jeangreythemarvelgirl:
At last, hours after Jean had left her Bard College dormitory, the familiar surroundings that led to the estate began to come into view. Glancing out of the cab’s backseat window, she carefully removed her headphones that had been connected to the iPod that she had been listening to during the trip and watched as the vehicle finally turned onto the long road that was lined with tall trees looming overhead of them on either side.
It didn’t take long before the mansion appeared in the distance. Smiling to herself, she enthusiastically turned to her left to place the music player and other items away in one of the pockets of her backpack. Then, zipping it up, she tucked some of her long, red hair behind her ears and noticed how the cab had begun to slow down as it approached the front gate.
“Is this the place, miss?” the driver asked.
“It sure is,” Jean said with a proud nod as she quickly checked the cab fare meter and reached into her pocket to get the amount she owed. Once the cab came to its proper halt, she double checked the cash before handing it to the man, telling him to keep the extra change and tip she gave him, and thanking him for driving her such a distance.
Exiting the vehicle with her backpack, she securely closed the door behind her before making her way to the trunk to find that the driver had already opened it with a control from the inside. Taking her suitcase out and placing it on the pavement, she loosened the handle and pulled it up for easy transport. Upon closing the trunk, she walked to the side of the car and exchanged a final wave with the driver before the cab started and she watched as it traveled further and further away from where she stood until it was eventually out of plain sight.
Taking a deep breath, Jean adjusted her grips on the backpack’s strap and suitcase handle before looking ahead at the school.
“Surprise, everyone,” she quietly spoke as she walked to the intercom control panel.
When Professor Charles Xavier checked his email after a while of reading over the pile of letters he’d received from various senders (some friendly, some not), he was surprised to see that he actually had multiple updates on files and other additions of information. They were all sent to him by Sage. From what he’d heard last, she still had not been released from the infirmary. The woman was still on light bed rest but was set to be freed in the next couple of days if she continued showing positive signs toward being alright. That was when she would be able to get back to work as much as she pleased. Who gave her a computer? he asked himself in his mind, realizing that if she had access to technology, she’d use it. The telepath signed, shaking his head in slight amusement at the mutant’s tendency to be an utter workaholic no matter the situation.
Not to mention, with her new found telepathic abilities, she really was piling on the responsibilities along with work, as of late. No doubt he’d have to speak to her about that when the proper time arose.
Xavier opened the links and slowly began to read over them as he set aside the previous letters, the latest he’d read having been about the riots and how one woman was sending her thanks for the X-Men having protected her. There were many downfalls from having been revealed, of course, but every once in a while, there was a spark of someone being thankful or even offering their support. And it was the moments like that which reignited the flame of his dream coming true—coexistence between humans and mutants. Equality. The X-Men fought for that dream, and he knew that the deserved many thanks from all of the people they’d managed to save over the years.
An alert pinged on his computer, showing he’d received a message that he should check the gate. If he were capable of coming even close to having as many skills with tech as Sage did, he would have somehow figured how to let her know that she was supposed to be resting, not working. But alas, he did not. What he did have, though, was his mutation. So he contacted her mind and told her to get back to recovering, which was responded to with a somewhat hesitant-sounding “Understood” in his mind. Since it was indeed Tessa’s mind he was contacting, it sounded more like an automated response than an actual answer.
Afterward, he turned to access the communicator and camera which displayed the gate at the front of the school. Hearing the voice, at first, made him pause, but once the visual input came in, and the owner of the voice was confirmed, he pressed the speaker button. “It’s good to see you again, Jean.” He smiled. “Let me open the gate for you.”
Once she’d entered the campus itself, Xavier contacted her mind. “If you’d like to make a quick visit, I’m in my office. Same exact place as when you left for college. Do you need any help with your luggage?”