18116/Yankees vs Red Birds

Yankees vs Red Birds
Date of Scene:	30 May 2024
Location:	Yankee Stadium
Synopsis:	Jean and Rogue enjoy a baseball game with Rogue's father and little sister. A visit from a strange man distracts from the game.
Cast of Characters:	Rogue, Jean Grey

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Rogue has posed:
You could not ask for a better day for baseball.

Rogue's father, Owen, had declared this very statement not long after the group had set out from the school in Westchester. Owen had arrived fairly early to pick Jean and Rogue up. With him? Rogue's 'sister', the young girl was a strange arrival at Xavier's School several years ago. An exact copy of Anna-marie, though with a bit of a troubled history all her own. She was living with Owen these days, and had asked everyone to start calling her Liz, or Beth, based on Rogue's middle name, as she strived for her own identity. Attending school in Salem Center, and turning 13 this past January, the young Mutant girl still mirrored Rogue in almost every way possible, save for dying her hair solid black, covering up her own white streak in hopes of furthering her own persona in the world.

Nevertheless, the group set out from Westchester, arrived at Yankee Stadium an hour before first pitch. They'd taken a small tour of the stadium, before eventually making it to their seats.

The day was indeed perfect for sitting outside, enjoying the game before them, the ambience of thousands of other baseball enthusiasts seated around them, and all that inter-mingles within that cornucopia of controlled chaos.

Currently, it was still early in the game, St. Louis vs New York. St. Louis was where Owen was born, and the team he intended to play for once upon a time. It was the St. Louis minor league team that Owen won his championship with, 20 years ago, and today was the first game he'd been to since all the way back then. The man is ecstatic, as he dolls out a tray of hotdogs down the line to his companions, wearing a Cardinals jersey, and hat, he's been evading wise mouthed NY fans since he first stepped foot on yankees property.

"Ah... the best food, for my three best ladies." He says with a happy expression on his grey bearded face. "Jeanie, I'm sorry your parents couldn't make it. Maybe we can get them out here soon though... I'd love to make this a regular thing." Owen states, food and drinks handed down the line. "liz. What do you say? Wanna get season tickets? I know it's the Yanks, but I think we can stomach it."

The Little Belle, dressed all gothed out, smirks as she accepts her hotdog. "We'll see." She quietly says, before passing others on to Rogue and Jean.

Rogue smirks just as her 'sister' had. "Sounds like fun t'me." She states, wearing a simple blue jeans, Cardinals long sleeve tshirt, and a hat she'd gotten when she and Gambit had gone to a game IN St. Louis several years ago.

Rogue looks to Jean on her right, smiling at her, adjusting her hat. "Better than sittin' inside all day." The Belle tells her Beauty.

The crack of a bat heralds a raise of excitement in the crowd! The Yankees slam a hard hit to deep left field, and everyone is up on their feet!

Jean Grey has posed:
The trip down to the city is made a little easier by the fact that, well, they don't really need to go 'in' to the city. Obviously, they technically do, crossing the county line as they take the freeway through Van Cortlandt park. But meaningfully, they never have to go over the bridges, making it a smooth trip down into the Bronx.

Jean, of course, is quite excited for the trip, and putting on all her 'Pinstripe Pride'... OK actually this is a bit of a show as baseball is far from her thing. But she knows it's far MORE of Owen's thing. And her dad's thing! So even if she's not the biggest superfan, she's had plenty of initiation into it over the years, and even has a jersey to wear that John bought her at some point. So she's got the signature white with the thin blue stripes (hence the term!), and the blue cap with the distinctive stylized white overlayed N Y logo. Rogue may have an inkling that this isn't exactly the true queen of the skating rink Jean, but she's obviously in it to show her newly-found extended family a good time.

And at least she knows the city well enough that they don't end up lost in the wilds of the Bronx!

The stadium, unfortunately, isn't super historic. The original, 'the House that Ruth built', she'll happily tell them, was located right next door, but got demolished in favor of the new one when she was a kid. Still, it's a big and impressive place!

After finding their seats, Jean had offered to help with the trip to the concessions, since those lines can be rough and they'd probably have a lot of stuff to carry. Now, it's time to settle in and enjoy. Hotdogs and cold beer! And a big old soda for the Little Gothic Belle (who Jean had admitted to Rogue was 'just too cute'). "Yeah, my dad was sorry he couldn't make it. But if you were interested in making it a regular thing, I figure he'd be in on it. Maybe we don't need season passes for everyone, just get a couple, and rotate. Everyone's got busy schedules."

That's both true, and also a semi-polite way to dodge a full season's committment to baseball!

Either way, when they get that hit, she's up on her feet. "LETS GO YAN-KEES... LETS GO!" For a non-fan... she knows the chant suprisingly well!

Rogue has posed:
Owen certainly had a lot to say about the old Yankee stadium being torn down, and had gone on about it during their exploration of this new site, even if the new site is still older than Little Rogue. Speaking of, Liz had been, and continues to be bvisibly bored, often with her eyes down upon her phone, rather than up on the game itself, or any of the spectacle around them, though even she has to admit some of this is worth tearing her eyes away from social media fights to gander at the unusual fun of being at a park of this sheer size.

With the Yankees getting a solid hit, a runner rounding first, and ending up on second base, the crowd begins to settle down once again, everyone sitting back down in their seats. Owen and Rogue both exchange a look. "Scoring position." Owen says to the Belle, before Liz looks up to her father.

"What's that mean?" The fresh teenager asks, chewing on one end of her hotdog.

Owen puts his arm around the young one's shoulders, and begins to explain some of the basics of the game to her, causing the girl to listen... but also to visibly regret asking the question.

With a smirk, Rogue enjoys a bit of her own hotdog, as she watches the next Yankee up to bat swing and miss on a 99 mile per hour pitch from the St. Louis pitcher.

"God," Rogue mutters over to Jean, leaning against her shoulder to shoulder. "So many hot rich guys on one field at the same time. How do I even decide which is the most attractive?" She asks in her sultry style, obviously playing in that way she does, and clearly wanting Jean to give her opinion on who the hottest of the major leaguers at-play are.

With the score 0 to 0 still, there's a bit of palpable tension with one Yankee at second, and a popular player at-bat.

Just as Owen is defending his team's pitcher, and his 'killer arm' another bat crack lights up the audience throughout the stadium. This time, the little white ball, with its little red stitches, goes flying, flying... far and long.

A two run homer, at the top of the second inning!

The place goes bananas, Owen even spilling a bit of his beverage upon his lap as he's back on his feet, cheering filling the stands, with a few jeers sent to the way of the Cardinals fans!

Jean Grey has posed:
Poor Little Belle. At some point, Jean glances over and lowers her voice to confide: "The nice thing about baseball is that it goes long enough you have time to get up and walk around, go get a drink, go to the bathroom, whatever, and you're not going to miss out on the fun. The bad thing about baseball is that it goes long enough that you have time to..." Don't let Owen hear that! OK he probably hears some of that. But Jean's not all doom and gloom about it, either. "The -actual- nice thing about it is, well, all this. You get to come out and enjoy the weather, be around people having fun, all of that stuff. It's about the energy and the community as much as the game."

Watching some of the next few impressive plays (and players!), the glances over as Rogue's shoulder bumps into hers, and smirks back. "Yeah. I wouldn't know anything about any of those hot players." Jean's jersey, if one was paying attention, features the singular and simplistic number '2' on the back. This might go some ways into explaining why her dad got it for her, even if she's not that big of a maniac for the sport in general. It just so happens to be the now-retired number of one of the more famously playboy-ish of the Yankee's perpetually high-priced, star-packed lineup of Hall of Fame players, one who dated a string of high-profile singers, models, and celebrities through the years. Maybe young Jean had a bit of a crush at some point!

... and then, what was that about community? Poor Owen. As the home team scores and an empty hotdog container comes sailing over from behind them toward the Caridnals fan section ('conveniently' twisting in the wind to miss hitting anyone), she gives him a sympathetic look. "We're just lucky you're not from Boston."

Rogue has posed:
When Jean had offered her insights to the young Southern Beth, the teen had shot a grin back at her, while Owen had merely ignored the maysaying and focused solely on the game itself. Of course, it was only moments there-after that the home run had been struck right out of the park, and the stadium went wild.

Rogue was on her feet, like everyone else, watching the show of it. It was a spectacle, and even Liz was kind of in restrained awe at the sights and sounds. "Ah don't hate all of it." She'd said back toward Jean while the applause rolled on.

Rogue, herself? She was a bigger fan than her little sister, somewhere between she and Owen's adoration of the sport. She didn't applaud, because it wasn't 'her' team, and she had a hotdog and drink in her hands. She did hear some of the taunts from other Yankee fans behind them, and with a look over her shoulder... her visage alone was enough to change the tunes of the young men shouting those taunts. They quickly began speaking quite differently of the Belle moments there-after.

Once things began to settle again, and everyone slipped back in to their seats, it was but a few seconds after that Owen made a sound of displeasure. "Aw, c'mon, man." He stated, drawing the eyes of his daughters toward him. His own eyes were cast back over his shoulder toward the fans seated a couple rows back. "Can't we save the condiment throwing until the game is at least over? I got a beverage here."

Left grumbling to himself, and snatching one of the napkins from Liz's hotdog basket, he dabs at his shoulder, but to less than stellar results. "I'm gonna have to go hit the restroom, I think... Anybody else need to go?" He asks, his eyes bouncing between the trio of pretty ladies seated with him. "Liz, you good?"

"I'm fine." The pale skinned teen replied.

"Pumpkin?" Owen moved on to his older daughter.

Rogue tore her eyes off of the pitcher for the Cardinals, who just ended the inning with a trio of impressive fast balls. She did a double-take over to her dad, before she nodded to him. "Sure, I'll go with." She stated, handing off her tray toward Jean, and whispering to her. "think he wants the backup incase someone tries to get rowdy with him."

The pair begin to rise up from their seats, Rogue glancing between Jean and Liz. "you two good? We'll be right back." She states, before shuffling toward the stairs, those rowdy fans a few rows back offering whistles to Rogue, and jeers toward her father.

Liz watches her sister and father go, before she regards Jean on her right. "If those a-holes keep throwin' stuff, I'm gonna jump over these chairs an' start bustin' their noses in." The Southern Beth declares, grumpily taking one last bite of what was left of her hotdog, before her eyes drop back down to her phone. Once a Rogue, always a Rogue.

Jean Grey has posed:
Rogue suggesting that she might be going along as 'muscle' for her dad earns a bit of a laugh from Jean. "I don't think anyone's gonna be THAT bad, but you know- don't take any shit either!" Yep. This isn't Mutants vs Humanity, where peace and idealism rules. This is Yankee Stadium, where if you have to throw down to stop some wise guy from busting your balls? Then that's what you gotta do! Sometimes violence is the answer! "I'll hold down the fort while you're gone."

Which leaves her with the Mini-Belle, the Littlest Goth, whatever one wants to call her. Is it a little weird? It's a little weird. But then again, Jean's got a clone, a clone son from the future, a non-clone 'real' daughter from a DIFFERENT future, and an extended family and ancestry that includes aliens and all manner of other nonsense. Practically speaking, Liz isn't THAT unusual!

And when she likewise seems intent on violence toward the rowdy fans, Jean's left with a quandry: she just encouraged Rogue, how can she, with any ethical standard or consistency, turn around and chide Liz for the same? "Don't let them rile you up. It's kind of like hazing, they sense outsiders so they're giving them 'the business.' But, you know, don't hesitate to stand up to it either. Most of these people they'll back off real fast in the face of any kind of push-back. It's bluster. Posturing."

It helps, of course, that Jean can probably hear their thoughts and recognize the difference between real aggression and casual assholery, but still. "I hope this isn't too boring for you. I figure after, since we're already down in the city, maybe we can do something a bit more, well-" Hmm. What do mopey teenagers actually LIKE these days? "-is there anything you'd want to do? It's New York, so we've got a bit of basically everything at our fingertips."

Rogue has posed:
The young Liz sends a dagger-like look toward the row of ornery college-aged guys, who clearly have been hitting the beers prior to the game's first pitch, likely out in the parking lot where a number of people had pre-game watering taking place. Liz's green eyes went back to Jean, however, and she visibly had to internally cast aside her annoyance, as her hand went in to the bag at her hip, pulling out the red and white hat her father had bought her back in the gift shop area. She, now emboldened by the antics, pops the hat on to her shoulder-length hair, covering up the top of her head with a hat that contrasts against the dark purples, greens and blacks the rest of her attire is made up from. With a hand swiping some of her bangs out of her face, the Young Belle just considers Jean's question, as her eyes go out toward the game again. "Uh..." She begins to consider what she'd want to do in New York, "Ah wouldn't mind seein' where that Beetles guy is buried, at Central Park? Ah've been listenin' to a lotta old music, an' like watchin' Youtube videos on all the tragedies surroundin' them old ass bands that... my dad... is really inta..." She draws in a heavy breath, still clearly a little unused to referring to Owen as her dad, but it's been a process for all of Rogue's reunited... or just plain new... family. They're all getting used to all of it.

Liz herself, she spent the past three years fluttering between Xavier's School, and now full time living with Owen, whilst going to school in Salem Center. Her mutation hasn't even shown up yet, but it is expected to soon, since she's a clone of Rogue, and it hit Rogue at age 14. Rogue's already been showing Liz a number of ways to get used to wearing gloves, just to prepare her for it, should it inevitably show up sooner or later.

"Anything else along those lines might be fun, if ya know any other sites where people have been gunned down, or whatever." yeah, she's a real cheery girl, isn't she?

Another crack of a bat is heard, this time coming off the hands of a Cardinals player. A line drive down right field, with the crowd summarily reacting as it is a strong hit, getting a runner to first base. Liz's green eyes watch the action, leaning forward on her chair before she starts to rapidly type an update in to her phone to send to her social media.

When Jean inevitably looks toward the action, the chair between she and Liz becomes suddenly occupied, the space between them cut off, and when Jean regards Liz again, she will quite uncomfortably find herself staring at a pale skinned man with blonde hair, deep sunken eyes, and a smile that just seems a little too wide. In fact, all of his features seem a little too far. His ears a little too big, his nose a little too long, his chin a little too pointed, and his blonde hair gently flowing in the wind. He sits between Liz and Jean, his pale silver eyes directly upon Jean, ignoring the Goth girl to his left.

For a moment, he casts his eyes around the audience, and a brief second toward the game itself, but it seems to mean nothing to him, as he looks back to Jean, directly to his right.

"Lovely day for a bit of baseball." He says, his voice a little too friendly in pitch, tone and acceptance of the strange situation.

He adjusts the black hat upon his lap, the lapel of his black suit jacket gently flapping in the breezes coming in from the west. The man in black, from the Montana farm incident.

Jean Grey has posed:
It isn't the answer Jean is expecting, exactly! But, fortunately, it's not a big ask either. And the spot is famous enough. "Yeah, at the 72nd street transverse. There's not a grave site, I think he was cremated? But there's a memorial there, a little ways inside. We could go by, and maybe just walk around in the park a little after. There's a lot of nice stuff there, pretty views, bridges. Go over and see Bethesda terrace and the fountain. You been watching any movies? Or is that not your thing really?" She isn't sure what sort of media diet an else-verse duplicate might have, especially one from a world entirely devoted to twisted television shows and ratings. Still, if the girl has been immersing herself enough to know John Lennon, then she must be getting some kind of pop-cultural education. "It's in a lot of them, one of the more famous spots."

Of course, the fact that the young woman's interest extends to any locations of famous MURDERS is even more of a surprise, although maybe it shouldn't be. It's a fairly trope-appropriate 'goth'-y set of interests. It's not like Jean hasn't dealt with some of this in other students. There's a little Ellie in this one...

"Well, it's a big city, with a lot of people and a lot of history, so, yeah there are probably a few places like that. Like some famous mob ones in Little Italy. Probably a few of those have made it into movies too, even." It takes a bit of thinking, as Jean parses through this. Of course, the truth is that there are hundreds of such deaths, and most of them far less glamorous than the girl probably imagines - simply sad. And while Jean doesn't want to shut down the interest, there's a risk to leaning in too hard to the idea of glamorizing death. This sort of deep thinking leaves her somewhat distracted, too, such that she misses the hit but catches the reaction of the crowd to it, glancing after some delay toward the field to see what she'd missed...

...only to turn back to find the strange figure in place there beside her. She blinks, as if it's her eyes playing a trick on her, before her thoughts and sensory input catch up to each other and she processes who it is she's looking at. Or at least, who it looks like, not that she really knows him. Her instinct, as he speaks, isn't even to answer, but to glance past him. "Liz? You OK?"

Only after that, does she shift her focus back. "... sure, it's nice. I kind of prefer keeping the games on the field, though, so maybe you'll do me a favor here and skip past the theatrics to tell me who you are and what you want?" In this, her voice is firm and direct, and very much serious. There was a time in life when she was more hesitant, but these days? She's not one to suffer fools lightly or put up with a lot of bullshit!

Rogue has posed:
The response that Jean had given the Young Belle had her softly laughing, before energetically snapping her fingers against her phone's screen, explaining how she wanted to show Jean a video of Mobsters fighting Ninja that she'd seen the other day. Thus, the little girl's attention is down on her phone, and seemingly not even aware of the man that just appeared out of no where on her own right side. In fact, nobody around Jean seems to be paying it any attention either, as though he'd been there all along. The crowd continues to simply watch the game, as Liz continues to hunt for the video... telling Jean various random things about Mobsters she's learned from the channel she's trying to find again.

The man in black? His eyes glance toward the game again, but only for a second, before they return to Jean's own. He keeps that big smile upon his face, amused by her words, by her demeanor and her reaction to his sudden arrival...

Back in Montana: After the river event.
Napi, and his family, helped the X-Men clean up. He'd gotten them all settled in in his dining room, and a meal had been enjoyed. He'd explained a lot there-after. How he had met Owen and Pris in Mississippi twenty years ago, and told them that he'd help them with Native American rituals to bolster crop yields at their Commune. Pris had specifically been enthralled with the whole concept, and had sought out more information on it all. She wanted to know everything about it, more than Napi even wanted to share, really. He'd explained that he was supposed to be there the night that Rogue's parents vanished, and that he was supposed to help them with the mystical elements of what they were planning that night, but that he'd been unable to catch his plane. It was there that Owen chimed in, and said that Pris had run in to a man in town, who'd noticed her choice in books she was checking out from the local library. He'd taken a shine to her apparently, and indicated it was something he was knowledgeable in. Napi had interjected to say that the man was a former friend, a friend who he'd trusted with his life once upon a time, but no longer did. Napi elaborated by saying he called himself 'Indrid Cold', and that the man was a traveller, a collector of lost souls. That he was likely a Mutant, but that he wasn't sure. He said he was powerful, and dabbled in dark magic, but his primary goal was taking the souls of others, to harvest them for his own reality's strength. At first, Napi had hoped to help the man, help him find a peaceful life away from his strange causes, but ultimately he'd discovered that Indrid wasn't trying to help the lost, but use them for personal power.

The fateful night for Rogue's parents, had apparently been the night Indrid meant to confront Napi, but instead... he found Rogue's mother, and become quite interested in her.

Back in the here and now:
The man leans back in his chair, adjusting his hat upon his lap, his blonde hair dancing atop his head in the wind, his hair line receeding a little atop his tall forehead. "I know that you're powerful." He tells her. "I know that you're the ... X-Men. Fun name. Not very 2024, but still, I like it." He says, casually regarding Jean now that he's leaned back in his seat. He takes a moment to stare at her. "I know that you'll probably defeat me, with ease even. I'm nothing compared to a woman of your ability." He praises her, showing her another smile.

His eyes go over to the back of Liz's head, and he simply stares at her as she talks about Mobsters, and grouses about not being able to find the video. He smiles at the back of the little girl's head, clearly she having no idea that he's there. In fact, he doesn't register within Jean's own mind. No telepathic presence, no ability to sense his intentions like she can with those rowdy college boys a few rows back.

The blonde man continues to stare at Liz, as he continues. "I'm gonna kill him." He says, slowly turning his eyes back to look upon Jean. His lips coming together for a moment

Rogue has posed:
--> Jean. His lips coming together for a moment, canceling out his smile, before it slowly spreads across his face once more.

"Owen." He clarifies. "Even if you ... conquer me, and do... whatever it is that you and your friends do..." He shakes his head, from side to side. "Owen will be dead. If it is the only thing I can do to you, for what I know you want to do to me, to my home... then I'll do that one thing, back to you, and to your little ... family here."

He reaches his left hand out, to slowly gesture it toward the back of Liz's head, as the little girl finally find the video, and raises her phone up to show it to Jean, over the man's lap, having no idea his hand is almost touching the side of her face.

Jean Grey has posed:
The relative non-response and obliviousness from Liz might be at least somewhat reassuring - or it might be cause for further worry. But for the moment, at least, Jean leaves her to her phone. Maybe it's easier if she doesn't have to try to explain any of what's going on. Which leaves her attention for her unusual guest.

That the man seems to know a few things about her isn't too surprising. Perhaps she's not a caped hero, showing off in public, but she's never really favored a mask either, and among the people who deal in these sorts of things... well, there is a certain notoriety that her existence carries. Moreso, perhaps, for those with some glimpse of the 'bigger picture,' although they may know Jean's 'other half' better than they know the woman herself. Either way, she has a simple answer to all that stated knowledge, her power, even the expected 'end' to a theoretical showdown: "Well, I'm glad we're on the same page."

"So... Is there a reason to keep going with this? Because not everything has to be a fight. You can turn back, from what you're doing. If you're a mutant like I am, if this is something you have to do to... feed, to sustain yourself?" Now she is thinking back to the conversation at the farm. "Then maybe we can help you. We've met others like that." Maybe it's a bit of a stretch, maybe there's little chance of a happy ending to any of this, but it would be irresponsible of her not to _try_.

But when he talks of his murderous desires, her expression... doesn't so much as harden, but just shifts to reflect a certain calm understanding. "I'll be sure to tell -him- that. But I don't know that it will change anything. That's what love is, you know - to be willing to fight for someone, at risk to yourself. I'd suggest you reconsider, if it's worth it to -you-, if there isn't some better way for all of us."

That said, she turns toward Liz, smiling as she holds up the phone. "Huh. Mobsters and ninjas. I don't know that anything like -that- has ever happened here. But then again, Little Italy basically got eaten up by Chinatown, so who's to say." Yes, she knows ninjas aren't Chinese. It's just a bit of convenient turn of phrase, as she puts on a good face for the young woman, in spite of what's just happened.

Rogue has posed:
The interaction between Jean and the little girl continues to amuse the man in the black suit. He simply lounges within Rogue's seat, watching the exchange, as Liz pulls her phone back, and announces that she's gonna start looking up some other stuff they can do after the game. "Cute." The man quietly states of the girl. "Looks just like her mother... I didn't know there were two of them, either." He seems to ponder this for a second, before he sits up in the seat, and lets his stare return to Jean.

He sighs softly, his head shaking side to side, as he glances past her shoulder toward a vendor tossing a bag of peanuts toward a customer in the row behind theirs.

"Priscilla didn't love him. She was planning on leaving him." The man adds, drawing in a deep breath that raises his shoulders, before he exhales it again. "She wanted excitement in her life, adventure. Owen wanted peace and ... serenity. She found what she wanted..." He explains, once more his icy cold eyes returning to Jean's own.

"I gave her what she wanted. This is why she remained, with me. You can barge in to my home. You can... 'siege the castle' and 'save the princess'." He states, smiling again, showing off his large teeth at his own words. "But this is not a story book, and the ending won't make anyone happy."

He catches movement at the stairs six rows back, spotting Rogue and Owen returning, each one carrying a cup of tall scoops of ice cream, carefully navigating the crowds to return toward their seats.

The man's cavernous stare shifts back to Jean, his hat casually raised up to his head. "Not everything has to be a fight. Some things can end before they've even begun."

"Jean!" Liz states, shaking her phone out toward the redhead in the Yankees jersey. "Heeeey, Jeeeean." She wobbles the device. "Look. Lets go here." She states, showcasing a bowling alley in Times Square. Apparently this girl still has some Meridian, Mississippi in her.

The audience hollars loudly as a Cardinals errant pitch takes the Yankees batter off the back of his shoulder, causing another rise of a gaggle of onlookers to spring to their feet!

Rogue and Owen slip back down to their designated row, garnering Liz's attention, as they shuffle back to their seats, Owen handing Liz her ice cream cup, as Rogue delivers one to Jean, before she glances toward the field, then slips back down on to her seat's edge. "We missed a Cardinals' run?" The Southern Belle asks, her dad already grumbling about it as he asks Liz for a rundown of what he'd missed. She, of course, is explaining how she wasn't paying attention, because Jean had her looking up stuff to do that wasn't baseball related.

Jean Grey has posed:
The story the man lays out doesn't seem to move Jean, much, although how much of that is a well-trained poker face in the face of all manner of villainy is harder to say. Obviously there are some implications to what the man is suggesting, if it's true, in whole or in part. But that's not something Jean can know, at least not sitting here. "You have to realize that would all be a lot more convincing, if it was her coming to say it, yeah?"

She holds up a single hand. "I admit, I don't know the history here. Even Rogue doesn't know all of it, maybe, being that she was still just a kid. But you coming around to say 'oh, don't worry, she wants to be with me, wants to be locked away in some weird dimension, wants to never see her daughter, TRUST ME...' You have to know what that sounds like, hmm? That I've heard it before, from much more average dirtbags, before they go home to beat their girlfriends."

"So how about this: you don't want us busting down the castle gates? Then next time we come knocking, she should answer the door and talk for herself. Believe me, I'm not in the business of kidnapping people. She wants to stay, and I'm convinced it's not some kind of mind control, brainwashing, abusive coercion? Well, she's an adult. That's her choice. 'Course we may have to have some conversations about the whole soul harvesting business, regardless. You get the freedom to live your own life - but not at the expense of others."

With that, doing her best to put on her happy game face, she turns back in time to check out what Liz is showing her just as the others make it back. "Bowling? We've got that in Salem, you know. But you wanna go, we can. All those Times Square places are tourist traps, so I'm sure they jazz is up a bit." Which leaves her to greet the returning duo, while holding out an expectant hand for the ice cream. "I thought you'd gotten lost! And yeah, no, we've been talking plans for an afternoon, evening out in the city. Figure we may as well make the most out of the drive down."

Even without telepathy, Rogue can no doubt get the sense that there's something hiding beneath Jean's bright smile. And in turn, maybe Jean knows she knows. Not letting up the smmile, she doesn't skip a beat with the family, quietly thinking the last. << I'll tell you about it after. You and your dad. >>