The mansion grounds were fairly peaceful. Summer insects buzzed and chirped as they went about their lives. He could hear the raised voices of some of the kids that were still at the mansion but they were a fair distance away, giving the harried looking man a bit of peace. He gladly took it since his earlier outing in the city had left him questioning his sanity. He still wasn't sure he was entirely sane several hours and much thought later. It was getting on to the hottest part of the day but Andrew would not be swayed to go indoors where it was cooler. Indoors meant people and people meant something that Andrew wasn't even sure was real.

It had been bright and early when he'd gotten up and gone out into the city. Drew stopped at a coffee shop shortly after leaving. Sure he could have had some at the mansion but he'd wanted to get out of there for a time to avoid having to fulfill his promise to Martin by spying on the further. That was getting even harder to do by the day so when he'd managed to summon up the willpower to do it he'd done it. After that it was business as usual. Andrew wandered about the city at random. He hardly ever had any definite plans when he went out and today had been no different.

The turning point had been coming within inches of being run over by an exceedingly rude taxi driver. He was an average looking joe but he had a mouth on him that could have stripped paint with a few well chosen expletives. Apparently it was Drew's fault for being in the crosswalk during the walk signal and red light that he decided to ignore. After that the day had started to go down hill. It was barely noticeable at first, like the music at a crowded restaurant. At a seeming random he was feeling connected to various people in the crowd. That was the only way to explain it. It was as though for a moment they were the same person. And it didn't stop after one or two instances. No he could barely go five feet without feeling it.

It seemed so random. There wasn't any pattern to the people that he could see at all! Andrew had hurried back to the mansion as swiftly as he could. The sensations wouldn't stop. It was maddening! And that was surely what it was. The ordeal with Martin had finally driven him mad and now he was imagining connections to other people as a way to cope. When he'd finally got back to the mansion he'd spent about an hour or two inside, only to discover that it was happening here too. So his only recourse was to seek out solitude. Andrew had gone outside. It was a hot summer day and few people were willing to brave the heat.

Eventually he'd found a nice quiet shaded part of the gardens and had settled into pacing there. Stopping in front of the trunk of one of the shade trees he sat down in the grass and leaned against the tree. Here he felt fine. There were no people so he couldn't feel connected to them. Here the strange sensation couldn't bother him and he could be quietly mad.

Gina was out on the grounds for a very different reason. It had been a short while since, well, s**t went down in the foyer. She was still stuck on all the things that Agnes' parents had said, all that they had done, and all that they had put her through just by coming back. Being in the Mansion just felt heavy, even if the events that had unfolded were now over, and Gina couldn't stand to be inside because of it. She didn't want to go out into the city either, except to fly, and she didn't want to fly much either. She was too distracted by her own thoughts to really venture out anywhere, and kept getting the irrational thought that, if she went out, antimutant religious zealots were going to be out there to get her.

Needless to say, past events had impacted her.

She hadn't really been looking for anyone to keep her company, as she was currently sorting through things internally. She paused long enough to exchange a polite amount of niceties, before walking on and sinking back into the whirlwind of her own thoughts. It was strange, to be so pensive, unnverving to be so comfortable in the silence. Bizarre. Unusual. But, also, neccesary. Gina wasn't used to being so mellow.

It was then that she spied a familiar face-- well, not head on, but from slightly behind. It was Drew. She'd seen him once prior to the recent past events, but since they'd both been on the front line against antimutant-religious-zealot invasion, Gina felt that they had more of common thread now. As ironic as it sounded, having survived the same ordeal gave her more reason to become better friends with him. Her mood brightened a little, and she meandered over.

"Hey," she greeted simply, announcing her presence, "You look--" she paused for the proper term, "--Worn out. How have you been?" Gina imagined that she looked equally as exhausted as he, though nothing served to brighten your spirits better than a familiar face.

He wasn't really seeing the world around him. In fact Andrew wasn't paying much attention to external stimuli at all. So when a voice that was suddenly nearer than any of the others spoke he tensed up. Did a voice mean a person anymore? It might not. He was after all going mad. Slightly panicked eyes darted around for a moment before they found Gina. That made him relax somewhat. At least he wasn't that crazy yet. However Gina being nearby meant that there was a much higher possibility that the feeling would return. It was only there around people and Gina was people. Right?

"I...uh."

Oh he was incredibly articulate wasn't he? Not that it mattered too much at the moment? What should he do? Beg her to leave? Run away? Sit and endure her well meaning inquiries? So many options and he didn't know which to choose. Andrew didn't want to endure that feeling again but it was rude to run away. The indecision showed quite well on his face. At least until he figured that if he was going to sit there like a lump until he decided whether or not to run away he might as well answer.

"Not good. It's been a weird day."

That was something, coming from a guy who had gotten used to being beaten up regularly and having injuries appear out of nowhere. He threw Gina very tentative smile. Despite the fact that his lips were pointing in correct direction for a smile it hardly looked like a smile at all. In fact probably looked more like he was either going to start laughing hysterically, but without a hint of humor, or scream.

She must have startled him, for Drew jumped marginally when she spoke, and wore an alarmed expression as he whirled around to face her. Gina held up both hands placatingly, and mumbled an apology as Drew took a moment to compose himself. Yeesh, he’s even jumpier than I am, right now. He looked confused, and stared at Gina speculatively.

>> “Not good. It’s been a weird day.”

And then he cracked a slightly psychotic smile at her. Gina arched her brow in mild concern, and proffered an equally uneasy yet drastically less insane smile in return.

“Same,” she agreed, equally as cryptic. She had assumed that they were on the same wavelength, even if they really weren’t.

“Drew, you remember me, right?” Gina tried awkwardly. She was was kind of unforgettable. Was she even speaking to Drew right now? Or maybe this was a shapeshifter or some sort of… bodysnatcher that only looked like Drew?

“Have you tried to talk about it with someone?” she pressed on,lacing her arms across her chest and craning her head, to show that she would trade him stories, if he chose to speak with her, “Or do you want to?”

"That's, uh, good? Not good?"

Drew wasn't sure which applied to Gina's admission that her day had been weird and not good too. Her question pertaining to remembering her caught him off guard and he looked at her, tilted his head to one side, and laughed a little.

"Of course I remember you Gina. Gargoyle Girl! Awfully cute too."

She'd been there when they'd faced down Agnes' parents, he remembered.

"You stood up for Agnes too. That's good."

He looked at her for several moments. Just looked. He was going mad after all so she might not really be there. He had to make sure that she wasn't going to disappear or turn into a pear or something.

"Talk about it? Why talk? Talking won't make it stop."

Closer than the other voices, a teenage girl's voice sounded loud. Apparently she was outside and talking on the phone with her mother.

Sheesh Mom! Fine, I promise I won't sneak out to the movies with Bobby again! It was only one time! We didn't even kiss...much.

The sensation again! Drew's eyes bulged as it hit him and was gone.

"See! There! It happened again!"

“Not good,” Gina confirmed patiently. Her inquiry caught him Andrew off-guard, for he quirked his head and then let out a casual chuckle. It felt a bit too forced. Gina didn’t join in laughing.

>> “Of course I remember you, Gina. Gargoyle Girl. Awfully cute, too.”

Gina smiled, nodding her head and coloring lightly at the “cute” comment. Masking her unease about Andrew’s… oddness… she explained that, “I just had to check. You were looking at me kind of funny.”

>> “You stood up for Agnes too. That’s good.”

Gina nodded her head slowly, hesitantly, and avowed, “Well, she is my best friend.”

And then he just stared. Yeah, something was wrong. Gina stared back, searching his face, and his eyes—something was churning in there, she was sure. Was he going to talk to her, or just gape.

>> “Talk about it? Why talk? Talking won’t make it stop.”

“But it… it, uh… could help you… cope?” Gina attempted, growing less and less sure of as to whether or not they were truly speaking of the same thing. Andrew paused again, before his eyes widened to saucers and he went absolutely into the deep-end.

>> “See! There! It happened again!”

“What happened again?!” Gina demanded, confused. Her voice equally as urgent as Andrew’s because of the unseen threat. She saw, and heard, nothing—now she was catching on. Drew was spazzing out.

“Um, Drew?” Gina inquired politely, casting a sweet smile towards her acquaintance as she attempted to nab his attention, “I know that talking won’t make ‘it’ stop, but maybe it would help a little. I mean, you don’t have to talk to me, but—hmm, someone—maybe Mama T?” Mama T didn’t sound like a half-bad idea. She was the closest that Xavier’s had to a psychologist. And, unless Drew had suddenly shifted into a psychic capacity on Gina, he’d need such a doctor.

He'd been looking at her funny. Oh. Andrew looked sheepish.

"Sorry. I, uh, I'm just not feeling right. I'm sure it's plenty obvious."

Andrew listened to Gina. He must be making her nervous with his ramblings. He didn't mean to. It was just so weird!

"Sorry I'm acting really weird aren't I."

It couldn't hurt to talk to her about it. At least she'd understand then. He waited until she'd suggested going to Mama T.

"I do sound nuts don't I? Maybe I am going nuts." he sighed, "I just had a really weird morning. And now things are happening that I'm pretty sure I'm the only one noticing. I don't know what to do."

He glanced at her and stood up to pace some more.

"Ever since that taxi almost hit me this morning I've been feeling" he paused as though reaching for a word, "connected I guess to people. Totally at random and I don't know why. It's strange and I'm pretty sure I'm going nuts."

Andrew sighed.

"I'm just really confused and it's getting to me."

Drew took an apologetic bend, coming to realize that he was acting a little bit odd-- well, that was a good sign. If he'd been really far gone, he wouldn't have noticed-- after all, wasn't it often said that the really crazy people weren't aware of the fact that they were acting abnormally.

"That's quite alright," Gina said, smiling faintly. Like she'd said earlier-- he looked, worn-out, or just plain out-of-it. Even if his antics made her uncomfortable, she was... trying to understand. And she was cool enough with Andrew to try and dig for a reason, rather than take the easy road out and just run off.

Gina slouched against a tree as she listened, bobbing her head slowly as Drew explained that he was sensing things that other people couldn't pick-up on, and feeling connected people after he'd nearly been hit by a cab. Gina inclined her head, her eyes widening in disbelief.

"You almost got hit by a cab?!" she gasped, not bothering to mask her shock. Funny, that Andrew had just spouted all these things about connecting to people, and she was more shocked by the fact he'd almost been hit by a cab. Getting nearly run-down by a cab was certainly a more natural occurrence then feeling "connected" to people.

"As in, psychically?" Gina tried to clarify, rubbing her chin in a scholarly manner, "That's kind of cool, but I could see why it would freak you out--" Psychic capacity wasn't within the realm of the possible for Drew-- he was a promise-keeper, wasn't he? It was almost as out there as Gina starting to "feel connected" to people.

Being nearly hit by a cab was nothing to him but apparently it was enough to shock Gina. He waved it off.

"Yeah, missed me by inches. You shoulda heard the guy though. He rolled down his window to tell me exactly what he thought of me for being on his road during the red light he was going to run. I think he would have made a sailor blush, so to speak."

Gina tried to get him to clarify what he meant. That sounded as close as he was going to come to it.

"Yeah, I guess psychically is it. I don't hear their thoughts or anything. It's like knowing they're there. No that's not right. I don't really know how to describe it. It's like how you're aware of your own body right? But all of a sudden I'm aware of someone else in the same way. It's only for an instant but it's really weird and unsettling."

Andrew decided, rather abruptly, to change topic.

"Have you seen Agnes since that thing with her parents and Mr. Muscles? How's she holding up?"

He was genuinely concerned but it served as a decent way to get his mind off of that odd sensation as well.

Drew waved off almost being hit by a cab casually, claiming that it had missed him by inches. And, on top of that, the cab driver had the nerver to yell at him for being in the road. Gina gaped, furrowing her brow in disapproval. What ever had happened to pedestrians having the right of way? Or maybe that was only a California thing-- Drew than spoke of the experiences he'd been having, which sounded very interesting--

He described to Gina that it wasn't really psychic, per se, but more of heightened awareness. He'd be aware of someone else the way he was aware of himself-- which, Gina had to admit, sounded really cool, but she could see where it would freak non-psychics like themselves out. Almost as soon as Drew went into explaining the not-really-psychic capacity, he'd switched gears, opting to discuss something else.

>> "Have you seen Agnes since that thing with her parents and Mr. Muscles? How's she holding up?"

Gina frowned slightly, a momentary spark of humor dulled by the recollection of the encounter. Of course she'd seen her, they were roommates-- but perhaps this was not general knowledge? Her voice drifted into an unnatural calm, which aimed for nonchalance but came off as just watered-down exasperation as she answered, "I don't know, I think she's still in a bit of shock-- I mean, she's relieved, or I'd think so, but-- you know--," Gina gave a one-shouldered shrug, "Agnes keeps a lot to herself."

She tilted her gaze towards Drew, cracking a faint smile in his direction, "You know, you were--" she almost said "on fire" that day, but opted for a word choice that had less of a gruesome connotation, "--fantastic, taking Mr. Muscles on like that. That was really brave of you--" Gina bobbed her head slowly, unsure of what else to say. She was sorry for not helping him, for running off because Agnes told her to, but Drew of all people should have understood the weight of keeping promises. God, that was a cruel way to look at it-- she rubbed her cheek slowly, momentarily absorbed in recollection.

Andrew listened to Gina talk about how she thought Agnes was doing.

"Well I'm sure if she needs to talk about it she'll do so. Just gotta wait for her. It takes some people a while to open up about such things."

That was speaking from personal experience. He still hadn't told anyone what Martin had done to him. Now though it was because he didn't want to. He knew what Martin had done to him would be considered horrible by others, that was why he didn't share. It had taken him a while to accept that what had happened had been for the best but he had. No he kept silent because of orders and because others just wouldn't understand.

Gina moved on to complimenting him on his bravery for taking on Mr. Muscles. Drew gave her a small smile in return.

"It's not a matter a bravery. I was just doing the right thing. Freaks like them don't deserve a daughter like Agnes. If keeping her away from them meant getting beat up a little, I was and still am fine with that."

Any mutant deserved better than that. That was just simple fact. There was no way he would have let Agnes' parents take her back. Taking on Mr. Muscles, flames or no flames, had simply been a part of that. It still made him sick the way they'd given such preferential treatment to Muscles over their own daughter. Just because his mutation was prettier. That was why he loathed humans, they didn't and couldn't understand mutants. All they would ever do would be to hold them back.

>> "Well I'm sure if she needs to talk about it she'll do so. Just gotta wait for her. It takes some people a while to open up about such things."

"Yeah, I know," Gina sighed, giving a faint laugh. How much of this would she have known about if she'd never have walked in on Agnes and Rhythm? She'd probably still be happily oblivious. Would Agnes had even have told her that these people were her parents, if she hadn't figured everything out? Or would Gina have just been convinced that they were random religious zealots laying siege upon the school? And then there was her personal life-- the whole "not knowing your real parents" business and being raised by a foster mother and three foster brothers. Yeah, she supposed everybody had something that they just didn't talk about.

>> "It's not a matter a bravery. I was just doing the right thing. Freaks like them don't deserve a daughter like Agnes. If keeping her away from them meant getting beat up a little, I was and still am fine with that."

She wasn't alarmed by Drew's answer in the slightest-- in fact, she'd expected that sort of response. He didn't seem like the boastful, bask-in-the-glory type. He was simply a good guy, like some sort of modern-day night. Doing the right thing because it right and for no other reason at all. And Gina knew that there were people out there like that, too-- like her mother. No one made Pamela take her in, she simply did so because it's what any good person would've done. Or, at least Gina liked to think so.

"Still," Gina contradicted him gently, tilting him a similar smile, "Even if it was just doing the right thing, It was a pretty stand-up thing to do. There aren't a lot of people who'd take on a human-fireball just to protect a friend." Her statement had an air of finality to it-- as if any attempt made by Drew to down-play the even wouldn't serve any purpose but a loss of breath. Gina rubbed her arm, tempted to change conversational gears but uncertain of how to do just that. Now that they were on this rather heavy subject, it was going to be quite difficult to leave it.

Gina apparently would hear none of Drew correcting her. Doing what he did made him a good person in her eyes, regardless of his intentions or reasons behind it. He gave a slight shrug. If she wanted to stubbornly believe that he was a good guy then she could. It made no difference to him.

"If you say so."

An awkward silence enveloped them. At least, it was awkward to him. What else was there to talk about? Somehow she'd managed to calm him down, though he was no closer to figuring out what the heck was going on. And they'd discussed the recent incident. It wasn't as though they were close friends who could laugh and joke with each other. The sounds of the others people outside got closer but Drew paid them no mind. That is, until the girl with the cannon arm strode into their little sanctuary and fired off four balloons from her cannon. Two aimed a Gina and two at Drew. Being surprised by the watery assault Drew didn't move and thus got soaked. Cannon girl just grinned, winked, and ran off to shoot water balloons at other folks.

"Well at least it wasn't pudding this time."

Drew had been attacked by the girl previously. She liked to make mischief and thought that using her mutant power, an air cannon like appendage that had replaced her right arm, to do so was simply marvelous. The last time it had been pudding, tapioca pudding at that. Drew glanced over to Gina to see if she'd avoided the balloons at all.

>> "If you say so."

Gina smiled at the like stubbornness, let it drop, dwelt in the momentary silence. She was close to dismissing herself, as this conversation wasn't really going anywhere, and Gina couldn't talk about things that girls would usually converse about-- after all, he was a guy. Gina had come really close to mentioning a dress she'd just bought, when this realization dawned on her.

Thank God, for spontaneous water balloon fights. A girl with a cannon for an arm had darted towards them, slowing her pace as she got closer. Gina had watched her out of the corner of her eye, intrigued, but did not gesture to Drew that they were being approached. She was intrigued, so she just watched slyly. The girl than fired four projectiles into the air, and then, before Gina could react--

Two, fat water balloons hit their mark, one catching one of her horns and sufficiently soaking her head, and the other colliding with her chest. Though the horn-water-balloon had gotten her more wet, the one that had hit her chest hurt, and Gina yet out a yelp of alarm. At least she was wearing a dark-colored shirt today. The girl cast them a wink, a grin, and then ran off cackling. Gina waivered between getting really ticked off or just busting-up in laughter.

>> "Well, at least it wasn't pudding this time."

"Pudding?!" Gina demanded. Okay, this was too good to get mad at, and she could help it-- she started laughing. This was just what they needed.

"Well, come on! We need to make a counter-attack, soldier!" she exclaimed, darting off after the cannon-armed girl. Where there was one balloon, there had to be more, and she was likely heading to reload-- anyways, water balloon fights sure as heck beat heart-to-hearts. Gina tossed a glanced over her shoulder, to see if Drew was following suit.

Andrew's look resulted in him bursting into laughter. One off the water balloons had caught Gina right on one of her horns. While he was laughing he reached over and removed the busted remains of the balloon from her horn, where it was hanging, and tossed it on the ground. At Gina's demand about pudding he grinned.

"Yeah, she got me with tapioca pudding a couple weeks back. It got all over the paperwork I was doing at the time too. Took me hours to get it cleaned up and the paperwork redone."

He frowned for a second before Gina's laughter set him to laughing again. This was much better than moping over something he couldn't control. When Gina gave the order to counter attack and dashed off he snapped off a mock salute.

"Yes ma'am!"

Drew dashed off after Gina, catching up to her fairly quickly. They were following the course of air cannon girl. With luck she'd lead them to a stash of water balloons that they could raid so that they could begin their revenge. Of all things he hadn't expected to end up in a water balloon fight. Drew was still worried about the sensations and the possibility that he was just going nuts but it was put on a back burner until after they got sweet watery revenge for their soaking.