It vaguely resembled a dispenser for lotion or hand soap.

Androgel 1.62%, said the label.

Kaitlyn sat amongst the lockers in the unlit hallway. All of them were closed except for one, which was such a mess that papers and textbooks were oozing out of it onto the floor. Off to the side, a handful of small, strangely-shaped metal tools lay on a piece of dark grey cloth on the floor, along with a lock which you were only supposed to be able to open with its key. She held the ‘androgel’ in her hands, staring at it with her three-pupiled eyes, trying to figure out what it was.

The ‘active ingredients’ box told her what she wanted to know. Testosterone.

“Steroids,” she muttered. She was about to put it away, when she realized something: this was a mutant school. Being a mutant meant you couldn’t compete seriously in any sporting events, outside of club sports like the Ultimate Frisbee team. There was no conceivable reason for someone at Xavier’s to feel so pressured for athletic success that he would turn to steroids.

The redhead started to snicker. She couldn’t tell why this was so funny to her. But it got even funnier for her when she remembered where she found the stuff. It was just sitting in the guy’s locker, where it was really likely for someone to notice it as he was getting his books or something. Then they’d bust him for using these pointless performance-enhancing drugs he took to do better at ultimate Frisbee or some stupid club sport nobody cared about.

Kaitlyn dropped the thing and covered her mouth, trying to silence her own laughter. This really wasn't funny at all.

Carrick sighed as he slowly opened the door to quietly enter the mansion, it was late so he was past curfew, or at least his curfew so the last thing he needed was to be seen not only would his parents get a phone call but someone might question why he now had a newly formed black eye. Carrick sniffed and rubbed his nose, which was dried with blood as he tiptoed towards the stairs. He already had reputation as a troublemaker most of the teachers didn’t care for him the kids his own age didn’t really care for him and to top it all off anyone who knew who he was also might have heard that he went berserk and mauled a few people a few months back during the riots. Said incident lead to his alienation with most of the kids his age and single handedly got his ex-girlfriend pulled from the school so she could be ‘safer’. Carrick missed Liz, which might have been one of the reasons why he was getting into trouble more than ever before.

Walking towards the kitchen Carrick stopped as his elf-like ears twitched. He heard a few people talking. Carrick shifted his weight and slowly turned towards the hallway where the classrooms were. No one should be there it was late meaning all the rooms should be locked right?

Silently walking down the hallway his tail swayed behind him with his wings tucked tight behind his back. One of the perks of being a third cat (might be more cat than bird now) he was able to be silent when he wanted to be making it that much easier to sneak around. Heading towards the distant stairs Carrick a girls bathroom entrance and kept going until he heard some muffled voice down the hallway.

Slowly and silently Carrick cursed under his breath and proceeded on slowly looking for another way up the stairs. Maybe it was a sleep-walker or someone he didn’t need to worry about? Groups of voices were more of a problem then an individual one. So Carrick continued to walk towards the voice hoping his footsteps weren’t loud enough to hear.

It took a few seconds, but the girl got over her laughing fit and started to stuff papers and textbooks back into the locker. Just as she was about to finish, she heard something. She froze. Footsteps?

Looking up, she saw a boy with wings. Kaitlyn had seen this kid around before. In fact – wasn’t that the kid who went nuts and mauled people during the riots? As a big monster, anyway. A lot of people went nuts and mauled other people, but that kid just looked unusually impressive doing it.

Kaitlyn decided that her best bet was to act like she wasn’t doing anything wrong. That way, he probably wouldn't question her. She took a break from shoveling things into the locker to wave at the winged boy. “Hey there. You’re Carrick, right?”

Heart pounding, she finished shoving things into the locker like nothing was wrong, then locked it up. Only after it was locked did she realize that she forgot to put the steroids back in. With a shrug, she left the Androgel sitting on the floor in front of the locker. Her lock-picking tools were still spread out on that piece of gray cloth on the floor next to her.

For as much as he thought himself as a stealthy moving kid he seemed to be no ninja. Carrick stopped his sneaking and moved into a mock ‘I’m super stealthy’ stance then slowly set his arms down and shifted his weight till he was facing the girl. Carrick tilted his head and mismatched eyes shifted from the red head he didn’t recognize to the lockset. He then spotted a tube and then the locker she was standing in front of. ”I be him.” Carrick said looking around making sure there wee no adults around that would like to get him into trouble.

Satisfied with the lack of adult super vision ”Guess me first question is who are ya?” Carrick then tilted his head down at the lockset. He wasn’t the best when it came to picking locks in fact he never really made an effort to learn it. When he worked with the circus a few of the older guys tried to teach him. Sadly for them they realized unless properly motivated Carrick wasn’t the best at paying attention. The winged thief was still able to recognize what the lock picks were though.

”Second question, why yer picking locks to get into lockers?” Carrick asked shifting his attention to the stairs where he was heading back down the hall. No one was around except for them. ”Forget yer combination?” Carrick asked rubbing his fist to his nose wiping some dried flakes of blood from it. ”Ya dropped yer tube, nasty thing to leave behind” his tail swished mischievously behind him as he smiled flashing his cat like canines.

The first question was easy. “Call me Firecracker,” she told him, wrapping her tools up in their cloth.

The second question made her hesitate. “Uh, this isn’t mine.” She gestured at the Androgel. “I just… found it.”

Wow! Good job on the whole not-sounding-guilty thing, she berated herself. Maybe the truth would be a good idea here. It wasn’t really that bad, since she wasn’t actually stealing anything. Plus, she wouldn’t be able to come up with a convincing lie on short notice.

“I’m just practicing on random locks I find, I guess. Actual Practice locks cost money.”

After she had already spilled the beans, the light hit Carrick’s face just right, and she noticed how beat-up he looked. Convenient ammunition for a subject change. If only she’d noticed it sooner. “The hell were you doing?”

Carrick stared at her as she told him her name. he blinked and shook his head his shaggy hair swaying back and forth, ”Not gonna call you firecracker.” Carrick said trying not to laugh at the name. ”Red more like it.” Carrick said nodding his head and committing red to her face. Carrick knew why kids and other people gave fake names; he himself gave over half the mansion a fake name or two at one point or another it was so people couldn’t find him. Even though he loved attention he still liked to be forgotten every now and then. That and if he ever caused some trouble they’d just use the fake name that was given.

Taking a few steps closer closing the distance between the two he smirked when she tried to lie to him, ”You just found it and decided to get some practice?” he nodded his head sarcastically, ”Makes sense.”

Whens she noticed his face she changed the subject and Carrick touched his face everywhere except where the shiner was forming and his nose, both were still tender. ”What do you mean what was I doing? I was out for a night fly. You know, giving the adults the slip and sneaking out. I got me some wings so I gotsta use ‘em right?” Carrick asked rhetorically. Even if she didn’t get it, it didn’t matter any. ”You try using the picks on the class rooms?” Carrick asked curiously, ”When I traveled with the circus there were a few folks who always tried to practice on anyone’s trailers. Boy did that piss some people off ‘specially when they broke it.”

The redhead frowned. “If you’re gonna call me Red, I’m gonna call you Circus.”

‘Firecracker’ was a cool nickname. She knew it was a cool nickname because Rhythm gave it to her, and Rhythm was one of the coolest people she knew.

“So, Circus: I have picked some door locks, but they’re all pretty much the same. Wanted to try something different.” She wrapped her picking tools in her little bundle and stood up. “Speaking of people getting mad, it’d prolly be best for your personal health and safety if you didn’t tell a lotta people about what I’m doing here. Ya dig?”

Kaitlyn could respect his decision to sneak out. She’d done the same and worse, herself. However, she’d like some assurance that Circus here had some respect for what she was doing.

”Circus?” Carrick let out a small laugh and nodded his head, ”I can work with that red.” Circus, definitely described his personality a chaotic mess of fun and tricks begging for attention and excitement. Yeah Circus would work nicely.

”Yeah, I dig.” Carrick said sliding his hands out mockingly as he tried to ‘play it smooth’ ”Almost sounded like a threat there, red. Probably should be careful how you word things. Some might take offence.” Carrick said walking past her flashing his sharpened teeth and looking at the tools she was working with then spotted the tube.

”I’m a lot of things. A narc ain’t one of them.” Carrick said bending over and picking up the tube and reading the label. ”Andro-gel…” Carrick said having no idea what that was. Instead of bothering to read the ingredients he dropped it where he found it and shrugged, Liz was the one between them that read the ingredients or instructions. ”No idea what that is.” unless it said do not read or do not take Carrick didn’t have much interest in it. It was clear to him now that all the things he shouldn’t do usually seemed to be the most entertaining.

”There are more locks different from the doors down here.” Carrick said looking back at the tools and picking one up and looking at it from all angles as if it was ‘super’ interesting. Placing it back down he shrugged and continued, ”I don’t know however if there are alarms on it or not. So it might not be worth the risk.” Carrick said shrugging his shoulders some more while his tail flicked behind him mischievously,

She let the stuff rest where Carrick dropped it. “It’s steroids. I guess some kid wanted to take his… Ultimate Friggin’ Frisbee to the next level, or something.” She started snickering again.

Her snickering stopped when she saw him pick up one of her tools. As soon as he put it back down, she snatched up the whole bundle and kept it close to her.

“You mean the offices?” She knew there were some offices with supposedly important stuff in that general direction. “’Cause I’ve picked some of those before. No alarms on them.” Then again, she hadn’t tried raking those locks before. Same general concept as picking, but with a different technique that she was still trying to learn. Maybe she could manage to do it without getting any locks jammed up this time.

”Steroids? You mean there is someone here who thinks that’s a good idea. Probably a jock…” Carrick said nodding his head as he was running through a list of faces he had run into and almost got shoved into a locker from. ” Yeah, now that I think of it there are a few guys that get that roid rage.” or just bad tempers. Carrick didn’t know which and didn’t really care. People he didn’t like could do whatever they wanted. As long as it didn’t bother him none.

”Naw not the offices, though I do here some teachers have a few things they keep in their desks that they don’t want in the general public. But no.” Carrick shook his head, ”Ain’t what I mean. I was thinking the roof access. It is unlocked but there is an alarm that goes off whenever it is pushed. Meaning…” Carrick looked to his clothes to see if there were any left over from the last time he pushed the door open. Staring at his flannel he scrunched his nose upset there weren’t any signs of the bluish black in.

”Stuff stains yer skin and yer clothes.” Carrick nodded, ”But if I could figure out how to turn it off it be a breeze to get in and out without anyone finding out I’m sneaking off. They locked my bedroom window too but.” Carrick shrugged ”I might have ‘sleep flown’ through it.” Carrick said throwing out some air quotes.

Unlocked roof access, with some sort of ink-based alarm system? “Well it’s not an actual lock to pick, so…”

At first, Firecracker was going to tell him she couldn’t help. Then she realized how useful it could be for certain Order members to get in or out through the roof access without tripping alarms. “Eh. You know what? That actually sounds kinda fun to mess with.” She rubbed her chin for a moment as she came up with her plan. “Wanna help me try to disable it? We could borrow some stuff from the maintenance closet. I mean, don’t want you to break your face ‘sleep flying’ anymore, Circus.” Red smirked.

It would probably be better if Circus thought she was just trying to do him a favor. Maybe he’d even owe her one, if she managed to pull this off.

Carrick was already moving toward the stairs and nodding his head, ”Why I suggested it wasn’t it?” Carrick shrugged his shoulders, ”There is a lock and key thing attached to the alarm system so I figured if there is a lock to pick you might as well try it.” Carrick flashed her another grin as he nodded again, ”Not sure how much help I’ll be red not the best at picking locks though if you want to demonstrate reckon I might be able to pick it up. I had a few people try to show me a few years ago but now that I actually have a reason to learn.” Carrick started to laugh and quietly clapped his hands together.

”What maintenance closets ya talking bout?” Carrick asked pointing down the hallway towards the teacher’s hallway, ”The one by the profs offices, and the one down this hallway or we talking about one of the two on the higher floors?” Carrick asked pointing to the general direction of each one as he said them. He had explored a few rooms out of boredom the maintenance closets were relatively easy to remember where they were seeing as he hid in them a few times when he was running from the bigger kids or the hall monitors.

”Whatcha thinking? Duck tape over the ink spout? I tried it,” Carrick said smirking mischievously, ”Sprays enough ta the point of leaking everywhere instead of spray. Might be best to tap a rag to it though.” Carrick said thinking his tail twitching behind him as if he was chasing a mouse. ”Somebody always comes to reset it any time it goes off too.” Carrick said, ”Tried to tape the door open and that didn’t last long.”

And then Carrick started walking talking and asking questions, speaking too quickly for her to get a word in edgewise. Following along and keeping her picking tools close, she eventually got a chance to speak:

“I was actually thinking we could get some screwdrivers and wire-cutters or something, from the one that’s right next to roof access. We could just take it apart, make it stop working, and put the cover back on. But… hmph.” That bit about the alarm system with a lock might change things. “What do you mean, the system has a lock? Like, a console with an off-switch has a lock on it? Or – eesh!” Kaitlyn nearly tripped herself over on Carrick’s tail. “Crap. Sorry... Anyway, what’s the lock for, exactly?”

The two began to walk up the stairs, made it past the second floor. She hoped she wouldn’t have to tell him to keep his voice down.

Carrick tail was almost stepped on, he let out a small snarl then grabbed his tail as it whipped to his hands and he held it close, ”Ohi! Whachit!” if she actually stepped on it he had a feeling them sneaking around probably wouldn’t have happened after he woke the entire second floor with one of his roars. Carrick let the questions hang for a second before he responded.

Once they got to the second floor Carrick apologized for his little outburst. ”Sorry… hurts like hell when someone steps on it.” Carrick said making sure to keep his tail more elevated when they were walking on the stairs. ”But, I’m not sure taking it apart will work. You’ll see when we get up there. I didn’t see any screws when I looked at it but then again I never go up there to just look at it. Usually I’m running up there.” Carrick said shrugging. Alright so he never bothered to look to see if a screwdriver worked he was more focused on the ink that sprayed.

”Lock is for turning off the alarm and turning it back on. A few of the teachers, carry around a set of keys for the school. One of the keys works on da alarm meaning you can come and go when ya please and won’t have to worry bout no alarm.” Carrick said shrugging, ”If yer any good ya should be able to turn it off with the picks right?” Carrick asked his tail twitching as he was about the head to the third floor stairs when he spotted some older kids in the hallway kissing. Carrick stopped short on the second floor staircase and then held a finger to his lips then silently stepped to the third floor stars and proceeded.

Carrick tried his best not to think about the kissing it only made him think about Liz.