She'd watched it all on TV. She'd seen the destruction wrecked on the humans by her own kind.
And she'd seen the people who helped stop it from going too far.
She knew right then that she wanted to be one of them. One of the ones who worked to stop those who wanted destruction. Wanted pain. Thought they were superior just because they could do things other people couldn't.
Everyone is special. She thought as she got off the bus downtown. It was a long walk to that mansion, but she didn't have anywhere else to go. Too bad some people can't handle being so different.
She shouldered her bag and kept a steady pace. A motorcycle slowed to a stop next to her, and a guy pulled his helmet off. His hair stuck up at odd angles, and she didn't really think it was from the helmet.
"Where're you heading?" He asked. His voice was gruff, his manner short. But there was something about him that made her not back away.
Something in his eyes made her stop for a moment.
"Xavier Institute." She replied after a moment.
"Now why do you want to go there?" He asked. She shrugged.
"I think they can help me." She said. Memories welled up, but she shoved them to the back of her mind. She couldn't think about them. She couldn't think about what she'd done, because she didn't want to hurt anyone else.
"Well, get on then." He said. "Can't have a new student walking the entire way."
Normally she would have said no, but there was still that something about him. Something instinctive. Like looking at a dog and knowing that it will protect you as much as it can. There was something in his eyes, a glint that said he didn't like to see people hurt.
She adjusted the straps on her bag and swung her leg over the bike, getting on behind him. As she settled into place, she could see his face move into a smirk.
"You've ridden before."
Memories flashed in front of her eyes, and she blinked, trying to clear her head. She pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind and just nodded.
"Yeah." She said quietly. "I've ridden before."
Logan still wasn't sure why he'd stopped. There was something in the way she walked, the look in her eyes.
Something almost familiar. She reminded him of someone.
Jean. She reminded him of Jean. Her hair was black, and her eyes were a brilliant sapphire color, and even her facial features were completely different, but she had an air around her.
An air of someone with the weight of the world on her shoulders. The air of someone with the power to do anything they wanted to.
And the air of someone in pain.
He pulled into the mansion garage and got off. The girl was standing a few feet away, nervously fiddling with the strap of her bag.
"Come on." He said, a little less gruffly than he normally spoke. "Come on." He lead her up through a maze of hallways and finally into an office.
A younger woman sat behind the desk, her white hair chopped short, almost in a anime-style. She looked up as Logan came in.
"We've got a new student." He said. Storm frowned at him, then looked at the girl, meeting her eyes. For a moment the air seemed to crackle with the potential to explode, but then Storm smiled, and the air relaxed.
"I'm Storm." She said, stepping around the desk and extending her hand. The girl shook it firmly with a gloved hand.
"Serenity." She replied quietly.
"Pretty name." Logan said, flopping down in one of the chairs. "That one I'll definitely remember." Blue eyes landed on him for a moment, then looked away quickly.
"That's Logan." Storm said, shooting Logan a half-annoyed glare. He shrugged it off, lighting a cigar. "So do you know what your powers are?"
Serenity didn't reply. She just closed her eyes. Things began to lift themselves up into the air, swirling around.
As Logan's chair began to rise, he jumped up. "Enough!" He shouted.
Startled, Serenity jumped. Everything flew out away from her in a circle, hitting the wall and falling to the floor. The windows were thrown open, several of the panes shattering. Logan himself was pitched clear across the room and into a bookcase. There was a sickening crack as his head lay to the side, clearly broken.
Serenity's eyes widened, and she was suddenly unable to get enough oxygen.
She'd done it again.
Letting out a small whimper, she turned and ran, a terrified look plastered on her face.
A moment later, Logan stood up, groaning as he stretched his neck muscles. He looked around the room at the shocked Storm and the half-broken window.
"Ow."
"Logan she took off."
Cursing under his breath, Logan took off after her. It wasn't hard to follow her, students had been tossed to the side, several of them sporting bruises from where they'd been thrown into the walls in her effort to get past.
He caught up with her halfway to the gates.
"Hey! Kid!" She didn't stop. He racked his brain for her name. "Serenity!" She stopped dead in her tracks, whipping around to stare at him. Spotting him, she let out a short scream before she clamped her own hand over her mouth. Her bag dropped o the ground with a dull thump.
"But-" She removed her hand from her mouth and pointed at him. "You were dead!"
He hesitated. "Sort of." He took a step toward her, and she backed up two steps of her own. "Here, look." He raised his hand, extending his claws slowly. Her eyes got wider and wider as they came out. He held out his other arm, and sliced into it, grimacing.
She let out a little squeak. Then, as he began to heal, her eyes got even wider. "Oh my god." She whispered.
"I'm probably the only person in the world who you can't kill." He said. His face darkened. "Believe me. It's not that easy."
"I-" She chewed on her lip. "I don't think I can stay here, with all these other people." She looked up at the mansion. "I didn't think it would be so big."
Logan gave her a smile as he looked behind him at it. It didn't hold the same glamor it once had for him. Still, he stayed because he was needed. People like her needed him to help them get a handle on their powers.
He turned back to her. "Hey. Sorry I startled you back there." Serenity nodded, but her eyes wanted an explanation. "I-" He sighed. "I knew someone who had powers like yours, in some ways."
"What happened to them?" Serenity asked quietly.
Logan hesitated. "Didn't make it though." He said, and the edge came back into his voice. "You should stay."
Serenity met his gaze evenly, something not many people would do anymore. It was like they were afraid of offending him or something.
"Why?" She asked. "If you couldn't heal yourself, I would have killed you."
"Which is exactly why you shouldn't go out there." He gestured toward the street. "People are going to surprise you, make you angry, make you upset, piss you off, or do something else and you'll loose control of your powers on someone who can't heal themselves."
"I don't want to hurt anyone else." She said quietly.
"Look. How about you train only with me until you get a better handle on your abilities. You can't hurt me." She gave him a pointed look. "Well, I mean, yeah it hurts, but you can't kill me."
Serenity chewed on her lip, then nodded. Logan made to pick up her bag, but it lifted itself up and zoomed over to her. She plucked it out of the air and slung it over her shoulder.
Shaking his head, Logan lead her back up to the mansion.
Storm looked up as Logan came back in, this time by himself. "Well?" She asked.
"She's settled into an empty room." He said. She nodded and leaned back in her seat, abandoning whatever it was she was working on.
"She's a lot like Jean, isn't she?" She asked. Logan's jaw tightened as he nodded, his gaze shifting to look out the broken window as he shoved his hands in his pockets.
"She agreed to stay." He said. Storm gave him a small smile.
"That's good."
"One condition though." He said. Storm raised an eyebrow. "She wants me to be the only one to train with her. I'm the only one around here she can't kill." Storm's eyes narrowed. "I think that today wasn't the first time her powers got away from her like that." Storm nodded, looking thoughtful.
"Well, that doesn't matter now." She said decisively. "She's here to make a fresh start, and that's exactly what we're going to give her."
Bobby looked up as a girl stuck her head into the kitchen, looking aimlessly around. Normally he wouldn't have given it a second thought, except that he'd never seen her before. Her eyes swept the entire room before falling on him.
"You need something?" He asked. It was unusual for anyone to be up this late. The only other person he'd run into at this hour was Logan, who wasn't usually too happy about being awake.
"I'm a little lost." She admitted. "I just decided to stretch my legs, and get a drink of water."
Bobby smirked. "How long have you been walking around?"
She glanced at the clock behind his head and sighed.
"About an hour actually." She said.
"Well, I can't help you with your room, but you can get some water here." He held up a bottle, and she stepped inside, padding over to him and taking the bottle of water. He held onto it for a moment, chilling it. She jumped as the iciness spread around the bottle. Several cabinets flew open, and the water bottle exploded. Bobby dropped the shards of plastic, checking himself for scratches.
Her eyes widened and she backed up toward the door. "Oh shit!" She whispered. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry!"
"No, it's no problem." He said, trying to command his heart to slow down. She looked like she was going to bolt. He picked up another water bottle, and iced it before handing it to her.
She took it a little skeptically, and after taking it she stepped back away from him again. "I'm Bobby." He said, offering her an easy smile. She didn't relax.
"Serenity." She said, taking a long drink of water.
"Cool name." He said, and picked up the remote for the TV, turning it on.
"And the search still continues for the missing daughter of senator Hamilton, who was killed two weeks ago along with his fiancee in their California home. The young Virginia Hamilton is believed to have been kidnapped by the killer."
"That's awful." Bobby muttered, and looked up to see Serenity looked extremely pale. Her hand grasped the table so hard her knuckles were white. "Hey, are you all right?"
She didn't answer him, staring off into space. She seemed to be in a trance of some sort. Her entire body shook once, and then things started going crazy. The kitchen cabinet doors flew off their hinges. Bobby let out a shout and dove under the table, narrowly avoiding behind hit with a flying door. Plates and silverware flew around in a circle around her, faster and faster.
Heart racing, Bobby judged the distance to the door and counted to three. He leapt out from his hiding space, flinging himself through the door. He sprinted off in the direction of Logan's room.
Logan was awoken by someone pounding on his door. "Logan!" He recognized that voice. Ice Man.
He yanked to door opened and narrowed his eyes at the frantic look on the boy's face.
"She-just-stopped-moving! I-didn't-do-anything! She-just-stopped-and-everything-started-flying-around!" It all came out in one breath, and Logan gave him a weird look.
"What?"
"Some girl! She said her name was Serenity, and-"
"Shit!" Logan took off without another word.
He barreled though the kitchen door only to get whacked in the head by a plate, which shattered. Serenity was standing in the middle of the room, her eyes wide, blank and staring.
"Serenity!" He started to walk toward her, but a cabinet door him in the head. After he shook it off, he dove at her, tackling her.
Her head hit the ground, and she suddenly blinked. Everything fell toward the ground, then suddenly stopped and flew back into the cabinets. The doors piled themselves on the table neatly. Serenity scrambled to her feet, looking around the kitchen anxiously.
"What happened to that boy?" She asked. "The one with the ice?"
"I'm fine." Bobby poked his head in the door. "Just a little freaked." Serenity covered her face with her hands, and Logan hesitated before putting a hand on her shoulder.
"It's okay." He said, looking to Bobby for help which only caused the younger man to hold up his hands defensively. "It'll be okay."