For young Vesper Lynn pain had simply become a part of her everyday life. But where she was from names weren't allowed because that meant that you were someone, she was simply known as mutant 4725.

She had been taught that she was nothing, that her life didn't matter. Vesper had been born into the life of a lab rat she had never been given the chance to see the outside world all that she ever knew was the inside of the facility. She lay in the middle of her small dark and cold cell as fresh tears streamed from her red and swollen eyes she lay remembering the day her life had changed for the worse, if that even was possible!

She and a few fellow captives decided that they were going to try to escape unfortunately their plan was foiled, some were never seen again while others theirscreams of pain and agony sent chills down your spine as they reverberated throughout the halls.

Vesper's pain was not to be of the physical variety but rather emotional her prize was to witness the murder of her parents and baby sister. Despite the fact that she was being held back by two of the strongest guards at the facilityshe still attempted to break their hold. The last thing that she remembered were three loud gunshots, pain, and then slipping into a black oblivion. That had been almost a year ago and still her mind played it over like it had just happened yesterday. Vesper lay on the cold concrete floor she would cry herself to sleep yet another night, silently she prayed for an end to all of this but she was too stubborn to give in I f anyone is there please help me! She prayed with every once of her being before closing her eyes and embracing the darkness once more as it enveloped any last bit of consciousness.

Life at the Xavier mansion slowly but surely started to piece itself back together after recent tragic events. Night time had descended over the mansion allowing the children a break from their studies and to be just a kid. Professor Charles Xavier, the founder of the school was Down in the basement of the mansion using Cerebro to seek out new mutants when he was hit by what seemed like an unseen force. It was a simple but powerful cry for help, no cry for help wouldever go unanswered at Xavier's. Telepathically he asked Dr. Hank McCoy to meet him in Cerebro where they would try to locate the cry for help. After an hour of searching he roughly located the weakening cry for help to an abandoned military jail in Canada. Alerting the team they suited up and were ready for another mission.

Being on the jet brought back bad memories for all but especially for their team leader Scott Summers. Their only focus was to rescue the young girl and bring her back to the mansion for medical assistance. The base was located in the province of Nova Scotia. A scan of the base showed only one life sign. The team consisted of Logan, Scott, Storm, Kurt, Beast, Bobby and Rogue. Beast or better known as Hank McCoy stayed behind in the jet and proceeded to set up for the arrival of the young girl they had no idea the condition she would be in and he wanted to be prepared for anything. After the death of Jean Grey he had taken over as the school's doctor.

"Alright Storm, Logan you're with me. Kurt, Bobby and Rouge you three stick together." ordered Scott as he directed a beam slicing through it as if it were butter.

The team of Kurt, Bobby and Rogue were sent to retrieve any of the files or anything that would be useful. All they were able to scrounge up were a few very detailed journals of various experiments and the results, two rather large stacks of files and a small leather box that was locked.

"Oh my god, how could someone do this to another human?" Rogue asked clearly distraught.

"People fear what they do not understand Rogue." Kurt's voice was filled with sadness and that knowledge came with experience.

"Poor girl." at that Bobby pulled his girlfriend in close to him.

They had come to get all they could there was nothing more they could do. Kurt grabbed a hold of both teens teleporting them back to the jet. Rogue took a seat near the back of the jet occasionally a sob would escape her. She knew the world was cruel but seeing the horrors written on paper seemed to make it all the worse. Hank quickly skimmed a file from the one of the stacks, what he saw made his blood boil. Hank would have his work cut out for him tonight between fixing up his patient and going through the files it was going to be a long night indeed.

Logan stood still, one eyebrow raised slightly higher than the other as he sniffed hard at the air he had caught a rather strong smell

"Logan what is it?" Storm knew that he had picked up on something that they couldn't.

"There's someone near." taking one last sniff he took off running down the corridor.

"Logan get back here!" called Scott as he and Storm chased after him.

Stopping at one particular cell door Logan began to slash at the hinges, but was pushed aside by Scott who directed a small beam at the bottom hinge sending the door crashing to the floor with such a noise that it rang throughout the abandoned base. Inside of the small cell lay the young girl they had been sent to rescue fear was most evident in her eyes. Despite the fact that she had been chained to the floor and left to die Vesper managed to move herself into the corner causing the metal to cut deeper into her ankles. Blasting the chains off the young mutant girl she moved further away from them if that was possible. Sensing her fear Logan carefully approached the young girl slowly not wanting to spook her anymore then whatshe was.

"It's alright kid we ain't gonna hurt you." upon not receiving a response he crouched down to her level Logan stuck his hand out for her to grab onto "Come on half pint, you're safe now."

Looking into his eyes somehow Vesper understood that he wasn't trying to trick her or anything. Slowly she reached a small shaky hand out and grabbed onto Logan's who pulled her to her feet. Now that she was standing they all got a good look at her she looked to be no more than sixteen, her tiny frame shook with much force. The poor girl's body had been through hell and back, no sooner did she fall slump in Logan's arms. Gently he scooped her tiny fragile frame up and started back for the Black Bird earning a look from both Scott and Storm.

"Who knew he had a soft side?"

"Shut it one-eye!" he growled as he purposely bumped into him in passing.

Once inside of the X-jet Logan pushed past everyone and gently laid the girl down on a small cot in the back where Beast was waiting. Taking a quick look at her Hank took a few mental notes nothing that she was severely malnourished and hada number located on her wrist. Upon further examination it looked like it was burnt into the child's flesh.

"I'll do my best for our young friend here, for now it is best if I had all the room I could get. You're in good hands now my dear." that said Hank started to patch his patient up. Only once did she wake up during the examination only to have Mr. McCoy sedate her as a precaution he didn't want her freaking out. Hank took pity upon the young child there was no logical reason for her to go through what she had.

Once back at the safety of the mansion Hank worked round the clock to repair the physical damage done to the young girl to the best of his ability. IVs of various types had been hooked up to replenish fluids, multiple vials of blood had been drawnfor testing purposes and the amount of stitches to close open wounds made him lose count.

The Professor, Hank and Logan all sat around a table in the med lab the clock now read well after 2 AM.

"Chuck I thought you said this kind of thing stopped!" growled Logan

"As did I, Logan" Xavier responded casting a glance at the young girl that lay a few feet away.

The three of themstarted to pick up a file or two that had been brought back with them until the Professor looked over at the young teenager as her eyes fluttered open slowly, her surroundings were unfamiliar to her. Where am I? Oh god... no... It's another lab I've been brought to a lab... no their going to kill me! The Professor could hear the frantic thoughts that ran through the young mutant's head. Wheeling himself over to where her she lay she started to whimper as he got closer, her eyes began to dart around the room as she regained her focus. Despite being born in a lab there was something different about the way this one felt but she was so frightened by the big blue man's appearance and his lab coat she quickly jumped off the table she was laying on ripping out the IVs that had been hooked up only to find herself pinned between the three men who stood before her and a dead end sinking to the floor she erected a highly electrical force field around herself. The lights in the room began to flicker on and off, a few of the bulbs burst it was as if some unseen force was at work. Logan stood at the Prof's side his claws drawn at the ready. All Vesper could do was stare at the claws before her with wide eyes. Where the hell am I? What kind of place has us working on our own kind?

"Amazing" Hank said under his breath

"Relax, my friend you're safe now." Xavier had a kind and warm smile on his face that seemed to be genuine "Logan would you mind putting those away? We don't need to frighten her any more"

"Liar!" the Professor shook his head no, her eyes were fixed on Hank McCoy who sported a long white lab coat just like the ones at facility.

"No quite the opposite my dear, you've been brought to my school for the gifted. My name is Charles Xavier. I'd like to offer you a place to stay where you would be safe."

"What do you get in return?" she sounded skeptical of the whole idea.

"In return I would help you control your gift and give you a place to live. If you wouldn't mind Hank here should really take care of those wounds" he gestured towards the large blue man

"You would do that for me, why?" she slowly let her shield down but was ready in case she needed to draw it back up

"Vesper, not everyone is the same, there are people in this world who only wish to help."

"Wait, how do you know my name?" she asked

"I will explain all in time for now. I'll let you rest after our doctorHank here takes care of you, Logan could you carry her over to a bed?"

Logan walked slowly over to her with his hands up to show her no ill will, her hand was bleeding rather badly from where the IV had been ripped out careful not to come into contact with it he carried her over to a more comfortable bed. Hank felt sorry for the young girl she looked like a frightened child he worried about scaring her worse then what she already was. Hank slowly took a seat near the side of the bed and gently began to clean the fresh wounds she had expected for him to have hurt her but nothing of the sort came to be. Reinserting the IV's Hank set up fresh bags and hooked her up to a monitor before taking note of her current vital signs. Vesper quickly nodded off back to sleep Logan and the Professor had left leaving Hank alone he was going to start reading the large stack of files that were slightly overflowing. Pouring himself a rather large cup of coffee he sat down in a chair that threatened to break under his weight and opened the first file and settled down to what was going to be another long night. He pulled out a note book and started jotting things down.

Morning came and the Professor returned to the med lab to check on Vesper and to see if Hank had made any progress in the files as he knew his friend would spend the night reading over the stack of files. He found his friend was asleep in the chair with a file still in his hand. Xavier looked over at the slumbering child and his heart just broke he had no idea of the horrors she went though but she was safe now. Before her lay the long road to recovery but he would make sure that she didn't have to walk that road alone. Charles positioned himself at her bed side and pulled out a book that he had tucked beside him and began to read he would wait for her to wake. Reading about four chapters in Hank began to stir from his chair.

"Has she waken at all?" Hank asked as he wiped away the sleep

"Not yet. Why don't you get some rest? I can stay with her, if she wakes I will let you know"

"Thank you. Charles. She'll be out for a few more hours, her body is fighting off the beginning of an infection. She has very little white blood cells to fight it off, she's in for a good few days down here. But after I'd like to mover her to her own room it may make her feel more at ease, I can see how being down here may make her uneasy"

"Get some rest my friend" Charles said as he turned his attention to the young girl and sighed.

Hours had gone by since Xavier had taken residence beside her bed slowly she began to stir and come to. Sending Hank a telepathic message he turned his attention to Vesper. Her body ached and things felt fuzzy as reality started to return to her. The doors to the med lab opened Hank walked in going into full doctor mode. Hank instructed her to lean forward as he warmed the stethoscope before placing it on her back, she jerked forward slightly at the touch of fur. Her skin felt rather warm, slightly warmer than that of normal temperature helping her lay back in the bed Hank placed a hand on her forehead it too was warmer than normal. She shivered slightly as a chill went down her spine Hank left for a moment returning with a large blanket.

"Sir, how did you know my name before?" she asked pulling the covers up closer to her

"You see Vesper I'm what you call a telepath." He noticed her demeanour had changed at learning that fact which worried him he had never seen a reaction like that before. He knew that the next few months were going to be long and hard for this young girl and he would do anything within his power to guide her through this. Xavier studied her face for a moment before continuing "I have a strict code of ethics that I follow I'd never use my gift to harm you. Alright my dear why don't you rest for now. You're in the best hands" he said looking over at Hank who was preparing to run blood tests her temperature was up he needed to run test to be sure of what it was.

"Yes sir." She said being used to the rule of authority was to be addressed by as sir.

It wasn't long after the Professor had left that she fell into a dreamless sleep something that made her feel slightly safe.

After supper had finished the Professor returned to the lab where he found Vesper was awake and eyeing Hank's every move as he moved about the lab gathering supplies up. Her blood tests came back and she indeed was fighting off a viral infection and her body was having trouble fighting it. Had they not have found her when they did she probably wouldn't have lasted too much longer and died along with the rest of the experiments at the facility. Vesper was a fighter whether she knew it or not. Feeling the young girls uneasiness he tried his best to easy her worries

"Vesper, I have known Hank here for many years now he would never do you any harm. What is it the frightens you?"

"He.. he knows things. Doctors scare me, they would always find ways to hurts us—" she trailed off

Both men just looked at her as their hearts just completely broke for this young child. They had their work cut out for them. Xavier gave her a warm smile before turning to his friend, he had an idea.

"Hank, do you still have that drawer?" Charles asked

"I do, I think that's a splendid idea!" he turned his attention to the young girl "Would you like something to have while you are down here?" his question received a blank look on her face. Hank walked over to a large cabinet and pulled open the bottom drawer and rummaged around before settling on his decision. "Would you like a stuffed animal to keep you company?" he asked as he held out a little stuffed black cat waving one of it's paws at her.

Vesper was unsure of this gesture, she had never been given a stuffed animal or even a toy before. It was soft and cuddly something she hadn't experienced anything like this she clung it tightly to her chest. Charles took a deep breath before speaking as he knew his request would set off her warning bells.

"Alright, I'd like you to attend a sort of therapy session if you'd like to call it with our doctor Hank or myself."

Vesper laid there in the bed but you could see her shift uncomfortably she didn't like the sound of that at all. At the lab they often did their own version of a "therapy" session every time that it was her turn she fought it like hell. The girl's thoughts were so unfocused and loud that Charles couldn't help but pick them up. Charles sat beside her bed he felt sorry for Vesper she had no one that she could turn to she was alone in a world that prosecuted you because you were different.

"I can assure you that nothing like that would happen, you don't have to worry about that happening again you're safe here." he projected feelings of safety and calmness her way.

"You."

"We will start them once you are feeling a bit better, we want to focus on getting you better. Hank is going to give you some medications over the next few days, nothing that I wouldn't take myself."

Hank added a few medications to her IV line and took her temperature noting that it was raised a bit more than last time he checked. He worried about her fever and gave her something to help combat it. It was going to be another late night for Hank he would wait until she drifted off to sleep before getting back to note taking. After Charles had excused himself he sat down at his desk before he decided that he should follow suit and turn in for the night as well. Laying down on one of the other beds in the med lab he wanted to make sure that Vesper had someone near her just in case she woke up or got worse. Closing his eyes it wasn't long before he passed out for the night.