Author's Note: Here it is, your wonderful second chapter! Hope you all enjoy. ^_^

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except for my own personal character.

Chapter Two

I ran my hand over my knuckles to wipe away the excess blood. I stared at the skin between my fingers, then flexed my hands a few times, still amazed every time the claws came out, even though I'd had them for well over five years now.

As I walked down the street towards the bus station the kind bar tender had directed to me, I thought back to what seemed like forever ago to me.

Shaking my head, I decided it was better to not think on those things until I was alone. I did not want to go crazy while on a bus full of people.

Finally reaching the bus station after a few more minutes, I discover that I'm in the town of Danbury, Massachusetts. It's only about eight miles to Salem Center, with the cost of a ticket being almost laughable at how cheap it is.

I paid the lady the fifteen dollars, received my ticket, then proceeded to where she instructed me. It was just me and the bus driver, an older lady who seemed to be a career bus driver. She smiled kindly at me, and I nodded politely back.

"Where you headed to, honey?" she asked.

"Salem City," I told her, taking a seat just behind her. I saw no point going any further, as the bus ride was going to take only a few minutes.

"Well, that happens to be our first stop," she said, starting up the bus. She put it into gear, and we were off.

It was quiet for a few moments, and I was content to sit in my silence, as my interaction with people had been very little over the past few years. But the bus driver would have none of this.

"I'm Irene," she told me, smiling at me from the mirror before her eyes went back to the road. "What would you like me to call you, honey?"

I smirked. "Rebecca," I said, catching her eye briefly in the mirror.

"Where you from, Rebecca?"

"Georgia."

"Ah, I caught the accent," she said. "I'm not originally from here, either. I was from Florida, but the heat got to me."

"Mhmm."

"What brings you all the way up here?"

"Meeting up with some friends," I quickly said. It wasn't completely untruthful, but she didn't need to know the whole truth.

She stayed quiet for a few more minutes. We came to a traffic light and were stopped on the red.

"You know, our town's pretty small," she remarked to me, physically turning in her seat to look at me. "Ed called to tell us you were on the way."

I stared back at her. "You mean the bartender," I said, confirming what I had already known.

She nodded. "I'll take you where you need to go, honey, don't you worry," she said, giving me a smile full of genuine kindness. I was struck by this. "Ed told Cindy, the one who sold you the ticket, what those men tried to do to you. He told us how you reacted. You're one of the good ones, aren't you?"

"I guess you could say that," I said.

She nodded. "I'll take you to that Institute Ed said you were watching on the news," she said. "I know where it is, and it's not too far out of the way. And, as you're the only one on the bus, I don't think it'll matter much."

I blinked at her, unsure of what to say. "The light's green," I said after another silent moment.

Irene quickly turned around, starting the bus on its journey forward. I stared at her in the mirror for a while, but I couldn't catch her eye. Her voice had been extreme in its sincerity, and I felt that I had just been very lucky in coming to this town.

"Irene?" I said. Her eyes flicked up at me to look in the mirror. "Thank you."

My voice had just been above a whisper, and it was all I could do not to cry. There had not been much kind treatment of me over the past few years, and it had finally struck a chord with me. I dabbed at my eye, trying to hide my emotion.

She grinned. "Aw, it's all right, honey."

Irene dropped me off just outside of Xavier's Institute. I had managed to shake her hand as I was getting off the bus, but had been unable to bring myself to hug her. That kind of physical contact was still too much for me. I would have to remember to go back to the town of Danbury one day, hopefully to repay the kindness of these strangers somehow.

I stared at the mansion for a long time before finally taking a deep breath and walking up its sidewalk. I didn't see any children playing outside, and even when I reached the door to the mansion, the walls were thick enough that I could barely hear anyone inside. I grew a bit nervous, but took in another breath and raised my hand to knock. These people were my last chance at a new life- they were the only ones that could help me. The woman, Ororo Munroe, had seemed kind and caring, nearly nurturing. They would not cast me out.

My knuckles pounded on the door, hoping there was someone near enough to hear it. I waited, but soon I heard footsteps approaching the other side of the door, urgency in their step. It opened quickly, almost as if the person on the other side was expecting an attack as soon as it was open.

A man a few inches taller than with, nostrils flaring, eyes scanning my whole body over, looking for a threat. He was muscular, with black hair shaped oddly into two points on the top of his head, and black eyes. His eyes immediately caught my attention, and I found myself staring into them.

I caught his confusion, his temper beginning to rise.

"Who are you?" he demanded, his voice gruff.

I blinked, crossing my arms over my chest, coming back to reality. I really needed to learn how to interact properly with people again.

"My name is Rebecca Felan," I told him. "I came here for help. I saw Ms. Munroe on TV about an hour ago. Can I talk to her?"

I leaned to the left to get a view into the mansion, but the man moved with me, blocking my view.

"What kind've help?" he asked, his brows furrowing.

I took a step back. His presence was very commanding, almost threatening. I didn't want to fight. "I wanna get my life back," I said, giving him a pleading look. "I want to know if she can answer my questions."

He seemed to relax a bit. "So you're a mutant, then," he said, nodding. "Get in here, I'll take you to her."

He stepped aside to allow me entrance. He shoved a hand out after he had closed the door.

"Logan," he said. "Sorry about the not-so-welcome greeting, but we've had a bunch of regular people try and infiltrate."

I nodded, carefully taking his hand and shaking it for only a second before letting it go. His grip was powerful, but so was mine. The amount of strength I used to grasp his hand back caught him off guard, and he gave me a look.

"Strength?" he asked, an eyebrow cocked.

I nodded. "Along with some others…"

This man, this Logan, made me a bit uncomfortable. He was perceptive, much like I was, and was already learning a great deal about me by just staring at me. I wished he would stop staring. I pulled my coat tighter around me.

Logan must have caught my discomfort, as he did stop staring.

"Ororo should be in her office, this way," he said, nodding his head in the general direction.

He began walking that way, so I followed, leaving a few steps in between us, mostly for my own comfort. All the while, I was memorizing my surroundings, in case I needed to make a quick departure.

We reached a set of double-doors after about a thirty second walk. Logan knocked, then opened it.

"Ororo?" he said, sticking his head through the slightly opened door. "We've got a new one."

"Let them in, Logan, let them in," I heard the woman's voice say excitedly.

Logan opened the door the rest of the way, holding it open for me. I quickly skirted by him. He entered, then closed the door behind us both. I immediately looked to Ororo Munroe, who was as pretty in person as she had been on the television. She beamed at me.

"Welcome to Xavier's!" she said, holding out her hand. I took it gingerly. "My name is-"

"Ororo Munroe," I interrupted her. "I know. I saw you just an hour ago on TV. I thought you could help me."

She seemed a bit shocked, but didn't lose her stride. "Well, please, have a seat," she told me, sitting on the edge of her desk herself.

I took a chair and scooted it away from the both of them just a few more inches. Logan had take up residence in the other chair before Ororo's desk.

"She says her name is Rebecca Felan," Logan said to Ororo. The woman seemed to recognize my name at once.

"The professor mentioned her a number of times to Jean and I," she told him quickly, growing excited again. She looked to me. "Oh, Rebecca, I'm so glad you've finally come."

"You know about me?" I asked, feeling uncomfortable.

"Yeah, you know about here?" Logan echoed, his look puzzled.

"Yes, she is the one Xavier talked about to Jean, the one who was an anomaly among mutants, even!"

I stood. What did she want with me? Why was she so excited?

"Oh, Rebecca, please don't be frightened!" Ororo said, standing with me, but not reaching out for me. "The man who used to run this institute, he knew about you-"

"What's Cerebro?" I asked quickly.

She paused. Logan stared at me.

I caught the picture of it. A device that located mutants. No one could use it now that this professor was dead. I calmed a bit, but was still on full alert. I pushed my back to the wall and stayed there. Ororo did not approach me. Logan stood, but she put a hand against him, keeping him where he was.

"Rebecca, neither of us would ever dream of hurting you," Ororo told me. "I'm glad that you're finally here because the professor spoke so highly of you. He wanted to help you, but his passing…"

I nodded. "I understand," I told her.

And I did. Her mind was completely open to me now. I saw that Xavier had wanted to find me and help me, but he had grow busy with the ever-waging war. He had passed on only some of his knowledge of me to Ororo, but she knew my story.

"So you can help me?" I asked her.

She nodded. "I'll do the best I can," she told me with a smile.

I felt someone run into my shoulder, which was impossible as I was standing next to the wall. A screaming followed just as the thing, a person, hit me. I whirled around, claws flying out of my skin, my hands grabbing a shoulder, then a neck. Wrapping the person in an almost choke hold-like grasp. The girl in my arms screaming in fear, somehow getting out of my hold and running to Ororo, who caught her now sobbing frame with open arms. Logan, who had been ready to subdue me only a moment before, now stared at me with open astonishment.

As the girl who I had just been holding continued to sob, Ororo looked at Logan. "Wolverine, meet your true second version," she told him.