A/N: I bet you thought you'd seen the last of me!

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It doesn't take long for everyone else to awaken to the scent of food, even on a different story of the mansion. It's after introductions to everyone and mid-breakfast that Scott, who apparently has some law education, casually mentions that there's a possibility of repercussions for my loss of control at the labs, but…

"But based on what you told us, I think there's a very real possibility that nothing will happen to you," Scott says, with a mouthful of food that is very reassuring.

Not.

"You told them about the lab?" Adelaide asks, looking at me in shock with her pancake laden fork halfway to her mouth.

I almost shrug and go back to my scrambled eggs, not really wanting to talk about it again, but then I realize all the other kids are also looking at me, some with an ashen pallor. I put my fork down.

"I told you before that I wouldn't let anyone experiment on us anymore. I promised you that no one would be allowed to hurt us again," I see Kenna nodding and recall our conversation on the bus to the clinic.

"I trust these people, and I think we should give them a chance to help us," and I can tell the statement surprises everyone at the table, except Alex who of course has been privy to the entire morning. But the adults seem pleased and leave the others to their thoughts.

I do have a thought that I quickly shove away before the professor can catch it, but a glance at him out of the corner of my eye makes me think he's kept to his promise from earlier and is staying out of my head.

"Are you sure?" comes from Emma, and there's no echo, so it's just to me.

The professor doesn't visibly react, and everyone else has gone back to their food as they contemplate what I've said. I take another bite.

"Can the professor hear us?"

"I don't think so. Erica and I have been practicing a little ever since we learned he was telepath. We've been trying to figure out how to keep other telepaths out of our heads even when we're projecting."

"And you've made progress?"

"Yes," she answers, "we get someone to sit with us and we have a mental conversation while trying to keep the other telepath out, even as they try to break-in. Now answer my question."

I sigh, and the thought I had earlier seems the best answer to her doubt.

"I think they're worth sticking with for now," I start, "but I want you to pass to the others that if they have concerns or doubts to come talk to me about it. If we decide we don't want to stay here, we'll do our best to figure something out."

Emma looks contemplative for a moment.

"Do you really think they would just let us leave?"

I consider her question, and glance at Logan as he devours his third stack of pancakes. And I thought I could put food away.

"I think we have at least one ally here who would help us out. Tell the others they can talk to me and do it individually. I'm not sure if talking to one individual versus many changes the ability of another telepath to break-in."

Emma nods and I observe a couple of the kids jump as she interrupts their thoughts. I notice the professor also catches it, and a peek into his aura shows frustrated curiosity. Either Emma really is keeping him out, or he's decided to stay out of everyone's thoughts for the morning.

"Logan isn't your only ally, if you wanted to leave." Another voice appears in my head, startling me enough that I choke a bit on my bacon and quickly swallow some water.

The voice sounds like Jean Grey.

"We don't want to keep you here against your will. If you really wanted to leave we would help orchestrate that for you so you wouldn't be on the run from the government who is insisting you remain here for a bit."

She hasn't given any indication that she's using mind-speak, and none of the other telepaths in the room seem to have noticed either.

But I guess since I don't know all the teacher's abilities there could be more telepaths than I thought.

Though I also would have assumed Xavier was the most powerful telepath but he didn't seem to notice, and I think he definitely felt something while Emma and I spoke.

"So what can you all do?" I hear myself asking.

My pack, who all seem to have settled since Emma spoke to them, continues to eat, but looks up at the professors in curiosity.

Jean speaks first, "I'm telekinetic and have a slight ability for telepathy."

The bit at the end kind of sounds like a lie, to me, like she doesn't quite believe that.

"But my main role here is as a teacher and a geneticist."

Diego rolls his eyes and mutters "another scientist" but someone, I think Emma, kicks him under the table causing an annoyed grunt.

"Optic-force blasts," Scott provides, after throwing a reproachful look at Diego, which I'm sure will not cause issues in the future, at all.

"Come again?" Sean asks, mouth full of bacon.

"He shoots laser beams out of his eyes," Erik says with mirth, cutting of Scott's explanation, which I'm sure would have sounded more dignified and scientific.

"Lit," Diego nods approvingly.

Scott looks a little confused but also pleased.

Maybe they won't have issues after all. That would make my life easier.

"And you?" Anna-Maria asks, gesturing with her fork at Erik.

"I control metal," he says simply, but I feel like there's more to it. Still, I don't push for more information.

"I can control the weather," Ororo says in her calming tones.

"I'm a technopath," Gabby informs everyone, and I'm amused to note that she's finally not scribbling in her notebook and is instead intently focused on finishing her breakfast.

I look to Logan next to her, and raise an eyebrow when we make eye contact. He sighs.

"Good senses, I heal quickly, and I can do this," he says monotone while raising his right fist.

Where three long blades suddenly sprout from between his knuckles, eliciting gasps from around the table.

"Does that hurt?" comes a small voice from my left, and I look to Mason who's sitting between Alex and me. His eyes are wide his mouth hangs open.

Logan looks at him for a few seconds before responding.

"Not so much anymore."

The implication that it used to doesn't pass me by, and I'm also not convinced something like that could ever stop hurting. I literally just watched his skin split so his skeleton could grow. But he clearly doesn't want to linger on his mutations.

I finally turn to Professor Xavier.

"And we know you're a telepath. Any other abilities?"

He chuckles, "None. I do have some tricks that are based in my telepathy, though."

Which doesn't leave me curious. At all.

"Come on, Charles, don't be shy." Erik says grinning while Charles tries to shrug him off.

Erik turns back to us, "Charles is the strongest telepath there is. Those 'tricks' he mentioned include making people freeze in place, as well as entire rooms of people, and speaking through them."

I barely manage to suppress a shudder, and the urge to let my mouth hang open, at the realization that this telepath could literally make us all his pawns. A glance around the table shows me not everyone has managed to control their reactions. After everything we went through at the lab, no one is excited at the thought we could all be forced to do things against our will.

Erik's grin falls as he finally takes in the expressions around the table and figures out where everyone's thoughts have gone. He clears his throat while Charles tries to smile reassuringly.

"I would never cause someone to do something that was wholly against their will."

That statement still has too much leeway for my comfort, and I find myself considering the Professor warily.

"Professor X is a good guy, and he only wants the best for all of you. He's not going to take away your free will," Scott says, with a smile that actually does manage to be reassuring. His aura says he believes this with his whole being.

"Professor X?" Kenna finally asks, probably to change the subject.

"Oh, is that your mutant name?" Alex asks.

I'm probably the only who notices he feels a little smug that others seem to be confused about what a mutant name is, but I keep it to myself, hiding my smile with another sip from my orange juice.

"Well, I didn't choose it, but yes, that is the name I sometimes go by," Charles says, with only a mild amount of discomfort.

Then we have to explain to those who don't know what a mutant name is, and the professors tell the others theirs.

"So who chooses them?" Remy asks.

"It depends. You can choose your own, or maybe someone calls you something that you like, and you can pick that. Usually it has something to do with your mutation or it's unique to you in some way." Jean answers.

Remy hums, deep in thought.

"Do we have to pick one?" Sofia wants to know, and this time Ororo answers.

"No, sweetheart, you don't have to choose a mutant name."

"But if we want one, do we have to pick now?"

Ororo smiles warmly, "No, you don't have to pick one right now. It might even be better to wait until after you've been practicing with your abilities more and have control."

There's a collective inhalation around the table as we consider what practicing might look like, and the adults notice.

"I don't want you to worry about this," the professor starts, "I do believe it is important to learn to control yourselves, but it will be more like training in a gym than experiments in a lab. We won't force you do that."

"Though it might help you learn control if you better understand how your mutations work," Gabby says, having finished her breakfast.

"That's why I'm here. Jean and I can help you figure out how it works and why, we can do our best to help you figure out whatever you want to know. And I want to be clear that any testing is completely voluntary, and I have not forgone my Hippocratic Oath as a scientist or doctor." She says firmly, with an accompanying nod from Jean.

I believe her. And I wouldn't mind better understanding my mutation through properly conducted experiments. I can tell the others are still unsure though, including Alex. Conner's pulse has skyrocketed.

"I'd like to go first, if that's alright," I say into the uneasy silence, surprising just about everyone.

By saying 'first' I hope to make it seem logical that everyone will do it. I know it's likely some will refuse, but if it helps us get control, then we'll be better able to protect ourselves in the future. The best thing I can do to keep my pack is safe is teach them how to keep themselves and others safe.

"We can test first together," Alex says, which also surprises everyone, including me.

He looks at me, and while his expression is neutral, I can see in his eyes that he caught my intentional phrasing, and he's supporting it. If he had to take a fortifying breath before volunteering, well, no one could really hold that against him after the lab.

Thinking about the lab reminds me –

"Oh, remember the serum I told you about? That they developed?" I ask the adults who nod, wondering where I'm going with this while some of the others tense.

"Alex and I weren't the only ones they tested it on. I think it had to be developed from our specific DNA but it felt different to each of us." I tell them, looking to those who felt it to explain. It feels important.

I decide to start, because I want to get the trip down memory lane over with.

"To me it felt like I was being clawed repeatedly by animals, over my entire body."

Alex sighs and contributes, "It felt like my skin was on fire."

I can tell Conner doesn't want to remember, so he says it fast, "LikethatonetimeIflewtoohighandgotreallylight-headedandcouldn'tstayintheair."

Piotr, who has been sitting quietly next to Adelaide and methodically working his way through more food than Logan and me combined, says, "I felt like my skin was stiff, and my insides, too." Then goes back to his pancakes. Sort of.

"Hey," I ask Piotr, "do you want any pancakes with your syrup?" I'm smiling, and the others laugh too after seeing his plate is mostly a puddle of syrup.

He laughs good-naturedly and grabs another pancake from the stack in front of him.

"It sounds like your reactions to the serum differed based on your mutations," Gabby mutters, having missed the joke since she's once again scribbling furiously in her notebook.

Idly, I wonder how many of those she goes through in a single day.

"You said they only work for a minute?" Erik asks, clenching his fists.

"Yeah," Alex replies, "but we made them think it didn't wear off for hours. We're pretty sure they bought it."

Erik nods.

"That's good," Scott says, "it gives us an advantage later."

The way he says it has me tilting my head at him.

Jean catches my curiosity and smiles, "Scott is also a gifted tactician, probably somewhat naturally, with potentially a boost from a mutation."

I nod in understanding. That explains the weird tone he said it with.

[]

We all help clean up after breakfast and we're pretty much done when I hear the front door open suddenly and someone enter the mansion. I freeze in place, as well as Adelaide, Sean, and Kenna, who all have better than average hearing.

Alex immediately notices and starts scanning for a threat. Charles explains before anyone's hearts combust from adrenalin.

"Don't worry, that's just another student," he tells us with a small smile.

"Is that what we are here?" Emma wants to know, but then a boy about my age walks in and barely spares us a glance before handing a set of keys to Scott.

"Here, I filled up the tank."

And then he walks out of the kitchen again, leaving all of us mutants staring after him.

Charles sighs, "That was Jonathan Bradley. He's a mutant."

"What does he do?" Akemi asks while staring at the room he went into, apparently not caring about us.

"Computer brain," Scott says, earning a light slap from the towel in Jean's hand.

"What? It's true!"

"And he can detect mutant signatures," Gabby says.

"Mutant signatures?" I ask, because what?

"To me, it looks like every living thing has a visual signature, kind of like a pattern I can see when I focus on them, and it tells me a lot about them." The boy, who is apparently Jonathan, says as he walks through the kitchen again on his way to the other room.

"Like an aura?" I ask his retreating back.

He scoffs without turning around. "No, what I see is actually real, not a mythical thing."

Not sure I like this guy.

"They're pretty real to me, since I can see them. They also help me figure out if someone's a mutant," I tell him, trying really hard not to add something like 'so you're not that special, hun' because that would be a terrible first impression.

The telepaths in the room laugh quietly, making me think I may have projected that one a little.

But seriously, we have weird abilities and he's just going to outright dismiss auras?

In the end, it doesn't matter because he doesn't even pause in his journey to…wherever he's going in this massive mansion.

Erik sighs. "He's tough to get along with in the beginning, but you'll warm up to each other."

"Careful, Lensherr, that sounded suspiciously like a lie." I mutter mostly to myself, but he heard it, judging by his lifted eyebrow and overall amused expression.

[]

The others decide to explore the mansion some more while Alex and I decide there's no time like the present to begin learning about ourselves. Gabby is eager to agree, though Jean makes sure to give us an out a few times, and make sure we know we can stop whenever.

Honestly, I just want to get it over with. If Alex has a differing opinion, he keeps it to himself, but he keeps fidgeting with nervous energy.

Professor Xavier, Gabby, and Jean lead us to an elevator off the main hallway. Logan joins us before the doors close. I don't know why I expect us to go up, but we go down instead. Since I'm from Florida, where we don't have things below ground level, typically, I forget buildings can have basements and sub-levels.

The doors open again to a very white hallway that looks futuristic. There are multiple corridors and alcoves, and I imagine this level is just as maze-like as the mansion floors above.

"We have a hangar, labs, a clinic, training rooms, and some other things like storage down here," Gabby says, leading us down the hallway and waving her hand, opening a door with a quiet mechanical whir.

That must be her technopathy.

Alex and I are walking shoulder to shoulder, and I feel him shudder as we walk into the room.

Gabby is already writing things in her notebook, but I don't know what she could possibly be taking notes on right now. Jean is logging into a laptop on one of the desks, presumably to get ready. Logan passes by me to sit himself in a chair near Jean's desk, and Professor Xavier follows him, maybe to stay out of the way.

I remain barely in the doorway, and Alex doesn't seem too inclined to move either. I feel my pulse pick up while he starts taking really deep breaths and Logan seems to be the only to notice, but he's watching through half-closed eyes. Probably to let us decide what we're going to do.

"It just looks so similar," Alex murmurs to me, too quiet to be heard unless you're Logan with good hearing, or a telepath listening in. So actually, most of the room could've heard. But they're involved in getting the lab ready, including the professor chiming in from his wheelchair, so it was essentially only loud enough for me to hear.

"A little," I say, but when I look up at him, his eyes are closed as he breathes deeply, so I don't know how closely he actually looked at the room. I decide to look closer for both of us.

"It's actually bigger than the labs I was in," I start, "and the lighting is less harsh. It feels more like a doctor's office to me," and looking at it that way is actually calming me down a little.

I look up at Alex, and he's cracked one eye open. I guess at first glance it's similar enough to induce some panic, but I think that's mostly because some of the equipment looks similar, and honestly do they even make these machines not in chrome?

I think I voiced the last bit out loud in an attempt to convince myself, because Logan chuckles lightly, and I don't think it's because of anything the others said.

Alex finally has both eyes open and turns his head to look at me, and by mutual agreement we start further into the room, still shoulder to shoulder.

"First, I'd like to draw some blood," Gabby says, turning to us for the first time since we walked in.

"Nope, I'm out," I say, immediately spinning around to walk out the door, but Alex catches my hand.

"Uh-uh, you are not leaving me here alone, and you are definitely not chickening out over something all doctor's offices do," he says, pulling a little on my hand to pull me back to his side, but I dig my heels in a little.

I'm strong enough that he can't pull me anywhere I don't want to go. But he also knows this, which is why he steps toward me and hauls me over his shoulder.

Which startles the hell out of me and I yelp in surprise and shout, "Alex!"

"You are not leaving me alone down here," he repeats mildly. And I start laughing at how ridiculous this feels, being carries over his shoulder across a lab. But it's also funny and fun, and both of those are something I need more of right now.

When he puts me down, next to Gabby, I'm still laughing, and Alex is smirking slightly, and I notice everyone else looks varying levels of shocked. The laughter, and my enjoyment of the others' expressions, lets me get through having blood drawn. I still shake a little, but manage to help Alex through it as well.

Whatever strength we were pulling from doesn't last to the EKG, for whatever reason. Everyone except Gabby, Jean, and Alex move to the other side of the room, ostensibly to give me some privacy while the electrodes are attached. The move is more likely due to the panic-induced growls. Gabby was trying to attach them, but only got one before her hands began shaking too hard from fear.

Fear of me. Which didn't help me calm down.

Jean takes over, but I'm still growling and slowly getting louder. I'm not sure why the mere attachment of the electrodes is causing this, but my body and instincts are not listening to any of the logic my brain is providing. After two more electrodes even Jean begins to shake, her brain telling her to get away, and the scent of Gabby and Jean's combined fear is pushing me further into fight or flight response. I really don't want to hurt anyone.

I'm so focused on keeping myself under control, and failing miserably, that I don't realize my eyes are screwed shut. At least, not until I hear Alex call my name. I open my eyes, still growling, and meet his stare.

His stare which causes me to stop mid-growl and shift from panic to angry determination as he refuses to look away.

Alex's eyes are brighter than usual, his expression set in determination I haven't seen since we left the lab. Without looking away from his eyes, I also notice his hands are clenched into fists, and his ability is sparking slightly.

I realize for the first time since we first met in the overcrowded and panicked event that Alex is just as dangerous as I am. It makes my animal nature sit up and demand he cede dominance to me.

He doesn't submit, instead stepping closer causing me to growl again, louder. His flinch is barely there, but his continued refusal to gives up launches me to a new level of anger, making me all the more dangerous.

It's the sharp bite of danger that pulls me up short, and I remember who Alex is to me: a friend, maybe a confidant, but definitely an ally.

Coincidentally, my realization happens at the same instant he finally looks away, panting with the effort of holding my stare. I'm not sure if he noticed my epiphany before he was truly in danger from me, but he doesn't seem concerned.

The others in the room loose the breath they were holding, and the scent of nervousness permeates in the air.

Alex looks back to me, smug, and I realize the last seven electrodes have been attached to me. He intentionally triggered a stare down knowing it would supersede whatever fear I was experiencing. Gabby and Jean look relieved.

"Stupid jerk," I mutter to no one in particular, not making eye contact with Alex. He huffs a laugh anyway.

The rest of the tests that day go off without a hitch.

[]

Lunch happened in the lab between important tests, but for dinner we all meet up again with the other mutants.

I spend most of dinner listening to Mason recount their explorations of the mansion, and everything he learned. He's taken a liking to the other mutant, Jonathan Bradley, even though Jonathan appears less than enthusiastic about his new sidekick.

Gabby doesn't eat with us, choosing instead to take dinner to the lab and continue going over our results. The other mutants don't want to talk about our time in the lab today, and that's fine. Gabby and Jean want to do some more tomorrow, or the next day if we would prefer that. I don't want to take a break, but I haven't talked to Alex about it yet, and I'm even less interested in doing it by myself.

I finally corner Alex after dinner on the pool deck.

"That was stupid today," I tell him, not giving him any warning I'm behind him.

He doesn't jump, though, and he doesn't play stupid either. "I had to do it,"

"You didn't. I could've reacted badly. Then what would you have done?" I spit, angrier about it than I had realized.

"You weren't going to hurt me."

"You don't know that. I don't even know that."

"I do. You let me distract you," he says, still looking out to the trees, and sounding so sure.

"I didn't, I wasn't in control," I'm practically grinding my teeth with how frustrated I am that he can't see the danger I pose to him.

"I don't believe that," and he's so serene where I'm angry that I can't help it so I shove him in the shoulder, just slightly, just enough that he sways in place but maintains his balance.

"Then what do you believe?" I ask.

"I believe in you. You've kept us together, we owe you at least a little help sometimes." And he's still staring at those damn trees.

Meanwhile I'm at a loss for words. Still marveling at the naivety of such a statement when he finally turns to see me staring, says goodnight, and walks back inside.

I don't even bother going to my room before shifting and taking off into the night sky.

When I finally expend my excess energy and feel ready to sleep, I return to find the silhouette on the second floor waiting up for me again.

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