A/N: Long hiatus and that's mostly due to school and daily struggles with published pieces that have dominated my life. I apologize for the long wait and hope that I can get back to updating on this site more regularly.

Thanks to those who have stuck around. Enjoy this snippet.

OOOOOOOOO

Scarlet let out a small sigh as she stood in front of a mirror with her arms stretched out to her side. Forge was taking measurements for her new suit – one that would help keep her safe and that would match the rest of the X-Men in training. She heard him utter how her proportions were around the right size for an average woman, but restrained herself from punching him in the face. The sound of her fellow students running towards the Danger Room kept her distracted as she chanted "don't let 'em get to you" in her mind over and over again.

Most of her classmates' powers had been assimilated into her stash of powers, making it easier for her to stay accident free since the third night that she had been staying at the mansion. She had taken a few hours to curl up in the bowels of the mansion to let the powers work their way through her system. But she had to keep her powers in check at all times because no one seemed to appreciate the lights flickering overhead during class or in the halls .The thought of having more students come flocking into the school haunted her because she knew that too many powers absorbed at once would make her situation a lot harder to handle.

"Are we done yet?" she demanded, glancing down at Forge as he scribbled something on his notepad. "I have my first training session to go to."

Forge rolled his eyes. "Impatient and rude…Wow, you're totally not your sister."

Scarlet sent him a dark glare.

"Is there anything that I need to know when making your suit?" Forge asked with a small sigh as he straightened. "Like parts that need to be super-protected or…?"

"I need something that won't make me too hot," Scarlet told him, letting her arms fall to her sides. "I can't take much heat before I get really sick and pass out." She frowned at him. "And yes, I know that you've seen my file and know that I've lived in a few of the hottest states. I was sick almost the entire time when I didn't have permission to wear shorts and tank-tops. I stick to the cooler states, Forge. It's safer that way."

The man nodded and scribbled something else on his notepad. "How about I try to find a way to keep you safe and cool and get back to you with the design ideas? Give me a few hours and I'll show you the designs. Okay, Scarlet?"

Scarlet nodded and backed towards the door. "See you later, Forge."

Once safely out of the room, Scarlet braced her hand against the wall and told herself to chill. She had noticed the minutest flicker in the lights overhead and had to push her powers back into a manageable zone. The sounds of her classmates talking in the Danger Room drew her from her thoughts and had her walking into the mentioned room.

Her eyes roamed over her friends as they stood in their X-Men suits, each sporting a small difference that made them slightly unique. She noticed that it was Storm and Wolverine teaching the session that day and that the funny haired man was smoking on a cigar. His eyes landed on her and she folded her arms over her chest, looking away from him.

Why does it feel like there's something off with him? Scarlet wondered, ignoring John's not-so sneaky glances at her as she thought about Wolverine. Or maybe it's me again. Yeah, I'm going crazy here. Always crazy.

Storm's words brought her back to the present reality when she said that the group of young X-Men would be going against each other in a controlled fight. It was to test their abilities should one break away from the entire group and help someone like Magneto. There was an uneven number in the class, she noticed as people started pairing up. Her eyes roamed over the group and saw that Wolverine was watching her again.

"You shouldn't be here without your suit," he told her around his cigar as he looked at her attire up and down.

"Don't have one, yet," Scarlet said, brushing a stray fuzz ball from the shoulder of her tank-top. "Forge's gonna make one for me soon though."

"Until you get a suit, you shouldn't come in here," he said. "It's dangerous."

Scarlet tilted her head to the side and crossed her arms again. "That's why it's called the Danger Room, Funny Hair. Besides, I don't need one of your fancy suits to train for battle. I'll be fine without one for now."

Wolverine pointed at the door. "Get out of here until you got a suit, princess."

"Uh, no." Scarlet said, glaring at him. "I got clearance from Chuck to participate in this training session and I plan on being part of it." Her eyes narrowed. "You could ask him if you want to, but I'm not lying and I'm not leaving here."

The Wolverine held her stare evenly for several heartbeats, never easing up the angry intensity there. Scarlet had endured worse when she was running around on her own. She didn't even notice that everyone was silent as they watched her stand up against what they all thought was the toughest guy in the house until she heard Pyro raise his voice.

"I'll go against her," he said, holding his hand up. "Teach her a lesson or two for you, Logan."

Scarlet cocked an eyebrow at the older man. "Well?"

Wolverine stared at her for a few more moments, but ended up moving aside. "It's all on you, princess, if you get your ass sent to the hospital wing."

Scarlet moved past him and smirked, keeping her arms folded over her chest. She heard the orders for the rest of the class to get back to a safe distance. The clicking of Pyro's zippo made her flinch, but the smirk came back before she turned to face him. The pyromaniac smiled at her as he stood a few yards away.

"Ladies first, sweetheart," he said, holding a ball of flame.

"Then make a move already," Scarlet shot back. "I can't stand here all day, you know."

She saw the annoyance in his eyes and he threw a ball of fire at her. Scarlet twisted her hand and knocked the ball aside, so that it collided with the wall to her left. Pyro continued throwing fire at her, making her dodge and move on her feet in order to avoid being burnt. Her own powers knocked the flames away when she couldn't avoid them, but Scarlet knew that she couldn't use the ones that she had absorbed from the others in school yet. There hadn't been enough time for her learn how to use them as well as the older ones.

For several moments, Scarlet merely used the powers that she knew how to use to attack Pyro. Throwing him around the room didn't make her feel any safer, even when his fiery attacks let up on her for a heartbeat. A thin film of sweat coated her skin and she looked at him as she adjusted her stance when her legs threatened to give out underneath of her.

Let me out and he'll pay for all of this…I can destroy him.

No, Scarlet thought, watching Pyro rise to his feet. I'm doing this my way. Not yours.

Pyro flicked open his zippo again and gathered a large ball of flames. "Last chance to give up, babe," he taunted, though his breathing was more labored than hers.

"Heh, like that's going to happen," Scarlet muttered, staring at him through narrowed eyes. "This girl doesn't give up to punks that need lighters to use their powers."

Fire filled Pyro's eyes and his body shook violently. Scarlet had to quickly throw herself to the side to avoid his sudden onslaught of attacks. The cries of her fellow students blurred in her ears and she felt her stomach start to tighten as the heat in the room increased. The voice in her head was getting louder and louder and harder to ignore as her body grew uncomfortably warm. Pyro didn't seem to be running out of steam as he continued his attack and Scarlet knew that she had to do something before her classmates could find out her weakness.

Scarlet raised her hand and imagined grabbing Pyro by his throat. Her opponent's attacks stopped as he was lifted off the ground by his throat. The color red filled her eyes and her mind as she lifted the teenager into the air and threw him against the nearest wall, twice. Then she tightened her grip on him, letting him hang against the wall with her ever tightening telekinetic grip.

Tighter…tighter…Shut him up for good. Tighter.

"Scarlet, let him go," Wolverine's voice broke through to her as very few people could.

The red color faded away as Scarlet turned her gaze onto the man now standing close to her. She looked back at Pyro and saw that his face was turning blue as he grasped at his neck as if trying to pry away her telekinetic hold, but it didn't do him any good. Scarlet saw the fear in his eyes and let her hand drop, letting him fall to the floor in a heaving mess.

"Scarlet," Storm said, heading towards her.

"No…" Scarlet whispered, disappearing from the room in a small cloud of smoke.

OOOOOOOOO

"Chuck, I have to leave," Scarlet said when she found the older man sitting in his office. "I know that you heard about what happened in the Danger Room, so I'm going to make it easy for you. I'll have my things packed and –" She saw the small smile tugging at his lips. "What's so funny?"

Xavier folded his hands on his desk. "Maria, if I were to expel those who had attacked another student because of the lack of control they displayed with their powers, I would not have a school to run. It is natural for students to have moments of failed control. Many of us have had to deal with that painfully exhausting lesson, but we can't give up. It's against our nature."

"And it's against my nature to stick to one place when there have been more than one accidents," Scarlet countered, plopping down on one of the chairs across from the professor's. "You've been keeping track of me for years, so you should know that, Chuck."

"Oh yes. I know that you have been to almost every state in the country and that you've only stayed in the cities you've lived in until you have had three accidents. The final accident being the death of a classmate or someone close to you."

Scarlet tried to ignore the painful squeeze that her heart made, but she knew that Xavier had noticed something.

"Maria, everywhere you have been, someone has met an unfortunate end. Those who haven't died because of the injuries have fought hard to come back, but you never lingered long to see them triumph."

"I had to get out of there," Scarlet whispered, looking away from him. "I had to get away from all of those dead bodies – all of those poor children. I had to forge new memories in their minds and fake the evidence because I couldn't let them remember me. Why should I let them remember the pain that I caused them? I may not be allowed to forget what I did, but they shouldn't have to remember me."

Xavier leaned forward. "Then why did you leave something behind with each place that you left behind?"

Scarlet lifted an eyebrow, but didn't voice her question.

"You have left little signs all over the country that you were there. The forget-me-nots that continue to bloom in environments that don't support them, they are in patches everywhere that you have been."

"People like growing flowers that can't naturally be found in their cities. That's part of the craziness that garden-nuts enjoy."

"These forget-me-nots are not typical of the natural varieties. No one has been able to successfully produce the same color." Xavier's eyes twinkled. "The scarlet color is hard to copy."

"Give science a few more years and maybe they'll crack the genetic code," Scarlet muttered, picking at a frayed thread on her shorts. "What does weird flower colorations have to do with me, Chuck?"

"Maria, could these flowers be your way of reminding a choice few of where you have been and what you did in those places?"

Scarlet sighed and looked at him. "I needed to leave some kind of mark on the places that I've been. To remind myself where I've come from and what I did that made me leave. And maybe I wanted to see if…"

"If there was a chance that someone would miss you when you left," Xavier finished for her. Scarlet hummed an affirmative. "Maria, you wanted to be remembered. Even if it was just by one person. It speaks volumes of the pain that's in your heart."

"No, it speaks of the craziness that Magneto created inside of me. Remember Chuck: I erased my presence from their memories and created false ones. That's one of the best powers that I was able to get cursed with."

"Maria…"

"Please Chuck. Don't make me stay here for much longer. I don't want to be the reason that another kid gets killed," Scarlet said, looking at him.

"I have complete faith in you and know that you won't kill anyone."

"But there will be accidents. Some bad ones." She jerked her thumb over her shoulder. "That Danger Room thing was nothing. It could be worse."

"That is why I am assigning you to one of the adults who can help give you private lessons until you feel confident in the powers that you now wield," Xavier told her. "They will help you keep your accidents to a minimum while teaching you some lessons."

"Ugh, Chuck! Tell me that you're not assigning me to Red or Scooter!" Scarlet rose to her feet. "Because I will walk out that gate of yours and never be seen again if that's what you're planning! I am not getting taught by them outside of regular classes."

"Relax Maria," Xavier said with a good-natured smile. "I know how you feel about Jean and Scott, so I have requested the help of someone who has had to learn what you have. You will be working with Logan."

"Funny Hair?"

"Yes."

"The one who thinks that I'm a bitch?"

"I wouldn't know if he would go that far in naming you."

"And he agreed to train me?"

"Why don't you ask me that for yourself, Princess?" Logan's voice came from behind her.

Scarlet turned her head and smiled. "You sure you want to spend so much time with me, Funny Hair?" she asked. "After what happened in the Danger Room, I thought you'd be mad at me. I did blatantly stand up to you in front of the Junior X-Men."

Logan had a new cigar between his lips, but Scarlet could see that there was a small smile on his face. "It will take a lot more than that to shake me, Princess. We'll start your lessons after you get your suit."

"How about after I have dinner?"

"No."

Scarlet sighed and got to her feet, stretching. "Fine. I'll see you after the suit gets picked up from the drycleaners." She patted the older man on the shoulder. "I'll put the bill on Scooter, okay?" As she moved past him and out the door, she felt his stare on her back. "Stop checking my ass out, Funny Hair."

OOOOOOOOO

A/N: I do not know how long it will be for me to get another chapter up on this story. I will do my best to work on the next update, but there are a lot of projects waiting to be updated. Please have patience and please leave a small comment in the review box! Thanks! – Scarlet