At the moment, the owner of place was in the middle of a discussion with his girlfriend.  It was cute and entertaining, Sean smiled as he eavesdropped.  "All I'm saying, Ryan, is that it'll be fun to fly down to Vegas for a weekend," a petite woman with short brownish hair said.  Her blueish-green eyes sparkled as she tried to convince him to go along with her newest scheme.

     Ryan, who was about the same height as his girlfriend, with salt and pepper hair and brown eyes, shook his head, trying to reason with her.  "But to drop everything and catch a flight down just because you're going to get a tax refund isn't thinking things out."  He hugged her, "Why not wait and spend that money on something you'd enjoy over a longer period time— that course at Snow Valley University on Fairy Tales, or spending it towards your degree maybe?"

     At that she sighed.  "I just want to have some fun– you're always working here or drawing or writing and I want to go see something...."  Sarah walked in and Ryan greeted her.

     "The bickering half the attraction," Sean explained as the two went back to their discussion.  "How's the case?"

     Sarah sighed.  "How do you think it's going?  We're under intense pressure to solve the case and underfunded."

     "Ouch," Sean sympathized.  "Two Oreo cheesecakes, Dee."

     Dee quickly set them in front of the two and smiled.  "Don't leave without a box of my chocolate chip cookies.  Ms. Frost is paying me a fortune to have a plate delivered to her office every day, thought I'd say thank you."  She returned to the discussion of what to do about her tax return as Sean turned his attention back to his friend.

     "Do you know of a place that might be good for the kid I told you about?"

     Sarah nodded as she cut off a bit of her cheesecake.  "It's a school for troubled teens run by a former Drill Sargent upstate.  Tough as hell, but the girls that go there get their head set on straight.  They leave a lot stronger, a lot more in shape than when they come.  Salmon's school has done miracles."  Sarah carried around a few brochures, mainly to try and help some of the troubled girls she came across.  She handed Sean one.

     Turning to Dee, she complimented the cheesecake.  "Best I've ever had.  You should go start your own bakery."

     Ryan nodded.  "The place next to me has an industrial kitchen in it."

     Dee smiled and gestured with her hands.  "Dee O'Leary– I like that combination!"

     Sean laughed at the flustered look on Ryan's face as he paid the bill.

**

     Adrian was quick Sam had to give him that.  Half an hour after calling Tad Martin, Sam held the faxed summary of Mike Derringer the fifth's  life in his hands.  Two parents, married for the past thirty years.  Two younger sisters, Amber, deceased, and Ashley, a college student.  No convictions, no arrests, not even a traffic ticket.  Three years in the Army as an Airborne Chaplain's Assistant.  He'd earned his bachelor's in psychology, graduating with top honors.  He held a master's in Music Education and had worked as a music and youth minister in his father's church in Nashville.

      Mike had toured with the group Daystar until they had broken up, because several members had wanted to be better fathers to their children.  Currently, he was touring with Li'l Bit.  Their names were being linked in several tabloids

     Basically, if Sam's father was still alive, not only would Mike be allowed to date Li'l Bit, his father would be researching the latest in cloning technology to duplicate him for his other daughters.  As it was, Sam's mother had been very approving of the fact Mike was with Li'l Bit—she'd already started sewing the wedding gown, anticipating the day that Mike would propose.  Brother Billy, Li'l Bit's recently-discovered biological father and the man his mother was dating, was thrilled that they were dating.  But all Sam could do was think of the refrain of a hit country music song "I don't like him, I'll think of a reason later."

     It wasn't jealousy.  He knew he had the world's most wonderful woman with Rahne.  It was more... well he'd missed his chance to torture Mike.  He'd spent years learning his art, and Paige was involved with Angelo, Joelle wasn't interested in dating until she got her degree, Lizzy had a baby to make sure the guys she went out with were serious about her.  And now, Li'l Bit had denied him the fun of grilling another guy.  It didn't matter that Mike looked good on paper.  Sam hadn't had the chance to test him yet.

     But that was secondary to the real reason he and Rahne had come, which was to help Celeste.  Sad to say, he hadn't even seen his friend since arriving six hours ago.  First, Celeste was asleep, then Li'l Bit had arrived.  Rahne had gone off someplace for a few hours, which was unusual.

     Now, it was suppertime.  The plan was for Li'l Bit, Mike, Rahne and him to have a picnic between Celeste's and Emma's cottage.  Sam smiled as he cooked the food for the meal.  Never too late to make up for lost time.

***

     Rahne had been waiting for her friend in Celeste's cottage for over three hours.  Celeste hadn't come back from her emergency meeting with Ariel's social worker yet.  Tony had been waiting with her for past two hours, played a couple hands of gin rummy, and talked about anything and everything.  She listened as he told her stories from his childhood, the good and the bad, and she told him the bare bones of her relationship with the Reverend Craig.

     It wasn't hard to discover what Celeste saw in him, what made him her best friend.  He was intelligent, creative, funny, sensitive.  And it didn't matter that Rahne was committed to Sam—Tony had a way of making women melt like butter on toast.  But at the same time, Rahne knew that he wasn't knowingly interested in anybody.  Someone had hurt him so deeply that he simply couldn't be interested in woman as anything other than friends.  That level of pain was something Celeste and he shared.

     Celeste finally came home, sat down in a chair and sighed.  "I couldn't find Emma before I got a call...."  Tony mouthed something to her and she shook her head.  "Ariel's social worker called...  He wants to have the state take custody of her, but I – I was just acting impulsively this morning when I said I'd quit my job.  Now, he's told me that either I cut back my hours to forty a week or give Uncle Jonah custody or send her away to a private school—he actually blamed me for not giving Ariel the attention she needs."  Words couldn't come close to expressing her heartache.

     "This the guy that has the FoH poster hanging in his office?"  Tony asked.  He'd posed as Celeste's fiancee a couple of times, trying to assure the state that she was serious about making a stable home for Ariel.

     Celeste nodded.  "He threw in some not so disguised comments about mixed-race marriages and women working...  I was too afraid to report him to his supervisors."  Rahne hugged her friend but Celeste shrugged her off.  "I don't want anybody touching me right now," she explained.

     "Too much?"  Rahne asked, knowing the overwhelmed feeling.  Celeste nodded.  "What do ye plan tae do?"

     "Jonah has offered to take her, but I don't know if that's the best thing.  I'll have to quit my job... I can't lose Ariel and I can't fit my work into forty hours a week.  Last time I counted, I was working over eighty."  Celeste got up and moved towards her room.  "Rahne, I do appreciate you being here.  It means a lot to me."  Her voice was oddly calm, like listening to Enya in the middle of a hurricane.

     It dawned on Rahne that her friend wasn't thinking anymore.  Everything about her had shut down.  And she was stuck on the outside, trying to reach past the walls that had been thrown up.  Praying a bullet prayer, Rahne paused, waiting for God to direct her next action.

     Finally with a perfect peace, Rahne turned to Tony.  "Why won't you go find Sam and tell him that we are going to have a picnic?"  He was surprised at the request, but went out the door.  The one question that Rahne had wanted to ask but never found the courage to do so came out after he left the room.  "What do you do for Emma?"

     The resulting conversation forever altered the way that Rahne viewed her friend.  All the walls came tumbling down, all the secrets were told and for the first time Rahne understood the many contrasts that made up Celeste.  And her friend's conflicting actions made perfect sense.  By rescuing mutants in danger, Celeste was trying to make amends for what she had done to her daughter, Nina.  But at the same time, Ariel was legally her daughter.  Deep down, a decision was being made as to which child was more important.

     Rahne lacked the wisdom of Solomon.  All she could do was keep silent while Celeste verbalized all her feelings.  Sometimes, the best thing a friend could be was silent.

**

     Sam took Tony's relaying Rahne's message to mean that she had invited the Cherokee to eat with them.  They quickly sat up a place, not too far from Celeste's apartment before covering the expanse of what they had to talk about—the weather.

     Li'l Bit hobbled out and smiled as Sam talked about smelling the rain.  "'Member that time ya smelled a snake?"

     Sam chuckled for a moment.  Li'l Bit opened her mouth to explain the reference. But before she could let out a peep, Sam had picked her up, flown a few feet in the air, and hovered over the creek. .

     Mike, who had been following his girlfriend, laughed at the sight.  "Knew getting her out here with Sam was the best thing for her," he said to himself.  Tony     overheard the remark and looked at him.  Mike sighed and explained.  "She's got a stalker, and she's more afraid than she lets on."

     Watching Sam shift his friend and take her for a flight around the school grounds, Tony asked, "Her security team not doing their job?"

     Mike shook his head.  "Li'l Bit's going to wait until the tour wraps up and let them go.  They're good for the routine stuff, but she needs better."  With a rueful grin, he asked, "Know anybody that could design a state of the art system in a jiffy?"

     Tony smiled.  He had been toying with the idea of selling his ability to design security systems to the general public.  This was very fortunate.

 **

     "Think this is a good idea?"  Tabitha voiced the concerns that Rictor, Berto and herself shared.  Terry continued to drive, remaining silent.  "That was just an alternate reality..."

     "So the fact my Cassidy and Colleen died because of my incompetence doesn't matter?"  Terry whispered.  She glanced in the very back seat of the van, where Shatterstar and Lucky were talking.  Louder, she explained her actions, "Thought Lucky might like to spend some time around kids near her own age."

     Terry's thoughts scattered everywhere as she clutched the steering wheel.  One part of her remembered hugging her sobbing son as he finally confessed the anger he felt because his parents died.  That thought lead to Terry trying to tell Ziggy that her lover didn't make through the confrontation with the Hellfire Club.

     Clutching the steering wheel harder, the red head tried to ignore the flashing neon signs advertising alcohol.  She wasn't that upset... she couldn't want a drink that bad.  Bad enough that the word 'Beer' conjured the heavy, malted taste of cheap American beer, the kind she'd sneak when she had slipped away from the team for a few minutes.  Her favorite had been hardy ale, the kind with tickling foam at the top and a kick at the bottom.  It burned at first taste, and then warmed her body as it circulated.  And finally, it numbed.  She couldn't feel a thing, pain and hurt were washed away.

     She didn't need a drink.  She needed to talk to Jimmy, her best friend, confidant, and the man she had married in that timeline.  But he was gone, leaving her only a hastily scribbled note explaining that he had a lead on the people who had killed his family.  And now Terry was alone.

     No, she didn't need that drink.

**

     "So Mike, what kind of guy are ya—a leg or breast man?"  Sam asked, pausing a split second before offering a him a plate of fried chicken.

     "Oh—I'm neither."  Mike answered as he poured over his lesson plans.  "I'm vegetarian."  Then laughing, he turned to Sam.  "Good one!  I'll have to use that with Carry's date one day."

     Sam felt slightly deflated as he realized that Mike had caught his hidden meaning.  The guy was good.  And almost too perfect.  Trying another tactic, he asked, "Are ya related to any Summers?"

     Rahne snorted and handed Mike some salad.  "That's a low blow..." she whispered to Sam.

     Mike looked puzzled.  "I've got a second cousin I lost track of.  Her name is Ric but I haven't heard of her in years."

     Tony looked up from his hastily drawn plans and asked Li'l Bit a couple of questions before returning to his doodling.  Li'l Bit smiled as she recognized the song he was humming.  "You listen to my stuff?"

     Tony looked up and nodded.  "I got hooked with that remake of "Are You Lonely Tonight?"..." He smiled, "Elvis was Cindy's favorite singer.  I think of her every time I hear you sing it."

     "Your sister Cindy?"  Rahne asked.  Tony nodded, surprised she remembered that detail.  "My foster brother used to sneak in my room and sing 'Crying in the Chapel' at nights."

     Mike light up at the mentioning of his idol.  "Now ya've done it!"  Li'l Bit laughed and punched Mike in the arm.  "He's a certified Elvis Impersonator."

     The talk centered around The King for a few minutes, until Li'l Bit asked Mike to go get their guitars.  After watching Mike walk out of earshot, she asked Sam, "What are ya two doing here?"

     Sam  sighed and tried to explain, "We're tryin' ta help a friend who's too prideful ta just ask us for help."

     Tony disagreed.  "I wouldn't call it pride, Sam.  She's too afraid."  He had been with Celeste day in and out for months now.  "If she admits Ariel needs help, she'll have to face the fact that she's not strong enough to help her."

     Rahne turned to the two men, watching them talk about her friend.  Finally, she turned to Li'l Bit.  "Celeste's sister, Ariel, has a serious problem— she comes home drunk, skips school, runs with a wild bunch.  And foolishly, Celeste has been depending on her scummy boyfriend to control her.  A think it's makin' thing worse.  But nothing seems to break the cycle and it needs to be broken, ye know?"

     The question had been retorical, but Li'l Bit did know.  Her mother had been an alcholic, and she had suffered as a result.  Night after night, growing up, she had been forced to be the adult, taking care of a sick child.  It helped to understand that her mother had a medical and mental problem, but it did little give her back the things that her mother's disease had taken from her.  "Maybe you could try an intervention?"

     Sam thought about it for a long moment, let the idea roll around in his mind, and realized that it wasn't as half-baked as what he would normally expect from his     friend.  "That sounds like a good idea..."  Quickly, they laid out the plans to have an intervention with the other woman.

     When it was all over, Sam had another idea for the way too perfect boyfriend of Li'l Bit.  "Do ya know a doctor Essex?" Quickly, Rahne dug her elbow in his rib while Li'l Bit was confused.

     "Sure do!"  Mike replied, a slow drawl playing around his words.  "Dr.  Natalie Essex has delivered every kid in our town."

     The idea of Sinister in a dress was just a little too much for Sam.  He dropped his napkin and tried not to think about the mental image.  Mike had won... this round at least.

**

     Forrest, following Tony's orders, found Angelo in the computer room.  "That's odd..." he murmured before looking up at the Cherokee youth.  "Hey!"

     Forrest took the chair next to him and looked over the screen.  "Faint psionic trace registered?" he asked.  "Emma checking up on Ariel, maybe?"

     Angelo shook his head.  "She reads differently when she's using her powers."  He cross-checked the reading he got against a database of known telepaths.  "Jean Summers?  Wonder what that's about..." he trailed off, not really caring enough to find out.

     "That tired of Ariel?"  Forrest asked, concerned.

     "Aren't you?"  Angelo had noticed the crush his old friend had had on the girl.

     The other man shrugged.  "She's interesting... but not worth it.  I keep myself straight."  He had learned how not to be in the way growing up under the Dragon's tutelage.

     "So..."  Angelo sighed.  "He wants to know if I had anything to do with Ariel disappearing last night?"  It wasn't hard to figure out.  Tony didn't talk to him, he didn't talk to Tony.  Forrest had been his friend before Angelo had knocked up Tony's girlfriend, and even for a while after.

     "Did you?"  Forrest was used to being the go-between for the two.

     Angelo shook his head.  "I think she needs help, personally."  He used to run with women like her, and knew that Ariel was in a lot of trouble.

     The other man agreed.  "I would have asked earlier but you and Paige...."

     "Were having a fight."  Angelo shrugged.  "Happens.  Lately she's... well she's ..."

     "Been a young crossbreed between Emma and a bitch with PMS lately?"  Forrest filled in.  Angelo laughed.  "Is it any wonder I don't want to go to school here?"

     The laughter disappeared as Angelo nodded.  "It's good and all.... gives you a future... trains you to use your mutant power... and Emma would pay for you to have art lessons."  Angelo wanted his old friend to come to school with him, even to the point he would tempt him with art lessons.

     Forrest flipped a nickel, concentrated on it, and watch it turn into a paperclip.  After a second, he turned it into a quarter.  "Maybe... but I like school my way."  Although he was only sixteen, he was already making progress towards his college degree in molecular biology.

     Angelo frowned as he watched the display.  "That's a powerful thing you do," he reminded him.
 
     Forrest looked at the quarter and turned it back into a dime.  "I rearrange molecules... change the shape of things.  It's not like I can turn straw into gold, not unless it already had gold in it."  He had worked hard since he first found out he was a mutant, studying chemistry, art, and biology.  He could control his own power, and really felt that the school would hold him back.  Give him a diploma, but not the freedom he was used to.