This story is an AU, and I thought I'd clear a few things up before posting Chapter One. In this, all the X-Men are teenagers, with some obvious differences to behaviour and looks in some. Hopefully all loose ends will be tied up by the end of the story, and anything no one understands will be cleared up in the story itself.

Main pairing is RoLo and possibly some Jott.

(And there will be some supernatural aspects of the story and maybe a crossover near the end... not sure yet.

Please read and review! Cookies for all who review and rotten eggs thrown in your face for flames!

The tree branches whipped past his face, their jagged edges tearing his clothes as his bare feet- the shoes long since lost when the chase began- moved over dead leaves and leaped over logs. Chest heaving, the teenaged boy slowed his pace, tangled dark brown hair whipping past his face as he swung his head around to look after his pursuer. There was no one there.

Legs trembling, he bent his knees, resting his arms against his knees, sucking up lungfuls of air. Straightening up after a moment, he eased himself up, nearing the point of exhaustion, and tiredly observed the small clearing. There was no sign of the creature- the thing, for that was only what it could be described as- anywhere.

But that didn't mean it wasn't there, no, he'd learnt that lesson. Hissing slightly in pain, he dizzily peeled back the torn sleeve of the shirt, wincing as sticky blood made it harder. Growing impatient, he yanked it back, barely suppressing a scream as he flung the torn sleeve to the ground. The blood started to run down his arm once again.

Maybe that wasn't such a good idea... he thought idly, as his vision swam and he fell to his knees.

Then came the growl.

Dizziness forgotten in a flash, the fight or flight instinct awoken within him, he was on his legs again, wide hazel-green eyes scanning the night time surroundings. Keen hearing and eyesight afforded him the honour of being able to see the beast before him. Letting out a gasp of terror, he turned on his heel and sprinted.

The branches nicked at his clothes, slapping his bleeding arm, pulling away with blood trails on them, leaving an easy trail for the thing to follow. Leaping agilely over a fallen tree branch, he landed heavily on his arm as his foot caught on a outlying piece of bark. Wincing, even as his vision blurred and the world grew darker, he painfully coughed up tiny flecks of blood.

A cool breeze tainted with the scent of evil blew his way, and with a shake of his head, the blurriness faded to the edges of his vision. When his vision cleared, he couldn't stop the yelp that tore from his throat.

Foul smelling breaths wafted over his face from over a metre away, vomit rising in the back of his throat, even as the thing growled menacingly, leaping off the branch, teeth bared.

Someone screamed something, but their words were lost to his ears as terror seized his senses. Closing his eyes as the snarl grew louder, he bit his lip tightly, drawing blood.

Oh please let it be quick... Be quick...

A pained yelp replaced the growl, and a sudden, blindingly yellow and orange light filled his vision- from behind closed eyelids. Half-gasping for breath, he was unable to stop the darkness following the "fire."

He fell backwards onto soft flooring, eyelids fluttering closed, his last image that of a cream painted wall and terrified shrieking.

XXX

Jean Grey sprinted through the forest, her bright green eyes wide with fear as she raced in the direction the boy had gone in, chased by the thing that had transformed under the moon's light. Oh god, she really hadn't meant to.

It had been a dare- try out your mutant powers and see where you end up. Jean, unknowing of the risks, had volunteered to complete said dare, and had- somehow- ended up in the middle of a forest at night time, with a teenaged boy and a monstrous creature who was intent of killing said boy.

Pushing her legs harder, she scrambled over a tree branch, catching a glimpse of a running figure a few trees to her left. Panting, her eyes followed the boy, taking in his bleeding arm, highlighted by the moon's glowing light, and his heaving breaths. Watching him, she slowed to a jog, eyes growing wide as his foot caught on an outlying tree limb. She could only watch in horror as he landed on his wounded arm, and the creature stared him down. From the distance she was away, she couldn't see his eyes, but she guessed that he was scared shitless.

She would have been too if a thing was breathing in your face.

With a growl she heard from over three metres away, the thing lunged.

"NO!" she screamed.

Unable to stop herself, and hardly aware of what she was doing, she flung her hand out, the air around her glowing red, orange and yellow, and the thing was flung into a tree.

Closing her eyes as the "flames" intensified, she fell to the ground.

Only she fell onto soft carpet, opening her eyes to see the thing against the far wall, her fellow students fleeing in all directions and the boy lying unconscious on the floor, eyelids slowly closing.

XXX

"I told you Professor," she murmured, clutching the blanket around her shoulders, "I don't know what happened. One minute I was here, and the next it was night time in the middle of a forest with a... a thing. And the boy. He was there as well."

"Do you know his name Jean?" Charles Xavier asked, and the young girl raised her green eyes to meet calm blue.

"No... It was going to kill him Professor... I had to do something..."

"You did the right thing Jean," Xavier muttered soothingly, "go and get some food, and rest. Ororo and Scott will look after you."

A small smile gracing her lips, Jean nodded, shuffling out the med lab doors, only to pause and look back at him. "I-Is he okay?" she asked quietly.

Xavier nodded.

As the girl left, his calm look was replaced by an anxious one, and it was wearing this look that he entered the operating theatre. "How is the boy, Henry?"

Dr. Henry McCoy looked up from his work- stitching the unconscious boy's wound together, with a grim nod. "He had internal bleeding, and whatever was chasing them managed to shatter a few ribs. He's probably got concussion, and his arm, which I'm stitching now, is going to need a sling. Aside from that, just scrapes, cuts and a fair few bruises."

"He's going to survive then?" Charles questioned, directing his chair forward to examine the boy's pale face and somewhat laboured breathing.

"He'll be fine in a few weeks I should imagine. Any luck on finding out how Jean brought him here?"

Xavier grimaced. "Her powers somehow seem to have transported her to another location, and in saving his life, she brought him back as well. Is his DNA on any file?"

"No, I'm afraid. It doesn't have a match on any database anywhere I could check."

"How long till he awakes?"

Beast sighed, placing a pair of scissors on the small table beside him and shrugging off his lab coat. "He's sedated for now, but within a few hours I think he'll wake. Are you staying here or returning upstairs with me?"

"I'll stay, keep an eye on him." Xavier smiled at the blue-furred mutant. "Go and get some rest Hank."

As Beast left, he directed his chair to the front of the boy's bed, preparing to read his mind.

Now let's see who you are...