Hey guys, as we all know, I don't own the copyrighted stuff.

I'm not going to argue any continuity stuff, with ANYONE. This is a WIP from a different project: The names and places have been changed to protect the innocent...

~:}Y{:~

I slowly drifted into consciousness with that itchy, nagging feeling of someone watching me.

"Kurt!" I groaned at my adopted brother, before opening my eyes. "What are you doing in my room? Miss Martha told you to stay on your own side!"

I heard the familiar soft pop of matter displacement, then felt Kurt's weight pushing my hammock further toward the floor.

"Today's the day, Nan!" His voice was pitched in a low, excited whisper and my mind searched for the sense in his statement. He projected a single, clear thought for me to pick up.

It was a picture of a man in a wheelchair. Kurt's thought picture, brightened with excitement, was as clear as when this guy had come to see us, last week. His dark hair was a medium length, but not recently cut; as if he'd had a stylish cut at some point this year, but hadn't gotten a trim in a few months. He was thin, but not as sickly as other people I had seen in wheelchairs. He looked as if he got regular exercise, no matter the inability to walk. His face was a bit gaunt, and he talked British like that band Evelyn the Bearded Lady was always going on about.

The man had cornered Kurt and I between our gigs at the Freakshow tent and chores at the petting zoo. We were walking between the tents, at the back of the cages, when we heard him call out to us.

Now, normally, I would have given Kurt the 'GO' sign so he could pop us back into our trailer... but there was something very familiar and comforting about this particular cripple.

He was looking for our parents, he told us, but stopped when he saw me roll my eyes and Kurt wave 'quotes figers' in the air. That's the first time I've ever heard a clear telepathic thought. Almost painfully clear, in fact. He wanted us to come to his school.

Neither Kurt, nor I, had ever been to a real school, but I knew that Miss Martha and the circus manager Konnor Baker had a really stiff contract for us. I politely declined his offer, but he insisted that we take him to our boss to talk about the contract terms.

I'm not quite sure what he said to them, but when they exited the managers' trailer they were all smiling and saying stupid shit like: "I always knew they were meant for bigger things..." and, "I'm so proud of my young'ns!" I mean... Really? This guy must have given them a lot of cold, hard cash to get us out of our contracts!

Anyway, this Xavier guy said that he would be back to get us today, to take us to his school in upstate New York. I had a few doubts about the whole situation, but as Kurt had pointed out: "Der'z no vay somevun vould pay dis much fer our contracts und not collect on dem." That was pretty sound thinking...

So, now my stupid blue brother was flitting around my 'room',(the back half of a small trailer we shared,) putting what little I had into a few mix-matched bags and jabbering on about meeting new people who weren't there to point and stare at us 'freaks'.

"Kids our age, Nan!" He popped out of her room, then back in with her makeup from the freakshow dressing room and stuffed it into a faded denim backpack. "Special people, like us!"

I did have to admit that the prospect of new friends who didn't want to touch my wings, or tug on them to prove they're fake, (They're NOT!) was kind of enticing. I was going through my things, making sure Kurt had gotten everything, when I 'heard' a telepathic Come-Hither, like a knock on the door of my mind.

"Iz dat him, Nan? You got that look again!" Kurt was looking at me expectantly, but I waved him away so I could concentrate on the sensation; willing his thoughts to focus in my mind.

*Very good, Nan!* His British accent was evident, even in thought. *I have sent a 'gentleman' to pick you both up, as I cannot make the trip today.* With his statement he showed me an image of a short, stocky man who felt like pure, primal rage and smelled of the forest and bright metal. I got a sense that he would arrive near noontime.

I wasn't very good at the whole mind-talking thing, but I filled my mind with the sense of agreement, threaded with excitement and let him view what I was seeing: Kurt popping about like a deranged blue popcorn kernel, gathering trinkets into my backpack.

I received another image of a beaten-up black Jeep and the distinct impression of amusement... there was something else that tantalized me; a memory attached to his thoughts of me. I reached for the feeling of familiar blue skies and fire, but I was blocked. The professor closed the door on that memory and I got a sense of amused chastise.

*Soon...* his thoughts faded away from mine and the void he left was almost heartbreaking. For just a moment he filled a space that I'd never known was empty, but now that his thoughts had moved on, I was acutely aware that I was missing something... someone...?

I sighed and continued to clean up several years of clutter from our home. I was in the middle of scrubbing the small cooktop when there was a sharp rap on the door.

Kurt disappeared with a POP and opened the door from the outside. He was standing on our small stoop with a stout man who gave off an aire of immovability, like he had been forged of the Earth, herself. The guy glanced around the small living space with an odd grunt of approval, then cleared his throat and spoke to us with a deep, gravelly voice.

"I'm Logan." He stated, matter-of-fact. "The Professor sent me to escort you to school. Are you ready?"

The way he asked made me think that he had come ready for a fight; he was only mildly surprised when Kurt popped out of view, then back with all of our bags piled in his arms and slung over various parts of his body.

"Jya!" Kurt grinned at Logan's complete dismissal of his unusual mode of transportation. "Ve have been ready vor hours!" He hung my tasselled cape on my shoulder and I glared at him. This guy was an hour early.

"Kurt is ready." I grabbed a clean towel off the shelf by the door. "I need a shower and some coffee." I walked forward so Logan would have to back out of the doorway to give me room to exit.

"You can come like that." Logan didn't back out of the way, he just cocked an eyebrow at me. "We can stop at McDonald's for coffee."

"NO." I opened my wings, making myself much bigger than comfortable for such a small space. "I will take you up on breakfast... After my shower."

He did back up to the edge of the doorframe, but held his ground there. His eyes never left mine, but we were both aware that I was bare as the day I hatched in the Oddities trailer. I held his gaze and gave him my best 'I will eat your soul' grin.

There was another tiny POP and Kurt called to logan from outside. "Iz dis your Jeep? I vill load our tingz vuile she gets ready."

Emotion flickered behind Logan's eyes, but he settled on resignation. He heaved a sigh and turned away from me to help Kurt with the luggage. Kurt's voice floated across the yard as I trotted to the shower.

"It's best to not fight her on some'n so small. She just don't budge; ya know..?"

After the quickest shower I have ever taken, I was waylaid by Evelyn who gave me a backless sundress she had made for my hatching day gift and a soggy farewell hug. Her teary-eyed enthusiasm for our departure seemed to be echoed in every goodbye, and fare-the-well that Kurt and I were sent off with that day.

I was sad to leave behind the only family I had ever known; but I was also excited to be in a new situation... sort of. There was still a lot of driving cross-country to do.

Logan had taken the cloth top off of his old Jeep in order to fit all the things Kurt had packed up for us, and I hadn't the heart to tell either of them that I didn't need most of the crap they had piled into the rickety vehicle. I climbed up into the front seat and folded my wings around the back of the chair. We strapped ourselves onto the seats with the odd crash restraints and I began to feel like my life might be looking up.

"You know... Kurt said from the bench in the back, "I'm gonna miss dis place." It was a sort of ritual he and I had. This was my cue to say: 'Until next year!' but that seemed wrong, somehow. I wasn't coming back, and I wasn't too sad about it, either.

"Not me, Buddy!" I chirped back at him in a sing-song voice. Kurt snorted and muttered something I didn't quite catch over the sound of the engine turning over and Logan putting it into gear.

As soon as the Jeep picked up speed, the wind whipped my green and brown hair away from my face making me feel as if I were flying. The wind comforted me, and the warm noon sun lulled me back into a trance-like sleep, like the lizard I am. I could hear the sounds of the road, but they were veiled in the imagination of sleep.

A voice came to me on the wind, and I strained my sleepy mind to hear it. Was she crying?

Calling to me...? I could barely hear her voice. I hadn't heard her voice in so long I was able to convince myself that she had never existed. She was just the imagination of a lonely child. The stories she would tell! No one would hurt a child like that... would they?

*They're coming for me...* The words drifted into my head as if they were from a different Me. The tone was richer, more mature, and confident. She was no longer a scared, lonely child in pain. She wasn't reaching out to me and begging me to save her from them. She was no longer angry that I could just leave her behind with her tormentors.

This time she felt relieved, thankful. The noise around her overlaid Kurt's prattle from behind me and I realized that she could hear fighting. Alarms blared suddenly and I got the sense of her shock, then a sort of fury that I have never before experienced from any creature in my entire life.

I felt her rage as if it were my own, and there was no sense in it. Threats...? You will not touch her! I will rip the beating heart from your chest and feed on it as you die! I will wear your entrails!

When I snapped out of my trance my face was wet with hot tears and my throat was raw from screaming. The most disturbing thing was that I stood on the side of the road, and had shifted into what Kurt like to call 'Battle Mode'.

Long talons had come from my fingers and toes, spines grew from my vertebrae. My rough skin had hardened into thick, leathery scales and my teeth were now long, sharp fangs. This changed the shape of my face a bit, making it longer and my features sharper. My eyes had elongated into tilted almonds and I could see further into the light spectrum, making colors bright with more full shades and hues.

Logan was in front of me, holding my shoulders. His face was a mess of rapidly healing gouges and he was growling in pain. I looked down.

"Oh shit!" I exclaimed and pulled my talons out from between his ribs. Blood oozed out of the ragged tears I had made, but stopped in a couple of heartbeats. "I'm so sorry, Mister Logan!" I started to grovel, but he held up a hand to stop me. I noticed that he had a rather impressive set of claws, too.

"S'ok, kid..." He grimaced and retracted his claws with the sound of metal being sheathed. "It's not the first time someone's tried to rip my chest open; probably not the last." He gave my shoulder an awkward pat and stalked back to the Jeep muttering something about dragons before breakfast.

I looked around for Kurt and found him pulling himself up out of the tall grass nearby. He was scratched, and probably bruised, but it looked like he had managed to stay away from my claws, this time.

The rest of the trip was uneventful, in comparison. We got our coffee and a couple of burgers at a drive-up McDonald's, and the car hop complimented me on my leather cape, draped over the back of the seat. I did NOT correct her. It was two more hours of drive after that, up into the Catskills, where Mr. Xavier had his School for Gifted Youth on a huge forested estate.

At some random point along a road that was just black top, without lines, Logan directed the Jeep onto a well-worn gravel road and they bounced along the winding path for a couple minutes before I realized that this was the driveway. We were here!

I could smell fresh water out there, somewhere beyond the tall trees; but I couldn't hear it flowing, so I figured there was a lake, or pond that I needed to check out. I heard Kurt's breath catch, and I looked out the front windshield.

We drove out of the old growth forest and into the fruit orchard, and I saw it. This old stone building that I was going to call home. There was excitement inside and out, I couldn't help but get swept up in it all. Professor Xavier must have given up his family home to house and train his 'special' youngsters. It was all so fancy!

The huge stone manor house had a few wooden and brick outbuildings, all of which seemed to have seen heavy usage. There were footpaths all through the orchards and I could see the tips of cornstalks peeking out from behind one of the outbuildings. My mouth was all but watering from the thought of tasty fresh vegetables.

"Looks like Charles ain't made it back, yet." Logan commented when we pulled around the large loop in front of the main house. He looked as if he would have said more, but right then we were greeted by a gaggle of giggling teenagers.

One girl took my elbow and pulled me out of the swarm. She was a calm, sweet girl with gossamer butterfly wings and a pretty smile. "Hi! I'm your guide, Pixi. Which bags are yours?" She pointed at the growing pile of luggage by the Jeep.

I looked back at the dissipating knot of young people and found my brother right at home in the middle. He was dragging cases out onto the gravel and stacking them to the side. He saw me looking, and waved me on ahead then turned back to one of the girls he was introducing himself to.

"Oh no?" I heard his bragging tone carry over the heads of the other youth and rolled my eyes. "You don't think I can carry all of deez? Oh, maybe not. But dis much for sure!" POP.

Pixi showed me through the grand foyer, up one of the sweeping staircases and down the girls dormitory wing. We stopped in front of a small room with a single bed, and she turned to me.

"Is this okay with you?" Her eyes flicked from me, to the small room and back, in a quick, nervous tick. I just quirked an eyebrow at her like 'Mister Spock' from Star Trek and her nervous smile turned into a grimace. "Logan called when you stopped for breakfast."

That was all she needed to say. I felt my face flush that embarrassing shade of purple, like the color of grape kool-aid, and Pixi placed her hand back on my elbow.

"It's okay, Nan! Lots of kids here have quick tempers!"

I was already irritated with myself for having lost control in the first place, but now they thought I could be a danger to the other kids. I looked away from her and stepped into the proffered room. It was about 12 feet by 10 feet, with a bed in one corner, a desk, and a chair in another corner, and a wardrobe against the hallway wall.

"Naw, this is great, Pixi." I said with a smile that was only slightly forced. I pointed to the door at the end of my bed. "Where does this go?"

"Oh! That goes into the next room." She smiled and stepped into the room with me. "It's empty right now, but if everything goes right we'll have another flyer in there before supper, tonight."

"What do you mean: 'If everything goes right'?" I asked. "Doesn't she want to be here?"

Pixi looked over her shoulder to see if anyone was listening and stepped a little closer to me, so I could hear her lowered voice.

"I heard the Professor talking to Bobby about her." Pixi's rosy pink eyes darkened with anger. "She reached out to Charles while he was sleeping. She told him that she was being held against her will and that they were doing experiments on her! That's why he couldn't come get you today..." She stopped talking to look at the dainty watch on her wrist.

"Hey! We can still get some lunch! The Professor calls it Tea, but we have, like, two lunches. Are you hungry?" She turned and motioned for me to follow her.

We walked back down the hall toward the front of the house. She was showing me where the kids liked to hang out, when we found Kurt, standing with my bags, in the recreation room between the wings.

"Ver ta put yer bags, Nan?" He asked when we had closed the gap between us.

Before Pixi could give him directions, I deposited the coordinates, room dimension, images, and my unique sense of the energies flowing about the room, all directly into his memory. He popped there and back in the time it took Pixi to ask:

"Where'd he go?" She blinked in surprise and giggled when he popped back at our side. "Oh! You're like Blink! Come to lunch with us and I'll introduce you."

"Lunch?" Kurt perked up at the mention of food. "I put yer bags on da bed, Nan."

"Perfect, thanks." I smiled at the young man I had known all of my life. His energy was often infectious, and right now he was practically buzzing with elation.

Pixi showed us to the dining hall and walked with us through the lunch line while explaining all the Do's and Don'ts of dining hall etiquette. When we all had trays filled with sandwiches, fruit, chips and drinks, she took us to a table at the back of the room to introduce us to a couple of her friends.

I could see the exact moment when Kurt developed a HUGE crush on Pixi's friend, Blink. It wasn't that she stole his lunch... but HOW she stole it. I laughed so hard when she created a tiny portal under his food and just sort of pulled it on through. The look on his face was almost as precious as the shock on hers, when he popped behind her so that he could reach over her shoulder to take it back. For the rest of the time they were at Xavier's school, those two were almost inseparable.

After our late lunch Pixi and Blink took us out the front door to take a look at the grounds. We had barely stepped off the front steps, onto the gravel of the drive, when a shade cast over us. Something large was flying low and fast.

It was one of those spine tingling moments when prey animals feel small and vulnerable. Indeed, Pixi ducked her head under her arms as if something would pluck her off the ground, and I saw a few others cringe away from the cooling shadow.

I looked around and froze. I knew that shadow! That was mine! Well... of course it wasn't mine; That lazy bum was still sitting on the ground next to me. But...

I was overwhelmed by the feeling of need. I needed to see this person flying over head... I needed to fly up and catch her... I needed to follow her into the clouds and dodge ethereal mists in the sky...

So deep was my need that I only realized that I was flying over the mansion when Pixi flew in front of me, blocking my passage. "What the hell are you trying to do, Nan?!"

I caught myself into a sort of gliding hover and cocked my head, quizzically. (I'm quite aware how much I look like a flying water dragon when I do that; thanks.) "What do you mean, Pixi?" I was irritated that she had blocked me from my goal.

"Didn't you hear the professor?" She was fluttering along beside me, and a little below, so that she didn't get plastered along my wing membrane. "He said that we should NOT chase her! She's probably scared and a little unstable, right now."

As I listened to my new friend's words I was overcome with scorn, and not a little fatigue. In the distance I could see the other flyer hover for a moment, falter, then catch herself and flatten out in a slow glide back toward and below us. The other flyer got closer, and I felt more and more tired... but I wasn't tired. She was transmitting her fatigue and impatience. I mean: I wasn't the most practiced at flying, but this fatigue was like what I felt the very first time I took flight!

I motioned for Pixi to ride my wake as I took lazy circles in a tightening spiral to the level the new flyer was at. We fell into an odd formation where Pixi continued to spiral down as I leveled out just in front, and a little below the new girl. I adjusted my waste stream so that she would be held up and buffered a little by my windbreak. Once she realized what I was doing, I felt a wave of relief and appreciation flow over me.

*Do you know that I'm telepathic?* I laced mirth through my thought.

*Yes,* The familiarity of her mental 'voice' surprised me, and I faltered for a heartbeat. *I just didn't know if YOU did.* It was her! The girl in my head! My imaginary friend was really here, flying next to me!

*Technically, I'm in your wake...* There was a tired sort of morbidity to her thought speech, and I got picture flashes of an amorphous grey-blue homunculus riding the back of a beautiful emerald and amethyst dragon, highlighted by twinkling swirls of purples and greens in every imaginable shade and hue.

I tweaked the image a bit and sent it back to her with my view of her, superimposed over the featureless grey golem. Her colors were every shade of blue, from the deepest midnight, to the softest powder blue that swirled in flowing patterns over her skin, and shoe in her hair like cerulean streamers. Her energies flowed silver and blue, touching everything she interacted with. It moved through and around my purple and green whorls, mingling as if they were part of a whole. It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen,

I felt that hollow part of me begin to fill. It was like snapping a puzzle piece into the whole; just one more bit that I didn't know was missing, until she was flying beside me...

I took us on another lazy circle back behind the house, around the orchards, and lined up with a grass field beside the far arm of the driveway loop. As I pulled my knees up for my landing, I felt a sharp wave of panic from her. I guessed that if she hadn't been allowed to fly, she probably didn't know how to land!

I let her into my process as well as I could. I let her feel my adjustments and how I tensed in just the right place so that I could break my momentum, and not my bones. I touched down a little fast, so that I could use the spare momentum to propel myself safely out of her way.

She took a couple of back beats to kill her momentum, mid-air, then opened her wings all the way to glide in for a graceful touchdown. It wouldn't have been my first choice of maneuvers with fatigued wings, but she got to the point where the air pressure from her slow glide couldn't support her body weight and simply stepped out of the air.

Once we were both safely on the ground I had a chance to see her with corporeal eyes. She was... tattered. There wasn't a patch of her scaley, ashy, grey-blue skin that I could see, what didn't have some sort of scarring, and it looked as if one of her eyes had been removed then replaced. Her cobalt and hematite hair was shaved half-way up one side of her head and the other half had been cut away in ragged chunks of varying length.

She folded her wings tightly around her body and I noted pockmarks and small holes in the porous membrane. The thought of chunks of my wings being removed made me wince. She rounded on me and stalked the hundred or so feet to close the gap.

I braced for a confrontation, but she snapped out a wing to cup it around behind me and drag me into a crushing hug.

"I've waited so long to see you, sister..." She murmured. Her voice was rich and melodic in my ears, and the hug was so natural to me that I found myself winding my arms around her too-thin frame and returning the firm embrace for a long few heartbeats before she pushed away.

She held me at arm's length to look me over and picked imaginary lint from my shawl. Her talons were painfully short, and there were defence wounds of varying ages all down her arms.

"So..." She smiled at me, then turned toward the house with one wing still wrapped around my shoulders like a loose blanket. "Have to found food in this place, yet?"