She was finally leaving the Mansion, with only a thin scar across her chest to remind her of the past two days. To be perfectly honest, her time here at the School had been pretty eventful, with all the new information she had on Mutants here in New York, as well as the fuzzy map of the Mansion she'd created while walking throughout the day. Still, her choice hadn,t changed. She wasn,t going to be staying here any time soon, she had a bright future ahead of her. She was going to go to school and become a Police Officer, she wanted to get married one day and have kids... She couldn't stay here, all her dreams would be impossible to achieve in a place like this.

She smiled softly as she glanced back at the Mansion, walking a little slower, afraid she'd maybe bump into something, or someone by not looking at where she was going. This was probably the last time she'd set foot here, unless of course Shana, Jewel or Fade invited her. She had grown fond of those three girls, Fade in particular. They're previous meeting at an H&M store in Time Square had made them become friends, but last night... There friendship had grown stronger. She grinned again, pulling her purse higher on her shoulder (The one that wasn't still a bit soar from the glass) and spun her head around.

The gates stood only ten feet away, and even if she was certain this wasn't where she wanted to be, she couldn't help the feeling inside her. "Am I doing the right thing?" she asked herself, though loud enough for anyone in the surroundings to over hear. "I'm so confused." Why? Because her gut was telling her to turn back? She didn't want to be here, she had to go! Stubbornly, she pushed her long dark hair away from her face, taking a few steps forward, only to stop again.

You know those days when you wake up and you're just happy and boosted with energy for no reason at all? You're just thankful to see another day and you wanted to share your glee with others? Dominic was having one of those days...he wasn't exactly sure why he was in such an upbeat mood because it was just another ordinary day at the mansion, but he was. He wanted to go out and live! Or just chill in the city for a bit. Grab a bite, maybe buy some new games and movies, manga, whatever. He still kind of wish he had a car though...he wish he knew how to drive. Just another reason to bug Sam so he could give him driving lessons. Until then he would be trekking by foot. Wait scratch that. He'd just catch the subway or something.

The blond stepped out in his usual casual style. Like Sam had influenced his life in many ways since being reunited with him, the ice mutant had also influenced Dom's wardrobe. The younger Johnson had picked up the habit of wearing tight muscle shirts just like his big bro. After all, Dominic had some muscle and was putting on more from the recent training he had started to receive at the mansion. He wore a baby blue Hollister graphic T-shirt, a pair of black denim jeans, and a pair of black K-Swiss with bably blue shoe laces. After he was getting dressed, Dominic exited the Mansion and headed towards the gates. When he arrived he found himself behind a young woman...talking to herself. Why did all the chicks he stumbled upon talk to themselves:? First it was Zahira, now this girl.

"Am I doing the right thing?" she asked herself, though loud enough for anyone in the surroundings to over hear. "I'm so confused."

"I'd get confused too if I was having a conversation with myself..." he said making his presence known to the girl. He wasn't trying to be rude, and hopefully she'd catch that in his lighthearted tone and the smile sprawled across his face. "You in any of trouble?" he asked.

When a voice ringed in her ears, Audrey froze, startled and very embarassed. She very slowly turned around to see who the man was. Hopefully he wasn't one of those goregous, well-toned Mutants she'd seen around the Mansion while walking around all day. That would make her feel all that much more embarassed. Her stomach felt as if it was going to drop on the ground when she saw him. He was more then gorehous! Blond, blue-eyed, ooh those were amazing eyes! Kind of reminded her of Slate's eyes, didn,t they? Man, she needed to stop talking to herself, it was just so embarassing! And guess what, he was even more muscled then the Mutants she'd seen walking the School! Dammit!

Well, one thing that wasn't entirely great about his looks was that he was maybe a year younger then she was. Maybe six months... Or maybe he just looked younger, anyhow, she could swear he was at least seventeen and a half. "Hi, um... No, no I'm not in any trouble." She was now though, now she couldn,t show her true face to this guy ever again! That wasn,t so hard for the Shapeshifter, she could always change her appearance... Not that they'd be seeing each other ever again. She wasn,t coming back.

"No, I'm not in real trouble. You probably heard of the Jewelry robbery last night, right? Well, I sort of helped save that Anti-Mutant owner and got injured in the process. A friend brought me here to recover and now I can't believe I'm even considering coming back to visit one of these days. This place is totally wrong for me and now I'm babbling on... Sorry. Heh, I'm Audrey, Audrey Walker." Yeah, she was a babbling fool who talked to herself. What a great way to make first impressions.

...then again, Dominic couldn't complain about the crazy girls who he walked on talking to themselves, seeing as they always seemed to be very easy on the eyes, and this young lady was no exception. Yes, Dominic, the boy who fumbled over his words and turned red like a beet everytime he was in the presence of a beautiful girl, seemed to keep his cool this time. Seeing as there were many beautiful women in the mansion, he had grown accustomed to it...that and he accepted the fact that he was Johnson. Meaning either he was destined to always be drawn to beautiful women, as they would be to him. No complaints, no complaints at all.

As the girl spoke, Dominic gave her his full attention, staring at her eyes, making sure they wouldn't wander around the rest of her body. Did he hear about a Jewelry store robbery last night? Um, nope. Recalling last night, he was definitely kicking arse and taking names online playing Street Fighter 4. He didn't see a bit of news on the incident she spoke of. "Well, I'm glad you're alright and weren't hurt fatally," he said rubbing his blond head. "Oh yeah, the name is Dominic. Dominic Johnson. Nice to meet you Aubrey." he said smiling, the dimples in his cheeks on display as he did so. "Ah, so why are you considering leaving and whats so bad about coming back to it? I mean, I understand...this place isn't for everyone, but if you have a valid argument, then I can let you go. " he chuckled. "Did someone offend you or anything?"

She laughed softly when he said he was glad she hadn't been hurt that terribly. "Yeah, I'm glad too. The Doctor here works miracles, doesn't he?"[/b] Finally she was beginning to calm down, to be herself again. He may be a gorgeous guy, but he wasn't more special then the others. Hey, Slate was just as gorgeous, and she hadn't been all stupid and idiotic with him. The two had hit it off quite well, and Slate would probably not mind seeing her again. Anyway, it wasn't like her to be all over boys like this. Maybe all over them while in a bloody street fight, or while kicking their butts in the club on the Dance Floor, but not like this. Why act so giddy if he was just another Mutant living at the School? She could promise herself this: she wasn't going to make a fool out of herself again.

"Nice to meet you too Dominic." she paused for a moment, "You can let me go? Since when did I need your permission to go?" but she laughed at the end, showing she was just teasing. Why was she leaving anyway? She bit her lip idly, thinking through a good answer for his questions. "Honestly? I don't know why I'm leaving. I was debating that right now, that's why you caught me talking to myself. she looked in his blue eyes that reminded her so much of Slate's. "It's a great place, but I don't think it's me. I'm not used to all the fancy stuff, and I have a perfect - Well, sort of - life right now. I don't want this School to hold me back..." she drifted off, wondering why she was explaining herself to this random kid.

"Anywho, if you convince me that leaving is a bad idea, maybe I'll come back someday." she told him, smiling flirtasiously, smoothing her short jean skirt and deep red tank top.

"Well, I suppose that I don't have the authority to hold you back, so no permission is needed. I just felt like messing with you a bit" he chuckled. "Nor will I convince you to stay if you don't want to. Like you said it is a great place, but probably isn't the best place for everyone. I'm only here because, I don't have any where else to go. Besides if you're happy and content with you're life, who am I to interfere with that and tell you to change it around to come stay here? People have their own paths in life and have to follow the one that's best for them." he shrugged rubbing his blond head and watching Aubrey. He caught her smile and returned a boyish grin of his own.

"However, just because you don't want to stay here doesn't mean you can't visit now does it? I'm sure your friend would be heartbroken if you never returned. That and it'd be a disappointment to never see such a pretty face ever again." ...ok. Maybe that was corny, but give the kid some slack. He never really tried his macking skills out before. He always took the sensitive pretty boy approach...because that's what he was. Sensitive and pretty. "So...since you're gonna leave, where exactly are you off to now?"

"Don't worry about it, I knew you were just messing around with me." she said, smiling softly as his chuckling filled the area. He had a nice chuckle. "I'm not exactly sure wether or not this is the right place actually. At first, I thought it was crazy for me to move in when I had this perfectly fine life out here... Now though, I've met some interesting people. I can't even believe I'm debating this now." she told him. He smiled at her, a boyish, sweet kind of smile. His smile was just as nice as his laugh.

Maybe she could consider coming back... Just the fact that he was here was good enough, though maybe Jenny, Shana and Jewel were a small part of it too.

"Yes, I'm sure my friend would be pretty heartbroken." she laughed, "As for my pretty face, I'm certain there are a thousand girls in there you'd like better then me." she couldn't help but laugh again, he was so corny!

"So...since you're gonna leave, where exactly are you off to now?"

Hm, where was she going now? "Well, I have a very cozy apartment just waiting for me, but first I thought of going to the Park and doing a little bit of reading." she explained casually, patting her purse, which made a hard-kind of sound where the romance novel was. Where else was she going to go? She was glad to be well again, to be honest when she'd been injured, she'd thought she,d be in a Hospital for at least a week! It felt good to know that after only a night, she was fine.

Well she was right. There were lots of other pretty faces around the mansion. Heck, he was still a bit smitten with Alexandra...even if she was dating Sam now. Damn, why'd she have to be dating him? A part of him wanted them to be happy...because well, Alex was his friend and Sam was his brother. Another part wanted them to split...so Alex would be back on the market again...even if in reality he knew he never had a chance with her. It's better than having Sam sport her off.

"I love the park. New York is such a huge city, buildings everywhere. I just like to enjoy whatever piece of nature I can find here. What kind of books do you enjoy? If you don't mind me asking. I enjoy reading myself." he asked.

Audrey grinned, feeling a little corny herself. She liked any kind of books really, but she had to give him a straight answer, well not that she really did have to, she just wanted to be honest with him, she felt as if he could be a potential friend in the future, maybe an ally. "I read anything I can put my hands on really, but for the past few weeks, I've been really into romance novels taking place a long time ago. Right now, I'm reading a book by Rosemary Rogers called Return to me."[/color] she paused for a second, her cheeks growing hotter as she realized maybe he didn't like reading those sappy kinds of stories.

"Anyway, it's actually pretty corny, to be honest, but it's an amazing story so far." Hell, corny was an understatement. A rich military man returning to his wife after the civil war in 1865, to find that the two will be expecting a baby. Audrey hadn,t really gotten far, with everything happening lately, but it was a good read. Honestly though, not something she'd expect Dominic to enjoy. He didn,t look like the man to read romance novels.

"How about you, what do you like reading?"[/b] she asked curiously, rubbing the back of her neck as the summer heat started becoming evident. They'd been standing here for a good ten minutes now, and it was the middle of the day, the sun was at it's highest.

"Sounds like a nice read," Dominic shrugged after Audrey finished a short summary of the book, or what she had read so far. Then she asked him about what he liked to read. This was when his handsome cool factor would be shot to hell. Hopefully not terribly. "I'm a closeted nerd and I'm a sucker for fantasy. Dragons, witches, wizards, trolls, princes, princesses, waring kingdoms...all that kind of stuff." he said rubbing his blond head nervously.

" I don't know why, but I just enjoy fantasy way more compared to other genres. I enjoy fantasy way more than real life. I mean, how amazing would it be to actually be able to wield magic? Or go horse back riding on a unicorn, swim in the sea with a mermaid, or fly the skies riding a dragon? You can call me a nerd if you want but that's just how I feel. Hate being bound by the restraints of reality. With your imagination, the possibilities are endless...I should end that in to hallmark to make a card or something." he chuckled.

Audrey grinned, yes it was a good read, so far. Then he started to explain what he liked to read, and she couldn't help but grin furthermore. He was the greatest guy ever! Come on, when did you find a very tough, handsome looking dude who read fantasy and actually liked it? She could see he was a little nervous now, and wondered what to say. She had to say something that would let him know she didn't care whether he was the biggest nerd on the planet or the toughest jock. Honestly, she wasn't one to judge people by the "Clique" they were classed in; those things remained in High School. "Nah, I don't think your a nerd. I agree with you actually, Fantasy can be pretty awesome." Okay, this didn't sound so comforting.

She laughed softly along with him, "Well, maybe one day Fantasy will become a little more real. Hey, take us Mutants for example. I bet you ten or twenty years ago, the humans had no idea we existed, not to mention would be this popular. A lot of people dreamed of having special powers, and some of us do have them!" she paused for a moment, realizing this had gotten pretty off-track... They'd been talking about what she'd be doing later. She laughed at herself for a second.

"Anyway, maybe the Fantasy that could eventually become reality won't be as great as we want it to be, but you never know. The Mutant life can be quite amazing." she grinned softly, after all the pain, after all the name calling, there were a lot of good things about being a Mutant too.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right about that. I was one of those kids who dreamed about having super powers...now I have them. Though they're not exactly what I had in mind. I always thought I could have a crap load like Superman...or even just a simple one like teleporting or telekinesis... he sighed rubbing the back of his blond head. He really was beginning to think he got the short end of the stick compared to Sam who had awesome ice powers and a hot girlfriend while all Dom could do was be a jungle kid and he didn't have a girl friend, just a plastic statue of Chun-Li on his desk. Twas sad, very sad.

"Mutant life can be amazing, but it varies from mutant to mutant. Not everyone has such a privileged and easy life. Those mutants who have physical mutations and can't hide like us and are constantly opened to discrimination. Or those mutants whose powers affect their way of life. The ones who can't control their powers and are a danger to others around them. Not being able to experience the sensation of a hand shake, a hug or even a kiss. It's rather sad..." Dominic said crossing his arms. His mind drifted back to Zaihira and her powers. "Or even if you can hide and have somewhat control of your powers, the people who were supposed to love you and be their for you cast you away without a second thought because being a mutant is essentially the equivalent of being a spawn of hell. So, yeah. Mutant life can be amazing, but only to some."

The Shapeshifter shrugged, thinking through her own memories to see if she ever wanted Superpowers as a child. "I was never a fan of Comic Books as a kid, so the thought never really occured to me." she explained, "I didn't know much about Mutants back then too. Only the brief stuff I'd see on T.V. But where I come from, there was practically no Mutants around for miles and miles." She felt herself go a little red as she kept rambling on. She grew up totally oblivious to Mutants actually, only discovering their existance a few years before her own powers kicked in.

Audrey simply listened to Dominic as he spoke. She understood where he was going with all of this. Shrugging, she added: "Yeah, I agree. But I don't think it's because of the Mutants' physical differences that they're first judged. I mean, they'll come to the conclusion that yes, they are Mutants... But if all Mutants weren't hated, or feared... Even the people with fur or tails could walk around without fear of being shot at or something." she paused, feeling as if she was talking waaay to much. "Honestly, I think it's because of those Mutants who want to Dominate the World. They cause havoc, I've witnessed this first hand."

She also agreed with him when it came to physical contact. It would be a ity for those who couldn't touch others. Kissing someone was a great feeling, she could only imagine that feeling being stronger if you actually loved that person. Yes, she admitted it, she never had a true love before, only numerous guys to keep her occupied. No worries though, the farthest she'd gone with someone was kissing... Um, anyway. "I could get used to talking to you Dominic... I don't think I've ever met a guy who makes me feel so... Actually, I have no idea how I'm feeling right now... I know it's a good feeling though." she laughed shakily, feeling embarassed.

"Totally agree with you there on the whole being mutants shouldn't be discriminated against thing. I mean, it seems like we need to have another civil rights movement just for mutants. But the bad mutants you just mentioned don't seem to be helping the cause either..." Dominic sighed looking up at the sky beginning to really wonder what kind of future was in store for his kind. How long would this hate against mutants last? Would there really ever be peace? Maybe when the humans were extinct..oh well.

"I make you feel good, huh?" Dominic smiled back boyishly to Audrey. "I don't know what I did, but you're welcome? Heh, you're pretty awesome yourself. I'm glad I got the chance to meet you. Highlight of my day indeed, " he smiled inching over next to her and sliding his phone into her hands. "If you don't mind giving me the digits..." he smiled.

Audrey shrugged, maybe another Civil Rights thing wouldn't be such a bad idea. There was a lot of things they could do, but for now it was best just to lay low. She knew some people were already trying their best to bring peace between the two kinds, but for some reason it felt as if none of it would pay off. Mutants would always be feared, hated. It just wouldn't stop. She didn't agree with those who wanted to kill the Humans however, that was far worse. They needed to find another way to make things right.

Audrey laughed at his rethorical question. Yes, he did make her feel good, it was odd, especially since they hardly knew each other. Then he gave her his phone, and Audrey felt herself blush. Ah yes, the phone move. Slate's card seemed to weigh a ton in her purse as she started to put down her number for him. Before giving it back, she noticed the time. It was getting late, she should be going. "Here you go, call any time." Should she hand him her phone so he could do the same? It would be kind of nice to be able to call him too.

Who knows, maybe he was the type to forget about girls after only a few minutes. Though, she'd be better off not getting a call if he was that type... She smiled at him, glancing "Well, it was very nice to meet you Dominic, I'll try to find you the next time I drop by the Mansion." she paused for a second, wondering if this was it. Would he ask her out? Sure, it was a little far-fetched, but wasn't it something guys did? Think girls were interested in going out after only a meeting?

Not that she'd say no, but honestly she liked to take her time. After three years of dating, she knew that rushing wasn,t such a good idea. As a teenager she'd done it quite a few times, and every one of those lucky boys tended to be heartbreaking one-timers.