Administrivia ((Open to any who want to see the new Xavier's Headmaster))

[nohoundsallowed]

Rachel was in the middle of remodeling what was now her office. Xavier has finished up the semester and given her the office as hers. Though she currently had no clue how to decorate it. So things were looking a little bare with her desk and two chairs across from it for adornment.

She had plans for the estate on her desk. She sat in her chair and pinched the bridge of her nose. There were pages of the requirements for a being a certified school scattered on the floor behind her. She had posted about her open office before the summer semester began.

The redhead didn't know if having visitors would be a blessing or not.

Comments

[nohoundsallowed]

Rachel had expected to busy as headmaster, but she had not quite prepared for this level of busy-ness. She had managed to at least pick all the papers up from around the cavernous space by the time Stephanie arrived for her appointment. She had just settled back into her chair when there was a knock at the door.

"Come on in, Stephanie."

[pyroprincess]

Stephanie could probably give Rachel a few tips on handling extremely large workloads, though her ability to make up for a lack of sleep by punching a wall helped enormously. She walked into the office and sat down.

"Would you like the good or the bad items of business first?" While it could seem flippant in another tone, Stephanie wasn't particularly laughing. There were some serious things they needed to discuss. Vargas. The Hellfire Club. Sage's working with her fiancee's company.

[nohoundsallowed]

"Let's start with the bad, so we can finish on a better note," Rachel decided with a pause. She closed the door with a thought. Telekinesis was such a lovely power. Particularly for her immaculate nails.

[pyroprincess]

"Kayla was right. Her employer was on my list of mutant-friendly employers." Stephanie pulled a list out of the briefcase. "I hadn't made the list public yet, so that means someone close to me has leaked the information." She handed over the full list of employers, nearly forty names of companies, from small establishments such as the Sweating Bullets tattoo parlour and Bob's Coffeeshop to Veridian Dynamics, Marcelo's company.

"I don't know what order he intends to go in, but I expect he will be attempting to kill all the others on the list." Her jaw set. "A personal friend of mine and my fiancee are on this list. I want him stopped." The word killed almost slipped her tongue, but she stopped it. She did. But she would settle for him simply being stopped. They were the X-Men after all. Heroes.

She wasn't a hero, she didn't think. She wanted vengeance, and she'd admit such if asked. But there was more than that at stake right now. People she cared about, a movement she cared about.

The odd thing is that Rachel was privy to absolutely none of those thoughts. One of the things that Father had insisted she start wearing, a psi blocker. It was just part of being a Shaw, like an affinity for expensive alcohol and naked ambition.

"Secondly, my father isn't dead. He's assumed global leadership of the Hellfire Club. As far as I can tell, he has little interest and absolutely no designs on the Institute, though I cannot vouch for some of the other Lords Paramount. Selene and Mr. Sinister."

Stephanie pulled something else out, it looked like a cellphone, but it was designed to be utterly untraceable. It had functionality like any other cellphone, audio and text, but the signal was almost impossible to discern unless one was actually listening on one end or the other.

"If I ever get wind of something that anyone involved in their circles that immediately concerns the Institute, I'll send word through this. It's from my fiancee's company. There's virtually no means in existence to trace the signal."

[nohoundsallowed]

Rachel sat quietly to absorb all the information coming her way. She started to frown and it only deepened as Stephanie went over various point. She took the list of 40 businesses by hand and gave it a cursory glance over.

"We haven't stopped trying to find Vargas since your hospital visit here. He is rather canny and mobile. I'll see if the X-Men will scout around these businesses. Logan probably knows Vargas' scent by now and I can pull some people with psychometry to try as well." She could see if she could call in Longshot for a visit if she got desperate. Maybe have Betsy help him regulate his powers.

Rachel also wasn't trying to read Stephanie's mind. The young lady had gone to school here and should have some mental shielding from courses. Also, Stephanie did not seem to be thinking that loudly.

She blinked at the news Sebastian Shaw was alive. "Well, that explains why Sage gave up full-time administration here. Well, and Xavier moving to other things."

She was not impressed by the mention of Selene. Though Mr. Sinister did give her pause.

"You mixed in one bright spot in all your dour news," Rachel noted as she took the phone. "Nice ring."

[pyroprincess]

"Thank you." Stephanie replied graciously, actually smiling slightly despite the general dourness of it all. "Speaking of Sage ... she has started working with my fiancee's company. It seems to somewhat stretch coincidence that she'd choose that particular establishment to work." Was she implying that the school might be monitoring her? Actually yes, though her tone wasn't one of anger. In truth, it was weirdly consoling to think she was worth noticing and watching.

"Another small positive note ... I owe this school a great deal. I'm also grimly aware of how difficult it can be for anyone who is openly mutant to get scholarships, and even more so with jobs." She took out other papers and handed them over to Rachel. "Full scholarships to any American university for several graduating students, and internships working directly with me in my effort to make things better on a practical level for mutants."

[nohoundsallowed]

"I don't think it was coincidence, but you would have to ask Sage about that. She still lives here at Xavier's, but we have no clue what she's doing at..." Rachel paused and looked down at the list.

"... Veridian Dynamics."

She set the business list and the phone aside and took the new batch of paperwork. She smiled. "Thank you very much, Miss Shaw. This will certainly help. I know my sister and the other New Mutants occasionally have problems, particularly Angel. So, this will be a great help."