Chapter 3
Ellie woke up around 10 o'clock the next day in what had once been her now grown cousin's bed. She ran her palms over her face slowly before letting out a tired yawn. She could not remember the last time that she had slept in an actual bed. While she and Eli were held captive at HYDRA they were always placed in tanks full of green liquid that would put their bodies to sleep.
She got out of the king sized bed and tidied it up to its original state from the previous night. Her backpack sat in the corner of the stuffy room, and she pulled a handful of clothes and a toothbrush from it. With a fist rubbing her eye, Ellie walked out of the room and down the hall toward the bathroom. She stopped and raised an eyebrow at her brother who left the bathroom.
"Morning," Eli said to her as he ran a stained cloth over his hands.
"Good morning. What are you doing?" Ellie asked.
"Well, I figured it would be nice to shower today. I have managed to fill the bathtub up with water for you. It's not warm, though. In fact it's practically freezing." Ellie scrunched her brow together.
"How did you manage to get water in the bathtub?"
"Oh Ellie calm down. I had to snake the pipes a bit but I managed to get some water, alright? I promised you I would stop using my powers last night, and I have." Ellie sighed.
"You're right, I'm sorry."
"It's no big deal. Now, enjoy your cold bath. I would mention that you could heat it up yourself, but I'm sure that's a no go." Ellie nodded before entering the bathroom.
Eli shut the door for her and threw the dirty cloth onto the floor. He examined his clean hands and smirked to himself. He didn't lie to Ellie very often, but he figured that she would enjoy a bath. His arms from the elbows down turned into clear water and he rubbed them over his face before making his way toward the kitchen.
After a few quick minutes in her freezing bath, Ellie got dressed and brushed her pin-straight hair. She was getting ready to turn the water on to brush her teeth when she heard the front door of the house open. Ellie quickly dropped her toothbrush onto the counter and ran down the hallway to find her brother. Her heart was racing as she nearly flew down the staircase. She stopped at the bottom, staring at Eli, a man in a wheelchair and a young brunette girl.
"Oh, hello there," the man in the wheelchair kindly said to Ellie. She approached her brother and grabbed onto his arm.
"Why are you here?" she asked quickly.
"Ellie, manners! Please forgive my sister, she's not exactly comfortable around strangers," Eli explained. The brunette girl smiled at Ellie.
"My name is Charles Xavier and this is Miss Kitty Pryde. May we come in and speak with you for a moment?" Professor Xavier asked. Eli motioned for them to come in and Ellie gripped his arm tighter.
"Whoa, this house is gorgeous!" Kitty exclaimed. Ellie watched her closely.
"Thank you, it's our aunt's actually. She's letting us use it for awhile," Eli told her. Kitty nodded in understanding.
Professor Xavier wheeled himself into the living room and Kitty sat next to him in a large arm chair. Eli sat on the black leather couch and Ellie sat right next to him. She was not too happy with her brother for allowing strangers to come into their home, but she knew that she had to protect him regardless.
"Is there something I can help you with?" Eli asked.
"I was actually going to ask you the same question, Eli," the Professor admitted. Eli's eyes widened.
"How do you know my name?" Ellie grabbed onto her brothers hand.
"There is no need to fret, children. You see, Eli, I am also a mutant. Kitty is as well and she is a student at my academy."
"You know about me?"
"I have a computer called cerebro that can locate mutants when they are using their powers. I happened to stumble upon you last night." Ellie nudged Eli hard.
"I told you not to use your powers!" she angrily whispered to him.
"So why are you here?" Eli asked.
"I would be honored if you would come to my institute. There I could help you learn how to control your powers and use them for good," Professor Xavier explained.
"I love it at the institute," Kitty added. "Everyone there is like totally friendly."
"You want to take Eli with you?" Ellie asked. The Professor nodded.
"What about me then?"
"You?" Kitty asked her.
"Well yeah. I'm -" Ellie was cut off by Eli squeezing her hand. The two looked at each other and Eli gave her a look indicating that she should not mention that she was a mutant.
"I'm his twin sister. I can't just let you steal him away," Ellie said, editing her original statement.
"You would be welcome to visit Eli anytime, my dear. There will be times when he is in training sessions or out on missions with the X-Men though," Charles explained. Ellie chewed on the inside of her cheek.
"The X-Men?"
"Yes, a group of my best students who use their powers for good. Eli would be considered a part of the new mutant team until his powers mature though."
"It's awesome being a member of the X-Men. I think that your brother would do really well at the institute."
Ellie looked to her brother after squeezing his hand. His eyes were shining and Ellie felt the back of her throat become dry. She could tell that he wanted to go with these people, but she knew that he would turn down their offer for her.
"Eli, I want you to go with them," Ellie said calmly. Eli turned toward her, shocked.
"What? But what about you?" he asked.
"Someone needs to stay here and watch this place. I can visit you sometimes too. Eli, you need to go with them."
"We will give the two of you a moment alone," Charles said as he and Kitty left the room. Eli and Ellie stood up from the couch and faced each other.
"I'm not going to leave you by yourself," Eli said.
"I'm a big girl, Eli. Nothing is going to happen to me. You said so yourself last night, nobody will be able to catch me," Ellie told him, sadness in her tone.
"You're sure about this?"
"I am. Who knows, maybe one day I'll come join you." Eli studied his sister's expression hard.
"Ellie, it would be wrong for me to leave you behind. You have been with me ever since we escaped HYDRA."
"Which is all the more reason that you need to go with them. We have been together so long that we have no idea how to survive apart from one another. If HYDRA did manage to find us, then it would be better if they only found one of us."
"But Ellie-," she cut him off.
"You're going with them. I'm going to protect you and this is the best way to do that. These people will help you Eli. If anything goes wrong, I will handle it."
Both of their blue eyes glistened slightly and Eli grabbed his sister into a tight hug. Ellie wrapped her arms around her brother and buried her face into his black t-shirt. Eli pulled away for a moment to look at her.
"Don't you dare start crying. You know what will happen if you do," he told her.
"I won't be able to start crying, and you won't be able to stop," she told him. Eli nodded.
"You two could like, see each other at school, ya know?" Kitty said quietly as she walked into the room again.
"Uhh, right," Eli said after hesitating.
"You're not enrolled at school? Either of you?" Charles asked as he rolled into the room. Ellie and Eli exchanged confused looks.
"I'm sorry, mind reading comes along with being a tele-path I'm afraid. Well no worry, I will have you both enrolled at Bayville High. You will both start there tomorrow," he explained.
"Thank you Professor. Well, I'll see you around Ellie," Eli said sadly. Ellie nodded.
She rubbed her arms as Eli went to gather his things. She jumped slightly when Kitty placed her hand on Ellie's shoulder. Ellie looked to the smiling brunette curiously.
"Hey, if you ever need anyone to talk to, I'm totally free. Seriously, if you need like, anything at all just let me know, okay?" Kitty told her. Ellie stared at her.
"Sure," she replied.
Eli was now in front of the front door with his backpack slung over his shoulder. He gave Ellie one last hug before leaving the house with the Professor and Kitty. Ellie shut the door and slid her back down it until she was sitting on the floor. Her body started to shake as she felt tears welling up in her eyes. She squeezed them shut, and steam left her eyes instead of tears.
Bayville High
Lunch had just started at school and Pietro Maximoff sat with his arms crossed at a table with his housemates, Fred Dukes and Todd Tolansky. He had one foot on the edge of the table top while he leaned back in his plastic chair. He scowled as he saw Scott Summers enter the room.
"Man is it time to go home yet?" Lance Alvers groaned as he dropped his tray of food onto the table. "I'm dyin' here."
"I feel it yo," Todd added.
"Hey, why aren't you sitting with that X-loser?" Fred asked Lance. Pietro raised an eyebrow, waiting for his response as well.
"Don't talk about Kitty that way, Blob!" Lance yelled. "She's not here today. She had to go with the Professor to meet with some new mutant, so I'm stuck eating with you idiots today."
"New mutant, you say?" Pietro asked as he dropped his foot from the table allowing his chair to land on all fours.
"Yeah, so what?"
"So, that means that the X-Men have just gone up by one mutant. What's the kids name?" Lance shrugged.
"No idea. All Kitty said was that their last name is Dingo. I'm sure they will start coming to school soon."
"Dingo, huh?" Pietro started to rub his pointed chin.
"Uh-oh he's got that look again," Fred pointed out. Todd's eyes widened.
"Man I hate that look yo. What's goin' on in your head Pietro?" Todd asked. Pietro smirked.
"Boys, we're gonna convert this new X-Men member to the Brotherhood," he told them with a confident grin.