Midvale High, Delaware

The weirdness of Lois's Thursday night spilled over a little into Friday. First, there was the somewhat sudden news that her family would be moving again after their father had been reassigned. Now, considering what Lois had done last night mixed with the collective amnesia everyone on the base seemed to have and the missing railgun prototype, it wasn't as much a surprise to Lois that he was getting reassigned (not that he'd tell her mom and sister, since the Red Tornado's a classified project). Lois had been to five different schools in eight years, so this sort of thing also wasn't as big of a thing for her family as it might be for most; it was just a fact of life for a military family like hers.

But then there was the encounter she had during her second period class, which she had spent in the school's news room... she was approached by Ororo Munroe! Ororo was best friend to Jean Grey, one of the popular girls at school, with an aesthetic that screamed 'Africa-born foreign exchange student'... yet she spoke with your standard American accent. That coupled with her unusually piercing blue eyes and cloud-like white hair would put anyone at awe of the sight of her if not of her natural grace. She had the appearance and grace of a benevolent goddess.

"Hello. Lois?" Ororo announced herself as she entered the currently empty news room. Lois was in the middle of making sure the eventual report for the football game was properly formatted, which meant she was irritated because this was supposed to be Steve's job and he was likely making out with the girl on the pep squad who couldn't even spell 'hawks' when it was written all over the school.

"Yes? Sorry, yes. What do you need? How can I help you?" Lois stumbled on her words as she attempted to recompose herself. She didn't like being mean to people who didn't deserve it yet; better to wait and yell at Steve for not knowing that a sports reporter isn't actually a thing in a school newspaper with a staff of eight students.

"I was hoping to talk to you about something... the Xavier Institute." The Xavier Institute was one of two boarding houses in Midvale for students attending public schools. From what Lois could gather, the concept was a holdover from the colonial days when Midvale was founded. "Professor Xavier, the man who runs the Institute, would like to speak with you after school because you qualify to live at the Institute."

That immediately set Lois on high alert as her laptop started pulling up dirt as ammunition. The brief glance at the screen before Lois shut it showed an article that read 'American Photojournalist Killed in Plane Crash' and what appeared to be an old warrant for Ororo's arrest from an Arab-speaking country from a few years ago. "What is it that makes me qualify for that?"

"Well..." Ororo hesitated, looking around to see if there was anyone around, "Those of us who live at the Institute have... abilities beyond that of normal people." And to demonstrate this, her eyes went white as a breeze blew into the room, quickly shutting the doors to the classroom and then the window that was currently opened. "The Professor has a device that can locate people like us and he genuinely wishes to help, if you're interested in learning more." Her eyes returned to normal as she pulled out a business card with the address of the Institute, 1407 Graymalkin Lane, a graphic of a black circle with the letter X outlined in white, and the phrase 'mutantis mutandis' written below the logo.

Lois wasn't going to the Xavier Institute without backup. Hence why she was trying her best not to look like she was shoving a dead body in the back of her car. The invitation got Lois more than a little nervous. After all, what the heck was that device that this Professor used to track her?

As she drove up to the Xavier Institute, a large castle-like mansion built for the Xavier family back when Europeans were settling the area, she felt her nerves settle and her anxiety was replaced with a determination to figure out exactly what was going on.

Welcome, Ms. Lane, declared a voice in Lois's mind that startled her as the gates of the estate opened. I promise to answer your questions if you'll hear me out, and know you'll always be safe within these walls. The voice, which seemed to have a trans-Atlantic accent, was surprisingly reassuring enough to motivate Lois to press ahead, though not enough to make her forget to adjust the drone in her car so that, if she needed to escape, her car wouldn't be torn apart if activated.

Lois entered the mansion and was greeted by a bald, paraplegic man in his late 40s, with blue eyes and a tweed jacket that gave him a 'school professor' look. "My name is Charles Xavier, and like you, I am a mutant. Specifically, I'm a telepath, with the ability to read the minds of others, though I prefer to respect the privacy of others unless the circumstances are dire." He then invited Lois to follow him down a hallway, as if to give her a tour as he continued. "It's my dream to unite humanity and mutantkind in peace, to show others that mutants are not a threat to them and can actually be productive members of society. And I would like your help to achieve that dream."

"My help?" They stopped at what appeared to be a dead end.

"I have been trying to track you down for the past 4 years. It would seem your psychic abilities are able to shroud you from the sensors of this..." And the Professor pushed a button on his wheelchair that activated a scanning device in the wall. The wall then opened to reveal an alcove with what appeared to be computer screens all over the walls and a console in the center with a headset resting atop it. "This is Cerebro. I built it over 5 years ago as a means to find a gather mutants. Five of the mutants I have been able to locate with Cerebro held off an assault at Cape Citadel." That got Lois attention. "My team, the X-Men, held off an assault at the base, one perpetrated by a former friend of mine: Erik Lensherr, who also calls himself Magneto. He has the ability to control magnetic fields. Which is why it appeared there was electromagnetic interference."

"And the amnesia?"

"That, unfortunately, was my doing. After the X-Men did their best to keep the damage to a minimum, the soldiers turned their weapons on them." To punctuate this point, the Professor projected the scene into her mind; the anger and rage the soldiers felt toward the X-Men, essentially a group of teenagers, as they fired live ammunitions on them.

"So you erased the entire morning from their memory?" Lois couldn't bring herself to pity the soldiers who would obviously kill kids... or objectively judge the obviously powerful telepath who could easily remove the memory of this entire encounter from her mind.

"It was either that or have the mission of this Institute jeopardized by those who won't listen to reason." Lois remembered the file she read at Cape Citadel. "But enough about that for now. I would like to offer you a place at the Institute, a way to learn the capabilities and limits of your powers safely and responsibilities, if you so wish."

Lois thought that over, with the revelation of soldiers under the direct command of her father would kill teens led to her ultimate decision. "Alright. Where do we begin?"

Author's Note: So here's chapter 2; wheels are turning and I'm a little bit ahead of the curve on this. Fingers crossed that things keep going forward well enough, since I have plans for the story going forward. As always please leave a review, follow, or favorite this fic if you want to see more.