In the chilly clutches of the Ice Queen

[Ryan Gabriel]

A short while after his talk with Bear, Ryan knocked on the door to Natalya's office, checking first to see if he sensed any life on the other side of the door.

[Natalya Romanov]

"Come in," Natalya said, not bothering to look up from her desk where she was busy typing up something.

[Ryan Gabriel]

Ryan walked in, standing in front of the desk in an unrushed manner as he waited for her to finish. "I don't know if Ms. McManus said I'd be coming," was all he said.

[Natalya Romanov]

"She did," she said, her tone ambiguous.

[Ryan Gabriel]

Oh, so this is going to be one of those conversations.

"So," he said. "She said that you needed some help here keeping the parents happy that the kids are safe. And I'd like to help with that. And so would Byrna Cooper."

[Natalya Romanov]

"Close the door and have a seat," she said. There were two chairs in front of her desk, both upholstered. "Byrna Cooper's easy. I'd have no problem taking her on board. You, however, are another matter entirely. Why don't you tell me why I should?"

[Ryan Gabriel]

Ryan closed the door to take the seat. "Well, if you want my resume? I've been leading the X-Men out of London for the better part of a year. My tactical rating has never gotten anything but top marks. I've got a media and social network following that no one in X-Corp can match and that, trust me, you can use. I'm a SWORD inductee, since we never seem to be short on alien garbage to deal with, and I have SHIELD clearance which Iyou know never stops coming in handy." He leaned forward in his seat. "Cliff's notes version, I can keep these kids safe, I can teach them to keep themselves safe, and I can help make sure that we all look good while we're doing it. What else do you need."

[Natalya Romanov]

She leaned back in her chair, "I'm well aware of your qualifications. What I want to know..." It was possible the air had just gotten colder. "... is why I should accept a former Horseman of Apocalypse?"

[Ryan Gabriel]

"Oh, we're going there right away? Good," Ryan said. "I didn't want to dance around that. Fine, let's talk about that. I got told by Nick freaking Fury that there was this big nasty guy that was up to no good. And history shows there were two places he was likely to end up. So I had them put a... thing in my head so that they could kill me with a thought if they had to, let them riffle my brain around and put it in a jar for later, and sold my soul to one of the most evil things we know of so that I'd be able to be in the right place to take him down." He leaned forward, bracing his arms on the desk. "Given all that? Tell me that there's anything I wouldn't do to protect this school," he said. He couldn't make it colder like she could, but chances are if he could, it would have happened right then.

[Natalya Romanov]

"That's what I wanted to hear," Natalya said. "Sam tells pretty stories, but she's a damned optimist when it comes to her students."

[Ryan Gabriel]

"Well, things would be pretty bleak if nobody was," Ryan said. "So what do you need me to do?"

[Natalya Romanov]

"Given your previous experience, I'll probably be using you to coordinate the X-Teams that the university will be loaning us. Some will be on rotation, some, like you and Byrna, will be stationed here on a semi-permanent basis. You'll be responsible for things like coordinating with the university on who is coming, making sure that I know so I can tell the security staff, and filing any special housing environment requests for visitors with me. You'll be housed in the staff apartments as will the visiting teams. If you're going to use the teams to take care of something off campus, I expect to be kept in the loop. Zeryn will still be in charge of the dorms and seeing to the immediate safety of the students when another crisis comes up."

"The university's forking it over for your room and board and I've got Nate talking to X-Corp to see if we can't swing a small stipend to avoid the X-Team members having to find an off-campus job. Sound reasonable?"

[Ryan Gabriel]

"Completely," Ryan said. "I've just got one tiny, insignificant thing. Get the word 'X-Team' out of everyone's vocabulary. We started using that one in London when Taylor started everything up, and it was a mess. There's no sense of duty, no sense of responsibility, no sense of safety that you're giving people when you're not calling people X-Men, and oh my god are we going to need all those things even more over here."

[Natalya Romanov]

"That I have no problem with," Natalya said, opening a drawer on her desk and tossing a security badge across to him with his picture already on it. "We can take a new picture if you don't like that one." She also pulled out a couple of glasses and a glass bottle of a clear liquid. "Now we close this deal in a traditional manner," she said, pouring just enough for a couple of sips in each glass and passing one to him.