Friday evening, the mall was bustling with last minute Christmas shoppers. People's arms were overflowing with bags, there was a periodic shriek from children. It was pure chaos. Everyone seemed wrapped in their own world, so much so that no one noticed the figure sitting in the food court. Cassidy was bundled up snugly, knit cap pulled low on their head, winter coat pulled tight around them. They weren't really hear to shop as much as they were here to soak in the ambience.

They wondered if it was Christmastime in the other universe. Their home universe. They wondered if Grandma was going to make ham this year. Ham sounded really good. The Sanctuary was doing a Christmas dinner, but if they had ham, Cassidy doubted it'd be as good as Grandma's.

The invisible teen sighed. This sucked. Homesickness burbled in their stomach. Maybe coming to the mall had been a mistake. Cassidy turned their attention outwardly again, then only indication they were looking around the turning of the beanie. It was fun to imagine what sorts of delights people had in their bags.

If Gemma had a superpower, Christmas shopping was definitely it. She conducted her trips with planning and efficiency, spacing them out over the course of November and December, so that she would not have to scramble in the last days before the holidays. It might have seemed like too much planning to an outsider, but since Gemma was taking care of her own fairly large family now, as well as all the Mansion students who had nowhere to go for the holidays, it was the only way to keep herself from going insane.
So far, so good.

Gemma hummed along to the shopping mall music as she carried bags and boxes on her way from one shop to the next. She was in a good mood. The weather was cold, but Christmas was in the air now, mostly in the form of pine scent and hot chocolate, and the feel-good effect of buying presents for others. Said presents were carefully wrapped, but it was still a feat to carry all of them. Gemma felt one of the bags slipping, and she paused, balancing the others on a bench, to adjust the system she'd created.

The specter lifted their gaze as a woman, whose arms were positively overflowing with bags, stopped at Cassidy's bench to adjust her grasp on her collection of stuff.

"You buying gifts for a small army?" the teen teased. It was a cheeky thing to say but, Jesus, that was a lot of crap. Cassidy would be surprised if she didn't get robbed on the way out to her car. Or god forbid she use public transportation to get around.

The poltergeist was not aware of the shift beginning to take place at their fingertips-- a gradual change from nonexistence to actual, physical freckled hands. Unannounced to the teen, this woman's aura was exercising its power over them.

"Hope you gotta car," Cassidy concluded, "Cuz I wouldn't put it past someone to try and jump you."

In Cassidy's own way, they voiced their concerns. By now, the shift had crept up their neck and into their cheeks, and their nose. Cassidy could see their own cheeks and nose in their peripheral vision.

"What the f**k!"

That was an understatement. Cassidy had gotten to their feet, and was surveying their hands frontwards and backwards.

"Holy sh**. I'm back!" the kid gasped, a radiant smile breaking across their features, "I need a mirror."

They did not put two-and-two together. Their head was reeling with excitement over the prospect of seeing their own reflection again, and they were so distracted by this idea that they stumbled a bit over their own shoelaces.

>>"You buying gifts for a small army?"

Gemma did not pay much attention to the teen sitting nearby until they talked. She adjusted the bags and boxes and smirked a little; even among merry-and-stressed Christmas shoppers, she was probably quite the sight to behold.

"You could say that, yes."

Four children, a husband, a niece, various assorted family members, a school, and a vigilante team. That qualified as a small army, right?

>>"Hope you gotta car. Cuz I wouldn't put it past someone to try and jump you."

"They can try."

Let them try.

Gemma shifted the bags again, and was ready to move on, when she caught a glimpse of the teen looking more than a little shocked... at seemingly nothing.

>>>"What the f**k!... Holy sh**. I'm back! I need a mirror."

Oooh boy.

"Heads up, I'm an adapted" Gemma noted jovially, and peered over her boxes at the teen who seemed entirely too excited "I'm assuming you're a mutant?"

Shifting some of the bags to her hip, Gemma dug into her purse. She had a small compact mirror, partly because she liked to be prepared, and partly because one never knew when the X-men needed a quick entry somewhere.

"Here, take this."

>> "Heads up, I'm an adapted. I'm assuming you're a mutant? Here, take this."

Cassidy had already reached the edge of the woman's aura and started to fade again by the time she spoke up. The teen turned.

"You're a what?"

Mutations were much more hush-hush on the other side, so the logic would follow that Adapted were virtually unheard of. Cassidy reentered the black woman's field, accepting her proffered mirror. Their hands brushed a little.

"Holy sh**," the teen repeated,  "You're doing this?"

Cassidy pulled off their hat, their lips thinning in a frown. They weren't sad, but... in disbelief.

"I got in a fight," Cassidy explained, which was a fancy way of saying that their mom had tried to hit them, "And I disappeared. Haven't seen my face in like six months now."

Cassidy pulled off their hat and tilted the mirror. They could tell from the tickle of hair in their eyes or on the back of their neck that their hair had gotten longer. Seeing it was a totally different experience.

"God, I look like a skater with my hair like this," the teen remarked, pushing the bangs from their eyes with a free hand. Now that they were visible, the ragamuffin look was complete. Dirt on their face and hands, unkempt hair, messy clothes. Well, the coat wasn't messy, cuz Erik had just bought it for them. But otherwise it wasn't any stretch of the imagination what kind of life they lived. The mirror was handed back, the hat replaced.

"Thanks," Cassidy smiled, "It's good to know I still look like me." They rubbed the sleeve of their coat against their cheek, attacking a smudge of dirt they'd seen in their reflection.

Gemma had seen countless people behave like the teen was behaving now. It usually meant that her aura had affected them in some way they did not expect, or that they did not know about the possibility of adapteds at all.

>>"You're a what?"

In this case, it was the latter. Gemma glanced around, hoping the teen would have friends or family nearby, but from the looks of it, it was more likely that they were completely alone. At the mall. Just before Christmas.

"I... have an aura that cancels mutant powers." Gemma explained with a small sigh, and rested her bags on the bench. The short explanation was never enough.

>>"Holy sh**. You're doing this?"

"Not actively. But... yes."

>>"I got in a fight. And I disappeared. Haven't seen my face in like six months now. God, I look like a skater with my hair like this,"

They did look like... something. Mostly like a runaway teen, which was a really common look for mutant teens with powers that recently manifested. But six months, spent invisible... Well. That had to be difficult.

>>"Thanks. It's good to know I still look like me."

"You have been... invisible, all this time?" Gemma ventured, taking the mirror back "You don't have control over it?"

The teen was clearly surprised and impressed, their blue eyes wide and glittering as they looked up at the black woman. She canceled mutant powers. That was... so... awesome!

"That's amazing!" Cassidy declared, grinning their gappy-toothed grin from ear-to-ear.

>> "You have been... invisible, all this time? You don't have control over it?"

The teen was less-thrilled about that question. Actually, they were kind-of confused by it. Thew way the lady said it made it sound like Cassidy was out of control, or incompetent.

"I mean, I guess," Cassidy answered drolly, wedging her hands in her pockets, "But mutants can't always turn powers off... right? Like, uh... you know. Ones that always look different." Or couldn't be seen at all. A look of thin annoyance was crossing their face, a tell that they weren't accustomed to having to hide. Droll eyes, severe frown.

"Hey, uh, do you... want help carrying your stuff out?" Cassidy offered, trying to change the subject before they got defensive about their always-on power, "Your arms look full, and I'm kind-of enjoying being here-here."

The teen seemed excited about the idea of an adapted aura, but the moment she brought up power control, they closed right up. Gemma knew that grumpy teen face. She had raised two teens of her own, and she was gearing up for another two. God help her.

>>"I mean, I guess... But mutants can't always turn powers off... right? Like, uh... you know. Ones that always look different."

"That is true. But some develop control along the way." Gemma noted. She did not mean to sound rude about being able to control something like invisibility... but from the teen's reactions so far, she had a sense that they were none too happy about permanently stuck on the OFF setting.

>>"Hey, uh, do you... want help carrying your stuff out? Your arms look full, and I'm kind-of enjoying being here-here."

Gemma glanced at the bags and the boxes, then back at the teen.

"Yeah... I could probably use some help. Thanks." that made two of them, but she knew better than to point that out. She handed some of the bags to the teen. If they wanted to run away, all they had to do way leave her aura anyway. "My name is Gemma. Nice to meet you."