* The X-men and their world belongs to Marvel

Hey guys! Anyway, I just wanted to thank readers who have read my first story 'Beginning of the Shadow' involving Cathleen/Shadow and welcome new readers. This is the first chapter to Cathleen's new story, which will be coming REALLY soon. I hope this new adventure will interest you!

Catch yah later,

J.C. Posch

I crept in the shadows, studying my target's every move. The way he made no sudden movements but took his time and made sure the ones he was doing were right. His careful movements were contradicted by his eyes darting every which way, trying to catch a glimpse of me. I took a slow deep breathe, taking in his scent. There was an odour of paint and cinnamon under his musk of sweat, but I couldn't smell blood. He hadn't spilt any yet. I could hear his heart hammering in his broad muscled chest, giving away his excitement and nervousness.

Suddenly his head turned my way, and he smirked. I crouched lower, trying to stay hidden in the darkness but preparing a fighting stance for if he finds me. The large figure surged towards me, no longer taking care for each precise movement he made. Our game of cat and mouse was over, time for action.

When he was about five feet from me, I leapt then rolled out of his path. Now behind him, I kicked out swiftly to knock his feet out from under him. Before he realised what was going on, I gave him a push so that he would fall on his chest instead of his back. The moment he hit the ground, I launched myself onto his back and took his muscle arms in a hold. Like a viper I jabbed the area of the back I knew would temporarily paralyze his arms. I was too far for his legs to get me and his arms were now immobile.

"Make sure you are out of the way of his still able limbs before going into you final move, which might be to snap his neck or paralyze him for good. In this case, you probably want to find out why he was after you, so knock him unconscious or," I put my arm on his shoulder then wrapped the same arm around his neck and locked my hands. Then I flexed my bicep against his neck, while pushing my forearm against the other side of his neck. He struggled, but the hold was nearly impossible to escape, even with his superior strength. "Hold this position until you are sure he is unconscious, try not to suffocate him."

I freed my boyfriend before he went cataleptic and looked up at the assembly of teenage girls in the bleachers, who watched us with utmost interest. "And that concludes our demonstration of taking down larger opponents. Any questions?"

The full lights to the Danger Room came on and my students blinked at the sudden brightness. Most had out binders and were taking notes, while others just looked down in awe. It was a shock to them that I was actually able to take down the newest member to the X-men, Piotr (Peter, since coming to America) Rasputin, the Colossus without my mutant powers. A lot of them had lost money, betting against me.

I got off of Peter as he still tried to get his breathe back and walked closer to the bleachers that held the girls who came to my Women's Defence Classes, wiping sweat from my forehead.

"Did you really not use your powers on 'im?" One girl asked. She was in grade nine and was required to take this course.

"No, I didn't. That was the point of this class, to show you how to defend yourself without your powers against a larger opponent. Agility, keeping a calm mind and thinking ahead of the attacker will ensure your safety." I answered. "Peter didn't use his powers either. We both wore these rings created by S.H.I.E.D that neutralizes our mutant X-gene so we couldn't use them even if we wanted to."

"I've got one," Jubilee, a girl in my year asked, popping a bubble made by her pink gum. "How do we know he just didn't go easy on you because you're his girlfriend?"

"Do you really think any guy would want to lose to a girl in front of a class full of other girls? Do you see this egg on my noggin?" I asked sarcastically, pointing up at the still swelling bruise to the side of my forehead. Jubilee was a friend, but one of those friends that you have to resist strangling sometimes. I think she was just taking this class as some form of entertainment and so she could heckle me. "Nope, Peter tried his best and was a skilled opponent; this was a real fight and was a real demonstration of how a fight would go if you were attack/stalked by a larger person."

"Why wouldn't you just use your powers?" Another girl asked.

Okay, kind of answered that before the demonstration, I thought a little annoyed.

"Because you might not have your powers to help you at sometime. Some of you don't even have defensive or offensive abilities, that's why you're here. The X-men all have great powers, but they also know hand-to-hand combat because they know they can't always rely just on those powers." I answered coolly. "Any more questions?"

The girls in the bleachers didn't show any sign of wanting to ask questions. Seeing them like this, it was weird. Listening to me, trying to learn from me, trusting that I know what I'm doing? This was all so crazy. Most of the girls here were in their early teens, but there were many girls who are my own age and coming to learn from me. When these lessons first started they treated it like a joke. Not that I could blame them, I was some girl not that much older (or even younger than, in some cases) droning on and on about ways to defend yourself, it wasn't until I started adding demonstrations and practical classes that this course was started to actually be taken seriously. At the Xavier Institute, we all had defence classes and Danger Room sessions when we got to a certain age; but this was a class Storm and Cyclops had thought up of. A class taught by a female to girls to teach them how to defend themselves in the world not only because they were mutants, but because they were female.

The world is a dangerous place for us mutants, but there are different dangers for girls as well. This class is to give these girls the methods and knowledge to defend themselves.

It shocked me when I was asked to do these classes. I'm in my last year of high school, a teenager, not a teacher or X-man. Why should I be given the task of this when there were so many better people to do the job? Scott Summers (aka Cyclops) muttered something about 'I had enough experience' 'it will be easier for them to learn if they see a girl like them can do these things' 'it'll give me experience for the future". Oh, and all the women teachers/X-men had enough on their plates to deal with and the men didn't think it would be appropriate to teach a class of just girls. So I got stuck with the job.

"Alright, so no more questions?" I said to my class, giving them one more chance. No one said anything, so I continued. "Alright, lets all give Mr. Rasputin a big thank you for helping with the demonstration today."

By now Peter was sitting up on the floor his arms draped on his legs. The girls gave him some polite clapping; some getting creative. I head some catcalls and giggling, and I'm sure it was Jubilee who screamed out "Russian boys are hot stuff!".

"Okay, so I'll see you all on Monday. I want you all to practice the moves we learned this week and go over your nerve charts, you can't do acupuncture defence moves if you can't remember where to hit them. And you all know where to find me if you need help."

"Can Peter help us instead?" I heard a voice call out. The girls giggled at that and I saw Peter's face go red.

"You're dismissed!" I said with a glare. "Oh, and we're getting a guest speaker in on Tuesday. Mr. Logan, Wolverine. Its going to be good."

The room filled with chatter as the girl got their stuff together and started to file slowly out of the Danger Room. Once we were alone I went back over to Peter.

He was beautiful, inside and out. His thick black hair and innocent blue eyes, his puppy dog perfect smile and his perfect skin. Plus his amazing body. He was a giant. Standing at six feet five, he was all muscle. But looks aren't everything, I wouldn't be with him if it weren't for his beautiful soul. He was very sweet and loving, never wanting to hurt anyone's feelings. He will put his foot in his mouth every once in awhile, and he gets so embarrassed that he'll blush. He makes you feel as if you are perfect, or as close to it as its gonna get. He's also brilliant and an artist. He picks out things that no one else can see or imagine, and then uses his gift to put it on paper and show it to the world.

I know for every teenage girl its always 'love' not 'like', but in this case I really think I love him.

Since graduating last year, he's been a jr. X-men along with a few of my other friends. With his mutant ability of superhuman strength and to turn his human flesh into organic steel armour, he's been an asset to the team. But he's been feeling pulled since the school year started again. Professor Xavier, Jean Grey and a few other teachers have been pushing him to go to collage before he dedicates himself to the X-men. They don't believe he's had a chance to know what he wants and they want him to have other opinions. And although he's a fantastic superhero, the X-men also have to help run the school for mutants. He's been volunteering in classes and has been working as a janitor/caretaker for the school, but they want him to be able to help teach the students (we're always short on teachers here). Others like Gambit and Wolverine tell him this is the best thing for him, to just be an X-man. He knows he needs money and he doesn't want to mooch on the school forever, but he doesn't know if he wants to go away to school for something. He's sold a few of his paintings, so he has money for now. But the other day he got s letter from home. His mother wrote that now he has graduated, he can come back home to farm. So that's another thing pulling him in another direction.

Whatever he chooses, I'll support him. My own selfishness wants him just stay here with me as an X-man (but not go on too dangerous missions, I don't want to see him hurt), but I won't tell him my thoughts on these things. I'll listen patiently when he confides in me about these things, but I won't say anything because he has enough people pulling him in enough ways.

"Thanks again Peter, I really owe you one. I guess I won't leave my lesson planning till the night before so I won't have to beg for help again." I smiled sheepishly.

"Its alright, I liked helping you." Peter smiled back, his Russian accent making me swoon a little (I never thought a Russian accent could be so sexy before meeting Peter). "Though I'm not sure I'll feel the same way when my comrades hear that I was beat by a girl."

His tone told me his was teasing but I still raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? You think its embarrassing to lose to a girl?" I asked.

"To a little girl? Of course it's embarrassing!" Peter went on. "Maybe they'll understand when I tell them I was not allowed to use my powers."

"I wasn't allowed to use my powers either." I countered, then pulled off the ring I wore to block my powers. "But if you'd like to try again, I'd be happy to whoop your steel butt again."

I stood right in front of him, drawing myself to my full height. I wasn't that big, only five feet three inches tall and my muscles were small and lean (though small, I was pretty strong). I know how silly I looked. We got a lot of teasing from our friends about how the "midget was dating a giant". Usually I didn't mind, but it was kind of hard to be taken seriously at times like this when he's so large.

"What if I told my friends that my girlfriend abuses me?" Peter asked.

Using my telepathic powers, I flew up to be eye level with Peter.

"You know you like my abuse." I said, kissing him passionately. Once I knew he was too involved in the kiss to notice, I dropped down and tripped him. Using my powers, I made mental ropes to bind his limbs to his side.

"Do you want to tell the guys that a 'little girl' beat you twice, or shall I?" I cooed.

Instead of getting mad (Peter hardly ever gets mad) he laughed. "Alright, alright, you're the winner. Will you let me go now?"

I smiled and released my mental binds. Just to make sure no feelings were hurt (and because I love doing so), I kissed Peter again softly. "Better?"

"Much. So do you wish to go get some breakfast now?" Peter asked.

I dipped down to grab my gym bag. "Love to, but I'm supposed to go to town with Logan."

Logan, Wolverine, had this reputation at the school of being a father figure to the girls who needed it. He's protective of them, offers them help, and takes them out to breakfast once in a while to let them get away. His girls are called part of his 'litter', because of his code name. For whatever reason, he decided that I was going to be under his protection. I don't mind.

I gave Peter a quick peck of a kiss before running out of the Danger Room, my gym bag banging against my side. I was already a little late for our breakfast date.

"Please stay? I'll let you abuse me some more!" Peter called.

I laughed and continued running.