It was the beginning of a new week at the Xavier institute that was marked by the simultaneous ringing, buzzing, singing, and talking of all the students' alarms that went off. Groggy teenagers rolled out of bed to, unhappily, greet the day with yawns, a few choice words and gestures, and eruptions of emotions at the realization that one may have forgotten about an assignment that was due today. Monday mornings were always the hardest to get through since everything seemed to drag, especially this Monday since the students had spent so much time with the newest member to join the X-men. It actually took Scott coming down and telling everybody to go to bed.

Kitty rolled out of bed and hit the floor with an audible thud, hopefully not bothering anybody down below. She groaned and prayed that classes would have been canceled today due to teachers not up to dealing with rowdy kids. Her radio lied to her as the person on the other side was giving a report on how bright and sunny the day was that would just seem to make everybody's problems go away. Except for hers because she had to go to class and take that history test. She grabbed a towel from a chair and threw it over her shoulder before phasing through her wall to go take a nice hot shower to wake her up. As she dragged her feet down the run of carpet on the floor, she passed by a group of some of the boys who were all gathered around a window looking in the backyard.

"Hey," she pushed in between Kurt and Bobby to get a better view. "What are you all staring at?"

Sasha was out in the yard doing odd and what looked like to be very painful stretches with her legs. Her eyes were closed, headphones in her ears, in her own little world of personal fitness and getting ready for the day. Kitty turned her head to one side as she watched her lift her leg off the ground behind her to a perfectly straight line with her bottom one. The younger girl shook her head and pushed past the boys again to go back to what she was doing.

"You all are totally weird! I hope you boys realize that we have school today, so don't be late." She broke their circle of male-nature before going off to get ready for the day.

Bobby mocked her causing the other boys to start to crack up laughing and joining in with the teasing as well. Once Kitty had stormed off, the angry and tough girl mutant named Rogue came storming down the hall and singled out Bobby, knocking him back by pushing on his forehead with the heel of her hand. The other boys stopped their laughing before scattering to hide instead of dealing with the wrath of Rogue. The older girl did not even respond once Bobby was on the ground, she just continued walking to just get on with her day. The icy mutant mumbled a few words under his breath before getting back up to see if Sasha was still there in conspicuous poses, but she was long gone.

Sasha had returned from her run at the time when the students were speeding off in their cars to get to class on time. She was almost run over by Kitty's sporadic driving as she lit up a cigarette that she always had after her jog. As healthy as she looked, it was the stick of tobacco that cooled her body down. The Weather Witch was tending to the plants around the fountain in front of the school. The flowers were radiating a smell that just enveloped her nostrils and sent firings of bliss throughout her body.

"Ororo, these smell amazing. How in the world do you do it?" she spoke, burying her face within the myriad of colors and odors.

Ororo smiled and continued to water the plants, "a little tender love and care along with a nice shower always brightens them up. They are always ready for a wonderful day."

Sasha took another drag of her cigarette before taking another whiff, "and today is a wonderful day. I wish you lived by me, I bet you could make this tree that I have in my yard show its true colors."

"What kind of tree is it? I might be able to help you out on having it grow stronger."

Sasha stood up and tapped the ash from her cigarette on the dirt road, "some kind of oak tree, I believe. It's really pretty when autumn comes and all the leaves on the trees start to change." Her eyes glazed over as she started to slip back to her home in British Columbia. "Out of all the trees, that oak always had the best colors that would just flourish the moment the weather started to change. Vivid reds, iridescent yellows, and breathtaking oranges, my favorite thing is just to sit in bed on my days off and just watch nature."

Ororo smiled, "it is very peaceful, isn't it? On your free time, let me teach you a few things about the land, so that you can bring beauty wherever you go in life."

Sasha looked away and blushed, "I don't think so, in terms of nature, I'm naturally inept at it."

"We are all inexperienced at first, but with practice, we learn to tend and grow accordingly." The Weather Witch grabbed a handful of fertile soil and let it seep in between her fingers.

Jean Grey, a red-headed young woman with long hair came to join the two women. She had a kind face and emerald eyes just like Sasha did which shocked the doctor that they had so much in common except that the Doctor was just a tad taller and her hair was darker and a bit longer. Sasha plucked the tobacco from her lips and blew a column of smoke into the air before sticking it back between her lips. Jean held out her ring covered hand to shake the Doctor's hand since they did not get a chance to meet yesterday.

"Hi there, you must be Doctor Neville. I'm Jean Grey, sorry I didn't get to see you yesterday. Busy with the family!" Jean's smiling face was filled with warmth that Ororo herself had.

Sasha firmly grasped the fellow mutant's hand and pulled her close to kiss her cheek as if she was family, "I completely understand the whole family thing. Nice to meet you too."

Jean nodded, "Professor Xavier was wondering if you would like to get started with your training Sasha."

"I would love too. I'm woken up and feel great."

Inside the institute, Jean led the newest member down to one of the many practice rooms that sat around for students to use and practice their powers by themselves or with somebody. Charles and Hank had prepared one of the practice rooms with a series of tests to watch and study how Sasha used and manipulated their powers, especially with the help of another telepath. The two psionic women sat facing each other at a table with a simple rubix cube between them. They both had their hands out, using only their telekinesis to solve the puzzle. Charles sat in the middle of the two so he could watch them and focus carefully on the young women's mental waves to see if they were able to keep their powers steady. Even though Sasha was obviously acting as an amplifier to Jean's powers and her own, Jean was able to keep steady and he hypothesized that Jean was even helping Sasha keep focus on the first try. At the same time, both of the women broke focus and opened their eyes to see that they had nearly finished the delicate work; however they were covered in sweat and were on the verge of mental exhaustion.

Sasha leaned over to rest her head on the heels of her hands due to feeling as if she hadn't slept in ages. "I never thought this would be so difficult."

Charles chuckled, "it is always challenging controlling your abilities; however, you are doing quite well, Sasha."

"Thanks Professor, I guess the meditation I do every morning is working out for me." Sasha replied, leaning back in her chair.

Jean got up from the table and got two glasses of water during their break. The violet haired psionicist thanked her before taking a drink. "Professor, it was strange. While Sasha and I had a telekinetic bond, I could feel her power going through my mental fingertips as we solved the puzzle. It was not like her and I was solving it as a partner, it was like we were solving it as a single entity."

"So my predictions were correct…" the Professor rested his forehead on his index fingers.

The girls looked confused as they looked to their teacher and then to Hank who had currently swung himself into the test chamber to pull up the results of the test. On the screen showed the wavelengths of Jean and Sasha as they worked with the puzzle. At first, Jean's wavelength spiked dramatically, indicating that Sasha's amplification abilities were working fine and well; after that initial spike, Jean's wavelength sustained a much higher amplitude than normally. The strange part came from Sasha's readings. Her amplitude and wavelength was sporadic to identify that she was trying to stabilize herself; however, once Jean got her powers going in a stable fashion, Sasha's telekinetic abilities ended up doing the same, mimicking Jean's mental waves.

"Fascinating." Hank replied, quickly taking notes on a legal pad.

Sasha looked confused as she tried to read the results, "I am guessing the high amplitudes are the depolarization of neurons; however, where is the hyperpolarization? Plus, Jean's graph looks relatively normal while mine looks like I am in the middle of a seizure."

"In a sense," Hank replied. "These graphs reflect your telekinesis in relation to a mental state of rest. The center line acts as the resting point, in a regular scan of brainwaves, you would pass the resting point; however, in this case you don't because you will always be at a heightened extent of neural activity while using your powers."

"I am guessing your mind actually keyed in to Jean's stable wave pattern and followed suit." Charles added on to the conversation, truly fascinated by his newest student.

"To be honest," Sasha leaned back in her chair. "In my research I have never seen psionic patterns like that. In most of my patients their patterns drop well below the resting potential before spiking back."

"Simply because they are unable to control their power for long periods of time; sustained periods of high activity means that one will be able to keep their powers going while sporadic activity will tire the user out much quickly," Charles replied.

"Ah, I see."

"Then Professor," Jean added in her own two cents. "Can you explain my sensation of Sasha's mental self guiding my hands along?"

Charles continued to look at the graphs on the screen, "that phenomenon I am unsure about; however, I would love to do a test to see how and if it works outside of the mind. Would you be up to it?"

Sasha smiled, "I'm all for learning in the name of science."

Logan was in the middle of practicing some basic martial arts' stances to keep his body in tip top shape; that is until he was interrupted by what seemed to be the nerd squad that was looking for a tough guy with average smarts to be their guinea pig. "You wanna do what to me?" Logan asked, a tinge of exasperation in his voice.

"Logan, I would like to see Sasha's defensive capabilities in action and I need somebody who is more physical than mental." Charles was calm about it, knowing that even though Logan would have played hard-to-sway, the most powerful telepath would always get his way.

Sasha stepped forward, her hand on her hip and giving him the same look as she did the first time they had met yesterday. He growled at her looking cocky towards him, obviously trying to rile him up. Not a very good idea if she wanted to use him in the name of science.

"You know I hate science experiments, Xavier." Logan's hands balled into fists, his adamantium claws extending from the fleshy area between his knuckles. "And I really hate mind games."

Charles smiled to him, "this will not take long, and you won't feel anything negative. If anything you will feel more energized from this."

The mutant sneered and turned his attention to his newest teammate who was now within arms distance of him. "You try anything funny…"

Sasha held her hands out in front of her and closed her eyes. "Trust me, I won't."

She controlled her breathing to the point that it was faint, but steady. Her power seemed to flow out through her fingertips and find its way into Logan's mind with ease. Logan felt so alive the moment she came near and he felt as if his strength was just tripled from her doing this. He looked to her, she looked as if she was not mentally there, but he was afraid to do anything just in case she was not ready. He looked down at his claws and fits, the pain from the claws had faded away; however just to check and make sure, he sheathed and extended the metal claws once more, and found that there was no pain at all from them. Logan looked to Charles who had simply nodded his head in approval that she was ready for him to do whatever. The mutant began to attack a nearby tree with ease. Every kick and every punch felt stronger and more powerful, but the energy did not take from his own reserves. This new mutant's abilities were making his life easier in terms of fighting since he felt like a child with endless amounts of energy.

Sasha had begun to levitate in the air to follow him so that she would not lose her bond with him. As the exercise continued, she was keeping her powers steady, even as Logan kept his momentum going; however, in her head, she saw flashes of places in her head. She felt her heartbeat begin to race and her breathing become sporadic, but she was not going to let herself break, she had to keep her concentration. The images began to flash faster. Her house, her job, her coworkers, her cats, her giant oak tree, all of the things she held near and dear to her heart was driving her over the edge of physical terror since she really did not know what was going on. She felt her power then turn back through her fingertips and slowly creep through her arms; however, it was not until Logan let out a bloodcurdling scream of anguish that she felt as if lightening had stuck her head causing her to scream out as well.

"Sasha!" Hank called out, quickly running to catch her as she was falling from the sky. Jean quickly used her powers to lower Sasha's descent. The moment Hank had her in his arms; he and Jean rushed back inside to give her medical attention to see if she was alright.

Charles had turned his attention to Logan who was down on one knee gasping for breath, covered in a layer of sweat and looked as if he had just seen a ghost.

"Logan, are-…"

"What the hell was that Charles?" the hot tempered mutant shouted, pushing himself off of the ground.

"Logan, I am not sure what that was. When we were doing this with Jean, everything was going fine. I do not understand why these results happened. Tell me, what did you feel?" He was calm and cool to try and ease Logan's boiled over temper.

Logan rested his hand on his forehead to try and ease the pain that was throbbing in his head, "I don't know. Images, flashes of things that I can't recall."

"Before the injury?"

"How the hell should I know? I told you I can't remember."

Charles began to probe Logan's mind to dissect what he had experienced. He could see the images of a nice house in the middle of the woods, his bike, and the perfect view of a large tree from, most likely, inside of the house. The telepath could feel strong emotions tied to the image of that tree, but he was not sure if they were true feelings, or just his own since the image did not stick around too long. Charles pulled himself out of the mutant's head to report his findings.

"Well?"

The telepath shook his head, "I'm not sure. All I'm seeing are fragments since the injury you sustained right before you came here has incapacitated your past memories. I must speak with Sasha before I can give my opinion, will you join?"

Logan growled a bit but shook his head, "no thanks. I need to get my head back on straight."

Charles respected the mutant's wishes and made his way back inside the manor, "I will be in the infirmary if you need me."

Hank had placed Sasha in one of the infirmary bed with Jean by her side to check and see if she was okay; he had run off to get some water for her so that she did not wake up and have a heart attack. Jean reached out with her hand to see if she could probe Sasha's mind to piece what had happened in her head; however, she was quickly blocked by an impenetrable wall and denied entry. Hank had came back just in time as Sasha began to stir from her mental anguish, stopping her from sitting up in the bed just in case something else was wrong.

"Hank…Jean, what the hell happened to me?" Sasha spoke, rubbing her eyes to try and block the lights from above her head.

Hank handed her the glass of water, "you had a little trouble while using your powers with Logan. I was recording the exercise the entire time, strange readings I must say."

Sasha smiled, "I hate hearing that, give it to me straight Doctor. Scientist to scientist, don't screw me over."

"Well," Hank cleared his throat. "Your readings were okay for awhile, until a strange spike, and then you became sporadic in your readings."

Charles had entered in the infirmary, relatively shocked to see Sasha awake and joking with the two mutants beside her bed. "Sasha, glad to see you are back with us. How are you feeling?"

"Like I got hit by a bus."

"I believe the correct term would have been struck by lightning from what I saw out there. I spoke with Logan, he said that he saw images that he did not recall, what can you take out of that?" The telepath folded his hands in front of his chest.

Sasha sat up and looked up towards the lights on the ceiling, "I don't know what I saw. My house, my favorite oak tree that sits in my yard, my cats, things I know I hold near and dear to my heart, but then…" she looked at her hands. "It was like my powers turned on me to make me feel things I had never felt before. It was like a mixture of pleasure, pain, sadness, bliss, jealousy all hitting me at once."

"Did you experience this with Jean?"

"When I mentally bonded with Jean, it felt smooth and guided. It was as if Jean guided me to match her abilities." Sasha looked concerned, "what makes short, thick, and hairy so different?"

Charles chuckled, "my theory is that because Jean has advanced psionic abilities, she was able to keep you from her unconscious thoughts. Logan on the other hand, you might have slipped back in his unconscious thoughts which are distant from him because of his numerous head injuries."

In the Professor's head, he was piecing together what he had saw in the minds' of Logan and Sasha and he had a feeling that the two were bonded in a way that neither of them knew. Right now, it was not a good time to reveal his findings to either of them since they had both been through mental trauma and needed some time to recover. Charles closed his eyes, taking a deep breath as he relished the memory of the giant tree he saw in Logan's head and matched it to Sasha's words of her oak tree.

He opened his eyes, "I will let you rest for the day. Please Sasha, do not strain yourself." He then turned his back to her and maneuvered his wheelchair to the door.