Awoken

by lupastrum

It's a new school year for the X-men as they have an Empath that joins their ranks in the face of an enemy stronger than any they have faced before. Slight inkling of some pairings. Read and Review! ON HIATUS

1. Rescue

Awoken

Disclaimer: X-Men Evolution belongs to Marvel Comics and Warner Brothers. Only the original characters belong to me!

A/N: Here it is – my first POSTED fic, officially. It's a tid bit AU, so if I screw something up, let me know without flames, please. This is like seeing the Institute from the eyes of an empathic mutant who must join the X-men. Sort of. I promise there's a bigger plot.
Title inspired by the Evanescence song "Bring Me to Life", which is on the Daredevil Soundtrack, and their CD, Fallen. Excellent song - download it, and you won't regret it, I promise. Now that I've stalled long enough, here it is: "Awoken".

AN2: Here is Chapter One, v 2.0.  Bit o' revision and editing.

Italics denote thought, this is psychic convo, *this* is emphasis {this} is sound effects, and [this] is a foreign language.

~~~~~~~*********~~~~~~~~

Chapter the First: The One With the Empath

-Bayville, New York, 2AM.-

{ring}

Silence. The Institute was deadly quiet; the AC wasn't even on to make that weird humming noise.

{ring}

Logan, who had been patrolling the hallways, picked up the receiver, tossing etiquette out the window at the same time. At two a.m., he was not going to be polite.  "Yeah?"

A female voice answered, overlaid with controlled worry.

"I apologize for the lousy timing, but is Charles Xavier there?"

Logan snorted. "And who are you?"

 
She sighed. "My name is Erde Thomas, Ian Thomas' daughter." She paused, uncertain. "My niece has been kidnapped."

He stilled. "And how exactly can we help, lady?"

She seemed to scowl and irritation flowed out of her voice. "Don't be stupid -we're mutants – myself and my niece. I need Xavier's help." Her voice had turned upset. "She's been gone three days."

Hearing the recognizable noise of Xavier's wheelchair behind him, he turned and handed the phone to the Professor. "It's for you, Chuck."

He nodded and answered. "Erde, where's your mother?"

Logan left, listening to the Professor talk to the girl.


~~~~~~~~~*********~~~~~~~~~

{BAMF}

"Guten morgen, ladies!" A bright, cheery voice announced in the silence of the late summer morning.
Kitty groaned, turning into her pillow. "Kill it, someone please."

Rogue looked at the digital clock next to her bed, snarl on her face.

6 AM.

"Kurt, Ah'm gonna kill ya." She announced, accent thicker from sleep, as she jumped out of bed then promptly tripped when her sheets tangled around her legs. "DAMNIT!"

Kurt snorted, golden eyes amused. He ran a two-fingered hand through his indigo hair sheepishly. "Sorry – wake up call from Herr Logan this time. Meeting in the library in half an hour." He looked at them, eyebrow raised as his half-sister lurched to her feet. "Figured you two wanted up before Jean and Scott both take all of the hot water."

Kitty sat up, rubbing sleep from her eyes. "A meeting? At 6:30 in the freaking morning? *During* summer vacation?!"

He nodded, grim. "Ja – all I got was that it is big, whatever it is."

As he left, he heard Rouge mutter, "Couldn't they do this at sunrise, at least?"

~~~~~~~~*******~~~~~~~~~

"Her name is Eryn Thomas, and she was kidnapped from her home in Tennessee three days ago." Professor Xavier looked at them all calmly, seated in various positions and locations in the large room, all of them yawning (except Kurt, of course.) "Mina – her grandmother – believes the kidnappers are mutants."

"How do we know for sure, Charles?" Mr. McCoy asked.

"Mina was also attacked, but was knocked unconscious before she could confirm it. She is rather…distressed." The Professor steepled his fingers. "She and her daughter, Erde, are trying to catch a plane here now to give us the story in full. They should be here late this afternoon."
Jean looked at him oddly. Xavier's uncertainty was making her edgy. "What is Eryn's mutation?"

"She is an Empath. A rather strong one, or could be, once she fully develops her gift. She can also generate light with her hands and use it offensively as a weapon, but this is a newer effect of her X-gene, so she doesn't quite understand it yet."

The others looked impressed. "Cool," Sam breathed.
Kurt shook his head, commenting from his perch on the back of the couch behind Kitty. "Not so cool – Empathy is a difficult gift to have. I've known human empaths in my troupe who

drove themselves insane."

Jamie looked at the Professor curiously. "What exactly is an Empath?"

"Someone who can like, sense and read other people's emotions and stuff," Kitty answered.

"The more powerful can project their own to other people." She looked at Hank and the Professor. "I'm assuming that a mutant Empath would have a more powerful gift than a human one."

"Under most circumstances, yes," Xavier amended.

"So why kidnap an Empath with barely controlled offensive ability?" Scott asked, adjusting his shades. "Why not take someone with a more destructive power? What exactly are they after?"

"Young Ms. Thomas is a mutant who recieved her gene from her grandfather - it skipped a generation," Hank answered. "But do not discount Empathy as a destructive gift – that particular ability can enhance her mind and body to be nearly superhuman if she wished it to do so, along with – as Kitty said – projecting her emotions to other people. Empathy can be extremely dangerous. As for the 'why' of her capture, we are puzzled."

There was a pregnant silence before Logan spoke in his usual gruff manner. "That means if we go on a rescue mission kids, it'll probably get a bit hot in there – so, depending on who goes, you all will have to be on your guard and actually paying attention for once. As in, not goofing off." He sent a slight glare Kurt and Evan's way, which the boys shrugged off.

The Professor looked around, seeing if everyone understood, then nodded in satisfaction. "I'm going to Cerebro. Hopefully, the computer or I will pick up something." Seeing eyes droop, he smiled slightly. "You are free to go – I will notify everyone when the Thomases arrive."



~~~~~***********~~~~~~~

 
Pain.

It's a slightly indescribable sensation; all one can really use is a mix of adjectives and synonyms, and even then one can't fully describe what they are feeling. Just what the pain feels like, using personifications and such.

Right now, she felt like someone had beaten the tar out of her. It hurt to breathe; it hurt to blink; it even hurt to think of even possibly moving. Sometime. Within the next week.

As she came to consciousness, Eryn Thomas cursed mentally, realizing she was lying on a metal laboratory table. Feeling panic claw at the edge of her psyche, she made to get of the table and get out, as far away as she could, but that miniscule motion caused fire to spread in her muscles, and breathing came even harder.

Broken ribs. Fabulous.

Forcing herself to move, she brought a hand gently to her face, feeling dried blood there, from a gash near her hairline. Her shirt was also stiff with dried blood, caused by a wound in her shoulder. Moving to her abdomen, she felt stitched up wounds that had been caused the last time she fought, and staring at her hands, she saw black and blue bruises mixed with dry blood.

"Shit."

She snapped her mouth shut. Idiot! Now they know you're awake!

"Well, well, look who decided to join us." An oily voice announced. "Hey Fade, the Empath's awake."

Turning her head, she saw the pyrokinetic known only as Vulcan. Glancing at her with burning red eyes, he leered at her in a manner that made her feel dirty, effectively putting her on her guard, her focus sharp, despite the headache that was making her dizzy.

"Leave her alone, Vulcan," the thief/assassin known as Fade commented. "Raith'll kill you if you hurt her."

Eryn scowled. Ah yes, Fade. The one she knew as Kei; she had known him when her family had lived in Japan for two years – the shadow mutant had been a friend to her Aunt. He hadn't done anything outwardly nefarious, but as soon as she got a chance, she was going to show him just how much she appreciated her accommodations here.

"I'm not going to hurt her," the pyromaniac sneered, inching closer, reaching out and touching her face. She flinched. "I just want to have some fun with her, that's all."

"Your idea of fun won't be hers, Vulcan" the Japanese man spat the other's code name like an insult. "Go. Tell Raith she's awake."

With a growl at being ordered around, the other male left angrily. Once he was gone, Fade approached the table, and she shied away from him as much as she could.

["Eryn, can you move?"] he asked in Japanese, sloe colored eyes earnest.

She looked at him in surprise, shocked into answering back in the same language. ["Maybe. It hurts."] She looked at him with scrutiny, then her eyes widened. ["You're a spy!"]

He snorted in derision. ["When it comes time, you will have to move quickly. Can you?"]

["Possibly. It would be easier if I could use my powers – I can dull the pain."]

He glared at her. ["Idiot. Pay attention to your surroundings! Raith took of your inhibitor!"]

There was no more time to say anything else, for Vulcan entered the lab room with the one they called Raith.

Looking into the man's face, it tugged at her memory, as if she should know it, but her headache was keeping her from concentrating.

"Hello, Ms. Thomas, " he said, voice completely void of emotion. His eyes were the same.

She gasped as she heard his voice, and her memory ignited.

"You!" she yelled, rising off of the table, then gasped when a sharp pain shot through her chest, forcing her back down.

How could she forget his face? How could she have forgotten the one who had *murdered* her grandfather?

He grinned, but it didn't reach his eyes. "So you do remember. Pardon me if I hurt you during this experiment – It can't be helped." He turned to Kei. "Go and check on the other prisoners. I smell trouble on the way."

He nodded, then left.

"Now," Raith said, extending a hand over her chest. "Let's see just how strong that power of yours is."

"Stay away from me!" she snarled, but to no avail. Her protest was weak, and she was too injured to move. He simply sneered as his eyes turned a complete opaque black.  Black lightning laced out of his palm, hitting her body with searing force, and a bloodcurdling scream was torn from her throat as his Apathy infected her Empathy.

Weakened by blood loss, sleep deprivation, and starvation among other things, she could only scream as the barriers carefully constructed through years of meditation and practice dissolved like ash. She couldn't even regain the breath to scream again as he tore into her soul, rendering it to bloody shreds. A feeling of violation crawled across her, making her feel dirty and unclean, and she wanted to curl into herself for protection. It was like being raped – there was nothing sacred, nothing that could be hidden or secret.

He smirked. "Girl, there is nothing you can hide from me – you are nothing."

Then, the unexpected happened.

Crying and in agony, her Empathy leapt to defend her, no longer held in check by the barriers it had been before. They watched in confusion and growing trepidation as she glowed a brilliant hard-edged white, blinding those who looked at her directly. Her eyes turned liquid silver, like mercury, and a single tear made seemingly of glowing crystal ran down her face.

"She's evolving!" someone screamed in the distance.

Around her, the world exploded. New sights, sounds and perceptions reached her senses, and she fell into the sensation, not fighting it.  Now able to see fully things she had only seen glimpses of before, she moaned as everything went black.



~~~~~~~~~~*******~~~~~~~


IDENTIFIED MUTANT SIGNATURE DETECTED.

Professor Xavier looked up at Cerebro's screen as the electronic voice chimed. "Identify mutant," he stated.

MUTANT IDENTIFIED: ERYN THOMAS A teenage girl with long dark hair and blazing silver eyes appeared.

Behind Xavier, Logan smirked. "Gotcha."

"Locate mutant," Xavier announced, watching as a map appeared on screen, zoning in on the state of New York.

LOCATION: MANHATTAN

"Want me to ready the kids, Chuck?" Wolverine asked, already anticipating the fight to come.

"Not yet," Xavier sighed. He then tilted his head, as if listening, then smiled. "The Thomases have just arrived. I want Erde to go with the team."

"Why the girl?" Logan scoffed.

"Erde is nearly thirty – hardly a girl. She is also a powerful mutant, a terrakinetic of sorts . I also want someone familiar to Eryn to go, so she won't be as frightened." He looked worried.

"I have a feeling this is only the beginning to another eventful year."

"Great," Logan sarcasmed.
 

~~~~~*********~~~~~~~~


"Mama, are you sure Professor Xavier's 'X-men' can help us?" Erde Thomas looked at her mother, green eyes skeptical. She stared at the gate to the Institute, fingering the strap of her duffel bag impatiently, the other hand holding the duffel that contained some of her niece's belongings. The sun had already started to set, and she was getting antsy, sensing the upcoming fight.

Mina Thomas rolled her eyes. "Shatz, if I have learned one thing from Charles over the years, it is to trust his judgment. If he says they are capable – no matter their age – I believe him." Her voice, usually void of accent, was tinted with her native German from stress.

The earth-witch sighed. "Fine. Do you want me press the intercom?"

Mina grinned. "No need – have you forgotten that there are two telepaths in residence here? I'm sure they are already aware of our arrival."

Like punctuation to the sentence, the gate creaked open.

"Huh," was all Erde managed to say, before striding through the gate.

Welcome to the Institute, Mina. I trust your flight was uneventful

She grinned as she heard his mind-voice, and was able to answer back from experience despite her lack of mutation. Hello Charles. The only thing 'eventful' was Erde's attitude; I'm afraid she's a bit…grouchy. Her own mind-voice was wry and amused, then turned serious. Any news?

She 'felt' his smile. We have located your granddaughter, and were just waiting your arrival. I had thought it best if Erde went with them.

She mentally nodded. Good idea. Eryn doesn't deal with strangers too well.

By this time, they had reached the door and Erde knocked a bit harder than she meant to, which resulted in a sound loud enough to wake the dead.

Mina nudged her with an elbow. "Remember your manners, liebe – I don't care how grouchy you are."

Erde snorted, tucking a strand of gold-brown hair behind her ear. "Fine, I'll try to be gentle. *Try*, mind you. No guarantees."

Mina smiled, her own blue-green eyes amused. "That's all I ask." Please God, help her keep her temper, for once in her lifetime.

The door opened revealing an African American woman with white hair, blue eyes and a gentle smile. "The Professor is expecting you."

Mina nodded. "I know." She tapped her temple, a sign for psychic speech. She turned to Erde.

"He said he wants you to go with them, so go ahead and get ready."

"I would have gone anyway," Erde scoffed, walking through the door (after nodding politely at Ororo and saying hello.)

Mina smiled at the weather-witch as she walked inside. "I apologize for Erde's…brusqueness. It has been a long couple of days."

Ororo smiled. " I understand. It is nice to see you again, Mrs. Thomas."

She smiled in return. "Call me Mina please, Ororo. Such formalities make me uncomfortable."

As they walked towards the hangar, Ororo cocked her head in curiosity. "You have a German accent?"

The older woman sighed. "Not usually, but I'm a bit emotional. I was born in Germany, but educated in England. I just happened to fall in love with an American soldier." She grinned. "It's quite a good story, but now is not the time." Having reached the hangar, she stopped in awe at the sight of the Blackbird. "*That* is a beautiful machine."

"It is, isnt' it?" Xavier said, rolling up in his chair. "She'll get to Manhattan quickly." He looked at her. "It is good to see you again, Mina." She looked much the same as she had at her husband's funeral a year and a half ago – hair the same color as her granddaughter's hung to her waist, only threaded with silver, braided away from her face, and her blue-green eyes sparkled with youth and vitality, no longer clouded with grief, but now shadowed with worry.

"Yes it is, old friend," she replied, "but where are your 'X-men' I have heard so much about?"

Xavier tilted his head as if listening for something, then smiled. "They are on their way."
Just then, a group of teens entered the cavernous hangar, all of them varying in age, appearance, and nationality.

"Students, I would like you to meet an old friend of mine, Mina Thomas. Mina, these are the X-men."

_________________

As the jet sped through the sky faster than the speed of sound, inside of the aircraft Erde ran her hands over the green and black leather of her old Guild uniform, before tracing the wrappings on the hilt of her katana, a nervous habit she had never managed to completely train herself out of.

"Guten Tag, Fraulein Thomas," Nightcrawler said cheerfully as he jumped into the seat next to her in the jet, and she looked up.

"Guten Tag, Pelzartig [1]," she said, glancing at the blue Teutonic elf out of the corner of her eye. Her gaze instantly became speculative. "Would you be terribly offended if I asked you a rather personal question?"

"Not at all. Ask away." He grinned, showing sharpened canines, even though his eyes held a spark of trepidation. "I'm just glad that you didn't scream."

Behind him, Shadowcat cringed.

"I've seen worse things in my lifetime, Elf," she retorted. "Now, were you born like that, or did you mutate like that?"

Those in hearing range winced.

Kurt only smiled. "Both, I guess. I was born like this, but it is because I'm a mutant."

"Ah. I see. And you teleport?"

"Ja."

"Interesting."

His gaze turned speculative towards her in return. "So what is your power?"

Shadowcat and Rogue, sitting behind them, listened attentively. Spyke, behind them, leaned forward.

Erde smirked. "I'm a terrakinetic – an earth 'witch' I guess you could say. I can talk to and control plants and earth."

Spyke snorted. "Bet she'd give Avalanche a run for his money, dude."

"'Avalanche'," Erde said with a raised gold-brown eyebrow. "Sounds like a form of compensation to me."

Rogue snorted in laughter, as Shadowcat couldn't decide whether to join the others in laughing or to be offended for her boyfriend's sake.

"So what is your code name?" Kitty asked instead.

Erde smiled, showing teeth. "Gaia." [2]

Their conversation was cut short as Jean, sitting next to Cyclops, shrieked, holding her head and glowing white. The telepath was sucked into a mental pool of anguish as she had tried to pinpoint the source of a mental call, and as they watched, her eyes turned silver.

"Eryn," Gaia muttered in horror, half rising out of her seat.

"HELP ME!" she screamed, then Jean slumped, eyes turning normal again as she clutched her head.

"Jean?" Cyclops asked, worried, grabbing her by the shoulders. "What happened?"

The redhead gulped, still holding her head as if she had a massive headache. Which she probably did. "We're close," she answered in a shocky voice, shaking.

Rogue rolled her eyes. "Thanks for pointing out the obvious."

Nightcrawler glanced out the window and saw the docks near Liberty Island. Wolverine was landing the jet, turning on the cloaking device as Storm covered the harbor with fog.

"How close, Red?" he growled.

Jean mentally scanned for the source of the call. "Very close. Within a couple of miles, I think."

"Alright kids, this is how it's going to go." Wolverine surveyed them all with a stern eye. "Cyke is going to take Jean, Spyke, the Elf, and 'Ro. I'm takin' everyone else. Give a signal if you find anything, understood?"

They all nodded.

"Let's be careful," Storm said quietly. "We don't know who or what could be behind this."

As they all exited, Gaia grabbed her katana and slung it across her back. "Lord help us all," she muttered as she followed Wolverine.


~~~~~~~~~********~~~~~~~~~~

It took several hours, all of them combing the area around the docks, filled with creaking wood, abandoned warehouses, and people huddled in alleyways around trashcan-fires, trying to keep warm despite the late summer night's haze.  Jean, searching mentally for the source of anguish that had flooded her, mentally saw a small pinpoint of light in her mind.  Growing closer, she recognized the fellow mutant.

Found her! Jean's voice crowed in Wolverine's mind.

Where? he answered, pausing. Gaia, Shadowcat, and Rogue all stopped behind him.

Um. Silence for a moment. Warehouse. Three streets to your…left, two blocks down.

Alright Red, we're on our way. Stay put. He turned to his companions.

"She found her. Let's go."

Gaia grinned wolfishly as she followed the X-men, drawing her katana.

Nothing like a fight to cheer a woman up. Alongside her, she saw Rogue flexing her hands and balling them into fists alternately, preparing for the inevitable her own way.


~~~~****~~~~


Nell Finnley happened to be a highly intelligent girl for her age. She had skipped the fourth grade, her IQ and aptitude being high enough to permit the leap, and she was a science fanatic, especially towards anything concerning oceanography. No surprise considering her mutation. She usually didn't scare easy, but since she was captured and her parents killed, fear became common.

Like now, while she hid in her corner, watching the soldiers pass her by as they carried other prisoners away, like little Nell Finnley was unimportant. She wondered where Eryn was – Betsy had told her to stay here while Fade took her and Tracy to find the source of the explosion. Apparently, the soldiers had forgotten she was here.

Or so she thought.

A hand like a vice enclosed around the eleven-year old hydrokinetic's elbow, hauling her up.

"C'mon brat," he snarled, breath smelling like cigarette smoke.

She snarled and prepared to kick him in a place he really wouldn't want a foot, but she never got the chance.

"Hey you! Like, let go of the kid!"

A bolt of lightning struck the soldier's chest, and he went down without even emitting a noise. Shying away from the electricity, she turned to who had saved her and stared.

Nine people walked towards her, three of them only adults, the others teenagers. They wore odd-looking costumes, with the letter 'X' being a main theme.

A gruff, mean looking man with metal claws extending from his knuckles leaned down and looked into her face.

"Where's the Empath?" he growled. Nell jumped backwards with a whimper.

"Wolverine!" A black woman with white hair protested. "Don't frighten her – can't you see she's already scared?"

A teenage girl with vibrant red hair knelt and looked at her. "Where is Eryn?" she asked gently, green eyes concerned.

Nell gulped, shaking a head capped with near-platinum curls. "Don't know – they took her out of the cell this morning."

A woman in green and black leather cursed.

Another girl, her brown hair in a ponytail, touched her shoulder and smiled kindly, blue eyes gentle. "It'll be okay now – we're here to save you."

Nell had prided herself on not crying the entire time she had been here, striving to be brave like Betsy and the others. But hearing those five words made her break down. The girl with the ponytail hugged her tightly as she cried.

"It'll be alright, now. You're safe." She smiled. "My name's Kitty – what's yours?"

Another explosion rocked the corridor, making them look sharply in its direction, cutting off Nell's answer. The scary man and the woman in green and black ran off in its direction, followed by a boy in a visor.

"*What* was that?" a girl with bi-colored hair and dark makeup asked.

"An explosion, obviously," said a voice with a German accent, and when Nell pinpointed the source, she stifled a gasp, sapphire eyes wide.

He looked like a demon: cerulean fur, glowing yellow eyes, fangs, and a spaded tail. Six fingers and four toes. Legs, that by judging the way he was standing, that he would rather be crouching on than standing, but it was hard to tell without him standing up straight. 

He smirked and waved. "Hallo, fraulein."

She gulped. "Um. Hi." She shook her head and rubbed her eyes furiously, but when she looked, he was still there.

"I'm real, I promise. I'm also totally human." His grin grew wider, showing off his white fangs.

She had the grace to look embarrassed and stared at her feet. "Sorry."

The redhead looked at her. "So what was that noise?"

Nell shrugged. "I don't know."

The girl with the bi-colored hair started off down the corridor, and paused when she didn't hear anyone following.

"Well are y'all comin' or not?"


~~~~*****~~~~


Elizabeth Braddock was not a happy girl right now.

Walking over dead bodies will do that to a person.

Teresa Rourke-Cassidy looked at Fade in shock. "You did this?" she rasped, sounding odd with her Gaelic accent. Because of her sonic scream, her inhibitor had incapacitated her voice. Now, with it off, she sounded like she had a bronchial infection.

The oriental thief/assassin looked at them levelly. "Yes. I did this. I had no choice. Now, follow me. Something has gone terribly wrong, and I need to get Eryn."

Betsy snorted, her purple psy-knife glowing in the dark hallway. She advanced on the assassin, her 'knife' in front of her, eyes snapping. "Not so fast. Why are you doing this? Why help us?"

Kei snarled under his breath. He had no time for a game of Twenty Questions. "Just do as I say." He drew both of his katanas before storming down the hallway.

"Great," Tracy rasped. "Just perfect."


~~~~~******~~~~~~~~~


"Alright, let's split up," Storm said as they reached a fork in the corridors. "Nightcrawler, Rogue, you two come with me. The rest of you go find the control room and be careful."
Jean, Spyke, Shadowcat, and Nell all nodded before taking off in the other direction.

"Let's go," Rogue said before they ran down the opposite hallway.

It was a warzone.

Bodies and blood littered the hallway, with scars caused by blades were gouged in the walls, glass littering the floor like a twisted mosaic.

Two, not three blades had scarred the wall.

"So it's not Wolverine," Nightcrawler muttered.

"No," Storm said, studying the marks with her fingertips. "This was made by some type of sword."

Taking off down the corridor, they turned a corner and nearly ran into three people standing in the hallway.

An oriental man dressed completely in black whirled to face them, sword pointed and ready. With him were two girls, one dark haired, the other with strawberry blonde hair, who both wore the grungy clothing of the prisoners like Nell had been wearing.

"State your name and your reason," he commanded in a tone that booked no argument.
Ever the peacemaker, Storm held up her hands to show that she was 'unarmed'.

"I am Storm, and this is Rogue and Nightcrawler. We're here for Eryn Thomas."

He raised an eyebrow, curious. "What do you want with an Empath?"

"What do you want with one?" Kurt countered.

The dark-haired girl glared, looking ferocious with the lightning-shaped scar over her eye.

"Fade, we don't have time for this."

To punctuate her statement, the sound of screeching metal rent the air, making all of them wince as the ground started to move and groan, making them stumble.

"*What* was *that*?" The girl with the red-gold hair asked in a Gaelic accent as the ground stilled.

The oriental man – Fade – paused, head cocked to listen. "I know that noise…I've heard it before…" his eyes went distant before they widened. "Erde!" he muttered before taking off in the direction of the noise at a run.

As they ran after him, Storm noticed something odd. The metal and concrete floor seemed to be bumpy in some places, dented in others, and rising in other locations. What is going…
As they turned another corner, they saw.

Gaia stood firmly in a hallway full of soldiers, hand outstretched. Vines had torn themselves out of the floor and walls, tying all of the enemy men in place, and the floor was cracked and vaulted. More vines were reaching towards the laboratory hallway, where more fighting was taking place – Storm dimly heard Wolverine and Cyclops.

"Erde!" Fade yelled.

She whirled around, and Storm saw that her eyes were completely green with no pupil, white, or iris. They turned normal before widening in shock.

"Kei? What are *you* doing here?"

He glared. "Dancing a jig. What do you think I'm doing here?"

She glared in return. "I don't know – assisting a megalomaniac maybe?" Her hand twitched, before reaching for her blade.

"Don't insult me!" he snarled, tensing. "You shouldn't be here!"

"Not that this isn't heart-warming," Rogue quipped, rolling her eyes as she came between the two, "but we need to go." She motioned at the next hallway.

Fade exhaled sharply, whirling around. "Follow me."


~~~~********~~~~~

Intangible, Shadowcat dived through the supercomputer in the control room they had found, while Nell summoned as much water as she could to spray onto the delicate technology. Jean was using her teke to deflect bullets while Spyke was busting screens and windows with his bone spikes.

The computer gave a screech and died abruptly.

Phasing through it again and becoming tangible, Kitty dusted her hands off in a self-satisfied manner.

"That was easy," she commented.

Jean was breathing hard, the soldiers in the hallway knocked out effectively by her and Evan. "Too easy," she muttered, turning. They all saw her eyes widen in fear.

"GET DOWN!" she yelled, diving into the control room as fire raced down the hallway like an inferno. The soldiers in the hallway screamed in pain as they roasted, and a silhouette appeared in the flames. 

"He's burning his own men alive!" Evan yelled, pulling Kitty backwards from the door.

Nell had frozen in fear, staring at the doorway in terror, mouth gaping.

A man walked out of the flames, red eyes amused. "Well, lookie what I've caught."

Moron, Evan thought abstractly. Pyro has to be more intelligent than this guy.

As the enemy mutant extended his hands, a circle of fire rose around them.

"Just how I like them – extra-crispy." He sneered.

"What?" Kitty asked. "Do you like, get your comments from some evil-minion guidebook? That was *so* cliché."

Evan snorted in laughter, despite the tenseness of the situation.

The man's eyes glowed as he swelled in his fury. "You'll pay for that, witch!"

Jean had started to cough – the heat was rising to unbearable, and it was burning all of the oxygen away. Both Kitty and Evan were wiping sweat away so they could see clearly.

Nell gulped. "Hold on to me," she murmured so only they could hear. "We're getting out of here."

They touched her back, staying in contact, and immediately felt cooler and able to breathe. The eleven-year-old extended her hands as her eyes glowed like blue fire, and water sprayed from her hands like a torrential rain, dousing the flames and soaking the pyromaniac. Kitty phased them all, and they ran through him and out the door.


~~~~~******~~~~~~~

The laboratory hallway was a corridor that had many rooms like cubes, the outside walls with the doors made entirely of glass and metal. In the hallway, facing one another was Wolverine, Cyclops, and two enemy mutants. One was a woman – blonde, glacial, and proud. The other was a man with black hair and eyes, with pale skin that belonged on a vampire, his paleness accented by his black clothing.

Gaia gasped, seeing the man. Shaking her head, she muttered under her breath, backing up. "No – it's not possible…"

"Who is he?" Storm asked.

Gaia was shaking, not answering. It was Fade who answered the question.

"Raith."

"Well, Fade," Raith said, no emotion on his face. "I see I'm going to have to be more careful choosing my associates in the future." Those with a trained eye saw his muscles tense to spring.

"Siryn, NOW!" Betsy yelled.

The girl with red-gold hair – Tracy – let loose a scream that made everyone clap their hands to their ears in agony. It echoed and ricocheted off of the walls, and the glass groaned inward before it shattered, the panes exploding in a violent burst of iridescent shards, causing all of those close to cover their faces.

Raith did not and his face showed no expression as the glass sliced into his flesh, causing rivulets of blood to run down his face.

Storm gasped, now knowing what he was. Apath. Oh, Goddess…

As everyone burst into action, Fade grabbed Kurt.

"Hurry – third room to the left."

Nightcrawler nodded, and to Fade's astonishment, jumped onto the ceiling, and galloped down the corridor, ignoring the fighting underneath him. Reaching the room, he avoided broken glass and medical apparatus as he approached the metal table in the center, the silver surface scorched as if from extreme heat.

The teenager lying on top of it could only be about his age, maybe a little bit older, and about the same height as Kitty. She had long jet-black hair, and pale skin that hinted of European ancestry. He supposed that underneath all of the blood she was quite beautiful, at least to most standards of judging beauty.

Her skin was stained crimson from where it had run from her ears and nose, as well as the dried amount on her hands and clothing. A large wound in her shoulder was still bleeding sluggishly.

Picking her up gently so he didn't jar her wounds - Ach, she's heavier than she looks- he peeked out into the corridor.

Wolverine and Cyclops were facing off with the blonde woman, who was tossing green-blue fireballs, eyes alight with maniacal glee. Gaia and Storm were facing off with Raith, the lighting illuminating the corridor, while the others were fighting soldiers. Kurt recognized Kitty with a jolt, but made himself focus on the battle in front of him.  Eryn moaned, sensing movement. Her senses were still on overdrive, her power still active, and she risked a peek to see if her vision was still wacky.

She blinked, not believing what she was seeing.

Ug. My vision is *screwed*. There is no way…

She blinked. Nope, still there. He still hadn't noticed she was halfway coherent.

It was blinding. He shone brightly, a pure and clear white, but other emotions crossed his …aura for lack of better words. Regret. Loneliness. Courage. Loyalty. Self-loathing. Love, both given and recieved.  Despite the overall beauty of it, there were deep scars that were visible to those that could see them.

Several images crossed her "Vision" – a Knight with a sword, a pirate, a superhero – all of them overshadowed by one image.

An Angel. Or a Guardian. They were kind of interchangeable. She saw someone who would do anything to protect the innocent, to protect those he cared for, and those who couldn't defend themselves.

He was beautiful.

She was safe.  Was she dying?  Had Raith succeeded in killing her, despite evidence to the contrary?

Outside of her Vision and her physical pain, she dimly heard her Aunt Erde's voice.
Impossible. That would mean…

The realization she was being rescued finally filtered into her brain, and her Vision died as her senses returned to normal.

Kurt heard the girl in his arms exhale a sigh of relief, and he felt the pressure against his mental shields vanish [3]. He had known she was waking up, but had been afraid to move her or jeopardize her health further. He saw her eyes open more fully; they were a roiling storm grey color, a contrast from the silver Jean's eyes had turned while channeling her earlier.
She blinked, staring. He braced himself for the scream, and was surprised when she smiled slightly.

"Help?" she whispered, eyes hopeful.

Unable to speak, he just nodded. She sighed again, eyes closing, shivering badly.

"Hurts."

"Ja, I know." He whispered. Keep her calm and awake.

Those grey eyes were moving around the room, observing everything, not stopping.
Coming to a decision, he looked at her. "Brace yourself," he muttered, before teleporting.
It was a rough jaunt – he was tired as well as hungry and she was injured and nearly deadweight. An arm grasped his as he growled at himself when he felt blood trickle from his nose, managing not to drop her.

Verdammt.

Kitty gulped, holding onto his arm, trying not to look at the bloody girl he was holding. "Hey, fuzzy – are you alright?" She let him go when he nodded.

Eryn felt like pitching her cookies all over the hallway, but flinched away when someone touched her face. She looked.

Nell.

Her face was very pale, and she looked shocky and scared. Behind her, she was relieved to see, where their cellmates, Betsy and Tracy.

A girl in a uniform like the one the boy who held her was wearing approached. She had vibrant red hair like fire and bright green eyes, and she touched the Empath's forehead, eyes serious.

"Nice to meet you in person, Eryn," she said, smiling despite the battle around them. "My name is Jean."

Eryn nodded, but everyone froze when a yell reverberated in the hallway.

"ENOUGH!" Raith's expression was inexplicable, somehow a cross between anger and something else. "I'm done with this." He raised his hand and tossed something on the floor, which exploded in a burst of light. Smoke filled the hallway.

"No," Fade snarled, starting forward. "You won't get away from me *this* time." As Gaia yelled at him to stop, he ran through the smoke, disappearing.

She growled in fury, shaking.

"You IDIOT!"

Storm sighed, using what air there was to waft the smoke away.

The corridor was empty.

{Snakt} Wolverine glared around, still suspicious, sniffing the air. After a moment he sighed. "Let's go – we've got what we came for."

At that, Erde turned, running to Kurt and touching her neice's forehead and smoothing her hair, trying to get her to talk. Eryn was now incoherent from blood loss and pain.

"Let's get her to the Institute," Storm said, looking around. "There is nothing more to do here."

They were all silent as they headed back to the Blackbird. 

~~~~~~******~~~~~~~~~~

[1] Pelzartig – German for 'furry' at least to FreeTranslation.com

[2] Greek Mythology 101: Gaia (guy-ah) is Mother Earth, but in myths it's usually spelled Gaea (gee-uh). Just in case you didn't know and had the burning desire to.

[3] I think that the Prof. would have taught them how to use basic mental shields, being around telepaths and all, and knowing they were going to encounter an Empath who might not be in control of her powers, Kurt would have used his so he wasn't effected by accidental projection.