Author's Note: Just a heads up, I'm going to be referring to the new character as "she" for a while. It will be a little while until she gets a name. Also, I may occasionally switch the point of view. I will try to make it clear who is telling the story when. Thank you to those who read it and reviewed. R&R!

She had remained unconscious throughout the flight back to the mansion. She had not awoken when they brought her to the medical wing. She made no sound while she was being strapped to monitors and Beast took a sample of blood from her. Yet from the moment Logan hit her, her hands shook and clenched and unclenched as though she was suffering from some subconscious spasms.

"There is massive brain activity," Xavier said quietly as he examined the monitors. "All levels of her brain are constantly working at all times, like they are all needed in order to process whatever is going on in her mind. I've never seen this before."

"What does it mean?" Storm asked. She was standing near the unconscious mutant, observing her carefully. She warily watched the hand movement and her eyes rolling from side to side beneath her eyelids. There was a grudging feeling of jealousy and anger that this young woman could override Storm's powers and yet she couldn't even survive a blow on the head without fainting. Still, the feelings shamed Storm.

"It means that she needs her entire brain for every second," Xavier replied. "As I'm sure you're all wondering, I can't tell what her powers are from this. But I do know that she is a class 5." He paused to think, his eyes glancing briefly at Logan for any sign of a reaction. "Tell me how you brought her here."

"I hit her," Logan said gruffly. He was seated as far away from the stranger as possible, but he found it nearly impossible to keep from looking at her. She was a class 5, and that brought back difficult memories about Jean. She was also a class 5 and she nearly killed Xavier. But there was something different about this woman. She looked relatively young, younger than Storm, but she had a mystical quality about her. He wasn't quite sure what color to call her hair, since it was now a shimmering reddish brown. Her face was young and almost pure, if it weren't for her eyes shifting constantly.

But the strangest and most unsettling thing about her was that the moment he touched her, even for the split second it took to knock her unconscious, his skin prickled with a strange sensation. He couldn't tell what it was, whether it was anger, desire, or power. But in that instant he had no desire to hurt her. In fact he felt nothing at all. There was no anger, pain, or sorrow. And he did not know why.

"You hit her?" repeated the professor. "Why would you do that?"

Logan paused before replying and instead Angel cut in. "None of us could get to her. I had tried flying, but the winds she was creating were too strong. And if Kurt tried to vanish and reappear, he was too unsteady and blown away."

Xavier nodded. "What was she doing when you arrived? Did she ever try to hurt you?"

"I don't think she knew we were there, Professor," Bobby cut in. "She was just screaming and trying to hurt herself. She kept scratching herself and tearing at her clothes. I don't think meant to anything at all, actually."

"Thank you, Bobby. Now Bobby, Peter, Kitty, I would like you all to return to your rooms. Thank you very much for your assistance." Xavier smiled and nodded at them. Then when they left his expression hardened and he approached the sleeping mutant. It was clear that he was going to attempt to read her mind. He placed his hands near her temples and closed his eyes. Everyone held their breath as they watched.

Xavier opened up link between himself and the mutant woman. For the first moment he received several different emotions. They were all vague and did not help him at all. Then suddenly his head erupted in pain as thousands of different emotions and thoughts flooded his mind. He couldn't sort them out and everything jumbled together. He caught flashes of thoughts. Nothing made sense and it hurt beyond compare. Suddenly a racking pain tore through his mind and broke the connection. Xavier gasped as he opened his eyes and stared in awe at the mutant.

Logan flinched when he saw the pain in the professor's eyes. A startling flashback of Jean was brought forward in his mind and he suddenly feared that this mutant may be the same. She may be the cause of so much more pain. He couldn't let that happen again. He wouldn't. Before it was too late he would-

"I promise you that she is an entirely different person than Jean," Xavier said softly. His eyes were on Logan now. He watched apprehensively, but he looked tired. "I don't think it will come to that."

Anger exploded in Logan's chest. It was sudden, but every feeling of guilt, sorrow, and anger that he had harbored since killing Jean tore through him. It was so sudden that for a moment he didn't think it was him doing it…He leapt off of his chair fuming. "You don't know that! She could be exactly like Jean! She could kill you!" In a single instant his anger grew to the point that he was ready to kill the mutant, and everyone's terrified silence only increased his feelings. He stormed over to the table and, before he could stop himself, pierced the metal of the table near where her wrist was laying.

The comatose woman's hand suddenly gained life and clenched around his wrist. She threw her eyes open and stared hard at Logan. Instinctively, he brought his other hand around, claws out and ready to kill, and pointed them in her face. He stopped just short of killing her. All of his anger subsided. His skin prickled and a tingling feeling ran up his arm. He felt nothing.


Everything fell into place. All of the thoughts and emotions that had run rampant through her mind regained order. For a moment she felt nothing except his raw emotion, what she put there. His eyes were angry and wild. Their direct contact made her even more aware of it.

She did not see him raise his hand, but she knew he was. He was thinking about it, thinking about killing her. His thoughts were intensified in her mind and she was able to change his thoughts and emotions. As his claws reached her face, she wiped all emotion from him. His hand stopped and he simply stared at her.

Her hand still gripped his arm. She needed the direct contact. It was the first time she could ever remember personally touching someone else, and that intensified her knowledge of their emotions. It gave her the ability to concentrate and regain peace in her mind.

Slowly, she changed his emotions once more. Now his greatest desire was nothing more than to save her. The claws slid back into his hand. A sharp stab of pain ran through her own hand as they cut through his flesh. It vanished almost instantly as he healed over. Slowly, almost grudgingly, she released his hand and removed all of her influence over his emotions.

He could only stare.