Day Two: Revelations

[Andy 60]

"Nice," Danny said, "if you're going to be like that about it then I think I'll pass."

[Vergere 1]

Lance glanced over at where a group of people were standing, including Natalie, and sighed. "Well, I need to go make sure everything is going okay over here for a moment...." He headed over to where the teens were and rested a hand on Natalie's shoulder as he arrived. "Hey guys... can I get you anything?"

Kelly smiled as Lance left, "Not a thing. Just my calc homework, and I'd rather put that off for a while longer if I could." She glanced at how fast the fries were going, even though he was pacing himself. "Want some more?"

[Rogue 4]

"Actually," Natalie said, looking up to Lance. "Neil here was just wondering if you were hiring." She gave him an expression that said, At your own risk.

"Yes, I was wondering if you have any jobs available." Neil said, letting his arms fall to his sides. "I just moved into town, and I am in need of a steady job."

[Andy 60]

Although the offer was tempting, Calvin had to decline. "Nah, I think I'll survive, thanks." He gave a weak attempt at a smile, "although if you have any Tylenol that would be great... I have the worst headache ever."

[Vergere 1]

"Oh really?" Lance pulled out a chair for himself and sat down, but didn't miss Natalie's look. He leaned back casually amongst the small group and shrugged. "If you want, I can interview you right here, right now, and then think about it overnight. No matter what I wouldn't make a decision today anyways, but I can save you the hassle of filling out more forms than necessary."

Kelly hesitated, then nodded. "Sure. Gimme a minute to go get some." She smiled reassuringly and got up and headed into the back room and, after going through the first aid kit, pulled out some pre-wrapped individual tylenol pills and headed back to where Calvin was. "Here, let me get you some water too." She handed him the pills and got him a glass of water.

Edited May 20, 2008 by Tyche

[Andy 60]

"Thanks," Calvin said.

As he washed the pills down, he noticed the Cove's television was showing a regional news report, covering a fire in Hill Valley. He couldn't hear what was being said, as the volume was turned off but he secretly hoped they were saying that he was presumed dead so nobody would be out looking for him. Also, he hoped that Kelly or Lance wouldn't put two and two together.

[Rogue 4]

Neil took a seat in front of him. "Sounds just about perfect to me. So what do you want to know?"

Natalie decided to excuse herself, feeling awkward now that the interview was going on. She squeezed Lance's arm gently, turning to Marcus and Danny with a smile before heading towards her truck.

[Vergere 1]

Lance shrugged as he looked Neil over. "Well, why do you want to work here, for one?"

Kelly yawned and sighed. "Well, as much as I hate it, I should return to my homework. Yell if you need anything else, alright?" She smiled at Calvin before heading back into the back room to get her work.

[Andy 60]

"Okay." Calvin said, "I guess I'll see you around."

After Kelly went into the backroom he idly wondered just where he was going to stay tonight. And where he was going to get clothes from... Footwear would be a nice start, he thought.

[Drake 53]

Marcus followed Natalie out of the building. When he caught up to her, he said, "Hey..." He suddenly spotted Joseph sitting by himself on a bench. Marcus remembered back to earlier in the week, on their first day back at school, when Joseph had snubbed him in front of Natalie. "Hey, isn't that Joseph over there?" He looked up and saw a few seagulls flying overhead. "Heh. Hope one of them has good aim."

[Rogue 4]

Natalie gave him a disappointed look over her shoulder, pushing her blond hair behind her ears. "Hey, that's not nice mister. 'Sides, Joseph can be a very cool person. He's just usually going crazy over school. He wants to get into a good college, and he has the potential too."

***

"It's the first place I thought of actually." Neil confessed. "I don't know many places around here, but this place always looks busy. And I'm a hard worker."

Edited May 20, 2008 by Rogue

[Vergere 1]

"Well, what would you want to do here?" Lance watched his face as the teen responded.

******

Catalina sighed as she sat down in the near-empty room. She glanced up at her instructor.

"You have learned quickly these past several months, Santiago." Her instructor sat down across from her.

Cat shrugged. "Yeah... not real sure what's going on. I'm just.... picking it up like never before."

[Drake 53]

"I don't doubt that," Marcus said. "But for someone claiming to know most everyone in the school, he has a terrible memory and a bad way of going about it." He looked over to her truck. "So before I got you all mad at me again...what was it you were reading?"

***

Peter and Hailey got off the elevator at the top-most floor of the secret sub-levels. The decor down here was much more sparse than the upper living areas. The sub-levels were strictly for X-Men business, containing Cerebro, the Danger Room, the bays for the X-Jet and helicopter, and various equipment rooms. They entered into one of the latter. This room was where the X-Men stored their uniforms. Farther back in the room were a pair of doors leading to mens and womens locker rooms.

Hailey was grinning from ear-to-ear. "Peter. What is it?" She knew full well what it was.

Peter smiled and pressed a button on the wall below a small digital read-out that said Rasputin. A vertical panel slid out from the wall. Inside hung his red and black uniform made from unstable molecules. All of the uniforms were made from such materials. They safely allowed for the various extreme changes caused by the many different powers that would normally destroy regular materials.

A couple feet away, he pressed another button. This one was beneath a screen reading Hudson. An identical panel slid open, revealing a black suit with yellow highlights. There was a large yellow X crossing the chest and a bright red maple leaf over the v-neck.

Hailey's eyes widened. "Whoa! Awesome! Did you guys make this for me? Because...that was fast!"

Peter shook his head. "No. Your parents had it made for you and sent it to us."

"Well remind me to yell at them for not telling me before I left home!" She grabbed the uniform from the closet panel and rushed over to the womens locker room. "Hurry up and get changed, muscles! I want to try this stuff out a-sap!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Peter said, with a chuckle. He grabbed his own uniform and went to change in the mens locker room.

[Rogue 4]

"Just some stuff for that school project." Natalie opened the truck's door, reaching in and pulling out the book. She kept her finger in the page, and turned to him. She then looked out to the beach. "Walk with me?"

***

Neil took a breath. "I'm pretty flexible with that. And I'm a fast learner."

Edited May 20, 2008 by Rogue

[Vergere 1]

Lance nodded. "Mhm. So what, besides being a fast learner, makes you think you'd fit in well here? What can you offer me as a worker?" His voice was simply conversational and casual.

[Andy 60]

Danny got another drink, Marcus and Natalie had gone for a chat, and Neil was being interviewed by Lance. He thought Neil looked genuinely interested, surprisingly, although wouldn't have been at all surprised if it was a charade.

He got his drink and noticed the curiously scruffy teen sat nearby looking lost. "Alright mate?" Danny enquired.

"Huh?" The kid responded.

"I'm Danny. Are you okay? You look like you're having a rough day."

"Oh. It's not been the best day."

"Got a name?"

"Calvin."

Danny glanced at the television that Calvin was looking at; they were still going on about some house fire in Hill Valley. "Must have been one hell of a fire; they've been talking about it for ages." When Calvin didn't respond Danny shrugged, "I guess I'll see you around."

Danny finished off his drink and headed back to his car. Time to visit this house and see if the owner is in, he thought.

[Drake 53]

"Absolutely," said Marcus. "And that offer for dolphin anatomy is still open, by the way." He grinned.

***

Sam left his house and got in his Impala. He had spent much of the day doing paperwork he had neglected over the course of the week and was now eager to be out of the house and back doing his job...even if that meant more paperwork next week.

He figured it was about time to pay the Xavier Institute a visit. He hadn't called them to arrange a meeting but that wasn't the SHIELD way. The phoning thing was usually just to make sure no one used their powers in the presence of a regular human. Fortunately, he didn't fall under that category.

After starting up the car, Sam backed out onto the street and drove off.

[Rogue 4]

Neil thought about that for a moment. "Well, I may seem lazy when I'm here around my friends, but I know when to get serious. Like I said earlier, I am a hard worker. And very easily adaptable at that. I'm very good at thinking on my toes. I'm also available at just about any hour you could throw at me."

***

Natalie rolled her aquamarine eyes. "You're lucky we're close, otherwise I might have to kill you for that remark."

She took off her shoes, and walked in the sand with him until they were far enough away from the beachgoers, and over sitting in the small cove that gave the nearby hangout it's name. "I didn't tell you, because i didn't think it meant anything...but sometimes lately, when I hear a loud noise..." The wind came in, blowing her hair around and she tried to tame the wild blond locks again. "I don't know...it's like I can see everything around..."

[Vergere 1]

"Would you consider yourself reliable? I have no patience for someone who's scheduled to work not to come in. If you're sick, that's one thing. But if you repeatedly don't show, I'll fire you on the spot." Lance continued to watch Neil.

[Drake 53]

Marcus nodded, thinking it over. "Hmm. Like that bat thing, right?" He paused, trying to think of the world. "Echolocation?" He considered the ramifications of an ability like that then smiled. "You'd kick ass at hide and seek."

[Rogue 4]

She chuckled, her warm smile shining through. "Yeah, I guess I would be. It's kind of strange though. It's like for a split second I can see everything, like a 3-D map in my head...and then it's gone just as fast as it came. The other day though..."

Natalie trailed off.

Edited May 20, 2008 by Rogue

[Drake 53]

"Oh, the thing with the concert?" He looked down at his shoes. "Yeah, maybe that was a little much. Sorry to make you do that."

[Rogue 4]

"Well yeah...I saw everything then, but I wasn't thinking about that." She took a deep breath. "I need to tell you something but I need you to just be quiet for a second."

She breathed again, and then tried to focus her hearing, listening for anything suspicious at all. She didn't hear anything but waves and beachgoers. "Marcus, the other day, after I freaked out...I was approached by someone."

[Drake 53]

"What kind of someone?" Marcus asked, his tone turning to one of concern. "Who was it? What did they want?"

***

Hailey and Peter returned to the backyard of the mansion, now donning their sleek, form-fitting uniforms.

They walked back to the area where Hailey had pulled out the stump and found a place on the grass that was relatively clear. She walked a couple dozen feet away from Peter and planted her feet in place, crouching into a low stance.

She waved her hand, beckoning the Russian giant to make the first move. "Come on, muscles. Let's see you shine."

Peter grinned and turned his skin to metal. "I must insist, little one. The youngest gets to make the first move."

[Rogue 4]

"He said he was a part of some government agency that's tasked with keeping an eye on the mutant population." She hugged her legs as she spoke, resting her head on her knees and looking out at the ocean. She felt like just by talking with that guy she had betrayed Marcus in some way. "He had recorded us...well, you when you saved me, straight through your transformation, and myself hearing you talking to yourself..."