Summary: New characters are introduced in this story. A new character
appears at the School for the Gifted. She claims to want peace between
humans and mutants. What can Prof. X do, but take her in. The thing is, she
isn't a mutant. Right? So why can't anyone read her mind? And why is she so
gaurded? Who is she and can she really be trusted?
Disclaimer: I own nothing found in the Marvel comics. Most of the characters here are the creations of the wonderful imagination of the talented Stan Lee and other comic book writers. Any character not associated with Marvel is mine.
A/N: No X-Men as of yet. But Spider-Man has a guest spot in this first part.
___________________________________________________________
Prolouge
A Few Years Ago
She chewed nervously on the nail of her index finger. She was scared. She'd never been on her own before. Practically everything was done for her. How would she survive out there? That wasn't some peaceful city where she could walk down the street alone and not have to worry about her safety. That was New York City out there.
She shook her head to clear some of the nervousness away, with very little success. She wouldn't back out now. She'd been planning this for about a year now. Maybe it was actually longer, she thought. Long before she actually set her plan into action, she'd begun saving money. Perhaps she'd subconciously known she would have to find a way out eventually. Just two and a half years ago, she never would have believed she'd be doing this. True, she hadn't planned to stay in this house forever, but she hadn't thought she'd be leaving so soon.
The backpack was checked yet again. Yup. She had everything she absolutely needed. And the very few personal things she refused to leave behind. Three photographs in particular she couldn't leave behind. One was of her mother, another was of her, at a younger age, at science camp with a very dear friend, and the last was of her as a small child and a smiling woman with gentle eyes. Her nanny.
She brought nothing with her that reminded her of him. With any luck, she would never have to see him, or her 'boyfriend,' ever again. Not face to face anyway. Unfortunatly, her father was constantly trying to get on television, sometimes succeeding. As time went on, she knew those success's would become more frequent. There were too many people like him out there.
She stood in the middle of her large bedroom and looked around. This may be the last time she ever saw it. She had grown up here. If it wasn't for her mother, she would have spent practically her whole life in this room. That was actually still pretty much the case. And most of the time outside of the room was still spent on the grounds. Her father was so paranoid that she might run into one of those "freaks" on the street. Her mother worried that she would be mentally scarred from not being around people her age. That was the only reason she was allowed to go out ocassionally and to go to science camp one summer.
Without another backwards glance, she walked out of the room and quietly closed the door.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~* ~ * ~
She couldn't believe she had pulled it off. Here she was, out in the city. Unfortunatly, people were looking for her. There was a package of hair dye in her bag, but she hadn't gotten to use it yet. Hopefully, no one would recognize her. The plan had been to get the hell out of the city, but there were a few things she had to do first. And the news broadcasts of her dissapearance had forced her to stay as far from crowds as she could. Her father had realized she was gone sooner than she thought he would.
It was cold. It was going to start raining any minute. She could smell it in the air. Every hotel would be on the look-out for her. Looks like she was stuck on the streets for the night.
As she walked, she mentally cursed her father. She had left at four in the morning and he'd somehow managed to get the word out that she was missing before she could get a hotel room. She didn't notice the group in one of the alleys she'd passed. They waited a moment and then began to follow her.
What am I going to do? she asked herself, blissfully unaware of the danger she was in. The entire state is looking for me. By tomorrow, the entire country in going to have heard about me.
The next thing she knew, some guy had his arm around her. "Hey baby. What's a girl like you doing, all alone, in a place like this?"
She tried to push him away, but he held on and pushed her into another alley. His friends followed, smiling wickedly. This was going to be easy.
"Let go of me!" she shouted.
It started to rain.
"Relax, baby. This ain't going to hurt. Well," he added, grinning, " not too much anyway." He pressed her against the wall and reached for the snap of her jeans.
In a panic now, she brought her knee up. She screamed for help as he doubled over in pain. His friends hurried to silence her. She struggled against them. The very basic self defense she knew wasn't as effective as she would have liked. The rain came down harder and harder as they pinned her to the wall. She fought frantically to break free. One of them reached for her shirt and started to lift the hem.
"No!" said the first one, recovering from his injury. "She's mine."
The other two didn't look happy, but refrained from doing anything but hold her as still as possible. The first one got right up in her face and glared at her. "Think that was funny, you little bitch?" he growled.
She swallowed hard. She knew exactly what they wanted to do to her. The rain blended with the tears that started running down her face. She couldn't let it happen. She shrieked again for help as they dragged her to the dead end in the alley, away from the street where people might hear her. They didn't cover her mouth because they liked to hear the screams.
The one she had kneed pressed her against the wall and started to take off her jacket. The other two watched from a couple of feet away. They couldn't wait for their turns.
Thwip!
One of them was yanked back. He was so surprised, he couldn't even yell as he flew back towards the alley entrance and landed in a pile of garbage. The other one had turned the second his buddy had literally taken flight. No sooner had his friend touched the garbage pile that what looked like a white rope attatched itself to the front of his shirt. Then, he himself went flying to land on top of the other guy.
The last guy turned. "Huh?" He saw his friends lying in a heap, groaning. Suddenly, he felt something touch his shoulders and he was yanked upwards. He shrieked girlishly when he came face to face with a masked figure clad in red and blue.
"Somehow, I get the impression that the lady doesn't enjoy your company," said the masked figure.
"Spider-Man!" The thug took a swing at him.
"The one and only." He shot more webbing at the guy. Within seconds, he was wrapped in a cocoon up to his chin. Spider-Man carefully hung him, upside down, from a fire escape. Then he went down to catch the other two. Of course, they tried to fight him. He sighed inwardly. It was over in about a minute. They hung from the same fire escape as the first one. "Well, that takes care of that."
During the short fight, the girl had stepped forward to see if she was seeing right. Sure enough, that was Spider-Man coming to her rescue. A vague thought ran through her head. I knew he wasn't the creep Jameson makes him out to be.
He turned to check on the girl they'd been attacking. She was just standing there, staring back at him with a bewildered look. Her hair was plastered to her head with rain, as were her clothes. He squinted behind the mask. Was that...? He took a couple of slow steps forward. His eyes widened in surprise. Kassy? "Are you alright?" he asked.
She nodded. "Thanks to you." She gave him a grateful look.
"Hey, you're the girl that's all over the news. The one everyone's looking for."
Panic filled her eyes.
"What are you doing here? You should be home."
She shook her head vehemently. "I can't go back there," she squeaked.
He frowned. Why wouldn't she want to go home? "Your parents are worried about you. Let me take you-"
She shook her head again, cutting him off. "I can't go back there," she said again, louder and in a normal tone this time. "It's my father. He's crazy! I don't want to be a part of his agenda. I won't!"
"Okay," he said slowly. He had moved forward as she spoke. So had she. They were only about two feet apart now. "The news reports say you may have been kidnapped or brainwashed."
"No. That's not true. No one kidnapped me. I ran away. To get away from my father. He's gone off the deep end. He wants to rid the world of all the 'freaks and monsters contaminating our world.' And he's trying to arrange a marriage for me to a guy just like him." She looked at him pleadingly. "I can't go back there. Please!"
He frowned even more. He knew enough about her father. He had seen him on tv and had been told all about him. It wasn't too hard to understand why she had run away from a man like that. Still, it was too dangerous for her out in the real world. "I think it would be better if you went home. You're young. It's not safe for you out here."
"I'll manage," she insisted.
"You've been on your own less than twenty-four hours and look what happened. You're only sixteen. It's too dangerous for you to be on your own," he reasoned.
She shook her head and went to retrieve her bag from the ground where it had fallen when those guys had started trying to strip her. She shuddered at the thought of what would have happened had Spider-Man not been there. "You don't understand." She turned back to him. "You can't know what it's like to know your father is willing to kill innocent people just because they're different from most people," she lifted the pack onto her shoulders, "and then have the nerve to say he's doing them, and the world, a favor by putting them out of their misery."
Willing to kill? Had he gone that far? He knew her father was an intolerant bastard, but to kill? "Kill people? How do you know he's willing to go that far?"
"Because he's already done it!"
His eyes widened. "If that's true, you need to go to the police."
"I can't. They'll never believe me. I can't prove it, but I know he's done it. Please, just let me go and never tell anyone you saw me."
He bit his lip. If what she told him had any truth to it, he had no desire to send her back to that. But, if he left her on the streets to fend for herself, he might as well be signing her death warrent. "All the same, you have about two years until you're eighteen. If you can hold out until then..."
"It might be too late for me to get out by then! If I could wait that long, I would have."
"Do you at least have somewhere to go? A friend? A relative?"
She shook her head. "I don't have any other family besides my parents. I don't want to involve any of my friends in this." The few that I have anyway, she thought bitterly.
He sighed heavily. "Then I can't just let you go."
She hung her head. "I understand. You're just trying to help."
He stepped forward and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Poor kid, he thought. I hope I'm doing the right thing.
She swung the length of pipe she had found on the ground next to her bag. It connected with his head. He staggered, mostly out of being caught off guard. She quickly swung it before he could recover. His shoulder hit the wall next to him. She hit him once more, on the back of the head, trying to knock him out. When he fell to the ground, she threw the pipe down and ran.
"I'm sorry!" she yelled over her shoulder. Then she dissapeared around the corner.
It took him a few seconds to get his bearings. He got up, rubbing the back of his throbbing head. A groan of pain made it past his lips. "So much for gratitude," he groused. A few seconds later, he shot out a webline and headed for the rooftops to see if he could still catch her. He went in the direction she had, but didn't see her anywhere. Damn! He kept looking for a while longer. Nothing. Finally, he stopped on the edge of a building.
"First, she thanks me for saving her, then she tells me she understands my reasons for taking her home, then she clobbers me! I just don't get women! Ugh. I guess she *really* didn't want to go back there." He was all set to start looking for her again when he heard an alarm go off. A couple of streets was a bank and that was where it seemed to be coming from. He made a frusterated noise before heading in that direction. "I hope she'll be alright. Kassy's a good kid. Smart too. If she says her father is up to no good, I believe her. But without a way to back up her story, there's really nothing I can do. I'll just have to keep my eyes open."
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Kassy watched him go and breathed a shakey sigh of relief. He had been so close. She was so lucky he hadn't seen her hiding in the next alley. The guilt of what she'd done to him, especially after he had saved her, was heavy. He was just trying to do what he felt was best for her at the moment. It wasn't like he wouldn't be fine after popping some painkillers, but still.
"I'm so sorry, Spider-Man," she whispered as she watched him go. "I didn't want to do it, but you wouldn't let me go. I hope you can understand that. Thank you for what you did for me." She sighed. "I hope I get the chance to tell you how sorry I am someday."
She pulled her jacket tight around her and started walking. The subways shouldn't be too crowded now. She could take one to the edge of the city. If she didn't get out of this city now, she might never be able to.
Kassy managed to leave the city limits that night. She didn't look back as she went.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
A few days later, an ad appeared in the Daily Bugle personal ads.
S.M. Arachnid, I apologize again for what happened the other night. You didn't give me much of a choice. I hope you understand that I can't go back there. Please forgive me. Thank you for helping me.
Love, K.C.
"Well, what do you know?" mumbled Spider-Man as he hung upside down on the wall of a building, reading the paper. "Someone not only thanking Spider-Man, but apologizing for hitting him. What next? A celebrity shows up at my apartment with a million dollar check?" He began to web-sling across the city. He knew exactly who that ad was from.
"I really hope Kassy can make it on her own. If she doesn't, I'll never forgive myself for letting her get away."
_________________________________________________________________________
I would appreciate feedback. If anything, please tell me if I should continue or not. Sorry the X-Men aren't there yet, but they'll come in soon enough.
Disclaimer: I own nothing found in the Marvel comics. Most of the characters here are the creations of the wonderful imagination of the talented Stan Lee and other comic book writers. Any character not associated with Marvel is mine.
A/N: No X-Men as of yet. But Spider-Man has a guest spot in this first part.
___________________________________________________________
Prolouge
A Few Years Ago
She chewed nervously on the nail of her index finger. She was scared. She'd never been on her own before. Practically everything was done for her. How would she survive out there? That wasn't some peaceful city where she could walk down the street alone and not have to worry about her safety. That was New York City out there.
She shook her head to clear some of the nervousness away, with very little success. She wouldn't back out now. She'd been planning this for about a year now. Maybe it was actually longer, she thought. Long before she actually set her plan into action, she'd begun saving money. Perhaps she'd subconciously known she would have to find a way out eventually. Just two and a half years ago, she never would have believed she'd be doing this. True, she hadn't planned to stay in this house forever, but she hadn't thought she'd be leaving so soon.
The backpack was checked yet again. Yup. She had everything she absolutely needed. And the very few personal things she refused to leave behind. Three photographs in particular she couldn't leave behind. One was of her mother, another was of her, at a younger age, at science camp with a very dear friend, and the last was of her as a small child and a smiling woman with gentle eyes. Her nanny.
She brought nothing with her that reminded her of him. With any luck, she would never have to see him, or her 'boyfriend,' ever again. Not face to face anyway. Unfortunatly, her father was constantly trying to get on television, sometimes succeeding. As time went on, she knew those success's would become more frequent. There were too many people like him out there.
She stood in the middle of her large bedroom and looked around. This may be the last time she ever saw it. She had grown up here. If it wasn't for her mother, she would have spent practically her whole life in this room. That was actually still pretty much the case. And most of the time outside of the room was still spent on the grounds. Her father was so paranoid that she might run into one of those "freaks" on the street. Her mother worried that she would be mentally scarred from not being around people her age. That was the only reason she was allowed to go out ocassionally and to go to science camp one summer.
Without another backwards glance, she walked out of the room and quietly closed the door.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~* ~ * ~
She couldn't believe she had pulled it off. Here she was, out in the city. Unfortunatly, people were looking for her. There was a package of hair dye in her bag, but she hadn't gotten to use it yet. Hopefully, no one would recognize her. The plan had been to get the hell out of the city, but there were a few things she had to do first. And the news broadcasts of her dissapearance had forced her to stay as far from crowds as she could. Her father had realized she was gone sooner than she thought he would.
It was cold. It was going to start raining any minute. She could smell it in the air. Every hotel would be on the look-out for her. Looks like she was stuck on the streets for the night.
As she walked, she mentally cursed her father. She had left at four in the morning and he'd somehow managed to get the word out that she was missing before she could get a hotel room. She didn't notice the group in one of the alleys she'd passed. They waited a moment and then began to follow her.
What am I going to do? she asked herself, blissfully unaware of the danger she was in. The entire state is looking for me. By tomorrow, the entire country in going to have heard about me.
The next thing she knew, some guy had his arm around her. "Hey baby. What's a girl like you doing, all alone, in a place like this?"
She tried to push him away, but he held on and pushed her into another alley. His friends followed, smiling wickedly. This was going to be easy.
"Let go of me!" she shouted.
It started to rain.
"Relax, baby. This ain't going to hurt. Well," he added, grinning, " not too much anyway." He pressed her against the wall and reached for the snap of her jeans.
In a panic now, she brought her knee up. She screamed for help as he doubled over in pain. His friends hurried to silence her. She struggled against them. The very basic self defense she knew wasn't as effective as she would have liked. The rain came down harder and harder as they pinned her to the wall. She fought frantically to break free. One of them reached for her shirt and started to lift the hem.
"No!" said the first one, recovering from his injury. "She's mine."
The other two didn't look happy, but refrained from doing anything but hold her as still as possible. The first one got right up in her face and glared at her. "Think that was funny, you little bitch?" he growled.
She swallowed hard. She knew exactly what they wanted to do to her. The rain blended with the tears that started running down her face. She couldn't let it happen. She shrieked again for help as they dragged her to the dead end in the alley, away from the street where people might hear her. They didn't cover her mouth because they liked to hear the screams.
The one she had kneed pressed her against the wall and started to take off her jacket. The other two watched from a couple of feet away. They couldn't wait for their turns.
Thwip!
One of them was yanked back. He was so surprised, he couldn't even yell as he flew back towards the alley entrance and landed in a pile of garbage. The other one had turned the second his buddy had literally taken flight. No sooner had his friend touched the garbage pile that what looked like a white rope attatched itself to the front of his shirt. Then, he himself went flying to land on top of the other guy.
The last guy turned. "Huh?" He saw his friends lying in a heap, groaning. Suddenly, he felt something touch his shoulders and he was yanked upwards. He shrieked girlishly when he came face to face with a masked figure clad in red and blue.
"Somehow, I get the impression that the lady doesn't enjoy your company," said the masked figure.
"Spider-Man!" The thug took a swing at him.
"The one and only." He shot more webbing at the guy. Within seconds, he was wrapped in a cocoon up to his chin. Spider-Man carefully hung him, upside down, from a fire escape. Then he went down to catch the other two. Of course, they tried to fight him. He sighed inwardly. It was over in about a minute. They hung from the same fire escape as the first one. "Well, that takes care of that."
During the short fight, the girl had stepped forward to see if she was seeing right. Sure enough, that was Spider-Man coming to her rescue. A vague thought ran through her head. I knew he wasn't the creep Jameson makes him out to be.
He turned to check on the girl they'd been attacking. She was just standing there, staring back at him with a bewildered look. Her hair was plastered to her head with rain, as were her clothes. He squinted behind the mask. Was that...? He took a couple of slow steps forward. His eyes widened in surprise. Kassy? "Are you alright?" he asked.
She nodded. "Thanks to you." She gave him a grateful look.
"Hey, you're the girl that's all over the news. The one everyone's looking for."
Panic filled her eyes.
"What are you doing here? You should be home."
She shook her head vehemently. "I can't go back there," she squeaked.
He frowned. Why wouldn't she want to go home? "Your parents are worried about you. Let me take you-"
She shook her head again, cutting him off. "I can't go back there," she said again, louder and in a normal tone this time. "It's my father. He's crazy! I don't want to be a part of his agenda. I won't!"
"Okay," he said slowly. He had moved forward as she spoke. So had she. They were only about two feet apart now. "The news reports say you may have been kidnapped or brainwashed."
"No. That's not true. No one kidnapped me. I ran away. To get away from my father. He's gone off the deep end. He wants to rid the world of all the 'freaks and monsters contaminating our world.' And he's trying to arrange a marriage for me to a guy just like him." She looked at him pleadingly. "I can't go back there. Please!"
He frowned even more. He knew enough about her father. He had seen him on tv and had been told all about him. It wasn't too hard to understand why she had run away from a man like that. Still, it was too dangerous for her out in the real world. "I think it would be better if you went home. You're young. It's not safe for you out here."
"I'll manage," she insisted.
"You've been on your own less than twenty-four hours and look what happened. You're only sixteen. It's too dangerous for you to be on your own," he reasoned.
She shook her head and went to retrieve her bag from the ground where it had fallen when those guys had started trying to strip her. She shuddered at the thought of what would have happened had Spider-Man not been there. "You don't understand." She turned back to him. "You can't know what it's like to know your father is willing to kill innocent people just because they're different from most people," she lifted the pack onto her shoulders, "and then have the nerve to say he's doing them, and the world, a favor by putting them out of their misery."
Willing to kill? Had he gone that far? He knew her father was an intolerant bastard, but to kill? "Kill people? How do you know he's willing to go that far?"
"Because he's already done it!"
His eyes widened. "If that's true, you need to go to the police."
"I can't. They'll never believe me. I can't prove it, but I know he's done it. Please, just let me go and never tell anyone you saw me."
He bit his lip. If what she told him had any truth to it, he had no desire to send her back to that. But, if he left her on the streets to fend for herself, he might as well be signing her death warrent. "All the same, you have about two years until you're eighteen. If you can hold out until then..."
"It might be too late for me to get out by then! If I could wait that long, I would have."
"Do you at least have somewhere to go? A friend? A relative?"
She shook her head. "I don't have any other family besides my parents. I don't want to involve any of my friends in this." The few that I have anyway, she thought bitterly.
He sighed heavily. "Then I can't just let you go."
She hung her head. "I understand. You're just trying to help."
He stepped forward and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Poor kid, he thought. I hope I'm doing the right thing.
She swung the length of pipe she had found on the ground next to her bag. It connected with his head. He staggered, mostly out of being caught off guard. She quickly swung it before he could recover. His shoulder hit the wall next to him. She hit him once more, on the back of the head, trying to knock him out. When he fell to the ground, she threw the pipe down and ran.
"I'm sorry!" she yelled over her shoulder. Then she dissapeared around the corner.
It took him a few seconds to get his bearings. He got up, rubbing the back of his throbbing head. A groan of pain made it past his lips. "So much for gratitude," he groused. A few seconds later, he shot out a webline and headed for the rooftops to see if he could still catch her. He went in the direction she had, but didn't see her anywhere. Damn! He kept looking for a while longer. Nothing. Finally, he stopped on the edge of a building.
"First, she thanks me for saving her, then she tells me she understands my reasons for taking her home, then she clobbers me! I just don't get women! Ugh. I guess she *really* didn't want to go back there." He was all set to start looking for her again when he heard an alarm go off. A couple of streets was a bank and that was where it seemed to be coming from. He made a frusterated noise before heading in that direction. "I hope she'll be alright. Kassy's a good kid. Smart too. If she says her father is up to no good, I believe her. But without a way to back up her story, there's really nothing I can do. I'll just have to keep my eyes open."
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Kassy watched him go and breathed a shakey sigh of relief. He had been so close. She was so lucky he hadn't seen her hiding in the next alley. The guilt of what she'd done to him, especially after he had saved her, was heavy. He was just trying to do what he felt was best for her at the moment. It wasn't like he wouldn't be fine after popping some painkillers, but still.
"I'm so sorry, Spider-Man," she whispered as she watched him go. "I didn't want to do it, but you wouldn't let me go. I hope you can understand that. Thank you for what you did for me." She sighed. "I hope I get the chance to tell you how sorry I am someday."
She pulled her jacket tight around her and started walking. The subways shouldn't be too crowded now. She could take one to the edge of the city. If she didn't get out of this city now, she might never be able to.
Kassy managed to leave the city limits that night. She didn't look back as she went.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
A few days later, an ad appeared in the Daily Bugle personal ads.
S.M. Arachnid, I apologize again for what happened the other night. You didn't give me much of a choice. I hope you understand that I can't go back there. Please forgive me. Thank you for helping me.
Love, K.C.
"Well, what do you know?" mumbled Spider-Man as he hung upside down on the wall of a building, reading the paper. "Someone not only thanking Spider-Man, but apologizing for hitting him. What next? A celebrity shows up at my apartment with a million dollar check?" He began to web-sling across the city. He knew exactly who that ad was from.
"I really hope Kassy can make it on her own. If she doesn't, I'll never forgive myself for letting her get away."
_________________________________________________________________________
I would appreciate feedback. If anything, please tell me if I should continue or not. Sorry the X-Men aren't there yet, but they'll come in soon enough.