Issue 1 Downtime

Gideon was gathering stones on thee grounds. Occasionally he'd toss one aside, but eventually once he'd amassed an armful he began walking with some unknown purpose towards the outskirts of the grounds.

Haley slammed into the ground on the outside of the maze forcefully from the air above the maze she'd floated over, tears staining her face and rage in her eyes.

"Fuck. Everything!" she screamed. A nearby tree splintered loudly as her emotions got the better of her tk.

She stormed off in no particular direction, running across Gideon's path. He'd get a palpable sense of rage coming from her.

Haley's landing caused Gideon to fumble his pile of rocks. One fell on his foot and in a moment of laxity he absorbed some of Haley's anger.

"Calm yourself, youngling!" Gideon yelled both telepathically and physically.

This made Haley focus on Gideon--which caused her tk to be focused there as well. The rocks went flying in every direction, including some straight for his forehead with considerable force.

Haley probably didn't know Gideon's full powers, but she certainly could feel him use it. Pure psychic energy channeled into a shield. However, Gideon had not been expecting Haley to attack him so one rock bounced off his shoulder. The rest of the projectiles shattered against the shield.

"Ms. Crusek," Gideon said more gently this time, "Haley, find your center... before you do something foolish."

Seeing the rocks flying, and Gideon's words seemed to snap Haley out of it a bit "Oh fuck! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!" she said slamming her eyes shut and trying to think calm, less...projectile thoughts.

Gideon let his shield dissipate and moved his arm to test the extent his injury. He winced but walked towards Haley.

"Remember the feeling of the Sea of Tranquility," Gideon said as he closed the distance between the two of them, "Whatever has happened is over. There are only the two of us and the grounds."

"Or apparently all sorts of hell beasts right here on the other side of wherever the fuck I just was. I was just trying to meditate like you told me, and I would up in this creepy fucking maze on the other side, and there was that freaky pale chick spouting some bullshit about magic and Dr. Strange and talking to some weird thing and she wouldn't take me home and made me wait while she was talking shit to this thing. and there were shadows and it was fucking awful," she said, the tears quickly turning back on as the words tumbled from her mouth.

Gideon looked down at Haley unsure what he should do in this situation. After a couple he offered a hand to Haley.

"Grab a rock and come with me," Gideon said, "Tell me exactly what happened while we walk."

Haley grabbed a rock and walked alongside Gideon.

"I was meditating. In the middle of the maze--I couldn't htink of anywhere else to go where no one would like...bother me. So I get into it, and I thought I woke up for a second, but everything looked all fucked up. Then I saw the freaky pale chick, moving like she was in an old movie. But before I could think about it, some....THING....just grabbed my arm."

Gideon continued walking towards the outskirts of the ground retrieving one rock of his own rather than the armful he had been carrying previously.

"Freaky pale chick?" Gideon asked.

Haley nodded, “Yeah. Really pale. White skin really. Hot. Thinks really fuckin’ highly of herself. Is a wizard or some shit. Victoria maybe?”

"Victoria Valentine," Gideon said, "She's another student here and she is a wizard."

"Didn't know magic played into it. Guess I probably should have figured when I got some sort of a spell cast on me to ward off nightmares by Ms. Weaver." Haley sighed. "It's just...ugh. I want to get better at this shit, but every time I try and do something to get better I fuck something up. I can't even meditate without getting sucked into the bad place you told me not to go alone. What the fuck woulda happened if Senorita Creepy hadn't been there to get me out. Fuck."

"It's almost unheard of to get dragged along into the Astral like you were," Gideon said, "There are psi-shielded rooms on campus and the danger room. I didn't consider suggesting either because there was no reason to think what happened to you would happen."

"Just don't lose hope, Haley."

"Guess I need to go in there and make a huge deal out of it instead of going off on my own and just taking care of it," she sighed. "Hard not too. I didn't have much to begin with."

"You've just not gotten used to your powers," Gideon said, "You just need to give it time, eh."

"Leave being hopeless to people like me. It doesn't suit people with such a bright future ahead of them."

"I'm awesome at blowing shit up with my brain when I get pissed off, and I can't even meditate without getting sucked into the astral plane. Who fucks that up?!"

"Nobody adapts to their powers without making quite a few mistakes along the way," Gideon said, "I used to unintentionally give people nightmares and would hear everybody's darkest fears whenever I got close to them. I ended up having an inhibitor implanted in my neck because I could hardly control my abilities at all.

All of that was during my first year at Xaviers, Haley. These kinds of power issues are things we all face whether we're telepaths or not."

"Man, I'm glad I didn't go to high school with you then..." she trailed off, regarding his pep talk, sniffling, and wiping the tears from her face.

"I just want to be in control of it all, you know? When I'm gonna get headaches all the time, and hear shit I don't want to hear, and fall into the astral and fucking announce private things to entire rooms, it...it just sucks," she sniffled.

"I have like two friends here and everyone else fucking hates me because my roommate is a stupid bitch who's better than me at everything, and is tall, and gorgeous, and has a hot boyfriend and everyone likes her and she yells at me for having dreams I can't control and, and..." Haley's voice tightened and her face reddened as tears started to fall.

"It's...it's... so unfair," she sobbed, falling to her knees and covering her face.

Gideon stood there awkwardly trying to figure out how exactly he should proceed.

"That's very true," Gideon said, "Life isn't fair, but what you're going through right now will not last forever. I'm certain you'll get past these obstacles in time and the proper guidance. People are more forgiving of lapses in control when you're young, so the people who've been affected by you will forgive or forget in time. You just need to keep standing up after you fall..."

Gideon offered his hand to Haley.

"It's the only way that things will get better. The only way you'll become better."

"I...I guess..." she said, eyes still full of tears. She hesitantly accepted the ham up, wiping her face with her free hand.

"Are...you okay? I didn't mean to hit you..."

"I wasn't expecting you to have... quite that much power behind your telekinesis, but I will be fine," Gideon said, "It's just one more injury added to the tally. I do appreciate the concern and the apology though, Haley."

Gideon then lead Haley through to a clearing where the were two sizable piles of stones.

Haley followed wordlessly, wiping her face of tears and sniffling until they arrived.

"What are we doing here?" she asked hesitantly.

Gideon placed his stone atop one of the piles. Each pile had one rock with a symbol carved into it. One had a skull with what looked like a hood around it while the other had what looked like a bio-hazard symbol. He was quiet for a moment before turning to look at Haley.

"Before you appeared I was coming to add stones to the cairns," Gideon said distantly, "It's a method of... coping or coming to terms with things that I've done."

"How does...stacking up rocks help?"

"It's a way to honor the dead in some small way. Each of the people from that time gets a stone," Gideon said.

"Y...you've killed that many people?"

"I was a monster, Haley. Killing is what monsters do," Gideon said, "Some I killed directly. Others indirectly through the creation of civil wars, riots, and some smaller disturbances."

Haley swallowed nervously, seeing the memorial apparently making the whole thing a bit more...real. "But y...you're better now..."

"Yes," Gideon said, "Otherwise they would not let me roam the campus. Instead I'd be locked in a cell beneath Muir."

"Have you changed your mind about me helping you with your powers?"

Haley hesitated for what probably seemed like quite a while, her mind racing, but finally broke the silence.

"N-no...you...you're different and you've shown me more than anyone else has bothered to even try. The magic chick just treated me like a lost dog or some shit..."

"Some people treat knowledge like something to be hoarded, but I do not agree with them. Knowledge is something to be shared," Gideon said, "I will teach you, Haley."

"T-thanks, Gideon," she said, sniffling away the last bits of her tears.

"You cannot tell anybody that I am teaching you, Haley," Gideon said, "If the Headmistress were to learn of it she would not approve. However, you may meditate here while I add stones to the cairns if you'd like. I will watch over you to prevent anything from happening if you choose to do so."

"Or you may ask me questions, Haley. I don't have much experience in teaching others."

"Really? You think I could...like...meditate with you?" she asked, uncertain if she even really wanted to be meditating after what she just went through.

"If you'd like, yes," Gideon said.

"Well...then you're like...not teaching me. You're just. Like. Meditating with me."

"I think that distinction will be lost on the Headmistress," Gideon said with slight smile.

"Shit. How do you like to a telepath...like a really good one. Shit. Just keep ignoring her I guess."