Ororo poked her head in the living room where Jean was stretched out on the couch, her head on Scott's lap. "Do you know where I can find Mac?" she asked after scanning the room.

"Not really, have you tried his lab?" Scott replied, his finger playing in Jean's hair.

"He's in the garage," Jean said after checking mentally, "he's tuning the engine on the corvette." Over the last few months Jean had become a staple at the house, arriving on Friday and leaving Sunday evening. Fridays were normally a movie night for them, and the movie was playing, but neither was paying too much attention to it.

"Thanks." Ororo went directly to the garage where, as Jean had said, Henry had his head buried under the corvette's hood. "Mac, any chance we can talk?"

Henry looked out and smiled at her, "Sure," he said as he put the wrench down, "I'm all ears." He leaned back against the car, wiping the grease off his hands with an old rag.

"Can we go somewhere Scott won't be able to walk in on us?"

Henry was a little surprised by the request but he nodded. "Sure, lets go to my lab."

Inside it he locked the door behind them. "What's this sensitive matter you don't want Scott to know about?"

"I'm planning on bringing my," she searched for the right word, "boyfriend with us to the fair tomorrow."

"So we finally get to meet the mysterious man."

Ororo nodded, "I want your opinion on how I should handle the introductions."

Henry leaned against one of his work table, "ok, I'm not certain how I can help facilitate the procedures, but I'll go my best."

"It's Bishop," She said flatly.

Henry straightened up and his blood ran cold. "Are you insane?" As a group they had had three dealings with the assassin, each time walking away from it in bad shape. And on the last one Scott had almost died. Ororo had been the one to save his life by sending Bishop flying away in a tornado. "Don't you remember what he did to us? You can't bring him there, how do you know he's not just using you to get back at Scott again?"

She folded her arms over her chest and did her best to keep her temper in check. "Henry McCoy," said sternly, "what did *you* tell me when I started commenting on you and Thomas?"

Henry glared at her, "I told you to mind your own business."

Ororo nodded. "I'm not asking you to understand, but I need you to accept that he's good for me."

He turned around and rested his hands on the table, putting his weight on them as he tried to catch his breath and calm his nerves. "The tibia, the femur in two places, the humerus, the radius and six ribs," he recited.

"What?"

"Those are the bones that he broke in my body the last time we met. I spent three weeks in the hospital. Are you expecting me to just forgive and forget?"

She placed a hand on his shoulder, "no, but I'd like you to give him a chance. He left the Renegades and he's trying to change. Isn't that what we're about? That it's possible to rise above your past and become a better person? Of the five of us, Katherine is the only one who doesn't have things she'd rather forget. We've made something of ourselves in spite of the things we had to do growing up. He's not that different from us."

Henry closed his eyes and forced himself to remember that Ororo wasn't a woman who jumped into relationships easily. He had trouble believe that the man *could* change, but if she said that Bishop was trying to, he had to believe her. He took a deep breath and finally slowed his heart beat. "Alright, I'll accept it," he said not moving, "but Scott isn't going to be this easy to convince."

"I know, that's why I need your help introducing them."

"For starters, don't bring him here," he stated, straightening up and turning.

"That's a given," she replied.

"You can't simply show up with him at the fair either, Scott is going to go ballistic when he sees him and he's going to need some time to cool down, even with Jean's help." Ororo was about protest that she *was* bringing him, but Henry forestalled her with a raised hand. He went to a computer and brought up a map of the area where the Fair was held. "Yes, that would be a good spot," he muttered to himself. "Cynthia, please call Thomas, at work"

"Of course Henry," the computer replied in a young Katherine Hepburn voice.

"Good evening," a synthetic voice said afterward, "you have reached the offices of the Agency of Mutant Affairs. Please state the name of the person you are trying to reach."

"Thomas Black."

"One moment please. Please note that for the purpose of call quality control, your call may be monitored"

The line clicked there was silence for a few seconds and then it clicked again, "Thomas black speaking."

"Hi Thomas, it's Henry, how is the overtime going?"

"Hi Henry," they could hear the smile in Thomas' voice, "overtime in the office is boring, that's what makes it worth while. To what to I owe the pleasure of listening to your voice?"

"I was wondering if you'd be amicable to a change of plan tomorrow."

"What kind of change are we talking about?"

"Instead of going to the fair directly at noon, I was thinking we could go there early and have a picnic, there's a lightly wooded area half a mile from there. We could enjoy a light meal, and relax under the sun before spending the rest of the afternoon riding roller coasters."

Thomas chuckles "I don't have a problem with that, but I'm going to be getting home pretty late, I'm not going to have the time to prepare sandwiches."

"Don't worry your handsome self about that. I'll take care of the food. I'll make sure there's enough for the eight of us."

There was a moment of silence, "eight of us?"

"Yes," Henry replied, "You did say you had eight tickets for the fair."

"I take it Ororo is bringing the man she's currently seeing?"

"Yes, she is."

There was a pause. "I'm not sure if that's a good idea," Thomas said.

"What does *that* mean?" Ororo asked.

"O, Ororo?" Thomas stammered, "Damn it Henry, I wish you'd told me you were on speaker."

"I didn't realize it made a difference," Henry said.

"Shut up Henry," Ororo told him, "and you tell me what you mean by that."

Thomas sighed, "Bishop and Scott have an unpleasant history."

She cut him off, "how the hell do you know about Bishop? Have you been spying on me?"

"Of course not!" Thomas replied in an offended tone. "He's the one that's under surveillance."

"What? What for?"

"Because he's an ex assassin for the Renegades."

"*Ex* Assassin, he hasn't had anything to do with them for at least six month."

"True, but he still hasn't registered with us, until he does we have to treat him like a potential threat."

"That's bullshit. I'm not registered and you don't spy on me."

"You don't have a history with the Renegades Ororo, he does. I'm not going to list all the things he's done since I know you wouldn't be going out with him without already knowing the worst of them. Our job involves protecting civilians against mutant threats. I'm not saying he's one, I actually think he's making efforts to assimilate, but we still have procedures to follow."

Henry placed a hand on her shoulder, "She'd already told me about Bishop, that's why I want to have the picnic; it'll give Scott space and time to calm down."

"Alright, what time do you want to get there?"

"I was thinking ten."

"Ok, I'll see you home then."

"I'll be eagerly waiting for you." Henry hung up.

"Were you playing dumb?" Ororo demanded, "did you already know about me and Bishop?"

"No, I didn't. Thomas doesn't talk about work with me. The only person here who might know would be Jean, and I doubt it, she isn't involved with surveillance. You come with him to the picnic tomorrow and we'll deal with that explosion."

Ororo nodded and hugged him, "Thanks."

He hugged her back, "you're welcome, now, why don't you go see your boyfriend and warn him of what he might have to face tomorrow."

After Ororo left he grabbed a quick shower and headed to the kitchen, stopping by the living room to enlist Scott and Jean's help.

"What did Ororo want?" Scott asked in the middle of making sandwiches.

"She just wanted some advice on a personal matter," Henry replied.

"And she went to you?" Scott was surprised; normally she came to him with those.

Reading the look on Scott's face Henry chuckled, "you were sort of busy with a beautiful woman's head on your lap. I don't think she wanted to disturb you."