Marie had never seen Bobby as furious as he was just then, what with the way his face was a deep shade of red and how he was constantly pacing the floor. "Bobby, sit down, before you wear a hole in the rug." He shot her a glare, before reflexively wincing and apologizing for his actions.

"I can't help it..." Still, he did as she said, sinking onto his bottom, back against the wall. Running a shaky hand through his hair, he looked over at the others, none of which seemed any more pleased about their latest news as he was. "You talked to him for what...five minutes?" Angry as he was, he had to resort to harsh whispers to get his emotions across, as yelling would certainly have attracted attention.

"He's a mutant...there's no doubt, Robert. Why would a mutant set out with the intention of hurting his brothers and sisters?"

"You can't trust anyone in this society anymore...it isn't safe!"

"Robert," The gentle Goddess leaned over and patted his hand to comfort him. "What if he hadn't trusted the man, and what he said were true? We cannot turn others away because we have been mistreated. It is still our duty, as the remaining X-Men, to do all that we can for those like us. As well as those who are different."

The new "leader" of the X-Men blushed slightly at the small scolding he received and nodded his head.

"I understand that...and I sympathize...but lately the Anti-

Mutant Organization has-"

"Been relatively quiet, so say the papers." Henry McCoy now spoke up, feeling it necessary to defend their latest roommate.

"There's always a calm before the storm. Am I right? They may need to be quiet now, to regain the public's favor, but that doesn't stop them from acting underground. Any number of actions against us could be in the works as we speak. How do we know this man isn't a spy? They have been known to send out ground crew to retrieve "fugitives" like us."

"That may be true, but that's a chance we're going to have to take. If he is what you think, then maybe spending a few days with us will turn him off his original course. Remember what Xavier said?

Even your worst enemies can be swayed to become your best alliance.

If these "spies" are out there, maybe they are just being misinformed about mutants. In which case, it only takes one of us to set him straight." Marie looked at him sincerely, offering the words he didn't want to hear, but knowing he had to hear them.

"She got a poin', homme...De guy deserves a chance, jus' like anyone else." Bobby Drake raised his eyes from the hands he had used to cover his face and looked intently at each of his friends. This wasn't something he could or would take lightly. The situation at hand called for serious thought, something he was not well averse in. Times like these made him wish that Cyclops was still around, considering the leader always seemed to know when something was a bad idea.

Intuition had always been the way to go, in Bobby's eyes. It had yet to fail him, since he had come to lead the X-men through hard times. Still, if he were to follow it, and be wrong...a man's life hung in the balance. Something he had never dealt with before.

Everyone else seemed to be in agreement over the matter, yet they still left him with the final say. Such respect was nice, for once, and he wanted to be sure he never acted in such a way as to lose their respect. Letting out a deep breath, he finally turned to Arnold Frank again. "When will he be here?"

"Tomorrow evening, after curfew. We need to move the food to one side of the upstairs room, if you're to have any room for him."

"No..." Bobby stood to his feet, brushing off his pants even though there was nothing on them, just to give his hands something to do. "I'll clear the place out and move up there myself." The rest he didn't have to say, and that was that this way, the stranger would be amongst them as much as possible, and therefore unable to plan anything without their knowing about it.

"That's very generous of you." Bobby cracked a small smile, almost chuckling because, it really had nothing to do with generosity. He just wanted to stay alive to see this war end. No spy or Anti-Mutant member was going to ruin that dream for him.

A few moments later, while the girls slipped out to prepare for bed, Arnold Frank excused himself, saying he needed to return home as quickly as possible. Bobby shook his hand and called good-bye before turning his attention to the food storage area that was to be his new room. It was colder there, he imagined, what with the lack of body heat to make things more comfortable, which made it rather appropriate that the Iceman take it over.

Pushing cans and loaves of bread aside, he managed a neat enough stack, though it was an act he performed without much conscious thought. He was gripped with fear and apprehension, despite how he hid that from the rest of the members in the room. So distraught was he that, when Marie's hand fell lightly upon his shoulder, he jumped.

"Hey...just me." Quirking a small smile, she sat down, legs dangling onto the ladder, and watched as he continued stacking the food. "You did the right thing..."

"I hope so." He doubted he'd ever be really sure one way or the other as to the stranger he was allowing to integrate into their close knit lives.

"It'll be a good experience, I think..." Marie always managed to make things positive, no matter what the situation was. It seemed to him as though all his carefree, optimistic moods slipped from him and seeped into her when he needed to assume some responsibility in life. Now it was she that made sure the others remained upbeat when things started to get tough. He wished, at that moment more than ever before, that he could be that way again.

"If things work out, it will be."

"They will. You'll see." Tossing the can she had taken into her hands at some point back to Bobby, she threw him another smile before beginning her descent down the ladder and back into the main room of the hidden hallway.

"Hey, Marie?" She stopped then, eyes sparkling slightly from the usage of her real name. No one else called her that, as it didn't seem appropriate. But he, having been there through the hardest parts of her life, had been given the permission to use her real name, while all others continued to refer to her as Rogue.

"Yes?"

"Thanks." A lot was behind that one word, for he owed a great deal to her when he thought about it. She was always the one talking sense into him when he got carried away with himself. They weren't a couple, as many people thought, yet they were more. Close friends that went beyond the call of such a title, doing more than was required of themselves, to ensure that one another were well taken care of.

"Don't mention it." With a playful wink, she disappeared entirely, and Bobby turned back to his work a little more hopeful than he had been when he started out on his task. By the time he finished cleaning up the room and setting up his sleeping bag, the others were already asleep, having blown out the candle that provided their only light. Lying down atop the sleeping bag, Bobby looked up at the ceiling and tried to imagine the stars he was faintly sure were hanging there in the sky at that very moment. Reassuring himself once again that things would be okay for the five of them, he shut his eyes, and gratefully drifted off to sleep.