A/N: Yay, got part two posted! And I actually got some more romance put into this fic. I noticed it was slightly lacking in the love department, which is by all means my favourite part of fic!
To A Watcher: All munchkins are scary in my book… the only thing worse is my first grade teacher ***shudder*** Logan isn't just cool, he is awesome!
To WW: I think everyone would put their money on Buffy. Sure, Logan's got those claws and super healing powers but does he have the Powers That Be and a angry witch backing him? No.
To Caltimere: You are forgiven. See, I am a very forgiving person. One of my better qualities. I was planning on having a big Faith-Buffy-vs.-Logan fight in this chapter, but my sister pointed out to me that if they world was gonna be destroyed even Logan would put aside his complaints and listen to Buffy's commands. So the fight will be later, when things calm down slightly.
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Chapter Twenty One- Returnings Part TwoFaith frowned, "That would be Logan, aka Wolverine. I was told his name was Wolfie! Doesn't that sound hot?"
Buffy blinked, "Ah, I guess it does in freaky-lust-driven Faith world."
"Sure does!" Faith agreed, "But look at him! He's old and hairy! Differently not hot! Sometimes a Slayer has no fun."
Logan glared at Faith angrily; the only thing stopping him from attacking her was that she was a woman. It didn't matter to him that she was just as strong as him. Everyone in the room, even Buffy and Colossus, could tell Logan and Faith had not gotten off to the right foot and therefore, the claw-baring man was not easy to trust anyone in Faith's crew, the original Slayer included.
Buffy shook her head and turned her head back to the man in the wheelchair. All at once she thought: oh my. He may not have looked like much of a fighter but she could tell instantly he was a strong one. He was also very wise. The Slayer wasn't quite sure how to deal with him, so she did the Buffy Summers thing. She grinned from ear to ear and stuck out her hand.
"Wuzup?" She asked, feeling lame and maybe a little to dirty, but in the mud-caked way.
"Miss Summers." Professor Xavier said in a calm voice that matched his eyes, "We are glad that you are okay. After all that has been going on, I fear we may need you."
Buffy bit the inside of her cheek before saying, "Yeah, I noticed the whole non-existent sun thingy."
"Come with me." Professor X said, not giving even a small grin Buffy's way, "In the control room we can give you a better view of what's gone on in the past day."
Buffy nodded, smiled at her friends and followed Professor X. As she followed the professor, Logan glared at her, crossing his arms over her chest. Buffy shook her head at him and followed the professor.
Professor X led the Slayer underground, to where the headquarters of the X-Men were located. All the while, they spoke no words. Buffy was getting uncomfortable with the silence and unbeknownst to her Xavier realized it and he smirked slightly.
Deciding to do her a favour he asked, "So your Watcher's Rupert Giles?" Xavier knew very well Giles was Buffy's Watcher, he was physic after all, but for the sake of being polite he asked anyway.
Buffy, grateful to have the silence broken, said, "Oh yeah. Giles is my Watcher… well, former Watcher anymore. I don't really need him anymore." And because that was true, she frowned.
"He's a good man." Xavier went on, "I met him when he was training his first Slayer. They were hunting up in New York where I originally resided. He helped me come up with the idea of making a school for gifted children."
Buffy felt herself smiling, "That'd be Giles. Always with the ideas and hunting. You'd never guess he was once called Ripper."
Xavier had no idea what Buffy was talking about. The Giles he had met was a calm, controlled Englishmen with a young woman at his side and a stake in his hand. They had become friends those years back, but then Giles's Slayer of that time had met her end and he was forced the move back to England. They hadn't spoken since then.
"Here we are." Xavier said as the metal door slid open. Buffy stared at them in wonder as she followed the bald man inside.
When she walked in she blinked. It was a large computer room, but that didn't surprise her. What surprised her was that in the room was Willow and besides her was a furry, tall blue beast. Her first thought was demon but then she remembered she was in a school for mutants and forced her muscles to relax.
Willow, grinning, turned and chirped to Buffy, "Oh, Buffy! I'm glad you're here!"
Buffy stared at Willow in shock, "Ah, Willow did you clone yourself and not tell me? Or can you know be in two places at once?"
"Oh, I had Kurt teleport me." With that said another furry blue man, though shorter and dark, appeared in the room with a puff.
"Hello, Miss Summers." The blue boy said and Buffy stared at him. Kurt Wagner! That was his voice, but he looked nothing like the boy she had met at school. She guessed he had some kind of clocking device on… or something really cool like that. This was a professor's home, wasn't it?
"I'll be damned." Buffy murmured, "And who is this?" She looked at the taller blue man.
"This is Hank." Willow said, smiling up at the beast, "He's really smart Buffy! He and I are going to make a better security system for this place."
Hank walked forward and extended his large arm to Buffy and said, "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Summers. I must say, after all the stories your Willow has told me, I was most excited to meet you."
"Likewise." Buffy said, surprised at Hank's very well educated voice, "I think. You're going to make me feel stupid, aren't you?"
Hank looked at her in surprised then smiled, "Don't worry, Miss Summers, I'm sure you'll be able to catch up." Then he turned back to Willow, "Are you ready to get into the perilous stuff, little Wicca?"
"Miss Summers." Xavier said and Buffy followed him to another large compute in the back of the room. He typed rapidly a code and upped pop a screen.
"This shows how many people the… vampires, you call them? Anyway this shows many people have been killed by the vampires. As you can see, there have been many causalities already." Xavier said grimly.
"Just like Sunnydale, only the destruction is coming a lot faster then on the Hellmouth. This Jake moves fast." Buffy muttered and Xavier nodded, "Are there any survivors?"
"Yes." Xavier said and Buffy's spirits were lifted, "All the survivors of the vampires were herded into the high school. They've blocked the doors and for now the vampires are at bay. How long that will last I don't know. I was about to prepare a rescue mission when I heard you had returned with Colossus."
Buffy nodded, her shoulders stiff, she thought of the people trapped in the Bayville High School. It wasn't much different from when Spike—then evil—had trapped them inside Sunnydale High School. She knew the fear, the panic, and there was no Slayer to protect those people.
"Willow," Buffy snapped to the redheaded which and said, "get everyone assembled we're going on a rescue mission."
While Buffy was being briefed on the situation in Sunnydale, everyone else was forced to find something to do since going outside was not an option.
Xander, flapped down on the large couch, and started to joke around with Tabitha who had been bored out of her mind and was happy to laugh at Xander's somewhat funny jokes. Rogue and Sidney got into a conversation with Jack, Eve and Ann joining in. Gambit, after grinning at Rogue for a moment or two, turned to his fellow Brotherhood members and asked if they wanted to play a card game. Colossus and Pyro agreed to play; very well aware they were going to lose. Ori stretched out on the love sofa and smiled like a lazy cat. Logan and Faith got into a staring contest that wasn't ending anytime soon. Jean and Scott settled down to do some reading in order to get their minds off of what was happening outside. Kurt had disappeared with Willow and Spyke was going to the game room to play X-Box.
That left Kitty and Lance with nothing to do. Lance stood off at one corner of the room and Kitty sat in a chair on the other end. Kitty kept glancing over at Lance, but he never looked over at her.
Lance had sworn to himself that he would not look into Kitty's big blue eyes. He wouldn't lose focus. He wouldn't let her break down his walls. He had sworn he wouldn't let himself get hurt by her and he meant it.
But he couldn't seem to resist looking at Kitty and when he finally gave into his urge, she saw his glance. He felt his face heat, but tried his best to keep it hidden. No longer able to stand in the same room with Kitty, he stood and walked into the hallway. Kitty, with a frown upon her pretty young face, followed.
"Lance!" Kitty walked, running to catch up with him, "Like wait! Slow down you walking Richter scale!"
Lance stopped abruptly and wheeled around, his dark eyes blazing. The heat in them were so intense that it almost had Kitty backing down. Then her own blue eyes darkened with fury and she stood her ground.
"What do you want?" Lance said heatedly, trying his best not to get burned from those blue eyes. So far he was failing miserably.
"I want to know why you've been like avoiding me for the past day. What did I do?" Kitty demanded, reaching out to grip his arm. The heat radiating from his body was so intense. And it was even worse because Lance was wearing short sleeves. Actually, Lance was wearing his normal attire. A black shirt, with a short brown jacket over it, and his ripped at the knees denim pants. What foolish woman would find that messy look attractive? Kitty Pryde would.
Lance jerked away from her, as if her touch burned his skin and in a way it did. She looked so beautiful standing there, the lights from the lamps flickering off her slim and slender body and bringing gold high-lights to her mink hair.
"Maybe I don't like you." Lance snapped, going to turn away but if there was one thing he knew about Kitty it was that she didn't like being ignored.
True to her form, and hoping he was lying, Kitty snipped back, "Then why did you kiss me when we first meet in the crypt?"
Lance winced, he had forgotten about that. Well, no he hadn't forgotten about that. In fact, the one kiss he had had with Kitty was haunting his dreams. He had just hoped she had forgotten about it.
Trying to be casual, he shrugged and said, "Adrenaline. I was so caught up in the heat of the battle that I didn't even think about what I was doing."
The hell-kitten felt something stab her painfully through the heart. Tears welled up in her eyes and Lance almost broke. Almost. But he still remembered what she was, who she was and who her friends were. He also knew that her friends would always come first, and he second. That was a big deal to him. He didn't want to be second in her life, he wanted first.
But he couldn't ignore her tears, "Kitty." He said helplessly, "I'm sorry. It's… it's for the best, you know."
Big, pearl-shaped tears ran down her cheeks as her lower lips trembled, but Kitty said in a steady voice, "Maybe I like don't want what's for the best. Did you ever think about that, Lance? I can decide what I want."
"Not about this." Lance said sadly; regret making his voice thick, "This is my choice."
Kitty whipped away her tears and said in a calm voice, "Yes, I guess it is your choice. Even if it's like a stupid choice. You know something, Lance? You've changed. You seem more cautious now. More careful. Not like the boy I used to know."
"I've had to change." He thought of being alone, being the leader, being heartbroken and most recently meeting Buffy. He had grown up, Lance realized, in a matter of months he had changed. But the funny thing was, he still felt like Lance Alvers troublemaker and Brotherhood member.
The 'Shadowcat' smiled through her tears and said, "I think you had to, too. And I can't decide if I like it. Sometimes I'm glad that you're finally taking things seriously. Then other times, like this, I still wish you were the bad boy Alvers."
Just as Lance would've grabbed her, Kitty turned down that hall, "And I'll have to deal with that in time." And then she walked into her room and allowed herself to cry.
But her cry didn't last very long, because about fifteen minutes after she had entered her room, Professor Xavier's mental call reached her.
Rogue lounged next to Sidney on the carpet of the living room in the Institute. They chatted easily about anything and everything that popped into their minds. Also in on the conversation was Sidney's 'clients'. Jack, Eve and Ann. Rogue would've normally though it was odd talking to people one couldn't see, but Sidney made it easy and she almost forgot she couldn't see three of people she was talking to.
Rogue didn't understand why she was so drawn to Sidney the Ghost-Talker. She supposed it was the fact that they were both isolated from the outside world. Sure, Sidney didn't have to worry about absorbing people's enemies, but she worried that if she made friends with someone then one say she'd end up helping their dead spirits get into Heaven. Or worse, Hell. It wasn't easy being Sidney.
"Then why are ya friends with Ori?" Rogue asked, "Ain't ya afraid ya'll haveta help her into heaven?"
Sidney shrugged, "With Ori, if she wants to be your friend then she's gonna be your friend. She doesn't give you a choice in the matter."
Rogue turned her head and looked over at Ori who sat on the love sofa. She looked so confident, Rogue thought a little enviously. Ori looked like the Queen of Sheba lazing there on the sofa. The gothic teen watched as Ori made eye contact with the Brotherhood member named Pyro.
Rogue couldn't help the jealousy that suddenly burned her…
"There's more to Ori then sassy looks, erotic eyes and curves, you know." Sidney said lightly and Rogue jerked her head back to the skinny girl, "Ori's been through a lot of things. She can't let her true emotions show or she'll end up hurting someone. She has to be that confident, pretty girl everyone sees her as. If you get to know her, you'll see what lies beneath that body."
Rogue's cheeks burned with shame. Sidney was right, she shouldn't judge like that. Isn't that what everyone did with her when they first met her? She should've known better.
"Ah've gotta go. See ya later, Sidney." With that, Rogue stood and walked away. She cursed herself for being foolish as she went.
Gambit watched her leave and felt himself grin. He finished his card game with Pyro and Colossus, with him as the victor of course, and stood to go after her.
Rogue was moving down to her room when she heard his footsteps. She knew it was Gambit that followed her for Sidney walked softer, quieter because she was so thin. And because she was suddenly inching for a fight, she was glad it was him.
She wheeled around, her dark eyes narrowed in a glare, "Do ya make a habit of stalking everyone ya met?" her voice was low, harsh.
Gambit, not very surprised she was angry, gave her a lazy grin, "Only you, mon chere." he answered her.
Rogue placed her hands on her hips and tapped them, "How many times do Ah have to tell ya? Ah don't like ya and Ah don't want to see ya. Now get lost."
Gambit, still smiling, surprised Rogue by taking her gloved her hand and bringing it to his lips, "I don' believe you, ma petite. I think you like Gambit. I think you like Gambit a lot."
"Since when did Gambit start speaking in the third person?" Rogue snapped as she jerked her hand free and backed away from him, annoyed he was having such an affect on her.
"Since it started to annoy de Rogue." Gambit answered casually and moved to trap her again. Rogue raised her gloved hand and he stopped.
"Do Ah need to remind ya what ma power is?" Rogue said and glowered when Gambit chuckled a little.
"Dat won't stop me for long." He said and started to move away, all the while keeping his eyes on her, "I like Rogue and when I like a woman, dey find it hard to stay away from me."
"That's because you're an Empathic. You're a cheat." Rogue retorted.
Gambit smirked at that, "Can't deny dat, but I never once used those powers on Rogue. Dey were all Rogue's doing." With that he turned and walked away.
Rogue backed away, her hand pressed against her heart. It was beating so hard and so fast. This had to be Gambit's doing her. He was used his empathic powers again, Rogue thought viciously. It wasn't her own doing. She hated that Brotherhood member with his brown hair in a stupid bandana and those black and red eyes.
At ease with that, Rogue started to walk away when Professor Xavier called her back.
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Yeah romance! Don't ya love it? I know I sure do, that was really the reason I started to write this fic. To see if I could bring odd couples together while still keeping them in their personas. I think it's working out fairly well, don't you? Anyway, stay tuned for chapter twenty two Rescue Mission where Buffy assembles her team and goes out to rescue the survivors of Bayville. Will she succeed?