Be the change you wish to see in the world
Ghandi
***
Bobby stifled back a yawn as he sat down in one of the fluffy armchairs that were in the living room. Jubilee sat down on the arm of the chair and leant back into him. Others about the room were finding the best most comfortable places for them to sit, while Rogue and Logan stood at the front of the room.
They were holding a quick group meeting in the living room while the rescued mutants were in the dining room, eating a buffet styled breakfast,. All of the x-men were there, except for Gambit who was still resting in the infirmary. Magneto and Psylocke had also been formally invited by Rogue, who had obviously become tolerant of their presence.
"Ok. We need to set up a roster for supervision, and get into place a plan for the mutants." Rogue explained at the start of the meeting. "There are some mutants who are mentally and emotionally have been affected by this ordeal more than others and they will need pretty much around the clock supervision. Others need medical attention, and some just want to contact their families."
Everyone in the room murmured their agreements. Rogue continued. "So I'm going to assign jobs to each of the people in the room. Some of the jobs will be rostered and shared between groups of people. Some will be the sole responsibility of one or two people. Logan and I assigned these jobs so that you're abilities and talents will be of most use."
Logan began talking now. "For example, we have two highly dangerous mutants locked in the danger room right now, until we can find a way to contain them. They need to be monitored continuously by someone who has the ability to stop them if they were to somehow get out of there."
Rogue turned to Psylocke and Magneto, who were standing at the back of the room near the Piano. "I hope you don't mind, but you two are both included in the roster."
"That's quite alright Rogue." Magneto said quietly back to her. "We're here to help."
Rogue nodded. "Ok. Now we have eight general jobs that need doing. First we need to find places for people to sleep; this includes room assignments and possibly purchasing more beds and bedding. Jubilee, Kurt, Todd and Angel, you're doing that. That shouldn't take more than a day, so once you've done all that only two of you will need to stay on as dorm masters for both the girls and boys dorms." The four of them nodded and Angel said that he would do the purchasing of anything required.
"Now I know that a few of the people have relatives that they want to talk to, possibly go home to, so Jamie, Jean and when Gambit is feeling better, will organise that. It may even include booking transportation to their hometowns which we'll charge to our corporate account. Jamie you'll be in charge of that, so he'll be the one organising it.
"Thirdly, as Logan mentioned before, we have two mutants in the Danger Room right now. Magneto, Bobby and Logan are going to work out a timetable so that at least one of you is always watching them. Both of them are familiar faces, yet both are extremely dangerous, so do not hesitate to use any means necessary to contain them."
Magneto intervened politely by rasing his hand. "I believe that I could create a device that would harness Scott's optic blasts, but not allow him to use them against anyone."
Logan nodded. "Well can you do that as soon as possible? And see if you can do something about Ororo as well." Magneto said OK and Rogue continued on.
"Fourthly. Kitty, Psylocke and I will look after patients who have not reacted well to our moving them out of the facility in Miami. Some are reacting violently, and some are not emotionally stable. We will be sleeping in a communal area with them, so could the people in charge of Room assignments please create two rooms with at least 8 beds in each?"
Jubilee nodded and grabbed a pen from Bobby's pocket and wrote a little not on her palm.
"Next, we're going to need to organise communal activities for everyone to do. Whether it is organising games of Basketball or classes. We need to make sure that all of those people gain back some structure in their lives, that's the best thing we can do. We'll talk to some of the people in there. If one of them knows Judo, see if we can get them to start teaching a class. Now a majority of these mutants in there didn't finish high school, so maybe we could set up a set of group tutoring sessions. Set up a roster of things that we can possibly do. Lance, Warren, Jamie, Kitty, Psylocke and I will do that."
"Psylocke, Kitty, Kurt and whoever is assigned to be the dorm masters will be our 'counsellors'." She did bunny ears on the last words. "You need to make yourself known to everyone here. Make them know that they can come and talk to you at any time if they need to. And that you're able to listen and talk about anything. It isn't an active job, just something that you'll need to be prepared for. And on that note, if anyone else here is approached by someone asking for advice or such, don't send them away to one of these people. Talk to them as well. We don't want to have the whole job burdened on a few. Remember there are 70 or so people we have to look after and only 15 people to help."
"Seventh. We need to set up Housekeeping rules. In the past we've had a pretty basic routine, but now there are more, we need to have proper house rules that everyone knows about. Lance, Todd, Bobby and Logan will be organising that, and keep them simple, and nothing stupid."
"Lastly is making sure that there is always someone in the Med Bay. Chase will be down there as often as possible, but I want Jean to be down there in the event that he has to leave for a while. Everyone knows that his bedroom is there, so he won't be far, but I think that the Med Bay is going to be busy for a few days, and he'll need help. Chase has organised a quick tutorial for you this afternoon so you'll be prepared enough to help him down there."
Jean did the thumbs up sign from her seat next to Angel on the couch and then Rogue brought up the next matter.
"Now before anyone begins their assigned tasks. We need to get a list of everyone's name ages and powers for reference. So we're going to hold a group meeting with everyone after breakfast. What I'll get them to do is go to the person who looked after them last night, and you'll write down all the details we need. Then I'll get someone to put it in the database when they have time." She picked up a stack of notebooks from a table in the corner of the room, and began to pass them out. "Write the details down in these, and to save the people in charge of contacting relatives some time, see if you can get any contact information. See if they want to go home or stay. Make it perfectly clear that whatever they decide we can accommodate. Everyone understand?"
Everyone in the room nodded and Rogue continued. "I'm also going to be holding a press conference as Marie Denver tomorrow afternoon. So Logan and I won't be around to help with any problems. If you need anything answered ask us before then. That's all we need to cover so you can go and get breakfast."
Everyone got out of their seats to go to the dining room where people were still milling around. There was still food left to eat, but the people in the room had obviously really eaten a lot. Kitty grabbed a bowl from the table and poured some into it. She covered it in milk and sugar and began to eat it hungrily.
She was still tired from the day before. But the few hours sleep she had gotten when Magneto had come into help her had made her feel a little better. Even if she wasn't fully refreshed.
When she finished her cereal, she poured herself a cup of coffee from the jug full at one end of the table and sipped it while Rogue began her little 'Meeting'.
"… Everyone needs to tell your minder their age, full name…." Kitty's attention to Rogue drifted throughout the whole speech as she had practically heard the whole thing five minutes ago.
When Rogue pointer her out, she raised her hand and waved at the five girls who turned and looked for her.
Eventually Rogue finished her little update and the 5 girls headed her way.
"OK, now write your Name age and mutation on the page, and any relative's contact numbers or addresses." She explained quickly to the 5 girls who crowded around her. She handed the notebook to the first girl who started writing her name 'Ada Alcon' down on the first page.
By the time they had finished she had discovered that only one of the girls had a home that they could return to. She also chatted a bit to them, and directed Meggan, the girl with the suspected broken collarbone to go with a group of others who were going to go down together to the Med Bay.
"Well. The rest of you can go and crash in the living room. I think they're going to put on a movie for you. Or you can go out and walk around the grounds for a bit. Just tell me what you're doing so I know where you are and it'll be fine."
All four of the girls opted to watch the movie, so she walked them to the living room where she left them to find seats.
She herself walked down to the Med Bay, where at least 15 people were milling around, including Meggan, who was sitting in one of the many chairs in the room.
"Hi Meggan! Has Chase seen your shoulder yet?" She asked in a friendly tone, mindful of one of the jobs she was given as counsellor.
The older girl shook her head. "No not yet. He gave me some Ibuprofen though. He said it'll ease the pain temporarily, and I won't get addicted to it like Morphine."
"Well I'm sure he'll see you soon." She said as she turned to go into the private annex off the main infirmary. Gambit was sitting up reading one of the notebooks that had been left on the table next to him. He looked up when she walked in.
"Hey chere," He said cheerfully, putting the book down on top of the pile.
"Hi. I just came down to see how you were after the surgery and to drop off this." She held her notebook up for him to see.
"T'anks." He muttered, taking it from her and putting it on top of the other notebook.
"How's the leg feeling?" Kitty asked anxiously.
Gambit glanced down at the leg, which was protruding out the covers at the end of the bed, fully covered in plaster with little pink toes sticking out the end.
"I dun tink I have a leg anymore. It's so doped up I can' even move de toes."
"Rogue came down yet to tell you the jobs you've been assigned?"
Gambit nodded and tilted his head to the pile next to him. "All dat. She's bringing down a laptop for me later. So I can start straight away. 'm pretty bored."
"I know what you mean. I once broke my toe, and they wouldn't let me walk for three days. I almost went insane sitting on the couch watching re-runs of ER."
Gambit smirked. "Well I'm going t' get out of here tomorrow. I know de good doc says I'm t' stay in bed and all dat crap, but I'll go insane. I'd rather be up teaching some of dose kids how t' cheat at poker."
"Sounds like a plan." Kitty smiled, and looked at the clock at Gambit's bedside. 8:47. "I'd better get going. I've got activities to organise."
"See ya later Kitty Kat." He replied picking up one of the notebooks again and began to read. Kitty walked out of the room, waved a goodbye to Meggan and walked back towards the elevator.
***
The senator had been watching his television for hours. Ever since the call that Trask had given him in the early hours in the morning, and the information he had gained from that same phone call. He had made sure that he knew everything that was happening with the Miami situation.
It was about midday when Trask called back. He confirmed what they already knew. The attack was caused by mutants. They had solid proof.
The senator slammed down the phone and smiled to himself. Wallowing in his discovery. This would definitely boost support for the bill. He savoured the moment for a few more minutes before he picked up the phone again.
"Ahh, Mrs Samuels. Can you call the press and tell them that I am calling a press conference later this afternoon… Yes… Three O'clock sounds good enough. Thank you." He hung up the phone then for the first time in several hours, stood and walked out of his office towards his bedroom suite.
***
Lance was the one who was supervising the refugees in the living room for the next few hours. He wasn't looking forward to being subjected to below average soapies and re-runs until dinner. But he had drawn the short straw out of the people who were available so he couldn't get out of it.
He slumped back in the armchair in the corner, which had full view of the whole room, resigned to the torture he was about to endure, when the news update caught his attention.
"In a shocking potentially risky press conference just earlier, Senator Mark McPherson, one of the strongest supporters of the mutant registration act, held a press conference just earlier where he made a shocking and potentially risky accusation towards the Mutant community, claiming that he had evidence to suggest that the tragic earthquake in Miami yesterday night was caused by a group of Mutant fanatics calling themselves the X-men.
In a 15 minute presentation of evidence that he claimed he received from a reliable source showed that this group—" Lance stood up instantly and pointed at the closest person to him. It was Louise, the one of the older mutants in the group. "You. You're in charge until I get back." And with that he ran out the room and headed to the Danger Room, where he knew Logan would be.
It took at least two minutes of full on sprinting. He didn't wait for the elevator, but bolted down the emergency staircase that no one ever used.
When he got there he slammed the doors open. Magneto, Bobby and Logan were all there, pouring over a sheet of paper.
Logan began to talk, ("Lance what—") but Lance didn't let him finish.
"Turn on the TV." He panted, desperately trying to get his breath back. Bobby switched on the little monitor they had and the news flash was just finishing.
Lance shook his head, and said "Check CNN." Bobby typed a command into the control panel which acted as a TV remote and the station changed to the non stop news station.
Sure enough, the a similar news report to the one that Lance had just seen was showing. "—This group of mutant radicals are highly dangerous, with abilities ranging from control of the earth's tectonic plates which one of their rancks displayed this morning in Miami, to Telepathy and I believe the ability to walk through walls. Combined, they have the ability to obtain every nation secret this country has, and I demand that they be brought to justice for their crimes."
Lance nodded at the screen. "See?"
Magneto nodded. "Yes Mr Alvers. Thank you for telling us."
Lance took this as his cue to leave, but before he left the room, Logan said to him. "Don't make a big fuss over this Lance. And see if you can find Rogue. She should probably know about this before she goes to her press conference tomorrow"
***
Disclaimer: I don't own them. They don't own me.
A/N: Well it's not terribly long. But it's not short either. I know I said to DoWriter12 that I would have some Magneto-angst, but I didn't think it fit with the feeling of this chapter so it's been postponed til next chapter. Which shouldn't be too long I don't think. But it all depends.
Anyways. Please Review as always. Lets see if I can get 168 reviews. 10 more than what I have now? That's fair enough?