Totally WHAT?
(A Totally Spies - XMen (mainly) cross-over, with a little Harry Potter (see Notes - Chapter 3) for good measure.)
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(1) TOTALLY SPIES does not belong to me, and never will.
(2) When I barrow from the X-MEN, I borrow from the comicbook-series (1980s - including the New Mutants) and not the movies!
(3) The HARRY POTTER series of books (which I use with MAJOR revisions - this is fan-fiction) is the property of its author, J. :
After I found out what I did about J. ' world of Harry Potter, my mind started switching things around. Working with some oft he thing set in Rowling's books!
The first thing I worked off of.. was that, when he was younger, Albus Dumbledore had stolen a ring, the very ring that - later - cursed him to death! So? Dumbledore is a thief: A thief as head of a house (before he became Headmaster)? Hmmm..
Then? There is the idea of Gryffendors being "Chivalrous". As a one time medieval-re-
enactor and researcher.. I am hereto say I know who came up with the Code of Chivalry and why he came up, and how narrowly the code was used (not everyone fell under it! So? I put little stock in the idea of "chivalry"!
Then? We have House Slytherin (my favorite)! Was old Slytherin a mud-blood (a half-
breed)? And, aren't Slytherins notorious for gaurding the sources of their magic (its "Puriy")? Methinks that Slytherins would want to gaurd ANY new-source of magic they find,
even (especially?) among the muggle-blood and half-breeds!
Having gone through my rant: I use the some of the Harry Potter characters QUITE differently than they were written. The "good" are notneccesarily good, and the "bad" aren't exactly bad. I'll explain my revisions as I use them!
And? The "dead" aren't always dead!
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Chapter 3: Day 3.
There is an african proverb that says - treat your guest as a guest for three days; on the fourth day, give him a hoe!
It was only the start of their second official-day, there, but? Alex, Sam, and Clover thought they would start making themselves useful preparing breakfast.
"There! The Coffee's being brewed, and, so is the water for the tea!" Samantha announced.
"Now? to start mixing the cocoa for anyone who may want it!"
"I'm glad we got a toure of the kitchen along with everything else!" Clover smiled as she prepared the vagetables. "My GOD! This place is HUGE! How are the tortillas coming, Alex!"
"Properly heated, Clover" Alex sang out, "and the eggs are ready for the Montoya-treatment! I hope whoever comes down first will be ready for my Huevos Rancheros! And, I'll need those veggies, shortly, Clover. like Pronto!"
"I know, Alex!", Clover smiled, "always best when the salsa's fresh!"
"OK! Just bring them over here, Clover!" Alex said, "I think I can watch the stove while I'm making the salsa! Someone start cracking the eggs."
"I will!" Sam cried out.
"OK, Sammie!" Alex chirped "And, can you find a pastry-cutter? I need something to mash and mix the tomatoes, chilis, onions, and garlic!
"
"I thought I senced a commotion in here." Xavier chuckled as he and Dr. McTaggert entered the kichen. "I do hope you're finding everything alright?"
"Yes, SIR, Professor!" The three called out in perfect unison.
"And, I wouldn't say it was a 'commotion', Professor.." Clover began.
"More like "organized chaos'." Samantha finished the line.
Alex tried her best not to even giggle! "Coffee's ready, Professor! We'll get you and Dr. MacTaggert some! Oh! And, Girric's files are on the table! We were going to take them to your office right after we cooked the first round of breakfasts!"
"I saw them, thank you, Ms. Vega!"
Soon, five people were enjoying breakfast around the table.
"I got the feeling Mr. Marko and the x-Men don't get along well?" Sam asked. "Is that why he and Tom Cassidy aren't here this morning?"
"Partly." Xavier looked over his cup of coffee. "Caine - the Juggernaut - and I have been at odds since before I founded the X-Men! But? It's more than that. It's not just Caine and I. You see, , Caine's mother married my father after my mother died, and shortly after Caine's mother and father divorced. We tried - my father and I - to make Caine and his mother feel welcomed, and safe, and? That worked. For a while. But? Unfortunately, not for long. Memories of Caine's father soon came to haunt him! And? After a while, home - to Caine - didn't feel like home, anymore."
"I know how that feels!" Samantha sighed sadly.
"What about Caine's father, professor?" Alex asked. A bit hesitantly.
"Adam Caine was a savage." Xavier responded. "And, that is giving a bad-name to the savage! In Caine's memories, and his mother's, I saw what he did to them! Adam Marko took out every aggrassion he had on Caine and my step-mother! Sometimes, when he was drunk. Often, when he was as sober as a judge! Anyhow! One day, I guess I was peering too deeply into Caine's memories! For, I stayed long-enough for Caine to, somehow, recognize me! And, he ran. To that spot in the cliff you found, Alex! And? I followed him, there. I wanted to help. I wanted to say I was sorry. But? He ran away. But? Not before he looked at me as if to tell me that he'd kill me if we ever met, again."
"Anyway! A few years after that, I heard that Caine's father was arrested for murder in New York City. He was convicted of beating a man to death along the Brooklyn docks. He was sent to Attica, and later was killed in an altercation. So? Since his mother is no longer here? I'm the only family Caine has left! Therefor? I try to keep the grounds open for him. No matter how much it may upset certain of my students. Caine must have a refuge!"
"If it keeps upsetting Scott Summers, Charles? Let him stay upset!" Logan said as he walked into the dining room! "I will admit, I wasn't too thrilled 'bout you letting Juggernaut go, the first two times we fought! But? After hearing you explaining it, I can understand! A bit. What's for breakdast? I smell tomatoes an' chilis!"
"Here's your coffee, Mr. Logan!" Alex said. "And, the Huevos are on their way!"
A few minutes later, most of Xavier's school was up, and Alex, Sam, and Clover were on their second helping of breakfast!
"So! Where is Jennifer?" Samantha asked. "I haven't seen her this morning!"
"Probably still in her room?" Sharon shrugged.
"I hope you girls are ready for your morning-workouts!" Logan said. "Since the Irishman's here, and, since he and I remembered how Girric was about self-defence, I thought we'd see how far-along you three might be."
"Sure thing, !" The girls unisoned.
Later, as Sam and Alex were leaving their room after getting into their sweatsuits, Alex asked, "Where's Clover? She said she'd wait for us, and..."
"Ut-oh..." Sam breathed out, looking doen the hall to the stairs. "Isn't that supposed to be..", she gulped, "Jennifer's room?"
Alex looked down the hall to see Clover as still as a statue. "I thought I sensed a bit of chaos! Come on, Sam," she sighed. "Let's see what the problem is."
As Alex and Sam made it halfway down the hall, Clover stepped into the doorway!
"What happened to Clover?" Sam hissed. "I felt like she was in a trance! And.. How did I feel that?"
Slowly, Alex and Sam peered into the doorway.
"that's not a Vegas floorshow!" Sam whispered."That's an Amsterdam Window-show!"
Alex sighed. "Where's the 'Red-Light District' sign when you need it?"
"Clover!" Sam barked out. "Get out here and get your sweats back on! I mean - get your sweats back on and get out here! wE're supposed to be in the Danger Room with Mr. Logan and Mr. Casidy!"
Clover and Jennifer just halfway-turned to Sam and Alex, and gigggled through half-closed eyes.
"Yes, ma'am.. Sammie..", Clover purred.
"Before today is over," Alex growled-out, "I may just wind up killing someone."
And, Jennifer stared.. and blew a kiss to Alex.
Sam caught her breath, then looked down to face Alex:
"Bizarre, much?"
"Why past "bizarre', girlfriend." Alex muttered.
Clover swayed slowly up to Sam, slowly embraced her, then tongue-kissed her!
"Ummm.. Ahhhh..", Sam stuttered.
"OK," Clover softly purred. "Now.. we can go."
And so, they left Jennifer's room: Clover, with her Mona-Lisa smile, an embarassed Samantha, and an infuriated Alex pulling rear-guard.
"We'll talk later, Alejandra." Jennifer smiled and giggled. "I want a kiss.. from you!"
And, Clover and Sam stopped short!
"Is she going to take our Alex from us?" Clover and Sam whimpered like lost-puppies.
"Over her dead body!" Alex growled.
Another giggle came from Jennifer's room.
"I will get that kiss.."
Soon, the three girls were in The Danger Room with Wolverine and Sean and Tom Cassidy.
"Charles told me he sensed some trouble in Stavros' room." He grinned. "I don't see or smell any blood, so? I'll take it everything's alright - for now. Anyhow! I read through everything Girric had on you three while you were getting ready.. and we'll train based on what he observed! Alex? Girric wrote that you seemed more inclined to Judo and Jui-Jitsu! So.. you will be sparring with me. Sam? Girric said you and Clover were more inclined towards Savate - French Kick-boxing. So? You will be sparring with the Cassidys. Then? After an hour? We'll switch patrners. Kate will be keeping time for us in the Control-Room."
After an hour of sparring, with Sean and Tom Cassidy changing partners after thirty minutes. Sean called a time-out, for the Cassidys to switch partners. Shadowcat called the sparring done in an hour, and came down into the room.
"That was a good spar, Alex!" Logan said. "And, I noticed some Khmer-wrestling mixed in with the Jui-Jitsu! whoever trained you, trained you well! Some of those, if needed, could have been killing-blows with a little more force behind them!"
"Thank you, Mr. Logan!" Alex bowed. "When I was growing up, L.A. could get pretty rough, and a neighbor and his wife, the Fujimuras, thought that I should learn to defend myself. They said the police didn't always respond in time if anything happened! So, Mr, Fujimura started training me in Jui-jitsu. After that? A nice old man came to live in that same neighborhood. He and his wife left Cambodia a few days before the Khmer Rouge entered their village. He taught me what he was taught. And? I kind of mixed the styles together. Great for close-quarter combat!"
"OK!" Shadowcat announced. "as per Wolverines's instructions? Alex? YOU will be fighting the Cassidys! Sam and Clover? You'll be double-teaming Wolverine! Good luck!"
Soon, Sam and Clover were giving Wolverine everything they could throw and kick at him, including what they couldborrow from Alex! Alex, meanwhile, was fighting Sean Cassidy, then Tom, and - then - both of them, working to control the tempo of the match!
"I like how the practice is going!" Theresa Rourke Cassidy said. "My dad and uncle love a good spar! They've fought each other too much, an' know how each other will react! This is a thrill for them! Even though they'll both be black an' blue by tonight."
Shadowcat just grinned into her coffee mug.
"We were observing how you and Sam handled yourselves, Clover!" Shadowcat said after the session. "Theresa and I. And? I was impressed with how well you two transitioned when you and the Cassidys changed partners! It might have been kick-boxing, but? Sean and Tom have slightly differing techniques and tempos! And? You seemed to handle the switch very well!"
After the morning-workout, and Xavier's synopsis of their course-load, Alex, along with Sam and Clover as shadows, went for a walk just outside the schoolgrounds.
"You know, you don't have to tag along if you don't want to!" Alex sighed. "I'll understand."
"You're not getting away from us that easy, girlfriend!" Clover replied. "Not after what happened, yesterday!"
"Yeah, Alex, what gives" Samantha asked. "We both know you needed time and a place to think, and still do! But, like, alone here? Before we know the lay-out? That's too dangerous! Plus? If anything happened to you? I don't know about Clover - yet - but, I don't know what would happen to me!"
"Yeah!" Clover affirmed. "Like we agreed, yesterday! If we go, we go together! We don't wait to go one at a time!"
"Yeah, I know." Alex sighed and started to tear-up, "but, like, I can feel how hard and scary it is for you guys. And.. I know I have to be the strong-one, here, now.. but.. I can't!"
Sam and Clover found themselves holding a voilently-shaking Alex for quite a few minutes as she slowly calmed-down.
"Well? Well? Well?" Came a male-voice from in front of the girls. "Looks like we got us three strays? Think they may be mutant-freaks from the hill?"
Sam and Clover looked up at a man, nine feet from them, with a Met's baseball cap, a baseball bat, and a coil of rope.
"Guys?" Alex growled low, "There are two more in back of us."
"Could be those three the folks out west are looking for!" Another voice said, roughly. "Hey? Aren't they paying for information on them?"
"Great," Alex groused, "bounty-hunters."
"Remember our workout, this morning?" Clover asked.
"Pick your partners!" Samantha grinned, then shouted:
"GO!"
As fast as they could, the girls took their battle-stances! The fights were fast and furious.
And? At first, in the girls' favor! However, the longer they fought, the more of a crowd they drew:
Fifteen.. forty-five.. seventy-five...
"What gives?"Sam called out. "Doesn't the town of Salem Center have anything better to do than gather around a fight?"
"That's rubbernecking for you, Sammie!" Clover answered.
"HEY!" Alex huffed out. "Where are the original idiots we were fighting?"
"Probably waiting.." Samantha gasped. "For us to... drop... from exhaustion! The vultures!"
Soon, the throngs thinned, leaving three battered young women in the street!
"Ow.. that was worse than the Danger Room..", Alex winced.
"What'll we do with them, now?" One of the original three men said, spitting away blood.
"I think the pay was for 'dead-or-alive.'" Another breathed out heavily. "I say hang 'em! Then sell what's left of 'em to the Californians!"
Soon, stripped of their sweatsuites and rudely awakened, the girls found themselves quickly bound and put up on scaffolds.
"I'm sorry I got you into this, guys!" Alex sniffed as her eyes followed the noose up to the branch.
"Don't cry, Alex." Sam whispered. "This is how we decided to go, remember?"
"Yeah, Alex!" Clover tried to chuckle. "Remember Alexandre Dumas? 'All for one, and one for all'?"
"Yeah?" Alex grinned.
Then, Alex' ears caught something! Why did that roar sound so... familiar?
"Shut up! Trash!" One of the hangmen shouted.
"BACK OFF, MAD DOG!" Clover screamed. "Or, so help me? I will haunt you to your DEATH!"
'That's a MOTORCYCLE!' Alex suddenly remembered. 'Donna Ramone's bike? What is Donna doing here?'
Then, as a black-clad biker whizzed on by, pistol-shots hit the ground at the feet of the hangmen, causing them to losen their grips on the ropes!
Simltaneously, rifle-shots zinged up above the heads of the girls, fraying the ropes.
POW! POW! POW!
Zing! Zing! Zing!
POW! POW! POW!
Zing! Zing! Zing!
Alex then gave a quick glance to Sam and Clover:
"On three, everybody on the branch."
POW! POW! POW!
Zing! Zing! Zing!
POW! POW! POW!
Zing! Zing! Zing!
When the nooses dropped, Alex yelled:
"THREE!"
And three ex-spies aimed for the branch above them, where they quickly unbound themselves!
Then hangmen and ex-spies then faced-off each other.. then, shouted:
"GET THEM!"
And three hangmen crumpled from the hits of Alex, Sam, and Clover. Then the girls went to retrieve their gymclothes.
And, a motorcycle roared up the the hanging-tree!
"Where do you think you're going?" The head bounty-hunter-turned-hangman said.
"HOME!" Alex answered defiently.
"No you're not!" The bounty-hunter sneered.
"Yes, they are!" Two women responded with two drawn pistols and a hunting-rifle.
"Donna?" Sam asked, bewildered, "MANDY?"
"OK, You three clowns!" Mandy motioned the rifle towards the bounty-hunters. "Up against the tree! Hunting-Season is over! Donna? Hand Alex the handcuffs, will you? We have some turkeys to truss! And? Don't worry, boys! Once we're home, I'll call the Sheriff to come release you!"
"MANDY?" Clover gulped. "What are you and DONNA doing here?! And, by the way, thank you both for the save! But.. why aren't you in California? And - like - how did you know where to go?"
"Great-Uncle Girric told me and Donna to be here about a week and a half ago!" Mandy laughed.
"Dominique and Caitlyn are waiting back at the School. I didn't want them shedding any blood. Yet. As for where to find you?" She pointed behind the ex-spies, "He showed us where to help you, most!"
Sam and Clover turned around - and their voices catch in their throats!
And, Alex started talking in Apache.. with her eyes down is respect.
"Girls?" Alex reverted to English, "I'd like to introduce James Proudstar!"
"'James Proudstar'?" Samantha meeped. "'Thunderbird'? You're one of the Hellions! But.. how did you know we'd be in trouble?"
"Jennifer asked that I watch out for you!" James replied. "And, after yesterday, I thought Ms. de la Vega might need watching-over."
"I was thinking that was you that I saw on the cliff, yesterday!" Alex smiled."Thank you, for being there!"
Sam, Alex, and Clover were then escorted back to Xavier's School under guard.
"Mr. McTaggert? Nurse Friedlander?" Thunderbird called out. "Ms. Hunter? Alex, Sam, and Clover got in a fight about a mile from here! They could use some attention!"
Nurse Sharon Frielander and Stevie Hunter, the X-Men's Dance-Teacher and Physical-Therapist, came to look at the girls. Along with...
"Mom?" The three girls exclaimed.
"What .. HAPPENED?" Gabrielle Simpson, Stella Benoir, and Carmen Montoya y Cannon demanded to know.
"We were attacked down the street, got into a fight," Alex said apologetically. "Sorry, everyone! We probably created a problem, here."
"You were not the problem, girls!" Thunderbird corrected Alex. "Xavier! ! The girls fell into an ambush!"
"An AMBUSH?!" Gabrielle cried out, as she held onto Sam for dear life.
"Yes." Thunderbird explained the fight. "If WOOHP had not wanted your daughters alive, the hunters would have killed them."
"WOOHP is already here?" Stella shivered, holding Clover and Norman close.
"They're close." Thunderbird said.
"Good thing me an' Tom decided to stick around, Charles!", Caine said. "Sounds like you're gonna need some help!"
"We don't need any of YOUR help, Juggernaut!" Scott flared up. "Why don't you just..."
"Why don't you just shut up, Cyclops," Alex angrily spun out of her mother's arms and stalked over to Scott, "and SIT DOWN! You don't know what's happened between and ! Not from before the formation of the X-Men! Nobody even bothered to ASK the Professor about what started this. Until this morning." Alex then turned to Caine. "We had to ask, ," Alex said, "we apologize." The guns of the S.S. Vega then turned back towards Scott.
"I will not tell you what the Professor told us! That is between us, him, and . Except, that Professor Xavier looked a little too closely into a mind. I can imagine how that can be. Ever since said I was a bit more.. empathic.. than Sam and Clover are, now, I've been afraid of scaring them. Or? Scarring them. At times? I've been too afraid to do ANYTHING! And? With your relationship to Jean Grey? I would have thought you might understand that. Maybe, I was wrong."
Scott, Jean, Logan, Dr. MacTaggert, Caine Marko, and the Cassidys looked at Xavier.
Sam, Gabrielle, Clover, Stella, Norman, Mandy, Donna, Thunderbird, Catseye, Wolfsbane, and Shadowcat looked at Alex.
Xavier quietly sipped his tea. "I'm not getting into this, Scott. All that has needed to be said.. has been said."
And Moira MacTaggert smiled a bit wickedly.
Carman chuckled. Her daughter would have made one hell of a Defence Lawyer! Or.. might still make one?
"Mom?" Samantha asked Gabrielle. "How did you get here? We were wondering if we'd ever see you, again!"
"Well?" Gabrielle answered. "We had alot of help, leaving!"
"Including torching our homes, to make sure nothing of yours' found its way to WOOHP." Stella added.
"Torched?" Clover yelped. "But, like, who helped you?"
"They did!" Carmen pointed towards the kitchen.
"Pam!" Sam gasped. "Cindy! Alice! Jerry got ahold of you?"
"Yep!" Alice answered. "Jerry contacted me two weeks ago with our part of the plan. Said we'd need to get your families out of California as soon as you girls disappeared. Also said we'd know when that happened."
"'When'?" Samantha jumped. "Are you saying that Jerry had a timetable? Was Jerry able to predict the future? Like Nostradamus?"
"No." Pam smiled.
"More like an inside-man." Cindy grinned.
"An 'Inside-Man'?" Clover asked, a sudden-grin on her face.
"One that WOOHP never thought to suspect until it was way too late to do anything about it!" Cindy giggled.
"Not that they didn't try!" A familiar male voice suddenly piped up. "That's why we were late getting here! Despite Girric's maticulous planning, WOOHP still had BOLOs for me and your moms!
Using the Airports to fly out of California was out of the question, and I'm sure they had every highway out of Los Angeles blocked and checked. And? Although I had tabs on most of WOOHP's assassins, I still had a few I wasn't able to pin down! So? We had to take every backroad and smuggler's trail through southern California and Arizona until we could leave through an airport in Albequerque! I HAD hoped to beat WOOHP here, but.."
"That's OK, Tim." Sam walked up and hugged the man, and kissed him lightly. "At least, everyone got out safely!"
"So, Tim!" Clover spoke. "We heard you call Jerry, 'Girric'! And? Girric sent the files he had on you to us. So, I take it.. you knew him a while?"
There was a knock at the door, which Rahne and Sharon went to answer.
"You could say that, Clover!" Tim Scam gave a rougish smile. "I was with Girric when he formed WOOHP! It was then he told me of his plans to dismantle it if anything about it went wrong! That's when he asked me, if anything went wrong at WOOPH, to be his 'inside-agent', he called it. An in-
house detective. I'd been in the spy-business, a couple of years, and I knew how things took detoures that no one liked. So? I agreed to be Girric's mole! Sure enough, a few years back, Girric got wind of anti-mutant activities in WOOHP! And, to go with the plan, I was 'fired', and 'blacklisted', and put into WOOHP-custody. This was shortly before you, Samantha, and Alexandra were recruited, Clover. Anyway! The anti-mutant chatter got hotter, and? The best place to get the information was, of course, in the WOOHP-prison amongst the scuttlebutt! And? Anytime Girric needed further-intelligence, he'd see that I made an 'escape'! That was easy enough to do, since we both worked on the prison's design and construction."
"But? What about when you contacted us, Tim?" Pam asked. "And, where were you when your double went after the girl's moms?"
"I contacted you and Cindy and Alice, Pam, because I figured you'd be Girric and me's best help!"
Tim answered. "That was about the time the anti-mutant factions started to come together! It seemed to be more than plain xenophobia. I've worked with the types, before, and they always left a bad memory! So? I started looking for allies to help clean house, and found you three! As for where I was when my duppelgranger struck? Girric thought the best place for me was to stay in prison! That way, he explained, no clues would be left behind to mislead the authorities into my direction! Besides? I got to .. deal with him .. after he got caught!"
Sam and Clover shivered, involuntarily, at the look of Tim's grinning face!
"Thank you, Tim," Alice smiled, "for putting so much faith in us!"
"You're welcomed, Alice!" Scam answered.
"What I want to know," Alex pondered, "it how did Girric know what was going to happen? Because, this sounded like it took alot of planning."
"It is because .. Girric .. foresaw not only his death, but the events immediately before and after it!" An oily-looking, dark-haired hawksbill of a man dressed in black spoke. "He related the story to me, after he had the visions!"
The rest of the school grew as quiet as a tomb, looking at the newly-arrived speaker and his four similarly-dressed companions!
"Visions?" Samantha asked, in a quiet voice.
"That is the problem with divining!" A tall blonde man spoke. "Too many times, the diviners bear witness to their own deaths! And? more like as not, the ends are never comforting!"
"Divining?" Clover squeaked.
"It is just a testiment to Girric that he wasn't driven mad or depressed," a woman spoke. "Too many diviners and divination-students have passed through Saint Mungo's in such states, as it is."
"That's all Divinations-Class is good for!" A half-wild-looking woman with stringy black hair snapped out. "Between divinations and muggles, it's a wonder Girric lasted as long as he did!"
"Calm your hatreds, Bellatrix...", the Hawksbill sighed, "And, please, remember to keep your husband on his leash! These muggles are as persecuted as we are! And,for the very same reason: they are as different from their neighbors as we are. I swear? How the Blacks survived as long as they have, I cannot even fathom!"
Bellatrix gave a hardy cackle: "You are right, Severus! That is a question that has ever-perplexed me. And? I AM a Black!"
"At least you are not as bad as your brothers, Regulus and Sirius." Severus sighed.
"No one, living, is that bad!" Bellatrix and her husband groused.
"Pardon me?" Xavier asked. "Who are you people?"
"Careful, Charles Xavier!" Caine said. "I've never met 'em, but? Just from handling the Ruby of Cyttorak, I can sense magic when I'm near it!"
"They said they were friends of Girric MacFergus!" Rahne spoke up. almost apologetically.
"There's no need to apologize, Rahne!" Alex smiled.
"And the one called Severus said he was here at the request of Mr. MacFergus!" Sharon added.
"You are, Mr.. ?" Alex asked.
"Severus Snape." Severus took her hand. "And, yes, I am a friend of Girric's. And you, dear child, must be AleJandra de la Vega y Montoya!"
"How could you tell?" Alex shot the hawksbill a look.
"One? From the letter I received from Girric three moons ago. Two? I can tell by your aura! It is just as Girric thought it would be. You see, Alex? Girric wrote me, telling me he felt his time on earth was short, and that he felt that he was guarding something very special. He wrote me of you, Samantha, and Clover, and how he felt he was dealing with a Gestalt!"
Alex nodded affirmation, as Sam and Clover drew closer.
"I am sure that Professor Xavier and Dr. MacTaggert have explained the scientific-theories behind the Gestalt? And have explained the idea of the focal point?"
Again, Alex nodded slowly.
"Good!" Snape said. "Because I can tell, by the aura you emit, that you- Alejandra- are the Focal Point! In the realm of magic, what you are, Alex, can be considered the HEART of the Gestalt, especially when that Gestalt is an odd-number! And, the job of the heart is, at first, to feed the other two parts, the head and the body! You see, without the heart, the two halves will remain seperate, forever lost, and, will never function as it should! The head without the body is a spirit at best, or? A vampire at worst! And? The body, without the head, is a golem! A zombie, if you will. The heart feeds them and nurtures them."
"OK...", Sam slowly let out her breath. "You know Girric, Mr. Snape? Probably, I'm guessing, from before he become a spy?"
"We- all of us-", Snape gestured to his companions, "went to the same School of Witchcraft and Wizardy! The blonde is Lucius Malfoy, and the dark-haired women with the attitude is Bellatrix Lastrange, and with her is her husband, Rodolphus."
"Watch what you say about me, Severus." Bellatrix warned. Then, she chuckled.
"I never said your attitude wasn't warranted, Bellatrix!" Snape smiled. "I just said you had one!
God knows, if I had come from the Blacks, I'd probably have an attitude, now, too!"
"Or, be dead", Rodolpho replied.
"Quite true, Rodolpho!" Snape sighed. "In all probability, the latter. I - remember - hearing about how Bellatrix' grandmater felt about half-breeds, word-for-word, from my mother. like a warning. The Blacks and the Princes were too much alike, that way. Anyway! The calming-influence of our group is named Poppy Pomfrey! She is Hogwort's school-nurse, and? Was as much a friend of Girric's as Lucius and I!"
"Wait a minute!" Clover blurted. "You were friends with Girric? But, wouldn't that have made him, like, Slytherin? Weren't you supposed to be the bad-guys?"
Bellatrix chuckled. "Been reading Rowling, haven't you?"
"Well..?", Clover fidgeted a little bit. "maybe, a little."
"Well?" Bellatrix chuckled. "If what Rowling had written was factual, I'd be dead, now! And? Despite rumours to the contrary, I'm not a vampire."
"Rowling is an excellent writer, young Clover, but?" Poppy spoke. "She got the story -slightly-
backwards!"
"And?" Lucius added. "History is always written by the winners! Has been since the days of the Ceasars. Unfortunately. And? Until recently, the secret-histories that were known to Hogwarts have been written by Gryffendors."
"So.. Gryffendor is..?" Alex asked.
"A descent-enough house, now..", Snape said, "that, at one time, was run by thieves and seducers and cavaliers! They were the ones who felt THEY had the right to USE anything - ANYONE - different for THEIR sole gain! They were the chevalier of the wizarding-world! And? Much LIKE the 'Code-of-Chavalry' of western Europe? The Code-of-the-Gryffendor always was just applied to Gryffendors! But, back to why we are here! Girric said in his letter to me that he needed to talk, one last time, to the three of you, and", Snape looked over to Mandy, "to you!"
"So..", Samantha asked, "are we holding a Seaence?"
"I may be mad, dear child," Bellatrix chuckled, "but, I'm not crazy! Just being in a seaence can cost a person, dearly!"
"No, Samantha," Snape chuckled, "we shall hold a Wizard's Funeral. You see? The objects a person, magical of muggle, handles during their lifetime can draw upon their erengy. And? Girric left to me his personal-belongings from when we were at Hogwarts'! They are the items that collected most of his magical energies. The last thing that came to me, after he died no doubt, was his wand. When they are burned, his spirit will be able to make it's next journey! It will be then, if you four are present, that Girric shall be able to give you his message."
Severus Snape then turned to Charles Xevier:
"Professor Xavier? I ask, from one teacher to another, is there a place nearby we may hold the funeral?"
"There is a small area in back of the School," Xavier said, "I have set it aside to bury those students who have died here, and as a memorial to those who have died away from home, whome we cannot retrieve. I.. think.. Mr. MacFergus may approve?"
"He would!" Snape smiled and bowed. "girric always preferred being among friends. Then? It is settled! We shall have the funeral at sunset!"
"Thank you, Professor Snape!" Alex bowed. Then, she looked up the stairs at Jennifer, then turned to her mom, Sam and Clover:
"Guys? I'll be back as fast as I can! Right now, there's someone I gotta see!"
"May I come in, ?" Alex asked from the doorway.
"Sure! Come in!" Jennifer smiled. "You draw in quite the crowd, Ms. de la Vega, you and your friends. First Cain, the the spies, and now wizards! Nice way you handled Cyclops, by the way! That prissy dick needs someone to tell him off! And, also, it's 'Jen' or 'Jenni' to my friends! It's'Jennifer' if you must be formal!. In the Danger Room, it's 'Roulette'. " '? Ain't happening!"
"Only if you call me 'Alex'", Alex smiled. "Or, 'Xandra', if there's another Alex, here! I'm not that comfortable with "Ms. de la Vega', or 'Ms. Vega'. Sounds like I'm being sent to the Principal's Office!" She giggled.
"Been there. Done that." Jennifer said, slowly stripping to her bra and panties, and moving toward Alex' face:
Kiss.
And, Alex turned as red as a tomato!
"I told you I'd get that kiss." Jennifer winked. "Aw! You're BLUSHING?" She giggled. "DAMN! You're as shy as little Rahnie!"
"Nobody's that shy?" Alex blushed more, suddenly feeling flushed all the way to her toes. Then, Alex fought to regain control of herself and Jenni wrapped her arms around her. And, somehow, succeded."Well.. ah.. anyway! Thank you.. for saving us, today, you and James."
"Don't worry! That's what friends are for." Jenni smiled as she put her uniform back on, as slowly as she had removed it. "Oh! And? Thank you for the Huevos Racheros! Haven't had a good dish of that in years! Since I left Las Vegas, even!"
"When did you eat that?" Alex asked. "We didn't see you at the breakfast table?"
"Don't worry!" Jennifer smiled. "Rahne and Sharon made sure I had some! And,it was good! Best I remember eating!"
"RAHNE and SHARON?" Alex yelped. "But, they were the ones who warned us about you! I sort of figured you three didn't get along!"
"Nah!" Jenni laughed. "Besides Jimmy and Kate? And Kurt? They're the only friends I really have here! They don't put up with my shit!" She laughed more, a bit harder, this time.
"Ah-HA!" Alex smirked, her arms across her breasts. "So, the Amsterdam-act..?"
"Is just that, an act?" Jenni answered. "Yeah. Pretty much! My way of telling who's worth a damn as a friend. Those who fall for it? Or, bitch about it too much? Ain't worth my time! Not that I won't save their asses when the time comes to. They ARE family!"
"Yeah.." Alex smiled. Then, she called to the door. "Sammie! Clover! You can come on in, guys. Jenni won't bite! I don't think."
The four girls hugged.
"Come on, Jen, let's get back down to the first floor!" Alex said. "Come meet our moms and friends!"
"Sure!" Jennifer responded.
That everning, after the last of twilight had left the Westchester skies, five witches gathered in a circle to help a sixth pass ontothe road ofthe dead. As Snape recited an incantatation incredably-ancient at the time of Hogwarts' founding, the flames sparked around and through the objects known to Girric MacFergus in the lives few had really known about.
Slowly, through the smoke and etched by the flames, the figure of Girric MacFergus could be seen.
"Alexandra? Samantha? Clover? Amanda? I have to leave you, now. I knew it must come to this. For a long time. It doesn't make the good-byes any easier. Alex! You are stronger than you think you are! I have always felt that. You take, but, you give back ten-fold! Your mother is right! You will make a great counselor! For? You take what you learn, and carefull weigh it. Never let your scales be corrupted. Watch over those whome you choose to call friends. And, even moreso as they become family."
A ghostly hand touched Alex' heart.
Alex closed her eyes.
"I shall, friend Girric."
"Samantha? Be vigilent, child! Your are the eyes and ears that help the heart to see. But? Don't.. over-ponder a problem! That has been the downfall of many. Your's, too, a time or two!" The shadow chuckled.
"I know." Sam replied sheepishly. "i still can't believe I thought you tried to kill us. I don't want to believe it. There I was, cursing you."
"Do not worry, Sam." Ghostly fingers and thumbs massaged around the redhead's eyes. "As Logan said, I was prepared to suffer a thousand curses - times a thousand, even - as long as I knew you were safe! That is part and parcel of being Slytherin: to not only know the secrets entrusted to you, but, to guard them jealously! Even at the risk of your own soul."
Samantha's slowly closed her eyes.
"Guard the secrets you are entrusted with." The old ghost whispered.
"I will, Girric." Sam breathed out.
"Clover? You are with friends, now. True friends you no longer have to play-act for! You no longer have to be afraid." Girric looked through her eyes into her soul.
"I know, Girric." The blonde replied. "I feel safe. At home."
"Good." The shade answered lowly. "I want you to feel safe. Take that safe-feeling, and hand it to others." Ghostly hand caressed Clover's hands. "That feeling of safety. And? Let your sisters feel safe. All of them."
"I will, Girric." Clover whispered as she slowly closed her eyes. "Stay safe. Wait for us."
The ghost then turned to Mandy. "You have always held my heart, Amanda! And? Have always been in mine. I.. know.. that what I had asked of you was hard. To be cold. And , mean at times. To be so much like my brother, and so much unlike yourself. And, especially, when all you wanted was friendship."
"I saw what you saw, Girric Og," Mandy countered her great-uncle in a whisper, "What needed to be done hurt, but, it needed to be done."
"Aye, you mirrored your family. Aye. You and I have walked that same road. But, you need walk that road no more! You have friends, now! You have family true. Watch over them, as they watch over you."
Mandy slowly closed her eyes, releasing a tear in the process. "Aye, I will."
"I can't see to clearly, Charles," Caine said, but, "I'm guessing those whiffs of smoke is MacFergus?"
"I believe so, Caine." Charles said. "I hope you won't mind a bit more company on the hill."
"Never met him," Caine said,"but? If the folks who did know him are any clue to him, I won't mind his hanging around!"
The ghost, then, turned to Tim Scam. 'I am forever in your debt, Timothy! It is one I can not repay. But, I can - at least - release you of any further debts to a dead man. I, hereby, release you from my service. Be well, Tim! Live well."
"I shall, Old Girric!" Tim grinned. "But, I think I shall stick around. Alice,Pam, Cindy, and I've decided we like the people around here! And? We'll try to help out, as we can!"
The ghost chuckled. "Definitely, the man I remembered hiring! And? The ladies! have a good life, then! Now? I am afraid it's time to take my leave! I'll watch-in as I can. Right now? I have an old friend to find. I do hope Tom Riddle is alright.. on the road..."
The smoke dissipated.
Girric MacFergus, alias "Jerry Lewis", was gone.
Softly, slowly, Alex de la Vega's voice lifted up a tribute to her lost-friend:
flowersoftheforest-flowersoftheforest-flowersofthe forest-flowersoftheforest-flowersoftheforest-
"I've heard the lilting, at the yowe-milking,
Lassies a-lilting before dawn o' day;
But now they are moaning on ilka green loaning;
The Flowers of the Forest are a' wede away".
flowersoftheforest-flowersoftheforest-flowersofthe forest-flowersoftheforest-flowersoftheforest-
"Well?" Severus Snape said. "If Professor Xavier will let us borrow his house? I would make a toast.. to a departed frind."
As soon as the party was inside the X-Mansion, Alex, Sam, and Clover were pulled away by Kathryn, Logan, and Sean:
"We shouldn't call you from the wake, I know it's bad manners," Kathryn apologized, "but,
with Sean's help, we've been able to isolate several of the voices on the recordings from the WOOHP earrings! We thought you'd best hear these."
"Thank you, Kathryn." Sam said. "We'll be right with you."
"Mandy?", Clover said, "we'll have to leave for a few. You might want to come along. Shadowcat and Wolverine have fished out some voices from the ear-rings Girric gave us."
"Thank you, Clover." Mandy whispered."I want to know who's going to Hell for killing my uncle! Mum always said her uncle was the best person in the family!"
"The he was, Amanda!" Bellatrix said. "Severus? I'll be back. I'm going to listen to who's going to Hell for Girric's murder!"
Soon, Alex, Sam, and Clover, their mothers, Mandy, Tim Scam, Kathryn, Logan, Sean Cassidy, and Bellatrix were listening to the recordings from Joshua Tree.
And, Alex, Sam, and Clover were stunned.
"How did they know we were mutants?" Sam gasped. "WE didn't know we were mutants!"
"Son-of-a-bitches probably developed mutant-detection equipment," Tim Scam groused. "Right under our noses! Wouldn't be the first agency to safely hide renegades."
"Probably, also, went through medical records!" Gabrielle Simpson swore as silently as she could. "May they rot in Hell!"
"What?" Alex suddenly grew pale. "I.. don't believe it! I don't wanna! That voice..."
"It's Britanny!" Clover spat out.
"A co-worker of yours?" Bellatrix turned an eye to the girls.
"Yeah." Alex held on the Carmen for dear life. "And.. A friend. We thought?"
"until the bitch found out we were mutants!" Clover cursed. "Wait a minute! Is that Blaine on there? It IS Blaine! That bastard is so dead!"
"Ut-oh.." Sam whispered. "The world just ended! I just heard DAVID!"
"David?" Clover whined. "But.. we've known him, like, FOREVER!"
"Not as well as we needed to, Clover!" Alex spoke with an edge in her voice. "Guys? We need to draw up some plans! I'll be damned if I'm gonna wait for some army to march in here to slaughter us! We need to take the fight to them!"
"Agreed!" Carmen said. "Tim? We need those hunting-rifles you and the girls picked up! We, also, need a place to practice!"
"We'll get the Danger-Room ready for sniper-school, ladies!" Logan said."Just give us thirty minutes!"
"I hope you don't mind some company on the target range?" A boy with red hair and green eyes bwhind glasses spoke from the doorway. "or, back-up defending this school?"
Bellatrix looked up, licking her lips. "Well? Well? Hello, Harry! Who told you about the party?"
"Professor Snape said we might be needed here," Harry responded. "And, why!"
"And, your mother and father let you come?" Bellatrix quirked a brow.
"Oh, they came along!" Harry said. "Along with Raemus and Teddy Lupin!"
Bellatrix chuckled, "Teddy never lets her father out of her sight, does she?"
"Not after almost loosing her father in the Wizarding Wars, no." The young blonde gentleman spoke. "Hello, Aunt Bellatrix!"
"Hello, Draco! I see Hernoine is with you! And? I see Ginerva, here, with Harry! Anyone else I should know about?"
"Ron and Chu are with Mom comparing noted with Professor Snape, dad, and Nurse Pomfrey! The Potters and Lupins are reconnoitering the parameter!"
"Well, then?" Bellatrix gave a dangerous grin. "It looks as though that gang's all here!"
She, then, turned to Clover. "As we said, earlier, girl.. Rowling wries an intersting story,
but? She got a few things wrong."