Title: Dead at the Time

Note: It's not an angsty chap, despite what the title may portray! You'll enjoy it, I promise.

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It was dawn over Muir Island, the early sunlight piercing through the fierce, freezing fog. There was only one up to see it, a quiet young woman with blonde hair. Bangs fluttered over her startling clear blue eyes as she stood there, with her rags covered by her black cloak. She didn't even flinch even as the bone chilling wind cut through her.

She wasn't used to the cold, but it was better than the oppressive heat that she had been forced to live in for the past fifteen years.

She turned to face away from the dawn, surveying the Muir Medical Center. It was exactly as she had remembered it. And then she remembered that of course it would look exactly the same as she remembered, no time had passed in this world since she had been taken away.

She had to change what had happened. She had to come to both fulfill and destroy her destiny.

***************

"Kurt? Did you leave the milk out?" Kitty sat at the breakfast table, holding a carton of lukewarm milk and glaring at Kurt.

"Er...er... I was dead at the time!" Kurt declared and, upon grabbing a cinnamon roll and a glass of orange juice before quickly teleporting out of the room.

Kitty raised an eyebrow, looking around as Meg giggled behind her spoonful of cereal. "What was that about?"

Brian smiled. "Pete had an Eddie Izzard marathon last night for the guys. I think Kurt has a new personal hero."

Kitty looked over at Piotr who was perched at the counter close to her. "Did you go too?"

"Nyet, Katya," Piotr shook his head, "I spent most of the evening working out. When I got back to my room, I went to bed before I figured out where everyone else had disappeared to."

"You should have found us, mate," Brian said, sipping his coffee. "It was a bloody great time."

"Mmm," Betsy nodded, "It really was."

Meg raised an eyebrow. "I thought it was only guys."

Betsy smiled and winked at the girls. "Hard to get anything past a telepath though, eh?"

Meg and Kitty instantly blushed; trying to not think about their respective crushes which, of course, only served to make their thoughts even stronger. Betsy giggled, sending a telepathic message to calm down.

Pete suddenly burst into the kitchen, a grinning Illyana attached to his left leg. He grumbled and dragged the girl-on-his-leg across the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee and a cigarette.

"Bloody 'ell! Oi, who let Moira make the coffee again?" he growled, making a face but swallowing the coffee all the same.

"Good to see you too, Wisdom," Betsy smiled. "Sleep well, eh?"

"Da, and why is my sister attached to your leg?" Piotr asked, glaring at the lanky and rumpled young man.

"Don't ask me," he grumbled. "The rug rat woke me up and has been bleedin' bothering me since."

"Come here, Yana," Kitty said, glaring at Pete, "and leave the nasty man alone."

Pete grinned, lighting up his cigarette. "Wot, still pissed about me helping you with your stripper career?"

Kitty snarled and sprung to her feet to pull Illyana away from Pete. "Come sit with your brother and me, sweetie."

"Bloody yanks," Pete exhaled a cloud of smoke, "can't take a bleedin' joke."

"I wanna stay with Pete!" Illyana cried, clinging closer to Wisdom. "He's a dragon!"

"He's a what?!" Meggan asked, excitably. She had always wanted to see a dragon.

"A dragon! See?" Illyana pointed up at Pete who was exhaling smoke from his nostrils.

Kitty couldn't help but laugh. "That's not a dragon, Yana. Just a guy who smokes too much and will die young and alone."

"Don't go filling our child with such horrible lies, Katherine darling," Pete sneered. "Course your daddy is a dragon, sweetie, and Mommy is a saber-toothed tiger."

"Has anyone forgot that Illyana is my sister?" Piotr asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest and glaring at Pete, Yana and Kitty. "And Wisdom, I would appreciate if you did not poison her lungs with your second- hand smoke."

"Well, detach the runt from my leg and you can poison her lungs with anything you want."

Jono entered the kitchen then, nodding silently at everyone before sitting down to read the morning newspaper, looking at everyone else's breakfast a bit enviously. Now that Jono had joined them, an uncomfortable silence had fallen over the group, which Pete used to efficiently free himself of Illyana.

The silence was short lived as Remy, Rogue and Kurt burst into the room, talking loudly.

"Vhere vere YOU last night, Herr LeBeau?" Kurt teased, bouncing around the two. Rogue blushed slightly and angrily sat at the table, ignoring the curious smiles of Kitty and Meggan.

Remy slowly turned to face Kurt, a half-smile on his face. "Remy dinks that if just get with de Meggan, you will stop intruding in de Remy and Rogue's business."

Meggan perked up, looking around wildly. "What?"

Despite his indigo blue fur, Kurt turned a crimson shade of red.

"Hey Kurt!" Kitty spoke up, trying to bail out her best friend. By getting him into more trouble. "You ARE the one who left the milk out, right?!"

But just before Kurt could decide whether he should reply or teleport out to safety again, a slim blonde woman in a black cloak appeared in the middle of the kitchen.

"Sorry bout this, guys," the young woman muttered, rising up her arms. A purple disc appeared above her and with a gesture of her hands, it enlarged, surrounding all the occupants of the kitchen. In a blink, everyone was gone.

A sleepy Rahne entered the kitchen, rubbing her tired eyes. She stopped short, looking around at the empty kitchen and the overturned glasses of orange juice, milk and coffee.

"Where the hell is everyone else?"

***************

melissarxy1- You're always one step ahead of me! :P But you have yet to answer- what's with everyone's aversion to angst?

RahneMan- He's coming, he's coming, he's coming!!!! Everyone get ready for Doug!!!

Anything but ordinary3- You know what, Piotr and Pete MAY just get into a fight (since one of my fave issues of all time is 'Colossus Agonistes') but it won't be for some time now. And we'll see about Betsy, though right now I think she may have a crush on someone who's not available.

Lightspeed Suzuka- Pete is indeed evil, but in the best way of possible. :P And yes, Pitty does sound very odd indeed.

So stay tuned for the next chappie everyone! The whole gang is off to LIMBO!!!!