DISCLAIMER!!! X-Men belongs to Marvel and X-Men Evolution to the WB. I own only Dan and Fiona, and I ask you kindly not to steal them. x_X;;; A warning. This fic is RATED R for a reason. Contained within (in no particular order) are language, violence, and drugs. You shouldn't be reading this if you're under 13. You probably shouldn't be reading this if you /are/ 13. Let's just say you've been dually warned.









you've got to quit your little charade
and join the freak parade
—Bad Religion, The World Won't Stop

Fiona sat in the co-pilot's seat, but she was not allowed to touch the instruments. Ororo controlled the plane's momentum, Fiona merely stared out of the window, somewhat sullenly, and watched the world go by.

She didn't know how she'd expected her parents to react to the news, but.... The way they looked at her, as though she was going to break or explode, or turn into a wolf and.... It was almost like they were glad she was going away to this Institute place. Jim and Nick, on the other hand, were complaining bitterly about the fact that /they/ didn't have any cool powers. Mom had hushed them and ushered the boys out of the room. Like she was something they shouldn't be seeing.

So here she was, holding a tiny suitcase with some spare changes of clothes, sitting next to a disarmingly silent woman who was able to easily fly a high-tech jet plane. It was, Fiona thought bemusedly, rather a sudden change. At least the sensation that heralded the Change hadn't begun. It wouldn't be practical to have a cougar running around the Blackbird.

"Um, Ororo?"

"Yes?" the woman asked, never lifting her eyes away from the instrument panel.

"....How many other kids're in this school of yours?"

"About twenty, but we are receiving more applicants every day."

"But we don't go to normal school there, do we?"

"No, you will attend Bayville High."

"Oh." It was useless to try and start conversation with Ororo, if she didn't want to talk, she could freeze fire to a stand still.

Instead, she thought about the life she left behind. A family, once loving; now oddly stilted and formal. Jim, with his irrational desire to be a professional hockey player; Nick, with no ambition that the rest of the family could discern. They were a quirky bunch, but to Fiona it seemed as though she had been exorcised from them, set apart. Because of the strange gene which had reacted and ruined her life.

She could see no conceivable benefit in being a mutant. People got through their days just fine without randomly turning into bloodthirsty animals.

"There's a student named Wolfsbane with powers similar to yours."

"Wolfsbane?" Fiona asked, puzzled, "What sort of a name is that?"

Ororo laughed for the first time, a pleasant, though almost bell-like sound. "Every member of the X-Men has a code name. For example, I'm Storm."

"Will I have to have one too?"

"It would be advisable, yes."

"Oh. What could I be, then? Spots? Sparky?" Fiona wanted to know, a bit cynically.

"If that's what you want," Ororo said placidly.

Fiona sighed, and decided that it would be best to spend the rest of the ride in silence. She fished around in her bag and took out Interesting Times, and settled down to read. The trip was much shorter than she'd thought, and she'd only reached the bit where Rincewind was almost executed before the plane touched down outside the Institute and the doors hissed open.

Waiting outside were two students and a man in a wheelchair, legs covered with a dark blanket. She nodded, and hung back shyly behind Ororo as the woman chatted easily with the crippled man. The mansion was huge, white, and beautiful, the grounds extensive but heavily manicured. There would be no wild woods here. Fiona blinked as she realized someone was speaking to her. "Er, sorry, what?"

"Like, I was saying it's a little scary the first time you see it," one of the students said. She was about Fiona's height but more petite. Her brown hair was pulled back carefully into a ponytail, and she wore a pink sweater that looked like an old favorite. The other, a boy, was short, pale, and seemed like he'd enjoy techno music.

"I wasn't scared," Fiona said honestly, "I was just thinking about how.... Neat everything is."

The boy laughed. "Ja, und we do our best to mess it up again." He held out a hand. "I am Kurt Wagner, and the cat here is Kitty Pryde."

Fiona shook his hand and her eyes widened. Although it looked normal, she was sure that she felt only three fingers – and his hand was /fuzzy/. He grinned at her surprised expression, showing his teeth, and pressed a button on his watch. His image fizzled, replaced by a blue elf creature with golden eyes. Kitty, unperturbed, smacked him lightly on the shoulder. "Like, stop it, Kurt. Let her get used to everything before you scare her!"

Fiona grinned weakly. "I'm Fiona Crowley."

"Pleased to meet you," Kurt said pressing the button again, and Kitty nodded assent.

"Sooo," Fiona said awkwardly, "Do you like it here?"

"Well," Kitty replied, "The Professor's like, really strict most of the time, but like, school is easy."

"For you!" laughed Kurt, and then rolled his eyes in Fiona's direction. "Miss Genius might think so, but we know better."

"Don't like, worry about it," Kitty said, and grinned. "I really think you'll do okay."

X

"Well, well," said Pietro nastily, "Look what the Toad dragged in."

"Can it, Silver," Lance replied, struggling to sit up on the over-stuffed couch.

"Meet our new recruit," Todd said grandly, "This here's Daniel Brown."

"Nonono," Pietro said, shaking his head, "We can't have that. He needs a /name/."

"What's wrong with the one I've got already?" Dan demanded.

"Weeeelll...." said Pietro, "It lacks a certain.... Intimidation factor? I mean, people will hardly run screaming from the Terrifying Dan, will they?"

"Why do I /want/ people running screaming from me?"

"Comes with the uniform."

"Uniform?"

"Todd," Lance said, exasperated, "You didn't explain anything to him, did you."

"Er," said Todd.

Lance stood up and Daniel examined the other boy carefully. He was pretty grungy looking; not that Dan was any better, these days, with longish brown hair and brown eyes. His face was strong and fairly handsome, as those things went, but there was a certain suspicious, sardonic edge to it that would not endear him to many. Dan, however, found himself instinctively liking the other teen.

"What the amphibian didn't tell you," Lance said, "Is that we're the Brotherhood of Mutants."

"Brotherhood of Mutants. It sounds like something out of a comic book."

"Yeah, well," Lance said uneasily, "We're kind of stuck with it."

"Sorry to hear that."

"Eh, we'll live. We're a group.... Devoted to protecting mutant kind? That's what Mystique told us, anyway. It's not really like that. /She/ doesn't look out for us. It's every mutant for himself, and we're aiming to come out on top."

That sounded reasonable enough to Dan, who nodded slowly. "So.... What does being in the Brotherhood involve?"

"Well, sometimes we have to run errands for Magneto—he's the boss," Lance said, rubbing his hands together, "But mostly, we just get through life. Oh. And occasionally fight the X-Geeks."

"The X-Geeks?"

"They're a bunch of self righteous pricks," Pietro shot in. "Think they're all high and mighty."

"Basically," Lance agreed, "And they make life fucking difficult for us."

Dan had known more than a few people like that at his old school. He made a face, and Todd laughed. "I think he's catching on, yo."

"So you're in?" Lance asked.

"Yeah," Dan answered. Or at least until a better prospect comes up.

"Good," Lance said, and smiled. "We've all got an alias, like. I'm Avalanche, Pietro here's Quicksilver, and Todd is Toad.... Oh, and there's Freddy, he's the Blob, but he's asleep right now."

"And it's best not to be around him then," Pietro said, making an eloquent face. "I'm fast. Lance is a living earthquake, and Toad's self explanatory. What can you do?"

"Plants."

"/Plants/?" Todd exclaimed, "That's chickenshit, man!"

"Not if you use it right," Dan said, and grinned. He rubbed his hands together, lifted his palms, and concentrated. From a spot in the floor, a thick, thorny vine sprouted up towards the ceiling, growing wider with every second.

"Stop it, you fucking idiot!" Pietro said, "We've got to fucking live here!"

"Sorry," Dan said calmly, "But Toad here wanted to know."

Todd shrugged his shoulders sheepishly. "Oh well." He tested one of the spines on the plant with his thumb and yelped, sucking the bleeding wound.

"So.... You still need a name."

"How about Pansy?" Todd suggested, straight faced.

Dan grinned. "It, er, lacks something."

"Sprout?"

"I don't think so."

"Tulip?"

"Oh, come /on/."

"Buttercup!"

"Thorn?" Pietro offered, "It's not girly or anything. And it fits."

"Thorn," Dan said, trying it out for size, "I /like/ it."

X

"You'll need a name," Kitty said, eyeing Fiona up and down. "What're your powers?"

"Er...." Fiona said, "I kind of change into animals."

"Vat sort of animal?" Kurt asked.

"....Nasty ones, usually."

"I've /got/ it!" said Kitty. "It's like, totally perfect."

"Vat is it, Kitty?" Kurt wanted to know.

"How about Predator?"

"Predator?" Fiona said uneasily, "I don't know.... It sounds.... mean."

"Exactly," Kitty said cheerfully, "We need at least one mean sounding name on the team. After all.... Nightcrawler isn't the most intimidating, is it?"

"You're named after a worm?" Fiona asked, trying not to smirk as she glanced at Kurt.

He shuffled defensively. "It vas the Professor's idea."

"So, Predator," Kitty said, "Welcome to the X-Men!"

X

"Ah," the wheelchair bound man said, "I see you've met Kurt and Kitty." He smiled, friendly. Fiona nodded mutely. "Welcome to the Institute; I am Charles Xavier, the founder. Do you have any questions? Most of them will be answered in the days to come, however.... No?" He smiled again. "I think, Fiona, that you will fit in perfectly here."

"Thank you."

"Now, if you, Kitty, would show her the room? Storm and I must talk privately."

"Like, sure!"

"Thank you."

X

"I'm afraid, Ororo, that it is too late. The Brotherhood have already taken him in."

"The Brown boy?"

"Yes."

"I'm sorry, Professor."

"There is nothing you could have done."

"Still. He is misguided, scared, and addicted."

"Perhaps he will come to us, in his own time."

X

Kitty kept up a steady stream of chatter as they walked up the stairs. "Like, it kind of sucks having to like, share a bathroom, but you get your own room so it's like, dealable, you know?" Kitty trotted along the hallway, a small, very talkative whirlwind. "You can like, decorate it however you want – I've got /mine/ done in band posters!"

"N Sync?" Fiona asked, rolling her eyes.

"Like, NO," Kitty said scornfully, "Mostly Weezer."

Fiona grinned. "Good," she said, relieved, "I thought you might like.... Boy bands."

"Oh, no," Kitty said, "That's Jean."

"Jean?"

"You can't miss her. Tall. Beautiful. Perfect."

"Sounds like a lovely girl."

"Yeah. So what do you listen to?" Kitty asked, opening a door.

"Alternative, mostly," Fiona said, "Weezer, Tenacious D, Radiohead, the Strokes...."

"Hey," exclaimed Kitty, "You've got good taste!"

"Thanks," Fiona said, pleased. "Is this my room?"

"M-hm," Kitty said, "Look, I've got a ton of homework, but if you've got any questions, just ask!"

"Thank you," Fiona said, "Thank you very much."

She examined the room. It was fairly small and very dull, but Kitty had assured her that it could be decorated. There was a twin bed tucked in one corner, with a sky blue quilt and blanket beneath. The floor was wood paneled with a blue throw rug over the center. A window at one end streamed light into the room, along that same wall was a bookshelf and, beneath the window, a desk. On the other side were an empty closet for clothes, and a spider plant hanging from the ceiling.

She set her bag down on the bed, and went to the window, opening it to air out the room. Below, a handsome boy with pale hair was absentmindedly pointing a finger at the rose bushes and encasing each flower in ice. He saw her gaping and grinned, waving up at her. Fiona flushed and ducked out of sight. She opened the door and walked into the hallway, only to be almost run over by a boy on a skateboard.

"Whoa, /coming/ through!" he yelped, clattering down the stairs.

Shaking her head, Fiona took the same path.

"Hey," said a voice, thickly accented, "New here?"

"Yeah," Fiona said, somewhat tired of explaining the fact. "Fiona Crowley, now known as Predator." She turned to find a Goth girl watching her with a slight smirk.

"Predator?" the girl asked.

"It was Kitty's idea."

"Ah. That'd explain it," the girl said, making a face. Apparently there was no friendship lost between them. "Ah'm Rogue," the girl said, "And welcome to the X-Geeks." And with that, she turned and walked away, leaving Fiona about to answer.

Sighing, Fiona headed down the stairs as well – so far, it seemed as though the Professor and Storm were the only sane people in the building.