A/N: I still don't own the X-Men!

Please, let me know what you think!

"Speech"

'Thought'

[CEREBRO]

[Telepathy]

Chapter 03: An Unexpected Heritage

Tap. Tap. Tap. The heel of Nancy's shoe bounced off of the tree trunk as she sat high in the branches. 'I am not a mutant. I just can't be. There's nothing special about me; I definitely don't have any sort of power, that's for sure.' The leaves rustled as she shifted her weight and as a cool breeze blew through. Winter was coming early.

"Nancy? Are you out here?" Her mother's voice cut through her thoughts of the past few days and everything they could mean.

"Yeah, I'm up here, mom." She muttered. She was up there, but was she safe? She hadn't been able to shake what Pietro had told her. Were the X-Men really going to come after her? He was right the first time. Maybe she wasn't a mutant, but they obviously thought she was… maybe that was all that mattered.

"Well, come on down, please; dinner's almost ready." Her mother gasped as Nancy landed behind her with a small thud. "N-nancy, don't do that! You know how that scares me. It's dangerous jumping from so high."

"Come on mom," she said, looking up to the branch from which she had jumped, "it's only like ten feet. That's nothing."

"Well, your nothing is my something. Now, come on in and get cleaned up before you give me a heart attack." Mrs. DuLauncet turned and began walking back to the door when she noticed that her daughter was not following. "

Leandra turned and saw that glistening droplets of water were beginning to form in Nancy's eyes. "Nancy? Nancy, what's wrong, honey?" She asked as she rushed to her side and wrapped her arms around her. "Is it that boy? Did he do something to you?" She suddenly put her hands on Nancy's shoulders and looked into her eyes, her voice turned serious. "Did he hurt you?"

Tears fell as Nancy shook her head. "No, Mom, Pietro didn't hurt me… He warned me, and he was right. He said some people were gonna come... some people were gonna come l-looking for me, and then they did. He said they think I'm a mutant. And then they actually showed up! I thought he was crazy, some sort of freak or something, but they came, Mom! Some lady showed up at school and talked to me on the field the other day!"

Fear and anger alike were coursing through Nancy as she finally told her mother about what had happened the last few days. She described everything from the headaches and nausea in class, feeling like she was being watched on the track field, and when the strange woman had appeared just like Pietro had said.

The sun had already set by the time she was finished, and though it had been painful to go through some of it, especially when her mom asked questions to which even she didn't know the answer, she felt better once she had told her mother.

"Oh, honey…" Leandra said, sitting on the picnic table and cupping Nancy's face with her hands. "I'm so sorry… I should have noticed sooner…"

"Wh-what do you mean?"

Leandra looked at her daughter and stroked her cheek, the touch feeling as gentle as a breeze. "Pietro... these X-Men… they're right, honey. You're special, just like your father was."

A choked sob escaped Nancy's throat. "Daddy? Daddy was one of them?" She wiped her eyes with her sleeve and shook her head. She couldn't believe it. How could they not have told her? "Wait? Did they come for him too? Is that really how he…?"

"No, honey… no one killed your father; he really did die in a car accident." Leandra sighed. She didn't think this day was going to come. When Nancy hadn't outwardly shown evidence of the X gene, she thought that the past was behind them. Clearly that was not to be the case.

"We weren't going to say anything unless you showed some sign, and when your father died, and when puberty came and went for you without any change other than what I was already expecting, I thought this conversation would never happen".

"How could you? You weren't going to tell me about him? Ever?" Nancy almost shouted. She studied her mother carefully as she awaited an answer, the woman's similar sandy hair – now streaked with grey, the beginnings of crow's feet around her green eyes, and her thin mouth that had fallen into a sad frown. She'd never realized it, but her mother didn't look her age. What should have been the vibrant eyes of someone not yet 40 were the dull eyes of someone easily 45 or 50, and what should have been a thick head of hair only beginning to thin and grey was already thinning and established.

"Wait, no, I'm so sorry, Mom." She said hugging her. "I know it has been hard for you too. I know you miss him, and you've done so much. I'm sorry…"

"It's okay. I should have told you." Leandra replied, wiping a tear from her own eye. "After all, I can only hug you now because of your father's abilities." She paused a moment before continuing; it seemed so long ago. "You were in the car with him. After the accident you talked about an angel for years, and you were only a toddler when it happened - the doctors said children who experience trauma often make up special stories to deal with the pain of loss. But I knew the truth. Your father could focus his emotions and project them into reality. He created something that looked like an angel to carry you from the car. Even though he tried to explain his powers before we married, I don't know how it worked, but I know he loved you. He loved you so much, honey. That is what saved you. His love for you became an angel and brought you to me."

Nancy sat down in shock. "I was with Daddy?" She could hardly believe it. She couldn't cry any more. After the week she'd experienced and the rest of the evening, it felt like she didn't have any tears left to cry.

"I think… I think maybe you should go with Pietro, honey." Leandra rose from the table and looked out into the darkness. A few bats flitted overhead and their chittering could be heard as she paused. "If he can help you, and his friends can protect you, that is more than I can give you right now. As much as I hate the thought of you leaving me, I hate the thought of losing you more. Whether I would lose you to other people or to your own inability to understand and control your developing abilities doesn't matter. I-I want what is best for you."

"Mom?" Nancy said, proving herself wrong and beginning to tear up once more as she felt sadness settle in her chest.

"This is my angel… this is my blessing. Go with Pietro. Learn to fully embrace the wonderful, beautiful girl – my little girl – that you are. I'll handle things with the school. You just better not f-forget to call me once and a while."

"I love you, Mom!" Nancy cried as she pulled her mother into a hug and sobbed into her chest. She knew she was right, but that didn't make it any easier. For about the fifth day in a row, Nancy's hazel eyes were covered in red lines and her usually ruddy complexion was even darker than normal. There was a strange pride in heart, it was bittersweet, but it was pride nonetheless. She could do this. She could join the Brotherhood and learn to control whatever it was that she could do. She would do it for her mother, and she would do it for her father.

A/N: Leandra DuLauncet is about 37-38 in this fic.

Please, let me know what you think so far!