AN: R&R, and Enjoy!

Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it.

Chapter One:

The Ranger

Lily Abigail Potter was sprawled on the small cot that she called a bed, waiting for the next round of abuse came, although she didn't know that it was abuse. She was covered in bruises, cuts, burns, and scars, but the one that never seemed to heal, let alone go away, was the scar over her right eye. Shaped like a lightning bolt, she had been told that she had gotten it in the car crash that had killed her parents, but the Dursleys, her mother's sister's family, had been forced to take her on, so Lily was forced into a cupboard, fed the minimal amount to keep her alive, and was overworked and beaten by Vernon Dursley, her uncle. She didn't know that that day was the day that she would be forced into something that would haunt her until the day she died, nor did she expect to be taken away from that horrible place. Just then, the door to the cupboard slammed open, and Vernon stood there, an unholy glint in his eye, and reached for Lily, who just lay there, waiting for the beating. Vernon tore off her shirt, revealing her torso, and then her lower clothes, until she was clad only in her skin and hair. That was when Lily started to understand what was about to happen, which was only cemented in her mind when he lowered his pants. "No," she whispered, shivering violently. "No!"

Vernon ignored her pleas, and grabbed her waist, and forced himself into her, making her scream in pain and fear, as her hymen was broken for the first time, but without her consent. He started to slam himself into her, making her scream with each thrust, until he came, and left her where he dumped her, raising his pants, and slamming the cupboard door shut, before several latches were slammed home. Lily curled up into a tight ball, and started to sob her heart out, as her loins throbbed from the forceful and unwilling penetration. Suddenly, there were screams of pain and fear from outside of the cupboard, and Lily pulled back as far as she could, her emerald eyes wide with fear as she shook. Just as suddenly, the screams stopped, and the sound of boots came into the hallway with the cupboard. They paused, then the latches were drawn back, but something seemed to warn the person in the hallway, because there was the sound of cloth, and when the cupboard was opened, the cloth, which happened to be a jacket that was almost like a dress on her, was tossed in, then the door was quickly shut. "Put it on, please," said a soft voice outside the cupboard. "I'm here to get you out of this hellhole."

Lily quickly climbed into the jacket, her clothes having been torn to shreds, and pushed the door open, and slid out, only to stagger, as her legs decided to just say, 'No, I'm not going to cooperate!' and she fell, nearly landing on her face, but the person caught her, carefully pulling her upright. "Are you-" he cut himself off, seeing the blood on her legs. "No, you're not all right. Damn those fools for doing this to you!" He pulled her closer, ignoring how stiff she was, and held her close, his hands and arms oddly hard against her back, but she decided to ignore that, and take the comfort being offered. She quickly relaxed, and started to sob on his shoulder again, one of his hands gently rubbing circles on her lower back. "I'll get you out of here," he promised himself, his voice tinged with anger, which made her pull away, and shrink into herself. He blinked at her, and pulled her close again. "I'm not angry at you, my night," he whispered. "You were not the reason, nor cause, for what happened."

"B-b-but why?" she asked through her sobs. "Why?"

"We'll never know, my night," whispered the man. "We may never know."

He picked her up, bridal style, and carried her out of the house, and into a black car that was parked near the curb, and, shifting her weight to his left arm, he opened the passenger side door, and settled her comfortably, then buckled the seatbelt. "Too tight?" he asked, tugging on it a bit. Lily looked at him as though he had a second head, before shaking her head.

"No," she whispered. "Why are you taking me?"

The man closed her door, before sliding across the hood, and opened the driver's side door. He slipped into the driver's seat, and buckled himself in before answering, simultaneously starting the car, "I am taking you away from the family that abused you for so long. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to do anything sooner, but I had to have a solid reason behind it, as I can't just kidnap a young girl from the family that is supposed to care for you, but in the house, while I was in it, subduing them, I noticed that there wasn't one sign that you actually lived there."

"What are you?" she asked, noticing the fact that he'd removed the gloves from his hands, with no little bit of shock; they were robotic!

"I'm what could, technically, be termed a cyborg," said the man, grinning at her wide eyes. "I actually had to build cybernetic limbs for years, but I always kept a specific set of plans to myself, on the off chance that something were to happen to my arms." He winced. It clearly wasn't a good memory.

"I'm sorry," said Lily, shrinking away from him. "I didn't mean to pry."

"Don't worry about it," he said, shaking himself from his reverie, and sending the vehicle down the street. "It's just... that was extremely painful. I accidentally blew my arms off at the elbow, completely incinerating my forearms, wrists and hands. The only way to make sure that the cybernetic limb or limbs in question will actually work is to hit a specific spot on the elbow, as they have to connect directly to your neural systems, my night. That's fairly painful, but I had to cauterize the stumps of my elbows." He shuddered. "Not something I want to do again, I assure you. To give an actual answer to your question," he paused, flashing her a quick grin, "I'm a ranger."

Lily was silent for roughly twenty minutes, by which time they were nearing the outskirts of London. "Who are you, and where are you taking me?" she finally asked, having gotten used to his presence.

The man smiled softly, and said, "I'm taking you to my house, which is in the rural area of America, the land of the free, and I am called Michael Hunt."

Michael grinned at her sleeping face, thinking to himself, "I could stay like this till I die, and she's still going to be the one for me. I need to find a way to make her like me..." He opened the door, and slipped over to her side, and unbuckled her, then lifted her, frowning at the lack of weight to her frame, which had made itself known all over again. He carried her into the small, unassuming house that was way out in the boonies, but he set her on a bed in the guest room. "I'm glad that I found her now, when I'm eleven in this life."

He turned to the door, slipped out of the room, closing it gently behind him, and headed downstairs, where a specific Code was waiting. He sighed when he reached the living room, where the Code in question was resting, but grinned at it. "Finally, my friend, I can work with you again."