As the large golden doors slid shut behind her, Isabel let her gaze wander for a moment, taking in the surroundings once again after having been away for a while. She kept an eye on the cat as it strutted about, a small amused smile crossing her features as she watched it. Cats always walked around as if they were the boss in whatever atmosphere they entered into. It was both curious and amusing to watch a creature that acted in such a way. Well, that was just one of those animals that knew exactly what it wanted.

Walking casually through the foyer, she gave a small nod to the brunette woman behind the front desk. It wasn't the girl that was usually there- now what was her name again? Lisa? Yeah, that sounded about right. Anyways, this woman wasn't Lisa, but instead one of those girls that filled in when the blond woman wasn't available. That didn't mean she was any less efficient at the job, that Lisa woman had just proved to fit the position a little better, or at least that's what Isabel assumed. She was probably showing some potential residents around the Sanctuary. That's usually where she was if she wasn't at the front desk working on files and new applications that have been passed to her.

Keeping up her leisurely gait she began making her way down the hallways, making sure that she didn't lose track of the feline as she walked, not wanting to end up losing it within five minutes of walking through the doors. The cat had been good at following her so far, so she didn't really think it would be any large issue for it to continue doing so.

Coming upon the recreational area that she would have had to pass through anyways to get to where her room was located, she quirked a brow slightly at the group that had gathered there. Lisa was there, indicating that it may be one of the routine tours. Two members of the group she didn't know, but she easily recognized Syn and Abyss. "Hey guys. What're you all up to?," she greeted amiably, giving a little wave, acting as if she'd never just up and disappeared on them. She gave the blond woman a small nod in greeting as the secretary turned to look at her before she looked down to see the cat, a bit of confusion crossing her features. "Uh, it followed me home?" Isabel offered, giving a little grin and a shrug.

((ooc: Continued from "The case of the missing pants".))

Security cameras and squeaky-clean. Those would be my adjectives of choice for this place. And if those aren’t adjectives, per se—I think at least the second one is—well, then... I have mentioned I’m a high school drop out, right? Yeah. In any case, the place wasn’t as bad as a few blocks of an active imagination had made it out to be. It smelled a little like a hospital crossed with a YMCA and didn't have nearly as many dead cops stuffed into closets as I'd been picturing.

We went down the hall, and I met my first official mutants. My Isabel doesn’t count—I didn’t know what she was when we met. Plus, she’s... my Isabel.

I knew they were mutants because I was purring. I was purring because that’s how I laugh when I’m catting. I was laughing because that big guy there was red. Bright red. We’re talking Santa Claus red. Red!

My Isabel greeted the group like she knew them. At least one of them—the woman who looked like a receptionist and smelled like jasmine—was looking at me like maybe there was a no-pets policy. "Uh, it followed me home?" My Isabel offered by way of explanation for my own furry presence. Time to make friends, Calley?

Time to make friends.

Turning up the purr to full volume, I picked out a likely candidate: the girl with the fun red streaks in her hair. Why the girl? Because Santa Claus was red, the receptionist looked like she already didn’t care for me that much, and the two guys were guys—and guys, as you might recall, tend to be a lot more evil than girls. I stalked up to the safest one in the bunch and twined myself between her legs. Pet the kitty. Love the kitty. Let the kitty stay in the building.

Dominic was getting worried about Fade. She hadn't checked in and there wasn't a chance for him to communicate to her. He quickly pressed the button down in his ear to start the com, whispering as best he could, turning away from the group and pretending to bend over to tie his shoe.

"Fade. We need to move out soon. What's your status? Have you found anything?" Dominic stood up once again and as luck would have it, the young lady seemed to have some sort of dizzy spell. The attention fell to her. 'Deathstar's brother lives here and not at the mansion? She failed to mention that... Or is she not who she says she is? Just promoted to the X-Men training too.'

Before I knew it I was in the air and seeing red. Santa had removed me from the ground. I like the ground. It’s nice and stable—never tries to pull a quick one on you. Now Santa here, I never even saw those big red hands coming. And now I’m in the air.

Nice Mutant Santa Claus. Good Mutant Santa Claus. Don’t eat the cat and I swear I’ll stop eating those cookies people put out for you at Christmas. OH DEA R GOD I think he’s smiling. I hope that’s a smile. Hello, teeth. "You stalking Isabel?"

Yes. Yes, I am. But I promise to be a good boy for the rest of the year if you’d just not eat me and I’ll be a good boy for two years if you would just set me down and—

I freeze. There’s something rubbing my head. And I have no idea what it is. It reminds me of a monkey tail. Santa Claus is a monkey? Take that, Creationism.

What disturbs me most is how nice a monkey tail petting feels. I... never knew.

A miracle: I’m on the ground again, unscathed, and actually still purring. Stupid cat reflexes. Stupid awesome monkey tail.

I think that’s all the friend making I’m up to. I take up a safe position next to Isabel’s legs and survey the group again. These are exactly the people I’ve been actively avoiding for two years. Good idea, Calley, trying to get them to pet you. That’s not a recipe for a nervous breakdown at all.

Raphael nodded, following Lisa around to the cafeteria area, noting the arrival of another resident of the Sanctuary. He gave her the same once over that he gave everyone he met and let his eyes drift to the cat that followed her. He immediately wondered if she had given the cat something to eat... cat's normally only followed someone because they were the source of an easy meal.

He turned back to Lisa, his focus of attention was on learning about the Sanctuary, though making note of those he saw here was just as important. "What sort of meals can be gotten here? Is there a set menu, or what?"

He watched Lisa for a moment, then let his gaze wander over the other members of the group. From Syn and Abyss to Isabel and the cat, normal residents of a safe haven for mutants. He was certain Fade had likely found something not on the public tour. "What about special needs? Diabetics, vegetarians and the like?"

"I has been a while, hasn't it? But, unfortunately for some, I'm not all that easy to get rid of," Isabel replied with a smile as Abyss addressed her. Ah, so it was a tour. Just as she'd expected. And so the two people she didn't know must be potential new residents. One of them was certainly asking enough questions to make it appear that way. Good thing Lisa was so good at her job. She was always able to answer just about every question anyone asked her, and her personality was very pleasant. She fit her position very well.

She looked down amusedly at the cat as he came to rest back near where she stood after his little encounter with the Big Guy. "Yeah, he followed me all the way from Central Park. Maybe it's because I've got a ribbon in my pocket that's been designated as a new cat toy, or maybe I've just been fortunate enough to make a new friend. Who knows?" she answered again before giving her head a little shake at the inquiry of a name for the feline. "Nope, no name yet. I've just been calling him Kitten. Not the most creative thing that I've ever come up with, but it serves efficiently enough as a title, for now at least."

((Sorry, again, been awfully busy, can't wait for school to end))

Fade continued to make her way around everywhere, but she could not see anything that would indicate that this place was a bad place. It was all so confusing. So were they friendly or not? She decided to rumage through someone's room, so she walked inside a random room with the door open and began looking through stuff. Nothing. So she walked on more and continued on her search. Afte rmaybe 9 rooms of searching, running into some rooms that were occupied, she finally found a clue. It was completely on accident as she was backing up to see something on a shelf when she tripped over a small waste basket. When the was picking up the trash, she noticed a piece of paper that was glued to the bottom of the basket...odd...but not as odd as what it read, now, since Fade didn't really go to school, she didn't remember how to read well. So she spent her time, attempting to sound it out.

"K-Ka-Kin-King Pa-harma-Pa-harmacultivals?" Not knowing what the last word said, she grabbed a pen, turned her hand visible for only a few seconds as she jotted down what it said next to a few other things she had written and she put everything back and left. More rooms, no more clues. She was failing miserably at her mission. As she rounded a corner, she twisted and turned the words written on her hand through her mind and she tried to place where she had seen it before. Then it dawned on her, she remembered that back in her peak days, when stealing was so much fun for her and she targeted areas that made a big fuss and got alot of people to buy stuff from them or simply enough money-packed buildings. She remembered stealing from it before, and that was how she was caught because one of the cops that was there buying something happened to be a mutant as well, and although he never stated he was, he had a highened sense of smell, sight, and sound, so he was able to detect her when she attempted to grab stuff and book out of there. Now that she knew what it was, she jogged her memory for where it was. Finally, it snapped and Fade began to run out of there, searching for the quickest way to get to this building. She would tell the others later.

She snuck onto a bus and climbed onto a seat, keeping away from people until the bus became too packed and she had to climb out of a window and onto the roof of the bus, cursing under her breath, but enjoying the wind. After a good few minutes, the areas around her became familiar and brought up many memories. Then, something familiar caught her eye. It was the King...something... She turned her hand visible and checked the spelling dozens of times before making her way off the bus when it stopped at the closest bus stop. She crossed the street caustiously walked towards that KP place to check it out. What was this KP place? It could have just been writen down reminding the person to get medication, or the bar because one of the mutants saw another that was really hott, but no point in waving off everything, better safe than sorry. And since the Sanctuary gave her no indication of the Sanctuary's intentions...the bar and KP were her only hopes, so they better work...

'We're fully capable of meeting the needs for people with such illnesses as diabetes. For the types of meals served here they do have a daily menu but if you wanted something not on the menu then they would prepare it for you unpn request." Lisa quickly layed Raphael's questions to rest.

"Nice to see you again Isabel. I'm glad you're not easy to get rid of," Syn stated with a slight laugh. She noticed the cat but didn't think much of it and so she didn't comment on the subject. In stead she was still trying to learn about their guests. Raphael seemed to be to more talkative of the two. That was for sure.

Raphael nodded to Lisa's response, shifting his duffel bag from one shoulder to the other. "What of costs? I take it this is free as well? Is there anything set in place to ensure someone does not abuse it, such as... like a college meal point plan? And where is next on our tour?"

As Raphael asked these questions he moved into the cafeteria a little bit more, getting a feel for the place and just generally looking around. It looked a lot like many of the other cafeterias he had been to, plenty of eating space and a line where you told the chefs what you wanted. Not a bad setup at all.

They would be done with this tour soon, no doubt. 'Come on, Fade. We don't have much time lef...AAH!' Suddenly his ear piece and most likely Raphael's gave a slight squeal from a feedback sound. Nothing audible to anyone else. It was indicating that one of the coms was far from the base which was in the car. And since Raphael was next to him... Wires had involuntarily began to protrude from his fingertips because of the sudden scare, but only a few centimeters. He carefully retracted them.

'Where the hell is she going?' Dominic looked down at his watch in attempt to prove they actually were on a schedule. "Wow, I didn't realize it was this late. Raph, we better get going. Our girls aren't gonna want to wait around at that restaurant forever." He turned to Lisa with a smile. "Thank you very much for the tour. Is there a brochure you could give us on the way out?"

It is un-normal-cat-like to drool. So I didn’t. But that cafeteria smelled like food. Real food. Not hot dogs or trash can pickings or mice or pigeons or bats. It smelled a little like powdered sugar donuts, but that was just a plus. How long has it been since I’ve eaten real food that hasn’t hit the ground first? (My generous Detective Cassandra’s wonderful donuts aside.) My little kitty gaze was locked reverently upon the dinning line. I think, somewhere up there, I smelled something smothered in teriyaki sauce... something covered in cheese... and oh, could it be? Sauerkraut! Did they have Ruebens? I padded closer, entranced, and jumped on a table to see.

Heaven.

Suddenly, I was finding myself very, very interested in the answers to the talkative man’s endless questions.

“What of costs? I take it this is free as well?” He was asking, amongst other things.

What else is free? What did I miss? Wait, is that a salad bar? What the kind of homeless shelter has a salad bar? My mind answered for me: the best kind of homeless shelter. I tilted my head, and decided with a little twitch of my tail that I agreed with myself. I swear, if they’d just let me eat from this place once, I’d forget all about the fact they’re probably hiding murderers in here. I mean, really, what’s a few dead bodies between friends?

Sauerkraut is so beautiful... but those servers really wouldn’t appreciate a little white and black furball pushing a tray past them, would they?

Just then, the quiet guy spoke up. "Wow, I didn't realize it was this late. Raph, we better get going. Our girls aren't gonna want to wait around at that restaurant forever." Well if that isn’t the most tried-and-true excuse ever. "Thank you very much for the tour. Is there a brochure you could give us on the way out?"

Wait, talkative man is leaving? He can’t leave. He’s asking good questions! The tour can’t end; I just got here! I hop off of the table, and race over to tangle myself, purring, in talkative man’s legs. You know you love this place; there’s no rush to leave; keep asking those questions of yours, buddy. I want to know the answers, too.

Lisa was about to answer Raphaels questions when his parnter seemed to be rushing them off. "Oh yes of course you can grab a brochure from the front desk if you'd like." She then thought tha tmaybe by asnwering one of Raphaels questions it might help compell him to want to stay here at some point. "To answer your question about abusing the cafeteria; no we don't use points or punch cards here. Yo can eat as often as you want here. We keep things well stocked."

She gestured for everyone to follow her back to the front desk with a sweet smile on her face. "It was very nice having you tour our facility. Should you decide to stay you'll know where things are, and remember...everyone's welcome here."

Syn continued to remain quiet and let Lisa do all the talking but she did catch Wire twitch for a split second. Maybe he had a bad itch or maybe it was something else. She watched them walking down the main entrance hall and just before they got to the doors she broke her silence. "Oh and should you see Deathstar again please tell her that her brother and sister would like to know how dear ole mom and dad are doing. Won't you? We do miss our beloved sister." She finished with a wicked smile and a parade queen wave.

Dominic was seriously concerned now. Brother and sister? 'Perhaps a falling out then. That seemed like saracasm to me...,' he thought in regards to how Syn inquired about Deathstar. He gave a nod to Raphael with a quick smile to Lisa and the others before heading out the front door and to their car. He quickly got inside the car and waited for Raphael to do the same, turning the car on. "Fade where are you headed??" Dominic asking frantically, hoping she was all right, hadn't been captured, and now was being moved. "Are you ok?"

Raphael did not have his ear-piece in, as it was nestled nicely in his pocket at the time, and did not hear the squeal that indicated that Fade had moved beyond the radio's range. He merely assumed Fade had finished her job as Wire mentioned leaving to meet up with their girls. Raphael gave a small shrug, looking to Lisa as she answered his question just after Wire's motion to move things along.

"Probably best to keep the ladies happy," and then down at the cat as he came and intwined himself in Raphael's legs. Raphael shifted his duffel bag and bent down to scratch the cat between the ears. "I'm sorry kitty, I'll be leaving. Though this place does seem to be genuinely out to help folk, which means I'll likely be back."

He stood up straight after a few more quick scritches to the cat's head and then carefully carried himself away from the cat and the cafeteria after the tour group. As they reached the front desk Raphael collected the brochure from Lisa and nodded to her comment. "I can't speak for others, but I like the feel of this place. Fare you well."

He turned to leave, following Wire out as Syn called out her comment. He turned his head to catch sight of the wicked smile and parade queen wave, and responded. "If I run into her again, of course I'll pass the message along."

He climbed into the passenger seat as Wire was frantically calling over the radio. Raphael had assumed that everything was going nice and as planned, and this made it obvious that it was not. "Wire, calm down. Your windshield is transparent and the cameras are outside as well, infact... We likely should go ahead and pull out and drive off..." he hated saying it, but to keep up the disguise of potential residents leaving to meet up with their girlfriends, it would not be good to sit here in the driveway. While it might not have sounded it, he was worried about Fade. He dug his own radio out of his pocket, as he put his seat-belt on, and plugged it into his ear, acting like he had just put in a blue-tooth headset. He began his own short speech. "Jenny, hun, if you hear this... head to," he listed off an italian restaurant no more than a couple blocks away. He hoped Wire also caught his reference and would drive there.

Once the guests had left Syn turned to Lisa. "Find the other Order members and tell them I need to meet with them in the War Room, but be discreet as we don’t know who may be listening." Lisa nodded and went right to work. She called each of the different sections of Sanctuary on the internal phone lines searching for the members of The Order.