Aboard the Leapfrog above San Francisco, Friday Morning

Victor wasn't sure what he'd expected out of Thanksgiving weekend in L.A., but he was almost certain it had not involved a side trip to the new X-Men headquarters. He'd been thinking more along the lines of grilling turkey legs on the beach and beating Klara at that skiing game some more.

But Molly'd been hearing a voice summoning her to San Francisco, so -- here they were.

"This is a terrible idea, Nico," he said, jiggling his leg as he stared out the 'Frog's window. (Apparently he'd lost pilot privileges for good when he took off for six months.) "Just for the record. So when the city blows up, we can all think back to this moment and remember I called it. Terrible. Idea."

"At least we're consistent in our bad decisions," Nico said wearily. "And what was I supposed to do, Victor? You weren't here. She's been harping on this for weeks. We let you go."

"Molly's not going to boarding school," Victor answered. "It's different. We just dropped her off with a mutant strike force because she says she's hearing voices in her head." Which still struck him as a terrible idea, bold font, underlined.

"That was harsh!" Karolina 1.0 (sorry, Fandom Karolina, but that would forever be how Vic distinguished the two) called from the back seat. "Molly is a mutant too! And Kitty seemed nice, remember? She'll take care of Molly. You know. Until the fighting. Then we'll come pick her up."

"Where do mutants come from?" Klara put in curiously -- or as a distraction, Victor wasn't sure which.

"Angstville," Chase answered, in a tone meant to shut down the conversation. "Now let's go eat."

[OOC: Tweaked from Runaways vol. 3, #10. To be continued.]

In-n-Out Burger, San Francisco, Friday Afternoon

Victor was used to not being in L.A. right now, but the rest of his team wasn't. It was okay. He was always up for a burger and a good bout of What Is Wrong With San Francisco.

Besides, he agreed with Chase's summary: Molly wasn't going to decide she belonged here. "A, because the X-Men are tools," the blond ticked off. "They're gonna give her some sales pitch, and she's gonna hate it. And probably beat them all up. And two, the X-Men are tools."

And that was about when Victor realized they possibly should not have had this conversation in public. A group of intimidating-mutants were trying to stare them down. "Uh, Chase?" Victor suggested. "Ixnay on the 'Men-Xay are oolstay.'"

It might have even worked if Chase wasn't a touch too slow to get Pig Latin. He wondered aloud what Victor had said, before a thin green guy with vaguely lizardlike features who was standing next to a guy built like a pile of stones suggested they turn around.

"Okay, see?" Nico said. "This is why we should never leave the house."

That didn't help. Neither did Klara remarking aloud on the 'demons.' And neither did Chase going toe-to-toe with freaking Rockslide.

But Chase's request to get his gloves first made Rockslide back off, averting the whole fight. They all -- mutants, alien, android, witch -- ended up in a mutant-friendly dance club. So that didn't completely suck. By the time they made it back to X-Men Headquarters, Victor was wondering if his premonition had just been wrong. "Mol," he said, "I know we were kind of down on the X-Men before, but you should really give them another try. They're so nice! The students were even more fun than the people at my school. You're going to love it!"

Nico had barely begun to concur before Molly came out with, "THIS PLACE IS HORRIBLE AND YOU ARE TAKING ME HOME RIGHT NOW OR I WILL BEAT YOU ALL UP FOREVER."

And no matter what they asked, they couldn't get her to explain more about what had changed her mind than that her visit had sucked but the Wolverine poster was going back up in her room.

For his part, Victor was glad as he packed his bags that night that he was headed back someplace a little less exciting.

[OOC. Post 2/2 based on Runaways Vol. 3 #10. And slowly we move on through canon. NFB due to distance]