- SIX -

"We got more company," Rogue said, and Kurt whipped his head from the sky to find her pointing to the woods.

Avalanche and the Blob were stepping out from behind the cover of trees. And the Brotherhood never looked friendly at the best of times, but now—now their faces were positively uninviting. "What is this?" Kurt asked, watching Avalanche stretch a hand towards them.

Cracks in the moving ground sent everyone scampering. Kurt ported to a rock, trying to get his bearings. What beef did the Brotherhood have now? Where were the rest of them? And why—why—why couldn't they have waited to settle it until daybreak, or at least until the first intruder had been dealt with?

"Kurt, watch out!"

Kurt turned his head just in time to dodge a collision with Cannonball, who still managed to clip him anyway. Enough to throw Kurt to the ground, reeling. He saw not exactly stars but swirls, so that when he shook his head to clear it the world spun in interesting ways.

"What in the hell—" Rogue's shout was nearby, and in another moment she was at his side, helping him up, glaring at Cannonball as he turned in mid-flight. He zoomed back in and Kurt waited for another attack, but the other boy suddenly veered away, to where 'Berto was trying to lead the Blob into a hole that Amara had burned in the ground.

'Berto didn't have a chance. Cannonball blasted into him, used him to burrow a trench in the grassy banks that almost ran the length of the lake. As Cannonball launched away again, Kurt ported himself and Rogue to 'Berto. His body had depowered from its solar form. He lay in the ditch, limp and bruised and just completely out of it.

"Oh, man," Kurt said.

"David—the Professor's son—his TP's supposed to be really strong so—"

"Mind control for Sam and the Brotherhood. Ja, got that." Kurt looked to the skies again, followed Cannonball as he streaked to where Bobby was trying to fend off an earthquake while keeping an eye on Cannonball's approach.

Kurt ported again, this time landing on Cannonball's back. Lacking a better plan, he wrapped his hands around the boy's head to cover his eyes.

Bad move. Cannonball screeched to a total halt, sending Kurt flying. He tried to port into the lake and missed, crashing into the forest instead, where tree leaves cushioned the impact—before he fell through them a moment later, onto hard branches. When those broke, he dropped again, landing finally on solid ground that took the air out of his lungs.

Pain. Pain everywhere.

He couldn't try to stand just yet, but he could hear the battle still raging so he sat up and ported to the banks of the lake, just in time to see Bobby evade a series of falling trees and aim a stream of thick ice towards Avalanche. He kept the stream going, long enough to finish building an ice casing trapping Avalanche that looked about the size of the iceberg the Titanic had hit.

Kurt struggled to stand, as Bobby bridged an ice slide that took him near Amara. She was throwing huge fireballs to keep Cannonball at bay, didn't notice the Blob coming up behind her. A sheet of ice formed on the grass underneath the Blob's feet. He slipped, flailed his arms, and Kurt waited for the ground to shake from his fall—but it didn't happen. Instead, the Blob righted himself, stomping with one foot that cracked the ice to pieces. With a glower, he started towards Bobby and Amara again.

Just as a pair of small pale hands grabbed onto one of the Blob's bare arms.

He struggled against Rogue, trying to throw her off, using his other arm to try to wrench her away, but she somehow kept her grip, even when the Blob purposely toppled himself over on the side of his body that she was clutching. Another few seconds, and the Blob stopped struggling. Another second after that, and Kurt started to panic, trying to work up the energy to port. Then the Blob twitched, and Kurt saw small hands underneath the massive frame. He sighed in relief as those hands pushed the Blob off.

Rogue wobbled herself up from the grass in the same moment Kurt managed to port himself to her side.

"Y'alright?" she said.

Nein. Very much nein, but he gave her a thumbs-up sign because while there was pain everywhere, the odds had just gotten better. "Two down—"

"Two to go," Amara said, running up to them with Bobby just behind. They pointed to the sky, where Cannonball hovered in wait for another figure to join him.

It was the figure of the person responsible for the entire mess. The entire mess that should've been everyone's bedtime. The bedtime that looked like a long way to go, with Cannonball and the Professor's son now heading towards everyone in two parallel streaks of trouble.

Trouble that pulled up short suddenly.

Amara was in lava form, Bobby in ice, Rogue was glowering, and Kurt was hoping for once in his life that he looked like the demon the German villagers had named him all those years back. Right now, he needed to be the scary monster. Right now, he really needed to believe that the four of them looked intimidating enough to be the reason for the Professor's son and Cannonball delaying their attack.

"It isn't quite what you think, you know," the Professor's son said. "It's not all about revenge. I'm also here to help a little, believe it or not."

"Ja," Kurt said. "Because there's nothing more helpful than an attack at two in the morning."

"You people leave yourselves wide open to unexpected visitors. One of the drawbacks of being an X-Man, isn't it?"

"We make up for it in fun by kickin' their ass," Rogue said.

"So I hear," he said, and Kurt had only ever seen Magneto show this much indifference to Rogue's death glares. "I suppose you're itching for a demonstration—Rogue, is it?"

Kurt's fur prickled. David's telepathy could've easily pulled their names out with a surface probe, but Kurt got the feeling that there was more to it than that. The man was too familiar in talking to them, too much at ease.

"Rogue, the reckless one. Foster sister to Kurt Wagner, also called Nightcrawler—the funny one. Or at least, tries to be." He looked at Kurt. "If you promise to keep your friends in line, I'll clear a few of those suspicions. And the name's Lucas, so you know. David's the little shit I try to keep off my shoes."

Rogue gave Kurt a confused frown.

"Ah, Kitty left that part out? Well, maybe she's not aware of it herself." Lucas shrugged. "It's a complicated thing. One I can acquaint you with if we try for a civilized chat, with drinks and crackers and all that rubbish."

Kurt returned Rogue's confused frown with a puzzled stare of his own. Was this guy loopy?

"Close enough," Lucas said. "Although the old man just recently provided me with something of a cure."

Rogue snapped at this, breaking eye contact with Kurt to glare at Lucas again. "Okay, this ain't a chattin' session! What exactly do you want here, Lucas or David—or Larry or Moe or whoever the hell you are!"

"What I want and what I need to do here are two separate things." He lowered himself to the ground, stepped towards them in the typical hands-up-and-open, mean-you-no-harm way. Kurt fought the urge to take a cautious step back.

"I need you to think outside the box," Lucas said. "Outside one particular foolish box of a place you all sequester yourselves in. Just for a minute, if you can, try to think what your life might be like if you weren't X-Men. Think how much different everything would be—how much better, maybe. Won't be hard for you, will it, Rogue?"

"Shut your hole."

"I think not, lass. I think you rather like it when I say these things. Maybe you're harder to read than most, but you project enough of bits, do you know that? I can catch strays of what you've crammed inside your head, waiting to burst out after all this time at the Institute."

Catching the fury in her face, Kurt limped between Rogue and Lucas, saying, "Everybody wishes things were different sometimes. What's your point?"

"Merely that it can be different. All you have to do is make the decision, Wagner."

When Bobby and Amara shared a baffled look, Lucas turned to them. "Think a bit," he said. "You're all teenagers who only came here to learn about your powers. But what is it you're really doing here when you step inside that Danger Room, wearing uniforms that so proudly brandish the X-insignia? What kind of teaching do you think it's truly all about, when your Professor and the rest of his staff train you to fight against groups like the Brotherhood and people like Magneto?"

Amara and Bobby had powered down, and they were all quiet now as they chewed on everything Lucas was saying. Some of it…made sense, actually.

"They're programming you to be mindless soldiers, you see? You're only bloody pawns, learning about your powers so he can use them in this idiotic mutant war." Kurt found himself nodding. "It doesn't have to be this way. You don't have to live like this. Believe me, there are places other than here where young mutants find help and have the chance to live the lives they want without having to hide or fight."

"Where are they?" Amara said.

"Everywhere. Just look around. If you want, I can take you to one spot I know. It's not too far from here, in Massachusetts. If you don't like it, you can just hop on a bus or the train and come back here. No strings, right?"

"We leave whenever we want?" said Bobby.

"Whenever you want, however way you like, wherever you'd like to leave for." He smiled. "Give it a try, why don't you?"

It made so much sense to Kurt now. They really were all just too young for this. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had plain old-fashioned fun. Everyone was so jumpy here, things were so gloomy. Compared to that, what Lucas was offering sounded so reasonable, fair…

"Bite me, why don't you?" said Rogue, and then she stepped to Kurt and slapped him before moving on to both Bobby and Amara. "Get it together, guys! He's playin' you!"

Wrong. On many, many levels. Rubbing his stinging cheek, Kurt blinked dazedly, not so much from the slap as from the thoughts that had just floated through his brain a second ago.

Lucas was staring at them, amused. "Nice tactic, Rogue," he said. "Bit of an overkill, though."

Kurt scowled. So much for mental defenses, but then again, he never really worked on his the way Rogue did. She'd beefed hers up in added sessions with the Professor because after the Mesmero disaster, she'd been paranoid. A good thing for them now.

"You think you know so much about us," Rogue said, back in a defensive stance. "But you really ain't got a clue, do you? Else you'd've known not to try that trick on the girl who's seen it all before."

As Kurt's brain cleared of Lucas's telepathic lulling, he saw Bobby and Amara shaking off the same and power up again.

Lucas shrugged. "Worth a try, wouldn't you think? Although I can't say I really did my best." He stroked his goatee with one hand. "Reasoned to myself, why deny you lot the chance to demonstrate just how it is you'll kick my ass?" As that same hand made a flinging gesture, knocking everyone to the ground with an almost synchronized thud, he sneered. "And why deny myself what I want—the pleasure of proving just how stupid you little bints are.

Kurt made an effort not to grimace too much as everyone tried to get back up.

"Tell you what," Lucas said. "I'll let your friend Sam over there just play spectator. Should make things a bit less pitiful, wouldn't you say?"

Amara sprang up first, angry flames flicking around her tiny form. She threw a lava blast at Lucas that he deflected with a TK shield. "Don't bore me," he said, before he narrowed his gaze on her.

Just like Jamie near the elevators, she dropped like a potato.

"Watch his psychic blasts," Kurt said, an instant before an unseen force hauled him into the air.

"What was that?" Lucas said. "Afraid of my telepathy? Well, that won't do, will it? Suppose I'll just have to beat you around with plain old telekinetics."

And he went on to do just that, slamming Kurt on the grass over and over until dirt filled his mouth. He spit it out, staring at the streaks of red on it. He hadn't even begun to really register what it was when Lucas hurled him against a nearby tree.

Kurt crumpled to its base. He couldn't breathe right. When he tried to, his back and chest spasmed in pain that made breathing not worth it at all.

Before he passed out, he saw Bobby try to help. Ice shot out, collided with a stream of fire in the air. Bobby pushed with both hands, and maybe he would've gotten somewhere with that move, because the ice pouring out seemed to triple. But Lucas had more than just pyrokinesis to fall back on. When he saw his flames die out, his TK grabbed Bobby and threw him at Rogue.

They crashed into each other, tumbled to the ground, and Kurt used every last amount of awareness he had to port next to them. He crawled to Rogue as she lay groaning.

"Touching, that," Lucas said, hovering above. "You know, if I cross my eyes and tilt my head, I can see the family resemblance. Fascinating, really. You both look a bitlike a pair of feeble losers."

"Rogue…get…Jamie," Kurt rasped, and stretched a hand out to her bare forehead.

Fur tickled her skin a split second before the familiar wave of disorientation washed over her. Then came the tingly surge of energy, a fleeting image of Jamie, the sharp memory of intense all-body pain, and (strangest of all) the feeling of grass and mud in her mouth.

Rogue shifted away from Kurt's hand. It dropped limply, and as she stared at his bruised and beaten body, the part of her that was him couldn't help remembering Lucas's taunt about being a feeble loser.

She squashed the thought as she got on hands and knees. Down but not out meant there was plenty of surprises left, and from the look on Lucas's face now, Kurt's move had been one hell of a doozy.

He recovered quick enough. "So Furry's spared me the effort of throwing him about some more like a little girl's doll," Lucas said. "Really, though, it's no bother at all to me."

And raised his hands to them again, but Rogue grabbed Bobby and ported out.

They reappeared just outside the mansion's front gates. A still-dazed Bobby stumbled to the wall, leaning against it.

"Stay here," Rogue said, porting out again to find Jamie. He was still lying near the lake, looked for all the world like he was sleeping in peace. That wouldn't last long. In the distance, Cannonball was already flying towards them.

Get Jamie, Kurt had said. Still saying now, in her head. She put a hand on the boy's shoulder and ported them back near the gates. As Bobby approached them, Rogue slid off a glove.

"Rogue?" Bobby said, looking worried.

"Kurt's idea," she said. And not a bad one. She put her bare, warm hand to Jamie's cheek. It was cool, soft and smooth, and she idly hoped her fevered touch wouldn't get him sick later. But the touch didn't last five seconds. And when she took her hand away, the combined energy from both Kurt and Jamie was enough to leave her feeling almost healthy.

Channeling Jamie's powers, she willed copies of herself to pop up. Aiming for five came up four short. Damn. Not that healthy, then, if she could only manage one duplicate.

"Whoa," Bobby said, staring at the new Rogue standing in front of them.

Better than nothing, though, and as she met the dupe's obedient stare, they ported out—the dupe to Lucas, she to Sam.

He was still drifting in the air, trance-like almost, when Rogue jumped on his back.

"C'mon, Sam!" she said as he fought her. "Snap out of it!"

He tried the same move he'd used on Kurt earlier, but Rogue locked her feet across his stomach, managed to stay on. Struggling with him a couple of hundred yards aboveground, she caught the dupe a ways off below, porting around Lucas's attacks. As Sam dropped abruptly to the left, twisting in the air, the rush of dizziness had Rogue wishing she could switch places with her dupe.

But wishing was wasting time, doing nothing to ease the nausea. She burrowed her hold on Sam's collar. "You asked for it," she muttered, inching her fingers up to his exposed neck.

Skin-to-skin…there.

The transfer was longer than it'd been with Jamie. When it was over, Rogue hovered in the air with Sam in her arms, sifting through the new dam of feelings and thoughts. The night sky, the stargazing rock, Orion, the family in Kentucky. Peace, nostalgia, worry, then alarm, anger, fear—and it stopped there. Sam didn't have any memories after that.

Rogue looked to Lucas again. He was having better luck now, with her dupe losing the energy to keep porting away. Probably another few seconds before she was gone. It'd be smarter to save her from winking out. Rogue could use the extra verve her dupe carried.

She ported to where Lucas stood and almost smirked at his double take.

"Trying to impress me?" he said.

"Just wait," she sneered, as her dupe moved to Kurt and disappeared with him in a puff of smoke. Rogue followed an instant later with Cannonball.

When they were all outside the gates again, Bobby met them with a great big sigh of relief. "I thought I was assed out," he said.

"Not yet," she said, propping Sam beside Jamie on the sidewalk. Her dupe placed Kurt next to them, then stepped questioningly up to Rogue.

"Oh, uh…" It was a belated reaction. Dupes weren't brainless, but one-dimensional, and Rogue had sub-consciously produced a copy of herself that didn't seem to have any problems taking orders. Dupe-Rogue was docile, and the idea of that was weirding her out. "Thanks," Rogue said lamely.

Her dupe nodded, took another few steps, and disappeared inside Rogue.

"Whoa," Bobby said again, then asked, "That's it for Jamie's powers?"

"I think so."

"What now?"

Not a damn clue, but mental Kurt was calculating that with three down now and just one to go, the odds kept getting better. Rogue wasn't so sure. "I'll get Amara, 'Berto, and Ray," she said.

Maybe instead of fighting, they could all just skedaddle outta there.

"I'm going with you this time," Bobby said.

"Yeah? And what about them?" She tilted her head to the unconscious trio.

"Exactly! What happens to them and me if you get caught, Rogue? What then? I go with you, and it's two against one."

"Which don't mean squat if that one person can—without even laying a finger on us—mess with our heads, squash us like ants, and roast us like pigs." Bobby opened his mouth again, but she cut him off. "I won't fight him, Bobby. I'm just gonna get our friends. Then we scram."

"Where will we go?"

She sighed. "We'll figure it ou…" and trailed off at the sound of a car zooming up the road. Headlights followed the sound, and she squinted at the brightness.

Groaning to herself when she realized it wasn't a car, but a jeep.

Lance's jeep.

She shook her head, turned her eyes to the sky. When were they ever gonna catch a break?

"Damn, yo!" Toad said, hopping out once Quicksilver screeched to a stop. "The X-geeks're getting their asses whupped!"

Rogue clenched her hands as Bobby iced up to face the Brotherhood stragglers. "Y'all're late," she said.

"Can't help your friends now," Bobby said. "We already took them out."

Quicksilver rolled his eyes as he approached with the Scarlet Witch. "I wouldn't brag if I were you," he said. "Looks like they took a few of your friends down with them."

"What about that other guy?" Toad said. "Didja get him?"

"Of course not. Why else would they be out here quaking in their pajamas?"

"Wait." Rogue relaxed her fists. "Lucas attacked you, too?"

"Yeah, came by and tried to talk us into coming with him here," Toad said.

"And you turned him down?" Bobby asked, surprised.

Quicksilver scoffed. "Despite what you think, the world doesn't revolve around you people. We got better things to do with our time."

"Yeah," Toad said, nodding distractedly. "And it was just me and Freddie and Lance because Wanda and Pietro were in Chinatown picking up bootlegs and dim sum. And some special hair gel for P—"

"Shut it, Todd," Pietro said through gritted teeth.

"Yeah, yeah. Lemme just tell them the part about Lance making a crack in the ground that Freddie pushed the dude into—and that was real nice, y'know? But then he flew out of it, took Lance and Freddie—and locked me in the closet!" Todd made a face. "That was whack, man. I was stuck for hours 'til these two finally got home!"

"We would've been back sooner," Pietro said, "if someone hadn't decided to make detours at twenty gazillion punk clubs." He turned to Wanda. "I told you we couldn't leave them alone for too long. See what happens when you don't listen to me!"

"Oh, give it a break already!" she said, and looked at Rogue. "Look, we're here to collect. That's all."

Bobby looked at Rogue. "That's fine," she said. "But to get to your friends, you're gonna have to get past him."

All three Brotherhood members nodded, the gleam in their eyes keen as Todd said, "That asswipe's going down."

Since the day he learned to control them, Remy relished the use of his mutant powers. But just right then—running through the woods smacking at branches that scratched at his face and tore at his coat, wondering how far he'd have to keep following the sounds of battle until he could actually reach it, hoping he'd get there before it was all over and the next century had come around—just right then, he was really wishing he'd been given the ability to fly instead.

Rogue's room had been empty, not trashed, and when he found the ice slide, he could spot the red herring even before he followed it to where it stopped near the woods. Only doubt was whether the kids were laying a trap or just high tailing it for the nearest safe place.

Then he saw a streak reappear in the sky. When the earth shook a minute after that, Remy hauled ass to find the action.

There were timesavers set up around the estate, a kind of mini shuttle network that helped cut the distance between certain points, and he knew where they were. He also knew the lights and cameras they were equipped with and, unlike the mansion, there weren't any corners or shadows to hide behind in those small transports.

It almost didn't matter anymore now. If he got caught, fine—so long as he got to arrive. Seemed like ages since he'd felt the earth shake and he couldn't really look to the skies for help because the damn trees got in the way. He couldn't care less about getting lost in here—he hardly ever did, and it was almost a knack with him—but he was late, dammit. It was worrying, embarrassing—he should've just used the shuttle and blown out the cameras.

The trees were thinning now, though. Skies were still blocked, true, but in the distance was something that put energy back into his steps, had him mumbling, "Merci Dieu."

A clearing.

He'd been running for what felt like hours, but reaching the edge of that clearing felt like bare seconds to him. Anticipation and adrenaline came rushing back. Made him careful again. He stayed behind the line of trees to look out.

In the middle of the grounds was a clear sparkling lake that would've been an ideal setting for calm and quiet—if there was no long and messy trench dug along one side of it, and on the other side of the banks, no pile of fallen, frozen trees and a massive, crusted-up hole.

The Blob was lying on the grass, unconscious. A ways off was a massive block of ice that—Remy peered closer—housed Avalanche? Explained the earthquakes, then.

Remy sighed. He was definitely late. Party was dead now, the others were gone—the kids must've taken off with Lucas right on their heels. Take into account teleportation, ice slides, and telekinesis and they could be anywhere by now.

Remy was alone with the mess, and he was about to creep out to get a better look when something—someone—moved in the trench beside the lake.

It was him—the man who'd attacked Berserker and Multiple. He rose slowly, floating up from the trench, staring down at something there.

In another second, Remy knew what it was—the Sunspot kid, climbing out of the dirt and looking vacantly up at the man, who nodded. "Now for the little lass," he said, drifting off to his left.

Sunspot followed, hanging back as the man touched down on the ground again and stepped towards a figure lying prone at their feet. Moments later, Magma sat up stiffly, a la Michael Myers in Halloween.

"That can't be good," Remy said, as the girl got to her feet.

So the man had two of them now. The number of X-pups left to fight was quickly dwindling, and that group was nowhere in sight.

Remy shook his head, dismayed. What the hell had Xavier been thinking leaving them alone like this, with only Nightcrawler to play caretaker and Rogue stuck in bed? Least if the kids had to be on their own, leave behind with them the ones whose powers worked better offensively, like the Cyclops boy and his girlfriend.

Nightcrawler and Rogue—a sick Rogue, to boot. What the hell would they do against—

"Hey, schizo! Lookin' for us?"

Remy snapped his head towards the sound, then felt his shoulders lift a bit at the sight of Rogue and the Iceboy.

They stood together side by side, the Iceboy trying to look intimidating, the Goth girl pulling off that cross-me-and-I'll-give-you-your-worst-coma-yet expression. Remy suspected it was a typical Rogue look.

And he'd never been more relieved to see it.

"Welcome back," the man was saying as he flew towards the pair.

A lift of his hand brought Magma and Sunspot flying with him.

"I've been getting to know your chums while you were gone."

"Let them go, Lucas!" Iceboy said.

Lucas? Remy couldn't remember Magneto giving them a file on anyone with that name, so either the man hadn't known or he'd kept the information to himself.

"Keep your drawers on, boy," Lucas said. "I'll let them go—all of you, just as soon as we finish taking a trip together."

And with that, Magma and Sunspot attacked. They swooped down as one, Magma landing on Iceboy's side, Sunspot on Rogue's. Iceboy parried Magma's blasts with his own powers. Ice melted, lave froze—evenly matched as they were, their game could keep on indefinitely, so Remy turned his full attention to the other pair.

And found a surprise there.

Rogue was holding her own. Against Sunspot's solar-powered super-strength, she mixed a feint-and-fight method with a good dose of teleportation that managed to throw off Sunspot's attacks. There was a determination in her face that was reflected in the way she dodged the boy's punches and shrugged off his tackles. She was getting in more than a few hits of her own.

It was just damn pleasing to see.

That Nightcrawler was out of the fight was obvious in Rogue's use of his powers, but it seemed like the girl was more than making up for the loss. That she wasn't feeling her best showed itself in the haggard shadows under her eyes, but her body was moving faster, proving tougher than it would've even if she weren't sick.

Remy wondered whose other powers she'd borrowed, at the same moment he realized his mistake in underestimating a mutation that he'd been both schooled in and schooled by before.

Plenty of fight still left in this battle, then, and he was just starting to wonder what the hell he should do to help when he saw Sunspot land a nasty uppercut that dropped Rogue to the ground.

It was jarring; she was suddenly a small, broken thing to see, lying on that grass. Remy moved towards her without even thinking—

Stopping short when she suddenly faded from sight.

"Another trick?" he heard Lucas say, looking cautiously around as he hovered over where Rogue had lain.

"Keep your drawers on, boy," came the familiar voice. "I'm right here."

That she was. Right behind Lucas, then on him. Her bare hands wrapped around his face, and Remy could see her powers kicking in as the two thrashed in the air—one second, two, three, four…

Then Lucas's TK flung her off him. Rogue sailed through the air in a wide arc that sent her crashing painfully into a thicket of trees—

Near Remy.

Near enough, in fact, that he could see the rips in her clothing that showed cuts and bruises. Her green pajamas looked like they'd been worn through a turf war with the Rippers right after a bar brawl with Sabretooth and a barbecue with Pyro. The thing looked chewed up, spit out, beaten, and then worn again before it was chewed up, spit out, and beaten two times more.

It was a small puzzle to Remy how the fille herself was still conscious.

More than a bit out of it, true, but definitely still awake. She slowly rolled off the muddy patch of leaves, pushing up with an elbow that was scratched up pretty damn bad underneath the massive tear on her sleeves.

He saw her shakily crawl to hands and knees before she stopped moving suddenly. "Shut up," she muttered, squeezing her eyes shut and gnashing her teeth. "No, no, no, n—" She clutched her head. "Aw, hell."

Again without thinking, Remy ran to her.