Xavier felt the need to dismiss everyone since most of them were tired or beat up... some of them both. He escorted them out of the door, leaving Hank to patch up the wounded. Xavier took a good look at the child, for the millionth time since he received him only three hours ago. He still had on that dog muzzle, only it was bent and malformed thanks to him transforming so often. Yet, his eyes were dead. Blue and yellow orbs of pure confusion, lost.

As much as Xavier was scared of the teen, he was far more intrigued by him. The vision he was given was proof enough that he was no simple mutant. His powers rivaled that of Apocalypse! Yet, he feared that which shouldn't even be a thought in his mind. Xavier only wished he could get through to the young teen. He didn't know how or when, but he would not give up. If his hunch was correct, then this boy could be just what he needed to help those who are far worse than Despair.

"Despair..." Xavier's voice trailed off, not knowing how to ask. "What...who...where did you send me?"

Blue and yellow eyes caught his own brown ones, drawing him in.

"...despair..." Xavier whispered before he knew it. "Is that what it was?"

No answer came from the boy sitting alone on the floor. He just let his eyes fall to the floor. Xavier sighed, knowing this was all he could do for the day. He had so much to ask and no words to form them. Or better yet, no words would answer him. Xavier knew better than anyone what hatred and vengeance could do to a person's ego. A person's health.

Xavier rolled out of the door, letting it slide shut with a thud.

Despair, not caring, stood up. He had one thought left in his mind. Seeing the night sky. It raced across as if it was the only thing that mattered, the only thing left to do. It seemed as though the dark called him. Despair didn't understand why or what was telling him to see the dark night sky like this, but he could deal with it. He always did. On dark nights, when there was no moon to speak of, Despair would get the chance to feel the cool breeze against his skin. The stars would greet him like an old friend, almost as if he had met them before.

Food was place just inside the door, something Despair scoffed at. He doesn't remember having to eat like the others he fought did. To be honest, he cannot remember much. He remembers the sky, dark and calming. He remembers guilt... anger! He always remembers anger. Mostly, he remembers pain. That was something he never had to remember. Despair barely felt pain. Nothing phased him.

All Despair did was wait curled up against the wall, bent like a fetus. The dark static against his eyes.

Jake gingerly rubs his arm, wrapped in a cast and a sling. Megan had to be carried away by Crystal as Jake was getting healed. He didn't know what to do with himself now that he had free time. The food was warm and comforting. The rooms were filled with everything he needed. Yet, his mind was filled with thoughts on a monster. He frightened Jake. Those dangerous red eyes growled at anyone to dare come fight him. Jake was reminded of an animal... no... fear. Jake only seemed to think of his monstrous way.

Before he even knew it, Jake was in front of the doors of the Danger Room. Jake wished he could read Despair's mind like he does with the others. He sighed before entering. The young teen was huddled up in a corner, his back facing Jake. Despair's figure was bent and malformed. He went, slowly, to the other teen. Despair spun to face Jake, teeth bared. Jake flinched. He wished he had his hands to form his safety bubble.

"Sorry, I just wanted to talk."

The boy stopped growling, eyebrow raised.

"Aren't you lonely? I mean, like, you don't have any friends to talk to. Keep you company." Jake leaned his back against the wall. "You don't seem to have that thought though."

Despair relaxed.

Jake continued to talk as if he was talking to a friend, "I never would have thought we would end up here. You know? I mean, we were just teens fighting in a mutant fight."

Despair nodded, watching as Jake slid down the wall.

"My father would just die if he saw me now! I beat his ideal of myself. Sorry if my mental issues get on your nerves. I'm just not used to being the only one talking."

Despair cocked his head.

"Its fine, you know." A moment of silence passed as both boys looked at everything but each other. "I just wanted you to know that it isn't your fault. My arm...the battles... even the rage. Just the wrong person at the wrong time."

Despair observed the cast the boy had on his arm, a pinch of guilt struck his heart at the sight.

"Wish you could talk. Tell me everything is just confusing right now."

Silence filled the air yet again as the teens sat on the ground.

A tough silence.

With a thick fog of uncertainty.

Fueled by the anxiety and torment of their own minds.

"...sorry... about the arm..."

Despair's voice caught the older teen off guard. Jake looked at him, staring at the boy who only had eyes for the ground at the moment. Jake continued to stare until his green eyes connected to the younger's orbs of mystery. The voice wasn't just a mistake of the ears, it was Despair's. It sparked something inside Jake. His voice was like melancholy. The timbre just right. Not too high, not too low. The pitch just perfect for someone like him, since he seemed younger than Jake.

Jake smiled, "What's your name?"

"Don't know."

"What do you mean?"

"Can't remember."

Jake took his eyes off the boy to stare at the wall in front of them. "Like you have no memories?"

"Yeah," Despair nodded. "First thing I remember was hiding in an alley way. Ringleader found me then. I was..."

Despair's eyes wandered mid-sentence as if to stop himself from remembering. Jake cleared his throat, "You was what?"

Despair didn't want to remember the thought. "I was...in the middle of a massacre. A pile of dead bodies lifted up my throne of rage."

It was amusing to Jake. That was the exact thing Jake though Despair would do. Kill a mountain of bodies just to sit on top like some king in need of an audience. The thought but terrified and interested him. Together they shared many such experiences throughout the night. For once, it felt like both boys were young again. Despair wasn't talkative, just had little to say. That left most of the talking down to Jake. It almost made it seem like the boys were not mutants, just teens hanging out. Jake liked that Despair wasn't as bad as he looked like. He never had taken a bath since he could remember. He had never done any of the childhood things. He was almost like he wasn't born at all.

"I wish I can remember a movie to play while we chat." Jake closed his eyes. "My powers can display any memory of mine. Or others people's. I think it's a useful most of the time."

"Cool."

"I know!" He flexed his good arm. "Without me, this place would be much uncooler."

Jake understood that Despair wasn't as shy as he first appeared. He was just afraid. Of everything. Things were confusing to him because he didn't know who he was or even what he can do. He was super strong. Yet, there he was confused on what that meant for him. He was scary. But that was because he was scared himself. Nothing was adding up in his eyes. He found himself alone in this huge world without knowing how to deal with mutant powers. There was no one he could rely on. No one to even talk to. He had to deal with all the pain and despair alone, by himself. Maybe if there was someone, a brother in arms, things could be different.

"I got it!" Jake stood up, taking Despair by the hand. "Lets get you out of this depression state you dropped into."

Despair raised his eyebrow.

Jake dragged Despair out the doors and to the stairs, as the elevator was still broke. "First, we need a bath because you stink, dude. Then fresh new clothes. I'm sure someone has some we can steal... b-borrow!"

At the top, he lead the younger teen to the living quarters where he assumed the bathrooms were. Jake went into three wrong rooms before he got what he wanted. Despair, of course, knew nothing of how to sanitize correctly. Jake had to show him which bottles to use and when. He had to explain that the bar of soap was meant to clean the dirt off, not eat. He knew that a bath would be too dirty to give him so a shower had to do. Jake laughed that Despair growled at the heat of the water when it rained over him. Soon, he was given the all clear from Jake and climbed out. Jake stole the closet room's clothes so he didn't know if they would fit but at least he could try. This is what he wore.

Jake walked around the boy. Despair looked a bit weird in modern style clothing. His shirt was a plain light grey short sleeve style with a plaid over-shirt on top that covered his long arms. He wore black skinny jeans that were a bit too big on him. His socks were just plain white ones. All that countered the long, wet hair that covered his eyes completely. He still had long nails and toenails. Upon during, it only helped his wet hair to come up just above his eyes so you could still see his glaring eyes. He looked better but something was still off. Maybe he needs a hair cut.

"Do you want a hair cut?" Jake thought of different styles that Despair would look good in. "The undercut seems like the best choice with your face shape."

Jake scanned the boy's body. The only thing left was the muzzle still on his head, blood still staining his mouth. Jake reached his hands up to the metal. Despair flinched away from Jake as if he feared what was to come because he had been hurt by the same gesture before. Slowly continuing, he loosened the muzzle and let the boy be free. Jake grabbed a nearby towel, one that was used to clean Despair in the shower, and wiped the remaining dirt and grim from his face.

"That should feel better."

Despair unclenched his jaw, working the kinks out of it. "Thanks."

Jake smiled, "Why did you never take it off?"

"I was told not to."

"Do you do everything you are told?" Jake scoffed at the thought that anyone would just do what they are told without even thinking about not doing it. They left the bathroom a mess before heading towards the common room like little girls during a sleepover. They each took a sofa to sleep on.

Morning came through the blinds.

Yet, no sleep was taken. The boys shared stories all night long. Despair wasn't a bad kid, just misunderstood. His life would be different if he came to understand the difference with what someone describes as right and wrong. With his memory lost, Despair would never be able to get the idea behind the whole not being aggressive to the people he doesn't know. Jake found that this little bit of information told more than anyone could tell. Despair's power was infamous, this could mean a lot of things. Why did he not remember? Was it an accident? Or what if he did something bad to call for this?

"Jake..." Despair cleared his throat. The Older Teen glanced to the male. "... I have done things..."

Jake scoffed, "I knew that, dude."

"...Like before..." He trailed off. "My memories are fuzzy... or not there..."

Jake rolled over on his stomach, watching as the small boy observed the ceiling. "You killed people?"

"...yeah..." It came so easily to say. Too easily. "...sorry..."

Even if he had known that Despair had killed someone, it still shocked him to know that it was true. From the same mouth that probably did it. Despair looked small in the arm chair, his feet hanging over the arm of the chair as well as his head. Yet, his body matched that of child. Jake didn't know what to say to that. It wasn't like the monster inside killed anyone Jake liked. Not that Jake liked many people though. He decided to change the subject.

"What is one thing you want to do before you die?"

Despair looked off into the distance, nothing in particular. He had a feeling like that death would never come. He felt die inside but also not. "See the stars and moon."

Jake couldn't help the laugh that escaped from his chest. "That's it. Not go anywhere? Do anything? See the night sky?"

Despair nodded.

"Dude," Jake shook his head. "I want to travel the world. See every city man has touch. Go where no man has. Do everything, even if it's illegal."

Despair never knew a mind could has that many ideas. He has yet to experience the personal drive that Jake has to travel the world. He felt a great sense of pride well up inside his chest, warm and happy. It was different from how he normally felt yet familiar all the same. Like he had felt the same emotions before with someone different, equally as special as Jake is. Whatever name could be placed as Jake's title with Despair. To be honest, Despair originally thought Jake as a bug, a pest of sorts. He was loud and annoying but he hasn't treated Despair like so many others have. He wasn't treated as a monster. Instead, Jake made it feel like Despair was a normal teenager. That begged the question if Jake wanted to do those things alone.

"Alone?"

Jake didn't expect the honest question from the younger teen. "Alone? Well, I guess I never really thought about it. In my dreams, I'm alone but I never had a friend that I trust enough to include them in there."

This didn't sit well with Despair. He thought everyone liked at least one person. Isn't that why there are so many families in the world? Yet, here was Jake, alone even in dreams. The exact same way that Despair felt in the world as he lived through nothing and everything. He had fought and he had stood still. He had cried and he had smiled. He remembers and he doesn't. He has people and he doesn't. Despair was used to this... as was Jake.

Despair recalled some memories... of a time before.

A man. He was tall, broad shouldered with an air of kindness. His green orbs absorbing the knowledge around him as he grew with the time to make the world a better place. The man had stubble dotting his chin and jaw like that of any model. He was hardened by years of intense labor in the hot sun in a desert. The sands covering his body in a thin layer of dust. He was silent as a predator hunting their prey. Despair remembers the feeling of soft lips as he remembers this man. A pain erupts inside Despair's head like someone, or something!, doesn't want him to remember. The thing only wanting Despair to feel hatred and anger as it builds up inside waiting to spill over in a fit of rage.

"Despair? You okay?"

"Yeah. I think... but I feel like I remembered something important."

Jake watched Despair grab his head and winch. The boy was obviously not well. His eyes kept shifting from yellow and blue to red and blue. Jake wanted to help the younger teen out but stopped himself when Megan came running over making Despair stop and revert back to normal. Her smile was okay but it was annoying today. She giggled as she hid behind the couch, playing a game of sorts. The boys heard Crystal come calling Megan. Despair observed as the two pounced on each other upon finding the little girl. Despair was reminded of predator and prey. The experience attacks the inexperienced.

"Morning you two. How do you feel?" Crystal was directing her question to Jake but anyone could have answered.

Jake stretched. "Great. Beside my arm still tender, though. Been a long time since I stayed up all night, talking."

Crystal raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. Baldy was looking for you two. Saying something about getting you back before something happens."

Both shared a look before getting up.