Chapter 2: Fusion
After they had been walking through the woods for several minutes, Deadpool glanced at his bare wrist and said something about missing American Idol before disappearing in a flash of light.
The other man, who had introduced himself as Logan, merely grunted and steered Harry what seemed like miles through the wilderness to a beat up pickup truck parked on an empty roadside. Conversation between the two during the eight-hour drive to Westchester, New York was sparse, with Harry eventually falling into a light sleep. When they had arrived, Logan led him into a palatial mansion and into an ornately decorated office.
"Welcome back Logan; Hello Mr. Potter, I'm Charles Xavier," a well-dressed bald man sitting behind a large desk greeted as soon as they entered.
"Professor," Logan greeted in what must have passed for a respectful tone from him.
Harry, on the other hand, decided on a silent nod of greeting as he surveyed the assembled group. Aside from the Professor, there was a redheaded woman sitting on the arm of a leather couch, a tall, lean man with odd glasses stood next to her, his hand on her shoulder. A platinum blond almost white haired woman with mocha colored skin sat in a chair across from the redhead and, of all things, a large hairy blue creature with glasses was leaning against the desk.
The next thing Harry noticed was that every one of them exuded a slightly different type of power and in greater abundance than the guards or any of the passengers in the vehicles Harry had felt along the way.
When Harry ultimately didn't otherwise respond to his greeting, Professor Xavier continued, "I understand that you've had a terrible few months and before we get into anything else, I wish to offer you anything I can to help you to recover."
"What day is it," Harry asked. He didn't think he'd been gone for more than two weeks, maybe a month at most, but he wanted to know for sure.
"Today is the 30th of August," Xavier answered gently, "as we understand it, you were held captive for just over two months."
"August 30th," Harry repeated in disbelief, "it was June 18th when they broke in to my home and kidnapped me." Suddenly remembering what Harkness had said the first time he'd visited his cell, he asked, "My relatives, the Dursley's, are they really…"
"I'm afraid so, Harry," Xavier replied, "it appears they died in a car crash. We have received information indicating that they may have been intentionally run off the road by the same people who kidnapped you."
"But why; what did they have to do with anything?" Harry questioned.
"Their motives aren't entirely clear," Xavier explained, "our best guess is that they wanted your guardians out of the way so you could more easily be removed from the country."
"What?" Harry asked in confusion, "What do you mean leave the country?"
"You were being held in Canada, Harry," Xavier responded, "You are now in Westchester, New York, in the United States."
"But…" Harry didn't really know what to say or how to reply. He slowly crossed the room; gave the redhead a long measured look and threw himself onto the other side of the leather couch.
Xavier took Harry's collapse as a sign that he needed time to work through all that he'd just learned. Turning to Logan, he asked "No problems then?"
"Nothing I couldn't handle," Logan answered, "Though the kid did pretty well on his own once his head was in the game; fried a guy with lightning from his hands and healed a pair of bullet wounds without any trouble."
"Bullet wounds," Harry asked, "was that what those were?"
"You let him get shot!" the redheaded woman spoke up, incensed. Turning to Harry she ordered, "You, come with me."
Something about the woman reminded him of Madam Pomfrey, who in his long experience always ultimately got her way. With a shrug, Harry stood and followed the woman from the room.
The redhead led Harry out of the room, down a hall and into an elevator. As they stood and waited for the lift to reach their desired level, the woman introduced herself, "I'm sorry for being rude, I'm Dr. Jean Grey. I work with the Professor as the on site physician as well as teaching computer science and biology."
"This is a school then?" Harry asked making the connection between Charles Xavier and the title of Professor.
"Yes, we're a school where mutants are free to learn to control their powers and get a proper education without any stigma associated with being different," Jean explained with a smile, "Welcome to the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning."
Harry wrinkled his brow in concentration as he thought of what little he knew about mutants. He knew that Vernon was a member of a group called the Friends of Humanity and routinely grouped mutants in with wizards and witches and anything that wasn't normal in his view. "So, I'm a mutant then."
That statement or was it a question, caught Jean off guard. Then the words of the email Charles had received flashed through her mind, 'the subject showed that he had an inactive X-gene, and efforts to force him into the Weapon X project were set into motion.' It had never occurred to her that he'd been unaware.
"I guess that makes sense," he continued ignoring Dr. Grey's lack of response. Turning to her with an expectant look he asked, "What makes me a mutant and what can I do?"
That was a question Jean could answer, "Do you know what DNA and genes are?" she asked.
"I know the basics, what they taught us in school," Harry answered.
"Good, the basics are all you need," Jean replied with a smile, "what makes you a mutant is that you have a gene that most people don't have. One small difference and someone has wings or blue fur or is telepathic. Science generally refers to this as the X-gene." Looking at Harry to make sure he understood, she continued, "nobody knows exactly why or how the gene alters people in the ways it does, so it's impossible to predict exactly what you will be able to do without some trial and error."
Harry nodded then inquired, "are you a mutant?"
"I am," she acknowledged, "I'm telekinetic, which means I can move things with my mind and telepathic."
"Was everybody…" Harry began only to be cut off.
"Yes. Professor Xavier is a very powerful telepath. Scott, the man with the glasses, can shoot force beams from his eyes. Hank is well, covered in blue fur, as well as having impressive agility and strength. Ororo can control the weather, and Logan, well, he's…"
"Got metal claws, heightened senses, and can heal from almost anything," Harry interrupted. He smiled at the redheaded doctor, "I've seen him in action."
Jean smiled back and the twosome lapsed into a more comfortable silence. The doors to the lift finally opened revealing a long corridor with metallic walls and gunmetal grey floors. It reminded Harry uncomfortably of the prison he'd only just escaped. "I wasn't really shot, you know."
"What?" Jean questioned, "But Logan said…"
"He wanted one or both of us out of the room," Harry answered the unasked question, "I figured I owed him for getting me out of there." Seeing a look from the young woman that clearly asked for further explanation, he continued, "I was only really in danger once; a guard that Logan and Deadpool missed took a couple of shots at us, but missed by quite a bit." He paused as the emotions of the moment bubbled up in him again, and he suddenly realized what Logan had been getting at, "I killed him."
Understanding bloomed in Jean's eyes as well. She gently placed her arm around his shoulders, leading him to some unknown destination, "do you want to talk about it," she asked softly.
Harry grimaced, he appreciated the offer, but he didn't know her from his captors, "it's not the first time," he admitted gruffly, "and I doubt it will be the last."
Jean nodded knowing he'd said all that he was going to say about it for the moment if her experience with Logan was anything to go by. When the blood tests came back and confirmed that they were indeed grandfather and grandchild, she wouldn't be the least surprised; despite their radically different appearances, something about them screamed family. Glancing at Harry's unruly mop of hair, she amended her previous impression; perhaps they weren't even as different as she'd first thought.
-~-~-~-~-~-~-
After Harry and Jean had left for the medical lab Scott, Hank and Ororo departed as each had classes to prepare for, leaving Logan and Professor Xavier alone.
As soon as they were alone Logan began, "He's seen combat before Chuck. Most people after going through all the shit he's been through wouldn't sleep right for weeks. The kid slept soundly for half the drive."
"He could have been exhausted by his ordeal," Xavier replied playing devils advocate.
"It's more than just that," Wolverine shot back, "the way he handled himself, he didn't freeze up. Some guard took a potshot at us and the kid turned and wasted him. A kid shouldn't be able to make that call, let alone react to a threat like he did."
The Professor frowned not liking the implications of Harry being capable of such actions; it suggested that the young man had a lot of baggage to deal with. That wasn't anything new to him, many young mutants had rough childhoods, but it didn't make it any easier or pleasant to deal with.
"We'll help him Logan," Xavier said comfortingly, "if he is, as I suspect, your grandson, he'll need your help and guidance the most."
Logan shifted uncomfortably; he wasn't a person that the kids could depend on. He was a guy who taught them to fight, who showed them how to survive and who fought and killed in the darkness so that their lives didn't have to be as bleak.
"He's family, Logan." The Professor stated simply, drawing the man from his thoughts.
'Maybe,' Logan thought, 'that's all that that needs to be said.'
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
Jean and Harry had reached the medical lab and, after getting his permission, she began doing a full workup both to figure out what his mutation might be and to get a baseline on his heath. The first thing she'd done was to take his vital signs; his temperature heart rate and blood pressure had all been high, but not approaching anything dangerous.
"Alright, lose the wetsuit and lay down," Jean ordered distractedly as she began calibrating the CT machine. Coming out from behind the computer bank that ran the machine, she found Harry lying on the table, completely nude. Not expecting to see that, she quickly turned away and covered her eyes in embarrassment.
"I'm sorry," she stated, "I didn't realize you didn't have any other clothing."
"Yeah," Harry said, sitting up and glancing down at his body almost surprised at his lack of shame, "well, I spent most of my time in captivity naked, I guess I got used to it."
"Well, you don't need to be naked here," Jean replied, "Let me just get you some clothes then." She crossed the room and opened a drawer, "what's your size? Do you think a medium or large would be better?"
"Large I guess," Harry answered.
"You'll have to go without underwear for now," Jean offered, walking backwards holding out a pair of grey, drawstring sweat pants and a white t-shirt.
"I never wore them anyhow," Harry replied taking the clothes and slipping them on, "All I had was my cousin's hand me downs and, well, he was quite a bit bigger around the middle than that hairy blue guy. Hank wasn't it?"
Once he was dressed, Jean ran Harry through a battery of tests and after each successive one grew more and more excited like Ollivander trying to match a wand to a tricky customer.
After a particularly excited squeak from the redheaded woman Harry asked, "what, exactly, is so exciting about my tests?"
"It's amazing," Jean answered with enthusiasm, "your body naturally produces some sort of energy I've never seen or heard about that messes with the circuitry of the machines!"
"And that's a good thing?" Harry questioned.
"Well, not particularly, but it's a very interesting challenge," the woman replied, "but I think I've locked in on how to get around it now."
"Does this have to do with my mutation," he inquired even as he considered the alternate possibility of magic interacting with electronics.
Jean crinkled her brow in thought, "I would assume so, unless you know of some reason why it wouldn't be." Harry looked away for just a moment and it was all that the woman needed to know he did know something. "I'm telepathic Harry, but it doesn't take a mind reader to know that you're hiding something."
Sighing, Harry responded, "I do have an idea of what else it could be, but I'm not sure."
"Harry," the woman began only to be cut off.
"It's complicated," he interrupted, "can we leave it at that right now?"
"Alright," she agreed reluctantly. She realized that it was one of the young man's secrets and it would take time for him to come to trust her, especially after everything he'd recently experienced.
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Professor Xavier was sitting behind his desk in his office discussing his student's progress in the physical science with Hank McCoy, occasionally known as Beast when he sensed Jean Grey approaching. Just as the redhead entered the room, he asked his colleague to excuse him for a little while.
"Of course Professor," Beast answered, standing, "Jean, lovely to see you."
"Hello Hank," Jean greeted, "I hope I'm not interrupting anything," she said as the man stepped past her leaving the room.
"Nothing pressing, I assure you," the man answered with a smile.
"Thank you," she called to him as the large mutant closed the door behind him.
"Hello Jean," the Professor greeted, "I assume you have come about our new resident."
"Yes," the woman answered simply, "he's as much of an enigma as his grandfather."
"So the blood test shows they are family," Xavier asked.
"Yes Professor," she replied.
"I'd thought as much. What else were you able to learn Jean?" Xavier questioned.
"It's not so much what I learned, as what I didn't," the woman complained, "his body produces some sort of energy that messes with the electronics of most of the machines downstairs."
Charles furrowed his brow, "Really? His mutation…"
"No, or at least I don't think so, Professor," she broke in. "He's hiding something and it has to do with this. He only realized he's a mutant a few minutes before we started the tests."
"Interesting," Xavier intoned.
"What are you thinking sir?" She asked.
"Nothing, really," The Professor explained, "I had theorized that he'd been raised, at least in part, in some sort of mutant collective. If that were the case, however, he couldn't have thrown a bolt of lightning and not realize immediately that he was a mutant."
"He can throw lightning bolts?" Jean asked, "Does he produce the power from his body and use it as a controlled projectile? That could explain why he was so difficult to scan."
"From what Logan described, he threw his hands towards the guard shooting at them and a bolt of lightning shot out," the Professor described. "Mr. Wilson sent a report about the incursion at my request and while he didn't see Harry throwing lightning, he did state that when he approached the cell he witnessed him absorbing electricity from the shattered light fixture. He also said that when he made himself known, Mr. Potter seemed to think that despite being unarmed, he would be able to defend himself."
Jean contemplated the new information trying to build a complete picture of the young man, even as she continued her report. "I was eventually able to augment the CT scanner enough to do a successful scan," she laughed ruefully, "After all the trouble I had getting it to work, it didn't show anything abnormal."
"Harry's blood work, on the other hand is another story and another mystery," she continued, "unsurprisingly he has an active X-gene; what was surprising is that, at first glance, he has two of them."
"Two?" Xavier repeated, "How is that possible?"
"You are aware, I assume, of Klinefelter's syndrome?" Jean asked.
"An extra chromosome," the Professor said in understanding.
Jean nodded, "At first glance, it looked like Harry had two X-gene's, but the second one is different; it appeared to be a mutated X-gene."
"Appeared? Then you've discovered what it is?" Xavier queried in fascination.
"Actually, I believe I do. I think that the X-gene is actually a mutation of this particular gene," she detailed. "I think he has both the gene that is the origin of mutation and the X-gene."
"More questions and few answers; an enigma indeed," Xavier offered. "We should present him with what we know and see if he will be willing to tell us what he knows about his secondary mutation."
"If he has any," Jean added. Xavier nodded, acknowledging that he may not have any answers for them. "I'd also like your permission to run DNA tests on the other students."
"Why, may I inquire," Charles replied.
"Well, as you know, we don't normally run DNA testing for the students because we already know they're mutants," the Professor nodded, "I'd like to test to see if any of the others have this secondary mutation gene."
"Try to use existing blood samples when possible," Xavier consented, "I don't want to cause any unnecessary panic."
"Of course," Jean agreed.
"Now as to our conversation with Mr. Potter, I've requested Logan join us and Mr. Rasputin will be escorting Harry here as well," the Professor informed Jean, "would you like me to summon Scott as well?"
-~-~-~-~-~-~
"Are you Harry?" a deep voice questioned, startling Harry from his pursuit of half-heartedly watching a movie about a singing cartoon lion and half-heartedly taking a quiz to find out what type of man was his dreamboat.
Turning, he saw a very large young man looking down at him in askance. "Yes," he answered simply, "and you are?"
"I'm sorry, my name is Piotr," the tall man answered holding out his hand for Harry to shake.
Harry stood, "good to meet you Piotr," he replied. As his palm made contact with Piotr's, the larger of the pair jerked hard, and fell to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut. Before his eyes, some sort of metallic coating rippled across the big man's skin, covering him from head to toe. "Help, I need help," Harry yelled, not knowing what else to do.
-~-~-~-~-~
Professor Xavier's pleasant smile dropped from his face at the same instant, "Jean, something's wrong," he began.
"I felt it too, Professor," the woman replied, already on her feet and running towards where she had felt Piotr and Harry. Professor Xavier followed more slowly but no less urgently behind her.
Jean arrived in the TV room where she'd left Harry and found him kneeling near the downed form of Colossus in his organic metal form. Harry's hands were hovering over Piotr's chest, as if he wanted to help, but was afraid to touch him.
Sparks of electricity were dancing across his skin when he noticed Jean enter the room; looking up at her, he yelled, "Help him!"
"What happened?" she asked already kneeling next to Colossus, her fingers pressing against his jugular testing for a pulse.
"I don't know," Harry answered standing up and backing away, "we shook hands and he just fell."
Finding a pulse, Jean breathed a sigh of relief, with a thought she levitated the unconscious boy and began heading towards the medical lab.
"Will he be okay?" Harry asked in concern.
"He will," she shot back over her shoulder with a reassuring smile, "Piotr's a tough kid and I'm a good doctor." Despite the situation, Harry found himself impressed. He'd seen people levitate things many times, but never with so little effort or concentration.
Professor Xavier, the man Harry recognized from Jeans' description as Scott and Logan arrived just as she was leaving. The look on the bald man's face as his eyes followed Jean and Piotr from the room before locking on Harry's reminded him of Dumbledore after they discovered Barty Crouch Jr. impersonating Mad Eye Moody. It was a mix of shock, curiosity, and tightly leashed power.
"We should talk," he said simply, waving a hand in front of him indicating Harry should follow him.
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
The Professor directed Harry back to the office in which they'd originally met, inviting him to sit down as he moved himself behind his desk. It was the first time he'd actually noticed that the man was in a wheelchair; he projected such a presence that it was a surprisingly easy thing to miss.
Harry sat in the chair he'd seen previously occupied by Ororo with Logan sinking into the couch across from him and Scott taking a position just behind the Professors right shoulder.
"Can you tell us what happened, Mr. Potter," Charles questioned his voice even and curious.
"Yes sir," Harry began, "err, no sir," he corrected himself. "I can tell you what happened, but I don't know what…"
"I understand Mr. Potter," Xavier interrupted, "please just tell us what you can. We'll figure it out together."
"Okay, umm, I was sitting watching TV and Piotr startled me, asking who I was," Harry explained, "I introduced myself and when we shook hands, he suddenly jerked and dropped to the floor, then some weird metal started covering his body. You guys showed up almost immediately after that."
The Professor nodded and asked, "Are you aware that there were sparks of what looked like electricity jumping across your skin?"
"No sir," Harry replied with a bit of confusion in his voice.
"Would you be willing to help me test my hypothesis of what happened?" the man asked.
"Yes sir," Harry answered.
"Logan, if you would shake Mr. Potters' hand," Xavier prompted.
Wolverine looked at the Professor and shrugged, reaching out his hand. Harry for his part grasped the man's hand in his own, only for Logan to jerk in a now familiar manner and pull away, his hair suddenly standing on end.
"Was that necessary," he growled at the Professor.
"Who else would you have suggested participate in that test," Xavier shot back, causing the man to curse under his breath.
"What happened?" Harry asked.
"You shocked the shit out of me," Logan answered, he turned to Charles, "you knew that was going to happen," he accused.
"I suspected as much," the Professor replied. The man turned to Harry and explained, "I believe, Mr. Potter, that with your mutation being newly awakened that it is uncontrolled. This isn't uncommon and I believe that with a little effort we will be able to teach you that control. In the interim, I would request you wear some non-conductive gloves so as to prevent this from happening again."
"That's why they had you in that wetsuit," Logan commented.
"I guess," Harry said, "but the suit, it dampened, I guess, my ability to feel the energy around me."
"You can feel the energy around you?" Scott questioned.
"In a way; the best way I've been able to describe it is I taste it. The electricity in the walls, the batteries in your wheelchair," he hesitated, "even people."
"That seems like it would be a handy talent to possess," Charles commented, "I, myself, can feel the people around me and always know where they are. Does your ability allow you to do so?"
"Yes," Harry answered, "I'm pretty sure I could navigate most places with my eyes closed as even the furniture registers as a sort of dead zone."
"Do mutants feel any different?" Logan inquired bluntly.
"I noticed that you and Deadpool both put out a different flavor of energy right off. Your energies are very similar, but not quite the same. I noticed that you give off a lot more energy than the guards and people in the cars that we passed too," Harry explained, "Professor Xavier, and the others who were here when we arrived all had their own, distinct flavors, and all gave off more energy than the Muggles."
"Muggles, what's that," Xavier answered.
"Shit," Harry cursed quietly, "umm, it means normal people; people without powers."
"I take it this has something to do with what you weren't willing to tell Jean," the Professor stated.
"Yes sir," Harry replied.
"I won't to push you for answers, Mr. Potter," Xavier declared, "you are not a prisoner, nor should you feel obligated to share your secrets with us. I do hope, however, that we'll be able to eventually earn your trust."
"Trust is only part of it, sir," Harry explained, "there are, well, laws governing what I can and can't say to anyone who's not a relative or already knows."
"Curiouser and curiouser," Xavier quoted with slight amusement as he imagined his protégé's reaction to that tidbit of information. "I would like let you know that one of the tests Jean completed indicated that you and Logan are related; grandfather and grandchild."
Harry looked at the Professor in disbelief, "No offense, but I'd find that easier to believe if you said he was my father, except I'm the spitting image of my father."
"Looks can be deceiving, Mr. Potter," Xavier explained, "It's likely that Logan is older than I am."
Harry looked to the man who had rescued him in askance, "I have no idea kid, but I trust Jeanie," the man said as he was still processing the bomb Charles had just dropped on him. "But like Chuck said, I'm older than I look."
Harry's look changed from confusion to thoughtful and he finally spoke, "I've heard of stranger things, I guess. I mean, I knew of a man who was over 600 years old."
"Another secret," Xavier questioned, intrigued by the mystery surrounding their newest guest.
Harry shrugged and nodded, "sorry."
At that moment, Jean and Piotr entered the room, the largest of the pair seemingly unaffected by the earlier trauma.
"You okay," Harry asked as Jean took a seat next to him on the couch and Piotr carried another chair from a table that sat on the other side of the room.
"I am fine now," Piotr answered neutrally.
"It seems," Professor Xavier interjected, "that Mr. Potter's newly awakened powers are not yet fully under his control. We will be working with him on that."
"You did not mean to injure me," Piotr questioned, though Harry could see that he had already accepted Xavier's explanation.
"No," Harry replied, "I didn't even know I could do that."
"It's okay then, though forgive me if we do not shake on it," Colossus replied with a smile.
"If you are amenable to the situation, Piotr, I had intended to ask if you would mind sharing your room with Mr. Potter while he is here," the Professor stated.
"That would be fine Professor," Piotr answered.
"Very well," the Professor stated, "I believe we should let Mr. Potter settle in; if you would show him to your room Piotr?"
"Of course Professor," the young man replied.
As Harry and Piotr walked from the room, Harry quietly ask his roommate, "are you really alright?
Once she sensed the two were well outside of earshot, Jean turned to her mentor, "Professor?"
"He's not ready Jean," the man answered the unasked question, "the last thing he needs is to see us as kinder, gentler guards. A gilded cage is still a cage."
"If you think that's best," Dr. Grey replied uncertainly.
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
"I am well," Piotr replied to Harry's question as he led him towards the room they would share, "you just caught me off guard is all; it isn't the first time."
"That's not the first time you've been electrocuted by a handshake?" Harry questioned in disbelief.
The larger of the pair laughed, "It's not the first time a handshake knocked me off my feet."
"Really?" Harry inquired.
"I'll introduce you to Rogue," Piotr answered with a laugh.
"What kind of a name is Rogue?" Harry responded.
"Mutants, as a show of solidarity for our developing culture, take on a name related to their power," Piotr explained, "For instance, I can change my body into an organic metal," as he said this, the same metallic substance as Harry had seen before spread across his body and he seemed to grow even larger. "They call me Colossus."
"That's why they called Logan, Wolverine?" Harry questioned.
"Yes, and Mr. Summers is Cyclops, Ms. Munroe is Storm, Mr. McCoy is Beast; almost all of us have taken on a second identity," Colossus revealed, leading Harry into a bedroom with two beds. "This is our room; the side with all my stuff in it is mine. You're free to do whatever you like with your half."
"Well, I'm not sure how long I'm going to be here, but thanks," Harry replied.
"You just got here," Colossus stated.
"What did they tell you about how I came here?" Harry asked.
"Nothing, actually;" Colossus answered honestly.
"Oh, well, I was kidnapped about two months ago and held in some sort of facility that experiments on mutants. Logan and Deadpool broke me out last night," Harry retorted.
"Well, shit," the tallest of the pair exclaimed.
"Yeah," Harry agreed, "Anyhow, I have a life to go back to in England once I figure out this whole mutant thing."
"Figure out this whole mutant thing?" Colossus repeated.
"Hey, I just barely found out I'm a mutant," Harry explained, "I really don't even know what all I can do."
Piotr was quiet for a while as the twosome stood awkwardly in their shared room, "So, you met Deadpool, that's pretty cool," he finally stated changing the subject.
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
Harry and Piotr were sitting in the dining hall when classes let out for lunch. Suddenly, what had been a large empty room was quickly filling with students. The pair soon found themselves surrounded by what Harry assumed to be Piotr's friends.
"Who's this, Colossus?" a young woman with elbow length gloves asked motioning to Harry as she sat down with the quickly expanding group around them.
"This is Harry," Piotr answered, "he just got here today."
"I'm Rogue," the girl said, extending her glove-clad hand to Harry.
"I'm Harry," he replied adjusting the black leather gloves Jean had brought to him a few minutes prior, before taking her hand in his own. Glancing down, she noticed his glove and raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm still getting a handle of my powers," Harry explained, glancing at Colossus.
The large young man laughed, and explained, "What he means is he'll electrocute you if he touches you."
"Like static electricity," another girl, this one with a British accent, pink hair and fairy wings of all things asked.
"No, like it stopped my heart," Colossus answered seriously, causing the entire group to drop into silence.
"It was an accident," Harry defended.
"Are you alright big guy," a blue eyed, blond boy asked, glancing from Harry to Piotr and back.
"Yes; no harm, no foul," he answered, "it's like touching Rogue, he couldn't help it." The group seemed to accept the explanation and broke into their individual conversations again.
"What happens if somebody touches you?" Harry asked Rogue.
"I absorb other people's power," she answered quietly; "I can't control it."
"I'm sorry," Harry said thinking about his own lack of physical comfort in his life, "that's got to be hard."
Rogue smiled back at him, "so…introductions." She said redirecting the conversation, "Like I said, I'm Rogue, this is Pixie," she pointed to the pink haired girl who waved at him, "that's Siryn," she nodded at a porcelain skinned redhead, who smiled back.
"I'm Iceman," the blond interrupted, extending his hand to shake Harry's, "good to meet you."
"Pyro," a dark haired teen grunted, seemingly more interested in his lunch than the conversation.
"I'm Sam," a blond boy with a big smile introduced himself; "you can call me Cannonball though."
"What part of England are you from?" a girl who hadn't introduced herself asked. Harry placed her accent as upper crust London. A glance from Rogue prompted her to add, "Oh, I'm Psylocke."
"Surrey," he answered, "Little Whinging to be specific." The girl nodded and returned to her meal, as disinterested now as they teen called Pyro.
"Where's Kitty," Colossus asked, eliciting knowing looks from Iceman and Rogue.
"She's helping Wolverine with something," Rogue answered, laughing when Colossus frowned.
"So what kind of name is Hairy?" Pyro asked, deciding to join the conversation after all. "I mean I can see that for Dr. McCoy, but you look pretty normal."
"It's Harry, not hairy like hair," Harry tried to explain.
"What's your real name," Pyro demanded.
"Cool it John," Colossus said in a warning tone.
"What, I just want to know the kids name," he replied mockingly.
"I don't have one yet," Harry answered, understanding that Colossus had somewhat prepared him for this, "I just found out I was a mutant today."
"Really," Iceman asked, interested. "What can you do, we'll help you figure out your codename."
Harry smiled, taking an instant liking to the enthusiastic blond, "Well, aside from a shocking handshake," Colossus snorted, "I've thrown a lightning bolt and I can feel the energy in everything. I don't know if there's more."
"So, something with an electrical theme then," Iceman stated, "come on guys."
"Volt, Watt, Bolt, Amp, Current," Sam began.
"Electron, Charge, Battery, Circuit," Pixie added with a giggle.
"Hmm, Conductor, Voltage, Capacitance, Electrode, Static, Shock," Colossus continued the game.
"Force, Wave, Socket, Plug," Rogue chimed in.
When nobody else spoke up, Iceman carried on, "Ground, AC/DC, Capacitor, Transformer; umm…I can't think of anything else."
"So Harry, do any of those sound good?" Pixie asked.
"A couple of them sound interesting, but I'm not sure they're me," Harry announced.
"The only other thing I can think of that has to do with electricity is Fuse," Rogue replied. "Maybe we'll have to do some research."
"Wait a minute," Harry stated.
"Fuse?" Iceman questioned, "I guess that could be okay," he said uncertainly.
"What? No," Harry smiled; it was perfect in his mind. He was a mutant and he was a wizard, a blend of two different completely different worlds, "Fusion."
Pixie grinned, "I like it…It's good to meet you Fusion."
Harry smiled back, they weren't Ron and Hermione and this wasn't Hogwarts, but for the first time since parting from his friends at Kings Cross, a sense of normalcy slowly settled over him.
-~-~-~-~-~-~
When lunch ended, the group Harry had eaten with including Colossus departed for their afternoon classes leaving Harry alone and bored in what they'd called the game room. Once again, he found himself splitting his attention between an episode of The Young and the Restless and glancing through weight lifting secrets in an issue of FHM.
Harry felt Logan enter the room, though straining all of his other senses; he couldn't detect the man otherwise until he was within arms reach. "So I hear we're calling you Fusion now."
"I guess," Harry replied, turning around to face the man, "should I call you Wolverine?"
Logan grunted and said, "Whichever you want."
"So, I guess we should talk," Harry stated.
"Listen," Logan began suddenly, "I don't know you, I didn't know Charlotte Evans, and I don't know James Howlett." The gruff man scowled, explaining, "That was another man; another lifetime."
"That sucks," Harry responded succinctly when it became apparent that Logan wasn't in a hurry to continue.
"I'm not sure what you expect from me," Wolverine admitted, "I'm not exactly the parental sort or anything."
"I'm not expecting much," Harry answered, then realizing that could be taken the wrong way added, "I mean, my relatives weren't really the parental sort so much as the asshole sort."
Logan's gaze grew sharper as he seemed to run his eyes over Harry looking for signs of abuse, oblivious, Harry continued unwittingly allaying the man's fears. "They were never abusive; well not physically, not really. I was swatted a couple of times, but mostly they just made it clear they wanted nothing to do with me."
"So where does that leave us?" The man questioned and Harry had to wonder at the absurdity of his life as he recognized the parallels between his situation with Sirius and with Logan.
"I don't know," Harry said honestly, "I guess it depends on what you think the blood tie between us means. Are we family or are we acquaintances connected by genetics and chance?"
"Family," Logan answered with a growl, surprising himself with such a resolute declaration.
Harry nodded, pleased, "Family then," he repeated. "You probably have some questions about me and my life and I know that the Professor and Dr. Grey do, but…"
"I have my own secrets," Logan interrupted, "Chuck and Jeanie can wait."
"Thanks," Harry replied gratefully. "So should I call you Gramps then?"
The man extended a metal claw in a crude gesture in response causing Harry to laugh. "They wanna do some tests tomorrow," Logan began eliciting a groan from the young wizard. Ignoring the protest, he continued, "to figure out the limits of your powers. When you learn the limits, your instincts will give us a direction towards helping you learn to control them."
Feeling their brief conversation was at a good stopping place, Wolverine rose from the couch he'd sat down on saying, "rest up, tomorrows going to be exhausting." As the man walked from the room he called over his shoulder, "If I'm going to admit being related to you; you need stop watching that kind of pansy shit," he gestured to the screen where some blond was melodramatically pounding on a door, crying to be let in, "it's embarrassing."
Before Harry could respond to his taunting, the man was gone, his laughter echoing through the room.
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
The next morning found Harry standing in a large open room with Logan, while Professor X looked on from an observation bay halfway up one of the walls. "Alright Mr. Potter," Charles voice echoed over an intercom system, "Mr. Wilson said he saw what he thought was you absorbing electricity; let's start with that."
Harry turned to Logan, a question on his lips when the man said "Deadpool," causing him to nod.
"Alright Professor," the young mutant called out.
"First, I'd like to see if you can call electricity from the outlets and such in the room," the Professor explained.
Harry reached out, feeling for the power sources in the room and finding several. He called for the power, willing it to flow into him. A bolt of electricity sprang from a wall outlet into his chest; another followed a few seconds later and then a third after that.
Without the rubber suit, it was far easier than it had been in his cell, but he felt it was still too slow. Closing his eyes, he concentrated, throwing his entire will into pulling the power into himself. He felt warmth spread through his body almost instantly. Opening his eyes, he saw several arcs of electricity as thick as his arms pouring into his body. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Logan, who'd retreated to a far corner to avoid electrocution.
"That's enough for now Mr. Potter," the tinny voice of the Professor rang out over the light buzzing sound of the electric current running into his body. Easing his call for the power, the arcs almost immediately disappeared with a thundering crack. Looking down, Harry cussed, as the clothes Jean had given him the previous day were scorched and falling apart on him.
"That was impressive," Wolverine called with approval, causing Harry to feel a small amount of pride in his new ability.
"Okay, Harry, I'd like for you to now try to pull energy from Logan," Charles voice rang through the room.
Frowning, he turned to his Grandfather, "better me in a controlled environment than to have to figure it out on the fly."
"If you're sure," the wizard asked. Logan nodded and seemed to grimace and brace himself.
Reaching out, Harry easily felt the power within the mutant before him. He gingerly tried to pull it to him as he had with the electricity, but found it to be more difficult to grasp. Trying again, he zeroed in on the feeling of Wolverine's power; again, he closed his eyes and concentrated. Calling for the man's power, he knew he had a grasp on it now, but it was resisting him.
He opened his eyes and looked at Logan, who stood there, completely unaffected and seemingly unaware of anything Harry had tried so far. Harry grabbed the energy again, holding it firmly with his will he gave a mighty mental tug and a bolt of electricity shot from the man's body into Harry.
Wolverine stood watching the kid testing his powers with trepidation. Contrary to popular opinion, he was not a big fan of pain despite his ability to weather it in ridiculous amounts. Suddenly something changed causing him to collapse to one knee. If felt like being kicked in the chest after running a marathon.
When Harry saw the man's face pale before he dropped to his knee, a pained expression on his face, he reflexively separated the power he'd just absorbed and willed it back into Logan. A bolt of electricity shot from his outstretched palm into his grandfather's chest.
"What the fuck was that?" Wolverine yelled, bounding to his feet.
"Are you alright Logan," Charles called over the intercom.
"I'm fine Chuck," he called back, "one second I feel like I went twelve rounds with a hangover, the next I feel like I drank a hundred cups of coffee."
"Mr. Potter," the Professors voice called questioningly.
"It was like a reflex," Harry replied carefully watching his only living family member, "After I took his energy, I saw he was in pain and wanted to help, so I sort of just sent it back to him."
"Fascinating," Xavier stated, "do you think you could do that at will, Mr. Potter?"
"No," Harry replied, instinctively knowing the answer, "I can only give back the energy I took in the first place. Otherwise I'm just shooting out lightning bolts."
"Perhaps in time you can learn to modulate that energy for healing purposes," Charles stated, making a note on his clipboard. "Let's try throwing lightning bolts now." Across the room, several dummies suddenly appeared as if they'd just popped into existence, "whenever you're ready."
Harry felt the power pool in his hands, his fingers tingling with suppressed energy. Throwing his arms forward, a small bolt of electricity flew across the room and slammed into one of the dummies.
"Again please, and try to put more energy into it," The Professor called.
"How much?" Harry called back.
"As much as you can, or as much as instinct directs you to," Charles replied.
"Alright," Harry replied, again pooling the energy into his hands. It took only a second for it to feel right, so he threw out his palms causing twin bolts of electricity to soar across the room, crackling and hissing until they hit and exploded their target.
"Are you easily able to control the amount energy you put into your bolts Harry," Xavier questioned.
"Yes sir," Harry answered, "I'd like to try one more thing."
"What are you going to try?" The Professor questioned, wanting to compare it to any of the tests he had planned.
"I'd like to try to send a stream of energy at the dummies, rather than a bolt," Harry explained.
"If you think you can," Xavier stated, making notes on his clipboard for the new test and results.
Taking a breath Harry faced the dummies again and threw out his hands. Arcs of electricity flew from his hands crossing the room like lightning. The main bolt struck the dummy, while minor bolts splayed out, hitting the ground, walls and dummies surrounding his target. He pushed more power into his action, and concentrated on tightening the bolt into a tight beam. Slowly, the energy complied with his will, though he was unable to control the small arcs that occasionally shot off into the surroundings. When he began to feel the power draining from him, he stopped and found himself breathing hard.
"Let's take a break to recharge, so to speak," Charles called.
Harry agreed heartily and began following Logan from the room. He was startled when, as he passed near an electric wall outlet, he reflexively called at the power contained within. He was more surprised that he felt significantly better after absorbing it for several short moments.
Harry, Logan and Professor Xavier settled at a metal table set with light refreshments in the control room that overlooked what Harry had learned was called the Danger Room.
"I must say Mr. Potter that your ability to absorb energy is quite impressive. You absorbed electricity at roughly the rate of two megawatts an hour, which is enough to run the entire school for more than a month," Charles stated.
"Wow," Harry replied impressed.
"Unfortunately, I didn't have anything set up that was capable of recording your energy output. From my observation, however, I believe that it is most likely comparable," Xavier explained.
"Your ability to absorb energy directly from Logan, without physical contact, is interesting, but I believe it to be very dangerous. I would ask that you refrain from doing so except under the direst of circumstances."
"It didn't feel right," Harry agreed.
"What do you mean," Xavier questioned.
"Morally," he clarified, "I knew it was going to hurt him. I have a feeling that if I did that to anyone who didn't have his regenerative abilities."
"You've been talking with Jeanie," Logan complained.
Harry smirked, but otherwise ignored his grandfather's interruption, "They would lose consciousness. I think if I pulled, I guess; if I pulled too hard, I think it would be deadly."
"I had considered that possibility," Charles admitted.
"And you had me do it anyway?" Harry asked, scowling at the man.
"We discussed it beforehand, Harry," Logan said, derailing his grandson's temper.
"I had not foreseen that you might be able to force energy back into him, however," the Professor said bringing the conversation quickly back on subject.
"It was his energy," Harry explained.
"Can you explain to me the feelings behind that, so we can figure out if we can replicate it?" Xavier asked. Harry furrowed his brow, trying to explain the feelings to the man but was having trouble coming up with an accurate description.
"If it would be easier and you are willing, I could look into your mind and see exactly how it felt," the Professor offered.
"No offense," Harry began, "but I don't like the idea of anyone looking into my thoughts."
"No offense taken; few people do," Xavier replied calmly, "if it helps your decision at all, I can promise you that I would not look at anything but that particular memory."
"You can trust Chuck, Harry," Logan added, "it's up to you. I don't like him tooling around in my mind either."
Harry looked at his grandfather; he trusted the man, at least more than he trusted any of the others at the school. "If Logan says I can trust you, I can trust you," Harry said decisively, "please limit it to the memories of our testing."
Charles looked surprised for a moment, then nodded. His eyelids flickered for a few seconds before his eyes refocused on Harry.
"I didn't feel a thing," Harry exclaimed in surprise.
"I am considered one of the most talented and powerful telepaths on the planet for a reason, Mr. Potter," Xavier said with a smug grin making a few more notes on his clipboard. "I noticed at the end of that memory you felt quite tired until you again absorbed some electricity. I am curious if your energy absorption can be applied to healing yourself. Would you be amenable to testing this?"
"What would the test entail," Harry countered.
"I suggest we open a shallow cut on one of your fingers, then have you absorb some electricity and see if it heals itself," Charles stated.
Harry shrugged, thinking back to when he first noticed his new abilities trying to remember if he'd had any injuries. He couldn't think of any, but didn't know if that meant he didn't have any, or if they'd healed like the Professor was suggesting, "Why not."
"Logan, if you would," Xavier asked.
In response, one of his grandfathers' metal claws slowly slid out of the back of his hand. "Careful Junior, they're sharp," the man said, holding the blade out for Harry.
"In for a penny, in for a pound," Harry muttered, reaching out and running his palm gingerly over the blade, hissing as he sliced open the palm of his left hand. "Let's hope this works," he said as blood pooled in his hand.
Not really knowing how to go about the task of healing himself, Harry decided he'd try to summon the power into his hand. Before he could, though, he noticed that his hand was tingling as if he already had. Looking down at his bleeding hand, he saw sparks dancing around the rapidly closing wound and smiled, holding it up to show Logan and the Professor.
"That answers that question," Charles stated, "did that cause you any fatigue, Mr. Potter?"
"No sir," Harry answered, picking up a napkin and wiping the blood from his hand and arm, "I didn't consciously do anything. Thinking on it, I believe that if I concentrated, I could effect the how fast I heal. I think to heal a more significant wound quickly; I would have to do so. I'm not in a hurry to find out though."
"I believe that covers all the tests I have for now, unless you believe there is something we have yet to explore," Xavier said. Harry shook his head in the negative, "as you grow in your powers, do not be surprised if you learn later that there is more to it; and please don't hesitate to come to me with any questions or concerns."
"I will Professor," Harry said, marginally surprised that he earnestly meant it.
"Good," the man said, "Jean has a number of tests that she would like to perform as mutants with a great deal of power often exhibit enhanced traits that have little to no direct tie to their primary powers; strength, reflexes, agility and senses."
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~