Angela Guthrie did not look like a criminal. Which, logically enough, was part of what made her a good one. It was difficult to get away with things when everyone was already watching you suspiciously. So being small, curvy, and with a tendency to smile and giggle a lot was quite helpful.

Of course, that wasn't the only reason for Angela's success. She'd never quite put her ultimate advantage in terms of mutation, or of instinctive foresight; she simply had very good intuition. Angela didn't know what would happen, but when she thought about doing something, she tended to get feelings. Inclinations, ideas. Like when she thought about robbing a certain bank a few weeks ago, she'd had the idea to make sure she dressed and did her hair and makeup in her best overwhelmed new mother impression. Which, of course, required a baby, and fortunately she had the idea to look up a certain (ridiculous) name. And the parents' names, and to call an old friend of hers that happened to mention a friend of theirs with a mutation that was very good at quietly putting people to sleep.

So now Angela was in a bank, baby set down on a counter (in a basket, she wasn't that apathetic to it, and anyway it would probably be useful later), gun removed from the bag which was not nearly as devoted to baby-related supplies as it looked, and everyone that wasn't currently handing Angela money was laying down. That had taken a bit, since the baby (Alex, she should probably actually name the baby in her head, and at least that part of the name wasn't ridiculous) had started crying, and she'd had to calm him down while ordering everyone to get down. Not a very intimidating combination. But it had worked, and everything was going smoothly. Angela didn't trust that, though; there wasn't anything so far that had given her any clue why she'd needed a baby.

Thank God for small everyday events.

Like a crazy lady robbing a bank.

Maya didn't even remember the last time the X-meg got to do something relatively normal that did not involve giant monsters or sentient robots or alternate realities. When the call came in, she was the one on duty, and she could not help but grin as she marched out of the mirror in the Mansion's living room, putting on her jacket and archery gear as she went.

She hesitated when she arrived. There was only one person in the room. Where were all the X's hanging out when there was small crime happening?

"You. Hey, you. Aiden, was it?..." she stopped to look at the kid "You're on the training roster, right? We got a bank robbery. Suit up, you are gonna be my backup for today. Field experience. Let's go."

Criminals are not gonna arrest themselves.

There were sometimes it would be nice to just sleep, and then there were times that certain roommates were way too annoying for that to happen.

Like today. Drawing Aiden's eye was not a good idea at any time, much less while he was trying to sleep. Why couldn't people get that? It wasn't even as if he could sleep with one eye open, which would at least allow some people to assume that the whole deal could work... but anyway, Persi was annoying, so Aiden had left.

And ended up in the living room for a lack of other places to be. At least it was empty; that was a nice change. He'd had some awkward conversations in this place. But for now things were good and quiet, so he sprawled on the couch and flicked the TV on for some background noise.

And then the TV's sound evidently covered up someone's approach, because there was someone talking to him. He twisted around and blinked. Oh, that was - um. Someone familiarish. Couldn't remember the name. He probably should remember it. Seemed like he should. "Um, yeah?" he said hesitantly. Yeah, if she knew his name, he really should remember hers--

Oh. Wait, what?

He wasn't expecting to get dragged to a bank robbery. Well, he expected something along those lines would crop up eventually, but really. Now? Not that he was arguing with a girl with a bow. Didn't seem too bright. Yeah, he just nodded meekly and did as he was told. And tried not to think about what was about to happen.

>>"Um, yeah?"

"Yeah, you" Maya confirmed, slinging the bow over her shoulder and using her teeth to tighten the straps on her armguard "You're..." she looked up "... you're one of our trainees. Bank robbery should be a routine thing. All I need is backup in case something goes south. C'mon the police are standing by."

She really could have taken the Jet, but at second thought, that might have been overkill for a thug with a gun. She stepped back to the mirror and held out a hand, waiting for the kid to get himself off the couch. He had some ice powers, right? That could come in handy.

This was as X-men 101 as one could get...

Bank robbery. Routine.

Maybe for other people. Not for him. Sooooo not for him.

Had he even been inside an actual bank anyway? He could only ever remember tagging along to ATMs with his parents.

Right. Just back up. Just in case. You know, to call in the people who could actually do something while things were falling apart. Yeah. He could do that. He could push buttons and emit occasionally intelligible sound, couldn't he? Exactly. Yeah. This would work. Aiden kept telling himself that the entire time he was away and getting ready, changing into something somewhat more professional than old clothes that might as well be pyjamas (he had been thinking about sleeping, okay?) and strapping on the belt that supported the two batons he was gradually getting the hang of. Their balance wasn't bad, but it was such a different kind of balance that he was used to. And the grip was different. That was probably the most annoying thing.

Except then he was back and the girl was waiting and holding out a hand. Say what? Oooh he really wasn't looking forward to this, but he took her hand anyway and tried not to hope for the best, because that would inevitably lead to thinking about what wasn't the best.

The guy looked positively nervous. Maya would have called him out on it, except there was no one else around to take his place, and kids learned to swim best anyway when they were thrown in the deep end. That was how Maya learned, once upon a time.

"Take a breath" she smiled at Aiden as she pulled him through the mirror world, swiftly hopping through the shortest way downtown "It'll be over before you know it. You know, the thing about the X-men these days is, if you show up on your own you're a vigilante, if you show up in a team and fancy suits, you are a superhero team. So. Stay back, look professional, and act on your best judgment if sh*t gets out of hand."

Sh*t, as it happened, was already out of hand. The police was on the scene standing by as Maya and her companion merged out of a nearby shop window.

"We don't have eyes on her, and no demands yet" one officer confirmed, seeing the uniform "Seems like a robbery clean and simple, blown out of proportion. But... she might be a mutant. Or it might just be people talkin'. Never sure these days."

"Better safe than sorry" Maya nodded, then turned to Aiden "Go find a place where you can see inside and be ready to come in with backup."

Being told to take a deep breath wasn't a good -

"It'll be over before you know it. You know, the thing about the X-men these days is, if you show up on your own you're a vigilante, if you show up in a team and fancy suits, you are a superhero team. So. Stay back, look professional, and act on your best judgment if sh*t gets out of hand."

Over. Before he knew it. Quite possible, because if it took anywhere near as long as it felt his brain might just explode. Or maybe it had already, and he just hadn't noticed. Maybe he should go with that. It was marginally better than screaming like a little girl. He wasn't doing that, fortunately. Yet.

Oh, solid ground! Wonderful wonderful solid ground! Please, someone, anyone, keep that from ever happening ever again. Ever. Really. Ever. Fortunately, he kept his balance and didn't start kissing the ground - it was, honestly, standard filthy, disgusting city ground - and the cruel X-man who had dragged him here was busy talking to a cop, so he was safe. Mostly.

Okay. Somewhere he could see inside. He could do that. If he was looking inside, then he was outside. Outside was good and safe. Good for backup. Backup was good outside. Yup, staying outside was fine, just fine. He even managed to walk over to the bank and creep at the windows without slinking like the terrified coward he totally was. Ohgodtherewereabunchofpeopleonthefloor. He tried to make it look at least a little bit like he was just glancing back at everyone, not just flinching away from the sight in case they were all dead.

Yep, the kid definitely had some stage anxiety. Maya smirked as she walked back into the reflecting surface and told the police to hold their fire. Aiden would be fine outside.

Merging back into the mirror world she held her bow in one hand but did not reach for an arrow just yet. She positioned herself in one of those around-the-corner mirrors, behind the woman's back. Even if she whipped around and shot at her, she would have a split second to get out of the mirror before it shattered on her.

"Don't move" she said casually in a calm voice once she settled in the mirror "My name is Mirror. I'm with the X-men. You probably heard about us."

Everyone had heard about the X-men. They were high profile.

"Now there are two ways we can do this. Neither of them is the easy way, but one of them does not end with you getting an arrow to the knee. So. Think carefully about it."

Why on earth was there a baby on the counter?...

Ah, and there it was. Just an X man? Angela could relax. She turned around to the mirror, smiling at the... reflection? Hm. Well, the reflection was facing her, so it wasn't some sort of imitation vampire. She matched the reflection's aimed bow and arrow (really?) with her gun. Much easier to hold ready to fire, guns.

And that gave her time to survey the face. It took a moment to recognize; the reflection seemed distinctly more female than the father's pictures she'd found online. Well, that explained why she'd been so sure Alex was a daughter when she picked the current son up.

"Ah, your name is Gawain, isn't it? I'm so sorry about that. You should really leave now, though. Or else." Angela moved a step to the side. She wasn't actually pointing her gun at the baby now, it was still aimed at the reflection, but it would only take the slightest twitch to reaim. And the reflection would probably find it a bit difficult to shoot Angela past his kid and the solid counter; not much more than her head and shoulders--and, of course, gun--were unsheltered. "I'd quite prefer not to hurt children, but if you feel the need to put your own baby at risk, I'll leave protecting him to you."

.... It was really awkward standing out here looking in. People cowering on the ground. A woman standing. A female robber? Aiden had to admit that he hadn't really expected that. Still... she was robbing a bank, and that was wrong. Even if she had some really good underlying reason - food, medical supplies, shelter - she was going about it all wrong. There were other ways to get money.

He edged a little closer to the window, clearing up his view just in time to see the woman turn and point a gun at... a mirror. With Mirror. Bow versus gun. And his side had the bow.

Might be second-guessing all of this a bit right now. Just a bit. He couldn't hear, though. He could only stand there and watch with a distinctly different kind of nervousness than he had felt getting dragged through all those mirrors. Mirror was good at defusing situations like this, right? Even with - kids involved. The lady-thief had a baby, or at least what looked like one from Aiden's not-quite-distant-enough perspective. Something moving, anyway. Yeah, now would be a really good time for Mirror to show just how good she was at this sort of thing.

>>"Ah, your name is Gawain, isn't it? I'm so sorry about that. You should really leave now, though. Or else."

Well, that was a first. The lady recognizing Gawain's features in her face, that is. They did look alike, and most people assumed they were related, but not many actually called her out on being the same person before. Good for her.
Maya shifted a little closer to the edge of the mirror in order to hop out faster if needed.

>>"I'd quite prefer not to hurt children, but if you feel the need to put your own baby at risk, I'll leave protecting him to you."

Maya's eyebrows shot up and there was a moment of confusion as the looked at the baby in the basket and the woman behind it. What kind of a person hides behind a baby anyway?
A bad person, that's who.

"Lady ya've got this all wrong." she sighed. Her baby. Yeah. Right. Sure. As if. "I'm not a mother. I don't know who's child you've got there, and frankly, all ya're accomplishing is making it worse for yourself. Last warning, stand down."

Angela wrinkled her nose. "I should hope not, I'd rather not think how that would work. No, you're its father, obviously. A bit easier to lose track of them that way, isn't it?" She shifted a foot to give her better balance, and kept the gun pointed at the reflection.

"Now, you really should leave. You care that much about money, really? It's not even yours. I promise, if you go now and don't cause me any more trouble, I'll return the kid perfectly safe soon." Angela smiled. "I do keep my word." About leaving protection of the baby up to the reflection, too, if the reflection caught that implication.

Would watching crime shows help with this? Maybe it would at least give him an idea of what was normal. He was fairly sure that babies weren't usually involved. Especially apparently brought-by-the-criminal babies. What was up with that? Were they trying to give the kid lifelong issues? Being used in bank robberies probably did that. Aiden was no expert on kids, he'd never been closer than passing on one the street or anything like that, and he really didn't want to change that, but it had to do something to them.

The gun was still on Mirror. It hadn't fired? There was no shattering or dying, and he should be able to hear gunshots from here. Probably. They were loud, weren't they? They tended to be in games. He didn't want to find out. Especially with the whole general area in front of the gun's muzzle. Please no bullets.

>>"I should hope not, I'd rather not think how that would work. No, you're its father, obviously. A bit easier to lose track of them that way, isn't it?"

Maya's face fell in an expression of utter shock as she momentarily forgot about details like, for example, the gun.
...
A quick head count later, she felt the mirror world turn as warped as it sounded.

BECCA?!

>>"Now, you really should leave. You care that much about money, really? It's not even yours. I promise, if you go now and don't cause me any more trouble, I'll return the kid perfectly safe soon. I do keep my word."

"Don't hurt the baby" Maya said in a scared hurry, lowering the bow and taking the arrow off of it "I'll leave. Don't hurt it."

Holding both hands up, Maya backed away from the mirrorframe, and was gone.

Seconds ticked by, signaling that she was, indeed, gone.

And then, the moment the woman thought so, two hands came up from the shining, polished floor, and the next moment, both Maya and the robber were within the mirror, the X-man keeping a firm grip on her from behind.

"You shoot, we both die." she said. She hoped it was true. "Aiden. Hostages are free to go. Get in here and get the kid."

Angela continued smiling as the reflection looked shocked, backed down, and vanished. Perfect. That was how things were supposed to go. Find the threat, and send it o--

Angela snarled and twisted, dropping the gun and trying to claw at the figure that had grabbed her into the weird gray world. "You bitch, you lied! Let go of me!"