Bucky Barnes' Daughter

Chapter Six

"So how much self defense do you know?"  Clint asks me as I finishes stretching in their mat room.

"Depends on what you consider self defense."  I reply trying to keep the question open ended so they could tell me what they wanted me to know.

"Why don't we spar and find out how far you're willing to go and also, I'm interested to see what HYDRA taught you."  Clint and I get into position and I fight the urge to use my powers.  They won't always be there when I need them but I'll be okay in the end.

We spar for several minutes and I quickly learned how to predict what Clint was going to do next.  However, he did manage to get me to the floor but I wouldn't let him stop fighting me at that point.  Finally, Natasha had to call a timeout when she came into the room.

"You can hold your own in a battle now."  She tells me as I lay on the mat for a second.  My stitches ache so they leave me there for a minute.

"Are you alive?"  Clint asks and I nod.  I feel my brother trying to pull me into his head so  I quickly shut him out.  "Kid?"

"It's nothing." I allow him to help me up.  They exchanged worried glances and I fight the urge to tell them what was happening.  But the way Clint looked at me made me break,   I had to tell them the truth even if that compromised my safety here at the Avengers compound.  "My brother is trying to find me."

"And how would he do that?"  Clint asks trying to get me to explain.

"Lev and I are twins.  HYDRA manipulated our genes before we were conceived so we would be the perfect mutants.  Our powers are all opposites of each others.  I control water and he controls fire.  I can heal, he causes harm.  But both of us have a strong telekinetic ability.  I refuse to use my mutations to hurt people and I certainly wouldn't use my telekinesis against an enemy.  Lev, however, uses his powers to track me down.  Because we're twins, we can see into each other's minds and sense when the other person is there."

"So, he's trying to use your bond to find out your location."  Natasha says matter of factly.  I nod sadly.  "Kid you should have warned us sooner.  We would have been able to help."

"How?"  I demand.  "I've tried everything but our bond is too strong.  The only way to sever our connection is for one of us to die.  I can't kill him."  There were so many things I was willing to do but kill my brother was not one of them.

"We might know a mutant who could keep a wall between your brother and your powers."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Logan this is Serenity."  Nat introduces me to the large man.  He puts out a cigar on his hand before acknowledging me.  "Be nice to her."  Nat scolds the mutant before leaving me with him.  The man gets in the beat up truck.

"Are you coming or not kid?"  He asks and I quickly follow.  "So you're what thirteen?"  I nod as he starts to drive away from the compound.  "When did your powers manifest?"

"I was five.  They wouldn't leave me alone until they manifested."  I remembered very clearly the torture that they put me through once my brother's powers manifested.  They thought I wouldn't be far behind but a year passed and nothing.  So they decided to use harsher methods to get my powers to come out.

"You've had a rough life?"  He seemed to understand what had happened without me having to spell it out.

"I guess.  Things should get better eventually."  I reply hopefully.  "So this Xavier guy, he's a telepath like me?"  Logan tries to tell me eveything that he knew about Xavier and the rest of the X-men.  I was looking forward to meeting everybody and he seemed to be enjoying the time we spent together.

When we arrived at the school, however, I started to feel nervous.  Would they really understand that I didn't want to hurt anybody and since Xavier and another x-men are both telepaths, they would be able to see into my mind.  There were secrets I would rather leave buried but I'm guessing I won't be afforded that opportunity.

Xavier met us at the entrance to the mansion.  He looked extremely kind and I studied him trying to figure out what he wanted from me.

"Welcome Serenity."  Xavier smiles kindly at me.  I return the smile but I still wasn't at ease here. A woman with white hair appears and I deduct from Logan's descriptions that this was Storm.  "Why don't you come inside so we can talk?"

He leads me on a tour of the grounds before finally taking me below the school.  The hallway was bright and I started to feel self conscious as I saw my reflection in the metal.  I was small for my age and I wasn't that pretty.  My hair was a darker color almost like dark chocolate but a shade darker and my eyes were a dull green color.  The scars dotting much of my body told a story I wished no one would ask about.

"You must be Serenity."  I read the woman's mind.  Jean seemed to be genuine enough and I shake her outstretched hand.  "We can get started if you like professor."  She leads me into what I presumed to be the lab.