The season was ending, and Aleksandr was rushing to gather together the loose ropes and items before heading to the evening party. He waved off a few of the performers who headed to their trailers and wound up the last rope before packing it away. As he turned to the exit of the tent, he froze at the shadow standing there. As the being came into view, his first impulse was to teleport away.

"Don't," the figure commanded, as if reading his mind. Alek rose a brow at the man who strode towards him. He'd never had any experience with civilians, at least none that ended particularly well. Their reactions to him in his early years with the circus had made him learn to hide well. The man's nonchalance over his looks confused Alek. "I've come to see you."

"Who are you?" he asked the man.

"A friend," the man told him. "You may not believe that now, but you will understand eventually. I am a friend to all of our kind."

"Our kind?" Alek's brow quirked again. He had no idea what the man meant by 'our kind'. He wasn't Russian, he didn't speak like a Roma, and he wasn't with the circus.

"Mutants," the man walked closer, stopping right before Aleksandr. "You do know what you are, don't you?"

Alek turned away from him, uneasy at the man's words. "I am a man."

A hand grabbed his shoulder, and Alek turned back sharply. "You are far more than a man," the strange man told him. "Far, far more. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying to you."

Alek took the hand from his shoulder and glared the man in the eye. "I am to take your word? A man I've never seen before, who comes to me to tell he knows what I am better than me?"

"You've never even heard the word before, I'm sure," the man told him. "Mutant. Most people don't even know we exist." He paused. "Did you ever wonder why you were different? My boy, you are extraordinary. By far one of the most interesting I have met. I don't presume to know you better than yourself, son, but I know more about what you are than you do. I'd like to teach you more in fact."

Alek made a face. His interest was piqued, but something about this man made him wary. "Don't think I am interested."

The other man shrugged. "Very well," he replied. "Maybe not today. One day, however, you are going to want more answers than you're getting. One day, your life with this circus, life in hiding, will not be enough." He paused, giving Alek a fierce look in the eyes. "One day you are going to have to explain to your children why you didn't do anything to make the world a better place for them."

He furrowed his brow, the man's words hitting him. In the back of his mind, he'd always had the idea of one day having a family. It seemed with every passing year, that became less of a possibility, though this made him consider it again. Would he want his children to live like this? In fear of those around them? Hiding? Not knowing truly what they are?

The man held out a small card to Alek. "When you can no longer go on without answers," he said. "You know where to find me."

Alek took it and watched the man saunter out of the tent. As he looked to the card handed to him, he read the name upon it: Sebastian Shaw.

~&Q~

Some years later...

He wasn't sure he'd made the right decision. It was going back and forth in his mind. The circus offered him little anymore, Margali was married now and part of him felt like he no longer belonged. It had been years since this man had first visited him, but he'd never thrown away the card. His words had stayed with Alek all this time. Why did he have to live in the shadows? This world should belong to him as much as it did anyone else. This man, Sebastian Shaw, he was right. It was time Alek truly understood what he was.

"You made the right choice," a voice said, and he turned to see a young blonde standing in the doorway. She was stunningly beautiful, though couldn't be a day older than sixteen by the looks of it. "I'm 18," she said, making Alek raise a brow. Her fingers touched her forehead. "We all have our gifts, right Aleksandr?"

His eyes widened at her. "You can read my mind?" he surmised.

The girl nodded, taking a seat across from him. "Among other things. Though your own powers are nothing to laugh at. Teleportation? Incredibly useful."

Alek shrugged. "Can't do too much. A could of miles maybe. Nothing too crazy."

"Then you've definitely come to the right place," she smiled at him. "Sebastian is incredible. I have him to thank for helping get my powers under control." She paused, staring off into space. "You have no idea how crazy you feel when the voices start. It took so much time to understand I was hearing others' thoughts, and not simply losing my mind. Sebastian helped me to control it, and helped me to get stronger with it."

He nodded at her, and leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees. "I had no idea there were any people like this," he told her. "This man came to me and until then I thought I was alone."

The girl shook her head. "You're not alone. None of us are. I'm thankful that Sebastian found me so I could know that."

"Emma," the man named Sebastian stood in the doorway. "Keeping our guest company?"

Emma nodded and stood. She leaned in to Alek, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "It was a pleasure to meet you Aleksandr. I hope we get to see more of each other." He watched her saunter out, and she gave him another smile over her shoulder before closing the door.

"She's lovely, isn't she?" Shaw asked him. Alek nodded. "Our people are so diverse, it's incredible. She's one of the most powerful mutants I have had the pleasure of knowing."

"Mutant," Alek repeated him. "You have said this to me before. What is mutant?"

"It's us," Shaw told him. "The next step in human evolution. The future. Each of us were born different, some obvious from birth while others not until their powers manifest in adolescence. We were given these powers, these unbelievable gifts, in order to take our world to the next step. By force if necessary."

Alek had never been a terribly violent person. His training from a young age gave him a base from which a violent person could absolutely be born, but he'd never seen the need for it. He shook his head a bit. "I do not know if I believe that."

"Just because you don't believe it doesn't mean it isn't true," Shaw moved closer to him and took a seat opposite. His hand reached out and gently traced the scar that lined his eye. Alek was uncomfortable with the sudden touch, and moved backward. "How many times have you been attacked? Simply for existing, for doing nothing other than what any other person can do any day? How long have you had to hide in order to stay safe?"

Alek wasn't sure how to answer. Shaw had a point. Many times he'd argued in his head over the inequity in his situation, how unfair he should have to have a lesser life because of how he was born.

"The humans are terrified of us. They lash out at us in violence because they know their time is coming," he said, leaning back into his chair again. "A dying animal will still fight back against it's killer, even as it's death is imminent. It's in their nature. The same is to be said of humans. They are on the verge of extinction, who is to blame them for lashing out against the next to inherit the Earth? Yet, that still does not excuse them." Shaw paused for a moment. "I simply want to make this world a safer place for us. A safer place for our children, and our children's children. By any means necessary."

There was little Alek could disagree with. It seemed a dream, that one day a child could be born like him and not a single person bat an eye. Shaw extended his hand and Alek looked at it a few moments, before finally taking it and shaking. The other man's face split into a smile. "Excellent. We will go down in history, son. One day, mutant children will read about the wars we fought for them."

Alek nodded with a small smile. The two men stood, and Shaw placed an arm around Alek's shoulder. "There is one more thing I require of you."

Alek lifted a brow. "What?"

"You need to shed from yourself any vestige of the human world," Shaw told him. "Leave it all behind and embrace our direction."

"What do you mean?" Alek was confused by this.

"Your name," Shaw continued. "You are not Aleksandr. Aleksandr is beholden to humans. He is living in their world, rather than creating a new world for his own. Dig deep. Find a new identity for our new world. One that will strike fear into the hearts of those who will oppose us."

Alek thought long. One name cycled through his mind, one that he had heard thrown at him in fear by ignorant people who'd tried to hurt him. There were many different versions of this name, but one in particular stuck out. He turned to Shaw. "Azazel."

Shaw smiled again, giving him a pat on the back. "Welcome to the family, Azazel."