Emma yawned and stretched as she woke up. Kurt's holoimager lay on the pillow next to her and she smiled in delight at her escapade from the night before.
She slipped on her slippers, pulled on her silk robe and headed to the hallway. Her newspaper was waiting.
"So, how did it go?" She smiled as she unfolded the paper so as to see the top half of the first page.
Sure enough. "Mutant Advisor a No-Show"
Not the most courageous move… She mused.
Then she unfolded the rest of the page.
"WHAT!" She shrieked, and it was as though the world had dropped away. "No!"
"Mystery Mutant Saves Missing Girl!"
Complete with dashing pictures of Kurt, undisguised, laughing with the people of London.
How could he have arranged this? She began to panic. He's… He…
He hasn't the means, the resources. He's not one of the 'Club' …
He didn't do it. He couldn't have.
And it dawned on her.
Illyana!
Illyana sat quite smugly in her apartment.
She smiled at Kurt's picture in the paper.
He is quite dashing… She mused over her coffee mug. And he photographs well.
And that tail… She shivered a bit at the thought.
The phone rang. Again.
She sipped her cup, carefully enjoying listening to the phone ring.
Ahhh, Emma. All's fair in love and war. She turned her eyes outside and watched a few birds slip gracefully through the air past the window.
They love him now. She smiled. And you've no power over that Emma. You can't remove him now. Not even with your media campaign. Once they make the connection, he's the man in charge and there's nothing you can do about it.
And if I have to kill him later, then it will serve my purposes…She stroked his picture as she admired him.
To make a martyr out of him, and pave the way for my own man to take his place.
Then she sipped her coffee again.
It was really good. And the phone rang yet again.
Alistaire woke up with a start.
"Ahem!" Said the voice again.
He sat up and looked through the doorway in to his kitchen.
Someone was sitting at his kitchen table.
Ahhh! He thought. Company again.
He snatched his jeans and pulled them on, then strolled out to see who was there.
"Hello Mr. Stuart." The large man smiled. "I've come to congratulate you and welcome a new player to the board. That was an excellent piece of advertisement you orchestrated last night."
"Me?" Alistaire eyed him.
The man looked doubtingly at him for a long, considerate moment. "Perhaps not. You really don't seem the type." He rose slowly from the table, keeping his eyes locked on Alistaire.
"And you are?" Alistaire pressed.
Sebastian Shaw smiled. "Just leaving and sorry to have wasted your time."
He turned and opened the door, then glanced back over his shoulder. "Tell me Mr. Stuart, Does the name Illyana Rasputin mean anything to you?"
Alistaire didn't speak, but his reaction must have given him away.
"I see." Sebastian replied. "Thank you very much, Mr. Stuart."
And he slipped out the door and closed it – ever so softly.
Alistaire looked down at the table. The man had left several different morning newspapers opened to articles about Kurt, both as a 'Mystery Mutant' and the 'Mutant Advisor'.
Well, HELLO! Alistaire got excited and picked up his phone. He dialed quickly and held the phone to his ear.
"Eric, yeah." Alistaire began. "How would you like an exclusive with the Mystery Mutant from the paper today.
He paused. "Alistaire! Alistaire Stuart! Now do you want the interview or not?"
"Pictures, sure… What? … Because it's my new job. I work for him. Now… Just meet me at this address, are you ready? Tonight at eight, no, better make that nine. Yes, nine."
Alistaire rolled his eyes. "Yes." He said at last. "You can bring your wife. But no one else."
And he read off the address, laughing all the while, softly, under his breath.
Kitty woke up slowly. She was so comfortable that she didn't want to get out of bed. She rolled over and looked at the edge of her mattress.
Where did I get a purple throw pillow? She leaned up to look and noticed that it was breathing.
What the? She reached out and touched it. It was a thick-skinned animal of some kind. She kneeled over it cautiously until she got a good look at it.
"AAAAWWWWWWW!" Her eyes lit up. "You're so cute!"
The tiny purple dragon opened his eyes, looking panicked. When it saw her its lower lip began to quiver as it looked for some escape and cringed.
"Oh, it's okay." She whispered. "I won't hurt you."
Still it jumped for the floor, but not being used to the hard wood floors, it just kind of ran in place, looking terrified.
Finally it gave up, shielded itself and peeked at her through its little toes.
"Creak?" It said quietly.
"Aaaaaawwwwww!" She repeated cupping her hands to her chest. "You're sooooo cute!"
And it seemed to smile and bat its eyelashes at her playfully.
Across town, a little blonde girl woke up at home in her own bed.
Her mother was sitting there, as she had been all night. But now, she had fallen asleep.
The little girl got out of bed and crossed the room with her blanket wrapped around her. She climbed up in to her mother's lap, lay down and snuggled in tight.
The mother woke up briefly and smiled wide, wrapped her arms around her daughter, and slipped back off to sleep.
X23 awoke with a rush of panic at the thought of oversleeping before calming herself down and focusing on the fact that oversleeping wasn't necessarily fatal if you were doing it in a bed, and a house, surrounded by allies…
None the less, for just a moment, the idea made her head hurt.
She focused on breathing, and still, it seemed to work, and she regained her composure.
She gathered up some new clothes and a towel, then slipped out towards the bathroom.
She locked the door once inside and turned on the hot water. She showered quickly but still the room filled with warmth by the time she had stepped out.
The towel was warm too and her clothes even more so.
"What the…" She looked at the mirror.
Someone was behind her.
She whipped around quickly, her claws leaping in to place.
But no one was there.
She looked at her claws. They too looked freshly cleaned and new.
Probably the saltwater. She reasoned.
She looked back in to the mirror. It showed only her.
She relaxed and stood up, glancing back. – And he was there, again!
She got a better look this time and spun again on the empty room.
No! She thought. It can't be. You're dead. Dead in New York!
And when she turned back the mirror reflected only her, once again.
