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"So, you've gone all bad and evil. There are meant to be warning signs before this you know! Like ... like ... oh, wait, never mind"

"Kitty, I am not bad or evil. Why are you staring at my eyebrows?" Xavier leant back in his chair and attempted not to succumb to the temptation to check the area in question using the girl's own eyes as a telepathic mirror. But he shook the compulsion off as he continued to address the inhabitants of the Institute, without waiting for a reply to his mostly rhetorical question. "As Ms Kirk won't return my calls for a meeting, I am going to attempt to speak with the gentleman on this tape and see if some form of enlightened understanding can't be found but, until some form of resolution is reached, you are all confined to the mansion save when you're at school. I understand you will almost certainly see Ms Kirk in school, I expect you all to be the well-mannered and considerate people I know you to be. Is that understood?"

He counted one second, then two, before the declamations began in earnest. "Professor, I have cheerleading ... " Jean's protestations were swiftly drowned out under the clamour of the others in the room, save for the adults and, strangely, Rogue and Remy. He frowned at their expressions, the former was almost calculating, the latter simply the pleasantly polite and attentive mask he'd noted was used most often when humouring anybody that held an official capacity, and shortly before committing something doubtless illegal in at least forty-nine states.

He let the hubbub continue until Logan began to give a low rumbling growl in response to the assault on his sensitive ears, then lifted his hands for silence. It wasn't long coming, and from the resigned expressions it didn't look like anyone expected a reprieve.

"I'm sorry, I truly am, but I am not willing to risk anyone's safety any more than absolutely necessary. You may make any excuses you feel feasible to avoid your after school activities, except that you are a blue-furred bipedal entity with a prehensile tail and the mission to hijack the building and take it to Cuba. Kurt."

"But it worked so well last time! I didn't have to go to Soccer practise for three weeks!"

"Yes, and we received three letters from the school councillor and Ororo had to take time from her schedule to reassure the poor woman you were not suffering from schizophrenic delusions, or a mutant." His lips twisted half in a wry smile and half in distaste for a situation where presumed mental instability was ranked with mutantcy.

"Sorry Professor." Kurt hung his head while Kitty held a hand over her stifled giggle, glancing to Evan to see whether he was trying not to laugh aloud. He wasn't. He was looking almost distractedly out the window, as if what was going on had no interest to him at all. She elbowed him in the ribs and was rewarded with a frown as he turned to face her.

"What?"

"Are you okay? It won't be that bad you know."

He hesitated for a moment, then shrugged her away from him with a noncommittal grunt. Kitty stared after him as they all trailed from the room, but lost her train of thought as her eyes widened as she hit the hallway, drawing to a complete halt that had Scott almost performing a feat of contortion to avoid walking into her.

"The dance!"

She whirled around to see a now closed door, then looked to the others as the two little words full meaning finally dawned on them. Jean gave a frustratedly muted shriek and stormed away to mourn over the dress she wouldn't get to drive anyone crazy wearing, while Scott somehow looked faintly relieved before assuming a more consolational approach as he patted Kitty's shoulder.

"It's a week away, all this could be fixed by then."

"Yeah, right, 'cause we always get what we're looking forward to, all the time, without any of this stupid stuff getting in the way." Kitty tried for sarcasm but fell neatly into what sounded like whining, even to her own ears, and trailed off into a grumble.

"Scott's right sugah, we'll make it to the dance one way or another."

"Uh, that's not what I sa..."

Scott was silenced by a look of pure determination from Rogue and sudden sharp brightness from Kitty, and decided to cut his losses right there. "... Danger Room in ten." It wasn't exactly a retreat, he reasoned as he jogged up the stairs, it was a tactical withdrawal. On the way to his room he gave a light knock on Jean's door, waiting until it opened a crack to speak. "Danger Room in ten ... are you okay?"

Jean's slightly red-rimmed eyes narrowed dangerously and his tender frontal lobes felt the ghost of telepathic spike to tell him where he could put his question. This time he decided running away was definitely what he was doing. "Got it, gone."



Arclight and Scrambler watched their employer as he monitored his laboratory equipment. A slight adjustment to a dial here, checking the air-tightness of a container there, methodical and exact. It had taken him two hours so far to work through even half of the contents they'd set up, and it looked like it would take two hours to do the rest. The woman shifted nervously, not given to praying, but hoping with every cell of her being that he would find nothing amiss. Beside her Scrambler stood stoic, expression inscrutable as he could make it even as his eyes followed the other man's progress around the room. Both felt their breath catch in their throat as the doctor turned holding a beaker and spoke mildly.

"Can either of you cretins tell me, perchance, what a hairline fracture in a glass container can do when subjected to intense heat?"

They shook their heads dumbly and tried not to feel like flies in a spider web as he took a step closer. The feeling could have been aided if his cloak didn't resemble a spider quite so much with the metallic spikes that streamed like liquid from the dark.

"Shall I educate you?" Dr Essex held the glass up before their faces, gripping it so tightly in his gloved hand that the single small fracture soon spawned a hundred more, taking the beaker to the point of shattering. Arclight found her voice first.

"Sorry sir, it won't happen again sir."

After a second the man nodded and stepped back, throwing the beaker against the wall hard enough at impact to leave most of the bits of glass imbedded. "No, I don't expect it will. Get this cleaned up and double checked before I return from my meeting. Everything must be perfect for our guests." And with that he stalked away, form already melting into a shape that was rapidly becoming familiar.

Once sure he had truly gone, Scrambler slumped from almost parade ground attention to something more natural. "Do you think he's really going to get away with this?"

Arclight crouched to begin picking up the shards of glass, careful not to cut herself in the process. It was never a good idea to leave blood lying around the laboratory, Dr. Essex had an almost pathological compulsion to make a use of it. "I think he'll get what he wants, same as usual." Her tone lost it's waspish quality and settled on dark amusement. "But I think we'd better make sure everything's as secure as it can be. I want something a bit harder than thin air between me and the people that will come looking for those kids."

"Heard he was bringing 'tooth in to keep Wolverine busy."

The woman gave an unladylike snort as she stood. "Good, means he's not sniffing around here. Hope they both kill each other."

A guttural laugh from the doorway bought them both around sharply as the massive form of Sabertooth slunk into the room, long strides taking him into the woman's personal space quickly, towering over her by over a head. His rumbling words seemed to erupt rather than be spoken, the base of them just short of painful. "No, say what you really think little girl."

Forcing herself to stand her ground, Arclight looked up into Sabertooths snarling face, then leant forward as if to speak confidentially. "You have rabbit lips. Just here." She used a finger to show on her mouth where he was currently sporting the signs of a fresh kill on his own, then turned and walked away to dispose of the glass, trying to ignore the silence behind her that was mostly being filled with Scrambler's nervous shuffling. When she at last had to glance back, 'tooth was gone. Finally she remembered to breathe.



He had expected Kitty or Evan to be the first to make a break for it, Gambit usually waited for others to create a diversion before sneaking away. What was of immediate interest was that the kid hadn't noticed he was there while he'd kept perfectly still. Maybe that was the secret to catching him by surprise - get there first. Okay, that had a few flaws. Logan waited until Remy was standing on the wall and ready to jump down on the other side to the street beyond before speaking conversationally from the shadows under the tree. "Nice night for a walk, huh?"

A muttered curse later and Gambit dropped easily down, at least knowing when he was busted. "Mais oui, the moon is covered, the streets are empty, an' y' should have been in the back garden smokin' at least a few minutes more. Perfect night f'r a walk." He glared at Wolverine's impassive expression accusingly.

"Sorry, figured someone might just try takin' advantage of that window. Nice try though. Headed after Chuck, huh?"

After weighing his options, Gambit shrugged with a grin. "Oui"

"C'mon then."

Before Gambit had finished a slow blink of surprise, Wolverine was up and over the wall, landing on the other side lightly. Well, okay then, he joined him. "Jus' t' be clear wit' dis, l'professuer was fairly specific 'bout not doin' 'zactly what we doin', an' Stormy goin' tuh poison our coffee f'r leavin' her 'lone wit' l'petit enfants..."

"I can live with Chuck's deep disappointment, and I'm fair sure I can live through any cyanide attempts."

"Ain't dat jus' tres bien. Say somet'in' nice at m' funeral."

Logan shot the younger man a feral grin as they made their way on foot down the block. "How 'bout 'He shoulda stuck with soda'"?

"Y' a real consolation t' me in m' final hours mon frere."

The warehouse wasn't far away; they grew silent as they approached from the darker side. Without thinking Wolverine held his hand up in a signal to halt, before going into the quick series of gestures for advancing separately. Gambit stared at him blankly for a moment, then simply turned and blended into the shadows, working his way around to where he could climb up towards the skylight, apparently not much caring which route the man with the crazy hand took.

Xavier's car was parked up close to the front door, Wolverine gave it a cursory glance over as he passed. It didn't look like it had been tampered with, but he'd have to go under the hood to be a hundred percent sure. Not the most inconspicuous, or quiet, thing he could pass the time doing. So he ducked into the side-alley instead and made his way half up the fire-escape that creaked just a little under his weight despite his care. Trying to think small and furry thoughts, he crouched down to look through the dust streaked window and into the well lit open space within.

There were two figures, one recognisable as Charles sat in his wheel chair, calmly speaking though too far away for even Logan's ears to make out the words. The other was a tall man that someone other than the watcher might have labelled 'dapper'. Wolverine chose to use other, less flattering, adjectives. Blond hair slicked back, an expensive suit and polished shoes, sporting a small moustache and one hand holding a cane he obviously used for decorative rather than functional purposes.

A glint above, sudden and then gone, caught his eye. It didn't reappear and the angle seemed deliberately placed that only one in his position could have seen it. Remy had somehow made it into the building undetected and now sat somewhere in the darkness of the beams, listening. He settled to a slightly more comfortable position, ready to wait for the long haul.

Up above, Gambit took much the same conclusion and began to flex the muscles in his crouched legs one by one to keep them in a semblance of movement. There was nothing more embarrassing than being caught and falling over with cramp when you made your daring escape. Wincing at the memory from his early childhood, and its repercussions, he listened vaguely to the conversation below as he scanned with other senses for movement in the building. Either there was no one else here, or they were keeping very, very, still. Like him. Well, wasn't that a kick in the teeth, he'd just have to rely on sight.

"Dr Tatum, I assure you that I am making no attempt to coerce your mind other than through reasoned discussion."

The man Remy had mentally labelled 'Mr Hit-waiting-to-happen' shook his head, even if his reply was as calm in tone as the professors. "But you see our problem, Professor Xavier? I have absolutely no method of verifying the truth of that, or any other mutant's claims. What if I were a more important man? The President, perhaps, and a telepath decided they had a political agenda. What if they had decided that already?" The man paused for a moment before continuing in a placating fashion. "Please understand I have no interest in some form of genocidal action, and I have the utmost respect for your work towards peaceful co-existence. But I cannot condone mutants living in secret any more than I could, say, a terrorist being allowed to live anonymously in a community. It's simply unfair on those others living there."

Remy wondered idly how upset Xavier would be should he accidentally send a charged card towards the man's head.

~ Extremely ~

After saving himself from falling from his beam, Gambit looked towards the two men. ~Y' knew I was up here?~

~Your thoughts broadcasted strongly for a moment, and I believe Wolverine is outside attempting to fool me into believing he is a cat. We will discuss this once this meeting is over~

~D'accord~

"The difference, Dr Tatum, is that a terrorist has committed a crime. You are talking about exposing children and adults who would wholeheartedly agree with your policies on terrorism, and have no intention of breaking the laws of this country or any other."

Tatum nodded, as if this were an argument he had heard often and countered. "Except for the one percent who would be that terrorist, only with options of destruction on a massive scale that could never be taken away from them." before his words could be refuted, he went on quickly "I do realise you have a method of policing your own, there are often reports of such on the media. But I ask you what of the dangers of that? The collateral damage alone can extend into the millions, not to mention the risk of life. Human, and mutant."

"Mutants are humans doctor ..." Xavier felt a rush of sudden fire as his mind was invaded without warning, not with hostile intent, but with panic.

~Professor, we're under attack. Help, we're~

Jean's link was cut short in an instant as he attempted to send a reply. Each mind he tried to connect to at the mansion was closed to him, it was like a dead area, nothing sentient there at all. So he sent sharp mental alerts to his watchers and gave Tatum a harried and forced smile.

"I'm afraid I must depart, an emergency has occurred. But I would be most interested in continuing this discussion at a later date." He turned the chair and was half to the door before a new voice spoke from where Tatum had been standing. One with a metallic and clinical edge that sounded like a surgical knife.

"No, Professor, I'm afraid I can't allow you to leave quite yet."