A/N: I missed you guys.


Ow.

Owwwww.

I had forgotten what the aftermath of a heavy workout was like...until I woke up the following morning.

"My everything hurts..." I mumbled, my head still underneath my pillow. I peeked out from my dark and comfortable solace, not sure if it was even light out yet. Sure enough, my eyes were blasted with the bright shock of the morning sun, and I squeaked as I hid my face again. Don't get me wrong, I love great weather...but I definitely need to make a mental note to order some curtains or something.

What day was it, anyway? I had a week to decide when to go see my Mother. I hadn't had time to really think about it yesterday, but once I sat up and threw my slippers on to head downstairs for breakfast, it felt like a giant weight on my shoulders. As if they weren't hurting enough already.

Everyone was already at their usual spots at the table. Kitty was the first to notice my arrival, and waved a bottle of advil at me as a greeting.

Ohhhh yes.

"I figured you'd need this." She grinned. "You get used to it, don't worry."

I nodded at her and asked for two. I tossed my hoodie down onto my chair between her and Marie, and went to the cupboards. I craved cereal this morning...OH SHI- Corn Pops! Why I think I just might. One of the best things about attending the same school as younger kids is the fact that we can eat like we're 10 and not give a damn. Healthy balanced breakfast? Pfft. Corn pops, hell yeah. I was actually suprised at how happy was to find my favourite cereal in the cupboard after waking up to brightness and pain and all those fun things. So happy, that when I sat down at the table, everyone was staring at me.

Do I have something on my face? "What." I looked around at them.

"You have a stupid grin on your face. You get laid or something?" John chewed on his bacon as he drawled at me.

Stupid grin? Your face is stupid. "You wish." Yeah, get him...wait, does that even work? I'm too tired for this.

His eye roll gave me satisfaction. I went back to my Corn Pops.

"So hey," Bobby spoke up a few minutes later. "It's Tuesday, which means cheap movie night at the mall, which means we get to get outta here for the night. You in?"

HELL YES I'M IN! "Yeah, sure." I don't even remember what movies are playing anymore. I remembered just then I somehow managed to function without my laptop this whole time...wow. "Is anything good playing?"

"Who cares?" Marie chimed in excitedly. "We pick a movie and get dropped off, but we just skip it and do whatever until we get picked up."

I nodded. I liked this idea. I had never been into town before. Where was town, anyway? This entire area was unfamiliar to me, as we were never allowed to leave the grounds, and I wasn't exactly paying attention on my way here, due to the freaking out and everything. We made plans to meet at 7 at the main doors. We were going to see Inception. Easy enough. Piotr had nabbed a decent copy off some "guy he knows" so we were just going to watch it later should any plot questions arise.

Of course it was pouring rain when 7pm rolled around. Myself, Kitty, Piotr, Marie, John and Bobby piled into the van, piloted by Logan. I could tell he was the usual driver for excursions such as this, and I could also tell he hated it. No pop music, no yelling, and "put your damn seatbelts on."

My eyes shot open. All I could see was the interior of...a jacket? I was soaking wet...am I outside? I heard a high pitched ringing that seemed to go on forever. It started to fade but was quickly replaced by what I could only register as a car horn. A very busted car horn. That's when the pain shot through my entire body and the panic set in. We had crashed.

We crashed. Oh fuck. Fuck. Am I dead? No, I'm not dead. What's on my face? I regained control of my arm and grabbed blindly at whatever was covering my face. I pulled it off. It was Kitty's jacket.

Kitty. Marie. Bobby. Piotr. John. Logan. I tried to call out everyone's name at once, but ended up exhaling a loud whining sound. Something's on my chest. I can't move. I think about if my neck hurts. It doesn't. Can I move it? Yes. Good. Okay. It's still pouring. Rain is pelting my face and it's hard to keep my eyes open against the droplets. I'm blinking like crazy and trying to talk and where the fuck is SOMEONE and what's on my chest and why can't I hear -

"Charlotte!" Bobby. Thank fuck. "Charlotte, can you hear me? Are you hurt?" I try to relax and focus on my voice.

"Ye...yes. Yes I can hear you...I think I'm okay..." I manage to choke out. Suprisingly I don't feel pain in any specific area any more than anywhere else...this happened once when I fell off my bike. Shock? Maybe?

The delay in response concerns me a bit, and I can hear muffled voices in the direction of Bobby. Someone's crying. Someone else is yelling...why am I still stuck in here?

"Listen." Logan, oh my God, Logan. "We got swiped by another vehicle. We hit a utlity pole." Oh, lovely. I heard footsteps approach, but stop still a distance away. I could turn my head enough, but between the rain and the lights and fuck my head hurts and what is that FUCKING RINGING NOISE I can't make out any details. Everything is sideways but I can tell Logan is closest, and someone else I can't identify is next to him.

"Logan, I'm stuck, I can't," I try to squirm around and free myself from whatever part of the car I'm wedged under but he shouts and I stop immediately.

"NO DON'T MOVE. Don't move." What now. What did I break? Was this is precaution?

"Something happened with your powers when you blacked out."

Okay, so what -

"You're fused to the car." Shit. Okay. Why does this seem even worse than I'm thinking it is right now? Is that even possible?

"Can't I just," I took a breath. I was starting to feel rather warm. "Concentrate and...move myself out of the way?" I thought back to the water fountain. Why would it be any different?

"Charlotte there's a loose power line on the car." Bobby screamed over the rain. "We thought you were dead. Logan can't pull you out of the car. He'll get electrocuted easier than the rest of us would. You...you shouldn't be alive. Help is coming."

WHAT? Just...what the flying mother of oh my god WHAT? Oh, there's the panic. My heart rate suddenly skyrocketed. Now I'm scared. I'm fused to a car, which is being juiced up by a power line, and they can't get me out, and now I'm starting to cry, and -

A familiar smell suddenly filled my nostrils...and with it, a feeling I can only describe as pure dread.

I was immediately surrounded by orange and red, and the cold rain was nothing compared to the heat. The gas tank had punctured in the crash...it had ignited. I was still stuck. I heard a girl scream. Is the fucking VAN ON FIRE?

I'm going to die.

All I could do was scream bloody murder. Scream imaginary words and cry and try to get free and then remember why that was a horrible idea and stop moving and scream some more. Being burned to death wasn't exactly how I wanted to go. I heard more yelling. It almost sounded like arguing. More footsteps.

"Hey. Hey, hey. It's okay! Stay still." My eyes darted around as much as my head could allow and John suddenly appeared next to my face. His jeans were sliced and bloody and he had a large gash in his leg. He looked at me for half a second before turning his attention to the blaze. He stuck his hand out and stood eerily still. In my panic I watched silenty from my place on the ground, where I was certain I would spend the last moments of my life.

"John, what are you-" I stopped as I noticed the heat near my legs lessening. Either my legs had burned off, or... he was controlling the fire. I couldn't help but try to lift my neck to see, which proved horribly painful, so I put my head back down. The orange and red was quickly fading...but somehow I knew it wasn't over. John then kneeled down next to me. His hair was soaked from the rain and pieces of it fell into my face as he lowered his face towards my ear.

"Look," He said loudly. "I don't know if this is going to work, but we gotta try because if the tank blows," He locked my gaze. "I won't be able to stop it."

"Okay, what?" I just wanted to get out of there. I'd chew my arm off at this point. "What do I need to do?" John took a deep breath and looked toward what I'm assuming was the part of the van I was fused with.

"Okay. I can't get burned. But they can." He pointed back to the rest of the group. "You need to try to fuse away from the car and I'm gonna pull you. I figure electricity without heat can't do much damage, right? It'll pass through you and end up at me." Are you insane?

They don't think it'll work! They think I can't handle the power. I can do it." Yes, you're insane.

"It's not affecting you. I don't get it...no-one does." Well at least you're right with that one. Okay enough.

"What if it doesn't work?" I stared up at him through his hair. Did I really want to know the asnwer?

"Then I guess we both die." Oh. "But," He stood up. "No-one deserves to die alone so it's my way or no way."

I looked around at what little parts of the wreckage I could see. Fair enough.

My instructions were simple. Focus on sliding myself out of the van. Focus on the piece that was partly in my chest, let it go back to it's original form, and let the same happen to me. Easier said than done, however, was to ignore the fact that I was currently (har har) being electrocuted and somehow unaffected. I was partly on the ground. There was absolutely no logical way I should be alive. I should be barbequed. Violently. But I wasn't. I had to get into the right headspace, and I had to do it now.

"Are you ready?" John had positioned himself behind me, ready to grab my shoulders and pull when I gave him the okay to do so. By lifting me off the ground, the electricity would transfer to him. Whatever is contacting the ground gets the brunt of the power flow. How could he think this would be okay? I mean, electric shock is similar to a burn in severe cases, but...I had no idea how this worked. Obviously his body chemistry was different. He was sure he could do it.

Deep breath. Eyes closed. If I fuck this up, I die. The end, no do-overs.

"Go."

John's hands gripped me underneath my shoulders. No sooner did he begin to pull me back, when everything went white. I couldn't feel anything. I wasn't in pain. I could hear everything around me. Rain. Voices. The ringing. Feeling began to come back. Still white. Was John still holding onto me? I couldn't speak. What's happening? Why can't I fucking see? My chest wasn't heavy anymore. My vision snapped back. I hit the ground.

I stared upwards, stunned. More screaming. I didn't want to move. What happened? Where the fuck is...

"John!" Bobby came running toward...me? No. Behind me. I painfully shifted my neck and looked up toward my left.

John's foot, attached to what was obviously John, lay motionless in the rain just inches away, the soles of his shoes were nearly melted off.

I couldn't breathe. I had to close my eyes.