Hank stared at the ripples cascading across the water before him, uncertain about what to do next. He stole a quick glance to his left to Kat, who was curled up into a ball sleeping. His eyes remained on her for a few moments as he thought about their first meeting just several days earlier.

'I want to help her but how can I do that?' he thought.

Hank's mind went back yet again to the offer she proposed earlier in the evening and gave a sigh. He couldn't make up his mind whether he should listen to her friend or not. Smiling at her still form once more, he gently picked her up. She snuggled in closer, almost as if she was trying to take comfort in warmth of his body. He couldn't help but give a broad smile as he began to make his way back into the direction of the mansion.

00000

Jean was standing at the door when Hank walked through with Kat sitting in his arms. She carefully gave him a one over, a soft smile on her face as he carefully stepped up to her side. Together, they began to head up the stairs towards the cat's bedroom.

"So how're you feeling Hank?" she asked him.

"I'll be fine. I'm beginning to wish I never got involved with this fiasco with the incidents in the park. Maybe when the professor meets with Magneto tomorrow night, we'll have some answers. All I'd like to see is some sort of communication started and maybe then everyone would begin to trust her," Hank confided.

Jean studied the purring feline sitting comfortably within Hanks' arms as they stepped into the room. Hank gently placed her underneath the covers and gave a small smile before returning his attention back to Jean. He watched as she placed her fingers on her chin, closed her eyes slightly and began to focus. Kat began to breathe more quickly as she began to squirm about slightly. After a few tense moments, Jean snapped to attention with a look of mild surprise on her face.

"What is it Jean?" he asked her.

"I tried to reach out to her, only to be faced with an anger that was clouded in smoke. I saw a building up in flames under the close inspection of a couple of people. Unfortunately, I couldn't see their faces clearly. It looked like she was in a city of some sort. It almost looked like it was New Orleans. Why on Earth could she have been there?" Jean replied.

"She might've passed through there during her travels. Who knows?" Hank said.

They stepped out into the hallway, allowing the guest to get some sleep and began their trip towards their own rooms. Jean could tell that something was on Hank's mind and curiously glanced in his direction several times. Once they arrived at her room, they stopped and Jean turned to face her friend with a worried look on her face.

"What's wrong Hank?" she finally asked.

Hank sighed, closing his eyes slightly before turning to face her. He wondered how much he should tell about the offer or his feelings about his new friend. He finally gave a tiny smile, figuring that Jean didn't need her telepathic abilities to see that the worry was written all over his face.

"Kat told me about a friend of hers who is trying to make a sanctuary for people like her and myself. She said this friend would like to talk to me for she knows he would value my input. I am strongly considering at least seeing what he has to say and possibly even help out as much as I can."

Jean nodded. She thought about the proposal for a few seconds. Even she found that the notion sounded a little enticing.

"It wouldn't hurt to see what he has to say at least. If you don't like the ideas he proposes, you will always have a choice in whether or not you have anything to do with it. As far as I can tell, it looks like she simply gave you the offer and I feel she isn't going to hold it against if you feel uncomfortable with it," Jean told him.

Hank slowly nodded his head before he opened the door to let her inside. She began to walk, stopping for a moment in the doorway to take once last glance at her friend.

"Hank, take it easy and don't worry over it. Whatever her friend tells you tomorrow, I'm pretty sure you'll know what to do," Jean assured him.

"Okay, I will do that," he replied.

Jean gave him one last smile before closing the door, leaving Hank behind with the still many thoughts on his mind yet with some worries relieved. Now he could only wait until the night passed.

00000

The early morning sun filtered through the window. Kat blinked a few times before she realized what time of day it was and rose to a sitting position. She caught something blue out of the corner of her eye and she turned to see Hank fast asleep in a chair near the bed, a book nestled within his fingers. She couldn't help but give a small snicker as a smile crossed her face.

'He stayed here for part of the night anyway. He has certainly taking a liking to me. Just where I want him,' she pondered.

Carefully, she climbed out from underneath the covers and gently sat on the edge of the bed. With that movement, Hank stirred from where he sat and groggily awoke to see her standing next to him. He tried to give her a smile before a yawn overtook his mouth.

'Now's my last chance to get at a computer,' she thought. "Hank, is it possible just to find a computer I could use for five minutes before we leave this morning?"

"Yes of course! I remember you requesting it before, I simply forgot you did. I suppose things just got a little hectic around here soon after you asked. Come on, follow me," Hank replied.

She carefully trailed him down the hallway to his room and raised her eyes a bit once they walked inside. He stepped over to his computer and turned it on. After fiddling with it for a minute, he allowed Kat to sit down in front of it. Stepping towards the door, he stood close by to watch his new friend as her fingers flew over the keyboard. She stared at the computer for about ten minutes before she climbed out of the chair and gave Hank a smile.

"Thank you. Shall we head out? My friend is expecting us anytime now," she told him.

He returned the smile as he allowed her to walk past him and out the door. While they stepped out the front door and onto the streets, Hank couldn't help but think about what he was about to be told. He had a few butterflies settling in his stomach for the uncertainty he found himself facing. He quietly followed her as they walked down the streets and soon they wound up at the same cafe they were at earlier in the week.

"You like this place, don't you" he posed.

"I do. The owner knows what I am and he doesn't mind me coming in every once in a while as long as I don't disrupt everything," she replied.

Kat glanced around the cafe and quickly noticed the waving arm from near the window. She grinned as she walked up to the man at the table.

"It's so good to see you again. Thank you for meeting with me and my friend. How rude of me, Mark, this is Hank McCoy. Hank, this is Mark, the man I was telling you about yesterday," she told the man.

"It's not a problem. Just the chance to even meet you Mr. McCoy is a real treat, even if you don't decide to come with us. Please sit down," he said. "I took the liberty of ordering coffee for everyone. I hope you don't mind."

Hank shook his head as he carefully sat down in the chair and lifted up the cup to his lips. He found it had a slightly unusual taste to it but he shook it off. Sitting back, he listened to everything the man had to say and he found it to be quite promising. After Mark finished his pitch, Kat turned to Hank with an eager look on his face.

"So what do you think? Do you think you'll help us at all?" she asked him.

"I like this idea. I don't think I'll be able to stay there permanently but I will try to help out as much as I can," he replied.

The smile on her face turned into a grin before she stood up. A burst of laughter stirred up from the other side of the restaurant but it quickly died down. When Kat returned her attention back to Hank, she noticed that he was rubbing his eyes. Becoming worried, she gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you all right?" she asked him.

"Just feeling a little groggy, that's all. I mustn't have slept as well as I thought last night. I'll be fine," he yawned.

"Then how about we go for a walk? Maybe that will brighten you up. We could even take you back to the park if you wanted to investigate more on the attacks if you wanted," she suggested.

Completely forgetting about the attacks, he was inwardly glad she reminded him about them. He nodded his head before he climbed to his feet and followed the two outdoors. As they walked down the street, Hank could hear voices talking to him but he found they both sounded a bit like a blur to him.

'What is wrong with me?' he thought. 'It can't be from a lack of sleep.'

Eventually, he found himself at the park where everything had all started a week earlier with Wolverine. He blankly stared at the sign standing before him, as if a bit uncertain on what to make of it. The three of them carefully stepped through the gate and found no one to be around. Hank glanced around the area and found he had to take deep breaths in order to stay focused to what he was doing.

"Hank, are you certain you're fine?" he heard Kat's voice say to him.

Before he could answer, the rustle of nearby leaves caught his attention and saw a cat slither out from underneath the green confines of a bush. Beyond the haze that clouded his mind, he thought he recognized the feline somehow and started to run after it. Kat and Mark quickly glanced at each other before they hurried after him, calling his name. Hank completely ignored their calls as he completely focused his attention after the tiny feline through the trees, barely realizing where it had gone until he finally came to a clearing that housed a cave of some sort.

"What is this place?" he muttered.

But before he could step forward to look inside, his already hazy vision finally turned to black and he didn't feel a thing as he dropped like a rock to the forest floor. Kat walked up to him, her tail ever slightly quivering and a grin adorning her face. Mark stepped up behind her, the transformation between that form and Mystique changing along the way.

"That sedative that I put into his coffee will have him knocked out for a few hours anyway. Until then, we can get ready for tonight. Magneto would want to make certain that the dear professor would feel comfortable tonight when he come for his negotiations," Mystique told her.

Kat nodded in reply as she watched the prone form of Hank. Her heart was now pounding within her chest as her growing feelings for the X-man were close in her mind.

"Then let's get in him with Gambit and do what we have to do. I can have my fun with him later on when he awakes," she finally stated.

The women went on either side of Hank and carefully pulled him into the cave. Gambit cracked his eyes open enough to see what they were doing and dread gnawed at his mind once he saw the unconscious Hank. They dropped him onto the ground next to Gambit and he quickly noticed that his friend was not moving.

'Oh no, wat 'ave they done to you Beast? Watever they're going to do, it's not going to be good,' he thought.

TBC...