Luke had been away from the mansion for a few days with Jacobs & Jacobs business but now that he had returned he was back in touch with the rumor mill. Apparently a new young woman had arrived with very interesting and colorful past associates. From all accounts she was friends with or at least knew of many of the mutants that resided at the Sanctuary. Luke had yet to meet her but if the rumors were true than her presence was perfectly times.

For quite some time, even since the Birthday Brawl, an idea had been rattling around in the back of Luke's brain. It had just been the framework and he had been to busy to really flesh it out but since the fight at King Pharmaceuticals it had popped to the forefront of his mind. Now there was a clear cut goal for him to shoot for. He had yet to discuss it with any of the other X-Men as he was instead waiting to have a chance to talk with Raina about it first. Though if he were really honest it was unlikely that he would be talking to the other X-Men even after he spoke with Raina. This was a special project that he wanted to achieve and he was willing to bet that, at the very least, one or two of the others would be completely against it.

Over the course of the day Luke had tried to track down the girl called Meld but so far there had been no success. Finally a decision was made. After fixing himself a double stacked BLT sandwich and a large bowl of popcorn with butter, salt, and powdered parmesan cheese he grabbed a bottle of soda from the fridge in the kitchen and then took a seat on one of the bar stools at the island counter here in the kitchen. Everyone had to get hungry at some point which meant that eventually Meld would find her way here. She had to... didn't she?

Meld had been in the Mansion a few days but still wasn't feeling at all like she fit in. When she had first arrived at Sanctuary it had been different in almost every way imaginable. There she had known it was where she belonged right from the beginning; the place was filled with people who shared much of her ideology and people who shared similar criminal pasts and presents. She didn't have to worry about hiding who she was or what she did. And although the Mansion was clearly a place for mutants to be welcome and to make a home, it just wasn't the same. It was filled with children for one, mutant and human children alike and that fact alone took some getting used to. And, even in a place filled with mutants, Meld still coudln't help but stand out in a crowd. And she couldn't help but think that there must be at least a few who had seen her on the news and, perhaps it was just her imagination, but she saw judgement in the face of those few. It shouldn't' bother her but somehow it did. Didn't they realize that everything she did she did for them? To promote their rights and help them achieve their rightful place in the world?

This morning Meld finally decided that it was time to quit hiding in her room and actually come out and mingle with the people currently residing at the Mansion. If for no other reason than that she could never achieve what she set out to achieve hiding. So far she had spoken to no one but Ghost, only leaving her room late at night when there were very few around to bother her. But she knew if she didn't make her presence known soon she might never get up the courage to do so. A strange thought, to think that she needed courage for something like this; she who had faced down dangerous cops and criminals without second thought.

As Meld began walking towards the kitchen she carefully schooled her expression to one of cool confidence, letting none of her inner doubts show. She was the very picture of distant calm and although she knew that such a persona also made her unapproachable to most she didn't know any other way to be. She would never be the one to easily interact with others, it just wasn't in her nature. She was a dealer of death, a fighter not a social butterfly. Now that was something of a funny thought. With an almost challenging look at anyone who looked her way, Meld approached the kitchen with her head held high and began preparing herself a sandwich.

Half of the sandwich and several handfulls of popcorn had dissapeared before an individual of interest walked into the kitchen. For a few moments Luke remained silent, chewing thoughtfully and his sonar swept over the figure, mapping her out in his head. She looked relatively familiar in different ways and behind his sunglasses Luke's eyes narrowed in concentration. Hadn't he seen her at the brawl? Obviously he'd been distracted with Calley for most of it but he could have sworn that this woman had popped up on the edge of his field of 'vision'. She had been fighting against the rest of his friends, or at least that's what he had thought.

"Is that metal?" Luke wondered, tilting his head and focusing his sonar more tightly on the woman's arm and what looked like a tail. If it was then... was this the woman he had met back in the bookstore while he was in another body? What had she said her name was? He just couldn't place it at the moment. Had it been Meld? He wasn't completely sure about the name but she deffinately had metal body parts.

"Thankfully they keep the fridge and cupboards well stocked." Luke piped up once he had finished chewing his current bite, "I believe we can thank Katrina's mom for that. I'm Luke Jacobs, by the way. I don't think we've met before."

If this was the girl from the book store than Luke had met her before though she wouldn't remember it. After all, he looked and sounded completely different in his normal body instead of when he looked like Juka. Now the questionw as whether this was the contact that Luke was really looking to establish. Could she be the connection that would get him a meeting at the Sanctuary?

Meld smiled a little awkwardly at the man who addressed comments at her. She wasn't too used to small talk and was even less used to complete strangers addressing anything to her, let alone casual comments about how well stocked the fridge was. Even in the heart of Sanctuary she was left more or less alone, due in part to her naturally intimidating nature and in part to the fact that many of the residents of Sanctuary were no more inclined to small talk than she was. But this was the Mansion and these people were the innocent and the idealistic and perhaps that changed things some. Even if she still got the looks from many, particularly the younger students.

"I'm Meld, its a pleasure to meet you." Meld extended a metal hand for shaking. She would, she realized, have to get used to conversing with strangers. She would have to get used to many things if she was to fulfill her self-appointed role here. Perhaps her decision to come here had been somewhat hasty; she knew she wasn't the most social of people and in order to recruit for her cause she would need people to learn to trust her. When she still thought of herself as human she had many trust friends, but that had been so long ago and so much had changed since that time. Could she ever regain that talent? Perhaps. Or perhaps not.

"You been here long?" Meld asked, finding a spot to sit with her now finished sandwich. A young girl of perhaps 14 gave her a look and edged a few feet further away from her. Meld resisted the urge to sigh. Even among her own people she received reactions of fear and apprehension. But then, it was always possible that the girl was human. No way to tell and it didn't matter much anyway.

The metal hand was a touch intimidating even for Luke but he didn't hesitate when she offered it to him. After a quick but firm handshake Luke withdrew his hand and picked up his own sandwich again. Smiling ever so slightly to himself he took a bite of the foot and chewed thoughtfully as he tried to think about what he should say in order to start the conversation moving where he wanted it to go. He had found the mysterious "Meld" and now he needed information and advice without making it obvious what he was looking for.

"I've been around here for a couple years now." Luke responded after swallowing his bite of food, "I actually live in the city but I have enough friends here that I have to come out and visit every so often."

There would be no mention of the brawl or the X-Men. If she didn't recognize him as a part of the team she would be more likely to reveal what he wanted to know. Taking another bite he returned to chewing. What would be a safe topic? Would she want to talk about their various mutations? Would she want to discuss something more safe like the weather?

"I think we may have actually met before... though you wouldn't remember." Luke finally said, deciding to break the ice with the extremely wierd situation he had experienced several weeks before, "Apparently another mutant somehow made me switch bodies with someone and I met up with a girl like you at a bookstore downtown. She had the metal arm and metal tail and since I can't remember an introduction I have to assume that was you, unless you know different."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Luke had to pause. Maybe that was something he shouldn't have brought up. After all, not all mutants could accept all other mutations. The whole body switching thing might be a little bit much for a first time conversation. Well, the horse was out of the barn so all he could do was try and judge Meld's reaction.

Meld was pleased when Luke did not flinch at the shaking of her hand. In fact, he was admirable poised, even if she thought she might havev detected the merest hint of discomfort from him. It didn't matter because, if it was there at all, it was slight enough that it went almost entirely unnoticed. And Meld liked that. He was making the effort and he plainly wasn't a mutant to be intimidated easily.

Nodding at the man's words, Meld felt only slight discomfort herself but that was merely the discomfort of speaking to a stranger in a casual manner. She had no goal in mind, aside from her long term goal which, could not be accomplished in a day and a single conversation, and that lack of an obvious goal was what made things so difficult for her.

Remembering backwards in her life Meld tried to recall a bookstore and failed. She had heard of Ghost's bookstore bfore, of course, but never actually been there. "You aren't the only body to get switched," Meld replied with something between a smile and a grimace. The time in her life wasn't nearly as bad as her experience with Haywire but she still had her reservations when thinking about it. And she still didn't know what Sarah had done with her body while she had been in possession of it. "I'm afraid the person you met who you thought was me wasn't. It is a bit of a disappointment to learn that she apparently was not being honest about who she was inside my body."

Some manner of honesty seemed safe with this person. She wasn't about to reveal too much of course, not to a stranger, but she thought that, perhaps, he might just be trustworthy. Or at least not the type to use such information against her. Rather refreshing considering the sorts of people she tended to spend so much time with.

Luke raised an eyebrow in surprise at Meld's statement and paused his eating. This was new information and it was going to take some time to process. "If I wasn't the only one I wonder how many there were." He mused aloud as he turned his face so that his sunglasses were staring back down at his food, "And what might have caused it."

There were a lot of question to be answered but that was a subject that was best left for another day. Luke didn't want to be distracted from his goals for this meeting and so instead he simply shelved the "Case Of The Body Switchers" for perusal on another day.

"But anyways, what about you? Have you been here at the mansion for long? I think I remember seeing you at King Pharmaceuticals however long ago but we hadn't had a chance to be introduced and with all of the stuff going on, I was a little bit distracted."

The information had been thrown out and even as his blind eyes studied the sandwich, his sonar was monitoring Meld for a reaction. Would she be uncomfortable talking about the fight? Would she try to change and subject and avoid it all together? Since Luke had been so busy facing down Calley he hadn't exactly spent a lot of time noticing how every else was fighting but he did know that Meld had lined up on the opposing side at that time. What hade made her switch? Had she burned the bridges before leaving or was there still a friendship that could be exploited for a good cause?

Meld shrugged her shoulders casually. "I don't know why it happened or how. Wish I did." Curiosity and slight annoyance at her lack of knowledge could be heard in her tone of voice. "I know there were more than a few of us though and I still can't for the life of me figure out what we all had in common. It seemed random but I still have my doubts." Another shrug. It had worked out, in the end, and that was enough for her. Maybe if she hadn't more important things to worry about it would concern her more. Of course, there was always the danger of it happening again and that thought was a little distressing. But there wasn't much she could do about it now.

Meld cringed at the mention of the brawl at King Pharmaceuticals. It was an entirely involuntary and entirely unwanted reaction as her mind filled with the images and memories of that time. So many dark thoughts, so many regrets. Haywire. That was the word that came to mind and that was the route of all her recent problems. She didn't know that she would ever be the same after that event, didn't know that she could ever entirely forgive herself for participating in its defense. Even though her side had lost. That wasn't the point. Even though she hadn't known. That wasn't the point either.

"I haven't been at the Mansion long." She struggled to keep her voice even, expressionless. A deep breath and when she spoke again it was impassive, as if she had never had that turmoil or that sign of weakness. Impassive in an almost unnatural way. "King Pharmaceuticals is something I would rather forget. You might call it a turning point in my life, something that helped lead me here." Honesty, so far as she was able was, once again, her most potent weapon. There were some that could detect a lie and so she opted not to speak one. That did not mean, however, that she would say everything. And about King Pharmaceuticals and Haywire she had more reasons than the practical not to say to much. Her reasons, more than anything, were personal. A weakness, perhaps, but one she was comfortable admitting to.

Luke raised an eyebrow at Meld's statement that there had been more than just a few mutants that experienced body switching but he bit his tongue. Perhaps he'd talk to Meld some more another day and ask her who else had been switched but for now he needed to focus on what he was trying to accomplish.

But then Meld cut that train of thought off at the knees. She just wanted to forget King Pharmaceuticals which meant that he had to find some other method of conversation that would allow him to gain information about the Sanctuary. Perhaps an off hand comment that led to something else?

"I understand the part about wanting to forget." Luke replied with a tight smile as his hand dug in to retrieve some of the kernals of popped corn, "I temporarily lost my abilities after that fight. Not exactly a happy time. And of course the most frustrating part about it was that it was so utterly useless. There was a fight here at the mansion almost a year ago now. The Sanctuary residents thought that we had stolen their big front doors. Turned out it was a mischief maker that noone had ever seen before trying to get us to fight and they succeeded. I just wish we had some sort of open lines of communication. Maybe then we wouldn't have these stupid misunderstandings and we could stop fighting each other all the time."

The frustration in Luke's voice was obvious and as honest as they came. He might not be willing to admit that he had already come up with a possible solution for the situation but he would deffinately admit to the problem. The only question now was whether Meld would take the hint or simply go on talking about something else.

Meld couldn't help but feel a little sympathy for the individual she was now speaking to. How would she have reacted had she lost her powers? How useless would she have felt then? But then, she didn't even know if it was possible for her to lose her powers, not really. The ability to make flesh melds, possibly, but her flesh melds were all ready a part of her, entirely integrated into her body, so how could it be possible to lose such a thing? She smiled tentatively and, she hoped, a little sympathetically. It wasn't an emotion she was used to feeling or expressing.

And then she heard mention of the golden doors of Sanctuary being stolen. Meld blinked, unsure if she had heard the statement correctly. How did one steal something of that magnitude? And right out from under the noses of all of the very dangerous Sanctuary mutants? And she knew a little something about dangerous mutants, being one herself. Or so she liked to think anyway. But then he continued speaking of it and she was forced to conclude that she had, in fact, heard him right. And more importantly than that, it seemed he had a goal in mind with mentioning the incidient, a goal she happened to share.

"I think I would like to have met whoever was either brave or stupid enough to try and steal the Sanctuary doors," Meld said with a grin, imagining the chaos and confusion. And an instant later she was serious again, all business. "And as far as lines of communicatio go, you could say that is, impart, what brought me to the Mansion to begin with." Here Meld knew that she had to tread carefully so as to not reveal to much. "My...ideas about members of Sanctuary learning to work with members of the Mansion weren't exactly...popular." There was a note of wry amusement in her voice.

"He was masquerading as a UPS delivery bird. Big crow like mutant. If you ever meet him, I'm sure you'll recognize him." Luke replied with a tight smile, still utterly clueless that a certain animal morpher was the one responsible for all the violence on that day. Focusing on the young woman with him, Luke let the rest of his popcorn lay forgotten in the bowl as he realized that things were finaly moving where he wanted them to go. Whether she was honest about wanting open lines of communication was beside the point. As long as she was willing to introduce him to someone or at the very lease give him a name to ask for, Luke would call this meeting a success.

"It maybe not be popular with some of the members but surely some of the leaders would be willing to talk." Luke observed, trying to focus on the positive, "You wouldn't happen to have any idea who might be open for that sort of approach, would you?"

Over the battles he had been in, Luke has seen plenty of the Sanctuary residents but he knew only a few of them by name. The big red guy was Abyss, according to the mansion scuttlebut and bone girl was called Isabel. Beyond that, Luke knew about a shadow jumper, a giant, and an earth manipulator but he didn't know any other names. Oh, and then there was the girl he'd seen at the brawl that could make some sort of energy field or something. Really it didn't matter who any of those people were, what did matter was who in the leadership he could talk to.