EDITED A/N: Hi folks. Please be aware that this fic was started when I was a tween, and now I'm finished with college. I recently went back and edited the earlier chapters (including this one) as best I could, but it no longer really fits my writing style. So if you start reading now, you will notice major style changes (and improvements) as the fic progresses. Anyway, please enjoy!
A/N: In later chapters I add in a small amount of Kurt's Catholic aspect from the comics, but just a little bit. Zoey/Glitz is an original character. ENJOY, PLEASE! Oh, takes place in an AU between the first and second seasons, before the New Mutants join but with Magneto and Mystique present.
Scott, Logan, Jean, Ororo, Kurt, Rogue, and Professor Xavier all waited near the X-Van, getting ready to head out on an unknown mission. They had been told not to wear their uniforms, so instead they donned their winter coats, scarves, and hats. Wolverine and Storm were somewhat tense, while Jean and Scott were both pumped up and ready to go. Xavier sat in his wheelchair, looking withdrawn. He was needed at the mansion and would not be going on the mission. Kitty and Evan could not join them, as they were already home with their families for the holidays. No one had any idea what the mission could possibly be, and they wondered why it had been so urgent that it couldn't wait until after Christmas. After everything was prepared and the X-Men were ready to leave, the professor finally spoke.
"I apologize for sending you on a mission this close to the holidays, but this task is of the utmost importance." Professor X explained, looking up at Scott and Logan. "You are not to return until it has been completed, and you must not let Magneto or the Brotherhood interfere."
"Alright," Logan said, somewhat impatiently. "What's the mission?"
Professor Xavier drew in a long breath, and then said: "I have located another mutant using Cerebro. Her name is Zoey Harvest, she is about fifteen years old, and you'll find her in midtown Manhattan."
Scott made a sound of annoyance. "What? All this just to find some girl? Come on, Professor, can't it wait until after New Year's?"
"I'm afraid not." Xavier resolved. "Please do not waste any time. She's a teleporter among other things, so try not to scare her away." He hesitated. "I only hope it's not too late."
"Sorry, professor, but why exactly is this…Zoey so important? Why do we have to get her now?" Jean asked, skeptical.
"Because, Jean," Xavier started. "Miss Harvest is dying."
"Dyin'?" Rogue interjected. "Whaddya mean, dyin'?"
"I mean exactly that," the professor explained. "Zoey is homeless, and I can sense the pain and illness she is enduring." He added, "I doubt that she will survive much longer on the streets. Therefore, I insist you make haste."
"Of course, professor," Storm said with a slight nod of her head. "But you mentioned Magneto and the Brotherhood. Do you believe they will attempt to recruit her as well?"
"Yes, Ororo, I do. Zoey's powers are quite useful. If someone else finds her and she joins them, I'm afraid we shall have a bit of an issue on our hands," he said. "So please, be careful."
"Sure thing, Charles." Logan grumbled, turning toward the van. "Come on."
Storm followed suit, with Jean and Rogue trailing after her. Scott gave a small wave to the professor, then left as well.
"See you later, Professor!" Kurt exclaimed, disappearing with a soft bamf.
He reappeared inside of the van, and buckled himself into his seat. Logan was already at the wheel, with Storm in shotgun and Jean, Scott, and Rogue getting settled in the back.
Once everyone was buckled in and ready, they began their drive.
"I can't believe it. A mutant kid, alone in Manhattan?" Scott said to no one in particular.
"I just hope we find her fast so we can be back in time for Christmas," Kurt added, unable to sit still. "Wouldn't want to miss that!"
Jean rolled her eyes. "How can you think about Christmas at a time like this?" She probed. "You heard Professor Xavier, this Zoey girl is dying. We have to help her."
Kurt pouted and shrunk back in his seat. "Well, yeah, we have to help her…I just want to do it before Christmas." He said with a shrug, then thoughtfully added, "I've never met another teleporter before."
The drive only took about an hour and a half. It would have been shorter, if not for the holiday traffic. Logan hunted around for a parking garage that would accept a vehicle as bulky as the X-Van.
Kurt decided that he had better wear his image inducer. After all, it was crowded city—not to mention they didn't want to scare the girl they were trying to recruit.
Once they were able to park, Storm went over the plan with the team. They gathered on a sidewalk outside of a parking garage, altogether looking like a bunch of tourists.
"Jean will have to use her powers to locate Zoey," Ororo said. "Otherwise, we will never find her. It may be difficult in an area this crowded, but she could be anywhere."
Jean nodded in agreement. "I should be able to do that." She said, closing her eyes. "Just…give me a minute."
"Take your time." Wolverine grumbled as he leaned against a wall.
"She's pretty close," Jean murmured. "Thirty-sixth street…on sixth avenue."
Scott looked up to the nearest street sign. "That's just a few blocks away."
"Did you notice anything else about her whereabouts?" Storm asked.
Jean nodded. "Yeah—it looked like she was in a theatre…but all the lights were off, and there were boards covering the entrances. It looked abandoned."
"Well, that's a better start than nothin', I guess." Logan said as he began to walk. "Let's grab some coffee first, if you don't think she's going anywhere."
The team ended up stopping for a light breakfast, some coffee and hot chocolate. Storm made sure to pick up something for their target as well. It was freezing. The air bit their faces. They only spent five minutes at the coffee shop before they braved the cold again and returned to their trek. They walked for about fifteen minutes before they came to what seemed to be an abandoned off-Broadway theatre, the front entrance locked and bolted and boarded-over, plastered with fliers and ads.
"She's in there," Jean said. "We can't just break down the door. There are people everywhere and that will probably freak her out."
Rogue looked around at the massive crowds. "Well, we can't exact teleport, either. Everyone's gonna see us," she pointed out.
"You'd be surprised," Logan quipped. "Bet it wouldn't be the weirdest thing any of 'em have seen today."
"I can try to use my telepathy to mask our presence," Jean suggested. "So maybe no one will notice."
"Okay, but, I can't see where I'm going," Kurt said, gesturing to the completely blocked door.
"If I use my power to show you what Zoey can see from the inside, would that work?" Jean asked.
All eyes fell on Kurt. He put a gloved hand behind his head with a sheepish smile. "Well…I guess it wouldn't hurt to try." He said. "Grab on…I guess my power comes in handy at least, for breaking and entering."
Scott just smirked at him as everyone lightly touched him. Suddenly, he could see the inside of the abandoned theatre in his mind. It was dark and lit with a few candles. With a soft 'bamf', the team was in the building. For an instant, there was beautiful piano music—but it was quickly cut off once they materialized. Kurt heard a quiet gasp from far off in the poorly-lit theatre. Rogue pulled him to the side, the team hiding behind dusty seats in pairs of two. Nightcrawler squinted as a dim flashlight shone in their general direction.
"Who's there?" A low yet feminine voice demanded.
Rogue clung to Kurt, who kept his eyes on Storm and Wolverine. They came in here to find Zoey—why were they afraid of getting caught? Finally, Ororo rose from her hiding place, much to the apparent distaste of the young girl.
"You're not welcome here," Kurt heard the girl say. "I don't know how you got in here, but get out. Now."
"Zoey, please, I just want to—"
"What?" The girl snapped. "How do you know my name?"
Kurt heard a strange sound, something like chimes, or glass falling, a 'ching' noise. "You're from the anti-mutant group, aren't you?" Zoey's voice sounded farther away now.
Anti-mutant group?
"No, Zoey, please listen to me." Storm said calmly. "My name is Ororo. I just want to help you."
"Yeah?" The girl retorted. "Well, I don't take charity."
"Evidently not," A thick voice broke in.
Kurt looked away from Storm to see Wolverine rising. He heard Zoey take a few steps back. Seeing the adults in the faint light, Nightcrawler saw that they were both concerned. He wondered why.
"Jeez, how many of you are there? What do you want with me?"
"We're like you, kid," Wolverine started.
"No one's like me." Zoey interrupted, sounding almost desperate now. After a pause she said, "You're mutants, too?"
"Yes, we are." Storm said caringly.
"Well, prove it."
Rogue leaned in to Kurt's ear. "Ugh. I was kinda hopin' you would get to demonstrate, since she could relate to you the most. Seeing knives pop outta Logan's hands might freak her out."
The sound of Wolverine's claws shooting out echoed around the theatre. Kurt groaned quietly.
"…Do those hurt?"
"Every time."
"…What do you want?"
Kurt and Rogue let out a long breath and relaxed. Only when he saw his breath did Kurt realize how cold it was in the building.
"Logan and I are from the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters," Storm stated.
"Institute," Zoey repeated. Kurt could tell that she was intimidated by the sound of that.
"It's a school for mutants, like us. Logan and I are teachers there. If you come with us, you'll be able to live at the mansion and learn how to master your powers—and be enrolled in high school. You'll meet other mutants your age, as well." Storm explained, sounding sweet. "If you want, you may even get to join our team, the X-Men. We get to help mutants that need us. We even have codenames. Mine is Storm. Logan's is Wolverine. Perhaps you've heard of us—"
"Count me out." Zoey responded coldly. Storm looked defeated.
"Why's that, kid?" Logan grumbled.
"I'm perfectly content where I am. It's easy to be invisible here. The locals think this place is haunted. I'm doing fine here by myself, not to mention I don't trust strangers."
Now, Jean stood. Zoey gasped at the sight of her, and then scowled.
"Please, Zoey, hear us out," Jean pleaded. "We need you to come back with us. We won't leave without you."
"Alright—who else is here?" Zoey spat. "Come out."
Scott sheepishly stood up.
"All of you," she added, irritated. Reluctantly, Rogue rose, and then Kurt, too.
Nightcrawler saw her for the first time. Now he understood why Storm, Wolverine, and Jean had looked so worried when they came out of hiding. Professor Xavier was right—this girl was dying. She had dark circles practically carved under eyes, which were so bloodshot you could scarcely tell they were gold. Her short brown pigtails were in a tangled disarray, her torn clothes were nowhere near warm enough for a New York winter. Zoey's skin was stretched across her bones, thin and emaciated. She was leaning on one of the audience seats for support. Instead of a foggy cloud appearing when she exhaled, there was a burst of multicolored sparkles. These sparkles also seemed to fall from random parts of her body constantly, disappearing before they hit the ground. She was incredibly pale, which helped the theatre ghost vibe she seemed to be going for.
"Come with us, Zoey." Scott offered with a smile. "We're like a family, and we'd be happy to have you be a part of it."
After a minute, Zoey snapped out of it and returned to the conversation. "A team? A family?" She retorted. "Listen. Listen to me. The answer is no. Teams and families never work out for me. I'm like a living bad luck charm. Trust me. If you know what's best for you, you'll go back to your 'mutant school' and try not to get yourselves hurt."
In an instant, she burst into an explosion of billions of tiny sparkles, the chime/glass/ching sound replaying itself as she reappeared by the piano she had been at. Evidently it was a difficult task, since she nonchalantly leaned against the instrument to keep from collapsing. Kurt winced out of empathy. Logan let out a soft growl. They had heard the same thing before from many other mutants. With them, it was best not to pry right away or else their fears could come true.
Storm sighed and said, "We brought a little food for you."
Zoey huffed a hair out of her face, her breath sparkled rainbow colors. "I don't take charity."
"Look at yourself, kid, you're starving." Wolverine pointed out.
The girl groaned, "Please, just leave me alone and get out of here!"
Storm tenderly placed the bag of snacks on an aisle seat before closing in on Kurt with Logan. Kurt looked at them as if they had lost their minds.
"What?!" Kurt gasped. "No, we can't just leave her here, you heard the professor—"
"Kurt, please," Storm interrupted. "We'll find her again tomorrow. She needs some time to think."
Kurt slumped forward with an exasperated sigh, and held out his hands. Before everyone grabbed on, Rogue called out to Zoey.
"Will you try to think on it?" She asked.
The girl just turned away and sat at her piano, refusing to look at Rogue. With that, the team disappeared, rematerializing outside of the theatre. Rogue and Kurt both looked downhearted. Scott and Jean, sympathetic. Logan and Ororo—a little distraught.
They got two hotel rooms: one for the boys, and one for the girls. The rooms were connected, so it was really like one big hotel room with two sides. Logan and Storm decided that as long as they were careful and at least one other person was with them, everyone could walk around the city by themselves. They had to be back at the hotel by seven, giving them three hours. For teenagers, it was all the time in the world and yet no time at all. The four of them just decided to walk around together in Times Square and check out the holiday markets. They were halfway to Rockefeller Center to see the Christmas tree when they got to talking about their mission again.
"I don't think she liked us," Rogue said quietly. "Did you see how she looked at us?"
"She did seem kind of afraid, but I can't imagine why," Jean acknowledged, mindlessly staring at a holiday display in a store window. "Did you hear her say something about an anti-mutant group? I wonder what the deal is. I've got a bad feeling about it."
"That's information I'm sure we'll be able to get later," Scott reassured. "For now, let's just try to be friendly so she'll come with us. Professor X was right, I'm not leaving her here."
They didn't stay out for the full three hours since it got dark pretty early and the night grew even colder. The cold was actually starting to make Rogue feel sick, so the teens just headed back to the hotel for the night after they grabbed some dollar pizza. The boys found that Logan had gone out, but Storm had stayed behind.
Rogue went to bed immediately, feeling like she was coming down with a cold. Jean and Storm worried about her, and Jean suggested that they take her back to the mansion—but Ororo chalked the sudden illness up to the intense cold weather and reminded her that they couldn't leave until they had Zoey. She didn't doubt that the professor would understand, but it was still a better idea to stay regardless. They decided that if Rogue wasn't better by the morning, Storm or Wolverine would take her home and everyone else would stay behind.
Ororo warned Jean and the boys that they'd be going out early the next day and to try to get a lot of sleep. They were probably going to spend the whole day chasing the young mutant and trying to convince her to join them. Knowing this, Cyclops, Nightcrawler and Jean all went to bed around midnight—an early time for them. The boys had been sound asleep when Logan returned, smelling mildly of bourbon and cigar smoke at two o' clock.
After everyone else was asleep, Storm turned on her laptop and went to her e-mail. She began composing a message to Professor Xavier.
She wrote a detailed summary of the mission, her impression of Zoey's health, and the plans to try again tomorrow. She mentioned Rogue's cold as well, and wrote that Rogue would probably not be accompanying them if she still wasn't feeling well in the morning.
Storm let out a quiet sigh and pressed 'send', then shut her laptop. She glanced over at the two sleeping girls and a small smile graced her face. They would get Zoey eventually, she just knew it.