Author's Note: Um sorry it took so long but hopefully this chapter makes up for that. um... We hope you enjoy it. Sorry it sounds choppy, we are still working on putting it together where it flows easier. Well please review... we beg you.... Kaia and Marcela are both in this chapter so hopefully there is no confusion there. Again please review.

She stepped into the shower, welcoming the warmth of the water as it fell against her chilled skin. Once she came to stand beneath the shower head, warm water cascading on her, she closed her eyes in thought. She was glad to have the shower, the water helped hide her hot tears and the sound of it hitting the tile hid any sobs she let out. She could not help herself. She needed to cry, and she needed to be alone. She opened her eyes and stared down at her hands. Her hands were scabbed over, and she frowned. She remembered the pain of her powers bursting forth from her hands. More painful still was the memory of her cousin's curls on her fingertips as he lay lifeless outside of the bathroom. She choked on a sob and closed her eyes again. She hugged herself as she slid to the ground beneath her. I am a killer, she thought, making the tears fall faster then they were before. It had been almost two weeks since she had come to the mansion, and everyone made her feel at home. Which only made her feel worse than she already did. She had thought that they would resent her but they didn't. Most really wanted nothing more than to help her. She opened her eyes again. She didn't feel she deserved their help. "Why did you have to die?" she whispered as she stared at the drain thinking of her little cousin, Aaron. She sighed through her tears, and stood back up. She turned the nozzle so cool water hit her, drawing her skin taut, and leaned against the tile wall of the shower, letting the water beat her in the face for a second or two. She then leaned forward to grab a bottle of shampoo. She opened the bottle and smelled sweet roses. A smile lit her features for a brief moment. And then she thought of her cousin again. She knew that it wasn't something that she was just going to get over. She wouldn't expect to get over it. She had killed her cousin, and that was something that was not going to just disappear from her mind. She washed her hair and thought about how she used to play hide and go seek with him. How, when he was much younger, he'd sit in her lap as he played with his building blocks. It made her heart feel heavy to know that she was never going to be able to play along side him, hear him laugh in delight, or hear him at all for that matter. Whatever problems she had with her adoptive guardians, she had nothing but a familial bond with Aaron. She closed her eyes to try to control her tears. She knew that no matter how much she cried it was not going to change anything. After she washed her hair, she quickly finished up. She stepped out, grabbed a towel and wrapped it around herself. She shivered as the air outside the shower began to chill her skin quickly. She went to stand in front of the mirror in the mirror showed the reflection of a blob through the condensation that had collected on it. With a rag she wiped some of it away so she could look at herself. Her eyes were bloodshot from crying, which only made the white starburst in her left eye more vivid then it already was. It was a going to be a daily reminder that she had killed her cousin and that she was a mutant. She could live with being a mutant, after the initial shock it was easy to accept, as unbelievable as that sounded. But knowing that she had snuffed out an innocent's life, well that was going to be the hardest thing to live with. Tears welled up in her eyes again and she quickly blinked them away. Her hands stung suddenly and she inspected them.

"Goddammit!" she muttered, seeing dots of fresh blood begin to well up. The healing layer of skin had been washed away during her shower apparently. She opened the door gingerly with her fingertips, the top of her towel bunched closed underneath her arm, and was met by Kurt, wearing just jeans with a fresh towel flung over his naked shoulder. She yelped and stumbled back into the doorjamb.

"Oh, es tut meir leid!" he exclaimed, eyes flickering over her inadvertently then looking away quickly. Even with her face downcast now, he had seen her blood shot eyes for long enough to know she'd been crying. Forgetting his embarrassment, and hers for that matter, he placed his hands on both her shoulders and ducked his head to get a better look at her face. Her eyes widened and she straightened her shoulders as he asked if she was alright.

"I'm fine," she said with a forced grin that more resembled a grimace. She adjusted the towel around herself and winced. She had grasped at the towel when Kurt surprised her and smudged the bright white with streaks of blood. Kurt frowned.

"Did you hurt yourself?" he asked.

"No," she shook her head. "It's just my scars opening up again."

"Well come to the kitchen with me. I'll find some gauze," he gestured over his shoulder and stepped toward the top of the staircase.

"Umm, give me a sec?" she asked, sidestepping further down the hallway back toward her room, this time with a genuine smile of nervousness on her face. Kurt grinned sheepishly and nodded, heading downstairs. Kaia walked down the hallway and, two doors later and around a corner, arrived at her room. The Professor decided to give her a room of her own. She was glad to sacrifice her own bathroom for the privacy it allowed her. Most of the student dorms housed around two or three people. She wasn't very social normally and in this abnormal situation, she was even less social. The X-Men and the Professor were the only ones she knew were aware of the circumstances surrounding her arrival at the mansion. She wasn't sure about the students so she didn't give them a chance to find out from her by getting too friendly with them just yet.

After wiping her hands on the already soiled towel, she dug quickly around in the drawers full of clothes that Ororo had been kind enough to buy for her. Kaia had been borrowing clothes for a couple of days since being seen shopping wouldn't be smart, even as far away from her home as New York. She couldn't be seen. She couldn't be Kaia Yulet anymore. She denied that surname now that she had killed the only person she felt a member of that family with. When asked, Kaia gave Ororo her sizes and told her just jeans and t-shirts would be fine. Ororo bought what she requested but insisted on buying some brighter, nicer things Kaia knew she wouldn't ever wear. She retrieved a plain grey shirt and denim shorts before her hands could ruin some more things that she still didn't consider hers.

After making her way downstairs, she stopped for a second at the spacious living room. Bobby and Piotr were arguing over the remote. Bobby suggested going into the backyard to settle the matter of whether to continue watching the news or change the channel to one more sport orientated. Kaia laughed silently. There was never any contest if Piotr were involved. Nevertheless, they walked out the shaded glass doors to the backyard. Kaia was turning to leave when a picture flashed on the screen that almost caused her to drop to the floor. She would have wailed but the kitchen wasn't far away. The TV showed her, a misspelled handmade birthday card in hand, next to Aaron, dressed in a pirate costume, at the kitchen table in the Yulet's home.

"In national news, the search for nineteen year old Kaia Yulet was called off yesterday," the anchorwoman announced. "Authorities believe she was abducted Halloween night from her Homosassa, Florida home. Her blood was found at the scene but no other trace of the girl was recovered. In a tragic twist of fate, when the girl's aunt and uncle came upon the scene, they discovered the body of their seven year old son, Aaron Yulet, seen pictured with the missing girl. Police say the two cases are unrelated. The autopsy of little Aaron indicated he was unfortunately struck by lightning in the middle of the night."

Just like that, the next subject of interest was introduced. Kaia heard none of it. She was near-hyperventilating with the shock of actually seeing him. She took deep breaths, each exhalation a small squeak of pain emitting from her tight chest. She went to the couch, grabbed the remote and turned the TV off. Just not hearing that woman's voice helped tons. Whatever she was saying just sounded like a blur of 'In a tragic twist of fate…discovered the body…cases are unrelated…autopsy…' Kaia walked to the kitchen blindly. Being numb was favorable to breaking into hysterics. Kaia walked through the dining room to the kitchen where Kurt was sitting on a barstool, picking at a bowl of fruit with a fork.

"Hey," he said sitting up as if he hadn't expected her to come down. She sat across the bar from him and blankly looked at him. He held the fork toward her, offering her some of the mixed fruits. She made to take it but he laid the fork down and took her upturned hand in his. She blinked repeatedly as she broke out of her daze. Kurt was wrapping her hands again. How many times had he done this for her now? She always chanced upon him when her hands decided to be a burden. She didn't know if she was eager for the wounds to scar over or not. Spending that time with Kurt was a welcome difference from her normal routine of keeping to herself in this house/school full of people. He was easier going. His eyes didn't house that speculative look most of the others flicked her way when they passed her in the hallways or the pitying smiles of Jean Grey. Laughter, something she thought wouldn't emerge from her throat for a long time, was obtainable with Kurt there.

"Why me?" he asked, breaking her train of thought. She looked down and saw him finishing the wrappings of her other hand.

"Huh?" she said, sounding stupid to herself.

"I just noticed…" he started, tying off the wrappings and picking up the fork to hand her again. "You avoid most everyone in the mansion…but me. Why's that?"

Kaia stared at him for a second, not sure if he mentioned he was a telepath anytime recently. She shrugged it off and poked at a strawberry. "I guess… I feel relaxed with you," she laughed at what she said. "Normal… like before all this happened."

He laughed. "Normal? You feel normal around me?"

She sighed and rolled her eyes at him. "Yeah. Kinda."

"But I'm blue, Kaia," he said as he grabbed another fork from a drawer.

"And I'm this peachy, white color. So?" she retorted, popping the strawberry into her mouth. "Skin color doesn't mean anything."

He looked at her skeptically. "This is a little different," he said. "Besides, I have fur."

She ignored him, unperturbed, looking down at the bowl to find another good piece. She settled on a honeydew cube.

He lifted his hands and wiggled his six fingers at her. "Look at my hands," he said. She rolled her eyes and held the piece of fruit in between her teeth for a second while she lifted her hands back at him, wiggling the fingers as best she could with the bandages so fresh. Kurt groaned and ran a hand through his shaggy hair. It seemed there was no convincing her how abnormal she should feel when the signs were obvious.

"Kaia, look at me!" he laughed. She glanced up. "Nothing about me is normal. My eyes are --" She cut him off as she slammed her fist on the table.

She swiped the hair from in front of her face and pointed at her eyes, the silvery-white spots glinting as her agitation grew at his inability to comprehend that she didn't care. "Don't start with me about how your eyes are different now!" she yelled. She took one calm breath and added, "I get that you're different. And that I should feel anything but normal around you but look around! If being in a house full of telepaths and shape shifters and every other type of mutant doesn't make me run away screaming what makes you think being around you will?"

He just stared at her for a second.

"I mean you're not all that repulsive," she joked, looking up through the hair that fell back over her eyes.

Kurt watched as she continued eating. He had been with the X-Men long enough to become accepted but still knew he stood out because of his outward appearance. He saw the looks on the new students faces when they first arrived and how they usually reacted; frightened, disturbed, openly staring as if he were blind. He stood out, to say the least. He'd never seen such open acceptance so quickly. Well, if he thought about it, she had to deal with the same thing every day since she came here. Since not many of the circumstances of her being brought to the mansion were . She was refreshing to be around.

A smile brightened his darker features. "I like you," he stated.

She stopped chewing and looked at him quizzically.

He sighed. "Not in that --" he started but she just raised her hand.

"I get it," she said. She could feel her face reddening and just barely stifled nervous giggles. They sat, eating in silence for about a minute or so before they heard the tread of tires on the hardwood floor of the hallway and turned to greet the Professor.

"Good morning," he said, wise eyes crinkling at the corners as he grinned at the sight of the relatively antisocial Kaia actually smiling and getting along with someone in the mansion. The two returned his welcome. "Kaia, may I talk with you in my office?" he asked turning back the way he came.

She nodded and slipped off of her stool. She waved goodbye to Kurt as she walked out of the kitchen.

The walk down the hallway to Xavier's office was a quiet one. When they reached the office, Kaia shut the door softly as the Professor continued to wait beside his large mahogany desk. Kaia took a seat in a high backed leather chair facing Xavier, took a deep breath, and smiled cautiously.

"So, Kaia," Xavier began. "How has your stay been so far?"

"I can't tell you how grateful I am, Professor," she said, looking at her hands twisting together. "It's been great."

"Well, I have noticed an aversion toward most of the students. Normal under the circumstances but I am concerned about the effect it will have once you begin your studies here."

Kaia looked up slightly surprised. They had talked about completing her education at the mansion as soon as she became acclimated to living there but of course it was a topic of unease. She was noticeably worried but nodded her acceptance.

"And there is the pressing issue of when your comfort with us here will permit us to begin our training," he continued, arching his fingers thoughtfully. "I told you we would help you control your gifts and the sooner we begin, the better."

At that she almost jumped. She shook her head vehemently before Xavier even finished his statement. "I can't. I can't do that again," she spit out. "I couldn't force it out if I tried! It hurt too much… I just don't know if I can do that again."

Xavier held up a hand calmly. "I know it will be extremely difficult. Your powers emerged later in life than normal and I've come to the conclusion that that is why it was such a painful experience for you. Many mutants have had similar pain at first and their powers end up being as much a part of themselves as breathing. But you have used your powers after they appeared. On the very night they appeared actually."

She looked confused, her hands paused in their wringing.

"Yes, you used them when we encountered you in the park. The metal tube you were hiding in was infused with electric energy. In your panicked state, you set up some sort of a barrier between yourself and us using the tube as a conductor. It gave Jean quite a nasty shock as a matter of fact," Xavier told a perplexed Kaia.

She sighed after a moment of silence. "I just don't know, Professor."

"The longer we wait, the more of a danger you become to yourself and those around you. You should be aware of this by now."

She ran a hand through her thick, chestnut hair. There wasn't a day that went by that she didn't think of what would happen if her powers decided to kick up around any of the others around the mansion. She hated to hear it put that way all the same.

"I can deal with any schooling, even with my uneasy feelings around the others in classes but… I need a little time before I start to use my powers. If that's okay?" she asked. "I really want to repay you for everything but I need to kind of become less scared of them first."

"Alright. I'll be checking with you periodically and we'll start your further education soon," he gestured that she could leave if she wanted.

"But Kaia," he said. She stopped at the heavy, wooden door to the adjoining study. "It will never be a matter of repayment. Everything is for your betterment. Take your time."

She smiled sadly before she left. Even with that said, she still owed the Professor. He had given her a home and an opportunity to better herself. So she would try. As soon as she could bring up the courage, she would try her hardest to control what was inside of her.

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Her nose wrinkled in disgust but she kept walking. The subway tunnel smelled disgusting, but she couldn't leave now. She had to do this. Sweat trickled between her breasts. Not because it was hot, it was actually very cold, but because she was nervous. It had been a few years since she had done this in such a public place.

She came to stand on the platform, watching trains flash past her. As she waited she tried not to think about what she was going to do. It made her sick knowing this was the life she had chosen for herself. She had became a vigilante of sorts, or maybe a punisher of crimes that have not been committed yet. And why not? She might as well put her mutation to use. Mutants. That was something that was new to her but she knew that she was one of them. She had never met anyone like her, but mutants were different like her. So she did that, used her mutations to become the vigilante that she was.

It was disgusting, she knew, but after living this long she had become numb to what she did. It was just doing it in public places that always got to her. It may be late, it may be empty other than her victim, and yes they were a victim, or it may be the one chance at closing time the cart would be full. She wouldn't know, her vision didn't tell her how they would die, just that they deserved to die before they committed the deed that she foresaw.

After a few minutes of waiting train A slowed to a stop on the platform. She stood there and waited for the door to open. Once it did she tried to enter, but stopped suddenly. This was not a the car she needed to be in. She knew that because she would have had a vision, the same vision that has been haunting her for two weeks now. She looked to the right, nothing. To the left, and it was as if her feet moved for her as the vision took over. She stopped at the next door, nothing. The next, nothing. Finally she made it to the door of the fourth car before the doors closed. She looked around and her fears dissipated. There was only one other person in the cart. A man wearing that face that haunted her.

The subway started to move and she started toward the man. Those dark brown eyes burned her like they did in the vision. Remember he is going to kill his children and his wife, she reassured herself. That is what the vision was: this man killing his children and his wife with his mutation, which was controlling others. One day he will snap, and control his pleading wife to kill his children and herself as he sits alone in an arm chair, beer in hand, a smile on his face.

He smiled up at her now. The way he smiled in her vision. Her stomach made a flip.

Marcela stopped a few feet away from him.

"I hate ridding the subway this late at night. Don't know who you will run into. Glad that you look normal." he said, trying to make small talk.

"Normal?" she asked. "Well as normal as anyone can be, especially since there are mutants now. But you also don't look like a street thug." he laughed. Her lips tugged into a tight smile.

"Mutants can look normal." she said holding onto a pole as the train slowed at its first stop. Thankfully, he didn't get off and no one got on.

"Yes, they can I guess." he said off handedly like he was done talking about mutants.

"I mean, you should know." she said as her dark violet eyes bore into him. It unsettled him, it was like she was searing his soul with her eyes.

"Am I obvious?" he asked.

"No, just in my visions you are. So tell me, how many people have you controlled?" she asked.

"Many. Too many in fact. So why are you here?" he asked, knowing this was no longer a nice stranger talking to a nice stranger this late in the subway.

"I am here to kill you." she whispered as she sat next to him.

He tensed and looked at her. He tried to get in her mind to control her but couldn't. He looked at her confused. Why wasn't his mutation not working on her?

"I don't understand it either." she said answering his unasked question.

"So, why are you going to kill me?" reality setting in as he asked his question. He had done many bad things to people in the past, so he might as well repent for them some day, he just didn't expect it would be so soon.

"I will show you. Give me your hand." she said has as she held her hand out for him.

He looked at her hand like it was on fire. After a moments hesitation he gave her his hand. Their fingers laced together and she closed her eyes after ordering him to do the same. She wasn't sure how this worked but she had found out forty years ago if she had contact with someone she could show them her visions. So she did this now to him.

He sat in his favorite arm chair, a cold beer in hand, but not touched. His eyes were a milky white, like they always turned when he controlled someone. He could see through his wife's eyes. He made her enter his children's bedroom silently. His twin boys were asleep, in their shared room. They looked so peaceful in their sleep. That was until made his wife, his sweet Silvia, raise a butcher's knife in the air and bring it down on Joey, the oldest twin. The knife hit home in Joey's heart. In the vision he saw himself smile wickedly but in real life he wanted to scream. Was he going to do this? He wanted to ask questions but the vision wasn't over yet.

Over and over again he made her stab the already dead Joey. Michael woke up and cried. "Mommy? What are you-" she cut him off by slashing out and slicing Michael's mouth open. He cried in pain and Silvia cried as she was forced to look at her child, wearing a sick smile now that she had sliced him. But it wasn't her, it was him. He was making her do it all.

"Make it stop!" he cried, but it didn't stop.

Through Silvia, his dear Silvia, he made her kill Michael, who all the while screamed for help until he took his last breath and, even after, Silvia continued to stab him over and over again. After a few minutes he made her slit her own wrists. He sat down stairs and waited until she too died.

That is when it stopped. It was the end of the vision. Marcela looked at the man. He was crying, and still holding her hand, which was good because she had a job to finish here.

"So you see. You have to die." she said. He nodded. He understood. Some did, some didn't She was glad he understood, she hated having to deal with the ones that didn't. The last mutant who didn't she had to hold to her until they dissipated into nothing but ash.

"Can you do one thing for me though?" he asked

"Yes." she whispered.

"Just find a way to tell them I loved them dearly." he said.

"I will do that." she said.

And then she unleashed her building power into him. She closed her eyes. She didn't want to watch. She had seen it enough to know every detail of what happened to her victims. She felt his muscles contracting though, she heard his bones snapping. She heard him exhale and cry in pain. She also felt when he expanded and slowly dissipated like the rest of them did. When she opened her eyes there was nothing else but his ashes sitting next to her.