As she knew it would, word spread, first that she hadn't come home last night and second, which only made the first part more intriguing, that she wasn't speaking of it. By evening when Professor Xavier called them into his office for a meeting, the kids were giving her sidelong looks in the hallways and giggling. Kurt and Logan also regarded her out of the corners of their eyes as she entered the study, Kurt behaving with conspicuous decorum as if his politeness would quash the licentious whispers in the house, and Logan curiously, almost uncomfortably, avoiding interaction. Scott, on the other hand, smirked at the turtleneck she wore. He pointed to his own collar and mouthed the words, "Nice."

Xavier, pretending to be unaware of the mutters and meaningful glances around him, darkened the room without preamble and brought up an image on the projector. "These are the locations of the four murders in question." With a click of his remote, little red dots appeared over a map: one in New Jersey, one in Maryland, and two in Virginia. "They have all been listed as stabbings. However, all four victims had fatal trauma to their throats and significant body lacerations."

"Where did you get this information?" Ororo asked. Xavier always had his ways, some of which he would discuss and some of which he wouldn't. But Ororo always asked.

"I was alerted by an ally in the FBI who occasionally checks on things for me. He also does work with pattern recognition. Off the clock." Xavier cleared his throat. "He believes the murders are related and that the killer may be a mutant. As I said, this FBI contact is an ally and wanted to give us a chance to handle the matter discretely if possible. A mutant serial killer of humans would be very bad for the cause."

"I didn't know you had spies in the FBI, Chuck," Logan said. "You're sneakier than I thought."

Xavier regarded him coolly, but didn't respond.

"Charles, what makes your contact believe the killer is a mutant?" Ororo asked, trying to keep the brief on track. She glanced over to Logan who diverted his eyes immediately back to the screen.

"Good question, Ororo. I was just coming to that." The professor flipped to the next slide. "World Church of the Creator," Xavier intoned. "The first victim was connected to this organization. It's on the FBI's list of possible domestic terror organizations and the Southern Poverty Law Center's hate group watch list, among others. As you can see from the slide, they are responsible for a variety of violent criminal activity up to and including murder. Although not specifically an anti-mutant group, they are known to target us. In 1992, one of their members was convicted of throwing a grenade into a New York City bar known to be frequented by mutants. Three people were killed."

Xavier flipped to the next slide. "Victim two was a Polish-Czech immigrant linked by Interpol to an apparently defunct anti-semitic group called, 'Svuj k svemu,' Czech for 'Each to his own.' The group has not been held officially responsible for any violent crimes, and has generally been thought of as a fringe subgroup of more established nationalist political parties. Victim one and victim two have no known ties to each other, but their link to hate groups is an interesting coincidence. No other plausible motives for either murder have been revealed. Victims three and four are unknowns. That is where I'd like us to start our investigation."

Logan snorted. "Why don't we save everybody's time and just go after Sabretooth?"

Ororo suppressed a jump. Struggling to recall neutral memories, ones not steeped in the heat of passion, she wondered if she should try to speak up for Sabretooth, and if so, how. What can I say? That he told me he didn't do it? To her relief, Xavier spoke for her. "While Sabrtooth is indeed capable of these acts, it does not mean there are not others similarly capable. Furthermore, though we suspect these murders are linked and the work of a mutant, we have no proof of either suspicion."

Logan rolled his eyes.

"Scott, as team leader, you'd be my first choice to go. However, as you are taking the seniors on a field trip tomorrow, I'm going to send Ororo instead. Jean, you will go with her."

Scott frowned. "Professor, if these people are linked to a hate group, do you think it's a good idea to send Ororo? I mean, she can take care of herself," and at this he smiled at her, "but they might not want to talk to her."

Xavier steepled his hands beneath his chin in thought. "I believe sending Ororo and Jean as a team will be effective. Any mental buzz of bigotry will be picked up by Jean. It might help up flush the quail from the bushes, so to speak. I'm sure Ororo and Jean will use whatever they find to their advantage. They are after all clever young women."

After the meeting, Ororo and Scott stayed behind to plan the logistics for the week now that the teaching schedule had been disrupted. Despite a round of mild bickering, they settled on a plan that required Logan to play substitute teacher for her classes on Monday, which the kids would love – Logan never followed the teaching plan and when primed properly spent half the class telling stories of epic fights – but also required staying late on Tuesday and Wednesday to make up, which the kids would hate.

"Don't worry, 'Ro," Scott said as they left the conference room. "The kids will probably blame you, but at least they won't blame me." He grinned as she took a swipe at his head.

"Have fun on your field trip," she said, turning to head up to her room. "Maybe next time the Professor will let you ride along with the big girls."

Scott nodded his head in faux resignation, but caught her arm before she walked away. "'Ro, take care of my girlfriend."

She smiled. "Of course."

"And 'Ro? Take care of yourself, too."

"I will," she nodded.

"And 'Ro, one more thing." He pulled her closer, just slightly, looking at her solemnly. "When am I going to get to see the hicky?"

.

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A/N: World Church of the Creator is unfortunately a real organization. In 1999, one of its members went on a shooting spree, killing a black college basketball coach, a Korean grad student, and injuring 6 Jews walking home from a synagogue. Svuj k svemu was also a real organization that existed around the time of WWII.