(a/n): greetings and salutations to all! please accept my apologies on the whole 'not-updating' thingy. i have no good excuse available, aside from the whole ;hacing a life' thing. i mean, what kind of selfish person would that make me, huh? so, without any firther ado, here is my latest brain child. (i do have an update for WL ready, just haven't gotten around to posting it. bad llama.)

DISCLAIMER: I don't own X-men, in any way, shape or form. If I did, Logan would have had a haircut a loooong time ago. And Liev Shreiber would have been Sabertooth much sooner. ;)

2nd DISCLAIMER: title is temporary. if you have any suggestions, feel free to help me!

SHADE PLAYER

by:

LoquaciousLethality

My story begins on a normal morning.

And that's all I can really say about it.

"Paxie, wake up! Momma says you're gonna be late!" Della yelled in my ear, her twin brother Weston helping her wake me up my continiously poking my shoulder.

Prying my eyelids open, I glanced at my alarm clock and almost swore when I saw that there were fifteen minutes left before the bus came. Luckily, I managed to curb my mouth before shocking the two six year-old siblings, who were currently sitting on the edges of my bed, eyes full of innocence.

"I'm up, Del, go tell Momma." I said as I nearly killed myself getting out of bed, tripping over the sheets wound around my feet.

Once the adorable little munchkins were gone, I was able to swear fluently, still taking care to not be overheard. While the 'dirty words' fell easily from my mouth, I stumbled into the jack-and-jill bathroom I had to share with my older brother, Felix. Cringing at my reflection, I couldn't help the glare when I saw the after affects of his most recent prank.

In my normally dark blonde hair, there were streaks of silver, copper and the faintest hints of blue, making it look like someone had dumped buckets of paint all over me. Felix, the rat, had also attacked my bangs, making them more of a side swept type. I was still getting used to having to shake the bangs out of my eyes.

Hurrying through my morning routine, I washed my face and was somehow able to brush my hair and brush my teeth at the same time. Pulling my hair into the familiar ponytail, I huffed at the bangs that just fell back into my face.

"What's the rush, sis?" came a teasing voice from my left, and I glared at the smug reflection of my twenty-one year old brother, the rat Felix Raye Nelson.

"Shaddup." I mumbled through a mouthfull of toothpaste. Spitting it out, I rinsed and flew out of the bathroom and back into my room, Felix following even after I tore my night shirt off and threw on a bright yellow bra. This was ordinary in my house. Since my mother was raised in South America, we were raised to not care about modesty as much as others would.

"Did you oversleep, Paxie dearest?" Felix asked, lounging on my bed as I rummaged through my closet, looking for the loose shirts and jeans that had been my uniform all of last year.

Hey, don't accuse me of not caring about my appearance, those shirts and jeans were comfy. And I lived for comfortable clothes.

Unfortunately, my beloved clothes were nowhere to be found.

"Sometimes, Felix, I hate you." I told my brother, crossing my arms, facing him dressed in nothing more than a bra, panties and the gym shorts I slept in. "Now, where are my freakin' clothes?"

"In there, sister dearest." he said, smug smirk not disappearing, his green eyes full of mischief. "You'd better hurry, the bus comes in five minutes." he added.

"Dang it all!" I swore, running to my laundry basket, stopping only to throw a tennis shoe at the rat's head. "I'll kill you later." I told him, digging out my new pair of jeans that were a bit snug across the rear end, and a yellow shirt with a black smiley face.

Throwing them on, I shoved my feet into a pair of socks, quickly followed by my worn boots. As I dashed out of the room, I grabbed my backpack and cell phone then literally jumped down the stairs three at a time. Pausing to give my mom a kiss on the cheek and to grab the bagel she held out, I raced through the kitchen. As I passed the front hall, I grabbed Felix's favorite hoodie in retaliation.

Normally, it would have taken me five minutes to get from the front door to the bus, I made it in two before being carted off to the place they call school.

That was the last time I saw my family.

I won't rest until I find them again. Even if it kills me.