Disclaimer: Don't own Justice League either. I suppose I do own Sara since I think I made her up. It feels weird to own a person.

Chapter 2

I curled up against John's side. OK, so maybe we hadn't gone as far as we usually did or I'd expected, but John was going to be in town for a few weeks this time. He was never around that long, so we had plenty of time to do anything we wanted. John wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer. I leaned my forehead against his cheek comfortably.

"Do you have any family?" John asked out of nowhere.

I hesitated, "I have a little brother back in Brazil."

"What about parents?"

I looked up at him but couldn't quite cover the flicker of anger in my eyes. I instantly saw regret on John's face. "There are two people there that conceived me and raise my brother."

"They abandoned you when your X-gene activated?" he asked gently as he caressed my cheek.

I nodded, "My brother thinks being a mutant is cool though. He still writes and calls when our parents aren't home." I took a deep breath and tried desperately to control my anger. "I thought I was used to being left and heartbroken, but . . . they're my parents, dammit."

John kissed me lightly. He knew what scared me and what would calm me down again, "I'm sorry, kid. I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."

I looked down, avoiding his gaze. "It's not your fault. Besides, you're the only one who can make me think that I'm more than just a fuck-up."

John grabbed my chin and jerked me up to see him. "Don't talk like that. It's not your fault they all didn't see how great you are. Shit, kid, you're the first person I've ever trusted this much."

He pulled me into another kiss; I looked up at him sadly. "What about you? You have any family?"

He released my chin. I knew about some of his past: mostly the fire that burnt down his school and Magneto's lies. I'd heard about some of his old lovers, but he never talked about his family or any friends other than Remy and Piotr.

"Nah," he started. "I ended up on my own pretty early. I only left one person in good standing. She was my best friend and the only person who didn't ditch me when my powers manifested."

I flinched at the obvious pain in his voice. "Guess we're just two misfit mutant fuck-ups."

John grabbed the sides of my head with his hands. I looked up at him sadly. John glared at me, "What did I tell you about putting yourself down? I mean what I say, kid. You do it again and you'll regret it, got it?"

I looked down but nodded. John caressed my cheek lovingly and kissed one of my temples in support. I moved into his touch, "What was her name? Your best friend, that is."

I caught the glassy look of reminiscence in John's eyes. "Sara. I forgot all about her until now."

We fell into a comfortable silence. I lied down on my side with my head in his lap. John stroked my hair and face soothingly. After a few minutes, he reached out with his free hand and grabbed the TV remote from the coffee table. I drew my knees to my chest as he flipped on the TV. I wasn't surprised when a cartoon came on, especially since it was Justice League. I knew that John liked Flash.

I squirmed a little bit to try to draw his attention back to me. John chuckled and brushed his fingers against my face and shoulder again. I smiled and settled down. I thrived from human touch and John knew it. I playfully nipped at one of his fingers as it drew too close to my mouth. He pulled back with a small gasp. I laughed. He shook his head, "So much for trusting you with body parts."

"You always crawl back for more," I pointed out.

He snorted but knew I was right. I glanced at the TV as it went to a commercial. John hit the mute button and resumed stroking me lightly. I moved into his touch affectionately. "John?"

"Yeah?"

"I asked Logan if he thought the Professor knew about us." I looked up at him. "He said that he'd be a lousy telepath if he didn't."

John seemed to consider it. "He has a point."

"I thought so too. Does this change anything?"

"Well, kid, he hasn't tried to intervene or anything. I mean, we'd know if there was any problems with us."

"I suppose so."

John leaned over and placed a kiss on my forehead. My eyes slipped shut with exhaustion. It had been a long day and I still had school in the morning. John knew I had to be back by ten, so I knew it was safe if I happened to fall asleep. He brushed his fingers across my back. A smile flickered across my face. Life was good when someone loved you this much.

I stumbled into the Institute at ten till ten. I had fallen asleep for a while, but I'd spent some more time with John too. He had let me leave after promising to come back this weekend and to be more careful at school. Yep, Remy had all ready told him what had happened. I walked past the living room toward my room but paused at the female giggling. I glanced in only to spot the back of Scott and Jean. I laughed to myself and wondered if Ray had seen this yet. I continued to my room, but Logan stopped me by the library. He steered me in.

"Open your mouth," he ordered.

I gave him a questioning look but did what he told me to do. He leaned in and took a sniff. This was definitely a new one. Logan stepped back. I couldn't quite hide my amusement. "What are you doing?"

"Chuck's orders. I gotta check for alcohol."

"Did you expect me to have had any?"

"No, but I gotta check everyone. Ya have fun tonight?" I just smiled; he snorted. "I figured as much. Now get up to bed."

I nodded and left. I made my way up to my room. Bobby was all ready home but was currently in the rec room. I quickly stripped to my boxers and glanced in the mirror. The bite was highly visible. I sighed and tugged on a T-shirt. Then I climbed into bed and fell into a fitful sleep.

The next day flew by error free until I headed home after school. Ray and I headed down our usual route. We'd just gotten out of detention for one of Ray's stupid pranks. I happened to be with him at the time and so we'd both landed detention. I wasn't mad at Ray, just a little bummed that I had to wait longer to see if I could visit John tonight.

A sudden movement up ahead caught my attention. I looked around inconspicuously. There was absolutely no one around. "Ray?"

"Freaky, creepy, too quiet feeling?" he asked. "Me too."

We kept walking but kept our eyes peeled for anything strange. I spotted another movement to the right of me. This was definitely bad. I had a bad feeling that it was a group of FOHs. I dropped the hint to Ray. "F. . ."

He nodded and whispered his reply. "That's what I was thinking. Run on my signal."

I rose on my toes but kept walking. Ray held two fingers just in front of him. Then he lowered one. I took a deep breath. Suddenly I got fly- tackled from behind and hit the pavement with a rough skid. I yelped and threw my hands over my head instinctively. I felt the weight leave my back. Then I was being attacked from all around. Brutal kicks were hitting my sides and legs.

"Stupid, mutants," one guy growled. "We owe it to the world to get rid of them."

I stole a glance toward Ray. He was going through the same thing and was bleeding a whole lot. I attempted to get up, but fists began raining down on my face and chest. All of Xavier's warnings were forgotten as Ray let out sparks. I tried to light up, but there was still an overcast preventing me from getting any sunlight. Suddenly the alley lit up with Ray's electricity. The sudden light blinded the FOHs, but Ray and I weren't affected because of our powers. I jumped to my feet and ran. Ray was right beside me. We only had a few moments head start.

"Split. . . up," Ray panted.

I nodded, "Go somewhere safe."

Ray turned left and took off down the main road. I ran up another block and turned right. Ray was definitely headed for the sewers; I found myself heading toward John's apartment. The FOHs were still on my tail. A few more people jumped out of a side road ahead of me. This was really going to hurt. I kept running, for fear of my life. I ducked my head and ran. I'd lost count of how many times I'd been hit, where, and how. I turned onto the right street and sprinted to John's room. I jerked out my key and was in the front room before any of the FOHs even saw me. I paused just in the threshold as I realized how much I actually hurt.

"John?" I called, wrapping my arms around myself in a vain attempt to lessen the pain.

I glanced around hopefully, but my head was spinning. I looked down and realized I was bleeding. I felt a tear of bitter pain break free. Of all the times for him to be out! "John?"

I stumbled a few steps forward but collapsed out of agony and exhaustion. I drew my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. I rocked slowly and willed myself to not pass out. My pain just continued to mount. I forced my eyes to stay open and my breaths to continue evenly. I stayed that way for who knows how long and just waited.

Some time later, the door opened. I had my back toward it and was just barely conscious. I heard the person set something down by the door and flip on the overhead lights. "Roberto?"

It was John's voice and it was full of panic. He rushed to my side and carefully rolled me onto my back. He knelt next to me. I clung to his arm fearfully and looked into his eyes. He brushed a quick kiss across my lips. "What happened?"

"Jumped. FOHs," I managed to spit out.

"Shit," he muttered. "Did you hit your head?"

"No." My voice was barely above a whisper.

"Then you can sleep through some of this pain. Do you wanna go to sleep?" he asked. I just clung to him desperately. John rose to his feet and lifted me into his arms. I knew we were about the same weight, so this surprised me. He carried me back into his bedroom and laid me on his bed. "'Berto, can you let go of my arm so I can get some aspirin?"

I released his arm long enough for him to disappear into the bathroom and come back. I took the pills he gave me before settling back against his pillows. John tucked me in. I finally allowed my eyes to slip shut as he curled up behind me.

"Should I contact Xavier?" John asked, concerned.

I looked at him slightly panicked and shook my head. "No, please."

"OK. Go to sleep," he soothed. "We'll talk when you wake up."

I nodded and closed my eyes again. The bed smelled like John. I tried to ignore my pain just before I slipped into a practically unconscious sleep.

TBC