Date: Wed, 16 Mar 2011 22:15:19 -0400
From: J D <jdangel87@hotmail.ca>
Subject: A Man, a Mutant, an Empath Chapters 1-4

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction and has no bearing on any people or
characters mentioned within. With the exception of characters I have
created the rest are trademarks of Marvel Inc. The scenes depicted are also
fictitious and are not based in any realistic instance. This story may
contain adult situations and may only be suitable for adults over the age
of 18 or 21 depending on your area of residence. Please respect these laws.

Chapter 1

Inside a classroom stands a teacher and a student. The young guy has his
arms crossed over his long t-shirt and a determined expression lines his
face. The teacher seems to be offering advice, not forcefully, not with any
sign of disapproval, but with a calm manner. The gestures he makes slow and
part of a relaxed rhythm. Within seconds the student uncrosses his arms, in
a full minute he's speaking a few words in response. In five minutes he's
pouring his heart out to his teacher who nods intermittently. By the end of
ten minutes the boy, wiping tears from his eyes is waving from the door, an
expression of relaxed resolve on his face before he heads out into the
halls. The teacher heads around his desk, piled with papers to grade, and
eases into his chair. As the final bell rings in the high school he begins
reading over a report comparing Hamlet to the common man of today.

	This is where our story shifts and becomes a little different than
most stories you might read. Instead of following the tale of the student,
through the trials of puberty, of finding his place in the world and how to
build steady relationships, we instead look towards this seemingly
compassionate teacher. That teacher is me. My name is Jason Danvers. A man
closer to 6 ft than 5 ft 11" I'm not stocky but not slim either. Instead I
hold a fairly well balanced body with strong shoulders and waist, tight abs
and slender muscled legs. I have dark brown hair with sandy highlights, my
eyes are a curious hazel; gold and green chips inside brown iris'. I'm just
shy of 25, single, and one of the youngest teachers able to get a permanent
position at a high school so early in my career. Not exactly what you'd
expect to be an interesting story, I know. However, let me assure you no
matter how hard I try, my life is far from ordinary. I am a mutant, and to
top it off, a gay mutant. Now before you jump at me saying "Hey wait a
minute! Gays are accepted in Canada! You can even get married if you want
to!" Let me explain. Yes, gays are legally accepted by the government and
most people. However, there are still a great many people whose minds have
yet to be opened. That boy you just saw me talking to, he's gay and his
parents don't know. His father spends a fortune in anti-gay propaganda,
trying to defeat gay marriage laws. The problem is, so many people think
being gay is a non-issue now so they stopped talking about it. Now a new
silence is being placed around us. A silence made up of a different kind of
ignorance. Made up of false beliefs that the issue has been addressed, the
people have spoken and now everything will be okay. Sadly, that's not the
kind of world we live in. Change doesn't happen so fast.

	  The door to my classroom opens, causing me to stir from these
brooding thoughts and meet the eyes of someone I hadn't expected. Jean-Paul
Beaubier. Codenamed Northstar and a part of Alpha-flight. More to the
point, my ex-boyfriend. The air seemed to crackle as we sized each other
up, reliving our own personal memories and searching for a way to begin. I
chose to start the ball rolling. "You're looking good JP. What brings you
all the way t-" "Its Jeanne-Marie. She needs you. It's bad this time."

	JP was never too into words, I used to force him to read to me,
just so I could hear his smooth French-Canadian accent. However, on this
occasion I could tell why he didn't explain further. Jeanne-Marie was JP's
sister and also a part of Alpha-flight. However, she suffered from a mental
condition: disassociative identity disorder. Also known as multiple
personality disorder. I immediately stood, grabbing my still slightly new
brief case from next to my chair, piling in papers I needed to read and
zipping up the black leather case. While pulling on my jacket, it was mid
spring now and the evenings were still chilly, I asked him, "How long till
we get to her?"  JP shrugged, "An hour tops."  "Good."

	I strode out past him into the hall, the soft scent of his cologne
wafting in my nostrils, that, coupled with my gift, brought me back to the
last time we made love. Tousled black hair, sweaty lower back causing my
fingers to slip as I held him up and- enough. I shook the thoughts from my
head, striding faster towards the doors at the end of the hall. Not that I
could out walk someone whose super fast, but I needed to keep myself in the
moment. The doors shut with a loud metal clank behind us. I was just glad
it was a Friday. Though I worried about my student surviving this week end,
I knew Jeanne-Marie needed me more.

Chapter 2: Personal History

I think I got ahead of myself earlier. I am known on occasion to give into
rants about how `the world would be a better place if.' I guess the
discussion with my student had me going still. You're probably wondering
why JP came to get me, why a simple teacher can help someone suffering from
multiple personality disorder. It's because of my mutant ability,
obviously. I'm known as a telempath with some telepathic ability. I sense
-and to some degree experience- the thoughts and feelings of other
people. This also allows me to manipulate them: draw out the truth, know
what buttons to push, etc. I've never pushed my psionic abilities so I
can`t say for sure what exactly I`m capable of. You may find that odd but I
just never wanted to make myself a target. By the time my abilities were
manifesting, people such as Magneto were well into abducting mutants, and
there were others out there looking for us who would do far worse than
coerce us into being part of an army. Plus it was a confusing time; I
didn't even know for sure I was a mutant. All I knew was I had the emotions
of a manic depressant, I'd have the highest of highs and the lowest of
lows. I thought maybe I was simply psychic. I got into witch craft and
spiritualism which helped. The training that meditation and chanting
offered me was probably what kept me alive and functioning through high
school. However, it was experience that truly taught me how to survive. I
remember when I was 17 and a kid at my high school died. I was over run
with raw feeling. It was all I could do to get home. I laid in the bath tub
for over two hours, trying to warm up from the coldness inside me. When I
finally crawled out, I laid for half the night on my bedroom floor,
starring into darkness; which was a hell of a lot brighter than what was
going on inside me. I try not to linger on those memories, though they made
me stronger; pushed my limits for emotional exposure to where they are
today, it still can draw me too deep into myself. Suffice to say, the road
was long and hard.  Shaking myself from my thoughts I looked up to see a
blur of trees before looking down to the new essay I was about to start
marking.

	"In mordern times a person can be seen as being Hamlet in that they
are haunted by the past while watching the horrible present corrupt any
foreseeable future."

	Flicking my green pen over the spelling mistake in `modern' I
reread my student's sentence before carefully continuing. So far they have
done a fairly good job at making a concise opening statement but I was
worried they may have limited themselves with such an encompassing remark,
nothing left to uncover so to speak. I was seated in a dark brown Cadillac,
the wide seat making it comfortable for me to stretch out and mark papers
while JP drove. I could tell he was on edge, even if his aggressive driving
wasn't a sign, my gift would have tipped me off. I knew though with his
enhanced reaction time I was in no danger so I chose to relax.  "So, still
pretending to be a teacher?"

	My shoulders tensed. Clearly I had allowed myself to relax too much
because I hadn't seen that coming. I said as coolly as possible, "The
Bachelor of Education degree hanging up in my office would seem to indicate
I'm not pretending."

	Welcome to the heart of our issues and one of the main reasons we
broke up. JP felt I was special, that I had more to offer the world than
being a simple high school teacher. Though in theory that is very sweet,
his encouragement didn't stop there. His encouragement turned to pressure,
to join Alpha flight or one of Department H's other teams. When I
questioned him over the issue I found out my life seemed too simple to
him. It broke my heart to see my loving partner look down so much on what I
had dreamt as a wonderful life. With that one comment he had brought it all
back up. Damn you JP.

Chapter 3: Jeanne-Marie's Illness

	The silence crackled as we chaffed inside our own inner turmoil. It
was with a great deal of relief when we turned onto a gravel road which
lead towards a house I couldn't see clearly through the trees. I started
packing my things back up. Mentally I tried to prepare myself for what laid
within. The tension in JP expanded through out the car but my mental
barrier held true. The house we came to was obviously new since the trees
in the front yard were merely yearlings but it was styled in a Victorian
gothic with sharp peaks, over done gables and peaked upper windows. There
was even a front porch with a swing. I liked it. What I didn't like however
were the waves of different emotional signatures I was receiving. I eyed JP
suspiciously.

	Catching my look he replied scornfully, "You didn't expect me to
leave her alone did you? We're a team, we take care of our own."

	I was glad he didn't end that with something like `and you'd know
if you joined us.' At the same time, I knew it had been at the tip of his
tongue. One of the worst parts about being psionic is you can't really get
mad at what people think but not say. Its considered your own damn fault
for hearing what wasn't said. I took a deep breath and got out of the car
after it was parked next to a blue jeep and a red car that looked fast and
European. Suddenly I caught my breath, another signature was approaching
from the woods. I could tell who it was from the heightened senses, the
deeply aggressive nature and the gaps in thought longing to be
reconnected. "Wolverine..."

	I didn't bother to raise my voice, I knew he would hear me. The
grunt from the darkness just outside the light from the windows was one of
gruff acknowledgement. It's not that I didn't like Wolverine, he was as
noble as he was savage. Plus who could resist those bulging arms? My issues
were that 1. Jeanne-Marie always seemed to have more trouble when he was
around and 2. If he was here that meant there was a chance I'd get on
Xavier's radar. I knew the more people who knew about my gift meant less of
a chance I'd have of keeping my semi normal life.

	JP understood what was going through my head. [He was part of the
mission. He`s not here for you and he`s staying outside so he doesn`t upset
Jeanne-Marie.]

	My face probably registered my shock, never had JP focused a
thought my way in order for me to pick it up. It was an odd feeling, like
suddenly stumbling on a clear radio station when before all you heard was
static and bits of meaning you could string together. I shook myself from
my thoughts and headed up the stairs, with a blur, JP was in front of me
opening the door. The moment I walked over the door step I felt a wave of
fluctuating mental structures. Setting my briefcase and jacket on a chair
in the foyer I walked across the grey tile towards the wooden floor boards
of the living room. The light came from lamps on tables set next to couches
and a love seat. Two wood rocking chairs were across from the entrance,
sitting in front of a cold fire place. There were no pictures on the mantel
and the only ones hanging were the prints of flowers which have been
massively reproduced and go in new homes before they are truly lived in. I
finally let my eyes settle on Jeanne-Marie. Her codename was Aurora but I
normally just called her Marie.  Though her hair was black as her brothers
hers was looking dishevelled, left to go wildly about her face. Clearly the
wild side of her personality was in charge.  I could feel the conflicted
energy rippling through her person, mute evidence expressed by her
trembling fingers which held a pen while she tried to do a word search.  On
a closer look I found she wasn't really doing the word search but letting
the pen move and create erratic lines. Settling myself on the couch across
from her I focused on calm lassitude, the feeling enveloped me and with
further concentration expanded outward filling the room. The people behind
me at the entryway all relaxed, their own emotions now muted by my
influence. Jeanne-Marie took a steadying breath, her hand now moving in
slower loops, creating small patterns. This was a good beginning
sign. "Hello, Marie. It's good to see you again." I said with a practiced
calm.

Chapter 4: An Evening of Surprises

	Through out the next half hour Marie and I talked. I found out that
Marie had been living a normal life much like me for the past few months
but her desire for adventure kept getting in the way. She wanted to be
Aurora again. The resulting repression of those desires coupled with the
stress of trying to work things out with a male caller became too much. The
extroverted side over took Marie and she had went on the offensive,
stopping J-walkers, muggers, arsonists, many of whom were innocent but in
Marie's warped mind had been guilty of crime. Luckily there were no
fatalities. The calm influence I held led her to clearer thinking, it was
as if my mind was sewing an emotional patchwork quilt that had been torn
and now needed fixing. As my mild questions about her ideas on morality and
justice for law breakers forced her into a continual internal struggle, I
was simultaneously building the path for her to walk which I knew was very
close to Marie's personal beliefs when she was well. Finally, she grew
tired so JP and I walked her upstairs to bed, promising that we'd both be
there in the morning.

	After checking my messages at home I slowly ambled up the stairs
again to the bedroom JP had indicated was mine. Opening the door I found
the very same person on the bed with his hands clasped behind his head. He
was nude. I hungrily peered at his hard body, his muscled legs spread
teasingly, the rise and fall of his wash board abs as he breathed as calmly
as if we were still a couple and this was still a natural occurrence. I was
painfully aware of my erection tenting my grey suit pants. I hadn't had sex
in a good 10 months. I was never into one night stands, I relied heavily on
intimacy and those kinds of guys never got it; but JP knew. JP knew far too
well. God damn you JP.

	"Like what you see bebee?" JP's voice was soft, a secretive naughty
whisper tight with sexual desire which flooded my senses like blood in
shark infested water.

	Just to provoke me further JP rolled on to his sinewy stomach to
expose his tight round rump. The dark tan of his back ending at the very
edge of modesty, the softer white skin of his tight back end was
unblemished, the small dimples above each thigh giving it a juicy, swollen
look that I could never really resist. Easing over to the bed I sat down
next to him, his excitement went up another notch as he thought he had
me. To be honest I couldn't tell if he had me or I him. My hand hovered
over his back, from neck to tail bone before meeting the smooth skin in a
familiar caress. Traveling over the curve while fingers slipped into the
cleft of soft sensitive skin. Pins and needles of pleasure showered over my
mind as I heard JP give a soft sigh.

	"So you're now paying me with sex for my services?"

	Where the fuck had that come from? I knew where. That small place
of resentment that this reminder of our old relationship brought up. There
was a sensation of coldness engulfing and removing all connection to me, I
hated my gift when it came to stuff like this. How can you be honest with a
loved one if you feel the damage you do in being honest? Yet another issue
we had.

	In a series of blurs and air shifts JP was pulling on his pants and
his shirt hung off his shoulders. "Fine... you don't want to-fine."

	Suddenly, from somewhere outside I felt the narrowing of a mind in
intense focus, of aggressive intent. This sensation quickly spread to other
individuals whose energy signature hit me with a shiver. The broken
sentences I gleaned in a moment told me all I needed to know. I tried to
process the information. In another moment I felt Wolverines senses pick up
and grow territorial. I knew the members of Alpha Flight who were
there. Shaman, Snowbird and Sasquatch were sleeping and I knew if they
weren't up now, it would be too late for their reaction time to make up for
the trained soldiers already approaching the doors and windows. The look I
gave JP was enough to silence him, his eyes glanced from side to side as he
felt the tension expand for a completely different reason.

	"You need to wake them." He whispered quickly, his costume already
half on as he whisked to the door then down the stairs. Clearly his faster
reflexes allowed him to take in and process all kinds of situations
quicker. That gave me an idea. What if I sped up the sleeping members
reaction time? Where would I get the level of concentration they'd need to
have a fighting chance? Wait, I could use the invading forces attitude
against them! I heard a window smash and suddenly the aggressive force of
energy blazed like a gas can thrown in a bonfire. Concentrating, I drew
this energy and focus into myself while simultaneously reaching out,
flowing beyond walls and ceiling to the sleeping members who were now in
danger. Touching their resting minds I released the emotional framework I
had absorbed with a white hot command.

[Wake up!]

	I felt and heard the sudden revved shift of every ones minds as I
commanded their mind to shift from REM to not just fully awake, but
enhanced, psyched up wakefulness. The kind you get from anticipation, and
fear for life. In my minds eye I saw Sasquatch shift to his beast form and
the roar he let out sent fear as well as indecision through the invading
forces. That was quickly supplanted by the urge to meet the challenge and
not show fear. Snowbird shifted as well, to the form of a large white wolf,
the enhanced senses better for this kind of unplanned fight. I felt a blur
of familiar go through my senses. Aurora was back up and ready to fight. I
scanned her with some worry only to find that she was still holding herself
together but another talk would be warranted for later.

	The house rang with fighting, stun guns were shot, flash bombs were
lighting up the downstairs, shouts and the occasional scream echoed up the
stairs or through the floor. I stood in my room, a bit of a tension
headache starting to hammer in my head as loud as my heart was in my
chest. I hated this sensation. It was as if my brain had been stretched
like a rubbed band and when it was let go it snapped together inside my
skull vibrating with the collision it had with itself. While rubbing my
temples I kept enough of an outward awareness to tell how things were
going. Wolverine was being over whelmed with the constant tranquilizer
being pumped into him, his healing factor not being able to clear it fast
enough. I groaned with the effort as I sent a shock of wakefulness his way,
I felt it light him up long enough so that he could find cover and give
himself a chance to recover. The resulting throb in my skull felt like my
brain tried to drop kick my skull. Nausea fell over me and I sank heavily
onto the bed.  Taking slow breaths I sent another radar pass over the
area. Wolverine was about to go back to work on the soldiers who now had a
foot hold at the back door connected to the kitchen. Snowbird was outside
and taking out the perimeter while also trying to catch intelligence from
the leader who held back with a small contingent of soldiers. Sasquach was
holding the main foyer, the front porch already been over run but it looked
like he was pushing them back. Flashes of JP and Marie told me they were
running the rest of the house to put out fires, take care of any flanking
positions which were trying to be established by sneaking in windows
etc. The attacking force was certainly shrinking as more of them collapsed
in injury or unconsciousness. I hadn't felt a death chime yet which I was
shocked about, Wolverine's claws aren't exactly life-friendly. Neither was
Sasquach in his bestial form either.
	 By now my vision was swimming with auras that blurred the very
center of my sight. I could tell however, there was someone standing in the
doorframe. With some alarm I realized I didn't recognize them. It was a
soldier who somehow made it past Sasquach. I felt more than saw him train
his stun rifle at me. After the fight he had to get in here I couldn't
really begrudge him not taking chances. I was so exhausted from today, I
wasn't sure if I really had anything left to defend myself with. I fought
through the pain wracking my skull to find some clarity, my mind went to my
basic training with how to deal with unruly students. Stay calm, be
friendly but assertive. Take an interest with the person. Think before you
act. Stall for time. If you see an opportunity only take it if the
situation is dire. With a shuddering breath I put a confident smile on my
face.

"Hi there. Not going very well for your guys out there eh?"

	I felt the ripple of indecision as he took a step into the
room. Still completely confident with his weapon trained on me. His
alertness was still leaning toward shoot rather than speak. I had to try
again.

"Trust me, my head is killing me right now. You really have nothing to fear
from me. Say, you wouldn't have any advil on you by any chance?"

"Are you a prisoner, or one of them?"

	Well, I got him to say something. I hesitated, running through my
options.

"Neither. Just a friend helping one of them out." That was close enough to
the truth. It would buy me time as he reasoned with himself.

	I was focused on my breathing, deep and even breaths. The headache
was starting to ease off enough so that I could think better. I didn't
attempt to use my power on him. It was too chancy to try and alter his mind
when the slightest twitch could decide if I was shot or not with that stun
rifle.

"Are you a human sympathizer or a mutant?"

	From the feelings rolling off him, I knew a rogue mutant had done
something to people he had loved. An echo of that death chime could still
be felt in him. He was holding onto them rather than letting go. Being a
soldier against mutants meant he never had to complete his revenge, he
could always carry it out again and again. Taking a deep breath, I looked
at him with compassion.

"Whoever you lost, wouldn't want you to lose your life to something as
destructive as this. Living beyond the pain, not putting yourself through
it over and over again, this is what you can do."

	I know my words struck something inside him, unfortunately he was
too well trained to let it effect him. Instead he clicked on his radio with
one hand while the other levelled his rifle at me. "Sir, we have a
confirmed psionic mutant, properties unknown. This thing must be how they
knew...It seems to have over taxed itself...Agreed, no need to take the
risk...Lethal voltage confirmed."

Clicking off the radio his hand moved to the side of the rifle, the whole
weapon hummed as a higher charge was set. I felt him confirm with himself
the identity of the mutant with me, his own way of making murder
easier. Everything was set for my death, it all seemed so final. So
completely done. There was no chance to beg for my life, to look through my
past and say good bye to those I loved. I had the general feeling of
anguish and fear coming across me when suddenly the high emotions in the
room lit up before my eyes. The soldier was lit in righteous gold and an
ugly blood red of hate. I was awash in blues and wafts of black. In a
gesture I could only describe as a push I sent all of this energy into the
guard. I think I shouted "No" or "Stop" or something. I wasn't paying
attention to that.  What I saw had me in complete awe. The energy drove
itself inside the soldier like lightning, causing him to stiffen up from
emotional and sensational over load. His eyes rolled up in his head, his
fingers stiffened to the point of popping out of joint. In the next moment
he was sprawled on the floor, his rifle tucked under his body, safely
pointed away from me.

 	The pain which wracked my brain at that point was unbearable, at
one point I'm certain I went blind. With the darkness looming into my
vision I fell across the bed in a heap, too exhausted to keep myself up any
longer. In what felt like a split second I heard voices coming towards me,
emotion rippled across my senses. Victory, satisfaction, blood lust, worry,
shock, suspicion and the suddenly a blast of fear. Fear for me. With a half
groan I realized none of these emotions were mind, I was too weak to keep
my defences up and now everything was pooling inside me. With my first
noise and movement, relief spread about me. Clearly whoever was standing
over me realized I was alive. Then something cool was pressed against my
forehead, cold shivers rippled through my skull, it felt good. "Mmm" I
groaned softly.

"He's waking up."

"Good, had he been under any longer there might have been cause to
worry. Still, it would be best if I gave him a check up when he's fully
conscious."

"What did he do to this guy? He looks like he's frozen yet he's still
breathing. His eyes aren't even adjusting to the light. He's not aware of
anything."

"Interesting. Looks like a complete neural overload of his system. I didn't
know you're old lover had it in him Jean."

"He's stronger than he looks Sasquatch, I've known that since we first
met."

"I'll take that as a compliment.." I murmured softly, wincing as the sound
of my voice broke waves of pain inside my skull. "Ow."

	Feelings of pride, love, pain, regret, and speculative
curiosity. Oh how I wish I could concentrate enough to put my guard up, the
sheer force of will to do so however made my head hurt more.

"Does any have any advil? This headache is killing me."

	I still hadn't opened my eyes, and I didn't intend to while the
light was still on. In a few moments I felt someone press two pills into my
hand, I instantly put them both in my mouth and was handed a glass of
water. I carefully tipped the glass toward me, pulling in some water I
swallowed the pills. A few drops escaped my mouth and slid down my
cheek. As the glass was lifted from my hand JP, I knew those hands
anywhere, wiped the water drops away.  "Uhm, things seem to be safe for
now. We'll leave you two alone to get some sleep. In the morning we can
decide on a few...things."

	Sasquatch was troubled but he was also curious. In fact there was a
lot of re-evaluating going on and most of it was directed towards me. I
didn't like that one bit. Either way though they all left the room, taking
the burned out guard with them. Only Jean Paul was left. He quickly turned
out the lights, refreshed my cold compress and opened a window to let the
cool night air in. He knew how I got rid of my migraines. Unfortunately he
remembered every detail. His sure hands pulled open my shirt and my pants,
gently sliding them off my body. Those hands who knew me so well, rubbed
each sore spot till I groaned in release. The headache was beginning to
fade thanks to the Advil and JP's handiwork. The images of love making were
at the top of JP's mind, slipping into mine as easily as water into a
bucket. In spite of myself I got hard. However nothing would happen
tonight. JP laid down beside me, nude as well and held me while I fell
asleep, dreams passed between us of better times. Each one tinged with
regret. It was like Hamlet and Ophelia, their love was something meant to
be but sadly events made it impossible to survive. I could only hope
neither of us ended up crazy.



Well that is the beginning! What do you all think? Constructive criticism
please, this is the first story I've written in a long time and the first I
have ever put out for people to read. I hope you like it and I will be
writing more soon! This is just the opening of the events to set the stage
so to speak; there will be more x-men favourites coming in the next few
chapters. Please feel free to email me at jdangel87@hotmail.com.