She was so tired from her visit to overseas relatives that almost felt asleep a few times while Jeeves skillfully advanced through some patches of heavy traffic. She was so tired that she even considered a few times to go back to her apartment and sleep for the rest of the day, but since the limousine was half full with undelivered souvenirs, she decided to postpone the nap for later.
It was then, when she was lost in that foggy drowsiness that a running person caught her attention. It was not uncommon for people to jog, so she was about to look away and ignore that boring running guy when she noticed something familiar about that boy... he was at her party. Could it be that he was the slave Maxine promised to her?
"Stop." She said almost in a murmur but neither the limousine nor the boy stopped moving. "Jeeves McServington. Stop the car." This time, she raised her voice enough for him to hear each word and despite that was not his real name and he hated it, the chauffeur obeyed without complaint. He pulled the car over and stopped the engine.

Without the smooth purring of the engine, the inside of the limousine was soon completely taken by an eerie silence that Celeste was glad to break. "I think I know that boy..." She commented casually while still glancing through the tinted glass. The chauffeur did the same and was immediately struck by horror. Despite the dread displayed by his face, when he spoke again, he did it in his usual calm and professional tone. "He seems to be... “ She sighed, interrupting his speech before he could even finish the sentence. It was not like her to ignore the social status of people so she did not deny it, she just stated the truth. "Poor? Yes, he is poor but he is also a nice person." The chauffeur chuckled and then addressed her again. "I was going to say "in trouble" but he looks poor too." She pressed her face to the glass, straining her eyes to see what he meant by that. The boy was running away from two feral dogs and not only that, he was also outrunning the animals. She broke the silence one more time. "Now that you mention it..." She started, strangely calm, then finished the sentence with something quite obvious. "He is being chased by dogs."

The driver stared at her with pleading eyes for a few moments and then when it was clear she will not take the initiative, he verbalized his plea. "Can we help him, Lady Celeste?" The question puzzled her. Why should she help him? She could pretend they did not notice him trying to escape a bunch of savage dogs... that could work, but then she would need to explain Maxine why she let the slave-in-training die.
She gave him a look both knew too well. The one that says "I kind of want to help but I am not going to admit it." She knew she got the message but even then she felt the need to make up an excuse. "I am not going to wrestle with these dogs. Both are huge." He gave her a knowing smile through the rear mirror and then exited the vehicle.
She watched as the driver walked around the white limousine to position himself at the side of her door. He waved his gloved hand toward the boy and pointed at the limousine before opening the door.
It was such a bad idea... but it was already too late. So she just moved deeper inside the limo to give him some space.

He thought he was running for his life.

Going to school from Sanctuary and back was starting to turn into an obstacle course for Miles. Every time he saw a cop, the Gina video popped in his head and he immediately got nervous. His dog's eyes were bright, luminous red and Astor's size always turned heads even before people saw the eyes, so he knew people immediately wondered if he was a mutant, but he preferred that to walking without any dogs. If someone laid a hand on him while he didn't have his canines, he was pretty much defenseless... unless he was somehow pushed to tears and coincidentally a bear or a lion happened to die in his lap.

When he saw the two cops standing across the street, he continued walking with a brisk pace, pretending he hadn't seen anything and trying to look as normal as possible. It was then that he heard it.

"Hey, HEY! STOP! POLICE!"

Miles heart skipped, his legs felt wobbly then turned to lead and his step suddenly broke its rhythm. He suddenly decided what to do. Stop or flee?

Miles started to run. Fast. For a short guy, he could move his legs quite quickly and his dogs followed obediently behind. He never bothered to look behind him, lest he bump into something ahead of him or actually let the cops have a clear look at his face.

Then again, had he looked behind him, he would have noticed the cops yelled at a thief they saw snatching a purse and were now running in the opposite direction from Miles, chasing the thief, so the boy was running from no one.

He huffed and panted as he sped past commuters while he could hear the nails from his dogs making contact with the concrete sidewalk right behind him. He was starting to gasp for air, not really sure how much he had run, slowing down, sweating... were they close? He couldn't tell but if he slowed down, they'd surely catch him and he didn't want his dogs hurting cops or then it would be far worse for him.

His mouth was open now, his steps starting to become slower. He didn't hear them scream again, but judging by how dry his mouth was, the cops were likely unable to scream as well. It was then when he saw it.

A car had stopped and it wasn't just a car, it was a freaking limousine. He would have trotted past it, had the driver not stepped outside and opened the door, gesturing for him to come in. For a split second, miles thought he was gesturing at someone else, but the driver was making eye contact. He was unmistakably being offered a free pass by whoever was inside and Miles didn't stop to think twice before accepting it.

He pretty much dashed in, panting and showing signs of fatigue while breathing through his mouth. There were colorful boxes he didn't immediately register as presents and a blonde girl sitting on the seat across from him that he couldn't immediately place. The limo's door suddenly started to close and Miles quickly stretched a foot and forced it to stay open.

"Thanks, but you're forgetting something!"

Both of his dogs entered the vehicle. It was roomy enough for several people but with the boxes and the two passengers already in it, there was pushing and struggling while they settled down, to the point Astor's butt passed close to the blonde girl's face before he sat down on the car's floor along with Tinaker. Miles immediately broke into a sweat as he panted and his chest shook up and down. He then looked at his savior and recognition dawned him.

She was at the party. Wrong, she HELD the party. She was friends with the redhead. She was friends with...

...MAXINE.

All of a sudden, he didn't know if he had been saved or not. Had he jumped off the frying pan to fall into the fire? He didn't get a chance to talk to her much. He did remember one thing though.

Her name was Celeste and she was very rich. What could a rich, pretty girl like her possibly want from a guy like him?

OH, NOT THIS AGAIN!

Despite she was sharing a lot of her personal space with a bunch of multicolored boxes, she found the white leather seating so comfortable that she started to forget all about the boy in danger, the cold weather she hated so much and the fact that her chauffeur was holding the door open for a stranger to jump in. All of that disappeared from her mind as soon as she rested her back on the cozy couch, and just a moment later, the quietness and warmness of the limousine invited her to sleep one more time. This time, she accepted the deal. Her mind drifted away for just a few seconds, a glorious moment that took away the exhaustion of her mind and body but as soon as it started, she woke up and all the tiredness returned in an overwhelming wave.
She opened her eyes all of a sudden; certain that she had been sleeping for hours but when she looked around, everything was as she left it, except for a few presents that were crushed when she used them as improvised pillows. It was not a big deal since she had a lot of "not so loved ones" that would gladly receive a battered gift instead of nothing.
It was just after she opened her eyes that the boy jumped inside the limousine she blinked furiously for a moment to get rid of the fog that took over her black eyes and then hide her sleepiness behind a well practiced smile.

The fake smile vanished as soon as the newcomer used his dirty shoe to stop the door from closing. She only had time to cast a severe glare of disapprobation before he accused her of forgetting something. She stared at him, puzzled by his accusation. What could she have forgotten...? She understood what he meant a second too late. She wanted to scream at Jeeves but she did not manage to articulate any sound, it was too late. The two dogs jumped inside as well and went directly toward the boy. Why would he open the door for them? Was his life so bad that he wanted to die? Why would he do it in front of her?

So many thoughts ran wildly through her mind that it was almost impossible to pick one and analyze it to know how to react, so she acted by instinct and covered her eyes as if that could protect her from the carnage. She closed her eyes at an almost impossible speed, just in time to avoid the rear end of one of the dogs. She kept her eyes closed tightly, not because of that disgusting part of the dog but for what was going to happen next.
One more time, the limousine was taken by silent but this time it seemed to be unnatural. Why was it taking so long? Since he did not look tough, she was expecting him to scream like a little girl but there was no sound coming from him... the silence was worst than watching, it commanded her fill the gap with her imagination. She could almost imagine the blood gushing from his throat, broken before he could produce any sound. She could almost imagine the white leather sipping on his blood, changing slowly from white to red while forming a grim flower of dirty crimson. She imagined all that and more but when she finally decided to open her eyes, she saw something entirely different but still shocking. What she saw instead was a family picture; the boy was sitting on the seat with the dogs happily resting at his feet. He just lacked a pipe to complete the picture.

She was puzzled and angry, and she did not bother to hide it. How could he deceive her like that? Of course she was glad that the leather seating was not ruined by his common blood but why was he still alive? Why were the dogs so quiet when a moment ago both looked so feral? "You better explain what happened or I will kick you out." It was not like her to resort to physical violence when verbal violence was enough in most of the cases but he really angered her.

Wuh... was that a threat or an offer to let him go?

Miles wasn't entirely sure he wanted to be in the same car with her, knowing what sort of dealings she had with Maxine in the dream. Then again, there were cops outside looking for him for some reason, so this was a 'lesser of two evils' situation; the problem was deciding which one was the 'lesser evil'.

Then again, why did she offer to open the door for him if she now wanted to kick him out? Maybe the butler opened the door to let her out, not to let him in and he just barged through. Had he misunderstood the signals? Pssh! When had he ever misunderstood or confused something so obv... you know what? Let's leave that unanswered.

His breathing had started to slow down a bit and he'd had enough time to swallow, but maybe not enough to think things through, since he answered with the truth instead of a lie, which would have been his normal modus operandi.

"There were cops after me, didn't you see?" he said, leaning to take a look out the tinted windows. "I was running from them but I hadn't done anything! They just chased after me and I didn't want my dogs hurting them, so I bolted! Things between cops and people like me have been going from bad to worse ever since that video..." he added, panting a little, looking from left to right and trying to catch a glimpse from the cops.

Regardless that he didn't feel exactly safe in the car, even less so with her as angry as she seemed to be, he had been raised with a modicum of good manners in the Haxton household, so he felt obliged to show his appreciation for her efforts.

"Thanks for the save, by the way" he said to the blonde who seemed to be regretting her decision. Turning his head to the driver, who had already returned to his seat, he was quick to add: "And to you too, Alfred."

Waiting was not for her. So why was she still waiting for a reply from that lowborn boy? Common sense told her it was because he was still trying to catch his breath, and observation told her that she would need to wait a lot longer since he was breathing as hard as if he had just finished a marathon. What to do with the extra time? She decided to spend that time trying to control her anger. Otherwise she would throw him outside and the limousine was not even in motion. Where was the fun in that? It was wiser to wait for his explanation. So she waited a little longer and after she managed to restrain her anger quite well, she focused on discovering the source of her irritation. Was she angry at him because he tricked her into believing the dogs were chasing him? Or was she angry because he was in such bad shape that he needed to give "breathing" a higher priority than "replying"? Finally, she decided both situations offended her, but his lack of stamina was criminal. Why would Maxine choose him as a slave?

While she was still trying to find a good explanation as to why a weakling like him became a slave, he recovered his breath enough to speak again. The words that came out of his mouth did not please her. She sighted then stared at him with fierce intensity to negate with her head a moment later. Even if she missed the cops chasing after him, her chauffeur should have seen them. She glanced through the windows to confirm that there was not a single cop in sight, and then she glanced at her driver that seemed as confused as her but not as irritated.
He broke the silence one more time, so she listened carefully for any clue that may clarify what happened. He claimed to be innocent, not a surprise, each criminal in his situation would be the same but then he said something weird that caught her attention and puzzled her at the same time... by people like him, was he referring to criminals? Slaves? Or dog owners? For all she knew, he was the three of them but strangely, before she could resolve the mystery, the boy said another interesting thing. Two in a row. Maybe Maxine wanted him for talking purposes...

With the mention of that video, a big portion of her anger turned into curiosity. Could it be that she missed something worth watching while she was outside of the country? But then... if it was so big as to provoke people to be scare of cops, why was it not worldwide news? Maybe it was and she missed it anyway... A bunch of shopping sprees could explain her disconnection with the world. So she asked as fast as she expected him to reply. "What video?" Despite she tried to hide her curiosity by sounding as boring and professional as she could, her interest was more than she could handle and she sounded as a little girl after receiving a pony.
Noticing her mistake, she tried her best to suppress her curiosity while hoping that the boy would not notice how much she wanted to hear some local gossip. Then when she was expecting his reply, he thanked her for helping him... what a surprise! When was the last time that someone thanked her? She could not remember. She blushed slightly for the expressed gratitude and mumbled a quick reply. "You are welcome." Then he thanked her chauffeur too, changing his fake name from Jeeves to Alfred... it was kind of funny, so she ignored his insolence.

She was angry at first and he pretty much saw himself getting kicked out of the car but her mood suddenly changed at the mention of the video.

Heh. Funny thing, he could have sworn he heard her ask 'what video?'

It wasn't so funny when the question happened to be real. The girl had no clue. She was completely oblivious to the video and what it had caused for mutants like him. It had touched a nerve on the mutant population and sparked anger in many people, mutants and humans alike and this girl knew nothing of it.

His 'thank you' seemed to have been unexpected and appreciated, so he nodded as his mind still wrapped around her not knowing about the video.

"What, you haven't seen it?" he asked back, almost stupefied. "It's been everywhere. If someone had danced in it, it would be more famous than Gangnam Style, but the only dancing happened at the end of a baton" he said, trying to make light of a situation that had nothing funny in it. It was the only way he knew to try and keep his cool about it, since the few times he talked about the video, he remembered Gina's screams and the cracks and crunches as the cops beat on her. He could feel his blood rise when he remembered it and he didn't like getting emotional over anything lest he turned into a zombie making machine if things got out of control.

"It's a horrible video" he added, now speaking with a more serious tone. "You can find it online. A friend of mine gets beaten on it and all for being a mutant. She has these bat-like wings and horns and grey skin like a gargoyle and the cops... they just... they just hit her, again and again until she's broken. It's awful. That's why I don't like walking around near cops with my dogs. They could try and beat me, but the dogs would fight back and I'd have a whole mess in my hands."

He petted Tinaker on the head, who was sitting the closest to him, but the animal's only reaction was to turn his head and look casually at Celeste. His red, glowing eyes became obvious then.

"I don't know when the whole situation will blow over. Probably when the cops are found guilty. There's just no way they can get away with beating a mutant like that with the proof of their crime so obvious and widespread."

When he spoke again, Celeste sighed out of tiredness. She really hated when people dare to reply her question with another question. Wasn’t it clear that she have not watch that video? Apparently not since the boy was still asking the same question... so she negated with her head, slowly as to give the boy enough time to decode the non verbal message.

Then he moved his lips again and a new piece of the puzzle appeared. Another thing that she had missed during her trip despite the rest of the world was highly aware of it. "What is that Gangam Style thing?" She was clueless and curious. None of her recent memories had any reference to that thing he mentioned, it was a blank spot just like the famous video he was talking about but then she came to a sudden realization. "Is that the new boutique that was going to open in NY?" Her voice dripped enthusiasm with the idea of a new unexplored place to shop. Her black eyes were sparkling with excitement until she heard the last part of the sentence.

All of a sudden, her joy and happiness was sucked away from her, filling the gap with pure embarrassment. How could she be so tactless? It was a taint in the honor and manners of her family, so she kept quiet for the rest of his explanation. When he finished explaining the dire situation, she was so scared that she could avoid sharing what she was thinking with him. "Blow over... Do you think it will end in a witch hunt?" At the moment it appeared as some humans were attacking mutants, nothing out of the extraordinary there, but if he was right about thing blowing over... then it could be mutants against humans. It was bad business. More so since she was a mutant that looked like a human. What if someone confused her for a mere mortal and beat her until she was broken? She had to call Venus. No one could beat Venus.

"Would your friend be OK?" She could not tell why she asked him about the gargoyle, maybe it was the image of an imaginary Celeste being hunted by a bunch of weird looking mutants, or worst by the very people that must swore to protect her.