sizes too big to wear over my tank top, which I felt very exposed in outside of work.
"You can live here for free, whether you chose to work for me or not,"
"How do you know which kids can attend and which can't? I mean, you don't just run down random people until you get it right?"
"Not quite, I have a device which allows me to locate humans and mutants, to tell which have powers,"
"I'm sorry but the whole 'powers' thing is sounding all very superheroish, I'm just waiting for you to break out with superhero names, or something," I joked. They all looked at each other. "Oh dear…you do have superhero names, don't you?"
"The woman over there is Ororo Munroe, also known as Storm," he said, pointing to the white haired woman. "You know Scott, also known as Cyclops, Jean, also known as Phoenix, you met Bobby last night, he's not here because he is on his honeymoon with his new wife Marie, they are also known as Iceman and Rouge. If you chose to work for me, you will be sharing your job with them,"
"And you and Logan are…who?"
"Logan is Wolverine and I'm afraid I don't have another name,"
"That's cheap Logan, using your fighting name as a superhero name,"
"We're not superheroes," Logan said to me, sounding slightly upset.
"I don't have a name, do I need one?"
"How about Socket-" Logan started, and I knew that 'Girl' was going to finish it.
"You know what Logan, I've gone through a lot of therapy to try and get over that," I said shooting him a look. He just smirked at me. "Look, I'm sorry, I'm just trying to grip what's being said here, this is all just a bit odd for me. I mean; is there anything else I should know about before I make fun of it and really just embarrass myself further, there's not some Justice League thing going on here, is there? Some underground group of you guys fighting for truth, justice and the American way, or anything?"
"My group of teachers here, along with Bobby and Marie, makes up what has been named the X-Men. There is a secret war that's being waged between humans and mutants, which we are all fighting in," Professor Xavier started.
"So you're fighting against the humans?"
"No, we are fighting for the humans, and the mutants. My staff and I fight for the unity between the two; we all believe that one day we will all learn to cohabitate with one another. Until then we battle against a very powerful mutant name Eric Lancher, or Magneto, who thinks that they only way for us to not hide is for the humans to be altered into mutants somehow, or for them to be gone completely, and we are constantly fighting to keep him from doing so,"
"Yeah…this is a joke, right? I mean, I've got a concussion and I'm just having some weird dreams induced by either loss of blood or pain medication, because this is all for too…odd, to say the least,"
"This ain't no Saturday mornin' cartoon, kid," Logan said to me.
"Well, it sounds all a little too much like a bad episode of Spiderman or something,"
"I understand that this is quite a lot for you to take in, in one day especially, you have plenty of time to think on my job offer and I'm sure that you're very tired, you may go to your room and sleep if you like," said the Professor.
"My room?"
"Yes, Scott and Logan brought in your things and placed them in a free room that was prepared for you for when you were ready to leave the infirmary,"
I nodded my head. "I apologize for being rude or coming off as ungrateful, I've not been here for a day just yet but I really do appreciate all of the help you've given me. I'm not trying to sound sarcastic or anything, I'm just trying to sift through everything that you're telling me and grasp the important stuff, but I'm getting a little sidetracked with all of the names and this whole X-Men thing. I am very thankful that you are giving me a room to use while I'm here and recovering, and I would like to get as much information about the job that you're offering me before I make a decision, and I thank you for both, considering the situation that I've recently found myself in. It's nice to know that I can rest here,"
"You are more than welcome to stay for as long as you wish,"
"Thank you," I said with a small smile.
"Logan, if you would show Miss Rynolds to her room, I'm sure she would enjoy some sleep," the Professor said.
"Yeah," he said, moving from the desk that he had been leaning up against with his arms across his chest, on the other side of the room from where I was seated. "Follow me,"
I got up from my seat and followed him from the room. He led me down a long hall, up a flight of stairs, down another hall, passing a series of doors, a few of which were open, displaying rooms with every few rooms there were various teenagers together, talking or doing whatever. We passed one and a girl came running from the room, nearly running into Logan.
"Sorry, Mr. Logan," she said, blushing.
"It's alright, just watch where you're goin'," he said.
"Mr. Logan?" I said with a laugh. "They don't call you Wolverine?"
"No," he said shortly.
He didn't say anything else as he continued to lead me down the hall, around a corner and into a quieter section of rooms.
"So when did you start acting nice?" I asked as he paused outside of a door.
"I don't know, when did you start dressing like a prostitute?"
"When I started working the streets about two years ago," I managed to say with a straight face. As a result, he shot me a look from under his furrowed brows. "I'm joking. Eighty-six the whole nice idea. Anyway,if you wear low cut tops you get better tips,"
"What happened to you?" he asked, looking me over.
"I grew up,"
"No, I thought you weren't gonna' work in bars all of your life,"
"That was when I thought I would have money to go to college, without money a lot of things are hard to do,"
"So you're workin' to go to school?"
"No, I was working to pay for an apartment and the bills of living there, to keep my truck from falling apart all of the time, plus gas and insurance for it. Insurance for me, a cell phone bill, and you've seen how I eat, that takes up a whole paycheck on its own," I said with a smile, looking away.
I looked around us and took in my surroundings. The school seemed as if it had been a nice, big house at one point, but had been turned into a school by the generosity of Professor Xavier. It was old mixed with new, a New England elegance with high tech, and Logan couldn't have looked more out of place, but some how oddly comfortable, there.
He opened the door, pushing it all the way open. "Jean and 'Ro put you clothes that you had with you in the dress and closet, or whatever. You've got your own bathroom and uh…that's the room,"
I stared at him, trying to see if he really had changed or if my memory had fooled me, remembering an exaggerated version of him. He seemed so much calmer than the Logan that I had known. The one from the bar had an animal side waiting to boil over at any given moment, ready to snap at anyone. I could always see it in his eyes when he fought; it was pure, unbridled rage, seething just under the surface, only put away when he spoke to me. But right then, when I was looking at him, he didn't look like Wolverine the fighter, he looked like a dog kept on a leash until it had learned its boundaries. His eyes looked like they no longer belonged to a young, attractive man, but to an old, tired man. He had asked what had happened to me, but I wondered the same thing about him, he had changed as much as I had, maybe even more.
"So, you found a home," I said, more as a statement rather than a question, simply because I was expecting him to just agree with me. There was no way that he could deny that it was his home after six years of living and working there, no matter what the look in his eyes said as they danced around, looking into mine. There was something about him that looked like he still didn't want to be attached to anyone or anything, that he wanted his options to be left open, but he had failed where that school was concerned; he was attached to it and its occupants.
"Yeah," he said, convincing me that, while he may have enjoyed living there, he still have the urge to go running off into the woods, howling at the moon. Oh how the mighty have fallen.
"Good, I'm happy for you, but…" I said, trailing off.
"But what?"
I looked him right in the eye. "I uh…I never thought that you would be teaching and saving the innocent," I joked.
"A lot's happened over the past few years, kid, I guess we've both changed,"
"For the best I hope," I said with a weak smile, looking away and then back at him. "This is so odd,"
"What is?"
"This. I never imagined ever seeing you again, I just thought that you were gone, but it's really good to see you and how you're doing. I've thought a lot about you since I last saw you," I admitted, slightly embarrassed.
He nodded his head slowly. "Me, too," he said.
"Really?"
"Yeah, I met Rouge that night I left and she was a year older than you. I've got to see her grow up and get married," he said, shaking his head, muttering swear words and running his hand through the back of his hair. "She reminded me alotta' you. I'm sorry I didn't come get you that night, I was on my way,"
"What happened that night?"
"One of Magneto's guys attacked us not too far down the road from the bar. Scott and 'Ro came and brought the two of us here,"
"Ah, Magneto, the evil villain," I said with a laugh.
"Something like that,"
"I'm glad you didn't forget me, then," He didn't say anything; he just nodded his head. "Well, I better go clean myself up; I'm sure I look like a mess, I need to see if I can do something with my hair with this bandage on,"
Dr. Grey had replaced me gauze bandage with a smaller, more reasonable, Band-Aid like thing.
"What happened to your hair?"
"Oh," I said, reaching up and touching it. "I straightened it. Most of the guys at the bar liked straight hair better, again with the tip thing,"
"I like it better the other way," he said.
I smiled at him. "Thanks," I said, slightly blushing.
Why was I blushing? It was only Logan, the guy I used to joke around with, not someone who should make me blush when he paid me a compliment, but there I was; standing in front of him, my face turning a lovely shade of pink.
"If need anything my room's right down here," he said, pointing down the hall to a door.
"Alright," I said.
"We eat dinner at seven, if you're hungry,"
"What time is it now?" I asked.
He looked at the watch on his wrist. "It's nearly five,"
"And where do you eat?"
"The dinin' room; just come and knock on my door and I'll take you down there,"
"Okay, thanks,"
I walked into my new room, watching Logan walk away down the hall to his own before I closed the door.
I walked around, exploring the room; it was the biggest room that I had ever been able to call my own. As I was looking through the wardrobe that Dr. Grey had hung my clothes in, I couldn't help but think about how much my life had changed in that one day. I thought I had been used to change at that point, but what had happened to me was a life altering experience and I didn't know what I was supposed to do. I was slightly scared because it was a very unusual situation. Whenever someone would present me with the opportunity to live in their home I would have either known them for a while or had time to research them before making a final decision, but I had found myself thrown headfirst into the bizarre worlds of other mutants and having to adapt as fast as possible. Adapting is what had allowed me to survive, allowed me to live in different places with different people, and I felt confused as to why I felt so out of place there.
For a person who had at one point been considered 'emotionally retarded' by therapists, I was feeling quite emotional. All within less than twenty-four hours, I had seen Logan for the first time in six tears, attempted to me, and almost, killed. Moved into a strange house with even stranger people living in it, fired from and offered a new job that I knew nothing about, because a grown man who called himself 'Cyclops' suggested me based on my interaction with people that he had witnessed me around for three hours.
Was I supposed to be happy, sad, grateful, upset, full of rage, what? I didn't know, so I did just what my therapist had tried so hard to get me to stop: Push all of my emotions away to the back of my mind and try to remain as distant from the problem as possible. Coaxing myself back into a pattern of not playing a part until I saw the big picture, making sure that I knew the roles that everyone else played before getting involved.
I was scared because I didn't have a plan, which I always did, but for once in six years, I also felt safe to be there with Logan again, knowing that he would protect me if I needed him to, just like he used to.
But what struck me the most was that for the first time in my life I was with other mutants that were very candid about their mutations, being as helpful and supportive of me as possible, and yet I felt the most out of place there with them, the ones who were just like me.