"Alright, I have your partner's body hostage. Answer a few questions and I'll return it in roughly the same condition," Scott half-heard the icy demand and instead was still focused on the strike to his jaw. He shut the pain out as best he could and stood to his feet as sleep tried to grab his eyes from behind. "Why are you here? Why are you hunting me?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Scott steadied his visor. Remy was hunched slightly, giving off a position reminiscent to that of a boxer just before a devastating punch. Neither one made any attempt to move.

"Your friend, the one with the claws, I saw him stab my mother. Then, as I jumped off that balcony, I saw you coming up one end. That woman who called herself my mother told me you like to do little experiments on mutants, but you're not experimenting on me. Do anything I don't like and I'll scramble this fucker's brain; I can do it, you know." Scott's jaw fell slack as he stared at Remy.

"Wait, You're…Talia? In Gambit's body?"

"Whoever Gambit is." Scott gritted his teeth, then with determined motions, dialed his communicator and pushed the red X on the front of it.

"Kurt, get down to the kitchen immediately," Scott said as calmly as he possibly could, He let his arm fall to his side again. Then, to Talia, "Talia, I'm not sure what Mystique told you, but we're not here to experiment on you. We're not here to do anything to you. All we want to do is" but he could not say anything after that. Why have we come here? We traveled across the country, and what do any of us have to show for it? Two bodies, that's it. It was at that moment that Scott's melancholy reminiscence was disrupted by the sudden appearance of Kurt and Piotr. Scott was so intimate with the mechanics of Kurt's teleportation that covering his nose was a second nature, however Talia received the full brunt of that choking, noxious air.

"Vhat is it? Vhat happened?" Kurt questioned.

"Kurt, I'm going to need you to stay calm," Scott said as he pulled himself up. "Because what I'm about to tell you is going to sound nuts-"

"Who are you," Talia finally spoke, clearing the last from her lungs, and all three turned toward Remy's form. "You-the one with the tail-he called you Kurt. Why do you look like me?"

"Vhat exactly are you talking about? I look notzhing like you, Gambit, and you know who I am," Kurt snapped at Remy before turning back to Scott. "Vhat's going on? Vhere's my sister?"

"Kurt, calm down!" Scott barked, and all eyes focused on him. He immediately regretted yelling. He cleared his throat, but before he can speak again, Talia spoke in a calm, quiet voice.

"Listen, all of you. In the past six hours, I've been arrested, met someone who claims to be my birth mother, and then seen her get stabbed by some guy who has claws in his hands. Now I'm in the body of somebody I don't know, and I'm staring at someone who looks just like me. I think I deserve some answers," Scott made an attempt to speak, Talia spoke through him. "You and him leave," She said, gesturing at Piotr and Scott. Piotr made no hesitation and Scott followed soon afterwards, but he paused just before the swinging doors.

"Kurt, that's Talia inside of Gambit." Scott said before stepping out of the kitchen. Kurt stared, slack-jawed toward the door as its momentum died down.

"Ok, why do you look like me? Are you trying to kill me?"

"No! No, Talia, My name is Kurt Wagner, and I'm your brother. I'm vith ze X-men. Ve're mutants, all of us. Talia, all of zhis is my fault. Scott found zhis picture of you," Kurt reached into a small, hidden pocket of his uniform, and produced a Polaroid. "And ever since zhen, I've been vaiting for just one moment to see you; I just vanted one chance to meet ze family I never knew," Kurt sighed, "But now zhat I'm here, I can't zhink of anyzhing to say, except I am sorry. I never meant for any of zhis. Two people might die tonight, one my own mother and another one of my best friends, and all of zhis because I vanted to meet my family. Talia, vhat could I say to make any of zhis right?" A long, uncomfortable pause.

"Please, just tell me what's going on. Why did that man stab my mother?"

"His name is Logan, and he and our mother have a long history. She's done zhings in her life, I can't name zhem all."

"She shot at you and said you were hunting me down for experiments. When-,"Talia crouched onto the floor, ducking slightly under the butcher's block. "When I saw him cut her leg, I figured she was right."

"She vasn't. Ve live at a school, Talia, a school for mutants, and ve learn how to use our powers to help out everyone, mutant or human."

"Like a superhero?"

A little bit." Kurt said with a hint of pride. Then, his communicator crackled, the voice of Kitty Pryde distorted but recognizable through the miniature speaker.

"Kurt, Talia's parents are upstairs; the Professor just came in."

"My parents?" Talia sprung up from under the chopping block.

"Ja. Here, I can teleport us upstairs." Talia opened Remy's mouth to speak, but instead felt her body being pulled, violently so. However, in the very next instant, everything stopped, and she felt her stomach churning and twisting itself. She doubled over and her knees buckled. Her throat burned, and she began to dry heave as she collapsed, kneeling, on the floor. Kurt, with some trepidation, placed a hand at her shoulder blades, keeping it there until she stood up to Remy's six-foot three height.

"Um, Talia, Is zhere some vay you could…maybe…come out of Gambit?" Kurt was met with a blank stare, then a look of sudden realization.

"I want to see my parents first. If they're ok, I'll let this guy go."

"Zhen let's go. Zhe rest of us are vaiting in zhe lobby." Talia noticed for the first time that they were standing in a stairwell. She let Kurt lead her into the opulent lobby, she saw the pack waiting up ahead. From the far end, she noticed most of them looked about her age, with a few exceptions. As she got closer she saw her parents, standing next to a bald man seated in a wheel chair. She saw her father's long, grey beard and small bifocals perched at the edge of his nose. She saw her mother's long, curled hair, beginning to show the first grey hairs. All at once, she felt her gut tighten, and her head felt light and filled with air. She made her final steps very carefully, and she was reminded of the last time she had been in this motel.

"Kurt, Gambit? Where's Talia?" Kitty questioned impatiently. Ignoring her, Talia turned toward Piotr, who had since shed his armored form, but he was still a few inches taller than Remy.

"Hey armor-all, can you catch your friend?" Talia recognized the man from downstairs. She glanced around, but she caught no glance of the man with the glasses that she had punched.

"Where's our daughter? I thought that boy with the glasses said he had found her." A female voice floated across the lobby.

"What did you say, Remy?" Piotr spoke in a quiet voice, although for him that was still audible to Kitty, Kurt, and Rogue. Talia simply turned around.

"Just…hold your arms out." Piotr kept a confused look on his face, but he complied. For an instant, Remy's body was still, even rigid. Then, to all four's silent astonishment, they witnessed Talia leap forth from Remy's chest, and it was hard to tell if it was gravity or her momentum that forced Remy backwards into Piotr's waiting arms. With one strong, fluid motion, Piotr wrapped his arms around Remy's waist, bringing him to a semi-standing position. Remy's arms dangled like dead weight at his sides and his mouth hung open slightly. Piotr looked at his friend nervously; one sideways glance at his wide eyes and slightly trembling jaw was all it took. Where Remy had been standing, now there was a girl, a blue-skinned, yellow-eyed woman that made every x-man do a double take as she bolted away from this group

"How did you do that? You were inside Remy?" He asked.

"What in tha hell was thaht?"

"Mom! Dad!" She had one arm around her mother's shoulder and another around the middle of her father's back.

"Talia, you're ok!" Her mother shouted, wrapping her arms tightly around her daughter.

"Thank god, you're alive." Her father said, visibly relieved.

"So, who are these people? They're not here to experiment on me?" Her father gave her an odd look, one that was more bemused than confused.

"No. No, they're not here to hurt you Talia. This is Professor Xavier, he runs a school for mutants.Do you remember, we showed you that book he wrote once."

"Yes, Talia, it is nice to finally meet you. I only wish our first introduction could be less chaotic." Xavier pushed his chair forward, extending his hand toward Talia. She took it in a friendly but very tentative handshake.

"Um, Hi. Is…all of this about me?" She waved her arm about in a small half-circle.

"I'm afraid so. Mystique is the name she goes by nowadays, and she is responsible for many attacks supposedly on behalf of mutants.

"So he's really my brother? And that woman? She was really my mother?"

"Yes," Logan walked up from behind the professor, laying one hand on the rear grip of his wheelchair.

"Hotel's clean, Chuck. Looks like Mystique really was pulling this one on her own."

"Logan, you and Beast take the Blackbird and get everyone back to Bayville. Jean and Raven need to be put under medical care immediately, and our students will be waking up soon for school. I'd like to speak to Talia and her parents personally." Xavier momentarily noticed that Talia was no longer next to him, and after a minute of allowing his eyes to silently search the lobby, he noticed her scrunched up between her parents and the lobby desk.

"What're you gonna do? Wheel yourself back to New York?" Walter and Cathie's faces lit up momentarily with shock at Logan's comment.

"Getting Jean and Mystique under medical supervision is paramount right now. Have Beast get me a full status report on both. I'd like to stay here for the moment," Logan curtly nodded his head, acknowledging the professor's orders. Then, Logan paused. He opened his mouth to say something, some question dancing on his tongue. "Yes?" The professor asked.

"Nah, forget it. Call if something fucks up." Logan said over his shoulder, causing Cathie's face to blanch once more.

"Mr. and Mrs. Royce, is there somewhere more private we can talk?"

"Hey, McCoy, we're taking off," Logan and the students had made the trek from the hotel to the woods on the edge of the town, the last wispy blanket of dusk covering the sky. "And not a moment too soon."

"And where is our fearless leader?" Henry asked with no small amount of sarcasm in his voice. The students filed wordlessly past the two adults, most looking as though they might fall asleep on the ramp and find it comfortable.

"He's stickin' around with the Talia kid," Logan paused, pulling out a cigar and lighting it. "Probably gonna be bringing her back with him. We got any beers in there? I need something for my nerves."

"That was the task to which we were charged." Beast said emotionlessly, eliciting a long sideways glance from Logan. "And no, we must have forgotten the beers. Would you like to stop at a convenience store?"Beast uttered, quipping as though the last sentence had never happened.

"Nah, hell with it. You want a cigar?"

"No, thank you."

Inside the small bungalow that the Royces made their home, Charles Xavier was seated at the table along with Talia and her parents. A carafe of coffee had been prepared, and much of the conversation had centered around that, what with cream and sugar and all the other necessities of drinking coffee in the twenty-first century. The clock over the stove glowed,in a toxic-green color, 3:01.

"Professor Xavier, are you sure you're not tired? It's gotten late, and with the time difference between New York and-

"I assure you, Mrs. Royce that I am quite alright," Talia sat between the professor and her father, uncharacteristically quiet and staring into her steaming mug of coffee. "However, in recognition of the late hour, I would prefer to get straight to brass tacks, if you will pardon the slang. I would like to offer Talia a place at my school." The professor stopped, waiting for any reaction from Talia herself.

"Just…like that? I possessed one of your students and punched another."

"As I am aware. Talia, my school and my home are a haven for all mutants. We all work together to not only focus and strengthen our abilities, but to use them in a way that benefits the whole planet, mutants and humans alike. Your parents told me that you are the only mutant in this town."

"If there's any others, they're hiding under a rock somewhere." Charles paused.

"Mr. and Mrs. Royce, would it be possible for me to speak to your daughter alone? I feel this is something two mutants must speak about alone." Walter and Cathie exchanged parental glances.

"I don't see anything wrong with that," Walter said plainly as he scratched his grey beard and rose from his chair. "Cathie, would you like to sit out on the deck for a while?"

"Talia, we'll be right out back if you need anything," Cathie said by way of a confirmation as she stood up. "Honestly, though, it's five minutes in those chairs before you fall asleep." Cathie was heard to say as the two left the kitchen table. Talia and the professor were the only two left in the room. Talia made it a point to avoid eye contact with the professor, instead choosing to focus her golden eyes on the mug of coffee in front of her until she heard-

Talia, I do believe you would be happy at my school. Your brother has been.

-in her own head, but unmistakably the voice of Charles Xavier. She turned to him, the first time she had faced him since he had entered their home. He merely smiled, and she heard him again-

What you are hearing is MY mutant ability-telepathy. I have the power to project my thoughts and read others thoughts.

Upon hearing that, Talia sprang from the table, knocking over her chair in the process.

"You're reading my thoughts!" It was hard to tell if it was an accusation or a question.

"I'm not, Talia," Charles said, and this time he spoke using his mouth, "I will not read anyone's mind without their expressed permission for me to do so. You are hearing my thoughts because I am projecting them."

"So you could have a whole conversation with me and never open your mouth?"

Correct. Talia looked at the professor for a minute, studying him, before she raised one hand to her temple and extended her other hand, open, towards the professor.

So can you hear this?

Yes I can. However, the hand motions are unnecessary. Do they make you feel more comfortable?

Not really, I just figured that was how it works. Are there a lot of people who look like me? I guess that's what I want to know.

You're referring to your physical mutations. It's not as uncommon as you might think. We have several students at my school who have physical mutations. One of my students must wear special glasses to contain the solar beams his eyes emit on a constant basis. Another girl clothes herself from head to toe because her physical mutation denies her any skin to skin contact.

What? Really?...Geez,. Talia righted the chair she had knocked over earlier and took a seat in it. So I can just show up at this school?

I established my school as a safe haven for all mutants. We are going through a dark tunnel right now, but the thing you must remember about tunnels is that every one leads to daylight. One day, there will be peace between mutants and humans

I'd be leaving my job and my friend…wow, just one.

It is not an easy decision, Talia, and I understand if-

I wasn't thinking things over, Dr. Xavier.

Author's Note: Yes, this chapter is much shorter than the others. There's more coming soon…just up around the bend. So read, review, and whiten your teeth while you wait.