>>"I ran away a bit after my mutation appeared. I felt unsafe so I left. Since it was a foster home I was more afraid of, heh, being handed over to some government goons than being disowned. It's kinda silly looking back on it. But yeah, I hoofed it from Idaho to here for no particular reason. Just ended up going east this whole time."

It was never easy or simple, was it. Gemma sipped her coffee and listened to the boy's story. It was pretty standard, as far as mutant teens went, and at least this kid was not pointing a gun at her back. That had happened in the past.

"So, is there someone looking for you?" she asked. She had long learned that it was best to ask these questions directly "Because if they are, it's usually better to take care of these things directly. You are free to stay here. Heck, in fact most authorities are happy every time we take the mutant kids over from people who are freaked out by them. But it's better do it clean and legal, instead of eventually turning the whole thing into a legal mess."

"So, is there someone looking for you? Because if they are, it's usually better to take care of these things directly. You are free to stay here. Heck, in fact most authorities are happy every time we take the mutant kids over from people who are freaked out by them. But it's better do it clean and legal, instead of eventually turning the whole thing into a legal mess."

He frowned and shook his head. "Unlikely, it's been three years. They probably assume I'm dead. The likelihood of a missing child surviving dwindles to the single digits after 72 hours after all. So they have no reason to think even I made it this far." He shoved the eggs about in the pan, making sure they didn't burn, before turning off the stove and putting a serving on each plate. "But I guess your right. The paperwork should be taken care of at least."

He put the pan and the spatula that he had been using for the eggs in the sink, then grabbed forks and knives out of a drawer. "Man, they're gonna be in for a surprise. Tada, totally not dead and totally a mutant." Without thinking he picked up the plates and stepped towards her. The second he was in her aura it was like all the connections in his head just snapped and every construct in the room turned to dust. The experience was so jarring that it took everything he had to just not drop the plates.

He took a breath and stepped back, out of her radius, feeling relieved when the sensation mostly left. "Holy crap..." He blinked several times, trying to evaluate what just happened. It was like the world had suddenly become very muffled and every small voice he associated with his constructs had been silenced. Like someone had turned off all the machines in his head, the white noise that he had grown so used to that it had become a comfort to him, just gone. It wasn't painful, no, just...lonely, very, very, lonely.

>>"Unlikely, it's been three years. They probably assume I'm dead. The likelihood of a missing child surviving dwindles to the single digits after 72 hours after all. So they have no reason to think even I made it this far. But I guess your right. The paperwork should be taken care of at least... Man, they're gonna be in for a surprise. Tada, totally not dead and totally a mutant."

"I am sure they will be relieved" Gemma noted, relieved herself that he did not put up a fight about revisiting the whole nightmare of the system and the legalities that had to go with it. She was prepared to talk him into it, but he took it easier than expected. "It will be a case they can close, if nothing else."

There were entirely too many open cases involving mutant kids.

She saw Alex take a few steps towards her when he staggered.

>>"Holy crap..."

Gemma reacted instantly, stepping back away from him and drawing her aura with her. She noticed the animals falling into dust around them (that was a lot of dust). Apparently that was not the only effect she had on his powers; he looked confused.

"I'm so sorry" she said "Why don't you take your plate to the other end of the table, and I'll take mine here. That should be enough space for your powers. Sorry, I should have been more specific about the distance."

"I am sure they will be relieved. It will be a case they can close, if nothing else."

He almost laughed at the thought. As if Mrs.Mable would feel anything but relief that the mutant, even if she hadn't known at the time, had run away from her rather than stay and cause trouble. He had been the weird one after all. All that time spent alone, spent practicing his mutation and subsequently passing out in fields and the like, wasn't like he was well liked. He only didn't fight the idea that they would know after all this time was because he was very nearly an adult. Two more years and he'd be home free, plus he was old enough to get himself emancipated as a minor if it came to that.

He was no longer afraid of who he was or what other people might have thought of that.

"I'm so sorry. Why don't you take your plate to the other end of the table, and I'll take mine here. That should be enough space for your powers. Sorry, I should have been more specific about the distance."

He shook his head. "It's alright. I should have remember in the first place." Setting one of the plates down for her, he went and sat at his own end of the table. "It startled me more than anything. I've never really had my powers forced off like that."

>>"It's alright. I should have remember in the first place. It startled me more than anything. I've never really had my powers forced off like that."

"It's always confusing at first" Gemma nodded as she sat down too "And depending on one's powers, it can be dangerous too. No one is ever sure what is going to happen to them once their power is shut off. There are people in the Mansion who simply go blind or deaf around me. I try to give people space so it doesn't happen unless they want it to."

She sipped her coffee and took a bite of the food, which turned out to be quite delicious.

"Sometimes someone seeks me out because they want a break from their powers. I am always happy to oblige if they want to take a nap in my office or go for a walk while in my aura. It is a thing that has both negative and positive aspects. Much like most mutant powers."

"It's always confusing at first. And depending on one's powers, it can be dangerous too. No one is ever sure what is going to happen to them once their power is shut off. There are people in the Mansion who simply go blind or deaf around me. I try to give people space so it doesn't happen unless they want it to."

He ate silently, taking in this information. He had never met a person who's mere presence could just switch off powers. Part of him was scared of it, the first impression had been sudden after all. But then there was the analytical side of him, wanting to test what more it would do to him. He was curious.

"Sometimes someone seeks me out because they want a break from their powers. I am always happy to oblige if they want to take a nap in my office or go for a walk while in my aura. It is a thing that has both negative and positive aspects. Much like most mutant powers."

He chewed slowly, thoughts rolling through his head. He wondered what that could mean for those with physical mutations. Would it make them "normal"? Or was it not that strong? If two of these auras interacted would the radius widen? Or simply get stronger? What would it mean for someone like him, whose mutation wasn't exactly always on but was a strong component of himself? Would it change capability? Would it change personalities? Well first thing was first, there was someone with a cancellation aura right in front of him, why not test it. "I wanna try it again, if that's okay." He murmured this standing and walking slowly to her.

He stood at the edge of her aura, knowing that might be like stepping into freezing water, he hesitated. Slowly he took a step in and the effect was immediate. Again the white noise of his brain was dulled, almost non-existent. It wasn't as jolting as it had been before, with his constructs not having physical bodies. But he could no longer hear their minds. Everything felt...softer, quieter, not as connected as before. Empty and lonely, but entirely constricting. He blinked, face pinched with discomfort, rubbing his forehead. He couldn't quite think of the words.

In fact it was sort of hard to think at all. "Is this what a normal brain feels like?"he murmured more to himself than to Miss T. He was so used to the divisions brought by his constructs, accessing memories that weren't exactly his. What that the source of the blurriness? If he was cut off from his constructs was he cut off from parts of his own brain? That...didn't make sense, right? He stepped back out of the aura, a little afraid it might do some sort of long term damage.

>>"I wanna try it again, if that's okay."

"Sure" Gemma nodded, momentarily leaving her breakfast untouched and watching to see what happened. Alex found the edge of her aura and stepped in, with a cautious and a little dazed expression on his face. She wondered what it felt like. Some people had described it before as plunging into cold water, or simply switching off the lights.

>>"Is this what a normal brain feels like?"

"I couldn't tell" Gemma chuckled, but she was still ready to jump back if he started to sway or faint "I assume your powers affect your brain somehow? Do you communicate... with the animals you make?"

Some mutations were physical; but a surprising amounts of seemingly easy mutations has mental components, and since they were a lot less obvious, people did not pay as much attention to them as they should have.

"I couldn't tell...I assume your powers affect your brain somehow? Do you communicate... with the animals you make?"

Alex sat down, just outside of her aura, waiting for the sensation to wear off and for everything to return to normal. He nodded a little, "Yeah, kind of. More than I thought I guess. I mean I do communicate with them, I can talk to them in my head when they have bodies, see what they see, feel what they feel, everything without ever having to lift a finger. But... I dunno, it's like when I'm in the aura all of that just goes away. I feel alone and empty and there was this weird pressure on my brain."

He was silent for a bit, attempting to sort the slue of new information. However not a lot of it was making sense. Was he simply not himself without his constructs? Were they taking parts of his mind away from him? That would be cause for concern. He might have to stop using his constructs if that was the case. Could he even manage that?

>>"Yeah, kind of. More than I thought I guess. I mean I do communicate with them, I can talk to them in my head when they have bodies, see what they see, feel what they feel, everything without ever having to lift a finger. But... I dunno, it's like when I'm in the aura all of that just goes away. I feel alone and empty and there was this weird pressure on my brain."

Gemma nodded, committing the details he shared about his powers to memory. The more she knew about the students the better she could manage things around the Mansion, and her aura around them.

"You seem to have a very complex power" she noted "You don't only create these creatures, but also... have a mental link with them. That's impressive."

She took another bite of the delicious breakfast, and sipped some coffee.

"So, is there anything I can tell you? If you have questions about the Mansion, the school, life here... you know. You can ask anything. It's my job to help out."

"You seem to have a very complex power. You don't only create these creatures, but also... have a mental link with them. That's impressive."

Impressive and kind of annoying. There were times when he honestly wished he didn't. Most of those times it was because his constructs met a rather gruesome end but that beside the point. Complex powers made for complex systems that he was still trying to figure out. He ate his breakfast slowly, his appetite slightly nullified by the brain pressure from earlier.

"So, is there anything I can tell you? If you have questions about the Mansion, the school, life here... you know. You can ask anything. It's my job to help out."

He thought about it a moment, shoving the eggs about into a slightly malformed square. "Well, school is starting soon right? I'm about three years behind but I wanna catch up and graduate with people my age. So I'd like to know if it's possible to accomplish that."he said this not looking at her, "Also, about the whole informing folks I'm no longer missing, how's that going to go down? I mean I guess I'm okay with them finding out, nothing they can do about it. But I'm still a minor with no guardian, so how am I going to stay?"

>>"Well, school is starting soon right? I'm about three years behind but I wanna catch up and graduate with people my age. So I'd like to know if it's possible to accomplish that."

Gemma was almost surprised at the question. She expected a lot of things from the kids that moved into the Mansion, but most of those things revolved around power control, house rules, and the use of the Danger Room. So much so that sometimes she forgot for a minute that Xavier's was still a school.

"We can definitely work on that." she nodded with a smile.

>>"Also, about the whole informing folks I'm no longer missing, how's that going to go down? I mean I guess I'm okay with them finding out, nothing they can do about it. But I'm still a minor with no guardian, so how am I going to stay?"

"We will also work on that" Gemma said, sipping more coffee "Here is what I can tell you up front. One: It has to be all legal. It is a pain to go through the legal channels without shortcuts, but on the long run, especially in the case of mutant kids, it is the only way to go. If you plan on moving in and finishing school here, the paperwork has to be right. Two..." she sipped coffee again "... I can also tell you that it shouldn't be a problem. We are one of very few places specialized in being a safe haven for gifted students. No one is going to make serious efforts to stop you from staying here. Unless there are other circumstances."

There were always a lot of those.

"So, if there is something... anything important that I should know before we start the whole shebang, you should tell me as soon as possible."

"Two... I can also tell you that it shouldn't be a problem. We are one of very few places specialized in being a safe haven for gifted students. No one is going to make serious efforts to stop you from staying here. Unless there are other circumstances... So, if there is something... anything important that I should know before we start the whole shebang, you should tell me as soon as possible."

He listened, frowning at the mention of telling her the important things. There were a lot of things that happened from point A to point B. Which ones were important to this instance was, in his opinion, debatable. Not like he was ever caught stealing, but that didn't mean he never stole for instance. And those were the small moments. There were bigger things too. Things that might have consequences if anybody ever found out. So there it was, his choice, to tell or not to tell.

He sipped his own coffee, hoping to seem nonchalant behind the mug. It wasn't really working. "What would you deem important?"he asked carefully. He wasn't looking at her, instead staring into his coffee mug, which at this point was half empty. He felt his gut twist in a knot, guilt burning at his ears. He'd rather not think of the past. Rather not face it even more. There were things that were just better left buried.

>>"What would you deem important?"

He seemed like he did not want to talk about the past. That was normal, especially in cases like his. Gemma had no doubt that he had gotten into trouble since he had left the system, and was not surprised to see he was reluctant to reveal the details.

"Anything that they could bring up against you moving in here." Gemma clarified "Anything that you want me to find out from you before I hear it from someone else. Anything that could cause trouble with the paperwork that I should know about. I'll leave it up to you, really... but it's usually better to be able to prepare for things ahead of time than trying to deal with them when they jump out."

She finished her coffee and set the mug down on the table.

"As of now, you are registered as a Mansion resident. That means you can talk to me as a school counselor. I'll try my best to keep everything as confidential during the process as possible. I know you have no reason to trust me right away, but I wanted to say all this as soon as possible, so you can think about it."

"As of now, you are registered as a Mansion resident. That means you can talk to me as a school counselor. I'll try my best to keep everything as confidential during the process as possible. I know you have no reason to trust me right away, but I wanted to say all this as soon as possible, so you can think about it."

Nodding, he considered his options. Right now he could confess everything and just deal with the consequences, though he was in no rush to do that. He could leave tonight and avoid it completely. But that would mean loosing the comfort of an actual house. Or he could wait it out, hope that they never run into each other again and if they do he could have some lies prepared. Yeah that seemed like the best options.

"I'll think about it." He sipped his coffee, hoping to leave it at that. If he could walk away from the table and not deal with the past coming back to bite him in the ass that'd be great.

*One Week later*

Gemma sat back in her chair and rubbed her temples. Getting the paperwork started on Alex's case was proving to be quite difficult. Of course nothing was ever simple when it came to teens at risk - especially mutant teens that did not fit any form or template - but Alex being dead to the system did not help one bit. Turns out she first had to prove Alex was alive, and was who he said he was, before they could do anything about registering him as a Mansion resident.

Gemma picked up her coffee mug, noted that it was empty, and stood up to make a second batch. She was waiting for Alex to show up; she knew he would come eventually, he promised to think about what she had asked him, and he seemed like a reliable kid, runaway or not. She hoped it would all work out. It needed to work out, for so many reasons.