Nathan heard the music echoing down the street before the place even came into view. It lured him in with its enticing rhythm. He had longed for a time to relax; settling down in Bayville had certainly taking its toll on him. But he didn't mistake the fact that it was definitely for the better, in the short time he had been here he changed so much, more willing to talk to people he even started to greet himself to complete strangers.

Nathan slowly opened the door to the bar; he had heard numerous people talking about this place only good things were said. It definitely didn't disappoint his expectations, the moment he walked through the door he fell in love with the place. The atmosphere was breathtaking he hadn't felt one like it for a long time, people just here to enjoy themselves. Nathan pushed his way through the crowd making his way to the bar greeting the man behind the counter "Evening, I’ll have a Guinness please" he then proceeded to sit down on one of the stools. Guinness wasn't Nathans favourite drink, he hated the after taste but he couldn't help himself there was something about it that he found almost addicting. After the barman brought his drink he took a sip and turned around on his stool to face the crowd of people, he just sat there enjoying the surrounding atmosphere.

The day was in short a disaster. Her kids were being a menace in training and it didn't bode well for her sanity. She absolutely hated doing this alone, without Kyle. Though he had been dead for five years, it would've been much easier to deal with her children if they had a father figure. The men in the Institute were not father material. Well James was, and he was a father, but he had his own issues to deal with. Mostly about his wife Alexa, and Lilith knew how hard it was for the telepath. Losing her best friend before the war, then during it losing her son in the middle of her pregnancy, and now adopting a young girl a year younger than Angel. Then Sky, who was apparently back on the scene, according to his sister, was not a great father to his own kids. Then there was Logan...who was both playing father and grandpa. She couldn't ask any of the former X-men for help because frankly they weren't close to how Kyle would act and she needed someone not just for her kids but for herself. She sighed, as she finally put her kids to sleep and decided that she needed a break.

After walking into town, Lilith made her way into her favorite bar in Bayville and frowned at the crowded sight. She hated it when it was crowded like it was at the moment. A sigh left her lips as she pushed her way through the crowd and toward the bar. Once she got there she took a seat next to a man she hadn't seen before. She could only assume it was another new mutant to Bayville. That was all they ever got anyway, mutants. Though why they would continue to show up in Bayville she never understood. Bayville was the war center essentially. Nyx's headquarters stood exactly where the old Brotherhood Boarding House was. Lilith looked over to the bartender with a smirk. "Crowded today, get me an Amber Ale will ya, I need something dark." Lilith said. She looked toward the crowd before the bartender handed her the beer. Lilith took a few slow sips, savoring the taste before turning toward the guy next to her. "You new here?"

Nathan was still looking into the crowd of people as someone sat down beside him. With the glass placed against his lips he slowly drank the Guinness, Nathan didn't stop drinking not because he wanted to get drunk it just meant he didn't have to endure the after taste. Placing his glass down Nathan leaned back, resting on the bar. Although Nathan normally hated huge crowds, when he was in a bar or nightclub it was the complete opposite, a large number of people made him feel like the world was normal, everyone was happily getting on with their lives.

Finally remembering that his glass was empty he turned around facing his back to the crowd. Nathan placed his left hand into his pocket, as he rifled through his money using touch alone he tried to get a rough calculation of how much money was left. "That should be enough" he thought to himself "I don't want to have too much". Before Nathan had an opportunity to call over the barman he heard the woman beside him ask a question, unsure if it was aimed at him or not he decided to respond. Turning his head to face her he replied "Me? Err yes I moved here recently" laughing slightly Nathan continued "is it really that obvious? What about you? Lived here long?” Nathan wasn't expecting to meet anyone this evening he came with the sole purpose of having a couple drinks but he didn't mind too much he enjoyed talking to people even if it was only a quick conversation.

Lilith smirked at the slight nervousness in the man's voice. From what she could tell, the man was about her age and had probably seen as much blood and battle as she had. At the same time, since she hadn't seen him around before, it was more than likely that he was partially neutral in the war against Nyx. Well...if she thought about it, it was no longer a war. That ended three-four years ago when the X-men had been defeated and gone into hiding. This wasn't really a war anymore, it was now The Resistance. Of course... they hadn't done any major battles since they reestablished themselves so that would be a bit of an issue. She looked to the man next to her. "You could say that," Lilith answered as she sipped her beer. "Been here for almost six years. Though I don't know why people move here of all places. Worst place to be with Nyx having their HQ here." Lilith took a swig of her beer before looking to the man. "Name's Lilith. Yours?"

Lilith didn't know exactly her conversation partner was, but she hoped he was an ally. The Resistance could use a few with all the shit that had been happening. There were issues among families and she couldn't really fault them for it, especially with the Callahans and Knights. Both families had serious issues. Hers did too, but that was a different story altogether.

Once Lilith finished speaking the barman walked over "Same again please" ha asked the barman as he placed the correct amount of change on the bar. At first Nathan was unsure what to say, he had never met her before and she began by talking about Nyx. Before replying Nathan asked himself "Would she willingly mention her dislike towards Nyx knowing of their strong influence here or does she really work for them and she is just trying to catch people off guard." Nathan had become quite paranoid over the years but he knew this and accepted it, paranoia wasn't necessarily a bad thing he always told himself.

Nathan wasn't sure how long he had sat there silently before finally replying "I'm Nathan, nice to meet you" Nathan put a lot of thought into his following choice of words before continue "Well when I first arrived I never intended to stay but it seemed very peaceful here so I thought about staying and after I discovered the Nyx headquarters was situated here it further reinforced my idea to stay" As he spoke his expression was deliberately indifferent he showed no signs of admiration or hatred as he spoke about Nyx and although what he said was true Nathan didn't want to give his view on Nyx until he understood Lilith's standing with them.

The barman arrived with Nathan's drink. Nathan looked away from Lilith momentarily to thank the barman and pick up his drink. Looking back at Lilith he took a mouthful of his drink. "So how do you feel about Nyx?" his question was blunt and straight to the point but he wanted to know how she felt before they continued to talk.

Lilith watched as the man thought about his reply. She could already tell the guy was paranoid with good reason. If she didn't know any better, she would guess that the man was trying to figure out her angle and where she stood with Nyx and how to respond to what she said. She had done the same thing a few times but she usually avoided talking to people if she couldn't get a good read on them. Though it was more Alexa and Ginger's area of expertise, Lilith could still instinctively tell if someone was good, bad or neutral. They usual had a certain air about them. She didn't have a real good read on him, but she had a feeling he wasn't someone she needed to worry about.

As she waited, Lilith took another sip of her beer. When the man answered her she smirked a bit behind her glass. His answer had told her that he was against Nyx though not aligned with the Resistance. Then, Nathan asked how she felt about Nyx. Lilith took another sip before looking to Nathan with a smirk.

"I was here when Nyx attacked us. I couldn't fight them though because my priority was my few month old twins and protecting them along with a teammate of mine who was getting toward the end of her own pregnancy. I used to be a member of the Brotherhood, the old boarding house that was where we lived was one of the first places that Nyx destroyed. I had already allied myself with the X-men for protection during my pregnancy because my dead boyfriend's nemesis was a dangerous son of a bitch and we needed to have strong protection. When Nyx came to town, they attacked Bayville first, and then the Xavier Institute, we had to go underground and then when Nyx had taken over the world, we came back up rebuilt the Institute and people came and went." Lilith ranted. She took a long swig of her beer. "At one point, I might've joined Nyx...but that was when I first moved to Bayville. When I hated humans, when I wanted them to stop looking down on us... but that me is a distant memory. I'm hoping that one day we can get our act together and defeat Nyx, they've done so much damage that it sickens me."

Nathan's unease slowly dissipated as Lilith spoke. Her hatred for Nyx was obvious more importantly Nathan didn't think she was making it up. As Lilith spoke he took large gulps of his drink almost finishing off the full pint before Lilith was done talking.

Nathan placed his glass on the bar "I can't imagine what it must have been like trying to raise a family while in hiding from Nyx, it must have been very difficult." Thinking back although Nathan didn't have children of his own to look after, he had stayed with numerous families on his travels. He tried blocking out the memories of what he saw but they seeped through. Too fearful of leaving their hiding spaces families would go for weeks without eating living off whatever vermin was unfortunate enough to wander into the basement or sewers. Children who died from dehydration and starvation would have their mothers still holding them in their arms refusing to accept the reality of the situation. Nathan removed these thoughts from his memory picking up his glass to have another mouthful.

Nathan looked towards Lilith smiling slightly "If you ever need any assistance I would happily help fight against Nyx". Nathan tried to avoid fighting if he could but when it came to Nyx he would take an opportunity he could if it meant one less member would plague the world.

Lilith smiled softly before finishing her drink. "I won't lie, the first two years was tough, but we got around. It helps when you have team members who can get in and out of places easily, that can help get food and stuff. That and we had some technology that helped with disguising ourselves during the times we had to get back above ground. After things got normal again, well as normal as things can be with Nyx taking over the world, Professor X had the Xavier Institute rebuilt and we began training again. Unfortunately we had to train the lil' ones as well once they turned five. The teens were getting some real training as well. It wasn't easy, hell it still aint easy dealin with them. One of them likes to go off on his own, but his mom's dead, and his dad is not father material. Well... they never got along either for whatever reason and Sky got himself killed somewhat and then came back recently. I try not to get in the lives of others unless it effects me and my kids."

Lilith thought about what Nathan said about lending a hand. They could use some extra help, but even if he were neutral, he could still help out. "Well you can do a few things. You can join the Resistance, or you can stay neutral as we call it and just do whatever you want when it comes to Nyx. But most of us prefer staying on one side. My boyfriend probably would've neutral even if he was fighting against them to protect his family. He was that way before he died. Wasn't and X-men or a Brotherhood, just a mutant who would get into issues with Sky or Vergil..." Lilith trailed off before getting another beer.

Nathan became slightly confused by what Lilith was telling him, struggling to keep up with her. He shook his head trying to get rid of the confusion realising it must have seemed very peculiar and probably slightly comical. Nathan spoke almost immediately after hoping that Lilith didn't notice and if she did not giving her any chance to react to it. "You are very lucky to have had people helping you during the difficult times, sticking together is probably the best thing to do right now" Nathan realised how contradictory what he just said was, he didn't get close to anyone if it could be helped, he talked but he never opened up the only exception was when he met Madaline a few days ago but to him that was a one time thing he had never expected it to happen.

Nathan wasn't surprised when Lilith told him that even the children were receiving training thinking to himself that people have to do what is necessary to survive. "Although it isn't ideal for the children it is better that they are ready just in case anything happens they can defend themselves to some extent. However aren't you worried that Nyx will attack the institute again? After all you said they have done it before so what's to stop them coming back and attacking again, especially with the resistance been the only real opposition that Nyx has to face these days." Realising he was still holding his glass Nathan took two large gulps finishing it off before placing the empty glass onto the bar.

"I'm sorry for your loss" Nathan paused wondering whether or not if he should ask how it happened, deciding it was probably better not to pry he considered what Lilith said about joining the resistance, he had never put any thought into until now always wanting to do things on his own. "I’ll definitely think about joining the resistance but right now I think I will just go about things on my own at least until I am completely settled in."

Lilith listened to Nathan. She had always felt that having people help was weakness, that was until she realized that it was a strength. To admit weakness was a strength and to ask for help when needed, was as well. She felt guilty about not being to help as much as others, but she did have her use as a weapons maker as well as a chemist with a fondness for poisons.

"Nyx doesn't believe that the Xavier Institute is the headquarters for the Resistance," Lilith said. "They won't attack us because most of the X-men and Brotherhood are scattered, not many are in Bayville anymore, or at least I don't see them. Don't care too much for them, just my family and those who actually work with me." She drank some of her second glass of beer.

"Last I checked, Nyx doesn't know who's a member of the Resistance. After all, we haven't gotten into any real bad fights with them yet now that we've regrouped. I heard that they had one of our guys, we thought him dead for five years, brainwashed and attacked his sister. One of our telepaths fixed him up though and now he's on the warpath against Nyx because of what they made him do to his sister. She survived the fight, though if it had happened a few years ago, she would be dead." Lilith remembered Ginger when she was just a regular human, no real powers, just the odd fairy seen here or there. She was still a sweet heart who would often baby sit the young kids in the mansion.

"Don't worry about my loss, he's been dead for five years, I have his kids to remind me of him though, they take after him in different ways." Lilith said. "As for joining the Resistance, there's no pressure, a few of our own members tend to go do their own thing sometimes."

Nathan was slightly surprised at Lilith’s apparent lack of caring for other people especially her dead boyfriend, Nathan wondered if this absence of care was just a front to hide how she truly felt but after considering what he knew about her so far Nathan came to the conclusion that it wasn't a cover this is who she really was. Nathan became slightly jealous of how she could distance herself, he wished he could be the same since he had spent so much time thinking about Samantha and regretting what had happened to her, having the ability to just push it away seemed like a blessing to him.

"That's good if nothing else it gives you breathing space to just be a normal family with no immediate worries" Nathan smiled but he wondered how long it would last, Nyx are bound to find out at some point and he doubted they would take it lightly. "That's horrible what they did to one of your people I wish a greater number of people would oppose Nyx but I guess most people are willing to accept the circumstances if it means they can go on with their own life’s" Smiling again Nathan continued "well if I do or don't join as I said before I would be happy to help whenever I can"

Lilith wondered if she came off distant to Nathan. In truth that was how she was to most people. However, her boyfriend was the only person she was close to. They had dealt with the same madman at one point and then he was gone. It had hurt Lilith, when he died, but she had to be strong for her kids, and for the Resistance. Weakness wasn't exactly an option when hiding from Nyx. But after five years she wasn't mourning for Kyle. He was a good man, and he went out with a bang. Her distancing was a handy trick from back when she was a child.

"Oh there are still immediate worries. My kids go to public school, and Arina's got some of her dad's powers as well as mine, both a fairly dangerous combination. It's not good when playing sports because she loves to rough house. Thankfully I have yet to have the teacher call me." Lilith said, drinking more of her beer. "It's sad that the only people who are part of the Resistance are mutants. Ginger was human at one point, but an accident caused her x-gene to no longer be dormant. She always felt more at home with mutants than humans. Has two mutant brothers. Technically speaking humans should be standing up since Nyx wants to get rid of them all."

Lilith looked through her pocket for her business card. "Here, I can't exactly tell you anything about the Resistance that I haven't told you already, but if you want to help out or you need back up, here's my card." Lilith held it out to Nathan. The card had her name, cell phone, email address and occupation which was weapons maker and chemist, which was through commission usually.

Nathan picked up his glass from the bar placing it against his lips, expecting something to come out of it he remembered it was already empty. "same again please" he asked the barman, Nathan knew that he shouldn't have another he never could really handle his drink but he hadn't had a proper drink in quite a few years so he wasn't going to pass up the opportunity.

"Hmm I guess there is always going to be some danger while Nyx are in control and all you can really do is have faith that your children won't do anything that may bring attention to you or your family" Nathan stopped realising that he probably shouldn't be talking about Lilith and her family in that manner. "I'm sorry I shouldn't have said that" Nathan looked away hoping he hadn't offended her. Nathan continued to speak "It's likely that only mutants are in the resistance because all those with Nyx are mutants, so even if humans joined the resistance they would probably feel helpless and more of a hindrance but given time it's likely that more humans will begin to open their eyes and stand up against Nyx but right now I think they are just too afraid"

As Lilith rummaged through her pocket the barman handed Nathan his drink and in return Nathan gave him the correct amount of change "thank you". When Nathan was handed the business card he examined it with curiosity. "A weapons maker and chemist, that's an interesting job title, I'm guessing by chemist you don't mean someone who sells headache tablets" Still looking at the card Nathan let out a small chuckle. "Anyway thank you I will keep it in mind" Nathan looked up at Lilith and smiled.

Lilith waved Nathan off when he spoke of her family. "It's the truth though," she said. "If my kids bring attention to themselves Nyx will have reason to take them away from me and brainwash them to be on their side. I have faith in my son to not be stupid, my daughter on the other hand... not so much, which is why i always tell my son to look after her so nothing bad happens."

Lilith chuckled when Nathan read her card."No, I'm not a pharmaceutical type of chemist," said Lilith. "I specialize in poisons and acids when dealing with chemicals, but I also work with various materials when needing to make weapons. I made my own weapons such as the needles I use that I infuse with some of my poison or my sleep powder and the sword that Sky used to carry. Not sure what happened to it now though."

Lilith finished her second drink. "Not many of us actually have a job job, so we need other ways to make money. That and someone needs to help make the weapons we need to fight Nyx. I mean Alexa is a genius and all, but she's not really fond of making weapons." Lilith smirked. "I, on the other hand, have been making weapons since I learned I could. Even made the basement of the Brotherhood Boarding House my personal lab for a while to keep some of my more unpredictable metals. Usually adamantium since I gotta keep it boiling."

Nathan was very intrigued by what Lilith did for a living; he had never come across anybody who could say that they did the same things she did "Those are very useful skills to have especially considering the current circumstances, you seem like a very resourceful person" Nathan had so many questions to ask, unsure if he should ask them or not curiosity got the better of him "Do you get much business making these things? Or is it mainly just among the resistance that you tend to sell them?" Pausing wondering if he had gone too far, Nathan decided to ask her more about what she did "So what type of weaponry do you make apart from swords and poisonous needles? Do you make firearms?" Nathan felt like a young child asking all these questions but he had always had a fascination with weapons especially guns. This obsession mainly came from his father however there capabilities had always amazed him.

Nathan realised that he was probably just annoying Lilith more than anything, not wanting to get on Lilith’s nerves he quickly apologised "sorry about asking you so much I just find it very interesting".

Lilith smirked at Nathan's questions. She wasn't exactly used to people asking her about the types of weapons she made, but it was a nice change. She thought a bit about each question. When Nathan apologized for asking questions she just shook her head. "Nah, it's alright, I'm not used to people actually taking an interest in what I do. Typically my income is by commission and I get anybody from robbers to vigilantes messaging me to make them something. My only policy is that you buy at your own risk and you don't rat me out. Though if you did rat me out you would be dead if I can get away with it or you won't find me because the weapons obviously have no serial number on them." Lilith explained. "I've made swords of all kinds, daggers, staffs, kunai, throwing stars, poisons, chemicals that numb nerve endings so you can't move, assorted firearms and the ammunition they need, and I can make these in all kinds of metal. I'm one of the only people who knows how to get adamantium and how to use it well. It's a difficult metal to use, but it's damn strong."

Nathan quickly became impressed by her talents; Lilith was definitely someone he didn't want to become enemies with. "Remind me to never get on your bad side" Nathan remarked laughing afterwards. "The resistance is probably very lucky to have you working with them and not Nyx". Smiling Nathan continued "well if I ever need anything made that isn't necessarily legal, I’ll make sure to come to you first and you don't need to worry I won't tell anyone about what you do for a living I don't doubt that you would kill me if necessary"

Nathan was puzzled about her mentioning adamantium "You mentioned adamantium earlier as well. I didn't realise that was a real metal, I always thought it was just something made up for books and films, if it's as strong as what they say it is in films and books then I’m not surprised it's difficult to use. But I suppose anything is possible after all we live in a world with mutants something many didn't know about or weren't willing to accept before Nyx declared war" Noticing the he was rambling Nathan cut himself short.

Lilith smirked as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. It was true that her talents weren't being used by Nyx, but if she had still been that hurt and hateful young woman that she was six years ago when she joined The Brotherhood, she most likely would've been a member of Nyx. However her friendship and then love of Kyle changed her, gave her humanity back. She thought about mentioning it, but she decided that it wasn't important. She was a member of the Resistance, protecting her family. Her smirk grew as Nathan said he didn't doubt that she could kill him if necessary. "Yes because you would die an excruciatingly painful death." she said.

Lilith looked to him when he asked about adamantium. "Don't know where you heard about it in fiction, but it's real. If you've ever heard of the X-men then you should know that Wolverine's claws, in fact his entire skeleton is laced in adamantium. His healing factor saved his ass, if it wasn't for that, he wouldn't have survived. X-23 also has adamantium in her, we're not sure if it's her entire skeleton like Wolverine, but we know that her claws are adamantium." Lilith explained. "Technically it's a highly guarded recipe, but I have my ways of getting things."

"As for mutants, you must've been livin under a rock Nathan, because we went public like seven years ago when Trask attacked the X-men and Brotherhood who were battling the Acolytes. And when Trask attacked, Magneto decided to out us all. The minute the news was out, on public television, we all had it bad. And we're not accepted, very few humans accept us, even when we're fighting to protect them. That's how the world is, not much different from the discrimination and prejudices of race, gender and sexual orientation."

The way Lilith smiled as she spoke about him dying painfully scared Nathan although he had no doubt that she was joking but serious at the same time, there was just something about her smile. Nathan got the feeling that her old self she spoke about so often was still in their somewhere getting some form of enjoyment at the thought of him dying slowly and painfully.

Feeling uncomfortable he didn't want to give her time to entertain the idea "I have heard of the X-men and both wolverine and X-23 during my travels but I had no idea that they had adamantium claws or Wolverine had an adamantite skeleton". In truth Nathan had tried to avoid anything to do with mutants, he had always hated his abilities believing he was just a freak, but after coming to Bayville and meeting other mutants his acceptance began to change. "About living under a rock, I suppose you could say that. Seven years ago I was still living in England too busy looking after my mother to do anything else; it took so much of my time I didn't know what was happening outside the house let alone the rest of the world. After moving to America I guess it had been quite some time since mutants where exposed because I never heard people talking about it but then again I wasn't very sociable so I probably wouldn't notice if they did"

Nathan thought about the last thing Lilith said laughing at the irony of the current state of things. "It's in human nature to discriminate; it's much easier to hate something that you don't understand than it is to accept it. In that respect some humans and members of Nyx are quite similar. Nyx was probably set up due to the discrimination towards mutants and now they are trying to get rid of everyone who is normal because of a few people's hatred towards what they don't understand"

Lilith narrowed her eyes at Nathan. "You really do live under a rock." Lilith said. "We've been in this war since 2006, our fight against Nyx has been on hold for some time, but we're slowly getting ready to make our move. When Apocalypse wanted to turn the Earth to a mutant only world, the X-men and their allies fought to protect the humans that despise us. They talk about it, about us in fear because of Nyx, because of what they can do. No one has actually seen the leaders of Nyx, just their lackeys." Lilith checked her phone before leaving money on the table to pay for her bill. "I better be off. You might want to do some research on the history of our beloved Bayville if you're staying long term." Lilith said as she left the bar. She didn't like the ignorance Nathan displayed about their kind, and for a mutant to not even have the slightest idea of what was happening in Bayville, was a bad sign.