Disclaimer: Don't own
X-men. Otherwise, this chapter would be up much faster, because I would be rich
and have a freaking laptop.
Okay, this was supposed to
be up a long, long time ago, but I've been having vacations and other
complications (read: I've been lazy), so, finally, here it is. Thanks to
everyone who waited for this, and especially people who reviewed, such as
MadisonDrew, *~Chaya~*, Discord, AMEE, Nightfan, starlet_girl (spelled with two
"t's" on the starlet. My computer is impossible), Sorceress Knight, Rivan, Goose,
Loc, Slacker, Ms Goku, Metroprincess, Jet, Loonybin, Rilo, Gaea, and Dark Wolf.
*Takes long, deep breath* And, if you didn't last time, or even if you did…
review? Please?
Okay, I'll stop babbling
and let you read the fic.
Ze next day, ve all expected to see Leo up early and doing something, but no vone saw him around. Ve decided to let him sleep in, but it vasn't like him at all.
At about eleven-thirty, everyone
noticed.
"Where is he?" Rogue asked
for about ze fiftieth time.
"I'm sure he's fine," Scott
replied.
"He never sleeps this long
even when he's not jumpy," Kitty pointed out.
"Maybe he couldn't get to
sleep last night, and now he's making up for it," Jean zought.
"Doesn't sound like Leo,"
Evan mentioned.
"Vell, vhere could he be?" I
asked.
Vhich vas ze perfect time for
Leo to show up, drenched in sweat and breazing hard. "Morning, guys," he said.
"Bad dream?" I joked.
Leo looked at his vatch.
"It's eleven-thirty."
"Yeah. Why'd you sleep so
late?" asked Jean.
"Err... did it not occur to
you guys that I was up already?"
Zere vere sheepish looks all
around. Leo chuckled.
"Come on, guys, I never
sleep that late."
"Told ya," Rogue pointed out.
Leo gave her a sheepish grin.
"Anyvay, vhere have you
been?" I asked him.
"Danger Room," he replied
"All morning?"
He grinned. "Ja. You guys
know how long I've been locked up in my room? I was going to kick some sentinel
butt before I called it a night, but then I lost track of time…"
"Vhat? Called it a night?"
Leo managed to look
completely innocent. "Well, today started at midnight, right?"
"YOU'VE BEEN FIGHTING
SENTINALS FOR ELEVEN AND A HALF HOURS?!" everyone shouted.
"Well, no, of course not.
Logan came for his session at nine, and we had a go."
"Had a go?" Scott asked
curiously.
"Err… yeah, we fought. Why?"
I laughed. "Scott has zis
insane notion zat…"
"Don't tell him!" Scott
shouted.
"…Zat you and Logan vere
dating."
Leo shot a glare at Scott,
who vhimpered and ran out of ze room.
"Excuse me a moment, you
guys," Leo said in a calm and rational voice. Zen he ran after Scott, shouting,
"COME BACK HERE, YOU DAMNED OBSESSIVE MAMA'S BOY!"
Everyone burst out laughing.
"Ah wonder how long it'll take Leo to figure out what Scott meant by 'had a
go,'" Rogue gasped.
"YOU PERVERT!"
"Not zat long," I choked out,
and ve all fell to ze floor, laughing harder.
Leo valked in a few minutes
later, dragging a dazed Scott vith a lump on his head behind him. He dropped
Scott roughly to ze floor. "So, anyway, the reason I came up here was to ask if
anyone wanted a live opponent in the Danger…"
"NO!" screamed everyone,
horrified.
Leo shrugged. "Okay, just
thought I'd offer. Since no one else wants to fight, and the sentinels are
getting old, I'll just take a shower."
"Good idea," I said, then,
vhen he glared at me, I quickly added, "Showers are great after a long fight."
He nodded and left.
Scott had regained balance
and could stand. "Man, Leo is quite a powder keg."
"You beat on somevone enough,
Scott, and zey're bound to blow up," I pointed out. "And you have been giving a
few blows. And…" I grinned craftily, "no sexual puns intended."
He winced. "You have to
admit, Logan talks to Leo in a way that he's never talked to any of us."
"Zat doesn't mean zey're
lovers, Scott."
"Yeah, they do have a lot in
common," Rogue pointed out. "Ah mean, Leo's people skills are better, but they
are a lot alike. No reason why they wouldn't be friends."
"Is there something more to
it, Rogue?" Jean asked softly. "And I don't mean that they're dating."
Rogue winced. "Stop pokin'
around in my head."
"Just tell us," I begged.
"Yeah, well, Leo wrote this
thing for school, about someone who
made a difference in his life…"
"I remember that!" Kitty
interrupted. "Rogue, Logan and I all saw it!"
"Vas zis ze time you asked
everyone to tell Leo he vas a good writer?" I asked. "He vas pretty upset, as I
remember." And I had loved it. Ve hadn't been on very good terms at ze time.
"That's right. I hadn't
actually read it, but we all did later. He was talking about Logan. He seems to
consider him a sort of, like, father figure, you know?" she flashed a small
smile, vhich vould've had my heart racing about a veek ago.
"A father figure? Zat's odd.
I vouldn't have zought zat of Logan."
"Thought what of me, fuzz
ball?" Logan asked as he came in behind us. "And where's Junior?"
The vord junior sent a shock
zrough everyvone, seen in zis light.
"Err… he's taking a shower."
"I was taking a
shower." Leo valked in zrough ze ozer door, dressed in his normal street
clothes.
"Zat vas quick."
"I've been in the shower for
a half-hour. Have you lost all sense of time today?"
I glanced at my holo-vatch
and jumped. Sure enough, a half-hour had flown by. I glanced at Rogue. "Vow.
Time really flies."
"Anyway, it's time for
lunch," Logan said. "Dining room, lets go."
Ve all valked to ze dining
room, vhere lunch had been set. Ze professor and Ororo had beaten us to ze
table, and vere vaiting for us. Ve grabbed chairs and sat down.
Ze professor got right to business.
"Scott, Cerebro has detected another mutant in Woolworth, Colorado."
Leo bolted upright in his
seat, but he didn't say anyzing.
Scott opened the folder zat
ze professor had handed him. "Anna Snyder," he read before ze folder did a
disappearing act and ended up in Leo's hands.
"Hey!" shouted Scott. Leo vas
beyond caring.
"Anna Snyder of Woolworth,
Colorado. Age twelve. Has the ability to control the flow of time. Family:
father Carl Snyder and mother Wendy Snyder. This is unreal!" He turned to me.
"Kurt this is Chaya!"
Zat got my attention. "Chaya?
Zat girl zat you vere talking to on ze computer… last veek?"
"That's right. When I first
ran into her, we shared a lot of personal information."
"How much personal
information was this?" the professor asked suspiciously.
"She… knows the town we live
in. My actual name, which she found pretty funny. My age. She knows I'm an
orphan and that I go to a 'boarding school'. That's all."
"You don't normally share
that much information with anyone, let alone with someone you just met,"
Rogue pointed out.
"Yeah, well… we just click. I
just couldn't help but trust her."
"Do you have a picture of zis
girl?" I asked.
"What? Why would I have
pictures of her?"
"I meant in the folder, Leo."
"Oh, right. Here."
He handed me ze picture, and
I studied it.
And I found I couldn't pull
avay from her eyes. Zey vere so full of life, zat I felt my heart jump.
"That's odd. She doesn't look
twelve, she looks like a teenager," I dimly heard Leo say.
"That's right, Leo. She has
the power to change the flow of time, and she has been subconsciously aging at
an accelerated rate."
Leo asked, "Professor, I know
this isn't how you usually do things, but would it be all right if I went and
picked her up. After all, she is a friend of mine."
"I suppose that would be all
right. However, I would rather you took someone else with you."
"Of course. How 'bout Kurt?"
My name brought me back to
reality. "Vhat? Me?"
"Yes, you. You and Chaya are
quite a lot alike, and due to our circumstances… the parents can't say we're a
bad group if you and I come, since we're the orphans of the group. Chaya's
mother is very sensitive to the pain of others, and Chaya's father is
totally whipped."
"She told you all this?" I
asked.
"Well, not directly, but
telling me what was going on around her house, you figure these things out." He
turned to ze professor. "When should we leave."
"First thing tomorrow
morning."
"Right. Kurt, could I talk to
you for a minute?"
Leo vaited until he vas
outside the dining room, zen said, "You like her."
"Vhat? Vhat gave you zat
idea?"
"There's the fact that you
were staring at that picture like it was holding you there."
"I vasn't!"
Leo chuckled. "Yeah, sure.
Anyway, once you decide to admit it, tell me. I'll want to know."
And I vatched, bevildered, as
Leo vent upstairs to pack.