Lucy eased herself down in to one of the lighthouses more comfortable chairs. Alistaire sat nearby looking over some notes Forge had given him on the null-cuffs.

Alistaire noticed Lucy's wide and satisfied grin.

"W-what is it?" He said softly.

"You took Brian down." She said with a slight head-bob.

Alistaire went to laugh and caught himself. "I had to."

"That's beside the point." She smiled. "You did it."

Alistaire looked lost for a moment.

Lucy sighed. "It works like this Alistaire. First you do the violence and then you accept what you've done." She was still smiling but not as enthusiastically as before. "It's not boasting. It's coming clean. You did it. Accept it. If you go walking around, hiding behind the fact that you didn't want to do it, then you never really take the responsibility for it. For being strong enough, ruthless enough… Whatever it took. You did it."

"I did." He said quickly. "Didn't I?"

She nodded, crossing her arms over her chest hesitantly. "Un-huh."

"And… I really didn't hesitate either. I just… turned on him."

Lucy smiled, not at what he said, but that he understood her.

Alistaire seemed to understand because as he spoke he did so quietly, as one might whisper his sins to a priest in the shrouding darkness of a confessional.

"At first it was exciting. The first blow was mine and it was a good one. But then… " His eyes clouded "I had to hurt him."

She nodded. She recalled a time, not the first or last she had ever hurt someone… But the first time she had wondered if it was wrong. It was a difficult time for her.

"And… after I knew he was hurt… I mean really hurt… I had to keep going." He swallowed. "Because he'd kill me if I stopped. I knew it …" He swallowed despite the fact that his mouth was dry. "I did that… made it kill or be killed, didn't I? Just because… It would take everything I had just to get his attention and keep it, right? So … I raised the stakes all the way right from the get-go."

She nodded. She was sure there had been times like that for her as well, although they obviously meant less to her than it did to Alistaire.

"And to be honest… I didn't know… Not for certain… that he would survive what I did… As I walked away… I wondered… If I had killed him." He felt hollow inside and his words seemed to echo appropriately. "That would have been terrible… To have killed him while he wasn't himself…"

Alistaire looked away. "But you're right." He concluded. "I can't lie about it. More than ready to… I did it. I took that chance with his life."

"You know better than anyone what we can do. You must have had an idea about what Brian could survive." She tried to shrug it off.

"Yes. I do." He admitted. "But… very little of that came in to play at the end. It briefly flickered through my mind before I knocked him down in the junkyard… But then… It was anyone's guess after that. And I never thought to add up the cumulative effects of everything I threw at him… It just happened too quick."

He looked at her and realized he was nervously biting a fingernail.

"Welcome to the edge." She shrugged slightly. "That's the speed out here."

He nodded slightly. "I feel bad." He admitted. "He's so strong… I feel like… I was hitting him when he was down at the end there…"

She smiled. "I'd hope so." She laughed slightly. "He'd have ripped you apart Alistaire. Honestly. With his hands. I've seen people like that – ripped open. And I've seen the kind of people that can do that and sleep through the night. Alistaire… You've got to hit those kind of people when they're down. Because you don't have the luxury of letting them get up." She smiled. "I know it sucks. Your first big victory was over the formerly crippled guy. And he's on our side to top it all off…" She shook her head. "But at the same time… You're probably the only human in the country whose stood toe to toe with an insane alpha level mutant and won."

Alistaire's mind swam. "That's probably true, isn't it?"

"I bet it is." She said with a hint of a grin. "If I were you, I'd ask for a raise."

And Alistaire barked out laughing.

Brian sulked slightly two rooms away. "I just never noticed it before." He moaned.

Betsy smiled slightly. "He's not creepy." She insisted. "Alistaire's very polite… Most times."

Brian met her eyes and saw that hers were laughing at him. "Well… He creeps me out now."

She smiled reluctantly and shook her head. "You've never really been beaten up, have you?"

"Not since Dad whipped my butt when I was thirteen." He sighed. "And I really didn't think that Alistaire would have been the man for the job."

"Who would have you have preferred?" She asked.

He shrugged. "I wouldn't feel bad getting taken down by The Hulk… Or Magneto… I was even afraid of Lucy that time I found her wallet and she walked in on me opening it up… But... Alistaire?"

Kitty cleared her throat. "Do you mind if I make an observation?"

Brian moaned about being overheard and Betsy smiled, egging Kitty on. "Go ahead." Betsy smiled.

"Alistaire is more than most people realize. Kurt and I came by our jobs here because we're mutants. Alistaire was given his job because someone who underestimated him wanted Kurt to fail. But that didn't happen. Alistaire uncovered the Hellfire Club's plot to take over Britain and he committed acts of treason in order to try and benefit his country. Since then he's successfully managed to give Kurt's office a 99 percent conviction rate in the courts." She smiled. "Alistaire may have bruised your ego tonight but the truth is… You never stood a chance. He's been held down for years and once Kurt gave him a shot at success Alistaire took off for the stars. I don't think it would matter who you were. You were in his way."

Brian nodded. "Treason, hunh?"

Kitty smiled. "Yeah, back before we had a legal leg to stand on and he could be tried for it. Before he got diplomatic immunity and everything."

Brian shook his head. "That's gutsy."

Kitty smiled. Yeah… I guess it is.

"And he's got a great car." Betsy laughed.

Brian rubbed his jaw. "Don't remind me."

Kitty smiled and drifted though the room. I think we all underestimate Alistaire come to think of it…

She passed Illyana in the hallway.

Illyana stepped out in to the room. "I brought you ice. For your head." She told him, holding out a towel folded around several pounds of ice.

Betsy stood up slowly and strolled out of the room.

Illyana watched her go. "She's still mad." She swallowed. "I don't blame her… Or you for that matter if…"

Brian smiled at her. "I was mad for a moment earlier." He admitted. "But I don't have a right to be. Neither does she. You were under a spell. It's like Cujo by Steven King."

"It is?" She looked at him oddly and slowly lowered herself in to a chair to face him.

He nodded. "I haven't read many books for fun." He began. "But Cujo was one of them. It's about a dog that got rabies and went crazy." He shrugged. "But once a dog gets rabies it's not responsible for it's actions. It's crazy…" He shrugged. "I've been teetering on being mad at myself for attacking the city like I did. But I couldn't help it."

He sighed. "I just want to go to sleep and wake up next month and have today be a distant memory."

"Thank you." She said softly. "For understanding… And standing up for me… I feel so bad that… I wouldn't have done that for myself."

"I know." He said softly. "And I fully intend to rant and rave on that topic just as soon as I am able. " He sighed "But I don't have the energy tonight."

She sighed. "Were… Were you always …"

"What?" He asked.

"This smart?" She finished, knowing that wasn't quite what she had intended to say.

He laughed slightly under his breath. "No… I don't think so… " He took a deep breath. "I think I used to be a real jerk come to think of it."

"I can't believe it." She said, crossing her arms.

"And I can't believe it of you either." He said softly. "I guess when people like us change… We really change, don't we?"

She nodded several times. "Da. Maybe we do."