ℐ ∂ση'т want ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ the вα∂ gυу {Mat}

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

Kara waited for the guard to open the door. Waited for him to set her food down. Her hands were chained to the wall so she couldn't hurt anyone. As soon as the door closed behind the guard, the chains loosened, allowing her to scramble toward the food. She scarfed it down, and then pretended to choke. Out of the corner of her eye, through the cell bars, she could see the guard turn around. "Hey! Someone come help! I think she's choking."

Footsteps sounded as three other guards joined him. They opened the door and centered cautiously. One of them wore a full body suit, so she couldn't touch his skin. He took her from behind and wrapped his arms around her torso, but before he could so anything else she drove her elbow back into his face. They'd been expecting her to use her power, but they'd been too stupid to think she'd use physical force, especially after all these years of being complacent.

She flew at the others, tapping them with her fingers in quick succession. Each of them turned to stone. She didn't waste time thinking about them... about the fact that they were, for all intents and purposes, dead. She raced down the hallway, desperately trying to find the way out. She knew more guards wouldn't be far behind, and they would be more prepared than the ones she'd taken out.

---

Three days later, Kara staggered down the street. Her numb fingers held closed her thin coat; the zipper was broken, and had been that way since she'd had it. The cold wind tore at her, but the worst part was the needle-like rain that soaked her clothes and stung her face. She needed to find shelter, but she couldn't stop moving. She'd been running for the past thirty minutes, sure that the government was following her. Whether they were or not was undetermined. Either way, she didn't want to risk it. She was never going back to that place; she'd worked too hard to get out.

[mationix]

It had surprised people that Reuben had decided to get out of the compound for a while. Heck, it even surprised himself what he was doing. He had gotten restless over the last week, something he had never actually experienced. It was so odd being out here in the real world instead of inside his home; it was a lot brighter than he remembered. Though that was for the best, better to hide inside of his home and not be able to hurt somebody than risk the government learning of another mutant that had escaped under their radar.

Despite this fear -which was evident in the way his shoulders twitched every second or so-, he couldn't help but be repulsed by the inside of his home, he needed to take a breather, no matter the consequences.

As Reuben made it outside, he mentally cursed his bad luck -of course it had to be raining the day he decided to take a look as to what was happening outside. Why on earth would he expect something to work out for him? Begrudgingly, he pulled his coat, which he had thankfully grabbed, over his head, trying to keep the pelting rain from stinging his eyes. As he stumbled around in the rain, he saw a flicker of movement. His head snapping up in fear, he froze in his movements, like a tiny creature staring into the jaws of a fox. "W-wh-who's..." Reuben swallowed his fear and tried again, "who's there?"

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

Kara went absolutely still. Another crazy person was out in this rain? "Just another person trying to make it out of the rain," she said cautiously.

[mationix]

Ah, so they could speak. Well that was a relief. Then again, what kind of creature would be in the rain at this time, if she hadn't been a human. Well...at least, it sounded like a female. Reuben was never good at discerning genders since he had been in hiding for so long. "If that's the case, you m-might want to hurry it up," he called back, "the government doesn't l-like it when people are out so late."

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

The government doesn't like a lot of things, Kara thought. Like mutants. Anything that was different was "bad." And she hated the humans for their petty fear. "I have nowhere to go."

[mationix]

"No-nowhere? Isn't that impossible? Everyone has somewhere to go," Reuben offered helplessly, his voice faltering at the end. He cleared his voice and tried again, a little stronger this time, "You m-must have somewhere to go."

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

Unless you count back to prison. She shook her head, though she doubted he could see her very well. "What about you? Surely you've got somewhere better to be."

[mationix]

He gave her a small shrug, not knowing if he should say something or not. Though he doubted that a government spy would ever risk their life out in the freezing rain. "Of co-course I do, though it's a bit small. I g-guess I shouldn't be complaining though, I at least have a roof over my head."

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

Kara narrowed her eyes, blinking through the rain. "Why are you stammering?"

[mationix]

His cheeks flushed red, though in the back of his mind, he was thankful of the darkness that had settled around the two. "I-I have a problem with speaking, es-especially if I'm worried," he managed to reply, feeling a bit embarrassed.

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

She caught the embarrassment in his voice, but she shrugged. "Don't worry about it," she said. At least he didn't kill people accidentally... and on purpose.

[mationix]

He nodded, feeling a bit relived. "O-OK." He was quiet for a moment, before he called out, "Er...if-if you have no place to go to, I-I have a place where they have room for people who need it."

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

Kara blinked. "You mean like a motel? I don't have any money."

[mationix]

He hesitated for a moment, not knowing if he should continue. Finally, after a couple moments of silence, he finally said, "No, n-not like a motel. More li-like a hideout for people who are...er...mutants." This was a shot in the dark, if she was a human, he would be screwed...

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

Kara shuddered. A place for mutants? Yeah, that was probably the last place she wanted to be. A constant reminder of what a freak she was. And yet... somehow she wanted to go with him. Maybe around other freaks, it wouldn't be so bad.

[mationix]

He hesitated for a moment, shifting his weight from foot to foot. Taking her silence for affirmation, he continued slowly, "D-do you want me to sh-show you where it is?"

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

Kara hesitated. If she didn't feel safe, she could just leave, right? No one would try to stop her. "Yeah. Let's go."

[mationix]

Reuben nodded and started off on the trek back to the mutants' hideout. "Th-the government doesn't know we're hiding out there, so you don't need to worry about being found."

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

Kara stiffened. "Why would I care about the government?"

[mationix]

He glanced behind himself and blinked at her slowly. "Well, if-if you were a non-mutant, you would've had a violent reaction to what I said. Besides, I doubt anyone with an intelligent mind would be out here in this kind of wheather."