Sabby: You think my story's popular? Eh. *shrugs* I'm only really updating because I generally get at least one review a chapter, which is good cuz I like this story, but feel discouraged if I don't get reviews. Well, thanks!

Shadowcat: You need not worry for hapless Sel-chan's sake, for there is indeed a plan brewing in the foulness that is my mind…. *cackles*

Avalan: -_-' 'ware!

Fear not, for I am eager up-date gal! As soon as I finish writing a chapter (which can sometimes take a long time if there are tricky spots, which there generally are, but that's beside the point…) I post it immediately, no matter what ridiculous hour it is! *strikes dramatic pose*

One Step at a Time

I was sneaking down a corridor again, my bare feet making no sound against the metallic floor, but the small lights near the bottom in the walls of the hallway that lit in front as I came near them were a bit of a give-away. I knew exactly what I was looking for. I had travelled these corridors too many times to not.

Adrenaline pumping through my veins was the only thing that was keeping my legs from shaking. I would not be denied this right.

Quietly rounding a corner, I paused outside the door to the outside, checking with baited breath if I could hear anyone outside.

"What are you doing out here?"

My shoulders stiffened instantly, and I slowly turned around, dreading what I was hoping not to see.

"Um… Bathroom?"

"There's one connected to your room."

Damn.

"Um…"

"Back to your room, shrimp."

"Yessir."

I shuffled back past Logan and once again towards the med-bay where I had been stationed for the last few days – the longest of my life so far. At least in my cell I had books, but here all I was told to do was rest. But that got old, so as I had the week off school as people tried to figure out what was wrong with me, I wanted to read up on myself. But they wouldn't let me.

No 'mental strain' for the sickly one. No. Instead, I spent my time plotting how to get back upstairs into the slightly more hospitable part of the institute, and back to that damned computer.

Assurances that I had accepted who I was were no good, nor were requests of having the computer moved down.

One would have thought it would be rather easy, the students went off to school, and the others were surprisingly busy. But not one certain individual.

It seemed the well-loved Wolverine had no life bar torturing me. The 'adorable' Wolverine had no life. Damn.

I decided almost immediately that I would wait until it was dark before I tried again. Logan had to sleep sometime.

So that night around midnight, I snuck out of my room, one of my thin bed sheets tied around myself toga-style for extra warmth. The lower corridors were clean.

I opened the door to the outside again, and stuck my head out. It was dark, but so far clear.

I was half way there when I heard someone behind me.

"Selwyn? What are you doing out of the med bay?" Kitty demanded, holding a glass of milk and in her pyjamas.

I grimaced. "Kitty, pleeeeease be quiet."

"But you're sick, you should be in bed!"

"That's not the point! I've been sleeping for ages, and it's starting to get old! I need to do something, but just, pleeeeease don't tell anyone?"

Kitty sighed and stared back at me reproachfully as I did my best impersonation of a hungry puppy. My efforts were in vain as after a few seconds, I coughed again.

"That's it, go back to bed! Don't make me call the others!" Kitty forcefully turned me around, and started pushing me back towards the stairs.

"C'mon, Kitty, I need to do this! No one even knows what's wrong with me anyway, and I'm feeling a lot better apart from the odd cough!"

For a small person, Kitty's deceptively strong.

"That's not what the professor told us, he said you were really sick! You fainted! You're coughing up blood!"

I used my only other tactic.

"Then he didn't also tell you that I might be contagious?"

Kitty's hands instantly stopped pushing on my back.

When I turned around, the look on her face was rather queasy.

After a moment's silence she finally said: "I'm getting the professor."

"No, Kitty, you don't understand! They won't even let me at a computer, and I really need to! I've rested enough, and I'm going to go insane if I don't do something!"

"You already are insane!"

"Trust me, all I'm going to do is go down that hall to the computer lab. Really. Have I ever lied?"

Kitty finally sighed.

"Fine! Go! Just don't mention me if it comes up, okay? And don't hurt yourself." Kitty turned around and walked back towards her room.

Smiling triumphantly, I turned and walked to the lab that had been haunting me.

*~*~*~*

I read fast, picking up only the important snatches of information, which I instantly stored away.

'Small baby… thin and harassed looking mother, aged around 16… the child, though appearing normal has remarkable DNA… test have proven… unidentified chromosomes… experiments on the child have deemed successful…. Unexplainable results… have estimated that the chromosome should have activated around 17 years of age… solitary confinement… dangerous…'

It stuck in my head. The X gene would have activated on it's own when I was 17… around now. This had to explain something, but how?

As far as I could tell, they did tests on me, and awakened my X gene prematurely.

Sunday morning flashed through my head. The simple task of destroying the light bulb, which I had had down to a fine art had gone wrong. I knew my limits. I knew how much of my power it would take, but it seemed like there had been more there… of course!

I was instantly running down the corridor, my sheet billowing out behind me like a fancy white cape, and heading for Professor Xavier's rooms.

No one could figure out what was wrong with me. I didn't have any sort of virus or disease that they could find. But I had a fair idea of what it could be.

I needed to tell someone.

*~*~*~*

Xavier was ahead of myself once again, as he already had the adults in the room when I got there, puffing, panting, and practically choking.

"What's all this about, Professor?" Logan growled, obviously not happy for being disturbed.

Xavier looked me in the eyes, faintly amused.

"It appears Selwyn might have an idea about what ails him."

I sat down on the velvet couch, Aurora rubbing my shoulders and back in a comforting way as a sucked in air, and started.

"My whole body is what 'ails me'. From what I could decipher from the files about my early life, my professor did experiments on me. They discovered the X gene, lying dormant, and somehow found a way to activate it. That is why I was a mutant, even early on in my life, otherwise my gene would have been activated some time around now. Anyone getting an idea here?" I continued once the Professor nodded.

"Well, as far as I can tell, my genes are confused. They've started creating whatever chemical it was that gave me whatever gift I have today, and as a result of that I've got a influx in my power. The problem is, that unlike my power just maturing, as it does in many mutant cases, all we have is too much of it. My body can't cope, and I haven't been using it. The result of all this is that…" I sucked in more air, partially breathless again from my hurried speech, and finished. "My power's taking it out on my body, fighting with the influx, and dissolving my vital organs."

I instantly felt queasy. It didn't seem so bad when I hadn't actually said it. "That is my hypothesis."

"And quite a hypothesis it is, and probably the closest thing to an answer we've had so far." Xavier said, wheeling closer, all traces of humour gone from his face.

Storm's shoulder rub was a lot more forceful. She was angry.

"How can they experiment on an innocent child like that? It's monstrous."

I looked at my hands.
"Well, now that we have that sorted, I have but one question."

"Yes, what is it?"

Some would ask how long they had to live. Other would ask how they could stop what was happening. I, on the other hand, had a much different question.

"… Can I go back to school now?"

Sorry, I just needed to add that last line. I'm sorry for the wait, but I've been busy writing other stuff… not that this fic's not important, it's just that when inspiration hits, I have to go with it.

I'll understand if anyone wants to kill me for being evil towards my Sellie-kun, after all, what I did was rather harsh. I've been building up to this for a couple of chapters now, and we'll just have to see how it pans out.

Please review! I love reviews! I'll say nice things to you if you review!