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[x-storm.livejournal.com]

After a meeting in the city, Ororo shares news of the Morlock's progress with Callisto.

Ororo didn't know how Nathan did it. People who worked in non-profits were either surly and short-tempered due to the outrageous amount of terrible things they encountered on a daily basis, or they were decent people entirely wound up with red tape that kept anything from moving at a normal pace. Having spent the morning dealing with one such young man, who was very helpful but also very honest in telling her that the results would be slow in coming, she was beginning to see where Nathan's frustration and frequent yelling-into-telephones came from.

Pulling the Jeep into the garage, Ororo shut down the engine and stepped out of the car, her high heels making a very conspicuous noise as she crossed to the key board to return her set.

Callisto winced, rolling out from beneath the car she was under to sit up and shake her head. She hadn't been expecting the loud clacking sound reverberating up through her skull while in the middle of tweaking something under one of the communal jeeps.

Ororo caught the motion out of the corner of her eye and turned, a speculative expression growing as she realized who it was. She hung the keys on their peg and then started towards Callisto, hoping that their interaction would be brief and civil.

The brunette rolled her eyes as she realised who it was. Of course... Leaning back against the vehicle in a characteristic slouch she surveyed the approaching woman, eyes travelling up Ororo's body to meet her gaze with an expectant expression.

"Callisto," the silver-haired woman said neutrally, well aware of the note their last encounter had ended on. "How are you?"

Unsurprisingly, Callisto shrugged, sighing and tipping her head back against the jeep behind her. "Bored. But currently occupied. You?"

Not quite as bored, and in between occupations. Thank you," she added. "I have just returned from the city, where I met with one of the facilitators of a program that helps visible mutants with job training and placement."

"Ain't that a mouthful. I don't even know what that means."

"There are several centers in New York that deal specifically with mutants - helping them to find work is a key task, especially for those with visible mutations. The law isn't quite to the place where it will protect them from discrimination."

"No shit."

Ororo raised an eyebrow. "And since several of the mutants from the tunnels fall into just such a category, I thought it would be wise to put them in contact with someone who could help them."

Callisto felt a tug of something like guilt in her gut, but merely frowned. "I guess that's a plan. Although I thought there was nothing to stop them heading back underground now."

"There is not. But I think it is important to show them that if they choose not to, there are options available to them here. That the world will welcome them," Ororo explained. "Then the choices they make will really be choices, and not merely what they see as the only option open to them."

"Yeah, well, they didn't always have any other options," Callisto said, a note of defensiveness creeping into her tone. It wasn't as though she could've sent them to a 'visible mutant training day' ten years ago, after all.

"No, of course not. But now that they do, it would be foolish not to take advantage of them."

"Right." Callisto stood, then, pacing over to the small workbench she'd set up by the wall near by, apparently for the sole purpose of having somewhere to put a sandwich and a large bottle of water, which she now retrieved for a long drink.

Ororo stood for a bit longer, unsure of what exactly she had expected to happen. For some reason Callisto's continuing apathy towards her fellow Morlocks confused her, and she had told her of her visit to the city to try and incite anything - interest, even anger - but to no avail. Pragmatically she decided not to let it bother her, and turned to head back into the mansion.

"Munroe?"

"Yes?" Ororo asked, stopping and turning to look at Callisto.

"Are they. Well. How're they doing? Above ground?"

"They are... surviving. It is difficult, I think, for them to adjust, and it is not as if there are answers for all the questions raised by their presence here. They feel lost, and understandably so."

"They'll cope. They're tough. At least..." My Morlocks were. It had been quite jarring just how few familiar faces there had been among Gene Nation. Callisto had tried not to think too hard about it.

Ororo nodded, shifting a bit where she stood. "Of course."

"They just need..." Callisto frowned. I'm not being drawn into this. "They all need something different," she said simply. "It's like... People who end up homeless, it's all for different reasons. Some 'cause they were kicked out of the house at fifteen. Some 'cause they've got a screw loose. Some 'cause they had a couplea bad breaks with work - some got into drugs - it depends, y'know? And we- they're the same boat, y'know? It's just the same. 'Cept they're also mutants."

"Unfortunately, few people have been through this process before. It means a lot of the steps need to be taken from scratch," Ororo replied. "It may mean it takes longer for them to adapt than it would a non-mutant. But you are right. They will."

Callisto sighed, scratching a hand through her haid. "But it has been done before. Come on, I was barely out of my teens when I-" She broke off. You are not being drawn into this.

Ororo merely looked at her, her expression open and (mostly) innocent. "I suppose I was a bit hasty when I said never. But it does not do much good for someone to have gone through it, successfully, if they refuse to help in turn."

"I didn't-" No, it was pointless to argue this one. "They don't want my help."

"I believe," Ororo said, "that this would be a case of giving them only one option to choose from. It does tend to limit one's alternatives."

"That's not what I meant," the other woman said sullenly, sipping again at her water, trying to stay relaxed. "It was clear back in that tunnel what they thought of me. There's nothing I can tell them that they'd listen to." Sarah's face swam into her mind's eye. "Any of them."

"The only one I heard expressing an opinion on the matter was Beserker. And his ideas seemed a little..."

"He was their leader, for God knows how long."

"If they truly believed all he espoused, would they be trying to make a life for themselves above ground?"

"They might just be clinging onto the next person to come along who can tell them what to do."

Ororo looked a bit taken aback at this, and it was evident why when she said, "I am surprised you would allow me to be that person, then."

"Maybe you'll succeed where I failed."

"I think I would do a much better job if I had the help of someone who has been through this before."

"And ended up getting most of them killed."

"I meant adapting to life out of the tunnels, Callisto," Ororo said, pursing her lips. "Don't you think it would be heartening for them to see someone who has succeeded in doing what they are attempting to?"

Callisto smiled bitterly. "I really doubt you want them doing the things I did to survive out of the tunnels."

"Perhaps not. But your presence would help them, I am sure of it."
"I don't see how."

"Perhaps that is why I am now in charge." Ororo smirked, moving her hands to her hips.

The taller woman's eyes narrowed at this. "I'm sure you're doing a bang-up job of wiping their noses and reminding them of their place," she snapped. Clearly still mad about aspects of the garden incident, then.

"I should hope, as we don't have enough motorcycles for them all to tear around on," Ororo replied calmly. "The noise would be unbearable."

Callisto's lip twitched.

Was that a smile? Or a sneer? I can never tell... "Speaking of motorcycles, I ought to let you get back to what you were doing. I did not mean to interrupt for so long."

The other woman shrugged again. "It's not like I had enough to keep me going for long anyway."

"I will try to drive over a nail next time I am out, to give you something with which to pass the time."

The flicker of surprise and slightly amusement this time was unmistakable. She has a sense of humour. Who knew?

True to her word, Ororo took her leave of Callisto and the garage, thankful for the fact that they had managed an entire exchange without raised voices or damaged property. She still hadn't given up hope that the mechanic would feel some sort of investment in the Morlocks' plight and volunteer to help, but it was obvious that in the meantime she needed to continue what she was doing. Patience...