To those of you who actually read this fic, this chapter's for you guys! Enjoy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A cool breeze startled Claire. Looking around it took her a moment to remember that she was in Evelyn's black BMW. After the horrific scene at her father's house Evelyn had made a phone call, bandaged up the worst of the cuts on her legs, and within 20 minutes they were leaving out the back door.
"Why do we have to sneak out?" Claire had asked.
"We don't want that bastard that was once your father or that bitch sister of yours following us," Evelyn had answered, grabbing her purse, checking for her credit cards, then helping Claire out the back door.
In a matter of minutes, Evelyn and Claire were in the black car. The pulled out of the small driveway with the car lights off so they wouldn't gain Trask or Alice's attention. As they passed by the small house she'd once called home, Claire saw Alice and Trask on the couch, deep in conversation, both with identical scowls on their faces.
Good riddance! Claire thought. She narrowed her eyes and glared at them as they drove away, anger more powerful than any she'd ever felt before, churning in her stomach. One day I'll come back, Father Dear, and I'll kill the person you love most in front of your eyes, then I'll kill you.
Evelyn glanced sideways at the child in the front seat next to her, her anger so extreme it was nearly tangible.
Claire shook her head, and soon after they'd left the house, she'd fallen asleep in the car. Now she was wide awake and extremely bored.
"Where are we going?" she asked Evelyn, looking at her black eye in the visor mirror.
"New Orleans."
"What? Why there?"
"I know someone there who can help you. He was a.... friend of your mother's."
"My mom?"
"Yes. Elizabetha had many .... well-connected friends. Friends that would be honored to watch over and take care of her daughter."
"How long until we get there?"
"We will be there in about two days. Once we're out of the state, we'll stay in a nice hotel for the night and get some rest. Then I'll take you shopping so we can get you some clothes since you had to leave everything else behind. Once we have all you need, we'll take a charter plane to New Orleans. There we'll be meeting your mother's friend," Evelyn explained.
"What's the name of this friend? Anyone I may know?"
"I doubt it, but his name is Alexei Reynolds. He's originally from Moscow, in Russia."
"Is he in the Russian Mafia?"
"What? Where on earth did you learn about the Russian Mafia?"
"TV."
Evelyn chuckled and shook her head. "No, he's not." At least not like he used to be, Evelyn thought to herself. Claire started to ask more questions, but Evelyn shushed her.
"There will be time enough for questions later dear. Right now, you need to concentrate on recovering. I've already gotten a contact of mine busy getting you a new social security number so your father won't be able to track you down."
"Will I have to change my name?"
"Not if you don't want to. I must tell you your mother named you Claire."
Claire faced the window of the car again, thinking for a few minutes.
"How about I'm just called Claire Pierce."
Evelyn smiled at Claire. "Why Pierce?"
"Other than the psychologist, Charles Xavier, you've been the only person to show me any real kindness."
"Than- Charles Xavier? You've met him?"
"Sure, he's the one who explained what I was to me. He was sent to the house by the school to do a psychiatric evaluation after the riot I caused at school today. He was nice. He didn't make me feel like a freak or that something was wrong with me."
"Yes, Charles is like that," Evelyn mused, her eyes narrowing slightly.
"You know him?"
"We've met."
The two of them lapsed into silence. Once they passed out of New York into Pennsylvania, Evelyn heaved a sigh of relief. She hadn't expected Boliver to follow them, but with that man, you could never be to sure. She'd been keeping an eye on Claire as a favor to Alexei and Elizabetha. She wondered if this was the time to tell Claire the whole truth.
No, it's up to Alexei to tell her the truth, if he ever decides to, she thought to herself. Claire was dozing again in the front seat. Evelyn drove another hour before stopping. She pulled her car to a stop in front of the nicest hotel she could find in the area.
"Claire, wake up, we're at the hotel."
"Hmmmm?" Claire mumbled, groggy as she walked with Evelyn into the hotel. She was aware of all the eyes resting on her as she and Evelyn made their way to the front desk.
"Good Evening, how can I help you?" the chubby blonde girl behind the counter asked, an obvious fake smile on her face. Once her eyes rested on Evelyn's face, she gave a short gasp.
"Evelyn! What are you doing here?"
"Nice to see you too, Jessica. I need a room for the night. What do you have available?"
"Whatever you need, we're practically empty this time of the year." Noticing Claire, she asked, "Who's this?"
"Claire, this is Jessica, another friend. She also has connections that will prove useful to us."
"Uh... hi."
"Hi, Claire. Here, let me grab a couple of room keys for you two and I'll walk you up to your room. The quicker we get you upstairs, the better. I'm afraid some of the other guests in the lobby are talking about the injuries you have Claire."
Claire watched as the chubby blonde moved quickly and made room keys and filled out all the paperwork. Evelyn held out her credit card to pay but Jessica handed it back and dismissed it with a flip of her hand. Claire couldn't help but notice the huge blue stone she was wearing on her left middle finger.
"Don't you want me to pay?" Evelyn asked.
"Don't worry about it. I put it on the hotel. I put my name on the registration card so they'll think I spent the night. Hey Lisa! Watch the desk for a moment. I'm going to help a guest to their room."
"Sure thing Jess."
Jessica motioned for Evelyn and Claire to meet her by the employee entrance to the desk. "Follow me," she said, leading the way to the nearest elevator.
"Miss! Miss!" an old woman behind Jessica yelled. Jessica grumbled and rolled her eyes before turning around and asking in a fake nice tone of voice, "Yes ma'am, what can I do for you?"
"You should call the police. That child has been abused."
"No she wasn't. This is my sister and her daughter. My niece got into a fight at school and that's why she has a black eye. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to show my family upstairs."
The old lady watched them suspiciously and turned and walked slowly back to the bench she had been sitting on. Claire didn't realize she had been holding her breath. She looked up at Jessica with a mixture of relief and awe.
"Why did you do that?" she asked as Jessica herded them into the elevator and pushing the 5th floor button.
"Some of our guests are WAY to nosy and weird for their own good. I mean, just last week on my day off some weirdo called and asked for me. Lisa was here at the time and answered the phone and I guess this guy said he'd been won in an auction for me and he was my slave or something. Weird. You encounter that a lot in the hotel industry."
"Slave? What's that?"
"Well..."
"Jessica! Don't tell her that!"
Jessica grinned and winked at Claire. "You're right Evelyn. Forget about what I said Claire. When you're eighteen look me up and I'll tell you then."
Claire laughed and began to relax. Her father hadn't shown up to take her back so she was pretty sure she was safe. She'd doubted he'd show up anyway, but there was a nagging fear in the back of her head that he'd show up and kill her. The elevator reached their floor and with a soft ding, the doors opened and Jessica led the way out. She followed Evelyn and Jessica down the hall to the last room on the left.
"There's no one else down this way, so you won't have to worry about pesky neighbors."
"Thank you, Jessica. I may need your assistance tomorrow."
"Of course. Just let me know what you need. Get some rest, the two of you look whipped. There's an ice machine down the hall and there's an extra hand towel in the bathroom. You may want to put ice on your eye as soon as possible to keep some of the swelling down."
"Thank you," Claire told her, sitting down on one of the two soft beds in the room.
"I'll see you out," Evelyn said to Jessica, nodding at Claire.
Once the two adults were out of the room, Evelyn said in a low voice to Jessica, "I need clothing for Claire. As soon as possible."
"What's going on?"
"Trask found out Claire's a mutant and nearly beat her to death. I'm taking her to New Orleans."
"Are you sure you should take her there? After all, she doesn't know that-"
Evelyn cut her off, "She'll find out when the time's right. It's not up to us to tell her that."
Jessica nodded, "Of course. What size does Claire wear?"
Evelyn thought for a moment, "A size six. She's really skinny and she's not that tall. All she really needs are jeans, shirts, shoes and a few dressy items just in case. Can you have that here in the morning?"
"Yes. I'll deliver it personally."
"Thank you."
Jessica nodded and made her way back to the elevator. She disappeared behind the closing doors and Evelyn gave out a huge sigh of relief. She hadn't known that Jessica worked there and she was extremely lucky she did. Evelyn entered the room and found Claire already under the covers and fast asleep. Evelyn followed suit and slipped under the covers of the second bed and reached over and turned out the light. Tomorrow, Claire would return home.
* * * * *
The next day, Claire woke up first, a stray beam on sunlight shining right into her eyes. Sitting up, she rubbed her eyes, careful not to rub too hard on her black eye. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and sat in silence for what seemed like hours. A soft knock on the door jolted her back to reality. Walking quickly to the door, she looked through the peephole and saw Jessica with what looked like ten bags from various stores. Claire opened the door and smiled at the blonde woman.
"Evelyn said we'd do that ourselves."
"Don't worry about it, Hon. You guys have a plane to catch in a few hours, this will just make the trip easier. Plus I got you something...." Jessica began to dig into her pockets. After a few moments she found what she was looking for, a blue stone like the one in her ring, only this one was a teardrop shaped pendant.
"This is a moonstone. It's said to help balance emotions. I want you to wear this and remember there are people who care about you out there. You just had the lousy luck of not being raised with them. Drop me a line from New Orleans when you get the chance. Take care of yourself!" Jessica waved over her shoulder as she walked back to the elevator. Claire began to drag the bags into the room and in the process, woke up Evelyn.
"Claire? What are you doing?"
"Jessica dropped off some stuff. It looks like clothing for the two of us. How did she get this done so fast?"
"Jessica's .... resourceful."
"Is she a mutant too?"
"I've never asked her, but I think she is."
"Hmmm..." Claire murmured as she dug through all the bags, pulling out socks, underwear, a pair of jeans and a black hooded pullover sweatshirt.
"I'm going to go take a shower," she told Evelyn.
"Good idea. When you're done I'll take one and we can head off to the airport."
Claire made her way to the small bathroom and began to run the water. She let the water run over her hand as it warmed up. Before she knew it, the water was scalding hot. "Dammit!" she cursed under her breath, turning on the cold water, hoping just to make the shower lukewarm. Alice had always used up all the hot water; it was a rare occasion that Claire got to take a semi warm shower. She'd grown up taking freezing to lukewarm showers, now she was so used to it, even the slightest bit of hot water was to hot. Claire cupped her hands under the tub spout and filled up her hands with water. She splashed her face, the cool water feeling good against her black eye. She finally stood up and turned the shower on, she undressed, letting her clothing just fall on the floor in small piles. She stared down at the discarded clothing, a feeling of nausea simmering in her stomach. She fought the urge to gag. Impulsively, she scooped up the clothes and shoved them into the trash can, all reminders of her father and sister, now in the garbage, where they belonged. She finally climbed into the shower and let the water run down her face.
Twenty minutes later, she stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself in the thick, white, hotel towels. As she winded her blonde hair into another towel, she caught the first real look at her face. Her left eye was swollen and turning a shade of purple she'd never seen before. She also had a few minor cuts on her forehead and bruises all over her body. Glancing down at her legs she saw the cuts from where the glass vase had hit her, though those were beginning to scab. Carefully, she pulled on her underwear and socks. She sat on the toilet at pulled on the new pair of jeans that fit perfectly. Standing up, she grabbed a long-sleeved black T-shirt and pulled it over her head, followed by the hoodie. She then worked a comb through her hair and managed to pull it up into a messy ponytail. She exited the bathroom and shoved her hands into the pockets of the hoodie.
"Shower's free, Evelyn. There are extra towels in the bathroom for you."
"I shouldn't be long, go ahead and pack the rest of the clothing into the suitcase Jessica just brought up for you. We'll grab something to eat on our way to the airport."
Claire nodded and walked over to where a new black suitcase was sitting on the floor. She dug through the rest of the bags and placed more underwear, socks, a few more pairs of jeans, six T-shirts, and three more hoodies in various colors, a spare set of tennis shoes, and what looked like a more dressy outfit and dress shoes into the suitcase. Claire leaned back against the bed Evelyn had slept in and a glint off the small nightstand caught her eye. It was the moonstone pendant Jessica had given her. She stood up and lifted the necklace off the table. She unhooked the clasp and put it around her neck, tucking it under her shirt so no one could see it. She then walked back to her suitcase and as she was pulling the zipper shut, Evelyn exited the bathroom, ready to go.
"All packed?"
"Yes."
"Good. We'll be right on time. Grab your suitcase and let's go!"
Evelyn opened the door to the hotel room and held it open for Claire. As she was struggling with the suitcase, she noticed it had a handle. Setting it back down on the floor, she pulled up the handle and found out it had wheels!
"Well this makes it easier," she laughed. Evelyn glanced over at her, wondering what on earth she was laughing at, and the enjoyment on Claire's face from a rolling suitcase was certainly a surprise.
"I guess that would make dragging around luggage easier. Okay, Claire, now that we're all set, we really need to go."
"Sorry."
"Don't worry about it."
The two of them made their way to the elevator and from there to the ground floor. As they made their way to the front door, they passed the same old woman from the night before. The old woman watched them as they passed by, a dark look on her face. Claire tried her best not to bust into hysterics. Kids got into fights all the time. If social services was called for every kid who had a black eye, they'd never have time to get to the serious cases. Evelyn opened the backseat of the BMW so that Claire could load her suitcase into the backseat. In a matter of minutes, they were back on the road, heading to a small private owned airfield.
It was a small airport, only about three planes, most of them smaller aircraft, used for five people at the most. She saw one was already running and a small staircase leading up to the side door.
"Is that us?" Claire asked, the wind whipping what loose hair it could around.
"Yes, that's us."
Evelyn led Claire and her suitcase to the plane. An older gentleman smiled and came forward, taking Claire's suitcase and loading it onto the plane for her.
"Um... thank you," Claire told him.
The old man just smiled and tipped his hat at her, winking at her as he walked away. Evelyn pushed her to the staircase and the two of them boarded the plane. It had a small interior and Claire noticed there were only six passenger seats in addition to the pilot and co-pilot seats.
Evelyn sat down and motioned for Claire to do the same. Claire nervously buckled her seat belt as two gentlemen boarded and made their way to the cockpit.
"Alright ladies, we'll be taking off any minute now. Please fasten your seatbelts. We'll arrive in New Orleans in about three to four hours, depending on weather. I checked the forecast. It's relatively clear so we should have no problems."
True to his word, in five minutes the pilot was maneuvering the plane to the end of the runway. Claire felt her stomach begin to churn with nerves and prayed that she wouldn't get airsick. The plane began to pick up speed and before she knew it, they were airborne. Claire watched out the nearby window as the objects on the ground became smaller and smaller. Transfixed, she watched out the window the entire trip, surprised when she finally heard Evelyn say they were going to be landing in ten minutes.
"Really?"
"Yes, you've been looking out the window the entire trip. Now Claire, when we get to New Orleans, I won't be going with you."
"Why? Why not?" Claire felt her first real pangs of panic at not having Evelyn nearby.
"Hush dear, Alexei will take good care of you," Evelyn comforted her thinking inwardly, He better take care of her.
Claire fought back the tears she knew were pooling in her eyes as the plane began to make its decent. Once they were back on the ground, the pilot took Claire's bag off the plane with him and handed it to a tall man who was waiting by a limousine. Feeling really nervous, Claire stood up and ducked as she walked out the side door of the plane onto the waiting steps. She made her way down the stairs with shaky legs, Evelyn close behind.
"Evelyn, how nice to see you," the man said with a smile, a mischievous glint in his eye.
"Alexei. It's been too long."
The man that Claire assumed was Alexei Reynolds turned his attention to her. She could have sworn that he did a double take and she didn't know if it was her imagination or not, but she thought she saw his eyes mist up. Uneasy, she shifted her weight and waited for Evelyn to introduce him.
"I'm sorry. Claire, this is Alexei Reynolds, a friend of your mothers."
Claire wasn't sure, but she heard the weird way Evelyn stressed the word friend and wondered about that.
"Hello, Little One. I take it you had a good trip?"
Little One? Where had she heard that before? Claire raised an eyebrow and stayed silent as she looked him. All of a sudden a memory from when she was six and at the beach came rushing back to her. This was the man she'd met on the beach! Talk about a small world.
Smiling, Alexei held out his hand, "I take it you recognize me from that day so many years ago."
"Yeah," Claire said as she shook his outreached hand. She quickly pulled her hand back and put it back in the pocket of her hoodie.
Alexei on the other hand, was steaming mad. He knew she'd been beaten up by Boliver when he'd found out about her mutant powers, but he never imagined it was this bad. Keeping calm he said in a light, pleasant tone, "Shall we go, my dear?"
Evelyn slightly pushed Claire towards Alexei, whispering in her ear, "It's okay, Claire, he'll take good care of you. He loved your mother."
Claire whipped her head around. He had loved her mother? What did Evelyn mean by that? She kept her gaze on Evelyn as Alexei guided her into the limo. She finally broke her gaze as the door closed and the dark tinted windows obstructed her vision. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes. The whole trip had been surreal. She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't notice Alexei and Evelyn walk around the backside of the plane.
"Well Mystique, you upheld your end of the bargain," Alexei said coolly to the woman who was now blue with red hair and yellow eyes.
"Yes. Now it's time for you to uphold your end."
Alexei pulled out a file folder with a picture of a young girl with reddish brown hair and white bangs paper clipped to the outside of the file. "Here's the information you requested. A deal's a deal."
Mystique took the folder and nodded at Alexei. "She doesn't know."
"Who doesn't know what?"
"Stupidity doesn't become you Alexei. Claire doesn't know that you are her real father."
"And so it shall stay until I'm sure no one will use her against me."
"What about your son?"
"They would be stupid to try to manipulate Kage. At 15, he's ready to join the guild."
"A 15-year-old assassin? You're kidding right?"
"No, in the past few years he's changed. Become cold, uncaring, detached from life. He almost seems to enjoy inflicting pain. Plus his mutant power suits him just fine as well."
"Be careful with Claire, Alexei. The guild is no place for a girl."
Alexei laughed. "I plan on keeping her away from the Guild. It's bad enough that Belladonna Boudreaux is the heir apparent of the Guild. Assassins run by a woman. That's rich."
"Excuse me. Remember who you're talking to. I've broken bigger and better than you."
"I'll keep that in mind. But if you don't have any more matters to discuss, I believe my daughter is waiting for me in the car."
Alexei made his way back to the limousine, entering in the door opposite Claire's.
"Ready to go home?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A cool breeze startled Claire. Looking around it took her a moment to remember that she was in Evelyn's black BMW. After the horrific scene at her father's house Evelyn had made a phone call, bandaged up the worst of the cuts on her legs, and within 20 minutes they were leaving out the back door.
"Why do we have to sneak out?" Claire had asked.
"We don't want that bastard that was once your father or that bitch sister of yours following us," Evelyn had answered, grabbing her purse, checking for her credit cards, then helping Claire out the back door.
In a matter of minutes, Evelyn and Claire were in the black car. The pulled out of the small driveway with the car lights off so they wouldn't gain Trask or Alice's attention. As they passed by the small house she'd once called home, Claire saw Alice and Trask on the couch, deep in conversation, both with identical scowls on their faces.
Good riddance! Claire thought. She narrowed her eyes and glared at them as they drove away, anger more powerful than any she'd ever felt before, churning in her stomach. One day I'll come back, Father Dear, and I'll kill the person you love most in front of your eyes, then I'll kill you.
Evelyn glanced sideways at the child in the front seat next to her, her anger so extreme it was nearly tangible.
Claire shook her head, and soon after they'd left the house, she'd fallen asleep in the car. Now she was wide awake and extremely bored.
"Where are we going?" she asked Evelyn, looking at her black eye in the visor mirror.
"New Orleans."
"What? Why there?"
"I know someone there who can help you. He was a.... friend of your mother's."
"My mom?"
"Yes. Elizabetha had many .... well-connected friends. Friends that would be honored to watch over and take care of her daughter."
"How long until we get there?"
"We will be there in about two days. Once we're out of the state, we'll stay in a nice hotel for the night and get some rest. Then I'll take you shopping so we can get you some clothes since you had to leave everything else behind. Once we have all you need, we'll take a charter plane to New Orleans. There we'll be meeting your mother's friend," Evelyn explained.
"What's the name of this friend? Anyone I may know?"
"I doubt it, but his name is Alexei Reynolds. He's originally from Moscow, in Russia."
"Is he in the Russian Mafia?"
"What? Where on earth did you learn about the Russian Mafia?"
"TV."
Evelyn chuckled and shook her head. "No, he's not." At least not like he used to be, Evelyn thought to herself. Claire started to ask more questions, but Evelyn shushed her.
"There will be time enough for questions later dear. Right now, you need to concentrate on recovering. I've already gotten a contact of mine busy getting you a new social security number so your father won't be able to track you down."
"Will I have to change my name?"
"Not if you don't want to. I must tell you your mother named you Claire."
Claire faced the window of the car again, thinking for a few minutes.
"How about I'm just called Claire Pierce."
Evelyn smiled at Claire. "Why Pierce?"
"Other than the psychologist, Charles Xavier, you've been the only person to show me any real kindness."
"Than- Charles Xavier? You've met him?"
"Sure, he's the one who explained what I was to me. He was sent to the house by the school to do a psychiatric evaluation after the riot I caused at school today. He was nice. He didn't make me feel like a freak or that something was wrong with me."
"Yes, Charles is like that," Evelyn mused, her eyes narrowing slightly.
"You know him?"
"We've met."
The two of them lapsed into silence. Once they passed out of New York into Pennsylvania, Evelyn heaved a sigh of relief. She hadn't expected Boliver to follow them, but with that man, you could never be to sure. She'd been keeping an eye on Claire as a favor to Alexei and Elizabetha. She wondered if this was the time to tell Claire the whole truth.
No, it's up to Alexei to tell her the truth, if he ever decides to, she thought to herself. Claire was dozing again in the front seat. Evelyn drove another hour before stopping. She pulled her car to a stop in front of the nicest hotel she could find in the area.
"Claire, wake up, we're at the hotel."
"Hmmmm?" Claire mumbled, groggy as she walked with Evelyn into the hotel. She was aware of all the eyes resting on her as she and Evelyn made their way to the front desk.
"Good Evening, how can I help you?" the chubby blonde girl behind the counter asked, an obvious fake smile on her face. Once her eyes rested on Evelyn's face, she gave a short gasp.
"Evelyn! What are you doing here?"
"Nice to see you too, Jessica. I need a room for the night. What do you have available?"
"Whatever you need, we're practically empty this time of the year." Noticing Claire, she asked, "Who's this?"
"Claire, this is Jessica, another friend. She also has connections that will prove useful to us."
"Uh... hi."
"Hi, Claire. Here, let me grab a couple of room keys for you two and I'll walk you up to your room. The quicker we get you upstairs, the better. I'm afraid some of the other guests in the lobby are talking about the injuries you have Claire."
Claire watched as the chubby blonde moved quickly and made room keys and filled out all the paperwork. Evelyn held out her credit card to pay but Jessica handed it back and dismissed it with a flip of her hand. Claire couldn't help but notice the huge blue stone she was wearing on her left middle finger.
"Don't you want me to pay?" Evelyn asked.
"Don't worry about it. I put it on the hotel. I put my name on the registration card so they'll think I spent the night. Hey Lisa! Watch the desk for a moment. I'm going to help a guest to their room."
"Sure thing Jess."
Jessica motioned for Evelyn and Claire to meet her by the employee entrance to the desk. "Follow me," she said, leading the way to the nearest elevator.
"Miss! Miss!" an old woman behind Jessica yelled. Jessica grumbled and rolled her eyes before turning around and asking in a fake nice tone of voice, "Yes ma'am, what can I do for you?"
"You should call the police. That child has been abused."
"No she wasn't. This is my sister and her daughter. My niece got into a fight at school and that's why she has a black eye. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to show my family upstairs."
The old lady watched them suspiciously and turned and walked slowly back to the bench she had been sitting on. Claire didn't realize she had been holding her breath. She looked up at Jessica with a mixture of relief and awe.
"Why did you do that?" she asked as Jessica herded them into the elevator and pushing the 5th floor button.
"Some of our guests are WAY to nosy and weird for their own good. I mean, just last week on my day off some weirdo called and asked for me. Lisa was here at the time and answered the phone and I guess this guy said he'd been won in an auction for me and he was my slave or something. Weird. You encounter that a lot in the hotel industry."
"Slave? What's that?"
"Well..."
"Jessica! Don't tell her that!"
Jessica grinned and winked at Claire. "You're right Evelyn. Forget about what I said Claire. When you're eighteen look me up and I'll tell you then."
Claire laughed and began to relax. Her father hadn't shown up to take her back so she was pretty sure she was safe. She'd doubted he'd show up anyway, but there was a nagging fear in the back of her head that he'd show up and kill her. The elevator reached their floor and with a soft ding, the doors opened and Jessica led the way out. She followed Evelyn and Jessica down the hall to the last room on the left.
"There's no one else down this way, so you won't have to worry about pesky neighbors."
"Thank you, Jessica. I may need your assistance tomorrow."
"Of course. Just let me know what you need. Get some rest, the two of you look whipped. There's an ice machine down the hall and there's an extra hand towel in the bathroom. You may want to put ice on your eye as soon as possible to keep some of the swelling down."
"Thank you," Claire told her, sitting down on one of the two soft beds in the room.
"I'll see you out," Evelyn said to Jessica, nodding at Claire.
Once the two adults were out of the room, Evelyn said in a low voice to Jessica, "I need clothing for Claire. As soon as possible."
"What's going on?"
"Trask found out Claire's a mutant and nearly beat her to death. I'm taking her to New Orleans."
"Are you sure you should take her there? After all, she doesn't know that-"
Evelyn cut her off, "She'll find out when the time's right. It's not up to us to tell her that."
Jessica nodded, "Of course. What size does Claire wear?"
Evelyn thought for a moment, "A size six. She's really skinny and she's not that tall. All she really needs are jeans, shirts, shoes and a few dressy items just in case. Can you have that here in the morning?"
"Yes. I'll deliver it personally."
"Thank you."
Jessica nodded and made her way back to the elevator. She disappeared behind the closing doors and Evelyn gave out a huge sigh of relief. She hadn't known that Jessica worked there and she was extremely lucky she did. Evelyn entered the room and found Claire already under the covers and fast asleep. Evelyn followed suit and slipped under the covers of the second bed and reached over and turned out the light. Tomorrow, Claire would return home.
* * * * *
The next day, Claire woke up first, a stray beam on sunlight shining right into her eyes. Sitting up, she rubbed her eyes, careful not to rub too hard on her black eye. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and sat in silence for what seemed like hours. A soft knock on the door jolted her back to reality. Walking quickly to the door, she looked through the peephole and saw Jessica with what looked like ten bags from various stores. Claire opened the door and smiled at the blonde woman.
"Evelyn said we'd do that ourselves."
"Don't worry about it, Hon. You guys have a plane to catch in a few hours, this will just make the trip easier. Plus I got you something...." Jessica began to dig into her pockets. After a few moments she found what she was looking for, a blue stone like the one in her ring, only this one was a teardrop shaped pendant.
"This is a moonstone. It's said to help balance emotions. I want you to wear this and remember there are people who care about you out there. You just had the lousy luck of not being raised with them. Drop me a line from New Orleans when you get the chance. Take care of yourself!" Jessica waved over her shoulder as she walked back to the elevator. Claire began to drag the bags into the room and in the process, woke up Evelyn.
"Claire? What are you doing?"
"Jessica dropped off some stuff. It looks like clothing for the two of us. How did she get this done so fast?"
"Jessica's .... resourceful."
"Is she a mutant too?"
"I've never asked her, but I think she is."
"Hmmm..." Claire murmured as she dug through all the bags, pulling out socks, underwear, a pair of jeans and a black hooded pullover sweatshirt.
"I'm going to go take a shower," she told Evelyn.
"Good idea. When you're done I'll take one and we can head off to the airport."
Claire made her way to the small bathroom and began to run the water. She let the water run over her hand as it warmed up. Before she knew it, the water was scalding hot. "Dammit!" she cursed under her breath, turning on the cold water, hoping just to make the shower lukewarm. Alice had always used up all the hot water; it was a rare occasion that Claire got to take a semi warm shower. She'd grown up taking freezing to lukewarm showers, now she was so used to it, even the slightest bit of hot water was to hot. Claire cupped her hands under the tub spout and filled up her hands with water. She splashed her face, the cool water feeling good against her black eye. She finally stood up and turned the shower on, she undressed, letting her clothing just fall on the floor in small piles. She stared down at the discarded clothing, a feeling of nausea simmering in her stomach. She fought the urge to gag. Impulsively, she scooped up the clothes and shoved them into the trash can, all reminders of her father and sister, now in the garbage, where they belonged. She finally climbed into the shower and let the water run down her face.
Twenty minutes later, she stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself in the thick, white, hotel towels. As she winded her blonde hair into another towel, she caught the first real look at her face. Her left eye was swollen and turning a shade of purple she'd never seen before. She also had a few minor cuts on her forehead and bruises all over her body. Glancing down at her legs she saw the cuts from where the glass vase had hit her, though those were beginning to scab. Carefully, she pulled on her underwear and socks. She sat on the toilet at pulled on the new pair of jeans that fit perfectly. Standing up, she grabbed a long-sleeved black T-shirt and pulled it over her head, followed by the hoodie. She then worked a comb through her hair and managed to pull it up into a messy ponytail. She exited the bathroom and shoved her hands into the pockets of the hoodie.
"Shower's free, Evelyn. There are extra towels in the bathroom for you."
"I shouldn't be long, go ahead and pack the rest of the clothing into the suitcase Jessica just brought up for you. We'll grab something to eat on our way to the airport."
Claire nodded and walked over to where a new black suitcase was sitting on the floor. She dug through the rest of the bags and placed more underwear, socks, a few more pairs of jeans, six T-shirts, and three more hoodies in various colors, a spare set of tennis shoes, and what looked like a more dressy outfit and dress shoes into the suitcase. Claire leaned back against the bed Evelyn had slept in and a glint off the small nightstand caught her eye. It was the moonstone pendant Jessica had given her. She stood up and lifted the necklace off the table. She unhooked the clasp and put it around her neck, tucking it under her shirt so no one could see it. She then walked back to her suitcase and as she was pulling the zipper shut, Evelyn exited the bathroom, ready to go.
"All packed?"
"Yes."
"Good. We'll be right on time. Grab your suitcase and let's go!"
Evelyn opened the door to the hotel room and held it open for Claire. As she was struggling with the suitcase, she noticed it had a handle. Setting it back down on the floor, she pulled up the handle and found out it had wheels!
"Well this makes it easier," she laughed. Evelyn glanced over at her, wondering what on earth she was laughing at, and the enjoyment on Claire's face from a rolling suitcase was certainly a surprise.
"I guess that would make dragging around luggage easier. Okay, Claire, now that we're all set, we really need to go."
"Sorry."
"Don't worry about it."
The two of them made their way to the elevator and from there to the ground floor. As they made their way to the front door, they passed the same old woman from the night before. The old woman watched them as they passed by, a dark look on her face. Claire tried her best not to bust into hysterics. Kids got into fights all the time. If social services was called for every kid who had a black eye, they'd never have time to get to the serious cases. Evelyn opened the backseat of the BMW so that Claire could load her suitcase into the backseat. In a matter of minutes, they were back on the road, heading to a small private owned airfield.
It was a small airport, only about three planes, most of them smaller aircraft, used for five people at the most. She saw one was already running and a small staircase leading up to the side door.
"Is that us?" Claire asked, the wind whipping what loose hair it could around.
"Yes, that's us."
Evelyn led Claire and her suitcase to the plane. An older gentleman smiled and came forward, taking Claire's suitcase and loading it onto the plane for her.
"Um... thank you," Claire told him.
The old man just smiled and tipped his hat at her, winking at her as he walked away. Evelyn pushed her to the staircase and the two of them boarded the plane. It had a small interior and Claire noticed there were only six passenger seats in addition to the pilot and co-pilot seats.
Evelyn sat down and motioned for Claire to do the same. Claire nervously buckled her seat belt as two gentlemen boarded and made their way to the cockpit.
"Alright ladies, we'll be taking off any minute now. Please fasten your seatbelts. We'll arrive in New Orleans in about three to four hours, depending on weather. I checked the forecast. It's relatively clear so we should have no problems."
True to his word, in five minutes the pilot was maneuvering the plane to the end of the runway. Claire felt her stomach begin to churn with nerves and prayed that she wouldn't get airsick. The plane began to pick up speed and before she knew it, they were airborne. Claire watched out the nearby window as the objects on the ground became smaller and smaller. Transfixed, she watched out the window the entire trip, surprised when she finally heard Evelyn say they were going to be landing in ten minutes.
"Really?"
"Yes, you've been looking out the window the entire trip. Now Claire, when we get to New Orleans, I won't be going with you."
"Why? Why not?" Claire felt her first real pangs of panic at not having Evelyn nearby.
"Hush dear, Alexei will take good care of you," Evelyn comforted her thinking inwardly, He better take care of her.
Claire fought back the tears she knew were pooling in her eyes as the plane began to make its decent. Once they were back on the ground, the pilot took Claire's bag off the plane with him and handed it to a tall man who was waiting by a limousine. Feeling really nervous, Claire stood up and ducked as she walked out the side door of the plane onto the waiting steps. She made her way down the stairs with shaky legs, Evelyn close behind.
"Evelyn, how nice to see you," the man said with a smile, a mischievous glint in his eye.
"Alexei. It's been too long."
The man that Claire assumed was Alexei Reynolds turned his attention to her. She could have sworn that he did a double take and she didn't know if it was her imagination or not, but she thought she saw his eyes mist up. Uneasy, she shifted her weight and waited for Evelyn to introduce him.
"I'm sorry. Claire, this is Alexei Reynolds, a friend of your mothers."
Claire wasn't sure, but she heard the weird way Evelyn stressed the word friend and wondered about that.
"Hello, Little One. I take it you had a good trip?"
Little One? Where had she heard that before? Claire raised an eyebrow and stayed silent as she looked him. All of a sudden a memory from when she was six and at the beach came rushing back to her. This was the man she'd met on the beach! Talk about a small world.
Smiling, Alexei held out his hand, "I take it you recognize me from that day so many years ago."
"Yeah," Claire said as she shook his outreached hand. She quickly pulled her hand back and put it back in the pocket of her hoodie.
Alexei on the other hand, was steaming mad. He knew she'd been beaten up by Boliver when he'd found out about her mutant powers, but he never imagined it was this bad. Keeping calm he said in a light, pleasant tone, "Shall we go, my dear?"
Evelyn slightly pushed Claire towards Alexei, whispering in her ear, "It's okay, Claire, he'll take good care of you. He loved your mother."
Claire whipped her head around. He had loved her mother? What did Evelyn mean by that? She kept her gaze on Evelyn as Alexei guided her into the limo. She finally broke her gaze as the door closed and the dark tinted windows obstructed her vision. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes. The whole trip had been surreal. She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't notice Alexei and Evelyn walk around the backside of the plane.
"Well Mystique, you upheld your end of the bargain," Alexei said coolly to the woman who was now blue with red hair and yellow eyes.
"Yes. Now it's time for you to uphold your end."
Alexei pulled out a file folder with a picture of a young girl with reddish brown hair and white bangs paper clipped to the outside of the file. "Here's the information you requested. A deal's a deal."
Mystique took the folder and nodded at Alexei. "She doesn't know."
"Who doesn't know what?"
"Stupidity doesn't become you Alexei. Claire doesn't know that you are her real father."
"And so it shall stay until I'm sure no one will use her against me."
"What about your son?"
"They would be stupid to try to manipulate Kage. At 15, he's ready to join the guild."
"A 15-year-old assassin? You're kidding right?"
"No, in the past few years he's changed. Become cold, uncaring, detached from life. He almost seems to enjoy inflicting pain. Plus his mutant power suits him just fine as well."
"Be careful with Claire, Alexei. The guild is no place for a girl."
Alexei laughed. "I plan on keeping her away from the Guild. It's bad enough that Belladonna Boudreaux is the heir apparent of the Guild. Assassins run by a woman. That's rich."
"Excuse me. Remember who you're talking to. I've broken bigger and better than you."
"I'll keep that in mind. But if you don't have any more matters to discuss, I believe my daughter is waiting for me in the car."
Alexei made his way back to the limousine, entering in the door opposite Claire's.
"Ready to go home?"