Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognize, basically. Don't sue me because I'm a poor student.
Summary: The X-Men are called upon to help protect a young girl who is being hunted by a group of mutants bent on using her powers for evil. She and her aunt seek solace at the Mansion and are met with both acceptance and anger. I suck at summaries, please read and review!
Two little girls sat on their veranda, the sun shining brightly in the mid-day sky. Two little heads, one brown, one so light it was almost blonde. "C'mon, Callie, I want to be Scarlett this time!" The smaller of the two stood with her hands on her hips, like she had seen her mother pose so many times. She attempted to make the same face as her mother, stern, but only ended up pushing out her lips like a fish. The bigger girl pushed her foot against the railing and rocked herself lazily in the old rocking chair that had supposedly come all the way from England. She shook her head quickly, liking how the sun hit her hair and lit it up like a light bulb.
"Nope. I'm oldest so I decide. You're Rhett. I told you, you're Rhett until you get to be older than me." The older girl shook her hair again, mesmerized in a way that only a child could be mesmerized. The younger girl saw that her pose and face weren't working and decided to go with a new tactic. She plopped herself down on the porch and buried her face in her knees. She hated being Rhett all the time. Rhett was a boy and she was not a boy! For once, she wanted to be Scarlett O'Hara and bat her eyes and wave her hand dismissively. It wasn't fair, not at all.
Callie ignored her sister for a few minutes, enjoying the Georgia sun beating down on her face. It warmed her up, like the chicken soup her mother was so proud of, and made her feel like nothing could ever go wrong. Finally, she decided that she was tired of her sister being upset. Besides, she didn't even want to play Gone With the Wind anymore. "Bianca. Hey, Bianca. Look." Her sister sullenly rose her head. Callie focused her gaze on a flower pot filled with posies that sat on the veranda's steps. It rose of f the ground and made its way to Bianca. It sat itself down next to her, as if Bianca herself had made it come just by wishing it. Younger sister smiled brightly at older sister.
It was before Bianca would get jealous every time Callie used her power. It was before Callie turned her back on her family. Before Bianca did become older than Callie. And by that time, she didn't have time to be Scarlett. She was too busy trying to keep a little girl, so much like herself as a child, alive.
Bianca imagined that her life must be similar to that of someone enrolled in Witness Protection. She had gotten used to it, or at least that's what she kept telling herself. That it wasn't so bad. That as soon as Izzy was old enough to make her own decisions, she could have her life back. Of course, that was at least ten years away. But what was ten years? She would be thirty-seven by then. Maybe she could pretend that she was one of those women that wanted to wait to get married and have kids. Forget all about her fantasies as a little girl of getting married young. Oh well, right?
The sun had just started to rise behind the curtains of the cheap motel curtains. Peeking through polyester, a stream of light fell across a small face lying in bed. Blonde curls fell messily over a face that could have belonged to an angel. Belied the fact that the girl was becoming a handful. Six years old going on thirty, Bianca liked to think. A yawn escaped from Bianca. It was six thirty in the morning and she had been awake for two hours now. Sleepless and near-sleepless nights had become routine when every little creep or bump could signal another attack. One that Izzy might not be able to foresee or stop.
Bianca clicked through the TV channels—the volume muted—and stopped on the weather channel. The one channel that didn't make her worry or think about people she couldn't talk to anymore. It was going to be sixty five degrees with a chance of rain. 'That's nice.' Bianca tossed the remote onto the bed where her niece slept, aware only of the dreams that her sleep provided her. Walking into the bathroom, Bianca stood in front of the mirror and looked at her reflection.
Somehow along the way, she had lost some of her spark. She was still a pretty girl. Had that Southern belle look that strangers had always commented on. Oh what pretty little girls! You look just like little debutantes! Directed more toward the lighter head, with those green eyes that looked like polished jade. Dark blue eyes turned down, dark lashes hiding tears. In the mirror, brown hair fell in waves down to the middle of her back. Her eyes were still that dark blue but now bags decorated her eyes. Years of sleep deprivation were starting to take its toll on her body. She had noticed she was getting thin before Izzy had said, "Bianca, you're too skinny!" It wasn't that she didn't want to eat. She just couldn't, not when she had to keep her eye out for so many things all the time.
Turning away from the mirror, Bianca checked her watch. Izzy needed to be up at seven, given breakfast by seven thirty, and they needed to be packed and out of the motel by nine. Pulling out onto the interstate highway, on to a new town, a new motel. With a sigh, she lay back down on the bed, drawing the covers until to her chin. Five more minutes.
"Where'd you want to go today, Izzy-baby?" Bianca slid her sunglasses on and pulled her car out onto the highway, thankful that it was Saturday and therefore, no rush hour.
Izzy sat in the passenger seat, kicking her heels against the seat. "I dunno, wherever."
"Ok, how about New York?"
"Can we go to New York City?" Izzy's eyes sparkled, her head filled with images of sky scrapers, toy stores, and fancy restaurants.
"Maybe." Bianca felt nervous thinking out the city. There were so many people. Too many to keep track of. They had been sticking to small towns for the past few years. Maybe it was time to try the city. Maybe.
"I'm more special than you are," Callie said, her voice cruel in a way that only a child's voice could be.
"Are not!" Bianca stood on her bed, bouncing up and down, not really worried about her sister's taunts. Her parents had told her that she was just as special as Callie, even without powers.
Callie crossed her arms and stick one leg out to the side, her hip jutting out to the right. She was determined to get to Bianca. After all, Bianca had played with toys that weren't hers. Without asking. She deserved to be punished. "Momma and Daddy love me more than you. They told me. You're just a waste. You don't have any powers."
Bianca stopped bouncing and looked at her sister. "That's not true. Daddy doesn't have powers."
Callie smiled a reptilian smile. "Yeah, but he loves Mommy, who does have powers. And he loves me and I have powers. Too bad for you." She turned and skipped out of the room, back to reclaim the toys that Bianca had so carelessly left behind. Bianca stared at the door where her sister had stood moments before.
What if it were true? What if she was unloved because she didn't have powers? She sat down on her bed and pulled her covers around her. What if she never found anyone to love her because she didn't have powers?
Please review! I'm much more likely to post more if I get some feedback!