Disclaimer: Sean Cassidy and the Massachusetts Academy are property of Marvel Comics, Dawn and Glenn belong to me. If there IS a St. Anne's School for Girls in Oklahoma I apologize for making it look like something from a Steven King novel. Did I mention I'm not being paid for this?

Author's Note: Hello, this is Tapestry. I will be your hostess for tonight. May I recommend the club sandwich and side of fries? Sorry about that, I just couldn't help myself. (*grin*) Anyway, there are currently eleven chapters of this thing so far, so you can expect at least nine more. There probably WILL be two more parts of this story (names will most likely be ‘The Askani Wars' and It's Always Darkest...' What do the Askani have to do with this? Well, nothing. Yet.) This has been your final warning.

"Oww," Glenn moaned as I held a tissue to his bloody nose. "Yer sure punch ard fer a thirteen year old."

"Yeah, well, I'll be fourteen in a month," I shrugged. "Accent."

"Oh. Right. Anyway, you've got a real problem here."

"No, really? My dad was one of the founders of the FOH. He thinks all mutants are slime (a belief I've never shared, incidently) Too much CNN, probably."

"Probably," my friend nodded. "But seriously, what about your mom?"

"She's kind of a grey area," I told him. "She pretty much goes along with whatever Dad tells her to, so I'm not sure what she'll think."

"Then what're you going to do?" he asked me.

"I wish I knew," I said, shaking my head. "I'm-mmmhhhhh..."

"What now?!" Glenn exclaimed.

I was getting a mental picture of something. It was a room, and definitly somewhere in the school. It was dark and gloomy, and filled with machinery. I realized I was seeing through someone else's eyes, and that someone was strapped to a table. I knew I had linked with her because she was dying.

Painfully.

:You there?: the girl sent urgently. :Telepathy not strong. Must tell. Listen.:

I had no time to ask her what she was talking about because a man came into the room; shrouded in darkness with glowing red eyes.

:He's the one hurting you?: I thought to her, trying to get the hang of mind-speech.

:Yes. He killing me. You next, I hear he say. Escape while you can.: Her speech was broken and strained, as if she couldn't think clearly enough to talk properly.

:Wait, what's his name?:

:He called Sinist-YEEAAARRHH-:

Our link was severed abruptly as her mind ceased to exisist. In that instant I experienced everything that had ever happened to her, good and bad alike. (I discovered later that this is what is called 'death trauma' by other telepaths; supposedly because when you die you relive every important moment of your life)The girl had been electrocuted. Strangely, when she was killed she had felt... glad. It was because she had been tortured and the victim of horrible experiments, and death had been the only and final release.

I snapped out of my trance to discover tears streaming down my cheeks. Glenn was frantic, not knowing how to help or what was wrong.

"Dawn, wot's wrong?!" he asked. "Was it another spell?!"

"N-no," I stammered, still crying. ""I think I just mind linked with someone. Someone in this school. And she just died." I spoke haltingly, feeling more then a little terrified. "Oh God, Glenn, this place is evil. I've got to get out of this madhouse. I knew there was something wrong, but I didn't know HOW wrong, and someone just killed that girl, and she said I was next. She told me to escape."

"Are you sure you weren't hallucinating or something?" he asked. "You've been under a lot of pressure lately."

"Does THIS feel like a hallucination?!" I demanded. I reached out with my mind and linked him to the memories of the girl's pain.

His mouth fell open and I almost felt pleased with myself for accomplishing my first (voluntary) mind link. But this was no time for ego cultivating, I had to get out of there. FAST.

"What powers do you have?" I asked him after I broke the link.

"I can fly," he said. "And shield myself from radar and other people, and I'm a lot quicker and stronger then most. Plus I have enhanced vision and hearing."

Made sense. No wonder he was such a good thief.

"Can you carry me out of here?"

"Probably."

"Good. I'll pack a few personal things and we'll be off."

"To where?"

"Um. Good question. Any suggestions?"

Glenn paused for a moment. Finally he said, "Well... I heard about this school in Massachusetts. They sent me and invitation to attend, said it was for gifted children', which is what they call mutants. I declined, but it seemed like an okay place. We could go there, maybe."

"That works. Can you stop off at an ATM on the way, though? We'll need money for food and hotels and stuff."

"Wait a minute," he said. "How exactly do you propose we get there?"

"You can fly us, of course," I replied matter-of-factly.

"But--"

"Now let me get packed and we'll be off."

"But--"

"Do you want me to be cut off by a mad scientist?"

"Well, no but--"

"Good. Now shut up and help me pack."

About fifteen frantic minutes later I was packed and ready to leave. I mounted Glenn piggy-back, which was kind of awkward (not to mention embarrassing) and we were set. Glenn opened the window and jumped out before I had a chance for second thoughts. For a second we fell, but only for a second. Glenn pulled up and we were air-born. I wasn't particularly afraid of heights, but being a few hundred feet up is something less then comfortable when you're on your best friend's back.

I suddenly found myself wishing Glenn came equipped with seatbelts.

After about ten minutes I began to cramp up. Hey, you try and hang onto a guy's back for ten minutes and stay comfortable. I wiggled a little and Glenn almost fell out of the sky.

"Please don't so that," he gasped. Actually, I'm surprised he could talk at all, considering the fact that I was clutching his neck so tightly he was turning blue.

"Oops," I apologized. "I'm sorry, I couldn't help it."

" S'okay, just loosen your grip on me neck a bit, will you?"

"Oh. Sorry."

After a half an hour I spoke again. "Do you have a road map?" I asked.

"Uhhh..."

That could be a problem.

"Well, we might be able to get one at that gas station," he suggested.

"Good," I said. "I need to stretch anyway."

We landed about a hundred feet away from the gas station and took a break. We bought a few snacks inside, too. Soda... beef jerky... twinkies... you know, the usual junk. We grabbed a few road maps from the counter and set out again. I was glad I'd brought my ATM card to school, even though I hadn't expected to use it.

Soon we were air-born again and I was doubly glad of Glenn's personal cloaking field, because soon we entered a more populated area. We flew over a city, but I couldn't be sure of which because we were traveling so fast. The shields the other psion had helped me place were holding, but getting a little strained. I prayed we'd get past it soon, because it felt like the whole city was shrieking in both my ears at once. Fortunately Glenn flew fast and we soon passed it.

About an hour before dawn (no pun intended) we touched down near a motel at the outskirts Of Illinois. I was amazed to discover how fast and how far we had flown, but I suppose fear is a great motivator.

"I never thought I'd be too tired t' sleep," Glenn muttered from his bed, slipping into his accent.

"Maybe I can help you," I suggested. I concentrated on making him feel sleepy... and fell asleep myself.

I woke up at about ten o'clock and discovered I'd been successful in putting Glenn asleep. He was happily sawing wood, snoring like a buzz saw. I got up and went to the lobby for some donuts, which were pretty good for hotel food. When I got back to the room Glenn was awake, and hungry enough to eat horse manure.

"Yer li'l trick o' playin' hypnotist works wonders," he commented in between bites of long john.

"Accent," I said. "But I must say it IS pretty handy. Too bad it puts ME to sleep, too."

"Eh. You win some, you lose some."

After breakfast we packed up and took off again. We stopped at a McDonald's for lunch, and Glenn slept on a park bench to recharge. After that we flew non-stop to Massachusetts.

"Thank God," Glenn gasped, beads of sweat trickling down his brow. "There it is." he indicated a huge mansion nestled in the middle of the woods.

"THAT'S A SCHOOL?!" I said incredulously.

"The headmistress is rich they said," Glenn informed me.

"Really? What's her name?"

"I don't remember..." Glenn's comment was punctuated with a gasp and we both wobbled in mid-air.

"Glenn, what's wrong?!" I exclaimed.

"I'm bout three hours past exhausted," he said weakly. We literally fell out of the sky and right through a tree. I could have sworn I heard something crack before I lost consciousness, but I couldn't tell whether it was from Glenn, me, the tree, or both. The last thing I remembered was a blond girl in biker shorts running up to us and shouting for help.

I woke up several hours later with a sore back and twisted ankle. The first thing I saw was a red haired standing over me.

"G'day, lassie," he said cheerfully with a thick Irish accent. "Are ye feelin' all right?"

I couldn't answer him right away. I was so disoriented I could feel thoughts battering my psyche, and images of people and places associated with the man poured over my mind like a bucket of ice water. Finally I croaked out, "I... give me a minute." I reinforced my shields and slammed them down tightly to shut out the images. "That's better," I sighed.

"What?" the man said blankly.

"Um, never mind. I'm fine." I looked around. I was in what seemed to be a clinic of some sort, with lots of high tech equipment surrounding my bed. I saw Glenn lying on the cot next to me and tried to get up. I immediately regretted it, and was forced to lie back down. "Um, where am I?" I asked belatedly.

"Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters," he told me, as if quoting from a pamphlet. "I'm Sean Cassidy, the headmaster. If I may inquire, what were ye doin' round these parts? An' how did ye hurt yuirselves?"

I looked at Glenn, wishing he was awake to tell me what I should say. Fortunately my budding telepathy informed me that he meant no harm and could be trusted.

"Well, um, we were kind of looking for this place," I told him. I wasn't very good at talking to people more then ten years above my age group and I'm just naturally a nervous person. "Y'know, to learn about... ourselves." I couldn't believe how hokey that was sounding, and I hadn't said more then two sentences!

"An' how did ye get hurt?"

"Well... we were flying, you see, and Glenn kind of overextended his powers. We crashed."

Sean raised his eyebrow and I tried to figure out if he was surprised or impressed. "How did ye know about the school in the first place?"

"Glenn got an invitation a while back. He turned it down, but he remembered it and suggested we come here."

"And what's yuir power? Ye are a mutant, aye?"

"I'm a... what did he call it... a telepath. I think. All I know is that the other night I started having these..." I groped for an appropriate word. "Well, it felt like all these voices were trying to break into my mind. It wouldn't stop, so I called Glenn for... moral support, I guess. Anyway, my hair and eyes turned blue and someone contacted me telepathically and told me someone was going to kill me if I didn't leave. So I did, and Glenn and we've been running for about two days now."

"I see," Sean said. "And where did ye start?"

"Oklahoma."

His jaw dropped. "Ye traveled here from OKLAHOMA in TWO DAYS? How did ye stay out o' sight?"

"Glenn can shield us from radar and other people. Pretty cool, huh?"

"I suppose," Sean said with half a smile. "But let's get our facts straight. Who was tryin' t' kill ye?"

I could tell by the way he said it he thought I was exaggerating. I considered practicing my powers by showing him exactly what it felt like to have a power like mine. I looked at him again. He was a nice enough guy, so I decided against it.

"The girl I was linked to said 'He is Sinist--' before she died," I informed him.

Sean appeared to be lost in thought. "Where were ye stayin'?"

"A boarding school."

"Did they make ye do anythin' unusual?"

"Only a card test. You know, where they show you cards and ask you to guess what shapes are on them. But I was only there for a day, so I wouldn't really know."

Glenn choose that moment to groan. Loudly. I looked at him, worried. Of course, given the current, weakened state of my mental shields focusing my attention on my friend was not the best thing I could have done, because I was effectively sucked into his nightmare.

//I can smell something burning. The explosion had happened so quickly I hadn't had time to react, but I do now. I look through the inferno, trying to find my mother. I can't find her; there is too much smoke in the air. I look for a way out, but the doors have been blocked by the fire. I hear screams, and realize they are my own. I look down at myself and discover what was burning. It was me. I feel my life ebbing away and wait to die.

Only I don't. Someone crawls through the blaze and drags me out to an ambulance. I hear voices. They're amazed to see me alive, but they say I'll probably die anyway. I have third degree burns all over my body and my lungs are raw from breathing smoke. I manege to choke out the words, "My mum... my dad... where are they..?" and am greeted by sad head shakes from the firefighters.

They load me onto the ambulance, saying how sorry they are. I start to cry, realizing that my mum, dad, even my house are nothing but ashes. The paramedics bandage me up a bit, trying to salvage what little flesh I have left. They say I should be dead by now, and I am hurting so much I wish I was.

I get to the hospital, but I'm beginning to ache. Ache and itch. The doctors wheel me into the ER quickly and prepare for surgery. But when they unwrap the hastily placed bandages the paramedics gave me they gape. I raise my hand, though it's an effort, and gasp. Where I expect to see charred flesh and exposed muscle there is now soft new skin growing.

I'm out of the hospital within the week, with no scars or permanent injuries. I go back home and sift through the charred remains, hoping to find something. There is nothing save ashes. I arrange to go to the states, because I can't bear to stay in London any longer.//

I snapped out of the dream, appalled. Now I knew why Glenn had never talked about his family; he had lost them all in a firebombing. I immediatly added this experience to my list of reasons never to enter someone's mind when they're dreaming.

"Lass?" Sean was saying as he waved a hand before my eyes.

"My name's Dawn," I said automatically.

"Dawn," he repeated. "Is there something wrong?"

"Just the fact that I need to install an on/off switch for my powers," I told him. "That was something I really could have done without."

"Ye linked wi' him, aye?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Th' look on yuir face. Reminds me o' how I felt when I discovered I was a mutant."

"You're a mutant too?"

"Aye. An' the headmistress is 'path like yuirself, but she's away on business. Should be back in a day or two, though."

"Hmm. Maybe she can help me with my control a little. I keep slipping into rapports, whether I want to or not."

"Anyone in particular?"

"Mostly with-thhhhhahhh..." I slipped into a moan as it happened again. Anytime I mentioned what I could do my stupid powers had a field day. This time I could feel a woman dying of AIDS somewhere in Asia, then a man dying of poison in the Yukon. My mind was ripped from victim to victim and I scream futilely for release.

:Hang on, gel.: The Cockney accented voice was back again. Strangely, it seemed stronger then the last time. :I'm here, and I'll help yer again, just like last time.:

Help me he did, strengthening my shields and providing me with the proverbial shoulder to lean on while I recovered.

:Thank you," I gasped mentally, still exhausted by my ordeal. :Is it just me, or is this becoming a habit?:

:No problem, luv,: he replied. :I know how yer feel. Believe me.: He left again before I could ask him his name.

"Are ye well, lass?" Sean inquired, concerned.

"Just my fatigue getting the better of me," I told him. "My shields aren't very strong, and I keep feeling people die. Everywhere. One after the other."

Sean winced. "It must be terrible," he said sympathetically.

"It's not comfortable," I agreed. I looked over at my friend. "How's Glenn doing?"

Sean winced again. "Nae too well. He broke a leg an' an arm as well as havin' a concussion. I think he'll be out fer a day or two."

I sighed. "Maybe next time he should wear a helmet," I suggested. I tried to sit up again and groaned.

"Ye really should rest fer a while longer," Sean told me.

I flopped back down on the bed. "How much longer am I going to hurt?" I asked him.

"Maybe another half a day," he said. "Nothin's broken, ye jus' jarred yuirself a bit on the landin'. I'll get ye a bite o' dinner an' we c'n talk in the mornin'."

Sean was as good as his word, for about twenty minutes later he brought me a bowl of stew. I drifted off to sleep without too much trouble that night, wondering what would happen in the morning.

TEASER: Yep, here's another one. Hey, it's MY story and I can do what I want to so nyah nyah nyah. Where was I? Oh yeah. Next chapter Glenn wakes up and they meet the rest of Generation X. Plus Dawn finds out who the 'Cockney Accented Voice' is (in case you haven't already guessed.)