Chapter Text
Yes, it was true you’d been under a decent amount of stress lately. Mostly self inflicted, because you had such high expectations of how you wanted to finish out the semester. But as Jubilee rolled her eyes for the second time, you realized you were now wasting your breath trying to explain the amount of consistent studying it took to maintain the high GPA your teachers had come to expect from you.
“We are going to the mall, (Y/N).” Jubilee breathed, as if reiterating this one more time was about to take all the life from her.
Your younger friend could have a flair for the dramatic. You now looked to Jean as the last voice of reason. But you could see by the smile she was barely holding back, that you had already lost. You suspected rightly that this new student, Scott, had had a lot to do with why Jean was suddenly so eager to skirt the rules and leave the grounds without permission.
You relented, but crossed your arms all the same as you gave your terms. “Fine, if Kurt wants to see a mall, then we’ll take him. But I’m driving.” Scott deflated slightly at that, but you didn’t miss a beat. “At least that way if anything goes wrong, I’ll answer to the Professor, not you all.” Of this group, you were the oldest (though not by much), and there was no sense in them getting in trouble over something like this.
Besides, it wouldn’t kill you to get a couple new outfits. You rarely if ever bought anything nice just for yourself. But it wasn’t like you had anyone around here to impress anyway…right?
——————-
You weren’t really sure how long you’d all been gone at the mall. Long enough to grab some lunch at the food court together, and waste a decent amount of time and change in the arcade. You hadn’t bought any clothes after all, nothing had struck that right chord with you. But you just remembered a smile on your face all the same, one hand held confidently on the gearshift and the other loosely on the steering wheel as you’d rounded past the mansion’s tree line, beginning to slow the car.
You’d just pushed in the clutch, and then-
You slammed the brakes, only gasps rather than laughter erupting from your friends beside you then as you all took in the scene at once. Debris and bits of ash still floated down gently from the sky as you’d ripped off your seatbelt, jumping from the car and breaking into a run. Your heartbeat had been in your ears as you’d entered the stunned crowd.
You picked out Hank, the first staff member you’d clearly seen, grabbing his arm as you found your voice again. “What on earth happened!?”
His head turned towards you, but his mouth just started to open and you could see in his eyes that he was trying to answer the same thing in his own mind. You’d never seen the brainy “Beast” at such a loss for words.
“Um…it blew up?” A new voice sounded off so matter of factly, then suddenly beside you as you turned to look at a person you’d never seen before.
A boy? No, a man? He seemed about your own age, that kind of in between really. His silver hair framed the sides of his face as he stared back at you, his hands on his hips. It was a surreal moment, your adrenaline still in full bore as you’d looked down to a weathered RUSH band t-shirt and a cool leather jacket that at any other time you may actually have been jealous of. You looked back up to his dark eyes in astonishment.
The stranger raised an eyebrow as your eyes connected again, him seemingly still waiting for some kind of response from you.
All the while, the X-Mansion that had been your home, your refuge for so many formative years just sat smouldering in rubble behind you.
“Where’s my brother!? Where’s Alex!?” Scott’s cry had finally broken the silence as you’d turned yet again.
“Pretty sure I got everyone,” The guy with the silver hair said almost defensively.
And that’s when it first hit you, the building was in complete ruin, but you knew about how many people were there on any given day. The crowd around you, that would be about everyone. But how could they all be outside? All be alive? An explosion that large would have been instantaneous. The building wasn’t just burning, it was leveled.
Scott ran from you all, and your heart felt heavy, knowing surely not everyone could have survived. But you saw Jean and Kurt run with him, helping him, so you again looked back to the stranger.
“You got them out?” You asked incredulously, unsure what that could even mean for this person’s true abilities as you gestured to the survivors standing in equal confusion all around you.
“Of course.” Again that matter of fact tone from him, now almost bordering on smug. But the surprises just continued as he abruptly outstretched one hand to you. “Peter,” he said, grabbing your own hand before you could even react and shaking it awkwardly.
“What?” Was all you could manage, possibly hearing your own brain seize internally at last as you looked down to this stranger’s hand still clasped warmly around your own.
You were done. Really, it was already too much before the unmistakable pulse of helicopter blades broke over the treetops and the downdraft of several of the craft then circling around you began whipping your hair into your eyes.
A woman screamed in warning somewhere behind you. Her voice sounded familar, but you didn’t look back. You just felt Peter’s hand squeeze tighter around yours, why hadn’t you let go?
But you were falling now. No, not metaphorically you hoped, but maybe you would have laughed about that thought if there’d been any more time before your knees hit the ground.
The paramilitary type men now streaming from the helicopters had launched some kind of pulse over the crowd.
Reflexively your mutation flared, your own energy field trying to shield yourself and Peter, but not well enough. Not fast enough as you only succeeded in keeping him conscious just a few moments longer than your peers.
Peter was still holding onto you, the surprise in his eyes quickly fading as they closed.
But your eyes were still open, fear surely in them though as you realized you could not will yourself back to standing. Whatever weapon these men had used was clearly designed to target those of your kind, taking your energy, blocking your powers.
“Her.” “Him.” You heard distantly, but forcefully as the darkness finally began to overtake the edges of your sight. A man was now walking through the fallen mutants with authority, pointing and calling out to who he wanted his men to collect.
And within moments that man’s boots were then inches from you in the soft grass. Your free hand clung to the earth, the other still holding Peter’s hand as if that grip could somehow hold your consciousness to you.
“Resistant to the pulse? Haven’t seen that in a while.” The man commented coldly from above.
You could still just make out his features as he paused, his boot rising up suddenly to kick you solidly in the ribs. It made a sickening sound, a crack as you collapsed the rest of the way down, the air leaving your lungs with the hit.
You buried your face into Peter’s jacket with the pain, stifling whatever pitiful sounds you didn’t want the man to hear. You could smell cheap cologne against the leather then. You tried your best to focus on that scent as you closed your eyes. This wasn’t over. You were going to get out of this. Somehow, some way you were going to help Peter as he had already helped so many of you. You owed him this.
“Take both of these two.” The military man said, then stepping over you both as if he’d done nothing more than vanquish a couple insects that had crossed his path.