xp_logs | Maddie's Brain Asplosion (Backdated)

The young telepath manifests. Jean and Haller come to the rescue.

BACKDATED

"Maddie! Maddie!"

Jim had started calling the minute he'd hit the student suites, and didn't stop when he reached her door. The telepathic shriek had sounded once. Once, and then nothing. He had attempted to reach her telepathically -- and instead of the city-like bustle of a normal mind, he'd found himself on the streets of Portugal during the Running of the Bulls. Her mind roared with noise, the sensation simultaneously agoraphobic and claustrophobic as the weight of foreign thoughts kept pressing in . . . and beneath it all, somewhere, was Maddie.

Jim tried the knob to her suite. It was locked. He tried it again, and the result was no different.

She had been screaming in his mind.

The counselor's eyes flooded grey, and Jean arrived on scene just in time to see the door to Maddie's room nearly pulverized by the ensuing telekinetic blast.

Jean wrapped her robe tighter around her. Doors were opening along the hallways.

~"It's okay."~ Jean assured those around them calmly, both mentally and verbally. ~"There's been a small incident but it is being taken care of. No one's in any danger. Please stay in your rooms."~

She trailed behind Haller, glancing around the room. This was almost familiar, but not quite. Maddie's mind, the state of the room...

Jack acknowledged Jean's appearance with a slight nod, but nothing more. He was remembering instead the vague tactile impression he'd felt through contact with Maddie's mind: water.

He could hear the shower running. The telekinetic glanced at Jean. "There," he said, and gestured to the bathroom.

"Oooooow." First she'd been woken up by a scream that she was pretty sure was a random cameo in her dream, and now an ear-splitting crash made her jump enough that she fell out of bed and landed soundly on the floor. Because she didn't feel like enough death already and needed a couple bruises too, right? "What the fuck?" She was barely getting around to look out her open doorway to see what the fuck had exploded. Please let it not be like dinosaurs or something. She so couldn't run away from dinosaurs right now.

Jean glanced over to Layla and offered a faint, assuring smile. That probably would've been her response too under similar circumstances...albeit less colorful, at least, spoken anyway.

"It's alright. Maddie's powers seem to have manifested. She's going to be okay. Please stay in your room."

~Jack, we need to get Maddie to the Box as soon as possible. I need to examine her.~ It was strange, though. There appeared to have been no real signs of emotional distress...Had her experience with Avalanche merely come to a head?

Either way, the girl needed some quiet before her brain figuratively poured out her ears. She remembered her own experience and it hadn't exactly been pleasant.

Jack, already at the bathroom door, responded with a curt pulse of assent. Somewhere behind his eyes Jim was experiencing vast relief that Jean was there and belying her reputation as a redhead by keeping calm. The touch of Maddie's mind had reminded him too much of David's own manifestation -- every personality he had knew every second felt like forever.

This door was unlocked, but Jack's adrenaline-fueled telekinesis still caused the doorframe and wood around the knob to splinter. He paid it no mind and pushed open the door.

Maddie sat huddled at the back of the shower, the fallen curtain wrapped around her. She rocked back and forth, head buried in her hands in a futile attempt to silence the chaos in her mind. The explosion had not managed to get her attention, and neither did the flood of water streaming from the broken shower nozzle. She was completely oblivious to the physical world.

Jack melted away as the counselor knelt to Maddie's level. The switch back to Jim was smooth and automatic, though concern kept the telekinetic near the surface. "Maddie," Jim said quietly, reaching out to touch her curtain-covered shoulder. The plastic was patterned with neon fruit. He glanced back at Jean, then entered the cramped shower with the girl.

"Maddie, I'm going to pick you up," he told her, easing his arms around her as water from the broken showerhead spattered his neck and back. He slid one arm beneath her knees, and another under her arms so he could lift her. Then, taking a deep breath, he leaned forward to touch his forehead to her water-soaked hair.

~And I'm going to stop this for you, just for a little while.~

Maddie could feel arms cradle her and a draft at her back as they lifted her in the air. She couldn't see who they belonged to, but they felt strong and safe. The voices were quieting as he (Maddie could somehow tell it was a him) pulled her to his broad chest. The world around her shimmered into focus, feeling solid once again, but all Maddie could do was close her eyes and whisper, "Thank you, Daddy" as she rest her head against her chest.

One of the things that kept Jean calm was the fact that so many years ago a man had come to her and spoken to her just as calmly, guiding her through the storm. She remembered what Charles did and how it helped her.

"This way," she said, gently resting her hand on Jim's shoulder and led him toward the medlab. Layla blinked after them. She was so damn confused that she hadn't asked any other questions but now Haller was carrying Maddie out of the suite and she still had no idea what the fuck was actually happening. Her powers manifested and she was being carried out in a fucking shower curtain? Layla's confusion morphed to panic and spiked. The blonde girl struggled to get to her feet, which took a lot longer and a lot more energy than usual. "But what's going on?" She called but they were in the hall already. Maybe they'd go to the medlab. She could at least bring clothes, right? And maybe find out what was happening. Maybe.

"Telepathic crisis," Jim clarified, though that was all he could manage. Dampening Maddie's very active telepathy while remaining upright was about the extent of his energy. "Jean . . ?"

Jean gave Haller the look. Crisis was not the best word to use pretty much close to ever. It usually wound up making things worse. Especially around a young teenage girl.

"Everyone's thoughts are going into her mind," Jean said as she quickened her pace. "It's sort of like..." she trailed off as she looked behind her and found Layla not behind her. But unfortunately they could not stop.

Minutes felt like hours but they eventually made it down the stairs, to the elevator, and down to the Box, where Jean opened it up so Haller could bring Maddie in.

The bed was neatly made, as always. Jim lay the girl on the mattress, unwilling to relinquish his dampening efforts until the room was closed and sealed. He started to tug the shower curtain away with the vague intention of drawing the covers over her when his brain finally processed that he was dealing with a wet, naked teenaged girl. The adrenaline rush had officially ended.

"Um, I'm going to . . ." Jim stepped back and turned to Jean with a grimace. "You should probably take it from here."

Jean smiled in sympathy, putting her hand on his shoulder and squeezing it as she stepped past him.

"In my office there's a basic medkit in a black messenger bag. Can you grab it for me? I need to do a check up. There's also some towels and a pair of sweats in the supply closet. Thanks," she said as she crouched down beside Maddie's bed and gently brushed some strands of red hair away from her eyes.

"Hello sweetheart. You're going to be okay."