Hey! Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up!

Aria woke again, this time on her own. Judging fom the sky it was probabl six or so in the morning. She didn't like waking up this early but living on the streets really didn't help her insomnia.

Deciding what to do for the day was pretty simple, stick to the crowds to avoid attention from cops, eat whatever you can find, and keep moving no matter what. She didn't know how long she could keep this up, the constant energy it tookjust to stay alive left her nearly emaciated. There were dark circles beneath the girl's eyes that had been there for years but are getting worse every day. Her plain brown hair is wet from the rain, but still filthy, and her clothes are less than ideal for fall in New York. Something had to give, something had to change, it was obvious by the growing dizziness and fatigue that grew each day she wouldn't last much longer.

As much as she hated to admit it, Aria had resorted to "borrowing" things from others, mostly all food and caffeine pills from the pharmacy. She knew that in her condition the caffeine could harm her already shaky heart, but when there was no food left it helped a little to take the edge off.

After she got up and tried to make herself presentable she looked into her handy-dandy backpack to see what she had left. Two bottles of caffeine pills, a few packets of those saltine crackers you get from resteraunts, ten dollars, an extra sweatshirt and a pair of clean underwear, hairbrush a tank top, and an apple swiped from someons yard. Supplies were running low. Cursing herself Aria knew that the day was going to be used primarily to gather new things, she needed more food and one pair of underwear was not going to cut it. She should probably get some socks too since hers had holes in them, new shoes would also be nice but it was too much risk.

Deciding to have the apple and a packet of saltines for breakfast she stumbled into the entrance of the alley and immersed herself into the throng of people. No one would care, no one would notice here, it was a sense of relief almost…feeling like you could just disappear.

(*)-(*)-(*)

The Prince of Thieves groaned as he was awoken from his deep sleep. Yesterday he went on a mission with Jean and Scott, Wolverine was supposed to go but that would have been awkward for all of them. Now he had the Professor's voice in his head telling him to go to his office immediately. Well he was up already, might as well earn his keep.

"Good morning Remy, how did you sleep?" Smiled the Professor

"Good for te time I was able to." He mumbled, the Prof just raised his eyebrows and got down to buisiness.

"Cerebro has found another mutant in New York, from what we could gather her powers have already manifested but they are very unstable. She is not only a danger to herself but also a danger to others, I need you to talk to her."

"Talk to da petite or kidnap her?"

"Talk to her of course, but she needs to understand what is happening to her. She is probably more than very frightened and has definitely been on the run for a long time, which indicates abuse."

"So why don' you send Ro or Jeanie?'

"Because they haven't been out there like you have, and if we are correct about the abuse then that will just give you two more common ground."

"Or make the poor girl even more frightened."

The Prof sighed, "There is always that risk, but I believe the pros outweigh the cons."

Now it was Remy's turn to sigh, "I'll go, but I can't guarantee not'in."

"That is all I ask."

(*)-(*)-(*)

It was nightfall now, and though she managed to sneak some more crackers she wasn't very successful otherwise, in fat Aria almost got caught at a clothing store. The sky was threatening to dump water on her again, even though her clothes were still damp from last night which was making her shake harder.

She pulled on her other sweatshirt for more insulation but even that wasn't enough. Leaning her head back in a hopeless state she willed herself to die on her own terms, not someone else's.

She stood up suddenly as a figure approached her…with his hands up? What the…

"Hey dere Petite, it's ok now, not gonna hurt you." The hell was going on?

"I just wanna talk t' you ok? Name's Remy, what's yours?" The figure continued.

"Wh-why are you here?" Her teeth were chattering and she cursed herself for sounding as vulnerable as she felt.

Remy sighed, he didn't want to freak her out but she needed an explanation.

"I know wat you can do petite." Immediately Aria backed up, but was too weak to run. Seeing this Remy moved closer so she could see his face.

"Non non, don be scared! I'm a mutant too, jus't wanna help you is all!"

"Why?"

"'Cause I know what it's like to be livin off te streets, alone and cold. Come on now, please don' run out on me! Teres a school for peoplee like us, they've been good ta me and they wanna help you too." He dared to walk closer and kneeled down in front of where she collapsed from fatigue. Noticing how bad she was shaking and the blueness of her lips he took off his coat and covered her with it.

"Do ya trust me?" He looked into her eyes trying to find an answer but all he saw was pain. She looked nervous, uncertain.

"Listen, we need ta get you outta those wet jackets, they're only gonna make you colder ok?" She slowly nodded, finally giving in. Remy gently sat her up and unzipped her sweatshirts, his eyes grew hard at all the bruises and gashes littering her arms.

"What happened to ya?" She just looked away and her shaking grew. Remy quickly wrapped his coat around her while making a hasty examination of her injuries, they were bad, he just wrapped her tighter in his jacket.

"Can ya let me help you?" Aria just closed her eyes and nodded so he picked her up knowing that she was too weak to walk, her eyes widened and her body tensed.

"Shh, shh." He mumbled, "It's alright. Gonna take ya to the car ok?" Both he and the Professor agreed that it would be less traumatizing for her to ride in a car rather than a jet.

For a split second Aria thought he was going to kill her, but the way he carefully held her, how he readily gave up his expensive-looking coat, hell even his eyes were trusting. She willed herself to relax in the arms of this kind stranger, telling herself that everything would be ok.

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