Love, Or Something Like It

Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men or anything related. I do, however, own Alexia. If you want to use her, ask and I'll consider.

AN: And we're back! Time for chapter two, but first, I'd like to thank my reviewer. That's right, my 1 reviewer. But oh well, can't win all of 'em. But thanks dude, and here's the second chapter!

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Chapter Two: Saturday, February 5th , Morning

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Charles Xavier sat at Cerebro, his hands folded in a pyramid shape, his chin resting on them. His eyes were focused on the strange readings in front of him, the news slightly disturbing him. "Logan," he called out to a man standing behind him, who grunted in response. "Come look at this, will you?"

The other man, tall and gruff looking, came up behind Xavier. His own dark eyes scanned the screen in front of him, and they narrowed slightly. "What's all that mean Chuck?" he asked, folding his arms. "It means that Cerebro has picked up a new mutant, and they're somewhere on the mansion's property. But...I don't know what their power is."

Indeed, the computer was listing the power of the mutant as "Unknown"; same with the mutant's name, age, and background. All that was listed was their location, which, as Xavier said, was somewhere near, in, or around the mansion. "Gather up the students," Xavier said, his eyes still on the screen. "I think we need to find our visitor, in case they're hurt, or in need of help."

Logan nodded, leaving Xavier's side. Within minutes he was standing at the foot of a large staircase. "Hey runts!" he called up the staircase. "The Professor needs you all to come and do something!"

A thundering sound was heard, and a crowd of teens came flying down the stairs to gather around Logan. "Like, what's the Professor need?" asked a petite girl with brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. "He needs you guys to search the grounds and around the mansion. Cerebro picked up another mutant, but all it knows is that this mutant is somewhere around the mansion. Now, you five-"he gestured to a red-haired girl, a boy with ruby- colored sunglasses, the small brunette girl, a Gothic, still-sleepy looking girl, and a blue elf-like creature, "-will search the front grounds, and beyond the road. The rest of you-"he pointed to a larger group of teens, "- will search the back half of the grounds and the woods. Understand?"

The two groups of teens nodded, before making a mad dash from the front doors. Each group went off in the direction of where they were supposed to search, the larger group disappearing around the backside of the mansion, while the small group, accompanied by Logan, headed down to the street.

They started searching the area beyond the gate in front of the mansion, the red-head girl, named Jean, taking the twenty yards to the right of the mansion; the boy with the sunglasses, named Scott, took the twenty yards to the left of the mansion. The Gothic girl, named Rogue, took the area around and in front of the gate, while everyone else just spread out. "Wha', exactly, are we lookin' for?" Rogue asked, shading her eyes from the sun that was rebounding off the snow. "Anything that looks suspicious. Clothing, hair, blood...a body..." Logan trailed off, not exactly knowing what to look for himself. Rogue arched an eyebrow, but continued searching.

About ten minutes into the search, the small brunette, named Kitty, let out a cry. "Look at this!" She was waving a shiny metal object in the air above her head. Logan and Rogue ran over, and Kitty lowered the object. "It looks like a belt," she said, giving it to Logan. "And look," she held up more metal objects: several bracelets, two necklaces, a pair of earrings, and a pair of boots. "They're all metal, or have metal on them. And they were, like, all sorta leading up to the gate, like a path. Like, that's so totally weird." Logan picked the objects up, trying to pick a scent off them, while Rogue returned to her searching around the gate.

As her eyes scanned over the metal bars, she noticed faint pull lines on them. They looked strangely familiar, and she cocked her head to the side as she bent down to examine them. "Hey, Kurt!" she yelled, getting the attention of the blue, furry creature. "Yah?" There was a "bamf" sound, and the creature teleported over to Rogue's side. "Ya see those markins? Where have we seen 'em before?"

"Uh, those look a lot like what Magneto does to metal, no?"

"That's wha' Ah'm afraid a." Rogue ran her fingers over the bars, and as she looked down, she noticed what looked like footprints, and body prints. "Kurt..." she said, standing up. "Go an' get Logan, will ya? I think Ah mighta found somethin'."

Kurt nodded, teleporting over to Logan and tossing his head over to Rogue. He tilted his chin up, and Rogue beckoned him over. He began to walk over, and Rogue turned her attention away from the gate, following the scuffle marks and disturbances in the snow. Her eyes continued to follow the path, until they stopped at a clump of bushes and a tree near the gate. Narrowing her eyes, she walked over to the clump, but quickly pulled back. "Logan!" she yelled, the man quickening his pace. "What is it Stripes?" he asked gruffly, while Rogue let a finger wander into the bushes. "Ah, uh, think Ah found wha' we were lookin' for..."

Logan moved over to the bushes, the other for teens gathering around Rogue as she starred on warily. Logan straighten up, and snarled, "Red, go tell the Professor we found the mutant. Elf, Half-Pint, go tell Beast to prepare the med-lab. Stripes, Cyclops, stay here. I'm gonna need some help with this one."

The others scattered, Rogue and Scott staying behind. Logan bent down once again, and when he straightened up, Rogue gasped, while Scott's jaw dropped. In Logan's arms was a thin girl, probably only about fifteen, and she was small, about the same height as Kitty. But what was frightening was her face and hands; both were covered with blood. The girl was dressed for the winter month, in a pair of jeans, a sweater, scarf, and parka. But her feet were bare except for socks, which made Rogue think that the boots Kitty had found were hers. "Come on," Logan said, shifting the girl slightly. "She's still breathing, but barely. We need to get her inside. Cyclops, get that stuff Kitty found. Stripes, go and help Beast, and tell Storm what we found."

Rogue took a last glance at the girl, before running ahead of Logan and Scott, her own breathing sharp. Whatever had happened in the night, didn't look good. It didn't look good at all.

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Saturday, February 5th, Afternoon

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Alexis Maria Valentine opened her dark blue eyes, and she instantly thought she was dead. A bright light was shinning in her face, and she wasn't in pain any more; even her empty stomach wasn't growling for food. She sat up, and was slammed back into reality, courtesy of a very large, blue, furry beast. Her eyes widened, and she let out a high-pitched, scratchy scream, which wasn't very loud despite the tone. The beastly creature turned around, smiling, and walked towards Alexis. "Ah, I see my charge has awakened. Please, don't be scared. I'm here to help you."

Alexis didn't know what to say, so she fell quiet, her eyes falling to the ground. It seemed that she was still alive. "Damn," she muttered, and the beast faced her again. "Excuse me?" he asked, and she looked back up. "Oh, sorry," she replied. "I was just upset that I'm still alive, I mean, after everything...I thought I wasn't going to survive the night."

"Well, luckily you did. And, your injuries weren't as severe as all of us thought, but, tell me...how did you cut your hands? And how did you get blood all over your face?"

Alexis again looked down, noticing that her hands were bandaged. She closed her eyes, memories of the previous night coming back to her vividly. She sighed, and whispered, "I really don't want to talk about it. Really, I just don't."

"Well, I think that the only way I can help you is if you tell me what happened," another voice answered, and Alexis looked up, her eyes meeting those of Charles Xavier. She scowled, and shook her head. "What if I don't want to tell you? I don't even know who the hell you are, where I am, or how I got here. How am I supposed to trust you?"

Xavier looked down at the angry girl, before nodding. "My name is Charles Xavier. You are in my institute for gifted youngsters, like yourself. But how you got here is beyond me." He rolled his wheelchair up next to Alexis' medical bed, and she watched him carefully. "I know how I got here, to Bayville," she said, eyes widening slightly. "But how did I get inside?"

"You were discovered outside the mansion's gates. Logan, one of the teachers here, brought you in for medical treatment. We were all afraid that you were dying." Xavier reached out a hand and rested in beside Alexis'. She cast a look down at it, before pulling her small, bandaged hand away. "I still don't think I can trust you," she said softly. "But I'll try."

She took a deep, shaky breath, before blinking away a few tears. "To really understand everything, I should tell you everything I know. Please, don't be scared when I tell you this, but...I'm a mutant, like...like him." She pointed at Beast, who smiled softly, before going back to some paperwork he had started. Alexis looked back at Xavier, and continued. "I've been running from authorities and another mutant for about a month now, and I've been in Bayville for about three days. Last night, I was running away, again. But, that other mutant was back. He trapped me near your mansion-" she stopped, holding up her hands. "I cut my hands trying to get away. The blood on my face was from my hands, because I was covering my face with them."

Xavier looked at the girl, silence hanging in the air. He took a chance, and reached into the girls mind. "Stay completely still," he said softly, holding a hand to the now-frightened girls temples. "Just try to remember last night. Try to remember everything you can."

Xavier found himself in a dark street alley, somewhere on the other side of town. He began to walk out of the alley, and as if some sort of force was guiding him, he began to run in the direction of the mansion. He relieved every moment of Alexis' traumatic night, up until he was backed against the gate. He felt a pull, and suddenly the girls memories were replaced with the med-lab. Alexis was holding his hand away from her head. "You know too much," she said, dropping his hand.

Xavier looked thoughtful for a minute, before looking Alexis straight in the eye. "How do you know Magneto?"

Alexis looked confused for a second, before shrugging. "That metal guy? He's the one that's been following me around. I...I don't really like him much..." She looked down, away from the Professor and Beast, who had come up behind Xavier. "Please, can we just drop this all? I really need to get going." She jumped off the bed, picked her clothes up off a chair beside the bed, and started for the door. "Thanks for helping me out and all, but I need to get going. After all, places to go, people to see." She laughed nervously, before going to a bathroom in the back of the lab to change.

Beast looked at Xavier, who starred back sadly. "She's being followed by Magneto?" Beast asked. Xavier nodded. "It seems that way. But why? What does she have that he wants?"

"Maybe she crossed his paths and got on his bad side." Xavier nodded again, before replying with, "It surely is possible. But why would he pursue her for so long? She says that she's been running for a month-"

"And she's in bad shape." Beast pointed to the papers he'd been filling out. "Malnutrition, several bruises, those cuts on her hands, and lack of sleep. She needs to stay here, at least for a few days." Xavier shook his head. "We can't force her to stay. She's battling some sort of inner conflicts, and she's not open to trusting us. She-"

A loud, blood-curdling scream cut Xavier off, and Alexis came burst back in the room. "Where is it?!" she screamed, running over to the bed and pulling back the sheets. She franticly ran her hands over the bed, before pulling the sheets up again. She looked around the room in a panic, before clutching her neck. "Where is it?!" she screamed again, before Beast gently laid his arm on her shoulder. "Where's what?" he asked sweetly, and Alexis, whipped around to face him. "My locket! My silver locket! What have you all done with it?"

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Alexis' hands were wrapped around a steamy mug of hot tea, which she early gulped down, despite how much she insisted that she wasn't thirsty. She was sitting now in the library of the institute, Xavier, Logan, Rogue, Kurt, Scott, Jean, and Kitty seated around her. Beast had stayed back in the lab, with another woman named Ororo, also known as Storm. Everyone was patiently waiting for Alexis to explain about the night before. But she continued to pour herself more tea in silence, every now and then touching the silver locket around her neck. Scott had given it to her when he had come running into the med-lab and seen the panicked Alexis.

Alexis drained her fourth cup of tea, set down the cup, and starred at the others in the room. "I'm guessing that you all want an explanation, right?" A few nods went around the room, and Alexis tried her best to smile. "Well, I guess it wouldn't harm to tell you guys. But I need to start at the beginning. That would be back in ninety-six, when I was seven-years-old..."

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AN: Yes, it's a cliffhanger. So sue me. On second thought, don't sue me; I'm broke. I'll put up the second part to this soon, I promise!

-Rose