I open my eyes with a groan, waving my hand as the hands gripping my shoulder. Recognizing Bruce's voice, I just smother myself further into the nest of blankets. I jolt up when he shakes me firmer, saying a sentence that makes my heart race. I open my mismatched eyes, staring at him in shock, gesturing for him to repeat what he had said. He gives me a look with warm brown eyes before saying it again.

"I have the results."

I jump up, stumbling on the blankets, and sprint to the lab. After I impatiently run for only a few seconds, not even at the end of the hall, I phase into a panther. Just a blur to wide eyes, I make it to the lab before phasing back, glancing around until I sit on a stool, fiddling with my thumbs impatiently as I wait for Bruce to arrive. I wiggle my ankle, jerking my knee up and down anxiously. I fight the urge to gnaw on my nails, smelling the scent of Ice and lemon with cucumber strolling down the hallway. I jitter for a few more seconds before jolting out, dragging Bruce in my his wrist. He nearly falls over. . I wait anxiously as he tidies up a bit. I keep fisting and unfisting my hands, trying to get rid of the slight shaking in my limbs. Feeling s hand on my head, patting somewhat awkwardly, I slump my shoulders. "Thanks, Icecube." I murmur beneath my breath. The pats stop after Bruce turns to me.

"Here." He says, handing me the papers. I take them hesitantly, but eagerly, and scan through the words, so fast they blur together until I find the paragraph I need. I mouth the words slightly as I read them, nodding softly. My gaze jumps ahead to the result. Unrelated. I stand, my face slipping into an emotionless mask. I lock gazes with Bruce, nodding once before I make my way out of the room. Halfway into the doorway of my room, I stumble and fall onto my knees. I know it would be a negative. I knew we aren't related. I knew and I know. I cover my face with shaking hands, letting out a soft sob as the door clicks shut.

"You mortals really are weak." A voice cuts through the room. I don't stop my airy sobs, but look up through my hands at a blurry figure. Blinking tears away, I stare into emerald green eyes. I feel a twinge of envy, but the scent of ice is unmistakable.

"Yeah. I guess that's our fault." I mumble, not moving from my position on the floor, sitting back on my calves. The man looks down at me with the smallest scowl I've ever seen. It's nearly invisible. I glance over his features, shoulder length slicked back raven hair, an amazing inky black. He has a sharp nose and thin lips. His eyebrows are softly curved. His cheekbones can cut steel. I snap my gaze back to his emerald eyes. Another twinge of envy.

"I wish I had eyes like that." I say, pulling myself from the floor, blinking more tears away. I don't call attention to them by brushing them away. "I figured you would have blue eyes, not green." I say absently, running my hand through my short hair. I nearly forgot I cut most of it off, though I don't miss it. Not even a little bit. I've always hated long hair. Rolling my shoulders, I let him stay silent as I throw open the window and sling my legs over the side, kicking them out like a little kid as I allow a soft smile to graze my lips. Not turning, I address the stranger I named Icecube.

"You should try this. It's fun." I say, leaning my head against the side on the window pane. I look down, my eyes stopping on a gray SUV as it drives by. I narrow my eyes, but tear my gaze away when I see a pair of legs carefully slip onto the other side of the window pane. I smirk as Icecube's head pops into view, a scowl gracing his features even more. He stay silent, sitting rigidly. "Icecube, relax. You aren't going to be taken from the damn window. Relax." I tease. I'm not surpized when he glares at me, but it only makes my smirk grow.

Shrugging, I keep staring out at the city, the air tickling my bare feet and arms. I sigh, shutting my eyes. "Are you adopted?" I finally ask after quite a few minutes. I can feel him pin me with a glare, but I keep my eyes shut, my face towards the sun as it begins to warm the chilly air.

"Yes." He finally answers. I nod silently as a reply.

"Turns out I am too, though you already know that. My whole life thinking I'm related to the one and only Iron man, only to realize after I leave that I'm probably not. Too many differences. It hurts to think of, though I'm sure people figured it out after way longer than me." I murmur, before adding another sentence. "When did you figure it out or get told?"

The response in a chuckle. An emotionless, hurt chuckle I know too well. I've chuckled like that. "Many years ago, though it only turned me into a cold being that I didn't use to be." He finally answers. I not, opening my one grey and one blue eyes one at a time. I gesture to my eyes, looking over at the raven haired fellow beside me, sitting on the window sill.

"I figured it out mostly because of my eyes and hair. I never really connected the dots. I wallowed, for a long time, drinking away my sorrows after our parents died. I kept drinking and drinking. When Anthony got worse than me, even worse than he is now, I realized what I was doing. I shipped myself off to a rehab. But during the times of my drinking, I grew to hate our parents." I pause, sighing darkly before lightly scowling. "It was always Anthony. He was the better one. Every moment of the day. While I was shown off at parties in clingy dresses, forced to make myself look more feminine to attract a fucking suitor, Anthony was allowed to do as he wished. While I was forced to meet dozens of men my age, he could do whatever he wanted." I let out a frustrated huff, covering my face with my eyes as I hunch forward.

I let out a yelp when I feel a tug on my ankle. I glance down at a chain that has some sort of light blue cracks all over it. I let out a gasping shriek, gripping onto Icecube's shoulder when I'm wrenched down. "Fuck." I mutter, trying to kick the chain off with my other foot. As a last ditch effort, I push Icecube into the room as I'm wrenched away harshly, swinging in the air. I mute cry rises from my lips when I crash into a masked and hooded man nearly four rooftops away. I try in vain to slip into a body of a bird or a predator to maul him, but my body refuses to cooperate. My gaze lands on the chain when I nearly fall to the ground in agony. The chain is burning my ankle, blisters popping from the skin.

I screech, clamping my teeth down on the mans wrist as he tries to grab me. He lets out an agravated hiss of pain, pinning me agains this chest. A cloth nears my face. Knowing that it's chloroform, I gasp and try to reel away. Trapped in his arms, I let out a strangled cry as the cloth presses against my mouth and nose. I struggle for a few seconds before going limp, faking a breath by expanding my chest. He doesn't let go. He tightens his grip. "You have to breathe at some point, Sweetie." He coos in my ear. I wish I could cringe back, wishing his breath smelled of something other than alcohol. Instead, peppery breath greets me as I breathe in from shock.

I feebly cry out again, my vision fading into black. My limbs weigh me down. My body is heavy. I can't lift my eyelids. I can't stop myself from going limp. "I..ce cu...b...e." I manage to slur with a stiff jaw, my tongue dry and thick. I can barely breathe. My chest feels heavy. I can't move. My breathing quickens. Unusable adrenaline floods through me as the rag, moist with the chemical, is pressed against my face. It's gentler this time. I can't struggle.

"Night, Sweetie." A voice mumbles above me as blackness forces me under with dizzying speed.

I hiss in agony, my head pulsing with agony. It feels like it's torn in half. I hear voices, but they stop as soon as I hiss. I try to move my head, but something warm stops me. I try to open my eyes, only for them to burn with bright light. I whimper, shutting my eyes before a second passes. The orange pink of my eyelids fade into black and I open them again, wincing and digging my nails into my skin. My lungs heave with a burning need for air. I tremble, my blurry vision gradually twisting into my normal twenty-twenty vision. I scream as the man above me, the minty breath familiar. I try to get his scent to remember later, but to my terror nothing happens. I can't hear the mice scurrying in the walls as I try.

Screeching, I try to squirm from his grasp, only for his arms to tighten painfully around my waist. "Sunshine, you aren't going anywhere. Do you like it? It gets rid of your mutant abilities. Now you're just like me! Human!" He chirps, short stubble scraping against my cheek as he rubs his own against it. I let my jaw slack. My heart beats savagely against my ribs. I don't have my magic. I can't escape like this. I've never been so weak feeling. I can't phase into a flea and hide in someones hair to escape.

I'm stuck here.

I don't even know where 'here' is. I keep wriggling as the strange man holds me, whispering words into my ear, no longer sensitive enough to hear his heartbeat clearly. I start screaming, not shutting my eyes. I scream in anguish, throwing my hands towards the stranger and kicking my legs. The man doesn't do anything but pin me down onto where I woke up, the bed. I still scream and thrash, even when I hear him threaten to knock me out again.

Anything is better than this.

I keep screaming, kicking and clawing, even biting. Anything to try and get away. Eventually, I tear myself from his arms. I lunge for the door, only to fall on my face, a sickening crack sounding from my ankle. I turn, tears and snot running down my chin, as I glare at my ankle that's swelling and turning black. I'm in shock. I don't feel the pain yet. I keep struggling, trying to move an inch closer to the door. Feeling something cold squeezing my broken ankle, I scream bloody murder and turn my head again, seeing a shackle around my black ankle, the skin swelling passed it.

I keep screaming, reaching with shaking hands towards my ankle. After what seems like years, I feel a cloth being pressed over my mouth and nose tightly. Sobbing, I'm unable to stop myself from heaving a breath in. I slump down, still wailing as blackness drags me with clawed hands into the inky blackness, my surroundings swirling into a blurry blackness. I try to fight it, but I only breathe in more. I feel like the blond in horror movies. Always falls for the traps. I shut my heavy eyes.

"oops"