Mercury rolled to his right and then left and then off of his bed and the he crawled under it, lifting it even as he slept, and tried to get away from the thing chasing him in his night mare, it was part alpaca, part robot, part vampire….a blood sucking cyborg alpaca was closing in on him threatening to drink his blood and then lay an egg sack in his chest…it hadn’t told him but he knew. He also knew that it could stop his strength some how, it was like a stalker but worse because it looked like an alpaca. He was helpless against it!

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!” he said sitting up and tossing his bed into the corner. Mercury, had never been stable, their group psyche seemed to repress and send all the bad nights to Mercury’s less than stable mind. He hoped up like a little kid wanting run to momma…or Abyss. or Mars, or even Saturn if he was awake. He was shirtless and his pajama bottoms sported black sheep with red capes and little red Kato masks. He ran into the hall way leaving his door barely hanging on its hinges. All the lights were off in his brothers rooms, that meant they were out or they were in and sleeping. He panicked looking about to find a light on anywhere. He jogged down the hallway and then came to a door he recognized it was Isabel’s, he was embarrassed but he was afraid that the Dreadpaca was coming for him more. He knocked on the door urgently, but with out knocking it down, he would have just gone in, but what if Isabel slept in clothes like Syn did. He wouldn’t make the mistake of running into a woman’s room with out her permission ever again. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other hoping she came out before the creature got him.

“Isabel.” He whispered loudly. “ It is me Mercury!” he refused to say he was scared,however it was written all over the big man’s face quite comically.

With a semi-conscious groan of protest, Isabel rolled over in her bed as the banging on her door worked to bring her mind back to wakefulness. The skull night-light that Bane had given her was still lit up, as was the small lamp on the night table beside her bed, the light from both falling into her face as she turned, and the book that had been resting on her stomach falling to the floor with the thump that was nearly inaudible when contesting against the thudding on her door. The comforter that she blindly searched out for a moment to shut out the light had slid down the bed just out of her reach.

Groggily she rubbed a fist against one eye as she turned away from the lamp and faced the door instead, regarding the thing in tired confusion as a voice followed the urgent knocking. What on earth was someone doing at her door so late at night? She hardly ever got visitors even during daylight hours. Trying to shake off some more of the sleep that she'd previously been in, she worked to get herself up and out of her bed to answer the call.

The urgency in the voice began to worry her as her mind slowly became more aware. What could be so important that someone would need to get her up in the middle of the night? Her phone hadn't rung, had it? Was someone in trouble? The Order had already had a short streak of bad luck. It wouldn't be entirely unrealistic to think that it had continued.

Already worried over the reasons behind the arrival of her late night visitor, she swung the door open to find a wall of shifting red flesh just outside the entrance. "Mercury?" she repeated, her worry beginning to escalate upon seeing the expression on his face. "What's wrong? Are you okay? Did something happen?"

He swallowed heavily and glanced both ways in the hall and was relieved instantly, the evil beast wouldn't dare show up now. Isabel could take away it s bones... and it didn't have many left, just robot parts, so it wouldn't risk being more robot then animal or it would lose the essence of what it was.

“Um, I’m fine now,” the relief was there but the beads of slight perspiration on his forehead and his jumping glance at the shadows in the hall said other wise. “I ummmm, am having trouble sleeping. I saw your light was on” That didn’t sound so bad. He looked down at Isabel and noticed that she had a lot more skin than she normally did, He was stunned momentarily but Isabel was more like family to him, and girls were made to be friends with more soft parts any way, they were nice to talk to and smelt better than friends that were guys, but he certainly didn’t think the way Venus might at the sight of seeing all the pale flesh that was hidden normally. He himself didn’t have a shirt on and didn’t think a thing about it.

“I um,….am lonely.” He nodded sincerely still not wanting to admit that he wanted to stay with her or take her to his room.

The slight relaxation of her companion's features put Isabel a little more at ease, though there was still worry left over. It wasn't very often that she saw any of the Big Guys looking distraught, even Mercury, who she knew wasn't quite as stable emotionally or mentally as his brothers. Even knowing that, she didn't like to see him so upset, especially if she didn't know exactly why.

The way his attention shifted around so rapidly had her confused. As far as she could tell, he was the only one out and about so late at night. And on top of that, they were at the Sanctuary, one of the safest possible places for them to be. What could he be so worried about while he was home?

She regarded him carefully as he spoke again, not entirely believing him when he tried to assure he that he was alright. He didn't look calm enough to be fine just yet. And then a vague explanation, but an explanation none the less. She could certainly relate to having issues with sleeping. She still had nightmares about the Camps more often than she liked. And for once she was glad that she'd fallen asleep while reading, if her light had been the thing to bring Mercury to her door. Even if it had been turned off, she wouldn't have been upset over the disturbance. She liked visits from her friends, even distressed ones.

"Well, you don't have to be lonely anymore now that I'm here," she replied, her alarm gradually fading as her initial worries seemed to be just workings of her overactive imagination. "Do you want to come in for a little while so you can relax? Or maybe go somewhere else around the Sanctuary and do the same?" she asked, smiling in an attempt to reassure him as she casually rubbed at the sleep in one eye. She was just about fully awake now, and was sure she could stay that way for a while yet.

~~"Well, you don't have to be lonely anymore now that I'm here,"

“oh, ok. Good.” He liked Isabel she was always nice to him and she liked to play games…even if those games were men to those stinky police men. He would show her the, throw em high game some day.

~~~"Do you want to come in for a little while so you can relax? Or maybe go somewhere else around the Sanctuary and do the same?"

He nodded to the first question, “I would like coming in if it was ok.” Still thinking about the screaming Syn did it at the intrusion of her room; he still didn’t really now that it stemmed more from Syn thinking of her room as her own private hold away from the stress of the world. He waited at the door for a moment to make sure she didn’t change her mind before stepping in and looking around the room.

Mercury glanced at Isabel again and cracked a little smile. “When did you get more skin?” she was supposed to be smothered in soft green fabric and..and something was missing. He looked atop her head and his jaw dropped, he jumped back to the edge of the doorway, blood thirsty robot vampire Llamas banished from his mind. A hand slapped over his eyes and the other point at her head.

“You are naked!” his hand waved around toward her head and he whispered. “your hair is naked, Isabow.” He turned around and small circles near her doorway. The hand that was pointing flapped about slightly and he giggled slightly. And fell down on his rump. His fingers parted so he could swipe another look at Isabelle’s hair free of the decorations and then his hand slid from his face all together. “ I guess, people have naked hair a lot.”

Isabel gave her own little nod as Mercury expressed his decision to stay in her room for a little while, lazily stepping out of the doorway and further into her room so that he'd have space to move around in and a clear entrance to step through. His initial hesitation didn't particularly strike her as odd. Most people tended to be a little cautious at first when entering someone's room, even if they'd known that someone for quite a while. She just smiled a little brighter and moved to pick up the book that had fallen on the floor prior to her opening the door.

His next question caught her a little off guard, and only confused her for as long as it took her to turn her gaze down to her outfit, quickly understanding what the red giant had meant. "Pajamas are a little more comfortable when there aren't a lot of layers," she explained, turning to look back at her guest. "Plus, I'm usually by myself when I'm in my room, so I don't feel uncomfortable if there's a little more skin visible."

The only person she'd ever knowingly let into her room had been Bane, who she was gradually growing more comfortable with. Calley had also been her guest at one point, much to her displeasure upon finding out at a later date. Mercury was virtually harmless when it came to his friends, and as such she didn't feel at all self conscious about leaving her outfit as it was.

Her smile quickly vanished when Mercury's expression suddenly shifted and he returned to the doorway, hand over his eyes. She didn't at all understand his shouted explanation, her fingers curling nervously into the hem of her pajama shirt, as if they needed the reassurance that her state of dress wasn't a result of her tired mind. Surely bare arms and legs wasn't enough to constitute nakedness. Even so, she couldn't quite keep her face from turning red.

And then that necessary little detail. Her hair was undecorated. She never went anywhere without her ribbons, not even around her own room unless she had changed into her PJ's and was getting ready for bed. She could understand his surprise, once he had revealed what it was he'd meant. She couldn't help but grin in amusement as she watched him turn in circles before falling back onto his rear. Apparently it didn't take much to make him forget about his troubles.

"I just don't like wearing my bow to bed. It gets all wrinkled," she explained, momentarily wondering if she'd have to put it back in. "And you know what?" she continued, moving to kneel down on the floor near to where he'd dropped, still grinning as she did so. "Your hair's naked, too."

~~"Pajamas are a little more comfortable when there aren't a lot of layers," "Plus, I'm usually by myself when I'm in my room, so I don't feel uncomfortable if there's a little more skin visible."

"why would you feel uncomfortable anytime? you are the bees knees." Mercury quoted the old man that was secretly the most powerful mutant in the world. He talked to mercury and told him stories about the war, and how the world used to like its x-gene warriors. Everybody else avoided him, but mercury wasn't quite like anybody else.

~~"I just don't like wearing my bow to bed. It gets all wrinkled," And you know what?" "Your hair's naked, too."

"that makes sense about your pajamas," he nodded after the initial shock that Isabel could not where a bow if she wanted too. " and Hey!" his tail rose to scratch his head." my hair is always naked, it isn't modest or sophisticated like like your hair. Your hair is classy, always wearing the big pretty bows." he nodded. "but, if you don't care if my naked hair sees your hair naked, then neither do I." his hair was washed and fluffy on his head instead of organized into wild spikes. His tail stopped scratching in wonder to shut the door. " You know what Isabow? I like you the best." He really did, at least at the moment, she was way nicer than anyone had been about a late night intrusion. He could get used to liking her the best all the time. "ohhh, what book is that?" he looked at the book and stifled a yawn. Books without pictures made him sleepy.
A large red finger tapped her left knee as he asked the question, the movement was subconscious.

Why exactly did Isabel feel uncomfortable if more of her skin was showing than usual? She wished she could have come up with an immediate answer, but an exact reason behind that discomfort seemed to escape her. She'd been dressing the way she had for years without putting too much thought into it. "I don't really know," she admitted. "I just feel better if I'm covered. I can't really explain it very well. Maybe it's because I'm so used to dressing that way." She couldn't help but smile at the outdated compliment.

Classy and sophisticated. Now those were a pair of words she'd never had applied to any part of her before. There weren't many people around that thought killing cops was very classy, or associating with a murderous group of mutants at all sophisticated. Modest usually only went as far as her mode of dress. She tended to be a very prideful creature and wasn't above boasting about her abilities. She appreciated Mercury's comments, though. He was one person who she could be absolutely sure was being honest, even if the opinions were wholly his own.

"I don't think my naked hair minds if your hair is naked, too," she replied, absentmindedly brushing her fingers through it to smooth out any tangles and messiness that could have been created while she had been asleep, her gaze drifting over to the door as a red tail pushed it shut. That was probably better than leaving it open. At least their voices would be somewhat muffled and they'd lessen any chance of waking up other sleeping residents.

He liked her best, did he? She could feel her face going a little red again as he made that claim. She wasn't quite used to getting some many compliments, nevermind so many sincere ones. "Well, I like you a lot too, Mercury," she responded, smiling again at the gentle giant. She might start to get spoiled if all those positive comments became a regular occurrence.

Almost grateful for the distraction of his inquiry about the book, her gaze obediently shifted over to where she'd dropped it onto her bed, and then back around toward her knee upon feeling the finger tapping against it. "It's a bunch of short stories about faeries," she admitted, feeling a little foolish even if her present company wouldn't think much of her reading choice. Most people probably wouldn't think a known murderer would read about fairytale creatures. "You can look through it if you want, but I don't know if you'd be interested.

Leaning back and reaching an arm out to tug at the comforter that was spread across her bed just enough to knock the book onto the floor again, she retrieved the collection of stories and placed it in her lap, just in case her companion held any interest in it. If not, she'd just put it on her nightstand, where it should have been placed before she'd fallen asleep.

"You look tired," she pointed out, having noted his attempt to stifle a yawn. "Why were you having trouble sleeping, anyway?" The thought that any such discussion might send him back into his previous state of unrest never even crossed her mind. She didn't mean any harm by it, she was simply curious.

~~"I don't really know," "I just feel better if I'm covered. I can't really explain it very well. Maybe it's because I'm so used to dressing that way."

“That makes plenty of sense.” If Isabel knew that it made sense to him, she might want to think about it a bit more and try to find a reason that would make sense to more people.

~~"I don't think my naked hair minds if your hair is naked, too,"

“Ohhhhhh, your hair like seeing my hair naked!” Mercury said play fully.

~~"Well, I like you a lot too, Mercury,"

He nodded his agreement to the statement, glad that Isabel knew that she liked him a lot too.

~~"It's a bunch of short stories about faeries," "You can look through it if you want, but I don't know if you'd be interested.”

“What kind of fairies? It’s about them, like a book telling you where to find them? And what they eat? Or it tells stories about them. Did you know that Jupiter says the tooth fairy is not real? But I think it is just because the tooth fairy doesn’t want to collect drunken teeth.”

“Do you ever read stories out loud?” that was the best he could come up with, with out directly asking for a story.

~~"You look tired,"

He might have stayed looking sleepy except for the sentence that followed.

~~"Why were you having trouble sleeping, anyway?"

He swallowed hard again and his tail thumped up against the door and then held it there hoping the ting wasn’t out side. His eyes were now wide open. “It was a bad dream.” He admitted. “It was really real though.” He nodded absently. “It was going to drink my blood and it was like a stalker, but worse. It was part machine and part…what do you call it…? Vampire and part…” He grinned for a moment because he remembered a scene in a children’s show where an alpaca carried books to a library. “Part Alpaca.” He then scratched at his head again. “Maybe it wasn’t really out there...” he glanced at the door again. “Maybe.” He looked to Isabel. “Can I sleep here?” she might have thought he meant for the night, but again Mercury’s brain worked differently.

Isabel continued to smile as Mercury spoke and moved in reaction to whatever she had to say. She always had liked speaking to him on the occasions that there was a chance to speak. His rather child-like mentality was kind of refreshing in comparison to the often times very mature personalities and views of the rest of her companions.

Looking back to the book as he pressed more questions about its contents, she absentmindedly toyed with the pages, fanning and flipping them as she thought about what she'd read so far. "It's a little bit of all of that," she replied. She wasn't intentionally trying t be vague, the book just covered such a wide range of subject matter surrounding the creatures that it was difficult to narrow it down.

"Some of the stories tell you about Faerie Kingdoms, where the Faeries live and what they do there. Others tell about Faeries in the mortal realm and how they interact with humans. Some of the Faeries are good and other are bad. The book ranges from horror stories to love stories." Readers could pick and choose which stories they preferred. It wasn't one big book about the same kind of creature in different situations. It was kind of like mutants in a way. No two were the same, and people all had a different opinion and view of them. Perhaps that's why she liked the book so much.

"Jupiter's just a grumpy old sourpuss. Don't let him ruin your fun," she commented, not bothering to give her own opinion on things like the Tooth Fairy. She wasn't one to rain on her companion's parade. It sounded like Jupiter had already attempted it, anyways.

Had she ever read any stories out loud? She couldn't remember ever having done so. "I don't usually read anything out loud. Probably because I never have anyone to read with. People usually stay away from my room. It's easier to read when it's quiet, anyways," she answered, ceasing to play with the pages of her book any longer and allowing it to rest once more.

The sudden thump of the tail against her door made her jump a little in surprise before she realized exactly what it was and relaxed once more, her gaze turning away from the door and back to her companion. She listened intently as he went on to describe the nightmare that had woken him up and sent him searching for someone that had been still awake. She repressed a shudder at the mention of the Stalkers, the mild worry that was cropping up again quickly relieved as the red behemoth began to smile again. He didn't seem to be too upset, so any guilt over bringing the subject up hardly even had time to set in.

His last question surprised her a little. Would he be allowed to stay in her room? She wasn't used to having company, nevermind company that spent the night, even for something as innocent as a sleepover. However, Mercury was a very dear friend and he had seemed honestly distressed by his bad dream. She couldn't bring herself to deny his request. "Of course you can stay. You'll be perfectly safe in here. Nothing scary would dare come into my room. I'd just chase it away."

"You can have the bed if you want. I've got a chair I have no trouble sleeping in," she offered, picking her book up out of her lap and getting to her feet. Depositing the book on her nightstand, she moved off to the bathroom where she fished some extra blankets and pillows out of the linen closet. Wherever he chose to crash, they'd be needed, either for him or for herself. "Just make yourself comfortable wherever you'd like."

~~"It's a little bit of all of that,"

“ohhhhhhh.” Came back his impressed reply.

~~"Some of the stories tell you about Faerie Kingdoms, where the Faeries live and what they do there. Others tell about Faeries in the mortal realm and how they interact with humans. Some of the Faeries are good and other are bad. The book ranges from horror stories to love stories."

“are there stories about the fairy folk doing tricky things? I think it is funny when they do tricky things, like taking one sock out of a pair.” He nodded.


~~"Jupiter's just a grumpy old sourpuss. Don't let him ruin your fun,"

“yeah, I think, that will be his new name. Grumpy old Sourpuss.” He nodded again, this time with a certain finality in his movement.

~~"I don't usually read anything out loud. Probably because I never have anyone to read with. People usually stay away from my room. It's easier to read when it's quiet, anyways,"

“You can read with me!” Mercury exclaimed. “and I will come by until you tell me not to.” Again Isabel may have been getting more than she bargained for, but with the lecherous folk around the sanctuary these days, it might not have been a bad deal, she was unknowingly making.

~~"Of course you can stay. You'll be perfectly safe in here. Nothing scary would dare come into my room. I'd just chase it away."

“Oh, I’ll protect you too, from everything else but that thing. I don’t really think it is out there…but just in case.” He absently eyed the door that his tail was holding closed.

~~"You can have the bed if you want. I've got a chair I have no trouble sleeping in," "Just make yourself comfortable wherever you'd like."


“Mmmmm, I like right here. It was at the foot of her bed and it was rather canine choice. Particularly once he leaned over and did his best to curl his gigantic form into a ball. His eyes were mostly open as he wwatched Isabel bring back a cover. He refused to take her bed, Invade her room and ask for a story just after waking her up, sure, sleep in her bed, no. his tail curled up around him and twitched playfully in front of him, the only part of him moving other then the laboring lungs under too many layers of muscle. His tail danced about at times acting like a snake, others acting like a cater pillar.

Isabel gave a nod of affirmation as Mercury continued to question the contents of her book and the actions of the creatures contained within. "A lot of the stories are about Faeries doing tricky things. Just about all of them have some sort of superhuman power and are believed to be mischievous by nature, so a lot of them can't resist using their abilities to mess with people. Their tricks aren't always as innocent as just stealing a sock, though," she explained as she continued to set out blankets and remove a few extra pillows from her bed. "I think the most common trick they perform is switching a human baby for a Faerie baby. They're called changelings. The Faerie baby is left to grow up with the human parents, pretending to be their real child, and the human is taken to serve as a sort of slave for the Faeries in their world."

If she wasn't so certain that none of the Big Guys would do her any real harm, she might have been a little concerned over the confirmation that her little name for Jupiter would likely reach Jupiter himself. It was all in good fun, anyhow. Besides, there were other issues to worry about at the present time. Like finding something in her book to read for her companion. It might take a minute, but she was sure she could find something.

"You can stop by as often as you want. And I'll be sure to keep an eye out for that thing, just in case. I wouldn't let anything bad get to my friends," she said, stepping back as he proceeded to make himself at home at the foot of her bed. She would have to invest in an air mattress or something if many more people ended up spending a night on her floor. For now a pile of blankets would have to do. Dropping a few of her spare pillows onto the floor within Mercury's reach, she then proceeded to pile several blankets on the floor as well, leaving it up to him to make use of them whenever he so pleased.

Grabbing one corner of her own comforter, she dragged the majority of the blanket onto the floor as she took a seat nearby to where her companion had settled down, grabbing her book as well as she went. "What kind of story did you want to read?"

~~"A lot of the stories are about Faeries doing tricky things. Just about all of them have some sort of superhuman power and are believed to be mischievous by nature, so a lot of them can't resist using their abilities to mess with people. Their tricks aren't always as innocent as just stealing a sock, though" I think the most common trick they perform is switching a human baby for a Faerie baby. They're called changelings. The Faerie baby is left to grow up with the human parents, pretending to be their real child, and the human is taken to serve as a sort of slave for the Faeries in their world."

“There is a good book called the stolen child that is about that, DO you think Mutants are really Faye? We started out as fairy’s or maybe we are half fairy’s and some Changeling had a child with a human and we came out part human and part Faye and then we got much more powerful than Either? And so the fairy folk didn’t take us home and the human’s don’t know what to do with us. And the xgene is actually a changling gene?”

~~"You can stop by as often as you want. And I'll be sure to keep an eye out for that thing, just in case. I wouldn't let anything bad get to my friends,"

“Ok, I will, I am glad Isabel, I won’t let anything bad happen to you either.”


"What kind of story did you want to read?"

“Is there any in there that you haven’t Read? IF we have one that is new to both of us that would be good.” He said as he settled his head on the arm closest to the floor.” His crimson eyes looking Innocent where his brothers could only manage contentment. His eyelids heavy, if she hadn’t realized yet, she was telling a bedtime story she would soon, when he was fighting to stay awake.