DISCLAIMER: I do not own anyone except for Tori. I do not own the places either.


The wind had picked up since they'd been standing around outside and Tori, who was still damp from earlier, began to shiver. Luckily for her and Jason, who was not dressed appropriately for the weather, the jet Kurt told them would be coming arrived fairly quickly. Kurt greeted the pilot, who merely grunted at him in response, and Tori followed behind wheeling Jason on to the jet with her. Kurt and the pilot then both brought in the pieces of Cerebro Kurt had recovered.

They were silent on the flight to Xavier's School and Tori took this time to sleep. Kurt wasn't particularly interested in having any more conversations with Jason so he just focused his attention on one of his markings until he fell asleep as well. Jason just sat and stared at the ground. For a second he saw water shimmering on the ground rising up to surround his feet. He closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them the water was gone. Taking a deep breath he pushed the image out of his mind.

When the jet arrived at its destination the pilot woke the sleeping passengers by loudly announcing over the intercom that they had arrived. Tori jumped awake and Kurt grumbled something about the rudeness of the pilot. After rubbing sleep from his yellow eyes he stood up and announced that they had arrived at Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.

"Yeah I got that worked out by myself, thanks." Tori yawned. She was cranky now that she had been woken up so rudely and that she had arrived at the place she didn't really want to be anyway.

Kurt was slightly embarrassed so he just said, "If you'll follow me I shall introduce you to the professor." and began exiting the jet. Tori unbuckled the seatbelt she had on and hurriedly got Jason and went off to follow Kurt.

Kurt led them through elaborately designed and decorated hallways. Tori looked around and despite herself she was amazed at how much the place felt like a genuine home. Jason, on the other hand, was uneasy. Glancing at the walls he saw water trickling down the them and forming pools on the carpet. He tried dismissing these images like he had on the jet but these were more persistent. By the time Kurt had gotten them in to the Professors office the images of water were making him panic.

The professor sat behind his desk, smiled warmly at Tori and Kurt, and then shot a glace at Jason that seemed to reveal a hint of unease.

"Thank you very much, Kurt. We'll talk again soon I just need to ask these two a few questions if you don't mind." he smiled.

Kurt nodded and replied "You're welcome, Professor." before exiting the room.

Xavier smiled at Tori and introduced himself. As he asked Tori questions about Alkali Lake and why she was there Jason tuned him out. He already knew the professor from when his father forced him to become a student (or a patient as his father would call him) and he was still panicking. The water was running down the walls furiously and covering the floor. Breathing heavily he closed his eyes and tried to shut everything out. He just had to focus on the room and push the water from his mind.

"Jason?" The professor asked when he noticed Jason was clearly under distress. "Are you alright?"

His eyes snapped open and darted around the room. Tori was looking at him awkwardly and the professor was obviously confused by his behavior. Jason saw the water level rising and when he felt the water at his knees he realized that pretending anymore was impossible. Jason looked to his left at Tori and then looked at the professor who was coming around from behind his desk when suddenly the bay window in the room exploded and water came gushing through it. He couldn't pretend anymore.

Jason Stryker opened his eyes to the familiar site of the Cerebro chamber his father had built in the underground base at Alkali Lake. Water was crashing down around him from all directions. Across from him was a boulder that had fallen when the dam ruptured and in front of him stood an empty wheelchair where only seconds ago Professor Charles Xavier was rescued by Storm and Nightcrawler. The water level had reached the machine on the back of his own chair that supplied his lungs with air and began to bog it down with water. Jason Stryker knew that very soon he would drown. He couldn't fool himself anymore; couldn't form an elaborate illusion to comfort himself in his final moment. His last attempt didn't work because he knew how real the danger was and how false the illusion was.

The water level was around his waist and the machine behind him began to make an odd sound not too different from the sound one hears when they step on melting snow. Jason desperately tried to cast an illusion - any illusion - but couldn't. He was under too much stress. The fear was bogging him down just as much as the water was bogging down his lungs. Tears fell from his eyes for the first time since he had been lobotomized. The saline drops then fell from his chin and into the salty water of the lake.

Jason Stryker drowned inside of the collapsing dam as the giant black jet outside took flight.