Ruse •X-men•

Prologue 1.0

A week had gone by. A whole week and all Dannielle did was sit and watch Charles train the others how to control their 'gifts'. She had been given multiple books to read as Charles refused to train her, always telling her that he would once Shaw was no longer a part of the equation. The book she had been given were all short and simple, easy to read quickly and boring. So to pass the time she found herself sitting out in the large field next to the lake. Most of her time was spent staring up at the clouds or watching as the others learned to use their abilities from a distance. Her plan for that day was no different, not until she'd made it down to her usual spot.

With a sigh, she plopped down onto the ground next to a tuff of grass and dirt she'd managed to kick out of the ground the previous day. It didn't take long for her eyes to travel to the dirt and the longer she starred at it, the more she found herself wanting it back in the ground with no trace that it had kicked up. Slowly, bits of dirt seemed to roll back to the small hole it came from, one chunk after another until the grass once again covered it, leaving no trace behind.

In an instant Dannielle scrambled to her feet. Had she done that? She didn't even feel herself do it. At her young age it took a lot of concentration to do anything purposely with her powers, her trick in front of the group back at the department was the most she'd ever managed doing yet what she'd just did felt as though she'd only imagined it.

Dannielle looked up from the grass and over to a tree which looked almost dead. With her small legs, she ran over to it and placed her hands on the trunk. This time she felt a force of energy surge through her and as she looked up from her hands, green leaves began sprouting from the branches as the trunk grew taller and taller until she finally let go and took a step back. She laughed in excitement and jumped up and down. This was amazing to her, it was new and exciting, something she was never able to control completely.

When she stopped jumping her eyes moved to the pond and she fell silent. Out of all the things she imagined she could do, one thing stuck in her head. And as she slowly began to walk over to the pond, the heavy screeching of metal interrupted her concentration, causing her to look up at the large panel before turning back to the mansion and seeing Erik and Charles.

Something behind them caught their attention, causing both to rush back into the mansion. Dannielle sighed. Even though Charles and Erik found her because she was like them, she was useless to them. Too young and innocent were words she'd occasionally if not always hear describe her and she knew both were true, but she couldn't help but feel like she was just extra weight they now had to carry.

-----

Dannielle couldn't sleep that night. It was just past ten when a pair of feet could be heard making their way down the hall along with voices.

"We can't take her with us Erik! She's already been through so much!"

"What are we going to do Charles, Leave a six year old child alone here? Unless you have a better suggestion I don't see any other way."

"What if she gets hurt?"

"She won't, Charles. She's stronger than you think. Much stronger than any of us initially thought."

The voices began to fade the further they travelled down the hall before her room fell into complete silence again. Confused wouldn't even begin to explain how she felt. Only two weeks ago she was locked in a bedroom because her parents deemed her too weird to be let out and now here she was, walking around freely in a huge mansion with acres of land. Before long her vision started to go black as sleep took its grasp, engulfing her and pulling her deeper and deeper until she was no longer conscience.