... Hello? (sweatdrop) Yet again, I prove my transient existence on Thanks to Zanisha for this feather duster, I think I'll need it. Badly.
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8:00 a.m., Quinn jumped out of bed, showered, dressed, brushed her teeth, and trotted downstairs. "Good morning!"
A bleary eyed Logan looked up at her. "What's so good about it?" he asked.
"Well, there'd be a lot more good things to appreciate if you weren't having a hangover," she replied, waving her hand in front of her face. "And you might want to use some mouthwash before the professor catches you, Mr. Grumpy."
"That's the first thing that you've said all morning that makes sense," he muttered, getting up to leave.
"What, that you're grumpy?" Quinn asked, half joking.
Logan gave her a dirty look over his shoulder as he left the room. Kitty passed him in her entrance to the kitchen. "Ewwww, any reason Logan smells like beer?"
"Improbably? He bathed in it," Quinn replied. "Logically? He drank some."
Kitty gave a half smile. "Funny. Have you seen Bobby?"
"No, but I think I saw... what's her name... Wolfsbane? I thought I caught a glance of her outside when I passed the window. You should try asking her."
"Will do!" Kitty saluted and went out the way she came.
Quinn sighed, turned around, and came face to face with Kurt. "Whoa!"
"Oh, sorry!" he apologized, holding up his hands.
"How long have you been there?" Quinn questioned, trying to regain her composure.
"Only just got here now."
"Oh, okay... Hey, would you know where I would find Dr. McCoy?" Quinn asked.
"He's usually in his 'lab' downstairs – zhe door's right down zhis hallvay. But be careful." Kurts eyes grew serious and he wore a grim expression. "Dr. McCoy's not a physician, or a biologist at all; he's a chemist. Vith all zhose chemicals around... you might get turned into somezhing awful. Like zhat one poor kid a couple years back... zhat was really bad..."
Quinn's eyes widened and she paled.
Suddenly, Kurt's sober face broke into a mischievous grin. "Just kidding!"
Quinn stayed the same for a long time before blinking. She'd actually stopped breathing, surprising herself with the realization.
"Are you okay?" Kurt asked, concerned. "I vas just kidding, really!"
"N-no, I'm fine," Quinn stuttered, giving a short, nervous laugh. "Uh, I really should find him now, see you later!" She hurried down the hall, quickly finding the stairs.
Kurt watched her go, slightly stunned. "It vas just a joke," he said aloud, more to himself.
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Quinn gave a quick knock on the door before entering the room, and nearly fainted when she saw all of the test tubes and beakers.
"There you are!" Hank McCoy sat at his computer, looking over some data. He greeted her over his shoulder. "Just sit down on the table, I'll be right there."
A minute later, he was in front of her, studying her face. "Are you okay? You look like you've eaten a slug."
"No, slugs don't bother me..." Quinn responded softly. "Dr. McCoy?"
"Yes?"
"You've never had any... accidents here, have you?"
"Oh boy, here we go again!" Dr. McCoy rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry Quinn – every year, for each new mutant staying here, the older kids play this trick on them. Last year Bobby and Wolfsbane were scared senseless, and a few months before that, Rogue got it. This year Kurt got stuck with telling it, right?"
Quinn nodded mutely.
"Ah, thought so by how pale you were. I'd say he's one of the most convincing, since he's usually so trustworthy... except for that incident where he was fiddling around with his image-inducer. But anyway, now that we're all clear, are you feeling better?" He smiled.
"Yes, much better, thanks."
"Good. The professor recommended some tests for you to take, specifically, based on what he believes to be your talents."
"Will this involve a blood sample?" Quinn asked anxiously.
"Nah, I don't think so. I need a reading of your brain activity, some sensory tests, extrasensory tests, more neurology – does this mean anything to you?" he asked.
"Yes," Quinn nodded.
"And that's why I'm testing you," he pointed out with a slight smile.
Quinn laughed.
"So," Dr. McCoy said, making friendly conversation as he readied a machine, "where are you from, Quinn? Usually everyone here has parents somewhere."
Quinn was silent for a long time. "My parents…" She paused. "They sent me ahead of them. They were going to come after me when they could."
"Ah, I see. What's your full name? I'm going to have to make a medical file for you, since you haven't one to transfer here, as far as I know."
"Quinn Romanov. Age 16."
"Wonderful, thank you very much," he replied, turning around.
Dr. McCoy applied some electrodes to Quinn's head, inspected the connection, flipped some switches, and soon a quiet hum was heard. A detailed read out appeared on his computer, text flashing by too quickly for Quinn to read at that distance from the monitor.
"Hn..."
"What?" Quinn asked.
"This is just... really odd, I've never seen anything like this in my entire stay here..." McCoy continued to watch the scrolling data.
Quinn squinted, trying to read it herself, her brow creased, perplexed.
Suddenly, she felt a great, stabbing pain in the back of her mind; it pierced through her being, physical, and yet, it seemed as if it weren't real. Quinn yelped and several beakers cracked; a test tube shattered.
"What the – " McCoy whirled around. "Quinn?"
She saw bright flashes of colors, then a blinding white as the pain increased. Dr. McCoy's computer began to smoke, and then a loud POP was heard as the monitor blew out.
The doctor yanked the electrodes off of the new mutant. "Quinn?? Quinn?!"
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Haha, that should be enough to keep you wanting more! I'm sure this chappie was worth the wait; oooooh, the suspense! Anyway, I don't know when the next chapter will come out... as usual... but this was pretty good and long.
Will try to write soon – probably after school starts (kinda backwards from most authors on , but anyway...)
No questions this time, because I know you're all worried sick about Quinn, so it's pointless to ask what I already know. Obviously, the answer will be in the next chapter – it wouldn't be nice to forget all about this incident, now would it? Yes, a big chunk of the next chapter will be about it... a very large piece, really! I promise!
My Gemfire story will be updated soon; I'm writing that one by hand, and, like Zanisha said, it's easier to just copy it and correct it as you go along sometimes (even though some people think it's a sloppy way to write, not to mention time consuming). Yes, this chapter of A New Life was written straight from my brain to the compy, immediate final draft, as were all of the ones in this story. I don't know if I'll ever write any of this long hand...
Moving right along, thank you all for putting up with that incredibly long, rambling author's note. And now go watch Trigun and drool over Vash.
Love and peace!
Adryl/Casadrat