The professor asked Ange to come around dinner time, that way her arrival wouldn't create too much of a commotion during the school day, distracting the kids and making them exceptionally hyper. This way would also allow for all of the X-Men members to greet her.

She arrived by taxi. The children heard her pull up, and they pressed their faces up against the windows giggling and whispering. The cab driver gathered her suit cases for her, and she turned to face the school as the taxi drove off. The day light was fading quickly and the sky rumbled; the clouds moved in slowly and threatened rain. She smiled, greatly excited and nervous. Her stomach grumbled from anxiety and hunger and she stepped slowly towards the front porch steps, dragging her luggage behind her.

As she approached the school's front doors, she could smell the aroma of pizza floating through the air. It only made her more hungry; it had been a long day's travel from Washington, D.C.

She paused at the front door, and took a deep breath. She went over what she had thought of to say earlier to introduce herself, though she knew she'd never use those lines. She rang the door bell and waited. 'Finally, a place to fit in,' she thought.

"Professor, I think she's arrived." Rogue teased, only a moment later the door bell rang. With all of the commotion the kids were making, it could have only been her arrival.

"I believe you're right." He smiled back. The professor headed towards the front door, but stopped. "Rogue, could you ask the others to meet us in my office? Oh, and I'd like for you, Iceman, & Colossus to meet her too." Rogue moved quickly to get the X-Men and Iceman and Colossus.

The heavy front door heaved opened and the Professor wheeled into view.

"Hello Professor."

"Hello Angelina. How was your trip?"

"Mmmm, long, tiresome, but not too bad."

"Hungry, I assume?"

She laughed. "Yes, very. And the smell of the pizza is just tickling my stomach! I didn't get to stop and eat like I had hoped. The taxi was late and it took me longer than I thought it would at the bank. I suppose it's a good thing I ate an exceptionally hardy breakfast this morning!"

"Well, as soon as you've met the team, we can get you some food." He pointed to his office door. She sat her luggage down, and followed him inside.

"Angelina, this is Storm. She has been a teacher here longer than anyone. Please meet the other members of our X-Men team, a few of them teachers: Cyclops, Nightcrawler, and Wolverine. Rogue, Iceman, and Colossus are among the oldest students here." The Professor pointed to the three and they nodded politely to her. "They still have a while before they will officially join the X-Men team, but they will be able to help you out the most when the rest of us are away and you are literally left to baby sit."

"Hello," she said shyly, nodding her head solemnly. The X-men nodded as well, but Nightcrawler was the only one who actually said hello back. Wolverine left as soon as the small introduction was made. The others followed, leaving only Rogue and Nightcrawler behind.

"Rogue will show you to your room and then you can grab some pizza."

Ange grabbed her luggage and followed Rogue. Ange took in the great wooden floors and decorated hallways. The lighting wasn't too bright or too dark; absolutely perfect. A few potted plants sat here and there and some framed art works hung on the walls. She even noticed the ornate door knobs, walking along in silence until they had reached the elevator.

"So what kind of art are you going to be teaching?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure. I figured I would ask everyone what they would like to do and go from there. I don't carry too many art supplies with me, beyond my personal sketchbook, drawing pencils, and watercolors; especially when I'm moving."

"I'd really like to do some pottery," Rogue said with excitement.

"I absolutely LOVE, pottery! In fact, I love clay altogether. Well, I never was a great sculptor, but I love working with it." The elevator door rang and the door slid open.

"So do you keep a sketchbook?"

"No. But if you want to talk to someone who might you should talk to Colossus. He likes to doodle little cartoons and such." She paused and the elevator door opened. Rogue pointed down to the end of the hall and they continued. They stopped in front of her door.

"I ah, I don't really know how to ask ... but," she sighed and looked at the door knob, trying to find the words to ask this tactfully. "Well, I'm just curious. What's your power?"

Rogue smiled. She didn't mind at all. "My touch. If any part of my skin touches anyone else's skin, I take their life force. And in the case of other mutants, I also take their powers and memories." Rogue showed Ange her gloves. Ange smiled with a delighted awe. She opened her door and set down her luggage.

"Mmmmm, here we come ...," she whispered as she turned and headed back out for the kitchen and dinner!

"Now, they just finished eating, so some will be in the TV room, and the others," Rogue said giggling, "as you can see, have followed us up here on their way to bed." Some of the kids peeked their heads out of the doors. They smiled & giggled, but none dared to say anything.

"What do you guys typically eat for dinner?"

"Oh, it depends. Most of the team helps to put dinner together, though we try to keep Wolverine out of the kitchen." She laughed, remembering a particular instance where he over boiled the spaghetti noodles. "They figured with the commotion of your arrival tonight that it would be best to order pizza."

Rogue and Ange entered the kitchen and the last of the younger children left. Iceman was still eating and Wolverine was in the TV room eating and watching the news. Ange quickly grabbed some pizza before the teenagers who were still lurking around the open pizza box devoured all of the remaining pizza. As they all sat eating, a little girl, around the age of 5 came up to Rogue.

"I'm hungry," she said as she tugged at Rogue's PJ pants.

"Would you like some pizza?"

She shook her head.

"How about some cereal?"

She shook her head again.

"Toast?"

"No."

"What do we have here?" Ange said, kneeling down the to the little girl's height. "I think we have ourselves a picky eater." She giggled but the little girl starred in disgust- she didn't like being called a picky eater.

"Can I tell you a secret?" Ange whispered. The little girl nodded with a bit of delight; little children adore secrets.

"I'm a picky eater too." The little girl scrunched up her nose and smiled, and she swayed from right to left, clenching her PJs. "Now, what would you like to eat? Maybe some fruit, or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?"

She grinned and nodded.

"All right, a PB&J it is. What kind of jelly do you like?"

"Strawberry . . ."

"Well ok." Ange could plainly see where the bread was: in a bread cupboard, in between the microwave and the sink.

"Where's the peanut butter, jelly, plates, and silverware?" Ange asked. Rogue set her pizza slice down and washed her hands off on a rag before she pulled down the jars of peanut butter and jelly and pulled out a plate and knife.

"Thanks."

She finished making the sandwich and sat the little girl in a chair right by the island. "So, what's you're name?"

"I'm Nightmare. I can control dreams, and I, and ... Rogue, what else can I do?"

"Veronica can control dreams and she has a small amount of telekinesis."

"Ya, that."

Storm walked in just as Veronica was halfway through her sandwich; jelly all over her face. Storm smiled and grabbed a napkin. "I thought I already put you to bed!"

"I was really hungry!"

"Well, what do you say?"

"Thank you!" Veronica hopped off the chair and scurried off with Storm back to bed.

"She's cute."

Rogue laughed. "She's a handful. The Professor is constantly telling her that she can't give the other kids nightmares just because they disagree, or because she lost a game of musical chairs. And she's constantly waking up in the middle of the night with her own nightmares. She hasn't learned how to control her dreams yet."

Ange starred into the TV room; Wolverine grumbled at the news and their "dangerous mutants attacked ... blah blah ... today". He finally flipped it off, tossed the remote to the table and left for bed. She turned back to Rogue. "What am I supposed to call them? Like with Veronica- do I call her Veronica, or Nightmare?"

"It really depends. We typically call them which ever they prefer, though we try to call the younger children by their birth names. As they get older they tend to prefer being called by their mutant names. Iceman goes by both Iceman and Bobby. I only go by Rogue. But Wolverine, half of the time we call him Logan, and the other half we call him Wolverine. And Cyclops' other name is Scott."

"Ok. Hey thanks."

"No problem."

Iceman, Rogue, and Ange sat around a little while longer in silence. Rogue had noticed the way Wolverine had acted early and knew that it would be on Ange's mind, and that he wouldn't be changing his behavior any time soon.

"You'll have to excuse Wolverine. He's a bit territorial- especially since I think he might feel that you're trying to replace Dr. Grey."

"Dr. Grey?"

"Dr. Grey, or Jean. She recently … ah … passed away. Wolverine loved her and Cyclops was engaged to her. Jean sacrificed herself to save the team. It's only been a few months since and Wolverine is having a hard time recovering."

"Oh wow. The Professor mentioned her before- her name seemed familiar. Oh, I'm so sorry. And I, I understand. I mean, even without such a recent tragedy, I knew that not everyone would feel comfortable with my new arrival." She was shocked.

"He'll come around eventually." Rogue put up the empty pizza boxes and Veronica's half eaten sandwich. "Well I'm going to bed."

"All right. I shouldn't be up too much longer."

Ange searched the kitchen for a clock. She heard a soft clicking in the hall- the kind made by a grandfather clock. Sure enough; the clocked chimed 10:30. She returned to the kitchen and realized that the microwave had a clock. She shook her head at herself and turned off the lights and headed to bed.