Time passed. Days stretched to weeks... then months... and then eventually, years. Two years had passed. He'd never seen Chameleon again, and had never called her, either.

Fox woke up the morning, of what he had come to celebrate as his birthday. He tilted his head as he turned in his motel room bed to look at Stone sitting in the other, looking down, utterly silent.

"'Ey, Stone, waz wrong?" he questioned roughly, curiously.

Stone looked back, and suddenly Fox realized the older man was drunk. He tossed a small envelope to him. "'Ere kid."

Fox's forehead furrowed and he opened the envelope, eyes going wide. "Stone, der's o'er a grand in 'ere!"

"Yeah, I owe it to ya," he said, looking down.

"No, you dun owe me nuttin'..."

"wha, gonna mention how ya owe me yer life 'gain kid?" snapped Stone, "Well, save it... Ya dun."

Fox stepped across the room sitting on the man's bed, "Watcha mean Stone?"

"I didn' save ya cuz I missed ya kid, I saved ya cuz I felt guilty, I saved ya cuz it was my fault ya went missin'. And I took care of ya after fer the same reason."

Fox's jaw dropped, and he stared, stunned at Stone. "Wha?"

"I saw yer power show itself, 'fer ya realized it. Ne'er told ya at first, cuz I didn't think it 'ad actually 'appened," Stone paused, looking angry then, "I was talkin' bout it to someone else though 'n they gave me dat money fer more 'bout ya."

Fox just stared blankly at him... blinking a few times, "But... Stone, wha bout...?"

Stone interrupted him, "I was drunk when I told, kay, I didn' know to stop myself. And den, den I took ya back in freak, cuz I couldn' stop feelin' guilty."

Fox stood up at the word, 'freak'. "B-but..."

"Ya think I still cared?! Stupid freak," the man snarled, standing to his feet and grabbing Fox by the shirt, "Firs' 'twas guilt, 'n then, lez jus' say yer a useful lil freak."

"B-but, Stone?"

Suddenly Fox found his back slammed into the wall, pain burning along his nerves. "Only my frien's call me Stone. I'm Mr. Mason ta ya."

Fox felt tears burning his eyes then, he couldn't believe this, couldn't bring himself to believe it. Couldn't say anything, words caught in his throat.

Stone released him, "Get the 'ell outta 'ere freak, 'n take tha' money wid ya, I owe ya nuttin'!"

Fox dropped the envelope. "I can't," he said roughly

Stone shook his head then, "Git outta 'er without then, I still owe ya nuttin'. We're e'en freak, now go."

Fox shook his head softly, grabbing what little stuff was his and slinking out of the motel, glancing back at the building in a sad disdain. Why the hell hadn't he at least taken that money?

------------------

When Stone slammed the door, he heard a small sigh of disappointment from inside the room. "You're a cruel son of a bitch, aren't you?" a girl's voice purred slowly. But there was no one to be seen, though she seemed to be right beside him.

Stone whirled, trying to find the source of the voice. "What the 'ell?" he snarled, hand on the revolver in his pocket.

"Being so mean and cruel to him... He thought of you like a father, you know... or a brother... He chose you over me." He felt a sharp pain like a fist in his stomach, and it definitely didn't feel like one he'd expect from a girl with THAT voice.

Stone grunted in pain, pulling out the gun. "Show yerself damnit!" His voice was a snarl, eyes blazing in anger and some measure of pain, the alcohol running through his system helping none.

"He may be a freak to you, human... but he's MY best friend." She slammed her fist into the small of his back, sending him into his knees. She kicked the gun from his hand and into the far corner. After a few seconds of silence, the envelope of cash disappeared, and the teen appeared, her arms crossed. She glared at Stone, and without another word, left the hotel.

Fox walked down the road, his backpack slung over one shoulder. He didn't know where he'd go next. Usually, 18 was the age where street kids could get an ID, start going legit after a fashion, but not him... His true identity was recorded as dead, not missing. He.. frankly, had no idea what to do next.

"You know, you said you'd call me sometime," her soft voice came from behind him, and not very far, either.

Fox froze, recognizing the voice though he had to search his mind as to where from. He pushed his hand across his eyes, getting rid of all signs of tears that had been burning them earlier. "Yeah, I did, ne'er made it back though... Wha' brings ya here," he questioned, turning.

The moment he turned, her arms flung around his neck, her embrace tight, but not suffocating. "Damnit, Fox...! I've missed you, so much...!" She pulled back and looked up into his face, tears streaming down her cheeks. She'd grown up in the past two years.... She'd grown a LOT.

Fox just looked stunned, he hadn't changed all that much really, picking up a couple inches maybe, but nothing more, there was no sign of a beard on his face to add maturity to his features. "I missed ya too... still gotcher card..."

She blushed a she broke the embrace, and fumbled a bit in her pockets. "H-Here... I saw what Stone did to you... and got this for you." She pulled the envelope from her hooded sweater pocket, and handed it to him.

Fox took the envelope, grinning faintly, though there was little mirth to it. "Ya saw everythin'?"

She nodded a little. "Yeh... I found you last night... askin' around... I wanted to see you somethin' terrible... so I came to find you. Been looking for quite a while..."

Fox tilted his head, confusion filling his expression. "Ya missed me thah' much?"

She swallowed a bit, a small smile touching her features, and she nodded with a gentle shrug. "Well... frankly... yes... I did..."

He shook his head, raking his fingers through his hair, "Buh... why?"

"... I don't make friends very easily at the school... I just don't connect with anyone... but... we did..." She looked at her feet. "I felt something with you... I think it was true... friendship... What I'd never felt before..." She trailed off, realizing what an idiot she sounded like

Fox sighed softly, "Well, I was glad ta be a frien' an' would be un 'gain, if ya wan'ed."

She looked up, slightly. "... I would... like that very much, Fox... Very much."

He gave a half smile, glancing into the envelope before pushing it into his backpack. "Dunno whah ta do nex' though... It's like, e'ery thin' my life was based on 'as jus' been stolen..."

"... You're free to come back to the school with me, Fox..." she said softly.

He gave a small nod, meeting her gaze with some measure of doubtful hope in his eyes. "Dun have anythin' 'oldin' me back now... Buh... would dey still take me? I'm eighteen now..."

She nodded a little. "The point of the school is to learn how to control our powers... Dr. Xavier can help you master them. After that, you can go off on your own with new knowledge... or stay to help teach... or maybe even become and X-man."

Fox gave the smallest hint of a nod, "I wanna go," he said roughly, "wan'ed ta go since ya first mentioned it when we met. But Stone, I though' I owed 'im... 'e 'ad sold me out," the words in continuation seemed hard for him to say, as though he was forcing himself to realize that what he said was true...

She gently sighed, and nodded. "It's almost two weeks traveling back... We can walk or take the bus... I walked here, but I had to conserve." She ran her hand through her pitch black hair, and glanced up at him

"Well," he began softly, "I got money, we can take deh bus. I'd ratheh get rid ah it as soon as I cin."

"Why do you want to get rid of it...?"

"It represen's a blank yeah ah my life... an' a broken frien'ship," he said roughly eyes narrowing.

She nodded a little. That wasn't exactly what she'd hoped he'd see when she'd given it to him at risk of herself... "Let's at least eat before we go to the bus station... I'm starving."

Fox nodded roughly, "Kay, we can do dat." His eyes shifted around, watching for restaurants.

They came upon a small rail dinner, quaint, but good smells were coming from it. "Let's just go to that one..."

Fox nodded, grinning a bit, "Kay, soun's good." He stepped into the dinner, eyes drifting about, before shifting back to her.

They entered the small dinner, and took a booth, slow country music playing in the back, but it was easily ignored. Chameleon slid her arms up and held up her chin, looking up at him. She was silent... staring.

Fox was leaned back in the booth, listening to everything around them when he noted the stare. He tilted his head, eyes drifting to her in curiosity. "Wha," he questioned softly.

She lowered one hand, and gently touched his own. "... I hope you know, I never stopped thinking about you, Fox... or worrying... or caring..." she practically whispered, tears starting in her eyes.

Fox held her hand, almost wanting to take the glove off of his own. "I didn' know Chameleon, and I still dunno why."

"To be honest.. Neither do I..." A small smile touched her soft lips. He was just how she remembered...

Fox smirked slightly. "Well, long as is mutuah'," he muttered, smirk gone lopsided.

Her smile grew at his lopsided grin, and she softly stroked her thumb against his hand. She didn't say anything... still looking into his eyes.

Fox's gaze drifted away after a while, and he remained silent, not exactly sure what he should or even could say. He was surprised at how glad he was to see her, but right now, most of him seemed filled with pain.

"What can I get for you?" a voice suddenly interrupted both their thoughts, and they looked up to see the waitress. "Uh... I'd like the soup special with a grilled cheese sandwich on the side... and a coke to drink." The waitress jotted it down, and turned to Fox.

Fox looked a bit startled at first, eyes jumping to the waitress, Chameleon answering before he could clear his thoughts. "Eh, same I think," he said roughly as the waitress turned to him, a small, still lopsided grin on his face.

The waitress nodded with a smile and left. Chameleon looked at him again, and stopped stroking with her thumb, allowing him to pull away if he wanted.

Fox didn't pull away, didn't even think to, just sitting there, eyes wandering, not seeming sure where to focus. And he fell silent again, having nothing to say, but instead just listening to everything that happened around them.

She didn't say anything either, her hand closing again slightly. Her eyes didn't wander so much... they stayed almost souly on him... taking him in.

Fox was still curious, as to her looking at him, but chose against commenting on it again, which only brought the silence to last longer.

Before they realized it, their food had come. She very reluctantly slid her hand from his, his own warm from her tough, as she took her share in front of her, and began to eat.

Fox sat looking at his food for a long moment, working on his soda, but waiting for the served hot items to cool a bit before he started on them. When he did begin to eat though, he virtually wolfed down the food...

She ate slower than he, still looking up at him almost every chance she got..

Fox was beginning to get slightly.. almost annoyed as he kept feeling her eyes on him. "I'm not gonna jus' disappear ya know," he said softly, jokingly, between mouthfuls.

"You practically did before..." she whispered softly between mouthful, a true fear behind those words in her eyes.

Fox's eyes shot to her. "Buh I said I was goin'," he muttered softly, confused.

"I know... but I thought... you'd call... or... come back.. at least to... visit..." She finally tore her eyes away, respecting his round the bush hint.

Fox shivered slightly, "I woulda called if I'd been back theh, but, jus' hadn't. I'm sorry..." His eyes went to the table then.

"I dreamed about you coming back, Fox... I wished it every day...: she whispered, closing her eyes. "I don't know why... but I just wanted you with me..."

Fox's eyes settled on her then and he found himself reaching across the table to rest his hand on her arm, "Well, I'm with ya now, an' I dun got no place else I wanna, or need ta be..."

She looked up at him when he touched her. "... Will you stay with me, Fox?"

His forehead furrowed and he nodded slightly, but that was all the answer he gave.

A small smile touched her mouth. "Thank you, Fox.... I don't know if you know how much that means to me..."

Fox shrugged slightly, offering the smallest of smiles before bringing his hand back to his side of the table.

She nodded softly, and finished eating her food.

Fox finished what little was left of his food as well, just working on his soda then, waiting for the bill and listening around them again.

The waitress brought the bill and smiled a bit to them. Chameleon watched her walk away, then peeped at the bill.

Fox tilted his head, sliding his hand across the table to take the bill. Fortunately he had a 20 in his pocket considering the money from Stone had been all in hundreds, which though that would work for bus tickets, he didn't think a small diner would be too thrilled.

Chameleon leaned back and stretched a little, the reaction making her powers flicker ever so slightly, a sign of pleasure as she stretched her poor muscles. "Aah. I'm not looking forward to the three day bus ride, but it's better than walking back."

Fox just shrugged softly, head tilted some. "An' it's betteh then makin' the trip alone," he added with a slight smirk.

She smiled softly, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear. "Yeah... that's true..." she said softly.

Fox grinned a bit more standing from the table, leaving the 20 there, whatever leftover could serve as tip. "So sha' we get movin'?"

She stood up, stretching again. "Yeah, let's get going." She offered another smile, nodded to the cook behind the counter, and together, they left for the bus station

Fox kept his eyes open as they made their way to the bus station just watching, listening, but not really saying much of anything.

She didn't say much either, her small and almost empty backpack held tight against her shoulder. She kept close to him, almost close enough to brush against him

Fox noted the closeness, though he didn't comment, it registered somewhere in the back of his mind that she was close enough that he could feel each move she made. He didn't think more on it, not uncomfortable with it, surprisingly.

She almost wanted to grab his hand as they passed a few rather shady looking figures, but in the light of day, they stayed in the shadows. She pressed her teeth together, keeping calm and silent, barely.

It didn't even register to Fox that she might be scared at first, but suddenly he realized it, catching the difference in the sound of her breathing. He was used to this, he had grown up with these kinds of people. Ok, so he was one of them, to a lesser degree. He put a hand on her shoulder, doing his best to let her know she was safe.

She almost jumped when he touched her, he power flickering once as she looked up at him, and smiled a bit, but still said nothing, silently thanking him for the comfort.

Fox didn't respond to the silence, his hand sliding away from her shoulder once more. The silence seemed... somewhat awkward, he realized, but he had no idea how to break it.

Lucky for him, he didn't have to. They'd arrived at the bus station. It was almost empty, save the occasional loiter or bum, mixed with a few real travelers.

Fox's eyes drifted around as he stepped forward to buy them tickets. He was using cash, hopefully they wouldn't ask for an ID for cash. He just had to stay calm was all.

They didn't ask him for id. It wasn't any of their business if it was cash. the tickets were expensive, and there were two changes, once every night, so the drivers could make founds and get sleep.

Fox didn't mind the charges, so long as they stayed within the limit of what he had and allowed enough leftover for if anything else came up. He returned to chameleon, handing her her ticket. "Well, weh gettin' theh," he said with a small, boyish grin.

She smiled at his grin and took the ticket, looking at it. "When do we leave?"

Fox shrugged lightly, glancing down at the ticket and then up at a clock. "Soon, ih looks like, 'alf hour er so..."

She nodded a bit. "What terminal?" She glanced at the ticket. "Looks like 4-A?"

Fox nodded silently as he looked back down to his ticket, before glancing up, eyes darting about to find the terminal, and pointing in it's direction.

She nodded, and walked with him to the terminal, keeping as close if not closer than on the street. She seemed very slightly transparent, her nervousness apparent through the slight breach of her powers.

Fox didn't begrudge the closeness considering how nervous she seemed to be. He might have, had she not been so obviously nervous, and was just a bit nervous himself, not enough to trigger a shift of color though.

When they got to the terminal, the bus was preparing to load, departure time less than half an hour. It was comfortable seating, with about twenty people in the fifty person bus, most of them either handing around outside or already claiming their seats. The driver was putting bags away, and glanced up as they approached. "... You on this bus?"

Fox nodded roughly, holding out his ticket, eyes narrowing just slightly, "Yeah, we ah."

Chameleon followed suit and held out her ticket. The driver checked both of them and nodded. "We aren't stoppin' for eight hours, so if you need to use the rest room or get food, do it now. You got some luggage you want me to load up?"

Fox shrugged roughly, "Nah, gonna keep de backpack wid me."

The driver looked at Chameleon and she shook her head. She turned to Fox. "I'm gonna go get some food and use the facilities... You want to save us some seats or...?"

He shrugged lightly, "Prolly should do the same, 8 hou's is ah while. Cin geh seat afteh..."

She nodded. "... You want anything specific to eat? I'll get it for you..."

Fox just shrugged, handing her the change from the purchase of the tickets in a crumpled wad, "Nah, nuttin' sp'cific, jus whate'er."

She took it and nodded. "Alright, meet you back at the bus." She smiled a bit, and left for the female facilities near the small shop. The male facilities were on the other side of the terminal.

Fox grinned, turning to head in the opposite direction, ears honed in on the sound of her walking for as long as possible.