The speaker at the Mansion gate crackled to life. "Yes?"

"This is Topaz. I have an appointment with Mister Riley."

The stylish little green MG convertible, which bore a bumper sticker stating Magic Happens, cruised lazily up the to the Mansion. Will, Rogue, Xavier, and Bobby stood just outside the doorway, waiting patiently as the car approached.

The woman who stepped out of the car appeared to be about Kitty’s age, give or take a year. Her features and dark brown skin suggested Indian or Pakistani ancestry, a suggestion which was bolstered by the kurta pants and silk halter top which she wore. A silver anklet hung on one leg, several bangle bracelets were on her wrists, and an assortment of charms dangled on a chain around her neck. She walked on bare feet towards them.

"When did we start recruiting Deadheads?" Bobby murmured.

"Thank you, Rogue," Will said as he took a step forward "A pleasure to meet you, Miss Topaz."

The young woman smiled. "No Miss needed, Mister Riley."

"Welcome to the Institute, young lady," Xavier said in greeting.

"Or the Institution," Bobby piped. "We’re never quite sure which."

"Thank you, Rogue. We’ve cleared a room in the ladies’ wing for you, Topaz. Would you like help moving your things in?"

"That won’t be necessary, sir. I’ll just conjure up some things when I get there." Stepping back to her car, she reached in and retrieved a cardboard box, filled with books, and a small knapsack. "This is all I need for now."

Will offered to carry the books, and they made their way up to the women’s wing. A door was opened to one of the westward-facing rooms. It was rather sparsely furnished with a bed, nightstand, bureau, and desk. "I didn’t think you’d appreciate the morning sun shining into your eyes," Xavier explained. "Will’s informed me that sorcerers are rarely morning people. If he’s a representative sample, I agree."

"Well, it’s definitely true for me," Topaz replied. "One of the first spells that Stephen taught me was how to conjure up a cup of coffee."

"I need to learn that spell," Bobby muttered to himself.

"If you want any help redecorating," Rogue offered, "I’ll be glad to lend a hand."

"I appreciate that. I’ll probably use spells for most of the work, though."

"Will that affect electronics the way Will does?" Xavier asked.

"Not that I’ve ever noticed."

Xavier nodded approvingly. "On a related subject, do you want a computer?"

"It’s probably not a bad idea," she mused. "I’ve been meaning to copy some my old training notes, anyway."

"You could always label the drive as your ‘Hard Disk of Shadows’," Will suggested.

This time, Bobby got to do the hitting.

Rogue knocked on the door to Topaz’s room a few hours later.

"Come in."

Rogue looked around the room as she stepped in. "Very nice," she commented. Several tapestries now hung on the walls, and the floor was covered with a series of ornate rugs. A small incense burner was emitting wisps of smoke which gave the air the scent of orange blossoms.

Topaz sat, lotus-style, in the middle of a circle that she had drawn on the floor. "Thank you. Did you need anything?"

"Just wanted to invite you down for dinner."

"One moment." She made a few quick gestures, and the circle glowed yellow for a moment, then faded. She then stood up and walked towards the door. "What are we having?"

"Well, Will didn’t know how you’d feel about beef, so tonight it’s chicken, sage stuffing, and roasted corn."

"Beef isn’t a problem for me," she said as they went down the stairs. "I wasn’t actually raised as a Hindi."

"You weren’t?"

"No. I’m the latest in a long line of mystics, and we’ve tended to live by our own rules."

"That seems to happen a lot around here," Ororo commented form her chair at the dining room table. "I must say, I love your outfit."

"Thank you. Want me to whip up something like it for you?"

Ororo considered it. "Maybe later."

"Why don’t you sit near Will and me?" Rogue suggested. "You two can brainstorm while we eat."

Will and Bobby brought the food out as the women talked. Ororo noticed that Bobby kept sneaking glances at Topaz. "You may have a fan," she told the young woman.

Topaz grinned sheepishly. "This outfit probably helps. Wait until he sees me in my magical garb."

"A little skimpy?" Rogue asked.

"Let’s just say that if there’s a breeze, I’ll know it."

Once dinner was underway, Will, Topaz, and Xavier discussed a training regimen. "I’d like to make sure that you get some physical training," Xavier told Topaz.

She chuckled, then rather casually tucked her left foot behind her ear. "Daily yoga sessions since I began my mystical training. Some of the advanced postures have made me a bit stronger than I look."

"I always wanted to try yoga," Rogue confessed. "Could you teach me some of the basic forms?"

"No problem." She looked at Will. "With your permission, of course."

"Why would you need my permission for that?"

"Well, you’re my master now, so…"

"Hold it," Will said firmly. "Let’s make something clear right now. I am your teammate. I am your housemate. One day, you might call me your friend. But I am not your master, or anyone else’s. I don’t believe in that system."

Topaz blinked for a moment, then nodded with a smile. "Got it. Sorry for making the assumption. I’m sort of used to the way I was trained by Stephen."

"That’s understandable. Besides, I have a feeling that you’re a more powerful sorcerer than I am, anyway."

She took a moment to consider that. "Depends on the application you’re talking about. I’m definitely the stronger empath, but you have access to a wider range of psychic abilities than I do. You can draw from a larger pool of power, too. It’s primarily a matter of teaching you how to channel it. If I had the knowledge, I’d start by teaching you Druidic magic."

"If you don’t have the knowledge," Xavier asked, "then who does?"

"No one. The last Druid, Anthony Ludgate, died from a gunshot wound about a year ago."

"It’s possible that the knowledge still exists somewhere within the collective consciousness," Henry ventured.

"More than possible," Will confirmed. "Nothing is ever completely forgotten. I just have to search deeply enough."

"That may not be a good idea," Topaz cautioned him. "Ludgate’s reign as The Last Druid wasn’t a long one."

"True, but let’s be honest: he wasn’t running on all cylinders before he got the power boost. His new abilities just made a bad situation worse. I like to think that I’m a bit more grounded than he was, and I don’t take myself nearly as seriously."

"That, I can agree with. Okay, partners it is. What time of day do you want to train? I’m at my best in the early evenings."

"Same here. An hour or so after dinner sound good?"

"That works."

"Would this be every night?" Rogue asked.

"It’d probably be best if he meditated every evening, but we wouldn’t necessarily have to train. Why?"

"Just making sure we get enough personal time, that’s all."

"Fair enough. I’ll need time to keep an eye on my businesses, anyway."

Will blinked. "I didn’t know you had any. What are they?"

"Well, I still have a stake in the Voodoo Lounge, and I have a one-third share in a bookstore and coffeehouse in Greenwich Village."

"Which one?"

"Magical Grounds."

"Who has the other shares?"

"Jennifer Kale and Satana."

Will blinked again. "You’re three of the most powerful sorceresses on the planet, and you run a coffeehouse?"

She shrugged. "It’s a nice cover, and it’s flexible enough that Jennifer can finish her degree at Empire State." She smirked. "Besides, it’s not like we’d be able to get Satana to do anything involving physical labor."

"How is she at the job?"

"She tends to be more interested in the jocks than the java, but she gets things done eventually."

"How do your partners feel about your being here?" Ororo asked.

"We talked about it, and we decided that it was too good an opportunity to pass up." Her face became more serious. "And we though it would be a good idea to present an alternative to Stephen’s viewpoint."

"I wasn’t aware of any conflict between you," Xavier said in surprise. "He simply told me that you had left his service."

"I didn’t leave. I was dismissed because I stood up to him on what I considered a matter of principle."

"After dinner," Will told her, "We’ll discuss just what that principle was."

An hour later, Will was talking angrily into his phone:

"I’m sorry, Stephen, but I’m with the ladies on this one: you were way out of line. That tome is bound to a genetic line. Did you consider what the ramifications would be of taking it away from the bloodline? And what happens when the protective spells fail? Your place has been known to be under attack from time to time, if you’ll recall.

"This smells like a setup to me, Stephen… a way to keep an eye on the ladies, through me. I’ll give you an advance notice: do not expect me to talk with you about my activities with Topaz, or about any information she gives me regarding her friends. Good. I’ll call you in a week or so regarding a training session. Goodbye, Stephen."

He looked over to Topaz as he shut off the phone. "Sorry about all that."

"Don’t worry about it. It’s hardly your fault." She was sprawled in his easy chair, ticking Smoke, who was nearly delirious with appreciation. "I was half expecting Stephen to try something like this, anyway."

"I still don’t appreciate being manipulated. I’ve played it straight with Stephen from the beginning, and this is like a slap in the face," He sat heavily on the edge of the bed, causing Rogue, who was lying on her stomach, to bounce slightly. "Will this affect your standing in the magical community if it gets out?"

"Not really. I hadn’t been training with Stephen for very long when he and I parted ways. Jennifer, ‘Tana and I try to play off one another now, trying to find new approaches to using our magic. I think we’re all progressing fairly well, but we aren’t active enough to attract any unwanted attention."

"What sorts of magic do you do?" Rogue asked.

"We like to say that we cover the bases. My specialty is healing magic, and its qualities mean that I have to be attuned to the world of nature. Jennifer is a conjurer, and seems to be the best of us at defensive spells. And ‘Tana, of course, deals best with the darker forces. She’s our resident summoner, too."

"So what does she do with that?"

"…Let’s just say that the heat source for our shop’s ovens isn’t covered by the building code."

"I’d love to watch you explain that to the building inspector."

Topaz smirked. "’Tana has a knack for distracting men." She picked Smoke up from her lap, setting the cat back onto the floor. Smoke gave her a meow of complaint.

"Don’t get greedy," Will advised her. "You’ll get more attention later."

"I think I’ll turn in," Topaz said as she stood up, then bent down to touch her toes. "I do my morning routine at about ten, Rogue, if you’re interested in learning."

"Okay. Want to do it in your room or the gym?"

"I think we’ll have enough space in my room. Just make sure you knock first. I meditate before starting my routine, and I don’t want to give a show."

"How’s that?"

"I meditate in the nude," she said with a wicked smile as she walked to the door. "Night."

"Why do the women in my life always want me to picture them naked?" Will asked plaintively as the door shut.

"It’s fun watching you fight your impulses," Rogue told him with a grin.

Rogue knocked on the door to Topaz’s room at ten the next morning. She stepped in at the younger woman’s invitation, finding that Topaz was dressed in a light cotton robe.

"I’ll be ready in a minute," Topaz said as she tied her hair back. "Just let me slip into something."

"No problem," Rogue said as she set down an exercise mat that she had grabbed from the gymnasium.

Topaz quickly dressed in a bandeau bra, tank top, and a pair of cutoffs. "You know how to do abdominal breathing?"

Rogue nodded. "Meditation, too."

"Good. We can move straight to the poses, then." She stepped onto her own mat. "We’ll start with the basics. This one’s called the Sun Salutation."

An hour of poses later, Rogue had managed to stretch muscles she didn’t know she had. "That was a different kind of workout," she commented as she rolled one shoulder.

"You’re probably used to weight training, right? The poses are designed to get your muscles working in harmony, not pit them against one another. Don’t worry, your body will get used to the new positions in a few sessions." She raised one leg up until her foot was pointing towards the ceiling. "You’re already in fantastic shape, so you should move along fairly quickly. Would Will be interested in joining us?"

Rogue thought about it. "I’m not sure. He has problems with his lower back, so his mobility’s a bit limited sometimes."

"He could ease into it. His flexibility should return after a while. Have you tried massage?"

Rogue nodded. "I’m using a mix of Swedish, shiatsu, and deep tissue. He’s responding pretty well." She gathered up her mat. "I should make sure he’s up. See you downstairs."

Will was just stepping out of their bedroom when she arrived. "I’ve got a Danger Room session with Ororo," he told her. "See you at lunch?"

"Actually, I’d like to watch. You and ‘Roro don’t spar that often."

"Fair enough."

Fifteen minutes later, Rogue stood beside Xavier and Henry and watched as Ororo used wind and lightning to keep several mechanized opponents at bay. Will had been surrounded by drones, but managed to punch and slice his way through them, joining Ororo in the center of the room.

"Any suggestions, Boss?" he asked.

"I’ll hold them back while you make a run for the kill switch."

"Yes, Ma’am." He switched to enhanced speed and started weaving in between the drones.

When he was about halfway towards the switch, he heard Ororo cry out. Whirling around, he saw that she had been knocked down by a drone, which was closing in for the kill.

Will’s instincts took over. Forgetting all about the rules of the session, he teleported across the room and used his sword to decapitate the drone. A moment later, he opened a small Door to a spot just in front of the kill switch. Shoving his free arm into the Door, he hit the switch, ending the program.

"Henry, get down here!" he barked, bending down to check Ororo’s condition.

"That won’t be necessary," Ororo said as she rolled onto her back and stood up.

Will blinked, then scowled. "You played me?" he asked in a quiet, cold voice.

"We wanted to see how quickly you’d react and make it back to her," Xavier told him over the intercom.

"Professor," Rogue told him in a warning tone, "It might be a good idea to pipe down. Right now."

"What?" He wheeled around to face her. "Why?"

The lights above them started to flicker.

"That’s why."

Panels all over the Danger Room began to short out. The air around Will seemed to darken, even as his eyes blazed. His hands clenched into fists at his sides.

Xavier glared at Rogue. "I wanted to slow him down so that he could calm down a bit."

"He was a heartbeat away from teleporting away half the damn wall," she snapped back. "You’re lucky he didn’t fry half the Mansion. He’s furious. And he has every right to be. You did play him. You didn’t need to know how he’d react. He went through exactly the same thing in Salt Lake City. Now he’s going to be anxious as hell around me for days, worried about getting me hurt. Brilliant move, guys."

She found him in his workshop. He had taken off his coat and hat, and was pounding away with a hammer on a red-hot piece of steel. He didn’t seem to be as interested in an end product so much as getting some pounding done.

He glanced up as she approached. "I don’t want to talk about it!" he snapped.

"I’m not asking you to. I’m as pissed as you are." She took a piece of bar stock from the scrap metal pile and started twisting it like a wet rag. "I can’t believe that they’d even think of using you like that. If they wanted you to push yourself, all they had to do was ask."

He glanced at her, then down at the metal bar. "Could you keep that up along the whole length? I might be able to use that in a project one of these days."

Rogue looked at the bar, shrugged, then twisted it until it spiraled along its full span. "Here you go."

"Thanks," he said as he took the bar from her and placed it in a corner. He glanced over her shoulder as he turned back to her. "Hello, Topaz."

Rogue turned around to look at the younger woman. "I take it you felt that?"

"I have to be comatose not to, What happened?"

"I lost my temper," Will admitted.

"With good reason," Rogue pointed out.

Topaz thought for a moment. "Would it help if you could vent against something?"

"Such as?"

"May I?" she asked, gesturing towards an open area of floor. At Will’s nod, she moved so that she had about two meters of room on either side of her. Closing her eyes, she took a deep abdominal breath, then raised her arms above her head, palms toward one another. A stream on energy passed between her hands, coalescing into a sphere about the size of a pinball. A gesture from her raised the sphere until it almost touched the ceiling. Topaz swept her arms downward, and a cascade of light flowed down from the sphere, forming a cone whose base touched the floor.

Topaz stepped towards the edge of the barrier, reaching into it with both hands. The energy parted like a curtain as she walked through, then sealed shut behind her.

"’Tana has a bit of a temper," she explained, "so Jennifer and I put our heads together to come up with a way for her to let out some aggression without breaking out repair budget."

"Good planning," Rogue said. "How does it work?"

Topaz reached in front of her, and plucked a small doll, about the size of her open palm, from the air. It was humanoid in shape, but the head had no hair or features. Topaz tossed it into the circle. The doll lay on the ground for a moment, then began to move, standing up and facing Topaz. It slowly grew in size, the limbs and muscles becoming more defined as it did so. It grew until it was about two meters tall, appearing to be a somewhat muscular man… minus a face – or a ‘package’.

"Meet Marvin," Topaz announced.

Will raised an eyebrow. "Marvin?"

"Jennifer’s idea. Short for ‘Marvin the Magic Masochistic Mannequin’. Slap him, punch him, stab him, burn him… and he comes back for more."

Will looked intrigued. "Does the circle animate him or keep him contained?"

"Both. We’ve been working on adding combat techniques to teach us some self-defense, so we thought that keeping him boxed in was good idea. He’s passive right now, though, so you can use him as a punching bag."

"How much punishment can he take?" Rogue asked.

"I’d probably have to come up with some reinforcement spells for you or Wolverine," she said after a moment’s thought. "Let me talk to Jennifer and see what she thinks."

"An average strength punch or kick is fine, though?" Will inquired.

"Right. Even if you sever a limb, he’ll just put it back on. Same for the head."

He nodded. "Let’s give it a try."

Topaz parted the barrier for him, and he stepped into the circle. He rolled his sleeves up a bit, then approached ‘Marvin’, rolling his neck on his shoulders as he did so.

Topaz winced as she heard the pop of Will’s vertebrae. "You weren’t kidding about his joints," she muttered to Rogue.

"And he’s in fairly good shape today."

"Ow." She glanced at his tattoos. "The Sidhe did those, right?"

Rogue nodded. "And believe me, that was an eventful night."

Will threw a punch which hit the mannequin across the jaw. The figure took the blow with moderate resistance, then returned to its original stance. "Feels like flesh and bone," he commented. "Can you vary the size and build?"

"A little bit," Topaz told him. "I’d have to stay within human adult norms, though."

"Is there a female version?" Rogue asked.

"I could come up with one fairly easily. ‘Tana already came up with a name for it. ‘Polly the Poppet Punching Bag’."

"I have got to meet this girl."

They were interrupted when ‘Marvin’ slammed against the barrier. They looked at Will, whose leg was still extended in a kick.

"Feel better?" Topaz asked him.

He seemed to consider it for a moment. "A bit."

"Want to come out?"

"Please." He stepped out of the fading circle as ‘Marvin’ shrunk back down to poppet-size. "How do you feel about Harry’s for lunch?" he asked the two women. "I think I’d have a hard time being civil to certain people right now."

Once Will cleaned himself up, they took Rogue’s Miata to Harry’s, where they found a quiet booth in the back.

"Did Stephen mention any details about my ideas for a team?" Will asked Topaz once they had placed their orders.

"Just that it was geared towards repairing ecological damage."

"That’s the basic idea. I don’t want us doing anything too radical… just finding ways to improve on what Nature would do on its own, and removing things that would be long-term threats, like radioactive or chemical waste."

Topaz nodded. "Well, I can heal injured animals… and even plants, to some degree. I wouldn’t be much help against a forest fore, or toxic waste."

"I’m going to see if I can contact Pyro for when deal with fires. As for toxic waste, I may just teleport it into the sun’s gravitational well, or down to the Earth’s outer core. Your talents really wouldn’t really come into play until after the cleanup. We’d try to patch up the most crucial parts of the ecosystem, then let Nature handle the rest on its own."

"Triage, not major surgery."

"Exactly."

"You know," Rogue ventured, "On a smaller scale, you could also clean up brownfields in the poorer areas of cities. It’s not something that anybody really focuses on, and would have a big on public health."

Topaz nodded. "That would do me some good, too."

"Why’s that?"

She grimaced. "I can be… a bit of a snob sometimes. It’s comes from the social isolation that you get in the magical community. I’m nowhere near as bad as I used to be, but a little lesson in humility once in a while would still help."

"You could say that for most of the X-Men," Rogue assured her. "I mean, I’ve never held a nine-to-five job."

"You worked for me," Will pointed out.

"Doesn’t count."

"Why not?"

"It was a temp job, and I was sleeping with the boss."

"This is going to be a fun job," Topaz said with a grin.

"How will I fit into the chores schedule?" Topaz asked as they drove back.

"We haven’t talked about it yet," Will admitted. "We’ll try to keep you off breakfast shift as much as possible. I would like you to take self-defense lessons with Logan. I don’t expect you to wind up in combat, but I’d prefer it if you had some training, just in case."

"Believe me, I’d appreciate some. It’d be nice to be able to hold my own in a fight for once." She smiled wryly. "It’s hard to be intimidating when you’re five-foot-three."

"Our uniforms are armored," Rogue pointed out. "That should help you a bit. I could help you design one."

"Okay. I’ll change into my magical garb when we get back. We can use it as a model."

Bobby was stepping out of the elevator from the lower levels of the mansion when he heard Rogue’s voice from around the corner of the hallway, coming closer. He opened his mouth to say hello, but was interrupted when Rogue and Topaz came into his view.

Mostly because he nearly swallowed his tongue.

Topaz was wearing a top with elbow-length, billowing sleeves, which hung off her bare shoulders, and which were attached to a bandeau top that barely constrained her breasts. A skirt hung off each hip, crossing at the top of her waist, leaving a lot of leg exposed, and pretty much putting every curve the woman had on display. She slinked down the hallway, giving Bobby a come-hither smile as she passed by.

"Hello, Mister Drake," she purred.

He managed to keep from fainting until the elevator doors closed.

Topaz was giggling as she and Rogue stepped out of the elevator. "Oh, he;s going to provide me with lots of entertainment."

"Bobby’s mind is fun to play with," Rogue told her. "It was twisted to begin with, so you never feel too bad."

Once they reached the ‘tailor from hell’, Rogue looked Topaz up and down. "Okay, why don’t we try a dark purple bodysuit, with gold piping for highlights? The color scheme would be fairly close to what you’re wearing now."

Topaz thought about it. "That could work. I could even put some protective wards on the thing to give me an extra layer of defense."

"Nice idea. Wonder if it would work for Will."

"I don’t see why it wouldn’t. I could embroider them into the lining of his coat and vest."

"We’ll bring it up with him later. You want a coat?"

"Yes, but no sleeves. I need a full range of motion in my arms to cast spells."

"Okay. Gloves?"

"…Mmm, yes, but keep them short. I need to touch things to heal them."

"No problem. Just let the machine get your measurements, and we’re all set."

Topaz stepped out of the ‘tailor’ a few minutes later. "What do you think?"

"Pretty subtle, as costumes go. We’ll see if Will and Logan give their okay."

Will nodded approvingly at the costume, though he was concerned about a lack of weaponry. "I’d like you to have something on hand, if only as a last resort," he told Topaz. "Would you object to a knife or two?"

"So long as it doesn’t get in my way."

"I’ll make something you can slip into a boot. Any problem with steel?"

Topaz shook her head. "My magic won’t be affected by it."

"Okay, then. Let’s see Logan about your evaluation."

Logan was impressed by Topaz’s flexibility – she seemed lithe enough to literally bend over backward – but felt that she would be better off learning defensive techniques, and using her magic for offense. She agreed readily enough, and demonstrated her talents in that area by destroying several target drones with a few hand gestures.

"Just keep in mind that I prefer healing injuries to inflicting them," she said once she finished.

Logan nodded. "Just wanted to make sure that you can take care of yourself if things go sour. I know that a few merc teams work for multinational corporations, and they might not like attention being drawn to the damage they’ve caused."

"And we might have trouble from the other extreme," Will pointed out. "Monkeywrenchers, or the EarthFirst! Contingent."

"Good point." She bent down and touched her forehead to her knees. "If we’re done, I’d like to get some meditation in before dinner."

"You can go," Logan told her. "I’ll need a few days to set up a training program for you. I’ll let you know when it’s ready."

"Okay. See you at dinner."

Ororo approached Will as they sat down for dinner. "I’m sorry for this morning. It was thoughtless of me."

Will sighed. "I’ll admit, I overreacted a bit. But, Ororo… next time you want to know how I’ll react in a situation, just ask me, all right?"

"I will."

Rogue noted with some amusement that Bobby took the seat next to Topaz. This should be fun to watch.

After seeing several failed attempts by Bobby to enter the conversation between her and Topaz, Rogue decided to take pity on him. "You haven’t seen Salem Center, right?" she asked Topaz. "I have monitor duty tomorrow, so is it okay is somebody else gives you the tour?"

"No problem," Topaz said with a wink.

"Bobby," she asked, leaning forward a bit to see him better, "can you play tour guide for me? I’ll owe you one." You so owe me one.

"Sure!" He said instantly. "I’ll even throw in lunch at Harry’s."

"Harry’s?" Topaz asked, an innocent look on her face. "What’s that?"

Oh, yeah, Rogue thought to herself, she’ll fit in just fine.