It had been a few days since the rescue and Aura had not spoken much, nor had she moved much except to eat and drink. Aura only could recall her time in captivity, her memories before that had been all but erased. Even disillusioned as she was it was still strange not to be under direct command. She understood now that her every action was not being monitored to be corrected if she stepped out of line.

The sounds of death and destruction from her seven year imprisonment echoed in her dreams and her mind and a part of her was mad at herself for surviving the ordeal, for doubting her former leader, despite all they had done. The urge to destroy something, to fight to run off her pent up aggression was strong but she could control it she knew.

Aura sat on the edge of the bed, her head resting on her arm's. A soft blue aura shining around her, not from fear but from reflex. So much was gone, her past, her childhood, her normalness. Aura knew she would never be normal, she recalled to much combat and fighting for it. Welling up in Aura was the anger over her past, over what she had lost as well as her future. Looking at her palm's she could see only the blood stains that had long since became permanent in her mind.

Space was limited in the base, but Rebecca was good in a pinch. There was always an open room or two available, because the X-Men lived unpredictable lives that sometimes demanded sudden, unexpected needs be filled. If needed, the conference room they used for team meetings could host a few people temporarily. They were not resource rich, but they were also never going to toss a lost, tortured mutant into the streets.

Aura, (which was all the girl called herself,) was one of the mutants they recently liberated from a sinister secret laboratory. The very thought of what had been done to fellow mutants against their will filled her with contempt for the organization funding such “research.” The X-Men had big challenges and a new enemy lurking on the horizon, but until then, it was important to tend to matters at home.

In the absence of a home to return to, (not that she could, in case she was being tracked down,) Aura was staying in one of the spare rooms. It was similar to Geo, Doc, and Combatant’s rooms; small, but with a hospital bed she (somehow) convinced a nurse to loan them. It was one of the many scenarios where Rebecca had to keep much of the story from the hospital staff, for everyone’s sakes.

The door to the room was not closed, so Rebecca pushed it slightly so she could see the other woman from the doorway. She knocked on the door frame to make sure her presence was known. ”Aura?” she asked, mustering up the warmest tone she could access. ”I wanted to check in. Are you…” Okay? That was a stupid question. ”Are you holding up?”

Aura's head snapped to attention as she heard the knock and without a thought she bgan to rise, her Aura faded untill it was almost invisible, she started to stand and her hand began to rise in salute. It struck Aura her as when she reached her feet that these people might use an entirely different salute. It was routine, drilled into her at an early age, as early as she could actually recall anyway. She dropped the salute recalling recently it was unneeded here.

"I am fine, physically. My mind is a mess, my memories before the facility have been swept away as if by a storm. The freedom offered in this place is frightening" she admitted opening the door the rest of the way. The idea of sleepng as long as she wanted, moving around he floor as she wanted even the knowledge that most conversations were now optional were all such strange ideas.

"But what do i do? I understand combat and how to follow orders not how to buy puppies at the mall. I feel so...lost" she said these feelings clearly strange and alien to her like her surrounding environment. She could only imagine how strange the areas outside this place really were. she knew she would get used them but it all still felt very strange to her.

Rebecca frowned at Aura’s quick reaction to salute her. Her goal was not to be looked at as an authority figure—not to the Lab Rescues. With her team, a salute sounded like a novel idea. Geo’s would come with waggling eyebrows, and Combatants would consist of one staunchly presented finger. They were not a military team, regardless of how she pushed them. If anything, they were a volunteer organization that occasionally advocated hitting people in the face.

Stepping into the room, Rebecca’s arms were crossed under her chest. Someone with psychological training might avoid positions that would convey being “closed off” when attempting to be supportive, but she was not Doc. The insectoid man would take some time with Aura as well, surely, but for that moment, she would have to settle for the emotionally-challenged X-Leader.

Being fine physically was a start, but it was not the main concern with anyone from the Lab. They were looking for memory issues, issues with thought, or problems with mutations. Those were issues Aura had. It was disappointing to listen to her call the base a space of “freedom.” Aura had one floor of a hospital to explore, but it was more than she had at the lab. Rebecca missed the old base; it would have been better not to bring Aura and the others from one medical facility to another, but they were adjusting nonetheless.

To someone without memories of her “real life,” the world was a big, intimidating place. ”It won’t be easy.” Of course, that would be the first thing Rebecca would point out, as if Aura was unaware of the challenges she was facing. ”It’ll take time. You can stay here as long as you need. I’m not big on ‘the mall,’ but you can get used to being around people here. Hell, the girls would probably love to be there to bring you back out there.” Raine and Cait wanted to bring Rebecca out of her shell, and she was only a self-imposed social shut in; helping Aura would be irresistible.

”Though full disclosure; there are no puppies, but we do have a kitten wandering around,” she advised with a smirk. It was a valid argument; if Aura was on edge, the last thing they all needed was Bijou getting impaled.

No it would not be easy she new. She was going to have to largely relearn a world she had all but been separated from. It was a challenge to be overcome and she was confident she would overcome it, eventually. She hoped she would do so with her more violent tendency's as well but was not sure how long that would take.

"while I do wish to explore outside I may wish to impose on you for a place to rest. It would be nice to meet some of the people here as well and expand my knowledge of things in the real world before I make any lasting choices" she replied with consideration.

"That is good to know. I Like animals" she said thinking she had seen the kitten a few times though had not tried to touch it yet. She at least recalled what cats were and for this she found some comfort to hold onto.

"I would be willing to help with your more dangerous work as well. I don't want their to be others like me if it can be helped" she said sounding more confident. Combat she knew and understood, it came naturally to her. "I would like to avoid killing if possible though" she commented wanting their to be no misunderstandings.

The way Aura spoke was so… proper. Even Rebecca’s accent did little to hide how not-proper she was. Stern and serious were in her wheelhouse, but polite was a different beast.

With her reentry into the world looming, Aura was carefully considering her options, and she wanted to know if she could stay at the base a while longer as she recovered. ”Of course,” Rebecca assured her. Saving people was a commitment, and did not end after a harrowing escape from a laboratory.

Aura was not looking to rest on her laurels, offering her services to the team. It was a small comfort to hear she did not want to kill, since the X-Men as a rule tried to shy away from wanton murder. ”Wouldn’t we all,” she replied quietly.

The idea had merit; Aura had a combat-ready ability, and the team could use more hands on deck. It was Aura’s ordeal that concerned Rebecca. They had no way of knowing what kind of tampering the lab might have done to the woman’s mind, and if it could make her a liability out in the field. ”Well, I won’t pretend we couldn’t use more help out on patrols…”

The best solution was to put her out there in a controlled situation. It was the only way to see what they were dealing with. ”If… and that is an if… I bring you out into patrols or missions… for the time being, you won’t be going alone. You’ll be assigned with a team member, and only with my go ahead.” Rebecca wanted to control the situation, and keep Aura with people she could trust to handle things if they went south. ”Am I understood?” She almost dipped into her mother voice for that last question.

The woman seemed warm and receptive. Aura picked up she seemed caring and she had the feeling had she not asked to join them they likely have let her live her own life and helped her establish something for herself. As it was the idea of being to far from the x-men bothered her.

Her suggestion went over better then she had thought it might. Aura had an internal need to belong and to serve that had been deeply ingrained into her.She was glad Rebecca had considered it so well. Aura wanted something familiar for herself and while her want to help others was sincere she did also want an excuse to fight. It was familiar to her and comforting. One thing super had done was trained her to fight and the use of her powers. Their was likely more she could not recall and she only hoped would come back in time.

"I will follow your orders as law or follow those 0f anyone you deem fit to lead. I understand entirely." she said feeling more comfortable with others calling the shots anyway. She really did not want to lead anything, in part because she had never done so and part because she did not fully understand the world.

"You should know my powers make me nearly invulnerable in hand to hand combat and i can deflect bullets as well. I lack any ranged options however." she said wanting Rebecca to understand her powers a bit better. Though it was hard for her to articulate it well. "Do you just guard this city or a bigger area?"[/color she asked curiously unsure how big or powerful the x-men actually were.

Aura seemed well intentioned, but she came across as… well, a little intense. Rebecca was everyone’s superior, yes, but she was not often treated with such reverence. Agnes made it a habit of routinely disregarding her requests, questioning her orders, and in general being a tremendous pain in her butt. Half of the team treated her like a mother, scolding them and giving them orders. Aura was treating her like a general. She was ready to remind Aura that they were not a military operation, but caught herself. The ex-captive was still adjusting to her new reality. She needed the real world introduced in baby steps.

”You will be following orders. But remember… we’re just people,” she reminded Aura. It was the truth in the military and it was the truth with the X-Men; they were nothing more than people in a role. ”Your input is welcome. You’ll be a member of a team; not just ‘a subordinate,’ so remember that.” Rebecca was not in the business of denying her team’s feedback, and while she had the final say on team actions, the X-Men were usually trusted with a level of autonomy outside of her authority.

More questions followed, and they made Rebecca uncomfortable. Aura wanted to know the state of the X-Men. In a normal situation, the question would make her uneasy, since she did not like reflecting on the shape the team was in. This was not a normal situation; they had picked Aura up from a shady lab complex that had tampered with her mind. It was still a risk having her at the base, much less providing her with useful intelligence. Whoever was running that lab would love to know just how small the team was.

”This team patrols New York, primarily,” she answered, leaving the vague implication that there might be more X-Men somewhere outside of New York. ”New York has plenty of crime and plenty of mutants in need, so we stay busy.”

There had been a time, back when Rebecca joined the team, when their reach extended internationally. The X-Men had a similar number of members, but their resources were greater. Chrysanthemum funneled some funds from the company she inherited from her father, and she was sure Arclight had a benefactor supporting the team. Nowadays, Chrys’s will could not list the X-Men as beneficiaries, and any other benefactors had not reached out to Rebecca, so they were on their own. The jet they had was destroyed in the same blast that wiped out the team, leaving them grounded and local.

The idea of having input on the team was something that Aura had to wrap her head around. She was use to being told t do something and being expected to do it, her opinions or thoughts basically being irrelevant. While she knew Rebecca and the others were much different and better people then Super but the 8idea their leadership was so different was something Auras mind had simply never considered. "I will try, it will certainly take getting use to" she said turning he idea over in her mind.

"I'll familiarize myself with the city's layout then" she said considering knowing the area would help her respond and escape much more easily then otherwise. She wanted to as efferent as possible and the more she knew the better that would be. "I am grateful for the trust you are willing to grant me. I will earn it. Are groups like Super common ?" she asked unsure if their were more groups like super.

"So we what tie them up and let the police come get the criminals we catch?" she asked suddenly realizing she had no idea how that procedure worked. She was really hoping super had nothing to do with the process.

It had been over a year since the last time Rebecca added anyone to the X-Men team roster, and there were some questions she hated answering. She was not looking to keep secrets, but the state of affairs always seemed lacking when explained to someone seeing how they operate for the first time.

The question of what to do with criminals was disappointing. In an ideal world, Rebecca would want to hand anyone they apprehend over to the police directly, but that would never be realistic. As firmly as they held on to the moral high ground, the X-Men were vigilantes. To the police, they were the same as the lawbreakers they apprehended, and some police might believe them to be worse as “unchecked superpowered individuals.”

”Yeah, we find some way to get them to the police. Anonymous tip, dropping them on the precinct doorstep. I’ve been a fan of hanging them from a lamp post in the past. Someone will call the police eventually.” Rebecca shrugged; how criminals got from point A to point B, but only one thing was consistent. ”But never engage with the police. We aren’t looking for attention.”

Rebecca considered her other question, and the answer felt just as lackluster. ”As for SUPER… we honestly are working on figuring that out. Up until the lab, it was something we have not heard of. But we know now, or at least we’re figuring it out.” They gathered what they could, but there was not exactly time to dig through all the files and resources to get a well-versed understanding of their new threat. Were they even a new threat? For all Rebecca knew, they were operating under her nose for years. ”When we know more, we’ll figure out how to deal with them, and groups like them.”

"So basically restrain them in a way that does not endanger them" she said almost more to herself. She absorbed the words and mad ensure to recall them, she was happy it seemed to align mostly with how she wanted to do things, though she would have been happier if the authorities seemed to be more on their side. "I'll stay away from the police as much as possible then and try to be discrete about things" she said mostly sure she could do that.

"Yea I am afraid I likely can not add much. If I ever did leave the facility, it is no longer a part of my memory. Plus I never thought to question any of it back then, not until they killed her" she said recalling the frog mutant fondly. It had all started with kasumi, her doubt, her questioning and internal buried need for vengeance on Super.

"Before you guys came I was in love with one of the other mutants held there. A woman named Kasumi, they killed her in their experiments on us. It may be best to exclude me from such missions involving Super, I can not guarantee I can control my need for revenge on them" she said knowing she was risking being able to help the X-men by revealing such but it was not in Aura's nature to lie or mislead people, she was naturally honest. "They stole a lot from me" she said looking at her own hands. She could see the blood on them even if no one else could. She did not have the clearest idea of what she had done but she knew she had killed while with super.

Aura was understanding the rules in theory. It was a promising sign that she was not going to get into altercations with the NYPD. The X-Men were a small, but tight ship, and the moment Aura proved to be a liability, she would be handled as such. Until that moment came, Rebecca wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt. She had experienced true trauma, and suspicion would do little for her mental or emotional recovery.

There was something honest about Aura, or something that appeared honest, but once again, benefit of the doubt. She was missing chunks of her memory, but she was candid with the memories she did have, even when they hurt. The loss of the mutant Kasumi hurt. Rebecca could hear it in Aura’s voice, and she empathized.

As Aura explained what happened, Rebecca drifted over to the edge of the bed, taking a seat next to her newest charge. She had a point; putting Aura anywhere near SUPER could result in a ****fest she was not ready to go all in with. If they were going to deal with some terrifying shadow organization, the fights had to be picked on her terms. ”I’ll keep you clear of it whenever it’s within my power, Aura,” she assured the woman.

Calling her by name brought up the second issue Rebecca had been waiting to discuss. ”Now Aura, I know a lot is missing… but do you have a civilian name? One you can remember?” It was probably a longshot, but it had to be asked. ”Our team’s survival depends on keeping our public and professional lives separate. We’ll call you Aura in the field, but outside of missions… we are going to need something else to call you so we’re not outing your identity on a daily basis.” It would be a more pressing concern when they took Aura out of the hospital more often, but she wanted to address it beforehand.

"None i can recall, i don't even have an address i could give you to find my parents and figure it out that way" she said in response. It was odd she had never giving her name much thought but no looking at it it did bother her she could not recall it. The past few years she only been called Aura and could never recall being called anything else, other then an as often used subject number but she had a feeling that was not helpful either. Kasumi she could not recall of it was her real name or a mutant name but she knew she did not want to take the name of a fallen friend.

"I can adopt one however, though i would have no documents" she said considering the idea. She had no idea what was suitable, most of the people she had talked to the past eight years had all used code names. Aura was sure much like her most of them had had some form of memory wiping done to them. The name Noland came to mind but she knew right away that it was a name that she did not like at all, in fact their was a pain attached to it she did not like at all but could not not grasp why.

"I am only worried about helping our kind however, i don't need more then this room between missions, though a larger training space might not hurt" she said looking around at the walls. Aura dud not want to damage things in here, as spartan as it was, for Aura this place was a paradise of beautiful freedom. "I would imagine their is always something to be done, just assign me to everything time will allow. the truth of it was and it played across her face as well as ripples in her soft blue aura. She was scared and she knew it even if she would not fully admit to herself. Walking into combat she could do, but starting a normal life seemed so vast so terrifying.

"However if it is needed i will do so" she said her aura still looking like a soft lakes waves, reflecting her fear of the idea and lack of belief she could do it.

Aura had no name and no past. She was the truest definition of an unknown quantity, which was never easy to accept. Unknowns were dangerous, and Rebecca really hoped she would not regret her choices in the near future.

”Documents are not my big concern right now. We’ll legitimize you when we figure things out,” she said truthfully. Integrating Aura back into society was going to be a process, and until they got a better hang of basic societal and cultural rules and customs, Rebecca was not going to waste time thinking about Aura’s identification. Plenty of people walked around New York without licenses, since no one in the city seemed to drive. No one would question her lack of identity if she refrained from making a scene. God, she hoped Aura would avoid making any scenes. ”It’ll just make life easier if we have something to call you on and off the clock, is all.”

One small silver lining was how low maintenance Aura was, (if Rebecca ignored the reality that Aura was her responsibility to keep fed.) The room suited her needs, which was good, since it was not much of anything. ”We have a training area. We’ll get you situated in time. I appreciate your gusto here, but… you just came from an ordeal. I’ll assign you tasks in time, but we’re going to take this one step at a time, got it?” Aura seemed well intentioned, but until they knew her better, caution was the best choice.

”So,” she began, trying to keep the topic of Aura in combat off the table for the evening, ”Is there any name you think you can handle being called occasionally?”

"As you wish" she said. Aura wanted to feel and be useful and knew the delay would not be easy but could see Rebecca's side of it as well. "Your saying i should take time to relax, recover and adjust before U go out there?" she said trying to confirm what she was being told. It made sense to her but she still wanted to be able to prove she was useful and would be a benefit to the team.

She nodded not really agreeing but knowing this woman was her leader now. "Well i had a friend named Solkat i think, Does that work?" she asked trying to recall if Solkat had been an actual person or not or for that matter a mutant name, the latter started sounding more plausible after she thought about it.

"Or Savra Amberwing has a nice sound to it as does Xion Xin" she said considering her options and unaware of how much all of them would stuck out. "Or maybe Alpha or Solarria or Mai'aria" she said saying the names as they came to mind. Aura had decided finding the name would be her first accomplishment. She waited to see which one caught Becca's attention prepared to shorten her list to those Rebecca seemed to respond best to.