Author's note: Italics are a memory

Rachel woke up from another nightmare. It wasn't hers. Her mind had entered Magneto's. He was having another nightmare about the camps. She could hardly tell where her horror stopped and his terror began. Her throat hurt, meaning she had been screaming in her sleep. She hoped she hadn't woken anyone, but she knew that was unlikely. She was sharing a room with an annoyed Mystique who was still used to her own room. She looked over and, sure enough, Mystique was awake.

"You were screaming in your sleep again."

"Sorry. Nightmare."

"I was assuming so. Most people don't scream in their sleep when they dream of puppies and rainbows."

Rachel sighed. She was getting used to Mystique's cold nature, but it didn't mean she liked it. She missed Xavier's school. She always had people to talk to there. Most people thought Rachel was closed-off, but the people who truly knew her knew she just didn't like small talk. She liked to talk to people about life, not the weather or a football game.

Especially not football. Not anymore. It reminded her too much of home. Her whole town was obsessed with football, especially her brothers. She missed her brothers so much. She constantly wondered about them. Had her oldest brother Joshua found a girlfriend yet? What college had her other brother James chosen? He would have just graduated high school. What about her sister Danielle? How was she liking high school? This would be her freshman year. She missed her family so much. But she couldn't go back. It wouldn't be fair to them. They were harassed so much when the town found out she was a mutant. Would they even want her back? They still loved her when they found out she was a mutant. Her parents seemed to think it was unfortunate, but they still loved her. Joshua and James didn't care either way. Danielle thought it was the coolest thing in the world.

"I can't believe how lucky you are, Rach! I wish I were a mutant!"

"Maybe you are, Dani. Just because I got my powers at 11 doesn't mean everyone does."

"Wait, you've had your powers for two years and you're just telling us now?"

"I didn't know my little sister would want me reading her mind."

"Wait, you're a mind reader? You just said you're a mutant. You didn't say you had the coolest power of them all! Tell me, Rach, what am I thinking right now?"

"Dani, have I ever needed my powers to know exactly what you're thinking?"

"Come on. Just do it!"

Rachel entered her little sister's mind. She found a question on the front of Danielle's mind that she had been avoiding.

"No, I haven't told Mark yet."

"You haven't? Are you crazy? He'll love you so much now!"

"He already loves me. We told each other we love each other like boyfriend and girlfriend yesterday."

"Shut up! No way!"

"Yes way! Of course we do! We've only been dating for like three months!"

"So much good news in one day! You see! You can tell Mark. Even if he's stupid and thinks mutants are a problem, he'll still love you!"

"You think so?"

"DUH! Usually you're the smart one, Rach, but right now I think I'm right."

That conversation had occurred three years ago, but Rachel still remembered it. She missed Danielle so much. She missed her parents, Joshua, and James, but she missed Danielle the most. She even missed Mark, the reason she had to run. She hadn't seen him in two years, but she still thought about him. They had only been kids, but they thought they would get married. Of course, Rachel was smarter now. She knew it was unlikely to marry the boy you date at thirteen. But she didn't think it should have ended like that.

Mystique noticed the tear on Rachel's cheek. She knew newcomers were often a flight risk. She had to talk to the girl to make sure she wasn't thinking of running, or worse, going back to Xavier's school with information on the Brotherhood.

"Look, I used to share a room with Erik. At one point it was just the two of us. He wouldn't want me telling you this, but he has a lot of nightmares. So, if you want to talk about it, I'm good at listening to people talk about their nightmares."

"I know."

"What?"

"I know Magneto has nightmares. I've been in his mind."

"You read his mind without telling him? He'd kill you."

"And he'd kill you for talking about him like this."

Mystique smiled. This girl might just be a kid, but she knew how to work people.

"I knew I liked you for a reason."

"I didn't know you liked me."

"What were you expecting from me? To throw you a parade for you for existing? Maybe you're still a little too used to Xavier's school for touchy-feely nonsense."

"Normal people tell people that they like them. Or at least give some indication of it in their behavior."

"You and I have very different experiences with normal people, then."

"Or maybe we have different definitions of normalcy."

"Whatever. I don't argue with kids. If you remember, I initially extended the invitation to talk about your nightmare."

"Forget it. It wasn't even mine. It was Magneto's. It's harder for me to control my telepathy in my sleep."

"Whatever. I just noticed the tear on your cheek and figured you'd want to talk."

Rachel reflexively wiped her cheeks with her hands. She didn't like that Mystique had seen her cry. It wasn't how much she missed her family, even though she did. She was used to missing them by now. What she couldn't get used to was the fact that she could never go back. She would never stop missing them.

"I was thinking about my family."

"Everyone here had a crappy family, other than Erik. You're in good company."

"I know. But I had a good family."

"Ugh. You're one of those. That's worse, you know. The rest of us here have nothing to lose."

"It doesn't matter. I can't go back anyway."

"They're not too fond of mutants, are they?"

"They didn't really care. They didn't get it, but they still loved me. It was my town that I had to flee."

"How'd the whole town figure out?"

"I'm from a small town. Once the word got out in my school, it didn't take long before the whole town knew."

"Let me guess. You told a friend you thought you could trust, and they told the whole school. Half of all mutants have gone through similar."

"No. I told my boyfriend Mark. He dumped me. He promised me he wouldn't tell anyone, but his friend Seth pulled the answer out of him. Seth told the whole school. Then they told the teachers. I was kicked out. They said there was no way to prove a telepath wasn't cheating on tests. To his credit, Mark stood up for me, telling people I would never use my power to cheat."

"Did you?"

"No. Anyway, the people in our town started harassing my family. It got bad. I could handle it, but I didn't want to force that on my parents or siblings. I ran away. I heard about Xavier's school and made my way there. I left soon after Pyro did."

"You found us fast. There were only a few months between Pyro joining and you coming here."

"It was easy once I decided to leave. I had been inside Pyro's mind a lot. I traced him."

"What made you decide to leave? Got annoyed by that Rogue girl? I wouldn't blame you for that."

Rachel smiled at that. She had tolerated Rogue because she was friends with Bobby, but she had never really cared for her. Everyone had complications in their lives because of their mutations. It didn't mean you had to mope about it.

"They don't really get anything done. It's a fine place for young mutants, but it's pathetic that people stay there after they're old enough to protect themselves. They don't get that extreme injustices require extreme action."

Mystique smiled. A lot of young newcomers were just in the Brotherhood for the rush of it. This girl actually understood their work.

"Go back to sleep, Rachel. There's no point in exhausting yourself."

"Psyche."

"What?"

"My name is Psyche now."