Title: Trackless

Author: Aucailly with Nadja Lee

E-mail: Aucailly@aol.com  and neh@post10.tele.dk 

English is not my native language. Please forgive me my mistakes.  

Disclaimer: “X-men” and all the characters here belong to Marvel , 20 Century

Fox and I intend no infringement, this is a piece of amateur fan fiction, and I

make no money of it.

Only the original idea contained within this work is the property of the

author. Please do not copy this story to any website or archive without

permission of the author.

Timeline: Set in Scott’s past, before he meets Xavier and tells of his life on

the street.

Summary:  Scott runs away from the orphanage and lives on the streets.

Archiving: Ask

Rating: NC- 17 for whole story

Beta by Nadja Lee

Note:

«  » Indicates thoughts

“  “  Indicates spoken words

Part 1:

 

The boy walked the streets in the not so respectable part of the city but he didn’t care, he almost belonged to these streets. So much as the holes in the asphalt, the puddles of mud and the garbage cans, he was also a part of the dirt. He was fourteen years old and today was his birthday. The night was dark and cold and while he walked, protecting himself the best that he could in his old coat, he asked himself if the cold of the night could overcome the coldness of his soul, if he still had a soul. Today was his birthday and fuck the world, he deserved a present. He smiled when he looked at the package which he carried carefully in his hands. Besides the package the only thing he owned was a backpack with the few personal objects that he possessed. He walked, walked fast, walked the fastest that he was capable of because today he didn’t want to belong to this place, to these streets. Today he wanted to just be Scott, a normal boy who could spent the night in a clean bed. Scott went on a train and sat down in a wagon which was almost empty and put his backpack on the seat besides him and took the package on his knees. He always avoided other peoples glances, always tried to ignore them, but sometimes he looked to see if he could catch the children’s glances. Some weeks ago, a baby had smiled at him, it had not been a smile without importance but a brilliant smile with warmth. A smile which gave the receiver of the smile the will to smile as well, a pure smile. He knew that he had smiled that way once, maybe like that baby he has been in the arms of his mother smiling for strange peoples without judging them or to fear them, but that  had been a long time ago and he could not even remember his mother’s face. He didn’t remember his brother’s face either. He had lost his parents in a airplane accident, in the orphanage  he lost his only brother and on the streets, he lost his innocence. Nothing could change what had happened, nothing could change what he was now. He tried to block those thoughts out of his mind. There are no point in remembering what you can’t change.

He made his way outside of the station and after some blocks on foot, he stopped before a building  built in old style. He stopped one moment to look at the clean and well taken care of facade. He had passed this way before and every time this building had won his attention. He had never thought that a hotel could look as beautiful as this building. If he had a house, it would be like this. Scott sighed and went up the few steps which lead to the entrance door.

«This will go right, this will go right» he thought, it was a request...or was it a prayer? No...his prayers were never heard, none of them, so one day he had stopped asking. He entered the lobby of the building and walked up the counter, in the way, he arranged the coat and passed the hand in his hair to seem more presentable. He was clean but his clothes were simple and he didn’t have a document to present that certainty will seem a little suspect. He approached the counter and spoke to the man which read a book on the other side.

 “Excuse me, sir. Good evening. I would like a room, please.” His voice hid his fears and sounded soft and insure. The man lifted his head and looked at the boy in front of him. He arranged the glasses which had slipped for the point of his nose and tried to study the boy’s expression a little more.

«Young, no doubt, maybe fifteen or sixteen. Thin, very thin actually, perhaps due to the growth phase. No, there is nothing to worry about from this one. He seems a normal boy, « the man thought as he studied Scott.

 “Please fill out the form. For one night only?”

“Uhmm...Yes sir, my parents will come back tomorrow and then I will go home.” Scott gave his best smile.

“Ok, do you want to pay now?”

“Sure, sir”

Scott gave the money and the form with a false name. The man studied the data a little, and it made Scott’s heart beat wildly in his chest. He wanted this so much, to be in this place for one night, even though he knew that the following day he would have to sleep in the streets if he didn’t get some good and generous customer. The man placed the paper on the counter and went back to the keys behind him.

“Room 302, boy,” he said and put the key into Scott’s hand and Scott could breathe normally again. “Thank you, sir. Uh...could I order to get a cup of coffee sent up, please?”

 “In some minutes, ok?” Scott nodded.

“Thanks and good night”.

He walked to the elevator, carrying his backpack and his package. The elevator took him to the third floor where his room was. He looked at the runner’s soft illumination and walked slowly to admire it before he reached his room. He looked at the key in his hand and with some difficulty due to the package that he carried, managed to open the door. His free hand fumbled in search of the light switch, when he reached it and the light invaded the room, he didn’t contain himself;

 “Fuck, this is beautiful”.

The room was a mansion compared to the motels of fifth category that he frequented when the money allowed it. Most of the time, though, the street was the only solution. He stood in the door of the room and looked at the bed, the two armchairs in old style placed around  a round table done in dark wood with a brilliant surface protected by glass and in the center, a delicate arrangement of flowers. To the left of the table was the entrance to the bathroom. Scott closed the door behind him and left the package on the table. He released the backpack on one of the armchairs and felt the softness of the fabric. He headed for the bathroom and open the door, the place was not very big but had the same beautiful simplicity as the rest of the room. He smiled when he turned on the shower «Hot water!». His mind began to appreciate the perfect proportion applied in the division of the rooms. It was not without reason that the building had attracted his attention. It was a small masterpiece of proportion and beauty. The beats in the door passed Scott’s mathematical evaluations. Closing the door to the bathroom, he headed to the main door. An employee with a tray brought his coffee.

“Excuse me, sir.” he said and entered and placed the tray on the table beside the package. “Good night sir.”

When the door closed, he walked to the table and began to undo the package. He kneaded the paper and took put it in a small garbage can in one of the corners of the room.

 “Anything but dirt, boy,” he said in a low voice. He returned to the table and sat down in one of the armchairs. For one moment, he adjusted himself to the comfort and sensations. In the center of the table stood the cup of coffee, a beautiful decorated cup, and the small birthday cake he had just unpacked. He looked at the objects for some time, it was so beautiful, everything he wanted for himself. He had nobody to cut the cake for him, but fuck, he never had had. In the orphanage he had lived alone because his brother had been adopted away without him, ever since, he had hoped to be chosen by a family too, but all had backed away when they had discovered the problems with his eyes and his head injury. When finally a family had shown interest in him another airplane accident had killed them and with them his opportunity of being loved again. He been very saddened my their deaths. When receiving the news of the his future parents’ death and that he would be put back in the orphanage, he had fled. He could not face the shame of returning abandoned and alone again. The scorn glances, the comments and the laughter behind his back, the others saying that he gave bad luck to everybody, saying he was ugly with his red glasses and calling him a freak. Scott shook his head trying not to remember it. He had fled almost a year ago and remembering did no good. Now he was hungry and wanted to eat his cake and pretend for a while. He opened the backpack and took forth three things: a disposable plate, knife and fork. He also took forth a little box of candles and placed fourteen of them in his cake and lit them carefully. He looked at the cake with the lit candles and thought that now would be the time to sing but he could not. The music was not for him. Nobody cared with the date or with him. He knew that with the life he lead now, he would be dead before he reached thirty. Maybe found in an ally, near the garbage cans or in a room of a cheap motel. Time to wish, was is not? Almost unconsciously he closed his eyes and wished;

«I want chance, just one fucking chance. I don’t insist on having a father or mother, I only want some respect...some love, a little serves...I would be very thankful if I got that.» He open his eyes behind shades and blew out the candles, wiping the tears which had formed in the corner of his eyes away before they rolled down his face.

“Happy birthday, Scott,” he just murmured before cutting the cake and this time when he felt tears in his eyes he didn’t care and let the tears run freely down his face. It didn’t matter where he was, here, in a cheap motel or on the streets; he was still alone. And he hated that, but maybe if his wish was heard, if that happened...who knew what kind of person he could become.

Part 2

Scott didn’t have more money. The money for the train had been

the last he had but he was not sorry. Last night had been the best night in

years: cake, coffee, hot shower and calm rest. Now, he had to return to reality.

It was night and the only thing that he had had to eat all the day was a piece

of the cake from the previous night. He felt his mouth water by the thought.

His usual headache had worsened and he had used

his glasses of quartz almost the entire the day but with the arrival of night,

his headaches lessened a little. His eyes were sensitive to light and it

worsened his headaches. In the orphanage,

he had been to a doctor who had said that it was his head injury which caused

the painful reaction to the light. 

The headache today made him pass the whole day hidden under the marquee in the

ally which was his refuge from the street. He was there when Chuck

approached. 

“Man! Where were you? Fuck! I had been searching for you all day.”

Scott looked up to see a black boy, the same age as him but with an always

dangerous expression in his eyes. 

“Out,” he said without moving away from the back of the wall which he leaned

against.

“I have work for you. Do you want it??”

He didn’t want to but his broker hadn’t answered his

phone calls, so...?

“What??” Scott asked looking up at him. 

“A guy. You up for it?” Chuck said while lighting a cigarette. “ He wants a

cool night.

The money is fine. He said that he’ll give extra if he likes the service but

he wouldn’t accept no; it has to be like him wants it. So??”

“I am going,” Scott said mechanically.

“Great!” Chuck leaned down and helped Scott up. “I`ll

get right to it and give you the address in half a hour. Uh! You smells like

shit. Do something about it when you get there.”

Scott had lived on the streets in almost a year yet Chuck acted as if he had

been there all his life. He had entered and left reformatories and now, his

business was "entertainment" as Chuck liked to say. He made the contacts, set

up the place and took a percentage of the payment in return. Chuck also sold

drugs but it was a small intern thing. He supplied a few people in the

neighbourhood, Scott among them. 

Half an hour later, Chuck returned to Scott.

“Sunshine Motel, room 302, ten o’clock. Don’t be late, the guy doesn’t like

wait,” Chuck said and disappeared around the corner. Scott smiled, thinking of

the irony of the

situation; yesterday, he had been in room 302 for the best night in years now

he would return to a room 302...

Scott stopped in the door of the room at the given hour. He sighed as he always

did, arranged the backpack on his back and beat on the door in a way which

would identify

him for his customers. 

“Come in.”

He opened the door to the room and saw that the lights off. The only

illumination came from a weak lamp beside the bed. In the corner, Scott saw a

man’s shade and the only thing that

he tell was that he was tall. 

“Close the door.” 

Scott heard and noticed that the voice was not effeminate but manly and

soft at the same time. 

“Come close.” He spoke without leaving the shadows.

Scott walked in his direction until hearing the command to stop. There was

silence for some minutes until that he said;

“Do you have a name??” 

Scott never identified himself for those people, he preserved the name that he

had

received from his parents as if they not knowing would free him from

embarrassing

them. 

“Choose one,” Scott said with firmness. 

“That is not necessary. Remove your clothes.”

Scott obeyed. He did it mechanically and tried to empty his

head of any thoughts. Sometimes, he bought some pills from Chuck to facilitate

things but today there were no pills. 

“Take a shower.” The man ordered, nodding to the bathroom. Scott did as bid. He

found the soap and a clean towel that his customer had put there. He dried and

tied the towel

around his waist. When he left, the man said;

“ Leave the towel in the bathroom and sit down on the bed.” 

He obeyed and the man came closer.

“ Extend your right arm.” 

Scott did like he said and felt the cold metal of the handcuff around his

wrist, the other extremity arrested him to the bars of the bed. He wondered

if that was a fetish or just a precaution. The man placed Scott’s legs

on the bed and began to touch him. He slid his hand from his hair

and his neck before descending smoothly to his chest. He caressed him and

continued down until his abdomen. He spread Scott’s legs and placed himself

between them, pulling him firmly to position bellow him in the

bed. Then with his tongue began to work on his navel. Scott felt the man’s

soft hair sliding over his belly while he sucking and licked his skin. He

slid his hand for the lateral side of his thigh, caressing the interns slowly.

Then his hand moved in direction to the pubis, caressing very lengthy that

area for soon after daintily hold his balls. Scott’s body answered to the

incentives and his penis was half erect. The man slid his mouth below his

navel and stimulated the base of his penis. With his tongue he surrounded

the balls and travelled the whole length of the member which was completely

stretched out. When the erection was complete, the man caught a condom in

the table beside the bed and placed it  on him, then put the penis in

his mouth and sucking with force. Scott closed his eyes and pressed his

teeth feeling his abdomen to convulse while the man stimulated his body.

The spasms became stronger and he felt the pre-ejaculation. The man didn’t

stop, he sucking more and more strong stimulating the exit of the liquid

that escaped from member until Scott arrived at climax. The man waited

while Scott regularised his breathing before speaking;

“ Kneel down and do the same for me, without condom.”

Scott didn’t protest; that was the rule of the game. The man opened the

handcuff so he could be positioned as

ordered, now, the shackled wrist was his left one. The man removed the short and

sat down before him, he supported his hands on the bed and ordered him to

begin. Scott repeated the procedure that the man had done for him. Excepting

some wailing, the man was silent but his body demonstrated that Scott

learned the lesson well. Finally, the man reached climax and Scott felt

his ejaculation approach. The man had now his hands in his hair,

maybe to avoid that he left the position in the exact moment. Scott hated

the taste; the first time that he had been forced to taste it he had almost

vomited

a whole day but the time passed and although it still nauseated him, his

face didn’t show it. The man had the work done as ordered. After some

minutes, the man stood up and went to the bathroom.

 “ We are finished,” he said. “You did good.”

Scott heard the noise of the shower and the man

returned a little later. He got dressed and opened the handcuff. 

“ Take a shower if you want. Your money is here plus the extra that I promised

if you did good.”

He put the money on the bed and before leaving said;

“I will like to see you again.”

 Scott saw the door be closed; still on his knees beside the bed. Actually was

the way that he lived his life; nude and on his knees. His parents would turn

in their graves with shame. Their firstborn son reduced to an object without

value. He had gone through the hands of many

people, had been used in the most creative ways but still considered himself a

virgin because he was never loved. This was just sex, not love. He was

the trash where they emptied their desires; nothing more. He sighed and

gathered strength to get up. He went to the bathroom and let the water of

the shower run down his head, almost unconsciously he scrubbed his body with

the 

soap more and more strongly until his arms got too tired to

continue. Then, he brushing his teeth until his gums began bleeding, avoiding

at all cost to look at his reflection in the mirror. The defeat sensation,

pain and solitude were always the same but a bottle and pills would

help a little. He got dressed and got the money 

“ You are feeling worse  about this for each day which passes, Summers,” he

said softly. Where were his tears?? He didn’t cry after each job as he had in

the beginning but not all tears which are shed are visible.

Scott knew that very well.

Part 3:

Scott had escaped from the orphanage almost two years ago. He

was almost fifteen years old and from the request he had made on his previous

birthday, things had only worsened. He never had enough money to buy food, he

spent more and more time in the ally and the pain in

his head and in his eyes had duplicated their intensity. He started to use

pills and alcohol with more frequency to get some relief but after their

effect passed, he was always broken-hearted and depressed. He felt sick, he knew

that he was diving head first into an enormous hole and that nothing would stop

his fall but he didn’t know for sure if he even cared. Sometimes,

after his "jobs", he thought of finishing his suffering but, for some unknown

reason even for himself, he had never been capable of going through with it.

Today his headache was worse than ever and almost made him scream.

His anted to be somewhere quiet without moving for anything but his money had

run up and he could not refuse a job from one of his regular

customers, the guy in room 302. He had liked Scott and sought him regularly.

He was not violent and always paid extra, didn’t ask questions nor 

answered them. He only needed sex and Scott only needed money. That man

became the only source of safe income than he had, so he made an effort to

please him. Now he was on his way to a hotel downtown where he’ll meet him.

Chuck had lent him money for the train and in spite of his headache, Scott went

to the station. He put on his glasses of quartz to protect himself from the

clarity there but they were alleviating his pains. To worsen things, the

station where he should catch the train, was in works. The noise of cranes

and stone crushers were driving him mad.

«Damn it! What more can happen to worsen this shit?» he thought furiously.

Suddenly, the noise ceased. Scott thanked

 heaven for that silence and returned in direction where the workers were and he

removed his glasses to see because they had stopped. The moment

he looked at the construction his eyes felt on fire with agony, as if they were

in flames. Immediately, he closed his eyes and began

to scrub them trying to end the pain. He felt that his eyes improved

a little so he opened them again. Without any warning, his eyes burned

again and discharged a beam of red energy. The pain that accompanied the

emission of energy made him scream and the pain forced him to his knees.

Institutively, he closed his eyes in panic. Panic were also among the people in

the station once the rays of Scott’s

eyes reached a demolition machine whose weight in danger of falling 

on the people’s heads. The tumult was generalized and in its middle, Scott

was on his knees, trying to understand what had happened.

Suddenly he remembered his glasses and though he didn’t know how to explain it,

he felt that his glasses of quartz could help him. With his trembling hands, he

placed them over his eyes, turned his head upward and fighting to dominate his

terror,

opened his eyes. The energy and the pain were still there but, in some way,

his glasses contained the rays. He looked up in time to see the weight

of the demolition machine dropping on the panicked people. Scott didn’t think,

he only lifted his glasses and the red energy did the rest. The machine

crumbled into hundreds of small pieces, which did no damage. Out of danger, the

people began wondering what had happened and turned their attention to the boy

knelling on the station’s floor.

”He destroyed the thing with his eyes, I saw it!”

”I also saw him knocking down that thing down in the first place,” someone else

said.

”He is one of those muties planning on killing normal people.”

Scott’s heart began to beat still faster in his chest. When he heard the words

the people said, he knew that he was in big trouble.

”No, no... It was not my fault. I didn’t know...please!” his voice betrayed the

fear that he was feeling and he looked at the people

hoping to find some condescending glance, some compassion but the little

that he got to see through red shades, was rage and indignation. Suddenly,

he felt his arm being grabbed

violently. A man forced him up of the ground and with his face a few

centimetres from his own, he spoke furiously;

”Miserable freak, you tried to kill everybody here but we will not give you

change to finish what you started.”

”No sir...you don’t understand...”  Scott didn’t have time to finish

his sentence but was cut off by a violent slap to the side of his head which

made him fall to the ground and made his glasses fly of his face. He closed his

eyes

the fastest that he could but not fast enough. His beam hit a woman in the arm.

She began to scream and that only increased the fury of the

crowd.

«Shit! With so many people here, I had to hurt a hysterical one»

he thought desolately.

Scott was on the ground with his eyes shut, his face burning from the

slap that he had received but worse was the knowledge that he needed to get

away now or that slap would just be the beginning. He extended his hands ahead,

trying without success to find his glasses. His search was interrupted when

he felt one of his hands to be stepped on with great force and he screamed in

pain and tried to pull his hand to him but the pressure only increased. Then

they began to kick and beat him. Suddenly, his hand was free and tried to curl

up in a ball in an attempt to protect himself but it was useless. The blows came

without pity and his instinct of preservation wanted him to open his eyes to

defend himself but he could not, he just could not.

«Why don’t these people leave me alone?» he thought in despair. Then, he

heard a shot and the blows stopped. The crowd was silent, all people looking

with surprise at a triplet man with a weapon in his hand.

”OK, everybody out of here,” he yelled and approached Scott and helped him to

his feet.

”Hurry up, boy.”

”Wait a moment, who are you? That freak tried to kill us and he is not going

to try again,” one of the men of the station said. The man with the weapon

looked at the people in a way that didn’t leave doubts about his intentions

about Scott and said;

”He is going and don’t worry I’ll make sure he never tries anything again but

is it better to do this

far away from the cops, don’t you agree? Besides, I have a gun. Who will stop

me from taking him?”

The other man was not satisfied but since the other man did have a gun, he

stood back. The triplet man found Scott’s glasses and holding his arm, began to

take Scott far away from the people.

”Keep your eyes shut, boy, and continue walking. You are lucky that I was in

that station.”

Luck? Scott considered himself one of the ten people with most bad luck in the

entire world. He had heard the dialogue

in the station and asked;

”Will you kill me?”

”Me? Forget what I said in the station, boy. I only wanted to leave that

 place with you. Here are your glasses.”

Scott took his glasses and put them on. He looked at the triplet man in front

of him. It was difficult to see through those rays.

”I am a mutant, boy. From what I saw you are also and is not safe to be walking

thereabout when you are a mutant. Stay with me while that thing cools down or

you will end up in a lap or hospital for the rest of your life. What’s your

name?”

”Scott Summers,” he answered confused.

”I’m Jack Winters,” the man extended his hand to Scott.

”You don’t have any idea of how I am happy to know you, Scott Summers.” The man

had a strange smile on his face as he said it but Scott was too afraid to

notice that. The man had saved his life and now offered help. He was not in any

position to refuse and he didn’t. 

Well...do you remember the ten people with most bad luck? And how Scott Summers

is one of them?

Part 4

Scott was used to the darkness and the silence. It had been his world

since Jack had caught him in his latest attempt at escape. The tight blindfold

he had over his eyes didn’t allow him see and he had lost track of time. His

hands were tied behind his back and he had not eaten nor drunk anything since

Jack had caught

him. According to Jack, Scott deserved the treatment he got for being insolent

and disobedient;

Scott thought he deserved this treatment for having been so stupid as to trust

somebody again. The only truth that Jack had said to

him was that he really was a mutant. Jack could transform his hands into diamond

for a few seconds, making a beating given by Jack so much more painful. He also

had some limited psychic and teleportation abilities. Jack had just

forgot to mention that besides being a mutant, he was also a thief and a

murderer.

Scott could endure the hunger, the thirst and the agony his body was in after

Jack’s beating but

the darkness... the darkness was a nightmare for him. Jack had saved his

life about six months ago, but Scott’s eyes had seemingly adapted to the beams

and he could see better now. True the beams hurt his eyes and

his head ached like hell but, at least, he wasn’t blind. He had tried

to control the beams but without any success. Actually, he didn’t know how to

do it. He needed help and Jack was not the person to give it. Over the last six

months, Jack had forced Scott to participate in two assaults

and he knew that Jack was planning some big which would go down real soon.

The sound of footsteps on the other side of the door made Scott go cold.

Jack was coming. He heard the key being turned in the lock and began shivering

on the bed where he lay helpless; praying that the beating Jack would give him

now wouldn’t be as painful as the previous one Jack had given him. He heard the

door open and heard Jack approach his bed and Scott prepared himself, as much

as anyone can prepare for pain, to receive a blow.

”So, little freak? Were two days enough for you to decide to speak??” The

voice of Jack always held a frightening impatience.

”I already told to you... I didn’t rat you out to anyone,” his sentence come

out more as a supplication than a statement.

”I want to be sure of, freak, and you still haven’t convinced me,” the end of

the sentence was followed by a whip crack as Jack let his belt hit Scott hard

on his body. Scott tried to roll away from the blow. When Jack got really angry

he often hit Scott with his belt instead of his hands so though the intensity

of the pain always took Scott by surprise he was beginning to know what to

expect.

”I’ll only ask this one more time, freak. Who did you try to seek when you

fled?? The cops? A friend? Who?”

Scott didn’t know what to do to convince Jack that he had not talked with

anyone and he was beginning to despair. Sometimes Scott had a suspicion that

Jack liked beating him even though he knew that Scott were telling the truth.

”Jack, I only wanted to get away... I didn’t speak to anyone. Please...

Leave me alone!” He knew that Jack would not leave him alone and knew exactly

what was in waited for him.

”Ok, you asked for this,” Jack said as he felt his belt touch Scott’s skin

again, this time on his legs. The loudness of the whip crack echoed in the

small room. Scott’s legs felt like they were on fire from the blow and Scott

could not contain a scream. Jack didn’t like to hear excuses or explanations

and therefore didn’t give Scott time to formulate any. The belt fell like a

whip over and over again on Scott’s body and he screamed in agony. Scott

couldn’t defend himself and the pain made him try to roll away from Jack, which

only resulted in him exposing each part of his body to the fury of Jack.

Finally, after what seemed forever to Scott,

Jack stopped his beating, sweat covering his forehead.

”Very well, freak. I believe you.” 

Jack drew his breath in gasps when he drew nearer to

Scott and pulled his hair, drawing him close and speaking in his ear.

”Never try to run from me again, little freak. You belong to me! You will do

what I tell you to, when I tell you to. You understand me??”  Scott didn’t have

the voice to answer because he had screamed himself raw, so he tried to agree

by nodding the best than he could.

”Good,” Jack said and released Scott’s hair.

”Now that we understood each other, I will bring something for you to eat.

I need you alive for a while longer. Soon the world will get a surprise it’ll

never forget.”

Jack left the room and Scott could hear the noises that he made in the kitchen.

Scott was still on his bed, waves of pain running through his body like fire

going by his body. Tremors came, disappeared and returned and he felt his mind

drowning in sea somewhere between sanity and madness. It felt like he had two

voices in his mind, fighting for control.

«Control, control...» why did he always think about that word? He didn’t

get to control anything himself, not even his own body. His life was always in

another person’s

hands: Mr. Pearson, Doctor Hanover, Chuck and now, Jack.

« They all abandoned me. Everybody, for one reason or another; they always

abandon me...my brother did too» Scott always wondered if at least, his brother

was happy.

«All what he tried failed; he failed. He had allowed the boy in the orphanage

to die, allowed

his parents to die, allowed Alex to leave and allowed people to hurt him, one

way or another.

Feelings hurt too much... better not to feel…. just think... think»

To think was very difficult from feeling; then he couldn’t feel that he was

hungry, thirst and the pain the tremors through his body brought him.

Was the tremors caused from lack of the pills that he had taken when on the

streets? 

Nightmares were different all together; he still had them. They never left him.

He smiled a small, bitter smile.

The nightmares were not like people, they would never leave him but

once there had been a dream, a good dream. The fire girl that blanketed him safe

and warm. He had dreamed once about her but her image had never left his

mind, she had not abandoned him like the others. The fire that was a part of

her didn’t

bring death and pain. It was life in every meaning of the word. He continued

to smile because for now it was all that he could do as the memory was all he

had.

#################################################################

FBI agent Fred Duncan headed hastily to his office, arranging his

tie and hair on the way. As always, he was late. He stopped before the

door to regain his breath and then, entered.

”Good morning, you most be professor Xavier. It is a pleasure to meet

you, professor,” Duncan said and extending his hand to Xavier.

”Call me Charles, agent Duncan, and the pleasure is all mine,” Xavier said

as they shook hands.

”Ok, Charles, so call me Fred.” 

Duncan sat down behind his desk and pulled some papers up from one the drawers.

”I think you have many connections in FBI, Charles. I have orders to

give to you access to all information of on this case.”

Xavier calmly smiled at him.

”Actually Fred, I am a specialist in the area of mutations and I have reasons

to believe that the child that is with Jack Winters, needs help.”

Duncan supported his elbows on the table, acquiring a serious expression.

”Uhmm...with all respect but that child…” he emphasized last word  “is capable

of destroying a bank volt with one glance.”

”I understand your apprehensions, my friend, but the fact that he is a

powerful mutant doesn’t change the fact that he is also a child, or am I

mistaken?”

Duncan softened his expression and supported his back in his chair.

”No, you are not wrong. I can understand your point of view. Well, here

are the facts,” he said, searching through his papers.

”The boy is named Scott Summers, fifteen years old, an orphan. From an image

from the safety

cameras from one of the assaulted banks, an eye specialist recognized

him and told us that he had examined the boy. He said that the kid

had a retina pattern different from everything that he had seen before

and he suspected that he could be a mutant. He passed us the boy’s data

and we verified this fact. He lived in an orphanage in Nebraska, fled

from there and came to the city. After his escape, seemly lived on the

streets but he doesn’t have a criminal record, not up to six months ago.

It was then, six months ago, that the incident happened in the station,

where witnesses affirm that a boy destroyed a demolition machine with his

eyes and later was taken by a man, identified by several people as being

Jack Winters or Jack Diamond. Jack has a criminal record for secondary crimes

but we know that he have been involved in everything, even murders, we just

never had enough evidence to lock him up, at least up to now. He doesn’t seem

to worry

about hiding from the safety cameras in the last two assaults. Seems like

he wants to expose himself.”

Duncan paused, lifted his eyes, stood up and went to the window, thinking.

”My instinct says that he has an ace up his sleeve and I don’t like that.”

”Fred, there are some things that you need to know about me. I have some

abilities that perhaps can help you on this case.”

”Abilities??” Fred looked at Xavier with curiosity.

”Yes, my friend” 

//Very unusual abilities//. The last sentence was said

telepathically to agent Duncan, who immediately sought his chair and

sat down open-mouthed.

”I am... all ears, Charles.”

Part 5

Jack was happy. Tomorrow would be his great day and nothing could ruin

it. He revised the equipment several times and tested his plan mentally

until he was convinced that it was perfect. After all, Jack had invested a lot

of

time and energy into that project and he was not inclined to fail. The money

from the earlier jobs he had done had made it possible for him to buy the

necessary technology to neutralize the equipments of video surveillance at the

nuclear plant for enough time to allow he and Scott to enter the reactor room.

Then, he would have exactly two minutes to couple to the central

of the video surveillance. He had a device, which would freeze the security

tapes so the guards would only see the room empty as it had been before their

entrance. Jack smiled when he thought

about the power of money that had enabled him to buy the equipment and manpower

that he needed.

Jack had already done a job on a nuclear plant a long time ago. His

plan had been simple; enter with his companions and then rob radioactive

material

to sell to terrorists on the black market. The problem was FBI had discovered

the plan and Jack was the only survivor from the failed assault. That had been

how he had discovered that his mutant abilities could grow stronger. The

nearness of the radiation had doubled his mutant

powers. He had never felt so powerful as he had then and he wanted

that power back. Jack’s plans of getting stronger only had one problem; he

didn’t have a source of energy portable and powerful

enough, to activate the device that would control the entrance of radiation

to his cells. Luckily destiny had solved that problem form him when that little

freak, Scott, had fallen into his hands. Now, nothing could prevent him from

living up to his name as the invulnerable ´Living Diamond´.

#################################################################

Agent Duncan was exhausted. He worked like an obsessed with Xavier in

the last two weeks. Now, as he stood before the window in his office, he prayed

for

a happy end outcome from all their hard work. His thoughts were interrupted

when the door

to his office opened and Xavier entered, smoothly guiding his wheel chair

through the door.

Duncan went back to him with a friendly smile.

”Will you use your telepathic abilities to discover what I was thinking

before you entered??”

Xavier returned the smile.

”Actually, my friend, I don’t need my telepathy to know that you were thinking

the same as I thought last night.”

Duncan sighed and sat down in his chair.

”Do you think our plan will work, Charles??”

”For the good of everybody around Jack Winters, I hope yes,” Xavier answered

with a dark tone in his voice.

”I admit that hearing that Jack is a mutant surprised me. Are you sure

of it??” Duncan asked curiously.

”I don’t have any doubts about that, my friend. Believe me, I used reliable

means to obtain that information. That Jack is a mutant is part of our problem

because he has psychic abilities and can raise a natural barrier in his mind

with which to block my telepathy.”

”Uhmm... Is that why you don’t know with certainty what he intends to

do, why he wants to attack that nuclear plant?”

”Exactly. But I can guarantee you that it is not a simple robbery. Jack has

a hidden agenda. I just don’t know what is it and what the child’s role is in

it.”

”You know, Charles, that is frightening,” Duncan made a gesture with his

hands. “I mean... That guy is a mutant like you and even so, you entered his

head and discovered so much. Fuck! You caught the employee’s name

, which he bribed in the nuclear plant to get detailed information about the

reactor. Also from Jack’s mind you got the list of people which sold the

technology that he needed to enter there...what the hell can you do to

a normal mind when Winters can shield himself to a degree?”

Xavier smiled when he reminded Duncan that he didn’t have time to prepare him

for his demonstrations of power. Usually, he was more careful but the situation

demanded drastic measures.

”Fred, if you didn’t know that I discovered this information using my mutant

power, would you be questioning the way like I got them?” 

”Maybe not... but it scares me to think that people exist with strange powers

and they can try use that power to manipulate everything,” Duncan said pensive.

”Then, it is up to us to work to learn mutants and non-mutants how to share the

world instead of fighting over it,” Xavier said. 

Duncan looked at Xavier for some minutes.

”Try to see my motives and not my mutation,” Duncan said, imitating Xavier’s

voice. “Is that the moral of your story, professor?” Duncan asked with

a smile. Xavier also smiled before answering.

”You are an excellent student, Fred.”

#################################################################

”FREAK!!” Jack shouted while he opened the door to Scott’s room with so

much force that it beat noisily against the wall. The voice of Jack

made Scott immediately sit up in his bed. After his attempt at escape,

Jack had maintained an eye on him. His hands were now always shackled behind

his back and Jack had fastened his glasses to his face with scotch tape.

He only allowed Scott to leave his room to use the bathroom or to eat and

even so, that was done under the attentive glance of Jack.

”Your ration,” Jack said, dragging him outside his room. Scott hated when

Jack treated him like this…. like a dog. He wanted to refuse everything that

came from

him but it is very difficult to maintain your dignity on an empty stomach.

Jack pulled Scott by his arm and opened his handcuffs.

”Go to the corner, freak?” he ordered.

Scott walked to the corner of the living room and sat down on the ground, the

closest than he could come to the wall. He knew that Jack made him go there

to watch his movements better. That place gave Jack a vision field as well

as a privileged action field. Scott classified Jack as a damned fucking

son of a bitch but he had to admit he was not stupid. Close to the place

that Jack ordered him to sit down, were a soup plate, bread and a cup

of coffee. Scott looked at Jack waiting for his permission to eat. Jack was

seated in his armchair and looked intensively at Scott when spoke:

”If you try to put your hands on those glasses, I’ll squash each one of your

fingers slowly. Do you understand me,” Jack accentuated the menace tone

in his voice. Scott just nodded.

”Fine” Jack said. “Now, eat this shit. I won’t sit here looking after you

the whole night.” 

Scott began to eat fast. The food was that Jack said that

it was but he intended to try to flee again and he needed to have his strength

and

energy at a maximum. When Scott was finished eating, Jack made him go back to

his room where he handcuffed his hands behind his back again. 

”Go sleep, little freak. Tomorrow we will work. If I hear any noise from your

room, I will kill you.”

 Jack locked the door. Scott was going to bed when he heard the DING DONG of

the bell on the front door. Without making any noise he walked to his room door

and put his ear to the door to try to hear what was said. Jack was talking with

a man whose voice Scott didn’t recognize. Definitively, that man had never

been there, at least not in the period that he had been with Jack. Scott

concentrated

on the voices and listened to the dialogue.

”Here is your money, Diamond. You’ll get the rest when we have the merchandise,”

The voice of the stranger said. After a pause, he heard the voice of Jack.

”Everything is here. You’ll get the kid in two days.”

Scott went away from his door, feeling a chill travel down his body and he had

to control himself

from screaming. 

«Is that crazy man really selling me?» He thought in panic.

He fought to control his breathing; he could not lose the control now. 

“Easy you idiot,” he whispered to himself while carefully listening to the

conversation again.

The unknown man was speaking.

”You know how the boss loves kids like that. That mutant will be good

for the work and for fun.”

”Tell him to relax. I won’t damage his merchandise.” Jack had a malicious

tone in his voice. Scott was nauseated, would the fun be what he was thinking?

He felt his legs weaken and sat down on the floor. He pulled his legs up 

until his forehead came to rest on his knees.

”No, no... That won’t happen to me. I’ll die or I’ll kill you, Jack, but nobody

will do that to me.” 

Now that Scott had made his decision he felt a

strange calm. He lifted his head and stood up. Soon he went to bed because now,

he also had plans

for tomorrow.

Part 6

Things were running as planned. Jack blacked out the

surveillance cameras and used his power of teleportation to enter with Scott

in the reactor room. Inside, he began "freezing" the

image of empty room on the security tapes. When it was done he turned around

and smiled at Scott.

”Now it’s your turn.”

#################################################################

Fred Duncan was impatient. He walked back and forth without stopping for a

minute.

”Why he still is not here, Charles? Why??”

 Xavier didn’t like the delay either and answered apprehensive.

”I don’t know, Fred, but according to the plant of the building, Jack cannot

enter the reactor room without passing through here. All we have to do is

wait for him.” Xavier’s answer didn’t help to calm Duncan who continued walking

nervously back and forth. Xavier closed his eyes and concentrated his telepathy

on Jack to try and discover the reason for his delay. It was very difficult to

knock down his psychic barriers but when he did Xavier screamed. 

“FUCK!!” 

Duncan stopped before him and with an incredulity tone in

his voice asked:

”Charles?!”

Xavier opened his eyes. 

“Fred, I have no time for etiquette rules. He has power of teleportation. Jack

won’t pass

through here because he is already in the reactor room. We are going there,

right now!”

Duncan made a sign for his agents and they ran for the room.

#################################################################

Jack dragged Scott by his arm closer to the reactor. He removed the

scotch tape that fastened his glasses to his face but before removing the

glasses from Scott’s face, he held him by his neck and said:

“Close your

eyes, freak, or I’ll break your neck.” 

Scott did what Jack ordered and then with his hand free, Jack coupled a device

to the structure of the reactor.

”Very well, little freak, open your eyes now” Jack commanded.

Scott kept his eyes shut. He knew that Jack would force him to open

them in any way but to annoy Jack was always a good thing.

”Open...your...eyes.” Jack demanded furiously. He transformed his hand into

diamond

and pressed on Scott’s neck until he involuntarily opened his eyes. Scott saw

the energy from his eyes be absorbed by a type of electronic device while

he fought for air. Finally when a light lit on device, Jack

removed the pressure on his neck and placed his glasses back on his face.

”Come on, little freak. I don’t have the whole night,” Jack said while dragging

Scott by his arm.

Jack searched the place until finding a place where he could tie Scott to.

He found a support of iron at a safe distance from the reactor, then he opened

the handcuffs and forced Scott to lift his arms, shackling him again only

this time, with his hands upward. 

“Great.” Jack said. “From here you can see

my transformation but before, I have to make sure that you

don’t remove those glasses from your face.” Jack removed a roll of scotch tape

from his pocket and was about to use it when he heard the heavy door electronics

to the reactor room opening. Jack immediately pointed his gun at the door and

was

positioned himself behind Scott. When the door opened completely, Duncan and his

agents were in the entrance. 

“FBI, Winters! Put your hands up, it’s

over!” 

Jack aimed his gun at Scott’s head, his body partially protected by him. 

“Get out of here, man, or I will spread the crumbs of this little

freak all over the room.” 

Duncan made sign for his agents not to invade the

room and they obeyed. In that moment, Xavier reached the entrance and sent

a telepathic message for Duncan:

//I’ll capture his mind. He is weak, Fred.

He can’t  use his power of teleportation again.//

Duncan received the information and spoke to Jack:

“You are postponing the inevitable, Jack.

Release the boy and surrender, the building is surrounded.”

”Forget it, man,” Jack screamed at Duncan “You won’t stop everything,

this time I am prepared,” he murmured the last sentence while he reached for

his pocket and took forth a type of remote control. In a fraction of a second,

Jack removed

the gun from Scott’s head and opened fire in the direction of the door, forcing

Duncan and his agents to throw themselves to the ground to protect themselves.

He aimed

the control at the door and pushed a button on it. The door began to close

quickly. Acting on reflex, one of the agents entered the room before

the door closed completely. That was not a good idea. Jack noticed the agent’s

movement and before he could reaction, Jack fired his gun at his head 

"CLICK, CLICK", only to notice that he was without ammunition. 

“FUCK,” he screamed furiously, throwing the gun on the ground. Taking advantage

of his

good luck, the agent aimed his gun at Jack and said; 

“Stand back from the boy and put your hands over your head. Now!” 

Jack sighed and hung his head in defeat before answering; 

“OK, easy. I am unarmed.”

#################################################################

On the other side of the door, Duncan and his people tried without success

to type the access code to the reactor room.

”Damn it! That bastard thought of everything. The device that he used to

lock the door have changed the access signal for the door.

”To discover the new signal can take hours, sir,” said one of the agents to

Duncan. 

“The problem is that we don’t have time to lose. One of my men is

in there and I don’t think Jack is very friendly.” 

Duncan looked at Xavier and noticed he had his eyes shut, his fingers on his

temples and seemly lost to the world. 

“Charles? Are you alright?”

”30,” Xavier answered without opening his eyes.

”What?” Duncan asked confused.

”2,” Xavier said, his tone still seeming to come from afar.

Then Duncan understood what was happening. 

“You are catching the numbers from Jack, aren’t you?” He asked without

expecting an answer.

”For God’s sake, somebody write this down that,” he screamed for his agents.

################################################################

Jack began to slowly lift his arms. 

“I am surrendering, please don’t fire,” he said without moving from where he

stood.

”I wouldn’t. Come here slowly,” the agent answered.

”OK, I’m coming.” 

Jack moved his body to give the impression that he was leaving

but instead he lowered his arms quickly and held Scott’s head. He turned

Scott’s face towards the agent and with his free hand lifted the glasses of his

eyes.

The movement of Jack was agile and Scott didn’t have enough reflex to avoid

the young agent and he was hit by his eye beams which threw him against

the wall, transforming his body to a mass of flesh, bones and blood. Jack

placed the glasses back on Scott’s face with a satisfied smile but suddenly,

his smile disappeared and he moved his hands to his temples. 

“What is this? It is like somebody is moving inside my head,” he said, trying

to clear

his thoughts. Then an incredulity expression appeared on his face and he

murmured:

“Since when does FBI use telepathy?” 

Jack knew he had little time before the code to the door was pulled from him.

He was weak and could not avoid the invasion of his mind. He ran for the

reactor and put his

hands on the device that Scott’s energy had activated. Immediately, Jack felt

a type of wave spreading through his body while the radiation emanated from the

reactor

and was channelled by the device and entered his body. 

«It is happening,» he thought fascinated.

Scott couldn’t remove his eyes from the agent’s body which lay in a corner

of the room. His thoughts was a mess of fear, guilt and despair. He had only

wanted

a family and a normal life but now he was a murderer and a danger for people

around him. Maybe Jack was right in calling him a freak but he knew if he was

a freak, Jack was also and he would not allow Jack to hurt anybody else.

Then he felt that strange calm from the previous night. He didn’t have any

reason

to continue living this life, to end it would be a relief for

him and for all. 

“Our useless lives will end here, Jack. We won’t hurt anybody, not anymore,” he

murmured for himself. Scott looked at the frame of iron where his handcuffs

were fastened. His glasses weren’t taped to his head so he just needed to get

them off. He calculated that it was safer to try and use his eye beams to shot

through the iron he was tied to first and then shut the chain to the handcuffs.

He used all his strength and lifted himself up by the power of his hands, and

he succeeded in brushing against his glasses so they fell off. He just opened

one eye and the beam existed his eye, knocking down the frame of iron like he

had calculated, then Scott

got rid it and shut through the chain of the handcuffs and his

hands were free. Scott put his glasses back on and looked at the reactor and

saw Jack absorbing radiation, completely lost to what was happening around him.

If he wanted to stop him,  this

was his chance. He only needed to lift his glasses and he could end everything,

but why was he hesitating? That man had put an end to his last dreams. He

had punished his body and his mind without compassion and even so, he was

hesitating

in killing him. 

«This is not a hour for cowardice, you idiot!» Scott thought

irritated with his own scruples. «To not kill that son of a bitch won’t

give to you a ticket to paradise, unless a special paradise exists

for murderous, prostituted and drugged mutants like you.» 

He began to lift his glasses when a voice spoke in his head: 

//Wait!//. The fright made Scott

lower his hand and he murmured: 

“What...?”

Before he finished the sentence, another message invaded his mind: 

//Scott, destroy that device on the reactor. Jack is feeding his power from

there.// 

Scott looked at Jack wondered what he should do and again the voice spoke in

his head. 

//Child, do what I say now or it will be too late to stop him.//

Scott was beginning to doubt his own sanity but if he was crazy, his

madness could be telling the truth. The devise was very important

to Jack, so he calculated mentally and fired. The beam destroyed the device

and with an uncontrolled force, it threw Jack some meters away from

the reactor. That blow would be enough to knock down the old Jack Winters but

not the new. Jack got up with a murderous gleam in his eyes. 

“I will squash your bones one for one,” he promised and transforming his whole

body

into diamond while walked in Scott’s direction. The vision that almost

invulnerable

Jack coming in his direction made Scott’s blood freeze in his veins but

this was not a hour for weakening. 

“What will you do, Jack? Kill me? And how will you explain this to the man that

bought me from you, bastard?” 

Jack gave a half smile and said without stopping walking: 

“Are you listening at the doors, freak? Didn’t your parents teach you that is

ugly? Ahh...I almost

forgot. Nobody wanted you for a son, did they?”

”Stop it, stop it!” Scott screamed at him. 

“I won’t kill you, freak. I

will only show you your place.” 

“Stay away from me, Jack,” Scott said, putting his hand on his glasses. “Or I

swear that I’ll kill you.” 

Jack laughed before answering:

 “You doesn’t have the courage for that, Scotty. You are an useless freak!

Nobody wants trash like you.” 

The mental game Jack was playing disturbed Scott enough so that he lost his

concentration. Jack took advantage of that and attacked Scott with a punch to

his stomach that made him fight hopelessly for breath. He tried to reach his

glasses but before he got it, Jack hit him again with a blow that made him fall

to the ground. The pain of the blows was duplicated due to

new form of Jack. Scott saw Jack prepare for a new blow, while he still

recovered

from the previous blow, but before he could beat Scott once again, the door to

the room

opened and Duncan entered with his agents and Xavier. Jack looked at Scott

on the floor and said: 

“You wait for me here.” 

Then he stepped on Scott’s leg with enough violence to hear the sound of bone

breaking. Scott screamed, completely stunned by pain and unable to move from

the place where he was.

Jack turned his attention back to the people in the door. 

“Diamond! You will surrender now or we will fire.” 

Jack smiled. 

“Stop, man. I’m scared,” Jack teased. 

Duncan looked at his agent’s body in the corner of room and spoke: 

“Fire.” 

Immediately the shots invaded the room with a deafening noise.

Duncan could not believe his eyes. None of the bullets harmed Jack, they didn’t

even scratch him. His diamond body turned him immune to power of weapons. 

“FUCK,” he screamed, completely frustrated before ordering cease fire. “Doesn’t

matter

what you are made off, you bastard. You won’t escape from that,” Duncan screamed

furiously.

//Fred, a direct confrontation is suicide// the voice of Xavier spoke in his

mind. //Distract him, I have an idea.// 

While Duncan and his agents fired at Jack, distracting him, Xavier invaded his

mind. The idea was to act in cellular metabolism of Jack, doing the energy

stored by his cells was liberated

quickly, thus, the transformation process would be reverted. Xavier sent

a telepathic command to Jack’s brain for it to liberate incentives

that made his cells believe that they were in intensive activity and needing

to liberate a great amount of energy. Jack felt something was wrong with

his body and looked at Xavier. He imagined the only reason for that man

in a wheelchair to participate in an operation with the FBI, was that he had

some special abilities like...telepathy. 

“You don’t undo what I did, man,” Jack said and began walking towards Xavier.

The men that he found in his way were

knocked down with violence until only Duncan and Xavier remained. 

“Fred, get out of here, now. You cannot help and I need to continue working on

his

mind.” 

Duncan looked at Xavier while Jack approached. 

“You don’t have time for that.”

Duncan had already assumed a combat position when a beam of red energy reached

the

back of Jack, making him drop to his knees with a pained expression on his

face. 

“Stay away fro them,” Scott demanded breathlessly, fighting against

the pain in his leg. Jack rose with hate written on his face. He knew he’d made

a tactical mistake when he hadn’t killed Scott, now he was among two enemies

and needed to choose which to kill first. The telepathic attack needed to

be eliminated first, later he would take care of Scott.

Scott noticed Jack didn’t stop and fired at him again. This time, the

combined action of Scott’s and Xavier’s powers made Jack understand that he

would

not have the force to fight. He was too weak to use his power of teleportation

but

he would not surrender. Jack went painfully and wobbled in Scott’s direction. 

“You...you...die,” he said weakly. Scott tried to crawl far away from him but

his broken leg didn’t allow many movements. 

“Stay away from me, Jack.” 

Jack was as possessed and seemed not to hear him. 

“Stay away from me, Jack,” Scott almost screamed while he saw the approach of

one

of his worst nightmares. All humiliations that Jack had put him through came

to mind, every pain and darkness. He was very tired, very tired. Scott

lifted his glasses and fired. He opened his eyes more than he was capable

of but Jack was still there, like a demon trying to catch him.

Finally, Jack couldn’t stand the attack anymore. Then overcoming all his limits,

he held Scott by his shirt and bathed in red energy he spoke his last words: 

“Never forget what I taught you. You’re nothing

and you will always be nothin...,” Jack did not get to finish his sentence.

A pained screamed escaped his lips, his body shook violently and he,

literally, exploded as if he had gobbled a bomb. Scott closed his eyes and

put his arms around himself to protect himself. When he finally opened his

eyes, he was covered in what had been Jack Diamond. Blood and

flesh pieces covered a good extension of room and that was, no doubt, the

final chapter for Jack Diamond.

Scott was stunned, his body shook and he tried to remove the dirt from his

body. He didn’t notice Xavier approaching. 

“Scott, I know that...” Xavier’s voice made Scott crawl back a little and he

frightened he said;

“Stay away from me, man. Don’t touch me.” 

Xavier knew that he was in no condition to hearing arguments, so he spoke in

his mind: 

//Forgive my invasion, child, but you need to sleep now.// 

Scott didn’t get to answer, he was lost to the rest Xavier had induced. His

confused mind made him believe that the man would drive him to his death and he

didn’t resist. He as well as Jack deserved

that destiny. Scott closed his eyes and let darkness invade his last thoughts,

finally he would get to rest. In peace.

 

Part 7

The human incoherence is almost comic and I am a clear example of that. I
lived in an orphanage more time than I can remember and I lived on the
streets more time than I want to remember without somebody even taking a notice. But when I tried to slit my wrists, they started watching me like
my life was the precious thing that they had in their hands. They put
a metal support on my glasses so I could not remove them. They are afraid of
me and I cannot blame them. I only want that they let me to die in peace,
but they want to punish me because I killed one of them in that nuclear
plant. They are going to cure me to have the pleasure of locking me up in a prison for
freaks. I refuse to eat and they force me, I don’t want them to approach and
they insist and give me that damned detoxification which make me shake and
vomit all the time. I am so tired..., why did the life do this to me? I
didn’t want to hurt anybody, but...who will believe in somebody that cannot
look into your eyes to prove they are telling the truth? Doesn’t matter. I just
want to leave all this behind and I will...I will……..someday.

#####################################################################

That was no doubt it was a beautiful sunset. The man appreciating this vision had in
his head a lot of doubts and only one certainty: he would not give the boy up. A hand on his shoulder made him return to reality.
”Fred,”  Xavier said, smiling at Duncan.
”Hello, Charles,”  Fred said returning his smile and sitting down beside Xavier’s
wheel chair.  “Hei! Beautiful sunset,”  Duncan commented pointing to
the horizon. Xavier gave a small smile and answered. “Admit, you are reading my
mind, Fred. I was thinking the same thing.”
”And you were thinking something more, weren’t you?  Uhmm...let me try,” Duncan
played along and closed his eyes. “Scott Summers. Am I right?”
Xavier sighed before answering.

“The case is much more serious than I
imagined, Fred. I observed Scott every day since he was put under FBI´s custody. He didn’t say a word and neither did I. I was only there, looking at him,
analysing what his mind projects and what I discovered was frightening.”
”I am curious, Charles. Do tell.”
Xavier continued;

“His mind was programmed, Fred. Somebody or something made
some sort of mental control to the child. I feel that, unconsciously,
he rejects the control but I fear that he doesn’t have enough structure to
overcome it.”
”Can you enter his mind to discover who make the programming and
why?”
” I could, but it is not so simple. I could feel feelings from Scott
that he has been isolated for a long time ago. He has a lot of hidden pain and he is in no condition to work with it now.”
” I understand,” Duncan said pensive. “The boy doesn’t allow people to get close to him,
doesn’t trust anyone.”
”Worse, Fred, he is determined to die. Scott is concentrating all his energy
on that one idea and he won’t give up.”
”You know, Charles... the way that boy faced Diamond in the nuclear plant
to defend us... he deserves a better destiny than to be locked up in a prison
for juvenile criminals,” Duncan said with sadness in his voice.
”I agree with you, my friend and that is why I have requested to be Scott’s legal guardian,”
Xavier spoke without removing his eyes from the horizon. Duncan looked at him
with an expression of happiness and concern at the same time.
”I am glad to hear that, Charles, but I have to ask... do you know the
enormous responsibility you are taking upon yourself, do you?”
Xavier nodded.

“I know, Fred and I also know about the existence of other
mutants who don’t share my respect for humanity. I don’t want that seed of a
genetic war to grown and the child is in a vulnerable situation so I’ll will take the risk. I admit that Scott would not be my first student option, he needs everything, even a reason to
continue living. But if I turn my back on him, what type of person will I be? I have a dream of equal rights for all but a dream of equality that rejects anybody who doesn’t  fit into the "quality pattern" is no dream at all.”

“ But if he is so determined to die as you said, to convince him to accept your
help, will be a great problem.”
” I know, I was thinking about that. In some hours, I will find a young friend
that perhaps can solve this problem for us.”

#####################################################################

Xavier entered the living room of his mansion and smiled when he saw the
young girl who awaited him.
” I felt your arrival, child. Thank you for coming.”
The red-haired girl returned his smile. “ It seemed important, professor.
Did you say that you needed my help?”
” Exactly, Jean, and the subject is really very important.”
The girl’s eyes filled with a mixture of concern and curiosity.
” What can I do for you, professor?”
” I need you to guide somebody to find his way,” Xavier said smoothly.
” Find his way?...I don’t think I understand,” she said confused.
” I will explain, Jean, don’t worry,” Xavier continued. “ There is a boy..., a
mutant boy. He have many problems and he is in need of help. I want you to
reach his mind and try to convince him to continue living.”
” Will we use that machine for me to be more powerful?” She asked without
hiding her excitement which made Xavier smile.
” Yes, child. With my help, of course.”
” Then I will do it, professor,” Jean said with a smile in her face. “ I can
reach him and then, I can...” Before she could finish the sentence, the smile on
her face was replaced by a look of concern. “ But, professor, what should I say to
him?”
Xavier approached her and took one of her hands affectionately in his.
”When you find him, Jean, You will know what to say. Trust me.”

#####################################################################

Scott was tied to his bed. The last crisis of abstinence had been so
strong that they had had to tie him to prevent him from hurting himself. The restrains on
his feet, arms and waist were soft but firm though even if they weren’t, he was
feeling so weak that he couldn’t have forced them open anyway. With some
effort, Scott lifted his head and noticed he had been dressed in clean clothes. The
sheets of his bed had also been changed and he was receiving intra-veined
feeding and medication. He wondered how long it would still take before his organism accepted the absence of drugs. He hadn’t even known he was so dependent of them until arriving there, that because Jack gave pills once in a while to him to maintain him under control and to avoid the
crises he hadn’t really realised before now that he had never really been far away from addiction. While he tried to put some order to his thoughts, a nurse entered his
room. He hated when they came. She examined his pulse and his immobilized leg
and placed some medication in the IV. While she worked, she spoke some words for
him, maybe explaining what she was doing but he couldn’t understand the
meaning of the words due to the medication. The medication made his effect of keeping his eyes open difficult and his eyes insisted on closing.

Then, to his surprise, he felt better. Actually, he felt very well, no nauseas, no
pain in his leg or pulse, no tremors too. He open his eyes and noticed that
he was not in his room.
”What is happening?” Scott asked, looking around. He was in a type of glade,
there was a tent and a lit campfire.
” I know this place,” he mumbled, trying to remember when he had been there.
//The place was chosen by you// He heard a soft voice say and it felt almost like a touch to his
mind.
” That voice..., my fire girl? You are here!?” He asked, feeling happy for the
first time in several months.
//I came for you// The voice answered smoothly.
” I-I miss you,” Scott said timidly. In that moment, a light began to take form
before him and Jean’s mental form appeared. Scott smiled.
” It is good see you again. I will think of you when I am leaving.”
” Don’t, Scott. I don’t want you to leave,” The light girl said to him.
” You don’t know what you are saying, I am not a good person. Nobody cares about
me.”

Scott sat down on a big stone and lowered his head before continuing. “ I am
not like everyone else, I am not like you... I am dirty inside.”
” You are wrong, Scott. I feel you want to find a way. Hold my hand and I
will guide you.” Scott looked at the hand she had extended towards him.
” I can’t..., they’ll hurt me again. I am a freak. Please, go away...I can’t
take this anymore, I just can’t,”  his last words were cut off by sobs, strange sobs
without tears. He had forgotten how to crying. Suddenly, the light that surrounded
the girl became more intense and formed a great fire bird. The bird and the
girl were part of the same light and the voice in his head was prettier and
more intense than ever before.
//I won’t leave you, Scott. We belong to each other and it will be like this
for ever//. The light became still more intense and the girl in the centre of
bird raised her arms as if wanting to hug the whole universe. “ I am life and
fire incarnate. Today and for ever; I am PHOENIX!!” With those words, she
extended her hand for him again.
” And you...are your life for me?”
He looked at her and he felt protected for the first time since his parents` death. She was
beautiful, she was life and he wanted to live. Then Scott extended his hand
and touched hers and immediately an invisible force drove his body to close to hers that he swore they would become one. He looked at her eyes and saw something inside of them. He tried
hopelessly to remember what it was, but...
//Hope, Scott. You are seeing hope// She said in his mind. He smiled.
” I remember, I can remember.”
Then, the ambient around moved again and now, he was at the beginning of a
long road. “ I said that I would guide you,” she said, looking at the road.
” Do you come with me?” Scott asked.
” I will always be with you,” She said while her form disappeared in light.
” You will always be life for me,”  He whispered and felt his eyes close once again and a wave of peace invaded his mind. When Scott opened his eyes, he was in his bed again. Beside him
, the man in the wheelchair observed him as calmly as always.
” Mr. Summers?” He broke the silence. “ I am professor Charles Xavier and I
have a proposal for you.”
” Proposal?” Scott said distrustful.
” Exactly, Scott. I came to offer you... hope!”

Part 8

Scott walked to one of the stone benches in the garden of the mansion with the help
of his crutches. His leg was recovering well with the physiotherapy and the
desintoxication no longer brought so many side effects. He was following a
special program of feeding to win weight, which also included vitamin and
minerals supplements to supply his nutritional deficiencies. He sat down
slowly, extending his convalescent leg forward and supporting his crutches on
the bench. Scott deeply breathed in the afternoon air and looked at the
landscape around him.
”How can so much money be in the hands of only one person?” He wondered but that no was the most important thing on his mind at the moment. From his
arrival to the mansion Scott had tried to study the mind of the current foster
father, but he had to admit that he was confused. The man was an abysm of
contradictions. His rationality and his formation belonged to an
extremely intelligent person, however, he was foolish enough to say he
believed in a dream of equality between mutants and normal humans. He had
enough influence in FBI to get, with easiness, custody over Scott but he appeared
for the public as a simple scientist. He was bound to a wheelchair but
the simple vision that man brought to Scott’s mind a single word: power. What
type of man was that? He didn’t know how to answer that yet so therefore Scott found
it safer to adopt the tactics of "attack as better defence form". He believed
Xavier could help him to work with his powers but life had already taught
him the price for trusting people were often high.
”That is one of my favourite places,” Xavier said while he stopped his wheelchair
beside the bench in the garden. “Can I join you?”
Scott shrugged his shoulders before answering. “Your house.”
Xavier gave a small smile before continuing “Do you know why you are here,
Scott?”
”Yes, I know and I know why you are here wasting this wonderful afternoon by
my side while your girlfriend is alone inside of your enormous and empty
house,” Scott answered without any type of emotion in his voice.
«Strategies» Xavier thought «During the time that you have been here, you have
been attacking me to make sure I stayed far away from you, but it is time for us
to cease these games, my young strategist».
”Really? I suppose you want to share with me your point of view about my
relationship with Amelia?” Xavier said calmly.
Scott looked at Xavier trying to maintain an expressionless face.
”Your girlfriend...Amélia, she is furious with you because she thinks that
the idea of a school for mutants will ruin your relationship but there she is wrong. Your relationship won’t be ruined, it is already ruined because you
are a man obsessed with his own ideas and ideals and against that poor Amélia doesn’t
has a chance, does she?”
Xavier knew he was walking in on dangerous land. He knew Scott had been observing
him since the beginning. After some hesitation he decided to see  where Scott would take this.
”Then, in your opinion, I am a man obsessed with my own ideas?”
”Don’t simplify things,” Scott said without altering his voice. “Is that
your strategy? To confuse your enemy; pretending to be less than you really are?”
Xavier tried not to show his surprise. “What you mean, child?”
”I mean that men like you, which act in the shadows without attracting
attention to themselves, tend to be dangerous. You have money, influence and
power, why you would worry about somebody like me? Why take a risk to lose
your companion to maintain a school? That doesn’t make sense, you must have
other objectives in mind?”
«It is already more than enough, child» Xavier thought while positioned his chair before Scott.
” Congratulations, Scott. You saw more in me than most people see. And now,
what do you hope that I do? Maybe you want me to jump on your jugular and
drink your blood? Or maybe, being the dangerous man what you say I am, I can
enslave you and force you to work for me for the rest of your days?” Xavier
said the last sentence while making an effort to control his laughter. Scott looked
at him without believing what he was seeing. Was he having fun?
” Listen, man, I am not...”
” No, my child, you listen,” Xavier interrupted. “Don't psychoanalyse me,
Scott. This is not about me, it is about you. I brought you here to help you
 understand and to accept who you are. Your power is special and I want to
use each available resource to help you to control it . That can happen for
you here, Scott, but I cannot force you. You have to take the first step. You
accused me of being a dangerous man and I could be, but I choose another road.
I choose to fight for my dream and if that means to lose Amélia, no matter
how much that hurts me, I will let her go,”  Xavier manoeuvred his chair away from the bench and
when he had his back turned on Scott, he said; “ I made my choice, Scott, when you do
yours, please inform me”

«The game is over» Xavier thought while moving away from Scott.

#######################################################################

Xavier was distracted looking at his garden for the window of his office when
he heard knocks on the door.

“Come in,” He answered, manoeuvring his wheelchair closer to his table. Scott opened the door and entered, closing it behind himself slowly. Three weeks ago, Xavier had requested him to make a
decision and, ever since, he had tried to find the courage to face this moment.
”Can we talk, sir?”
Xavier smiled. “Sure, Scott, sit down.”
Scott sat down and laid his crutches in the
chair besides him. He gave a deep sigh before beginning.
” I don’t know how to explain what I feel. I...wanted...I only wanted...” His
sentence was interrupted by sobs, sobs without tears. Xavier approached him and
took one of Scott’s hands affectionately in his. “Then don’t try to explain, child.
Allow me to see in your mind.” Scott looked at Xavier with an expression of pure terror on his face.
” No...no...I don’t want to see them again, I needed the money...please, don’t be disgusted with me,” it was a plea; almost a prayer.
Xavier squeezed Scott’s hand before speaking without hiding his emotions.
” Son, I won’t abandon you. I won’t hurt you. Not all people are like Jack...I
am not Jack, Scott, see for yourself.” Xavier put his hand on his forehead and
sent to Scott all the emotions that were in his mind. Scott closed his eyes and
he saw himself like Xavier saw him. In Xavier’s mind, he was beautiful, he had
light. Scott had never imagined somebody could think about him like that and
then his sobs were replaced by tears of relief. Scott didn’t know
how long he kept his eyes closed, crying the tears that his eyes had
denied him for so long. When he finally open his eyes, Xavier still held
his hand. They sat in silence for a long time until Xavier softly said;
” I know what Jack did to you, Scott. I know he made you to relive each
encounter in your mind, in each hotel room and I know how much that embarrassed you. I cannot
turn off all your pain. It is a part of you and you will have to learn to
live with it. I cannot promise that you will be happy forever and that things,
from now on, will be perfect because I see a long and difficult road ahead. I
can only tell you that because people will care about you, the road will seem
softer.”
Scott looked at Xavier for a moment before speaking.
”I don’t have money to school.”
” I am very rich. I need no payment.”
” I will question your orders.”
”A sign of intelligence.”
”I won’t call you "father".”
”I’ll survive.”
Scott sighed.
” I will try, professor.”
Xavier smiled.
” We’re going home, Mr. Summers.”

#######################################################################

Under ground of an orphanage in Nebraska:

A strange man is lost in thoughts.
«Maybe I have underestimated you, Scott. I should have anticipated that Jack
Winters would not subdue your willpower. My small stratagem to buy you back from
Jack almost worked, but this man...Charles Xavier, he stole you from me,
momentarily. A small setback, of course. The programming that I did in your
mind still stays and in right time, you will return to your master. You will
return to Mr. Sinister.


End.