The Professor heard a faint and unsure knock on the large cherry wood door to his office. He quietly slipped into his conscience and reached into the hallway, discovering who the visitor was. He smiled and closed his mind to the world. Just as the woman on the other side was about to knock again, Xavier opened the door using telepathy. He rolled over to his guest and said calmly, "Hello, Natasha, and welcome to the Xavier Institute."
…
Gambit sat staring at his new friend lying on the ground contently. This dog was the best present he'd ever gotten, and it was from his chere. He smiled at the Doberman, and it smiled back. "Hey, Jake, you wanna walk Mon ami?" Jake barked a reply and they both stood up; man and man's best friend. Remy, not caring about his wheelchair or the fact that he couldn't walk very well yet, bent down slowly and snapped the red leather leash onto his dog's collar. They started toward the door, but didn't get very far before something blocked their way.
"Gambit, I would like you to meet someone. She is a very good friend of mine, and I'm sure you'll enjoy having her as a teammate." It was Beast, and he seemed happier than usual as he spoke to the eager Cajun and dog. After his rather childish introduction, the blue doctor stepped aside and revealed a tall, lean figure. She wore a turquoise t-shirt and a ragged pair of boot-cut jeans with a pair of Nikes. Her shining blue eyes met his collarbone, and her light brown hair was fixed in a long single braid to her waist.
"This is Natasha Dugan; also known as Hack." Hank continued, steadily growing less excited. Just as Remy opened his mouth to shoot a cocky remark to the newbie, Natasha said firmly yet playfully, "Oh dear, Hank, didn't you tell me that Remy LeBeau should be using a wheelchair; perhaps that one?" she added, pointing to the assistive chair in the corner of the room. The smirk on her face reminded Gambit of himself. In fact, there wasn't much difference: tall, slender, muscular, bold and "out there", obviously flexible, comfy clothes, witty comments…
He was snapped out of his thoughts by a whimper to his left. He turned to see Jake cowering behind a pile of clothes on the floor. All three mutants chuckled at the big dog. Jake seemed to become overwhelmed by curiosity rather than fear, and cautiously crawled toward Natasha. He sniffed her hand, and then thrust his muzzle underneath her arm, begging for attention. She laughed and patted his head. "Is this your dog, Remy?" She asked; laughing again as Jake rubbed his cheek against her leg like a cat.
Now it was his turn to be cocky. "More like Remy's cat, chere." He managed to lean against the dresser to his left with his arms folded across his chest. It hurt, but if he let Natasha know that, she'd think he was a loser. Not wat I want, he thought. Not at'all. She laughed again and turned to mutter something to Beast. He nodded at the unheard words, and with that, said his goodbye to Jake the cat-dog and Remy. Unfortunately, Natasha left, too.
…
Natasha woke up in the middle of the night. It was pitch black outside her nicely painted window in the guest room. "How long have I slept?" she muttered to herself as she slid out of bed into her shoes. Pajamas or not, she was going for a walk down to the lab. "Hank won't mind if I drop by," she said self-consciously as she wrapped a fuzzy purple robe around her and tied the bow in the front. Then she quietly snuck into the shadowy hallway.
She relaxed internally, and set off down the hall. "Okay," she whispered to herself, "keep cool. I should probably be careful when I pass—" but she didn't finish her motivational speech. Instead, a door near her left opened, and out walked Remy LeBeau. "What's he doing here? I thought no onegot up this early!" Apparently, the Cajun had good hearing, because his attention focused itself directly at her.
"Oh crap!" she muttered, and she tried to lean against the wall so he wouldn't notice her. But her foot hit a squeaky floorboard, and the red and black demonic eyes that seemed to glow in the dark snapped to her Nike on the floor. Natasha tried not to gasp or move as he slowly walked closer, heavily limping on his left leg. "Why don't you just use the wheelchair?" she mouthed to herself as she rolled her eyes.
Thankfully, Remy seemed to lose interest in her and he turned the opposite dirextion, walking down the hall and turning the corner. She exhaled deeply. Then she quickened her pace to the stairs. "Whew! I'm glad that's—" again, she was interrupted. But this time, it was because she ran into a large fuzzy wall. Wait, what? Natasha looked up to see Hank grabbing her hips with gentle hands.
"Natasha, you are quite a sneak." He chuckled as she took in her surroundings. She had managed to walk all the way to the lower floor and was about to run off of a flight of steps leading to the X-Jet hangar. He must've caught me before I fell! She realized with an inaudible laugh. The blue doctor let her go and lead her to the lab, where he sat her in a smooth metal chair.
"Now," he said, serious but not. "why are you all the way down here when I was just about to come get you?"