Ashton’s eyes drifted around the room as he drank his beer. People were arriving left and right. A pretty redhead in a pretty red swimsuit—and oh wait. Was she pregnant? He passed his gaze on to the next person. (And before you judge, and figure he had things against pregnant women, no. It was more the idea that some woman with a baby bump most likely knew some man who had put it there. Which meant that, more often than not, they were taken. So he moved on out of Respect.) so there.

The next person was a blonde in a green swimsuit with a teeny skirt. She spoke to the redhead. Ashton moved on, just people watching for the moment. Seeing who knew who, and how they interacted. Listening to the music.

Auburn haired girl, dark-haired girl in a cute honeycomb-themed swimsuit (was there a story there?), another blonde, a dude. He hopped his gaze over to several other interesting people who had filed in while he hadn’t been paying attention. A woman with leopard print skin walked hand in hand with a man with zebra stripes. Had they changed themselves just for the combination, or were they simply made for each other, he wondered. They were followed by a man with a giraffes neck. Part of their party? A man with vibrant red skin strutted his stuff into the room in a European bathing suit, next. Um. Okay. Ashton turned his focus back to the people around the bar, and settled back on the woman with the space kitty kit. She was talking to the blonde he’d noticed briefly, from earlier.

He thought about approaching, to join in on their conversation, but... decided it was likely private. What with the way they kept looking at each other with purposeful, questing looks and all. So he’d just talk to them later if the night went that way. No reason to be weird and hang around the bar, waiting for lulls in conversations to stick out his hand and say hi. The night was young, and so was he. Har dee harr harr. He finished his beer and placed it gently on the bar top for disposal. Then, he sauntered off into the party to find someone interesting to speak with.

He headed for the outskirts of the room. What was this auction thing about? Ashton stopped a few feet away from the woman in the white bikini. The one with the dark hair and the beer.

”So what’s this auction thing about?” He smiled at her. ”I skipped the required reading that highlighted all the events of the night. Just saw hot tub, and planned accordingly. People just bidding on... what, art and certificates for painting classes and rock climbing lessons? Never done a silent auction before.”

He’d heard of silent auctions, yes. But participated? No. He usually avoided parties that were about that, on principle. They were usually for the social elite. Or small churches. Not that he was opposed to bidding on a tray of brownies if push came to shove.

At least one person Sveta had been looking for showed up tonight. Maybe the party was not totally useless, after all. Sure, Noel was more than a little turned around, and wearing a cat bikini, but at least it had been confirmed that she was not dead in some ditch or in a SUPER lab.

>>”None taken. An’, yeah. Michael was deaged. Havin’ t’ spend a lot of time relearnin’ how BlacTac operates. Michael’s here now. In Haven. Y’ll see him here tonight.”

"Oh, great." Sveta sighed. Great, for being alive and making an appearance, and 'great' for being de-aged. Michael was a good security person, trustworthy and effective. If the teenage version was anything like teenage Sam, though, she was going to need to look into additional options.

They walked to the bar together. Sveta got a refill on her drink.

>>”How many people from Haven have been deaged?”

"I have no clue. More than I can do without. Definitely more than my sanity can handle." she frowned, scanning the crowd for other familiar faces.

There was a sigh in response to Ranger’s revelation that Ranger had also deaged. Something told Ranger that there was more going on. ”We lost about the same amount of time. Ten years. Worse than some but not as bad as others. We’re both in our twenties… I know someone that went from their thirties t’ less than ten.” And that person was now working at BlacTac. The post deaging world made no sense sometimes.

Ranger was passed her drink and she sipped the tea while Svetlana answered her question. She didn’t know how many were deaged. Ranger nodded. The source of the kidnappings and deagings were something Ranger was keeping her ear to the ground for, for SUPER. It was a shame Svetlana didn’t know.

It was also nifty that Ranger could taste the veracity of Svetlana’s statement. Instead of having to wonder if the woman was telling the truth or holding something back… Ranger was able to just taste it and move on to enjoying the flavor of her sweet tea unadulterated. ”I guess it’s a good thing y’r dealin’s with Michael were through his business. His deagin’ didn’t affect Haven security too much. So y’ can do things like this,” Ranger gestured to the room, ”An’ have one less thing t’ worry about while settin’ it up.”

Jude had been the one running BlacTac during Ranger’s absence. Hopefully he was able to do a good enough job to keep Svetlana from being too inconvenienced.

BlacTac’s reputation was everything. Its ability to court new clients was based on how well it handled its current clients. Haven being the largest. With SUPER not having placed Ranger back as a mole in Haven, there was no need Ranger couldn’t maintain the professional relationship. In fact, it was better that she did. If Haven had started looking for a mole it was better to maintain the cover of being security.

Parties. Saphirus was not fond of them. He was more of a dive bar, drink with a couple of friends kinda guy. So, a social event filled with minglers and people of influence wasn't exactly his cup. Why was he at said social event, then? Well, it was an easy event to get into, and he'd been meaning to lake a peek at Haven ever since the incident at the bowling alley.

Why had they wanted to attack this place? It was known for it's charitable acts toward mutant kind. Could it be as simple as that? Maybe.

As far as the hot tub theme went, he was also not interested, so he would look like a flamingo in a mud pit among the swim wear toting teenagers in his full X-Men regalia. He'd been keeping an eye out for opportunities to sneak into the offices or something to snoop around, but it turned out a full decked out super hero was a bit of an eye catcher. Not his best call.

As he finished up yet another conversation thanking him for his service and telling him his new uniform looked great, he turned to try and find a corner to hide in near the bar. He pushed past the bar, stepping around a young woman in a cat bikini to find a place to settle and get a good vantage point to watch the rest of the room. Maybe he would see someone he would ply for information.

As he sat, his thoughts went back to the little one at home with grandpa... He felt guilty, leaning on Colin so much, especially with Shelby still missing. Jees... what a mess. And here he was looking for more trouble to get into. Brilliant.

When events popped up around the city that called for money to be spent or donated in order to help someone, or in this case, a growing group of people, Andrea typically wanted to know. She wasn't the best at keeping up with those things all on her own, seeing as she did have a very demanding job, but the group of people she worked with on the side- other volunteers who sometimes thew events like these themselves- were much better at finding charitable events to throw her at.

When Lisa had told her that she had heard of an auction through the grapevine benefiting the sudden surge of de-aged people that had popped up all over the city; some of whom she had personally tried to help through the confusion when they appeared confused and disoriented in hospitals; she had been all too ready to jump on it. Lisa had sent her an email with key information that she had skimmed through while preparing, which... well, she was regretting not reading a bit more closely.

Everyone... was wearing swimwear.

Well, almost everyone. There were a few who weren't, but the overwhelming majority was, and that made the poor Greek feel like she'd shown up to a costume party without a costume. Or, was it going to a party with a costume, while everyone else wasn't wearing one? American movie tropes were hard to grasp sometimes, still.

Lingering off to one side with a cup of juice, while she tried to come up with a plausible reason for not being in a bathing suit, she glanced around at the other faces packed inside the room.

Honestly, she probably should have tried to convince someone else to go to this auction instead. There were so many teenagers. So many kids. She was used to having to put on a mature face while at events like this. She was completely out of her element.

"Get a grip, Gordon. You just need to buy a few things for the auction and then you can slip away." Hm. Muttering to herself in a corner was probably not going to help things along.

"Behave yourselves, children." Her hair, filled with many black scaled snakes of all lengths and sizes, shifted slightly on its own as she spoke to them, patting the largest of her serpents with the non-drink holding hand. She had loosely pulled them back into a braid... everyone but Sloth. The large snake was draped around her shoulders like a scarf and matched the white, conservative dress she had on.

Sighing slightly, the Greek headed out from her spot. Maybe going off to look at the various items up or auction would make it easier. Maybe if she didn't look at all of the hot tubs around she wouldn't feel like such a doofus.

It was worth a shot, anyway!

Think about it. Honestly. Clearly. In a room full of adults who had been rewound like a blockbuster VHS to their younger days, a 32 year old girl who had never been an adult had the first opportunity in a long time to BLEND THE @#$% in! Oh, Me? I'm normally an investment banker, super mature with a hot bod, just 12 right now, lol. Sure as @#$% he was hamming it up in a hot tub with a martini, wearing a Pink Bunny Swimsuit and openly seeking people to flirt with.

Unfortunately, she had no game, as she'd never matured past the preteen stage of development! That meant she had to flaunt her money instead! As she fetched her rubber ducky purse and started waving about cash, she soon secured herself two suddenly very interested men to hang on! Nothing too risque, of course, just shoulder candy as she waved about fat stacks and called for more drinks!

"Waiter! bring on the bubly! I want to wade in a pool of champagne!" She leaned back and drained her martini, adjusting her floaties, fetching her super star sunglasses, and popping them on as she waited for the wait staff to bring on the comically large bottle she'd ordered.

"No. Really. We got this."

Noel frowned at the guys running the front entrance. They were checking IDs, and everyone had talked through the age issue and what that might mean for alcohol. They were doing fine.

But, the truth was, he'd rather run security rather make an appearance inside. He already wore his swimsuit, the Texas flag sideways so each leg was a different color and the star was... well, we has still wearing his shirt. They could pry it from his warm man-hands.

For starters, people were inside that knew him as a her and as he was now, he didn't especially know any of them back. With the age excuse, that was okay. With the not-her-body...?

"You're hovering." Tedward took the Ranger's body by the shoulders and steered him to the side. "Don't hover, mom. You're making the kiddies nervous. Here." He pointed Noel at a shorty brunette who was already bikini clad in a sunflower suit and a coverup that showed more than it covered.

"She's press." Tedward supplied. Only then did he notice the water-proof camera. "Take her to meet Sveta?"

Perfect. His (well, the real Ranger's) boss. Noel smiled despite not feeling it and offered his arm. And double perfect. He got to screw this up on camera.

"Right this way, ma'am." He offered his arm and scanned the crowd inside for the blonde currently running Haven.

They were thorough. Her ID, her press badge, her swimsuit, security checked it all over. Twice.

"No I haven't been de-aged." She was flattered, though, and flirted a bit to hopefully get the scan of her camera sped up. But no amount of chatting seemed to work. They were paid professionals. Emphasis on the professional. Sigh.

"Any chance I can meet the man in charge?" She asked with her really nice smile and her really nice voice.

"I'll get you an escort. Tedward? She's press." The man handed her camera back and hailed a floating security guard. He smiled at her, but at the mention of 'press' the nature of his smile changed a bit.

"It's a lady in charge at the moment. Miss Svetlana Sergeyeva."

h! That was good to note. Spencer's files still said there was a mutant man by the name of Hadden running the show. She grabbed her phone and made a note and nearly walked into the back of her escort when he stopped to steer a man out of their way... or, actually... he was passing Spencer off. Her smile brightened by at least 100 watts because those arms were like modest Thanksgiving Turkeys and they made her want to baste them. Spencer put the phone away as she was offered one of those arms. She did her best not to waggle her fingers in delight.

"I'm Spencer."

"Michael."

"Ooooh from Texas? I couldn't help but notice your... shorts." His ears turned a hint of pink and their pace quickened.

"Excuse me ladies, Svetlana Sergeyeva, Ranger." Spencer's escort nodded to two ladies, one wearing a space laser pizza cat bikini. "This is Spencer. She's with... uh... she's press."

"Wolf News." She offered her hand to the brunette first before offering a hand to the blond. "I was hoping to get a sound byte from the lady in charge?"

Ezmeralda was not one for high-class parties, but on paper, this would be more down-to-earth. Yes, there would be rich types there to donate to the cause, perusing the auctions and talking to one another. This was not Ezmeralda’s element, but once she decided on where to pass her reclaimed funds, she could retreat to the hot tubs. How classy could a party be when you were bringing teenagers and young adults to hang out in swimwear?

It was funny, because Catalina Pérez would have fit right in at something like this. The daughter of a rich family was dragged to plenty of charity functions. Ez was so far removed from that life, she was almost immediately targeted by some Karen who had words about her swimwear being inappropriate for a fundraising event.

The performer rolled her eyes. ”First of all, I’m absolutely dressed for a hot tub party,” which was what she was attending, last she checked. ”And it’s my ass, not the swimsuit. It’s just trying it’s best, so if your issue is with my ass, you can kiss it and move on.”

The older woman scoffed indignantly, storming away to another auction, being replaced by a handsome young man in a truly gaudy shirt. He was clearly here for the party, not the virtue signaling donations, which made her smirk. ’Opportunities or goods, I think. I haven’t been looking too closely. Just came into a lot of stolen money and figured I’d find an excuse to donate it,” she said in a joking tone, despite that being exactly what she was doing.

Ez gestured to the auctions, shrugging a shoulder. ”No clue what to bid on, though. Well, unless I can donate to remove that unfortunate shirt,” she teased. ”I’m Ez. Care to help me pick out a cause, handsome?”

Teasing her future pseudo-ex helped boost Nessa's confidence, mostly because of how Miss Grey handled it. She did not argue, and she was apologetic, but she was not pathetic about it. It made poking fun at her fun without making Nessa feel like a bully. She was, after all, not the cheater of the two, so she was just earning a little catharsis for the Nessa who was gone now.

Present Nessa could focus on having a nice night with her new friend who had amazing taste in swimwear that accented her unique mutation. (And other things that were gosh, just so worth accenting.) Nessa respected Agnes for being a physical mutant, unable to hide but unafraid to go out into the world. That was a reminder for Nessa not to slink back into her own mutant closet.

Agnes made a joke that Nessa had to stop sipping her drink for so she did not choke on it. She was definitely doing this on purpose, or so Nessa assumed before noticing Agnes's cheeks pinkening along with her own. The wing flutter was another tell, she was starting to notice. "S-seriously. It's like they should have mentioned it was a hot tub party or something. It's so hot, you're already turning pink," she pointed out hypocritically.

Now that Agnes was by her side, they had to decide on their plans. The idea of bidding on dates, if that was even a thing here, was laughable. "Yeah, I don't think I've got the confidence to burden someone with a date just because I shelled out money. Besides, that's for the people with money. I think most of old me's funds are still being sorted out with the bank."

Nessa was interested in Haven's efforts, but there was no rush and she doubted she would learn much from the auctions. Instead, she looped her arm around her friend's elbow and moved toward the hot tubs. "I say we have a nice soak and enjoy some party conversation. Though... let's not go with Miss Grey's tub, if possible. She's nice, but she's also kind of my ex?" She chuckled at the absurdity as she slipped into the hot bubbling of an empty tub. "Besides, we should be branching out to people not from the Mansion, right?" Except each other, obviously. That did not count.

Oh, he liked her. She had an attitude, which he appreciated. Mentioned stolen money, which was ehhhh. And commented on teased him and called him handsome, which was nice. Yeah, he appreciated many things about her.

If he had still been a cop, he might have commented on the whole stolen money thing. Something very policeman-like, probably ending with the phrase ‘can and will be held against you.’ But he wasn’t about that life, any more. So he kind of forgot about it.

Opportunities or goods, she had said. Ashton idly wondered what opportunities meant. He didn’t dwell on it for too long, though. Because there were other, non-auction-related, opportunities presenting themselves.

He chuckled at her joke, and a bit of the Irish in him slipped into his reply. ”I’m Ashton. And I’d be glad to help you out, beautiful. As for the shirt... well, I won’t be wearing it in the hot tub. Maybe if we were to head that way in a bit...” He smiled, and turned away from her to scrutinize the different things on the silent auction tables. Playing hard to get. ”What is a cold steel? Gee. Nobody has bid on it yet. Should I do a dollar?” He picked up a pen.

Yup... This sorta stuff was inane as ever. People were everywhere, chatting vapidly about their achievments and charitable acts as if they were merit badges on a vest. He considered having a drink to ease the annoyance he felt, but decided against it. Instead, he opted to case security.

There were cameras, of course, which made everything more difficult... Guards posted about at entrances. Who ever was in charge was no amateur... Probably a hired outfit. Maybe he could explore that, see if he had any links with who they hired out to. He also noted who they were paying attention to most, as well... The blonde woman talking to another not too far off. A VIP?

As he scanned security, his thoughts were interupted when his eyes landed on a certain escort. A young man walking with a woman with a camera. He kept his face forward as his eyes tracked the man... That... was a familiar face. How could he forget it? It wasn't too long ago that he was locked in fierce battle with him in a bowling alley.

The X-Men veteran gritted his teeth as he followed the path they were headed toward... The blonde lady? He needed to catch their conversation.

He started to stand when his eyes caught something else. A snake. Many snakes. Attached to a woman. His heart jumped out of its chest as he spied a certain gorgon looking about at auction items. @#$%, really? Right now? He looked about, unsure of what to do with that... Of course she would be at a charity event. That was her thing, now, right? It was fitting for her, but @#$%, why now?

He stood with suddenly shaky legs, and headed toward the bar, maneuvering himself into a position where he could sit with his back to the Texas trunks toting killer and his escort as they approached the important blonde and her conversation partner. He had to avoid personal conflicts of interest. Finding out more about Haven was the goal, here, and now that he'd spotted that assassin, he knew for sure something was going on.

Her cheeks were still warm but the color was finally beginning to drain. Nessa seemed to be eager to change the topic as well, turning her comment into a joke and making the both of them laugh. Agnes was glad for the easy escape and, instead, contemplated what to do next. There was the auction (for which she didn’t have money), there were drinks (for which they could only get soda), and there were the hot tubs, the source of the party tonight. Feeling it was probably better to enjoy the warmth and bubbles now, she pointed those out as the best option.

Nessa agreed. She articulated that she didn’t feel comfortable forcing anyone into a date. Agnes just snorted. ”Doesn’t have to be a date. Can just go out, have dinner, watch a movie, and some harmless making out.” She was teasing, of course, nudging her new friend before she nodded understandingly. ”But I agree. Doubt I’d win anything anyway. So let’s enjoy the hot tubs before things get crowded.”

She nodded and the two of them sought out a hot tub that wasn’t in use just yet. It was still early enough that there were some open so they made a beeline for one. Along the way, Nessa laid out the stipulation that they do not join one with Miss Grey. When Nessa revealed the reason, Agnes had to stop, open mouthed, staring at her. What a coincidence was this? She continued to stare, obviously confused, not watching as Nessa took the lead. However when she finally snapped out of it, she chased after the girl until they were near the hot tub.

Clearing her throat, she looked a bit shy as she lowered her voice and whispered to Nessa. ”So...by ‘ex’ you mean, like, an EX ex, right? Ex-girlfriend? Ex-Wife?”

Normally she wouldn’t have attempted to ask such a personal question but her curiosity was through the roof. She had to know exactly what Miss Grey and Nessa relationship was. Not because it would change her mind about hanging out with her, but because, what were the odds? She would wonder if the english teacher was just some predator preying on students but neither Nessa, nor her, had ever been to this school before their teen years. So if it took place in the past, she would have been a teenager too. Totes legal and far less creepy. But still, the odds were astronomical.

Standing by the water, Agnes couldn’t help but shake her head, covering her mouth as giggles began to pour out. She gave Nessa a look before she cracked another grin. ”So, while we’re on that, I guess I should tell you something too -- umm…” a brief pause. ”...you’re not her only ex who’s been deaged.”

Ranger was de-aged too. Not a whole lot, but still. Sveta wanted to get a stronger drink now.

>> ”We lost about the same amount of time. Ten years. Worse than some but not as bad as others. We’re both in our twenties… I know someone that went from their thirties t’ less than ten.”

"Yeah. This whole thing sucks." she summarized, glancing around, noting L with her floaties in one of the hut tubs, loudly ordering champagne. She knew for a fact her newest colleague was not de-aged, she was an adult stuck in a child's body, but she seemed determined to make the most of it. Oh lord. All they needed was Jude to walk in to complete this happy age-confused picture.

>>”I guess it’s a good thing y’r dealin’s with Michael were through his business. His deagin’ didn’t affect Haven security too much. So y’ can do things like this. An’ have one less thing t’ worry about while settin’ it up.”

"Wasn't my idea" Sveta admitted. She could have done without the children in the hot tubs with the alcohol, and yet here she was. Looking over Noel's shoulder, she noticed Michael walking up in very questionable pants, and with a very much undressed lady on his arm. "Speak of the devil..."

>>"Excuse me ladies. This is Spencer. She's with... uh... she's press."

Press. Same circle of Hell as HR.
Maybe one lower.

Sveta flashed a smile and wondered when Sabine was gonna waltz in.

>>"Wolf News. I was hoping to get a sound byte from the lady in charge?"

What, Wolf News ran out of redheads?...

"Svetlana Sergeyeva. Sorry, I don't do handshakes." she waved a gloved hand, glancing at Michael "Nice to see you Michael. Welcome back."

She wondered if he remembered her, of if he had read the same files Noel did. So strange, finally having some familiar faces back, but not really getting any support from them. Not tonight anyway. She turned back to the press lad. "Everything is off the record until I say so. What kind of sound byte are you looking for?" she asked, taking a tactical step and a half towards the bar, hoping that the lady would follow and turn completely away from the sight of Miss Gartner in the hot tub...

Ranger could agree with Svetlana’s sentiment. The whole situation did suck. Ranger wondered who had it worse? Svetlana had lost many of her people to the deaging and that would likely weaken her organization. Ranger was the head of a business and had been brought back to the time when she had only just started the company. Also, Ranger was Noel and Noel was Ranger. ”Agreed.” Ranger said and sipped at his tea.

As Ranger scanned over the room, Svetlana admitted that the party was not her idea. Ranger looked in a direction that Svetlana had and noticed what appeared to be a child demanding champagne. Ranger cocked her head at the sight. Before she could say anything about it, Noel was approaching… Wearing the pair of Texas flag swim trunks that Ranger owned. It didn’t look like something Ranger would have bought for herself, but exactly the kind of thing she would love being given as a gift. Ranger had been amused when she found them. She was even more amused to see Noel wearing them to the party. What with their strategically placed lonestar. Ranger couldn’t help but crack a smile.

Noel was escorting a woman in a sunflower bathing suit who had a camera. As Noel introduced everyone, Ranger caught his eye and then glanced at the Texas suit he was wearing before her smile broadened and she bit her lip to hold back a laugh.

The woman, Spencer, gave the name of the agency she was with and extended her hand to Ranger. Ranger took it and gave Spencer her best handshake. The handshake had the hallmarks of a classic Ranger handshake, firm but not crushing. The latter being less of an issue when not in her own body. ”Howdy, Spencer.”

Svetlana obviously declined the handshake before greeting Noel. When Svetlana addressed Spencer again, and moved to draw the woman’s view away from the party, Ranger looked back to Noel and took the moment to mouth, ’Hadn’t met her yet.’ and nod her head toward Svetlana. While Ranger had caught up on who Svetlana was by reading the files, this was her first time meeting Svetlana. Which meant it was “Michael’s” first time meeting Svetlana.