2013.07.10 - Once Again Seeking Hope

It's not exactly a 'hot time in the old town' today. All right, so technically it is a bit on the 'hot' side, and it is a little muggy and sticky, but nowhere nearly as bad as it has been for the last few days. Instead it's just a bit overcast, and there are some passing showers. But they're more like light sprinkles and don't really last long.

As such, even in Greenwhich Village it's as if the people who live, work, or just pass through this area are in a /slightly/ better mood than they have been as of late. There's less out and out anger. Less grump. And more people smiling.

All of that in turn means that various local businesses are doing slightly better in some ways as well. Sure the outdoor areas of some cafs and restaurants are a bit more sparse than they could be due to the rain, but there's still some people out there. heck at one just across the way from The Academy of Tomorrow there's at least one student in her school uniform sitting out there nursing a drink. All though odds are this redhead isn't exactly 'normal'. On the other hand, since where has anything about Hope been normal anyways?

the stories from other X-Men had been rather interesting. That curious strange girl that Doug and Rachel had met the other day, the one that registered on Cerebros as a Mutant Presence with a high level? She'd been located once again, and apparently this time wasn't -on- the run, judging by her having become a -student-.

Doug and Rachel hadn't told Scott -exactly- what Hope had mentioned about 'a betrayal of one of the X-Men' in the future, although Doug had mentioned it briefly to Kitty in order to convince her to come along. Not that it required a lot of convincing, considering -who- was running the Academy of Tomorrow. "Just remember," Doug cautions as the small group approach the campus. "We're just scouting things out. Kitty, if we see Emma? Claws in." The young blonde's teasing grin belies the tone in his voice. "So... time to check out a new Hope."

Ah, Greenwich. The area is one of Kitty's favorites, not just for all of the attractions and /food/, but for the people within it. They're a culture in and of themselves. For the skinny Jewish girl making her way with her associates - she's currently got her head down, and a wide grin on her features. A small purple dragon is loosely wrapped about her shoulders, and both have their head lowered, gazing at the phone with almost rapt fascination.

One hand idly reaches upwards, as Kitty scritches the small dragon under the chin, before turning her fingers back down to flick another photo across. "Fuzzy." She intones to the dragon - and well, anyone listening. "Hell? Really? You sent me a picture from Hell?" A soft chortle, and shake of her overly curly brown hair, before the phone is lowered again, and hazel eyes shift towards Doug and the red-head moving with them.

To Doug, Kitty promises nothing, her eyes narrowing to slits. Her mouth parts, a breath taken in, and then out and.. Kitty just fehs, along /with/ Lockheed. "Yeah yeah, claws in. Right." She mutters under her breath, before shifting her focus onto the red-head with Doug. Rachel. Her name is Rachel, and Kitty..? Well, she /knows/ this red-head, though from a completely different time, and a long time ago. Or - when dealing with alternate futures, does that mean it hasn't happened yet? Who knows, time travel dilemmas give her a headache. The two haven't really had an opportunity to speak - other than when first meeting, Kitty mistook Rachel for Jean, and Rachel proceeded to call Kitty 'Kate'.

Yes, the two would definitely have to talk, at depth, some time soon - for now though, Kitty's gaze returns to Doug. "What do we know about this Academy? Dougie?"

Rachel's not entirely sure how, whenever she shows her face at the Mansion, Doug manages to rope her in to hunting down Hope. After their last encounter Rachel might have refused, but... Doug's assured her they're NOT hunting the younger red-head this time. So Rachel gave in, which doesn't mean she doesn't feel the need to tweak Doug about the situation anyway. "Strictly recon." She says, in an exaggeratedly professional tone after Kitty gives her 'promise', as she gives him a sidelong look. She seems to ponder that for a moment or two before there's just the hint of a smirk touching her lips. "That's why you've brought twice as much backup as last time?" She even manages to inject an innocent tone into her question.

The sidelong look brings Kate... or rather Kitty... into her view once more. As with so many people she's encountered since finding herself here, it's jarring to see a younger, clearly happier (even after Emma is mentioned) version of someone she knew, but she's proud of how cool she's playing it - until the brunette's eyes meet hers, and Rachel might /almost/ have stumbled. Oddly for her, Rachel doesn't get defensive at the slip, just quirks her lips and shrugs. Shooting the /dragon/ a challenging 'what?' look instead, and tuning back in to whatever briefing Doug apparently has for them.

And as that trio wander around Greenwhich, the redhead at the cafe doesn't move. Heck, she doesn't even /blink/ as she sets down her drink, and glances around, her gaze falling onto them. Instead she just /appears/ to remain calm.

Possibly a bit too calm.

Then again, that might have something to do with the fact that her gaze locks onto one specific member of that group, before she visibly gulps.

Still.... As she sits there, and watches them come closer, Hope nods once in their direction, even if they may be a distance from her.

It wasn't as though Doug -knew- Ray was a Hound or anything, but there was always that attitude about her where he'd just be "Hey, can you find..." and she'd have no problems doing so. Too uncanny, that.

"It's not backup as much as, you know, I figured she'd appreciate seeing a friendly face. And let's face it, Kitty there's the best at doing cute -and- friendly," he comments, although he does give Lockheed a look that roughly translates into 'and that means she beats you too, dragonface, unless you can do better'.

"Ayway, to keep it short, future, time travel, I have no idea how to sort it out, and all I know about the Academy of Tomorrow is that Emma Frost runs it, so your guess is as good as mine after that, Kitty."

And knowing Kitty, probably, she was picturing horrible mental images of fang-teethed Emma Frost in a corset with flames surrounding her teaching children out of the Omen.

Lockheed, for his part, remains nestled around Kitty's neck, happily resting there - his beady dragon eyes scanning Doug, then Rachel with avid interest, before nuzzling his head under Kitty's curls and shifting his position to get more comfortable. This proceeds to cause Kitty to shift her shoulders a bit, "Dragon.. off hair.." As Doug speaks, Kitty's still attempting to adjust the dragon, her hair pulled back at a painful point before the small purple beast is plucked upwards and sent onto the ground. Her voice intones a quick, "Behave!" - much to the great pouting of Lockheed. The dragon lets out a faint 'meh', sound, while duly and expertly ignoring Doug entirely. He flits upwards, wings beating fiercely upon his back, before pausing, eyeing Rachel, then Doug, and - decides to introduce himself to Rachel, circling around to come to rest upon her shoulders. At least she has short hair.

And why yes.. Kitty /did/ have a fairly ogreish image of Emma in her minds eye, complete with horns, a tail, pitchfork, spewing flames, while wearing a corset. It's pretty much what she thinks of the witch. A snort, before Kitty does take the compliment with a grin. "Hey, if I can help, you know I'm there." She offers with a shrug of her shoulders, taking the time to step up closer to Doug. As she does so, Kitty's gaze flickers towards the girl seated - the one wearing the uniform of the school. At the nod, Kitty offers a bright smile, warmth and full of all the life and energy that is - simply put - Kitty Pryde.

If you've asked her to find the TV remote, Doug, or your sunglasses, Rachel's uncanny locating skills mostly come from having read your mind before you'd finished your sentence and spent her free time doing your looking for you. She's always been a little bit sketchy on telepathic ethics, at least when it comes to such trivial things. Finding people, though? That's a whole different part of her skill set, and one she hopes she's not going to regret revealing to the linguist.

Still, it's that skill set that had her zeroed in on Hope's position some time ago, without really having to make much of an effort to do so, and she's mainly been keeping her gaze moving between her two companions to cut out the possible intimidation factor of staring right at her quarry as soon as she came within sight. She judges she's been considerate enough by now, though, and even as Doug's still speaking her head turns smoothly around to lock eyes with Hope. And she doesn't need to be a telepath to catch her reaction. "Yeah." She says quietly, though loud enough for Doug and Kitty to hear. "Nothing says friendly like three against one." But then she smiles and looks back to the others, pausing just for a second before she turns, in case the smile reassures Hope some... or at least enough that she doesn't bolt when, at the same moment that Rachel's looking toward Kitty and offering a thoughtful, "He's got a point." - Rachel's mind is reaching out toward Hope's. And her telepathic voice is amused, almost conspiratorial. <> And she leaves the light connection open, in case Hope wants to reply. And finally, when Doug mentions his problems with time travel? That draws a snort from Rachel. "If I could sort it out I wouldn't be /here/, so I'd better not be your resident expert!"

And this close to The Academy of Tomorrow?

Hope /DOESN'T/ run. Not even as her gaze flickers towards Doug for a moment, then to the 'dragon' that's with the trio, before finally she glances at Kitty right in time to see that nod from her.

All though if the telepath is trying to pick up the younger redheads thoughts, she will more than likely pick up some projected right back at her.

<< I'm not going to run. This time. But you might want to warn your friends not to pull anything. Between the school and a talking telepathic gorilla, I'm not sure any of us want to deal with what could happen. >>

Then there's an odd smile from the younger 'Summers'?!?

"<< All though I admit I am tempted to joke right now regarding you being Nate's 'Brother'. >>

"Good. Now we just find Hope, and check out the Academy, and..." There was a strange look now, as Doug notices something about the way Rachel was looking off into the distance. "... and you've found her, have you, Ray?" the young blond sighs. "Not like I'm needed. Oh well..." Doug grins at Kitty and Lockheed. "Now I'm -hoping- you guys can convince her I'm not going to take her to anyone, we just need to find out a few things, make nice, offer help if she needs it... I know, Kitty, I know, but Ms. Frost -might- mean well..."

Taking a few steps forward, Doug follows where he'd seen Rachel look, and falls in step. "Hi, Hope," the young man greets. "I just wanted to see if things were better." And see if, maybe, she'd changed her mind on talking about what she had been running from.

"Rachel, you've met. The other is..." A look at the dragon, a wink at Kitty. "Lockheed and his pet Kitty."

Before Doug takes the step and introductions forward - - Seeing as how he's being completely ignored, the small dragon lets out disgusted sounding 'fehs', before lifting himself upwards, and once again circling around Kitty's neck, there to carefully avoid any hair, so he isn't booted again. Unsure how to approach things, for Kitty's gaze flickers from Hope to Rachel, as her hands link behind her back, a furrowing of her brows given to Rachel's words. "Never really considered it 'three against one', there Red." She offers with a serious tone of worry to her voice. "Look, you and Doug know her, right?" She inquires, taking a step backwards. "I don't want to ever seem .." And then Doug's stepping forward - and offering introductions, and Kitty can't do the honorable thing and escape.

She'd really like to whack Doug against the back of his head right now, but seeing as how she /can't/ at least in front of people - Kitty's thoughts register the slap, right to the back of Doug's head with venom, and the smile she offers there is unholy to say the least. It isn't evil, just mischievous, and the kind of familiarity one might have with a best friend, versus anything vicious or upsetting.

A roll of her eyes later, and Kitty's stepping forward, hand extended. "It's a pleasure to meet you." She offers with that same warmth of tone. Her wild, ever so untamed hair just seems to stand a bit more, waving around as the dragon peeks himself out at Doug's introduction, 'Yah!' He states happily, crawling down to rest half-way along Kitty's arm, his paws placed upon Kitty's raised hand, snout curiously giving Hope a once over.

Rachel /was/ a little busy carrying on two conversations at once, dragon! Cut her some slack if all you got was an annoyed look from point blank range, nose to, well, snout, when you landed on her shoulders without so much as a by your leave! Still, the dragon's arrival and just as abrupt departure does put a serious crack in Rachel's pose of being cool and in control of the situation, if nothing else. "Why else did you bring me along?" Rachel offers wryly, but seems a bit distracted as she replies to Doug, and then adds, "Be nice to her, guys." Before falling silent - at least as far as Kitty and Doug know.

Rachel's voice is conversational as it slides into Hope's thoughts once more. <> The words are spoken with more confidence than is probably warranted by Rachel's short association with them, but it's a promise she's confident she can keep. She's so busy thinking about that that the rest of what Hope says doesn't register for a moment. <> Rachel's slightly vague gaze sharpens on Hope, but then her mood switches suddenly, and there's suppressed laughter in her mental voice. <> Rachel's brows go up a bit when she's accused of being Nate's 'brother', but her baffled expression clears after a moment. <>

Since Doug's doing the introductions - and everyone's close enough to start realising that there are two conversations going on - Rachel slips back to purely verbal speech for now, looking toward Kitty as she has her attack of uncertainty. "Well, more 'chased her' than 'know her'..." Rachel remarks casually to Kitty, not helping in the slightest, before giving Hope a small wave - just as if they hadn't been chatting mind-to-mind. "Hi, again." There's definitely an amused smirk trying to get out, there.

<< Nate gave me a phone number for his 'Father'. I called it to set up a meeting. Instead Jean showed up, and I joked about how if she was Nate's 'Father' then I had the wrong impression of 'him'. >>

There's another nod before Hope motions towards the other seats at the table, as if to show that people are free to sit down if they so please.

"Hello Again." is said out loud to Rachel, before the younger redhead lets her gaze slide from the older Summers to her friends and allies yet again.

"And I could run. Probably should. But right now you guys are the least threatening bunch I have to worry about."

Then there's a quirked eyebrow at Lockheed and his owner.

"And a dragon with a pet cat? Talk about interesting." is said with a slight smile.

Then though, there's a slight shrug at Doug.

"Better is relative. Between whackos trying to blow me up and kill me, Nate's friends ditching me out in the middle of nowhere then bringing me back to the city, a fricken telepathic talking gorilla literally kidnapping me and yanking every memory I had right out of my head, an old fish dude attacking a museum, then coming back later to attack the city with giant sea monsters, and /then/ ending up at this school..." She jerks a thumb at the entrance to The Academy of Tomorrow. "Having to deal with which ever of you guys wants to kill me might be a nice change of pace."

"And that's without accidentally referring to Jean as Nate's Father, or calling her 'Grandma'."

Oh, he was aware of Kitty's body language. But his time with SHIELD had pretty much convinced him that hesitating on the field would mean death, and so Doug just goes ahead anyway. "No worries," Doug smiles faintly. "And actually, her name is Kitty. Kitty Pryde."

Wrinkling his nose at the mention of Jean, Doug nods. "Should have seen Scott's reaction to Rachel," he sighs. "But then she's probably told you."

Hope's adventures recitation has the young man shaking his head ruefully. "That's life... what is that, every fourth or fifth day...?"

Motioning to a chair, Doug asks, "Mind if we sit in? I think I... we're kind of wondering -why- you keep thinking one of us is going to kill you. And why you won't say."

A wry grin once again spreads itself over Kitty's features as her gaze flickers to Rachel. She's /always/ nice, except when it comes to Emma - but she has a good reason for that! Still, the skinny Jewish girl doesn't say anything, just offers that crooked grin to the two red-heads, having a sinking feeling there is a lot more going on, that Doug and Kitty /aren't/ privy to, versus what is currently being 'spoken'.

Lockheed nearly /preens/ at the idea that Kitty is his /pet/, leaving Kitty to just laugh with a shake of her wildly curly hair. Silently, quietly, she settles into one of the chairs next to Doug, letting him set forth the final introductions, and reasoning on what is going on. The dragon slides back up Kitty's arm to nestle about her shoulders once more, peaking out from beneath.

Rachel catches Kitty's look, but there's not a lot she can do about any ruffled feathers right now - she's not about to open a /second/ silent conversation to explain the /first/ silent conversation that prompted her admonition for the others to 'be nice'. She'll just have to straighten things out with Kitty later, assuming she gets the chance...

For now, though, Rachel's done far too much of the 'talking' already, so she lets the others handle the charm offensive. For her part, she takes Hope's gesture toward the other chairs as an open invitation, and sits down. It's better than looming over the younger redhead, at least. She pushes the chair back from the table a bit, though, and slouches down in it, as if serving notice that she's taking a step back. She's clearly still paying close attention, though, for with each trial and tribulation that Hope reels off, Rachel's eyebrows climb a little higher up her forehead. Still, she manages not to say a /word/ - until Jean is mentioned. THAT makes her snort. "Bet that went over well." She says quietly, then shoots a glance at Doug when he mentions Scott. "It's not one of my better stories." She says. Not warning him off, but... how could that have gone, other than 'awkward'?

Considering that Hope already motioned for them to sit, she doesn't give Doug a verbal reply to his chair question.

On the other hand....

"Because one of you already has. Since the moment I was born. And since as far as I can tell /that/ hasn't happened yet, the person who has been doing that may very well be one of you right now. Besides, I have to be careful with what I say or do. After all, I'm all for changing the future, especially considering what I saw and experienced growing up, and because it'd save lives, but not if it means that I won't be born."

The 'if this isn't some other reality' thing doesn't actually get said out loud, but given the younger redheads tone, it probably is implied.

Her gaze once more drifts towards Kitty, as if to take in any potential reaction the other woman may have to that, even as the younger 'Summers' replies to Rachel as well.

"It went over about as well as could be expected. In other words she asked me not to call her Grandma and looked a little shocked at the thought that I thought she was Nate's 'Father'."

"Well you being here probably already pushed us into another timeline," Doug replies, settling into the seat. "I don't think that just because you say something doesn't mean you'll cease to be, just that it means you can't go back to the old timeline, that's all. I mean... take her, for example." He motions at Rachel. "She's pretty clearly not from your timeline. I dunno who Nate is, though... but I'm going to take a wild guess that it's -another- Summers, in which case, I'm convinced, your whole family's screwed up by time."

Silent. Quiet. Kitty takes in everything that Hope has to say, digesting the terror she's gone through just /here/ in /this/ time, versus what Kitty can read between the lines. The horrors experienced that may not happen, or has happened - with time travel, it's so difficult to tell. She really wants to just whack Doug again upside the head, for shoving all three of them on this poor girl. One person, to ask, to make sure she's okay, to be there - Doug should have sent Rachel, instead of imposing all three of them on her at once. So typical /Doug/.

Kitty's gaze is soft, mouth pressed into a straight line, as Kitty's eyes return the gaze, hazel gems focusing and remaining upon Hope. When Doug speaks, Kitty remains silent a bit longer, before slowly, quietly speaking in her own impassioned manner. "I can't speak for those around me." Kitty begins, "But I can speak for myself, and Lockheed." The small dragon listens intently, though doesn't speak up when his name is spoken. "I don't know what has transpired - in the past, in the future, what may exist, or what may happen." Her hazel gems remain upon Hope, as Kitty continues. "But I do know that - as an X-Man, as someone that wants to help, to stop suffering, to see the future become a better place, and not the horrors that may exist, or is happening right now, you - and all that want the same, can always rely upon me, upon all that agree to a place that is better, safer, and not as hectic or terrible as - what I am guessing, has occurred."

Rising upwards, Kitty's mouth twists into a soft smile. "Hope. I like your name. I hope - no pun intended, that things go better for you, and if you ever need us. Or me. We're but a thought, and a phone call away."

"Let me put it this way..." is said as Hope leans forward, her gaze locking right onto Kitty's. "Something happened. Something bad. Something big. Something world changing. Something that I'd love to be able to explain or avoid. But I can't, because it probably played a part in my being born. But /ONE/ member of the X-Men went crazy. They claimed that my birth would make things even worse, /ESPECIALLY/ for mutants. So he tried to kill me. As a baby. Another X-Man, a Summers, rescued me and escaped into the timestream with my would be killer on our heels. We kept jumping farther and farther into the future to try and escape him. I grew up seeing things would could never imagine. Things where they kept going from bad to worse, and at the end The Earth was left unihabitable and there were no living sentient beings left on the planet, all because my would be killer decided that they had to die to have a better shot at killing me."

Then the younger redhead sits back for a moment and closes her eyes, "We were suppose to return to the moment we left, but we kept overshooting the mark. Too far into the past. Too far into the future. All while we kept being attacked by my would be killer. During our jump to this point we got separated. I've been alone, and on the run since then. but I know if I get too close to the X-Men that I could end up interacting with my farther before I'm even born, thus messing things up one way, or could end up causing my would be killer to go crazy early, killing me now, and not doing some of the good he did from before he went crazy." Then as her eyes open back up, the green eyes of the younger redhead glance at Doug.

"Even if it /is/ another timeline, I still have to be careful. And Nate /IS/ another Summers. I thought he was the 'evil clone' of my the person that adopted me that ruled the world in the future, but he isn't. Supposedly he's from yet another reality where things went to hell, and is part of that oddball team of his to try and stop it from happening ever in this reality."

Hope makes some compelling points, even if Rachel doesn't believe she has to worry about winking out of existence if she messes up this timeline enough that she's never officially born - if Rachel herself is still around, the timeline must be fairly tolerant of such temporal anomalies. But Rachel can understand the basis of her concern. Which is why when Doug casually declares that Hope's probably changed history /already/ - well, he gets a fairly unfriendly look from Rachel. Who's then used as Exhibit A in a discussion of alternate timelines. Rachel's deciding how she wants to take Doug to task for his approach - and so loses her slot to Kitty's more measured and hearfelt (not to mention, probably more helpful) intercession. So she subsides and just listens to the brunette speak.

Too bad it doesn't seem to cut a lot of ice with Hope. Rachel deliberately doesn't try to involve herself in Hope's combative response to Kitty, remaining where she is with a thoughtful look on her face - which becomes a bit haunted as Hope talks about her experiences. They aren't the same - Doug's right about that much, they ARE from radically different futures - but the horror of it resonates with Rachel. Still listening passively, her arms wrap around herself as if she's cold, even though the temperature's still more than pleasant.

When Hope turns to Doug, Rachel finally reacts. "Doug. She's right. She can't afford to trust us." Rachel glances between the others. "At least not yet. Kitty said it best, though." And Rachel looks at her with a small grin. "We can't help wanting to help. But I'm not as good at speeches, so..." She shrugs. "You have to trust someone. And if it's Nate, rather than us? OK." She hesitates, then shrugs and says it anyway. "But I can always find you. That can be a good thing, too."

Now Doug pauses, as he reads Rachel and Kitty's, takes measure of Hope, and finally nods. "Yeah, you're right, Rachel." He glances back at Kitty. "Fine, see, this is why I wanted you to meet her yourself... I figured you'd have a better sense of things than me." Especially since Doug sort of skipped over the -awkward- years of puberty in getting to understand exactly what made women ticked, and as a result, might be just a bit behind the curve on what made girls tick. At least he had a good excuse, right? Being dead and all?

"Um... anyway, Hope..." Doug sighs. "I don't know how well Emma might be at helping you through this, but well..." He motions at the two girls. "They're probably better equipped for this than I am." A sheepish look.

Listening to Rachel, to Doug, to Hope - Kitty bobs her head up and down, agreeing with, and understanding - or at least trying to do so. The sheer idea that such a villainous creature could be an /X-Man/ is almost foreign to Kitty. Oh sure, she's seen her fair share of oddity, and weirdness, and knows the evil that lurks in the hearts of men - but to chase someone throughout /time/ itself, through dimensions and alternate streams and honestly believe that the destruction of everything is better..? Well. Kitty's mind is just horrified by the implications. "I can't understand, or even being to fathom what that must have been like." She offers, her voice filled with a compassionate note, attempting /to/ understand just how /horrific/ it must have been. "But with all that said..." And a wry grin is there, a twinkle to her hazel eyes, and impish expression. "Not all of us are bad, or out to do harm, and again if you need us - we're there."

Turning about to drag Doug off with her, Kitty pauses and offers a wave of her hand to Hope. "And even if you're not looking for just ... a team or a place to hang your hat, if you ever need a friend." And Kitty /means/ that, with all her heart.

A simple, "Thank you." is said to Kitty, before Hope actually smiles and even grins at Rachel as Doug heads off.

"To be honest, between you, Nate, Jean, and Emma, I'm kind of counting on one of you to find me if ever anything like what happened with that damned gorilla ever happens again. Heck, the fact that I knew most of you is probably why he didn't do half the stuff he could of done."

"Still... I guess I'll see you guys around. Good luck. And who knows, I may have to drop in on you guys for once sometime."