2.

"Enough!" For a second, Pyro thought it had been him, begging her to stop. But no, he wouldn't have done that, would he? Slowly, he opened his eyes and was shocked to feel salt in his mouth. Tears. The girl was looking at the door, a surprised tone in her question. "Didn't you say I'd get as much time as I needed?"

The man's answer was a short, harsh. "No. We need to talk." Pyro, still a little caught in his nightmares, recognized the voice. That man had woken him, and now he was standing outside his cell. Must be her supervisor, he thought, not really caring. Whatever it was that gave him a break, it was welcome.

"Fine!", the girl snapped, her fair black hair swinging behind her back when she mechanically turned and opened the door with her key-card. "What's so urgent? What the hell..." Her squeal was silenced abruptly and her motionless body fell into the cell. Right away, Pyro began to struggle against the ropes that bound him to the chair. He had to get out, a better chance wouldn't come. "Hi..." Another girl stepped into the room and looked around cautiously. Pyro froze. She was an exact copy of his torturer, just her face was a little rounder, the hair a light brown and bushy, the smile real and warm.

"Sorry, wrong apartment", mumbled the girl and exited, pulling out a mobile phone. What? Stunned, Pyro let her go, then he found his balance again and shouted after her. "Wait! Come back! You can't just walk away!" No answer. "Help me! Please? C'mon, bitch, you can't be serious!"

"That is not a nice word", replied the girl in a melodic sentence which told him she wasn't from around. Her upper body became visible when she peeked into his cell again. "Well..." Within seconds, she seemed to make a choice and nodded. "Fine." Pyro shivered. The exact copy of her sister, same words.

"But don't cause any problems,okay?", said she, cutting the rope with a dagger she handed him afterward. "Can you walk?" "Sure", he'd wanted to say, but the same moment he stood, he changed his mind. "Not really. Sorry."

The trepidation got worse when he entered the hall, heavily putting his weight on her shoulders. "How long have you been down there?", asked the girl. "One or two days."

"Liar", she told him and grinned, "Let's try this differently. How many dreams did she give you and how often have you slept between them?" The conversation was weird, even for Pyro's standards. Furthermore, he had to focus on staying upright, his body shaking like crazy. "I need clothes", he said, ignoring her strange questions. He couldn't break out of a whatever-this-was just in his undershorts.

Without a warning, she stepped aside and let his body fall to the ground. Pyro caught himself in a sitting position and glared at her severe face. "What was that for?" "I'd like an answer to my question or I'm just gonna leave."

Ah, that was the way she was gonna play it. Again, he had to choke back his pride and take her hand to get up. "Three dreams, sleeping just once... I guess. I can't really remember. How is that even possible?"

"It's part of what she does. And you have been there at least a week, maybe even two." Unwilling to believe her, he changed topics. "Who are you anyway? And what are you doing here? Not that I don't appreciate the rescue, but I got the feeling I wasn't the primary target." Chuckling, she came to a halt in front of a corner. "My name is Mary. Nice to meet you, …?" "Pyro", he said after a moment of thinking. She turned around, cocking a brow. "What kind of a name is that?"

"It's, well, a codename. Don't you know any other mutants? We all have one."

"I don't", she answered bluntly, "and I'm a mutant, although just been a few days yet."

"Then that explains why you don't have a second name. You have to think of something that refers to your ability", Pyro explained patiently.

"So I take it you're a pyromaniac? Very subtle."

He didn't know what they were waiting for, but let her take the lead. Her plan had been good 'till now. Just after he thought that, the alarm went off. "Finally!", Mary said, obviously excited. "Some action!"

The 'action' came running in form of half a dozen soldiers. "They are way to many", Pyro muttered to himself. His arms were still shaking violently, but at least he could feel them again. "You got a lighter?", he asked, unsure whether his power would even work. "Quiet!", she hissed, eyes closed. The men had almost gotten to the corner, in a few seconds they would see the escapees. Suddenly all the tension went out of the girls body. She sighed heavily and every single guard turned his head in her direction. In unison they collapsed. Pyro acted quickly, caught Mary when she blacked out and woke her with a soft clap on both cheeks. "No bedtime just yet, Sleeping Beauty."

"Didn't mean to", answered Mary, blushed and together they walked past the men. "What did you do to them?", Pyro wanted to know as soon as they had reached the stairs on the end of the hall, his curiosity getting the best of him. "They think there is a car on top of them", said Mary. She shoved her open hair back and opened the thick metal door. Blazing sunlight hit the two of them and they were blinded. "Ow."

The girl recovered first and dragged him over an empty space, which seemed to be a parking lot. "There they are!" Someone was shouting from the roof of the building. Seconds later he screamed and got behind a discharge ventilation well, but it was already too late. "We need to hurry", Pyro said, looking for an escape route. "Get to the end of the street", Mary advised, then turned around to face the upcoming soldiers.

He ran as fast as he could, each step a little bigger than the last one, hoping it would be enough. "Dammit, this is embarrassing", he said to himself. "I should be saving her, not the other way around." "Run!" Mary had caught up with him, her face pale and sweat on her forehead. Pyro realized what had happened. "You can't stop them, can you?"

"Yeah, it doesn't work when I'm stressed."

"Good thing you told me so early."

"I know!", she grinned, exasperated. "To my defense: you didn't ask."

"How was I supposed to know?"

"I told you I didn't have much experience. Stop!" The road ended in a crossing. There were multiple highways one could choose from – if you had a car. A dark green van was passing by, then slowed down and opened the backdoor. "Our ride is here", Mary mentioned needlessly and jumped into the seat, pulling him along.

"If that isn't lovely Mary-Ann!" A guy from the front seat shouted. "And you've brought company!" The man was young, not much older than Pyro. His skin was black, his dark hair cropped short in an African style. The only light things on his body were a golden necklace and his white teeth, which were smirking at the girl. "Yeah, not the one we wanted, but at least he is handsome, unlike my other companions."

"You don't think I'm hot?", the blond man, who had pulled her into the car, asked miserably. "Nah, Thomas, you really need to get a haircut first." "There is nothing wrong with my hair!", the surfer dude chuntered. He was tanned, wore a colorful shirt and beige trousers. His hair was indeed shaggy and long, although it seemed to be messy on purpose. "And his hair isn't in a better shape!", he exclaimed and pointed at Pyro, "You only like him better because he doesn't wear any clothes."

All eyes turned to him and Pyro felt his face getting warm. "That's not exactly my fault..." Mary was holding back a laugh and patted his shoulder. "Never mind them, they are just jealous. Liss, why don't you see if we can borrow Pyro some jeans?" There was, Pyro saw her just after she moved, another member in the car. A tiny girl, at most six years old, was pressed against the wall, watching him with huge eyes. "Ah, people", Mary said, while the little girl climbed into the trunk compartment, "this is Pyro. Pyro, these are the people."

"I'm Thomas." The blond man shook his hand fiercely. "Our driver goes by the name Wolf. Everybody calls him like that, I'm not even sure what his real name is. And that girl in the back, that's his sister Lissianna, so don't you scare her or anything."

"I'm okay", niggled the child and threw a pair of jeans at Pyro. Shoes and a black t-shirt followed. "He doesn't look dangerous. And he was naked."