Disclaimer: The sandbox and toys belong to Marvel (or somebody else), but not me. I just make the sand castles.
Author's Note: My second attempt. Scary how these things go, isn't it? There might be some deeper meaning to this, there might not be. I'm not entirely sure. I could just be hallucinating the entire file.
This, along with many many other TCP fics (not all by me) can be found at the loverly TCP Warehouse, run by the lovely Kielle.
The engine sputtered and shook for a minute before grinding to a halt, stopping the rest of the car along with it. He closed his eyes for a minute before looking down at the dashboard accusingly. The little yellow gas light blinked back up at him. He could almost hear it whispering, "I told you so," in the back of his head. His companion looked at him for several moments before breaking the silence. "You get to go for gas."
Resisting the urge to punch the dashboard and his annoying companion in the face, he stepped out of the car and coughed at the dust his footsteps kicked up. It was just his luck to be stuck out there in the middle of nowhere, with a blonde who couldn't get her act together enough to know where she was going, nevermind what she was going to do when she got there. If he got lucky, she'd bake before he got back with the gas.
Recalling that the nearest station was 30 miles down the way they just came, he turned his back on the beat-up old Chevy and was ambling down the side of the road when a dented Ford pickup pulled up. "Need some gas Mister?" A teen sat at the wheel, though he barely looked old enough to legally drive. He couldn't have been out driving for long; with his windows open, his white shirt would have been covered in dust yet there was hardly a speck on it.
"Ain't it kinda obvious?" Nothing was likely to improve his mood; it had started out bad and only gotten worse. The kid didn't seem put off by his gruff manner though, instead he pulled up next to the car and grabbed a portable gas can out of the truck bed. With a nod to the blonde, the kid opened the tank and popped the nozzle into the car.
"Why didn't ya fill up at the station when ya passed?" The kid's voice was calm and controlled, but his expression was wary, almost as if he suspected an ulterior motive behind their actions. He growled, not wanting to answer that question and acknowledge his own idiocy. The blonde didn't seem to share his restraint.
"My companion didn't think that filling up was necessary." She tossed her hair back over her shoulder. "We're so lucky that you happened to come along. How can I ever thank you?"
The boy bit his lip for a moment, and then looked upward, as if trying to gather courage. "Well, ma'am, there is one thing you can do. Do ya think you could be a friend to mutants? Or at least acknowledge that they're not all bad?"
He started to think for a moment. The kid's timing was way too good; this was something more than a mere coincidence. Before his companion could respond, he spoke up. "Yer a mutant, aren't ya, kid." That wasn't a question; it was a statement of fact. There was a slight expression of surprise on the kid's face when he said that, but it quickly passed.
"What of it? I saved ya a very long walk, 'cause I knew ya were out here and I did something about it. Don't that prove that not all mutants are bad?" The kid had a point, he had to give him that. Kid hadn't done anything to deserve their hostility; in fact, he deserved their gratitude. Being a mutant didn't change the fact that he'd saved him a very long walk. The blonde meanwhile had vacated the car in order to get closer to the kid.
"Get in the car." She opened her mouth to argue for a moment, obviously wanting to yell at the kid for his request. Seeing the look on his face though, she decided it was better to just follow his instructions. As she opened her door, he turned and held his hand out to the kid. "Thanks. I owe ya one. The world needs more people like you." Opening his door and getting in, he pulled away from the kid, who was standing by the road in shock. His companion opened her mouth to complain about the, "horrible mutant," but he closed his ears and opened his mind.
Perhaps there was some room for change after all.