Guardian Reborn: Chapter 2

Type of Story: Standalone (Could become series)

Rating: PG

Characters: X-men, OC

Feedback: Emily_joyner@ureach.com

Web Site:

Disclaimer: I don't own them; I only play with them…

Additional Disclaimer: I'd like to think that I'm being original here, but more than likely I'm not. If anyone else has read anything like this, please let me know so that I can give credit where it's due!

Beldiara looked around the lab as she entered and stifled a sigh.  Chaos was obviously the rule of the day here.  Cat-45 cable lay everywhere, network cards were tossed on the tables, computer cases were strewn everywhere and above all of this was the noticeable tinge on ozone lingering on the air.  Something somehow had been shorted out.  Electrical fires were on the verge, she just knew it.

She looked at the young brunette crawling around on the floor, looking for all the world like she was trying to crawl through the floor and asked her, "What, exactly, is the problem?"

Kitty looked up, startled, and almost phased through the floor right then and there.  "Well, I couldn't get logged on to the school's network.  So, I checked the cable, it was plugged in, I jiggled the cable to the hub, still didn't work, so I tried another computer…  But I still couldn't get logged on.  I thought maybe it was the network card, so I took the machine apart and replaced the card, but when that didn't' work, and I didn't get a link light, I figured it must be the protocols… maybe it didn't have an IP address to go to.  About that time, Bobby thought it'd be great fun to throw a snowball at me and it hit that printer over there and from there…. Well… you know?"

All Beldiara could do was just look at the young girl.  She wasn't entirely sure, but she thought the girl had just said all of that in just one breath.  She blinked and shook her head slightly and looked around the room.  After one pass, Beldiara noticed an equipment rack in the corner.  Walking over, she opened the rack and looked through it for a moment.  She poked her head in, looked at the rear of the router that was in the rack and noticed what she figured would be the problem.

Beldiara poked her head back out and asked the girl, "Did you by any chance check to see if the hub was plugged into the router?"

Kitty opened and closed her mouth, flushing at her mistake.

"Um… no."

Well, she'd give the kid some credit.  She was honest at least.  She'd have to admit, she didn't think she could do it.  Especially after all the mess that had taken place in here.

Beldiara sighed to herself, plugged the patch cable back into the router and closed the rack.  She then stepped back, looked around and began surveying the damage to the computer lab.  It was then that something occurred to her.  She had not seen one adult since she got here.  She had a sneaking suspicion that no one knew about this fiasco.  Going on a hunch, she turned and looked at the teenaged boy that had escorted her down here.

"John.  I'm going to go on a hunch that none of your teachers know about this, do they?"

John jumped and proceeded to blush, knowing they were going to be ratted out.  But something told him not to lie this lady.  She'd know, and she expected honesty from them.

"No.  If they did, we'd be on detention for life.  We didn't mean for this to happen." 

Kitty looked like she was about to cry.  "No one else would come out.  The minute they heard 'School for the Gifted' the pretty much hung up on us.  We'll find a way to pay you for coming out here."

Beldiara looked at the abject sorrow on their faces and was instantly reminded of her cousins, Poldaran and Polnedra.  The twins were always into something, and then begging for help afterwards. 

Smiling sardonically, sighing softly, Beldiara reached into her computer bag and proceeded to twist her hair up and clip it into place.  She then took her suit jacket off, displaying what could only be a tailor-made gray silk tank top underneath.  She then grabbed her toolkit and dropped to her knees and crawled under the lab tables, setting to work on getting the mess cleaned up.

She looked back up at the teenagers and said, "Well?  Are you going to help me?  Or are you just going to stand there and wait for the Second Coming?"

John and Kitty looked at each other and then looked down at Beldiara.  "Ma'am…  We can't afford for you to do anymore work.  We can maybe pay for the trip here and for what you did over there at the rack… But that's it."

Beldiara just smiled and looked at them… the resemblance, personality wise, was uncanny to the twins.  "Don't worry about that.  We'll work something out."  And handed a screwdriver to Kitty.