Hey guys! So this is my first X-Men story (I absolutely love the X-Men), and I'm excited to see where it goes! My favorite favorite are the original five, so I chose them as my starting point (I love the movie, but these five were the true beginners). I hope you guys love it, if you do, please leave a review, if you don't, please leave a review! I love to hear what you guys have to say, and love to get feedback (good or bad!) about what I did well or what was just a fail. Enjoy! (Or don't)

Disclaimer, these characters do not belong to me, they are Stan's. (Anyone else excited about the Fox Deal?)

Looking up at the mansion, Scott made two observations. One, it was much bigger than he had imagined, all rough stone and towers and crawling ivy. Two, there were people already waiting for him on the front steps. The first was an older man in a wheelchair. His head was blindingly hairless, but he was dressed in a full suit. Scott's stomach was dense with butterflies- the situation not improved by the cute girl watching him drive in. In the sun, her hair was almost the color of fire.

Fire.

Scott shook his head to clear the memory and looked at his future. He glanced at the address in his hand one last time, just a smattering of numbers and words hastily scrawled on a scrap of paper he found on the street.

This was it.

The taxi driver cruised to the front of the long cobblestone driveway, stopping in front of the tall staircase. He shoved the last of his money into the taxi driver's open hand and took the first step.

"Scott, I see you got my gift." The man spoke for the first time, referring to the ruby quartz glasses on his face. A week ago, Scott was blind on the streets, keeping his eyes closed for fear of another incident, somehow, a stranger had pushed the sunglasses into his hand. No explanation, and the man disappeared shortly after. Then the voice. Soft, at first, but grew as if the speaker were standing right next to him, telling him to put the glasses on.

Everything was red now.

And then the voice gave him an address. Scott tried not to think about the fact that the voice seemed to just be in his head.

Fast forward three days and here Scott was, looking up at a bald man and a girl his age and hoping for all the world that this wasn't just another sad orphanage. He didn't think he could stand more orphanage food. They always fed you like it was a prison or something.

"No, Scott, you won't have to worry about prison food here. We have our own cook."

The man answered his unspoken thoughts- and yes, they were thoughts. Scott rethunk the last minute, trying to figure out if he'd said anything out loud.

He hadn't.

"How'd you… I mean, I didn't…" He couldn't seem to finish a sentence. The man laughed.

"I'm Professor Xavier. Welcome to the school."

"I'm Jean." The girl spoke, her voice hiding something. Like she was ready to laugh. Like she knew something he didn't. Like she had secrets. Scott immediately wanted to know.

He knew this was an important moment. Pivotal, even. He could feel it in his gut, as intensely as the butterflies that were taking their time in fluttering away. He should say something smart, something collected. Something to both impress and show off his sharp wit.

"You have a nice house." Dangit.

"Well thank you, Scott. Jean, why don't you show him around? I'll make sure dinner gets underway." There was a faint hum as his wheelchair turned toward the doorway. An almost imperceptible ramp took him over the door frame.

Scott took in the foyer. A grand staircase stood behind a grand piano, an elegant chandelier hovering overhead. It looked old and expensive at the same time. Like the priceless china your great aunt never let you touch. Scott was scared to step off the welcome matt for fear of getting his homeless on everything.

Another boy appeared at the top of the stairs. His light hair was brushed forward on his head so that it ended in a point above his widow's peak. Scott could see his nerves from the ground- the way he tapped his fingers on the railing, the way he was almost bouncing with energy.

"Hey."

"Ah," the Professor started. "This is Robert. I trust you'll acquaint yourselves." He wheeled away, the humming of his chair following him out the door.

Robert slid down the banister with ease, landing on both feet with no problem. He shook Scott's hand, his fingers only slightly warmer than liquid nitrogen. "You can call me Bobby."

"I"m Scott."

"Come on, Scott," Jean said, that same curious smile on her almost-perfect face. In fact, the only flaw he'd noticed was that he hadn't had enough time to look at her yet. He wondered what their mutations would look like. He wondered if they'd ask soon.

"Where ya from, Scotty?" Maybe they'd all talk mutations later. Bobby seemed to know his way around well enough, and began to lead them up the stairs.

"Alaska, actually."

"No kidding?" Bobby looked at him. Scott imagined his eyes to be blue.

"Yeah, my dad was in the Air Force."

No one commented on the use of past tense, which he was grateful for. Bobby just kept talking.

"That's neat-o. I've always wanted to go to Alaska." They came to a long hallway lined with doors.

"What about you guys?" Scott glanced at Jean.

"We're both from in-state," Bobby answered. Jean seemed content to let him do the talking, and he happily obliged. "Well, Jeanie here's from upstate. I'm from Long Island."

Scott didn't fail to notice how he'd called her Jeanie. "Have you guys known each other long?"

"Jean's been here since yesterday, right Jean?"

"Yeah, my parents got the date wrong." She was wearing that I-Know-Something-You-Don't smile. "Bobby just got here a couple hours before you did, Scott."

Scott really liked how she said his name. The 's' sound was short, but the o held her slight New York accent, almost-but-not-quite an 'aw.'

"Yeah, well we can't all be overachievers like you," Bobby said.

Jean gave him a good-natured laugh. "This room is mine." She pushed one of the doors open. It was a nice room, one bed with an attached bathroom.

Bobby stepped right in. "Aw, you get your own bathroom? I don't have my own bathroom."

"Yeah, all you guys share." There was no remorse in her voice.

"You don't sound like you feel too bad about that," Scott teased.

"Wow, Scott," Jean laughed. "You are capable of humor."

"That was uncalled for," Scott complained, but he wasn't really upset. He could get used to these two. They seemed like they'd make good friends- and as for Jean…

Bobby clapped his hands, the sound echoing through the empty hall. "Okay! My room's down that a-way." He winked at Scott as he passed by to lead the way.

Scott resisted the urge to roll his eyes as they followed him. "How many students are coming? It's not just us, is it?" Scott didn't have any details other than the address.

"This is your room, Scott." Jean pointed to a door two down from hers. There was already a nametag on his door.

"Scott Summers, welcome home," Bobby said, and pushed him inside. It was almost identical to Jean's, but the colors seemed darker, and Bobby was right. There was no bathroom. He set his backpack on the bed. All it really had was a change of clothes, a water bottle or two, and- though it was cliché- an old picture of his family.

He followed them from the room. His room.

"Did you guys hear that?" Jean asked.

"Hear what?" Bobby's eyebrows furrowed. Somehow he'd gotten a snack, and he chewed with his mouth open. It was obnoxious. Scott didn't mind.

This time, they all heard the knock on the door. As a group, they ran to the top of the stairs, but the professor was already there, opening the door. A wide figure in a dark hoodie stood beyond, hands in his pockets. He had a duffel slung over his broad shoulders.

"Henry," Jean breathed.

How did she know?

Scott wondered if maybe she had some sort of mutation dealing with premonition, that she could see things about to happen. Like introductions.

"Henry, welcome." The Professor hummed his chair backwards. The new student, Henry, hesitated before stepping in.

"Thank you."

"Come upstairs," Bobby called.

Scott and Jean voiced their agreements.

Henry looked up at them. His jaw was as square as the rest of him. He looked back at the professor.

"Yes Henry, go find your room. I'll call you all down for dinner. And our final student should arrive within the hour." He looked up at the three on the stairs. "I'm glad to see you three are getting along."

Scott watched Henry trudge up the stairs, wondering at the expression on his face. He looked… different than Scott had felt. Scott had been apprehensive, sure, but the plain fear on Henry's face was thinly masked behind his rectangular glasses.

"I'm Scott." He stuck out a hand.

Henry stared at it. Cleared his throat. Glanced at Scott's face.

And shook his hand.

Scott was surprised, to say the least. Henry's hand wrapped all the way around his, as it was just about the size of a baseball glove with blocky fingers and fingernails the size of quarters.

Scott moved on quickly. Hank was just like them, even if his mutation was a little more obvious than theirs were.

"Hey Hank, I'm Bobby." Bobby didn't even blink as he shook Henry's hand, smiling just as he had been the whole afternoon.

"Jean." She was wearing that smile again. "We were just looking around our rooms, if you want to-" She stopped.

"Jean?" Scott asked.

"Warren's here."

"Who-"

There were three sharp raps on the door. When the Professor opened it, there were not one, but three people standing there, all blond, and dressed as if they were going to a fancy dinner at the local country club. That is, except for the one Scott assumed was the student. He was probably Scott's age, but definitely from a different culture than Scott was used to. He was wearing designer brands- pre-ripped jeans, a v-neck t-shirt, and a denim jacket. The professor began talking to his parents.

"Hey guys," he called up to the four.

"Warren, lower your voice," the father scolded.

Warren's jaw twitched. His mom hugged him, but he just stared straight ahead, unmoving. Then he marched up the stairs, dragging his suitcase behind him.

Scott noticed that he didn't seem scared- at all- so much as irritated. He met each of their eyes in turn as he came toward them, but he stopped when they landed on Jean. An awkward pause followed as he looked at her. Scott severely hoped he wasn't that obvious.

"I'm Warren." He put a hand out.

"Scott," he interrupted, intercepting the handshake before he could kiss her hand or something. "Good to have you here."

"Good to be here," Warren sighed. He immediately relaxed. Scott literally saw the tension melt from his shoulders. He didn't know if it was the handshake, the welcome, or maybe just being away from his parents.

"This is Jean, and this is Henry, and here's Bobby. We all just kinda got here, too."

Warren nodded, and shook each of their hands in turn, Henry's last. He stopped, and Scott was worried he'd say something mean about the other boy's mutation, but it was so much better. His face broke into a huge smile.

"Henry, your room is here," Jean said kindly. It was the one across from Scott's. Bobby grabbed Henry's duffel for him, putting it on his bed. "Wow, I like this one."

Henry's room wasn't much different, but there was a door open at the back that led to a library. Scott wondered if the professor had planned that, if he knew Henry liked libraries.

Warren left his suitcase at the door. "You guys. We…" his voice almost, almost broke. "We don't have to hide here." Forgetting about his suitcase, he ripped his jacket off. Scott put a hand on his glasses, just in case anything… weird… happened.

Warren pulled his shirt off, revealing two nylon straps across his chest. He undid two buckles on the front and the whole thing fell away- and wings unfurled. He spun proudly, showing them off- and they were impressive. If they weren't in the hallway, and he could stretch them out all the way, the wingspan would probably be more than twelve feet. How long had they been in those straps?

Scott's jaw dropped. Henry and Jean smiled.

"Woah, man. You can fly with these?" Bobby unashamedly reached out to touch the wings.

Warren looked down. "Well, that's the thing. I've only actually tried once." He looked up at Jean through long lashes. Scott was having trouble liking this one.

"Well, come on," Jean encouraged, grabbing Warren's hand (this was not lost on Scott). "Let's go see."

They took off down the hall, running toward the big window at the end. Scott ran with them, everyone caught up in the excitement. Surely he'd get used to Warren- it wasn't as if he had dibs on Jean or anything. She could choose for herself. Though Scott had seen her first.

She pushed the window open. The backyard was incredible- a huge pool, basketball court, acres upon acres of land. They were probably two or three stories in the air, but Warren fearlessly sat on the windowsill. That is, until he looked down.

"Actually I'm not too sure about this. Maybe we should wait or something. I mean-"

Bobby caught Scott's eyes and winked, nodding toward Warren's bare back. They moved as one, each putting a hand on his shoulder to shove him out the window. He was much lighter than they'd planned for.

They laughed, Jean shrieked, even Henry chuckled a little, warming up to them.

Warren yelled the whole way down, right into the rose bushes. They stopped laughing.

"You alright?" Bobby called, leaning forward. Now that Scott noticed, all four of them were crowded around, leaning out the window together. He and Jean were in very close proximity.

"He's okay," Jean muttered. Scott almost asked how she knew, but Warren rolled out of the bush, groaning.

"Anything broken?" Scott asked.

Warren just gave them a thumbs-up. Scott wasn't sure if the thumbs-up meant yes, he had broken something, or yes, he was okay. They all cheered anyway.

The winged man stretched, then bent his legs, shifting his weight between his feet like a golfer. He jumped and flapped his wings.

"COME ON, WARREN!" Bobby yelled at the top of his lungs.

"You can do it!" Jean shrieked with happiness.

Henry clapped, Scott cheered.

Warren fell twice, but on the third try, rose to their height, laughing like a maniac. "Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy CRAP-" He started to fall, but caught himself at the last minute. Somehow, his instincts kicked in, and he was soaring above the mansion in seconds. They watched him for a few minutes, all of them celebrating his new discovery.

"Heads up!"

Scott and the rest backed away from the window, Scott and Jean on one side, Bobby and Henry on the other.

Warren didn't make it through, but his arms did. The rest of him hit the bottom of the window.

Scott and Henry grabbed his hands to pull him through. They were all smiling and cheering and laughing- even Warren, who was bleeding from scratches all over his torso.

"Way to go, Ace. Knew you could do it," complimented Bobby, who clapped Warren on the shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah, I know you pushed me out the window. And I will be getting revenge."

"Hey, you got in the air eventually."

"You can't blame him," Henry joined. His canines were sharp behind his smile. "He was just trying to help."

Scott stayed to the side, watching it all unfold. There was no reason for Warren to seek revenge on him too, especially when he could just watch it happen to the others.

"Hey, don't defend him. I'll come for you, too." Warren's wings fluttered

Henry held his hands up in an it-wasn't-me gesture.

"And I know you helped." Warren pointed at Scott. "So I'm coming for all of you."

Jean laughed. "Okay, be reasonable. I'm an innocent bystander."

Warren leaned toward her, much too close for Scott's taste. "I guess you'll just have to be my partner in crime, then."

She laughed, but stepped away. "Come on, let's show the new guy his room." She gave meaningful looks to Bobby and Scott. The group walked down the hall together, some of the guys shoving each other (mostly Bobby and Warren). Scott closed the door to his room as they passed by- no need for the others to see how little he actually had to bring with him.

Warren's room was right between Jean and Scott, across from Bobby's.

Great. Just Scott's luck that Mr. Perfect would have the room next to Jean. Scott didn't know why he was getting so unreasonably jealous- it's not as if they weren't living in the same hallway.

"Hey Ace, put a shirt on, will ya?" Bobby asked. "You're making the rest of us feel bad about ourselves."

Warren smirked. "I may just have to leave it off, then." But he opened a duffel and grabbed a new v-neck.

"Warren, if you don't mind my asking, how long have you had your wings?" Henry stepped forward for a closer look.

The winged man pulled a switchblade from his pocket, flicking it open. "I was thirteen, maybe?" He shrugged. "They started out small, but grew pretty fast. It's been about three or four years, I guess."

"Fascinating. And you haven't used them to fly before?" Henry pulled a small notepad from a pocket and began scribbling something down.

Warren started cutting wide slits in the back of the new shirt. "Just once. My… my parents, don't really like our kind." He said it with a sneer, and I imagined he was quoting his father. "Well, ol' Pop especially. I was told never to call attention to myself. Luckily I've been in boarding school for the last few years. I gave up my car to come here." He ripped the shirt, but it didn't seem to bother him much. "I mean, who needs a car though?" He flapped his wings, smile back on.

"Man, that sucks," Scott added. And he meant it. Even though he'd had to grow up without his parents, he couldn't imagine being loathed by his father.

Warren nodded. "Could be worse. So what about you guys?"

No one wanted to speak first. Luckily (or unluckily, as Scott saw it as a chance to learn more about the other mutants) for the preservation of un-awkward silence, they were interrupted.

Scott's voice was back. Judging by the way the others all stopped and looked around, they could hear it too, but hadn't heard it before. Except Jean. She kept a neutral expression, not giving anything away.

If you would all be so kind as to come downstairs, dinner is ready.

Bobby put it together first, which surprised Scott. Henry had seemed like the smart one. "Is that… the professor?"

"Yeah," Jean responded. "Time for dinner."

End of chapter 1! I hope it was worthwhile, please review! I love everything you guys have to say, tell me what I'm doing wrong.

Side note, Warren is definitely one of my favorite X-Men. Who's yours?