>>"I'm fine. Kinda asked for it, it wasn't all Mirror's fault."

Whoa. In the end, the damsel was right. Getting your ass saved did sting. Especially in front of the captain.

”I can’t believe one of my students would deliberately put someone in danger like this! You brought an untrained civilian into a danger room session with an X-Men setting? Why would you ever do something like that? You and I have a lot to talk about Gawain, a lot and don’t think for a second that your off the hook.”

Gawain coughed some more and stumbled back onto his feet, avoiding to look at Eve or Sam. He had never seen the X-leader this angry before. He knew he had gone too far with bringin Evelyn into the DR... but he was just starting to realize how far.

>>”I think it might be best if we just take you to a room where you can relax I don’t think Jensen will be too happy if you pass out again. We should probably tell him about this shouldn’t we?”

Oh crap.

Gawain opened his mouth, then shut it again. He was too proud to beg. If Sam deemed it reasonable to tell the gun-happy handler he had just put Evelyn in danger at his own free will, he was going to take the punishment. Not like it would be the first time he got shot.

"I'll be in my room."

Talk about grounded.

At the mention of her handler, Evelyn's face lost it's color again. Luckily, it didn't come with any more passing out though but the idea itself made her feel a bit sick to her stomach. In her rush to destroy the idea, she missed the rather murky echoes telling her CS hadn't been serious. Her mouth was ahead of her brain at this point in time.

"Please don't tell Jensen! If he finds out I was doing anything with aliens or skyscrapers or weapons he'll ground me for life. Like, locked in a tower, armed guard, no museums for a month grounded. Like, nothing to entertain myself but my own Echoes grounded." Which was odd coming from someone who was in their twenties, but then again, that was part of what started this whole thing.

Bratty little rich kid, maybe. Having no life to herself=still true.

Then the echoes caught up and she slowly shut her mouth, and straightened her posture letting her hair cover her face as she did. Her cheeks went a bit pink and she looked at her shoes. "The room... yeah, I can just rest in a guest room."

Gawain didn’t say anything at first and made sure not to meet Sam’s one eyed gaze. Good it means he knew what he did wrong and that was the first step in making it up to the ice manipulator. ”Hold up Gawain.” Sam said reaching into his pocket and throwing a set of keys at the mirror walker. ”First take Evee to her room, I trust you can do that much right?” Sam said adding a little harsh emphasis on his tone to get his point across.

Turning his attention to Evee Sam shook his head, ”While I would love to tell Jensen I fear he’d shoot Gawain, and while he might deserve a beating for it or at the very least a stern talking too I don’t think anyone else needs to add to any of the headace that is starting to become today.” Sam shrugged slightly and looked back to Gawain, ”Girl’s hallway, guest room make sure she has everything she needs. I’ll be sending Jensen her way when I get back into the infirmary.”

Sam turned to Danger room exit door and yelled out, ”Danger Room, Sam override, restrict Codename: Mirror’s access to the danger room’s difficulty level X-Men until further notice.” Sam looked back to Gawain and shook his head again, ”Meet me in my office first thing tomorrow morning!” Sam wouldn’t keep the restriction long on Mirror he figured at this point Gawain was getting the message loud and clear.

Before Sam left the room he added, ”Right to her room Gawain, no sidetracks I’ll be checking in with her shortly.” Sam looked back to Eve, ”I’ll see ya soon Evee, hopefully your stay here can only improve.” with that he exited the danger room and went back to the infirmary.

Sometime later that evening

Well, the day could have gone better.

After the incident in the danger room, Mirror managed to get Evelyn to the guest room, and Evelyn tried to deal with her handler the best she could. To say he was a bit irritated was an understatement. Even without knowing where she took off to, he threw a fit that she was staying the night, especially considering her condition.

Well, if being a mutant was an illness, then yes, there was that.

But she was exhausted, and as much as she'd enjoy going home and sleeping in her own bed, she didn't think one night would make that big of a difference. So she sent Jensen away with instructions to bring back some clothes for her in the morning, and silenced any further arguing. He could tattle on her to her parents if he wanted to, she was just about done with people bossing her around. She would just hang out for the night, get some sleep, and go home.

Things didn't quite work out that way.

The night had started ok; Evelyn managed to find some scrap paper in a drawer of the guest room, and with a rather stubby pencil she made herself content spending the first few hours of the night drawing. With the Playbacks being so unpredictable in nature, sleep tended to be a risky venture, and when she could avoid it, she did. Her plan was to just stay awake, sleep tomorrow, and go on with her life like nothing had happened. But somewhere after the third drawing---an extremely detailed rendition of the dog that had greeted Mirror upon their arrival at the mansion---she felt sleep unwillingly taking hold, so she reluctantly crawled towards the bed, and curled up fully clothed on top of the sheets, head on one of the pillows, arms around the other. The Playbacks started the minute her eyes shut, drowning her in the images of her own memories.

It was a sunny day outside the window. The trees had a blush of yellow on their leaves as fall was beginning to make it's presence known. She longed to go outside with her art supplies and paint the way the sun lit up the trees, but it didn't look like that would happen today. The still figures of her parents were sitting in the chairs behind her, and she didn't need to glance over her shoulders to know the irritation that was on their faces.

Her echoes commented on their tense posture and the lack of fidgeting.

"Evelyn, we need to talk about your condition. It's far too dangerous for you to be demonstrating in public. We've looked into it, and this...Having a mutant in the family is a liability." Her father Evelyn felt her shoulders tense, and she turned finally, gaze sharpening on him.

"I just know things dad. It's not a curse, why are you so afraid of it?"

"Someone could use you, dear, or threaten the company, or blackmail our family---"

"Blackmail? Oh, so now being a mutant is something worth blackmailing over." She wished she hadn't looked. She wished she hadn't seen the shame on their faces, and turned as quickly as she could to look back at the trees. But no amount of beauty in that sunrise could erase their expressions. [.........]


It was a stormy night, and Jensen held the umbrella over her head. There was something kind and fatherly about his expression, and they laughed about the movie they had just seen. Focused on the conversation, the echoes didn't pick up the footsteps behind them until it was too late. She heard a click, saw a glint of metal, and then someone was yanking her back away from her handler.

"Jensen!" She screamed, swinging her elbow back and coming to contact with her attackers stomach. They grunted in pain but the hold on her arm only tightened. There was the sound of a scuffle, the firing of a gun and as Evelyn looked down, she saw the water by her feet filling with red. She couldn't see into the darkness, her echoes couldn't make sense over the overwhelming fear in her head. So she screamed....


She woke up screaming, tangled in the sheets she'd fallen asleep in and flailing to get free.

A scream echoed down the girls' hallway, loud enough to wake the dead.
Maya was not dead.

She had been reasonably happy with this fact, especially after Sam threatened to tell Jensen what had happened in the Danger Room. Apparently he didn't, and neither did the Princess, because no handler came kicking down the door. Gawain went to bed, shifted at midnight as usual, and then was cruelly yanked back to reality.

Evelyn was screaming bloody murder.

"Oh hell" Maya muttered, stumbling out of bed and into the nearby mirror, not wasting time with actually going out the door. The next minute she was in the guest room's mirror, and then her bare feet landed softly on the carpet next to the bed where Evelyn was still flailing around.

There was no attacker in the room. Maya relaxed her battle stance and walked over to the bed, looking down at the blonde.

"Hey. Wake up. You had a bad dream."

Reality didn't feel any different from the dreams, and as Evelyn finally scrambled free of the sheets her eyes were grey and colorless. She heard something next to her, and the echoes scrambled to try and push the words that were spoken into her terrorized mind.

"Wake up. You had a bad dream."

Evelyn scrambled to her feet, stumbled free of the sheets and stood shaking in the middle of her room, closing her eyes tightly and holding her head in her hands. She could still smell the alleyway, feel the hand on her arm, taste the water in her mouth...

"Not a bad dream. A bad memory." She whispered, and tried to plant herself back in reality. She focused on the carpet. She focused on the walls, she focused on the mirror, she focused on....Mirror. The door was locked---mirror walker, right. "I just.... I can...." She tried to put on a more collected face, but her knees were too shaky and she sank into the chair at the desk before she forgot how to stand.

Evelyn got out of bed - bad idea - and was swaying dangerously with her hands on her head. Whatever was inside her head must have been a hell of a lot to deal with.

>>"Not a bad dream. A bad memory... I just.... I can...."

Ouch.

"Hey now." Maya pushed the hair out of her face and knelt down next to the chair. "Evelyn? It's okay, ya're safe. Look at me."

As if she had not been feeling guilty enough already. Pfft. Maya glanced around, expecting someone, Jensen or Sam, to break down the door on them and blame her for whatever was happening. But they didn't. The only sound came from Angua who seemed to be softly whining outside the door.

"Just... try to focus, okay?"

Evelyn slowly felt the memories settling back. She tried to breathe, and then felt surprised when Mirror came over and comforted her. She couldn't remember the last time someone actually helped her through a nightmare. She wanted to cry all over again.

Taking a deep breathe, she opened her eyes and focused on Maya. She did look like Gawain, with longer hair and a bit more of a feminine face. Her eyes gradually shifted black to their icy blue color, and Evelyn glanced away, feeling more awkward with the situation now that she was more aware of what was going on.

Her echoes noted the whining outside the door. She hoped the dog and Mirror were the only ones who she woke up. "Sorry...I didn't mean to wake you up." She said quietly.

Maya watched Evelyn's eyes shift back to blue from grey. That was... fascinating. She had seen freaky eye-color shifting mutations before, but nothing quite so subtle.

>>"Sorry...I didn't mean to wake you up."

"Ya should see what goes on in these dorms every night" she smirked "I'm used to it."

Least of her worries was the girl waking her up. Maya did not need Sherlock powers to tell that the blonde felt awkward with the whole late-night-alone-in-the-room situation. She sat back on her heels.

"So, was that... um, part of your mutation?"

Evelyn sighed softly, and gave a rather rueful little smile at Mirror's question. Honestly, after the fighting they'd done earlier she didn't expect her fellow mutant to stay around once she was sure the mansion wasn't burning down. But maybe the trip to the danger room had leveled the playing field, if nothing else.

"Unfortunately, yes. My powers are sort of two part, you could say. The echoes I deal with all the time. The playbacks happen when I sleep... Which is why I generally avoid it when possible." She sighed and rubbed her temples for a moment as the memories flickered then vanished again. "Basically, I never forget. Anything that's happened since I was 13 is just stored in my brain, and when I sleep, it's like my brain goes through, picks a memory and makes me watch it again. Sometimes, it's not so bad. But..." Her shoulders shook slightly and she glanced at a wall then back again.

"It helps with my powers, which is nice... I never forget a face, or a name. Five years from now I will still remember what color the shoelaces were on the kid we rescued today." She glanced down at the desk where the drawing she had doodled were. There was a picture of CS using his winter wonderland attack on the cookie monster next to the picture of the dog, and then there was a picture of Mirror hanging upside down from the tree. She quickly tucked that one on the bottom.

>>"Unfortunately, yes. My powers are sort of two part, you could say. The echoes I deal with all the time. The playbacks happen when I sleep... Which is why I generally avoid it when possible. Basically, I never forget. Anything that's happened since I was 13 is just stored in my brain, and when I sleep, it's like my brain goes through, picks a memory and makes me watch it again. Sometimes, it's not so bad. But... It helps with my powers, which is nice... I never forget a face, or a name. Five years from now I will still remember what color the shoelaces were on the kid we rescued today."

Maya's gaze followed her to the doodles, and she smiled a little bit. What do you know, the girl was actually not bad at art. That is what you get with a perfect memory...

"Whoa." she muttered. Talk about the more you know about someone... What could it be like in Evelyn's overloaded brain?...

Maya pulled up the other chair in the room and set down next to the girl.

"So... that's it? That's the thing you need a handler for?"

She was not picking on her, not this time anyway. She expected something... more. Something that could hurt people, maybe? Something that made people afraid. Annoyed, sure. Bur scared? Hardly. Apart from the screaming.

Evelyn nodded, and pushed her hair from her face. Her expression was more serious this time. "Being able to see the world this way made my parents uneasy, and you know, sometimes I'm not all that mad at them for it. It's annoying to you, but it's... dangerous when someone else realizes what I can do. A few years back, there were some people that found out what I could do. They nick-named me Holmes, and they thought there was a lot more that could be done with it. Up until that point, it was mostly just a game to me. Sometimes, I guess it's still sort of a game." She still enjoyed trying to sift through peoples behavior and learn more about them when she has down time at the museum, and she still enjoyed people watching. That much hadn't changed.

"I guess, the thing about not forgetting is that it invades people's privacy. If I was standing behind someone at an ATM and they punched their pin in, or I was at a bank and saw their social security number, or heck, if I walked in on a crime and saw the face of someone leaving: I don't forget those things. Not to mention me going all lie-detector on people... " She frowned and glanced down at the drawings again. The memory flickered back.

"Before, Jensen was mostly just to keep me out of trouble. My parents thought someone would have anti-mutant hostilities and try to use it against their companies and goodness knows the stock rates would fall. But then, there was a botched up kidnapping, and Jensen stopped it. He... He got pretty roughed up, but he hasn't forgotten it." It was pretty obvious she hadn't either. She shrugged.

"So, I'm a bit touchy about not being able to take care of myself. Not being able to nearly got him killed. I don't need someone getting put in danger because of me." Her words still had a certain bite to them, but there was more meaning behind it now. Although it felt weird admitting it to the person who had slung her over their shoulder and tossed her into a battle against some aliens a few minutes ago.... She smirked slightly though, and chuckled.

"Although, as bad as I feel about getting you in trouble, it was pretty fun to call the shots for once. You're not a bad shot when you're standing on solid ground." She teased.

Well. That was quite a colorful history with a mutation. Not as bad as some, and definitely worse than others - who would treat their own child like that anyway?

Maya turned the chair around and folded her arms on the back as she listened. It was strange, not yelling at each other for more than five minutes.

>>"Although, as bad as I feel about getting you in trouble, it was pretty fun to call the shots for once. You're not a bad shot when you're standing on solid ground."

"Don't push it Blondie" Maya smirked at her. She did a good job calling the shots. And from what Maya could tell, she definitely needed it.

Yay for sharing.

"I never went to school because of the gender shifting." she added after a short pause "Mom thought I would be bullied, so she home schooled me. She was a shape-shifter. We skipped town a lot... it was just the two of us, she never told me about dad. I am not even sure she knew who he was..." Maya made a small frown "Anyhow, when I was thirteen, one day she just... didn't come home. I've been alone ever since. Took me three years to end up here, and another two to figure out what happened to her. Turns out she works for some mutants-for-hire organization. I tried to bust her out, but... it didn't work. Now she's in the wind again."

Alive, at least.

Maya shook her head, and the moment was gone.

"Y'know you could always just get your parents to enroll you here. Safest place in the city, and we can teach ya self defense. I know Sam would like to keep you around anyway. Too many mutants get kidnapped these days."

Not like Maya personally wanted her to stick around. Hmph.

Evelyn listened politely as Mirror talked about her own past. Not going to school because she was always changing genders seemed a bit lonesome, but at least she had her mother. Had, being the key word. It made a bit more sense why she was touchy about the subject. Being alone at thirteen was not the easiest thing to deal with.

Yay sharing.

It felt... better though, hearing someone tell her their past themselves then try to pick up pieces here or there with her echoes.

"Who knows. Maybe you'll find her again." Evelyn said softly. She wondered how many people here had someone they were missing. And, being nick-named after a famous detective, she wondered if any of those people could be found.

Then Mirror talked about her getting enrolled at the school. Evelyn felt herself shaking her head before the comment was ever finished. "They don't want anything to do with mutants. They still have trouble even admitting I am one. Letting me go to school here would be like sending me to jail to learn to be a criminal in their opinions. I mean, I could just tell them it's a boarding school or something but then there is Jensen; they'd expect him to stick around and report or something." She grumbled slightly under her breathe, then shrugged.

"Plus, I don't think you'd want me around that much. I'm a pain in the butt remember? I got you in trouble and thrown off a building... a small building, but still. And the waking up screaming thing kinda makes it hard to live with other people." She felt her fingers pick up a pencil and she doodled on the corner of an empty sheet of paper. It turned into one of the aliens from the danger room with an arrow shooting straight for it's head.

>>"They don't want anything to do with mutants. They still have trouble even admitting I am one. Letting me go to school here would be like sending me to jail to learn to be a criminal in their opinions. I mean, I could just tell them it's a boarding school or something but then there is Jensen; they'd expect him to stick around and report or something."

Well, one thing for sure, Sherlock's parents did not know how to appreciate a talented daughter. They sounded like jerks to Maya. Then again she was in no position to judge anyone else's parents, not while Mom was working as a high-pay assassin or something equally shady...

>>"Plus, I don't think you'd want me around that much. I'm a pain in the butt remember? I got you in trouble and thrown off a building... a small building, but still. And the waking up screaming thing kinda makes it hard to live with other people."

Maya smirked. That she could deal with.

"Hey, if we chose who gets to stay based on being a pain in the ass, the school would be half empty, and the team would be the first to go." she grinned at Evelyn "Ask Sam, he'll tell ya the same. Let me see... We've got a werewolf who raids the fridge every full moon... a girl who sprouts spiders from under her skin... (she is my roommate by the way)... a chick that makes ya see stuff that's not there, a socially awkward telepath, and an animal shifter that sheds cat fur all over the place. Do I gotta say more?..."

Maya shook her head.

"My point is, we take care of each other. And ya seem old enough to me to make up your own mind. Ya've got a lot of that" she tapped her finger to her temple to clarify what she meant "We have a badass guidance counselor if ya need help convincing your parents. She is an adapted: as long as she stick around you wouldn't even hear your echoes. She bitch slapped a burning angel once that some bigot fanatic parents brought in to claim one of our students back."

Good times.

"Whether they like it or not, ya're a mutant. Might as well start embracing it."