After much convincing of both John and Mfanwy, Jubilee had them in a cab and on their way into the city. Away from the mansion and into the heart of Salem!

As the car drove away from the mansion, she turned her attention to the two others. "Come on guys! Lighten up, this will be fun!"

The Skrull was watching the CEO very closely. The man was one of hundreds that were being watched by Skrulls. And now was the time.

It did not take long. The Skrull had been watching this CEO for a long time, even with his busy schedule of a Fortune 500 company. During the afternoon, the CEO would go into the spa to take a private time to de-stress. And it was during this time that the Skrull sneaked into the spar and hit the man over the head. After ensuring the body wouldn't be found, by teleporting the human to the mother ship, the Skrull changed shape. He became the CEO in a matter of seconds.

There were hundreds of Skrulls doing the same thing all across the country. Taking the place of certain humans. Some were in positions of power, like this CEO, and others who had political connections or financial connections.

It was the first step of the plan to conquer this world. And make it theirs.

And so far, it has gone successfully.

There had been a brief moment of disappointment in Mystique after Mfanwy decided to leave the job. But Mystique had to push that feeling away and concentrate on the job ahead.

She drove in silence and for a long while did not think about her "granddaughter". Soon she was entering into New York and driving towards her first destination.

Without a word, she parked the car and got out. Mystique would have to be very careful, because there were many heroes still around New York. But she had to check over the place where a certain criminal had broken into SHIELD. Look for clues to who was responsible. After all, there had been rumors that SHIELD files had been copied, and Mystique had to find out if that meant someone knew about her and her weaknesses or not.

It had taken a couple of weeks of constant training, but all that time had been worth it. Jubilee was now fighting at a Level Five in the danger room. Not quite to the Level Eight that she had been able to achieve as an X-Men, but it was a big improvement from the last couple of times. And the most surprising thing was Pyro, or Jon, he had helped in a big way. His advice to channel her energy to the targets and her 'enemies' instead of wallowing in self-pit had actually helped. Jubes had not felt any of that self-pity for a good couple of days now.

At the end of the practice session in the danger room, the computer beeped and let her know that she was ready for Level Six. And Jubilee felt ready. But that would wait for another day.

Leaving the danger room, Jubilee decided to scan around the mansion grounds. Perhaps Clara or Rogue or Jon would be up to doing something today.

The time is now. Their operatives will start to get into place and start their plans.

The time is now. No one will know until it is too late.

Wake up

Natasha opened her eyes and blinked. She immediately knew she wasn't in her place. The sheets weren't silk for starters. It was her room in the Avengers' Mansion. Which left the question, just how the hell did she get here? The last thing she remembered was lying down on the couch after having a few cups of coffee flavored vodka.

She groaned as she swung her legs over the edge and sat up. Her stomach hurt, but it was expected.

She stood up and padded across the hardwood floor to the bathroom. Something caught her eye as c she passed the mirror. She stopped and backed up a step.

One blink. Two blinks. Three blinks. "Black?" she said aloud.

Another mystery. Both mysteries could be solved after a hot shower and a cup, or three, of coffee.

She turned on the shower and waited for the water to get to just below scalding.

Twenty minutes later she was in the kitchen hovering near the coffee pot while she worked on her first cup.

Even a hero can play tourist. Captain Marvel had wanted to see New York. It hadn't taken very long to get out there from LA where his friend Rick Jones lived. In fact Rick had encouraged them coming out here.

He was flying high up above New York. It was nice. But themn he decided he might as well start walking the streets. He was going to see what he could find. Heck if he was lucky he might run into someone who knows him.

After only being home for five hours Natasha was already starting to go stir crazy from the boredom. Her stomach ached, as to be expected, but she could move around rather well. How was she going to last three weeks of being inactive? She'd lose her mind.

She grabbed a mug and poured herself a cup of coffee. At least coffee wasn't off limits like vodka. Getting inebriated seemed like a good idea and Natasha wasn't one who was good at following orders.

She dumped half the coffee out of the mug and filled the rest of the way with vodka. She took a sip and smiled. This was more like it. The rest of the cup was downed rather quickly. The familiar warmth in her stomach felt good as she refilled the mug with coffee and vodka. If she was going to be taking it easy, she'd do it on her terms.

Mystique was still waiting in the car for the return of Mfanwy and whatever she needed from the Xavier mansion. She supposes that the child needed some form of closure before heading out with her 'grand-mother' on the open road.

Well not quite that open. Mystique does have an agenda to take care. And she hopes she is not making a mistake by letting Mfanwy coming with her. All ready it seems like it has been a while waiting in the running car, watching Xavier's like a hawk.

It is a new day and Jubilee is in the danger room. Trying to regain control of her powers once again. The exercise is one that is simple enough since she was still having problems controlling some of her abilities.

However, despite the level only on setting three. Jubilee found herself exhausted and frustrated at the end. The last five targets she missed completely. And her piffs were almost out of control on her fingertips.

Frustrated — she started to pound on a nearby wall. Her piffs getting more and more intense as her anger got the better of her.

And then... BOOM her powers exploded in the fury of her anger. It was a good thing the Danger Room had protection against this kind of thing. And upset about it all, Jubilee fell to her knees in tears.

Natasha opened one eye, then the other and then blinked a few times. Well, she was alive, which was always a good thing. Although her head felt like it was stuffed full of cotton and she was extremely groggy.

Drugs. Don had most likely pumped her full of drugs to keep her out for awhile. It was her own fault really. Everyone knew how much of a workaholic she was and that she'd push herself too hard, too soon after an injury. She didn't blame him much, but she still didn't like how she felt waking up after using chemicals to make her sleep.

Natasha started to sit up, but quickly changed her mind. Sitting straight up was not a good idea and the pain in her abdomen emphasized the idea. Instead she rolled to the side and put her legs over the side of the bed. Her feet touched the floor and she carefully put her weight down. Her legs held and she stood up.

The list of bodily complaints wasn't long. Her head was stuffy and her stomach hurt, as to be expected. Other than that she felt okay.

Natasha looked around for her uniform and frowned when she didn't see it. Don probably kept it somewhere else so she wouldn't just walk out. Little did he know she had no qualms about going outside clad in a skimpy hospital gown.

In a cloud of smoke and with a *bampf*, Mfanwy stepped into the television room

"Hello, the house?" she called and walked toward the main foyer, looking for someone to tell where and what she was doing

Natasha walked along the sidewalk in the late hour, sipping her cup of coffee. The ten blocks wasn't far to walk for what was in her book the best coffee in New York City. The small deli she frequented had much better coffee than any chain, including the over-roasted stuff one could get at the million Starbucks in the city.

Coffee was the one thing she could make herself, but she need some air and a chance to try to clear her mind. The polluted air of the city and the constant noise on the street were just what she needed. She hadn't been feeling quite herself lately and she needed something as mundane as taking a walk to help her get centered again. So far it wasn't working.

Something was wrong, she knew that, but she had no idea what it was. Ever since the Asgard trip, something had seem off kilter and it was getting worse. It was almost as if she wasn't comfortable in her own body anymore, as if her skin felt a little too tight. The lack of sleep and the nightmare didn't help to ease the feeling. It just added to the problem.

Hopefully Fury would have something for her to do and she could get back on track. Work always was a great cure all for whatever was bothering her in her personal life. With any luck it would be a mission that would keep her away for months and she'd shake whatever was bothering her.

She took another sip of coffee and thought about making a stop at store to buy a few bottles of vodka. With the nightmares occurring every night she had gone through her supply rather quickly. She knew trying to drink it away wasn't the answer and she should talk to someone about it, but she was being her stubborn self. She had thought about contacting Matt a few times, but she didn't want to get caught up in whatever mess he was making of his life at the time. Goodness knew she could barely handle her own mess of a life. Someone else's would just be too much to handle and Matt's life was usually a mess 99.9% of the time.

She was distracted enough by her personal problems that she didn't notice the hairs on the back of her neck standing up until it was too late. The shot had been quiet, but it hurt like hell as the bullet slammed into her stomach. Natasha doubled over in pain, her arms clutching her stomach.

Although she wanted to curl up in pain into a fetal position, getting off the street was the first priority.

She quickly glanced around, considering her options. The closest thing was a small convenience store. She stumbled over to it and practically fell through the opened door.

The street was quiet - even the homeless had gone off somewhere to sleep. John made his way through the midnight heaviness, his feet only vaguely aware of the sidewalk beneath them. Walking down the street, he passed a closed restaurant, past a darkened book store, the pitter patter of rain falling hard against the zinc rooftops left a disturbing sense in its wake. He sparked himself a light, shivering slightly from the cold. The flicker of a flame grew in its size, the tendrils of fire snaked past his wrists and arms, enveloping him in its warmth.

He stopped in his tracks as he reached the gates of Xavier Institute. John climbed over the wall dividing the street from the school's lawn and headed straight for the mansion.

It had been a year since he'd left the school. He had no idea how he would explain his decision to return to the Xavier Institute to members of the X-Men. Obviously, they knew of his defection as he had joined up with Magneto and The Brotherhood.

During the last mission however, John had ended up with a gunshot wound to the chest, two bullet holes clustered over the sternum, and a crushed pelvis. At the hospital, they cracked his chest - did a thoracotomy and broke his ribs as they tried to get a hold of the quivering purple ball. Nothing like a good open heart massage to get a person up and breathing again. And he'd been lucky. If either of the bullets had passed through his heart's septum, the wall between the left and right ventricle, he wouldn't be alive today.

John flicked the lid of his Zippo lighter open and close, open and close. He was in desperate need of a time out from being a mutant terrorist. John drew in a deep breath then rang the doorbell.

Rogue strolled up the front steps to Xavier’s mansion, in her hands her only bag she owned. She hadn’t exactly taken a lot of stuff with her this time, not planning on staying in Tennessee for very long this time around. She never could consciously stay away from the X-men for very long and even though she and Gambit were at a point in their relationship, where they weren’t exactly talking, she missed his presence for than she liked. Taking a deep breath, she shifted her bag slightly tugging the large oak door open with on hand as she proceeded to not drop what was in her left hand.

Once she was safely inside the manor, Rogue set her suitcase down and pulled her sunglasses down slightly, perching them on the end of her nose. She gazes around the entrance loft in amazement. “Ah ain’t ever seen this place so… quiet” She spoke softly, to no one in particular. Something about this scene wasn’t sitting quite right with her and she took a step forward peering down the adjoining hallways. There was nobody to be seen and she sighed softly. “Is everyone outta town, and ah just missed the memo?” Finding the silence a bit too overwhelming, Rogue decided that she would at least head up to the second floor. Maybe, just maybe she’d run into a familiar face.

A few miles away and conviently on the southside of NYC Mary Jane Watson was fiddling with her necklace again, thinking about the meeting that had happened earlier that afternoon. There had just been something about the lady; her supposed grandmother as Dr. Phong had put it that didn’t just seemed to make sense. Something in the back of her mind was telling her that the women she had met had no relation to her at all and this was merely a play against her. Something done to make her think, like someone else. The only problem Anne saw with this was that it was working. With no past to draw upon, she had no choice but to believe what they were saying as the truth and take it from there.

Opening the locket again, she frowned at the pictures inside. All off her secrets, her past were locked away in those two photos and it made her mad. How far was it to have the past that close in reach, but still unobtainable? Running her thumb over the photo on the right she felt it push in again jumped slightly. She’d done that once already, but someone it didn’t seem like such a bad thing anymore.

OOC Note: Reposted this at to mod request.

It took several hardships and horrible moments, but Mfanwy and Mystique escaped from their captives and made it back to Earth.

Without much more to say to her alternate-granddaughter, Mystique took her back to Xaviers. They were sitting there now, in the car, with everything that had happened behind them. And still no sign of Kurt anywhere.

"I might be leaving for a while." It was a start to a conversation at least. Some kind of effort.

Jubilee is currently using the X-Mansion Danger Room, the level of the program is set above average currently. On the dangerous level of high, for someone of Jube's experience.

But she needs to vent. She has not been able to talk to anyone about her experiences in the last couple of days since MJ Watson-Parker went missing. No one got back to her. She did not even receive any word about what to do now. And it seemed that everyone else was concentrating on something else right now.

Most of the X-Men were dealing with the remainder of the Genosha mess, some were trying to find Mfanwy and Mystique who mysteriously disappeared. And there was just nothing for her to do but blow off steam. It seemed like it was the only thing she was able to do right now.

lt felt good, but at the same time strange, to be back in another living, breathing, body.  It felt good to be alive again...so to speak.

The body she was in wasn't exactly her own, but it was acceptable.  The woman was in very good shape for a mortal and knew how to fight.  Sif figured it could've been a lot worse.

The bonus was that she had access to Lord Thor. Sif had always been afraid that if she somehow got back into a body, that person would not have contact with Thor.

For now she was content to sit back, watch and learn.

Don climbed out of the cab and absently paid the cabbie for the ride. He looked around, then walked up to MJ's last known address. It was in Queens - a fairly nice neighborhood, if looking a little run-down in spots. He walked into the lobby and then took the elevator to the fifth floor - his hip would never forgive him if he took the stairs.

Taking a deep breath, he knocked on her apartment's front door.