Disclaimers: Yadda Yadda, X-men or marvel don't belong to me bleh bleh

You know the rules: R&R

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Scarified

Ryan woke. Well it didn't happen that fast. First he stirred. Then he rolled over trying to get back to sleep. He failed. After a failed attempt at sleep he sat up and instantly realised how much comfier this bed was compared to the infirmary bed h had spent the last week in. He looked at the clock on his bedside table.

8:42 am Hmmm… Do I get up? Or do I stay here and wait for someone to come and get me?

He was answered by Scott running down the corridor shouting "Anyone who needs a lift to school, I'm going!" Guess I'll get up. He had a wash and walked out into the brightly lit corridor. He was already dressed from the previous night. Anyway, what would getting changed accomplish? He had no other clothes. Now, which way to breakfast. The newest X-men suddenly found himself flowing in a small surf of people he hoped gravitated towards the kitchen.

His intuition was proved correct. The kitchen was packed with the mutants of the institute, many still in their nightwear. Quite suddenly, as if a secret bell had just rang, the kitchen quickly became more and more deserted, until it was just Ryan stood on his own.

Okay then, lets see if I can still cook! Ryan, after quite a lot of searching, found a clean bowl. Then, after even more searching, found some cereal and milk. He sat and started to eat. Five minutes later, he pushed back his empty bowl and looked up to see a yawning beast walk through the door.

"'ornin'" Yawned the giant blue monster.

"Mornin'" Replied the smaller still bandaged Ryan

"We'll remove that bandage later."

"Okay."

"You know what?" questioned Beast

"No, what?"

"I'm a monkey, and your not." finished beast with a satisfied smile.

"…" Said Ryan. Or didn't say depending how you looked at it.

"Kitty asked me to ask you to meet her at the pool at nine."

"Oh okay." Ryan didn't move.

After a while of awkward silence Beast said "It's ten past."

"Right then," said Ryan "Well I'll be seeing you."

"Not if I see you first."

Is everyone this weird here or is it just me?

Kitty was sat by the pool. Her feet were gently swirling the water round and round while she rested her back against a deckchair, basking in the sun. Well this is one advantage of being injured, she thought to herself No school. "He he." she smiled to herself in the sunlight and closed her eyes and drifted gently into sleep.

Kitty ran towards the goalposts as fast as she could. Tears flew from her eyes as a maniacal laughter pierced the air. She ran and ran for hours and didn't get any closer to the goalposts where the X-men stood waiting for her. She looked over her shoulder and saw a red jacket and blonde hair laughing madly carrying a short switchblade walking forward getting closer all the time, no matter how fast she ran. Kitty tripped over something suddenly. She looked at her feet and saw the body of Ryan lying there. His face was ripped and shredded. She turned to run but was pulled at the ankle by the monster in red. It rolled her over and ripped of her pants before slowly pulling down its own

Kitty! Kitty!

"Kitty…"it said flatly "Kitty wake up!"

Ryan kneeled over the writhing body of Kitty trying to shake her into consciousness. Danmit, what's wrong with her. Kitty was still shaking violently on the floor. Oh shit. What the hell do I do? "Kitty! Kitty wake up!" Her eyes snapped open full of tears. She lunged forward and embraced him tightly, crying into his shoulder in a reversal of their positions last night. "I was so scared…" she whispered quietly "… You were… you were…"

"I'm right here." replied Ryan. He tried to sound braver than he was. His hands were shaking on her back. "It's okay, I'm here."

After what felt like an hour of solid crying Kitty finally looked up at him with swollen eyes and a red nose. She looked up at him and smiled a weak smile. "I'm sorry." she said softly

"I don't mind." was the gentle reply. "I really don't."

"Thank you."

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"Now lets get this bandage of, shall we?" questioned Beast. Ryan nodded compliance before Storm cut the bandage. Beast then gently unwrapped it from around his face. He shut his eye quickly from light exposure. The sudden surge of exercise in his eye strained it and caused it to ache. But this was nothing compared to his newest facial feature.

A large scar ran down the entire length of the left side of his face. It was still red and fresh from the cut.

"Now lets have a look…"

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Ryan met Kitty later that day. His eye was still sore and wouldn't open all the way. Needless to say, Kitty was in shock.

"Look at you eye!" she screamed as she ran up to him. "I can't believe he did this to you!" Kittys rage built up inside her like a tornado in a can. "I'M GOING TO KILL HIM!" And before he could stop her, she left. Her heart set on a bloody revenge.