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The morning after was quiet; Jean actually made breakfast consisting of vegetables and cheese. There was no meat upon the plate, something she figured that Gabriel wouldn't like. She herself wasn't too keen on eating at the moment, only savoring the glass of milk that she poured for herself, and another to make herself full. All the while, she babbled along, talking about this and that. Mostly, about her family back home and how her sister was due to have another child in a couple of months time!
There was much excitement about being an aunt. And her brother proposed to his girlfriend! Lets not forget about that. The Grey family was expanding, which was a good thing after all. But then it was time to set off towards the mansion, tugging Gabriel along. Through a door that she shows him which leads through the kitchen, the hallway that leads to the library.. and there is where they wait.
Jean in a chair, a book picked out to read to Gabriel, showing him what the words look like.
"I don't know why every girl has to be called Jane and the guys Dick. That's a bit rude." She finally blurts out.
*
Gabriel had picked around the food that Jean had provided, focusing rather happily on the fruits and vegetables rather than the cheese. It had made his nose curl up. However the milk he had seen resulted in him getting his own glass and drinking not just two but three full glasses of it. Apparently milk was an item he enjoyed. Then they were off, walking to the mansion, discovering a door (Rather than a window to bust open) and sitting. His ears were always open to her near constant chattering, never seeming tired of it or put off by it.
"But your name is similar to Jane." Gabriel points out to Jean when she makes her observation about the early reader books she's helping him through. "Is it because the names are simple to read and easy to say?"
*
"In my favorite childhood storybook, I think the boys were mostly called Jack but the girls were called things like Amanda or Jenny." an accented voice remarks conversationally as Charles Xavier steps into the library as well. "I think generally you have the right of it though, Gabriel."
The newcomer is smiling, dressed in a wool sweater and slacks. "A pleasure to meet you, finally. My name is Charles Xavier."
*
"I suppose." Jean offers up. "There are not many consonants or vowels in Dick and Jane. You figure out those by clapping. The consonants." She demonstrates, clapping once for Jane and once for Dick. But she doesn't encourage him to keep up. "I suppose it's lots easier than Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorff." *COUGHS*
As Charles enters, Jean looks towards his way, a little smile brightening her cheeks as she takes a stand and moves away from the table. Naturally, she'd want Charles to have her seat while she settles off to the side, her little teaching session ending. "Good morning Professor!"
*
Gabriel's eyes come up to the voice of the arriving Charles, and he looks a bit confused. Eyes dart from Charles to Jean then back, then back again. "Do… I stand? Is that what we do, we stand?" He stands up looking uncertain. "I am pleasured to meet you as well. Jean has spoken very much of you and told me that I will like you. I do not know how I would like you, but she has told me I will." He offers a very stoic nod, towards Jean, confirming the words he just repeated.
*
"They are short words, though for clapping I think you mean syllables." Charles supplies, though he has to add with a laugh, "Where on earth did you come across an impressive name like that?"
When Gabriel says his piece, Charles waves one hand. "Jean was trying to clear a seat, but there's room for all of us, I think. And I'm fairly sure if she told me you'd like me, she meant it as a prediction, rather than an instruction. This is a school…we challange people to consider and then decide how to think and act, rather than simply demanding how you do either."
*
"Oh. Right. Syllables." Jean lifts a hand to smack against her forehead, though she moves to take the seat next to Gabriel, and a little bit behind. She was there for a matter of support, even going so far as to rest a hand upon Gabriel's shoulder very lightly. "What he said." Though, the mention of liking Charles was a fact. Almost everyone who came into contact with the man enjoyed his presence. "I still think you would like him."
*
Listening, Gabriel's head cants towards the side and he opens his mouth to say something but then stops. Instead the words are bitten down as they are chewed over before he speaks again. "Jean has said that you may be able to help. If you are, that would be.. appreciated. However if you cannot, I understand as well. I do not wish to be an inconvience or distraction." He looks at Jean, past her hand on his shoulder before reaching up and gently placing his on top, acknowleding the supportive gesture.
*
*
Since Jean seems to be doing very well where she moved to, Xavier does in fact settle in the vacated chair, one leg crossing over the other knee. «That's a very nice thought Jean, but I'm sure Moira would discourage you from inflating my ego any more than it already is.» Charles sends with amusement. «Though it's kind of you to ground him. I get the impression friends are a very rare thing in his life thus far.»
Aloud, Xavier responds to Gabriel. "We built this place for the purpose of teaching those who were alone and in need, Gabriel. So if I can help, it's what I'm here for, not a distraction from it. Perhaps you could tell me a bit more about what you mean?" There are so many possibilities, best to hear what Gabriel himself thinks.
*
The hand upon her warrants a little smile. Though she was content on not speaking.
Xavier's voice cuts through her mind though, her expression remaining the same although she directs her thoughts of laughter, which sound joyous, to his own mind. The odd thing was, it sounded blended. Another, older laugh ringing in, and she too, sounds happy at least to hear him.
«Even if he isn't one of us, I think he needs us. Can you please consider it?»
'He lives to help people.'
«I know, Phoenix. But this is different.»
Jean resettles, drawing her hand away from his shoulder to just lean against him, she was still tired, many minds keeping her up in the late hour until she finally passed out for need of sleep. But even still, that was troublesome.
*
Gabriel glances towards where Jean is, he had assumed she had shared the situation but then his eyes come back to Xavier and with a frown he starts. "I … do not know anything. I do not remember anything. It is as if I began existing at the moment when Jean found me. Prior to that I have no knowledge. I don't know how I can talk. I don't know how I know my name. There are no memories and when I try to remember it brings terrible pain." He leans forward a bit to rest his face upon the palms of his hands and elbows upon knees, the posture of someone feeling defeated.
*
«Different in what way?» Charles wonders of the two 'twins'. But even if he's curious what they mean, they can already sense his concern growing for the young man hanging his head despondantly across the table.
"I might be able to. Without knowing exactly what happened for you, there's little way to tell but to try. Would you mind if I were to have a look?" The strange static he's sensing from Gabriel's mind might be a problem, but it's possible if Gabriel was less on edge it might lessen as well.
*
« You'll see. »
And as Gabriel speaks, Jean slowly moves away from him, giving him the space he needs to mourn and grieve his current situation. She relatively stays out of it, she wouldn't admit to being in Gabriel's head before, it was a frightening experience. It.. to say the least, led to her never wanting to try again any time soon until she was more skilled. But thankfully, he has good help. So there was no need for her to even think of trying.
*
Looking up, Gabriel nods a bit at Charles, "You may try. I do not mind." He takes a long deep breath and tries to sit upright a bit more straight, settling in to the chair and closing his eyes; almost as if he has done this before with someone. "I apologize now for whatever may occur."
*
«Gabriel's Mind: Surrounding his mind itself is a thick static barrier of energy that criss crosses with astral lightning. A protective electrical fence, not of the young man's own making but placed there by someone else, another telepath. It is meant to discourage access, to prevent intrusion and is imprinted with warnings and dangers across it to give credence to the thought that entry further should not be undertaken; most likely the source of the interference in reading Gabriel's emotions.
Should pressing on through the static, a painful experience for the patient, perhaps for the telepath as well, lays the landscape of Gabriel's existance. His mind. Memories, experiences, everything that would define a person. This landscape is laid out like a post apocolyptic wasteland. The remnants of buildings (the memories themselves) locked up behind shields and walls of telepathic gates. Everything locked up. His inability to remember is not amnesia; his mind has been purposefully, and skillfully, locked away so that he has no memory of who, or what, he is.»
*
Given permission, Xavier takes a breath and gives a short nod. He reaches up two fingers to the side of his head, brow drawing as he focuses on Gabriel. It doesn't take long to confirm that strange static is no natural interference but something…created. "Right; bear with me a moment…" he says, and with that, he dives in.
The net of mental 'lightning' crackles around Gabriel's mind, but Charles is adroit enough to weave and dodge, avoiding at least most of it on the way past. To someone 'watching' it would almost seem as if his astral form would warp and distort to avoid detection… he's had a long time to develop a light touch. Hopefully it spares Gabriel from at least some of the pain as Charles lands, turning about to take in the barricaded waste land that represents Gabriel's mind. 'My god..' he murmurs, shaken by the sheer extent of it all. Who could do something like this? 'Gabriel? Can you hear me?' he calls out first, wanting to gage what state the man himself is in. In the meantime he takes close note of the mental 'fingerprint' on those gates and barriers, so he can recognise whoever is responsible should he ever touch their thoughts.
*
Gabriel's brow furrows in the real world, a grimace that etches over his eyes and causes them to water momentarily, that is until the reassuring touch of Jean's hand on his shoulder brings some comfort and relief. He let's his eyes slide close and resumes thinking internally.
Charles' voice echoes through the wastelands of Gabriel's mind, bouncing around across the apocolyptic valleys until it bounces back to him. Finally after a moment Gabriel's own mind voice responds. «Here.» It calls out weakly from a point far off from the most destruction, it is a playground of all things with bright grass and a swingset. To the mental presence, this area is a new memory, a safe place as it were. Standing there, able to see within his own mind now through the help of Charles, Gabriel looks around then towards the presence of the Professor. «What is this?» He asks/thinks towards the other, the tone and emotion clearly frightened at what is before them.
*
Eyes searching the desolate ruins, Charles finally catches sight of Gabriel, jogging over to the incongruously pristine playground with it's cool green grass. «It's a construction of your mind to try to understand itself.» he answers. «This is what you've built for yourself since you can remember… everything out there has been…altered, locked down, and made to keep you from wanting to venture into it.» Charles looks over his shoulder at the locked down buildings. «But there is a history, your memory, locked away out there. It's not destroyed beyond recovery, Gabriel.»
*
Gabriel looks about the area in almost a terror at first but it fades with time and he returns his attention to Xavier, bringing his focus there for a sense of calm. «Those are my memories?» He asks, pointing towards the buildings that are destroyed but locked up, warded away with signs in a strange language, but the impression of the signs transcend language.
Warning.
Danger.
Do not Open.
All put into place by some strong telepath at some point to keep it locked away. Gabriel can barely understand them himself, but certainly Charles would be able to get the impressions of warnings, meant for people like him. For those who would try to tread into this man's mind. At least two security areas, the telepathic resistance on the surface and the locks, whatever is in here…
«Why is it like this?» Gabriel asks towards Xavier, taking a tentative step beyond the grass before jumping back, a bolt of shocked electricity striking the point; causing his real self to grimace with headached pain.
*
Charles can only reply honestly, «I do not know. But it -is- your mind. If you want to try to find out, then I will help you do that to the best of my ability.» Charles turns his attention from the ruined buildings and warning signs to focus directly on Gabriel. «What do you want?»
*
Gabriel looks at Charles' apparation and then out across the fields that extend beyond, all the buildings and scorched world. «I want to think on this. To know why. Why owuld someone do this to another person? What is the reason?» He pauses for a few moments then looks at Charles, «Why would someone do this? Any reasons?»
*
There's a pause, a furrow creasing Xavier's brow both in the real and mental worlds. «To try to lock away something painful, perhaps. To protect. Or a score of less savory reasons. To keep you in check, to hide information you had. But without seeing what's locked away, there's no way to tell for sure.»
Though Xavier is perusing those warning signs, in case any information other than dire warning is to be found there. Any hint…
*
There doesn't seem to be much hint really there. Although there are a few other things of note that may help Gabriel, for example that this mind is not foreign or… alien. It is a human mind, well more specifically a homo-superior mind. In other words, a Mutant. Gabriel wouldn't know any of that of course, he has no idea what a mind is supposed to look like. «I… I do not know. I will want to take time to decide what is best. What if what is in here, is meant to stay in here?»
*
«Then I would say that was for you to decide.» Charles responds, still meeting Gabriel's eye. «But I admit, I'm concerned that something this extreme was done to you, without you even knowing the reason why. If there was something here you wanted locked away, I would think it kinder to let you remember you chose that.»
Charles turns then, casting about. Trying to guess from the mental feel of the various buildings which memories might be the more recent ones…one of them should be of his memories being taken. If they can look at that, it should at least be clear if Gabriel-that-was agreed to it or not.
*
The buildings do seem to be laid out in an odd way, the older ones closer to the spot they are at now rather than further away, some laid out along certain lines (streets) where others are in a grid. It is a clustered mess; perhaps that might be when Charles would notice that there seems to be locks that are older than others. Batches of secured barriers laid out at one time, with others laid out at a previous time; this isn't a one time occurance, but this has been done multiple times it would seem, at least 5 previous times.
Gabriel looks around the mind and then looks down at the patch of grass under foot. «This is the only thing I remember, this area here.» The grass being his recent memories, pleasant compared to the rest. «If something this extreme was done, was it done to protect me? Or protect someone else? Or punish?»
*
Jean arrives from Institute - Foyer.
*
Jean has arrived.
*
Xavier steps out of the relatively idyllic grassy area, batting at a bolt of lightning when it arcs his way. Brow furrowed, he approaches what he judges to be the most recent of the sealed memories. «It could be for any of those reasons. But this, I believe, is the memory if when you lost your memories last.» Xavier stands in front of the barricaded stark building, turning to look at Gabriel. «If you would prefer not to know, or to wait until you have more information from an outside source, we can stop. I said I would help you, after all. And I suspect what you need right now is not to have important decisions made for you.»
*
Gabriel looks at the door to the dilapidated building and opens his mouth to speak then closes it. He is silent in thought, the fact that he is doing such causes some rumbling around in his head as the synpases fire about before he shakes his head, «I wish to wait, a day at least. I want to speak to…» He trails off, but it is obvious he wants to speak to Jean. «I do not want to go further without knowing that I am not alone in this, that she is with me.»
*
Xavier turns, taking that decision readily enough. «Of course.» he replies, though he smiles to see how deep an impression Jean has made on Gabriel. He knows Jean feels cut loose sometimes, has trouble finding herself. Sometimes just knowing you've made a difference to someone else can be a tremendously grounding experience.. he hopes it's so for her.
«Then that's enough for now, I think. We've at least learned a good deal about the nature of your amnesia. For now, let's rejoin Jean.» Xavier vanishes from Gabriel's mental landscape, returning to his own body. With his absence the image wavers and washes away, leaving Gabriel's awareness returning to the library.
*
Gabriel's eyes open slowly, settling upon the Library and causing him to look around with a wariness before a long slow breath escapes his lips to bring a calm to him. There's a few beads of sweat upon his head from the stress of the encounter but finally he manages to speak, very softly. "Thank you. I appreciate the attempt to help." Attempt. That may be a trigger, there is only a bare hint of defeat in his tone as he speaks.
*
Jean had no idea what was going on. She was respectful in this fact, leaving the two men to the silence without her meddling. Without the meddling of the Phoenix. She was still holding onto Gabriel's shoulder, yet this time, a handkerchief appeared in the interim to carefully dab at his head while they both were working. "Attempt?" She asks quietly, looking from him to Charles. But there was still a little smile upon her face, even if it were a tiny bit worried.
*
"His memories have been locked away. And intentionally, I think we can safely say. At least five different times. I'm fairly certain given time we could unlock most of not all of it, but Gabriel wished to take a day to think on the matter before trying." Charles summaries, his own eyes again open where he sits. He doesn't say aloud that Gabriel wished to speak with Jean; that, he feels, is something Gabriel can handle well enough himself.
*
It takes a moment and Gabriel slowly pushes himself up from the chair to stand up straight. "It is a bit much to understand, to process. I… if you'll excuse me." He gives an apologetic look to Jean before offering a silent nod towards Xavier, then he heads for the Library door. It is not the look of someone about to be sick, but it does look like a man who is quite disturbed.
*
Jean frowns at this revelation, sitting forward within her seat, her lips parted as she looks to Gabriel and then towards Charles. There was no need to ask if he was sure. "I.. I see.." She stammers out, her hand reaching out towards Gabriel as he brushes past her, a troubled look following him. "I.." Hm. She didn't know what to say, but she does stand immediately, lurching forward to give Charles a hug. A hug so tight that it was reserved for someone who was close enough to her to bear the weight of it. "Thank you." She says quietly.
*
Charles is just getting to his feet himself when Jean catches him in a hug. He returns it with a smile, even managing to keep some of his breath from being forcibly expelled from her enthusiasm. "Of course…I think he needs some time, and perhaps an ear that he trusts. But if he does decide he wants to learn more, you know just where to find me."
*