From what the Professor told me. It would seem that Sebastian Shaw and Mr. Sinister have some sort of e. Shaw has a lot of influence over the gover and he is one of the key people involved in Stryker's experiments. I don't know what his deal is with Sinister, but he's w with Shaw for some reason. And I guess what that reason is... Mutant and human experiments. That insane freak could experiment to his heart's tent with Shaw bag him up and providing resources. He must be the one who exploded Stryker when he was about to reveal the truth.

  Finally, I got a clue to uhe truth.

  "Where I find Hellfire Club?" I asked the Professor.

  "I'm not sure. They are a very secretive group. Their location ges all the time. They even have teleportation teology they stole from the Baxter Industries to travel between their different locations. To make things hard, even with the cerebro, I am not able to locate any of their facilities. They are either using telepathy-blog devices or there is a strong telepath among them. Maybe both."

  Sigh! Teology...

  It seems I'll have to do this the hard way. As far as I remember, there should be a Hellfire Club base in New York, operating as a Strip Club. They extraformation from the people and VIPs, not to mention those old gover bastards seeking pleasure... Those horny fools don't know how much they are being maniputed by the people behind the curtains.

  If I'm correct, it should be in Manhattan, somewhere. I remember that famous strip club, been there a couple of times, delivering packages, when I was w as a delivery guy. It might be that pbsp;

  Emma Frost should be in charge of that pce.

  But before that... Oh boy, here she es...

  The door opened and Jean walked ihe room, with an angry face. She looked at the professor and then at me, gring. Then before I could say anything she bsted me with a powerful telekiic force that sent me flying into a wall.

  "Jean!" the professor shouted, "What are you doing?"

  She ignored him and turoward me as I got up.

  "Oouch! Ok. I deserve that," I said.

  "Shut up! You don't get to talk! What the fuck are you thinking, huh? You should have called a us know you were alright. You just disappeared, didn't answer any of our calls, and made us all worried. We thought something happeo you!" she yelled angrily. I could see her Phoenix Force fring up as she was glowing with a golden hue.

  I raised my hand in surrender, "Ok, ok. I'm sorry, but I had no other choice."

  Jean threw aelekinesis bst at me. I raised my hand, and a purple psionic shield appeared in front of me, blog her attack.

  "Stop it, Jean!" the Professor shouted. "He's telling the truth."

  "That's why he deserves a nice smashing. There's always a choice, isn't that what you told me when we first met?" She asked the Professor as she kept throwing bsts at me. The shockwaves from the bsts destroyed the furniture and the wall. "No matter how powerful you are, don't do everything alone. What if something had happeo you? There are people who care for you, Aron. What will you do then?"

  "But, I..."

  "No excuses!" Jean walked to me and pced her fist on my chest. "ime, you are thinking of doing something like this, let us know. Have a little faith in us. Or else..." she left her threat hanging in the air.

  Sigh! She has a point, doesn't she? Things could have gone bad had they mao seal my Phoenix Fmes. But still, it was fun to dismaryker's operations without spilling any blood. The best part was to make those people surrender without any violence. Well, with that much blow to their operation, Shaw might back down for the moment to stabilize the situation.

  I nodded in resignation, "Alright, I'm sorry."

  Jean smiled and pulled me into a tight embrace, "Good."

  "You know, there is something you do to make me feel better," she whispered in my ear.

  I whispered back to her, "There are people here."

  Jean chuckled as she pulled bad cleared her throat. "Since your house was destroyed, why not stay here till you find a new one?" she asked while giving the professor a sidelong gnce. "Your old room is still there..."

  "Yeah, it's not a problem. You stay here as long as you want," the Professreed immediately before turning to Jean. "And Jean, you better repair the wall before you even think about spending time with your boyfriend. Aime when you two are having a couple-fight, please do it in the open ground. There's a field back there, you know."

  "Uhh... Sure Professor," Jean blushed a bit as she went to do what he asked.

  After that chaotiter with Jean, I decided it robably best to make a strategic retreat while she repaired the room and calmed down. The professave me a knowing look, his lips twitg like he was trying not to ugh. Yeah, it was defiime to leave.

  As I made my way down the hall, I couldn't help but smile. Despite the iuation we were in, Jean's outburst hit me right in the feels. It was o know someone cared that much. I mean, sure, getting thrown into a wall wasly how I pictured an affeate reunion, but hey, it's the thought that ts, right?

  "Aron!" Kitty called, and before I could react, she phased through the wall and stood in front of me, arms crossed, tapping her foot impatiently.

  Oh boy, here we go again.

  "Uh... hey, Kitty," I said, awkwardly rubbing the bay neck. "About—"

  "Nope, don't even start," she interrupted, her eyes narrowing. "You just disappeared. No calls, no messages, nothing. You made us all worry, Aron! What the hell were you thinking?"

  Great, now it was her turn. I raised my hands in defense, brag for impact. "Look, I know it was a bad move. But I had to go dark. I against Stryker and—"

  "I don't care if it was Stryker o or whoever," Kitty spoke before I could finish what I was saying. "You could've at least let us know you were okay. Jean wasn't the only one freaking out. What if something happeo you? What then, huh?"

  I sighed. "I get it, I really do. I'm sorry. I just didn't want t ao it."

  Kitty's expression softened, but she was still fuming. "Yeah, well, you're not alone in this. You don't have to handle everything by yourself."

  Her words hit harder than I expected, and for a moment, I felt like the weight on my shoulders got just a bit lighter. She was right. Again.

  "Alright, alright. I won't ghost you guys like that anymore. Promise," I said, meaning it this time.

  Kitty stared at me for a sed, as if judging whether to accept my apology. Finally, she sighed and shook her head. "You better not, or ime it'll be more than just Jean throwing you into a wall."

  I smirked. "Noted. By the way, were you watg her bsting me?"

  Kitty's lips quirked up into a small smile. "Maybe. It was quite amusing to watch her give you a beatdown."

  I rolled my eyes. "Ha-ha. Very funny. Anyway, I gotta go to my old room. Jean's busy, so... Wanna tag along?" I asked with a flirty grin.

  Kitty ughed and smacked my arm pyfully. "Sure. I o make sure you aren't hurt or anything."

  "Doctor Kitty, huh?" I asked with a smirk. "You wanna give me a checkup?"

  She chuckled and looped her arm through mine, pulling me close. "Something like that."

  We made our way to my room in a fortable silence, both of us lost in our own thoughts. The st few weeks had been intense, and while I wanted nothing more than to curl up in a ball and sleep for the hree days straight, I khere was still much to do. Like spending some quality time with Jean and Kitty. Maybe train a bit more with Storm and Psylocke.

  So, we went to my old room...

  Just whe and things were about to get fun... Kitty and I both jumped when the door suddenly swung open. I fot to lock it.

  "Ohhh, sorry! Didn't mean to interrupt," Jubilee said, grinning mischievously as she waltzed in.

  "Yeah, looks like you two were having a moment," Rogue added, following her with an equally teasing smile.

  I groaned inwardly. So much for quality time.

  Kitty shot me a quice, half-annoyed, half-amused. "I swear, we 't get five minutes alone, we?"

  I shrugged. "Guess that's the price of being popur around here."

  ****[Don't fet to 'favorite' the chapter.]****

  Support link: patr eon./UnknownMaster

  [13 advance chapters] [No double billing]

  ----

  AN: Tomorrow, I might take a break. 70% ce.