A Home That Far

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters related to X-Men or He-Man. Kale however is mine.

WARNING: The following work of fiction contains explicit sex and sexual references that may be uncomfortable for some. If you are under 18 (or whatever age is appropriate for your location), HIT YOUR BROWSER BACK BUTTON NOW. If you find explicit sex offensive, please don't offend yourself by reading further.

Author: Charlotte (AKA jemstone5)
Email: duckey@ns.sympatico.ca
Feedback: Please, yes, lots
Forward to others: would be flattered if you did.
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Summary
Professor Xavier’s attempts to bring peace to Humans and Mutants has failed. Forced to flee their home world or die, the Mutants gather at the mansion, sealing themselves inside, later to launch in a bold escape to the distant stars, and hopefully a home where they can live in peace. But something has gone terribly wrong. The planet they had hoped was uninhabited is crawling with strange creatures, sorcerers, demons, and their wonighnightmare…humans. Worst yet, they are separated. A world far apart from their own, a loan girl desperately tries to survive to find her people, while avoiding what she believes is the biggest taboo her people have come to know. To fall in love with a human.
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A Home That Far
Chapter 1, The End

"You can come to me if you ever have a problem honey, you know that," her mother had told her. What a ridiculous statement. Kale Lairden, only 16 years old when her powers manifested, and at the worst time and place.

Her family was normal, they did normal things. She had a boyfriend from school, who her parents weren't too happy with. What did she care, he liked her, and she certainly liked him. She had a brother, younger of course by 5 years, and he drove her crazy.

The summer was hot, and the family decided to go to Florida on vacation, before the return to school for the kids. She hated the thought of going, till her father and mother agreed to take her boyfriend. They may not have liked the boy, but the boy's parents were good friends, and they were in a bind, so they caved in quickly.

The drive down was stressful; her brother teased the two of them all the way. Kale had a headache from it all. When they got to the hotel, she at once changed to her swimsuit and headed for the beach, and of course her boyfriend and brother weren't too far behind.

She remembered how her brother kept following them, she couldn't get rid of him. He followed them down the beach and into the water. Finally her boyfriend got a hold of him. "Get lost pipsqueak!" he yelled, tossing the boy into the water towards shore.

"What are you gona do?! Beat me!? My sister wouldn't allow it!!"

"Try me squirt now get lost!!!" she called, splashing water to him. The boy just stood there, "Go on!! I mean it!!!" Still he stood there, but raised a finger to point to the water behind her.

Florida was famous for them. They came so close you could touch them, if you lived. She wasn't sure what happened after that. She remembered someone pushed her, but she wasn't sure who. She heard screaming from the other swimmers of sharks in the water, but she didn't remember if she moved. She knew the shark touched her, but she wasn't sure if it had bitten her.

When she did regain her senses, it was dark, and she was alone on the beach, washed up between some rocks. Police and coastguard officials found her and took her to the hospital, but when she told the doctors who she was, and where her family was staying, they told her that the people she spoke of had left.

Where Kale was still considered underage, her parents were charged with Child Abandonment. They claimed they'd been told a shark had killed her, and when days went by that no sign of her was found, they went home. They didn't serve any jail time. They acted like a regular family during the proceedings, relieved that their daughter had returned to them safe and sound.

When Kale rejoined them at home, however, things were far from welcoming. Her boyfriend, or so she thought, suddenly had someone new, and claimed he'd never really liked her after all. School friends suddenly stopped coming around her, her locker was vandalized, and teachers who usually enjoyed her participation in class, began to ignore her.

Home life was no better. Her parents, though often strict, became cold and distant. Refusing to include her in activities like movies, or games, dining out, or even her brother's martial arts competitions, which she didn't like to go to anyway.

She decided to confront them all, to find out what was going on, but before she could, she found out on her own. She had locked herself out of the house, though she had her keys, for some reason the door wouldn't unlock.

She was in the back yard waiting for her family to come home, when the neighbour\ottwottweiler dog came over the fence. The thing was vicious, and strong. A number of times it had broken its chain and ran through the neighbourhood, before any real damage had been dthe the owners would catch him. The neighbours had built a kennel for him, but obviously it hadn't held.

She sat there watching the dog edge closer to her, his jowls pulled back, his sharp white teeth showing through. She grabbed at his neck as he lunged at her, that's when she realized what had happened on the beach that day. Small spots appeared on her hands and arms, the dog staggered a bit and backed away. Kale watched in shocked horror as her hands changed to the paws and legs of a dog. But not just any dog, the rottweiler that had attacked her.

The change was painful as her body folded smaller, her legs changed, and her face distorted. She remembered standing up, and seeing not one but two dogs in the reflection of the patio doors. Suddenly the large dog was on her, growling and snapping, going for her neck. She wasn't sure where her rage came from but she fought back, landing a solid hold around the dog's jugular. He pulled away with a sharp muffled squeal, flesh pealing from where Kale's k-nine teeth had pierced his flesh. The dog leapt back over the fence to nurse his wounds. She felt pleased with herself, she'd survived, she kept the thing away.

Slowly her true form returned, her muscles stretching back to human shape. What fur she had disappeared, and her face returned to normal. Breathless she staggered back to the porch, tripping over her torn backpack as she went. When she looked up she saw her parents in the doorway to the patio. "Mom? Help me?" she pleaded, but all the pair did was close the drapes and walk away.

It was then that she understood what had happened that summer. She wasn't sure what to do now. She didn't dare go back to her regular school, the odd looks, and absent friends would only escalate into violence. She'd have to leave. But where would she go? She called her grandparent's from a payphone, only to have them hang up on her. Late into the nigtwo two days after the dog attack, she curled up in her brother's tree house to sleep. But before she could drift off, she heard voices in the yard. She looked out to see her father carrying out boxes, and garbage bags, tagging her brother along with more bags. "She's not dead dad," her brother stated.

"She is to us. Now put those in the bin. These boxes are going to be picked up in the morning."

"Do you have to give away all her clothes? She needs them you know. She'll come home. I know she will."

"She's not welcome here! Remember that! If ever she turns up, don't let her in, don't even talk to her, do you hear me!"

The boy jumped back at his father's raised voice. "Yes dad. I hear you." Together the pair returned into the house, and the lights turned off.

She knew she couldn't stay. She'd be discovered some time. She made up her mind then to leave. She climbed out of the tree house, and closed the gate behind her as she left the yard. Quickly she rooted through the boxes, finding her old backpacks, and duffle bags. She stuffed as many of her clothes into them as she could, and crammed the rest into the biggest box she could find. As she turned to leave, she stopped. Her brother was there in the ally. He didn't say anything but gave her a hug, and another shoulder bag, already packed. Quickly he disappeared back into the house.

Two blocks away, safe from discovery by her family, she looked into the bag her brother had given her. She found her CD player, her CDs, several packs of batteries, some sandwich boxes with sandwiches in them, and his piggy bank. She pulled out the odd little creature, some character from one of his favourite video games. She didn't know which one. It was ugly, plastic, and heavy. The money inside she knew he saved tediously for Christmas, she wasn't sure if she had the heart to take it. She thought about taking it back and leaving it on the steps, but then she thought of what she had to do. She had no money, and she didn't have a home or phone to use to find work. She'd make it up to him someday, somehow.

She headed out of town, hopping a bus to the outer most reaches of the city, walking on foot till there were not lights left to guide her. She turnef thf the road and found shelter in the remains of an old car, burned and rusted, left behind as the trash it was. Inside she looked once more to the bank, wondering if she could really bring herself to spend the money inside. Curling her arms around it, she cried at the complete loneliness of her situation, and the one gift her one time pest of a brother had given her.

She wasn't sure how long she had been asleep, but she was woken to a thundering sound from above, and a great wind that swept through the car's long broken windows. As the thunder died, a bright light took its place, and from somewhere in the distance a woman in a white uniform and white hair strode up to the car.

She didn't say anything. She didn't have to. Kale had seen pictures of the woman on the news, and in the papers. She knew who she was, or at least what she represented. The woman took one of Kale's backpacks, and helped her with the box and shoulder bags. Without a word the pair walked off into the light. In a roar of thunder and wind, a great black aircraft lifted off from the main road, and departed the city. Leaving not a trace that they, or even Kale, had ever been there.

She lay on her bed, a cot, laid out along side many others in the lower gymnasium. In her hands was the ugly savings bank. She'd been at the Xavier School for the Gifted for 5 years. In that time she'd learned how to control her shape shifting abilities, discovered how small pockets of glands would open up along her skin at will, and sample the DNA of whatever she touched, or was touching her. Anything that is, except humans. For some reason she could change into any animal on the planet, once she touched it, but turning into a human was beyond her ability. She'd tried it once in her training. She was in a coma for a month. She never tried it again.

She'd long finished her classes, and had been looking forward to college, but that was all impossible now. Things were getting worse for her kind. It almost wasn't safe to walk the grounds around the mansion. Fearful of snipers firing in through the windows, everyone was moved to the lower levels. At least that's what she and all the others had been told.

She had saved the money from her brother's bank, and kept track of him through his school. She had planned to put the bank in a box and send it to him for Christmas many times over the years, but she found she couldn't part with it. She lay now just staring at it, not sure what to do with it anymore.

Xavier had returned, she wasn't sure from exactly where. All she knew was that he'd been wounded in some way, and his treatments were extensive. Now recovered he'd returned to continue his efforts towards Human and Mutant peace. But much had changed in his absence. So much so that no one really listened anymore. The more he spoke to those in government, the more he found people with single minded views of humanity, and it seemed the quicker anti-mutant legislation passed through the assemble, approved into law.

It was his latest trip that bothered him the most. The last visit that brought him rushing back to the mansion and ordering everyone to the underground levels. Again Kale reached under her cot, and put the full bank into a cardboard box filled with styrofoam packing peanuts. She folded the top shut and pushed it back under.

"Attention, all Students and Staff are asked to assemble in the hanger at once."

'Oh great,' she thought. 'I'm getting put on the round up squad.' Over the years she'd seen many young people arrive at the school. Some brought in by worried parents wanting to help their kids, others came in as she had. Left along, or forced out of their homes, abandoned, or run a-ways; all escorted by the senior teachers. Storm had brought a lot of the scared one in, just like she did her. Her natural calm manor had eased many a frightened mutant.

Kale patted the heads of a few smaller children, all voicing what she wondered herself. What now? She found where Storm was and moved closer to her. Since Storm brought her in, Kale had become a close friend to the ebony woman. She even helped Kale train better. They settled a set of triplet eleven year olds, as their power of electrical charge danced off each of their heads. One alone was no problem, put two of them together and it was mild static discharges, but all three in the same room, and you had a trio of a lot of power.

The group finally settled, they looked forward as Xavier's floating chair came across the floor. "Thank you for coming together so quickly," he began. Kale figured there was something really wrong. Normally when the professor spoke to them there was a hint of optimism in his voice. But not this time. This time, his voice was laced with worry, and something that even set the senior staff on edge. Kale could smell it. Fear.

"As you all know, Congress has been approving legislation limiting Mutant Rights in America. This legislation was quickly adopted into law by other countries. But what I learned today puts all mutants in danger, all over the world. The military, working with the Centre for Disease Control, have developed a virus, that is harmless to normal humans, but is extremely deadly to mutants. They plan to release the virus within the next few months." Kale could feel the room thick with silence. No one had ever expected this kind of treachery from the government. Years ago, they swore not to use biological warfare, on any of their enemies. Now a deadly virus was going to be released in their homeland, by the vary people who'd sworn to protect it, and it's people.

"God help them," Storm muttered, but fell silent as Xavier continued.

"Though Wolverine, as you all know, has a miraculous healing ability that has helped us many times in the past, this virus is supposed to be so deadly, that we've decided not to risk exposing Logan to obtain a cure.

"In the past, our mission wasn't a simple one. To rescue & help as many young mutants as we could. Our mission now is even harder. We have very little time. We must gather all the mutants possible and bring them here. The senior staff and I will make the lower levels secure and isolated from the outside world. We will be relying on those of you with elemental powers to help us make this possible. It will be difficult. Everything possible will be done for us to survive here, while Doc. McCoy researches for a cure.

"No one is to leave the premises without a communications unit, nor alone. You are to go in teams of three for safety. Stay together, be alert. At the first sign of trouble we will be rounding you all up, and the lower levels will be sealed. The mansion above, will be destroyed to protect us.

"Those of you with families you are still in contact with, please contact them now, let them know what is happening here. Try to get them to unite against this new threat with us. Or millions will die, not just when the bombs go off, but for years to come. Once the virus is released, unless a cure is found, this world will be poison to all of us."

Kale was paired up with a few of the older students, and together, like many others, they spread out around the city, warning the mutants of what was happening, telling them to spread the word as quickly as possible, and make it back to the mansion quickly. Time, however, wasn't on their side.

Within two weeks, three virus bombs were detonated. One in Los Angeles, one in New York, on Manhattan Island, and a third in Toronto, Canada. Storm did her best with her weather manipulation to force the virus another way, but it was no use. More of the virus was released all over the country, and soon, all over the world.

Kale helped the last of the younger rescued mutants settle below ground, as the doors were closed and welded shut behind them. The inner chambers were flushed of air, and replaced with tons of concrete. They were now prisoners in their own home, at least what was left of it. Three hundred and eighty-seven people crammed into the facility, cots were set up jus just in the gym but also in the halls. The cots in the gym were replaced with bunk beds, all lashed together for stability, rising four sometimes five bunks high. It wasn't easy.

As the virus spread across the country news crews were out in full force, documenting the events. Everyone watched as film crews observed mutants dying at their very feet. They didn't just die either. The effects of the virus were so violent and repulsive, the people seemed to turn inside out almost. Many of them forced themselves to watch, just so they would remember. To never underestimate the ruthlessness of a closed mind. Humans, their own families it seemed, their own people, were now their enemies. There would be not peace now. Even if a cure was found.

Months went by, with people getting on each other's nerves in the confines of the seemed to be lessening space. Doc. McCoy brought air samples down to a separate lab, safe from the living area. So safe it was a separate module all on its own, operated with robotic arms, remotely from his lab. He worked as best he could, using mutant blood collected from everyone, to expose to the gas to see if any of his research worked. But all had failed. What the military couldn't think up, the CDC did. The two agencies when working together, were a dangerous combination.

Kale walked by the main meeting hall, that doubled as part of the school and dining area, shsn'sn't part of the upper level yet, she wasn't included in all the important decisions. But she did understand when Hank McCoy stated that he'd failed. There'd be no hope for their people. She stayed near the door, in shock that they would never again see the sun, that she would never again be able to walk on the beach. That's when the outrageous plan was hatched.

"We can leave," stated Logan gruffly.

"That would be suicide," Storm answered.

"No, not above ground. Leave the planet. Face it, we've got the most powerful plane in the world. What would it take to retrofit that thing bigger, to take us away?"

"Materials for one," McCoy stated, dropping his glasses to the table.

"This place has everything we need! Sheet metal all over the walls, machinery to build with, people out there and in here with brains enough to put a proper plan together to get us the hell out of here!"

"And where would we go, Logan?!" Jean shouted. "It would take close to a thousand years just to get to the next star in our galaxy that would even remotely have a planet orbiting it. And even then there is no guarantee that it will support life. Where do you propose we look?"

"Settle down all of you," Charles interrupted calmly. "Logan has a point. It may be possible to rebuild the blackbird to take us away from here. And I may be able to get some extraterrestrial help, from some friends of mine."

"Do you really think they'd help us?" Scott asked. "The last time we met with them, they didn't seem too eager to help the mutants of Earth."

"No, we had to wohinghings out ourselves. It was their way. They couldn't interfere. But now that we face extinction, I'm sure they'd help us. Scott, gather some of the other Engineers in the group, get everyone in that you can. Start redesigning the black bird."

"The thing will never fly with all the crew quarters on it."

"Don't design it with crew quarters. Design it with stasis tubes in mind, enough for everyone here. Hank, I'll get the schematics, and the medical information from Lilandra and her people. They wont come to us, its too dangerous. Their species is close to human, they may be affected by the virus inadvertently. Everything will need to be done by us, and with the materials that we already have. Logan, you make an inventory of all the fuel and capacitors that we have. Fill everything to capacity. We're going to make this work!"

And work it did. Lilandra's people came through in spades. They provided Xavier with everything he asked for. He transferred the knowledge given to him to those who could put the ship the the equipment together. Quickly over the six months, the underground bunker was changed from the multilevel training area, to a gutted husk of a launch area, big enough to hold the new ship. They never even had a chance to name the craft, when they heard explosions above their heads.

The military was systematically destroying all possible hideouts for mutants. They knew of a number of places that had been sealed off, and had gone and destroyed them, killing countless more defenceless people. Now they decided to make sure that the destruction of the mansion above, wasn't just for show. They were going after the lower levels. Dozens of people rushed to reinforce the outer walls of the bunker, while the younger people were put onboard the ship and placed in the stasis tubes. One by one each was put to sleep, and the next tube made ready for the next to be set in place. Kale ushered the last of the younger children to the tubes. "Come one lets go everyone. Tammy No. you can't have that in the tube with you," she said taking a box away from the girl.

"No, please! It has my bank in it. With my grandfather's coin collection."

'Oh god no!' she thought as she remembered her own box, still under her bed. 'The bank!' "Tammy, I'll put it in a special place. But you can't have it with you, there's no room."

"You're next Tammy," said Hank, lifting her into position.

"We've got to lock these kids down," Logan yelled, handing Kale another child as he rushed in with several others. "They're almost through.!"

"Here take this, put in a storage bay. Hank, here's one more. I have to go back out. I forgot something."

"There's no time!" Scott yelled grabbing Kale's arm and pushing her into a vacant tube.

"You don't understand! My brother gave it to me. Please!!!!"

"They are coming through, and we are out of time!"

"NO! You can't do this!!! Please!!!!"

"Professor, start the launch!"

"There are still people out there!"

"Professor!" Storm cried. "The bunker is breached. We have to go! NOW!" Storm and Jean were the last to land inside the craft before Kale was forced into sleep. She would never see that ugly bank again. She didn't even know where they were going, or even if they would make it off the ground.