So, It Begins
by Starsinger
What if Peter and Kitty hadn't fallen in love when they met? What if they just became friends? Nope, still don't own them.
The cab pulled up in front of the stately mansion. Kitty stared at her new home in wonder, a thirteen year old super hero, she thought with a shake of her head and a rueful smile. "Miss, this is your stop," came the prompt. The door opened as another hand handed the man the fare. "Thank you sir," came the polite reply. Kitty exited the cab and came face to chest with Peter. She was still startled at the immense size of the man.
Kitty smiled up at Peter, "Hi," she said shyly. "I'm here." It was rather an inane start to her school career, but somehow it worked. He smiled down at her as he grabbed her luggage and escorted her into the school. Kitty stopped inside as she was greeted by several people she had met before.
Ororo smiled at her warmly. "Welcome, Kitty, Professor Xavier is expecting you in his office. Peter, would you show her while I take her luggage to her room?" Peter nodded his head as they proceeded to another part of the school; Ororo climbed the stairs to the living quarters.
Peter filled her in on the current population of the school as they proceeded, "So, we all came here because Xavier asked, and we're mutants." Kitty mused. They entered Xavier's office where he talked to her. She seemed to have a natural talent for computers. Something that seemed out of sorts with what her powers did to computers.
"We'll take you through the Danger Room in a few weeks, Kitty, and see what you can do. Meanwhile, get to know your new home," she nodded as she and Peter left his office. They walked in companionable silence towards the living section.
"I know," Peter blurted out, "I'll give you a tour of the mansion! How does that sound?"
Kitty smiled and nodded her acquiescence. The mansion was huge, three stories that you could see and a lot you couldn't see. The attic promised endless possibilities for mischief. "The east wing of the attic is where Ororo lives. The regular apartments are on the second floor and the classrooms are on the first floor. The Danger Room and other gym facilities are located downstairs. The hangar that holds the plane that you'll probably learn how to fly. Most of us who can't manage unaided flight learn how to do that."
Kitty grinned, "I can float, but I get the feeling that doesn't count." He smiled back. She felt really comfortable around him. He was really cute, but it was feeling like he was more of a big brother. She didn't have any siblings. "Do you have any brothers and sisters?"
"I have an older brother, Mikhail, he's a cosmonaut, and I have a little sister, Ilyana."
"Wow, I don't have any brothers or sisters," they stopped in front of a room. "My room?" she thanked him and watched him leave. She entered and found her luggage in her room. Her favorite stuffed toy, a dragon her aunt had given her when she was five, all ready occupied a space on her bed. She sat down and rifled through her luggage for her diary.
Dear Diary,
I'm crushing, big time. I met the cutest guy! Doug Ramsay isn't your typical tall dark and handsome, but he's smart and funny and a mutant like me, and he loves computers! I can't wait to start challenging him to some video games. Yeah, I suppose Peter's cute enough; he's just so much older than I am. He'd never notice me anyway. Gotta go, Storm's calling me.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Storm had called a meeting of the new students. Besides Kitty eight students had come to the school for the new term. She made sure she sat next to Doug. "Your classes will cover all the basics you would find in a public school, Math, English, Science, Computer, and Physical Education, among others. There will be specialized classes depending on your inclinations, and of course training to hone your mutant abilities as well team building. I think you should know that the X-Men are down a team member with the death of Jean Grey. One of you will be picked to fill that position.
This, of course, grabbed everyone's attention. The possibility that one of them would become an X-Man set everyone to whispering. Kitty shrugged; logically it would be Sam or Dani, one of the older students who would fill that spot, or at least one with a strong power. She admitted to herself that she and Doug were far down on the list of probable candidates.
Two weeks later they hovered outside the Danger Room, about to be tested. Sam went first, and was promptly thrown out by a flour bag in his face and a scoop at the bottom. He was followed by Rahne, Xi'an, Roberto, Dani, and Amara. Kitty took a deep breath as she nervously entered the room. Logan's reassuring voice came over the speaker, "Don't worry Punkin, all you have to do is walk across the room."
So, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and walked across the room. Silence greeted her as she reached the other side and opened her eyes. Then laughter penetrated her consciousness, "I don't believe it!" she heard Logan exclaim. "Charlie spends weeks programming the Danger Room just for her, and she walks across it with her eyes closed!"
"I did okay?" she asked tentatively.
"You did fine, Kitten," she heard Ororo reply as she heard the door on the other side of the room open as the funny little alien, Warlock, entered the room. "Go join your friends." Kitty smiled as she heard, "I wish Charlie were here, I would have loved to have seen his face," suddenly Kitty's world turned upside down as she saw a whirling vortex in front of her.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
When Kitty awoke hours later, she was on the plane on her way back to the mansion from Washington. "What happened?" she asked groggily. Logan looked at her grimly as he filled her in. "Wow, that's, wow, I helped save Senator Kelly? Well, a future me anyway."
"Punkin'," Logan stated. "In addition to starting dance class next week, I'm going to be training with you in hand-to-hand combat. You need to be able to defend yourself." She nodded, not sure what was going on. "We've decided to make you Jean's replacement on the team."
In case your wondering, one of my all time favorite scenes from an X-Men comic is the one from DOFP where she does just that, walks across the Danger Room with her eyes closed.