Hope Haven

Chapter I: Part II

"Bye Kurt! See you later!"

Kurt waved to Amanda before opening his locker and digging for his Geography text.

"Yo Vogner. All set for our big test?"

Kurt bent a little backward to look past his locker door. Meeting him was the grinning face of Neil Harris.

Kurt grinned back. He and Neil took nearly all of Tuesday's classes together, and they had become good friends. "I stayed up all night! How about you?"

"Nothing's gonna knock this stud down!" Neil announced confidently.

"Really?" Kurt smirked. "You said ze same zing about last veek's Geometry test, Harris. And vhat happened, mein freund?"

"A stinking D-." Neil sighed dramatically. "Alas! The truth is too much to bear! Take me now, my Messiah!"

Kurt promptly fell over laughing. Neil never failed to get a good laugh out of anyone. Maybe except for Rogue and a few other nonchalant ones, but no one could get a laugh out of them, so they didn't count.

"Okay, serious now. We've still got a couple of minutes left. Wanna go do some last-minute touch-ups?"

"Sounds great. Let's go!"

Jamie checked his watch. Lunch hour.

He singled out the Pierce twins, Garrick and Garrett, from the crowd, squeezing past people to get to them. "Hey guys! How's it settled?"

"Andy and Josh say it's alright, so long as we don't mess up the house..." The older Pierce began.

"...plus the bedrooms and basement are off limits." The younger Pierce finished. "Is the kitchen alright with you?"

Jamie nodded. "I'll have to go back to the institute first to get the stuff."

"You know, Jamie, wouldn't it be a lot easier if we worked on the assignment at the Xavier Institute instead of our house?" Garrick asked.

"There's probably a lot more work space at the Xavier Institute." Garrett pointed out.

"Well..." Jamie searched through his mind for the right words to use. "There are certain...inconveniences..."

Garrick shrugged before leaving with his younger brother. "Guess we'll see you later then. We gotta go chow down some cafeteria grub."

"See ya." Jamie left in a different direction, hoping to find some of his seniors. He hadn't found anyone who could give him a lift yet.

Back at the institute, Jamie still had no luck.

"What should I do, Kitty?" He asked. Kitty was working on a book report, her pen scribbling notes furiously.

"Have you, like, asked Jean?"

Jamie nodded. "I have. She said she had an urgent appointment to handle."

"How about Logan?"

Jamie had the mental recollection of Logan in the garage, surrounded by tension so thick you could dice it for Thanksgiving, his eyebrows narrowed dangerously, a toothpick wedged between his gleaming teeth. "What do you want, bub?"

"Erm...I think he's busy too."

Kitty shrugged and went back to her report. Jamie sighed and plopped down on the couch.

A familiar red car drove by the window upon entry into the institute. Jamie immediately made his choice as he bounced back onto his feet and ran out to the door.

"Thanks, Scott."

"No problem." Scott looked out at the house he just drove Jamie to. "You know, you could have asked me earlier. I came around here to get some groceries just now."

Jamie shrugged and scooped up his pile of books and papers from the boot. "I should take a couple of hours. The guys said they'd cater for my dinner."

"Give me a ring when you're ready to go. I'll pick you up."

Jamie nodded. With a final wave, he walked up to the door and rang the doorbell. An older boy decked in a 'road trip' outfit directed him to the kitchen before retreating to one of the rooms upstairs.

"That guy's awfully brown." Jamie commented casually.

"Louis? Yeah, he's out in the sun a lot." Garrick cleared the kitchen table. "So who's the guy with the snazzy car?"

Jamie placed his stuff in a small heap on one side of the counter. "That's Scott. He's with me in the Institute."

"Man, do all legible guys in this Xavier Institute get cool cars like that?"

Jamie turned to see a gaping teenager a disheveled mop of brown hair. "I don't know. Scott's the only one with a car. But Jean has a SUV, and I think Logan has a Harley."

The teen whistled in awe. "Man, I seriously wanna sign up."

Garrick rolled his eyes skyward. "Whatever, Michael. You don't know peanuts about the Xavier Institute."

"Sure I do!" Michael retorted. Then he thought hard before asking again. "It's some kind of good Samaritan organization, right?"

Garrick and Garrett looked at each other before casting their eyes skyward and slapping their foreheads in complete synchronization.

"Err...Close enough." Jamie answered quickly.

"See, I knew it!"

"Forget it. Let's get to work." Garrett filed through Jamie's books before lifting up a script book. "Henry V?"

"Scott lent it to me. Thought it'd be useful if we included reviews on Shakespearean plays in our research."

"I see. Might work." Garrett flipped through the pages until he came upon one that was highlighted. "An angel is like you, Kate. And you are like an angel. Neil would definitely want to take notes from this."

Jamie pulled up a chair and sat down. Just as he picked up a pen, there was a loud thump, followed by a low grunt and giggles.

Jamie blinked. "Was that from downstairs, or outside?"

"Outside." Garrick and Garrett answered in unison.

Hank removed his horn-rimmed spectacles and polished them methodically. "So tell me again about this girl Cerebro picked up."

"Naomi O'Brien. Age fourteen. Has the gift of virtual duplication."

Hank inspected his glasses in the light. "Care to emphasize on 'virtual duplication'?"

"The creation of a hologram that is the virtual clone of the target." Xavier explained. "Isn't that right, Scott?"

"Yes, Professor. I saw her myself." Scott nodded. "My hand even passed through twelve certain items as proof to theory."

"I see." Returning the glasses to the bridge of his nose, Hank consulted one of the computer monitors in the room. "So now we have a potential recruit to find. Any suggestions on how we shall make our approach?"

"Shouldn't be a problem, Mr. McCoy. Jamie is acquainted to two boys in her family."

Xavier cleared his throat. "It's not exactly as easy as that."

Both Hank and Scott looked in his direction.

"After tracking her for some time, I found out something else." Xavier thoughtfully rubbed his mouth. "She's not standing alone."

"And so...with reference to 'Henry V'...we can conclude..."

There was a distinct click. With the sounds of wood against wood, two men appeared in the kitchen doorway. One was an African, probably of Xhosa heritage. The other was unmistakably American, his head of dark blond hair slicked back neatly with hair gel. Both seemed to be in their forties, and their attire was nearly identical in a certain manner.

Garrick looked up over the book he was dictating to Garrett. "Oh. Hi Andy. Hi Josh."

"Hello, boys." The blond man smiled warmly at them. "I take this is Jamie Madrox?"

"Yes, sir." Garrett twirled his pen.

The man glanced briefly at his watch. "Well, I hate to interrupt you, but I think Jamie should be getting home now."

The boys obediently tidied the kitchen table of books, papers and unwashed dishes.

Garrick tipped cookie crumbs into the waste basket. "Jamie needs to use the phone, Andy."

Garrett took the now empty plate from Garrick and placed it in the sink. "He has to call his friend to pick him up."

The blond man - Andy - gave his permission. "Go right ahead, sonny. It's in the living room, left to the couch."

"Thank you, sir." Jamie placed some of the smaller books in his backpack before exiting to give Scott a ring.