Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men.
V.V.V.V.V.V
Brooke and Professor Xavier were in his study discussing the events of the last few days.
"What can you tell me about the other night?"
She stared out the window. "I remember feeling Etienne and the other boys were in trouble." She glanced at the Professor and noticed he didn't seem surprised. "I could feel him in the back of my head, I remember the sensation of his arm breaking, and the pain was horrible. I just got angry and snapped."
Xavier studied the girl in front of him. "Does that make you nervous?"
She looked back at him. "Does what make me nervous?"
"The fact that you could feel him in your head."
She laughed at him. "No."
"Why not?"
She looked nervous for a second. "Because I always can." She looked down at the floor, embarrassed.
"When did it start?"
"Since I met him after he had his heart attack. She looked up at the Professor. "It started out just as flashes when we touched, but it's gotten stronger until lately I can feel it all the time. We originally thought it was because of his empathy, but now I don't know."
The Professor considered what he had been told. "Would you mind if I studied this connection the two of you have?"
She shrugged. "Will it hurt?"
"No. All you have to do is relax."
She nodded and leaned back in the chair.
V.V.V.V.V.V
Etienne had joined the rest of the X-Men at lunch. He grabbed his plate and moved to the last seat located between Rogue and Kitty. He let the conversation roll over him, feeling drained from the excitement of the last few days. Kitty was telling Rogue about her date with Kurt they had planned for the next day. Bobby and Evan were discussing if it was feasible to build a skateboard ramp made of ice in August. Personally he thought the ice would melt too fast, but it sounded like they were going to try it anyway.
Kitty tapped him on the shoulder. "Like, where is Brooke?"
He looked at her. "I t'ink she's still wit' de Professor."
"Do you think we should make her a plate before everything is gone?"
He started to answer her when pain hit him like a bolt of lightening. He half stood, clenching his jaw and eye shut, digging his fingers in the table to stay on his feet. Feeling the heat spreading again like it had two nights ago. Mon Dieu, not again. He fought against the sensation, wanting to stay human.
"Etienne? Like, are you okay?" The conversations around them ceased as everyone noticed what was going on.
Something was wrong; he knew that deep in his gut. He shook the pain off and looked up, locking eyes with Kitty.
She gasped, his eyes were slitted, just like she had been told they were yesterday when he attacked Logan.
He stepped back, knocking his chair over. "Damn it." He could feel rage boiling up and welcomed it. She was supposed to be safe with the Professor, not being subjected to this! Gambit tried to grab his arm from across the table but he shook it off, turning to head down the hallway towards the Professor's study.
"Look!" Kurt and Gambit looked to where Kitty was pointing at the table. Four parallel gashes had been dug into the table on either side of Etienne's plate. Without another word they both took off after him, barely rounding the corner in time to see him throw the Professor's door open.
"What de hell did you do?" Etienne stepped into the room, moving towards Brooke who was slouched in a chair before the desk. He growled when he saw her eyes were closed and she wasn't moving. He focused his attention back on the Professor.
Xavier was surprised when Etienne barged into his study; he was still recovering from the backlash when he had mentally touched the link between Brooke and Etienne. "She told me about the bond between the two of you."
Etiennedidn't move. "Y' meddling in t'ings dat don't concern you."
The Professor studied him. "My students always concern me." He saw McCoy and Logan watchfully slip into the room to stand behind Gambit and Kurt who were stationed in front of the doorway.
Etienne moved to stand in front of the desk, challenging the Professor. "Den do y' make it a point t' hurt y' students when y' trying t' help dem?"
McCoy chose that moment to try and get closer to Brooke to see if she needed medical attention. He didn't get within three feet before Etienne turned around, eyes blazing.
"Don't touch her."
"McCoy is only trying to help her, you need to calm down." The Professor tried to sound reasonable.
"De pain has her too close t' changing. She might take him as a threat, an' I might not be able t' control her if she does." He could hear an exclamation of surprise behind him.
"What about you?"
He locked his gaze on the Professor. "I'm hanging on wit' tooth an' nail." He bent down and ran his finger down Brooke's face.
"You can control it?"
He laughed harshly. "I wouldn't call it control, more like having a forest fire run over y' an trying not t' fall cause if y' do, dat it'll be de end o' it."
"You can feel her transformations?"
Etienne nodded. "Yeah, I can feel everyt'ing." He started when he felt a hand on his arm. She opened her eyes and blinked at him, trying to focus. "Hurts." She closed her eyes again. Etienne focused his attention on the girl in front of him. She just leaned against the chair, unable to move for fear of jarring her head. "Henri, we will follow y' back t' de Medical Bay." He looked at Kurt. "Can y' get the mattress from her bed and teleport it down dere? Kurt nodded and bamfed away. He picked Brooke up and looked back at the Professor. "We finish dis later."
Logan and Gambit moved out of the way as they left heading downstairs. Logan turned back to the Professor. "Well Chuck, what was all that about?"
"I need to think about what I saw more, but I think both of their powers somehow meshed to link them together. The link gradually grew stronger but was in existence only when they spent time together. Think of a telephone. You feel closer to the person on the other end when you're on it, but you can hang up at will. Two nights ago, the pain and emotions both of them were experiencing acted like an overload on an electrical circuit. In order to protect the link, it picked up the phone for Etienne and gave him the use of Brooke's mutant abilities to drain off some of the power. The Professor broke off and closed his eyes. "The only problem is that as a dragon, Brooke is ruled by her emotions and instinct. When instinct kicked in, the link solidified and is now permanent. In essence, they cannot hang up the phone and end the conversation.
"So y' mean she will permanently be an empath an' he will be able t' shape-shift? Can y' fix it?"
The Professor sighed and shook his head. "Without breaking the link, I don't think so and if the events that just occurred are any indication, he's going to fight that suggestion, if it could be done at all."