Eye of the Beholder

Author’s Notes: Thank you, blue_lioness, this chapter is for you. Lots of Twinkie love right back at you. The next 5 chapters are complete. If you wish to read them, please leave a review.

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“Come on, Serena, it’s time to get up,” Kitty says as she shakes her new friend back to consciousness.

“Wow,” Serena yawns. “I haven’t slept like that in ages. I could stay in bed for a week.”

“Well, you can’t,” Kitty laughs. “We need to make our beds, get dressed and then get down to breakfast.”

“Ok, ok, I’m getting up,” Serena replies as she lets out another yawn and stretches.

A short time later, both girls walk into the large dining room and find themselves faced with a wide variety of cold cereals and juices. Serena watches as one of the other students serves himself breakfast and she follows suit. Kitty hesitantly does the same, but there’s a frown on her face.

“What’s the matter?” Serena asks as they find a couple of seats together.

“Well, usually we get a hot breakfast on the weekends,” Kitty answers. “We get the cereal on school days since the teachers don’t have time to make breakfast then. I wonder way we got cereal today.”

Serena just shrugs and digs into her breakfast glad to have someone nice to talk to for a change. Jubilee joins them a couple of minutes later with her own bowl, but instead of eating, she starts talking.

“Hey, you two,” Jubilee cheerfully greets. “I was thinking of a battle name for you, Serena. I was thinking something that has to do with your powers, like, how, you know, Storm is called that because she can control the weather and Magneto is called that because he has this whole magnetic thing going on and Bobby has this whole ice making thing so he’s called Iceman and then there’s Beast because, let’s face it, he’s big, blue and really furry. So I was thinking that maybe, you know, you could be called Shocker or Shock Wave or something like that because, you know, you have that really cool power where you send out a big old shock wave that just totally flattens everything in its path.”

“Your cereal’s getting soggy,” Kitty points out when Jubilee stops to take a deep breath.

“Oh right, thanks,” Jubilee replies but doesn’t pick up her spoon. “So, what do you think, Serena? Or maybe we could do a name based on your name like Kitty because her battle name is Shadowcat and I’m Jubilee and my full name is Jubilation Lee and I can’t think of anybody else right now. Or you could do something on how you look, like you know, Cyclops was called that because it looked like had one eye when he had the visor on and Angel is called that because he has wings. Oh, or you could just go with a name that really doesn’t go with your name or abilities like Rogue did or Mystique, but they’ve both had the ‘cure’ so I guess it really doesn’t matter does it? But of course there’s still Nightcrawler and Wolverine who didn’t take the cure so I guess that it’s still a good idea. Or maybe not even go with a battle name because Professor Xavier was just called Professor X and Jean Grey was Jean Grey, but that’s never any fun in my opinion. So, what do you think?”

“I’ve never really given it much thought, but I’ll think about it,” Serena responds diplomatically as she goes back to her breakfast.

“Ok, great,” Jubilee says as she finally picks up her spoon and starts eating.

They continue eating and as they’re finishing up, Storm walks in with a clipboard in her hand with Angel and Nightcrawler following behind her.

“Good morning, students,” Storm shouts to be heard over the general murmur of voices in the room.

“Good morning, Miss Munroe,” the students reply and instantly go silent.

“As you all noticed this morning, you were given cold cereal for breakfast,” Storm announces and there’s a lot of grumbling in response. “That is because yesterday, in your enthusiasm to have a party, you left the kitchen a complete mess. I just came from the rec room and I must say that that room isn’t in any better condition. That being the case today will be spent putting those rooms back to rights. Once everyone is done with their breakfasts, you are to come up and see me for your assignment. Mr. Worthington and Mr. Wagner will be over seeing your work, so don’t even think about trying to shirk your duties. Is that understood?”

“Yes, ma’am,” everyone mutters, no one sounding happy about the idea of cleaning up the rooms.

Serena watches the two men standing with Storm and is quickly able to figure out which one is Angel but she has no clue as to what they might call the mutant with blue skin and a long blue tail. Angel walks over to a door that appears to lead to another room and takes up a position like he’s guarding the door. The blue guy disappears with a loud ‘bamf’ that causes her to jump a little and leaving behind a little bit of smoke where he had been. She quickly looks around for him and sees that he’s reappeared by a door that leads outside.

“That’s Kurt Wagner,” Kitty tells her. “His battle name is Nightcrawler. He’s a bit shy, but he’s nice. He teaches history and social studies. He also will teach German to anyone willing to try but I don’t think he’s had any takers yet.”

“And the other guy is Mr. Worthington, right?” Serena asks, indicating Angel.

“Yeah, that’s Warren Worthington the third,” Kitty answers, turning to look at the blond haired mutant. “He teaches math and economics. He’s nice, but he’s a bit flighty at times.”

Kitty looks back at Serena and they both snicker, but Jubilee has missed the entire exchange since she’s deep in conversations with another girl at the table.

“I guess we should go get our assignments,” Serena sighs, staring at her empty bowl.

“This is not what I had planned on doing today,” Kitty mumbles unhappily. “This promises to be as much fun as a trip to the dentist’s.”

“It could be worse,” Serena points out, as haunted look in her eyes.

Kitty looks at her like she wants to ask, but decides better of it and instead shows Serena where she leaves her dirty dishes and then drags her feet over to Storm. They stand in line behind a few other students that have looks on their faces as if someone has just canceled Christmas, but the line moves quickly as the students split up and head towards the teacher they’ve been assigned to.

“Ah, Kitty,” Storm smiles as she checks off a name. “You’ll be in the rec room today with Mr. Wagner. Go wait with the others until everyone else is done.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Kitty moans as she turns and heads towards the blue mutant with her head hanging down.

“And don’t even think about disappearing through that floor, missy,” Storm calls after her and Kitty suddenly rises several inches out of the floor she was starting to sink through.

“What about me, Miss Munroe?” Serena asks.

“You’ll be with me and Logan today,” Storm answers. “Just hang out here with me until this is done.”

Serena takes up a spot near Storm over by the wall and waits nervously until the woman is done handing out tasks. It takes about fifteen minutes before the last stragglers finally get their assignments and Storm hands over the lists to the other two teachers. She waves Serena out into the hallway and then starts to lead the girl through the mansion.

“We want to test your power today,” Storm tells her as they turn down another hallway.

“I’ve never been able to just make it happen when I wanted to,” Serena warns as they stop in front of an ordinary part of the wall.

“We weren’t expecting you to,” Storm replies as she presses a hidden button and the wall slides to the side to reveal an elevator.

“Oh, wow,” Serena whispers in wonder as she follows Storm into the small enclosure. “Where are going?”

“The Danger Room,” Storm answers. “It’s the safest place to test your powers.”

“Oh,” Serena replies weakly.

“It’s going to be ok,” Storm assures her.

Serena doesn’t answer, too nervous to speak so she just follows Storm down the chrome colored hallways when the elevator lets them out. A short time later Storm is punching in a code into a small numeric pad next to a door with a giant chrome X in it and a second later the door rolls open with a ‘swooshing’ sound. They step into a giant room that’s at least two stories tall, about as big as a football field and completely painted white. They find that Logan is already there waiting for them, his arms crossed over his chest and leaning against a wall.

“‘bout time you two showed up,” he grumbles, pushing himself off the wall.

“Patience, Logan, I had to give the students their assignments for today,” Storm replies. “I trust you haven’t touched any of the settings.”

Logan only scowls at her in response.

“Serena, please stand in the middle of the room,” Storm instructs as she steps through a door into what looks to be another elevator.

Serena does as instructed and looks around; barely noticing that Logan has taken up a position in front of her, but several feet away. She looks up and sees a series of windows which Storm appears behind a moment later. She’s not sure what to expect, but what happens next nearly stops her heart.

One moment she’s standing in the Danger Room and the next she’s back in Central Park. It’s night and a cold wind is blowing, tearing through the thin clothing that she’s wearing. She quickly looks around as she wraps her arms around her for warmth and instantly recognizes this as the same exact spot that she had been in on that fateful night.

“Miss Munroe?” she calls out nervously. “Mr. Logan?”

There’s no response other than the howling of the wind that’s whipping her hair around her face. She rubs her hands up and down her arms trying to warm herself and to bring a little self comfort.

“Hello? Anybody?” she yells, her voice trembling as her stomach ties itself into knots with fear.

Then she hears them. She hears the voices that have haunted her dreams for more than six months and a second later the owners of those voices step under a light not that far away.

“No,” she whimpers, tears starting to form in her eyes, blurring her view. “This can’t be happening. You’re dead. I killed you. You’re dead.”

“Lookie what we’ve got here, boys,” the blond one says upon spotting her. “Looks like we found ourselves a little field mouse.”

“You’re dead!” she shouts at them, tears flowing down her cheeks unheeded. “You’re dead! I killed you!”

“Hey, little mousie, wanna play with us?” the dark haired boy asks mockingly as they quickly move towards her.

“I KILLED YOU!” she screams, barely able to see them anymore as the fear takes a hold of her. “YOU’RE DEAD!”

With that last statement, she feels the power surge through her and all she can do is put her hands up as the shock wave is discharged through her hands while closing her eyes, unable to watch. She’s barely aware of her surroundings as she drops to her knees. She looks up expecting to see the remains of the three boys and destroyed trees and benches of the park like last time. Instead, she stares in a confused daze at the walls of a giant white room and the bright crimson smear on the white wall in front of her. There’s a crumpled heap at the bottom of the wall under the blood and it takes Serena several seconds to realize who it is.

“Oh my god, I’ve killed him,” she says in a strangled voice as she staggers to her feet. “I’ve killed Mr. Logan. Oh my god.”

The nearly hysterical teenager is stopped by a pair of arms and she grabs onto them instinctually.

“I killed him!” she sobs. “I’ve killed Mr. Logan!”

“Serena!” Storm yells to get the girl’s attention and when that fails grabbing her face to force her to look at the white haired woman. “Serena, you didn’t kill him! Logan’s ok!”

“But…but…,” Serena stammers.

“Look, see for yourself,” Storm instructs as she turns Serena’s head towards Logan.

Serena watches in amazement as Logan slowly gets up off of the floor and stands. He cricks his neck a couple times and then brushes himself off. Serena stands there in stunned amazement as he starts to walk over to them, completely unaware that Storm has let go of her head, though she’s still clinging to Storm’s arms.

“The kid’s got one hell of a kick,” he admits as he gets closer.

“But…how…?” Serena tries to ask.

“Logan has accelerated healing,” Storm explains. “He’s virtually indestructible.”

“Which makes me everyone’s favorite punching bag,” he growls. “We about done?”

“Yes, Logan, thank you,” Storm replies. “I’ll talk to you later after Kurt and I have had a chance to review the video.”

“Good, I could use a smoke,” he states.

“Just do it outside,” Storm tells him.

“Wheels let me smoke in the mansion,” he grumbles.

“Professor Xavier had a good deal more patience than I do,” she tersely replies. “Please smoke your cigars outside.”

“Fine,” he huffs as he stalks out of the Danger Room.

“I guess I know why it’s called the Danger Room,” Serena finally says in a shaky voice after Logan is gone. “Should I clean up the wall?”

“I’ll take care of it,” Storm tells her as she finally manages to dislodge Serena’s death grip on her. “We’ve got a special formula that will get rid of that stain without any problems. Why don’t you go up to your room and rest for a while? I’ll have Kitty and the others show you around the grounds after lunch.”

“Ok,” Serena nods tiredly, feeling like she’s just run a marathon.

Storm gently steers the still shell shocked girl towards the door and then down the hall. A minute later Serena is stepping into the elevator after assuring Storm that she can get up to her room by herself. Nearly ten minutes and a few missed turns later, Serena finds her and Kitty’s room and immediately collapses on her bed, asleep within moments of her head hitting the pillow.

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After spending her Sunday moving Bobbi’s furniture and other belongings out of her apartment and having very little luck finding a new apartment of her own, Amanda sits down with her laptop to check her email before calling it a day. She deletes anything from Jeff, especially since most of the subjects include rather vulgar descriptions of her body and other offensive items. Emptying the email trash has never been more therapeutic. Then she goes through the emails promising her great loan rates, cheep diplomas and offers for drugs to enlarge certain parts of her anatomy, including parts she doesn’t own. Once that’s done, she’s left with emails from her mother, sister and one that she’s never seen the sender before, but she instantly knows who it is and she opens that one first.

To: LawyerGirl
From: NotGuilty1
Subject: I’m home

Dear Amanda,

When Miss Munroe said the other kids would like me, she wasn’t kidding! They had a welcome party waiting for me when I got here! I can’t remember when I’ve had so much fun! The kids here are great and I’m sharing a room with a girl named Kitty who can walk through walls! How cool is that? I have to say all of the kids here are really nice and some of the boys are really, really cute. Especially one guy called Peter. I’ve never felt so relaxed with where I was living before I came here. I mean, I love my mom and brother and sister, but my dad always was yelling about something or the other and it was really stressful living there. I really feel like I truly belong here.

Unfortunately, the other kids made a really big mess with the party preparations and they spent Saturday morning cleaning it up while Miss Munroe and Mr. Logan decided to test my powers. I don’t ever want to go through that again. I thought I had killed Mr. Logan! Turns out you can’t kill the guy. At any rate, they’ve been going over the video and they’re trying to think of ways to help me control my powers. I hope they can think of something soon. Sometimes I feel like I’m a walking time bomb.

You are NEVER going to guess who came by today. Ambassador Hank McCoy came by just to see me. ME! How cool is that? But I’ve got to tell you he’s really blue and he’s really, really hairy and he’s monster big. I can see why they call him Beast. Pictures just don’t do him justice. But he’s really smart and really nice. I think you’d like him. BTW, he says to tell you ‘hi’ and ‘congratulations.’

Mr. Logan seems to have nicknames for just about everyone. He calls Mr. Worthington Tweety, Mr. Wagner elf-boy and he called Ambassador McCoy furball. To his face! He usually calls me kid, but I think he calls most of the students that. Except for Peter, he calls him Tin Man. And Bobby he calls ice cube and Popsicle.

Well, it’s almost time for dinner, so I better get going. Hope to hear from you soon.

Hugs,

Serena

Amanda smiles and she sighs with contentment that she was able to help find this girl happiness. She rereads the message and chuckles at all the energy the girl has plus the fact that in a little over two days she’s already developed a crush on one of the other students. She wishes that relationships were still that easy as she clicks on the reply button.

To: NotGuilty1
From: LawyerGirl
Subject: Re: I’m home

Dear Serena,

I’m so happy for you. It makes all the work we went through well worth it. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to call or email. Enjoy your new life; I hope it’s filled with all of the things you deserve in life.

Hugs,

Amanda

She double checks her letter and then clicks the ‘send’ button. After that’s done she reads the email from her mother reminding her of the fact that Amanda must come down to Virginia in a couple weeks for them to have a proper celebration. Amanda groans at the very idea, but knows she’ll never hear the end of it if she doesn’t go.

“Why do we have to celebrate getting old?” she grumbles to herself as she clicks on her sister’s email.

To: LawyerGirl
From: TheBetterHalf
Subject: You did it!

Hey Sis,

Congrats on winning the case. The kids and I were glued to the TV from the moment they announced that the jury had reached a verdict. I am so proud of you! I bet Serena’s going to love Xavier’s school.

However, now that everyone knows what you look like I can’t go anywhere without people thinking I’m you. I tried to buy some milk the other day before you even got the not guilty verdict and people were giving me these really dirty looks. At fist I thought maybe I had forgotten to wear my sunglasses, but it turns out they thought I was you! God, I thought we got past this mistaken identity thing back in grade school. Sometimes it sucks being an identical twin.

Don’t forget the ‘nice, quiet’ birthday party Mom has planned for us. I swear this surprise birthday party has got to be the world’s worst kept secret. God, I can’t believe we’re turning 30. Remember when 30 was like ancient? Where’d the time go? Are you bringing anyone special? You know what’ll happen if you do.

Congrats again.

Love,
Annie

Amanda smiles as she fires off a reply to her sister thanking her, assuring her that Serena loves her new life, commiserating about the mistaken identity thing and giving the latest on her lack of love life. Once that’s done, she shuts down the computer, lets out a huge yawn and heads for bed. She smiles to herself knowing she won’t be woken up in the middle of the night by someone else’s sexual antics.