Chapter 5
“Will she be okay?” Scott asked as they all sat around the fireplace. The whole team was there. Kitty sat on one of the arms of the couch while Jean and Rogue sat in the middle. Spyke sat on the other arm while Scott stood behind all of them. They all looked solemn and sad as they thought of the state their friend was in. In front of them were the professor, Storm, and Wolverine. They too had serious looks on their faces, but theirs weren’t as solemn as the students’.
“She will be fine,” Professor Xavier said. “Kurt is with her right now. It has taken quite the toll on both of them.”
“What happened, exactly?” Rogue asked. “Why did she go after Magneto?”
Storm, Wolverine, and Professor Xavier looked at each other, sharing a glance of understanding, before looking back at the students. “It seems Jade was hiding more of her abilities from us than we thought,” Wolverine said. “She can read minds and overheard something the professor thought. Before you get to feeling too violated, let’s remember where Jade came from. A lab where she had to fend for herself. Doesn’t make the snooping okay, but we are also far from perfect.”
The students shifted for a moment. Hearing that Jade could possibly have heard what they were thinking at any given moment was a little uncomfortable. But that still didn’t answer Rogue’s question, so she pressed on. “What did she hear?” Rogue asked. “She wouldn’t just go after Magneto for no reason. Especially by herself.”
Professor Xavier heaved a sigh. “I don’t want any of you saying anything to Jade about it for a long time, but Magneto is her father,” he said.
“What?!” Kitty half screamed. “How is that possible?!”
“We looked through the records one more time,” Storm said. “When Magneto was younger he fell in love with one of the X Men when he was here. Unbeknownst to him, the girl he loved ended up getting pregnant with Jade. She died in childbirth and her parents being too disgusted by a mutant baby, gave Jade to what they thought was a foster care system for mutants. It turns out it was the lab. Magneto had no clue this whole entire time.”
Spyke leaned over his knees. The very thought of baby Jade being turned over to such monsters was enough to the point where he thought he was going to throw up. He tried to fan himself out, but was unsuccessful. He put a hand over his mouth and gagged.“I think I’m going to be sick,” he said and Scott started to rub his back a little bit.
“That’s…that’s just cruel,” Jean said, tears in her eyes. “I can’t even imagine.”
“That’s what we thought as well,” the professor said. “You don’t have to tiptoe around her, but make sure she feels comforted and loved. She’ll need it.”
In the infirmary, Jade sat up in bed, her hand on her bandaged chest as she cried. Everything she’s been through has taught her who her real family was. Then why did she still feel so absolutely devastated and distraught? Why did the thought of Magneto giving her up hurt her so badly? Why was she feeling this way? She didn’t know. All she could do was let the tears flow and hopefully that would give her some sort of solace. “Jade, please talk to me,” Kurt said. They’d been sitting in silence for a long time and just sitting there watching her cry was killing him. She had to say something.
“I-I don’t know what to say,” Jade said through her tears. “I-I feel betrayed. I-I feel lonely. I-I feel like I don’t matter to anyone. Wh-why would the professor keep that from me?”
Kurt sat on the bed and took Jade’s hand in his. “Don’t think for a second that you are not wanted here or that you don’t matter because you do,” he said. “The professor has his ways of protecting us. Some of that includes keeping things from us until we are ready to hear it. He did the same with me. He was trying to do the same with you.” Kurt put their foreheads together. “Just remember you are loved by everyone in this institute…but especially by me,” he said. “I’ve loved you since the first day you looked at me and didn’t think of me as a monster.”
Jade wasn’t surprised by this confession. She was expecting it. “And I love you too, my elf,” she said and kissed his forehead. “A-and I believe you when you say I’m wanted. I feel it in your personality and in the very air itself. Thank you for everything.”
They sat in silence for a moment becoming comfortable with each other once more. Kurt put his hands on her shoulders gently and rubbed them. “Remember,” he said. Jade smiled because she knew what was coming. He’s said it before and it would never get old. “You’re safe with me, always.” he said.