-1Ororo Munroe looked up at the sound of the mansion's phone ringing. It had been a dull day and she welcomed anything interesting that might cure her boredom.

"Hello?" She spoke into the phone.

"Ororo?" She identified the voice as belonging to Hank McCoy.

"Hank," She smiled, speaking in a pleasant tone of voice. "How's it going?"

"Not too good, I'm afraid. You should turn on the local news." Her stomach sunk when she heard him. It was the way he spoke. She knew that it was certain to be bad news. She walked briskly into the television room of the mansion, snatching up the remote control that rested on the arm of the sofa. She hurried, pressing the buttons and changing the channel to a local news network.

"Just as soon as we thought the mutant threat had died down we were proven wrong. Today, the Walgreens' drug store on the corner of Regal and England was robbed by a pair of young mutants, one wielding handfuls of fire and the other passing right through the police who'd been called to the scene. We do have video from the store's security cameras, we'll show you that right now."

Ororo's eyes opened wide in shock, not at the sight of John but upon seeing Kitty Pryde. She'd known that the girl had been bothered lately but she never imagined that her troubles would drive her to commit a violent crime. She suspected that she didn't know the whole story and she tried to convince herself that her motives were good, that she hadn't done something wrong just because she wanted to cause trouble.

"Hank, what'll we do?" She practically whispered into the phone.

"We have to find them before the police do. Who knows how they'll treat someone they consider to be a violent mutant?" Ororo frowned, the question echoing in her mind. She knew how humans reacted to something that scared them so much. They reacted violently and without conscience.

"How can we? Only the professor can use Cerebro and he's…" She trailed off, but Hank knew what she meant to say. The Professor was dead.

"There is a certain mutant floating around in the Los Angeles area, one who you almost killed, Ororo." She hesitated for a moment. You would think that nearly killing someone would stick their name permanently in her mind, but her mind was hazy with all of the trouble going on. It must have been thirty seconds before she murmured the girl's code name.

"Callisto." Callisto would be able to locate John and Kitty. She'd done it before when she'd located Mystique, Ororo knew that much.

"I'll have my driver take me to the mansion. I'll be there as soon as possible and then we can take the Blackbird. Time is of the essence." She nodded even though he couldn't see her gestures.

"I'll see you soon, Hank." And they hung up, both John and Kitty's fates ultimately resting in their hands.

------

"The mutants used the names 'Kitty' and 'John' while robbing the drug store. If you've seen either of these two mutants please do not start a conflict with them. They are dangerous and almost certain to kill."

Kitty sat on the edge of the bed with the television on, her mouth hanging open in surprise. She didn't say anything to John because she knew how he felt about what had happened. He was proud. He had successfully committed a crime and he was glad about it. Kitty just couldn't understand how a person could feel that way.

"People are calling this dangerous duo the mutant Bonnie and Clyde, suspecting that this will not be their last crime."

"You hear that?" John flicked his lighter on, pointing to the screen.

"Oh, give me a break." Kitty rolled her eyes. "We're nothing like Bonnie and Clyde."

"You keep telling yourself that, Kitten." He flicked his Zippo lighter shut once more, smirking at Kitty with mischief in his eyes. She just huffed, looking at him angrily.

"You do know that Clyde had problems getting it up, right?" His smirk faded partially because she was insinuating he had problems below the belt and partially because he was shocked. He had never thought he'd ever hear Kitty use the phrase 'getting it up.'

"And besides that, there's no honor in committing crime. It's stupid and wrong." She turned off the television, not wanting to hear any more. They were making her out to be equally as evil as John. They made it sound like they were a team of sorts. It made her a little angry.

"We're superior to the humans, Kitty." He tucked his Zippo into his pants pocket. "It's a fact of life. It shouldn't be a crime to take what we deserve."

"It's wrong to hurt people, John." She was tired and her voice lacked passion, but he knew that she meant what she was saying.

"Retribution isn't wrong." He was perfectly calm, not saying the words out of anger but instead staying composed and debating with her. "After all the human race has done to mutants, reprisal like this is to be expected."

"Sometimes," Kitty laid back on the bed, turning her body so that she was resting on her side and looking right at John who sat in the cheap armchair beside the bed. "Sometimes you've got to do what's not expected. Prove people wrong and show that you're something special."

"I don't need to prove anything." He crossed his arms stubbornly. Kitty didn't argue with that. It was the truth. No one really needed to prove anything, it was a completely voluntary thing. Anyway, she was just too tired to tell John that he was a good person inside. She was far too tired to tell him that she knew he deserved a second chance.

"Who gets the bed?" She rubbed her eyes. Stretching out her arms in front of her she yawned softly.

"You take it. I'm staying awake for now." Kitty nodded appreciatively. Instead of lying back down, she stood.

"Hide your eyes." She commanded, peering at John from over her shoulder.

"What-- You're not taking your clothes off, are you?" He eyed her from her head to her toes, secretly wondering what she looked like under all of her baggy clothing.

"Just the jeans, John. Now either turn or hide your eyes but do not look in this direction." She turned away from him, peeking over her shoulder to make sure that he wasn't looking before she did any unbuttoning. Satisfied, she unzipped and slid the jeans off of her hips and kicked them a foot or two from the bed. She peeled down the bed's comforter and sat down on the mattress.

John heard the mattress' springs make a barely audible creaking and turned back to watch the television, catching a glimpse of Kitty's bare legs in the process. Of course, she gasped and pulled the covers to her chin the moment she saw this.

"I told you not to look!" She blushed. Kitty was an attractive, petite sort of girl. She worked out in the Danger Room constantly and she had muscle tone to show it which made her insecurities all the more ridiculous. John just laughed at her.

"Kitty, relax. I didn't see anything." Okay, so that was a lie but it was one Kitty could believe. She calmed down, tugging the sheets down to her waist and turning to lay on her side, facing John.

"Why did you rob the drug store?" She propped her head up on her hand, looking at him curiously. He seemed to tense up immediately after she'd asked the question, only causing her curiosity to increase.

"'Cause I don't have everything handed out to me like you do." He spat out the words bitterly even though she didn't really deserve his anger. "And eventually, when you don't have people feeding you, you get hungry."

"There's gotta be another way." She shook her head. There was a long pause, at least five minutes in length, and then she spoke again. "Come back to the school."

"What!" John looked at her incredulously. "No. No way am I ever going back to that place."

"Why not? The people there love you, you know." She smiled faintly, a smile of sympathy for all of his pain, but she couldn't help but wonder how much of that pain John had brought on himself.

"Do they?" That same bitter tone came back in his voice. "Do they still love me after I tried to kill them? Because that makes them fools, Kitty. It makes you a fool." He gritted his teeth, clenching his jaw shut as tightly as it would go.

"No." She wrinkled her eyebrows, looking a little hurt by his words. Seeing her face made him wish for a brief moment that he hadn't said such things, but his unapologetic streak surfaced again and he refused to apologize. "No, I'm not a fool. You went down the wrong path, I know that, but you're still…" She sighed, trailing off for a moment. "You still deserve a second chance."

"I'm tired." John muttered. "Mind if I sleep on top of the blankets?" He stretched out his arms in front of him until one of his joints made a soft popping noise.

"Yeah, sure…" She practically whispered the words. Part of her was glad that he'd changed the subject. Things were getting tense, after all, and this wasn't the best time to have an argument. An even bigger part of her wished that the conversation had continued and gone a different way. She wished that he would have heard her suggestion, that he believed that everyone still cared a great deal about him. Truthfully, Kitty knew that, if he wasn't already, he was damn close to being past the point of redemption and she knew that he knew it as well.

Kitty straightened out the covers and John climbed onto the bed. She moved towards her edge of the mattress to give him more room on his side. He punched his pillow a few times, presumably to make it more comfortable, and laid down facing away from Kitty. She stared at the back of his head for a while, leaning in to sniff his hair when her curiosity got the best of her, then drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

----

"Why's she gonna help us, is what I'd like to know." Logan looked around for any sign of Callisto.

"We'll give her a few reasons." Ororo smirked a little, also scanning the area. They'd been tipped off that a girl with facial tattoos and a big omega symbol inked on her chest had been staying in the general vicinity. Lucky for them Hank had sources who could provide said information.

The three of them stood out as they walked around the back alleyways of downtown Los Angeles. Sensible people didn't hang out around there, but the trio wasn't ordinary. They could fight back twice as hard as any assailant if they were provoked.

"There," Hank spoke with a softened voice, pointing with his furry blue index finger to a sleeping figure beside a trash bin. It was a girl with olive skin and dark hair. They couldn't see any tattoos from where they stood but with a few steps she came into focus. It was Callisto, asleep and surprisingly off-guard. They'd expected members of the Brotherhood to be with her. They'd expected a fight. There was no sign of Arclight or Quill. Nobody but Callisto…

"Hey," Logan raised his voice, speaking in a harsh tone, and kicked the sleeping form with his boot. "Wake up."

The girl rolled over to look him in the eye, gasping a little as she realized who it was. She hopped to her feet, making an attempt to run away with her super-agility, but ran right into the arms of Hank McCoy, a man who could definitely hold her still.

"What?" She hissed, looking at each member of the trio. "What could you possibly want?"

"We need you to locate a mutant." Ororo maintained her calm as she spoke to the girl.

"Why should I help you?" Callisto's eyes narrowed hatefully at the people she'd fought against not very long ago.

"'Cause," Logan showed his adamantium claws. "You really don't wanna face the alternative."

Callisto sneered. She tried to appear strong and unfazed by his threats, but she was caught. She was outnumbered and there was little hope of her winning a fight against these three. It went against her principles to help the X-Men, but she wanted to get out of the situation unharmed.

"Fine." She tried to shake free of Hank's grip but he held her shoulders tightly with his gigantic hands. "Who is it?"

----

The old motel owner tucked a chunk of chewing tobacco on the inside of his lip, licking his lips and enjoying a taste most people would find grotesque. He really wasn't the most pleasant looking, or smelling, guy around. It was no surprise that he'd given Kitty a slight case of the heebie jeebies.

He sat on an old wooden chair that looked like it could crumble beneath his weight at any moment, his eyes glued to the television. The evening news was supposed to be over and his reruns of the national poker tournament were due to air, but there was a very annoying news bulletin showing in its place.

"Two young adult mutants, one boy who is believed to have control over fire and one girl who can pass through solid matter, are on the run. These are pictures of the two of them taken from the security camera of the drug store they robbed. They are using the names or aliases 'Kitty' and 'John'. Please do not corner or threaten these mutants as they are very dangerous and unpredictable. Simply call the police hotline shown at the bottom of the screen and stay calm."

The man's jaw dropped open, a grotesque and slimy chunk of tobacco falling from his mouth to the wooden floor. Seconds after the newscaster had finished, something clicked in his mind. Those faces, they looked awfully familiar…

He picked up his old rotary phone, dialing the hotline number as quickly as possible.

"Hello, police tip-line, do you have anything you would like to report?"

"Yes," He spoke in his hillbilly accented voice. "I think I've found the two mutants you showed on yer television show."