Chapter One: Al and Jean

Al's POV

Why am I even here, shivering in the cold rain, homeless and hungry? I guess it started seven years ago, when I left home. I was was eight, and I couldn't handle my angry alcoholic father anymore, so I packed my bags and left, like my brother and my mother before him. About a month later, the lost posters stopped showing up, no longer saying:

Missing Kid

Alexandria Davies

Eight years old, dark hair and green eyes.

WARNING: she might try to pull some mutie mind tricks.

Two things pissed me off about those posters. Firstly, it's a terrible idea to out someone as a mutant, especially an eight-year-old, wandering the streets. I'm an empath, hence the 'mutie mind tricks'. Second, I hate being called Alexandria. It's Al! I know, a boy's name, but I like it.

Fast forward seven years, and here I am now, on the doorstep of Xavier's Home For Gifted Children. I know what you're thinking- she must be joining the school, to be part of the family! Hell no. Don't get me wrong, it seems pretty nice, just me plus any sort of family equals disaster.

I'm only here because I just want to see if my suspicions are true. I was always wondering where the X-Men were when they weren't popping out of nowhere to fight Sentinels. After a while, I started noticing that a black jet kept flying back and forth to Xavier's, the secluded school on the coast. Combined with their name (Xavier - X-Men) and the fact that the mansion was the only place that could house all of them, I was pretty certain of their whereabouts. You might be saying, "Al, wouldn't anyone be able to notice the jet or similarities?". No, I'm just a keen observer. I can finally prove my theory because starting today, I am free.

Two days ago, I became legally dead. When a missing person has been missing for seven years, they are deemed dead. Seven years in hiding had paid off. That might not be a good thing in your book, but it's great for me. No more Social Security workers on my back anymore, and no one cares about a 'mutie' because she technically doesn't even exist anymore.

There is no glamour about being on the run. Shortly, after I left, I had to pick pockets and take wallets from the cupholders of cars. When I was thirteen, I thought it would be a good idea to try my hand at stealing from houses, not just cars. Well, I was terribly wrong. The tenant of the apartment almost woke up, and I had to use my powers to make him incredibly tired. Then I grabbed his safe-box and ran like hell.

I question myself, but my need to know overthrows my common sense. I take a deep breath and ring the bell.

Whelp. I guess you could say that curiosity killed the cat.

A dark-skinned woman opens the door. Her long white hair confounds me, she isn't that old. Accompanying her is a bald semi-old man in a fancy wheelchair.

"Hello, what brings you to Xavier's School for Gifted Children?" the woman says. She has a foreign accent that I can't quite place. Her eyes drift from the scar on my cheek to my badly clipped, grimy hair, to stop at my soaking clothing: an oversized hoodie and some jeans that are so ripped that they're shorts.

I can't help it. I step inside and shut the door behind me, blocking out the rain.

"Are you the X-Men?" I blurt. The question hangs in the air, unanswered. I'll take that as a yes.

A "Wha…" escapes the woman.

"Sorry, who are you?" Baldie asks. His voice is surprisingly clear. He is obviously smarter than he looks.

I know I should probably lie, but the guy can probably read my mind or some crap. Besides, how do you lie to an X-Man?

"Al" I pause, "Al Davies.".

Baldie types something in his wheelchair with one hand (It can do that?) and raises an eyebrow at the stunned woman like they are communicating telepathically. A computerized voice breaks the silence:

Alexandria Davies. Age 15.

Missing mutant as of seven years ago.

Deemed dead as of two days ago.

Shit. How did they even figure it out that fast? Baldie notices my grab for the door, then everything goes black.

Jean's POV

At around 10:13, Professor Xavier tells me to go check on Al, the new mutant. It seems that she made quite an entrance last night. Ororo was downright stunned that some kid could figure out the X-Men's location.

I open the door of the room to find Al, dressed in the new clothes I set out for her. She has a dark pixie-cut (If you can even call that a pixie-cut) and vibrant green eyes. The most noticeable of her traits is a cut, slicing across her left cheek. Her face is grimy, and her eyes are suspiciously taking me in.

"Hi. I'm Jean. You must be Al. Professor Xavier wants to talk with you." I say. Al gives me a patented murder glare. I beckon for her to follow me, and she does.

I lead Al through the maze of dorms and down the stairs. On the way, I see many students, some with visible mutations, some without. Occasionally I'll catch one whispering, "Is that the new mutant?"

"It'll be nice to have another girl on the team," I comment as we walk. The silence is killing me, so I try to get Al to talk. She just glares at every living thing in sight.

Soon enough we reach the professor's office. Professor Xavier sits behind his desk, and Scott and Bobby stand in the corner. Al takes the chair opposite of the professor.

The professor begins, "Hello, Al. I-"

Al cuts him off, "Lemme guess, Baldie. You called Social Services, but they won't take me 'cause I'm dead. You can't take me back to my parents, 'cause they're dead and I sure as hell am not staying here.". Al's spunk throws me off, but Professor Xavier just laughs.

"I haven't been called baldie since Logan joined us." he laughs.

Then he gets serious, "You guessed correctly, Al. You will be staying with us though, for your own safety." Al tries to butt in, but the professor continues. "You don't have any home to return to, and the streets are unkind to young mutants like you."

Al raises her eyebrows as if to point out that she had been on the streets since she was eight. I could tell that she was already planning her escape.

Professor Xavier continues, "Now I would like to introduce you to some of the students your age. Students, please introduce yourselves to Al by saying your name, power, and codename."

"You already know this, but I'm Jean. I'm a telepath ad my codename is Jean Grey.". I float the pencil that Al plays with out of her hands and drop it on the desk. Thankfully, the boys recover from their confusion and Scott steps up.

"Hi. I'm Scott, my codename is Cyclops, and I have laser eyes.". Scott taps his sunglasses and Al stifles a laugh.

"Hi, I'm Bobby, my codename is Iceman, and this is my power.". Bobby demonstrates by turning into his ice form. Everyone's gaze turns to Al, and she sighs.

"I'm Al, never call me Alexandria, and I'm an empath." she sighs at Professor Xavier and continues, "Which means I can give you all panic attacks right now.". Dang, Al knew how to make a room tense.

And with that, she left, pushing back the chair loudly, and abruptly walking out. After a few seconds of silence, Bobby and Scott excuse themselves, mumbling something about homework and training.

The professor furrows his brows and assumes a thinking pose. Through a telepathic message, he tells me:

This one will be hard to figure out.

Al's POV

I race back to my room, barely remembering the way. I should never have come here!

The second you start to like them, they'll leave you, a voice whispers in my head. I unzip my ratty backpack. I throw open the closet and shove in some clothes.

It's best to leave first, the voice purrs. I grab a toothbrush and toothpaste from the bathroom down the hall.

They say they'll be your friends, but they'll leave too. I run down the stairs and burst through the doors. The wrong doors. An elevator? When I open them again, I'm in some sort of corridor. I look around, curiosity taking over.

I try another set of doors, metal ones with an X on them. They open, and I see… Scott? He's fighting some metal tentacles, protruding from the walls of a large dome-shaped metal room. It looks so futuristic that I half expect cybermen to come down the corridor. What? I have my ways of watching tv, even if I don't own one. Scott turns to face me, and one clocks him, hard. He goes down, unconscious. The tentacles don't look like they are stopping. A mechanical voice beeps.

-DANGER ROOM MALFUNCTION-DANGER ROOM MALFUNCTION-

You should leave. Leave while you still can! , my fear screeches. I ignore it. I drag Scott out of the room. A tentacle wraps around my ankles. I'm almost out. My arms still dragging Scott, we fall out of the room, and my head crashes into the cold floor. Everything is too loud, the warning alarm, the little voice in my head, the ringing in my ears. Too loud.

I'm a kid again, standing next to my older brother Jamie. I see my mom as she walks away from my old house. She holds a large suitcase.

I beg her, "Mama, mama, please don't go!". She keeps walking and turns to look back at me one last time. Tears cloud my vision of the mossy stone path, of the house, always in disrepair, of the dry and dead lawn. I try to grasp Jamie's hand. The scene shifts.

Now Jamie is in front of me, and we're older. A tear trickles down his cheek.

"I'm sorry, Al, but I can't bring you with me.", he says. No, no, no he doesn't understand he can't leave me with dad!

The house bursts into flames. Jamie turns to dust, falling through my fingertips. My father's laughter fills my brain. I run and run and run and the fire goes away and then it's all dark.

Voices fill the silence. They tell me every bad thing about myself, and they just won't stop. I curl up into a ball in the pitch-black darkness and cry and cry and cry.

Then I wake up.

"Um, hello?" a voice says. I find myself face to face with a great big blue man. He has a scholarly tilt to his voice.

"I was in my lab when I heard the alarms go off. I ran over here, but it appeared that you and Scott already escaped. By the way, who are you?"

"Al." I sputter. The mutant crouches on a stool next to the bed where I sit. He has blue fur and a hulking body that seems more animal than human. The beastly effect is disfigured by the glasses, black pants, and lab coat he is wearing.

"I checked and you both aren't hurt, so I took you both to the med bay. I was waiting for you both to come to. You both seemed fine, but then you started screaming, and I shook you awake.", he continues without acknowledging my confusion.

"Yeah um okay, I gotta go." I grab my bag and back out of the socially awkward man's med bay. Thankfully, I figure out how to get the elevator to work.

"Very interesting. Very interesting indeed.", Doctor McCoy muses. Scott shoots up with a gasp. "Oh my stars and garters!", the doctor exclaims, running to his side.