A/N: Okay so ... this is my first time writing a fanfic (please be nice) and it's acting as a bit of a stress reliever. Um, set post-X1 movieverse; perhaps going into X2, in an indirect way but I'm still not sure on that. It might start out a little slow (sorry).
Oh right, although right now it's mainly OC I guess I should say this right off the bat - I do not own the X-Men characters (wish I did), or the X-men marvelverse, and so-on and so forth. Enjoy, pls R&R.
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"You played ninny-ninny with a dog?"
"Yep, really riled it up," Brian replied with a grin. She just shook her head and turned back to the rest of them.
"So whose turn is it on this round?" The question was met with a unified groan. A bottle rested on the coffee table, glasses scattered around its vicinity.
"Don't you think we could stop? At least for a little while?" Hopeful faces turned in her direction and became downfallen as she shook her head.
"No way, the whole point of this was to open and finish this bottle – a bon voyage for the trip, so to speak."
Jon scowled from his sprawled position on the couch. "Yeah well, not all of us are goin'. Besides, why the hell do you have sake?"
"You can blame Kayle for that," she gestured to a curly-haired guy grinning sheepishly from a recliner," he gave it to me on my birthday." She bent forward to fill a glass and plonked it on the table with a degree of finality. "Now, somebody, bottoms up."
My sister has cancer – Zombie cancer! Peeuw! Peeuw! – this was followed by further inane sounds.
Sarah squinched her eyes with a moan and blindly tried to burrow into the couch. A chair squeaked and she felt someone poking her shoulder; she answered with a grunt.
"What time did you come in?" her brother asked as he returned to his computer. Wincing in pain as the diffused sunlight stabbed her eyes she muttered a reply.
"Dunno … four maybe … not sure. Nnnnhhh, my head." Sarah returned to trying to hide away and attempted a scowl into the cushions when her brother chuckled.
"That is what you get for drinking and a late night." She rolled her eyes – this coming from someone four years under the drinking age. In another part of the house came sounds of rustling and muffled voices.
"Sounds like mom and dad are up," Pete noted and tilted his chair to eye his sister. "You might want to go and change. You look kinda crappy."
Rolling her eyes yet again, she slid off the couch and made her way to the stairs heading for her room. Slipping into her room she glanced around and sighed. It was a mess – papers scattered everywhere. Sometime she would have to gather up her notes from exam time, but right then she just had enough energy to change. She dressed quickly and brushed her hair up into a ponytail.
Trotting up the stairs she strode into the sunny kitchen and tried to greet her parents with a smile. It was more like a grimace. With a sympathetic smile her mother handed her a glass of water.
"Have a fun night?"
And in world news, the debate still rages as the United States continue to investigate the attempted mutant attack on the Ellis Island world conference –which resulted in numerous damages to the Statue of Liberty. Demonstrations for Mutant Registration have increased significantly, not only in the U.S. but also within our own nation. The Prime Minister had this to –
Sparing the now silent television an annoyed glance, Sarah returned to her computer. She had never been much of a news watcher and lately she could not stand it. The news had never been very good with telling the whole truth or ensuring both sides were covered, and lately it had been getting worse; especially with the registration act. A ring from her computer drew back her attention.
Ron: /So where has your mind wandered off to?/
/Sry the news again. Still discussing the whole issue on mutant registration. Can't stand it./ She typed.
/It's amazing isn't it? how much fear ppl have. They are no different than us – good ppl, bad ppl.
Anyway back to the issue at hand: do you have your train pass yet? It's going to be hell in Japan if you don't./
/Yeah, yeah, no worries. I just can't believe 3 days and we're going!/
/yep, hopefully nate and kayle have all their stuff ready as well./
/Well I gotta head off. ttyl/
With that she signed out and stood up to stretch. She looked out the window onto the front lawn and watched the sunny day that was winding its way down. Sunlight played over roses in full bloom and quails made their stiff, speedy way to the cedar hedges. Sarah loved the early summer, when the temperatures were still only in the mid-twenties, and before the true flocks of sun-desperate tourists appeared. With a sigh she reached for her phone. The violent slam of the front door nearly made her jump as she turned to see her brother stomp into the living room tossing his bag to the couch. He tried to kick his shoes off and swore in frustration as he lost balance. Slamming down onto a chair he fumbled with the laces, a look of pure anger on his face. Cell phone forgotten Sarah moved over to Pete.
"What's with you?" She asked, knowing it might be a spark to a powder keg.
He gave up on getting the final shoe off and leaned forward resting his arms on his knees.
"Someone was found out as a mutant today at school. One of those girls from a clique," he looked at her from the corner of his eye. "It was terrible, the way people looked at her when she came in to class. And how she was treated! Her friends completely abandoned her – I found her cornered in a hallway, if I hadn't passed by I don't know what would have happened to her. No one challenged me – lucky me." He laughed hollowly and Sarah slowly nodded in understanding; at nearly 6'00", and what she considered a bit of a weight room junky, he was certainly no push over.
"Do you know what the worst is? She was gone by the end of lunch – teachers acted as if nothing was wrong; I went to the office to see what the deal was. The secretary told me her parents came to pick her up. Funny thing is I knew it was a lie, the secretary couldn't even look at me! And all I could do was just nod and leave."
Sarah's heart skipped. They both knew the truth – the girl had been removed from the school. Many people may have just believed them to be rumours but everyone under twenty-five knew that the Mutant Detainment Bureau grabbed supposed mutants right off the street. There was nothing that could be done.
"Look … I have to get some last minute things for my trip. Wanna come?" She wasn't sure about leaving her brother alone in the house, but she couldn't stay – she had to go before the store closed.
Pete straightened up and tried to give her a weak grimace. "No thanks, wandering up and down a store is not exactly on my to-do list. You go ahead I'm going to go for a run."
With that he untied the other shoe and moved to his room to grab a change of clothes. Sarah stood looking doubtful before hesitantly grabbing her handbag and heading out the door.
"Make sure to email us if you can, okay?"
"Yep, I will Dad." Sarah reached into the boot to grab her backpack; it proved a little difficult due to its size and the fact that it had slid to the back.
"We're sure you'll have a lekker time, sweetie," Her mom said as she rounded the car. Sarah nodded as she absent-mindedly handed the backpack to her dad.
"Jislaaik! I know you're going for a month, but it's like a tonne of bricks!" Rolling her eyes she turned to shut the boot and caught sight of three figures overtop of the car. The three figures seemed a bit laden down by the packs they were carrying.
"Hey guys! Howzit?" She called out to them as she ran up. No matter how much she tried she couldn't help the wide grin that split her face from ear to ear. It was finally here! After two years of scrimping and saving they were finally on their way. Sarah noted that Ron, Nate and Kayle also seemed to be having trouble trying not to grin like the three stooges. Further back she could see that their parents had come to see them off as well. Her parents strode up and her dad handed the pack to her with a grunt.
As they strolled through the airport Sarah noticed the heightened security that was posted along the walls staring at everyone that passed with detached expressions.
"I guess this is where we stop. Have a good trip, 'kay?" Her dad reached to give her a hug.
"Yeah, see ya Dad. Bye Mom." Sarah gave her mom a quick squeeze. "Tell Pete to keep out of trouble and to stay away from my cereal, alright?" she said jokingly as she adjusted her pack and turned to see the guys signalling to her. With a final wave she bounded over.
"Holy! Look at that security line!" Sarah exclaimed. It extended far afield and she watched as uniformed men patrolled up and down its sides scrutinizing every face.
"Must be to the U.S. – policies have been ramped up to get in there now," Ron suggested as he sifted through a bag pocket. "Well I'm off, see you on the plane."
Sarah stuck out her tongue. He just grinned and left; with his business-class ticket he would get to go relax in another part of the airport. Kayle shrugged and motioned in the other direction. Moving away they heard a few shrieks and the sound of a scuffle coming from off to the side. They turned back to see a man with vivid blue hair struggling against security as he was dragged from the line. He continued to buck as two guards grabbed him under each arm and at one point he managed to partially break free, extending out his hand. Sarah stood entranced as the man's hand began to take on a blue radiance and spark, but as he extended his arm, flattening out his hand the power faded and he was left confused, finally slumping in defeat and allowing himself to be carted away.
Sarah felt a hand rest on her shoulder and she twisted her head to see Nate looking past her, he watched the guy a few more seconds and then looked back to her.
"We should get going."
