"Sounds good to me," Alice said. She absently checked her phone for messages as she headed to her room. Occasionally, she got texts about people who needed a safe place, and she always checked after a rally.

It took a little bit for a text to come in, but one did. It was simple and short.

There's a kid who could use some help and a safe place. He'll be at the café on third and White Oak at 3 PM tomorrow.

Carrie looked over when she heard Alice's phone go off, raising an eyebrow.

Alice wasn't surprised at all at the text. She typically got one after a rally.

Any special needs? she replied. Best to know right away if she had to shelter someone whose mutation could get out of hand easily.

He's pretty self-contained. He'll be very quiet, though.

"Got another one?" Carrie asked, stretching out. "Where are we meeting this one?"

Okay. We'll be there.

"Cafe at Third and White Oak," Alice added aloud to Carrie. "A kid."

"Kid?" Carrie blinked at that. "We don't normally get too many kids. Huh. This'll be interesting." She shook her head a bit, because kids could be good, or very, very bad.

"Message says he needs a safe place for a few days, so we'll see what happens," Alice said. She flipped her towel over her shoulder, heading towards the bathroom. "Tomorrow at three."

Carrie nodded and settled in there, going over the events of the rally and keeping track of the news on the TV, though she kept the volume low.

Alice sighed as she settled into her hot bath. She left the door open so she could listen to the news as well.

"What are they saying?" she called to Carrie.

"Nothing good," Carrie said with a sigh. "They're throwing around words like "dangerous" and "out of control" and all that again. And they're showing some footage of that man, the one you really didn't like."

"That's not good," Alice said. "Do they have a name for him, or not yet?"

"Nothing they're making public, yet," Carrie said. "Although I think he might have a code name or something from one of those task forces, the way they're talking about him."

"Better than nothing," Alice said. She couldn't help but smirk. "What are they calling him? Anything like that one woman, what was her name, Mystique?"

Carrie snorted a bit at that. "They haven't said yet," she said. "If I hear a name, I'll let you know."

"Cool," Alice said. She grinned. "I might nag you again in a while if the bath gets cold, just so you know."

Carrie snickered. "No problem," she said. "I'm just making some tea, I'll be up for a little while, at least until the press comes to some kind of consensus on the rally."

"Let me know when they do," Alice said. She sighed and settled more in the water, just listening to what she could hear of the news feed.

By the time she got out, Carrie looked vaguely disgusted.

"So he calls himself Magneto," she said, rolling her eyes. "The press hates him, and apparently anyone who associates with him is deemed dangerous and wanted."

"Oh lovely," Alice said, plopping down on the couch. "Which means we want to stay well away from him. We don't want any of that on us. Did they get a real name on him?"

"Nope," Carrie said, popping the p. "No real name. Just Magneto." She was quiet for a moment. "I think next time we see him at a rally, we just leave."

"Good plan, I like that plan," Alice said. She toyed with her phone a bit. "He set me on edge. I didn't like him at all."

"There was something about him..." Carrie shook her head. "I don't know."

Alice shook her head a bit too.

"Something," she agreed. "I don't know what it is, but I don't like it."

"Right." Carrie shook herself. "For now, we've got a kid to help. We can worry about everything else later."

"Right," Alice said, nodding. "I'll make sure the spare room is in good shape for him. I'm sure he'll be glad for the bed, at least."