((I do not own Buffy or the X-Men))
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Chapter 5: "Social-Light"
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"It's like they want us to hate this stuff..." Xander was saying as the mouse-brown haired girl approached the small group around the table.
"... like they got together and came up with the most boring subject they could teach and then tried to figure out the dullest way to teach it." Xander finished looking at his open trigonometry book the way one would examine an optical illusion painting.
"Well looking at it cross-eyed isn't going to make it more comprehensable." chided Willow beside him as she chewed on the end of a pen, a notebook with several mathematical formulas on it in her lap.
Buffy gave xander a look of solidarity as he leaned back and sighed dejectedly, then noticing Kitty she code-switched to social-mode.
"Hey! Glad you made it... are... are you alright?" Buffy's enigmatic smile faltered as she saw Kitty's pale face and shocked expression.
Kitty sat down abruptly. "Yes. Yes I'm fine. Just ummm... no, fine."
The girl looked around rather dreamily at the others for a moment, all of which were watching her scrutinously.
"I'll get you a drink." said Xander, happy at the opportunity for procrastination.
"Did you find the place ok?" Willow asked suspiciously.
"Which place?" Kitty asked coming out of her momentary stupor... "Oh yes yes. The bronze." Looking around as if for the first time she added "It's nice, I like the band, I think I saw them at a coffee shop in New York once."
"Wow... they're hipper than I thought." Buffy commented looking over at the musicians playing an upbeat alternative grunge melody. The singer, a young woman with long blond hair seemed to exude confidence. Buffy thought she caught the woman looking her squarely in the eye for a moment.
Xander returned with a diet-cherry-coke for Kitty who accepted it graciously and asked if she owed him anything which he flatly refused.
After taking a sip the young woman seemed to perk up and become a bit more alert.
"So this is the Sunnydale hangout? IT's not bad for..." Kitty hesitated.
"For a small suburb in the middle of nowhere's county?" finished Xander. "No I guess we're lucky not to have to resort to cow-tipping... although..."
"That's horrible Xander." Willow remarked. "Why would anyone do that to a cow, it's like those weird kids who pull the wings off flies or burn ants under a magnifying glass."
"Yeah... tshhh... weirdos..." Xander agreed guiltily.
Buffy and Kitty exchanged a look and suppressed simultaneous chuckles as Willow went into a quickly delivered wordy schpeel about animal cruelty.
A dark shadow spread over the table just as Willow began talking about lab-testing on chimpanzees
"Championing Xanders civil rights again?" the voice cut the air like a knife as the figure of a very well proportioned brunette in a stylish skirt/blouse combination intruded on the unwitting social niceties.
"Ah Cordilia! I thought I heard the screams of tortured souls being sucked into your abyss." Xander countered.
Buffy raised an eyebrow at Xander while Cordilia gave him a condescending albeit-pittying look and Willow mouthed the word "Abyss?"
Kitty turned in her seat finally, addressing the taller brunette. "Did you want something?"
"Actually I came over here to tell Buffy that I saw her librarian looking for her." Cordelia looked away from the group as if to give the impression she wasn't really talking to them but stating a fact to no one in particular.
Buffy gave her friends a significant look then scanned the club before getting up. "Thanks Cordelia." she said as she wondered into the thrall in search of giles. Cordelia merely shrugged and sauntered off to a group of football players trying to swindle alcohol out of the bar-tender.
After a moment of pointed silence Kitty asked "So is... is... I mean..."
"What?" asked Xander remembering their third wheel.
"Is... I mean are Buffy and the Librarian like..." Kitty gave a slight tilt of the head.
"OH GOD!" "Ew and No and EWWW!!" exclaimed Willow and Xander.
"No Giles is just a ummm, close friend of the family... " Willow explicated unconvincingly.
"Uh... right." Kitty conceded looking around to see Buffy speaking to an urgent looking Giles in a shadow by the stairs.
"That's it." Xander stated with finality, slamming his book shut "I'm officially incapable of doing homework for the rest of the night on account of mental grossness."
"Excuser." Willow chided.
A moment later Buffy re-appeared looking slightly discombobulated. She explained quickly that there was a problem with Giles's friend that she needed to help him with.
Feeling rather like a fourth wheel now Kitty jumped up gratefully at the vibration from her cell-phone and excused herself.
A soft-familiar male voice came from the receiver. "Katheryne?"
"Speaking." said kitty keeping an eye on the trio as they began speaking excitedly in hushed voices.
"You're target is close-by." the voice stated bluntly.
"Understood. Anything else?" Kitty asked tossing her hair as to give the air of a vacuous conversation.
"Yes, their power is active, do you see anything?"
Kitty scanned the room quickly not seeing anything out of the ordinary. "No. Whatever it is, it is doesn't have any obvious visible manifestation."
"I will keep you posted if anything comes up."
"Copy that. Shadowcat out." Kitty hung up the phone and moved back to the group all of whom looked as if they were about to leave.
"Sorry Kitty, something came up with a friend and we really have to get going." Willow offered as she approached.
"No no it's fine, my parents didn't want me out too late anyway, I know they'll get worried." Kitty assured.
The trio gave kitty their farewells with many "We'll make this up to you"'s and stalked off toward the back door of the club with the waiting librarian.
Kitty made herself look busy checking something in her purse until she was sure they were out of site, then made a b-line for the back door preparing for a stealthy pursuit.
It might have seemed to big a coincidence in an objective perspective, but Kitty's instincts told her that there was something peculiar about her new friends, and that was as good a place as any to start looking for the omega class mutant.