Erik Lehnsherr had one thing on his mind as he rose out of the freezing water that surrounded him. Find Shaw. Kill Shaw. It had been his one purpose in life for the past twenty years. Revenge boiled through his veins, pushing him on, sometimes he thought it was all that was keeping him alive. He silently pulled himself onto Shaw's boat, ready to destroy anything that got in his way. He crept down the side of the boat, taking a long blade out that had concealed in his boot. He ducked underneath a nearby window when he heard something move inside, as a strange muffled sound could be heard. He frowned when he realised it sounded like a person. A girl, to be more specific. A girl screaming. Before he knew what he was doing, he had used his powers to unlock a large door beside him, and cautiously entered. The room was completely pitch black, but he could sense there was someone in there with him. He felt against the wall, and quickly found a light switch, as it lit up the room. He soon wished he hadn't. There was a young girl strapped to a metal chair, a strange medical device attached to his arm, as he realised it was taking her blood. She was deathly pale, a stark contrast to her dark brown hair that flowed well past her shoulders. He leant down to place his knife back into his boot, expecting the unconscious girl to be no threat, he wasn't even sure if she was alive. Erik slowly took a step forward, having been caught off guard by the situation he now found himself in. There were medical instruments dotted around the room, laying above blood-splattered documents. Just as he reached down to pick the papers, the girl's head suddenly shot up, her blue eyes instantly connecting with his own.

"Help me…" She trailed off, seeming barely conscious.

He didn't have time for this. He had a job to do. This was getting in the way. The girl's sad eyes practically blazed in anger as she watched him take a step back. She couldn't believe he was considering leaving her. She pulled furiously against her metal constraints, as they cut against her skin. She was a fighter that was clear to see. An image of a younger version of himself flashed before Erik's eyes, as he remembered being in a similar position. What he would have given for someone to have swept in and saved him. Erik raised his arm sharply, as the metal bindings fell away from the girl's wrist. She stared up at him in shock, as Erik expected to see fear, maybe even some disgust. He didn't expect the dazzling smile that spread across her face.

"You're like me?" She questioned, pulling out the IV that was attached to her arm.

Erik's frown deepened at her comment, as he slowly began to realise why the scene in front of him seemed so familiar. It seemed Shaw had found a new mutant to experiment on.

"I…I thought I was alone" Erik exclaimed, as the girl's eyes softened.

"So did I" She admitted, as she strained to push up from the metal chair.

"Can you walk?" Erik asked, coming to stand in front of her, placing a hand on her shoulder to help her balance.

"Yeah, I got this" She nodded, taking a step forward.

Her legs instantly gave out from under her, as Erik leaned down to catch her, his arms wrapping around her waist. She clutched onto his arms as he slowly pulled her back up into a standing position, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Okay, I don't got this" She mumbled, as Erik now noted her English accent.

Erik quickly pulled her arm over his shoulder, as she leaned on him for support. They stumbled towards the door, as Erik remembered the whole reason he was on the boat. It was amazing to meet another mutant, but he couldn't let the discovery distract him. He needed to get her off the boat and get back to his mission.

"What's your power?" Erik couldn't help but ask, as he used his powers to slide open the door to the outside of the boat.

He flinched when he came face to face with one of Shaw's bodyguards, who's hand instantly went to the handle of his gun. Erik was already breaking the gun apart with his mind, when the girl's hand suddenly shot out, grabbing the guard by his neck. Erik watched in awe as the man instantly stilled in his movements, his arms going slack at his side. His skin seemed to morph into a grey colour, as he let out a blood-curdling scream. Erik's eyes widened as he watched the guard's skin begin to flake away, as he continued crying in agony. The next second the man seemed to begin disintegrating in front of them, as the girl shoved him towards the ship's rails. The guard broke down into nothing more than dust the moment he touched the hard surface, having been all but completely vaporised into a cloud of black smoke.

"Does that answer your question?" The girl panted, using her powers had clearly weakened her even more.

"I think it will suffice" Erik replied, his lips twitching into a smirk.

As he dragged the girl to the lifeboat he had seen at the back of the ship, his mind all but burst to life with ideas. The girl was incredibly powerful. She could with as little as one-touch, no wonder Shaw wanted her.

"Thank you" The girl exclaimed, as Erik gave a curt nod, not sure how else to respond.

They soon came to the lifeboat, as she leaned against the rail for support, once again looking like she was close to passing out. Erik bent the metal railing beside her so that she didn't have to crawl over to the top and could simply step down instead. Once she was safely inside the small raft, Erik began to lower her down towards the sea using his powers on the winch beside him. He was surprised when the girl suddenly reached out to grab his hand.

"You're not coming?" She asked, her skin so cold it almost felt like ice against his warmer palm.

"I need to find Shaw" Erik responded, as the girl seemed to understand what that meant.

"What's your name?" The girl queried, as Erik mulled over whether he should tell her his real name.

"Erik. Erik Lehnsherr" He replied, looking down into the girl's deep blue eyes.

"I meant what I said…thank you, Erik" The girl insisted, squeezing his hand lightly.

He could tell the girl was being genuine, he had saved her life. He had done something good. And now he was being thanked. How was he supposed to respond to that?

"You never told me your name" Erik pointed out, as he began to winch her down towards the sea.

"Kira" She informed him, her voice growing further away as the boat hit the sea's surface.

She almost fell out of the lifeboat as it lurched forward at the impact. When she looked back up at the boat, she could see Erik was gone, causing her to wonder if any of it had been real. Sometimes she had vivid dreams of escaping, maybe this was just another one of those disappointments. A dream or not, she was still going to do everything in her power to get away from Shaw. Grabbing a nearby paddle, she began to steer herself away from her makeshift prison. Kira hadn't got very far when she heard a large bang from the front of the boat and was just in time to see someone falling into the sea. From the dark clothes the figure had been wearing, she knew it had to be Erik. It wouldn't be long until Shaw realised she had escaped. Going back for the older man could be the difference between her escaping or being recaptured. But he had saved her life…

"Dammit" She muttered, quickly paddling towards the disrupted water where he had fallen.

The water was far too dark for her to be able to see anything, as she instead opted for leaning down and sifting her hands through the water, hoping to find him near the surface. She hoped she wasn't too late.

"Erik? Erik!" She called out in a hushed voice, trying and probably failing to not bring attention to herself.

Kira jumped when the lifeboat suddenly tipped to the side, and she saw Erik gripping onto the edge, panting heavily. She turned to hold her hand out to him, which he gratefully took. Erik felt the bullet whizzing through the air, rather than seeing it. He had expected the bullet to be aimed at him, and flung it away from him, using his powers over metal. He only realised his mistake at the last second. The bullet was meant for Kira. Instead of saving himself, he had only helped Shaw get a better shot at the younger girl. She cried out in pain as the bullet hit her in the side, dropping her hand from his own. Kira fell onto her back, as Erik looked up at Shaw, who had a smug expression on his face. Erik let out an angry yell, as he placed his hand back into the water and felt for the large metal anchor below the boat. Kira was clutching at her now heavily bleeding abdomen, her eyes beginning to flutter shut as she saw the anchor whizzing over their heads. She turned to see how the ship was practically pulled apart by the powerful metal chain, cutting through the vessel as if it was paper. Her eyes slowly fluttered shut as she slipped out of consciousness, feeling a warm hand touching her cheek lightly before everything faded away.

Pain. That was the first thing she felt. It always was when she woke up. But instead of the cold metal chair she was used to, there were no restraints around her wrist. Kira bolted upright, her eyes shooting open as she looked around her surroundings. She was in a soft bed in a room she had never seen before. When had she brought off the lifeboat? Had Shaw recaptured her already?

"Are you alright?" A voice questioned from beside her.

A man was leaning over her, his hair black, his blue eyes shining with kindness. Kira knew better than to trust a stranger. She jumped as the man reached out to touch her arm, as she shoved him away from her roughly. Kira tried to back away from the man, but she had nowhere to run, her back hitting the wall behind her. She tried to feel for her power but could tell she didn't have enough strength even stand up from the bed, let alone hurt the man. She began to panic as he reached out for her again, her breathing quickening.

"I'm not going to hurt you. You're safe" The man insisted, his English accent thick as he spoke.

"S-stay away from me!" Kira yelled, her eyes flickering around the room manically, trying to find a way out.

She spotted a syringe on a table not far away, as fear flashed over her face. The man in front of her seemed to notice this and placed his finger against his temple.

Calm your mind. You don't need to be afraid.

Kira's eyes widened as she heard the voice echo through her mind, feeling a strange pressure encompass her head. She could feel an odd peacefulness creep into her, the tension leaving her body. How was he doing that?

I'm like you. I can help if you-

The man never had time to finish the sentence, as Kira kicked out, hitting him in the chest as he stumbled backwards. She was on her feet in an instant, the adrenaline pumping through her veins being the only thing to keep her upright. She staggered towards the open door on the other side of the room, hoping that she could lock the man in the room before he could catch her. However, just as she reached the doorway, a familiar face walked through, as concern flashed across his face, if only for a second.

"Making friends, Charles?" Erik inquired, seeing the man lifting himself up from the floor.

"What…what's going on?" Kira asked, beginning to feel dizzy, as she reached out to hold onto the doorway.

"You're trying to escape from the wrong people" Erik stated, watching as she swayed.

"I thought he had…I thought I was back on Shaw's ship…" Kira trailed off.

"You are far away from Shaw. He can't hurt you anymore" The man, who Kira presumed was named Charles, informed her, pushing himself to his feet.

"Are you sure about that?" Kira grimaced, as she looked down at her abdomen to see blood seeping through her shirt.

The bullet seemed to have exited cleanly through her body and from its position it would have hit nothing major. She had been lucky. In fact, she was almost embarrassed she had passed out from such a small wound.

"You've ripped your stitches" Charles sighed, as Kira lifted her shirt up to reveal the bloody bandage underneath.

"Yep, I can feel that" Kira mumbled, as she stumbled back towards the bed, flopping down onto the soft sheets with a moan.

"I'll go get someone to stitch you up" Charles announced, as he walked past Erik.

"You're a telepath?" Kira guessed, stopping Charles in his tracks.

"Yes. My name is Charles Xavier. I believe you and I will be able to help each other a great deal" He informed her, as Kira seemed to mull this over for a moment.

"Well, a little bit of advice, Charles. You go into my mind again…I'll kill you" Kira replied, as she watched Erik's lips twitch into a smirk.

"Duly noted" Charles nodded, not sure if she was being serious or not.

"How did I get here?...Wherever here is?" Kira inquired, looking up at Erik.

"You're on a CIA vessel. They were looking for Shaw too. We crossed paths" Erik explained.

"That guy is CIA?" Kira frowned, as the man didn't fit the stereotype of CIA agent she imagined.

"No. From what he tells me he's an advisor of sorts" Erik went on, sitting down on a nearby chair.

"So, are we prisoners?" Kira couldn't help but ask.

"I don't believe so…not yet at least" Erik muttered, darkly.

"Did Shaw get away?" Kira questioned, her heart dropping into her stomach when Erik nodded.

She ran a hand through her hair as she tried to collect her thoughts. She was free but for how long? Shaw wouldn't let her get very far. She still wasn't sure if the events of the night had all been a dream.

"Why did he try to kill you?" Erik inquired, as her eyes snapped up to his.

"If he can't have me then he doesn't think anyone else should have" Kira mumbled, fidgeting with her hands nervously.

"…What made you change your mind? You were going to leave me there" Kira pointed out, noticing how uncomfortable Erik looked at the statement.

"I didn't realise you were a mutant. I wouldn't have even considered leaving you if I had known" Erik explained, but Kira still wasn't satisfied.

"But that's not what you changed your mind" Kira insisted, as Erik's jaw twitched.

"You and I…we have more in common than simply being mutants" Erik answered, choosing his words very carefully.

"Shaw experimented on you too?" Kira realised, her eyes wide.

"When I was a child" Erik nodded, as Kira grimaced, hating the thought of someone else having to go through what she did.

"I'm sorry…I'm sorry you lost your chance to get Shaw," Kira told him, a great deal of understanding in her eyes.

"He won't evade me for long. I'll make sure of that" Erik replied, his accent thick as Kira tried to place its origin.

"I want to help" Kira announced, determination in her voice.

"I don't need anybody's help" Erik retorted, standing up from the chair, ready to walk out of the room.

"I never said you did. But you're not the only person Shaw hurt. I…I need to stop him. I need to see him dead" Kira explained

"Heal up first. Then we can discuss any arrangements" Erik told her, as he walked out of the room.

"I'm offering to team up with you, Erik, not for your hand in marriage!" Kira called after him, with a smirk.

She missed the amusement on Erik's face as he walked down the corridor, losing the tense lines that always seemed to mar his face. Maybe a partner in crime was just what he needed. But it could just as easily be a distraction, Erik thought to himself.

After a night of restless sleep, Kira was introduced to two agents, a middle-aged man who didn't seem to want to give his name, and a woman called Moira. She was pretty. Something which Charles certainly seemed to notice. Erik couldn't keep the disgust off his face as Charles followed Moira off the ship like a love-sick puppy. The next introduction she received was from Charles adopted sister, Raven, a bubbly blonde wearing a dress that left little to the imagination. Combined with her blonde hair and stunning smile, Kira couldn't help but stare.

"I knew Charles couldn't actually be related to someone as drop-dead gorgeous as you" Kira announced, in a flirty tone, as Raven blushed deeply.

"She seems to know how to make friends" Erik stated, in a hushed voice to an irritated Charles.

"Well thank you but…this isn't exactly my true appearance" Raven admitted, looking apprehensive.

"You're like us too?" Kira gaped, unable to believe how many mutants she had met in one day.

"You can change what you look like?" Erik tried to clarify, as he came to stand beside Kira.

Raven nodded, turning to look at Charles for a moment, who seemed to give her his seal of approval. The next second her whole appearance morphed into something completely different. Her skin was a deep blue colour, her eyes a bright yellow and her hair slicked back and red. It was incredible. Kira had never seen anything like it.

"Holy shit…" Kira trailed off, in awe as she looked at Raven up and down.

"Amazing" Erik agreed, his expression similar to Kira's.

"You don't think I look…wrong? Ugly?" Raven suggested, obviously having the thoughts herself.

"Like I said. Drop-dead gorgeous" Kira grinned, her flirtatious tone back.

"Well, I think that's enough of that. Moira…I believe you wanted to take us to see someone" Charles announced, getting in between Kira and his sister.

"Hank. He's one of our scientists. A very impressive one at that" Moira nodded, as Charles placed his arm around Raven's shoulder and pulled her towards Moira's car.

"Oh, how are we all going to fit in the car?" Raven realised as she looked at the rest of the group.

"This base, do you have the co-ordinates for it?" Kira questioned, as Moira gave her a look.

"I think so…why?" Moira frowned, watching a mischievous grin grow on Kira's face.

"I think it's time I showed you the other part of my powers," Kira told them, catching Erik's attention.

Moira leaned down to rifle through some papers in the front seat of her car before pulling out a map and drawing an X where the base was. She handed it to Kira, confusion etched on her face as she watched Kira try to memorise the location.

"I'll see you on the other side" Kira announced, as she suddenly began to fade away.

The map dropped to the ground along with the jaws of everyone who had been watching her. After a few seconds, she seemed to completely disappear into a puff of black smoke, which soon disintegrated into the air. It was as if she was never even there. Erik quickly closed his mouth as he shared an impressed look with Charles. There was certainly a lot more to the girl than it seemed.

"Ta-da!" Kira grinned, walking over to the group as they entered the CIA building.

"You were able to teleport into the building itself?" Charles gaped, amazed that she seemed to be able to travel in seconds to a location that took them hours.

"Well…about a mile down the road…I'm still injured so my aim's off…" Kira trailed off.

"Injured or not, it's an exceptional ability" Erik stated, as Kira's lips twitched into a smile.

"We shouldn't keep Hank waiting any longer. He gets a bit twitchy" The nameless agent suggested, ushering them along, as Kira rushed up to talk to Charles.

"Charles, I uh…I wanted to apologise for kicking you yesterday…and threatening to kill you. I can get a little carried away sometimes" Kira told him, as Charles nodded.

"I accept your apology…are you going to also apologise for flirting with my sister?" Charles queried, as Kira seemed to think about his comment for a moment.

"Nope. Definitely not" Kira smirked, patting him roughly on the back.

She turned around as she heard Erik chuckling lightly, feeling proud that she was able to make the usually so serious man amused. Once Erik saw her looking his way, the smile quickly dropped from his face. He wasn't there to make friends. He had a mission. The only reason he had agreed to go to the CIA base was the hope of finding out more on Shaw. Once he had that he'd be on his way once again.

As the group slowly made their way up the first flight of stairs, Kira grimaced in pain due to the stabbing pain in her abdomen, that was only getting worse. She gripped onto the handrail tightly as she pushed herself up to the landing but knew that she couldn't keep going.

"I'll catch up with you guys. Just gonna' freshen up" Kira called up to the other mutants, who were already on the next set of stairs.

"Sixth floor. Don't take too long" Moira replied, as Kira pushed the first-floor doors open to exit the stairwell.

She found the ladies toilet quickly and stumbled towards the basins, leaning on the hard marble surface for support. She cautiously pulled up her shirt to see blood beginning to seep through her new bandages. She must have ripped open the stitches when she teleported, and now she was paying for it. She grabbed a few paper towels and tried to dry off the red substance before it could leak onto her shirt. Throwing the used towels in the bin, she leant down to splash some cold water in her face. She hated appearing weak. If the rest of her group realised how badly she was still injured they would want her to stay behind, get proper treatment. That couldn't happen. She needed to stay with them and the CIA. She wasn't stupid enough to think she could go after Shaw herself in her weakened state. With a sigh, she paced over to the door and ripped it open, almost colliding yet again with her new mutant ally.

"Why're you skulking outside the ladies toilets?" Kira questioned, raising a defined eyebrow at Erik.

"I was waiting for you" Erik pointed out.

"I think I can make it up five flights of stairs myself" Kira scoffed, as Erik stepped out of her way, allowing her to walk past him.

"This is a dangerous place," Erik told her; his voice hushed as two agents walked past them.

She saw how they looked at her. Like she was a freak, like she didn't belong. Her eyes dropped down as she saw how one of the agent's hands flexed near his gun, causing her eyes to widen. Were people that afraid of them?

"I didn't realise you cared so much, Erik" Kira teased, as the older man pushed the staircase doors open.

"Mutants need to protect each other. Besides...your a valuable player in this war" Erik answered, holding the door open for her.

"War against who?" Kira frowned, getting the feeling he wasn't talking about Shaw.

"You'll see" Erik mumbled, as he began ascended the flight of stairs.

Kira's frown deepened as she followed him, mulling over his words. Did he mean the humans? She just wanted to kill Shaw, not heed the call to war. Surely it wouldn't come to that? Erik seemed so certain that the humans would betray them, but why? She could see the pain in his eyes sometimes when he glanced at her, the silent fury behind them. He was dangerous, that was clear to see. But maybe that was exactly what she needed to kill Shaw.

Author's Notes: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I've re-entered my X-Men obsession, and thus this story was born, haha. I'm not sure if people will like this fanfic, as I know there are lots of OC stories out there for these movies, but please give it a try! What do you think of Kira? Please leave a review if you want me to continue:)