Chapter 4

Charles

"You can't manipulate everyone, Erik." Charles sighed and placed his head in his hands as his colleague paced his large office.

"Oh yes, this coming from the telepath. Besides, it's not as if the humans notice at all." Erik said with his usual commanding tone.

Charles sighed again. I could be difficult at times to get through to his old friend. "I'm not talking about the humans. I'm speaking about the students that you keep trying to manipulate into joining you. If you would just agree to work together with me, this wouldn't be an issue."

"I have tried to work with you, Charles." Erik nearly snarled. "If you would stop defending your beloved Homo sapiens, then maybe this would work."

Charles tried to compose himself before talking. "Alright, Erik. I understand your frustration, but you can't harass students like that. I saw how you acted earlier with Mr. Summers."

"Scott Summers belongs under the guidance of a teacher who can help him to reach his full potential, just like all of the rest! Not a teacher who will stifle their abilities the moment he has the chance." Erik slammed his fist on the table passionately, causing a metal pen resting on Charles' desk to contort and bend.

"Scott Summers deserves to know all of the facts and to form his own opinion. He cannot do that with you bombarding him every second." Charles stated. "I must ask you to leave now, Erik. I have a class."

"Fine, Charles. But this will not be the last time that we discuss this subject."

"Oh I believe you." Charles muttered under his breath as his rowdy colleague left his office in a fluid movement, slamming the door loudly. Students began to file in almost immediately after he left, leaving Charles without a moments peace.

"Hi, Professor." Kitty said. Her usually chipper voice sounded slightly off.

Charles smiled at her. He didn't want to read her mind, but he was troubled by her tone. "Hello, Kitty. Is everything alright?"

"Oh, yeah, Professor." She smiled. "I'm fine."

"If you're sure, then." He responded. He wasn't entirely convinced of her answer, but class was about to start and the issue would have to wait. "Alright, class! Please turn to page thirty-three in your text books."

There was a loud shuffling noise as the class removed their books from their bags.

"Professor Xavier?" Bobby asked.

Charles spun around in his wheelchair to view his class. It was smaller than most, as you needed a specific invitation to attend. "Yes, Bobby?" The Professor replied.

"Isn't this class supposed to be teaching us how to use our powers? How are we supposed to be doing that when we spend all of our time reading a textbook on mutation?" Bobby asked, sticking out his frozen tongue and dropping his textbook on his desk for effect.

Charles wheeled his chair to the front of the classroom so that he was facing the blackboard. He picked up a piece of chalk and wrote the words 'theory before practice'.

We cannot start to understand our abilities without understanding where they come from. We need to truly absorb what they are to be able to use them to their full extent. He explained to the students using his telepathy. But don't fret, we will begin to explore your potential soon enough. Now class, please once again turn to page 546 so that we can begin.

The rest of the class was fairly routine, with Bobby constantly pretending to fall asleep, Peter trying to translate everything loudly in his head and Hank asking for extra homework every other page.

"Now, I feel that you have all be sufficiently bored out of your skulls, so why don't we go outside and do a bit of hands on learning, shall we?" Professor Xavier suggested.

Almost everyone in the class perked up, except for Hank who was still busy copying notes into his book.

"I will meet you beside the trellis in ten minutes." Charles smiled at the suddenly attentive group.

Professor Xavier wheeled himself out of the large classroom with ease on the linoleum floors. He watched the students chat excitedly with a proud feeling as he made his way to the elevator. He entered the metal box and pushed the button to the first floor.

"Not now, Erik." He sighed without turning to face the tall, greying man behind him.

"You cut me off Charles, it's only fair that I get to choose to continue the conversation." He said in a matter-of-factly manner. "If we were to join our groups together, we could get so much farther. In this school, in this city, in the world! Just think of it Charles! The world finally at the mercy of mutants!"

"That is not the intention that I have for my group. I believe that it should be the mutants' job to support and protect human kind, not to endanger them and force them to fear us."

The elevator stopped moving with jolt. Out of the corner of his eye, Charles could see Erik's hands ball into fists. The tall man moved around so that he could face his college, bending down so that his hands rested on the arms of his wheelchair, and his eyes were at equal level with Charles'.

"They'll never accept us. The only way that we'll ever truly be free is if we create that future for ourselves." Erik nearly growled. Charles could feel his coffee-infused breath on his face, and he backed up his chair so that he could have more room to breathe.

"We are not monsters, and I refuse to see any of my students become one." His voice faltered as he said this. He tried to look back into Erik's eyes with the same intensity, but his scrutinizing gaze was hard to match.

The elevator began to move again with the same awful lurch as when it stopped. Erik stood back up and faced the door, not looking at Charles for the remainder of the ride.

"What are you going to do, Charles," Erik said once the doors began to slide open. "Once they find out who you are? You'll loose your job, your students, everything. And I'll be there to watch you go down in flames."

As he watched his former friend exit the elevator, every ounce of the brazen feeling Charles had just experienced sunk into his stomach and soured into a nervous fear. Did he truly believe what he had been fighting for all of these years? What if someone did find out about them? Had Erik been right all along? He tried to push his feelings and doubts to the back of his mind as he exited the elevator, intent on joining his students with a brave face.

Ororo

The students gathered near the trellis outside of the school. It was during class and the area was well covered with trees, so the chance of them being spotted was low. As well as this fact, Jean and the Professor had set up mental barriers around the area to stop anyone roaming by accidentally.

Ororo stood next to Kitty and Rogue as they waited for the Professor to join them. Eventually, he wheeled out of the building and stopped in front of the group. He had a solem look on his face, and Ororo wondered if something might be wrong.

"Alright, students," Professor Xavier addressed them. "I would like each of you to demonstrate one useful thing about your abilities. It doesn't have to be a fighting technique, although many of your minds probably jumped to that first. I could be something as simple as myself knowing exactly what everyone wants for Christmas. Please form a line and go whenever you are ready."

"Why are we doing this, sir?" A student asked.

"Because in this world, Warren, people will only try to show you the worst about your mutations, how it is dangerous. Here I would like us to consider all that they could do to help us. We're putting a positive spin on something society condemns, shall we say." Professor Xavier replied easily.

Ororo lined up with the rest of her classmates behind Rogue. Bobby went first, he held out his hand so that the group could all see. In the palm of his hand, a set of ice keys appeared.

"In case you ever forget your keys." He said awkwardly, handing the keys to the Professor who's sad look had been replaced with a proud smile.

"Perfect, Bobby. That's a perfect example!" Replied the Professor.

"Thanks." He lifted his arm above his head in a awkward motion.

Logan went next, he had Jean hide in the trees with a telepathic block around her. Within thirty seconds, he was able to track and find her.

"I'm not really sure what to do..." Scott trailed off. "My powers aren't really useful."

"Well you can always settle for looking like the biggest douche inside with those glasses." Logan sneered.

Scott scowled at him and then looked back at the Professor for guidance.

"Can focus in on a specific location, Scott? Surely that could be useful in some form." Professor Xavier offered.

Scott shrugged slightly and sighed before he lifted his glasses. A thin beam of red energy shot out from his eyes and hit the cigar that Logan had been absently smoking, knocking it out of his mouth.

"Hey!" Logan bellowed in protest. Ororo giggled quietly as the scene unfolded. Logan charged at Scott with his fists held high while Scott backed up apprehensively. Obviously no one had taught him that you never mess with Logan's cigars. Professor Xavier intervened before anything bad happened, but Logan was able to get in a few menacing looks and death glares.

"Are you fellas gonna stop so ah can have mah turn? Or should we just all wait while y'all lay 'em out on the table and measure?" Anna-Marie interupted with her arms crossed in an assertive pose.

"You go ahead, Anna-Marie." The Professor assured her.

Anna-Marie did as the Professor said, and went on with her turn although most people were still to enamoured with the fight to notice. She picked up the huge trellis that they were all gathered around and held it high in the air above her head. "Yeah ah can't touch people, but super strength can have its perks." She smirked as most of the people who hadn't been watching looked over and experienced their jaws dropping.

Ororo smiled at her friend as she walked to the back of the line where Bobby, Logan and Scott were already waiting. Ororo stepped up beside the newly repositioned trellis and knelt down beside a blooming forget-me-not. A few of the leaves had wilted in the intense sunlight and we're starting to curl and brown around the edges.

Ororo lifted her hands above the small plant and felt the familiar sensation of calling upon her powers. A tiny rain cloud appeared just above the flower, providing shade and water for the plant.

"Nice job, 'Ro." Logan complimented as she walked to the back. Ororo felt her heart leap in her cher although she wasn't sure exactly why. She and Logan had always be friends, but lately it was beginning to feel like something more than that. At least for her it was. She smiled back at him despite her confused emotions as he lit yet another cigar.

As Kitty was in line behind Ororo, her turn was next. She backed up into, or rather through, the students behind her so that she was standing next to Ororo and Rogue. "You never have to wait in line." Kitty smiled simply.

"Very cool, Katya!" Piotr said appreciatively as he stared at the small girl.

Kitty turned a dark shade of red and bit her lip.

"Kitty!" Ororo whispered to her friend. "You're sinking!"

Kitty looked down in dismay, screaming. Half of her body was submerged in the grass. She tried to rise up and walk forwards, but this only caused her to sink further. In all of her panic, she had run into Piotr who had also started to yell, simply because Kitty was phased through his leg. She eventually was able to raise out of the ground, partially with the help of Jean's telekinesis and the Professor's telepathic calming techniques.

As soon as she was once again whole and on solid ground, she ran in the direction of the school, crying uncontrollably.

"Ororo," The Professor said tentatively after an uncomfortable moment of hushed silence. "Why don't you make sure she's alright?"

Ororo followed Kitty's path towards the school and kept her eyes peeled for any sign of the brunette. The first place she checked was the girls washroom, hoping that she may have gone in there to avoid being seen. Sure enough, there were loud sobs radiating from the last stall in the row.

"Kitty?" Ororo asked quietly, knocking softly on the door. "Are you alright?"

"Go away!" Yelled a choked voice back.

Ororo took her hand away from the stall door but did not leave. "You can tell me what's wrong, you know. I won't judge." Ororo had always been somewhat of a mentor to Kitty since she had arrived. She was three grades ahead of the brunette and had adopted the role of the big sister around her.

Kitty did not respond for a long while, but eventually her sobbing slowed. She opened the stall door and collapsed into Ororo's open arms. "It... It's just that... I wanna be normal!" She finally sobbed to her friend through the metal door. "I don't want to have to take extra classes for freaks or have to worry about falling through the floor whenever my crush opens his mouth!"

"I know. I know." Ororo replied in a soothing voice and stroked the girl's hair. "You're not a freak, Kitty."

"I am though! It was so embarrassing out there! And Piotr was screaming and then I ran away crying like such an idiot!" Kitty blubbered into Ororo's shirt.

"Kitty, we've all done stuff like that! Just last week Jean accidentally said something in telepathy to one of her other professors and now he refuses to even look at her. He thinks she's possessed or something!" Ororo insisted.

This seemed to ease the tension in Kitty's body, and her loud sobs turned into sort of laugh-hiccups. The story may not have been true, but it felt good for Ororo to take down her seemingly perfect roommate just a few notches.

"You'll be okay, Kitty." Ororo murmured into her friend's ear. "We'll get through this together."

A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for reading so far, I will try to keep updates coming on a fairly regular basis. Reviews make me happy and encourage me to keep going, so please don't be afraid to share your thoughts. :)