2013.09.01 - Army of Children

Harry's. In Westcehster it's an institution. But above and beyond that it's an institution with strong ties to The Xavier Institute, and The X-Men. Not that Harry knows about the X-Men bit (then again, who really knows what he knows, since while referred to he never has actually appeared in a single panel of the comics?).

Not too long ago a pair of people from The Institute, Kwa and Rachel were here. They arrived via Kwa's bike. While here they encountered one Pete Wisdom and one Hope Summers. And while it is important in regards to what Pete talked about with Kwa (and sort of Rachel via her listening in telepathically), there was also a discussion between Rachel and Hope. Among the things mentioned was how Hope actually is feeling antsy and bored at her school right now, and was on her way to the Xavier Institute to 'visit' various 'family' members.

Of course that meant that the bike couldn't be used to bring her back once a ride was offered. Thus more than likely a 'call' was made, to ask for someone to pick up Hope and Rachel.

Which is probably where we pick up as Jean is the one who was kind enough to come down and pick them up, and the head back to The Xavier Institute.

The way Rachel saw it, she had two choices. Let Hope make her own way to the Xavier Institute, or help her along with that. Since she, and a number of the other residents, have offered Hope their help on several occasions now, Rachel could hardly be expected to put her off now, could she?

So as soon as Rachel got the nod from Hope, while she was still sitting at the table across from her in fact, Rachel's mind reached out for Jean's. << Guess who decided to stop running and look us up? >> Rachel's mental voice was amused, and accompanied by an image of Hope, and the sense of their location. << Any chance you can pick us up? >> Rachel's voice adopted the tentative tone of someone who hasn't quite thought the plan through all the way. << Three was too many for Shift's bike. >> She finishes, as if that explained everything.

Still, the explanation must have been sufficient, as it's not all that much later that Rachel can be found in the passenger seat of Jean's Lexus, twisted around so that she can see both Jean in the driver's seat and Hope in the back.

The wheels of the Lexus crunch over the asphalt in the parking lot when she pulls up. Her expression is cloudy, at first, though it clears as she sees the two girls and lets them into the car. Of course, as her expression clears, her shields shore up to super-bunker strength. The woman isn't letting even a hint of her thoughts leak out without them being under her complete control, at this point.

She smiles, nonetheless. "So..." she says, regarding the two girls. "Fancy meeting you two here..." She turns the car, now, and eases back out into traffic, once more.

Fancy?

That could be considered one word for it. To be honest, Hope should be use to things being new, and fancy, and expensive looking, especially given where she's going to 'school' and what her headmistress is like.

But still...

Still, as the youngest redhead of the trio sits in the back seat, she is slightly awed by the car, even if she tries to hide it. Especially as the vehicle moves into traffic.

"If you want to keep your car 'fancy' you might want to make sure this trip is short, and I stay back here. Last time I was in a car I ended up being behind the wheel and well..." She shakes her head. "And thanks. Sorry about this, and dropping by unannounced." is said as she lets her gaze slide from Rachel to Jean and back.

Jean got a smile of thanks from Rachel, who didn't let any of the unease she felt about how tightly Jean's mind was locked down show on her face.

Rachel snorts quietly at Hope's 'warning' about letting her drive. "I'm glad I didn't offer you my seat now." She says, not particularly seriously, before glancing Jean's way again. "Thanks. It's a long walk back." Rachel shifts a bit in her seat. Three redheads in the car, all studiously talking about not much at all. Can't have that. Time to throw a rock in the pond and watch for ripples.

"Hope was telling me we're her last chance to escape boredom." Rachel offers with a bit of a grin toward the back-seat passenger. "Apparently, the competition have her doing too much school work."

Jean arches a brow at Hope's words. "What do you do to cars?" she has to ask. Because, no. She doesn't really want the poor car totalled. Replacing it would be more expensive than she'd like to pay out. Even with insurance.

But, at Rachel's words, she barks a laugh. "Homework, huh? Sucks to be a student, doesn't it?" She is a teacher, after all. Technically.

Or, more accurately, she has been. Whether she continues to be so?

Well, that's a decision that's still facing her.

"I'll just say that it started with being shot at, the driver being hit, and my 'Dad' shooting back, and it ended with me behind the wheel before ending up with it hitting.... /Something/."

Then there's an eyeroll.

"Home work. School work. Borrowing telepathic powers to beat up catboys. But..." Yeah, as Hope lets her gaze flicker from Rachel to Jean via the rear view mirror, the teenager frowns.

"I'm sitting still. Too much. Too long. I'm use to moving. Doing stuff. Doing /things/ rather than waiting and having to depend on others in case /he/ decides to show up. So am I bored? Yeah. Do I get the reason for the school work? Yeah. But it feels more and more like I'm a sitting duck when I should be out there doing /something/."

Rachel's mildly intrigued by Hope's car story, as she can't imagine it's going to be a conventional one. That's a bet she wins with herself. "All right, telepathic shields /first/, driving lessons /second/..." She says quietly, and not altogether seriously, as if she's making a list of the life skills she needs to impart to Hope before she gets away again.

Jean's laughter draws a slightly quizzical look from Rachel, who's unable to resist a small dig. "Aren't you supposed to tell the students school days are the happiest days of their lives?" She leaves it at that though, since on reflection her position at the school is probably 'freeloader'.

Hope's little speech at the end makes Rachel thoughtful, though she tries not to let it show too obviously. Hope's young, Rachel has no idea how well trained she really is, and, to be honest, hardly knows her at all. However, she's clearly powerful and from what she's heard from Nate, prone to getting herself into trouble. Rachel's conflicted. If they're going to take any responsibility for Hope, then they can't protect her if she's who knows where doing who knows what. On the other hand, keeping her close isn't likely to be any safer for her. And Rachel won't be around, soon. It's not her decision to make, in any case. << Jean? >> The question is asked, the single word including Rachel's indecision.

Jean steers the car to the off-ramp that will ultimately lead down the road to the school. She arches a brow at Hope. "You are forbidden from driving my car," she tells her -- only partially seriously (but still serious).

And she chuckles softly in response to Rachel. "Probably. Sorry."

She hears the telepathic question, however, and senses all the layers behind it, the indecision and the question. ~ I don't like it. ~ she replies privately. Even cracking her shields that much will show Rachel a glimpse of the turmoil she feels within, the dark cloud hanging over her thoughts. Just not the reasons for it. No one said convincing her was going to be easy.

Trailing not far behind the fancy car is a fancy bike. A Harley Davidson, Iron 883 to be precise. This doesn't exactly do much to dispel the stories of X-Men and their motorcycles, but Marvel tends to typecast, and this writer won't argue with that... especially when a sexy motorcycle is involved.

Kwabena is wearing a halmet this time. In part because he drove out with it, in part because it's part and parcle with his ability to, as they say, 'go to ground'. However, beneath the roar of the bike's engine and the blackout of his helmet and facemask, a set of earbuds is pumping loud music into the African's ears, sung by the infamous Ozzy Osbourne.

-- In the fields the bodies burniiinnning -- As the war machine keeps turninnnng -- Death and hatred to mankieeeeeend -- Poisoning their brainwashed minds -- Oh lord yeah!

Guitar Solo.

Not that Xavier's is as tempting an option as others might think. After all, as far as she knows /he/ is already there, albeit in a younger form, and well...

Time travel and preserving just enough of possible futures is just enough to be crazy in and of itself.

Either way, Hope rolls her eyes at Rachels comment regarding what she needs to learn. On the other hand, as she glances at the back of Jeans head, there's a slight, "Not unless we're being shot at. Then again, if that happens you could always just give me a gun and you can do the driving."

On the other hand, as that bike is noticed there is a slight frown.

Rachel grins cheerfully at Hope's so very teenager eye-roll. As far as Rachel's concerned, Hope set herself up for that one and Rachel has no regrets over delivering a bit of mild ribbing. Particularly when Hope takes herself so seriously.

Jean's injunction against Hope driving her car only makes Rachel grin that much wider. Rachel shrugs at Jean's mock apology, "I won't tell the PR department." That's as much fun as Rachel is able to take from the conversation, though, because the /other/ conversation she's having is causing her no little amount of concern. That Jean had been so tightly shielded when she'd arrived had bothered Rachel, since it seemed overkill against Hope, even if she is a first class power mimic. The flash of emotion from Jean as she replies to Rachel's question deepens her concern significantly. << What is it? >> The question's asked before Rachel can stop herself, though there's a distinct overspill of 'probably none of my business' before Rachel continues.

The indecision from before is, if not gone, at least partly hidden. Jean's clearly got enough on her plate, whatever it might be, that she doesn't need to be rescuing Rachel as well. << Me neither, not particularly. But you, me, Doug - we've all told her we're here if she needs us, and now she's here. Nate hasn't been able to look out for her as much as he's wanted to, and I can't do it from arm's length. What choices have we got? >>

Rachel's been looking at Jean for a bit longer than her PR department comment warranted, but now she looks back toward Hope - only to find she's got her eye on something else. Rachel concentrates for a moment and takes a quick look through Hope's eyes - then shakes her head with a knowing smirk. "Nothing to worry about." She says confidently, then concentrates a little harder. << Uplifting music you listen to. >> Rachel's voice slides into Shift's mind. << Drop back a little? You're making our passenger nervous. >>

"If we get shot at," Jean says, "I'm popping a shield and getting the hell off the road." And really, that'd just be the topper to her day.

Crucifixion wouldn't be any further out of place.

The bike, however, doesn't concern her. She knows its rider well. Extremely well, given recent events. (You can't alter a man's mind without coming to thoroughly know and understand it, after all.)

~ I can't talk about it right now, ~ she replies to Rachel's first question. It's a little too fresh. Though she has close enough control over her emotions that the full scope of her disquiet.

She listens to the silent arguments Rachel makes for Hope's inclusion. ~ I can't send her into a shitstorm, ~ Jean replies. The fact she's swearing probably proves, however, that her control isn't absolute. She's taking a much harder line than she usually does. And there's an unintentional glyph beneath that expresses the concern that sending a youngster like Hope to Genosha is tantamount to how Scott got several students killed on a mission not so long ago, himself. And something she's not sure she can live with.

~ She's told me some of what she's faced. I know she can handle herself. But, I just can't do that. ~ Her hands tighten on the steering wheel, knuckles whitening some. She lets out a mental sigh. ~ I could take a more active hand with her, here. That might be better. ~

Of course, it's possible Hope might want a say in all this. So, pursing her lips slightly, Jean maneuvers the car towards one of those roadside rest stations and pulls into the shade of a tree.

As she turns off the car, she turns back toward Hope. "Okay. We all need to talk."

Behind the helmet, Kwabena is absolutely grinning. It's been a long time since he listened to the song, 'War Pigs', after all, and this one was a basement recording he'd managed to lift off an old thumb drive found in his X-Men Quarters. However, when Ozzy Osbourne begins 'crooning' again about the fates of death and destruction, another voice comes from the inside of his mind.

"Ack," verbalizes Kwabena. He lifts his left hand and stabs at the iPod within his jacket, seeking to pause the music. Once the music has paused (and his grimace has faded), he huffs a sigh through his nose. << What, they don't have Black Sabbath where you come from? >> There's a touch of annoyance in his mental thoughts. << You've got a lovely voice, Red, but it makes terrible backup vocals for War Pigs. >>

Regardless, he curls his hand forward a bit, lightening up on the throttle and dropping back. He does so subtly, letting another car pass him as he does it so that it looks natural, not forced. << That better? >>

There is but a beat before Kwabena recognizes the car turning off the road ahead. Frowning, he cuts the throttle to his bike, and skids it off the side of the highway. Some dirt and gravel is kicked up behind him as the machine grinds to a halt, and the semi that passes by blares its horn at him. << Bit of a heads up might've been nice... >> Then again, he knows it's not Rachel's fault. She's not driving. That does, however, bring concern to his mind. << Everything alright up there? >> He was providing an extra layer of security for their return trip, after all.

"I kind of figured we would." Hope manages to mutter under her breath as the car is pulled over, and the phrase 'we need to tallk' is said. About what is unsaid,but. "I kind of figured we would."

Why? When you have secrets and spend a lot of time around telepaths, there's always that chance that a secret can 'get out' Thus, without knowing just what the talk is about, the teenaged Redhead can't help but assume that they may have picked up on one of those 'somethings'.

Hence why there's a slight wince as she looks from Jean to Rachel and back, completely ignorant of the 'conversation' the mother and daughter have had. On the other hand, between the fact she was told not to worry about Kwa and the car pulling over, there is a lot less mental energy spent on him. All though once she does get a chance see who he is, especially after what happened at Harry's she probably won't worry about him. At all. At least until she catches him hitting on Rachel, at which point she'll be honor bound to crack a joke or two.

Considering how open Jean's been with her up until now - to the extent of merging their minds, even - in some ways it doesn't matter how effectively Jean's shielding. That she's shielding so completely is a strong message to Rachel in and of itself. << All right. >> Rachel's smart enough to know that pressing Jean would be a bad idea, particularly when she's the one driving the car. Not to mention with Hope poised to take over. << But I'm around if that changes. Even if I'm not, y'know, around. >> There are certain advantages to being a pair of powerful telepaths, after all.

Jean's next words, though, tell Rachel just how far off that talk might be. And Jean's choice of words do put Rachel on notice that arguing with her before she's done talking would be an even worse idea, even without the glyph. That makes Rachel's jaw go tight, and there's a flash of mingled guilt and anger that she doesn't quite hide. Guilt that she survived when so many in her world didn't, and anger even at the suggestion that she'd sacrifice Hope. Jean's final suggestion, though, extinguishes that particular fire immediately. << If you can keep hold of her. >> There's strong agreement from Rachel accompanying the words, and also a hint of apology for putting Jean in this position.

As a result of all the sudden tension within the car, Rachel's responses to Kwabena are a little more chopped than they might otherwise be. << Sorry. >> She says, sounding distracted even as a mental contact. << Better... >> Rachel begins, then adds with a mental wince. << Would have been, anyway. Sorry. And... no danger, but beyond that? I guess we're about to find out. >>

Jean turns around so she can face both women in the car, heedless of the worry it may have caused Kwabena. It doesn't actually occur to her that Hope hasn't met the African, yet, or that his isn't going to catch up. "I get that you're bored, Hope," she says, her voice even. "And that you're from a time where things were a lot more... tumultuous. What's more--" she glances to Rachel briefly and back to Hope, "I really get that everything that's going on right now look like it's all heading down the same toilet bowl that lead each of you to your respective timelines. I can only imagine how anxious that makes you." At least, without opening her shields, that is.

"But here's the thing: I don't know what to do to help you, Hope. School's boring, sure. But it's safe. And there's a lot to be said for safe."

Particularly at her age.

The short, clearly distracted responses from Rachel are enough to chalk up a healthy conclusion that something amiss is taking place in the Lexus up there. Now, Shift doesn't remotely understand the real nature of where Rachel and Hope come from, which is in part why he's so outwardly flippant about the whole deal. Because deep down inside, the idea is rather haunting.

There is a brief silence as he considers these things, and a growing knot of concern grows in him. Vigilantly, he hops off the bike and goes 'round to the back, opening the cargo compartment and withdrawing a set of field tools. The helmet comes off only once he's crouched down by the right side of the bike, so that his features are partially blocked by the drivers by the Harley. Of course, he's not doing anything of significance when he begins poking around the hot engine. << Holler if you need me. >> With a free hand, he reaches for a cigarette.

And here's where Hope pauses. And sort of stares right at Jean as all of that is said. before finally...

Her lip twitches. And she... Laughs?

Not exactly. It's more like a faint chuckle. That is before she 'speaks up'. Only when she 'speaks up' it's telepathically. Which one of her 'relatives' she's copying though is unclear. At least for the moment.

<< First off, let me let you in on something. As far as I can tell, I was born not too far in the future as far as I can tell. It could be next week. Next month. Or even a few years from now. But /NOT/ that far away. >>

Unfortunately this isn't as focused as Hope would like, thus not only would the people in the car with her get it, but possibly Shift as well.

<< Second I came back to help you guys. I would be at your school, doing what I can if I'd ended up closer to when I left, but that didn't exactly work out. >>

<< Third, there is no such thing as 'safe' for me. Hell, none of us. There's things that I know, that if they got out, they could cause a /LOT/ of trouble for every fricken Mutant on the planet, as well as probably anyone with powers as well. Especially since I don't know what happened to cause those things. >>

Then, she finally speaks up, and uses her voice.

"Frak the school. It offers me a few chances to do things to make things better, but it's too slow. I need to be out there. To do more. Especially since certain things could be, and probably still are starting to happen. If you want me to stay safe... Fine. I'll go back to Frosts school. Trying to keep her from finding out what I know while also finding people to help me prepare for the worst. /OR/ I can help you. After all, to the rest of the world, I don't exist, thus there's no connection to you guys if you want the help."

"Or if you feel that you need the help, just let me help."

"But the /LAST/ thing you should do is treat me like some sheltered little girl who needs to be protected. Because when things go bad, and trust me, they will, I can do more than you'd believe. Or at least a hell of a lot more than you're giving me credit for right now."

The chuckle is all it takes. As soon as Rachel hears that, she just /knows/ Hope has been eavesdropping, and she has a fair idea of what's going to come next. Not the specifics, of course, but a fair idea that Hope's going to take everything that she and Jean said to each other exactly the wrong way.

And so it proves.

Even as Hope's still 'speaking' to them telepathically, Rachel raises a hand to pinch the bridge of her nose and sigh. Whatever consensus they might have offered to Hope feels like it's rapidly unravelling. Rachel's felt Jean's mind, or at least enough of what she's been unable to shield to know that she doesn't need this, and for Rachel, herself - she's been on Hope's side. She's let the girl run when she's wanted to, offered help when she could, and now - it feels like Hope is throwing it all back in her face. That she's forgotten that Rachel's one of the few that might be able to understand where she's coming from. Rachel goes from tired and depressed to angry in about a second and a half.

"Are you done showing off?" Rachel's twisted all the way around in her chair now, and looks like she's trying to pin Hope to her seat with her furious green gaze. "Don't answer that, YOU ARE done showing off. We're trying to help you, we WOULD be helping you if you'd let us. But you're not. First you run, and now... what? The world's going to end if you don't get your way?"

The temperature in the car seems to be rising, and there's a slight hint of a heat haze beginning to form around Rachel, the green of her eyes starting to give way to something that looks a lot like... flame. "You think you're unique? I lost my whole world too, and there's not a damn thing I can do to get it back. I have to live my life surrounded by ghosts, while you still have a shot at making things right. You think I want to keep you safe? You're damn right. No-one was LEFT to keep me safe. But there's one thing you've got dead wrong. I do believe you, when you say what you can do. But how the hell can I - can any of us - take you out in the field if you won't let any of us in? I'd like to think Nate's wrong, when he said you had no common sense, but I need to know you won't run off and get yourself killed when I'm not looking."

The green of Rachel's eyes has been obliterated by fire, but her shields are down, Hope will /know/ the truth of her motivations, this close it's almost impossible not to."If I can trust you, if I know you won't run, then maybe I can give you what you want. A chance to make a difference. But if I can't... go back to Frost." Rachel's door opens and her seatbelt releases, all telekinetically, and then she's stalking away from the car without a backward glance. Burning hot.

Jean's own telekinesis automatically encircles the interior of the car as soon as RAchel begins to heat up. She believes the three of them will survive any Phoenix-esque inferno fairly well in one piece. The car, however? Probably not so much. Not without help.

"Out of the car," she says firmly to all of them, popping her own belt and door. "I'm not flying home because one of us loses her temper." And, yes. She includes all three of them in that. That 'her' isn't at all specific or aimed.

Out in the fresh air, she turns to regard both of them. "Rachel's right. We can't help unless you let us. And it seems to me that being at the Academy is all about remaining safe, since you won't come back to the X-Men." A beat. "But, you know what? Fuck the X-Men." Another indication of just how far her temper has frayed. "There are no X-Men. There's only a disparate collection of mutants who occasionally work together. When it suits us. When we're not burying our heads in the sand. But, I'll tell you right now: The one thing we do not do -- should never do -- is willingly send kids into battle. And, not to underestimate you, Hope, but you are still a kid. I'm not saying you don't have skills, don't have power. I can sense your power quite clearly, and I have no doubt you're a match for any of us. That's not the point."

There's telekinetic wind rising around her. "The point is what's right and what's not. In the worlds you each came from, children had no choice but to fight. But this world is not the world you came from. Either of you came from. My future is not yet written in blood and death and destruction. Not yet. Not ever, if I have something to say about it. I will embrace the full power of the Phoenix, again, before I let that happen." Her own eyes glow dangerously and the harmonics in her voice rise. "I will remake the world before I let that happen."

The click of a zippo, the first few drags of a menthol cigarette, and a handful of passing cars. After this, Kwabena begins to hear something in the back of his mind, and it's not altogether unlike the way Hope had spoken to him back at Harry's. It doesn't make much sense, and for a moment, his long hours attempting to piece together his jumbled memories seems... threatened. He winces, and doubles down on the efforts to single out that voice and listen. Something upon which to focus, much like his meditations helped him after Jean restored his memories.

He only hears half a conversation, of course. What he hears is troublesome, of course, but for the moment, he hangs back, not to intrude. This was family business. He was merely here to offer his own unique brand of muscle if it was needed. However, when Rachel storms out of the car, upon which he's been keeping half an eye, he frowns.

Leaving the tools and helmet, but keeping the cigarette, Kwabena rises from his perch beside the bike and starts walking across the gravel shoulder, headed toward the rest stop. His pace is quick enough, like that of a man who wishes to make quick time to a pay phone to call AAA, but not so quick as to alarm any onlookers. Not being a telepath, there's no way for him to express his concern, but it's there, nevertheless.

By the time he is within earshot and eyeshot of the rest stop, he's close enough to hear the harmonics changing in Jean's voice. He can feel the wind against his face, and... is that a glow in her eyes? With a silent gasp, Kwabena breaks into a run, onlookers be damned.

<< Jean Grey! >> He thinks, forcefully, scoldingly. Perhaps she's so keyed in that she'll recognize his attempts to raise her. He may not understand what's really going on here, but he knows that if this all gets out of hand, there will be news of a rest stop having melted to glass on the 5:00 news... not far from the Xavier Institute. Not good. << What the hell is going on? Haven't we played with enough fire? >>

Tempers are flaring. And as /everyone/ leaves the car... As Jean appears to go all Phoenix... Hope doesn't exactly back down.

But still, something Rachel said does bounce around the teenagers head, thus she snaps. Just a little.

<< Special? >> is said as she turns and starts to walk away. << Unfortunately I am. /SOMETHING/ happened before I was born. One morning there were thousand, hundreds of thousands, possibly even millions of mutants across the world. Then one morning they all woke up and found out they were /HUMAN? right down to the genetic level. On top of that no more mutants manifested their powers. At all. Supposedly there were only a couple of /HUNDRED/ Mutants left in the world. >>

<< I don't know what caused that. >>

<< Then I was born. A mutant. People knew. They tried to kill me. I was taken into the future to get away from them. And in that future? There still weren't any more mutants being born. Hell, there were no people with powers /PERIOD/. >>

<< Again, I don't know why. All I know is that simply because I was born people wanted to kill me, and supposedly other mutants believed things of me. I didn't ask to be special. I didn't ask to be hunted down like I have been my entire life. But supposedly I am. >>

And thus Hope turns and starts to walk away, her telepathy fading a bit with every step. She doesn't even stop to look at Kwa as he makes his 'joke'.

<< And there's my /LAST/ secret. The big one. The one I've been hiding from everyone. What might be just down the road a little bit. One that I don't want to happen, but if it doesn't happen I might never be born. >>

<< So I hope you're right. Both of you are right, and that the future isn't written Otherwise it's... >>

Rachel's temper. It's one of her worst features, and it's just caused her to chew out a seventeen year old girl who might be her niece, but when it comes to her experiences, might almost be closer to a younger sister. Not that it seems to have dented Hope's self-confidence and conviction in any meaningful way, but Rachel will probably feel bad about it later anyway.

Right now, though? Hope's insistence that she IS the most important thing for the future of mutantkind, coupled with her equally strong insistence on getting into the firing line and her refusal to accept Rachel's concerns - for her safety, and how she'd actually perform under fire - have rubbed Rachel up the wrong way, to put things mildly. She knows she's angry, she knows that anger won't help the situation, so she's removing herself from it. Rachel keeps walking, past Shift, toward another stand of trees. It's an effort of will, but with each step she brings the power that had built up within her down another notch, even as Hope's voice is still echoing in her mind. The younger redhead doesn't understand where Rachel's coming from, or what prompted her to snap. It's not a question of belief in her story.

There is one thing that causes Rachel to stop dead in her tracks, though. One thing that seems to call to her, even as Jean calls it to herself. Something that fans the fire of her power, even as she tries to bank it. Rachel resists the temptation and turns around. Shift is there. She hopes he'll be enough.

Unfortunately, Shift's mental voice, such as it is, does little to mollify the firstborn of the Grey genetic line of telepaths. Of course, to be fair, that's not his fault. She's had a thoroughly rotten day and, to some degree, he's actually at the heart of it. Again, not his fault. Entirely her own. But, that doesn't make him a welcome face.

Normally, however, the woman called Phoenix in this time and place does have much better control of her temper than this. She must. Balefully glowing eyes settle on the African for a moment, lips curled faintly in the snarl that prefaces her response. However, whatever she was going to say to him is lost as Hope makes her 'confession'. Her fiery gaze diverts to the girl, instead. But, even that isn't enough to mollify her, though she does, perhaps, rein herself in at least a little.

The telekinetic wind dies down, at least.

~ Let's be clear, here. ~ she sends openly to all of them, now. ~ There isn't a single one of us, standing here, who warrants the title of Special or Chosen or Messiah among mutants. ''Not. One. And for any of us to have the temerity to call ourselves so is the height'' of arrogance -- on par with the self-appointed Imperator of Bastion himself. What's more, there isn't a single one of us that hasn't been targeted for death at some point in our short lives. That's part of being an X-Man. Many people would tell you it's just part of being a mutant. ~

The iron in her tone is implacable, and yet she still manages to pull it back, now, even if she will not relent. ~ I don't doubt that what happened to you in your past -- whatever timeline that may be -- has scarred you. Scared, you, even. ~ Here her tone actually begins to gentle, though it's more like wrapping steel in velvet. ~ You're a kid, Hope. It should scare you. It should scare any of us, regardless of age. ~

Now, she's more matter-of-fact than anything else. ~ But, your timeline hasn't happened here, Hope. And while I'll admit it's as bleak as any alternate timeline that's been presented to me, it will not change how I look at things now. Hasn't it occurred to you that, just maybe, the best thing for you to do is to allow yourself the safety this 'boring' world offers you? Keep a low profile, rather than drawing attention to yourself? Maybe you'll get a handful of years wherein you can grow and hone your talents without having the weight of the whole world on your shoulders. ~

She shakes her head. ~ There's a reason we don't send children off to war, if we can avoid it, Hope. You're not even 18, yet. Not even the military takes a solider before her 18th birthday. ~

She flips a hand and looks around in the new stillness. Her fiery aura has retreated, and with it the wind, though her eyes are still bright. ~ This world -- this universe is... a crossroads, I think. To where? From where? I don't know. And, frankly, I don't care. I can think of half a dozen mutants just off the top of my head who each come from different futures with different stories to tell of hell on earth for mutantkind. ~

~ At issue here isn't where you've come from, what you did there and then. It's the here and now. It's the fact one of the world's most powerful mutants is trying to build himself an empire with which he can throw down the human race. That's what I'm trying to stop. But, I'm not going to do it with an army of children. ~

Hope's telepathic voice seems much more like a whisper in Kwabena's mind compared to the strong, intentful voice of Jean Grey. While distracted by the voices in his mind, Kwabena has enough sense to turn when Rachel walks past, keeping an eye upon her.

And yet, the almost unearthly presence behind the curl of Jean's lips and the glowing of her eyes is enough to shake him to his core--not because she has done anything to endanger them, but because he knows what she can do. Today is not the day for Earth's solar system to be consumed.

Caught between the storming of Rachel and the sermon of Jean, he finds himself adopting the stance of a soldier ready to fend off a battle he knows he cannot win. Legs spread, hands slowing balling into fists, he simply looks between the three of them in vigil.

By the time Jean has finished speaking, however, he simply feels trapped. There is a part of him that would put a bullet through Erik Lehnsherr's brain, if a plastic bullet could even get close. There is a part of him that would go straight to Genosha, burning everything in his path until someone put a permanent end to his star-like fire.

Instead, Jean's words draw a single tear to his eye, one that drops down the cheek of his face until it clings like a like soldier upon his chin. It's the single tear of a man who fears the possibility that, no matter how brightly he burns or how many monsters he kills, it simply may not be enough.

With Rachel still heading off, and Jean not willing to back down...

Yeah. Hope doesn't stop walking away either.

You could argue about the reasons why. You could argue that given the powers that Jean and Rachel have both shown, it's definitely a good thing that Hope is /NOT/ copying their powers anymore.

But lets face it. While technically she is young, Hope has seen and lived through a lot more than most people would ever suspect. She knows that she's capable of more than they'd suspect either. Thus while Jean may have a point (one that the teenaged redhead will think about later, especially in regards to the others and this reality being a nexus reality), she is not going to just back down. Not in a way that anyone suspects. She's not going to just be brushed off. "The way you make it sound, he already has an army." is all but shouted back towards Jean. "So you're gonna need all hands on deck and every soldier you can get to help stop this, especially if you want to do it /before/ it comes to a war."

Still, as she heads off on foot, Hope does cast a slight glance at Kwa and Rachel, especially with how ticked her 'aunt' appears to be. But nothing is said to either of them.

Despite herself, Rachel reaches out toward Jean telepathically - and recoils when she gets a flash of Jean's anger as she just manages /not/ to bite Shift's head off. Rachel's mental shields go up reflexively, the shock of experiencing Jean's anger clearing her mind, her own anger seeming like a pale and insubstantial thing in comparison.

Staring at Jean a bit wide-eyed, Rachel shakes herself and looks toward Shift, seeing him tense up, and feels fleetingly sorry for the man who's put himself in the middle of the three of them. But only fleetingly, because Jean's speaking into her mind, into all their minds, and shields or not Rachel has no choice but to listen. The force of Jean's belief in her words is like a physical thing to the younger telepath, and there's nothing that Jean says that Rachel can disagree with... but that doesn't mean that there's nothing she isn't seeing.

Rachel's already walking back toward the others, even as Hope shouts defiantly in the face of Jean's certainty and turns away. Hope seeming to dismiss her with her eyes as she goes stirs the ashes of Rachel's anger, but no more than that. "Hope? Stop. Just... stop, and listen for a minute." Rachel switches to mental communication to keep things private between the four of them - and so she doesn't have to yell after a departing teenager. << Hope, I don't care if you want to admit it or not, but Jean's right. No one in their right mind sends kids to war. The trouble is... >> Rachel rakes a hand back through her hair. She's never been the eloquent one, never been able to speak as compellingly as she'd wish, so she sticks to what she knows, and lets the others draw their own conclusions. << Sometimes you don't get a choice. When I was in the camps, the X-Men, /my/ X-Men needed me. It didn't matter that I was too young, things had gone too far for that. But if they'd tried to leave me behind? To protect me? I wouldn't have let them, even if they were /right/. >>

Even though she's not speaking aloud, Rachel takes a breath before she continues. << This world's not that far gone. It can still be saved, and we can do it without using kids to fight our battles. We still have that choice. >> Rachel smiles, but it's a dark expression devoid of humour. << But Hope has a choice too, and I think she's already made it. I don't agree with it. I think it's the wrong choice. I've lived through making the same choice and I /still/ think it's the wrong choice. But I think we've got as much chance of keeping her at /either/ school as you'd have had of leaving me in the camps when I was still a kid. She's going to put her neck on the line, our principles be damned. >>

Rachel looks at Hope, as if daring her to disagree. << What we've got to decide is whether our principles are worth letting her do it alone. >>

Jean is angry. She's angry at a lot of things: at Scott for refusing to believe her earlier, for refusing to face Magneto when a show of strength might have made a difference; at herself for having disregarded her own better judgment to agree to Shift's plan to go undercover with Magneto; at Hope for forcing her hand, forcing her to choose between principles and the heedless expediency of a over-reaching child; and at a myriad of smaller injustices that have made life more difficult than it needs to be lately.

In the privacy of her own thoughts, hidden behind the wall that separates the public telepathic sharing she sends to the others from the core of her own mind, she realizes that there is absolutely nothing she can do to help this situation. Nothing, except capitulate -- which only serves to make her angry.

But, in this case, it's an impotent anger. And perhaps that's the most galling part of it. She knows Rachel's right. She also knows there's a reason she's made the younger Grey telepath Shift's co-leader for this mission. It has everything to do with the woman's experiences and abilities. She knows both Rachel's mind and Shift's mind intimately well. Better than any relative stranger really has the right to know another person. But, circumstances have provided her opportunities, however unexpected and un-looked-for those opportunities may have been, to meld with each of them to one extent or another. Thus, she knows them.

Hope's the true stranger to her. The girl's told her her story, yes. And Jean has no doubt that the girl, while on the cusp of adulthood, is both powerful, smart, and determined to make a difference. In other words, she's truly hero material. But, she still has so much to learn. So much that can only be taught, Jean is forced to admit, through the School of Hard Knocks -- not the School for Gifted Youngsters or the Academy of Tomorrow. Her own experiences have taught her that.

And weren't she and the boys still in their late teens when the Professor first sent them to confront Magneto and his Brotherhood? She knows the first X-Men were all about Hope's age when they started.

She closes her eyes for nearly a full minute, breathing slowly in and out, the rise and fall of her chest the only indication of her thoughts.

When she opens her eyes again, the glow has faded. Any trace of the remnants of the Phoenix power that yet cling to her dissipates in the stillness of the hot summer sun. Only the faint breeze of a real wind stirs the leaves on the trees that shade the car and half the rest station parking lot.

"Fine," she says now, her tone flat and quiet. "You're right. I know you are." That doesn't mean she has to like it. She looks at Hope. "Shift and Rachel are in charge in Genosha, Hope. Try to listen to them."

She turns, now, walking back to the car and raking one hand through her long red hair once before she pulls the door open. "Come on. Get back in the car. It's still a long walk back to the Institute."

The sheer impact of Jean's words was like a sledgehammer to Shift's soul. Only something so severe, so truthful, and so heartfelt would be able to rend a tear from his otherwise guarded, closed off soul. Regardless, he's still feeling a bit left in the dark, and while the telepathic exchanges keep coming, it shows in the glaring of the African's mis-matched eyes. He's a smart mutant, though. He can piece this together.

Right?

All of his suspicions are confirmed when Jean speaks aloud at last, leaving the telepathic conversation to the dissipating psionic winds. The sudden silence of voices in his head is further comforting, and helps him to relax somewhat, but not fully. This hot-headed, potentially dangerous teenager was now coming with them, to Genosha. The heart of the lion's den.

After Latveria, this is the first operation that has truly frightened Kwabena. He's begun to trust Rachel, sure... and Jocelyn had a certain grit about her that he could appreciate... but those people he truly trusted with his life? They were gone. Bobby and Kurt had left. Betsy had become another person, so much so that she didn't even remember their close friendship. Domino had become a non-factor, and most of the others weren't exactly worth mentioning.

Kwabena's jawline moves back and forth with the grinding of his teeth. He turns toward Hope when Jean begrudgingly declares her decision, a fire in his eyes. Boots crunch into the grass as he approaches the girl, with not a single shred of apology in his face.

"If you come on dis op, you don't try to listen. You will listen. Respect is mutual, undahstand?" He fixes the girl with an absolute lack of remorse, for not only does he want to understand the potential severity of every decision that is made, he also doesn't want to see this all end up in a rampant bloodbath. "You listen, we'll listen. But if you go rogue on us out dere, so help me God, I will hunt you down and make damned sure you pay de consequences." Oh, Shift wouldn't kill Hope. He'd most likely try to wrangle her, subdue her, and bring her back to Scott and Jean or die trying. But, if she's led to think for a moment that he would kill her? Might do the kid some good.

Let her imagination run wild with that one.

Making Jean angry was /not/ what Hope was aiming to do. Just like making Rachel angry was not what she was aiming to do either. If she still had that telepathy she had been using... If she could /feel/ even a hint of what the eldest telepath is feeling and thinking at this very moment, odds are the teenaged power mimic might have backed down.

And yet as Rachel tells her to stop, the girl from a possible future does stop. And listens. She tries to keep her expression impassive, but internally she's a little bit of a mess right now. She feels mentally and emotionally exhausted. She doesn't know what to think besides the fact that she feels like she needs to do something, and like (despite the fact that she won't admit it to anyone, including herself) she messed up somehow. Not Rachel, not Jean, and certainly not Kwa. Hope feels like /HOPE/ messed up, and did it in ways that she can't quiet figure out. Not any of the others.

And yet there's a choice here. Especially as Jean relents. Or to be more exact, another choice. And the fact of the matter is, Hope never thought of this as a choice. And as certain things regarding this being a choice start to be thought about, there is a slow nod at Jean. And yet as Kwa makes his 'threat', there's a slight nod at him.

"You could say I'm use to following orders.... Sir." is said in a faint voice as the teenager finally stops moving for a second or two, before she starts to at least head back towards the car.

Rachel feels the charge in the stillness after she speaks, while Jean stands with her eyes closed. She knows that she's forced the moment of decision, and hates that she's done it - hates even more that she's arguing /for/ something that she's actually against. As Rachel watches Jean, she half-expects an outburst, but Jean's not her. She's more mature, and far more together inside her own mind. When Jean opens her eyes, Rachel knows it's over, and she eases down from a tension she hadn't realised she was holding her body in. << I don't want to be. >> Rachel replies, only to Jean. << But she reminds me too much of myself. >> Outwardly, all she does does is nod a swift acknowledgment of Jean's decision, and then stands back and lets Shift do what he needs to do, if this is going to have any chance of success.

Rachel doesn't wince. Doesn't shoot Hope a look of comiseration. Doesn't contact her mentally. She needs to defer to someone. It's clearly not going to be Rachel herself, she's proved that already. So if she's coming, it has to be Shift. So Rachel watches for Hope's reaction, and is... annoyed. Because Rachel already gave her that opening, and was turned down. But she's also just about satisfied. << I'm glad she listens to someone. >> Rachel's voice is dry in the back of Kwabena's mind, but there's more than a hint of apology in her next words. << We need to talk about this, I know. But believe me, this is not something I planned. >> She sounds annoyed. With Hope, with herself most of all.

Rachel remains by the car as Hope approaches, waiting for her to get in before she reclaims her place in the passenger seat. "There's a lot we're going to need to talk about. A lot you're going to need to know." Rachel says, not unkindly. "But let's get 'home' first, OK?"

Kwabena hates every minute of this. And yet, in a sick way, he can understand why Hope wants to go.

Having said what needed to be said, he turns around without another word to Hope. Rachel gets a somewhat similar glare in passing. << Damn right we do. >> Is there understanding or apology in his mind? Perhaps a small shred, but it cowers against the cold realization that he and Rachel will have to be responsible for a teenage unknown.

Stalking back to the motorcycle, he removes a flask from his jacket and takes a drink.

<< I'll do everything I can for her, Jean. >>