Catwoman Selina Kyle leaned against the edge of the long table. The X-Men's stirring story had touched her too, but far less deeply than it had the others.
Because Yongye's instructions kept running through her mind.
"Catch them off guard and ask whether they remember that Spider-Man whose home they destroyed."
The instruction came without context, but Selina had spent years fighting her way through Gotham's East End. Whatever her other abilities, her instinct for reading people was sharper than anyone's. Since Yongye had told her to catch them off guard, that was what she had to do. She couldn't leave them time to react.
She braced both hands on the table's edge and leaned forward slightly, her smile carrying a distinctly feline slyness. Her tone was light, as though she were mentioning it in passing.
"By the way, everyone, there's something I've always been pretty curious about."
Charles tilted his head slightly, just the right amount of warmth surfacing in his pale blue eyes. His smile never shifted. "Please, Miss Selina. Go ahead."
Selina cocked her head, a lock of short, dark brown hair slipping from behind her ear to hang beside her neck. Her dark green eyes suddenly sharpened, like a cat abruptly pricking up its ears in the grass.
"Do you still remember Spider-Man?"
"The kid who swung around Queens in a red-and-blue bodysuit. The one whose home you destroyed."
The instant those words landed, the meeting room fell silent.
Selina's pupils contracted slightly. She stared hard at Charles and Storm's faces, catching every twitch of muscle, every millisecond's shift in their eyes.
Charles sat in his wheelchair, his hands folded on his knees. His pale blue eyes met Selina's gaze, and his brows drew together slightly.
The frown was faint and natural, like someone trying hard