Hank McCoy sighed as he walked through the glass tunnel that connected the Marriott Hotel to the rest of Copley Place, hoping against hope that he would be able to catch a train to Providence. From there it was only a short trip to TF Green Airport for his short flight back to LaGuardia and then home. He shrugged on his overcoat, brushing dust from his suit. He watched as mothers hurried their children past him, trying to ignore what they were dying to stop and stare at. Granted, he thought to himself, it is not every day that one witnesses a blue gorilla walking around in a gray business suit as if he were human. The thought made McCoy, also known as a medical genius, cringe. Normally it was difficult to get Henry McCoy, the Beast, down; especially after he had visited a national medical conference specifically on mutants. Unfortunately the conference had not gone well. The conference may have been about mutants, but I was certainly the only one in attendance. Hank thought back to the looks he received from his "peers" as he stood at the podium presenting his research, and his success. Perhaps it is the fact that I have succeeded where they have failed. I have managed to find a cure to the Legacy virus. His mind drifted momentarily back to Piotr. For a price, he added. Yet when I hand over this startlingly wonderful news they sit there as still and silent as when I stood to introduce myself in the first place. 'Look at the trained monkey' is printed all over their faces as I give to them what I have spent years, literally, working for.
Hank would have continued to sink into his dark reverie while he headed toward the Back Bay station tunnel if it hadn't been for a tug on his coat sleeve. Startled, Hank looked to his right, then down, his eyes finally focusing on the sickly face of a child. "Dr. McCoy?" She asked sheepishly, hope flashing in her large blue eyes. He nodded silently, taking in the sight of her. Undernourished didn't even begin to describe the girl before him. She seemed to be barely four feet tall, reaching just past Hank's elbow. Her clothes, though thick and warm for the winter weather, hung off of her as if she were nothing more than stick figure. Her cheekbones were very prominent in her narrow, sharp face. Even her skin seemed unhealthy, an unnatural green pallor covered her, giving a sickly sheen to her complexion. The only healthy attribute she seemed to own was her luxurious thick brown hair that hung in wild waves and curls around her face and down her back. All of this, Hank took in as she stood in front of him, gathering her courage. "I need your help Dr. McCoy." She said sheepishly.
Hank looked longingly down the mall causeway to the escalator that would take him part of the way home, then looked back to the child before him. For a second time that day Hank McCoy let out a deep sigh. Then scared that this reaction might scare the child off, Hank smiled and offered the girl his hand, leading her out the door onto the streets of Boston and towards the only coffee shop he knew of in the city. If she is even half as sick as she looks, Hank thought, then she is in desperate need of my help.
* * * * *
Mulligan's was quiet as usual. Oxygen bars seemed to be the new thing in Boston, which meant that the once ultra-popular coffee shop was now a quiet shelter to those caffeine addicts who had been visiting the establishment since before pop culture invaded. Bobby, of all people, was the person who had gotten Hank addicted to the mocha au lait, leaving Hank to find a coffee shop in every major city in the world which could provide him with this fix. Set up like most coffee shops in New York, Mulligan's was dimly lit with multiple nooks where visitors could sit undisturbed with their coffee and newspaper. However, the center of the shop was recessed and filled with colorful cushions where the local teens could "chill" while sipping on their expresso decafs and hazelnut chillers.
Hank wasn't exactly sure if a smoke filled coffee shop was the place to bring a sick child, but this delay in his departure caused a chocolate craving that needed to be quelled. Hank also wasn't sure if he had been seeing things on the quick walk over, or if the girl's skin had actually gotten greener. However in the shops lighting he saw that it was still the same pale green tint as he had seen in the mall. Deciding that a booth would be more private to discuss medical matters, Hank led the girl toward the back of the shop. She hesitated for a moment at the door, but obediently allowed herself to be dragged into the shop interior afterward.
The girl sat quietly across from him as the waitress came over to their table. Hank had always marveled at having a waitress in a coffee shop, but on days like this it was a nice bonus not to have to wait on himself. The doctor ordered himself a tall mocha au lait and then looked over at the girl across from him. "And I believe my friend here would like…"
She cut him off before he could even finish the thought. "I'll have a hazelnut slider, whip cream, extra cinnamon." She cocked her head to the side for a second before adding, "make it a tall today, Olivia."
To Hanks even greater shock the waitress giggled. "Starting early today Annie?"
This "girl" just shook her head. "You have no idea." She stated exaggeratedly.
"In that case," the waitress stated, "I'll make sure to get you some extra whip cream too. You know Jack, he's so stingy." And with that the waitress pivoted and made her way back to the counter.
Dr. McCoy was still trying to shake his baffled head to make out exactly what had happened when the "child" before him smiled and let her story come spilling out. "I'm nineteen you know. I realize I look like I'm seven, but I'm nineteen." Then as if to emphasize this point added, "I'm a sophomore in college. Anna Metford." She stated, holding out her still gloved hand to the befuddled Beast. "Here's the deal Dr. McCoy," she said, sipping on her coffee that had now materialized in front of her. "I'm a mutant, obviously. What I do, that's a little more complicated, and I'd rather not get into it all today. The point is there are people after me, government people. I don't know why, and I don't want to know." She reached for a cinnamon bun that, in his shock Hank hadn't even realized were there. "I know about your other career Dr. McCoy. Simply, I need you to take me with you. If the government gets ahold of me it could be bad for more than just myself."
Finally able to think Hank stared at the girl for a few seconds before figuring out what to say in response. "I'm sorry Ms. Metford." He stated, standing and slowly redonning his overcoat, even if I had the authority to do that I can't protect you from who is looking for you." To his surprise, Anna reached up and pushed him back into his seat with more force than he thought her slight frame was capable of generating. She looked about to say something to him when a couple of men on the other side of the shop caught her attention. Swearing under her breath, Anna made a hasty retreat onto the street, the two men following less than a minute after.
Hank still sat there taking all this information in when the waitress appeared at the table with a slight frown marring what could otherwise have been slightly attractive features. "Anna had to beat it again huh?" She said shrugging toward the now empty seat. Hank nodded. "You gonna help her out?" The waitress asked. Hank looked at her curiously. "Look, it's no secret around here that Anna's a mutant. But some of the wrong people found out. She's been on the run ever since, and while it would be wicked awesome for her if some of us could help her out, we're normal humans. I don't know nothing about mutant organizations, or whatever you people do to get together. Anna needs one of you to help her, a mutant."
Hank looked up at Olivia with curiosity. "Did Anna tell you why they were looking for her?"
Olivia shook her head and popped her gum. "Nah-uh, she wouldn't tell us, said she didn't want to get us into trouble too." She shook her head again and grabbed the plate holding the half-eaten cinnamon bun. "Such a sweet kid." With that Olivia walked to the counter and Hank headed back toward the train station, his mind playing ping-pong with this new information. One thing was clear, if he could help this girl Hank was now sure he would. There was only one problem, finding her again.