Ticking Time Bomb(Christian)

[Xavier O'Conner]

The truth was that this wasn't the first time and It certainly wasn't going to be the last. Xavier had no control over his power and at times it seemed to act alone. It heated up and cooled off when he did but it seemed to be connected to the thought that everyone has and soon regrets. Even in a good mind the thought is there even if only for a second. The want to get even and get revenge. To hurt or stop something or someone at the cost of hurting someone else. If it lasted long enough it could be disastrous. Even for a little while, even it causes damage. To Xavier it goes to far a lot more than he would like. For the reasons he was in this office of Mr. Christian Lucas, was sadly one of these moments. Christian had been watching Xavier in his right for the danger Xavier put people in, and Xavier had noticed. Like probably all teenagers, Xavier didn't like to be spied on and had reacted. Now he was here in the office of guy he didn't like so much.

A scar had already formed all along his spine from the bottom of his hairline to his mid back. Mostly where the fire had stayed the longest. He smelled of smoke and had his, burnt to shreds, shirt balled up in his hand. He had been led to the office with out a word or least Xavier had ignored every word.

Xavier sat in a chair and was starving as he usually was after his fire was over. He stared at the man in front of him, Daring him to speak first, but was also ready to run out and find any food he could possible get his hands on.

[Christian Lucas]

Christian was angry. While this was a perfectly normal reaction for most people, the drama teacher was usually very good at keeping a pretty even head on his shoulders. However this boy had done perhaps the one thing that would get to him fastest. He had endangered students of Christian's. However even being angry Christian maintained himself. When the reached his office he immediately typed his password into his computer and pulled Xavier's file up again.

He had read it before, since he had been assigned to watch the boy. But he wanted it there for reference. However this action gave him a moment to calm a little bit. He remembered reading that the boy's power left him hungry and a glance at the information on the screen confirmed this. Releasing a calming breath he opened a drawer on his desk and pulled out a snack bar. He was guilty of staying in his office overnight rather than go home just for two hours of sleep occasionally. So he always kept food around.

Throwing the bar to Xavier he sat in silence, his expression very serious. After it was obvious the boy was too interested getting the bar down his throat as fast as possible to talk, Chris spoke to him. "I don't suppose I even need to ask if you realize why you're here do I?"

[Xavier O'Conner]

Xavier caught the bar and opened it as fast as he could and scarfed it down. It wouldn't be enough but it would hold him over for a little while. Xavier saw that Christian had done something on his computer and that wasn't usually a good sign, but there was nothing Xavier could do about it.

Anger usually showed and it almost seemed worse that the teacher in front of him said little to nothing. He must have hit some hard nerve cause, anyone Xavier has met with in this circumstance has not said this little." You were watching me and I lit a bench on fire." He said with a cocky and bitter tone, but also with guilt. He didn't lose eye contact. Being in trouble didn't mean much in Xavier's world and he was still bitter about being spied on.

[Christian Lucas]

The boy's tone and attitude were what really did it. Somehow they pushed just the right button. "Oh and the two girls who you nearly incinerated. Maybe you can remember them as soon as you pull your head out of your ass to use your brain!" He didn't quite shout it, but it was definitely louder than needed. "Did you even think of the fact that they don't have your resilience to flame and heat? If I hadn't acted when I did you could have KILLED them!"

The teacher head leaned forward for the last part of his lecture, so now he sat down. His eyes blazed in a way that Xavier didn't. The possibility that a student may be hurt, or worse killed, under his watch... That was not something that he was willing to let go easily. While he knew the boy had minimal control over his power he wasn't willing to let that excuse fly here.

[Xavier O'Conner]

Yelling was not what Xavier expected and it threw him off guard. He knew he deserved most of it, but he was not about to admit it. The truth of it weighed down on him and he took a minute to answer. He thought over it for a while of what had happened. It had started out as a pretty good day. Xavier eyes opened a little wider as he realized something. He had a few beers before going over to the girls. If wasn't for the smoke and all the chaos of earlier the beer would have been noticeable, but after all this time it had all but faded unless the teacher was specifically looking for it.

Trying to forget that aspect, Xavier had his quick witted answer." I wasn't aimed at them." Xavier said with out much conviction. He hadn't been aiming at them but that was a lame excuse. They still could have gotten hurt and he knew it. He looked down at the floor as all the reasons hit him in the chest... it was his fault. He would never break down. It wasn't his way but he did feel the shame.

[Christian Lucas]

The silence lingered, feeling all the more powerful for the fact that Christian's voice had been loud a moment before. He could see the boy thinking. He could tell that his words had some effect but when Xavier finally responded with such a weak excuse it fanned the flames of the drama teacher's anger yet again. Maybe it had something to do with his power, but Xavier seemed to have a talent for bringing out the hot-headedness in Chris.

Standing up abruptly he really spoke, his voice barely above a whisper but being all the more fierce. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize that when someone sets off a bomb they can choose who gets hit in the radius. Was that what you were doing? Aiming for the bench instead? Because it sure looked like they were on it when you were 'aiming' at it." He leaned across the desk, holding himself up by his arms.

Looking at the boy until eye contact was made he then said in a normal voice. "What would you have done if you killed them? What would you have done if they had burned their bodies so badly that their family wouldn't even be able to recognize them? You have this amazing power but instead of trying to work on it you just fuck around the school, acting like you don't have a worry in the world."

"If you spent half as much time training as you spent drunk you would be amazing. This wouldn't be an issue. But instead you keep screwing off and now the consequences are catching up." Chris kept his voice even but his expression was one of complete seriousness. He intended to express the problem with the boy and make him change his ways. "Here's the facts. You could be expelled right now. I could spend two minutes and your next stop would be your dorm to take your stuff and leave. You have proven to be a risk to other students around you. Or you can swear to me right now, on everything you value, that you will change your ways. No in between here Xavier. Choose."

Christian sat down, his eyes never leaving Xavier, letting this decision loom over him. It seemed rather dramatic... But then again, this was the drama teacher.

[Xavier O'Conner]

The silence had been better than the talking. Xavier didn't know what he would have done if someone got really hurt or worse had died. That's the thought that always got through to him. That he could put someone in so much danger in a few seconds. It was true that he always had a trigger but his anger at one second could kill someone in the next. In fact he had gotten people hurt and he didn't like it. He had been unharmed as other people were not and every time he tried to covered it up the same facts came back to get him. He used beer and whatever else he could find to forget it. He also tried to not get to close to people. He kept them at a distance and didn't like them to get to close. He pushed people away and didn't deal with the problem .

Xavier stared into the eyes of the teacher in front of him. He knew Christian would make good on his promise to expel him whether he had someplace to go or not. " If something would have happened I would have ran. I wouldn't be in this office. " Xavier stated trying to keep calm. If anyone would have touched his skin they would have gotten burnt. The room was starting to get hot from the heat coming off of Xavier, but he fought to keep his anger under control. This was the thing he hated about someone with any kind of authority, they could hold things over his head. They could want something that he didn't want to give and keep something as a threat. Xavier hated that any threat Christian made could be carried out. "How do you know anything about me?! How could you know what I go through?!" Xavier shouted, finally losing his silent composure.

The decision weighed down on him and he wanted his answers but he also knew that he would choose to stay and train. It would rub him the wrong way the whole time, but he would rather try and learn then leave the only home he had found. "I'll change." said Xavier barley above a whisper, but with full piercing eye contact.

[Christian Lucas]

Christian could feel the room heating up. He attributed part of it to the tension, but he was certain that the pyrokinetic was part of it too. His expression was rather torn and it was obvious that he was struggling to maintain his emotions. But the teacher wasn't too worried about it at this point. He had a point to get across and he wasn't going to drop it until it had sunk in.

"You can't always run!" He shouted this at the boy's newest excuse. "There will be a time when you can't run anymore. When you will lose control and when your lack of control will kill someone. You're not a killer. You're not ready for that." His voice had settled back down, and then he say back into his chair, crossing his arms and closing his eyes for a moment of thought.

"Xavier, I know more about you then you think. I know more about what you've had to go through than you could possible expect. Trust me when I say that you are not as alone in your suffering as you would care to think." These things were true. Christian had made a habit of checking up on any student he was expected to have contact with. He knew about Xavier's past, and he also had personal experience with being an outcast.

"Go ahead Xavier. Lose your temper. Go ahead and burn the room, and incinerate me. Prove me wrong about you. Hurt me. It's obvious that you haven't spent a minute worrying about learning how to control it. So PROVE ME WRONG AND JUST BURN THE PLACE DOWN! Is that what you want to do? I'm right here." Christian was playing with fire here, but he wasn't scared. He could tell that Xavier wasn't going to respond to hand holding and false promises.

"You say you'll change. But will you really? Are you going to? Because Xavier, you have so much more potential than you realize. You could be amazing. I know you can. You need to stop avoiding the problem. You need to pull your act together, and TRY to change. Can you do that? Or are you going to just burn the school down right now? There is no middle ground! Pick one and commit to it, and swear to me that you will never turn back."


The room was definitely starting to get uncomfortable hot now...

[Xavier O'Conner]

Xavier wanted to do lot of things In that moment. He wanted to burn down anything his power could reach. He wanted to run out of the room and never return. He wanted to explode with everything he had. Everything Christian said moved him closer to the edge of the cliff. The point of breaking and finding how far he would go to get out. Pushed father and farther to the edge, Xavier heated up. No cool air passed by and the room was unbearably hot, sticky, and uncomfortable.

Xavier stood up and slammed his open palm onto the desk, leaving behind a blackened imprint of his hand into the desk. He had to do something. Anything to stop the taunts and his fire from coming. That didn't mean that his hand still wasn't hot enough to burn and leave a trace of what had happened.

Breathing heavily, Xavier sat down with his head hung low. He tried to zone out all of his thoughts and regain his control over his emotions. Considering how much Christian was pushing every button Xavier had, he was doing better than he ever had in not starting a fire.

[Christian Lucas]

The student hadn't said a word, only seemed to be getting angrier. The room was a sauna now, but while he realized he was probably in danger, Christian couldn't get himself to worry. This was a Mexican Standoff in a way. Christian refused to step back on it, and Xavier obviously didn't want to actually hurt anyone. But neither was willing to change their pose. Not a good place for the drama teacher.

"What's wrong Xavier? Did I upset you? You going to burn a hand print into me too once you're done with the desk? Look at it! Imagine if you touched someone now! You're letting yourself lose control and you don't seem to care!! How can you promise you'll change when you're already giving up on it?!?!" Christian had stood up, his taller size letting loom slightly over the student. "Come on then! Burn me if that's what you're going to do!"

Maybe it wasn't a Mexican Standoff... Maybe this was Russian Roulette.

[Xavier O'Conner]

Xavier was done with talking, Done with dealing. Done with being in this office. Done with the questions and containing all he had. Christian had pushed and pushed toward the cliff and Xavier caved. He took his last steps at a run and jumped off the cliff. Holding back had built up the energy and the anger inside of him. Xavier stood up, looked the teacher dead in the eye, and lit his entire upper body on fire. The heat would have made anyone want to back up and come dangerously close to lighting a lot of things around him.

Xavier had been pushed to far with no training what so ever to deal with it. He hadn't given up on anything but had simply been broken, or been given every possible fuel source to light on fire. Simply angry enough to do anything, Xavier yelled out," Is this what you wanted me to do?!?!"

[Christian Lucas]

Christian saw the change occur in Xavier's face and eyes. It was startling to see him suddenly go from tormented to focused the way he did. The heat level in the room immediately revved up again. Chris was sweating profusely now, but his clothes were drying almost as fast as they were being soaked. The books on the shelf by Xavier's shoulder suddenly caught fire. The irony of seeing Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451" lit up like a bad s'more was not lost on the teacher, even though he had bigger problems.

"No Xavier. The question is whether this is what YOU want. Do you want to let your power control you? Do you want to keep being a threat to those around you? I'm right here, and if you keep this up, you will kill me. So I asked again Xavier. Is this what YOU want?!?!" The heat was incredible, and while Christian certainly didn't have a death wish, the source of the heat was between him and the door even if he did want to escape. But he didn't. Something told him that no one had ever really stood down Xavier as an equal.

Then again, maybe they had the right idea...

[Xavier O'Conner]

It didn't escape Xavier's notice that Christian didn't even make a move to leave or get away. Granted Xavier was blocking the door and fire wasn't a thing you wanted to fight to get through.

Never before had someone tried to talk him out of his fire. He had been tackled, injured, and just waited out, but never had someone tried to talk. They had been focused on the fire and how to stop it quick, not talking. Xavier started to think and his fire wen down some but was still no where near stopping. He could see the teacher on he edge of panic but still focused on him. He always hated what happened during his fire but always let his power take control. This wasn't what he wanted but he had no idea how to stop it.

"No." was all Xavier seemed to get from his head to his mouth. His thoughts were jumbled but most of his mind was still on the fire and only a small part was on actually speaking or thinking logically.

[Christian Lucas]

What Xavier saw as panic was really just concern that Christian was having for the boy's health. He was a pyrokinetic. He had definite resistances to fire, but setting himself on fire was still not going to be a good thing. Chris hoped that the young man wasn't going to get hurt too bad from this.

The room temperature had gone down a little bit, though the teacher was still sweating. His mouth was dry too. But he could feel a change. He hoped that it was the change he needed. "Then control it Xavier. Take control of it, and let your power know who is in charge!" Christian pulled a stupid move now and stepped around the desk, now standing about a foot away from the boy.

The heat being generated from him sent a hot wind constantly against Christian. He had to blink a lot since his eyes kept getting dried out, but he was about to play a hunch. "Prove it to yourself now, Xavier. I know you can do it." He spoke these words quietly, and slowly reached his hand out to touch the boy, hoping that he would control himself in time to keep from burning the teacher's hand.

Here goes nothing.

[Xavier O'Conner]

Xavier would need a lot of food after this. He had started two fires in one day and one had lit half of him on fire instantly. He would probably not be able to sit down comfortably for a while from the burns and blisters in various places on his back, chest, and arms. It would be more severe than he has ever had because of having two fires and the second one being spontaneous and extremely hot.

Xavier stood still and watched Christian as he moved closer. His fire rose in anticipation but still Christian continued. It was stupid, foolish, and dangerous but it sort of worked. Concern passed through Xavier in a flash and nearly put the fire out. His skin temperature was still left and could easily still burn skin. He stood still and watched the hand come forward. His legs screaming for him to step out of arms reach but he stayed and waited.