A/N: Ugh! I'm back to the usual wake up at 5 am, write fic, go to school. This bites, I'd rather do this all day.
"Charlie," said Kurt as they waited for the elevator. "Do you really vant to vear your pj's in ze Danger Room?"
Looking down Charlie caught sight of the green pants with purple monkeys. "Maybe I should change." She checked her watch and said, "I have about five minutes. No where near enough time to get to my room, change, and then go down the Danger Room."
"I vill take you," Kurt said lightly as he pulled her near.
Once again Charlie was pressed against Kurt, his arms wrapped tightly around her waist. Charlie held on to him tightly with her arms and tail as he closed his yelloweyes and concentrated.
The hallway vanished around them and Charlie closed her eyes tightly. Everything was spinning as if she were on a bad amusement park ride. Her stomach lurched as they reappeared in her bedroom.
"Can't a cat get some sleep around here," hollered Captain from the bed, his yellow eyes glaring at Kurt and Charlie.
"I vill go get dressed az vell," Kurt bowed slightly and bamfed away.
Without a moment to spare Charlie ran into her bathroom and brushed her teeth at warp speed. She splashed some water on her face and barely dried it before she was back in her room, pulling out her clothes. Charlie pulled on a pair of blue jeans and a plain t-shirt. The jeans had a small hole in the back for her tail which wriggledout into the open.
Throwing herself on her bed, Charlie wrestled her shoes on just as Kurt knocked on the door. "May I come in," he asked.
"Yeah," Charlie called back just as she finished tying the laces.
For the second time in less then five minutes, Kurt wrapped his arms and tail around Charlie, pulling her close. Closing his yellow eyes, he concentrated very hard, one mistake and the two of them could end up stuck in a wall.
With another bamf! they teleported out of the room. In a cloud of smoke they reappeared in front of a door in a metal hallway.
"Ve're here," said Kurt gently as Charlie began to loosen her grip. Her arms were around Kurt's neck and her face buried in his chest. "I should teleport vith you mehr often." He smiled at her.
Charlie rolled her eyes and pulled away, turning to the door. "Is that it?"
"Ja." Kurt nodded. "Zat iz ze Danger Room."
"Are you coming in?" Charlie turned back to Kurt, her green cat eyes pleading.
"Nein," he said sadly. "I vill vetch from ze control room." Charlie smiled nervously and turned back to the large metal door. "Don't vorry, Charlie.You vill do fine."
"Thanks Kurt," Charlie whispered to the blue mutant. She leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.
Kurt stood there, stunned, as the door slid open and Charlie stepped in. After snapping himself out of it Kurt went to the control room to watch.
"Welcome," called the calm voice of the Professor, "to the Danger Room. This is where you shall receive all your combat training."
Charlie looked around at the large room, it was almost like a Cathedral with its raised ceiling. "Why do I need combat training," she asked the Professor.
He smiled slightly. "There are mutants in the world who believe that the only way to obtain mutant rights is by demolishing the human race. We, that is the X-men and I, believe that this accomplished peacefully." Charlie looked at him questioningly and he said, "The X-men are a team of mutants who reside in the mansion."
"What is that the X-men do?"
"We save the day," he said with a smile. "Not too long ago Rogue was going to be used in a plot to turn all the world leaders into mutants. The X-men saved Rogue and stopped the mutant terrorists. More recently, there was man named Stryker who wanted to kill all the mutants by using me. The X-men joined forces with the mutant terrorists and stopped me. Unfortunately the terrorists tried to reverse the process so I would kill everybody else." The Professor's face saddened as he continued the story. "The X-men managed to stop me just in time, though there was a loss."
Charlie knew right away that the "loss" was someone who was dear to Scott. So that's why he's so grumpy. Deciding not totouch onthe more sensitivesubject Charlie asked, "How exactly could you be used to kill everyone?"
Professor Xavier went on to explain Cerebro and how while using the machine he was connected to every living person on the planet. "If I concentrate too hard on one person or a group of people, I could kill them."
Nodding absently, Charlie thought about this. "Well that wasn't a very good plan." Professor Xavier looked up with surprise. "A lot of people are born everyday and at least half of them are mutants. What was Stryker planning on doing, having you use Cerebro as a nightly ritual? And what would he do when you eventually… uh… bought the farm?"
"Stryker's full plans will forever be a mystery to us," said the bald man. "When the dam flooded he died. Now, back to the matter at hand. I will be watching from the control room. We'll start you off at the lowest level and see how you do."
"What exactly am I supposed to do," asked Charlie as the Professor began to roll away.
"Defend yourself with any means necessary," he said as he left.
Great. I'm going to die.
A few minutes passed until the Professor's voice echoed through the room. He was behind the glass of the control room, looking down at Charlie. "Alright I'm going to start it up," he said as he flipped a switch.
The sound of mechanics and metal grinding against metal reached Charlie's ears. Instinctively she dropped down to the floor in a crouching position. Her green eyes searched the large room and fell upon a place on the floor. A tile was sliding back, making room for a small cannon.
It turned to Charlie whose eyes widened slightly. The canon opened fire, shooting a laser at her. With surprising ease, Charlie jumped out of the way. Again the canon turned to her and fired. Relying on her reflexes, Charlie dodged the laser.
"Try to stop it," the Professor's voice rang through the room.
Without hesitation Charlie transformed into a small rodent and scurried toward the laser. It fired at her again and she jumped out of the way. The laser canon fired at her repeatedly as her little rat paws carried her toward it.
When she reached the base of the canon she slipped through the gap between the base and the floor. There were several electrical wires before her. Charlie began to chew through them. Soon the canon began to malfunction and sputtered before it died.
Charlie climbed back out of the hole and transformed into her usual tiger striped self. The canon was pulled back into the floor.
"Excellent. I'm going to send someone down now so we can see how you do against a living opponent." In the control room Professor Xavier turned to the people who accompanied him. His eyes roamed over Ororo, Scott, Logan, Kurt, and even a few of the teenagers. Theyhad allgone to see how Charlie would fare. "Scott will you please go down."With a curt nod the young man turned to leave. "Don't forget to go easy on her, she's new."
The door to the Danger Room slid open and Scott stepped in. He was wearing his X-suit and red visor. He walked straight to the middle of the room and looked up to the window of the control room.
Again Charlie heard mechanics. All around her small protective barrierswere sliding out from the floor. The walls of the room flickered and turned into what seemed like an abandoned warehouse.
The Professor's voice rang out again. "The walls are for you to hide behind if you feel the need."
A buzzer went off and Scott's hand went to his visor. Charlie barely had time to duck, the optic laser soared over her head and crashed into a wall. With wide eyes she looked up just as Scott fired another one at her. She dived out of the way and landed behind a wall. Looking at where she had just been, Charlie saw that the floor was badly singed.
Alright. I can do this, she thought. I just need to think of something.
Moving to a crouching position, Charlie quickly judged the distance to the top of the nearest wall. She leapt at it just as the wall she was hiding behind was turned to dust. Scott saw her jump and focused on her, his hand at the ready.
Out of the corner of her eye Charlie saw this. As she neared the wall she turned into an owl and once again narrowly missed being blasted by the optic beams. Scott continued to shoot at the bird which dodged easily.
Charlie pulled her wings close to her body and began to dive towards Scott. Looking a little lower than Charlie, Scott gave her a lead so when his finger hit the button she'd fall into the laser. His finger hit the switch on his visor and the red beam was let loose.
Her wings shot out and slowed her descent considerably just as Scott hit the button. The laser missed by a few inches.
Transforming into a dog in mid-air, Charlie jumped at the suspecting Scott. Her front paws caught him in the chest and knocked him over. Before Scott could make a move Charlie had slipped her large teeth around his neck and held them there gently.
A buzzer went off and Charlie knew to back off. Scott got to his feet while Charlie morphed from her four-legged status into her usual self.
"That was very good," called the Professor's voice. "You had a few close calls but you still did very well. I'm going to send down three more people and we'll see how you do with teamwork. Scott you can come back up now."
The disgruntled man marched out of the room. The door slid open as Scott exited and two people walked in. Charlie greeted Logan and Ororo with a nod.
"Didn't he say there would be a third person?" Charlie looked around confusedly.
A bamf! could be heard as a blue mutant appeared in a cloud of acrid smelling smoke. Kurt grinned at Charlie and waved.
The Professor called down to them from the control room. "Alright," he said. "I want to see how Charlie and Kurt work together so Logan and Ororo, you're teamed up."
Everyone nodded solemnly in agreement. The hologram changed and they were given the impression that they were in the back yard of the mansion, the protective walls looked like hedges.
The buzzer rang and the four people sprang into action. Logan went after Kurt, leaving Ororo and Charlie to duke it out.
The white haired woman's eyes glazed over, changing from a dark brown to white. A harsh wind began to pick up as a heavy fog rolled in, Ororo was lifted off the ground by the wind and hovered about ten feet below the raised ceiling.
Charlie relied on her keen senses to guide her to her opponent. The mist dampened her clothes and clung to her hair as she sniffed out Ororo. That sneak! She's not on the ground.
Without hesitation, Charlie turned into a hawk and flew out of the mist, heading straight for Ororo. The weather witch smiled when she saw the younger mutant fly at her. The ceiling darkened as black clouds gathered out of nowhere. Charlie could feel the electricity gather in the air around her but it was too late for her to do anything.
A bolt of lightning appeared in the Danger Room and it was flashing towards Charlie with dangerous speed. She prepared herself for impact as it got closer, she closed her eyes. The shock never came.
Instead Charlie felt everything whirl momentarily and there were arms holding her winged body close. The smell of brimstone filled her nose.
Charlie's stomach lurched and she opened her eyes to see that she and Kurt were above Ororo who was looking confused. There was a bamf! as Kurt teleported back to his battle with Logan and Charlie was given a split second make a choice of what to do before she fell.
Tingling filled her body as she transformed from a bird into an elephant. Charlie's massive gray body began to fall faster until Ororo was under her. The two of them were hurtling towards the ground at an alarming rate.
With another tingling sensation, Charlie had turned into a condor. She grabbed onto Ororo's X-suit and began to flap her ten foot wings frantically. Luckily Ororo was conscious enough to use the wind to aid in her rescuing.
It took a few minutes but Ororo's fall had been slowed and she landed on the ground perfectly unscathed. The woman nodded to Charlie when she had turned back into her normal self.
"Now you have to help Kurt," she said as gestured to the fighting men.
Without a word Charlie had turned into a tiger and was bounding across the Danger Room to join the fray. With a loud growl she caught Logan's attention. The man looked up to see a large striped feline barreling towards him.
He turned his whole body, ready for the pounce. What he wasn't ready for was Kurt. The blue mutant teleported behind him and put him in a sleeper hold. Logan tried to flip the German off his back but Kurt had his legs and tail wrapped around him for a firmer grip.
Logan raised his arm and prepared to punch Kurt. His first swing missed as a large striped paw swatted his hand away. Logan's dark eyes shot to Charlie who stood before himattentively, green eyes blazing.
The sound of a buzzer filled the room and Kurt let Logan out of his grip while Charlie tiredly made her transformation. The four mutants gathered in the center of the room as Professor Xavier entered.
"That was marvelous," he said with a smile. "Kurt and Charlie you make an excellent team. Again you had a few close calls but with the proper training you'll be an amazing fighter. Some very good strategies," Professor X said informed Charlie. "I think that's enough for today."
"Does she get to join," Logan asked as he eyed Charlie.
"Join?" Charlie looked from Logan to the Professor. "Join what?"
Charles Xavier smiled. "Charlie would you like to join the X-men?"
She blinked a few times and asked, "You want me to join the team and fight the forces of evil?" They all nodded. "Sounds like something from a comic book but okay. Count me in."
"We'll have a suit for you in no time," said Xavier has he led them out of the room. "Which reminds me, Charlie. The equipment for your photo class is finally here. You can start tomorrow."
With a mournful nodded Charlie followed him out. The last thing she wanted to do was teach a class but she knew she had to. Charles Xavier had taken her in, given her a home, let her keep her cat, taught her control, and even let her join the X-men. Teaching at the institute was all she could do to thank him.
"Charlie," said a voice behind her. She turned to see Kurt smiling at her. "You did vundervoll. Vhere did you learn to fight like zat," he asked as they began to walk down the hall, side-by-side.
With a grin she said, "I grew up with four older brothers. In my family you didn't survive if you couldn't fight. Besides, I'm Irish. Its in my blood."
Kurt laughed and took her hand as they reached the elevator. "You vill never cease to amaze me, faulein."
"Well," said Charlie with mock arrogance. "I'm just an amazing person."
"Ja, you are," he said truthfully. A blush crept across Charlie's tiger striped face as Kurt gazed ather intently with his yellow eyes. "Do you vant to vatch anozer movie tonight?"
"How about you help me plan my first photo lesson," Charlie suggested hopefully and stepped into the elevator
"Ja, und zen ve vatch a movie." He thought for a moment. "How about a gut mystery?"
Charlie nodded as the doors opened with a ping! "I'll see you later then," she said as she stepped out of the elevator and gave Kurt's hand a squeeze.
As she climbed up the stairs to her room, Charlie's bed called to her. The beckoning of the soft mattress, down comforter, and fluffy pillows made her drag her tired feet forward. She opened her door and stumbled forward, landing face first on her bed. Before she even made contact, Charlie was asleep.
You thought I forgot about her teaching, didn't you?