Title: Savin' Me

Author: UnderThePaleMoonlight

Summary: A girl runs away from her old life once she discovers she's a mutant. She meets an extraordinary gentleman, joins him, and meets an even more extraordinary boy. She wants to help him, but maybe he isn't the only one who needs saving. . .

Setting: Post X2 through post X3.

Pairings: Pyro/OC, slight Magneto/Mystique, slight Gambit/OC

Rated for: Language and mature content in future chapters.

A/N: Sorry that this chapter is a little late. I had most of it done last night, but I was tired and passed out early. It's a little short, I know. But it introduces some key people. Please review when you're done reading, but no flames. Again I say, I won't read your bitch-fest, so don't even bother taking the time to type it. Thanks and enjoy!

Ava trailed right behind Magneto, with Mystique right by his side. The air was even colder than before. It stung her face, making her chestnut eyes water. Through the tears, she stared transfixed at the giant building before her; it looked like an old factory of some sort. Metal structures just barely scraped the midnight sky. Dirt fields surrounded them as far as the eye could see.

"What is this place?" she asked, teeth slightly chattering again.

"An old, abandoned steel mill, twenty miles south of New York City," Mystique answered, not even looking back at her. Ava noticed Mystique's long, blue arm snake around Magneto's. "The perfect place for our Magneto."

Magneto laughed quietly. Ava was surprised to hear Mystique laugh as well.

Certainly didn't seem like the laughing type earlier.

A loud creak made Ava jump in her skin, putting her on edge. Her eyes darted about, finally resting on an open metal door. She saw a blue-scaled foot slither inside.

A sigh of relief.

Magneto opened the door. Of course.

"Ava?" She met Magneto's eyes. He raised an eyebrow. "Coming inside?"

She realized that she was still standing outside in the dark. Adjusting her backpack on her shoulder, she hurried inside, where the door was shut with an ominous, echoing slam.

Huge.

That was the first word Ava thought of when she looked around her new home. It was one large room, the ceiling stretching high above her head. The floor was grey concrete, the walls silver metal, everything was grey. Concrete pillars were scattered about, almost as if they were holding up the ceiling. It wasn't exactly what she imagined. . .

It's warm. Who cares?

Ava walked alongside Magneto, soaking up every detail of the room. Mystique flanked his other side, throwing distasteful looks in Ava's direction.

Magneto placed a hand on Ava's shoulder. "What do you think, my dear?"

She surveyed the room one last time, before answering very vaguely with, "It's nice."

A lair. That's what it's like. The Lair.

A booming clank, to which Ava gave a startled gasp, and a line of swearing in a scratchy, English accent.

Magneto looked to Mystique, the blue in his eyes twinkling with amusement. "Toad at work again?"

She rolled her amber eyes. "He's been working on that car for God-knows-how long."

Ava didn't notice Magneto taking long strides towards the east side of the Lair. Seeing him walk off, she followed after him. She didn't want to be left alone. She felt safe by him, and didn't want to stray too far.

He disappeared behind a pillar, the fluttering of his pant leg being the only indication of where he was. Ava walked the same invisible path he did, and was surprised at what she saw on the other side.

It looked like a makeshift car garage: an old automobile settled on several blocks of concrete. Toolboxes were everywhere, lone tools and car parts littered on the ground. Beneath the car, a pair of legs in thick black pants stuck out. She watched Magneto approach the car and cleared his throat.

"Hard at work again, Toad?" he inquired, voice loud and clear.

The legs' feet anchored themselves to the floor, pulling their owner out from under the car. Ava's stomach turned at the sight of the hard-working man: his skin was a sickly green-yellow, with greasy black hair plastered to his forehead. Large goggles were over his eyes, magnifying the frog-like green eyes.

The man stretched, flashing Magneto a crooked smile. "Yeah. Next few days, this baby'll be good as new," he reported, with some cockiness present in his English voice.

Magneto seemed pleased. "Excellent job."

The frog-man, Toad, she figured, noticed her standing quietly in the back. He sat up in a crouched position while removing his goggles. "And who just might that be?" he asked, the distorted green eyes never leaving her.

Magneto looked back, and a genuine look of surprise came over his face. "Ava. Nice of you to join us." He motioned for her to stand by him, which she did with little hesitation. He pointed to the frog-man. "Ava, this is Toad. Consider him our resident mechanic," he told her.

Toad extended a grease-stained hand. "Pleasure, Miss," he said pleasantly with his crooked smile. Ava took his hand in a gentle handshake. She expected some sliminess, due to his appearance, but Toad's skin was only moist, as if he had just been sprayed with a fine mist.

She put on a nervous smile. "Same," was all she managed to say. She was genuinely frightened. Before that night, she had never met a real-life mutant. There weren't many in Richmond, and they were probably in hiding or didn't have any physical mutations. Meeting this Toad and Mystique was a strong first impression of mutants.

Magneto glanced around the Lair. "It's quite empty in here. Where is Pyro?"

Pyro? That name can't mean anything good.

Toad shrugged, tossing a wrench into one of the nearby toolboxes. "Probably blowing something up."

"And Gambit?"

"Right 'ere, mon ami."

Ava's expression perked up at the sound of a thick, Southern drawl. She pivoted around to see a tall, muscular figure step out from the shadows.

He was a giant, standing well over six foot. Accompanied with broad shoulders, muscular arms, and apparently rock-hard chest, he had the build of a fighter. Shaggy brown hair was pulled out of his face with a black headband. His sweat drenched t-shirt showed defined muscles, which Ava couldn't help but steal a quick glance at.

Definitely easy on the eyes.

Her attention then came to his eyes. The whites were blacked out, the irises blood red with no pupil. As frightening as they were to see, Ava couldn't tear her own eyes away from them. They were hypnotic. . .

"Sorry, sir. Jus' outside practicin' mah Savate."

Magneto waved a hand dismissively. "No bother, my boy. Best to keep up on your combat skills."

The southern mystery man gave a devilish grin. "Well, Ah try." His blood red eyes rested on Ava, sending a chill through her body. He came over to her, his eyes piercing through her. The grin remained.

"An' who is dis lov'ly femme?" he purred, his hand taking Ava's.

Gentle, but firm grip. Warm fingers. Her heart skipped a beat.

Magneto placed a hand on Ava's back, pushing her forward. "Gambit, this is Ava, She's going to be staying with us," he told the Cajun. "Ava, this is Gambit. He's one of our newer members," he said, looking at him with a glint in his eye, "But certainly a valuable member, nonetheless."

Gambit slowly brought Ava's hand up, placing a soft kiss on her knuckles. Her heart began to race. "Miss Ava, it's a pleasuh t'meet a beautiful femme like yaself."

Her face burned, blood rushing up to her cheeks and reddening her fair complexion. She forced herself to speak, her own Southern accent a little stronger now that she was in the presence of another Southerner. "Thank ya very much, Mr. Gambit," she said shyly.

His eyes seemed to widen with surprise. Gambit looked to Magneto, his face bright. "Mousier, ya foun' me a South'rn belle?" His eyes came back to Ava, sparkling like rubies. "Ah believe dis just made mah day," he said, winking at Ava flirtatiously before letting her hand go.

Ava touched her now warm fingers to her cheek. The skin was hot, her heart was racing. A little smile played across her lips as she met eyes with the Cajun once again.

I think I'm really going to like this place now.

A/N: Whoo! Anyway, I know I'm probably going to get some reviews concerning Toad, but I like him and I really wanted to bring him back for some reason. And it's my story, so in my own little world Toad isn't fried. M'kay? Please review, no flaming, blah, blah, blah. Thanks for reading!