A/N: Hey all! Just a little shout out! I know I should be working on my other fic (please don't hurt me!) but I really liked the idea for this one. I'll try to get the chapters out relatively quickly, but no promises. Please review, it'll help me get through this nasty STL winter. Oh, and as a side note, the sources I have say Scott is from St. Louis, so I'm going with that. Lauryl, Pix and Liralyn are my characters (as you've figured out, and I honestly just like the name Lauryl…my sn and this character are mostly unrelated) and everything else belongs to its respectful owners. Peace out!
"KURT!!!!" The temporary silence was broken in the Charles Xavier institute as a girl, who happened to share the name of a feline, chased after a certain blue German. The demon-like teenager was on the run *bamf*-ing on random objects (like the chandelier) while Kitty ran after him viciously. At one point, Kurt teleported onto Logan's head, but he got off as super-sharp claws narrowly missed his fur.
"Kurt! Come on! Give that back to me!" Kitty called out. Kurt, getting cocky, waved a disk above his head. Kitty took this moment of weakness to phase through the coffee table (and through Kurt's hand) to grab the sought disk. Kurt didn't like that.
"Aw, come on, Keety! I vas jist joking, okay?" Kurt attempted. Kitty just turned her back. "Keety! Please forgive me. I did not zink you vould take it so seriously! Lighten up!" Kurt, however, was answered with a 'hmph!' from the girl. The blue teen was about to attempt another salvaging sentence, but he was interrupted as Professor Xavier entered the room.
"Kurt. Kitty. Meet in the conference room as soon as possible," he said, then he turned around and left the entryway.
"Already zere!" Kurt said as he grabbed Kitty's arm and *bamf*-ed into the conference room. As soon as Kitty got into the other room, she put as much distance between herself and Kurt as possible. The professor entered the conference room soon after, followed by Ororo, Logan, Scott, Rogue, Evan and Jean. The professor was the last to enter, taking a moment to get situated.
"Everyone, Cerebro has picked up three new mutant signals in the same general area. Scott, Jean, Kitty, and Rogue, I'm sending you as our representatives. I cannot attend; I have other matters. I do, however, believe you all capable and mature enough to talk to these mutants."
"But Professor, vy can't I go? I vould like to attend as vell," Kurt said, crestfallen.
"Well, Kurt, if you really want to go, I may be able to clear it with the school board, but I'll need to see your report card first." In the blink of an eye, Kurt was gone and back, holding his report card.
"Here you go Professor!" Kurt handed the professor his report card which was riddled with A's and one B. "About zat B, Professor, it's in French and that being my zird language and all…" The Professor looked up at Kurt.
"I know you'll raise that grade, Kurt. You may go as well." As soon as the professor said those words, Kurt did a little victory dance. Evan stepped forward.
"What about me?" Evan said.
"Evan," Ororo started. "We need to discuss your grades."
"Aw man, Auntie O, please?"
"No, Evan, you can't afford to miss any school. End of discussion." Evan looked like a hurt puppy as he sulked away. After an awkward silence Scott spoke up.
"So, Professor, where are these detections?"
"The Midwest United States. St. Louis, Missouri, to be exact." Professor Xavier smiled a little as Scott's eyebrows lifted, his eyes presumably widening.
"Seriously? I haven't been there *forever*! This is gonna be great!"
"When do we take off?" Kitty asked.
"First thing in the morning. Your plane leaves at 9:30, so you'd better start packing," Ororo said.
"How long are we going for?" Jean inquired, obviously calculating how many outfits to pack.
"If you can't persuade them within three days, come home. Saturday, Sunday, and Monday is all we can afford to have you miss. That's two days of training and one day of school. Now hurry up and pack. There'll be little time in the morning." With that, the professor released them from the room and sent them up to pack. Everyone except Evan, that is. He was sent to his room to study. His weekend consisted of studying and training with the other kids.
Upstairs, Rogue and Kitty were packing.
"So where exactly are we gonna stay while we're there," Rogue asked while packing her favorite black pants.
"I have no idea, but this is gonna be way cool!" The excited chatter continued between the involved mutants all evening and into the night.
Bright and early, six thirty to be precise, Rogue's alarm clock went off. Too bright and too early in Rogue's opinion. She rolled over and put her pillow over her eyes just as Kitty walked in and flipped the light switch on.
"Kitty, turn the light off," she said. Or she would've liked to say. It came more as "Kitty mphmph-offffffff!" She proceeded to throw the pillow in her all-too-cheery roommate's direction. Kitty, of course, phased through it, and the pillow went into the hallway, knocking Scott in the face.
"Watch it!" he said, automatically putting a protective hand over his glasses.
"Cool it, Scott. And take a shower! You smell!" Kitty said back to him.
"I would, but the almighty Blue Fuzzy One got the shower before me and the drain's clogged. Now I have to use the downstairs shower. Thanks for asking, though." Before Kitty could respond, Scott stormed downstairs.
"That guy is definitely not a morning person!" Kitty exclaimed.
"Yeah, and neither am I. Please, just go away. Why do we have to get up so early anyway?" Rogue managed to say.
"Because, you big silly, we have to be at the airport by 8, and it's a half-an-hour drive, so that leaves an hour for the three girls, us, and the two boys to get ready. I already took my shower and Jean's in there right now, so that leaves you. Oh, and as a suggestion, please don't put on all of your jewelry. It's a real headache and I hate metal detectors."
"Yeah, whatever," the unmade-up Goth said as she rolled out of bed.
"Hey, it's 6:40, you better get a move on it," Kitty urged her roommate. Rogue said something in reply, but Kitty tuned on the hairdryer so she couldn't hear the comment.
Seven-thirty rolled around and the kids who were traveling gathered their stuff in the front hall. They said their brief good-byes then left. The trip to the airport was fairly uneventful (Scott got into an argument with the security officer about his glasses) and the transition to the hotel (in a place called Union Station) was also not significant. The girls (well, Kitty and Jean) got very excited when they found out the place they were staying in doubled as a mall! Rogue slept in while Jean and Kitty scoped out good places to shop. They stopped by a cute little place that made fudge and decided to bring some back for their "sleepy-head" roommate, as Kitty put it.
The boys were also perusing the shops and stopped in front a particularly red store.
"Vat is dis about?" Kurt asked, staring at the sign.
"It's the Cardinal's store. When I was younger I sometimes got to go games. My foster family would want to treat me so they would buy bleacher seats and we'd go to the game. It was incredible, just going to the stadium and seeing all the fans. Once I even got to go to a playoff game," Scott explained, getting somewhat lost in the moment.
"I vish I could've gone to a baseball game, but appearances tend to keep one from going out." Scott looked at his friend and smiled, and the two continued their browsing.
*******
Lauryl woke up in a cold sweat. She threw her blankets off and searched around her cluttered floor to find her journal. Success! Lauryl opened the book to a fresh entry.
~March 15, 2003~
I had another weird vision last night. I woke up this morning in a cold sweat and I remember it perfectly. I got on a giant bird and we flew away, but I wasn't alone. There were some other people there, but I couldn't see them, I just know that they were familiar. In any event, I know the vision means I'm leaving, and sooner rather than later. Perhaps even today. I should start packing. Lauryl closed her eyes for a moment and she didn't even realize her hand was writing. When she looked down, she was surprised to find an X. She stared at the mark for a moment then closed the book harshly.