Disclaimer:  Sadly, I do not own X-Men.  But I may always dream…

A/N:  the group is Linkin Park.  The song is titled "Numb"

Ali opened her eyes and rubbed them tiredly.  For three days, she had worked ten hours a day at her job at the supermarket, gone to school, and barely managed five hours worth of sleep a night.  She sat up groggily and reached up a hand to rub her temples.  It felt as if she had been hit by a semi.  She staggered out of bed and dressed in a blue t-shirt and jeans.  After combing through her thick hair, she left the shed that she lived in and headed towards the main house, where her best friend lived. 

Melissa smiled and greeted her cheerfully when she walked in, her golden hair shining in the light and cascading over her purple top.  The two had been best friends since they were little, barely over five years old.  No barrier stood between sharing secrets, no insecurities stood in the way of trust.  These two felt like sisters, as best friends should. 

Ali began to hum to herself, a song from an American group called Linkin Park.  She had heard the song so much that she couldn't help but sing or hum it, because it was one of her favorites.

  Melissa shook her head, smiling.  "Hey, Ali.  Why don't you just become a professional singer and put us out of the misery of hearing you sing everyday?" asked Melissa. 

Ali turned away from the toaster and placed her hands on her hips.  She tried to come off as annoyed, but only succeeded in looking somewhere between a smile and frown, obviously amused.  "You do know that if I had a pillow right now, I would throw it at you, right?" she asked. 

Melissa chuckled.  "Whatever," she replied.  "You might want to hurry up eating, because everyone else is coming over today." 

Ali nodded to show that she was listening and continued to hum to herself.  After she crammed a piece of toast in her mouth, she and Melissa left to find their friends.  The two girls walked away from the house laughing and chatting happily, and cool fall breeze filtering through their clothes to brush against their skin.  They walked on the sidewalk through town until they reached the plaza.  All the people there stopped talking and turned to stare at them. 

Ali shifted nervously, her hands in her pockets.  She didn't like the way everyone was staring at her.  It made her feel as if she was being examined but a scientist.  It made her feel naked. 

Melissa shifted uncomfortably beside her.  She could tell that these people knew something.  That thought didn't comfort her one bit. 

Finally, a butcher stepped forward, his white apron stained with red blood of some animals.  The sight made Melissa and Ali want to throw up. 

"It's her, the mutant," he called. 

Ali's insides froze.  Time seemed to slow down to a crawl.  People hid their children behind them, afraid that she might attack them.  She looked around and spotted Brian, Melissa's older brother, frozen, staring at her with a mixture of surprise and confusion, his eyebrows knitted together in concentration. 

"Kill her!" yelled one man. 

Ali's eyes widened in alarm.  No, this couldn't be happening.  She had told no one but her friends, who had sworn never to tell. 

"Burn her to death!" 

"Stone her!"

"Death to the mutant!" 

Numerous shouts echoed throughout the square, all calling for her to die. 

"Run, Ali!" screamed Melissa as the people began to charge forward. 

Ali whirled around and ran.  She glanced back towards Melissa, to see the crowd swallowing her, pulling the two farther apart. 

Ali swallowed her anger, and ran.  She sprinted through the town, passing terrified people and pointing children.  She headed to the woods at the edge of town, the only place where she would have a chance of escaping her pursuers.  Why did this have to happen to her?  She had done nothing wrong in her life.  Why did this have to happen now? 

The thoughts were pushed out of her mind as she heard the people plunging through the forest behind her. 

I'm tired of being what you want me to be.

Feeling so faithless,

Lost under the surface. 

She couldn't be caught, not now, not when her life was just coming together.  She had gone for three years without anyone finding out, so why did it happen now?  Why did anyone even tell her secret?

Don't know what you're expecting of me,

Put under the pressure,

Of walking in your shoes.

            The forest continued to get thicker, the underbrush catching her clothes at times.  She stumbled a lot, and fell hard on the ground once.  She scrambled up and pressed on, determined to get away. 

Caught in the undertow,

Just caught in the under tow,

Every step that I take is another mistake to you.

            Ali's eyes searched the forest for a way out.  She had passed a river a while ago, jumping on stones across it.  She couldn't be found here now.  She wouldn't be caught. 

She was going to get away. 

I've become so numb

I can't feel you there,

            Ali turned back, her eyes scanning the woods, trying to find the people from the town.  She looked forward again and her green eyes shone with terror as she spotted the edge of a cliff coming ever closer.

Become so tired,

So much more aware

Ali slowed down as fast as she could, but the momentum that she had built up kept her going.  Ali stopped right on the edge of the cliff, her toes barely on the edge.  She swung her arms, trying to keep herself on the cliff.  She took a step back, and turned around to face the angry townspeople. 

I'm becoming this,

All I want to do,

            "Kill her, now!" yelled one man.  Soon, everyone was echoing his chants.  Ali spotted her friends in the back of the crowd, as well as Brian.  All of her friends were crying hysterically, and Brian looked as if he wanted to kill the townspeople with his bare hands.  Ali searched the crowd in front of her, with their shovels and knives in their hands, looking for some sort of sympathy.  She found none. 

Is be more like me,

And be less like you.

            Ali's eyes hardened as she realized what she had to do.  "You all think that you're better than I am, do you?  You think that I am a threat to you all?  Well, I'm not!" she screamed. 

Can't you see that you're smothering me?

Holding too tightly,

Afraid to lose control.

The townspeople continued to walk forward, closing in on her, their rage fueled even more by her words.  Ali took a step back, her heel off the edge of the cliff.  I have to do this, she thought. 

Cause everything that you thought I would be,

Has fallen apart,

Right in front of you.

            Ali bent her knees, and prepared for the jump.  Suddenly, her body began to glow with bright blue electricity, the energy jumping all over her skin.  Her green eyes turned to that of electric blue.  With a mighty push of her legs, she jumped backwards off the cliff, soaring into the air. 

Caught in the undertow,

Just caught in the undertow.

Ali plunged down, the wind whipping past her, ruffling her shirt and jeans.  Her brown and red hair streamed upwards, a long flag in the wind.  Suddenly, the energy that had built up inside her burst, creating a long, blue spike extending into the gray sky before she passed through the tops of the trees below. 

Every step that I take,

Is another mistake to you.

            The people of the town had gathered together at the edge of the precipice and looked down, trying to see if she was still alive, or flying.  They watched for about a minute, and then after deciding that she was dead, the crowd dispersed, muttering about how their lives would be better. 

I've become so numb

I can't feel you there.

**

            Professor Charles Xavier of the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters sat at the supercomputer called Cerebro, with a metal hat upon his head.  Using Cerebro, he could detect what he called "gifted youngsters" while the rest of humanity named them freaks.  There could only be one kind of people they were referring to: mutants.  These were the people that Charles Xavier wanted to find, wanted to help, wanted to teach.  These were the people that Charles Xavier needed to find. 

            A small beep went off as the computer screen started up to show a file and a new mutant.  Professor Xavier watched the screen interestedly.  A girl appeared on the screen, about five foot nine with long brown and red hair and blazing green eyes.  She came from a small town in northern Britain.  Her name: Allison Broderick. 

            Alarms went off in the institute.  The older students hurried to the study, where they knew the professor would be.  Once everyone was there, the professor began to speak. 

            "I have detected a new mutant located in northern Britain.  Her name is Allison Broderick," he explained.  "I also have some bad news about it."

            "Apparently, Alison was chased out of the town she lived in when the people found out about her powers.  She was trapped on the edge of a cliff, and jumped to escape the people."

            Jean, a senior with long, red hair, gasped, and leaned on her boyfriend, Scott, for support.  Scott wrapped an arm comfortingly around her, trying to make her feel better. 

            "It is imperative that we find Alison quickly.  She may not be dead yet, and we must hope for that," the professor went on.  "Get your uniforms on quickly and report to the Blackbird." 

            With that said, all of the students rushed out of the study and to the lower level, where their uniforms were stored. 

            "Man, I hope she's like, all right," said a young girl name Kitty Pryde to her friend, Rogue. 

            Rogue nodded, not really paying attention.  The name Broderick sounded familiar for some reason.  She shook the thoughts from her head, and continued to run down the stairs towards the uniform compartments. 

            The X-Men all assembled on the Blackbird, the specially built aircraft that Professor Xavier had built.  Scott, a.k.a. Cyclops, sat in the pilot's seat, and prepared the aircraft for take-off. 

            Kitty shuddered in the seat next to Rogue.  "Can you imagine what it would be like for her?  Chased to a cliff with nowhere to go but down?" she whispered. 

            Rogue shook her head.  Upon seeing that Kitty was scared for the girl, she said, "Hey, she'll be all right.  We'll get there in time to save her."

            Kitty nodded.  "I hope your right," she murmured. 

            Kurt Wagner, the teleporter, suddenly appeared on the plane with a loud "bamf".  He quickly took his seat behind Kitty and buckled himself in.  After a few moments, all the X-Men were onboard and ready to go to Britain. 

            The plane ride was long, even in the SR-72 Blackbird.  The older students, Scott and Jean, talked between themselves, while the younger ones nervously tried to think of something to say.  Within an hour, they were flying over Britain, the professor looking for the specific cliff where Allison had fallen.  "There it is," he said, pointing it out to Hank, also known as Beast.  He had taken over for Scott a while ago.  Beast nodded and slowly took the plane down to land in the forest below the precipice.  The X-Men climbed out of the plane and waited for their orders from Professor Xavier. 

            "We will all split up into groups.  Scott, Jean, and Logan will go in one group.  Ororo, Rogue, Kitty, and Kurt will be another.  And Beast and I will wait for one of you two groups to report Allison's whereabouts," he said. 

            Everyone nodded and split up. 

Rogue, Kitty, Kurt, and Ororo fought their way through the thick, untamed forest, shoving branches out of their way. 

"Man, zis is hard vork," Kurt commented tiredly after ten minutes.  

"Yeah," Kitty panted.  Rogue remained silent, choosing instead to conserve her energy for the laborious hike towards the base of the cliff.  Ororo remained in the lead, scanning up ahead for any signs that someone might have crashed through the canopy.  After fifteen minutes of pressing onwards, Ororo spotted in the distance many broken branches hanging from their trees.  A large patch of broken through the tree tops, shining light on the ground.  Ororo's eyes widened, and she suddenly broke into a sprint.  Rogue, Kitty, and Kurt, surprised by the sudden quick movement, hurried forward after their leader. 

Ororo gasped upon reaching the exact spot where something had fallen through. 

Lying on the ground was a young girl, no older than sixteen at the most.  Her brown and red hair lay around her, mangled with the blood that spilled from the numerous cuts on her body.  Blood spilled out of the corner of her mouth, creating a small red river on her pale skin.  Fallen leaves lay on her, as if trying to hide her from view.  The girl's legs were outstretched at an odd angle, telling the four that she had broken each leg at least twice, maybe three times. 

Rogue slowly knelt down, her hands shaking.  The sight was unbearable, seeing someone her own age so hurt.  Could jumping off a cliff and causing this really be better than facing a mob full of people? 

Kitty felt sick seeing all the blood spilling from the girl.  Her stomach dropped violently, and she nearly gagged.  Tears pricked her eyes, threatening to fall.  But Kitty wouldn't let them.  She couldn't. 

Ororo pulled out her communicator and contacted the other groups, informing them of their position.  All they had to do now was wait. 

"Is zere anything ve can do for her?" Kurt asked, his yellow eyes filled with sadness. 

Ororo shook her head.  "I'm sorry Kurt, but there's nothing we can do," she replied regretfully. 

Kurt nodded, accepting the answer given him. 

Ten minutes later, Wolverine a.k.a. Logan, Scott, and Jean arrived, closely followed by Beast and the professor. 

"My god," the professor whispered.  He had not expected to see the girl this badly injured.

Everyone shared the same thoughts as the professor.  Beast and Logan quickly loaded the girl onto a stretcher, and had Kurt port them back to the jet.  After that, Kurt made a few more trips to get everyone back quickly.  The Blackbird took off and flew at three times the speed of sound back to the institute, where Allison would be treated. 

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hey people!!  Please, be generous with the reviews, this is my first ever fanfic.  No flames, just constructive criticisms.  O what the hell, bring on the flames. 

~Jojo