FYI:

~Personal Thoughts~

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

Of course Kitty came flying into my room Friday afternoon bubbling over. "We'll like both get ready together!"

"I just realized that I can't go…I don't have anything to wear."

"Don't worry, I went shopping for you. Same story with your makeup, and accessories, and everything." She grinned from ear to ear as she dumped a shopping bag out on my bed. Out rolled a bunch of water-based make up, a knee length blue skirt, blue knee high boots, a white blouse that cut low and tied at the bottom.

"No way. This is practically screaming Britney Spears." (A/N: envision Britney school girl look)

"It like so does not." I glared at her as she pushed me into the private bath with the new clothes. I came out looking like a Britney clone. "Okay, like maybe just a little."

"I'm not wearing this." I glared at her as I turned to my closet in search of something else to wear. ~I shoulda known better when Kitty said she was going shopping yesterday.~ I came out with a blue vest that matched perfectly. I pulled it down over top of the blouse and smiled at the reflection in the mirror. It was a more artistic look and I folded back the cuffs of the blouse so that they flared slightly. "That's better."

Kitty nodded in approval at the slight alteration as she pushed me down into a chair and began working on hair. She pulled back all my normal colored hair and twisted it up and used a large claw to keep it up. My hair spilled back down over the claw and looked like a fancy bun despite it's simplicity. She left the blue streak hanging down by my face and I tucked it back behind my ear outta habit. "Stop that, it like totally completes your look."

"I don't like it. I think I'm going to get it dyed to match the rest of my hair." She sighed as she spun my chair around and began applying the makeup. I sighed in defeat as I closed my eyes and let her have at it. She used a sea foam color eye shadow and applied light shades of blush. I pouted as she applied the sparkly lip-gloss but didn't make any comments.

"There, perfect." She spun me back around so that I could look in the mirror. I didn't even recognize the girl looking back at me. It wasn't often; okay, it wasn't at all, that I used make up so it was slightly unusual to see what I looked like with it on.

"I can't go out, not looking like this." I began to feel panic build in my throat as I continued to stare at the girl in the mirror.

"Like why not? Are you still like worried about Sam?"

"No…I…I just can't do this." ~I shouldn't have lied to him…that's my problem.~

"Lying's never a good idea, luv." I spun around to glare at Betsy.

"And poking in other people's minds isn't a good idea either." She remained cool under my wrath as I could feel the electricity prickling behind my eyes.

"Sorry, but you were projecting your thoughts pretty loudly. Go and have fun. Try and act normal, for once." I sighed realizing that she was right. I often found myself thinking too loudly around the psychics and so far nothing bad had crossed my mind at those times. Although I sometimes found myself thinking evil thoughts about Jean during training but she never reacted. She was prolly used to it by now.

"Like I need to get ready now. Catch you downstairs in a bit." Kitty disappeared through the wall and I continued to sit in the chair no longer staring at the mirror though.

"I just can't help but feel like I'm going to hurt him."

"You're hurting him more by avoiding him." I looked up at Betsy who was looking back, eyes filled with concern.

"I know. I just…I've never shown anyone my weak side, and now he's seen it…I don't think I can face him."

"And yet he still likes you. He doesn't see you as being weak, but as being one of the strongest and bravest people he's ever met." I nodded silently as I wrung my hands in my lap. "I know you like him. It was hard for all of us, the psychics at least, to not hear your thoughts that night. It was a brave thing for you to do, sacrificing yourself that way for him, luv."

"Oh God, you mean Jean heard that too?" Betsy avoided my eyes for a li'l bit then smiled wryly.

"Actually I don't think so. She was pretty tired and I don't think she was hearing much of anything."

"Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure, luv." As Betsy spoke Rogue came rushing into the room and slammed the door shut behind her. "What's the matter, luv?"

"Would someone tell that boy ta stop pacing an' ta watch where he's goin'?" I looked at Rogue curiously wondering what had gotten her upset. "He practically ran inta meh!" I stood up and opened the door to see Sam pacing outside and had to laugh. ~Can someone say de javu?~

Who is it, luv?

It's just Sam. See you later.

"Sam, you seriously need to stop spooking my room mates. Rogue's in there having a panic attack 'cause she thinks she might have killed you." He looked up surprised that someone was talking to him and managed a weak smile.

"Hey."

"Hay's for horses. Look I need to tell you something…I kinda led you to believe something that wasn't true the other day." I watched him as he glanced at me curiously. "I made you believe that the only reason I asked you was because…Kitty was going to fix me up with someone. That wasn't true…I asked you because I really wanted to ask you." He sighed in relief as he ran his hand through his hair nervously. "I was afraid to admit to myself that I really like you because of what happened. I thought you'd see me as being weak or something." I stared down at my new shoes wondering why they had to be so uncomfortable.

"What? No, never." He placed a hand on my shoulder comfortingly. "You're the toughest person I know. I'd never think you were weak."

"Thanks."

CANNONBALL

It was hard for me to believe that Allison had been avoiding me all week because she was feeling insecure. The toughest girl I'd ever met had insecurities just like everyone else. All it had taken though to snap her out of it was a li'l reassurance and she was back to her old self.

"You know the last time they had this dance, there were a bunch of monsters roaming around."

"You're kidding me, right?"

"Nope, Kurt brought them through from another dimension by accident." She looked as if she was trying to decide whether or not I was joking or being serious.

"You look really pretty." She turned to look at me and laughed as we walked inside the school gym for the dance.

"Suck up."

"No, I mean it." She didn't say anything else though as she dragged me away from the safe wall we'd been standing by onto the dance floor. "Al, I told you I can't dance."

She sighed patiently as she took my hands in hers then spun into my arms so that her back was up against my chest as she swayed. "It's easy…just feel the rhythm of the music." She leaned her head back on my shoulder as she closed her eyes a small smile playing across her face. She didn't seem to care that while everyone else was acting normal, we were the only ones slow dancing.

"Al…"

"Hmm." It was more of a sigh then a response.

"I don't get you."

"Me neither." I watched her curiously as she suddenly moved away from me. "I'm sorry…I…I'll be right back."

HYDRA

I ran from the school gym and found the girl's bathroom. I suddenly felt like the world was spinning outta control on me and there wasn't anything to make it stop. I gripped the edge of the sink and for a moment swore that I was going to toss my cookies. ~What just happened? I was just fine a moment ago and then…I got real sick feeling.~ I turned on the sink and jumped back in surprise as the water refused to fall down but rather shot into the air.

I quickly shut the water back off and started rubbing my temples trying to concentrate so that the water would just go down the drain like it should. I looked back at the sink and frowned as ev'rything appeared normal when I reopened my eyes. ~What brought that on?~ I sank down along the wall still rubbing my temples as I tried to sort things out.

Eventually my brain stopped spinning and I felt like I wasn't going to blow up a punch bowl or anything if I happened to pass one so I went back into the dance. "Al, where've you been? I've searched for you all night and Sam said you just up and left…"

"I felt kinda sick, Rose." I looked at my friend who seemed like she really had been worried sick for the past bit of time. "Sorry. Having fun?"

"Yeah, sure. Come on. Pete's being really goofy…you know how he can be soo naïve!" She took my hand and dragged me across the room to where Pete was talking to another guy from choir and Sam was sitting in a chair nearby only listening half-heartedly.

"The only reason you hit those high notes Pete, is because you haven't hit puberty yet." The other guy was poking fun at poor Pete and he was just to blind to see it.

"Thanks."

"It's not a complement." Pete cocked his head to the side out of confusion as I sat down next to Sam and tuned out the rest of the conversation.

"Sam…I'm sorry. I don't know what happened."

"Are you okay?"

"I dunno. If okay is practically blowing up a sink, then I'm doing great." He looked slightly scared when he looked up at me. "Really, Sam, I'm fine. I just had a head-ache or something."

"I hope that's all it was."

"Me too."

I took a deep breath before knocking on the door to the professor's office the next afternoon. "Come in, Allison."

"That can really freak a person out when you do that." I poked my head in through the door as he silently waved me in. "I was wondering if we could talk." I unconsciously tucked the blue streak of hair back behind my ear. I'd tried earlier in the day to die it, but it refused to change to any other color.

"Yes, I know."

"You know ev'rything, doncha."

"Not quite, but sit down." I did so and wrung my hands silently in my lap.

"Last night at the dance…ev'rything was going great and then I felt like my head was just going to explode."

"You remember how I explained that your powers are emotionally based." I nodded silently wondering where this conversation was going. "I believe that at the dam incident, you had an increase in power, and now you're powers look for an outlet every time that you feel a particular strong emotion."

"So I can't feel angry anymore without my powers going nuts?"

"Not just angry. I also believe and you've proven it, that you're much stronger when you're powers are backed by a good emotion rather than anger or fear. Last night, you were probably very happy and your powers were simply seeking an outlet for that emotion."

"So I can't be happy either?" ~This is just great. I finally find a place and a person who makes me happy and not as ho hum as I used to be and now I can't be happy because if I am then I'm going to blow up like an overfilled water balloon!~

"It will just require you to be careful that you don't become overly excited and that you don't become overly upset either. I wouldn't worry about it too much Allison."

"Easy for you to say." I stood up silently and walked to the door and sighed. "I'm sorry. That wasn't appropriate. I know you're only trying to help, but that's not exactly the news you want to hear." I gave him a half smile as I left.

CANNONBALL

The more I got to know her the more I realized that she was as easy to read as a book. The secret was to know what each shade of color meant in her eyes. Ever since she got back her eyes hardly ever changed from a sheer brilliant shade of green. The only time they'd changed to that terrifying blue was right now during training session.

"Come on Kicks. Don't you have anything else?" Al slumped back against the wall of the danger room completely exhausted from her one on one fight against Logan. She was doing pretty well except all she could do was avoid his attacks by melting or evaporating. She'd occasionally do so and attack his back before he turned again on her.

"Give it a rest already! I don't have a way of fighting back against you." We'd been watching this go on for about fifteen minutes but everyone was silently praying she'd keep it up for a good while then no one else would have to go.

"Well, you're not always going to have water lying around at your disposal, so you're going to need to learn to fight without it." He threw a punch at her but she was already gone and he growled as he connected with the metal wall.

She reappeared several feet behind him her hands held out in front of her. She had her eyes closed in concentration and it was impossible for us to figure out what she was trying to do. "Wrong, there's water ev'rywhere. You just gotta know where to look."

Logan turned to watch her but didn't move. He was just as interested as us to see what she was trying. "Stop wasting my time already."

"I'm not wasting time!" She opened her eyes and they flashed that eerie blue causing Logan to back up a step uncertainly. Slowly a ball of water began to form and hover between her hands.

"Is that it?" She stared down at her hands and her eyes faded in disappointment.

She clapped her hands and the drops of water flew. "Shit. Why didn't that work?"

"Look, pushing yourself isn't going to do any good."

"I shoulda been able to do that!" She didn't even seem to notice Logan and had completely forgotten that she was in a training fight as she tried again.

If anything this was even more of a failure as only a few drops hovered and spun around between her hands. "Kicks…"

"I should be able to do this! Why can't I?!?!"

"You might not be ready yet. Look, take a seat and let someone else get their training done." She looked up suddenly remembering the purpose of being in the Danger Room and sat down along the wall slightly separated from the rest of us. "Jubilee you're next."

"What?!?! Oh, no…there's no way I'm fighting you!"

Logan let out a low growl and she quickly jumped to her feet and hurried forward as if hoping that would lessen his intensity in the fight.

Being half way through October, there weren't to many more warm days ahead. It happened to be nice one Saturday so I was just sitting outside thinking. ~I still don't understand what happened at the dance. Why'd she get a headache? She seemed all right moments before then bam! she's practically running away…~

"Sam?" I looked up to see Al as she stepped down off the steps from the ballroom balcony. "A penny for your thoughts, hon."

"I was just thinking."

"I guessed that much. You wanna tell me what about?" She sat down next to me in the grass and stared up at the sky as she tucked her knees up beneath her chin.

"Not really."

"Okay. You know I'll listen whenever." I nodded and looked up as well. "It must be awesome being able to fly."

"It's okay, I guess. You would know."

"No, I don't. When I turn into vapor I have to concentrate extremely hard just to see. That's why I was so tired after that fight with Juggernaut…" She trailed off slightly after bringing up the fight that had ended so disastrously. "I don't know what it's like to move or anything with only the clouds beneath me. It must be really cool and free." I shrugged. I'd always taken it for granted and never really took in what it felt like to fly, just knew that I could do it. "Well, I guess I do kinda. You took me twice, but…" She was still staring up at the sky as I stood up.

I offered her a hand up and she took it questioningly. I turned my back to her and motioned for her to get on like a piggyback ride. "What are you doing?"

"You wanna know what it's like to fly? I'll take you." I turned back to see her watching me incredulously.

"You won't be able to pick me up. I'll hurt you."

"I can play basketball with Bobby on my back, I think I can handle you."

She shook her head stubbornly. "I'm taller and bigger than Bobby." In response I rolled my eyes and she glared as she finally gave in and climbed on. I smiled as she wrapped her arms around my neck and rested her chin on my shoulder. "Back breaking yet?"

"Not even close. Hold on." She let out a small gasp of joy as we shot into the air. I was grateful she wasn't a squealer like the other girls or my eardrums probably wouldn't have survived.

We ended up coming back down on the cliff where we'd talked before. Before it had been the end of summer and everything was warm and green. Now it was showing the signs of autumn going into winter as the leaves blew off the trees and fell around us.

"I could never get tired of that." She was grinning as she looked back at the institute. "I think only one thing could make me happier."

"What's that?" She turned still smiling as she took hold of my jacket collars. She gently pulled me towards her and kissed me.

HYDRA

I had no clue what came over me but suddenly ev'rything went off in my head as if Jubilee had just shot off a bunch of fireworks in my brain. At first I could feel his uncertainty about the situation I'd just put him in but he slowly kissed back sending me to cloud nine. It wasn't my first kiss, but it was certainly the first one that meant something.

It was kinda corny but I felt like I was in one of those old movies. My leg popped up as I leaned into the kiss even more as it deepened. Like I said--corny.

I slowly pulled back as I gasped silently for air. "Wow." I reopened my eyes and looked at him and he still looked shocked as he too opened his eyes.

"It's raining." I looked about me to see he was sorta right. The raindrops fell for a few seconds then stopped only leaving the area directly around us wet. "What happened?" He looked confused as he looked all around for an explanation to the strange weather.

"I think that was me." I almost grinned realizing that I'd finally been able to pull water outta the air like I'd been trying to for a while now.

"Since when did you become a weather witch?" He looked back at me smiling, the surprise ebbing away.

"Since now." I kissed him again as I put an arm around his neck pulling him in closer. His hands slowly moved to my waist and one cautiously rubbed the small of my back. I let my other hand run through his now soaked hair as the rain began falling on us once again. I felt like someone had just set off a hundred m-80s in my head as the rain began to fall harder and faster.

When we finally broke apart he was only staring into my eyes as the rain continued to fall. "I don't get it. You tried a while back and it didn't work." I rested my head on his shoulder as I closed my eyes again gently hugging his waist.

"I know, I was angry when I tried before. The professor says I'm a lot stronger when I'm happy. You know that whole good over bad karma thing." The rain slowed and stopped as we stood there and I smiled in my small victory. "And I'm happiest when I'm with you." He squeezed me tightly around the shoulders as I sighed contentedly.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

YEAH! They kissed for real. Bout time if you ask me. He he.

Okay, I remember another reason for changing my name, I write a bunch of other stuff that's original and they seem to revolve around CIA and that kind of stuff. So yeah, that's most of the reason for the change.