A/N Thanks to everyone who supported and encouraged me, you're some of the best people I've ever met over the internet. A big thank you go's to the creator of 'Caim', err, also called Caim, for letting me use his character. I don't need to say thank you to Yaoiboy167 and Mystery Hunter, I've done so sooo many times already, but thank you anyway. Also, OCs are welcome, X-men, students, teachers, villains, anyone. Right then, to the chapter, enjoy...

XXx

Jake sat listening to the sound of the tall grandfather clock standing proudly at the far wall of Xavier's office. The room was surprisingly small, but still seemed magnificent. Old mahogany bookcases lined the walls along the door and left side, full of books. Most of them look so ancient, Jake thought. In the centre of the left-side wall a great fireplace quietly burnt, warming the room comfortably. A large painting of Xavier in his youth stood above it and Jake noticed that it depicted him standing, wearing some sort of soldier's uniform.

The right-side wall was lined with large windows, casting a great deal of light into the room, even on a cloudy day like today. Suits of armor stood guard in the corners of the room, adorned with sword and shield bearing a crest of a lion. The most beautiful item in the room was easily the large oak desk that dominated the space. It was littered with papers scattered messily across it, whilst a small laptop sat to one side on it, looking out of place surrounded by the all antiquities.

Jake sat opposite that desk in a large comfortable chair, waiting anxiously for his old, kind headmaster to arrive. Behind the desk his teacher Mrs. Munroe waited patiently. She was his History teacher, but he also knew she was generally in charge of the teaching side of the Institute and of the well being of the students. He tried to avoid eye contact with her, but made a few quick glances. She smiled warmly at him, he noted, but she also looked concerned. They remained in silence as the grandfather clock ticked behind her. Jake had considered making conversation, but remarkably, he found he had nothing to say. In truth he was scared of what was about to happen. He knew they would try to ask questions about his feelings and bring up his past but he didn't want to think about those things yet alone talk about them.

The door opened quietly and the faint buzzing of an electric motor on his wheelchair made it obvious that it was Xavier. He rolled quietly to behind the desk next to Mrs. Munroe.

"I'm sorry for being late, I was held up," he said with a smile. "Hello Jake, how are you?"

The first question he was dreading. Jake knew Xavier could read minds, though he didn't know how it worked exactly, but he was always afraid to lie to the old man. "I'm fine Sir," he replied nervously.

"We haven't spoken much these last few months," Xavier said kindly. "Have you settled in well?" Jake just nodded.

"From what I here you are rather friendly," Xavier said. "Have you made a lot of friends?" Jake paused, he knew a lot of people were fond of him, but could he class them as friends? He decided to go with the easy answer.

"Yes sir," he said.

"Good, who are they?" Xavier asked. Jake realized he wasn't going to get away with an easy time. He paused again, trying to think of the people he could name as his friends: Mark, Quinn, Lars, and a boy called Caim sprung to mind, but apart from that, he struggled to think of anyone who, if asked, would say they thought he was their friend. There were a few people who might say so, but he was unsure. He was about to speak when he was cut off by Xavier.

"It's Ok, from what I understand your good friends with Mr. Rivers," Xavier said. "and the young lady Miss. Morr?"

"Yes sir," Jake replied, perking up a bit.

"What are they like?" Xavier asked.

"They're cool, Marks really friendly and kind, and easy to talk to. We like similar stuff; I mean music sport and stuff like that," Jake said happily with one breath. "Quinn's really nice; we help each other with homework and in class. People think she's mean but she isn't, she just gets upset easily. They're both really easy to get along with and they find the time to talk to me."

"And the others don't find the time?" Mrs. Munroe asked softly, speaking for the first time. Jake had thrown himself in it; he'd spoken without thinking again.

"Not really no," Jake replied quietly.

"And why is that?" Xavier asked.

"I don't know," Jake said coyly, staring down at his hands. "I guess people find me annoying."

"Why do you say that?" Xavier asked with slight concern in his voice.

"I get excited a lot, some people think I talk too much," Jake admitted.

"Who?" Xavier asked.

"I don't know… people," Jake replied, shrugging slightly. He was beginning to feel the tightness in his throat that told him he was close to crying.

"How does that make you feel?" Mrs. Munroe asked, the second question he was dreading.

"I don't mind, I guess," Jake mumbled, but then he paused. Taking a breath he admitted: "Kind of sad sometimes,"

"Have you told your friends how you feel?" Xavier asked.

"No," Jake replied, hoping desperately that they'd change the subject. As if he knew what Jake was thinking Xavier didn't continue. He paused for a moment.

"Why don't you tell me what happened yesterday afternoon," he said. "From your perspective."

Jake reluctantly described the events: the baseball game and the boy and how Lars and Quinn stepped in to help. He kept it brief, trying not to say how he felt. When he was finished he sat and looked down at his hands again. He was still ashamed of himself for being so weak.

"Why did you not use your powers?" Xavier asked softly after a brief pause, not being accusatory or pressuring.

"I panicked I guess," Jake said. "I didn't think."

"Were you perhaps distracted by something else?" Mrs. Munroe asked.

"Ma'am?" Jake asked, unsure.

"Was there something that caused you to lose focus?" Xavier offered. "The same thing that caused you to not swing?"

"Err, I haven't played baseball in a while," Jake said slowly. "Not since the day I first used my powers."

"And when you played yesterday it brought back memories of that day," Xavier said, and it was less of a question and more of a statement. "Do those memories always affect you?"

"I guess," Jake said.

"In what way?" Xavier asked. That was the hardest question Jake had ever heard. Jake only shrugged, unable to answer properly.

"Hmmn, do you think that they are the reason behind your friendliness?" Xavier asked. Jake shrugged again. Thoughts of the orphanage rushed to his mind - the loneliness and the isolation.

"Perhaps you wish to seek approval because of the lack of friendship and affection at the orphanage in New Orleans," Xavier helped. Jake looked up, an expression close to anger on his face. He realized his thoughts about the orphanage had been read, something he did not want to be heard by anyone. Xavier looked alarmed and raised his hand in a form of apology.

"Please, Jake, understand, we're not here to hurt you," Xavier said quietly, his voice kind and gentle. "We only want to help. Some of the things that have happened are understandably hard to come to terms with, but you need to face up to them. We are here to help, but really your friends are the ones who will help you most. They will understand what you have been through; they have endured similar circumstances, and will be more than happy to listen. Friends are, after all, the greatest asset we have. The powers of the most powerful mutants pale in comparison"

Jake nodded, feeling slightly overwhelmed by what was being said. Xavier smiled and signaled he could leave. Jake promptly got up and nodded thanks to both of them before rushing out of the door. He stepped into a busy corridor to find that the lunch period had just started. Jake decided to go find his friends and began weaving through the crowds. One advantage of being skinny was that he could fit in tight spaces, such as between groups of people who seem oblivious to the people around them. Another is that he could avoid smaller children who didn't move to avoid walking into the bigger kids despite the obvious consequences. No one seemed to notice Jake as he ducked and dived his way through the hordes of people, heading straight to the south recreation room, where he and his friends usually hung out.

The room was one of the four living rooms inside the Institute. It was a large room filled with games consoles and places to chill out. It was furthest from the dining room, so was the least crowded during lunch, which suited Quinn and Caim. They'd get food from the various vendors in the room, which didn't just serve junk food but fruit and sandwiches. When Jake got there it was virtually deserted except for a couple of kids who were playing video games around a widescreen television. A few more were playing table tennis in the far corner.

Looking round he saw Mark quietly reading what appeared to be Harry Potter on one of the long plush couches. Jake's face lit up and he smiled widely as he went over to him. Mark looked up and smiled back warmly, momentarily returning to his book to finish the paragraph before closing it.

"Hey Kitchie," he greeted. "You Ok?"

"Yeah," Jake said, brushing the question off. "Where is everyone?"

"Well, Quinn's still in detention and Lars is in the gym, again," Mark answered with a slight roll of his eyes. "And I don't know where Caim is, probably found somewhere quiet." Caim tended to shy away from people. He didn't like crowds much, but would talk to Jake and they had become close friends, despite being virtually opposite personalities.

"It looks like it's just you and me for the time being," Mark said jokingly. Jake quite liked being alone with Mark, they got along fine without other people. Jake sat down opposite him, still smiling happily.

"What you reading?" Jake asked.

"Prisoner of Azkaban," Mark replied casually.

"Is that the one with the werewolf?" Jake asked enthusiastically. He already knew the answer but wanted to start a conversation they both liked.

"Yeah," Mark said. "The movie was a little disappointing in my opinion but the book is great. I can lend it you sometime if you like?"

Jake didn't have the patience to read a book like that, but nodded enthusiastically anyway. As continued talking the topic changed to books in general and then authors. Jake found out Mark was a fan of fantasy novels in general, which allowed Jake to recite a list of popular novels. Some of them Mark had never heard of and intended to find out more about.

"Oh, did you hear?" Mark asked once Jake finished. "Hollander is ten points ahead of Trawman, it looks like he's going to end up winning for sure." Francis Hollander was a US senator running for president. He was staunch anti-mutant and had run a campaign blaming them for everything that was wrong in America. His rival, Jillian Trawman, hadn't help matters when she was found to be having an affair, and was rigorously denying it, despite video evidence of her kissing a man. The whole Institute was watching what was happening with alarm; they thought this sort of thing was behind them.

"I don't understand why people listen to him," Jake said. "He's a horrible person, he spits and shouts and rants about things a few mutants did like we're all to blame. Why doesn't anyone challenge him? The press is giving him a free ride! Mutants are trying to fit in most places, integrating. All people like him do is drive them to the edges of society."

"Exactly, but voters are always willing to listen to people who have easy solutions," Mark explained. "People look to Hollander, believing he's got the answers when in truth all he has is hate"

Both boys quietly agreed. If the students at the Institute knew one thing it was politics. It was an important part of being a mutant, understanding different views and knowing the best ways to challenge prejudice. Xavier built the school to give mutants a chance to escape from the judgment of ignorant people. They hoped to show the world mutants were a force for good, not inherently evil or something to be feared.

"Why do people judge others by groups?" Jake asked. "Race, religion, country, politics, sexuality, why don't people look at the person instead of the label?" Jake seemed rather passionate about it all. Mark hadn't noticed the slight pause at 'sexuality', but saying it made Jake's heart skip a beat. He found he got shy at talking about it.

Both boys looked up to see Quinn bounding in looking rather miserable. They ventured smiles but found she didn't return them. She slumped down on the couch near Mark and crossed her arms.

"Humph," she moaned.

"Have you had fun?" Mark asked happily.

"No I haven't," she snapped. "They got me picking up trash! Argh! If I see one more person throw a sweet wrapper on the floor just to spite me I'm going to go at them with a chainsaw!" Mark and Jake glanced at each other, both sharing the image of Quinn in overalls going around shouting at litterers. They burst out laughing, which made Quinn even angrier.

"What's so funny?" she yelled, but the boys continued to laugh, which caused Quinn to scorn at them wildly.

"Sorry Quinn," Jake laughed, calming down. "It's my fault."

"No it's not," she said, her voice a little softer. "It was that moron who started picking on you."

Quinn had a strange relationship with Jake: he was the only person she never got particularly mad at, despite being exactly the sort of person she normally would hate. She calmed down and got up to go to the vendor. She brought back food for all of them and placed it on the table.

"Hold on 'mare, you did washed your hands didn't you?" Mark said mockingly.

"'Course I did idiot, but you don't have to eat it if you don't want," Quinn retorted.

They started eating quietly; Jake took an apple, a pear, a banana and a chocolate bar, full of sugar, as was normal. Jake was hyperactive naturally, and he was overly exited by being around people. He also loved all fruit and craved chocolate and candy. The result was that he was on a near permant sugar high. His friends didn't seem to mind, Kitchie wasn't being Kitchie without his mad behavior.

"We have Foreign Studies after lunch, don't we," Kitchie confirmed in between eating the pear and the banana. "I like that lesson, there are so many interesting places around the world. I hope I can see some of those places; China and Japan look so interesting. Ooh and Europe, England and France and Germany, oh and Poland, and Russia and Turkey. Oh and Egypt! Mrs. Munroe is from there. And Kenya and Congo and South Africa. Oh and Canada, that looks cool, it has those people in the red coats on horses, and they have cool accents. I once met a Canadian man; he finished every sentence with the word 'Eh'."

"Kitchie, we understand, you want to see a lot of places," Mark said grinning. "We understood at the phrase 'I hope I can see some of those places'. Oh, and Canada's probably nothing like you think. Beside's, it would be too cold for you, you'd freeze up."

"I only freeze up when I'm in my gluey form," Kitchie corrected. "Though you're probably right, I find New England too cold, being from New Orleans, though I never got the accent, though that's probably because I came from a rich family."

"I never knew that," Mark noted. "What'd your folks do for a living?"

"Err, my pa' was a CEO at some company," Jake replied, looking away uncomfortably. Mark and Quinn guessed thinking of his parents brought back bad memories and decided to change the subject quickly.

"I'd like to visit Brazil one day, explore the Rainforest," Mark told them. Jake perked back up straight away. "What about you Quinn?" he asked.

"I don't know, I never really thought about it," she replied. "Seeing places doesn't really interest me, I like to do things. If that makes sense."

"You prefer action to standing around looking at monuments and famous places?" Jake offered. Quinn nodded, giving him a slight smile. Then something caught Mark's eye that made the others look up. Lars had entered the room, looking thoroughly worn out. Sweat still lined his forehead and dripped down along his finely chiseled face and his short black hair was messy. He was wearing a tight black shirt and knee high shorts which made Jake's heart skip a beat. He found himself gawping and forced his gaze away, his cheeks going red from embarrassment. The others greeted Lars with smiles, and Jake forced his gaze back and smiled at him. Lars responded with a nod and slight smile before casually sitting down on the couch next to Quinn.

"Hey," he greeted. "You OK Kitchie, what'd Xavier say?"

"Not much, just wanted to know what happened," he answered.

"What did happen?" Quinn asked. Jake tried to hide his wince but they all noticed.

"I don't know, I guess I've never been very good at baseball-" Kitchie said.

"That's not true, you told us that you were once the star hitter at your school," Lars interrupted, and Jake looked away cringing. Mark threw the others a glare to say 'drop it', and with that they sat in an awkward silence for several minutes. They didn't notice the slim, long haired boy approaching with a slight smile. Jake looked up and offered a slight smile when he saw Caim, who took a seat a short distance from the others. The boy frowned at the silence, he liked quiet normally but this was uncomfortable.

Mark quietly sat watching Kitchie, trying to fathom some clues as to what was wrong. Noticing Caim he looked up to give him a smile, and noticed the look of unease on his face. He smiled at him, and Caim gave a small smile in reply.

"Hi Caim, you OK?" he asked.

"Yeah, you?" Caim replied quietly, an almost automatic response.

"Good." Mark found his conversational abilities had left him and he desperately tried to come up with something to say.

"Did you forget you were meant to be helping me with my Math," Caim asked timidly.

"Err, oh yeah," Mark said dumbly, and the others laughed. The bell rang to signal the end of lunch and they got up in unison. Mark, Jake, and Quinn headed towards their lesson, still in silence. Jake hadn't smiled yet, and the others were becoming concerned. He stopped suddenly.

"I've been thinking," he finally said. "Something Xavier said: 'Friends are the greatest asset we have. The powers of the most powerful mutant pale in comparison'." He paused. "It made me think how lucky I am to have you guys."

Mark smiled at his friend, while Quinn let out a laugh. "Sorry," she said. "But that was so corny."

The three of them laughed and carried on to their lesson.

XXx

A/N In the next chapter they use their powers, and we see some of the original X-men yay. Please review. I'm trying to make happier chapters, I'm a happy person, so happy, yet I write sad stuff for some reason. We see why Quinn acts the way she does towards Jake later on, the reason is quite touching, at least I think it is. Touching and cheesy are the same to me. I'm still figuring out what will happen, once I do, I'll continue.