Spinning, laughing, dancing to
her favorite song
A little girl with nothing wrong
Is all alone

Eyes wide open
Always hoping for the sun
And she'll sing her song to anyone
that comes along

Fragile as a leaf in autumn
Just fallin' to the ground
Without a sound

Crooked little smile on her face
Tells a tale of grace
That's all her own

~*~ still in flashback mode ~*~

      An hour later, a mixed team of mutants and police officers sifted through the carnage. Pulses were checked to no avail and bodies were bagged, cataloged, and taken outside. After finishing the failed rescue, 35 adult bodies were found. 20 women and 15 men. The rag-tag team now began the daunting task of the children's cell.

      "This is what Hell must look like." Jean said sadly, as she checked the pulse of a small girl with dark hair.

      "How can anyone do this… to children?" Ororo said checking the pulse of a little boy and nodding to the nearby officer to indicate that he was dead.

      "What I don't understand is, when Jean and I first got here, we heard muffled screaming and the pile over the trap door was moving inch by inch." Scott said, furrowing his brow at another child being carried outside. "I know there was someone here, alive."

      The group went about their work. They were down to about five children. When there was a shout.

      "Hey! You uh might want to check this out. Make sure I am not imagining things." The group rushed over. "Here," Storm said, taking Scott's fingers and placing them where hers had been. "Do you feel that?"

      "A pulse." Scott replied. "She's alive." He looked down on the girl. She had curly, long, blonde hair. Aside from that, she looked gruesome. She looked as if she had been beaten, and her head was bleeding from a gash at her hairline and her face had dried blood on it. Gingerly, he picked her up from the floor.

      "This one is alive too." Jean said. A Boy who looked a lot older than the girl lay at her feet. He had the same blonde hair and facial features. He was very tall and definitely in his late teens or early twenties.

"I bet they're related." Ororo said and she and Jean lifted the boy up and following Scott out the door, they headed toward the jet.

"Where do you think you are going?" an officer chided. "We need to question them." He added with a southern drawl.

"You must be joking. They're children who happen to be unconscious and seriously injured. They're going with us." Jean persisted. With that, they got on the jet.

~*~ back to the present ~*~

"Scott? Sco-ott?" Rogue said. He was in a trance almost. He was gazing at a picture. "Scott!"  He snapped to attention. "What are you looking at?" She said with a softer tone. She looked down at the photo in his hands. "Callie." She said with a smile. "Jean and Callie and John. Humph" she said looking up. "The good old days."

  ~*~ Flashing back ~*~

      The two children were the lone survivors of a mutant massacre. Fifty mutants had been killed and they were the only ones spared. After a small investigation, the local police had ruled it a cult and closed the case. Xavier requested that he receive the bodies. He had a small service and they were buried in a grave outside the garden. The children planted flowers and there was a small plaque that sat atop the site that read:

      "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere" – Martin Luther King Jr.

Underneath were the names of those whose lives had been claimed.

      Meanwhile, in the infirmary, the girl and boy slept fitfully. The girl was badly bruised but otherwise, she seemed to be okay. The boy on the other hand was in serious condition. He had broken his neck and his ribs. He had punctured lungs and it was all they could but hope that they didn't fill and suffocate him.

      The girl woke up. Jean and Scott were with her. She left out a soft moan and a tear ran down her cheek. Scott turned to get a cold cloth to put on her forehead. Jean reached toward the girl's face to brush the hair from her eyes. She whimpered and flinched away from Jean's touch.

      "It's all right." Jean whispered. "We won't hurt you." Scot reached forward and brushed her brow with the cool towel.

      "We got an ID…" Strom said, breaking off. "Hey there sweetie, what's your name?" The girl didn't answer. She looked terrified. "Her name is Callista Harper She's 13, and that is her brother Kyle who is 20."

Ororo motioned to the boy who looked like he was in a great deal of pain, even in his sleep.

      "What's wrong with him?" The little girl whimpered. "Is he gonna be OK?"

      "Shh… He'll be fine." Jean said softly "You need to get some sleep Callista. Things will be fine in no time." The girl nodded.

~*~ a few weeks later ~*~

      Jean heard soft giggles coming from inside the infirmary. She opened the door to see Callista sitting on Kyle's bed. She looked so happy. Her long blonde hair had been brushed and tied back with a ribbon. Kyle would simply look at Callista and she would burst into giggles. Jean watched them for a moment. Scott came up behind her.

      "Hey." He said. Jean jumped. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. I just finished talking to the professor. The girl's a telepath, like you." Jean made an I'm-impressed face.

      "What about the boy?" she asked turning toward him.

      "Professor says he's not sure. His powers are tougher to detect."

      "If the girl has powers then why haven't we seen her use them? I mean, she's been in the training room. She's just a little girl. Are you sure she has 'em?"

      "You're just a little girl." Scott replied smugly and he moved in and gently kissed her. "I'm sure. I saw the neural scans myself. They're there. But whether or not she chooses to use them…" He trailed off and shrugged.

      "Callie. Have I told you today how much I love you?" Kyle asked sweetly.

      She smiled and hugged her brother. "Only about a ba-gazillion times" And she hugged him again. "I love you too. I don't know what I would do without you."

      "You'd manage."

      "Would not"

      "Would too"

      "Would not"

      "I can't believe we're having this conversation. I am not going anywhere."

      "Me neither. So there."

      Kyle laughed and hugged his sister again.

      "Kyle," Callie said softly. "What's gonna happen to us… without… without…"

      Jean walked in    . "You have been turned over to our care for now and we won't let anyone hurt you anymore." She smiled and Scott turned to Callie.

      "You," he said pointing a finger at her "Need to go to bed. Your brother is probably very tired." Callie nodded.  

      "I'll take you." Jean offered, leading her out of the room.

      "Is your sister afraid of adults? She seems to be quiet when we are around." Scott asked suddenly.

      "The town decided we were a menace. They had a mockery of a trial. They wanted Callie to testify. She was such a charmer. God, that was 2 years ago, it seems like yesterday. Anyhow, they knew she wouldn't be afraid to talk. She had always been a VERY outspoken kid. She was wonderful. She talked about the time she used her powers to hear the Johnson kid drowning and she saved him by pulling him out of the nearby lake. But it didn't matter the jury had made their decision before they had even entered the room. They put us in what they called a reform home. They claimed we were going to be rehabilitated and released. It was a prison and torture center. When they first took us there, they lined all of us kids against the walls. Callie started to argue with the director, a retired naval officer. He wasn't listening. She started to yell. He calmly turned to her and fired his gun at her. She squeezed her eyes shut and threw her hand up and deflected the bullet. What she didn't see was the commander grab a nearby child and then use him as a human shield. The bullet hit the kid in the shoulder. The commander threw the kid to the floor and told us if we tried to help him, we would be killed. The kid bled to death. Callie never forgave herself. I was the only one she would talk to and she never used her powers again." Scott was shocked.

      "You should sleep." Scott said. "I have got some work to do, if you need us just push this. And he handed him a buzzer."

Scott went upstairs and told the group what Kyle had told him. They were all sitting in silence thinking of the two children and their plight when suddenly Jean jumped up.

      "Something's wrong." She thought for a moment. "It's Kyle"

The team raced upstairs but they were too late. He had died.

      "It was as I feared." Professor Xavier said softly. "Kyle's lungs could not cope with the punctures. He suffocated."

***A/N- let me get a ton of things straight for you. I have made this story totally out of canon. If anyone has a better idea on how to do it then let me know. This story is meant to be pre- Wolverine and Rogue if you were curious. Also, I have no knowledge of medical terms. If someone has a better Idea to describe the death of Kyle let me know about that one too. There are some intentional grammar screw-ups in the spoken parts, I was trying to get across what the characters would sound like (extra periods and commas ect.) I hope you enjoy it! Flames are super appreciated!