Come into my Parlor

Angela, smallish and bent, with her apparently twisted back, looked all the way up at the tall, strong woman. "Nobody really," she answered sweetly. And looking around as her friends greeted the visitors, she invited, "Would you care to come inside?" Then, she slipped out of her coat, and handed it to Jesse by her side. She seemed to grow as she stretched her bent legs and her curved back from the slouching, deceptive position of her crippled persona to assume the full height of her real feral self. She faced the lioness in front of her predator to predator, eye to eye, both glowing at the exact same time, Jax's slanted and yellow, Angela's round and amber. The bird woman spread her golden and maroon wings to their full length, screeched her clarion, turned around and flew through the dark tunnel as the magnificent falcon she was.

Jax McManus's jaw dropped to the floor and shot back up. And she repeated the question with her eyes open wide. "Who the hell is that?"

"That, Miss McManus, is my bird-of-prey," answered their host. "Be careful of her. Be very careful of her." And he motioned them to come in.

Trembling Earth

"Oh, her?" asked Revolution, arm in arm the fiery McManus woman, telekinetically pushing the bags they brought down the hallway, past Cat, coming from inside Sanctuary. "That's Lux." She smiled. "Lux, this is Cat, Cat this is Lux Windsor."

Cat smiled and shook Lux's hand. So this is Lux, she doesn't look so tough, thought Cat, did Rev say something about a bodyguard?

"Jax is floating around somewhere," said Lux.

Cat looked at Lux, more than slightly shocked. Lux tapped her temple.

"Telepath," was her simple reply.

"Ah," said Cat blushing slightly "There are far too many Psionics here."

Revolution slapped her arm gently.

"Hey, I resent that comment," she said jokingly.

"I know."

Cat wrapped an arm around Revolution and the two girls walked out of the lab.

"So that's Cat," said Lux as she sat on a counter.

"Yes," replied Adam.

"Sheesh, Revolution told me so much about her, I feel like I know her," said Lux "They make quite a pair."

Adam nodded.

"It's the Salamander," she whispered "You already knew that though….Menachem."

Adam looked at the young woman in shock.

"Don't worry," she said patting his arm "I never read and tell."

Adam laughed slightly.

"Why did you come?" he asked "Not that we don't enjoy seeing you."

"We're not exactly harbingers of good news, are we?" asked Lux rubbing her eyes tiredly.

Adam looked at her, his eyes filled with concern.

"Yes," she whispered "I'm fine. We'll talk later, Doc. Donna Gryphon is about to call. The Salamander struck again. Don't worry though, she's fine."

Lux walked out of the lab, just as the phone began to ring.

&&&

Brennan sat down on the couch next to Revolution and sighed heavily.

"She went, didn't she?" asked Revolution.

"Yes."

"Told you so," exclaimed Revolution grinning "My girl Cat is stubborn."

Brennan laughed then grew serious.

"I don't think Adam should have asked her to go pick up Donna, especially after that fight with Silver," he whispered.

Revolution patted his arm and grinned again.

"No worries, Spark," she said "She's got Shal with her and I guess this Donna chick is a wicked Psionic. She'll be fine."

"Yeah Static," said Jax "She's got Kitten, she'll be five by five."

Brennan laughed at the pet names Jax had given him and Shalimar when they first met.

"Hey….shh…" whispered Lux from where she was sitting, she leaned across Jesse's lap and took the remote from him.

"Hey!" said Jesse.

Revolution reached over and covered his mouth with her hand as she watched the newscast that had caught Lux's eye. A serious looking reporter stood in front of a ripped up street. "...reaching 6.5 on the Richter scale, the financial heart of the city was virtually destroyed..."

"Holy #%$," whispered Jax "That's #%$ Detroit."

"Was," whispered Lux "And I can only think of one person who has that kind of power."

"Bree," said Jax, her eyes flashing.

"Bree?" asked Revolution "Who the hell is Bree?"

"Its Nicky's Queen of Hearts," said Jax "Bree Williams, one of the few women in The New Order. A Terraformer Elemental."

"A Terraformer?" asked Jesse, his eyes wide with shock "They're one of the rarest forms of elementals."

Lux nodded.

"Nicky sends her in when he wants to send a message," she exclaimed.

"And what is his message?" asked Emma who had remained quiet the whole time.

"My guess…" said Jax "He's challenging us."

Revolution sighed heavily.

"Someone should call Adam and tell him," she said.

"I will," said Emma.

"I'll come with you," said Lux "I'll call Max and have him send up everything on our newest player."

Emma nodded.

Revolution watched the news for a few more minutes, growing more angry with each destroyed building. Jax could see it in the young Psionic's eyes, it was a look that she had come to know very well in the short time Revolution had been with The Ring.

"Come on kid," she said "Let's go do some of those exercises Lux taught ya."

Revolution nodded gratefully. If she got much more angry, she wouldn't be able to think straight.

Angela perched on one of the wooden planks that crisscrossed one of the training rooms, a tiny book sat precariously atop her knees. She watched curiously as Revolution rushed into the room, leaned against the wall and put her head in her hands. She was just about to see if the girl was all right when Jax came in carrying something. Angela's hawk eyes focused on the small object, when she saw what it was, anger filled her. A gun? How dare that woman do this? Mutant X had brought her willingly into their Sanctuary and now she was threatening the life of Revolution.