Disclaimer: I (sadly, I might add...) don't own X-men, or any Marvel character mentioned in this story. The only ones I own are my original character (DJ)

Slipping Through the Cracks

Prologue.

Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire...

"Merry Christmas DJ, John!" A beautiful woman with ruby red hair, smiled, handing the two children their presents. The two kids looked at each other excitedly before tearing the wrapping off. Devon Joanna or DJ, a small fiery red-headed girl, only four, looked into the video camera her father was holding. Her hair was pulled back in two low pigtails. She made her best impression of a smile, before getting back to the issue at hand: opening her box. She saw her brother squeal with delight as he clumsily pulled his first present open.

"A Megazord!" He yelled, holding it up in triumph for the world to see. She clapped happily, before turning her attention back to her box. She heard weird sounds coming from it. She tried in vain to open, before her brother crawled over and began to help her. She smiled at him; she loved her older brother already, he was so cool. She wanted to be just like him: She always mimicked his actions. She gasped when she pulled out a tiny puppy. "A puppy!" He shouted excitedly, looking back at his parents, who nodded happily. They jumped up and down, and then began to play with and pet their new dog, who seemed to love the attention. Their mother smiled softly, putting her hand in her husband's.

"These two'll be inseperatable." He smiled. She nodded gently, before standing up. "Ok, kiddies, time for bed, you gotta get to bed before Santa comes with the rest of your stuff." He picked up DJ, while holding his son's hand and took them up stairs. DJ was looking forward to church tomorrow, she got to drink grape juice. That was her favorite flavor.

"Good night Tom, I'll put out the fireplace."

"Al right Bridgett, see you in a little bit." He attempted to wave, with his son hanging off of his hand, and the puppy biting playfully at his socks. He gently placed DJ in her bed, and after tucking her in, saw to her brother. The puppy circled the foot of the bed for a bit before jumping into it next to DJ, as she snuggled up against it.

Later that night, DJ woke up, giggling slightly as the puppy licked her face. She rolled out of the bed, careful not to fall. Unaware that her moving about woke her brother, she attempted to sneak (as much as a four year old can) down the stairs. She would catch Santa, and give him her cookies mommy was making. She heard some noise from the chimney, and ran as fast as she could to the foot of it. "Santa?" She asked, waiting, hoping for a answer. What she didn't know was that her father had pretended to go to bed, and then, like he and his wife planned, dressed as Santa Claus, and climbed onto the roof and in through the chimney. She crawled on her knees until she was inside the fireplace, not noticing the hot coal and wood. Not seeing any signs of him, she looked down, curiously picking up a still burning splinter of wood, and examined it closely. She didn't know that when something is burning, it normally is hot. Fixated on the glow, she was startled by a sudden noise.

"Deej?" Her brother asked. She let out a squeak, and the wood and her whole hand ignited. Her brother's eyes opened wide as he let out a scream of terror. Their mother came running at that instant. The fire sent sparks upward, causing their father to lose his balance and fall, hitting the ground with a sickening crack. Her brother screamed louder, after seeing the man fall from inside the chimney, miraculously missing DJ But to him, Santa was hurt. Their mother let out a blood curdling scream as she ran to his side.

"Tom? Tom!" She yelled, crying, trying to hold the children from such a sight. "John, keep her back!" She yelled to her young son, probably not realizing that he couldn't even comprehend what was happening in front of him.

"Dad!" DJ's brother cried, holding on to DJ, the dog was whimpering behind him. Suddenly, after realizing just who died, she screamed, and her whole body engulfed in flames, sending her brother and the dog flying backwards, into the dining room. Her mother stared in horror before she herself caught on fire, and the tree. Soon, the whole house was engulfed in flames. DJ looked around, horrified, wondering what monster could've done this. She looked down at her hands, and to her horror they were on fire. Then one of the ornaments caught her attention. It was a hanging picture of her family, in the reflection of he broken glass, she saw what should've been her Instead she saw a monster, a demon. Suddenly, her body appeared normal, no flames. Her brother, carrying the puppy, unscathed just stood there staring, not nearly as afraid as he should've been, but fasinated, impressed even. He began to reach forward, but she pulled away running outside.

"A Demon! Here!" She heard her neighbors cry. Police cars and fire trucks began to pull up around her. The lawn began to catch flame, and she saw out of the corner of her eye that her neighbor's pajama sleeve caught fire as well. Her older brother John just stared, looking at the people around her with increasing anger. She was not a demon, she was his baby sister! He froze when he saw the guns pointed at her from all directions. When they fired, she screamed, then she froze stunned, as the bullets stopped in mid flight, and floated around her.

Everyone just looked stunned. That same neighbor screamed, "She is a demon! Only a demon can stop bullets!" Suddenly, it seemed like all time stopped, except for her. Even her brother. The dog was in mid bark, a dozen bullets were floating around her, no not floating, frozen. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder. "It's al right, Devon, you're safe now, go to sleep, no one will hurt you now..." As hard as she tried not to, she began to doze off. Everything went black, and she heard voices around her.

"It appears we have a conflict of interest, Charles" Charles? She tried to open her mouth to talk, but she was too tired. She managed to get one last look at her brother, still frozen, clutching the puppy. Then she slowly closed her eyes.

So what did you think? Feel free to review, but be nice...plzzzzzz? This is my first story i've ever put up on anything. It may seem slow, or make no sense now, but this part is the second most important part of this story, and it is partially to blame for the big twist later on in the story.:D I'm trying to make this character as un Mary-Sueish as possible.

Next up: Chapter 2. DJ wakes up after being stuck in a long coma, lives in an orphanage, and is eventually adopted. She watches the mutant/human conflict begin to unfold, and has some power mishaps on the way, and still manages to get ignored by the big players. It'll tie into the movies soon:)