"Wait, why do you look like me?" The girl called after him.
"Gambit dunno, petit, but mehbe we could figure it out, non?"
"Well couldja wait up a little?" The girl ran up to the pair of men.
"What's yer name, kid?" Logan asked, lifting an eyebrow at the girl next to him.
"I'm not a kid," She shot back, looking grumpy, "My name is Iris."
ooOOOoo
Rogue sat in the booth tapping her fingers, staring out the window lost in thought. "Still waiting for you're friends, dearie?" the kindly older woman asked her.
Plastering a smile on her face and stifling a yawn Rogue nodded, "Ah think they must've gotten lost, but they're on their way."
The older woman looked at the younger with compassion, "Would you like some more coffee? Or a newspaper?"
"No, thank you ma'am, ah can't read the papers these days. Makes meh sad how torn up the world is."
"I can agree with you there, well let me know if you need anything dear." The motherly woman wandered off to help a couple that just wandered in.
Rogue just resumed her tapping, thinking on the last couple of missions. The Sentinels were going from a problem to a problem of epic proportions. It was like they were learning, or being modified, after each encounter, becoming stronger. Each one was harder than the last to bring down, or simply run away from. Rogue sighed, pushing away a lock of her distinctive hair. Catching sight of her two teammates and their young charge in the window she straitened up. Sending Logan and Remy after a girl who probably had trust issues wasn't what she would call a brilliant idea, although they had managed to succeed so far. Sighing again she mentally shrugged off that train of thought and steeled herself for the questions she expected to come.
"Iris, dis is Roguey, one of da, erm, alumni of Xavier's school." Remy said, a little awkwardly introducing the two females.
Rogue just rolled her eyes, "Ah hate that nickname. Ah'm Rogue, an alum and instructor of Xavier's school, as well as a member of the X-men."
Right, so this is a school for hippies, Iris thought, rolling her eyes. "Yeah? What subject do you teach?"
"Flying." Rogue responded simply, "Logan is the Danger Room instructor, as well as Remy, though ah think they both fill in for others as needed."
Iris looked at the three serious faces before her. "You're serious. About the school I mean."
All three faces nodded. Just then the silence was filled with the rumbling of a hungry teenage belly. Looking down in embarrassment, Iris pulled her thin coat tighter around herself. Filled with concern for the thin girl beside him, Logan flagged down the waitress and asked for anything that was ready.
"No, really, you don't have to do that," the girl said, protesting weakly, "I don't have the money to pay for it…"
"Don' ya worry 'bout that, petit, jus' eat up."
ooOOOoo
Somehow she had agreed to come with them. It was probably the promise of three meals a day and not having to pay for rent, or tuition, that did it. Iris had to keep reminding herself that if worst came to worst she could always try to fight her way out. Breathing deeply she had to hope it wouldn't come to that. It had been a short plane ride from NYC to the mansion, school, whatever. The recruiting trio had been surprised that the girl essentially carried her life around in her bag, but had not pressed for more details, which she was grateful for. After a short tour she had been shown to her room. Unbidden the memories began to flow in.
A little girl with light brown hair crying on the sidewalk in the rain. As long as she could remember she had been on her own. Suddenly the rain ceased and a kindly looking old man asked if she was lost. Nodding her head he gave her a ride to the police station, while the police tried to locate her family she stayed with the old man.
The girl was older now, standing above the graves of the only family she knew. Saying good by. Behind her a stern looking man placed a hand on her shoulder, it was time to go.
Less than a year later, leaving the orphanage as soon as her powers began to show, a brown haired girl ran through the rain and caught a bus. Far away from the midwestern world she grew up in.
She knew it wouldn't be easy living in New York but she was still a kid. Thinking about things like rent and heat and water bills wasn't part of the life she knew. Having only vague memories before the rainy day when she was found didn't help much. She knew she around 8 or 9 when she was found but her parents had never tried to find her. A girl with violet eyes wasn't that common so she wouldn't be particularly hard to find. And somehow that young in life she had the skill set of a thief; she could pick locks, steal wallets, and generally swipe anything she wanted.
It was a sunny day, she had just gotten home from school when the phone rang. It was an angry mother wanting to know if Iris had taken her son's favorite toy. The old woman's eyes filled with sadness. "Iris, what did I tell you about stealing?" The little girl looked at her shoes, "It's wrong." "That's right, now I want you to go next door and return in." "But!…" "No, buts." The old lady said sternly, "Taking from someone is wrong, you may ask to play with the toy, but you must never take from someone who has worked hard for what they have."
Sighing, Iris knew she would have to tell the principle about her record, but she couldn't help but want to be around people who could tell her about her powers. Maybe she could hide the truth, just a while longer. Until she found out how to control what she saw… what she did… The girl shuttered, squeezing her eyes shut, "I'm so sorry, I know I've been letting you down, but I'm trying to be better, I promise…" With that Iris drifted off to a fitful sleep.
ooOOOoo
"Charles, you wanted to see me?" Dr. Hank McCoy stepped into the comfortable office.
"Ah, yes, Hank, I wanted you're opinion of our newest student. She goes by the name of Iris," A picture flashed up on the screen, Hank could see it was taken as a form a school ID that all the students had. Looking closer he realized the uncanny resemblance between the girl and Gambit. "As you can see she bears a striking resemblance to Gambit, naturally Gambit himself has noticed this and would like to get to the bottom of it." Nodding Hank could see where this was going.
"Has the girl demonstrated any of her powers yet?"
"Yes, actually, she can literally see the energy around people. Logan told me she could see than they were mutants almost instantly, and could also tell that they were truthful about our school through the same methods."
"Hmm, if she is related to Gambit at all it is possible that she could do more than just see the energy patterns around people… Just a theory of course, I'd like to do a genetic test on each of them, perhaps that will help shed some light on the subject."
"Thank you Hank, I know this will be on Gambit's mind, and most likely the girl's as well."
"Charles, you said the girl went by the name of Iris correct?"
"Yes,"
"Hmm, a fitting name for a violet eyed girl with uncanny sight."
"Next we'll be finding out she is a messenger with rainbows following her(*)"
*The rainbow goddess Iris was also a messenger between the gods and man in Greek mythology.
A/N: I thought the name was fitting with the color purple, sight and her unique powers which will be revealed in the next chapter! As always reviews make the world go round, well not literally but you get what I'm saying.
I'd also like to add that while I have several chapters written now (finally) I'm not really sure where I'm going with this story. I started it as a creative and stress relieving outlet more than anything else so sometimes my words imagination takes on a life of its own!
Enjoy!