Meeting Room: Bobby's news

[forge]

Forge got the transmission on his comm badge just as he was heading into the elevator. This was the second time he'd received one from Bobby, the first one being that strange goof-off message from some girl named Jubilee. He reminded himself to talk to Bobby about playing around with the things.

So he took the elevator down, still worrying about the strange mystery in the school – and hoping Kurt was having some luck tracking down who it was that snuck into Candice's room. Of course, Forge had considered the possibility that it was Candice herself who'd done so – possibly under some form of telepathic control, but preferred not to worry about that horrible scenario until it came down to it.

He drew a donut from the pack hanging from the back of his wheel chair, and began to eat it, thinking about his cybernetic leg again.

It was almost ready to begin construction. A day or two away, really.

He wheeled his way out of the elevator, and into the metallic halls of the sub-basement. He really did like that word, Sub-basement. It sounded... professional. He rolled it smoothly along, letting the electronically sliding doors open for him as he went into the meeting room.

No one was there, so he took the opportunity to surf the net using his pocket PC, and ate his donut.

[Shadowcat]

The world was conspiring to freak her out. That had to be what was happening here.

She'd been sitting in the middle of her bed in shock, having got the initial sobbing over with. Only one of her eyes was re-mascarad.

Then Bobby had paged everyone.

She really, really hoped it was important.

Nearly unconsciously, Kitty changed her shirt - she always did that after crying, it made her feel clean again - and finished up her mascara, running distracted fingers through her hair and only really coming to again when she was faced with her mirror, her slightly - ever so slightly - red-rimed eyes and lack of a dopey smile.

She smiled for the mirror. It looked fake.

Oh, whatever.

Her left hand still clutching her phone, which had the little communicator pinned on a string to the hinge, Kitty trudged down the hall to the elevator and whooshed down to the meeting room. She really hoped the 'important announcement' wasn't 'hey look, it's Jubes.' She wasn't sure she could put on a really happy face right now, and Jubes would require one.

Lord, gimme strength.

But when she got to the room, pushing open the door mechanically, Jubes wasn't there - thank G-d. The only person who was there was Forge, in his wheelchair and munching a donut while doing something technological with a tiny computer/phone/camera/whatchamacallit, she wasn't sure.

"Oh, hey," she said. What was with him and the donuts? "I just got Bobby's message thing. D'you know why he's making us all meet?"

[forge]

Forge looked up, polishing off the Donut in his mouth and swallowing loudly before shrugging. Of all the X-men, he knew very little about this one.

“No clue.” He said, wanting to add 'maybe he grew his first pube', but decided it would be in poor taste, especially given how young Shadowcat herself was. “Probably showing off this new girl? Jubilee?”

He rolled his chair around to replace one of the ones sitting at the long meeting table.

“Whatever it is, I hope it's not too terribly exciting. I've had enough for one week. How are you doing? Haven't really spoken to you... ever, really, but specifically since Baltimore.”

[Shadowcat]

He made the gulpy noise when he swallowed. The edges of Kitty's mouth turned up. It always made her happy when cartoon sound effects showed up in real life; it made them make sense.

“No clue. Probably showing off this new girl? Jubilee?”

Kitty made a small groaning noise in the back of her throat, against all good manners and taste, and dropped down harshly into one of the chairs that surrounded the meeting room's long table. It was just one chair away from being in the perfect center, facing away from the door.

She folded her arms and rested her chin on her forearms, trying very, very hard to be charitable.

"She'll want to catch up with everyone," Kitty said, only the tiniest amount of mood sneaking through her voice - a gargantuan effort. Kitty was terrible at disguising emotion. "I guess a meeting's the best way to do it."

Plus, it'd put her in the official center of attention rather than forcing her to steal everyone else's spotlight at every. Available. Opportunity.

That wasn't kind.

He rolled his chair around to replace one of the ones sitting at the long meeting table.

“Whatever it is, I hope it's not too terribly exciting. I've had enough for one week. How are you doing? Haven't really spoken to you... ever, really, but specifically since Baltimore.”

"I'm decent," Kitty said, smiling, still hunched over on the table. "I'm sure you have more important things to... program. How's your - um, your leg?"

[husk]

Paige stepped into the room, Bobby shortly behind her. She smiled at the two. "Hey," and decided it was likely she was supposed to have a seat. She sat down, looking around a bit. Then she turned that confident smile on them again.

"My name's Paige, by the way."

[Iceman]

Bobby was glad that Paige didn't seem to feel awkward around the people she didn't know, and he looked to Forge and Kitty in turn. "Hey," he greeted them, his eyes stopping on Kitty, noticing she looked...Really tired. Or upset, maybe? It bothered him, but he wasn't going to say anything in front of everyone. He made a note to ask her when they were done. "This is Kitty, and Bandero," he introduced Paige to them with gestures.

"But thats not why I called people here," he said, looking back between Kitty and Forge. "So I was just out playing foop--I mean football--with Hannah...And she started talking about how she can fight. So I asked her what she meant, and she started spouting all this kung fu talk. Something about a Sensei teaching her all these different ways to hurt people."

"And I told her she wasn't supposed to use karate to hurt people, she said her Sensei told her to."

[forge]

Before Paige had entered, Forge was going to reply to Kitty. Never really got the opportunity though, so he made a note to find her later and talk with her. If he was going to be an X-Man, he'd need to familiarize himself with the team. The fact that she was brutally cute had nothing to do with it.

Now Paige... she was just plain hot. She looked like she modeled jeans or something. He did his best not to stare, and was shocked to discover it was pretty easy. He was getting used to the abundant hotness of the mutant world. She must be a new student? He'd have to check the database and see if Candice uploaded any information about her.

Then Bobby started talking, and Forge listened.

Forge snapped his finger in an annoyed fashion, drawing the attention to himself. “Oh shit, my apologies. I should've probably told you guys... Candice got this packet about Hannah, from the place where they were experimenting on her. I'm not sure if I should be telling you this, or even that I should really know it – but it totally slipped my mind because of the... problems... this morning with the system.”

God, should he be telling the X-Men business to all of them? Kitty and Bobby were definitely X-Men, but Paige wasn't. Oh well, he wouldn't let slip too much.

“They were training her to be a soldier – a killer of sorts. She's got a pretty impressive array of training for someone so young, actually, and yeah, hand to hand was her specialty.”

[Shadowcat]

Kitty pushed herself upright as more people came into the room, twisting in her seat to see a pretty blonde girl enter the room, oozing confidence. Great, Kitty thought, resigning herself to a Bad Afternoon. Another one.

Kitty was aware, in some distant part of her brain, that she was not exactly a troll. She was also aware that she didn't squirt charm everywhere she went or exude hotness like Rogue had, or Jubilee, or, now, like Paige. She didn't have the confidence to bump herself anywhere above cute. But it always seemed like everyone else in the entire Mansion did.

Why? Why?

"Hi!" she said brightly, though her smile didn't touch much above her lips. "It's nice to meet you."

She would've held out her hand to shake, but they were seated, and it would be awkward.

"But thats not why I called people here. So I was just out playing foop--I mean football--with Hannah...And she started talking about how she can fight. So I asked her what she meant, and she started spouting all this kung fu talk. Something about a Sensei teaching her all these different ways to hurt people. And I told her she wasn't supposed to use karate to hurt people, she said her Sensei told her to."

A cold fear pooled in the pit of Kitty's stomach and she covered her mouth with one horrified hand.

"I heard some girl talking about that," Kitty said. "In the hall the other day, she was telling someone this little bitty girl flipped out while she was in the living room and got all Crouching Tiger, was what she said."

“Oh shit, my apologies. I should've probably told you guys... Candice got this packet about Hannah, from the place where they were experimenting on her. I'm not sure if I should be telling you this, or even that I should really know it – but it totally slipped my mind because of the... problems... this morning with the system. They were training her to be a soldier – a killer of sorts. She's got a pretty impressive array of training for someone so young, actually, and yeah, hand to hand was her specialty.”

Kitty was silent for a few seconds.

"She's just a little girl," she said. "How did they - when she's so little?"

[husk]

Paige's eyes opened wide. Holy crap.

Listening to the conversation, she swallowed hard, mirroring Kitty's nauseated expression. People did that to mutants? Well- she knew they did that sort of thing to adult mutants, ones who sort of wanted it, but... little kids?

That cute little blonde girl that adored Bobby?

Paige looked at Bobby, her face a little pale. She sat back in her chair and folded her hands between her knees, staying utterly silent.

This one is -way- over my head.

[Iceman]

Bobby was shocked. He'd thought that the kung fu was little more than karate lessons taught by a screwed-up teacher. Maybe that they'd been planning to teach Phase to fight...But the idea that she was halfway to being a killing machine hit Bobby like a sack of bricks.

"...Hannah?" he asked shakily, disbelieving, staring at Forge. 'My Hannah Banana is a killer?' he asked himself, before shoving away the thought. No. She was trained. Didn't mean she'd killed anybody.

...Right?

"So...They trained her. But do you know if she ever, you know, attacked anyone?" His mind screamed about how ridiculous this was. She was seven years old, for goodness' sakes!

[forge]

"Well, her file was pretty extensive, and it didn't note her actually making it to a mission. Her... Miss Jenny... got her out of there before she could really do much more than learn to beat a bunch of ass."

He said, somewhat taken aback by their startled looks. Sure, it was sickening that some assclowns did this to her, but really, it wasn't exactly an original idea. Hadn't they ever seen Firestarter? Or Firefly?

"She's still just a normal girl... only she's never had a real household. She was raised in a corporation who was building a little private army. I can only imagine that Storm is working on a plan now for us to shut them down... if not, when I get my leg built, Bishop and I will go pay them a visit."

[Shadowcat]

"...Hannah?"

That kid sleeps in my room.

The vicious voice from somewhere very, very deep inside her snapped out before Kitty could contain it again. Thankfully, nothing but a flinch showed on her tranquil surface.

"So...They trained her. But do you know if she ever, you know, attacked anyone?"

Oh, good Lord.

"Well, her file was pretty extensive, and it didn't note her actually making it to a mission. Her... Miss Jenny... got her out of there before she could really do much more than learn to beat a bunch of ass."

"What happened to her?" Kitty asked. "The teacher?" Couldn't the X-Men offer her some sort of protection? She had to be a good woman, even if she worked at a place like that, to bring Hannah to them - she had to be.

"She's still just a normal girl... only she's never had a real household. She was raised in a corporation who was building a little private army. I can only imagine that Storm is working on a plan now for us to shut them down... if not, when I get my leg built, Bishop and I will go pay them a visit."

Kitty, personally, had no problems shutting the corporation down. At least until, a few hours later, she started thinking about the children and wives of the men who worked there, and what would happen to tem.

For now, a sudden mental image of Forge sitting on the ground with an Erector Set, building a leg with a face full of intense concentration like a 5-year-old, was the only thing that came to mind.

"I think all of us should go, if anyone goes," Kitty said. "Even after Baltimore, we've still got some - I mean, people trust us. And if we tell the media that they've been hurting kids, won't everyone see that we're doing a good thing?"

[husk]

Paige watched Bobby, unsure what to think. He looked sick himself, and horrified. He really cared about Hannah, it was so sweet.

But it sounded like the others thought they could take care of it. That was good. To think, this was *really* the X-Men. And she was going to be one of them.

Taking Bobby's hand, she squeezes it reassuringly. The X-Men would totally handle this. Yeah!

She smirked. "Then we go down there and get the rest of them out. At least- the X-Men do." There was a tone in her voice that said even if she wasn't, she would be soon enough.

Looking at Bobby again, she nodded, trying to encourage him. We'll get it handled. she thought to him, even if he couldn't hear her. It was on her eyes.

[Iceman]

"I think all of us should go, if anyone goes. Even after Baltimore, we've still got some - I mean, people trust us. And if we tell the media that they've been hurting kids, won't everyone see that we're doing a good thing?"

Bobby nodded slowly, trying to look past the fact that Hannah was not simply the adorable little girl he'd colored with and played football and Barbies with, and think about what they could do about the other kids in the twisted school/lab that Phase had lived at.

"Then we go down there and get the rest of them out. At least- the X-Men do."

When Bobby felt Paige take his hand, he looked to her and gave her a small, worried smile. None of it reached his eyes except the worry. Keeping her hand in his, he sat down beside her, though he sat at the edge of his seat and turned partly to face Paige, and Kitty and Bandero beyond.

"So...Hannie--er, Hannah--may have been taught to fight. But it's not like she's under anyone's control, right? So we just re-teach her, tell her it's not good to fight people, and why. And then, like Kitty said, we investigate this lab place and either expose it or take care of it ourselves. We can bring the kids here, re-teach them, too." He set the hand clasped in Paige's hand down on his thigh, and rested his other hand on the back of her seat as he looked between the three of them.

[forge]

Forge's eyes flicked from Paige to Bobby. Are you shitting me? This chick is with... Bobby? Of course he really liked Bobby, the kid was a very good person, with a heart of gold... but he never really saw him as the babe-magnet type. Hm.

It didn't take that long to get his mind back into business, though. He looked at the three of them.

“Oh yeah, I'm sure Storm's going to get us going in that direction. The main problem with taking it to the authorities is that a lot of it's unprovable. Something tells me that Hannah, and the other kids, are wardened to some people in that company. Sombra – the corp – probably has all legal right to keep them there. So if we raise a stink, it's possible they could take her back while they stretch out the investigation with a bunch of rich white guy red tape.”

He sighed, drumming his fingers along the table.

“I hope that, at least, we can get a few people inside and collect some evidence. We'd need a lot to really bring them down... and yeah, probably go to the media with it. Either that or we bust in and kidnap the kids – but again, it's possible that could bring legal ramifications our way we're not ready to fight.”

[Shadowcat]

"Then we go down there and get the rest of them out. At least- the X-Men do."

We?

Kitty was very soon distracted by Paige taking Bobby's hands. Well, they're friends.

Bobby put it on his thigh.

Oh. No, they're not friends. Kitty was briefly offended on Rogue's behalf, but then remembered not to be dumb.

"So...Hannie--er, Hannah--may have been taught to fight. But it's not like she's under anyone's control, right? So we just re-teach her, tell her it's not good to fight people, and why. And then, like Kitty said, we investigate this lab place and either expose it or take care of it ourselves. We can bring the kids here, re-teach them, too."

Kitty opened her mouth to voice her approval of this plan and was even imagining various X-Men gamboling on the lawn with the kids like puppies before Forge voiced actual logical concerns.

"It's not unprovable," she said. "Don't you have a file full of all the facts? And then - I mean, if Hannah can beat up one of the cops, won't they have to believe us? And wards don't go back to their guardians during investigations; they go to state homes, or foster care, or relatives, or even just people down the street who agree to take them in as long as they submit to background checks. Especially in abuse cases."

She blushed slightly. "Sorry, my dad's a lawyer. I don't think we should kidnap them, but maybe we could talk to a local department or something and get special permission to back them up in a search? And if they're experimenting on the kids, they'd probably be keeping them in bad conditions. Or at least not good conditions. Couldn't Ms. Taylor get herself checked? Ms. Munroe's an immigrant, so... but Forge, you probably could, and your sister. Even Bobby - you're over 18. I don't know what the age limit is."

Ooh, now she'd done it. Why did she have to listen to her dad spout legal crap? Why? She folded her arms tightly, though not aggressively, and pulled her legs up into the chair with her. It was as close to the foetal position as she could get without looking totally ridiculous.

[Nightcrawler]

Kurt was swiftly getting tired of trying to find a witness. He'd talked to various students around the mansion and the one time he wanted one of them to have broken curfew, they had all been good and stayed in their rooms.

See what happens when you actually have students who listen to you? He sighed and focused, bamfing to the hallway of the boy's dorm. He figured the one student who would have been able to see the snoop would be Jones, since he was exempt from curfew. Now he just had to find him.

Passing by Bobby's room, Kurt remembered hearing the announcement that there was supposed to be a meeting, so he decided it was a good idea to poke his head in, if only to see what was going on.

Sticking his head through the doorway, Kurt glanced around. "Guten Tag, mein Freunden. Has anyone seen Jones?"

[Iceman]

Bobby was impressed by Kitty's knowledge of the law and what-not, but what she said troubled him, and he showed it. "No, I don't want Hannah to live in a foster home." He thought of the recent story of the couple who locked their foster child in the closet for two days without food, then reported him missing when he died. They'd have to sedate him to take her away and put her in some orphanage.

When Kurt opened the door, Bobby looked up. He expected that Kurt was there for the meeting, and blinked at him for a moment when he asked about Jones. "I haven't. But if it's not urgent--" Bobby cut himself short. "Well, you probably already know about Hannah, right?" There was the faintest tinge of annoyance to his tone, not directly aimed at Kurt, but at him and Forge and any of the ones who had known about Hannah and hadn't told him. There were times when the fact that he was a few years younger than the others really irked him.

He'd been a Junior X-Man, and he'd accepted the fact then that the X-Men wouldn't tell him everyone or include him in everything. But he'd earned his stripes, and had come into the X-Men only to find that there was a VIP club that he still wasn't a part of.

Most of the time, he felt like they viewed him as being on their level. In battles, he was just as valuable as any of them. But it was when the uniforms were hung up and put away that the X-Men went back into their little groups, and Bobby, Pete, and Kitty were all at the kiddie table again.

What Kitty had said had made Bobby realize that any noise made about this would put Hannah in the spotlight. He hadn't thought about it before, but he supposed that they were already breaking the law by keeping her. But where was she supposed to go? Back to that lab? "Look, I agree that something needs to be done to shut that place down, but there has to be some way we can legally keep Hannah--and maybe even take in the other kids."

[Nightcrawler]

Kurt looked at Bobby with concern as his tone turned colder. Something was bothering him, so Kurt decided to postpone his search for Jones and stepped into the room. "Is something wrong with Hannah? I had heard that we'd received some information, but I haven't had the chance to look at it yet."

Bobby's talk of shutting places down caught him off guard. He'd deduced that Hannah had come from some sort of facility, but that just brought flashes of his own recent stay in Stryker's lab, so he didn't care to think about it. Still, he hadn't considered that there might be other children that needed to be found.

The faces of the people around him as he looked around the room let him know that there was more to the story than he'd heard thus far. "What is wrong with Hannah?"

[forge]

Forge eyed Bobby warily. The kid was defiantely getting annoyed at something, though for the life of him Forge hadn't the faintest idea what.

He had heard that Bobby was closest to the little girl, so that had something to do with it. He nodded to Kurt as he asked his question. Forge frowned - he'd totally forgotten to tell Kurt what the files had in them, he'd shown him the screen, but Kurt wouldn't have had time to read the whole thing. Sometimes Forge forgot that not everyone can process electronic information as instantly as he could.

Candice had mentioned the file to him only because it was part of the investigation, but he could tell she was very reluctant. She apparently had only confided in Storm, and neither woman had brought it up to Kurt or Forge. He could only imagine it was due to the sensitivity of the issue... Storm would likely be calling a meeting today. The file had only just arrived for one, and the hacking had only just happened too. It's not like it had been weeks, barely even 5 hours. Poor Candice must be beside herself.

"Kurt... I showed you the stuff on the computer today, but it didn't even register you hadn't fully been briefed on it. Hannah was raised in a lab by what she calls slientists - we all knew that. What we didn't know was that, A: She was raised / trained to be a perfect killing machine, including various forms of martial arts... and B: Her father is Graydon Creed - infamous anti-mutant activist."

He leveled his eyes at the German, understanding the weight that was probably in the pacifist's heart.

"This Sombra Corp. is raising mutant kids as perfect soldiers."

Again he made mental note to talk to Kitty, she seemed to have pretty valuable legal knowlege. He wondered what other tricks the intangible mutant had up her sleeve. For now though, it was more important to catch Kurt up to speed.