Chapter I: A Slight Problem
The sun was shining and there was freshly fallen snow on the ground. It was a beautiful day at Mt. Arrowrose. The ski lodge was filled with people ready to get their skis and hit the slopes. The slopes themselves were teaming with people, young and old.
In line for the ski lift were two familiar redheads.
"I hate snow," Aidan growled as the chair slid up behind her and St. John.
"Now why's 'at, love?" he asked, putting his arm around her.
"It's cold...and...snowy..." Aidan said, fumbling for good reasons to hate snow.
"But that's a good thing if ya wanna snowboard."
"But I don't wanna snowboard," Aidan whined.
"Then why're ya here?" he asked, slightly miffed.
Aidan rolled her eyes. She loved him to death, but sometimes he had the memory of a goldfish. "Because it was your day to pick what we do."
"But snowboardin's fun!" John said, trying to get her a little more enthusiastic. "It's jus' like surfin' but without all 'at sand up y'bum."
Aidan smirked and they hopped off the lift.
No worries, Aidan. You'll get the hang of it. I promise." He reached down and checked his boots. "Now, make sure your boots're locked inta the board. Y'don' wanna lose it halfway down the slope, eh?"
Aidan checked her boots. "This is a bunny slope, right? I did tell you what happened in Iceland?"
"No worries," John repeated. "You'll be fine. I know what I'm doin'."
"That's what I'm afraid of," Aidan muttered, still looking at her feet.
"What's 'at, love?"
"I can't feel my nose…"
John smirked as Aidan stood up. "Try this," he said, putting his weight on his left foot and moving the snowboard side to side with his right foot.
Aidan tried and almost fell over. John caught her and she glared at him. "Next time, I get to pick what we do..."
Remy, Jennie, and Piotr were at the Acolyte base, watching TV. Piotr was kicked back in the Lay-Z-Boy, Remy was on the couch with his feet propped on the coffee table, and Jennie was stretched out with her head on Remy's lap and her feet over the arm of the couch.
"You know..." Jennie muttered, "we've been watchin' a lotta TV lately. Y'think maybe we should do some training or something?"
"Shh," Remy said, turning up the volume, "not now, chère... Mebbe later... "
"Okay..." Jennie said, reaching for the popcorn.
Piotr pushed the footrest down. "I am going into town," he stated. "Do either of you want anything?"
"Pizza..." Remy and Jennie said in unison.
"And to drink?" Piotr asked, even though he already knew the answer.
"Mountain Dew..." came the collective response.
"Why did I even ask...?"
Piotr went to his room and changed from his lounge pants into a pair of jeans, a blue ribbed T-shirt, and leather jacket. He walked back to the living room and put on his boots. "I am taking the Corvette. Any objections?"
Neither Remy nor Jennie turned their attention from the TV.
"I shall take that as a 'no'."
Piotr grabbed the keys from the key rack and headed to the (not so) secret underground garage. He pushed the little red button on the key ring and the ground to the left of the driveway lifted to reveal a set of garage doors. With another push of the red button, the garage doors lifted, revealing a 2004 black Corvette convertible. Piotr hopped behind the wheel and headed for Bayville.
St. John snowboarded gracefully down the slopes and slid to a stop at the bottom.
Aidan also snowboarded down the slopes, however, not as gracefully, and slid to a stop at the bottom on her butt. "I hate snow," she growled, "and I hate snowboarding and I hate skiing, and I hate snow!"
"Well, you ARE doin' a lot betta than when we started," St. John said, helping Aidan to her feet. "You only slid on your arse halfway this time."
"Oh, shut up," she whined, brushing snow from her butt.
"Y'wanna go home?" John asked, visibly upset.
Aidan didn't want to ruin his day. He had waited so long to go snowboarding. "No... but I'm gonna go to the lodge for some cocoa. I'll meet you in about an hour?"
St. John smiled. "Okay! See ya later, love!" And with that, he took off for the stunt slopes.
Aidan unhooked one of her boots and pushed off in the direction of the ski lodge.
By the time she reached the bottom of the ski lift, she had fallen six times, ran over approximately four small children, and set a garbage can on fire. Turning the corner at the bottom of the lift, she fell... again.
"I... hate... snow..." she growled for the hundredth time that day.
"Y'need a wee bit o'help, lass?" questioned an Irish voice.
Aidan looked up to discover the source of the voice. He was about 6'1", had green eyes, and auburn hair that was short and spiked.
"Yeah," Aidan said, "thanks." She reached up to take his outstretched hand and noticed the tiny 4-leaf clover tattooed between his thumb and forefinger.
"No problem," he said, pulling Aidan to her feet. "The name's O'Reilly. Sheridan O'Reilly."
"Aidan. Aidan Anderson."
"Well, top o'the mornin' to ya, Aidan," Sheridan said with a small smirk.
"You too," Aidan replied.
"Y'don't look like you're too comfortable in the snow," Sheridan stated, grabbing Aidan's arm as she faltered.
"I'm not... I'm actually heading in for some cocoa. Wanna join me?"
"Sure," Sheridan answered. "Y'look like you could use some more balance."
Sheridan helped Aidan to the lodge, and she turned in the snowboard. They then made their way to the snack bar, purchased two hot chocolates, and sat by the fireplace.
"So..." Aidan said, trying to make conversation, "you from Ireland?"
"What gave it away?" he smirked, which caused Aidan to giggle. "Sure am. Me sister 'n I just got back t'the States today. We're in t'see a few old friends."
"That's nice... How long are you staying?"
"Dunno. We haven't decided yet." Sheridan took a sip of his cocoa and then ran his hand through his hair. "Um, Aidan, I hope y'don't think me too farward, but if you're not doin' anythin' tomorrow night, maybe we could get dinner?"
"It sounds lovely," Aidan said, "but..."
"But?"
"But, I have a boyfriend," Aidan finished.
"Oh..." He turned his face away. "Faith, Sheridan! You're startin' t'lose it..."
Aidan smirked. "Lose what?"
"I'm sorry, lass," he apologized. "Normally I can tell which girls are spoken fer. I hope I didn't offend ya."
"Of course not," Aidan said. "Actually... if you want, you can join us and our housemates for dinner tomorrow."
"Really? Well, that's right kind of ye. Tomorrow night then?"
"Sure." Aidan reached into her pocket, pulled out a pen, and wrote her address on a napkin. "Seven o'clock okay?"
" 'Caurse it is." He read over the address and pocketed it. "I'll see you then."
"Okay," Aidan said, standing up, "bye." She walked for the door to find St. John.
Sheridan pulled the napkin from his pocket and reread the address. "My, my, O'Reilly, this is turnin' out t'be your lucky day."
Piotr stepped out of the pizzeria with more boxes than Kitty on a shopping spree. One box contained the pepperoni and cheese pizza for Remy and Jennie; another contained the BBQ chicken pizza for St. John and Aidan; a third contained the Meaty Supreme for him and Feryal. He also had four boxes of breadsticks: one plain, one with garlic, one with cheese and garlic, and one with cheese, garlic on the side. Hanging on each arm was a plastic bag, containing six salads: one with croutons, jalapenos, and French dressing; one with croutons and Ranch dressing; one with no croutons and Ranch dressing; one with no croutons, egg, extra carrot, and Bleu Cheese dressing; one with no croutons and Thousand Island dressing; and one plain salad.
Piotr stood on the curb and stared intently at the passenger door of the 'Vette. How the hell was he supposed to open it without dropping the food or tearing the car in half? This was going to be tough.
"Hey! Piotr!"
The shrieking voices of two X-girls pulled Piotr from his thoughts. He turned to see Kitty and Tabitha running down the sidewalk.
"Piotr, like, what are you doing here?" Kitty asked, skidding to a halt next to the parking meter.
"Yeah, Metal-Man," Tabitha added, "You havin' a party or is all that pizza just for you?"
"Actually it is my turn to make dinner tonight," Piotr clarified.
"But I thought you were, like, the best cook in Bayville," Kitty stated.
"I got lazy. So sue me."
Tabby laughed and elbowed Kitty. "Cute, funny, AND he cooks."
Kitty elbowed her back and then looked back to Piotr. "Why are you still outside? Your food's getting cold."
Piotr rolled his eyes, nodded to his bogged down arms, and then to the low- riding Corvette.
"Oh!" Kitty exclaimed, her eyes lighting up in understanding. She took a quick glance around, phased through the car, unlocked the door, and then opened it for him.
"Thank you," he said, placing the pizza boxes on top of the three cases of Mt. Dew.
"Boy," Tabitha said, eyeing up the soda, "you bought enough for a small village. The six of you sure do eat a lot."
"Actually," Piotr said, unloading the salads, "just Jennie and Pyro eat a lot."
"Speaking of," Kitty said, "how are Pyro and Firestorm?"
"Just fine, I assume. They went to Mt. Arrowrose today."
"Are they still, like, going out?" Kitty asked, almost giddy.
"Man, Kit," Tabitha said, "you just can't go without your daily dose of Bayville gossip, can you?"
"Absolutely not. Now tell me, Piotr, has it been over a month yet?"
"I am not certain. Are we talking about when she found him in the alley or when he almost killed her?"
"He almost killed her!" Kitty shrieked. "Oh my God, like when was this?"
"Come on, Kitty," Tabitha said, placing her hands on her hips, "that was when the Prof. found out that the shindig at the Car Yard was Jean's fault. You're slippin', girl."
"Oh, yeah... Right. I, like, so totally knew that!"
Piotr rolled his eyes. "Well, if that is all, I have five hungry partners to attend to."
"But don't you, like, wanna hear the latest?" Kitty blurted. "There's this new girl at the Institute and—" Tabitha pulled Kitty close and slapped her hand over Kitty's mouth. "Knock it off. You know the Prof. said to keep it quiet!" she whispered to Kitty.
Kitty moved her head, phasing it through Tabby's hand and whispered back, "But I just gotta tell someone! Besides, Piotr's so quiet. He won't tell..."
"Fine," Tabby said, releasing Kitty, "but if Chuckie finds out, I wasn't involved. I've been in enough trouble up till now."
Kitty straightened her sleeves and turned back to Piotr. "Like I was saying... there's this new girl at the Institute, and I know we're not s'posed ta talk about her, but I'm just, like, so excited."
"Giddy even..." Piotr muttered.
"Like, yeah!"
Piotr rolled his eyes again and Tabby tapped her foot impatiently as Kitty continued.
"Yeah, she, like, showed up at the mansion last night. She said she was looking for her brother. She can, like, mess with machinery. The Professor said it had something to do with electronic frequencies and stuff, but I wasn't really paying attention."
"What else is new?" Tabitha muttered.
Kitty glared at her and continued. "Her name's Carlin. She's from Ireland and is gonna be rooming with me and Rogue. Isn't that, like, so totally awesome!"
Piotr's eyes suddenly popped out of his head. "Did you say she was from Ireland?"
"Yeah, but she's like gonna be my new roommate. Isn't that the best?"
"And she has a brother?" Piotr's mind was racing. "Last name. Kitty, what was her last name?"
"I don't remember," Kitty paused and thought. "Something Irish... O'Kinney? No... O'Sullivan? Nope... Uh... O... O... O'Randall? Huh-uh..."
"O'Reilly?" Piotr asked.
"Yeah, that's it!" Kitty said.
"Wait a second," Tabitha said, narrowing her eyes at Piotr. "How did you know that? She's new here."
"I, uh, I..." Piotr took a deep breath and regained his composure. "I am deeply sorry, but I am afraid I must go. The pizza is getting cold, the soda is getting warm, and the salads are getting
soggy. And believe me there is nothing worse than a soggy salad. Excuse me, and good day to you, ladies." He quickly hopped behind the wheel and sped off, leaving Tabitha and Kitty in confusion.
"Well, that's the freakiest thing I've ever seen," Tabitha said.
"Yeah," Kitty agreed. "I've never seen Piotr like that before... You, like, don't think he'll tell, do you?"
Tabitha rolled her eyes and grabbed Kitty's arm. "C'mon, Kit, we're goin' home."
Aidan stood off to the side and watched as St. John tore up the slopes.
"Man," she muttered to herself as John did some weird back flip thing. "I wish I knew what that was called..."
He landed perfectly and slid up to her. "Did ya see that? Crickey, I nev'a cease t'amaze meself."
"Very nice, John," Aidan applauded.
"So, how was the cocoa?"
"Full of warm cocoa-ie goodness. I met someone new," Aidan said as she and John headed back to the lodge.
"Really? Who?"
"His name's Sheridan."
"Sheridan, eh?" St. John thought for a moment. "Ain't that a girlie name?"
"It goes both ways... Kinda like my name."
"Right... So, what'd you two talk about?"
"Oh, not much," Aidan said as St. John turned in the snowboard, "the cocoa, the weather, dinner tomorrow night..."
"What? Dinner? With anotha bloke?"
Aidan smirked at St. John's sudden flash of jealousy. "Almost. He's coming to our place to meet everybody. He's new here from Ireland."
"Oh, okay then, I—"
St. John suddenly stopped walking and seemed frozen in place with his mouth hanging open.
Great, Aidan thought, the last time this happened he didn't move for three hours. "Really, John," she said, dragging him to a bench and forcing him to sit, "you need to find better times to think."
BZZZT! BZZZT!
Aidan jumped as her coat began vibrating. She reached into the pocket and pulled out her cell phone. It was the car phone. She wondered who was calling her from the Corvette.
"Hello?" she answered.
"Aidan? Is St. John there? It is imperative that I speak with him." Piotr sounded upset.
"He's here in body, but not in mind."
"How is that any different form normal? Please, I must speak with him."
"No," Aidan corrected, "he's thinking. You know how he gets. He's like an old building: once there's an overload in the fuse box, the generator can only sustain so much. He might not move for another hour."
Piotr sighed and cursed in Russian. "Just get back to the base as quickly as possible."
"Okay."
"Bye."
The phone clicked off, and St. John clicked back on.
"Y'said 'Sheridan, from Ireland'?" he asked.
"Yeah. Why?"
"What was 'is last name?"
"O'Reilly... Why?"
"Bloody 'ell..."
"Piotr just called," Aidan said, confused by John's sudden wide-eyed look of terror.
"We need to go home," they said in unison.
"Gimme tha phone," John said urgently as he stood up and began walking.
"Careful," Aidan said. "Don't overwork your brain; I don't want you to stall again."
"Colossus?" St. John said into the phone. He listened attentively for about five minutes, nodding his head and muttering "yeahs", "rights", and a few "Good God no's".
"Both of 'em?" he asked the phone. "Jesus... we're in fer it now, Tin- Man."
"In for what?" Aidan asked.
John looked at Aidan and his eyes suddenly bugged out of his head. "Crickey, mate!" he yelped. "Aidan! Colossus, we gotta get Remy outta the house! Aidan! Dinner!"
"What about dinner?" Aidan stressed, getting angry that she wasn't being told what was going on. "And what about Remy?"
"Right-O, mate. Be home quicker than two shakes of a dingo's tail."
John hung up the phone, grabbed Aidan's arm, and dragged her to the Harley.
"John, what in the blue hell is going on!"
"Can't explain now, love. We gotta move!"
St. John and Aidan pulled into the driveway only seconds after Piotr.
"I hardly think you were driving the correct speed for the road conditions," Aidan said sarcastically as John jumped off the motorcycle and ran to the Corvette.
John skidded to a halt inches from the hood. Piotr opened the door and got out.
"What time tomorrow?" Piotr asked John.
"Good on ya, mate! Y'bought pizza!" John said, seeing the food and forgetting the urgency.
Piotr smacked him. "What time is Sheridan coming tomorrow?"
"Oh... Right! Sheridan! I, uh, I dunno. Aidan invited 'im."
Piotr turned to Aidan. "Time?"
"Seven. Seven o'clock," Aidan said. Piotr nodded and walked towards the back door. "Can someone PLEASE tell me what's going on?" Aidan yelled after him.
"No time, love," St. John said, grabbing her hand and pulling her after Colossus.
"No time?" Aidan questioned sarcastically. "Apparently we have 'til seven o'clock tomorrow."
Piotr peeked in the kitchen window. "The coast is clear. Jennie is at the table and Remy is nowhere in sight." Piotr tapped on the window. When Jennie looked up, he motioned for her to come outside.
Jennie pulled her coat off the wall rack and slipped on an old pair of Remy's Etnies. "What do you want?" she asked as the back door closed behind her. "It's, like, fifty-below zero out here, man."
Piotr leaned forward and everybody joined in the huddle. "I am afraid to inform you," Piotr began, "but there is trouble."
"Trouble?" Jennie asked. "What trouble?"
"Trouble of the Irish kind..." Piotr said, sounding like a Russian spy.
For a few seconds, Jennie thought that Pyro's insanity was becoming contagious. Then, her eyes grew as wide as saucers and her mouth dropped open in a silent gasp.
"Yep," St. John said, "the O'Reilly's are back in Bayville."
"Here is where the plot thickens," Piotr continued. "It seems that Sheridan has befriended our poor, ignorant Aidan—"
"Hey!" Aidan yelped defensively. "If you weirdoes would tell me what's going on, I wouldn't be
ignorant!"
"—and she has invited him to dinner tomorrow night."
"Oh my God," Jennie whispered. "We need to get Remy out of the house!"
"'ell, love," John said, "we thought it'd be best t'get the bloke outta tha country!"
"Okay, I get it," Aidan said. "Sheridan is an Irish assassin sent by some King of the Righteous to kill Remy and eliminate mutants."
"Worse..."
"What could be worse?"
"Sheridan stole Remy's old girlfriend."