Chapter 3
Erik made it through the rest of the first day of school without a hitch. Kitty Pryde sat at her desk, did not fall through the floor again, and the students were all relatively calm about the whole situation once he got back to the classroom. They continued through their final classes, and when the last bell rang, he filled out his incident report while students filed out of the classroom.
Kitty Pryde stayed behind.
She approached his desk, head hanging, wringing her hands.
"Mr.Lehnsherr, thank you for saving me earlier. You must have been really fast. I'm sorry I lost control, it wont happen again." Her voice was so small as she spoke, nothing like the little girl who held her head high defending Xavier not two hours earlier.
His stomach twisted at the reminder. He didn't save her. But she thought he did. Because Mr.Xavier, the beloved school counselor, was a liar.
A liar and a telepath. Strictly banned from certain occupations. Like anything related to the school system.
"You do not have to apologize to me Kitty. When I was your age I was a magnet for trouble. You'll get better control of your power as you get older. I'm just glad you're safe." He tried to be reassuring. "Out of all the people in this school, I am the last person who will ever aks you to apologize for your mutation."
She smiled slightly at that.
"Thanks Mr.Lehnsherr, you're not so scary after all I guess." She smiled and walked away, backpack bouncing as she went.
He chuckled, she was a good kid. Hopefully she wouldn't be falling through anymore floors. Signing his name at the bottom of his incident report, he began the walk down to Xavier's office, steeling himself for what was next.
When he got to Xavier's office, the man wasn't there. A sign on the door that he placed for students read, "gone away to home, have a great day!" With smiley faces on it.
Erik wanted to scream with frustration. He wanted to know why Mr.Xavier has been hiding his mutation, he wanted to give him his stupid fucking incident report, but most of all he wanted to know that Jean Grey was safe.
He should have known those bruises weren't from another child. He should have recognized the behavior. Stupid. He thought to himself.
He made his way out of the school, hoping tomorrow to get some answers.
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Jean Grey had been in a police station before. She had seen the cold inside of an all white interrogation room. And she wanted more than anything to be somewhere else right now.
"You're telling me that your father has been physically abusing you for over a year now? Is that correct?" The two men sitting across from her were asking questions. Different from before, but Jean still squirmed at the memories.
"Since right after Mom and Charlotte died. He was going through a lot..." She trailed off. She didn't want to be here.
The larger man was writing down everything she said. She didn't like it. That had happened before too, before they took her to the hospital.
"And these times he has hit you, was he disciplining you for something? Can you tell me what caused him to hit you?" She decided she hated this man. The question one.
At least the large man was just writing.
"He gets mad at me, and he yells, then he started to hit, and when I try to protect myself he hits me the worst." She had tried to use her powers on more than one occasion. She didn't want to think of what happened when she did.
"When you say defend yourself? Did you use your mutation against your father?" She hated this man. The inhibitor bracelet burned against her wrist, she wanted it off, she wanted him to go away. She wanted to go away. But she didn't have anywhere to go.
"I tried to throw him a chair at him once with my powers, but I missed." She took a shakey breath. "He threw me to the ground, and he kicked me really hard. I had bruises for a long time." She fiddled with the ends of her sweater.
"And your father is human correct?" The small man asked her.
She hated police stations.
"Yes."
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Waiting outside of the examination room, Charles worried for Jean. He picked at his nails anxiously as he waited for news from the social worker.
"Mr.Xavier!" A large man called out to him, extending a hand to shake, "my name is Logan, I'm the social worker assigned to Jean. I hear you're the one who made the initial report?"
Charles nodded, "Yes sir, her teacher informed me of her bruises and I went to introduce myself to her. I'm the guidance counselor at the school so if there's a student who might need help I try and reach out," he ran a hand through his hair as he stressed over the situation, "so I asked her what happened and she told me about her dad. She doesn't have any other adults who can care for her."
Logan took a seat next to Charles, "I'll level with you, getting her emergency placement right now is gonna be difficult. Getting a foster family that will take in a mutant kid is hard, believe me" he held up his left arm, showing a yellow inhibitor bracelet, "so our choices are limited."
Charles didn't miss a beat before speaking, "I can take her in. I can sign any paperwork, I don't care about her mutation."
Logan blinked at him, then took in a breath, "if you're sure about this. I can get the paperwork drawn up and we can stop by your house. We need to make sure it's a safe environment for a kid." He looked at Charles expectantly, waiting for him to change his mind.
Charles dug around in his pockets, and handed the man his house key.
"You can look all you need. You will find prescription pain medication locked in my nightstand. I have neuropathy in the left leg, but I hardly ever have flare ups." He hadn't had alcohol in his house in over 6 months.
Logan raised his eyebrows, "you sure about this?" Charles nodded, "more than anything."
Jean Grey was at the Xavier mansion 12 hours later, trash bags of belongings, and a heart full of hope.