LOL- another side note, I have a spacey habit of skipping words! I'm sooo sorry if I didn't catch that! blushes

……..

"Shhhh. Wolverine is still up."

"Wow, she's done a lot since she moved everything around." The boys peered around the dark room, bits of moonlight falling in through the wall windows.

"Look, sketchbooks."

"Ya. Even nice pencils."

"Look at some of these pictures."

"Did she do them?"

"Pfff. Hell if I know."

"Maybe she won't be too bad after all."

"Let's just get the prank over with. Precise, start telling us where everything was." The boys weren't pulling a prank on her because they didn't like her; they were pulling the prank to see her reaction and because they thought it would be really funny.

"Aren't you guys supposed to be in bed?" Wolverine walked in and spoiled their fun before they could start their trouble. He had doing his nightly routine check, making sure everyone was in bed and that all the doors were locked and the lights were off. The boys gave each other side glances and left quietly. Wolverine looked around once more, scanning the room for anything unusual, before he closed and locked the door.

…..

"Mmmmm. Mmm, what time is it?" Ange rolled out of bed, and checked her clock. "Wow, slept for a really long time." It was nine when she woke up. She had red lines all over her face from her jacket sleeve that she had fallen asleep in. She yawned and stretched.

"Mmmm, geez I'm hungry." She changed into her pant PJ's and a sweater and headed to the kitchen for a late snack/dinner. She'd catch the news, and maybe an episode of CSI.

"Might want to lock your door next time." Wolverine tossed the art room keys at Ange. It caught her off guard and gave her little time to react; she barely caught the keys.

"Do you stay up late very often?" Ange asked, grabbing a glass of grape fruit juice and a bowl of cold mac and cheese from the fridge.

Wolverine only shrugged his shoulders. She put the mac and cheese into the microwave and set the timer.

Nightmare came down into the kitchen, whimpering slightly, rubbing her eyes.

"I can't sleep. The man keeps trying to get me." Ange knelt down beside her.

"What man?"

"The bad man in my dreams."

Wolverine stood sipping at his soda, observing Ange.

"Come on. I'll tell you a story, ok?"

Nightmare nodded her head sleepily and Ange picked her up and took to her room.

"Which room is yours?" Nightmare pointed to a door that was cracked open. Ange sat her down in bed and tucked the covers in all around her. She picked up Nightmare's stuffed tiger and handed it to her. She pulled a chair up to the side of her bed, ready to tell her a bed time story.

"Have you ever heard of the story of Hercules?"

"No."

"Oh, Hercules was a great, strong man. He was half human, and half god- son of Zeus, the king of the gods. The gods gave him several tasks that he had to perform. Extremely hard, dangerous, and frightening tasks; tasks that no other man could do ... "

Nightmare fell asleep fast, and Ange returned to the kitchen to finish her dinner. Wolverine was watching the news, and Ange joined him on the couch, with her slightly warm bowl of mac and cheese.

"A little girl went missing today in Southern Colorado. They say she was snatched out of her backyard while her grandmother was in the kitchen making lunch. Witnesses have described the kidnapper as a white male, in his mid 30's. He has black hair and they have described him as being quite muscular. He seems to be driving a white mini van. If you know anything of his where abouts, please call crime stoppers at ..."

Ange laughed to herself. The person they described sounded just like Wolverine. Wolverine glanced at her out of the corner of her eye, and she tried to suppress her laughter. She must have given him a horrible impression- laughing at a poor little girl who went missing! She finished her mac and cheese, and set the empty bowl on the coffee table.

"In other news today, the President has been discussing options with other nation's leaders about the best way to handle the mutants. He said earlier today at a press conference in Boston, 'I understand that not all mutants are evil, just as not all humans are evil. However they have more power than the majority than us and power has the tendency to corrupt.' Congress will be meeting later in the week to discuss options.

More bodies were found today in the rumble created by the tsunami ..."

Wolverine grumbled. Ange shook her head.

"They just don't understand," Nightcrawler whispered.

Wolverine and Ange turned to look behind them to see Nightcrawler looking sympathetically at the TV screen. Wolverine rolled his eyes and grabbed Ange's bowl as he got up to leave.

"The Pope went to hospital again earlier this morning. Doctor's say that his condition is worsening, but they are all hopeful he'll come through."

Nightcrawler made the sign of the cross, praying for the good health of the Pope. Ange starred at him in amazement. She muted the TV, and tried to get the words out.

"You're Catholic?"

"Yes." He nodded, lowering his head, half expecting her to make some horrible comment about the Catholics. Ange sat up and turned to face him more, holding onto the back of the couch to keep herself from falling backwards off of it.

"I just..." she laughed, "I would have never guessed. I mean, I'm Catholic too. Went to a Catholic school my whole life."

"Really?" His eye lit up. "I had wanted to go a Catholic school, but I was an orphan, and didn't get much of a chance to join a school after I had been adopted by the gypsies in the circus. And I always wanted to be a priest, but I'm afraid that the temptations of the body would cause me to break the priestly vows." If it was possible to see Nightcrawler blush, you would have seen him do so just now.

"I thought about becoming a nun. For the longest time, I feared that God wanted me to be a nun, simply because I didn't want to be one. I got over that. After I marry, if I marry, and when and if my husband dies, I would become a nun then. But I love children too much to be a nun right now."

"The children are such special gifts! They are so pure. They don't have prejudices like we do. They don't fear like we do. They trust and love so much, which is why Jesus loved to let the children come to him."

"They're full of energy and they know how to have fun!"

Nightcrawler and Ange stayed up longer, the TV muted in the background. They discussed theology, culture, their pasts, and several other topics- you know the way that conversation topics evolve, to a point that you don't really understand how you got onto that particular topic! As their conversation slowed down, they heard the grand father clock in the hall strike midnight.

Ange sighed deeply. "I should probably go to bed. My art class is fairly early in the morning. But I not tired. I couldn't sleep last night- I woke up at about 3 and couldn't get back to sleep. But I took a nap today around 4 and slept til' 9. I've never taken a nap so long. But I really should go to bed."

"I am getting sleepy too." He stood up and yawned. "It is very nice to know that I'm not the only Catholic here."

"Same here."

"Well good night and God Bless."

Ange smiled. "Don't let the bed bugs bite." He left and Ange flipped off the TV. "Blind Date," she chuckled and tossed the remote onto the couch. She put away the dishes that were still out and wiped down the island, counter, and table. She put away the grape fruit juice and a bag of cookies someone left out. She took one last look around, making sure everything was put up. She turned off the lights and headed upstairs.

Still not sleepy, she grabbed her journal and started jotting down some ideas for names and character dynamics she had thought of recently. She set her sketch book on her lap, and leaning against her head board she starred out the window. There was a clear sky tonight. She could see a few stars and the beautiful moon through the trees just outside her window. She put her journal away, kicked off her slippers, and turned out her lamp.