A Dream Worth Having (Nydia/Invite)

[Charles Xavier]

Charles ruminated on many things in this office. It was a sanctum of sorts, a place where he had much time to himself to contemplate world events and the lives of the students in his care. The 2012 school term had concluded, and a class of mutants had graduated on to live their lives among humans. They were advised by need to live underground, not revealing their nature to anyone in their day to day life. The world was not yet ready for the revelation of mutantkind. Erik had not made a move, but he had hinted recently that the pieces were in place. He had been traveling the Earth once again, seeking mutants sympathetic to his cause. Meanwhile, Xavier had the use of Cerebro, identifying new mutants daily. And keeping a close watch on former students as well.

One case was that of Nydia Jordan. She had grown to be a beautiful young woman, and a brilliant scientist to boot. Her abilities resembled those of one of Xavier's perrenniel X-Men alumni, one Remy LeBeau. Codenamed Gambit, Remy had been an invaluable ally in the battles against weapon X and the Juggernaut, even being instrumental in his long range monitoring of an organization that referred to themselves as the Hellfire Club. He had a connection to the secret society by virtue of his birth, but it was his understanding that it was governed by an Inner Circle whose motives were quite mysterious indeed. Gambit was presently making a life for himself in New Orleans, his home city. He would not likely heed the call to join the X-Men soon enough. But Nydia had promise.

So he had called her to his office at the Mansion to dicuss the idea with her in full. She had been sent the invitation by way of a short and simple phone call by the professor himself. He had no need of secretaries and assistants, he could handle his affairs himself. He had for a very long time, anyway. He was an old man, and his life had been for one purpose. He could afford to make a phone call when the need arised, it was just a matter of basic courtesy.

He awaited her arrival patiently. He had no shortage of patience, to be sure. He had long been waiting for Magneto to make his move, and now it seemed the time was near. The sense of urgency would test his patience past its limits most likely. Fortunately, he had no lack of mutants to call upon in this, the moment of the greatest need. Beyond Magneto, other forces were moving to bring evil down upon this world. When the time came, Earth would need not only people to avenge it. It would need people to defend it, despite the hate and fear they would face from that very same world. Theirs would be the hard road. While many heroes would be loved, his X-Men would be cursed. But they would triumph in the end. His faith was strong. He wanted to believe in peace. He needed to.

Nydia, He said to her telepathically, I am glad you have finally arrived. You will find me in my office. I believe you know the way.

[Nydia Jordan]

Nydia had been contemplating a trip to New Mexico in the fall to spend some time at the SETI program when she had received the phone call from Xavier. Nydia was pleased and delighted to have gotten an invitation to have a private meeting with the professor, but she wondered what it might be about. Perhaps he had some career advice for her as she looked to graduate from university with her Master's in four weeks times. Or maybe it was just a friendly invitation to see how she was doing, it had been many weeks since she had last visited the Institute.

Nydia arranged for a taxi and packed a weekend's worth of clothes before she took off for the Institute. It would be good to see a few of those that were there right now, though many of her own friends and classmates had now departed the facility. Some remained as well as a few of the teachers, notably Cyclops, Ice Man, Storm, and Wolverine. There was always the Professor though, the bedrock of the institute and the mentor to all the mutants that came through it. In the absence of her own father, Xavier played as close a part as one could have hoped for, though that was the same for a lot of those that passed these halls.

Nydia smiled and shook her head in mild amusement as the Professor sent his telepathic message. It never failed to amaze her how he knew exactly when she arrived on the premises. While Nydia knew that Xavier was an extremely powerful telepath, the greatness of his power still was hard for her to grasp even with the amount of time she had spent around him and at the Institute. Perhaps one day she would have to set aside some time and do a little personal research into just how powerful a being her mentor really was, but that was for another day.

Navigating the familair halls, Nydia made a slight detour to drop off her belongings in her room, ever untouched. That little detail always brightened Nydia's day when she visited her home. Shortly though, she was in Xavier's office and saw the man who had brought and taught her much. "A pleasure to see you again Professor, you are looking quite well as ever. It is good to be home once more." Nydia said as she took her seat across from him, her famous smile ever on her face.

[Charles Xavier]

. "A pleasure to see you again Professor, you are looking quite well as ever. It is good to be home once more."

Charles smiled warmly. He wore a countenance of grandfatherly love, and a good deal of magisterial pride as well. Nydia was one of his more prodigal students, and his bond with her rivaled that of Scott Summers and Jean Grey. Jean was the closest to him, mostly because she understood what it was like to have his kind of power. To have mastery of the mind, was to be in another class altogether. Few mutants could comprehend it, and outside of mutant-kind one would have to seek out a sorcerer or a supernatural being to find someone who could so easily manipulate, read, and connect with another mind. It was a lonely existence, the life of a psionicist. Still, it was his lot in life, and he had made the most of it. He had a dream to pursue, and the resources to make it come true.

"I am delighted you still call this place home," Charles answered.

Charles was glad that his student had returned in good spirits. They would need someone with her attitude in the times to come. someone to remind the rest of the team what humanity was and why it was worth fighting for. They would need to be friends, and work well together.

"I know you are wondering why I called you here," Charles smirked, "Even without reading your mind, I know you are curious about this. It is to be expected, given the abrupt timing of my call."

Xavier considered the book he had been reading. It was a large and old volume featuring the Sagas and Eddas of Norse mythology. Next to it was a heady tome about an ancient king of Egypt named En Sabah Nur, which detailed all his conquests and so-called great deeds. His other recently read work was Darwin's Origin of the Species, a copy with notes in it by one Nathaniel Essex. He had been reading on a great many subjects lately, out of sheer restlessness. His dreams had been rather haunting of late. The face of evil was burning in his mind...

"I would like to offer you a place as one of my X-Men," Charles said, "If you so desire it."

[Nydia Jordan]

"I am delighted you still call this place home."


Nydia smiled as the Professor that as it was a bit of a joke for her, at least in her own mind. The Institute would always be her home, regardless of how far life would take her from it. This is where she came into herself, learned who she was both as a person and as a figment of society as a whole. This was also where Nydia also always felt safe, secure, and happy, even when things seemed to be on a downwards spiral. There was just something about the Institute that was welcoming and calming for her.

"Well Professor, I grew up here, all my friends came up through here, and then you're here as well. This place will always be a home, a sanctuary from when I am wary. It's a special place in the world and in my heart." And that was the honest truth, there was nowhere else on Earth quite like the Institute. Fewer still were those people like the professor, willing to help those mutants just lead normal lives while learning to control their powers. How things might have been different if Nydia had not had the guidance of the Professor and those that taught at the Institute. She was lucky and fortunate and had a debt of gratitude to those that had helped her.

"I know you are wondering why I called you here, even without reading your mind, I know you are curious about this. It is to be expected, given the abrupt timing of my call."

Nydia could see the professor's smirk as he spoke, as if he knew that she was curious about his abilities. Ah for what it must be like to be like the Professor and Jean, such a gift, and likely a bit of a curse as well. Such was it for all mutants but them especially, knowing what it was that was in others minds, to have such knowledge but few to share it with. "You did catch me a bit unawares professor, but I always welcome the chance to return home and have these talks. I feel better about myself and the path that I am leading when we do, full of rigor and confidence that all shall be well so long as I believe in myself."

"I would like to offer you a place as one of my X-Men, if you so desire it."

That offer though was not what Nydia had come to expect from this meeting at all and she had to keep her focus to keep her mouth from becoming agape. Nydia had been curious about the Professor's team of more advanced students and teachers but had never thought herself to be of that class. Apparently though, she had been mistaken in that calculation, the Professor would not be offering her a position in the team if she did not have the abilities to be a part of it.

"I will not say I have not thought about being given this honor professor, cause I have from time to time. I am humbled that you think that I am ready and capable of being on the team. If you believe me to be capable professor, then I am humbly accept the offer to join the team."

[Charles Xavier]

"Well Professor, I grew up here, all my friends came up through here, and then you're here as well. This place will always be a home, a sanctuary from when I am wary. It's a special place in the world and in my heart."

The Professor was gladdened by her sincere words. Nydia was a complex young woman, who had been at times silly and childish, and at others she was focused, and down-to-earth, showing herself to have fully matured into someone with a good head on her shoulders. She was a bright and gifted youngster, and he was proud of how far she had come. They had all been scared at first, feeling alone in a strange and hostile world. But here, they found a place to spread their wings, and embrace their gifts with open arms. It was a paradise, really. Charles was glad they had warm memories. His memories growing up in the Mansion were much sadder, but they never would know that. Only a select few did, and they were presently late to the get together. Nydia would keep him company well, however.

"You did catch me a bit unawares professor, but I always welcome the chance to return home and have these talks. I feel better about myself and the path that I am leading when we do, full of rigor and confidence that all shall be well so long as I believe in myself."



"That is good to hear, Nydia," He answered with the warm smile that always seemed to be upon his countenance when he heard good news from his former pupils. He wanted them to flourish, more than anything. They were his sons and daughters, as near as he had to a family.

"I will not say I have not thought about being given this honor professor, cause I have from time to time. I am humbled that you think that I am ready and capable of being on the team. If you believe me to be capable professor, then I am humbly accept the offer to join the team."


"Excellent," He said, jovial, "Now if only the others were as punctual as you, Nydia!"

[Nydia Jordan]

Nydia laughed as the Professor joked about the others being punctual. Well, they were all leading their lives irregardless of being part of the team, so a little lateness was not to unexpected. It just showed that they all were in fact still human, despite what some who knew about mutant existence would claim otherwise. Humanity was a fearful thing, especially when it was something new and different from what it had so long been lead to believe. It was not so for Nydia, maybe because she was a budding scientist, she could see how mutation was just another simple step along the evolutionary ladder.

"Well Professor, you do encourage us to lead our own lives, to be as normal as we can be. Running late to meetings is about as normal as someone can get. It also gives us more time with one another on an individual basis!" Nydia offered Xavier a gleeful smile as she tried to guess all who would show up. Would it be the entire team or just a few select members who had some free time or were near enough to be summoned to a meeting with their leader?

"How has life treated you and the Mansion lately Professor? I know in the city I hear very little about what goes on out here, too busy with my nose to the grindstone with these last few weeks of university left. Was about to apply to the SETI program as well before I got your call. Can you imagine that, little ol me on the search for extraterrestrial life? I've certainly come a long way since I arrived here at the mansion all those years ago."