I was bewildered that anyone would have such a sadistic sense of humor as to torture us with such a note as this.
"What could they mean, David? What has Magneto cooked up this time? It must be Sabertooth, though I can't see him having the initiative to do something like this. It has to be Magneto's orders he wants to lure me out where I can be vulnerable, he …"
"Hannah! Slow down. Don't panic. We don't know that it was Magneto, or Sabertooth, though all evidence points that way." I began to get slightly panicky remembering all the things he had done to me over the years, and mentally threw those memories far from me. The eagle dug her talons in; just hard enough to bring me back to the present. Scott asked, "Where did that thing come from?"
"Janné? She's the one who told me you were looking for me." They all stared at me as though I had lost my mind. "Janné? What, you have a new pet?" Logan asked sarcastically. Janné swiveled her head around to face him, and gave a low, derisive whistle. He blushed, and the others laughed.
"No, actually, I found a nice little cubbyhole where I can overlook the school, and check up on all the students outdoors without flying in circles for hours. She found me in there; I don't know how she knew you were looking for me, or who I was, but there you go." I gave them the whole story, and the professor asked, "What does he want with you, really?" I shook my head, only partially certain of the truth.
"In all honesty, the only thing that he could want would be my water powers, my ability to transfer powers and the things I can build." At their puzzled and confused looks, I realized I had mentioned another that I hadn't shown them. "Here," I said, holding my hands out, palms together. I drew them apart slowly, forming a water sculpture, using Logan as the focus.
He reached out and touched it, snatching his hand back as it suddenly became solid under his touch. I dropped it to avoid contact, and caught it in a fold of my skirt. Holding it out to my brother, I said, "Don't worry. It's just a part of the process. Anything I make with water will change to glass at the touch of another. It will stay that way as long as I don't touch it again."
Jean interrupted me. "But what about plain water? Will your water turn to glass if someone drinks it?" Again, I shook my head. "Only if the water is formed into a specific shape will it turn to glass. Regular drinking water is not affected at all."
They only half-listened to my explanations, lost in a kind of madcap mental race, against an unknown foe. I slowly began to realize the true effect of the sadism of the letter writer and could see what they were causing among my now beloved X-Men.
The combination of stress and the problems I had brought upon them were stretching nerves to the breaking point and causing whirlwind emotions to rise that would bind them all together as an unbreakable strength able to blast aside anything in their way, or create gigantic rifts that might end up breaking forever their close ties of friendship and love. Only time would tell from here.