![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ax_nocturne posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
ax_mainTJ learns a little more about her roommate, and tentative plans are made. Watch out, Cobalt Soul Sanctuary!
The night after the whole stir up in Genosha, Beau found herself sneaking back into Xavier's after hours, sporting a black eye, split lip, and some awesome new bruises beneath the plain dark blue tunic she was wearing. There was nothing quite like walking into a random bar and picking a fight, especially when everyone was all up in arms about what was going on with the mutants. All she'd really had to do was use her powers to win a few pool games, and the surly man playing her had called foul in a big way. Sure, no one liked to hit a teenaged girl, but when she hit first, what were you gonna do?
It had felt good, getting that out of her system. Maybe she'd been banished from the bar, but whatever. There were others. Not even bothering with the front door, she crept up to the wall and slowly scaled up to the third floor, nudging her window open and slithering in.
TJ had slept through most of the day, after the events of yesterday, and how relief work had carried her through most of the night. She'd crawled into her bed and passed out without seeing Beau, and hadn't thought much of it when she found the room just as empty when she woke up, in the early evening. She felt better for having done something, after months and months of inaction, but she still didn't trust what the Brotherhood was going to do next. She wanted it to be real so badly. She wanted things to work out. For Genosha to be everything it could be, instead of a mutant supremacist dictatorship. She wanted Wanda to be cool. Hell, she wanted Magneto to not be an asshole. It would be pretty cool to get to know him, if he wasn't. She'd never had the chance.
But all of this didn't change anything to the fact that finals were coming up, and TJ needed to cram something fierce. After dinner, she'd come back to her room to study, although her focus was even more all over the place than normal. Still, she didn't let up, and eventually she was engrossed in her world history textbook. So much so that it took her a moment to realize that Beau was crawling in through the window.
TJ reached over to turn on her bedside light, since her roommate didn't have her night-vision, and watched Beau critically. "Whose fists did you run into?"
Beau blinked in the sudden light, then slid into the room, closing the window behind her. "Does it matter? It wasn't anyone here. Besides, you should see the other guy."
"Yeah?" TJ asked with an amused little smile. "Only the one?"
"Maybe a few more," Beau smirked slightly, crossing the room to grab an ice-pack out of the little mini-fridge in the corner.
"There's disinfectant in the bathroom, if you want it," TJ offered. She wasn't going to run down to the infirmary every time she got a cut; of course she was prepared.
"Hm," Beau shrugged, then moved to drop onto her bed on her back, holding the pack to her eye. "I'll get it in a bit. Why are you still up, anyway?"
"I kinda slept through most of the day," TJ replied with a shrug. "Genosha wiped me out. Figured I'd try and get some studying done."
Beau rolled onto her side and pushed up onto an elbow, still holding the eye pack to her face. "What's it like over there? Were they really experimenting on mutants? Enslaving them?"
"Forcing people to manifest, and a whole lot of brainwashing, yeah," TJ confirmed.
Beau looked away, frowning. "Shit."
TJ let a couple of seconds pass and, when nothing more was forthcoming, asked, "What?"
Beau took the ice pack away from her face and pushed her hair back over the top of her head, sucking a deep breath. "Cause I was supposed to be one of 'em."
TJ frowned a little. "What do you mean?"
It took a moment for Beau to say anything, but when she finally did, she grimaced. "Okay so. Trent wasn't the first place I was kept. There was this other place. This...I don't know, special school. When I got arrested a few years ago, my parents sent me there. It was kind of over the top militant. But then they started testing for the mutant gene, and when they realized I had it, they told me my parents had approved to put me in a special program. They took me away, got me on a plane, then took me to some dock, where I was supposed to board a ship to Genosha."
"Oh, shit," TJ let out, looking properly revolted. "Who were they? Or are they still a thing? We need to shut them down."
Even if Genosha was no longer an option, people like that could find other awful places to ship mutants and potential mutants to. Or figure out what to do with them themselves.
Beau frowned. She honestly hadn't thought about that. Taking on the Sanctuary seemed along the lines of trying to take out the CIA. Hell, the CIA might even be protecting it. "Look, I don't know if I should get you involved in all that. The only reason I'm still here is because Trent kidnapped me from them before I could get on the ship. And he was a telepath with manpower of his own."
"Get X-Force involved and you've got that going for yourself too," TJ remarked. "Either way, getting involved is kind of what I do. I don't need you to get me there."
"Kidnapping an operative that they're already done with - that's one thing. Taking the whole thing out, that's a whole other thing," Beau told her. "I said it was a school, but, you know, it's like a cult. A cult that probably sends their people out to military agencies."
"So we'll probably need more people than just you and me," TJ answered, clearly unfazed.
Beau gave her a look around the ice pack. "Are you serious about this? It's not like they're, I don't know, mistreating people. I mean, besides the sending mutants way or whatever. They're just. Really super strict."
"They were shipping mutants off to Genosha," TJ stated with raised eyebrows. "Who knows what they'll do with them now. At least we need to look into them."
Sighing, Beau pushed her hair back, then slumped down on her bed, back against the wall so she could face TJ. "Okay, but maybe just you and me to start. Feel 'em out and see what's up?"
TJ nodded with a small smile. "Sure. That works. The butt-kicking can wait."
"The Cobalt Soul Sanctuary. It's in Colorado," Beau told her. "One of those disciplinary schools they send you to instead of juvie, but instead of like, wilderness survival school, it was all about mindfulness, meditation, healthy living, and a lot of martial arts."
TJ went silent for a few seconds, thinking it over. "You know... We can do this, just you and me, but it'd be nice to have one of the computer geniuses do some research for us, too. If that's cool with you. I'm sure Kitty could help us out."
"Uh," Beau frowned thoughtfully. "Sure, I guess? What do you think a computer genius is gonna do?"
"Look into their digital footprint," TJ suggested. (Hey, it sounded like something a computer genius would say.) "Hack into any database they have. Dig up things about their leaders and their staff? All kinds of fancy stuff I have no clue about."
"Sure?" Beau repeated uncertainly. She'd never really had to deal with any of that stuff. Nothing more than her phone and spreadsheets, but having one of the genius types look into them wasn't such a bad idea. "Whatever you want."
TJ nodded; that was decided, then. "I'll talk to Kitty. Ask her to keep it on the down low, so nobody else gets involved. Cobalt Sanctuary, you said?"
"Cobalt Soul Sanctuary," Beau told her, giving a slight nod.
"I should write that down," TJ stated, grabbing a notepad to do just that. "Cobalt Soul Sanctuary, in Colorado. I'll ask Kitty."
"I'll be surprised if she finds much. They're super secretive," Beau warned.
"Kitty's good," TJ replied, with confidence in all Kates and Kitties across the timelines, but also from having seen what this one could do, since TJ had come here. "Like, really good. Also at covering her tracks, so it won't hurt to look." TJ put her pen down and looked over at her roommate. "How are you feeling?" Beau could choose to take that to refer to her physical or emotional state, whichever. TJ was leaving it open on purpose.
"All good. Nope. All good here," Beau blatantly lied, and didn't care if TJ could see through it. She wasn't going to talk about her feelings right now. She wasn't sure she trusted TJ enough for that just yet.
"Try selling that when your face looks better," TJ retorted with a smirk. Message received; sticking to joking about how physically not 'all good' Beau was. TJ looked back at her textbook and wrinkled her nose. "I think I'm gonna hit the kitchen for a snack. Want anything?"
"Ice cream," Beau told her. "The kind with the little chips of chocolate in it."
"And cookie dough," TJ nodded, moving off her bed. Everything was better with cookie dough. "Got it."
"That's..." Beau started, then sighed and leaned back against the wall again. "Yeah. Thanks."
TJ shot her a look, then slipped out of the room on a mission for ice cream.
The night after the whole stir up in Genosha, Beau found herself sneaking back into Xavier's after hours, sporting a black eye, split lip, and some awesome new bruises beneath the plain dark blue tunic she was wearing. There was nothing quite like walking into a random bar and picking a fight, especially when everyone was all up in arms about what was going on with the mutants. All she'd really had to do was use her powers to win a few pool games, and the surly man playing her had called foul in a big way. Sure, no one liked to hit a teenaged girl, but when she hit first, what were you gonna do?
It had felt good, getting that out of her system. Maybe she'd been banished from the bar, but whatever. There were others. Not even bothering with the front door, she crept up to the wall and slowly scaled up to the third floor, nudging her window open and slithering in.
TJ had slept through most of the day, after the events of yesterday, and how relief work had carried her through most of the night. She'd crawled into her bed and passed out without seeing Beau, and hadn't thought much of it when she found the room just as empty when she woke up, in the early evening. She felt better for having done something, after months and months of inaction, but she still didn't trust what the Brotherhood was going to do next. She wanted it to be real so badly. She wanted things to work out. For Genosha to be everything it could be, instead of a mutant supremacist dictatorship. She wanted Wanda to be cool. Hell, she wanted Magneto to not be an asshole. It would be pretty cool to get to know him, if he wasn't. She'd never had the chance.
But all of this didn't change anything to the fact that finals were coming up, and TJ needed to cram something fierce. After dinner, she'd come back to her room to study, although her focus was even more all over the place than normal. Still, she didn't let up, and eventually she was engrossed in her world history textbook. So much so that it took her a moment to realize that Beau was crawling in through the window.
TJ reached over to turn on her bedside light, since her roommate didn't have her night-vision, and watched Beau critically. "Whose fists did you run into?"
Beau blinked in the sudden light, then slid into the room, closing the window behind her. "Does it matter? It wasn't anyone here. Besides, you should see the other guy."
"Yeah?" TJ asked with an amused little smile. "Only the one?"
"Maybe a few more," Beau smirked slightly, crossing the room to grab an ice-pack out of the little mini-fridge in the corner.
"There's disinfectant in the bathroom, if you want it," TJ offered. She wasn't going to run down to the infirmary every time she got a cut; of course she was prepared.
"Hm," Beau shrugged, then moved to drop onto her bed on her back, holding the pack to her eye. "I'll get it in a bit. Why are you still up, anyway?"
"I kinda slept through most of the day," TJ replied with a shrug. "Genosha wiped me out. Figured I'd try and get some studying done."
Beau rolled onto her side and pushed up onto an elbow, still holding the eye pack to her face. "What's it like over there? Were they really experimenting on mutants? Enslaving them?"
"Forcing people to manifest, and a whole lot of brainwashing, yeah," TJ confirmed.
Beau looked away, frowning. "Shit."
TJ let a couple of seconds pass and, when nothing more was forthcoming, asked, "What?"
Beau took the ice pack away from her face and pushed her hair back over the top of her head, sucking a deep breath. "Cause I was supposed to be one of 'em."
TJ frowned a little. "What do you mean?"
It took a moment for Beau to say anything, but when she finally did, she grimaced. "Okay so. Trent wasn't the first place I was kept. There was this other place. This...I don't know, special school. When I got arrested a few years ago, my parents sent me there. It was kind of over the top militant. But then they started testing for the mutant gene, and when they realized I had it, they told me my parents had approved to put me in a special program. They took me away, got me on a plane, then took me to some dock, where I was supposed to board a ship to Genosha."
"Oh, shit," TJ let out, looking properly revolted. "Who were they? Or are they still a thing? We need to shut them down."
Even if Genosha was no longer an option, people like that could find other awful places to ship mutants and potential mutants to. Or figure out what to do with them themselves.
Beau frowned. She honestly hadn't thought about that. Taking on the Sanctuary seemed along the lines of trying to take out the CIA. Hell, the CIA might even be protecting it. "Look, I don't know if I should get you involved in all that. The only reason I'm still here is because Trent kidnapped me from them before I could get on the ship. And he was a telepath with manpower of his own."
"Get X-Force involved and you've got that going for yourself too," TJ remarked. "Either way, getting involved is kind of what I do. I don't need you to get me there."
"Kidnapping an operative that they're already done with - that's one thing. Taking the whole thing out, that's a whole other thing," Beau told her. "I said it was a school, but, you know, it's like a cult. A cult that probably sends their people out to military agencies."
"So we'll probably need more people than just you and me," TJ answered, clearly unfazed.
Beau gave her a look around the ice pack. "Are you serious about this? It's not like they're, I don't know, mistreating people. I mean, besides the sending mutants way or whatever. They're just. Really super strict."
"They were shipping mutants off to Genosha," TJ stated with raised eyebrows. "Who knows what they'll do with them now. At least we need to look into them."
Sighing, Beau pushed her hair back, then slumped down on her bed, back against the wall so she could face TJ. "Okay, but maybe just you and me to start. Feel 'em out and see what's up?"
TJ nodded with a small smile. "Sure. That works. The butt-kicking can wait."
"The Cobalt Soul Sanctuary. It's in Colorado," Beau told her. "One of those disciplinary schools they send you to instead of juvie, but instead of like, wilderness survival school, it was all about mindfulness, meditation, healthy living, and a lot of martial arts."
TJ went silent for a few seconds, thinking it over. "You know... We can do this, just you and me, but it'd be nice to have one of the computer geniuses do some research for us, too. If that's cool with you. I'm sure Kitty could help us out."
"Uh," Beau frowned thoughtfully. "Sure, I guess? What do you think a computer genius is gonna do?"
"Look into their digital footprint," TJ suggested. (Hey, it sounded like something a computer genius would say.) "Hack into any database they have. Dig up things about their leaders and their staff? All kinds of fancy stuff I have no clue about."
"Sure?" Beau repeated uncertainly. She'd never really had to deal with any of that stuff. Nothing more than her phone and spreadsheets, but having one of the genius types look into them wasn't such a bad idea. "Whatever you want."
TJ nodded; that was decided, then. "I'll talk to Kitty. Ask her to keep it on the down low, so nobody else gets involved. Cobalt Sanctuary, you said?"
"Cobalt Soul Sanctuary," Beau told her, giving a slight nod.
"I should write that down," TJ stated, grabbing a notepad to do just that. "Cobalt Soul Sanctuary, in Colorado. I'll ask Kitty."
"I'll be surprised if she finds much. They're super secretive," Beau warned.
"Kitty's good," TJ replied, with confidence in all Kates and Kitties across the timelines, but also from having seen what this one could do, since TJ had come here. "Like, really good. Also at covering her tracks, so it won't hurt to look." TJ put her pen down and looked over at her roommate. "How are you feeling?" Beau could choose to take that to refer to her physical or emotional state, whichever. TJ was leaving it open on purpose.
"All good. Nope. All good here," Beau blatantly lied, and didn't care if TJ could see through it. She wasn't going to talk about her feelings right now. She wasn't sure she trusted TJ enough for that just yet.
"Try selling that when your face looks better," TJ retorted with a smirk. Message received; sticking to joking about how physically not 'all good' Beau was. TJ looked back at her textbook and wrinkled her nose. "I think I'm gonna hit the kitchen for a snack. Want anything?"
"Ice cream," Beau told her. "The kind with the little chips of chocolate in it."
"And cookie dough," TJ nodded, moving off her bed. Everything was better with cookie dough. "Got it."
"That's..." Beau started, then sighed and leaned back against the wall again. "Yeah. Thanks."
TJ shot her a look, then slipped out of the room on a mission for ice cream.
