Kitty shook her head at her roommate, a teasing smile playing her lips as she jumped out of the van. "Oh, don't act like that!" she said with a roll of her eyes. "You were the one who, like, wanted to try it out this morning!"

Rogue stepped out of the car with a scowl on her face, reaching up and pulling her hair out of it's messy ponytail from this morning. "Ah didn't think it would attract that much attention!" she seethed, shaking her hair until it was back to it's normal look, storming off towards the garage door.

"Come on, we all know that's a lie," the younger girl laughed, picking up her pace to catch up with her. "And don't tell me you didn't like it! It had to have been a nice change."

Kurt suddenly popped right in front of Rogue, hanging upside down from the ceiling. "Ya, Rogue, lighten up! You vere the one who thought it vould be a nice change in the first place!" he said with a bright smile, his fangs sheening as his holowatch turned off. 

Rogue groaned, stopping just in time so she wouldn't run into the blue furry boy. "Ugh, Ah know already!" she growled, rubbing her face with her hand. She reached into her pockets and put her gloves back on, which did not match her newer outfit. "And sure, it was nice for a little while. But that's not the point!"

Evan stopped just behind them, holding his skateboard under his arm. "Then what is?" he asked with an air of both annoyance and curiosity. 

Rogue sighed and crossed her arms, suddenly looking uncomfortable. "You guys know that Ah'm not able to touch anybody. Sure, the attention was kinda nice for a little bit, but having people.. you know, get to close makes me uncomfortable." She sighed. "Ah couldn't have gotten very close to them anyway."

Kitty quickly felt bad for her friend, also feeling a little guilty for pushing her to do this. She offered her an apologetic smile and hooked her arms with Rogue's, careful not to touch any showing skin. "Hey, it's no big deal," she said. "It was a one time thing anyway, right?"

"Ya," Kurt said, jumping down from his strange position and landing in front of the goth. "At least try to enjoy it!"

Kitty smiled up at her again, and Rogue sighed, relaxing a little. "Well, it's pretty much over. But thanks." She shrugged her shoulders as her friends smiled at her, but her roommate could tell she was already feeling a little better about it.

"Come on," the younger girl laughed, pulling her friend along. "Let's get you out of those clothes."

"Everyone," their driver suddenly called from behind them, making them pause before they entered their home. Ororo walked over to everyone, her hands folded in front of her. "I'm sure you are all aware of the mutant signal that the Professor picked up this morning."

Kitty thought back for a moment, before nodding along with the others. She remembered that Scott and Jean had got to stay back from class today so that they could join Logan on the search. "Wasn't the signal a bit weak or something?" she asked, letting go of her friend.

Ororo nodded. "Yes, and we were not able to get a clear location on the mutant. The others went to search the area, if you recollect."

The others nodded once more. Kitty's curiosity was now soaring through the roof, and she was sure she was not the only one who felt that way. The signal had been found that morning; surely, she was bringing it up because they had found the mutant.

"Did they find the mutant?" Kurt asked, as if he had read Kitty's mind. 

The older woman nodded, stepping in front of them and ushering for them to follow her. "Yes, they brought her back a few hours ago," she told them as she opened the garage door, leading to the inside of the Institute.

"So it's a she?" Evan asked, a little too excitedly. Kitty found herself rolling her eyes at the younger teenager and his child-like interest. She bit her tongue to hold back a sassy remark.

His aunt nodded, though she was giving him a slightly disapproving eye as well, something Kitty felt a little grateful for. "Yes. But I must warn you," she added, her voice growing more serious and concerned. "This mutant is a bit.. unstable. I would advice that you remain calm and on your best behavior."

The other kids all glanced at each other, concern, curiosity, and hesitance in their faces. Kitty felt both excited and a bit worried. Her mind filled with thoughts as Ororo led them down the halls, most likely to the main living room. She knew that most mutants, whenever Xavier found them, were unstable and upset. She remembered how afraid she had been when he and Jean had approached her, and it had taken them a little while to gain her trust. Glancing at Rogue, she remembered just how hard it had been to get her to come to their side. Her power was very unstable as well, and it had left her roommate with a lot of confusion on who she was and who her allies were. It had been hard to imagine life with Rogue, but now, only a few weeks after her arrival, it was hard to imagine her life without her.

Kitty wondered just how unstable this girl was. 

~

The students all sat or stood scattered around the main living room, waiting patiently. Scott and Jean were also there, but were rather quiet. Several of the younger ones, including Kitty, had asked questions about the new mutant. They had told each of them that the Professor would explain everything to them when he arrived. 

"Aw, come on!" Kurt complained to his friend, his tail swinging back and forth. "You vere there! You haf to tell us somezing!" he pleaded.

Scott shook his head. "Trust me, Kurt, we're still in the dark about several things, too."

"What do you mean?" Kitty asked, sitting next to Jean on the couch. 

The red-headed teen sighed. "She was... difficult to read. Or even get close to."

Rogue noticeably stiffened a little at Jean's words, looking up at the older students. "Was her power.. like mine?" she asked, something Kitty couldn't identify wavering in her eyes.

"We don't know yet," Scott told her, his voice very serious. "Like I already told you, we don't know much. She doesn't want to talk to anyone."

Evan crossed his arms, huffing as he leaned back on the side of the furnace. "Great, another secretive mutant," he mumbled. 

"What's that supposed to mean?!" the goth girl asked accusingly. She still had not gotten to change out of her brighter outfit, and apparently it had her much more on edge than it had this morning. 

Evan raised his hands in surrender. "Nothing!" he said quickly, trying to correct himself. "It's just that.. well, Logan and.. you can sometimes be pretty quiet about your past or what you're feeling. I'm a easy-going guy, so it kinda messes with my style," he tried to explain, beginning to grumble a little towards the end.

Kitty opened her mouth to say something to him, already annoyed with him again. Ororo quickly held up her hand, a silent instruction for everyone to stop. "There is no need for us to argue. We do not want to appear hostile when our newest member arrives."

After a pause, the teenagers huffed and leaned back, avoiding eye contact. Kitty did feel frustrated with Evan, but his aunt was right. Even though the younger boy got on her nerves, she did not want to seem like an annoyed brat when the new mutant came. After awkward silence hung in the air for a few moments, she turned her head to Ororo. "Where is she, anyway?" she asked, hoping her tone didn't sound too accusatory. 

The woman turned her eyes over to the young mutant. "I am not sure. The professor told me to meet him here. They just have not arrived yet. No need for alarm," she told them, her voice calm, but a bit worried nonetheless. 

The others all exchanged glances again, but decided not to press on about it. Kitty sighed to herself, feeling a little concerned, while Kurt tried to lighten the mood by starting small talk. Evan joined in, complaining about the homework, but in all light-heartedness. Rogue began begrudgingly telling the two older teens how the day had went. Kitty found herself joining in, adding a few things about how some kids had reacted to Rogue's change of clothes. She was glad that everyone seemed to calm down and started to laugh a little, like normal. 

That's just what she wanted. Normal.

Or, her kind of normal. 

Suddenly, the door opened, and Professor Xavier wheeled in on his chair, his expression light with that comforting smile of his. He had his hands folded in his lap and looked relaxed, which instantly sent relief through Kitty. The younger teen was glad to see that everything seemed well under control. She smiled to herself, wondering why she had been so worried in the first place; Xavier almost always had everything under control. 

"Thank you all for coming," the Professor said, as if he were greeting the members of some board of importance. "I understand that you all most likely have questions."

Kurt snorted a laugh. "Vhat gave it avay?" he asked in a silly way, shrugging his shoulders. 

Xavier smiled a little brighter at the light-hearted mutant, turning his chair away from the door, now positioned beside it. "You know that we picked up a mutant signal as of this morning," he began, not replying to Kurt, not to be rude, but because he did not need to. "Logan, Jean, and Scott went to learn more, and they did find the mutant."

Logan suddenly appeared, rounding the corner and walking through the doorway, his hands in his pockets. His expression looked rather grim as he entered, but also looking slightly exasperated. He glanced back as if expecting something, and almost right away, someone hurried in and hid behind him for a moment. Logan sighed and reached behind him, firmly but carefully grabbing her wrist and pulling her out from behind him. 

"Everyone," Xavier said, gesturing to the young woman who stood there, uncomfortably glancing around, "this is Angel Carmin." 

Angel stood beside Logan awkwardly, skootching a little closer to the short man. Kitty gazed at the woman in shock, and a bit of awe. Some mutants were born with strange appearances because of their abilities, like Kurt, but that area of mutant genes seemed to have gifted her; her name seemed to match her.Her long hair was a sheening white, and the light of the chandelier above them seemed to make it glow. Despite her tiny appearance, she had a slender body that seemed to fit her well. Her pale skin matched her well, and her face was cupped gently like a soft heart. Her eyes was what really took Kitty's breath away. They were an awed color of pink, like light pink sakura flowers touched by the dusk of the setting sun, darker pink specks dancing around them. 

Those eyes locked onto hers, and suddenly Kitty felt as if Angel was reading her like a book. Her chest squeezed just the smallest bit, and the teen quickly felt a little uncomfortable. Angel quickly tore her eyes, her face twisted like she was both surprised and ashamed. She started shivering a little bit as she glanced over everyone. Kitty noticed that her eyes almost seemed like they were... glowing slightly.

"Angel, much like you, Jean," Xavier said, calm as ever as he turned to the redhaired girl, "has two mutant abilities, each of them, in a way, a part of the other."

Everyone's gaze once again fell on the new mutant, who simply glanced down at her feet and sighed. Kitty was once again in awe, and she could tell that quite a few of the others were, too. Two abilities was something rare to the mutant genes, and not something to be taken lightly. Kitty glanced over at Jean, who had told her that her first experiences with her mutant abilities had been very hard. Jean looked sympathetic and concerned, and suddenly, Kitty didn't feel so in awe anymore. 

"Angel can both feel the emotions of others," the professor continued, "and create very real hallucinations, most of those times based on the emotion she feels the strongest, or her own emotions, if she can."

No one else uttered a word, taking it in slowly. This was very different from when everyone had been introduced with each other. This seemed like something more serious to the professor, instead of a gift that the mutant had received. Angel sighed once more, wringing her hands together as she glanced up at everyone. 

"She has been through a rough experience, as far as we can tell," Xavier told them. "She does not wish to speak of it now, so please, do not pester her with such questions. She will tell us when she is ready."

For another awkward moment, everyone was quiet. Then, Kurt, the kind-hearted soul that he was, walked over to her with a big grin plastered over his furry blue face. "Nice to meet you!" he exclaimed cheerfully, holding out his hand for her to shake. "My name's Kurt!"

Angel seemed shocked by his sudden greeting, her wide eyes blinking in surprise a few times. She eventually let herself relax slightly, glancing down at his three fingered hand awkwardly. She finally lifted her own hand and took his, and he shook it a few times in a friendly manner, his grin growing brighter. Her eyes widened again as they shook, and her thumb started to play with his fur a little bit. 

"Um," the blue furred boy chuckled awkwardly. "I hope you do not mind my fuzziness," he said, laughing a little. 

Angel did not seem bothered at all. She looked back up at him with a bit of a sparkle in her eyes. Suddenly, there was a purr below them, and everyone looked down to see a kitten rubbing against Kurt's legs. He gasped in jumped a little in surprised, everyone else having similar reactions. Kitty watched with wide eyes as it disappeared, just as quickly as it had appeared, like it was blown away by the wind and erased from existence.

Angel swallowed nervously, letting go of his hand quickly and putting hers behind her back. "Sorry," she muttered anxiously. "I didn't mean to do that..."

Kurt's eyes went back and forth between where the cat had been before and the mutant who was now backing away in shame. Kitty wondered what his reaction would be, but quickly came to a conclusion about it. Just like she had thought, Kurt was a little awed instead of afraid, smiling brightly at her and pointing to where the kitten had been.

"Vas that a halluzination?" he asked, his eyes wide. "It vas so real! I could feel the kitten rubbing against me!"

Angel seemed a little confused by this reaction, but the others calmed down quickly when they saw that everything was fine. Kitty honestly felt a little silly, acting like this mutant was some big deal. She was just like them, which meant they did not have to treat her with wariness. 

"Must've been based on what she was feelin," Logan said as Angel turned to look at him. "Or whatever you were feelin, Elf."

"I vasn't thinking about cats, zat's for sure," he said, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

Angel, apparently even more ashamed and shy, went over to Logan and hid behind him slightly. "You.. reminded me of my kitten," she told them quietly, almost to quiet to hear. "From a long time ago.. she was soft, like you." She seemed to feel a little stupid by her statement, her eyes glancing away as she blushed ever so slightly. 

Kurt looked dumbfounded for a moment, but he laughed again. "See?" he called back to the others. "Girls luv the fuzzy dude!" 

Kitty felt her spirits lift as laughter echoed around the room. She shook her head and got up from her seat, pushing past the silly blue mutant and walking over to Angel. With a welcoming smile, she held out her hand to shake as well. One by them, the others get up and followed after her, waiting their turn to greet the new mutant. 

"I'm Kitty Pryde," she said cheerfully. "We're happy to have you here!"

Angel was just like them; a lost soul, an afraid mutant, one who was confused and in need of help, just like they had been, and in a way, still were. The X-Men were there for each other, so she would be there for her. 

~

I just suddenly had the urge to update instead of my other works?? 

Oh well. 

I hope you like this chappy! I did not expect it to be this long, but everything turned out better than I had hoped! I hope you're liking it thus far. 

Comment whatcha think! ^^