This story takes place immediately after X-Factor 141, and attempts, wherever possible, to maintain continuity with past events. Onslaught, however, never happened.

Rustic Attractions

CHAPTER 1

She was awake. Not just awake, but more importantly, herself once again. She ran a hand through her long, green hair and smiled. "I've really learned to appreciate being me whenever I can," she thought out loud.

At that moment, Forge walked in. "How are you feeling, Lorna?"

"Like I'm ready to get outta here."

"I can't think of any reason for us to stay any longer, either." So the two remaining members of X-Factor grabbed what little they had with them, and left the makeshift infirmary.

Lorna knew she had a lot of decisions to make. Once again, her life had been turned upside down by recent events. It wasn't enough that Alex had to go and run off _again_, or that her long anticipated reunion with him was a disaster in every sense of the word. Now she could hardly even stand to look at him. This was just the beginning of a long chain of events she hated to even think about.

Although Forge had assured her she was welcome to stay at Falls Edge until they could piece together this mess, and decide on the future of a team, she had decided to leave.

"How long will you be gone, Lorna?"

"I don't know, maybe a couple weeks, maybe more."

"What should I tell Xavier? Or Val? You know they are going to have lots of questions. Not to mention Sabretooth is still out there." Forge's words did nothing to ease Lorna's troubled mind. No surprise, though, Forge liked to tackle problems head on, no holds barred. This time Lorna had no answers. More importantly, she didn't care. She'd played the pawn for too many years, and she was sick of it. Sure, anti-mutant hysteria was at an all time high. Yes, Sabretooth was on the loose. Was she worried? Hell, yes! But she was not about to let those things hold her back.

"I wish I could get you to reconsider---," As he continued on with his prophecies of the gloom and doom that would result from her leaving, Lorna realized she'd been zoning. She was a little embarrassed, but at least Forge hadn't noticed.

"Forge," she finally interrupted, "don't worry, I can take care of myself! I've been there before, remember? And I'll keep in touch, promise." Then, for some strange reason, she planted a quick kiss on his cheek. She didn't really know why she did, but it managed to stop Forge cold. Maybe it was the fact that lately others hadn't shown her a lot of compassion. He blushed, but said nothing.

"Take care," she said as she turned to go.

"You, too," was all he could quietly manage.

The metallic sphere floated silently through the clouds. It felt weird piloting the EM craft in shorts and a T-shirt, but she wasn't on duty and the uniform wasn't necessary. This was one of the few fleeting thoughts she allowed herself since she had to focus her concentration on keeping the craft aloft, steering, and carefully monitoring the external EM field for disturbances that might signify an unwelcome discovery by someone.

Today, though, cruising across the Appalachian foothills, there was no one to present a threat for miles around. Her outstretched arms shifted slightly, and the craft responded by making a slow and gentle turn to the right. Anyone watching Lorna's precisely timed and graceful movements might think she was a dancer. In fact, Rahne had told her that once, much to Lorna's amusement because Lorna didn't think she was much of a dancer at all.

Lorna brought the EM craft slowly to the ground, and floated down off the flatteringly high captain's chair. She grabbed her satchel of "essentials" and stepped outside into the sweet smelling air of the Blue Ridge mountains of western North Carolina. She turned back to the craft, and as her outstretched hand gradually closed into a fist, the EM craft clicked-and-clacked together like an oversized puzzle. When she was finished, the metal sphere was just about the size of a softball, and maybe a little heavier.

"Amazing what Forge can do--- and I can't think of a better way to fly!" All of the sudden, an intense solemn feeling washed over her. She recognized this feeling as "coming down off the high" that long-term manipulation of magnetic fields gave her. The feeling would pass quickly, but it was disconcerting while it lasted, and made her tired. The ground didn't look especially comfortable, but she needed to rest for a moment. So she picked a secluded spot and sat down. Her exhaustion overcame her, and the moment lapsed into hours as she relaxed to the sounds of the birds, the rustling leaves, and the occasional squirrel.

"Hello?" A little voice called out. Lorna's eyes snapped open. Instinctively she drew up a magnetic shield which appeared as a pale green bubble around her. This startled the little girl who had been curious about the lady sleeping in the woods.

"Damn," Lorna thought to herself, "so stupid of me to let my guard down like that, here in the woods of all places." She counted herself lucky, then focused on the girl. "Sweetheart?" she called out, "I'm sorry if I scared you! Hello?"

A rustling in the woods, behind the tree, gave the girl's hiding place away. The girl started to run, but Lorna could fly faster. "Hey wait! Who are you?" She gradually caught up with the girl, so as not to scare her even more.

The girl froze when she caught a glimpse over her shoulder of Lorna lowering herself to the ground. "You're one of those, um, what my daddy calls..." she gasped.

"Mutants?" Lorna added helpfully. Finally she was able to get a good look at the girl. She was about eight or nine years old, with long, stringy red hair, freckles, and greenish eyes. "What's your name?" Lorna asked politely.

"Anna. What's yours?"

"My name's Lorna."

"That's a different name. Is it because you're a mutant? My daddy says mutants all have weird names, like Wolverine." Lorna looked at her with surprise, unsure of exactly what to think.

"No, honey, my parents named me Lorna, before I was even born. They didn't even know I was a mutant when they named me."

"Really? Wow! Did you know your hair is green?"

"Sure, it's been that way for a long, long time."

"Is it because you're a mutant? Do you like it that way?" Lorna smiled as Anna continued her quick shot of questions.

"Yes, and I suppose I'm just used to it. That's like me asking you if you like your red hair."

Anna distractedly played with her red hair for a moment, and then said, "Yeah, I guess so. Ooop! I gotta go!"

"Why?"

"I just remembered my daddy said, 'never talk to mutants'!" Anna started running away.

"Hey, wait!" But it was too late. Besides, Lorna didn't feel like getting anyone into trouble. Lorna kicked a rock across the path. "What really bothers me is that it wasn't that 'daddy' didn't want her talking to strangers, but that he didn't want her talking to mutants! That kind of thinking has to stop someday," Lorna muttered to herself. But she didn't feel very convinced that would happen anytime soon, as she picked up the bag and began walking down the path.

CHAPTER 2

"See mommy, look!" Anna tugged at her mom's shirt. Jean-Marie saw the woman sitting on a rock in the distance.

"Quiet, Anna darlin'." They both watched for a few minutes as Lorna got ready to eat a snack. Jean-Marie gasped when she saw the strange woman reach toward her bag, only to have a small metal fork jump out, and into her hand. Her mom was aghast, but little Anna just giggled.

"C'mon Anna, we're headin' home!" Jean-Marie gave her daughter a nudge toward the house.

Forty-five minutes later, the family was sitting down for an early supper. They had just said the blessing when Anna chimed proudly, "I saw a mutant today!" Jean-Marie's face flushed and her eyes widened. She had hoped that Anna wouldn't bring up their earlier encounter. Anna saw her father turned beet red, and immediately knew she had said something wrong.

After a quick glance was exchanged between mother and father, he asked, "Anna, how do you know it was a mutant?"

"'Cause she had green hair, and could fly, and could make a fork fly, and her name is Lorna!" Anna was not used to getting much attention at the dinner table, so despite her parent's reactions, she was clearly enjoying the spotlight.

So far, her father was doing a good job of staying calm. "Anna, what did I tell you about mutants?"

"But daddy..."

"Anna, what did I tell you about mutants?" Trevor repeated more sternly.

"Never to talk to them...but daddy, this was a nice lady. She talked to me, and was nice to me. She's a nice lady, daddy."

Trevor had to admit that this mutant didn't sound like any of the mutants he'd ever heard about. The news was filled with stories about mutants who'd killed with their claws, or destroyed some national landmark in a battle while supposedly trying to save the world. Trevor didn't want his family ever to be involved in any sort of a mess like that. The further he could get from mutants, the better.

As he thought the situation over, he decided that he'd need to take some action to make sure his wife and daughter stayed safe. After all, where there's one mutant, there's sure to be more. He grabbed a double-barrelled shotgun and got ready to face this new threat to them.

"Anna, I want you to stay here with mommy. And Jean, keep the house locked up 'til I get back."

"Trevor, don't do anything rash. I don't want no trouble, now..." Anna listened to her mother's voice trail off as the front door slammed shut.

Lorna had enjoyed the beautiful late spring day walking around in the woods. Now she was focusing on what to do next, since the day was winding down and it would be dark before too long.

"Think I'll go visit Guido in the hospital. I haven't seen him in a couple weeks so he's probably wondering what's up." She played with a couple other options of where to go, but they all involved meeting up with other people who would ask a lot of nosy questions about her and Alex, what's going on with X-Factor, blah blah blah. So with her mind made up, she started to get ready. She packed her things back into the carrier, and then retrieved a familiar, silver- metallic ball. She held out her hands once again to...

"Hold it right there, young lady!"

Lorna froze. There stood a man, with a shotgun pointed right at her. After quickly mentally assessing the situation, Lorna just smirked. "You've got to be kidding, right?"

"Lady, don't move. I swear I'll pull this trigger right here if I have to." His grip tightened on the trigger. The man was obviously very spooked. He nervously glanced down and saw the metallic ball that the green-haired woman had been focused on a moment earlier.

"I jus' knew it! Anna said you were here. I bet you're plantin' a bomb! You muties are all alike!" He aimed the gun at the EM craft and pulled the trigger. The shotgun blast threw Lorna's reflexes into action, and with just a subtle flick of her index finger, she sent the slug ricocheting harmlessly into the woods. The man didn't seem to notice her motion.

"Now hold on a minute, don't you think that was pretty stupid? If this were a bomb, which it isn't, where's the sense in blowing us both to smithereens?" Lorna was more annoyed than anything else.

"Yeah, well, don't you get smart with me, young lady. You're comin' with me 'til we can make sense of all this." The man with the gun picked up the metal ball and tossed it into a nearby creek.

Now Lorna had come to a crossroads. What an interesting dilemma this was: She knew she could easily get away from this guy, but what good would that do? The comments from Anna's father really bothered Lorna. As a mutant, she felt that she had a responsibility to show them that not all mutants are "bad." On the other hand, who knows where this could lead? A shivering thought took her back to the Salem witch trials, where suspected witches were burned at the stake and told to save themselves. It sent a chill down her spine and goose bumps down her back.

Lorna surprised herself with her next actions. Her hand reached out to magnetically take the gun away, but something inside stopped her. Without giving it a second thought, she put her arms up instead, and started walking. As her legs carried her forward, she heard the man say, "now that's more like it," but she was much too distracted for it to register anywhere. Instead, her mind was racing trying to come up with a game plan to account for all the possibilities she might encounter. Occasionally, though, she was brought back to reality as the tip of the shotgun nudged against the small of her back.

"Sheriff, I'm tellin' ya, this could just be the start of our problems! There's been a lot of strange stuff goin' on around here lately, and I'm worried for Anna and Jean-Marie!" Trevor spoke loudly into the phone.

"Now, Trevor, there jus' ain't anythin' we can hold her on. You know that. I got my hands full here with these arson fires and I can't have you makin' even more trouble. I suggest you let her be on her way. If that mutie causes any problems, heh, well don't you worry. Me and the boys will have her in no time. Somethin' tells me a pretty lady with green hair ought to be easy to spot!"

Trevor was far from satisfied. "Well, I hope you don't mind too awful much if we keep her here for awhile and ask her a few questions."

"Son, I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that. You do what you have to, but I'm advisin' you now to stay outta trouble." Abruptly the line clicked off apparently the sheriff wanted his to be the final say in the matter. Trevor put his head in his hands and tried to clear his mind. After a few seconds he stood up and paced around a little before deciding it was time to go check on his "guest."

Trevor walked out to the shed, again bringing his shotgun with him, just in case. As he entered the shed, he was shocked to find Jean-Marie talking with the mutant woman. "What do you think you're doing?" he asked Jean angrily.

"Aw, Trevor, I just figured our friend might could use a little food." Lorna was tied to a post in the shed. A half eaten plate of food was sitting next to her, along with a cup of water.

"Jeannie, I didn't tell you to bring her any supper!"

"Now, Trevor, you see here," Jean-Marie was getting agitated, "I just can't believe what you are sayin' about this here young woman! I can't believe she would hurt anyone. If she's gonna stay with us, we can't let her go hungry."

Lorna watched the exchange carefully, but remained silent. So far everything was fine, although she hadn't anticipated actually being tied to one of the posts inside the shed. It was a little dark and musty, but otherwise it was reasonably comfortable. While Trevor and Jean-Marie continued their discussion, Lorna decided to give the present surroundings a once-over with an EM scan. She allowed her eyes to relax and unfocus, and for Lorna suddenly the EM field appeared crisp and clear. She could easily spot and identify the farm implements inside the shed which were covered up with tarps, as well as the two pickup trucks in the nearby driveway (one of which was very likely immobile since one side of it was resting on cinder blocks), and a myriad of other EM patterns associated with power lines and electrical appliances. Aside from Trevor's gun, there did not appear to be any other immediate threats to her safety.

Talking with Jean-Marie had been useful. Lorna learned several things. First, that the whole family didn't feel quite the same way as Trevor did about mutants. And Trevor's dislike for geecees seemed to stem more from a misunderstanding of them, rather than a deep-rooted hatred. Still, she thought, it was going to take a tremendous breakthrough in order to get Trevor to change his feelings.

Trevor looked over at Lorna. "So just what were you doing in the woods near our house?" Lorna felt it was about time she'd stopped being referred to in the third person.

"I'm here on vacation. I needed to get away for awhile, and wound up here. I'm sorry if I was trespassing."

"You mean to tell me that of all the places you could go on a vacation, you chose our backyard?"

"I know that sounds tough to believe, but I needed to rest and this seemed as good a place as any to put down."

Now Jean-Marie spoke. "Why didn't ya check into a motel, darlin'? We've got one just a few miles up the road."

Trevor seemed mildly annoyed with Jeannie's diversion, and interrupted, "What do you mean, 'put down'? I didn't hear no plane or chopper. Just what kind of a mutant are you, anyway?"

Although she really didn't want to, for fear of losing any edge she'd have, she had to answer his questions or risk a complete impasse. "Well, I can 'fly,' and I can also manipulate electromagnetic fields."

Trevor's eyes widened, but this was nothing compared to the look of surprise on Jean- Marie's face. "You mean you can control electricity?" Jean asked.

"Not exactly. I can sometimes influence the electric fields induced by magnetic fields. My real abilities lie in magnetism." Trevor's mind worked overtime trying to comprehend everything this young woman was telling him. He wasn't sure what to think of all this.

"Show me." He wanted proof. Lorna's mouth twisted a little as she briefly searched for something sufficient. She spotted a toolbox on the far side of the shelf. Lorna got a mischevious grin on her face. Suddenly the box sprung open, and a bunch of screwdrivers, wrenches, and pliers jumped out and started "dancing" on the shelf. It looked vaguely like a mini-square dance. Lorna smiled as the tools did a little do-si-do, and Jean-Marie started to chuckle. Trevor's mouth hung agape and his head was crooked a little to one side.

"That's the damndest thing I ever seen," he whispered. After a moment, the tools laid down and Lorna watched to see what effect her ice-breaker would have.

"Whoo-whee, I bet you're somethin' at a party!" Jean chimed.

However, Trevor's reaction was less than Lorna had hoped for. He said nothing, only scowled, and after a moment stood up and took Jean-Marie by the hand. Then he hastily snatched up the toolbox as they exited the shed. Just before the door closed, Jean looked over her shoulder at Lorna, and shrugged. Lorna shook her head sadly as the door slammed behind them.

CHAPTER 3

Ororo, Betsy, Bobby, Rogue, Logan, Alex, and Scott were all standing around her, as well as a crowd of onlookers. Some were familiar faces, others she'd never seen before. Something wasn't right. To her horror, she discovered she couldn't move. Her friends, people she'd known and loved forever, were there, but they all wore stoic faces.

Ororo spoke first. "If you feel you are innocent, then you must defend yourself."

Lorna was utterly speechless. The only thing she could think of was, "Defend myself from what?"

"Oh, come on missy, you know why you're here!" Logan's claws were extended. The others just laughed and snorted with amusement. She saw Bobby pick up a small rock and hurl it at her. Lorna shifted, and the rock narrowly missed her face.

The time for confusion was over. Now she was getting pissed. "What the hell is going on?!" she yelled. The others just sneered and jeered all the louder.

Alex stepped forward. Lorna instinctively tried to back away when she finally realized she was tied to a large stake. On all sides of her below were pieces of wood. There was a strong smell of gasoline in the air that Lorna hadn't noticed until now.

"Lorna Dane, you have been found guilty of witchcraft. How do you plead?"

A wave of shock and fear came crashing down on Lorna. Her mouth hung open as she tried to figure out what to say or do. "I don't under-,"

"Oh, come on," Scott chided, "you can't deny it! We saw what you did with those tools! I guess you think we're stupid, huh? The joke's on us, huh? Not this time, you witch!" He spat at her.

"This is insane! Betsy, Rogue, _tell_ them!" Lorna's voice was laced with pure white panic. But the two just stood there with arms folded, blank stares on their faces.

Alex stepped back several feet, and the others followed suit. He outstretched his arms. Lorna knew what was about to happen. She desperately tried to find something metal to use as a weapon, but damn, there was nothing. Everything within her magnetic reach was wood! She struggled against the ropes that bound her as she heard the crowd cheer in unison, "Goodbye, Polaris!" Lorna screamed as Alex's plasma beams shot out and ignited the wood in a tremendous burst of heat and light.

CRASH!

Lorna's eyes snapped open. Her heart was thumping loudly in her chest, andher body was covered in a cold sweat. Her hands were shaking badly, and a resonant greenish glow surrounded her body. It took several minutes for her to get her breathing under control. A bright flash of white light through the window startled her again, followed immediately by a crash of thunder. "God, what an awful nightmare," she whispered aloud. "I can't stay here like this much longer or I'll go crazy!" Outside the storm appeared to Lorna as a swirling mass of electromagnetic energy. It was interfering with her ability to "see" what else was going on. A flash, followed quickly by another crash, was enough to convince Lorna that it was going to be a long, sleepless night.

Earlier that evening, Trevor, Anna, and Jean were sitting on the porch. Trevor gestured up to the clouds. "Looks like we're gonna have a storm tonight."

"Hon, don't you think we outta figure out a better place for our guest to stay?"

"Damn it, Jeannie, she ain't our guest. And until they figure out who's behind these fires, I'd feel a lot better knowin' exactly where the mutant is."

"Her name's Lorna, Daddy!"

"I know, darlin'...you're right. Where 'Lorna' is," he corrected himself and mussed with the girls red hair. "Besides, Lorna'll be safe in there, it's dry and warm. We'll bring her out more food tomorrow morning and giver her the chance to freshen up." Jean couldn't tell if he was being truly sincere about that, or whether it was just for Anna's benefit that he was being so civil.

"Time for bed, sweetheart," Jean told Anna.

"But momma!"

"No buts! Tomorrow's a school day and you have to be up early." Anna reluctantly picked herself up off the porch and scuffed her feet as she headed inside, the screen door slamming behind her.

Now it was Jean's turn. "Trevor, you've seemed real spooked since when Lorna was makin' them tools dance around earlier. You gonna tell me what's up?"

Trevor shifted his gaze from the sky to his wife. "Jus' that I'm so worried about all the strange things that's been happenin' First Grainger's farm, and Noble's store, and now we come to find out there's a mutant in our midst. It does spook me, Jeannie. I read about those mutants in the paper, like what's happened awhile back at the Washington Monument, or in New York City, and I think, 'If they can't protect a big city, how in heaven's name am I gonna protect you two from mutants when they start showin' up at our door?"

"Honey, maybe we don't need protectin' You know how the media is. They're gonna see the bad in _everythin'_! I think what we got here is a scared and confused woman who maybe could use some friends."

Trevor scoffed at the idea. "You mean to tell me there ain't enough of her kind out there to talk to and keep her company? Or, maybe she done somethin' so bad, her kind don't want none of her either!" A flash of lightning and a distant rumble of thunder caught their attention. "We better be headin' inside ourselves." The two of them stood up and went inside, this time closing the large door behind them to keep out the rain.

Lorna thought she heard someone, but couldn't tell. The storm was thowing off so much interference, she had no way to tell if someone was headed her way or not. This was just what she didn't need. She crouched as low as she could get, half behind a bale of hay. Sure enough, the door creaked open. As it did so, Lorna caught a glimpse of the windswept downpour going on outside. The door closed again.

"Lorna?" A timid voice called out. Lorna recognized it instantly.

"Anna! What are you doing out here at night in this storm?"

"I thought you might be thirsty," she said halfheartedly, holding up a small cup that was now about a third full of water. "There was more water in it before but I think I spilled some of it on the way over."

"That's okay, Anna." Anna started to hand the cup to Lorna, then was embarrassed as she realized that Lorna's hands weren't free to drink. Lorna felt bad that the child had to see her this way, but with any luck, it would work out for the best. "Just set it down. I'll get some in a minute."

"Daddy says you're like a magnet. What's he talking about?"

"Well, do you remember when I flew over to talk to you in the woods this morning?"

"Yeah," Anna's interest was piqued.

"Well, I can also control magnetism."

"You mean like metal things stick to you?" Anna gave her a puzzled look.

"No, not exactly. But I can move metal things around."

"Really? Can you show me how?" Anna remembered Lorna's trick with the fork earlier in the woods, but she really wanted to see it up close.

"Oh, I don't know, I don't want to scare you or anything." Lorna wanted to avoid a repeat of that afternoon, if at all possible.

"Oh, c'mon, please. C'mon, _please_?"

"Okay, but just a little." Lorna raised her index and second fingers and gave a paint can a gentle shove about a foot to the left.

Anna was delighted. She clapped her hands and smiled brightly. "Cool!"

"Listen, Anna, your daddy isn't too happy with me right now. You probably shouldn't be out here. Let's keep this little visit a secret, okay?"

"Okay. I'm good at keeping secrets!"

"Can you do something else for me?"

"Sure! What do you want me to do?"

"I want to talk to your mom again tomorrow. Do you think you could ask your daddy a question or something to keep him busy when they're on their way out here?"

"Yeah. But I don't know if my daddy will listen or not. He gets kinda busy sometimes."

"Well, just do the best you can, okay?"

"Okay!"

"Head back in the house now, and be quiet, I don't want anyone to know you were out here!" Lorna thought Anna was cute as she tiptoed over to the door and back out into the rain. The idea was maybe if she could talk to Jean a little more she might find a way to loosen Trevor up.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

For the second time, Lorna awoke with start. "Brought ya some breakfast, darlin'" Jean-Marie walked in, but Trevor did not. Perhaps Anna had been successful.

"Thanks, I'm famished." Jean brought a piece of cornbread, some country sausage, and gravy, as well as some orange juice.

"I'm gonna loosen up these ropes, since I don't feel like feedin' ya again. I'm sure you don't want that either."

"Thank you!" Lorna was truly greatful to have some movement in her arms after being tied up for nearly twelve hours. There was one thing she still needed badly. "I could really use a-,"

"Don't worry, I know, that's coming right up! Grab yourself a couple bites to eat first. Trevor will be leavin' as soon as I get back to go check out the damage from that storm last night. We'll get you to a bathroom then."

"Thank God!" Lorna munched hungrily on the sausage. It was a little spicy, and reminded her of some of the sausage she and Alex would get in New Mexico.

Lorna said very little as Jean let her continue eating. It wasn't long before she was stuffed. Jean-Marie grabbed up the plate and cup and silverware, and headed back to the house. After about ten minutes, Jean came back in, and led Lorna down to the house, also. She directed Lorna to the bathroom. While Jean was a little nervous about having a mutant in their house, it wasn't anywhere near the same feeling that Trevor had.

A moment later, Lorna came out of the bathroom feeling quite a bit better. "Whew," she wiped her brow with exaggerated relief. Lorna took a quick glance around the house...it was every bit as rustic as she'd expected and then some. One thing was for sure, "Falls Edge" it wasn't. The furnishings were simple. In fact, Lorna decided, the only thing that might be described as elaborate would be the handmade quilts that lined some of the hallways. Some of them appeared much older than others, but, for all that the house had in the rustic department, it was clear to Lorna that these people had a lot of pride in themselves and their surroundings. The house was remarkably clean and dust-free. The sink was empty, without even a trace of the morning's breakfast dishes. And the knitted coverings on the old chairs and couch in the living room were in place.

"Trevor sure was in a mood this morning," Jean thought aloud.

"What was wrong?" Lorna needed every bit of information she could get. But she didn't want to appear too eager, either.

"Well, you know, Trevor likes to watch the morning news before he heads out for the day. Guess that storm last night caused some problems with our old TV antenna there must've been a tree limb down on it or something, cause we can't find much of it anymore."

They walked outside and Jean pointed toward what was left of the mangled TV antenna. "Mind if I take a quick look?"

"Well, sure, but I don't see how- ," Jean's words were cut off as Lorna immediately shot upward to the top of the house. Jean was dumbfounded and just watched with her mouth agape.

Lorna had no trouble at all identifying the locations of parts of the antenna, which had been scattered over the yard.

"Be careful up there, you hear?"

Jean's plea for caution brought a wry smile to Lorna's face. "If only all the jobs were this easy!" she called back.

Gradually, Lorna released the antenna pole from the chimney, and brought it down with her to the ground. Jean looked at Lorna questioningly, but said nothing. They walked around to the back of the house. With a magician's flair, a wave of Lorna's hand caused everything metallic in the back yard to rise up from the grass. To Jean, all this magic seemed to be done without strings, mirrors, or puffs of white smoke. She shook her head in disbelief, but her eyes weren't deceiving her.

It quickly became apparent to Jean that a lot more than antenna parts had been lost back there. Forgotten gardening tools, a ring, parts of a wheelbarrow, a key, and about a dollar's worth of change were just a few of the miscellaneous objects now hovering steadily about three feet off the ground. The dampness from last night's rain made some of them glisten in the morning sunshine. "Some of that may be of interest to you?"

"Oh...thank you," Jean had been distracted by the strange metal objects which again seemed to come alive because of the green-haired woman. She went around and gathered up things that had been lost, cautiously grabbing at each object as it hovered in mid-air. Soon she had a handful of items and dumped them on the back porch. More than a couple times Lorna heard Jean mutter something about how long they'd been looking for this or that. She smiled to herself, then headed back toward the shed.

Eventually, Jean caught up with Lorna, to find her molding and shaping the antenna back into place. Occasionally, a loose piece of the ariel would come up off the ground and "bond" with the rest of the antenna.

"You can do that without welding it back?"

"There isn't an acetylene torch out there that can hold a candle to me," Lorna said proudly. Lorna's tone then became more serious. "Jean, why does Trevor dislike mutants so?"

"Well, darlin' I can't say I know for sure. But, you know, the news every day don't exactly help your image none!" That wasn't hard for Lorna to believe. Ever since she'd joined X-Factor, just about all the press their high profile team had gotten was bad press. And it certainly wasn't limited to X-Factor, or even mutant teams. It seemed to be "in" to report mutant violence. Slow news days were especially filled with mutant-related stories. Lorna estimated that about one story in ten put any kind of positive spin at all on geecees.

"Has Trevor ever even met any mutants?"

"Not that he's ever told me. I doubt it, really. He's pretty outspoken, and I think he'd have told me if he had."

"Well, maybe I can change his opinion about them..." Lorna trailed off.

Jean's casual look changed to one of distrust. Her face reddened. "Just what are you intendin' to do?"

Lorna stopped working on the antenna. Suddenly she realized what she had said. "Oh no, Jean, I don't mean, I...." she stumbled over the words awkwardly. "No, no, it's just important to me that Trevor realizes that not all mutants are bad. Or good. Just like any group of people, each one of us is different." Jean relaxed a little and the redness in her cheeks returned to a more normal rosy color. "Do you think it's possible Trevor could come around to that?"

"It's hard to say if he's gonna change his thinkin' or not. Sometimes he can be pretty stubborn. But usually he's willin' to at least listen."

Lorna was putting some finishing touches on her repairs. "Guess we'll see what happens when Trevor gets back and sees my handiwork."

"I gotta get back to the house now, Lorna, but when Trevor gets back I'll come up with him so he doesn't get worried about you bein' loose. I ain't gonna tie you back up, 'cause I'm trustin' you to stay outta trouble. You seem decent enough to me, so please don't make me regret leavin' ya loose."

"Don't worry, Jean, I won't. That would be totally against everything I've been working for, for many years." With that, Jean headed back to the house.

Later that day, she saw Trevor and Anna coming back down the farm road in a pickup truck. There was a large German Shepherd standing in the back, panting and barking playfully. Trevor and Anna seemed to be in good spirits, which, if that were true, it would be a tremendous improvement over how Jean described Trevor's mood earlier. Still Lorna couldn't help but have an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach.

CHAPTER 4

RINGRING! RINGRING!

Although he didn't feel like answering, the phone on his desk gave that insistent, irritating double ring that Forge hated. "One day," he thought, "I'm going to fix that damn phone so it doesn't ring like that." He smiled and knew it would never happen. Even though it would probably only take ten minutes, there was always something more pressing to occupy his time. Reluctantly, Forge picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Forge, this is Valerie. Sorry I haven't stayed in touch with you much since, the, uh, whole mess with Sabretooth!"

"Get to the point, Ms. Cooper." Forge's point blank demeanor stunned Val. She was used to Forge being curt, but this was a little harsh, even for him.

"Well, Forge, I just wondered if you and Lorna might like to get together for lunch tomorrow and discuss things. You know, just sorta 'shoot the bull' a little."

Forge sensed a setup. Val didn't get together to "shoot the bull." "Well, Val, that would be great if Lorna was around, but she isn't."

A long pause from the other end gave away Val's surprise. "Where is she? She's not still in the hospital, is she? Is she okay? Oh, Forge, what have I---,"

"Relax, Val, I'm sure Lorna's fine. We left the infirmary a couple days ago. Ever since, we'd both been twiddling our thumbs, and finally Lorna decided to leave. She didn't say where she was going, or for how long. But then, she's not required to anymore, is she?" Forge's reference back to the X-Factor's government days stung a little more than Val would've liked to admit. She was beginning to regret having called, but inside she felt determined to try to reconcile the differences that had wedged these former colleagues apart.

"Forge, I know things haven't been great for you all lately. But now more than ever, we need to support each other. I have inside information you're going to need to keep your head above water for the next few months!"

"All right," Forge reluctantly gave in, "but, I'm telling you now, if I sense something amiss, I'm going to disappear so deep, you'll think I've dropped off the face of the earth. I've had it with government intervention and double-crossing, Val. No more!"

"What about Lorna?"

"To tell you the truth, Val, it wouldn't surprise me if she comes back, packs her bags, and heads out to the New Mexico desert again for good. Her memories from there are probably better than the experiences she's had here lately!"

"Lorna! Where are you?" Trevor called out.

The first thing Lorna noticed was that Jean was not with him. "Oh well," she thought, "the show must go on."

"I'm here, Trevor. I have something you'll want to see!" Lorna stepped out from the shadows in the back of the shed. A greenish glow emanated from her hand, and she was holding the antenna in the air above her left shoulder. It looked better than new.

Trevor didn't know what to say. He wanted so very much to dislike this woman and her kind for the chaos they were bringing to the world. On the other hand, he was not one to overlook such a good deed, either. This one wouldn't be any different, he decided.

"Let's see what you got there, young lady." And for the first time since they'd met, Trevor smiled at her. Lorna gave the antenna a magnetic push over to Trevor, who reached out and grabbed hold of the post. He studied it for a moment, and seemed satisfied with her work.

"If you want, I can put it back up for you," Lorna offered.

"I tell ya what, how about we _both_ put it back up? That way we can have a little talk about what's been goin' on around here lately." Lorna was stunned at Trevor's change of heart, but wasn't about to let this opportunity pass.

Trevor grabbed a ladder from the shed and began hefting it down to the house. Lorna had the bulky antenna in magnetic tow. When they got down to the house. Lorna spied a glimpse of Jean-Marie looking at them through the window with a raised eyebrow. Lorna nodded back at her, then floated up past the window, past Trevor, onto the roof with the antenna. Although it would have been much quicker and simpler for Lorna to use her powers to refasten the antenna, she'd decided to play it Trevor's way. After all, these people were accustomed to doing their own work and not having a lot of help from outsiders.

So while Lorna held the antenna in place, Trevor slowly reconnected and fastened it.

After several moments, Trevor spoke first. "Look, I gotta tell ya...," he swallowed hard, "I'm sorry about...well...keepin' ya cooped up in there and all. I wasn't sure what to think when you showed up here yesterday. But I've been doin' a lot of thinkin' and I'm sorry. Not about lookin' out for my family's safety, mind you, but for the way you been treated."

"Thanks, Trevor. That means a lot to me. It's important to me that you're willing to give a mutant a chance." Lorna knew that sounded cheesy, but it was heartfelt nonetheless. Trevor looked up from his work and smiled a little.

"Well, as long as you're here, you should know some strange things have been going on around here. That's part of the reason I wasn't too happy about us runnin' into you in the woods."

"Strange things like what?" Lorna shifted her position as Trevor went to work on the other side of the chimney.

"We've been havin' a little problem around here with someone settin' fires and creatin' general mischief," Trevor said, his voice laced with bitterness.

"Why would someone do that?"

"No one knows for sure. But, it seems weird that these fires started about the time we began hearing from those out-of-towners."

"Who are they?"

"They claim to be here sellin' 'mutant insurance'." Trevor hoped maybe she would be able to shed some light on the situation.

Lorna's jaw dropped. You have got to be kidding me!" She shook her head. "A protection racket? I cannot _believe_ the depths people will sink to in order to make a buck. And the fact that these people are playing on your fears makes me want to be sick. Just exactly what have they been promising?"

"They say that muties, oh...I'm sorry, mutants, are on the move, that the cities aren't big enough to hold 'em anymore. And that they can protect us from mutants."

The more Lorna heard, the madder she got. Her jaw was tense and her face was crimson. "So let me guess, about the time the people around here started saying, 'no thank you,' is when you all started waking up to some nasty surprises?"

"Yeah, that's about right. But we don't know hardly nothin' about these people. Even where they're stayin' while they're here."

Lorna thought for a moment, then her face lit up. "Trevor, I have an idea. But you're going to have to trust me. And what's more, everyone else is going to have to trust me in order for this to work."

"That's not gonna be easy, Lorna. A lot of these people are spooked about what's happened. Nobody believes these ridiculous stories they're feedin' us about mutants causin' the fires, but when they see you, some of them could wonder. Just like I did. But seein' your reactions to all this --- well, you look madder'n a rabid coyote. Leave it to me, though, they'll listen if you let me do the talkin'."

Trevor paused a moment, reflecting that it was crazy for him to suddenly put so much trust in a mutant. But it felt like the right thing to do. On the other hand, he felt compelled to give his new ally a warning. He spoke in a slow, measured tone. "Lorna, I will say this...if you're yankin' our chain, I guarantee you it's not goin' to be pretty for you. There's a lot of scared people around here right now. If this is some kinda trick, you'd be best to give it up now and head back to where you came from."

"This is no trick, Trevor. I want you, all of you, to know that mutants, at least the ones I call friends, are here to co-exist with and help humans, not make life miserable for everyone."

"It's a deal, then. You can stay here with us while we figure out what to do."

"Thanks. I promise you, these people are gonna regret having ever messed with your town!" Lorna wiped sweat from her brow and realized it was getting pretty hot up there on the roof. "Trevor, if you don't mind, I could really use a shower. It'll give me some time to think, too."

He gestured down to the ground, "Be my guest! I think you know the way, already." She nodded, then floated down to earth and went into the house. "Maybe havin' a mutant around ain't gonna be so bad after all," Trevor chuckled to himself and went back to refastening the antenna.

CHAPTER 5

The four of them rode in the pickup truck into town. Anna and Trevor were up front, while Jean and Lorna sat on the bed in the back. It wasn't an especially comfortable ride, but there were cushions to sit on to ease the bumps a little.

The family had unanimously agreed along with Lorna that they'd better keep things low profile for now. Since Lorna's plan required her to blend in, she had pulled her green hair up underneath a baseball cap she was wearing low over her head. She couldn't help but feeling like a little kid.

As they pulled into the courthouse parking lot, it became clear that the simple disguise was actually working. Lorna was hardly given a second glance by any of the townsfolk. It was a strange feeling for her, since she was so used to attracting attention everywhere she went.

The four of them all made their was to the sheriff's office. The door was open, and it was just the sheriff, one patrol officer, and a secretary. Trevor walked in first.

"Well, hello, Trevor, Jean!" He nodded at them. "And hello to you, little Anna!" Anna made a beeline for the bowl of suckers on the secretary's desk and promptly took to the important task of searching for her favorite flavor. The sheriff smiled and said finally, "I see you've brought a guest. Hello, ma'am." He shook Lorna's hand. Then suddenly the realization seemed to hit him. He stepped over to the door and closed it. "Trevor, is this the mutant you've been talking about?"

At that, the patrol officer stiffened and stood up from the wall he was leaning on. The secretary, who was busily working on typing up an incident report, stopped suddenly. The silence seemed almost deafening.

Lorna glanced at Trevor and after what seemed like an eternity, Trevor spoke up. "Sheriff, this here is Lorna Dane. She's a mutant, but she says she can help with your investigation. She's got a plan that can run these guys outta town for good."

Trevor's words seemed to pain the sheriff. "Aww, Trevor, now you know we can't just be pullin' people off the street. If we get mutants involved in this, we could have ourselves a war, right here." He turned to Lorna. "Ma'am, no offense, but you'd best be goin'. This really ain't the place for you..."

"Now, hold on a minute, sheriff! We didn't trust Lorna at first, either, remember? But we've all heard her plan, and honestly, it sounds good. Better'n anything anyone's come up with so far, I'd say. No disrespect to you or your officers, of course! But you should at least hear her out.

The patrol officer snickered, and the sheriff shot him a glance. "You think there's somethin' funny about all this, son?"

"No sir," came the abrupt response.

"Ain't you got some work to do? I do reckon your lunch break's about over." The sheriff gestured up to the clock on the wall. With that, the officer went through the doorway and disappeared into a different room.

"Well, Ms. Dane, this puts me in an unusual situation," the sheriff continued, "While I don't like the thought of an outsider comin' in to do my job, I'm inclined to trust Trevor's judgement. Even though he can be sort of a hothead sometimes, he usually knows what he's talkin' about. And while the fact that you're a mutant don't necessarily bother me in itself, it's liable to scare some people 'bout half ta death."

Even though some of what the sheriff said grated on her, until now, Lorna had been quietly watching the exchange. She felt proud of herself for exercising some restraint and not throwing in her two cents yet. Now it was her turn to speak, and she found herself with a very dry throat. "Um, ahem. First, sheriff, I want to say that I'm most certainly not here to undermine anyone's authority. After Trevor told me what's been happening around here, and that crap about 'mutant insurance,' I thought maybe I could help. So I thought of a plan that will uncover this scam and the people involved.

"I want everyone to know that trouble doesn't follow mutants around, that sometimes we can be the solution to problems, when we work together," she added.

The sheriff looked at her thoughtfully. "Well, ya might as well tell me what you've got in mind. Sounds like we're all anxious to be rid of these folks and the sooner they're gone, the sooner we can go back to livin' the quiet life, and I can worry more about givin' out speedin' tickets than arson fires. Anyhow, the state police is threatenin' to get involved if we don't take care of this, soon, and we sure don't want that around here." The secretary emphatically nodded her agreement.

Lorna took a deep breath, and then set about explaining her plan. After about a half an hour, the better part of which was spent answering questions, the sheriff reluctantly agreed.

"How are y'all today?" Lorna said to Jean in an exaggerated, rather high pitched voice. One word kept booming through Lorna's mind: "Rogue."

"Honey, this ain't Texas. It's North Carolina. You're tryin' too hard! Relax your voice and let it come out naturally." In a lower pitched voice, Jean repeated, "How are y'all today?" Lorna found the whole thing natural all right. About as natural as a Morlock in the light of day.

"How are y'all today?" This time, she sounded considerably more like Jean.

"Ah might just git it right, yet!"

"Ah might just git it right, yet!" Lorna repeated mockingly, and the two of them laughed.

Later that day, the entire family sat down to dinner. After the blessing was said, they began digging in. "Please pass the salt," Anna said to Lorna. Lorna used her magnetic prowess to slide the salt over to Anna, and Anna clapped and giggled wildly.

"She loves that," Jean noted.

Trevor seemed not to notice. "He must still be getting used to the whole situation," Lorna thought, "Still, it's an improvement that he didn't get up from the table and storm off."

"Are you ready for tomorrow?" Trevor asked.

"I think so. Somehow I feel like I'm getting ready to play lead in the school play."

"Get ready for the part of your life, darlin'," Jean said. "Trevor, did you talk to Mr. Southwood?"

"Yeah, he says we can use that cabin of his, there shouldn't be any problem with that."

"Then everything's set for me...oh, one more thing..." Lorna remembered.

"Don't worry, I've got your costume covered," Jean winked at Trevor, who smiled back at her.

"Good. By this time tomorrow, I should be well on the way to either getting rid of your new friends, or making a fool out of myself!"

This was the worst part. The waiting. After talking with the sheriff, and folks around the county, their best guess as to where these so-called salespeople would go next, was around here somewhere. The scam artists seemed to be staying away from the larger businesses in town for now, intending to harass the rural residents instead.

Lorna was now continuously monitoring the EM field around the cabin. Although more than likely she was just dealing with some goofballs, there was the outside chance that they could be professionals. It would not be out of the realm of possibility for these people to be actually trying to draw attention to themselves in order to attract mutants in some sort of an elaborate ruse. She intended to be ready for such a possibility. There were plenty of metal sources around for her to use as weapons, or to capture someone if she needed to. She reminded herself that for now the mission was simply to gather information.

Early in the afternoon it finally happened. Lorna felt the disturbance long before she saw it, located a couple hundred yards up the road, and closing. By the time the vehicle came into view, she already knew it was a Ford Explorer containing two occupants. There didn't seem to be any weapons on board, which eased her mind a little. She relaxed a bit and prepared for the visitors. As the vehicle got a little closer, she peeked out the window. There were two men, the driver looked like he was in his 40s, with a mustache and greying hair. The other man was much younger, maybe 30, good-looking, with a suit and smoking a cigar. He also appeared to be shuffling through some papers. Lorna smirked and thought, "These big-city boys don't know who they're messing with."

The younger man got out of the car, and strode up to the front door. Lorna opened it up, and turned on her newfound southern charm. "Why hello, there! Haven't seen you around these parts before!"

Apparently the young man was taken a little off guard. He hadn't expected to find a beautiful young woman in overalls and a bandanna. She was holding a paintbrush that was dripping green paint. In fact, he noticed, green paint seemed to be everywhere. There were green smudges on her face, on her clothes, and even in the strands of hair that were free.

"Good afternoon, ma'am. I'm Michael Hoffman, and I'm here to tell you about a growing problem which has made it's way right here to your beautiful county." The man appeared very confident with himself.

Lorna looked distressed. "Ya don't say? My, well, come right in. Can I git ya some sweet tea?" Southern hospitality, no holds barred, Lorna thought to herself.

"No thank you. But I'd like you to take a look at these statistics I have here."

Hoffman handed a few pages over to Lorna. "Hmm. 'Growth of Mutant Population in Rural Areas, 1965 to 1998'," she read aloud. She looked confused and rotated the pages from side to side. "I'm not sure I understand what you're showin' me here, Mr. Hoffman."

"Please, call me Michael," the man offered helpfully. Lorna noticed his sickening, bright, "trust-me" sort of smile. All the better to eat you with, Lorna mused.

"What these figures boil down to are that mutants are starting to become a problem. Not just confined to America's cities anymore, either. They could even be here, in your backyard."

"If you only knew," Lorna thought, glancing out out the window with a look that seemed to say, "here? already?"

Michael continued his smooth-talking schtick about the new mutant problem. And Lorna pretended to buy it, hook, line, and sinker. But mentally, she was trying to note every detail about his appearance so she could describe him to the sheriff later.

Eventually, Michael began to feel comfortable talking to this woman. She seemed naive and innocent. He liked that. So he had gradually become a little more brave during the course of his talk. "Ms..., I'm sorry, what did you say your name was?" he had asked.

"Linda. Linda Daniels," was her answer.

Lorna acted particularly confused with one of the graphs. He felt compelled to help this woman understand, and sat next to her as he explained it. Conveniently for Michael the couch was small. Lorna was sickened being so close to him, but needed to play along just a little bit more.

"Um, Mr. Hoffman, I don't think my husband would appreciate your hand being on my leg." Lorna's rejection notice caused Michael some distress. He blushed deeply and cut right to the chase.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Daniels. Anyway, what do you say to that offer? Would you like to receive our trial service for just $100 a month?"

"Well, I really don't think so. We've never needed anythin' like that before. Don't see no reason to get it now."

Michael became increasingly flustered, and a touch of irritation creeped into his voice. "Ms. Daniels, what about all those figures I showed you?"

"To be honest, honey, numbers never really meant that much to me. I can't spend my life worryin' about invasions, and attacks. I just take every day as it comes." She smiled sweetly. "Now I gotta be gettin' some work done, but thanks for stoppin' by!" Pour it on, she thought.

Michael was not about to be so easily defeated. "Ms. Daniels, don't forget about what's been happening around here lately. The state bureau of investigations says mutants were the likely cause of those fires at Noble's grocery and Grainger's farm. Don't let yourselves be the next target."

Enough is enough, she thought. Time to get rid of this ass once and for all. "Okay, mister, it's time for you to go." She gestured toward the door. "I really need to be getting back to paintin' now."

Michael was furious, but was trying to hide it as best he could. Not only was his scam rejected, but she was making a fool out of him. He gave a tight-lipped "good day, Ms. Daniels," and left, slamming the door.

Disgusted with his lies, Lorna flipped him the bird. Of course he hadn't seen it, but it made her feel a little better. She quickly removed the bandanna and bobby pins that were holding her hair up and slipped out of her overalls as she watched the man storm out to the Explorer and get in on the passenger side. She'd been wearing her government-issue uniform underneath the overalls, and was now getting ready to give chase.

Meanwhile, "Mr. Hoffman" got into the explorer. The man with the mustache seemed amused at how out of breath his partner was. "How'd it go, Bruce? You don't look so good."

"That bitch had all the IQ of one of those chickens running around in that pen over there."

"Sounds like you two really hit it off."

"Shut up," was his only response. He folded his arms.

"Aww, Bruce, you didn't go hitting on her, did you? The boss said stick to business. Can't you just do that, for once, instead of letting your hormones take over?"

"Yeah, I just figured..."

"Well, you figured wrong, hotshot. No matter. The little lady will have an nasty suprise waiting when she wakes up tomorrow. Enough of these fires, and a few more people around here will scare into our plan.

"We aren't ever gonna get rich this way!"

"It's not just about getting rich, stupid. The pocket change from these half-breeds is icing on the cake. We're just setting things up. It'll be when we start working our way into town that well start raking in the big bucks and recognition. Hell, we'll be heroes in these parts eventually. And then we'll just take what we want." He started up the Explorer and spun the tires as he started heading down the road, kicking up gravel and leaving a big, thick cloud of dust drifting lazily behind.

As soon as the Explorer was out of sight, Lorna stepped outside and was airborne. Time for phase 2, she thought, as she picked up the trail of the vehicle and followed a good distance behind, using the woods for cover.

CHAPTER 6

WHAP!

{Ouch! As if it wasn't tough enough to keep track of the vehicle while staying out of sight, I keep bumping into these damn branches! It's not as if there's a lot of room to fly at 50 mph down here! I'll be lucky if I don't get splattered against a tree trunk!}

Finally, however, the truck came to a clearing. Lorna put on the brakes just in time to realize that it wasn't just a clearing. The truck continued into a huge limestone quarry. At the bottom of the gravel pit was a large pool of water. There were a few abandoned shacks around. From the looks of it, they had about ten or twelve to choose from for a base. {Actually not a bad idea. They've got several escape routes if the police show up, and plenty of places to hide. It would be almost impossible to completely surround them. Good thing the sheriff has me to scope things out!} The Explorer pulled up to one of the abandoned shacks. Lorna remained still up against the treeline so she'd still be relatively well hidden. She was about a quarter mile away, close enough to get a visual inspection of the surroundings while easily using her electromagnetic abilities to give her all the details she'd need to work out her tactical advantages.

{Now's my chance...} The two men had gone inside and she brought herself closer to the building, along a side that had no windows. She came to within a couple of hundred yards, knowing that at this distance she'd be easy to spot from outside. However, she kept close tabs on their EM signatures inside the shed. The EM scan now showed three people there. In addition to her "new admirer," and the driver she had seen earlier, she noted a large man sitting at the table inside. {Judging by his reactions, I'd say they'll be here awhile.} Lorna could "see" the large man pounding his fist on the table, and shaking his finger at the man who said his name was "Hoffman."

{Let's see what else these clowns have got here. Hmm .some luggage briefcases oh, nice, expecting someone, boys? Why would you need rifles and shotguns to sell insurance? These guys may not be pro, but they're certainly ready for something.> As she kept the search going, her eyes froze on an item tucked away in the back {Explosives?! And there must be quite a bit for me to detect the trace metallic signature in them. And no surprise the nearby storage tank they have set up is just full of fuel. Can't have a good cookout without the charcoal now, can we, gentlemen?}

Lorna trained her outstretched hand on the gasoline storage tank, readying herself for a well placed EM burst that would rock their world. Just as she began to power up, she pulled back. {Nope. I can't. The explosion might kill them. And even though it probably wouldn't. I'll have the sheriff and every police car for miles around here in minutes. The more people involved, the greater the chance that someone could get hurt. And I'd be ultimately responsible.}

Lorna searched for another option to bring these people to justice without a huge mess. {I could use the local EM field to slow the flow of iron in their bloodstream. That way, the sheriff could toss them in the back of the squad car and piece things together later.} Just as this idea was sounding pretty good, again Lorna had to reject it. {Even if these guys have a criminal history they're sure to have their tracks covered. No doubt they have permits to possess what they've got. And if they don't, all we have is circumstantial evidence. They'd be out in no time causing trouble somewhere else. Devoting the rest of my life to bringing these guys down doesn't sound like much of a fun career. So now what? I can't stay here after dark. Too chancy. My magnetic luminescence would be bright enough to give me away at night. I'd have to stay on the ground and keep out of sight indefinitely. No, thank you!}

She hung around awhile longer trying to think of a way to build a better mousetrap. As she mentally shuffled through other possibilities, she almost didn't notice the man heading outside.

{Oh shit!} Lorna's mind raced. {I'm too far to reach the treeline...no cover whatsoever... think, Polaris!} Then it hit her. All at once the greenish glow around her vanished. Polaris wanted to scream but couldn't. Acting against instinct, she had forced herself to stop riding the magnetic waves. Now gravity was doing it's job, and she plunged toward the ground. She barely had time to straighten out her body to avoid painfully smacking into the water. {_Ohmygodthatscold_!!!} Her mind screamed as she felt the frigid water seeping into her uniform like icy needles on her skin.

Trevor and Jean were starting to wonder. It had been several hours now, since they'd heard anything.

"Surely she would've called by now, even if these guys are legit, right?" Jean-Marie asked Trevor.

Trevor didn't answer. "I knew we shoulda had that patrol officer go with her," he swore. Lorna refused to bring anyone else along.

"The plan needs to be as simple as possible. I'll feel a lot better working alone on this one, and there will be less opportunity for things to go wrong," she had insisted. But it wasn't only this. She didn't care for the cops attitude, either. The situation would be unpredictable enough without him, and she didn't want him questioning her judgment at a critical moment. If X-Factor had taught her nothing else, it was that if everyone didn't work as a team, then you were leaving the door open for disaster.

Trevor picked up the phone and called the sheriff. "Have you heard from her, yet?"

"Nope. Not a peep. I figured maybe she was with you."

"Same here. Figure she'd call us when she was done reportin' in. Do you think she coulda gotten lost?"

"I doubt it. Somethin' tells me that compass magnet couldn't get lost if she wanted to."

"Yeah. We're gettin' worried here, sheriff. Jean's ready to go lookin' for her."

"Well, you all hold off a little while. Maybe they haven't shown up yet. We'll give her until sundown and then start searchin' for her."

"Damn, I hate this."

"Now, Trevor, don't you get all worked up over it. She volunteered for this, remember?"

"That don't make me feel much better. I wish we knew who we were dealin' with."

"Well, son, with any luck, Ms. Lorna'll be bringing some info back with her in just a little while. Sit tight, we'll call you if we hear anything." Trevor hung up the phone, a sick feeling in his stomach. Over a mutant, no less, he mused.

Bruce needed a break to clear his head. For the third time in a little over an hour, he felt the sting of embarrassment. First Ms. Daniels, then John, and now the boss was grilling him about his overactive hormones.

The boss was not happy. In fact, this was about as mad as Bruce had ever seen him. Bruce's salesman act was paramount to the success of this project, he had told him. Why did the boss have to keep repeating this? Bruce did not need this. He did not need this kind of pressure. He deserved better, and demanded better. Yet, the boss found these demands unacceptable. He warned Bruce that if he continued with his ridiculous demands, he'd be forced to terminate him from the project. Bruce found this absurd. So he stormed outside.

As he lit up a cigar, he'd heard a loud splash. Big rocks slid into the pond all the time, though, and Bruce thought nothing of it.

{I can't stay in here long. I'll freeze to death. Damn it, why isn't he going in? No, calm down. I have to stay calm, and think of something.} The cold water was beginning to make her mind feel sluggish. Her body was covered in goosebumps. As the seconds ticked by, she began to shiver. She noticed the stinging that had worked into her fingers and toes was being replaced with numbness.

{A diversion. I need a diversion!} Lorna pointed toward one of the far, steep facing sides of the cliff. With a twitch of her hand, she started a reverberation of the minerals within the rocks. After a moment this gave way to a small rockslide. It was more for show than anything else, but the crashing rocks and billowing cloud of grey dust sent Bruce scurrying back inside. {Kind of like a rat,} she thought smugly as she pulled herself out of the frigid water. She watched the three EM signatures collect against the window, watching the rockslide come to a halt.

{Time to make a run for it.} She shook herself a little to get rid of as much excess water as she could. It did little good, though. As she flew home, a chilly wind cut into her. {I'm gonna be an ice cube by the time I get back!}

Finally there was a knock on the door. Jean rushed to answer it after a quick peek out the window to see who it was. "Oh, my God," she gasped. She opened the door and in stepped Lorna. Her hair was a damp, tangled mess. She was still dripping wet, and her lips and skin were an unhealthy tinge of blue. She was shivering uncontrollably. "C-can I c-come in?" she stuttered.

Jean stepped out of the way and let Lorna in. "Oh, you poor thing, come in, come in! Are you okay?" Jean could feel the cool evening air settling in and could only imagine how miserable Lorna must have been.

Trevor snatched a towel out of the closet and brought it over. Then they walked Lorna over to the couch. "You know, it's a darn good thing you didn't get hypothermia! You'd be in real trouble then!"

Lorna smiled weakly, as she thought Trevor sounded almost paternal. "Don't worry about me, I'm fine. I hope y-you don't mind, but ." Her actions spoke for themselves. With amazing speed, the tea kettle on the stove jumped into the sink. Hot water began flowing from the tap into the kettle. One of the teabags hitched a ride on a spoon over to the kettle. The stove turned on, heating the water to a boil. "As soon as my teeth stop chattering," she said, "I'll tell you everything I've found out."

Later that evening, after a hot shower and a couple cups of steaming tea, Lorna related the afternoon's events to the family and the sheriff, who had come over as soon as he heard Lorna was back.

"...so, sheriff, these guys seem to be ready for just about anything. And they've got power to back them up."

At first, the sheriff was outraged with the news he'd heard. He stood up and paced across the floor. "We can get those guys right now on possession of explosives and trespassing violations, at the very least!"

"Sheriff Tates, please, take a seat and hear me out. We have to stay calm and focused. Now, we can be reasonably certain these are the guys setting the fires and swindling the residents of your county. We just need something solid to stick to them to give them a nice, long jail term. Otherwise, we rush in there, risk getting some of your officers hurt, and maybe put them away for a year. And that's if we're lucky. Anyhow, they'll be ready for us, on their turf, so lets try to bring them to ours, instead."

"Ms. Lorna, if we wait, we could be putting the residents of this town in danger."

"Sheriff, if we put them away now, some lawyer will bail them out and they'll be madder than hell at you when they get out. It wouldn't surprise me if they came back looking for revenge. With your help, though, we can keep tabs on these guys until they're ready to strike again. Yes, there is more of a risk that way, but I guarantee you more effective results for our time and patience."

"I just don't know. So many things don't seem right." The sheriff shook his head, his mind swimming with worries of arson, mutants begging to be helpful, and the safety of every family in the county resting on his shoulders. "I'm gonna have to think about it, talk it over a little."

The sheriff could see Lorna getting ready to push her point further. "Ms. Lorna, you promised when you volunteered to help --- I run the show, right?"

Lorna remembered that promise. "Yes, sir. It's your call." She decided she wasn't going to win this one. She folded her arms.

"My deputies and I will take it from here." The sheriff stood up and made his way slowly to the door. "Lorna, thank you for your information, you've been very helpful," he said as he shook her hand. "Jean, thanks for the coffee. Good night, all." With that, the sheriff headed out to his car.

Trevor and Jean just looked at Lorna. No one seemed to know what to say.

"I guess from here on out, I'm out of the loop," Lorna finally said quietly. "Trevor, have these guys been by here, yet?"

"Yeah, day before yesterday. But why?"

"I need to try to figure out if there are any patterns to the arsons. Do you have a local newspaper here?"

"Sure. But I'd be careful trying to play Ms. Private Eye around here. I wouldn't get in the sheriff's way. He ain't someone you want to have aggravated at you."

Lorna smiled. "Don't worry, low profile seems to be the way to go for me these days!"

CHAPTER 7

{Lorna Dane, private eye.}

At least that's what she'd felt like, as she spent the next day doing some investigating for herself. She had gone to several of the arson sites, and one thing that linked them all together was that these had all been businesses that had been closed for the night. So far, these guys haven't killed anyone. {Can't be sure whether that's intentional. Maybe they're smart enough not to, but there certainly are no guarantees.}

Although she would've liked to talk to the property owners themselves, Lorna figured they probably weren't going to be in much of a mood to discuss their losses. To an outsider, no less. To a mutant. So instead she sifted through the local and state newspapers, looking for articles on the arsons.

{Hmm. All the people interviewed said that they had to repeatedly tell these guys they weren't interested. And they weren't going to take "no" for an answer. From what I've seen, these guys aren't exactly what you'd call the patient type.} She continued skimming, a slender finger running down the pages of newsprint. {It looks like all the businesses were burned a couple days after they were "shot down" by the more adamant townspeople. These cheeseballs are so predictable! So typical of men to rush into things and get impatient. Just like---}

In her minds eye, she suddenly remembered Alex. How he was just like that. She cursed herself for letting her emotions get in the way of business. Yet she couldn't help herself, as her eyes watered, and a couple tears streamed down her face. As quickly as the tears started, though, they stopped. {Now is not the time, Ms. Dane. So far, you've handled yourself like a pro. Even Xavier would be proud. Don't screw it up now by thinking of _him_.} She wiped away the dampness from her cheeks, blinked a couple times to clear her eyes, and continued reading on. The more she read, the better she felt. {This is _my_ mission. I'm handling it, I'm the leader, and I'm doing fine.} This was the most in control Lorna had felt in a very long time.

Bruce looked through his briefcase. "It's here somewhere, I know it is," he mumbled. Over the past couple years, he had made himself quite a dossier relating to mutant violence. No doubt it would come in handy in the future, he had believed. Now he was searching through it in earnest. The lady he had dealt with earlier seemed familiar. He hadn't been sure of where he'd seen her before. Now he remembered.

He pulled out a slightly wrinkled copy of the _Washington Post_. The headline read, "The Polaris Plot." He studied the woman pictured with the article. "Sure looks like her," he thought. "Hey boss, come here and take a look at this!"

From another room, Bruce heard a light thump, and then the characteristic heavy footsteps that rattled the floor. The boss sauntered over. "Yeah, Bruce, what is it?"

"This lady here in the article, she looks exactly like the woman I talked to yesterday. Well, maybe not exactly, but pretty darn close!"

"Bruce, you're always seeing things. I've got plenty enough to worry about without entertaining your suspicions."

"This might be worth checking out, boss. I could take the van and head over there, just to be sure."

The boss gave him a cockeyed look. "You just won't give up, will you? Just how far are you willing to go to get laid?"

"Boss, I'm serious. It's not about sex. I'll show you hey John, come here!"

John, the driver, peeked out from behind his newspaper. "Now what could be more important than 'Wizard of Id,'? " he asked.

"Just come here, okay?! I want to ask you a question." With an exasperated sigh, John walked over to the other two.

"Oh, Christ. What is it this time?"

"Do you remember the woman we talked to yesterday?"

"Yeah," he said, smiling as he remembered Bruce's reactions afterward.

"Well," he held up the article. "What do you think?"

"What do I think of what?"

"See anyone familiar?"

"No, wish I did, though. Hmph. She's quite a looker." John grabbed the article and examined the photo with interest. The boss chuckled.

"Don't you think she looks like that woman yesterday?"

"I don't know. Didn't hardly get a look at her. I guess "

Bruce grinned triumphantly. "See, boss? Let me go check things out "

"Awww, Bruce, whatever. Go on---go. But I'm warning you, don't make any trouble. The last thing we need is to attract any more attention."

Bruce was amazed. The boss actually saw something his way. He grabbed back the article from John as he made a beeline for the door. Once he was gone, the boss shook his head. John looked at him, and he shrugged. "Anything to get rid of that guy," the boss said with relief as he turned to go back to his office.

As Bruce made his way back to the Daniel's house, more and more he started to believe it was the woman from the article. "Polaris," he muttered out loud.

But it didn't make sense. "Why would one of those X-Factor geeks be here? There's no way the government would send in their hot shot strike team to bother with their petty little operation." And it was tough for him to believe that anyone could yet know anything about it. And if it was Polaris, why didn't she apprehend him? Why hadn't they run into any other X-Factor members? Now Bruce was starting to doubt himself. Yet he continued on toward the rustic house they'd been to yesterday.

He pulled into the driveway, straightened his tie, and walked up to the door in his usual confident stride. He rapped three times, and as the door opened, he put on his most convincing businesslike smile. Bruce was immediately surprised when he saw who answered the door, and old man of about 65, looking back at him.

"Um, hello, Mr. Daniels?"

"No, sorry, there's no one by that name here. My name's Southwood."

"Perhaps you can help me. I came by here yesterday and there was a young woman here."

"Oh, you mean that pretty girl with the green hair? I think her name's Lorna. She's a friend of Trevor and Jean Stevenson's. I imagine she's stayin' over there." Although Mr. Southwood had known that something secret was going on, he was becoming forgetful in his years. So his urge to be helpful was taking over. "I can tell ya how to get there if ya want."

"Yes, please, I would appreciate that."

So Bruce jotted down the directions, thanked Mr. Southwood for his time, and was on his way. But he decided not to track down Linda Daniels Lorna Dane he mentally corrected himself, just yet. First there was some planning to do.

Lorna was enjoying a delicious supper of fresh catfish, hush puppies, okra, and corn bread. "Have some more, Lorna!" Jean offered.

"Ugh, no thanks," she said, holding her stomach. "It's wonderful, really, but if I plan to keep my uniform for very long, I better stop now." Lorna couldn't believe the portion sizes Jean dished out, and resolved to do a few more crunches before bedtime. A little jog wouldn't hurt either, she added mentally.

As she began gathering up her plate and silverware, Jean insisted, "No, no, don't worry about it! I'll take care of those."

Anna scarfed down her own dinner, barely taking time to breathe. Once she was finished, she triumphantly set her fork on the table. "Momma, can I take our new doggie out for a walk?"

"I don't know honey, it's startin' to get late."

"Awww, momma, that big ole' doggie can protect me!" The other three chuckled at Anna's confidence in the dog.

"If you like, I could go with her, seeing how you won't let me help out with the dishes," Lorna said coyly.

Trevor paused. At first Lorna thought he might object, but to her surprise he said, "Just make sure you two are back to the house by dark."

As soon as Trevor and Jean had finished eating, Anna and Lorna put the massive canine on a leash and headed outside. Lorna chuckled to herself the dog clearly outweighed Anna. If it wanted to, it could have easily taken Anna for a walk instead. "So, what are you going to name this horse, Anna?"

"Silly! It's not a horse. But I bet she could take me for a ride, though," Anna giggled. At that the dog barked, apparently in complete agreement.

They walked down the dirt road that Trevor and Anna had returned on earlier. "I guess I haven't thought of a name for her yet," she finally added thoughtfully.

"No doubt in my mind, whatsoever, boss. This was her."

"How can you be so sure, Bruce?" He rolled his eyes and added, "Besides, haven't we been over this already?" It was pretty rare for Bruce to be this persistent when he knew he was walking on thin ice. Actually, the boss thought, it was more like he was hopping.

"I went over there, and checked things out, like you said, real subtle-like," Bruce explained quickly, figuring the boss might interrupt at a moment's hesitation, "and this old geezer, Southwood answers the door. Says he's never heard of a 'Linda Daniels.' But this chick, Lorna, was there. Only she's gone now."

"Gimme that." The boss grabbed the article from Bruce. "Lorna Dane," he mumbled as he read. "'Polaris.' I remember hearing about this awhile back. Pretty interesting stuff. Seems like someone might be on to us." Although the news was alarming, Bruce noticed the boss seemed nonplussed.

"You suppose it's that X-Factor gang, boss?"

"Nope. I hear those guys were killed in some explosion awhile back. Something about a training accident." His brow furrowed, "But if I remember right, she was killed, too. Hmm. Something's not adding up."

"See, boss! I told you, something strange is up." But the boss wasn't listening anymore. "Hey, John, come here. I've got a job for you to do." Bruce was about to insist that this was his lead to follow, when the boss added, "Don't worry Bruce, you'll get your turn."

The happy trio made their way back to the front porch, just as the crickets and spring peepers were reaching a fever pitch. They had laughed and talked about school, and hobbies, and told each other jokes, and laughing until their tummies hurt.

Lorna even shared a little bit about her powers with Anna, without getting too technical. Then they raced the dog, with Anna insisting, "No fair! You don't get to fly unless we can, too!" Lorna considered giving them all an "air race," but figured that even though Anna would probably love it, the dog probably wouldn't take too well to riding magnetic fields.

Lorna had become enthralled with Anna. She was such a happy little girl, so vibrant and full of energy. And she seemed to have an awareness of the world around her that most children her age didn't have. She pointed out some of the little creatures that she'd often encounter on her walks. She spoke of the squirrels, the rabbits, the raccoons, and the deer almost like they were her best friends.

Even though they'd been gone under an hour, it seemed like she'd known Anna since birth. It was a strange, but wonderful feeling. Now their walk was coming to a close, and she was a little disappointed. "Don't worry, Lorna, we can take a walk again tomorrow!"

She hadn't realized she'd been so obvious about her feelings. Had she really been that transparent, or was Anna just that perceptive? Lorna's thoughts were interrupted by Jean's shrill call. "Anna?"

"Yes, momma?" she called back.

"Oh, okay, honey. I was just making sure you were back from your walk. It'll be time for bed soon."

"All right, momma. We'll be in, in a little while."

The two sat on the front porch for a few minutes while the dog was busy excitedly chasing a small rabbit across the yard. Anna gazed thoughtfully into the sky. "I love watching the stars twinkle. Sometimes I imagine they're dancing."

Lorna looked up into the heavens, now filled with shimmering jewels, a variety of intensity and color. In the suburbs of Washington D.C., they weren't able to see the unblemished night sky. But at Falls Edge and in New Mexico, the stars put on a nightly show. She hadn't realized until now just how much she'd taken them for granted. "It's beautiful," she said softly.

Anna smiled briefly at Lorna, as though they were sharing a gift between friends, then went back to stargazing. After a moment, she giggled. "Hey, look! There's the Big Dipper," Her finger traced the stars of that part of Ursa Major, then continued upward across the sky a short distance, to Ursa Minor, "...and there's the Little Dipper! Cool, huh?" Finally her finger came to a rest. "There's the North Star," she announced proudly, almost as though she had discovered it herself, then turning to Lorna.

All of the sudden Lorna realized where Anna had been headed in her track across the sky. "Polaris," the green-haired mistress of magnetism whispered, wide-eyed and unable to hide the wonder from her voice as she glanced at the young girl.

"Lorna, Anna, it's time to come in now!" Jean broke Lorna's reverie as she called out from the kitchen window.

CHAPTER 8

"Good morning, honey," Trevor said, placing a kiss on Jean's cheek. Jean blinked hard, trying to clear her eyes and pushing her hair away from her face. She cast a squinting glance at the clock.

"Wow, we sure did sleep in this morning!"

"Naw. It's only 10 o'clock. There's still plenty of time to..." Trevor's words were muffled by a series of playful kisses on Jean's neck.

"Oh, Trevor. I lo- ,"

CLANK - CLANG - BANG!

"What in the hell's that racket?!" Jean exclaimed.

Trevor didn't seem to notice. He continued kissing her, undaunted. But Jean insisted on an explanation. "What is that noise?" she asked, attempting to push Trevor away in order to glance out the window.

"Rorna," his muffled voice called out from under the covers.

bang - clank - CLANG!

"What? What did you say?"

Trevor's head emerged from under the covers. With a pouty, boyish face he said, "It's Lorna. Now can we go back to what we were doing?" He started to disappear again, but Jean grabbed him by the arm.

bang - clank - CLANG - BANG!

"Why would Lorna be making all that noise?"

"Oh, she offered to do a little body work on the old Ford. How was I gonna say no to that? I ain't got no time to work on it! Besides, she said it was like exercise for her...good for her powers or somethin' like that!"

"Trevor, I ought ta ask her to haul that damn thing to the dump. It's been sittin' there forever, just an eyesore in the driveway."

"But I love that truck. It's gotten me outta a few hairy spots before."

"You don't gotta tell me, honey, I've heard all your war stories before, you and your buddies, out on the town..."

"Aww, don't matter none anyhow. Listen! The banging's stopped, anyway!"

Jean was relieved the noise had stopped, but not as relieved as Trevor was that she was willing to drop the subject. With a wide grin, she chased Trevor back under the covers. When the banging started again a few minutes later, neither of them cared.

"Ahh, that's it. Now, that looks a little more like a fender!" Although Lorna appeared to be grasping and twisting at air, her muscles were flexing and greenish glow emanated from her hands over to the fender at the front end of the pickup truck.

The screen door opened, revealing a bleary-eyed Anna. She squinted tightly and held her hand up to block the bright mid-morning sunshine.

Lorna felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment. "Oh, honey, I'm sorry! I should have checked to see if you were awake!"

"That's okay. I was just wondering what you were doing to the truck!"

"Well, I was trying to fix it up a little, but maybe I better stop. Your mom and dad probably aren't up yet either."

Anna frowned a little in thought. "I think they're awake. I thought I heard them moving around, anyway."

"Mmm. Okay. Well, they're probably awake now." {Next time, I'll have to be more careful. We kept such strange hours in X-Factor that most of us could sleep through a hurricane if we had to...}

Her thoughts were abruptly cut off by a message from her own sixth sense. At that moment, Lorna suddenly was aware of an electromagnetic presence that wasn't supposed to be there. She cast a glance toward the origin of the disturbance. It was up in the woods a good distance, perhaps half a mile. Just inside the treeline. The EM pattern cooresponded to a human form, and wasn't moving. Apparently they were being watched. She concentrated further. At this distance, it was difficult to be sure, but she didn't believe the man was armed. At least not with anything that could strike at long range.

{It could be nothing.} Nevertheless, she would be sure to investigate as soon as she could do so without alarming anyone.

"Lorna? What's wrong?" Anna was worried about her strange, sudden lapse of attention. Immediately Lorna refocused. Even though she spoke to Anna, she devoted a portion of herself toward monitoring. "Sorry, Anna. I was just daydreaming for a minute."

Anna wasn't convinced. She knew Lorna was anxious, but why? Her new friend was troubled about something, but it didn't seem right to push the issue and possibly hurt Lorna's feelings. So instead, she started circling around the yard, picking dandelions. After a few minutes she'd made a tiny bouquet. More than once, Anna noticed Lorna glancing up toward the woods.

Sometimes Lorna regretted being a mutant, but this was not one of them. This was one of those times when it was extremely fortunate to have an "edge."

Later that morning, Lorna was able to proudly show off the refurbished body of the old Ford. "Hope that helps. You've still got a lot of work to do, though," she said with a wry smile. "It still needs to be repainted. And I'd have to see blueprints of the parts you'd need, with exact dimensions, in order to get the engine actually running again. If my friend Forge were here, he'd be able to finish the job in no time." {Only it probably wouldn't look anything like a truck anymore,} she thought.

"Geez, Lorna, you've already done a couple thousand dollars worth of body work for me. You surely don't have to worry about the engine, too! I'll get that fixed on my own..."

"Yeah, right," Jean added playfully. "Without her help, you'd never have gotten this far!"

At that point the phone rang. Neither Jean nor Trevor were expecting a call, and it was especially rare on a Saturday morning. Trevor rushed to answer it, leaving the ladies wondering who it could be. They didn't wait long. Almost as soon as he'd gotten inside the front door, Trevor called out, "Lorna! It's for you!"

The two women looked at each other, puzzled. Then, with a shrug, Lorna darted to the house.

"The sheriff," Trevor mouthed as he handed her the phone.

"Hello, Sheriff Tates," Lorna said with just a touch of coolness creeping into her voice. "Didn't think I'd hear from you again. What can I do for you?"

Sheriff Tates avoided her chilly remark. "Thought you might like to know we attempted an arrest at their hideout today."

{That figures. You just couldn't wait, could you?} "But I bet they weren't there, right?"

Surprise, and a tinge of suspicion were evident in the sheriff's reply. "Just how'd you know that?"

"Sheriff, relax. When there hadn't been any fires the past few days, I started to wonder. I think they may be on to me. I've spotted someone in the woods near the house. He's been there since this morning." Lorna glanced over to Trevor, his face now ashen with shock and worry, as his worst fears were being realized.

"It could be a poacher..." the sheriff considered.

"I thought about that but poachers are usually armed, right? At least if they want to bag anything. But the only thing this guy is armed with is a pair of binoculars."

"He could be a bowhunter, but I seriously doubt it, this time of year. You'd better let me send someone over to..."

"Sheriff, please, not yet," she insisted. If it were possible, Trevor now looked more alarmed than before. His jaw hung open, and Lorna wondered if she was going to next have to pick it up off the floor for him. She held a firm hand up, and nodded her head in order to keep him from interrupting. "Sending someone over now will just get you one of the three. And he'll never rat out his buddies. I'm betting it won't be long before the other two show up. When they do, I'll call you, and then we can nab them."

"How do you know they won't catch you by surprise?"

"They'll have a tough time getting by me. I'll be able to see every move they make within a half mile radius of the house. And even with a tank they won't get down here. I'd almost like to see them try."

Both the sheriff and Trevor relaxed a bit, although the idea of a tank rolling over his house was a bit unsettling, to say the least. In any case, it seemed Lorna had a well thought-out plan that was tough to argue with. "Whatever you do, just make sure you're there when we need you," she told the sheriff, "because we won't have a second to lose."

After leaving his pager number and an assurance that he'd stay by the phone, he wished her happy hunting.

"How come you didn't tell me someone was watchin' us? You of all people know how I feel about all this!"

"I wanted you to hear the news first, without alarming Jean and Anna. I couldn't exactly pull you aside earlier. Trevor, you might want to think about getting them out of here, just in case. It would be safer for them in case something unexpected happens."

Trevor shook his head slowly. "Jean'd never do it. She'd worry too much. And we don't really have anyone we could let Anna stay with...we've never even left her with a babysitter."

"Hmm. Well, I guess we'll all have to handle things here the best we can. Don't worry, Trevor, at the first sign of danger, we'll be all over them. I'll have them hanging by their belt buckles!"

"Who was it, Lorna?" Anna asked, as she and Jean came through the front door.

Jean scolded Anna lightly. "Darlin', that's not polite. It's none of our concern. Lorna will tell you if she wants to."

"It's okay, Anna. You all should sit down. I want to give you some news," she said, steeling herself to drop the bomb on the other two members of this quiet rustic family.

"I don't know what the best way to tell you this is, but, these people setting the fires, well they may know I'm here. There's been someone in the woods watching the house all morning. From what I can tell, he doesn't seem to be armed and there isn't anyone with him. Until we can find out exactly what's going on, though, you three should stay near the house where it will be safer. Just do what you'd normally do, like it was any other Saturday. If possible, we don't want to let them know we're on to them until we can rope all three in."

Jean and Anna seemed to take the news better than she thought they would. There were no tears shed, no sudden outbursts of emotion. Just quiet listening, with mother gently squeezing her daughter's hand, offering unspoken support.

"Next, I want to apologize for bringing your family into this mess. I don't know what went wrong. I guess these guys are smarter than I thought. But I'm going to make it right, and put these guys behind bars so they'll never bother you again."

"Lorna, don't worry about us. There's no way you could've known. And sooner or later we could've been been victims here, whether you were here or not. We're just glad you are here. It's more protection than we'd get from anyone else."

"I appreciate that. Thanks, Trevor. Now, what I need from you is a layout of the trails that surround your property. I need to know what our playing field looks like."

"John reports no activity outside the house, boss. When are we going in?" The boss rewarded his question by smacking him lightly over the head with a rolled up Playboy magazine.

"Ouch! What'd you do that for?"

"Bruce, you know we can't go in, in broad daylight. We'll go in tonight, after it gets dark. You need to make sure you're ready to go by then. Make sure you have what you need together."

"OK, boss-man. Don't worry. You can count on me. That mutie'll be history by tonight, and then we can make a clean getaway."

The boss groaned. "What a mess this had turned out to be. "Should've known better than to try to squeeze money out of a bunch of mountain hillbillies."

"Forge, this is Val. Who does Lorna know in North Carolina?"

"Why are you asking me? I have no idea."

"It seems strange that she's spent almost the last week there. I checked with Jamie, Shard, Guido. Alex hasn't heard from her no surprise there. But neither have the X-Men. Hell, I've even called Excalibur. Figured maybe she'd tried to make good with Rahne. They were never the best of friends, you know. But she isn't there, either."

"Hmmmm. That does seem a little strange that she'd spend so long in one place. That might've worked back when she was a grad student and she didn't have a lot of enemies. But now, well, she knows there are a lot of people - mutants and humans - that would like to get their hands on the secrets of her power. And it wouldn't take some of them very long to find her if they were looking very hard."

"It wasn't hard for me to find her," Val stated proudly.

"Speaking of which, how did you find her?"

"Is this a secure line?"

Forge chuckled. "Ms. Cooper, all my lines are secure. In fact, I'd wager you won't find a more secure line anywhere."

"Hmph." Val knew better than to question Forge's expertise. "Anyway, I went to the X- Men. They had Cerebro track her down. It took awhile, but I was willing to wait. Told them it was an emergency."

"I'm surprised they believed you."

"They have no reason not to. Besides, despite whatt you may think, I am concerned for her safety. Just because I'm a government worker doesn't mean I can't be altruistic every once in awhile!"

"Ha! You? Altruistic? Not in a million years."

Val seemed put off by his remark. "Fine. Believe what you want. I'm headed there tonight to find out if Lorna's okay. You can stay or go. Makes no difference to me," she lied.

"All right, all right. But when she gets pissed off wondering why we were spying on her, especially when she isn't even on a mission, you can take the heat. I've seen her mad and it isn't a pretty sight. I've had to rebuild a couple computers, all because of that temper of hers. In fact, Guido told me once the only thing worse than a redhead's temper was a 'green-head'!"

As Lorna expected, it had been an uneventful afternoon. Whoever it was in the woods was still there at dusk, ever-watching. {You must lead a pretty boring life. Hope you're getting paid well,} she thought.

Trevor, at Lorna's request, was gathering up a few of the scrap metal pieces and old tractor parts from the shed. It wasn't much, but at least enough to hold three average sized males in place if need be. And, if it came right down to it (and she dearly hoped it wouldn't), any of those pieces could make a very lethal weapon. But only as a last resort, she promised herself.

Anna and Jean stood up well. Anna and Lorna played frisbee with the dog, and Jean set about getting dinner ready, after finishing up a spicy romance novel she'd been reading. But even though they all seemed to be having a good time, their mood didn't reflect careless frivolity. Instead of bubbling laughter, there were more reserved smiles, trying to hide the worry within.

Finally darkness settled over the valley, enveloping the little house, and everyone went inside. Lorna was the last to go in, after a final furtive glance up to the woods. "Been a long day for you, hasn't it, fella?" She hissed at the EM disturbance, just inside the treeline.

"So now what do we do?" Jean asked impatiently. "I can't take another day of being a prisoner in my own home."

"They're going to have to make their move tonight. That guy in the woods can't stay out there forever. If nothing else, when his relief shows up, I'm going up there."

All through dinner, Lorna half expected to jump up from the table to go running off into the darkness like something from a "Friday the 13th" movie. But nothing happened. The evening wore on, and now it was bedtime. Not surprisingly, sleep was the last thing on anyone's mind.

Lorna looked up at the ticking clock. Ten 'til ten. "You all should get some rest. I'll take care of things here," she said from the couch as she poked her head out from behind a book.

"I guess there's not much else we can do. C'mon, Anna, it's time for bed." Anna sighed, and began gathering up her toys.

This evening had been much warmer than the past few evenings, with a touch of stickiness to the air. So when a cool breeze finally rustled the living room curtains, it felt good.

"Mmmm," Jean remarked, "I could use a little more o' that." Shocked, the family looked to Lorna for an explanation. Anna looked as though she was in pain, on the verge of tears. "Stay here," Lorna answered, trying to be calm but obviously on edge. "I'll go get her." She rushed outside, spotting the dog immediately. She was dashing towards the woods, heading toward the intruder's position.

Lorna had no other option. While trying her best to stay out of sight, she sent a weak magnetic field pulsing toward the dog, just enough to slow the flow of iron to her brain. With a quick little whimper, the dog fell asleep just a couple hundred feet from the house. Lorna felt terrible doing that to a creature which was just trying to protect it's new family, but it would be safer for the dog, and more importantly, for them, this way. She doubted whether the man in the woods would've been so gentle with the dog, if given the chance.

She wasn't sure how much the watcher had been aware of what had happened. She hoped that he hadn't seen her send the dog to canine dreamland. In order to sound convincing, she called out and whistled a couple times. "Here puppy! Here girl! C'mere puppy dog!" Finally, she put on a scowl just for show, turned and went inside.

Everyone looked at her, wondering what had happened. "The dog's okay," she explained. She must have caught his scent. She'll be okay, I have her sleeping for a little while so she won't get herself hurt." The looks on their faces showed they had not a clue as to what she meant. "It's hard to explain. Please don't worry, she'll be back soon."

Anna, face awash in tears, was not satisfied. "I want my doggie back," she sobbed.

Lorna wanted to bring her back for Anna, but knew she couldn't for the risk of drawing attention to what had just happened. "If I bring her back now, sweetheart, the doggie could get hurt."

Anna didn't understand, and she didn't want to listen. She couldn't believe Lorna would let her down after all the fun they'd had the past few days. Her new friend was being mean. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she kicked a stray toy and went stomping off to her room.

"Anna...?"

"She'll be all right. She's just confused right now," Jean explained. Lorna nodded, and watched Anna disappear behind a slamming door.

"It's not like her to be that upset. I think she really has enjoyed your company the past couple days," Trevor said quietly, as he put down the newspaper. "Well, Jean, you 'bout ready to hit the sack?" Jean got up and the two of them also soon headed off to bed.

Lorna went to her room, the guest room where she'd slept the past few nights. Her mutant power allowed her to monitor the external EM fields, even while snoozing lightly. It was something she'd started practicing since she'd joined X-Factor, saving her from many of Jamie's ill-conceived practical jokes. She thought of it as her built in smoke alarm.

Lorna awoke about half an hour later, surprised to find Anna padding silently about. She followed Anna's electromagnetic aura around the house, thinking she was heading to the bathroom, or getting a drink of water. To her horror, though, Anna delicately opened the screen door and tiptoed outside. {Oh, no, Anna, what are you doing?}

Lorna's eyes opened wide as she jumped into her uniform and rushed silently outside. "Anna," she whispered loudly into the darkness. "Anna? Where are you?" A quick glance around the yard revealed Anna's electromagnetic aura up on the hill in front of the house, near the shed. {Thank God, at least she didn't head toward the treeline!}

As she rode the magnetic waves up toward the shed, suddenly Lorna became aware of two more human forms, heading toward the original one in the woods. They appeared to be congregating.

"Anna, stay here. Stay right here!"

"Lorna, where's my doggie? What happened to her?"

"She'll be okay, Anna, I promise! Please, just stay right here." Lorna hadn't planned on things going this way. She couldn't fight her battle with Anna in such a vulnerable position.

{I've got to warn the sheriff!} She'd only practiced this stunt a couple times at Fall's Edge, in Forge's Lab. Even though it was a controlled environment, it was met with some success. She concentrated intensely on the telephone lines leading from the house toward town. After a moment, a series of tones went through the lines to the computerized switchboard in town. The computer obediently connected her with the sheriff after a couple rings.

"Hello?" she heard the sheriff ask back sleepily. She could feel the electromagnetic waves orient themselves back into meaningful patterns inside her mind, with considerable difficulty.

"Sheriff, it's me, Lorna." She strained to devote enough concentration and energy to convert her words into electromagnetic pulses that the sheriff's receiver would translate back into an approximation of her voice. Although she did not possess the psi-powers that Jean or Psylocke have, she figured this must be akin to how they felt when using their minds to communicate. Only maybe without the pain...Lorna thought, as her temples began to throb. She knew all too well that it had always been much easier to utilize her mutant powers in unfocused shows of electromagnetic forece, rather than in precise manipulations of individual EM waves.

"Lorna, who are you talking to?" Anna asked nervously.

"Just a minute, honey, I'll be right with you, okay?"

"What? Lorna, where are you? It's very hard to hear you, you sound strange..."

"Sheriff, listen! There's no time to explain...get down to the Stevenson's home, now!" She glanced back up to the woods. Now there wasn't a need to use her electromagnetic vision. The waxing moon cast enough light to reveal two darkened figures making their way slowly but steadily down the hillside toward the house. She would have to work faster.

"What was that, Lorna, I didn't quite catch the end of what you said..." Lorna didn't have time to answer the sheriff's question just yet. Her new priority was to alert Trevor and Jean. She focused on the phone inside the house, and after a moment it began to ring incessantly.

"Lorna, are you there?" the sheriff asked, now very confused.

"Sheriff, get over here, now! To the Stevenson's house," she took a deep breath, trying ever harder to surpress the nauseous feeling that was starting in her stomach.

"Hello?" Trevor answered bewilderedly, thinking his phone must be on the fritz, the way it was ringing crazily.

"Trevor, it's Lorna, get out of the house! They're headed your way! I've got Anna up here at the shed."

"Well be right there, Lorna," the sheriff called out, then hung up.

"Trevor, get Jean and use the front door," Lorna screamed mentally. "Head for the shed!"

"Okay! We'll get Anna and meet you by the shed!"

"No! No! I've got- ." The connection was lost, Lorna not able to keep it going any longer. She fell to the ground, weak and breathless, her mind and stomach in knots. She felt like she was ready to be sick.

"Lorna, are you okay?" Anna put her hand on Lorna's back. For a moment, it seemed like Lorna's last connection with reality was the touch of a child, Anna's soothing touch.

Two men made their way toward the house. John got the getaway car ready, back up at the treeline, in a path that was only a short distance away but through terrain rough enough that it would be tough for them to be followed.

Both men were dressed completely in black, carrying knapsacks and red containers. The odor of gasoline faintly trailed them. The boss moved with speed and agility, held back by Bruce, who stumbled his way awkwardly down the hill. "Damn it, Bruce, would you get down here?!" The boss whispered loudly toward Bruce, who had stopped and was bent over. "What are you, sick or something?!"

"I'm re-tying my shoe, boss. I don't want to trip!"

The boss shook his head. He was definitely going to have to deal with Bruce later. He'd thought it before...was it even possible this was his younger brother? "Get down here!"

Once both had reached the house, they began their work of destruction.

Lorna didn't know how long she'd been out of it. She was still kneeling on the ground, but now the pain was suddenly gone. So abrupt...like the end of a summer downpour, when the sun appears and everything smells fresh. The first thing she'd noticed is that it was dark, and cool. She was still outside. She looked to the side, and Anna was beside her, sobbing softly. "Lorna, what are we going to do?" Hearing her cries, the dog had come bounding out of the shed, happy to see Anna and licking her face playfully. Little Anna didn't want to play, however.

Lorna was still a little groggy. "Anna, what's wrong? What happened?"

Anna was just shaking her head and crying, "Mommy! Daddy! Oh! Mommy..."

Reality slapped Lorna in the face, as sirens came wailing down the path leading toward the house. The house. {Oh my God, the house!} An orange-yellow flickering glow was visible through the windows. There was no sign of Trevor or Jean anywhere. A lone figure was just starting to make his way back up the hill behind the house.

"You stay here, sweetheart. I'll be back!"

The sheriff got out of his car, and another trooper emerged from the police car right behind. More sirens were audible in the distance, getting louder. "What's happened?"

"I don't know where Trevor and Jean are," Lorna gasped. "They were looking for Anna inside the house. I fell unconscious. I can't explain right now. There's your guys. I'm going in to search for Trevor and Jean."

"It's too dangerous! The fire trucks are right behind me..."

"No time. I'm going." With that, she was airborne, rushing to the house as fast as the magnetic waves would carry her. It was only a matter of seconds before she was standing at the door of the house, now filled with flames and smoke. She looked in, horrified by what she saw.

She searched, looking for signs of movement or electromagnetic activity, and could find none. Determined, she went in. The smoke stung her eyes, and it was almost impossible to breathe the torrid air. It wasn't long before she began coughing uncontrollably. The door to the master bedroom was open, but the room was totally filled with fire. The next room was Anna's. She peeked in and saw three unconscious figures on the floor, immediately recognizing all of them. Apparently there'd been a struggle, she thought, as she noticed a frying pan was laying on the floor next to Jean. Not stopping to think, she grabbed them all in magnetic tow and made her way back toward the living room. Her way was now blocked by fire.

On the opposite side of the hall was the bathroom. She cautiously pushed open the door, and although it was filled with smoke, the fire hadn't consumed it yet. She looked at the three. Jean and "Michael" would fit through the open window. Trevor would not. So she mentally reversed the polarity from her outstretched arm, and the window came bursting out into the yard in a crash of glass and metal.

"Ladies and gentlemen, time to go..." She sent the three limp bodies through the gaping hole in the wall, one by one, and quickly followed at top speed.

It was at that moment that the house collapsed, rupturing the gas line. The resulting explosion was tremendous, sending out a pressure wave that sent Lorna and the others tumbling wildly through the air. A piece of debris thrown from the blast smacked her in the back of the head, and everything went black.

The trooper caught John running through the woods toward the car, and the sheriff nabbed the ringleader right at the top of the treeline. He was quickly throwing on the handcuffs when he saw the others emerge, bathed in a greenish glow coming from Lorna, who was right behind them. A bright flash momentarily blinded him, and he shielded his eyes as the house was blasted apart in a massive ball of fire and smoke which rolled up into the sky. The next thing the sheriff knew, the four figures plunged to the ground, with flaming debris falling all around them.

The sheriff screamed into his radio, "We need paramedics! Behind the house...behind the house!" At that moment two large fire trucks pulled up into the front yard, a pair of volunteer firemen making their way around back and other two set to work on the arduous task of extinguishing what was left of the Stevenson home. "And someone needs to get the little girl," he said sadly.

CHAPTER 9

Four figures waited patiently in the waiting room. Finally, the nurse came to them, and said quietly, "The doctor says you may see her now."

With sad faces, they walked down the sterile white halls to Lorna's hospital room. Two of them walked in. The other two waited outside the door in the hall.

Lorna looked over to see Valerie Cooper and Forge.

"How are you feeling?" Forge spoke first.

Lorna ignored the question, choosing instead to ask the questions that had been weighing on her mind. "How long have you two been here?"

"We've been here a couple days," Val answered. "We arrived right after the explosion."

"Then you know about what's happened?"

"We were briefed by the sheriff," Forge told her.

"How are Trevor and Jean?" she asked hopefully.

"Lorna, I don't know how to tell you this...but Trevor and Jean didn't make it. They died from smoke inhalation. The autopsy revealed that there had been a fight, and Trevor was knocked unconscious. Jean may have died trying to revive him."

Lorna was silent. She had a terribly empty feeling in her heart. She'd become so close to these people in the short time she'd known them. She turned her head away for a moment, trying to regain her composure.

Taking a deep breath, she asked, "What about the other? That bastard, Mike, or whatever his name was?

"Bruce Holloman will be charged with first degree murder and arson. So will the other two."

"I I can't believe they're..." She didn't have the strength to finish her sentence. She'd done the superhero thing before. She'd seen innocent people, even friends, die before. That didn't make it any easier. {Why did they have to die? It wasn't their fault.}

Val seemed to know what Lorna was thinking. "It's not your fault, Lorna. You were there to help. There was no way to know your plan would go sour."

Lorna frowned and wiped a tear from her cheek, only to have more follow. Nothing they could say or do would make her feel any better. She just wanted to be miserable, and left alone.

"Before we go, there's someone here who wants to see you."

That got her attention. She sniffled. "Who?"

In stepped Anna, followed by the sheriff. Anna was wearing a weak smile, for Lorna. It was more than you could expect from a little girl who'd just lost her parents.

It was too much for Lorna. She burst into tears, and Anna did, too. "Come here, honey," Anna went over to Lorna and the two hugged tightly. "I'm so sorry," Lorna said between sobs, as Val, Forge, and the sheriff stepped quietly out into the hall.

"It's okay, Lorna. I know you tried to save them. I'm glad you're okay. I didn't think I was going to see you again."

Lorna smiled back at her, brushing Anna's red hair out of her face. "I guess I'm glad you snuck out of the house to get your doggie." She looked at the child again, and suddenly it hit her.

"Anna, how did you know where your doggie was?"

"I don't know. I went right to the shed, and she came out to see me." It didn't make sense. The dog had escaped out the back door, running up the hill, not out the front door, toward the shed. Anna knew that. Her first thought should have been to look in the back yard.

Lorna thought carefully for a moment. Her mind returned to the evening of their walk, under the stars. "Do you know what my... nickname is?"

"Polaris," she said simply. Lorna thought back to them sitting on the porch, looking at the stars.

"Anna, when I was sitting there on the ground, feeling sick, what did you do?"

"I don't know. I just I was worried. I really wanted you to feel better." Anna didn't understand Lorna's questions.

"Val, Forge, you better get in here." The three of them stepped in once again.

"What's wrong, Lorna?" Val asked.

"Little Anna here has some special talents that we didn't know about before. I think she has mutant abilities that are starting to surface." The sheriff looked shocked, but not upset by the news.

"Why do you say that?" Forge asked.

"Anna, here, seems to have some sort of psychic abilities. I don't really know for sure, but she's made some pretty amazing observations since I've met her."

"We can maybe do some testing with her, as long as the sheriff agrees." Val looked toward the sheriff, who nodded.

"Anyway," the sheriff cleared his throat, "that goes along with what I was going to suggest," the sheriff said. "Little Anna has been non-stop begging to see you. She's grown quite attached to you, I'd say."

"Lorna's my friend," Anna told them tearfully.

"Well, it turns out that Anna has no legal guardians right now. Apparently there aren't any living relatives that could take her in. So her custody is a dilemma. The state laws require that she be provided with foster parents. However, as a local official, I can make a recommendation as to who would make a good choice.

"I'd much rather have Anna stay with someone she loves and cares about than having her have to get adjusted to new parents."

"I want to stay with you, Lorna. You're my friend. And you're fun to be with."

Lorna was speechless. She'd thought a lot about having children someday, but lately that was becoming less and less of a likelihood. Now she was presented with an opportunity to become Anna's foster mother. And it couldn't have happened at a better time. X-Factor had been disbanded, at least temporarily, and she needed some direction in her life. Something to live for. She looked at Anna.

"Of course. Of course, I'd be honored."

This would mean a lot of changes for the both of them. They'd be heading to Massachusetts, to Xavier's School, to find out about Anna's abilities, and possibly get her enrolled. But Lorna was no stranger to changes. She'd been through a lot. And she felt ready for this. As ready as she'd ever been.

Not really knowing what to do, the sheriff shook Lorna's hand. "I'll contact the social worker. She'll need to do an interview with you, and there will be a lot of paperwork to fill out. We'll be in touch, okay?" Then to Anna, he said, "C'mon, Anna, we need to see Mrs. Anton, and you'll see Lorna again in a couple days."

Lorna and Anna hugged once more, then waved goodbye as Anna stepped away. "I love you, Anna. We'll be together real soon, okay?"

"I love you too, Lorna." The two of them left the room, leaving her with Forge and Val.

"You showed a lot of responsibility the past few days. We're proud of you, Polaris."

"I wanted to show Trevor that mutants are good people. At least, most of us are. Too bad he's not here to see it."

"He is here, Lorna," Forge said, pointing toward her heart. "Both of them. They will always be with you. After all, they want their daughter to be in good hands."

"So, do you think I'm cut out to be a mom?"

"Certainly more than I am!" Val said.

"That's for sure," Forge kidded.

"There are a couple members of the press that want to talk to you, Lorna, when you're up to it. They're calling you a hero for trying to rescue Jean and Trevor."

"But I didn't rescue them."

"It doesn't matter."

"Must be a slow news day. But," she sighed, thinking about how much she'd grown to hate interviews. "I guess it might do some good to have a positive story out about mutants. Lord knows we need to do all we can to make everyone more comfortable with us."

"That's what the dream is all about," Forge said. With that, the two of them wished her goodbye. After all, Lorna Dane had a lot to think about.

REFLECTIONS

I wanted to accomplish two things with this story. One, to focus a little on the "day to day" issues of the human versus mutant conflict. And two, to bring the world of fan-fiction a story that features Polaris. For those who don't know yet, I've been a huge fan of hers since I started reading Marvel Comics over 10 years ago, back in 1987. That was around Uncanny #219, when Lorna was possessed by Malice. She was an interesting, but underused character then, and I believe she still is now.

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