Storm placed a reassuring hand on Bobby's shoulder as they left Rogue with Hank in the medical rooms below the mansion.
"She'll be fine," She said, steering the young man towards the main school area.
"She's in a coma…" Bobby said desolately.
"Hank says that you are probably right – it's probably just the shock of her powers suddenly returning after six months of oppression after the cure, and that sudden intake of energy was enough to knock her out. She'll be up and about in a day or so, I'm sure," Storm was aware she sounded like she was trying to convince herself. She was doing a lot of that lately.
Warren sat in Storm's office, watching the newcomer, or rather she was watching him. Her brilliant green eyes examined him from their perch, as though she could read what he was thinking just by looking at him. Though of course in the world of Mutants that wasn't such an impossibility.
Through all his years of hiding his 'condition', as his father had called it, he had always been very uncomfortable with people looking at him, but here sat in Storm's office with this strange girl staring quite blatantly at him, he didn't feel as uncomfortable as he thought he might. The positive influence of Xavier's school was starting to affect him.
"So, where are you from?" Warren asked, breaking the silence that had been hanging over the room since they arrived there.
"Britain," the girl replied.
"Where abouts in Britain?" Warren asked, "England, Wales?"
"England."
"Are you going to be any more specific?"
"I don't even know you," she didn't sound guarded or defensive. She was just plainly stating the obvious with the same light manner she had confronted Magneto with.
"Well, I was trying to remedy that," Warren said, "having a conversation is tricky when you only get one word answers."
"Are you a teacher here?" the girl asked, completely ignoring his last statement.
"That's right, though I'm not much older than some of the students… I'm just filling in really, until they can get more qualified help."
"What do you teach?"
"English Literature."
"Shouldn't that be American Literature?" the girl asked with a wry smile.
"The English refers to the language, not the country, though at the moment we are studying an American novel," Warren said, "Do you like reading?"
"I like stories," the girl replied.
"What's your favourite subject then?" Warren wasn't sure how old the girl was. She looked to be about nineteen, the same age as Rogue and Bobby and the other older kids, which of course meant she may well have left school years ago. However, with her being so hazy on details about her home, it was the only talking point Warren could think of.
"I don't know," the girl said with a shrug, "Nothing that involves numbers – I hate math."
"Don't you call it maths in England?" Warren questioned. The girl shrugged again.
"I'm just trying to fit in," she said.
"Well, even with a Mutant in the government and a president who understands us, this is probably the only place in America where you will fit in," he said
"I wouldn't mind if it was."
They fell into silence again, the girl staring out of the window onto the school grounds. Warren sat forwards in his chair to take a better look at her now she wasn't watching him. She looked to be in need of a good meal, but otherwise fit and well. Her pose as she sat on the desk was casual and confident but not cocky.
On a psychological level, Warren was very intrigued by her. Most mutants he had met were shy, reserved with a low self-esteem and often serious personal issues. Half the kids in the school were runaways, with many of the others lying their way in, telling their parents it was some sort of exclusive school that they had been invited to attend, rather than face the shame of telling their parents the truth. Then there were the self-promoting mutants who dealt with their differences and general rejection from the rest of society by developing a superiority complex and believing themselves to be better than the rest of the world. This girl didn't seem to fall into either category, and it was refreshing to see someone truly at peace with herself.
Storm and Bobby separated once they got back into the main school area, Bobby heading towards his room, Storm heading back towards her office. Halfway there she came across Logan.
"Is she going to be ok?" He asked.
"I don't know, Logan, Hank is with her now checking her condition," Storm said wearily, "We should know for definite in an hour or so…"
"Storm," Logan grabbed her by the arm, "Stop, rest for ten minutes at least."
"I can't, there's too much to do around here," Storm said, shaking her head.
"Yeah, and you won't be able to do any of it if you wear yourself out," he said, "Look, I know you want this place to live up to everything Xavier wanted it to be, but you aren't going to be letting the old man down if you take your mind off things for a while and have a good rest."
"Are you preaching to me, Logan?" Storm asked with the hint of a smile, "I didn't think you cared that much."
"I like you to think that," Logan said, "It keeps you on your toes."
Storm smiled properly, with a twinkle of amusement in her eyes.
"That's better," Logan said, "Now, go introduce yourself to Jack, then rest that pretty head of yours before you go even more grey than you already are!"
"Jack?" Storm asked.
"That's what Bobby called her," Logan said with a shrug, then headed off towards his room.
Storm continued on to her office, pausing briefly at the door to brush herself down and straighten out her hair before entering.
In her office, Warren was perched on a chair, his majestic wings spread out behind him, watching the new girl, who had made herself very at home sat on Storm's desk.
"Hi there," Storm said, "Sorry to keep you waiting!"
The girl stood up and turned to face her.
"Is Rogue ok?" she asked.
"She's… not, not at the moment," Storm said, "But she will be, in a few days time."
Jack nodded, relief crossing her face.
"I thought I'd hurt her," she said, "As it was when she grabbed my hand that she collapsed. Bobby explained in the car about her power, but I still feel kind of responsible."
"Don't," Storm said, "It wasn't your fault, whatever happened. You brought them back safe, and that's all that matters."
"It wasn't exactly hard," she said, "Magneto is a little too trusting."
"He's just not used to people standing up to him," Storm said, "But that's not what I came here to talk about."
She rubbed her hands together in a business like manner and walked round to sit at her desk, motioning for Jack to take a seat in front.
"I'll leave you ladies to it," Warren said, nodding briefly to Storm before leaving the room. Jack watched him until he had shut the door behind him.
"I trust you've already spoken to Professor Worthington?" Storm said, attracting her attention back over to the desk.
"He didn't tell me his name," Jack said.
"Well, he is Warren Worthington, the third to be exact, and one of the teachers here," Storm said, "We only have a few members of staff at the moment – we've suffered three losses in the last year, and another left to return home. The others are Professor Raven Darkholme, or Mystique as you know her."
"Magneto's old friend," Jack said with a nod.
"She teaches Computing," Storm continued, "Then we have Professor Hank McCoy, who teaches the sciences, mainly biology, Professor Logan, who doesn't really teach anything – he just helps here and there when he can be bothered, and last of all, myself. I am Professor Ororo Munroe, and I teach History, but I am also acting as Headmistress to this place. Now, I'm assuming you want to stay here?"
"If you'll have me," Jack replied.
"Well, you're a mutant, presumably a runaway, so you more than qualify," Storm said, "I just need to ask you a few questions for our records. Only tell me as much as you want to, but the more you can say the easier it is for us. Firstly, what's your name, or what would you like to be called?"
"Jack," she said.
"Jack…"
"Just Jack."
"Ok," Storm said, noting it down, "Now I need to work out what class you would be in, if you want to be in a class at all that is?"
"I'm game," Jack said.
"Ok then, so, the class I put you in won't depend on age so much as ability – a lot of the kids who come here have really patchy schooling and need to be put in a lower class for the first term or so to cover the basics before moving up to a more appropriate level for their age. Now, you look to be about eighteen, nineteen?"
"Nineteen," Jack said.
"Then you are age-wise in a group with Bobby, Rogue, Peter and the other older students. Do you feel confident about your level of education? Think you would be ok to go straight into their class?"
"I think so," Jack replied.
"Ok, I'll try you out on their level, but if you find yourself struggling at all, there is no shame in moving down a class for a few weeks until you find your level," Storm said kindly, "Now, one last thing. Your powers."
"Well, Pyro called it telekinesis, but I don't know if that's right," Jack said.
"Can you move objects with your mind? Without touching them?" Storm asked.
"Not really," Jack said, "I can push things away, lift them up, but I can't bring them closer."
She demonstrated, shooting the same green energy from her hands that she had used on Magneto towards a paperweight. She lifted it and pushed it away, moved it around by moving her arm, but she couldn't draw it towards herself.
"Well, that's some kind of energy projection," Storm said, "Does it have a limit? How much can you carry, and how far can you propel it away?"
"It depends how heavy it is," Jack shrugged, "People, no problem, but I've never really pushed it much further than that."
"Right," Storm said, noting something down on the file, "Anything else?"
"I have this sort of shield, thing," Jack said, "Throw something at me and I'll demonstrate."
She stood up and walked backwards. Storm picked up the paperweight and threw it over towards her. It got about a metre away and bounced off an invisible shield. Before it could hit the ground and shatter, Jack caught it with her green energy rays and levitated it back over to the table.
"Ok," Storm said, finishing her notes with a final flourish, "That's just about everything I need to ask, unless you want to tell me anything about your family, where you used to live?"
Jack shook her head. Very few of the students went on to answer the last few questions on the file. Storm was a little disappointed – she almost thought Jack would. Her ease of self obviously wasn't as deep-rooted as it appeared to be.
"Well, never mind, if you at any time change your mind, let me know, but otherwise, welcome to Xavier's school for the gifted!"
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