A/N: Sorry for the little delay, had some school stuff to do. The next part may not be out for a few days either, due to a big all day music festival this Friday and Saturday. I hope you're all enjoying the story so far. Keep reviewing please! And now on to the story….
Ororo surveyed the faces in the mess hall and felt disproportionately old. Those that Kitty had assembled or rescued were children to her. The elder woman sighed. There was no help for it. The time of peace had ended long ago, and there was nothing to be done now but survive. She looked at Rogue and Scott with worried eyes. Their time imprisoned had changed them all, and who knew if they'd recover completely. Ororo worried about them, as she worried about Kitty, who seemed so wrapped up in Lance Alvers that she was neglecting her responsibility to her people. For that's what these children and their families were. They were Kitty's people, and her responsibility.
The young mutants rescued along with her were eating heartily, as they'd no doubt missed the taste of good food. They were safe, yes, but confused also. They had no idea what was expected of them now. The same problem faced her and the other former X-Men. There were terrible, dark times behind them all, and more to come, no doubt. It had been a long time since Storm had been a leader of any sort, and she wasn't yet ready to reclaim the responsibility. Kitty had done well for herself here, and she had grown into a strong woman, and a fine leader.
Speak of the Devil…thought Ororo as Kitty walked into the mess hall with the blonde girl she'd seen at the military facility. She looked tired still, yet the grim light of determination flickered in her blue eyes. She'd grown into a woman who would never ever give up. Ororo had never been prouder of any of her students.
"Ororo, Scott, Rogue," greeted Kitty, her voice hard with fatigue and perhaps impatience. "This is Jewel," she said, pointing to the blonde girl. "She's the only telepath we have at the moment. She told me that something is very wrong inside Lance's mind, and I need to fix it before he becomes a danger to us or to anyone else." Kitty turned to the recently liberated young mutants. "Do any of you possess telepathy?"
All the children looked up at Kitty, speechless for a moment before they figured out she was talking to them. One, a small boy with a shock of sunny white blond hair and shocking violet eyes raised his hand. "I do," he said quietly.
Kitty's gaze softened when she looked at him. "What's your name?" she asked.
"Toby," replied the boy, with quiet strength and sincerity in his voice. He leaned in close to Kitty, speaking only to her. "I'll help him Kitty, I owe it to you," he said, just as softly, just as sincerely.
"Okay," whispered Kitty, her voice not altogether steady. "Thank you."
The boy smiled. No, not boy. No one with eyes that old could be called a boy. The body might belong to a child, but Toby's mind had experienced things no child ever should. "You should meet the others now. We've been waiting until you're ready."
And a child shall lead them…thought Kitty thoughtfully.
The girl sitting to Toby's immediate right looked about 15, with deep auburn hair and sparkling green eyes. "My name's Jenna Reed. I turn invisible." She nodded to the boy sitting next to her.
"Uh…Corey. Corey Matthews. I…guess I'm a shapeshifter or something. I turn into a falcon sometimes." The boy shrugged, obviously ill at ease with his mutant power.
Kitty laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. "It's okay Corey, we don't just house mutants here, we teach them as well. The boy nodded meekly.
Sitting next to Corey was an older boy, nearly twenty or so with long black hair. He wore glasses, yet his eyes were very blue. "My name is Matt Reynolds, and I'm a hacker. Anything electronic, really…I can make gadgets do what I want them to do."
"Alyson Devereaux. I fly, and I can beat almost anyone in an arm wrestling tournament," said a tall brunette girl with an easy smile.
The boy sitting next to Alyson with short, dark, curly brown hair didn't look up at Kitty. "Billy," he said softly.
Alyson looked back up at Kitty. "Billy emits pressure waves…like he did in the jet before you came. He can't control it." The boy cast an angry glare at the brunette.
Kitty turned her gaze to the boy. "Don't worry, Billy. Really. We'll teach you how to control your powers. I remember when I was your age…I couldn't control them at first either," related Kitty, hoping to win the boy over. "I remember I was sleeping one night, and I had a dream that I was falling. I woke up in the basement. Since then I was always terrified that I'd end up stuck halfway through a wall. But it gets better, I promise."
"I'm Zane," interjected a boy of about sixteen. "This is Lydia. We're twins." The boy sounded like he'd had six Jolt colas in a row. Not as hyper as Pietro, but close. "I do stuff with light, like lasers and stuff. She does shadows."
"Yeah," said the girl calmly, "but not recently. I can…I don't know. I call it 'slipping.' If there's a shadow around, I can hide in it completely, or travel to another shadow in my line of sight. But it changes me."
"Aw, sis, c'mon, you look cool when you come out the other side."
"Yeah, if you consider obsidian statues cool. It doesn't wear off for months…"
Zane shrugged.
Kitty held back a laugh. The two siblings were such polar opposites, yet she could tell they were close. It reminded her of a better time. "It's wonderful to meet you all. I'm sure you want to know what you'll be doing around here. You'll have classes in the mornings, and training in the afternoons. Other than that, your time is yours. You can choose to stay here, in which case you'll abide by the rules, or you can go. There are a few other bunkers like this one, but most are run similarly. And most of the others don't send teams out to look for more of our kind.
"Your rooms have been assigned to you, and they are yours for as long as you're here. Extra clothing brought in from time to time, at which time you can take shirts, jeans, whatever, and it's yours." Kitty looked over at her friends, who had been listening to the exchange. "This goes for you as well. You can stay or go, fight or not. It's your choice."
Ororo's eyes misted over. A few minutes ago she'd thought she couldn't be any prouder of Kitty, but she'd been wrong.
"Well, Ah for one am stayin' right here," said Rogue into the expectant silence. "And Ah'm gonna help you find our friends, Kitty."
"Me too," added Scott. "I can feel Jean, she's alive somewhere, and I'm sure the others are too."
Kitty smiled at them all, gratitude evident in her blue-grey eyes. "Thank you, all of you. I'm going to get some food for our patient. If any of you know anything about what was done to him…anything that can help…"
Ororo embraced Kitty. "We will tell you, do not worry." She lowered her voice further, speaking so only Kitty could hear. "I do not wish to speak of anything that went on there in front of the children. Go be with Lance, we'll talk later."
Kitty sniffed. "Thanks, Ororo."
The older woman watched as Kitty took a tray of food and left the mess hall, presumably heading back to the infirmary. Such strength in the face of adversity…Kitty had grown into quite a woman.