4Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men.
So, here's my first fanfic for X-men. Hope you guys will like it. Do tell me what's on your mind; comments or suggestions are welcome.
READ AND REVIEW PLEASE! :)
CHAPTER ONE – PEOPLE LIKE US
Veronica Dalton sat quietly on the sofa in the living room of the apartment she shared with her sister. The young girl just came home from school and was still wearing her uniform when she decided to surprise her sister by cooking their dinner. She walked to their small kitchen, took out some potatoes and started peeling them with a knife.
After she finished peeling then baking the potatoes, she proceeded onto cooking the chicken and chopping the vegetables. Half an hour later, Veronica was done cooking and was moving on to setting the glass table when she noticed a small white card placed on the middle of it.
She grabbed the card, sighed, and took a seat.
'Veronica, I won't be home tonight. I have a lot of things to settle at work. I hope you understand. Take care and study well. Love, Vivienne.' The note read.
"Figures." Veronica grumbled to herself. She looked up and stared at one of the walls in the living room. It was filled with a dozen or so certificates and medals, mostly belonging to her sister.
Vivienne Dalton was the over-achiever in the family. She earned her PhD in Psychology when she was only 23, having skipped middle school when she was younger. Everyone who knew Vivienne admired her intelligence and independence. But Vivienne, though famed for being a prodigy, never let it go to her head. Veronica admired her sister more because of that.
"You know, dear sister, taking a break won't kill you." Veronica said, shifting her gaze to the old family picture that hung at the center.
Knocks suddenly sounded through the main door, startling Veronica and making her drop her sister's note. She crawled under the table and reached for the piece of paper, the knocks came again, a bit harder than before. She abruptly stood upright; her head narrowly missing the edge of the glass table. She started for the door, tucking stray strands of her black hair behind her ears.
Veronica took a look through the peephole and saw two men standing outside her door. One was wearing a light grey tweed jacket over a baby blue button-down shirt. The man had bright blue eyes and chestnut hair that was unequally parted and a bit messy.
The other man was slightly taller than the first with pale blue eyes that bordered to grey and dark brown hair that was sleeked back to his head. He was wearing a brown leather jacket over a black turtleneck.
"Who are you looking for?" She asked; her hand was on the knob, turning it halfway.
"Actually, Veronica, we are looking for you." One of them said; his voice was heavily accented. Veronica stopped dead, she slowly removed her hands from the knob, locking it and attaching the safety chain on the door. She looked through the peephole again, surprised that they knew she was the one answering the door.
The man who had bright blue eyes was looking directly at her, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration as two of his fingers were pressed lightly to his temple.
'Veronica, dear, we mean you no harm. We just want to talk. If you could please open the door, darling." A voice said in her head, it had the same accent as one of the men who answered her earlier. She shook her head disbelievingly as she started to unlock the door, leaving the door chain intact.
"I'm sorry." She said, peeking through the narrow crack. "I'm not allowed to let you in." Veronica was closing the door when a foot suddenly appeared in between the opening, stopping her from doing so.
"Erik." The bright eyed man said. The other man, Erik, ignored his friend and continued to lift his right hand.
The metal chain started to move, slowly unlatching itself. The young girl started to back away, trembling in fear. The door swung open; Veronica stood silently still as the men walked inside. They looked around the living room, confusion showing in their eyes.
"Where is she, Charles?" Erik asked his companion, who was pressing his fingers to his temple, again. The bright eyed man, Charles, smiled knowingly at Erik.
"Well, my friend, I think she is invisible." Charles said, smiling indirectly at where Veronica was standing.
"Can you still get into her mind?" Erik asked, stepping back to the doorway, blocking Veronica's exit.
"Unfortunately, no. I can barely hear her thoughts. But I can sense her blocking me out." Charles took a tentative step towards Veronica's general direction. "We just want to talk. We know who you are, Veronica. We are the same. We have talents just like you and we're willing to help you with yours, if you can only show yourself."
Veronica was hesitant. She thought of Charles as a kind and honest man, someone she could trust. But Erik was quite the opposite. He was making her nervous. She closed her eyes and sighed, making her decision and showing herself.
Charles was chuckling in amusement while Erik blinked rapidly, surprised to see the young girl appear out of thin air.
"Who are you, really?" Veronica asked, stuttering.
"I'm Charles Xavier and this is Erik Lehnsherr." Charles offered his hand and Veronica shook it once. "May we sit down?" He asked, pointing to the red sofa.
"Of course." She nodded, taking the seat opposite Charles. Erik stepped back inside, looking at her dubiously as he sat at the other end of the sofa where Charles was sitting.
"Erik, you forgot to close the door." Charles jokingly reprimanded Erik. Erik lifted his right hand and waved it lazily. The door slowly and silently closed itself. Veronica sat staring open mouthed in awe at her two guests.
Charles cleared his throat, gaining their attention. "Veronica, I don't have to read your mind to know that you are wondering about who we are, and what we are. Well, there is a mutation in our genes that enables us to do things and become things that rather defies the laws of nature, as we know it. This kind of mutation is very rare, but still viable. There are actually thousands of people out there that are like us, Veronica. Mutants. Different gene mutation, different special abilities. I am a telepath, while Erik, here, can manipulate metal objects, and you can turn invisible. Some may have powers, for lack of a better word, that are very similar to ours but not everyone is exactly the same. Some may also posses more than one ability. All of these are possible because of these mutated genes."
"Wait. You're telling me that my invisibility is a side effect of an abnormal DNA structure?" Veronica cleared. Charles nodded and was about to continue his lecture when Erik suddenly grunted.
"Excuse me, Erik. But what, may I ask, are you doing with that?" Charles sounded annoyed for having been interrupted so rudely.
"I'm sorry for disturbing you, Charles. But I have heard your lecture for almost half a dozen times, and I'm very much tired of it." Erik continued to levitate two ornately designed frames, ignoring the exasperated sigh of Charles and Veronica's surprised gasp.
"Please be careful with that." Veronica said in a timid voice.
Erik kept on ignoring them. Charles finally had enough of his companion's rude behaviour.
"Now, give me that." He said as he reached for the frame and snatched it from Erik. He noticed the gold seal and elaborate writing. "Your mother has a PhD in Psychology?" He asked.
"No. That's my sister." Answered Veronica.
Charles put his fingers to his temple and stared at Veronica. "She's like us." He muttered.
"Your sister is also a mutant?" Erik asked Veronica. She nodded silently.
"Veronica, dear, can you take us to her? We really want to meet her." Charles politely asked, though the smile on his face was strained.
"I guess so, but she's working. Vivienne doesn't like to be interrupted, unless, of course, it is very important."
"World War III, does that count as important?" Erik asked in an unkind tone as he stood on his feet. Charles was still staring at Veronica, confusion evident on his face.
"Are you alright, Mr. Xavier?" Veronica asked worriedly.
"Oh, yes." He said snapping back to reality. "Shall we go?"
The pair followed Erik out of the apartment and into a black Cadillac. Veronica gave Erik the directions to her sister's office as she buckled herself in the backseat. The car quietly drove away as the three mutants settled in a comfortable silence.
"Charles." Erik called. Charles looked curiously at his friend who tapped his finger to his head. Charles immediately got the idea and followed his friend's example.
'What's on your mind, Erik?' Charles questioned.
'I was just thinking why is she going with us without as much questions as the others?'
'She's actually panicking right now, Erik. Not because she is in the car with complete strangers, but because she is worried about how her sister would react after knowing what happened.'
'You are saying that her sister is more dangerous than the two of us combined?' Erik asked incredulously.
'I don't know, my friend.'
'What do you mean?'
'I actually don't know.' Charles repeated. 'Veronica's thoughts and memories kept on blacking out all of a sudden. I assume it has something to do with her sister's mutation.' Charles tiredly rubbed his eyes with his other hand.
"Well, there is one way to find out for sure." Erik said aloud as he parked the car in front of a two-storey brick building.