Chapter 8: "Girls Trip"

Elin was in her first-hour class, with plans to stick around after school, when the call came in on her comm to be ready to go for a pick up in France. She looked up at the clock and frowned when she saw she only had a few minutes left in that class — but that would mean she'd have to book it to where they could pick her up on the way out.

She bit her lip and narrowed her eyes as she looked at the teacher, then gathered her books and simply got up and slipped out of the door — flat ignoring both teacher and students as she rushed out. The after-school plans would wait … well. After she got done with a detention, she was sure. But five more minutes of reading Shakespeare and going over the boring checklist of crappy high school classes wasn't nearly as important as getting on the blackbird for something more real.

The principal tried to block her way on her way to the door, citing several rules she was breaking, but Elin shrugged as she shouldered past him. "Then I guess … I'll go ahead and take the detention. I have an emergency call from home. Not sorry," Elin said over her shoulder.

"Miss Howlett, if there is an emergency, we should get the call in the office," he called back to her.

"Mmm… no. No, you shouldn't," Elin shouted back before she climbed in the Jeep and nearly peeled out on her way out of the parking lot. She was in a dead run by the time she saw Krissy leaving the locker room. "Just gotta snag the uniform! I'll change on the plane."

Krissy nodded. "Sying and Gerry aren't going to make it. Gerry's with his mom, and Sying is with his dad at the Avengers' place doing the ambassador's son thing."

"Like I'm worried about them seeing me change," she muttered to herself before she grabbed the uniform and Krissy teleported both of them right into the plane.

"I just mean…" Krissy indicated both of their mothers in the jet. "Girls night."

"Excellent," Elin said before she started changing on the spot. "I'm pretty sure I have detention, Mom. Not sorry."

"Good," K called back. "Don't be."

"Oh my gosh, Ellie, you're going to get a reputation! What did you do?" Krissy asked.

"Tell me it was good," Kate called back.

"Ran out of class to go on this call. I was bored out of my mind. Might have accidentally told the principal off on the way out."

"Well, that is good," Kate said with a smirk.

"Besides," Elin said, pulling her uniform on, "this has to be way more interesting than what was happening in the stadium."

"What was happening in the stadium?" Krissy asked curiously.

"A bunch of the kids get together to watch the football team practice … I usually get my homework done if I go. It's quieter than the library after school. If that means anything." Elin shrugged. "And no one talks to me, so that's … nice."

"Homecoming's in a few weeks, right?" Krissy said. "That'll be louder."

"Mmhmm," Elin said. "But that's probably not going to be a big thing until closer to the game — from what I'm told. After school is just practice."

"If it's anything like the school I went to, it'll get more obnoxious the closer it gets. After school is a bunch of girls in tight shirts wanting to get the right date," Kate said.

"Charming," Elin deadpanned.

"Hey, maybe it's changed."

"I doubt it," she said. "They've been giggling and comparing notes for the past two weeks anyhow. Morons."

"I'm so sorry," Kate said, and she sounded incredibly sincere.

"The boys are doing the same thing — without the giggles," Elin pointed out. "Ridiculous pissing contest."

"That never changes," Kate says. "Even when you find the right one when you're older, they still keep that… your brother just about took Kurt's tail off when they first met."

"James would never do such a thing," Elin said with a look of shock before she caught Kate's raised eyebrow look and dropped into a seat to tie her boots. "Right. The other one. With the hair issues."

"They both have hair issues," Krissy giggled.

"I think James looks nice with the long hair," Elin said.

"I think he looks like he is going to work for someone named 'Johnny' who speaks with a bad New York accent and works out of the back of an Italian restaurant," Krissy laughed.

"Oddly specific," K muttered from the cockpit.

"But incredibly accurate," Kate chuckled. "Atta girl."

"I don't know … I liked it when Logan had his hair long for that little while," K said to Kate with a smirk.

"I hated that so much and you know it. It gives me flashbacks. And makes me forever sad that the adorable Chance and Elin long-distance baby talk went away."

"Want me to go blonde again for you?" K offered. "Logan might like it …"

"You're trying to turn me into Scott, and I like having some black hair."

"See, and I thought I was kinda cute as a blonde," she said, shaking her head. "Back on task … are you ready to save some poor, innocent soul from croissant-munching snobs?"

"Oh, always," Kate promised.

"Great, then we can be quick and stop into a few shops before we go back home," K decided. "It's been a while since I poked around Paris."

As it turned out, it was harvest time in the Bordeaux area where the call for help was originating. The mutant in question had found herself faced with an interesting problem — and one that the X-Men hadn't really seen in this capacity since the race for 'weaponized' mutants started.

The young woman was surrounded by a hoard of angry vineyard workers. All around the girl was a circle of frost — perfectly covering the ground and anything within the circle, though it was clear that the more upset the girl got, the further the circle crept outward, and the harvesters were angrily shouting for her to stop or to leave, not that it did them any good. She was surrounded by grapevines. She'd been working with them, as evidenced by the clippers in one hand and the bunch of frozen grapes in the other. It had simply been a case of horrible timing on her part - and apparently, she was another late bloomer. Something else that seemed to be on the rise.

When the women pushed their way through the crowd, the entire group of them started to try to calm the crowd down, since all of them knew at least a little French. "Elin, try to talk to the girl; we'll handle the crowd," K said just loud enough for the other girls to hear before she stepped forward and raised a hand to try and calm down the loudest and most aggressive-looking of the angry group.

And while K was talking down the leader of the mob in a perfect Parisian accent, Elin had stepped into the circle of frost — and had stared at her boots curiously as the frost covered them, too. "We're here to help you," Elin said, sure to repeat it in French as well. "Nous sommes là pour vous aider." She took a few steps closer. "Don't be afraid. N'ai pas peur."

"I speak English," the girl said with a heavy accent, though she looked relieved all the same. "Are you …"

"We're the X-Men," Elin said, trying to keep her tone even and calm. "So we can get you away from the crowd safely and quickly … but I'm afraid you need to try to relax and calm down. It's common for new powers to be hard to control if you're under stress. Just … try to breathe slowly."

The crowd around them was firing up, but Elin kept her cool. "Nice and easy. Ignore them …" She carefully tried to get the girl to follow along with a slow, deep breathing — and it was working wonders. Enough so that the frosted circle began to retreat toward the girl. Elin glanced down to see the frost melting and followed the edge of it, waving Krissy closer.

"This is my best friend in the world," Elin said as Krissy reached the two of them. "There is no fast way out of here, unless you go with her, but I need you to keep calm and not freeze my best friend."

The girl paused and looked between the two masked X-Men. "What do I call you?"

Elin looked toward Krissy for a moment. "I don't have a code name, but you can call me El."

Krissy followed her friend's lead with a warm smile. "You can call me Elfling," she said. "That's pretty much what everyone calls me anyway, even without codenames."

Elin shot Krissy a little smile that she knew she couldn't see and shook her head. "She can get you out of here quickly — to safety." She paused. "What's your name? I hate to just not call you anything."

"Michelle," the girl said softly.

"Wonderful," Elin said in a relieved tone. "My friend will help you away from the angry mob; please, try to remember to stay calm, and I'll be right back to you before you know it."

Krissy held out her hand to Michelle with a little grin. "First teleport is always fun, like a carnival ride. At least, that's what I'm told." When Michelle hesitantly took Krissy's hand, Krissy teleported off with the young woman, reappearing back in the jet a moment later with her hand on Michelle's back to steady her just in case — though to Krissy's relief, it seemed like Michelle wasn't too dizzy and was even grinning delightedly.

Naturally, as soon as the two of them disappeared in a poof of smoke, the locals got a little more restless, and Kate grabbed Elin to clear her out while K shouted back to keep the crowd off of them for their departure. It wasn't until they were back in the jet that Elin took off her mask as her mother swore up a blue streak in French, looking livid the whole way.

"They didn't like your disappearing act, Elfling," Elin said as she finally offered Michelle her hand to shake.

Krissy waved a hand. "Everybody's a critic."

"Are you calmer now? More in control?" Elin asked as she sat down by the new girl. "I only ask because my mother would like to stop in Paris on the way home … and I'm sure Hawkeye would too."

Michelle looked between the women on the jet and took a deep breath. "I've never seen Paris," she admitted.

"If you're nervous or overwhelmed, we can give you an inhibitor for the afternoon," K offered. "But you're going to need clothes, and this is far superior to the mall."

"Plus, it's fun," Kate said with a wide smile over her shoulder.

"And we're paying," K added. "So there is no excuse not to get too much coffee and then head back with a new look."

Michelle nodded. "That sounds nice."

"Perfect," K decided. "Help her get into an inhibitor, and everyone should leave the uniforms behind. The guys won't miss us for too long."

Chance was surprised to get an email notification in the middle of the day, but he was in between class and training and had the time to check it.

GUESS WHERE WE ARE, Krissy led out the email, along with a whole bunch of pictures of herself and Elin and their mothers with another girl in Paris.

We totally got a call about a mutant being chased by an angry mob, which, honestly, feels kind of old school? But K says France is really serious about their wine. It was a thing.

Anyway, it was straightforward enough. Elin talked her down, and I 'ported her out. I almost, ALMOST made a joke about how if you'd been there, you would have flirted her down but refrained. You should be so proud of my self-restraint.

We would have called you if it was an all-hands thing, but it was really fun to do a girls trip, not gonna lie. I'll tell you more about it in person next time you come down. You should see the dresses we got. I'm going to knock Christian's socks off.

And possibly Sying's? I … may need some advice on that front when you come down next. You know me - always wrapped up in drama.

Don't go drowning in maple sugar up there!

~Krissy

Chance stared at the message — and the accompanying pictures — for a long moment before he finally drafted a response.

Krissy,

See, you do things like that and you've got me questioning all my life decisions all over again. That's completely unfair. You went on a mission to flirt with a French girl and didn't invite me? Rude.

No, in all seriousness, I'm sure Elin was amazing. You know she's always been good with people, even if she won't admit it. Depending on how the new girl swings, it probably helps that Elin's drop-dead gorgeous too, but you know. That's just my opinion.

As for the rest…

Krissy, Sying is one of the best friends I have in this world. I went to space for him, for crying out loud. If you ask me, if you like him, then my answer is always going to be to make him happy and date him. I know he likes you. He always has.

But if you don't like him, don't jerk him around. I know I don't need to tell you that.

You're amazing, Kris, and any guy would be lucky to date you. I just want to make sure you know that you can be intoxicating, so when you decide to pursue someone, you need to be all in.

This probably sounds better in person.

.

Good luck out there. Try not to have the entire male population of Westchester drooling at your feet.

~Chance

Chance read over his response once before he sent it off, still shaking his head to himself, when Jamie sat down beside him and leaned over. "Bad news from home?"

"No."

"Oh, I thought it was something bad," Jamie said with a little frown. "You seemed bothered."

Chance turned to face her fully and then pressed his lips together in a frown. "Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Don't read me," Chance said. "My sister does it, and our big sister doesn't do it too often, but she and my older brother can both do it, and I hate it. If I want to share something, I'll share it."

Jamie's eyebrows went up, and she held up both hands. "Woah there, tiger. If you're mad at someone, that's fine, but there's no reason to take my head off. I wasn't prying. It was just… sitting there. You weren't hiding it."

"Well, don't say anything about it. It's not your business."

Jamie's shoulders dropped a bit, and she pushed out her lower lip, looking down at her hands. "I'm sorry," she said quietly.

Chance let out a breath and then shook his head. "No, I'm sorry. You're right: I shouldn't snap."

Jamie didn't lift her gaze from her hands. "I just want to help. You're one of the first people around here that treats me like a person, not a blonde dye job and a bra size … and not one of Viper's stoolies, either."

"Stoolies?"

"Oh shut up. I saw that in a movie once," Jamie said, finally looking up at him with a little smile.

Chance couldn't help but smile back at her. "Yeah, well, I was raised right," he said with a shrug before he tipped his head her way. "I've got to go. I'm supposed to be meeting up with Mac to work on some measurements and stuff for a suit—"

"Go," she said with a smile. "That's huge. Go ahead. I'll talk to you later."

"See ya, Jamie," he said.