"…Our time may be running out, but our watcher wants to keep us maintained." Neil's voice echoed through Xavier's head. He gave a halfhearted snort at hearing that. Neil's continued rebellion had lost its humor long ago. Xavier gently switched over to probe Katie's feelings on Neil's statement. What he found did not please him.

Xavier promptly decided that the two had had enough. He mentally called out to Nightcrawler.

___________________________________________________

Kurt Wagner sat casually perched on a large boulder several hundred yards away from the cabin. The oversized rock was nearly the size of about two rather bulky SUVs piled atop each other. The rock had originally sat just on the ocean's edge. But, as the tide came in, his perch had become a small island. Not that it mattered to him of course though; he didn't have to swim to shore or anything of the sort.

He absently chipped away at long dried barnacles and the mossy lichen that grew all over the top of the rock as he took a sip of cold tea. He didn't know how much time had gone by since he had left the two humans alone, but he figured it did not really matter. Xavier would be keeping an eye on them; and besides, Kurt knew a greater deal about Neil Branch. He was a good guy. Human though, but still okay.

Kurt laughed as he reflected back on his thoughts. He remembered a conversation that he had had years ago with Ororo about loving humans, not hating them. Of course, they still existed as a majority back then. Now, all anyone in the mansion could do was whisper his or her feelings of half-hearted pity. The students no longer cared, nor did most of the staff. Xavier had grown quite distant over the last few years and the rest of the X-men had moved on with their lives. Storm kept teaching, as did Scott. Logan came and went as he pleased. No words were spoken of Magneto or of what Xavier had done. Those were things simply not to be executed at Xavier's School for the Gifted. But now, everyone was gifted, so what was the fun in that?

Kurt gave a small laugh again and casually whipped his pointed tail pack and forth rhythmically. The very tip just grazed the murky gray water. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, savoring the feel of the cool mist on his skin. Unfortunately, his moment of solitude was about to come to a screeching halt.

'Kurt,' Xavier's voice rang through his head, causing the poor German mutant so much surprise he nearly fell off the rock.

A small, involuntary sign escaped his mouth before he audibly replied. He questioned what it was the Professor wanted.

Xavier took his time answering. 'I do believe that our friends have had…plenty of time to properly converse about the drama that is their lives,' Charles said melodramatically. 'Kurt, please bring the girl back here and tell Neil I'm watching.' Xavier commanded before quickly closing his mental link, not bothering to wait for Kurt's reply.

Reluctantly, Kurt gave one last look around at the afternoon sun and blue-gray waters that stretched far beyond what he could see. And with that, He disappeared, teleporting himself back to the cabin.

Nightcrawler appeared with his usual poof in the middle of the cabin's living room. Katie and Neil both looked shocked to see him, Katie much more so than Neil, who was quite used to Kurt's habit of simply popping in by now.

"The Professor said that it was time to bring Katie back to the mansion." Kurt explained. They both stood, and Neil extended his hand to Katie. "It was nice meeting you. " He said quietly. She shook his hand wordlessly before standing over by Nightcrawler. He put his hand on her shoulder but paused before teleporting out.

"The Professor also said for me to tell you that he is watching." Kurt said and then with a puff of smoke they were gone, leaving Neil alone. Again.

_________________________________________________

They reappeared back at the mansion. Katie found that this time she did not have so much of an aftereffect. She then noted that they were standing outside of Xavier's office. She turned to ask something of Nightcrawler, but he stopped her.

"He had a class in there," He whispered, and to that, Katie simply nodded. She put her hands in her sweatshirt pocket and discovered a small piece of paper in there that wasn't before. Curious, she withdrew it as she took a casual step away from Kurt.

Kate,

Call me when things get rough.

- Neil 555-2496

She immediately thrust the note back into her pocket. When had he given that to her? Perhaps when they had shaken hands? Kurt gently tapping on her shoulder with a long blue finger interrupted her thoughts.

"Professor will see us now," He said in his quiet manner. She nodded and followed him inside the office.

Xavier sat behind his desk as usual, a neat stack of lined papers sat in front of him as he held a thick red pen in his hand. He looked up as they entered and gave a half smile.

"Grading," He stated as an explanation for what he was doing, then quickly told the to sit down.

A thick silence hung over the room for another moment as Xavier continued to simply grade papers. Finally though, he looked up.

"I don't know what exactly Neil Branch told you." He began flatly. "But I wanted to make sure you knew that he is mentally unstable." Xavier finished, wheeling out from behind his desk.

"Neil had a breakdown right after we found him- And another a year later. Whatever he said should for the most part be disregarded as ramblings. I thought you should meet him though." Xavier said remorsefully.

"He seemed pretty sane to me," Katie quietly commented. Xavier narrowed his eyes.

"We will have none of that now," He snapped back harshly.

"Neil Branch may be one of the last living humans, but he is not to be trusted." Xavier said, raising his voice. He turned to Kurt, "Make sure she gets back to her room." He commanded and wheeled back behind his desk.