Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men. I do own Ali and all the other characters that don't appear in the show or comic books.
Ali opened her eyes slowly. Her head pounded, feeling as though someone had hit her over the head with a jackhammer. The surroundings around her were unfamiliar. Tubes ran out of her arms, one carrying blood, another carrying fluids she needed. To the left of her bed was a heart monitor that beeped continuously. In front of her was a large set of windows that opened up to a gigantic green lawn, where kids who looked to be her age ran around, laughing and screaming.
Ali's eyes were, by now, wide with shock and fright. Where was she? What happened? How was she going to get away?
Suddenly, a large animal that resembled a gorilla entered the room. There were some things unusual about him though: he wore a white lab coat over a grey shirt and sweats, and his fur was blue. He smiled kindly upon noticing that Ali was awake.
"Ah, Allison. You are awake. How do you feel?" he asked.
Instead of answering him, Ali asked. "Who are you? Where am I?"
The animal, or whatever it was, chuckled. "Yes, you would probably be more comfortable knowing exactly what happened," he replied with a smile. Suddenly, a bald man in a wheelchair entered the room. His brown eyes shone with kindness, calming Ali's jittery nerves a bit.
"Ali, I am so glad to see that you're awake. You gave us all quite a fright," the man said. "You're probably wondering who I am and how you got here, aren't you?," he asked as if reading Ali's mind.
Ali, completely taken aback by what he said, merely nodded.
"I am Professor Charles Xavier, owner and founder of the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters, where you are currently residing," he explained.
Ali nodded. "What country am I in?" she asked, praying that she was not in Britain.
The professor, once again seeming as if he read her mind, said, "Don't worry, you're not in Britain. You don't have to worry about people trying to break down your door to hurt you."
A wave of relief swept over Ali. She was finally free from the village and all its hateful people. "But if I'm not in Britain, then where am I?" she asked curiously.
"You are in the state of New York in the United States of America," the professor replied, turning to look out the window at his students. "More specifically, Bayville."
Ali's eyes were wide. "How'd I get to the U.S.A.?" she asked, shocked.
The professor turned to look at her. "Do you remember the last thing that happened back in Britain?" he asked, his brown eyes filled with sadness.
Ali nodded. "I jumped off a cliff to escape the people that wanted to kill me," she replied, wondering where this was leading.
The professor nodded. "Well," he replied, "When you sent out that wave of energy, I picked it up because of my telepathic powers and the use of a supercomputer named Cerebro that helps me find young mutants whose powers have just emerged. I picked up your mutant signature, and took a team of other mutants with me to find you. You were," he paused, trying to figure out what to say. He suddenly cleared his throat and spoke again. "You were in a horrible physical state. We brought you back here and treated you, thanks to the help of Dr. McCoy, or as we call him, Beast," he explained, motioning to the large blue ape-like thing. Beast, as Ali guessed his name was, smiled.
"Hank, why don't you be the one to break the news of her physical condition," the professor suggested to Dr. McCoy.
Beast nodded and picked up the clipboard at the end of Ali's bed. "You've been in a coma for about three weeks," he explained. "You're lucky you came out of it, to tell the truth. You had lost more than half your blood supply by the time we found you, and your legs were broken in two different places with dislocated knees. I patched you right up, and your legs are now almost completely healed," he announced cheerfully.
Ali was surprised. "Shouldn't it take longer for my legs to heal?" she asked.
Beast nodded. "Normally, yes. But for some reason, you have a higher healing ability than normal people, excluding mutants. Most mutants, for some reason, heal faster than people without powers," he explained. "So for a mutant, the healing time required is cut almost in half."
Ali was surprised, to say the least, but she was also extremely relieved. She hadn't died, and her legs were near done healing. "Are the other people here mutants?" she asked.
The professor nodded. "Everyone here is a mutant. This is a safe-haven for all mutants to learn to handle their powers and be free from persecution," he replied. "You are welcome to stay here with us," he offered.
Ali nodded. "Thank you, professor," she replied.
* * *
Ali was only allowed to leave the med lab in a wheelchair. Someone brought in a pair of black pants with holes in the knees for her to where along with a dark purple sweater that hung off her shoulders. She pulled on the clothes and wheeled herself out of the institute and onto a cement path, watching some of the kids play what they called "Mutant Tag", using their powers, of course. She smiled, thinking happily of when she would be able to join them. If there was something she loved most of all in the world, it was running, quickly followed by basketball.
"Hey, kid!" yelled a voice.
Ali jumped in her seat and looked around, only to spot a man walked towards her. He had a muscular build, with an odd glint in his dark eyes.
"What are you doing out here? I thought you were supposed to be inside," he growled.
Ali had been intimidated by him before she had even seen him. "Um, Beast said that it would be all right if I went outside," she replied.
The man nodded. "All right then," he said, watching the kids running and tackling each other in the grass. "Er, I'm sorry if I scared you," he mumbled. "I'm Logan."
Ali nodded. "It's okay, Logan," she replied. "I'm Ali."
Logan nodded. They watched the others in complete silence for a moment, before Logan ran off, yelling for a girl to watch where she was shooting her fire.
Ali smiled. As crazy as this place was, it was pretty cool.
That night, the professor suggested that she meet the rest of the students at the institute. Ali agreed, and wheeled herself into the dining room that night. Many heads turned to look at her, wondering who she was.
Professor Xavier motioned for Ali to wheel even further towards the table so that everyone could see her. "We have another student joining us," he announced. "This is Allison Broderick."
Ali smiled. A girl farther down the table nodded to her and motioned for her to come and sit by her. Ali nodded and wheeled herself down, carefully placing herself beside the girl. The chatter that had previously died down started up again. The girl who had invited Ali turned to her and smiled, her blue eyes sparkling.
"My name's Kitty Pryde," she introduced herself, holding out a hand cheerfully. Her brown ponytail bounced when she turned her head and continued to swing for a few seconds.
Kitty then introduced Ali to many of the other students, including the main X-Men group. The welcome she received was unbelievable. These people were willing to let her into their home without knowing anything about her except that she was a mutant. It was amazing.
Ali was finally allowed to move out of the med lab that night. She shared a room with one of the girls she had met named Rogue. Rogue reminded Ali of a Goth, what with all the dark clothes she wore and the dark makeup to boot.
Rogue glanced at Ali out of the corner of her eye. "Ya like those clothes?" she asked quietly.
Ali was surprised to hear Rogue talk. She had quickly gotten used to the fact that her roommate wouldn't talk a lot, and had not expected a lot to be said between the two. "Um, yeah. They're really comfortable," Ali replied uncertainly.
Rogue nodded. "That's why I picked 'em out," she stated, her eyes back on the book in her hands.
"Oh," Ali replied. "Um, thanks for letting me borrow them," she replied.
Rogue nodded. "No problem," she said.
The two fell into silence for a while. Ali explored the room in her wheelchair best as she could. Finally, she was so frustrated with the lack of mobility that it had, that she slowly began to stand up, supporting herself using the chair. Tiny needles shot up her legs, telling her that they weren't completely healed yet, but Ali ignored it. She shakily walked over to her bed and sat down.
Rogue had been watching. Ali looked exhausted just from walking, and Rogue knew that she wasn't supposed to be walking yet either. "Why don' cha get back in your wheelchair?" Rogue suggested nonchalantly.
"Because the damn chair is uncomfortable and I'm tired of sitting in it," Ali replied testily.
Rogue nodded. "Okay then," she replied, once again turning back to her book.
Ali sighed. She was so tired. With a sigh, she spread out on her bed and fell asleep.
The next day was less exhausting, mainly because all of the students at the institute were off at school at Bayville High, and Ali was stuck wheeling herself around the institute. She contented herself by going outside for the morning and rolling on the sidewalk, enjoying the scenery around her. She went inside for lunch, where she talked with Ororo, who questioned her about her life back in Britain. Ali divulged very little information, and apologized for it, but Ororo didn't seem mad at all. On the contrary, she seemed to understand that Ali didn't want to talk about what her life had been.
Beast came into the kitchen then and grabbed a cup of coffee. He smiled. "Hello, Ororo, Ali," he said cheerfully.
Ororo nodded at Beast, signifying that she knew that he was there. Ali did the same.
Beast turned to Ali. "Hey, Ali. Why don't we go and see if your legs are ready to get off the wheelchair yet, and if they are, then we'll get you started on some physical therapy," he suggested.
Ali nodded. "Okay," she said simply. Most of the people at the institute had gotten used to the fact that she was relatively quiet around the adults or others that she didn't know, and could become very loud when she was with her friends.
Ali wheeled herself out of the kitchen. Beast offered to push her wheelchair, but she refused, saying that she could handle it herself, even though her arms were getting near exhausted. Beast shook his head in disbelief, but left Ali alone to huff and puff through the halls to the med lab.
The x-rays that Beast took showed that Ali's legs were, indeed almost finished healing. "Well, come on, Ali," Beast said with a small smile on his face. Ali nodded. This time, much to Ali's dismay, Beast grabbed the handles of her chair and pushed her down the halls to a room that reminded her a lot of a carpeted gym. Thick layers of carpet covered the floor. A large punching bag hung in one corner of the gym, red and black gloves lying on the floor underneath it. A large ball rested in another corner, stopped by a few bricks that had been brought in to hold it in place. In the very center of the room was a set of parallel bars, brought in just for her to practice on. Beast wheeled Ali over to one end, and he walked himself over to the opposite end of the bars.
"Ali, I want you to pull yourself up out of the wheelchair and hang on to the bars with your arms. Then, I want you to walk towards me, all right?" he asked.
Ali nodded. She had waited for what seemed a long time to start walking again so that she could run again. Here was her chance, and she would succeed. She would walk a lot that day, no matter what. She needed to start walking again.
She grasped the ends of the bars firmly in each hand and pulled herself up, her arms shaking slightly. Gingerly, she placed her feet on the floor. A slight prickling sensation went up her legs, but once again she ignored it. She slowly took a step forward, and another following that. Her legs were sore, and it did hurt, but her desire to be able to move on her own again drove her on.
Beast watched, noticing her shaky steps, and the determined glint in her eye. He let her walk five more lengths of the bar, until she was back at her wheelchair and near exhausted. Her legs ached, screaming that that they had been pushed too far. Ali, now in a bit of a bad mood from the pain in her legs, wheeled herself out of the gym and into the kitchen.
Logan was sipping a cup of coffee and reading the paper, just like earlier that morning. He ignored Ali entering and went on with his daily ritual. Ali paid him no mind, standing to look in the cabinets despite the soreness in her long legs. Only then did Logan show a bit of slight interest.
"Are you supposed to be standing, kid?" he asked, taking a sip from his mug.
"Well, it would probably be hard to reach the cabinets for aspirin if I didn't," she replied, a bit of an edge in her voice.
Logan was mildly surprised. No one had really bothered to show him the slightest bit of attitude for fear of an extra "Logan Session", but then again, the girl was new, and had no idea what a Logan Session was.
"Well why didn't you ask for some help?" he grumbled.
"You were busy and I can reach it just fine," she snapped, annoyed that she couldn't just get the needed painkillers and leave. Maybe even let a good scream out.
Logan stood up and walked over. "Sit down, kid," he said, pushing her back into her chair with very little effort.
Ali fell into her chair effortlessly, glaring up at Logan for treating her like a child.
"Don't call me kid. I'm not a child, you know," she grumbled.
Logan sighed. "Unless you've learned to respect your elders, you're still a kid in my eyes," he replied, pulling down a bottle of Advil and handing it to her.
Ali snatched it out of his hands and swallowed two tablets. "I'll be outside," she said stiffly, and with that, she left.
Logan sighed. Great, another strong-headed kid to baby-sit. Oh, this was just peachy.
Ali sighed and welcomed the clean, fresh air outside. She probably shouldn't have talked to Logan like that, but she didn't care. She was exhausted and sore. Nothing seemed better at the moment than a nice hot shower. Her eyes suddenly lit up, and she quickly wheeled herself back inside the institute. A shower was definitely what she needed.
* * *
Ali continued to work her legs throughout the week, slowly building back the muscle that she had lost during the three weeks she had been unconscious. On Friday, the X-Men came back to find Ali out in the front lawn with her hands tied behind her back and using only her legs to keep a ball in the air. Logan and Beast were supervising her.
"She's improved a lot since she started work on her legs," Beast commented to Logan.
Logan grunted and continued to watch Ali. "She's got good coordination," he said after a while.
By then, all the students had gathered behind or beside Beast and Logan, and were watching Ali with great interest. Sweat beaded on her forehead, her breathing labored from the great exertion she was causing her body. Her eyes never wavered from the orange ball.
"How long has she been at this?" Scott asked.
"A little over ten minutes," Beast replied.
Scott nodded. So she was willing to work hard. That in itself made her a good candidate for the X-Men. Maybe she would be a good teammate after all, despite what he previously had thought.
Ali finally missed the ball, letting it fall the ground as she dropped down herself onto the soft grass. She wiped sweat from her brow and looked at the gathered group. "What? Why are you all staring at me like that?" she asked, a bit annoyed that everyone had watched her exercise.
They all shrugged and slowly dispersed, walking into the institute.
Rogue walked over and extended a gloved hand to help her up. "Ya work too hard sometimes, Al," she said, shaking her head slightly.
Ali smiled as she was hauled to her feet. Her legs, though shaking with exhaustion, were now strong enough to support her once again.
Beast walked over smiling. "Well, Ali, I think you're free from you're wheelchair," he announced.
"Yes!" cried Ali. That was the news she had been waiting for, for a long time.