A/N:

Disclaimer: I do not own anything X-men, at all. I do own Susannah though.

I'm new and this is my first fic…thanks to Katz (morph) for getting me on this site!

Susannah sat and stared out the window. The evening sunshine fell over the grounds outside and as a breeze blew through the trees the shadows cast seemed to dance. She had spent the afternoon up here in her room, staring through this window and watching the people below. A few people had knocked and entered, but seeing the look on her face had quickly retreated and left her be. The look expressed all too clearly her need to be left alone, and alone she was, for more than simply that reason.

She was amazed that it could be only yesterday that her mutant powers had manifested. It seemed like too much had happened for it to be only twenty-four hours ago. She had been in the library at school, having eaten her lunch as fast as she could before retreating there for the rest of her lunch period. The library seemed the safest place for her, with its rows of shelves to hide between and the worlds between the pages to lose herself in. She had never been popular and her eerie green eyes had put many people off from even talking to her. Her eyes were not any larger than ordinary, but she supposed it was something about the colour that unnerved them. They were a vivid green, and to others they seemed to see straight through anyone that she looked at. They were eyes that held secrets, and eyes that seemed to say that she knew your secrets as well, and to see them peering at you through the veil of dark hair that always seemed to be covering her face was very unsettling. Her teachers had always described her as bookish, and it was a description she loved.

But this day her books had not saved her from the horrors of the people that loved to taunt and ridicule her. This day she had been followed as she walked from the cafeteria, and just as she turned to take a book from the shelf she noticed them standing behind her. She turned automatically to see who it was, kicking herself for it as she realised who stood there, and knowing what would follow.

"What are you doing here, freak?"

"What do you mean?"

Their leader laughed, as if she should know the answer to that question.

"This is our library, freak."

"I've never seen you here before…" Her voice quavered as she spoke and she hoped it wasn't as noticeable as it seemed in her head.

"This is our school, you know that. This library is part of the school, right? So this is our library."

Susannah couldn't believe her ears. Did they dare to try and claim her refuge as their own?

"You seem to have a short memory, freak. I asked you a question. What are you doing here?"

"My name is Susannah," she replied. "Not freak." Before she could continue their leader cut her off.

"Did you hear that? The freak has a name!" The others tittered behind him. "But you didn't answer my question, freak. Your memory must be shorter than I thought. What…are…you…doing…here?" he asked again, enunciating each word.

Finally something inside Susannah snapped, and she glared at him, eyes flashing.

"I told you, my name is Susannah, not "freak". And this is not your library, this is not your school, unless it is mine as much as it is yours. Go away, you're not here for any reason except to bother me and I don't appreciate it."

The others' eyes had widened as she had said this, and she wondered why because noone ever seemed to be affected very much when she spoke normally. She turned to see what they were looking at and saw the books from the shelves hovering in mid-air. Suddenly the books threw themselves at the bullies, pelting them and leaving them buried under every book in the library.

Now it was Susannah's turn for her eyes to widen. Without stopping to think, she put her book down, grabbed her backpack and ran, running out of the library past a scared librarian, through the hallway and out the front doors of the school. She ran and ran, until she came to a park about ten minutes walk from her home where she collapsed under a tree and promptly fell asleep.

She woke late that evening and walked home, to find both parents standing in her living room with a pile of luggage next to them. She wondered what it was doing there until she realised that everything in the piles was hers, and that her parents faces looked far from welcoming.

"The school rang us a few hours ago to tell us what had happened, Susannah. At first we didn't believe them, but when we had been to the school to see the destruction in the library and seen the state the other children were in we had no choice but to believe them. What possibly possessed you, to attack those children? It's not like you to be violent at all." Then her mothers face darkened. "But worse was what we were told as to what had happened. Apparently you didn't throw the books, at least not with your hands. You never touched them, did you? Mutant." Her mother spat the last word out as if it were a curse. "Get out of our house, Mutant. You are no longer our daughter, this is no longer your house. Take your things, and leave!"

Susannah didn't need to be asked again. She grabbed what she could carry and ran as fast as she could, out into the darkness.

Sitting in the park that she had slept in earlier that day she stared at the stars with red-rimmed eyes as the tears dried on her cheeks. Everything had been so sudden, and she had noone now, and nowhere she could go. Eventually she was too exhausted to stay awake and sank into an uneasy sleep.

She awoke to find a man standing in front of her, and opened her mouth to scream but it was muffled by his great paw of a hand covering it.

"Shhh, girl. I'm not here to hurt you. I'm here to help you, and by the looks of things," he eyed her things "you're going to need it. I work for a Professor Xavier, who runs a school for mutant kids, and you are one, right?"

Susannah could only nod.

"And you need somewhere to live, and someone to teach you how to manage your powers, right?"

She nodded again.

"So if I promise you that I'm telling the truth, will you come with me?"

She nodded. What did she have to lose?

She put her stuff in the back of the car, and climbed into the front.

The man sat down in the drivers seat and glared at the steering wheel.

"I'd much rather have brought the bike, but you had your things and it's too far to make you sit on a bike when you probably haven't ridden much before."

Susannah nodded slowly, and he realised just how exhausted she was.

"How about…I stop talking, and you go to sleep, hey? You look like you could use it"

Susanna nodded and smiled wearily, before turning her head and falling asleep.

When she woke she was being carried inside by the man who had driven her here.

"We've arrived," he said unnecessarily, given that they were passing a sign that read 'Xavier's Institute For Gifted Youngsters'. "Normally I'd take you to meet the professor first but given that it's four AM and you are exhausted, I'll just take you to your room."

Judging that she had woken enough to be able to walk, he put her down gently.

"I'll walk you to your room."

Susannah followed without a word, through corridors and up stairs. The man opened a door and let her in, putting her bags down.

"I'll let you sleep…someone will come see you in the morning. Sweet dreams."

He had left, and she had fallen asleep on top of the bed in her clothes.

The next day she had woken and dressed, and the man from last night had brought her breakfast. She had thanked him and eaten sitting on her bed, but that thanks was the only word she had spoken that day. She couldn't bring herself to talk yet, and the other people here seemed to understand that and had left her in her room to stare out her window. Someone else had brought her food and left it on the table in her room, but she had barely touched it. The only thing she could do right now was think.