Prologue
Sunnydale - November 2000
It's 9 o'clock in the morning. First period is on : gym class. Students pair up for an auto-defense class. Cordelia is with Xander, Willow with Buffy (Larry didn't want to try it again with her). But those 4 friends were discussing about an other matter.
"Giles want us to join him in the library after class," Buffy said. "I talked to him this morning and he was quite disturbed. He was really freaky : totally un-Giles like."
"I wonder what disturbed him so much."
"I don't know, Xan," Buffy answered. "I guess it could be all those mutants that decided to let the world know of their presence. Giles told me he didn't like it."
"I don't know," Willow said. "I find them courageous to admit that they are different. People just freak out because they don't know anything about them."
"Will, they don't know anything about demons and stuff and I'm sure they would freak out if they ever find out about what goes bump in the night. Demons are from hell. But those mutants are humans and most of them are more dangerous than vampires."
Suddenly, Harmony bumped into the Slayer. "Watch out where you walk freak-girl."
Willow turned toward the snob to defend her friend. "I think it's you who walked in her."
"I wasn't talking to you geek!"
"Fashion victim!"
"Waste of place!"
"Bleached brain!"
"Totally undesirable nerd who was dumped by her boyfriend that found her useless and a complete waste of time." Harmony plastered a big smile on her face that told everyone she had win.
That was pure cruelty for Willow, especially when the remark came from that blond bimbo. But instead of hidding her emotions as usual, it started to boiled. As the snob walked away, Xander and Buffy understood something was wrong. Normally, the red head would have just ignore her and turn away, but something was different this time : Willow wasn't controlling herself. She walked steadily in the same direction Harmony took.
When she arrived just behind her back, the blond turned around and watched her with a look of distaste. "What do you want? To be insulted again, loser?"
WHAM!
Harmony screamed. The teacher looked at where the call was from. Willow was shaking in rage and fear and Harmony was crying in pain on the floor. When she came closer, she notice that the red head was looking fearfully at her hand. Coming closer to her, she saw claws. That's when Harmony looked up, her face bathered in blood because of the wounds.
Willow backed up until she reached the wall. She didn't know what happened. One moment she was advancing toward the blond girl in the intention to smack her good, the other minute, her nails were extending into claws.
Not hearing her friends call to her, she ran out of the gym, out of the school toward the Rosenberg's house. She should have stayed with Buffy and Xander and Giles and... well Cordelia. But they wouln'd have understand. She wasn't one of them anymore.
She was a mutant.
Part 1
New York - March 2001
Willow slammed the car's door. "This thing just has to break down in the middle of the night!" She screamed in rage. Knowing the car was just good to be shredded into little pieces, she took her bag and started to walk.
The morning she had run back home, she had packed some souvenirs, a bit of clothes and her computer. She had taken the bus to San Francisco. Her first choice had been Los Angeles, but knowing her luck, she would have run into Angel. She had stayed there two months, living in motels and changing jobs every weeks or so. In January, she had decided to go to the Maine, but had finally landed in New York. There she was.
During those 3 months, Willow had explored her mutant powers. She now knew that the claws appeared because she could change into an animal, a wildcat. She had noticed this when, in a fit of rage, she had looked in the mirror. What looked at her was a girl with claws, the yellow eyes of a cat, and a bit of fur. At first, she thought she was a werewolf, but she discovered it couln't be true when she didn't change at full moon. She also discovered she had an extraordinary healing capacity. And that heightened sense of vision at night? That was great.
Willow looked up as she came face to face with wall of brick. The moon showed her a sign near the entrance.
CHARLES XAVIER'S SCHOOL FOR GIFTED YOUNGSTERS
The famous lightbulb appeared above Willow's head. "Well, I could always enrole myself in a school. I have some savings and I just have to hide the fact that I am a mutant. Anyway, I'm talented in computers. Yeah, that's a great idea!" Willow had started to talk to herself a few weeks after leaving Sunnydale. She felt alone and needed to talk to someone. She finally choose herself as a friend.
Crossing the gateway, she made her way to the front door. In her ideas, it was the perfect schoolyard. It was great outside. It had trees and flowers, some benches, a river, a basketball court? And the school? It was a castle with beautiful walls and furniture. "How to not like this place?" Willow whispered to herself.
She finally found some place to hide and sleep until the sun rises again. She closed her eyes and hoped she could live here.
* * *
Charles looked up from his desk : someone was knocking on his door. Rolling to it, he opened it to find a girl with an aura of a mutant standing outside, waiting patiently to be invited in. Smiling to her, he rolled back to his desk.
Willow was a bit nervous. Here she was, ready to enrol in a private school, demanding herself if she had enough strenght to hide her "other side". But she was feeling at peace here and that man gave her confidence. "My name is Willow..." she hesitated, "...Jamieson. My parents decided to move near my grand-mother's house. They sent me away earlier to chose a school. My car broke down a few miles from here and I stumbled on your front door. So I decided to come see the principal for further informations."
Charles looked attentively at the girl. Apparently, she had invented all that story. She probably didn't know it was a school for mutants like her. Well, he'd give her the chance to discover it by herself. "I'm professor Charles Xavier. I created this school to give gifted youngsters the chance to perform in their specific talent. This is a public school so no need to pay. We just have a very hard test to admit someone in. What is your talent, Willow?"
"Well, I'm very good with computers. Actually, I'm..hum...a hacker. And believe me, I'm damn good at it." She liked it more here within each passing hour. This M. Xavier was fantastic. And the cherry on the top? No need to pay the admission.
"So, are you interested?"
"Actually, that's the most interesting school I've found out. When could I take the test?"
"Now." He lead her to the computer room next door. Noone was there. [ Good. That will give me a chance to prevent the X-Men and the students not to give away the punch. ] He placed her in front of one of the monitor. "Show me your hacking ability."
[ That's the test? Oh boy! ] With a smile, Willow played with the board like a pianist play piano. She finally cracked the last code. "There."
Charles looked at her, surprised. That little red head had penetrated in the FBI files! "Well, I think you have no doubt what my verdict is. You're fantastic, Willow. Come on. I'll show you you're room."
* * *
The same night, Charles called all the X-Men in his office. When they were all seated (except Logan who was standing near the door), he started to explain them the situation. "Have you dicovered something different in the school?"
Suddenly standing straight, Logan said, "Yeah, there's a new scent around here."
Charles smiled. "We have a new student. Her name is Willow Jamieson... and it's probably not her real name. She told me some invented story, enrolled in the school... and have absolutely no idea that this is a school for mutants. I want her to discover by herself. I'd like you to go in the rooms to pass out the message." When they were all out, he went back to his bedroom and fell asleep.
* * *
That morning, Willow was a busy bee. First, she took a shower, got dressed and went to the cafeteria to take something to eat. She was quite happy to discover it was early and that no students were out of bed yet. After that, she gave herself the opportunity to visits some classrooms. When she noticed it was waking up hour for everybody, she hide in her room for about 1 hour, right until the time the bell rang. She got out and almost ran to professor Xavier's office. He was waiting for her right there with her schedule.
"Normally, I give the physics class, Willow. I had a free period this morning. I'll show you the first room. After that, I'm sure you could ask someone your directions. You'll see it's small groups in class. I'm pretty sure you'll make friends very fast."
Willow heard the word friends and forgot about everything else. She could have friends again. When she entered in the classroom, all the eyes turned on her. For a moment, the old Willow came back as well as her shyness. Turning her head, she met the eyes of the martial arts teacher. Then she notice the great hair, the great mouth, the great shoulders, those great hands, etc. Buffy saying : A fixation on insignificant detail is a definite crush sign. [Insignificant? Yeah, like that great body is insignificant...]
"Willow?"
"Oops, sorry. I was lost in the space. You were saying?"
"This is Logan. He's going to teach you the basics of martial arts. Have a good day."
Taking place on the floor between two students, Willow forced her mind to come back to reality. [No time for spaceout, Will.] Turning her head to her right side, a seventeen years old girl smiled at her. She had long brown hair and two striking white spots of hair on the front. "Hi, I'm Mary."
"I'm Willow. Nice to meet you." Willow was surprised. In Sunnydale, it would have take several weeks before being talked to. If you are dressed as a geek, you get insulted by the snobs. If you are dressed as a snob, nerds don't see you and you've got a series of tests to be accepted by other snobs. If you dress like Willow did at the moment, darkly, you get ignored for an undetermined mount of time. Here, people were friendly.
She would have friends.
Part 2
After the martial arts class, Willow stayed with Mary. It was the first time she spoke to a friend in three months. "Mary, could you help me? I'm a bit lost."
"Sure, what is your next class?"
"Biology."
"That's with Dr Jean Grey. I'm in this class too. Actually, I"m in the lab most of the time. I'm... interested in physiology and energy. You'll see. She's great." They walked together to the laboratory. "Hi, Jean."
"Hello, Mary. You must be Willow. Welcome to the lab." Jean remembered what Xavier had said. So, without giving her the "punch", she decided to do a little test. Waiting for the students to calm down, she walked to the blackboard. "Calm down everyone. Today, we're going to study a particularly difficult and disturbing chapter in biology : mutation." She observed Willow at that moment. The girl couldn't have bigger eyes and be more attentive. [Yep, she is definitly a mutant.]
* * *
The first day was the most exausting. Willow went to bed early, trying to absorb everything she had learn and everyone she had met that day. First of all, her new friend, Mary. Intelligent, curious, charming smile, a bit shy and that weird habit of hers to wear gloves everywhere. At lunch time, she had presented her her boyfriend Bobby. Polite, definitly wonderful, a real gentleman. She didn't really had time to meet other students. But Mary had assured her there wasn't many other people to meet that was around seventeen. Most of them were twelve. As for the teachers, she new almost everyone of them. Jean Grey was a beautiful lady. Intelligent, always seems to be in control of situation, dating that hunk Scott... "Focus, Willow." Scott was the mecanics teacher. Interested in what in teach, concentred, calm, but a bit too stoic. Ororoe. [What a weird name.] She's the specialist of chemistry. [Maybe an experiment made her hair turn white.] Explain simply, everybody listen to her, noone understand a thing. Professor Xavier was clear, simple. No other words. But Willow's favorite one, Logan. [O.K. gotta work with the sense of humor, but absolutely gorgeous!]
The second day was a riot compared to the first one. Willow understood that the adults teached more than one subject.
The third day, she was in an already deep friendship with Mary. The girl was fantastic. She had admited to Willow that once, she had had a crush on Logan. The red head understood her too well. They had spend their lunch hour together, trading childhood histories. None of the two spoke about the recents adventures. Sometimes, Bobby would join them after class. They would then spend the night talking and laughing. Willow was happy. About that she was sure.
The only thing that could make her feel a bit sad, was that she couldn't talk to her new friends about her biggest problem. They would hate her for sure and professor Xavier would probably kick her out.
Fourth day was now on and almost finished. The last class was english and Willow had happily saluted Ororoe when she had learned Mary was in this class with her. When the class started, Willow installed herself comfortably in her chair and listened, chewing on her pencil. She had discovered that she had that habit of chewing things... discovered it like one day before she looked into the mirror to find the two elongated canines of a wildcat. She had been almost has surprised when she willed them to retract and they did just that.
[I'm bored. Totally bored.] She started to scratch the desk with her nails, make her fingers play across the desk, scratch her nails, make her...
"What the hell?"
Willow turned her head to find Mary starring at her hand. Looking down, she realized it wasn't nails at the end of her fingers. But claws. Jerking away from the desk, Willow lifted herself from the chair and ran out of the room. She ran and ran until she reached her room. Yanking the door open, she took the bag out from under her bed and packed her things quickly. Hearing footsteps coming her way, she decided the window was a safer escape than the front door.
Jumping out in the still cold hair of April, she wished she had come to New York a bit later. It was still cold outside and she didn't know how far was the next habitation. Feeling someone a bit too close for her like, she let the wildcat in her emerge. She took her bag and slung it over her shoulder as she made a wild dash to the gateway. Stepping outside of the yard, she allowed herself a little break, than the cat pushed her legs to run faster than a human could. She was now a predator that was in danger to be discovered. She had to get as far as possible from that school...
...and forget her friends once again.
* * *
Without a warning, the door of his office was opened. Charles looked up from his desk to find his oldest students come in. "What is it, Storm?"
Ororoe stepped closer to him. "Your plan kind of...didn't work out. Rogue saw her claws. Willow knows she saw it and ran out of the mansion with her bag. She's in the woods."
Charles turned to Logan. He knew Willow was interested in him and maybe it was a bit reciprocated. "Wolverine, go in the woods and find her. Try to make her come back."
With that, Wolverine went out of the office but was stopped by Scott's voice. "Don't take my motorcycle this time."
"In the woods? Yeah, like I'd like to kill myself," Wolverine muttered. He took his coat and stepped out in the late afternoon air. Knowing she must have at least 15 minutes start ahead of him, he pushed his legs to maximum speed imediatly. After 20 minutes of running, he took time to rest. Seeting on the ground, he let his mind go freely. [Come on, she can't have gone so much away.] Then, his nose picked up her scent. Suddenly feeling enough rested, he stood up and stepped back in the chase. "Better hide, little red ridding hood, because de big bad wolf is coming."
* * *
Willow wasn't aware of the mutant following her. She was too preocupied to try to know if someone was following her. It was when it was too late that she realized she should have been more attentive. She felt down on the ground when someone bumped into her...hard. Looking up, she met Logan's eyes. Willow growled, "What do you want? To insult me just like that bimbo Harmony? Just leave me alone." With that, she walked away.
Logan slammed her into a nearby tree. "Wake up! You're not in a dream, it's reality. I don't know who this Harmony is and I don't care. The only thing I know is that the professor is worried and told me to come after you."
"He probably just want to give me to the autorities to have "forgotten" to tell him I was a mutant. Now get out of my way if you don't want me to shred you into little pieces." She pushed him hard.
Logan had enough. He lost control on his basic instincts. Standing up, the adamantium claws got out of his hands. Wolverine had awakened.
Willow couldn't get past the claws. "Goddess, you're one too." She felt the anger leave her body : the canines retracted as well as the claws, the fur disapeared as well as the yellow tint in her eyes. She fell on the ground.
Wolverine retracted the claws and came close to her. "You're not alone, Willow or whatever your name is. Why do you think the professor let you come in the school without asking you a billion questions?" Willow looked up in surprise. "That right. He's a mutant as well as the rest of the school. Each one of the teachers are mutants called X-Men. And the students? Your friend Mary absorb energy from people she touches and her boyfriend Bobby control the ice. They are worried senseless. So, what do you say? Should I let you go away or would you like to back with me?"
Willow didn't have to think twice. Here she was, running away from a school where no matter what you were, they understood you. She had friends who had known all long that she was a mutant and hadn't batted an eye. And she wanted to go away? What a joke! She took Wolverine's hand and let him pull her up. Smiling at him, they walked toward the school in silence.
Finally, she had found someone to understand her.
Part 3
Knock knock knock
"Come in! Ah, Willow. Welcome back."
Willow smiled shyly at the professor. She was starting to wonder what she was thinking when ran out of the school. "Sorry for having left like that. I just thought..."
"I know. You thought I was angry at you to have hide your little secret. I know you're questionning yourself about how I know that and how I knew you were a mutant. I'm psychic. I can read minds, I can control them, and I am telepath. Come with me." Charles got out of his office, Willow following with Wolverine at her side. He led her to an elevator hidden in the wall.
[How come I didn't discovered this sooner?]
One floor below, Charles gave her the tour of the real school. Willow saw a laboratory and a medical center. Jean was there and the red head learned that the doctor was born with the gift of telekenesy. Ororoe was there too. She soon discovered that everybody called her Storm and that she control the elements of meteo. The next thing she visited was the second basement. It was a garage, [if you can call it like that.] Willow looked astonished at that kind of modern plane. Scott, or Cyclops as you prefer, was there. She had always wondered why he was always wearing red sunglasses. Now she had the answer. Because of these beams he couldn't control.
By the end of the visit, Willow was exausted. It had been a hard day for her. She had learn more today than any day in her life. Even more than when she was research girl back in Sunnydale...that was a totally different secret. But she knew she wouldn't be able to tell them tonight. She was too tired. She'd have to talk to the X-Men tomorrow. Right now, all she wanted to do was sleep. And she did just that.
* * *
"Logan."
He turned around to find Storm coming his way. "The professor wants us in his office. Willow came to him this morning with an other secret to tell us." He didn't take time to groan or anything. Willow wanted to tell them something and he wanted to hear it.
A few minutes later, all the X-Men were in the office, waiting for Willow to start. She told them about vampires, her friends Xander and Buffy, the Slayer and the Watcher, the hellmouth, her discoveries about being a mutant. All that time, they were all quiet, not wanting to disturb her from her history.
When she was finished, Willow looked at all the faces one by one, not knowing what to expect from them. At her surprise, they took it very well. They had seen weird things in their life and they wouldn't start to denied some weirder facts.
Charles was proud of her. She had let her guard and doubts down to tell them her life. She trusted them and that pleased him to no end. It was obvious, she was happy to have told them. Probably got rid of some weight of her shoulders. Seeing she was fidgeting, he let her go. He knew she had some things to discuss with her friends.
Willow went out, trying to find...Rogue as they called her. But someone stopped her. Turning around, she found herself nose to nose with Wolverine. "Hey, thanks for telling us all that stuff. You trusted us and that means something to me."
"No, thanks to you for slamming me into a tree and making me see the reality. If you hadn't follow me, where the hell could I be by now?"
Wolverine smiled at her and bend down to give her a light kiss. Than he gave her a small push outside. "Come on. Someone can't wait to see you, Wildcat." He then walked back to his classroom.
Willow smiled at his back. [Hum, Wildcat. I like that.]
* * *
"And he called you Wildcat?"
"Yeah. I just love it," Willow answered.
"I bet you are," Rogue gigled. "He could have given you any other nickname and you would have liked it."
Willow was glad she and Rogue had resolved their problems. The week before, they had talked for 5 hours straight about anything and everything. She had learn about Rogue's first kiss, her first meeting with Wolverine, her love with Bobby, Iceman as she called him sometimes. Then, Willow would talk about the Slayerettes, the incident in the school gym with Harmony. Then they would talk about what a great guy was Wolverine. It was normally around that time that Bobby would go to the bathroom to escape the conversation. Willow had laugh the first time it had happened.
Bobby saw Rogue and Wildcat talk under one of the trees near the river. Walking slowly toward them, he tried to make less noises as possible. But he knew Willow would discover him soon enough because of those damn senses of hers.
Willow felt Iceman sneek on them. She winked at Rogue and let lose her claws and canines. Her friend gave her a weird look but said nothing. When she felt the poor guy close enough, she jumped on her feet and "BOO!" The two girls laughed like there was no tomorrow when they saw Iceman's face turning white. His look was priceless.
"Yeah, yeah, you scared me. So, what are my two favorite pals talking about?"
"We were talking about what a great ass Wolverine has," Willow said inocently. "Just joking Mr. Freeze."
"You're not gonna let go that ridiculous nickname, are you?"
"Nope." The red head gave him a smile. "Well, I'll just let you two lovebirds snuggle a bit. I've got homeworks to do. See you later!"
"Bye Wildcat!" Rogue said.
At the entrance of the mansion, Willow turned around and looked at her friends. Yes, she, Wildcat, a mutant, had friends and parents she never had.
She was home.
Epilogue
Sunnydale - May 2002
Buffy was slammed hard in a tombstone. Standing up quickly, she punched the vampire away, but another one jumped on her. She was seriously outnumbered. Turning toward her friends, she saw they weren't better than her. Xander was struggling with a vampire, Cordelia was screaming her head out and Giles was trying to stake one with no success.
Suddenly, a vampire was hit by some kind of red beam of light. Nearby, a tree was it by lightning and felt on a vampire, crushing him. The weirdess was that there was no clouds of storm, just a clear sky and some stars. One of the vampire tried to jump on Giles, but he stayed in the air like he was floating and ended up flying on a tree branch. When he turned into dust, the other bloodsuckers ran away like a bunch of scared kittens. Turning around, the Slayerettes saw a whole gang of weird people standing near a mausoleum. But what catched their eyes was the small silhouette with red hair standing by their side.
The Wildcat was back in Sunnydale.
Sunnydale - November 2000
It's 9 o'clock in the morning. First period is on : gym class. Students pair up for an auto-defense class. Cordelia is with Xander, Willow with Buffy (Larry didn't want to try it again with her). But those 4 friends were discussing about an other matter.
"Giles want us to join him in the library after class," Buffy said. "I talked to him this morning and he was quite disturbed. He was really freaky : totally un-Giles like."
"I wonder what disturbed him so much."
"I don't know, Xan," Buffy answered. "I guess it could be all those mutants that decided to let the world know of their presence. Giles told me he didn't like it."
"I don't know," Willow said. "I find them courageous to admit that they are different. People just freak out because they don't know anything about them."
"Will, they don't know anything about demons and stuff and I'm sure they would freak out if they ever find out about what goes bump in the night. Demons are from hell. But those mutants are humans and most of them are more dangerous than vampires."
Suddenly, Harmony bumped into the Slayer. "Watch out where you walk freak-girl."
Willow turned toward the snob to defend her friend. "I think it's you who walked in her."
"I wasn't talking to you geek!"
"Fashion victim!"
"Waste of place!"
"Bleached brain!"
"Totally undesirable nerd who was dumped by her boyfriend that found her useless and a complete waste of time." Harmony plastered a big smile on her face that told everyone she had win.
That was pure cruelty for Willow, especially when the remark came from that blond bimbo. But instead of hidding her emotions as usual, it started to boiled. As the snob walked away, Xander and Buffy understood something was wrong. Normally, the red head would have just ignore her and turn away, but something was different this time : Willow wasn't controlling herself. She walked steadily in the same direction Harmony took.
When she arrived just behind her back, the blond turned around and watched her with a look of distaste. "What do you want? To be insulted again, loser?"
WHAM!
Harmony screamed. The teacher looked at where the call was from. Willow was shaking in rage and fear and Harmony was crying in pain on the floor. When she came closer, she notice that the red head was looking fearfully at her hand. Coming closer to her, she saw claws. That's when Harmony looked up, her face bathered in blood because of the wounds.
Willow backed up until she reached the wall. She didn't know what happened. One moment she was advancing toward the blond girl in the intention to smack her good, the other minute, her nails were extending into claws.
Not hearing her friends call to her, she ran out of the gym, out of the school toward the Rosenberg's house. She should have stayed with Buffy and Xander and Giles and... well Cordelia. But they wouln'd have understand. She wasn't one of them anymore.
She was a mutant.
Part 1
New York - March 2001
Willow slammed the car's door. "This thing just has to break down in the middle of the night!" She screamed in rage. Knowing the car was just good to be shredded into little pieces, she took her bag and started to walk.
The morning she had run back home, she had packed some souvenirs, a bit of clothes and her computer. She had taken the bus to San Francisco. Her first choice had been Los Angeles, but knowing her luck, she would have run into Angel. She had stayed there two months, living in motels and changing jobs every weeks or so. In January, she had decided to go to the Maine, but had finally landed in New York. There she was.
During those 3 months, Willow had explored her mutant powers. She now knew that the claws appeared because she could change into an animal, a wildcat. She had noticed this when, in a fit of rage, she had looked in the mirror. What looked at her was a girl with claws, the yellow eyes of a cat, and a bit of fur. At first, she thought she was a werewolf, but she discovered it couln't be true when she didn't change at full moon. She also discovered she had an extraordinary healing capacity. And that heightened sense of vision at night? That was great.
Willow looked up as she came face to face with wall of brick. The moon showed her a sign near the entrance.
CHARLES XAVIER'S SCHOOL FOR GIFTED YOUNGSTERS
The famous lightbulb appeared above Willow's head. "Well, I could always enrole myself in a school. I have some savings and I just have to hide the fact that I am a mutant. Anyway, I'm talented in computers. Yeah, that's a great idea!" Willow had started to talk to herself a few weeks after leaving Sunnydale. She felt alone and needed to talk to someone. She finally choose herself as a friend.
Crossing the gateway, she made her way to the front door. In her ideas, it was the perfect schoolyard. It was great outside. It had trees and flowers, some benches, a river, a basketball court? And the school? It was a castle with beautiful walls and furniture. "How to not like this place?" Willow whispered to herself.
She finally found some place to hide and sleep until the sun rises again. She closed her eyes and hoped she could live here.
* * *
Charles looked up from his desk : someone was knocking on his door. Rolling to it, he opened it to find a girl with an aura of a mutant standing outside, waiting patiently to be invited in. Smiling to her, he rolled back to his desk.
Willow was a bit nervous. Here she was, ready to enrol in a private school, demanding herself if she had enough strenght to hide her "other side". But she was feeling at peace here and that man gave her confidence. "My name is Willow..." she hesitated, "...Jamieson. My parents decided to move near my grand-mother's house. They sent me away earlier to chose a school. My car broke down a few miles from here and I stumbled on your front door. So I decided to come see the principal for further informations."
Charles looked attentively at the girl. Apparently, she had invented all that story. She probably didn't know it was a school for mutants like her. Well, he'd give her the chance to discover it by herself. "I'm professor Charles Xavier. I created this school to give gifted youngsters the chance to perform in their specific talent. This is a public school so no need to pay. We just have a very hard test to admit someone in. What is your talent, Willow?"
"Well, I'm very good with computers. Actually, I'm..hum...a hacker. And believe me, I'm damn good at it." She liked it more here within each passing hour. This M. Xavier was fantastic. And the cherry on the top? No need to pay the admission.
"So, are you interested?"
"Actually, that's the most interesting school I've found out. When could I take the test?"
"Now." He lead her to the computer room next door. Noone was there. [ Good. That will give me a chance to prevent the X-Men and the students not to give away the punch. ] He placed her in front of one of the monitor. "Show me your hacking ability."
[ That's the test? Oh boy! ] With a smile, Willow played with the board like a pianist play piano. She finally cracked the last code. "There."
Charles looked at her, surprised. That little red head had penetrated in the FBI files! "Well, I think you have no doubt what my verdict is. You're fantastic, Willow. Come on. I'll show you you're room."
* * *
The same night, Charles called all the X-Men in his office. When they were all seated (except Logan who was standing near the door), he started to explain them the situation. "Have you dicovered something different in the school?"
Suddenly standing straight, Logan said, "Yeah, there's a new scent around here."
Charles smiled. "We have a new student. Her name is Willow Jamieson... and it's probably not her real name. She told me some invented story, enrolled in the school... and have absolutely no idea that this is a school for mutants. I want her to discover by herself. I'd like you to go in the rooms to pass out the message." When they were all out, he went back to his bedroom and fell asleep.
* * *
That morning, Willow was a busy bee. First, she took a shower, got dressed and went to the cafeteria to take something to eat. She was quite happy to discover it was early and that no students were out of bed yet. After that, she gave herself the opportunity to visits some classrooms. When she noticed it was waking up hour for everybody, she hide in her room for about 1 hour, right until the time the bell rang. She got out and almost ran to professor Xavier's office. He was waiting for her right there with her schedule.
"Normally, I give the physics class, Willow. I had a free period this morning. I'll show you the first room. After that, I'm sure you could ask someone your directions. You'll see it's small groups in class. I'm pretty sure you'll make friends very fast."
Willow heard the word friends and forgot about everything else. She could have friends again. When she entered in the classroom, all the eyes turned on her. For a moment, the old Willow came back as well as her shyness. Turning her head, she met the eyes of the martial arts teacher. Then she notice the great hair, the great mouth, the great shoulders, those great hands, etc. Buffy saying : A fixation on insignificant detail is a definite crush sign. [Insignificant? Yeah, like that great body is insignificant...]
"Willow?"
"Oops, sorry. I was lost in the space. You were saying?"
"This is Logan. He's going to teach you the basics of martial arts. Have a good day."
Taking place on the floor between two students, Willow forced her mind to come back to reality. [No time for spaceout, Will.] Turning her head to her right side, a seventeen years old girl smiled at her. She had long brown hair and two striking white spots of hair on the front. "Hi, I'm Mary."
"I'm Willow. Nice to meet you." Willow was surprised. In Sunnydale, it would have take several weeks before being talked to. If you are dressed as a geek, you get insulted by the snobs. If you are dressed as a snob, nerds don't see you and you've got a series of tests to be accepted by other snobs. If you dress like Willow did at the moment, darkly, you get ignored for an undetermined mount of time. Here, people were friendly.
She would have friends.
Part 2
After the martial arts class, Willow stayed with Mary. It was the first time she spoke to a friend in three months. "Mary, could you help me? I'm a bit lost."
"Sure, what is your next class?"
"Biology."
"That's with Dr Jean Grey. I'm in this class too. Actually, I"m in the lab most of the time. I'm... interested in physiology and energy. You'll see. She's great." They walked together to the laboratory. "Hi, Jean."
"Hello, Mary. You must be Willow. Welcome to the lab." Jean remembered what Xavier had said. So, without giving her the "punch", she decided to do a little test. Waiting for the students to calm down, she walked to the blackboard. "Calm down everyone. Today, we're going to study a particularly difficult and disturbing chapter in biology : mutation." She observed Willow at that moment. The girl couldn't have bigger eyes and be more attentive. [Yep, she is definitly a mutant.]
* * *
The first day was the most exausting. Willow went to bed early, trying to absorb everything she had learn and everyone she had met that day. First of all, her new friend, Mary. Intelligent, curious, charming smile, a bit shy and that weird habit of hers to wear gloves everywhere. At lunch time, she had presented her her boyfriend Bobby. Polite, definitly wonderful, a real gentleman. She didn't really had time to meet other students. But Mary had assured her there wasn't many other people to meet that was around seventeen. Most of them were twelve. As for the teachers, she new almost everyone of them. Jean Grey was a beautiful lady. Intelligent, always seems to be in control of situation, dating that hunk Scott... "Focus, Willow." Scott was the mecanics teacher. Interested in what in teach, concentred, calm, but a bit too stoic. Ororoe. [What a weird name.] She's the specialist of chemistry. [Maybe an experiment made her hair turn white.] Explain simply, everybody listen to her, noone understand a thing. Professor Xavier was clear, simple. No other words. But Willow's favorite one, Logan. [O.K. gotta work with the sense of humor, but absolutely gorgeous!]
The second day was a riot compared to the first one. Willow understood that the adults teached more than one subject.
The third day, she was in an already deep friendship with Mary. The girl was fantastic. She had admited to Willow that once, she had had a crush on Logan. The red head understood her too well. They had spend their lunch hour together, trading childhood histories. None of the two spoke about the recents adventures. Sometimes, Bobby would join them after class. They would then spend the night talking and laughing. Willow was happy. About that she was sure.
The only thing that could make her feel a bit sad, was that she couldn't talk to her new friends about her biggest problem. They would hate her for sure and professor Xavier would probably kick her out.
Fourth day was now on and almost finished. The last class was english and Willow had happily saluted Ororoe when she had learned Mary was in this class with her. When the class started, Willow installed herself comfortably in her chair and listened, chewing on her pencil. She had discovered that she had that habit of chewing things... discovered it like one day before she looked into the mirror to find the two elongated canines of a wildcat. She had been almost has surprised when she willed them to retract and they did just that.
[I'm bored. Totally bored.] She started to scratch the desk with her nails, make her fingers play across the desk, scratch her nails, make her...
"What the hell?"
Willow turned her head to find Mary starring at her hand. Looking down, she realized it wasn't nails at the end of her fingers. But claws. Jerking away from the desk, Willow lifted herself from the chair and ran out of the room. She ran and ran until she reached her room. Yanking the door open, she took the bag out from under her bed and packed her things quickly. Hearing footsteps coming her way, she decided the window was a safer escape than the front door.
Jumping out in the still cold hair of April, she wished she had come to New York a bit later. It was still cold outside and she didn't know how far was the next habitation. Feeling someone a bit too close for her like, she let the wildcat in her emerge. She took her bag and slung it over her shoulder as she made a wild dash to the gateway. Stepping outside of the yard, she allowed herself a little break, than the cat pushed her legs to run faster than a human could. She was now a predator that was in danger to be discovered. She had to get as far as possible from that school...
...and forget her friends once again.
* * *
Without a warning, the door of his office was opened. Charles looked up from his desk to find his oldest students come in. "What is it, Storm?"
Ororoe stepped closer to him. "Your plan kind of...didn't work out. Rogue saw her claws. Willow knows she saw it and ran out of the mansion with her bag. She's in the woods."
Charles turned to Logan. He knew Willow was interested in him and maybe it was a bit reciprocated. "Wolverine, go in the woods and find her. Try to make her come back."
With that, Wolverine went out of the office but was stopped by Scott's voice. "Don't take my motorcycle this time."
"In the woods? Yeah, like I'd like to kill myself," Wolverine muttered. He took his coat and stepped out in the late afternoon air. Knowing she must have at least 15 minutes start ahead of him, he pushed his legs to maximum speed imediatly. After 20 minutes of running, he took time to rest. Seeting on the ground, he let his mind go freely. [Come on, she can't have gone so much away.] Then, his nose picked up her scent. Suddenly feeling enough rested, he stood up and stepped back in the chase. "Better hide, little red ridding hood, because de big bad wolf is coming."
* * *
Willow wasn't aware of the mutant following her. She was too preocupied to try to know if someone was following her. It was when it was too late that she realized she should have been more attentive. She felt down on the ground when someone bumped into her...hard. Looking up, she met Logan's eyes. Willow growled, "What do you want? To insult me just like that bimbo Harmony? Just leave me alone." With that, she walked away.
Logan slammed her into a nearby tree. "Wake up! You're not in a dream, it's reality. I don't know who this Harmony is and I don't care. The only thing I know is that the professor is worried and told me to come after you."
"He probably just want to give me to the autorities to have "forgotten" to tell him I was a mutant. Now get out of my way if you don't want me to shred you into little pieces." She pushed him hard.
Logan had enough. He lost control on his basic instincts. Standing up, the adamantium claws got out of his hands. Wolverine had awakened.
Willow couldn't get past the claws. "Goddess, you're one too." She felt the anger leave her body : the canines retracted as well as the claws, the fur disapeared as well as the yellow tint in her eyes. She fell on the ground.
Wolverine retracted the claws and came close to her. "You're not alone, Willow or whatever your name is. Why do you think the professor let you come in the school without asking you a billion questions?" Willow looked up in surprise. "That right. He's a mutant as well as the rest of the school. Each one of the teachers are mutants called X-Men. And the students? Your friend Mary absorb energy from people she touches and her boyfriend Bobby control the ice. They are worried senseless. So, what do you say? Should I let you go away or would you like to back with me?"
Willow didn't have to think twice. Here she was, running away from a school where no matter what you were, they understood you. She had friends who had known all long that she was a mutant and hadn't batted an eye. And she wanted to go away? What a joke! She took Wolverine's hand and let him pull her up. Smiling at him, they walked toward the school in silence.
Finally, she had found someone to understand her.
Part 3
Knock knock knock
"Come in! Ah, Willow. Welcome back."
Willow smiled shyly at the professor. She was starting to wonder what she was thinking when ran out of the school. "Sorry for having left like that. I just thought..."
"I know. You thought I was angry at you to have hide your little secret. I know you're questionning yourself about how I know that and how I knew you were a mutant. I'm psychic. I can read minds, I can control them, and I am telepath. Come with me." Charles got out of his office, Willow following with Wolverine at her side. He led her to an elevator hidden in the wall.
[How come I didn't discovered this sooner?]
One floor below, Charles gave her the tour of the real school. Willow saw a laboratory and a medical center. Jean was there and the red head learned that the doctor was born with the gift of telekenesy. Ororoe was there too. She soon discovered that everybody called her Storm and that she control the elements of meteo. The next thing she visited was the second basement. It was a garage, [if you can call it like that.] Willow looked astonished at that kind of modern plane. Scott, or Cyclops as you prefer, was there. She had always wondered why he was always wearing red sunglasses. Now she had the answer. Because of these beams he couldn't control.
By the end of the visit, Willow was exausted. It had been a hard day for her. She had learn more today than any day in her life. Even more than when she was research girl back in Sunnydale...that was a totally different secret. But she knew she wouldn't be able to tell them tonight. She was too tired. She'd have to talk to the X-Men tomorrow. Right now, all she wanted to do was sleep. And she did just that.
* * *
"Logan."
He turned around to find Storm coming his way. "The professor wants us in his office. Willow came to him this morning with an other secret to tell us." He didn't take time to groan or anything. Willow wanted to tell them something and he wanted to hear it.
A few minutes later, all the X-Men were in the office, waiting for Willow to start. She told them about vampires, her friends Xander and Buffy, the Slayer and the Watcher, the hellmouth, her discoveries about being a mutant. All that time, they were all quiet, not wanting to disturb her from her history.
When she was finished, Willow looked at all the faces one by one, not knowing what to expect from them. At her surprise, they took it very well. They had seen weird things in their life and they wouldn't start to denied some weirder facts.
Charles was proud of her. She had let her guard and doubts down to tell them her life. She trusted them and that pleased him to no end. It was obvious, she was happy to have told them. Probably got rid of some weight of her shoulders. Seeing she was fidgeting, he let her go. He knew she had some things to discuss with her friends.
Willow went out, trying to find...Rogue as they called her. But someone stopped her. Turning around, she found herself nose to nose with Wolverine. "Hey, thanks for telling us all that stuff. You trusted us and that means something to me."
"No, thanks to you for slamming me into a tree and making me see the reality. If you hadn't follow me, where the hell could I be by now?"
Wolverine smiled at her and bend down to give her a light kiss. Than he gave her a small push outside. "Come on. Someone can't wait to see you, Wildcat." He then walked back to his classroom.
Willow smiled at his back. [Hum, Wildcat. I like that.]
* * *
"And he called you Wildcat?"
"Yeah. I just love it," Willow answered.
"I bet you are," Rogue gigled. "He could have given you any other nickname and you would have liked it."
Willow was glad she and Rogue had resolved their problems. The week before, they had talked for 5 hours straight about anything and everything. She had learn about Rogue's first kiss, her first meeting with Wolverine, her love with Bobby, Iceman as she called him sometimes. Then, Willow would talk about the Slayerettes, the incident in the school gym with Harmony. Then they would talk about what a great guy was Wolverine. It was normally around that time that Bobby would go to the bathroom to escape the conversation. Willow had laugh the first time it had happened.
Bobby saw Rogue and Wildcat talk under one of the trees near the river. Walking slowly toward them, he tried to make less noises as possible. But he knew Willow would discover him soon enough because of those damn senses of hers.
Willow felt Iceman sneek on them. She winked at Rogue and let lose her claws and canines. Her friend gave her a weird look but said nothing. When she felt the poor guy close enough, she jumped on her feet and "BOO!" The two girls laughed like there was no tomorrow when they saw Iceman's face turning white. His look was priceless.
"Yeah, yeah, you scared me. So, what are my two favorite pals talking about?"
"We were talking about what a great ass Wolverine has," Willow said inocently. "Just joking Mr. Freeze."
"You're not gonna let go that ridiculous nickname, are you?"
"Nope." The red head gave him a smile. "Well, I'll just let you two lovebirds snuggle a bit. I've got homeworks to do. See you later!"
"Bye Wildcat!" Rogue said.
At the entrance of the mansion, Willow turned around and looked at her friends. Yes, she, Wildcat, a mutant, had friends and parents she never had.
She was home.
Epilogue
Sunnydale - May 2002
Buffy was slammed hard in a tombstone. Standing up quickly, she punched the vampire away, but another one jumped on her. She was seriously outnumbered. Turning toward her friends, she saw they weren't better than her. Xander was struggling with a vampire, Cordelia was screaming her head out and Giles was trying to stake one with no success.
Suddenly, a vampire was hit by some kind of red beam of light. Nearby, a tree was it by lightning and felt on a vampire, crushing him. The weirdess was that there was no clouds of storm, just a clear sky and some stars. One of the vampire tried to jump on Giles, but he stayed in the air like he was floating and ended up flying on a tree branch. When he turned into dust, the other bloodsuckers ran away like a bunch of scared kittens. Turning around, the Slayerettes saw a whole gang of weird people standing near a mausoleum. But what catched their eyes was the small silhouette with red hair standing by their side.
The Wildcat was back in Sunnydale.