*dances* You like me, you really like me!

Ahem. Now, since I actually got reviews this time, I shall say something to each, as I do to thank people.

Small fry: Thank you!

Iolo: I shall never give up! Don't worry about that! *laughs insanely* Yes, I liked the cold, and it was also a good way for him to loose control… god knows I would… And it's also nice to know the name Selwyn is popular somewhere else but in my head… ^_^ Danke!

Dr. Lauryl: Yay! You return! It's good to know that you think things have improved. Yea that is the weird thing about language, isn't it? But then again, I used Pharmacist at the start when he buys the tissues, so I wanted to be original. I use all types of lingo. I use many languages. I know all and see all.

Avalan: *points and laughs*

Shuddup. But I readily use German and Japanese in my conversations, as well as English. People call me a walking Thesaurus, and I call them 'baka' (Jap. for idiot). So yeah.

Shadow Cat: Wow. You actually went to the trouble of emailing me. I wouldn't… heh… I'm the kinda person that reads without reviewing… then makes people like me feel discouraged (people like me make people like me feel bad… just pondering how that works) … I thank you for thinking that I have plot, even though I just wing it… but I have the general idea and where it's gonna lead, so it's all good. You don't have to wait long at all either, cuz since I'm getting reviews now, I'll be an enthusiastic author! ^_^

Discoveries and Homes

When I woke up the next afternoon, it was because someone was knocking on my door.

At first, I thought it might be the Motel manager looking for more money, but then again, he would have been swearing and yelling as well if it had been him. I was confused to say the least. A name surfaced in my mind. Scott.

He had seen everything. He knew.

My stomach started churning worse than it had been before as a pulled my carcass off my bed, and glanced quickly in the dirty mirror before I shuffled over to the door, and opened it a fraction of an inch, then groaned.

Scott was outside, as well as a middle-aged man in a wheel chair.

"… yes?" I managed to squeak timidly.

"Hey Sel, can we talk to you for a minute? I think we can help."

He sounded calm and friendly, but I didn't trust him for a second. I find it hard to trust anyone.

I frowned, and instantly went into defensive-mode.

"I don't need help. I'm fine."

I slammed the door in his face, and leant on it. Why couldn't they just leave me alone? He knocked again.

"I know how you feel." He said, muffled through the door.

"You know nothing about me!" I yelled back.

There was silence for a second, and I almost thought they had left.

"Would it make you feel better to know I can do something similar?"

I froze up. The idea was entirely plausible, but not quite believable.

"… Who's that with you?"

"Professor Xavier, he's the one that helped me."

Panic over-took me. Not again. Never again. By my experience of Professors at that time, professors did experiments on you. Professors hurt you. Professors locked you in a concrete cell for half your life.

"Oh GOD NO. I am going nowhere if it's with another one… never again."

There was silence again, then a muffled conversation that I couldn't quite hear. If they didn't go away soon, the manager would throw me out for all the noise.

"Selwyn. I know that you're scared. I know that you have been locked up somewhere before, haven't you? Let me talk to you."

"Go away…" I whimpered. I was almost crying. I didn't know how to deal with a situation like this. I had cried before, plenty of times during my imprisonment, but I hadn't ever tried talking to someone about anything like this, and I hadn't ever thought that I would have to.

But in a way, I wanted to hear what they had to say. Something inside me was urging me to trust Scott, maybe just a little bit. He had been nice to me.

I unlocked the door, and moved away from it, sitting down exhaustedly on my bed in the middle of the room, resting my head in my hands, wondering how this had happened to me.

"It's unlocked."

*~*~*~*

I sat, half dressed and scared out of my mind as Scott helped the professor wheel himself into my small room.

I finally got a chance to look at him properly. His head was bald and his eyes were serious but gentle. His hands were held pensively in front of himself, and he wore casual but smart clothing. He looked professional. But then again, so had my professor…

"People have already tried locking me away, if that's what you're thinking, but I'll escape. I have before." I started quietly, not looking up from my hands.

"If I want to get out of somewhere, nothing can stand in my way. If there are atoms, I can destroy things." I stated perfectly seriously, looking the professor in the eye.

To prove my point, the lampshade behind me crumbled to dust.

"I have control, if that's what you're wondering. Yesterday was a fluke. I was sick. It's hard to keep my focus when I'm trying to stop the ground from spinning."

I needed to state the facts before they started saying anything. I wouldn't go through the 'let us help you' bullshit if I had to.

The professor didn't even look slightly affronted, but Scott looked surprised. My personality had seemed to change a lot since when we had talked yesterday.

The bulb that lay in the remains of the lamp flickered to life as I fed a small amount of my energy into it. This was a delicate art, so fed the energy slowly and smoothly. Too much would make the wire break and the bulb explode. Believe me, I know, and I have the scars to prove it.

"If you don't have anything more to add, I suggest you leave."

I tried to stay civil. If I lost my temper, I might lose control.

Scott looked offended.

"I'm sorry… but I don't want to get put in another institute."

I stood up, and walked over to my almost empty set of draws, and pulled out yet another oversized sweater.

The middle of my back tingled, as someone's eyes followed me, staring at my back.

The criss-crossed scars would need an explanation, so I tried to think of a polite way to say 'I was whipped a lot.'

"The professor that I had once associated with felt the need to… punish me on occasions."

I tugged the sweater over my head, and tried to ignore Scott's eyes boring into the back of my head as I adjusted the collar so it would sit properly on my shoulders. When I sat down again opposite the two, the one in the wheelchair started to talk.

"What I am offering you is a place to live. I run a facility that trains people with abilities like your own so that they can function in society without endangering others." The professor explained calmly, in a deep voice.

I took that in for a second. I would start my questioning, before I decided on anything.

"So, what do you do?" I asked Scott, trying to sound pleasant again over the frantic beating of my heart, and concentration that it took to keep the blub glowing steadily.

"Well, it's hard to explain without a demonstration, which wouldn't go down well in a building…"

"Ah." I said, trying not to sound sceptical.

"Tomorrow, after school, show me this place. I'm wearing almost everything I own, so if I like what I see, I might just stay there."

I was also fully prepared to make my own exit if anyone got in my way.

"There is no need for threats, we mean you know harm." The Professor reasoned.

A slight thought about how Mr. Xavier knew I had been thinking that niggled in the back of my mind, and after a moment, I replied.

"I'll decide that for myself."

The light bulb flickered out, and as Scott left the room behind his professor, he turned around and gave me a reassuring smile.

"So I'll see you tomorrow then?"

I nodded in reply.

"Undoubtedly."

*~*~*~*

Did you know that children in an unloved environment don't grow properly? It's just another fact that I learnt going though books in my cell.

I guess that is why when I stood in the cafeteria line waiting to purchase a small carton of milk with what was left of my petty change, I was so very short compared to everyone else my age.

I managed to find an empty table near the corner of the hall, and sat down to read a book that I borrowed from the school library. It was all rather fascinating, and I was absorbed quite happily in the Renaissance until yet another group of people came up and harassed me.

"Hey small fry, that's our table." An obnoxious young man informed me from the other side of the table.

"Sorry." I intoned, memorising my page and paragraph number and slamming my book shut, preparing to leave, not even glancing up. It wasn't worth the brain cells arguing.

"Hey, you're the guy with the fountain, aren't you?" Another voice, just as obnoxious as the first but slightly weaselly asked.

"Pardon? I don't quite understand what you are saying." I replied innocently, ignoring the shiver that ran up my spine.

I didn't wait for anyone to reply, and walked briskly out of the cafeteria over to my locker and started preparing for my next lesson, Spanish. It was a simple subject because I already knew the language. It's amazing what a person can learn if they have nothing better to do.

I could tell that they followed me; they weren't really subtle.

"I think you do know what my friend's talking about." Voice number one alleged once I had closed my locker, and I finally looked up.

"You obviously think a lot of things. That doesn't mean they're true." I replied calmly.

There were four of them, and each was completely different from the other, but each wore a malicious smirk. The one who obviously thought that he was in charge of his miniature mob had brown, almost shoulder-length hair, with a denim vest and mangy pair of jeans. Another first struck me as a midget, until I realised that he was bracing himself in his hands with his legs bent like a frog. He looked quite at home in the position. His hair was lank and the colour of mud, and his eyes had a distinct yellow tinge to them. He crouched a small distance behind his 'leader', the other two were almost in row. Another was thin but muscular, wearing nice clothing, and had hair a striking shade of silver.

The one next to him wore his hair in a Mohawk, but that wasn't his most striking feature. It was his sheer size. He was… enormous and wore overalls. They made an odd group.

"I'm Lance. You're new here, right?" The one in front said, smiling ruefully at my last comment.

"That I am."

There was strained silence between us, and Lance stared at me expectantly.

"And you are?" He finally prompted, looking slightly inpatient.

"Small fry, apparently."

Lance smiled uncomfortably, and scratched the back of his head in a way that somehow reminded me of a puppy.

"Yeah… sorry about that… But the point is, you're not alone here."

The novelty of finding out that there were other people with special abilities was wearing thin.

"Let me guess, you guys want to help as well?" I asked dryly.

"You've got a smart mouth, ya know?" The white-haired one said so quickly that is sounded more like 'youvegotasmartmouthyaknow?, and just as quickly, was suddenly leaning casually on my right shoulder.

"Heh, whadda know, just the right height!" He exclaimed, then appeared at my other elbow. "By the way, what's you name?"

I didn't even have a chance to react before he was back in his original position.

All I could think to do was answer the question.

"I'm Selwyn. Selwyn Kai."

They weren't kidding. No one could move that fast without being slightly 'different', but I was still unimpressed.

It's very hard not to become sour about life and people when in about one week everything has gone wrong. It's not like I expected freedom to be all sunshine and roses, but I didn't expect to be harassed twice about what I had run away from.

"Oh, gee, look at the time," I started, turning away and ignoring the fact that I didn't actually have a watch. "I gotta get going…"

"Hey!" Lance called, annoyed, and putting a hand on my shoulder, turning me around, which is not a very hard feat considering my size. "We're not done with you!"

"Oh yes you are."

"Back off, Summers."

I repressed the urge to smile as Scott came up behind the 'awesome' foursome.

"We was just chattin', real friendly like." The one who crouched said, using amazing grammar.

"Yeah, I'll bet." Scott snorted, clearly annoyed, He turned his wrath onto Lance. "Leave the kid alone, Lance."

Now this was getting ridiculous.

My patience snapped.

"Honestly! I'm in the same grade as both of you! I'm getting really sick of these height references!" I yelled at all five of them.

Both Scott and Lance looked surprised.

"You," I said, glaring at Lance, "Leave me alone. I can do a lot of damage for a 'small-fry'," I snarled,

"And Scott, just be contented that your new toy is seeing where you live after school, you don't have to harass me now as well!"

I turned on my heel, and started to stalk off.

"Sel, I'm…" Scott started, didn't let him finish.

"Here's a revelation, I don't care!"

As I made my way down the hallway, I heard, muttered behind me,

"What's his problem?"

Someone snorted in response.

"Yeah, what's up with that?"

*~*~*~*

I stared sullenly at the pages of my notebook during Spanish, and sulked all the way through Chemistry and Math. I couldn't get over how they were all so interested in my gift. I had serious doubts about any of them wanting to be my friends, especially the Brotherhood of leering. They only wanted to know me because I was different. I believed that I had a right to be sullen, and so I was.

When the last bell finally rang and I had collected all my homework from my locker, I cautiously made my way outside, and stood waiting under one of the small trees.

I didn't know what to expect, and I didn't know how long I would be waiting.

He might have just been pulling my leg.

I waited about ten minutes and was about to leave when someone called my name.

"Sel! Wait up!"

I turned and regarded Scott.

"Take your time why don't you. So where is this place?"

He smiled mysteriously behind his dark glasses, and gestured to the roadside.

"Why don't I drive you there?"

Whoa.

"Whoa. What did you do, rob a bank?" I felt so good using that. I had waited years to try out the various cliché's that I had picked up from books and the old movies I had been allowed to see.

He drove a small red convertible. I didn't really know much about cars, but I knew that that was a sweet little car.

Another thing that I noticed about it was that there were several other people in it at the time.

Scott guided me over to the car, and I once again felt very insecure.
"Ah, so you're ze one!"
I recognised the voice, and looked down at one of the occupants of the car with a start. I had run into him in the hallways!

"Um… yeah." I forced a smile, and wondered where I would find room to sit. There was a girl younger than myself with brown hair partially tied back who smiled and waved, and another about my age in the front seat. This one wasn't smiling and waving, she was glaring. Her skin was very pale, and her chestnut hair had two striking white streaks at the front. She wore a shiny black skirt, large boots, and a black tank top with a green mesh one under it. She also wore gloves. The last occupant of the car besides Scott and myself, as I finally found a place to sit in the middle of the back seat was the German boy.

I stuck my hands between my knees, and stared at them. I felt uncomfortable sitting between two people I didn't know.

Scott started the car and pulled away form the curb. Loud music started, and stared even more intently at my hands as the two in the back and Scott started up a conversation about one of the dances coming up at their school.

They kept trying to include me in the conversation, but I answered in three-syllable sentences,

"So, do you think you'll go?" The girl next to me asked.

"Me? No…"

"Oh come on, surely you have someone in mind to ask?" Piped up the one next to me.

"Not really."

"Oh by the way, I'm Kurt, that's Kitty, and the sullen one up the front is Rogue. Guten tag!"

"So, come from Germany?"

"Ja… is it that obvious?"

"Nein… Ich spreche Doich. (1) Meine Doich ist nicht so gut…" 'No… I speak German. My German isn't very good.' I confessed.

"Wie so?" 'Really?' Kurt exclaimed. "Cool!"

I smiled at him, feeling slightly less uncomfortable.

"That is so weird! When did you learn that?" Kitty asked, leaning forward in her seat.

"I've had a lot of spare time on my hands…"

"You learnt on your own?" Kurt asked, amused. "Das ist tall!" 'That's good!'

I blushed slightly, which was fairly obvious with my pale skin. "Danke…" 'thanks…' I replied.

The atmosphere seemed to ease, and the conversation carried on without me. I watched the scenery pass by.

We were going though what appeared to be another forest, when suddenly it opened up, to reveal the sea. I hadn't realised that we were so close to the coast.

Ahead of me loomed a stately and immense house, no, more like a mansion.

The gates opened automatically for Scott's car, and we drove through into the actual grounds.

"You live here?" I breathed, my eyes wide.

"Yeah, what did you expect?" Scott asked, faintly amused.

"I didn't expect this, that's for sure."

There was so much room with a lot of places where one could lie and enjoy the open blue sky, and I could bet that the curtains actually opened here as well. It seemed too good to be true, and I almost let down my guard.

"Just how many people live here?"

"we all do, and there's also Jean, Spyke, Logan, Storm and the professor. We should be getting some new recruits in as well, sometime soon."

"I… see."

This seemingly happy bunch of people who lived in a mansion had blown all my previous suspicions completely out of the water.

"Well, it's better than anything I'm used to…"

"Selwyn, where do you come from?" Kitty asked, interested.

"Um… Ah… You see…" My eyes darted back and forth between Kitty and Kurt's faces. Even Rogue was looking at me in half-interest. Now what do I do? "I'm not precisely sure…"

"Hey you guys! Were here!" Scott yelled with false cheerfulness, parking the car abruptly underneath an Oak tree. I breathed a sigh of relief and waited patiently until Kitty had gotten out of the car to follow.

A gentle breeze rustled the near-by trees and I caught a distinct whiff of the ocean. Wow.

I stared up at the huge manor. It was even larger up close, and nothing like the institute where I had been raised.

I threw Scott a thankful smile as he passed me, hitching his bag over his shoulder.

"Welcome, Selwyn."

Professor Xavier sat imperiously on the top step at the front of the house, flanked by two other people.

I glanced around, uncomfortable with all the attention, and finally called out to the imposing trio: "Does this thing come with a trial period?"

"You can leave any time you want."

"Alright then. It's not like I have anywhere else to go."

*falls over sideways* Ugh… I needed to get this done before I left on camp… oh, yeah…
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: The Soul is going camping. For ten days. With leeches. *repressed sob*

Avalan: Leeches and rivers and coffin-sized tents for two!

-_- Oh my.

So I might not be able to update for a little while, but rest assured, I shall be back to inflict even more chapters upon innocent readers soon! *cackles and disappears in a puff of smoke*

Avalan: *sigh* See you. *walks out side door*