See part 0/5 for disclaimer. Please send comments to claire at or i can forward them for you, my address is in my sig file. The 'Of Mutants And Immortals' Arc Welcome To The X-Men, Kavik. Hope You Survive The Experience! Part 3 by Claire L. Fenwick Sunday, 9:07 AM The light shining in through the window woke Remy up. Smiling as he recalled the previous night he looked down at the still sleeping form of Kavik. Softly he bent to kiss her. She moaned and opened her eyes at the light touch. "Sorry, Chere. Didn't mean ta wake you." "That's okay." Kavik said sleepily. "What time is it?" "Jus' gone nine." "I suppose we'd better get up then." Kavik looked at Remy and grinned. "Wha'?" Asked Remy. "I need a coffee. After all, if Charles is going to evaluate me today then I doubt if I'll live up to his expectations with only three hours sleep, and no caffeine." "We could always stay in bed." Remy smiled. Kavik grinned, then swung her legs over the bed before the thought of staying there with Remy became too tempting. Walking into the bathroom, she heard Remy get out of bed. "You know, Chere." He said as he followed her into the bathroom. "You're lucky havin' one o' de only rooms in de mansion wit' a proper bat'room. Gambit has to go to de shower room when I wan' a shower." All of the bedrooms of the X-Men had bathrooms attached to them, but they were tiny with only a toilet and sink in them. "All of the guest rooms have en suite bathrooms, I guess I'm just lucky that there was no where else to put me." Kavik smiled as Remy's arms came around her waist and pulled her close to him. "I need ta go back to ma room an' shave." Remy said, rubbing his hand across his chin, feeling the stubble. "Let me." Kavik walked through to the bedroom and rummaged around in a bag. She walked back into the bathroom holding a razor and some shaving foam. "Chere," Remy laughed, "dat's a woman's razor." "So." Shrugging his shoulders Remy laughed. "Not'in', Chere. Not'in' at all." Kavik perched herself on the side of the sink and pulled Remy closer to her. Shaking the can of shaving foam, she squirted some into her hand and rubbed it on the lower half of Remy's face. Dropping the can of shaving foam, she picked up the razor and removed the protective cap. Lifting Remy's chin with her finger, Kavik gently dragged the razor up his neck, then rinsed the foam off the razor. She carefully shaved Remy's lower face and then wiped off the residual foam with a wet towel. "There." She said softly, rubbing her hand across his now smooth face. "Perfect." Remy had kept his eyes closed during the shaving, trusting Kavik to do a good job. Her touch was luxurious and gentle. He opened his eyes when he felt a warm, wet towel wipe at the bottom of his face, and smiled as he felt Kavik's legs wrap around his waist and pull him closer to her. Sunday, 9:36 AM Remy and Kavik walked into the kitchen laughing and joking. It was quite full, and everyone turned to them as they walked in. Logan looked at the two of them and smiled a wide, knowing grin. Kavik blushed slightly and turned her head, only to look straight at Rogue. Kavik had felt the tension in the room as she and Remy had walked in, and she now noticed Jean glancing from her and Remy to Rogue and the white haired man who had been introduced as Joseph. "Kavik, Remy," said Jean. "What would you like for breakfast." "Just coffee, thanks." Replied Kavik. "Dat's all for me, too." Remy agreed Kavik walked over to the counter where Jean was pouring out two coffees. "Milk? Sugar?" She heard Jean ask, as she watched Rogue glance at Remy and then leave the kitchen, followed by Joseph. "What?" Kavik asked. "Oh, em, neither, thanks." Remy walked over to Jean, took his coffee off her and walked over to sit at the table in the middle of the room. Kavik was just about to follow him when she felt Jean's hand on her arm. "Give Rogue time." Jean said softly. The telepath looked at Kavik. Jean knew that Rogue had claimed that she no longer wanted Gambit herself, but Jean had felt the confusion and jealousy coming from Rogue when she saw Kavik walk in with Remy. Jean shifted her attention back to Kavik, who was still looking at her. "Rogue and Remy used to be...involved." Kavik looked surprised. "He never said." "It was complicated." Jean explained. "But it's over now?" Kavik looked at Jean for reassurance. Jean nodded. "The sexual attraction I can feel from Gambit is directed at you." Jean felt Kavik relax at that statement. "The impression I got was that Rogue was involved with Joseph." Jean sighed as she looked at Kavik. "That is also...complicated." Kavik smiled. "Isn't it always." She stated. Jean smiled back and nodded her agreement just as Remy came up behind Kavik and slipped an arm around her waist. "Jean, I don' wan' you puttin' Kavik off by tellin' stories about me." He jokingly scolded. Jean had a look of mock indignation on her face as she answered. "Would I do a thing like that?" "Oui. Dat's wha' I'm worried 'bout." Remy joked, eliciting laughs from the people in the kitchen. Sunday, 10:47 AM Kavik looked at the outfit Charles Xavier had just given her with a stunned expression. "Charles, you have got to be kidding me." "I never 'kid', Kavik." Came the answer. "Yeah, yeah. Tell it to someone who doesn't know you as well as I do." Charles flushed slightly. "You need an outfit." "I've been fighting in *normal* clothes for years, I'm sure I can get through this in my jeans." "Please, Kavik, humour me." Asked Charles. Kavik couldn't take the look on her old friend's face. "Oh all right. But one snigger and I'm walking straight out of this house." Charles turned his wheelchair to go out of the door and smiled as he heard Kavik shout after him. "I'd bloody make sure I got changed out of this thing first, though." As the door to the Kavik's room shut, Charles' smile expanded even further as he heard Kavik muttering to herself. "I'd get laughed off the bloody streets." Sunday, 12:09 PM Charles looked at his watch - again. "This is so unlike Kavik," he said. "She's normally so punctual." "She's only a few minutes later, Sir." Said Bobby. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, the door to the Danger Room opened and Kavik stepped in. Bobby's jaw dropped as he looked at the newcomer. Charles just raised an eyebrow. "*That* is *not* the outfit I gave you." He stated. Kavik was wearing a black, all-in-one cat-suit type outfit, that clung to and accentuated her body. A black belt went around her waist, and the entire outfit was finished with black, slightly heeled boots that went up and clung to her calf. Kavik just smiled. "Well, if I'm going to look like I'm running around in my underwear, I'll do it on my terms. And do you know how difficult it is trying to get something like this on a *Sunday*? I had to resort to the only shop left open." "And that was?" Asked Xavier. "Trust me, Charles. You *don't* want to know." Gambit grinned. "Gambit t'ink dat it looks good." Bobby grinned in agreement. "No arguments here." "*Anyway*," Charles said, clearing his throat. "The reason everyone is here, is to evaluate Kavik's abilities. So, it's going to be Kavik against the rest of you. I want to see if she can disable any of you before she is stopped." "How are we going to work this?" Asked Scott. "Flags." Stated Charles, producing a bundle of small coloured flags. Each person will have a flag. If the flag gets taken off you, then you're out." Charles handed out the flags to everyone present. "I'll start the sequence when I get to the control room." Charles left, and a minute later, the Danger Room turned into a forest. Charles voice came over the intercom. "You may begin." Kavik looked at the people before her, grinned, then ran into the forest behind her. Iceman smiled. "This is gonna be sooooo easy." He laughed, as he created an ice slide and went into the forest after Kavik. "Iceman, no!" Shouted Cyclops after him, but Iceman was already gone. A few seconds later, a miserable Bobby Drake walked out of the forest. "She got me." He mumbled. "I was just sliding along and then all of a sudden I couldn't move. Kavik just walks up to me and takes my flag." "That's what I was going to say before you rushed off." Explained Cyclops. "Kavik controls the four basics elements, *including* water. Changing into your ice form would have given her total control over you." "Oh," Bobby shuffled his feet. "I didn't know." He sighed. "Well, that's me out." Bobby walked a few feet away from the rest of the X-Men and sat down against a tree. Cyclops looked at Phoenix and Psylocke. "Where is she?" He asked. Both of the woman concentrated, telepathically scanning the area. "I can't find her." Said Psylocke. "Neither can I" Agreed Phoenix. "But that's impossible," Storm interrupted. "I read her file and it made no mention of telepathic abilities." "Her psi shields must be phenomenal if neither of us can scan her." Said Phoenix. "Yes, that means that telepathy may not work on her unless she is a willing participant." Noted Psylocke. Cyclops turned to Wolverine. "Can you track her?" "Yep. But I ain't going inta the forest." "What?" Cyclops looked at Wolverine disbelievingly. "'Vik's good. You go into that forest and you give her everything she needs to take you down without even being seen. Best thing ta do is ta wait here, let her come to us." "I don't agree." Scott glared at Wolverine. "We go in after her." Jean nodded her agreement "But how are we going to do it? The forest is way too big for us to stay in one group. We'll need to separate if we're going to cover a reasonable amount of ground." "Agreed." Nodded Cyclops. "Blue team goes left, gold team goes right. Is that okay by you, Storm?" He said, turning to the field leader of the X-Men's gold team. "That is fine." Came the answer. "Okay then, good hunting." The two teams separated and entered the forest. Logan leaned against a tree and lit a cigar as he watched them go. Kavik sat in a tree. Iceman had been easy because he had acted hastily, but the others wouldn't. She thought, unaware that Wolverine had stayed behind. Kavik's body tensed as she heard movement above her. She had taken the time to read the files on the X-Men and so she knew their powers. She quietly looked up and saw Angel soaring through the sky. Distracted, she didn't realised someone else was there until Psylocke appeared out of the shadows and knocked her out of the tree. Surrounding them in a bubble of air, Kavik made sure that no one else heard the commotion as she and Betsy tumbled out of the tree. Psylocke couldn't get a grip on Kavik's mind. Deciding to take immediate action, she materialised her psychic knife and went to plunge it into Kavik's mind when a torrent of hateful thoughts shot through her mind. The onslaught shook Psylocke's concentration for only a second, but it was enough for Kavik to punch her and grab the flag sticking out of Psylocke's belt. Betsy groaned and rolled over. "I didn't think language like that was possible." "Anything's possible, if you put your mind to it." Answered Kavik, as she ran back into the forest, leaving Betsy to go and join Bobby on the side lines. Bishop spun around when he heard a twig snapping behind him. As soon as he realised there was no one there, he turned back round slowly. He brought his gun up abruptly at the person in front of him. "Bishop." Replied Kavik. "Give up." "A member of the XSE never surrenders." Bishop lunged at Kavik. He staggered abruptly, his body feeling as though it were no longer under his control. He looked at Kavik, her face was flushed and strained. Bishop watched as Kavik gingerly walked over to him and took the flag out of his belt. Control of his body suddenly returned and Kavik slumped to the ground. "Are you all right?" He asked. "Yeah," She answered. "That always takes it out of me, but it was the only way I could stop you." "What did you do?" "I took control of the water in your body. But because a human body isn't 100 percent water, it's difficult to do without losing control." Kavik watched Bishop walk away from her. She waited until he was out of sight before she got back to her feet and dusted herself off. She had lied to Bishop when she said that little trick was difficult. The first few times she had tried it, it had taken so much of her energy she needed hours to recover, but after years of practice, it was relatively easy. She just had no intention of letting the X-Men see how powerful she really was. Kavik had learned years ago that having an opponent underestimate you was one of the easiest ways to get their defences down. And besides, she wasn't yet sure just how much she wanted the X-Men to know about her. "Okay," Kavik muttered to herself. "Three down, eight to go." Beast had separated from the rest of the blue team when he had felt the ground tremor slightly under him. He came into a clearing and saw Kavik leaning against a tree. "Dr. McCoy." She nodded to him. Hank was surprised by her lack of concern at being found. He wondered briefly if this was a trap, but there were no wires or ropes, and she wouldn't have had the time to set anything up. "It would be for the best if you handed over your flag, before an altercation occurs." "Dammit Jim, I'm a mutant, not a moron." Kavik said in her best 'Star Trek' Bones voice. Hank raised an eyebrow. "Well, I'm sure I've never heard that before." He said sardonically. Kavik smiled. "Sorry, I just couldn't resist." "I'm coming for your flag now." Said Hank. Kavik shook her head. "I don't think so. Not considering how I've slowly been leaching out the oxygen molecules from around you." Hank realised that he had been breathing more and more deeply since he saw Kavik. Kavik continued. "In fact, I would say that in about five seconds you're going to slip into unconsciousness." Kavik gestured and removed all the oxygen molecules from around Hank. Hank gasped, unable to breathe, and a haze of blackness descended on him. Not wanting to risk that Beast was feigning unconsciousness, Kavik surrounded his flag with air molecules and pulled it to her. She let the oxygen return to Hank, made sure that he was breathing steadily, and walked away. End of part 3 {} {@@@##{}>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> {} **** Always running before the sun Suzy {ee0u4051@liverpool.ac.uk}