Disclaimer: I don't own The Gifted.

A/N: John protecting people is my jam, y'all.

Chapter 2

John headed backstage to where Marcos was talking to the other members of the little sideshow. The kid stayed close to his side with her wings wrapped around her. Her grip on his hand was tentative, like she would bolt at any moment if he gave her a reason. He didn't hold on tight. It would only scare her, and that was the last thing he wanted to do.

"—stay here," the woman with green skin was saying, her hands splayed open in front of her. "It's a roof over our heads and some meals here and there. Can't get that much of anywhere else."

"But you don't have to do this," Marcos said, "We can find you somewhere to go, somewhere you'll be safe."

"Yeah, I've tried that," the woman said, shaking her head, "Never works out."

"This will be different."

"Trust me, I've heard that before."

There were other people scattered around back behind the stage, some he recognized from the show and others who hadn't come onstage yet. There were two more kids, a boy with antlers and a second boy, one with deep indentations in his skin, like someone had poked him and his skin had never popped back into place. Both of them were looking at him, Lorna, and Marcos with a mix of suspicion and curiosity. They weren't nearly as young as the girl, but they weren't teenagers either.

"You should come with us, all of you," Marcos said.

"You don't get it, pretty boy, there's nothing for us out there and now you've screwed us by busting up Evans and getting the cops involved," spat a man with scaly grey skin, "We'll fix it. But take the kids. They don't need this."

"Why are there kids here, anyways?" John asked, glancing down at the girl beside him. She was looking toward the forest beyond the fairgrounds, her eyes on the tree line. It was easy to see that she was thinking of running.

"Evans thought they would be a good addition to the show. We disagreed, but we don't got much of a say around here," the man said, "If you got a better idea… Might give them something besides being labeled freaks."

"And you didn't fight it when he added them to the show?" Marcos said, crossing his arms over his chest. "You let him bring in kids?"

The grey-skinned man glared at Marcos, and John tensed, wondering if he was going to have to intervene.

"What were we supposed to do?" the man snapped, "If we go against Evans, we don't eat and we don't have anywhere else to go. Their parents were the ones who brought them here. Sold them off to Evans. Ain't like anyone was going to keep them. No one wants them."

"We do," John said immediately, scowling back at the grey-skinned man. He knew it happened sometimes, parents selling their mutant kids to people who would 'take them off their hands.' It made him want to track down every single one of them and confront them about it. Seriously, selling a child off because they had horns or blue skin or strange-colored eyes… It was so low it made his skin crawl. Any person who would sell a child needed their ass kicked.

"Good for you," said one of the other mutants, "Take them. Please."

"I don't want to go with them," said the boy with antlers. He glowered at Marcos and John, his jaw set in an angry line, and turned back to the adults from the sideshow. "I like it here."

"Kid, you've got to be joking," Marcos said, "This is a sideshow."

"Yeah, I know," the boy said, shrugging, "So?" He stepped toward a mutant woman with scarlet hair and cat's eyes, and she put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "They don't think I'm weird or nothing. I get food here a lot of times. I'm staying."

"You're being used," Marcos said, "That man out there is using you to make a profit."

"I don't care, I get to eat."

They didn't have much more time. John could hear sirens coming toward the fair, at least four cop cars. The police were going to show up soon, and Lorna couldn't hold them off forever. The more distance they put between themselves and the cops, the better, especially since this mission wasn't going along with the original plan. Admittedly, that was his fault, but he wasn't able to just sit there and watch that man hurt the kid.

"Mason, you need to go with them," the woman with scarlet hair said, her voice sounding like leaves rustling in the wind. "Riley's going with them. So will Nate." She patted the kid's shoulder. "This isn't a good place for you, and you know it."

Riley? Was that the name of the little girl?

"It's good for you, so it's good for me," the boy said stubbornly. "I don't want to go with them, I don't know them."

"You have to," the grey-skinned man growled, "All three of you are going. So get gone, kid."

The boy looked like he was going to protest but then Lorna came around the corner, her eyes wild. "What's the hold up? We all need to go—"

"We're staying," said the scarlet-haired woman, "But the kids are going with you." Her eyes were sad as she looked at John. "We try to treat them right, but Evans…He runs this place. His word is law, and we have to go with it, but if you can take the kids… I think they'll have a better chance with you."

John's jaw ticked. He had powers, but he could fit in around humans without powers if he needed to. These mutants were marked with physical mutations, they could never pass like he or Marcos or even Lorna could. He guessed that they had done their best to look after the kids but had to go along with Evans when it came to the show. Which somehow meant letting him put a terrified four-year-old on stage.

John was about to start talking with the two boys to encourage them to come to HQ, but that's when he felt the small hand slip out of his. The girl's wings spread as she took off, racing for the forest, and the temperature of the air skyrocketed.

Underneath her bare feet, scorch marks appeared on the grass, smoke tendrils curling in the air.

"Hey!" Lorna called after her, "Kid! Get back here!"

"She's a firestarter?" John asked, staring at the scarlet-haired woman even as he started to walk backwards toward the forest, "Anything else we should know?"

"Yeah, she can sort of fly," the grey-skinned man said, nodding toward the girl, "And she hasn't been outside without her wings tied down in a while."

Tied down? John's eyes widened. Someone tied her wings? No wonder she had taken off for the forest like that, it was a chance to escape. But she was probably going to strain her wings and possibly pull a muscle.

Fire sprang up in her footprints as she jumped, wobbling and unsteady, and landed onto a low tree branch at the edge of the woods. She glided clumsily to the next tree and kept running, spry and agile for such a little kid.

If he chased her, she would probably panic and hurt herself even more, so he was just going to have to follow her until she tired herself out. Tracking her would be easy enough. It didn't seem like she was very good at flying.

"I'll find her and meet you back at HQ."

"Be careful, John," Marcos said.

John nodded and headed off into the forest, hoping he could show this kid she didn't have to run. No one was going to put her in a trunk or starve her or hurt her. Not anymore.