Out of Thin Air [Cullen's]

[Vigilante]

It was a beautiful day at the Institute for Gifted Children, and because it was a Friday the students were procrastinating on studies and enjoying the early evening outside. There was a game of ultimate frisbee going on on the front lawn, though it was bordering on chaotic with one team introducing tackling to the game.

Just before everything fell apart completely, a student shrieked as a red-headed woman popped into existence right in front of her. A frisbee bounced off the woman's leg, intended for the girl, and the stranger collapsed to the grass.

[Taya Robbins]

It would have been a brilliant diving interception if not for the pair of legs that bamfed into existence between Taya and the frisbee. Even her catlike reflexes weren't enough to keep her from crashing into the back of Ginny's legs and bringing the woman down on top of her.

A striped tail twitched fitfully from under the tangle of limbs. "Owwww..."

[Vigilante]

Ginny 'ported with a scream on her lips, going anywhere just to get away from the etheral place she'd found herself after leaving the bank. As she fell back into a tangle of arms and legs after the 'port, she shrieked and flailed about trying to get away from whatever it was that was attacking her.

After a moment of curses and confusion, her brain sorted out that she'd made it to the front lawn of some mansion, and there was a person underneath her. Not... not one of those monsters. Ginny scrambled backwards on her hands, still casting about wildly for landmarks. People were running towards her, and she tried to 'port again.

Nothing happened. She panted, suddenly feeling exhausted. "Where am I?!"

[Taya Robbins]

Taya simultaneously tried to scramble away from the stranger, but she could only get so far. Turning a pained grimace toward Ginny, she rasped, "You're on my tail!"

It quivered pathetically, trapped under the woman's weight.

[Vigilante]

Eyes wide, Ginny stared at the ...person... she'd landed on, and then she managed to pull herself together and get to her hands and knees, freeing the girl's tail from underneath her. "S-sorry," she gasped. A crowd of kids were gathering around, a few complaining loudly in the back about an interruption in their game. Things were starting to look familiar, and she realized where she was.

"Is this the Cullen's Institute?!" Ginny drew herself up into a crouch, one hand on the grass for balance. How...? She'd never teleported this far before. But then, she'd never teleported from a blind room before, either.

She'd been concentrating on Francoise Dupont when she had 'ported to flee the place she'd found herself. That must have been how she'd ended up at the Institute. Ginny's vision swam as all of this ran through her head in the space of a few seconds, and she tipped over onto the grass, unconscious.

[Taya Robbins]

Taya, still gripping her bruised tail, gaped at the unconscious woman. And then she realized that's what everybody else was doing.

The girl leapt to her feet and was almost knocked off-balance again as kids crowded in to see. With a growl, she shoved them back.

"Don't just stand there, she needs help! Somebody get a teacher!"

[Vipul Chandrashekar]

Fortunately, a few Vipuls were out for a jog around the compound. They heard the commotion and saw Taya tangled up with a stranger that they swore hadn't been there before. An intruder perhaps?

The Vipuls ran over to the crowd of students and cleared a path.

"What is going on here?" They asked in unison.

[Taya Robbins]

Taya spun around to see Vipuls coming their way - he always seemed to be there when you needed him, or even when you didn't.

Feeling giddy with adrenalin, she ran to meet them, pointing behind her. "Mr. C! She just appeared out of thin air, and then she collapsed! And..."

Taya suddenly realized she had just exhausted her expertise when it came to first aid for spontaneously generating narcoleptics. She eased back into the other students to see what Vipul would do.

[Vipul Chandrashekar]

"Give her room please move back quickly."

Vipul shooed some of the students back a bit, and stooped down. Vipul himself wasn't exactly a paramedic, but, he could at least see she was breathing, which was good. Instead of bothering to yell at somebody to get medical attention, Vipul himself ran along, leaving himself to tend to the mystery woman.

Suddenly, his brow furrowed.

"I have seen this woman before."

[Vigilante]

Ginny's eyes fluttered, but remained closed as she started to come around from her faint. After a moment she could feel the breeze on her face, and she opened her eyes, seeing a blurry face looming close.

More madness. The identical guy from the bank? Ginny groaned, squishing her eyes closed and reaching for her head as it felt like her brain was thumping in her skull trying to escape.

[Taya Robbins]

Taya's ears flattened in consternation - the poor woman sounded like she was in pain. She must have been a mutant, so maybe her powers were all going haywire.

She crouched down nearby - which in her case meant bringing her elongated heels to the ground and sitting on her haunches. "It'll be okay - you're safe here," she said gently.

[Natalia Fedorov]

A small yet severe looking woman stood over Ginny, peering at her through the darkened lenses of sunglasses.

“Who are you?”

[Nuro Alston]

The crowd was forming, but Noru decided to not be captured by the pull. He wasn't any good at frisbee, but he had a knack for art. Perched a top a nearby bench, his feet on the seat and his butt on the handle he drew the tackling of the frisbee game with a keen eye before the sudden surprise teleported in much-needed commotion. No day at the institution could be really boring, but things had become more routine for Noru lately, so he sort of enjoyed the change in pace.

Looking around at the closest near him from the forming crowd, he asked, "So what is up wit d'girl?"

[Carlos Calaveras]

“She just bounced in here outta nowhere,” Carlos replied, turning away from the scene ahead to shrug at Noru. He folded his arms over his chest and stood just a little behind Professor Fedorov. Since being 'promoted' to the X-Men team, he had grown to feel a little protective of the school. Whilst many of the kids around him were excitedly wondering who the mystery woman was, Carlos found suspicion creeping into his mind.

[Vigilante]

Ginny reached up, grabbing the Indian guy by the front of his t-shirt, and opened her eyes just enough to see. "Dupont. I need to see Francoise Dupont."

Releasing him, she thrust her arms out against the grass and levered herself up into something approximating a sitting position. A woman in dark glasses questioned her, and the teleporting mutant peered up at her, still feeling overwhelmingly tired. "I'm Ginny... Hayes."

[Carlos Calaveras]

Carlos bristled, visibly. A little wisp of smoke drifted up from his fingertips, though it was caught on the breeze and went largely unseen.

“Professor Dupont?!”

But before he could say anything else, he was cut off.

[Natalia Fedorov]

Natalia held up a hand, stalling Carlos' outburst. The last thing they needed was that hot-headed boy blurting out Francoise's true condition and location. “Miss Hayes,” she began, evenly. “Your visit was not... expected. ”

[Vipul Chandrashekar]

Ginny reached up, grabbing the Indian guy by the front of his t-shirt, and opened her eyes just enough to see. "Dupont. I need to see Francoise Dupont."

A bit shocked at the woman's sudden response, Vipul's eyes went wide.

"I do not know a Francoise Dupont!"

The others seemed to respond to the name with some recognition. That said, there was a pressing matter at hand.

"You were at the bank just before."

[Nuro Alston]

A stifled grunt, and push sent Noru from his comfortable seat on the chair. Finally the pull of the crowd and excitement phased him, as he was yanked in. Staring in over Carlos' shoulder he peered down at the lady. She didn't look half-bad...maybe he had found a new roomate.

Maybe...

Possibly...

A guy could dream, can't he?

A soft nudge to Carlos gave him all the room necessary for his light whisper, "Whats 'er name 'gian? Did'n catch it.."

[Vigilante]

The bank. Ginny shuddered as she remembered that panicked jump out of police custody into... into a nightmare. And then here. She'd never jumped to an in between place before. And she never wanted to again.

The memory of her meeting with Francoise Dupont, here at Cullen's over a year ago, had come to her mind while in between, and she'd somehow 'ported right to the front lawn. "I didn't expect to be here either, but I need to talk to her. Please..." She sagged visibly, and turned to the Indian man again. "Yes, I was at the bank. I saw your brothers there?"

[Taya Robbins]

Taya watched and listened in growing bewilderment - it was like she was witnessing multiple conversations all of them out of order, and none of them were coming close to explaining why Ginny Hayes had popped into existence in the middle of their ultimate frisbee game.

Out of reflex, she flared her nostrils, trying to catch any telltale scents in the air, and what she caught surprised her - a wispy, acrid smell like discharged gunpowder, or... was that what brimstone smelled like?

[Natalia Fedorov]

Natalia looked to Vipul, clearly confused. “At the bank?”

She glanced away, to the growing crowd of students congregating around them. Whatever it was that had brought Hayes here, that connected her to both Vipul and Professor Dupont, would be better discussed out of earshot from the children.

“We can discuss this inside,” she said, then adding with finality, “in private.”

[Carlos Calaveras]

Carlos stepped forwards. Although he wasn't exactly tall, he was stocky and had a fairly imposing air about him, one that was only compounded by his notorious bad-luck aura.

“Alright, you heard the Professor! Get outta here, nothin' to see.”

[Nuro Alston]

"Theres plenty to see," Nuro said, stifled under the rustle from the dispersing crowd. His voice grew louder, finally reaching a volume a notch above. Few paid any mind, but those that did found his comment laughable.

"Dat can be my cute roommate!"

[Vipul Chandrashekar]

Natalia looked to Vipul, clearly confused. “At the bank?”

"Of course I am still there as we speak."

Vipul seemed a little preoccupied, and not quite paying attention. He eventually snapped out of it, and came along with the group to see to their latest guest. This was probably a matter to be handled with some decorum.

[Vigilante]

Her head still felt like it was stuffed with cotton wool, but Ginny realized the sense of taking this somewhere private. There were a lot of kids and teenagers around, but the crowd reluctantly was beginning to break up.

She nodded, and tried to get to her feet, her limbs trembling from the strain of what her body had been through in the last fifteen minutes. The Indian man beside her helped her up, supporting her with a friendly arm. In short order the little group made its way inside the school proper, and Ginny couldn't help but look around a little wide-eyed as the cool interior of the mansion surrounded her. She'd never been inside a private school before, but it was obvious that this one had a lot of money.

[Anita Stern]

Anita had just finished leaving a couple documents with the secretary at front desk when the trio of Vipul, Ginny and Natalia moved through the large front doors and made their way across the lobby area. Curious about the weak-looking face of Ginny Hayes (whom the librarian was pretty confident she had never seen before), she decided to catch up with them, keeping step on the side of Natalia when she did. As usual, Miss Florence toted along a worn leather messenger bag, which was on her right shoulder, slung across her chest, and a book or two.

"Hello, Natalia...Vipul. I must admit that I'm quite curious."

There was something about this woman that made her on the side of a little more than curious. One of those unexplained things, like the odd yet sudden, freezing chill that would run up her spine in the middle of a blastedly warm day. She had begun to suspect that those chills and gut feelings were something she should perhaps explore in more detail. Fleshing out her powers and exploring their limits couldn't hurt, could it?

[Dragon]

John Rhee emerged from one of the hallways off the foyer, the one that led toward most of the first-floor offices and the teacher's lounge. He didn't ask any questions. He had seen Ginny's sudden appearance through his office window.

"Vipul, Natalia, could you bring Miss Hayes this way, please?"

He hadn't seen her before, not in the flesh. But he remembered when she'd come to visit and spoken to Francoise. He'd also taken notice when, in Max's daily selection of mutant-related articles, that she had been named in an anonymous missing person report a year ago. Some things stuck in his memory that way.

He led the entourage into a lounge with plenty of comfortable seating and a door that could be locked. He filled a cup of water from the cooler and handed it to Ginny.

"My name is John Rhee," he said. "How can we help you?"

[Vigilante]

She took the water thankfully, easing down into a comfy chair without being asked to. It felt good, especially after the trauma of the past hour.

"I think I'm trying to find Francoise Dupont," Ginny said, after taking a sip of the cool water. "To be honest I teleported a little frantically, and ended up here." She frowned, "That's a distance of... well... a long way. I've never 'ported longer than thirty feet before."

She looked at Vipul, who had a twin or twins or something going on, and seemed to know what had happened at the bank in New York. She'd been about to be arrested, had teleported blindly out of a sealed room, and then...

"I went to a... an in-between place." Ginny shuddered, nearly crushing the paper cup in her hand as she remembered the Things in that place.

[Anita Stern]

Anita had joined them in the room, taking up residence against the door after having locked it. She still hugged to her books, but had dropped her bag on the floor, to the side of the door without hinges. Hearing the fact that this girl thought she was looking for Francoise was interesting enough, but the tensity that wafted off of her when mentioning the "in-between place" was just as curious. She looked to John, one brow quirked, then looked back to Ginny.

"I can see that bothers you. We'll not focus on that right now, unless you think it's necessary."

She stepped across the room, and pulled up a seat to sit near her, leaving the books on a table. Anita had a connection with Francoise Dupont on some level. From her understanding, certain aspects of their powers were similar, plus she had taken over some of the other woman's classes, considering she was currently unable to teach them.

"I'm Anita Florence." She didn't offer a hand to shake, and was sure Ginny wouldn't mind, after what she had been through. "You said you think you're trying to find Miss Dupont. Would you happen to know why?"

[Vigilante]

Ginny turned her gaze on Anita, feeling vaguely uneasy at all the attention she was garnering. "I... I met her here about a year ago. Over a year ago. It was the first time I really talked to someone about my... my mutation." God, it was still hard to talk about, even somewhere she knew that she would not be judged.

"After my blind jump I wasn't in a wall or anything (that's the danger, you know), but some sort of misty place. I panicked, tried to 'port again and couldn't. I... I think I heard Francoise, or at least something that reminded me of her. When I was able to teleport again I think I instinctively tried to get as close to here as I could, so I could talk to her about... it."

Ginny drained the paper cup of water, and added, "Does she not work here anymore?" She sounded sad and disappointed.

[Dragon]

John's face tightened. It was almost imperceptible, but it was there.

"I'm afraid she's on medical leave," he said. "I'm sorry. I wish she were here to help you."

He thought over what she'd said. "Tell me more about this... in-between place." Sensing her hesitance, he smiled patiently. "Tell us as much as you can. I assure you, you're among friends here."

[Vigilante]

Ginny sighed, and said, "We-ell, at first I thought that I was outside the bank. That's where I 'ported from. But it wasn't real - or it was too real. Things seemed... airy." She crunched the paper cup in frustration. "I can't explain it. I felt too solid, and I felt a terrible presence there. Something called... the Shadow..?"

She shook her head, "I don't know how I heard the name. It was totally silent, yet I could feel sounds in my head. It felt like walking into a huge room full of people, and everyone stopping and staring at you." Ginny used her fingers to pull the cup back into shape as she talked, focusing her eyes on it rather than the current room of people who were staring at her. "And there were some things coming towards me. I ran away. Francoise... that is Ms. Dupont... I thought I heard her calling me. And the Shadow-thing stopped watching me, or something, like he got distracted, and then I was able to teleport again. I got the hell out of there."

[Dragon]

John didn't realize until she'd finished speaking that his mouth had come open. He lightly cleared his throat.

"You heard Francoise?"

No one had been able to make contact with her. Not even Ethan, who'd been closer to her than anyone. And yet she'd spoken to this woman from sixty miles away...

Or perhaps it hadn't been a matter of distance at all.

"This isn't my area of expertise," he admitted. "But if it really was Francoise... if you really were linked somehow..."

He turned toward Anita. "Have you ever heard of something like this? Some sort of... telepathic shadow realm?"

[Anita Stern]

The question sort of caught her off guard. It would be surprising to some if she retained knowledge about such a thing, as she apparently saw 'magic' and such utterly useless and futile. But there had been two points in her life where such areas were a keen interest. Childhood curiousity, though that had just been magic tricks and the like, and after...

"...I have."

She stared somewhat nervously at the table where her books sat. The subject of Daniel Hartford was one she didn't speak of. To anyone. Not since....well, not since a while. It had been about a year.

"It was...well, quite an interest of mine about a year or so ago." Anita did not lift her eyes when she spoke, rubbing the palm of one hand with the thumb of the other.

"When Daniel disappeared, I became pretty obsessed with finding him. Some way of contacting him. He was the last person I really allowed myself to touch."

Only then did she look up, her eyes scanning across the other occupants of the room, before settling on Dragon.

"It didn't matter that I could steal his thoughts. Daniel Hartford..." she paused, taking a deep breath. "...well, he was a mutant as well. Not exclusively a psychic entity, but he harboured powers in limitless mental gifts."

An attempt at a smile tried to swim to the surface on her face.

"Anyway, it was because of his disappearance, that I came to know about what I believe you are asking." Anita sort of nodded at John.

"The Astral Plane. It couldn't be anything else, now that I think about it."

[Vipul Chandrashekar]

Vipul found himself rooted to the spot. He knew so very little of what he was hearing, but was as usual fascinated by it. He said nothing, intent on simply taking it all in.

Ginny fascinated him. Teleportation? Well there were so many interesting talents here of course, but the ability to travel without moving seemed to be one of the loftier reaches of the human genome.

[Vigilante]

Ginny was trying to follow what Anita was saying, but the woman seemed to be lost in her own reflections for a few moments. But then - "The Astral Plane? As in... projection?" She frowned. "I know Francoise is telepathic, but I'm not."

[Dragon]

"Perhaps not," John replied, carefully - he was still absorbing all this on the fly. "But maybe there are dimensions to your gift that you were previously unaware of."

He steepled his fingers thoughtfully. "When you teleport, are you aware of anything in-between?"

[Vigilante]

"No," she stated flatly, "It is practically instantaneous - there's about a half-second of what I call 'transit time.' But like I said, I've always been limited to a range of about thirty feet. Thirty-one feet and four inches, to be precise."

Ginny's mind started to race in all sorts of different directions, "But today I 'ported from New York to here. Well, from New York to the Astral Place and then to here. I was definitely there in body, not in spirit."

[Dragon]

John vented a long, deep sigh. "There are at least three mysteries here... How you made it to the Astral Plane... How Francoise contacted you, since I've never known her to be able to extend herself such a distance... And how she was even aware of you, since..."

He cut himself short. He didn't know this Ginny Hayes, and they'd already decided to keep Francoise's condition a secret so as not to distress the students. But if Francoise herself had reached out to Ginny, maybe... maybe there was a connection there that could draw her out of her telepathic coma.

"I'm afraid Francoise's condition is serious," he said. "Her telepathic gift has been compromised. She's been in a catatonic state for six months now, entirely unresponsive."

[Vigilante]

Ginny tried to process the new information. SHe frowned. "Well, part of her must still be active... I was sure I heard her voice."

She sighed, "I am very sorry to hear that she's so sick." Ginny's reasons were not all selfish, but part of her was beginning to feel pretty sorry for herself. "I'm not sure what to do now... but I'm afraid that if I use my mutation again I'll end up in that other Plane again. And next time I may not be able to get out of it. I mean, if I'm there in the flesh...?"

[Anita Stern]

"That is always a possibility. A very real possibility...but I doubt it has permanence."

Anita was rested, removed from her slight wanderings by now. Ginny's story reminded her very much of Daniel, but she needed to focus on the here and now. There would be other times that she could look into such things.

"Your somewhat apparent ability to transport into a nonphysical plane is not something I've heard of before, but to hear that it is possible...Well, that's pretty astounding. The fact is, none of us really knows just how you got there. I think that something bigger is at work."

She suddenly wrapped her arms tightly around herself and shrunk back into the chair, reacting to a shiver that had crawled up her spine. The instance of these physical notations was beginning to slowly, strangely, make sense. Anita looked around to the others occupying the room.

"Any thoughts?"

[Vigilante]

No one seemed to have anything to add, and Ginny took a deep breath. Her thoughts took some time to settle, and then she turned to John Rhee.

"May I... can I visit Francoise? I know that... Well, I only met her once. I understand that I don't belong here or among her friends. But... I just feel that I should see her. She ... its like she brought me here."

[Anita Stern]

"Francoise? That had been one of my thoughts. She may have everything to do with this."

There was that sensation again. Each time it happened, she understood it more and more. At the same time, it creeped her out a little.

"John?" Anita looked to her colleague, as well. "What do you think? It may not be right away, but I honestly don't see too much issue with it. I mean, if there's a chance...really, we can't just leave Francoise like that forever. There has to be something..."

It bothered her to see a seemingly nice girl like Francoise in such a condition. It worried her what might happen if she were left that way for too long, especially considering what she was told had happened. When it came to the mind, the potential consequences could be unpredictable.

[Dragon]

John gave Anita a cautioning glance. She had already jumped far beyond where he was willing to go - leading Ginny into the Sub-Basement, exposing her to Francoise, enlisting Ginny's help to treat a condition they couldn't even properly diagnose. There were simply too many unknowns, not the least of which was Ginny herself.

"Francoise is in a specialized facility," he said reluctantly. "I'm afraid the visitation list is being kept very short at present. But if there is a chance she was reaching out to you..."

He was debating with himself. With Ginny's military background, John couldn't imagine her walking through the Sub-Basement and not growing suspicious. And there simply was no telling where her loyalties lay, whether she still reported to her special forces colleagues, or whether heaven forbid she had been recruited by the Brotherhood. The risk to the school was simply too great.

"I don't think I can make that call right now," he said at last. "I'll speak to the headmaster about it. You can understand we're trying to be very cautious about her condition. Is there anything we can do for you in the meantime?"

[Vigilante]

Ginny sighed. "No, I guess not. I mean, I guess I need a taxi so I can get back to the city."

She couldn't hide the disappointment on her face, but had already decided to call every single hospital in New York if that's what it took to locate Francoise. If they wouldn't take her to the woman, then she'd find her herself. "I really... I mean... thanks. I wouldn't have dropped in here like this if I had a choice. So, sorry about that."

Ginny pushed herself up to her feet, and stumbled as a wave of dizziness came over her.

[Dragon]

John moved quickly to catch her. "Vipul, could you find Duncan, please?" He knew that the present avatar may not even have to leave the room to do so. Carefully, he assisted Ginny into a deeper armchair where she could recline. "Miss Hayes, are you all right? I assure you, you are not imposing on us if you need to stay a little longer."