*wails* I was writing this chapter and it failed to save. So I had to rewrite the rewrite of the chapter from memory. Oh, this sucked big time. And I don't feel like it's quite as good this time around.

FYI:
I do not own the X-men. However, Allison and the development, type, and use of her powers are completely, 100% mine.

Chapter 3: Survivor Anyone?

Allison let out a puff of air as she thought for a few moments. "So let me see if I've gotten all of this straight: I'm a mutant. You're a mutant. Those other two people I met are mutants. You come from some school up in New York specifically for mutants. You want me to come to this school so that I can learn to use my mutant abilities and more or less assimilate back into normal society without freaking anyone out at some point by accident. All of this is essentially a no risk, completely free, no contracts to sign deal?"

Kurt looked like his head was going to pop. That girl could talk really, really fast. Faster than Kitty after drinking a half dozen Red Bulls in fact. "That sounds about right," Kurt agreed after a few moments.

"Okay, so if this is going to happen at all, my mom needs to know about it. I'm not exactly just going to run away from home just because yesterday I thought I was normal and today I find out I'm not. She has to agree too. But I'm pretty sure she's going to freak out if you're blue and fuzzy," Allison said pointing at Kurt, her finger rotating slightly as if to imply that it wasn't just his face that was the problem. Kurt adjusted his watch and suddenly he looked like he had when they'd first met on the baseball diamond. Allison smiled and nodded in approval. "Now a few words of advice for ya. My family puts the CIA to shame when it comes to inquisitions. Let me do the talking unless I ask you a question specifically. Our story is that the softball game ended early because of such a large gap in the score, you're a foreign exchange student that I'm showing around the area, and most of all don't say anything more than necessary or you'll be digging your own grave. Got it?"

Kurt hesitated once more before nodding, unsure that he really had heard everything that he needed to.

"Great. What's your name, by the way?"

"Kurt Wagner," Kurt answered sticking out his hand.

Allison took it and gave it a firm shake and smiled. "Allison Williams. Nice to meet you."

Kurt paused as he heard a light crackle of static in his ear before Logan's voice came through. "Elf, you found the girl yet?"

Kurt reached up and touched his ear and Allison watched curiously. "I'm with her now actually. We're going to her grandmother's to talk."

"Good job, Kurt. I'll be there shortly," Emma Frost added before the communication cut out.

"What was that?" Allison asked.

"Miss Frost is going to meet us at your grandmother's," Kurt said smiling as they turned and started to walk.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but I think that gruff, little man would fit in better than her. She's a little too uppity for these parts."

Kurt started to laugh as he tried to imagine Logan being the diplomatic one instead. "Trust me, she's the better choice."

Allison and Kurt sat opposite her grandmother at a cluttered dining room table. Allison fidgeted nervously as her grandmother continued to ask Kurt every question that popped into her mind about Germany, flying, being in America, everything. After checking the clock for the twentieth time after calling her mother, Allison finally cleared her throat. "Gram, maybe Kurt would like to not talk for a while."

"Now, Ally, I'm just being polite to your guest."

"It's called harassment, Gram," Allison teased before being promptly ignored as the interrogation went on. At least Kurt didn't seem too bothered by it, but Allison worried that at some point the word mutant might slip out.

"Yoo hoo! Earth to Ally." Allison blinked at the hand that was waving up and down in front of her face and then looked up to see her mother standing behind her. "How was your game, Sweetie? And who might I ask is this handsome boy?" She wore a mischevious look, one that she got every time that she saw her daughter with a new male.

Allison just rolled her eyes. She never could understand why her mother was so anxious for her daughter to start dating. And why she seemed to think that it would happen overnight. Allison was just one of those girls who was too much like one of the guys to ever be a girlfriend. "Mom," she whined with an edge of warning to her voice. "This is Kurt. He's a foreign exchange student. And our game ended a little early because we were beating them too bad." Allison added a smirk to her lie in order to pass it as more believable.

"Sweetie, I've told you before, that we can't afford another mouth to feed."

"Moooommm…I know that. I'm just showing him around."

"Well, it's nice to meet you Kurt." Allison's mother shook his hand in a formal manner, giving it a warm squeeze.

"The pleasure is mine," Kurt responded causing Allison's mother to shoot her a smile and a wink. Message: 'He's a keeper.' Allison got the message loud and clear and responded with yet another eye roll.

"Did you at least take your cleats off at the front door? And what happened to your gear?" Allison's mother asked glancing under Allison's chair to see that she was in her socks.

Allison froze for a second. She'd left everything behind at the field, including her truck. She just hoped that she could count on either Kelly or Coach to pick her stuff up for her. "Well, Coach took it. My helmet needed some repairs as well as the chest pad."

"And your pappy's glove?"

"Needed relacing," Allison quickly lied. She knew that she'd be grounded for a week if she lost the expensive, custom-sized catching gear. However losing her grandfather's glove would result in almost certain death-perhaps by quartering if her mother could find a state in which it was still legalized.

The doorbell rang and they all turned to look at the kitchen door in which Ms. Steele had entered, but there was no one standing on the other side of the screen door. "That's odd, everyone knows that my door's unlocked and that they can come right on in," Allison's grandmother said starting to stand up.

Allison's mother gently pushed her back into her seat and smiled. "I'll get it Mom." She went into the living room and answered the front door for a formal looking lady in white. She blinked in surprise and then glanced out past the woman to see a white Chrysler convertible. She frowned, clucked her tongue and shook her head. "We're not buying whatever you're selling," she stated coldly before attempting to shut the door again but Miss Frost's hand shot out and caught it before it latched shut.

"I'm actually here to speak to you about your daughter." In surprise, Allison's mother stepped back allowing Emma Frost to enter and together they went back to the dining room. She instantly had everyone's attention simply based on her correct posture and direct gaze. "I'm Emma Frost, co-director of the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters. We'd like for you and Allison to see what we have to offer her."

"Unfortunately, I'm going to have enough trouble sending my daughter to college next year. I can't afford a private school now. I'm sorry for your trouble but I'm afraid this was a wasted trip on your part."

"I don't think you understand, this will be of no cost to you. The institute is completely self-sufficient and has no tuition costs. It's more of a safe house where Allison will be able to learn control over her gifts. She'll be able to interact with students with similar abilities who will accept her for what she is. She'll then be able to assimilate back into normal society without problems."

Eyes were narrowing as Ms. Steele crossed her arms over her chest and straightened her stance. "I'm not sure what you're insinuating, but my daughter's intelligence has never caused her to have any problems making friends. She's very popular and involved in her school."

"Mom," Allison interrupted. "Just hear her out. I think they can help me."

"Help you with what? Your grades are excellent, you have a fantastic chance of getting into any college you want, and if you perform in football or softball like you did this past year, we'll be fighting off the scholarship offers."

"There's something you need to know, Mom," Allison said quietly. "I'm not sick. But all of the fainting, dehydration, cold sweats, it is something." Ms. Steele's eyes widened into saucers and Allison's grandmother looked startled by the discussion. "They can help me with all of those things. Help me to lead a normal life again so I can go play softball in college. The reason I left early is because I passed out again."

"So this is a hospital?" Ms. Steele asked looking to Emma.

"No, it's a school," Kurt spoke up. "We just have a very special group of students."

"A school for ill students. H-how can we afford this?" Ms. Steele asked.

"Because I'm not sick. And that's not what they do," Allison explained. "I'm a mutant." Allison's gaze shifted to the floor. "They're just going to help me to feel normal again."

"Ms. Steele, you're daughter has a rare mutation that allows her to take on the qualities of water. We believe that she has a lot of untapped potential. We also believe that if she can learn to control her abilities she'll be able to lead as normal a life as she desires," Miss Frost said gently as Allison's mother crumpled and more or less fell into a chair next to Allison's grandmother.

Allison leaned over and pressed her hand to her mother's knee and sighed. She could see the grey creeping in around the temples, that she was no longer taller than her daughter, and that the fine lines were starting to appear on her face. "Mom, we're talking about no more clueless doctors, no more fainting, no more cold sweats."

"Are you saying that we're incapable of providing Allison the care she needs here at home? Lots of families have to cope with unique illnesses, and they pull through."

"Yeah, that's true, Mom, but this isn't an illness. And even if it were, then think of these guys as the experts. Even those families have expert help."

"And Allison will be allowed to come home and visit as often as she likes. Just as you will be more than welcome to visit her as often as you'd like," Miss Frost added smiling gently. "We'll take care of her. All we ask is that you come to visit. There's no pressure to enroll, and if you do, there's absolutely no cost at all."

"Ms. Steele," Kurt spoke up, "The professor is very nice. He takes care of everything: school, room, board, everything."

Kurt's opinion seemed to have the necessary impact on Allison's mother as she sighed. "I suppose we could check it out."

Allison and her mother had seen the institute the weekend before and it seemed to have had an impressionable effect on her mother. She had been impressed by the professionalism of the staff. Allison had been impressed by the number of students. She'd seen at least a dozen different kids living at the mansion and had actually grinned broadly when she'd been informed that she'd have to have a roommate.

Now Allison stood in the middle of her bedroom, surrounded by stacks of clothing, books, and other personal effects trying to figure out how to get everything to fit into a single trunk. I feel like I'm going on Survivor-I can only take my most valuable posessions with me. She looked down into the open trunk that was mostly filled with various clothes, mostly jeans, t-shirts, and hoodies. There was the occaisional sweater and tank tops, but that was the limit to the variation.

"Why don't you take your dress?" Allison's mother asked pulling an aqua colored sheath gown from the back of Allison's closet.

Allison just groaned. "Mom, I'm not going to need that. If I do go to the prom there, I'll come back and get it in the spring."

"What about homecoming? Or a Sadie Hopkins dance?"

"A football player cannot wear a dress to homecoming. It's why I didn't go last year," Allison argued.

"And that's why Mark ended up skipping and spent the night trying to track you down," her mother responded winking.

"Hey, that's not my fault. Trust me, I've tried telling him what to do. He doesn't listen. It's worse than trying to herd cats."

"You two are more alike than you'd like to admit," her mother said sitting down on the edge of the bed. She picked up a framed picture of Allison and Mark both in uniform, kneeling on the helmets."

"That's why we're best friends," Allison said with a smile, but her mother just sighed in defeat and left. Allison sighed watching her mother leave and went back to her closet and pulled out the dress. She carefully laid it down in the bottom of the trunk and draped it over the album of pictures from her parents' wedding.

Allison then sat down where her mother had been and absent mindedly reached over to pet her black cat who was curled up against the bottom of a guitar case. "I'm gonna miss you, Midnight." The cat looked up and blinked her eyes sleepily before standing up, stretching, turned a few times and then went back to sleeping.

"Hey girl." Allison looked up to see Kelly in the doorway and gave a half-smile. "We're really going to miss you. You sure you wanna go off to some prep school?"

"It's a chance I can't pass on," Allison said shrugging as she stood back up and hugged her friend. Both were fighting back tears.

"Want some help?" Kelly asked as they released one antoher.

"Sure...those books need packed," Allison said pointing at her bookshelf that contained at least a hundred different novels.

"You can't possibly be taking them all."

"No. Just the hardbacks, I guess. Those are my favorites."

"I don't understand how you can possibly read all of this stuff," Kelly said starting to pull the volumes down one-by-one.

"They're great. Seriously. You loved the movie, why don't you actually read Jurassic Park?"

"Because I have seen the movie," Kelly laughed. They exchanged smiles and then went back to packing away various things into boxes. "So you're leaving tomorrow."

"Yep." There was a touch of sadness in her voice but Allison knew that it was merely from knowing that she would miss her friends. She didn't actually dread the school itself or the change.

"You'll be back over Thanksgiving, right? Maybe the guys'll make it to states again and we can go watch 'em."

"Okay," Allison agreed glancing over her shoulder to see that Kelly had paused on one of the books. "What's up?"

"I finally get why you dragged Mark and I to see that movie, Timeline," she said laughing holding up the book before slipping it into the box.

"Don't knock it. You both loved the movie."

"True, but Mark would love anything you did. The other day I actually saw him trying to read a book like one of these," Kelly said waving another book before it went into the box.

"Mark reading? You're kidding."

"Nope."

Allison chuckled as she moved on to wrapping her picture frames in tissue paper. "I feel bad for leaving you guys mid post-season," Allison admitted as she put away this years team photo.

"Don't. Coach gave everyone a day off from practice so we could 'come to terms with our loss'."

"You make it sound like I'm dead!" Allison squealed tossing a stuffed animal at the back of Kelly's head.

Kelly turned to laugh and froze when she saw just how empty the room looked. This was the room where she'd spent on countless slumber parties and now it was barren. It held hardly anything that reminded her of Allison and the fun times they'd shared.

"I'm really going to miss you." She threw her arms around Allison in a hug as she started crying.

"Yeah, me too," Allison said softly as she blinked back the tears. "Okay, enough or you'll have me bawling too." She couldn't remember the crying for a very long time. In fact, she hadn't cried since her twelfth birthday when her father had failed to come get her for their annual fishing trip. She hadn't seen him since either.

"I better get going then."

"I'll see ya," Allison said letting her friend go who didn't move. Neither of them did. It was as if the were waiting for the other to make the move necessary to end the awkward goodbye. Kelly finally gave Allison one more fierce bear hug and left. That's when Allison's tears finally started to fall and she cried herself to sleep that night.

Allison was throwing last minute things into her trunk: toothbrush, hairbrush, and other toiletries she'd needed for her morning routine. She paused looking around at the boxes that surrounded her and the blank empty room that was now in the background. She was vaguely aware that a car had pulled up to the house and that the kitchen door had opened and closed.

"Ally, Mark's here to help you load the truck," her mother's voice called from the living room.

Allison lifted one of the lighter boxes and balanced it on her knee for a moment before she got a better grip and walked down the hall to her mother and friend. She offered a weak smile in greeting to Mark who stood awkwardly, his weight shifting from one foot to the other. "Hey big guy."

"Hey short stuff," he replied using his nickname for her since they'd known one another in elementary school and she'd actually been short. "So where's this monstrous trunk your mom was telling me about?"

"In the bedroom," she answered as she handed the box off to her mom and led Mark to the back of the house.

He let out a whistle when he saw how barren her room had become. He too remembered quite a few afternoons hanging out here and it seemed so different, so absent of her. "So there are walls in here," he teased. "I couldn't tell before with all the posters."

"Shut up and grab an end," she muttered, rolling her eyes and hoping that he'd keep up the jeering. It'd help to keep her from crying again.

"You gonna be able to manage this when you get there?" he asked as he walked backwards through the house, navigating by glancing over his shoulder.

"There ought to be someone who can help."

"Well, if not, you could always just live out of the back of your truck."

She shot him a death glare but decided that him going down the stairs backwards would be a bad time to come up with a smart-ass response. Together they heaved the trunk up and into the bed of the truck, guiding it all the way down towards the cab. He gave her a small smile and shoved his hands down into his pockets and shugged. She gave him a smile and slapped him across the back of the shoulder so that he'd follow her back up for the rest of her things.

Together they got the truck loaded and tied down a tarp to protect her belongings from the elements. "Think you've got enough stuff?" he asked.

"Nope. I still wish I could take Midnight with me, but there's a pretty strict no-pet policy."

"I could take her to the farm," he offered. "She would have a grand ol' time chasing mice all day."

"She wouldn't even know what to do with a mouse if it walked right up and bit her," Allison said laughing as she gave one of the bungee cords a tug to see if it held. She walked around to the driver's door and checked to see that her cell phone was plugged in properly and charging as well as her navigation unit. She double checked the address and then closed the door. When she turned, she nearly took him out as her nose brushed up against his chest. "You're going to give me that heart attack yet," she teased and he smiled as he placed a hand under her chin and tilted her face up.

"There's one thing I've been wanting to do before you left," he said. "And I might not get the chance again."

"It's not like I'm falling off the face of the earth. I'll be back on breaks and I'll be writing nearly everyday via e-mail." Her gaze was confused as she stared up at him. It wasn't often that she saw his crystal blue eyes from this close.

He just shook his head at her naivete before leaning forward and kissing her gently on the lips. She gasped in surprise and he pulled back slightly. "It wasn't that bad, was it?"

"No...I...you surprised me," she finally managed to say and he smiled taking it as an invitation as he kissed her again. This time Allison reciprocated, her hands going around his neck, eyes closing as she memorized the feel of his lower lip between hers. They only parted when they were interrupted by a round of applause from the porch above them. "Mother..." Allison groaned with embarassment as she covered her face with her hand.

Mark chuckled as he kissed what little bit of his cheek he could find betwen her fingers and she peeked between her spread fingers at him to see that he was smiling more broadly than she'd seen in a while. He climbed back into his own truck and waved through the open window. "Don't forget about a weekly phone call too," he called out as the truck began to rumble down the long drive.

"You know it took the two of you long enough," Allison's mother said as she walked down the steps, swinging her house keys merrily around her finger.

"You could have, at minimum, refrained from clapping."

"Heat of the moment thing," her mother replied off-handedly. "Ready to go?" There was a touch of sadness in her voice at the last part. She was going to ride along for the trip there, but she would be flying back alone. She put on a smile though that reminded Allison of what her mother was normally like: a teenager trapped in the body of a forty-eight year old. She was hyper, bubbly, and unfortunately capable of maintaining a relationship. Her longest marriage had lasted for only eight years, only to find out that he was into some pretty nasty stuff on the side. Allison's father had been her third husband and the second longest relationship. But the alcohol had eventually driven them apartment as Allison's mother tried to be a responsible parent for her daughter. She did not relish the idea of starting empty nest syndrome a full year early.

They got into the truck on their respective sides and Allison started up the engine. Immediately, she turned down the volume but still received a glare from her mother. "What?" she asked as Avril Lavigne continued to sing. "Fine," she muttered as she realized the glare wasn't changing and started to fiddle with the dial as they rolled down the driveway. Her mother's expression did not change until the country station dialed in and Allison held it there deciding that it wasn't worth fighting over.

After a few hours, the process was repeated as they lost signal from that station and Allison won the battle for a classic rock station as they drove across the northern part of the state of Pennsylvania. They talked about everything that came into their minds: sports, weather, traffic. Her mother was just as much into sports as Allison, although less athletic. Allison had always been meant to be a boy, and thus for the first three years of her life, she'd worn blue because no pink had been seen at the baby showers. So it had been a surprise and a pleasure when Allison took up sports the way she had.

They had crossed into New York when Allison could avoid her mother's sadness at the approaching departure no more. "You know, we could side trip to New York City. They're in the middle of a Subway Series right now."

"That would be nice, but you'll have plenty of time for things like that with your new friends. Why waste an afternoon with your old mom."

"'Cause I love you mother dearest of mine." Allison had always used that as a nickname for her mother. It was an attention grabber and worked 99% of the time.

Her mother responded with a sad smile and the rest of the ride to Bayville was spent in near silence.

"Welcome to Bayville," Allison said reading the sign aloud as she whipped by going seventy. Hesitation was starting to creep up on her. She contemplated turning around and going home. Home to friends and family who would help her and understand even if things were changing a little for her.

Her mother reached over and touched her knee gently. "You're doing the right thing," she assured her.

"Thanks, Mom. It's just been a really confusing time. Everything just changed on me all at once. I'm different, Mark is different, even you're different too." Allison glanced sideways and caught the confused look on her mother's face. "You just opened your store and you've been really busy. It's good though. I want you to be busy. Busy and happy."

"You don't think I've abandoned you do you?"

"Aww…Mom. Of course not. We've had it rough, but you're an awesome mother. Some kids have got two parents who can't even tell you what homeroom they're in. But you, you're at nearly every game, talk to all my teachers, know the guidance counselor's extension by heart…you're a super mom, literally."

Her mother smiled genuinely as they pulled onto the country lane that would lead to the Xavier Institute. A couple of miles down the road, they crossed a bridge and then approached the brick wall that surrounded the mansion. Eventually they reached the iron gates and Allison pulled up and punched the intercom. "Hello? This is, uh, Allison. Allison Williams?"

"Like hey, just a minute. We're like totally expecting you."

Both Allison and her mother raised an eyebrow at the overly eager voice on the other end and Allison just shrugged. "They certainly seem happy to have you," her mother said.

"Perhaps a li'l too happy?" Allison said doubtfully as the gate opened and she started down the drive. She pulled up to the front steps where Logan had been waiting and he immediately started to approach the truck. Allison leaned forward so that she could see him through her mother's window and grinned. "Hey, hey, valet parking."

The corner of his mouth twitched as if he was fighting back a smile. Allison grinned when she saw his reaction. She had a knack for getting adults to like her and she'd found it came in handy more than once as she talked her way out of problems at school. She hopped out of the cab and walked around the truck to toss him the keys before shaking her finger in mock reprimand. "Scratch this baby of mine and you're a dead man walking," she teased as he looked at her in surprise. There was another twitch as he supressed a smirk.

Allison and her mom went inside and found Professor Xavier and Emma Frost waiting for them. "I'm glad you decided to come back," the professor said as he held out his hand to shake theirs.

"Come on, you're telepathic. You knew all along I'd be back," Allison said as she took his hand.

"We're very grateful that you had room for her," Allison's mother said more formally as she shook Xavier's then Emma Frost's hands.

Allison once more took in the size of the mansion. Part of her was wondering who'd answered the intercom because no one her age was even in sight. The adults continued to talk but Allison's attentions were elsewhere. Glancing back out through the glass front doors she could see her truck had already been moved away. She supposed Logan would be unloading her things to her room too.

When she realized that no one was missing her from the conversation, Allison wandered awa towards one of the far ends of the room and finally she could make out the noise of kids. Apparently the building's accousitcs were designed to reduce some of the ambient noise. She went down the hall, following the noise of what sounded like a scuffle and found a small group of guys seated around a big screen TV. Two of them were fighting over a controller.

"Come on man, it's my turn!"

"No way, ya played the last game, Icepick."

"Guthrie," the first one growled as they continued to wrestle.

"Drake," the other one mimicked as he rolled his brown hair friend over until they both fell off the couch.

They had one another in headlocks and a younger boy walked up to them, took the controller easily from them and sat down on the couch and started the next game with a dark haired, well tanned boy. The two who'd been wrestling stopped in their shock and looked up at the young boy. "Yo' dead, Jamie," the taller of the two said as he disentangled himself from the brawl. He stood up and Allison could see him a little better. He had longish blonde hair that came past his ears and he was taller than her even. He didn't look terribly bent of fulfilling his threat though.

"If something happens to me," the young boy with brown hair said, "You'll have Rogue to deal with when she gets back." He stuck out his tongue and then went back to devoting his full attention on the game.

Allison just stood in the doorway as the blonde finally turned and looked at her, seeing her for the first time. She hadn't met him last weekend at all. He bore a slight resemblance to Mark, but he was lankier in build. It made her miss Mark something terrible even if it had only been a few hours since she'd seen him. "Howdy," he said waving and it made his brown haired friend turn to look at her too.

"Hey y'all," she said waving nervously back. Suddenly she worried about being able to make friends. These kids had probably been together for a few years and she was new. There was no guarantee that she'd fit in. Even amongst them, she might still be considered weird.

The blonde instantly jumped over the back of the couch, nearly clipping the young boy in the head with his shoe in his hurry. "Say that again," he said as he approached her.

Allison licked her dry lips and while looking down at her shoes said very quietly, "Hey y'all?"

He had her by the shoulders and started to laugh. "Oh thank ya God. Another Southerner."

Allison blinked in surprise as she looked up at him and then past him to the equally surprised expressions of the other boys who'd paused their game. "Um, well, not really. I lived in Maryland and PA. Not all that far south."

"You don' sound it," he said nearly breathless holding her back to look at her more closely. "You eat grits?"

"Sometimes." He clapped her on the shoulder and she smiled. "I mean, you can't live south of the Mason-Dixon line and not like grits. It's cause for a lynching," she joked.

The brown haired boy nudged the darker boy and rolled his eyes. "Guess what we'll be eating now when Sam's on kitchen duty?" The other boy just wrinkled his nose.

"I like Sam's cooking," the younger boy said. He was still on the couch, leaning against the back, his arms crossed. "What's wrong with Sam's cooking?" he asked. Allison smiled at him and realized he was probably just barely in high school.

"There you are, Kid," Logan's gruff voice called from behind. "They're looking for you. Time to say goodbye." He nodded back down the hall towards the front foyer and Allison sidestepped away from the boy she assumed to be Sam.

"I'll see ya, 'round," she said ducking out the door.

She was almost to the foyer when she heard the room burst into laughter. "Might as well have jumped her, Sammy!" cried out one voice that was clear enough to be heard before there was another fit of laughter.