Sorry about the delay, I was kidnapped by aliens who wanted to use me to invade Earth. Thank you everyone who reviewed. I own nothing except a dysfunctional computer. Enjoy!

Katherine was already fairly annoyed by the time the boy showed up. The fact that he was cute did not help matters.

She had never been one to be distracted from her mission though, so she marched up to the boy, arms crossed. "Who are you?" she demanded. "Why did you kidnap me? And why are people after you?"

The boy laughed, putting up his hands in a placating gesture. "Slow, down, princess! I'll explain later."

Katherine seethed. She hated it when boys called her princess. It always sounded like they were commenting on her father's wealth, as if that was all she was- a rich man's daughter, with no opinions of her own. That probably wasn't what any of them meant, but it was still annoying. "I need to know now!" she yelled, ignoring the other boy's winces at the sound. "These teenagers kidnapped me, and I want to know why and who you are?"

"Keep your voice down!" the boy said, glancing around nervously. "Alright, we're a group of teenage mutants who are on the run from a man who wants to take us to a bad place. Those are the people you saw coming after us."

That did sort of match the conversation Katherine had overheard, but it still didn't explain why Pulitzer, a publisher, would come after them. Maybe they stole books or something? "Why does this man want to take you to a bad place?" she asked.

One of the other boys (Race, maybe?) bitterly said, "Because the more kids he brings in, the more money he gets."

"Where is this place?"

"The Refuge," the boy whose name was probably Jack said, the way a farm animal would say 'The butcher'.

"But that doesn't make sense," Katherine protested. "Why are you running from that place? It's to help abandoned mutants get a home and education. My father donates money there every year!" She didn't understand why all the kids were rolling their eyes.

"Have you ever actually been to the Refuge?" Jack (?) asked. Katherine shook her head, prompting the boy to continue. "Trust me, it's hell. The guy who runs it, Snyder, puts on a good show for the authorities, but if you stay there for five minutes, you'll figure it out. The kids there are starving and they get beaten and it's nearly impossible to leave…" The boy's voice trailed off, like he was reliving awful memories, before his eyes refocused. "Just know it's not a place you'd want to be. Now, thanks for the warning, and don't tell anyone you were here. Bye!"

"Wait-" Katherine tried to protest, but the factory and all the kids vanished right before her eyes. There was just empty space, a blank wall of nothing. Katherine wondered whether that was a mutation, but she couldn't figure it out right then. Someone may have noticed she wasn't at home, and while her father didn't really care, he might ask her where she went, and he was good at noticing when people were lying. The girl decided to go back to the library to get her car and then home, but she would be back. Once she noticed a mystery, she was going to solve it.

The next day, Katherine prepared to do some investigating.

She wore running shoes she'd never worn before, in case she had to make a quick exit. She also brought a phone, a granola bar, and her purse containing pepper spray and a pocket knife. Because you never know. Her father was in a meeting, which made it even easier for Katherine to slip out.

She had a good memory for locations, and after driving to the library was able to find her way to the factory. Which had reappeared. It was a little weird, but Katherine wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Next problem: getting in. All of the doors and all of the ground floor windows were locked. Katherine was almost desperate enough to walk through the wall when she walked around to the back of the building. A rickety ladder was propped against the factory. And the ladder led to a second-or-third story open window. It was tiny, but Katherine was determined to get through it. She tumbled onto the floor inside the building, startling the kids sitting gathered on the floor.

The-boy-whose-name-was-probably-Jack jumped to his feet and stared at her. "Why are you here?" he asked in a voice that suggested that he would be yelling if he got over his shock.

"I needed to make sure you're ok," Katherine said. Now that she was here, she was beginning to doubt whether this was a good idea.

"Well, as you can see, we're all fine. So you can just-" Jack was cut off by another boy yelling, "Jack, we can't just let her leave again!"

"What do you mean, Race?"

"Think about it. She's found us twice now-almost like she's really looking. And last time she found us, Weasel and his cops came too! We can't trust her!"

"I'm sorry, Weasel's cops?" For all Katherine knew, that meant a cop shaped like a weasel. Mutants were weird. The kids looked at her like she was an idiot.

"Ya know, Wiesel? The mutant hunter?" Race (?) said, like it was obvious. But that made no sense. The only Wiesel that Katherine knew worked with her father. Sure, she wasn't exactly sure what he did in the publishing world, and she did overhear him in that meeting… but no. That was impossible. Her father may not like mutants, but he would never help a mutant hunter...whatever exactly that was.

"Why are these mutant hunters after you?" the girl asked hesitantly. There had to be a good reason. Maybe they were criminals! Yes, that would make sense. Though if they were criminals, that meant Katherine should probably leave ASAP.

"They don't need a reason," Jack said curtly. "They want all mutants to go to the Refuge. They'd be happy if all of us died."

"But they must have a reason-"

The other kids in the room all shook their heads, like she was asking the dumbest questions imaginable. "Alright, Princess," Jack said, like he was trying to get back to the original topic- why she was there. "What's your name, and why are you here?" Katherine thought about telling a lie, but she was scared about what these kids would do to her if they figured out the truth.

"I'm Katherine. I'm here because I wanted to see what happened to you."

Jack scoffed. "You expect us to believe-"

"I think she's telling the truth." Heads swiveled to a dark-haired boy in the back of the room, who looked around self-consciously. "I think there is something she isn't telling us, but I think she's telling the truth about why she's here."

"You sure, Davey?" Jack askd sceptically.

The boy, Davey, nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure."

"Do you know what she's not telling us?" After Davey shook his head no, Jack sighed. "So what are you hiding?" he asked Katherine.

Katherine wasn't sure if she should tell them about the meeting she'd overheard, or if she should mention Pulitzer. What if he... no. Her father would never be involved with the mutant hunters. But just to be sure… "Have any of you ever heard the name Pulitzer?" she asked carefully.

Most of the kids in the room flinched at the name. Even Jack looked like the name had struck a nerve. "Yeah," he said after a few second's pause. "He's in charge of a whole ring of hunters. He's dangerous."

"But he's a publisher!" Katherine gasped

"People can have two jobs." Katherine felt like she was going to start sobbing. Her father, a hunter? And the leader of a group of hunters? Katherine still wasn't sure what exactly they were, but just the words "mutant hunters" suggested that they hunted mutants. Yeah, her father disliked mutants and yeah, he was a bit distant, but he wouldn't try to hurt anyone! These kids must be lying, she decided. Yes, they had figured out who she was and were toying with her. That made sense.

But in that case, all of these kids would have to be professional actors. They all looked so scared when Pulitzer was mentioned…

Katherine decided she needed to gather more information. "Say he is a mutant hunter or whatever," she said. "Why is he hunting mutants? Last I checked, it wasn't technically illegal to..."

"Exist?" Jack smiled ruefully. "It's not, but people still don't like us much. We're 'freaks of nature' and 'unnatural'. Can't blame the people who want to use us as weapons or kill us."

"That's awful," Katherine whispered. None of this was fair. She hadn't thought much about what conditions were like for mutants on the streets, but this was worse than she thought. People hunting them down? Using them as weapons? She didn't think these kids were dangerous. They were just scared. She would be too. "Wouldn't it be safer if you lived somewhere with adults? It might be harder for them to get to you-"

"Don't you think we would if we could?" Jack exclaimed. "Most of us got kicked out or had to run away from the adults! It's hard for us, something a rich girl like you could never understand."

"There has to be somewhere you can go!"

Jack looked at the kids around them cautiously, all of whom were watching the conversation like it was the most interesting thing they'd seen in weeks. "Come back tonight," he whispered to Katherine. "I'll show you the place we can go." He gestured towards the open window, which Katherine took as an invitation to leave.

"Wait a second!" yelled Race (?). "We can't just let her leave! She knows where we are! She could-"

"I'll only do that if I think you're dangerous," Katherine said calmly. "And right now, all of you look too small to do much damage." Some of the kids ooooooooohed, but Race did not look convinced.

"Still, we can't-"

"Well, we can't just kidnap her!" Jack said firmly. "Come back tonight. 11 o'clock. Don't be late." Katherine nodded nervously and climbed out the window.

Against all better judgement, Katherine was standing near the factory at 10:59, waiting. Only an idiot would sneak out at night, go to a bad part of time, and stand there alone, waiting to meet with a strange boy who might or might not be a criminal. But that's what Katherine was doing. She almost hoped Jack wouldn't come, but she soon spotted him walking over.

"You ready?" he asked. Katherine nodded nervously. When Jack started walking north, Katherine pointed to her car. That would probably be easier than walking god-knows-where with this boy.

The drive north was quiet but stressful. Katherine wasn't sure where Jack had learned to drive, and she wasn't sure she wanted to. They were a few miles away from the factory, going even further downtown, when Katherine hesitantly asked, "Why are you doing this?"

'I don't know," Jack said, his eyes fixed on the road. "I guess because you helped my friends out and told them about the cops? Or maybe because you came back and started looking around? Or maybe it's because you're a pretty girl…" He winced. "That sounded real creepy. Sorry. My point is, I'm not sure. Maybe I just feel sorry for you, and how you don't know nothing."

Katherine scoffed. "I know plenty."

"Not about the real world, you don't."

Katherine was silent for the rest of the ride. She wasn't that naive and innocent, was she? Then again, she was currently driving somewhere she'd probably never been, with a complete stranger. Maybe she was that sheltered.

After a nerve-wracked drive, Jack pulled over into the deserted parking lot besides a run-down apartment building with bright paint. "This is the place," he said, but now that they were here he seemed reluctant to go in. He sat for a few moments before turning to Katherine. "I need you to do what I say," he ordered quietly. "If I tell you to run, run. You understand?" Being ordered around made Katherine feel annoyed usually, but she decided to make an exception this time. The two got out of the car and crept towards the building.

Jack climbed up the fire escape leading to a small barred window, leaving Katherine to carefully follow behind. He stopped at the landing beside the window and looked through smiling. With a start, Katherine realized that the window didn't have panes, just bars. That was fine right now, in the temperate spring, but what did whoever lived here do in summer or winter?

"Guys," Jack whispered, grinning. "I'm here!" Through the bars, Katherine could see a bunch of boys slowly getting out of bunk beds around the room. All of them looked skinny and some had bruises or cuts on their faces and wrists. They all looked excited to see Jack, and the older boy began to hand them cans of food. As they talked, Katherine began to have an awful suspicion about what this place was.

A boy with a heavy limp walked over to the window. "Hey, Jack!" he said happily. "How are the others?"

"Great!" Jack said, smiling even wider. "Race has been surprisingly good, which makes me worried. And Al got fired, but was able to find a new job pretty quick."

"That's great!" the other boy exclaimed before noticing Katherine. "Who's that?"

"Just a friend," Jack said, brushing it off. "So how are things here?"

They must have stood there for at least an hour, the boys laughing and talking with Jack, eating, and sneaking out of that room to deliver food to the other rooms. Finally, Jack seemed to realize that it was getting early. "Well, I don't want to keep you guys awake," he said with forced cheer. "But I'll be back day after tomorrow, alright?" Most of the kids just nodded and went back to their beds, except for the boy with the limp.

"Will you tell everyone hi for me?" the boy asked quietly.

"Of course, Crutch! And soon you'll be able to say hi for yourself!" Jack reached through the bars and touched the boy's hand. "It'll be ok, kid. Just hold on a few more months and I'll be eighteen. Got it?" The younger boy nodded, and Jack and Katherine went back down the fire escape to the car. When they reached it though, Jack just sat there, staring at nothing.

"Jack," Katherine whispered hesitantly. "Was that the Refuge?"

"Yeah," he said gruffly. "Now you see why we can't go to one of those places?"

"But they can't all be like that! There have got to be some good ones!"

"They're all like that. The people there don't care about mutants, they just want money. The man who runs that place, Snyder? He loves causing pain. The kid with the limp…" Jack took a deep breath, like he was remembering unpleasant things. "He used to stay with us. He needed a leg brace and couldn't run as well as us... so they caught him. The first night I came to visit, they'd messed him up so bad he couldn't even walk."

"That sounds awful," Katherine breathed. And her father had donated money to that place? She should tell him to visit sometime. He'd agree that they needed to shut that place down. Unless he's a hunter… a voice in her head whispered, but Katherine ignored it. They were wrong. Her father would never.

"They can only leave if someone 18 or older takes them out," Jack whispered. Katherine wasn't sure what to say to that. After a few more minutes of silence, Jack pulled out of the parking lot and they drove back towards the factory.

When they arrived, Katherine grabbed Jack's arm as he was getting out. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For showing me the truth."

Jack smiled sadly. "I don't think I ever got your name."

"Oh!" Katherine had forgotten about that. Strange, she almost felt like she'd know Jack her entire life. "Katherine."

"Katherine," Jack said slowly. "If you don't got anything to do tomorrow, come by. We're staying here for the next few days, except for work."

Katherine smiled. "Maybe." As Jack started heading towards the huge building, Katherine started driving towards her house numbly. Even after she'd snuck back into the mansion and laid down in bed, she still thought about what had happened that night. People couldn't be that awful, could they? She felt like she had to change what was happening, but what could she do? If the mayor knew about how mutants were treated…

Katherine jolted straight upright. She had just had an idea.

Well, that happened. Sorry again for the long break. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if you did please leave a review with suggestions, constructive criticism and words of encouragement! Later, potaters!