Disclaimer: I don't own X-men, or any of the characters except Sydney
The girl pushed herself to continue as she walked up cement steps to a large doorway, hesitating before she knocked. She was about five seven with a soft peaches and cream complexion sprinkled with faint freckles. She looked like a perfectly normal Australian girl, save the long, ice blue hair. Gulping, she fidgeted with the strap of her worn blue backpack. Did she really want to do this? Was this really where her brother went? Well, no turning back now. She lifted a hand and knocked, almost hoping no one was there.
A tall woman with coffee-colored skin and snow-white hair pulled the door open, a stack of papers in her hand. "Hello." She said sweetly. "Can I help you?"
"I hope so…" The girl held her head higher, hoping to seem confident when she was really shaking in her muddy brown Vans sneakers.
A look of realization washed over the woman's face, and she held out her free hand. "I'm Ororo Munroe. I assume you're a…"
"Mutant?" The girl finished for her. "Yeah. I was sort of hoping to find my brother here…" She trailed off, shaking Ororo's hand absently.
"Well, let's get you settled in, then we can find him." She smiled, setting a hand gently on her shoulder. "What is your name, dear?"
"S-Sydney…" She adjusted the backpack, gulping.
"Well, Sydney, you're safe here. I'll get you a room, okay?" Ororo turned, walking up a set of stairs. Sydney followed, looking down as a group of kids, probably Mutants as well, walked past them. She glanced up just in time to meet the gaze of a tall blonde boy, a few years older then her. He smiled, though seemed a bit puzzled. Sydney looked familiar to him for some odd reason.
"Miss Munroe, are all the students here Mutants?" Sydney asked.
"Yes, all of them. And you can call me Storm; it's kind of a codename." She beamed, turning and opening a wooden door. "You're rooming with Rogue. Just put your bags on that bed over there and meet me in the room just down the stairs. I'll take you to meet the Professor then."
"Thanks again, Storm." Sydney flashed a small smile before entering the room. She dropped the backpack on the twin-sized bed, falling backwards onto it with her arms spread out.
"I'm just telling you, Professor. I can't think of a single student old enough to have a younger sister her age where we haven't met their family…"
"Not currently, no. I would like to meet her." Xavier wheeled himself from behind his desk.
"Um… Hello?" Sydney poked her head into the room. "I asked around… Found the office…"
"Hello, Sydney." Xavier smiled cordially at the young girl. "Storm told me you've showed up here to find your brother."
"I needed a place to stay… I figured that a school for Mutants is the safest place for me, and a good place to look." She moved her gaze to the floor, not able to help the feeling that this guy could see right through her.
"My name is Charles Xavier. I run this school, as a place for Mutants to control their powers and have a safe haven from the world."
"Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters." Sydney smiled. "I saw it on the plaque outside."
"So, Sydney, what's your brother's name?"
"He might be using another name by now, I don't…"
"I see. Sydney… I'll need you to relax a moment." He wheeled forward, motioning for her to lean down.
"What…"
"It will help me find who your brother is."
"Oh…" She leaned forward, glancing at Storm, who just stood and watched.
Xavier placed his fingertips on each side of her head, closing his eyes.
A little girl about ten years old grinned as she ran along the beach, pausing to sweep her gaze over the endless blue ocean. She suddenly remembered her purpose for running and began again, shouting. "John! John!" She laughed, panting as she reached a boy only a few years older then her. He was scowling, throwing rocks out at the crystal clear water. "John…? What happened?"
"Dad went out again last night." His gaze remained on the water.
"…John…" Her chocolate brown eyes softened, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I know… I heard them fight…"
"He's not back yet." He placed his hand over hers, using the other to zip up his backpack.
"What? B-but…" Her bewilderment was apparent on her freckled face.
"I heard Mom on the phone with Aunt Audrey…" John turned his gaze to meet his sister's. "Dad's gone."
"Gone?"
"For good."
The girl just stared at him in disbelief. Slowly, she shook her head, a lone tear running down her face.
"I think he found out what happened…"
"What happened? What? What's going on?"
"I… I got in some trouble 'round here."
The girl gasped. "You mean…" She whispered.
"I have to leave." He finished for her, and then picked up the backpack that lay by his feet and slung it over his shoulder. "I'm leaving, sis. I'm gonna catch a plane to New York and start new there."
"John!" Another tear escaped down over her cheek, the ocean waves crashing down harder over the sand. "You can't just leave me here!"
"I have to."
"No you don't!" She was sobbing now. "Dad's gone, so now you're leaving too!"
"I'm sorry." He hugged her tight, lightly kissing the top of her head. "I'll come back for you," He whispered. "I promise."
"John, no…" She pleaded, the water on the shore beating down ruthlessly against the beach.
"Goodbye, Sydney." He walked off, disappearing behind a building.
Xavier leaned back in his chair, glancing at Storm and only saying a single word: "Pyro."
Storm gasped. This was John Allardyce's little sister? It made sense now, she could see the resemblance.
"Pyro?" Sydney tilted her head.
"Your brother, John. He took the name Pyro, for he was a pyrokine." Xavier placed a hand on her shoulder. "He joined forces with the Brotherhood, a force of Mutants led by a man named Eric Lensherr."
"Magneto?" Her eyes widened. "My brother joined forces with Magneto?"
"Correct." Xavier nodded. After a few minutes of silence, he added, "Sydney, you may still stay here. To gain full control of your powers, to have a place that's safe." A knock on the door echoed through the office.
"Professor?" The same teenager from before poked his head in the room. "I think it's time for class…"
"Yes, yes of course." Xavier nodded, turning to Storm. "Ororo, show her around, and give her a class schedule." She nodded, leading Sydney out of the room.
"Professor, who was that?" The boy asked, sitting down.
"Sydney Allardyce. John's sister."
Bobby blanched. "His sister's a Mutant?"
"Yes."
"As powerful as John?"
"I'm not sure."
Sydney stared out the window, her eyes glued on the scene below. A redhead girl was standing by the water fountain, picking flowers from the small garden. A boy approached, smiling wide. The girl held out the flowers, grinning from ear to ear. But he blinked, sneezing suddenly and falling hard to the ground. But what surprised both girls the most; was the fact that thirty exact copies of him filled the patio! Sydney's eyes widened, and she nearly doubled over as the girl released an ear-piercing shriek that cracked the double-story windows in front of her. The second she stopped, Sydney heard someone coming. She quickly ducked out of sight, watching as a tall, brown haired man with thick red lenses in his silver sunglasses. Odd, but she'd seen weirder. He seemed distant, as if speaking to someone only in his mind. As his eyes returned to the scene below him, he was smiling faintly and turning to face a holographic image hovering above the table. As if sensing her, he turned and smiled. "Hello. I haven't seen you around here before."
"I-I'm new…" Sydney fidgeted. "Just got here about twenty minutes ago."
"Well, nice to meet you…ah…"
"Sydney."
"Sydney, right. Nice to meet you, Sydney. I'm Scott Summers, one of the teachers here." He held out a hand.
"Yeah…" She smiled, shaking it.
"Oh, excuse me…" He tapped his forehead lightly. "The Professor's calling."
"Um… Okay…" She shrugged, waving slightly as he walked off. "Could this school get any weirder?" Sydney whispered as she traced a finger along the cracks in the window.
Sydney sighed; she was sitting on her roommate's bed, looking at pictures on the nightstand.
"Bobby!" She heard the faint voice echo from the hallway. Gasping, she leapt from the bed to her own, taking picture frames out of her bag. "Bobby, stop it, careful. My glove got ripped." The girl's voice had a slight southern tilt.
"All right, all right. Didn't you get a new roommate…?" The door swung open, the blonde boy from before and another girl walking in. "Oh, hey."
"Hi. Um, I'm Sydney." She offered, tucking a strand of cerulean hair behind her ear.
"Right. Allardyce." Bobby said nonchalantly, the other girl's eyes widening.
"Ah-Ah'm Rogue." She sat down on the edge of her own bed, smiling slightly. "Is that your brother?" She pointed a gloved finger at the pictureframe in Sydney's hands.
"Uh, yeah. Here, you wanna see?"
"Sure." Rogue leaned over to take the frame. Tilting her head sideways, she stared at what she saw. The picture was of two people, a girl and a boy. The girl was about seven years old; she was wearing a sapphire swimsuit. Obviously Sydney, she had piercing chocolate brown eyes and long, marine blue hair. The boy was about nine; he was sporting black trunks with flames on them. His hair was a reddish brown, and had crystal blue eyes. Sydney had a surfboard tucked under her arm; it had an ocean pattern all over it. Her brother was leaning on his, it had a flame pattern. "John never told us he surfed…"
"Or that he has a sister, for that matter." Bobby added.
"Let me guess…" Sydney smirked. "He didn't tell you where we're from, either."
"No." They answered in unison.
"I'm surprised. It's not easy to hide an Aussie accent."
"John's from Australia?" Bobby exclaimed.
"Yeah…" Sydney answered like it was common knowledge. Which, to her, it was.
"I never knew that…" Rogue sat back, letting Sydney place the frame on the bed as she drew more from the bag.
"He probably doesn't like to talk about… home. I take it you two know him?"
"Knew him. He betrayed us to join Magneto." Bobby spat, a scowl embedded on his face. Sydney's temper flared, the frame in her hands creaking dangerously.
"John has a reason for everything he does. He wouldn't have joined that Magneto if he didn't have a very good explanation." She could barely make the words sound convincing to herself. Sydney knew her brother's personality better than anyone else; he always had good intentions, but sometimes got a bit… Confused.
"So, how long have you been in America?" Rogue asked as she exchanged the pair of black satin gloves for dark green ones, hoping to change the subject.
"I flew in last week. John told me that he would be in New York. But that was a long time ago, when he left." She set the picture on her nightstand, pulling out another and looking at it for a while.
"He left without you? What, did your parents split or something?" Bobby questioned rather curtly, earning a glare from Rogue. Sydney stared at the picture frame for a bit longer, before pulling the photo out and setting the frame aside.
"Something like that." She muttered, placing the tattered picture in a zippered pocket of the backpack. She then pulled out a shoebox, setting it under her bed.
"Why don't we go get something to eat. Sydney, you want to come with? It's almost dinner time." Rogue headed for the door, grabbing Bobby's elbow.
"Umm, I… I ate on the way here." Sydney attempted a half-hearted smile. "And besides, I better finish unpacking."
"Okay, bye." The two left, and as soon as the two were gone Sydney withdrew the box she'd placed under the bed.
"Why do you have to be like that, Bobby?" Rogue asked as she sipped at a can of Coke. "John came here a few years ago, and he was alone, remember? No parents."
"Yeah… He wouldn't ever talk about where he came from or his family. Something bad must have happened." Bobby bit into his hot dog. "But to leave his sister there? Just because of something his parents did? I don't buy it. John was running from something, and that Sydney knows exactly what it is. I bet she's running, too. Why else would she come to America, years later, searching for her brother? Why would she wait so long?"
"I don't know… I'll talk to her tonight. She's my roommate; we're going to have to get to know each other sometime."
Author's Note: Okay, I don't really know if I'm going to continue this or not, so could someone review and tell me if it's worth it or not? Please? And some plot ideas would be sort of nice, just to get me started. I won't post another chapter until I get some reviews! I don't have anything more to write until I get some feedback, so please? Okay, I'm done begging now. This story is based around post-X2 time, and I'm going more from the book. I might continue and add X3, maybe. But you have to review first!