(I do not own Buffy or X-Men)

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Chapter 3: Intro-traction

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The class was filing out, Willow was arguing with Buffy by her desk. Finally, with a determined look on her face Willow strode up to the front of the class and hesitantly waited for Dr. McCoy to look up from his paper work.

Shrugging, Buffy grabbed her bag and followed suit with Xander and Kitty in toe.

"Is there something you wanted to ask Miss Rosenburgh?" requested the teacher without looking up.

"Errr... I ummm... huh...." Willow began eloquently.

Mr. McCoy finally looked up and took off his glasses.

"I uhhhh....I...."

"Are you alright Miss Rosenburgh?" asked Mr. McCoy with one eyebrow raised.

"I... " Willow took a deep breath "I wanted to know why you're at Sunnydale High cus see I readyourbookandIknowyouwonanobelprizeandI'msure..."

"What Willow is trying to ask... " cut in Buffy "Is why someone with your uhhh credentials, is teaching at a high school, more specifically this high school." Buffy ended giving the teacher a completely unveiled suspicious look.

"Ah." Was all the teacher said.

Willows face went slightly the color of her hair.

"It's a legitimate question." asked Kitty from behind Buffy, a very subtle smirk on her face.

Mr. McCoy eyed Kitty for a moment before an equally mischievous look spread across his face. "Well yes it is, you see I moved to Sunnydale so my daughter could go to school here and we could get out of the big city for a while." The teacher gave Kitty a triumphant glance.

Kitty winced.

Buffy asked "Who's you're daughter?" But Willow had already put two and two together.

"Kitty? Dr. McCoy's your father?" stunned Willow.

"I.... err... Yes." re-stammered Kitty.

"Why didn't you say something?" Xander asked.

"Well you know... new girl, and I didn't wanna get a rep as being one of the teachers kids before I had a chance to ruin my social life for myself." Kitty explained darkly.

"Wait." Buffy started "If Dr. McCoy is your father, why is your last name Pryde?"

This seemed to trip both Kitty and the good Teacher for a moment before Kitty's eyes widened mischievously for a split second, and Mr. McCoys posture became very cautious as he studied his 'daughter'.

"Well you see... " said Kitty in a not so quiet voice "... Mr. McCoy is my dad, but I have two dad's, cus they're gay together, gay dad's and my biological fathers name is Logan Pryde, but they didn't change my last name for the sake of my egg donor."

Buffy Willow and Xander absorbed this explanation with a few stammered "Huh"'s but Mr. McCoy just lowered his eyes to slits, ground his teeth and stared at the curly brown haired jewish girl.

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Finally lunch rolled around and the four decided to eat together in the Quad.

"Thanks so much for hanging out with me today you guys, you know you don't have to if..." Kitty began.

"I know what you're going to say and don't." Buffy interjected.

"Yeah, we wouldn't hang with you if we didn't like you." Xander explained.

"Oh!" Said Willow apparently in a world all her own. "We've got Computer Lab together next period! You said you're into programming right?"

Kitty seemed to brighten up almost as much as Willow at the words 'Computer Lab'. "Yeah! My test scores said I'd get put in AP, I won't have to do any typing tests or something stupid like that will I?"

"Oh no, Miss Calander is cool, she basically lets me work on my own stuff in lab..." Willow cut herself short, glancing around for a faculty member who might have hurt her and looking rather guilty.

"Neat, think you can show me what you're doing?" Kitty asked.

"Yeah, it's mostly encryption deciphering stuff." Willow looked guilty again.

"Awesome! I've been working on this program that rewrites the base code of a site based on the browser interface... maybe you could give me some pointers! :D" Kitty confided exuberantly.

The first half of the lunch hour was spent with the two CS nerds chatting up a storm in what sounded like a foreign language to Buffy and Xander, then at 11:30 Kitty looked at her watch. "Oh! I have to stop by the library before next period!" she exclaimed, "Can one of you guys show me where it is?"

Buffy, Xander, and Willow gave each-other significant looks then said "Sure I'll take you!" in unison.

"Well that was very pod-people." Kitty blanched.

"Oh don't mind us, we're just friends with the Librarian." Covered Willow expertly.

"Giles, he's very British." explained Xander to no one in particular.

They headed off as a foursome getting a sneer from a passing troop of harmonies ("If there have to be people that un-cool, at least they have other uncool people to hang out with") then down the many halls which all looked the same and ended finally at two large swinging doors.

Kitty stepped into the large library behind her new friends, this part of the school seemed like much more care had been put into it over the years, even the architecture with the spiraling steps, the raised rooms, the dome shaped ceiling, it gave the impression of having been built previously and the rest of the school sort of hap-hazardly stacked on top of, and around it, much later.

She heard a voice coming from somewhere ahead, it wasvery British.

"Ah Buffy, I'm glad you're here. I found some more information on this Halkethian demon and I was wondering if you could give a descr.... " the voice trailed off rather abruptly as Buffy and Xander began making half veiled slicing motions across their necks with their index fingers.

"GILES YOU'RE SO FUNNY!" Willow practically yelled. "CALLING THE HISTORY TEACHER A HALKETHIAN DEMON HA! HA! HA!"

Xander cut into the forced laughter, "Giles have you met our new student?" Xander said, stepping aside and leading Kitty forward by the elbow.

Willow bent over and seemed to be fighting a panic attack as Kitty stepped forward and extender her hand to the veryBritish looking man who had just put back on his glasses after giving them a good long cleaning with a silk hankerchief.

Giles didn't miss a beat. "Ah, very nice to meet you Miss...? "

"Pryde." answered Kitty shaking his hand.

"Rupert Giles, charmed." said Giles returning the handshake.

"I'm sure." Kitty smiled innocently.

"Might I ask you to keep that whole bit about the Halkathian demon quiet, Really Mr. Jannkins is a very nice man." Giles asked.

"Sure, I don't even know what a Halkathian Demon is." Kitty went along.

"Actually the history teacher is Mrs. Hart." Willow interjected. "Mr. Jannkins you know... moved on last week."

Kitty looked between the recovered Willow and the Characaturishly-British Librarian.

"Oh... oh yes that's right." muttered Giles looking rather somber.

The uncomfortable silence that followed lived up to both it's description and name so Kitty offered... "I need my Computer Science book."

"Oh, yes of course." Giles exclaimed, snapping out of his rumination and heading back behind the desk to retrieve the required items.

While he was sorting through a stack of books Kitty looked around the room, noting an open book with a strange passage on the main table in the center, then eyeing the 'book cage' suspiciously.

"So what happened to Mr. Jannkins?" she asked.

Buffy Willow and Xander gave eachother that same significant look which was becoming their staple in the new students opinion.

"Mr. Jannkins died last week." said Buffy somberly. "I liked him, he wasn't evil."

"Well he was boring. But yeah, not evil boring." added Xander.

"Oh. Sorry... what happened?" Kitty pressed tentatively.

Another group look.

"The police say he was attacked by a dog or something. Bit him on the neck." Willow explicated just before Giles returned with a few books for Kitty.

After a very stale goodbye Kitty headed off to Computer Science with Willow while Buffy marched toward history with Xander.

Kitty debated internally for a quiet few minutes, then just as she was sitting down next to Willow and booting up her computer she turned and asked "Willow do you ever wonder if there's something weird going on at this school?"

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Thanks everyone for the many reviews: Hopefully this chapter has answered some questions about the nature of Kitty and Beast, though not explicitly. A lot of introduction in the first three, but I feel like that's important for later interactions to not feel forced.

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