Into the Fray

[Catherine Kelly]

"Holy Hell..."

A momentary thought of if Hell could actually be Holy came and went as it was overwhelmed by the heat that seemed to smack square into her. She had heard that Los Angeles was hot in the Summer, but it wasn't technically Summer just yet and... Jesus Christ who decided to make a city in the middle of the god damn desert anyway?

The elderly woman behind her on the enclosed walkway let out a laugh. "First time here?"

Catherine looked over her shoulder at the wrinkled woman in over-sized aviator sunglasses and a loudly colored blouse. She put on her best smile and nodded. "Yep, how can you tell?"

The woman chuckled again as they both continued up the ramp. "Oh, you just remind me of myself the first time I came here. Only that was in the Winter. Can you believe it can get to be around thirty degrees near Christmas some times?"

Catherine made a bit of a face and cringed. "That's just evil."

They continued their polite exchanges until they made it back inside of the air conditioned air port and wished each other the best before going their separate ways... only to see each other again at customs and then again at baggage claim. She almost considered offering to share a cab drive with the woman but when the happy smiling family pulled up to the excited shouts of "Grandma!", Catherine had to finally wave goodbye to the nice old woman she had just met. From what she'd been told it was going to be the last polite stranger she was probably going to see again.

For now there was just a taxi ride to her hotel, a nap to recover from jet lag, maybe a little seeing of what Los Angeles nightlife had to offer... and then would begin the real reason she was there: trying to get some answers... preferably from others with her condition who would actually care unlike the people who had made her offers at home who probably saw those with the x-gene as nothing more than glorified lab rats.

[Hurucan]

A taxi that looked as if someone had made a half-hearted attempt to decorate it like a bumble bee pulled in to the designated parking bay, coming to a halt with the driver's window next to Catherine. Already wound half-way, the glass slid down entirely, a bald head clad in aviators and a friendly smile leaning out.

"Tourist or resident?" the driver asked, his lightly British accent carrying a friendly warm purr as he spoke. A hand reached up, tugging the sunglasses from his eyes; his gaze gave Catherine and her luggage a quick once-over, quiet and casual scrutiny crossing his face. "I'm guessing the former; if you were local, you'd know that wearing a sweater like that this time of year is suicide."

The latch clicked and the door swung open, the driver straightening almost to his full height; he stopped part way, ducked a little to avoid towering over her and being too intimidating. "Here," he offered, gesturing towards her suitcase. "Let me help you with that."

[Catherine Kelly]

The movies apparently had lied in regards to cab drivers. In both nationality and their ability to speak English fluently. Though a casual look around as other cabs pulled into spaced to help others waiting Catherine got the feeling she may have just gotten the odd man out.

She kept her back pack that contained her wallet and a change of clothing with her and stepped back from the bright red suitcase that contained the majority of her belongings. "Yeah, thanks."

So that was two people now who had found amusement in her decision of wearing a sweater that day... even if it was a light one. Note to self: ditch the outerwear. "Guess I just wasn't expecting it to feel like the middle of Summer just yet. Please tell me this is just some sort of insane heat wave you're having."

[Hurucan]

"Ahh," the driver said, keen senses picking up on a few clues in her accent and intonation. "It sounds like you're from the side of the border where they pronounce the alphabet correctly," he said, even more warmth creeping into his tone.

Popping the trunk, he heaved in Catherine's suitcase with relative ease, and helped her to slide the weighty backpack off her shoulders. It took slightly more effort to dump the weightier bag into the back of the taxi, but before long the luggage was stowed, and the trunk had closed with a satisfying clunk.

The driver turned almost gracefully, grabbing hold of the door handle and swinging it open. "Not a heat wave, I'm afraid," he appologised, gesturing for Catherine to climb inside. "They may call this the City of Angels, but it would appear that the weather is planned by a less benevolent religious entity."

[Catherine Kelly]

"My thoughts exactly." A small chuckle left her as she ducked into the back seat of the cab. Another cliche completely avoided as she noted just how pristine the interior was.

Catherine waited until the driver had returned to his place behind the steering wheel before she allowed herself to settle in the seat. She instantly felt the want to stand and stretch her legs again. The 5ish hours she had just spent cramped in her coach-class seat had been more than enough to have her silently promise herself that she would be walking just about everywhere for the rest of that evening.

"The Westin, in Downtown." She figured she would answer the obvious question before it was asked

[Hurucan]

The driver emphasised an approving nod into the rear view mirror as he contemplated Catherine's choice of hotel. He wasn't much for staying in hotels himself, and so only had a vague familiarity with what went on beyond the facade; but the Westin hotel in LA's financial district certainly looked like an expensive and classy place, all curvy, shiny, and glass-clad on the outside. Apparently that was considered trendy and fashionable nowadays. A part of him lamented the days when buildings were constructed in sensible box shapes.

The engine rumbled into life, and the taxi pulled gracefully from the bay. "Try not to drink too much in the cocktail bar," he offered over his shoulder, easing the cab into the flow of traffic slowly escaping from the airport. "I'm used to the room spinning after I've had a few drinks, but I'll wager it's pretty unsettling when the room is spinning before."

He let silence fall for a few minutes more, concentrating on negotiating his way into the exit convoy. One of the problems with airports was that, since a plane full of passengers arrived at more or less the same time, a plane full of passengers tended to try and leave at more or less the same time as well. When you stacked flight after flight on top of each other, the result was chaos, and slow-paced tedium. Between the heat and seemingly endless waiting in queues, the driver suspected that had Dante been born in 21st Century LA, his Inferno would have read somewhat differently.

He tilted his head back, aiming his voice over his shoulder even though his eyes remained on the road. "So what brings you to LA?" he asked, casually.

[Catherine Kelly]

Her first impression of Los Angeles from the ground was the exact same as it was from the air: utterly unimpressive. Maybe the airport was off and away from the good stuff. Either way there wasn't much to catch her eye and keep her mind from coming up with all sorts of silly answers to the question posed. She wasn't the creative one in her family though, so the lavish tales and cryptic words stayed in check.

"Little bit of tourism, little bit of soul searching... thankfully not to become an actress."

Catherine's gaze moved from the passing view outside of the cab's window to glance into the rear view mirror, to catch the driver's eye for a moment.

"Seems this town can't stay out of the news lately. Figured I'd come down and see what all the fuss was about."

It was a moderately subtle statement, but if he was as quick minded as he was as good as reading people, Catherine surmised that the driver would understand her. And what was the worst that could happen? He could ask her to leave his cab? He certainly didn't seem the type to rape and murder someone. Then again, she half wondered if that's what those ladies in the Whitechapel district thought about the mysterious stranger they only caught a glimpse of in the London fog before... well...

[Hurucan]

"Soul searching?" the driver echoed, mused her words carefully. Silence hung for a moment or two as he pounced on an opportunity to shift lanes, but from the way his eyes flicked to the rear view mirror every now and again, it was clear that Catherine's enigmatic subtext was on the forefront of his mind.

When it finally came, his response was casual enough, but was equally laiden with hidden meaning. "We are doing a pretty good job of attracting the media's attention lately, aren't we?" He barely emphasised the word, but for anyone looking to hear it, the implication that he wasn't merely referring to his city of residence was clear.

He cast a knowing look into the mirror. "It must be something in our genes."

[Catherine Kelly]

"That sounds about right."

We. Our. No way could she luck out that much. Of course, it wasn't exactly like those with the x-gene were rare. And it wasn't like she was about to start unloading questions on the cab driver, but it was nice to know that she wouldn't exactly have to go around with a giant sign on her that said 'I am a Mutant and want to speak to other Mutants.' She rather disliked that term anyway.

[Hurucan]

Silence fell for a few heavy moments, the driver's attention still focused on the road ahead. After what seemed to be a moment of indecision, his hand reached for the clunky-looking device that had been ticking away on LCD their distance travelled in dollars.

"If you are here seeking answers, I may be able to help you." A finger flipped a switch, and the glowing red numerals vanished into nothingness. He turned ever so slightly, casting a look over his shoulder towards his passenger. "My name is Casius, and I am what many would call a Mutant." He offered a hint of a smile. "Let me buy you a drink, and I will tell you all that I can."

[Catherine Kelly]

Normally Catherine would have been more reserved when it came to strange meetings with strange men she had just met. She was all for a drink and a good discussion, especially if it happened to be with a charming young man she had spent weeks wordlessly flirting with at university... but this really was a far cry from that. But then there was the simple fact that she was being offered what she wanted, what she had come to the States for, right on a platter. Sure it could have been dangerous, but all things considered, Catherine still found herself wondering what was the worst that could happen? That alone was worth finding out.

"I suppose I can wait an hour or more to check in."

The words eased off her lips in a poor attempt to hold in the hunger for knowledge. She didn't want to seem desperate after all.

"I really do need to find what's good for coffee or tea around here that isn't affiliated with some silly green mermaid from Seattle, anyway."

[Hurucan]

A deep, rumbling chuckle escaped from Casius' throat. "Good luck finding a decent cup of tea anywhere in this city," he joked, the taxi slowing to make a right turn at the next intersection. "However, we aren't too far from a little diner that serves a passable coffee. No good if you're a connoisseur, but if you consider flavour to be secondary to caffeine content, it should fit the bill."

He glanced briefly at Catherine in the rear view mirror. "I'm also quite partial to their 'curly fries', and their pancakes," he continued absently, navigating their way into smaller and less traffic-heavy streets. "Their bacon is a poor immitation of what we're used to back in Europe, unfortunately. The Americans seem far too fond of frying theirs into oblivion."

Catherine seemed content to let him talk; Casius supposed that having just discovered that by some sheer fluke she'd stumbled into exactly the sort of person she was looking for must have been a lot to process. However, such silences were the times in which anxiety was allowed to cultivate; and Casius was rather intent on making her feel at ease.

"So, why Los Angeles?" he asked, confronting Catherine with a direct question. "Mutants have been in the newspapers in New York as well; at least there, you wouldn't have the threat of mutant registration looming."

[Catherine Kelly]

Catherine had been quite happy to simply relax, even if it was just more sitting after the flight, at least here there was an interesting individual to listen to rather than the constant drone of airplane engines. The thought of her first experience in Los Angeles being an entertaining cab ride followed by lunch at a quaint diner was endlessly amusing as well.

When posed with the question she looked back to the rear view mirror and let a soft "hmm?" leave her before her shoulders shrugged lazily.

"New York just seems so... big. Sure Los Angeles is huge in its own right but I dunno, maybe it's just the lack of tons of huge buildings closing in around you...." Her voice trailed off and she let out a slight laugh. "Or maybe it's just the possibility of seeing some famous people as screwed up as we are."

[Hurucan]

"I'm afraid I don't pay too much attention to celebrities," Casius admitted, easing off the gas as the taxi fell into convoy behind a slower-moving van ahead. "I'm a couple of generations too old for all these pop musicians and movie stars, who seem to spend more time half-naked and plastered across billboards than they do actually performing the craft they proclaim to be part of."

He offered her a smile in the mirror. "But then, I'm just a grumpy old man who is out of touch with it all. For all I know, you could be -" He gestured vaguely with one hand, searching his mind for a famous name. "- Julia Roberts. She is still famous, yes?"

As his eyes fell away from the reflection, his smile faded: his gaze settled upon the sight of the van ahead slowing to a stop. He echoed, and watched as the brake lights turned dark, the van's engine stuttering to silence. The taxi came to a halt, a grim look sweeping across the driver's face as he watched a door swing open on the vehicle ahead.

He glanced over his shoulder, fixing Catherine with a steely gaze. "Stay in the car," he instructed, no room for misinterpretation in his words; and then in an instant he vanished, a cloud of crackling static left momentarily in his wake.

[Catherine Kelly]

Catherine wasn't sure what to be more surprised by... the unexpected stoppage of the taxi or the sudden vanishing of it's driver.

He hadn't even given her a moment to protest, the "What?" she had been in the middle of asking was left unfinished on her tongue, but her expression completed the question in all possible ways. Shame he wasn't there to see it.

The shock was short lived though, it was all so instantaneous. One moment she was utterly confused, and the next her skin was tingling with sensation from the remnants of electricity in the air. A hand drifted to her chest, rubbing where paddles had literally zapped the life back into her only weeks before.

"Never a dull moment..." This time the words actually managed to make themselves whole.

[Hurucan]

A heavy silence followed; one of those silences where time itself seemed to struggle through the viscous soundlessness. The alley was empty, and all was still save for a few discarted fragments of newspaper and trash, ruffled by a half-hearted breeze.

Suddenly that all changed; out of nowhere came another explosion of static, and from it tumbled a figure clad entirely in black. Casius followed, fingers crackling with electricity as they wrapped around the figures throat, face contorted into a snarl.

The dark figure fought back, a mighty kick hurling Casius several yards across the alley, on a collision course with a solid wall. All that made contact with the brickwork was a splash of electric however; once again the driver vanished.

The black-clad figure rose to his feet, advancing a few paces forward from the taxi, senses keen. A hand reached over his shoulder, and drew a gleaming katana from the sheath on his back. Four paces. Five paces. He halted. Turned. Though his eyes were hidden, it was clear that his gaze had settled upon the taxi's lone passenger.

Five paces away became four. Then three. Then two.

Lightning exploded and Casius appeared, an arms reach behind the figure. It barely had time to react; a hand placed firmly on the figure's shoulder and a flash of static later, and the would-be ninja crumpled to the ground.

Casius let his hand fall to his side, panting. But there was no time to waste. At a brisk walk he sped to the taxi, tearing open the passenger door. "He's dead, not stunned," he spoke, somehow urgent and yet reassuring. "But he won't stay that way for long. We have to get out of here, quickly."

[Catherine Kelly]

"But what about..." it's just stuff... You can get more.

Catherine managed to mumble a quick "never mind" as her mind put a halt to the objection her mouth had started. It wasn't that she was ignoring the fact someone had seemingly just attempted to hijack the taxi with a sword... Or worse... It was more that she had no idea how to even begin to process that information.

Things in Los Angeles were definitely more interesting than she had planned for. But why her? Why now?

She found herself standing outside of the taxi before she realized she had ever contemplated moving. It was more than just a little eerie... The little blips in time with action that came from adrenaline coursing through you was not something Catherine was used to... Nor did she want to get all that familiar with it.

Her focus went to her rescuer, "I assume you have some place safe in mind?"

[Hurucan]

Casius didn't say a word. Gently but firmly, his fingers gripped her by the elbow, guiding her at a brisk pace around the nearest sidestreet corner. He didn't make eye contact; his gaze was too busy protectively sweeping every shadow, peeled for even the faintest glimpse of anything remotely dangerous. The coast was clear, for now.

Coming to a halt above a covered manhole, he turned to face Catherine directly, placing a hand on each of her shoulders. "Take a deep breath," he instructed, his eyes making contact with hers.

An instant later, the world around them had exploded in lightning, resolving a mere instant later into surroundings quite different, the sky and the buildings replaced with the dank and curving brickwork of a sewer tunnel.

[Catherine Kelly]

At first it was like sensory overload, if she didn't know better Catherine would have said for the briefest of moments that she had become aware of everything. But before she could get a grasp on it, it faded and she forced herself to take a step back from Casius.

It wasn't all bad though, she felt rejuvenated, like the long plane ride had never happened. The only real problem was that she wanted more. And all I have to do is reach out and take it...

Catherine took a deep breath and closed her eyes, reining in the strange hungry sensation that had almost taken over her senses. She let out a slow breath as she looked around. "Not exactly the first thing that would come to mind..."

"Don't suppose you know what's going on? Who the hell was that guy?"

[Hurucan]

Casius offered her a faint whisp of a smile as he glanced around the tunnel, searching out his bearings. "You're welcome," he muttered offhand, his hands coming to rest on his hips, tucking his jacket out behind him.

He sighed, turning towards her in mini-steps, before he let his hands fall away. "I'm afraid I didn't have the opportunity to ask for his name," he quipped, his tone returning to the moderate and reassuring notes that had graced his voice in the taxi. "But if the rumours are to be believed, he refers to himself as Orcus."

He frowned for a moment, a thoughtful rub of his chin transforming into a hand hooked around the back of his neck. "He seems to target visitors with -" He shot her a meaningful look. "- a certain set of genetic traits; taking advantage of their disorientation and their unfamiliarity with the city." He trailed off, idly. "I'm not even sure if he's one of us."

He fixed Catherine with his full gaze; intense, but somehow reassuring. "I have bought us a reprieve, but it will not last long. We will have to move quickly, but -"

He bowed his head slightly. "It would be most helpful if I knew what you were capable of."

[Catherine Kelly]

"Funny how the simple questions are usually the hardest to answer." Her voice trailed off, but not entirely. It wasn't that Catherine had rehearsed the answer, but the question had always been one that she figured she would have to answer some day... now if only she knew the complete version herself.

"What I do know is that I was supposed to die, and a rather strong jolt of electricity courtesy of my local hospital suddenly set me right. First ever case of acute lymphocytic leukemia being suddenly cured overnight by a set of defibrillation paddles. Experimented once I was given the green light to go home... cut my hand and followed it up by sticking a hairpin into a light socket. Can't say that one actually got old after a few tries."

She paused and shrugged her shoulders. "No idea how much damage I could take and how much juice I would need to fix it, haven't really tried anything crazy like breaking a ton of bones or cutting off a limb. Can't shoot lightning from my fingertips, though. Or do..." Catherine waved a hand in his direction, "anything like that. I do feel really weird when I'm around a crowd of people though. It's like I can feel the energy within them all, each little pulse and surge that tells their bodies to work right. It makes going to the club pretty intense."

[Hurucan]

Hurucan fought hard to maintain the illusion that he was a simple taxi driver with absolutely no awareness whatsoever of what was going on. It was difficult though, given the curl of sinister happiness that her comments had sparked inside him.

Much of what Catherine had told him, he already knew. One did not simply recover from such a devastating illness and expect no one to notice; and when you had access to the resources of the Brotherhood, it made it somewhat easier to notice such things.

Not that many of his fellow mutants were quite so observant however: they were so focused on their own concerns and their local cells that they did not always see the opportunities that presented themselves outside their precious little dominions. Hurucan on the other hand was a man of broader vision; he could not and would not allow such a valuable opportunity to be neglected.

His efforts succeeded, and as Casius he offered a mix of surprise, sympathy, and admiration. "You have a remarkable gift," he said softly, gazing at her again with his intense-but-reassuring eyes. "So sad that you had to discover it under such terrible circumstances."

His eyes fell away, and he tugged his brow into what looked like a mix of sorrow and shame. "Had I known about your gift, I -" He trailed off, his words chosen with meticulous care. "I would have not been so rash in displaying my own abilities. I hope I did not cause you any discomfort."

[Catherine Kelly]

"Not at all, no need to apologize. I've always considered myself pretty open minded..." Catherine let her voice trail off again as she was forced to the reality of everything that had just happened. She hadn't even flinched when Casius had displayed his abilities while saving her life, and even now she just couldn't force herself to feel awed by it all. It wasn't that she had overwhelming experience among those with the x-gene, quite the opposite was true, but after everything she had experienced personally... Well, she had come to a point in her life when she was ready to accept just about anything was possible.

"I'm the one who should be apologizing, really. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have had to act as you did. I keep hearing about people that are afraid of what they've been given, scared to see the limits... I guess all I can really hope for is that my being here didn't cause you to have to do something you didn't wish to..." She paused as something else quickly sprung to mind. "Nevermind the fact that you've lost your cab for the moment! Aren't you going to get in some sort of trouble for that? You sure we shouldn't go back?"

Catherine wasn't sure what to make of what she was saying... Part of her truly felt bad for inconveniencing the man, and yet there's was another that seemed, well, almost amused by it all. Her day was turning out to be far more exciting than she had first planned for, after all.

[Hurucan]

Hurucan forced himself to smile. The ease with which she had accepted everything that had transpired was extremely promising; but the woman herself seemed far too innocent and likeable; "nice", even. He almost shuddered at the thought, but managed to stop himself. No doubt he would have to maintain this detestable facade for quite some time before he allowed himself to begin showing her his true colours.

"Under the circumstances," he said, insisting upon his tone that it be gently reassuring, "I think the material loss of one taxi can be forgiven. Besides -" He offered a knowing shrug. "It is not as if travelling back to retrieve it will be a slow and arduous trip for me."

He adjusted his expression into a frown, acting as if he was considering options that hadn't already been meticulously planned. "If he knew to follow you from the airport, your hotel may have been -" He hesitated, searching for a description that wasn't quite so sinister. "- compromised."

He scrubbed at his chin. "Do you know anyone in the city? Anyone you can stay with?"

[Catherine Kelly]

She shook her head slightly and looked around, as if suddenly aware they hadn't really gone anywhere. And well, if some crazed mutant assassin had been good enough to find out who she was and when she was arriving and track the taxi she had taken, there was just no telling how fast he was closing in on the two of them.

"No. The hotel really was my only plan, to be honest. I was just planning on playing everything else by ear."

[Hurucan]

Hurucan fought off a frown, slightly surprised at her answer. Unless his sources were very much mistaken, her answer should have been yes: unless things were more complicated than they had seemed at face value. Rather than frustration at the potential derailment of his schemes however, he instead felt only intregue at the new mystery that had been presented before it.

He allowed himself to appear ponderous for a moment longer, before he spoke again.

"That settles it, then."

He gave her a look that he hoped would inspire as much confidence as was humanly possible; or rather, as was mutantly possible for one without beneficial psychic abilities. "I have somewhere that you can say; somewhere you will be safe. I can take you there -"

He offered his hand to her. "- I just need you to trust me, again."

[Catherine Kelly]

For the first time since she had stepped out into the hot California weather, doubt threatened to creep into Catherine's mind. The chain of events that had lead to this moment seemed far too perfectly strung together to be nothing but strange coincidence.

But it hadn't been, to hear Casius tell of it. She had been targeted. And while some part of her mind was busy formulating silly in depth conspiracy theories that linked her hero and her attacker together... a far more simple answer, one that made far more sense struck a chord. If the man attacking her had known of her arrival, surely Casius, or whoever he was working with or for, knew as well. And whereas one group represented by a masked man of destruction was set on killing her... this other, represented by the kind man in the taxi, was there to save her. The girl cured from cancer and pulled from the brink of death by electricity, rescued by a man who could control it. No, this was no chance meeting, no accident waiting to happen.

Catherine smiled and looked down at the hand offered to her. Fine, let Casius have his little secrets for now. She'd pull the real answer out of him later and then she would get to have that triumphant moment of I knew it all along to use on him.

"Well," She tried to look like she was honestly wracking her brain with making her decision for a moment before the smile grew and she shrugged her shoulder "it doesn't seem like I have much of a choice, now do I?"

Catherine gently placed her hand in his. "Besides, trusting you has already saved my life. In some way, I suppose I'm in debt to you for that. Trusting you again is the least I can do."

[Hurucan]

Hurucan smiled, and offered a gracious bow of his head. He didn't force any words; he didn't need to. His expression was all the thanks he needed: for Hurucan was just as pleased to be trusted as the fictitious Casius would have been.

"You may want to take a deep breath," he suggested, the only warning he gave before his powers burst into life, and the sewer exploded around them. In the momentary void between one location and the next he saw, heard, and felt nothing; but as he became whole again he relished in the deliciously bitter taste of ozone that brushed against his senses.

As they 'landed' - he had never managed to find a more appropriate description than that - he released Catherine's hand, not taking any liberties by holding onto her hand for longer than was absolutely necessary. He took a step away, boots creaking against the wooden floor of the loft he'd brought her to. It was simple and spartan, and bore all the hallmarks of a place that was barely - or perhaps rarely - lived in, save for the scattering of newspaper articles and clippings that covered the coffee table, and much of the worn but comfortable blue sofa that sat beside it.

"Give yourself a moment," he offered, his voice as soft and reassuring as he could make it. "The further we travel, the more surprised your body is to find itself in a new location. Keep breathing, and keep blinking; the nausea will fade quickly."

He paused for a moment as he moved through the moderately-sized apartment, entering what would have been the kitchen if the space had possessed anything in the way of walls. "I also find that tea helps considerably," he offered. A frown crossed his features. "Though perhaps you would prefer coffee?"

[Catherine Kelly]

"I actually..." She found herself breathless again, but probably not quite in the way that Casius expected. "don't feel...sick...well, not really."

Catherine took a deep breath and steadied herself, trying to stop the soft fluttering of her heart and the tingling that spread through her fingertips. Another breath and she managed to bring some calm back to her body, though the smile that had taken over her features refused to leave.

"It's more like that feeling you have after a good run..." She pulled herself away from the strange reverie and finally looked around the loft and found herself aware of the question that had been asked. "Oh! Tea, please. I like a good cup of coffee in the morning to get things started but I'm not nearly addicted to it like my sister was."

And just like that she was snapped fully out of whatever euphoria from the travel that she had been left with. Catherine would be lying if she said she hadn't been thinking of her sister since she had left the hospital, but to suddenly mention her... it brought a pang that suddenly made the soothing comforts of tea all the more appealing.

[Hurucan]

"I was never fortunate enough to have a sister," Casius commented off-hand, as he set the kettle to work. There was a hint of bittersweet regret in his voice as he spoke; something genuine, not faked. "Two brothers; no sister."

He fell silent for a few moments, dutifully extracting two cups, two saucers, a tea pot, and a battered tin of loose leaves. The tea bag had been a miraculous invention; but what it added in convenience it robbed in flavour. Casius had been raised in the tradition of proper tea brewing, and it would not do to subject a guest to anything less than his finest.

The kettle uttered a mechanical clunk as the thermostat tripped off the power; the rumbling bubbles of boiling water quickly subsided, and Hurucan instantly hefted it from it's housing, pouring the contents into the chipped china pot. Scoops of tea leaves followed, and then everything was arrayed carefully onto a use-worn steel tray before being carried to the coffee table. He contemplated clearing space amongst the clippings and cuttings but decided against it, simply setting it down atop his research.

He hesitated a moment, a question forming in his mind about sugar; but instantly it was replaced by another more pressing one. He arranged his face into an expression of embarassment. "Here I was about to offer you sugar," he apologised, "And I haven't even asked for your name."

[Catherine Kelly]

Her eyes widened and her mouth formed a small "oh" before a small laugh escaped. Some part of her was embarrassed that she actually hadn't mentioned it until now... though she was sure she was holding it back for a reason, even if she couldn't recall exactly why at the moment.

"Catherine..." She let the 'but you already knew that' go unsaid. After all, that was still a theory in process.

"And, no need for the sugar. Not real big on it, to be honest." Her gaze had begun to wander to all the clippings strewn away, having been drawn there by watching the pot of tea. She half wondered if that was done purposely or not.

"So... brothers, huh? They here, in the States, with you or still back home?" Anything to deflect the attention off herself and her own sibling, even if it was only after asking the question that she realized it probably would have the exact opposite effect.

[Hurucan]

She couldn't have known how difficult a question that was to answer; not difficult in that the answer was hard to remember, but in the sense that the words clamped around his chest like a fist. The usually unflappable Hurucan hesitated, and despite his best efforts he couldn't stop a sweep of remorse from rushing across his face.

"I'm not sure," he replied; a half-truth, at least. He busied himself with the over-careful positioning of teacups and saucers, spending a little too much time tweaking the angle of the handles so they pointed exactly where he wanted them to. "I haven't spoken to one of them for a very long time. And the other -"

He trailed off. That was the other kind of difficult; both, even.

"Peter died," he said; and while his tone was filled with finality, his mind added an addendum.

From a certain point of view.

[Catherine Kelly]

"I'm so sorry." It was the default, obvious response that came far too quickly. For a brief instant Catherine was angry at herself for saying it, angry at having given in to society's programming. The feeling was fleeting, too ridiculous to actually keep up with. There were a lot more realistic things to be mad about... like the injustices that might have been to blame for Casius' situation. And her own.

She realized that the rest of them could quite possibly spend the rest of the afternoon being sullen about siblings lost and misplaced. And given the fact her mind was still somewhat reeling from the attack earlier, she wouldn't hardly blame herself for doing it. But letting another fall into that same pit when she might have been capable of preventing it? Hardly.

Time for a change in subject, maybe one that would lead to her finding out just how far the events of today had been planned...and how those plans had been forced to change. Now to just make it not seem so obvious... and to hopefully not have the plan backfire on her.

Taking a few steps towards the coffee table she again began eying the news clippings. "So, is this an attempt to find your other brother or....?"

[Hurucan]

Hurucan forced himself to flinch, as if the intentionally arrayed assortment of references and news stories wasn't something he'd intended for her to see. He busied himself pouring their tea into cups, and sat for a long moment staring at the vapour that whisped upwards from the boiling beverage.

"This is to find my other Brothers," he said at last; half agreement, half contradition. He bowed his head slightly in concession. "And other Sisters, of course."

His eyes met hers. They didn't burn with the kind of intense patriotism that one would expect to see in the eyes of a Brotherhood fanatic; rather, they were sad eyes, but determined just the same. "I have lost brothers, a wife, a son -" The bitterness that choked his words at that point wasn't fake; couldn't have been fake. "But I am not alone, because there is a world of mutants out there, many of whom are just as lost and alone as I once was."

A pause followed; his attention returned to the table. "Every one of these stories and photographs relates to someone in Los Angeles who I believe is a mutant. Some of them are just ordinary people living their lives; others have stepped up, using their abilities for the betterment of all." He trailed off, allowing an ominous silence to fall. "Some of them are even dangerous, though far fewer than the tabloids and authorities claim."

"I may have failed as a husband; I may have failed as a father." A hand rubbed at his jaw, as bald and hairless as his palid scalp. "But I want to be a Brother to them; help them, support them, if I can."

"After all..." He offered her a bitter smile. "It does not seem that anybody else is willing to help people like us."

[Catherine Kelly]

Jackpot. Now Catherine found herself looking around for an article involving the girl cured miraculously by electricity. It had to be there, somewhere... Didn't it? Whether she saw it or not, she was certain it was there. Everything fit together all too well.

"So... People like me, then." She paused, casting a knowing smile his way. "I mean, now that I'm here of course. And obviously have need of your help."

A small laugh left her again at thee thought of it all. "This really isn't turning out how I expected. I figured I'd find some sort of underground club filed with our kind who would be able to take me to..." To where exactly? Their leader? A safe house? Clearly she hadn't thought that far ahead.

"I'm... Glad I met you, Casius." It was the truth. Somehow this seemed like it would work out far better than any half-conceived plan she had.

Catherine looked back to the articles, no longer searching for the familiar but now suddenly aware of just how many there were. It was comforting in a way... Terrifying and sad in another.

[Hurucan]

A warm smile curled Hurucan's features. While he could clearly see the flashes of intelligence and greater understanding in her eyes, her reactions - and her lack of fright or flight - and her ready acceptance was more than he could have hoped for.

There were underground clubs aplenty in Los Angeles; and if left to her own devices, Catherine might well have found them. Alternatively, she might have stumbled into danger, fallen foul of one of the many mutant-phobic gangs roaming Los Angeles' streets, or blundered into the custody of the Mutant Crimes Unit. Even if she had found her way into the presence of hospitable mutants, they would invariably have led her to the Brotherhood. While Hurucan had no issue whatsoever with her joining The Cause eventually, there were certain actions that she was required for which were of much more immediate precedence.

He forced a frown onto his features, making himself look decidedly uncomfortable, and unhappy with himself. He made his gaze reluctant to meet hers. "I am afraid that I have not been entirely honest with you, Catherine."

Hesitation was applied to his voice, mixed with furtive glances in different directions; steadfastly avoiding looking at her. His fingers laced together in front of him, wrists drumming against his legs. "My rescuing you was no accident. I heard about your gift thanks to the overzealous reporting of your local media; and when I discovered you were travelling to Los Angeles, I knew that you would be a prime target for a man like Orcus."

Though his admission had already been made, he still shifted with falsified discomfort, one further revelation still to come. "And also, I need the kind of help that only you can provide."

[Catherine Kelly]

Her I was so damn right! moment was slightly ruined by the fact that he just seemed so genuine about the entire thing. It was hard to pull a dramatic moment of smugness when it sounded an awful lot like someone was asking for your help.

Catherine wasn't going to let him get away with the revelation entirely free though. She let a small smile form, that was really harder to keep small than make in the first pace. "I had a feeling..."

With that out of her system, now she could go ahead and move on to what had newly grabbed her interest. "So what do you need me to help with?"

[Hurucan]

Hurucan withdrew something from within the clutter of papers; his face was grave, but otherwise unreadable. Unlike most of what covered the desk, this was a photograph: black and white, clearly home-developed, and bearing all the hallmarks of an image taken covertly while conducting surveillance.

It showed three people and a car; something black and old, though the framing of the image didn't provide enough clues of what model it might be. The background hinted at the same airport that Catherine had left only minutes before; and at first glance, nothing about the picture looked even remotely remarkable. The man - presumably the eldest from the look of him, but only by virtue of the youthful looks of the two women, not be cause he looked particularly old himself - was fairly ordinary; handsome perhaps if that was your inclination, but not strikingly memorable. One of the young women had enough features in common that there was perhaps common blood between her and the man; perhaps a cousin; perhaps even a sibling; but too old to be a daughter at any rate.

The second woman however, seated behind the wheel partially obscured by the windshield of the car, boasted a completely different appearence. Instead of the dark hair and slender features of her passengers, she was blonde, and sported much softer curves to her face.

Hurucan's eyes turned to his guest. "Your sister is in trouble, Catherine," he explained; his voice was soft, but ominous. "That man she is with, Thomas Harriman -" He produced another photograph; a hooded figure, armed, his features largely obscured. "- is a dangerous man. A vigilante, or so he claims; but my sources in the LAPD suggest that his ambitions are not as noble as he claims."

He forced a frown across his features; a troubled, conflicted frown. "He is up to something; and not just his nocturnal activities. He works for an enterprise called Treadstone, and they are planning something; something to do with mutants."

The frustration that crept into Hurucan's voice was genuine; Treadstone's security measures were formidable, and had thus far thwarted his attempts to uncover their secrets.

"Your sister is involved in this somehow, Catherine. She is in danger; I do not believe that she realises just how much."

A pleading look graced his deep, expressive eyes.

"Help me to save her, Catherine. Please."

[Catherine Kelly]

"Allie?"

It didn't seem possible. Not that her sister had wound up in California... but that she was associating with someone like Casius described. Alice was always a good judge of character, with a level head on her shoulders... sure she was a wanderer, but this just seemed wrong.

Catherine studied the photo of the trio in the car, her brows knitting together as she dared it to give her some sort of lead as to how her sister got herself wrapped up in his. A glance at the other photo of the costumed man... if Alice had been more like her she would have said it was the man himself. Catherine always dreamed of running away with a bad boy some day but Alice... Alice didn't get close to people. Not after everything that had happened.

"Do you think they are going to use her mutation?" The thought was terrifying.

[Hurucan]

"Tom Harriman plans to use the abilities of every mutant he can get his hands on."

It was amazing how pliable the truth was when you applied an ominous enough tone. Everything was relative; and while Tom Harriman's quest to use mutant science for the betterment of society might seem like a noble goal, to Hurucan it was an affront. Those with gifts were special; they posessed their abilities for a reason, and deserved to be respected - or, in lieu of that, feared - by those who did not. Tom Harriman would take what made them special, and would pervert it into an abomination: a technological crutch to prop up the mundanes that choked society's journey towards progress.

"It is not enough to simply rescue her. With my abilities I could easily transport her away... but with his resources, he would hunt her, and find her. She won't be safe until we bring him - until we bring his whole network - crashing down."

Hurucan fixed her with a mix of pleading and righteous determination. "I need your help, Catherine. Alice needs your help."

He held out a hand towards her. "Can I count on you?"

[Catherine Kelly]

He was playing the sister card a bit too much for her liking. Of course Catherine would do anything for her little sister, somewhat estranged or not. But it wasn't about her, and all the unsaid things that Casius was hinting at made that obvious.

It wasn't just about Alice, it was about every mutant that this Harriman guy was going after. Everyone like her sister, like her, like the man in front of her. The entire mutant community, all of her brothers and sisters as Casius had put it.

Catherine looked over the articles again, not so much focusing on the headlines but on the various photos and the faces in them. She remembered being terrified when her powers came to life, scared of the concept of being turned into some sort of lab rat. It seemed like a ridiculous and outlandish thing to believe in only moments ago, but now there were others at threat of that very real and present fate, it seemed.

She looked back from the photos to Casius and nodded her head just slightly.

"Pour the tea, and tell me what you need me to do."