Title: Burning Light

Pairing: Major John/Riley(oc), Minor Rogue/Bobby. There might be others.

Summary: During the events of X2 John(Pryo) had a girlfriend. Basically the retelling of X2 with a new character but also some action that obviously never occurred in the movie.

Disclaimer: I don't own anybody or anything but Riley.

Review Responses at the bottom.

Chapter Three: Ever been struck by lightening?

Shooting upright in bed, Riley sat panting heavily as a trickle off cold sweat slowly made its way down the back of her neck causing her to violently shiver and reach down to tug up the covers tightly around her neck, gripping them tightly to ward off anymore chills from the cool air. Turning to her dresser she grabbed the glass of water that sat atop it and took a large gulp, sighing in pleasure as it soothed her raw throat that felt as if she'd been screaming for hours. She really hoped she hadn't been screaming it was highly unlikely anyway given that no one had burst into the room and Rogue hadn't so much as stirred since Riley had been awake. Breathing regularly now she attempted to snuggle back down to fall asleep, however every time she closed her eyes, her thoughts reluctantly went back to her nightmare.

A younger Riley of about 16 stared at her reflection in her school toilets mirror, tears rolling down her cheeks which she hurriedly tried to wipe away but only more fell to take their place. Sudden pain shot through her chest and she gasped as she gripped it, she imagined this was what a heart attack felt like, she doubled over as the pain increased and she gripped the sink in a white knuckle grip as a tingling sensation made its way from her chest, down her arms and a steady burn formed at her fingertips. As quick as it had came it disappeared and after a few moments of trying to catch her breath she straightened up and with a sigh of relief reached out to turn the tap on to wet her face. However as soon as her hand came within touching distance of the metal tap, what appeared to be a tiny bolt of lightening came rushing from her fingers and shot towards the tap with a quiet hiss.

"What the…" She muttered staring at her fingers in disbelief, silently wondering what the hell that could have been.

She spread her palm out wide and flexed her fingers, nothing happened for several moments before several more bolts appeared from each finger only this time they were bigger and brighter than the previous one and she gaped at them horrified at what was happening to her. Eyes widening she let out a small scream before she could stop herself as a huge bolt shot out her hand and raced towards the tap, blowing off the top causing water to spray everywhere, including over herself. Spluttering she frantically tried to push the water back down into the hole but it seemed her panic only increased whatever was happening to her as more bolts shot across the water.

Hearing voices growing closer to the girl's bathroom, Riley began to panic and her gaze flittered across the room rapidly trying to find somewhere that she could hide, eventually it settled on the small window beside the last stall. It looked big enough that she could fit herself through it but she highly doubted that she'd be able to reach it, even if she managed to reach it whilst standing on the toilet. She was also reluctant to even touch any other surface, fearful that she'd blow herself up much like she had the tap

"This place discriminates against short people." She muttered as she paced in front of the stalls.

Deciding it was worth the shot she made her way towards the last stall, just as she was about to walk into it, the door to the bathroom suddenly burst open and her math's teacher and some of her fellow students stared in shock and confusion at the scene before, not quite grasping why there was water flooding the room. She winced looking down at her hands to see that they were still sparking and moved to hide them behind her back before, Peter Jones at the back of the group gasped and pointed hysterically at her hands, bringing everyone else's attention to them. The crowd stared at her for a few beats before realisation set in and they looked at her in fear while others stared in disgust, more than one of the jocks looking ready to take physical action.

"MUTIE!"

It wasn't exactly her worst memory but it was enough to wake her from her sleep when she remembered everything that had come after that moment, everything that had happened before she arrived at the mansion. With a frustrated sigh she rolled onto her back and went to close her eyes again when a sudden shrieking echoed through the mansion causing her eyes to snap back open and slap her hands over her ears in extreme pain. Looking over at Rogue she could see she was now awake and doing the same as her to try and block out the noise. Their eyes met as the scream died down abruptly for no reason, both dreading why it happened and even worse why it had stopped.

"What's goin' on?"

All Riley could do was shrug her shoulders in response before grabbing her boots, shoving them on, shaking her head when Rogue decided against any footwear and made her way out the door quickly before Riley could stop her. Rolling her eyes at her friend's stupidity she made her way out the door after her.

Running down the halls they encountered a group of younger girls nervously shuffled about outside one of the hidden exits and immediately understood that the mansion was under attack. Exchanging a glance Rogue and Riley made their way quickly over to them, Riley kept look out while Rogue told some false story to them about running away from their boarding house to tell to the first people they came across before she shoved at the wooden panel to open the hidden door. After closing the door back up Rogue turned and gasped as a man decked out in solider gear rounded the corner and stood before them with his gun raised. Thinking quickly Rogue grabbed Riley by the waist and pulled her aside barely missing a dart that would have otherwise hit her straight in the chest. Riley turned and stood up straight and calmly faced the soldier, putting on a brave face despite the fact all she wanted to do was run as fast as she could in the other direction.

She spoke slowly as to hide the quiver in her voice, "You ever been struck by lightening? I have, fifteen times, it's not my fault, I just attract it. You know what else attracts lightening?"

Without waiting for an answer she threw out one of her hands and bolts of electricity shot out of her fingertips and snaked around the stunned guard, he shook momentarily before dropping to the ground and lay there silently. The girls wasted no time in running and not for the first time, Riley worried that using her powers had killed another person.

"Hey!"

John paused slightly, his steps faltering as he was sure that it was Bobby's voice calling out from behind him. He quickly backtracked a few steps and discovered he was right as he spotted the other boy rushing after him with a panicked look on his face as he frantically shouted John's name.

"Have you seen Rogue?"

John didn't pause in response, "No. You seen Riley?"

Bobby could only shake his head sadly in reply before taking off in the opposite direction without so much as another word to his best friend. John frowned slightly silently wondering how he could just leave him there when they were under attack so he could run off on his own like an idiot to try and find his girlfriend. His thoughts then drifted to Riley and he let out a frustrated groan.

"Hey, wait up!"

Skidding around a corner Riley barely kept herself from falling face first into the wall. Hearing more footsteps her head whipped up and a relieved grin crossed her face as she spotted the two familiar faces, she'd never been so happy to see John and Bobby in all her life. She could vaguely hear Rogue's yelp of joy behind her and assumed she was just as happy to see them. They didn't waste anytime in speaking, instead as a group they turned and started running the way both Riley and Rogue came from, hoping that they could make it back towards the exit they had shown the little girls through without running into anymore of the spoilers that were running about. Just as they had rounded the corner however the window in front of them blew open flinging glass everywhere, Riley felt something tugging her by her hand and found herself pressed close to John as his body shielded her from the glass, they paused only for a moment before righting themselves and took off in the opposite direction. Their relief from getting to the main entrance was short lived as two soldiers flung open the doors and pointed their guns at them.

Shaking Riley stepped back into John who immediately put his hands on her waist as if preparing to pull her out of the way. All four of them stood deadly still wondering if this was actually the way they were going to go out.

Suddenly a primal roar sounded above them causing them all to look up in time to see Logan fly down from the banister, claws extended to strike into the two soldiers backs killing them instantly before standing up and pulling his claws back in. Riley stared in slight awe not quite believing what she'd just witnessed, she guessed she know knew why they called him Wolverine.

"Dude…."

I know there's obviously the whole Striker scene to go through but on next chapter it's just going to start with them getting in the car okay. Sorry.

Nicole: Thanks

tweekerd:Yeah he is (that's why I love him) but I wanted to show that he can be kind and such.

Painkiller-Jane: Thanks

LJSkywalker: I couldn't resist the Wolvie comment lol. Are you hinting at some flirting between Riley and Logan? winksShe's John's girl

J seirra: I'm glad you like Riley I'm trying to keep her from being a Mary Sue cause that would be bad lol.

Kcrane: Thanks I think they're cute too wide grin

EvenstarEverlasting: Blushes Thanks, I don't think I'm that good a writer but I'm glad you enjoy the story and Riley. Yeah that boy is good looking.

Mina the Mischevious: Well as you can see I've reviewed.

firecrackeronthe4thofjuly: Glad you like the wolvie comment lol.

nazgulqueen: Thank you.

Kellie: Thanks

sarah02: Glad you like it.

Maree: GrinsThanks. Yeah I went to see X3 and was like drooling on my friends shoulder when I saw him, people we're looking at me funny lol. If this story goes well I was thinking of doing X3 with Riley. But its too early for that just now.

gymgurl: aww thanks.

Well If you want more all you gotta do is Review.