Hector woke the next morning and groaned at the sunlight streaming in through the window. "What time is it?"

"9:36," said Ace. "What time did you sleep?"

"Before you came back." Hector swung his legs out of bed and bumped his head as the rest of him got out as well. Something flew through the air and he caught the foil-wrapped package before it could bean him in the head. "Breakfast?" he asked, unwrapping it.

Ace nodded. Renée entered the room, wiping her face with a towel. "Ah, you're awake now," she said upon seeing Hector. She rolled up her jacket's sleeves to reveal a shiny cuff that displayed a holographic screen when she pressed a button on it. She punched a phone number into the screen, but the call refused to connect. "Damn it. She's not connected."

There was nothing else to do but listen to Renée and eat his damn burrito, so Hector wolfed down his breakfast, got cleaned up with the toiletries Ace had bought last night, and popped in his contacts. "What color are my eyes right now?" he asked Renée.

When her answer was "Brown", they finally were ready to leave. As soon as the three stepped outside the hostel, they ran into a group of people handing out flyers. "Vote Kelly for Bayville Mayor!" one shouted through a microphone. Any attempts at evading this group were futile, as Hector accidentally made eye contact with one of them and soon was being handed a clipboard by an eager-looking middle-aged man. "Hello there, are you registered to vote?"

Renée and Hector replied in all honesty that they weren't old enough, Hector biting back a blue streak. Ace answered that he didn't live in Bayville.

"Do you have any friends or family that live in Bayville?"

Just as Hector opened his mouth to tell the busybody to mind his own damn business, Renée elbowed him in the ribs. Ace answered, "Yes. In fact, we were on our way to visit them right now."

"Well, uh, hang on now," the man fumbled a bit with his messenger bag and clipboard. "Mind telling them to register to vote and to vote for Kelly come this November?" He handed Ace the registration forms and some pamphlets.

Ace thanked the man with a smile. As they made their way to the subway, Ace flipped through the pamphlet. Renée glanced over and asked, "So is what we were taught true?"

"He's not exactly the demon they made him out to be," Ace said. "He's mostly concerned with the safety of baselines against the 'mutant menace.'"

Hector snorted as they passed through the gates and waited for the next subway to come through. "Sounds like the demon I was taught."

"Kelly's a saint compared to Stryker though," Renée said. "At least Kelly's reasons for mutant registration were practical."

"You talkin' about that Edward Kelly?" The three turned to see a man dressed in a mechanic's uniform. "What do you think of him?"

"While I understand his concerns," Renée responded. "I don't appreciate his language."

The man's voice lowered and his eyes took on a dark look. "You a mutant, miss?"

Renée whipped her head around and glared as much as she could behind her sunglasses. Hector shuddered as the air dropped a few degrees. "And so what if I am?" she seethed.

The mechanic sputtered a bit then scrambled out of sight. Hector smirked and let out a whistle. "Smooooth. Really."

"Shut up."

"Will you guys shut up?" shouted Lance. Scout and Fred steadied their plates and glasses as the dining table shook.

"C'mon Lance," Toad whined, springing around the room. "Help me get the remote from Pietro. Then you can go back to sweet-talking Kitty-Kat."

Lance groaned and massaged his temple with his free hand. "Hello, Kitty?" he said into the phone. "Yeah I'm still here. Sorry about that. Hang on, let me go somewhere quieter." He dashed up the stairs and locked himself in his bedroom.

As Toad kept trying to swipe the remote from Pietro's hands, Scout asked, "Who's Kitty?"

"Lance's girlfriend, an X-man and a goody-goody," Fred snickered between mouthfuls of waffles.

Pietro rushed by, tossing the remote up and down. "You're one to talk, Freddy," he said with a smirk. "Remember Jean?" Fred roared and took a swing at Pietro that was easily dodged by the speedster. The momentary distraction allowed for Toad to snag the remote with a swipe of the tongue.

"Gah!" Pietro shouted. "Give it back! Maury's gonna be on in a few."

"Too bad! CSI is on, and I'm not missing this episode!"

The argument continued as Scout finished her breakfast, and they resorted to fisticuffs by the time she began brushing her teeth. The rhythm of their shouting and punching allowed Scout to time out the required two minutes. As she exited the bathroom, Lance walked out of his room holding a pair of keys in his hands.

"Where are you going?" Scout asked.

"Construction work," Lance replied.

"Do you pass by a library on the way?" Scout said. "I'd like to use a computer and see if I can find anything about myself."

Lance quirked an eyebrow at her and nodded after a beat. Scout ran into her room to pull on her jacket and followed Lance outside. As he untied the chain tethering his Jeep to the house, Scout asked if car theft was a problem. Lance smiled as he told her of an old housemate who used to love to steal his jeep for joyrides, not that the chain ever stopped her. He opened the passenger door for Scout and she hopped in. As they drove, Lance apparently decided to do his own investigation. "So how's your amnesia work exactly?"

"What do you mean?"

"You said you didn't remember anything," Lance explained, "but you know about martial arts, or this Eskrima thing at least, and you know about libraries and computers."

Scout chewed her bottom lip as she tried to find the words for it. "It's like… I know all these things," she said, "but I can't remember who taught me these things. I can't remember any family or anything. It's like I'm a book that has no author or copyright information or references. Does that make any sense?"

"Yeah," Lance said reassuringly. In a more humorous tone, he asked, "Can you really recite five hundred digits of pi?"

Scout smiled and began to recite. A minute passed and she showed no signs of stopping, grinning all the while.

Lance laughed. "All right, I get it, you can stop now."

They arrived at the library. Lance gave Scout his card so she could use the computers, and they agreed to meet outside at one for lunch. He only drove away once she was safe inside the building. Scout made a beeline for the computers and logged on. "All right Google," she whispered. "Let's see if you're any help."

Hector's throat had tightened ever since he stepped into the Xavier Institute. The place reminded him too much of his punishment back home. He dug his hands into his pockets and tried to think pleasant thoughts, occasionally blinking to make sure his contacts were in place.

A kind, regal voice had answered them at the gate, and the voice's owner, Ms. Munroe, had led them to the office of Charles Xavier. Renée kept a sharp eye and a tight grip on Hector in case his impatience took control of his mouth, but could she blame him for being antsy? Besides, once they entered Xavier's presence, Renée became a bit jittery as well, so who was she to monitor him?

Ace did most of the talking, telling Xavier that the three of them were mutants, currently homeless and hoping to stay at the X-Mansion. When he offered to pay rent or do labor, Xavier held up his hand. "That won't be necessary," he said, "though I'm sure Hank will be pleased to know that you're willing to do chores. If I may ask, how did you three become homeless?"

Hector flinched and glanced at Renée, whose head was bowed. Xavier's eyes darted their way and Hector felt something try to get inside his mind. Xavier's eyes narrowed a bit when he met with Hector's mental barriers and could not break through, a fact for which Hector allowed himself a small sigh of relief.

"Please, we don't wish to talk about that yet," Renée said.

Xavier's brow furrowed. "What of your family?"

Hector venomously spat, "None on this earth that we can go to for help, that's for sure!"

Xavier's eyes widened a bit before he sighed. "If you give me your surnames, I'm sure there's someone…"

"Give them time, Charles," Ms. Munroe said. "The loss of a home is not something that can be discussed easily."

"If you can, we do need your help in finding a friend of ours," Renée said. "I understand that you have a device that can find mutants." Xavier nodded. "We were separated from her when we lost our home, and we've had no luck in finding her. All we know is that she's somewhere around Bayville."

"Her name's Nadia," said Ace.

"Or Scout," added Hector. "Nickname," he explained at Xavier's questioning look.

Xavier assured them that he would do his best, and gave them a warm welcome to the Institute. He shook hands with each of them and then turned to Ms. Munroe. "Ororo, would you mind showing them to their rooms and giving a tour?"

"I don't mind at all, Charles," Ms. Munroe replied. "If you'll follow me…"

So damn polite and regal. Hector thought. As he walked through the double doors, he brushed shoulders with stout, gruff-looking Logan. The man gave him an irritated look that Hector returned with a glare.

"You wanted to see me, Chuck?" Logan said as the doors closed.

Hector craned his neck to eavesdrop, but Renée dragged him away from the door as Ms. Munroe's tour began.