Disclaimer: X-men is owned by Marvel Comics. I only own the character of Quinn at this moment in time.

Recommended songs for this chapter: Johnny Reznik's "I'm Still Here", Motion City Soundtrack's "Antonia", Paramore's "Fences". They were what I listened to while writing it.

Chapter Two:

In The Not To Distant Future

"Mutant Dodge ball again for second time this week? Logan, your going soft on them!" Hank told him laughingly as the students roughed there way through a game of dodge ball. Kurt and Kitty were the two current champions, what with them both being able to constantly avoid the balls. Jamie's, poor thing, power was hindering him. Every time he would split up, one of him would get hit, thus rendering him out. All of them were quite the sight to see.

Logan and Hank McCoy were out doing the Danger Room session this early September morning, and instead of going inside on such a beautiful morning, Logan sent them outside for a little well deserved fun, that and he wasn't in the mood to teach.

The sky was completely blue and the leaves were swaying with the gently breeze and the air still smelled of honeysuckle due to the brilliant gardening of Ororo Monroe, more commonly known as Storm. Logan's eyes were turned to a figure standing next to the water fountain, intently watching the game of dodge ball.

"Hank, recognize her?" Logan asked. Hank shook his head. Logan turned to the class and quickly dismissed them. After much cheering the students quickly dispersed for their next class. Hank and Logan began to approach the woman. She appeared to be in her early thirties, brown hair, cut short to about her chin. It was tied back in a black, paint splattered bandana, but some of it had escaped and was framing her tanned face. It made her dark brown eyes stand out with her strong eyebrows. Her chin was pointed and her nose was thin and long. She was about 5'7" and looked as though she didn't get her three square meals a day. Her torso was long and boney, her cheeks hollow, and she was wearing a much to large button down shirt and a pair of jeans coated in a thick layer of grime and paint, holes in the knees and thighs had been stitched shut with thick odd colored patches. The look in her eyes, was that of someone who had seen a lot in her life, intelligence based on experience oozed from her.

"I heard this was a safe place for mutants?" she said as a question more than a statement, her voice was kind, but slightly hoarse. Her accent was thick, New Zealand or Australian probably. She had a bulky camping bag that had seen better days sitting on the ground next to her worn pair of sneakers, the toe of her left shoe had to be bound in yellow duct tap to keep out the elements. Her bag was old and the zippers were being bound shut by mass amount of thick twine.

"I think you're a little old ma'am. This here is a school for young students. I think you may have missed the dead line by about twenty years." Wolverine told her. Her eyes fell to the ground.

"I've come along way, you don't think there is any possible way I could work here. Janitor, cook, anything. I have no where to go anymore, no where safe anyways." she said urgently. Wolverine was still unyielding. She sighed and moved to pick up her single bag. Beast was suddenly struck with strange dose of familiarity.

"Do I know you?" he said for the first time in the entire conversation. She looked at him with an odd look to her, as if she to were trying to figure out if she knew him. It dawned on him like a mallet to the head, and the realization felt like the bottom of his stomach had dropped out.

"Van Gogh," her eyes opened wide. Her mouth dropped ajar, forming a perfect "o". A couple of students had begun to crowd around the newcomer.

"Beastly!" she screamed loudly. She jumped up and threw her arms around him. Wolverine jumped back and unsheathed his claws, thinking she was trying to attack him, but Beast just wrapped his arms around her and spun her around. They were both laughing hysterically. When he placed her back down on her feet she lost her balance and fell backwards, her laughing just grew louder.

"Oy! What's it been? Twenty years? It's been so long!" she asked as she was pulled up from the ground. "Nice fur by the way. When that come about?"

"A while back. Goodness, you've changed a great deal, as well. Where've you been to acquire such an accent?" Many of the students were standing in circle, gaping at the sight before them. Their slightly reclusive professor had not been this affectionate to anyone, well ever.

"New Zealand, mate! I just moved back to the states, after a thirteen year stint. Govument found out that I didn't have a visa to be there." He gaped at her, feeling that wasn't the whole story. They just stared at each other for a moment until Wolverine coughed to get there attention.

"Beast, who is she?" he asked her after he had put his claws away. Something about her didn't seem right. She turned to Hank and raised an eyebrow at what Wolverine had just called him.

"Oh, a very old friend of mine from Illinois. Logan, meet Quinn O'Hara." she smiled and waved. She offered her hand to him and he took it grudgingly. He turned and walked away, shooing the students away as he went.

"He's friendly." she vocalized sarcastically. She revolved her head around and noticed the wide variety of students standing around them.

"Can we go somewhere…"

"Yes, of course. Students, Jean and Storm are waiting." he gestured to Quinn. "Follow me." She nodded and shouldered her pack on her back and obediently followed. He took her to a quiet part of the campus, where a couple of the benches were. He sat down on one of them crossed an ankle over his knee. She threw her bag roughly to the ground and sat down next to him. They sat in silence for a moment as tshe retied her bandana around her head. He noticed that she had dyed a couple of streaks in her hair fire truck red. It was slightly endearing.

"It's been to long, Hank." she told him as leaned back and threw her head upward to the blue sky. He nodded in agreement, and the silence continued. They had a lot to talk about, but it was so much they didn't know where to start.

"This is a great place, Hank. If only I had known about it earlier on." She turned to face him, bringing her legs up and sitting Indian-style. "When did you find out about this?"

He was silent again. "Um… Well, three days after you left. Xavier was at the football game that you missed. He had detected a mutant signal in the area of my home, he felt certain it was me. He gave me an offer to stay with him." Quinn hung her head low. She sighed and didn't answer for a moment.

"That certainly makes me feel like crap," she announced bitterly.

"I told him that the signal must have been your emerging powers. He looked for you for a while, but your powers never resurfaced. We looked, we really did." He pleaded with her to understand. She smiled and looked out at the campus after giving a non-committal shrug. A student was chasing a Frisbee, changing back and forth from a wolf and to her human form.

"Yeah, I understand. Do you think they'll take a late application?" Hank shrugged.

"That, my friend, is all up to Charles Xavier. Knowing him, he may let you stay, but then again, he may not." She nodded, stood up, and walked around the bench.

"Where will you go if you can't?" She pulled off her bandana to run her finger through her hair. He noticed she had picked up the habit of nail biting. She took her bandana and threaded her hair back through it, removing all the stray hairs from her face. Her ears were no longer pierced. Back when she was younger, she always wore some kind or earrings, it was odd to see her even without the piercing at all.

"Hank, I honestly don't know anymore. This was my safest bet after the fiasco in Queenstown." she laughed shrewdly in remembrance.

"What happened?" He leaned forward in anticipation.

"Can't tell yah, mate! If I did, I'd hafta kill ya." she winked at him, and then grew solemn, "No, seriously, I rather save that story for another day, if you don't mind."

"What can you tell me about what happened after you disappeared?" she sat back down on the bench, assuming the same hands over knees expression that Hank had. He notice for the first time, a string of an odd pattern had been tattooed onto her neck and ran down under her shirt.

"Well, I just walked. I went to Mrs. Jameson's orchard and picked as much fruit as I could and then kept going. I hitched a ride with an old man with a truck full of hay. He told me he was going to drive down to Mississippi, that I could ride in the back as long as I wanted too. I spent a week riding in the back of that hay truck. I wound up in a town in Mississippi called Brookhaven and found a couple of homeless kids that were living in the gutted remains of an old women's college. They were three kids who had run away from their orphanage in Jackson. One was old enough that he had found a couple of odd jobs around town. They took me in with open arms, and found me a couple of jobs, too.

It was rough, even down south, it was a harsh winter to live through with no source of heat. Paula, the youngest, had gotten so sick that we almost lost her. I told them about my powers after living with them for six months, and three days later I found myself in Memphis, Tennessee looking for work. I took a job as a gardener and house-keeper for a kind-hearted old woman. She let me stay in the shed, and she taught me everything I ever needed to know about southern cooking." She sighed leaned against his shoulder.

"What about you? You certainly have changed a lot, yourself. I'm liking the fur." she reached up and rubbed her hand across the soft fur on his cheek. He moved away from her touch and stood up.

"I think we should take you to Professor Xavier, now." She stood up, too, slightly shocked at his sudden bitterness.

"Oh, Okay." she reached to pick up her bag, but Hank, being a proper gentlemen like his mother taught him, shouldered the bag himself and walked two strides in front of her.

"Hank, what do you do here? Can you at least answer me that?" He looked back and gave her a half-smile.

"I'm a professor." She returned the smile.

"Suits you, Beastly."

…

Hank walked her up the stairs and out of the lobby. Judging from the lack of students and the odd aromas that made her stomach pang in a hungry discomfort, it was lunch time. He took her down a hallway, then through another hallway and then down and elevator to the basement. She was then met in a hallway covered in steel, by Wolverine and by the man that had appeared on the news several times, debating on mutant rights. Charles Xavier.

"Hello Miss O'Hara. I'm Charles Xavier. I remember searching for you many years ago, you are quite the elusive one." Quinn gave a sheepish smile and nodded. "What brings you to the mansion, now?" He seemed to exude a kindness, and a sense of paternal ness that was very rare nowadays.

"I'm looking for employment, and I heard that this place was a safe haven for mutants." She told him honestly. Xavier leaned forward, staring her in the eyes. His held up his hands, placing his fingertips against each other in a steeple like manner.

"Well, a friend of Hank's is always welcome here," he said finally. She sighed loudly in relief and began to offer up her thanks.

"What job do you feel you would be best suited for?" he asked. She rolled her eyes up the ceiling in thought.

"Ugh, anything, sir. I can cook, clean, garden, paint, clerical or maintenance work, anything you name and I'll do it." Xavier again nodded.

"I do think, we are in need of a cook. I don't think any of us can deal with Kitty's muffins and peanut butter and jelly much longer. Though, I must ask. What makes you come here in search of a safe haven among other mutants after living alone for so long?" Quinn instantly clammed up. She took a step back, and Hank could sense her fear rising up.

"I, uh, um, I would rather not talk about it," she finally stuttered out. Logan was not amused. He stepped forward and gave a growl of discontent. It startled Quinn, making her throw up her arms in alarm. Hank suddenly had a very protective urge to stand between them.

"How do you expect the Professor to trust you with a job if yer not gonna be honest with 'im?" he asked gruffly. Xavier threw up his hand to silence Logan.

"No, Logan, it's quite alright. I do believe that she should not have to divulge anything she's not comfortable with."

"No, Professor, he's right, I'll, I'll tell you everything."

...

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That's Chapter Two, all wrapped up.. See you in the Later guys and girls. Remember to review if you like, or if you don't. I give props to RowenaTempest and TruInsanity for being amazing.