Prologue
Her hair was short, black and spiky, her clothes were a tattered mess and barely clung onto her lean, cat-like build. Her eyes were yellow with red iris's that had black and blue flecks; the pupils were thin black slits.
She made it into her small apartment and collapsed on the couch. She looked around and glared at her small boom box. It shuddered and turned on, Linkin Park's "Somewhere I Belong" played loudly. She smiled and passed out.
*** *** *** ***
"She's a teleporter, telekinetic and telepathetic to a certain limit. She also can transform, hide in human form."
"So how are we supposed to find her?"
"Her eyes give her away, no matter what she transforms into her eyes always remain the same. Still snake-like."
"Is there anything else about her Professor that we should know about before we go after her?"
"She's quick to challenge people, she's a really good fighter from what I have picked up so far. She works as a carpenter-for-hire and spends most of her free time in the park by the lake. She lives in a small apartment, very small; she loves her privacy and keeps a low profile on herself. She'll practically go out on a limb for anyone, even if she doesn't even know them, but she does not trust anybody."
"Dishes out good deeds and then leaves? Expects nothing in return?"
"Yes Scott, that is what she does."
"She doesn't sound too hard to get to come here."
"Don't under estimate her Logan, she is very clever."
"Right Professor."
"She lives out there in Albuquerque, so you can take the jet or whatever you like."
Scott nodded and left the room. Logan followed.
One
Faint By Linkin Park
I am a little bit of loneliness a little bit of disregard
Handful of complaints but I can't help the fact that everybody can see
these scars
I am what I want you to want what I want you to feel
But it's like no matter what I do, I can't convince you, to just believe
this is real
So I let go, watching you, turn your back like you always do
Face away and pretend that I'm not
But I'll be here cause you want what I've got
(I can't feel the way I did before)
(Don't turn your back on me)
(I won't be ignored)
(Time won't heal this damage anymore)
(Don't turn your back on me)
(I won't be ignored)
I am a little bit insecure a little unconfident
Cause you don't understand I do what I can but sometimes I don't make
sense
I say what you never wanna say but I've never had a doubt
It's like no matter what I do I can't convince you for once just to hear
me out
So I let go watching you turn your back like you always do
Face away and pretend that I'm not
But I'll be here 'cause you're all that I've got
(I can't feel the way I did before)
(Don't turn your back on me)
(I won't be ignored)
(Time won't heal this damage anymore)
(Don't turn your back on me)
(I won't be ignored)
(Now)
(Hear me out now)
(You're gonna listen to me, like it or not)
(Right now)
(Hear me out now)
(You're gonna listen to me, like it or not)
(Right now)
(I can't feel the way I did before)
(Don't turn your back on me)
(I won't be ignored)
(I can't feel the way I did before)
(Don't turn your back on me)
(I won't be ignored)
(Time won't heal this damage anymore)
(Don't turn your back on me)
(I won't be ignored)
(I can't feel the way I did before)
(Don't turn your back on me)
(I won't be ignored)
(Time won't heal this damage anymore)
(Don't turn your back on me)
(I won't be ignored)
I can't feel
I won't be ignored
Time won't heal
Don't turn your back on me
I won't be ignored
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
There was a sharp knock at the door. She looked up from the couch and spotted the VCR clock, it flashed three sixteen in the morning. The knocking persisted. She muttered a curse before she got up and walked to the front door. She looked in the peephole and spotted two men she didn't recognize.
"Who is it?"
"We're here to talk to Oz Conner."
She rolled her eyes. "You do realize it is past three right?"
Logan looked over at Scott. "Is it?"
Scott shrugged. "Sorry for the lateness of the night but may we please speak to Oz?"
"Why can't people let other people sleep?" Oz pounded the door then flipped the locks and opened the door. "What the bloody fuck do you two want?"
"Are you Oz?" Scott asked.
"Well no shit."
"May we come in?" Logan asked.
She looked them both up and down then nodded. "Fine, you wouldn't go away anyway."
"Probably right." Scott nodded as he walked in.
They sat on the couch and looked around the tiny apartment. She walked to the back where the small bathroom was; she ran the shower and stepped in.
Scott and Logan looked at each other.
"How are we going to get her over there?" Logan asked. "Just ask her?"
"Why not?" Scott shrugged. "Or we could kidnap her."
She got out and wrapped a large black towel around her body and walked out to her closet.
"So what do you two want?"
"We want to ask if you would be willing to accompany us back to New York."
"Hell No." she said fishing into the closet for new clothes. "I have got a job here, I have a big project coming up that I cannot afford to miss and I have a damn promise to keep to a little girl."
"Well, I suppose we could stay here and wait for a few days." Scott said.
Oz turned and looked at them. "Excuse me? Stay here? I know you don't mean staying here as in my apartment."
"Well why not?" Scott asked.
Oz grabbed a dagger from a coat pocket and chucked it at him. Logan reached out in front of him and grabbed it by the handle; the blade was three inches from Scott's heart.
She grabbed the clothes and walked back to the bathroom. She emerged a few moments later wearing a skin tight, spaghetti strap, black tang top and baggy black jeans that were hemmed at the waist to fit her. She walked over the to the front door and pulled on her black boots that buckled over her ankles.
"Now if you two excuse me I am going out for some breakfast." She opened the door and pointed out.
"Nice going Scott." Logan nodded and they left.
Oz slammed the door behind her and jogged down the hall and out of sight.
"She is very difficult." Scott said.
"Nonsense, you are having a tough time because you lost Jean, go on home, I'll persuade her."
Scott watched Logan for a moment then got back into the jet, which was parked in the field behind the apartments, and went back to New York.
"Now," Logan sighed. "To find Oz."
The bells on the door to the 24/7 diner jingled softly as Oz walked in. Logan stood under a streetlamp across the street.
"Oz, I thought you went to see a shrink about your insomnia." The waitress said.
"I did?" Oz stood there a moment thinking. "Oh! I did!" She nodded. "Jeffries."
"Yeah, him, did he help you?"
"Does watering a stone help it grow?" she took a seat at the bar as the waitress smiled shaking her head. "No, actually I have a good reason for being up this time. You see that man across the street?" she said without looking over at him. "Him and a friend of his came over to my apartment earlier wanting to talk to me. They wanted me to go to New York with them."
"Why?"
"Eh," she shrugged. "Beats the bloody hell out of me why, but I said no, you know I have those jobs to keep and that-"
"Promise!" the woman smiled. "So what are you going to do?"
"I told her I would sing at the park in that pavilion tomorrow night."
"Great! What song?"
Oz smiled wickedly. "Mudvayne's Severed."
"No, not hard rock."
Oz shrugged and chuckled. "Hey, she said any song, and I like Mudvayne."
"Why not Linkin Park or AFI?"
"Because I have this song's lyrics in my apartment and I do not want to go to the library and get on the Internet and look up song lyrics."
"Lazy."
"No, I would have been lazy if I didn't get up and answer the door this morning."
"No, that would have been smart." The woman said filling up a coffee cup and breaking out a plate of toast. "Three in the morning all sorts of lunatics are running ape shit in the streets, what if you have opened it and some weirdo attacked you?"
She sipped her coffee and shrugged. "I don't know, I probably would have poked their eyes out and killed them."
The woman spotted another shadow coming toward the diner. "Well, that would have been murder."
"No," the front door jingled, Oz waved at the newcomer. "It's not murder if it is self-defense, right Jak?"
"Right." The teenage boy nodded. "What was the question?"
"Doesn't anybody sleep around here?"
"What does sleep and murder and self-defense have to do with one another?" the boy asked.
"Never mind." Oz smiled. "Toast?"
"Ooh, thank you Oz." He spread a slice of toast thickly with blackberry jam and bit into it. "Hey, who's El Creepy standing by the post over there?"
"I don't know his name," Oz said. "But the bastard woke me up this morning about three sixteen."
"Three sixteen." The boy echoed. "Damn luck."
Oz shrugged. "O-well, Jason likes it when I get into work early. Maybe I'll shock him to death by being there at four."
"Will Jason be there at four?" the woman asked.
"He is always saying that he is." Oz smiled. "I think today is the day we fin out if he tells the truth or is a bull shitter." She tossed a dollar on the counter and left.
"Ten says he's a bull shitter." Jak said.
"You're on."
"You didn't even eat anything." Logan said as she passed by.
"Are you stalking me?" she glared at him.
"If I said yes?"
She stopped walking and glared at him. "Logan right?"
"You're telepathic?"
She shrugged. "Logan, I now know everything about you, and I don't want to. I know you have adamanium in your body and your claws but I want you to know that I can still kick the shit out of you." she thrusted her hands into her pockets and walked away.
Her hair was short, black and spiky, her clothes were a tattered mess and barely clung onto her lean, cat-like build. Her eyes were yellow with red iris's that had black and blue flecks; the pupils were thin black slits.
She made it into her small apartment and collapsed on the couch. She looked around and glared at her small boom box. It shuddered and turned on, Linkin Park's "Somewhere I Belong" played loudly. She smiled and passed out.
*** *** *** ***
"She's a teleporter, telekinetic and telepathetic to a certain limit. She also can transform, hide in human form."
"So how are we supposed to find her?"
"Her eyes give her away, no matter what she transforms into her eyes always remain the same. Still snake-like."
"Is there anything else about her Professor that we should know about before we go after her?"
"She's quick to challenge people, she's a really good fighter from what I have picked up so far. She works as a carpenter-for-hire and spends most of her free time in the park by the lake. She lives in a small apartment, very small; she loves her privacy and keeps a low profile on herself. She'll practically go out on a limb for anyone, even if she doesn't even know them, but she does not trust anybody."
"Dishes out good deeds and then leaves? Expects nothing in return?"
"Yes Scott, that is what she does."
"She doesn't sound too hard to get to come here."
"Don't under estimate her Logan, she is very clever."
"Right Professor."
"She lives out there in Albuquerque, so you can take the jet or whatever you like."
Scott nodded and left the room. Logan followed.
One
Faint By Linkin Park
I am a little bit of loneliness a little bit of disregard
Handful of complaints but I can't help the fact that everybody can see
these scars
I am what I want you to want what I want you to feel
But it's like no matter what I do, I can't convince you, to just believe
this is real
So I let go, watching you, turn your back like you always do
Face away and pretend that I'm not
But I'll be here cause you want what I've got
(I can't feel the way I did before)
(Don't turn your back on me)
(I won't be ignored)
(Time won't heal this damage anymore)
(Don't turn your back on me)
(I won't be ignored)
I am a little bit insecure a little unconfident
Cause you don't understand I do what I can but sometimes I don't make
sense
I say what you never wanna say but I've never had a doubt
It's like no matter what I do I can't convince you for once just to hear
me out
So I let go watching you turn your back like you always do
Face away and pretend that I'm not
But I'll be here 'cause you're all that I've got
(I can't feel the way I did before)
(Don't turn your back on me)
(I won't be ignored)
(Time won't heal this damage anymore)
(Don't turn your back on me)
(I won't be ignored)
(Now)
(Hear me out now)
(You're gonna listen to me, like it or not)
(Right now)
(Hear me out now)
(You're gonna listen to me, like it or not)
(Right now)
(I can't feel the way I did before)
(Don't turn your back on me)
(I won't be ignored)
(I can't feel the way I did before)
(Don't turn your back on me)
(I won't be ignored)
(Time won't heal this damage anymore)
(Don't turn your back on me)
(I won't be ignored)
(I can't feel the way I did before)
(Don't turn your back on me)
(I won't be ignored)
(Time won't heal this damage anymore)
(Don't turn your back on me)
(I won't be ignored)
I can't feel
I won't be ignored
Time won't heal
Don't turn your back on me
I won't be ignored
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
There was a sharp knock at the door. She looked up from the couch and spotted the VCR clock, it flashed three sixteen in the morning. The knocking persisted. She muttered a curse before she got up and walked to the front door. She looked in the peephole and spotted two men she didn't recognize.
"Who is it?"
"We're here to talk to Oz Conner."
She rolled her eyes. "You do realize it is past three right?"
Logan looked over at Scott. "Is it?"
Scott shrugged. "Sorry for the lateness of the night but may we please speak to Oz?"
"Why can't people let other people sleep?" Oz pounded the door then flipped the locks and opened the door. "What the bloody fuck do you two want?"
"Are you Oz?" Scott asked.
"Well no shit."
"May we come in?" Logan asked.
She looked them both up and down then nodded. "Fine, you wouldn't go away anyway."
"Probably right." Scott nodded as he walked in.
They sat on the couch and looked around the tiny apartment. She walked to the back where the small bathroom was; she ran the shower and stepped in.
Scott and Logan looked at each other.
"How are we going to get her over there?" Logan asked. "Just ask her?"
"Why not?" Scott shrugged. "Or we could kidnap her."
She got out and wrapped a large black towel around her body and walked out to her closet.
"So what do you two want?"
"We want to ask if you would be willing to accompany us back to New York."
"Hell No." she said fishing into the closet for new clothes. "I have got a job here, I have a big project coming up that I cannot afford to miss and I have a damn promise to keep to a little girl."
"Well, I suppose we could stay here and wait for a few days." Scott said.
Oz turned and looked at them. "Excuse me? Stay here? I know you don't mean staying here as in my apartment."
"Well why not?" Scott asked.
Oz grabbed a dagger from a coat pocket and chucked it at him. Logan reached out in front of him and grabbed it by the handle; the blade was three inches from Scott's heart.
She grabbed the clothes and walked back to the bathroom. She emerged a few moments later wearing a skin tight, spaghetti strap, black tang top and baggy black jeans that were hemmed at the waist to fit her. She walked over the to the front door and pulled on her black boots that buckled over her ankles.
"Now if you two excuse me I am going out for some breakfast." She opened the door and pointed out.
"Nice going Scott." Logan nodded and they left.
Oz slammed the door behind her and jogged down the hall and out of sight.
"She is very difficult." Scott said.
"Nonsense, you are having a tough time because you lost Jean, go on home, I'll persuade her."
Scott watched Logan for a moment then got back into the jet, which was parked in the field behind the apartments, and went back to New York.
"Now," Logan sighed. "To find Oz."
The bells on the door to the 24/7 diner jingled softly as Oz walked in. Logan stood under a streetlamp across the street.
"Oz, I thought you went to see a shrink about your insomnia." The waitress said.
"I did?" Oz stood there a moment thinking. "Oh! I did!" She nodded. "Jeffries."
"Yeah, him, did he help you?"
"Does watering a stone help it grow?" she took a seat at the bar as the waitress smiled shaking her head. "No, actually I have a good reason for being up this time. You see that man across the street?" she said without looking over at him. "Him and a friend of his came over to my apartment earlier wanting to talk to me. They wanted me to go to New York with them."
"Why?"
"Eh," she shrugged. "Beats the bloody hell out of me why, but I said no, you know I have those jobs to keep and that-"
"Promise!" the woman smiled. "So what are you going to do?"
"I told her I would sing at the park in that pavilion tomorrow night."
"Great! What song?"
Oz smiled wickedly. "Mudvayne's Severed."
"No, not hard rock."
Oz shrugged and chuckled. "Hey, she said any song, and I like Mudvayne."
"Why not Linkin Park or AFI?"
"Because I have this song's lyrics in my apartment and I do not want to go to the library and get on the Internet and look up song lyrics."
"Lazy."
"No, I would have been lazy if I didn't get up and answer the door this morning."
"No, that would have been smart." The woman said filling up a coffee cup and breaking out a plate of toast. "Three in the morning all sorts of lunatics are running ape shit in the streets, what if you have opened it and some weirdo attacked you?"
She sipped her coffee and shrugged. "I don't know, I probably would have poked their eyes out and killed them."
The woman spotted another shadow coming toward the diner. "Well, that would have been murder."
"No," the front door jingled, Oz waved at the newcomer. "It's not murder if it is self-defense, right Jak?"
"Right." The teenage boy nodded. "What was the question?"
"Doesn't anybody sleep around here?"
"What does sleep and murder and self-defense have to do with one another?" the boy asked.
"Never mind." Oz smiled. "Toast?"
"Ooh, thank you Oz." He spread a slice of toast thickly with blackberry jam and bit into it. "Hey, who's El Creepy standing by the post over there?"
"I don't know his name," Oz said. "But the bastard woke me up this morning about three sixteen."
"Three sixteen." The boy echoed. "Damn luck."
Oz shrugged. "O-well, Jason likes it when I get into work early. Maybe I'll shock him to death by being there at four."
"Will Jason be there at four?" the woman asked.
"He is always saying that he is." Oz smiled. "I think today is the day we fin out if he tells the truth or is a bull shitter." She tossed a dollar on the counter and left.
"Ten says he's a bull shitter." Jak said.
"You're on."
"You didn't even eat anything." Logan said as she passed by.
"Are you stalking me?" she glared at him.
"If I said yes?"
She stopped walking and glared at him. "Logan right?"
"You're telepathic?"
She shrugged. "Logan, I now know everything about you, and I don't want to. I know you have adamanium in your body and your claws but I want you to know that I can still kick the shit out of you." she thrusted her hands into her pockets and walked away.
