The building looked deserted. Windows were broken, the whole place was dirty and overgrown with weeds, some of the bricks were crumbling to one side. It didn't look like much of a hideout, and I was starting to think the overgrown man had been leading me on. It would serve me right for inviting a freaking psycho to dinner.

I'd known he'd been following me, I'd even known when he'd walked through my door, and then after I'd pinned him to the floor I'd still offered him dinner. Wasn't like I trusted a lot of people, I mean not everyone acted very friendly once finding out I was some kind of freak. He'd just been in the right place at the right time, I'd been happy for the company. Wasn't like he was going to run once finding out my hair had life of it's own.

"Who's the slut?" A voice seemed to hiss from the darkness. I turned my head, stepping closer to Creed's side. A pair of yellow eyes looked through the shrubs at me, and I shuddered almost turning to run back toward my home.

Creed growled, "Ain't a slut. Brought her to Magneto."

The eyes stepped out, revealing a very naked, very blue, and very beautiful woman. She had a white skirt on, but other than that her breasts bounced free with each step she took. She sneered at me as Creed held the door open.

"I'm sure he'll be less than impressed, 'tooth." Creed growled once again before shutting the door and leading me through the pitch black building. My footsteps echoed throughout the place, his weren't even audible.

He grabbed my elbow, "This way." I followed as he pulled me through, feeling solid objects brushing against me as we walked. I heard the door, but couldn't make it out in the darkness.

" 'Toothie', yer back, man. Was getting lonely waiting for ya." The voice had some foreign accent, and I smiled despite myself.

He pulled me against him, wrapping his arm around my middle. "Got somebody to meet Magneto," his tone was friendlier than it had been with the woman. "I'll catch ya later."

I still couldn't make out the strange man or my surroundings as he led me into another room. I stumbled, not realizing he was dragging me along steps. He gripped me, straightening me up. "Fergot." he muttered, before I felt myself being slung around like a sack of potatoes.

"Hey!" I shouted, barely able to breath as his shoulder kept bouncing into my stomach. He didn't say anything, continuing on his downward trek. Finally I could make out the bottom of the steps, a single light in the hallway before us. Once he hit the hallway I had to straighten back up to stay balanced on him. "You can put me down now, I can see." I pointed out.

He chuckled, "I got ya."

Aggravated, I braced myself against his back. I was in the middle of the biggest terrorist group in the world, wasn't much use in fighting about this. I needed to save my strength for whatever was to come.

He walked to the very end of the hallway, stopping to knock on the door at the right. "Enter." A rich masculine voice bid.

Creed entered, ducking down, to make it through this door. This room was as dim as the hallway, a fireplace in the side providing the only heat or light by the look of it. Creed tipped over, dropping me on my rear.

I sent him an angry look, letting him know that I would have something to say about this later. I looked over, seeing a cot, a couple of old worn chairs, and finally a pair of boots. I looked up from the purple boots to the man wearing them. I know my breath caught as I finally had the chance to see the handsome man.

He was tall, his silver hair long, his chest bare, and his twinkling blue eyes studying me perched still on the floor. He held out his hand, "My dear." I took it, allowing him to pull me to my feet. He smiled softly, then turned his back on Creed and I. "Leave us, Creed."

"But I-" Creed took a step forward, protesting.

"Leave us." He didn't raise his voice as much as his tone, Creed instantly backed down giving me a side glance before stomping from the room.

"I apologize for my compatriot's manners, he means well." His voice was rich like honey, soothing my nerves and pleasing to my ears.

"He's fine." I mumbled, unsure of exactly what to say.

The mysterious man, slipped a purple robe on before turning back toward me. He motioned to the seats in front of the fire, and I stepped quickly hoping to distract myself from the thought of being in the middle of a criminal empire.

He sat down across from me, crossing his leg over his knee, studying me beneath his white bushy brow. I returned the favor. He was younger than I expected, even with the solid white hair he could've passed for late twenties easily. He was a large man, but not one I'd expected to be running an operation like I'd seen on the news. He didn't look like a killer, Creed looked like a killer, but not this man. This man looked like he should be in a suit or white doctor's coat.

"I assume Sabretooth brought you here for a reason." he broke the silence finally, but from the relaxed look he had I didn't worry it had offended him.

"He followed me home." I wasn't pleased about the way I'd met Creed or Sabretooth, but I wasn't trying to throw him under the bus either.

"I see." He tapped his long fingers against the chair arm. "And?"

I moved, not sure how to explain how things had come about. "I fed him and he offered to bring me to meet you."

"Interesting." He leaned forward, his eyes still twinkling as they had earlier, "Is that all?" I looked at the fire, unable to believe what I was fixing to admit.

"I'm a mutant." It was like baring my soul to this handsome man, it wasn't something I'd ever said aloud to anyone else.

He sat back, his handsome face finally cast in the glow of the firelight. His features were sharp, his cheekbones, his jaw, even his full lips. I moved in my seat, uncomfortable that I was actually checking the man out.

"Okay, let me see if I have this straight." He grinned and it actually softened his features making him even more appealing. "Sabretooth followed you home, pretty much stalked you. I'm willing to bet broke into your house-"

"Apartment." I said without thinking.

"Apartment." His grin widened, "You caught him offguard with your mutation, gaining the upperhand on one of my most revered fighters and you fed him."

I shrugged, "He looked hungry." Well, what was I supposed to say?

"Of course." His laugh boomed through the room, "I would almost think that a man sneaks into your house often, by the way your so nonchalant."

I shook my head, a smile on my own lips. "I assure you it doesn't."

I was entranced by the way his eyes were glistening in the light, and he wasn't as intimidating as I would've thought. He wasn't trying to force his views down my throat or asking anything of me, and I was impressed with his laid back calmness.

"I was curious." I admitted, searching for something to say.

He cocked his head, "What would you like to know?"

I shrugged, looking away so that I didn't have to admit anything. "He was telling me about the Brotherhood."

"And?" He asked.

I twiddled my fingers in my lap, crossing my legs. "And he was telling me the news wasn't always correct."

"Well, of course it's not. It's ran by whatever political group holds the most shares at the time, and of course most mutants aren't news friendly." I cocked my head at the statement. He leaned forward, "I'm afraid I've been quite remiss, my dear."

"Oh?"

He held a hand out, and I reached, without thinking, taking it in my own. "Eric Lehnsherr."

"Oh!" I'd been sitting here all this time, and hadn't even told him who I was! Either he thought I was a rude bitch or just ignorant. "Isis."

"Isis, as in the Egyptian goddess?" he asked sitting back.

My hands seemed to take on a life of their own, "I like to think of Catwoman's cat from Batman, but yeah."

"No, last name?" I shook my head. "That's unsual."

I grinned, "I never claimed to be usual."

He tapped the arm of the chair again, "I guess you didn't. So what kind of gifts do you have?" Gifts? The news had said he was criminally insane, and referring to my mutation as a gift had me thinking about my own sanity by coming here.

"My hair." I muttered, silently cursing Creed for ever looking at me. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be sitting here across from the most powerful mutant known to mankind.

"Magneto." The 'snakey' lady from earlier pretty much slithered out of the darkness.

He looked over, mild surprise flickering across his face, before he stood up to greet her. "Yes, Mystique, what can I do for you?"

Her confident stride seemed to irritate me more than her interupting us. She slid right up against his body, her blue flesh pressing intimately against him, "I was wondering how long this," she waved her hand between me and him. "Was going to take?"

Magneto, or Eric Lehnsherr, wrapped an arm around her, pulling her closer toward me. I sat straighter, my hair loosening as I prepared for any attack this creepy bitch might have planned. "Mystique, I'd like you to meet Isis. Isis, this is my second in command, Mystique." Her eyes narrowed, her lips curving into an evil smile.

I took a deep breath, "Nice to meet you." I almost choked on the words, but I had done my part in the interaction.

"Of course it is." she said slyly. Magneto, finally seeming to notice the tension between us, eyed her carefully.

"Why don't you go prepare for bed?" Her lips turned into a pout, her eyes widening as she looked at him in a silent unspoken plea. "Go, I've a guest to see to." His tone allowed no arguement, his eyes giving her a stone cold stare. She stepped back, tilting her head toward him, but finally turning to leave.

She sneered at me before leaving and I felt myself relax again against the seat. His hand on my shoulder startled me and my hair quickly rose, tangling around his wrist. I stopped instantly realizing what I had done, but his eyes were already on my hair. His eyes flicking from mine to the brown tresses falling slowly from him.

"Fascinating." he said softly. I looked up, noticing that there was no fear or disgust on his face. He was truly amazed, "What else does it do?"

I shrugged, "I can control it like I do my fingers." The so called hair stretched out above my head, twisting and plaiting as he watched. He didn't move as it braided the entire length then circled around to form a bun against the back of my head. He reached out, but stopped a scant inch from it.

His eyes met mine, "May I?"

I nodded, words escaping me. This beautiful, powerful man wanted to feel something that I had thought my entire life as a repulsive, sickening plague. As his fingers touched and ran over the very alive strands, I realized he truly did appreciate it, he valued the things that made us stand out. Judging by his 'second in command', he actually regarded it in a respect no one else would.

"It's beautiful Isis."

I smiled, embarassed now. "I can send electric currents through it, too."

"Amazing." He fingered a couple of strands. "Do you feel through it?"

I nodded, "I can feel every strand you touch as if you were touching my skin." He moved back to his seat.

"That is truly remarkable gift you have, my dear Isis." He studied me a moment, before leaning up on his knees. "Do you plan to use it or shall you hide it forever?"

I shrugged, unable to meet that now steely gaze. "I'm not a terrorist."

"Neither am I," he laughed. I looked up knowing for a fact he'd been involved in more than one incident that didn't bode well for anyone. "Like I said the news twists everything around to garner the general public's attention."

"Your saying you haven't done those things? The bombs? The attacks against the Friends of Humanity? The killings?" I asked doubting him for all he was worth, surely he didn't think I was that naive.

He looked into the fire, "I've done many of those things, but they cast them in such a light I looked evil. I do these things only so that I may help our brothers and sisters, I wish us to be able to walk down the street without fear, without hiding. I wish for us to live as we should, to use our powers to benefit ourselves, to live in the open." He paused, looking at me. "Have you heard of the Morloch incident?"

"The gang from the sewer?"

"The mutants driven to live in the very depths of society," he shouted. "They were born different, some were barely a year, others older than I. There was no gang, they might have commited some crimes, but it was only to eat, to live! They put them down like dogs! Filling the sewers with poison, cutting off every exit! They never gave them a chance." His voice softened with the last sentence, but the anger in his words shook me to my core. I had known they'd been killed, the news had called it a horrible accident. I hadn't known the details, I doubted anyone did. "They were our brothers and sisters, just like you and I. The only thing was, they were unable to hide their mutantions, they were driven to thier deaths. I wish for a world so none of us fear."

I nodded, I had seen many instances of society's prejudice against mutants. Especially, living where I did, you never wanted to be the one they singled out. You never wanted to be the one that stood out in the crowd, it could get you killed or worse.

"Join us." he whispered.

I shook my head, "I'm not like that. I can't fight or anything, I can't kill anyone."

He nodded, "I'd never ask you to do anything that would make you uncomfortable, but we need every mutant. We need to make ourselves known, to be heard. We can't just sit and wait for the politicians to decide we're a danger to society, we can't be put into containment for fear they have of us." He paused, letting his words sink in. "The world is evolving, the homo sapian's reign is at its end. It is time for us, the homo superior, to step up and take our place as the next step in the world's progress. We are the future and it is time to be reconized as such and make it known we will not be pushed away, we will not run, we will not hide any longer."

I felt my heart flutter, if only his words would truly come to pass. If only I could let my hair down without people looking or questioning, if only.

"Join us, Isis. Help me pave our future." his blue eyes pleaded. "Do not go back into hiding. Stay with me."