Chapter 2
“I hate biology,” Hannah groaned. She hadn’t minded Jean Grey when she’d first met her, but the woman was way too into it.
Rogue smirked. “Just wait until we get to genetics.”
The pair of them were walking side by side down the wide corridor away from their Biology class. It was their last class of the day, and Rogue was leading her down to the rec room.
“So how was your first day!” Kitty exclaimed, rushing forward to take a place on Hannah’s other side. Jubilee came up behind her, smiling at Kitty’s enthusiasm.
“It was good. It was surprisingly normal.”
“And you liked M&E? It was really good today!”
“It was good. I’ve never taken a philosophy class before.”
“Do you wanna go over the reading together?” Kitty asked. Hannah nodded readily.
“You girls headed to the rec room?” Bobby called out from further down the hall.
“Ah come on! It’s our turn with the tv!” a younger girl to his right complained. She was bright pink. Hannah tried not to be shocked.
“Clarice-“ Kitty began, but the girl only grinned. A small cracking sound travelled down the hallway and suddenly a swirling pink circle appeared before the girl. Clarice was gone in a blink of the eye.
“Damn,” Jubilee muttered. “Guess we can’t watch Jeopardy today.”
“That’s not fair,” Bobby complained as the girls caught up to where he was standing.
“Shoulda frozen her,” Rogue joked.
“Maybe Piotr is already down there?” Kitty suggested hopefully, but as soon as the rounded the corner, they were met with the unwelcome sight of Piotr coming out of the rec room, looking a bit confused.
“Clarice has the remote,” he explained. “I think she threatened me.”
Hannah laughed. “Scared of a little girl?” she asked. It seemed ridiculous, considering just how large he was.
“We don’t wanna cross Clarice,” he warned. His eyes twinkled with amusement, but the message was still clear.
“That’s life at the mansion,” Bobby exclaimed, spreading his arms wide, “even the seventh graders can kill you!”
“Wanna go to the lake?” Kitty suggested.
“Not so fast.” Wolverine was coming down the hall at a leisurely pace, face frozen in his perpetual scowl as he approached them.
“Logan? What’s up?” Rogue asked offering the older man a bright smile.
“Gettin’ Hannah. Training.”
The group all turned their eyes on her, most of them with sympathy.
“Uh…my schedule says-“
“Chuck wants to help you with your powers,” he answered simply. He looked a bit annoyed at being an errand boy.
“Oh, so…not with you?” she asked, trying hard not to sound too relieved. Because hell, she was. Rogue tried to convince everyone that Logan wasn’t as bad as he seemed, but he still acted scary.
“What’ll I teach ya, Sparky?” he gruffed, but he didn’t seem particularly irritated at her relief. In fact, he seemed a bit amused. “Chucks waiting for you in the Danger Room. Need a guide?”
“I can take her,” Rogue offered. “Thanks Logan.”
He nodded. “Now I gotta go round the sixth graders up.”
“Oh yeah?” Bobby asked. “Want some help?”
Logan shrugged.
“See ya later Rogue,” Bobby said as Logan continued down the hall without another word and the younger boy hurried to keep up. “Good luck Hannah.”
The rest of them all offered similar farewells, and Kitty quickly shifted through the corridor wall into the Rec Room. Piotr was close behind.
“I’d better keep her from bullying the younger kids into giving her the remote,” he told them with a harried smile.
Rogue had wanted to stay when they arrived at the Danger Room, and Hannah wanted her to as well, but the Professor had politely excused the other girl with a kind smile.
Hannah felt uncomfortable in the large metal arena like room. The lights sent a hum through her, and it was almost pleasant, but the knowledge of what would be happening soon made her hair stand on end.
She wanted to be able to control her powers, but she was still fearful of it. So much of her childhood had been her parents taking control away from her. Her mother and father didn’t let her make choices. Instead, she was expected to follow their plan, and be friends with their friend’s kids, and do the after school activities expected of her. Now she had actual power, and the idea of being in control of it was at once heady and terrifying.
The Professor obviously sensed all of this, and the look he gave her was one of understanding. She could tell he got that. And she doubted it was a very unique experience. Most mutants were probably afraid of the power they wielded. She wasn’t alone.
“It’s good you recognize that, Hannah. I’m glad you don’t feel isolated.”
“I-I know everyone else at this school has had a shit time of it,” she admitted, wincing at the curse, but she guessed correctly that the Professor would ignore the slip up.
“We all face issues when our power manifest themselves. But everyone finds a different way of handling it. I’d like, today, if we could try to find your way.”
“I’d like that,” she told him.
“I know that the Danger Room can be a bit intimidating the first time you enter, but worry not. I won’t be putting you through any simulations just yet. I just thought it would be the best place for you to manifest your powers.”
She looked at his chair, all the metal used to make it, and frowned. “Isn’t that dangerous? What if you get hurt?”
“I’ll be in the observation bay. If you don’t mind?” he indicated with his head a small elevator that seemed to lead up to a large balcony lit from the inside with thick glass surrounding all sides. She relaxed a bit at the sight.
“Yeah, that’s better.”
With a nod, her retreated from her and wheeled himself over to the elevator, entering with a wave of his hand. After he’d risen far above her and wheeled himself close to the windows, Professor Xavier’s voice came through speakers Hannah couldn’t see, resounding through the large metal room.
“Hannah, I’ll ask this beforehand, but I’d like your permission to enter you mind now.”
“Alright,” she breathed. Then, louder because she wasn’t sure if he could hear her, “Okay!”
“Thank you,” he said, but this time, his voice sounded from inside of her head.
It was freaky, to say the least, not least because she’d been expecting something a little bit different. His presence wasn’t invasive, like she imagined. Instead it reminded her of the feeling you get when steps up behind you and hovers. Not unpleasant, but it made her skin prickle.
“Can you access your power now, Hannah?”
She nodded, realizing as soon as she’d done it that it was redundant. He could read her thoughts. He’d probably read that thought as well. A wave of amusement washed over her, urging a smile from her. He probably dealt with this a lot.
“It’s quite alright, Hannah,” he assured her. “Go on.”
Hannah breathed deeply, imagining calling the humming energy around her like a warm blanket. She smiled when the familiar buzz of the electricity skittered over her skin, ignoring the small rush of fear she felt. She was safe here. No one around for her to hurt, no electronics to fool around with. Just her and the sparks.
It surprised her how fondly she thought of her power, after only a few days of having it. The energy felt like a friend, somehow. Thoughts of her first experiences with it, while traumatizing, only reinforced that idea. It had been keeping her safe.
“You feel comfortable with it?” he asked. She tried to gather her thoughts together to answer him, but the effort seemed to be quite enough. “That’s good, Hannah. Some students struggle with the power they wield. It makes accessing it difficult.”
She turned her attention back to her powers after she felt the energy skitter a little further away from her. It felt like it wanted to go somewhere.
“That makes sense, dear. Why don’t you try to release it in a controlled manner?” the Professor suggest.
Hannah didn’t even know how to start with that. It was too wild for control. It wanted to leap and bound, not walk. Still, the idea intrigued her, so, closing her eyes, she pictured the energy she’d amassed as a ball of crackling electricity and envisioned sending out a tendril towards the ground. Nothing happened. She glanced down at her hands, finding them empty. The air around her still danced with electricity, the sparks refusing to attend to her wishes. She huffed. This wasn’t gonna be a walk in the park.
The next few weeks were some of the best in Hannah’s life. She spent as much time with her friends- she was comfortable calling them that now- as possible, whenever she wasn’t studying or working on her powers. After the first week of frustration, the Professor had given her a bit of a breather in order to “assess her relationship with her abilities”. She’d gained a tighter sense of the energy, but still couldn’t control what it did. It was like a puppy. It came when called, but didn’t know any tricks yet.
But ever without control, Hannah felt herself relaxing in her new environment. She had more choices now than she’ ever had before. Sometimes she’d wake up in the morning and be overwhelmed just by the prospect of getting dressed. Her mother wasn’t there anymore to pick out her outfits, to veto a shirt that she deemed too tight, to shake her head vehemently at a pair of skin tight jeans. Hannah wore whatever she wanted, and it felt amazing. Kitty was also taking the time to guide her through the trials and tribulations of makeup, although Hannah hadn’t attempted anything beyond some mascara in the weeks she’d been at Xavier’s.
She felt freer now than she ever had at home.
She also had more free time, no longer straining under the massive amount of studying and after school activities her parents had expected from her. There was no violin practice to attend, or tennis lessons, or speech and debate club. Hannah used this free time to plumb the depths of her mind, to analyze the way her powers felt when she used them.
It was almost second nature, after a month of being at the Institute, to feel the subtle welling of energy where it started in her chest, right above her heart. The skin on her chest and face flushing as the sparks danced along her skin. Hannah was able to summon her power to her without thought, although at this point, it was all she could due. But she knew where it came from, and one night, hours after she’d meant to fall asleep, it seemed to click.
She was sitting outside with Kitty, lounging around in the lukewarm September sun when she called her sparks to her, bored with the silence, wanting to watch them dance through the air. She’d warned Kitty of course, who had dutiful scooted a few feet away on the grass, watching with a bit of passive interest.
It was then that the knowledge of how to control its shape gained on her. She jumped up, wincing when the action shot a few weak lines of miniature lightning into the air around her. She needed to bring it more than skin deep! Of course.
Hannah laughed at how simple it was. She’d been calling the sparks to her and allowing them to barely skim her body. She hadn’t welcomed them in further. Without a word to Kitty, she took off towards the danger room, calling out to the Professor with her thoughts, hoping it wasn’t especially busy.
By the time she’d made it to the underground arena, the Professor was waiting for her, smiling delightedly at her excited explanation. They both rushed into the room, and she didn’t wait another second to demonstrate her new discovery.
Hannah called the sparks easily, and instead of simply leaving it at that, she tried pulling them deeper, tried drawing the feeling, like bees buzzing just under her skin further. She felt the imaginary bees begin traveling throughout her body, felt them brush at her bones, at her lungs, and was surprised at how good it felt. It didn’t hurt, like she’d half feared. No, it was amazing.
She imagined, once again, that the energy whispering through her body was a ball of writhing lightning in her hands. The she sent it out, aiming close, aiming away from the Professor. She pushed with her mind and with her hands. The energy dimmed a bit in her mind’s eye, so she looked down. In her hands was a slightly smaller mass of energy than she had picked up, and there was a small wring of singed metal right before her.
She turned, grinning, up to the Professor. “I did it!” she shouted.
“Indeed you did, Hannah. You’re making amazing progress. And I think I’ve gathered a little more information about the nature of your power.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“I first assumed your powers were more internal. I thought your harnessing of electricity was like Bobby’s production of ice. But the energy you wield is drawn from the world around you. In the presence of electronics, it seems you draw from them, but the incident in the park tells me you can gather it from the air as well.”
She nodded for him to continue when he paused, seemingly in thought.
“In that case, you must be drawing only a fraction of the energy you can from these lights. Otherwise, I’d assume they would blow out. Perhaps…”
“What?” she pressed.
“I’ll need to ponder this, Hannah, but you’ve done very well today. I’d like you to meet with me after your classes on the days you do not have a Danger Room session scheduled. Are you amenable to that?” he asked.
She nodded quickly. “But I can’t join the others in the Danger Room, can I? I can’t really control this yet.”
“I’d have to disagree with you. You have shown remarkable control, Hannah. But, up until you feel comfortable, I’m happy to replace Danger Room sessions with private sessions.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re very welcome, my dear. Now, I believe Kitty has gained control of the remote control during your journey down here. Perhaps you’d like to join them in their tv time?”
She smiled. “Sure thing. Thank you Professor!”
Hannah now had a knack for turning on and off lights with a flick of a finger, something everyone else found much more annoying than she did. Rogue found it specifically disheartening, because as roommates, she had a preference for keeping the light on long into the night, and Hannah wasn’t shy about turning it off without warning.
It had been a simple thing, really, once she knew how to control the electricity in her body to figure out how to find it in the wiring and the electronics around her. And then it had been even easier to figure out how to disrupt the circuit, to turn something off, or release the flow or energy and turn something on.
The Professor assured her that even more finesse would only come with time, and she was content to sit back and try a few things out.
Her normal classes went just as well. Hannah had always done well in school. For all that she had a habit of second guessing herself, she tested really well. Plus, the Mansion wasn’t that different from anywhere else. It was just way, way more fun.
It was only in her second month there that she hit a snag. It was after one of her session with the Professor, and he had descended from the elevator to walk back up to the first floor with when he told her she’ be joining her age-group in the Danger Room.
“I believe you’re well equipped now, Hannah, and the Danger Room will help you to develop defensive skills. Your powers can be used as more than simply an exercise in long distance light-switching.”
“I don’t want to use my powers against someone else again,” Hannah told him. She wanted to keep this feeling of accomplishment. Hannah didn’t want to be afraid of herself.
“The Danger Room is a safe environment, Hannah, no matter how the name contradicts that fact,” the Professor told her, voice gentle. “I do not want to force you into anything, but these lessons are the safest way for you to learn to defend yourself. We live in a world that hate and fears us, my dear. You’ll need these skills.”
“I-“ she took a deep breath, surprised at the sudden pricking of tears at the corners of her eyes. “I understand, Professor but…I just got comfortable with this. I don’t want to hurt my friends.”
“You won’t dear. You’ll be well supervised.”
She nodded. “Alright, Professor.”
But no matter what she told him, it wasn’t truly alright. She was scared. She shielded the feeling, walling it up and pushing it away from the Professor’s presence in her head. He’d taught her how to do that on their second day. She’d never had to put the skill to use before. His face fell when he realized what she was doing, but she didn’t open her thoughts up to him again that day.
After dinner that day, while she lounged on the sitting room couch with Lorna and Kitty, she voiced her fears to the group.
“The Professor’s decided I can join you guys in the Danger Room,” she told them, voice small. Kitty sat up immediately, eyes wide and shoulders bouncing with excitement.
“Really?”
Hannah nodded.
“That’s amazing!” she shouted, bouncing down the couch to hug her. Hannah stiffened under the touch, but couldn’t help the small amused smile. Kitty was like a puppy sometimes, the way things set her off in a ball of long hair and excitement and hugs.
“That is cool,” John commented from the arm chair, eyebrow raised at her. “Unless it isn’t.”
“What’s that ‘sposed to mean?” Rogue asked. “Hannah’s gotten real good with her powers.”
“She doesn’t look really happy, s’all I’m saying,” John shrugged.
“I just…it’s freaky. I don’t wanna go around electrocuting people,” Hannah admitted. “I know it makes sense to get even better with my powers. Doesn’t make it any less daunting.”
“You’re tellin’ me,” Rogue scoffed. “It’s scary at first, but once you meet Magneto, you’ll jump at the chance,” she warned.
“Magneto?”
“Shit- she doesn’t-“
“Of course she doesn’t,” Bobby cut in before John could continue. “Magneto was on the news but Rogue and the X-Men weren’t.”
Hannah had learned about the alternate identities the teachers took on as the X-Men. She knew about the jet, and the training, but she hadn’t realized they’d been deployed previously. She’d always just assumed that they were what the Professor referred to them as: a preventative measure, a safeguard.
“Magneto…he’s the mutant supremacist, right? Rogue you met him?”
“Yeah. He uh…tried to make me a battery for his damn mutant machine,” Rogue said, looking a bit uncomfortable with this line of questioning, but Hannah didn’t really care right now.
“I thought he was in prison And what the hell is a mutant machine?”
“He is. That doesn’t mean he always will be though,” John said. “Guys slippery.”
“He tried to turn a bunch of people into mutants,” Bobby told her.
“Do you really think we might face him?”
“Well,” Kitty began, “the professor hasn’t made the offer yet, but we’ve all made plans to stay on at the mansion after we graduate. All of us want to help Xavier to protect people. Magneto’s a dangerous man, and if he does get out-“
“We wanna help stop him,” Bobby finished.
“You’re gonna be X-Men?” she asked.
Bobby nodded. “It’s the least we can do. The Professor has done so much for us. We wanna pay him back.”
“Some of us do,” John shot back.
“Shut up John. We’ve all heard the argument-“
“She hasn’t,” John pointed out, nodding towards Hannah. He looked grim.
“What argument?”
“Xavier spends too much time talking about peace and respecting others. He harps on about not hurting humans, but all they do is shit on us. Why should we help them?” John asked. “Why should we kill ourselves stopping Magneto from knocking some of them down a few pegs.”
“Magneto’s a murderer and a maniac,” Rogue snapped. “He sacrifices people for the “greater good” all the time. He doesn’t care about protecting mutants. He just wants power.”
“I’m not saying I wanna turn traitor,” John said, raising his hands in surrender. “I’m just saying, maybe we should be a bit more proactive about saving mutants. When I’m an X-Man, I don’t intend to let people suffer.”
“I just-“
“That’s what this is about, Hannah,” John said, disregarding her words with a casual gesture, “this is about protecting other mutants. You want to protect the kids in the mansion right? From anyone who comes to hurt them?”
“He’s right about that,” Bobby agreed. “That’s what being an X-Man is.”
“He’s not asking her to be an X-Man,” Rogue said.
“But he sorta is though,” Kitty responded. “Or at least, he’s asking her to prepare for it.”
Hannah turned away from the group of them, staring down at her arms, at her hands, and thought about the death they were capable of dealing. Maybe she could hurt someone, but she could help someone too. Maybe, one day, she could save a teenage girl trapped in a situation like her own. Maybe one day her powers could do more than turn the lights on and off.
“Maybe it won’t be so bad,” she admitted after a few minutes of thought.
“See ya on Monday,” John said, clapping as he drew himself out of the arm chair. “Bring your best shit.”
“Oh, do ya think the Professor’ll let us play power tag, for her first day?” Rogue asked.
“Power tag?” she was almost too afraid to ask.
“You’ll see.”
---
Power tag was the worst thing ever thought up in the nightmares of a mother who dreamed about poor poor children being subjected to particularly sadistic gym class games. Sure, it was fun if you were kids, but it was terrifying to the casual observer.
Hannah watched with dawning horror as Bobby dodged a huge piece of cement that had sailed from Piotr’s titanium grip at top speed. The metal boy was intimidating when seen in action, all huge, shiny, hulking muscles, but it hadn’t occurred to her that all that extra weight made him easy to outmaneuver. The others were dancing circles around him, and she felt bad for him.
Still, until he tagged someone, there was no escape.
“Come on Colossus, pick up the pace!” Scott shouted from the side lines.
“Trying!” Piotr shot back, as he aimed a steel beam at Kitty’s ankles. The girl stared down at the beam as it phased right through her legs. “Nice try hunk-a-junk!”
“Ignore her, Colossus, focus. Don’t ignore speed just because you’re big. Think fast.”
Hannah thought it was all a little unfair. The whole point of this was to break Piotr out of his sit and swipe strategy, relying too much on his superior size and strength, but those were his strengths. All this was doing was making it impossible for him to win. That is, until Jubilee stumbled over a fallen brick wall while trying to creep out of Piotr’s line of sight.
He spotted her before she could fully escape, and with a well-placed hit he had her on her back. She let out a sharp oof when he hit her, but Hannah could tell he hadn’t gone all in.
“Alright, Jubilee, you’re it.”
Jubilee got to her feet with a whine and stomped her foot. “I thought we were supposed to work as a team during Power Tag. Kitty should have helped me out.”
“You are supposed to work as a team, Jubilee. But where were you when Bobby could have used a distraction?” Scott asked, looking stern even behind his visor.
“Tryna not to get stomped by the tin man!” she snapped.
“You’re it, Jubilee,” Scott repeated instead of to responding to her snark. “Hannah, why don’t you jump on in.”
“Me?” she asked, voce pitching up with fear.
“Yeah, you.”
“Alright,” she squeaked.
Moving away from the corner she’d holed up in the watch, Hannah took an unsure place beside Rogue, feeling safest next to her friend than anyone else.
“Don’t worry, sugar. It’s fun, I swear,” Rogue assured her, patting her on the shoulder.
Hannah shrugged her shoulders, trying in vain to loosen up her muscles and get ready to dodge. She’d never exactly been big on physical activity, and the one piece they all had to wear, while breathable, made her a little self-conscious.
“I’m ready,” she said, even if she didn’t feel that way.
“Let’s go!” Scott shouted. With the signal, Jubilee lifted her arms and started popping off fireworks. Jubes had put on little light shows before, but Hannah had never seen anything like these. The lights made it hard to see, to the point where all she was doing was running around like a headless chicken.
“Come on Jubes, you’re no fun,” Kitty cried out from somewhere to Hannah’s left, but she couldn’t make the other girl out. The sound of Jubes’s laughter close to her elbow sent Hannah off running away, but just as she felt she was getting away, the girl appeared to her right.
“Come on!” Rogue shouted, tugging Hannah to safety, just trying to keep moving. “There’s no hope when she pops ‘em off like this!”
“Hold up!” Hannah shouted. Taking a deep breath, Hannah cast her senses out towards the bright lights above them, gathering up the electricity keeping them lit. She tugged, and felt the power cut off, casting the room in darkness for just a second before Jubilee’s fireworks began again. This time though, the fireworks were helpful, lighting the way.
“Thanks Hannah!” Kitty called out.
“Cheater!” Jubilee shouted, but her outrage was good-natured.
“Good thinking, Hannah,” Scott called out. “Keep it up.”
“Gotcha!” Jubilee exclaimed suddenly. When the fireworks died down Hannah sent the juice back up to the lights and the fluorescents kicked back on.
Jubilee held onto John’s upper arm. The boy looked a bit peeved, but the devilish smile he put on as soon as they all turned to stare could have scared Logan.
“I’m it,” he drawled.
“Stop being dramatic Johnny,” Rogue teased. “You’re not Snidely Whiplash.”
“Who?” John asked, shooting her a blank look.
“Never mind.”
“Get ready,” Scott snapped.
Hannah found her place near the corner once more, as the rest of them all readied themselves.
The signal from Scott set John off, and in a flash of flame, the room was in motion once more. He went after Bobby first, obviously. The two of them had a healthy rivalry, and if Bobby had been it, he’d have done the same.
John struck out at the other boy with a whip of flames, trying to trip him up. Bobby seemed unfazed. Hannah didn’t want to sit around watching though. Glancing around, Hannah tried to stake out a proper place to hide, or at least an exit strategy when John got bored of Bobby.
Kitty was peeking halfway out of a huge block of cement, eyes darting around the room. Hannah darted over.
“Wanna help a girl out?” she asked, smiling brightly at the other girl out. Kitty grinned.
“Gotta watch my own back, Han.”
“Scott said we should be working together!” she protested.
“Yeah, but ganging up isn’t fair. Sorry, thems the rules.”
“She’s right,” Jubilee chimed in. “No one wants to get ganged up on, so we don’t do it when we’re not it.”
Hannah pouted. “Well what am I supposed to do? You all have something more than turning the lights on and off.”
“I dunno, maybe try that whip thing John does,” Jubilee suggested.
Before she could give anymore advice though, John came barreling towards her, a massive wave of flames at his back.
“No tag-backs!” Jubes shouted, lighting up a firework in his face. It was harmless, only leaving his blinking long enough for Hannah, Jubes, and Kitty to run off. Hannah saw the large ice sculpture Bobby had built himself, and understood why John had abandoned him to find someone easier.
“Watch out new girl!” John teased, and she felt the tell-tale heat of his flames licking at her heels. Squealing, Hannah tried to push herself a little faster, a little further, but the knowledge of the fire so close left her stumbling. She fell to her hands and knees and without thinking, she struck out.
The arc of lightning left her hand an instant later, slashing at John’s chest. He jumped back, eyes wide with surprised, but he didn’t look- well he was still moving, which was a good sign.
“Hannah that was fucking awesome!” Kitty exclaimed, clapping her hands.
Hannah grinned, scrambling to her feet. Experimentally, she tried to recreate the effect. In a second, she had a bundle of electricity in both hands. She emulated the motion of cracking a whip and long tendrils of sparks followed along. Her smile grew even bigger.
“That hurt?” she asked John, glancing away from her handiwork for a moment to meet his eyes.
“Little bit,” he admitted. “Don’t feel bad. Bobby tried to give me frost bite.”
“Cool!” And with that, she struck out again. John jumped back before the sparks could touch him, which was what she’d hoped he’d do, and it bought her enough time to book it across the room, towards the rest of the students. They all scattered at that, trying to spread out and make it harder for John.
Hannah was breathless from both exhaustion and excitement when they wrapped up a twenty minutes later, when Bobby had managed to grab a hold of Rogue’s clothed arm after finally getting tagged by John. Scott had called an end to the lesson then, to everyone’s relief.
“That was so fun!” Hannah gushed as they all left the room. Her breath was coming heavy, and sweat was sticking her bangs to her forehead, but she was happy all the same. That had been way better than gym class in a public school.
“Don’t get too excited. Not every day is like that,” Bobby warned. “Professor Summers only lets us play Power Tag every once in a while.”
“Who cares!” she replied, throwing her arms wide and jogging ahead of everyone else so she could face them and walk backwards down the long, brightly lit metal hallway. “Didn’t you guys see what I did in there? That was way more than turning a light on!”
“It was cool, Hannah,” Kitty assured her.
“Yeah, girl. Gotta keep up the good work,” Rogue said, bumping her hip against Hannah’s. “Thought you were gonna shock Johnny outta his boots.”
“The Professor made non-lethal shocking our first priority,” Hannah said. “Glad I can keep to that.”
“Yeah, me too,” John joked, shoving her playfully.
Hannah blushed at his close contact, surprising herself with her reaction.
Feeling suddenly awkward, Hannah searched her mind for something to say to fill the quiet hallway. “Do you guys wanna work on our bio lab later?” she asked.
“I would like that very much,” Piotr piped up. “I hate Punnett squares.”
“Who doesn’t,” Rogue grumbled. “I swear, Jean and the Professor are just too interested in genetics for their own good.”
“For our own good!” Kitty moaned.
“How are there even ten by ten squares? How many parents can there be?” Rogue asked.
Hannah was splayed out on her bed later that night, book in hands, when she heard the noise out in the yard. Up instantly, she moved towards the window. She scanned the grounds beneath the window, looking for any movement, but after a moment she relaxed. There didn’t seem to be anything out there, and anyway, all the mansion’s security would pick anything dangerous up before she’d see it.
Rogue was nestled into the bed across the room, fast asleep when Hannah turned back around. They’d all gathered in Bobby and John’s room to study, simply because the pair had already gotten through bio, and Kitty insisted that they walk the rest through it. It was only after Ororo had come upstairs to break up the little study session that they all realized how late they’d gone.
They’d all gone their separate ways, Rogue falling asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow, but Hannah couldn’t quite get there. She was tired, for sure. Power tag had taken a lot out of her, and she’d had a long day besides that, but still, sleep wouldn’t come.
Wrenching herself away from the window, Hannah decided she could use a glass of water. Creeping out of the room, trying not to wake anyone, Hannah made her way to the kitchen. She could have gotten a drink in one of the lavatories, but she wanted to take the walk.
The ground floor was dead silent when she descended to it, ill lit. Except, of course for Elliot, in his usual position in front of the rec room television. Elliot didn’t sleep.
The kitchen light was off, so upon entry, she didn’t immediately realize she wasn’t alone. Until the other person coughed, and Hannah thought her skeleton had jumped right out of her body. Repressing a scream, she whipped around to glare at the figure seated at the large kitchen table.
“What the hell!” she snapped, although her voice didn’t rise above a stage whisper.
“Sorry,” John said, but he didn’t look sorry. He looked smug. As usual.
“Warn a person you’re in the room, why don’t you?”
“I did,” he reminded her. “That’s what I was trying to do.”
“Why are you sitting in the kitchen alone in the dark anyway?” she asked, moving further into the room and flicking the light on with a flick of her finger.
He held up a mug. “Coffee.”
“At-“ she began, glancing back towards the microwave to get the time. “1 am?”
“You’re up too.”
“I was getting a glass of water,” she said, “not caffeinating myself.”
“Couldn’t sleep anyway. How about you? Why aren’t you upstairs counting sheep?”
“Thought I heard something outside.”
He nodded. After a moment, he gestured towards the chair across from his, indicating she take a seat. A second of contemplation led her to take him up on the offer her glass of water abandoned for the time being.
“Tell me about yourself,” he prompted, shooting her that smug smile once more.
She stuck her tongue out at him. “You first.”
“I asked you first,” he protested.
“I asked you second.”
“Fine,” he acquiesced. “I am incredibly interesting, so I guess I might as well.”
She snorted, but didn’t interrupt.
“I’m an only child, my parents were assholes, and I’m originally from Melbourne Australia. I can burn things really really good, and I’m devilishly handsome.”
“That about sums it up,” Hannah laughed. “You were right; I should have gone first.”
He tossed his head, pretending to take offense. “It’s not a fun story, you know. Nobody’s here is. Pretty much the same as anyone else. When I got my powers, shit happened, my parents found out, and then more shit happened.”
“What did they do?” she asked.
“They freaked. Called me a monster. You know, the usual stuff.”
“Did they try to make you go to the government camps?”
“Oh yeah. Almost convinced me I should, too. Then I saw the Professor on TV. Realized it wasn’t the only option. So I changed my plans.”
“I’m sorry,” she said. Without a thought, Hannah reached across the table to place her hand beside his. Not touching, but close to it.
“No biggie. Like I said, everyone here has a sob story. Comes with the territory.”
“I killed my mom’s cat. But I think I already told you guys that.”
“Yeah. Not a cat person, huh?” he joked. When she nodded he laughed. “Me neither.”
A movement in the corner of her eyes had Hannah turning quickly towards the window, squinting out into the darkness. “Did you see that?” she asked, all humor draining from her voice.
“What?” he asked, turning to stare where she was staring.
“I saw something out there. I swear, there’s someone outside.”
Hannah’s skin crawled with fear as she rose from her chair to scan the window more closely. Again, the grounds were quiet and motionless but she knew she’d seen something.
“You wanna tell a teacher?” John asked. “They could just check it out.”
“Maybe we should,” she agreed.
The pair of them hurried out of the kitchen and up the stair towards the teacher’s hall. John led the way to Logan’s door, and Hannah was more than happy to let him. She had a feeling Wolvie didn’t love getting woken up in the middle of the night.
John knocked on the door forcefully, not wasting any time. When Logan yanked the door open, looking ferocious with his mussed hair and his murderous stare, the teenagers took a step- or two- back.
“What?” he snapped. “Why ya wakin’ me up?”
“Uh…Hannah saw something.”
“What?” Logan repeated, less gruff this time around.
“I dunno. But I think- I think there’s someone on the grounds. I saw someone out the window.”
Logan looked a little incredulous, but he still shuffled back into his room to pull on a pair of boots. “Wake the Professor and Scott up. I’ll go out an’ check.”
“Right,” John said, giving the man a quick nod. Hannah watched him walk off before turning back to John.
“I’ll get Scott, you get the Professor,” he told her. She nodded, and the pair of them split up.
Hannah walked the short distance down the hall to the Professor’s hallway, hands clenched. She was really hoping this was nothing. She didn’t want anyone to get hurt.
Before she could even knock on the door, it opened, the Professor- still in his pyjamas- rolling himself out into the hallway. “I heard,” he explained. “Now, my dear, what exactly did you see?”
“It was- It wasn’t much Professor. Probably nothing. But I heard something outside up in my room, and then I went downstairs to get a glass of water and I think I saw someone outside the window. Logan’s going outside.”
“Thank you Hannah,” the Professor said, looking grim. A sound at the other end of the hall alerted both of them to John leading Scott towards them.
“What’s the situation, Professor,” Scott asked.
“Hannah’s alerted us to a possible intruder, Scott. Logan’s gone out to investigate. Perhaps we could wait for him in the foyer?”
“Want me to put the kids to bed?” Scott asked, sending both of them a ridiculously patronizing look.
The Professor barely had the chance to answer before Hannah protested. “Professor, I’d rather see this through. I won’t get involved, but I’d like to-“
“Hannah, it’d really be safer if-“ Scott tried to interrupt her.
She shook her head. “If it’s okay with you, Professor?”
Professor Xavier frowned, but offered a short nod in her direction. “Come along, then.”
While the two older men took the lead, Hannah and John trailed behind them. With a sly grin, John offered her a fist to bump. She followed through on the gesture, although she wasn’t as triumphant as he was. She wanted to see it through, that was true, but more out of concern than pride, or even curiosity.
They waited in the foyer for way longer than Hannah was comfortable with, but it was a good thirty minutes before they heard the commotion outside. Scott shot out of the armchair just beside the front door, eyes turning quickly to the front windows. The Professor sat up a bit as well, squinting his eyes in concentration.
“It seems that Logan has found an interloper on the grounds,” he announced. “I young man…a mutant.”
“Friendly?” Scott asked hopefully.
“I…I’ll have to get back to you on that front, Scott,” he said, looking a bit more concerned than Hannah- or Scott for that matter, was comfortable with.
The front door swung open before any of them could press him for more information though, and Logan stomped in while holding a teenaged boy by the collar of a long brown leather duster. Both were soaking wet, and a cursory glance outside reassured her that it wasn’t raining. Must have fallen in the lake.
“Found this one working on the motion sensors by the driveway, Chuck. Smells like a rat,” Logan growled, shaking the boy a bit.
“Thank you, Logan, but I’d rather you didn’t shake him very much. You’re getting water on the carpet,” the Professor answered wryly. Hannah couldn’t hide her smile.
“Oi, mon ami, careful with de coat,” the boy finally piped up, attempting to wrench himself from Logan’s iron grip. It had the expected result, which was nothing.
“May I ask just what you were doing outside, young man?” the Professor asked. The boy’s eyes flicked to the group huddled a little out of the splash zone, taking them in with striking eyes. They were…black, and red, and…did he just wink?
“Bon jour, belle femme,” he drawled.
“What?” she asked. She couldn’t speak- was that French?- but his demeanor told her it was a salacious, or at least flirtatious, comment.
“The man asked you a question,” Scott barked, glaring at the boy.
“Sorry, mon ami, but Remy always needs to make time for a beautiful girl such as her,” the boy- Remy obviously, but who the hell talked in third person?- joked. “I wanted to make an entrance. Apparently dat plan’s not gonna come to fruition.”
“An entrance?” Logan asked, shaking the boy again.
“I gotta come to you for help, mon ami, but I still have my dignity. I wasn’t gonna just waltz in like anybody else.”
“You were hoping to wow us with your burglary skills?” Scott exclaimed.
“Oui, mon ami. Maybe not de best plan I ever had.”
“Regardless, we are a sanctuary for mutants. Pray tell- Remy I take it?”
“Oui.”
“Remy, why do you need our help?” the Professor asked.
“Run in wit’ some shady people, you know, de normal stuff,” he shrugged as much as he could with Logan’s hand at his collar. “I heard you all take in mutants who have no one else. Dis a school, non?”
“This is,” the Professor agreed. “But we won’t harbor a fugitive, or take in someone who could be a risk to the other students. Can you assure me you are neither? Would you permit me into your mind? I realize you have a shield up at the moment.”
“I actually got a better one than tha’ mon ami. I came here to see Stormy.”
“Stormy?” John asked. “Does she know you call her that?”
“Oui! Stormy and I go way back. Old friends. Go ahead, ask her!” the boy insisted, giving them all a dazzling smile.
“Want me to go get her Professor?” John asked, looking intrigued.
“Not to worry, John. I’ve already woken her.”
Remy’s eyes lit up. “Good, good. Stormy’ll show you dat Remy’s no harm.”
“Now,” the Professor began, turning his wheelchair towards the pair of them. Hannah felt the sudden surge of disappointment when she realized that he was about to send them both away. She actually wanted to hear how Storm knew some hyperactive Cajun burglar. “I think the both of you had better head back upstairs. I wouldn’t want you to be too tired for classes tomorrow. And I believe Remy will want some privacy when Ororo joins us.”
“But Professor-“ John complained.
“John, bed,” Scott ordered. His shoulders slumped. Hannah didn’t even bother arguing.
“C’mon Johnny. Bed time,” she grumbled, tugging his arm in the direction of the stairs.”
“Bonne nuit, mes nouveaux amis!” Remy called out to them. Hannah turned back and tossed him a tired smile, but didn’t respond. John only rolled his eyes.
As soon as they got up the first landing, passing Storm and Jean on their way down, John turned back to her. “Wanna eavesdrop?” he offered.
“Oh yeah, and I’m sure the two telepaths and the big guy with the mega-nose won’t even notice,” she said. He sent her a look, but nodded, as if he was considering the wisdom of her words. But only for a second.
“Coward,” he accused. She only shrugged in response.
“I am tired,” she said. “That kid seems like he loves hearing his own voice. You think he won’t spill everything first thing tomorrow? Kitty’ll have his life story by second period.”
“Who knows if it’ll be the real deal, though,” John pointed out.
“Good night, John,” she finally huffed, stomping the rest of the way up the stairs. He followed behind at a more leisurely pace, but he still walked her back to her room, passing his own on the way.
“Night, Hannah,” he said when they stopped before her door. She stared at him, waiting for him to say more, but his lips were shut tight.
“O-kay,” she said, nodding at him.
The look he was giving her was…weird, and suddenly she was all too aware of the space between them. Her limbs starting prickling, and she could feel the excess of nervous energy as it crackled all over her body. She turned towards her door to try to lessen the awkwardness, but he put out a hand to stop her. He turned her back to him, eyes soft and dark, and before she realized what was happening, their faces were inches away from each other’s.
She realized just as he made contact that it was a mistake. A tiny arc of electricity shot out to meet his lips. He jumped back immediately, cursing up a storm, shaking his head furiously.
“Sorry!” She tried to reach out, soothe the hurt somehow but he flinched back.
“Shit- uh, sorry Hannah,” he said. “Good night.” With that, he ducked away, traveling back down the hall towards his room. She hurried into her room, careful to close the door as quietly as possible.