FYI:
~Personal Thoughts~
~"Inner Voices"~
ESP
%The Written Word%
[Flashback]
"Normal Conversation (Duh)"
* Com Link or Telephone *
*Sound Effects (usually just Kurt's bamfing)
{Background noise--music, crowds, etc.}
HYDRA
I rolled over and pushed my face deeper into the pillow and ignored my mother as she tried to rouse me from my bed. "Luv, it's time to get up. We've got a training session." ~Luv? Training session? What the hell?~ I opened one eye and jumped in surprise and fell on my butt on the floor. Betsy laughed at me as I tried to disentangle myself from the blankets, cursing.
"It's too fucking early. I've never even gotten up this early for football. God damn it! Someone cut these things off." She walked over and pulled gently on one of the blankets causing the others to fall away. "Thanks." I stood up waving on my unsteady feet. I felt like crap and was in no mood for training of any kind.
I crossed over to the dresser and pulled out the uniform that they'd given me and slowly pulled it on. It surprised me that it fit and I walked over to look at myself in the mirror. ~God, I look like I belong in the military.~ I loosened the belt three notches so that it hung off my one hip. ~That helps some.~ I didn't see what else I could do to look somewhat original. I pulled my hair pack into a ponytail at the base of my neck frowning at the green eyes that stared back at me. ~I'd prefer blue with this uniform…but then they never are the color I want them to be.~ As I turned to walk away they flickered blue and I sighed in frustration.
"Ready luv?"
"As ready as I'll ever be." She led me into the depths of the institute. I was too tired to pay much attention to where she was taking me and would prolly end up lost trying to find my way back up. Without pockets to hook my thumbs into I resorted to the belt frowning at the stupidity of no pockets.
"You two are late." Logan frowned as we entered and was tapping his foot impatiently. Although he didn't wear a watch he tapped his wrist to make his point.
"It's my fault, luv. I woke her up late."
"Right…today we're doing the labyrinth simulation. Work together as a team and get through it as quickly as you can. Sooner you're out, the sooner you can do your own things." He walked outta the room and the door closed behind him.
Scott jumped into leader mode as the room changed around us. "Kurt and Kitty, I want the two of you to scout ahead. Amara and Ray, hang back and cover out backs…" I zoned out realizing this was a basic plan.
"Don't worry, we'll make sure you get out in one piece." I glared at Bobby as he placed his hand on my shoulder and froze.
CANNONBALL
"What'd you do to her, man?" I stared at her frozen form as she glared lifelessly at the group of us. She was a frozen statuette with her hands planted on her hips in what had become permanent boredom.
"I didn't do anything! I just put my hand on her shoulder and she froze." Bobby seemed just about as freaked out as the rest of us. Everyone stared at Scott expectantly waiting for him to figure out how to reverse this so we could go on with our training. I kept waiting for Logan to come back then realized that Logan didn't give a shit. ~What would he say…this is part of training bubs.~
"Magma, see if you can warm her up."
"Right." Amara went into flaming form and stood about a foot away from Al. The color slowly returned to her face and then she moved. Bobby just happened to be in her line of sight and she went straight to choke him.
"Woah, there girl. Last time you two touched you got frozen in time." I grabbed her to stop her from making a repeat.
"Huh?"
"Look, I don't know what happened, but the two of you, don't go near each other." Scott handed out his orders to Bobby and Allison and she just looked confused as we started into the maze.
"What's he talking about, Sam?"
"Bobby must have frozen you by accident. That whole ice and water thing mustn't mix very well." We followed the rest of the team in and after turning two corners Kurt came back.
*Bamf! "Zere's two robots up ahead."
"How far?"
"About ten meterz." Scott nodded towards Bobby and Jubilee to go ahead and take care of the first obstacle. Bobby went on looking smug causing the rest of us to groan.
An hour later we finally made our way out of the damn maze just to find more robots waiting for us on the other side. We split up each in charge of taking down their own opponent. I just rocketed at one of 'em and they were down for the count easily.
When I looked back I saw Allison trying to dodge attacks but not making any of her own. ~What is she doing?~ All of a sudden she just charged the thing like a linebacker and sent its head flying skittering across the floor. ~Well, that works.~ She ran over to the edge of the room to stand next to me. She wasn't even breaking a sweat as she crouched down. "Not bad."
"What, is it expected for the newbies to fail or something?"
"Usually." She smiled up at me as she leaned back against the wall watching the others. Kitty phased through hers and joined us next. Bobby froze his, Amara shot hers with a ball of magma, Tabby bombed hers, Ray electrocuted his, and so forth. Didn't take much longer for everyone to finish up and the simulation faded away.
Logan came back in nodding with some approval. "Not bad. Good thinking on your feet One-Eye at the beginning. Learn to control your powers Cubes, and nice recovery Kicks." Allison raised an eyebrow at Logan's strange new nickname for her. "Alright, go shower up and go on your merry ways."
Everyone filed out of the Danger Room grateful for it to be over. "I'm like totally spending the whole day by the pool."
"That sounds like a plan to me, luv." I watched the girls walk into their locker room and was about to follow the guys when I felt a hand on my shoulder.
"See you topside in an hour?" I turned to see Allison who had color back in her face after the freezing incident.
"Err…yeah."
"'Til then." She waved as she ran to catch up with the others.
"Sammy's got a girlfriend…"
"Shut up, Bobby!"
"Bet I know why they call her Spanky."
"Bobby you're really pushing it now." I lunged at him and tackled him to the ground. Scott grabbed my shoulder and pulled me up to keep me from choking him.
"Break it up you two. If you're going to go all at it, do it outside where you're less likely to destroy something."
"Gladly." I gritted my teeth as I glared Bobby down. He seemed to have lost his edge as he turned and walked away.
"And you should save your energy for the football field next week."
"Why? So I can get showed up by a girl?" I shook my head realizing that she'd probably end up going out as a running back just like me. She had two things going for her that I didn't—she'd played it as varsity level before and she was a senior. ~Who am I kidding?~
BOOM BOOM
"Did you see Sam when Al got all frozen?" I grinned at Allison who was busy picking at her hair.
"Yeah, he was like totally worried!" She frowned as Kitty chimed in and was going to walk out the door while pulling her hair back into a pony tail when Rhane stood in her way.
"Not every day that Sam gets a crush. How about it, Bets?"
Betsy blushed slightly remembering the brief crushing period after Christmas break. "That wasn't a big deal, luv. This is much more serious. He just met you yesterday!" She frowned as she pulled a ball cap on and stuffed the ponytail through the hole in the back.
"You people need to get a life. It's no wonder I hang out with guys more." She rolled her eyes and attempted to break for it again. This time Jubilee and Amara formed a tag team blockade.
"Come on you can't say you don't like him."
"He actually is kinda cute, if you go for that whole rebel look."
"With the jean jacket…"
"And long hair…"
"You two are too much. I'm going…" She melted down and reappeared behind them. "…now." She pushed the door open and walked out much to all of our disappointment.
"Wow, could she have taken that any worse? You'd think we'd accused her of falling for someone like Scott." I snickered along with just about everyone else. Jean came around the corner towel drying her hair looking confused.
"What's this about Scott?"
"Nothing!" We all said that at one time causing her to be even more confused. ~And people think I'm a ditzy blonde.~
When Jean left as well we all fell into giggles. "She like totally has to be dying her hair!"
HYDRA
I stood out by my truck waiting for Sam so that I could get to the school and become an official Bayville student. ~Yeah, these registration things are always fun—not! And what's up with those girls? You'd think it be a li'l obvious that I don't get girly li'l crushes.~
Sam came walking into the garage silently and climbed into the cab of my ol' red pickup. I shrugged off the stony silence as I got behind the wheel and started the engine. I winced at the static that came screaming outta the radio. "What are the good stations around here?" I quickly turned down the volume 'til I could get it programmed correctly onto something.
"Depends what you're in to."
"Anything but the classics and oldies…and Britney." I shuddered at the last word and he grinned as he took over the tuning knob. Out of the radio came Eminem's voice loud and clear.
{Snap back to reality, Oh there goes gravity Oh, there goes Rabbit, he choked, He's so mad, but he wont give up that is he?}
"That works." He sat back in his seat and stared out the window as I pulled up to the gates. ~Great, the strong, silent type.~
{No he wont have it, He knows his whole back city's ropes, It dont matter, He's dope, He knows that, but he's broke}
I rolled my eyes and the light bulb went on over my head. ~I'll force him to talk to me.~ "You mind telling me how to get to the school? I'm a little lost yet."
"Turn left up here." ~We're gonna have to expand on these answers.~
{He's so stacked that he knows, When he goes back to his mobile home, That's when its back to the lab again yo, This whole rap shit, He better go capture this moment and hope it don't pass him}
For the most part it was quiet going to the school except for the occasional direction.
{Look, if you had one shot, one opportunity, To seize everything you ever wanted, One moment, Would you capture it or just let it slip?}
When we arrived in the school parking lot I sighed in defeat realizing I'd need a new plan for the return trip. ~Can only stand to play ditzy once a day. Hell, only once a week. Consider it your lucky day, hon. Besides, whoever heard of a quiet football player?!?!~
I followed him inside the school where he silently led me to the gym where there was a sign up sheet on a bulletin board. We both signed our names to the sheet and I guesstimated that there were already fifty names of people who'd signed up. I signed it 'Al Williams' so it wouldn't get scratched off by the next sexist pig that signed up.
"The office is down here." As we walked I looked into the several trophy cases taking in all the different awards.
"A guy like you…I'm surprised you even know where the office is."
"Trust me, you'll get to see plenty of Principal Kelly by the end of the first semester. He likes to keep an eye on the 'mutant menace'."
"Thought this place was to be some kind of a safehouse."
He shrugged. "The institute is the safest place there is. Trouble is once you leave the grounds…no one really cares anymore." We reached the office and he left me to go in alone. I glanced back briefly at him but he gave me a reassuring smile.
I approached the counter but saw no secretary at the desk or anywhere in sight. I leaned over it to glance back a hall for a sign of anybody. "Yoo hoo. Anybody home?" I heard some papers being shuffled in an office down the hall and waited for the person to show themselves.
A stern looking man with glasses walked out and glanced at me quickly. "Can I help you with something?"
"Yeah, I'm new."
"We normally don't deal with the new students until a week before school starts."
"That's cool and all, but I wanna play football. And I think tryouts are Friday, so I kinda need to register now." He pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose and took a good hard look at me. "Yeah, I'm a girl and if you take a picture, it'll last longer. Can you get me registered or am I wasting my time now?"
He ducked behind the counter and returned with a clipboard and pen. "Fill these out. I'll be back for them in a minute or two."
"Sure." I sat down in one of the waiting chairs and began filling out the forms. Once he left I glanced back through the glass wall to see Sam pacing back and forth. He noticed me and stuck out his tongue and I returned the favor. I rolled my eyes and went back to work on the forms. ~Hair color?~ I checked brown, blonde and red. ~Eye color? Green and blue.~ I filled out other information like my address in Bayville, name and such. %Courses completed: Latin I & II, Accounting I & II, Various Computer Courses, AP History, American Literature, 11 Honor's English, Mythology, Advanced Algebra, Statistics, Trigonometry, Pre-Calculus, Biology, Physics, Honor's Chem I% ~How'd I cram all that into three years?~
I stood back up at the counter and cleared my throat loudly. The man returned and glanced over the forms quickly and frowned as he handed the clipboard back. "You missed a question."
"Oh, what's that?" He pointed to the last one which caused me to frown as well. %Check all that apply: Caucasion, Hispanic, Asian-American, African-American, Mutant, Non-Mutant.% "Didn't think that was any of your business. But for your information I'm Irish/German."
He smiled wickedly at me. "Only the freaks live at the Xavier Institute, and if you don't complete this form truthfully, I'll have no choice but to ban you from extracurricular activities." I glared at him as I begrudgingly checked the box next to 'mutant'. "Welcome to Bayville High, Miss Williams." His words were icy and sarcastic as I exited the office glowering.
"Hey, you okay?"
"Just peachy."
CANNONBALL
She came storming outta the office and I looked back to see Principal Kelly stood a confident smirk on his face. "Guessing you met Kelly."
"Congratulations! Vanna tell him what his prize is." I followed her back out to the parking lot trailing by a few paces
"You gonna be allowed to try out?"
"I guess so." She shrugged as she opened her door. I waited while she leaned across and flipped the lock on the passenger side so that I could get in. I watched her as she banged her head off the steering wheel causing the horn to blast. "I need to get my mind off of this. Any place to have some fun around here?"
"There's the movie theater, a bowling alley, pool hall, ice cream parlor, the mall's just down the highway a stretch…"
"Just direct me to the ice cream." I nodded as she shifted the truck into gear and exited the parking lot.
I stood back watching Al pick her ice cream like a critic. The girl behind the counter turned from her cleaning and glared in recognition at me. "What can I get you, freak?" Al raised an eyebrow at the rudeness as I ordered letting it slide.
"Tub of cookies n' cream." She scooped it out and slammed it roughly on the counter top in front of me.
"Anything else?" She continued to scowl as Al jumped in.
"I'd like a milkshake with orange sherbet and some pineapple topping thrown in." ~I hope she doesn't expect me to pay…I don't think I brought enough cash with me.~ I reached into my pocket and felt a single bill and some spare change.
"That's a smoothie, we don't do smoothies."
"I thought the customer was always right? You do serve milkshakes, and that's what I ordered." Al smirked as the girl reluctantly started making her smoothie/shake.
"Three ninety-five." Before I could even react she had pulled out four ones and was paying. She dug in her pocket and came up with a penny which she tossed into the tip jar and pocketed the nickel change with a smirk as she sat down across from me in a booth.
"I could have paid for my own."
"Consider it payment for the ten cent tour."
"Expensive ten cents."
"Inflation." I glanced over at the still scowling girl at the counter.
"Here's a tip. Don't go around making enemies with all the cheerleaders. You'll have to put up with Becca Crooks and her goon squad later on during football season."
She shrugged it off. "Not my fault she was acting like a real soda-jerk." ~She's either incredibly stupid or incredibly confident.~
"Penny for your thoughts."
"Would that be the same penny you tipped with or is this gonna be an inflated penny?"
"She was a smart ass with me, she deserved a crappy tip. Lord knows I've gotten my share of bad tips." She poked at her smoothie/shake with a straw then decided it was drinkable. After she finished her sip she went right back to her question. "So what's on your mind?" ~She's also persistent.~
"Not much."
"Right…let me guess. Girl trouble?" She startled me with her forwardness. "You're as easy to read as my friend, Mark, back home. Both of you are cursedly girl shy."
"Old boyfriend?"
"No. Just a good…no, best guy-friend. Stop changing the subject." She took another sip of her shake as she rested her chin on a fist in thought. "So who's the lucky girl? Tabitha? Amara? Or someone I haven't met from the high school?"
"First off, none of the above. Secondly, I'm not crazy enough for Tabby, not good enough for Amara, and I don't talk to many girls at school. I hardly talk to the girls at the institute except for at dinner and in training."
"Verdicts in: guilty of girl shy and self-bashing. You need a confidence boost, besides you're talking to me."
"What are you, my shrink?"
"Hon, you wouldn't be able to afford me." She grinned as she poked at the shake some more. She burped and laughed at her self, causing me to give her a strange look. It wasn't one of those girly embarrassed giggles but one that a guy would have. "Sorry, not very girl-like of me. Then again, I'd have to kill myself if I acted like that." She jerked a thumb at Becca and laughed again.
"So tell me about yourself. I'm sure you've got some great qualities that you just don't let others know about."
"I'm really not that good at talking."
"Yeah, well, I'm not so hot of a listener either. But eventually we have to learn so we'll both get that outta the way here and now." She waited impatiently for me to start talking as I pushed the melted ice cream around the bowl. "Okay, so what do you like to do…other than football?"
"Used to ride dirt bikes a lot back home." She smiled and waved her hand for me to keep talking. "Horses too. Well, everyone in Kentucky rode horses."
She caught my lull and popped another question at me. "I rode dirt bikes and four wheelers in the cove too. Any good spots around here?"
"Used to be this great canyon, but they dammed it up and flooded it. There are some other areas too. Mostly though if we go on some kinda road trip, it's to the beach. You'll probably learn to surf like the rest of us."
"Sounds cool. Ever go water skiing? I'd love to try that sometime."
"No…but we've tried to talk Logan into it. Eventually we'll get him outnumbered or just bug him into it."
"Sounds like a plan, my man."
"So what about you? You know it's the newbie's job to spill their guts to everyone."
"Really? Since when?"
"As of…" I glanced at my watch and paused a few seconds. "…now." She laughed but started talking.
"Okay, you already know I'm a Mets fan, I play football, but I also play basketball and softball. When I'm hanging with my friends I like to go bowling, movies—action of course, swimming, pool halls, lots of stuff. We also do four-wheeling, dirt biking, horse back riding, paint balling, snowmobiling in the six months of winter that we get. Once went cow tipping outta pure boredom, of course they were Mark's own cows. What else? I worked in an ice cream parlor back home, that's why I'm acting all snooty with Miss Priss over there. Um, I play guitar on my own time, play clarinet in band. Do the whole student council, student government, newspaper, FBLA things. I think that wraps it up in a nut shell."
"That's a lot."
"Gets boring in a town where you don't dare drive over sixty for fear of killing some Amish in their horse and buggies. Heck, we'd try anything once, just for a change of pace.
"This one time, we actually had tourists pull up to our softball game and ask us where they could find some Amish. They had a tour book and ev'rything! Who cares 'bout some dumb hicks who can't pay taxes?" She laughed and I couldn't help but laugh at the image of a couple of city slickers interested in seeing a farm.
"Ready to go?"
"Yeah, I guess." She stood up and crossed to the door matter-of-factly dropping her cup into the trash while shooting Becca one last confident smirk. I had to jog to catch up with her as she got back into her truck.
"So are they planning to do anything at the institute. You know, one of the road trips you mentioned?"
"We'll probably do something this weekend. Most likely the beach. Last time we went four-wheeling…well, it wasn't good. Kitty got into an accident, well, you get the picture." She smiled as she turned on the ignition and frowned as the radio spit out static again.
"Stupid thing…" She banged it with her fist and it went in tune for a moment before going back to static. "Can you reach the CD case in the back? Damn it, I got this truck to play with the engine, not the radio." She sighed as she continued to fiddle with the knobs but gave it up as she turned it off.
I reached back and retrieved a bright orange case that was overflowing with CDs. "Um…what should I put in?"
"Don't care, whatever floats your boat. I like 'em all." I flipped through it and was amazed by all the different artists and styles. She had everything in there from rap to r&b to punk to rock to pop to country. There was even some Latin in there. I finally settled on Toby Keith's latest CD. She had one of those portable CD player setups so I hooked it up into the cassette player and got 'I Love This Bar' playing. "You like Toby, too?"
"Sure. The guy speaks his mind."
"Maybe you could take a lesson from him."
"I think that was a shot."
"No, just a small piece of free advice from your shrink."
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Okay, this story is just what's going on at the institute while Rogue and Remy are living it up in New Orleans. Read my other stories to catch up on the Romy bit. The last one, Distance Heals All Wounds, is happening simultaneously. That might clear up some questions about the plot and such.