Disclaimer - I do not own Xmen or any of its characters or storylines. I am only responsible for my OCs
Sorry for the delay. Coursework/training/exams are taking up a lot of my time at the moment.
After speaking with Charles and Erik, Julia learnt that she was by far, not the only gifted person. They told her of a group of people they were getting together, all like her. Confused and alone. She was not going to turn down the opportunity to meet others like her. All her life she had been confused about her abilities and now she has a chance to learn more.
They arrived at the government facility and Julia realised she was the first to arrive. She was beyond nervous, not knowing how to act around these people when they arrived. Using his powers, Charles was able to sense her nerves and so introduced her to his sister Raven. They got on instantly. As they started to get to know each other, other mutants began to arrive. Angel was first. The three girls formed a friendship instantly. They had all had similar experiences growing up, never feeling as though they fitted in, and constantly questioning their abilities. It was refreshing to speak with those who could understand. Sean and Darwin followed shortly and the government engineer, Hank also joined them.
The last to arrive was Alex Summers. Julia was embarrassed to find him so attractive, blushing violently as he entered the room. Her attraction to him was quickly gone when he revealed how rude he was. As the room became quiet once more, Raven had an idea.
"We should think of code names. We're government agents now. We should have secret code names. I want to be called Mystique."
"Damn! I wanted to be called Mystique." Sean teased.
Raven chuckled. "Well, tough. I called it…"
Julia watched as Raven turned herself into a replica of Sean, the others shrieking with surprise.
"…I'm way more mysterious than you."
Julia smiled in amazement, joining the others in applauding. Raven turned back to herself before facing Darwin.
"Darwin, what about you?"
"Well, uh, Darwin's already a nickname, and, you know, sort of fits. Adapt to survive and all. Check this out."
Darwin stood and walked over to a fish tank. Julia and Angel eyed each other suspicious. Julia opened her mouth to speak as he stuck his head in the water but was silenced when she saw gills appear on his neck. Gasping in amazement, they all cheered and laughed at his amazing gift.
"Thank you. Thank you."
Sean was particularly impressed. "That's incredible."
"What about you?"
Crouching over, Sean paused as he thought of a name. "I'm going to be... Banshee."
Hank was curious. "What do you want to be named after a wailing spirit?"
"You might want to cover your ears."
Hesitating, Julia covered her ears as he approached the table. He quickly whistled, creating a large soundwave which shattered the window. The others laughed and applauded at his skill. Julia could not recall a time where she had been so happy. For once, she wasn't alone. Abilities she had feared all her life as being cursed, were being revelled and applauded.
"Your turn."
Julia looked to Sean, pressing her to have her turn. Looking down in her lap, Julia tried to think of an impressive way to show off her skill. Smiling as an idea came to her mind, she stood in front of the group.
"Throw that at me." She said, pointing to a plate in the kitchen.
Alex looked at her doubtfully. "You're not serious?"
Julia smirked, placing her hands on her hips. "What's wrong? Scared?"
Alex stood, walking to the kitchen grinning. "Ok but you asked for it. Ready?"
Julia nodded and braced herself. This worked almost every time, hopefully it would not fail now. That would be embarrassing. Alex threw the plate towards her and she heard the group hold their breath in anticipation. Just before the plate hit her, a barrier formed just on the edge of her skin, breaking the plate on contact.
The crowd cheered as the broken plate fell to the floor and she smiled. It felt so good to have someone appreciate her ability.
"Impressive. I think you've gotta be called Shield." Alex said, walking back to his seat. Julia grinned proudly as she too sat down again.
"What about you?" Julia asked
"My, uh, stage name is Angel."
Sean whistled as Angel stood and turned around.
"Kind of fits."
The seemingly normal tattoos on her back lifted and became wings. It was beautiful.
"You can fly?" Raven asked shocked.
"Uh-huh. And, um..."
Turning into the courtyard, Angel spat a fire ball from her mouth which hit the statue outside, melting it.
Then Angel turned to Hank. "What's your name?"
Hank, bless him, was too embarrassed to answer. Alex, however took the opportunity to make fun of Hank.
"How about Bigfoot?"
Julia glared at him as he laughed at his own joke, unimpressed.
"Well, you know what they say about guys with big feet. And, uh, yours are kind of small." Raven said, standing up for Hank. Julia laughed, grinning at Alex who grumpily looked away. Served him right.
"Okay, now." Darwin spoke up, dispersing the situation. "Alex, what is your gift? What can you do?"
Alex glanced up suddenly before looking back in his lap nervously. "Uh, it's not, um... Um, I just can't do it…" Julia watched the expression on his face as the others spurred him on. He looked scared.
"I can't do it in here."
"Can you do it out there?" Darwin asked as he pointed to the courtyard.
"Why don't you just do it out there?"
"Come on."
"Come on!"
"Alex! Alex! Alex! Alex! Alex! Alex! Alex! Alex!" The others all urged him on as he continued to look unsure.
Julia leant forward and looked him in the eye. "You're not alone here. You can show off."
He smiled at her, standing up and walking into the courtyard.
"All right!"
"That's the spirit."
Alex rubbed his hands in preparation, intriguing the group. "Get down when I tell you."
They all stood behind the wall but edged forward to get a better view.
"Get back. Get back! Whatever."
Spinning his body, Julia watched as Alex created rings of energy, causing anything it came into contact with to combust instantly. It was incredible. Julia applauded loudly as he turned to face them, obviously worried to their response. His nervous look turned to one of joy when he saw the appreciative looks of all the others. He smiled as he locked eyes with Julia, who held out her hands clapping. He bowed in mock before they all walked back inside.
They spent the rest of the evening getting to know each other and their pasts. She learnt that because of Alex's powers, he had been arrested, while Sean attempted to use his to pick up girls. Surprising. Darwin, like her, had discovered his gifts while being beaten by a bully, it was grounds for great conversation.
As the night when on they became more wild, showing off their powers more as they became quite drunk. Alex was hitting Darwin with a bat, showing off his adaptability while Angel flew around the room with Hank hanging from the chandelier, finally letting lose a bit. Julia and Raven stood on the sofas, dancing and cheering them on. To have fun with their powers is something none of them had ever really experienced before, and it was great. Suddenly, their fun came to a stop when Charles, Moira and Erik entered the room.
"What are you doing?" Moira demanded before pointing into the courtyard. "Who destroyed the statue?"
"It was Alex." Alex shot Hank a 'grateful' look as Raven spoke up.
"No. Havok. We have to call him Havok. That's his name now. And we were thinking, you should be Professor X, and you should be Magneto." She said pointing to Charles and Erik.
"Exceptional." Erik said sarcastically, leaving the room with Moira following behind him.
Charles turned to the group, focusing on Raven. "I expect more from you!"
The group all turned to each other guiltily. Charles had brought them all together and they had just disrespected him. Julia felt awful.
"I think I'll go to bed." She said, the others quickly agreeing with her.
As she headed back to her bunk, she found it difficult to keep her guilt when she was so happy with the day's proceedings. She finally belonged somewhere. She quickly fell asleep, a smile still on her face. She would make it up to Charles the next day.
Author's note - Finally another chapter, so sorry for the delay. All reviews welcome :)
