Ororo glanced out of the carriage window at the darkening late afternoon sky with a concerned expression on her face, saying quietly, "I'm not quite sure how wise it is to bring the girls along to the train station and receive this guest of yours, Mr. Xavier. After all, the rumors do state that those outlaws could be coming into this county anytime this week--who knows, they might even be arriving today, on the very same train as your friend." As Kitty and Jean exchanged startled looks at this prospect, their father murmured, "There's no need to take such extreme precautions, Miss Ororo. If the Brotherhood, as I believe they're calling themselves, really are coming into this county, even today, then I'm sure our capable police force will be more than ready to take the necessary actions upon their rumored arrival--that is, if they even come here at all. We both know how unreliable county gossip can be." Ororo looked like she wanted to say something about that particular fact, but at that moment, the coachman reined in his horses to a stop, signaling that they'd arrived at the train station, and Xavier added lightly with a brief smile as his driver opened the carriage doors and helped out first Kitty, then Jean, "Besides, I stand firm in my belief that nobody--not even the Brotherhood--can do any harm to my daughters when you're around, Miss Ororo." Ororo herself managed a smile at those words, as she admitted, "Yes, I suppose I have become quite protective of them...especially now that Miss Rogue's no longer around, and they've become the only two girls I've got left." Xavier cleared his throat awkwardly upon mention of his second daughter's name, agreeing in a somewhat distracted tone of voice, "Yes, er, of course." Ororo looked rather uncomfortable, as if suddenly realizing that she'd forgotten Rogue and her whereabouts was a subject the family usually tried to steer clear of during conversations, but an understanding look from Xavier helped ease the awkwardness, and after a few more seconds she obligingly took the coachman's hand and stepped out of the carriage, followed closely by the family patriarch.

Jean and Kitty were already milling about, exchanging greetings and small talk with some neighbors from the county who'd come to the station to pick up friends or relatives arriving on the incoming trains. Jean had drifted into a respectful conversation with Mrs. Summers about her oldest son, Scott, and how well his studies at Yale University had been going ever since he'd left the county last fall to pursue a career in law. Kitty, meanwhile, tuned out their quiet discussion in preference of Tabitha's excited chatter about how her favored suitor was coming on one of these trains, all the way from the University of South Carolina, just to visit her...never mind the fact that the reason he'd received this welcome little break so that he might return to court Tabby was because he'd gotten expelled from said university for brawling and public drunkenness, Kitty thought with a little grin. As soon as she found herself smiling at this idea, she instantly began to chastise herself, knowing that it wasn't right for a true lady to feel any degree of amusement over something as crude and boorish as being kicked out of college for fighting and disorderly conduct. And yet, she'd always been so petted and carefully sheltered, would always be the plantation's overprotected Baby Sister, that she couldn't help but feel a secret thrill to hear of bad boys and their outrageous escapades. A twinge of guilt overwhelmed her when she caught herself for the second time in five minutes with these unrefined thoughts running through her head, and for a moment she could almost feel the disapproval of her father, Miss Ororo, and even Jean, should they ever find out that baby sister Kitty was fascinated by the boisterous gallantry of bad boys. To get her mind off her conflicting emotions, Kitty discreetly wandered away from Tabitha and her proud tales of her beau's dashingly rowdy antics, unwittingly leaving her sister and father behind as well as she delicately picked her way through the crowds.

Kitty leisurely walked alongside the length of the station, stopping to greet a few familiar faces as she waited for the next train to arrive. When it finally did, propelled furiously by its powerful steam engine, its wheels clanging as they ground against the hard, metallic railroad tracks, Kitty couldn't help but give a little shriek and instinctively jump back. Trains always did have this effect on her, even though she'd traveled countless journeys before on them, and it was this timid fear of trains that was the subject of constant torment and teasing by the county boys, as well as Tabitha whenever she chanced to remember it.
"Kitty, don't tell me you're still terrified by trains stopping at stations," a familiar feminine voice spoke up, and Kitty whirled around to recognize Amara standing a couple of feet beside her, long mahogany-colored hair primly brushed away from her face as usual. Kitty colored faintly at being caught, and tried to think of a way to defend her little fear as the massive train ground to a stop and passengers began pouring out.
"I'm not terrified by them," she stammered, as the door of the compartment nearest her opened and people began crowding past her to greet their loved ones on that car. "I was just startled, that's all..." Her voice trailed off, as the desire to avoid Amara's knowing smile overtook her embarrassment and she shifted her attention to the nearest passengers exiting the train. Kitty tuned out the other brunette's words as she started speaking in response to her excuse, craning her neck to see around the crowds and catching a very quick glimpse of two behemoths who stood out like beacons, one a grossly overweight boy with a shaved head, the other a burly giant with unkempt, dirty blonde hair and a coarse beard, lumbering out of the train.
"...Of course, everybody has their little phobias..." Amara prattled on, her words barely registering with Kitty as she watched, fascinated, the next passenger to descend from the train. He was, like the bearded blonde giant, extremely tall and powerfully-built, almost too much so to be considered refined, with his hard, compact muscles and heavy square shoulders enforcing an intimidating air about him. His hair, closely cropped, was of a deep black color, tinted with dark blue like Kurt's, and his eyes, when sweeping their surroundings as they did now, seemed to drill holes through everybody and everything with their icy cold glint. These same eyes temporarily settled on Kitty, even as they surveyed everybody else at the train station, and to her it seemed as though they narrowed in an unpleasantly cold glare that sent chills through her body. She unwittingly shivered under this lightning-fast glower, despite the warm cashmere shawl thrown neatly around her shoulders, but fortunately Amara failed to notice this slight tremble, even as the powerfully-built stranger walked away and disappeared into the crowds. Kitty shivered for the last time, then pulled her shawl tighter around her slender form and murmured to Amara, "I think I had better go back to my family. I'm sure Papa's guest has arrived by now, and they're probably looking for me." Amara, waiting for the arrival of a relative from Arizona on the next train, shrugged and replied, "Sure, suit yourself." Kitty nodded and turned to walk away, but something inside told her to spare one last glance at the near-empty train compartment, and reluctantly she stopped and obeyed, feeling almost afraid to look after her encounter with the muscular dark-haired stranger.

One last passenger was descending from the compartment, dressed in a long black coat over his starched shirt and riding breeches and walking with a confident, almost cocky gait as though he owned the entire train and everyone in it. He, like the cold-eyed colossus before him, was also tall of height and strapping of physique, but where the previous man had hard and powerful muscles, this youth boasted instead a leaner, more chiseled frame. His dark eyes glinted mischievously from underneath a longish, rather unruly mane of dark brown hair, and the cowboy hat he held so carelessly underneath one arm, coupled with his tan that was unlike that of Southern boys, drilled a single thought into Kitty's mind. Why, he looks like a cowboy, she thought as she watched him saunter with clear self-assurance through the crowds after the general direction of the dark-haired leviathan who'd glared so coldly at her. I wonder if he's from the West...she thought silently to herself, having completely forgotten that Amara was only a few feet away as she gazed at the darkly handsome stranger, so different from his fearsomely wintry predecessor with his impishness and swagger. Suddenly, his mischievous dark gaze caught her slender form, and his eyes crinkled at the corners into an amused grin when he realized that she'd been staring at him for quite some time. A horrified Kitty felt her face flush hot with embarrassment when she saw that he'd noticed her gawking openly at him, but for some reason she failed to immediately and meekly drop her eyes down to the floor like she should have done the minute his gaze swept upon her. Instead, she shyly kept her eyes focused on his face, extremely self-conscious but also feeling a secret flash of thrill as she anticipated how he would react next. His response became evident a few seconds later, when he grinned devilishly at her in passing, throwing a wink over his shoulder before disappearing into the crowds. Kitty knew she must be as pink as the lacy flounces decorating her hoop skirts, and finally dropped her eyes only when the dark-haired youth had disappeared from sight.

Unfortunately, Amara had also caught the wink, and now she turned to Kitty, lips tightened into a disapproving frown as she scolded, "Kitty, who was that gentleman--ugh, if he can even be called that after what he did--that...that...just winked at you?" Kitty shrugged, carefully smoothing down her own long brown hair as though primping to meet a highly desirable suitor.
"I don't know," she admitted, catching her mistake only when Amara's eyebrows nearly flew off her hairline and she declared in a voice almost too loud with indignation to be considered ladylike, "Why, Kitty, do you realize how utterly inappropriate that was, with that uncouth and downright common-looking young man--and a stranger at that--just winking at you as if you were some sort of low-class saloon girl?" Kitty felt a flash of annoyance tear through her as she turned to face Amara and defended the dark-haired stranger, "He doesn't look unrefined to me...and even if that gesture wasn't completely fitting, there's still no need to get this upset over it. What's done is done." A stunned Amara leaned back at these heated words, her mouth forming a small O of surprise as she stammered, "But...but Kitty...you're not telling me that you find that man--"
"Of course not," Kitty broke in quickly, suddenly remembering the scandal that Rogue's unexpected elopement with Mr. LeBeau had caused. She certainly didn't need the entire state of Mississippi gossiping behind languidly swishing palmetto and turkey tail fans about how Xavier's youngest daughter was already showing signs of following in her sister's footsteps. "I...er, just don't see the need to get so offended over one harmless little wink. I have to go now, but I'll see you at the Maximoff ball this Sunday, all right? Bye." And she quickly darted away before Amara could shoot any further opinions or disapproving looks in her direction.

A tall, distinctively male figure prowled the Xavier plantation grounds, having long passed the endless acres of cotton and corn fields and now stepping effortlessly around the dainty clusters of daisies and heathers that grew on the orchard grounds. Reaching up, he idly picked a dark red apple from the nearest leafy branch, twirling it around on his index finger for a couple of times before snapping it back and polishing it against the sleeve of his coat. Raising the apple to his lips, he took a leisurely bite, chewing and casually observing the stately white mansion that rose at the end of an avenue of tall oaks.

Kitty held up first a pink watered silk ball gown, then a delicate seafoam-green taffeta one, pressing each garment against the skirts and flounces of the dress she was currently wearing as she examined herself critically in the mirror.
"Hmm, let's see...pink or blue-green?" she mumbled to herself, trying to decide on which dress to wear to the Maximoff ball on Sunday and only half-listening to her sister worriedly discussing the mysterious disappearance of a valuable cargo of gold from the very same train their father's associate was supposed to have arrived on.
"The entire county is very upset at the way the police had arranged for proper security for the shipment," Jean was saying, only somewhat aware that she was speaking more to herself than to her inattentive sister. "By the time they finally discovered the cargo was missing, most of the passengers had already gotten off the train and left the station--"

A swift pattering of feet halted any further words, and Kitty, having already forgotten Jean's news about the train robbery, crossed her room on delicate satin slippers and poked her head out the door, asking the little chambermaid who'd been in the process of dashing down the stairs, "Is there an emergency of some sort? Should we send someone to the Sinclair plantation for Papa?" Briefly, she lamented that Charles Xavier just had to pick today of all days to buy half a dozen stallions from Mr. Sinclair's horse-breeding farm, and the young maid's next words only proved her point as she explained breathlessly, "Th' overseer caught a young man stalking th' plantation! He's at th' front door right now!" Jean looked truly shocked for one of the very few times in her life, as she questioned in a die-away whisper, "Mr. Logan did? Right now?" Kitty pushed past her, flying down the stairs in a blur of skirts and ribbons and causing her sister to cry out after her in dismay, "Kitty! What do you think you're doing?" Kitty didn't bother to stop or even slow her steps, as she tossed a brief answer over her shoulder, "Going downstairs." Jean bit down on her lip, mentally debating how wise it would be to follow her, then called reluctantly, "Wait, I'll come with you," when she decided that the least she could do was not let her sister see this desperado alone.

Miss Ororo was already at the doors when Kitty and Jean arrived, having been called in from the smokehouse where she'd been distributing lunch to the field hands, and was now talking with the plantation overseer, Logan, in hushed, serious-sounding whispers.
"You mean to tell me that this young man got as far as the yucca trees under Miss Kitty's windows before somebody finally spotted him?" Ororo's voice sounded both fretful and indignant as she interrogated the overseer, who admitted his blunder with a gruff nod. Kitty, peeking out from behind the tall, elegant woman's shoulders, felt a shiver instinctively go through her at the thought that this prowler had made it so close, so personally close to her house and bedroom--and then she glanced over at the young man Logan was roughly clutching and drew in her breath sharply. Why...that's the young man from the train station, the one who winked at me just yesterday, she recalled, feeling as though the wind had been knocked out of her as she stared in disbelief at the now familiar features and tousled long dark hair. He, perhaps sensing that her eyes were now fixed upon him in bewildered recognition, turned his head in her direction, an amused grin flickering on his face when he identified the pretty brunette, before he once again flashed an impish wink in her direction. Jean noticed this and gave her suddenly blushing sister a questioning look, but Miss Ororo, thankfully, failed to catch the gesture in her concern over an intruder on the plantation.
"Young man, what were you doing here?" she questioned sternly, fixing her blue eyes on his own dark ones in a no-nonsense glare. The youth shrugged insolently in reply, before his eyes once again flicked briefly over to Kitty and a grin began to tug at the corners of his mouth.
"A little birdie told me that two of the prettiest roses in the Deep South are hidden here at this plantation, so I came to confirm that..." His eyes trailed playfully toward a certain petite brunette, and he added with a broad smile, "And I can see that my friend was certainly right." Kitty knew, dismayed, that her face must be burning as crimson as Miss Ororo's prided fuchsia garden, and rapidly lowered her eyes to the ground in an effort to ignore the curious glances everybody else was shooting in her direction. Remembering that when he'd spoken, his words had lacked the pleasantly drawling cadences of most Southerners, an idea suddenly occurred to her. Why, I wonder if he's...
"Must be a damn Yankee, judging by the way he talks--pardon my language, ladies," Logan gruffly voiced the thought that was going through Kitty's mind, then turned to glare at the handsome youth and snapped, "Well, are you bub?"
"Perhaps," the youth shot back impertinently. "Or perhaps I'm from the West, or from Canada...is there any particular reason I should tell you, of all people?" Logan's eyebrows began to twitch dangerously at his goading, as he violently grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and shook a fist in front of his face while growling brusquely, "Oh, I'll give you a reason..."

"Oh, no, please!" an imploring feminine voice suddenly cut in, causing all heads to turn to the speaker and Logan to drop the trespasser in his surprise. Kitty flushed under all the incredulous eyes fastened on her, stumbling through her words as she struggled to defend Mr. Winking Eyes. "Please...he didn't do any damage to this plantation...I mean, he could have stolen several of our horses or burned our cotton if he'd wanted to, if what you said about him not getting caught for so long is true, Mr. Logan...Please, won't you just let him go? I'm sure he doesn't mean any harm if he hasn't caused any troubles by now." Logan hesitated, fist still tightened around his captive's shirt, but finally faltered under Kitty's plaintive look and released the boy with a rough push.
"Don't let me see you around this plantation again, bub," he growled harshly in an effort to cover up his moment of softness, as his detainee started ambling away...but not before flashing one last grin at Kitty.
"Thanks for saving my life there," he told her, adding, "You're a sweet little sister." Kitty, who'd been gazing after his departing figure, now quickly lowered her lashes toward the ground, avoiding both his laughing dark eyes and the questioning--and rather disapproving--looks of both Jean and Miss Ororo.

"Your move."
Fred J. Dukes absently scratched at the short blonde fuzz growing from the middle of his head, before taking an ace of clubs from his set of cards and placing it on the table.
"I think this means I win," the extremely large teen said sheepishly, shrugging as if to admit his ignorance of the rules and then wincing when Victor Creed, the grungy blonde behemoth who was his opponent, scowled and knocked down the table with a feral growl. Piotr Rasputin, standing by a window and gazing outside without really looking at anything, turned around at this disturbance and merely shook his head with an annoyed flick, while Freddy ventured nervously, "Gee, guess this means you don't take defeat very well, huh?" to be answered by a glare and a snarl from Creed.

Before hostilities could fully arise, the doors to the dingy boardinghouse slammed open and a tall, masculine figure filled the frame, whistling tunelessly and strutting into the room at a unhurriedly self-assured pace. The three men already inside drew themselves to their full heights when he entered, and Piotr was the first one to speak as he asked in his usual chilly intonation, "Well? What did you find out?"
"Your sources were right," came the prompt reply, accompanied by an insolent smirk. "There are two of them at the plantation, both easily of marriageable age."
"And who of these "marriageable two" are we going to use?" Piotr demanded, a hint of impatience roughening his words. An idle shrug of both shoulders answered his words, before their owner spoke in a deceptively quiet voice, "We'll use the younger one, the brunette. She seems to be the more naïvely kind-hearted--and far more easily persuaded--of the two."