When you think of the word "Mercenary" what images instantly pop into your mind? Do you picture the tall dark and handsome, yet brooding gun for hire? How about the dark, dirty and underhanded thief that can break into a house and rob a family blind with out waking the german shepherd in the yard?

How about a package boy? Does that ever come to mind? Because it sure as heck never crossed Jirou's until today. Here he was, a top grade gun for hire, delivering a package wrapped in brown shipping paper to a man at a diner a several blocks away in downtown New York.

Not that Jirou was complaining. The guy was paying a ridiculous amount of cash to see that this package got delivered, and Jirou had been pretty bored as of late. It was a simple low risk job, and he needed something easy to do for a change. He examined the box as he walked along the street. He wondered what the heck it could be, and why it was so important. He shrugged and tucked it under his armpit as he walked.

Either way, at least he was outside and it was certainly a nice day out. What could go wrong?

It was sunny outside....

... and she was being harassed by the strangest person.

"Oh. My. God.... Is that snake attached to you? Can it hear your thoughts? Can you hear it's thoughts!? Are those spots on your skin green, or blue?"

Orange eyes darted back and forth, looking for a clean way out, as she inched her way along the wall of the book store she had just exited. "...I.... uh...Don't think I can... But, I... really do need to go..." She muttered, smiling as politely as she could under the circumstances.

She had faced people who loved her mutation before, and had definitely faced people who openly disliked her for what she was. But this? This was strange, and all together frightening on a completely different level. This guy, whos glasses seemed far to large for his face, was looking at her like she was a science project.

"My, your teeth are huge, aren't they! Why does you snake have orange eyes? Why do you wear glasses? Are the gloves your wearing there for any specific purpose, or are you just afraid of germs or somethi-- Hey wait!"

She didn't wait for him to finish. Andrea squeezed past him and darted off down the sidewalk. Her slipped slapped quietly against the pavement as she ran, clutching her book to her chest. The boy was hot on her heels in an instant, still shouting out questions and he struggled to keep up. Her white summer dress made running easier, since heavy cotton didn't tend to catch on legs at all- but the cropped sweater she had chosen was clinging in all of the wrong places, and proving to be mighty distracting.

Andrea turned the corner at the end of the block, peering over her shoulder at her pursuer. Before she could turn back to watch where she was going, she slammed head long into someone. Her book went flying, and she collapsed into a tangle of arms and legs with whoever she had hit. To make matters worse, around the corner came Mr. big glasses, wheezing slightly. Sloth had been jostled slightly from her shoulders, and while she was tangled, he set about fixing that. He curled instinctively around the nearest object... which happened to be a brown box...

Sometimes the fates like to smile upon us, while sometimes they prefer to spit. Typically, Jirou was not the religious or spiritual sort, but if he had been then right now he would probably say that the fates above had just cleared their collective throats and had just unleashed the most vile and putrid loogie they could.

With only six or so more blocks to go, Jirou was making great time. He'd probably sit down at a local pub and have a burger and fries, just to treat himself. He smiled at the thought of a nice thick black angus burger. He couldn't wait to sink his teeth into one.

Except he'd probably have to wait a little longer than he expected. One moment he was walking along the street, about to come up to a corner, and the next he was blindsided by a white, green, and black mass.

The force of the impact took him by surprise, and summarily off of his feet. He fell to the ground in a heap, while the package he was about to deliver slipped out from under his arm and landed beside him.

The sudden feeling of Deja Vu fell upon him as he sat up and massaged the base of his neck and skull.

"Do you mind watching where you're going next time? Seriously, somebody could get-" Jirou stopped mid sentence as he noticed an oddly familiar looking serpent wrapped around the package he was meant to deliver. He followed the snake's frame all the way to the body with which it was attached. He immediately recognized her. How could anybody forget that day...?

"YOU AGAIN?!?!?!" Jirou exclaimed and pointed at Andrea and immediately began looking around for any sort of monstrous predatory mutants in hot pursuit. He did not need that sort of stress today.

No wild beasty rounded the corner. Just one overly excited mutation obsessed super nerd. Andrea groaned, pulling herself into a sitting position, and rubbed at her forehead. Gods.. at least her glasses had stayed on this time... She turned her head at the voice of the person she had flattened, her tongue and lips already in the process of flinging out apologies right and left, when that person apparently recognized her.

Startled at the sudden outburst, she squeaked out a timid, "Me?!" Her eyes fell on him, shaded vision not registering who he was and then it clicked. "You!" She let fly a word in Greek that would have made her mother faint, and dropped her face into one gloved hand. Of all the people to run into in the world, why did she had to run into someone she'd already run over before?! Her walks outside were starting to prove annoyingly repetitive.. "Are you okay lady? That looked like quite a fall... I bet you heal faster than normal people though, right? "

....And then there was that. The guy shuffled over and picked up her book, which happened to be a guide on Greek mythology. He flipped it open, eyeballing the pages. "Oooh, I see why you'd be reading up on this. Is that why you wear glasses? I bet your stare turns people into statues or something... just like Medusa! Am I right?"

Grinding her teeth, Andrea felt an eye twitch slightly, and reached up to move her sunglasses out of the way. He had just pushed the one button that truly got on her nerves. Being compared to mythical monster. "Oh... you don't know how right you are..." He realized what she was doing too late, and the horrified look that sprang to his face tugged on her heartstrings. ...But there was enough going on without him babbling on like that. He caught her gaze, posed in the most ridiculous manner she had ever seen, and went completely ridged.

With a sigh, she pushed herself to her feet, not noticing that Sloth had claimed the brown package, and pried her book easily from the frozen guys hands. If he hadn't been pestering her so, she probably wouldn't have resorted to such measures. But he had, so all she could do was make sure he wouldn't fall over and turn back to help the other man to his feet if he needed it.

"I am very sorry... You are right, I should have been watching where I was going." Her voice was quiet and obviously strained with weariness. Sloth wiggled around her shoulders, and she finally noticed the package. "Ah! Sloth, no! Put that down!" Attempting to pry it from his coils didn't work. He just clung tighter. The serpent wasn't budging.. which left Andrea in the awkward position of turning a sheepish grin the man's way. "... He won't let go... "

The shock and surprise in Jirou's eyes was obvious, though it was hard to figure out what shocked him more; Running into the green skinned gorgon lady again, or her ability to suddenly paralyze a person by simply looking at them.

Jirou accepted the help and climbed to his feet, dusting himself off as he did. He stared at "Sloth" and the package he so adamantly refused to abandon.

"I can see that." he gingerly rubbed his arm. It hadn't been long before that "Sloth" had decided to take his arm hostage. Granted, the situation then was a bit more dire than their present one, but still Sloth refused to let go just the same.

"Unfortunately, I need that package, and I need it now."the serpent's orange eyes stared defiantly back at Jirou, who frowned impatiently.

In all the commotion, Jirou had failed to notice the crowd which was gathering around them.

"Did you see what she did to him?"
"What she did to him? Just look at that thing!"
"Is he dead? Did she kill him!?"
"That Monster!"

Not good.

Once humans started throwing around the words "dead" and "kill", they grew panicky, and when large crowds of people were panicked, they quickly turned violent.

That was why it was never a good idea to use one's abilities in public, and it was especially not a good idea to use them on human beings, no matter how much they deserved it. Human's were stupid and tensions between humans and mutants were bad enough as they were, they didn't need anymore excuses to resent their kind.

"We need to go. NOW!" Jirou immediately grabbed Andrea by the hand and reached into his pocket, charging a single card which he tossed to the ground in front of them. The card detonated on impact with the pavement and the resulting explosion was enough to scare an opening int the assembled crowd. Jirou immediately made a break for it, dragging Andrea along with him.

The crowd immediately began sharpening their pitchforks and began its pursuit.

"We need to stop meeting like this!"

Nodding guiltily, she set about trying to try the snake from the box again. Unfortunately, compared to her skinny arms, Sloths thickly muscled body made it nearly impossible for her. Maybe if the boxes owner tried to help, it wouldn't feel so futile. Then again, if she asked him, that would put him close enough for Sloth to nip at... and she didn't want anyone getting hurt.

...The crowd gathering around them didn't know that, though.

Andrea was forced to abandon her mission when she noticed the people, and what they were saying. Behind her glasses, her eyes darted from one face to another quickly. "...No.. I didn't-.... He's fine, reall-.... I am not a monster! I-" She could feel anger bubbling up again, and her snake was beginning to react to it. His body tightened around her shoulders, squeezing on her neck a littler harder than she would have liked, and he pulled the brown packed to her chest. Luckily, before anyone could attack, her friend snatched up her hand and tugged her into the motion of running. A small explosion sent a ripple of fear through the gathered crowd, and in the resulting confusion, both managed to slip quietly away.

For the most part... Andrea's teeth were clenched so hard her jaw muscles hurt. She kept her head down, allowing herself to be towed along, and clutched her book and the box, to her chest. Once the angry voices of an early stage mob were behind them, did she raised her chin and speak.

"Is there any other way to meet in this city?" She half joked, trying to draw herself from in inner turmoil she could feel brewing. ... How dare they call her that. They were no better than that giant cockroach at the sancturary, who had gone out of his way to accuse her of such horrible things. "...I didn't hurt him." She muttered softly. "...I just wanted him to leave me alone..."

In retrospect, a terrible and rash decision.... This was why she stayed in her room, most of the time. Where people couldn't bother her, and she wasn't a danger. "I'm sorry... I don't even know your name."

Running through the crowded streets of New York City was never as easy as it seemed in the movies. Either you were going with the flow, or you were fighting up a white water river that would gladly drag you under if you weren't careful. Somehow, Jirou and the green skinned lady were able to successfully navigate their way through it and out of harms way by ducking out into a less crowded side street. A few more sharp turns, and they effectively lost the angry mob from earlier.

Short of breath from the escape, Jirou leaned up against the wall of a building before checking to make sure they had for sure given their pursuers the slip. He looked over at Andrea and smiled.

"The name's Jirou, and it's a pleasure to meet you again...I think." he continued to smile, which led way to a chuckle, which was then closely followed by him laughing at their narrow escape. "Boy am I glad we made it out of there in one piece." he took a deep breath to calm himself before carrying on.

"I'm sure that fat jerk had it coming anyway. Human's can be really insensitive when it comes to mutants that are...well..." Jirou nodded towards Sloth, who seemed to coil tighter around the package in response, as if insulted. He decided not to finish that sentence. When dealing with mutants that exhibited obvious changes in physical appearance, it was always better to never point out that they were different than the rest of them. Especially if you were a mutant that looked like a normal human being. Jirou quickly changed the subject.

"I'm already quite familiar with...Sloth I think it was." He and the serpent exchanged icy glares. "But I don't think I ever caught your name."

The Greek bent over slightly, catching her breath when the finally stopped. She caught his name, and smiled politely back.

"I'm sure that fat jerk had it coming anyway. Human's can be really insensitive when it comes to mutants that are...well..."

Her smile didn't falter, but behind her glasses she shifted her gaze to the ground. She wasn't about to blame him for pointing out the obvious, but it still stung a little. "I guess they can... " She replied, "...but I am sure most of that can be blamed on fear.... or I guess curiosity, in this case."

Smoothing out her dress, Andrea sighed softly. She was flustered enough still that she didn't even realize she was differentiating her from others as not being human. Old Andrea would have been mortified... New Andrea didn't even notice. Living at the Sanctuary had dulled her reactions to such things, to the point where she had even found herself calling un-afflicted people human.

Laying one gloved hand gently on Sloths belly, the Greek found herself flushing slightly. He was right... all of this running into him and he had yet to actually inform him of who she was. Really, it was quite a problem. She seemed to forget to introduce herself all of the time. Pushing her loose hair back over her shoulders, she offered one gloved hand in greeting. The unfamiliar handshake that she was still slowly getting used to. "My name is Andrea.... and it is a pleasure to meet you as well."

The crinkling of paper caught her attention, and she glanced back down to her snake. Always the curious one, he had opened his maw, and was attempting to force the corner of the box into his mouth. Cursing under her breath, she set about prying his jaws apart, careful to avoid his many sharp teeth. "Oh, damnit! Sorry... he... just never stops trying to eat things!" Thankfully, opening the snakes mouth was far easier than trying to get him to uncoil from things. Holding Sloth's squirming head, while keeping a hold of her book, was harder than she liked, but she managed. "...I really hope you do not need this package for anything... I fear he won't be letting go of it for a while..."

She was a very pleasant girl, when she wasn't running into him or paralyzing people. And aside from the green skin and the snake around her neck, she was pretty too. He accepted the hand shake and returned the smile. "Well, it's certainly a pleasure to finally officially meet you too, Ms Andrea."

The sight of the large boa attempting to eat the package he was tasked to deliver sent a wave of horrifying dread through out Jirou's person. "AH! No, not the package! I'm supposed to deliver that to a very important client! AHAHA!" Jirou clutched at his short black hair as he began to panic.

Whatever was inside that package, Jirou only hoped it wasn't anything too valuable, though considering how much he had been offered to pick it up and deliver it, it was safe to assume that it most certainly was.

He looked around, as if trying to find some way of rescuing the package from the serpents large maw. He glanced down at his watch. He still had plenty of time before the rendezvous time, but each second Sloth held onto that package meant he was one second closure to missing the drop off, and the payment for the job.

Oh what a day this was going to be.

"AH! No, not the package! I'm supposed to deliver that to a very important client! AHAHA!"

Her eyes widened, and she held the snakes head tighter. "What?! Oh lord, I'm sooo sorry!" The fact that it wasn't his, but something he intended to deliver to someone else made the situation entirely more desperate. She didn't just need to apologies to him, but also to the person it actually belonged to! And if Sloth left even a little damage on it, she imagined that Jirou would be the one taking the blame. It was wholly unacceptable... She just needed to think of a way to fix everything...

Something clicked... and a little imaginary lighthouse flickered on above her head. "I have got it!" Wrangling the big snake into a more manageable position, she grinned at Jirou, accidentally dropping her book in the process. "Eeek... could you pick that up for me? Anyway... I know how to fix this... I will accompany you to wherever it is this package needs to be delivered." She explained, wincing as the snake opening protested her mistreatment of it by hissing at her face.

"That way, if it undergoes any damage, I will be there to accept the blame..." It was a perfect solution in her mind. A simple yet effective way to solve the snake problem without anyone getting punished unduly. "I would feel just terrible if you were to get into anymore trouble because of me... that will work, right?"

Well that was certainly a peculiar offer, though it still didn't address the issue of actually removing the package from Sloth's powerful grip. It was still better than him not showing up at all. Perhaps when they got there they could figure out a way of getting the boa constrictor to let go.

"Well, I suppose I don't really have an option now do I? We've still got to find a way to make him let go though." he reached down and grabbed the mythology book off of the sidewalk, carefully dusting it off and inspecting the hard bound cover to make sure it wasn't scratched too bad. He handed the book back to her and smiled. She was being very generous. He'd definitely have to repay the favor somehow.

Jirou looked around to get his bearings once again. Their mad dash away from the angry mob had taken them a couple blocks out of the way, though he was certain they would be able to make it in time.

"Follow me. We still have plenty of time to get there, so I guess there is no need to rush." he laced his fingers behind his head and stretched his back as they walked. How the heck do you get a boa to let go of something...?

"If you don't mind me asking, what is with the book?'

"Well, I suppose I don't really have an option now do I? We've still got to find a way to make him let go though."

Andrea nodded, taking his comment a little to seriously. Sloth had made it impossible for him to do his job on his own. He had to drag her with him... and she was clearly only good at causing problems. A little bitter smile curved the corners of her lips, but she kept them sealed. She had no ideas with which to solve the problem, nor did she know of any way to force the snake to let go that didn't involve bodily harm.

"Follow me. We still have plenty of time to get there, so I guess there is no need to rush."

She followed. There was no reason to argue with him. With her book tucked close to her chest, she kept her hold on Sloth, though he had calmed down a little. He ceased attempting to bite at her or wiggle free from her grasp. Enough so, that she was able to keep a hold of her book with one hand.

"If you don't mind me asking, what is with the book?'

She winced visibly, but attempted to cover it quickly. What he asked was something that she would normally not answer. It was personal... and more than a little embarrassing. But... she owed him for all of the trouble she, and she felt like he deserved some sort of explanation. "...I..." She started, keeping her eyes locked on where her feet were falling. "...I was researching the Medusa myth." She admitted. Her cheeks burned slightly. "... and Perseus."

She fidgeted, and Sloth fidgeted as well. The great snake wasn't used to feeling shame or embarrassment, he didn't understand the emotions, and unfortunately he was attached to a walking shame factory.
"... She was cursed, you know. Perseus ended her suffering..." But it didn't matter to him. She felt instantly silly for even mentioning it, and clutched her book tighter to her.

It had been a while since he had felt a need to research ancient Greek mythology, though he was familiar with the myth. He remembered Medusa and Perseus's clash within her lair, and how the Greek hero overcame the beast using his ingenuity and abilities. Jirou glanced over at the gorgan girl and took stock of her appearance. While she certainly may have looked the part, her temperament and and attitude was certainly different than that of the mythological creature.

"I don't know about suffering. Cursed yes, but she kind of brought it upon herself didn't she? I mean, depending on which myth you read, didn't she insult Athena or something? I thought it had something to do with how she felt she was more beautiful than Athena herself, so as punishment she turned her hair into snakes and caused her gaze to turn people into pillars of salt or stone... or something like that." Jirou paused to get his bearings again. "Besides, Medusa was a blood thirsty killer. You don't seem to be the type. Trust me, I've met blood thirsty killers before and you are certainly a stark contrast. Hell, compared to them, you're nicer than Mother Teresa, and yes that was a compliment." he shuddered as he thought back to that Turkish woman he had met a few nights ago. She was unstable for sure.

"It doesn't do you any good to mope around feeling sorry for yourself though. You aren't exactly the only mutant out there with appearance issues. Remember the last time we ran into each other? I'd say things could be a lot worse." Jirou kept his arms locked behind his head as he smiled at Andrea. He hated seeing people be hard on themselves and down in the dumps. This Andrea girl was a decent person as far as Jirou could tell. It was a nice change of pace when compared to the other women he'd dealt with.

She nodded, even though he didn't see it. There were plenty of varying myths about the Gorgon and her sisters, she had read up on most of them years ago, back when her first mutations had started to kick in. Most of them revolved around the myth he had mentioned. Medusa had earned the gods anger, and was punished for it accordingly.... but there were others. The one she felt most inclined to believe revolved around the theory that it hadn't been Medusa's foul after all. That she had fallen prey to the hands of the Sea king, Poseidon, in Athena's temple... and that was what had sparked the goddesses' anger.

But... whether she was innocent or not, she had turned into a beast of legend in the end. Andrea often wondered if it could be blamed on the Goddesses curse, or if Medusa had always harbored that kind of monster within her. It was a question that she often asked herself... at least, after her encounter with the giant bug in the sanctuary, she had. He had seen her as one of the mythical beings, and he had very enthusiastically set about pointing out all of the qualities she shared... With that dream still haunting her, she hadn't been able to argue much.

Keeping step beside him, she shook herself before spacing out completely. He was right! Compared to the myth she was a saint, as he had said himself. She inwardly shook off the doubts, however temporarily.

"It doesn't do you any good to mope around feeling sorry for yourself though. You aren't exactly the only mutant out there with appearance issues. Remember the last time we ran into each other? I'd say things could be a lot worse."

He... had a point. And a fair one at that. She had met others with mutations just as bad as her's, if not worse. She ha spent so long bemoaning herself, blaming all of her troubles on the snakes, hands, and eyes..... that she had forgotten herself. "You are right." She answered back, lifting her chin a little. Certainly the beast that had chased them from before had it much, much worse. She thought about the mutant she had met in the sewers, and clutched her book to her chest. Even though her curse made things hard for her... she was still accepted. She still had her humanity, her morals... her mind. "I'm sorry, Jirou. That must have come across as so... depressing." Plastering a smile on her lips, she grinned back at him. "I have let myself flounder like this for far too long... I fear I have been keeping myself away from people.... I have allowed myself to become rooted in such terrible thoughts."

She couldn't even recall the last time she had spoken to one of her friends. Not to Jorge, not to Verdi... She had allowed herself to hang around the wrong kind of people, justifying it in a way, but it had caused her to become a depressing shell of her former self. "...And thank you, for the compliment."
With a little bit of renewed energy in her step, she carried on beside him. She felt... better. About her current situation. He was such a nice man... So willing to help her out when she had caused him such trouble! The Greek giggled, scratching at Sloths chin.

"...If you do not mind me asking, why are you delivering this package? Is it something special, like a birthday present?"

The smile that now rested on Andrea's face was a welcome and refreshing sight to behold. Even while on the job, Jirou didn't have to always remain all business, and truth be told this Andrea woman was pretty fun to be around. She made this interesting, even if it wasn't intentional.

"Depressing? Nah. Depressing is seeing a box of kittens floating down a river. What you're dealing with is just a fact of life for us mutants, though obviously it's harder for some of us to deal with compared to others. The important thing to remember is that we as mutants are all in this together. If you can't confide in one of your own, who else is going to understand?" he returned the smile.

"And you're welcome for the compliment. You've earned a few I think." he nodded towards Sloth, who still clung greedily to the package. "He on the other hand has a way to go." he jokingly replied.

As far as the question of the boxes contents, he honestly had no clue as to what it contained, but to his employer, it was seemingly very important and probably very illegal.

"The box, I'm afraid, is a mystery to me as well. I'm getting paid a lot of money to deliver it. Which is odd. Usually package drops are quick pocket change, and rarely if ever do they require somebody of my... skills." The more Jirou thought about it, the odder this job became. Why hire a mutant mercenary to do a delivery job? Certainly a normal human with a simple snub nosed revolver could pull this job off with out a hitch. Jirou was beginning to have his doubts, and what worried him most was that Andrea could potentially get caught up in all of this.

"Promise me one thing when we get there. Promise me you'll keep quiet, and let me do the talking. Even if somebody asks you a direct question, just let me handle it. I don't want you to get anymore involved in this job than you already are. It's dangerous stuff, and not at all legal. Things can get really dangerous in no time at all. The second things begin to go south, I want you to run. Even if Sloth still has the package, I want you to run as far away as you can. I'll make sure nobody follows you. You have my word on that." His tone was dead serious, and his expression expression matched.

"Can you promise me that?"