Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, 'cept Aalene. However, I wish I owned Angel, Pyro, and Storm.

This takes place after X-Men 3 so there are some spoilers. You have been warned.

She knew she was different. For years, Aalene had been capable of certain things that many people considered strange. She had seen it on the news, read about it in the papers-people like her were considered a threat and hated by many. Outcasts, the world had branded them with a name, throwing them into their own caste. Aalene was a mutant.

At a very young age, she began to notice her peculiarities. In those tender years, she had seen them as a curse but slowly, as time passed, she warmed up to them. She would practice them in secret, eventually achieving levels of power that, before, she could only imagine. But with the power, came a price.

Aalene had often witnessed the prejudice other mutants had experienced. Even her own family would frown in disgust when speaking of them. Fearing rejection that the world so often offered mutants, Aalene kept her gift a secret for years. But that, like so many things in her life, eventually fell apart.

Looking back, Aalene never could tell where she "went bad". There wasn't really an exact moment where she had decided to hate normal people. Or to use her gift for less than honorable activities. Her morals-and her heart along with them- decayed slowly. Her parents' reaction when they finally caught her practicing her mutant abilities just cemented what she had already believed.

Now, things were different. Aalene was through crying and feeling sorry for herself because of her parents' rejection. They were pathetic, miserable creatures who didn't understand how special she really was. But soon, they would know. The whole world would.

Shit. Security Cameras. Cursing herself, Aalene promptly stole the energy from the devices, storing it within herself for later use. She let a smile slip. Mutants were the ones who really had the upper hand, she realized. Mortals had their precious politics but mutants had more significant advantages in the long run.

Continuing through the bank, Aalene smiled with a bit more arrogance. She had taken out every alarm trigger and security camera in the lobby. Now, it was time for the fun part. The mutant made her way toward the bank vault with poised purpose, every step multiplying her adrenaline by a thousand.

But Aalene never made it. In a blast of fire, the bank's window shattered, sending glass everywhere. Aalene fell backward, the flames licking at her face, threatening to burn her flesh. It took a moment for her to recover and when she did, the scene before her filled her with rage…

A boy her age was standing in the middle of the bank's lobby, surveying the damage he'd caused with a smirk. In both his hands, glowed balls of sheer fire, coming out of what seemed to be a strange mechanism on his wrist. He was definitely a mutant. And he was trying to rob the bank!

In fury, Aalene used her stored up energy to lift herself off the ground into the air. "Hey, hot shot!" She called, "You might want to move along. This bank is mine." Her eyes narrowed, threateningly.

The boy turned to her, a confused look on his face. But suddenly, he realized what was happening and he smiled evilly. A mutant, slightly younger than himself, was challenging him. "You chose the wrong bank, kid. I'm not someone you want to mess with." Fire flared up around Aalene as the other mutant directed it to, getting dangerously close to her bare skin.

A spark of fury started to burn in Aalene. "Yeah? Neither am I." With startling calm, she summoned all of the stolen energy and forgot all restraint. This guy was obviously a formidable opponent. Judging from his energy, Aalene guessed he was at least a class four mutant. Forget the bank. This would be fun.

With the amount of energy Aalene was summoning, it was important that she always keep her center. Just a tiny slip and she could easily lose control. Clasping her hands together, Aalene closed her eyes, and willed the energy forth. When her eyelids fluttered back open, the other mutant was on the ground, caught off guard by the force of the blow. But he was quickly recovering. "Hey, hot shot. You never did tell me your name." She knew it was cocky but she had a right to be.

The other mutant smirked, but seemed to have a bit more respect for Aalene. "Pretty impressive. Colleages call me Pyro...John." Flames burst from the mechanism hidden by his sleeve and he directed them towards her, the smirk still on is face. The fire singed Aalene's hair successfully and he laughed. "How about you, Miss Energizer Bunny?"

"Well,I'm usually known as Legacy. But you can call me Aalene.So, are we going to just stand here and talk or we gonna keep fighting. As interesting as you are, I still find the latter more fun." Aalene strained to bring every ounce of energy she had stolen to the forward part of her mind. She concentrated on the mutant before her and willed the energy forth. Although her efforts were honorable, the girl had little energy left to speak of. The attack was good but hardly enough to slow down Pyro.

He was already laughing at her expense. "You're joking right? Is that all you've got?" He glanced around and finally realized it. "It is! You don't have anything left to steal energy from, do you?" He seemed to savor the moment, relishing her panic as she watched the fire flare up around his hands. At the last minute, she saw a car go by outside. She got all the energy she could but it was too late. Before she could send it back at Pyro, he had already blasted her. She fell, semi-conscious, to the ground, as the police sirens finally began to wail.

Pyro looked over his shoulder, estimating how much time he had. As the squad cars sped around the corner, he drew nearer to Aalene. Stooping down, he pulled something out of his pocket and crammed into her hand. "I'll be back for this, Aalene." He whispered in her ear. And with that, he took off, leaving Aalene on the floor of the bank lobby.

Bleeding and in pain, Aalene was holding onto consciousness and sanity by a very thin thread. She whimpered softly and tried to move but the feat was impossible. Because of the amount of energy she was holding, the blast had not killed her. But the pain was mind numbing. She gripped her hand tightly around the object that Pyro had given her. It was a lighter. Surprisingly, the metal was cold, and it felt good against her skin. Aalene guessed that the lighter hadn't been used in some time. It was her last thought before she lost all consciousness, with a final cry of agony.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Aalene groaned. What the hell was that incessant noise? What it was, she found it impossible to sleep through. BEEP BEEP BEEP. Dammit, shut up! Finally, she allowed her eyes to open, just a crack. Voices drifted into Aalene's state of consciousness and she tried her best to focus on them.

"We shouldn't have brought her here!" The first voice was a man's voice, sounding angry and brash. "You know what she was doing at that bank!" The voice was definitely angry- and definitely talking about her. "We should have left her to be the cops' problem."

"Logan." This voice belonged to a woman, calmer, but authoritative. "She was in pain. She needed medical attention."

"Well, she shouldn't have got in his way. And the cops could've called for some medical assistance." The man-whose name was Logan, apparently- seemed insistent and unyielding in his argument, "She's a liability now. She's a threat to this entire place."

"Just calm down, Logan. You know what the Professor taught us about power. And this girl has a lot of it. We can't stand by and let someone so powerful go bad. Plus, she's not really a threat. She's not evil. Just misguided." Whoever owned the calm voice reached out and touched Aalene's face. Her hands were soft. "She needs us. Trust me."

The voice named Logan snorted in reply. "Sure. But what about the lighter? Why did John leave his lighter behind?"

The woman didn't speak for a moment, possibly thinking. "Well, he now has those strange mechanisms to use, and he doesn't really need that old shark lighter anymore, does he?"

"No, he doesn't but I don't see John leaving it behind. Unless it served a purpose. Maybe it's a way of telling us that he's going to be back." He groaned. "That's the last thing we need around here. A disgruntled former student."

"Logan, I think, right now, we need to be focusing more on her." Aalene imagined the speaker to be pointing at her but she couldn't really be sure. "We'll deal with one thing at a time."

Logan just snorted. "Yeah, good luck with that."

A door slid open and then closed again. Aalene heard a sigh and allowed her eyes to open all the way. "Where am I?" She shuttered. Her voice sounded dry and raspy. She tried desperately to wet her lips but even her tongue lacked moisture.

A woman with dark brown skin and silver-grey hair stepped into Aalene's sight. "You're awake!" Concerning Aalene's question she smiled. "Don't worry. You are in a safe place. My name is Ororo but you can call me Storm."

With a cough, Aalene looked up at Storm. "Can I get some water?"

Storm nodded. "Sure." She walked to the other side of the room and filled a small glass with water. Handing it off to Aalene, she sighed again. "We know what you were doing in that bank."

Aalene had known that was coming. Sitting up, she took a huge gulp of water and replied. "I figure it was pretty obvious. We all have to look out for ourselves, you know?" This time, she was careful to take a smaller sip. "I just wanted to take back a little of what the world took away from me." Aalene handed the glass back to Storm.

Shaking her head, Storm took back the empty glass. "Now, that really isn't how you should look at it. You were given a wonderful gift, a beautiful face, your health. What more could you ask for?"

A lot of things. "Well for starters, how about a world where we're accepted? People treat me differently once they learn I'm a mutant. There's so much prejudice and hatred in the world." Aalene stopped herself. "You get the picture."

And she did. "You can't stay bitter forever, you know. Eventually, it'll eat away at you. Destroy you from the inside out." Storm tried to take Aalene's hand but the younger mutant drew away. "What's your name?"

Hesitating, Aalene wondered if she could really trust the strange woman standing in front of her. She didn't seem like she was lying but Aalene knew that she couldn't always trust her instincts. Right now, however, it didn't really seem like she had another choice. "My friends call me Aalene."

"Well, hello, Aalene-,"

"But you can call me Legacy." Aalene said icily. Suddenly a thought occurred to her. "I was burned alive…I know why I am not dead. But why am I not mutilated?"

That was a question Storm was still pondering. "Well, Legacy, maybe the blast was meant to hurt you but not cause any real damage. It was actually pretty easy to treat you. Oh and, we found you with this." Storm dug something out of her pocket and held it out to Aalene.

The lighter. Aalene reached out and took it. She held it in her hand, and felt the familiar cool of the metal. Pressing it against her face, Aalene welcomed the feeling. She finally flicked it open and clicked it on to produce a flame. She stared at it and finally remembered the significance of last night's outing. "Who was he?"

Yet another sigh came from Storm. "Oh, an old friend, you might say. He used to stay here but he let his bitterness control him." She put her hand under Aalene's and prompted the younger mutant to curl her fingers around the lighter. "Come on. I'll show you around."

Ok, my first attempted at an X-Men fan fiction. This story is not a PyroOC love story. There is a small love interest but for right now, it's really not a huge factor.