"Hey, you two, are you trying to mindspeak to Buddha again?"
When Katja startled and opened her eyes, she unexpectedly saw Marie standing in the doorway, the girl watching, amused, the way Jean and she were sitting there on Scott's and Katja's bed, facing each other, both with their legs crossed. "I thought you guys were Catholic."
Katja snorted, all focus gone for good.
Jean also shook herself a little when the mental link between them was abruptly severed, looking up in annoyance.
"You just sabotaged two hours' worth of progress, thanks."
"Two hours? Can you even still walk? The Professor needs you, Doctor Grey. Otherwise, I would never have dared to disturb you." Marie winked in delight and fled before Jean could think of throwing a pillow at her.
"I guess that's it for today." Jean watched the young woman leave with a resigned smile before getting up.
You could never really be mad at Marie; she was far too lovable for that. And it was wonderful to see how the teenager was getting better with each passing day spent in this mansion.
People who had seen Marie when she'd first arrived at Mutant High would not have recognized her by now. She had learned to accept her so unpleasant mutation, and that she would probably never be able to touch anyone again without protection. The strength with which she bore this fate was unique. She fought like a lioness not to despair. High school, her very probably future job with the X-Men, her classmates who had accepted her so naturally after the initial fear, and above all the close friendships with Logan, Bobby, St. John, Jubilee, Piotr, Kitty, and Katja, had made her blossom. In combat training, she was livelier and more reckless than any of the other young students. Marie knew exactly what she could do and used it on purpose. The nickname Rogue, in any case, she had not chosen without reason at that time.
However, with that development, it was naturally more difficult to still give her advice, too.
"Did you ask her again about the mental training, Cat? Until we've tried, we don't know if such practice can't at least help her curb the intensity of her gift's effect."
"Her last answer was too charming for me to want to repeat it." Katja ducked her head apologetically.
"Emotion control is a relatively new chapter of meditation," Jean sighed. "Yet mutant research has long established that the chemical processes associated with certain feelings also have an impact on our abilities, although, for most of us, it's not as intense as in your case. Which is why most people have only a pitying smile to spare for it. But for you, it's really done a lot. Maybe you'll have to have a nervous breakdown next to Marie without lightning and thunder raining from the sky before she realizes that. I need to get going. Charles is waiting. Do you have someone to take you to class? What's on the agenda today?"
"I got a cab coming. Fundamentals of psychosomatics." Katja shuddered under Jean's sympathetic gaze. The lecturer of this class, her friend knew from her own college days, and they were both at war with him.
"You know, if you need help with theory, or with mentally castrating the guy ..."
"Then I know where your office is. I'm very glad about that, yes." Without Jean's help, Katja would have often been overwhelmed even with this voluntary preparation for her actual start of college in the fall. She simply hadn't been to school for too long and had to get back into the swing of things first.
"Right now, though, I'd rather see you sleep in there for a few hours in between. Because you're looking more and more like a raccoon."
"I'm the doctor here, my dear." Jean waved her off impatiently, once more unwilling to discuss the fact that her powers hadn't been working as they usually did since she'd first used Cerebro alone at the crisis of Liberty Island; problems that recently having been hit with Magneto's reversal weapon hadn't made any better. "It's going to take time to level out, I told you that already. Been there, done that. So don't panic. Better hurry before the lecture starts without you."
"The driver will be here any minute. I should just about make that," Katja estimated, glancing at her watch.
Fortunately, by now, her teammates had agreed that Katja could at least take public transport of that kind without an escort from Mutant High, at the Professor's expense, of course. Still, a bit exaggerated for her taste, despite that strange encounter with Avery yesterday.
After all, there would hopefully be no more clashes with the Brotherhood, for the time being, seeing as Magneto had already gotten what he wanted from Katja; something that worried her more than just a little though, because no one could say what the enemy would do with such research next.
She gathered her books in agitation and ran down the stairs toward the mansion's huge courtyard. Tuesday was actually a good college day because Katja could sleep longer than usual, but inconvenient because she had to make an extra trip downtown for a single class at noon. Because of her many other jobs, she also sometimes miscalculated the time.
And today she ran into Artie in the hallway on top of that, one of the kids Katja was often playing with or giving them riding lessons since arriving at Mutant High. The sensitive boy with his reptile mutation, who suffered from homesickness and had come to her for a hug at night more than once, was someone Katja couldn't just send away.
Today, however, he didn't need comfort but help with a math problem, which Katja, being highly allergic to anything STEM herself, was at a loss with, too. By the time she finally came up with the solution, another glance at her wrist revealed that she should have been at the gate long ago.
"I'll take you there!" Artie shouted eagerly. "I know a shortcut I'm sure no one has shown you so far. You'll never find it on your own, you'll just get lost again."
Strictly speaking, Katja hadn't gotten lost in this house for months, but anything that made this much too serious little boy grin from time to time suited her just fine. Besides, the little guy often felt inadequate enough, because his powers so far included only that thick reptilian tongue that made his pronunciation difficult to understand and none of the other manifold supernatural gifts that other kids of his class liked to brag about a bit.
So Katja was happy to let her little charge take her by the hand for a sprint to the garden, but as expected, that didn't do much good.
When she finally got to the road, the cab was moving away already.
The driver in the distance just rigorously ignored her when she made another frantic run, leaving her only dust of exhaust as a farewell gift.
"God damnit …" Katja had to try hard not to flip the guy off. Emotional control training or not, she had already accidentally hurt a dozen people with her powers out of frustration once; she couldn't get reckless now. After all these months at Xavier's, the thought of the victims of that catastrophe only left a deep sting in her heart, which Katja managed to cope with most of the time, similar to the way Scott was probably dealing with that issue regarding Avery's parents. There was simply no other way to keep functioning in everyday life.
But everyday life also meant college, and that had just become a big, fat problem. She could very much do without being late in the class of that asshole of a lecturer of all people. A car of her own, she didn't have though, and parking in the city was impossible anyway. She would have loved to take a motorcycle; those, she'd always loved. However, she didn't have a driver's license yet. Scott had only just started giving her the needed lessons for that. So ...
"You need a ride, ma'am?"
"Avery?" Katja almost dropped her briefcase. "What are you doing here?"
She hadn't even noticed the rusty car at first, parked across the street from the Xavier mansion, in the middle of a driveway, breaking more than one traffic regulation. So much for the naïve assumption that the guy wasn't targeting her in some way because of Scott. There was no way he had just strayed into Westchester by accident.
"It wasn't that hard to find out where you live. They're not exactly discreet with student data at the college office, especially with those from people who've attracted negative attention before. When I took the liberty of reporting the assholes who almost ran the three of us over yesterday, the secretary was quick to get your file."
Avery had sunglasses in his hand, which he was just busy cleaning with a white cloth. An exaggerated embarrassment gesture to buy time and avoid eye contact, of course. The guy had charisma, she had to give him that. It indeed matched very well what Scott had told her about Avery. Every single of his actions and movements was probably rehearsed, no matter if it was him apparently meddling with her college issues without being asked to, or his carefully groomed appearance. The sunlight in that spot right there gave his short hair a golden shine, and then those piercing, cobalt blue eyes that Angelica had shortly fallen for yesterday for a reason ... Handsome, without a doubt. Unfortunately, the man knew it too. He radiated a kind of arrogance that would have scared Katja off on the spot even if she didn't have a partner and, moreover, had to fear that the guy had chosen her as a target for completely different purposes than flirting.
How Avery and Scott could ever have been friends in the first place was more and more a mystery to her. These two guys had nothing in common. Scott, underneath that cool shell he presented to most people, had too little self-confidence rather than too much.
She called herself to order. Psychoanalysis as homework for college she could do again when she was no longer in a hurry. And then ideally with a less suspicious research subject. She had given Scott a promise, and now she only had one more reason not to disappoint him.
Therefore, she walked toward the car only hesitantly, with her arms crossed in front of her chest and one eye always on the sky in case she unexpectedly would have to call upon its help. Especially because she was supposed to be cautious about this guy, she had to at least find out how long he had been stalking her already.
„If you want to report someone next, keep me out of it, will you? As you said, I've had enough of unwanted attention at college. And after that drama at the parking lot yesterday I doubt that you had to look up my address in my file first."
"Are you always reacting that kindly when someone tries to help you? Did Scooter warn you about me already?"
Seriously, with nicknames like that, how could there ever have been something like a bond? Logan was the only one who dared to call Scott that, no matter how many times Scott kindly pointed out to him that he would be able to breathe through his stomach if he didn't stop ...
And that wasn't the only reason for Katja beginning to feel increasingly annoyed. Did the guy really still think he could get away with the innocent act? Why was everyone in her environment thinking of her as being gullible lately? "For good reason, I would say. I'm not really into being used."
"Yeah, yeah, got it. I should have told you right away why I signed up for your class." At last, her mysterious new classmate turned his gaze in her direction, squinting into the sun a little too strained. The way he wrinkled his nose looked almost contrite.
"I was going to, once we could have talked for more than a few minutes. Sadly, that shopping trip didn't happen, remember? And I doubt you'd have listened to me if the first thing I'd told you as a greeting was that I knew you from the news, from that guy with the toad face. I wanted to go to college anyway. Until recently, I just wasn't sure what for. When I read about you then, it suddenly made sense that I was drawn back to New York. You should know by now that I haven't had good experiences with the likes of you in my life so far."
Avery nodded at the walls of the mansion with surprising honesty. Similar to yesterday, it felt more like sadness and helplessness that his slouched posture, the choppy shake of his head, were expressing, not wrath. "That there are mutants who actually stand up for humans instead of endangering them was new to me until recently. That was a pretty positive surprise. At some point, it's getting really exhausting, being pissed off, you know? I want to do something more meaningful with my life. That whole psychology studies thing actually fits that quite well. Maybe someday, I can help others who have experienced something like I did. That's why I wanted to meet you, not because of your guy. How should I have known that he's managed to find a beauty like you? Come on, it's not like you two are the only mutants on earth." Avery finally put down the cloth and put on his sunglasses.
Katja saw no reason to point out to the man that he would probably have changed his opinion about her very quickly if he had known the German-language reports on her person. In fact, Avery was indeed already focusing far too much on her for her taste, and he was damn clever about it, too. Without Scott's explanations yesterday, she might really have swallowed that story for a moment.
"Too many compliments can literally be fatal," she therefore only replied dryly.
Avery casually ignored that interjection. "It's unlikely I'll ever get along with Scott Summers. I'll be frank with you there. But that doesn't mean I have a problem with all mutants. I wanted to meet you because I was curious. Nothing changed about that. I honestly think you're nice, and I would like to continue our acquaintance instead of the two of us possibly pissing each other off at college the whole time from now on. Let me learn more about your lives. Maybe then, at some point, we can have peace regarding this whole thing with your guy, too."
Katja was at a loss for words. The situation hadn't gotten any easier, especially because she wasn't buying Avery's lame dramatics. How vehemently he was trying to maintain this closeness to her only strengthened her resolve to find out what he was really planning and how she could prevent it from harming Scott. Besides, the fact was, she really needed to get to college now. So did he. So it was unfair to keep him any longer, one way or another.
Before she could make up her mind, a motorcycle left the property. She recognized the distinctive growl of one of Scott's beloved babies instantly by now. That was odd, though. Scott was teaching math, so it couldn't be him ...
When the driver pulled up next to her and took off his helmet, revealing a distinctive spiky hairdo, the mystery was solved.
"Are you suicidal?" Katja asked, dumbfounded. "You know what Scott told you about stealing one of his bikes ever again."
Instead of an answer, Logan got out a second helmet from the storage compartment under the seat.
"You ..." He pointed gruffly at Avery. "... go park that piece of junk somewhere else. And you ..."
He thrust the helmet into Katja's hand. "... shut up, put that on, and sit your ass down. Now."
Katja was simply too perplexed to protest. Confused and maybe a little relieved, too, she took the seat behind Logan and strapped on her helmet.
"Now, wait a minute …!" Avery shouted in irritation.
"Get out of here." Logan demonstratively let his claws slide forward an inch or two between his knuckles.
That was clear enough. Shaking his head, Avery started his car and drove away, far faster than allowed.
"Was that necessary?" Katja asked, still slightly upset. "I had everything under control."
Logan impatiently grabbed her hands that she shyly had on the backrest of the seat, and placed them at his waist. "Tell that to your walking tie rack. Hold on and shut up. I thought your class was starting soon?"
"You're both taking that whole protection obsession too far, just so you know." Reluctantly, Katja closed her hands tighter around Logan's strong sides, giving up trying to stay at a distance.
There were reasons why she wasn't exactly hot about going for a ride with this man. There had been some kind of tension between them from the beginning, based both on them being in the same situation because of Scott's and Jean's breakup and on simple primitive attraction. That was different from a fleeting glance thrown at a handsome man like Avery for example. Nothing remotely even close to the feelings Katja had for Scott, of course, and Logan and Katja both had far too high a code of honor to ever give in to some shallow attraction, but that didn't make it go away.
They both had enough brains to hold back when other people were around and were in total agreement about this. It hadn't even been necessary to talk about it until now. But Scott and Jean would surely have reacted differently. Certain problems didn't need any more needless fuel, especially when they all had enough other issues already. "Next time, just send Bobby or something. Don't you have anything better to do, Claws?"
"Your guy apparently doesn't think so." Logan revved the engine and steered the machine out of the driveway. "I don't know what Scott's problem is with that infant driving against the one-way up there right now, but next time you want to flirt with him, make sure no one can see you. I know more interesting things to do with my time than drag you to town in chains."
"I did not ..." Katja started but paused. She didn't need to justify herself over such nonsense.
And even if she did, then only to one person. "Is he standing at the window with binoculars or what?"
"Garden."
Katja turned her head and finally understood.
Because of the heat, Scott had moved the class into the courtyard, within sight of the exit, thanks to the narrow bars of the gate. When he caught Katja's gaze, he smiled at her, slightly embarrassed.
The students were grinning far broader. St. John in particular, who often lacked any respect for his teachers and the older X-Men anyway, seemed to find the situation very amusing.
"Let's go," Katja asked quietly.
A slight twinge of wounded pride prevented her from greeting back. Scott should actually know that if there was one thing she was being sensitive to, it was people trying to take away her freedom, in any way. Did she perhaps overreact like that when Scott was once again hugging Jean just a tad too tightly or was reminiscing with her for hours on end in the laboratory like a few days ago? The two of them still had to work on their trust, it seemed, and soon.
If she was being honest, Katja would have even preferred a fight with Toad or Sabretooth to a discussion like this.
"So, what did he say?" When Katja got home, Scott was already waiting for her in their apartment. So much for the hope that she would be able to put this conversation off for a while, at least.
"That he thinks I'm nice. And that he's looking for someone to rid him of his racism towards mutants." She sat down at her dressing table, avoiding Scott's piercing gaze. "He's apologized for not being honest from the beginning. He claims he didn't know about you and me."
"Right." Scott lay on his back on the bed, one arm folded under his head, the other hand buried deep in the thick red fur of Katja's cat, who had made himself comfortable on his chest, staring up at the ceiling in frustration.
Despite her irritation, Katja couldn't help but grin briefly. She wondered if Scott even noticed how often he forgot about his rules regarding pets in bed lately ...
But even a purring furball couldn't help his lousy mood today. "To listen to his fairy tales, you don't have to risk being around this guy. I thought we agreed on that."
"Scott ... Can you please take it down a notch?" Frustrated, Katja put aside her hairbrush.
"You asked, and I reported back to you, just like your team does even after a possible enemy encounter. I also promised you I'd take care of myself. I'm in the same class as him, there's nothing I can do about that. Angelica, by the way, also thinks that he is harmless, and she trusts people less easily than many others. Still, I don't plan on letting this guy get any closer than necessary. I just still think it's better to find out what's going on inside him as early as possible. If you're mad about that, please don't send a hairy governess on too much testosterone after me next time. We really don't need that kind of stupid gossip in the house. Or do you seriously think I want to get in this guy's pants? Oh please."
"Bullshit," her partner replied, though still more harshly than necessary. "But it's already starting. He's already got people on his side who've known me a hell of a lot longer than him. This guy knows exactly how to manipulate others with his head games, Cat. Believe me, you're vastly underestimating him."
"Please don't call me that if you don't want me to really grow claws. I had a pretty good teacher there."
Katja nodded dryly down at Morpheus, who promptly hissed at the displeased voices in the room and left, demonstratively turning his back to his second owner.
"I'm keeping my distance from Avery as far as college allows. That hasn't changed. But do me a favor and get this absurd idea out of your head that I'd let anyone manipulate me. Magneto didn't manage to not too long ago, remember?" Slowly, she was really starting to feel pissed.
"I wasn't talking about you, and I already know you too well for that." At last, Scott sat up now and rubbed tiredly over his eyes under his glasses. Maybe one of those unpleasant migraine attacks of her partner that Jean had once mentioned; that would have at least explained this extreme irritability.
"But just because you don't fall for him doesn't mean he can't hurt you. You've never dealt with anyone like him before, believe me."
"Then suggest something. What do you want me to do?" Finished with her newly tied braid, Katja turned to her partner with a sigh.
That Scott was so stubborn about this story was more than understandable from his point of view. There was no harm in Katja accommodating him as much as possible, even if she felt offended, not least because, thanks to her iron-hard training, she seriously doubted by now that any normal human could be dangerous to her in any way.
"You're not going to like the answer." Scott got one leg under him in an awkward-looking gesture. "You could just skip the rest of the summer classes. After all, those aren't required for you to start college. That would also mean, we'd have enough chances to settle this thing with the Brotherhood for good by fall, so you wouldn't have to look over your shoulder all the time. But that's not a favor I'm going to ask of you. That's something only you can decide."
"I can't just quit again only because things aren't going smoothly everywhere. What kind of example is that going to set for the kids here, for the teenagers? How are you supposed to take me seriously on the team someday if I give up at the first gust of wind? Besides, I need this experience for the fall. You know how hard learning theory is for me right now. That's not how it works, Scott, I'm sorry." Katja shook her head regretfully but firmly. "And I honestly find it a little irritating that after all our training, you still have so little confidence in my abilities to defend myself."
"That has nothing to do with it." But from the way, Scott's expression darkened and he lowered his head, Katja realized she had hit a sore spot. No, he still didn't trust her level of training even remotely. Perhaps that was understandable after such a short time. But it still hurt. This was the first big disagreement in their so far always harmonious relationship, and that Avery of all people was responsible for it ... Not exactly helpful for an eventual reconciliation between the two men.
"Avery doesn't need a mutation to make others believe exactly what he wants them to think. Back then, I didn't care about that. Back then, I thought it was great how he could convince people of anything we set our minds to. Today I know better, and it scares me, to think back on it. If he wants to harm you just to hurt me, it's enough to drive a wedge between Angelica and you. Because then that whole bodyguard thing at college is over before it really started, and you've got the Brotherhood on your back again. If something happens to you, even if he doesn't have to intervene, that would be the greatest satisfaction for him. Avery is cold and ruthless when he sets his mind to something. I don't want to lose you."
Katja bit her lower lip thoughtfully. Maybe the guy really was better at what he was doing than she thought.
In any case, she didn't want to start a war with Scott over someone like Avery, or even get into conflict with a friend who was becoming more and more important to her; that would have been really stupid. She cared far too much about her partner and Angelica for that. "Your protective instincts honor you." She sat down next to Scott, put her arms around his shoulders, and gave him a tender kiss. "But please stop worrying so much until we know anything for sure. And me, I'll tell Avery to keep off and sacrifice myself for a shopping trip with Angelica and Bobby. She'll forget all about the guy after that, trust me. Okay?"
"Sounds good. I really dislike patronizing you like this, Cat. I know how much you hate that." Scott caressed her neck affectionately, noticeably relieved that she had given in. "And just for the record, I love it when you use your claws."
Katja didn't answer right away. She didn't like that he was calling her that again, and on purpose, too.
Scott was actually one of the few people who used her real name for her. That was something special between them. He had practiced the pronunciation and managed it perfectly by now, which was hard for someone whose first language was English. She was always happy when she heard "Katja" from him. Especially because she always missed Germany very much. Right now, that stupid new nickname of hers created a certain distance. It showed that this matter was by no means settled.
But after this day, she was simply too exhausted to argue any further. "Want to head over to Nematti's for a pizza?"
"Sure. My head's exploding from all this bullshit anyway. I need to get out of here." Scott got up and grabbed his beloved black leather jacket off the back of the chair. "Let's take the bike. You're welcome to drive, too, for practice before the test."
Well, finally. The next driving lesson was many days overdue.
Katja was reconciled already. A little sharp breeze like that couldn't throw Scott and her off track so easily.