A/N: Special Thanks to emicablue, Independent Fire, punkcatwitissues, MoonlightPhoenix3 for your reviews of the last chapter.
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The next few days seemed to fly by. Well, to everybody except for Peter. For him, it seemed like it was an eternity. In some ways it felt like a dream, or more accurately, like a nightmare. As he sat in his room, he thought about all of the wonderful memories that he had of him and his brother when they were younger, living in the Ust-Ordynski region of Siberia. Life seemed so simple then. The anxiety he felt over having to go home to say goodbye to Mikhail was almost unbearable. Compounding that was the fact that they had a little sister, Illyana. She was born after Mikhail had left to join the military. Now, she would never get to really know Mikhail, to have him tell her a story and make it come to life in a way nobody else could. The only thing that seemed to bring a sense of calm over Peter was the fact that Kitty would be going with him. Peter had asked Professor Xavier if Kitty could join them, and the Professor had given his approval. They, plus Theresa, would all be traveling to Peter's home village. As he laid on his bed thinking about everything, Peter felt a presence at his bedroom door.
"Petey, I've been trying to get my stuff together, but I'm not sure what to pack. What is Siberia like this time of year?" Kitty asked as she stood in the doorway of his room.
"It's early spring now and everything should be thawing out from winter's freezing grip. I'd say the temperature might actually make it into double-digit degrees." Peter replied as he looked at Kitty from his bed.
"Ouch! And I thought Chicago winters were rough. Well I definitely don't need to worry about accessorizing my swimwear. Anyways, I need to finish getting my luggage together, so I'll catch you later in the rec room." Kitty said as she started to walk back towards the girls' wing of the dormitory.
"Kitty…" Peter said before Kitty was out of hearing distance.
"What's up?" Kitty asked as she peeked back around the corner of the doorframe.
"In case I haven't told you before I just wanted to say thank you, Katya, for helping me through such a rough time in the last few days." Peter told her.
"Sure, no problem." Kitty replied as she stood and looked at Peter for a moment and then left for her room.
In all honesty, Kitty didn't have to say anything back to him, her smile could have done all of her talking for her. Every time that Peter called Kitty by her new nickname, Katya, she felt a bolt of pure electricity go through her. It wasn't because of the name itself, but because of the way that Peter said it with such affection in his voice. Since he never really expressed his emotions to the rest of the world, most of the students had assumed that Peter had a heart of stone, to go along with his cold, iron body. But after spending countless hours talking with him, Kitty couldn't believe how warm and passionate Peter really was. They had become so close over the last few weeks that Kitty felt like their relationship was getting a lot more serious. Her new feelings both scared and excited her, all at the same time.
While two of the X-Men-to-be were preparing for a trip halfway around the world, the other three were having a meeting with Professor Xavier in his study.
"Professor, you said you wanted ta see us?" Rogue asked as she, Bobby, and Jubilee walked into the room.
"Yes, I did. I wanted to introduce you to the school's interim Headmaster, Dr. Henry McCoy. Or Hank, as he would prefer that you call him. He will be in charge of this institution while I am gone." Professor Xavier said from behind his desk.
Hank then stood up from the chair that he had been seated in.
"I met Jubilee and Robert during my previous visit. I assume that you must be Marie." Hank said as he reached out and shook her gloved hand.
"Hi. Everybody around here just calls me Rogue. Ah'm sorry about missing you the other day, Logan and me were training downstairs and we kinda lost track of time." Rogue replied.
"Yeah, big surprise there." Bobby muttered to himself.
"I called you in here because you are three of the oldest students here. I would greatly appreciate it if you helped Hank around here. This place can certainly be overwhelming, even to me at times." Professor Xavier said to his students.
The three students all nodded in agreement to help out.
"Professor, you make it sound as though running this school is like facing the Juggernaut single-handedly." Hank laughed.
"Just don't say that I didn't warn you." Professor Xavier replied.
As Rogue, Bobby and Jubilee were leaving the Professor's study following their meeting, Kurt Wagner came up to them.
"What's up Kurt?" Rogue asked him.
"Jubilee, there is a phone call for you." Kurt replied.
"Thanks, Elf. I'll get it in the kitchen." Jubilee said as she hurried down the hallway.
As Jubilee made it into the kitchen, she had little doubt in her mind as to who had telephoned her.
"It's your quarter and a half." Jubilee said as she picked up the receiver.
"Hi Jubilee, it's me Doug." Doug Ramsey said to her.
"Hi 'it's-you-Doug'. So, what's the latest?" Jubilee asked him.
Ever since the night that Doug had come to the aid of Jubilee, Bobby, and Rogue at the Salem Shopping Center, he and Jubilee had been constantly talking on the phone with one another. They had also been going out together, either to the movies or just to spend time hanging out with each other. Despite the fact that Doug and Jubilee had almost totally opposite personalities, they seemed to mesh and get along extremely well.
"I just called to see if you'd be interested in going to the Allison Blaire concert this Friday Night?" Doug asked her.
"Allison Blaire! But I thought Madison Square Garden sold that concert out weeks ago?" Jubilee inquired.
"I know a couple of guys that had gotten tickets, but their girlfriends cancelled out on them at the last minute. So they made me a great deal on their tickets. I bought a pair of tickets for you and me, but the other guy still has a pair that he wants to get rid of quickly. None of these are front row seats, but they're still pretty decent. Do you think Kitty & Peter or Rogue & Bobby might be interested?" Doug asked her.
"Well, Peter had a death in his family. So he and Kitty are getting ready to leave for Russia tomorrow. But I can ask Rogue & Bobby and see if they're interested." Jubilee told him.
"All right, just get back to me as soon as possible." Doug paused for a moment, "I guess then I'll see you Friday Night, I'll pick you up around seven." Doug said to her.
"See ya then." Jubilee said as she hung up the phone.
Doug hung up the phone in the family room of his house. He started to get up to work on his homework, when his father walked into the room.
"Sounds like you got yourself a date for Friday Night." Mr. Ramsey said as he sat down on the sofa with his son.
"Yeah, me and Jubilee are going to see Allison Blaire perform at MSG. Is it alright if I borrow the car?" Doug asked his father.
"Sure, the car's no problem. But I think that we need to talk about Jubilee." His father said to him.
"What about her?" Doug asked.
"Well, we've met her and your mother and I think that she's a sweetheart. But we've been hearing things about that school that she goes to." Mr. Ramsey answered.
"What are you getting at Dad?" Doug wanted to know.
"We just don't want you putting yourself in a dangerous situation." Mr. Ramsey said.
"You mean because she's a mutant. Go ahead and say it, that's what this is really all about. You want me to stop seeing her just because she's a little different. I never would have expected you to have that kind of attitude." Doug said with disappointment in his voice.
"Hold on, I never said that we wanted you to stop seeing her. I just want you to be aware of how the rest of the world is starting to feel towards them and how they might start looking at you for being around her." Mr. Ramsey told him.
"Dad I am aware. I see the news and the protests and the speeches. And I know how a lot of people feel, but I'm not going to let them dictate who I'm friends with." Doug told his Dad.
"All right, you've made your point, sport. You two have a good time, but just promise me that you'll be careful." Mr. Ramsey said as he put his arm around his son.
"Don't I always." Doug replied as he got up to go to his room.
The following morning, some of the students at Xavier's school woke up and looked outside from their bedroom windows. They watched as a one-of-a-kind modified Blackbird spy plane emerged from beneath the basketball court and lifted off with four of their own inside, heading towards the west coast of the United States and then beyond.
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Next Chapter: Kitty in a new land & Rogue's Heartbreak…