Author's Note: Hello all! A huge thank you to everyone who read the first chapter and enjoyed it. It means so much to me, you have no idea. This chapter's a bit shorter than the last one and some interesting dynamics are going to start getting into gear. The first chapter is more of a prologue, so there's been a big time jump. And we've got George Luz as our central character here which is very interesting! Fun fact, this story was originally going to be much shorter than I'm planning to make it now and it was going to be entirely from Luz' point of view. As we developed more ideas for more of the characters, that just didn't fit anymore, but the chapters where he plays a big part are super special to me for that reason.
Also as the story goes on and the characters get older, the style of my writing will change a bit as well because once they're all teens, I try to sound more like I'm presenting those thoughts. Right now, since Luz is still a kid, I'm a bit more distant with what he's thinking and feeling because I don't really know how to write seven year olds. My apologies if this seems too unrealistic for that reason.
Anyway, as always please enjoy and don't forget to add a review!
George Luz, age 7, is a witness:
George Luz had barely been at Xavier's School for half a year when he finally got to feel like he had an important place there. He loved showing off his powers to Don and Skip and getting to see theirs in return. He had found a best friend in his roommate Frank Perconte, always willing to go on adventures with him and get in and out of trouble. He missed his family all the time, but they wrote to him often and the predictably loud situation of living with mutant children was quiet and peaceful to his many overactive siblings. It was nice when the mansion was really filled with activity though, the kind to rival that of his household. When Lipton had arrived home from college, officially able to be hired as the school's new English professor, the uproar over his return was monumental. It had reminded George of what it felt like to be a part of a family. But even then, he still felt a little out of place and useless.
It seemed like everyone around him had powers that were more useful than his own. The older students were starting combat training and self defense lessons, but George knew that there would be nothing he could do once he was their age. He was able to trick people into thinking he was someone else, but what good would that do anyone outside of pulling pranks? He had always played with the idea of being a spy when he got older, but now that he was here at the mansion with other kids just like him, he could see that their powers were so much better than his.
After he had told Winters what had happened right before he'd gotten to the school, Professor Xavier had called the entire school together to warn them about Magneto. He was an incredibly dangerous man who would seemingly do everything in his power to get to mutant children before the Professor could. If he hadn't left when George's parents attempted to send him away, George wouldn't have been able to fight back or get to safety or anything. All he had been able to do was stand in front of a crowd and show them all what Magneto looked like. His family had been in danger and it was his fault and there wasn't a thing he could have done to help them.
Frank loudly shifted around in his sleep, breaking through George's thoughts. It was the peak of July when every few days were either filled with intense heat or summer lightning storms. George liked to watch the lightning streak across the sky and he found the sound of rain hitting the window by his bed very calming. But George was also a very light sleeper, so as much as he enjoyed the summer storms, they kept him awake for most of the night. It was close to one in the morning, there had been storms for the past three days, and George was lying awake on his bed on the second floor of the mansion, watching the dark sky and listening to his roommate's heavy breathing, when suddenly chaos erupted.
It started calmly and quietly, as most things do, with just a faint sound reaching George's ears through the pounding of the rain on his window. The sound could have been crying or yelling or both, but it was just quiet enough that George could pass it off as his own imagination for a long moment. Once the alarm system that Logan had insisted on started blaring, however, there was no questioning what George had heard.
"What's going on?" Frank had shot up in bed at the noise, but was looking groggy.
"Someone's here and the alarms are going off," George explained. The students had always been trained to get out of their bedrooms and into the elevators that would take them to the much safer tunnels under the house as quickly as possible in emergency situations, but George grabbed Frank's hand.
"I need you to take us to the front door," he said.
Frank looked confused. "But why? We're supposed to go to the tunnels. The Professor said—"
"Trust me, Frank," George pleaded, tightening his grip on Frank's hand as the familiar feeling of teleporting from one place to another surrounded him. It was as if, for a split second, he existed in some other universe entirely, before he and Frank touched down again at the foot of the front staircase. Just as he thought, the noise and cause for alarm wasn't an intruder or an enemy at all.
Several teachers and older students were standing at the front door while other students who had been heading for the tunnels had stopped to watch the events unfold. At the door was a boy scarcely older than George himself holding a toddler in his arms. They were both soaking wet and covered in mud. The older boy's eyes were wide and his grip on the redheaded child was so tensed that it looked like he would run off with him without hesitation if there were any signs of a threat. Professor Xavier had already arrived at the foyer of the mansion, a look of determined calmness on his face. He ushered the boys into the house and out of the rain before turning away the other teachers, telling them to get the students back to bed right away and turn off the alarm.
"The poor boy is crying because he's very scared," the Professor said in a steady voice. The students who had remained to see the action all had their eyes fixed on him. "I need everyone to leave before he becomes even more panicked. But please bring blankets and food as soon as you can." One last older student, it looked like Richard Winters from the corner of George's eye, herded the curious children back to their rooms and rushed along behind them, presumably to bring down blankets for the new boys. Just as George turned to Frank so they could go back to his bedroom, Professor Xavier called to him.
"You can stay, George," he said. "I think you'll be a great deal of help to these two right now."
George didn't really understand what the Professor meant, but he stayed regardless. Frank gave him a shrug and disappeared back upstairs to their room, leaving only a small puff of smoke behind. Alone now, George shifted awkwardly and tried to ignore the glare he was being given by the older boy. Meanwhile the toddler's wailing had thankfully calmed down to quiet sobs as the Professor approached him. "Hello Edward," he said, his voice so quiet and comforting that it made George shiver as his memories of when he first came to the mansion resurfaced. "My name is Charles and you're safe here."
The redhead turned his face away from the Professor and clung on to the older boy. "How'd you know his name?" the boy demanded, taking a deliberate step backwards.
"I think you know why," the Professor replied. "I'm Professor Charles Xavier and this is my school. I believe you two belong here, is that correct?"
The boy nodded slowly. "I— I saw something on TV about this place. And about people who had powers. I knew I was different and I'd always been keeping it hidden. But Babe was just down the street and he's so little and he couldn't hide anything. His parents were being so horrible and I knew I just had to come!" Professor Xavier held up a calming hand.
"You did the right thing," the Professor said with nothing but pure conviction in his voice. "What's your name?"
"Bill Guarnere," the boy said. "I could hear the screaming and Babe was crying and I just couldn't stand it anymore. We came all this way from Philadelphia."
To the untrained eye, Professor Xavier's expression didn't change a bit, but George knew how to read people's faces and he noticed the small crease in his forehead and hardening of his jaw that were dead giveaways of the Professor's anger. "I'm thankful you managed to travel safely," he said finally, in a restrained voice. "Are either of you hurt?"
Bill shook his head. "I took real good care of Babe this whole way. Only we didn't have any money and it's been raining. We ate as much as we could though; I'd had some food packed for us. I didn't know it would take this long for us to get here, but I made sure Babe ate."
The firm line of the Professor's mouth turned up at the corners slightly at that. He wasn't angry at Bill, but rather this terrible situation that two young boys had been forced to live through. Just then, Winters returned from upstairs with large and soft blankets in his hands. He offered one to Bill and attempted to take the child from his arms and wrap him up comfortably, but the boy had started crying again, screaming at the thought of being separated from Bill's arms.
"Edward," Professor Xavier said, his voice flowing into that convincing tone that George knew so well. "Bill's been holding you for a very long time and we need to get you dry." They stared at each other for a long moment and George suspected that the Professor was speaking to the small boy silently, with his mind. The child sniffled, but nodded his head and allowed Winters to lift him from Bill's arms and wrap the blanket securely around him. "I'll hold onto Edward from here," the Professor said to all of them. "Richard, would you please find them dry clothes right away?"
"Of course, Professor," Winters nodded and rushed off again.
Professor Xavier had set the boy in his lap and was attempting to towel dry his red hair with the fluffy blanket Winters had brought. "Isn't this much better Edward?" the Professor asked, giving him a small smile. The boy didn't say anything, but scrunched up his face and whined a little instead.
"He likes it when I call him Babe," Bill said, his voice small and quiet and his eyes on the puddles of water his clothes had dripped onto the floor.
"Babe?" the Professor asked, turning his eyes back to the child. "Is that you?"
George watched the boy, Babe, smile for the first time and nod at the Professor. Professor Xavier's eyes softened and he smiled right back. "Well hello Babe. We're going to get you all warm and dry, I promise."
As if on cue, Winters returned with a small pile of neatly folded clothes for the boys. "Ah, perfect Richard," the Professor said. "Could you please give those to Bill and George? We can take it from here."
Winters nodded, handing Bill the larger clothes and the small ones that were meant for Babe got handed to George. "There is a washroom one door down that hallway," the Professor said to Bill. "Clean yourself up, it'll make you feel much better. George and I can take care of Babe right here."
Bill glanced down the hall but then looked back to Professor Xavier with creases in his forehead. "I don't think I should leave Babe alone," he said, a nervous shake in his voice.
"I promise Babe is safe in our hands," the Professor assured him.
"But he gets nervous without me," Bill said.
The Professor nodded. "Don't worry. That's why I asked George here to stay with us. Babe will never even know you've gone."
Bill turned his attention to George and narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?" he asked suspiciously.
"What do you mean?" George parroted back in an exact impression of Bill's voice. The boy's eyes had widened and were darting back and forth between Professor Xavier and George, shocked to see himself staring back from where George had been standing. Babe took no notice of the two Bills that were suddenly in the room since his eyes had not been on George when he spoke.
"My school is filled with students just like you Bill. They all have unique abilities and they've all faced challenges like you have. We take care of each other here." The Professor's hand was running through Babe's hair and George had dropped his illusion.
"It's okay," George said. "You can go get changed and I'll make sure Babe doesn't get upset."
Bill looked like he was going to say something in reply, but just nodded instead. He shot a concerned glance at Babe, but continued down the hall anyway, getting to the door of the bathroom and phasing through it instead of opening it. George had raised his eyebrows at this but Professor Xavier just looked pleased. He nodded to George.
"Okay Babe," George said in Bill's voice. The child turned around and George's illusion projected right away. It was then that George realized that his powers could have a useful purpose. He had been the only one in the entire school able to perform this task for Professor Xavier. It felt like the first time he could be more than an entertaining trick for his friends.
"Let's get you in some new clothes, yeah?" Babe nodded and lifted his arms above his head so that George could pull his wet shirt off. George helped the kid out of the soaked shirt and his mouth immediately dropped open. Sprouting from Babe's back was a small pair of pure white, albeit dripping wet, feathery wings.