A/N: So I noticed that there was a distinct lacking for this category and decided to fix that. It's not a main-story of mine, but I do have a bit of plot thought out and should be able to update it somewhat frequently. Especially if I get reviews!
"It's important, Charles." says Ororo, voice serious. She could see the hesitance in the older mans eyes; the reluctance to bring a stranger into their home; to allow someone he doesn't know to influence his students.
And, oh, she does understand. It isn't a thought that she's all that thrilled about, either. It has to be done and it has to be done soon.
"I know, Ororo." answers Charles. His eyes slip close, fingers steepling as he rests his hands on the top of his desk. "I heard the conversation as well."
With Kurt and Scott and Rouge, all three sitting out in the garden, saying things that they shouldn't have even had to think about. Talking about their future - and there was a future for all of his students, that Charles is sure of. It's the only thing that he's positive about, even more so than that there can be peace between mankind and mutantkind.
Until that moment, he hadn't realized that his students didn't feel the same way.
"Our students need to know that there's a place in society even after they leave the Institute. Something that they can do because of their powers that a regular human couldn't." says Charles, letting out a small sigh through his nose. "I just don't know where to find someone that would be willing to come here."
-x-x-x-x-
Logan sets the wrench down on one of the workbenches, but doesn't turn to look at the older man right away. He takes his time wiping the grease off of his hands, setting the worn rag on a shelf, kicking the rolling-cart under the metal counter.
"Well, Logan?" prompts Charles, from his seat a few feet away. He has stopped his wheelchair in the entrance of the garage, knowing full well that there are most likely all kinds of nails and screws scattered about the cement floor.
"I dunno, Chuck." the older man finally grunts, tilting his head just enough that he can watch the proffesor out of one eye. "Seems like a pretty out there idea to me."
"Yes, I know. But trust me when I say that it's a necissary task. Do you know of anyone that we could try and contact?" Charles asks - and he still isn't sure about this, but he cannot think of anything else that he can do.
He refuses to let his students drown in their own doubts.
There's a long moment of silence before the adamantium boned man says anything. Logan purses his chapped lips together and runs the fingers of his left hand over the knuckles of his right. Then he nods. "Yeah, Chuck. I think I might."
-x-x-x-x-
It turns out that the man Logan is talking about isn't a man at all. He's a boy, and he lives half-way around the country, in a place called Jump City. The boy, he works for the City, fighting crime and solving murders, along with five other teens.
They all fight crime.
They all have powers.
Not a single one of them, Logan says, is a mutant. He insists that they can be trusted though, and that the boy can accomplish whatever it is Charles wants done.
His name? Garfield Mark Logan.
-x-x-x-x-
When the screen flickers to life, Charles is met with the sight of a single boy with a black mask covering his eyes. The child, because that is most certainly what he is, isn't smiling. Instead his thin, pale lips are curled down into a frown.
"Who are you?" he asks, and it's more of a demand then anything. Robin doesn't like being bothered with calls from people he doesn't know. It never brings good news.
Charles offers the screen a smile, wheeling himself a few inches away from the screen. Putting himself in full view - because he can tell by the creases in the black haired youth's brows that he is on edge.
As planned, irritation is replaced with confusion. The boy falters. Charles lunges, just like Logan had instructed him to.
"My name is Charles Xavier, and I promise that I'm not calling you with any ill-intent, Mister Grayson. I run a school for gifted youngsters, and I was advised to call you by one of my teachers." he explains, smile never wavering.
Robin blanches - and his mind blocks out most of the older mans words, focusing instead on the name. No one has called him that in years. Not since he left Gotham and the over-bearing clutches
"What did you just call me?!" he demands. "How do you know my name?"
"As I said, Mister Grayson, a friend of mine told me to call you. Logan doesn't know you personally, but he does know your mentor." says Charles - and, oh, had Logan insisted that he not bring Robin to the manor. Said that they didn't need the Wayne's influence, however indirectly. "And he knows your team."
"My team?" questions Robin, and his defences are up and he's confused but he's trying hard not to show it. "What about them?"
"Not them, per say, but one in particular. I believe that he goes by the codename Beast Boy." answers Charles. Then he pauses and the smile fades from his face as he leans forward, blue eyes dark and serious. "I've been informed that he can help me."
-x-x-x-x-
Robin doesn't want him to go. Says that it's a bad idea, maybe even a trap.
"Why would someone need you to go help a school?" asks Robin, and there's such condescendance in his voice that even Cyborg pauses in what he's doing to look up.
It takes a lot for Beast Boy not to snap, then. He hates when Robin speaks to him like that, like he's less, because it reminds him so much of how Mento used to speak to him. And he's supposed to be equal here - but that's a lie lie lie and all he can do is frown.
"Maybe because, unlike you, I actually look like a freak!" he snaps, and then the green-skinned boy is turning on his heel and storming towards the stairs, fully aware that everyone is watching him. "I'm going to pack, and then I'm flying out tomorrow. Deal with it, Robin."
Footsteps behind him, then a hand clamping down on his shoulder - and everything is screaming at Beast Boy to fight back against the Alpha, but all he does is jerk away from the gloved hand and move quicker towards his bedroom.
-x-x-x-x-
Almost seven hours after Xavier contacts the Teen Titans, he recieves a call to his office's phone.
"Hello?" he questions, picking up the reciever close to his ear. "This is Charles Xavier. May I help you?"
"Uh, yeah, I guess." says the voice on the other line. It's a male, and uncertainty is clear in each wavering word. "You're the guy that called Robin earlier? I'm, uh, I'm Beast Boy."
"Ah, yes. I'm glad that you were able to call me back, Mister Logan." says Charles, sitting up a little straighter. He's quick to cut to the point then, not wanting to waste time with such an important decision. "As I told your friend, I run a school here in Bayville for gifted youngsters. Mutants, actually, who need a place to stay while they learn to control their powers."
"Yeah, Robin said something like that. He, uh, also said you needed my help with something?" asks Beast Boy and, oh, this is so very hard for him. A part of him is eager to see someplace that sounds so wonderfull, to see a safe haven for freaks. And the other half is so very bitter that he never got the chance to go somewhere like that.
Charles nods and lets out a gentle hum. "Yes. It's recently come to my attention that several of my students...They feel as though their mutations will stop them from interacting properly in the real world. A very good friend of mine said that you might be able to help me show them otherwise."
Silence for a long moment. If not for the harsh crackle that comes through each time the other man breathes, Charles would be afraid that he's been hung up on. Eventually, Beast boy manages to build his nerves up and ask; "friend?"
"A teacher at my facility. One mister James Logan?" says Charles - and there's a clunk on the other side as the line goes staticy for a moment.
Like it has been dropped.
"L-logan?" bursts the younger boy, and a rush of air hits the speakers after that. "God, he's there? Just - I can hitch a ride over there this evening, sir, no worries about it."
-x-x-x-x-
Logan will not tell Charles the story of Garfield Mark Logan, nor will he say what the boy does. What he looks like. How they met.
Doesn't explain away the almost soldier-like attitude that came about when he mentioned Logan, or how he planned on crossing the entire country in less then twenty four hours.
Just gives Charles a slight smirk, and once again insists that Garfield will help.
-x-x-x-x-
At exactly eight thirty three in the evening, something trips the alarms that surround the Institute. Charles orders Jean and Scott to acompany Logan out onto the grounds - and he is completely aware of the fact that the oldest mutant is not even slightly concerned about the trip out, and instead seems almost amused.
Won't say anything, though. Just suits up with the others and head out.
The alarm that is tripped is on the west side of the property, closest to the forest. So that's where the three X-Men go; Logan leading them and looking so thoroughly uncaring about the situation. As they move, the lawn becomes less kempt and pieces of plant-life begins to creep onto the ground in front of them.
They don't get very far past that before a section of thick brush starts to move. Green parts to reveal dark green eyes staring out of a green, feline face. Jean acts before anything else can happen, and suddenly she is lifting a cheetah out of the bush and raising it high into the air, up above the three of them, up above the brush. For a moment, it thrashes in her grasp - and she's surpised at how hard it to keep the panting creature levitated.
"Who are you?" barks Scott.
At the same time, Logan puts a hand on Jean's shoulder. "Let 'im down, Red. He ain't gonna hurt nobody here."
"What? You just want me to just let him go? We don't even know who he is!" she protests, but then she catches a glint of something hard in the metal-boned mans eyes and does as she's told.
The cheetah doesn't land on his feet. Instead, he lands on his feet and she and Scott can finally see how its fur is matted with sweat and its sides are heaving as he tries to catch his breath. Green eyes give them a doleful look - and then there's a boy there, sprawled out in the underbrush, with light green skin and darker green eyes. Ears that end in points and too-long canines that stick out past his upper lip. A skin tight suit of black and purple that is stained with sweat and he's breathing like he's just run a marathon.
"You've gotten quicker, Runt." states Logan, and then he walks past Jean and over too the prone boy. Offers a hand and, when it's taken, he pulls the smaller man to his feet.
"Know better than to keep you waiting, Logan." pants Beast Boy, and when he takes his hand back he uses it to wipe the sweat from his brow.
-x-x-x-x-
Jean doesn't know what to think. This boy that she is leading back to the manor...He's very off. When he walks, its with steps that are almost too light; when he talks, there's always a laugh or a smile there to go with it; when Logan goes on ahead of them, the green-skinned boy seems almost dissapointed.
Yet she cannot get even the slightest trace of emotion coming from him. Absolutely nothing. Just empty air, empyt words, empty thoughts.
-x-x-x-x-
Scott doesn't speak to the boy, Garfield he says his name is, during the trip from the front door to the professor's room. Cannot get himself to say anything - because he is just too caught up in his appearance, in the fact that he seems more comfortable around Logan then around him or Jean, that he's perfectly comfortable walking through halls and having everyone stare at him.
Which he doesn't understand, because there is little about this strange visitor that seems normal.
-x-x-x-x-
"Please, take a seat." says Charles, and he offers the young man a smile when he walks into his office. Motions to a chair with one hand, the other laying in his lap.
Beast Boy hangs about in the door for a moment - and then he spots Logan and walks right in, by passing the chair to give the older man a hug. He wraps his arms around Logan's torso and presses the side of his face against the other mans chest; the familiar scent of sweat and pine hits his nose, and all he can understand is safety.
Ignoring the fact that both Ororo and Charles are staring at him now, Logan gives the younger boy a rough pat on the shoulder before nudging him off. "Yeah, yeah, missed you too, Runt. Not get your ass in a seat and listen to what Chuck here has to say."
Beast Boy can't help the whine that escapes when he's pushed away from the sanctum of his friends chest, but he does as he's told and moves into the chair. And he feels no shame when the eyes of the two older mutants look at him, but he does sit up straighter and lifts his chin up higher - like a soldier would when addressing a commanding officer.
"You must be Garfield." says Ororo, and though her voice is light there's something deeper in her eyes. She notices the change in posture, and she doesn't like it one bit. Not when it comes from a child. "I would like to say that I've heard a lot about you, but sadly I haven't."
She's expecting hurt to flash across his face, but instead he just shrugs. "Not a lot about me to tell, miss. But, y'know, always glad to get out of Jump for a while!"
Even if he doesn't know why he's there yet. Doesn't have to know the why, just that it's to help a friend of Logan. And he's all game, even as Charles explains the situation to him. Even when he realizes that what Logan wants is for him to bear all and let these strangers see his faults, see his scars, see the truth.
Powers aren't what makes you.
It's how you deal with them that defines you.