Love's Past Turmoil

A/N PLEASE READ AnD REVIEW!!


St. John Allerdyce stared hard at the family sitting together on a picnic in the park as he walked by them a fair distance away. Why couldn't that have continued in his life? What had made him a target?

He felt slightly refreshed after soaking himself under the hot showers in the toilet block. The fresh ocean air was a little chilly but he took no notice of it, heading back down to the beach and the small alcove he had made his home for the last week.

The alleyway had gotten too dreary for his liking. It had also reminded him of a time spent with Sabretooth he would rather forget.

~What shall I have for lunch?~ he thought. ~Sand, sand, or sand?~ He snickered. ~Great choices.~

His diet as of late had been made up of raw fish, crab, bits of food stolen from park picnic tables, people's picnics while they were off playing Frisbee games or something, tables inside and outside cafes and takeaway shops, and occasionally, when he had been absolutely desperate, garbage bins, of which there was an assortment of all over Manhattan.

"Now that is beautiful." he admitted, stopping to stare out at the ocean as he reached the top of the incline. "Much better than that dingy alley."

His lighter in his hand, as it nearly always was because it was the only thing that brought him any kind of comfort out here on the streets, he flicked off the lid, igniting the fluid.

His power had come in handy a couple of times when he'd wanted to actually eat the fish he managed to catch in the ocean shallows cooked.

Now, as he made himself comfortable on the palm leaves that made up his bed in the alcove, he just stared at the flames, a smile creeping across his face.

Fire. It could destroy and it could create. It could keep someone warm or drive someone away because it was too hot. On the coldest of nights fire could make one forget it was even cold!

But, for Pyro, fire meant more than that. Fire was his best friend. His only friend. The thing he turned to in his lowest moments. The element that brought happiness swelling into his heart every time he stared into its beautiful, orange colour. It soothed his inner most demons and brought him some closure.

The flame on the lighter bounced into Pyro's palm, growing until it represented an eagle in flight. At his will, the flaming eagle flew around him, making Pyro laugh earnestly for the first time in ages.

"Fun." he whispered, staring out at the people in the distance, quickly calling the flame to his hand and putting it out.

He could just imagine what would happen to him if someone saw him use his fire manipulating abilities. Although, it had been tempting to use it on several people he had encountered lately, especially the rude lady he had asked for a little bit of her lunch once. She had been such a cow!

Pyro smiled at the memory. ~I guess a dishevelled street kid scared her. If only she had known she was being mean to a dishevelled mutant street kid she may have given me her lunch out of pure fear.~ He laughed.

"Now, that is not the type of reaction you want to insight in people." he reminded himself, softly.

**

The lights overhead illuminated the path in front of him as he ran from the ranting shop owner, his arms full of junk food packets and frozen goods.

Dropping them back at his alcove he moved back out into the park pleased with the nights literal takings. Crossing the busy street to have a look at the newsstand on its path, he sighed at the headline strewn across one of the papers in big, bold black letters:

"MUTANTS ARE A THREAT TO HUMANITY!"

~Oh, come on!~ he thought. ~Not all of us are a threat. Although, until just recently I was.~

He pulled the paper out, wanting to know what else the article's author had to say about this so-called threat.

"So, you are alive." came the growled statement from behind him.

Pyro dropped the paper, the fear creeping through every part of his body as he turned to the owner of the very familiar voice.

Victor Creed, a.k.a. Sabretooth, glared at him through green eyes. "I don't know how you managed to survive that beating, John, but I am going to make sure you don't survive the next one." he threatened, reaching a clawed hand out to him.

Pyro freaked, side stepping him and running for his life. The people around him started screaming when they saw Creed take a running step, leaping over four metres, clearing several people in the process, to bring Pyro down under the weight of his feline body.

"Aaah!" John cried, as he was turned over and forced to look up into Victor's menacing eyes.

"Do you have any idea how hard we have searched for you this past week?" Sabretooth demanded.

In his petrified state Pyro could not answer.

"You stupid, little brat!" Victor hissed. "Magneto should never have let you join the fold.” He smiled slyly.

Pyro began to struggle. Stupid really. Pinned under a mutant who resembled a big cat there was no way he could break free. If only there were some way to get hold of a flame.

Then it suddenly occurred to him. People liked to smoke. Lots of people liked to smoke.

He moved his eyes from side to side, trying to find someone with a cigarette in their hand or hanging out of their opened-in-shock mouth. There was no one nearby that he could see clearly but he didn't really have to see the flame to know it was there.

"Get off me!" he hissed, his body reacting to the elemental energy he knew was somewhere close.

"Or what?!" Sabretooth growled.

The girl nearly fainted in shock when the flame danced out of the cigarette in her hand and flew towards the two strangers in the middle of the path. Victor heard it coming, leaping off Pyro and twisting sideways. St. John wasted no time in climbing to his feet, fumbling for his lighter still clutched in his hand.

Sabretooth's growl echoed around the buildings, Pyro's fear of him slowly dissipating because the one thing he was best at, the one thing he knew Sabretooth had some fear of, was now in his possession, ready for him to use at his will...