Disclaimer: I will never own the X-MEN or JT/SLASH (he belongs to T.A.J.T.B.) Arya is the only character I own here (and also her family: ie: step-father, mother…)

Secrets of Silence

FOUR

That night…

"I don't know, guys. I've got a bad feeling about this…"

"Shut up, Todd. Why are you always such a toad-y?"

"Could you guys try to speed it up? My shoulders are starting to hurt, real bad."

"If you guys don't be quiet, I'm gonna hafta come down there and make you!" Lance said from his spot at the top of their human-tower from outside of the wall of the Xavier Institute that night. Mystique had told them to find this new girl there and "talk to her" or "find out what was going on". And by that she meant grab her and bring her back to the place where they were supposed to meet Mystique.

"Okay, I'm going in." Lance said before vaulting off of Todd's shoulders and into the yard below on the other side. Once on the ground, Lance glanced around. He couldn't see anything suspicious in terms of cameras or anything that seemed to be watching him. 'Good.' He thought, 'Then no one will knew we're here.' Then he called quietly back over to his gang on the other side of the wall, "Quicksilver! The coast is clear. You can come on over."

Soon Quicksilver was over the wall. As soon as he was though, they heard Todd's voice from the opposite side, "Hey! What about us!"

"Shut your trap, Toad! Or you'll wake everyone else up!"

Lance rolled his eyes and responded, "Fine! You can come too! Just don't get in the way!"

With that, Todd vaulted over the wall, using Blob's immense shoulders as hand-holds, "Thanks, dude. But what about ---

Toad pointed back over towards the wall, where Blob was still outside.

"Stay out there, Blob. It might be better if you stay here."

"Sure, okay. Whatever you say…"

With that worked out, Lance, Quicksilver and Toad continued to sneak up to the large building known as the Xavier Institute. Quicksilver actually made it there first because of his super-speed, "I win!" he said when the other two caught up.

"You're such a show-off!" Toad said in reply.

In response, Lance whacked both of them over the head and said, "Shut up! Both of you! We have to be quiet!" He then turned to the window facing them, produced a glass-cutter from his pocket. Following the outline of the window, Lance cut out a square of glass.

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Meanwhile…

Arya waited while her eyes adjusted to the darkness of her room before getting out of bed. Opening her closet, Arya produced her single suitcase that she hadn't bothered to unpack since arriving at the Institute a month or so ago. She then hastily made the bed. On her way to the door, she grabbed the white envelope containing a ticket off her desk.

Without a glance behind her, Arya opened the door to her room. She peered cautiously outside into the dark hallway, glancing to the left and right quickly before stepping out. She pulled the door slowly closed behind her, wincing as the latch caught in the mechanism of the doorway. To her, this small sound seemed to echo loudly throughout the Institute. Arya hoped that nobody else had heard it.

Arya tiptoed down the hallway, passing the rooms of the others on her way to the stairs. When she reached the room of JT, Arya produced a slip of paper from her pocket and slipped it under the door for JT to find in the morning. She would be gone by then. Before passing Scott's door, Arya stared at it for a few moments and then produced a second slip of paper and slipped it under the door. Without a second thought, she headed for the stairs.

Before she could place the first step on the top of the flight, Arya thought she heard a small noise coming from downstairs. Her heart began beating slightly faster than before as Arya proceeded down the stairs.

Peeking around a corner at the bottom of the stairs, Arya could see a light on the floor from the kitchen. Arya gasped in surprise. 'No one is supposed to be awake now! They are all asleep!' Arya looked down the hallway again, and past the light of the kitchen, Arya could see the starlight filtering in through the skylight windows in the foyer. She could even see the door. 'So close and yet so far away…' she thought. With a sigh, Arya thought, 'Maybe, if I am very quiet, I can sneak past whoever is in there, without attracting their attention…'

With this thought, Arya began slipping silently towards the light on the floor. It was so quiet at this hour that Arya thought she could hear her heart beating louder and louder in her ears. Before stepping past the kitchen door, Arya paused. For the first time, she noticed that the door was halfway open. She took the opportunity to glance inside the room, but almost being blinded by the light. She could she the familiar back of JT at the kitchen counter. 'Oh no!' Arya thought. But she managed to calm herself with a deep breath before deciding to continue past the door.

Before she made it half way across the doorway, Arya heard footsteps from beyond the closed door. And before she knew what happened the kitchen door opened and JT stood across from her.

"Arya! What the--- What's going on? What's with the suitcase?" When no response came from her, JT continued, "You're not trying to run away, are you?"

Arya gazed at the floor guiltily.

"I'll take that as a yes. Arya, you can't just run away. Why would you want to lea---" A sudden noise from the foyer interrupted JT, "What the heck?" JT grabbed Arya's arm and pulled her into the foyer. What JT saw when they ran in was Quicksilver climbing in through the window Lance just recently cut open.

Author's note: Hey guys! it's actually been awhile since I've had inspiration on this story. but here i am with another chapter! I hope you like it, JT Blade. Reviews would be welcome. Iv'e been so busy here at school, I really haven't had the time for updates, but i will try my best to make them more frequent. --Riawolf