The Innocent Will Never Last

Fleur sat on her bed in her dorm, tear stained face and all. Angrily, she punched a teal pillow on her lap. This couldn't be right. Xavier must be losing it, that's all. When she'd opened the file, on that pearly clean paper, there was a whole page briefing her on a mission. One sentence had caught her eye. In jet black ink it said, accompanied by Logan( wolverine).

Closing her eyes, Fleur remembered the conversation perfectly. How could she not? It was the worst conversation of her life!

Two hours before

" If you'll just let me explain!", Xavier had yelled, a new thing for him.

" No! I will not go on a mission with that child!", Logan had snapped. For once Fleur had agreed with him. That detail didn't stop the rage from pooling in her eyes. She was NOT a child.

" I'm sorry professor, I really am. But I refuse to work with,with t-that thing!", she'd shouted.

" I'm a thing?",Logan snarled," At least it isn't my fault Magneto killed Scarlett!"

At that momment, time had seemed to move slower. Fleur blinked rapidly, waiting for Logan to try to take back his words. Her eyes filled with tears. Xavier looked appealled, his mouth opening and closing as if he were a fish. Logan seemed startled but didn't apologize or seem hurt or anything.

" Y-you...", Fleur's voice broke on the last word. This was way too far.

Her hands glowed a radient silver which threatened to blind Logan. The jade in her doe eyes had been erased and in its place was a light shade of steel. Xavier gasped and tried to speak to Fleur. She only caught fragments of his words. Stop...Kill...Level...New...Logan.

" Kill", Fleur whispered gently into the air. Her hands hummed as if under their own power.

Xavier taught the mutants control of their powers. They were the masters of their powers, not the other way around. If a mutant's power dominated them, it could kill them, or worse set off an apocolypse. At the momment, Fleur was evolving, her powers were, and she had absolutly no control over them.

Logan stood in front of Xavier, ready to defend the very man who'd saved him many years ago. Then, Fleur let go of her powers. An energy wave rippled through the room, buring everything in its path. That is except Logan and Xavier. Fleur's eyes glowed a faint green before returning to that cold silver.

While shielding Xavier, Logan inched his way to a metallic safe.In it was a new invention constructed by Forge. Perhaps it would stop Fleur's burst of power in time, before Xavier was killed.

" What was the stupid combination?!", Logan shouted,"5...14...29!"

Quickly, Logan spun the dial to the correct numbers. The safe popped open with a bang. A few minutes later, it was blown off by the force of the energy wave. Inside, protected from the destructive energy by a titanium shell, was a deactivating collar. It would shut off Fleur's powers until she was back in control.

The problem was: How could Logan get the collar on Fleur without suffering serious damage? Sure, he'd heal but how long would that take? Inspiration flashed in Logan's eyes. What if he threw it at her neck? The collar would latch itself on.

" Thank you Forge", Logan smiled grimly. Xavier had blacked out from the impact of the energy on his mind.

In a fluid motion, Logan threw the deactivating collar at Fleur's neck. Seconds before it hit her neck, it became wider with a hook at the ends. Just as Logan had predicted, it latched on securely. Fortunately, it missed her jungular by inches.

Then, Fleur froze. Her whole body went rigged, her eyes bulging. As if somebody had dropped green food coloring into her eyes, they returned to their usual color. The silver melted back into her hands. The smell of burned plastic and metal filled the air.

Suddenly, Fleur's body crumpled onto the floor. Her beautiful red hair fell over her face. The cherry wood door flew open, in poured a large group of mutants. At the front of the group was Jean and Kurt. Both ran to Fleur, desperetely looking from Fleur's unconcious face to Logan's impassive one.

" What the hell happened here?!,"Kurt shook Fleur," Fleur!"

" Miss DiMarc lost control,"Logan addressed a shell shocked Kurt," I'll be seeing to Xavier."

" You!", Fleur's voice was surprisingly strong for a girl who'd just used up 89% of the energy in her body. She felt angry, upset and...scared. She, Fleur DiMarc, had almost killed Xavier! Clumsily, Fleur stood up and ran from the room. Fresh tears flowed down her porcilan cheeks.

Now, Fleur curled up in a fetal position on her teal and white bed. Her tears stained the sheets, not that she cared. How could she have almost killed Xavier? He was like her father, he was all their fathers. And, that thing about Scarlett?

Was it really her fault?

Fleur's eyes closed shut, ready to take her away from this nightmarish day.