Disclaimer- X-Men: Evolution is not mine and I lay no claim on it. I do not own anything belonging to Marvel or the respected artists. I will not profit money wise from this story.

Chapter 6

Ava glanced around the large room thinking on how beautiful it looked. These people were rich and it showed. She stared at the bald man sitting in the wheel chair feeling very uneasy. She hoped that this would work because her parent's lives were at stake and Ben's as well. The thought of Ben worried her because he was her oldest friend and he had helped her so much.

Magneto's threats ran through her head and all she could see was their lifeless bodies.

"I don't think that staying at the Brotherhood was such a good idea" she said, playing into her weak role.

"Why did you go there in the first place?" a regal looking African lady asked.

"I needed a place to stay and I thought they would accept me" she replied, sadly.

"Why did Mystique hit you?" the lady asked again.

Ava looked at her and was surprised to see that she had very vivid blue eyes and pure white hair even though she didn't look that old.

"I was too friendly with the enemy or something" Ava answered as she scratched her head.

She watched as they nodded among themselves and she wished that some of the others had been able to stay but the Professor had told them to go back to school. She felt very uncomfortable around them as they seemed so formal, which was very different from the Brotherhood.

"I understand if you don't want me here. I mean I don't have the most stable of powers and I have hurt a few people" she admitted.

"You are most welcome to stay here for as long as you want" the bald man, Professor Xavier, informed her.

"Thank you, sir" Ava said and stared down at her feet.

~*~

Pietro rushed around the Brotherhood house looking for any sign of Ava and his face grew steadily more worried. Being as hyper active as he was, due to his power, he often took things to the extreme. He was a blur until he misjudged where he was running and found himself sitting on the floor. In front of him stood the large mass of Fred.

"Hey, Freddy, have you seen Ava?" he asked quickly.

He watched as Fred's eyes began to glaze over slightly.

"Uh...Mystique said that she left to join the X-geeks" Fred replied.

"Did she say why?"

"Um, something about being a spy" Fred said as he wandered off to watch cartoons.

Pietro watched him go with a large grin covering most of his face. She rushed upstairs and told Wanda what was happening then he disappeared outside of the house making the leaves, which had begun to fall, spin back into the air.

~*~

Ben looked at Ava's dad and felt as if he should say something to ease the distrust forming between them but then he thought better of it. He knew that he would be blamed for helping Ava get into this mess. Glumly he sank to the floor with his back to one side of the cage.

He thought of what had happened when Ava had seen them. He remembered the pain as he was forced to look away and he knew that Ava would interpret in the wrong way. The bruises inflicted by Mr. Jensen had begun to fade and Ben didn't know if he realised what he had done to his daughter.

Ben remembered when he first met Ava when she was three and he was six. Their family had moved into the neighbouring farm, which was big news at that time. Adam had been a year younger than himself and they had become really good friends but everywhere that they went little Ava closely followed them. She tried to do everything that they would do and most times she would succeed with not too many injuries.

They had grown up together and when they went to school they stayed friends even when Ben and Adam had ventured off to a different high school than Ava. It was Ben that found out about Ava's abilities first when she accidentally made him experience his worse nightmare.

They were out on the farm outside Taupo riding around checking on the cows when Ava had stopped suddenly and raised her hands to her forehead as if in pain. Her eyes had widened and she began to scream. Ben remembered turning his horse and riding towards her. He reached out grabbed hold of her hands to steady her when he began to see darkness encroaching from every angle. The darkness was fine but the red eyes that were glaring at him greedily.

Ben remembered screaming himself and then everything was fine. He looked at Ava to see her staring back at him in fright. She looked down at her hands then back at him and then she turned her horse and galloped away. Ben hadn't hesitated as he spurred his horse to follow her.

"Why do you still like her? She's a mutant" he heard someone hiss at him, breaking his train of thought.

He found himself staring into the face of Mr. Jensen and for the first time in his short life he felt scared and angered by an adult.

"No disrespect, sir, but she is still your daughter" he said between gritted teeth.

"She isn't even human" was his reply.

Ben saw red and suddenly he lashed out punching Ava's dad right in the jaw. He stared in shock at his fist then felt someone hit him. The next thing he knew both of them were rolling around on the ground punching each other.

~*~

Pyro was sitting idly on a crate trying to forget what he had seen when Ava had touched him. He shivered slightly but was distracted when he heard sounds of a fight and angry words being exchanged. He wandered over to the cage only to see the two taller guys fighting roughly.

"Hey, cut it out you two" he yelled to no effect.

He watched in amazement as they swore and screamed. The other two people in the cage were standing well out of the way knowing that there was nothing they could do to stop them.

Pyro ran a hand through his fiery red hair as he thought about what he could do.

"Remy, Piotr. We have a slight problem" he yelled.

Throwing caution to the wind he threw the cage door open and jumped in to break up the fight. He heard Remy and Piotr arrive and before he knew it the fight was stopped. The younger of the two had received the brunt of the injuries.

Pyro looked at him and exhaled loudly. The boy's face was quickly swelling up and both his eyes were unfocused.

"Jesus, mate, you look worse than a dead dingo" he whistled before letting loose a bark of a laugh.

~*~

Ava looked around her new room and sighed as she sat on the bed. It felt as if history was repeating itself but it was a nicer version. She did have to admit that she missed the freedom that was evident at the boarding house. She walked over to the mirror and lifted her fringe. The mark had grown slightly and Ava frowned. She looked at the image again and lowered her hand.

Sitting on her new bed she felt dreadful self-loathing for all her deceptions that she had committed in the last few days. She couldn't believe that everything had happened in such a short amount of time and she was worried about what would happen next.

After a few moments of pity she shook her head and decided to explore. There was no point of being there if she didn't see what was so important about this place. Pulling a beanie on over her head and pulling on a new pair of fingerless gloves she walked out of her room into a long hallway.

She could hear the voices of the other students but wasn't interested in introducing herself just yet. She was still feeling down and she thought that maybe a workout would lift her spirits, or at least keep her in shape.

She was half way down the hall when she realised that she had no idea where the gym was or whether or not they even had a workout room.

"Stupid" she muttered, hitting her forehead.

"Are you lost?" she heard a voice ask.

"I was wondering if there was a gym here?" she inquired of a young boy with messy blonde hair.

"You're the new girl. Welcome to Mutant Manor" the boy laughed.

Ava cracked a smile at this and introduced herself.

"The name's Bobby or Iceman, whatever you choose" he replied and pointed towards a large door explaining that it was one of the workout rooms.

Ava thanked him and went towards the room. She opened the door to find a large room with a lot of exercise equipment.

"Yes" she sighed happily as she began a workout.

~*~

Scott and Rogue walked towards the gym, ready to practise combat. Rogue was interested to learn of Ava's arrival but she didn't show it. She was always careful to keep her game face on.

"So what's she like?" she asked in her Southern drawl.

"I don't know really. She seems nice but has a really strange sense of humour. Sometimes it seems as if she isn't from this country" Scott replied.

"What do you mean?"

"Well she seems to loose her accent sometimes though it could be my mind playing tricks on me."

Rogue opened the door to the gym and was about to reply when she heard some music blaring from within. She glanced back at Scott who shrugged then peered inside.

"Ava's in there" she whispered to Scott.

She opened the door wider and walked in with Scott behind her. Rogue looked at the treadmill and saw a girl who was slightly shorter than her sweating away on the treadmill. She was wearing a beanie and gloves along with a tank top and bright board shorts that fell past her knees.

She stood by the door for a minute before motioning to Scott to start their training. She was just going into a defensive stance when she heard a voice.

"Oh, sorry. Do we have to book when we work here?"

She saw Ava slowing down and getting off the treadmill.

"No that's okay. We have scheduled times but others are allowed in here whenever" Rogue explained.

"My name is Ava Jensen. I don't think we've met" the girl said.

"My name's Rogue" Rogue drawled.

Rogue noted her gloves.

"I guess we have similar problems" Rogue commented although regretting it quickly as she saw a shadow pass over the girl's eyes.

"I don't have any problems."

"I mean with our powers. I can't touch people either" Rogue explained and was relieved to see her relax, if only slightly.

"Yeah, well I better get going. It was nice meeting you. Oh and thanks for the ride Scott" Ava waved as she left the room.

"I see what you mean, Scott" Rogue said thoughtfully as they watched her go.