(Disclaimer: see Ch. 1.)
(Author's note: Sorry this took so long to post. I've been working on lots of other stuff, some of which will be posted here eventually. ((Plug—see my story "Prince of a Distant Star" in the Short Story category!)) I will try to be more timely with the next chapters. Thanks for the reviews, and keep them coming!)
Professor Xavier was updating his files when his cell phone rang. He wasn't into cutesy musical chimes or signature beeps; a good, solid ring would do just fine. He closed the file he was working on (it just happened to be Brenda's), picked up the phone, and said, "Hello?"
"Professor, it's Jean. We have a bit of a problem here."
Xavier blinked. "What sort of problem?"
"There's some sort of short-circuit in the Blackbird's control panel," Wolverine said. He and Jean were just returning from a reconnaissance mission. "I need somebody who's handy with a tool box to come take a look at it . . ."
"I'll send someone down right away. It sounds as if we may need to replace at least one circuit board."
"Where's Gadget-Boy?"
"If you mean Forge, he's on his way. Scott and Kurt took him to the mall to, quote; get him some duds that don't make him look like a refugee from 'That 70's Show', unquote. They've just returned."
"Bout time," Logan said, the barest hint of a smile in his voice. "That stuff looked bad enough the first time around."
"Indeed." Xavier turned his attention to more important matters. "While I've got you both on the line, there's something we need to discuss."
"Oh?" Jean said.
"I'm calling a meeting in the study in fifteen minutes. I need everyone to be there. This is very important."
"What is it?"
"We're about to have a new arrival, a girl from England. Her name is Brenda. I've been corresponding with her for nearly a year now, and I think she'll fit in nicely with our little group."
"What's her power?" Logan asked.
"She can read thoughts and sense others' presence from distances of up to 50 feet."
"Hmmm. Not a bad defense, but she needs to learn some physical skills to back it up."
"Be gentle with her. She was raised by nuns."
"Hey, I've met nuns who could break knuckles with the best of them." Logan said, as Jean went to tell the others of the meeting. "Maybe she won't need much training after all."
Xavier found that an interesting statement on Logan's part. "When did you know nuns?" He didn't exactly seem like the parochial school type.
"Long time ago, back in Canada. One bunch of tough cookies, I'll tell you."
"I can imagine." Xavier nodded, a small smile on his lips. "Come to the meeting as soon as you can."
"Yeah, this shouldn't take long," Logan said, and hung up.
Scott Summers—a.k.a. Cyclops—was in a rather uncomfortable position under his car when Jean Grey rapped on the hood.
"Uh, Jean, this isn't exactly a good time," Scott said, oil dripping onto his face. "I'm trying to find a leak right now . . ."
Jean shook her head and reached down to tweak Scott's nose in jest. "The leak that needs fixing is the one in your head, I think."
"Very fun—OW!" He banged his head on the tailpipe.
"Come out of there. We're having a meeting in a few minutes."
"But it's Saturday!"
"Professor Xavier said it was important."
"What's it about?"
"You'll find out." Jean extended a hand to help him up.
"I guess we shouldn't keep him waiting," Scott said. The two of them went inside, Jean wiping the gunk from Scott's face with a tissue from her pocket.
Upstairs, the girl known only as Rogue was getting overly intimate with a box of tissues herself.
She'd picked up a particularly nasty head cold, probably at school when that kid sneezed on her. Oh well, at least she had a chance to catch up on her shows. That was the only good thing about being stuck in bed. She didn't have a roommate interrupting her, either; Kitty had temporarily moved into Jean's room to get away from the germs and stuff.
There was a tap at her door.
"Go away!" Rogue yelled—or tried to; it came out as a sort of croak.
"It's just me," Jean said. "Can I come in?"
"You sure you want to?" Rogue groaned. "I'm still pretty contagious."
"I'll take my chances." Jean pushed open the door (none of the doors in the mansion locked, for safety reasons) and came to the girl's side. "How are you feeling?"
"Lousy. I can't even breathe! Do I have a fever?"
"I'll check," Jean said. She found a digital thermometer in the bathroom and took the girl's temperature. "Yeah, you do. 99.2."
"Great." Rogue moaned, trying to get comfortable.
"Are you taking anything? Any medication?"
"No. I can't take stuff. It just makes me feel sick to my stomach. Or sleepy."
"I know what you mean." Jean nodded. "I took Nyquil once and was out for three days. Woke up clear as a bell, but I missed all my shows and they didn't repeat them for months!"
Rogue started to laugh, but it turned into a cough. "Listen," she said when she was finished, "did you want something? I mean, besides just to check on me?"
"Actually . . ." Jean wasn't sure whether or not to tell her about the meeting, since it seemed unlikely that the younger girl would make it. Finally, though, she said, "We're supposed to be getting a new student tonight, a girl from England. We're having a meeting about it in a few minutes."
"Trying to get rid of me so soon?" Rogue sighed.
"No, of course not," Jean assured her. "I'll find out all the details and keep you posted."
"All right."
"Are you sure you don't need anything?"
"Well . . . now that I think of it, some juice might be nice. My throat hurts so bad . . ."
"Any particular kind?"
"I don't care. Just something cool and wet. And keep Fuzzy Muppet-Boy out of my hair."
Jean smiled at that. Rogue had come up with a lot of colorful nicknames for Kurt, but Fuzzy Muppet-Boy took the cake. "Okay, I'll tell everyone to let you rest. I'll be back with the juice as soon as I can." She shut the door quietly behind her, leaving Rogue to rest—or at least try to.
She just hoped the new girl didn't play her music too loud.
Scott found Evan, Kurt, and Kitty in the rec room watching the beginning of Cowboy Bebop, judging from the horn-heavy theme music blaring out of the TV. They were currently on an anime feeding frenzy, having discovered a shop in the neighborhood that rented anime videos.
"Hey, guys," Scott said.
They didn't seem to have heard him. Evan was on the couch; Kurt and Kitty shared the big armchair. Scott couldn't see the remote at first, then he spotted it on the floor, next to a crumpled up potato chip bag. He scooped it up (the remote, not the bag) and hit the Pause button.
"Hey! What'd you do that for?" Evan demanded.
"We've got a meeting to go to, smart guy. The tape can wait."
"But I have to get it back to John at the rental store tomorrow! He charges two bucks extra if it's late!"
"This won't take long," Scott said. "But it's kind of important."
"I didn't do it!" Evan and Kurt both insisted at the same time.
Scott just laughed. "I doubt anyone did anything. We'll find out when we get there."
Kitty untangled herself from Kurt and got out of the chair. "Race you," she said, phasing through the floor.
"Are we all here?" Professor Xavier asked.
"All except Rogue," Jean said. "She can't make it, but I promised to fill her in."
"Good." He addressed everyone. "We have a new student arriving this evening, from England. A quaint little town, where I spent some time years ago . . ."
"Vot's he like?" Kurt asked.
"He's a she, Kurt," the Professor explained. "Her name is Brenda Ellis. She's fifteen. I've been in contact with her for almost a year."
"Took a long time to convince her folks to let her go, huh?" Evan asked.
Professor Xavier looked somber. "Unfortunately, she doesn't have parents, Evan. She was raised in a convent."
"That's, like, so sad," Kitty murmured.
"Indeed. Ororo, you and I will be leaving shortly to pick her up at the airport. The rest of you, try to make her feel welcome."
"We'll get a cake!" exclaimed Kitty. She looked up at Logan. "Please?"
"What do I look like, some kinda errand boy?" Logan grumbled.
Kitty just gave him the big, sad eyes look.
"Oh, all right."
"And ice cream!" Kurt added.
"Hey, you didn't get me a cake!" Evan complained.
Logan looked at Kurt, who just shrugged. "I didn't get one eizzer, but I don't mind."
Brenda's fingers twitched nervously in her lap as she waited for someone to come for her. She wasn't sure she could go through with this if she were on her own. She didn't even have money for a taxi.
Suddenly she spotted Professor Xavier in the doorway, accompanied by a woman with dark skin and white hair. Almost simultaneously, Xavier saw Brenda and approached her.
"Hello, Brenda," he said. "It's good to finally meet you."
Brenda ran up and threw her arms around him enthusiastically. "You don't know how glad I am to be here!" she exclaimed.
"I can imagine. Brenda, this is my associate Ororo Munroe." The woman with the white hair smiled and extended a hand. Up close she looked quite young, maybe only in her twenties.
"Hello," Brenda said. "Are you with the school?"
"I suppose so." Ororo said. "Is that all you have?"
Looking at her suitcase, Brenda nodded. "Just about. This and the carry-on."
"Need a hand?" Professor Xavier asked her.
"No, I think I can manage, thanks." The big bag was on wheels, and Ororo noticed that Brenda was maneuvering it with ease.
Ororo glanced at her watch. "We'd better get going. They'll have all the decorations up by now."
"Decorations?" Brenda asked.
"I think the other students have planned a party for you back at the school," Xavier said with the hint of a smile. "We'd best not keep them waiting."
Toad, having nothing better to do, decided to go spy on the X-Freaks. He hid in a tree and watched as a car pulled into the driveway. He made faces at Xavier and the weather witch and was about to spit at them, when he saw a third person emerge from the car.
The first thing he saw was long blonde hair, exactly the color of his mother's. Then he saw her eyes: deep, dark pools of blue.
She was so pretty, standing there in her filmy gray dress, looking up at her new home. He wanted to be there with her, touching her hair, holding her hand—
He sneezed suddenly, twice. There was a cold going around school, and he'd been one of the first to catch it. He'd thought he was getting better, too.
The girl's head came up sharply, and for a moment she appeared to be looking directly into his eyes.
"Who's there?" she called out.
He tried to stay perfectly still, hoping she couldn't see him.
"Is someone there?" She started to walk towards him, but something from the house distracted her. He took advantage of the opportunity to hop off.
God, she was pretty. He hoped he'd be seeing her in school on Monday. Maybe they'd even be in some of the same classes. She could help him with his homework.
Or maybe . . . they'd meet somewhere else.
Either way, he'd see her again. He'd make sure of it.