DISCLAIMORE: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING FROM MARVEL OR X-MEN: EVOLUTION, ALL OCs ARE MINE AND IF YOU WANT TO USE ANY OF THEM OR STORY IDEAS PLEASE ASK ME, CHANCES ARE I'LL SAY YES.

AN: TAKES PLACE IN MY AGU SERIES, IF YOU'RE NOT FAMILIAR WITH IT YOU MIGHT WANT TO LOOK IT UP. TAKES PLACE DURING THE ADJUSTMENTS TIMELINE.

Vincent was in his room that he now shared with Piotr AKA Colossus. He really didn't mind he hadn't shared a room since his early days at the orphanage. Their room was just as large as the others at the mansion most of the stuff was Vincent's since he had been here a few more months then Piotr. There was the old small color TV, game system, old VCR that he had saved up.

During the martial arts tournaments and his old job as the local store that one of his best friends' adopted parents owned and operated he had bought a few things over the years. There was a shelf with the trophies he had won and pictures, but with one missing.

He was at the desk in the room looking at a file that Nick Fury had given him. He had read them once already and with a photographic memory that's enough, but he still re-read them over and over at times and staring at the pictures too. Next to the files there was also the missing picture from the self. It was of a girl about seventeen, with long black hair and green eyes. She was wearing a T-shirt and jean shorts. She looked completely happy in the picture. Vincent with his light blue eyes, harden from years of hardships looked at the picture with sadness and regret.

"I wish you were here for this." He said quietly to the picture. The girl in the picture had been dead for over a month but the pain was still fresh in him. At least he had stopped having nightmares a few weeks after her death, but he knew they would be bad. He also knew he would never get over her death. How do you get over the death of someone that died in your arms?

He returned his attention to the file. On three separate sheets there were three different pictures of three eighteen-year-old kids about his age. Although to be fair he only turned eighteen a few days ago. He hadn't seen them since he was six. When he, the girl in the pictured he had named April, the three in the photos and the others back then were part of those experiments.

Twelve children were taken from their home and families at three years of age and had spent the next three years in a hell in the form of a science lab. They had no names only designations. April had been Prodigy 6, Vincent had been seven and on the pictures were the last three survivors out of the twelve.

First was Prodigy 8. A girl with brown eyes, light skin and dirty blond hair, with a beauty mark on her left cheek. Now she went by the name Susan Masters. The other was a girl who used to be Prodigy 9. She had red hair, but lighter then Jean's, which was pulled into a ponytail, she also wore glasses and had gray eyes. She was Clare Smith now. Lastly was Prodigy 11. He was an African American boy with a shaved head and darker brown eyes then Susan. He went by the name of Wes Johnson.

All three had been rescued by SHEILD when they attacked the lab. For years he had wondered what had happened to the others and now he did. Yesterday was the last day of being ground for that fight so now if he wanted to he could meet them, if he wanted to and that what he was debating for the last few days.

He did want to see them, but then what do you say to a group of people you haven't seen since you were six? Hey how's it going, tell me do you still get nightmares too? Yeah that will go over well, but no matter what Vince knew that he NEEDED this. He needed this to help not only to come to terms with his past, but also maybe in a way to help him to put it behind his life. He would give anything to be free of that experience, he knew he never would be completely free of it, but he couldn't let it continue on like it was.

He was just sick of it, and wanted a little closure on it.

He put the file that he was looking at away and decided today was the day. He walked out of his room to the main hall that had one of the phones in it. He passed by a few of the others, gave polite hellos but didn't stick around to chat, he needed to get through this before he lost his nerve. 'Why am I so nervous? Maybe I'm just anxious or something?' He questioned himself.

He got to the phone and punched in the special contact number that he memorized. He waited for a minute before a came on the line. "Yo what's up?" Came a female voice on the other line.

"Uh..."

"Hey who is this? You know this is a secure line right? That this is a government number so speak up already before I decided to trace the call."

"I'm looking for either Susan, Clare or Wes." Vincent said to the other person.

"Who's asking?"

"This is...Vincent Freeman." Vince waited for a minute but there was nothing but silence. "Hello? You still there?"

Then he had to pull away the phone as a high-pitched squeal was heard. "OH MY GOD! WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG TO CALL?"

"Sorry about that." He said his left ear slightly still ringing from her surprise. "I take it you're either Susan or Clare right?"

"Yep I'm Susan. God it's good to hear from you, when Fury told us that he found out one of the other's had survived we wanted to met them right away, but he said he wanted to make sure it was 'safe' or some garbage like that." Susan responded. There was a muffled sound on the other end that Vince couldn't hear. "I'm talking on the phone Wes...I didn't scream...I was just surprised...because Vincent is one the phone...what do you mean Vincent who? You know Seven...yeah him...NO YOU CAN'T TALK TO HIM...because I AM that's why...look just hang on alright and get Clare too will you...just GO already geez!"

Vincent was between confusion and laughing at this point at what was going on. 'Looks like Susan is a bit of a firecracker.' He thought with a smile.

"Sorry about that." Susan said to him. "Say you're in Bayville still right?"

Vince wasn't surprised she knew that if they were working at SHEILD then they would have detailed files on him already. "Yep, why?"

"Why don't we meet up there, we can be there in an hour or so."

"You can get here THAT fast?" He said shocked, either they had one heck of a ride or they weren't that far away.

"Well...I could tell you how we're getting there but it's classified." Susan admitted. "You know where we could met? I know you live at that mansion now, even though that would be kick-ass, I think this should be just the four of us."

Vince couldn't help but nod. "Yeah I agree I know this coffee shop we could get together." He gave her an address. "You think you can find it?"

"Sure thing well I guess we'll see you in an hour...oh and Vincent...thanks for calling." She hung up then and Vince put the phone back down. He wasn't sure what he was feeling at the moment, but he decided to move everything he was feeling as far to the back of his mind as he could for the moment. He decided to get ready and went to his room.

He cleaned up and got his wallet and was about to walk out his room when Rogue had passed by the open door and saw him getting ready to go out. "Anything interesting planned for today?" She asked him.

"Uh...yeah...I called them today and we're meeting today in about an hour." He admitted to her.

She didn't need to be told who he was referring to, for the past few days he had been nearly obsessed with learning about the other survivors, and it had been on his mind for days. She walked up to him and placed her hands on his shoulders. "You alright?"

He nodded. "Yeah...this is something I need to do."

She nodded in understanding, since the day she had absorbed his memories she had seen him in a new light that day, and she understood him better then everyone. She kissed him on the cheek. "Good luck, and...ah hope you have fun."

She flashed her his good-natured smile. "I hope so...and thanks." He walked out his room and down to the front door. He decided to kill sometime and walk there, since it was about an hour's walk away since the place was on the other side of the town but he didn't mind. If he could manage to get from British Columbia to Toronto on his own an hour's walk wouldn't be a problem.

The others had arrived a few minutes before Vincent. They had taken a table by the window waiting to show up. The three of them were in civilian clothing since showing up in SHIELD or X-Force uniforms would gather too much attention. So Wes was in ripped jeans with a black T-shit with a sleeveless brown shirt on, Susan had on a blue blouse and jean shorts while Clare was in shots and a simple plain red shirt on.

"You think he's going to show" Wes asked. He was a little nervous about this but he didn't want to show it to the others, he liked to consider himself the 'rock' of the group in more ways then one too.

"I hope so." Clare said. "It would be nice to have another one in the group."

"Yeah but don't think he might just up and leave Xavier and come with us." Susan told her before taking a sip of her coffee.

"But why not?" Clare asked confused. "We belong together don't we?"

Susan put down her drink' Clare sweaty he's been on his own for a long time, I mean we three were lucky to got to stay together but he was off making his own life. I mean he might have found a home with Xavier here so don't get your hopes up about that."

Clare looked slightly disappointed. "Yeah I see your point...it's just that it would be kind of cool you know?" The other two nodded their heads. In the years after their rescue the three of them had become a tightly nit 'family' for each other.

"Hey is that him?" Wes said pointing to a boy walking in with dark blue jeans, a gray T-shirt and with short dark hair.

"Yeah I think so." Susan said smiling. The boy noticed them and walked over to them, he looked a little nervous but he seemed to have it under control.

"Wes, Susan and Clare I presume." He stated.

"You got it man, take a seat." Wes said smiling and gesturing to a seat. "So...how have you been since...well you know."

Vince sighed and nodded telling him he knew what he meant. "First year was pretty hard...but I found a nice place, made a couple of close friends now I live at a mansion with lots of friends and a great girlfriend." He finished with a smile on his face.

"Really? Who?" Wes asked him.

"A girl named Rogue."

Wes thought about the name and tried to put a face to the name from the files he read. "The Goth chick with the stripe?" Vince nodded. "Well I ain't into Goths but I gotta admit she's cute." Suddenly Susan stomped on his foot. "OUCH! Damn it what was THAT for?" He asked Susan who just had her arms crossed and glared at him.

Vince looked to Clare. "Let me guess...those two are dating?"

Clare smiled and nodded. "For about two years now."

"Ah." He said in understanding as the couple started to bicker a little, he nodded his head towards them. "Are they always like that?"

Clare sighed. "As long as I can remember them, even before they dated they were like this."

He shook his head slightly amused at it. "Well what about you? You seeing anyone?"

Clare blushed a deep red. "Uh...no...I'm a little...uh..."

"Shy?" Vincent asked and she nodded her head. He shrugged and got up. "Well I'll go grab myself a coffee and hopefully they'll be done by then."

"Better take your time." She warned him.

It took a few minutes after he got back before the two of them had dropped the matter and they went on to discus other matters. They talked about themselves, what their lives were like, what interests they had and of course powers.

Wes was called Granite because of his ability to change his body into a rock-like substance that gave him super strength, very tough skin, and the ability to mold his body somewhat. Susan was a water manipulator called Aqua. She could also breath underwater because her lungs could work under water and her eyelids had special lenses so she could see underwater like a fish. Lastly Clare was a genius with the ability to see certain events into the future, she was called Oracle because of it.

They had gone on for a few hours laughing and talking and having a good time before they went back to their origins, everyone of them had been avoiding it but they needed to talk about it sometime.

"So...I take it you still think about that place too huh?" Susan said sadly picking at the crumbs of a muffin she had eaten not long ago.

Vincent sighed and his face dropped. "Yeah...kind of hard with a photographic memory."

Wes winced at that. "Damn...that's got to suck man, I mean I barely remember it all and I still get nightmares from that place, but you...Jesus...that's harsh." He told him in sympathy.

"It not easy some days." He admitted.

"No it isn't." Clare admitted. She wasn't as strong as the other two and had cried herself to sleep months after the others had stopped and she still got flashes of that place sometimes in the day.

"I wish the others were here...although I heard one of us went bad." Susan said refereeing to Magneto's newest Acolyte Psi-co, the last of the surviving members of Project Prodigy.

"Yeah...I really don't want that guy trying to crush my heart again." Vincent said sarcastically.

"He DID that!?" Clare exclaimed.

"He tried thankfully my organs are just as tough as my skin." He told her. "Plus I wish she was here too."

"She?" Susan asked.

"April...Prodigy 6." He clarified for them. The other three looked at each other, none of them had heard about this. Vincent saw this and filled them in on everything.

"You're saying that mutant called Sinister was behind it all!" Wes said trying to keep his voice down his fists clenched.

"And he got her killed?" Susan said just as angrily, even Clare who looked like a sweat nice girl that wouldn't harm a fly had a look of pure hatred that seemed alien on her face.

"Yeah." Vincent said, he too was filled with rage at what had happened on that day. There was a moment of silence then as the teens were too deep in their own thoughts about what Vince had told them. So he decided to break the silence. "You guys want to visit her?"

The three looked at each other with sad expression then Susan spoke up for the group. "Yeah...it's the least we could do for our 'sister'." Vince raised an eyebrow at the term of 'sister' she used. "You know what I mean, after what we all went through, well...we just think of each other like 'family'."

Vincent nodded. "Yeah...I know what you mean." Even he had thought of April as a younger 'sister' when she was around, kind of like how he was the 'big brother' to all the young kids at the orphanage. They all got up and started to leave when he asked them something. "You guys mind if we stop somewhere first?"

The four teens were gathered around a tombstone with just the name April on it for her name. All of them had a rose that they had got at a flower shop on the way there. Vincent noticed the ground was starting to have some grass on it, plus he saw a few fresh flowers, mostly a few days old already there and a couple of leftover wax on the base that used to be candles too.

Vincent gave a sad smile at how some of the students at the mansion still came by.

"This is wrong." Susan said in a nearly a monotone voice. "She shouldn't be here...not after everything that she went though...not after we all went through." Wes put an arm around her and hugged her close as she started to have tears fall from her face.

Vincent bent down and placed the rose on the base of the grave marker, Clare dropped hers on the ground and Wes and Susan both dropped their own at the same time. Vincent saw Clare was crying so he held her close as she wept on his shoulder. "It's...it's not fair! Why? W-why did she have to die? Why did the others have to die? Why did we have to go through all of that horrible experience?" Clare cried out in his chest.

He just held her, because those were questions he constantly asked himself and he had no answers to give.

After the four of them made their way out of the graveyard Susan's cell phone went off. "Damn it." She muttered as she got it off her belt and opened it. "Yeah what?" She said trying not to let on she had been crying. She listened in and then sighed. "Yeah...alright." She closed the phone and looked at the others. "Guys we got to get back."

Clare gave her a do-we-have-to look and Susan nodded. Clare's shoulders slumped down.

Wes went up to Vincent. "Well I'm glade we met 'brother', because I can't tell you how glad I am to finally had another guy to talk to man." He extended his hand and Vincent gladly shook it.

"Same here bro." Vince said with a smirk.

Susan hugged him next. "Take care, and for god's sake call us sometime alright?" He laughed and said he would from time to time. Clare also went for a hug but didn't say anything.

"Take care." Vincent said to them all as they parted ways.

"Same to you." Wes said they all waved goodbye and Vince turned and walked back to the mansion.

When he got back he went up to his room and just went to lay back on his bed thinking of the events the took place today. He wasn't aware how long he had been thinking and didn't notice anyone in the room until he felt the bed shift.

He looked to see Rogue sitting down on his bed. "So how did it go?" She asked him.

Vincent smiled. "Pretty good." Rogue couldn't help but smile at that, she was glad for him. "You know...I feel a little better about my life at the moment and I'm glad that at least the others made it out okay and are living good lives, they deserve it."

"So do ya." She said.

He sat up and held her close to him his face inches from hers. "I am now." He said before he kissed her, which she immediately returned.