A little outing...

[Shadowcat]

(Kitty enters the garage. She sees two vehicles plus ECKS' motorcycle. She decides to take the Escalade. She gets the keys and opens the door to the backseat. She takes her ice skates and places them on the floor. She closes the door and enters the vehicle on the driver's side. She sits and waits for Ana to meet her there.)

[Starr]

(Within moments Ana enters the garage and sees Shadowcat in the Escalade waiting. She hops into the passenger seat and puts her seat belt on.)

Ana: "This'll be good for us. It'll give us a chance to bond a little and get out of the house. So where are we off to first?"

. . .

[Shadowcat]

Shadowcat: First, we'll go get whatever you need to pick up. Then after you'll get to know a little something about me.

(Kitty puts her seatbelt on and starts the Escalade. She begins to drive out of the garage.)

Shadowcat: Tell me, Ana. You ever tried ice skating?

[Starr]

. . .

Ana: "Actually, no I haven't. But I'm a very fast learner. And I just needed to stop by the mall, I need to get some stuff for Nightcat's room, I've been working on decorating it for her. It gives me something to do, you know?"

Ana: "This should be fun."

. . .

[Shadowcat]

Shadowcat: Okay. Well, let's get going.

(Kitty exits the mansion's grounds and drives into the city.)

[Starr]

. . .

Ana: "I got the other stuff for Liz's room from the JC Penney at the mall. They have some really good stuff and it's not very expensive either."

(She checks her pocket and pulls out a JC Penney credit card.)

Ana: "And they told me that every time I use this I get a discount. I just hope they still have the stuff that I had in mind. I haven't done lot of shopping in the last few years but I remember how hard it was to a replacement for something you wanted if it gets sold out. I actually managed to have a mostly normal life before... all this."

(She places the card back in her pocket.)

[Shadowcat]

Shadowcat: Yeah, I know what you mean. When I was younger, I would just think it was like any other normal day at the mall. But after I got my powers, everything changed. People didn't even know I was a mutant then, not even my parents at the time. But whenever I would go out, I would feel like I was an outsider, in hiding. Trying to be normal while knowing at the same time that I would never be.

(Kitty drove through the city, following the signs to the mall.)

Shadowcat: Was it like that for you?

[Starr]

. . .

Ana: "Actually, in retrospect, I probably had it easier than most of you. I don't know what all you know about Chris, but the night we got separated we were shot, supposedly to death. We were leaving our high school prom and two men shot and killed us. Chris' healing factor is more powerful, so he woke up first, in the city morgue. I didn't revive enough to wake up until a few days later, I was alive, but in a coma that seemed so much like death that my family buried me. My powers allowed me to heal completely and soon I ended up in Canada, at a different facility of Weapon X than the one Chris was taken to."

Ana: "I guess Stryker figured that if we stayed apart he had a better chance of controlling us. So neither one of knew that the other survived that night. And I spent pretty much all of my time at the facility, away from normal people. I never had to worry about most of the things you faced out in the world, simply because I wasn't out in the world. I spent my days honing my powers and being trained as a thief and an assassin. The soldiers there all knew what I was, but even that probably wasn't close to what it must have been like going to school or anything like that after people found out what you were."

Ana: "I guess you could say that aside from reading news reports and seeing things on TV I never really experienced what it was like to live in the world when my powers manifested. Or how hard adjusting must have been. Of course, my family has never tried to find me, I guess they probably think I'm still dead. I just haven't got the heart to call them and tell them what happened. I think this way is better for them."

Ana: "But I get the outsider thing, even being with Stryker I knew I was different. He had other mutants there, but I was still different, they were all turned into monsters, he had total control of them with some mind controlling implants. The implants never worked on me, though, I just let him think they did to stay alive. Something about my ability to tap my own kinetic energy allows me a shield against most types of mind control. He never figured that out though. That's why I was different, the whole time he thought he had me played, I was really the one playing him. In the end, looks like I won."

. . .

[Shadowcat]

Shadowcat: Stryker. The only things I really knew about him were from what the others told us from that mission in Canada. I was one of the students who escaped when they raided the institute. What a night that was.

Shadowcat: In the outside world, when people found out what you were, it was just a bunch of stares and whispers. But you still got the feeling like they despised you. But I guess that doesn't matter now. The point is we've found a place where we fit in, and we still help others.
(Kitty turns into the mall's parking lot and finds a spot to park.)

[Starr]

. . .

Ana: "Yeah, I knew he was using me from day one. But he pretty much trapped me. In that situation I did what I had to do to survive, even with my natural skills and mutant abilities I couldn't have risked trying to overthrow him, he had to many soldiers. I'm not proud of some of the things I did for him, but it kept me alive so I can't really say I regret it either."

(Flashes of some of the things she did for Stryker cross her mind, but she closes them out and shakes it off. She hopes Kitty didn't notice.)

Ana: "I can imagine that it was terrible having to deal with being no more than a child and yet being hated and feared by so many people who don't really even know you. All they see is a mutant, they never bothered to see the people inside for who they really are. But you're right, we've come a long way since those days. And thanks to Xavier hopefully children in the future who discover that they are mutants won't have to deal with the same opression some of us have been through."

Ana: "I believe that we're going to make a difference. That we can make this a better world. And that maybe if I do my part to help I'll redeem myself for some the horrible things I've done. It's one of the things that keeps me going."

. . .

[Shadowcat]

Shadowcat: Yeah, me too. And don't forget, you also have Chris too.

(Kitty gives a little laugh as she turns off the engine and unbuckles her seatbelt.)

Shadowcat: Well, let's go do what us girls do best.

(Kitty opens her door and exits the vehicle.)

[Starr]

(Ana hops out of the truck, closing the door behind her, and meets Kitty as they head toward the entrance to the mall.)

Ana: "You don't have to tell me twice."

(The two of them head toward the entrance.)

[Shadowcat]

(Kitty and Ana return back to the car after shopping. Kitty uses the keys to unlock the car. She opens the door and puts her bag in the backseat. She gets into the driver's seat.)

Shadowcat: Well, next is ice skating. I found this place not too far away. It's next to this place where they sell Christmas trees.

[Starr]

(Ana also places her things in the back and takes her seat, being sure to buckle her seat belt. Once buckled in she nervously turns to Kitty.)

Ana: "I'd be kidding if I said I wasn't a little worried seeing that this will be my first time. I mean the concept of falling and maybe getting hurt doesn't bother me, I'm more worried about the falling and making a fool out of myself in front of other people. Not being sociable, like, at all for the last few years and then starting off with something like that wouldn't be a very good start, you know."

Ana: "On the other hand, I do have a great sense of balance so who knows, maybe I'll turn out to be really good at it. A natural even."

(She cracks a smile, trying not to let her fear show to much.)

[Shadowcat]

(Kitty begins to drive out of the parking lot to head to the lake. She sees that Ana is a bit nervous.)

Shadowcat: Well, a sense of balance is key, so you should do fine. It's just you'll have to get use to the feel on the ice. Once you get it, it's fine. Although I do admit, it's still embarrassing when I fall flat on my butt. It's been a while since I was last on the ice so I may be a little rusty.

(Kitty gives a small smile to help ease Ana's nervousness.)

Shadowcat: Well, for not being very sociable in the past, what did you do? You know, just for fun?