Disclaimer: The X-men are property of Twentieth Century Fox and the Marvel Entertainment Group. I am using their characters for my own un-profitable enjoyment. Anything that you do not recognise is my own.

Authors Note: Woo chapter two! Not sure if Fanfiction will show it, but anything that is in italics are thoughts. Happy reading. And thanks for reviewing!

Chapter 2: The Human Fish

The large Sea World Orlando sign came up in the distance as they turned off the highway. Storm grabbed the back of one of the younger student's collar as he tried to lean too far out of the window of the bus. It was not a long drive from their hotel, yet long enough for hyperactive and hormonal teenagers.

A whoop of joy was called as the bus sped round a corner and into the park; huge murals of orcas and dolphins lined the walls of the entryway promising adventure to come. Once everyone had got off the bus there was the customary head count before they were led into the park.

Pyro stood gazing around as he tried to listen to Scott's talk about where to meet. He knew Piotr would be listening so there was no point in him paying attention as well. Voices filtered in and out of his head and he was only vaguely aware of his teacher talking. Instead there were far more interesting things to look at, such as the blonde haired girl that had just walked past. He wondered whether he should tell her that her skirt had got tucked into her underwear. Nah, he would just enjoy the view instead. He was brought back to reality when he heard his name being spoken.

"John."

"Yes Professor Grey." He said whipping his head around a bit too quickly and almost giving himself whiplash.

"Please pay attention. We will meet at the new exhibit at two to watch the show. Until then you may do as you wish. If you don't meet us there you will spend the rest of the day walking around with one of us. Okay? Please stay in groups of no less than three; off you go." She said to the group of fidgeting students.

Pyro nodded absently before following Piotr and Bobby towards the first attraction.

OOOOOO

The four professors stayed there for a bit to check that everyone was in a suitable group and answer a few queries before all the children departed. After what seemed like an age they were finally alone. Contemplating what to do first they headed over to the nearest café and settled down outside.

"Drink anyone?" Storm asked standing up.

"Coke." Came Scott's reply.

"Coffee please." Jean said placing her bag down by her feet.

"And lemonade for me please Ororo. Thank you." The Professor said.

Storm nodded before heading in and getting their drinks, idle chatter filled the table as they waited for the African woman to return. A few minutes later she returned with their drinks and there was a lull in the conversation as they drank for a bit. The peacefulness was interrupted occasionally by Scott's slurping through the curly straw that came with his drink.

"What do you think this girl is going to be like?" Jean asked no one in particular as her fingers settled around her mug.

"She is using herself as an attraction she can't have that much self worth." Scott said pausing in his slurping.

"She is obviously doing it for some reason." Jean said placing her mug down.

"She could be using the money." Storm offered.

"No, I don't think she is getting paid for this. I do not even think that they know she is one of us. Still we will find out shortly what she is really like. Until then shall we look around?" Charles said placing his empty glass down.

The four X-men stood from the table and placed their glasses and mugs back on the tray in the centre. Jean gave Scott a reproving look as she saw him place the straw in his pocket. He shrugged his shoulders and had the good will to look vaguely embarrassed. Storm just chuckled as she walked past them and set herself to pushing the Professor in his wheel chair.

OOOOOO

"Hey guys we better be heading over to that new attraction soon." Bobby said looking at his watch.

Pyro nodded as he tucked the large stuffed Orca he had won under his arm. He was not entirely sure what he was going to do with it, but Bobby had challenged him to the hoop toss and he had won. He had to admit he did look a bit of a twat walking round with a bright blue stuffed whale under his arm, but he could not complain. He was going to challenge Piotr to the ball throw, but then thought better of it. The Russian had wicked accuracy when it came to throwing things, and with muscles four times the size of his, he did not want to risk it.

"Which way is it?" He said looking at the map, trying to juggle it and the whale.

"Come." Was Piotr's only response and he led the way through the bustling crowd seemingly knowing where he was going.

Bobby looked at him and shrugged his shoulders; they jogged to catch up with the Russian and enjoyed not having to barge through crowds. People generally moved out of Piotr's way just because he was so big.

Soon enough they were at a large pavilion with a deep tank in the middle. They made their way over to where the professors and some of the younger mutants were sitting. Settling themselves into the rather uncomfortable seats they bought drinks from a vender. All around the large pavilion were signs displaying 'the human fish'. Pyro snorted, it was not the most original name in the world and the pictures of a girl definitely did not look like a fish. Still the photographs were interesting and he was curious to see what the mutant looked like in person.

Pyro jumped as a squeal announced the presence of Jubilee who had just sat next to him. The Asian girl, as usual, was dressed almost entirely in yellow and resembled a light bulb. He always thought that appropriate as most of her globules were yellow and they sure as hell hurt when they hit you.

"Where did you get such an adorable whale?" She said excitedly pulling the bright blue orca from his lap.

"Oh, Bobby challenged me and lost." He turned to look at the blonde haired boy and smirked. "Fire always beats ice."

Bobby just nodded in agreement, not really listening to the jibe at him.

"It's so cute."

Pyro looked at the Asian girl before smiling. "You can have it." He said glad to be rid of the thing. Saves him carrying it around.

He winced at the excited squeal and jumped as he felt her kiss his cheek. "Thank you so much! It is so cute!"

Her voice was cut off as music started to play in the pavilion and a trainer came out from a door. Dressed in a bright red all in one swimming suit Pyro thought she looked a bit ridiculous. Yet he settled himself to watch the show.

OOOOOO

She swam lazily around the bottom of her tank occasionally stopping to move a rock to a new place. She did enjoy home improvements. Occasionally she swam fast around the outside of the tank next to the glass so that people in the stands got a glimpse of her. Yet most of the time she was content just to laze around. Knowing that any day she wanted to, she could just walk out and be done with her career in entertainment.

Today was a special day, her nightly excursion had been successful and it would be a while before another one happened, she did not want people to get too suspicious. Still her work was going well and was almost complete, another nights work and she would be done.

That was not the reason it was a special day however. Today she knew there was a sizable amount of mutants in the crowd, one of which she knew had been trying to follow her mentally. She had managed to shake him off yet somehow he had found her. She did not mind too much as long as he was reasonable and did not try and force his way into her mind, that she had issues with. She did not think he would however as all his probing up until late had been gentle, almost asking for permission. She had of course blocked him as best as possible, her mind was her own and no body else's. There were things in there after all that were best kept silent for the moment. Until the time when she was free, then secrets would be unbound.

Maybe.

Still today would be a special day and as the music started she waited for her call to start performing.

OOOOOO

Xavier watched as the music started and the trainer moved to the side and placed a microphone to her mouth so that everyone could hear her. He could tell that the mutant was in the pool and occasionally he caught a glimpse as she swam by the tank, but her mind was still firmly closed. He was almost impatient in his want to find and talk to her.

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen to Sea World Orlando. This is our latest attraction and we call it the 'human fish'. She is called this for reasons that will become obvious when you see her." She stopped in her commentary and a male trainer that stood on the other side of the tank blew a whistle.

From the bottom of the tank came bubbles as the girl came shooting vertically up out of the water. In the air she turned a somersault before landing back in the water with barely a splash.

The girl swam slowly to the surface then climbed gracefully onto a platform at the front of the tank. She lay on her stomach and bent her legs so she could kick them slowly in the air. Xavier almost gasped when he saw her for the first time, yet refrained in doing so. Her skin was blue, as in the pictures, her face was very human, bar her eyes which were yellow and had watery oval pupils. Her ears were larger than most humans and her hair was a rich kelp green. She did not wear any clothes yet she did not look naked. Fins protruded from her forearms and calves, but most noticeable were the chains that contained her.

"She was found in fishing nets not too far from the coast of Cuba. The fishermen were not sure what to do with her, so she was sent here. We are not entirely sure what she is, other than the fact that she is clearly of both aquatic and terrestrial origin. We also have no idea of where the collar and chains on her came from. Yet they do not appear to hinder her swimming capabilities." As she said this the male trainer walked onto the platform and whistled again as the girl rose to a crouch.

It was then that the crowd really noticed a set of chains around her. A thick ugly collar hung round her neck below her gill line. From this two chains attached to cuffs on each wrist, she did not seem bothered by them however, and they did not restrict her movement.

"As you can see, she has both gills and a nose. Whilst underwater her nostrils close preventing any water getting into her lungs and whilst on land her gill covers close to stop the filaments sticking together. She has thick webbing on her hands and feet that propel her through the water at great speeds. The fins on her arms and legs, we believe, help with steering."

The male trainer made a signal with his hands, and the girl leapt from a crouch back, flipping backwards into the water. She started to swim round lazily as a rope was tied up.

"Despite the fact that she has a mouth and what appears to be a human voice box, she has never uttered a word beyond clicks and whistles which we normally associate with our orcas and dolphins. We are unsure whether she is unable to speak or simply does not know how. She is very intelligent and understands spoken commands as well as hand signals and whistles."

She dove down to the bottom of her tank and swum up fast easily leaping over the rope that had been tied above her tank. The rope was three meters from the waters surface and the crowd watched as she soared over it easily before pulling herself into a ball and bombing back into the water.

The trainer continued talking as the other one made the girl do different tricks including swimming, agility and more jumping. Towards the end the girl started swimming to the glass front of her tank and pressed her face against it. The distorted face made several of the mutant children laugh and the Professor smiled at them before looking pointedly at the girl. He felt her quickly shut her mind and saw her roll her eyes slightly at the trainers before swimming backwards sending a spray of water over the side of the tank.

Xavier smiled at the girls antics before settling back to watch the rest of the show. Due to this being a school outing he had arranged with the park to let him and the children talk privately with her trainers. It was meant so that the children could have a proper look at her, for educational reasons only, whilst he tried to persuade her to come back to the mansion.

Clapping arose as the show came to an end; the girl swam to the surface and smiled at everyone, showing a set of pearly white teeth. She waved at the crowd and winked at Xavier before sinking back into the deeper part of her tank.

OOOOOO

She settled down into the large imitation clam shell on the bottom of her tank. She slowly swayed so that a constant flow of water played over her gills.

Oh this will be interesting. Perhaps I will talk with him. See what he has to say, but business always comes first.