X-men: Mutant Awakening (Ch. 9)

Author's Note: Big Thanks to Kindar for helping clean this up! :)

Chapter 9

Tad had sat in the Ethics class quietly listening to the class discuss a particular ethical dilemma for the last twenty minutes. To his surprise it actually hadn't been that boring to listen to this time.

The Professor studied the group for a moment before speaking. "This may be a silly question, but what did any of you want to do when you grew up before you became a mutant?" He continued after a pause. "What were your hopes and dreams?"

Three students shifted uncomfortably in silent embarrassment.
Another one tentatively raised his hand, then spoke. "A fireman."

Three different students talked at once, almost overlapping each other.

"A ballerina."
"Teacher."
"Police woman."

A timid voice spoke up from the far end of the group. "Astronaut."

Brenda grinned wistfully. "I wanted to be a nurse like my mom."

Professor Xavier steepled his fingers together and smiled. "Excellent. All dreams are worthy of being pursued." He glanced at one of the students. "Jessie, why did you dream of being a teacher?"

Jessie shrugged. "I had a teacher in elementary school who made teaching so much fun for me, even though I had bullies picking on me for being a small girl. She made going to school seem much more worthwhile."

Tad took a couple of seconds to study Jessie -- she looked to be in her mid-teens, with dark brown hair, and a slim figure. She also appeared rather frail, yet confident in herself.

Xavier nodded with a small smile. "She must be a remarkable individual to have inspired you."
Jessie smiled back. "Yeah, she was."

The professor shifted his gaze from her to another student. "And you, Caleb? Do you still want to be a fireman? With what you can do now?"

Caleb scratched his stubbled chin thoughtfully. "I dunno. I mean, I certainly can't become one now."

The professor smiled with a gesture toward Tad. "Please kindly explain what you mean."

Caleb went pink with embarrassment as he glanced at Tad. "Oh. I can become either water or fire, depending on what's near me. And a big raging bonfire... I've not figured out how to control it properly." He trailed off with a shrug.

Professor Xavier nodded. "Caleb can also manipulate the element he's become in a limited degree. The reason he's here is to try to gain greater control, and learn an useful purpose for it."

Tad uttered, "Oh."  A thought ran through his mind just then. Purpose, eh? Maybe I can find one here...

The Professor continued after a moment of silence. "Many mutants initially arrive here without realizing they can use their abilities to help all of us, mutants and humans. That is the reason I founded this academy. I strongly believe in peaceful coexistence."

Tad wasn't sure what to say -- but it had given him something to think about. This place seemed like a haven to these people trying to cope and learn everything about their powers. It also seemed too good to be true, although Xavier seemed genuine enough in his philosophy.

The class went on, as Xavier brought the other students into the conversation on another question relating to why humans feared the unknown. Some of them volunteered that the ones without powers were just simply ignorant. One of them mumbled that they were just stupid, which earned a mild rebuke from the Professor. 

Xavier glanced up at the clock on the wall, and gestured in the air. "Alright. Everyone's dismissed until Tuesday. No classes will be taking place on Monday."

All of the kids got up, waving bye to the Professor, and left.

Brenda and Tad were still sitting down, then she stood up. She grinned. "Thanks for letting him sit in."

The Professor smiled in return, then focused on Tad. "Of course. Tad, would you mind staying a moment longer? I have the results from your testing."

Tad smiled wryly. "Gee, I hope I didn't fail..."

Charles Xavier's smile became more humorous. "Quite the opposite."

Brenda chuckled, then started stepping backwards. "I'll let you two talk. I have to change for my next class anyway. I'll stop by then."

Tad looked at her then nodded. "Cool." He watched her exit the study, leaving them alone. He turned back to the Professor with an expectant expression. "So... What can I do?"

Xavier smiled. That was a good starting point. "Blunt and to the point. Good. I went over the results last night, and have concluded that you are capable of healing, and teleportation. This much you probably realize."

Tad nodded. "Yeah."

Charles continued some more. "Well, the unique thing about this is your powers seem to derive from one source of energy at one time. What this means is that you can either teleport or heal, providing you have sufficient reserves."

Tad frowned in slight confusion. "Okay, what exactly do you mean?"

Charles hesitated, trying to frame the right words so Tad could understand. "Put more simply, the more energy you utilize for one power, the less there is for the other."

The words were starting to sink in Tad's mind. "Wait. You mean, if I don't teleport, I could heal more serious injuries?"

Charles smiled, then nodded. "That's more or less the gist of it. You have a battery-like capacity inside you that gets depleted whenever you access either power resulting in a more limited teleporting range, or less healing strength."

Tad frowned, feeling a little worried. Did this mean he had to conserve his energy? "And how am I supposed to recharge? To keep with the 'battery' analogy here..."

Charles spoke promptly. "Rest. Primarily a full night's rest should fully revitalize you."

Tad blinked, still processing the information. "Oh. Okay. Um, any other information?"

Charles clasped his hands together in his lap. "Well, we haven't ascertained the exact range of your teleportation yet, but the readings did indicate that your power levels dropped very slightly whenever you accessed your powers within the confines of the Danger Room walls." He spoke again after a second. "Your healing ability did take more out of you than your teleportation did overall in the testing."

Tad nodded. "I, uh, am kinda still finding this a bit much to process though."

Charles smiled gently. "That's entirely understandable. Give it time. If there's nothing else - I have another class in a half hour. Feel free to wander around the public areas." He stood up and walked behind his desk to dig through the drawer for some paper.

Tad smiled. "Thanks for telling me." Without another word, he left the study and went to his room.

* * *

Logan knocked on the door more out of courtesy than anything else before he entered the study.
Xavier was bent over on his desk, grading a paper, and spoke without looking up. "Logan, what can I do for you?" He looked at Logan standing with an uncharacteristic expression on his face, then furrowed his eyebrows together. "What's wrong?"

Logan scratched his sideburn uneasily. "I'm not sure I'm the right person to keep an eye on Tad..."

Xavier studied Logan for a moment, then gestured with his hands outward. "What has happened?"

Logan avoided the telepath's glance, and spoke quietly. "Um...nothing as far as I know..." He went silent with contemplation, then looked up at him again. He hesitated, feeling awkward and wondering if he should ask or not.

Xavier broke the silence first. "You know anything you discuss with me is confidential."

Logan exhaled sharply. "Um, how do you know for sure if a dream you had was a memory...or something else?"

Xavier looked pleasantly surprised. "Have you remembered more about your past, then?"

Logan flushed. "Well...Is it possible to see whether something's a memory or a dream inside someone's mind?"

Xavier leaned back in his chair, and frowned. "Are you absolutely positive that you want confirmation?"

Logan opened and shut his mouth without a word, then nodded.

Xavier nodded. "Very well. Have a seat. I do require you to try to recall all of the details of that dream and keep it fixed in your mind." He stood up and shifted two chairs to face each other, then gestured for Logan to sit.

Logan sighed and sat down in the chair, trying to relax.

Xavier stood up and went to lock the door to ensure privacy. He then seated himself in the opposite chair, and studied Logan. He took a deep breath. "Are you prepared? Fix the dream you had in your mind as clearly as you can, and I'll verify it."

Logan scowled. "Just get it over with, alright." He closed his eyes, bracing for the mental contact, and summoning up all the details of his dream in his mind.

Xavier leaned forward and held his hands near Logan's temples. His eyes closed in concentration as he touched the surface of Logan's mind. Almost immediately, he was transported to a different locale.
It was a rugged plain with odd patches of grass here and there; some dust blew in small eddies across the ground. The warm sun bathed him in its light as he took in the surroundings.

He saw a young boy crouched behind a rock and peering slightly over it's edge, apparently watching two men talk. Xavier stepped behind the child, and realized that this must be Logan. But why was he here? This was fascinating to him -- and he was compelled to stay to quench his curiosity about why Logan was here.

He lightly touched Logan's shoulder and his perceptions were suddenly shifted. He was Logan -- then. The rest of the dream played out for him as his understanding of Logan's behavior grew.
Xavier/Logan saw a closer rock outcropping behind them, then moved as silently as he could for his young age to it. Once there, his ears finally caught some words from the man whose face he couldn't see.

"We can't do this anymore. 'Tis not proper."

The taller man smiled crookedly. Xavier/Logan frowned as the man was naggingly familiar to him. "Oh it feels good. Admit it."

Xavier/Logan's eyebrows pressed together in confusion as the speaker leaned forward and kissed the other man gently, then hungrily. Xavier/Logan was frozen to that spot, and watched the other man moan and shudder, then returning the kisses with equal fervor. Xavier/Logan felt warmth in his secret area, and realized he had become stiff. And it felt good. He was entranced by the two men, but didn't know why.

But Xavier did. He had noted one strange detail -- that one man had resembled Tad, but the clothes the men had wore were dated before the 1900's. This was definite proof that Logan was older than he looked, quite possibly at least a century old. This was no random dream -- even though Xavier knew Logan to be a ladies' man, this had the feel of something long repressed slipping through the cracks of Logan's fractured mind. Gently disengaging himself from Logan's past memory-self, he slowly eased out of his mental rapport. He opened his eyes and spoke quietly without judgment. "Yes, Your 'dream' was a memory."

Logan scowled, not very happy. He had halfway hoped that it had been a freak dream. Confusion flitted across his rugged features before he finally spoke. "Are you sure?"

Xavier nodded gravely. "Yes. I have seen many different memories in the past, even those that materialize in a dream. See, memories are like linear thoughts, where dreams tend to be surreal and more symbolic in nature." He smiled briefly before continuing. "Nothing really surprises me anymore. And, no, do not worry. I do not care who you pursue a relationship with as long as it doesn't hurt anyone. Men or women."

Logan relaxed slightly, and rubbed his face with his hand.

Xavier studied Logan, then frowned. "Do you have an attraction toward someone? Perhaps Tad? Is that why you said you couldn't fulfill my request?"

Logan glowered at him and crossed his arms in silence. He grudgingly answered with a barely perceptible nod.

Xavier took a deep breath then nodded. His voice was solemn. He knew Tad was attracted to Logan, and he didn't want Logan to frighten the boy. "I see. Brenda seems to already be his friend. I shan't force you to do anything. Treat him gently, if you engage him in conversation."

Logan grunted. "Yeah."

Xavier pinned Logan to his seat with a deadly serious expression. "He needs to work through his trauma, and I do not want you to add to it, if at all possible."

Logan squirmed under the gaze and nodded. He knew he wouldn't do anything - on purpose, but who knew what things were hidden in his mind.

Xavier nodded briskly, then got up to unlock the door. "If there's nothing else, I have class in a few minutes."

Logan got to his feet and stiffly walked out of the study without another word.

(TBC)

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