Disclaimer: I don't own 'em, please don't sue me. All you'll get is some pocket change and a purple teddy bear.

Shades of Gray
By: Skye Dragon




Skye's Rambling Spot: Heh, I thought that was a more appropriate name than "Author's note". I am very sorry to all you people who read this story. I really shouldn't have posted chapter two like that. That was still very much a rough draft, but I just really didn't want to leave you guys hanging. So I hope you can forgive me, and I pray that the rest of the chapters are better. Also, I just want to tell you that chapter one and two were just introductions to Darien and his mutation. This chapter is where the REAL story starts.

And on that note, I also want to say that I am very much an idiot. I completely forgot where I was going with this story. Luckily, :o) helped me out. So a lot of the plot you read here was created by :o) . I only made a few minor changes. So many thanks to :o) and everyone go tell her what a wonderful person she is!

Oh yeah, one more thing. This chapter was not Beta read, cuz for some reason my computer wouldn't let me e-mail this to Morwen O'Conner, so if you're reading this, morwen, then please e-mail me so I can figure that out.

Last thing, I'm going out of town for a week with my church youth group! Joy! I realize that this has nothing to do with the story but I felt like sharing. ^_^




Chapter Three: Missing mutants and the pain of awakening



Darkness settled around three figures that sat in hiding outside a rather large building. To the uninformed passer-by, it would have looked like an old storage house. Paint was peeling off the side, and there were holes in the roof that had been patched, and a few that hadn't been patched. The grass in the yard was tall and almost choked out with weeds that were themselves dying. The paved road that led up to the warehouse was cracked and in a terrible state of disuse. All in all, it was rather obvious that the building had seen better times.

None of this mattered to the three figures though. They knew it was just a facade.

" . . . Okay, well, no ones been in or out of the place all day." Toad said, somewhat loathed to break the heavy silence that had been hanging over their heads.

Quicksilver turned to look at the frog-like mutant. "Yeah? So what's your point?"

Toad blinked and backed up a bit, "Look, I'm just sayin'-"

"Hey, someone's come out." Blob informed the other two.

Quicksilver and Toad both turned back to the seemingly abandoned building.

Two men had come out, both dressed in crisp white lab coats, and both looked rather tired. They talked together, but their words did not reach the ears of the three boys crouched down in a mangled copse located right outside the wire fence that surrounded the warehouse.

The three Brotherhood mutants watched as one of the men lit a cigarette. The two men seemed content to stand and talk. And after a few more minutes, another men appeared at the door. He said something, and the guy who wasn't smoking yelled back, "Naw, man, ask Darcie. Me n Antonio's on break!"

The man at the door looked annoyed and then yelled back. "No, you're NOT on break! Da boss wants ta question da shapeshifter! We can't git her outta her cell! You's two gotta help!"

The man who'd spoken earlier swore. "Why now? Why don't da boss torment da boy? You's can handle him!"

"Yeah, we's can! But he's not 'wake yet!" The man in the doorway yelled. "Now come on Jake, Antonio. You's gotta help!" With that the men disappeared inside.

Jake grumbled under his breath. Antonio look a long drag of his cigarette and said, "No worries, Jake. We can handle her. We got her here, no?"

Jake looked back at his friend. "Yeah, but it's hard 'nuff gitin' her here! Now we's gotta help keep her here." He sighed. "I don't git paid 'nuff to do this."

Antonio threw his cigarette on the ground and stomped it out. "It'll be easier now, though." He put his hand on Jake's back in a friendly way as the two of them began walking back to the warehouse. "All we's gotta do is gas her, and den hit her with some o dat paralizin' drug."

"But what if those other three muties that were with the boy show up?" Jake protested.

"We know who dey are, what dey look like, and what dey can do, so we can take care of dem if dey show up." Antonio didn't look concerned in the least. " 'Sides, who's 'cared of a mutant frog, a fat-man, n a speed demon, eh?"

The two went inside and back in the copse, there were three very upset mutants.

"I'm not FROG, I'm TOAD!!!!" Toad hissed between gritted teeth.

Quicksilver glared at him. "Shut up!" The mutant hushed and looked back at the white haired teen. "Now, they have Lance as well as Mystique, and they know about us."

"They're expecting us to show up to help them, again." Toad remarked.

"They know us and they know we're coming. They'll have traps set for us, and considering the fact that last time we tried to get Mystique out, they caught Lance, there's no way we'll get past them. We may not even escape again." Quicksilver paused for a moment. "What we need . . . is someone who can get in there for us. Someone they won't know about. Someone who won't get caught."

"You mean like Kitty?" Blob asked.

Quicksilver looked up at him. "Yeah, someone like Kitty. Or even Kurt."

"We're gonna get the X-freaks to help us?" Toad questioned, one eyebrow raised higher then the other in a look of disbelief.

"That may be the best way." Quicksilver said, even as he thought it over. "The people here probably don't know about them. So they would be able to get in and out . . . but how could we convince them to help us?"




Her claws were fully extended, and she easily tore a chunk out of the man's arm. Blood gushed out of the deep wound, and the man stumbled backwards with a cry of pain.

Mystique, now in the form of an angry tiger, threw back her head and roared. She could feel the blood on her paws. It was sticky and stained them a dark red. Her tail slashed back and forth in the air. Turning, Mystique glared at the other man in her cell.

He had seen what she had done to his partner, and he was wary of her.

She growled, a loud rumbling sound from deep in her throat, before launching herself at him. Her powerful hind legs propelled her at him, and he ducked. She landed easily on all fours and roared again. The two men suddenly both ran to the door and ripped it open.

With an enraged cry, she ran after them, but the door was shut in her face. She stopped just before crashing into the closed door. She backed up a bit and let loose one final roar. Then her form seemed to shiver and then melt. The silver liquid pushed upwards, reforming into her 'normal' form as a blue-skinned woman with blood-red hair.

She stood glaring at the closed door with her amber eyes. Her white dress was ragged and torn, her hair messed up. But she didn't care. She was in Hell anyway.

The day before was when it had happened. Mystique honestly had no idea she had walked into a trap, when it snapped close on her. Everything had been perfectly normal when suddenly she was hit from behind and when she had awoken, she was here. Her cell was rather small, about the size of a large walk-in closet. The walls, floor and ceiling were all coated in steel. They were shiny and reflected her image back at her.

Mystique ignored them as she paced the floor. So far, these men had attempted to subdue her four or five times. She'd fought them off every time, but something was wrong. They'd left too soon this time. Something was up.

A sudden hissing sound overhead let Mystique know that she was right. Something was up. With a cry, she crouched down, warily eyeing the mist that was starting to form over her head from an air vent. She held her breath, trying hard not to inhale the strange mist, but it was all in vain, and she was soon laying prone on the floor, unable to move.

The mist was sucked away, and the men came back in. They laughed at her, unafraid, now that she could not fight them. They picked her up and brought in chains. She was restrained against the far wall, her back to the wall, facing the door. Her hands were stretched taunt over her head and out to either side. Her feet were chained to the floor, spread a shoulders length apart.

She tried to struggle, tired to morph, but the drug was powerful and she was completely paralyzed. Unable to fight back. She suddenly felt terribly weak and vulnerable..

The men left her then, and Mystique was left wondering what was going on. And when she saw the next person to enter her cell, Mystique knew that she truly was in Hell.




A sharp stab of pain running down his chest told Darien that he was fully awake, and most definitely alive, for surly death wouldn't hurt this much. The pain quickly subsided into a dull but insistent throbbing. It was then that he noticed the soft feel of actual sheets and pillows beneath him, instead of pavement and trash. Slowly he opened his eyes.

The sight, confused and shocked him. He was in a real room, laying on a real bed. There was a woman also in the room with him. She was seated in a chair with a thick book in her lap and was humming softly to herself. She was a black woman, with hair as white as snow, and just as soft-looking.

Upon hearing him stir, the woman glanced up from her book, to find him staring at her. At first startled, she quickly recovered and smiled warmly. "Well, hello."

Darien stared at her uncomprehendingly. This was far too much to take in at once.

Ororo seemed to have noticed this for she put down the book and moved to the bed side. Darien, unsure of her intentions, tried to scoot away from her, but his abused body wouldn't allow for that. A wave of dizziness washed over him and with a stifled cry, Darien was forced to lie his head back down and close his eyes.

He felt the woman place her hand on his forehead and heard her telling him to relax, the pain would soon pass.

Once it did pass, Darien wearily opened his eyes again, looking up into her face which was now etched with concern. "Who are you?" Darien managed to croak through a throat gone dry.

"Shhhh," Ororo whispered, "Don't speak. Drink this." She pressed a small cup of water to his lips and Darien quiet nearly choked, trying to quench his thirst. Once this was accomplished, Ororo said, "My name is Ororo. And you have no need to be worried. You're among friends. We won't let any other gang members get to you."

". . . gang members?" Darien tried fanatically to understand. What was this woman talking about? Then, it hit him. All his memories came flooding back to him. Now alarmed, Darien shot up straight in bed, ignoring the dizziness that came as a result. "Where am I?" He demanded.

Ororo was taken back. "You're in Bayville, . . . New York . . ."

"NEW YORK!?!" Darien gaped at Ororo in shock.

"Shhh!" Ororo put a hand on his chest to push Darien back down onto the bed. "It's okay, there's no need to be alarmed!"

Darien pushed her hand away and jumped up out of the bed on the side opposite the one where Ororo stood. " 'No need to be alarmed'??? What are you talking about? I'm in New York! I'm suppose to be in California!!!" Darien exclaimed. Pain now ran up and down his chest and side, caused by his sudden movements, but Darien's mind was reeling from confusion and didn't fully register the pain.

"If you'll calm down, I can explain everything." Ororo pressed as much compassion as she possibly could into that one sentence, but Darien didn't seem to notice it at all.

"No! Get away from me!" He yelled.

Ororo was very much taken back. She certainly hadn't expected the boy to react like this! ~Xavier, Darien's awake . . . and he's not happy!~ Ororo thought 'loudly', hoping Xavier heard her.

~I hear you, try and calm him down. He's very weak and might hurt himself.~ The telepathic message answered Ororo.

Darien stumbled away from Ororo, his movements jerky and unstable. He tripped and was sent sprawling onto the floor. Liquid silver raced down his back and soon covered his body.

Ororo watched as the QS covered the wounded teenager and he vanished from sight, but though she could not see him, Ororo was very much able to hear him.

He was panting hard. His breath rattled in his lungs. Ororo moved toward the sound cautiously. She put her hands out on the carpet and felt around until her hand hit something soft that she couldn't see.

She gasped. It was so cold! She pulled her hand away, unable to stand the feeling of touching ice. She heard his breathing change for a moment, and assumed that he had shuddered at her touch. Ororo took a deep breath, and then calmly asked, "Darien?"

A breathy "No . . ." answered her, and Ororo suddenly saw the faint outline of a young, male body lying stomach-down on the floor. The outline was a slivery color and even as she watched it became more visible, until it was Darien's body covered in a metallic silver substance. It remained that way a moment before cracks appeared in the silver and then it flaked off. The substance shattered into pieces too small to be seen almost immediately after falling off of him.

Darien was left laying on the floor. His head was turned to the side and there was a dazed expression on his face. His liquid brown eyes didn't seem to actually see anything. Ororo saw that a few of his wounds had been reopened and were bleeding again.

The door opened then, Scott, Jean, Logan, and Xavier appearing.

"What happened?" Scott demanded.

Ororo looked up at them from her place on the floor. "He woke up and freaked out when I told him he was in New York instead of California." She explained.

Logan wordlessly picked the youth up and deposited him on the bed, the dazed expression never leaving Darien's eyes. "Looks like he's passed out again, now." He commented finally.

Darien blinked then, turning his head toward Logan. He moaned and fought to bring the world back into focus. When he saw Logan looming over him, as well as the other four in the room, he tensed.

Logan, seeing that Darien was about to jump up again, put his hand on Darien's chest. He didn't apply much pressure, knowing that the youth was badly wounded in that area, but he made sure to apply enough to keep the boy lying down in the bed.

"Now listen, bub, You don't need to be jumping all over the place like that. We're not gonna hurt you, unless you give us a reason to."

"Logan!" Jean gasped, the boy didn't need to be scared like that.

Logan ignored her. "Now, if you'll sit still and let us actually explain some things to you, I'll let you go." Darien, who was actually hurting a bit from Logan's grip, hesitantly nodded. As promised, Logan released him, and moved a few steps away from the bed.

There was a moment of silence after that. Xavier, not quiet sure how to start after that, tried to think of something to say, but was saved from having to do so as Darien started off first.

"Who are you people, and why am I here?"

"You're here because we didn't want to leave you in the alleyway waiting for the anti-mutant gang to come back and finish you off." Logan answered in his own way.

Xavier sighed. "Logan, please." The mutant known as Wolverine fell silent, and Xavier went on. "I told you before that I am Charles Xavier. And this is my home. It's a haven for mutants, such as yourself."

Darien stared at him. "A haven for mutants?" He paused and then shook his head. "But how do you know that I'm a mutant?" He demanded.

~Because I am a mutant myself.~ Xavier decided it would be best to show Darien what he meant.

The telepathic message caught the young man completely off guard.

"We're all mutants." Jean informed him.

Darien openly stared at her. Then at Xavier. "But then . . . "

"I was trying to tell you this in the alley when you misunderstood us and ran away. Logan," And he nodded to the lager man still standing by Darien's bedside, "was able to track you. It was a good thing he did, too, because there was an anti-mutant gang that had found you." Xavier paused a moment, letting his words sink in before he continued. "I did want to wait until you woke up before returning here, but things do not always go as one plans."

Darien, now sitting up, thought this over. "So, this is a home for mutants?"

Scott was the one to answer this time. "Yeah, it's 'Xavier's school for the gifted', but it's more like a home than a school. We learn how to control our mutations here."

Daren frowned, looking at him. "Who're you?"

"My name's Scott Summers." He nodded to the young red-headed girl next to him. "And this is Jean Grey. We're both students here."

Darien nodded.

"I brought you here, because I thought you might like to stay here." Xavier caught Darien's attention again.

Darien blinked. This was all so new, "I . . . I'm not . . ."

"You don't have to decide anything right now." Xavier continued. "You'll stay here until you've healed, and then you can say if you want to stay or not."

Looking into the man's eyes, Darien could only nod.

"Right, then we will leave you with Ororo. She will take care of you. You should get some more sleep right now, you'll be awakened before lunch." Xavier turned, ushering the others out of the room.

Darien, still very much confused and taken back by how his life had changed overnight, dropped back down into the soft bed. It wasn't long at all before he drifted back off to sleep.




Please review and hopefully the wait for the next chapter won't be nearly as long this time. ^_^