On a fateful morning several weeks ago, two young women had found themselves next to each other in the midst of a crowd rallying against the X-men. They had gone out for coffee, and they had talked.

It was hard to believe, Margo thought, that that was how it had all began.

Today, she was retracing her steps. She’d told Amelia, that day, that she knew some people who might be interested. Said individuals had been contacted. They were going to meet at Margo’s new second favorite coffee shop (because she was so, so loyal to the one she worked at) in— she glanced at her watch as she made her way down the street— about 20 minutes.

Amelia had been invited, of course, both to the meeting itself and to bring friends if she saw fit. The more people their vision of the new X-men reached, the better. It went without saying that she expected said friends to be trustworthy and to keep the whole thing quiet even if they decided not to be a part of it, but she more than trusted Amelia’s judgement on that.

There it was: the quaint little coffee shop called High Noon. It seemed as if she was the first to arrive, so Margo bought herself a drink and settled in the corner booth to wait.

Second place isn't so bad. Of course, it's no first. She arrived on time, but of course the person who had organized the event had gotten there early.

This whole plan didn't seem so covert to her anymore. It certainly wasn't a coup. For it to be a coup, the person they were trying to persuade to their cause would have to be opposed to the cause, and they'd have to want to overthrow him. As it was, they were trying to gain a foothold within the X-men, in order to influence change. And that wasn't a coup at all. Politicians do it all the time. It is about the cause. A good politician promotes their cause, and does what is best for it without worrying about self-gain. A good citizen should, too.

Had Margo wanted her not to talk to CS about it? She hadn't thought about it, but now that she did, if the girl didn't, that had wholly been a betrayal of trust. Of course, she spoke about 1 woman's opinion and passion, and had mentioned no one but herself. It'd read with what she started working towards when she got X-man membership. Amelia figured she'd be a good spokesperson. There would be sacrifices. There always are. She was a team player. If someone better suited for the part was present, she could run defense.

Amelia ordered her coffee, and sat down across the table from Margo. "Hey," she said. Cowboy Grade coffee, extra black. Aurum would approve. He'd taught her how to drink the stuff. Her brother was many things. Coffee connoisseur was one. "How many people are we expecting?" She figured they had enough space in the booth. Maybe they should have bought some cookies for a snack tray?

Baseball cap, check. Sunglasses, check. Ace, his feathered companion, check. Alright, he was sure it was safe to go out now. He was leaving ahead of Leo and Jiri, so he would be on his own till he could meet up with Margo at the coffee shop. He still felt some apprehension about leaving the mansion on his own. While the paparazzi and general stalkerish types had gotten bored and left the mansion alone, he couldn't be sure the same would happen on the outside.

Not only was he formally charged and then freed on the self-defense case, he was now Sam Johnson's son. The famed x-man was well known and polarizing. Now that the adoption was official he couldn't say that, that wouldn't be the reason for people bugging him in public. Still, with Ace he felt a bit safer, he'd have some warning.

Thankfully, his worry was for naught, or perhaps the lame disguise would enough to avoid a curious second glance and thus any bugging. Ace made it to the coffee shop before him, landing on the short fence that partitioned the patio area of the coffee place. His landing startled the coffee drinkers, some of whom whipped out their phones to snap pictures. This gave Alex a comfortable amount of time to walk into the shop unnoticed before calling Ace to land on his shoulder.

He spotted Margo and who he could only suppose was her friend. "Hey Margo."he smiled and raised his hand in greeting before taking a seat himself. He looked at the other girl and held out his hand, "I'm Alex, and you are?"

Amelia took the hand, and shook it. "I'm Amelia," she smiled.

The guy had a ball cap, sunglasses, and a bird. So far, he was the only person to show up. Amelia nodded to him. "You're the first to arrive. I guess the others should be here any minute?" She looked to Margo. The door, she did not look at. She felt like somehow, that would be rude.

Daintily, she sipped at her coffee. It put hair on her chest. Not really, but that would have been impressive. Bad. But impressive.