Celeste nodded at Paige, who was packing up her stuff. "Here," she handed the younger girl a sweater. "Look at it this way, you get to help the X-Men out and earn college credit." Paige was going to go to Pine Valley University as a freshman.

Paige stuffed the shirt in her box. "Don't pretend that this is anything but an attempt to get me away from Ms. Frost." They both knew it was. Sam was alarmed by the changes in Paige's personality and disturbed by the fact Emma and Celeste had kept quiet a potential danger to the school's safety. So, using the excuses that Paige's therapist was based in Pine Valley and that they needed someone Paige's age, he had pulled her out of Generation-X to join the surveillance operation they had going on.

Celeste didn't bother to lie. "It is." Emma was taking her daughter, Cordelia, shopping which meant that Sam and Emma would miss each other. "But he means well."

Paige taped up the box and shook her head. Her brother, in his attempt to protect her, was taking her away from her friends. "I know that, but I don't like what he's doing." Her friends were here, Ms. Frost was teaching her the business world, and Ange was here. There was nothing in Pine Valley that could match what she had here.

Celeste sat on the bed and looked at her friend. Sam could be so bullheaded at times, and his grudge against Emma was blocking him from seeing that Paige was happier here. Yes, Paige was having problems, a whole host of them, but nothing that couldn't be solved by therapy in Snow Valley. But Sam didn't trust Celeste enough to take her advice. "Then, be good, work hard in therapy with Dr. Tolan, and plan to return here."

Sam couldn't keep his sister forever. Once they found out who was behind the increase in hate crimes in Pine Valley, he had no excuse for making Paige stay with him. Then, it became a family matter and Emma was betting that the fact Mrs. Guthrie had allowed Paige to come here in the first place plus the money Frost Enterprises sent the family would mean that Paige would come back.

Paige smiled at the sound advice. "I will." She hugged her friend. "Thanks." Celeste had been a saint with her, getting her to go to therapy, helping her hide the fact from her teammates, and now helping her adjust to the move. It was no wonder she was Madre to the team.

"One last thing," Celeste started as she got up. "Isabella and Abraham and his mother Violet were from Pine Valley before they came here." The school nurse, groundskeeper, and housekeeper were members of the witness protection program, so Paige knew it was important to keep the fact they were in Snow Valley a secret. "Isabella doesn't know it, but I picked her because her younger brother was a friend of mine back in Texas, but he's in Pine Valley. Please don't mention them or me to him, if you happen to met him."

"Not a word," Paige promised as she taped the box. "I'm done."

"I'll get Ange and Jono to move your stuff downstairs. Then, I get to tell Jubilee she's taking art lessons from Stuart Chandler." Her idol in the art world, which would make Jubilee's day. Jubilee was very talented in art, and it helped her to do something she was good at. "And when my ribs recover from that hug, Matt's going to help me bring Ariel home from the hospital." Ariel had had a bad case of mono. "Give my best to your brother."

Paige sighed. It was clear that all was not forgiven when it came to Celeste and Sam and the dispute over the Hellfire Club's attempt to take over the school. Sam felt that she owed him at least an apology and Celeste didn't see what for. They were friends because of Rahne. But that friendship depended on them not speaking to each other for more than five minutes at a time.

"Please stay for a minute," Paige begged. "I just need to have someone around."

Celeste shook her head, "If I stay, Sam and I will talk. If we talk, we'll get in a fight about him taking you out of school, because I need to blow up at someone. And that will upset Rahne. And Rahne doesn't need to be upset, she's worried enough about your brother. So I'd thought I'd box with Tony tonight instead." Paige hugged her friend again, happy to know that she was on her side. "Ange will be glad to help you." More than glad, actually. Celeste was trying to push those two together.

"Give my best to Ariel." She was sorry that she was going to miss her friend's homecoming.

Celeste nodded. "Have fun."

***

Paige climbed into the PAC-RAT and turned her back to her brother, anger radiating off her in waves. Sam and Ange loaded up the last of her boxes and shrugged. "Guess that's it," Sam started.

Angelo remembered one last detail, "Celeste left you a note in the foyer. It was a job lead." Sam smiled gratefully and went to get the letter.

Paige turned to her friend and started to complain. "He's wrong, you know. Ms Frost is not a bad influence on me." She didn't want to leave her friends.

Angelo looked at her and smiled. He was on Sam's side mostly, big brothers tended to side together. He had a large family back in LA. While Ms. Frost's teaching had made Paige a better leader, he couldn't help but notice how sad Paige had been since the day Cordelia came to stay at the school. And even before that, how manipulative she had become. But the part of him that had feelings for her didn't want her to go. "Chica, just don't act like her and he'll let you come back."

Paige nodded. Emma Frost prided herself on teaching her students how to act with class. It was possible to be cold toward without pouting like a child. "Come see me sometime if I don't come back?"

Angelo nodded. A gang war couldn't keep him away. "Promise."

***

Kitty Pryde looked around the large suite at the Valley Inn. Courtland Electronics must want her skills bad to offer to let her stay in a suite like this. "Wow!"

Her boyfriend, Pete Wisdom, was thinking the same thing as he dropped her suitcases. How in the world could she pack so heavy? "They give you this for agreeing to stay three months. Wonder if they'd open up a mansion for six?"

Kitty smiled at him. "It has everything we need. Stocked bar. Big bed. Bathtub built for two. Expense account." They were going to help the X-Men infiltrate the town, Kitty with her job as Computer Goddess at Courtland Electronics, and Pete doing what he did best- at his own specialty, snooping and sneaking.

"Most of all," he said with a grin, "no Lockheed." He had been the one to point out that a dragon would blow their cover.

"I have one question," Kitty started.

"Do we start with the bed or the bathtub?" Pete quickly found a bottle of champagne and opened it. Kitty took a glass from him.

"Make that two. When's Sam going to find out Emma's coming to town?" She wanted a front row seat for that fight, and she wanted what was left of Emma Frost when Sam got done with her.

Pete smiled. Emmie knew what she was doing. "And here I thought you wanted to know what Rahne was going to do about sleeping arrangements." He filled her glass.

Kitty took a sip from the glass. "She's a big girl, she has her morals. And Sam has his. And they both have Paige to chaperone." She and Pete started to laugh.

***

Sam pulled the van up to the apartment complex and sighed. This was a bad idea. Paige was angry with him, Rahne was embarrassed, he was in a dark mood, and Bobby had been in charge of arranging living spaces. It was a recipe for disaster.

It was a nice neighborhood at least. They were close enough to walk almost anywhere in town. The hospital was a mile and half away, the university two miles. People nodded at them as they pulled up.

Rahne smiled at Sam. "This will work out. We'll set some ground rules." Despite her encouraging tone, Rahne was concerned. It was too soon for her and Sam to be living together, even if it was a three- bedroom apartment. Paige was in the back seat pouting, and she had every right to do so. And to make things worse, Sam seemed to alternate between worrying about what Paige's problem was and the FOH.

"Our first place," he told her as he kissed her on the cheek. She smiled at him. "And it's a nice one at that. Even if ya won't come in muh room and Ah won't come in yers." Rahne nodded her agreement. Their first ground rule was established.

Paige pointed out the moving van, neatly interrupting her brother's moment with Rahne. "At least our stuff is here. I hope I marked my boxes clearly. My color was purple, Rahne's was red, and your's was black, right?"

"Yep," her brother started. "Rahne and Ah need to go sign the lease." Hopefully, Paige would stay in the car and let the two have some time alone.

"I'll go with you," Paige got out of the car. Sam and Rahne exchanged a look. This was not promising.

***

"Sam," Rahne called out, "Do we have any cups?" She was unpacking the kitchen stuff. She was in the kitchen/dining room area by the front door. Sam was in the living room. The three bedrooms opened into that room.

Sam looked up from his box in the living room. "Ah didn't pack 'em. Thought ya did." They had an assortment of stuff, fitting for a young couple starting out.

Rahne shook her head, "A thought ye did." She started a list of stuff to buy. "This means no plates. Do ye have a number tae order pizza with?"

Sam looked around the living room and called to his sister, "Paige?"

Paige was unpacking the stuff for the bathrooms, they each got one for their bedrooms. "What?" her voice echoed.

"What didja do with the phone book?" Sam unwrapped his old baseball trophy.

"Gave it to Bobby to pack. What did you do with the toilet paper?" In her mind, that was more pressing than the phone book. Sam turned to Rahne and laughed.

"Well, Ah haven't found the phone yet anyways." Rahne smiled at him as he went on. "How about we head out to the Cluck-Cluck Chicken Shack for supper?" That was a fast food restaurant in the area.

Rahne started to nod, but was surprised when she opened the next box. "Sam! Look at this!" Sam climbed over several boxes and made his way into the kitchen.

Celeste had given Paige a gift for the new apartment, and Rahne had discovered it. It was a box full of pantry staples such as different kinds of sugars and flours, spices and herbs, jars of spaghetti sauce and soup, and a gift certificate to a local restaurant, Holiday's. On the back of the envelope, she had drawn a crude map showing how to get there. "That was right nice of her," Sam said as he pulled a roll of toilet paper off the top.

Rahne agreed. "She's a good friend." Sam started to get that look of his that he had been getting recently whenever Celeste's name was mentioned. Rahne glared at him.

"Ah'm sorry," he stated. "But Ah just don't trust her as much as Ah used ta."

Rahne had had enough of Sam's grudge against her friend. "Sam, tell me this. Why is it okay for ye to act in Paige's best interest, but it isn't okay for Celeste to act in her sister's best interests?" With pinpoint accuracy, she hit him where he was most sensitive.

It was a technique that worked. Sam nodded. "Ah'm not faultin' her for that, but she was more loyal ta her boss--"

Rahne sighed, remembering that the only time Sam had worked for more than a very short period of time for a wage was when he was expected to be disloyal to his boss. At least she had the experience of earning money, paying taxes and belonging to a union when she was in X-Factor. "That's what a paycheck buys." Sam nodded. "Look, Sam, Celeste has a hard job and is constantly caught in difficult positions. The least we can do is try to be supportive of her."

Sam nodded again, and thought it over. "Ah jus' guess Ah made up muh mind and it's just stuck. But Ah'll work on unstickin' it."

Rahne smiled and took the certificate from him. "Sae do ye want the Chicken Shack, Holidays, or McKay's for supper?" McKay's was an informal, sit down dinner, while Holidays was a little more upscale.

"Holidays it is." Sam decided.

***

"Hi, my name is Laura and I'll be your server tonight." Laura Kirk English smiled at the group in front of her. She was a medium sized girl with long, curly red hair and green eyes. The group felt instantly at ease with her.

The restaurant was a cross between a coffee bar and a casually fancy place. The food was on the expensive side for a family place, but cheap for a date.

"What's good here?" Sam asked as he finished his glass of water. Kevin Sheffield, the other waiter on duty that night, quickly refilled it. Kevin was a tall teenager, handsome in a quiet way. He looked at Sam, as if trying to remember where he had last seen him.

"New in town?" Laura asked with a smile. Sooner or later, everybody came to Holidays.

"Just moved in today," Rahne explained.

It was a light night, so Laura had time to talk. "What brought you here?"

Paige answered first, "I'm starting classes Monday at Pine Valley University."

Kevin smiled, "I'm a student there."

"See," Sam started as he turned to Paige, "And ya thought ya wouldn't met anybody yer own age."

Rahne smiled at the girl, catching Paige's eye roll as Sam tried to make friends for her. "A'm starting soon at the hospital, researchin' a connection between Legacy and AIDS." Then she carefully watched Laura and Kevin to gauge their reactions. To her relief, they didn't bat an eye.

"Interesting," Laura said. Because of the time she had spent living on the streets in New York City, her education level wasn't were she wanted it to be. And when the talk came to scientific matters, she tended to listen and learn. "Hope you do good." She smiled, remembering the discussion about mutants they had had at her other job. "It's nice it's quiet tonight. I'd be beat otherwise."

Sam smiled at Rahne. So far, so good. Paige quickly asked, "Are you going to get some more waitresses?"

Laura laughed. "I hope so. Between my job here and at the youth center, I'm spread too thin. You looking?" Paige nodded. "Wait just a minute, I'll send Hayley over to talk to you."

"That was easy," Sam said. Paige agreed.

Hayley Vaughan was a petite woman with shoulder length hair. Her husband, and co-owner of Holiday's was a handsome, Hispanic man named Mateo Santos. Together, they approached Paige so that their back was to Rahne and Sam.

Hayley offered her hand to the girl and smiled. "How are you?"

"Good. My name is Paige Guthrie, by the way." Sam went to speak, but Rahne squeezed his hand.

"Guthrie," Hayley stopped to think. "Any relation to Sam Guthrie?"

Rahne nodded, giving Sam permission to speak up. "Ah should think so." Hayley turned around and smiled. "Let the dye grow out?" During one point in her life, Hayley had sported the ugliest black hair cut Sam had ever seen.

The older woman laughed. "Sam, Rahne! How are you?" Then she pointed at the two of them. "The two of you?" Rahne nodded. "Great!" At her husband's glance, she explained. "These are friends of mine from high school. Their school and ours would hold joint dances." Then turning to Paige, "Any sister of Sam's is hired."

Paige smiled as Rahne asked, "What happened tae Terrence an' Taylor an' AnLi an' Brian?"

Hayley sat down in the empty seat next to Paige to visit for a moment, while her husband stood beside her. She poured herself a cup of coffee and explained briefly. "AnLi went to Stanford and last I heard was married to Brian again. We don't talk much, but that's what I heard last time I talked to Dixie- another of Brian's ex-wives. I hope it works out for them, this time. He runs a production company and she's studying business. Terrence is a civil rights reporter for the Daily Bugle. Taylor..." her voice dropped on the girl's name.

Mateo finished for her, "Is in Oakhaven." That was a well-know mental hospital. "And if you remember them, guess it's fair to let you know, Janet is sane but doesn't look the same."

Sam explained for his sister benefit. "Janet Green was the crowbar killer." Paige shrugged. In a world where your greatest enemy could become a team member, only younger and with no memories, it was easy to believe that Janet Green could reform.

Pine Valley couldn't be any weirder than the X-Men.