Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Marvel characters or any of the X-men. The same can be said of the wonderful world of J.K. Rowling. I am not making any profit, but simply having fun. I did however create Emma Winter.
Memories and dreams are in italics.
Edited in March 2021 during lockdown.
Emma's mind had been in overdrive ever since Jones had told her about the X-men. The witch had wanted to talk to Xavier as soon as she heard about the mysterious group but had had no idea how to begin the conversation. It amazed her that a whole secret operation was active under the mansion and Emma hadn't realised that until a 10-year-old boy told her so. She should have known better but being at the mansion the witch had put her guard down, so she had felt shocked that she had missed something like the X-men.
It wouldn't have bothered Emma as much if she had been a student and not a member of a very small faculty that worked on educating the children. Everyone knew except her and the witch was tired of constantly being kept in the dark, whether it was at Hogwarts or Xavier's. She knew Charles and Albus had their reasons for not always telling the whole truth, but it was tiring to always have to guess what was going on instead of everyone being honest. However, the witch painfully admitted to herself that she was an outsider at Xavier's, and it was perfectly understandable that the mutants wanted to hide their secrets from her as they didn't know her well enough yet. Trust grew with time and clearly, she hadn't been long enough at Xavier's to gain the amount of trust needed to be informed about the X-men.
Dumbledore had always kept the golden trio and Emma in the dark at Hogwarts, never giving them any information until long after everyone else knew. The excuse then was that they were too young to be caught up in the whole mess that was brewing in the magical world. The problem was that in the end they ended up fighting in the first line of defence and had been less informed than they should have been because the older wizards and witches were trying to protect the students from knowing too much about the evil in the world.
Before deciding to go to the professor, Emma had used the internet to search for information about the X-men. Emma had immediately found them; it had not been complicated at all as they were quite well profiled. Thankfully, Hermione had taken Harry, Ron and Emma to internet cafes to learn about muggle technology. Ultimately, Emma had learnt to use it even though everything about modern technology was annoying to her as it was to most wizards and witches.
The witch had seen all of them with just a few clicks of the mouse, all the staff dressed in rather unflattering leather outfits that didn't leave much room for the imagination. There was no way that they would ever fit in anywhere dressed in those things and above all the suits looked highly uncomfortable.
With pent up annoyance from years of being kept in the darkness, Emma walked quickly to Xavier's office and knocked on his door looking for answers.
"Come in," Charles Xavier said and as Emma walked promptly inside before closing the door behind her and looking around to face the professor who looked at her curiously.
"Professor," Emma said before sitting down and tapping her foot impatiently on the floor while she tried to figure out the best way to discuss her predicament with the professor without causing a scene.
"What can I do for you on this fine day?" professor Xavier asked joyfully and pretended not to notice the agitation in Emma's movements. He was used to mutants coming into his office in all kinds of moods, including Logan who had regularly come in to argue about getting help for his amnesia.
Emma's dark eyes met his for a moment before the witch said, "I heard a rumour that I would like to clear up with you."
"What could that be?" Charles asked curiously, the witch intrigued him, and the professor was always interested to hear her point of view about the world they lived in. Emma seemed to have settled in well at the mansion, especially since striking up an unwavering friendship with Logan. The two seemed to see eye to eye on many things and the professor was happy to see the two grow closer with each passing week.
Emma moved uncomfortably in the chair and Xavier realised that whatever the witch was about to say was incredibly awkward for her. The woman finally murmured, "the X-men."
"Ah yes, the X-men" Xavier said knowingly and staring at the witch in a new light. He had planned on telling her a while back as it had been decided at a staff meeting to let her know. The faculty knew that the chance of Emma knowing about their secret identities was very likely and they rather wanted to tell her than for her to find out the wrong way. Still, the professor had gotten caught up with work, and telling Emma had simply slipped her mind. So it happened what he had hoped wouldn't happen, Emma Winter had come looking for answers about the X-men rather than being informed by him. Charles Xavier saw Emma's agitated body language and realised that he had made an error by not informing her about the big secret that all the residents at the mansion were hiding.
"Is that's all you have to say?" Emma asked coldly feeling her temper getting worse with every second. The professor reminded her more and more of Albus in the way he kept secrets but what burned was to feel like such an outsider in the mansion. The witch wondered if she would ever be accepted as one of the crowd, even though she was different from them or if she would always be sitting on the side-lines if something were to occur.
"You invaded my mind and found out everything about me. Everything I wished to keep for myself," Emma took angrily a deep breath trying to calm down before she continued, "At the same time you decide not to tell me about the X-men, even though it was convenient to have me babysit while the so-called X-men pranced around in their little outfits trying to save the world."
Xavier blinked a few times in surprise. Nobody had spoken to him like that, not since he and Eric had been friends. Emma's sarcasm was slathered with more sarcasm as she managed to make fun of him and the entire staff in one sentence. Xavier had seen that Emma Winter could have a fiery temper in the way she bumped heads with Logan, but to feel that fire pointed towards himself was justified he knew and simmering underneath her anger was hurt that shone out of her dark eyes.
"Would you believe it if I told you we simply forgot?"
Her eyes unyielding glare suggested she didn't quite see it that way. Emma responded quickly, "forgot last Sunday when everybody had quite frankly silly excuses to leave the mansion while you and I stayed behind?"
"I had other things on my mind at that time. We had a mission to accomplish."
The witch glared at him before replying scathingly, "Yes I read about it, Chicago, the Brotherhood and a person who calls herself Mirage. Honestly, professor, I can get better information on the internet than by talking to you."
"Why is it that you are so angry about this Emma?"
"Everywhere I go people think I'm too young, too innocent and too much of an outcast to ever know what is going on. Nobody ever tells me anything and their excuse is always that they are protecting me. From what I have no idea. It's patronizing and very insulting to my intelligence."
"We had a staff meeting a month ago where we voted that you would get to hear our secret. The staff decided to trust you with this since you babysit for us during the missions after all. There is a war out there, we need you to know what is happening in case the mansion is attacked while the X-men are away. We like you and we trust you Emma," Xavier said seriously trying to make her understand why they needed her to know. She was considered one of them, and shouldn't feel like such an outsider.
It wasn't simply for just the knowledge but there might come a time that Xavier would need Emma's powers to protect the children. There had been an attack on the mansion shortly before Jean had died and even though Xavier had done his best to heighten the protection there were some things that simply could not be prepared for.
"Attack? On the children?" Emma asked shocked, feeling a shiver of dread run up her spine. The professor's words had reminded her too much of Hogwarts a few years earlier. The Death Eaters had had no qualms about attacking young children so why should this Brotherhood or others have any problem with attacking mutant children.
"Yes, we had intruders last year. They took several of the children captives and were going to do testing on them to find a cure against the mutant gene," Charles said, his voice filled with pain over the events that had happened.
"Didn't the government protect you?" the witch asked disgusted and feeling guilty for the outburst. Her bruised ego didn't matter, no matter how it hurt Emma personally to feel like an outcast, not when compared to the safety of the children that were under their protection.
"They were the government," Xavier answered angrily and hoping that the witch would understand the seriousness of the situation. It seemed that Emma did as her face turned white as a sheet and her eyes filled with unshed tears.
"You have seen that happen before my friend," Charles said his voice filled with understanding. He had seen nightmarish things in her mind from a magical war the world did not know of. The visions from her mind had shown him a bloody war where many were killed, including young children. The professor didn't have to be psychic to recognize the posttraumatic disorder the witch was suffering from as a by-product of the things she had lived through. Emma Winter was scared on mind and soul after what she had seen and the professor was doing his best to protect the children in his care to suffer as the children of the magical world had suffered.
"Yes," the witch whispered her mind going back to Hogwarts when hell had broken loose on the school grounds.
"I have seen it before and our government was also involved," Emma said meaning the Ministry of Magic that had been under the Death Eaters that in return had been under the control of Voldemort.
"Then you know how essential it is for us to try to keep the young ones safe, if we don't then who knows how the future will be."
"I understand Xavier but how can so few try to do so much? The X-men are too few to do what is needed," the witch implored him, and Xavier nodded in agreement. He had tried to recruit loyal mutants to help him protect the young mutants but very few lingered for long. It was the nature of mutants to wander, try to stay off the radar and out of trouble.
"We are very few and our loss was immense when Jean died but we won't give up. Rogue, Bobby, Piotr and Kitty have been training with us. We expect them to be full-fledged members of the X-men after they graduate. They will need the time until then to practise as much as possible and to hone in on their skills."
"How do you practise them? It must be hard since they all have such different powers," Emma asked and her mind went straight to Rogue's dangerous skin that could kill anyone within seconds.
"Everything we need is in the cellar. Perhaps its best I show you as it gives you a better oversight over our operation," the professor said friendly seeing that the conversation had affected Emma deeply. Even though Charles was sorry for all that Emma had gone through in her life he was still relieved that she dared to fight and had the powers to protect those that needed it.
"All right, let's go," Emma agreed with him and followed him to the hallway and into the elevator. Instead of pressing any buttons, the professor waited for the elevator door to close before saying aloud, "the cellar."
What only felt a few seconds later, the elevator stopped and the two exited on a floor that Emma had never seen before. The walls were white, the floors grey tiled and everything looked so sterile as if they were standing in an empty hospital wing.
"Everyone is in the Danger Room practising, that's why the halls are empty," Xavier said friendly as if they were taking a walk in the garden and not in a highly confidential place wanted by so many mutants and governments alike.
"Right, it's a bit bare," Emma said quietly while looking around.
Xavier smiled teasingly at the witch and pointed at a white double door, "this is the emergency room. We have everything in there, a fully functional operation room and equipped with whatever gadgets are needed to do operations and save lives. We quickly found out that with so many mutants in one place an emergency room was needed as we couldn't always explain the injuries in hospitals."
Emma nodded understandingly. How many times had she and the trio ended up at the infirmary at Hogwarts? Uncountable times, if mutants were as accident-prone as witches and wizards then Emma guessed that Hank was in for a busy life as the residential doctor.
"This is our school motto," Xavier asked pointing towards a silver platter on the wall with a Latin inscription engraved onto it.
"Mutatis mutandis?" Emma asked Xavier.
"Yes, it simply means the necessary changes having been made," Xavier said smiling at the school motto that he and Eric had chosen back when they founded the school for gifted youngsters. Eric had found the Latin phrase amusing as it pointed out subtly who occupied the school.
"Referring to the X-gene?" Emma asked with a quirked eyebrow at the irony.
"Amongst other things," Xavier said mysteriously before pointing towards the next double door that was a bit further down the hallway.
"This is the Danger Room where most of the team practises their skills and also where Logan sometimes takes his class to train close quarter combat. There is only so much that the students can learn by practising on each other, sometimes the best way to learn is to fight a real enemy."
"What do you mean by a real enemy?" Emma asked curiously.
"There is a program we use when in the Danger Room that is a holographic reality. The students and the faculty can train in a situation without the danger of getting injured. As the training goes to a higher level of difficulty so does the holographic program to ensure that no one gets bored or feels unchallenged."
"So they all fight an enemy that isn't there but instead holograms that appear real?" Emma questioned surprised and knowing she did not fully grasp the modern technology that was being used.
"Precisely," Xavier nodded in agreement before adding, "Would you like to see it?"
"See it?" Emma asked suspiciously not too thrilled about being shown parts of technology that she did not understand and most likely never would understand. Somehow knowing how to use the internet to find out about the X-men seemed very insignificant after hearing what the X-men were up to.
"Yes, the X-men are training now," Xavier said his eyes twinkling teasingly at the suspicion in the witch's face. It was clear that Emma felt like fish out of water, but she was trying her best to understand, and he appreciated her curiosity. Not everyone loved technology as much as he did, and that was understandable.
"Very well," Emma agreed as her own curiosity got the best of her.
A while later Emma and Xavier were waiting in the hallway for the staff to return. The training was over, and they were waiting for the group to finish getting cleaned up. Emma was deep in thought digesting what she had witnessed in the Danger Room. The X-men were formidable, all in their own special way. Logan had been vicious but also Storm but in a completely different way. Hank had surprised Emma a lot when she saw his wilder side come out as the witch had only seen the well-spoken, gentle side to Hank before watching the training session. When in combat Hank McCoy changed into the Beast that destroyed anything in his path. Hearing of someone's power was completely different from actually seeing it in action.
The X-men were good; they were excellent fighters and it showed with the fluidity of their movements. Nothing was haphazard like even though Logan seemed to anger Ororo when he took matters into his own hands. Nevertheless, it was to be expected with Logan's independent and wild nature. Emma had never pictured Logan to be much of a team player, but he did his best and he was as magnificent as he was powerful.
What had amazed Emma the most was the muggle technology that the X-men used. The hologram creatures seemed so very real as they moved around in the Danger Room making the staff work hard for their salaries.
Finally, the small group walked towards Emma and Xavier that was waiting by the elevator. Both of them were greeted warmly by the X-men even though a few surprised glances went to Emma.
"I have an announcement," Xavier said with his most commanding voice, "Emma came to me today asking about the X-men and I decided to finally fill her in on the secret. A little late I know, but she finally knows all about us."
"Are you sure about this professor?" Storm asked quietly looking apologetically at Emma when she noticed the deep frown on the young woman's face.
"We had already voted on it at the meeting Ororo as you recall. It was not fair to have Emma work so closely with us and then exclude her from this knowledge. We are all better than that here," Xavier said with a fatherly voice to Ororo who looked indignant. The woman had always been known for her tenacity, but Xavier never hesitated to stop her when he didn't agree.
"Welcome on the team kid," Logan said warmly as he wrapped his arm around Emma's waist and pulled her into his side protectively. Ororo raised her eyebrows in surprise, she hadn't known how that the two shared such a deep friendship that Emma would feel so comfortable around the most violative womanizer of the mansion.
"It was about time Xavier; it was uncomfortable to lie to Emma," Hank said smiling broadly and flashing his immensely long fangs at Emma who smiled widely back in gratitude.
"Yes, she was not happy at all," Xavier said before winking at Emma who had the decency to flush crimson at the professor's words. The staff grouped by the elevator while Emma was standing in comfortable silence with Logan, his arm still wrapped tightly around her waist.
"Wanna go for a burger?" Logan asked, his face so close to hers that she could feel his breath on her face, while his eyes twinkled teasingly at her.
"Always," Emma laughed, and the mutant's chest rumbled with laughter before he kissed the top of her head. The two hurried into the elevator where most of the group had assembled and headed upwards to the mansion.