Carrie nodded, focusing on Erik, because this could be very good, or very bad. She wasn't sure which one yet.

Erik seemed to know she was watching him, because he turned towards her and raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Did you want to say something?" he asked, focusing on her.

"Nope, I'm good," Kate said, quirking an eyebrow right back. "You seem to be doing quite well on your own there, I'm just keeping an eye out."

"There is no need for that anymore, I assure you," Erik said. "Nothing will happen now." After all, the crowd was under his control now, for the moment. And look, he didn't even need Charles around to do it.

"I'll determine that for myself, thanks," Carrie said. He could definitely keep control of the crowd, just through force of personality, and that made her wary.

Erik shrugged.

"Suit yourself," he said. "Just stay out of the way, then."

"What exactly should I be staying out of the way of?" Carrie asked, frowning a little, because this was strange, even for her.

Erik raised an eyebrow.

"I doubt you want to get caught in an unpleasant situation when the human authorities arrive," he said. "They always do. A gathering of this size is sure to bring them out in force, and this crowd is already agitated. It likely wouldn't take much to set them off completely."

"You don't exactly sound nervous about that," Carrie said, just observing, not judging. Yet. Not that she was nervous either, but still. Not many mutants were so immune to the threat of human authorities.

"Why should I be?" Erik asked. "Why should any of us be? We are more than they are. Nothing they have can threaten us."

"Most mortal creatures are at least cautious of things like guns," Carrie pointed out. "Which can still hurt most of us."

"So then show them exactly why they shouldn't attack you," Erik replied. "Give them a reason to be as afraid of you as they've made you of them."

Oh, that was a very dangerous path. A very slippery slope indeed.

"That leads straight to trouble, which is something I usually try to avoid." Carrie didn't outright refuse, though.

"Then as I said before, stay out of the way," Erik said, turning away from her again.

Carrie snorted at him. Too arrogant, too ready for violence. He would get nothing but trouble.

But she did keep track of him, even when the authorities did arrive to try to calm things down and keep people moving.

Alice shied away a bit when the authorities arrived. No sense in getting tangled up in that, ability to shield or not.

Carrie stepped back as things started to heat up, and it wasn't even her fault.

"Now, I think, we should go," she said to Alice.

"Yeah, definitely," Alice said, nodding. She stayed close to Carrie as they made their way away from the rally, ready to put a shield between them and anything else at a moment's notice.

They made it back to their car, and Carrie drove them back to their apartment.

"That almost went well," she said dryly.

"You didn't have to set anyone on fire," Alice pointed out with a slight grin. "That's a win in my book."

"Exactly," Carrie said with a little grin of her own. "Although I do have to wonder about that man, the one that approached me. He could be very dangerous."

"I didn't like him," Alice said, shaking her head some. "He made me very, very nervous. I just wanted to hole up and not let anything in."

"Not surprising. I'm not sure what to think about him, but I know he has the potential to be very dangerous." Carrie shook her head. "Maybe we won't have to deal with him again."

"Let's hope not," Alice agreed, nodding. She stretched a little. "Come on, let's get home and settle in. I need a hot bath."

Carrie nodded and led the way up to their apartment. "Go ahead and settle in, I'm going to see if we have some good ice cream."