Author Notes: This is my first X-Men story, and I really hope you enjoy it. It's AU, but is still sort of set within the timeline of the movies. Basically, the first film happened as normal, and this is set directly after that. There will however be some characters from X2 and 3, that will appear despite the fact they shouldn't be there. Anyway, please continue!

Disclaimer- I own nothing but Imogen. Any comment made concerning places etc. is completely random. I have nothing against the residents or places themselves, as I've never been there. They do not represent my own views, and are strong generalisations.

Chaos Theory

Chapter 1

"Oi! You!"

A shout sounded from behind, making the girl stop. And it had been such a good day. Sighing, she dropped her rucksack at her feet and turned to see a man in his late twenties walking swiftly towards her, stopping a few metres away. She eyed him coldly, "Can I help you?"

"I saw what you did back there! You're one of them mutants!"

The girl quirked an eyebrow, "Really? And what exactly am I supposed to have done?"

"You made that car swerve away from the dog into that hydrant." She rolled her eyes – one good deed and they try to burn you for it. If only people were more like dogs, and then the world would be a happier place.

"You've lost it, mate; can't help you. A doctor might be able to though - find yourself some happy pills."

"I've called the cops! You tried to kill the driver!" His voice shook slightly.

The girl pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling a headache coming on. She desperately wanted to get away from this idiot and slip into a less painful mindset, but she couldn't. For all she knew the guy could be carrying a gun – one thing she hated about her new country of residence; at least back in England her main worry had been knifes, every so often with a gun thrown in, not much of an improvement, but still. Sirens sounded from a few streets away. Damned small towns never had anything better to do than chase eighteen year old mutants. Grabbing her bag, she slung it over her head to cross over her body, "However much fun I'm having talking to you right now, I've gotta get going. See ya!"

Before the man could contemplate any further remark, the girl was off, pelting across the street and jumping over a fence into a garden. Bloody dogs – last time she ever helped one of them.

Sirens pursued her as she ran in the direction she thought would take her out of the town. An odd roaring above signalled what she might have thought to be a helicopter had she felt more important and been in a bigger city. Suddenly, hands grabbed her around the waist, and for a second, her vision seemed to black out, then she was standing in a small metal room with a blue man, while a woman with red hair stood nearby. Immediately on the defensive, the girl threw all of the pain from her headache into a pulse of air out from her body that made both slam into the walls. "Who the hell are you?"

"Please calm down." The red head spoke, "We were going to land, but Kurt thought it would be a better idea to just grab you before the police caught up."

The girl gave the blue guy – who, she also noticed, had a tail of all things – a wary look, "You can teleport?"

Surprisingly, all the man did was smile shyly before moving away to the front of – holy crap she was on a plane. The red head smiled, "My name is Dr Jean Grey, and the man who saved you was Nightcrawler, or Kurt Wagner. The pilot is Scott Summers, or Cyclops."

"Erm, no offence, but I was doing fine by myself. Again, I ask, who are you?"

"We're representatives of the Xavier Institute. And we're here because Professor Charles Xavier wants to offer you a place at his school for mutants. What's your name?"

The girl blinked a few times, a headache once more beginning to build behind her eyes, "Imogen."

"Imogen…" She said it in a tone that expected more information.

"I don't have any other names, none that I'd give to a stranger. I'm from the UK."

The woman gave a wry smile, "I surmised that much from your accent. Please sit down; you don't want to be standing all flight." She gestured towards the cockpit where many seats were set up, but Imogen preferred to stay in a more defensible area, and so sat down on one of the metal seats jutting out from the wall.

"So I'm coming with you, like it or not? I've heard of you guys, 'X-Men', ain't it?"

Jean nodded, "You have no obligation to stay with us; we only thought you needed help. It's somewhere safe for people like us."

Imogen snorted, an odd look of mirth dancing in her eyes, "Thanks, lady, but I don't think you can help with my gift."

"It's interesting to hear you call it a gift – I've met many who call it a curse, most call it their power. And I can definitely help you. We share the same power." To demonstrate, Jean raised her hand, causing Imogen's rucksack to levitate a few feet above the floor, "We both have telekinesis, and some mental abilities. You're very good at masking your thoughts."

Imogen didn't say anything, her mind whirring. It would be nice to stop running, nice to have a constant supply of food. Although returning to school would not be as fun, she could meet other mutants her age. If they wanted to believe her gift was to move things by air and have extremely strong mental shields, then so be it. She quirked a smile, "Where do I sign?"

Jean let out a slight sigh of what might have been relief. Before she could explain anything any further, an American voice called from the cockpit, "We're landing now."

Jean smiled, "I'll take you to the Professor. He'll explain everything."

Imogen yawned, subtly massaging her temple, "What time is it?"

"Almost seven – the school will be up by now."

Inwardly, Imogen groaned, another whole day before she could get rid of that damned headache.


The Mansion seemed endless. The lower levels had all been white, but now the walls had taken on an old look. Small children ran giggling down stairs and through corridors, a few of the more innocent ones stopping to gape at the new arrival with Jean. The older ones gave warm, secretive smiles. As they reached an emptier corridor, a huge crash of what sounded like a very expensive glass object echoed from behind one of the doors. Jean broke into a run, flinging open the door to what must have been the Professor's office. Tentatively, Imogen followed, poking her head around the doorframe. There were three people in the room, all of whom combined created a very odd picture. A middle aged bald man sat in a wheelchair by a desk, surrounded by shards of glass. Jean stood in the middle, hand raised towards the third occupant, who was currently struggling as he was suspended in mid air. The Professor sighed, but then smiled when he saw Imogen, "Ah, the new arrival. I think we should end our session there today."

"Aww, and I wos having such a good time." The man sneered in a thick British accent.

Xavier sighed again, "You will make no progress, Mr Toynbee, if you continue to have episodes like this."

"Piss off."

"Jean, please escort our guest to his quarters." The redhead brought the green man down to the floor quite suddenly, before grabbing his arm and dragging him towards the door.

As they reached Imogen, The man stopped for a second, "Piece of advice, kid - get out of this hellhole while you still can."

The older man looked like he was getting a headache as bad as Imogen's, "Please shut the door. I am Professor Xavier, and this is my school." He smiled warmly, "I'm sorry, normally I would know your name, but your shields are quite impressive. I'm a telepath, you see."

"Huh? Oh sorry, I'm Imogen. What was with that guy, I thought being here wasn't compulsory."

"It is not, of course, I am sorry he gave you a bad first impression. That was Toad, a wanted terrorist and assassin, formerly a member of the Brotherhood of Mutants. He is here as part of my attempt at his rehabilitation. I believe he cannot be blamed for his actions, only those actions of the ones he thought loved him. But enough about that, please sit, we have things to discuss."

Imogen sat as the Professor moved behind his desk, "So, what d'ya wanna know." She put on a false cheery smile; she was starting to think that trusting these people had just thrown her into the deep end of a very big ocean.

"I suppose asking your education would be a good start, and when your powers manifested themselves. You have only come to our attention fairly recently, since you moved to this country and started openly using your powers."

"I wouldn't call it openly…" Imogen started, but then gave up when faced with Xavier's wry smile, "I stopped school as soon as I was sixteen and it was no longer compulsory. I've had my powers as long as I can remember." Well, sort of, but they weren't to know that.

The Professor nodded thoughtfully, "I presume, as you are here, that you would like to stay?" Imogen shrugged, "I will put you in a room with one of the other girls your age, and you will be expected to attend lessons, both from the normal curriculum and extra ones to teach you how to control your powers. However, I would imagine that today you might prefer to sleep?"

Imogen smiled gratefully, and then jumped out of her skin as a girl with short brown hair bounced through the door, "Holy crap!"

The Professor smiled, "This is a school from mutants, Imogen; I suggest you start to expect things like that to occur on a regular basis. This is Kitty, she will be your roommate, and will show you around."

The ghost-girl smiled brightly, "Hi! Can we go Professor?" Imogen had to suppress the groan at the chirpy voice; her headache would never improve at this rate.

To Be Continued…

Author Notes: So there you have it. Things should speed up next chapter, but please leave a review in the meantime - I would love to hear your thoughts and advice!