Lara could not believe her ears. The enemy didn't even need to collect the information! It was with them all along.

"But why use the plans now, Professor?" Beast inquired smartly. "If Erik assisted you in its production, that means he had been in possession of the plans for some time."

Xavier nodded slightly, but rather than answer Beast, he simply closed his eyes and directed the information to them all through one streaming thought.

Feeling a slight tug on her arm, Lara turned to face Nightcrawler. He placed one finger on his mouth and directed her toward the door. She noticed that the rest of the assembly had broken up as well, so she didn't ask any questions until they were out of Xavier's office and into the main foyer.

"Kurt, if I might pose a question...?"

The blue mutant nodded briefly at the tomb raider and listened as she cleared her throat.

"If the Brotherhood have had the means, motivation, and opportunity to execute their plans, why now? Why not at some earlier state when the X-Men might have suffered some loss or weakness? What about right after Ellis Island? When everyone was weak, the Brotherhood could have unleashed their new plan. I just don't understand..."

But the mutant merely placed one finger on her lips to silence her. He stared into her eyes for a moment and watched in wordless amusement as she gazed directly into his. Without so much as a single blink, the tomb raider returned his stare and Kurt found himself smiling. It wasn't every day that he found someone that had the courage enough to look him square in the eyes. And he told her this.

In a state of shock, Lara gave her warmest smile to the shy mutant. Raising one hand to his cheek, she spoke to him softly:

"Any human, or mutant for that matter, would be sorely mistaken to find you repulsing, Mr. Wagner. I haven't known any of you for that long, but I know that you are the most dedicated and honest person I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. You are a rarity in today's society; it's a pity that more people are not like you."

As she finished speaking, Kurt took her hand in his and they continued to walk.

"It vould be stretching it to say zat I vas apart of today's society, Lara. I am flattered by your compliments, but zere are not many people like me because zey are all afraid of vhat zey might become." Somberness overcame his entire expression but Lara squeezed his hand tightly in protest.

"No, Kurt. It is true that people are afraid of mutants and may scorn you personally for your appearance, but those people shouldn't matter to you. Those people are what accumulate the common filth of our world. Once the human race learns to accept difference, more and more people will see what a wonderful person you are." She ruffled his hair. "Despite the way you look." Then lowering her voice to a whisper she leaned toward his left ear:

"Besides, I happen to think that you are a very handsome individual."

Breaking out into thankful laughter, Nightcrawler pulled Lara into a friendly hug.

"If I am a rarity, zen you do not exist," he said metaphorically and gave her hand a final squeeze. "Now if you'll excuse me..."

Nodding her head at the blue mutant in front of her, Lara watched as his form quickly disappeared from sight. Smiling to herself, Lara turned around to head up the stairs when she came face to face with the girl who had attacked her.

"Oh, hello, Rogue," Lara said politely.

But the girl didn't move nor speak. She just stood there with an expression of loathing and contempt; it was evident that she did not like Lara for some reason.

Seeing that Rogue wasn't going to make an effort to begin a conversation, the tomb raider gladly started one.

"I know that you have some underlying hatred toward me, Rogue," Lara stated simply. She watched as the mutant girl shrugged her shoulders slightly and expanded her sneer. But Lara wasn't about to give the girl the upper-hand. So she finished her sentence:

"But I don't care. And if you want me to stay away from your friends, I'm afraid I won't be able to do that. You see, I'm taking a liking to this place and the people who live here, and no silly little girl is going to ruin any friendships that I might acquire during my visit." Then walking halfway up the stairs, Lara spun back around and focused on Rogue once more.

"Oh, and if you try another stunt like the one you pulled the other night... I'll kill you."

As Lara Croft turned back around and headed to her room, Rogue sunk back into the shadows. She thought about what the tomb raider had said but tried to brush it off.

She's bluffing!, The mutant thought forcefully. But something lingered in the back of her mind; maybe she wasn't that bad. Maybe if Rogue only spoke with her or apologized...

"Hey, Kid," a gruff voice suddenly sounded next to her.

"Logan! Logan, you nearly scared me half to death! What's up?"

But she knew all too well what was up. Rogue knew that Logan had taken a special interest in their new guest and that she, Rogue, was meddling in things that she shouldn't. But, honestly, who really cared? Sighing internally, Rogue decided that she did care about Logan.

But Lara is another story, she thought acidly. No more thoughts could she form, for the Wolverine spoke to her again:

"So, you're pickin' on the Tomb Raider, are you?"

Rogue didn't know what to say. She stuttered.

"I... I don't know what you're talkin' about." She knew that was a lie. He knew it was a lie. So what was the point? Logan was a built-in lie detector anyway! Hell, you couldn't lie to him about your grandmother's twenty-seven year old corgi's name without him knowing.

"Fine! Fine! You win; obviously I'm stuck with the rep of hating the new guest! And I suppose you're going to yell at me for using my powers on her? Or maybe it's just because I'm not throwing myself on her like Bobby and John are..."

And she had said too much.

"So this is what it's about, hm?" Logan questioned. "You're jealous of Lara because you're "almost-boyfriend" was interested in her?" He shook his head in disappointment.

"Logan, listen... it's not like that! See..."

"Just know this," he interrupted her. "If it weren't for her, Bobby wouldn't have come apologized to you the other night. He would have still been in with the rest of the students, drilling her for information or showing off his mutation. You remember that."

Then without another word, he headed outside.

Morning came and slowly melted into the afternoon. The sun rose high into the air, but with a little help from Storm, scattered clouds formed, allowing the students to wander outside without shading their eyes. Some time after two p.m., Xavier called the X-Men into his office.

"Using Cerebro, I've been able to identify the location of where the Officials will be taken. Apparently, Magneto felt that hiding them in New York would be quite obvious, so he has found a new location that will be a trifle harder to track and a bit more inconspicuous. Now, of course I wasn't able to directly connect with Erik, but his fellow Brotherhood members do not wear helmets and I could easily find what we needed."

Logan's head shot up. He smelled somethin' funny, but he hoped that he was wrong.

He growled, "What henchmen does he have now, Chuck? Tell me he's dead..."

Somewhat apprehensively, Xavier explained the situation to Wolverine.

"I'm sorry, Logan, but he is not dead. Nor is the mutant that you fought, Storm."

Lara turned her head toward Ororo for a moment and watched as the white-haired goddess grimaced with anger. Apparently, the X-Men were a little perturbed. Sensing the discomfort, Xavier continued:

"Lady Croft, I believe that you reside near London, yes?"

"That's correct, Professor," she replied, knowing exactly what he was going to ask next. "And everyone is welcome to stay until we find the government officials."

Quickly, Xavier thanked the tomb raider and ordered everyone to gather what he or she needed. The trip to England wouldn't take very long in the X-Jet, but they still had a decent ride ahead.

"So, are you gonna show me around when we get there?" Logan asked Lara as the group walked through the halls.

Croft smiled mischievously. "There wouldn't be enough time with the mission at hand, Logan. Maybe you could visit some other time; I'd be glad to "show you around" England. Mind you, you would have to be polite."

Logan feigned innocence.

"And I'm not polite?" He raised his eyebrows and caused Lara to laugh.

"We'll see," Lara said simply.

Ahead of them all, Jean and Scott walked toward the hangar. Laughter caught Scott's ear and he frowned in disapproval.

"Sounds like someone's having fun," he spat.

Jean smacked him hard on the shoulder.

"Scott! Listen to him. He's happier than we've seen him in a while. And you can't tell me that you're not ecstatic that he hasn't hit on me since she's been here." The telepath watched as her fiancée grinned.

"Yeah, you're right; besides, Lara's not that bad looking either..."

That earned him another smack.

Soon, everyone boarded the jet and settled into their seats. Beast had chosen to stay with Professor X to assist with the school, so the team was down by one member. But just before take-off, there was a knock on the lower hatch. Quickly, Scott unlocked the door and watched as four familiar faces were revealed.

"Professor X said we could come."

Scott would have complained if it weren't for Jean sealing his mouth shut with her mutation. Hastily, the four teenagers boarded the X-Jet and they all were on their way to London.