"We came to you because you're the smartest person we know," Mary Jane explained. "We figured, since you hang out with the Fantastic Four all the time, you'd know more about dealing with something like this."
Peter nodded and looked at the girl, who was clutching her head with muffled groans, trembling in pain.
Just then, he saw the candlestick on the table opposite him slowly rise into the air.
Telekinesis?
Was she a mutant?
She was.
Wait.
"Mary Jane, what's her full name?" There was a barely perceptible trace of horror in Peter's voice.
"Jean Grey, I think," Mary Jane answered.
"Holy shit."
Peter's eyes flew wide, and he looked at the girl again. Red hair, sexy, green eyes.
This was fucking Jean Grey!
In his house!
And her powers looked like they'd just awakened!
Now?!
He absolutely couldn't let her read his mind. That would be a disaster! She'd know everything! He had to stop her. How? Knock her out? That would raise even more questions he couldn't possibly explain away. He had to stop her powers from erupting at the source!
His mind began racing.
Telepathy had to travel on some sort of mental wavelength, right? Like microwaves? He needed to lock her brain waves inside her head, but how?
"Peter! Are you going to help her or not?!" Liz shouted anxiously.
"Of course. Help her into the chair." Peter pointed at the recliner.
The girls scrambled to help Jean over and sit her down, then stepped back a few paces.
Magneto had a special helmet that stopped Charles Xavier from reading his mind... aluminum! Those weirdos online who wore tinfoil hats and claimed they blocked mind reading had to have a point, right?!
He rushed into the kitchen and rummaged through the cupboards, grabbed a roll of foil, tore off a large sheet with a rustle, and crumpled it into a metal covering.
Then he dashed back into the living room.
"What are you doing with that?" Mary Jane asked blankly.
"This." Peter pressed the foil onto Jean's head, wrapping her entire head tightly.
Jean's brow gradually smoothed, her eyelids fluttered, and her breathing slowly steadied. She raised her head. "Th... thank you."
Peter let out a relieved breath. "You're welcome."
Jean's gaze shifted down a little, and her face suddenly flushed bright red.
Peter blinked. "Jean? Are you okay? Why's your face so red?"
"Because a handsome guy with no shirt and his pants unbuttoned is standing in front of her, staring at her," Felicia supplied dryly.
Peter glanced down. In all the chaos, he'd forgotten to put on a shirt.
He gave an awkward laugh. "Uh, sorry." He quickly buttoned his pants and pulled on a shirt.
"Damn, I was just getting into the view," Liz muttered.
"Eyes to yourself, Allan. He's mine," Felicia staked her claim.
Peter turned back to Jean. "Are you all right? Can you still read what we're thinking?"
Jean's expression changed, as did the other girls'.
"Wh... what do you mean?" Jean's voice trembled. "Read... read what we're thinking?"
"Yes, those voices you heard." Peter nodded. "Those were our thoughts. Jean, you're psychic."
"What?!" Jean cried out.
"What?!" Liz, Mary Jane, and Felicia all looked utterly bewildered.
"That's right." Peter nodded, then clicked his tongue. "But... where exactly are you from? How did you end up here?"
"Peter, what do you mean? She goes to our school!" Mary Jane said urgently.
"She goes to my school?" Peter froze. "I've never seen her."
"Y... yes, that happens a lot." Jean lowered her head. "People always overlook me without realizing it."
That wasn't right.
Peter quickly searched through Peter's memories. Sure enough, Jean had shared a few classes with him in freshman year, but she'd later taken other classes, and Peter had never initiated a conversation with her. Thanks, Peter. Thanks for being such a socially anxious shut-in.
But it was still strange. The Jean Grey he remembered had always been... outgoing, confident, proud. Maybe it was because she was still so young. She was no taller than five feet, with her shoulders hunched, looking for all the world like a frightened little bird. There was no sign at all of the phoenix she would become, spreading her wings.
Peter sighed. "Sorry, Jean. I've always been pretty bad at socializing."
"Can we please get back to the psychic thing?!" Liz cried, nearly losing it. "I'm freaking the hell out right now!"
"Yeah, tiger, what do you mean by psychic?" Felicia asked too.
"Exactly what it sounds like. She can read minds and move things with her thoughts." Peter shrugged. "Either that, or she has a cosmic-level power inside her, in which case no one in this dimension, at least, can help her."
"Wait... so she's... a mutant?" There was unmistakable fear in Liz's voice. The sharp tang of lemons instantly filled the room. It was the smell of fear.
"I'm a mutant?" Jean was trembling too.
"Yes, you are." Peter nodded. "And so am I."
"What?!" Mary Jane and Liz froze at the same time, and Jean's eyes widened even further.
"Peter, what are you doing?" Felicia warned him in a low voice.
"It's okay, kitten. I know what I'm doing." Peter reassured her, then continued, "I'm a mutant. My brain mutated, so I'm a lot smarter than ordinary people. Felicia is a mutant too. Her hair is naturally almost silver. Mary Jane is also a mutant. In fact, all redheads are mutants."
"Peter, what are you talking about?" Mary Jane was completely confused.
"I'm saying that every one of us has some degree of mutation. Jean's mutation is just a little more... intense." Peter hated the general public's discrimination against mutants. He wouldn't let Jean face that alone. "Jean, you're a mutant, but that doesn't mean you aren't human. Understand?"
Jean stared at him blankly, then slowly nodded. "I... I understand."
"Good." Peter's expression relaxed into a smile. "All right... let's try out your powers."
"Wh... what?" Jean thought she'd misheard him.
"That telekinesis of yours. I want to see how much you can do!" Peter grinned, then stopped himself. "No, wait. I'd better make you a proper inhibitor first. You can't walk around everywhere with foil on your head. Hmm... come with me."
He beckoned, and the five girls followed him into the basement, his old laboratory.
The place had received a few upgrades: a better computer, some additional scientific equipment, and a few pieces of Spider-Man gear hidden beneath the floor tiles. But he rarely worked here anymore.
Peter sat down at the workbench and immediately began tinkering with something to help Jean control her powers.
"Is this your lab?" Jean looked around, her eyes full of surprise.
"Yeah."
"I didn't know you had a lab downstairs, tiger." Felicia sounded a little disappointed.
"I stopped using this place ages ago, kitten. Since I got access to the Baxter Building, I barely come back here."
"You really work for the Fantastic Four?! That's so cool!" Jean's eyes lit up.
"Thanks." Peter smiled.
"Wow, you're a nerd even at home." Liz snorted and plopped down on the spare bed in the basement.
"What did you expect? Peter's a nerd." Mary Jane laughed.
"P... Peter, do you think you can figure out what's happening to me?" Jean asked cautiously.
"I'm not too sure myself, Jean." Peter kept working, taking out a headband and beginning to arrange insulated wires on it. "The fact that you can move things with your mind means your brain can interact with the physical world in some way. I don't know the exact mechanism, but it definitely involves some kind of energy wave, because waves are the only way your powers make sense in physical terms."
"So what are you going to do?" Felicia asked.
Peter smiled. "Wait and see."
The girls obediently waited for fifteen minutes. It was finished.
Peter stood, picked up the headband covered in wires and fitted with a small battery, and offered it to her. "Here, try this on. It should help keep your powers from going out of control."
Jean swallowed and took the headband, looking at Peter. "W... will this work?"
"I haven't tested it, so I'm not sure either. Let's give it a try." Peter reached out and removed the foil hat from her head.
Jean squeezed her eyes shut in pain and quickly put on the headband.
Her taut nerves relaxed little by little.
"It... it seems to be working," she finally said.
Everyone let out a breath of relief together.
"I can't believe it. How can she be a mutant? She looks so... normal." Liz was still dazed.
"Anyone could be a mutant, Liz. You could be one too."
Liz froze. "What? Seriously?!"
"Yes. Some people have something called the X-Gene inside them, which gives them mutant powers. It usually activates after they reach puberty." Peter clicked his tongue. "It really is a fascinating field of research. Humanity is evolving in such an astonishing way."
"Shit." Felicia whistled, then turned to stare at Jean, narrowing her eyes. "Don't even think about reading my mind."