Heidi Strome was new. She felt more out of place by the second as she sat in the hospital ward far under the ground at Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters. The room was occupied by Kurt, the chief victim of the bomb in Bayville, NY. He was foggy and a little awake while he talked with his friends.

They seemed to her a nice enough bunch, though she'd never been around more than one other mutant, and that was her uncle LeRoy. He just had two different colors in his eyes. One of them, Remy, reminded her a little of her uncle, though Remy's black and red eyes made a more intense effect.

It was more difficult to tell people about hers. She could hear things. She heard pretty much everything. Right now the conversation in the room was pretty mellow. Leaning her head against the wall as though she was taking a nap, she listened in through the wall and a bit down the hall to hear the Professor and her mentor, Dr. McCoy, discussing what to do next.

"We'll get the rest of the students in by the end of the week," Hank said, his gruff voice familiar and comforting to hear. "We'll be up to nearly 50. At our best we could never handle that many."

"We don't have much choice at this point," the Professor replied. "The mentoring program worked fine as long as there was no danger, but it's not safe to leave powerful young mutants on their own. In a charged climate like this, any one of them could lash out and do serious harm to others and to themselves."

"Remy, the Cajun boy, you said he has information?"

"Some," the Professor replied. Heidi tuned in a bit more when they went into a room. They left the door open, so she could still make out what they were saying. "I'm relieved he made it up here so quickly. After you treat his leg, I'll get him to my office for a meeting with Scott." The Professor sighed a little, sounding frustrated. "We have a handful of new teachers to help with the flow, but T'challa returned to Wakanda for the international response to the attacks, Warren has had to distance himself and likely won't be with us until things cool off, and Logan's run off to collect his daughter."

"No major missions, then," Hank said. She'd heard him fill in answers that way, especially in her Skype lessons. He'd been a huge help in her effort to learn her powers, even though it took a little time to adjust to his sometimes brusque manner. Now she found it familiar, like her family's voices.

"What I meant was I'm glad you're here. We're glad to have you, same as always. I hope you decide to stay."

He was quiet for a minute and she worried she was missing some response. Her focus was disrupted and suddenly all she could hear were the immediate sounds in the room, the friends talking, and all at a high volume since they were so much closer. She winced and covered her ears for a second until she could readjust.

"You alright, girl?" Remy asked. He was sitting nearest. For the moment, Anna wasn't on his lap. She was giving her brother some ice chips Bobby made.

Heidi looked up a little bashfully. "Say that again, but this time don't yell?"

He smiled a little and whispered with a grin. "You alright?"

She grinned back. "Yeah, I'm okay. I was listening to something outside. Not outside-outside, just in the hall."

He slid a little closer. "You hear anythin' juicy?"

Hank arrived and let himself in. "Well, how's the patient doing?" he asked, watching Kurt. "Ah. I see he's still at high risk for being spoiled rotten. Anna, get down, he shouldn't be jostled."

She made a face, but got down. "You said we shouldn't let him get all dehydrated."

Hank turned to Remy. "I'd like to take a look at that leg. It looks like you'll need that stitched."

"It is stitched, Doc." Remy got up and Heidi got up too, to follow.

"Then it needs stitched correctly," he said, carefully speaking the last word. "Come along, Heidi, I'd like your help."

Remy limped out to a procedure room a little way down the hall where Hank sat him down. "Don't be too rough with it, Doc."

Hank ignored him and brought Heidi over. "Here, I know you're not squeamish. Just think of it as a cow leg and you'll be alright. Unwrap the dressing carefully. If it pulls back, leave it where it is, but get as much off as you can."

Heidi took comfort from his confident pat on her shoulder and got to work.

"You a country girl?" Remy asked, sitting up.

"Lay down," Hank growled from the medicine cabinet.

Remy rolled his eyes then lay down.

Heidi smiled, carefully working the cloth and gauze off. "Yeah. Wisconsin. My family owns a dairy farm. Not anything huge, but big for our town." She was relieved no gauze stuck to him and she moved aside when Hank came back.

He anesthetized the wound (Heidi was surprised at how little the needle was, but she was used to big vet needles) and cleaned up first around it then in it once the medicine was working. "This, my dear, is a knife wound about 48 hours old, inflicted at an angle" – he paused to imitate what he thought was the angle, looking to Remy for agreement – "and stitched up by someone left-handed. Come over here and have a look at the tissue here…"

Heidi stood a little closer and smiled when he stood her in front of him and adjusted the light so she could see effectively. He worked at an angle so she could stay close, carefully giving her names and interesting details while he worked, demonstrating proper stitching techniques, sterilization and cleaning methods, and telling Remy to shut up when he made jokes. "That's enough out of you. You're done."

"Thanks, Doc," he started to sit up, but Hank pushed him back down.

"I said you're done, but I didn't say you could get up. Stay until the anesthetic wears off, then I need you to keep that leg elevated. We cleaned up the wound, but we don't need you bleeding again."

(1/18/16) He turned to Heidi. "It's plenty late. Let me take you to your room?"

Heidi nodded. She promised she'd go right to sleep at lights out, though she doubted she could actually manage it.

She ended up with a cot by the door, in a room crowded with 6 girls already sleeping when she crept in. Just because the lights were out didn't mean the girls slept.

(1/19/16) With her back to the group, she couldn't quite tune them out.

"So, what do you do?"

"Isn't it obvious?" another voice replied.

"You mean you can see it? It's dark, I can't see anything."

Heidi turned over, but didn't plan on chiming in. Against the dim moonlight on the other side of the large window, further dispersed by the curtains, she saw two girls sitting up, one taller than the others with an odd outline.

"That'd be a first," she said and held up her hand.

Heidi winced at a weird throbbing and crackle that came from the tall girl, and she couldn't help but stare when she held up her hand. The silhouette changed from a hand to a wide dark cone with ragged edges, growing before their eyes.

The other girl touched it and recoiled at first. "Whoa! What is that?"

"Bone. It grows all over. I've been off and on here because of the special stuff I need. Still, I'd like to get a good whack on whoever blew Baywood high to pieces!" She sighed and lowered her hand, but didn't change it back. Heidi guessed she couldn't. "At least it means we all get to be here now instead of scattered all over the place." She looked up at the other girl. "What about you? What do you do?"

Another girl sat up to join them, then another took the second girl's place when she went to bed. It went on like that for hours. Heidi lay facing the wall with her eyes open, willing them to be quiet. Even when they finally all dropped off, she heard the plumbing gurgle, the wind whistle in all the windows, and everybody turning in their beds. When someone on the top floor started to snore, she got up and gathered her blanket around her. She muted her steps carefully in case anyone else might hear her.

Hank showed her where his office was, so she headed there. The door was locked, there were no sounds from inside, but she knew there was no way to get down the elevator to where he was likely still treating the wounded.

There on the ground floor with the offices, things were quieter at least. She bundled herself up and sat against the door. If he came back, he could help.

"Who's that, Ms. Kate?"

Heidi blinked awake, the sounds of the house coming back in a rush. She looked up to find a little girl staring at her, holding a teacher's hand.

The teacher knelt down. "Are you alright?"

Heidi nodded and yawned, picking herself up, keeping her blanket wrapped close. "I'm okay. Just couldn't sleep. What time is it?"

"Just a little past seven, but you ought to hurry if you're going to get breakfast. That's where we're going." The teacher helped her up and offered a smile, though she had to smile up. Heidi noticed she was short, and that was saying something since Heidi was only about 5'4". "I'm Ms. Farnsworth. You can call me Ms. Kate. Were you looking for Dr. McCoy?"

Heidi nodded, walking with them. "Yes. He wasn't here, though, so he's probably still looking after the hurt people."

"I was told he was here at the school, but I haven't seen him even once. From what I hear he may be busy for quite a long time. Did you come in with anyone else?"

Heidi shook her head and caught the little girl smiling at her. She grinned back and winked to make her giggle.

Kate smiled too. "I'm sorry. Still, it's a great time to make new friends. No boundaries are up yet, everyone is pretty new to one another, and we're going to be together a long time." She stopped at the door to the large ballroom, converted to a makeshift cafeteria. "Here we are!"

Heidi looked around, surprised at the amazing variety spread out at fold-away tables. She saw a few of the kids from Kurt's hospital room at a table, some girls whose voices she recognized from her room, and there were even a couple of kids running around. One African boy even sparked as he ran past with a reddish dog.

She got a tray of food and looked around for a free space. Any would do, she thought. She'd never been to a new school, so jumping in was about the best option she had.

A table in the middle had some open space, so she went over and sat on the end. "Hello," she said and smiled, hoping she didn't look as nervous as she felt.

It was a mixed group and they looked her over. A couple of them had marks on them, and a few others showed some more obvious visual mutations. The boy on the other end blinked with sideways eyelids, and a girl seated opposite Heidi only had four stunted fingers on each hand and ridges up her arms. A banana-yellow-skinned boy looked her up and down.

"What are you doing here?"

Heidi felt her stomach clench and she swallowed hard. "Eating breakfast? Same as you?"

The girl with the fingers looked at her incredulously. "No, what are you doing here? Like at this school? You sure don't look mutant."

Heidi looked around the room and shrugged. "Not everyone does. We're still mutants, right?"

The yellow boy made a face and shook his head. "Some more than others. Why don't you go over there with the other pretty-pretties?" He nodded to a group a few tables away where some perfectly normal looking students were gathered around watching a boy bend a spoon with his mind.

Apparently it took a lot of concentration, Heidi thought, or his face wouldn't be so pale. She looked back at her own table. "It doesn't make that much of a difference," she said, confused at how hostile they seemed. "We're all going to be in classes together, and" –

A tall girl arrived and stood next to the yellow boy. "What's going on?"

Heidi recognized her voice from the night before and smiled hopefully. "Hey. I'm assigned to your room. I got in late, I couldn't introduce myself. I'm Heidi."

She looked at her and smiled a little like the finger girl had, surprise mixed with skepticism. She extended a hand and Heidi could see it was the hand she'd changed shape. She had several bony growths on her back and on her arms and legs, and Heidi was surprised to see the growth on her hand hadn't overtaken her fingers but had simply grown up from her forearm. "I'm Marrow, or Sarah, on the record."

Heidi gladly took her hand and shook it. "Neat trick last night," she said, smiling.

The others made room for Sarah to sit and Heidi felt distinctly less threatened. "Thanks. I've been working on growing on command. What do you do?"

Heidi pointed to her ear. "I hear things. A lot of things. I wouldn't go as far as to say everything. That'd really make things hard." She blushed a little. "Of course, it's probably not very cool, at least not compared to growing bones wherever you want."

Sarah smiled. She really had a nice face, and it was suited to her short, irregular red hair. "You'd be surprised what passes around here. There's a girl here, Kitty, who walks through walls. Not such a big deal when you see her do it, but it all depends on who put up the wall and why it's there. She can do a bunch of stuff with it now, even walk through the air." Sarah looked around and pointed to a teacher. "That's Storm," she said with a note of admiration. "She controls the weather. That's not too crazy, but without her, I'd probably be dead in some ditch back in Canada."

Heidi stared. "What do you mean, dead?"

Sarah shrugged, playing cool while she ate a piece of toast. "The people here rescued me. Well, a few of them did. That was when I manifested." She smiled at the others sitting at the table. "It's not easy to hide, is it?"

They all agreed with varying levels of pain in their expressions.

The boy with side-blinking eyes pointed to them. "I almost drowned. When I came back up my eyes burned so bad they had the doctor wrap them for a few days. They unwrapped me and I had these. Nothing wrong with me! I see better than ever! I didn't need glasses anymore, but nobody cared about that."

Sarah's expression was serious. "Home's not the same after that. Mine went slower. These" – she pointed to her growths on her back and arms – "were just little bumps at first. They got bigger and thicker by the day. My folks were poor and the doctors didn't know what to do except suggest surgeries they could never pay for. Everybody expected me just to wither up, like these were tumors." She shook her head. "When I didn't, the government came for me, to put me in some home for the weird."

Heidi felt her gut turning at the idea of being sent away with strangers, to live with people who were really sick. "What happened?" she asked.

"The professor came one day and sorted things so I'd be with a foster family." She smiled a little. "They weren't bad, there were just way too many of us. Just got to say, I'm glad I'm finally here." She stole a bit of sausage from Heidi's plate and grinned. "So, what's your story?"

After spending breakfast with Sarah and the others, Heidi spent much of the morning pitching in with chores outside. Teams were set up to help clear space for a new building for classes and student rooms. While the work was hard, it was nice to be in the fresh air, at least until she was hot, sweaty, and covered in thorns from cutting back rose bushes.

Kate came out periodically to take students inside. Heidi didn't much care that it was for paperwork. By the time she heard her name, she was ready to clean toilets if it meant she didn't have to be landscaping.

Kitty greeted her at the door to a classroom. "Heidi, right?" she said, smiling. "I'm supposed to tell you, Dr. McCoy wants your help doing some physicals tomorrow. Okay?"

Heidi nodded, hopeful at hearing she could do something useful with him. "Yeah, great. What are we doing now, though?"

Kitty gave her a stapled packet of papers. "Registration. There's conventional school registration stuff here, but the biggest thing here are the medical pages and bits about mutations. Take it, have a seat, and fill it out. You can leave any time you're done. Oh!" She pointed to a cooler by the door. "We also have some waters here."

Heidi took one immediately. "Just what I needed! Thanks!"

Looking around, she took a seat next to Remy at a table in the back.

He was sitting back in his chair tapping the papers with the back of his pen. "Hey cowgirl!" he grinned and pulled out the chair for her. "What job they have you on?"

She showed him her arms, scratched up though nothing serious. "Roses. They're moving the whole bed and needed some slave labor to cut them back. What about you?"

He smiled. "Stumps. Ah'm a one-man demolition team. They needed space cleared for a new generator buildin' in the tree cover. It's good practice."

She glanced through her packet. "How long is this supposed to take?"

"Ah'm not sure. Depends, ah guess." He sat up and looked at his, though she could tell he wasn't actually reading it. "Could- Well, do y'think maybe" – he cleared his throat. "Nevahmind. Sooner we start, sooner we finish, right?"

She glanced at him, confused, before filling in the personal information box. "Right."

After a few minutes and a few more people coming and going, she glanced over and noticed he hadn't filled anything out.

"Something wrong?" she asked, scooting her chair over.

He cleared his throat a little. "Ah'm, uh, not too good with writin'. Ah kin read alright, a little, but writin' ain't easy for me."

"Do you think I could help?" she asked.

He smiled, embarrassed. "Ah'd sure appreciate it."

(1/20/16) Heidi helped with the first bit, doing hers alongside his. "Alright, does the school have your grades from last year?"

Remy cleared his throat a little. "Ah- well, ah don't do school… Ain't done school for a long time. There an option for that?"

She nodded and checked a box. "That just says you'll need to take an assessment later." He made a face and she quickly tried to reassure him. "Really, it's just a test. And there will be someone to help. How did you get away without school?"

He answered while she filled in her own answers.

"Ah jus' stole what ah needed. Ah know, you've got a nice lil town where that don't go on, but New Orleans, that's a place where folks like us gotta find a life outta the main track. Ah'm good with numbers," he said with a smile. "Ah can rustle up a poker game and take the pot without hardly thinkin'! An' ah run operations for mah daddy an' the Professor if he needs anythin' done down there."

Heidi glanced up to see if anyone was listening to them, but they all seemed occupied with their own conversations and papers. "Operations? You mean like missions? I thought only the teachers did those?"

Remy leaned forward. "Well, most of them. Doc runs in 'em sometimes. Is that how you know 'bout 'em?"

Heidi nodded. "I don't think I'm supposed to know. He only let it slip a little once, but- well, I've got a good memory."

He settled. "Well, don't you worry. Ain't nothin' goes on here that ain't gone past the Professor. An' usually them ops don't get crazy. He don't ever want fightin' unless it's a last option."

Heidi considered her next question carefully, keeping her eyes on her paper. "Even when someone tries to blow us up?"

He was quiet for a minute, but leaned forward to rest his elbows on the table. "Listen, ah've known the Professor for years. He's like a daddy to me. He knew somethin' was up, just not what, an' ah know he wants to hold the right folks responsible." He paused and shook his head. "Not in the beatin' way, but the law way. No matter what way people want to twist things, it's wrong to blow up kids. Ah don't mean t'be rude about it, but that's what this comes down to. All the Professor ever tries to do is keep bad things from happenin' and protect people from gettin' hurt."

She glanced over at him. "Don't you want to get back at them?"

"Damn right I do," he said, and his expression made her believe he not only wanted to but could do it without hesitation. "But," he continued, "the right way. Left to me, ah'd blow 'em up right back. That would only make things worse, though." He shook his head and tapped the papers. "For all the red tape, ah trust the way the Professor does things. By the book, two steps ahead, and keepin' innocents out of it."

He looked own at his papers and squinted at them. "So, where we at?"

Heidi smiled and pointed. "Right here. Medical issues. How about you just tell me and I'll write them for you?"

"Glad for a good friend like you," he said, smiling with relief before answering the first question.

The next day Heidi struggled to keep her eyes open. Even though it was helpful to now know Sarah and a few of the other girls in her room, the noises of the building at night were just too strange to tune out. She explained this to Hank between students getting their physicals.

He checked her over and looked in her eyes and under her tongue. "We need to watch your immunity and keep it up until you get some real rest. I don't want you getting sick." He leaned over and made a note on his pad. "And I'll get you some sedatives you can take. That should make it easier."

"I don't need pills, I need familiar sounds. Can't I be in a room closer to yours?"

He shook his head and gave her a fresh cover for the exam table. "Put that down. And no, I'm afraid you can't. I'll be on duty again tonight."

"If we're talking insomnia, let's talk about you too, then," she replied, pinning the crepe paper cover in place. "You weren't in your office last night. I couldn't hear you anywhere, so you had to be still working."

He didn't reply, but instead opened the door to the little nurse's office. "Next!"

Heidi wasn't finished getting on his case, but the next student in was Sarah.

"Hey stranger," she said, smiling at Heidi.

Hank took her papers and glanced over them, adjusting his glasses. "Have a seat on the table, please."

Heidi adjusted the light. "Sorry, Sarah. He's not usually so rude. Well, sometimes, but not on purpose. Only when he thinks he's super busy and can't be bothered."

Hank raised a bushy eyebrow at her and refocused on Sarah. "Heidi likes to poke fun at me." Heidi grinned when he met her eye, but rather than being mad, he gave the smallest of smile and pointed at her with his pen. "You're lucky you're under my care or I'd pinch those arrogant little freckles off you."

"He doesn't mean it," Heidi grinned.

Sarah held still while Hank examined the growths on her back. "Well, doc? What do you think?"

"I'm glad we've already got a general work-up for you," he said. "Are the treatments helping keep down spontaneous growth?"

Sarah nodded. "It helps me grow on command too. I'm getting stronger, and I can almost shape them!"

He held up her hand, the one Heidi had seen her grow before. "And this? What happened here?"

The new growth was gone, but in its place was a jagged, angry red surface. "That's what happens when the old stuff comes off."

"Just comes off, or breaks off?" he asked, frowning. "The medicine you're on should kill extraneous bone so it will be sloughed off naturally. It shouldn't look like this. This looks like a playground for infection."

Sarah shrugged. "I was sparring with somebody earlier. You know, it crumbled right off, but I did knock off a chunk of cement block with it." She grinned. "That'd be pretty useful, right? No real broken bones, but one hell of a hit!"

Heidi had the uncomfortable feeling she wasn't hoping to keep hitting blocks, but had other targets in mind. Hank didn't seem to approve either.

"We have you here to keep you safe, not to test your potential as a weapon," he said. "Heidi, would you get me the cleaning kit please? It's the yellow tote with the gauze in it."

(1/21/16) "I've always been a fast healer," Sarah insisted while Hank cleaned and treated her hand. "It doesn't hurt much at all." She was quiet for a moment before asking, "When do you think the professor will do tryouts?"

He looked up just briefly over his glasses. "Tryouts? For what?"

Sarah looked at Heidi incredulously, but all she could do was shrug and look busy sorting gauze patches. "Tryouts," she repeated, "like for the teams."

Heidi could feel him getting irritated, from the rumble behind his voice to the terse rip of the bandage tape. "I did hear the professor talking about incorporating some sports. I know softball was popular and got a little crazy when I taught here last."

Sarah frowned. "I mean for the X-men…"

Hank cleared his throat and made a note after he finished bandaging her arm. "We're not recruiting, especially not now."

"Why not now?" Sarah demanded, throwing her hands up. "People are trying to blow us up! Don't you think we should be getting our shit together and hit 'em back before they try again?!"

He took off his glasses and this time didn't do a good job hiding the growl. "We are not recruiting, not because the situation is not dire, but because this is a school. This is a school for troubled kids, kids with nowhere else to go who are at a high risk of harm to themselves or to others. We are led by a brilliant man with one of the finest minds for crises I've ever met. We are not an army; we are a citadel." He didn't seem phased by her angry expression and instead just filed her paperwork with the others. "I guarantee you, we will help you use your powers in a healthy and proactive way." He turned to the door and poked his head out. "Next!"

Sarah's cheeks were red and she hopped off the table. She looked at Heidi and jabbed her thumb in Hank's direction in a clear "What's his problem?"

Heidi's stomach was all knotted up uncomfortably and she could only shrug as sympathetically as she could until she left and the next patient came in.

Hank worked quickly through the exams, efficient but without much time to chat. Heidi couldn't figure out what to say to help, or just to diffuse the tension. Instead, she resigned to quietly helping until he had his focus comfortably on work and didn't grumble about little things.

That night Heidi noticed Sarah didn't actually sleep much, and the night after that she continued to hear a shuffling of the students in the late hours of the night and early morning. One afternoon, just after lunch, she joined Sarah as she walked to class in the greenhouse.

"Where do you go at night?" she asked, after a few pleasantries. "I hear you and others leave. What's going on?"

Sarah shrugged, but didn't seem particularly bothered. She even smiled and walked a little taller. "Well, I wasn't sure I could tell you, since you're close with that stuffy old doctor. I thought you might tattle." Before Heidi could pull together a reply, she went on. "Since he and the other teachers don't want to let us fight back with them, I found a few people who want to do their bit too."

"I don't get it," Heidi said. "What do you mean, do their bit? We're here aren't we? We're not where the danger is."

"Danger like that comes to find you, and I don't want to be huddled up in a corner while someone else gets to kick some human butt." She grimaced. "Just pitiful, really… normal people don't have a clue what we're capable of, so they pick on us because we're different." Sarah looked down at Heidi. "Well what makes us different can also send them running. You can come out tonight with us, if you want?"

"Me?" Heidi gripped her notebook against her chest, keeping her voice to a whisper. She realized then she'd been muting both their voices out of fear of getting caught. Mrs. Munroe was particularly intimidating when it came to discipline. "What good could I do? I'm just a living volume button…"

Sarah leaned in confidentially. "Haven't you seen what the right frequency can do to glass? What about those big subwoofers that make metal act like putty?" She grinned. "I'll bet you could stop an army single-handed with some real practice."

Heidi stopped at the classroom door, it wasn't her course anyway. "I don't know."

"Come if you want," she said. "We've been heading out to the generator station in the woods out behind the house. Just follow those great ears of yours!"

That night Heidi made sure she was in the bathroom when Sarah and the others slipped out. She did put on boots, and a coat against the chill, but she didn't make it past the back porch steps.

She watched her breath form clouds, hugging her knees. They were loud, at least loud to her. She could hear small explosions, lots of feet moving around, and each member cheering the others on. Over them she heard Sarah's voice, and the voices of two or three others, that shouted out scenarios to play out, like "one on one", "two on one", or "teams of three".

Footsteps behind her sounded like loud slams of a bat on concrete and she flinched, looking up.

Remy stood on the porch, smiling a little, his red and black eyes difficult to see in the dark. "You alright, girl?"

Heidi smiled a little, replying as she had before when he'd asked in Kurt's recovery room. "Say that again, but this time don't yell?"

He smiled a little and played along, whispering as he sat down next to her. "You alright?"

She considered his question and rested her chin on her knees. "No, not this time."

"What were you listenin' to?"

Heidi pointed off in the general direction of the woods. "A problem out there." Even though she hadn't tuned in close enough to hear specific voices like before, she heard a few yelps of fright and shouts of warning.

Rather than wait for him to ask what the problem was, she returned a question. "So, if you know someone is doing something they're not supposed to do, and you know they're doing it for reasons they think are right, what should you do?"

Remy looked at her and cocked his head. "Tell or not tell? That what you're askin'?"

It was a bit beyond that, she thought. "No. More like," she struggled a second for words, "do you go try to talk them out of it? Or do you tell on them to someone in charge?"

"Ah," he looked out at the woods more intently, but she knew there was no way he could hear what was going on out there. "That's a lil' sticky, ain't it?"

Heidi's face stung against a chilly breeze and she hid her mouth and nose behind her sleeve. "Yeah…" She winced when she heard one of the leader voices shouting for someone to get up and not be a wimp.

"Guess it depends on you." He leaned his elbows on his knees and looked at her. "A lone wolf would go out there an' get in a scrap t'prove they're right."

That idea made Heidi's stomach churn. She hated the idea of confrontation, especially when it was Sarah, who'd been so nice to her and helped her get friends. Getting threatened by a whack from her reinforced bone guards sounded even worse, especially since some of the noises showed Sarah was giving them a workout. Her opinion seemed to show on her face because Remy offered his other solution.

"Lone wolves like t'fight, girl," he said. "If you don't, an' there ain't no shame in that, then you gotta go to your leaders." He bumped her shoulder with his. "They're leaders for a reason, right?"

Heidi was quiet, mulling this over before she decided to bring up the real stick in the situation. "Suppose the person breaking the rules is your friend?"

Remy's tone changed. "Is this dangerous, what they're doin'?"

"It" – she paused, thinking – "it could be, if they're not careful."

"Then you go straight t'your friend the doctor," he said. "The Professor couldn't make it out there, but he can. Mutant powers ain't nothin' to play with. That's why most of us are here." He looked over at her. "If you don't want your friend hurt, you tell, and you tell quick. No sense you goin' up there just in time for somebody t'lose control."

Heidi didn't move right away, frozen as she heard a loud slam and strange crack between frenzied cheers and yells.

"Ah'll go with you?" he said, his voice again sounding magnified until she tore her focus back to the porch. "For moral support?"

She got up. "Go with me for a better reason. I may need your help to get into the sub-basement."

After checking both Hank's office and listening in on the staff rooms, Heidi followed Remy to the elevator. "How come you have clearance?"

"Ah ran ops for the Professor, remember?" he grinned. "Ah'd be staff if ah was anywhere close t'graduating." He did a thumb scan and winced, showing her his thumb when the doors opened. "Blood check. Gross, but y'never know with shape shifters around."

When the doors opened again, Heidi led the way through the labyrinth of halls, recognizing Hank's heartbeat out of the many down there. She stopped at a staff room in the medical hall. "He's sleeping." She moaned and hid her face in her hands. "He's finally getting some rest and now we're gonna wake him!"

Remy exhaled slowly and stepped behind her. "It's important, but you go first. He won't be scratchin' his own cub."

Heidi looked at him over her shoulder, worried.

"Figure of speech. Go on!"

She swallowed hard and opened the door. Hank snored along quietly, all mounded up on the small cot like a hibernating blue bear. His glasses lay on the desk alongside a mostly full bottle of sedatives she'd seen him give some of the patients.

"Uncle Hank," she said, giving his arm a hesitant push. He didn't move. "Uncle Hank, I need your help!" She summoned her courage and pulled on a clump of fur, but all he did was swat at the spot and roll over on top of it.

She made a face and tried to shake the cot, but he was too heavy to even budge it. "Uncle Hank!" she said, irritated. "This is important!"

Aware she needed to be careful of the people still in the recovery rooms, she called back to Remy to back away from the door. "Close it, too, I can use the help." When he did, she buffered the room as best she could, containing the sound like she'd contained her whispered conversation with Sarah only this time on purpose.

"I'm sorry, but I need you awake," she said and recalled the sound of her father's shotgun during hunting season. Her memory was an impeccable record for sounds and she summoned up the right on by its body, pitch, and layers. She'd been standing near the gun when she'd heard it fired and reproduced it now as a threatening blast.

Hank leapt out of the bed, toppling the cot as he landed on all fours with his hackles up high and eyes quickly going from bleary to furious, right along with his roar.

Heidi dodged away, but as soon as he saw her he tried to regain focus. "Heidi?! Good Lord, what on earth are you trying to do?! I could have had a heart attack! I might have died! How did you even get down here?"

"I wouldn't have woken you up if it wasn't important!" she yelled right back. "It's Sarah. Sarah's got a bunch of kids together and they're outside, now, trying to do what you told her she couldn't." She toned down her voice from a yell now that he was listening. "I'm afraid someone could get hurt!"

He quickly sobered. "Outside? Where?"

"By the generator building," she said, "the new one out by the woods."

He shrugged on his shirt. "Damn reckless, if you ask me. Who got you down here?"

"Remy," she said. "He's in the hall."

"Good, I'll need his help." He paused before going out the door. "Heidi?" He turned and pressed his forehead to hers with a little purr. "Thank you. I'll take care of this."

Any doubt she may have had from before melted and she exhaled slowly. "Thanks!"

"You've done well. Remy and I will go out there, but you stay upstairs and wait with the Professor and Mrs. Monroe. Tell them what you know and we'll be back."

By the time Heidi finished filling in the details with the Professor, Hank and Remy still weren't back. Mrs. Monroe sent her to bed and, for the first time since arriving, Heidi didn't have any trouble falling, and staying, asleep.

The next morning she met up with Remy in the breakfast line. "When did you make it back?" she asked. "Things go alright?"

"Oh they weren't happy," Remy chuckled, "but came in quiet enough. Professor sat 'em down and knocked 'em down a few pegs, so no real harm done. Your Doc was a pro out there. Scared 'em good an' had them marchin' home in no time."

Heidi was relieved to hear no one was hurt, but she looked around to see where Sarah was sitting. Though Sarah wasn't looking up when Heidi first scanned over the table, she did look up and meet her gaze with a glare that made Heidi's appetite nearly disappear. Heidi quickly turned back to the breakfast trays, her cheeks hot and tears pricking at her eyes.

Remy bumped her elbow with his. "Hey," he said gently, "you done right. She and those others could've been real bad hurt. If she don't make you better or don't see you was jus' lookin' out for her, then she's no kinda friend you need."

He helped her get her utensils and a couple napkins before hooking an arm around her shoulders. "C'mon, you gonna sit with us now!" He steered her to a table with his girlfriend and the other long-time students who waved and made room. It cheered her too, to see Kurt was up from intensive care and seated with them in a wheelchair.

"Thanks, I'd like that a lot!"