Requiems Of The Past

by Zylen

The past of a young mutant who was rescued by the X-Men begins to resurface and he must come to grips with his haunting past and changing life.

5. Reflections In The Mirror

Title: Requiems of The Past

Disclaimer: I own nothing from X-Men Evolution. It's a great show, I'd suggest for everyone to at least watch one episode…

Warning: This story is an alternate universe to the one seen in the show, which occurs after episode fourteen; Growing Pains. It will contain angst, fluff, and violence.

Rating: I'm changing the rating to R…just to be safe..

Author's Notes: You still need to ask permission to use these characters.

Dialogue Notes: Italics- Flashbacks, Bold- Thoughts, Bold/Italics- Telepathy, ""-Regular speech

Chapter Dedication: I'm dedicating this chapter to everyone that made a character for me. You know who you are!

Chapter 5: Reflections In The Mirror

The professor had stressed the details of this particular mission. "A simple rescue mission indeed." Raine scoffs to herself as she stares holes into Magnus' head, the bat-like mutant not seeming as nervous as he should be. "He needs more training. How could Xavier not see that?"

Suddenly a certain purple haired mutant catches Raine's attention. She looks into Michael's worried eyes, "What is it?"

Michael calmly says, "If looks could kill."

Raine smiles and sits back in her seat. In his usual way Michael had said exactly what she needed to hear. Closing her eyes Raine felt her weariness melt away and realized she herself was nervous about this mission. This thought scares her. "If they're just human guards, why am I so afraid?" Long ago Raine had to learn to trust her instincts…and they've never been wrong before. She sighs letting out her complications and anxieties, wanting to be clear for the mission. She calls up to the front and says, "Hey Logan! How close are we?"

Logan peeks over his shoulder, "It's gonna be another few minutes."

Raine slumps in her chair and crosses her arms over he chest, "Is that all?"

Brad turns his seat around and says, "Aw…relax. We'll do fine. We're all proficient enough in our powers for this mission, besides they're just humans."

Mike joins the conversation, "I hate to admit it but Brad's right."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing dude."

Brad turns his seat around and rests his head back into the soft seat and waits for the jet to land.

Magnus remains silent. Ever since they left the institute he's felt something pulling on his mind, not like when you think forgetting something. This sensation feels as though his mind is under water. Something is pestering his mind not letting him focus on anything else, "What is it? What do you want?"

"For you to help me."

Magnus shoots up when he hears the voice. Like the sound of rain on a spring afternoon, it was familiar yet strange. He is sue he heard it before…somewhere he can't remember. "Magnus!" Magnus shoots up in his seat again, this time startled more than confused. Mike says, "We're here come on. Be quiet.

Magnus stands and says, "Sorry. I was caught up for a moment. I'm fine now."

Raine scoffs and walks to the landing ramp, standing near Logan waiting for the instructions. "Ok, from the blue prints of this warehouse, we gonna need to travel through a lot of hallways until we end up at the room. So, we'll split up. Brad you come with me. Michael, Raine, And Magnus, you'll head straight to where the prisoner is. Michael, you have command." He turns to Magnus and Raine, "You guys listen to him, ok?" Receiving nods for both Magnus and Raine he continues, "Brad and I will take an alternative route." He smirks, "Last team there has double workout regimen. Go."

Logan and Brad run over to some crates and disappear into the upper workings of the spacious warehouse. Mike says, Magnus check if there's anyone behind that door."

Magnus unfolds his ears and concentrates deafening all local sounds except the ones behind the door. "No heartbeats. It's clear."

Mike opens the door and steps inside checking the corridor despite his confidence in Magnus' abilities. He motions for Magnus and Raine to enter. He shuts the door behind them, trusting Magnus to warn them of danger. The three soldiers creep silently down the hallway, following the path they memorized from the blueprints. Suddenly Magnus stops, "Wait!" he whispers, "Heartbeats…two of them…soft, not active…they're walking." Raine hides in the darkness behind a pair of exposed pipes, Michael attracts himself to the ceiling, and Magnus crouches behind a draining valve.

The two guards, some kind of law enforcement, walk out form behind the corner and walk down the hall…directly in the three mutant path. Holding their breath the three of them plead for the guards to not notice them. The guards' stop and one looks over to the pipes Raine's hiding behind. Something catches his eye…a shoulder?

"Hey! Come on out!"

Raine steps out of the shadow and says, "Please don't hurt me I was only looking for a place to stay the night."

"Well it's not here so leave."

"But wait. I haven't introduced myself." Raine walks up to the guards and touches their faces. A green wispy fog envelops her hands and the guards' faces. The humans gasp and convulses as their very life force is stolen and they fall to ground, dead without even so much a minor struggle. Their bodies fall to the pavement and she says, "I'm Reaper."

Michael floats down and lands gently on his feet, "Nice and quiet. Good job. Hide the bodies."

After the bodies were safely hidden from sight, the team moved forward, closer to their goal. The rest of the way was empty of any more resistance. Michael stops in front of a doorway marked as 'SLAUGHTERHOUSE', fearing the worst from these human guards. He turns to Magnus and makes a circle with his index finger. Magnus perks his ears up and listens to the sound of seven distinct heartbeats. One of the heartbeats is pulsating and beating fast as if it had been worked for hours. The other heartbeats are relaxed and otherwise beating normally.

Michael says, "Crap. Well let's go."

Michael walks into the room and counts seven people, six guards and one hostage. The hostage' head is down and blood spots her clothing. The woman herself looks almost like a bird; having wings covered in feathers and talons at the end of her fingers and feet. Raine pokes in and says, "Hey guys! What're you doing?"

Magnus enters and stops immediately when he lays eyes upon the hostage. Somewhere in his subconscious mind someone is screaming. "I'm glad you came."

"Who are you?"

"I can't say. Not now."

"Fine. We'll get you out."

Magnus looks to the guard closest to him and extends his inch long talons. The guard stops, hearing the threat all to clear. Michael says, "Alright we're taking the hostage with us. Stay out of our way and you get hurt."

The biggest of the guards steps in front of Michael and says, "We can't let you take our prisoner. She's a mutant and mutants must be handled accordingly."

Michael smirks at the man, who is easily twice his size, "What do think we are?" The man gasps and Michael throws his hand to the wall to his left. The man feels a pulling sensation not from the ground but from the wall. The hanging lamps also point toward the wall, indicating a massive change. Magnus keeps the guard from doing anything, while Raine steals two more souls. Raine says, "What are you doing? They're humans! If they had a chance to kill us they would most assuredly take it."

Michael looks to Magnus, "What do you think?"

Magnus looks to Raine and says, "She's right."

"Ok." Michael walks up to the man that's against the wall and pulls his gun out of its holster, checking the bullet count and cocking the hammer back. He looks the man right in his eye and pulls the trigger. Blood splatters across the back of the wall, but it turns and flows behind the man to the point on the wall that Michael increased the gravity. Michael turns to Magnus and sees him wiping off his claws with one of the shirts belonging to one of the bodies in front of him.

The three mutants turn the hostage and see that she's awake and looking at Magnus with a distant look of surprise in her hazel eyes. Michael says, "Hello. What's you're name?"

The young bird looking mutant turns to look at Michael's deep blue eyes and says, "My name's Shante Har…Harrington."

Michael kneels in front of her, smiling trying to calm her obviously shattered nerves, "I'm Michael." Indicating the girl to his left, "This is Raine." Then indicating the bet-like mutant to his right, "And this is…"

"Magnus."

Michael becomes confused, "How did you know?"

Shante looks at Magnus who looks as if someone had asked him to solve the riddle of the sphinx, "I have telepathy."

Michael places a hand on her shoulder, enjoying the feel of her feathers against his skin. "We're gonna get you out of here and get you some medical attention ok?"

Shante enjoys the warmth of this boys skin on her body, but she doesn't let that distract her, "Alright. Help me out of this chair."

"Of course." Michael, Raine, and Magnus release the restraints binding Shante's body to the chair. Michael pulls one of her arms over his shoulder and walks with her to the door. Suddenly Logan and Brad drop down from the second floor platforms and Logan says, "Nice work. Let's go."

Shante smiles at this young man's kindness and doesn't oppose to him helping her. Magnus can't help but feel something pulling on his conscious mind, something that lingers under the surface of what he sees and what he knows. "Something's familiar about that woman."

Raine does like this new woman, something about her face and body language screams, NOT TRUSTWORTHY! However, she doesn't say anything and just chooses to watch her.

Logan guides the mutants to the jet and takes the pilot seat. He starts the ignition and takes off toward the mansion.

Alone figure materializes on the rooftop of the warehouse and says, "I'll find you soon enough."