Emma took a moment to linger over her cup of hot chocolate and talk to her assistant as she kept an ear on CNN during their lunch break. It was a habit they'd gotten into over the months they had been working together. "What time did Ariel come home last night?"

Celeste sighed and wearily took a gulp of juice. "Two A.M." She scanned the Daily Burgle's business section and cut out the interest rates. "I told her midnight because she had play practice." Always on a diet, she took a bite of her rice cake. "These aren't half bad."

Emma gentle touched the younger woman on the shoulder, allowing that to serve as a supportive hug. Celeste smiled at her, gratefully. Sometimes, friendship allowed a kind of telepathic communication. "Cordelia's agreed to go to the French finishing school I told you about." They had talked about sending Ariel to a supportive boarding school, something to help her find a way to express what she was rebelling against.

Celeste nodded, but really didn't want to talk about her sister. Emma wanted her daughter safely away from the United States and the upcoming Operation: Zero Tolerance. "Except for some key ports in the south, Tony and I've got the mutant escape routes planned." Her face light up as she mentioned Tony's name. "We've kind of traded- he's using my business sense to gain political support to take over the Network, I'm using him to get me in to see the people he's seeing."

Emma looked at her and smiled. Celeste and Tony made a natural team, one covering for where the other was weak and reinforcing their mutual strengths. She had been the first to take advantage of this, but one day soon, a lot of people were going to be very happy they worked together so well. "And how goes our hostile takeover of Merrick Enterprises?"

"I sent him the notice yesterday," Celeste grinned. She so loved the business world, a place where being manipulative and scheming could pay off well. "Pete was right, the man's behavior of late has left his company wide open for a takeover. When I get the information from Betsy that she'll get from Erica Kane, I'll be able to finish the takeover." Her grin grew and deepened. There was something downright sensual about this matter. "And of course, Paige's protection has been stepped up." There was something wonderful a takeover.

Emma caught the emotion. "A good takeover can be very... orgasmic." Celeste dropped her cup at that remark, then smiled. If Emma was as good in her personal life as she was running her own company, then one day soon, Bobby would die a happy man.

"Emma," she grinned, "there are two things I hope never to find out about you. One is what do you do with that nun outfit and the other is . . . how many companies you've taken over." Keeping track of her boss's love life wasn't something she wanted to do.

Emma only smiled cat-like back at her. "So nothing about my friendly merger with Wisdom, Inc?" At that, the younger woman blushed. Her boss had a way of giving just enough details to intrigue her assistant, but not enough to answer all her questions. "The dividends are still paying off."

"More than I wanted to know, Emma." Celeste smiled at her. "I'd already figured out that you two merged a long time ago." With an impish look, she asked, "Does the current owner of Wisdom, Inc 's assets know of his past ownership?"

Emma chuckled at that. "Nope, but she's reaping the rewards of my training."

"More than I wanted to know." She tried not to think about other people's sex lives. "By the way, thanks for telling Matt that he couldn't move in to our cottage on the campus. I got the feeling he wanted to share my room." She wasn't about to sleep with him, she didn't even like him. He was smart enough not to push her about her choice.

Actually, Emma had done more than refuse to allow Matt to stay at the school. She'd long since called in her business contacts so the day that Celeste dropped the creep, he'd be transferred into a dead end job in California, unable to be hired anywhere else until he sought professional help for his abusive tendencies. "I refuse to have anybody that treats a . . . friend of mine like he treats you live on campus." It took a lot for her to call the other woman that.

Celeste finished her juice and nodded at the compliment. "I'm in a corner with him and Ariel." She felt like her two options were to accept the fact that she was dumb and learn to depend on him or accept that her sister was going to self- destruct.

Emma was powerless to help her assistant, which was an odd position to be in. She could force the teenager to be compliant, but it would cost Ariel part of her personality. She couldn't make the girl want help enough to accept it. And, try as she might, she couldn't force Ariel to discover the real issues that brought about her change in her personality. She couldn't change Matt into someone that would help Celeste out of the goodness of his heart, the man was too mentally ill. All she could do was subtly reinforce Celeste's sense of herself and self-worth. Anything else, Celeste would have to ask her to do.

"I've made arrangements for you to see Dr. Clator tomorrow," Emma informed her. Since she and Tony had found Celeste crumpled on the floor in her office, Emma had taken a personal interest in finding a way to help her assistant. Friends cared about each other.

That was the fifteenth appointment Emma had made for her, Celeste reminded herself. The first fourteen advised her to have a hysterectomy and gave her a cycle of drugs to control her pain. She'd long since stopped having hope that she could have children though her body. "Fine," Celeste consented. "And I'll call Moira next week to see if that fancy Sh'iar stuff can help." Emma heard the trace of bitterness in Celeste's tone of voice and winced. Maybe she had overstepped her boundaries a bit, but Celeste was only the second friend she had ever had.

***

Paige was standing at Dr. Tolan's secretary's desk scheduling her next appointment when Tony found her. Emma had wanted to make sure that Paige was well protected in Pine Valley, and he or one of his most trusted men had kept a constant watch on her.

"What are you doing here?" Paige demanded. Although Celeste might have seen fit to forgiving him for kidnaping her, Paige didn't like anybody trying to hurt a friend. That, plus the way that Angelo hid from him, was enough to plant some deep suspicions about him in her mind.

"Trying to save your neck," he whispered as he grabbed her arm. "Just follow me to the van- something's up at the television station."

Paige started to object until she saw Pete standing just outside the office. "Better go, Paige," he agreed. "Tony knows what he's talking about." They had worked together a few times, enough that Pete respected the other man's skills.

Paige walked a few steps ahead of the two men, allowing them time to talk. Once outside the hospital, Pete offered a cigarette to Tony, which he refused. "Wot changed the Dragon?"

"Celeste has been getting on to me for smoking so I thought I'd quit." Pete chuckled and lit his cigarette. In the past, the Dragon had changed for no woman, had liked no woman, so Celeste must be a powerful influence. "And about that incident in Snow Valley...."

Pete leaned in, wanting to hear the answer. Tony shrugged it off, "I wanted to discredit Sid's men when I took them along, so it would have failed after we got Wolverine. You and Kitty were never in danger." He'd been positioning himself to rise in the Network for a long time, and the botched attempt to capture Jubilee had been a part of his master plan. "But, when I saw my chance to get Celeste out alive, I wanted to make sure you got the message that some folks are looking for you."

Maybe it came with living the life they both did, but Pete accepted Tony's explanation. "Did it bother you that those two girls would have had to die when you took the job?" There were times Pete felt his life had made him too calloused. He didn't know if it would have bothered him before he met Kitty.

Tony knew what he was talking about. "Not at the time." Celeste's friendship had taught him the value of human life and put a human face to a lot of what he did. "Now it does."

They watched as Paige climbed into the van. "A woman is good for that," Pete observed. Soberly, Tony nodded. "One day, life is goin' great and then you find somethin' that makes it go even better."

***

Rahne pulled up behind the mob and saw Sam's car in its usual parking space. "We have to do somethin'," she said, trying not to panic. In the crowd, she saw Tim Dillon, Hayley's cousin, throw a rock. "We need to get them to move and fast." But what could she do without blowing her cover?

Li'l Bit nodded, forcing herself to think. "Is there someplace that we can get this crowd to go to?" She twirled her hair as she tried to formulate a plan. "Someplace that needs to be torn down?"

Rahne saw Gloria Merrick and Gillian walk out of the gallery, pushing baby Maddie, in a stroller as she tried to think. Gloria started to panic when the mob engulfed her, as did the man in the mask leading the crowd. She filed that piece of information and nodded. "The crack house on Front Street." Li'l Bit nodded.

The crowd closed in on Gloria and Gillian. "Rahne, in a situation like this, ya might want ta make yerself hidden." Rahne nodded as she decided to get the baby out of the crowd, no matter the cost. Li'l Bit carefully fixed her baseball cap and sunglasses, the disguise she had worn on the plane, on Rahne's head before allowing the woman to leave the car.

They made their way over to the two women. "A'm goin' tae get the bairn out and this lass is gonna need yer help getting' the group tae move before the people in the station get hurt," Rahne explained.

Gloria looked confused, "But Dimitri said no one would get hurt today. This was supposed to be a peaceful demonstration." Rahne realized that they had just gotten their first break in their investigation.

"Every peaceful demonstration has a few rocks thrown..." Gillian started. "You Americans-" She saw no use in anti-mutant rallies.

Li'l Bit grabbed the two women as Rahne started to back away from the group and into the alley. "I've just seen a mutie!" Li'l Bit shouted. "A mutie just entered the crack house!"

Thankfully, the crowd didn't stop to wonder what a well dressed woman was doing coming from a crack house. Mobs didn't think, they reacted. Gillian caught on quickly, and added, "She was green and pink and high as a kite!"

Suddenly, the group started to storm away, down to Front Street.

***

Kitty pulled her car up beside the ballet studio and smiled. She had been about Amanda's age when she started dancing. It hadn't been that long since she'd first met Stevie, even if it felt like a lifetime ago. She was here today because Pete had asked her to watch Amanda's class. It was a weird request, but he had really wanted her to do it.

Fighting back a wave of nostalgia, she walked in the studio. It had been forever since she'd talked to Stevie. The things they could talk about, if given the chance...

Amanda was standing at the barre when Kitty joined the group of moms in the waiting room. The girl's mother, Janet, was there, talking to an instructor at the school. It wasn't the words that caught her attention, it was the sound of the instructor's voice. "STEVIE?"

Stevie looked over Janet's shoulder and smiled. For a split second, she didn't recognize the woman standing before her. "Kitty?" The two hugged.

"My gosh," Kitty laughed, "Sam and Rahne and Pete and I have been in town for eight weeks and--"

"Sam and Rahne? Not Sam. . . and... Rahne..." Stevie laughed as Kitty nodded. "Things have changed. I can't believe this." She hugged her former student again. "How could I have missed you all?" They hadn't seen each other in about two years.

That was simple enough, "We've all been very busy. I've been working at Courtland Electronic and living at the Valley Inn, Sam and Rahne have their apartment." Stevie motioned for her assistant to take over the class.

"So when did they get married?" The two made their way back to Stevie's office, arm in arm. "Or did they?" Kitty shook her head. "Whoa! Who's this Pete Amanda's been telling me about? He likes tea and wears only black and white and he's who?" The next couple of hours were spent just catching up on old times.

***

As suddenly as the riot started, it stopped. Tad looked up from where his brother was trying to calm Allie down and at the door. Sam was standing there, nodding. "It's alright."

A massive sigh of relief escaped from the people at the station. Even the normally unflappable Liza Colby Chandler was shaken. "How?" she asked.

The answer came through the door. Rahne, Li'l Bit and Gillian walked in. Gillian was gloating over her adventure, Li'l Bit was very shaken. Gloria followed, clutching her step-daughter. "That was ugly," Gillian noted as she took Maddie. Gloria, a former nurse, went over to help Jake.

Sam ran to embrace his girlfriend. She leaned up against him, drawing off his strength for a second. He kissed the top of her head. "Ya okay?" he whispered.

Rahne nodded, "Li'l Bit and Gillian saved our covers." They stepped aside, letting the ambulance crew get to Allie. Sam turned to his friend, stunned by her quietness.

"An' ya okay?" He hugged her. She shook her head as she bit back a sob. "Ah nevah wanted ya ta see that."

"People hate what ya are, Sam," she soothed him, upset at the brutal show of force, "not because they know ya." She was trying to reassure him that she was okay. "Muh one and only best friend in the world and they hate ya without knowin' ya." She was so upset at the display she knew what she wanted to do. She turned and hugged him, knowing that she would try to change her world, try to get people to understand that her best friend couldn't help but be what he was.

Sam knew how to read her. She wasn't fine with what she'd seen but she was putting on a happy face for him. "It's okay, Beth," he reassured her, using the name that used to get her so mad growing up. She looked at him with familiar fire in her eyes and grinned.

"It's Li'l Bit. My best friend gave me that nickname, after all." She pounded a fist against his chest, "and dontcha forget it Sam-Sam."

Rahne handed her her sunglasses and cap back with a smile. "Tad's on his way over." They both nodded.

"We've got a problem here," Tad started, turning towards his guest. "My brother and Allie were supposed to be on the show and our other guest couldn't make it. We're going live in fifteen minutes. Can you do the whole hour?"

"Yeah," Li'l Bit smiled cheekily. "An hour with Tad Martin, what gal wouldn't dream of it?" Sam smiled at the two and pulled Rahne away to talk to Liza Colby.

***

Liza put down her crackers with a grin as she saw the two come over. "The tape is in editing, and we'll lead with it tonight," she promised her husband as she hung up the phone. "Sam and Rahne, what a nice surprise..." She dropped her voice, "Or would you rather be called Wolfsbane and Cannonball?"

"Rahne is fine with me," the werewoman said. "How long have you known?"

"Emma Frost helped me get the money to get this station," Liza explained. "We keep in touch- I recognized Paige from an old picture that she sent me and after that, it wasn't too hard to identify her brother and his girlfriend." She shrugged. "I figured having a former X-Man on staff might come in handy one day, so I didn't say anything." She felt a wave of nausea come over her. "Excuse me."

***

"Greetings," Tad Martin started. "This week, we are doing a special series of reports on eating disorders. Statisics differ on how many men and women suffer from a eating disorder, be it anorexia, bulimia, or compulsive eating, but even one person is too many. Today, we are going to talk to one woman who is recovering from anorexia." Sam was very surprised to see Li'l Bit's face splashed up on the screen. "She is a rising star in the Country Music scene, a woman who has been compared to Deanne Carter and Terri Clark for her emotional honesty in her music. Many have called her 'America's Kid Sister.' Please welcome Li'l Bit Walton to The Cutting Edge."

Sam stood against the back wall, stunned as his best friend revealed to the world what she had struggled with for the past eight months. How could he miss the signs? As if she read his mind, she explained. "Ah hid this- it wasn't about losin' weight, it was about control. Ah was out of it- too much fame, too fast. Too many people to try ta make happy, and Ah wasn't on the list. It wasn't until muh best friend asked me if Ah was sick that Ah began to believe Ah was. Ah couldn't make myself eat."

Rahne held Sam's hand. "Ye did some good there. Ye helped her." She remembered the way Lorna had trouble with her body image and sighed. Why was it that no American female could be happy with her body?

"Thanks," he nodded back at her.

Li'l Bit continued her story. "When Ah was down to seventy pounds, Mike told me that he wasn't goin' to let me kill muhself like his friend's sister had. He convinced me ta get help, which was an in-patient treatment center. He helped me want ta help muhself, an' sheltered me from any unpleasant news." She sent an apologetic glance to Sam. "Anythin' that wasn't bright and positive Ah didn't hear about." So that's why she never called, she couldn't.

***

Jake read the X-ray with a feeling of relief. Allie would be okay, she had a mild concussion.

"So, Martins," she addressed father and son, "What's the verdict?"

Joe Martin smiled, "Remember when I was recovering from my heart attack and you ate my supper?" Allie laughed. She had been hungry, tired, and hadn't felt like coddling a patient into eating his supper. However, it was great tapioca pudding. "I'll make sure they send you the same meal tonight."

"What?" The Iron Person contest was Saturday and Jake was going to win by default. The senior Dr. Martin hadn't become so old without learning a few things. He left the room before the fireworks started.

Jake smiled. "Want to see how far a rock will bounce off my head?"

Allie sighed, "No, it wouldn't go as far, would it?" She was the first to admit that she was stubborn. Jake shook his head. "Congratulations, by the way..."

"I didn't win," he objected. "I'm not competing. I was doing it to be with you, anyways."

Allie's eyes lit up. "Thanks, Jake."

***

Li'l Bit started taking off her makeup and sighed in the mirror. She had fired the pre-emptive strike about her anorexia and stopped the tabloids from making more out of it than it was. It was over, but it wasn't. She told a nation full of people that cared about her music before telling two people who cared about her soul.

Sam walked back and smiled. She had explained that she needed to change her appearance before leaving the studio. Gently, he fell into an old habit and started to french braid her hair. She smiled at him. "Thanks."

"Ya know Ah'd do anythin' ta help ya, dontcha ya?" Sam asked as he pulled her hair. This wasn't about her looks.

Li'l Bit nodded. "And Ah'd do anythin' ta go back and have ya as part of my recovery, but ya at least started me down the road..." Sam agreed and started to tuck her braid in a bun. "Will ya be part of muh support team and help me stay well? It might mean midnight phone calls and tears..." All she really knew was, for this one moment, she had her eating disorder under control. She had to live each day at a time.

There was no question about that. "Of course." What were friends for? "How long are you staying with us?"

"Three days and then Ah have ta head back ta Music City." She was supposed to have her bodyguard with her for this visit, but she figured that she couldn't be any safer, or in more danger, staying with three mutants than with her bodyguard.