Note: ~< >~ indicates telepathic conversation

“What do you think happened?”

The words were the quietest of whispers in Buffy’s ear. Under cover of pulling out her luggage, Buffy answered Willow’s question with a bewildered shrug. One moment things had seemed fine, the next - well, they were still fine, but uncomfortable fine.

They all tried to hide it but they were watching Buffy and Willow out of the corner of their eyes and Scott was nowhere near as comfortable with her as he had been. The change seemed to occur after they had left the airport and before they entered the car.

Now they couldn’t help but wonder what kind of reception was waiting in the mansion.

And a mansion it was. When Scott had said ‘small school’, Buffy had had a mental picture of Sunnydale High. When he had mentioned ‘mansion’, she had envisioned Angel’s home. Then she had tried to combine the two. The resultant image had been nothing like what was before them.

Ivy crawled up the walls of the sprawling palace. The greenery was traditionally manicured, formal and stately. It looked like a millionaire politician’s home, not like a school.

“So, how come you’re here in the summer, Scott? Doesn’t the school close?” Now THAT, thought Buffy, would be truly horrifying. School all year round. She shuddered.

“Well, we live here. Plus, Jean and I lived here as students.” He shrugged. “It’s home, now.”

“Yah, I’ve had nightmares like that.”

Still a bit oversensitive from the ‘fruits’ comment, she tried to minimize the previous statement. “Well, you know, different strokes suit different - “ Her eyes widened as a sudden image came to mind. “Not that I am thinking of any stoking and you at the same time because - eeww - my cousin, and married. And, Will, help me out here?” She was redder than she had been with her last sunburn. Willow’s eyes almost popped as she shook her head. No WAY was she getting involved in that conversation.

“It’s alright, Buffy. I understood what you meant.”

Scott did. He really did. It might seem to them that he was a lot older, but being a teenager and the hormones that made everything a minefield were still very vivid memories for him. One of the reasons he had been so ‘stoic’ as a teenager had been to avoid embarrassing himself in front of a certain redhead in just this way. He had also been too shy. The horrible hormones made everything you said seem to have some sort of sexual double meaning.

He glanced at his ‘Red‘. Of course, sometimes it still seemed like that.

“I’m not usually like this. With the words, I mean.”

Willow very daringly confided to Scott. “She’s right. Most of the time, she’s worse.”

There were a few snickers as Buffy mock-glared at her friend.

“See if I help you out again.”

Willow smiled at Buffy, confidant in more help that she could ever want, if she needed it.

Then both stopped in amazement.

The inside was even more magnificent than the outside.

“Hey, Kitty!”

Scott called out to the young woman just stepping into the hall.

“Hi, guys.”

“Buffy, Willow. This is Kitty Pryde, one of the long-time students here. Kitty, this is my cousin, Buffy Summers, and her friend, Willow Rosenberg.”

Will did another little wave, while Buffy and Kitty nodded and smiled at each other. The hidden part of Buffy connected Kitty to the woman who had turned into a cat in her dream. The link between the dream shape and her name was obvious. What if the others were as obvious to them?

Willow noticed Kitty’s Star of David and asked about it. While Scott brought in the remaining luggage, the two slid into a chat of how hard it was to be Jewish in a country where the culture and major holiday’s were Christian.

Buffy noted that she was also rather relieved to meet Kitty. Both Ororo and Jean were beautiful, in a supermodel kind of way. It wasn’t just Scott that had gotten a tall gene. Ororo was majestic and carried herself with a dignity that made you want to treat her with respect, even without knowing her. Jean was just plain gorgeous. And Buffy had been beginning to feel dwarfed.

Not that Kitty was short, but she wasn’t as tall as the others.

Kitty did have a look to her: Character. But she didn’t have the body of a model. Her hair was beautiful: thick, long and full of body. But the way she wore it didn’t suit her. It was her attitude that made the difference, though. She carried herself with the air of someone who was plain and practical; like someone who had been told she was smart often - but seldom told she was pretty - and so had concentrated on her mind and mostly ignored her looks. Buffy would have bet that Kitty had been a plain child and a gangly teenager who never noticed her features had changed to fit her bones. And her clothes - - the overall focus of these clothes was practicality, but Buffy knew that she could find practical, pretty clothes that would suit her figure and coloring much better in under a half hour in a decent mall.

Plus, Kitty was nice.

Kitty had coaxed Willow past the first topic, and through a discussion on the media and advertising that focused on the Christian religion, and, finally, had stumbled upon one of the driving passions for both girls.

Buffy watched, amused, as Willow left reserved and shy in the dust and became enthusiasm-girl. In their discussion about the newest computers and - Xavier raised an eyebrow at this - personal hacking techniques, it became obvious to all the watchers that both girls had forgotten totally about their audience. Kitty picked up one of the suitcases, Willow another, and, still discussing some incomprehensible technological advancement, headed off down the hall.

Buffy looked at the other four.

“So, I take it our room is in that direction.”

Earlier, Buffy and Willow had decided to share a room in the mansion, especially after they heard Scott and Jean’s bedroom overlooked the living room loft style.

Buffy took her ‘special’ bag as Scott and Jean took the remaining three suitcases and trailed after the two technogirls.

The X-Men gathered in Xavier’s study. Those who were unaware of the new mystery surrounding their guests were quickly informed.

“So, what might be responsible for our inability to scan our guests’ minds?”

“They’re not alive. Robots.” That gloomy prediction came from Scott. All present had known each other for years and could see how hard this had hit him.

“I don’t think so, Scott. When I took the suitcase from Willow to put in the trunk, her hand was warm. And at the store, when we picked up the ice cream, Buffy bent into the freezer and I could see water vapour in her breath when she exhaled.” Ororo held up a hand. “That’s not to say they definitely are not robots, but it eliminates certain types. If we could get a blood sample from each, we could probably eliminate all types, including techno-organic varieties. Not that this appears to be their MO.”

“You’ve thought on this.”

A nod.

“What else have you come up with?”

“We have encountered normal humans who have a natural ability to block psi-scans. Charles?”

He thought for a moment.

“Block, yes. Make themselves invisible to telepaths, no. And I believe it strains the laws of probability to think that we should encounter two such people at once.”

“Could the Sunnydale area, the ‘static’ you described, have affected them?” Jean spoke up, one hand unobtrusively holding tight to Scott’s.

“It is possible, I suppose, especially for Willow, who has lived her entire life there. But Buffy only moved to the area three years ago. I find it unlikely that the area’s influence could have affected her in such a relatively short period of time. Unless the change was done on purpose. Also, I do, at least, sense static from that area. The same can not be said for Buffy and Willow. No. Unless something in the Sunnydale area consciously and purposely affected them, I believe we can eliminate that possibility.”

“Madelyne.”

That one word from Scott dropped like a lead weight in the suddenly still room. Madelyne had been Scott’s first wife, whom he had married when everyone had believed Jean was dead. She had also been Jean Grey’s clone, created by a long-time enemy.

Scott took a breath.

“Remember, Professor. Madelyne also blocked all attempts to enter her mind. We never found out if it was because she was a clone, if it had to do with Jean being the donor, or if it was something Sinister did during the cloning process.”

Kitty spoke for the first time.

“We can probably find out the answer to that with the same blood sample we use to eliminate ‘robot’ from our list.” At the looks of confusion, she added, “Cellular drift. If they are clones, there should be a small amount of degradation at the cellular level.”

“Can you tell that without a donor sample to compare to?”

“Me? Probably not, even with our equipment. But I bet Hank could. He can also do a DNA analysis to find out if she really is a relative of yours.”

“I might even be able to help a little while we wait for that. A family sometimes shares a base scent. Not always. And she’s not exactly a close relative, but it might be enough.” Logan’s rough voice came from a corner, where he could watch the meeting and keep an eye on all the entrances. It wasn‘t like he thought there was any danger, but habits of a lifetime were hard to break. “Plus, I could probably help rule out some of those ‘robot’ theories, too.”

“And, at the same time he‘s checking on the DNA, Hank could look into the more likely possibility for our little mystery.”

“Kitty?”

“Come, on Scott. Why did we invite them here in the first place? ‘Genetic abnormalities’, remember? Buffy could be a mutant, and all this could be the result of her power! Or it could even be Willow. I think that that is much more likely than the other guesses.” Before anyone could agree or disagree, she added, fiercely, “If it’s because of some phenomena, or because they’re clones, or mutant, they probably know nothing about it. Or about us. Madelyne didn’t. I like them and I don’t think they’re here to hurt any of us. I think we should be careful not to do anything that might hurt them. And I’m not talking physically here.”

“Calm, Kitten. None of us have any intention of hurting them.”

“Maybe you don’t intend to, but you’re sure making them nervous. Try and act naturally, people! If one of them is a mutant, especially one who can shield against the Professor, do we really want to make them uncomfortable? Make them suspicious? We want them to trust us. Plus, I really like Willow. I don’t want to make her an enemy just because we’re paranoid.”

“Kitty . . .”

“Paranoid for a reason is still paranoid, Scott.”

“Kid’s got real good instincts, Cyke. Might want to listen to her. Let’s use some of those fancy gizmos to keep an eye on them, but, otherwise, act like you planned. We have a couple a teenagers who’re gonna want to see the sights. Take them around. Get to know them. If they are the enemy, then we haven’t lost the element of surprise. If they aren’t, then we may have gained an ally. Or even a friend. And it’s not like we’re secret-free. We’ve had X-Men that we’ve known less about, compared to these girls.”

*****

I apologize for the short chapter, but Christmas is a busy time. Because of that, there will not be any more updates until after Christmas - when I have access to a computer again. Don’t let that stop you from reviewing, though. It would make my Christmas merry. :D

MERRY CHRISTMAS!