If Celeste had known that the men behind the door had guns, she would have worn her glasses. Without them or her contacts, she was as blind as a bat. That morning, at five o'clock, the only thought on her mind was that she was going to kill the idiot knocking at the door. Slowly. Painfully.

Fumbling with the latches, she pulled the door open. "WHAT!" She demanded while looking at the eight blobs in front of her. Quickly, one held out a sheet of paper.

"We have official permission use your residence as ----" Cel took the sheet and slammed the door. Quickly, she stomped back to the bedroom and grabbed her glasses. The noise woke up Ariel, a light sleeper.

"mmm... What's up?" Celeste looked at the old picture of Julie and started to read the rest of the official looking document. It seemed that the U.S. Military was ordering her to allow these men to stay in her apartment. That was against her constitutional rights but, somehow, she didn't think that mattered much.

"They want to stay here to capture Julie," she whispered. Ariel popped straight up at that. "Get everything- pictures, notes, your key chain and necklace and hide them in the desk. But first, call Julie and tell her not to come." The computer had been left on so Celeste could finish up her project. "I'll stall."

This time, as Celeste went to answer the door, she slipped on her robe and slippers. She opened the door with a big grin and a bigger Texas accent. "Come on in. Sorry about leaving you gents outside, but two single gals can't be too careful." Quickly she ushered them in.

"Do ya gents want some coffee?" She started a pot and grabbed some cups. Seeing a man go towards the bedroom, she said, "Please don't, my sis gets mean when she gets woke up and she already had a migraine last night. Sure enough to make me want to sleep on the couch." The man paused and looked at the man standing on Cel's right. He shook his head.

The man on her right turned to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. Celeste fought the impulse to stiffen up, and gave him her most dazzling smile. "The name's Tony, ma'am. My men and I just need to get a hold of one of your friends."

How did her Granny pull off so many wonderful facades with the Nazis when she was with the Underground? Celeste was already scared spitless. Somehow, it was vital that she remember each detail that her Granny had taught her.

"Jubilation Lee? That was the name on the sheet, but we know a Julie that looked a little like her." She asked, making the effort to look less intelligent. "She's not a friend of mine, but since you-" she paused to make the next word sound so important and went on in a slightly breathy voice, "men say you need my place, you can have this room. My sister and I will stay out of your way in our room after I make you some breakfast. Just let me go put in my eyes and take a shower. My sister is a heavy sleeper."

Tony looked at her, puzzled. He seemed the type that was used to having to use force to get what he wanted. Her unexpected kindness was throwing him off. Just as she had planned it to.

She returned to the bedroom and closed the door. Ariel looked up, scared. Quickly, Celeste dragged her into the bathroom and turned on the shower. "The phone was disconnected, I couldn't get a dial tone. Cel we're in trouble." Ariel looked panicked. In her fifteen years, she had never been so terrified.

Celeste closed her eyes and counted to ten. Opening them, she asked, "Is Julie worth it? I mean, Ariel, we have two options. A, we can turn her over to those men or B, we can keep her out of trouble. Keeping her safe might well mean our lives." She knew her answer, and had the internal strength to follow though, but the choice would be Ariel's.

Ariel was many things-- devoted, compassionate, and loyal. Her answer came instantly, "What's that verse? 'No greater love has a man than this, he lays down his life for his friends.' I vote we keep her away from here. The world doesn't like mutants."

Celeste nodded, agreeing with Ariel. "Stay in the bedroom then. Wait for me to come get you." Quickly, she stepped into the shower and started to form a plan.

M woke up predawn with a sense of foreboding. Someone she knew was in serious trouble. A quick sweep of the campus told her all was well at the school. Quickly, she checked on Gateway, her brother and her father. Again everything was well. Then it hit her- Celeste and Ariel were unprotected.

M took off to check on them. Thankfully, it was still dark or she would have had a harder time disguising her flight. She lowered herself to the sidewalk two blocks away from where they lived.

She was able to walk down one block before she had to stop. Somehow, somebody was able to create a device that broadcast an inhibitor message to mutants. To get any closer, M would have lost her mutant powers for an unknown amount of time. The damping field also meant that M was unable to communicate with Celeste.

Quickly, M tried different approaches to the building. Each time, at the start of the block, her powers were cut off. M then flew back to the academy, waking Jubilee while flying.