Disclaimer: I own the plot, nothing else!

Chapter Three – Change of Plans

April 1996

By spring break, the X-Men and the Brotherhood had both settled back into their everyday lives, apart from a bout of vigilante-ism by Jean, Tabitha, Kitty, Rogue and Amara, which was cut short by NYPD when they realised that the girls were doing their jobs better than they were, so the 'Bayville Sirens' had to hang-up their outfits.

But that was all said and done and forgotten about, and most of the X-Men were focusing instead on trips home.

Everyone was going home for two weeks vacation, except for Scott – who had lost his parents – Rogue and Ray – who didn't know their parents – and Jamie – who had been disowned by his parents.

In the midst of people rushing out to catch flights, trying to get lifts to airports and just general chaos, Kitty was trying to hold a conversation with her mother on the phone.

Now, Kitty didn't particularly get along with her parents and was actually dreading spending another two weeks with them. In fact, she'd already used every excuse she could think of twice to ignore their calls. And that was just since January.

But now Kitty found herself quite glad that she'd answered the phone; not only did she get out of helping everyone else, but her mother was calling to tell her that some old colleagues had called and invited her parents to some sort of reunion up in New Hampshire, so she couldn't come home.

"No, Mom. No, that's fine … What? No, I don't think you're avoiding me!"

Now Kitty thought about it, however, they had been very cold over Christmas. She knew that they hadn't really had a chance to react to her mutation and knew that it would blow up sooner or later. She just hoped she wasn't there when it did.

"No, I'll be fine." Kitty rolled her eyes at Jean, who was reading a book and pretending not to be eavesdropping. "I love you. You too. Bye." Hanging up with a sigh that was crossed between relief and frustration, she threw herself onto the opposite end of the couch.

"Trouble?" Jean asked casually.

"Not really." Kitty sighed. "Mom and Dad are going to New Hampshire for spring break; it's a 'no kids' thing. On the one hand, I'm happy I don't have to put up with them; on the other, I think they're avoiding me. Plus, this means I have to stay here. Which I don't really mind, but if Scott comes up with more of those 'extra credit' DR sessions, I'll kill him."

Jean put her book down. "You can come and spend spring break with my family if you like."

Kitty was surprised. Although Jean had been an irreplaceable pillar of support during her first few months at the Institute, the two had never been what one might call close friends. "Are you sure? I mean, won't your mom want a say in this?"

Jean sighed and beckoned her closer. "Promise me this'll stay between us?"

"Yeah, of course." Kitty told her. "What is it?"

"My dad died when I was twelve." Jean explained. "And my powers appeared a week later."

"Oh yeah." Kitty remembered. "You ended up in a coma, didn't you?"

Jean nodded. "When I woke up a year later, my older brother told me that my twin had gone to stay with relatives, because Mom was having some sort of break-down. She still thinks he's better off without her and tends to have slight relapses when everyone's around, because he's not there. The more people there are, the more she has to do, you see? So you'd be doing me a huge favour as well."

"Well, I can't say no to that." Kitty tried to lighten the mood, but failed miserably. "Where is he now?"

"With my aunt still." Jean admitted. "I haven't got any contact details and I don't want to read Mom's mind for them in case…" She trailed off with a shrug. "I miss him."

Kitty hugged her spontaneously. "I'm there. Thanks for the invite."

But despite her gratitude, a little voice in the back of her head told her that something was strange about the whole thing.

Of course, no one ever listens to the little voice in the back of their heads.

Like Kitty, Amara's holiday plans had been changed abruptly. Unlike Kitty, this wasn't a welcome event.

Since the young princess's move to America, her home country had become much more open to change and returning for visits was now a lot easier, since she could get flights now.

Unfortunately, it was still a very rare destination and Amara found herself in the irritating situation that the pilot had scarlet fever, delaying her flight by a day.

While this normally wouldn't have been a problem, after phoning the Institute to let them know, she then found herself in the company of Bradley Sherri, who had taken her to dinner once.

It had been, for lack of a better term, a disaster.

It was amazing, she had growled to Kitty upon her return to the Institute, how many times he could mistake 'Get your hands off me' for 'Take me; I'm yours'. In the end, only a well-placed knee to his groin had gotten the message across.

Now she found herself wondering how many people could ignore a young girl getting chased through the backstreets of Bayville. To make matters worse, her flight had been very late, so there weren't that many people to ignore her. She thanked their training sessions, knowing that any other girl of her age would have given up by now, even with the adrenaline keeping her going.

But still, he was right behind her.

Round a corner, Amara skidded to a halt, finding herself staring at a very high brick wall. Spinning around again to see that Brad had stopped in the entrance to the alleyway, she began to back up, considering her options. The wall was too high to climb, the entrance too narrow to slip past him. Kicking him again, she seriously considered, even if just for the hell of it, but she knew that she'd still have to catch him off guard.

Her back hit the wall and her heart-rate increased, knowing that there was little she could do to stop what was about to happen without using her powers and, without proper control, she could end up roasting him alive. When she missed curfew, it was possible someone would come to find her, but by then it would be too late. His eyes travelled over her, making her feel slightly nauseous, and she closed her eyes, her bag falling from her hand. "Please just leave me alone."

The only response she got was a low chuckle. "Not gonna happen."

Then…

"I believe the lady asked you to leave her alone."

At the Australian-tinted voice, Amara's eyes snapped open. In the entrance of the alleyway, silhouetted in the light of the only unbroken street-light, stood a boy slightly older than her.

"This is none of your business." Brad snarled, but with a little less confidence. "Back off."

The boy strode past him and turned to face him, standing between him and Amara. "I've decided I'm gonna make it my business." He slipped a hand into his pocket and pulled something out.

The dim light reflected off of metal and, for one heart-stopping moment, Amara thought it was a small hand-gun, but then he moved it behind his back and flicked the top and she realised that it was a small lighter.

"Besides," he continued, "haven't you heard about the ghost around here?"

"Ghost?" Brad repeated. "What ghost?"

"Oh, yeah." The boy said casually, but Amara could hear a smirk in his voice. "Years and years ago, there was this guy whose girlfriend was late to meet him. He found her around here, being attacked by a gang of vagrants. He tried to stop them, but they turned on him."

"What did they do to him?" Amara asked curiously, unsure whether he was making it up or not.

"They burned him alive." The boy answered immediately, flicking his lighter with more desperation. "He swore revenge and they say that anytime a young lady is being taken advantage of, he will rise again, still aflame, to protect her, the way he couldn't protect the woman he loved."

Brad laughed. "You're bluffing."

Amara had to agree. There was no fire-ghost about to … She froze, focusing on the empty lighter. Was it possible…?

Carefully, she looked past him at Brad, who was focusing on his new obstacle. Then slowly, very slowly, she lifted her hand and pointed at the lighter and quietly, very quietly cleared her throat, just enough for her saviour to hear her.

The second he glanced round to look at her, Amara, praying that she wasn't wrong, summoned a small flame to her fingertip and sent it to the lighter.

True to her guesses, he caught it and refocused on Brad. "Bluffing?" He stepped out of the way. "Go on then. I dare you."

The second Brad had passed, a great fire-warrior arose behind him, brandishing some sort of club.

"Doesn't look too happy with you, mate."

Amara couldn't hold back a giggle as her pursuer spun around, turned a lovely shade of grey and sprinted away, screaming in a surprising high pitch.

The fire sank back to the ground and rose again, this time in a small ball of light, allowing both to see each other clearly.

He was taller than her by about a head with red hair almost the same colour of the fire above them and aquamarine eyes that were looking at her with an expression of concern. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Amara assured him, but couldn't hold back a shiver.

"Here." He slipped his jacket off and wrapped it around her shoulders.

Amara smiled at him. "Thank you. I'm Amara Aquilla, by the way."

"John Allerdyce." He responded, with a lopsided grin.

"Thanks for just now." Amara gestured to the flame. "I thought … Well, it doesn't matter what I thought."

John's eyes darkened and he glared in the direction Brad had disappeared. "No lady deserves to be treated like that."

Amara nearly melted. Oh … my … God … good-looking, similar powers, well-mannered … there has to be a catch. "How long have you lived in Bayville?"

"About eight months." John answered. "Moved here from Australia."

"Same." Amara nodded. "Except I moved from Nova Roma. It's a small country in the middle of the Pacific." She explained when he looked lost. "No one ever hears of it."

"I see. So what's a nice girl like you doing out so late at night?" John asked with a slight smirk, leaning against the wall.

"My flight got cancelled." Amara explained. "It's not exactly a common destination. And then I ran into Prince Charming. You?"

John shrugged. "This and that. Not quite the same though; it's a bit more dangerous for a pretty girl to be in this part of town."

Now it was his eyes passing over her, but this sent a tingling sensation down her arms. I am very attracted to this guy. However, common sense told her that she needed to get home. "I'd better go; they're expecting me back … I'll miss curfew at this rate." She moved to slip the jacket from her shoulders, but he stopped her.

"Keep it. I … er … I guess, since your flight was cancelled, you're going back in a couple days?"

"To Nova Roma?" Amara checked. "Yeah. Just for Spring Break. Why?"

John shrugged. "Just wondering."

"Okay." Amara checked her watch and retrieved her bag from her feet. "I've really got to go now. Thanks for everything."

"Wait!" John called as she reached the entrance to the alleyway. "Will you be alright?"

Amara smiled. "Yeah. He's all talk. Can you … can you get rid of that?" She gestured to the light.

John shook his head. "No. I can control it, increase it, or diminish it, but I can't create it or extinguish it."

"I've got it then." Amara held out her hand and the fire vanished, leaving them once again in semi-darkness.

"Wait." John said again. "Will I see you again?"

"That depends." Amara responded. "Do you want to see me again?"

She could hear the grin in his voice. "Oh, definitely. You know the park? That gazebo thing?"

Amara thought for a second. "Yeah."

"Two weeks tomorrow?" John asked. "Seven o'clock?"

Amara counted up. "Sure. I'll see you then?"

"Yeah." John nodded. "See you."

With a wave, Amara set off back towards the Institute in a jog, thinking about the young man she'd just encountered. Something about him made her uneasy, which didn't make sense, because he seemed the perfect guy.

When it came to John Allerdyce, there had to be a catch. And she was determined to work out what it was.

AN: So tell me what you think; it'll only take a few minutes!