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Thank God Devon knew how to deal with children, Artair was a little lost when it came to interacting with them. He'd been bad at talking to them when he was a kid, how the hell was he supposed to now? At least the girl was coming out of her shock, much longer and she'd have been in hospital. But she was responsive, and knew where she was. She was going to be fine. Smiling at his thoughts, he knew how resilient children could be.

As Devon talked with her, he kept one eye fixed on the direction the thugs went. When his name was mention he returned his attention to the girl, trying to smile warmly. "Of course we can help lass, it's why we're here." As she stood, he noticed Devon take one of her hands and went to do the same. She clung to his hand hard, clearly still scared. Now, now he felt like the scum that had done this hadn't suffered enough.

"Someones a clever wee lassie then, remembering all that so quickly." He turned his accent up a notch or too, hoping to put her at ease. People here seemed to get enthralled by the accents from back home, he reason maybe she would too.

While they were retrieving their various discarded items, his phone went off. Frowning as he read it, it did seem weird that she was alone. There could be a reasonable explanation but something was feeling off to him. ~Aye, I can get her home safe. You make the calls, see if there anything odd about this. Somethings not quite right. As for her power, got no clue. Think they went for her just because she was mutant.~

Grinning at the little girl firmly attached to his hand he said, "Why don't I take you home, while Devon makes sure your dad knows that you're alright? I think there may even be an ice cream with your name on it along the way." If bribery with sweets didn't work, he would be very surprised. She nodded back to him and started to lead him forwards.

"I'll ring you when I get her back Devon, keep me posted if something comes up?"

He'd always assumed they were something akin to a boarding school, where rich parents who didn't want to deal with their own mutant kids would dump them on someone else. Their altruistic tilt gave him a better idea of just how wrong he'd been. Maybe he should look at his other prejudices a wee bit closer after this was over.

Her reassurances helped calm him down, his breathing slowing down considerable over the next couple of minutes. "Something like that," he tried to joke, weakly, "Although its more what goes under them that bothers me." He chose not to elaborate further, not at this point. It was a side of him he was ashamed of. One he hated others seeing.

The journey was pretty quick, apparently and they were pulling up at the gates. Pretty fancy, all things considered and it was good to see Serena hadn't been overstating her relationship with this place. The slow walk through the grounds was good though. It helped put the place in perspective. The happy students playing outside didn't hurt either, any place that let children just be children was good in his books.

"OK, I'll admit, the place gives a good impression and as much as I'd love to frolic in the grounds, I don't think my rib-cage agrees with me," he said in a light, joking tone. Any other day and he would probably try to get a full tour. Pain however was a very good motivator and his was pretty relentless.

Artair wasn't expecting really expecting her apology. In fact it shocked him so much he actively tried to focus on her, trying to discern if she was lying. This would be so much easier if he could just see her. She wasn't a great liar, but being able to see her reactions would probably confirm it. Well, that was a problem for another time because as she explained her power, he came to realise exactly how much mental stress that would cause. She was conscious, all of the time. From everything he understood she should be raving mad. How the hell did she get R.E.M sleep? She never got to switch off, never got a break. To him that sounded like she was literally trapped in a waking nightmare. It didn't excuse her actions, at all, but it did explain them. If he was trapped for that long without being able to just switch off? He shuddered at what he would do under that kind of stress.

Half in thought, the floating laptop scared the daylights out of him. That, that was freaky, he thought. Before quickly realising he was still holding the shield in the air. So, that's what it felt like. Huh. Yeah, he could see why that freaked some people out. It just looked, unnatural. Quickly scattering the shield, he returned his attention to the, screen? Which, after her explanation, he knew was his hidden prankster. She was pretty, and a red head. She would of been just his type if he didn't know how immature she was. That and the scotch incidents. Now that he could see her face though she looked truly remorseful and if this incident provoked her to think a little more of the consequences, it was a pretty cheap lesson, all things considered.

Only a few weeks earlier, the mansion would have been unthinkable. He certainly still had issues, but Serena had allay some of his fears, and her help to set up his training was more than he could repay. "No lass, I don't live there. In fact I've only been there a few times. Doc should remember me at least. Oh, and I should be starting Power Control Training, or something." He was definitely looking forward to some extra practice with his power, its something he really needed. "I'm a first year at NYU, so I live in their dorms right now." Ugh, he always hated being reminded he was only a first year. Losing 3 years of education still stung, even if it had been to save his life. "If you can believe it I'm a medical student, a doctor in training."

"Since you did me the courtesy of explaining you power, I should do the same. Only fair, you know?" Gathering his thoughts, he didn't really know how to explain them, exactly. Chances are other people knew more about his own powers than he did. "Mine's a wee bit more straight forward than yours. I make weapons, pretty simple ones at that. Can't do more complex than a crossbow, and even that's a stretch. Can't make too many at any one time but," cutting off he focused on the shapes he wanted, taking a bit longer than normal due to the number. Once the image was ready, he pulled out three knives and set them dancing in the air. "I can move them about a wee bit." They started spinning faster, weaving complex patterns. "And if I want, I can do this!" Gesturing sharply, they shoot at high speed into the ceiling. Not as dramatic as he'd have wanted, but impaling the poor lass would probably send the wrong impressions.

His breathing slightly strained, he scattered the knives and let the mental strain drop away. "Pretty simple, really. Not as cool as yours, to be honest and I really don't want to think about what it implies about my personality." Weapons were meant for a pretty specific purpose, one that should go against everything he stood for. But he'd answered her, maybe he could get answers as well. "What about you then lass? You one of the mansions then, or you unaffiliated?"

He hadn't really expected much from her, didn't really know if she cared, but the apology helped. Chances are she was just naive, she wouldn't have thought about the consequences. In all likely hood she hadn't really faced the cold hard reality of her own mortality. That was probably a good thing, If Artair was being honest, being innocent of that fact was a gift. A gift he'd lost young he thought, while idly scratch at the scars under the shirt. Oh god, of course she'd been terrified, she'd seen his scars. That coupled with his somewhat angry look, he could see how she could believe he'd wanted to kill her. He looked like a grade A thug.

Smiling as she gave him the name, he was glad she was at least thinking. A fake name was smart, but chances are it was a nickname, somehow related to her or her power. Artair was realising just how out of her depth she was, a feeling he could empathise with. He'd nearly gotten himself killed not too long ago, out of stupidity and arrogance. Sure his motives had been good, but the end result would have been the same. "Daydream ey? Clearly a story behind that," he let his voice drop into a slightly joking tone, trying to put her more at ease. He had already had his rant, what she took from it was up to her.

Of course she wanted to know how he sussed her, clearly she hadn't expected it. Smiling he wondered if she thought he was psychic or something, able to 'see' her in some way. He almost hated to give up the illusion, the air of mystery. But no, if she was learn, best to learn how she'd gone wrong. If she wanted to keep up the pranks, she should at least be smart about it. "That? That was the easy bit lass. I've been in enough fights to know when someone's shoved me. Considering there was no one behind me?" He paused slightly, letting the implication hang. "Coupled with the great disappearing drink earlier, it made me think someone was f------ with me. The peace offering just confirmed it."

Well, at least she wasn't going to be trying to figure out his power. That, was his ace in the hole. If he needed to protect himself, probably best she didn't know how he'd do it. That or he could use it if she started to get self righteous. OK, so he could be immature too, he wasn't perfect.

Serena trusted them, that much was clear. Maybe that would have to be enough, for now at least. Meeting them would be the only way too know for sure. He had to trust her judgement, she'd earned it at least. She had saved his life today. That meant a lot, even if she was English.

>"Maybe you could have gotten a 2 for 1?"
Cait started blushing a shade of red only a few lighter than her hair. The idea was unthinkable. Ridiculous. Totally intriguing. She'd never had that exact fantasy. At all. She also didn't start to imagine that scenario. "You, are a minx Raine." Trying a cocky grin, which she was sure was ruined by her blush, she added, "Wish I'd had that idea at the time."

Aw, that sucked. As much as she got jealous when people brought up college, she liked what she did. The free time for flirting helped. "In that case we need a girls night out, see how many of the team we can drag into it." If Raine needed to cut loose and find a nice cutie to snog, she'd make it happen.

"Don't worry, after we stopped deafening any dogs around the base, I managed to douse myself in enough sunscreen, I'll probably end today with less of a tan." Her idea was good though, if their target wasn't in sight, he might be trying to make a run for it.

Now, which way was the parking lot. Cait had never had a good sense of direction and she'd already lost where they were. "Well then, lead the way I guess. I have no clue which way it is."