X-Men: The Gifted Ones

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

Jane had learned so much in the month that she had been at the school. The Professor had spent the first month focusing on mutations, what they were, what may have caused them, and how they manifested themselves. Havoc and Banshee focused on the physical training. Hank focused on weapons, engineering, and technology.

Jane was relieved when she would finally start training to use her abilities. She could handle the physical training, after all, she was part of the US Army, and she was no stranger to rigorous physical expectations. She was glad yet nervous when the Professor had scheduled individual sessions where he would learn about the powers of each candidate, how the mutations had manifested themselves, and what the extent and limitations were. So they could be tested, stretched to the limits, and enhanced to turn human beings into instruments of peace and, if needed, weapons of war. She felt that, finally, she could learn to understand why she was chosen, why she was here, and what was hoped for her as one of the X-Men.

The initial sessions took place in his office. She felt strangely young when she walked in and found him seated behind his desk. He invited her to sit in one of the chairs in front of his desk and she sat down, nervous about what was about to come. Jane noticed that the Professor appeared calm, and was smiling at her.

"Hello, Jane," he greeted her. "Are you ready to begin?"

She nodded, "Yes, Professor."

"I noticed when you first met everyone that you seemed...nervous. Like you wondered why I brought you here."

She swallowed. He had known. "All of them can do things with energy, or do things I could never even imagine. I seem so... pointless when you have people who can blast things, or control things."

He gave a small smile and wheeled himself from behind his desk and placed himself next to Jane's chair, "Jane, like I told you in the training room, you have no idea what you are capable of. Maybe you do not have the aggressive powers they do, but did you ever imagine that they might want your power? Your power is not weak. It may be the strongest I have on my team."

Jane looked down at her hands, "Compared to energy blasts, supersonic sounds, or telepathy? Yes, it's pointless. Or feels like it."

He reached over and placed his hand on hers. Jane felt her pulse race. She could hear her heart beat in her ears and wondered if he could hear it, too. He looked into her eyes and his face grew serious, "There are many soldiers in Vietnam who would pick your power to help them over the ability to create energy blasts. How many of the soldiers you met would feel the same? Aggression has its uses, and so does your power. If I thought your powers were pointless, I would not have pulled you from the US Army and brought you here. I need you, Jane. I need what you can bring to the X-Men. Now the first step in your training is to be confident that your power is important and vital! You can't do this by comparing yourself to everyone else. The X-Men is not about competition between mutants but cooperation, how different abilities can work together. It's not a contest."

She took a deep breath and smiled, "Yes, Professor."

"The next step is to understand that you really have only begun to realize what you can do. I will teach you how to control it to where it will not hurt you while you heal or relieve pain. That will be the first thing we will focus on. Once you master that, we will go to the next step. Right now, we start small."

Charles took a piece of paper from his desk. Jane wondered what he had in mind. She winced when she watched him give himself a papercut between his thumb and forefinger. He laughed as he noticed her expression. "Wow," he commented. "You haven't even touched me yet and you feel my pain! Now, let's start at the beginning. A small scratch. Use your power and make it go away."

Jane touched his hand with the cut, closed her eyes, and concentrated. She was determined to take the cut away from him and she focused on the cut, on his hand, and making it go away. She forgot to focus on keeping the cut from appearing on her and did not realize it until it was too late. She winced and pulled her hand away. The paper-cut was gone from Charles' hand and now it appeared in hers. She held up her hand to examine it, disappointed. She did better with more severe injuries in Vietnam. "I didn't focus well enough," she apologized.

"It's alright," he reassured her. "It's your first day, I expect a little nervousness. I am going to train you to not only get rid of my cut, but to not get the cut yourself. Are you ready?"

He cut himself again.

"How many times do you plan to do that to yourself?"

He chuckled, "Until you learn how to stop doing it to yourself. Ready? This time, try to absorb the pain and the cut and tell your body to not let it in. Focus. Your mind is wandering too much right now, but once you get comfortable, you'll be able to do this."

Jane laughed nervously as Charles cut himself again. She tried again to absorb it but it showed up on her hand. She sighed in frustration as it appeared. Charles looked at her reassuringly and cut his hand again. And again. And again. Jane became increasingly frustrated. She couldn't figure out why she was failing. How was this any worse than what she dealt with in Vietnam? Papercuts should be nothing to her. She was afraid she was letting the Professor down. He seemed to take it in stride.

"You are entirely too nervous," he observed. Let me try something else..." He took an envelope and Jane wondered what was going through his mind. She stared in horror as he licked the envelope and cut his tongue. He laughed and stuck it out. "Grab it," he told her.

She grabbed his tongue and started laughing uncontrollably at how ridiculous she must have looked. "I'm supposed to focus better with that?"

He tried to tell her to "Keep trying" but with his tongue in his grip and his laughing too hard, she had to let go.

"Your tongue? Professor, you can't be serious!"

"You were getting entirely too frustrated, I had to make you laugh! I see that it worked! Now, let's try this again now that you're a bit more relaxed! You need to find a point of serenity to control your powers. Think of something that makes you feel calm and try again," he told her. "It can be a memory, a daydream, whatever you need to feel calm."

Jane took a deep breath and closed her eyes as she reflected on a thought. What is a point of serenity for me, she wondered. She opened her eyes briefly and looked at Charles who was gazing at her intently. He is so handsome, she thought. She found herself imagining kissing him. She had no idea where the thought came from, but she felt calm, serene.

Charles noticed the serenity in her face and gave himself another paper-cut on his hand. "It appears you are at that point. Now lock in on that image and try again..."

Jane was ready to try again. She thought about the kiss and she touched his hand. She thought about healing him, only healing him, rather than feeling his pain. She lifted her hand to find that the cut was there on her hand, but barely. Her face lit up. Progress!

Charles beamed, "Look at that! Soon, you'll be able to not only block that, but block bigger wounds as well! Right now, you only take the edge off the pain of larger wounds, but by the time you finish training... look at your hand now."

Jane examined her hand and as she stared at it, the cut faded entirely. Charles beamed with pride, "You are only at the beginning of what you will be capable of doing. I want you to become confident in your abilities. Whatever you were thinking about this last time, keep doing it. It'll be your key to unlocking your powers."

Jane felt her face flush. She was relieved he did not try to read her mind. She was not sure if he would have welcomed what she was envisioning.