“Damn humans,” a burly, purple-skinned man next to Lydia grumbled. She looked out one of the front windows at the large crowd of angry faces stationed outside of the Sanctuary. Oh what the hell.

“Mutants are a travesty against humanity!”

“Down with mutants!”

“You don’t deserve to exist!”

Those and more were being shouted at the golden doors, and were painted on poster board signs. Mutants entering or leaving the Sanctuary were pushed around, spat at, and generally harassed. Her blood boiled as she watched a young woman, one with scales all over her arms and legs, get yelled at by a few of the protesters, until she pushed them away and scampered up the steps and escaped into the Sanctuary. Lydia offered the woman a sympathetic glance as she passed, but was mostly ignored in favor of tears.

The girl’s brows furrowed in anger as she glared at the mob again. Oh, if only she had a destructive, attack-ready mutation…the crowd would be looking less angry and more unconscious. The man gave a sigh and shuffled back to wherever he had come from, leaving Lydia in the foyer alone.

Her fists clenched, and she ground her teeth in frustration. She wanted to do something so bad. But the cowardly, somewhat sensible part of her told her it was a bad idea. There were way too many protesters. She would get trampled, at best. But the other stupid, infuriated part made her walk to the door and open it. The cries of the mob grew exponentially louder and her eyes narrowed. She stepped out, left the door slightly ajar, and just stared at the crowd. They stared back, eyes equally glaring.

But that’s where Lyd stopped. She couldn’t move anymore, least of all into the throng. The coward in her won out again, and her previous daring dissipated. She gritted her teeth, angry at her own fear, and once again wished she had a more battle-savvy mutation.

Grace did what she could to conceal her tears, covering her eyes with a pair of scaly hands as she walked through the corridors of the Sanctuary. She thought she had hardened herself to this, to the hatred of some normal humans and their boundless enthusiasm for expressing it. But it still got to her. Just for one gene, there were people who hated her, who thought that she wasn't someone, but something, who thougt they'd be doing the world a favor by getting rid of her and her kind.

Looking up from her tears for a moment, Grace saw that she was not alone in the hallway; Kaitlyn was staring at her. The two made eye contact for a moment. Then, Grace began to cry even harder as she went on her way. Kaitlyn continued to stare until the older mutant rounded the corner into the stairwell.

What was that about?

Just then, the tiny Orderling saw a large, purple man approaching, his head turned down towards the ground. It looked like he was coming from the Foyer, just like Grace was. "Hey Joel."

Joel looked up, then raised a massive purple hand to greet the child.

"What's wrong with Grace?"

The big man let out a big sigh. "She had to walk through those protesters on the way in."

Kaitlyn gave him a quizzical look. "Protesters?"

As if on cue, the golden doors opened, and the angry shouting became loud enough for them to hear. "Yeah, protesters. You should probably stay away from them." But even as these words were coming out of Joel's mouth, the child was heading towards the foyer. There were a bunch of people standing outside of her home messing with her family, and she wasn't okay with that.

"I hope everyone enjoyed the golden doors while we had 'em," he muttered under his breath.

Once she reached the foyer, Kaitlyn found Lydia standing at the doorway. Though the two had never talked to each other before, the child once spyed Lydia having coffee with that stupid-looking pink-haired X-loser; from then on out, she generally avoided the older mutant. But that was months ago. Kaitlyn walked up to Lydia and poked her on the arm to get her attention. "Hey," she said, "Do you think I'd get in trouble for blasting them?"

Lydia rolled her eyes as she heard the curses and insults fly at her, and she did her best not to take what they were saying to heart. She’d heard plenty of the similar and same things before, whether they were aimed at her or her friends, so she’d built up a certain level of immunity. But there was always the hurt that seeped in through the cracks of the walls she put up. Lyd tried to keep those holes plugged.

She stared down the crowd, tempted to yell back in retaliation, when she felt something touch her arm. That something was a young girl. Who asked if she could blast the protesters. Um…yes?

Lydia turned to the girl, whose name, if she recalled correctly, was Kaitlyn. She was said to be Lori’s adopted daughter, a claim that was questionable in governmental legitimacy, but at least true in a figurative sense. It was unwise to touch the kid. Lori was an imposing, powerful figure at the Sanctuary, especially with her rumored ties to the Order. The Order. Lyd raised an eyebrow and studied the girl, wondering how much she knew, or how much she was willing to divulge.

And apparently, Kaitlyn caused quite a few of the weekly Sanctuary “accidents,” although the teenager had yet to witness any of them firsthand. Perhaps now was her chance.

Lydia felt something hit her thigh, quite hard, and looked down to see a small rock lying a few steps away. She felt the bruise forming already, and she almost snarled in anger. They were throwing things now? She felt another one whistle past her ear. Oh no they didn’t. She grabbed the first rock, fruitlessly searching the crowd for whoever might have thrown it. Of course she couldn't locate the culprit in the multitude of suspects, but she did inadvertently start a shift. The hand that was clutching the rock began turning the same ashy gray color to the outrage of the protesters. Lyd wanted to laugh. She was glad her mutation was causing such a reaction.

“Get in trouble for giving them what they deserve? Never. Knock yourself out,” she said, the corners of her mouth curling up into a smirk. Judging by the stories she had heard, the kid could pack quite the punch, although she had no idea what her mutation was. Hopefully whatever it was, it would put the humans back in their place.

>>“Get in trouble for giving them what they deserve? Never. Knock yourself out,”

This was exactly what Kaitlyn wanted to hear. "You should prolly stay inside, then," she advised.

The tiny Orderling walked out from behind the cover that the golden doors offered, and was just beginning to size up the crowd, when a flying rock hit her forehead. Kaitlyn's mutation activated itself with a loud pomf, which made a shockwave just strong enough to push the golden doors shut and make a few protesters lose their grip on their signs. The girl staggered back a little, one hand flying up to cover the spot where the stone had connected.

For a moment, some of the mutant-haters stopped shouting. Perhaps the thought of them harming a child, even a mutant child, made them feel guilty. Perhaps her mutation simply caught them off guard, and they went silent as they scrambled to pick up their signs again. Whatever the case, the mob soon rallied itself, and their shouts continued with even more ferocity.

Kaitlyn inspected her hand, which now had some of her own blood on it. Then, she looked up from her hand to give this mob the angriest, most intimidating glare she could muster. "I think she's mad at us!" one of them shouted, evoking a few chuckles from some of his fellow demonstrators. Another one prepared to lob a second stone at the small mutant. He never got the chance.

KABOOM!

The explosion shattered the windows on the front of the Sanctuary, and those of the building across the street. It hit the golden doors hard, making their golden hinges groan and complain loudly, but not break. Most importantly, it made the entire mob start having a very bad day. The demonstrators quickly found themselves on the ground, often too dazed or injured to stand up again quite yet.

Kaitlyn stood back and admired her handiwork. She noticed the man who was about to chuck a rock at her earlier, holding his arm close to his body, loudly announcing that it was broken. She grinned a little. He deserved it. They all did.

Inside it was. Lydia slipped through the doorway, just in time for a shockwave to force the doors shut. She nearly lost a finger in the process. Everything was silent for a moment, no shouting or the clattering of stones. She opened the door a crack, poking her head to see what was going on. The protestors were busy collecting their fallen posters and pickets, and Kait was busy inspecting an injury on her forehead. Lyd bristled when she saw the blood on the girl’s fingers and the stone lying a few feet away from her.

The humans had thrown a rock at a kid?? “Oh hell no,” she growled as the protestors mocked and laughed at Kaitlyn, whose face she could not see. As she started pushing the door open wider to get out another sudden explosion blasted it shut.

She couldn’t hear anything for a few seconds, but eventually the sound of shattering glass flooded her eardrums, along with the cries of protestors caught in the shockwave. She grinned. Damn, that girl packed a punch!

…although, Lydia was pretty sure they’d get into trouble now, with the window all smashed up and who-knows-what-else in the property damage department.

She opened the doors and stepped out quickly, in case Kait let loose another blast, and smirked at the mutant-haters sprawled on the ground, and the other looking like they’d soon join their cohorts. “Wow. Good job.”

“I don’t want to be around for whoever has to clean this up so…you want to go get a snack somewhere? I mean, it’s totally on me. We can get whatever you want.”

Clean up?

Until Kaitlyn turned around to face Lydia, she had no idea how much damage she'd done to the Sanctuary. That was a lot of broken windows. People in the Sanctuary were going to be angry with her. But Lydia seemed perfectly okay with this. She only broke a few windows, and the bones of some people who deserved to get hurt. She couldn't get in very much trouble for this, right?

... Now that Kaitlyn thought about it, she was probably in a ton of trouble. Especially if that one injured protester, the lady who was yelling that she would sue the Sanctuary, made good on her threat. Running away for a snack seemed like a fairly good idea at this point.

"What about something from the 12-Armed Baker?" The 12-Armed Baker was a small bakery a few blocks away from the Sanctuary. It was named after its founder, a kind mutant man with 13 arms.

The 12-Armed Baker? That was a strange name for a bakery. Unless…the baker really did have twelve arms. “Yeah, lead the way,” Lydia replied, still grinning. The young girl did so, darting down the steps and along the more injured side of the crowd. The protestors glared at the duo, but didn’t make any advances toward them lest they incur Kaitlyn’s wrath again.

The man with the broken arm was still moaning about it, moaning about how dangerous and ungodly mutants were. It was really annoying. Without thinking, Lyd struck her foot out as she passed him, connecting harshly with his kidney. He let out a very satisfying cry.

She frowned with guilt at first, since he was probably in a lot of pain already from his arm, but the feeling quickly passed when she heard him curse more about mutants. She went back to smiling.

“Er…maybe we should pick up the pace a little. I think my kick is re-encouraging these humans to do something stupid.” None of the protestors followed them after a few steps, however, still wary of the child who had knocked so many of them onto their asses. She liked to think some of them were intimidated by her stone skin as well.

“So Kait, we haven’t really met before. I’m Lydia and, uh…” How old was the kid anyway? Nine? Ten? Did Lyd even remember what it was like being that age? “Uh, so, what do you like to do in your free time?” That was an okay, semi-adult question, right? Kids didn’t like being treated and spoken to like kids, that much she knew because she herself didn’t enjoy being treated like a child.

Kaitlyn's grin mirrored Lydia's. If they weren't in such a hurry to get out of there, she might have joined in and kicked a few people, too. She contented herself with merely stepping on a few hands on the way out. Now she really understood why some of the other Sanctuary residents hated humans so much. If these people were going to mess with her family, they were a bunch of jerks, and they deserved all the pain they got.

One they were out of rock-flinging range of the angry mob's scattered remains, Kaitlyn stayed close to Lydia.

>>"...so, what do you like to do in your free time?”

"Well, I used to like going out to Prospect Park a lot, but I think some people are mad at me for blowing up some stuff there, so I'm gonna stay away from there for now. It was all on accident though. But I'm getting really good at playing pool now. And I like comic books a lot. And sometimes I'll take a subway to Central Park and do stuff around there."

As she spoke, Kaitlyn led Lydia around the corner, across a street, then down a few shady alleyways. The back alleys were a great shortcut, if a somewhat smelly one, thanks to the garbage people left lying around in there. The Orderling didn't seem to mind it.

Lydia nodded as Kaitlyn explained what she liked to do. There were a lot! She liked to go to the park, which was pretty standard aside from the whole blowing-up-thing (which was no excuse for depriving a child of playground fun) and play…pool? What. But Lyd saved the questions for after the younger girl was finished.

“Wait…you don’t go to Central Park by yourself, do you?” She asked, noticing the lack of mention of any other person with the activities. She didn’t know why, but the idea of little Kait taking the train by herself, even going to the park by herself, made her feel uneasy.

The girl followed her companion along the alleyways, wrinkling her nose when they passed particularly smelly ones, but held back any complaints. As long as the kid knew where she was going, Lydia was fine with however which way they went. They reached the 12-Armed Baker promptly. There was a logo of a brawny thirteen-armed man on the large store-front window, and various baked goods lined up on the long display table. Rolls, baguettes, croissants, muffins, and scones occupied the main table. There was a smaller side stand adorned with a bright pink tablecloth and sprinklings of multi-colored confetti.

On top of it were the most delicious-looking cupcakes Lydia had ever seen. She eyed the red-velvet one as she opened the door for Kaitlyn. Instantly, the mouth-watering scent of baking hit her nose, and she practically rubbed her hands in glee. Inside, the shop was divided into two sections. One side was filled with racks and stands of baked goods, while the other contained comfy couches, chairs, and tables. A rather furry employee manned the cash register.

“…the baker really does have twelve arms, doesn’t he?”

The way Lydia asked that first question, it seemed like she expected the answer to be 'no.' Kaitlyn hesitated.

"...Yeah. I used to go over there with other residents, but... I think they started getting annoyed when I kept asking people to go with me, so I stopped asking. And Lori's always working... But my mutation keeps me safe."

Except, perhaps, from an invulnerable mutant who waved guns at children for virtually no reason. But this wasn't worth mentioning. Nothing would have been able to protect the little redhead from that, so why bother preparing for it? It only ever happened to her once, anyway.

Finally, they reached the store itself. Kaitlyn grinned at Lydia, then went straight for the sweets. Cupcakes, slices of cake, cinnamon rolls... there were so many things that she wanted to have! But it was safe to assume that she could only get one thing. How could she even hope to decide, when it all looked so delicious?

The fur-covered cashier seemed like he was about to answer Lydia's question, but Kaitlyn beat him to it: "Actually he has thirteen. They call it the twelve-armed baker 'cause some people think thirteen's a bad number 'cause they're stupid."

The cashier smirked, and nodded towards the child, who was now staring longingly at some pastries. "Oh," he spoke up, "did you two hear that explosion a few minutes ago? I'd hate to meet the guy who can do that." He was probably just trying to make friendly conversation. Kaitlyn tried not to act like anything was amiss.

>> "...Yeah. I used to go over there with other residents, but... I think they started getting annoyed when I kept asking people to go with me, so I stopped asking. And Lori's always working... But my mutation keeps me safe."

“That’s…not good. I mean, yeah your mutation is powerful and all, but it’s not safe to ride the train alone,” said the girl who’d been riding trains, sometimes alone, since she was fourteen. Lydia wasn’t sure where her words were coming from, but something in her felt bad for Kaitlyn. Lori was losing some points for letting her “adopted” daughter prance around all by her lonesome.

Kait seemed just as excited as Lyd when she entered the bakery, making a beeline for the goods. Everything looked delicious. The younger mutant answered her question about the baker, who apparently had some fear about the number thirteen. “Huh, that’s kind of weird.”

>> “Oh, did you two hear that explosion a few minutes ago? I'd hate to meet the guy who can do that."

The teenager nearly choked when she heard the cashier, but coughed and pretended that nothing happened. “As a matter of fact, I did. Person must be pretty awesome.” She got a strange look from the furry one, but she shrugged it off and continued perusing the baked goods. “Decided what you want yet, Kaitlyn?

I think I’ll get one of those,” she said to the cashier, pointing to the red velvet cupcakes sitting behind the counter.

>>“That’s…not good. I mean, yeah your mutation is powerful and all, but it’s not safe to ride the train alone.”

The redhead shrugged. Okay, maybe riding on the train alone wasn't safe. Neither was fighting the X-men, collecting mutant insurance, or patrolling the Order's territory like a superhero. Nor was blowing up a mob of angry mutant-haters. Kaitlyn did those things anyway.

>>“As a matter of fact, I did. Person must be pretty awesome.”

Kaitlyn grinned, but tried to hide it from the furry man behind the delicious baked goods she was trying to choose from. Cookies were always a safe bet. But that oreo cake looked really good. She still didn't know what to get. When Lydia asked, she felt pressured into hurrying up, and pointed at a slice of Oreo cake on a small plastic plate.

"Good choices" the cashier remarked. He tried to sound friendly, but his voice was tinged with a wary tone. There was something... off about these two girls, but he figured he might be better off not knowing about it.

The furry employee swiftly got them their orders. When she was done paying, she motioned for Kaitlyn to follow her to a particularly soft-looking sofa. “Heh, if only he knew, right?” Lydia laughed, smirking at the cashier. “So do you get to spend any time with Lori? You mentioned she was busy with work a lot.” The girl hoped the questions seemed innocent. Not that they weren’t…

“Heh, I bet you get all of the Sanctuary hook-ups, since your mom basically owns the place,” she said, trying to defuse any awkwardness that may have tinged her questions, had Kaitlyn taken them in a bad way.

And that was not all Lori owned, or led. But would this kid really know anything? A secret mutant organization seemed an awfully big secret for a ten-year-old to keep, especially if one of its own members couldn’t keep his mouth shut. Lydia felt kind of bad for thinking of Kait as someone she had to siphon information out of, but when was she going to get this opportunity again?

If only he knew. Kaitlyn wondered what would happen if he did. Would he be afraid of them? Would he ask them to leave?

She flopped onto the sofa, cake in hand, and used a plastic fork to take her first bite. It was even more delicious than it looked, which was saying a lot. And it wasn't very often that she got to have something like this; it was way better than anything at the dining hall. For someone who was probably the girlfriend of that pink-haired X-Man, Lydia wasn't half bad.

"Well, Lori's usually there for dinner," Kaitlyn began between bites of cake, "And sometimes we do stuff together. Like on the 4th, we're going to Coney Island. And Lenna and her boyfriend are gonna be there too, so I won't accidentally blow stuff up there."

"...What'd you mean, 'hookups?'" The orderling almost wrinkled her nose. The term made her think of boyfriend/girlfriend kinds of things, and the only boy in Kaitlyn's age group at the Sanctuary was the 13-year-old rat boy, Stephen, who was gross. Everyone else was either too old, 16 at the very youngest, or, as was the case of that toddler with the super strength, too young. And her adoptive mom being in charge shouldn't have anything to do with any of that anyway. Surely Lydia meant something else.