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While fall was clearly quite soon around the corner, it hadn't quite arrived yet. Moira's enjoying the late summer evening on the back veranda, therefore, the lights on the patio set ablaze so she can work by them but the rest of the evening-darkened back yard stretching well before her. She's got a cup of tea to the upper right of her hand and two Nature journals of research are in front of her. Her crutch is resting off to the side as she's clearly settled in for the night there. Leaning against her lap, propped up on the edge of a table, is a long moleskin notebook in which she is writing. From the up and down flickering of her eyes, she's taking notes on the articles in the journals, or trying to cross reference them.
Moira seems deep enough lost in her work that her tea has probably been neglected. Otherwise, she looks carelessly comfortable — a nice cream sundress across her slender frame, her dark hair casually drawn back into a tie at the base of her neck, and her body with the comfort of someone intently but happily working.
*
Curious, near-silent, steps see two figures purposely seeking out the guidance of one Moira MacTaggert. The smaller of the two, issues the geneticist a haphazard and vaguely curious once-over before sliding up beside her to silently, and somewhat awkwardly, assess whether the doctor is busy. Kitty, in her light wash jeans, cable knit sweater, and messy bun, has certainly looked more put-together before.
She pushes up to her tiptoes, and offers a small waggle of fingers as a greeting before sinking back onto her heels. The awkwardness that is Kitty Pryde slips forward another step before looking over her shoulder to Piotr, silently unsure whether now is a good time to interrupt whatever Moira is working on. But as she cranes her neck and presses up to her tiptoes again, she also loses her balance, falling flat on her face just behind Moira.
Kitty emits a soft groan. So much for not invading Moira's work and privacy.
*
And the larger of the two, well… he's not sure what he was expecting.
"I suppose that is one way to say hello," the Russian says in a very quiet rumble, sighing to himself before he makes his way after Kitty. At this point, Piotr has abandoned stealth. He hadn't entirely understood the reason for it to begin with, if he was honest, but Kitty had insisted, and he's not very good at telling her 'no.'
He stops next to Kitty and drops down to a knee, trying not to smile as he offers her a hand. "Good evening, Moira," Piotr says instead. "I hope we are not disturbing you."
*
Of course, very little goes unnoticed by Moira — she might not be a telepath but she was practically a genius, IS a teacher, and is the closest thing to a mom much of this school has. And mother's have eyes EVERYWHERE. So, Kitty and her hulking cohort are noticed, but Moira is trying to parse a particularly hard paragraph, so while her mind runs the process of noting to greet them both in a moment, she's just trying to get through the last few sentences of high enough science discussion it's even a bit dense for her.
Of course, that all comes crashing down, well, the moment Kitty is crashing down. Moira practically jumps out of her seat, hand on the edge of the chair to help balance her without the crutch, "Kitty! Goodness…are…Are you alright?" She's now looking over the girl with the frantic concern of a mom, not having seen the fall, but Piotr doesn't seem overl worried and Kitty is stirring at least. She blinks in confusion between them both. "…I… I just.. no, you aren't disturbing. I hope you're both still in one *piece*?"
*
Kitty emits a soft sigh and then shakes her head with another groan as Piotr comes to her side. She takes his hand for balance as she presses up slowly to her feet. "Only thing hurt is my pride," she mutters before issuing the ground a small scowl.
She clears her throat. "I'm okay," she assures quietly as her gaze flits towards Piotr. "Okay enough." There's a flicker of a grin at the concern followed by a shrug of her shoulders. "I was trying to make sure we didn't take up your work time. I know things can be," her eyes squint as she thinks about a diplomatic word, "noisy(?)," she almost cringes at the word as it's not exactly what she means, "around here sometimes."
*
Once Kitty has regained her feet and seems relatively steady, Piotr pushes himself back up to his full height. He doesn't loom on purpose, it's just one of those things he can't help. Without a word, he offers Kitty the small stack of manilla folders he had been holding in his other hand. Someone, it seems, is largely here in support.
*
The look Moira gives Kitty is DEFINITELY a mom gaze, and slightly a doctor gaze. She looks the woman up and down, concern in her eyes, as she looks for anything too damaged or bleeding on the girl. She takes in a deeper breath, content that Kitty doesn't look actually injured. "Fine, alright, just… sit before either of you damage yourselves any more. Sit. Please." Moira motions to the table, there being a few other padded outdoor patio chairs which seem solid enough to support Piotr. They really only get solid furniture around here.
Moira settles back down, quickly gathering the two journals and slipping the pages between each other so she can hold her spots before setting her own journal atop of it, leaving far more room ontop of the table. She eyes the folders in Piotr's hands, arching a brow, "I always consider time work time, so you are not taking it up. And part of my work is being a teacher here. I love all of you, you know that. I… Goodness, Kitty, I… am so happy to just be *back* here. So don't ever hesitate. Now, tell me what is going on. Both of you."
*
Kitty settles into her chair and rests her hands in her lap. Moira earns a fond smile for her explanation. "Ohmygosh, thank you! I'm sorry I just know that things are crazy and I can only assume it's crazier being back here and settling in again and seeing everything and with everything going on that you're just kind of sort of overwhelmed," Kitty says it all in one breath, which is kind of impressive. Smiiiiile.
The manilla envelopes are gratefully accepted and Kitty shifts the stack in her lap as she finds one in particular that seems to offer the most questions. "So," she starts. "I'm sure you've heard about the facility we freed a bunch of people from — " that was weeks ago. "We also retrieved a bunch of files, and some of them are genetic code." Kitty's head cants to the side and she shrugs, "We don't know what they mean or what they're suggesting…"
*
"…only that it is probably not good," Piotr says, finishing the sentence for Kitty as he carefully settles himself into the chair next to hers. Even though the furnishings at the school tend to be sturdy, it's force of habit to treat everything like it's fragile. …well. Everything not in the basement, at least.
Piotr runs a hand back over his hair, drawing in a deep breath as he settles his attention onto Moira. "Whoever these people are, whatever they are doing… we have to stop it. But we do not know what we are looking for," he explains, and suddenly, the Russian looks very, very tired. "Any time it feels like we have made progress, they are… it is like punching air."
*
A slow breath is released, a bit more worry in her eyes and this time it's far deeper than the sort of worry that comes from someone tripping. Moira sits up straighter, reaching her elegant fingertips out for the folders and tugging them over in front of her. "I heard about the rescues, but…nothing more. Any time this comes up, bring it to me, immediately, alright? All I'm good for most days is deciphering ridiculous amounts of science. This is what I do."
As long as they hand over the folders, she immediately pulls some pages out, careful to keep them in order but also starting to look things over, "Where in the facility did you find these again? And yes… if they were keeping mutants there prisoner, no matter what these say, it's probably fairly certain that their goals are nefarious."
*
"Yeah, genetics aren't my thing," Kitty has always been far more interested in physics. Something to do with her ability. "Science I can do. Genes?" she's shrugs. "I can't make heads or tails of it." There's another oddity to her appearance as she adds, "But. It's also weirdly personal to me." She squints. "They had me in their facility before… I don't know what they're doing or why."
When Moira flips through the first few pages, the work seems somewhat familiar to her — possibly even her own. It demonstrates the unique qualities of the X-gene. This comes as no real surprise.
The pages after, however, show something very different: a splicing and replication of the gene. In fact, the files demonstrate exact replication of DNA followed by splicing of selected genotypes. In other words, whoever has created the file, has discerned a cloning technique to accept specific traits while modifying others.
The next file is quite different and draws on biochemistry and genetics. Together, the equations imply manipulation of DNA combined with chemical influence.
*
"Oh…Kitty…" Moira reaches one hand over, wrapping her fingertips across Kitty's hand for a heartbeat or two. It the girl permits, that is. Moira gives a gentle squeeze, a soft show of physical support because she knows that sometimes words simply aren't enough. She doesn't let go of the girl's palm, but now just uses her single free hand to slowly flip through the files. Her expression grows more and more serious as she goes.
"…Much of this, at least in the beginning, seems to mirror my work. But… going on…" She lets out a low whistle. "They are… trying to… Maybe have actually succeeded, in a cloning technique… where they can manipulate the genes which are accepted and modify others. Then there's more work here, about changing DNA through chemicals. How far they actually got, I can't say… but this is a lot of… PLausible work."
*
The hand at her own earns a squeeze in turn, and Kitty's eyebrows draw together sharply, prompting creating sharp creases in her forehead. "I'm okay. I'm — " her cheeks hue a faint pink. " — okay." Her lips press together tightly. "But we think the might have Jean. And Akihiro. We need to stop them — " she peers over her shoulder back towards Piotr.
Her face blanches at the revelation, and her expression deadens as it really takes root. Cloning mutants. Her chin drops and she stares at the ground ahead. She swallows hard around the growing lump in her throat.
*
LOG EDIT: "But we think they might have Jean."
*
"Cloning?" Piotr repeats the word slowly, his brow furrowing as he looks between the two women, one of his hands finding its way to rest against Kitty's back in silent support. 'Cloning' is not a word he knows, but Moira's elaboration seems to fill in the gap in his understanding, judging by the way his face pales. "Bohze moi. H… how plausible?" he asks, sitting a little straighter.
*
The older woman's hand remains in Kitty's, fingertips grasping just a bit harder as she sees the pallor cut through the young woman's features. She swallows back some sudden tightness in her throat, heart beating a touch fast as a threat of panic rises in her but she will NOT panic in front of the kids. So, a deep breath is taken to still her own body's reactions and she looks them both over with serious, pale eyes.
"…Very plausible. I would put money on them having started human experiments… Mutant experiments. Some probably have failed. SOme have probably been successful. But we need to tell the Professor and we need to get another team to go back in as soon a possible. We need to shut this down. Do you know who… who was operating the facility? Please tell me it wasn't the government…"
*
Kitty's eyes narrow, "I…" her face pales further if at all possible "…was one of them. I…" a nearly apologetic glance is cast towards Piotr, she's tried to spare him some of the details "…I think they experimented on me." Her chin lifts. "When I came back, I got checked over — I am okay," she reassures quickly.
Her throat clears as far as who was operating it. "The files," her file, "suggests that these people were arrested at protests." She swallows hard again. "I think it's the government."
*
"We do not know for sure," Piotr is quick to add, leaving his hand between Kitty's shoulders. After a moment, he very grudgingly admits, "…but they are very well trained. And equipped. And they are operating in more than one state." As he lists things off, he begins to look more and more resigned. It's probably the government, isn't it.
*
"…We… don't know for sure. But it means we can't trust with taking this TO the government either. Not until we know for sure, one way or the other." Moira looks like a woman whose grave has been stepped on, chilled down to her very bones. She takes in another slow, regulating breath, closing the files in front of her and gently handing them back in Piotr's direction. "I'd like copies of all of those on my desk, when you can." She murmurs that softly, nothing from her an order now. This has all been too much of a shock.
"…Do we know if that facility is still operational? Or did they clear out after you all went in? Either way… we need to get our people back as soon as possible. I'm not a fighter. I'm not one of the X-Men, but we need to get the team together and go. THis is too dangerous. And we need to *destroy* their research."
*
"Moira, I'll get you copies of all the files if it'd help." Kitty's cheeks puff out and she notes, "And you're welcome to check me over again if you like," a very telling thing for the normally doctor-resistant Kitty Pryde, "I — I trust you," which is very telling. "If you wanted to look." She shrugs. "It's been awhile, but I… I'm willing."
"They have multiple facilities near as we can tell. We recovered these from one in New Orleans and we destroyed and rescued the people there." Her head turns to Piotr. "We have had a few encounters — "
*
" — though not in facilities," Piotr confirms, running his free hand over his face. "Central Park. Coney Island. We have been trying to find facilities, but -"
The Russian cuts off abruptly, his brow creasing as understanding flits across his features. His eyes drift over to Kitty and, very quietly, he breathes: "…the girl with the claws."
*
"Tomorrow, Kitty? I can even come up to your room, we don't have to do it in the lab. It… it'd be good to check you over again, with… with this knowledge in hand. And I'll need to take some blood samples. I'll be gentle, I promise… But it'll help us get some answers." Moira squeezes Kitty's hand again, "I… I'm proud of you, you know? For bringing all this up. For not running from it. I know it's scary and awful. But… this is how we'll get to the bottom of it too."
Then she's looking back to Piotr, listening quietly, an arch of her brow coming as she hears the quiet whisper. She still doesn't miss much. "…Claws?" She did hear that. Or so she thought. Then something hits her and she bites her lower lip, a rather uncomfortable thought crossing her face. "..I…could maybe find facilities… another way. From the inside…"
*
Moira earns a small grin followed by a nod. "Please. Just.. not MedBay. I hate it there. A lot." Kitty punctuates this point with a sharp arch of her eyebrows. Piotr can feel Kitty's shoulders flinch at the notion of needing to have blood drawn, but she nods just the same. "Good. We need to get our friends back. We need… to feel safe again," by which she means she needs to feel safe again.
A glance is given to Piotr at the mention father girl with the claws, leaving it for him to explain that further. She blinks owlishly at the thought of finding the facilities, squeaks as she inhales a sharp breath. Yes, that would be helpful.
*
The flinch under his hand gets Piotr's hand to give Kitty's back a very light, supportive rub. He turns his face back to Moira and nods once. "There is a young woman who works for these people," he explains, gesturing with his free hand. "Akihiro has said that she smells like family. Like him and Logan. And her claws, they…" He looks a bit self-conscious, his hand drifting up to his shoulder. "…are sharp. Very."
He pauses, however, and blue eyes narrow slightly as they study Moira. "…from the inside?" Piotr echoes, drawing his lips back into a thin line. "Moira, no, I do not think that is wise -"
*
There is a tired wisdom behind her eyes, something that is more exhausted just by the thought of working for these people, but also more determined. It seems the safest route, really. "If… if you aren't getting enough information by leg work, I… I have all the qualifications. If this is a government program, I'm certain I could apply and… well, see what I'd learn on the inside. Maybe I can delay or mess up their research meanwhile, too. I'd just have to be careful about it. I'll speak with Charles. This is too dangerous to let continue too long." The tone in Moira's voice is dead serious enough to say that she will not be debated about this tonight.
"Now…however, if you'd actually both leave me with the files? I'd rather go over them more closely in quiet. I'll get them back to you tomorrow, Kitty, when I come for the examination. Is that acceptable?"
*
Kitty can understand Moria's offer as well as Piotr's concern. "Well," her eyes turn downwards, "discuss it with the professor. Definitely," she whispers. "I think we need to resolve this as quickly as possible with whatever we can. I think…" her lips turn downwards into a plaintive frown, "…I think if the Professor thinks it's a good idea — " she shrugs at Piotr. "I feel like we're making progress, but it's slow. Slower than it needs to be."
Her lips press into a thin line. "And of course. Thank you. I don't need to keep them — they're not," dear to her in any way. If anything they've served as an albatross around her neck these last few weeks. "But yeah, study them. We can talk about them." She shoots Moira another small smile. "Thank you. I mean it. I… thanks." She finally releases Moira's hand, and reaches for Piotr's hand instead.
*
It's easy to take. Although Piotr still looks very concerned by the idea Moira is proposing, he does slowly rise to his feet without taking the files back. "I… da. Whatever you and the Professor think is best," he says slowly, his eyes flicking between the two. He offers Moira a ghost of a smile and bobs his head respectfully. "…thank you for your help."
Hand in hand with Kitty, Piotr slowly makes his way back inside, casting one last worried look over his shoulder as they go.