ok this one is gonna be a LONG one so hang in there. Also i regret to inform the Wanda/Todd shippers that there is NO Tonda in this fic. They are paired with my OCs. Sorry. If you guys want a list of the pairings tel me so in your reveiw and i will give them to you.
Anyway...on with the show!!

Chapter Three

Kurt groaned and tried to block out the sounds of the diesel engine that was rumbling outside the barracks. He lifted his head and looked out the small window with bleary eyes. A pair of headlights lit up a small section of the darkness outside. Kurt rubbed his eyes to clear the fuzziness and pressed his face to the window for a better view.

A girl was being led out of the truck, her wrists were handcuffed behind her back and a curtain of long black hair hid most of her face from sight. One of the guards gave her a rough shove and she lost her balance and fell to the ground. The man pulled her to her feet and shouted, shaking the girl angrily.

Kurt's tail whipped through the air before curling around his neck. With quick fingers he opened the little window by his bed and slithered through, making a muffled yelp as his hips caught a piece of wire. Keeping to the shadows he crept along a ledge until he was directly over the guards and the girl. He could do very little without endangering himself but…

"Hey!" a voice yelled causing Kurt to start, almost falling from his perch. Another guard approached the two; his face was dark brown and his black hair hung in his eyes. He shouldered his way past the two men and helped the girl to her feet while still showing no pity or compassion. "You try that again and you'll be out of her so fast it'll make your head spin. Get back to your posts; I'll take care of the girl."

The two men slunk away guiltily. The other guard released the girl from the handcuffs and opened the door to the barracks. "There should be an empty bed on the end to your right. Get some sleep and in the morning someone will explain everything to you." He waited until the girl was in the barracks before he glanced up into the shadows, "That means you too."

Kurt dropped to the ground and stood there in the dim light, his tail flipped over as he waited for the guard to make a move.

"My name is Jason Gonzales. What's your name?"

"What's it to you?"

Jason smiled mysteriously and opened the door without a sound despite the notorious squeaky hinges, "Just tell your friend that she's right and there's someone on the inside looking out for you."

Kurt hesitated, logic told him it was a trap but his instinct said to trust the man. He straightened from his defensive position and walked over to the door. This was a true test, most guards recoiled from him once they got close enough to truly examine him but Jason stood firm. He was obviously Hispanic and had a faded x shaped scar over his left cheek. He put his hand out towards Kurt who stared at it for a moment not understanding. Then he slowly shook it, "Kurt Wagner."

"Nice to meet you Kurt."

The blue mutant gave Jason another once-over before darting into the barracks.

Rahne groaned and opened her eyes to the sounds of shouting. Someone was standing by her bed and she recognized the silver-haired boy she'd sat next to on the train. Gathering her strength the redhead sat up and looked around. To her surprise she found herself looking at a scene of complete chaos. A girl with long black hair and olive colored skin had her hands wrapped around the throat of a blue demonic-looking young man who was only wearing pants and a ripped shirt, a spaded tail was curled around the girl's wrists as he tried to fight her off.

"What did you do to me!" the girl screamed, shaking the blue youth.

The mutant's tail suddenly grabbed her leg and jerked. They both went down and wrestled for position. Finally the girl ended up on the bottom with her arms pinned behind her back with the bigger teen straddling her back, using his legs to keep her from kicking him. His arms quivered with effort as the girl bucked and struggled to get away. "I do not wish to harm you fraulein!(1) I will explain if you will stop trying to kill me!" he yelled with a German accented voice.

The girl became still and some of the others in the room stepped closer. Rahne craned her neck to see what was going on.

"Are you going to let me up?" the girl asked.

"In a moment. What is your name?"

"Amanda Stefton, I'm not a mutant! Get off!" She thrashed wildly against her captor.

"I asked you to stop doing that. Please listen to me, my name is Kurt Wagner. I am not a demon or anything of that nature. I am a human being just like you and if you try to run away from here you will be punished. Severely."

"By who?"

"The guards." Remy put in. He crouched down by the girl and nodded for Kurt to get off. Amanda sat up and rubbed her wrists. Remy cast a glance at Gar who had his ear pressed to the door; the changeling gave him the all clear signal. "They will hunt you down and they will hurt you, so let Remy ask you this cheri: do you want to die? Or do you want to survive?" He rose and offered his hand.

Amanda pushed it aside and got up on her own. She whirled on Kurt who nearly jumped out of his fur and leapt atop one of the beds to stay out of her reach. "Touch me again blue boy and I'll feed you your stupid tail." she snarled.

"Are you always this cranky in the mornings?"

"Only when I wake up to a blue demon staring at me."

Kurt growled like an animal, "Ich bin nicht ein Dämon."(2)

"Well you sure look like one." Amanda spat with a sneer, drawing a surprised look from Kurt.

"Sie sprechen Deutsches?"(3)

"Fluently, now I don't suppose one of you wants to explain what is going on around here?"

Everyone exchanged a look and Remy sighed, "You're in a mutant prison camp cheri. Kurt says you came in last night and some of the guards were roughing you up. You don't remember?"

"No, the last thing I remember is going to the train station with my father. I fell asleep and the next thing I know I'm staring at blue-boy's face."

Before anyone could take the argument any further Gar barked and leapt onto his bunk. The others scrambled to look normal while Amanda looked around in confusion. Kurt pulled her onto a bed and jumped up onto his own. The door opened and Logan walked in, he surveyed the group and his eyes found Amanda. "Where'd you come from kid?"

"That's what we'd like to know. I woke up and she was trying to strangle Kurt." Gar said.

Logan snorted in slight amusement, "And I see he's survived to terrorize us another day."

Kurt hissed angrily through his fangs and curled up in the corner, ignoring them.

"I came in here to check on the unconscious twosome. Or one-some I should say." He sat down by Rahne who shrank back ever so slightly. "Easy kid I ain't gonna hurt ya." With one big hand he felt her forehead then snapped his fingers causing her to jump. "She seems fine. Has the other one woken up?"

"Not yet but he was moving around last night." Wanda replied.

Logan smirked, "Seems like he's just ignoring us." He crossed over to the pale young man and slapped his chest hard.

With a yell the still form came to life. The youth's eyes flittered from blue to black then settled on blue. He gasped for air and looked around. He groaned and fell back, "I thought I was out of here."

"You almost were. If you hadn't run straight into the electric force field you might've made it, now care to tell me who and what ya are?"

"I'm Xian. I'm a mutant."

"Alright, and the other one?"

Xian scowled and his eyes switched to black and he grew three inches in height while his body became a little more defined, "Perceptive fellow aren't you?"

"If you want to call it that. What are you?"

"Half vampire, Xian carries the mutant gene. I am Shade."

Logan nodded and dropped a bag of clothes on his lap. He looked over at Amanda, "I'll get ya some clothes tomorrow afternoon. Till then you're gonna have to deal." With that he left, slamming the door behind him.

"He's friendly." Shade grumbled rubbing his head.

"That's our Logan; prickly as a cactus and almost as lovable." Gar joked from atop his bed, "I'm Garfield Logan, nice to see you're finally awake."

"I wish I could say the same but that would be lying."

"Are you really a vampire?" Wanda asked suddenly.

Shade gave her a long look causing the girl to tremble slightly, "Do you always ask these types of questions of strangers?"

"Only when they might be vampires."

The man smirked; his teeth were pearly white but he had normal canines. "Yes I am a vampire but only on my father's side."

"You been in a camp before mon ami?" Remy asked.

"I was first captured seven years ago, 'bout five years ago I escaped and managed to hide out for a few months before I had to go on the run again. They've been chasing me ever since."

The Cajun rolled a quarter between his fingers, staring at the floor. "Gar?"

"Ya?"

"Go tell Logan that we need to talk tonight with everyone. You and Kurt can help keep watch."

The changeling nodded, "You got it boss." He slipped out the door letting in a blast of cold air.

Kurt jumped to the floor, carefully avoiding Amanda, and approached Remy as the others began talking and getting ready for their day. "So soon? They have just arrived."

"We have to move fast, that's the only way we're going to be able to do anything. They won't expect us to try anything yet. We'll compile a list tonight and tell them about the plan."

"Are you sure that's a good idea? Some of them might get too… excited."

Remy flipped the quarter in the air idly. "Maybe but we have to try. Hopefully most of them know their limits and how to control themselves."

The younger man shook his head and sat down on one of the beds, "They are too young to know the horrors of the world."

"A lot of people would say you, me and Gar are too young. None of them are much younger than you so just buck up and do your part. That's all I ask."

"Ja… oh! I forgot to tell you. Last night I heard the truck that brought Amanda here pull in. I was curious so I went to the door and it was unlocked. I went outside and she was being pushed around by a couple of guards. Then one of the other guards came over and told them to leave her alone. He sent her inside then he told me to come down."

Remy's eyes widened, "He saw you!"

"Ja, but he didn't try to hurt me or anything. He asked my name and told me that his was Jason Gonzales. He told me to tell you that one of our friends was right and that we have someone watching out for us."

The man frowned and stilled the quarter in his hand, "Remy will ask Logan what he knows. You keep the kids busy. Remy be back."

Rahne sat in the sun with her sweatshirt's hood pulled up around her sensitive ears. Pietro was sitting next to her chattering idly. Kurt was reluctantly showing Amanda around and they seemed to be arguing about something. Raven and Rogue were sitting cross-legged with their eyes closed. Todd was hopping around with Holly who grimaced every time he ate a bug. Wanda was talking to Shade as they walked in the sun, her green eyes huge in awe.

"How old are you?"

Rahne looked over at the other mutant, "Sixteen, how old are you?"

"Seventeen… I think."

"You think?"

The young man nodded, "My sister and I were put in an insane asylum by our father when we were little. I don't remember him or our mother. We found out we were mutants a year ago and hid it until we got caught."

"Wow… they picked me up in the park. They had to keep Lane from killing me."

Pietro sat up, "Lane?"

"My boyfriend, he hates mutants with a passion."

"Huh… that's gotta be rough. What about your parents?"

The girl let out a bark of hollow laughter, "My dad could care less about what happens to me, he's probably happier than ever now that I'm gone. He used to get so mad whenever I'd come home. A lot of the time I didn't go home. My mom died but I don't know how, my dad got mad if I tried to ask him."

The youth rested his chin on his knees with a sigh, "Y'know life sucks."

"Life doesn't suck; certain people just suck… a lot."

Pietro laughed and jumped as a shadow fell over them from behind. Two guards stood over them, glaring angrily. "You two need to be exercising."

"I'm resting from-." Rahne was cut short by a resounding slap from the bigger guard. She grabbed Pietro by the shoulders to keep him from attacking the men and pulled him to his feet, "We're going." She forced the young man to come with her all the while withholding tears that stung her eyes now that the pain hit.

"Are you okay?" Pietro asked, his anger turning to concern.

"I'm fine."

"Your mouth is bleeding."

Rahne swallowed the trickle of blood, shuddering at the coppery taste. "I hate blood." she whimpered to herself. The others had heard the exchange and were using the equipment with a new vigor.

"Ya alright sugah?" Rogue asked, walking over.

"I think so. I just bit my tongue when he hit me."

The Southern girl carefully examined the younger mutant's cheek then wiped away the blood, "I ain't gonna forget that one hon. He'll get what's coming to him, trust me."

Gar stood at the door, his elf-like ears trained for any kind of footsteps. Kurt was hanging from a ceiling beam by his tail, looking out of the dingy window and into the courtyard outside. Below them the group of mutants plus Logan were sitting on various beds looking anxious as they waited for Remy to appear.

Finally there was a rap at the door and Gar opened it. Remy came inside, drenched from the storm outside. He shed his trench coat and accepted his sweatshirt from Rogue gratefully.

"What's this meeting about?" Todd asked as the man paced in front of them.

"I be getting to it. First, I want to ask you all some questions. First of all, what are your powers?"

This took everyone by surprise. They glanced around in confusion. "Why would you want to know that?" Holly asked.

"Because if we're going to get out of here we have to know what kind of firepower you're all carrying. Anything is helpful."

"But the collars…"

"Can be easily dispatched. We just have to be ready to fight our way out of here when we do it or we're all screwed. Logan you ready?"

"Whenever you are bub." The big man had a pad of paper on his lap and a pencil in his hand. "I ain't got all night though so someone speak up. You'll get to know what we do afterwards."

Everyone stayed silent then Rogue spoke up. "I don't know if it still works with the collars 'cause it's pretty strong." She drew one glove off her hand revealing pale white skin. "If I was to touch someone in this room I would absorb parts of their memories and their powers for a limited time. I don't have very good control over the memory part though, usually I just get flashes. But when I do that I drain part of the person's energy and they pass out, I've only used a few mutant's powers and it helps if I know how they work."

"So if you were to touch the guards they'd be unconscious?"

"Ya but I can't absorb too many people at once or I'm out like a light."

Remy nodded then looked at Raven, "How 'bout you next cheri?"

"I'm a telekinetic, a telepath, an empath, and a healer. I can expel any amount of pain that is my own or someone else's. I can alter the emotions of others and control thoughts. My telekinetic powers appear in the form of black energy. I also know some spells and things like that."

Logan looked up after he was done scribbling. "Quite a list, kid. You got pretty good control over everything?"

"Yes, but I have to be able to say my incantation to use my telekinetic powers if I do anything major or if I have to concentrate."

"What's the incantation?"

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos."

Logan wrote this all down then pointed at Todd, "Okay kid, besides catching and eating bugs what can you do?"

"Um… my legs are really strong and I usually can spit out poisonous goo. Or I can make it not poisonous, either one. I'm pretty good at sneaking around and keeping quiet and I can stick to walls like Kurt does."

"How long is your tongue?"

"Uh… I dunno maybe five feet if I really stretch it out."

Holly made a face earning a blush from the amphibious boy. The girl flipped her hair over one shoulder and looked at Logan expectantly; he nodded for her to go ahead. "I can change my appearance to anyone's that I've seen before and I pick up emotions from objects. Like if someone touched something and they were really angry I could tell that they were angry and if I knew the person I could tell you that too. I have pretty good control over that but if I get knocked around really hard the morphing disappears. Not very useful all in all."

Remy smiled, "Every little bit helps cheri."

Logan continued to write even as he looked at Rahne. The red head flushed bright red, "Well you guys all saw what I can do. I can turn into a wolf or just halfway transform so I kinda look like a werewolf. But I'm not a werewolf, my senses are heightened even when I'm human but they're a lot better when I'm wolf. And that's basically it."

Pietro was tapping a nervous beat out with his fingers and he jumped as Rahne nudged him, he looked around sheepishly. "I'm a speedster. I can vibrate my body so fast that I can go through walls and things like that. I think the fastest I can run is Mach 2 but usually I stay around three hundred miles an hour."

Wanda bit her lip and looked at Logan, "Do I have to?"

"Sorry kid, we just need to know what we've got. Don't worry, we'll be telling ya our secrets too so just spill. It'll make ya feel better."

The girl sighed, "I think my powers warp reality to my advantage but usually they just go haywire and things fall apart. I've used them on Pietro once and he ran himself into a wall so I guess I can warp mutant's powers too."

Shade gave a snort as Logan looked at him, "I can't pass on the vampirism unless I have a kid so you don't have to worry about me biting anyone. My only real power is through Xian, he can control shadows and turn our body into one to go through things and fly. I've mastered five different martial arts and he knows them too."

"How's that? You can't be more than twenty."

"I'm eighteen in human appearance. I've been alive for almost two hundred years but if I ever wanted to I could give away my immorality and just age normally. But I haven't really had the desire to yet."

"You're two hundred years old?" Wanda asked.

"Two hundred sixteen."

"Wow."

Logan finished his writing and flexed his hand to work out the camp. "Okay Amanda, you're up."

"I already told you I'm not a mutant." the girl growled.

"Well if you're not a mutant then there's gotta be a reason you're here. Care to share?"

Amanda sneered angrily, "My father was a mutant activist. He wanted to get rid of these camps and let all of you out of here. I don't know why they brought me here."

"If your father is a mutant activist why don't you like mutants?" Kurt asked from the ceiling.

"Because you're all freaks!"

Logan rose and towered over the girl. "You care to say that again, bub?"

The girl shrank away and sat back down on her bed visibly frightened of the Canadian.

"Listen if you want to get out of here you're going to have to work with us. If you don't then we're going to leave you here. I highly doubt that your father is still alive and if he is it's too dangerous to get you back to him, sorry to be blunt but that's the way it is. Now do you have any skills that might help us in any way?"

Amanda's eyes watered but she didn't cry. "I can hack computers pretty well. My dad used to block everything on my laptop and I figured out how to override the system. I don't know if I could with something like the defenses around the camp but I could try."

"It's a start. Now I'm sure you'd all like to know what we do." Remy said pulling a deck of cards from his pocket, "I can charge the energy in inanimate objects and then release it in the form of an explosion. It's called kinetic energy. I am also a former member of the Thieves Guild in New Orleans and I've done my share of street fighting. I speak French, English and a bit of Russian."

Logan grunted in annoyance as the Cajun looked at him, "Alright, I don't know much about myself really. I was experimented on before the laws were passed. We figure I'm somewhere around eighty or so. I've got a healing factor which means I'll heal from almost any wound given enough time. Part of the experiment was melding an indestructible metal to my skeleton. I can't show them to ya now because I'd set off an alarm but I've got two sets of claws two feet long that are under my knuckles."

The group took this in slowly without any words. Logan and Remy then traded places with Kurt and Gar, keeping watch on the doors.

"I am a teleporter." Kurt explained, "I can transport myself from one spot to another in the space of a few seconds. Like Todd said I can stick to walls and use my tail to hang on things. And just to make sure you are all aware of the fact, I am not a demon. I'm a harmless Fuzzball."

Gar looked around and laughed, "Jeez you guys, your eyes are as big as plates. All I am is an animal changeling; I can turn into almost any animal I want, even ones that are extinct."

"Are we really going to get out of here?" Holly asked, with wide eyes.

"We're going to try. That's all we can do at this point. We've figured out a way to disable the collars but we have to be prepared to strike as fast and as hard as we possibly can. The only thing we have on our side is the element of surprise."

(1) girl or miss

(2) I am not a Demon!

(3) You speak German?

again for a complete list of pairings send me a message and ill get them to you asap