Stumbling Along the Path
"Does it ever wake you in the middle of the night?" Erik asked, "The feeling that one day, they'll come for you? And your children?"
Xavier wheeled around, "I feel a great swell of pity for the poor soul who comes to my school looking for trouble."
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or universe. They belong to Marvel and FOX Studio.
A/N: Sorry I've been sick, so this one is a bit short. Will have a longer chapter coming up soon.
Jean anxiously waited with Ororo for Scott to pull around with their rental car. Kurt appeared next to them in a puff of blue smoke with a small bag of luggage, extremely small in comparison to the girls' packing.
It was starting to rain as Scott pulled around in a decently sized van. His windshield wipers brushing off the sprinkles as he parked in front of everyone and began to get out.
"It's not the best car but we just have to drive it to the port, but with all the luggage," He looked at the girls while he paused, "I figured it would be best to pick something with a lot of room."
Scott popped the trunk of the van and began to take the girls' bags and neatly organize them in the back. It was like watching someone play Tetris. Jean kept her small purse with her as she went and got into the passenger seat.
Ororo and Kurt hopped into the back and everyone sat in silence, exhausted that they had to be up so early for the mission.
"Okay, everyone got everything they need before we leave? It's not a long drive so I really would prefer not to stop if we can manage it. Peter and Magneto are already headed that way, so if we don't take any stops then we can meet them at almost the exact same time." Scott said, adjusting the air conditioning as he noticed the goose bumps on Jean's arms.
Everyone nodded in agreement but nobody made a whisper. Kurt curled up in a ball on his chair and began to doze. Ororo rested her head against the window and began to count clouds and what they looked like. Jean put on a pair of sunglasses and tilted her head back to rest on the headpiece of the seat, she let out a sigh and closed her eyes.
She knew it was only an hour drive, but that was one more hour than she had gotten to sleep last night. She had no idea how Scott was so peppy and wide awake when neither of them had made it back to the mansion until almost 3 in the morning. She was so tired and already anxious about being on a boat and going to an island of mutants as it was.
She took a deep breath and counted to four before she let it out. She did that until she had dozed off into a not quite restful sleep.
Scott turned on the radio but kept it quiet as to not wake Kurt or Jean. He was not a fan of long drives. There wasn't much scenery as they made their way through a more rural part of New York. There were lots of trees, the occasional gas station and a few run down homes and buildings. It was all very dull. He contemplated striking up a conversation with Ororo but as he checked in his mirror, she too was passed out leaned up against the window. He imagined this is what it felt like to be a father. He picked up his cup of coffee and downed the rest of it.
The trip was short and silent as they pulled into a large parking lot by a dock, there was some canopies set up for people to stand in line to get on the boat. Scott woke Jean up, but he shook her too abruptly because as she woke, all the doors to the car ripped open, waking the other sleeping passengers.
"Sorry, Jean, I just wanted to let you know we made it. At least I didn't have to wake Ororo up." He gave a slight chuckle.
A large man took their bags and put them on a carrier, promising they would be taken to the correct room, once everyone was boarded. None of them argued, not wanting to have to carry the large bags themselves.
"I'm surprised Xavier didn't make Hank come to baby sit us." Jean admitted as they headed towards the line of people.
"I know. It's weird. Like I get it that we are adults who can do all of this stuff on our own, but some guidance would have been a bit helpful." Scott said.
Kurt and Ororo rubbed their eyes, looking at the massive boat in awe. It was probably half a mile in length, maybe a quarter mile in width. Ororo had only seem boats like this with cargo but never with people.
As they stepped into the line and started looking around, Magneto and his children approached them.
"Nice to see that Charles sent some of his brightest." He said to Jean.
"Thank you. He wanted to accompany us, but with all the other students…" Jean sort of looked off as the line started moving.
"No need to worry. Also, ignore the line, you guys can follow us. I'll show you around. This boat used to be an old cruise ship, before it retired. Luckily along with the help of the people of Genosha and the government, it is up and running again. In the past they were using cargo freights and ferries to get mutants to Genosha." He said as they started walking towards the building standing between the boat and parking lot.
"That was an unpleasant trip. Many of the mutants were sent there unwillingly. I made it clear to the Senate that there was no way I was going to allow for them to endure such treatment on their way to a place that is supposed to be a promise land for them." He continued.
Jean noticed that inside the building was a customs type set up. Metal detectors, conveyer belts for bags, dogs, etc. She gave a look to Scott of concern.
"This was also not one of my ideas. This is mostly for those returning from Genosha, the government is wary that we might try to pull some terrorist attack or bring in illegal substances. It does allow for us to make sure though that nobody is bringing anything into Genosha that would… disturb the peace." He puts eloquently.
"That makes sense." Jean nodded before looking around to everyone.
"Do mutants work security or just homo sapiens?" Jean asked, as she felt a twinge of pain behind her eyes and squinted, trying to block out voices.
"Humans, much to my disdain. But I have my brotherhood keep close eyes on them as they do their job. That way we can put a stop to injustice before it even happens. After the incident we had two trips ago, we started establishing that…" He glared at the workers, his hatred towards humans had not really changed much.
Jean wondered what happened but didn't ask. They made their way through, ignoring customs as they walked out a door where there was a ramp set up from the concrete to the entrance of the boat.
Magneto hovered over it, Lorna following him. Peter had disappeared at some point during the talk at customs and nobody had seen Wanda yet at all.
Jean was a bit hesitant to step on but with a hand from Scott she managed to balance herself. Ororo and Kurt walked on with ease. There was another customs like check point inside of the boat as well. They walked passed that check point and were led up many flights of stairs, to the upper deck.
"While most of the rooms are below deck, there are a handful in the upper deck. My brotherhood, and you all, will be housed here for the next week or two. Storm and Jean, here are your keys. Cyclops and Nightcrawler, here are yours." He handed each of them keys to a room.
"Blob will be up with your luggage once we start moving. There is a pool. Dinner will be served at 6pm each night, breakfast at 7am. Please make yourselves comfortable, there is no need for any of you to hide who you are. No need to be ashamed. Everyone here is just looking to be accepted. You will see there is no façade." Magneto said as he turned on his heel and started walking away.
"The boat will leave at 4. Try to be punctual for dinner. We will all be dining together. We can talk more about Genosha and catch up then." He added before he headed back down the stairs.
Ororo nudged Scott and handed him her key, while Ororo took his. Jean walked back towards their room and unlocked the door. It was a small room with a dresser, windows, two small beds and a small bathroom with a small shower. It was cramped but not too bad. She turned around expecting to see Ororo but instead saw Scott.
"Oh hey, did you check out your room yet?" She asked, sitting on top of the bed near the window.
"Ororo wanted me to switch keys with her. Two beds though are nice." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously.
"Oh fair enough. And yeah, it's a bit cramped but not too bad really. I expected worse." She shrugged laying back on the bed, it wasn't the best bed but it wasn't too bad.
"Yeah, it all just seems a bit too good to be true, ya know? Mutant paradise, mutant cruise, etc. I want to give Magneto the benefit of the doubt but it just seems suspicious." Scott said, sitting on the adjacent bed.
Meanwhile Kurt and Ororo were exploring the ship already. It seemed nice, Ororo saw there were already people in the pool. She saw a boy with gills who was swimming and jumping around for joy, he was probably no older than 5. His mother had bright bubble gum pink hair and gills and webbed hands as well, she was teaching him how to float on top of the water.
Everywhere they looked there were mutants, some using their powers, some out in the open about their visible mutations, nobody was hiding in the shadows or skulking about. It felt unreal to see so many mutants in one gathering, unafraid, not protesting for their rights. She stood in awe of all of the people, young and old. And she prayed that this was the real deal, that all of these people would be given the peace they desired, that this wasn't a trick by Magneto.
She looked at Kurt, who had the largest smile on his face. He took off his hat and jacket, and handed them to Ororo. She had never seen him so happy before. And he had never felt so proud to be a mutant before.
