>> "I'm sorry…Maybe it was too much. I did not know how much we need, so, I think I overdid it. I can't tell how my powers affect people. So, I'm sorry…But I mean it, you did very good. I did not really meet many other mutants who could control demselves after I boosted them. Most of them just... pfft. Collapse."

“Don’t…be sorry,” Agnes whispered as she continued to res but trying to not allow her eyes to close. “We both did what we had to. You were right…there was no other way.”

As much as Agnes hated to admit that, she knew it was the truth. If Sveta had not boosted her powers, then there was no way that she would have reeled in all of Arthur’s insects. Sure, some of them would have defected to her side, smelling like some grand insect goddess and all, but the reality was that his influence was strong. Even with Sveta’s power boost, she could sense him trying to worm his way into the bugs’ minds. He was strong, but luckily, in the end she managed to come out just a tad stronger.

Still though, because of all this, she was responsible for the injuries that man suffered. She had willing sent those insects after him and is the reason why the man was now being hoisted onto a gurney by several men. She was the reason he was twitching and had what was sure to be a deadly amount of venom coursing through his blood. Agnes would have to live with that knowledge, but she was at least she was consoled a little knowing that she did all she could to help the people here.

Especially Sveta. She especially was trying to help Sveta, after all, she could still remember that mass of killer bees Arthur sent after her. If she had not had intervened, her friend, her only real friend right now, probably would be dead…

>> "Thank you. For, you know, saving me."

Agnes sniffled a bit as she heard the words and then looked around the rest of the auditorium. People everywhere were being treated, while others were being led away to safer spots. More people survived today because she was here to do something about it, because she had managed to hold off that deadly swarm and redirect them on their abuser. In a way it felt good that she had managed to use her powers in a more useful capacity than she was used to. On the other hand, though, she did harm another person and barely was able to call off the attack. Who knows if the man would even survive after all this? Would she get into trouble?

But Agnes managed to choke down her fear for a little bit longer as she turned to regard Sveta. A weak smile appeared on her lips as she nodded to her.

“No problem. Thank you for saving me.” she said, meaning every word of it. If it was not for Sveta’s power boost, she was sure she would be dead right now.

It was not long before Officer Alderman returned to the duo, a grumpy look on his face as he cleared his throat. “Mutant Related Crimes detective is on his way. Just sit tight and we can get all this straightened out.” He sighed as he shook his head, watching as they wheeled Arthur away on a gurney. “I don’t know what happened here, but if that man lives, he’s never going to feel anything below his neck again…”

>>“Don’t…be sorry. We both did what we had to. You were right…there was no other way... No problem. Thank you for saving me.”

Sveta smiled at Agnes. It seemed surreal, getting into trouble all the time, trouble that other people only know from comic books and crappy TV movies. For them, it was all real, and that made the two girls different from everyone else around them. Still, they dealt with in, in theit own way, and they were both alive. That had to count for something.

>>“Mutant Related Crimes detective is on his way. Just sit tight and we can get all this straightened out. I don’t know what happened here, but if that man lives, he’s never going to feel anything below his neck again…”

Sveta bit her lips, and didn't say anything. That was probably the last thing Agnes needed to hear. She glanced at the other girl, and waited till the officer wandered away again. Sit tight. Right. She doubted it could be any tighter than that.
She knew she should feel sorry for that man. She felt pity for him before; there were many broken people just in one city, looking to be special in some way. Some of them, for one reason or another, were. Being a mutant was as special as someone could get. Still, it didn't always mean someone was also a good person.
Sveta, for example, was decidedly not a good person. She just found out that a man was going to be paralyzed for the rest of his life because what she did (or helped to do) to him, and she did not feel sorry at all.

"It was not your fault" she told Agnes quietly.

>> "It was not your fault"

Words still rebounded inside her head and Agnes immediately felt sick to her stomach. The man’s life was forever changed because of something that she had done. Because she had put all those insects on the attack, which pumped so much venom into his body that now that man would only be a moving head, she was consumed with an all encompassing guilt. Despite Sveta’s words, Agnes did not want to believe a single syllable of them. Her euphoria from the knowledge that she helped people live, suddenly began to crash down on her.

She used her powers to badly harm someone…that was something she never ever wanted to allow herself to do. She always believed that if she had, she would have become the monster her parents had always imagined her to be.

Sniffling as tears welled up in her eyes, Agnes ignored the sound of the wheels of the gurney as the squeaked and rolled through the slowly emptying auditorium. Part of her wanted to turn, wanted to see how the man she had attacked looked. She wanted to see the aftermath of what her powers could do. But the fearful side of her kept her head still, staring across at an upturned table. Bugs still skittered across her line of vision and many others were still attempting to crawl up to her because of her scent as Hive-Mother. But Agnes ignored them all. She could not bear to look at them. Not out of disgust, not out of spite, but out of fear of what she would do if they returned.

It was apparent that she had a power that was simply too scary for her to really comprehend of.

A glance to Sveta and Agnes closed her ears off to the sound of the paramedic’s leaving with a groaning Arthur’s body. Could she ever really forgive herself for this?

“I…I really hurt him.” she whispered. Idly her hand lowered to her side and felt where the pain from her ribs was emanating. He practically broke in her rib cage but at least she would walk out of this alive with would be able to heal. He, on the other hand, won’t. And she was the reason for that. “My god…what…what am I capable of?”

Agnes was starting to break down again. Another wave of exhaustion was beginning to wash over her and all she wanted to do was go home, and still, they were not letting her go home. What the hell? All she wanted was her bed and they were keeping her here to talk to some mutant detective. This was really turning out to be the worst day.

And it was all Gawain/Maya’s idea. She’d make sure to blacken that other eye for this…

Jorge Cervantes sighed as he drove through the streets of New York, heading for the Natural History Museum. There was way too much traffic right now and he knew he needed to get there pretty darn fast. After the call in from the museum, there was evidence of a mutant related crime and they needed verification that one of the mutants there was an X-Men. But how was he supposed to know? He met a few of them but not all of them. He doubted he would be able to identify who this person was or if she were lying. Still though, the detective had a job to do. Once there, he would get a general description of them and contact the X-Men. Surely somebody will answer their communicator and be able to verify.

Weaving in and out of traffic, the detective found himself getting closer to the museum and already he could see some flashing lights off in the distance. He definitely was not surprised by that. After the story he was told about what happened there, he would have been shocked if there were less emergency vehicles.

All he got from Officer Alderman was the summary of events. A call had come into 911 about the museum being attacked by bugs. When officers arrived, all they found was a large auditorium in shambles, with bodies and injured victims everywhere. Nearly every last person had been stung or bit by what seemed like an army of insects. And little if any of the eyewitnesses could identify what happened, only that every last bug was on the attack. It was a terrifying idea and one that sent a tingle up Jorge’s spine.

Just what the hell had happened there? Eyewitnesses identified two possible suspects, a large fat man who seemed to be urging the bugs to attack and a young teenage girl whom the bugs were all circling. Whoever the culprit was, it was now up to Cervantes to figure out that little piece of the puzzle.

“Finally,” he muttered was he found a pocket of clear road to drive through.

Moving through the street, Jorge followed the blare of sirens and the blinding flashes of the red and blue lights and the hustle and bustle of people who were already clamoring around the sidewalks. He never liked rubberneckers and right now they were taking up a lot of space that the police and emergency vehicles could be using up. So he slammed on his horn to scare off the weaker of them and proceeded to pull to a stop nearest to his fellow police officers.

Once he was parked and out of his car, Jorge made his way to the building, eyeing the Bug-Apooloza signs and shook his head. No wonder everyone was terrified. With so many bugs in there and someone ushering them all to attack, it must have definitely seemed like a massacre. Even he would have been terrified to witness a sight like that. He hoped that more people were saved than those who were lost. Then again…that was probably wishful thinking on his part.

Inside the building, the detective immediately tracked down the nearest police officer and began to question. Immediately he was directed towards the auditorium where Officer Alderman was waiting for him. One look at that gruff exterior and already Jorge had to roll his eyes. It was obvious that the man did not like dealing with mutants.

“Alderman?” he asked once he got the man’s attention. “Detective Cervantes, MRC. Where are your suspects?”

Alderman sneered a little at Jorge’s approach and shrugged his shoulders. It was obvious that he did not like the idea of a mutant division of the police office but he would have to keep his personal feelings out of it. Hell, Jorge was fighting the urge to punch the man in the face. They all had crosses to bear.

Another second and man nodded over to the waiting blonde and brunette.

“Over there. The fat man is being cared for by EMTs. Say there’s a lot of poison running through his body. All, witnesses say, were inflicted by that teen over there.” He sighed and pointed to the blonde now. “She, on the other hand, states they are X-Men on their day off and that the brunette actually helped save people. You’re call from here.”

“Always so helpful.” Jorge made his way over to the pair, careful to not step on bugs or other fallen material that the CSU’s were picking over. Once he was nearby, he smiled warmly at the both of them and showed them his badge. “Hello, my name is Jorge Cervantes, detective for the Mutant Related Crimes unit.” he said as he slide his badge back into his coat pocket. “Mind if you recount for me what happened here?” Jorge knelt down, watching the both of them. For whatever reason the brunette was extremely skittish. He hoped that would not be an admission of guilt.

>>“I…I really hurt him. My god…what…what am I capable of?”

"Vat you are capable of" Sveta said, risking sounding like somethin out of an awful movie "does not mean it is de kind of person you are. Many mutants can do a lot of bad tings, because of deit powers. But if you didn't stop him, he would have hurt a lot of people. A lot."

Including us.

Sveta watched the man walk over to them; somehow he looked vaguely familiar.

>>“Hello, my name is Jorge Cervantes, detective for the Mutant Related Crimes unit. Mind if you recount for me what happened here?”

Sveta nodded, with a glance at Agnes, and decided it was best if she talked.

"My name is Efimia" she said (using her 'official' name was always a good move) "and we came here to look at de bugs. You know, school assignment, for her" she nodded towards Agnes "And den dat man come to us and he tried hitting on us, and got really pushy, so we sent him away. And then, he started using his mutant powers, making insects attack everyone around. Scorpions and all." she took a deep breath, and nodded at Agnes again "She has powers to control bugs too; dey like her, and protect her. So she used her powers t draw bugs away, but the man started beating her up, really bad, so the bugs protected her. Dere were so many bugs, way too many, she could not fully control all of dem. But she saved me when he sent wasps at me, and lots of other people. So, that's what happened."

Kinda. Sorta.

>> "My name is Efimia"

Efimia? The name caught in Agnes’ mind like a splinter. If that was her name, then why did she always refer to herself as Sveta? Maybe she gave her the wrong name on purpose? Maybe it was a fake name because she did not want the policeman to know who she really was? Whatever the case, Agnes was simply too tired to stay on the subject for long. Her mind was still reeling, her stomach still doing twists and turns deep in her gut. Right now was not the time for her to focus on details. All she knew was that because of her, a man was going to be paralyzed for the rest of his life, and that was if he was lucky!

But, despite her weariness, Agnes simply sat there, looking away from the crouching, gruff looking policeman and stared at the oh so interesting floor. Next to her Sveta was recounting everything that happened since they got into the auditorium…and left out a few details.

Sveta had gone over pretty much everything, she described that they were here for a school assignment, that they were being harassed by that man, and then how he was manipulating the bugs to attack everyone, and even that Agnes could be seen as the hero in this whole mess. But Agnes really did not feel like the hero her. She had injured a man gravely and it was not out of self-defense…it was because during her moment of primal-ness, it was what felt right.

When her friend was done and Agnes watched as the man wrote everything down on his little notepad, he closed her eyes tight as a tear began to well up.

“Look, I hurt the man, okay?” Agnes suddenly said. “I had all the bugs under my control, they were not going to hurt anyone else and I did not restrain myself!”

She breathed heavily as she sat there on the ground, hugging her knees to her chest as she attempted to fight off more tears. It was done and over with. She admitted to hurting that man and now no one could paint her in a positive light. She was not supposed to be the good guy here. She was the monster just trying to figure out how to get a handle of her powers, not use them to hurt anyone, even if they seemed to deserve it. That was not the way this was supposed to work.

“I gave him everything I felt he deserved,” she whispered. “I could not control myself, just…take me in. I just want to leave here. Please…”

>> “…we came here to look at de bugs. You know, school assignment, for her…And den dat man come to us and he tried hitting on us, and got really pushy, so we sent him away. And then, he started using his mutant powers, making insects attack everyone around. Scorpions and all…She has powers to control bugs too; dey like her, and protect her. So she used her powers t draw bugs away, but the man started beating her up, really bad, so the bugs protected her. Dere were so many bugs, way too many, she could not fully control all of dem. But she saved me when he sent wasps at me, and lots of other people. So, that's what happened."

Jorge nodded as he listened to the story that was definitely much more in detail than what he was getting from the police officer’s summaries. So this was a simply trip for research that turned into something far worse than either of these two girls could have imagined. It was a shame because they both seemed so quiet and nice. That was unfair to make them have to go through something like this, especially when they were simply minding their own business, at least according to their statements. Also when looking at the turn of events, if the girl had not been here, who knows how many more people could have gotten hurt before the rest of the police arrived…

…that was if they were telling the truth. It corroborated with some of the statements he had overhead, but who’s to say whether or not these two were actually telling the truth. They could simply be trying to keep themselves from going to jail. But deep down, he knew that was not true. He trusted his gut and his gut was telling him that these two girls were simply at the wrong place at the wrong time, or right time depending on your perspective.

Another nod and he jotted down another note on his pad. “Okay, so you girls look both in your teens and this man was harassing you…he then starts attacking the whole auditorium by controlling the bugs? Well, I have a few statements that agree with that…”

He mumbled that last part to himself as he kept mentally going over the scene as was recited to him by his fellow officers. Some eyewitnesses did state that the man seemed a little unstable and he was urging bugs to attack. Maybe these that little brunette teen was really the hero here after all…

“Okay, it seems like your recollection is meshing up with some other statements that were taken.” he said with a nod. “You also said you’re part of the ‘X-Men’, correct? Let me contact them and see what they say abou-“

>> “Look, I hurt the man, okay? I had all the bugs under my control, they were not going to hurt anyone else and I did not restrain myself!”

The shouting immediately caught Jorge’s attention as he stopped lifting his cellphone and simply stood there, staring at the young woman. It was obvious that she was upset but he was caught just a little off guard by her words. She had attacked the man? The Russian woman had not said so, instead merely left her statement at that the brunette had managed to wrangle in the insects to protect her and the rest of the people there. But…if that were the case then how did Arthur receive all those wounds? It did make more sense that she attacked him but the girl sounded so upset by that truth.

>> “I gave him everything I felt he deserved…I could not control myself, just…take me in. I just want to leave here. Please…”

Jorge arched a brow, staring at the young girl. Immediately he began to feel a little sorry because she seemed so embarrassed about what she had done. Even if she had attacked the man, he believed she did it out of wanting to protect the rest of the people here. At least that’s what other eyewitnesses were telling officers. They were all praising the young, scrawny teen for pulling all the insects to her and out of the man’s control. She saved lives…yet she was felt guilty for harming one to do that. Noble…

“Listen,” he said as he stuffed his notepad back into his pocket. “What happened here, it was self-defense. At least that is what the general consensus is. You didn’t do anything wrong. You protected people.” As he said this the girl looked away, tears now freely falling down her cheeks. He turned to the Russian girl and gave her a warm smile. “Why don’t you help your friend out into the hall with me. I’ll contact the X-Men and get all this cleaned up. I promise.”

>>“Okay, so you girls look both in your teens and this man was harassing you…he then starts attacking the whole auditorium by controlling the bugs? Well, I have a few statements that agree with that… ”

Damn right. That was the truth, after all, it only made sense that some people must have seen it, and some of them even remembered. Sveta nodded. It looked like the police officer believed what she'd said.

>>“You also said you’re part of the ‘X-Men’, correct? Let me contact them and see what they say abou-“

Well, that part... Sveta bit her lips. Sure, Agnes belonged to the school, but she was far from being an X, or even a trainee, and Sveta was nowhere near. But she trusted the people who were.
Apparently, Agnes did not.

>>“Look, I hurt the man, okay? I had all the bugs under my control, they were not going to hurt anyone else and I did not restrain myself! I gave him everything I felt he deserved. I could not control myself, just…take me in. I just want to leave here. Please…”

Sveta's eyes widened. What was Agnes thinking? Guilt, that was one thing, shock, another, but she just admitted that she was trying to hurt the guy, and police never liked that. Sveta shook her head with a sigh. They were going to jail after all. She felt sorry for Agnes; she knew exactly how heavy the burden was, she had one herself. She would have reached out to hold her hand. Probably not a good idea.

She looked up at the detective, waiting for his reaction.

>>“Listen. What happened here, it was self-defense. At least that is what the general consensus is. You didn’t do anything wrong. You protected people. Why don’t you help your friend out into the hall with me. I’ll contact the X-Men and get all this cleaned up. I promise.”

Sveta was surprised. Was it really that easy? Was he just trying to calm them down?... Looking at Agnes, she nodded to her and stood, keeping her distance from the girl and the police officer as well. They walked after him, and Sveta really, really hoped that they were not about to get into more trouble for saying they were with the X-men...

>> “Listen…What happened here, it was self-defense. At least that is what the general consensus is. You didn’t do anything wrong. You protected people…Why don’t you help your friend out into the hall with me. I’ll contact the X-Men and get all this cleaned up. I promise.”

Agnes mutely stared at the police officer that looked as if he were trying to talk sense into her. The man had looked shocked with her outburst but instead of putting the cuffs on her…he did nothing. Instead he seemed more concerned with how she saw herself rather than the damage she had caused to that man. Just what was his deal? Was he like the worst cop in the world? Who doesn’t arrest a suspect who just admitted to hurting someone on purpose? She knew if she had been a cop she would have done it!

But maybe there was something more to him. The warm expression on his face, the true concern that he seemed to attempting to show her…was he another one of those who simply wanted to care?

Someone should tell him he is barking up the wrong tree. It wouldn’t be her though.

Once he gave the order to Sveta and her to join him out in the hall and away from this massacre, Agnes agreed. She wanted nothing more than to simply leave this room behind and never look at it again. Well, that was a lie. What she wanted more than anything was to simple go home but even he was not letting her off the hook that easily. Still…the man seemed a little more level headed than most of the jerk officers who only looked at her like she was some kind of danger to society just because she was a mutant. That was definitely not fair of them but she did not feel up to giving them a lecture.

Weakly Agnes stood up, noting that Sveta stayed a bit further away from her. Maybe she was angry with her for blabbing about actually hurting that man. Maybe she just did not want to cause another accident by getting too close and powering up again. Whatever the case, Agnes did not blame her. But really, it would have been good to have a friend whom she could actually hug right now.

Weakly she followed them out into the hallway where the hustle and bustle of police officers were all around her. They helped people out of the auditorium, while others tended to the injured. The body of Arthur, the man who had attacked her, was gone, taken away to a waiting ambulance outside. Deep down she felt a lot of pity for him and hoped, prayed actually, that he would survive in a better state than that other officer had predicted earlier. It was not fair that he attack them and she feel guilty for defending herself. It simply wasn’t fair.

Once out in the hall, the cop, Jorge, directed them to sit in a bench in front of another hallway. There were fewer people there and no one seemed to be paying much attention to them. She was glad for that. The last thing she wanted was more attention on her.

With a sigh, she looked up to the officer as he pulled out his cell phone. “W-What’s going to happen to me? Sveta,” she said, and nodded towards her friend, “Had nothing to do with what happened to that man. I swear she didn’t…”

Jorge was still unsure of how to call this case. Both young women seemed to be telling the truth, but the second that brunette blurted out everything that she had done, he felt a little cold. She intentionally attacked that man, or at least could not control herself from summoning all those bugs against him. Normally such an admittance would result in her arrest, or at least holding for questioning down in the precinct, but when Jorge looked at how upset she was and understood the fact that she told the truth without really needing to, he gained a bit of respect for her. Whether or not she attacked that man was not relevant here. She defended a lot of people and stopped someone from harming others, that’s what really mattered.

Leading them out of the auditorium, Jorge had to sigh because he knew this was going to be tough to get by the rest of the precinct. It seemed like a clear case of he said, she said so by all rights he should detain her. But he was not. Instead, he had a different idea in mind.

Up the stairs, Jorge spied Alderman who seemed to be questioning another witness. The man gave him an icy stare that only seemed to say “so-bleeding-heart-for-another-mutie-eh?” and all Jorge wanted to do was punch him. He hated that the man could be so close minded, especially when the girl did a public service by incapacitating that lunatic that attacked everyone at the bug fair.

Sometimes the ends do justify the means…

“Okay, ladies,” he said as he led them to a hallway that opened into the hall of Gemstone’s exhibit. He nodded to the bench as he dug out his cell phone from his coat pocket. “Just have a seat there and I will see if I can contact the X-Men…”

>> “W-What’s going to happen to me? Sveta...had nothing to do with what happened to that man. I swear she didn’t…”

Jorge paused and smiled at the pair of them encouragingly. He hoped he could earn their trust by appearing as calm and friendly as he could. Policeman-ship 101…
“Look, I understand that.” he said in a low voice, but motioned over his shoulder. “This…isn’t exactly procedure, but my gut tells me you both did a good service in there. Legally I’m supposed to detain you, but, since you say you’re with X-Men, I would rather you were under their protection and supervision, than putting either of you in a holding cell until this is cleared up.” he said as he stood up, dialed the number and winked at the girls. “You’ll be fine, both of you. Just sit back and relax until your right gets here.”

Stepping away from them momentarily, Jorge waited for his line to connect. It seemed forever but finally the whiny voiced receptionist for the MRC division picked up the line. God how he hated talked to her. With a quick explanation, he had the woman connect him with the X-Men’s contact line and waited while the number range. One of them had better pick up their communicator…

When it finally did, he sighed with relief as he spoke. “Hello? This is Detective Cervantes with the MRC. I believe I have a couple of your people that you need to pick up…”

There was something going on downtown. Breaking news and all that jazz. Gemma could feel it in the pit of her stomach, like mothers do when their kids are in trouble halfway around the world. She just knew there was no breaking news without one of her kids being involved.
Sure enough, the phone rang. And rang. And rang. And rang.

Where the hell was Sam when there was work to be done?

>>“Hello? This is Detective Cervantes with the MRC. I believe I have a couple of your people that you need to pick up…”

"Do tell" Gemma smirked, rolling her eyes "I kinda had a feeling something was up. Is everyone all right over there?..."

(OOC: Hope this is okay, Mirror. Seems to flow better with Jorge answering her question. Afterward we can go back to the Agnes-Muse-Jorge order. Unless you have something diff in mind. )


>> "Do tell…I kinda had a feeling something was up. Is everyone all right over there?..."

“Gemma?” he asked.

He knew the sound of her voice well he knew there was no question that it was her. But the very fact that she was answer a phone for the X-Men made him smirk as well. Of course she would have found a way to answer a call for the X-Men, it was just the type of woman that she was. Especially considering that she lived and worked at the mansion, he knew it was only a matter of time before something like this would come about, that he would be contacting her while in the middle of a job. He was just glad that the job was this time was pretty benign.

A glance over to the pair of young teens and he sighed a bit as he turned away down the hall and finally responded to her question.

“Well if anyone will know how to handle this situation, it’s you,” he grinned as he spoke into the phone. “Everything is under control right now. Apparently some insect manipulating mutant decided to go postal at the Natural History Museum’s bug fair. Lot of people were hurt but thankful there was another mutant who was able to stop him.” he explained, deciding it was better not to go into too many other details just yet. “Anyways, I have a pair of young ladies here who claim that they are part of the X-Men and that they were helping stop the chaos.”

He glanced once more to them, saw that they were still sitting there and sighed a bit. He really did not want to lock them up for questioning, especially since he was sure that the evidence was going to prove that the brunette had only acted in self-defense and the defense of the general population. Who knows if the regular cops would have been able to stop him, judging from the control he had that eyewitnesses were claiming. Who knows if even he would have been able to stop him.

The detective turned his attention back to the phone in hand.

“Anyway, their stories need to be corroborated with the events that took place and to be honest, I don’t want to keep them down at the precinct until that is done. We’re crowded enough down there as it is, and it’s just better not to expose these two to it.” he said honestly. “So I wanted to know if the X-Men could identify them and kept them at the mansion until their names are cleared. One is a tall, blonde with a Russian accent, said her name was Efimia. And the other is a thin brunette, apparently she has some ability to do with bugs as well. They sound familiar to you?”

>>“Gemma? Well if anyone will know how to handle this situation, it’s you. Everything is under control right now. Apparently some insect manipulating mutant decided to go postal at the Natural History Museum’s bug fair. Lot of people were hurt but thankful there was another mutant who was able to stop him. Anyways, I have a pair of young ladies here who claim that they are part of the X-Men and that they were helping stop the chaos.”

As soon as the word 'insect' left Jorge's mouth, Gemma knew exactly what was going on. One of those mutants must have been Agnes. No wonder she would show up at a place like that; Gemma was sure she did not go there looking for trouble, quite the opposite, but still, trouble seemed to find her anyway.

>>“So I wanted to know if the X-Men could identify them and kept them at the mansion until their names are cleared. One is a tall, blonde with a Russian accent, said her name was Efimia. And the other is a thin brunette, apparently she has some ability to do with bugs as well. They sound familiar to you?”

So, it was Agnes after all. And not alone. And the pair of them at a bug fair: the worst combination every. Gemma bit her lips.

"That's Agnes, Jorge, the girl I told you about. Get her out of there, right now. The Russian too, but be careful not to touch her, she's a power booster." she said quietly "Please get them out of there, the last thing we need is the religious fanatics finding Agnes. Just... bring them back to the Mansion, I'll talk with Sam."

>>“W-What’s going to happen to me? Sveta. Had nothing to do with what happened to that man. I swear she didn’t…”

Sveta sighed; there went her fake name, also, Agnes did not sound too convincing. It was very kind that she was trying to protect her; Sveta had to admit, she liked the girl more and more. She was about as screwed with her powers as Sveta was, and they seemed to work well, protecting each other. She wished she could hug her.

>>“Look, I understand that. This…isn’t exactly procedure, but my gut tells me you both did a good service in there. Legally I’m supposed to detain you, but, since you say you’re with X-Men, I would rather you were under their protection and supervision, than putting either of you in a holding cell until this is cleared up. You’ll be fine, both of you. Just sit back and relax until your right gets here.”

"Thank you." Sveta nodded to the officer with a smile; he was also very kind and helpful. He turned away to make a call; Sveta looked at Agnes and smiled "See? Everything is going to be fine." she was quiet for a moment, waiting for the detective to return "It's okay, Agnes. I have been through all kinds of things. I know it feels like everything is awful, but it's going to work out, I promise." she said, looking into her eyes "... I'm sorry I can't hug you."

>> “Look, I understand that…This…isn’t exactly procedure, but my gut tells me you both did a good service in there. Legally I’m supposed to detain you, but, since you say you’re with X-Men, I would rather you were under their protection and supervision, than putting either of you in a holding cell until this is cleared up…You’ll be fine, both of you. Just sit back and relax until your ride gets here.”[/color]

>> "Thank you…”

Agnes watched in shock as the man walked away from them and began to talk on the phone. He really just going to let them go off like that? She had to admit that she really did not want to spend any time down at his precinct but just handing them over to the X-Men? In a way it made sense. They were mutants and what better way for them to be kept an eye on is with a whole slew of them? She wondered if something like this would ever become normal procedure cause it did seem to make the most sense.

Once he was gone, she saw the relieved look on Sveta’s face and Agnes could only watch her sadly. She slipped up back in the auditorium. She should not have exposed the both of them the way she did by blurting out the truth but…the guilt was bad. It really stung what she did to that man, pun not intended. She harmed him horribly and it would not have been right if she had just let that go unsaid. Besides, according the cop eyewitnesses had already said so.

Now that, as she watched him walk away, she paused as she sat there, contemplating the idea of returning to her own bed. That really sounded like an awesome idea right now…

>> “See? Everything is going to be fine…It's okay, Agnes. I have been through all kinds of things. I know it feels like everything is awful, but it's going to work out, I promise... I'm sorry I can't hug you."

Agnes immediately felt a pang of hurt at Sveta’s last statement. Did Agnes really look like she needed a hug right now? Maybe she did, but that did not mean that her friend had to feel bad because of it. If anything Agnes understood better than most. She never was able to enjoy a hug, a kiss, any kind of real affection. First it was because her parents were just way too strict to offer any kind of real love, and then it was because of her mutation. Either way Agnes was denied any true affection so maybe, yeah, her first real friend in a long time, it would be nice to give her a hug. But she really did not want Sveta to feel bad for that.

With a breathe she smiled at Sveta honestly.

“Don’t feel bad. Truthfully, half the time people can get close enough to me to hug be anyways because of the smell.” she shrugged. “I’m surprised that you can handle it.” Another sigh and she watched as the man spoke in the phone, apparently watching her now. What? Did someone on the other end of the line mention something? Now she had to watch him closely…