Chapter 2 : Hello Hello

"Here we are," Charles said as the car turned down the gravel road after passing the massive black iron gates, "Drop us off by the field, Bill."

Zoey reached back and scratched Simon's ears as she looked out at the endless field of grass. Further in the distance she saw a garden with trees and rosebushes.

Then she saw the house. More like… mansion. Or maybe a castle.

The car rolled to a stop, and Zoey quickly got out and jumped out of the way as Simon bolted out of the car and ran around on the grass. He looked back at her, and she smiled and said "Go on!", and he gave a final bark and ran, eventually disappearing behind the mansion.

Zoey had seen the big gates in the front and Charles assured her there was a protective fence around the grounds, so Simon wouldn't be able to get away.

The driver had already brought out the travel wheelchair and Charles slid into it, avoiding her gaze. He said thank you to the driver and rolled over to the grass and Zoey followed.

Charles waited, looking up at the house with Zoey as the car drove away.

"Now we can begin."

"Um, begin what, exactly?" she asked, not sure what to expect next.

"Introductions. However unconventional, I thought it would be safer to meet everybody out here."

"Safer?" she asked, now worried. Charles didn't answer as he brought two fingers to his temple. She felt his presence, but she ignored it as he spoke aloud, but she heard it in her head as well.

"Good Afternoon, everybody, time to clean the house and put the liquor back in the cabinet, I've returned. I come with a new guest, however due to her power I think it would be wise if we did separate introductions. Hank, can you please come out to the front field? The rest of you get to cleaning."

He rested his hand and kept his gaze on the house.

"They always think I don't know, but even if I wasn't a telepath I would've known they'd had some of my good Scotch. Now, I wanted you to meet Hank first because it's his power I'm most curious about, in relation to you."

"Charles, everything you are saying right now is getting me more and more nervous. Is there a possibility that I might hurt someone?"

The short pause almost set her off running.

"No."

"That's it?" she asked, wanting to know more.

"And here comes Hank."

Zoey looked away, realizing that she'd been staring at him – and the entire time he hadn't looked back. She hoped she wasn't blushing as she looked for whoever Hank was.

But she didn't see a person coming towards them...

He was covered in blue fur, with a darker blue for his hair which was as wild as he looked. When he was maybe a couple yards away, Zoey gasped.

She felt strength surging through her arms and legs; a tingling feeling. She looked at her hands, to see if she would adapt his blue fur as well, but she only saw her nails had grown to points, as though they were claws.

"Fascinating," she heard Charles mumble as he looked at her nails too.

He reached over to inspect them closely but she drew away quickly. She thought she heard Charles give a short growl of frustration.

Zoey sighed and turned away as she stepped forward to greet the blue man.

He had a wide nose and big yellow eyes that were watching her in the same fascination she was watching him. He stopped in front of her and smiled, showing a full mouth of big sharp teeth. A fleeting feeling of fear came over her, but the small tingling in her arms and hands overpowered it.

"Hank McCoy, a pleasure to meet you," he said, holding out a hand. She looked down at it, not sure what to say without sounding insulting.

"She's not one for touching," Charles quipped aloud. Zoey didn't bother to reply to that, so she looked back up and gave a friendly smile.

"Zoey."

Hank smiled at Charles, and they shared a friendly handshake.

"It's great to see you, Professor."

"Same to you, Hank. Now I know you two have just met, and this may seem like an odd request..." he looked at Hank, then at Zoey, "...but would it be alright if Zoey punched you, Hank?"

She yelled out "What?" as Hank laughed.

"All of your requests are odd, Professor. But I would be perfectly fine with Zoey punching me. Don't you think she would hurt herself though?"

"No, she'll be fine," Charles said assuredly. Hank raised a blue eyebrow, but shrugged and faced Zoey as he stuck out his chest but still looked relaxed.

Zoey was frozen on the spot.

"You know you can do this Zoey. Seeing how you were eager to bring out the wooden bat at the bar makes me think you need to relieve some stress. Punch him, he can take it."

Zoey looked down to her hand as she curled it into a fist, feeling strong. Like Hank had said, she probably should be worried about hurting herself than hurting him.

She looked up, gave a weak apologetic smile, and threw a punch with all she had into his chest.

Hank knocked over and slid in the grass, stopping a few feet away.

"Holy shit!" Zoey cried out and Charles burst out laughing as Hank sat there on the grass, dumbfounded.

"You can say that again. I can't believe it," Hank said as he rushed to Zoey, an eager look on his face. "Your power is mimicry, isn't it?"

Zoey only nodded, dumbfounded a he was.

"Why don't I have your… full appearance, though?" Zoey asked.

"Long story short, I wasnt born like this in my ability... have your feet grown?" he asked, looking down. Zoey looked too, but her feet fit into her sandals the same.

"Interesting…" Hank said.

"My nails changed, though," Zoey said, lifting a hand.

"Amazing," Hank said, looking at the sharp points. He had the same claws but they were stronger and could probably cut deeper.

"Uh, thanks?"

"Your DNA must be fascinating," Hank started, but Charles interrupted.

"Zoey is a guest here, Hank."

"You're not staying?" Hank asked.

"Uh, no. Charles invited me for a week and then I'll make a decision."

"Ah, but there's a decision to be made!" he said excitedly.

"Hank, can you bring out Ori next? And tell everybody else I don't want them watching us, they'll break the window from leaning on it," he said, nodding his head up to one of the higher floor windows.

Zoey followed his gaze and saw a group of faces watching the action below. They all disappeared within a second.

"I don't want Zoey uncomfortable."

"Sure thing, Professor," Hank said.

"Zoey, it was… amazing meeting you. Hope to see you a lot this week," he continued, giving her a hard, admiring look before he walked back to the house.

"Thank you," Zoey said, still watching the window as the faces quickly disappeared.

"Of course. Emotions can help either increase or decrease the amount of power in ability. I don't want to take any chances," he explained.

"And here comes Ororo," Charles continued, and she looked up to see a girl with shoulder length white hair running towards them.

She was yelling "Professor! Professor!"

Zoey braced herself when the girl neared the end of the garden. The next thing Zoey felt was… the light of the sun, and the water that formed the clouds above.

She looked up, and suddenly all the clouds moved, unblocking the sun completely and Zoey closed her eyes as she felt the light touching her skin.

She heard the yells getting closer and looked over to watch the girl jump into Charles's lap and give him a tight hug.

"You're back!" she said excitedly.

"It's good to see you dear! Have you been behaving?" he asked. Zoey watched as the girl adjusted herself on his lap, and he kept one arm around her. The girl shrugged.

"Alex was teasing me about my hair but I made sure a rain storm followed him when he went on his run yesterday."

Charles shook his head.

"That is misbehaving, dear. Now enough about that, I want you to meet Zoey," he said, now looking up at her.

Zoey smiled.

The girl looked up as well, and tilted her head.

"What can you do?" she asked

"Manners, Ori. Introduce yourself," Charles said as he nudged her off his lap.

She stood there, fidgeting with her black dress that contrasted with her bleach white hair.

"I'm Ororo," she muttered.

"I'm Zoey, it's great to meet you."

"What can you do?" she asked again.

"Ori, please-" Charles said, but Zoey just interrupted.

"Why don't you show me what you can do?"

"But I asked first," the girl said stubbornly.

"But I'm a guest," Zoey said. "And a hostess should always treat their guests nicely," she said.

Charles smiled at her as Ororo sighed and looked up at the sky as she lifted two hands. Suddenly a dark rain-cloud formed, and there was a flash of lightning that hit the ground a couple yards away. Zoey couldn't help but give out a short scream, and her hands flew to her mouth to stifle it. Suddenly the sky cleared, and Ororo relaxed her hands.

"Now it's your turn," she said, looking up expectantly, a cunning grin on her face.

"Well let's see if I can do this," Zoey said, taking a deep breath and doing the same as Ororo did, looking up and raising her hands.

The cloud she formed wasn't as dark, but it was thick and blocked the sun, putting the three of them in shade. Zoey dropped her hands and stopped her concentration.

The cloud disappeared, basking them in sunlight again.

"I don't get it... I thought every power was unique," Ororo said, looking at Charles.

"That's true, Ori, but Zoey here has the power of mimicry, she can absorb the powers of others and use them herself," Charles explained.

"Yours too?" she asked him, she looked up at Zoey. "Please tell me you invaded his mind too! What's it like? Wait, can you make him do things too?"

Zoey smiled at the girl's excitement.

"Well I did get a flash of one of his memories, but we both made an agreement to stay out of each other's heads while I'm here."

"But that's no fun," Ororo said, her smile falling. Zoey laughed and leaned down as she lowered her voice.

"Maybe not, but we can have our own fun this week, whad'ya say?"

"Yeah! Yes!"

"And Charles also let me bring my friend Simon; I think you'll like him."

"Who's he?"

"He's my Dalmatian."

At that Ororo jumped up and down in excitement.

"A dog?! Where is he?"

"I let him out free on the property, why don't you go find him for me?"

"Sure!" she said, giving Charles a quick hug before she ran off.

"She likes you," Charles said behind her, and Zoey turned around.

"I bet she's a piece of work."

"Oh, you have no idea… but she still brings sunshine to the place. Literally," Charles said, half smiling as he brought his hand to his head again.

"Sean, can you please come out to the back field?"

"Now what should I expect from him?" Zoey asked as they waited.

"He's a hormone ridden teenager."

She gave a short laugh, and then noticed a skinny guy jogging towards them, his red curls bouncing.

She felt something in her throat and lungs, and she took a deep breath.

"No, don't do that!" Charles yelled.

"Why?" she asked, turning her head.

Her question came out as a loud screech and she saw rings of air coming out of her mouth, aimed right at Charles. When the rings hit him he was knocked over and he flew out of his wheelchair, it rolling in the grass, barely tumbling over Charles' body.

"Charles!" she screamed and ran towards him, this time no rings coming out of her mouth.

He wasn't moving.

When she reached him, she knelt down and turned him over, hastily paying attention to not touching his skin.

"Charles! Charles!" she said frantically, shaking his shoulder.

But she stopped worrying when she saw his smile.

"Dammit Charles!" she said as she laughed, shaking off the worry.

"Professor!"

Sean was there now, looking worried for him but confused at their laughter.

"Sean, sit down and meet Zoey."

Charles moved his arms and managed to pull himself up.

"Hell-lo," Sean said once he looked her over, and he sat down, a little too close to her. She shifted back in the grass.

"Hey," she said, not smiling.

"Where have you been all my life, babe?"

"Oh god, you can't be serious!" she cried out laughing.

"Babe, it will be a failed effort," she continued, and she turned to Charles. "Now can you explain what just happened please?"

"Well, Sean here has the ability to produce sonic screams, faster than speed of sound. One of those waves hit me."

"Pretty cool, isn't it?" Sean asked.

"I have to say, yes."

"I can fly, too," he said, giving a wiggle of the eyebrows.

"Seriously?" she asked.

"Yeah, while wearing a suit of Hank's design, the rings resonate back and he can stay suspended. It's amazing to watch," Charles said.

Zoey noticed he was straining to keep in his laughter. Sean was so desperate it was cute, like a baby.

"I will have to see that this week," Zoey replied, still smiling at Charles.

"Week? You're not staying?"

Before Charles could explain, Zoey spoke first, turning her head towards Sean.

"I have a week to stay here, and then I can either leave or stay. I'm waiting the whole week."

"Why didn't I have that choice?"

"Because we were in a time of crisis, Sean. Now go get Janie."

"Will do, X," Sean said jumping up. "See you later Zoey," he said in a sultry voice, before jogging back to the house.

(to be continued)