Eye of the Beholder

Author’s Notes: Thank you to one wing (is this fast enough for you?) and Arden Skysender for your reviews. You can find Sarah Winchester on Wikipedia(dot)org. I’ll be on vacation next week and I’m trying to get my other stories updated, so it may be a while before this story gets another update.

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“Hank!” Amanda nearly yells in surprise.

“Good morning, Amanda,” he greets, a big smile on his blue face.

“What are you doing here?” she asks.

“I thought I’d come by for a visit seeing as I had the weekend off,” he answers, the smirk firmly planted on his lips.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” she questions, a bit hurt that he didn’t say anything.

“I wanted to surprise you,” he replies.

“Well it worked,” she tells him, laughing. “You just about gave me a heart attack, but at least I didn’t fall on you this time.”

Pity, he thinks to himself before continuing. “Yes, but I believe the fact that you weren’t standing on your tip toes while wearing high heels and a rather cumbersome dress helped you out there.”

“Wait,” Serena interrupts. “When did you two meet?”

“At the ball last weekend,” Amanda answers.

“And you fell on him?” the teenager questions, a snicker on the verge of breaking through her lips.

“It wasn’t completely her fault,” Hank replies. “I did startle her after all.”

“You about scared me out of a year’s growth,” Amanda teases with a smile. “And don’t even get me started on that whole Brian thing.”

“I didn’t come here to cost you a year’s growth or embarrass you further,” Hank assures her. “I came to see if you’re busy tonight.”

“T-t-t-tonight?” Amanda stutters. “You want to go out tonight?”

“I don’t see why not,” he answers. “We’re both here; we don’t have any commitments to work.”

“Well, um, you see…,” she stammers.

“Wait a minute,” Serena interrupts, coming to stand in between Amanda and Hank and staring up at the big blue mutant. “Are you asking her out on a date?”

“Yes, I am,” he replies. “Again, I might add.”

“What, did you turn him down the first time?” Serena asks, turning to Amanda.

“No, it’s just this week has been really busy and we haven’t manage to set a date yet,” Amanda explains.

“Do you want to go out with him?” Serena questions.

“Of course I do,” Amanda instantly answers.

“Then go out with him!” Serena exclaims.

“But I came here to see you and I didn’t bring anything nice to wear,” Amanda points out, nervously.

“So? The mall’s not that far from here, we can go shopping,” Serena happily states before swinging back towards Hank. “When and where?”

“6:30 in the foyer?” he suggests.

“Ok, she’ll be there,” Serena replies and then grabs Amanda’s arm, dragging her towards the dining room. “Now come on, I want you to meet the others before they take off.”

“See you later,” Amanda shouts as she’s dragged around a corner.

“Sounds like the furball’s got a date,” an amused gruff voice says from the shadows and Hank turns around to find Logan leaning against a wall.

“Zo it vould zeem,” another voice from the ceiling and Hank doesn’t even have to look up to know it’s Kurt.

“Good morning, gentlemen,” Hank smirks. “If you’ll excuse me, I believe I smell waffles waiting.”

With that, Hank turns on his heel and heads towards the cafeteria with a slight swagger in his step while whistling and the other two just chuckle.

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A few hours later, Amanda finds herself sitting in Storm’s office with Serena and Kitty glaring at each other.

“You told him,” Kitty accuses with a growl.

“I did not,” Serena nearly yells and Amanda can feel a headache forming.

“Alright you two,” Amanda states rather forcefully. “Nothing is going to be accomplished by just you two going back and forth. We need to figure out how he found out and the easiest way to do that is to ask him.”

“WHAT!?” both girls demand in horrified voices.

“Logan, would you please come in here?” Amanda calls out and the door opens a second later.

“Whatcha need, darlin’?” Logan asks as he steps into the room, shutting the door behind him and both teenagers turn beet red.

“How did you find out that Kitty had taken Mr. Wagner’s underwear?” Amanda asks.

“You told me, darlin’,” he answers a smirk on his lips and the girls turn accusing glares on the lawyer.

“When did I do that?” Amanda questions, staring at him, unblinking.

“When you were talkin’ to the kid,” he replies, jabbing a thumb in Serena’s direction.

“Am I to understand you eavesdropped on our private conversation?” Amanda inquires.

“Wasn’t eavesdroppin’,” he smirks. “Just overheard is all.”

“You know, Wolvie, that super hearing of yours is going to get you in trouble one of these days,” Kitty snarls at him and he just smirks at her.

“Well, now that the mystery of how Logan found out about Kitty and the underwear is solved, we now need to find out how to end the tormenting of Kitty,” Amanda says, staring at Logan. “I don’t suppose you’re willing to cease and desist.”

“Don’t suppose I would,” he chuckles evilly.

“Very well, then let’s make a deal,” Amanda suggests. “You stop tormenting Kitty about her exploits with Mr. Wagner’s underwear and the girls won’t tell anyone else that you don’t own any underwear.”

“How the Hell did you…?” he growls, glaring at the girls as they start giggling.

“Well, Logan, do we have a deal?” Amanda calmly asks as it takes every ounce of self control not to giggle along with the girls.

“Fine,” he snarls and then storms out of the office.

As soon as the door is slammed shut, Amanda snickers as the girls nearly fall out of their seats. When Serena and Kitty finally get to the point where they’re somewhat under control, they wipe the tears from their eyes and just sit limply in their chairs.

“I never even thought about threatening him with that,” Kitty admits after catching her breath.

“Just keep your end of the deal and tell no one outside of this room,” Amanda reminds her. “If he does tease you again, then by all means, go ahead and tell Jubilee.”

“Oh, god, if you tell Jubilee it’ll be on the six o’clock news,” Serena gasps as she collapses into a fit of giggles again and Kitty starts chuckling too.

“Well, since you both seem to be in a good mood now, I shall leave the two of you to work things out,” Amanda says as she gets up and heads for the door. “Come and find me if you need any more help. Serena, I’ll meet you out in the garden when you’re done.”

Before either one can object, Amanda is gone and the two teenagers suddenly go very quiet. Amanda stands outside of the office door for several moments waiting to see if she needs to go rushing back in there. When there’s no yelling, screaming or the sounds of things breaking, she takes it as a good sign and turns to walk away, nearly running straight into Hank. She gives out a small yelp of surprise and he suppresses a smile though his blue eyes dance with barely contained laughter.

“Did everything turn alright?” he asks as she gets her heart out of her throat. “I just saw Logan go off with his feathers a bit ruffled.”

“Oh, things have turned out fine,” she answers with a knowing smirk. “As long as Logan keeps his end of the deal, everything will be just peachy. Kitty and Serena are now hopefully talking things out. Even if they don’t become the best of friends again, at least they won’t be at each other’s throats.”

“Storm will be very glad to hear that,” he sighs with relief. “The two of them have been driving her to distraction from what I understand. So what’s the deal that Logan has to keep?”

“I can’t tell you,” she tells him with a smile. “If I tell then Logan has the right to start tormenting Kitty again.”

“So, where are you off to now?” he questions.

“I told Serena to meet me in the garden,” she replies.

“Which one?” he inquires.

“There’s more than one?” she asks in horror.

“Well, let’s see,” he says, starting to count them off on his fingers. “There’s the rose garden, the vegetable garden, the science garden, the hedge maze, the regular garden and Ororo’s garden.”

“Sarah Winchester would have been proud of this place,” she sighs.

“The mansion isn’t quite that complex,” he chuckles. “There are no stairs leading to nowhere, no doors that open into a drop from the second story or into walls and the number thirteen isn’t prominent in the architecture.”

“And its original architect probably wouldn’t have been classified as certifiably insane,” she points out with a smile.

“I prefer the term eccentric,” he replies with a grin. “But you’re right, Charles was a good man.”

“I’m sure he was,” she says quietly, not looking him in the eye and before he can ask her about her reaction, the office door opens.

“Ok, we’re ready to go,” Serena announces happily.

“Go?” Amanda asks in confusion.

“To the mall,” Serena clarifies and then looks at Hank’s perplexed face. “Or did the date get called off?”

“No, the date’s still on,” Amanda assures her before turning to Hank. “Right?”

“Wild horses couldn’t keep me away,” he answers with an intense look in his eyes.

“Ok, well, let me go get the others and then we’ll get going,” Serena states and starts to head towards the stairs with Kitty just behind her.

“We? Who’s we?” Amanda asks, now completely confused.

“Well, you, me, Kitty, Rogue and Jubilee,” Serena clarifies.

“Wait, I didn’t bring a very big car,” Amanda warns. “I don’t think we can get everyone in.”

“I would be more than willing to drive,” Hank offers.

“NO!” Serena and Kitty shout in unison causing Amanda and Hank to jump in surprise.

“We’re taking her shopping so she’ll be ready for your date tonight,” Serena explains. “You don’t want to ruin the surprise do you?”

“Far be it for me to ruin my surprise,” he chuckles.

“Good,” Serena replies as she starts for the stairs again. “We’ll be back in a minute.”

“But what about my car?” Amanda reminds her.

“We’ll take one of the school’s cars,” Kitty assures her as she start up the steps after Serena and the teenagers start laughing.

“Looks like they’re getting along again,” he observes as the giggles fade in the distance.

“Have I just been shanghaied?” Amanda asks, a bit dazed.

“It appears so,” he answers, still looking in the direction that the girls went.

“In that case, I’d better go get my purse,” she says and follows the girls up the stairs.

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Several hours later, they return from the mall with the teenagers completely energized and Amanda almost looking like something the cat dragged in. The girls are all laughing and talking at the same time as they go flying into the mansion with their shopping bags barely slowing them down. Amanda staggers in behind them and finds Angel standing in the hall staring at the cackling group as they disappear upstairs.

“Might I ask you something?” she inquires of the winged mutant, coming to a stop near him.

“What?” he asks.

“How does Jubilee breathe?” she questions. “I don’t think she’s stopped talking long enough to draw breath. I don’t understand why she doesn’t pass out.”

“We’re beginning to think she breathes through her ears,” he answers, just barely managing to keep a straight face.

“At this point, I could believe that,” she replies and then continues on her journey back up to her room.

She gets there only barely managing to stay upright, the shopping bag handles and the hangers for her new outfit cutting into her fingers. She hangs the new outfit in the closet, removing the plastic garment bag so the material can breathe and then goes to put the rest of her purchases away. Once everything is taken care of, she kicks off her tennis shoes and then falls face first onto her bed. She’s asleep within moments.

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“Amanda!” Serena’s voice cuts through the fog of sleep and Amanda moans. “Amanda, wake up or you’re going to be late.”

“Just five more minutes,” Amanda mumbles as she pulls her pillow over her head.

“Oh, no you don’t,” Serena growls.

Before Amanda knows what hits her, the bed covers are thrown back, her pillow snatched away and she’s grabbed by the ankles. The next thing she knows is that she’s pulled out of bed and dumped rather unceremoniously onto the floor with a loud thud. Before she can voice any objections over her rough treatment, she’s pulled to her feet and dragged into the bathroom.

“Now, you can get undressed and take a shower or we can just turn on the cold water and douse you with your clothes on,” Kitty threatens.

“Ok, ok, I’ll take a shower,” Amanda mumbles, still trying to get her eyes to focus.

“Good, cause Storm really gets upset when we make a mess in the bathrooms,” Jubilee starts and Amanda inwardly groans.

Dear Lord, who let this girl start talking? Amanda thinks to herself.

“I mean, it’s not it’s the end of the world or anything,” Jubilee continues, starting to gain momentum. “It’s just water and it’s going to dry eventually. But noooo, can’t leave any little mess in the bathroom because, hey, someone can slip and get hurt and that, like, would be bad because then they might break something unless it’s Kitty who could just go right through the floor or Peter who’d just become all metal but then he’d break the floor and that’d be an even bigger mess to clean up.”

Kitty and Serena grab Jubilee’s arms and drag her out of the bathroom, closing the door behind them. Amanda sends a silent thank you up to the heavens and goes to turn on the water to drown out Jubilee still going on about Logan’s healing abilities. Once she’s in the shower and finds all of her regular showering items have been replaced with the ones that the girls insisted she buy, including a new razor.

When she finally climbs out of the shower, she finds the new undergarments waiting for her along with a big fluffy bathrobe. She dries off, gets dressed and then looks at herself in the still slightly foggy mirror. She’s still trying to figure out how she let the girls talk her into buy one of those Wonder Bras.

“Talk about false advertising,” she mutters as she looks at herself from the side.

“You about done in there,” Serena yells through the door.

“Give me a minute,” Amanda yells back.

She quickly towel dries her hair and then combs it out before donning the robe. She opens the door to find Serena, Kitty and Jubilee all waiting for her with hair dryer, curling irons and enough styling products to open their own salon. Before she can say anything, Amanda is dragged over to the desk chair, forced to sit down and undergo having her hair and makeup done.

When they’re finally done, she gets dressed and then takes a good look at herself. She has to admit that the girls did a good job and when she steps out of the bathroom, three sly grins slide onto three faces.

“Hank’s never going to know what’s hit him,” Kitty snickers.

“Speaking of whom, I better get going,” Amanda says, pointing at the clock.

“Ok, but wait here until we make sure he’s in position,” Serena replies.

Before Amanda can even open her mouth, the girls are out the door, shutting it firmly behind them. Amanda just chuckles to herself as she collects her bag and coat and then goes to leave. She opens the door and is faced with a gleaming metallic wall of muscle and she actually has to crane her neck a bit to see Peter’s face.

“You’re not going to let me out are you?” she asks.

He just shakes his head ‘no’ and with a defeated sigh, she closes the door again.

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“Ya keep that up, furball, an’ you’re gonna wear a hole in the rug,” Logan teases from his spot off to the side.

Knowing that there isn’t a diplomatic way to tell Logan to shove it; Hank just ignores him and continues to pace back and forth in the foyer waiting for Amanda to arrive. The girls had assured him that they would get her to him on time. Alright, granted, she is only a couple of minutes late, but his self doubt has kicked into high gear and it doesn’t help that it seems the entire school has turned out to see him and Amanda off on their date. He pauses when he hears what can only be described as a herd of wild horses coming down the hall reaches his ears.

“What the Hell is that?” Logan nearly growls and a second later Serena, Jubilee and Kitty come around the corner and look down the stairs at Hank.

“Good, stay there, I’ll be right back,” Kitty instructs as she turns tail and runs back the way she came.

The other two come down the stairs at a rate that Hank is sure is going to break their necks and he worries that he’ll spend his evening taking care of them instead of on his date. A few moments later, Colossus appears at the top of the stairs and makes his way down at a much more sedate pace. Just when Hank is sure all of his fur is going to fall out from just nerves, Amanda comes around the corner, looks at him and smiles.

“Oh my stars and garters,” he gasps