For the first time in her life, Maya was sneaking behind enemy lines.

She had heard about the Sanctuary before, but never ventured to the actual place; they didn't give a good enough reason for the X-men to bust in, and she was never in the mood for paying a friendly visit. People who lived there were not generally the friendly kind. People like Forte. People like Aura.

People like Alli and Baby X, apparently.

It took Eve a while to tell her that Allison lived in the Sanctuary. With the baby. Maya was less than happy about that, and spent significant time trying to calm down from her first plan of busting in and taking a baby.
Babies should be with their mothers, right?

Problem was, the young knight still felt responsible.

Which is why she decided to pay a visit, and offer to bury the hatchet. Preferably somewhere not under the Sanctuary.

She mirrorwalked her way in, hoping to avoid meeting all Sanctuay residents except the ones she was here to visit. It took her some sneaking and looking to find the right room. When she did, she knocked on the mirror first, hands held up to show peace and not looking in.

"Hey, um... Allison? It's me, Mirror. I just wanna talk. Can I come in?..."

Allison was not honestly sure whether having Alex or not resulted in more sleep deprivation. Sure, that was sort of horrible to think; the archetypal good mother wouldn't have rested at all while Alex was missing, but Allison was still human as far as that went. Not sleeping at all just wasn't an option; after a certain point her body would just ignore her and sleep anyway. Allison knew that and planned for it, so that she wouldn't pass out in the middle of talking to the police or getting on a train or something. Dramatic as that might have been, it would not have been overwhelmingly helpful.

Either way, it had been a few months since she got anything resembling a healthy amount of sleep. She'd known that would happen, but expecting it didn't actually make it any easier to cope with, so she still ended up curling up and dozing any second she could.

That might have been why she wasn't yet sleep deprived enough to lose her habit of waking up at the slightest noise. Or maybe she was just paranoid enough she'd never sleep heavily. Either way, something woke her up most of the way. She unfurled halfway, glanced around, and didn't see Aura. Or anyone. That woke her up completely, and Allison was standing next to Alex's crib a second later. Not a great achievement since it was only a few feet away, but it made her feel better while he looked around again. Alex, fortunately, was still asleep.

Oh. There. In the mirror. Well that explained why he'd been trying to get to it when they'd fought. Allison glared, even though she was mostly sure he wouldn't do anything to hurt Alex. Well... she, now, apparently. Whatever. "It appears you already are, so fine." Unless it was some sort of projection, rather than actual movement? That would... well, technically it might be slightly politer, but technically Allison already hated him--her--anyway, so she didn't really care.

>>"It appears you already are, so fine."

Maya turned and stepped out of the mirror, landing on her feet across the small room from Allison and the baby in the crib. Baby X was apparently sleeping. Maya made sure she was speaking softly, there was no need to wake up the kid.

"I just wanted to... I didn't want to leave things as we left off last time. I'm sorry for all the mess. I didn't mean to freak you out. And I'm glad you got your kid back. I just... what I said back then still stands. I'm a gender shifter and so is Alex. I want to help."

She made a point of not bringing up genetics just yet. That was a touchy subject.

Not a projection then, it seemed. Or maybe a projection followed by teleportation, but it ended up the same.

Hm... Allison wondered what her expression was called. Skeptical was the description her brain offered, but that didn't sound quite right. Skepticism implied doubting something, and Allison didn't doubt that... what was her name, Mirror? Not very creative, there. Allison didn't doubt that Mirror meant what she said, she just emphatically did not care. "Right. And how exactly do you plan to help?" Because Allison couldn't think of much. What she could think of she didn't like, though most of it wouldn't involve talking to her.

>>"Right. And how exactly do you plan to help?"

Allison was not taking the bait, and she was suspicious at best. Maya sighed and leaned back against the wall, using body language to signal she was not going to pounce for the baby.

"I was shifting before I was born. When I came out, my mother named me Maya. When I turned into a boy the next day, she named me Gawain."

She paused, looking past Allison to Baby X.

"You named your kid Alex because it works with both. That's a difference, and probably a good one too. I'm not trying to tell you how to raise your kid. But you're not gonna have a chance to talk to anyone else who grew up with Alex's powers if you don't talk to me. I wanna help because I know what that's like."

Well that explained a little bit. Maya was not a much more normal name than Gawain, but at least it explained why a supposed gender shifter had a name that was very much a boy's. The why ancient mythology question still needed an answer though. If Allison ever by chance met Maya-Gawain's mother, and cared enough to ask.

"Actually, I named them that because I like the name." Definitely better than Al, anyway, and Allison didn't want to give Alex exactly her name. Similar, yes, but not the same. She had enough of a problem with her name not being her own; no need to pass it on again. Maya-Gawain certainly wasn't getting to hear any on that reasoning though; Allison was mildly unhappy as it was with admitting her reasoning hadn't been backed by perfect knowledge of Alex. But pointing out that Maya-Gawain was assuming things she shouldn't be was worth it.

And speaking of assuming... no, actually, Alex didn't have the same powers as Maya-Gawain. It certainly didn't look like it, anyway. Maya-Gawain could scare off or run from danger; Alex just had to heal from it, and hope it didn't decide he was worth experimenting on. Alex's mutation required a lot more secrecy than Maya-Gawain's did.

The sex shifting--and Allison had to wonder if Maya-Gawain gender shifted too, or just didn't know the difference--would be important though, since that would be what Allison claimed was Alex's mutation. She really didn't want to talk to Maya-Gawain, but.... She pointed at a corner near where Maya-Gawain was. "There's a chair there." Under a few shirts at the moment, but Aura was close enough to Allison's size the difference shouldn't be noticeable even if she paid attention. And Allison, meanwhile, was going to be standing in between Maya-Gawain and Alex.

>>"Actually, I named them that because I like the name."

Well, that too. Maya smirked a little and nodded. Whether Allison really named the kid on a whim, or was just being contrary to piss her off, did not make much of a difference in the end. At least they were talking now.

>>"There's a chair there."

Maya moved some of the clothes off the chair to the bed, and then sat down, looking at Allison who was still standing between her and the crib.

"You can sit you know" she said, nodding at the bed "I'm not gonna take the kid, god knows I've had enough babysitting for a while. No need to yell at each other from a distance. Seriously I'm unarmed." she added, holding up her hands. She was wearing jeans, and a t-shirt under her jacket, and no weapons at all.

And Maya-Gawain noticed where she was standing. Well, Allison was hardly being subtle. Nor was Maya-Gawain in her reaction; apparently they weren't bothering with pretenses. Well that worked just fine for Allison; she was too tired to properly feign politeness anyway.

Speaking of which.... "Of course you have." That, again, Allison believed. Unless mirrors somehow allowed Maya-Gawain to time travel and take care of Alex before Allison had gotten them back, though, she also knew Maya-Gawain had tried to keep Alex anyway, and with that tiredness much fresher in her--his? How did pronouns adapt to tenses?--mind at the time. And as for weapons.... "Good. I am." Reminding anyone that she could kill was far, far away from being the smartest thing Allison could do. A few bottles of ink floated from her desk, over Alex's crib and into her hand anyway. Even if she didn't think weapons could be hidden somehow, or created, it had been very effectively proven that Allison was not nearly as strong as Maya-Gawain, and a few weeks of taking care of a baby and trying to find time to sleep would hardly have fixed that.

"So, what do you think I need to know?" Additional bonus to not being polite: they could get this over with significantly more quickly.

>>"Good. I am. So, what do you think I need to know?"

She watched the ink float over the baby crib and into Allison's hand. She still remembered their fight and the results of being hit with the ink. She nodded in acknowledgment, and sat back in the chair.

"A lot of things, honestly. Anything a kid learns about being a boy or a girl, Alex will have to learn twice, and at the same time. And all that before puberty even hits. And I'm not just talking about figuring out what she/he likes. Trust me, this might be New York City, but people are not as open-minded as you think they are. I was lucky to be shifting at regular intervals. Alex could shift any time, anywhere, and you have to teach them how to handle that."

They were not going the politeness thing, so she might as well say all of that.

"I'm not here to give you a crash course. That would be insane. I am here to offer to help as you go along. We don't have to like each other, you and I. We just have to agree that we both want the best for the kid."

Technically, the ink in bottles was slightly more useful than bullets next to a gun. Allison could open them, or she could smash them against something... maybe even expand the ink to break the bottles open. Regardless, it would take time that she normally didn't have to waste. She didn't have the concentration necessary to have a conversation, however blunt it may be, and hold the ink at the same time though, so in the bottles it stayed for now.

Well, that wasn't news to Allison. It was one of the earlier thoughts she'd had, in fact. Or mostly it was; Allison wasn't so convinced that Alex needed to learn how to be a boy and a girl. If they wanted to, sure, but if not? They wouldn't ever be able to depend on blending in anyway; certainly not if they were never able to control the shifting. In that case, why try? Why learn boys don't cry and girls don't complain and boys can't control themselves and girls can't be trusted if they would never have the benefits of fitting in anyway? Allison hadn't been sure she wanted Maya-Gawain's help to start with; it was seeming like a worse idea again.

They might not be feigning politeness, but Allison was in the habit of smiling anyway. She did, and let the bottles click together as she played with them. "That would be simple. What if I don't like how you think Alex ought to be raised? Best is rather subjective."

>>"That would be simple. What if I don't like how you think Alex ought to be raised? Best is rather subjective."

"Well, you're the mother, so you're obviously calling the shots" Maya noted, folding her arms. The ink was much more scary at first, now she was kind of over it. If this was going to become a fight, they would have to take it outside first anyway.

"Look, I'm just saying, I have been through most of what the kid's been through. And even though our other powers are different, it is literally my job to help kids train with their powers. And I... kinda feel responsible for Alex now. Not because of... you know. It's not genetics. It's just..." Maya searched for the word and then gave up with a sigh "... it's just me, I guess."

Allison could sort of understand that. Babies were designed to make every human nearby care for them after all, even without a similar mutation to back them up. That didn't mean she was at all pleased with it. "As far as I've seen, your idea of responsibility starts with trying to keep my kid away from me, and ends with sneaking into my room." You really suck at making good first impressions don't you, Maya-Gawain?

Maya-Gawain wasn't actually doing anything now though, so Allison shifted enough to lean against the side of her bed. Not actually sit down, but not standing entirely on her own either. Since any fighting she did would be with ink and not require her to move at all anyway it was irrelevant where she was and how she stood, as long as Maya-Gawain wasn't closer to Alex than Allison was and she wasn't in danger of falling asleep. "What do you think you'd actually do to help, anyway? Keep sneaking into my room whenever you feel like it?"

>>"As far as I've seen, your idea of responsibility starts with trying to keep my kid away from me, and ends with sneaking into my room."

"Fine, next time I'll hand a baby off to the first stranger that claims to be their mother." Maya snapped, then checked herself. There was no need to get pissed at each other. The talk had been going so well so far...

>>"What do you think you'd actually do to help, anyway? Keep sneaking into my room whenever you feel like it?"

"Hey, I had to get your attention somehow" she sighed "You think I'm happy to be here? I'm an X-man, Allison. Most people in the Sanctuary would shed me on sight."

And could, too.

"As for help, I'd offer to babysit, but I know you are not happy with that idea, not yet anyway. So how about... dunno. An open offer that you can call me and ask me anything anytime? I mean, not just questions. Anything else you need. Or, rather. Alex needs." she glanced towards the baby bed, and shook her head. "I have not planned this all out, okay? Work with me here."

"There is. A door." A door which Allison was pointing at for emphasis. "And oddly enough, Cafas has managed to come here with me several times and not been shredded. Or gotten in a fight. Or an argument. I guess that pink hair and the color changing eyes must just not be recognizable." Or, possibly, because Cafas had never actually come inside. But that would undermine Allison's point, and it was hardly like no one in Sanctuary could see outside until the sun set or anything.

"Most people here do not give a shit about the X men. You've never helped them or their friends, because you've been busy showing off how useful mutants can be in service to humans. You'll have to forgive them for not worshipping you." Them and Allison, though she'd be perfectly happy if Maya-Gawain decided not to speak to her again. "Most people here are still just random kids who were kicked out of their homes or college dorms, and adults that can't find a job."

Was she avoiding the topic? Maybe a little bit. She knew she ought to accept help, but... Allison really did not like Maya-Gawain.

>>"There is. A door. And oddly enough, Cafas has managed to come here with me several times and not been shredded. Or gotten in a fight. Or an argument. I guess that pink hair and the color changing eyes must just not be recognizable."

"Well yeah, but who doesn't like Cafas, he's adorable" Maya smirked. Seriously, Allison was getting hung up on her not using the door? There were people in here who could teleport through the phone for all she knew. Geez.

>>"Most people here do not give a shit about the X men. You've never helped them or their friends, because you've been busy showing off how useful mutants can be in service to humans. You'll have to forgive them for not worshipping you."

"That's funny, I didn't know any of my bosses were secretly human."

Now it was just devolving into a slap-fight. Maya was increasingly annoyed.

>>"Most people here are still just random kids who were kicked out of their homes or college dorms, and adults that can't find a job."

"Yeah, that's pretty much everyone at the Mansion too" Maya nodded "Except, you know. We serve the evil humans..."

Check yourself, Maya.

"Okay, fine" she said, throwing her hands up "You don't want my help, then don't take it. Your call. God forbid I ruin your distrust in people."