Flare (xmen)

Chapter 1: Escape

Disclaimer: It's been nine years since this came out. Not mine.

Every day was now a blur for Ali. Her life became a series of three steps: eat, sleep and run from everyone. If she followed them, she wouldn't die. Right now, she was currently hiding in a warehouse lot behind a cluster of huge crates. The group of mob members seemed extremely interested in getting her back to work for them. She tugged her beanie down, hoping to seem invisible.

"Where is that little bitch?" One man snarled. He was holding what looked like a gun in his hand.

"She's probably gone. Knows better than to stay in more than one place." The other man argued. The exchange continued but Ali couldn't hear the rest. Ali knew how the mafia worked. If you had a rogue member, you had to put them down. Can't risk them spilling shit to the cops.

She looked nervous, chewing her nails, waiting for them to leave so she could get out and skip town. Yet another car that she had to hotwire and drive to the nearest place. She was currently where? In New Jersey, she thought. It felt like she was back in Chicago, selling drugs to students until she saw that girl try to kill herself because the mob cut her off. Then, she quit and got out as fast as she could. It had been half a year, and they were still insistent on chasing her.

She was so lost in her past that she didn't notice until it was too late the man who snuck up behind her. She turned just before the man cracked a baton across her head and everything went black.

She woke up groaning. Her head felt like she had a throbbing hangover. She turned her head up lazily before she met with a slap to the face.

"Thought you could hide from us forever, did you?" The first man leered. "Little shit. Well Nichols, who did you tell?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Ali snapped. "I didn't tell anyone anything."

"Don't lie to me!" Ali flinched at the tone. Reminded her too much of that. "Half the Chicago locations were taken by the cops. And funnily, it started after you left. Coincidence? Half of us are in jail. You're going to tell us if you told them. Start talking."

"I didn't say anything. I'm just trying not to get murdered." Ali retorted. "And it would be nice if you and your little band of assholes would let me go-"

"She ain't saying shit, Robby. We gotta convince her somehow else." The third man appeared behind the second. She cursed softly. The mafia always had three members. How could she forget? She was either getting sloppy or she really had to eat something. She hadn't eaten in like three days.

"Look I haven't done-" She stopped when she saw the man unlock the handcuff from the pole. He then pulled her by the hair, ignoring her screams as he dragged her to the water bin.

"You wanna tell us?" The man snarled. Ali shook her head defiantly. "You funeral, bitch." He shoved her head into the water.

Ali started fighting the man, trying to get up, but the man shoved her down till she could see the bottom. She started freaking out. She was going to die. All this effort was for absolutely nothing. Unless....

She used her powers. Instantly she wanted to recoil, but she was running out of air. I had to do something. She opened her eyes, and saw a small amount of light refract into the water bin from the lights in the warehouse. She concentrated hard, focusing the light to pool into her hand. It was starting to collect, but her brain was getting sluggish. In a final act, her brain caused a pulse, causing the man to groan and dropped her head. She got up immediately, gasping for air. Just before she could truly catch her breath, she was kicked in the gut. She backed away on her knees away from them.

"What the hell did you do?" Robby demanded, pointing toward the fallen man.

"Nothing he didn't deserve." Ali weakly spat, trying to reach for anything, a gun or even a pole.

"Your one of those freaks, aren't you?" Robby kicked her again in the face, causing blood to come out of her nose. "Well, looks like we'll have to put you down." Ali backed away until she grasped a small metal rod.

"Like hell." Ali did a back roll, and brandished the stick. Without hesitating, she ran off.

"Stop her!" The second man began firing at her. She ran behind the warehouse crates, serpentine to avoid getting hit. Once she heard the click, she knew that this was her only chance. She ran off to the only entrance before getting hit the head by the gun. Ignoring the throbbing, she hit the first man in the face. He crumpled and went down. She then hit the second man across the head and threw the stick, hitting the third man. She searched the second man, stopping when she found a bunch of keys. She then started to run, and kneed the first man in the face when he started to get up. She grabbed her bag at the front of the warehouse.

When she got out of the warehouse, she ran toward the motorcycles. She hurriedly began trying the key for each one, almost dropping it in the process. When she found the one, she put the key in, turned it and the motorcycle hummed to life. She sighed in relief and sat on it, kicking it to go forward. She turned back and saw the men stumbling to get out of the warehouse. She freaked out and started the bike, turning to go on the road. She increased the speed and didn't stop until she realized she was far away.

She relaxed, letting the bike drop in speed. She kept driving until she reached a new place. She stopped in front of a small hotel. She sneaked in, knowing that she had barely any money. It was around 1 o'clock in the morning according to the clock, so no one was coming in. She could sleep in a real bed and take a shower. She walked carefully before opening a room door that thankfully no one was in. She barely managed to kick off her shoes before collapsing on the bed.

A/N: Please comment and review!! this is one of my first stories and I want your opinion!!