Icarus

By: MusicIsMySoul

Summary: Tempting fate isn't safe. But either is life. She knew this when she chose to do something she believed in. But what if you're choice could get you killed for being one of them? A mutant.

Disclaimer: I don't own X-men. Only my original characters.

Author's note: I was picturing this character in my head after watching the X-men series one night with my friends. We got to talking and ended up asking each other what mutation we would want, this character is made up from what I answered.

Chapter one: Harper

Why did I do that, I knew fucking better. I knew my route and I fucking messed up. Today was not the day for pissing off the wrong cowboys. I knew, I fucking knew! The few mess up's of my time and I picked the one I never learned from. I knew the rules, why now did I fuck it up?

My feet carried me as fast but I would had been faster on any other day. These streets were so familiar to me that I could run thought them with my eyes closed, backwards. I just had to take that sub sandwich from that guy. That deli was usually busy and easy for me to blend in with the crowd but today it was just sprinkled with a few tourist. I was so hungry I didn't even look to see the owner right there. He'd called the cops in seconds. I bet the cops wouldn't care. Texan's were known for their street crimes. They probably decided that it wasn't worth it, I wasn't worth it. They couldn't catch me, I was way to fast for their donut eating ass's.

After the yelling and the slow deli owner disappeared behind me, I sighed as I found myself near my 'home' if you will. I climbed the small drainpipe and settled on the roof of my abandoned steel mill. Thankfully I had finally finished the finishing touches on this place. Years of hard work and now I had a permanent place to reside.

I looked out over my city, San Antonio, Texas. My home sweet home. I hadn't lived here all my life. Dawson, Georgia, my hometown. I was born into a great family and a great neighborhood. I knew everyone, knew anything that was going on. That was until I found out who I was. Not to mention reveal who a friend of mine was too.

I sighed loudly and pushed my red hair out of my face. I couldn't seem to keep the soft waves of it out of my eyes. Man, my hair was getting long. Maybe a self done haircut was in order. I mean I hadn't gotten it cut since...

As I bit into my now soggy dinner of half eaten sub my stomach thanked me. Getting sick wasn't the best for my body, especially with winter rolling up so soon. I had to get some wood for the stove soon. No doubt I had to go out of town for that. I looked down at my already starving body. I was getting skinnier and growing weaker. Damn this flu! That's why I broke my route. I wasn't supposed to hit that deli for another week. Now I had to wait a month before I could get a decent sub sandwich. My mind wasn't working properly over the last few days with this sickness eating away at me, literally. I felt weak with my body feeling like it was disappearing before my eyes. I told myself all I had to do was eat as much as I could get, replenish my strength and I could beat this flu. Now I knew why my mother used to force me to get my flu shot at school. Funny cause now I would kill for it now. My stomach grumbled a little before I swallowed down the rest of the sandwich. Ugh this wasn't going to sit well.

Standing seemed like a difficult task over the few days, and I struggled not to topple over. Managing to grip the door frame before I feel I pushed my body to the double mattress on the floor. Thankfully the sheets weren't that bad since I had washed them at the Laundromat with the coins I had found, just before this sickness took hold of me. Maybe running and using my energy wasn't good. Regretting it would be silly since the sandwich was already turning my stomach. I tried to lower myself slowly on the bed but my legs gave out and I landed on my ass with a thud. Ugh, fucking flu! As I laid down I figured that if I got three meals in tomorrow then I would have enough strength to get some firewood, fuck I was cold.

The new day rose and I did too. Well, after chucking my dinner from last night, I did. I knew that today was Sunday and all the church goers would be out to a hearty breakfast today. Thank the lord. I decided to take the stairs since I really didn't want to plummet to the ground off the drainpipe. Snatch and grab, snatch and grab. That's all I had to do. So many restaurants were outside that I could grab a meal while they weren't looking.

Easy...

I'd done it a million and a half times. I found a place. Walker's Restaurant. I'd been a regular here. I'd never gotten caught and I wasn't about to today. I fixed my two day dirt jeans and black button up shirt.

Easy...

I quickly found a plate. A big pile of steaming pancakes, pineapple, whipped cream, maple syrup. My stomach flip-flopped at the idea of those in my mouth. I took my moment.

Easy...

As the faceless person before the plate turned away to look through his paper I quickly flew into his blind spot and picked up the plate as a whirlwind of people filled out of the place. I wasn't seen. Wasn't heard.

Easy...

I took my plate to the alleyway a few storefronts' down to make sure they didn't see me. I didn't want to be caught by the cook taking his smoke break. An armature mistake. I'd never do that. The feast was amazing as I sat against the brick wall of a bookstore. Maybe I would go read a little after I savored each mouthful. I licked the syrup off my fingers and wiped the saliva on my jeans. The plate was left in the alley when I entered the bookstore. Again my stomach complained but I held it down. I didn't really want to make a scene in here. My favorite section was in the back...the 'How to' section. I loved learning things. How things worked, how they became, how to use them. Just knowing was awesome. I wanted to know everything about everything.

I really liked music. I had read a lot about how to play several instruments but I never had the chance to put it to practice. There wasn't a lot of places that let me in. That's why I took to the streets. People in bookstores, libraries, grocery stores, you know places where they didn't wait on you, I could fit in there. But restaurants, music stores, places where they would have that annoying sales person -or waiter- in your face all the time, I couldn't stay there. My favorite was piano, it was like I could hear the chord progressions in my head. I felt the music, the emotion that came with it. As I looked through the books I found myself looking at one for a long time...I knew why. My mind was distracted.

There was another one like me in here. I turned to leave but not before I caught the sight him. He was tall, blonde, and wore an oversized coat. Odd for a warm day like today. Yet a face I would forget later. He was reading the words of a book in his hands. I didn't care I just left before something bad happened. Once I got out of there I realized how tired I really was. That food didn't help much with my strength. I sighed loudly and hurried back to my steel mill.

As I climbed the stairs I tried to remember a time where I wasn't a freak. A time when I had a family. I knew I had one but I hadn't seem them for years. Actually eight years, seven days to be exact. I missed them. I missed my protective big brother. I missed my caring father and mother. Yet it all changed when I became a freak. Protection turned into resentment, Caring turned into hatred. I bet they legally disowned me by now. After the accident I'm sure they would kill me on the spot if I showed up at their doorstep.

I was a mutant, a freak. Apparently with this 'cure' out I was also sick. Excluding the flu that I had. I couldn't always contain my mutation so if I knew there was someone like me around, I would bolt. I was afraid of my mutation. I didn't want to hurt anyone ever again. I had already killed one person. I wasn't about to kill anymore.

Again I fell onto the mattress and snuggled deep into the lumpy cushions...

"Mommy?" a small girl asked, she couldn't have been more than ten years old.

She was surrounded by other people, it was a BBQ after all. People had to be invited to a party. So many people around her made the little girls head pound more and more. She could feel a pulling to her friend across the lawn, it hurt so much.

I woman in her mid thirties smiled as she walked over to the small girl "Yes sweety?" her familiar southern accent mirrored the little girls.

"My head hurts mommy..." there were little tears in her eyes.

"Baby Lynn. Why don't we put you down to take a nap?" the woman knelled down to the girls level.

The girl, Lynn, shook her head "No mommy, big girls don't take naps."

"Right baby, how about you just lay down?" She smiled "No nap..."

Little Lynn nodded and as they were walking towards the suburban house. Lynn, half way, stopped in her tracks as she looked toward her friend. Samantha Jo, she must have been a few years older, two years older at least. "Sammy's different." Lynn said out loud.

"Don't say that baby Lynn, Samantha Jo is a nice girl." Lynn's mother scolded in a hushed tone.

"No, she can do different things" Lynn was almost talking to herself, her head pounded.

The woman knelled again, a mixture of confusion and fear on her face. She knew her daughter had learned about the mutant's that had popped up around the area, her daughter was too noisy for her own good. "What do you mean baby?"

"This..." Without any thought Lynn held her hand up, a small flame held in her palm.

The small girl thought nothing off it, she wasn't scared or in any pain anymore. It was like when a kid shows someone a new toy or points our something obvious. Lynn held her hand out to her mother "Sammy can do this, fire."

Everyone around them was watching, even Samantha Jo. Whose face was pulling into fear, fear that she had been found out. Someone gasped in the crowd and one even dropped a plastic cup filled with some sort of drink. "Baby, what are you doing?" Lynn mother was terrified.

"Showing you what Sammy can do..."

My eyes slowly opened. The memory had been so fresh in my mind. I tired to forget but I couldn't. The looks where horrible. The moon had risen, slept through the whole day, Jesus. I ran a hand through my hair and sat up. Well tried to, I was so weak that it took me a while to try. I couldn't do it. I tried again but nothing. My muscles were so exhausted that they wouldn't allow me to. I was screwed. I thought surly that my breakfast would grant me some much needed calories. Fuck...fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. Opting to roll on my side I finally managed to get to my knees and stand. Well...the second time. I fell back down the first. I stumbled out of the small room onto the roof. Gripping the doorframe as I hobbled out. I knew that this was much more than a flu now. "Shit" I cursed out.

What was I going to do? I couldn't go to the doctor, I had no money. They had a free clinic I could go to. Even if they did I didn't have the energy to walk down to the first floor and journey to the other side of the city. Why wouldn't an industrial district have a hospital? Fuck if I knew. I prayed for a miracle and sauntered back to my bed, too tired to stand anymore. As I collapsed into the softness I reached my hand out to the small cabinet, I used as a beside table, and pulled out my emergency ration. I opened the old cigar box and found my supply.

Two power bars, four small packs of raisins, a Red Bull, and a bottle of water. Surly this would give me some energy. Fuck Red Bull and power bars, runners use that shit. I popped open the top of the can and lifted my head enough to chug some down. My throat suddenly felt dry. I chewed on the chocolate coated power bar for a while before swallowing it harshly. Before you could say 'That's not good' I found the same food I just ingested and the pancakes from this morning slugged on the cement floor next to my bed. I couldn't keep anything down now.

Fucking flu...I tried to keep my eyes open but they felt too heavy. Even a mutant like me couldn't keep them up. I was going to end up on the Nine o'clock News. 'Mutant found dead on abandoned Steel Mill roof. Starvation was the cause.'

As my eyes drooped more and more I became aware that I wasn't alone anymore. I knew that they were mutants, three of them. I couldn't pick out what they could do, I was so weak. "...Harper" I could hear someone speaking, calling out my name,

"Georgia Harper!"

"Shit, she's half-" I couldn't keep hold any longer as my eyes rolled back into my head.

It was too dark for my liking. I tried to pull out of it...ugh I was so hungry. Fucking Red Bull didn't help at all. This was like a bad dream. I knew I would wake up and be chased by another storeowner angry at me for taking a meal or clothes, or something stupid. But hey I was good at it and I could get away.

My head pounded...like that day. There were so many. They were all watching, they were young. Some younger than twelve. I felt them. Each had a new mutation. Some I had never seen before. I wanted it to stop. I was being overloaded with all this. I had never been around so many. Then they all faded. Only a handful were left. I could distinctly pick out two. But before I could try I felt back into a deep darkness. One I couldn't even feel them. I relaxed almost feeling like I was floating in a pool of warm water. That's when I remembered, I hadn't showered in ages. My bed sheets smelled better. Maybe when I woke up I could go for a swim at the local pool. It was free and I got to smell better. Hopefully it would be on a day where few people where there. What was that annoying beeping, my head it pounding enough already.

I wanted to shut it off...and so it did.