[OP: "Suitcase"-- Sia]

It took several awkward moments to try to explain themselves to Mr. Pryde.

"And we were afraid your daughter might be in some danger," Storm said. "We are...a safe house, as it were, for mutants."

Mr. Pryde and his wife, who came in, looked troubled.

"She's always been different," Mrs. Pryde said. "Smart...but this is new."

"It's not uncommon for mutations to show up at this age," Storm said.

"But how do we know we can trust you?" Mr. Pryde said.

"That's a fair question," Wally said. "But the school is kind of this thing we're trying. Some of us are mutants, some are human. We're trying to learn together."

They glanced at him uncertainly.

"I know," Wally said. "Crazy, right? But...I don't know if you've heard of this..." He slipped a flier for The Way towards them. "We work with these people... They're trying to reach out to mutants...give them a better chance."

"Oh...they were on the news, weren't they?" Mr. Pryde said.

"Yes," Storm confirmed. "They are...brave people."

Both of them looked more at ease.

"We...would be able to call her," Mr. Pryde said.

"Of course," Storm said. "And...any time she wishes to go home, she may. But we truly believe she may be most comfortable around other mutants...and safer. We already have a few her age staying there."

"Boys?" Mr. Pryde suddenly said suspiciously.

"A few," Wally said. "And girls. Don't worry, they have separate dorms."

"They better," Mr. Pryde said. "I don't want my daughter getting caught up with any strange boy...no offense."

"She's still so young," Mrs. Pryde said sadly. "We've only had a few days to get used to this idea...and already people have come looking for her... I didn't like that other woman at all. She was...haughty. You seem nicer. I like that you have a church...though we're not Christian.... We're Jewish."

"Well, that's cool," Wally said. "So's my wife. I mean, sort of."

"Still, some religious foundation..." Mr. Pryde muttered. "Better than all that immoral rhetoric they teach now... I was worried about that... Well, Kitty can certainly make up her own mind about things. We'll let her decide... She's upstairs."

"Yes...I'm afraid she didn't really want to talk to anyone else," Mrs. Pryde said. "But I'll try to persuade her..."

She went up.

There was the sound of voices, what sounded like arguing, a door shutting.

And then a teen-aged girl dropped through the ceiling into the room and looked at them all warily.

"Thanks for dropping in," Wally said.

"You must be Kitty." Storm didn't miss a beat.

Kitty looked them up and down.

"Are you here to recruit me?" she asked point blank. "Because I don't want to be recruited."

"We understand," Storm said. "And that is not why we're here... We seek to provide a safe place for mutants until they can learn to control their powers and decide what to do with their lives."

"Yeah, one of us is a doctor," Wally said, "and another is a professor. He wanted to come today, but, he had...another meeting with parents."

"We come from all walks of life," Storm said.

"What about you?" Mr. Pryde addressed Logan.

"Eh..." Logan faltered.

"Veteran," Wally said, not specifying which war. "So you see, cream of the crop."

Kitty seemed to like that. "So...intelligent people? I mean...I don't want to go to any weird school... I don't even really want to stop going where I am now, but..." She frowned. "Everyone knows. I don't know how. It got out."

"Do you think it's possible the other person would possibly let it out just to drive you to make a decision?" Storm wondered. "What sort of person was it?"

"Some woman," Kitty said. "Frost, she said."

They all flinched.

"You know her?" Mr. Pryde asked.

"Enough..." Storm said.

"She's trouble," Logan said. "The kind of mutant who just wants to use other mutants for their powers."

They all looked horrified.

Kitty narrowed her eyes. "But how do I know you just don't want to do that?"

"You're right to ask that," Wally said. "Tell you what, you check it out. If you don't like our vibe, you don't have to enroll...but you might still need to find a safer place to live for a while... Life is rough for mutants. We can't make any bones about that. Frost was already here... She might not want to take no for an answer... Hey, why do you think she's looking anyway?"

"Could be any reason," Logan said. "Her last bunch were miserable failures. Probably just wants new blood."

"I would have to agree with Mr. West. Even if you did not join us, you should avoid Frost," Storm said. "I hope you have family who live elsewhere...but even that might be too obvious... Perhaps a close friend..."

"This is concerning..." Mr. Pryde said.

Kitty pursed her lips. "What if I go with you and I never come back, huh? How do I even know you're mutants?"

Logan unsheathed his claws. "Convinced?"

They stepped back a little.

"Are those...metal?" Mr. Pryde asked.

"Long story," Logan said.

"We understand why you're worried," Wally said. "Who wouldn't be suspicious of this...? But...any option for Kitty is going to be dangerous, no matter what. This option, though, would put her around people who'd have her back. They look after each other. No one chose to be a mutant...but you can make the most of your gift...or you can try to hide it or use it just for selfish reasons, like people like Frost."

The Prydes looked at Kitty. She looked at them.

"Tikklun Olam, daughter," Mr. Pryde said. "There is some wisdom in what he is saying...if it's what you want."

"You always were set to use your gifts," Mrs. Pryde said. "Maybe you can use this one too.... I don't know why God made you a mutant, but...didn't Samson have special gifts? You must decide what to do. At least, though...they are not saying it is hopeless. No one else seems to have any thing more hopeful to tell us."

Kitty knit her brows.

Then she nodded.

"All right...I want to check it out," she said.

[I wanted to include her. She's an interesting character. And she was the right age to fit into the story, as I expand the cast of younger characters. So, like all authors, I'm putting my own spin on it.

By the way, Tikkun Olam is a common Jewish saying that means 'repair the world', talking about using kindness to heal. ]

* * *

Morph found Shine later. She was cleaning out a new bedroom... They were going to have to start on a different wing of the house if this kept up.

"Well...I talked to her," he said. "And I don't feel better."

"Well...I never said you would," Shine said, looking up. "I only said it would help bring clarity... Did she own up to it?"

"She said just what you said," Morph said. "Only about a hundred times more depressing... Also, she said she was sorry...weird, right?"

"I do find that weird. I don't know that she's ever said that," Shine said. "At least not to me." She dusted a little more. "Why is there even furniture in all these rooms? They were never used."

"Who knows?" Morph wasn't interested. "Shine, I don't know if I can keep doing this."

"Well, then don't," Shine said. "You've given it a fair shot. And she certainly has had something to think about. If you're done, you're done."

Pause.

"Really?" Morph said.

"We can't fix other people," Shine said. "I offer what I offer, knowing it may not ever get through, for that reason. But I can offer it without remorse, then. If you want to fix it...then you will only have regrets later. Supposedly men do that a lot, but I really think women do it more, when it comes to other people... It's hard to let go."

"Honestly, I'm still angry," Morph said, "so not sure I'm helping any more anyway. How can one person be that stubborn?"

"If I didn't know better, Morph," Shine said suddenly, "I'd say this frustration is partly because, deep down, you were starting to like that sullen, rude, and ungrateful woman."

"Not a lot to like, there," Morph said. "In fact, I've rarely met someone I dislike more."

"Really?" Shine said dubiously.

"Who would like that?" Morph asked.

"Well...it's real," Shine said. "At least...as real as she knows how to be... I rather took it as a compliment myself."

"Huh?" Morph said.

Shine twisted the duster. "Someone who lives their whole life charming and deceiving people and telling them what they want to hear hardly ever risks showing their ugly side to anyone. If I inspired that, I must inspire some honestly...even confidence. Oh...it's cold comfort some of the time, but sometimes hostility is a better sign than peace with people like that. In her mind, this is as fair as she knows how to be...but, again, you have no obligation to this." She shrugged. "There could be a reason you can't let it go though. Maybe something about it nags you, like...it could just be a cover for what's left of a much better person."

"And what would that even look like?" Morph said. "And not sure I care anymore... I gave it a shot, trying to do that whole understanding thing...but...people don't always want to be understood."

"And some people fear it," Shine said somberly. "They fear that the more they are understood, the less they are liked, and the more they are abused. It is how it is for us, Morph. Not you, perhaps...but when someone has taken your heart's desires and used them to play you on a string...and you know that you will make that same mistake again, if given the chance...you might prefer to be like stone. Look, all I can do is help you understand. I can't make it okay that she acts this way. I can't make it your grace to put up with it. And that's not what I'm supposed to do. That God's department, who is to give grace... All I know is this is why I do. I'm in no place to judge."

"But don't you ever get tired of being dismissed?" Morph asked. "And that goes for other people too.... The X-men get it a lot, with Magneto too. Doesn't that make your blood boil?"

"That reminds me of when Kurt and Logan talked about this," Shine mused. "Well...I'm not as nice as Kurt...so, yes, it does... You've seen my fiery side. And it's okay to have that sometimes, too. You got to stir the pot...but what calms me back down is knowing that God does not expect me to make people change...and He accepts me...and He rewards us, even if man doesn't. Who knows what is gold and what is straw, in our works, except God? Sometimes what looks like a wasted effort makes it possible to have a harvest... In farming there are years you have to rest the land or try planting different crops in it, to replenish what it takes out of the soil. But that is to prepare for a better harvest later. Perhaps it is like that with harvesting souls. Some must be given time to sit with it, and sometimes they have the greatest harvest later. And sometimes, what one person ignores will catch another person's attention. Dave Wilkerson was sent to New York after what he thought was one gang. Instead he reached a bunch of others. It all depends on how you look at things. Sometimes God cannot give us the whole picture, so He gives only what makes sense to us now. Don't let me tell you what to do, Kevin, but don't let fear and discouragement dictate it either."

She shrugged. 

"Do you...ever get tired of saying things like that?" Morph said.

Shine laughed. "I'll let you in on a secret... I'm tired doing it now...but I call on God's grace anyway, and I reach beyond myself... I don't really want to have this conversation again, but I do it out of love. I needed to hear these things many, many times. Shouldn't I offer the same?"

And in a way, Morph thought, Isn't she just making a point about that too?

"Love never gives up," Shine said softly. "Even if we have to give up on one thing, we don't give up on love. The main thing is to never mistake letting something go with ceasing to love. Love just has to work out a different way."

Morph took that thought with him and mulled it over, wondering what it meant for him.

[Tough question, isn't it?

Of course, there are some people you have to stay away from...but is it really as many as we think? What if no one ever reached out to anyone? Even again and again...? Who could ever get better?

One of the things that frightens me about the modern approach to boundaries is how it's confused with just cutting out any person who has a flaw that bothers you... You can't go through life like that. You'd never learn to be any bigger of a person yourself. Unpopular opinion, but it's the truth.]

* * *

Shine found Mystique later, closer to evening, sitting under a tree.

Whatever she must have been thinking to prompt her remark, Shine could only guess, but she looked up dully.

"Why are you acting like this is something you wanted?"

"Acting?" Shine said, cautiously sitting down a few feet off.

Mystique recoiled like even that was too close.

She was so wild, this woman...but she never seemed to notice it herself.

Shine was tired of taking the long way about things. Time might be running out for that.

"You know what it is," she said. "It's that you're scared. Always have been."

Mystique snapped a twig. "Scared of what?"

"Life," Shine said, "love...yourself.... Sometimes people try to kill that fear by just giving way to the idea of being ugly or monstrous... It begins with fear, though, every time. Never met a headcase who didn't have that story. Some of them for very tragic reasons. But what matters right now is, what are you afraid of?"

Mystique looked up. "You," she said. "Probably. What the h--- is your deal anyway? You just keep pushing me. I hate it."

"No one else ever has?" Shine asked.

"No."

"I'm sorry," Shine said. "That is sad."

"So it is," Mystique said. "I suppose. What do I need that for? What use is it?"

"But it might be some use to know what it feels like, just once," Shine said. "Don't you think? For a novel experience."

"I won't be staying, if that's what you're trying to accomplish," Mystique said.

"Oh...no, I know," Shine said, plucking at some grass. "I can't blame you... Such a hostile environment, I wouldn't stay either."

"I don't mind hostility," Mystique said flatly. "It doesn't faze me. But what you expect, or what you want, it won't happen."

"But who are you trying to convince, Raven, me or you?" Shine prodded. "You feel that you are weakening?"

Mystique jerked back. "Don't act like you know what I'm thinking," she spat.

Shine thought perhaps she'd said it too soon.

"All right...fine," she said. "You're hard as rock. Happy? But that's not really so bad. Why do you have a problem with me hoping? What do you think I want anyway? Stop being vague about it. Maybe you're wrong."

"I know..." Mystique pulled out the book.

"Oh..." Shine carefully did not acknowledge that she still had it--but she was quite surprised.

"I lost the other one," Mystique muttered. "Kicked it, I think...never picked it up. But your reference...some kind of sick joke."

"You looked it up?" Shine couldn't help herself.

"If it wasn't supposed to be checked, why write it?" Mystique said. "It is not like I knew what to expect. Nice little message."

"It came to mind." Shine shrugged. "As I was writing... Sometimes things just sort of pop in." She tapped her head. "I looked it up later myself... I like that chapter. It's nice, isn't it?"

"Nonsense," Mystique said. "More of it."

"I think it's beautiful," Shine said more firmly. "You mean it's not real, is that it?"

Mystique frowned at her. "It isn't possible. Do you think that your God cares about me? That idea is ridiculous."

She stared at her lap. "If He is real, then He would hate what I do to people who are loyal to Him."

"He might." Shine shrugged. "God is protective of us...but He will let us take a few hits, you know, so we are grown ups... Some of us have even asked Him not to hold those sins against others. Otherwise He might have to. Stephen, he died with those words. Jesus said it too. Why does it trouble you anyway? People can abuse your talents all day long and not get one word of complaint from you, but we, few of us, offer a little willingly to overlook a few things, and you are furious... Do you not understand that this is because you are the one who thinks you need to be punished? Not us."

Mystique stared at her...then slowly she said, "I think some of you do."

"Raven, screw what they think." Shine waved dramatically. "They can't let their own sins go either, poor, naive fools, some of them. Didn't you read to the end of that chapter? What did it say?"

"I don't remember."

"I think you do." Shine stared at her long and hard. "You're not meeting my eyes."

Mystique tried to do this and couldn't.

Then she said slowly, "Something about mercy...ah..." She winced. For whatever reason, she almost physically recoiled at trying to think about it.

Shine's eyes narrowed "Hey, stop that," she said. But as if she was looking at something else. "None of that."

"What...what are you talking about?" Mystique looked around, confused.

"You hang around the wrong people, you're bound to pick up a few pieces of baggage." Shine was cryptic. "And your own, also...but don't let it stop you. Sometimes the right words are as heavy as lead on our lips, I know that...but once you speak them, you feel light. I'll help. It said, 'I will show mercy on her who had not obtained mercy'."

Mystique didn't know how it happened, but she realized suddenly that she had tears going down her face.

Shine never seemed to notice, or she chose not to.

"I don't even know what that means." Mystique's tone was still bitter, despite the tears. "But I knew it was your little trick... Sounds like you."

"That is high praise," Shine said, classically not offended. "I did think it was the reason...but the message was from God, if you read the context. Not me. It is God's word that says that. Humans don't show mercy to people who don't obtain it...earn it, really. The context of Hosea is a man loving a woman who did nothing to deserve it and repaid it with unfaithfulness, but he bought her back. We're not told how their story ended. But I'd like to think it ended well. But the point is it's a message for us... We're all like that... We wander over and over again."

"And when did you ever do that?" Mystique interrupted her. "You say it, but it's just words."

"Is it any of your business what sins I've committed?" Shine said oddly. "I only talk about yours because you have yet to repent of them. But mine are already washed away, and I do not need to dredge them up. Some of them are like yours, I remember that much. But the Lord has blotted out most of my memory of them. Once I ask forgiveness...it fades. Although, it took a while to get there...but it happened... Can you imagine? Never even thinking about what you did wrong? Not feeling like it's hanging over your head all the time? Getting up and not feeling fear and terror of what you will do that day?--Just how I used to feel. Forget the past. I never trust myself in the present...but of course, you wouldn't know what I'm talking about, would you?"

She suddenly sounded a little sharp. "It's not like I can understand or you can understand me. I don't think you want to, really. We're not that different, in many ways. And not just in the normal way of both having problems. I think we have some of the same problems. You mask your fear with hostility a lot, don't you? I did that... I still pick fights quite a lot. You've seen me. Just yesterday...if you remember. With Magneto."

"Well, he had it coming." Mystique forgot her own problem for a moment. She had remembered that earlier today, and it had been one memory that was not painful.

"Oh, sure he did," Shine said. "But could I have even if he hadn't? I can use my perception to hurt people too... I think about it, sometimes...how horrible it would be if I did that...but by the grace of God...I have not been tempted to, really. Not often. But that is because by the time I realized I had this gift, I was already wanting to serve the Lord. Good thing He didn't show me sooner, don't you think? I hurt people feelings just by trying to help them. What if I wanted to hurt them anyway?"

Mystique finally looked at her with some slight understanding. "I wouldn't want to find out, I can tell you that much," she admitted. "You are terrifying in a strange way. Morph is a little like that also...at least, his dark side is...playing off people's weaknesses."

"Raven, I say this with all due respect," Shine said slowly. "If I actually played off your weaknesses, you'd not be freely admitting to this right now. I choose not to, that's all. And if I ever did, I hope you'd slap me, but...well...it's a double edged sword, just like I said to Psylocke yesterday. You perceive what people need...but that means you can deny it to them also... And then you get your types like Apocalypse who literally thrive off creating needs in people and exploiting them. Sinister too, I suppose. Like that poor Sauron man. Perhaps we could help him..."

She hugged her arms to her sides. "But if we could go out into the whole world and just heal them all...I wish...but even Jesus didn't manage that in three years of ministry. Too many people. 'The harvest is many, the laborers few.'"

Mystique shook her head. "You really enjoy this, don't you?" she said incredulously.

"I don't expect you to get it," Shine said. "I'm happy if you just listen, honestly. I had no such compulsion pre-Christ, you know. I was selfish, as we all are. God changes what your idea of fun is and your idea of what to spend your time on. And how you look at people... Don't misunderstand, the old perspective is still in there." She rubbed her head. "I hear that voice, the Critic, tell me people aren't worth it and are small, selfish, and pathetic... It's even mentioned in the Bible, you know. Psalm 116 said, 'I said in my haste, "all men are liars".'... So yeah, they got it. Another psalm is half a rant about how evil people just don't get punished, it seems...but that's not true. And not all people are liars...just most of them. But God has always worked through the few, not the many, usually. It's nothing new. Only 8 people survived the flood, after all. Look, Raven, I don't expect you to feel this way. I just wish you believed that we actually do and that we have no other motives...other than I find you entertaining at times, but I have a thing for sarcasm..." She shrugged.

"And you think I want to just entertain you?" Mystique said. "That is not a purpose."

"You don't stop what you do long enough to find a purpose," Shine said. "You think being a slave the rest of your life, however many decades that ends up being, is going to satisfy you? You will end it feeling just as lost as you have always felt. And don't try to deny it to me--you admitted it to Kurt already, and to me before...why, even to Morph. So you've told us, your life sucks... Now, did you think we were made of stone, that we couldn't feel something after that? Or did you just not care?"

"Perhaps I don't care," Mystique said. "Your pity is not something I want."

"It is when you need our help." Shine called her out on it rather mercilessly.

Mystique had no answer to that, so she was silent.

"I've ridden the same roller-coaster, up, down, up, down," Shine shrugged. "Many of us have.... The main thing is to go more up than down, you know. Yes, you have everything against you here: years of your own choices, years of being told something else by everyone, years of prejudice from the humans... I know, it seems ridiculous to bring only our beliefs and our compassion against that... Luckily, God only needs a spark or a drop or a tiny seed of something different to start changing the whole thing, slowly. It's not like I know what will happen to you, but I can't just stop either. And this is not about you, even. God has not given us permission to pick and choose who we reach out to. Everyone is included. I think I said that to Magneto too... All kinds of people have been here. You have this idea that you are special, but, remember, you share this favor of ours with all the other schmucks who've come through here, some of them crazier than you are."

Mystique finally slightly smiled at that blunt last line.

"That's what it means, not to obtain mercy," Shine said. "This mercy is a freely offered gift to everyone. We go to the highways and the hedges, which is Bible speak for the ghettos and the sewers and the evil hideouts. Anywhere, everywhere. Many are called, few are chosen. I leave the rest to God... If I wanted anything for myself, it would just to be not hated for this effort, though I can accept it if I am."

Mystique had to think about that.

"I see," she said finally. "It is sort of like Apocalypse."

"Yes...if he wasn't fake," Shine said, with derision. "I am not going to take offense to that because I don't think you meant it that way, but please do not ever compare Yahweh to Apocalypse ever again...nasty, little pretender."

"Little? He is immortal and powerful," Mystique said.

Shine shrugged. "I have fought immortal people before, and those who claimed to be gods...and seen them die." She said this like it was nothing. "They seem to have power, over common people who don't know any better, but next to the real thing they're little, ugly... Why, honestly, usually other humans are more trouble than them. A false god has no power over you if you don't give it power. Humans are not that simple."

"You defeated that External," Mystique remembered. "But Apocalypse is not like that."

"I understand your fear of him. I once feared things like him." Shine had no scorn now. "But, trust me, he is not that different. Really, compared to Darkseid, he's laughable...even compared to some psychos on our last missions..." She shuddered. 

"You think you could stand up to him," Mystique said.

"The X-men have defeated him," Shine said. "If they, being mortal, could do it, he is no god. And if I, being in the power of God, could not do better than that, I might as well retire this job. Not that I'm stronger than him, myself--far from it--but God does not care how strong I am. He is strong enough already. But He likes to use us humans, just to really rub it into these false gods that even we can stand up to them. At least that's what I think the reason is."

She grinned mischievously. "Apocalypse had better stay in the astral plane where he belongs, that is all I can say."

Mystique shook her head. "You don't know him."

"Raven, do you think you do?" Shine said.

Mystique shrugged. "He told me he knew more about this world than I could imagine... He knows the future. Do you know that?"

Shine raised an eyebrow. "So he's hopped through a few portals. That's probably why he's crazy. You do remember who you are talking to, right?... Fine, don't believe me, but I certainly won't stop believing on your account, sorry. You shouldn't work for him, you know... He's going to kill you eventually. You threaten him."

"I threaten him?" Mystique laughed. "No, I would be like a bug."

"A bug who could take his shape and usurp his orders?" Shine said. "He will kill you as soon as you cease to be useful, or take away your choice... How did you meet him anyway?"

"He found me." Mystique didn't know why she admitted it, but Shine probably would know anyway. "At first, of course...I didn't know what he was. But he was quick to show me. You think I should have refused...but you don't refuse him."

"The only thing I really take issue with is that you forced other people into these roles," Shine said. "Enslave yourself if you must, but making them pay for it? I know how you think, but I can't condone it...but anyone might act to save their life...even for us, that's a tough call, when to go along with it and when not to. But then...I can't expect courage from someone who has no love.... Love is what gives us courage...which is not the absence of fear, but when something more important than fear takes its place. And I know that from personal experience."

"What are you afraid of?" Mystique wondered.

"I was afraid of Magneto," Shine said. "Oh, you look stunned... I suppose it didn't seem like it? But he could have crushed me... There will always be a voice in my head that asks if maybe this time God will not deliver me, maybe it's just my time...but then, what do I have to fear from that? And then there is the voice that says maybe not death, but terrible pain would follow, and that might be worse...or maybe humiliation... Maybe I won't have the right words or ideas... Yes, there will always be voices like that, in this world...but they do not have to command us."

She looked at her hands. "But I can't ask that of you. Maybe you wish I could, just a little, hmm? But you expect more of yourself than you could ever give then, and you know it, which is why you also expect so little...but, Raven, the real shame is not in being unable to do what's right on our own, it's in refusing the chance to have that fixed, out of fear or pride. God doesn't expect perfection of us, but He expects a willingness to accept His help. That is all He wants from us...and that is just what it so hard for you, because it's never happened before, has it?"

Mystique stared at her, bewildered.

"I hope you get it straight that what I want is not for you to change," Shine said. "I expect that it would only happen if the rest happened first. I just wish you'd take it...you know? But...try to overlook what others say, okay? They aren't used to letting go of that need to fix everyone and play god. It took me many years, and they're so new at it. If they say things to you that sting...that's why. They just don't get it."

"They don't, and I don't," Mystique said.

"And I can live with that." Shine smiled. "But can you?"

Mystique blinked at her, then finally she smiled wryly.

"I doubt it, but it's clear to me now that you're determined... It has nothing to do with me? I suppose I can live with that."

"Wonderful," Shine said. "So...can we be friends, then? I mean...not buddy buddy. I know you're not anxious to stick around, but can it just be assumed, you know, that if we randomly were put in a category, it would be friends and not enemies?"

"I have no wish to make an enemy out of you," Mystique said. "So I suppose, as long as you're willing to accept that this means nothing is changing, I'm fine with it."

"Fine," Shine said. "Glad we got that cleared up... One down, right?" She shrugged. "You should come inside. We're going to celebrate."

"No," Mystique said.

"I wouldn't stay out here," Shine said with more caution. "Fair warning."

She got up, then looked back. "And I wouldn't leave now. It'll be dark soon, and none of us can drive you at the moment. We're too busy getting ready. One more night won't kill you, will it? Just saying..."

She walked inside.

[Figured Shine would win this eventually. She's far more stubborn than Mystique has ever been. But it was still nice to see.]

https://youtu.be/5dO9FSSZMNQ

["Canary in a Coal Mine"-- The Crane Wives.]