Time to Say Goodbye...

[Francoise Dupont]

When I'm alone I dream of the horizon and words fail me.
There is no light in a room where there is no sun
and there is no sun if you're not here with me, with me...
~ Sarah Brightman and Andrea Bocelli, "Time to Say Goodbye"


There were many secret rooms within the mansion of Doctor Cullen's Institute for the Gifted, but few of them were so closely guarded as one medical observation chamber. The room was small, but it was full of life, lacking the usual sterility of such places.

Picture frames adorned the walls and the vase of flowers on the bedside table never wilted. In the bed itself, Francoise Dupont did not move, and the teaching faculty of the school did not like to count how long it had been since she had last done so. There were machines monitoring her life-signs, whose readouts confirmed that she was still alive – but she was not living. Her mind, usually so sharp, gave only the faintest hint of activity. Her heartbeat grew so weak, some days, that it seemed as if she had given up on life all together.

That is, until one day, the steady beep of her heart monitor suddenly began to quicken...

[Ethan Daniels]

"I lay awake thinking and my mind jumping around. Then I couldn’t keep away from it, and I started to think about Brett and all the rest of it went away. I was thinking about Brett and my mind stopped jumping around and started to go in sort of smooth waves."**

Ethan read to Fran every night before bed, reading her favorite books and poems- hoping that something would trigger a spark of recognition and help bring her friend home. The coma had been difficult for the entire school. One of their beloved teachers had been lost to them, and for Ethan, unspoken what ifs constantly haunted him.

"Then all of a sudden I started to cry. Then after a while it was better and I lay in bed and listened to the heavy trams go by and way down the street, and then I went to sleep."

As he turned to the next page and flattened the paper, his eyes narrowed in hope. He had thought it was wishful thinking, the change in the heart monitors pace. But it shot up to 60 bpm! Up from the consistent 55bpm since the accident. His heart quickened too, watching as it steadily climb to a normal rhythm.

Ethan was besides himself in jubilation as he stood up, the novel falling to the floor forgotten. "Fran?" He called out, hoping that she could hear him and grabbed her hand to know that she was not alone.

**From Ernest Hemingway's, The Sun Also Rises

[Francoise Dupont]

The transition was instant, the sensation... rushing, as if being pulled away by some relentless current, sucked down a plug-hole. It was like twenty migraines all at once and no painkillers in sight. Like losing all sense of gravity and balance, having no concept of up or down, all axes warped into some inversion of reality. Ethan did not feel himself fall forwards, his head hitting the blanket that covered Fran's frail body, but he felt her hand still, holding his, pulling it...

And then everything was normal.

It was a warm summers day and he was sitting outside, on low wall that ringed part of the schools gardens. Somewhere nearby, a radio announced that 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' by Nirvana was the new number-one single. A couple of students passed him by – he didn't recognize them, their faces seemed... blurred, their voices a wordless babble – but didn't notice him. He looked down at his feet, where a book-satchel sat nestled between a pair of grubby Chuck Taylors; the front-pocket of the bag had a Pearl Jam patch sewn onto it.

The scene was familiar, and yet it was not. Everything seemed to have a strange haziness about it, like a camera lens smeared with grease. A sudden dizziness threatened to take over him, but a voice brought him out of the confusion.

Ethan?

He looked up, and some twenty feet away, there was Francoise. She was hiding in the shade of an oak tree, with the same battered copy of The Sun Also Rises in her lap, carefully turning the pages with her gloved hands. She wore a pale-blue checked shirt and had tied her hair back in a loose bow, though much of it had fallen free into her face. It was as if she hadn't spoken, hadn't noticed him.

[Ethan Daniels]

The landscape had brightened up and became clear as soon as his eyes settled upon Fran's form in the distance. She seemed so perfectly content and peaceful. Ethan was smiling so hard it almost hurt, but he couldn't escape the gnawing pit in his stomach that things were out of place. Why hadn't see looked up at him? It was her voice that saved him from spiraling into a nauseous tail spin from the mental contact.

He walked forward, the crisp grass crunching underneath his feet. Eventually he could pull the black sunglasses up over his head as the oak leaves hid away the sun. The gnawing in his stomach grew tighter, and he couldn't quite place why this felt so familiar.

Dry went his lips and tongue as he, literally, squeaked out her name. "Franny?"

I sound like a complete idiot. What the hell is the ... Wait.

Squinting his eyes for a better look, Ethan saw the date to be May 14th , 1991. This was the day he tried to ask Fran out to the Prom and failed!

[Francoise Dupont]

She looked up, confused at first. The sun shone from behind Ethan and Fran could barely see him in its glare. She lifted a hand to shade her eyes, to get a better look at him. He was just... staring at her.

“Are you o-kay?”

Back then, her accent had been so much stronger. She was seventeen and desperately wanted to run away, back to France, to become an artist and live la vie Bohème. They both knew, however, that was not the life that lay ahead of her. She was among Gregory Cullen's most dazzling students, and within a matter of years would – alongside the likes of Ethan, Maxine and Hektor – become a poster child for a new way of thinking. But that was all still to come...

“Ethan?” she said his name again, only now she was standing up. The book was lying splayed in the grass, and her eyes were looking up into his, but not as he remembered them. They were pleading.

[Ethan Daniels]

The way her eyes were dull and sad, pleading for ... something. This isn't how Ethan remembered this day at all. Fran had completely shut him down and was more focused on the end of term tests. There wasn't enough hours in the day to squeeze him in.

He took a step forward and took a long hard look into her eyes. They still held the hardness of the pain and hardships she endured as an X-man, the innocence washed away from friends betrayals and comrades lost; these were not the daydreaming eyes of a young girl wanting to escape the realities of being a mutant.

"Fran?" Ethan held out his hands but stop himself. If this were a way for the real Fran to communicate to him, he didn't want to spook her and have her retreat back into her mind. "What must I do?"

[Francoise Dupont]

If she had an answer to give him, it went unsaid. In his memories, she was still beneath the tree - and yet she was also standing in front of him, a shade of herself, barely tangible, like one of the shadows stretching from the long branches of the oak tree. Her lips moved, mouthing unintelligible words, the image of her growing fainter by the moment. The timorous girl that sat in the grass looked up at him one last time, in fleeting confusion and irritation, and he knew that somewhere inside she was screaming. In a matter of seconds, someone else would appear and the seventeen year-old Ethan would relent in his attempts to persuade Fran to go to Prom with him, to come out from her cocoon and join the rest of the world..

[Jacinda Blake]

Jacinda was finishing up with some nightly exercises in the mansions sub-basements. Of course she was no longer going always going solo on them, now that she and her partner, Carlos, were over their lovers spat, but she had not let it interfere with her commitment to the X-men team. It was much better training with him, though. They were awesome together..

This nights workout had been dubbed 'Bowling for Bad Guys'. She'd spent some training time in the Danger Room in a program where different foes sprung up around her randomly, and she sent them flying, or knocked them on their butts with pressurized blasts of wind. Normally such effects would also be lit with fire, but.. not tonight. When she'd completed the program, Jacinda made her way to the lockers for a quick shower and a change of clothes. All part of her nightly routine..

Only one last stop.

Soft footsteps carried her to the infirmary, where she always peeked in on Professor Dupont before heading back upstairs for the night. She didn't hear any voices carried to her, so she cleared her throat and entered.

"Good Evening Prof.....", her words were cut off abruptly.

She wasn't sure if she'd walked in on the Cullen's headmaster passed out in exhaustion, or something more private, but either way she looked around feeling guilty.

"Yeah, excuse me, Professor I'll just be going..." She turned to leave quietly, but Professor Daniels hadn't moved and the way he was laying.. It just wasn't right.

"Professor?" Jacinda approached...

[Chartis]

At that moment, in the strange world that Ethan had tumbled into, a scream reverberated from across the field. Seconds later a laughably short girl raged around the corner, a stormy look on her round face. She was all business in a white babydoll dress and combat boots, hands clenched into fists that swung dangerously at her sides as she marched through the gardens.
<o></o>
Green eyes that were positively crackling with anger suddenly flicked towards Ethan and Fran. The girl abruptly changed course.
<o></o>
“Ethan! He said no!” Clarity Cleine was still a good fifteen feet away but her voice bridged the distance with little promblem. She ground to a halt by the two and threw her hands up in the air. “The Doc said no—hi Fran—can you believe it?!”
<o></o>
The teenager’s cheeks were flushed, and she began to stab the air vehemently with one finger.

“As if Quantum Mechanics and English Lit aren’t enough on the same day! He expects me to finish a stupid paper on the Industrial Revolution by Tuesday! During finals!” A lone clover blossom had the misfortune of being right under Clarity's foot, and was squashed as she stamped her boot into the ground. "It's unconstitutional!"

[Ethan Daniels]

Clarity's voice felt like a hard slap on a cold cheek in the dead of winter. His head hurt from her yelling. It jarred the mental connection that had bonded Ethan and Fran together, forcing him back into actual memory of what occurred.

"Um, well. We all kinda have the same work load during finals." The proud Headmaster had been humbled into squeaking out a response since Fran was watching. His eyes bugged out and looked at his friend, and then tried to be smooth about nudging his head towards Fran. "Kinda a bad time ...", he said through clenched teeth, but all the while smiling polite.

He needed time alone again with Fran to try and pull her out of the memories and back into the present. Having a rampaging Clarity ranting about the Prof was not helping!

[Francoise Dupont]

But it was too late.

Everything seemed to be moving, as if the scenery around them was on a rail, being wheeled away only to be replaced by another stage set. The sun spiralled out of the sky and leapt into a paper lantern – one of many, hung from the gymnasium ceiling. Paper streamers fluttered down from a twinkling sky and balloons popped into existence like bubbles; all the props of the Prom, exaggerated, larger than life. The utterly ubiquitous “Everything I Do (I Do For You)” was being played out of huge, buzzing amps. All across the darkened gym floor, scores of students swayed together, talking and laughing softly under the sound of Bryan Adams's crooning. It was their big night, and Clarity Cleine was at Ethan's side.

Somewhere, amongst the crowds of people, Francoise danced like a marionette in the arms of Hektor Vespasian. Her mind was elsewhere.

[Chartis]

"Ouch, Ethan!" Clarity hissed as her foot was trodden on for the third time. She glared up at her friend who wasn't paying the slightest attention as they danced. Narrowing her eyes, she lifted her heel and brought it down squarely on his foot--he yelped and glared at her.

"You're supposed to be trying to make her jealous, not gawking at her like a lovesick puppy!" Clarity jerked her blonde curls over towards Fran and Hektor, steering Ethan away before they collided with the pair. An impatient sigh fell from her lips and she adjusted her strapless purple gown. "At least try and act like you're having a good time. Play hard to get."

[Saladin]

Hektor didn't turn to see Ethan and Clarity, but he was aware of them. Gently, he turned Francoise so her back was to the other couple.

He wished she wasn't wearing those gloves. He wanted a connection with her, anything. But no matter how he tried to bring her close, she always seemed distant. Like trying to hold onto a cloud.

He leaned his head against hers and whispered, "I wish I knew what was on your mind."

[Jacinda Blake]

"Professor?!" She tried again a bit more loudly... Still no response from Professor Daniels. She couldn't quite explain it, but something very strange was going on and she had learned enough about mutants to know that this was out of her element.

Jacinda turned back out to the hallway to see if anyone was around. "Hello?! Max? Anyone...? I think I need some help in here!" She called, her voice rising in a slightly panicked crescendo that flew down the hall....

Where was everyone? Professor Daniels still hadn't moved, even over her bellowing, and that was when she made the decision to to the first thing that came to mind. There was an emergency pull cord hanging behind Professor Dupont's bed, she knew it would alarm and probably scare the crap out of everyone but she'd rather scare them and be proven wrong, then wait around and have something bad happen...

Creeping around the two silent teachers, Jacinda grasped the cord and gave it a yank. Instantly a light about the bed was flashing repeatedly and there was an alarm sounding throughout the sub-basment.

[Dragon]

John came bursting in moments later. He saw Ethan collapsed over Francoise and for a moment thought the worst - but her monitors were still active, and he quickly realized that Ethan wasn't.

With a harried glance toward Jacinda, he stepped around the bed. He moved to touch Ethan, but stopped. There was a powerful energy in the room, powerful enough to make the hair on his neck prickle. He was certain it was Francoise.

"What happened?" he asked Jacinda. "What have you seen?"

[Jacinda Blake]

Oh thank God... She had never been so happy to see Professor Rhee, ever...

"I didn't see anything Professor. I just came in to sit with Professor Dupont for a while before heading back upstairs and this was how they were.. I tried to wake him up, but he hasn't moved.. not at all... I didnt touch him, I swear.."

Jacinda paced around to the other side of the bed, feeling awful..

"What should I do? Should I get someone else?"

[Dragon]

John stared at the unconscious pair, then back over the monitors, which were sparking with more brain activity than Francoise had shown in months.

When he turned back toward Jacinda, he looked helpless. "I don't know," he said. "I don't know what's happening. A psychic link of some kind, perhaps. If that's the case, touching them might break the link, but it might scar both their minds. We'd need a proper telepath to know for sure."

[Ethan Daniels]

"Ow!" Ethan hobbled forward as Clarity scolded him, his toe throbbing from the stomp. He didn't remember that hurting as much, but this wasn't just a memory now. Feelings and sensations were magnified ten fold by the psychic connection. Much like his hatred for Hektor ...

"It's not that!" He protested. "I just need to make sure she's ok. Fran's not herself lately."

He closed his eyes and tried to feel for her. That familiar electrical hum that always told Ethan that Francoise was nearby. A presence desperately missed since she had fell into the coma.

[Francoise Dupont]

He leaned his head against hers and whispered, "I wish I knew what was on your mind."

Looking towards Fran, Ethan saw that was almost entirely draped over Hektor. Her arms were looped around his shoulders, gloved-fingertips brushing the nape of his neck. Yet... not all was as it seemed; her hold on him was not the embrace of a lover. At closer inspection, it was clear that she was physically drained, her body sagging against her partners. She looked weak, and mentally she felt no better. Her head fell into his neck and she whispered against his skin.

“Hektor... take me somewhere quiet, where we can sit down.”

[Ethan Daniels]

"See!" he said with pleading eyes. Ethan swayed to the side and turned Clarity around while they danced so his friend could see that he wasn't crazy. "She looks terrible! I have to check on her."

And hopefully find a way to bring her back...

Overcome with concern, he let go of Clarity and started to cross the dance floor. Which was not any easy chore. Dozens of students had crowded the area and it was difficult to zig zag amongst them.

[Chartis]

She had to admit that Fran didn't look all that well, but Clarity had seen David Carpenter pouring schnapps into the punch and that was enough to make anyone sick.

Ethan was halfway through the crowd before Clarity could say anything. She groaned, dropping her shoulders and letting her head fall back, before starting after him. If he was determined to be a knight in shining armour, she was going to make sure that he at least did so without dueling with Hektor.

[Saladin]

Hektor, his brow creased with concern, guided Francoise toward the edge of the dance floor with uncanny grace and speed. They moved like ghosts, silent and unnoticed, and slipped out the door into the hall. The music pulsed dully through the antique walls.

They came to an ornamented divan large enough for both of them, and Hektor carefully lowered Francoise down alongside him.

"Francy, what is it?" he asked. "You're so pale." He brushed one of her styled locks aside and laid a hand against her forehead.

[Francoise Dupont]

Even when removed from the hubbub of the dance, Francoise felt no better. Her fingertips curled under the edge of the divan, as she tried to steady herself and gain some sense of balance, some stability.

“I- I can't... hear myself think. There's so much... noise in my head.”

Down the hallway, the doors that separated Ethan from Fran looked as if they were... shrinking.

[Ethan Daniels]

His step quickened, matching the pace of his beating heart. Ethan's concern for Fran had increased his anxiety, making him focus solely on her and not the protests of Clarity to wait up.

He swore under his breath. He should have been at the doors by now, but it felt as if for every two steps forward, his progress was hindered by three backwards.

"Fran?" His voice cracked from panic and now Ethan's quickened pace had turned into an all out sprint. But still the doors continued to shrink further away. Francoise was slipping away again! "FRAN!!!!"

[Saladin]

Hektor wrapped Francoise in his powerful arms and slowly rocked her from side to side. "Let me help you," he whispered. "Let me take the voices from your mind. I can find a quieter place for us... Just the two of us."

He snapped his head up sharply at the sound of Ethan's voice. Carefully, he laid Fran down across the couch. "Don't worry," he said. "I will protect you."

He stood and faced the distantly shrinking door. His fingers crackled with unstable green energy.

[Chartis]

Running was not an easy task in her confining gown, and Ethan had a sizeable headstart. The crowd had thickened considerably when the opening riff of Joyride started playing, and Clarity was having difficulty threading her way through. She managed to keep him in sight for a few seconds, but when he bolted from the gymnasium she surrendered and squeezed her eyes shut.

For a brief second - the span of a blink - Clarity was tumbling through a soundless haze and then suddenly she was beside Ethan, as breathless as though she had kept pace with him. "Ethan!"

Clarity grabbed his arm violently, alarmed that he was screaming so. She was about to say more when he turned her to look at Fran, stretched anemically across the plush cushions. She did not fail to notice Hektor, looking for all the world like a lion about to strike.

"Don't," Clarity stepped in front of Ethan. Something was wrong with Fran, something much more than an overdose on spiked party beverages, and the last thing they needed was a full-scale brawl. "We need to get Doctor Cullen. Ethan. Listen to me..."

[Ethan Daniels]

Ethan was violently jerked back by Clarity and it stopped him dead in his tracks. He was insistent, trying to push through his friend. "You don't understand."

The hallway started to become bathed in a greenish hue, indicative that Hektor was getting ready for a fight.

"Dr. Cullen can't help her." His hands balled into fists and Clarity could feel the static electricity starting to cling to her skin. Ethan's eyes had lost their iris' as the white and blue sparks of electricity arced off of them. "But I think I might be starting to understand how I can."

Hektor and Ethan always had a friendly rivalry when they were students. They were the best of friends even when he was pining for Francoise. As love sick as he once was, the two of them never would have fought over her like this. Sure tempers often were aroused between them, but it was always to try and impress the Professor with their powers.

This scenario made no sense. Hektor was acting as he would now, not back then. Maybe there was something to that? Spectre, the one that had put Francoise into the coma, was part of the Brotherhood, and Hektor was their leader. Maybe here inside her mind, he wants to make sure his minions work does not get resolved?

[Saladin]

The corridor continued to stretch, dreamlike, but while Francoise disappeared into the distance, Hektor somehow stayed where he was, his eyes full of menace.

"Ethan," he said, and the voice was unmistakeably Saladin's, "when are you going to learn to stop barging in where you aren't welcome?"

Hektor raised one hand, and Ethan was enveloped in a green flash and a crushing grip which lifted him from the floor and crashed him backwards through the double doors -

And then it all changed again.

[Francoise Dupont]

As Ethan crashed through the doors into the gym, a sudden light flooded his vision. To shield himself against the burning glare, he lifted a hand to shade his eyes – and after a dazzling moment, he began to see clearly once more. Blinking away the glare, he saw that he was in a hall now. Row upon row of seats were laid out in front of them, each one filled. There was a stage up ahead, with a large banner hung over it that he could not make out.

“Ethan Daniels,” a voice said. “Please, come up here and join us.”

It was a warm, masculine voice, full of strength. It was a voice that could reassure, a voice that could inspire and motivate others to greatness. It was a voice that could lead, a voice that could change the world, given half a chance. More than all of that, however,, it was a voice that was full of love.

It was the voice of Doctor Gregory Cullen.

The great Doctor himself. He stood at a lectern and in the front row before him sat the first graduating class of his ground-breaking new institute – but this was not their graduation day. No, this was something far more important. This was the day that Doctor Cullen had first unveiled to the world his students, giving the international press their first glimpse of the men and women who would go on to become the pillars that held up Cullen's lofty goals, once he himself had passed on.

[Ethan Daniels]

Ethan was befuddled at the shift. He looked around, winded and exhausted from being displaced once again, almost shell shocked. The applause was deafening and he couldn't find the strength to stand up.

"E!" Then came the elbow in the side that forced him to stand up. He looked down while straightening his suit tie to see Max rolling her eyes at him. 'Get up there!' she mouthed.

There wasn't enough time to see if Francoise was okay, but once he was able to get on stage, Ethan would have a perfect view of his classmates, Fran included. Climbing the stairs, his search for Francoise was abated by seeing Dr. Cullen again. The bright smile on his face, full of fatherly pride and joy, when he clasped Ethan's hand was a painful reminder of just how much he was missed. For his own sake, Ethan took the gesture a step further and embraced his mentor, knowing full well it wasn't real. Yet it was still a moment that he could take back and know that he had the opportunity to hold him one last time.

After they parted, Ethan stepped up to the podium with narrow vision and glanced at the first graduating class of the Cullen Institute. Along where Ethan used to be sat Maxine, Clarity, Hektor, and Francoise in the first row. He had to fight a sneer when his eyes laid upon Hektor, but his concern for Francoise overrode his rage and he started to go through the motions of this particular memory.

"Ladies and gentlemen who are present and for the millions, possibly billions, of people watching at home, I want to thank you for giving us the opportunity to speak. Allowing us the chance for you to get to know us and realize that even though we are born with unique abilities that go far beyond what scientists thought the human genome could do, we are very much human ..."

When Dr. Cullen had offered Ethan to speak before an International press conference on human and mutant relations, his emotions swirled into a chaotic mass of fear and pride. It was to be the first of many press conferences in which Dr. Cullen's students would embark on his dream of peace between humans and mutants, proving that it was possible for everyone to live together in harmony. Nature did not evolve for no reason ...

He was so nervous speaking in front of so many people. Even thinking about it had always made his mouth go dry. But he practice for hours to ensure he'd memorize his speech so he could relax and talk with the press casually.

But that was then. Now his eyes were full of hate and suspicion at Hektor. The bastard was just sitting there like a good student, but in the not too distant future, he betray the ideals of Dr. Cullen after his assassinate. He wanted to prove that his teacher was wrong and the mutants should rule the planet as nature intended because regular humans were fearful, mindless sheep who couldn't embrace such a vision as coexistence.

"We all feel the pains of betrayal when a friend stabs us in the back." His eyes moved from Hektor's to Fran's where they brightened. "Or feel the joy that love brings us ..."

[Jacinda Blake]

Jacinda didn't have the faintest, foggiest idea who to go and find. She nodded anyway and with one last look toward the two unnaturally still teachers, left them in the care of Professor Rhee. Biting nervously at her fingers she made her way to the elevator and went back up to the mansion..

Emerging in the teachers lounge, Jacinda tried to think up a game plan. Who did she know that might be able to help.. An idea suddenly came to her..

Sage!

She knocked the reciever off the phone in her haste to dial the library and ask Professor Florence to come to the teachers lounge right away..

[Francoise Dupont]

In the crowd, eager faces looked up towards Ethan. The world was familiar with the face of Doctor Cullen, but his students were a novelty. They would be an accurate reflection as could be seen of what his dream was able to accomplish. Some amongst the press willed them to be monsters, degenerates who were drunk on their own hype and power. Others hoped for the opposite and were pleased to see that Ethan Daniels spoke with sincerity and true humanity.

In the row of students, Hektor held Francoise's hand. Of all the people in the room, it seemed they stood out the most. It was as if a spotlight had singled them out, putting them in sharp focus to the sea of anonymity that spread behind them. Just as she had been in his memories, Fran's face was lit up with happiness, her eyes never settling long one face but moving between Ethan, Doctor Cullen and occasionally back to Hektor, whereupon she would give a little breathless laugh of disbelief.

[Anita Stern]

Completely oblivious to the happenings elsewhere on campus, Anita hummed happily as she sorted and addressed requests from other schools for books, and requests from students here for books from other places. She always did her best to acquire the materials needed for studies, research and other academic endeavours most students might have. And she was just in the midst of reading one pleading request for a particularily in-demand volume when the phone at the corner of the library office's desk rang softly, snapping her out of the lull repetitive work usually put her into. The curl-topped librarian placed the request form absently on the desk as she stared at the phone, watching it ring again before picking it up. The small display on the handset read -

Teacher's Lounge

- and she watched it ring a third time before pressing the 'Answer' key. Her calm, unknowing voice transmitted to the other end, the words coming out perhaps a little faster than she intended. It would have almost sounded like a run-on sentence.

"Library - Professor Florence speaking. How might I be of assistance?"

[Saladin]

Of the students seated in the front row, Hektor undoubtedly had the most impeccable poise, the most dynamic presence. He had always been blessed with a maturity and grace far beyond his years, and here it served him well - he was well aware of how often the cameras sought him out, the Danish student who'd become a person of interest after the bloody Gladsheim Riots in Stockholm, suspected as an advocate for mutant supremacy, recruited as one of Dr. Cullen's heirs apparent to the cause of mutant rights. In many ways, he and Ethan were opposite sides of the same coin, both fiercely intelligent, charismatic, ambitious and precocious, but Hektor was a zealot, Ethan a mediator.

It had rankled Hektor when Dr. Cullen had asked Ethan, and not him, to speak first before this assembly. And yet Hektor knew it was probably the wisest choice to put on a more moderate face before the masses. He watched Ethan intently, supportively, with a glimmer of an impudent smile that only Ethan could see.

It's your international debut, he'd told his friend earlier. Don't choke.

Ethan may not have had the rhetorical polish Hektor commanded, but perhaps even that worked to his favor. His audience saw an articulate young man who spoke from the heart, not a programmed figurehead or double-speaking sophist. And as Ethan concluded a stirring, impassioned appeal, Hektor squeezed Francoise's hand in his own and was the first of the capacity crowd to applaud.

[Chartis]

Ethan stepped back from the podium to stand next to Doctor Cullen, and suddenly the conference room was overcome by a barrage of shutter clicks and blinding flash. Clarity might have winced at the brightness had she not been accustomed to it - public relations were an integral part of a diplomatic childhood - but instead managed to curtail a blinking fit into a composed smile.

The sheer scale of the event was dizzying. Every major news station had tape running, recording every word, and the scratching sound of pens racing across paper had become a consistent background chorus. Clarity glanced at the darkened viewing boxes above, imagining the uneven hum of languages flying through recievers as the speeches were translated. It was hard not to feel like a fish in a bowl.

She joined in the applause with a genuine smile - Ethan had a distinct look of relief on his face now that he was finished - and fought back the quiet impulse to 'port somewhere less daunting. Beside her she felt Hektor tense, no doubt readying himself to take his turn on the platform.

[Saladin]

Hektor rose to the crescendo of applause and quickly ascended the steps to the platform. He met Ethan on his way down from the lectern with handshake and firm pat on the shoulder. He leaned in close enough for Ethan to hear him over the crowd.

"Well done, Ethan. Just like I taught you."

Hektor took his place at the lectern and pretended to shuffle his notes. He had none. But it gave his audience a chance to size him up as the applause tapered. For such a young man he cut an impressive figure in his pinstriped black suit and silver tie and his golden hair in a neat queue.

"When we speak of human evolution," he said, "we are almost invariably looking backward, to the origin of our species. Because our origin is a mystery. A mystery that has captured the hearts and minds of every generation of mankind. We often look to our past for clues to our own identity. Are we the children of God? Are we educated apes? Are we the masters of this earth? Are we its subjects?

"There is a lot to be said for learning from our past. But when it comes to identifying ourselves as a culture, a race, a species, perhaps we are looking in the wrong direction.

"Though there is much we do not understand about our own evolution, what we do know is this: it was a violent, bloody affair, a long, tortured story of attrition that separated our ancestors from their contemporaries. The process of natural selection, which Darwin tells us drives the evolutionary process, is simply another term for death.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we stand at an evolutionary crossroads. The next speciation of humanity is upon us. Future generations will look back on this era and judge us for our actions. And the choice that lies before us is this: will we follow the patterns of our ancestors, of selfishness, competition, and bloodshed, or will we forge for ourselves a new identity, one of cooperation, of enlightenment, of peaceful coexistence?

"Make no mistake: the entire human race is evolving. The choices we make today will shape our destiny as surely as the genetic code we carry. For we are neither animals nor gods. We are neither thralls to our own instincts nor so perfect in our foresight that we can determine who should live and who should die. So we must all, human and mutant, appeal to our better nature. We must recognize that that which we share is so much more important than that which divides us. We must find a common ground where there is room for all of us. Because the alternative is too terrible to contemplate. Let us look to our future, for the sake of all the generations to follow us."

[Jacinda Blake]

"Library - Professor Florence speaking. How might I be of assistance?"

Jacinda sounded upset.. "Professor... It's Jacinda. I think..."

She was trying to think how best to explain the situation in a clear and consice manner, without mentioning names over the phone, or where voices could carry. It was pain in the rear...

"There is something that requires your attention... Downstairs.", she stressed the last.

"Please!?", she added, feeling like she was bossing a teacher, rather than pleading for help from a member of a team she herself was a part of.. Well.. a new part.. In training...

[Francoise Dupont]

“Let us... look to the future...”

The words resonated with far greater weight than they had ever done before. Though Hektor did not move his lips, they echoed – repeating upon themselves, each time growing slower until his voice became distorted, like a roar.

Suddenly, a lurch forward-

It was like being inside a wind-tunnel, everything rushing past at an incredible velocity, but without any movement of the self. Time had moved on, but they had not. Ethan and Hektor both stood on stage, flanking Doctor Cullen on each side. Spread before them was the same crowd of reporters, but now their faces had gained character and definition. Each face was a grotesque and monstrous mockery of humanity, with razor-sharp teeth and eyes like narrow knife wounds. Ordinarily, such a sight would have been terrifying, but no fear overcame Ethan. Only... certainty, numbness. A slow-dawning knowledge of what would come next.

Time caught up to its natural speed.

There was a flash of light. A gun-shot.

The Doctor's body jerked from the impact, collapsing backwards.

[Ethan Daniels]

Francoise's mind continued to keep Ethan on guard. Previously, Hektor had been determined to keep him away from Fran at all costs, but now he had returned back to the familiar friend - the one he could rely on before the unthinkable happened.

Time had slowed down just enough for Ethan to gain a clear focused view of the reporters. Instead of pens being thrusted into the air for questions, or the dozens of flashes from cameras, he saw vile monstrosities that resembled a vicious mob then anything else.

No!

His heart sank with realization of how this memory was shifting. Just as it happened years ago, Ethan was powerless to stop the inevitable.

Ethan felt like he was moving in slow motion as he went towards Dr. Cullen, who wore the same look of shock on his face from the attack. His arms crumpled around him like a rag doll as the rest of him continued to fall back. Ethan was finally able to hit the floor and slide to his mentors side, but what struck Ethan was how calm he was mentally. It was again as if his actions were not his own, like he was playing his part like a good little actor without breaking the script.

Every memory that he had shared with Fran was one that had caused her great pain or was violated into something that forced her to act out of character. Was this the prison she had been stuck in for months? Even if this were true, he was no closer to an answer to free her!

Valiantly he watched himself try to stop the bleeding as Dr. Cullen weakly brought up a hand to stop him. Cullen said nothing. Merely smiled and spoke his final words. "The dream *coughcough*... the dream continues through you, Ethan. You and ... and the others ..."

[Anita Stern]

Anita had heard the girl's voice in a number of instances of emotion, but never so far in one of distress. Jacinda had been upset before, that much the young professor had been witness to, but not nearly this upset. The stress on the particular word..."Downstairs"...caught her attention well enough. The fact that a student was calling from the Teacher's Lounge was another clue. The woman's skills in deduction, reasoning, logic and many other areas were largely unparalleled.

"Say nothing further. I'll be there." Click.

Placing the handset in the cradle, Anita steppeed out, shut and locked the office door, and jogged out of the library, turning briefly to lock up. Then, pocketing the keys, she bolted down one corridor and stepped quickly down a full flight of stairs to the main floor where the Teacher's Lounge was situated, bursting through the door and shutting it behind herself in one almost fluid movement. Jacinda looked, at the very least, a little anxious. The older woman offered a short-lived sympathetic smile before putting on her game face and getting down to business.

"Let's go. Tell me what you can on the way."

[Jacinda Blake]

Nodding, Jacinda heled open the door on the opposite side of the room leading into the hall. Heading for the elevators she started to expain.

"I'd been doing some training. I stopped in to see...", she looked around making sure no lurking ears were around before continuing..

"..Franciose, before coming up. Professor Daniels was with her.", she paused.

Some members of the team she was brave enough to attempt a first name basis with out of the school setting now, but the headmaster? No way.. After graduation, maybe..

"I don't know what happened, but he's as unresponsive as she is now. Sort of slumped over her." The elevator doors shut and they began to plummet to the mansions sub-basment.

"Dragon said we needed someone with telepathic skill. I know this isn't exactly your thing, but you were the only person I could think of..", she admitted.

[Anita Stern]

In the hall, she listened as she walked. As the bits of information permanently accumulated in her brain, she nodded, finally raising her eyebrows at the last sentence. They were in the elevator at this point, and Anita took the time to think for a moment as the enclosed space pulmmeted down the shaft. She really didn't come down here much at all.

Maybe I should change that.

"Technically, yes, I don't have telepathic ability. But you are absolutely correct..."

The box stopped. The doors opened. They stepped out, and began walking again.

"...I do come close. My powers are only a one-way street as far as I know, meaning I can only take from what I touch. Admittedly, I haven't really tried to expand on that at all."

When they came to be with John, Anita saw what it was that had happened with her own eyes. Her brow creased with some concern, but her brain was already working far ahead of that. She pocketed her hands, out of pure, unconcious habit. Realising she had done this, out came her hands again, and she folded them together in front of her, moving her eyes over every aspect of the scene.

"I seeeeee..." She drew out. Her head turned to her colleague, John. "It's things like this that make me realise I really can't hide from developing my gift beyond its current simplistic state forever."

She paused. "I surmise he touched her and, well, here we are?"

[Dragon]

John stood in a corner, arms crossed, staring intensely at the unconscious pair. He'd tried meditating, tried expanding his own feeble psychic awareness to see if he could make some sort of contact, but this was far beyond him.

As for Anita... he didn't know where her limits lay. He had the impression that she didn't either.

"That's all we know," he said. "Francoise's brain activity is higher than it's ever been since the attack. I think we ought to monitor Ethan's as well, if we can. I'll go get the diodes."

He drifted out through the curtain door, eager to feel he was doing something useful.

[Saladin]

Hektor was on Dr. Cullen's other side, and together, he and Ethan bore the doctor down to the ground.

All of Hektor's poise and polish was gone. Tears filled his eyes, and his face was contorted into a mask of rage and anguish. Ethan remembered vividly what his friend had done next - blasted a tractor beam and vaulted over the entire horrified crowd, run out into the street to hunt down his mentor's killer and exact his revenge. Hektor had never found the assassin.

But once more the dream took a different turn, and Hektor turned his tear-streaked, baleful eyes toward Ethan.

"Too late," he rasped. "You were too late then, and you're too late now. All these pretty words and sentiments, and nothing changes."

He seized Ethan by the lapel and forced him to his feet. "Why are you still here?" he roared. "Can't you see you're not welcome? Haven't you brought enough suffering?"

[Ethan Daniels]

Ethan grabbed Hektor's forearm and twisted his friend's hand off of his shirt. "I'm here because she wants me to be here."

Hektor knew he spoke of Francoise. Lying helpless for months in a coma, as soon as Ethan had touched her, he had been swept up into the chaotic storm of emotional turmoil. Behind the terror, he could feel her presence and she needed his help.

There was a subtle change in the air. That change that always occurred as the first bolt of lightning was about to be release ...

"AND NOT YOU!" Electrical energy crackled off of Ethan's hand as he slammed it into Hektor's chest, releasing the full force of his abilities to try and remove this specter from Fran's consciousness.

[Saladin]

The force of the thunderblast flung Hektor backwards through the air. He ragdolled into the far wall and slid to the floor, leaving a spiderweb crater in the marble paneling.

The crowd shrieked in horror and began flooding the exits, not caring whom they trampled on the way.

And Hektor, still smoking, slowly picked himself up from a pile of marble shards and sneered at Ethan. "You should be more careful with the decor," he said. "Or do I have to remind you whose mind this is?"

He spread his hands above him and began tearing down colossal chunks of the ceiling, and the whole building quaked.

[Dragon]

John came back into Francoise's unit with an armful of supplies just as her health monitors lit up - warnings across the board. Falling blood pressure, cardiac arrhythmia, random spikes in brain activity.

He dumped the supplies into an empty chair and rushed to the bedside. "What's happened? What's going on?"

Even without monitors, he could see Ethan had turned a sickly color, and his breath was shallow and thready - whatever battle Francoise was fighting, it seemed he was fighting it, too.

[Anita Stern]

Anita, too, had noticed the sudden turn of events. It caused her a great deal of concern, but not as much concern as what her conscience was urging her to do. The battle between learned habit and gentle, knowing heart peaked inside her within this moment. Her brow furrowed quite deeply, and she stepped forward to place a hand on John's shoulder, standing with him.

"What is going on is something that you can do nothing about." The scope of John's gift did not really enter a field that would be useful in this strange situation. That much the petite woman knew. She looked over Francoise, then Ethan again. Her fingers, her gloved hand, tensed on his shoulder. She had pulled on a pair prior to leaving the library office. She didn't like this situation one bit. "But maybe, just maybe..."

She hesitated. "Hook him up, John." Anita said, nodding at Ethan. "We need them both monitored. And I..." Again, that hesitation.

"...we need to think what to do." Her eyes wandered, and rested on Jacinda.

"Quickly."

[Ethan Daniels]

His hands shot up quickly as electrical sparks danced off his fingers and spread out. They sparks became bolts that coiled around him in a protective embrace as a huge chunk of ceiling fell on top of him. It cracked in half and either side fell harmlessly next to him.

Instead of retaliation, Ethan closed his eyes and focused on Francoise. If this version of Hektor was the chaotic presence that was destroying her mind, then he couldn't afford to do more harm either. He centered himself and tried to be a small ray of light in her mind.

He then opened his eyes and looked right her. She had taken up a position of safety away from the fight. It was a strange vision seeing her helpless amongst the raining debris, but none of it actually touching her. It was exactly how he felt towards her. That she was this unobtainable dream that was never meant to be ...

"Fran!" He pleaded, "Help me fight him! You have too!"

[Francoise Dupont]

A sphere of invisible energy had formed around Francoise and as the falling debris collided with it, it sizzled and crackled angrily, repelling anything that came near her. Her sad eyes watched as Ethan and Hektor fought, neither one willing to back down, though it may well have meant the death of them all.

Shapes and figures began to fade into place around them, now. The scene was shifting – not in sudden startling way it had before, but instead as a gradual transition, colours growing more vivid by the second. All three of them were still present, as were some of the other attendees of Doctor Cullen's speech, though they now wore their X-Men uniforms. Bolts of energy, wreaths of flame, lances of ice – there was movement and sound all around, as they clashed with their adversaries, the Brotherhood.

They were in the Yucca Mountain Facility. It was time.

[Dragon]

A stack of metal barrels came crashing down to the warehouse floor. John Rhee, codenamed Dragon, narrowly tumbled out of the way of the cascading barrels of nuclear waste and rolled to his feet.

He caught Ethan's eye for a split second, then cried, "Ion! Behind you!"

But Dragon had enough problems of his own, and in a moment he was grappling with Geryon's six massive arms, ducking blow after earthshaking blow.

[Saladin]

A huge disc of steel, ten feet across and three feet thick, came spinning Ethan's way like a discus. It was the vault door from the converted cell block that held the mutant terrorist Aslan Sagidev.

Saladin stepped through the now-empty portal where he'd ripped the door off its anchors and surveyed the battlefield. His lips curled into a satisfied grin. "It's over Ethan," he shouted. "Your little band isn't ready for this. Leave now, while you still can."

[Void]

The barrels that had just missed John Rhee rolled into – and right on through – Void, along with just about everything else that anyone threw at him. On the way in, he'd disabled an alarming number of guards by simply standing between them and dropping into an insubstantial state, causing them to shoot one another. Now, the very same tactic was proving just as effective against Doctor Cullen's supposedly unstoppable X-Men.

One of the bruisers threw at punch at him, but his fist connected with nothing but air, swiping through Void as if he were made of nothing but light. Becoming tangible for only a moment, he caught the fist and hurled the brawler backwards into the waiting arms of Geryon. As much fun as it was to beat these clowns up, Void's talents were better put to use as a distraction – causing chaos by moving here and there amongst the battle, springing up where he was least expected.

It was just this duty that brought him behind Francoise Dupont – materializing out of nowhere, so that he could lock her arms in place as his partner in crime advanced on the infamous 'Oracle'.

[Jacinda Blake]

"...we need to think what to do." Her eyes wandered, and rested on Jacinda.

"Quickly."

Jacinda nodded once in understanding, though what to do still escaped her. She was not very educated yet in the abilities of psychic mutants. Mostly she'd been specializing in elemental powers, like Carlos' and her own. This was a bit much for her..

Dragon was working on attaching leads to Ion's chest. Suddenly, she was thinking less like a student and more like a member of this team. Sage's abilities were linked to her touch. Perhaps if she witnessed the transition from normal activity into the dangerous cocoon of mental energy, perhaps if she touched someone it was happening to, as it happened...

Jacinda's blue eyes lingered on Francoise's face for a long time before she looked back over to Sage and Dragon. They were both needed here more than she was in this situation, and she had every belief that they would find an answer.. It was just something she could volunteer for.. not that either of them would be happy with the idea.

Until Jacinda knew what she should do, she would just keep it to herself...

[Anita Stern]

Anita sighed. She could probably surmise what the younger girl was thinking, and considering what had happened with Ion, it wasn't seeming like too good of an idea to do what they had both been thinking, at one point or another in the seven to ten minutes since they had entered the room.

"I..." Anita looked a little flustered. "...it might help. On the other hand, I'm not too sure it's the best idea." She pondered out loud, staring absently at Ethan, seeing John's hands as he carefully placed leads on the man's chest.

"I really don't know what other option there is." The feel of the situation was probably dulling her ability to properly deduce the possibilities. Sage was used to more control over her non-mutant skills than this. She took a moment, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. In, out. Relax. Think clearly.

"What happened with Ethan, John...well, it may be possible that what happened to him may not happen to me. Whatever Daniel did with my protective barriers may be strong enough to oppose this."

She didn't like bringing up Daniel Hartford. It wasn't something anyone around here knew about. It was a piece of her past without closure. But his concern for her had been enough to help her protect her mind when she didn't know how to. What she didn't know is if it would be enough. The whole thing about that particular portion of her past was sad, depressing and uncomfortable. Part of her wished he were here. He would know what to do, if anything. Another part of her still wouldn't be able to deal with seeing him again, if that were to ever happen.

[Ethan Daniels]

There wasn't any time for a retort. Ion brought up a fist, his arm raising into the air as if holding an invisible shield. Wisps of electrical energy materialized before the Headmaster, protecting him in a concave bubble. The vault door hit the shield and bounced off of it as if it were made of rubber. It shot off at an angle and smashed into the wall, half sticking out.

When this happened before, months prior, Ethan was defiant and proud, knowing that the X-men would be able to handle Saladin and his cronies. The cold truth stung that much harder. Everyone had come back unscathed. All but Francoise.

Ethan stood up straight and glared at his former friend with so much hatred and pain. "You're right."

He dissipated the energy field and stood down. "We weren't ready today. Have your men stand down and we'll leave."

Every memory had played upon Ethan's emotions, inciting certain reactions, usually rage and betrayal, and fear of loosing Francoise. He had grown tired of playing the puppet and wanted to cut loose his strings. Maybe if he acted differently, he could catch this nightmare off guard and give Fran an opening to remember where she was ...

[Dragon]

Dragon, having landed a sharp upward kick to Geryon's jaw, quickly disengaged and pulled around to Ethan's side. He glanced at the lead X-Man with a look of surprise. It had been Ethan's call to undertake this mission, to ensure the Brotherhood didn't make off with Sagidev. He just hoped Ethan knew what he was doing.
***

It took a moment for John to realize what had passed between the two young women. But there was absolutely no way he was letting Jacinda take such a risk upon herself, and he wasn't too pleased about Anita extending herself either. He simply didn't know what other options they had.

"I can't ask you to do this, Anita," he said gravely. "But you understand your own gifts far better than I do. If it's possible you can see whatever it is that's binding them together... I just don't want to have three people in psychic comas."

A stray thought hit him. "I wonder... Anita, what about Ginny Hayes?"

[Anita Stern]

Anita's eyes lit up like stage spotlights on the winner of a pop idol show. Why she hadn't thought of it herself was beyond her, but now was not the time for trying to reason out such pointless things. Her eyes darted from John to Ethan to Fran and back to John again.

"That may be the best idea yet and the safest option, considering. But..."

Anita raised fingers to her mouth, underlining the elbow of that arm with her other arm. But what?

"...Ginny herself has no clue how she got there. And admittedly, we're not much better off. As well as our not being clear on where she really stands...? I'm not against the thought and really, weighing our options, I'm not sure it matters what the consequences of bringing her into the fold might be at this point."

Dragon went to speak, but she held out a finger to make him pause.

"This is the lesser of two evils, John. I say we take that chance."

[Saladin]

Saladin stared at Ethan for a moment. And then he sent a blast of brilliant green energy into the ceiling where it flashed and blossomed like a flare. The din of battle around them tapered; there were a few more flashes of power as the combatants disengaged and watched each other warily.

"You're leaving, then?" Saladin asked.

He took a few slow steps toward Ethan, his hands spread disarmingly.

"And you're letting me take what I want?"

[Ethan Daniels]

"Yes," he responded, fists clenched with anger but no sparks of energy arced from them. "Take the Russian and go."

[Saladin]

"The Russian?"

Saladin stopped his advance. The look on his face was one of patronizing amusement.

"Come now, Ethan," he chided, "how small-minded are you? The Brotherhood already has Neutron, don't you remember? I am going to take what I want. And you are going to leave."

He turned sharply toward Francoise. "End this," he commanded. "You know he doesn't belong here."

[Francoise Dupont]

The first time all of this had happened, she had struggled against Void. Though her captor towered above her, his physical domination in no question, she had shown him flashes of mental agony that had been as effective as a blow to the head, sending the dark-eyed mutant stumbling away. This time, however, it was different. It was all different.

The fighting had stopped, as if frozen. The members of the Brotherhood, wild-eyed and breathless for the most part, looked triumphant. Ion had all but thrown in the towel and Saladin knew it. Francoise's lips began to move, speaking words that seemed distant – and even more so as the sound of sirens began to drown her out.

“This isn't when or how this ends.”

With a snarl, Saladin lashed out towards Ion – and in a flash of green light, everything had changed again. The ground beneath them trembled, as a fighter jet screamed above. In the distance ahead, New York City was under siege as something, something monstrously big, thrashed and thundered amongst the ruins of skyscrapers.

[Ethan Daniels]

Ethan was in the mansion now. More precisely, his personal study, and nothing was wrong ... at least not overtly so like the past few flashes of Francoise's memories.

The plasma television set was on, hanging over the fire place, set to world wide breaking news about the unexpected rampage that seized New York City. It was unclear as to what was causing the disturbance but Ethan stood up from the couch, inexplicably drawn to the story.

... Day three and the damage is catastrophic. Downtown Manhattan no longer exists. I ... I really don't know what to say ...

The reporter was in tears, her professional neutrality broken in the wake of the destruction around her. What should have been time square was nothing but rubble. It looked as if a nuclear bomb had went off.

With the defeat of many human lives at the hand of this mutant rampager, the President has ordered to cease any further military aide. We can only pray that the brave mutants who are here today, can find a way to defeat this ... this monster before ... I ... ah dammit. I can't take this sh- ...

She threw her microphone at the camera and the news station cut to commercial before any FCC laws were broken.

Ethan stood there before the hearth, stunned. He didn't remember this incident at all. How could he forget something like this? New York was being destroyed! Was it another Brotherhood attack or trick? His mind was reeling. Why wasn't he there, along with the X-Men trying to stop whatever menace this was? Three days!!! Three days and he had done nothing?!

[Jacinda Blake]

Later on, she wouldn't be able to explain exactly why she did it. Something.. some force she didn't have the experience or words to explain told her this was that moment. She had to act now and this was what was supposed to happen. Without questioning it further, Jacinda took a deep breath and before she could be stopped, took the choice out of the hands of Sage and Dragon. They could still call in Ginny if they thought she would be able to help them somehow, but this was just something she had to do. She grabbed Sage, and leaned forward to press her hand to Fran's bare arm..


*****


What she saw next was not unlike that scene in The Matrix when an unprepared Neo's mind was suddenly unhinged from the machine that held it, his consciousness sucked down the rabbit hole into 'the real world'. Although Jacinda knew she had left the real world behind her, and she had no idea where she was going now.

Suddenly, with a bit of a jarring, she recognized her surroundings. She was back in the mansion, though there were subtle little differences that she couldn't spot fast enough to name. She was walking down the hall toward Professor Daniel's office, with a determined stride. She seemed, almost... angry. What was happening?

She opened the door without knocking and started to speak. "The team is assembled. We're just waiting on your word, Ion. Are you with us?"

She caught her reflection in the office windows. She was...old! Well, older. Her mind tried to wrap around things it knew and accepted as the present, and things that it was aware of in this crazy place she had gone and dumped herself into. A name was tugging at her awareness.

Professor Jacinda Calaveras...

Holy hell...

[Anita Stern]

Knee-jerk, instinctive, reflexive... whatever you want to call it, Sage's first instinct in that very moment was to pull back, pull back hard and away. The behaviors built up over the past two years as a defense had also stunted the exploration of her gift and made her a very cautious and uneasy individual, a complete black to the white of the adventurous, open-minded, fearless young woman she used to be. And in the here and now, her hand had been forced. Against her will this decision had been made. A second split in two, one half resistance, the other an opening of the metaphorical eyes. Wide freaking open. She didn't let go, as the habit would be. Instead, against instinct, she forced herself to hold on tight. Her knuckles whitened with the almost for-dear-life death grip, and for a moment, she felt cold. Very cold, that telltale shiver climbing the ziggurat to her realizations and perceptions.

She slowly turned her head - like she was afraid to look - and down at the clasping of hands, then followed the white arm of Tempest up to where she stood... holding on to Francoise Dupont. Her face went white, further shocked, and that was when everything hit.

Image after image, voices, tensions, scents and more besides came to her by transfer. And her mind did not go out. She would sigh for relief if not for feeling so tense.

Jacinda...

Anita whipped her head around and looked at John, who looked more than a little surprised and... there.... Her eyes widened substantially. The gleam of someone not quite here and not quite there coated her eyes, the fear of the sudden contact remaining as she observed within. It had been so long since something like this, so long...

"I can see... everything..."

[Carlos Calaveras]

“We got no time to waste,” yelled a voice from outside Ethan Daniels office, heavy footsteps approaching the doorway. A figure in dark leathers appeared in the threshold. Faded tattoos colored the lengths of his bare forearms. There was a grim set to his features as he glanced between the two Professors, sparing no time for pleasantries.

“The jet's ready to fly. All I need's the rest of you on board.”

Ion looked dumb-struck, lost. His eyes had a faraway glaze them.

“Daniels!” Carlos barked.