Mystique lay still on the white infirmary bed, unmoving, her skin a pale sickly blue. When Dominique and Kish had found her on the grounds, everyone thought she might have a chance, being the tough person that she was, but now it was sure—Mystique, the long-time enemy of the X-Men, was dying.

Alaina sat next to her, holding her hand and fidgeting nervously with her short brown hair. She hadn't seen her mother in such a long time that it almost hurt to see her this way now. She was sick, and her skin was icy to the touch. She could feel the cold moving up her arm as she squeezed the woman's hand. Enemy or no, she was family. Alaina felt obligated to stay with her.

Kurt Wagner felt no such obligation, choosing instead to deal with the press near the mall. Yes, John Allerdyce, also known as Pyro, was dead. He had been killed in a battle with the newest member of Mission X, Mina, who had recently adopted the code-name Xaos. The mission had been simple; Mina, Kish and Dominique were to put out the fire and rescue civilians, stopping Pyro in the process. But Mina was angry, she lost control. Now a man was dead and mutants, again, were monsters.

Alaina pushed her hair out of her face and sighed, distracted by her own silent musings. Not only had all that happened, Mina didn't even remember what she had done, and now she had stolen Aaron away from Tara. The pretty redhead was starting to cause serious damage at the Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters, but only Alaina could see it.

Glancing back at Mystique's face, she wondered if the woman who had sent her here would remember her. She wondered if she would open her eyes and be happy to see Alaina sitting with her. Did she even remember her?

Alaina's blue eyes closed and a tear cascaded down her cheek. Squeezing her hand a little tighter, she whispered, "Please remember me."

…………………………….

Aaron felt the pull of turkey sandwiches as he stepped into the living room, yawning and stretching at two in the morning. He was awake, therefore he was hungry. The only person who seemed to be able to out-eat him was Kish, the reigning champion of the two-minute cake eating contest.

He suddenly felt uncomfortable, glancing over his shoulder and seeing nothing in the utter black. It was too dark to see anyone else in the room. His winds blew past his ear, whispering that there was indeed someone sharing his breath. The air was dispearsed elsewhere in the room. The prickling feeling on the back of his neck told him someone was watching him.

"Alright, Kish, this isn't funny," he said nervously. What an odd time to get back at him for stealing his Weezer CD. "Seriously, man. Come out."

There was no answer, and Aaron turned around, frantically scanning the room with his flashing green eyes. He couldn't see anything. "Dude," Aaron said angrily. "This is so not funny." He glanced upward and saw, on top of the large bookcase, a large, out-of-place shadow. He blinked at it for a moment, trying to make out the details, and nearly jumped backward as two eyes on it opened, shining a bright crystal blue. It stared at him and Aaron's first impulse was to run. It didn't give him time as it leaped down at him, drawing a sword, and screamed a battle cry.

What do you guys think? I know it's short, I just want to make sure it's good before I go any further. This story is mainly going to be starring Alaina and Aaron, with some Kish thrown in, and this new OC I've been working on since I watched 'X23' last week.