A/N: I own nothing that anyone else would want. Hmm… Wait… I do own some new sparkly pens. I wrote this chapter with them. : )

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The next day the rumor that Raven Darkholm, aka Mystique, was staying in the X-Mansion had been heard by each member of the staff and by each student. It was, however, still only a rumor. Neither Storm nor Logan had confirmed nor denied when they had been asked several times each, by students.

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"It's quite the soap opera this year." John commented as he and Sophia strolled around the school's property.

Sophia chuckled. "You mean it isn't usually this…" She paused as she carefully searched for the right word, "exciting?"

John shook his head. "I was gone for a year, but I do remember that it was slightly more relaxed."

Sophia giggled but nodded. "Good to know."

The two walked in a comfortable silence for a few moments longer before Sophia spoke again.

Hesitantly, she asked the question that had been bugging her almost since school had started. "Why exactly were you gone for a year?"

John stopped walking and ran his fingers through his messy blonde hair. Although he had been expecting this question from her, the timing had caught him off guard. He thought for a moment, trying to find the best way to explain his past actions.

"Have you heard anything?" He asked hesitantly, deciding to start his story by denying or confirming any rumors that Sophia had already heard.

"I've heard talk." Sophia replied nodding. "But I want to hear your side of the story."

He smiled a small appreciative smile. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." She smiled at him. "There's two sides to every story, and I only know half."

John took a deep breath and spoke, beginning to walk again. "You know who Magneto is, right?"

Sophia nodded. "Yeah. I saw his threat on the news last year." John nodded and continued.

"For awhile, I was his…his right-hand man." He glanced over at Sophia, searching her face for any sign of emotion. Finding none, he continued his story again. "I regret going with him, but at the same time I'm glad I did." Sophia caught John's eyes and gave him a curious look. "It sounds cliché, but because of the time I spent with him, I realized how wrong the things he was doing were."

Sophia nodded. "That makes sense."

The two came upon a bench and sat down.

"You know the woman who is supposedly staying here now?"

"Mystique?"

John nodded too. "Yeah. She used to work with Magneto too."

"You knew her?" Sophia asked.

"Yeah." John replied, swallowing hard. "She stepped in front of a syringe full of the cure to save him." He paused at glanced at his friend, who's eyes encouraged him to go on. "She saved his life, and he just left her there. Turned his back on her like she meant nothing." He was clenching his fists in anger and without even thinking, Sophia placed her hand on top of his tightly closed fist. "I just didn't think he could do that. Especially to her." He looked up and Sophia was surprised at how sad his eyes were.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, her eyes going sympathetic.

John grimaced. "Then he had me battle Bobby. I actually kind of looked forward to that. I know that it's bad, I mean, the guy's the best friend I have here, but at the time, I hated him." He glanced up at her before answering her unasked question. "He had a family that actually gave a damn about him." He didn't notice Sophia's gaze shift down to the ground. "Bobby ended up knocking me out cold and when I came to, I found that he had carried me back to the X-Jet." John shook his head slightly. "He saved my life even though I had just tried to kill him."

Sophia smiled at him, but then quickly became aware of the fact that her hand was still on his. Unfortunately, so did John. She quickly pulled her hand back and the two sat in a slightly awkward silence until she spoke a few minutes later.

"When I was nine, my mom married a guy named Steve." She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "I hate him. He's a real piece of work. You know, a chauvinist." She glanced over at her friend, who had taken an interest in her tale. "You know what's ironic?" She didn't wait for an answer. "The guy is the owner of a brothel. Yeah, that's right. My mom's a whore." She ran her fingers through her hair. "So much of a whore, in fact, that she doesn't know who my father is." She chuckled darkly. "Anyway, back to Steve. The first few weeks after her married my mom, he completely ignored me. At the one time that I really wanted attention." Her eyes glazed over as she recalled some not so pleasant childhood memories. After a moment, she mentally shook herself back. "I ran away from home when I was eleven, you know."

"Yeah? Because of him?"

Sophia nodded. "Partly." She glanced around nervously. "My math teacher, Mr. Carlisle, was a… a bad man. He was doing bad things to my best friend. One day, she let it slip to me, and I decided to confront him." She scoffed. "I realize how stupid it is now, but at the time it seemed to be a good idea. But when I told him that I knew what he was doing and that I was going to tell, he got really mad. He grabbed me," She put one hand around her neck, showing John how he had grabbed her, "and her pushed me up against the wall. I was crying and begging him to let me go. He was yelling at me and suddenly, it all stopped. I'll never forget the look on his face…"

"What happened?" John asked, dreading the answer.

"I killed him." Came her whispered reply, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "I didn't mean to, but somehow the scissors from the desk ended up in his back." She looked back at John and her stomach fell as she saw that his eyebrows were raised. "I've never told that to anyone before." She glanced down at her lap. Moments later, she saw and felt a hand on her knee.

"You're secret's safe with me."

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A/N: I'm off to an advanced screening of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and most likely won't check my email until tomorrow. Please make my inbox be filled with reviews! : D