Disclaimer: All recognizable characters, settings, and other plot elements belong to Marvel. Any products or copyrighted material belong to their respective owners. I do not gain any profit from this page.
Later in the evening, Pietro spoke to Carlie.
"Hey, Carlie," he said. "I know that Lance has already asked you out, but I also really like you. You're a really amazing girl."
Carlie was flattered. "Thank you, Pietro," she said gracefully. "That really means a lot to me."
Pietro smiled at her. "Would you be interested in going out with me?"
Carlie wasn't sure what to do. She was receiving all of this attention from so many boys. She didn't want to hurt Pietro's feelings, so she sighed. "Oh, Pietro. I would love to go out with you, but Northstar had already asked me to be his girlfriend." Carlie wasn't lying to be mean, she just didn't want to hurt Pietro's feelings. She still felt guilty, though.
"Oh." Pietro looked sad. "Well, I can understand why you would date him. He's very good-looking."
"He is," Carlie agreed, frowning and concentrating hard. Why did Northstar look so familiar? But then again, she didn't really recognize him as much as she felt like she should recognize him. He said he had been a criminal, so had he been part of her rogues' gallery when she was Spider-Girl? She shrugged. It was possible.
Pietro brightened. "Hey Carlie, if you ever get bored with Northstar, let me know, okay?" H e waggled his eyebrows. "You don't even have to break up with him for you and me to get together."
Carlie laughed melodiously, exposing her brilliant, white teeth. "I'll keep that in mind."
Pietro nodded. "Okay. Hey, are you coming downstairs? We're watching Valentine's Day."
"Who's watching it?" Carlie asked cautiously.
"Jubilee, Amara, Gambit, Lance, Sam, Rahne, Roberto, Jean, and Scott," Pietro responded promptly.
"Not Rogue?" Carlie asked apprehensively.
"That Satanist slut?" Pietro laughed scornfully. "Professor Xavier kicked her out today. She's so stupid that she flunked out of school."
"Oh, good." Carlie sighed in relief. "I was never scared of her, but I really didn't like to be around her."
"No one did," Pietro replied. "Will I see you when the movie begins?"
"Maybe a little later," Carlie said, her wisteria blue eyes sparkling.
"Okay." Pietro walked off, and Carlie went to find Kitty.
"Are you ready?" Carlie asked her.
"Yeah," Kitty said. "Let's do this!"
Kitty was wearing a pair of black, classic skinny jeans with metallic, silver, ankle-length Dr. Martens. She also wore a royal blue leather jacket with gold studs at the shoulders that cut off at the midriff over a tight red tank top made from a stretchy material. She had coiffed her hair into a french twist.
"Great outfit," Carlie complimented her.
"You, too," Kitty said in return, looking at her admiringly.
Carlie didn't want to brag, but she knew her outfit was very cool. She was wearing the tight catsuit she had previously used for her Spider-Girl costume. Not only did the suit emphasize her curves and long legs, but the material seemed to be forever changing color. It shimmered from a deep, sensuous fuchsia to jet black whenever she moved, constantly slowly shifting between the two shades. To match, she wore a pair of dark purple combat boots that laced up to her knees. Her golden hair was loose, draped over her shoulders. She had taken off her glasses, which she only really used for reading, anyway.
The two of them slipped into the boys' dorm; Kitty used her power to phase them both through the wall for the sake of simplicity. The hall was deserted, because most of the boy were watching the movie, and the rest of them had gone to a nearby rave.
They quickly found Scott's room. Scott had been less than thrilled when the Professor announced to the school that Northstar would be Scott's roommate, but oddly, Northstar seemed like he couldn't have cared less.
On one side of the room was Scott's stuff, where he had neatly organized his possessions and framed posters of classic sports cars on the walls, the lower half of which were apple green and the upper half Yale blue, separated by an ivory border. Scott had personalized his bedspread with red silk sheets and a northwestern lodge-style bedspread.
Northstar's side of the room was undecorated, with only a lamp atop his mahogany chest-of-drawers, and his bedspread was a stock type that matched the wall colors. He had done nothing to personalize his area.
"Let's check the drawers," Carlie said to Kitty. "We might find a clue to his past there."
Kitty nodded. "That's a really good idea!"
Carlie yanked out a drawer, dumping the contents all over the thick, navy blue carpet. "You go through this drawer. I'll go through the desk."
Kitty complied. Carlie found nothing in the desk beyond a dissertation about the symbolism within The Scarlet Letter, which puzzled her.
"You know, I think Northstar may be a Satanist," Kitty said worriedly. "He has nothing but black clothing."
"That is weird," Carlie agreed.
"Oh my gosh, Carlie!" Kitty exclaimed suddenly. "Look at this!"
Carlie stood and walked over to Kitty, her every movement graceful and fluid. "What is it?"
"This!" Kitty pointed. She had found several sheathed bowie knives. As the girls went thorough more of the black clothing, they found hunting knives, Swiss Army knives, switchblades, several pairs of steel handcuffs, Kelvar vests, police flashlights, and tazers.
"This is a strange development," Carlie observed, brushing back a strand of golden hair from her gorgeous face.
Suddenly, the two friends heard footsteps approaching! Kitty grabbed Carlie and they phased into the wall, staying there so they could eavesdrop.
The person walked into the room, and didn't react to the mess, so it was probably Northstar, because he really never reacted to anything. His cellphone went off.
If you ever leave me baby,
Leave some morphine at my door
'Cause it would take a whole lot of medication
To realize what we used to have,
We don't have it anymore.
"What do you want?" The person asked. His tone was very bored, so it was Northstar.
He listened to the phone for a few minutes. "Yeah, I was just confirming it."
Carlie listened closely, and she could hear another person speaking on the other end of the line, but she couldn't distinguish any words. She looked at Kitty hopefully, but the other girl just shook her head.
"Did Boss call for action yet?" Northstar queried in his monotone.
Carlie frowned. Who did Northstar work for?
"Great," Northstar said into the phone. "I'll get right on that. The same plan as always." He hung up the phone.
Carlie motioned to Kitty to take them back into the hall. "I'm going to talk to him. Wait in the wall in case I need help."
Kitty grasped Carlie's hand. "Be careful, Carlie. I would hate myself if I let you get hurt!"
"It'll be okay." Carlie smiled courageously, then knocked on the door.
A few seconds passed before Northstar answered. "Hello, Carlie," he said, opening the door wide. "Would you like to come in?"
"That's okay," Carlie declined. "I just wanted to talk to you."
Northstar's expression remained blank. "What would you like to talk about?"
Carlie took a guess. "I wanted to welcome you the Xavier Institute, and if you ever need someone to talk to, you can talk to me."
A look of intense pain crossed Northstar's beautiful face. "Do you really mean it, Carlie? I could really use someone to talk to right now."
"Of course," Carlie responded kindly.
"Not her," Northstar said. "Meet me tomorrow in the grove of trees where you saw me today."
"I don't know . . ." Carlie said, her suspicions raised.
"You can bring all of your friends," Northstar assured her. "I just want to talk to you."
Carlie stared at him, trying to deduce his motives, and as she gazed upon him, the beauty of his face face seemed to twist and warp. She blinked in surprise, and his face returned to normal. She supposed it had just been because of his pained expression.
"I'll think about it," she replied guardedly, before she glided down the hall.
"What's this about, Carlie?" Jean inquired when she, Scott, Kitty, Pietro, Lance, and Carlie had assembled in the library.
"I talked to Northstar today," she informed them seriously.
"The criminal?" Scott frowned in thought. "He could be dangerous."
"Yes," Carlie replied. "He asked me to meet him in the woods tomorrow. Just to be safe, I'd like all of you to accompany me."
"For you, anything, Carlie!" Jean smiled brightly at her as everyone else nodded fervently in agreement.
"Then it's settled." Carlie stood determinedly. "I'll meet Northstar in the woods tomorrow."
A/N: Bruno Mars owns the lyrics to "It Will Rain".