Metamorphosis - Chapter 2

I groaned, trying to get some more sleep. Evidently, the couple in the room right next to ours were on their honeymoon. Not only could I hear most of what they were saying, but I had to guess that Mark was good at what he was doing by the number of times Tina screamed his name. And that wasn't all, I could smell them having sex. The smell wasn't bad, but combined with the sounds it sent inappropriate thoughts into my head.

Yeah, I already knew about sex, my parents had already given me 'The Talk'. Plus my friends and I would talk about sex sometimes. But I learned things I never knew existed until that night. Because of that, I slept late the next day. It was about 1 p.m. when there was a knock on the door. Mom answered, and then opened the door, allowing an absolutely gorgeous dark skinned woman with beautiful white blonde hair in. She must have been a model, because she moved so gracefully, even while pushing the bald man in the wheelchair. She looked at me and smiled as if she found something she liked.

"Kayleigh, come here please. It's okay, they know you're a mutant."

Well, good for them, I was still hesitant to make myself known to others that weren't my family. I walked over to stand next to my mother, my eyes on the floor because I was both nervous and a bit shy. I leaned into my mom for comfort.

"Hello Kayleigh, I'm Professor Charles Xavier, and this is my associate Ororo Munroe." The bald man said.

"You're teachers at this school I'm supposed to be going to?" I asked.

"Indeed." I looked at my mom and asked with gallows humor. "Are you sure that they're not from some government group that wants to put me in a cage or dissect me?"

My mom and dad looked horrified, but it was the expressions on the two teachers that caught my attention, both of their faces hardened and their eyes showed a mixture of sadness and anger. They had seen such things.

No Kayleigh, we won't let that happen to you. You'll be safe with us I heard in my head. It was a pleasant male voice so I suspected that it was Professor Xavier. I was a little startled, but it wasn't the weirdest thing I'd seen in the last few days, me being a case in point.

"I'm sorry, I was trying to be facetious." I said.

"That's quite alright Kayleigh, if it helps you cope. But to say it out loud for your parents, No, we won't do that or let that happen to you. You will be under our protection and much safer than if you stayed with your parents. And they should be safer as well." The professor affirmed.

That made me feel a little better. I shifted nervously, knowing that I would have to leave soon, and I didn't want to. "Could my mom and dad come visit?"

"Of course. We can always make arrangements for them to come over, and they can even stay at the mansion if they wish."

My eyes widened, and I noticed my tail swishing back and forth excitedly.

"You have a mansion? You must be like, a millionaire or something."

"I am rather well off, but I use most of my wealth to support the school and to help integrate mutant and humankind."

Ms. Munroe had been silent up until now when she spoke. "You'll have other mutants at the school about the same age as you, so you'll have someone to relate to."

Her voice had a sultry tone to it and it made me wonder if her and the professor were involved.

"You have other cat girls at the school?" I asked hopefully. I wasn't sure what to label myself as, so cat girl seemed to be appropriate.

"No, the x-gene manifests in myriads of ways. To date, I don't know of any mutants that's manifested your particular mutation. Although, your mother's colleague, Hank McCoy, has blue fur." Said the professor.

I wasn't alone! There were others that could relate! While I was still reluctant to leave my mom and dad, I felt better about it. I turned to my parents, who were holding each other close. I noticed that they had unshed tears in their eyes, as did I. They smiled through their tears and nodded their heads. I was there in a flash but remembered my strength at the last second and hugged them both gently.

"I love you mom, I love you dad." I said. "I'll miss you both so much! Come visit me soon please?"

"As soon as we are able Sweetie." Dad said, his voice thick with emotion.

My mother sniffed. "We'll miss you too Baby Girl."

We hugged for a while longer, neither of the visitors making a sound. Minutes later, my mom and dad relaxed their hold on me and I let them go. They both kissed me on my cheeks and my mom ran her fingers through my neck fur, eliciting a purr from me, making us smile. I turned and covered myself so that I'd be hidden by my clothes. My dad grabbed my suitcases and we left my mom standing in the hotel room. My dad shut the door, grabbed my suitcases again, and followed my new teachers and me down to the elevator.

I didn't tell my dad, but with my enhanced hearing I could hear my mom break down and start sobbing. It took everything I had to not start doing the same thing. We made it downstairs and to the parking lot without any trouble. My dad put my suitcases in the trunk while Ms. Munroe put the professor into the back of the mid sized chevy rental car. I hugged my dad one last time as she put the folded up wheelchair in the trunk and closed it. My dad shook hands with both Ms. Monroe and the professor before kissing me on the cheek again and telling me to be good before heading back into the hotel.

Since Ms. Munroe was driving, and I didn't want to distract her, I decided to talk to the professor. "Where is this school I'm supposed to be going to Professor?"

"Upstate New York. And it actually is a school, you'll just be learning how to control your gifts as well, and even enhance them. There are many activities to choose from, archery, canoeing, tennis, basketball, and many others."

"Archery? My best friend is an archery fiend! And what about gymnastics? I've always wanted to be in the olympics."

I slumped back into my seat as I realized I had gotten caught up in the conversation and forgotten I was now a mutant. No competition for me in the future.

Professor Xavier's tone was sympathetic "I'm sorry Kayleigh, but unless some way can be found to mend the rift between humans and mutants, such competitions wouldn't be welcoming to our kind. Especially given your new talents."

Professor Xavier looked at me like he was weighing something before he evidently made a decision and asked, "Would you like to help with that Kayleigh? Would you like to try and mend the rift between our two species?"

I perked up "I would love to Professor! My best friend, Mia, is human, but she knows I'm a mutant and doesn't care!"

"Yes, there are some good humans out there, your parents and, happily, your friend can be counted among those."

"So," He continued, "When we get to the mansion, we'll have Dr. McCoy evaluate you and then we'll get you settled. Normal school classes are out for the year, but you can still sign up for other activities. We do have a gym with safety mats so you can practice your gymnastics, and we have an olympic sized swimming pool, that is, if you still like water." He said the last with a kind of half smile.

"Yeah, I still like water. I seem to have a lot of cat stuff, but I'm still me. My appetites changed a bit, I used to love potato salad, but not anymore. That seems to go for most vegetables as well. I've always preferred meat and I tend to want more of it in my diet now."

Gymnastics! I was excited now. Given what I've done so far I couldn't wait to see what I could do now in my new body. We were quiet for a while and the silence was starting to get to me, so I asked "Would it be okay if I asked what your mutant abilities are?"

"I don't mind." Said the professor. "I'm a telepath, as you can tell from earlier."

Ms. Munroe spoke up, "And I can control the weather."

She held her right hand between the seats in front with her palm up and a miniature storm cloud appeared with lightning and everything! I was guessing that the burnt electrical smell was from her lightning.

"Wow!" I said enthusiastically, "That is so cool! You are so awesome! Gorgeous, and with a wicked power! I bet you get asked out by a lot of guys. Or girls, if you go that way that is. I..." I realized I was starting to go total fan girl and ramble. "I'll shut up now." I finished, withdrawing into myself in embarrassment.

Professor Xavier was chuckling while I could see Ms. Munroe's blue eyes looking at me in the rear view mirror. The corners of her eyes were crinkled so she was grinning at my comments or, at least, smiling.

"It's okay Kayleigh, curiosity is something we encourage at our school. Although we only teach sexuality as part of our Mutant Health classes." Her tone reflected humor so she wasn't angry.

X~X~X

We left downtown a while ago and were now leaving the suburbs as well when Ms. Munroe pulled off the main road. After several miles down this road, I saw an airport with one small jet on the taxiway. I turned to Professor Xavier, "You rented a jet too?!"

"Oh no, I own the jet."

My jaw dropped. I didn't mean to. I tried not to open my mouth too wide, like yawning in front of people, given how my canines were now fangs a couple of inches long. Not to mention that, when I yawned, it was much wider than before, impressively so. I shut my mouth as fast as I could and then said, "You have your own jet..."

Both of my new teachers chuckled, neither one put off by my display. My happy feeling increased by another notch or two. Ms. Munroe pulled up next to the jet and we got out. I pulled the wheelchair out for her, which she thanked me for. While she was helping the professor into the chair, I easily lifted my luggage and waited to follow them.

I was going to offer to carry the professor into the jet, but there was a mechanism that clipped to the chair and quickly lifted him inside. I followed after him with Ms. Munroe behind me. She shut and secured the door as the professor told me where I could store my suitcases. I looked around but didn't see anyone else in the jet. The seats were even more luxurious than when I traveled first class while on vacation.

"Where's the pilot?" I asked.

"Ororo is the pilot Kayleigh."

I was shocked. I gasped and looked at Ms. Munroe. "Sweet! Can you teach me? My parents were supposed to teach me scuba diving this summer but... you know." I said as I waved my hands up and down my body. "I think I can still learn to scuba dive, I don't think my teeth would be in the way. Do you think they would? I'd still like to if I could. And learning to fly would be amazing!... And I'm doing it again aren't I?"

They both laughed. "Like I said before Kayleigh, it's okay. We really do encourage curiosity. And yes, if you'd like to learn, we'll teach you. We offer an avionics course and have our own simulator. If you'd like, you can sit up front and watch me when we take off and land. I have to warn you though, other than take off and landing it can be pretty boring." Ms. Munroe offered.

"Really?!" I squealed.

Chuckling, Ms. Munroe answered "Yes, really."

Okay, kick my happiness up a few more notches. This school was looking better and better. The only thing that would have made it perfect was if it was actually in Stanford and I didn't have to leave and go completely across the country to attend.

X~X~X

I sat in the co-pilot's seat and watched as Ms. Munroe flipped switches and checked dials. I watched her put on a headset and copied her when she indicated I should put a set on. I had to turn the volume way down though. I heard her call the local tower requesting clearance as I watched her flip some switches to start the engines. When they began running up, I felt my excitement climb as well. Oh yeah, I wanted to learn to fly!

I smiled as we taxied and the smile stayed with me as we got to the end of the runway and lined up to take off. I watched Ms. Munroe as she pushed the throttles forward and the jet fairly leapt down the runway. As we acquired more speed, I began grinning. The faster we went, the bigger my grin got. When the front wheel left the ground, quickly followed by the back wheels, I had my mouth open slightly, not caring about my fangs were showing. As we climbed, I looked over at Ms. Munroe with the biggest grin on my muzzle.

I was practically vibrating in my seat with excitement. She saw me out of the corner of her eye and grinned at me, probably amused at how elated I was. She was now, officially, my favorite teacher. "We'll continue climbing until we reach 41,000 feet, or almost 8 miles, then we'll level off and I'll set the autopilot. Not much else to do until then so why don't you go back and see the professor?"

"Thank you Ms. Munroe! Just when I thought you couldn't get any more awesome!"

I left the cockpit and when back to sit across from the professor, who seemed amused. I gave him a side grin and shrugged my shoulder. I was as happy as I could get considering my circumstances. He and I talked for a while until, somewhere between one sentence and the next, I feel asleep.

X~X~X

I saw Mia running ahead of me during track. I tried to catch up to her, but I couldn't. It was weird, I mean, I was faster than her. As if she heard me, she stopped, turned, and glared at me with such hate that I stopped in my tracks.

"You? What makes you think I would want to be friends with you? You're not even human, just some skanky mutant! When do you go into heat? Do we need to line up the football team to take turns satisfying little kitty witty? I'm glad my parents made me see the light. Mutants are dangerous, they should be Kayleigh? locked in a Kayleigh? You're having a nightmare cage somewhere never to see Kayleigh? Wake up!

I snapped awake, panting for breath, and for the first time since I grew fur I was shivering, but not from cold. I snapped a look at the professor, who had a very worried expression on his face.

"Kayleigh? Are you okay? You were having a nightmare."

I struggled to get my breathing under control. Ms. Munroe handed me a glass of water which I took and nodded at her gratefully before downing it. My paws shook as I set the empty glass in the holder next to the arm rest. She took the glass and refilled it for me. I smiled my appreciation.

"Do you want to talk about it Kayleigh?" The professor asked.

I nodded, but gathered my thoughts first. These people had been nothing but nice to me since they met me, so I would be honest with them. I wouldn't mention the part about being in heat, that would be too embarrassing.

"I dreamed that my friend and I were running on our school track and she was ahead of me. I tried catching up to her but I couldn't, which was weird because I'm faster than she is, even before I changed. Then she stopped and glared at me! She looked like she hated me and then she started saying these awful things about me and she said she didn't know how she could be friends with me now that I'm a mutant."

"It sounds like you have some lingering insecurities about yourself Kayleigh. You shouldn't, this is who you were meant to be. If it will make you feel any better, you can call her tomorrow after you've had some time to settle in.

"I can?" I asked hopefully.

Both of them smiled at me and the professor said, "Of course!" I enjoyed watching Ms. Munroe land the jet, but I just didn't have the enthusiasm I did during take off. I was both looking forward to calling Mia and, at the same time, dreading it. As we disembarked, I saw a really fancy car sitting by the hanger. Because, of course, Professor Xavier would have a Rolls Royce. I didn't feel like talking during the ride and they both seemed to understand that. I felt great after my nap, given how much I was awake the night before. I snickered, I had taken a cat nap...

X~X~X

We drove through a rural areas. Even though it was dark, my super night vision allowed me to see the scenery. There were more trees here than I'd ever seen before in my life, it was amazing! We turned off onto a side road and drove maybe a quarter of a mile before we reached a huge brick wall with wrought iron gates that opened automatically when we got close to them. Maybe some chip or something singling the car's approach.

The headlights showed a winding blacktop road through the trees. Something about the mansion being hidden from direct sight appealed to me. Then we took another turn and I saw it, the mansion. When Professor Xavier said he had a mansion, I was imagining someplace two stories with like, 8 bedrooms and stuff. It did have 2 stories but it was huge! About 3 times the size I expected.

There was a roundabout with red cedar trees along the inside edge and an actual fountain in the center. Ms. Munroe parked in front of the mansion where there were 2 enormous double doors made out of wood. A ramp to one side allowed Professor Xavier to access the portico. She pushed the professor up next to the door jamb on the right and pressed her hand against a section of it. A hidden screen tilted out and she placed her hand on it.

Professor Xavier twisted to me and said "We'll get your biometrics logged in tomorrow after Dr. McCoy checks you over. Your appointment with him is at 9 a.m."

"Okay Professor." I confirmed. Inside, the place was gorgeous! I thought my house was nice, but this just screamed 'I'm rich and I have good taste!'. There wasn't anyone else around as we headed to the elevator even though I could smell that people had been by recently. We got out on the second floor and walked down another deserted hallway. The smells here were fresher, and I could hear voices down toward the end of the hall.

I guess Ms. Munroe saw my ears swivel in that direction because she said that there was a common room with games and stuff, including Virtual Reality games. I was told I was more than welcome to mingle if I wanted to after I was shown my room. When Ms. Munroe opened the door, I was floored. Once again my jaw dropped open, the room was three times the size of my room back home.

"This is mine? I said in disbelief.

"For as long as you wish to stay with us." Ms. Munroe said.

The room had a queen sized bed, a huge 6 drawer dresser, a computer/writing desk where I could do homework, a wardrobe with a mirror on the outside of the door, and 2 nightstands next to the bed that had a drawer and a storage area underneath. There was even a large window at the far end next to the desk, I just had no idea what my view was yet. I put my suitcases down by the dresser and jogged over to look and saw the front driveway.

Not the best view in the world, but it was still a very good one. My eyesight let me see someone moving among the trees , my ears tilted forward and my tail stiffened. "There's someone out there!"

A second later the Professor said, "It's okay, it's only Logan. He usually does patrols for safety."

I let my tail drop as Ms. Munroe came to stand next to me. "You could see Logan?" She asked.

"Yeah. I have great night sight now. It's just that bright colors tend to get washed out and I can't make out details." She raised her eyebrows and gave me a smile. I guess she was impressed.

"We have something for you." The Professor stated. Ms. Munroe handed me a digital watch with the current time and date on it. I appreciated the gesture, but I already had a watch, a 13th birthday gift from my parents.

"Thanks, but I already have one." I said, holding up a paw to show them.

"Ah, but this isn't just an ordinary watch. Put it on and push the center button closest to you."

I did, and I was amazed to see a flicker and then I had hands again! I rushed over to the mirror and saw myself! My human self! I had hair! As I stood there cataloging the differences Professor Xavier explained.

"This is called an image inducer. It's a holographic projector to help you fit in outside of the grounds of the mansion. With this, you can go to Bayville High School like the rest of our students."

"I thought that this was a school, why go to a human high school?"

Ms. Munroe explained. "The high school will teach you the normal subjects so you can get your diploma. Here we teach a more eclectic selection of subjects, including college level courses. But mainly we teach you how to control and use your powers."

"Now, the inducer is only visual, if someone touches you, they'll be able to feel your fur, so you'll have to be careful, no contact sports. And you'll have to keep your tail tucked in close to you, it has a range of 1 foot. Anything showing outside of that people will be able to see your true self." The professor finished.

So it wasn't the marvel of the modern age I'd hoped it would be. Still, it was better than nothing. I'd have to wear long sleeves shirts and pants, dresses and skirts were out. No contact sports meant no cheerleading, that sucked. But maybe I could join band now and learn to play the cello like I've always wanted to do, but couldn't because it interfered with my sports. My teachers left me alone and I put my clothes away. I put the pictures of my parents and Mia on my dresser, nightstand, and computer desk. My folks were shipping the rest of my stuff, so I should have it in a few weeks.

I left the inducer on and then walked down the hallway to where the sounds were coming from. There was no door, just an archway, so I walked in as saw 3 other kids, all of them older than me. I saw a guy wearing red sunglasses. I mean, what was up with that? Who wears sunglasses inside? At night? There was a very pretty girl with red hair. Both of them were playing pool and teasing each other about their shots.

Standing in an area off to the side was a guy with shoulder length brown hair that had a thing that looked like a scuba mask over his eyes. He was swinging a controller around and making weird sounds like he was in combat or something. His accent was foreign, German maybe. The redheaded girl turned to look at me, which was kind of eerie because ever since I changed, my footsteps were silent. As she straightened up, the kid with the sunglasses turned to look at me also. I raised my 'hand' and said "Hi!"

The redheaded girl smiled and put her cue on the table, walked over to me, and stuck out her hand introducing herself. "Hi, I'm Jean!"

Jean had gorgeous green eyes almost the same shade my cat eyes were now.

"Kayleigh." I said as I shook her hand and she made a face, then she looked down and saw my watch.

I took my 'hand' back, feeling ashamed, but she reached out and took my 'hand' again saying "I'm sorry, it just startled me. You don't have to keep the inducer on if you don't want to."

By this time, the kid with the sunglasses had walked over, and the brown haired kid had stopped the game and took off the scuba mask thing. He was kinda cute, and we looked at each other with more than a normal amount of interest. Sunglasses stuck out his hand as well and I took it, wondering what his expression would be. Surprisingly, his face stayed normal.

"I'm Scott."

The cute guy stuck his hand out while saying "Kurt" so I shook it. His hand felt funny in my paw and we both looked at each other and then down at the watches we were wearing. They were very similar, except mine was a more feminine style. We looked back at each other and, all unspoken, pushed the center button. Kurt's image flickered off and I was both startled and elated to see his true form.

He had short, blue-black fur, white iris's with a normal black pupil, and ears that were pointier than mine. He grinned and I could see his teeth were similar to mine as well, I just had longer fangs. The main differences between us was that he only had 2 fingers on each hand as well as a thumb, both of which were longer and thicker than a humans, it was like his fingers fused together. His toes were similar except the third digit stuck out the back of his heel, kind of like a bird's talon.

Then there were our tails, while mine was a cylindrical cats tail and almost the same diameter from my butt to the tip, his thinned out and ended in an arrowhead style tip. Kurt looked at me and said "Wundershones Madchen."

"That's German right?" I asked.

"Ja, sprechen sie Deutsch?"

"I'm sorry, I don't know what you said other that 'Ja' but I'd love to learn to speak it, if you're willing to teach me. I do speak a little Chinese."

Kurt grinned, showing his large canines "I would love to teach such a beautiful fraulein."

"Back off the flirting Kurt." Jean said, then turned to me and uttered to me, "Kurt thinks of himself as a ladies man."

"Hey! All the chicks dig the fuzzy elf."

I couldn't help it, I laughed wholeheartedly for the first time since I changed.

Jean continued "I'm glad there's another girl on the team to even out the testosterone around here. We girls were outnumbered." That made me laugh again. No one had shy'd away from me because of my appearance, and given how Kurt had that whole demonic thing going for him I could understand. I had to admit he looked cute either way.

"Outnumbered but not outmatched!" I joked with Jean who laughed with me while Kurt scoffed and Scott remained stoic.

X~X~X

We ended up playing Foosball. Kurt's reflexes were almost as good as mine, but we girls still won. I found out that the mansion also had a spa and jacuzzi. Even though I was missing my parents and Mia, I as actually happy. Curfew was at 11 so we had to head back to our own rooms. I had to admit that I did like Kurt, in both his forms.

When I got back to the room, there was a cardboard box on my bed. It looked like one of those that held clothes from a fancy store. You know, where you open the lid and there's this beautiful blouse wrapped in tissue paper inside? There was an envelope attached with my name written on it in beautiful cursive script. Opening the envelope, I pulled out the card and read what was written there 'Welcome to the Team'.

Opening the box, I saw an outfit that appeared to be a dark blue one piece swim suit. It had a yellow 'V' shape from the shoulder straps to my navel, where there was a yellow belt with a circular buckle. The buckle itself had a yellow 'X' on a red background. There was even a hole with elastic edging in the back that allowed my tail to fit through so I wouldn't show off any of my goods. It looked like it would keep me from getting too hot with my fur, hence the swimsuit design.

I'd heard of mutants who wore uniforms like this. I'd heard both good and bad things about them, but from what I'd seen so far, the bad things had to have been made up. This was the uniform of the 'X-Men' and now I was one of them! It made me so happy that I though that I'd explode.

X~X~X

I woke up early, or early for everyone else I guess, about 7 a.m. I put on my inducer and headed down to the kitchen. It was deserted, but I was able to scrounge up a bowl and a spoon and then some cereal. From what they had, I decided on the Shredded Wheat. The milk was easy to find the the fridge. I didn't really like Shredded Wheat anymore now that I'd changed, but I really liked the milk!

I washed my dishes and placed them on the drying rack and then decided to check out the outside. The pool was stupendous as was the jacuzzi and I couldn't wait to try them out. The basketball court was nice, very modern while the tennis courts were the same way, both of them. I found the archery field but, sadly, no bows were in sight.

On my way back to the mansion I started smelling someone nearby. I tried to catch a glimpse of them, but I couldn't see anyone. Either they were farther away than I thought, or they were very good at remaining undetected. As I kept walking, I kept getting that same scent, musky, definitely male. Finally I turned and said "I know you're there. Why are you following me?"

But there was no answer. On edge now, I started walking back to the mansion faster when the smell suddenly became very stong, meaning he had to be close by. I leapt forward in a high arc, twisted and did a flip so that when I landed on my feet about 20 feet from where I started, I was facing back the way I came. I had my claws out but the inducer prevented them from being seen. Standing about 5 feet from where I had been, there was a dark haired man with a craggy, worn face. He was wearing boots, jeans, a tee shirt, a brown jacket, and a cowboy hat. His nose looked like it could have been broken several times at some point in his life.

"Not bad, but you could be better." The man said. I looked closer at him and recognized who he was. It was the man from earlier this morning that the Professor named Logan.

I straightened up and said "I remember you, you were patrolling outside last night. Professor Xavier said your name was Logan."

His eyebrow raised and he looked at my inducer. "New student huh? Turn off your inducer, let me see the real you."

His voice was gravely, and he seemed to have a bit of an attitude, but if the Professor trusted him, I would too. Reaching down and turning off my inducer, I watched as his eyebrows rose and he grinned. "This is going to be interesting. Yeah, I'm Logan, and I'll be your history, combat, and survival instructor." His grin was not very comforting.

"You best head back inside now, Hank's probably waiting for you."

Oh crap! I'd forgotten about my appointment! My watch/inducer said 0910 so I turned and sprinted for the house. I'd also forgotten about the front door, so I was left to banging on them until Scott let me in.

"Thanks Scott! I forgot I wasn't set for the doors yet! I'm late for my appointment!" I yelled at him as I flew down the hallway. I suddenly stopped when I realized that I had no idea where I was to go. I looked back behind me at a bemused Scott slowly closing the doors.

"And I bet you were to show me how to get there weren't you?"

He laughed softly and said "The Professor said you were on your way back, but you got to the doors before I did. C'mon, I'll show you where the medical bay is."

I sheepishly followed Scott to the elevators and then to McCoy's office. I smelled him before I saw him, his scent had a heavy mammalian smell, almost animal like. Well, kinda like me now I guess. Dr. McCoy was tall, broad, and covered in blue fur. "I'm sorry Dr. McCoy, I kinda ran into Mr. Logan on my way back. It felt like he was stalking me."

Dr. McCoy laughed, "He probably was. I bet he was testing you. Now, I need to run some tests. Scott, since this will take a while, I'll notify you when it's time to escort our newest student and teammate back to the main part of the mansion."

"Will do Dr. McCoy." Scott answered.

I looked at Dr. McCoy and asked with a small grin. "Dr. McCoy, is it okay to call you 'Bones'? You know, because your last name is McCoy and you're a doctor?"

It was when he threw back his head and laughed that I knew I was going to like him. When he finished a minute later, he said, still chuckling, "Indeed. I have no issues with that. I take it you're a Trekkie also?"

"Oh yes! I love Star Trek and Star Wars. If you want you can call me Snnanagfashtalli."

Bones burst out laughing again, "From the Star Trek novel Uhuru's Song! And you even pronounced it correctly! I can see we'll get along famously Kayleigh. Ahem, I'm sorry, Snnanagfashtalli."

I laughed as well, we nerds could always bond over Star Trek. Bones first took some blood damples and gave me a medical checkup before running me through a battery of tests, such as a treadmill to see how fast I could run while his machines analyzed my blood for... whatever. I found out that I could run as fast as a cheetah, over 60 miles per hour, but I could maintain that speed for much longer. I almost choked on my saliva when I found that out.

I also found out that I could lift over 1200 lbs. or about 7 times as much as the average man could, and I wasn't even fully grown yet! No wonder I hurt my dad when I hugged him too enthusiastically. He also tested my reflexes, which, to neither of our surprise, were cat-like. We discussed my enhanced senses with Bones saying they were on par with Wolverines, who happened to be Logan.

He tested my claws and, while they looked like a cat's, were much harder and razor sharp. They could cut through pretty much anything except metals. My tail was more like a primate's than a true cat's. Mine turned out to be a bit prehensile, but when he tried to get me to hang from my tail it hurt too much. I would have to build up my muscles there before they'd be able to take my weight. Apparently, my tail grew from my tailbone.

While we waited for the machines to finish testing my blood, we talked a little, mostly about nerd things. I finally felt comfortable enough to ask him the question that had been burning in my mind since my nightmare.

"Bones? If I ask you a personal question, would it stay between us, like the doctor patient thing?"

"Of course."

"I had a nightmare the other night, where the person I was dreaming of mentioned me going into heat. I'm worried that it could happen with the way my body's changed."

He frowned and looked thoughtful before answering. "I'm not sure Kayleigh, it's possible but I'd like to see what the other tests I'm running show before I make a determination. I would say 'no', but I can't rule out that you would. I've never seen a female with your degree of mutation before, so we're kind of in uncharted territory."

Okay, that didn't help at all. Let's turn my anxiety level up a few notch's while images of me leaping on other girls and even boys and having sex with them run through my head. It was a stressful 10 minutes until all the tests were done. They did reveal a few surprises. One, while my body tended to be a lot more toward the feline spectrum, my reproductive system remained pretty much human, so probably no heat for me.

On the other hand, I would still have periods. Bones told me that even cats have periods, which wasn't something I wanted to hear. I also seemed to have a healing factor, almost as good as Wolverines. When I asked what that meant, Bone's told me that I could heal from almost anything that didn't kill me outright, and maybe even then.

He also told me that, like Wolverine, my aging would probably slow almost to a stop once I was fully mature physically, somewhere between 14 and 17. Bones said that Wolverine remembered fighting in WWI and WWII. My jaw dropped, Logan only looked like he was in his mid to late 30's, yet he had to be over 100 years old! My jaw dropped and I started shivering in my chair. The mere idea of living so long was a lot to take in.

My diet tended toward the more carnivorous side, but I could still eat fruits and vegetables. As much as I found the idea of eating vegetables gross, I would need to have some in my diet to keep my human parts happy. Maybe I could just take vitamins instead?

"Okay Kayleigh, I want to see you in Danger Room tomorrow to test your agility, spatial awareness, and such. Now that you're part of the team, you should start thinking of a code name to go by when out in the field. And, no, it can't be Snnanagfashtalli. That would take too long to say in a crisis. Not to mention that most people wouldn't be able to pronounce it." Bones said with a grin.

As he escorted me out to the door, I thought about all of the female cat people I knew in manga and comics, but nothing seemed to fit. When we got close to the elevators I had an epiphany. I turned to Dr. McCoy and gave him a wicked grin. He smiled back and asked, "What?"

Still grinning I said, "Call me Feral."