X-Men: The Gifted Ones

33. CHARLES' OFFICE, XAVIER MANSION, WEST CHESTER, NY

Hank felt a sigh of relief when he made it back to West Chester with the boy. He slept during the ride to the Xavier mansion. Hank thought it best that the boy relieve himself and get some dinner before meeting the Professor and Mrs. Xavier. He knew the boy would have had plenty to eat on the train, but knew he would likely be hungry again.

He wasn't wrong there. After the boy ate another large meal Hank decided it was time for him to meet the Xaviers.

Jane decided it was best if Hank got the boy into a bathtub and let him rest for a night. "He's had a busy day," she cautioned Hank. "Let's not overwhelm him."

"Get him in a tub?" Hank grumbled. "Make it sound easy."

"Is it really as bad as all that?"

Hank shot Jane a withering glare. "He needs a nurse's touch to get the layers of grime off of him."

"If you say so," she sighed. "But you said he seems to like you. Maybe you'll have better luck?"

Hank asked. And Jason preferred to sleep. He left it at that.

The boy was well-rested and excited, but not bathed, when Hank brought him into Charles' office the next day. Hank decided it was for the best if the Xaviers did see the deplorable state of the child. Hank lead Jason to one of the couches in the conference area and waited.

Jane arrived first and was warm and welcoming to the boy. She didn't even flinch at his disheveled and filthy state, although Hank was certain she was making a mental note to change that as soon as she could. "I am very happy to meet you, Jason," she greeted him after Hank had introduced her. she sat in a chair across from them and let them know that Charles would be along shortly.

"Mrs. Xavier will be taking care of you here, Jason," Hank told the boy. "You know, she used to work in a children's hospital a long time ago. She used to be a nurse."

"No 'used to be' about it, I'm always a nurse," Jane teased.

Jason didn't know why, but there was something about the woman he didn't like. She reminded him too much of the nurses at Forest Haven Asylum, that hellhole where his father had left him for two years. Left him for dead. The nurses had too many patients. He had been left too long in a bathtub and wasn't found until the next day, naked and shivering, locked in a washroom. He had been tied to a bed and wasn't allowed to move. The nurses would force-feed the kids as they were prone on their mattresses, often choking to death. You would see the bodies being shuffled off downstairs. People would be seen one day, gone the next. People around him were often bruised, and nurses and doctors even forced themselves on some of the older, more attractive patients. But not always.

It was a man pretending to be a doctor that caused Jason to realize how powerful his illusions could be. Jason had imagined the man being violently murdered as the man tried to touch him in a way no doctor ever should touch a patient. The illusion was so strong that the man died from the mere idea that Jason was strangling him.

The so-called doctor never had a chance to hurt him, or anyone else, ever again.

His illusions became his survival. His illusions kept the nurses from running unknown experiments that required his blood, or his body to be punctured. He had tricked nurses and orderlies into untying him, into letting him in the kitchens.

His illusions allowed him to escape when he made everyone believe the place was on fire.

Grandpa sure was furious when Jason showed up at the his house, dazed, dirty, and hungry, hoping his grandparents would be kinder than Daddy. Grandma was dead, Daddy was away at war, Grandpa was furious, and Mommy didn't know what to do. Grandpa tried to take him back to Forest Haven, but the asylum wouldn't allow it. He had spent the past year making his family pay for it. He hated them for what they had done to him.

Seeing Jane made his body shake with memories of untold horrors.

She smiled at him, "Jason, I want you to feel free to be yourself here."

"Are you sure about that?" he glared. He decided to let this cheerful bitch know what would happen should she ever try any sick experiment on him.

Jane put her hand to her forehead and shook her head. "Jason, there's no need for that here," she said calmly. "I'm not here to hurt you, I'm here to help you. Once you feel more at home, you won't feel the need to do that."

"The nurses at Forest Haven said the same thing," he scowled. "They were there to help me."

Jane felt her blood run cold. Forest Haven. She shuddered at the name. It was infamous in the nursing world. Its horrors were known even in St. Louis. It was a place where mentally ill people were sent to be forgotten, were sent to die, for so few seemed to make it out alive. And Jason was a mere baby! She felt revulsion at the idea that anyone who pretended to care about a child would send their child to such a place. Jason didn't need to be telepathic for her to see images of the horrors this boy must have faced while there.

"My grandpa thinks you can fix me." His heterochromatic eyes bored into her, trying to penetrate her mind.

"You're not here to be fixed," Charles said, breaking the silence. Jane felt relief. Charles moved next to the couch, in front of Jason. "I'm Professor Xavier, Jason. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Jason looked at him quizzically. So this is the great telepath Dr. McCoy told me about, Jason glared.

Charles returned the glare with a soft admonition in his eyes. "I will say that you need to stop trying to read the thoughts of others without their permission. You have an extraordinary gift, young Jason, and I will teach you to use it wisely."

Jane nodded in agreement, "We want you to use your powers here, Jason, but not to hurt people or make them uncomfortable."

Charles looked at him seriously, "You are a very gifted person, Jason. I need you to forget what you have been told before. There is nothing wrong with you. You are not any of those things you've been told that you were before. You're only angry, and it makes you use your powers in ways you cannot control. I can implement a series of psychic barriers that can help you control your mind, but I prefer to let you do that on your own. We are willing to help you, but you must be willing to help yourself. Do you want to learn how to be you, only better?

"Will I always be a mutant?" the boy asked sadly.

Jane smiled, "Yes, Jason, but we're all mutants here."

Jason scowled. "I don't want to be a mutant!"

Jane walked over to Jason and put her arm around him. She was relieved when he didn't recoil. Jason found himself not wanting to. She did seem different. "I know you don't want to be," she sympathized, "but in time you'll understand that who you are is incredible and special because you're a mutant. I'm here to help you learn that. It isn't a bad thing to be a mutant."

"And this isn't like Forest Haven?" the boy piped up.

Charles looked at Jane and Hank in horror. He had heard terrible stories about that place. Little Mark Hallet, now known as Sunder, had come from that awful place. Dear God, Charles raged inwardly, this boy lived through the same damned hell! "No, my boy," Charles said, a lump welling in his throat, "this is not going to be like Forest Haven. You will be safe and comfortable here. I guarantee it. Anyone tries to hurt you," he motioned toward Hank, whom the boy seemed to like, "and Beast here will see to it they are handled."

Jason took a deep breath and his eyes shined with tears. Something in the man's voice made him believe that he could trust him. He couldn't help but poke into the man's mind. So there was another mutant at the school who had been there, too. It seemed this man wanted to help, and not help like the men at Forest Haven. Jason felt cheered. "Can I get something to eat now?"

Charles had to laugh. Hank had warned him about the child's infinite stomach capacity. "Yes, my boy. I believe it is time for lunch."