July 2009

Three residents left - Tatiana Caban to Attilan and the school there; Alex Summers to complete his degree in Hawaii and Tommy Jones for a change of pace and further training at the West Coast Annex. Alexander Lexington was conditionally paroled to the school from the army and Jeanne-Marie Beaubier, apparently sane and feeling her twin's trauma through their twinlink, returned shortly after his attempted suicide and the imposition of a series of theraputic memory blocks in his mind by Charles Xavier. Jean-Paul also began to address his issues with Jake Gavin, with whom he had broken up with shortly after his release from medlab.

Sam Guthrie and Morgan Lennox also broke up, leading to an uncharacteristic display of anger from the X-Man. Shiro Yoshida and Jay Guthrie continued their up and down affair, gradually admitting feelings for each other. Catseye, torn between her feline and human identities, was even more confused when Nicholas Gleason admitted his attraction to her. Julian Keller and Angelica Jones finally buried the hatchet through the time-honoured vehicle of being locked in a room together and Esme Stepford's psychic tampering was uncovered, leading to the telepath being punished. Adrienne Frost hosted a light hearted 'dinner, drinks and exorcism' following disturbances at the New York apartment she had once shared with her late husband, but things turned serious when he - using her powers as a vehicle - crashed the event. Adrienne overcame her terror of him and banished him, and then reconciled with Garrison Kane. A trip to an art exhibit led to swapped powers fr a number of residents and two new RAs - Julio Richter and Jean-Phillipe Colbert - were named.

It was a month of changes for the X-Men. On the one hand, a new trainee joined the team (Lex under the codename "Hamster"), but on the other, two were benched for uncontrolled behaviour and endangering others - Sam and Shiro. Taygetos was finally defeated due to a cunning plan from Charles which had Nathan Dayspring used as bait. The mission was not without casualties, as Carly Alvarez and John Lense were both killed and Nathan sufficiently injured to prompt him to consider retiring from the team and for Angelo Espinosa to actually quit teaching and the team to run Elpis during his recovery.

Finally, X-Force ran into Omega Red when a missing Infonet delivery - a carbonadium synthesizer - turned up for auction in South Africa, resulting in mercenaries, chases, switches and a family reunion for Jake he could have done without.

Timeline

Jul 1 - Callie suggests that the beach might be too much for Yvette and Julian decides to try and make waves in the pool instead. Mnemovore: Shiro visits Jean-Paul, who has been released from the medlab, and is disturbed by the other man's condition. Cammie brings Jake donuts, booze and company. Needing to meditate after seeing Jean-Paul, Shiro goes out to his tree, only to find Jay in it; Jay offers a different kind of distraction and Shiro takes him up on it. Analog Kid, Digital Man: The group relaxes on Attilan after their disastrous vacation; Milan breaks Quentin Quire out of jail.

Jul 2 - Sarah asks about 4th of July fireworks. Mnemovore: Jean-Paul ends the relationship with Jake and then tries to kill himself; Jean stops him and Nathan and Charles come up with a plan to help with his recovery, putting in a temporary block of the worst of the memories. Mark takes his life into his hands and takes Illyana shopping. Jubilee finds Jake late in the night and stays with him. Catseye - in cat form - demands Sarah read to her.

Jul 3 - Mnemovore: Jean-Paul runs into Johnny as he is released from medlab and reluctantly accepts help. Callie tracks down Angel (with bribery cookies) to talk to her about the latest incident with Julian. Charles announces the departures of three residents - Tatiana, Alex and Tommy. Analog Kid, Digital Man: Doug and Forge make their reports on the trip to their respective teams; Doug e-mails Forge about the escape of Milan and Quire. Fred posts about 4th July plans for a BBQ. Jake posts about plans to spend 4th July on the roof with booze and fireworks. Adrienne helps Cammie study mathematics through the not so subtle use of bribery. Shiro visits Jean-Paul and they talk about helping him through his current situation. Jean-Paul makes a post to the journals about being back amongst the living. Laurie posts about being back at the mansion for good. Yvette runs into Julian creating waves and they talk about Angel and miscommunications are resolved. Catseye goes to see Jean-Paul for a visit and delivers a tackle-hug before settling in.

Jul 4 - Forge emails Fred about using discretion when buying alcohol and cigarettes under-age. Lil and Jean-Paul catch up and he thanks her for reading to him, something she denies doing. Fourth of July BBQ and pool party; Johnny catches up with Dori, who has been spending a lot of time outside.

Jul 5 - Jean-Paul lists things he has enjoyed since leaving medlab. Monet wakes Kurt, still having nightmares about the mission to retrieve Jean-Paul. Catseye asks Forge to fix her collar and he teases her about Nick. Angel and Julian wind up locked in the dark room together and eventually talk; Callie emails Kyle to let him know about the problem and they decide to wait until they've had time to sort things out before letting them out. Jean-Paul visits Cammie, bearing the food that was in his fridge while he was abducted and they gossip about Manuel. Scott visits Jean-Paul. Leo uses food to lure Dori out of the trees long enough to talk to her about the accident in Bosnia

Jul 6 - Wanda kidnaps Jean and talks to her about missing Jennie's pregnancy. Face The Blood: The inhibitor comes off, but before it does, Yvette asks Kevin to give her her first kiss; Forge talks about the hardships of her powers with her before removing the inhibitor. Clarice talks to Jake about becoming a courier. Nathan takes Jean-Paul grocery shopping to encourage his appetite and the matter of Jake is raised; later, in the kitchen, Jean-Paul runs into Callie and is better than previously about hugs. Wanda and Jake make up after their fight.

Jul 7 - Callie runs into Doreen finally and finds out partly why she hasn't been in the mansion much. Jean-Paul emails Nori about training. Forge decides on a different format for mission reports; Jennie and the younger X-Men are impressed; Scott is less so. Jake glitters Illyana, forgetting she isn't the same little girl he used to know. Dori finds Yvette out in the woods and they talk about the inhibitor's effects. Nori comes to take Jean-Paul out running.

Jul 8 - Jean-Paul wakes from a bad night and talks to Nathan about Rachel and Moira's impending visit. Forge helps Julio train his echo-location by throwing things at him. Jake is confused to find a stove (with a quiche in it) in his living room when he wakes up. Lil invites Jean-Paul out for drinks when he's well enough. Forge meets Dori and is ambushed by Monkey Joe, but they get on in the end. Pas De Trois: Julian goes to see Jean about an injured hand and winds up having a telepathic scan which proves Esme used her powers on him; Nathan confirms the results. Amara runs into North in the library in New York and they have quite a pleasant chat. Sarah finds out Catseye isn't just a cat and reacts badly to the surprise. Nick, wanting to practice a dance routine from So You Think You Can Dance, runs into Kurt and gets help managing his wolf form.

Jul 9 - Cammie gets bored and asks Jake to come out for a drink; out at a bar, Jake goes through Cammie's fake ID collection and they talk about never having babies. Those Who Are Dead: Adrienne talks to Lil about how she's having trouble sleeping at her apartment and Lil suggests an exorcism of her ex's influence.

Jul 10 - Those Who Are Dead: Adrienne emails Wanda, Amanda, Morgan and Lil, inviting them for drinks, dinner and exorcism; Morgan has other plans and declines but the other three agree. Jean-Paul emails Morgan, asking how she is. Sarah goes to Forge for powers training and he tells her about Milan. Mutation Sternutation: Callie mentions an art exhibit of a mutant artist. Julio posts a challenge on the journals. Playing Scrabble with Johnny, Jean-Paul asks about why the boy is angry at Nathan, and is told about the incident where Nathan let Johnny blame him for Jean-Paul being taken. Jake takes Jubilee and Adrienne out for stonuts and they talk about Adrienne's mutant calendar.

Jul 11 - Morgan encounters an armless Jake and talk about their respective powers leads to a plan to swap powers. Doreen wakes Julian early to show him Avatar: The Last Airbender. Adrienne visits Jean-Paul and finds herself relaxing for the first time since the Hellfire Club function. Looking for Scott, Sarah meets Sam instead. Laurie and Kevin clear the air and start afresh. Amara runs into Bishop at the mansion and they talk about cooking and dating. Johnny goes to apologise to Nathan. Jean-Paul meets Sarah and finds out how homesick she is. Jeanne-Marie returns; Nathan intercepts her to make sure she isn't going to upset Jean-Paul; the first meeting goes shakily but Jean-Paul manages to rally and try again. Pas de Trois: Julian confronts Esme Stepford and discovers she's more upset about the whole thing than he is. Those Who Are Dead: The mock exorcism turns dangerous as Steven du Clos manifests and tries to kill Adrienne; Adrienne finds her inner strength and banishes him forever; still on a buzz from her victory, Adrienne calls Garrison over and they talk honestly.

Jul 12 - Mutation Sternutation: Callie, Julian, Jean-Phillipe, Crystal, Laurie, Marie and Kurt go to the art exhibit and Crystal is bitten by a small child; returning to the mansion, Callie touches Julian and he falls into a coma; down in the medlab, Jean discovers Callie seems to be exhibiting Marie's powers; after the exhibit, Marie, Kurt and Amanda have a drink and talk; Marie meets Garrison for lunch and abruptly vanishes in mid-conversation, reappearing in the Snow Valley offices; Monet posts to the journals about something strange happening with Kurt's powers; Crystal has something strange happening with her own powers and she almost has an accident in the quarry when she can't keep in the air, but Nathan is there to rescue her; Marie talks to Callie about having her absorption powers; Jean lets the mansion know something is up with people's powers; Fred tries to comfort Callie but she flees; Amara is feeling the cold and Lil helps keep her warm. Scott talks Jean-Paul out of leaving for the sake of his sister. Adrienne meets with Morgan at Harry's and relates the story of the night before's events. Jeanne-Marie reintroduces herself on the journals. Nick and Catseye bring a movie to watch with Yvette, and things get awkward later as Catseye asks the blunt questions and then kisses Nick. Adrienne discovers her new roommate, Jeanne-Marie. Laurie gets a call from Eamon. Julio distracts Fred by taking him to a video store specialising in cult movies.

Jul 13 - Mutation Sternutation: Laurie manifests Crystal's powers in the kitchen and Jean comes to the rescue; Callie asks people not to touch her; Jean-Phillipe posts about his powers not working; Kurt emails Monet, letting her know he seems to have Laurie's powers for the duration; Kurt, wearing an air scrubber, helps Marie with the teleporting; Jean checks on Crystal, who is manifesting Amara's powers in the safe room of the medlab; Crystal emails Forge to get him to check on Laurie; Julian wakes from his coma to find Fred and Dori by his bedside, and manifests Jean-Phillipe's electrokinetics. Adrienne wishes Emma a happy birthday and they make plans to have a family celebration. Catseye announces her decision to let new people know about her powers. Jean-Paul seeks out Nathan to talk about Johnny and discovers he's been told about Tara Trask meeting with Taygetos. Jean-Paul and Jeanne-Marie go shopping for plants and Jean-Paul tells her what he found out about their parents and the accident that killed them. Nori apologises to Nathan for snarking at Inez on Jeanne-Marie's introduction thread; Garrison threatens/bribes Inez into meeting with him.

Jul 14 - Monet runs into Jean-Paul after a sleepless night and they are carefully polite to each other. Mutation Sternutation: Laurie emails Crystal about training with her borrowed powers; Jean posts an update outlining what they've discovered about the powers swapping; Cammie checks up on the reclusive Kurt; Crystal emails Amara, asking for powers training; Forge springs Crystal from medlab and she surprises him by talking about possibly joining the team; Jan talks to Julian about the wisdom in going to a public place such as the movies with powers he can't control; Julian blows up his laptop and Jean calls in Nori to help, drawing off some of the electricity and helping with his control; Marie startles Cammie when she bamfs into the kitchen and drain cleaner smoothies are created; Amara and Crystal meet talk talk about their powers and the need for emotional control. Alexander Lexington turns up at Snow Valley for debriefing, and then Morgan takes him over to the mansion to meet with Charles and discuss the terms of his conditional discharge from the army. Dori finds a Godzilla marathon and asks people to come with her. Catseye asks Scott for help riding her new bicycle and they talk about growing up and changing. Julio is asked to be an RA for the boys and has a talk with Nori about sex talk on the journals being not on any more. Sarah leaves a stuffed toy cat on Catseye's bed and emails her, asking to talk. Adrienne buys herself a motorcycle as a reward for defeating Steven, and Amanda defends the honour of the Broomstick. Lil gives Lex the tour and later takes him to Harry's, where she lets slip about the X-Men. Mark holds a party for the 10th anniversary of Spongebob, which turns into an orgy almost as Jubilee gets Illyana drunk, Marie-Ange turns up already drunk for Bastille Day and demands Mark's special brownies and Jennie joins in; Amanda takes off, not wanting to get into another fight with Jennie; Marie-Ange tries to get Doug drunk enough to sing the Teapot Song; Illyana posts drunkenly; Jubilee posts several times drunkenly; Cammie is convinced to join the party and texts Jake, looking for a ride which is not forthcoming; Emma returns from an award ceremony to find everyone drunk and joins in; Jennie posts a note on Amanda's door; Cammie cages a crash space from Jake and teases him. Jean-Phillipe also celebrates Bastille Day, with Jean-Paul; a drunken Marie-Ange emails Jean-Paul about not sleeping with her cousin without protection.

Jul 15 - Nori wants a reward from Julio about not joining in the journal orgy. Emma emails Remy about photos taken by Cammie and Jennie at the party. A hungover Illyana threatens an equally-hungover Jubilee with death. Amanda posts - perhaps a little smugly - about not being hungover and the gift of pants left on her door. Jennie is more smug about the fact she got to sleep in, and reassures Remy he can have her camera's photo memory card in the interests of not being horribly killed; Jake emails Remy letting him know he stole Cammie's memory card and it's on Remy's desk. Mark is perfectly fine and very smug. Jean-Phillipe bemoans the loss of his powers as they tended to burn alcohol off faster and announces his RA-ness. Marie-Ange emails Jake and Jubilee about her and Doug's denuded kitchen. Jay complains - or boasts - about his healing factor not letting him get drunk. Cammie is pleased with her evening before and is looking forward to her first training with Logan since the bar brawl where she was stabbed; Logan tests Cammie on avoiding broken bottles. Jeanne-Marie checks on Jean-Paul, who was drinking with Jean-Phillipe the night before. Mutation Sternutation: Callie leaves cookies for Julian, apologising for the coma. Fiddler's Green: Scott calls for a team to go to Brazil for a simple mission; Jean, Angelo, Lil and Angel go to the Alvorecer Novo and meet with Mariana Machado, who surprises them by having four rescued Taygetos children living with her, rescued by a telepathic friend who had been working for the group, and explains why she was targeted the previous year; after bringing the children back to the medlab, Jean tells Nathan about the Taygetos plans to breed telepathic handlers while Angelo gets the kids to eat. Sarah and Catseye make peace and are friends again. Emma invites Bishop for a drink. Catseye visits Jean-Paul with a book, and he suggests she volunteer at a no-kill shelter in order to be able to interact with cats as well as people.

Jul 16 - An insomniac Lex meets Forge in the garage and finds out more about the X-Men, including who to talk to about joining. Jeanne-Marie tries to comfort Jean-Paul after another of his nightmares. Mutation Sternutation: Fred lets people know Julian is out of electronic contact due to Jean-Phillipe's powers; Kevin talks to Callie about being untouchable; Callie and Julian finally make up after the coma incident; Amara seeks out Julian, needing advice on handling his telekinesis. Lex emails Scott about the X-Men. Jane and Catseye have a naked conversation about names in the woods. Lil is unhappy at someone touching her motorbike and Lex confesses. Nathan talks to Kevin about staying on at the mansion. Jake meets Bishop and gets news about Cammie's criminal record; Jake emails Cammie, letting her know it might be possible for her to clear things and go legit. Morgan and Sam break up over Sam's self-consciousness about how people view him as too weak for her; Sam turns up at the brownstone, challenging people to fight and Wanda and North are amused and confused; Jubilee and Sofia both mention the ruckus; Jubilee texts Morgan about Sam being her boyfriend; Jay emails Sam about the commotion. Lex talks to Scott about joining the team and gets all he needs. Sarah is jubilant for by-passing military grade shielding. Nathan watches movies with an insomniac Jean-Paul and they agree to go on another trip sometime. Laurie emails Scott about coming off team hiatus once the power swap settles down. Angelo gets a new nickname from Fred and suggests that he try Elpis for a job.

Jul 17 - Morgan texts Adrienne about breakfast and apologises to the X-Forcers about Sam's disturbance the night before; Morgan emails Sam about his actions; Clarice hopes someone took video of the scene; Jay texts Paige asking if she knows where Sam is; Mark texts Jay about his brother's performance. Kevin thanks Jay for a birthday gift; Yvette lets everyone know it's Kevin's birthday; Cammie emails Forge about a hypothetical birthday plans; Kevin emails Yvette about announcing his birthday; Cammie terrifies Kevin with various sex-themed gifts among the more normal sort; Kevin thanks people for the birthday gestures. Mutation Sternutation: Dori tries to convince Callie to come see the Godzilla marathon, and when she says no due to her new powers, shares Avatar: The Last Airbender with her instead; Crystal thanks Nathan for saving her at the quarry. Angelo takes Fred to see Nathan about working for Elpis. Jake replaces Callie's Nutella and she rewards him with a Nutella-themed dinner; encountering Jake in the kitchen cleaning up, Jean-Paul makes his peace. Adrienne and Emma celebrate Emma's birthday and are far more honest with each other than they've ever been. Lex runs into Cammie as she's indulging in a bar fight. Bishop drops by to collect the photos Jennie took at the brownstone party and they chat a bit. Lex meets the Beaubier twins while out hunting and is a bit weirded out at first; afterwards, Lex runs into Nick and almost gets trampled by a deer in the process.

Jul 18 - Mutation Sternutation: Manuel causes Amara to really lose her temper - and her control of Julian's powers - and the smoker's porch is trashed; Lil takes Amara to Harry's after wondering on the journals what happened to the porch; Crystal checks on Kurt, who has been hiding in his room most of the week. Forge creates "Blame The New Guy Week" and blames Lex for various things. Fiddler's Green: Nathan meets Machado in New York to discuss the children, and is captured by Taygetos when she springs the trap set for him; a team of X-Men on manoevers at the time arrives, but too late to rescue Nathan and Haller is disturbed by certain inconsistencies; in Cerebro, Charles reveals that the trap was in fact his, using false memories on all of those involved to ensure Taygetos didn't detect anything.; Scott announces Nathan's abduction on the team comms; Manuel causes waves by asking what is causing a spike in stress and anxiety; Jean-Paul texts Angelo about his sudden absence and snapping at Manuel; Nathan wakes up in Alpha's custody and is tortured; Scott tells Jean-Paul what's happened; Jeanne-Marie thanks Scott for letting her brother know and Scott agrees to tell her any information first. Cammie announces a showing of Robot Wars in the rec room, which Angelo leaves abruptly. Amara thanks Lex for cleaning up the smoker's porch and apologises for being drunk around him at Harry's.

Jul 19 - Fiddler's Green: Taygetos brings in a telempath to try and dig the secret of the Trojan Horse out of Nathan's brain; Jake feeds Jean-Paul in an effort to be comforting. Mutation Sternutation: Jean announces they've isolated the cause of the powers swap is a non-contagious virus; Jake and Marie go out for dessert and talk about the fairness of life. Nori emails Julio, asking if it's okay to comment on the fact Angelo's wearing his leathers everywhere. Jay asks if anyone's seen Sam. After dinner with Lex, Lil sends Jean-Paul a "Dear John" email. Jake gives Jubilee gossip she's dying to spread, but can't.

Jul 20 - Garrison and Inez talk about her issues with the Beaubier twins. Fiddler's Green: Nathan continues to resist the telempath, driving her to lose her temper; Charles finds Nathan and Scott sends a team - Phoenix, Wildchild, Skin, Sway and Legion - to Greenland to pick him up; Kyle is sent in with psychic camouflage, posing as an operative and gives Nathan the trigger to release his own memory blocks; Nathan rips the location of the main Taygetos base from the telempath and leaves her for dead; back on the Blackbird, Legion has an encounter with Nathan's tactical personality, forcing it to step down and release Nathan; Scott announces the team is going to Wyoming and makes them aware Nathan's capture was part of the plan; Nathan wakes up in medlab and panics when he thinks he's been left behind and eventually convinces everyone he has to go to Wyoming; Dominion, Bubba, Phoenix and Cable sneak into the complex where Cable and Phoenix use the Trojan Horse trigger, but discover Tara Trask is countering it, driving the child operatives into a killing frenzy just like at Youra; the team finds themselves trying to take down the operatives without hurting them; Skin comes across Alpha and kicks him in the balls before having to deal with an operative losing blood fast; Sunfire goes after Alpha, wanting revenge for Jean-Paul, and lets him die at the hands of several children before reporting he was too late; Phoenix engages Trask in psychic combat and wipes her mind, leaving her a vegetable; Dominion and Bubba are nearly overwhelmed in the corridor, protecting Cable and Phoenix, but at the last minute Cable tries the Trojan Horse again and discovers that it doesn't completely mindwipe the children; Husk manages triage; Legion confirms the operatives have minds left that can be rehabilitated; Cable has a 'visit' from the dead Colin MacInnis; Forge and Lil try to banter on the way home, but find it difficult; Jean-Paul meets the Blackbird and helps Nathan to the medlab. Amanda emails Manuel and Angelo about their behaviour on the journals and gets a rather unapologetic response from both; Amanda posts about Clarice being right about dumping men for good. Mutation Sternutation: Yvette tests Laurie's control of Crystal's powers when they talk about making up for past actions and trust; Amara runs into Manuel and Valentia out by the stables and is surprised when he behaves like a gentleman.

Jul 21 - Fiddler's Green: Manuel goes down to the medlab and helps Nathan with his pain and trauma; Garrison is in pain and receives sympathy in the form of Logan offering good Scotch and mockery from everyone else; Scott praises the team for their efforts and asks for mission reports; Nathan and Jean talk about what they achieved; Jean-Paul has words about Nathan feeling guilty for putting him through more stress. Lil asks Forge for a way of stopping her from drunk emailing her estranged husband in the wee small hours. Cammie tells Jake they're going out for the day and they wind up at Liberty Island, talking about consequences and Cammie's future. The New York Times publishes an article about the upcoming Columbia Massacre anniversary. Kyle comes across Sam in the Danger Room, trying to prove his toughness and during a rather insane discussion, Sam accidentally breaks Kyle's ribs and realises how stupid he's being; Sam emails Scott, letting him know he put Kyle in the medlab.

Jul 22 - Paige posts tipsy, demanding a medical tricorder. Sarah asks if anyone else is having toaster issues. Amanda wishes Angelo a happy birthday and apologises for her post. Scott talks to Sam about the incident and winds up benching him and sending him to talk to Charles; Charles asks Sam to come and talk to him; Charles suspends Sam from teaching and puts him on anger management counselling; Jay hunts down Sam and the talk goes as well as all the others. Fiddler's Green: Checking on Nathan and Jean-Paul, Jeanne-Marie winds up talking to Nathan about why he let himself be caught; Adrienne emails Lil to make sure Garrison is all right after his post; Nicks talks to Shiro about his Catseye dilemma, but Shiro is distracted by memories of letting Alpha die; when Jean-Paul drops by to check on him, Shiro tells him the truth and they agree to keep it secret; Marie emails Garrison to make sure he's okay; Julio visits Nathan with work and reveals there's a place for Machado's Taygetos children in Brazil; Julian comes down to medlab to get his bandage changed and is shocked to stumble in on Nathan, looking like hell. Catseye asks Johnny why Nick might be uncomfortable about her kissing him thank you and teases information about his crush on Lil out of him. Cammie (and the rest of the mansion) are amused to find Crystal singing ABBA while playing SingStar; Dori joins in. Johnny gets jealous when Lex interrupts his training with Lil and flirts with her. Jean emails Kyle, demanding to know why he isn't still in the medlab. Crystal offers Jean her help in medlab. Mutation Sternutation: Cammie and Callie talk destructive powers; Julian runs into Crystal after seeing Nathan and they talk about their swapped powers and growing up as 'royalty'.

Jul 23 - In the wake of the ABBA fest the day before, Jake shares another Swedish musical talent. Fiddler's Green: An insomniac Lil visits Nathan; SHIELD asks Moira and Jean to help them on a retrieval mission to a Taygetos creche and when Nathan finds out about it, he refuses to remain behind; on the way to the base, Forge and Nathan talk about the reward of helping the children; arriving, Nathan is happily surprised to find Carly Alvarez working for SHIELD; Moira and Jean begin the evaluation of the babies when news comes that John Lense is en route with a team; a desperate plan is formed, Carly and Nathan to cooperate taking down Lense whilst Jean protects the babies from his team; in the battle against Lense, Carly is killed and Nathan almost so, before finally killing his old Mistra teammate; Forge reports on what happened; Scott announces the six rescued babies will be in the mansion for a short time before being transferred to Muir Island. Amanda visits the mansion and meets Lex and then Sarah. Jake and Vanessa swap places, causing confusion to Cammie and resulting in confessions from Adrienne that lead to her having sex with Vanessa; Doug isn't fooled by Jake-as-Vanessa. Sam emails Morgan, apologising for his actions and asking her to apologise to X-Force for him; Morgan tells him to do his own apologising. Laurie talks to Haller about apologies and making amends.

Jul 24 - Late at night, Lil goes down to the infirmary for help with her insomnia and to her discomfort has to hold a baby to get it. Mutation Sternutation: Callie's powers come back and she seeks out Fred; Callie emails Manuel to let him know she'll be babysitting Valentia for him. Scott talks to Shiro about Alpha's death and the truth comes out, resulting in Shiro being encouraged to take some time off the team. Angelo resigns as self-defence teacher and takes a hiatus from the team in order to run the Elpis office and take care of Nathan. Shiro texts Jay, asking him to visit and Jay takes off from work; Mark texts Jay about his early departure and the two share ribaldries. Julian comes across Johnny in their suite and it's decided a boys-only poker night is needed to counter the angst level in the suite.

Jul 25 - Lex announces his joining of the team and the trainee name thread commences. Nick meets Angel at the pool and is charmed by her casual attitude. Mutation Sternutation: Julian and Jean-Phillipe announce the return of their powers and Julian asks for a fifth for the poker game and gets Logan; Charles announces he has located the mutant responsible for the power swapping; Julian thanks Forge and Sarah for the electricity-proof laptop and returns it; Laurie posts about not wanting her 'morally dubious' powers back; now social again, Julian goes for coffee with Inez and they talk about the powers swap and Angel; later Julian asks Dori to forgive him for not being able to come out. Monet finds herself explaining couples and sex to Catseye. Amanda asks if anyone saw the Columbia memorial the previous day. Fiddler's Green: Scott and Jean find themselves discussing the possibility of having the Family Talk again as they care for the Taygetos babies. Jane has a good day and squees about the babies in the basement. Lil runs into Lex in the garage and they flirt heavily before Lil tells him she's married and he backs off; Lex posts a 'warning' about people staying out of the woods the next day while he's hunting, which is taken badly by various people, including Lil, and then offers to cook a Luau, which is taken better; Forge emails Lil about Lex's fast work and about her only just telling him now she's married; Manuel takes advantage of his free evening and sleeps with Cammie, things moving into strange emotional areas. Wanda has a frustrating talk with Sam about his behaviour. Pas de Trois: Julian tells Angel about what Esme did and she reluctantly agrees not to retaliate against her. Wanda, Jake, Doug and Marie-Ange go out for dinner and talk turns to why Jake and Wanda haven't had sex yet.

Jul 26 - Mutation Sternutation: Marie's powers come back; Marie emails Jean to ask if it's possible to be reinfected with the virus, but Jean tells her she can't catch it again; Jean posts her report on the pick up; Crystal emails Laurie about her disappointment in not having Crystal's powers any more; Callie is meditative on the nature of being a mutant in the wake of her powers returning. Jay emails Kyle about the aggressiveness of his response to Lex the day before. Lex emails Lil and it goes badly. Lex asks Nick to come out hunting with him. Crystal emails Lex about people misjudging his tone. Manuel emails Lex warning him off Lil and her anger issues. Manuel emails Amanda about her comment about Bethany Moore. Manuel thanks Callie for the babysitting. Cammie and Catseye go into New York for a shopping trip and Catseye gets a shock when she tries to play with some of her old feral cat companions and they react to her as if she was human; Cammie notices Catseye has run off to the woods. Yvette asks if it's all right to go back into the woods. Forge runs into Manuel at Harry's and they talk about the women in Manuel's life and a recurring pattern of attraction; Cammie runs into a drunk Manuel and things get odd. Lex apologises for his tone in the previous day's post. Cammie texts Callie about Valentia being in her suite. Callie offers extra cookies to Fred. Jake posts a final example in the "Why Sweden Is Crazy" discussion. Jan finds Dori moping after a call to her mother and they talk families and dumb fathers. Crystal questions a fake smile Julian gave her last week and encourages him not to fake his emotions.

Jul 27 - Lex and Julio meet pre-coffee and eventually manage to communicate once the caffiene hits. Wanda runs into Scott in New York and they discuss recent events, and especially Shiro. Lex and Nick comisserate over women while hunting, and shortly after, Nick reveals his feelings to Catseye, still hiding in the woods, and manages to add to her confusion. Lex posts a sign in the kitchen regarding the luau. Jan posts about wanting people to taste various flavours of Nutella. Kyle and Jay discuss Sam before the conversation switches to Jay's relationship with Shiro. Fiddler's Green: Jean-Paul visits Nathan in the infirmary and Nathan reflects on killing Lense and the death of Carly; Jean announces on the journals that Nathan is allowed to have visitors. Lil and Jennie discuss babies, their childhoods, the weird happenings at the mansion, Lil's desire to go home, and men. Operation: Dead Letter Office: Marie-Ange reports that Arkady Russovich has resurfaced and has met with an Infonet courier.

Jul 28 - Lil and Lex nearly come to blows in the gym when he attempts to apologize for provoking her on the journals. Manuel and Jennie have a strained encounter at breakfast and they admit that they can never be what they once were to each other but agree to try and be friends again. Still in the woods, Catseye meets with Kevin and Kyle, who try to comfort her as she struggles with her identity issues and give her some much-needed advice; to avoid thinking on what her friends have said, however, she goes for a hunt in BigCat form and disrupts one of Lex's kills. Jay discovers Shiro is dating a woman in addition to sleeping with him and Shiro promises to break things off with her. Lex and Adrienne meet and the newcomer finds himself on the offensive again against a woman telling him he screwed up. Crystal takes breakfast to the infirmary and asks Nathan when he will give up injuring himself. Morgan visits Nathan in the infirmary and then comes across Lex nursing a bottle of scotch, prompting a discussion about his track record with women. Scott and Jean have a sparring session that turns into a makeout session in the danger room. Operation: Dead Letter Office: En route to Geneva, Jake and Amanda converse about Jake's family; later, Jake and North discuss Jake's mother and a past job between North and an Infonet courier before they meet with Jake's family at Infonet; the family reunion does not go swimmingly for Jake as he and North fail to find out information on the Infonet courier who met with Russovich, although Jake's mother and sister do agree to look into who paid to send Jake's fingers to the mansion; on the intel that Russovich had a meeting at a cafe across from a bank, Doug recovers video records from one of the bank machine while Amanda provides his distraction by creating a pregnancy emergency so the two of them can find out who was meeting Russovich; discovering from the bank camera that Russovich was meeting with Hans Mittlesteadt, North calls in a favour with the German and finds out what Russovich has been trying to find - a carbonadium synthesizer - and North also manages to find out that the synthesizer will be auctioned soon and gains a heads-up about Russovich's whereabouts; North, Jake, Doug, and Amanda regroup and North laments about being stuck in Switzerland instead of going to Russovich since Jake's family connections make leaving the country difficult; North posts to the Snow Valley comm to brief the rest of the Trenchcoats and request a team go to South Africa to find Russovich before Russovich gets his hands on the synthesizer.

Jul 29 - Early in the morning, Morgan visits Adrienne to retrieve some clothes, informing her friend that she stayed over at Lex's and inviting her out for breakfast. Crystal takes Lex shopping for luau supplies in a limo and convinces him to wear a hula skirt for the party. Yvette and Catseye meet in the woods and Yvette relates some information about her past that brings Catseye out of her identity funk and the two go take the test for their learner permits at the DMV. Lil emails Jean-Paul asking him to cook for her in the wake of her fight with Lex. Catseye posts about her and Yvette passing their tests and getting their learner permits. Sam posts apologizing to everyone for attacking Kyle and telling them of his suspension. Lex goes to the medlab to get the ribs he damaged hunting looked at and meets Nathan. Scott posts to the x-team journal announcing that Lex's trainee name is to be 'Hamster.' Manuel goes to visit Nathan in the medical bay and Nathan's emotions hit Manuel hard and Nathan admits he's not ready to accept that he had no choice but to kill Lense.

Jul 30 - Operation: Dead Letter Office: Mark and Illyana scope out a golf course taking pictures of suspicious people in attempt to find out who is running the auction for the synthesizer in Sun City; Mark posts to the Snow Valley comm to inform the Trenchcoats that the seller's name is Gareb Bashur and that the route the package is taking to get to Sun City has been assertained; Jake calls Wanda to lift his spirits in the wake of dealing with his family. Julian emails Yvette to congratulate her on getting her learner's permit. Callie finds Catseye struggling to maintain balance on her bicycle and suggests training wheels (and a helmet.) Cammie visits Nathan in the infirmary and defends her opinion that he's crazy. On his way out after a Danger Room session, Jay notices Shiro in the room and goes to speak with him - Shiro is not pleased that his breakup with Kali did not go well and Jay challenges him to a 'scuffle' to release some of his pent-up energy, and in the heat of the game both are injured; Sarah feels the damage done to the Danger Room and comments on it; Garrison lectures Jay in the medbay while Scott goes to speak to Shiro in the isolation room to chastize him for running a life-threatening training programme with a non-X-Man and instructs him to take a break from the team and the Danger Room.

Jul 31 - Lil emails Lex offering alcohol for the luau. Garrison needles Adrienne about the Boston Red Sox. Operation: Dead Letter Office: The auction for the synthesizer in Sun City is attended by X-Force, who have various duties - Emma plays golf with the assistance of Illyana and Mark to keep an eye on the personas of everyone on the course; Wanda and Sofia meet the man running the transfers at the auction, Gareb Bashur, also known as Blackbox; Vanessa and Jubilee meet Arkady Russovich and an American associate, Dr. Cornelius, who specalizes in the research and implementation of biological assets; Bishop, Marie-Ange and Gambit try to waylay the delivery of the synthesizer, resulting in a wild chase with the Mengo Brothers; the chase winds up at the auction and complete chaos ensues; Wanda fights Omega Red and barely escapes as Cornelius hurries his associate away; Devi Gavin manages to secure the box with the synthesizer and X-Force retreats. Fred emails Kyle about help on a carpentry project. After the luau, Amara and Lex do clean-up duty and discuss the circumstances that led them to the mansion. Tabitha runs in to Manuel and Valentia at the luau and Manuel makes clear his dislike of Tabitha as a role model for his sister; after the encounter, Tabitha and Amara plot to throw Manuel off a cliff as they talk at the luau. Jean-Paul visits Shiro in the medical bay and advises him to make up with Jay.

Plots

Face The Blood

Mnemovore

Pas de Trois

Those Who Are Dead

Mutation Sternutation

Fiddler's Green

Operation: Dead Letter Office

External Links

July 2009