Disclaimer: I don't own X-men:Evolution (though it would be nice if I did…) I'm just borrowing the characters for my own nefarious purposes.

Also, if I make a mistake here or there with the facts bear with me, I've seen about 85% - 90% of Evo – so if I miss something or get a fact wrong my apologies. I am writing this story as taking place a year or two ahead of where the series is now – so conflict is inevitable since I'm not clairvoyant…yet. :P

Lastly, while I don't own Evo, Torrent (Darcy Harper) is mine, so please ask before borrowing her – that is if she's borrow-worthy, but you'll have to be the judge of that.

================

Melt me

By Kinomi

Chapter One: Gray to Clear

***

Somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, Midnight

The full moon shone brightly through the cockpit window of the X-jet, bathing the dark interior with its frosty glow. It shimmered down coldly on the black sea below, the reflection on the water like a road of luminous diamonds spreading toward the horizon for him to follow. Like a trail of sparkling ice.

In the pilots seat, Bobby Drake, known as the Iceman, sighed softly. He finally got the opportunity to fly the multi-million dollar plane and it was just to take Scott Summers, Mr. McCoy, and a handful of students on a glorified field trip. It wasn't fair; he was a full fledged member of the team now - an integral and valuable one in his opinion – yet he never got the chance to prove his mad piloting skills, instead they were turning him into a glorified bus driver.

In the seat next to him, Hank McCoy mumbled in his sleep and shifted more onto his side. Trying to find a comfortable position for his big body in the cramped cockpit. Bobby glanced over to make sure his sigh hadn't woken the older man up, but the Beast's soft snuffling snore told him he had nothing to worry about.

Bobby sighed again. If he hadn't been so desperate for any opportunity to prove to the powers that be – Scott and Hank in this case – that he was ready, willing, and more than able to handle taking over piloting the X-jet on more vital missions than a botany field trip to Hawaii, he'd have stayed home. Especially since the powers that be were both soundly asleep and missing the whole ride.

Tightening his grip on the planes throttle, Bobby resisted the urge to have some fun. A few loops and a power dive would certainly show everyone that there was more to the Iceman than cold air, but it was stunts like those that had made the Professor revoke his flying status in the first place. Bobby'd worked too hard for this second chance; he sure didn't need to blow it. Especially since there was no one awake to appreciate his gift for aerial acrobatics anyway.

A glance at the controls told him he had at least another hour before they would be getting close to the big island. Bobby was in the middle of inhaling for another long suffering sigh, when a twinkle off to his left caught his attention. He scanned the dark sea below, looking for the glimmer again. Wanting to be sure it wasn't a boat in trouble.

Carefully, so he wouldn't wake his passengers, Bobby pushed forward on the wheel of the plane, taking the jet down closer to the sea. A spout of white a mile or two ahead of the plane caught his attention and he grinned.

"Cool," he murmured under his breath as he flew over the pod of whales making their way south from the Hawaiian Islands. The shine of the whale pod's wake glittered in the darkness, but it wasn't the same as the glimmer he'd seen. Dropping lower, Bobby flew less than three hundred feet above the surface of the calm sea, searching for the flash of light he thought he'd seen.

Just when he was about to give up, he saw something ahead that defied his mind's logic for a moment. Not an easy feat considering all the things he'd seen in his career as a member of the X-men. It was a wave, at least eighty feet tall racing across the sea. Bobby blinked and looked again, but the wave was still there. It was only about thirty feet wide as it rose above the oceans surface, and resembled nothing so much as the ice skid he used to travel quickly.

Bobby pushed the throttle down, eager to catch up with the phenomenon, and the jet responded with a burst of speed, overtaking the wave in seconds. Bobby flew lower as he pulled back on the throttle to pace the fast moving wave, and he wasn't that surprised to see a figure standing at the crest of the white water. He'd suspected that someone might be using mutant powers to control the sea and make the anomalous wave. He was surprised however, when the moonlight revealed that the shining liquid figure riding the wave was female.

He couldn't see her well, not without flying dangerously close, but something in his gut told him that she was going to be pretty. Maybe it was just wishful thinking – after all, he'd broken up with his last girlfriend Jubilee a few months before and was starting to feel the need for female company again – but he doubted it. Something just spoke to him and told him that this moment had significance, even if he had no clue as to why.

Dipping the wing of the jet in greeting, Bobby raced the girl and her wave across the ocean. She was heading toward the Islands the same as he was. Lifting her hands the swell rose, bringing her higher and closer to the plane. When she was about fifty feet away she looked over at him and smiled, the moonlight reflecting off the curves of her face and body, like water had come to life. He took a hand off the controls to wave.

"Be still my heart," Bobby grinned. The girl raised a hand in salute, acknowledging that she saw him. He wanted to open the small window, then he could use his powers to show off, but he knew that was just asking for Scott or McCoy to jump down his throat if he woke them up.

Instead, he put his hand against the metal bulkhead down low next to his chair and concentrated. Trying to remember that her left was going to be his right as he pulled the moisture in the air to the side of the black plane and froze it, spelling out – he hoped – 'hi'.

Cocking her head to the side, the girl raised her hands and shrugged her shoulders, not understanding his message. Putting his hand up higher, closer to the window and the center of the plane's side, Bobby tried again, this time going for a simpler message as he froze the condensation into the shape of a heart.

She seemed to understand this time as Bobby glimpsed her smiling. Raising her hands again the wave she was riding on spread out to the side underneath the jet. Then as he watched the wave surged ahead of the plane and rose like canyon walls flanking the plane. Bobby grinned as he flew through the tunnel of water, appreciating the gift. It didn't last long, too much effort on the girl's powers probably, and the tunnel of water fell away, as did the wave with the girl riding it.

Without thinking, Bobby banked and turned the plane, circling back to where the girl had fallen behind. She was still riding her wave, but it was slower and smaller than when she'd raced him. He could no longer pace her without stalling the jet. He saw her look up at him and wave as he circled as close as he dared, but all he could do was give a waggle of the jet's wings in response as he continued around.

"Problems?" he heard Scott's voice ask from behind him. Bobby glanced over his shoulder; with those glasses Scott wore, Bobby could never tell if the man was awake or asleep. He debated telling Scott about the mysterious water mutant, but impulsively decided he wanted to keep the encounter to himself.

"Not a one," Bobby replied. "Just saw some whales," he said by way of explanation as he put the throttle down, bringing the jet back up to speed as he continued on his previous course. Leaving the mysterious girl behind. He grunted some response to Scott's reminder that he wasn't there to screw around before dismissing him from his mind. After a few minutes Scott's deep breathing indicated that he'd fallen back asleep, but it was too late for Bobby to turn back by then.

"Damn," Bobby muttered under his breath as the distance between him and the wave-rider increased. How would he ever find her again? They were out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, for crying out loud. If he was lucky she'd turn out to be from the Islands and he'd run into her while he was there, but that seemed as likely as finding a needle in a haystack. Mostly because he had no real clue as to what she looked like. All he'd seen was a slender figure made of water.

Bobby sighed. It was probably hopeless.

***

Oahu, Friday morning, Dawn

The sound of the surf soothed and refreshed her, it always had. Even when she'd lived thousands of miles away from any ocean, before she'd ever discovered what she was, she'd been strengthened by the sound and touch of water. It was integral to her well being, even if it meant sleeping propped up against the running washing machine in her family's home in Iowa, or spending hours in the bathtub. But all that was just a pale substitute for the way she felt when she got within sight of the ocean.

Opening her eyes she found the rosy light of dawn bathing the beach she lay face down on, the sand damp underneath her cheek. Too far, she must have followed the whales too far out last night if she was so exhausted she'd fallen asleep on the beach less than a hundred yards from her house.

"Total bummer. Major green room action this morning and I'm gonna miss it," a voice sighed from beside her. "You trying to torture me, Darce?"

Levering herself up on her elbows, Darcy Harper flipped herself over on her back to look up at the handsome young blonde man sitting next to her. Darcy frowned, and then remembered her innocent flirtation with the jet pilot the night before on her way back from the seeing the whale pod off. She'd made some pretty major waves showing off her powers, the results of which were just coming ashore now.

"I got a little carried away last night," she admitted sheepishly.

Alex Masters looked away from the prone teen at his side and looked longingly back out at the choice surf his friend had created. He'd love nothing more than to run back up to his room over the garage, change into his wetsuit, grab his stick and get out in it. But his brother was coming to town today, and Alex had promised Scott he'd meet him at his hotel for breakfast.

He would have offered to let his older brother stay with him, Alex's adopted parents had always made Scott feel more than welcome, but they had a new member of the household in Darcy. So no free rooms. Not that Scott was much of a surfer. Still, it was some pretty big swells that were coming in, and Alex could only imagine how big the waves must have been out there when she made them.

"How carried away?" Alex asked with concern, looking back down at his adopted "sister".

Alex had reason to be concerned. It had been almost nine months earlier on this very beach that he'd saved Darcy Harper's life. He'd been surfing as he did almost every morning of his life, but on that day the waves were nearly nonexistent. The swells like wales of finest corduroy that never broke. He should have gone in, there was absolutely no action whatsoever and he was the only one out there, waiting for sets that would never come. But Alex liked the ocean for more than the surf and he was enjoying watching the sun come up. Coloring the big thunderheads to the west pink and golden.

He'd been about to call it a day when he'd seen something floating toward him. After the several run ins he'd had with sharks over the years, he'd charged up his hands automatically before really seeing what it was. As it had floated closer he'd seen what could have only been described as a denser part of water. The object was translucent like water, the swells lapping at it like it had mass, but visibly it was like nothing was there until as Alex had watched the water coalesced into the figure of a girl for a moment – still maintaining its translucent quality – before spreading out again.

Alex had wasted no time bailing off his board and swimming over to the girl. Being a mutant himself, he recognized her for what she was and knew he had to help her. Grabbing on to the exhausted mutant in the surf had been like grappling with a bag of water in a washing machine, but with the help of his surfboard Alex had been able to tow her in.

He'd carried her up to his room, the whole time feeling as though she was about to burst, like any moment the surface tension that held her together would give out and he'd wind up having to mop her up with a sponge. Tossing a couple of beach towels on his futon he laid the unconscious girl down to recover.

After showering and changing clothes, Alex sat down with a book and waited, keeping watch over his charge. Curious, at one point he reached out and touched her forehead gently, wondering what the liquid girl would feel like out of the water. She felt like semi solid water or gelatin, yet she wasn't wet to the touch. It was the most bizarre thing Alex had ever felt.

It had taken nearly twelve hours before she was sufficiently rested enough to regain consciousness. Alex was fast asleep in his chair with his book lying open on his chest when the mutant woke up that evening. He'd completely missed her transformation back to ordinary. He'd fallen asleep with living water on his bed and woken up to find a bewildered and not unattractive teenaged girl in its place. Namely one Darcy Harper aged seventeen, formerly of Dry Bluff, Iowa, population 306.

Now, 305.

Darcy sat up beside Alex on the sand, touched by the concern she heard in his voice. She'd never had an older brother before, a role Alex Masters had adopted with her from the first moment she'd clapped eyes on him when she'd woken up from her living nightmare. Alex was her savior, her mentor, and her only true friend. She'd do almost anything for the young man who'd taught her that life really was worth living. Even if you had nothing…especially then.

"Don't worry, Alex, it wasn't like…last time. I just went out too far. I ran out of juice," Darcy said lightly, trying to alleviate his fears and she rested her hand on his arm.

She'd staunchly avoided talking about the events in her life that had led up to Alex's rescuing her from the surf. The hurt was still too fresh, too vivid. It was painfully ironic to her actually that she, a mutant that could control and manipulate water, who could become one with the sea itself if she chose, had nearly died in it. Even more ironic that it had been her parents, the people who had given her life, that had tried to take it away when they found out what she was. Even though she had saved their lives - and the life of her younger brother - inadvertently with her powers.

Darcy shook her head to clear it; she refused to think of them. Her family was dead to her now. As far as she was concerned she'd been born the moment Alex had saved her, he and his adoptive parents were her family now.

Alex gave her a suspicious look. "Isn't that exactly what happened last time?" he questioned. Darcy blushed and looked away, unable to meet the intense blue-green of his eyes.

"Not exactly," she said evasively, looking down at the sand. Alex said nothing for a long minute as he studied the sea with somber eyes.

"You know that if you ever want to tell me, I'll always listen," Alex said quietly. His expression so serious that he looked much older than his eighteen years. Then like a cloud passing the sun his expression brightened, nothing kept Alex Masters down for long and he slung his arm companionably around Darcy's slender shoulders. "Come on, you better get inside and changed before Mom gets up. She doesn't know you never made it home last night, but she will if you don't get a move on," Alex said with a grin, letting go of her as he sprang to his feet and headed back up the beach toward the Masters House.

Darcy scrambled up after him, trotting to catch up with his much longer legs. 'Hey, Alex?" she called softly. Alex slowed down and turned to let her catch up, a wide smile splitting his handsome face.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks a lot," Darcy said, unable to put her feelings into words. Alex looked confused, and he slung his arm around Darcy's shoulders again as they made their way back to the house together.

"For what?"

"For everything. For helping me, for taking me in, making me part of your family. For being the best 'big brother' ever." Darcy told him, wrapping her arm around his waist to hug him briefly.

"No prob, Wahine," he teased. "But when it comes to big brothers you haven't seen anything yet. Wait until you meet Scott. He defines stoic, overprotective sibling. In fact he's got it down to an art form."

"No sense of humor?" Darcy asked. Alex opened the sliding glass door off the patio and let her precede him into the quiet interior. He chuckled quietly at her quick guess.

"Not much," Alex agreed, flopping down on the couch and flipping on the TV. "Why don't you come with me to breakfast and meet him?" Alex said, like the idea had just occurred to him. Darcy raised an eyebrow.

"You sure? I mean, I don't want to intrude, he is your real family."

Alex tossed a throw pillow at her. "You're my family too, kook."

Darcy's smile lit up her whole face, making Alex glad he'd invited her along. Even though he'd had an ulterior motive for introducing her to Scott all along.

Darcy didn't much like to talk about her mutation. And it was her lack of control over her powers that had nearly gotten her killed when he met her. He'd tried showing her how to control them, taking her to the interior of the Island and away from prying eyes before demonstrating his own abilities. It was these lessons that had given Darcy the margin of control she needed to not lose herself in the element she was trying to manipulate. Alex knew there were things about her powers that she would need to know, things Alex couldn't teach her, but that Scott and the Xavier Institute could. He'd turned down his brother countless times when Scott had asked him to come east to live with him and join the X-men. Alex chose to remain unaffiliated because his life was here. Surfing was his life and he wasn't ready to give it up for anyone or anything, but that didn't mean that the Institute didn't have things it could offer Darcy.

He grinned as he saw her still hesitating in the hallway out of the corner of his eye. "Think there might still be some offshore break for us this afternoon, Wahine?"

Darcy smiled back. "I think it can be arranged," she said before heading upstairs to get ready.

"Sweet…"

***

AN: Here is the first chapter. I won't flat out say that the continuation of this fic is dependent on reviews, but I will say that they will weigh on where this fic falls on my priority list. If you like it and want to read more, please review and let me know. ^_^