Was Azar with her already? Huh? "We weren't friends."

He went on about the robberies all over, and she decided to circle back to that in a moment. This Azar thing needed to be fleshed out, and the way he was talking about it kinda gave her a few ideas.

"I ended up on his badside a while back because I was one of the reasons he got caught in the first place." She was pretty sure that would be documented, somewhere. She'd stuck around to give a statement and all that despite her anxiety about it being sky high at the time. "After the diamond thing, I went back to the place my Uncle was, and confronted him about it. He must have brought Azar in at some point because he was there. Seeing me didn't help matters. When I.. uh... moved to wherever I was, it was just me. Azar and James, and my uncle all stayed behind.

Come to think of it, she kinda hoped James was dead too. Sonofabitch deserved it. "I don't know if Azar killed him or not. Last thing I remembered before vanishing out of there was James trying to pop my head off like a dandelion, and lots of fire." She shifted and looked at him again. "... But I shot Keith three times, i'm pretty sure." She didn't like the idea of lying to him... He already knew so much about her and he'd offered to off her uncle at one point. "I don't know if it was enough to kill him, my aim was a little off, but I tried."

Her gaze shifted back to the ceiling, "Guess it doesn't really matter so long as he's gone, huh?"

Oh, right, circle back. No lies.

"And... just to set the record straight, all those places where I was and banks and stuff got hit? That was me. I did it on my own. They started calling me 'Spektor' in the local papers just after I left Ohio and it stuck." She sighed lightly, "Hope that makes your paperwork easier."

What was the last thing he'd asked? "I did... but like, they were covered and stuff. Like full mask and hood and a really weird voice." She struggled to sit up a little more and lifted her fingers to her neck. "Don't know why whoever it was was after him, but when they got ahold of me they said a bunch of weird stuff. Wanted to know my name and something about paying for my transgressions later. Guess it wasn't time to kill me right then, though I probably should have died when they cold-clocked me. Don't even remember hitting the ground."

He gave another nod at her statement about her not being friends with Azar. By all accounts, the dude didn't have many friends. Not real ones, anyway. Still, why was he involved? Of all of the things he'd put together, that part made the least amount of sense.

He pushed past it. "The diamond thing... Let's talk about that." He reached over to his bag, digging a bit before he pulled out a slightly bent file. He opened it up, and produced a fuzzy CCtv photo of her next to an old man with a baseball cap. Pulling a few more photos, he placed them down one by one. "Who is this man? He is good at his job... He managed to hide his face from every camera in the bank, and even streetside surveillance as well... All we'll have on him is what you can give us. Anything you can give will help you out as well."

He was honestly taken aback when she opened up right away as soon as he mentioned his leg work on her prior burglaries. He appreciated the honestly, though it added... a lot to her rap sheet. That brought them to the Molotov Murderer again.

"Anything you can recall will be helpful. From height, to build, the fabrics in his clothing, anything. I'll get a sketch artist in here after we are done for both the older man, and the attacker." He looked up for a moment, and then set his pad and pencil aside.

"This is where it gets interesting... Juniper... You're in a lot of trouble. I can't sugar coat it, you're looking at prison time. A lot of it." He watched her face, her eyes, to gage her reaction. And then he dangled the carrot. "Or... Well. There is a second option. It's not a sure shot, but there is a precedent for it..."

Saph pulled out a photo of none other than Simon, and she once more had to evaluate whether or not she was going to rat on him. This time at least she wasn't going to die either way. If she gave him up, would it look good for her?

She thought about what Simon had told her; he'd wanted to put Keith and the other two, as well as others like them, in the dirt for a long, long time. That had been the main reason for him joining the heist, or so he had said. Maybe he'd continue doing that... or, maybe he'd just retire with his wealth and live like the old man he was.

"That's John... or, that's what he said his name was anyway." She rolled the conversation back a little bit, explaining when the four men had met. She left out details that Simon had told her, and elaborated a little more on why Keith had said he'd invited him in.

"-wasn't nasty to me, at least. Didn't talk a whole lot compared to the others... I didn't really think a whole lot about him until Eli picked us up and drove us into some back alley. Said that Keith wanted both of us dead, he'd given Eli permission to "take his time with me" apparently." Thinking back on it, she owed Simon one for that. Lord only knew what would have happened had he not been there.

"He didn't say much after he killed Eli, just that it was one more out of the way. Guess I didn't pose much of a threat since I wasn't after the loot anyway, so he didn't put a bullet in me. Gave me a gun instead and told me I should go finish it."

Her hand fisted in the blankets over her legs. "... So I did."

She was more than willing to work with a sketch artist to get them what they needed, even if she was gonna go off the rails a bit with Simon's face. Hopefully, he wouldn't be mad at her for getting creative with his image, wherever he was.

Saph shifted back to her many, many crimes and the punishments she'd more than likely get for them. She didn't react a whole lot, other than nodding. "I know... It's not like that reality hasn't been looming over me for the last four years. It's fine." It wasn't. She couldn't say she was fine with it, cuz that would have been a bald-faced lie.

He continued on, and what he was saying gradually drew her out of the depressive bubble she was entering. "What's the second option?" She was genuinely curious. She couldn't think of a way out of the trouble she was in, so if he had ideas she was all ears.

John... Interesting. He'd gotten sketches of the man from others, but the witnesses always seems distracted while giving the details. Maybe it had something to do with a mutation? He tucked the idea away for further investigation. So, Keith had brought someone along to kill them?

Who?

He thought back to any reported homocides in the area. "We'll need the location where that occured..." There was that strange suicide... Maybe it was mislabled? More investigation was needed.

She did confess to having and using a gun before he even brought it up. The autopsies had discerned that the men had both died of asphyxiation due to lung damage. She hadn't killed them, though there had been a fight.

It was bumpy area, but they could prove she hadn't been the cause of death, and that would count in her favor. His proposal wasn't off the table. Now, he had her wondering what it was.

No better time than now, right?

"Juniper... I want to suggest you for a program at the mansion that has been used a few times before... To have people serve their sentences instead as a form of long term community service... As a retainee of the X-Men. It's not a spot on the team, or anything, though that ain't out of the question. It's a good will measure assuming you won't flee. You could help a lot of people. I would be stickin my neck out a little bit, but I think I can swing it if I vouch for you." He sat for a second to let it soak in, before speaking up once more. "Would you be willing to try that?"

Long-term community service? That didn't sound horrible. She wasn't sure why he'd want her in a program like that considering how she'd acted as an actual student, though.

She thought about it. Let it absorb a little. It would be uncomfortable being there with everything that had happened. Everyone would know now. Past all the rumors kids had spread, she was actually a criminal. A well-known one to boot. She could imagine that being uncomfortable.

Then again, what did she had to lose? If she declined it was one quick trip to prison where she might be able to see anyone who cared enough about her once a month or whatever. Not that she'd have anyone who really cared after this... Maybe Blue, if he wasn't too pissed about her getting caught.

After a moment she shugged. "Guess it doesn't sound so bad. I'd give it a try."

Tilting her chin so she could look at him again, she continued. "I won't run... no point in trying since the cats out of the bag, ya know?... Wouldn't want to get you in trouble either."

"Besides... This is where my friends ar-... were. Assuming they still wanna be friends with me."

Which... brought up an even more uncomfortable thought that she wasn't fully ready to explore. No time like the present though, right?

"...Have... have you seen Xavier? He's okay, right?"

She watched him carefully, visibly on the edge of her seat. She was waiting for horrible news, fully expecting the worst, but hoping with all her heart that he'd made it out okay.

She gave it some thought. She gave it more thought. She gave it a lot of thought. Then she said she'd give it a try. He smiled a bit. "It ain't gonna he daisies and roses, Juniper. It's hard work... But it's better than prison." After she confirmed, he roused, and appeared to be getting ready to leave. "Okay, I got a lot of work to do to get this rolling."

He started to gather up his papers and notes as she kept talking, looking up as she stumbled over her words. A grimace took over his features for a second before he piped in. "Well, I wouldn't worry too much about that." She asked about Xavier, and he packed away his last folder before hoisting the bag up and over a shoulder. "Dunno..." He headed toward the door. "Your, uh... brother has been waiting to see you. I'll send him in. Take care, kid. I'll see you soon."

He opened the door, and nodded to the two officers posted outside. There was also one posted in the room below, and one on lookout outside the building as well.

Saphirus left without another word.

She shrugged at his warning. Hard work was fine, so long as she didn't have to give up the few precious things she now had in life. "I don't mind hard work."

His reaction to her comment was concerning right off the bat. Not a good sign if even he was wary, right? She dipped her head a little, wanting very much to hide her face in her hair... only it was still sheared short.

"...My what?" Did he just evade her question? If he didn't know anything about Xavier, then... did that mean he was still down there? Trapped? How many days had it been?!

"I don't have a-"

She paused. The gears in her head all clicked on together and got spinning.

...Oh.


OHFUCK

"WAIT NO-!"

She just wanted to know if he was alive! She wasn't ready to face him!

"Ah, @#$&. Oh @#$%^ &^%$#^."

The machine would start beeping angrily if she took the wires off and out, and she'd just promised not to run! Acting on childish impulse, because she was trapped (even more than she knew) she grabbed the edges of her blanket and yanked it up over her. Maybe he would go away if she pretended to konk out again? Maybe talking would be easier if she just hid under the blanket?

Damn it all.

So, Juniper hid. Blanket pulled all the way up over her head like he was the under-the-bed monster and with her blanket shield, he couldn't get to her. A small lump on a bed, tucked into herself.

Xavier couldn't wait. He'd been constantly patrolling for Juniper for the better part of a week, even going so far as to MISS SOME CLASS in order to wake up early, and spend the whole day searching for his missing best friend. All the while, he never faltered.

He was aware of the papers, the news programs, the apparent crimes. None of that mattered to him. Wolf news, or the New York Hours could act like they knew Juniper Brown; they could speculate about the heinous criminal she was, or how she was a mastermind, and potential murderer. They didn't know her the way he knew her. She wasn't a criminal mastermind; she hardly planned anything. She wasn't a murderer, she saved people. She wasn't a bad person, she was the person who saw someone in danger and jumped in to help them without even thinking about it.

Nothing they could say would change his mind.

Elke had even helped when he asked, having seen his determination from the start.

They hadn't been able to find even the barest trace of her, though. It had been like she'd just... disappeared.

And now she was back, and he was at the hospital, waiting for his chance to check on her. He frowned a bit at himself as he leaned against the wall next to the door. He'd... maybe told a little fib again, but it mean't he could check on her! All he had to do was wait for the inspector to be done asking her some questions.

He waited next to the officers posted outside the door in baited breath as the door finally opened, and... Oh. The Masochist walked out, and he pressed himself flat against the wall, eyes wide open. A dirty look was sent his way before the man shook his head a bit and walked past, a heavy aura of dickishness emanating from him as he went. Xavier watched him go silently before looking to the officers, and nodding a bit.

His turn. He took a deep breath, and walked into the room. He'd practiced what to say to her a million times. How he would tell her it was all going to be okay, and he would always be her friend!

Still, as he stopped in the middle of the room, looking at the bundle of blankets that clearly had a person in them, he reached back and scratched the back of his head. "Uh.... Um... Hey Juni... How's it... How's it goin?"

She heard the door open again, footsteps came inside. She realized she was holding her breath, waiting for the worst.

... and then he spoke and it was just so normal.

He called her Juni, and she was keenly aware of how that made her heart hurt a bit.

"...hey."

What was she supposed to say? 'Sorry I tried to kill you, I'm glad it didn't stick'?

'Sorry I left without saying anything, again, but hey I'm back now and also a huge criminal!'

He may have rehearsed what he wanted to say over and over and over, but she hadn't thought of it. She didn't want to, because she knew she'd start crying, and what was that gonna solve?

"Sorry... I know you hate lying."

She chewed on her lip and remained under her cotton shield, hiding in the slight darkness it provided. The lights from above still shined through or glowed rather, but the barrier between her and him helped.

He smiled a bit at the sound of her voice. She was okay enough to talk. Enough to mope. That was good. He was reminded of visiting his mom in the hospital all of those times. His fist clenched a little bit, but he smiled through it.

"I don't hate lying, Juni. I love honesty. I know there are reasons people lie. I, uh, lied to get in here." He looked around as if the room would be mad at him for saying it aloud. Seemingly satisfied he wasn't going to punished for his admittance, he walked closer to the bed, and took a seat. "I was worried about you..."

He looked to the floor, before looking back up to the bundle of blankets, and smiling again. It was so childish, but honestly, he couldn't blame her. It had to be hard, talking to him, here.

"So... can you tell me now? I imagine something stopped you back there in the alley... and before... But you're my best friend. I hope you know you can tell me anything. If you want to."

"I know... Saph told me my brother was here to see me."

He sounded fine. Like, sure, mortal wounds or missing arms probably didn't change the sound of your voice, but still. She was afraid to ask... but maybe she didn't have to.

He said he was worried about her and her chest clenched, and just about every other sore muscle on her. Ouch... that had hurt. "I know..." Her voice was muffled a little, and raspy, but there. Quietly guilty.

He asked her to tell him, and for the life of her she struggled to figure out what he wanted to know. Out of everything what did he need to hear? Or was it just everything?

The bundle of blankets on the bed shifted. She was uncertain and her gut reaction was to tell him no. She didn't wanna talk about it. Any of it. Bringing it up just hurt because there wasn't anything she could do to go back and fix it all.

But... he was involved, and he was owed an explanation at the very least, she felt.

Slowly, reluctantly, she pulled her blankets back and sat up. She didn't look at him right away as she preoccupied herself with getting the blankets how she wanted them on her lap.

If he had thought she looked bad that time she and Elke fought, he was in for a shock now.

Bruises all over,  rings of purple and brown around her neck. An old scabbed-over cut on her bottom lip, and a new, still swollen split on the top with two small stitches in it. The long wound on her cheek had been cleaned and treated and was patched with a clear protective layer as a bandaid. She was thin and pale, with scratches all over what the hospital gown didn't cover.

When she finally looked at him, she couldn't muster up the energy to offer one of her usual smiles.

"..What do you wanna know?"

The mention of Saph drew a bit of a cringe, though she wouldn't see it through her blankets. He leaned forward from his seat, placing his elbows on his knees as he watched her slowly pull herself from her cacoon. This butterfly was much worse for wear, though. His eyebrows crinkled into a look of concern as he saw her.

"Wow... You're pretty beat up..." He felt a pang of guilt; he hadn't been there to defend her. Some friend he was... He was frowning when she looked over to him.

"What ever you want to tell me, Juniper... Whys, whats, anything and everything you didn't tell me before, would be nice. But if you can't tell me, just tell me you can't tell me." He was able to work up a smile.

He had to be brave for her; her future was scary right now. He had to let her know that what ever happened, it would be okay.

"I don't want to get your hopes up, but... I did some research, and I found out about a way that you might be able to come to the mansion instead of... We would just have to find someone to sponsor you, and get the assigned judge to approve it..." He didn't know exactly how to do that, but he could find out!

Welp, that settled it. He wanted the why's the what's and the who's. He was in for a long story if that was the case.

"Alright."

She settled herself back into her pillows and took a deep breath, and started where it all began.

Literal hours passed as she worked her way through her story. It was hard to start from just when she'd met him, or just when he'd bumped into her at the alley. Too many places for questions to pop up and divert the story. She knew that if she didn't get it all out in one go she'd stop and stumble, and then get nervous about continuing.

She explained where'd she'd come from, who her Uncle had been, and his importance in the events that followed. She explained her rag-tag group of friends, their subsequent deaths, and her exit from Ohio. She explained the thefts, the few jobs she had that she'd failed in. Why she didn't stay anywhere for too long and hopped state to state.

She talked about meeting him and for the first time in a long while wanting to try again. About how she'd actually gotten somewhere and felt like she was achieving something she'd always been told she couldn't. She brought up her parents and how them showing up out of the blue hadn't just been to check in on her. It was tied to her Uncle's release from jail, and him worming his way back into her life.

She explained the blackmail, stumbled over-explaining why she even cared, and that led to her talking about her time with the collar around her neck. ... And then her running into him, and the order from Keith for her to get rid of him.

"...I wasn't sure it would work, but I couldn't think up anything else to do. If I had hesitated he would have told me to do something else, something even more horrible. I'm sure of it."

Her fingers clenched in her blankets. Her throat hurt, but she wasn't even close to being done.

She continued on, only interrupted by a nurse stopping in to bring food and check on her.

She carried on into what had happened after the heist. How he'd tried to have her killed, and very quietly, how she'd decided to kill him instead. She absolutely did not look at Xavier while telling him this, because she was well versed in his feelings on people killing people.

She rambled off into ending up in the dark place, how terrifying that had been, and ended with her return... and then running into the hooded figure who'd ultimately put her down.

"-Probably shouldn't have all things considered but... I mean, I wasn't really thinking straight."

She'd paused here and there to clarify anything he asked, and now that it was all out there she just... didn't know what to do. She still had to answer him for his idea. "Saph already mentioned something like that. I agreed to it already."

... Still didn't know how it would go over, though, but all she could do was try, right?

"I don't really think it will go well, but at least the X's can say they like, tamed a wild criminal or whatever. Maybe that's the silver lining."

It was a long story; one that saw the young hero smile fondly, frown, laugh, openly weep, gasp in shock, stop to hug, and sit quietly, letting what she'd said sink in.

She'd been through a lot. More than he'd ever known. Her life... had been sad. Painful. And she'd still gone through it all to get here. "Juniper... I'm so proud of you... That you made it through that."

Talking on more recent events, he nodded. "I was surprised... and scared. But after I got out of the sewers the only person I was afraid for was you... Blue and I were looking everywhere." He paused for a moment, and then spoke slowly. "I... Met Blue..." And what a meeting it was.

He was supportive of her in her confession of wanting to kill Keith in the moment. "I know... Don't blame yourself. Knowing what he did to you I... I understand."

He smiled, reached out a hand to reassure her.

Her announcement that Saph had already sponsored her for the program definitely threw him off... He couldn't resist a quick, "Him?!" Before feeling slightly embarassed and sitting back.

"I don't know about that... You're one of the bravest people I know. You would make the team... practically unstoppable, in my opinion. I had sorta wanted to try and get you to join in the first place."

She glanced sidelong at him, a half-empty tray of food in her lap that she'd more or less given up on. It was nice... hearing that. It was the, what, second time she'd ever had someone say they were proud of her? She couldn't help but feel like it kinda hollow though. Did it really count as surviving if she didn't really fight for it? It didn't feel like she had. Still, she offered him a tired half-smile.

Hearing that he'd met Blue and was still walking around un-singed, she was mildly surprised. More than that though, she felt bad. She'd gone and promised him that she'd try not to just leave again, and that was exactly what she had done.

"I hope he wasn't too mad... I sorta made a promise to him that I'd stick around for a while." Was she even going to get to see him again? She wasn't sure if she'd be allowed back to her apartment after all this, and that led her to worry about what Blue was gonna do. The remainder of that caused fresh, hot tears to pool in her eyes and she tried to scrub them away before they could fall.

She was honestly a bit confused about his stance on how she'd handled her Uncle or tried to at least. She had thought for sure he would be super disappointed in her, and say just as much. "The other guy that was there told me I needed to take care of it, and all I could think about was all of the other kids who didn't make it. It made me really mad."

She nodded, too tired to react to his visceral reaction at Saph beating him to the offer. His admission of wanting to scout her definitely caught her off guard though, and she pulled a face at him. "Me? What? Why?? All I've gone since I let you convince me to try and get a GED was cause problems around there."

... Which led her back to the problem that she was going to be there for a long while from now on, doing god only knew what through the program. What would everyone else think of her? What would Becca or Sam think of her now?

"It ain't gonna be daisies and roses..." She mumbled out, repeating back the words Saph had just said to her. "I dunno, Adonis. I don't know how any of this is gonna go. People don't tend to like people like me getting some magical Hero makeover. Doesn't matter what I do from here on out, I'll always be first and foremost the mistakes I made in the past."

She traced invisible circles on her blanket and sighed. "But, I mean, like... no change there. I'm pretty used to that at this point. Probably shouldn't worry about it."