When a missile launched straight at her, Scout ran away straight into a field of heat lasers. The red glow was overwhelming, but Scout's body moved of its own accord. A step there, a duck there, and even when everything seemed clear her body would not move at times. The instinct paid off when lasers swept millimeters away from her. She practically danced through the lasers, though the scent of smoke indicated her hair had singed.
Suddenly, something large seized her around the waist and began thrashing her about. Once her stomach settled and Scout became accustomed to the violent motions, she saw that she was caught in the claw of a giant cybernetic octopus in the center of arena. In the distance she heard a man grunting and the sound of ripping metal. As bile began to build in her stomach, Scout clenched her teeth and fixed her eyes at the spinning machine, taking a deep breath. Her largest, densest bone spike yet burst from her right hand towards the center of it.
From the observation deck, Hector breathed a sigh of relief as the machine jammed up and released the girl. Kitty had been frantically working at the control panel since the girl had entered the laser field and had disabled everything except the time bomb. She kept typing, but as a security measure, she turned on the speaker and said, "Logan, can you disable the-"
"On it, Half Pint," Logan answered. "Nobody else in here until it's all clear, got it?"
Everyone said yes, though Hector with every intention to be disobedient if he saw that Nadia really needed him.
Disoriented from the spinning, Scout stumbled around trying to find a quiet corner to get away from all the chaos. She pushed the bile that threatened to spill out of her throat back down into her stomach and stared straight ahead, the dizzy feeling receding.
"Move kid!" she heard the earlier gruff voice shout. "You're right under the bomb."
Scout sprang forth and ran along the edge of the room towards the entrance door, her ears filled with the sound of the bomb's beeping growing louder and quicker, joined by a thunderous tempo of her heartbeat, and for a brief moment Scout thought she would die of fright.
"I got it!" Logan shouted, and in the observation deck everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Hector made a mad dash towards the stairs leading into the arena, where Scout fell to her knees as the beeping stopped but her heart kept pounding.
Logan reached her first, and Scout gazed upwards when his shadow cast over her. She could smell tobacco and sweat from this muscled and wild-looking man whose appearance and voice reminded her of the talking wolves in fairy tales that ate small children. Her wild imagination was not calmed at all when he glared at her and growled, "Well, kid?"
In her scattered state of mind, all Scout could do was smile for mercy and say, "Please don't eat me."
Hector heard Logan release a bark of laughter, and feared the worst. Rushing into the arena, he saw her eyes light up at the sight of him. Logan turned too and asked, "What're you doing, Spooky?"
"All clear, right Logan?" Hector said. "She's scared." And you're not helping.
Scout suddenly realized the pitiful picture she presented and sprang to her feet. Dusting off her clothes, she smiled and said, "Ah, sorry, just-" Deep breath. "Just panicked there."
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" demanded Logan.
Scout turned red with embarrassment but maintained eye contact. "I'm Scout. I came here because the blue- because Mr. McCoy posted a cleaning job for here and I-"
"And you came in this room because?"
"Found things lying around and I wanted to ask if they were trash or personal," Scout responded with less shaking in her voice now. "Mr. McCoy said I'd find the students in the Danger Room, and I thought that door led there." She pointed to the observation deck. I had a map. I should have checked the map to make sure. Why didn't I do that? Idiot!
"Didn't you hear the noise?"
Scout's stared at the floor, wishing it would swallow her. "I… I heard some noise, but it was muffled and the door wasn't locked," Scout said. 'The door wasn't locked.' Stupid! She looked around at the mess. "I didn't think it would be this bad. I'm really sorry for interrupting and screwing up your training."
Logan pinched the bridge of his nose, and Hector could see some gears turning in his head. "Where'd you learn to fight like that?"
Scout's eyes went blank. "What?"
"You dodged the lasers pretty well for someone who's here for a cleaning job." Logan narrowed his eyes and unleashed a claw. "Anything we should know?"
Scout shook her head in protest She shifted from one leg to the other and fiddled with her hands behind her back. Then her eyes took a look at his claw, and focused on her current surroundings, and her mind flickered again.
The "snikt" was unmistakable. She was panting, exhausted, but she still had training to complete.
"Wait!" Scout said, louder than before. "Your claws… Have we ever met before? Did you train me in martial arts? Were you the one who taught me Eskrima?"
Hector looked up and made eye contact with Renée and Ace and saw that their shocked expressions mirrored his.
Logan's expression hardened into a frightening cross between anger and fear. A dark "Not sure," was all he said in response.
Scout's face fell before she forced a small smile and asked to return to work.
Logan's eyes scanned Scout in a way that she found familiar. "Fine, kid. Try not to get yourself killed."
Scout shook her head and turned to Hector and her small smile widened. "Nice to see you again. Will you show me how to get up there?" she asked, pointing at the observation deck where everyone else was watching.
Without hesitation, Hector grabbed her hand and led her towards the right stairwell. He glanced upward and relished in the scandalized looks that Renée and Ace were sending their way.
The students introduced themselves to the new cleaner quickly claimed any belongings that belonged to them from Scout's collection. Kurt was delighted to have his Stone Zephyrs CD back, while Amara sheepishly revealed that she had had one of Kitty's "missing" lip glosses the whole time. Soon, the other professors came to the Danger Room to help with cleanup, and they picked up most of what remained.
"I have been looking for this seed packet," said Ms. Munroe. "Oh, my manners. I am Ororo Munroe. It is lovely to meet you, Scout. Hank has been telling me about you."
There was a small static shock when Scout and Ms. Munroe shook hands, but Scout found the majestic lady very nice. When a bald, authoritative-looking man came into the deck using a wheelchair, Ms. Munroe turned to him and said, "Charles, meet Scout, the cleaner that Hank hired." She then turned to address Scout. "Scout, this is Professor Charles Xavier. He's the headmaster of the Institute."
"We call him the Professor for short," Kurt explained.
"Or Professor X," Kitty added.
"Hank tells me you've done a thorough job cleaning this place," Professor X said, "and you can call me whatever suits you best."
"Chuck?" Hector piped. Scout turned to smile at him and Logan smirked.
"Except that."
After a moment of disappointment, Scout decided on Professor X. It sounded the coolest.
Mr. McCoy reported that she had missed a few tiny hairs here and there in the showers, but added, "Really nothing to worry about. My deepest apologies for sending you here. I should have checked to make sure you were done."
"It's all right. I wasn't hurt," said Scout.
This time, though Hector.
When Scout shook hands with Professor X and made eye contact, she felt something forceful in his gaze, and marveled at how much natural authority he possessed. She felt a lump form in her throat when he seemed to glare at her for a fleeting moment, but a warm smile came to his face naturally. I'm just being paranoid. Scout assured herself.
All that remained in the pile were some stray socks missing their match, and soon Scout joined the others in cleanup, mostly by picking up and sorting debris. After a quick glance around the Danger Room, Scout slipped an index card from her sleeve elbow into her cuff. She picked up loose panels and placed them on a wheeled cart. A crew consisting of Hector, Ace, and Scott would be putting them back in place. As Scout pushed the cart, she had difficulty navigating around the exposed octopus robot and bumped into Kitty, who was running diagnostics on the machine.
"Ah, excuse me," they said at the same time.
Kitty smiled and adjusted the cart for her. "Here, it'll be easier if you don't lean so much on the rail. It puts pressure on the wheels."
"Thanks! See you around," said Scout with a wave of her hand.
Hector glanced over at the pair of girls and his eyes narrowed. He knew a pickpocket trick when he saw one, but why would Nadia even think about doing such a thing when she wanted to be employed?
Scout brought all the panels she could find to Scott, who had Hector bring them up with his miasma. Hector did as he was told, and as he glanced up he noticed that Ace was looking suspiciously at Nadia as well, and not in the usual way. With a sigh, Hector tried to focus on the task at hand, but it bothered him. Had Nadia—no, Scout—really forgotten everything, or was it all a front so she could-
'That smoke is beautiful'
'Nice to see you again.'
She said both with a genuine smile and a happy voice. No, the amnesia was not a front.
Then what was Na- Scout up to?
Mr. McCoy informed Scout that she would be compensated the hourly rate for the trial day and that she was hired for the summer. Scout offered to work full time for lack of anything better to do, but then Mr. McCoy said "Since you are a minor, if you wanted to work full time, I'd need to see a permit." Scout's brows furrowed in confusion, so he explained, "You can get them at any public high school by showing some proof of age and a written statement from a doctor saying that you're physically fit to work."
Scout's eyes widened and her mouth went slack at the impossibility of getting all that paperwork when she didn't even know her own birthday. Mr. McCoy held up a hand and said, "As I said, that's only if you worked full time. Since you're performing chores on a private property, you don't need a permit if you work part time."
South sighed in relief, and they agreed on a schedule of 10AM to 2PM from Monday to Friday knowing the training schedule and how the students tended spend more time outside the Mansion on weekends. Scout would just need to clean the showers and lounge in the morning and the kitchen after breakfast and lunch.
Scout grinned and reached out her hand and they shook on it. "Thank you so much," she enthused. "I can't wait to start next week."
"You're welcome. Thank you for getting the lounge clean," laughed Hank. "I never thought anyone would get all of those crumbs out from between the cushions and actually organize all those books." He ushered Scout out of the observation deck and upstairs, and after they waved goodbye he introduced himself to a blonde woman in a rumpled gray suit.
Scout practically skipped down the hallway but slowed before a corner when she sensed someone else approaching. Kitty came around with a booklet in her hand.
"Congratulations on the job," Kitty said. She rubbed her fingers along the spine of the booklet and then handed it to Scout. "Just thought I'd give you this so you know everything you need to know about the place," she explained. "Good luck!" With that, Kitty turned around and disappeared behind the corner.
After a glance, Scout stuffed the booklet into a pocket on the inside of her jacket. Scout exited the Institute to where her bike was locked, and as she undid the lock, the blonde woman from earlier walked briskly past her towards the gate, a nervous expression on her face.
"Are you okay?" Scout asked.
The woman turned and nodded. "I... I applied for a job here. I thought I could handle them- it, I mean, but..." she trailed off and shook her head, slipping into a car parked at the front and driving through the gates.
Scout thought of her until she arrived back to the boarding house. Outside, Toad seemed to be concentrating on something in a notepad. When she got in and slipped off her shoes, she saw Fred clearing up the dishes from lunch, while Pietro was helping Wanda with a sewing project in the living room. The physical effects of a surprise robot octopus attack were finally beginning to take their toll, but she couldn't collapse yet.
Making her way to Lance's room, she pulled out the booklet and flipped through. The index card she had slipped into Kitty's jeans fell to the floor, and Scout picked it up. On one side was Lance's fast scrawl, "Free all 7/4 and 7/8 from 6PM. Usual meeting spot. What works for you? (I'll explain this card.)"
On the other side, Kitty had written in a rounded and precise penmanship, "First one. Can't wait to hear about this."
Scout placed the booklet with the index card sticking out on Lance's pillow and went down the hall to her room. She slipped off her jacket, and when her body hit her mattress, she instantly fell asleep.