Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice, X-Men: Evolution, Boy Meets World, or Danielle Fishel/Topanga Lawrence's hair.
AN: I'm amazed at all the support I'm getting for this story. Thank Tigress2929 for being wonderful and betaing this thing, Gina Tsukiko for lending a helping had, and my IRL neighbor StrawberryJamOtter (Who actually needs to watch YJ), for being awesome and helping me sort through the mess of ideas I had. Thanks to all of you guys, for reviewing, favoring and following. Enjoy!
Kitty Pryde had never been so excited for the first day of school in her entire fifteen years of existence. In Chicago, school had meant suffering bullies and trying to hide her talents. In Bayville, it meant suffering boredom and trying to hide her mutation. Although her mutant powers would still have to be kept under wraps, Gotham was going to be wildly different. She was going to have the chance to further herself, focus on her interests, and find new friends. Kitty had the chance to start all over again, and she was excited. Having recently ended things with Lance, she needed that. The fact that she had met a very cute, very nice, very smart boy who just so happened to be the heir of Wayne Industries and a fellow CompSci lover was just a bonus.
Needless to say, Kitty was pumped. She was usually a very chipper, peppy girl, but if it hadn't been for the seatbelt that she wasn't allowed to phase through, she would have been bouncing off the walls of the car Logan was driving. Or rather, attempting to drive.
Logan was not okay with so much cheer in such a small space, especially when the cheerful one was Kitty. Kitty, when excited to a certain point, had a tendency to squeal. And fidget. And squeal. Given that Scott had forgotten to buy coffee filters when it was his turn to pick up the groceries, Wolverine had been deprived of his much-needed, piping-hot cup of black coffee. He would've had trouble handling the effervescent, hyper being sitting next to him with the coffee. Without it? He was a goner.
After forty-five minutes of excessive effervescence, Logan was done. "Listen up, half-pint," He growled out, "I get you're excited or somethin'. But simmer the hell down. I have no caffeine in my system because that punk can't remember goddamned coffee filters, and I had to wake up at the crack of ass for this. I don't mean to be a buzz-kill, butif you could just stop tapping your little feet for the next fifteen minutes, that'd be fan-tastic."
Kitty promptly stopped moving. Fortunately for the young girl, she had gotten used to Wolverine's harsh words after living in the X-Mansion for a short while. She knew Logan could be a little touchy, especially in the morning. It helped that she'd started to get the feeling that he actually did care for her and the others. They were like a little family. Professor Xavier was like a grandpa, Logan and Ororo were like parents, Rogue was like a sister that she really loved but often disagreed with, Kurt was like a brother, and Scott and Jean were the "mature" older siblings, who would hopefully grow out of it at some point.
Ew. That meant Scott and Jean's dating was incest.
Luckily for the slightly-disturbed mutant, the car had finally stopped outside the wrought-iron gates of Gotham Academy, interrupting that God-forsaken train of thought. Logan flashed a badge that would be scanned for entry along with the license plates, and with a buzz, the gates slowly swung open. Kitty's mouth began to open, though she promptly stopped herself. Logan sighed.
"Permission to squeal granted." Kitty proceeded to squeal, waving her hands back in forth.
"Ohmigodohmigodohmigodohmigod! We're actually, like, here!" she took a deep breath. "M'kay, I'm like, good now." She smiled up at the exceedingly old mutant, who maybe, just maybe, gave her a small smile back.
Logan had finally pulled up to the curb to Kitty out. He unlocked the door, hoping the girl wouldn't just phase through it in excitement.
"Give 'em hell, half-pint. Be careful. If anything happens, call me, 'Ro, or Chuck. I'll be back here to get you 'round three." Kitty got out of the car, about to turn away when Logan called her back. "One last thing…" He rifled around the somewhat-cluttered vehicle, pulling out a powder-blue lunch bag, shaped like a cat. "A present from the institute. 'Ro packed you a tuna-salad sammich, kosher pickles." Kitty thanked him before taking the lunch bag, waving good-bye, and going inside. After he made sure she had gone in, Logan drove off.
Resisting the urge to just phase through the heavy oak doors, Kitty scanned her shiny new student I.D. After the cameras made sure she was the correct person, the doors opened.
The young mutant swiftly entered the building, trying not to gape. It was infinitely better than she ever could have imagined. Possibly because she couldn't imagine school and polished marble floors coexisting peacefully. But they could, and it was glorious. Kitty pulled her schedule, locker information, and school map out of her backpack, and began an attempt to navigate through the massive building. The Institute had nothing on Gotham Academy.
Kitty was either a very poor navigator, or she was given a very poor map. She was pretty sure that quite a few of the hallways that the map pictured did not actually exist. She was also pretty sure that she had been going in circles. The brunette was soon very frustrated, her nose buried in her map in a desperate shot at finding her locker. She was, in fact, so frustrated that she didn't notice a lean, dark-haired boy coming right at her. Before Kitty knew it, they had collided. It took every bit of will power to suppress her instincts and just phase through the obstacle.
"We've really gotta stop running into each other like this." A pale hand descended into her line of vision, offering her help. Her brown eyes followed the pale hand up to a navy suit jacket, which in turn led them to a very familiar face.
"Um, Kitty? You alright?" Dick had crouched down to her level, waving his hand in front of her eyes. A light blush formed on her cheeks.
"Oh, uh, yeah! Yeah, I'm, like, fine. Just a little tumble!" Laughing nervously, she took his hand, pulling herself up. "I wasn't expecting, like, anyone else to, y'know, be here this early."
He smiled. "Yeah, I guess you could say I'm kind of an early-bird." He had to make the joke. He just couldn't help it. "I wanted to get here and get my stuff set up in my locker. It's on Bruce's way to work, anyways. Need help finding your way around?"
"God, yes. I like, swear, half of these hallways are totally not there." She glared at the offending map. He laughed at her antics.
"Common newbie issue. See, the map makes it seem like all the halls are straight. But when they intersect, some of them get sort of bent, like when you put a straw in water and the light diffracts and makes it look bent. You just have to go a little sideways, past the corners, to see the rest of the hallway."
Kitty looked at him dubiously. "Seriously? It's, like, that simple?"
"That simple," She was very tempted to phase herself into the floor and let her sink into the center of the Earth, "Which locker were you assigned?"
"Um, like, 268, I think. I cannot, like, find the 200 hallway. I'm, like, almost totally positive that I'm really in Hogwarts and the hallways keep, like, moving around or whatever." Dick cracked a small smile.
"That was actually part of the design. A lot of the other students here are pretty loaded. The parents are paying for the safety of their kids first, and a higher education second. When they renovated this place, they made it easy for new people to get lost or turned around. It sucks for freshman and transfers, but it's a good security measure. C'mon, I'll take you to your locker."
They walked side by side, in a semi-awkward silence. "C'mon, Grayson. Play it cool. If you can talk to girls as Robin, you can do it as Dick. You're just an average civilian. Who doesn't care about the puted inconsistencies in the English language. Who wasn't up until three in the morning fighting bad guys. Just talk to her like she's Babs, or Arty, or M'gann. You got this. Stay traught."
"So, um, I think you, uh, said you had AP Chem, right?" He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Traught, Grayson. Traught. You're turning into KF!"
"Oh, like, yeah, I do." She tried to hide her blush-she didn't think he would've remembered such a small detail. She also wasn't aware of his eidetic memory.
The corners of the hacker's mouth twitched up into a small smile. "Sweet. There's just the one AP Chem class, first period. I'll get to show you the ropes." Kitty giggled at the idea. She was good at Chem, and was eager for the chance to impress her new friend. Though the young mutant did love the little dysfunctional family that the Institute had become, she was glad to have someone who'd appreciate her academic abilities a bit more.
"Aaaaand here we are," Dick said with a dramatic flourish. He solicited another giggle-he liked making Kitty laugh. "Locker number two-sixty-eight." Kitty smiled thankfully, setting down her bag and putting in her combination. After a few tries, she opened it successfully, no phasing required. The thin brunette quickly put away her unneeded things, and shut the door.
"Like, thanks, Dick, for like, y'know, all of your help. I totally would've gotten, like, lost in this place. It's scarier than a Wal-Mart supercenter-"
"Where you could totally have a stroke or something and no one would ever find you because it's just so huge and you would die." Kitty was impressed.
"Wow! Like, how did you know exactly what I was going to say?" She thought for a brief moment. "Wait a sec, are you like, a telepath or whatever?" Kitty attempted to be nonchalant, as if she knew nothing of things as impossible as telepathy. This ended in some very nervous laughter.
Dick regained his composure as soon as she started giggling, and joined in her laughter. "Oh yeah, jokes. People make those. What would a regular teenage girl know about telepaths?"
The acrobat tensed up again. Thanks to his training, he had picked out the heavy footfalls of Gotham Academy's resident douchenozzle amongst the clicks, clacks, and shuffles of the other students before he even saw the guy. An impressive feat, considering the size of the kid.
"Hello, Dawson," The lean boy spun around on his heel to face the hulking upperclassman and his cronies. He nodded at Dawson's goons. "Geoffery. Carlton. Fancy seeing you here."
"Shut up, Dick Gayson, your stupid little voice is gonna give me a headache. I'm here to keep her from hanging out with such a nerd." Dick didn't notice Kitty glaring from behind him.
The charcoal-haired boy rolled his eyes, used to Dawson's crap. "I'm surprised you don't have a headache already. It must have taken all three of your brain cells to formulate that sentence. Unfortunately for you, Dawson, Kitty has far more than three brain cells, and is intelligent enough to not associate with the likes of you."
"Shut up, Circus Freak," Dawson grunted, pushing Dick back. Kitty's glare intensified. "She can make her own decisions. Right, babe?" If this had been one of those dark, creepy animes that Rogue watched when she thought Kitty was asleep, a massive, bulging vein would've been pulsating on her forehead. No onebullied Kitty Pryde's friends. And no one, no one, was allowed to call her babe, with the exception of a few female friends. She had been down that bumpy, mullet-paved road before and she'd be damned before she went down it again. Channeling an awkward mix of Logan and her roommate, the young phaseling took a step forward.
"Listen, bub," She said, jabbing him in the chest, "I don't, like, know who you think you are, and I totally don't effing care. Dick is my friend, and you are soooo many kinds of not. Either you, like, back the eff off and leave us alone, permanently, or I will so not hold back." Dawson grinned an ignorant, shit-eating grin.
"Ooh, cute and feisty. I like tha-OOOF!" Before he could finish whatever sick, probably moronic statement he was going to make, Dawson was doubled over. If he had blinked, he'd have missed it, but Dick was positive. A guy was only doubled over with his hands over his groin for one reason.
Dawson Kettering just got kicked in the junk.
He rested a light-skinned hand on Kitty's shoulder. "Um, Kitty, I'm not so sure that Dawson here is above hitting girls, and I know he isn't above hitting an orphan. We should seriously consider booking it out of here." Kitty hadn't even finished nodding before Dick had grabbed her hand and took off running, dragging her along. He took her out into the courtyard, leading her into the beautiful school gardens. They sprinted past the blooming flowers, not stopping until they had reached the Math and Science building. He knew they were safe there- Dawson and his goons would probably hurt themselves if they even looked at a quadratic equation.
They stopped to catch their breath as soon as they entered. There was a pregnant pause before Dick just lost it, laughing so hard he had to use his new friend to keep from falling down. It wasn't a laughter like she had ever heard before- borderline maniacal, yet somehow so full of joy.
"I wish that I could've recorded that," he panted, pausing every few words for a breath, "That would be the GIF to end all GIFs!" He let out
"Kitty, did that really just happen? Because either that just happened, and you are the nerd-messiah, come to lead us to the promised lab, or you are a master optical illusionist." Kitty blushed as they made their way to the elevator.
"Yeah, that totally just happened. I'm, like, soooo totally sorry if I get you into any kind of trouble or whatever," She wrung her hands slightly, a tad embarassed. "Bullying just kinda, like, sets me off, y'know?" It was true. Kitty was stronger now than she was in Illinois, and she would not tolerate bullies, not ever again.
"I feel your feels, Kitty," Dick grinned, "And if I do get in trouble, that was so worth it. That made my life ten times over. If I'm ever feeling low, I'm gonna imagine you kicking Dawson in the groin with enough force to end the Kettering line!" He let out a smaller round of laughter, finishing with a contented sigh. Kitty smiled at him, before Dick continued as they made their way to the elevator.
"So, you excited for Chem?"
"I'm, like, super pumped for lab. I read over the lab manual already, and for the first lab we just get to, like, burn stuff and see what happens. I've, like, done some of it before, but it's just fun I guess. Have you ever, like, burned iodine before?"
Dick's eyes lit up. "Yes!" Chemistry was not as high up in his books as Computer Science, but he did have a love for Chemistry. Chemistry, videogames, and heroics were essentially the building blocks of his and Wally's friendship. "It's ast-um, it's awesome. It's like when you drop ink in water-"
"But it's, like, in the air-"
"AND IT'S PURPLE!" They blurted out at the same time. The two superheroic teens turned away from each other slightly, blushing.
"Um, like, sorry," Kitty apologized meekly, "I don't really have anyone to talk about, like, science-y stuff with in Bayville, except for Dr. McCoy, and the Professor, but they're, like grown-ups. And the Professor just, like, goes on for like ten years about, like, genetics or whatever."
Dick smiled. "It's cool, Kitty. Once more, I know your feels." Well, that wasn't really true. He could talk to Wally about most stuff, science included. He just hadn't ever met a girl he could talk about science with. Well, Babs, kinda, but that was different. Barbara was like his sister. They'd been thick as thieves since they'd met a few years back. Kitty was… different.
With a ding, the elevator doors opened, and the two shuffled inside the unexpectedly small metal box.
Though it didn't take that long to reach the third floor, it felt like it took forever. "It's, like, totally not a big deal. He's just a nice guy, who also happens to be, like, cute, and smart, and into computers. That also smells kinda sorta totally awesome…." Kitty hadn't known it was possible for a boy to smell that good. Lance had smelled of soap, at his best. The tiny brunette had no idea what cologne or body wash it was that Dick used, but the way it reacted with his body's natural chemistry was so many kinds of right.
"Um, Kitty?" He waved a pale hand in front of her eyes. "We're here." She blushed, and let out a nervous chuckle.
"Oh! Sorry! I'm, like, such a space case!" He smiled at her old-school lingo, leading the way to room 301.
"Madame," He said, opening the door for her with a flourish, "Your classroom awaits." She giggled, entering the room.
They had beaten their classmates, who were busy catching up with each other, and even their professor. They decided to sit in the second row back, at the table al the way to the right. Close enough to make an escape, but far enough from the teacher that they could not pay attention if they wanted to. Dick could afford this, having already read the entire textbook. Having an eidetic memory was very handy.
Slowly but surely, the other students began to trickle in. An unfamiliar, half-asian girl who had hair that was possibly better than Topanga's hair was in Boy Meets World tookthe seat in the back corner. Topanga tossed her backpack down with a thunk, and collapsed into her chair with an even greater force. She buried her head in her arms on her desk, luxurious locks splaying out on the table.
Another girl, a tall red-head, sat down behind them.
"Morning, Dick. Is this banquet-girl?" Dick blushed slightly, but tried to shake it off.
"Babs, Kitty. Kitty, Babs." 'Babs' extended a surprisingly non-freckled hand.
"Barbara Gordon. Call me Babs." Kitty took the offered hand, shaking it firmly.
"Katherine Pryde. I, like, go by Kitty." Barbara smiled, breaking the handshake off.
Finally, the bell rung, and the morning announcements came on over the P.A. system.
Chemistry had been excellent. Kitty and Dick soon realized that they had both read the entire textbook, cover to cover, and basically passed notes the entire time. So wrapped up in getting to know each other, they hardly noticed Barbara sitting behind them, thinking of ways to torment Dick over his new "friend" later.
The class had flown by, and soon Dick and Barbara had to go to physics, leaving Kitty and her not-so-handy-dandy map to find their way to the Art Department.
Thanks to the little clue Dick had filled her in on, she managed to find her way to class. Unfortunately, she was still late, and the last student to enter the room. She smiled apologetically at the teacher.
"Um, like, I'm really sorry, sir, I'm new here or whatever and I don't, like, know my way around very well yeOOOF!" In her nervousness, she had managed to phase the very tip of her foot through the floor as she was walking, which caused her to fall flat on her face. The young mutant stood and brushed herself off before she sat down, her face red as a strawberry as the other students snickered. The professor spoke, attempting to relieve the girl of her embarrassment.
"It's cool, dude. You must be Katharine?" He inquired, tapping what appeared to be a long, worn bamboo stick, that had duct tape covering various cracks in the wood.
"Um, I like, go by Kitty."
"Right on," He nodded, before turning back to the rest of the class. "Anyways, I'm Mr. Cellerman, and you're gonna listen to me," His bamboo stick smacked into the floor with a loud thwack, "Or you will have detention. In this class, that means a one-way ticket to scrubby-scrubby land. Repeat offenders will be sent to the Gotham City Police Department!" He smiled, resting his hands on his bamboo stick. Kitty giggled. "Today, kids, we're gonna start by drawing shoes. Draw your own shoes! Draw your neighbor's shoes! Just find some shoes, and draw them!" Mr. Cellerman proceeded to go around, asking his students random questions.
Kitty turned back to her table to be met with a stormy-gray glare: She had taken the seat directly opposite Topanga. Any other student probably would have run for the hills, calling for their mother. They hadn't roomed with Rogue for the better part of the year.
"Has anyone ever, like, told you that you totally have Topanga Lawrence's hair?"
"Topanga" was taken aback. No one here had dared or bothered to speak with her, due to her intimidation skills and her social status as a "charity case." She raised an eyebrow at the shorter girl.
"Um, no. They haven't. Who's Topanga Lawrence?" Kitty's jaw nearly detached from the rest of her skull.
"Ohmygosh. You're, like, kidding me, right? You've never seen Boy Meets World? It's only, like, the greatest show ever." Topanga backed up, Kitty having gotten extremely close to her in her excitement. She blushed. "Um, like, sorry. I'm a little, um, excitable or whatever." She brushed her bangs out of her face, opening up the sketchbook that Mr. Cellerman must have placed on the table before the class had started.
"It's cool," the blonde said, removing one of her black Doc Martens and positioning it on the table. "I'm Artemis, by the way. Artemis Crock."
"Kitty Pryde." Kitty looked up from her sketchbook, smiling at the other girl. They drew in silence for the rest of the period.
AN:
We'll have real action at some point, guys, I PINKY promise. It kills me not to just jump to the action, but everything has to get all set up and whatnot.
I would be eternally grateful if you reviewed. Follows and favorites are wondrous, but they aren't quite as motivating, and I want to know what you guys like, what you don't, et cetera. You can just type in a little smiley face, or a little frowny face, a "BOOO!" or a "YAY!", but I'd really love some feedback. Much obliged.
