Why Me? Why Now? {OPEN}

[suditi]

Suditi walked down the empty alley ways. It had bean a week since she had run away. She was sure her parents where looking for her. But they would never find her all the way in New York City. She had used most of her money to buy a train ticket here. It was the farthest place she could think of. Plus she had heard of an institute for freaks like her. Maybe they could help her? She froze for a second. What if they refused to help her? What if they to thought she was a freak and threw her back out in the streets. Why did this have to happen to her. Why now, why ever. She felt like curling up in a ball and crying. But she had grown stronger than that in the past week. She wouldn't let herself stoup that low. Not now at least.

Taking a deep breath Suditi continued on her way down the alley. She was trying to find a fairly safe place to sleep for the night. Dusk was falling fast and it was cold out. She knew it would get much colder out before morning. Wrapping her light jacket around her she continued on her way. After almost another hour of walking she found an abandoned house. There where cracks and wholes in the building. But it would keep the wind off of her and it had to be a little warmer in there.Walking in she began to investigate the place. She found an old dusty bed on the second floor. She did her best to shake the dust off the blankets before digging threw her back pack. She pulled out a lump of bread she had bought earlier along with a cube of cheese. She had to admit it wasn't a great meal. But it would do for now.

[jean]

She had been using Cerebro for something else entirely.

It wasn't uncommon for mutants to show up while she was using it to enhance her powers for something else but unfortunately, there just weren't enough X-Men or older New Mutants who could go after every single blip that showed up on the machine. She wanted to, though. Jean remembered trying to find ways to find all the children, to gather them up and teach them before something bad happened to them.

Then she'd discovered the Phoenix side of her and she had gone a bit crazy. Okay, even she could admit she'd gone fairly insane, had tried to destroy not only everything they'd worked for for so many years but also her husband and mentor. That was the hardest part of dealing with things since coming back from the “dead”. Trying to piece things together again, to figure out where she fit in, where she belonged, and if she even wanted things to go back to the way they were.

Things had been rather crazy there lately, as well. She'd been wanting to talk to the Professor but there just wasn't any time. Then he'd been kidnapped and all the drama that had ensued over that. Granted, if she'd wanted, Jean was sure she could pin down the man and he'd be happy to talk to her but she kept hesitating. Why?

The anomaly she'd discovered on Cerebro this time was close, though, so Jean had finished what she'd been working on, changed into something suitable to wear into New York and she'd left. She did have the sense to leave a note with Scott so he'd be able to find her if need be (not that he wasn't a thought away but lately she'd been attempting to block that link). The anomaly wasn't a known one so this wasn't one of their students or another known mutant. This was someone brand new to the tracking system.

She found the place easily enough and by the time she got to the building, her mind had taken over what Cerebro had been doing. Inside was a young girl, cold, hungry, scared. Approaching carefully, she entered the building and walked inside. In her hand was a bag and inside the bag was a hamburger, fries and a bottle of water. If she was as hungry as Jean thought she was, food would be appreciated, even if she wasn't interested in the school.

Coming to the doorway, she peeked inside and saw a child eating a crumb of bread. Clearing her throat softly to not startle her, Jean said gently, “Young mutants usually have voracious appetites. I brought you some food if you'd like it.”

[suditi]

Suditi took another bit of bread and thought back to how she got here. Oh how she remembered that horrible night. She had just left the hotel and had bean heading over to the arcade. She had told her parents she would be back in an hour or so. But she had never made it to the arcade that night. Because three thugs had cornered her. When her life had bean on the like that was when these strange and horrid powers had started. She could never go home as long as she had these powers.

So lost in thought Suditi didn't hear that she had company until Jean spoke to her. She jumped to her feet and her body quickly became covered an a bone like armor. She looked the woman up and down. How did this woman know about her? Who was she? And oh those fries smelled so good. Her mouth began to water. She looked at the girl again but didn't know what to make of her. "Who...who are you? How did you find me? How did you even know about me?" Suditi took another step forward. The smell from the fires and burger where calling to her. But she didn't want to get to close. What if it was a trap. The bone like armor continued to protect her leaving only three wholes. Two for her eyes and one for her nose. Suditi had no idea how she got it to turn on. And had even less of an idea how to turn the damn thing off.

[jean]

As expected, the girl jumped when Jean interrupted her. If there had been another way to do this, the redhead would have but there really wasn't. It was like she was going to hurt the poor thing but Suditi didn't know that. Jean watched, fascinated, as bones began to appear over her skin, creating a sort of armor.

She watched as the child's eyes kept darting to the bag and then away, as if she knew exactly what was in it. Granted, the huge M on the outside of the bag gave away where it was from and what else could you find at the most noticeable fast food joint on the planet other then hot, greasy goodness.

“First of all,” she began, keeping her voice soft and quiet. “My name is Jean.”

Using her telekinesis, she lifted the bag out of her hand and levitated it toward the bed that the girl had been on. Setting it down, she released the hold she had on the food. It was now up to the girl to decide whether or not she wanted to eat.

“Second of all, I think you can see that like you, I have mutant powers. I don't want anything from you, only a moment of your time. As for how I found you, that story is a bit more complicated. I represent a school just north of here, a school that specializes in young, untrained mutants and teaches them how to use their abilities,” she continued, never taking her eyes off of the girl.

There was no harm in this conversation. The girl had absolutely no mental barriers whatsoever and if need be, Jean could erase the entire conversation from her mind. She really hoped it didn't come down to that, though.

[suditi]

Suditi watched the red head girl trying to figure out what she wanted from her. At the same time she wanted the food in the bag. She remained frozen where she stood and waited for the woman to make the first move. She gasped in shock as the McDonald bag started to float towards her. Her eyes stayed on the bag as it floated through the air and landed on the bed. She than looked back at the girl. Apparently a mutant like her. The armor slowly began to disappear creeping slowly away. She sat down on the bed and grabbed the bag grabbing a few fries and eating the quickly. "My name is Suditi," she whispered still not sure if she could trust the woman.

Suditi had almost finished the fries when the stranger began speaking of a school. Could it be the same school she had heard about. Her eyes locked onto the strangers. "The.....the Xavier school?" She set the bag back on the bed. The burger and a few fries still remained. "Are you from the Xavier School I heard about?" If she was it would make things so much easier for her to find them. Maybe Jean could take her to the school. Could she really be this lucky?

[jean]

Jean knew she was being observed, her every movement calculated and taken into consideration. It wasn't anything she'd not gone through before. She could monitor things mentally, keeping an eye on Suditi and keep the girl calm but she wanted the child to trust her, not believe she was being manipulated.

Finally, the girl sat down on the bed and began to eat the food. If she came with her back to the mansion, she would be given a proper meal. However, this one would suffice for the time being. An indulgence of junk food this once wasn't going to hurt anything or anyone.

“Suditi,” Jean replied, as if trying to test the name herself. “That is a very unique and pretty name.”

Apparently, the girl had heard of the school and she was surprised for some reason. “Yes, I represent Xavier's,” she replied, still not moving any closer into the room. “The good Professor himself was my instructor for many years and I was one of his first pupils. It is because of him that I am able to be here now to offer you sanctuary within our walls.”

The fries were almost gone. Soon she would hopefully move on to the hamburger and then the water. “I take it you have heard of our school?”

[suditi]

Suditi took the bottle of water from the bag and finished almost half of it in one gulp. She smiled shyly as Jean commented on her name. "Thank you it was my great grandma's name." She was still hungry but she wanted to make sure she had something to eat later so she put what was left of the water back in the bag and put the bag in her book bag.

When the girl confirmed her thoughts her eyes lit up. This was her chance. "You are very lucky to have such a caring man look after you. If what I have heard is correct."

Sanctuary what did that word mean to a mutant like her? Could she ever really have sanctuary? Was there a place that was safe for a mutant like her? Even if she did join this school she may some day become in danger. No place was safe for ever.


Suditi nodded, "yes I heard of the school, it's students and this Prof. Xavier you speak of from another mutant I met a few days ago. They told me that my best chance was to find my way to the school and ask for the Good Professor's help." Wow this was the most she had spoken in days. Her voice almost sounded foreign to her ears.

[jean]

Jean watched as Suditi drank half the bottle of water and then put the rest of the food in her bag. She would have rather the girl finished the food. In fact, she would have taken her to get more if she needed it. She could definitely afford to feed her until she was so full she felt like she could burst. But she didn't push the issue at the moment.

“Yes, I was. If Professor Xavier hadn't come along when he did, I fear to think of where I might be today. I was so very young and had no control over my powers at all. He can do the same for you,” she replied to the young girl.

The Professor definitely wouldn't mind another mouth to feed. Especially when that mouth had no where else to go as she was beginning to think was the case with Suditi.

“You encountered another mutant?” she asked, a bit taken aback. While there seemed to be more in New York then most anywhere else, they still weren't exactly a lot in number. “Do you remember their name or their powers? Maybe it was another one of our students.”

That interested her a lot. If this one wasn't one of theirs then who could it be? Who else besides the government really knew about the school. Yes, the public knew the X-Men, that couldn't be helped but the school was still a secret as far as she knew.

“I think they had the right idea. It sounds like you would do well to come back to the school with me. You won't have to worry about food or where you are going to sleep. You'll have a warm home, clean clothes and fresh food every day. What do you think, Suditi?”