It was eight o'clock outside of the Eisele residence when Xavier Rellaford pulled up in his car.  He had agreed to meet Raven here, after explaining that he would need some time to do the research and gather the components that he would need.  It was a long shot that they would be able to find the entity here, but it was better to be prepared than to be sorry later. 

The big black Lexus slid smoothly into an open spot on the street and didn't seem too out of place for the neighborhood, but upon first inspection, he didn't see any sign of Raven. Xavier opened the door, and stepped onto the pavement, reaching to grab his cane as he stood. Driving wasn't necessarily his favorite activity, and it usually stiffened his leg badly if he did for more than 15 minutes or so.

The door swung shut easily, and the deep thump of well engineered hinges and latch mechanisms working did not carry far, even on a quiet night. Pressing his glasses onto his nose, he studied the house that apparently belonged to the Eisele family. It was a modest (by Relaford standards) single story home, ranch style or some such. Architecture wasn't his strong suit. The lawn seemed neat and cared for, with shrubberies lining the walk, and a single maple tree in the front yard.

Charming, in a suburban sort of way. He thought to himself. Leaning on the cane heavily, he walked to the back bumper of the car, and triggered the trunk with his key fob. He grabbed the small case he carried at times like these, that held the things he thought he might need, and pushed the trunk lid down with one hand.

"Now, where is my pretty blackbird?" He wondered aloud, looking up and down the street for signs of headlights, or a pedestrian.

Raven watched Rellaford from a nearby rooftop. She'd been there for quite some time, sitting out in the open watching the Eisele home and the surrounding neighborhood. It was remarkable how infrequently people looked up. They trudged through their lives in a stupor, not even approaching even the limited awareness of which they were capable. On the other hand, if they were granted enlightenment, if they saw the world as it truly was--the way Raven saw it--would they be happy? Raven thought not.

A few of the passersby looked up. Children for the most part, their minds not yet completely mired in the collective dream they called reality. Raven watched them, cloaked in a minor illusion of her own. They saw her, they might even recognize her--but her presence would seem completely normal and unremarkable. They might wave--and Raven would wave back--but then they would go on their way, giving her no more thought.

But now it was time to get to work. Raven stood up and stepped from the rooftop to the ground by Rellaford's Lexus. "I'm here," Raven said, stepping into his line of sight. She glanced at the case in his hand. "You have everything you'll need?"

Relaford nearly jumped right out of his shoes, when she appeared to coalesce out of thin air right in front of him. Stumbling backward, his leg nearly gave out, and only the cane, and wild swing of the case in his other hand kept him from sprawling on the pavement.

"Jesus Mary and Joseph, woman!" He exclaimed. "That's a good way to clear a few pounds of cholsterol out of a man's aorta!" He leaned slightly forward, trying to calm his breathing. Trying to gather a bit of his dignity, he straightened up, and pushed his wayward glasses back into place once more.

"Do I...? Well yes, I have everything. That is, everything I suspect I'll need.... I really dont know what we are dealing with here, so it seemed prudent to, well, prepare for a couple of the most likely eventualities, if you follow me."

Raven grinned, amused by his reaction though she hadn't intended to startle him so badly. "You're the high strung sort, aren't you?" She asked. But then the smile faded as she considered what might lie ahead. She didn't have a lot of experience--well, any, really--with spirits and exorcisms. If an exorcism was what they needed. She had only the popular media view of such things. Linda Blair turning her head completely around and spewing pea soup.

Maybe it wouldn't come to that. "Yes, I follow you," Raven said. She raised a hand toward the house. "Shall we?"

"Does it make one high strung to be startled when a woman ninja's up behind him?" He asked, genuinely. He had never thought of himself as high strung, far from it. He leaned heavily on the cane, and continued, almost as if he were talking to himself.

"Beautiful, sneaky women strolling into my shop, and telling me there's a murderous spirit rampaging through the suburbs isn't really in my job description, actually. Not 'all in a day's work' for me, I mean."

(Oh, c'mon,) Raven thought, ('Ninja-ing up behind you? That wasn't ninja-ing. I'll show you--) Beautiful? "Beautiful?"

Not that Raven didn't think she was beautiful. Of course she was. Still, it was always nice to hear other people confirm that. Especially cute people, and Xavier was cute in a stuffy, bookworm-y kind of way. In fact, in the right light and at the right angle, he looked kind of like Johnny Depp. But Xavier was plowing on, talking to himself and ignoring Raven's reaction.

When he had finished his absent mutterings, he looked up at the house once more. "Do you know the Eiseles? Or are we ringing the doorbell and informing them we believe their daughter is going to be driven mad and posessed by a ghost till she goes on a homicidal rampage, then takes her own life? I am not a parent myself, but I can't imagine that would be well received."

"Never met 'em," Raven said cheerfully, giving Xavier a grin that featured in the nightmares of many a Hudson City lowlife. "So I guess we're going with Plan B. But I'm sure we can make them see reason. I can be very persuasive." Sure, mostly she was persuasive in a terrifying, tell her what she wanted to know or endure a fate worse than death kind of way, but really--how hard could it be to tone it down and convince the Eiseles that they needed to listen to Dr. Strange here?

"Plan B? I'm not sure I follow. " Xavier said, visibly uncomfortable with the answer. "What is 'plan B'? What was plan A?" His eyebrows furrowed, as he decided whether or not to continue.

"Or is this one of those times where I should shut up, and follow along, so to speak?"

Raven smirked, shaking her head. "Cute," she said, "but clueless. They were your suggestions--you really ought to pay more attention. If we actually knew the Eiseles, that would have been Plan A. Since we don't, Plan B is the cold call."

Relaford arched an eyebrow. "That was me, being facetious, those weren't suggestions."

She extended her elbow for Xavier to take her arm. "Shall we?"

It was Xavier's turn to smirk, as he held up the case, then looked down at his cane. "Cute, but clueless." He grinned. "The cane, unfortunately, is more than a fashion accessory, I'm afraid." With that, he limped past Raven, on his way to the Eisele House.

"Heh," Raven laughed. "Touche!"

She followed Xavier's laborious walk to the front door of the Eisele home, keeping pace with him. Walking did seem rather difficult for him, poor guy. Of course, he didn't need to be able to walk for her to bed him. Especially if she was on top, which was how she liked it anyhow--Raven shook off her fantasy and focused on why she was here.

The unlikely pair arrived at the front door without incident. 

The light next to the door came on automatically when the sensor picked them up, but it didn't seem to alarm anyone on the inside.  Raven and Xavier could hear the sound of a television on in the background, a bit too loudly, and could see lights on through the open drapes of the window.

When they reached the front door, Raven pressed the tiny button on the door jamb. Faintly, from within the house, Raven heard the ding-dong of the bell. As they waited, she cloaked herself in illusion once more. It was so much easier to go places and talk to people when they didn't freak out at the sight of her. The Eiseles would still see Raven the dangerous lunatic when they looked at her, but it wouldn't seem strange or alarming to find her standing at their door.

Xavier sat the briefcase down on the porch, and leaned heavily on his good leg, the right. He used the moment, while they waited for the door to open to insure his tie was straight, and that his suit was free of lint and debris. The subtle shift in his companions presence wasn't lost on him, and he straightened his glasses trying to put his finger on what exactly had changed.

"Mescalitein" he murmured, very quietly activating the power of his ring.

The door opened slightly, just enough to show a slip of a woman with dark stringy hair.  It looked like she might have been pretty, once upon a time, but now she seemed small and worn down.  The security chain was tight as she peered at them, a look flitting across her face that made it seem like maybe she should have looked through the peep hole first.

When she spoke her voice was timid.  "Yes...?"

"Hello, Mrs. Eisele," Raven said, doing her best to channel Kate Sutherland. The girl was seriously uptight, but she could be very persuasive. "I'm Raven, and this is my associate, Xavier Rellaford. We're with the Bureau of Paranormal Investigations and Eliminations--" and in her imagination, the Ghostbusters stepped forward to announce, "--and we're ready to believe you!" "--and we'd like to speak to you for a few minutes, if you're willing. It's about your daughter, Emily."

Xavier gave a quick sideways look at Raven, and arched an eyebrow. The Bureau of WHAT?

"Well..."  Her voice seemed hesitant and very unsure.  "...um...I don't know."  She spared a look over her shoulder towards the television.  "What's this about?"

"As I said, it's about your daughter, Emily. May we come in? This really isn't something we should discuss out here. We're concerned about her safety."

Relaford nodded in agreement with the sentiment,  and tried his best to look like Mulder.

There was obvious concern on her face when Raven insinuated that her daughter might be in danger, but still she seemed unsure.  "May I see some identification?"

Evidently, this request pleased Xavier, greatly. "Yes, Agent Raven, show the lady your Identification...," He said, with a cheesy grin.

Damn, Raven thought. This would be so much easier if I could just terrify her into cooperating. She made a show of searching for her non-existent identification--as if it weren't obvious that her form fitting dress had no pockets. "I'm afraid I left it at the office," she said, before looking at Xavier. "I told you that. You'll have to show her yours." C'mon you're the magic man. Pull a rabbit out of your hat.

Xavier sighed... and shook his head. Looking at the small woman in the doorway, he smiled. "The truth, Madame, is that Raven is investigating the events surrounding the death of the young Miss Leoni. She was led to believe that the same forces that pushed her to her tragic end, may have targeted your lovely daughter. I have no affiliation with any government agency. I'm a Professor at Princeton, and it may be within my abilities to save her."

As he spoke the door opened as wide as the chain would allow.  Xavier's mention of the young Leoni girl, had obviously captured her complete attention.

"I wouldn't blame you for shutting the door in our faces, Madame." He continued, as he pressed his glasses up on his nose once more. "But, if you have the time, we would like the opportunity to avoid another tragedy."

Xavier had never been good at lying, and he thought that most people would recognize the truth, when they heard it. Not to mention trust a couple of freelancers more than the Agents of the Government.

"I...uh...well...uh...."  Her voice was hesitant and unsure and she glanced over her shoulder again towards the television.  Then, as quickly as she could, as if she was afraid she'd changer her mind, she unlatched the chain and held the door open.

Xavier's dark eyes glanced at the television, following the woman's second look at the appliance. His brows furrowed once more, and he looked back at the woman, then to the television once more, his eyes lingering on it as they walked past. He noticed the faint buzz of snoring and one very obese arm draped over the side of a lazy boy recliner as they passed.  Save that for later. He thought.

Raven raised an eyebrow at the woman's abrupt change in demeanor. It was strange--and it made her wonder if Emily weren't the only person in this home who might be under the influence of a spirit of some kind. And she kept glancing at the television set--something Raven knew Xavier hadn't missed either. Visions of Poltergeist flitted through Raven's mind, the tiny blonde child announcing, "They're here!" just before all hell broke loose.

Could a spirit actually inhabit a television set, and perhaps influence people thereby? Stranger things had happened. Someone was watching the television at the moment, so she decided not to make an issue of it just yet. If necessary it could always conveniently "malfunction" if necessary....

"This way."  She said in a hushed tone as she ushered them out of the living area, through the modest kitchen, and into a formal dining room area.  The space was nice, but the furniture was second hand at best.  The off white table linens did an admirable job of dressing up the room, and it spoke volumes about the care and love that this small woman put into her home.

"I'm Mary, Emily's mother.  I'll go and get her for you in a moment...but, can you help me understand why you're here?"  Her dark eyes were ripe with concern, and completely void of the skepticism that they had held earlier.  "I thought that incident at the school was a closed matter."

"Very nice to meet you, Madame." Xavier said, "Though I wish it could have been under more pleasant circumstances. As to why we are here, as I've said, Raven has learned that your daughter, Emily, is hearing music that no one else can hear. A ... symptom.... exhibited by the Leoni girl, before the tragedy. We would like to assess the situation further, in hopes of averting another ... incident."

"Oh."  Mary said, worry thick in her voice.  She turned to regard Raven with a bit more interest, before she continued.  "She hasn't mentioned anything like that to me.  What will you need to do with her?  Just talk?"

"Yes, I'm hoping that simply speaking with Emily will be sufficient. If there's nothing to the reports of Emily hearing the music, and no other evidence of anything wrong, we can wrap this up in just a few minutes and be out of your hair."

Mary wrung her hands nervously, uncertain of whether to introduce her daughter to the two strangers.  "Emily does seem to attract the strangest friends."  She attempted to keep her voice light as she struggled with her decision.  "Okay.  I'll get her, but I'll need to remain here while you're talking to her, and if it gets uncomfortable, I'll have to insist that you leave."  She raised her brow inquiringly and waited for their agreement.

Xavier nodded in agreement with the conditions, "I would expect nothing less, Madame."

A few moments later, she went to the opposite end of the kitchen and called for Emily. 

"I'll be right there, Mom!"  Emily's voice boomed from one of the back rooms.

Mary winced at the sound and looked hurriedly over towards the Lazy Boy recliner and the television.  It was fairly apparent now that her concern was the sleeping man and not the tube.

A young girl came into the kitchen and stopped abruptly when she saw Raven and Xavier.  Her eyes strayed to her Mom, and then she continued forward after seeing the reassuring smile on her mother's face.  She inclined her head politely at them.  "Good evening."  Her cheeks colored a bit as she slid her hands over her frumpy pjs.

"Emily, they are investigating the recent incident at the school and wanted to ask you a few questions."  Mary said as she walked over to the table and pulled out a chair for her daughter.

There was an obvious reluctance to do so, but with another encouraging nod from her mother, the young girl made her way over to the table and sat down.  She looked at Raven and then at Xavier, making brief eye contact with each as she waited.

Xavier smiled, and sat his briefcase down on the floor, carefully, so as not to topple over his bad leg. She is a little younger than I expected... this will be delicate. The man had precious little experience with children this young, as a teacher, he dealt with a few teenagers, but this was different.

"Investigating, sounds so formal... or, official." He began. "In reality, we are simply concerned, and wish to avoid any more sadness."  His mind was whirring, his gift for languages failed him miserably when it came to conversation, and this was like surgical conversation. Trying to cut away the facts, and not harm the girl, or scare her, would be hard.

"My name is Xavier, but you can call me Xav, if you like. I'm a professor at Princeton, (but I'm not as stuffy as that seems.) Can I ask you how well you knew the Leoni girl?"

"Pleasure to meet you, Sir."  Emily mumbled respectfully before shaking her head.  "I..uh..didn't really know the girl at all.  She was older than me, and one of the really popular kids.  Ya know?  ...so, I knew her that way.  ...but, she didn't know who I was, I don't think."

Xavier's smile remained in place, and he tried to hold his eyes from giving away the thoughts that ran through his mind. That tells me more than she knows. Very polite, probably looked over by everyone but the teachers in her life.  "Oh yes, I know the type very well, seems like no matter where you go, those popular people are there." He said aloud, trying in some way to connect with a girl more than 20 years his junior.

Emily nodded her head.  "I was sorry though.  It made everyone sad."  She lifted her chin to look at him for a moment, almost making eye contact.  "I hope you don't think I had anything to do with it."

"Not at all," Raven said. "But another classmate of yours, Meredith Masters, told us that Terri had been hearing some music--nursery rhymes--for a few days. Music that nobody else could hear. Or--almost nobody else."

Raven leaned forward a little, trying to meet Emily's eyes. "Meredith said that you mentioned hearing something similar. Is that true, Emily? Do you hear that music sometimes?"

Emily paled a bit and nodded her head, but she didn't say anything nor did she meet Raven's gaze.

Xavier sat back in his chair, and loosened his tie, unbuttoning the button that normally lay hidden behind it. "Not to worry, Emily." He said with a smile. The last thing he wanted was to scare the girl into thinking she would be going mad. "Can you describe the music? Are there any sensations that have come with it, like feeling cold, or hot, or scared, or calm?" As he spoke, his hand moved to his case, and pulled it by the handle into his lap.

"No."  Emily shook her head and bit her bottom lip.  Her eyes seemed too small behind the thick frames of her glasses.  She looked nervous like something was wrong.

"Emily."  Mary said sharply, surprising everyone at the table as she interrupted.  "Emily Eisele, what are you not telling our guests?"  A hand went on each hip as she regarded her daughter.

The child swallowed hard and glanced at her mother and then at the two strangers, obviously struggling with something.  One of her hands came to her mouth and she shook her head.

"Emily."  Mary repeated her name, her tone losing it's edge this time.  "This is serious.  Children have died.  If there is anything that you know that might help these men, you need to tell them.  Nobody is blaming you.  Nobody is going to blame you."

As Mrs. Eisele spoke, something she said seemed to break through to her daughter and Emily broke like a damn.  Her words flooding the room in a stuttered gaspy fashion.

"It's not like that.  That's not how it works.  That's what I heard when she found me.  ....she followed me home from the party.  I didn't know.  She said she was special like me, once."  Emily gasped for air.  "She knew how I felt.  ...she was special too."  She gasped again and looked at her mother, who was watching on in wide eyed fascination, like her very daughter was a stranger.

"She's nice.  Her name is Jenny...and she's my friend.  I've never had a real friend before.  ...we talk and play together."  Tears had emerged now in the young girl as she continued.  "I didn't mean to.  ...I didn't know."  She gasped again for air, more so to keep from crying than because she needed it.  "Terri was mean to me...she was really mean to me.  I didn't do anything.  I didn't do anything at all.  ..but Jenny, she left me that day...  and she didn't come back until after Terri did that awful thing."

Xavier studied the girls face as she vomited the secrets she had kept bottled up for so long. He was stunned, to say the least. This had not been what he had expected, at all.  Not at all.  He popped open his briefcase, and pulled out a legal pad, and his pen, and began scribbling notes furiously.

When the pen stopped, he looked up, and asked, "Of course its not your fault, child. You don't control 'Jenny'." He scribbled the name on his pad, and underlined it twice. "How long have the two of you been friends?"

He hoped that seeming to accept the childs relationship with a dead person without judgement would help the facts to keep flowing.

Raven listened attentively, content to let Xavier take the lead. He was the expert in things magical, after all. And Emily seemed more willing to speak to him than to her. That wasn't terribly surprising. Raven's presence often disturbed animals and small children; probably because they saw her more clearly than adults did. The longer she remained silent, Raven figured, the better the interview would likely go.

"Since New Year's.  She followed me home from the big party that the DiSantiagos had."  She seemed to calm down now that she was asked a question that was based on fact.  "I have a special friend too...like she did, when she was here.  We have a lot in common.  But she told me that if I told anyone that they wouldn't believe me and that my special friend would think I was crazy.  She told me that..."  She had to pause and gasp for air again.  "...she told me that, he only liked me because I was special, and that if he thought I was crazy he wouldn't want to be my friend any more."

Xavier scribbled furiously, as she talked.. NYEve.... Disantiagos..... Special Friend??

"I don't think you're crazy. Not at all."  The smile that he had worked so hard to keep intact, had faltered, and he didn't force it's return, trying not to patronize the girl.

Emily nodded her head at that, grasping on to his verbal reinforcement of her sanity.  She swallowed again and spared a look at her mother, hoping that she too would share the professor's opinion.

"What do you mean special friend? Is that like your boyfriend?"

That question brought a rush of color to Emily's face as she shook her head.  "Oh...no.  Nothing like that.  You may not believe me, hardly anyone does.  ...but.  I'm very good friends with JACE of the Conquistadors.  He is the absolute smartest man in the whole entire world, and he likes me.  He says that I'm special like him."

Raven had a vague memory--one of Kate's memories, really--of seeing JACE with a little girl at the New Year's Eve party three months ago. Or she thought she did. It was often difficult to pin down such things, more like recalling a dream than an actual memory. Sometimes she "remembered" things that weren't so. Still, it made sense. Raven knew enough about JACE from seeing him in the media to know that the only thing that would interest him in Emily--or anyone--was evidence of intelligence, and his standards for that would be high.

"When you say you are special, how do you mean?"

Mary Eisele looked on with a nervous expression on her face, obviously not comfortable that her daughters 'special abilities' had become a topic of conversation.

"You know.  Special."  She paused and looked at him hopefully, like maybe she wanted to spare him the details.  "...I'm eleven years old, Sir.  ...but.  Not to be disrespectful, but.  ...I'm certain that my intellectual capacity would exceed yours.  It's not just that I'm smart, exactly.  ...but.  I can get into a problem and when I do, it becomes so much a part of me that I can figure it out.  I can see things that others can't by following the lines of logic and essence that are invisible to most people."

Xavier's eyes narrowed a bit, at the girls description of her gift. "You know, you should never be certain your intellect is superior to another's, Even if it's true, it speaks to arrogance, which is a character flaw of the highest order. But enough of that.

Emily crossed her arms over her chest, her emotions were warring on her face, half abashed and half upset.  "I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings Sir.  ...but you shouldn't ask questions and then get upset when I answer them as truthfully as I know."  Her voice seemed defeated and raw.

"Not at all, Emily. I'm neither hurt, nor upset. Just trying to offer friendly advice."

"When you first saw Jenny, what was going on? Were you especially sad, or happy or excited?"

"No."  Emily's brow wrinkled in thought as she tried to find the right words, much more hesitant now that he'd scolder her for one of her answers.  "It was a bit startling maybe, at first, but it wasn't scary.  And I've never seen her.  I hear her.  She comes and goes in my head...and we talk, and play games.  And I don't hear her like you hear me, it's like she's inside of my head."

Well, that certainly sounded like possession to Raven. She glanced at Xavier wondering if he saw it that way, and whether he knew of any way to contact this 'Jenny.'

The Professor scribbled on his pad for a moment after the girl stopped talking, then glanced up at Mrs. Eisele, and studied her reaction to the news that her daughter was hearing disembodied voices. With a half smile, he pulled his glasses off and folded the earpieces into place before stuffing them in his back pocket.

"Do you mind, if I 'look around' so to speak, Mrs. Eisele? That is, look around for this Jenny, to see if she is nearby?"

Again the woman spared a look at the Lazy Boy recliner, her face a shade or two paler now than it had been previously.  "Um...I think that will be okay.  Can you tell me first what you will need to do?"  She looked at Xavier with open concern in her dark eyes.

"Certainly, madame." He began, "I have certain knowledges, you see. That is.. I know a way to detect the energies of those that should have moved on to another place." He glanced at young Emily, hoping she was taking his words at face value, and not putting two plus two together.

"It takes power, to one degree or another, to remain in a plane of existence you aren't supposed to be in. That power, and all other power is detectable, if you have the werewithall to look for it."  Pulling his briefcase open once more, he pulled out an old sheet of parchment, and a small bottle filled with brown liquid.

"Much like Roentgen detected x rays, the same principals can be used here, to detect a supernatural presence,"

"Okay.  Okay.  If it will help."  Mary finally nodded her head in approval.

Xavier nodded, and unstoppered the bottle, drizzling the thick brown oil onto the parchment. Using his hand, he smeared the oil around on the surface till it absorbed into the parchment, his mouth speaking ancient words, in a language that had not been used in conversation since the days before The Scorpion King united the three cities of Upper Egypt. As the parchment became saturated and turned nearly opaque, he pulled a towel from his case, and dried his hands, then produced a frame of silver, that he fastened the oil soaked parchment into.

Standing with the frame held at arms length in front of him, he looked at the parchment like a screen of a television, and swept back and forth around the room, surveying for any shape that showed itself on his makeshift ghost detector.

There was a residual energy or presence, but nothing concrete.  As he walked around the kitchen, it was present around Emily and traces still remained in the hallway leading from her bedroom, but the spirit itself, if that's what it was, had evacuated the area.  He quietly made his way through the house, but other than the kitchen and Emily's bedroom, there were no traces of the strange residue.  He finally determined with a significant degree of accuracy, that the spirit had exited through a kitchen window.

"Spirits use windows?" Raven asked, when Xavier told her what he'd determined. "I thought they could ghost--pun definitely intended--through walls."

"This one did..." Xavier said offhandedly. "perhaps she is still stuck in the patterns of this world. Walking through a doorway instead of a wall, or slipping out a window, when she could just as easily drift through the floor, or out the ceiling."

She paused a moment, then waved away other questions on that topic. Focus on what's important now. "Can you track her from here?" Not that she thought they were likely to have much success at that--even if Xavier could track the spirit, it didn't look to be a a swift procedure. Unless the spirit was hobbling like an old man in a walker, they'd never catch her.

"Yes, I can track her, indeed. But not with these tools. I would need something that belonged to her. The more it meant to her in her life, the easier it would be. Her full name would be helpful. But it definitely can be done. Then she can be dealt with."

Eventually all eyes fell on Emily, who was still withdrawn and sullen over Xavier's mild reprimand.  As she realized what they wanted she backed up defensively.  "What will you do when you find her?  Is she in some sort of trouble?"

"We merely want to avoid another tragedy, and if possible, help your friend find some peace." Xavier said. "She doesn't really belong here."

Emily bit her bottom lip and nodded her head.  The look that played across her face made it easy to see that she wasn't sure what to do.

"Emily Jane!"  Mary stomped her foot in frustration.  "You need to tell these people anything that you can to help them.  ...and I mean it."

Another tug at her lip and pitiful look at her mother, was all the resistance that young Emily had left.  "Her real name...is...was...Jenny Pate.  I don't have anything that belongs to her.  Her friend might, or her mother.  Her friend is Soldier Boy and he lives here in the city.  ...but I don't know where her Mommy lives."

The name Jenny Pate didn't mean anything to Raven. But Soldier Boy--she'd met him. More importantly, she knew where to find him. At the Conquistadors' Cathedral. She wondered what connection Soldier Boy had with the girl, or had had given that she was dead now. Was she one of his bastard children--of which Raven assumed he had many? She'd have to ask him.

"That's okay, Emily. I've met Soldier Boy. I'll talk to him. I'm sure he can help." Not all that certain, really, but there was no need to tell the child that.

Xavier pulled his glasses from his coat pocket, and placed them back onto the bridge of his nose. Listening intently, he was sure the name Jenny pate meant nothing to him, and rang no bells. The other, Soldier Boy, was familiar. Some sort of high profile operative, or something. The revelation that Raven knew him, was something else entirely. It seemed a google search or three was in his future after this evening was done.

"Emily, Ms. Eisele," he began looking at them each in turn, "if either of you notices anything .... out of the ordinary, or that is to say... weird, going on, you can feel free to contact me at the number on these cards." He pulled a pair of violet colored business cards, which bore his name and phone number and nothing else, and handed one to each of them. "This is my personal phone, and you .. either of you.... can feel free to call me, 24/7."

Once she and Xavier were outside again, Raven recited a phone number to Xavier. "You can reach me at this number for at least a few days."