A little one-shot fic I came up with when I noticed the Dawn-General space on TtH was empty for x-men.
By: Polgara melindoranightsilver@hotmail.com
Spoilers: Season Seven ending for Buffy and X-Men 2.
Rating: PG for just a hint of violence
Summary: Dawn gets a letter inviting her to a school in New York.



Branching Out

Dawn sat nervously in a chair next to Buffy. She cast her eyes about the ornate office as they waited for the head of the school to arrive.

After Sunnydale had fallen into the earth, the scoobies and the new slayers had gone to stay with Angel in L.A. Apparently major changes had happened there too since they now ran Wolfram and Hart, their old enemies law firm.

They had only been there for a couple of weeks when Dawn received a letter inviting her to attend a school for the gifted in Westchester, NY. Alarms had instantly gone off in everybody’s head. While it was true that she was very intelligent, she wasn’t exactly gifted.

So Angel put his people to work investigating the school. All they found was that it was a credible school with credible teachers. The curriculum was challenging and it was filled with happy students.

Buffy was still a bit leery about it, but saw it as a chance for Dawn to go off and be herself and to get away from the dangers that came with being a scooby. But rather than deciding for Dawn they decided to visit the school and check it out for themselves.

The door behind them opened and a man in a wheelchair rolled through. “I apologize for keeping you waiting. I was checking on a student who had been sent to the infirmary.”

“Anything serious?” Buffy asked.

“No, just a small case of the flu,” he said. He held out his hand. “I’m Professor Charles Xavier. You must be Buffy and Dawn Summers.”

“That be us,” Buffy said with a smile as she shook his hand. “You must really care for your students to check on them.”

“I do Miss Summers. Children need to be nurtured and shown that they are cared for. Many of the students here have less than happy home lives so my staff and I try to create a loving yet disciplined environment.”

Dawn tuned out the conversation as she studied the man. Something about him reminded her of Giles. He seemed to be a kind and giving man with an air of intelligence about him. Something about his demeanor told her he was a patient man but could assert his leadership when needed.

“He asked you a question, Dawn,” Buffy said, interrupting her observations.

“Huh?”

“Would you like a tour and perhaps meet some of the students and teachers?”

“Sure,” she said with a shrug.

Again Dawn tuned him out as they walked the halls of the beautiful school. There seemed to be a lot of other things to do at the school other than studying, such as swimming and horseback riding.

It seemed something was slightly off about the place. A prevailing sadness hung in the air like some sort of shadow. It was more prevalent in the one teacher she had been introduced to, Mr. Summers.

Dawn thought it was weird meeting someone with the same last name who wasn’t a relative. She also found it rather strange that he wore sunglasses with red lenses inside the school. The lenses were so dark she couldn’t see his eyes.

She doubted that very few people would notice the sorrowful aura about him unless they knew him well or the signs of such strong, hidden emotions. It was evident in the slight stooping of the shoulders and the way his jaw tensed slightly. He looked as if he were carrying a great burden and didn’t want to bother others with it.

During the outside part of the tour they met a solitary figure named Logan. Despite his gruff and slightly wild look, his eyes were haunted as if he had seen and done too much. As she looked closer she could see a softness in his eyes, something he probably tried to keep hidden.

A lot like Spike, she thought. Tears welled up in her eyes at the thought of her dead friend, but she quickly blinked them back. Logan was studying her as if he were sizing her up somehow. Seemingly making a decision, a side of his mouth quirked up slightly and he barely nodded his head. She gave him a half smile then followed Buffy and the professor as they continued on.

As they walked through the halls back to the office, Dawn caught of something blue down an adjacent hallway. She stopped and looked back when she heard a strange noise. She saw nothing but smelled sulfur in the air. She shrugged her shoulders and hurried to catch up to the others.

Overall she rather liked the place. It was huge and gorgeously decorated, but had a nice sense of home about it. She thought it would be fairly nice to be able to find her own identity separate from the scoobies. She loved them all dearly and thought of them as her family, but she felt the urge to branch out on her own for a while. She began hoping that Buffy would let her go to school here.

She found herself seated in the office again and waited to hear what Buffy had to say. She noticed that during the tour her sister had been a little jumpy as if she kept sensing something.

“This is a very nice school you have here, Mr. Xavier,” Buffy said.

“Thank you.”

“But what is the real reason why you want my sister to go to school here?”

“I’m afraid I don’t quite understand,” he said curiously.

“What I mean is, is that we have only been in L.A. for a couple of weeks and we had no forwarding address. You have no access to her school records because they are gone. So how did you find us and what do you want with her?”

‘I assure you I only have the best intentions in regards to your sister, Miss Summers.’

Dawn jumped in her seat. She could have sworn she didn’t see his lips move when he spoke.

Buffy must have noticed the same thing for she jumped to her feet and yelled, “Who the hell are you? And what do you want with my sister?”

“If you will please sit down I can explain,” the professor began, but Dawn knew it was useless. She could feel the anger and suspicion rolling off of Buffy in waves. Her sister had slipped into slayer mode.

“Don’t thing you can put me in some sort of thrall. Dracula tried and it didn’t work.” Dawn snorted.

“For too long,” Buffy added. “The only people I know who can talk in people’s heads are demons and witches. So which are you?”

“What are you talking about?” He asked, clearly confused.

“Demon or male witch, whatever they’re called.”

“Warlocks,” Dawn supplied.

“Thank you. Demon or warlock, which are you? Cause only one of them would be interested in my sister.”

“Hey!” Dawn protested.

“You know what I mean.”

Dawn could sense the professor’s confusion about Buffy’s questions. Before she could say anything, the slayer made a decision. She grabbed Dawn’s wrist and said,

“Come on. We’re leaving.”

Buffy opened the door to leave and was greeted by the man named Logan. “Out of my way,” she growled.

“Or what? You’ll move me?” He asked with a snort.

Something glinted in her eyes as she said, “Yeah, I will.” Then she slammed her hand into his chest sending him flying down the hallway.

Dawn could feel surprise emanating from both the professor and Logan. She began to think that maybe they had no clue who herself or her sister were. She planted her feet as Buffy tried to pull her out the door.

“Come on, Dawn.”

“No, wait a minute.”

“We have to go now before they lock you up and...”

“They’re not going to.”

“Huh?”

“They don’t know who you or I are.”

“And how do you know that?” Buffy demanded.

“Because I can feel it,” Dawn answered softly.

“If you would sit down, I can explain.” The professor suggested gently.

“Are you sure we’re safe?” Buffy asked.

Dawn mutely nodded her head as she watched Logan walk toward them. He didn’t seem to be affected by Buffy’s punch.

“Logan, please shut the door and join us. Your presence may be helpful while I explain.”

“Explain what?” Buffy asked as she warily sat back down in her chair.

“Mutants.”

“I’ve heard of them,” Buffy said with a shrug.

“What?” Dawn asked curiously. She was surprised her sister knew of anything outside of the demon world. She knew about them, but she kept up with events outside of Sunnydale.

“Met several the summer I was in L.A.” Buffy said in explanation.

“Then this should make this infinitely easier. Your sister is a mutant,” the professor said with a small smile.

Buffy looked at him incredulously for a moment, then busted out laughing.

“This ain’t a laughing matter, kid,” Logan growled.

“My sister may be different, but that doesn’t mean she’s a mutant,” Buffy said around her laughter.

The professor turned to Dawn. “Have you noticed any changes with yourself in the past couple of months?”

Dawn thought it over for a bit before realizing that something had changed. “I can sometimes feel what others are feeling,” she said a little hesitantly.

“Since when?” Buffy asked.

“Around the time when we were looking for,” she paused for a moment before saying, “a certain girl in Sunnydale. Remember we thought she was one girl but turned out to be another?”

“That long?” Buffy asked, understanding she was talking about a spell they had done to find a potential.

“Yeah.”

“Why didn’t you say something?”

“You know with the...problems everyone was having, I thought little of it.”

“The first?” The professor asked.

“No picking through my head,” Buffy ordered.

“I didn’t, but your mind was practically screaming it.”

“Oh.”

“We could tell him,” Dawn suggested.

“Can we trust him?”

“I think so.”

They spent the rest of the afternoon exchanging information. Buffy and Dawn explained slayers, demons, and Sunnydale. The professor and Logan told them about mutants, the x-men, and Magneto. They discussed the possibility of the slayer being a mutant, but dismissed it because of the mystic energies required to activate one. Dawn’s mutant abilities as an empath were also talked about.

After conferring with each other, they let Dawn make the final decision of whether or not to stay. It didn’t take her long to decide to stay and learn how to control her new gift.

She did second-guess her choice, though, when they walked into the dining room to eat dinner. She was suddenly faced with the fact that she had no friends or scoobies to fall back on here. The professor suggested that she sit with the students so she could get to know them. So she nervously looked around the room for a friendly-looking face.

“Lookin’ for a place to sit?” Came a gruff voice behind her.

She turned around to see Logan looking at her. “Maybe.”

“See the girl with the white streak in her hair?”

“Yeah?”

“Tell her I sent you.” Then he headed to the teacher’s table.

Taking a deep breath, Dawn purposely walked over to the girl Logan indicated. She sat down across from her and a nice looking boy.

The girl looked up and smiled.

Feeling slightly encouraged; Dawn smiled back and said, “Hi. My name’s Dawn. Logan told me to tell you he sent me.”

She laughed and said, “Mah name is Marie, but you can call me Rogue. This is mah boyfriend Bobby.”

“Hi,” he said.

“Logan must like you.”

“Why do you say that?” Dawn asked as she fixed herself a plate.

“He thinks of himself as mah big brother. He would only send over someone he liked and trusted ta me,” she explained.

Dawn looked over to see Logan watching her. He threw a quick wink at her before turning back to his conversation with Buffy. Perhaps she wasn’t as alone as she thought.

~finis