Tad Martin was many, many things, Sam discovered when he researched him for the interview. A former model, former private investigator, former wine mogul, current talk show host, and full time cad were the top five things that caught his attention. The man that was interviewing him was tall, with black hair and blue eyes and an air of roguish charm about him. This man had a lot in common with Gambit.

Tad nodded as he read over Sam's resume. "So why are you leaving your job at Xavier's?" On his resume, Sam had been a personal assistant to Scott Summers.

"Well, suh, Rahne's got her a job here in Pine Valley, and Ah was tired of nevah seein' her so Ah suggested that we move in together." Tad, ever the Casanova, could see doing something like that. A grand, wonderful, romantic gesture that his lady would love.

"So you upchucked your whole life to spend it with your lady love?" Tad nodded his approval. "Like your style, kid."

Sam grinned as he added, "But muh sister is stayin' with us, so it wasn't as romantic as ya might think."

Tad laughed, remembering the troubles his younger brother, Jake Martin, had added to his recent affair with Gloria. "Well, Sam, I can see you are qualified for this job. But you have no interest in a career in television, unlike the thirty or so other people who also applied. Why?"

Sam shrugged, "My mug's too ugly." Tad smiled again. "Ah like bein' a personal assistant, Ah'm a natural big brother. So when Celeste suggested Ah apply, Ah did."

Tad's ears perked up. "Celeste Dubois, as in Emma Frost's right-hand woman?" Celeste had recently done the station a big favor by giving them several explosive stories.

"Yessur," Sam answered, wondering if this was a good or bad sign. "She's a friend of mine."

Tad turned over the sheet and found her name on the list of references, along with Nathan Summers and Roberto DeCosta. "Could you wait just a second?" Quickly, he got up and walked down the hall.

***

In a second, Celeste came walking through the door, one arm hooked around Tad's. Sam watched as she fixed her big blue eyes on him and laughed at something he said. Emma had taught her protegee well when it came to getting a man's attention.

"Hey, Sam!" The smile on Celeste's face was a bit too bright to be natural, but at least it reached her eyes. "Long time, no see," she laughed.

Sam nodded, "Sure has been." They hadn't really talked since their lunch in New York about two months ago.

"Tad just told me you're going to be working here." Celeste winked at the taller man, effectively forcing Tad to hire Sam.

"Anything to make a pretty lady happy," Tad started laying on the charm. "Let me go get the paperwork." He slipped out the door, giving the two friends time to talk.

Celeste went limp, dropping her act of 'blond bimbo without a brain' as Tony called it. "And when he asks me out for drinks, you are coming." She shook her head with that last statement. "Men!" They were too easy to fool.

Sam laughed. "Ah'm glad yer here. Rahne made me realize somethin' the other night." Celeste turned towards her friend. "Ah'm sorry for thinkin' ya owed me an apology for yer actions, Ah mean not tellin' me that the school was in danger. Ya did what was right for Ariel, like Ah do what is right for Paige."

Celeste smiled again. Sam's words meant more to her than he could know. The true nature of her job with Emma, the fact she ran Emma's mutant underground, made her doubt the wisdom of having many friends. When she had to disappear, they'd only worry about her. And there was the inherent risk of betraying people like Sam. But, there was something great about knowing people cared.

"Thanks, Sam. You have no way of knowing how much that means to me." It loosened some of the calluses that had been growing on her heart.

"So, whatcha doin' in this neck of the woods?" Sam turned towards her.

"Well, Tad's interviewing Emma for 'The Cutting Edge' about her board of examiners for mental hospitals, and she brought me along to talk to Cordelia." While things had improved, they still had a hard time being honest with each other. "And Matt's working outside of Center City."

Sam frowned at the last statement. "Ah thought ya broke up with him for good." That had been her last statement about their relationship and, personally, Sam agreed with Celeste that she and Matt weren't working as a couple. "What changed?"

Ariel. Celeste thought. Lately, she'd become a handful. "Ariel was hospitalized with mono, and I was in Chicago on business. He came running. Seeing him there, helping her, reminded me what a good father he'd make for her and what a good friend he was to me." She wanted to tell Sam the full story, the way that Ariel had been rebelling lately but she didn't want to worry him. Matt took good care of her sister.

Sam shook his head. "He may be a good father ta yer sister, and a good friend ta ya, but he only loves the woman he wants ya ta be." He wanted a woman that was docile and needy, while the true Celeste was strong-willed and self-sufficient. Just before Sam started dating Rahne, while Celeste was having trouble with Matt, they had gone out on a friendship date. The result was, if they had ever dated again, Celeste could have eaten him for breakfast and still had plenty of room for lunch. "There's no magic there."

"Maybe magic isn't enough." Romance, hearts and flowers were for other women, not for her. "After all I've been though, Sam, I've given up on finding my soul's other half like you have with Rahne."

Sam knew better than nearly anybody else what she was talking about. Shortly after they'd met, he'd walked in during one of her flashbacks, which led to a long talk. The death of her parents left her raising her sister, while her four- year-old daughter, Nina, was being raised by the people who had bought her. "It can happen," he promised her. "Soul's other half? Pretty fancy talking from Miss Practicability."

"That's Ms Practicability." Celeste got up with a smile when her beeper went off. "And that's Emma. Please give my best to Tad, and tell him I had to go back to work."

"Sure thing." Sam hugged his friend. "Call us some time if Ah don't see ya before ya leave."

"Promise!" Celeste slipped out of the room just a minute before Tad walked in with another male, Scott. Scott was college-aged and was good-looking in a wholesome sort of way.

"Did Celeste leave?" Tad asked, disappointedly. "I wanted her to meet Scott." Scott blushed at that.

Sam nodded. "Emma keeps her on a tight leash." He smiled, knowing if Paige were to hear that, she'd get a kick out of that. There had been rumors published in a couple of papers to suggest that Emma's interest in Celeste wasn't as a mentor, but as a lover. Paige rolled her eyes with a classic 'people will talk' expression and laughed.

Tad clapped his hands together to clear the air. "Sam, Scott. Scott, Sam. Scott's going to show you the ropes here." Scott shook Sam's hand. "Just come back in an hour or so to fill out some paperwork for us." Tad picked up his clipboard and walked out.

Scott was the first to speak. "Sorry about Tad- he comes on too strong sometimes. He thinks he's helping me with my love life." Since his breakup with Laura, Tad had gone out of his way to be supportive.

Sam smiled at him, his blue eyes twinkling. "That's okay. Ya should have seen the gals trying ta get me and Rahney together. Some of 'em dressed me!" He smiled, remembering that night, just months ago.

Scott started to lead Sam down to the studio used to tape "The Cutting Edge" as they continued talking. "Rahne McTaggart? The new researcher at Pine Valley Hospital?" At Sam's startled glance, Scott explained, "My dad, Stuart Chandler, heads the hospice."

"Oh." What an interesting connection.

"You'll find out two things real fast about Pine Valley- everybody's connected to everybody else, and everybody knows everybody else's business." Wasn't that different than the X-family. Scott continued, "For example, my current step-aunt, Liza, runs the station, one of my former step-aunts, Gloria, was Tad's fiancee, but married his biggest rival. Two others of my step-aunts, Dixie and Brooke, married Tad." Still wasn't that different than the Summers' family. "And Brooke was my ex-girlfriend adoptive mother, and Tad's son, Jamie, and Adam's son, Junior, were best friends until Junior moved away."

"So, if'n Ah step on the wrong set of toes--"

"Forget seeing your sister at work, 'cause my cousin Hayley wouldn't let you in the door." Scott opened the door to The Cutting Edge studio.

***

It was Cordelia who had paged Celeste. "I just want to talk," Cordelia explained as she pulled the older girl aside. "'Ma and I... we were talking and she wants me to go to finishing school- in Europe."

Celeste nodded, it wasn't an unexpected idea. And truth be told, it wasn't a bad idea either. Cordelia was well on her way to recovering from her rape, although she'd never be totally the same again. Luckily for her, she had the support Celeste had only dreamed about. And the way that things were shaping up, the government was expected to start Operation: Zero Tolerance within the next year. Already, Emma, Sean and Celeste had made plans to move the school to Cassidy Keep. "What do you want to do?"

"When I grow up- use my telepathic talents to help others recover from rape." Cordelia smiled. "Be like you." Cordelia had no way of knowing how deeply that touched the older woman. Because of a STD that went untreated for a long time, Celeste recently had discovered it was unlikely she would ever have another child, so she poured her heart into raising Ariel, and mothering the women in her support group and the students at Emma's school.

A tear sprung to her eye. "Thanks." After a moment, she continued, "But what about the finishing school?"

"I don't know, I've seen France before, but 'Ma thinks it's a good idea." She knew that Emma wanted what was best for her and wasn't trying to push her away. "Maybe. But I don't have to give her my answer today."

***

Rahne smiled at the chief of staff and his wife, the head nurse at the Pine Valley Hospital. Joe Martin was the consummate grandfather, and his wife Ruth was a kind, gentle grandmother. Ruth handed her a welcome basket full of different goodies from the welcoming committee. She explained, "Since you've just started up housekeeping."

"Thank ye." Rahne set them down on her desk. "A'm very grateful. Sam and A discovered last night that we hadn't packed any glasses or plates." Ruth was a beautiful woman, with faded red hair and the warmest smile that Rahne had ever seen.

Joe laughed. "When Ruth and I had to start over after a tornado, we had that problem too. At our housewarming party we were worried that we didn't have any knifes." He was stocky, with salt and pepper hair and sparkling blue eyes.

Jake Martin, Joe's youngest son, walked in with his friend and fellow intern Allie Doyle. Jake had inherited his father's statue and blue eyes, but had his own calm nature. In contrast, Allie was shorter, with long brown hair and startling green eyes that reminded Rahne of Esmeralda from the Hunchback of Notre Dame. She was a very outgoing and friendly person.

Allie spoke first. "Nice to have someone else in the lab." She shook Rahne's hand and then pointed to the basket. "You cook?"

"Not as guid as Sam, but aye." Jake started laughing.

"Sorry," he offered. "But Allie's cooking involves throwing together all sorts of fruit and veggie combinations with yogurt and mixing them in a blender." His face wrinkled as he remembered yesterday's blueberry-pineapple-tomato drink that she had sprung on him at Myrtle's boarding house.

"Yeah, but who can eat all that dessert?" Allie turned to him with a smile.

"Jaws!" He clapped his hands together and laughed at her expression.

Rahne turned to the elder Martins and asked, "Are they always like this?"

Both parents nodded as the two started claiming that they would win the Iron Person Contest. "Always," Ruth said. "I think they do it so no one will try to fix them up. God help the innocents if they went out."

Dr. Joe shook his head. "God help them!" He smiled at the two.

Allie turned to Rahne, not catching the last remark. "You work out?"

Rahne nodded. "A used tae teach step aerobics at ma church in Scotland." She was in prime physical condition. "Sam's guid too."

Jake caught on to Rahne's idea. "We all have to work out together sometime." Rahne agreed. "Allie and I hit the gym everyday after rounds."

"Sam and A've got ta get settled in this week, and we've got dinner plans Monday. Tuesday sounds great." It would be easy to get to know this couple.

Ruth smiled. "And why doesn't everybody come over to our house afterwards?" Years of being a den mother were kicking in.

"Great!" Rahne smiled as Stuart Chandler walked in to meet her.

"Rahne?" He asked. Stuart was an older gentleman with white hair and very compassionate blue eyes who reminded her of Mr. Rogers for some reason. He spoke with a slight pause and a trace of stuttering as he greeted her. "It's nice that you could come here and work in the lab."

Stuart instinctively projected a sense of calm in the room, and even Allie and Jake stopped flirt-fighting as he continued. "I'm not so smart, so when I heard that there might be a connection between AIDS and Legacy, I hoped scientists would come from all over. It's nice you came." Stuart shook his head, nodding at that point. "Real nice."

Rahne smiled warmly at him. "A think your heart is a lot smarter than most. A'm glad to be here." They talked for a minute longer, and then Rahne started to get to work.

***

Opal Courtland wore some of the most elegant clothes Kitty had ever seen. From hat to boots, everything spoke of money and class. However, she hid her outfit under three layers of tacky jewelry. She sat perched on her husband's desk, legs crossed as she laughed loudly as something he said. Palmer Courtland, a stately and powerful businessman, gave his wife a tolerant smile and then got up to greet Kitty.

"Nice to have you on board at Courtland Electronic." He carried himself as if he were six feet tall, when in actuality he and Kitty were the same size. "I do hope your suite was satisfactory."

"Very." Kitty smiled at both of them.

"Ah tol' Lovebug here ta getcha the best." Kitty was surprised at the deep southern accent that came from this woman. Sam would classify her as a upperly mobile trailer trash. "Especially since yer bringing that sweetie of yours."

Palmer cleared his throat, well aware of his wife's lack of tact. Opal looked at him guiltily. "Sorry."

"Anyway," Palmer continued. "As we discussed over the phone, I need you to write the software for me to pitch to S.H.I.E.L.D."

Kitty nodded. "No problem." Palmer looked at the cocky youth with a smile. She reminded him of his grandson Bobby.

***

Pete sat down at the bar and frowned. For his job, it made sense to start at the bar at the hotel, but the was something obscene about such a fancy bar. He singled for the bartender to pour him a shot of whiskey and scouted the room. In his line of work, he had learned to trust his gut about who to talk in order to learn what he needed to know.

He spotted an older man talking on the phone, and knew this was the person to talk to. "Bad luck with yer gal?" Pete asked as the man hung up the phone with a frown.

Jim nodded. "She's working late, again." He shook his head.

"I'm in town with ma old lady- she's got some fancy job with Courtland Electronics and leaves me alone most of the day." Pete took a sip and mirrored Jim's posture. "So what's entertaining in this town?"

Jim moved closer to Pete, "Center City." They laughed. "I actually got the people at Foxy's to let me shoot some publicity shots for them." Foxy's was a strip club in Center City.

Pete seemed impressed with the idea. "So what do you do when you're not takin' pictures of half naked women?"

Jim traced a circle around his drink before answering, "I'm a free lance photographer, and Dimitri Merrick uses me for some stuff, or I sell something to my girlfriend's magazine, Tempo."

"Merrick, huh?" That name rang a few bells. "Pretty fancy name." Jim nodded, cautiously. He wasn't going to follow up on that. "So what really keeps you in this town? I need something besides me Kit."

"Brooke English. We've become quite close." Pete could tell that Jim was getting suspicious, so he let the conversation turn to other matters.

"So how do you get to Foxy's?"

***

Paige sat outside of Dr. Tolan's office with a nervous grin plastered on her face. She did not want to be in the thinly padded seat thumbing though the year old magazines, waiting for her hour with the doctor.

She pulled out her notebook and started to outline her biology chapter for the extra credit her teacher had offered. Then she sat that aside in favor of starting her lit. assignment, but that held her interest for two seconds. Pulling out her communication books, she started to read about how the message was transmitted from sender to receiver, but she slammed that book shut as she tried to watch the television.

Last week, Dr. Tolan had started to talk to her about her Uncle Teddy. And that scared her more than anything she could think about.

Biting her nail, she admitted to herself that she wanted to know what happened, but she didn't want to know it too. She was afraid of what she could find out about herself. Part of her wanted to curl up in a little ball and die instead of facing her fears, the other part wanted to be brave and find out what she was hiding from herself.

"Paige?" Dr. Tolan called the girl. With a loud sigh, she got up and followed her into her office.

***

Back at the X-Mansion, Tabitha hung up the telephone and ran out of the den. She couldn't believe the news- how could Micky be dead? After all he had gone though on the streets of New York, how could he be brought down by something so common?

Could she be the next one to die?