Hey guys! Thought I'd try something a little different with this fanfic, much different from Daughter of the Phoenix and Beginning of the Shadow. I hope you all bare with me for this first chapter, it might be a little confusing. Please review and tell me what you think! If I don't get much feed back for it, I'll probably trash this story and start another, so if you like it or have suggestions, please tell me!

J.C. Posch

xXx

I pulled my thin coat closer around me and readjusted my hood before entering the dark café. It was a brutally cold New York day, and I needed to get out of the wind, if only for a little while. I felt bad, knowing that I wouldn't be able to buy anything from the café in exchange for their shelter, but I didn't have a choice. I wasn't the one who needed the warmth.

I took in the scent of coffee, cinnamon, and cigarette smoke as I entered. A few people looked at me with looks of pity and others of distaste. But I was used to that, teen pregnancies aren't really looked upon with happiness. I wondered how these onlookers would act if they knew that it was a mutant's baby?

Seeing that few people occupied the back corner, I decided that was the best place I could hope for at the moment and quickly headed over. I sat down, sighing as my aching feet finally got a chance for some rest.

A waitress with greasy blonde hair came over to me. She gave me a false smile after clearly looking at my baby bump and handed me a small menu. I don't know what worse, when they try to ignore my "condition" or when they make it obvious and awkward.

"Hi, can I get you something to drink to start?" She asked.

"Er, no that's alright. I'll just find something in the menu." I tried to smile back, but it was hard when I was so hungry. I haven't eaten since yesterday morning, and that was only a stale cressaunt. I could try dining and dashing, but I'd feel so guilty about it and probably get caught. I can just pretend to look through the menu before they kick me out.

The waitress nodded and went back to the counter.

I tried to enjoy the warmth and the rest but it was hard. At least half the café was staring at me. I sunk uneasily in my seat and tried to ignore them.

I didn't used to be like this. Homeless, alone, pregnant. I was the good girl. Head of my classes, my parent's angel, bright future. But I threw all of that away because I made one stupid mistake.

I fell in love with a mutant.

I closed my eyes and thought back to the cursed, gifted day when I met him.

"Come on Katie, we're going to get caught!" My friend Keisha giggled. We were on a school science trip to Toronto and decided to sneak out of our hotel after hours. I said no, but my friends dragged me along. We went to the mall for a bit, but now we were heading back to our hotel.

At first I was leading the pack, not wanting to be out any longer incase we got caught, but a heartbreaking sight stopped me and made me fall behind the others. A homeless man sat leaning against a brick wall with a ragged blanket wrapped around him. He held a dirty hand out, a silent plea for help.

"Give me a minute Kiki!" I replied, digging into my pocket. I only found a five and I felt a tightening of my chest. If only I hadn't bought these stupid shoes, I might have actually been able to offer help to this poor man.

"Here, take this." I said softly, holding out the bill to him.

I gasped when the homeless man looked up at me, his ragged blanket fell away revealing his face. His eyes were completely black, and fleshy tentacles were attached to his jaw and chin like a living beard. The man was a mutant. Coming from a very small town, I never met a mutant before. I heard stories and my parents spoke often about how they were tricks of the Devil; but I honestly never really thought about them before. They were just people, right? Just a little…different.

"Katie, come on! What's taking you- ah!" Keisha came back for me and was pulling on my arm, until she noticed the mutant. She jumped behind me, keeping me in between the mutant and her.

"Do you have any spare change?" The mutant rasped.

"No, get away from us. Freak." Keisha hissed harshly.

"I can't get work and I haven't eaten in two days." He begged.

Keisha tried to drag me away but I resisted. It wasn't his fault he was different, and even mutants needed to eat. I couldn't just leave him here starving.

"Knock it off Kiki." I said. I put the bill in the man's hand. "I'm sorry, I don't have any more to give."

Kiesha rolled her eyes and stormed ahead, leaving me.

"Ignore her." I muttered. I smiled at the mutant and said "God bless you, and good luck finding work."

The mutant's tentacles whipped around his face for a moment, then he ran off. I guess he thought I might change my mind and take back the money. I turned to go when I hear a voice.

"That vas very kind of jah." It said with a German accent. I looked around but saw no one. And then I saw two yellow eyes watching my from the dark ally close by. The strange thing was (as if yellow glowing eyes weren't strange enough) was that they were at least nine feet high in the air.

"Pardon?" I asked dimly, stepping closer to the ally way.

"Vhat you did for him, even though he vas a mutant. Most would have just kept valking, or worse." The voice answered.

"Well, I guess I'm not like everyone else." I replied unsurely.

This made the owner of the voice laugh. "No, I suppose not."

I decided that I had been out long enough, and that I was already taking enough of a chance of being caught to help the homeless man before. Besides, I'm not enough of country hick to think that every stranger I meet is my friend.

"I'd better get going." I said.

"We'll meet again." The voice replied. I turned back around, thinking that was an odd thing to say to a stranger, but the eyes were gone. I shuddered slightly, then ran to catch up with my friends.

The next day the school group went to the ROM. Luckily me and my friends didn't get caught for our little adventure the night before. But I couldn't stop thinking about the stranger in the ally with the yellow eyes.

"What?" The group was standing in front of some Egyptian exhibit and I just realized that I had been asked a question. My mind had wondered back to what happened the night before. The others laughed at me and I blushed. "I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"

The tour guild rolled his eyes and led the group on. One of the parent chaperones nudged me and smiled. "Tired, right? I have trouble sleeping in strange areas too."

I smiled and nodded, "Yeah, I'm bushed. Um, I'm just going to go find a washroom, is that alright?"

The chaperone replied "That should be fine, just try to catch up to the group soon. And don't talk to strangers!"

I nodded and walked off thinking, "Too late for that."

When I made my way back to my group, I couldn't help but think something was…wrong. It was one of those feelings where the hair stands up on the back of your neck, your chest feels tight and you feel scared, but you don't know why.

Soon I found out why.

Suddenly there was a loud bang and people started crashing through the windows of the building. People started screaming and running around, trying to avoid the shattering glass and the people attacking. Security ran in, but it was obvious they were going to be little help. The people attacking out numbered the small security detail and were mutants.

The tour guild ran off and our chaperones pulled our school group close together and ushered us towards a wall.

But when the windows broke, one of the Native totem poles were pushed over and had landed on a lady's leg. She was screaming in pain and a small toddler was crying at her side, begging her to come. No one else seemed to notice the lady because of their own distress.

I bit my lip, trying to decide what to do. In truth I was scared out of my mind and wanted to stay safe with my group behind the chaperones. But I couldn't leave her and her child. She looked to be in so much pain, and the toddler could be trampled or hurt at any minute. Making up my mind, I pushed past the chaperones and charge towards the woman.

I heard my science teacher yell at me to come back, but I ignored him and continued on. When I got to her, I realized I didn't know what to do.

"Uh," I started stupidly. "Its okay, I'm here to help. My name is Katie Ghosting."

The woman grimaced in pain, in must have been hard to talk for her because all she could do was point at her crying child.

I nodded with understanding. I picked of the wailing toddler and whispered a few soothing things to him before turning back to the woman. "My school group has a protective circle over there, its probably the safest place for him right now. I'll bring him there and be right back okay?"

Without waiting for an answer, I made a mad dash towards to the group. I noticed that a few other of the museum visitors had joined the circle, keeping those hurt or young in the middle. A few of the adults had picked up debris to use as shields.

Suddenly I felt a shock run through me, and I fell to my knees in pain. The little boy yelled harder, apparently the poor thing felt the shock to. I looked over my shoulder to see a boy, maybe in his early twenties wearing a spandex suit standing behind me, grinning cockily. Blue electricity sparked around his open hand.

I hissed, trying to push back the pain I still felt to get up.

"Listen, I don't want any trouble." I said, trying to sound calm. "I don't know why you're here, but it has nothing to do with me or this little boy. Just let me get him to safety."

The boy flicked a bolt of electricity at my knee. I forced myself to bite back the pain and made myself stand tall.

"Of course this has to do with you. All you pathetic homo sapiens." He said in a light voice. "Here on a school trip? Huh, I got kicked out of school for being a mutant."

He came closer to me, circling me like I was some sort of prey.

"I'm sorry that you were treated that way, but this isn't making it better." I said, holding the little boy closer to me in hopes to protect him.

"Yes it is. This little protest will smarten you humans up to who your superiors are. Maybe a few deaths will make the point." He cooed. A ball of blue electricity slowly grew in his hand, his target the boy in my arms.

"No!" I screamed, dropping the toddler I now had my arms free. In one swift movement, I drew back my arm and lashed out at the mutant. My punch landed directly on his temple, making him go down. Farm girl punches hurt.

I was running on adrenalin now. I swooped to pick up the boy again and ran him to the safe area. Dropping him off in one of the protective adult's arms, I ran back to the trapped woman.

She was now unconscious and a pool of blood was around her. Luckily the totem pole was made out of a lightish material. I was able to lift it off of her and push it away. The woman's eyes fluttered open to look at me.

Her leg was bent in a funny shape and bloody. I saw a bone poking through her skin and tried to to vomit. I took a health care class before, but I didn't know what to do. Could I move her without doing more damage?

I felt a large hand place on my shoulder. I turned around at the touch and came face to face with another mutant. He had sort of a catlike face, with blue fur and glasses. I leapt away, standing protectively over the injured woman.

"Its alright! I'm a doctor, and I'm here to help." He said in a calm voice.

"Oh yeah? Help like your buddies are, breaking into a museum and hurting people?" I said sarcastically.

"No, I'm not part of this attack. I'm with the other mutants who are fighting them and helping people." He gestured behind his shoulder.

I'd been so busy with my little "rescue mission" that I hadn't realised that more people had shown up. They were mutants too, but they weren't harming the humans. Instead they helped them move to safe areas and fought the mutants who first attacked. One threw exploding cards to keep a mutant that resembled a rhino at bay while a woman overhead flew two children away to safety. Over by my group I saw a red headed woman leading the people away while a man shot a open path for them with red beams out of his eyes.

"Sorry, I just thought- never mind. That totem pole fell on this lady when they broke in. She keep's going in and out of consciousness. I don't think its safe to move her, because of her leg, but you're the doctor." I told him quickly as the mutant leaned over to examine the woman.

"Hmm, I believe you're right. But I think I have another way of moving her." The blue man agreed. He clicked something on the headpiece he had on his ear. Some sort of communications device I guess.

"Kurt, I need you to come here right away. I'm by the fallen totem in the Native North American exhibit." The man spoke. "Be prepared to bring two passengers with you."

"Wait, I have to stay here and help!" I argued. My fear was now totally replaced with adrenaline and the urge to help people.

"You've done you're part little one." The man smiled and offered his hand. "The X-men thank you."

"The X-men?" I repeated. I heard a little about them before. They were an American group of vigilante mutants. Some thought they were menaces, others thought they were misunderstood heroes. If they get us out of here alive, they'll have my thanks.

All of a sudden a dark purple puff of smoke appeared in front of me. Once it cleared, a young man stood in front of me. He was quite odd looking. His skin was completely blue. He had elfish pointed ears that poked through his curly black hair. He appeared to only have three fingers per hand and two long toes on each foot. A long blue, pointed tail waved behind him, making me wonder if it helped him balance.

His eyes…

"I told you we'd meet again, Fräulein." He smiled, showing pointed pronounced canine teeth. He winked a glowing yellow eye at me.

"You-" I was a little shocked.

"Kurt, you know this- ah, yes, from the ally. Well, no time for introductions. Get these two ladies to the X-jet, they both need medical assistance." The older blue man instructed. The blue boy, Kurt, nodded.

"I told you, I want to help." I was about to argue further, but then I realized that blood trickled down into my eye. When did that happen?

Kurt picked up the lady gently and held her in his arms. He then wrapped his tail around my waist.

"Hold on." He smiled at me once again.

About to protest to this, I was stopped by the most unpleasant feeling. It felt like someone grabbed all of my organs and pulled up. I couldn't breathe or see anything. But as soon as it started, it ended. I now stood (only because Kurt's tail held me up) in the middle of a small medical unit.

"Wh-ho-huh?" I stuttered. Kurt released his hold on me. His tail guided me to a near by chair while the rest of him gently laid the injured woman on an examining table.

"Ve are in the X-men's jet. At the back to be precise. And jah, you might not be feeling so good now. Some people get that vay after being teleported." Kurt said cheerily. He reached up into one of the metal cupboards and pulled out a needle. Seeing me eye the needle, he explained. "Dis is for her, to ease the pain. Do not vorry, I know vhat I am doing."

He injected the serum into the woman's arm and she sighed.

"So you were the one in the ally last night." It wasn't a question. He nodded, a little unsurely. "Why didn't you come out? It was creepy just seeing two eyes watching me."

"I vas afraid that I might frighten you avay if you saw me." He answered quietly.

I felt a twinge of pity in my heart. He must be very sensitive of his appearance and it was sad to hear that he actually worries about scaring people away. I edged closer to him.

"Well, I think the floating eyes were a lot scarier than seeing a person attached to them." I replied. He looked at me uncertainly.

"You vere right, you aren't like everyone else." He said.

A slight shake of my shoulder pulled me from my reminiscing. The greasy waitress had come back, with a slight annoyed look on her face.

"Can I take your order now?" She asked.

"Uh, no, I need a little more time. Can I have a water for now?" Water was free, luckily. The waitress made an annoyed sigh and walked away.

Kurt and me grew close after that. He took time off from the X-men to come visit me in my hometown. In public he wore this image inducer thing, it made a holographic disguise of a human form when we were in public, but alone he went in his true form (because I asked). It was wonderful, the time we spent together. He was kind, sweet, funny. He took me to amazing places, because of his mutant ability. Everything was going fine, until my parents found out.

It seemed that all at once everyone in town knew that Kurt was a mutant. My friends shunned me, not wanting to be seen with the 'mutie lover'. My parents and I fought, they thought I was just going through some rebellious stage to date a mutant. They forbid me from seeing him. Not that I obeyed them.

Then one night, a day before my eighteenth birthday, Kurt showed up below my window. He was in horrible shape. Apparently a group of local teenage boys jumped him on his way over and beat him. The fool, he came all the way from New York to give me a stupid birthday present and got hurt because of it. I took him to my church's attic and helped him heal.

That was the last time I saw him…

"Listen, if you're not going to order something than you're going to have to leave." The waitress had come back, flanked by two large busboys.

I eyed the three of them, wondering if they would actually physically harm me if I didn't leave on my own. I wasn't willing to take that chance in my condition. I slowly got up from the table.

"Alright, I'll go." I said coolly. I took my time adjusting my scarf, mitts and hat, just to erk them.

I looked around the café one final time. My eyes lingered on the television for a moment. It was a news report about some sentinels "serving the public" by taking in some mutants that were being harboured at a local bakery. The bakery looked familiar, it took me a minute to realise that it was only a block from this café…

Suddenly a sleek black jet came on the screen. A door opened and people flew out of it. Three women, one with red hair, one with white hair and another with auburn and white streaks. Each women carried another person in flight. A man followed the women out of the plane, but he seemed to be free falling instead of flying. Three shiny metal claws sprung out of each of his fists as he aimed his fall towards one of the sentinels.

I felt my chest tighten and my heart race as I saw puffs of purple smoke appear in a linear line, heading towards a sentinel. I put my hand protectively over my stomach, not sure what I was feeling.

Kurt Wagner, Nightcrawler of the X-men, was only a block away. This is the closest we've been to each other in almost six months.

xXx

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