Hank walked into the MedLab early the next morning and found Jean standing there with a smile on her face.
"Shhh." She whispered. Hank was confused, until he looked past her and realized why she was smiling. Genard was still peacefully sleeping in his bed, oblivious to what was going on, but across the room Theoren had moved from his bed and was laying asleep on Emil's bed, with Emil curled up beside him with his head resting on Theoren's chest.
As if he knew he was being watched, Theoren woke up. He looked at Hank and Jean with a quirky smile playing across his lips. He knew how strange it must have looked, but he also didn't care much.
"Mornin'." He whispered, careful not to move much or speak loudly. He didn't want to wake Emil up. The young thief had had a rough night.
"Is there an explanation for this, or are you going to let us use our imaginations?" Hank asked, returning the smile.
"Dere is. He had a nightmare. We were awake for half de night 'cause of it." Theoren explained.
"Ah. I see." Hank replied. "And is he okay?"
"Why don' you ask him yourself?" Theoren asked, noticing Emil's eyes opening drowsily. His arm tightened instinctively around Emil, who sighed and then yawned. Emil smiled slightly at Hank and Jean, and leaned closer to Theoren.
Jean and Hank looked at each other. It didn't seem to them like Emil was okay. Jean telepathically contacted Professor Xavier and asked him to join them in the MedLab. Then Jean looked at Theoren.
'The professor is on his way.' Her voice suddenly said in his mind. 'I don't think we should wait much longer to try and help Emil.'
Theoren sighed, feeling both protective of Emil and helpless because he knew he couldn't help the young man himself. 'Okay.' He thought back. 'I jus' hope de professor can help him.'
Jean smiled encouragingly. 'Have some faith. Professor Xavier is one of the strongest telepaths in the world. If anyone can help Emil, he can. Believe me.'
Professor Xavier entered the MedLab and surveyed the scene. Theoren had gotten up and was sitting in a chair beside Emil's bed. Genard was awake, sitting in bed watching everything. The swelling had gone down and he put his glasses on, but every muscle and bone in his body was aching, and every time he moved, he flinched. But it was Emil the professor was most interested in.
Emil was sitting up in his bed as well, his armed wrapped around his legs, his blue eyes filled with a pained desperation that almost frightened Xavier. Almost.
"How are you this morning, Emil?" Xavier asked. "Jean tells me you had a nightmare last night?"
Emil looked steadily at the professor but didn't say a word. Xavier glanced at Theoren, who just shrugged. He knew Emil better than the professor, and if Emil didn't want to talk, Emil wasn't going to talk.
Xavier decided to try something else. "Did Theoren or anyone else tell you that Jean and I are both telepaths?"
Emil shook his head, ever so slightly, and remained silent.
"Do you know what a telepath is? Have you ever met one before?" The professor asked.
Emil shook his head again. Theoren decided to help the professor out a bit, because he saw that Xavier wasn't getting anywhere with Emil.
"Non, none of us have ever crossed paths wit' a telepath, Professor, mais, our good friend Tante Mattie is an empath. Dat's prob'ly de closest."
Xavier nodded at Theoren with a grateful smile. "Thank you, Theoren." He turned to Emil again. "You're not feeling well, are you Emil?"
Emil continued to sit there; the only movement he made was blinking his eyes. He stared at the professor, wondering just what Xavier was going to do, but afraid that if he went to say anything, he'd start crying.
"Emil, would you mind if I went into your mind and spoke to you there? That way, you can tell me whatever you want to, without anyone but me knowing. Would that be okay with you?" Xavier asked. "I want to try and help you, but I can't without your permission."
Emil glanced over at Theoren, uncertainty in his eyes. Theoren moved closer to him and spoke quietly. "It's okay Emil, you can trust him. He really wants to help you. If you say no, it'll be okay too, alright?"
The red-haired thief nodded and then looked back at the professor, sighing deeply. Xavier raised his eyebrows questioningly, and Emil nodded again, waiting.
The professor asked the others to give them some space. Even Theoren reluctantly got up and went over to sit with Genard, who was watching everything in awe.
"Are dey gon' do what I t'ink dey're gon' do?" Genard asked.
"Oui." Theoren replied. "Dey're gon' have a whole conversation, an' no one will be able to hear it but dem."
'Emil? Can you hear me?' Xavier asked silently. 'Just think whatever you want to say and I will hear you. You don't have to say anything out loud.'
'I can hear you, Professor.' Emil replied, marveling at the idea of being able to talk to someone without actually speaking. 'Where are we?'
'This is the astral plane. Back at the mansion, nothing has changed, we haven't gone anywhere, but in our minds, we have. Where would you like to start?'
'I dunno. I t'ought you knew what you wanted to do.'
Xavier sighed. 'Would you mind if I probed your mind? I want to help you, and the more information I have, the easier it will be for me. I promise you, anything I learn that I shouldn't, I will never tell another living soul.'
Emil considered for a moment. 'Go ahead, professor. I don' wan' feel like dis anymore.'
'I don't blame you.' Xavier replied, lightly probing Emil's mind for images and information. Then, as an image of Gris appeared, he said, 'Are dreadlocks still in fashion?'
Emil snickered. 'To him dey are.'
'And he is…?'
Emil started to retreat into himself, wishing he hadn't agreed to this. Then he remember how painful the whole thing was, and how rotten he felt, and answered the professor's question. 'His name's Gris-Gris. He's de assassin who's been hurtin' me.'
'I see. The thieves and assassins have never been friends, have they?' Xavier asked.
'Non. Dis unification b'tween de two Guilds has been hard on everyone.' Emil admitted.
'It's not Gris-Gris who is causing all this emotional distress, is it?' the professor asked, trying to get to the root of Emil's problems.
'Non…not entirely. Havin' de crap beat outta me isn' 'xactly fun, but I can handle it. Been in de Guild my whole life, after all.'
'So, what is it then?'
'When I was a kid, few months b'fore I turned thirteen, Gris an' Julien…he was de son of de assassin leader…led a team of assassins…dey broke into my house an' murdered my parents. I watched dem do it.' Emil said softly, his eyes swimming with tears. He turned away, pain radiating from him.
Professor Xavier went over and put a hand on Emil's shaking shoulder. 'You haven't gotten over it.' A comment, not a question.
Emil looked at him through his tears. 'Would you? I'll never be over it, for as long as I live. I miss dem so much…I'm not some person who doesn' have any feelin's or emotions, compris? I hate dem. I hate him. An' every time he does somet'ing to me, it jus' makes it worse.'
'I'm sorry, Emil.' Xavier said, finally starting to understand why the young thief was so emotionally drained. 'Perhaps the unification wasn't a good idea…'
'De unification itself isn' a bad idea, not really. We all jus' have to learn how to work together instead of tryin' to kill each other.' Emil replied. 'In fact, it's de one t'ing Gris an' I have in common: we both hate it.'
'Your friends are very worried about you. Do you think you can come out of this emotional state somewhat? It might be good for all of you.' The professor commented.
Emil sat down, to the professor's surprise. 'It jus' hurts so much…' he said, sobbing quietly. 'Sometimes…I don' know what to do.'
"Have you talked to your friends about this?' Xavier asked.
'Non…I haven' talked 'bout my parents since I was a kid.' Emil admitted. 'I jus' kinda tried not to t'ink 'bout it.'
'Perhaps you should. You won't be staying here. Theoren and the others might be able to help you. Maybe you could try telling this Tante Mattie person about it first? Remy has spoken of her, he says she's a remarkable woman.'
'Oui, she is. Uh…Professor, can we stop dis now?' Emil asked.
'If you want to, Emil, of course.'
Emil nodded. 'Oui, I do, s'il vous plait.'
"Whoa…" Emil whispered. "Dat was weird."
Theoren and Genard looked at him from the other bed. "Is everyt'ing okay, Red?" Genard asked.
Emil glanced briefly at the professor, who smiled. "Yeah…" he said. "I guess."
Professor Xavier silently told Jean and Hank that they should leave the three thieves alone for a few moments. They filed out of the room, Hank mentioning that they wouldn't be far.
Theoren and Genard got up and went over to Emil. Genard took the chair, while Theo sat beside Emil, wrapping his strong, protective arms around his cousin.
"I wan' go home." Emil whispered, leaning against Theoren.
"Soon, kid. I promise." Theo replied.
Genard frowned. "Are you sure you're okay?"
Emil sighed and closed his eyes. "Non. But I t'ink I will be. Eventually."
Emil knew that while talking to Tante Mattie and the others would help him get out of the dark tunnel he was in, he would also have to talk to Gris. No fighting, no conflict, just talking. And given Gris' temper, and given the fact that Gris had a habit of beating people up first and asking questions second, that was not going to be an easy thing to do.