written in the stars

prologue

A/N (4/15/2018): My, oh my, it's been a looong time writing the X-Men! Recently, I've realized how much I miss writing about Maureen, and I was like, "I need to edit First Class" because guess what? I've finally got some idea for DOFP! I'm really excited.

So, newcomers, this extended message is for you: This is my X-Men series called "Seasons Come and Go (But I Will Never Change)".  It's going to be about a young mutant named Maureen Shepherd, and how she comes to be a part of mutants with abilities just like her. This is Part 1, called "Written in the Stars", and it takes place in X-Men: First Class. I know this will extend to X-Men: Days of Future Past but if it's going to extend to the original X-Men trilogy, I'm not sure yet. (Though, it would probably be AU, due to Days of Future Past lol.)

Ah, I am so happy I am back with the X-Men! Let's go. I hope you enjoy this story :)

***

Maureen Shepherd knew she was different from everyone else. Her grandfather had told her that. And it wasn't because she was the only one in her family that had dark hair and gray eyes while everyone else were blonde haired and blue eyed beauties. No. She was different because she had gifts.

"You have special abilities that nobody else in this family has, Maureen," her grandfather had told her. He was in the hospital and dying. "You have very unique powers and you must learn to accept and control them. You must accept yourself for who you are. Otherwise, they will control you. No matter what happens, I will always love you."

Maureen was six when her grandfather had died. She was heartbroken. She had taken his last words to her by heart everyday.

I am special. Grandpa says so. I must accept myself for who I am.

When Maureen was nine, her special abilities came.

It happened one day when she was walking home. It was after school, and there were boys who were playing basketball at the neighborhood park. Maureen always tried her best to ignore those nasty boys, but they never left her alone.

"Hey, Maureen! Catch!" a boy shouted. He threw the ball at the back of Maureen's head. Before it could hit her, however, she had quickly turned around and threw her arms up and it looked like she was going to attempt to grab the ball. The ball never hit her, however. It ended up just mere centimeters in front of her face, frozen in place.

It was silent for a few good moments. Then the boys started yelling.

"She's a witch!"

I'm a witch! Maureen exclaimed in her mind. The boys kept calling her names. Eventually, she hit the basketball. The ball bounced on the ground and Maureen ran all the way home.

But that wasn't the end of it.

Later that night, Maureen was having dinner with her family. She had both of her parents, Thomas and Amelia and her younger brother, Tommy.

Maureen never really liked coming home. She loved and adored her mother and baby brother, but she was scared of her father. Her father worked a lot, drank a lot, and to an extent, abusive.

The night was like no other. Maureen's father became angry again and was yelling at her mother. Just as Thomas was about to strike Amelia, Maureen threw out a wild hand gesture. She was scared, seeing her father like this.

When Maureen did that hand gesture, the glass shard in Thomas's hand shattered. Everyone was dumbfounded for a moment and Thomas looked down at his hand in confusion. Maureen used both of her hands to cover her mouth. Then suddenly, her father turned on her, as if he knew that she had done it.

"You. Fucking. Freak."

Maureen's father dangerously stalked over to her.

"Don't you dare, Thomas!" Amelia Shepherd cried. "Don't you dare hurt my daughter!"

Daddy's going to hurt me! Maureen thought horridly. Maureen crossed her arms in front of her face, as if it would protect her. It did. Glass in the kitchen started to explode. It made her father stop.

"You fucking witch," Thomas spat. "I am not having a freak living in my home!"

"Then get out, Thomas! I will not kick my own daughter out of my home." Amelia told her husband. "She's nine years old, Thomas! She is your daughter, for God's sake!"

"This little bitch is no daughter of mine. Not while she's sick!" Maureen's father roared.

Maureen's father thought she was a sick freak and that something was wrong with her. Maybe he was right.

After hearing his last words about her, Maureen watched her father walk out of her life. She would never see him again.

* * *

Four years after her father left the family, Maureen was thirteen years old. She was still very shy and perhaps a little too sensitive for the world. Her brother was five and was starting school. Her mother was still beautiful and working to make ends meet. Her grandfather, the one who told her she was special, died a few weeks before. Life was never kind, but the Shepherds made it work somehow.

Just three days after her thirteenth birthday, Maureen discovered another part of her mutation.

One day, Maureen was in school and was taking a test during her fourth period. She was writing down her answer when a hot flash went through her, and she saw something.

It was a vision.

The vision went like this. Maureen was helping her little brother with his homework at home, she could tell because of the hair.

Suddenly, Maureen looked up, and she seemed a little older, perhaps she was fifteen or sixteen years old. She glanced at Tommy and said something, then skidded out to the living room, where her mother was at the door with two men who looked to be in their late twenties or early thirties.

They wanted her.

"Miss. Shepherd!"

Maureen snapped back into reality. She was in a classroom, she was in school. She was taking a test.

"Maureen, are you well?" her teacher asked. Maureen nodded, and she went back to her test.

Little did she know was that two years later, the men came for her. These two men would change her life, for better or for worse.