Disclaimer: I don't
own X-men… or, well, anything at all, for that matter.
Okay… this chap was
supposed to be up about… two months ago? Thanks to Loonybin
for the reminder.
Also, for those of
you expecting the
Sorry this is up so
late. I hope you enjoy.
After one very memorable dinner (vhich I swore to Leo zat I vould never, ever tell anyvone ze details, lets just say zat ze boy can't sing), and a good night's rest, Leo and I vere ready to go. We gave our good-byes, borrowed a car from ze professor, and ve vere off.
"Music? Some…
"Mind The Police?" he asked.
"Vho?"
"The Police. Every Breath You Take? Don't Stand So Close to me? Message in a Bottle?"
"Err…"
Leo sighed. "Never mind. I'll take that as a 'no'." He slid ze CD into ze player.
"Oh, zese guys are Ze Police?"
"That's right." He started to sing. "Every breath you take, every move you make…"
"Err, Leo? You're tough, intelligent, and a good friend."
"All… right."
"You cannot sing. Just zought you should know."
He sighed and stopped singing, to my relief. Zen he said, "So, you still have that picture of Anna?"
Blushing, I opened my wallet and pulled it out. He chuckled as he began to study it.
"Err… Leo, vatch ze road!"
"We're fine," said Leo, who apparently hadn't noticed ve vere drifting to ze right.
"Leo!"
He quickly pulled back into our lane vithout looking up, then smirked at me. "Consider that revenge for the 'Brittany Spears' incident."
"Mein Gott. Ja, okay, okay, you got me. Just don't do zat again."
"Fine with me. The professor would kill me if I got into a wreck."
"Zat's very true. And vhen getting another student, too."
Ve drove in silence for about an hour. Zen I asked, "So, vhat do you zink about Anna, anyvay?"
"She's a good friend, for someone who I've never met. Good sense of humor, all around nice girl. Why?"
"Vell… I vas just zinking… do you care about her as more zen a friend?"
Leo nearly drove off the road. "What? Ch- Anna's just a friend." Zen he stared at me. "Wow. I think Kurt's a little jealous. Heck, forget Danny. Cha's going to think this is hilarious, you know."
"Vhat? No vay! And vhy vould she zink it vas funny?"
"I'm not saying she won't feel the same way. She might. She'll still think it's hilarious, though."
"Zere's nothing to laugh over. Even if it vas funny."
He chuckled. "Sure, Kurt."
"I do not have a crush on Anna." I said veakly.
To my relief, he quickly changed ze subject. "So, how long will it be before we reach Ch-Anna's? Damn, I have got to get used to calling her Anna."
"Ve'll be zere in a few days."
Two days later (am I good, or am I good?), ve had reached Anna's hometown. Leo vas driving, and I vas looking for ze address in ze folder.
Ve had been in town for five minutes, and ve vere already lost.
"Do Scott and Jean ever have this problem?" Leo asked, starting to sound annoyed.
"Not zat zey ever mention. I guess zey do, zough. Most likely."
"AARG!" shouted Leo. "Do they sell maps to this town?"
"Maybe ve could ask somevone. Look, zere's a group of girls…" I froze suddenly. "Leo, zat's Anna!"
Sure enough, zere vas Anna, chatting vith zree ozer friends. Leo quickly pulled over to the curb and stepped out of the car.
"Anna Snyder?" he asked. I hopped out of ze car.
She looked at us in surprise. "Do I know you two?"
"My name is Leo Lyons. You might know me better as White Lion."
She studied him in surprise, then laughed and hugged him. I felt vaguely jealous. "White Lion! I thought you lived in Bayville!"
"Ja, he does." I said. "Ve came down to talk to you about some things. And your parents."
She studied me, vhich vas both enjoyable and embarrassing.
Leo chuckled. "I'm sorry, I forgot the introductions. Anna this…"
"Chaya."
"What?"
"Call me Chaya. You always have, and it's my nickname, anyway."
Leo smirked. "All right, Cha." She grinned, and I had ze urge to kill Leo. "Anyway, Chaya, this is Kurt. Kurt, Chaya."
"Hey, Kurt. Nice to meet you."
"Can we talk privately?" Leo asked, "This is kind of a delicate matter." Then he vinced and looked at me. "Do I always talk like that?"
"Only vhen stressed," I replied. "And you said I had a crush on… I mean…" I glared at Leo. "You did zat on purpose."
Anna smiled, zen gave us a suspicious look. "Who are you, anyway? I mean, for all I know you could be some psychopath."
Leo leaned forward and vhispered into her ear "We're mutants, like you are. That's why we need to talk in private."
She jumped, as did
The girls around Chaya were now very curious. "What'd he say?" asked one of them.
"Nothing. Go. I need to talk to the nice man," she said. Then she rolled her eyes as they left. "Okay, so where can we talk where someone will be around, and yet it'll be private enough."
I turned on Leo. "Vhat are you zinking? We're going to get in major trouble if anyone finds out we're mutants."
"She'd find out sooner or later. Besides, she's pro-mutant. I didn't mention it earlier, but we met on this site that was pretty much for people who thought mutants had gotten a bad rap."
She laughed. "So, can you prove that you two are mutants? Ironic that anyone would ask you two to prove that you are mutants, but…"
"Take Kurt's hand," Leo suggested. I blushed brightly, but put out my hand. Anna slowly took it, and her eyes videned.
"So… fur, huh? And three fingers. How do you hide it?"
She didn't let go of my hand, I noted with a mix of joy and dismay. "Our vatches have hologram programs. Ve look completely normal vith zem on. Vith zem off…"
"Not so much," Leo supplied.
"All right. So what do you want with me?" Anna seemed hesitant.
"Anna, you…" I began.
"Chaya."
"Right. Anyvay, Chaya, you're a mutant, and the two of us live at a sort of a school for mutants. We learn to control our powers, and we fight against this group of mutants called the Brotherhood, which is attempting to destroy the human race. We'd really like you to consider going to this school."
"What are my powers, anyway?" she asked.
"You can control the flow of time."
"Oh," Chaya said as if she had just solved a complicated puzzle. "So that's what happened." When she saw the bewildered looks on our faces, she added, "See, I was running this mile for gym, and I clocked in at 0.2 seconds."
"One hell of a dash, Cha." Leo said. She grinned at him. I felt insanely jealous.
"Anyvay. Ve need to know if you vant to go to zis school…"
"Yes."
I faultered. "Vhat?"
"If you're asking me to come to a school for mutants, to learn more about my powers, then the answer is yes. Not that both of you are surprised, of course." She grinned at Leo again, vho smirked back. I vas getting more and more jealous by ze minute.
"I knew we could count on you to be adventurous." Leo said, then sighed. "Now comes the hard part."
"Which part is that?" Chaya asked him.
"Now we have to convince your parents that it's a good idea."