"I'm Liza Colby-Chandler, reporting live from what was once the Brooke English House." Liza turned her back to the raging fire and frowned soberly into the camera. "Where just an hour ago the Friends of Humanity-" the venom was evident in her words, "started a riot because the homeless shelter allowed a mutant to stay overnight."

She pulled her coat more tightly around her and continued. "Last night, the temperature was expected to drop below zero, and the Brooke English Shelter announced that they were opening their doors to everybody. When this unnamed mutant took them up on the offer, according to the statement released by Brooke English, ‘We decided to be humane.'" The camera followed the newest fire truck as it pulled onto the scene.

Liza turned towards the truck and nodded. "Fire units from as far away as Salem Center and Center City have responded to the call."

Henry McCoy turned off the television and sighed. Same sad story, only this time in a town less than an hundred miles away from Salem Center.

Bobby Drake walked in and saw the expression on his best friend's face. "What happened?"

Hank turned to his friend and remembered Bobby worked in Pine Valley as an outside auditor for Enchantment, the cosmetics company, and had several friends in the small town. "Friends Of Humanity firebombed the Brooke English House because they let a mutant stay there."

Bobby shook his head sadly. He knew Brooke English personally because he helped his friend Janet Green with the shelter's books. "Ouch. All those poor people."

Hank agreed. "Last week, same town, the Cindy Chandler AIDS Hospice was attacked because someone thought that they had a person with Legacy staying there." If Stuart Chandler, known for his gentle spirit and compassionate heart, hadn't been there then the hospice could have suffered the same fate as the homeless shelter. Stuart had taken in a mutant that Hank had sent there, but that mutant had died of AIDS.

Sam Guthrie walked in. "See ya heard the news." His southern accent was thickened by the fact he was upset.

His girlfriend, Rahne Sinclair, looked at him from her spot on the couch and bit her lip. Something had been bothering him for a couple of weeks now and this attack had focused his attention away from it. For that, she was grateful, even if she was upset by the rash of hate crimes. Back when they were New Mutants, the principal of Pine Valley High School had invited them to several of the school dances, so they knew several members of the community. Now, the AIDS Hospice was supporting her adoptive mother's research and even offering to finance Rahne coming to work at Pine Valley Hospital to explore a connection between AIDS and Legacy, a disease that shared several common characteristics with AIDS. "It's sae sad," she told him as he sat down on the arm of the couch.

Sam absentmindedly rubbed Rahne's hand as he agreed. "And it's too close ta here. We need ta do somethin'."

Bobby agreed. "But what?"

Sam sighed, "Ah don't have a clue." Rahne looked at him again, worried. This wasn't the Samuel Guthrie she knew and, well, deeply liked. His dark mood, as he called it, didn't seem to want to go away.

Rahne knew that Celeste, who was a good friend to both of them, had her own ideas about whatever was bothering Sam so obviously. But, since it since it concerned Paige in some way, she couldn't say. She felt that she shouldn't discuss confidential information about any of Emma's students.

All he had really done since Rahne had come back from Shi'ar space was visit Paige twice a week and sit on the roof, staring at something. Then, when she was down, he would put on a happy face, take her out to eat or to go dancing, or would stay in and watch a Disney movie with her, but she could see under the mask. He hadn't tried to push Rahne away directly, but what was hurting him was hurting her.

Sam left the room, leaving Rahne to her concerns. "Am A th'only one to see somethin' wrong with Sam?" she asked his teammates.

Hank shook his head no. "Something is bothering him, but he won't say what." Bobby agreed.

"How is Emma?" she asked him. Her instincts told her Sam's black mood was tied to something that had happened at the school, but she was at a loss to see how Cordelia's rape would upset Sam. Bobby often flew up to visit them.

Bobby nodded. "She's doing good. Cordelia's recovering, thanks in large part to the rape support group Celeste leads." He knew what Rahne was trying to do, but he couldn't help. His friend's depression had bothered him to the point he had started pulling small pranks on Sam just to get a laugh from him, but they had failed.

Rahne sighed and looked at two of the men she considered part of her extended family. "What can A do?"

Hank gave her a hug, "Just be there for him."

Rahne nodded. "A am, but A wish X-Force was back from their mission. Tabs and Berto could help him so much." Quickly, she made a decision that whenever Sam being down affected her, she would pray. If she couldn't help him, at least she could turn the matter over to Someone who could.

***

Kitty called Rahne at four to chat. "How's the visit?" Rahne had taken to spending the weekends at the mansion and commuting back to Muir Island for the week.

"A'm still worried about Sam- even Warren and Scott noticed he was down." Kitty nodded, this was bad. "And Bobby switched the sugar bowl for salt and Sam discovered it this morn when he added his tablespoon of salt to his coffee. He didn't do a thing!" Normally, Sam would have laughed and gotten Bobby back by now. "A'm stayin' here this week, see if A can't get him ta talk ta me." She had only been able to see Sam a handful of times since she had gotten back from Shi'ar space.

Kitty made a note to tell Kurt. Rahne was in love, even if she didn't say the word yet, and it wasn't unexpected for her to want to stay. "Did you hear about that attack on the Brooke English House?" Kitty asked to change the subject.

Rahne shook her head. "We want tae do somethin' but we don't know what."

"Pete has a couple of friends in that town, so he wants to help them. One, Jeremy, is a mutant, so--" Kitty leaned in close, "don't you dare repeat this, but Pete's worried for him and his kid brother, Tim. Tim's stepfather Trevor Dillon is an old merc friend of Pete's too." Rahne nodded. Pete didn't like to show his deeper emotions, but he had them.

Kitty continued, "So he wants to go undercover in Pine Valley- he says that any place that would burn down a homeless shelter for letting a mutant stay there needs fumigating. Of course I'm going with him, so I agreed to take a temp job with Courtland Electronics." Kitty and Pete made a good team. "And Moira mentioned that the Cindy Chandler Hospice wanted you to work at Pine Valley Hospital. This isn't going to be easy or short term. We need to get to know the town inside and out."

Rahne nodded, seeing where this was going. "And A can keep a close eye on Sam!" She thought it over. "Let me see what support A can get from the X- Men.

***

When Rahne mentioned Kitty's idea, the reaction was good. Warren Worthington decided to step up his planned buyout of the Pine Valley based Coreview Corporation, which meant he was to be in and out of the town. Betsy decided to pay Erica Kane, a friend from the time she was a model, a visit in jail. Hank thought it over for a moment and came up with a reason to be in town.

"If Rahne's working with Moira and me, then I'll need to examine the lab at the hospital." Rahne had started to spend more time with the X-Men and it was natural connection to tie in her work with his. It made the research a lot easier, and gave Rahne a reason to be over every other weekend.

Rahne smiled. "And maybe talk tae ye friend, Edmund." Hank had met Edmund while he was dating Trish Tilby.

"True." Edmund's wife had died recently and he was trying to bury himself under a pile of work. "And I'll give him that interview he wanted."

Sam looked around at the group. "Ah can go one better," he offered. "Ah'm not doin' much here, so why don't Ah just get a job over there, maybe go to Pine Valley University or somethin'." Rahne was encouraged by this sign. After a moment, Sam continued, "An' Paige can help, too." His sister would love the chance to go to college, and Pine Valley was where her psychologist was located.

Sam got up to bring out dessert, while the conversation continued. Bobby decided to step up his business dealings in the town. While he was announcing that, he slipped something into Sam's chair. Catching Rahne's watchful eye, he grinned. Evidently, he just planted another practical joke for Sam to find.

Rahne smiled, finally figuring out that she would never truly understand male friendships. Any female would have tried to drag Sam's trouble out of him; Bobby put sand in his bed. It was his philosophy that once you were able to laugh, nothing was quite as bad. And for once, she agreed with Iceman.

Sam brought out the strawberry shortcake that he and Rahne had spent a good part of the afternoon making. While she wasn't as good a cook as him, she sliced strawberries with the best of them. And, most importantly, they had a chance to act like a normal couple while making dessert.

After handing out the plates and dividing the cake, Sam sat down on the whoopie cushion Bobby had left for him. He jumped up immediately, looked down, picked it up, and the strangest combination of expressions crossed his face. Rahne held her breath, knowing that Sam was about to lose it.

Suddenly, he started laughing. "Thanks, Bobby!" he managed between chuckles. "Ah needed that!" Rahne let out her breath in a relieved sigh.

***

Because of his familiarity with Pine Valley, Bobby had been assigned the task of finding a apartment for Rahne, Sam and Paige to stay in. He had a room at the Valley Inn, and the others didn't need the space. Combing though the paper, he realized it wasn't going to be that easy. For their cover, they needed someplace localized and relatively inexpensive.

For some weird reason, the only one-bedroom places were at the Pine Valley Lofts, a very exclusive apartment complex, the Valley Inn, and the Pine Cone, a very seedy motel. The two-bedroom apartments were off Front Street, close to the docks, which wasn't a good place. The best bet was getting a three-bedroom place for Sam, Paige, and Rahne, and the only place for that was Pine Valley Place. That was where most of the singles or young married people lived.

Now that would have its own set of challenges. He knew for sure that Rahne and Sam didn't believe in sex outside of marriage. But by setting them up in a three-bedroom apartment, Sam would be with the two people he trusted most in the world, which would help him with whatever was troubling him. Quickly, Bobby called Pine Valley Place.