New Year...New Troubles (January 15, 2017)

Christmas and New Years came and went and Forge and Mason were settling into their new routines. Ororo was currently back at the mansion, but she and Forge were visiting each other as often as they could. They had decided that they would continue on like this until Forge returned to the island and then she would come with him. Isabella was happy for Forge and Ororo and was glad to see her friends happy again.

Isabella was continuing her work as CEO of Stark Industries, while also running Avenger's Tower and being a mother and wife. She was working on the plans for the upcoming Stark Expo, which was to be held in the spring. That was keeping her plenty busy, although Tony managed to distract her every so often. This morning, Isabella awoke to find Tony still in bed with her. He was lying on his side facing her and had been evidently watching her sleep. It was rare for Isabella to find Tony still in bed when she awoke. Tony was usually up very early and went straight to work in his lab. She smiled at her husband, whom she loved dearly.

"Well, this is a treat," she teased with a smile.

Forge had hoped that he and Ororo would discuss things further but it was decided that she would return with him to the islands. He had thought of ways to informing his team of this development. It was a small team comprising of just two others not including Mason and himself so he wanted to break the news gently. of course Mason found the morning after as Forge was in high spirits and used Jarvis to find out why. Their quarters didn't have cameras of course but Mason knew about the mains rooms and hallways and it took no time to at all for Mason to find footage of Forge and Ororo heading to a room.

So that morning meeting went rather well. The others were supportive of this and Mason went so far as to call Forge an idiot for 'Not marrying and getting that ebony goddess pregnant already'. And to find out she was brilliant as well made FOrge realize just how lucky he was she had eyes for him and to really consider her wishes. Due to his teams prompting he began to think of a way to facilitate the means where Ororo would not be so far from those she cared about..

Tony had been awake for a while and while true he would be down in the labs working on a few projects he had currently he knew Forge and Mason were down there already working on rewiring things. So there was no rush for him to get up that morning so he remained in bed. He rolled over and watched Isabella sleep and thought of their life together and the beautiful child they shared. He wasn't sure what he had done to deserve all of this but he was grateful and would go to great lengths to protect them both. He saw her eyes flutter open and he just watched her awaken.

"Good morning." He said hearing the tease in her voice. "Figured i'd pencil in some quality time this morning if you're not too busy." He teased back.

Isabella smiled lovingly at her husband. There would be no doubt in his mind of her feelings for him. He and Aeryn meant everything to her and she would do just about anything to protect them. When she had been assigned by SHIELD to go undercover and protect Tony, she had no idea that this is where she would end up.

"I think I have some time," she said with a smile and felt him pull her closer to him for a kiss. She kissed him back and as their lips parted, she looked into his eyes. "You know, I actually tried to get out of that SHIELD assignment. My thoughts about you had been formed by rumors and second hand knowledge. Being your assistant though showed me that there was more to you than I had initially thought...although you did still try to get me into bed."

Serena had been up for a little while and was meditating in her room. Dr. Strange had taught her how to properly meditate and she found that it aided in some control of her powers. She had become an early riser living and training with Dr. Strange as well and she still got up early to meditate and stretch.

However, her psychic powers alerted her to someone nearby and her eyes opened just as she heard a tap on her window. She knew without even looking who it was. She stood up and walked over and opened her window to let the man in the red and blue suit in. The living quarters of the Avengers were fairly high up in the Tower, but Serena knew that he was in no danger.

"Good Morning, Peter," she said with a smile.

Tony ran his hand up Isabella's side as they kissed but relaxed when she pulled back to speak. He wasn't too surprised that she wanted little to do with him in the beginning. He wouldn't admit it aloud but he knew he could be rather overly confident. And finding out that she was SHIELD did bother him at first any misgivings were forgotten rather quickly. She was quite easy on the eyes and he did enjoy teasing her. "Well yeah, most of those rumors were based on some truths." He joked.

Always the playboy he has remained loyal to Isabella considering himself off the market once they began dating. "I just changed your undercover assignment to something a bit more interesting is all."

Peter had been up for a bit doing some patrols and had found himself fairly close to Avengers tower. he figured he'd come up with an excuse to pop in and see Serena on the way over.  Dropping down into an alley he changed into his street clothes and walked into a bakery getting a few things, specifically some pastries he knew Serena liked. Eventually he made his way to the tower scaling the building until he got to the living quarters floor.

He was happily surprised to see Serena there, looked as if she were meditating and tapped on the glass to get her attention. stepping inside he pulled his mask up and presented a box. "Good Morning Serena. I was in the neighborhood and figured i'd get you and the others some breakfast." He said telling himself not to make a neighborhood joke. "I know Mr Stark would be up but wasn't expecting you to be." he said walking over to one of the tables placing the box of pastries down. She'd be able to tell from the label the bakery wasn't too far from the tower.

Isabella smiled a little. "Oh, it was already interesting," she teased. "But I'm glad I did it. It's the best decision I've ever made," she admitted. "Although I don't think Fury was very happy when you lured me away from SHIELD by making me CEO of Stark Industries. I don't think he's ever forgiven you for that."

She felt Tony begin to kiss her neck a little and he would feel her body relax against his. She closed her eyes and sighed out of contentment. "I have so many things I still need to do to prepare for the Expo...but you're making it really difficult to want to get up."

Serena closed the window back behind her and smiled when she saw Peter had some pastries, particularly when she noticed the cheese Danish and chocolate croissant. She hadn't known Peter for very long, but he was friendly and his abilities fascinated her. She hadn't seen him in a while because he lived with his Aunt May and was often out patrolling the streets.

"Well thank you Peter. Do you want some coffee?" she asked as she took the box and they left her room to head out to the kitchen. She got down a couple of plates and poured them each a cup of coffee. Peter was always relaxed in the tower and had taken off his mask. "How's Aunt May?" she asked as she picked the cheese Danish out of the box.

Peter sat down at the table grateful for the coffee. It was a slow morning and he had only scarfed down egg and toast. "Coffee would be great." he said. He smiled thinking of his aunt. "She's doing fine, still working down at the homeless shelter. It's done a lot of good for her helping people out." He said. He was rather proud of the work that she was doing and it did seem to fulfill her spiritually.

"Course she still doesn't know about my side job yet. Still surprised a lot of you guys are able to operate without worry about your identification." Peter said. "Oh sorry how have you been lately Serena? I know its been a while since i've swung by."


meanwhile since earlier in the morning Forge and Mason were down in the labs slowly disconnecting wires to implement upgrades. Mason was under the floor in the vents making his way to the main power source for the labs as Forge was shutting down systems in a specific order to avoid causing issues for Jarvis. They chatted amongst themselves about how Mason was adjusting to being back in the city.

Mason was crouched down removing a panel with a drill and stared at the mess of a system of wires. "So Stark is kind of an idea guy and Isabella is detail oriented right?" Mason asked in his headset.

"Yeah why do you ask?" Forge asked shutting down the last of Jarvis' systems in the labs. He paused seeing there was still power coursing through the lab however and brought up his laptop up to find its source.

"Well the wiring down here is atrocious..and i've noticed no ones asked me about my file. I assume i have you to thank for that? Not too many people would be happy with having someone with a record and warrant on them in their home." Mason said tracing one wire. He reached into the panel and pulled the wire free.

Forge had done some smuding on the dossiers on his team before sending it over to Tony during their negotiations. He knew Mason was a good guy and yeah he made some bad decisions in his younger years but deep down he knew was remorseful. "Yeah well we'll cross that bridge if you decide to do something stupid. Ah crap...we have an emergency line that we'll have to cut."

"Is it down here?" Mason asked as he continued to disconnect and reroute wires.

"Nah i should be able to take care of it up here. Tool i need is out in the hall i'll be right back." Forge said getting up and stepping out of the lab. He listened to Mason hum to himself as he seemed to have went back to work. Stepping out into the darkened hallway he reached down into their bag of tools they left. Picking up the current indicator the lights turned red as the system went into a lockdown.

For Mason he found what he was thought was the main power source and unplugged it. The lights turned red and Jarvis spoke up. "Warning intruders detected in the R&D labs. area secured deploying antipersonnel measures." Mason slowly looked up feeling electricity buidling up around him.

"Hey uh..Forge? What are the antipersonnel measures?" He asked as the room started to light up. Forge tried to open the door that just slammed shut behind him but it wouldn't budge. Mason's voice was nothing but static on his end. The measures were dangerous as Jarvis would effectively release an EMP within the confines of the lab to ensure no tech would be stolen. this would also release enough voltage to severely incapacitate the intruder. The issue is that Mason and Forge had disabled a lot of the safeguards in shutting everything down. This also meant the voltage would increase tenfold becoming lethal which Jarvis was aware of. To Mason there was no threat, he was just locked in the room, but no one else knew that. He could tell something was going wrong as the room was becoming brighter and brighter from the charge build up and he could feel the amperage building up around him.

Elsewhere..

Tony pushed up against Isabella feeling her start to give in his hand reaching down grasping her lower back. "Well then i guess we're not getting up for a while." He said kissing at her neck as he began to move atop of her.

"Pardon me for intrusion Mr Stark. There seems to be a development in the labs." Jarvis' voice spoke up. Tony sighed and looked to ISabella.

"Guess I'm heading to the labs afterall." he smiled. He wasn't sure what triggered the event but he figured it would best if he hurried along.

Serena took a sip of the coffee and enjoyed the warmth it gave her. It was quite chilly out today, but the coffee was warming and relaxing. She was glad to hear that Aunt May was doing well. She had met her once and had instantly liked her.

"I've been doing well," she replied. "Oh, since the last time you stopped by we got a few new residents, Forge and Mason. They're here working on some security upgrades to the Tower. Mason is about our age and I'm pretty sure he's a mutant, although he hasn't admitted it yet. I'm not going to push him into revealing himself though if he isn't comfortable doing it. I personally know how nerve wracking something like that can be because you never know how someone is going to react."

Isabella was looking forward to some alone time with her husband, when suddenly Jarvis spoke up about a problem in the labs. She sighed a little and looked at him with a little smile. "Go. I should get up and go check on Aeryn anyway before I get back to work on the Expo."

Peter savored the warmth of the coffee. His suit was insulated but there was only so much e could do while swinging through the air. He looked up when Serena mentioned the two new guests. He hadn't heard of either of them before and wondered what upgrades they were bringing to the Tower. "He's not proud of being a mutant?" He found that surprising. His exposure to mutants was limited having been around Serena and Logan. And frankly Logan scared him a little. "I mean they're still nice and all right?" He asked hoping they were at least easy to get along with.

"Oh! I saw that the Stark Expo is coming up. were you planning on attending?" He asked thinking that they could go together..as an item

Tony got up thinking they needed a little date night to make up for his interruption. "I'm sure its no big deal but dont think you're off the hook. More than willing to set up a 'meeting' with you later on." He said. Yeah they were married but having a little fun during work time was always fun. He got himself dressed as quick as he could as Jarvis sent over another warning. It wasn't until the power in the Tower went off that he hurried along.

OOC: I can jump ahead on that part for the aftermath of the lockdown

Serena gave a little shrug as she thought about Mason. "I'm not sure it has to do with being proud or not proud of being a mutant, but perhaps out of fear of how people might react. I won't judge him, but I'm sure other people have. He'll speak up when he's ready I'm sure."

She took a bite of the cheese Danish and nodded when Peter asked if she was going to the Expo. "Yes, I'm going. It sounds like a lot of fun. I know Isabella's been working hard the last few months to get everything ready. Are you going to be attending?" she asked, but then the power suddenly went out in the Tower. "I have a feeling that's not good," she said.

OOC - Sure, sounds good.

Peter felt he shouldn't judge too harshly after all he was well acquainted with keeping secrets from others. Still made him wonder why he would keep such a thing a secret even amongst the Avengers. When Serena mentioned shew as going he started to psyche himself up a little bit. "Y-yeah i mean i was planning on it. Supposed to be some really ground breaking projects this year." He said.

He looked up as the power went out. "well no ones running around in a panic so..it can't be all that bad." Peter said. As soon as he finished that sentence Tony was seen sprinting down the hall and swinging a door to the stairs open. Spotting the two younger ones sitting at hte table he just looked at them.

"Stay." Tony said not wanting more problems arise.

"He's never going to not see me as like a sidekick huh?" Peter asked smiling a little.

Meanwhile Forge had been joined by Steve and Logan in trying to open the steel door into the labs. Power had been lost as the EMP had gone off and the security measures were activated. Forge lost all contact with Mason and informed the two others that he was trapped inside. Tony soon arrived and worked on getting some power back to Jarvis for him to shut the lockdown off.

After reviewing further on what happened Tony explained they had tripped the security system and seeing what they were doing thought Forge and Mason were threats. In addition with the safeguards removed the measures went from taser level to lethal. This prompted Logan and Steve to try harder to get the doors open but Tony being the pragmatic knew that Mason was long dead.

Power was flickering in the tower as Jarvis main functions were coming back online. He spoke with Jarvis in order to get a message to Isabella. "There's been an incident in the lab. its pretty serious we might need help." Tony said. Forge felt his heart sink but given what he knew about Mason he had hopes that he would be okay.

"How many amps would be used?" Forge asked knowing first hand of Mason's limits.

"Given the tower went down i think he got everything..hopefully the initial shock put him out." Tony said. "I'm sorry Forge." It wasn't much of a consolation he knew but there wasn't much they could do in his mind.

With the power coming on the doors slowly slid open revealing the labs. It was in disarray with random scorch marks here and there. Monitors had been fried by stray bolts, tables were upended here and there. Logan stepped inside first not fearing any long last damage and found the floor was just fine. Stepping into the room they found Mason huddled in the corner his coveralls zipped up and smoking still. His hands were gripped tight and his head lowered as he was doing his best to hold in the massive amounts of electricity in him.

"Mason?" Forge called out. Seeing that he was breathing brought him relief but the other three were baffled on how he survived. Mason kept his eyes closed and tried to ungrip his fists but his gloves had been slightly melted and burnt into him keeping them closed.

"..oww.." His voice was a few pitches higher. His eyes was illuminated under the sky by light. His nerves were visible due to his mutation concentrated mostly around his eyes.

"He's a mutant?" Logan asked. Mason opened his eyes bright light emitting from them as he looked to the group. So much for secrecy he thought gritting his teeth as another wave of pain washed through him. He closed his eyes as a bolt of electricity fired from his back through his coverall leaving a scorch mark. "Not good at controlling it."

"Bite...me.." Mason growled.

"we brought some empty batteries just in case. I'll go grab them." Forge said hurrying back to his quarters up above. He would have to pass through the living area of course in a hurry

Serena was about to get up to go find Tony when suddenly she saw him sprinting down the hallway and opening up a door to the stairwell access. She wanted to go follow him to see if she could help, but sat back down when Tony told them to stay. She had a psychic feeling that something bad had happened, but she couldn't sense that anyone was dead. Through her powers though, she could sense Mason and could feel the electricity in his body. Whatever had happened, he was alright, but his mutation was now exposed.

Natalya, Logan, and Steve had been down in the training room when suddenly the power had gone out to the building. They had quickly figured out that a situation was happening in the lab and had rushed that way. While Natalya did have some enhanced strength due to the Super Soldier Serum in her body, she stood back and let Steve and Logan work on prying open the doors to the lab. They knew that Mason was inside and Natalya began to fear that the kid was dead. She knew about some of the security in the Tower and knew that the lab in particular was heavily protected.

She looked over at Tony as he suddenly appeared. Forge didn't seem overly concerned for his assistant and that made Natalya suspicious. She watched as they finally got the doors opened and Forge called out to Mason. Miraculously, the kid was alive and Natalya knew right away that he as a mutant. She watched curiously as his body seemed to be holding in the electricity that had been pumped through the room. She heard what Logan said and looked at him.

"Don't antagonize him," she said in her Russian accent.

Meanwhile, Serena and Peter were trying to figure out if there was anything they could do to help, when suddenly Forge appeared and seemed to be in a hurry. Peter had pulled back on his mask. "What happened? Is there anything we can do to help?" she asked Forge.

Mason focused on enduring until Forge returned. Logan looked to Natalya and gave a shrug when she pointed out not ot antagonize him. It had been a while since he'd been around a mutant that coudln't quite control their ability and it looked like the kid was struggling. Every so often his skin would light up and he could see him wince. Moreso he could smell blood on him and figured it was doing damage to him. "Just..hang in there Forge will be back before you know it." Logan said. He wanted to know why he felt the need to hide himself but figured there had to be a story.

Tony also wanted to know why him being a mutant was hidden away seeing as his file mentioned nothing of the sort. He figured a talk was in order with Forge once they figured out what had happened.

Upstairs Forge had managed to locate the emergency battery pack and struggled to drag it from his quarters. It was a two person job being the size of standard luggage but he wanted to bring it with earlier in case something had happened. Peter immediately pulled on his mask not having met Forge before and saw him struggle a bit. He hurried over and easily lifted up his end. "Thanks." he said staring at the masked hero. He looked to Serena and thought of what Mason would want in this situation. But there was little point in hiding it at this point. "Well he can help haul this downstairs with me..theres been an incident but everyones fine and safe."

"what is this for then?" Peter asked.

"its storage for electricity." Forge said moving along. Peter was quiet a moment as he knew one couldn't store electricity, it could be converted into something else that could be but not as it was.

"So a giant converter or something?"

"No electricity, you catch a lightning bolt with the thing and it stores it." Forge said. He looked to Peter, "I made it, it works as it sounds i'd be happy to explain later but i have a need for it otherwise we're going to have problems down below." Forge said.

Serena got up and walked over and opened the door to the stairs for Forge and Peter. "Forge, this is Spider-Man. Spider-Man, this is Forge," she said, introducing the two of them. She knew Tony had told her to stay in the kitchen, but she decided that she was going to go since she knew that Mason was involved in whatever had happened.

"I know that whatever happened that Mason was involved," she told Forge. "Is he alright?" she asked worriedly.

Forge and Peter headed down the stairs with Serena. "Nice to meet you Spider-Man." Forge said hefting the case. Sensing he was having difficulty Peter grabbed more of a grip on the case easing the weight off of him.

"Nice ot meet you to Forge. I hope to meet Mason soon?"

Forge looked to Serena remembering her abilities. "Yeah he'll be fine once we get this to him. The security system activated and thought he was a threat." He explained. Once they made it to the next floor Forge could hear Steve called out to him.

"he's glowing a bit brighter." He said.
Forge looked to Serena, "i imagine you've pieced together what he is. try not to say anything he's had bad experiences in his youth about his powers and he's not thrilled being a mutant." He said hurrying it along. by the time they arrived Mason was beginning to emit light from his skin as he was beyond his limit. Forge led Peter over and placed the battery down in front of him and handed him some cables. Mason carefully reached out and began to expel bolts of electricity into the end safely into the battery.

The euphoria nearly overwhelmed him and he laid against the battery as the process continued. "I didnt..touch anything." Mason groaned.

Forge looked to the others and sighed, "I guess some explanation is in order huh." Steve looked to Forge not understanding what he meant. He had no problems with mutants and was relieved this turned out the way it had. seemed mason would come out fo this alright and in his mind that was all that was important. Logan was of the same mind but he was concerned that he didn't have a good grasp on his powers. Tony on the other hand wanted to know what else they were possibly hiding

Being a mutant herself with extremely strong abilities, Serena knew how Mason felt. However, she wanted him to understand that he was safe being himself here at the Tower. No one would judge him or want to harm him. Serena was fascinated as she watched Forge place the battery down in front of Mason and hand him a couple of cables. He began to expel bolts of electricity into the battery. She was afraid to go near him while this process was happening, but as soon as it was over and Forge told her it was safe, she hurried over to him.

"Are you alright?" she asked, her voice thick with concern.

After some time Mason was able to relax as the energy inside of him was released safely to a point where he could contain it comfortably. He rested against the battery and heard Forge state he was safe. He felt embarrassment creep up on him and all he wanted to do was hide in a deep dark place. He opened his eyes and saw Serena and that voice in his head started chirping at him. "Yeah im alright. very tired though." He said ignoring the creeping pains over his body from the new burns. He knew his hands were messed up but that would be an issue for later.

His eyes were no longer glowing but she could still faint lines radiating around his face. He looked exhausted and drained. The battery case had a percentage bar indicating he had filled it up to 80%

"whats the maximum this thing can hold?" Tony asked looking at the contraption.

"Well i might to be overkill but enough to store enough power to run your tower." Forge said. "New record by the way Mason." He said looking over the battery. Mason breathed out, "He's a living generator slash lightning rod. He has pretty good control over it but this was a bit much." Forge said kneeling next to him and Serena. He looked to Mason's hands still clutching the cables and saw the burnt and cracked fingernails. "We'll get you treated just relax for now." Forge looked to Serena.

"Mind playing nurse maid for a bit? he'll likely listen to you." Forge said. Mason wanted to argue that he didnt need a nurse maid but he was far too worn out so he closed his eyes letting the battery drain him more.

Serena remained with Mason as Forge spoke to Tony and the others. Once all the electricity was fully drained from his body, they took Mason up to the medical bay. Tony, along with Bruce Banner's help, had invented a bio-bed that could analyze and treat many different types of wounds and injuries. Mason's burned hands were treated and he was given some pain medication. Afterwards, he was released.

Serena got Mason some water and brought it down to his room. She knocked lightly and waited for him to give her permission to enter. She walked in and handed him the glass of water. "How are you feeling?" she asked. She didn't say anything about his mutation. She obviously knew about it now, but she still wasn't going to pressure him to talk to her about it.

Meanwhile, Isabella, Tony, and Forge sat in Tony's office. Isabella had been brought up to speed by Tony about what had happened with Mason and she was extremely relieved to hear that he was alright. Had he not had that particular mutation, he would have been dead right now. "I still can't believe how lucky he was," she commented.

Mason was lieing in bed holding his hand above his head. The gloves were trashed so hew as looking at the bandages. The back of his hands were scarred pretty bad from years of misfires. He had gotten a tattoo to cover it up but he could still see them. Well now what he thought to himself. Serena knew he was a mutant, then she would find out he had a record and that he was effectively homeless. "Pretty good run there for a bit." he told himself. He heard her knock and noticed it wasn't her normal knock.

"Yeah come in." Mason said sitting up. he was grateful the water and accepted it taking a sip. He could feel the silence creep in a bit. "What's on your mind. you can ask Serena." He said. The injury wasn't something he wasn't used to but he figured Serena had questions for him.

Forge was bringing up information on his phone to share with the others. "i'm still not sure what triggered the system to act as it did. we disabled everything correctly and even cut power to the area." Forge said. Tony thought to himself quietly for a moment trying to piece together.

"Could have been a backup generator that was missed. Like Isabella said its lucky he's a mutant that could survive in that environment." Tony said. "Would have been nice to know that was a mutant to begin with though." Tony said.

Forge breathed out and slowly nodded, "obviously haven't been too open with everyone about Mason." He said uploading Mason's real file to Jarvis. a hologram image of Mason showed up and information began to scroll of his past record. Tony noticed there were a lot of red flags with the word warrant on them.

"Um..thats not good Forge. Wanted for questioning on assault? Some of these are years old." He pointed out. which was true, all of his warrants that were still open came before he met Forge.

"When i met Mason he was living out of a cardboard box under a bridge. Most of these warrants came about from..well fighting." Forge said. Tony scrolled further down until he got to his birthplace.

"Thornwell Home for Children?"

"near as i could piece together Mason was left at the hospital. became a ward of the state, got adopted twice, abandoned once and fled the second parents home. He's not too trusting with others about his mutation seeing as people tend to leave him. And if it matters most of the assault charges were from an anti mutant group that caught wind of him." Forge explained. "he's a good guy, life just dealt him a crap hand, I figured there would be no harm in changing his file when i sent it over."

Serena looked at Mason when he told her that she could ask him about his mutation. She sat down on his bed and tucked one leg under her as she faced him. "Why didn't you just tell me? I'm a mutant too who is still learning how to fully control her powers. I never would have judged you or made you feel bad about who you are. I like you Mason. You're my friend and nothing is going to change that."

Isabella looked at Mason's true dossier and she frowned a little when she saw the various warrants. She wasn't angry or upset, but more concerned about Mason. "I must say, I'm actually a little offended that you didn't trust Tony and me with the truth. Need I remind you that we have Logan and Natalya Sokolova living in this Tower. We wouldn't have judged him. However, I do think that perhaps Tony and I can help him. We are good friends with the police commissioner and the mayor and governor. I'm certain we could get these warrants cleared up."

Mason scooted over on his bed keeping to lying on his back his eyes focusing on the ceiling as he prepped himself. He wondered how much he should divulge. Relaxing he heard Serena out wondering why he didn't tell her he was a mutant. He didnt anticipate getting the 'you're my friend' statement which even he knew was kind of a death kneel for a relationship. "Where i'm from telling someone you're a mutant leads to all kinds of trouble." He answered.

"I know its stupid to have not told you but theres baggage with me being a mutant. If i tell you everything you won't outwardly judge me but you'll look at me different." Mason said.


Tony agreed with Isabella completely not liking that they had someone they didn't truly know. "There are problems that I felt it best not to include you in." Forge reasoned.

"Such as? Like ISabella said just a phone call can clear some of these up." Tony said looking at some of the breaking an entering charges. Some of the charges were just Mason surviving and given they knew his true background they could understand the lengths he had to take to survive. Tony recognizerd one of the names on the list of victims however, "Isn't that Joseph Hubbards son?" He asked pointing the name out. A rather successful lawyer that Tony was aware of, his son and two friends were mugged a number of years back. Forge looked to the name and winced.

"Yeah that one. Mason's side was those boys were hassling some of the homeless encampment, breaking things with a bat. So Mason attacked them, police report was filed but they coudln't find him. And they weren't going to try and push the matter further. DOens't look good for a lawyer to pursue outcasts of society." Forge said.

"The worse charges we didnt want to include you involves the Purifiers. Specially William Striker." Forge said. He pulled up information about him with Jarvis. A televangelist who was strongly anti mutant. "Probably due to the Hubbards situation we had reason to believe Striker sicced some men out after Mason. Didn't go so well, media runs with it lists it as a mutant attack. We couldn't link anything back to Striker of course but we didnt want to run any risks with dragging the Avengers into it publicly."

Serena hadn't meant the "you're my friend" statement to be a death strike to a possible relationship. However, they weren't currently in a relationship and she did consider him a friend no matter what. She wanted Mason to know that there were people here that he could actually trust and confide in.

"You don't know that," she argued when he said that she would view him differently if he told her everything. "Listen, I'm not going to make you tell me anything if you don't want to. However, I do want you to know that you're among good people here. I mean they took in Natalya Sokolova, a trained assassin and spy who's suffered mentally and physically at the hands of the SSB. They gave her a second chance when no one else would and they helped her. You will be my friend no matter what though Mason."

She stood up. "I'll let you get some rest. Let me know if you need anything," she said and then left his quarters.

Isabella frowned when she heard Striker's name. She hated that man with a seething passion. While she was not a mutant herself, she was friends with many people who were and she was passionate about protecting them and their rights. She had spoken out publicly against the Purifers beliefs.

"Ok, well we need to figure out a plan to help clear Mason's record. He's a young man and he has his entire life still ahead of him and I want to be sure he's given a fair chance."

Mason thought of Natalya having had only that one conversation with her. Serena was right there was one person who'd rather try and forget the past be normal. He looked to Serena as she got up letting him get his rest and stepped out. He closed his eyes thinking he messed up. You're not a kid quit sulking he thought to himself. He wanted to get some fresh air but his body still felt drained. He decided to just stay in bed and rest for now.

Peter was nearby and spotted Serena wanting to stick around to make sure everything was alright. "Hey. is Mason doing alright? And are you ok?" She had been in there for a bit after all.

Forge looked to Isabella and Tony grateful their help. "I mean its..any help would be appreciated but you really dont have to. Like i said we didn't want to drag you guys into that mess." He offered.

"It's no problem at all. While we're not mutants we're not exactly fans of Striker ourselves. Besides any chance for us to be a thorn in someones side that cant obliterate the world is a nice little side project." Tony said thinking dealing with Striker would be a cakewalk. "Would be easy if we just sic Logan on him. Would be done by lunchtime" Tony said looking to Isabella obviously joking.

Serena stepped back out into the common area and saw that Peter was still there. He had taken his mask back off and seemed to be waiting for her. "Yeah, he'll be alright. I think he just needs to rest for a while. Thanks for helping out back there. I think Forge appreciated your help getting that battery down the stairs."

Isabella genuinely liked helping people and, while she didn't know Mason that well, she knew him well enough to see that he was a good kid who deserved a second chance. She rolled her eyes a little when Tony mentioned sending Logan after him. "No...and we're not sending Natalya after him either," she added quickly, knowing how her husband's mind worked. She knew he was kidding though. "All joking aside, we'll do what we can, but we can't make any promises either." She was quiet a moment and then smiled at Forge. "So, when are you seeing Ororo again?"

Peter nodded having no problem with helping out earlier. Remembering how quickly Serena went to Masons side, "How are you doing though? I mean with everything going on with your lessons with Dr Strange and this you have to be a little frazzled." Peter said.

Tony smiled at Isabella when she brought up Natalya who he would have offered up immediately after Logan. His smile grew when she brought up Ororo and he looked to Forge with an inquisitive look. Forge visibily relaxed only a little as that topic was less touchy. He leaned back in his chair. "Well that's gotten a bit complicated? Probably not the right word. She's decided to leave the mansion and wants to try another relationship."

"You don't seem too thrilled." Tony pointed out.

"No i'm beyond thrilled, least the selfish part of me is. But i know how important the mansion is to her and the good that she does. I'm just a bit worried."

Serena shrugged a little bit. "I suppose so. It has been a big change coming here. I spent years with Dr. Strange in the sanctum and traveling the world. The sanctum became my home and though I want to be here and on the team, I am still adjusting a little. The team has been very welcoming though...well some more outwardly than others," she said referring to Logan and Natalya who were much more quiet than the rest of the team and tended to keep to themselves more. "I've also started hand to hand combat training with Natalya and Kate. It's funny that no matter how busy Steve is with other things, he always is suddenly free when Kate comes," she said with a knowing grin.

Isabella shook her head and looked at Forge. "She's a grown woman who has made her choice...and she's chosen you Forge. She understands the sacrifice and is willing to make it for your relationship. Worry less and be grateful more that you have a woman that loves you that much."