A/N:  I've always been annoyed by those stories you find where someone, somehow, meets the X-Men.  Instead of freaking out, they always handle it so well, which, to me, isn't the least bit believable.  So, here is my attempt to write a realistic story.  I love feedback, if you'd be willing to take the time to tell me what you think.

~Miranda        

            I don't remember much…there was blackness all around for ages, a blackness that sucked me in and tore me into it.  It was heavy and thick, suffocating, and O, God, it was death and disease.

            After a while (or maybe immediately, who could tell) it felt lighter, and suddenly it was gone, like someone had flipped this switch and turned on the sun.  I lay there (where?) stunned, sobbing, trying to breathe, trying to live.  I heard voices, unfamiliar, harsh, but couldn't see yet. 

            I felt warm arms lift me up, and slowly my vision cleared.  There stood a man (was it a man?) who looked like a demon.  I recognized him, in a way, but knew he wasn't real.

            Confused and hurt and scared, I did the only thing I could.

            I laughed, hysterically, scaring the demon-man and his friends who I could just barely see.

            And then the blackness came back.

            "Henry, what have you found out about our 'guest'?" Charles Xavier asked as he strolled into the lab that belonged to Henry McCoy, A.K.A Hank, A.K.A. Beast, A.K.A. the Twinkie King (though he preferred to keep that title a secret).

            Hank sighed, using one claw to adjust his tiny spectacles that appeared much too small for his large head.  "Frankly, Charles?  Not a whole hell of a lot."  He beckoned his old friend and mentor over to the corner where a hospital bed had been set up, as the infirmary was full with students who had come down with the flu.  In it laid a young woman, her skin pale, her hair a deep brown.  Her eyes, Hank had discovered upon examining her, were a brilliant blue.  "She's around 17.  Fairly healthy, though she's recently had her gull bladder out.  She's a mutant, but it looks like her powers are just starting to manifest.  In fact, I'd say they only started manifesting the day Kurt brought her in."

            "Odd.  17 is rather late. vAnything else?"

            "I don't know.  When I tried to scan her to verify she'd from this timeline, the test just wouldn't work, Charles!"

            Xavier stared at his friend.  "What do you mean, 'didn't work?'"

            "I mean, nothing!  She's here, but I can't get a reading.  Something's blocking it."

            Contemplating the matter, Charles examined the girl more closely.  "Is she strong enough for me to scan her mind?"

            Hank sighed as he gave up with the glasses and tossed them on his desk.  "Like I said, Charles—I don't know.  I can't even determine what's wrong with her.  My best guest is she passed out from shock and refuses to wake up.  But I don't suppose it could hurt."

            Nodding, Xavier gently placed his hand on the girl's temple—a mental crutch that he no longer needed, but used out of force of habit.  Gently he pushed into her mind.

            Hank watched as the peaceful expression on Xavier's face turned to confusion, then frustration.  Moments later he dropped his hand and stare at her.  "Charles?" he asked curiously.

            "I can't read her, Hank.  It's like her whole mind is shrouded in static.  I can sense her emotions, but that's it."  Troubled, Charles looked up.  "She's terrified and confused, to the point of panic.  I can't begin to imag—"

            He was cut off by a whimpering noise from the bed.  Startled, both men turned to the patient, who seemed to finally be regaining consciousness.   Hank quickly checked the monitors that were attached to her, while rapidly talking to Charles.  "It seems, Charles, that you managed to do some good in there.  She's definitely waking."  Frowning, he injected her with a very low stimulant, then stepped back and watched.

            Her eyes slowly fluttered open, revealing just how blue they were.  They stared at the ceiling for a moment before the girl frowned, sensing she wasn't alone.  Slowly, she managed to make them focus on the men in front of her.  Her eyes widened and she screamed.

            Alright, maybe it wasn't the most polite way of handling the situation, but I think I was totally justified in screaming.  One does not expect to wake up and see fictional characters at the foot of one's bed, especially giant, cat-like, blue ones.  Or one, as the other one wasn't blue.

            I wasn't stupid—I recognized who they were.  Beast and Professor X.  I just didn't believe it was real.  Some horrific nightmare, maybe, or I'd finally gone insane, like everyone was always telling me I would.

            Besides, what would you do?

            Hank quickly covered his sensitive ears while Xavier attempted to calm the hysterical girl.  "Child, calm down!  Nobody is going to hurt you!  You're safe!"

            She stopped mid-scream, still terrified, but too stunned to do anything else.  "Not real," she whispered, her eyes darting around.

            "Shhh," Xavier soothed.  Hank, go find Jean.  Maybe she can help me calm her.

            Right.

            "Are you alright?" Xavier asked softly, keeping his voice low.

            She nodded.

            "Good.  You worried us, you know.  You've been unconscious for four days!"

            She said nothing, her eyes wide.

            "Can you tell me your name?" he tried.

            "Leslie," she whispered. 

            "What's your last name, Leslie?"

            "Corring."

            "Ah, nice to meet you, Leslie," Xavier said, attempting to make his voice humorous.  "My name is Charles Xavier and this," he added as Jean walked over to their corner, "is Jean Grey."

            "Hello, Leslie," Jean said kindly, smiling.

            Not real not real not real… "…Not real," Leslie whispered again.

            Xavier frowned.  "What's not real, Leslie?"

            Suddenly something in Leslie snapped and she glared at them, her voice stronger as she answered.  "You.  Her.  Beast.  None of you are real.  You're just comic book characters!  None of this is real!" she yelled, furious with the joke God seemed to be playing on her.

            Jean and Charles looked at each other, startled.  "What do you mean, sweetie?" Jean asked, eyes as wide as Leslie's had been.

            Her head clear now, and the pain that had plagued her gone, Leslie sat up straighter and glared at her.  "I said that nothing here is real.  X-Men is just a comic.  Well, and a movie and cartoon, but that's besides the point, especially because the movie—" she stopped and blinked her eyes.  "Why am I explaining myself to a figment of my imagination?"

            Charles said, still stunned, "Aren't there mutants where you're from?"

            "Well, I personally think that my cousin's a mutant, but no, not they way you're thinking, because you're not thinking, because you're not real!" Leslie said, but there was uncertainty in her voice, like she was trying to convince herself.

            Jean, leave us for now.  Go get any team members you can find and meet in the war room in an hour.

            Professor…

            Trust me, Jean.

            With a sigh, Jean nodded and left the room.

            Xavier sat down on a chair and looked at this strange girl who had suddenly appeared on the Blackbird.  "You and I must talk."

            An hour had past, and Charles was quickly leading Leslie to the War Room, who, stiff from days in bed, was desperately trying to keep up, despite the fact that her gangly legs were as long, if not longer, than his.  Her clothes had been washed, but someone had gone overboard with starch, and they were now as stiff as she was. 

            Suddenly, Xavier—as she thought of him, despite his insistence she call him Charles—stopped in front of a door.  He placed his hand on a panel, and with a beep it opened.  He entered and she followed.

            Charles indicated a chair for her to sit in, which she quickly did, fearing that she would fall down in shock.  She recognized everyone there, but they looked so different from the comics she knew.  Well, duh, Leslie, they're real.  Or at least, I think they are, she amended, still hoping it was all a dream.  She was even willing to hope she was insane and in a nice padded room.

            She glanced around the table, quietly drawing in sharp breaths at seeing some of the…more physically mutated X-Men.  Read: Kurt, Stacy, Warren, Beast, Xorn.  PLEASE let it be a dream…She then tuned in to what Xavier had been saying.

            "…her timeline, we are all characters in a comic book.  Obviously, it took some work to convince her that we are real here."

            There were a few short barks of laughter at that, and Leslie bent her head, feeling her cheeks warm, but the look Xavier gave the laughers convinced them he was serious.

            "My first instinct was to try and determine a way to get Leslie home.  There are three unfortunate facts, though, that prevent this.  One, Leslie is a mutant.  In her timeline, no one manifests powers, or even knows if they are a mutant or not.  However, once she entered our timeline, through an unknown method, her mutation became active.  Even were she to return home, the mutation would take place as if she were here.  She would be the only mutant in her entire reality.

            "The second fact is that time flows much more quickly there than here.*  During the four days she's been here, months have gone by in her reality.

            "The third fact is that there is such a difference in our realities that I cannot read Leslie's mind, nor do any of Hanks scans that might help us locate her specific reality work.  We have no way of knowing where home is.

            "The only option I see is for Leslie to remain here with us, to study here, and train here, once her mutation develops.  Are there any questions or recommendations?"

            Despite herself, Leslie couldn't help but admire the way Xavier took command of the meeting, the way he was able to get out so much information in so short a time.  A deep male voice spoke up to her left.  Turning her head, she saw it belonged to a dark-haired man in red glassed.  Cyclops.

            "No offense, Professor, but if you can't read her mind, how do we know that she's telling the truth?  It could all just be a trap.  I mean, comic book characters?  Come on, how realistic is that?!"

            Leslie used to like Cyclops.  He's a tragic character, she'd say.  He's a good man at heart.  But she'd been really pissed about his attitude and affair with the White Queen, and she'd just found out she was stuck in an alternate reality with make-believe people for life, and she'd never see her family again.  Him calling her a liar was too much.

            "You want proof, Summers?" she snapped, directing all her anger at him.  "How's this: Christopher Summers sires Scott and Alex Summers, plus an unknown third brother.  Family's in a plane, catches on fire, Scott and Alex jump to safety, Chris and wife go down with plane.  Alex adopted, Scott not, lose contact, later find each other.

            "Scott falls in love with red-head Jean Grey, dating, one day they're flying a shuttle and Jean gains power from celestial entity known as Phoenix.  Goes wacko, becomes Dark Phoenix, sacrifices self on moon, dies, everyone's sad.

            "Scott on trip with brother and dad, meets pilot Madelyne Pryor, who just happens to look exactly like Jean Grey, but of course no one thinks much about that.  Scott marries Maddie, thinks good, find out she's pregnant, yea!  Somewhere along the line Rachel Summer, a child of Jean and Scott from alternate timeline shows up, but I'm not even going there.

            Everything's good, son born, name him Nathan Christopher, aw, how sweet, when BOOM!  Jean's not dead, she's underwater healing, Phoenix entity took her place and masqueraded as her.  Unfortunately, Scott's married, ya dumb shit!"  Hmm, maybe I should stop, everyone's looking at me like I'm some sorta ghost…Nahhh!

            "Scott leaves Maddie and Nathan, Maddie sees Scott with Jean on news, goes nutso and becomes Goblin Queen, brings about this little thing called the Inferno, plans on sacrifices son, obviously Scott not pleased about that.

            "Turns out, Maddie's Jeans clone made by Sinister and brought to life by the Phoenix when she attempted to give the memories of her time on earth to Jean.  'Course, how no one thought it was strange that this person who looks like Jean falls in love with Scott and has memories of fire, I'll never know.

            "Well, Jean and Maddie battle, Jean wins, eventually incorporates Maddie and Phoenix's memories into herself, and I'm not going any farther because my throats parched.  Now, Mr. Scott Summers, are you convinced?!"

            Leslie's cheeks were flushed, and she was breathing hard, but she couldn't help noticing the looks she was receiving from around the table.  They mostly involved dropped mouths and wide eyes.  "Wow," someone—Bobby, she realized—said.

            Xavier broke the silence.  "Jean, would you take Leslie to an empty room she can have?  And I need two volunteers to take her shopping this afternoon, as she only has what she's wearing."

            Silence.  Oh, shit, I scared them!  Leslie mentally berated herself.  Stupid, stupid, stupid!

            Xavier sighed and rubbed his eyes.  "Bobby and Kurt, you two don't have anything this afternoon.  You take her.  Meeting adjourned."  With that, he left the room.

            He was followed by Jean and Leslie, the door closing behind them.  The remaining X-Men sat in stunned silence.

            Bobby looked at Kurt.  "We're gonna die, aren't we?"

            Kurt unhappily nodded.

            I should have been quiet, I really should have, but he pissed me off.  He's just lucky I didn't call him on his affair with Emma.  I should have, but it's really none of my business. (Like that ever stopped me before!)

            Jean was so quiet, I thought for a moment she'd gone mute.  Apparently my…story upset her some.  I feel badly because I really like her, but dammit, he made me mad!

            I'm rambling to avoid the issue—I'm terrified of Kurt.  Not him, exactly, so much as his appearance, and before you think I'm a horrible person, think about it—he's blue, with glowing eyes, and looks like a demon.  Real people aren't supposed to look like that!

            God, I hope I'm insane.

*My explanation for why we had the comics in the 60's, but they've barely aged.