Generation X, the X-Men, the Age of Apocalypse etc., are the 
property of Marvel comics. NOT MINE!

This story and all original characters however, are the property 
of the author. MINE!
________

To Hell and Back: Part Three



Claudia hadn't seen anything so wonderful in a very long time.

Okay, so it was nothing more than the burned out remains of 
the prison camp she had been held in for the past nine months. 
Charred and destroyed buildings surrounded by what had once 
been vehicles and machinery. Claudia knew for a fact that more 
than a few of the oddly shaped heaps littering the ground were 
actually piled up corpses.

And it was still the most wonderful thing she'd seen in a very 
long time.

She stood on firm ground - not mud littered with waste and 
garbage.

She was surrounded by air - not the presence of three hundred 
other prisoners crowded into the same small pit as she.

She could look at the sky - and not see the crisscrossing metal 
of her prison.

A wonderful, beautiful sight.

It had been only an hour since the attack on the camp began - a 
surprise assault that overwhelmed the guards in minutes. 

And now she was free.

She's have to keep repeating that until it registered. She still 
expected someone to come up and tell her it was all a colossal 
mistake, that she really did have to go back to the genepens 
now.

Footsteps approached. She reluctantly tore her gaze from the 
sky. It was one of the group that had freed the camp. One of 
the X-Men.

Claudia studied this 'X-Man' a little skeptically. She'd heard of 
them, everyone had, really, but she'd never believed in them. 
After all, why would any mutant oppose Apocalypse? The 
mutants had it all! They weren't they ones living in squalor and 
constant fear.

Then her fifteenth birthday and the somewhat delayed 
development of her powers. 

And then she'd understood why a mutant would oppose 
Apocalypse. She'd understood that in a world ruled by 
'Survival of the Fittest' only the strongest of the strong 
survived. And a young girl with delta level empathic abilities 
would never be considered the strongest.

Claudia absently raised a hand to her throat, almost startled by 
the missing presence of the inhibitor collar. Shamefully, she'd 
become used to the damned thing while she had been in the 
camp. She felt... *exposed* without it.

The X-Man must have seen her action, and misinterpreted it. 
"I'm not going to hurt you," she said.

Claudia said nothing, although she did lower her hands. The 
X-Man was a woman - a girl really, about Claudia's age - with 
light brown hair cut short around her face and brown eyes that 
held the memory of happiness.

Claudia prayed her eyes never became so dark or barren.

"My name is Shadowcat," the X-Man said. "I'd like to speak 
with you."

There was a slight pause at the end of the sentence. Shadowcat 
was hinting for a name. 

"Go ahead."

Tough.

Shadowcat frowned but said nothing. "The X-Men are always 
looking for people to help fight Apocalypse's rule. Right now 
we're hoping to find young people, people about your age, and 
train them in the use of their powers so that they can fight 
instead of hide. We've already found a few who have agreed to 
join us. We'd like you to join as well. We believe your powers 
could be very beneficial to our cause."

'I don't believe this,' Claudia thought. 'I'm being recruited!' 

"What about humans?"

"What about them?" Shadowcat asked.

"Are humans allowed to fight Apocalypse? Because all I see 
here," she gestured around her, "are mutants."

Shadowcat shook her head. "Fighting the Infinites is dangerous 
work and humans don't have many ways of protecting 
themselves."

Claudia shrugged. "I'm an equal-opportunity type of girl, 
Shadowcat. No thanks."

"I think you're making a mistake," Shadowcat pressed. "With 
our help you can learn to defend yourself against almost any 
enemy you may face. You can fight for your freedom."

"I grew up in a gang. Then I came here. I don't want to fight 
anymore." Claudia turned away and began scanning the rapidly 
dwindling crowd, hoping to spot two familiar faces. "I want to 
leave here and go somewhere where I won't have to fight or run 
and the worst I'll have to do is hide from the patrols. I want a 
*life* not a battle."

"It doesn't work that way," Shadowcat said quietly, and 
Claudia thought that maybe, if she listened closely enough, a 
thread of emotion could be heard in that once-gentle voice. 
"Not in this world."

Claudia gave her a sad smile. "It can, if you want it to badly 
enough." 

Shadowcat regarded her with regret, but it wasn't regret for a 
person or an ideal. It was regret because the X-Men could have 
used her, and she'd refused them. Claudia turned away and 
didn't look back.

Maybe Angelo was still around.

Maybe she could still have a life.
________ 


continued in Part 4