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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.

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.

"Hey, with a power like yours, you could --"

"Kaitlyn, is that you?" One of the older girls at Xavier's was calling at her through the hedges. The redhead stopped dead in her tracks. "The DocProf's been asking around for you. He said you're supposed to be at the Danger Room."

While the older girl spoke, Kaitlyn turned to Clyde and put a finger over her mouth. Then, she tiptoed away through the hedges as quickly and quietly as she could manage.

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.

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.

Oh, so it wasn’t just sleight of hand; you had to be able to read people too. That probably had something to do with all of Firecracker’s total failures on that front.

A waitress came to take their orders. Soon, they had their drinks and obligatory egg roll appetizers, with the main course on the way. All paid for by that random loser Tses casually stole from earlier.

“You know,” Firecracker said with her mouth full of egg roll, “I think I could probably play coffee golf with you, if we had something for me to drop into the coffee cups.” She chuckled. “I’m sure the people at the Mansion would love to hear that I’m practicing more with my new powers.”