How lucky a Rabbit's foot..?.. indeed

[Coffee]

In the moments before the headmistress opened the door Coffee was beaming with pride and happiness. While the training session had not gone as planned, the more he thought about it, the happier he was with the outcome. The exercise had brought out teamwork, perseverance, and strategy in the kits, and had taught him a valuable lesson too. He was already looking forward to future sessions and was full of ideas to propose to the headmistress. It good, good, he thought. Learn fight. Best. By now he had spent months watching most of the students and learned a lot about their skills and personalities. He was sure that they could become greater fighters than any of Mojo's troops, a valuable protection for Coffee and also against the school's enemies, about whom he had heard enough whispers to realize were formidable.

So when a terrible booming noise split his ears just as the headmistress opened the office door, Coffee was ready to assume the worst and went on instant alert. His expression confused for a moment and then determined. Both ears standing on end, he paused for a second and let his left one scan back and forth quickly, before he hopped across the room. They no alert. , he thought. They angry.. Coffee looked quizzically at the headmaster and Rogue who were standing there with crossed arms and dour expressions. It took him only a few moments to realize the angry looks were directed at him. Why angry Coffee? he thought as a look of great confusion swept across his face. I help kits. I no do bad. The threat of worse places than the Mojoverse that the headmistress made on the day he arrived immediately came to mind. What could be worse than home? Only his warrior training kept the rabbit from trembling at the thought.

[Emma Frost]

Emma had, in the ensuing months since Coffee's arrival, become much better versed in reading the refugee from Mojoverse's mind and speaking to him with her own. ~*Yes, Coffee.. angry is one way to perceive it, and rightly so as I think you will see.*~ She proceeded to motion for him to sit in the chair before the duo of Rogue and Cyclops.

She began to display, for them each to partake of in their mind's eye, what she had gleaned from the memories of the children Coffee had trained while she spoke aloud. "As you can see, this was not something these children were prepared for in the least. That is panic, anger and frustration you are seeing now." She said as she narrated what was going on in the memories she was revealing to them. "Your overzealousness in wanting to train our kids since you arrived here was a concern that I shared with all of the teachers, but we never thought you would take it upon yourself to ever act on those urges without permission Coffee."

Emma sat in the other seat before her desk and folded her arms in like fashion, the three teachers presenting a united front. "Is it beyond your ability to grasp how far over the line you crossed Coffee? You endangered lives and may have undermined those children's futures here. We don't ever put our kids into harmful situations without safeguards. Granted, here at this school some very frightening and dangerous situation find themselves thrust upon the students, but we are here to keep them from harm.. WE" she motioned to herself and the other two teachers "..the X-Men, the Staff here. Not you Coffee."

"I know you've got a good heart but you are not staff, and even though you are obviously not a student you are far from one of the teachers." Emma shook her head unsure exactly how best to proceed. Not wanting to be overbearing, yet needing to be just frightening enough, knowing that he already held the fear of her original threat she was certain he would accept whatever was handed down to him.

"We need to define your role here more clearly so that in future you wont have any confusion over what you are to be doing and you wont come that close to killing any students or burning down the surrounding forest ever again." She let her glance float up to the other two teachers allowing one of them to elaborate now that they had all experienced just what had happened in the rabbitman's training session.

[Rogue]

Rogue pursed her lips and her green eyes traveled the short trip over Coffee. "What Ah would like to know is where you got the idea that you were on the staff here? Ah thought that Ah was perfectly clear that you were a guest. Ah do not recall tellin you that your status here had changed."

There was something ridiculous about intimidating a rabbit, but Rogue was not about to let Coffee get away with endangering students. Kids came to the Academy to be safe, to learn how to take care of themselves. What Coffee had done... neither of those kids would get that first combat experience back. They hadn't learned anything. They'd only gotten frustrated. Couple that with their handling of weapons and they were all lucky that no one had gotten hurt.

"Furthermore," Rogue growled through her teeth and took a step closer to the most unfortunate rabbit, "Ah want to know how you got into the weapon stores. You ain't got clearance for that sort of thing. Those kids are brand-spankin-new, and they didn't have permission to be armed!" She snarled a bit under her breath, her temper getting the better of her. "All Ah can say, Coffee, is that you have proven that you can't make good choices regarding the students." She shook her head, both annoyed and disappointed that she had to help deal with this. If she could get her way, they'd deal with Coffee the good ol' fashioned way. In a broth with vegetables.

[Coffee]

They not supposed prepare, he thought with confusion. Make no point. The panic, anger, and frustration were normal. They felt just like his own first training session, when his new wolf instructor had thrown him into a battle with nothing but his wits. He didn't even have weapons then, much less any training. He had survived because he learned in just one battle to be resourceful and to control his emotions. He had seen the kits starting to learn to do the same today. He could not understand how the training session could be seen as anything but a roaring success. To not put kits into such situations was a very strange concept. Thing different here, he reminded himself. Must learn new thing. Old way not here way.

He got it. While trying to do the right thing he had crossed some serious lines. That made him sad. At the same time, the headmistress' statement about defining his role so it wouldn't happen again was welcome. I stay. No stew., a slight sigh of relief escape his lips. He tapped his head to try to indicate to the headmistress, if she wasn't already reading his thoughts, that he was going to think something for her to read. I sorry. I do thing old way. Not here way. Confusing here. Instruction good. It no happen then. Punish ready. He would take responsibility for his actions even though part of him kept insisting that their ways were ridiculous for training warriors. After all, how could the kits become strong warriors if they were coddled with protected scenarios so they didn't feel panic, anger, and frustration.

As for endangering the kits, he thought she was wrong there. They were scared but in no serious danger. He could kill them easily if he wanted and just as easily he could make sure to hit only on their vests. True, they could hurt themselves. But it was pretty hard, even with a sword, for anybody with half a brain to inflict permanent injuries especially given the medical capacities he had seen at the school. And he'd been careful with the smoke grenades too. They had sufficient dirt around them to protect against fires. His training in planting them in the Mojoverse was top rate. He hesitated and thought whether he should bring this up, forgetting for the moment that before the headmistress had been able to read his thoughts without an invitation so she could probably read this just as easily as the thoughts he'd directed to her. No, say. No argue. Obey.

But Rogue's snarling got his dander up a little so he felt he had to say something in his own defense. He tapped some Morse on the floor, hoping they would understand. If not Ms. Frost could read his thoughts again. Staff,no staff. No think this way home. Kit call me staff when I get here. He had asked for a definition of the word long before. I ask what this. Say helper. I help. I no instruction what do. Mistake. I sorry. Give instruction. I take.

He paused to give them time to make out his words, then continued. I train kit, old way. Way I know. To help. I no understand this world. I try. It different, different. Panic, pain, frustration. Old way, teach. Kit learn control emotion, think strategy, work team. Kit learn this day. Not way you learn kits. I learn you way. Take instruction. He only hoped she would understand that it was not an act of defiance on his part or a lack of caring or thought, he truly cared for the kits and planned the session carefully, but a difference in culture and experience. He could learn their ways but he would need some time and some help.

Looking up at Ms. Frost, he asked. What punish now?

[Rogue]

Rogue felt like the whole conversation was on a delay while Coffee thumped and banged his foot on the floor. This was ridiculous. They were being lectured by f*cking Thumper. “Now hold on just a minute,” Rogue held up her hands just to stop the incessant hammering. “Did he— did the rabbit just blame this on a kid? Ah suppose the students also gave you access to our weapons?” She was fuming. Either her Morse code was off or Coffee was contradicting himself left, right, and center.

“So you are fully aware that your status here is a guest, and yet you stole weapons, gave them to unsupervised children, and proceed to fight them? That doesn't sound, oh, Ah don't know, INSANE to you?” Rogue had been leaning back against Emma’s desk and her fingers dug into the wood. Only the sound of splintering stopped her from crushing the edge of the desk to throwing-sized chunks. The thought was altogether too tempting. With her aim and strength, Coffee would be a shish-kabob. “This is what Ah was talkin about. His concept of appropriate behavior is jiggered, Emma. He don't know what's safe and what isn't. He shouldn't be here."

She stared down into Coffee's stupid rabbit face and dragged a gloved hand over her eyes in frustration. She might as well be talking to her boot for all the good this was doing. "You've been wantin to ‘train’ the kids since you got here, but by your own admission you have no idea how things in this dimension are done. You had no right to take that pig sticker to a student, and you sure as hell had no right to arm any of'em when you yourself had no right to be armed. Your fool pride and your ignorance could have gotten them both hurt and we are damn lucky that it didn’t. And yes, Ah said ‘we’ because you are my goddamn responsibility.” Rogue looked at her two friends and shook her head, arms folded over her chest. “Ah’m sorry, Emma. Scott. Ah know Ah said that Ah’d try, but Ah say he gets a hutch in the damn barn and he thanks the Lord every mornin that we don’t let the wolf twins eat’em.”

[Cyclops]

There she is.. THAT'S the Rogue we all know and love Something then, hidden within but the hint of it showed tugging a corner of Scott's otherwise stone faced grimace into the slightest of smiles. "You heard her Coffee, what do you have to say for yourself!?!" He scolded the rabbit as if it were one of the children, for in his mind it must be a child. The lack of common sense it showed could only speak to a lack of maturity.

"If I were a guest in your home what would you expect of me? What kind of disrespect should we allow from you? I will tell you it will never have anything to do with the students here ever again. So help me I will skin you alive before I let you do anything as foolish as what you did today." He stood up straighter, his arms unfolding as his stance bore down imposingly. The ruby lensed glasses the Headmaster wore showed the rabbit-man it's own face in the reflection, hiding Scott's eyes so that Coffee could get no read on the man.

"Things are different here, and Rogue is right about you. Just as every damn creation from that twisted crazed world before you, Coffee- you are insane. Sure it's not your fault, but you are not right in the head and because of that you can't be trusted-" He looked at Emma and then a Rogue before returning his stare to the mirror warrior adding "-and I thought you'd have been a hell of a lot more clever than you were."

"We do things different here, and if you were paying attention at all in the time you've been here you should KNOW how we do things. We prepare our young, we cherish them and we challenge them, but we do it smart. We thrust them into things we know they will handle only AFTER we know what it IS they can handle." He couldn't believe the vermin was actually trying to squirm it's way out of what it had done.

"It's called integrity Coffee. Sorry doesn't cut it when it comes to the kits we have here. You screwed up, don't blame it on not knowing, you could have asked. Don't say things are different here and hide behind that- And Don't Say you were training them Your Way - THEY WEREN'T YOURS TO TRAIN!" The vein in Scott's forehead began to throb as he screamed at the rabbit thing before him. He wanted to put the fear of whatever god it claimed for itself into the creature at that moment, but it looked so frail and helpless before an optic blast from his eyes that it wouldn't be worth it to kill the thing. "From now on you DO exactly what Rogue says, and all of the rest of the teachers here have authority over you as well. If I find out you screwed up again mister I will drop kick you through every mirror I can get my hands on before I send you back to Mojo in a sack- you got that?"

[Coffee]

Coffee forced himself not to flinch as Rogue splintered part of the desk with her hands. They no see, he thought with despair. I die. He knew what he had done was wrong. And he was starting to feel a feeling in his stomach that he had never had before. In the Mojoverse mistakes meant death or torture, or both. But nobody ever felt guilty for failing Mojo. At least nobody that Coffee knew about.

But under his fur his cheeks were flushing a little. His heart beat raced faster and not just from fear. If it had just been Rogue, he would have written her off. The woman was a wolf in his opinion, and had been against him from his first day. But he could clearly see the Headmaster was also furious, and that meant he had really screwed up. That he had, in her words, proven he could not be trusted with the students made him feel ashamed. I no understand, he thought glumly. I no think I no understand. I no ask. I think I do good thing. All happy. Now all angry. I do bad. I deserve die.

He wasn't sure whether to try to explain his thought process or not. There was never an intent to steal. The weapons were all returned when the training session was over (except for the ones he had brought from the Mojoverse), and he had only trained the students to prove his worth to the teachers. He wanted them to see him as an asset because he knew Mojo would come and threaten to raze the school to the ground to get him back. Then Mojo would torture and kill him in ways more gruesome than could be imagined, and broadcast it all to show what happened to traitors. His move had backfired spectacularly. But when, Rogue finished by suggesting a hutch in the barn, his fear dissipated a little but his confusion grew. She the wolf want to kick out all day. Now she say keep when Coffee bad?

What I say, he thought, as the headmaster demanded he explain himself. He tried to both think and listen to Cyclops lecture him about the proper behavior of guests. His heart dropped again. He no understand, I try to help. He wasn't sure what the word 'disrespect' meant but the way the headmaster said it, made it pretty clear it was some bad thing the rabbit had done. The threat to skin him for making mistakes with the students in the future, made him worry all the more. He no kill now, that good, Coffee thought. But he kill if Coffee bad. Coffee still no understand. Coffee make mistake if no understand. Coffee die then. Bad. He listened to the rest of what the headmaster had to say and tried to pick his words carefully.

He tapped out slowly. "I do bad. I take blame," he tapped. "No run away." He paused hoping it had made sense. "I scared, you kill Coffee for mistake....I scared you give Coffee Mojo. I think he come soon....I try train kit, show Coffee good. Mean good. I know bad now. You not kill." He paused to let them catch up with his tapping and started again. "I thank. I no so scared now. I feel bad. I never feel bad for mistake home. Only fear. Never want help home. I try learn here way. I ask. Guest ask. I bad guest. I not act with no ask now. I hope forgive time. Mistake friend, no enemy. Bad mistake. My blame. Punish take Coffee." Please understand, he thought. More than anything else he wanted to learn how things were done here so he could help these people who had helped him and so the headmaster and the teachers would never look at him with the disgust he saw in Rogue's eyes and which he was pretty sure was in the headmaster's eyes hidden behind his glasses.

[Emma Frost]

Emma Frost, world class telepath that she was, could take no more. Being the sole 'good cop' to counterbalance two 'bad cops', now held her hands up as she shook her head calling a halt to it all. She had half considered freezing them all in place. Holding them in that catatonic state until she poured herself a stiff drink and had a bit of a calm moment. It was a trick she'd picked up from Charles Xavier, but she had found in her younger days that she would resort to it far too often in times of crisis, so she put off falling back on it right now. Though the decanted brandy on her shelf was looking a touch too inviting at present for her to not consider the thought a moment longer.

It probably had more to do with Coffee and his inability to think in anything but fragmented gibberish. She understood his needing to tap his Morse code in fragments when he wanted to quickly get a point across, or with those who had a limited facility with the language of dots and dashes. Though she herself was less than fluent with it she knew that Scott and Rogue were more than capable to understand since it was they who had taught it to the mirror warrior in the first place. "Enough Coffee. Please.. you are making my head throb with your skittery half-thoughts. No one will kill you or cook you or give you back to Mojo to do so with. At least not today so relax."

She took a deep breath and rolled her eyes at Rogue and Scott. "When you asked for asylum with us it was assumed we would protect you from all enemies in exchange for you behaving yourself as per our agreement. It seems as though your definition of behaving yourself differs greatly from our own. Perhaps therein lies the error I should claim responsibility for, for no other had the ability to communicate with you as readily as did I when you first arrived. Be that as it may we will move forward from here."

She turned to both Scott and Rogue. "His jumbled little mind, fragmented with excuses and apologies, is truly distressed. Fear and confusion cloud his thoughts and the threat of Mojo and a return to that universe have had the desired effect I believe. In truth he believed himself to be doing right by the children, though I know he knows better now. As for him using his powers to circumvent the safeguards on the weapons cache, that is a different story."

She had read his memories and saw that he had slid a mirror under the door in order that he could get into the locked chamber of the Weapons Room. No excuse or claim of misunderstanding could explain away such an obvious breach of trust as breaking into a locked room. "A mirror slid under the door of the Weapons Locker was how he got inside, he knew it was off limits." She announced sharing what she had gleaned from reading Coffee's thoughts. It was the only way the rabbit could have gotten in there and she considered it a clever trick, yet with this bit of information uncovered it was clear that Coffee's desire to train the children was beyond bordering on the obsessive. It had crossed that border in the dark of night. "It would seem or rabbit man has more in common with the proverbial wolf in sheep's clothing than he would like to admit."

Emma began to wonder, more now than ever before, how Coffee had found his way to Rogue's small group that fateful day. How convenient, how unexpected and all at once as the little creature's true darkness showed through, how sinister. She didn't let on just how much she worried and the concentration and time it would take to wiggle into Coffee's mind without his knowledge was best saved for another time when he was less on his guard. A defensive mind was tricky enough if it was human but an alien life-form would require finesse and patience. She would wait for her opportunity, but she dared not put it off much longer.

"Rogue, this time keep a serious eye on this one.. he is far more than just a furry little nuisance." She stood up brushing her hands down her blouse to smooth it out and walked to the door. "Make certain you explain what he is expected to do and what the limit of his interaction with the students is to be." She opened her office door and nodded her head to the young woman, her trusted friend, knowing full well she would make everything crystal clear to the little pellet dropper from Mojoverse. "Scott, a word before you go please" she said to her boyfriend as she shut the door behind Rogue and Coffee.